DIGEST #1 CIUSTUN UMLWI,
DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF BEGINNERS.
in the
STUDY OF THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE,
BY RKV. ff. C. KMBB.Y, D.D.
Philadelphia, A. D., 1890,
a. M. E. Book Concern,
631 Pine Street.
DEDICATION.-—
To the Bishops and Ministers of the African M. K-
Church.
to the; memory of thb lat:s
WILLIAM B. CHRISTOPHER, D.D.,
who taught me the first lessons in Latin and Theology,
AND TO the;
REV. HORACE P. SHEPARD,
who was my second teacher in Greek and Theology,
these pages are gratefully inscribed by the
author.
-J-
JSntered according to act of Congress,
In the office of the
Librarian of Congress at Washington,
August 6th, A. D., 1890.
EY J. C. EMERY.
Preface.
THIS little contribution to Christian literature is de¬
signed for the use of young ministers, Chris¬
tian parents,. and other general students of
the Holy Scriptures, whose time and circumstances
forbid the perusal of more elaborate works, on the sub¬
ject of Bible doctrine.
2. Our long term of service in the Book Concern,
and general acquaintance with the masses of our own,
and other Communions, has given us full opportunity
to see the need for such a work as we have herein at¬
tempted to prepare. While there is a full supply of
Commentaries, Notes, etc., on parts of the Bible, and
on special themes, it is surprising to know how few
concise and yet simple books one may find on sale,
that are fitted to assist the common scholar in the or¬
derly study of the beautiful themes of revealed religion.
3. The little compendium of Dr. Binney, is the
>nly work of the kind in American Methodism.
Jimeson's "Notes on the XXV Articles" of
Methodism, was a work analagous to Binney's, as also
the larger Catechism of the Presbyterian Church'
Jimeson's "Notes" have been long out of print.
iv
We have not attempted to follow either of these ex¬
cellent publications in matter, order of arrangement or
style. We aim to give the leading doctrinal truths in
outline, as formulated by Christian writers, and gener¬
ally accepted by the faithful as the true exposition of
holy Scripture, together with the Scriptural testimonies
themselves, in brief, on which these doctrines are founded.
3. We close the work with a small appendix, con¬
taining some notes and observations on various sub¬
jects alluded to in the body of the work, and with
some questions and a diagram &c., for examination of
those who may use the book for study.
We commend our humble effort to the considerate
perusal of our co-laborers in the Master's service, while
indulging a prayerful trust that it may be blessed of
God to the comfort and confirmation of many.
Thus shall the glory of our God, even the Father,
Son asd Holy Ghost, be our exceeding and great re¬
ward.
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
We have received in the preparation of our little
volume, valued hints from Bishops Campbell, and Tan¬
ner and Rev. Dr. I,. J. Coppin. Many of the pages on
various topics were read and criticised by Dr. Lee and
others. The chief authorities consulted were—
2. Our common version of the Bible in conjunction
with the revised text, together with such light as we
were able to draw from the Vetus Testamentuni [Greek
Bible], the X^atin Vulgate, and Commentaries of Dr.
Clark, and the Handy Commentary on the Penteteuch.
PREFACE.
by Very Rev. R. Payne Smith,D.D,,Dean of Canterbury;
the Theological Institutes of Watson, "Wakefield's,
Raymond's and Field's (English) Hand Book of The
ology, and the great Cyclopaedia, Biblical, Theological
and Ecclesiastical, of McClintock and Strong. Many
other books have shed light on our short, but pregnant
story, but they are too numerous to mention here.
Such as Stanley's "Eastern Church/' SchafFs History,
vols. 3, 4, Wesley's Sermons, and Robertson's
sermons.
It is scarcely necessary to say to our brethren
that our task has been wrought under great difficulty
while serving in the most perplexing branch of our
connectional work, where labor, anxiety and embarrass¬
ment are daily companions. Hence, if this first en¬
deavor to supply so important a need shall be found
very faulty and weak, we shall not be much surprised
or fall into despair.
vi; CONTENTS,
Preface
Introduction x~ 4
Theology (Chap, i) 5~ 55
The Bible " Sec. 7-14
Divine Attributes 15-27
The Trinity 28- 37
Divinity of Christ (Christology) 38- 46
The Incarnation " 47- 51
The Holy Ghost 51- 55
PART SECOND.
Chap .1; Sec. 1,. Of. the Creation 56-70
Of the Rational Creation—Angels, and Man.. 60- 62
Of Moral Government «.•>•< 62- 66
The Woman 68
Of Pre-Adamites 67- 68
Human Unity 69
Moral Status of Adam 70- 71
Nature and Constitution of Adam 71- 76
The Fall of Adam 77- 89
The Tree of Life 83
The Tempter go_ g2
Consequences of the Fall g2- gg
Providence—General and Special 100-118
Depravity I2g
eoN^Esim vu,
PART THIRD.
Atonement (Soteriology) '•:??:••• 129-143
Various Views of Atonement 132-140
Extent of the Atonement » 145-166
PART FOURTH.
Blessings of the Atonement 167-189
Providence—Restraining Influence of- 168
Religion Explained 169-171
Repentance 171-175
" Continued 176-179
Faith 179-189
Illustration 180
"Author and Finisher of' 183
The Cas^ of Infants and Idiots 187
How Obtained 189
PART FOURTH—Chap. ii.
Justification 190
" The Same as Remission 191
" Cause and Condition of- 193
Salvation of Infants 193-203
Relation of Children to the Covenants 196
Regeneration 203-205
Sanctification - 206-218
" Explained - 212-213
€i Means of 217
viii, CONTENTS.
Eschatology .t.••?••• 219-232
The End of the World 220-221
The Resurrection 223
The Judgment 224
Judgment—Necessity of- 226
States of the Dead - 227
Heaven and Hell 230-235
Purgatory—Catholic idea of- 229-230
Of Endless Punishment 235-244
Practical Theology (The Church) 245
Her Composition 246
Historic—Kingdom of God 247-248
Organization of 249
Primacy of Peter in . 252
Government of 253
The Orders of Ministers 255
Membership of 258
Bishops 261
Christian Ordinances—Baptism 263
Mode of 264
The Sacrament of the Supper 266
Missions 272
Prayer and Praise 2^0
Christian Schools
Analytical Diagram 280-287
Appendix of Notes 288-293
DM OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY.
INTRODUCTION.
i. Theology in the literal sense of the word, means
a discourse, or instruction about God. It is derived
from two Greek words, Theos, (God), and logos (dis¬
course), doctrine, etc. But theology, comprehensively
considered, is not confined, by any means, to limits so
narrow as this definition indicates. As has been aptly
said, it embraces the whole field of knowledge, and is
the culmination or "goal of all truth." As the subject
of our study, it is presented in two grand divisions:
(a), Natural Theology, or that which relates to the rev¬
elation of God in the creation and arrangement of the
material universe, and (5) Revealed Theology, or the
system of truth, of government and duty that we find
in the written Word.
Each of these grand divisions, as unfolded in our
times, carries us up to the highest point of human at-
Z
2
INTRODUCTION.
tainment and shows us the widest field of inquiry evel
surveyed by finite powers.
2. In the domain of natural Theology, we are
taught to reason from the evidences of design as ex¬
hibited in the structure and operations of the natural
world, backward from effect to cause, until we find the
great designer—the fountain head of all causation.
The study of natural theology is indispensable to all
who would have full and clear ideas of the maker and
disposer of all things. Many fundamental truths are
planted in this soil. The seed-thoughts of our youth¬
ful faith derived from study upon the objects of the
material world spring up in this soil and yield the full
promise of thirty, sixty and an hundred fold.
3. Revealed Theology. This department is sub¬
divided into several branches, as, Exegesis, History,
Dogmatics and Pastoral Theology.
(a), Exegesis means interpretation and relates to fix¬
ing cannons, or rules of interpretation by which we
attain, as nearly as possible, the exact meaning of the
sacred text, as found in the Hebrew and Greek lan¬
guages of the Old and New Testament.
(1b), Historical Theology gives us the development
and history of the Bible, history of Docrines, and the
history of the church.
(Y), Dogmatic Theology is employed about the
Biblical materials from which are formed the articles
of religious belief. These it arranges in systematic
form so as to present a connected whole.
4. The order of study usually adopted in this branch
of theological science commences with the Divine attri-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 3
bides. These appear as a dazzling array of gems that
bedeck the crowr of essential Deity, affording to finite
creatures a faint conception of the perfection and glory
of the Divine nature and government.
Next in order comes the Holy Trinity, a subject at
once the most subtle and difficult of comprehension in
the range of doctrinal study, and yet it is that without
which all that follows falls to the ground. For it is
only in the light of this doctrine of the Trinity that
the whole benevolent scheme of Revelation and Provi¬
dence can be satisfactorily explained.
Then a third step brings us to the study of the doc¬
trines of grace, which signify the free, unmerited favor
of God, whereby he is pleased to exhibit the wealth of
his goodness especially toward his creature man. Here
begins the interweaving of a most profound philosophy
around the historic narrative that records the creation
and fall of Adam.
Two great features stand out along this line of theo¬
logical inquiry like mountain peaks above an elevated
plane, namely: the wisdom, goodness and might of
God, and the primitive dignity of his last and noblest
creature—man.
5. Pastoral Theology is now regarded as a distinct
branch of the study. This branch has for its central
thought the "cure" and "care" of souls through vari¬
ous agencies, as 1. Preaching the good tidings;
2, Organization and government of the Church. 3.
The vigorous prosecution of evangelical mission work
in heathen and less favored lands. 4. The founding
and support of Christian Schools.
X
INTRODUCTION.
6. Under this head conies the study of devotional
literature as contained in the Liturgies ( forms of wor¬
ship), Litanies, PrajTers and Psalmody, both doctrinal
and devotional, found in the united repositories of the
Christian world. One's heart and feelings grow warm
at the very sight of this cluster of themes which
glow like birds of golden plumage from "balmy tropic
climes,"
Lastj we mention the subject of Christian biography
or the lives and achievements of the Saints, whether
passing up by martydom with St. Paul and Ridley, or
otherwise. From righteous Abel to the last of the line,
will be found the best possible vindication of the re¬
ligion of the Bible. Here the "Holy Spirit of promise,''
the guiding comforter that should "guide you into
all truth," most gloriously demonstrates his presence
and his power, by keeping alive in the hearts of believ¬
ers the sacred flame of faith and love.
These subjects comprise only an imperfect outline of
the prominent features which we primarily hoped to
pass in brief review. But the limits of a work so
small as we now contemplate to which we are restricted
by other considerations, make it quite impossible.
Hence we have found it very difficult to d2cide what
should be taken by preference and how much left.
There is no lack of material, and scarcely a limit to the
sources of information: but only lack of space and time.
DIGEST OF C::LI£T:AN T:IEOLOOY. 5
CHAPTER I.
theology.
Sec. i. The foundation of all religioiis knowledge,
that is of any value, consists in correct information and
clear ideas of the being and character of God.
It has pleased the Almighty Father to reveal himself
to man, that only class of His creatures, in this world,
having the ability to receive this knowledge, and the
only class that, being illuminated by its influence, is
capable of worship and communion with him.
The first sentence in the Christian Creed, sets forth
our belief "in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of Heaven and Earth." Millions of enlightened
men throughout the civilized world, unite in this con¬
fession of faith from day to day, and from generation
to generation.
This being true, the question arises, from whence
came this faith and knowledge ? Is it a fond supersti¬
tion, merely evolved from the imagination of man, or
is it true? Let it be remembered that through¬
out this little volume, our search shall be for truth.
And the first answer we demand is to the question: Is
this faith well founded ? What is the testimony upon
which it rests ?
1. The sources of cur knowledge of God are chiefiy
two;* namely the works of creation and the Bible.
The wisdom and power of God are seen in the marvelous
frame of the visible universe. The co-ordination and
arrangement of these stupendous systems, require wis¬
dom infinite, joined with limitless power. Here they
are before, our gaze, moving onward ever onward as
the divisions of a well marshalled army, whence, we
know not, only from the depths of boundless time and
boundless space they move on to the infinite depths
beyond, part answering to part, from the atom up to
the mighty planet, and all in such perfect harmony
that in the rythm and flow of countless years, confus¬
ion has been unknown.
2. But the latest reasoning on the subject of the
Divine existence, as drawn from observations upon the
creation and harmony of the natural world, demon¬
strates that man himself is the highest and best proof
of the being and character of God.
The argument on this line is very intricate, and
drawn at great length, but the gist of the reasoning
may be indicated thus: (a), Man is not an acci dent¬
in the world, (b), That since he cannot have created
and endowed himself with the wonderful constitution
and faculties which he possesses, his Creator must be
one possessed of power and of all the faculties he has
given to man, and all these in infinite degree.
It is difficult to reflect upon the history and achieve¬
ments of man, and fail to reach the conclusion that he
has received this dignity from a being infinitely exalted.
*See appendix (a) Sources of knowledge.
Cfi&J&TfAi? WffcQ&OOY, f
Our own globe lias been a fruitful subject of study by
scientists and unbelievers who have labored to establish
a connected history of the many forms of life by which
it is peopled. But after all the labored research that
has been made, man stands alone, a thing apart from,
and high above all else that has ever trod the planet.
Just where the inspired record leaves him in the Gar¬
den, a man (Adam), "in our image, after our likeness,"
with dominion over all the rest.
Sec. 2. The second source of knowledge of the
being and character of God, is found in that wonderful
book, called by eminence "The Bible." Here we have
a full and definite revelation of the One all-powerful
being whom we call God.
Of these two sources of knowledge, namely, the rev¬
elation of God in nature and the revelation of God
contained in the Bible, that of the Bible is infinitely
superior. The one testimony is doubtless as true as
the other; but nature, that is to say, the natural world,
is dumb. She speaks only by signs and voiceless tok¬
ens. She must, therefore, have an interpreter. "There
is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard."
(Psl. xix: 1-3). Yet it is a sublime truth that "the
heavens declare the glory of God." His might, His
wisdom, His august majesty, are written thereon. But
the Bible is vocal, so that it not only speaks for itself,
but it is also the chief and only reliable interpreter of
the evidences that the visible world affords.
2. Since it is impossible that man should find out God
by searching for him with the dim lights of reason and
nature, it is not unreasonable to believe that the author
8
THEOLOGY,
of our being would appoint a way of making Himself
known, and that in thus revealing Himself He would
place the truth of His self-disclosure on bases of evi¬
dence clear and strong, so that men might have abund¬
ant reason to believe in its truth to the end of time.
3. The credibility of the Bible consists in relating the
acts and providence of God in the creation and govern¬
ment of the world in a way that never could have been
guessed by any man.
The story of the origin of the world and its con¬
tents, as narrated in the Bible, is extremely singular. The
speculations of uninspired men concerning the origin and
history of the world, amount to no more than jargon
compared to the Bible narrative, though many of these
were men of great wisdom and high attainments. The
Bible story, when well pondered, is seen to be consistent
throughout. The work is begun and carried forward
from stage to stage until the whole is complete.
4. A second ground of belief in the Bible is the maj estic
authority of its style. There is a tone of authority in
its every utterance. There is nothing of mere hypothe¬
sis or supposition in any one of the great departments
of truth contained in it. Its history of creation and
providence, its prophecies and its commands are all
pitched in the same key. It commands our belief and
acknowledgement, and will accept of nothing less at
our hands.
5. A third ground of belief in the Bible is its great
antiquity. The books of Moses are reputed to have
been written at least one thousand six hundred years
before the time of our Lord. They give us an account
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 9
of the world's history for a period of about two thousand
three hundred years before the time of Moses himself. It
is, therefore, as Dr. Adam Clark says, (preface to his
commentary) "the oldest book in the world." But great
age and singular style, are not alone sufficient to estab¬
lish the authenticity and entire credibility of the Bible.
And let it be remembered here that authenticity dif¬
fers from genuineness. A book ma}r be genuine without
being authentic. Genuineness, says a modern author
of much learning, consists in this: that the book is
really the work of the person or persons whose name
it bears; while authenticity requires that the things
contained in a book shall be wholly true, and therefore
binding upon all who read its contents, to believe and
obey. (See note appendix on the Bible.)
6. We have, then, a fourth ground of belief in the Bible
as the authoritative and binding Word of God, and
this the best of all, namely: its doctrines and moral
precepts, and the beneficial influence these have exer¬
cised on the inner lives and outward conduct of man¬
kind. That the religious doctrines and moral precepts
of the Bible awaken a responsive echo in the
heart and conscience of men, is a proposition that will
not bear dispute. No other book written by the wise
and good among mankind, whether Greek, Oriental or
Western, has accomplished a tithe of the good produced
by this most singular book. If some great revolution
in nature should occur, that should shift the zones of
our earth, and transfer the tropics from their long ap¬
pointed places, it w7ould scarcely transcend the moral
phenomenon that has been produced by Bible influence
TO
THEOLOGY.
upon the Nations and Races of men. What else has
taught the nations to sing; not of war and carnage,
but of peace, of mercy, goodness, love ? Thus has
this Book of books proven itself of higher than human
origin.
recapitulation .
1. We believe in the Bible as an authentic revelation
from God, because it gives us in a consistent, brief and
perfectly credible way, the knowledge of God, the
method of creation, and a scheme of moral duty that
never could have been obtained in any other way.
2. Because it is the oldest book in existence. It
alone, by reason of its vast antiquity, carries us back to
the fountain head of history and tells us, not in the
babbling language of mythology or fable, but in tones
of indefeasible authority, of our origin and of the mor¬
al system under which we are placed. The whole can¬
non is presented with a simplicity and directness that
comports with the dignity of a Divine Creator, and
with the dignity of which we are conscious in our own
nature.
3. Because we are convinced of the beneficent influ¬
ence of its teaching upon all ranks and tribes of men
wherever its precepts are faithfully published.
observation.
1. It is the united conclusion of the learned writers
of our times on the subject of Christian evidences,
that without the Bible it were impossible for man, hav¬
ing once lost the knowledge of God, to have recovered
that knowledge by the force of unassisted reason. But
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, n
vriien the revealed Word has given the information,
then do the works of the creation come forward with a
thousand voices declarative of His wisdom and His in¬
finite power.
2. It is plain, therefore, that we owe our knowledge
of the existence of God as a personal being, to the
Bible alone.
That there has been a vague idea—a sort of in¬
definable apprehension of a supreme invisible power or
powers in the universe, is certainly true. The source
of these ideas is doubtless tradition. From the earliest
times, when the memory of Eden was still a lingering
dream in the mind of mankind, the story of the Di*
vine presence and converse with men, descended from
generation to generation. But as time rolled away,
and the nations multiplied, becoming more and more
diffused on the earth, the tradition faded, until only a
mere hint of the creator.of all remained.
OBSERVATION 2.
i. Pertinent to this statement, we subjoin here a
paragraph from the work of a learned English writer.
"Should we suppose it possible that those who had no
previous knowledge of God, might be brought to hab¬
its of civil life, and be engaged in the pursuit of vari¬
ous knowledge (which is very incredible), it would
Btill remain a question whether, (provided no idea from
tradition or instruction had been given of a Supreme
Creator and Ruler), such a truth would have ever been
in the reach of man, even in an imperfect form.
A truth may appear exceedingly simple and evident
when once known. * * * The abundance
12
THEOLOGY.
of rational evidence which may now be easily collected
to prove the existence of God, and which is so con¬
vincing, is no proof that without instruction from heaj
ven, the human mind would ever have made the dis¬
covery. God is the only way to Himself. He cannot
be come at, defined, or demonstrated by human reason."
See Theo. Institutes, vol. i: 272, art—"Knowledge
of divine things."
This passage we have offered to our readers here for
what it is worth, as the view usually held on this sub¬
ject by theologians of the last century, but the drift of
later thought, and the force of clearer light compels us
io a somewhat different view. 1. The case supposed
of persons brought to habits of civilization and the
pursuit of various knowledge without prior instruction
&c., is a case not to be found. As a matter of fact the
knowledge of God has never been totally lost to any
age of the world. Nor has it yet been proven that any
race or nation is wholly destitute of some ideas and
knowledge of the Creator. On the contrary, it is
clearly stated by St. Paul, Rom. 1: 20, 21, that infer¬
ence of Deity is in the reach of all, and that condem¬
nation results from the rejection of this knowledge. It
is because when they knew Him they did not obey
nor worship Him as God, "their foolish hearts were
darkened." The awful gloom that has settled down
on the world is not a necessity of the case, but the re¬
sult of choice.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. i3
CHAPTER II.
of the bible;.
Sec. i. We come, now, to this great witness, the
Bible, for the testimony which it contains as to
the name, the character and attributes of the In¬
finite One.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth," is the opening sentence of this revela¬
tion. Here we have no argument to prove the exist¬
ence of God. He is directly introduced as the Cre¬
ator of the world. Nor is there any attempt made
in any part of the sacred canon to reason on *the
subject of the Divine existence. It simply presents
a brief account of the creative work.
2. The primitive name given to the Almighty Crea
tor, is Elohim, which we translate God. This sacred
name corresponds in some degree to our word God, but
we may believe it to have been more comprehensive to
the mind of a primitive Hebrew than is our word to
the mind of an ordinary English reader.
The name is plural in number, and therefore as some
learned men suppose, expresses, not merely a personal
title, but majesty exhibited in wisdom and power.
(See the article on this subject in the Theological Cy-
14 OP TH8 JBIBLH,
plopsedia of Mc^Jintock & Strong). If this be true,
pur best way of grasping the idea expressed in the title,
fs to think of it as absolute Deity, comprehending all
jife, all wisdom, all power, all possible glory. There
is yet another name by which God is chiefly known, or
proclaimed in the Bible. It is Jehovah, the self-ex¬
istent One. These sacred, awful names convey the
fullest idea of all the attributes and functions of abso¬
lute sovereignty. Author, Legislator, Governor, Judge,
and therefore the fountain of unfailing justice and
truth
3. One of the most impressive passages in the Bi¬
ble that declares the name of God is found in Exod. vi,
2-3. "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him :
I am the Lord; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto
Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty;
but by my name Jehovah, was I not known unto
them." The Hebrew words translated "God Al¬
mighty," are El-Shaddai. (Shadday).
Much importance has been attached to the probable
significance of these names, but such discussion is
chiefly speculative and is of little merit as a part of
Christian doctrine.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOI,OOY. tj
ATTRIBUTES.
SEC 2. r. The attributes ascribed to God in
the Bible are very many, or rather, we might say,
they are given under many forms of expression. These
are variously classified by Christian writers. Some
are termed essential or natural attributes; that is to say,
qualities inseparable from the Divine nature. Others
are termed moral attributes; that is to say, such as de¬
scribe the character of the Almighty as Governor and
Judge;
2. Those attributes which are called natural, are:
(a) Unity; (b) Spirituality; (7) Eternity; (d) Omnipo¬
tence; (e) Omniscience; (/) Immutability: (g) Omni¬
presence.
3. Those attributes called moral, are: (a) Holiness;
{b) Justice; (c) Goodness; (d) Truth; (e) Mercy; (/)
Love. This catalogue is, of course, incomplete, yet it
presents us with a sufficient array of those aspects or
points of view, as set forth in the Bible, from which
the Divine nature and character may be surveyed by
finite creatures.
4. We shall attempt but little by way of discussion
on the subject of the Divine attributes, for, after all
that has been written and all that we have read, or
may read on the subject, it must still be said with him
ATTRIBUTES,
of olden times, "Lo, these are parts of His ways, y®*
how little a portion is heard of him." Job. xxvi: 14.
5. Unity. The Bible declares our God to be but
One. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one.
Deut. vi: 4. "But to us there is but one God the
Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him. 1
Cor. viii: 4, 5. "Know, therefore, this day, and con¬
sider it in thine heart that the Lord He is God in
heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is
none else.'" Deut. iv: 39. See also 2 Sam. vii: 22; 1
Kings viii: 60; 2 Kings xix: 19; Psl. 86: 10; Isa. 43:
10, 11; St. Mark xii: 29-32; St. John xvii: 3.
The unity of God is a first essential truth of Chris¬
tian doctrine. Reason, too, confirms this truth so fully
taught in Holy Scripture. For, it must be plain to
the common reason of men, that if there were two or
many Gods, none of them could be supreme. There
would be of necessity, divided sovereignty, divided au¬
thority and a warring, broken government throughout
the universe, instead of the harmonious and orderly
system that we everywhere observe.
6. Pollytheistic ideas of Deity have prevailed in
most parts of the world, but we may safely affirm that
these ideas of the Divine nature have failed to produce
the benign influence upon the peoples of the world
who entertain them, that has resulted from a clear con¬
ception of one only true and sovereign ruler. We may
be fully persuaded that this is the best, if not
indeed, the sole explanation of the wide ana wonder¬
ful difference between the races of men who possess
this life-giving and power-creating knowledge, and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 17
those races of men who are destitute of it. We can
conceive of nothing that would give to man the confi¬
dence and repose derived fiom knowing that we are
under government of one undivided and all-controlling
intelligence.
When we can fully realize that to Him alone we
owe obedience, that He alone is the fountain of all
justice and all authority, and that having peace with
Him we need fear no other being in the universe, we
have reached a footing on the granite rock of all know¬
ledge, and stand beside th.2 living, ceaseless stream
whose waters give "life" to all who will partake
of it.
7. Spirituality. This attribute, ascribed to God
in the sacred writings, is one of the most difficult of
all subjects to treat. Ideas and language fail when we
would exercise them about that which is invisible, in¬
tangible and without body or parts. We must, there¬
fore, as to this subject, rely on the simple teaching of
the infallible Word. "God is a Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."
St. John iv: 24. In the book of Deuteronomy we read
thus: "Take ye, therefore, good heed unto yourselves,
{forye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the
Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire)
lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven im¬
age, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male
or female. Deut. vi: 15, 16.
b. Who can comprehend by finite reason this most*
pure spiritual essence; without body, parts or pas-
ATTRIBUTES.
sions ? Yet we know by reason also, that such
he must be; for we can easily see that if he were
corporeal or embodied, then must he be located, and i/
located, he could not be omnipresent present
everywhere—through all eternity and throughout
the measureless depths of space. Well may we re¬
hearse the words of our service in the Te Deum, "To
Tkee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers
therein.1'
8. Eternity. This attribute of the Divine na¬
ture, conveys the idea of existence parallel with all
duration. Our ideas of the meaning of this word
eternity considered abstractly, or by itself, are limited
to the periods comprised in the history of our world
and all worlds. It is the sum of the ages of all the
worlds, and of all being. Hence when we speak of
the eternity of God, we mean that these measureless
ages past and future, are the working days of the
Eternai, One, wherein he has been tracing and exe¬
cuting the counsels of His own will. It is plain that
any attempt to think or speak of ages prior to the his¬
tory of the universe as portrayed in the Bible, is vague
and valueless. We only know of these ages what we
are taught. "Before the mountains were brought forth
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,—•
even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God."
Psl. xc. He alone "hath immortality, dwelling in
light which no man can approach." i Tim. vi; 16.
He was before, and will be after all these ages have
come and gone, and when all the worlds have passed
away.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 19
9. Omnipotence:, a. To think of less than all
power as an essential attribute of Him who created
and upholds all things '' by the word of his power''' would
introduce confusion in our ideas.
b. For if He is a self-existent, spiritual unit, and
eternal, he must have omnipotence in the circle of in¬
finite perfections. And this means absolute sway;
the uttermost control of creation's whole wide field.
10. And thus His omnipresence and omniscience
are required, by the necessity of our reasoning, to
complete the circle of His essential being. The
Creator and upholder of all things must be present
everywhere. And so we read: "The eyes of the
I,ord are in every place beholding the evil and the
good." Prov. xv: 3.
11. Omniscience, a. "God's intelligence is per¬
fect and absolute. He knows things directly and fully
by their essences. We know only relatively and par¬
tially." "All things are naked and laid open before
the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Heb. iv: 13.
b. God's perfect and absolute knowledge of all
things and all events, past, present and future, has been
a fruitful subject of thought and discussion, especially
with relation to the existence of moral evil, and in re¬
lation to what seems to be the contingent conduct of
men under the rule of free moral agency.
c. On this important subject, a recent author says:
"How the foreknowledge of God is to be reconciled
with man's free agency and moral accountability, is
one of the most awful and dark problems of theology;
indeed, it maybe pronounced insoluble b" human reason.
20
ATTRIBUTES.
d. But both of these propositions are clearly stated
In scripture, and established by abundant evidence. We
must therefore accept them "as of faith," though we
may not be able to reconcile them.
e. We must remark here, that the foreknowledge
of God does not oblige a free agent to pursue a right
or wrong course of conduct. Of this, more will be
said in the chapter on the subject of free agency.
The wisdom of God is manifested most gloriously in
that He overrules the wickedness of men, restrain¬
ing their lawless tendencies, and making "the wrath
of man to praise him.5'
IfiGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 2;
MORAL ATTRIBUTES.
Sec. 3. 1. Holiness. God is infinitely holy in
His nature and in His relations to His creatures. This
attribute contemplates entire freedom from all imper¬
fection and moral weakness of every kind. Holiness
in man means conformity to the expressed will of God.
By this standard all human conduct, both the outward
acts and inward dispositions are to be measured.
2. But when we come to think of the Divine .per¬
fection expressed by this term, our thoughts recoil.
All our knowledge of righteousness is relative only.
Nor is there any help for our thoughts here in any pos¬
sible appeal to the nature of things," as the modern
phrase goes. For the nature of all we see or know
represents only other forms of the expressed or implied
will of God. There is no higher authority than His
own perfect and sovereign will to which appeal can be
made. Without such appeal we are wholly left to
grope in blindness, because of ignorance on this point.
3. But we may resort to inferences from the de¬
clared perfection of the Divine nature. Thus we infer
that He who is all-wise, self-existent, independent, all-
powerful and most utterly free, must be also holy,
righteous and just. "Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right?" asked the venerable patriarch Abra¬
ham. So by the Psalmist; although "clouds and dark-
MORAL ATTRIBUTES.
ness are round about him, justice and J11
the habitation of his throne." , .
4. We may infer from the tenor of the mo a
which he has decreed for our observance t e jus
holy character from which they proceed.
5. The moral law most effectually exhibits the \\ ill
of God respecting the character and behaviour of men.
"Thou shalt not kill;" "thou shalt not steal; thou
shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not covet; thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
All these prohibitions show his displeasure with evil,
and not only so, but to show us the sternness of His
displeasure, He has connected with these commands,
the severest penalties for their violation. Moreover,
he has planted in the constitution of our nature the
tokens of repugnance to wrong doing, so that the
habitual violator of the moral law will ere long find
himself in the iron grip of retribution. The man or
community that lives in disregard of the moral
law of God, soon falls into strife and lawless con¬
fusion. While on the other hand where these laws
are observed and reverently obeyed, nature spreads
her richest bounties for our supply, and peace and
order pour the light of perpetual blessing on the
race.
6. On this principle, all the laws enacted by
the Almighty for the government of mankind have
been constructed.
_ 2. JUSTICE. The justice of God relates to his
righteous administration as Judge. Our word justice
derived from Utin (justitiaj is nearly the same in si-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 23
nification with righteousness. Both point out the dis¬
pensing or giving to all their due. It is the right es¬
timation of what is due to every man whether reward
or privation. "That be far from thee, to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; that so
the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far
from thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?''
Gen. xv. 14.
3. Goodness. The goodness of God is that trait
or characteristic of the Divine Nature which disposes
him to lovingly confer the gift of life upon his crea¬
tures and to endow them with all the blessings, wheth¬
er material or spiritual, which they enjoy. "And
the L,ord descended in a cloud and stood with him
there and proclaimed the name of the L,ord God, full
of compassion and gracious, and abundant in goodness
and truth." Exod xxxiv. 6, etc. See also Psalm xxxi,
19-21, and xxxiii. 5, and xxxiv. 8.
4. a. Truthfulness is ascribed to God through¬
out the sacred Scriptures from first to last. "A God
full of goodness and truth." Truth is that which
comports exactly with fact. It is the precise opposite
of falsehood and error, b. Truthfulness in the charac¬
ter of God must be the same in kind as truth in man,
but infinitely higher. Man's word may be true in the
meaning afid intent he designs to convey, and
yet false in fact, because of misinformation or other in¬
firmity. But not so with the omniscient God. Every
fact in the universe is clearly, fully known to him, so
that He cannot be deceived, neither is it possible that
He should deceive any creature He has made,
=4 DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY.
The truth and faithfulness of God is.the
hold of our trust. "So shall tny word be that^g J*
forth out of my mouth, it shall not ret
void; but it shall accomplish that which I please and
the thing; whereunto I sent it." See Isa. lv. II.
"Firm as a rock thy Truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move."
— Watts,
5. Mercy. a. The mercy of God is sometimes
called essential, and classed with those that belong to
the nature of God, rather than with those that pertain
to the Divine administration. But a little reflection
will show that mercy, considered alone,- may hardly be
classed as a distinct attribute at all. Indeed, Watson,
Wakefield, Ralston, Field, Boyce and Hodge, all leave
it out of the list of attributes. Nevertheless, the au¬
thor of the article on mercy, in the Theological Cyclo¬
paedia, classifies mercy as a distinct essential attribute
of the Divine nature. Watson says: The mercy of
God is not a distinct attribute of His nature, but a
mode of His goodness. It is the disposition whereby
He is inclined to succor those who are in misery, and
to pardon those who have offended. Field and Ral¬
ston include mercy as an element of the Divine good¬
ness as does also Wakefield. Most of these, however,
being little more than copyists of Watson's great work,
follow closely in its track. Hodge and Boyce both
cast the old lists overboard as being unsound t>hilo-
sophically.
b. Our own view, (after all the light we can gain
on the subject) is that mercy is only one of the forms
MORAL ATTRIBUTES.
25
of love, flowing out through the channel of compas¬
sion. It bends over suffering with tears of pity, and
hence it ever aims at mitigation of evil, or misery.
c. Our word mercy, is derived from Latin viiscri-
cordia, meaning pity, whence the impersonal verb
misere I, "it pities."
Now, how can we think of "pity" as an attribute of
the Divine nature ? The very nature of the thing is
transient, being awakened always by and in the pres¬
ence of suffering and distress. Nor are we better off
in trying to think of it as the efficient source of par¬
don. This, of course, is the popular notion of mercy,
because always spoken of, in Scripture, in connection
with God's gracious acts of pardon. The idea of par¬
don is always connected with the administration of
law, and is therefore a legal term. But mercy is pity,
benevolence, kindness, all of which are the fruit of
love. The Hebrew word for mercy is chesed, kindness,
whence the plural, word c/iasdim, merciful, pious, good
men. Mercy, then, is that affection ascribed to God in
Scripture, which disposes Him to pardon sin, to relieve
the distressed and burdened hearts of penitent men.
And so we read of "the multitude of Tiis mercies.'' "He
delights in mercy." • "His mercy is above the hea¬
vens," nnd "over all His works."
6. T,ove. The love of God is that manifestation
of the Divine character exhibited by the abundant pro¬
vision which he has made for supplying the wants of
His creatures, and the constant fatherly care which He
exercises over them. We fully understand the force
and effectiveness of this supreme emotion as realized
2$ MORAL ATTRIBUTES.
in our own hearts. We can be sure of no mistake i
the estimation of it, when we declare it to be the al
controlling influence of our whole being, the clii<
spring of all our noblest acts and aspirations and tb
fountain of all our joys. But when we turn from tb
thought of creature love to the pure and holy fount (
all love, our thoughts break down and fail us in tb
contemplative effort. We waste ourselves joyfully i
devotive labor for those we love, but what must be tb
measure of his love who takes the whole creation int
the bosom of his affection and cares for it with lov
far more constant and tender than that of the fondet
mother. "Can a woman forget her sucking child
Yea, these may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Isa. xlix: 15. "For God so loved the world," etc
John iv: 16. "God is love." God commendeth hi
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinner;
Christ died for us." Romans v: 8.
Thus have we passed in brief review, the name
and attributes of the "Infinite One," as these are re
vealed to us in holy Scripture. And although we car
not comprehend Him in our thoughts, nor adequatel
define His holy Character, we have nevertheless,bee
able to grasp the truth as it relates to the Unity, th
Grcat?iess and Goodness of God, as revealed in natui
and in the written Word.
In the presence of the sun, our world's gres
luminary, on an unclouded day, the contemplai
ive mind beholds with awe, the marshalle
powers which he displays! His light, his heat, h:
power in conferring life and comfort here, whil
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 27
shooting out destruction there; the resistless arms
of might by which he binds to himself the bright
array of worlds that attend his way from age to age.
Then the glorious robe of sevenfold brightness with
which he is arrayed! Literally:
"His glory shines with beams so bright
No mortal eye can bear the sight."
No wonder the heathen of many nations worship
him as God.
2. But the Lord our God, is a person, Spiritual,
ONE. To Him alone belongs essentially, Wisdom,
Justice, Goodness, Holiness, Truth. He alone de¬
serves our worship, our obedience and our trust.
28
THE TRINITY.
CHAPTER III.
the trinity.
Section i . i. The next step we take in the study
of theological truth, brings us to a brief review of
what is taught in the Bible and accepted by the Chris¬
tian world concerning the Holy Trinity. Our word
"Trinity," is doubtless from the Greek word, tries—
three, or the latin ires, trini, triple, threefold. The
word is not used in the Bible at all, but was adopted
by theologians as the best expression of the mysterious
doctrine taught in the Scriptures which sets forth most
fully the tri-personality of the Godhead, under the
personal titles of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. All
orthodox* Christians are united in accepting this
doctrine.
The expressed doctrinal form is: "And in unity of
this Godhead, there are three persons of one substance,
power and eternity; the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost.
appendix
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 29
In our first chapter we labored to show how posi*
tively the Bible affirms the unity of God. "Hear, O
Israel; the Lord thy God is One," is the key-note of
all this teaching. Does it not follow, then, that in the
doctrine of Trinity, or tri-unity, we have an essential
contradiction of the idea of unity? We must say, in
answer to this question, that at first view, there does
appear to be some ground of difficulty in reconciling
these forms of expression, so as to relieve the mind
from the idea of contradiction. When we say there is,
there can be but one supreme eternal God, and yet
that there are three persons in this unity, namely,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
2. But the difficulty is not so much in the truth of
the teaching as in the necessary form of the language.
The words of the Creed immediately following, '"three
personsare, ' 'of one substance, power and eternity."
These words define, to some extent, the meaning of
the term, "One" God, used in the first part of the
Creed, and show the idea or meaning of the word
"one" God, as used there, to be used not as re¬
ferring to "one' person, but to "one" Deity, as St.
Paul expresses it. godhead'. Rom. 1: 20, See Greek
Testament—"even his eternal power and Godhead,
(aidios auiou dunamis kai theiotes) and in the Epis. to
Colossians, 2: 9. (pa7i to pleroma tes theotetos somati-
kos). "All the fullness of the godhead bodily," We
think it worth while to call attention to the fact that
the words of St. Paul, translated ''Godhead,'' are not
capitalized, but used adjectively, and hence seem in¬
tended to convey the abstract idea of Deity, or Sov-
3°
THE TRINITY.
ereignty, and mean the same thing we mean when we
speak of 11 the government," without reference to the
President or the King or any person. Under the idea of
"government" in this sense are marshalled all the
functions, powers and dignity of sovereignty, ex¬
ecutive, judicial and legislative. So, also, in the
phrase, "Godhead," we have the abstract idea of the
Divine sovereignty with no special reference to per¬
son. Hence in the passage just quoted, Col. 12: 9, the
words, iltheotetos somatikos" godhead bodily," the
meaning is that Jesus Christ embodied all the sovereign
rights, power and dignity of essential Deity.
These observations upon the study of this intricate
doctrine, we think, afford great assistance in under¬
standing the use and application of these names and
titles as used in Holy Scripture. This term is not
used to express personality, but to denote that eternal
unchangeable nature which belongs co-equally, co-es-
sentially, co-eternally, to each of the Divine Persons
revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These
three are One—one in essence, or substance, one in
power and glory, and are the same as made known to
us as Jehovah and Elohim of the Old Testament
who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.
3. We introduce here, as being far better than any
thoughts of ours, the observations of several learned
and widely respected authors. 1. "The distinction in
the Godhead is known by the term Person. This term
is intended to express only the distinction of Persons
in the Godhead without effecting their unity in one
essence. 2. The term essence or substance means that
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. $t
which has a real being. As applied to the doctrine
before us, it means the reality of the Divine nature of
God. * * * * * *
* * * * * * * 'It is gen¬
erally believed that this doctrine is purely of New Tes¬
tament revelation. And this is true to some extent;
but at the same time all will agree that the Hebrews
had some idea, at least, of a plurality of persons in
the Godhead, if not exactly a Trinity. What else
could they understand by Gen. i: 26, 'And God said
let us make man in our image after our likeness' ? *
* * * * * Again it is said in Gen.
Chap, xi: 7, 'Let us go down and there confound their
language.' These are certainly remarkable forms of
expression, when taken in connection with the uniform
doctrine of the Scripture that there is no other God
but one; and when we consider the fact that Angels
were never associated with God in any acts of
creation. These plural pronouns (us, our) were
undoubtedly intended to indicate a plurality of
persons of equal power and eternity with the Father.
But this plurality seems to be reduced to the number
Three, in the blessing of Aaron, in Num. vi: 24-26.
"The Lord bless thee; the Lord be gracious unto thee;
the Lord lift up h's countenance upon thee and give
thee peace."
The proof of the Trinity in this passage is in the
repetition of the name of God three times, and because
of its similarity to the Christian benediction. 2 Cor.
xiii: 14. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
3«
THE TRINITY.
Ghost be with you all."
"This, taken in connection with that class of pas*
sages, in which express mention is made of the Son
and Holy Spirit, forms very clear evidence of a Trin¬
ity taught in the Old Testament. The first is Psl. ii: y.
"Thou art my Son. This was uniformly understood
by the Jews to refer to the Messiah; and .New Testa¬
ment writers determine this to be the true interpreta¬
tion." (Jimeson on the Twenty-five Articles.)
"What is the substance of Scripture teaching with
regard to this doctrine? (Trinity). The doctrine as
delivered in the Bible, is very short, and amounts to
this: That in the entire and undivided unity of the
Divine nature there is a trinity of personal subsistences,
co-substantial, co-equal, and co-eternal. In other
words, that the one Divine nature exists under the
personal distinctions of Father, Son and Holy Ghost."
Dr. Hannah.
"This we conceive to be the extent of the informa¬
tion conveyed to us respecting this doctrine in the in
spired volume, and it is wise to keep ourselves within
the limits of the record. When the adversaries of
Trinitarianism insist on explanations of what is ad¬
mitted to be inexplicable, and on definitions of what
the Bible does not define, let us follow the counsel of
Hezekiah: 'Answer them not.' We never can ven¬
ture to explain on such subjects, further than the testi¬
mony of the Bible warrants, without risk of 'darken¬
ing counsel by words without knowledge.' " (Ward-
law's Syst. Theology).
In Dr. Field's Hand Book of Christian Theology,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 33
page 87, we read: "What idea do we attach to the
word "person" in connection with this doctrine?
(Trinity). It is clearly defined by Dr. Waterland, to
be "an intellect agent, having the distinct characters,
I, Thou He." By Locke thus: "A person is a think¬
ing intellectual being that has reason and reflection."
It has been said that the term is not used in Scripture;
and some who believe the doctrine it expresses have
objected to its use. Our translators, however, be¬
lieved that there is warrant in Scripture for the term,
when in Col. 1: 3, they translate the word hypostasis,
"person." And the Apostle's argument obliges us to
give the word this signification here. For the Son
being called the "express image" of the Father, a dis¬
tinction between the Son and the Father is unques¬
tionably expressed; but if there be but one God, and
the Son be Divine, the distinction cannot be one of es¬
sence, and must, therefore, be a personal one.
From the same work on page 89, we transcribe as
follows: 'Is not the doctrine of the Trinity in unity
contrary to all reason, and therefore perfectly incred¬
ible ?
Were we to affirm that the persons in. the Godhead
are three in one in the same sense, or in the same re¬
spects, we should evidently affirm what is contrary to
reason; such a proposition involving in the very terms
of it, a palpable and irreconcilable contradiction. But
it is no contradiction to say that in different respects
the three may be one; that is, in respect of persons
they shall be three, and in respect of Godhead, essence
or nature, they shall be one. The manner of the thing
is a perfectly distinct question. It is a mystery con-
34
THE TRINITY.
cerning which the Bible says nothing. We are re¬
quired to believe the plain fact that God is three in one.
In the manner lies the mystery; we have no concern
with it; it is no object of our faith."
This, says Mr. Wesley, is a point much to be ob¬
served; there are many things which eye hath not 3een,
nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man to conceive. Part of these God hath revealed to
us by His spirit: "revealed," that is, unveiled, uncov¬
ered; that part He requires us to believe. Part of them
He has not revealed; that we need not, and indeed,
cannot believe; it is far above, out of our sight. Now,
where is the reason in rejecting what is revealed, be¬
cause we do not understand what is not revealed ? Of
denying the fact which God has unveiled, because we
cannot see the manner which is veiled still ? (Sermons
on trinity.)
Before presenting our final observations on this im¬
portant and most subtile theme, we lay before our
readers in this place, some most lucid passages, taken
from leading orthodox writers, as shown in the Insti¬
tutes of Richard Watson, a work that has justly been
regarded for many years as a standard of Arminian
orthodoxy. Of the many lengthy and learned contri¬
butions in discussion of this doctrine contained in the
work, we select here and there a paragraph as they are
found best adapted to our purpose. Beginning on
page 451, vol. 1. We quote:
1 Among the'earling writers in defense of the Trinity, there are
seme shades of difference in opinion, as to what constitute? the unitt
of the three persons in the Godhead.
Mr. Howe seems to suppose that there are three distinct, eter-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 35
nal spirits, or distinct intelligent hypostases; each having his own
distinct, singular, intelligent nature, united in such an inexplicable
manner, as that upon account of their perfect harmony, consent and
affection they may he called the one God, as properly as the different
corporial sensitive and intellectual natures united may be called one
man.
JDr. Waterland, Dr Taylor and others, assert three proper distinct
persons, entirely equal to, and independent upon each other, yet mak¬
ing up one and the same being.
Bishop Pearson with whom Bishop Bull agrees, is of opinion, that
though God the Father is the fountain of the I'eity, the whole divine
nature is communicated from the Father to the Son, and from both to
the Spiiit, yet so as that the Father and the Bon are not separate,
nor separable from the Divinity, but do still exist in it, and are most
intimately united to it.
2. Concerning the non-importance of the doctrine as claimed by
some, Dr, Waterland has the following observations on pages 452-3.
The knowledge of God is fundamental to religion; and we know
nothing of him but what he has been pleased to reveal, and as
these revelations have all mobal ends, and are designed to promote
piety and not to gratify curiosity, all that he has revealed of himself
in paeticulab, must partake of that character of fundamental im¬
portance which belongs to the knowledge of God in the aggregate-
"This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God,and
Jesus Christ whom ihou hast sent- Nothing, therefore, can disprove
the fundamental importance of the Trinity in unity, but that which
shall disprove it to be a doctrine of Scripture "
3. "It essentially affects our views of God as the object of our wor¬
ship, whether we regard him as one in essence, and one in person, or
admit that in the unity of this Godhead there are three equally divine
persons. These are two very different conceptions, Both cannot be
true. The God of those who deny the Trinity is not the God of those
who worship the Trinity in unity, nor the contrary; so that one or the
other worships what is ' nothing in the world,' and for any reality in
the object of worship, might as well worship a pagan idol "
i. " If God be Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the duties owing to God
will be owing to that triune distinction, and whoever leaves any of
them out of his ideas of God, comes so far short of honoring God per¬
fectly and of serving him in proportion to (accordance with) the man¬
ifestations he has made of himself."
These clear, strong points of reasoning, founded as
they are, upon the positive teaching of holy Scripture,
are amply sufficient as showing the trinitarian symbol
in our evangelical system of doctrine, and also suffi-
THE TRINITY.
cient to exhibit the firmness with which it is held. In¬
deed, it would not be difficult to show that without
the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, the whole scheme
of Christian doctrine would logically fall to the ground.
This will more fully appear as we proceed in the pre¬
sentation of the doctrines of grace as set forth in the
plan of redemption. For in this work of redeeming
and saving the world, the three divine persons are all
manifested in equal majesty and glory. And it is this
very thing, let our dear reader remember, that is the
design and chief function of revelation, namely, to
teach us the way of salvation, and inflame our faith
and zeal to lay hold on the hope set before us therein.
The passages chiefly relied on in support of the
Trinity we now introduce as follows: I. Old Test.
Gen. i: 26. "And God said, let us make man (Adam)
dominion, &c.vp :aidta, andhd classaonlu wy 1 qppppio
in our image, after our likeness ; and let them hive
dominion, &c. And God created man in His own
image, in the image of God created he him." ver. 27.
2. Gen. iii: 22. "And the Lord God said, Behold,
the man is become as one of us." xi: 7; " let us go
down and there confound their language," &c.
3. Isaiah xl: 13. "Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his counsellor, hath taught him ?"
and Isa. lxi: 1-2. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me; because he hath annointed me to preach good tid¬
ings to the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
broken7hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,"
&c. 4. Isa. vi: 1-8. "Whom shall / send, and who
will go for us?" 5. The threefold ascription of praise
in the same passage, "Holy, holy, holy," by the winged
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN'THEOLOGY. 37
Seraphim." These and man}' more are presented from
the Old Testament, some of which will be noted in
the section on the person and divinity of Jesus our
Lord.
Sec. 2. Passages of the New Testament relied on
are such as Matt, iii: 16, which see, and xxviii: 19—
"baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost." St. John x: 30; and xiv:
16, 17. "I will pray the Father and he will give you
another Comforter that He may be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth." These, in part, are the
plain texts of Scripture that set forth most fully, the
tri-personality of the Godhead, and hence it follows
of necessity, that if we accept and believe the
Bible, we can only express our faith in the language of
the Creed. There is 110 middle ground; 110 escape.
"One true and living God, of infinite wisdom and pow¬
er; immortal, invisible; and in unity of this Godhead
there are three persons—the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost."
••C4-.-.-ft*--
eilKiSTOUXStf.
CHAPTER IV.
CHRISTOIvOGY.
SECTIION I.
I. Of the Person and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
In the second branch of the doctrine of the Holy
Trinity, theology proposes the absolute divinity of our
L,ord, as the theme of study.
In the whole field of theology, no fiercer battle¬
ground than this of Christ's divinity is to be found.
Here the powers of darkness have gathered the forces
of unbelief, and from generation to generation have
contested with unparalleled stubborness every word,
pharse and passage of Scripture, and every vestige of
historical evidence by which the doctrine is sustained.
The first great battle on this field of theological
science was fought by the Apostolic witnesses of the
life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Christ,
and almost all the early writings of primitive theo*
logians are devoted to the discussion of the doctrines
of Christ.
Hence, theologically speaking, Christology, or those
writings which treat of the person, office and work of
Christ constitute the chief body of Christian doctrine.
JJlGKST VI* ^IlKl'STfAN' TliBOLOOV. ^
H 13 the key-stone in the arch of Christianity. The
corner-stone of our Christian temple
2. Order of presentation.
The subject is presented in various orders by differ¬
ent writers. But the order of discussion is not very
material.
The most natural order would appear to be about as
follows: a, Those Scriptures that establish the pre-ex-
istence of Christ; b, Those that bestow on him Divine
titles; c, Divine honors paid to Christ; d, The
perfect humanity of Jesus, and last of all, the official
and all-sufficient work accomplished by His death.
And now let us proceed to a brief view of the sub¬
ject under each-of these heads.
The Scriptures relied on in proof of the pre-existence
of Christ may be quoted as follows: "And no man
hath ascended into heaven but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in
heaven." St. John iii, 13. Here, as is held by com¬
petent critics, Christ declares himself to be im¬
mediately connected with the Counsels of the
Godhead. He says to Nicodemus in the verse
preceding: "If I have told you of earthly things
and ye believe them not, how shall ye believe if I tell
you of heavenly things?''
3. Consider next the passage, chapter vi, 32-40:
" I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from
heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh
down from heaven, and gi'veth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this
4© C^RXSTOLOGY
bread! And Jesus said unto them, / am the bread of
life." Again he says in verse 48: "I am that bread of
life." Here it is plain, He means to teach His own
Divine personality pre-existent in the bosom of the
Godhead. If not so, then the whole saying is a deception.
To be more explicit still, take chapter vii: 57 60,61,
62. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live
by the Father, so he that eateth me, shall live by me,
* * * Many of his disciples when they had heard
this, said, "This is an hard saying;" i.e.,hard to under¬
stand, and hard, therefore, to believe. But "when
Jesus knew they murmured at it, he said, doth this of¬
fend you? What if ye shall see the Son of man
ascend up where he was before;!"
4. Take again chapter viii, lvi56,58," Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and
was glad. * * * Before Abraham was I am." This
is a declaration of pre-existence, plain and unequivocal.
In this same gospel, chap, xvii, 5, Jesus prays:
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me, with thine
own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was."
These are testimonies of Jesus as to his own pre-ex¬
istence, before the incarnation, and before the foundation
of the world. It were impossible to doubt or question
the force and full significance of these testimonies.
And who that believes at all, in the filial piety
and truthfulness of our Lord, can doubt for a moment
the claim he asserts to Divine Sonship and union with
the ever living Father ?
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 41
5. Testimony of inspired men.
1. The Baptist, John, declares: "This was he of
whom I spake, " He that cometh after me is perferred
before me, for he was before me." See other verses in
this same chapter. See also St. Peter iii,' 18-20. Here,
through the agency of the spirit, he preached to the
antediluvians, and hence existed before the flood.
Next, see the Epistle to Colloss. i, 16-17: " For by
him were all things created that are in heaven and in
earth, visible and invisible; all things were created by
him and for him. And he is before all things, and by
him all things consist."
See also Heb. i, 2, 3, 4, and the Prophet Mich. v.
2: "Whose goings forth have been from of old, i. e.,
"the days of eternity." This was he that should
come of "Bethlehem Ephratah."
So much for the testimony of inspired men. These
testimonies show; first, a remarkable unanimity of con¬
viction among these inspired writers concerning the re¬
lation of Jesus the Christ, to the supreme Deity* and
second, that they fully accepted the revealed truth of
his Sonship and co-equality with the Father everlast¬
ing. Clearly did they comprehend that the birth of
Christ was not His beginning, but, as has been aptly
said, His "arrival" amid the scenes of our world
'' from another sphere.''
4. The titles applied, to Christ.
1. If it be shown that the Holy Scriptures apply to
Christ the same titles that they apply to God, then it
must be confessed that they clothe Him with all the
prerogatives and powers of God.
42
CHRISTOLOGY.
It has been shown in the first chapter
of this work that the name by which God
was chiefly known to the Ancients is Elohim and
Jehovah, and it was also pointed out that Elohim, a
plural form, may not be regarded as a personal title,
but most generally- corresponds to the New Testament
phrase, "Godhead," whereas the personal title which
the Almighty Father has assumed and that points out ,
specific and singular, His immutable, eternal and inde¬
pendent existence is Jehovah, that awfully sacred
name which, it is said, the ancient Hebrews would not
pronounce, and expressed in the Hebrew characters.
(Yod He Vau He}. "And God spake unto Moses and
said, I am the Lord (Jehovah), that is my name." If
this name, therefore, is given to Christ, it ought to
settle the question of His supreme Divinity.
The passages relied on here are, first, Isa.vi, 5: "For
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." But
in Exodus 33. 20, it is said when Moses prayed that he
might behold the glory of God: "I will make my
goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of Jehovah. Thou can'st not see my face, for
there shall no man see me and live."
" It is written in the prophets and they shall all
be taught of God. Everyman, therefore, that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save
he which is of God. He hath Seen the Father." John
vi, 45-46.
Who, then, was this Jehovah whom Isaiah saw?
Construe this vision of God, by the prophet, with St.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 43
John i, 18: "No man hath seen God at any tim^; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Fath¬
er, He hath .declared him."
Isaiah ix, 6: "The Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father." See also Joel ii, 32 compared with Rom.
x, 13. Many, very many more might be cited, but
these are enough. All the exalted names ascribed to
God in the Bible are also ascribed to Christ,
2. Let us see next, if we can identify Him as the
Angel Jehovah of the Old Testament, who communed
with th^ patriarchs and performed the service of Me¬
diator during the age of Patriarchal and Mosaic
history.
That a Divine person did appear to the patriarchs
and prophets of old we have in Scripture a very full
record of instances. 1. See Gen. xviii, where Jehovah
appears to Abraham in pleasant and ordinary inter-,
course. And although there were three persons in the
company, but one of them is called "Jehovah." Six
times is He so called in this interview. And it is, we
think, also worthy of note that Abraham instinctively
recognized the exalted rank of his strange visitor,
paying to Him not only the ordinary courtesies ac¬
corded to passers-by, but'the profoundest reverence.
And now, when they rose up from the repast and set
out toward Sodom, in the words, "and Jehovah said,
Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" He
proclaims His own Deity.
3. If we study the history of the transaction at Mt.
Moriah, Gen. xxii, wfe find the same person under title
of Jehovah. Take verses 14 and 15 : "And
44'
CHRISTOLOGY.
Abraham called the name of that place '' Jeho\ ah-
Jireh;" as it is said to this day. 1 In the mount of the
IyOrd it shall be seen." This saying became a proverb,
" Jehovah-J ireh," " the Lord will provide. And the
Angel of the Lord called to Abraham out of heaven
the second time and said, "By myself have I sworn
saith Jehovah * * that in blessing I will bless," etc.
Again the angel who met with Jacob at Peniel, Gen.
xxxii: and at Beth-El, Gen. xxviii: 13-17, was this
same Jehovah. To Moses in Horeb, He is the same;
Ex. iii, in verse 7, He calls the people His own. He
went before them in the "cloudy and fiery pillar." In
Ex. xix: 20, 21, He comes down on the mount, under
the name "Jehovah." In chapter xxiii, He becomes
the "Guide" and "Leader" of the people, and the
awful name "Jehovah"—"I am" "is in him," with
power to pardon, and to punish sin and rebellion.
4. That this personality was not the Father, is mani¬
fest from several considerations, (a) The testimony
of Scripture is that the Father has never been seen.
That He is evermore the "invisible God, whom no
man hath seen or can see." (St. John v: 37; 1 Tim.
i: 17, and vi: 16, which see). (5) The Almighty
Father is never mentioned in Scripture as being a mes¬
senger, or "sent." The Father sends the Son, 'and
they send the Holy Spirit, and in Scripture language,
this order of precedence is ever maintained. (See
comment of Dr. A. Clark on 1 Tim. vi: 6. etc.) Es¬
pecially do we refer to the comment of the same writer
in Ex. xxxiii: 15, and xxxiv: 6-7. Then compare
Isa. lxiii: 9, etc.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 43
As it is most desirable that the Bible.student should
search, read and compare these Scriptures for himself,
we do not quote them here. It may be remarked,
however, that this Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, points
out the person who was the angel of. Jehovah in the
Patriarchal age, and who was the "Messenger" and
Mediator between God and man, under the Old as well
as the New dispensation.
5. To complete our identification of this angel of
Jehovah in the Old Testament with the Messiah of the
New, we cite as follows: Isa. xl: 3-5. "The voice
of one that crieth, prepare ye in the wilderness the
way of the Lord (Jehovah); make straight in the des¬
ert a high way for our God (Elohinu). And the glory
of the Lord (Jehovah) shall be revealed (manifested)
and all flesh shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it." Compare with this passage that of
St. Matthew iii: 3. "For this is he that .was spoken
of by Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one cry¬
ing in the wilderness," etc. But we have seen that
Isaiah calls this coming personage Jehovah.
6. Take Mai. iii: 1. "Behold I send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me. And the
Lord (Jehovah) whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple; and the messenger (angel) of the covenant
whom ye delight in; behold He shall come, saith the
Lord of hosts."
"But the same person, w'io is to be "messenger" in this passage, is
the Lord Jehovah Himself; nut the same person with the sender but
bearing the same name, because united in that mysterious nature
and undivided substance which the name imports The same person,
therefore.is servant and Lord."—Bp Horsely sermons.
CHRISTOLOGY.
Observe also Isaiah liii: u; this messenger is
God's servant, and xlii: i, etc., "my servant,
"mine elect." Now compare these places with the
Epistle to Hebrews i: i; "God who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past to our fathers,
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by His Son."
Again, the writer to the Hebrews tells us Chap, xii:
24 etc., that the angel who made the solemn covenant
at Sinai, and whose voice then shook the earth so that
Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake, was Jesus
the Mediator of the new covenant which was promised.
Jer. xxxi: 3-34 etc.
Thus do the sacred oracles demonstrate that the
"Angel of the Lord," or as one writer better translates
it, (Jehovah the Angel) i. e. Divine messenger, and the
Christ of the New Testament, are one and the same
person, and that the same titles ^nd honors applied to
God are applied to Him.
As the second person of the Godhead, we have
him presented in the Scriptures as "Advocate,"
Rom. viii: 34; Heb. vii: 25. "Angel of the Lord."
Zech. i: 12;* "Captain of the Host," Josh. 5-14;
"Captain of our Salvation," Heb. ii: 10; "Cor¬
ner Stone," Eph. ii: 20, "Holy One," Psl. xvi: 10;
"Mediator," "Messenger," "Horn of Salvation,"
"Priest," "Prince," "Prophet," and by many other
official and sacred names that point out both the es¬
sential character, and official work of Jesus the Christ.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 47
Sec. II. The Incarnation. This is the mystery by
which''the word was made flesh a>id dwelt among us."
i. As a historic personage, Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of Mary, is as well authenticated as is the per¬
son and history of any other person who lived at
any time, before or since the period of his recorded
earthly sojourn among men. There is now no class of
persons whose intelligence makes them worthy of
notice that write or speak of him as a myth; that is
to say, an imaginary personage who never really ex¬
isted, as was the case of the so-called heathen divin¬
ities.
. The teaching of the Scriptures is that the Son or
Word, who, as the second person in the adorable God¬
head took upon himself our human nature, by con¬
ception of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of a Hebrew
Virgin, and being born of her as other children are
born, became a man, fully and perfectly such in every
respect, as to body, soul and spirit; that into this hu¬
man and earthly estate, he brought the essential nature,
power and dignity of the Godhead, so that the two
whole and perfect natures of man and God were con¬
joined in Him, being made one and inseparable for¬
ever. Thus he is called emphatically Deus homo, the
"God-man." This stupendous mystery and miracle
has been, and still is stubbornly denied, and that too,
by many unquestionably devout and able men.
This opposition has been chiefly predicated on the
ground that what cannot be understood or reconciled
with reason, cannot be believed. In this line o-f op-
posers stand all Unitarians, Deists and Jews.
48
CHRISTOLOGY.
As the history of Jesus' birth is so fully and well
known, it needs no rehearsal here; hence the space that
must be devoted to this section will be given to a re¬
view of the doctrine itself, and to citing the testimony
by which it is sustained.
Under the head of Theophany, Theos, and
Phainein, to appear, to present, show, we have an
immense body of speculative writing. These theo-
phanies show that the idea of Diety manifesting him¬
self by incarnation, that i^, by taking the form of
humanity, is not a strange or new idea in the world,
nor confined to any one nation or race of men. They
show us that in all pagan mythology this claim of
Divine manifestation prevails. Among the Egyp¬
tians, the Greeks, the Hindoos and also the ancient
pagan Europeans, their gods came near to them in
some one or another corporeal form.
From this fact the conclusion is deduced by
some, that since the idea of Deity in its ultimate
concept is difficult, if not indeed, impossible to
grasp, the race has sought accommodation of
the difficulty in this way. Again, it is inferred
from hence that humanity, ever conscious
of its own high origin and longing for an immortal
destiny, has sought to re-connect itself with an im¬
mortal or deathless life. So it comes to pass that "God
manifested in the flesh" has been really " the desire
of nations
But none of these cases of incarnation, either in
the history of them or the philosophy of them, show
any approach to a parallel to the case of Jesus of
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY 49
Nazereth. There may be mystery enough about them
to engage the attention and, for a little time, excite
the curiosity of men; but at best, they were only
ghostly a^aritions of corporeal life. They came, and
vanished as they came.
3. For a fuller view of these ancient conceptions and
mythologies see the great history of Rollin, Vol. 1,
Page 415, and following; also, Maurice's history of
Hindoostan, &c.
But the history of the incarnation of Jesus Christ is
a case apart from all of these. He does not come
among men as an apparition from heaven, nor by met¬
amorphosis from some other form of being; but he
was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and the fact of this
conception and birth announced specifically many
years before hand. "Behold a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,"
Isa. vii: 14: This passage is quoted by the evan¬
gelist St. Matthew thus: "The angel of the Lord ap¬
peared unto him (Joseph) in a dream, saying, Joseph,
thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Ghost. Now all this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord, by the prophet
saying, behold a virgin etc. . * ' * * and
they shall call his name Immanuel, which being inter¬
preted is "God with us." This compound Hebrew
name, Immanuel, not being in any special sense a title
of Deity, many, even good orthodox theologians, and
most learned interpreters, deny that it was or is a di¬
rect prediction of our Saviour's incarnation. The in-
5°
CHRIST0L0GY.
terpretatioi} of the words of which it is compounded
are those exactly as given by the Evangelist, and
underscored above in the phrase, "God with us.
The Hebrew words are Immanu-El. Just as our word
Bethel; is made of Beth-El.which, when given in Eng¬
lish, means House of God. But it is not the design of
our little work to deal with these niceties. It is
enough for our purpose to say that the Holy Spirit
speaking by the mouth of the Evangelist, as by that
of the prophet, declares this to be the significance of
Isaiah's prophecy, and this we are bound to believe
whether directly or indirectly referring to Mary of
Bethlehem; the ultimate design was to point out the
miraculous birth of the Son of God.
4. In further support and illustration of the perfect
humanity of Jesus, we direct attention to the inspired
statement that, "the child grew and waxed strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was
upon him." Luke ii: 40. Here we see a human life
exactly at one with all other human lives; a child
growing in strength and knowledge, and developing
in the natural, ordinary way all the faculties of body
and of mind.
"If Christ had been only a faultless being,
He never would have set up a type of character
which at the end of two thousand years is fresh and
life-giving and inspiring still. He never would have
regenerated the world; he never wcu1d have
*'drawn all men unto him," by being- lifted up, and
making self devotion beautiful. In Christ the Divine
and human blended; immutability joined itself to mi-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 51
tability. There was in him the divine which remained
fixed; the human which was constantly developing.
For the soul of Christ was not cast down upon this
world.a perfect thing at once. Spotless? Yes. Fault¬
less? Yes. Tempted and yet without sin." See Sermon,
on the early development of Jesus, by F.W. Robertson.
Finally, the conception contained in the doctrine of
the incarnation is, that in the union of the divine and
human natures, Jesus Christ becomes, not a man,
merely, but the man, a generic representative of the
race, as was the first man Adam. And so we have in
the phrasing of St. Paul. "For as by one man's diso¬
bedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous." Rom. v: 19.
"For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ all shall be made alive." 1 Cor. xv: 21, 22.
Thus upon the doctrine of the perfect manhood of
Jesus rests all which follows concerning the grace and
goodness of God in the salvation of the world.
Section III. The Holy Ghost.
The next subject for brief study is the doctrine which
sets forth the personality and divinity of the Holy
Spirit.
1. Compared to the evidences which demonstrate
the personality and divinity of Jesus Christ, those
which establish, the doctrine now to be noted, are very
meagre. Yet as we shall see, they are ample not only
to warrant the doctrine of trinitarians on this subject,
but such as oblige us to regard the Holy Spirit in the
same sense, a person, and sharing co-equally with the
THE HOLY GHOST.
Father and the Son in the fullness and glory of the
Godhead.
2. Many persons in the early church were inclined,
from various reasons, to doubt, or deny outright, the
truth of this doctrine. But a vast majority of the
church have accepted the plain teaching of Scripture
on this subject and have pronounced every opposing
opinion heretical.
The view taken was, that That, which in Scripture is
called the Holy Spirit, signifies only the spiritual influ¬
ence, or attribute of Deity personified and thus used
figuratively, as though it were a person. They held
that the phrases, "spirit of God" and "spirit of Christ"
should be regarded in no other sense than we should
signify by saying the 11 will of God," or by saying that
the "spirit of Christ" means only the holy disposition
and character that illustrate his life and conduct.
In this way the third person of the Trinity was re¬
duced to a mere figure of speech, called in rhetoric
prosopopaia, or personification. But it is very plain
that all such representations are puerile, for the Scrip¬
tures furnish testimony that cannot be explained away
as to the personality of the Holy Ghost.
3. The passages relied on in support of this truth are
such as follow: "When the Comforter is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall
testify of me." John xv: 26. "It is not ye that
speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in
you." Matt, x: 20. And he breathed on them and
saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 53
Jchn xx: 22. "But holy men of old spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost." See Peter i: 21.
"Concerning which salvation the prophets sought
and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you; searching what time, or manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings oi
Christ and the glory that follows: To whom it was
revealed that not unto themselves, but unto you, did
they minister the things which have now been declared
unto you, through them that preached the gospel unto
you by the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven."
1 Peter i: 10-12.
"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost." Matt, xxviii: 19. Concern¬
ing the venerable and saintly Simeon we read in St.
Luke ii: 25, 26, "And the Holy Spirit was upon him;
and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death until he had seen the
Lord's Christ, (anointed). "And the Holy Ghost de¬
scended in a bodily form as a dove, upon him," (new
version). Luke iii; 22. Again, in the case of Annanias,
St. Peter says, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to
lie unto the Holy Ghost ? Thou hast not lied unto
man, but unto God."
Here we have not only personality, but Divinity,
too. So much for New Testament evidence of
personality.
4. As to the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the testi¬
monies relied on are such as follow: Matt, xii: 32.
54
THE HOLY GHOST.
"'But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,
it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor
in that which is to come. Here blasphemy means to
slander, degrade or profane. The Jews who witnessed
the miracles of Jesus and were unable to deny them,
taught the people that it was by the power of Balzebub
or Satan that he performed his wonders. But Jesus
says in verse 25, that His miracles were wrought by
the Spirit of God. Hence the slander, the unpardon¬
able blasphemy. "Woe unto them that call good evil."
He is called the Lord. " Now the Lord is that
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty." 2 Cor. iii, 17.
He is eternal. Heb. ix, 14. "The eternal Spirit/'
And thus throughout both the New and Old Testa¬
ment Scriptures it can be shown that equal honors and
co-equal majesty is ascribel to the Holy Ghost.
The great commission of the Master is: "Go ye
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost."
From these and many other passages of holy Scrip¬
ture that may easily be found by any student who will
take a tittle pains to look them up, the Christian doc¬
trine which sets forth the personality, and Divinity of
the Holy Spirit is most fully sustained.
The relations of this tri-personality subsisting in the
Godhead, as revealed in the Bible^ is seen to be thus:
The Father is such by paternity. The Son is God by
filiation, and the-Holy Ghost is God, and. co-equal, by
procession, " ■
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 55
"With this we complete the first division of study
comprised in this little volume. At this point, as at
several others in the preceding paragraphs, we have
felt a strong desire to enlarge the scope of discussion,
but the space allotted to each subject forbids, if we
are to keep within the bounds of our design.
56
OF THE CREATION.
IP&rt Seeorjd.
CHAPTER I.
SECTION I.
OF THE CREATION.
Prelim in a ry Sta tcm cnt.
i. The Bible affirms that God, in the beginning,
created all things: the earth and heavens and all the
hosts of them. Two points of fierce debate have
grown out of this Bible statement. First, as to the
sense or meaning of the word creation. Whether is to
be understood the collection and arrangement of pre¬
viously existing matter, or whether it means a creation
ex nihilo, that is, from nothing.
Secondly, as to the time of this beginning. Was
it when the earth and planets began their orderly pro¬
cession, by which the days, months and years are dis-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 57
tinguished? Were the earth and visible heavens just
fresh from the hand of God when man was made and
began his career, or had there been long ages of un¬
folding and vicissitude in the universe before the
point marked by the sacred writer as the beginning ?
The Christian belief is, that at the commencement of
time, that is to say, when our planetary system, sun,
moon, earth and planets appeared as we now observe
them in their stations and courses, God created
them by the word of his power, and arranged them as
they now are, in the space of time allotted to six ordi¬
nary working da3rs; and that before this creation and
arrangement, all was eternity. See on this subject, the
article "Days of Creationin Watson's Theological
Institutes. Also the Handy Commentary of C. J.
Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester, published by Cissell
& Co., New York, 1888, on Gen. i: 1. We may, how¬
ever, observe that while this is the recorded belief of
the Church as contained in theological works, it has
been greatly modified in recent times by the discussions
and disclosures of modern science. The testimony of
Geology as to the epochal history of our globe, ren¬
ders it quite impossible that the universe as we see it,
can be but six days older than man. But to all this
high claim of science, it may be boldly propounded,
who are you ? Who are your witnesses ? And what
your claims upon our faith? To the first question the
answer is, only a stripling, less than a century old.
And to the second, the answer is, her witnesses are
only the wordy conjectures of fallible men. And from
these answers, the third question answers itself.
58 OF THE RATIONAL CREATION.
It may be well to observe that Moses does not tell
us liow many years since the beginning, to which he
assigns the creative transaction. But there is reason
to believe that the popular chronology which assigns
to our world only a little more than six thousand
years, is greatly at fault, and that the earth at least,
i( not also man, its chief inhabitant, has a history of
more than twice six thousand years.
2. As to the idea of a creation out of pre-existing
materials, we do not see how it could be seriously
argued. A creation out of material furnished before
hand would be no creation at all, but only an arrange¬
ment; at most, only conversion of materials from one
form to another. But the Scriptures put this question
to rest when they tell us that the things which we see
were " not made of things which do appear." See the
comment of Dr. A. Clark on this point, Heb. xi, 3.
3. The material universe as we now behold it,
comprising earth, the sea and canopied heavens, pre¬
sent us in the ensemble, the resplendent vision of a
practical infinity. Measureless depth, and height,
and breadth fill up the prospect as viewed from any
accessible point within our wide survey.
But all is not earth, nor water, nor elastic air spread
out in fadeless azure on the walls of boundless space.
There is life, and life in varied degress of fullness and
efficiency; vegetable, animal and intellectual life.
4. This creation is itself a stupendous mystery;
Sublime, immense and awful, it is so rounded in com¬
pleteness that our finite and clouded understanding is
well nigh paralyzed in the effort to grasp its num-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 59
berless relations, and explore the departments of its
imperial domain. It is only in the light of a written
revelation from God, that we are enabled to obtain a
satisfactory explanation or adequate reasons for the
creation, arrangement and continued support, of the
whole expanded frame. The Bible teaches that for
His own glory, God has created the world.
5. " O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wis¬
dom hast Thou made them all! The earth is full of
Thy riches." Psalm civ. 24. "For by Him were all
things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth,
visible and invisible; all things were created by Him
and for Him." Col. i, 16. "In like manner we read:
It pleased God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, for
the manifestation of His eternal power, wisdom and
goodness, in the beginning, to make of nothing the
world and all things therein." Presbyterian Confession
of Faith, page 32.
It is the accepted belief of the Christian world, that
our globe was made and furnished for human abode,
and that the declaration of St. Paul, quoted above,
"all things were made by Him and for Him," namely,
Jesus Christ, includes the human family of which He
is the head. In like manner speculation has led to the
inquiry whether other worlds in our solar system are
the habitation of men? But the Bible is silent here.
6. But we turn to our chosen path of duty, and as we
are chiefly concerned in theological study, with the his¬
tory of rational and intelligent creatures under the will
and providence of God, our first inquiry is, As to what
IS TAUGHT INHoI^Y WRIT, OF THESE INTERAGENCIES.
6o
OF THE RATIONAL CREATION.
Section II. i. We find in Scripture that there are
two classes, or orders, of intelligent beings, and only
two, namely, angels and men.
Of the angels we are taught that they are spiritual
beings, intelligent and strong; inhabiting the heavenly
region and acting as messengers of the celestial world.
Concerning these we read in Scripture, "Who maketh
his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire.
Heb. i: 7. "And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved
under chains of darkness unto the judgment of the
great day." St. Jude 6. Their numbers are great.
"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even
thousands of Angels." Psl. lxviii: 17.
3. They are represented as marshalled into ranks
and armies, (See Eph. vi: 12) and as deeply interested
in the mysteries of Providence respecting the redemp¬
tion of men. (See 1 Peter i: 12). But some of these are fal¬
len, and having thus become estranged from God they
are now unappeasable foes of his kingdom. These
apostate angels are the most malignant, wicked and
polluted beings of which it is possible to conceive.
The title given their fallen chief, signifies "enemy,'1
"adversary," and he is said to be the ' father of lies."
For a full discussion of the titles, character and
work of Satan, see Dr. Smith's Dictionary of the
Bible, pp. 611, 612 etc., and also McClintock &
Strong's Encyclopaedia, articles Satan and Demon.
See also appendix.
4- ^-A-N The creation of man, and the moral gov~
eminent under which he^was placed. The fall 0;
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 61
Adam and the promise of rcdemptioti are the subjects
which now command our attention.
Section III. i. Varied and beautiful as is our
world, comprised, as to its surface, of water and land,
and distributed with remarkable precision into oceans,
seas, gulfs, bays, lakes and rivers; and into continental
divisions with equanimity and balance, the whole sur¬
rounded by an elastic and vital atmosphere, it were
difficult to imagine the creation and furnishment of so
complete a habitation without reference to a suitable
inhabitant. Man would not do this; and supposing
the world to be the product of an intelligent author,
we cannot suppose he would be controlled by a less
definite purpose than even the wisest of men.
The theory of design has a large place, and must
ever have a large place, not only in theological science,
but in all human thinking and conduct.
It is now called the "theory" or "doctrine of final
causes." In our Christian theory, the primitive cause
of all things is the will of God, and the final cause His
glory. "By His will, for His pleasure they are and
were created.''—Wesley.
2. The world, we see, and all its contents, are under
the reign of law. The whole material organism,
whether of matter, mind or spirit, seems to lie in the
grasp of an iron hand, that preserves its order and
leads it on through all the rounds of mutual conser¬
vation. And this we call the law of nature, or natur¬
al government of the world. But there is another law
and another form of Administration that has respect
to the motives and conduct of rational beings, and
6a
ANTHROPOLOGY.
that determines the right or wrong of these acts and
motives.
3. This is called moral government—such a govern¬
ment can only apply to creatures that have the gift of
reason and the power to judge, compare and choose.
This moral law, in the essence of it, we have reason to
believe, must be the same for all intelligent beings en¬
dowed with a moral nature.
4. The scriptures clearly show that angels and men
are under this moral law; including those angels that
are fallen and called devils.
5. The substance or sum of this moral law is love.
Love to God and love to our fellows. And these in¬
clude obedience and duty. "Love is the fulfilling of
the law," is one of the most comprehensive maxims to
be found in the wide world. To love God is not sure¬
ly, burdensome or hard law for any rational creature.
We have a thousand tokens of his love leaping forth
from the open hand of benevolence every day; and so
it was from the beginning. To love God is only to be
in harmony with the noble plan of man's own being,
and to join in the flow of endless felicity.
6. Again. Precisely so, also, with the other branch
of the law, that requires us to love our "neighbors."
Man is fitted for society, and hence all were made of
one blood, so that all, being brethren, might be, of neces¬
sity, fitted for like enjoyments and a like destiny.
Anything less, therefore, than the law of love, must
be irreverent to the Creator and Father of all, and fatal
10 human happiness.
imiiBT OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 63
On this particular point we subjoin the following ob¬
servations from the venerable Mr. Wesley, as repro¬
duced in the Institutes of Watson, vol. 2, pages 6—7:
1. "Indeed, if rational beings are under a law at all, it cannot be
conceived that less than this could be required by the good and holy
being, the Creator- They are bound to render all love, honor and obe¬
dience to him by a natural and absolute obligation " "From these
■ veiws it follows that all particular precepts, whether they relate to God
or to other rational creatures, arisf* out of one or the other of these two
"great" and comprehending "commandments," and that every partic¬
ular law supposes the general one."
2. After showing how our Saviour affirms these
two * 'commandments" as the sum of all recorded law
and prophecy, and that St. Paul enrolls, under this same
universal code, the particular commands of the deca¬
logue, "thou shalt not commit adultery," "thou shalt
not kill," "thou shalt not steal," "thou shalt not
covet," and if there be any other commandment, it is
briefly comprehended in this saying: "thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself." He proceeds thus:
3. "We are warranted to conclude that all moral, particular precepts
presuppose those two general ones, wherever th6y are found, and to
whomsoevei they are given."
i. "When the law of Moses was given, graven on stone by the finger
of God, law was not first introduced into the world * * * * Noah was
a "righteous man" and the' violence and wickedness" of the antedilu¬
vian world wore the causes of its destruction "Enoch walked with
God," Abel was righteous, and Cain "wicked" before the flood."
6. Now as the moral quality of actions is determined by law, and
the moral law is a revelation of the will of God; and as every punitiva
act oa his part, and every bestowment of rewards and favors express¬
ly on account of righteousness, suppose a regal administration; men
were under a law up to the time of the fall, which law, in all its partic¬
ular precepts, according to the reasoning of our Lord and St. Paul,
given above, presuppose the two great commandments." Thus are we
conducted to a more ancient date of the Oivine law than that deliver¬
ed amid the solemnities of Pinai, or even the creation of man; a law
coeval in its declaration with the date of created rational existence,
and in its principles, coeval with God himself."
64
ANTHROPOLOGY.
6. The law of God, speaking after the manner of maa. is aeopyof
the eternal mind—a transcript of the Divine nature. Yea, it is the
fairest offspring of the everlasting Father, the brightest afflux of his
essential wisdom, the visible beauty of the Most High; it is "holy, just
and good "
Sec. 4. These preliminary observations bring us to
the study of the subject of man's creation and endow¬
ments.
1. "And the L,ord God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils (face) the
breath of life, and man became a living soul." Gen.
2:7. Here we have the concise, simple story of hu¬
man origin. Although the statement is exceedingly
brief, it is nevertheless invested with a solemnity and
importance that strikingly distinguishes it from all else
that he had done.
When the material and sentient world had been
completed and all arranged, "the living creature after
his kind," and creeping (literally swarming) things,
cattle (our ruminant domestic animals, as is supposed)
and beast of the earth after his kind," (meaning the
wild roversof the forest, as supposed,) "and it was so"
i e—it was done, "And God saw that it was good."
"And God said:" Let 21s make man, (Adam) in our
image, after our likeness.
On this passage the Handy Commentary by very
Rev. R. Payne Smith, D. D., Dean of Canterbury, has
this:
"In the Assyrian tongue, Adam, the name for man, is also Adamu or
Admu, In that literature, so marvelously preserved to our days, Sir H.
Itawlinson thinks he has traced the first man up to the black, or Acca-
dian race."
In our image, after our likeness. So man was made
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 65
in the image of God, and after the likeness of God.
These two words considered as English, are synony¬
mous, and convey almost the same idea, but there is a
difference that seemed of sufficient importance to war¬
rant the use of both terms.
4. Of what this image and likenesss consisted has
been a fruitful subject of debate. But the general
view, upon which there is substantial unity, is that it
consists in his spiritual nature—including immortality
and the intellectual or rational endowment which qual¬
ifies him for dominion, Lordship. For immediately
after the decision to clothe him with our image, after our
likeness, the decree follows: Let him have "domin¬
ion," &c.
5. The most important point of likeness to God must
have been the moral nature with which he was endowed.
Herein was enthroned the power of love, the felic¬
ity of conscious knowledge. To see, to know con¬
sciously, by comparison of one thing with another, to
appreciate the pleasures of the imagination by contem¬
plating the beautiful the true; to feel the distinction be¬
tween harmony and disonance; to see the difference
between right and wrong as reflected in the moral law
and to be conscious of the power of endless progres¬
sion in knowledge are alone characteristic of the crea¬
ture—man.
6. That this most rational and God-like being was
originally holy, without a taint or trace of moral cor¬
ruption agrees with the best conclusions of reason, as
well as with the teaching of revelation on this subject.
7. H ly scripture teaches that man was created holy
66
ANTHROPOLOGY.
and happy; and that he was thus fitted for, and admit¬
ted to, familiar intercourse with God.
With the bending heavens before him garnished with
ten thousand clusters of silvery gems that flash and
flame in bewildering splendor from the pole of the
North to that of the South. With a landscape spread
out about him, 'neath an ever widening horizon; an
ever varying aspect of form and color, combining crim¬
son and blue and gold and emerald; with groves of
fruit on every elevated ridge, and fountains that be¬
came leaping cascades of laughing water, flowing in
every valley ;• and above all, with the assurance of the
perpetual favor and presence of God, Adam must have
been unspeakably happy.
Sec. 5- The Woman, i. The story of human or¬
igin introduces also the distinction which relates to
sex. After the creation of Adam, we are told that the
Lord formed the woman from a bone of his frame;
saying: "It is not good," not in accordance with the
plan of human well being "that the mm should be
alone," I will make him a help meet for him," "And
the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept, and he took one of his ribs****and the rib
which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her tmto the man. And Adam
said: "this is now, bone of my bones, and flesh of mv
flesh; she shall be called woman, (isha) because she
was taken out of man." Gen. ii: 18-21-23.
2. Afterward we read in chap. 3: 20, "And Adam
called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother
of all living." Thus do the sacred scriptures teach that
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 67
man is the direct, immediate creation of God. As to
his body, he formed him of the dust of the ground; and
as to his soul, or inward constitution, by direct crea¬
tion, and by the inspiration of his own breath. No
evolution here, from the lower forms of life. Male and
female were fashioned by his hand, and their name call¬
ed Adam. The one Adam.
3. The doctrine derived from this narrative, is,
that Adam is the progenitor of the human race; of all
the varieties of men on the globe. Indeed, the name
as used in Gen. i: 26, Adam, is generic and suggests
the embodiment of the race; not the man, but man.
And so in Gen. 5: 2, "And called their name Adam"
man.
4. This doctrine of human unity and universal
brotherhood cannot be made too emphatic. Infidel
scepticism, arising from the malarial flats of human
pride, has fiercely assailed this doctrinal truth through
many years, and yet perhaps, never more violently or
assiduously than now.
A Frenchman named Isaac Pewrere, who flourished
1592, three hundred years ago, and who, as to his re¬
ligion, was a nondescript, published a tract entitled:
Pre Adamitae, or a desertion upon the 12th, 13th and
14th verses of the 15th chapter of Romans. In this
tract he sought to show that prior to the creation of
Adam there were races of men on the earth. That
Adam was simply the progenitor of the Hebrew race,
and per consequence, the father of the Noachian fami¬
ly. That the heathen races were pre-Adamites, created
probably when the cattle were brought into being.
68
ANTHROPOLOGY.
(See quotation from Knapp's Theology by Prof. J.
P. Boyce, D. D'., (Bapt.) 1887, and the Cyclopedia of
McClintock and Strong. Art. Isaac Peyrere, also the
article itself Pre-Adamites.
5. In our own times and country, Prof. Alexander
Winchell of N. Y. and lecturer on Geology, espoused
this doctrine, by which a considerable amount of agita¬
tion in christian circles was created. Prof. Baldwin of
New England, who published a book in 1869, entitled:
"Prehistoric 'Nations," seems also inclined to the view
of a simultaneous creation of the various races (so
called) of men in various parts of the globe.
6. Notwithstanding all human debate, the "testi¬
mony of God stands sure." The scriptures relied on
in support of the original narrative, found in the 1st,
2nd &c. of Gen., which have already been adduced, are
such as the 3rd verse of the 100th Psalm—"He hath
made us, and not we ourselves," and ciii: 14; Eccles.
vii: 29; Isa. lxiv: 8, and in the New Testament, Matt,
xix: 4; Mark x: 6; Rom. ix: 20; 1st Cor. xi: 7-9 &c.
7. The scriptural account of Adam's transgression
and fall, and the entailment of its ruinous consequences
upon the whole race, not only sustains the claim of par¬
ental representation, but is confirmed by the fact of
universal human condition. In every place of human
abode, the evidences of sin and its fruits abound. The
same inward and outward character distinguish the
race in all parts of the earth. The same inward feelings
belong to all. Hope, desire, love, envy, fear and ambi¬
tion of control belong to man everywhere. The al¬
most universal feeling of lordship, the right to rule,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 69
to participate in the sovereignty is that alone which
makes liberty possible. These are sole characteristics
of the creature—man, and manifest themselves wher¬
ever the native instincts are in the least developed,, and
have fair play.
8. No man can deny for a moment the unity of the
human race, who has not first turned away from loyal¬
ty to God, and to the plain teaching of scripture.
The scriptures plainly teach that all the nations on
earth, since the flood, are descended from Noah. They
teach that the antediluvian world utterly perished. (See
Gen. 6-7 chaps.) The three great branches of the
human family, derived from the three sons of Noah,
sufficiently account for all the known varieties of men
now on the globe. So that it is well said by Dr. Boyce,
that "if any other variety of human beings existed,
(which is wholly improbable,) they perished in the
deluge with the wicked Adamites."
We may be assured, in the light of what has been
said, that every attempt to' disprove the common origin
and unity of man is the instigation of human pride,
whose aim is to degrade and dishonor some less fortu¬
nate variety—for the time being—of the human
family.
CHAPTER II.
The Moral Status of Adam; or the Primitive Prin¬
ciples of religioyi.
1. Concerning the moral status of Adam, the Bible
teaches that he was created holy. "So God created man
in his own image; in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them," Gen. i : 27. '%o
this have I found also, that God hath made man up¬
right," He. vii : 29; see also Col. iii : 9—10, and Eph.
iv : 24, "The new creation, which after God, is in right¬
eousness and true holiness."
2. Plainly, the meaning here is that Adam was not
only innocent, in that he was guilty of no sin, but that
he was positively righteous. This is far more than
negative innocence. It comprehends all moral and
mental equipoise; it is complete adjustment to the holy
will and perfect law of God.
3. Thus were our first parents fitted by constitution
of the moral nature, by their intellectual endowment,
and peculiarly favored situation, to enjoy communion
with the Creator in the cloudless light of His constant
smiles. Life must have been to them, in this blessed
estate, a fountain of unspeakable joy. Not life in our
present dull sense of the word, but life in its essence;
conscious personal being, conscious spiritual potency,
conscious knowledge of relation to God as son, and
OP emusmN rummex, a
hence conscious dignity as lord, pr prince of the world.
Surely this was the "well of w^ter" in him, "spring¬
ing up intq life eternal."
4. But man is a composite being uniting in his per¬
sonality the two elements, spirit and matter. The body
dust; the soul, a deathless spirit. Such is the teach¬
ing of theology, founded on the inspired word. The
phrases of scripture on this subject are, for the most
part, very obscure. But the conclusion of our best in¬
terpreters is, that the scriptures describe man as three¬
fold in nature—expressed by three terms in the Hebrew
and Greek languages, meaning body, soul and spirit.
But it is very doubtful, after all that has been said or
can be said on the subject, whether anything more can
be derived from scriptural sources, than that man is
composed of the two elements, soul and body, a spiritu¬
al essence, with organized functional capacity, and a
material organism united.
The three terms, soul, spirit and body, as applied to
man, are taken from St. Paul, 1. Epis. to Thes. v : 23:
"And I pray God your whole spirit, (to pneuma) and
soul, (kai he psuche) and body, (kai to soma) be preserved
blameless, etc." In attempting to trace the significa¬
tion of these terms, so as to determine the exact sense
of each, we find that they are used interchangeably by
both the classic and sacred writers, that is to say, the
two Greek words pneimia and psuche.
This phraseology is peculiar to St. Paul only, of
all the New Testament authors. This would cause no
surprise, as he alone was probably, excepting St. Luke
the physician,— the only educated man among them.
ANTHROPOLOGY.
But we are told by the learned, (See Shedd's Theo.
vol ii, on the "Resurrection," and the Cyclopedia of
McClintock, vol. ix.—891, on the "Soul"), that this
distinction between the soul and spirit was recognized,
and fairly expressed by writers in the Hebrew of the old
Testament. McClintock says: "In the holy scriptures
three principles are recognized as essential components
of man. And then gives the list with their interpreta¬
tion:— (1) Hebrew, Ruach\ Greek, Pnenma, both of
which he translates Soul. (2) Hebrew Nephish, Greek
psuche, which he translates Spirit. (3) Hebrew Bas/iar,
Greek Sarx or Soma, translated tody. Just before this
he tells us, "Modern philosophers in Germany make a
distinction between Psuche (Seele), and Pnetuna (Geist)
gist, spirit; but he says 'they reverse the relative signifi¬
cance of these terms.' Of course they do, acceding
to that given by the Cyclopedists; but certainly not ac¬
cording to St. Paul, as also the entire New Testament
usage as far as we have been able to find it. Every¬
where the soul is psuche, and the spirit, ptieuvia*
And so our Lord in the garden. He psuche mou heos
thanatou:'' My soul" "is exceedingly sorrowful even un¬
to death." St. Stephen, the martyr when dying said:
"Lord Jesus receive my spirit", Pneuma mou. But
Mary in her song of rejoicing, said: "My soul—psuche
—doth magnify the Lord.''
Now how is it that our Cyclopedists tell us that the
German scholars "reverse the significance of the
terms?" And that Prof. Schubert—Purpose of Existence,
published 1850, says: "the soul is the inferior part of
•St. John iv. : 34—Pneuma Ho Theos, "God is a Spirit."
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 73
our nature; while the spirit is that part of our nature
that tends to the purely rational, the lofty and divine."
We exhibit these references to show how widely
apart these wise men are, and how little they really
know about this occult matter. The truth is, that if
you will take all they say and construe them together,
they amount to a practical babel. But as this is an
important subject that cannot be lightly passed by the
Bible student, when seeking light concerning the nature
and constitution of man, it may contribute somewhat
to our ideas, by turning to St. Paul, the author of this
peculiar nomenclature, and seeking for the meaning or
significance he attached to the words he used. Mean¬
while we might ask: does any one, can any one believe
that our Saviour while weeping death-tears in the gar¬
den, saying, "My soul is sorrowful unto death," meant
only that his "inferior nature"—the animal nature—
that which pertains to the brute instinct, appetite, pas¬
sion, was sorrowful? If you do not so believe, then
you believe with us, that the soul as used generally in
the Bible, points out all that is real or essential in the
complex creatuie -man. When Mary says: "My soul
doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Saviour, "who can doubt that she meant the
same thing by psuche mou, "my soul," as by pneuma
mon, "my spirit?
From these considerations we infer that when Paul
says: "I pray God that your whole spirit, soul and
body, be preserved, etc.," he means no more than that
the whole being should be renewed and kept by Divine
grace to the coming of our Lord. The phrasing is sim-
74
ANTHROPOLOGY.
ply Pauline and nothing more. No scientific signifi¬
cance can be or should be attached to it. And yet, out
of this saying chiefly, we may believe, the whole theo¬
ry of human Trichotomy, (Trichometry, Shedd calls it)
has been constructed. Hence, when we speak of the
soul, we should signify as the inspired writers have
done—the organized faculties and powers of our being.
When we speak of the spiritual nature of man, we
should signify nothing distinct from the soul, but only
that inseparable quality which characterizes the soul.
The phrasing of St. Paul i Cor. ii: 14-15. "The
natural man" Psuchikos Anthropos\ and the "spiritual
man" Pneumatikos, "he that is spiritual," does not
mean that the first man is anything different, constitu¬
tionally, from the second, but only uses this variorum
of expression to show that the one is a justified man,
and the other an unbeliever.
It is little less than heresy to claim any other distinc¬
tion in the use of these words. So, too, 1 Cor. xv. 144,
"It is sown a 'natural body;' it is raised a 'spiritual
body.' Soma psuchikos, 'natural body,' Soma pneuma¬
tikos, 'a spiritual body.' " In this sublime climax of
antitheses, we have a theological distinction truly, but
a scientific distinction, never! See Shedd's Theo. vol.
2 :667, Hodge vol. iii : 779 "Behold all souls (psucliia)
are mine; as the soul (psuche) of the father, so also the
soul {psuche) of the son; the soul (psuche) that sinneth it
shall die."—Ezek. xviii : 4.
Here it is plain that the meaning of the word is the
whole man, and not a part. Death is threatened agai nst
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 75
body and soul. By paranomasia, the soul is put for all.
Now, whatever may be the organizing principle behind
animal, or even plant life, we do not, and perhaps can¬
not ever know scientifically; but we know theologically
that it is God. And we know from both science and the¬
ology that while there is diversity offleshf {body), the
third term in trichotomy*, there is unity of life.
When God breathed into Adam's face the breath of
"lives," Nishmath Chaiyim, he became a "living" soul,
Nephish Chavah. So, if the "lives" mean more than
one element, they were combined to constitute the one
thing; the one being—a "living soul."
It is these, we may believe, that John saw beneath
the altar in his vision, crying: "how long?"—Revela¬
tion vi : 9-10..
Although these questions lie above the line of inquiry
in our little work, we have extended these paragraphs
far beyond our intention, because the importance of
the subject seemed to demand it. The whole question of
immortality and the resurrection is involved in it. The
scriptures tell us the "beasts perish," Psalm xlix: 20;
but "the soul of man returns to the God who gave it,"
Eccles. xii: 7.
That there are functional distinctions in the exercise
of the soul's powers there can be no doubt, and to
these differences of function we may possibly refer the
question of a threefold organization; and these may be
what is explained as cognitive, sensitive and optative,
or intellect, sensibility and will.
t i Cor. xv. : 39.
* Tries three, and temno—to cut; divide.
76
ANTHROPOLOGY.
5. However the important matter is that man is a
moral creature, having not only the intellectual power
of thought and reason, but a moral power that gives
him cognizance of the principles of right and wrong.
And it is this that connects him with a realm far above
all his surroundings in this world. It lifts him into a
sublime atmosphere where the lines spread out toward
the infinite. All other sentient creatures are left in the
lower realm of instinct for the guidance of their con¬
duct, but man is clothed with reason as the instrument
of power, that gives him the mastery of his surround¬
ings, and releases him from the sway of mere instinct
as a dominant influence. He was born for dominion
and hence his responsibility.
6. A large dominion was given him, while a wide
and wonderful career lay before him. "And God bless¬
ed them, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have domin¬
ion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth." Not the Garden merely, but the wide world
was given him as his patrimony.
7. The status of man, then, as derived from the
scriptures, may be stated thus:—(1) He was spiritual,
intelligent and pure. (2) In knowledge, in holiness,
and in the dominion given him, he was in the image of
God—marvelous creature, a matchless production from
the hand of the Almighty God of love.
Section 2.—Of the Commandments and the Fall.
1. Let us review the scripture narration, Gen. ii: 8
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 77
16-17. "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Bden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the Lord God to
grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food; the Tree of Life, also, in the midst of the gar¬
den, and the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil,(vs.
15) And the Lord God took the man, and put him into
the garden of Eden to keep it. (16) And the Lord
God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat, Hebrew (eating, thou
shalt eat,) (17) But of thetreee of the knowledge of good
and evil, Thou shall not eat of it.' For in the day that
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Hebrew—
"dying, thou shalt die."
2. Here we have a brief, but most interesting and
instructive array of particulars as the first page in hu¬
man history. (1) The Lord God prepares a garden
eastward in Eden; and adorns it with every species of
beauty to delight the eye, to please the ear, and soothe
the soul—a very paradise indeed. (2) He then kindly
leads Adam into this beautiful place; shows him every¬
thing it contained, and gives it to him as a permanent
abode. Here in pleasant daily intercourse with his
Maker, Adam became familiar with all around him,
with every bird and friendly beast or fruiting tree.
3. How long he remained in this estate before the
creation of Eve, we have no intimation nor means of
learning, but reason suggests that it was probably quite
a while; possibly years more or less. Then comes the story
of Eve's creation and presentation to him, whereat evi¬
dently, ecstacy ravished his soul. He had seen every-
ANTltROt'OiOfiYi
thing; he had named everything as a result of his study
find observation, and had found nothing fitted for his
social companionship, none capable of sharing his hap¬
piness by converse and rational sympathy. The de-
demand for society—suitable and congenial, is a primi¬
tive deposit in the constitution of man.
4. With Adam and his wife united, and settled in
the possession of their happy and most pleasant abode,
we are brought to a new phase in this astonishing nar¬
rative.
Taking up the thread of our story again, we read:
"Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast
of the field which the L,ord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, 'yea, hath God said, ye shall not
eat of every tree of the garden ?' And the woman said
unto the serpent, 'we may eat of the trees of the gar¬
den; but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the
garden,' God hath said, 'ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch if* lest ye die.' And the serpent said un¬
to the woman, 'ye shall not surely die; For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, (God) know¬
ing" good from evil.' And when the woman saw,
&c., she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also to her husband with her, (he being with her ?) and
he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened
and they knew, &c.; and they sewed fig-leaves together
to make themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
•See Appendix.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 79
in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God
called unto Adam * * * where art thou?' And he
said, 'I heard thy voice * * * and I was afraid, because
&c., and I hid myself. * * * * And the man said, the
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave
me of the tree and I did eat.' * * * And the woman
said, 'the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.' Then
follows the curse—"Cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles, &c.; Dust thou art and unto
dust thou shalt return.''
5. We thus present the substance of the record—the
only record that casts any light on the commencement
of that long series of toil, affliction and sorrow that
have accompanied the Adamic race from the morning
of time until to-day; and the first reflection that falls
on our mind is, how hazy is that light.
We may observe too, first of all, that this picture is
seen through a vista immensely lengthened. Thous¬
ands of years lie between our day and those eventful
times in which this scene was laid. No wonder then,
that the utmost endeavors of learning, wrapped in
reverence and skill, have failed to fetch into clearer
light the features of the case, so as to lift even the most
salient points, (considered as history), above the plane
of faltering conjecture. The lessons taught by the nar¬
rative, however, are not at all difficult of ascertainment,
owing to the increasing light of later revelation. So
8o
ANTHROPOLOGY.
that, theologically speaking, the doctrinal truth in¬
volved in the veiled narration is sufficiently conclusive
and strong.
6. Hence, why may we stop to speculate, or inquire
as to this or that incident in the story ? Why not
plunge into the doctrinal outline at once, take our in¬
ventory and pass on? Well, perhaps we can best afford
to linger through a few paragraphs about this scene, as
it is one that is indeed profoundly interesting, (i) For
our convenience we may look the story over, and set
out the prominent features, or more suggestive points
in simple modern terms that we may easily take them in.
Up to the point, paragraph (4) of this section, (which
see) Adam had apparently roamed about Eden as sin¬
less, free and irresponsible as any of the quadrumana
or winged tribes of creatures by which he was sur¬
rounded. No command, or limitation of any kind had
been given him for bounding his conduct, or guiding
his aspirations. No duty was laid on him, but to
touch the earth with the artless hand of expectation,
and her bosom heaved with bursting joy, and plenty
crowned his board. Then too, all was prime and fresh
and sweet and free from taint of anything that would
or could re-act on the brain or in the blood, to give him
pain or aught but strength and rest.
Then there was the Tree of Life. The promise, pos¬
sibly, and pledge too, of immortality. Also the Tree of
the K7iowledge of good and evil. This is still more dif¬
ficult even to conjecture. But our thoughts turn in¬
stinctively to the wisdom, the goodness, the power, and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 81
the love of God, and from thence can only think of this
mystic tree as the repository of finite possibilities for
man upward or downward; as that thing through
which the Infinite would reveal himself in multiform
relations; his goodness, his justice, his holiness, his
love.
8. (i) "Thou shalt not eat." Why not? "Thou
shalt not" is the first step in the revelation of law.
Law in this grand upper region of thought and reason.
(2) "For in the day ye eat, dying thou shalt die."
This seems a tremendous sanction attached to the viola¬
tion of a command apparently so immaterial! So say
they who question the integrity of the narrative. "If
eating was criminal at all, say they, this punishment
was out of all proportion to the nature and extent of
the crime." We agree that it does appear so, viewed
from the standpoint of our present conditions. But it
must be remembered that our ideas of sin, by violation
of the commands of God, are limited by our ignorance
and blindness. Human perspective of sin and its rela¬
tions to well being in the universe, is worthless in
forming a judgment as to the excess or adequacy of
the punishment connected with this prohibitory com¬
mand of the Almighty.
9. Dying, thou shalt die. (1) Out of this passage
the question has been raised, was Adam, in his primi¬
tive state, immortal? That is, was his physical frame
superior to death.
On this point opinions differ. Those theologians
82
ANTHROPOLOGY.
who were called Socinians, Pelagians, &c , hold (i)
that
"Though Adam, by his transgression, exposed himself to the displeasure
of his Maker, yet, that neither were the powers of his own nature at all im'
paired, nor have his posterity, in any sense sustained the smallest hurt by
his disobedience. (2) That he was created mortal, and .would have died had
he not sinned; and hence the only evil he suffered was expulsion from para¬
dise, and subjection to the discipline of labor."
Furthermore, they hold, "that his posterity, like himself, are placed in
a state of trial; and that death to them is a natural event as it was to him."
A moderate, or semi-Pelagian view, may be stated
thus: "Although the body was made frail and mortal,
his life would have been forever preserved by the Creator,
had he been obedient, that the means which God would
have employed for his preservation from decay and
death, was the fruit of the tree of life." This view
they regard as sustained by his expulsion from the
garden, and removal from all access to the tree of life.
(See Institutes Part 2: 43-44, &c.) This is substan¬
tially about the view held by modern Unitarians, Uni-
versalists and others, called Liberals.
As, however, such questions are mostly speculative,
study on them can contribute very little either to our
knowledge or piety. But the conclusion of the great
majority of Christians is that if sin had never entered,
Adam would never have died. The Scriptural sup¬
port relied on for this almost unanimous view, is the
record in Gen. iii: 22:
"Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil;
and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree
of lift, and eat, and live forever: (23) therefore the I,ord God sent liim forth
from the garden of Eden, to tjll the ground whence he was taken. (.-4) So
he drove out the man; and placed at the east of the garden Chernbims, and n
flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.''
"Therefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and dkath by
sin, and so death passed upon all men."—Roman v. : 12.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 83
These are conclusive, and no further reference need
be given. The teaching is that death is the penalty of
violated law. Death is not natural; man was not ' 'born
to die.'' Whatever may be the opinion as to animals
and other beings of similar physical organization, thzri
is not a hint anywhere in scripture that death had, c r
could have any power over Adam until the decree r/r, 3
pronounced; "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou sha.lt
return."
Section 3. It is to be observed that no further
mention is made of the tree of th^ knowledge of good
and evil. The tree of life was guarded, and the way
thereto barred forever. But the other tree is dropped
from view with this single mention. Now the question
is, what was the nature of this tree? Was it literally a
tree, or a symbol of something else ?
The scripture is silent as to this subject. Yet it
is fair to conclude that if the scope of the history of
the case, taken as a whole, obliges us to regard the
tree, called the tree of life, as real, so also, must the
other have been.
2. The only rational view we can form as to these
trees called the tree of life, and the tree of the know¬
ledge of good and evil is, that they were both trees,
alike, in common with others of the garden; and that
there was probably nothing peculiar or mystic about
either of them.
3. Without a particle of violence to anything we
find on record respecting it, we may believe they were
simply trees chosen of God as witnesses of his covenant
with Adam. The one tree as witness of his promise or
84
ANTHROPOLOGY.
pledge of life and happiness that should be "extended
through endless days" on condition of continual obedi¬
ence, and the other tree, a witness of the solemn sanc¬
tion that in the day of disobedience, he should die.
And may we not see in this the suggestion, or founda¬
tion of the custom, so common in early times, of mak¬
ing objects ol inanimate nature the witnesses of a sol¬
emn compact? In Gen. xxxi. 44 : 48 : 52, we have,
(revised version), a striking instance of this custom.
"And now come, and let us make a covenant, I and
thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee,
(45), And Jacob took a stone, and s^t it up for a pillar,
* * * and they took stones and made an heap, * * *"
And Laban said: "This heap is witness between me
and thee this day." "AndLaban called it Jegar saka:
dutha, 'Heap of witness;'" but Jacob called it Gal eel
which in Hebrew means the same. "So Joshua made
a covenant with the people that day, and set them a
statute and an ordinance, * * * and he took a great
stone, and set up there under the oak that was by the
sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the
people, 'Behold this stone shall be a witness against us;'
for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he
spake unto us; it shall be therefore a witness against
you, lest ye deny your God." Josh. xxiv. 25 : 27.
See also Num. xxxi. 3. One witness is not sufficient
testimony to put a man to death. And Deut. xii. 26:
"I call heaven and earth to witness," &c.
These cases are not called as proof of oar position
above, as to the real character and use of the two tre;s
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 85
in the garden of Eden, but they do seem to us emi¬
nently suggestive.
4. On the assumption that the commandment which
God gave to Adam, when he put him in possession of the
garden, was in its nature a covenant, it is not a mere
conjecture, but a conclusion of reason, that those two
trees were the symbolic witnesses of the solemn com¬
pact between the Creator and his creature—man.
The one a medium through which God would pre¬
serve the life and perennial happiness of Adam; the
other a symbol of danger and death. It is at least a
terrible thought that wherever we are, and whatever we
may be doing, we are under the all-controlling sweep
of God's commands, and there are present in every place
the living, or else the mute witnesses of our conduct, and
these too, as the tree of life, and the tree of the knowl¬
edge of good and evil, not only record our acts as wit¬
nesses of our obligation to obey; but they are either
helping man to enrich and exalt his life, or on the other
hand they are both danger signs and actual media of de¬
struction.
5. We next inquire, what was the nature and the sig¬
nificance of the command which was given to Adam in
the garden ?
(1) The commandments of God are classified by theo¬
logians as positive and moral precepts. "The difference
between the two," says the learned Bishop Butler, "Is,
that moral precepts are those the reason of which we
see; positive precepts those, the reason of which we do
not see. Moral duties arise out of the nature of the case
16
ANTHROPOLOGY.
itself, prior to external command. Positive duties do not
arise out of the nature of the case, but from external
command; nOr would they be duties at all, were it not
for such command received from him whose creatures
and subjects we are." To illustrate the distinction made
here we take the commands of the decalogue. "Thou
shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not com¬
mit adultery," are moral precepts founded in the nature
of the relations between man and man, and the reason
of them can be seen by all. But the command to re¬
member the Sabbath day and sacredly keep it, is a pos¬
itive command, the reason for which is not seen by us
in relation to any other creatures or to God himself, as
causing injury or injustice to any. Nevertheless it is
certainly beyond our ability to discern whether there is
any real difference between the two classes of precepts.
"In point of obligation, positive precepts rest upon the same ground as
moral ones, namely, the will of God. Granting even, that we see no reason
for them, this does not alter the case; we are bound to obey our creator, both
as matter of right, and matter of gratitude, for the very essense of sin con¬
sists in resisting the will of God.
Even the reason of moral precepts, their fitness, suitableness, and influ¬
ence on society, do not constitute them absolutely obligatory; their obliga¬
tion to obey rests upon their being made law by the Authority of God."
Watson's Institute, vol. 2—35-6.
Th's order then, given to Adam, "Thou shalt not
eat of it," was a positive precept, as witnessed by the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, and sealed with the
terrible sanction,* "For in the day thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die." (2) We conclude therefore as to the
nature of the commandment and promise given to Adam.
* See appendix.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. S7
It was a covenant between God as the owner and gov¬
ernor of all, and his subject creature— (3) The
significance of this covenant was, that it asserted the sov¬
ereign right of the Almighty to impose a law or rule of
duty upon Adam, and prescribe explicitly the condi¬
tions of obedience or disobedience. And in doing this,
lie constituted Adam a free moral agent, with motives
sufficiently strong set before him to influence his will
and his conduct in favor of obedience.
Obedience therefore was the condition of life and
happiness, while to disobey was death. (4) Nor can it
be supposed that Adam might be wholly ignorant of
th= meaning of death, for there must have been abun¬
dant evidences of death around him. On this subject
We quote a paragraph from the Theo. Cyclopedia,
Vol. ix., page 713, taken from the Imperial Bible Dic-
tniiry; with SDrne omissions if is thus: "Dsath may
be defined as the termination of life. Beyond question
"it had been possible for God, if such hid been his pleas-
'ure, to have made all creatures under a law of life.
Scripture assures us that man, at l^ast, was at first placed
conditionally under this law. There is, however, decis¬
ive evidence that, from the beginning, all other terres¬
trial creatures were constituted under the law of
death, * * * Nor can it well be doubted t.iat t lis state
of things obtained even in man's primeval innocence.
If we try, we shall find ourselves baJled in trie attempt
to conceive how even then, death could be stiange or
Unknown, * * * * We know that from the day of
ANTHROPOLOGY.
man's creation he had given to him the idea of death.
It was now set before him as the just desert and conse¬
quence of disobedience. And whence should he have
derived his conception of the import of the threatened
evil so readily as from death's visible domain, over the
fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the field."
"The reigning fact, man's death (as we now see it),
seems to force upon us the conclusion that death is a
physical necessity, or a universal law extending to all
material organizations, however .otherwise psycologi-
cally distinguished, or divinely allied."
This view has been generally held by Materialists,
Pantheists, and those who were called Pelagians and
Socinians; to whom reference has been already made in
a previous paragraph. On a question of this nature
men may arrive at widely different conclusions accord¬
ing to the point of view from which they set out.
5. Our conclusion then, as to the nature, of the
command given in the garden, is that it was in the na¬
ture of a covenant; and the significance of the whole
was to place man in the responsible relation effree mor¬
al agent. The liberty or freedom of the place given
him with authority to rule, implied the promise of life,
which should be the reward of well doing, while the
prohibitive order, forbidding the fruit of the other tree,
with the threat of death as a result attached to it, is
manifestly punitive, and discloses a system of moral
government more or less complete, as it has come down
to us through the whole of time. Hence the maxim
of the old prophet Samuel, that obedience is better than
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 89
sacrifice, and to harken, than the fat of rams, proclaims
a truth much older than Samuel.
It has been the belief of some very wise and good
men, who have prayerfully studied this whole history,
that the few briei sentences contained in this covenant
of God with Adam, are but the summation or symbol
of a far more extensive code of life given to him from
time to time in his extensive and familiar intercourse
with our maker. Very strong, indeed almost conclusive
reasons are given for this belief; but we can not intro¬
duce them here, as they are not held as doctrine found¬
ed on scripture, but pious conjecture only.
ANTHROPOLOGY
CHAPTER III.
The Fall of Adam co?itinued—Consequences and Provi¬
dence.
Section i . " Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Gen.
iii : ii. (12) "And the man said, the woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and
I did eat." (13) "And the Lord God said unto the
woman, what is this thou hast done?" and the woman
said, "the serpent beguiled me and I did eat
(1) This is the record of the first arraignment, con¬
fession of sin and sentence of the righteous Judge.
"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, thou art
cursed above all cattle, upon thy belly shalt thou go^
and dust shalt thou eat all thy days; and I will put en¬
mity between thee and the woman, between thy seed
and her seed."
Then he sentenced the woman, "In sorrow shalt thou
bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy hus¬
band and he shall rule over thee."
And to Adam he said: "Because thou has harkenea
ii?ito the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of
which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 91
it; cursed be the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shall eat
the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for dust thou
art and unto dust shalt thou return." Thus Adam
and his wife by transgression, fell into condemnation
and were sentenced to sorrow and death.
(2) Much has been said by theologians and other
learned men concerning the various circumstance rela¬
ted in this brief passage of scripture, but time and
space forbid reproduction here.
(3) We may, however, profitably note the method of
the temptation, and the agency employed therein.
The agency.* Three intelligent, rational persons ap¬
pear in this transaction, viz.: He who is called the Ser¬
pent, Hebrew (Arachash), the woman and Adam. The
serpent, we are told, "was more subtile" (prudent) than
any beast of the field.'' This agent of mischief was not
in any sense, allied or related to men; he or it,
was a "beast." The LXX (Greek version) translates
him Therion—a wild beast, and he was phronimotatos,
"most prudent, discreet, skillful" of all.
Now it is certain that whatever he was in appear¬
ance, he was none other in fact than he who is called
the "deceiver," the "old serpent"—the Devil. The
description answers in every way to his character of
"Diabolon" which we call the devil. Dr. Wm. Smith
says, "the name describes Satan as slandering God to
*£ee Appendix.
92
ANTHROPOLOGY
man, and slandering man to God." The first of these
traits is his great work of temptation to evil, and is il¬
lustrated, as to its general nature and tendency, by the
narrative quoted above. (2) We see then, that the
method of temptation consisted in a skillful solicitation
to disbelieve the word and promise of God. "Yea, God
doth know that thou shalt not die,'" but thou shalt be¬
come "wise as Gods" knowing good and evil. (3) The
woman yields to this inducement and draws her hus¬
band into the transgression with her. (4) God is of¬
fended by this treacherous and rebellious act of disobe¬
dience, and drives them out of paradise, under the
threefold sentence of labor, pain and death.
There is nothing of wrath discoverable in the langu¬
age used by Jehovah, but all is strictly judicial. The
gateway of the garden is closed behind them, and their
access to the tree of life forever cut off. As soon as
•they lost their innocence, they realized that they were
naked and were ashamed. And when they heard the
voice of God, they hid themselves through fear. Thus
we learn that shame and fear are the accompaniment of
sin. So that the sinner, instead of coming to God for
help and counsel, runs away and hides himself. "Men
love darkness rather than light because their deeds are
evil."
2. Consequences of the fall. This has been the sub¬
ject of much debate and dispute; some hold, as we have
already seen, that nothing serious resulted from the dis¬
obedience of Adam, beyond expulsion from Paradise,
and subjection to the discipline of hard labor. But
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 93
this opinion flatly denies the plain teaching of the
scriptures, as also the settled judgment of all the great
expounders of holy writ from Paul to the present day.
First, it is plain enough to any reflecting mind that
if death had been the natural lot of Adam from the be¬
ginning, then the penalty of death annexed to the pro¬
hibitory command, was no penalty at all, and therefore
vain. Hence, whoever would not charge the Almighty
with folly, must admit with St. Paul that death entered
only through the gate of transgression, as "the wages
of sin."
3. But before we enter on the full presentation of
this branch of the subject, we may divert our thoughts
to a brief consideration of the criminality of the act by
which our first parents fell.
1. We have seen that they are solicited by a most
skilful enemy in the most adroit way. "Ye shall not
surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as God (gods), knowing good and evil." "This
was a high bait," says Dr. R. P. Smith, in the Handy
Commentary, "which the tempter offered; and Eve,
who at first had answered rightly, and who as yet
knew nothing of falsehood, dallied with the tempta¬
tion and fell." And when she saw that the fruit was
pleasant to look upon, and desirable to make one wise,
she decided in favor of the lying tempter. Thus did
the lust of the eye and the proud desire to be wise
and great "like God," (for so the word Ke Elohirn, is
94
ANTHROPOLOGY.
translated), led her to forsake the counsel of her God.
Adam sharing with his wife in the same lustful desire,
partook with her, and lost the favor of God, his inno¬
cence, and his life. (See ist Epist. John, ii: 16, 17.)
(2) Temptation, therefore, was the first instrument
employed by Satan to compass human ruin. Tcvip-
iation joined to falsehood in flat contradiction of the
word of God most solemnly delivered, exhibits at
once the bold wickedness of the tempter, and the
weakness of man. This disobedience was no slight
error, as some have been disposed to describe it; an er¬
ror for "which punishment, of the kind and degree,
alleged in the doctrine of theology, was vindictive and
disproportionate; but it was criminal in the highest
degree. (3) The obnoxious elements contained in it,
were: (a) Disobedience to the command of God. (b)
Lustful desire to be wise and independent like God him¬
self. (c) Distrust as to the integrity of the Divine
promise—"Ye shall die"—hence (d) They broke alli¬
ance with the Creator, risked all and lost all.
4. Returning now to our theme, namely, death the
consequence of the fall, we may affirm (1), that Adam
was perfectly free to obey or disobey, according to his
own will. The history of the case shows us no neces¬
sity laid on him to do one way or the other. The only
influence that could at all dispose him either way, was
the promise of life as the reward of obedience, and the
assurance of death in case he should choose to disobey.
Considered in relation to the law and will of God, this
made Adam a probationer. This word probation, is from
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 93
the L,atin Probo,probare, to prove, to judge, or to try by
experience. Obedience was the test of his fidelity,
But to be on trial, the person must be free. Free every
way. Free to choose, and free to act according to his
choice; and this was Adam's case precisely.
5. But we must remember that freedom by no means
includes independence. There can be but one indepen¬
dent being in the Universe, and he is God. Upon ev¬
ery conceivable thing that he has made, he has imposed
his law. Natural law reigns in the natural world, with
ceaseless rigor, and moral law throughout the world of
mind and reason. In all worlds, the reigning law is
the expressed or indicated will of God, conformity to
which maintains harmony and order, while revolt there¬
from brings violence, and (to rational creatures, con¬
fusion and death.
6. Death. There can be no good purpose served by
introducing the learned discussions to be found on this
subject. It suffices to say, that death in the sentient
world means the absence of life, that is, the total cessa¬
tion of vital functions; but in the rational and moral
world, it means the loss of happiness, the loss of mor¬
al and spiritual health, the loss of light and knowledge,
and finally, the eternal loss of God's presence and fa¬
vor. The dead of the upper realm of being—though
not annihilated—extinguished—are "outcasts" "from
the presence of God and from the glory of his power.''
(See 2 Thess. i : 8-9.
7. A further ccmseqtience of the fall was, that Adam
in passing under sentence of death, carried his posteri-
§6
ANTllkorOMMlY
ty with him; so that the sentence of death passed to all
men. And in like manner, in losing original righteous¬
ness the privation fell on the whole line of his race.
There is nothing more clear nor more fully confirmed
by the teaching of the scriptures, than that death has
fallen on the race through Adam, and all the harvest of
evils that embitter the currents of human life have
been derived from the same source, as a consequence of
Adam's transgression. (See on this particular point,
the Epist. to Rom. v : 12—20. 1 Cor. xv. 21-22.)
Immense difficulty and a great deal of zealous con¬
troversy has gathered around this topic. From the
days of St. Ausgustine, who was, perhaps, the world's
greatest Theologian, to those of John Wesley, the de¬
bate has continued. The earlier view was that Adam's
sin is imputed to his posterity; and this is generally the
Calvanistic view up to the present day. They regard
our first parents as legally the federal representatives of
the race, all of whom were included in the primal cov¬
enant with Adam.
The following quotation from the observations of
Mr. Wesley and Dr. Taylor will give us a clearer view
of the question than anything else we can offer:
"The question is, whether Adam is to be considered as a mere indivivual
the consequences of whose conduct terminated in himself, or no otherwise
affected his posterity than incidentally, as the misconduct of an ordinary
parent may affect the circumstances of his children; or whether he is to be
regarded as a public man, the head and representative of the human race,
who in consequence of his fall, have fallen with him, and receive direct hurt
and injury in the very constitution of their bodies,and the moral state of
their minds. The testimony of scripture is so clear on this point that ail
attempts to evade it have been in vain.
In Rom. v., Adam and Christ are contrasted in their public, or federal
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 97
character, and the hurt which mankind have derived from the one, and the
healing they have received from the other, are also contrasted in various
particulars, which are equally represented as the effects of the offence of
Adam and of the obedience of Christ. The same apostle also adopts the
phrases, 'the first Adam, and the second Adam' which mode of speaking
can only be explained on the ground, that as sin and death descended from
the one, so righteousness and life flow from the other. The death threatened
affect." all—'in Adam all die.' 'Death entered by sin,' that is, by his sin
and then, 'passed upon all men." '
In the language of theologians, the imputation of Adam's sin to his pos¬
terity is described as mediate or immediate. Our mortality, and the cor¬
ruption of our moral nature in virtue of our derivation from him is what is
meant by the mediate imputation of his sin to us; (while immediate im¬
putation is in that Adam's sins are accounted ours in the sight of God by vir¬
tue of our federal relation."*)
* But this view is combatted and completely refuted,
as inconsistent with scripture and repugnant to reason,
by both Mr. Wesley and Dr. Taylor. (See Watson's
Institutes, vol. 2—52.)
8. As this is a very important subject in the system
of theological discussion, before we give what seems to
us the true view of the consequences of the fall we will
first present the words of the inspired apostle as we
find them on record in the epistle referred to above.
And as the phrasing of the revised version is more
modern, simple and direct, we transcribe the passage
from it.
"Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world, and death
through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned; for until
the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed (adjudged) where there
is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them
that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a
figure of him that was to come. But n#t as the trespass so also is the free
gift; for if by the trespass of the one many died, much more did the grace of
God—and the gift, by the grace of one man—Jesus Christ—abound unto
many. And not, as through one that sinned so is the gift; for the judgment
came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses
wnto justification. For if by the trespass of one, death reigned through the
98
ANTHROPOLOGY.
one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the
gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.
This transcript from the Apostle's argument is suf¬
ficient as showing the ground for the doctrine of im¬
putation, and yet this word imputed is used but once
in the whole passage, ver. 13—"but sin is not imputed,
(meaning adjudged), where there is no law." "Nev¬
ertheless," he tells us, "death reigned from Adam to
Moses," that is to say, although there was no published
law, no outward, external ordinance as that given to
Adam, or as the more elaborate code given to Moses,
yet men sinned and died. Hence we may observe that
wherever man, or any rational intelligence is, there is
law. See pages 61-62, of this volume.
From these considerations, and from that dark and
singular deliverance of St. Paul, "I was alive once
without the law, but when the Commandment came,
sin revived and I died;" many modern, as well as a
•large body of ancient thinkers, believe that there is a
dual system of moral forces in the universe that are
co-equal and co-eternal. The one good, the other
evil. Of course these ideas are groundless; but we
mention them to show the drift of human thought on
this profound and gloomy subject. And this without
.any purpose to give time and space to exhibit their
formal statement, or the arguments by which they are
refuted. •
9. (1) The point we make is that there is no scrip¬
ture for the doctrine of "imputed sin" to any one but
the actual sinner himself. There is no evidence that
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 99
God deals with men in the matter of reward or pun¬
ishment, through any federal or representative way.
2. But do we not read in the decalogue that he
"visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
to the third and fourth generation?" you may ask.
We do so read; but the general and universal terms
used here show that reference is had to a nation or
multitudes of men. This threat is made in depreca¬
tion of idolatry, and exhibits a rule of the Divine ad¬
ministration more closely allied to the general princi¬
ples of natural law. It had reference to the allegiance
of the nation to God as her King.
But of this we shall say more in another place.
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die," is the supreme
and only rule by which God will judge and punish
men as individuals responsible to him for their con¬
duct. (See Ezek. xviii.)
3. Death, then, came upon all men through Adam,
not by imputation of Adam's sin, but by inheritance
of Adam's polluted and fallen nature, so that "there
is none righteous; no, not one; there is not one that
doeth good, no, not so much as one." Romans iii:
10-12. The plain, unmistakable teaching of these
scriptural truths, give rise to the doctrine of human
depravity—a subject that shall be treated in our next
chapter. For the present we turn our thoughts to a
subject of deepest and widest concern in the system of
Christian doctrine, namely: The Providence of God, and
ike promise of a Redeemer.
IOO
ANTHROPOLOGY.
SECTION 2—CHAPTER III.
I.
Providence. i. The literal meaning of this word
is foresight, and is adopted to express the wisdom,
power and watchfulness which God continually mani¬
fests in the preservation and government of the
world.
2. The providence of God, considered as a system
of laws and government, is distributed into general
and particular providence. The first relates to all
those general principles pervading the universe, which
we call the laws of nature) and noted as gravitation
and repulsion; electricity and magnetism; chemical
affinities and repugnances; together with all the forces
that conserve the purpose of order and harmony in
the midst of intense activity. Then there are the
laws of chrystalization for minerals, germination and
growth for vegetables, conception and developement
for sentient beings.
3. These general principles holding sway in all the
realms of nature are so perfect and uniform in their
influence upon every part, that we are amazed at the
resulting equilibrium. Nature, in many ways, seems
like her maker, resistless in energy, and unchangeable
in her processes; like Him "with whom is no vari¬
ableness, neither shadow of turning." (See Neh. ix:
6.) "Thou preservest them all; and the hosts of hea¬
ven worshipeth thee." Job. vii, 20. Isa. xlv: 12
and xlii: 5, C. Jer. xxi<: 5.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, xox
4. From the manifest presence, universal preva.
lence and power of these natural laws, men have rea¬
soned that there is no such thing, strictly speaking, as
providence. That once the organization or co-ordina¬
tion of these-systems established, everything else can
be accounted for. But this class of thinkers evidently
wish rather to be accounted wise than to believe the
truth. The real desire is to dismiss the Creator from
the world he has made and preserves. It is easy
enough for men to observe the outward processes and
phenomena of nature, and see, or think they see all
things so interlocked, so related, one thing to another,
that there can but be a steady flo w of events from age
to age.
5. But the question would still remain, who did
this interlocking ? Who spun the mysterious threads
and wove the web of universal natural law ? Who
gave the original impetus to all we see in motion, and
who affords the undiminished supply of power ? See
the 50th Psalm 5, 6.
"Tis By thy strength the mountains stand,
God of eternal power,
The sea grows calm at thy command,
And tempests cease to roar." —Watts.
II.
The particular prhvidence of God leads us away from
those general and widely circling laws, which hold the
ponderous frame of nature, as the guys and chains hold
the masts and rigging of a ship, to contemplate the ap¬
parent interferences that result in the production of
ANTttEOFOLQOY.
things and events that have no connection with the9«
laws, at least so far as we can see.
Attraction, gravitation, repulsion, electricity nor
magnetism, nor any of the great laws or forces in na¬
ture, nor all of them combined can be shown to have
ever formed a germ, or given life to plant, or animal,
or man.
"If," says Dr. McCosh,"as scientfiic research shows, the introduction of an¬
imal life seems to call for the energy of the Governor of the Universe act¬
ing without an instrument, we should be the better prepared thereby to
believe, when the needful evidence is produced, there may be a similar exer¬
cise and display of power in the introduction of new spiritual life." Divine
Gov. page 156.
i. The tendency of the providence of God as seen
in relation to man, is both beneficent and preservative.
In the Divine administration of affairs that concern
human welfare, we witness what seems a series of for¬
tuities or accidents arising from apparent complications
in nature. It is found from hence that however famil¬
iar man may become with the general flow of natural
phenomena, events are always occurring, some helpful,
and others hurtful, which no sagacity can enable him
to foresee. "The good they bring cannot be secured
by foresight, nor the evil they produce be warded off
by human vigilance."
3. While we may be sure that these events are not
lawless, i. e. without law, when viewed from any stand¬
point, yet especially in the light of Divine revelation
they are seen to be Educatory, or have for their object
the discipline of moral beings, and hence give rise to
or reveal another system of government under laws that
momt OF CHRISTIAN theology. *03
may be called supernatural, and open the way intq a
higher realm of rational and spiritual existence.
4. The basis of existence in this higher realm ig
spirituality, and the phenomena exhibited among the
creatures belonging to it, are intelligence, sensibility and
will.
We mean by intelligence the power to know, by sensi¬
bility, we mean the power to feel; by will, the power to
choose. Thus intelligence, conscience, and the liberty
of choosing lay the foundation of moral government,
and moral responsibility.
5. It thus, became possible for man to forfeit his
privileges and his happiness by the abuse of knowledge
and the choice of disobedience.
But here it is that the history of providence, revealed
in the scriptures, shows that where "sin abounded grace
did much more abound," and that as sin, through dis¬
obedience, hath "reigned unto death," God has provi¬
ded, by the infinite resources of wisdom and goodness,
that ' 'righteousness may reign unto eternal life through
Jesus Christ our L,ord."
III.
1. In working out a clear presentation ot the doc¬
trine of Divine Providence, theologians and thinkers
have found the question of moral evil in the world, the
battle-ground of the whole subject. Many have re¬
garded it "the darkest problem of theology.'' (See Hand¬
book of Theology by Dr. Field, page 84.) And yet
i<r>4
ANTHROPOLOGY,
we are compelled to say that in spite of this flourish of
trumpets about the darkness of the problem, there seems
to be nothing so terribly dark about it excepting as it is
darkened by human speculations, and the proposal of
questions about which we have but little concern.
"Since God is a pure and holy being, of infinite wis¬
dom and power, how can we reconcile the existence of
sin and its evil concomitants with the fact of Divine
perfection?" Or, in other words, "why was sin and
evil permitted?" The best answer to such questions
is: "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God;
but those things which are revealed belong unto us and
to our children forever, that we may do all the words oi
this law."—Deut. xxix. 29. (See comment of Clarke
on this verse, also the comment of Dr. R. Payne Smith.)
The meaning is that God has given all needed light
on what concerns our well being and salvation, and
has reserved those things that concern only his own eter¬
nal purposes and counsel with himself.
2. Yet it is possible to find a sufficient explanation,
of the so-called "problem of moral evil," to satisfy
iny one but such as are inclined to be irreverent or
mper-inquisitive. .
The scriptures do indeed throw much light on this
subject. They teach (1), that man was made in the
ikeness of God, "ai little lower than the angels," &c.
They teach (2) by implication this likeness consisted
n knowledge, holiness and freedom. (3) They teach
;hat this intelligent and free being was placed under
aw. This was putting him on probation, or trial, and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 105
since a free being, on trial, may go wrong if he so
chooses, the possibility of sin is found to be in the na¬
ture of the case.
3. "But why leave him exposed to temptation?"
We cannot know, since the scriptures do not tell us why.
"And whence the tempter; why was he not restrained?"
We cannot know. We only know what the inspired
word declares: "I had not known sin, but by the law;
for I had not known lust, except the law had said,
'Thou shalt not covet.' But sin, taking occasion by
the commandment, wrought in me all manner of con¬
cupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For
I was alive without the law once, but when the com¬
mandment came, sin revived and I died. And the
commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to
be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the com¬
mandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Where¬
fore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and
jujt and good."
4. Now what further or fuller explanation of the
problem of sin and moral evil in our world could be.
asked or given than we find here ? Indeed what more
need we know? Recapitulating this digest of St. Paul,
we have, (a) Where there is no law, there can be no
sin. (b) The law given, which put restraint, limita¬
tion, on my freedom, sin, by transgression, became im¬
mediately possible, for sin is the transgression of the
law. (c), I had no desire to oppose the will of God
until the commandment was given, but as soon as the
command was given, then it was, I found a desire (con-
io6
ANTHROPOLOGY.
cupiscence) rising up in me to throw off the restraint
even at the risk of the penalty. Thus, 11 sin revived
and / died.''
5. The facts and ideas here developed, have given
rise to the belief (strongly held in early times) that sin
was latent in human nature, and that it only required
the stimulus of temptation to bring it into activity.
(See on this view, Bib. and Theol. Cyc. under "Fall
of man"—paragraphs, Muller and Rothe.)
In conclusion of the matter, it may be observed that
the doctrinal import of all that is revealed in scripture
on the fall of Adam, shows us the presence of an evil
influence, or agency that tempted Eve and Adam by
deceit and falsehood, and that they, yeilding to the
temptation fell. (2) They were not obliged to yield.
(3) The essence of their transgression was in the desire
to become as God—independent.
6. Another fact brought to view is, that satan taking
control of the creature called Nachash, put himself in
oral communication with man, and that God, and his
commandments wer<* made the subject of converse.
Assuming, as the Bible elsewhere shows, that this was
Satan or one of the fallen angels, it not only demon¬
strates the connection between the rational and spirit¬
ual world, but that moral law may be the subject of
contemplation there, and that this tempter—enemy as
he was had become such by transgression of the law.
But this, even, could only push the curious—rather
than useful question of the origin of moral evil one
step farther back.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 107
IV.
Turning to the closing passages of the history of the
fall,.we are forcibly impressed by two facts:
First. Execution of the penalty of death was sus¬
pended.
Adam and his wife were only driven from paradise
under respite, with the assurance that their stay on
earth should be limited, and attended with labor, sor¬
row and pain. That they must henceforth fight for ex¬
istence and at last go down in the strife.
Secondly. The sentence of expulsion, etc., is ac¬
companied with a promise of posterity and a token of
mercy.
To the woman, the Lord God promised that her "seed"
should ' 'bruise the serpent's head.'' For although this
saying is a part, verbally, of the sentence upon the
serpent, it was, nevertheless, in the nature of a promise
to the woman. A token of mercy was in this: "The
Lord God did make coats of skin and clothed them.'*
(7) Thus ends the first chapter of human history,
and also what we may call the close of the first dispensa¬
tion of providential history concerning our race. But per¬
haps some one would say, "the space of time con¬
sumed in this first dispe?isatio?i was very brief,'' to which
our answer is, by no means brief. The Divine fore¬
sight had been engaged, (to speak after the manner of
men), in the problem of our globe and its coming
rational population—God-like and wonderful—long ages
before beast, or bird, or man appeared.
io8
ANTHROPOLOGY.
Nor may we think lightly of the seemingly brief space
crowding into the few, but glorious years of Adam's
stay in Eden. Since they were not only full of meas¬
ureless possibilities for man, under whose pressure he
failed and fell, but they contain also the symbol of our
Kden regained, of our Paradise restored under the new
and better conditions, upon new and better principles,
and the unfolding of a dispensation beatific in its nature,
one whose duration shall know no end.
V.
Promise of a Redeemer.
"For if by the trespass of one, death reigned through the one; much
more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of right¬
eousness, reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ."
.1. Thus wrote the scholarly, devout and inspired
Apostle, upward of four thousand years after the trans¬
action in Eden of which we have been studying in the
preceding sections.
A vast ocean, deep and wide, rolls between the
tempted and fallen Adam and the redeemed and sainted
Paul. And it will now be our endeavor to show that
the star of hope which arose on the dark day of Adam's
sentence and expulsion from Paradise has continued
shining, with increasing light until one appeared
among men who was called "The Saviour," and who
is confessed to be '' the Son of God with power."
2. We have seen in our discussion of the fall and
expulsion of Adam and his wife from Paradise that the
full sentence of death was not immediately carried out,
D1GKST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 109
On the contrary, it seems to have been suspended from
some cause, and instead, a promise, singularly hope¬
ful, was made to the woman, and an act touchingly
compassionate shown to the fallen discomfited pair.
We have seen that the agent of temptation un¬
der the name and form of a serpent, was in reality,
whatever else he seemed to be, a diabolic intelligence;
the serpent was but a type. And that the L,ord God
said in pronouncing sentence upon him, "I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed, it (her seed) shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel."
3. This announcement is emphatically a prophecy,
and denotes the beginning of a conflict in which man,
though now defeated, should come out victor. But his
triumph "is to be gained not by mere human strength,
but by the coming of One who is the woman's Seed,
and around this Deliverer the rest of the scripture
groups itself," as attendents gather around the sun, or
metal granules around a magnet.
It is the almost united conviction of commentators
and theologians that this promise of victory through the
seed of the woman was a promise to Adam and his pos¬
terity of redemption and restoration. Not without suf¬
fering, intense and lengthened, but recovery of all that
had been lost, in such, a way as should illustrate the
mercy and grace of God, and win universal and eternal
praise to his wisdom and goodness. Says Dr. H. P.
Smith on this subject:—"Leave out these words, and
ANTHROPOLOGY,
all the inspired teaching which follows would be an
(ever widening river without a fountain head. Grace is
no afterthought, but enters the world side by side with
fjin. "Upon this foundation the rest of holy scripture is
built, till revelation at last reaches its corner-stone in
Christ."
4. That Adam and his wife did not go forth from the
garden in despair is evident from the record, meagre as
are the details of what was said and done on that preg¬
nant day. The first circumstance that arrests our at¬
tention is, that Adam immediately gave his wife a new
name. At first he called her Isha, "womanbut now
he calls her Eve, "life," and wherefore? "Because she
was the mother of all living." We say above, that
Adam immediately gave the new name, but this is
doubtful; for though it follows directly the conclusion
of the solemn sentence of Jehovah: "dust thou art,"
etc., the reason given for the name, Bve; "because she
was the mother of all living,'' shows that if the mean¬
ing of the passage is not misinterpreted, which seems
quite impossible, then it must have been some years, it
might have been many years after the expulsion. Be¬
cause the history is brief, it must not be supposed that
all therein was accomplished, necessarily, in a brief
space of time; however we may regard the relations
of time and details, the significance of the new name,
and the corresponding thought in the mind of Adam.
Instead of instant and hopeless banishment from the
presence of God, instead of an immediate death-stroke
from the indignant hand of his Maker, he saw before
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, in
him a life more or less extended, and in the promise of
children, he saw the perpetuation of life, and the en¬
largement of associated conditions that must have great¬
ly inspired his heart with hope. "She will be the moth¬
er of all living!" He saw his wife in a new light.
Who can doubt that from that hour she became doubly
dear to him? She was no more "the woman" thou
gavest to be with me," but Chavah, the mother of my
children, by whom my own nature and image shall be
perpetuated, by whom the forces of humanity shall be
recruited until the earth is subdued and the Nachash
(serpent), that deceived us shall be crushed beneath
our feet.
5. Accordingly, when Cain was born Eve exclaims:
"I have gotten a man from the L,ord."—Gen. iv . 1.
But deeper scholarship in modern criticism shows a
strong probability that this is not really what Eve said
in this first flush of maternal joy. "I have gotten a
man, even Jehovah'''' is now claimed to be the true read¬
ing. So that then, without any conscious thought of
it, she prophesied of the Redeemer. The prophets do
not always fully comprehend the truths which their
words reveal. God, in prophecy, speaks not so much to
the present as to the future.
6. The next incident—shall we call it incident?
No; but a most weighty, a most suggestive feature of
the record, is the making of clothing for Adam and Eve
out of skins. The skins of domestic animals were used
for this purpose. We are told that animal food had
not been granted or used by man. Whence then these-
: 12
ANTHROPOLOGY.
skins ? The united voice of Cristendom is that these
were derived from animals slain for sacrifice, in the
propitiatory worship which God himself taught Adam.
If this be questioned as at all improbable, we may eas¬
ily ask whence can Cain and Abel have derived the
idea and the rite of propitiatory offerings ? if not taught
by their father, who must therefore have been taught
of God ?
Here then springs tip the star of hope, full orbed and
glorious. All was not lost. Infinite love bending in
mercy over erring and fallen man, flings out her signal
from the ramparts of glory, and we may well believe
the sons of God that "shouted for joy" on the day
when the lamps of heaven were lighted, began to sing,
"life! life from the dead!" Immortality for man, by
"Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought
life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2
Tim. 1 : 10.
VI.
Was this promise of a Redeemer understood f
1. But it might be objected, as indeed it has been,
that Adam and his wife, as also their immediate pos¬
terity, could not have understood the promise made to
them, and recorded in Gen. 3, as referring to a Redeem¬
er who should undo the mischief v/rought by their fall,
and secure for them, by expiation, triumph over death,
and recovery of all they had lost; to wit; the favor
of God and the happiness of Eden. That there
is nothing in this promise to iustifv so large expecta-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY n3
tion and hope.
2. But a little earnest reflection on the history of
the transaction as a whole, will lead to the conclusion
that such objection is not well-founded. In the first
place we are certain that they understood it favorably
and were comforted by it. There is not a word of sad¬
ness or despair uttered by either of them. Nor is there
any reason to believe tliey were forsaken by their
Lord. He made them coats of skins, and clothed
them, and, as we have seen, these must have been pro¬
cured through the institution of sacrificial rites ordered
and directed by Jehovah Himself. This much allowed,
we must go further, and conclude that the goodness of
God, who appointed the institution of sacrifice, would
not give an aimless institution by leaving them in dark¬
ness as to its significance and value. To have done so,
would have been simply to mock them; a thing too
repugnant to think of, much less consider probable.
3. We know that Cain and Abel observed this or¬
dinance, as religious worship, and that they understood
it as being propitiatory. They sought by its observance
the favor and blessing of God.
Now St. Paul tells us in Heb. xi. that the sacrifice
offered by Abel was the offering of "faith." Faith in
what? why surely, in the promise of God that such
sacrifices were acceptable, though the text, that is to
say, the preci.se words of such promise are not record
ed. Not only was Abel's sacrifice the offering of
'yaz'//*," but the inspired Apostle tells us that "by it he
obtained witness that he was righteous."
H4
ANTHROPOLOGY.
As this subject is one of the very highest importance
in the list of Christian doctrines, we feel obliged
to give its consideration as much of time and space as
the limits of our little work will permit. For in search¬
ing in this department of revelation for sources of truth,
it becomes urgently needlul that we survey our ground
with care.
4. Going back to our Bible, and opening at Gen.iv
3, we read: "And in process of time it came to pass,
that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the first¬
lings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the
Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but un¬
to Cain and to his offering he had not respect."
Now a great deal has been written on the ques¬
tion, as to the difference between these brothers, the
difference between their respective offerings, and as to
why the one was rejected and the other accepted.
5. This much we know, (a). Cain was the older
and by universal custom of the ancients, was entitled,
other things being equal, to preference. Hence, in
reading the story, the mind naturally expects to find
that favor, if any at all, has been shown to him.
Advantage, if any at all, has been conferred on the old¬
er, who, according to human estimate, would be re¬
garded the more honorable of the two. (b) But con¬
trary to this expectation, the favor and advantage is
bestowed on Abel.
Thus the question follows, why? On what ground?
Was the difference made on the ground that the offer-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 115
ing of Cain was of fruit, and that of Abel a sheep of
tne first year, alive and suited to the purpose of sym¬
bolic sacrafice ? or was it owing to a different—an as-
certainably different spirit—actuating them ? A hasty
reply will not do here. (1) The, facts are: Cain wts a
gardner and his offering was of such as he had. ALU
was a shepherd, and his offering was of such as he
he had. Therefore, as between the two men, we see,
in this circumstance alone, no difference of merit or
demerit—no moral difference.
(2) As to the spirit or feelings by which they were
respectively actuated, we have only this suggestion
from scripture, that Abel offered by "faith" a more ac¬
ceptable sacrafice than Cain, by which he obtained wit¬
ness that he was righteous, "God testifying of his
gift," and by it though dead he yet spake.
(3) This discursive allusion of the inspired Apostle
furnishes some light, and to some minds, a sufficient
key to the solution of the whole problem. To other
minds the difference of the subjects offered, afford a sat¬
isfactory explanation. But before we accept either of
these or adopt them, we can afford to look narrowly at
the facts of this case.
6. (1) There can be no question that they were both
actuated by kindred motives, namely: the worship of
Jehovah. (2) There is nothing showing that Cain did
not have faith also, nor that he had any less respect for
the pious ordinance given them by their father. All
talk about the difference between an eucharistic (thank-
ANTHROPOLOGY.
offering) and a piaeular (sin-offering) being the sole
ground of rejecting tlie one and accepting the other, is
far more ingenious than forcible. It is in the main
gratuitous. Let it be remembered that the acceptance
and rejection applied both to worshiper and offering.
"The Lord had respect to Abel and his offering, but
unto Cain and his offering he had not respect." By
what means the Lord manifested these tokens of accep¬
tance, we have no means of knowing, but it was im¬
mediate and emphatic.
7. The object or aim of this worship was "acceptance
with God." Its motive, the consciousness of depen¬
dence upon God as the fountain of life and good, as
also the source of protection and safety. All true wor¬
ship has in it devout respect to these relations between
the creature and the Creator. A deep heartfelt humility
is a leading characteristic of this worship. We may
readily believe that then as now, much more depended
upon the disposition of the heart than upon the out¬
ward act of worship. Accordingly we read that Cain
was "very wroth," and his countenance fell; Hebrew:
"// burned to Cain very, or intensely," not immediately,
but afterward in converse with his brother, they proba¬
bly talked over the matter often; indeed the sequel
shows that they did. Hence the more he thought upon
it the worse he felt. This reveals the real state of his
heart. He was evidently proud. He had faith, doubt¬
less, and knowledge too, of God as the Creator and
friend of man, but it was not sufficient to subdue his
pride nor sustain his affection. His offering therefore
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. u7
did not represent the meek, trustful self surrender that
Abel's did, -but only a respectful acknowledgement of
the Divine Majesty and honor, and so his faith' made
liim only what we now call a Deist; one who believes
i 1 God, and that he is to be worshipped. That this
should be done reverently and gratefully; that moral-
i :y and propriety of conduct is all that religion requires;
i'l short, that natural religion, whatever that may
mean—is all man needs.
"Why art thou wroth? And why is thy counte¬
nance fallen ? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be ac¬
cepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the
door." Thus spake the Lord to Cain, ver. 7. "Sin
croucheth at the door," i. e< dangerously near thee.
Dr. Clark makes it, "sin offering at the door," that is
to say, "there lies a sheep or bullock," take him and
make your offering. But we do not believe it. (See
handy Commentary on the place.) The words are vari¬
ously translated.
8. We have in this recital the first recorded instance
of formal worship, as observed by the first family of
earth after the fall, and apart from all caviling about
details it teaches some profound lessons.
(1), wt: see that God has not abandoned Adam and
his posterity.
(2), we see the initiation of a remedial system,
dim and difficult of comprehension indeed, but yet
plain enough to show a purpose in the Divine mind to
prolong the history of our race, and at length recover
to himself the creature that he so greatly loves.
ANTHROPOLOGY.
(3). It carries us over the region of doubt and
uncertainty about the origin of sacrificial offerings,
and the end at which they aim. Every step from Abel,
to the full institution of sacrificial offerings by the law
of Moses, is clearly t}Tpical, and point to the great sacri¬
fice that should be offered without the gates of
Jerusalem.
4. And so it is found that from this primal institution
the rite of sacrifice by slaying the living victim, has
been known and practiced by all the races of men every¬
where. Of course the rite degenerated into idolatry
among the heathen nations, as the principles and prac¬
tice of truth ever does.*
8. In conclusion of our observations on this subject,
we regard the belief that God revealed to Adam his
purpose of salvation by the hand of a Redeemer, who,
by his suffering and the effusion of his blood, would
make atonement for sin, is well founded. For although
we have no direct testimony in the scriptures that such
a revelation was made, we have inferential proof which
caviling opposition has never been able to rationally
overthrow. But to set out in a clear and orderly man¬
ner the reasons on which this belief is founded is be¬
yond our reach, as it covers a wide field of literature.
But the substance of the argument may be condensed
into a syllabus as follows: (1) Any worship not auth¬
orized by Divine appointment is superstition. (2) Any
sacrifice made without the same authority, is idolatry.
(3) The sacrifice offered by Abel, and throughout the
*See appendix note.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 119
Patriarchal age, from Abel to Noah and thence to the
recorded institution of sacrificial worship by Moses,was
accepted and approved of God. Hence it is a fair—an
inevitable conclusion of reason, that the original insti¬
tution was Divinely appointed.
9. (1) Let it be fixed in our mind that this discus¬
sion is about piacular, or bloody animal sacrifice, on
the idea that it was this kind of sacrifice offered by
Abel that typically points to the Saviour, and therefore
notes the ground of its acceptance as against that of¬
fered by Cain.
(2) Concerning this whole matter one of two things
must be true, either this ordinance was directly ap¬
pointed by God, or it was the outgrowth of natural re¬
ligion as a native instinct of the human soul. Nor
could we say safely in either case, such service would
not be accepted with God.
(3) In the first case, if God appointed it by oral in¬
struction, we must allow that he would certainly dis¬
close to the worshiper the means to be used and the in¬
tent of its use. Less than this would leave them to the
guidance of their own imagination, and so permit the
ordinance to utterly fail of any good end, because sure
to become a mere superstition.
f4) In the second case, supposing the institution to
bs the mere product of the religious instinct in man,
then there could be no prescribed means or manner,
and so, acceptance wiui God could not be limited to
any kind of offering, whether piacular or otherwise,
These suggestions open the door to the wide fisid of
120
ANTHROPOLOGY.
discussion on the subject of the origin of sacrificial
worship; and as to what was apprehended by the peo¬
ple in its performance.
(5) Whether clear ideas of an atonement involved in
it, by those who observed the rite, prior to the law of
Moses, is doutful. Yet there is no doubt that in a sub-
j active sense, that is to say, as concerns the conscious
motives out of which devotion springs and the emotions
accompanying such devotion, it is a precisely similar
experience in all. The general idea in all is propitiation
while the particular act may be in praise, (adoration),
prayer, (petition), or sacrifice. Lastly, the important
thing to have established beyond doubt is that God
purposed and provided for the redemption of man and
eternal life for the race in Christ Jesus his own and
only Son "before the world began." See 2 Tim. 1:9,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 121
CHAPTER IV.
DEPRAVITY.
1. In opening our inquiry upon the subject placed
at the head of this chapter, we spread the sails of our
humble craft upon a somewhat different sea from that
upon whose waters we have hitherto been disporting.
We herein reach a point in the course of our exploring
for which all that has been considered may be regarded
as preliminary. It brings us to the study of questions
that more closely interest us as individuals, and which
bear upon our conscious individual experience.
2. We live and move daily amid influences and
scenes which arouse within, the slumbering depths of
our being. The flash and flame and roar of human
contentions., are like the self-involving mysteries cf
Ezekiel's wheel.
The love, the passion, the hate, the ambitions, the
deceits, the disguises, the pride, the prejudices, th^
malice, the revenges all seen, all felt, all heard by u.<
every da}r, make us the sport of a casuistry that tosses
our frail batk as a vessel is tossed by the waves of the
sea.
122
ANTHROPOLOGY.
3. The impression comes upon us whether we will
have it or no, that, whatever may have been the origin
of all we see, there are disorganizing forces at work in
the moral world that must bring all to ruin unless pow¬
erfully counteracted. That men are sinners; that they
love unrighteousness; that they are prone to go wrong;
and that this is true of all men in all the ranks of soci¬
ety. The child, the youth, the man; the rich, the poor,
learned and illiterate are all alike, tainted at the core.
Nor is this view of moral disorder the result of a pass¬
ing freak of mental dyspepsia. The world is really
bad, and we know it. We look for evil among men.
When we meet with one who is morally upright, we
note the exception with feelings of keenest pleasure.
We expect perversity in our own children, and are not
often disappointed in our expectations. If we prefer
the right to the wrong, and aim to do it, we are obliged
to stand guard over the dismantled fortress of our own
hearts.
4. Hence, without going back to Eden in
search of causes, we find without seeking, that "all
have sinned, and come short of glorifying God." This
state of human nature we are taught by theology and
in the Bible is the direct result of depravity. Man is
depraved; not only fallen, but under the despotic sway
of sin. All schools of philosophy acknowledge this
evil, moral evil, destructive, wasting, widespread.
The earth seems atremble in this, oui own day,be¬
neath the tread of masterful crime. Thefts, defaulting,
arson, murders, infanticide, adulteries, fornication, do-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 123
ruestic infidelity, rape, incest, perversion of justice,
misgovernment and treason. Thus there rolls an angry-
tide of surging iniquity through all ranks of men, and
from generation to generation. Nor is our times or
nation worse in this regard than other times and
other parts of the world.
5. Let us stop here and take testimony, "And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually." Gen. vi. 5. "The earth also
was corrupt before God, and filled with violence, * * *
and God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was cor¬
rupt; for all flesh had corrputed his way," Gen.vi. 11, 12.
Here we learn that the first stage of human history after
the fall, was characterized by corruption and violence
just as the present stage is in which we live. So like¬
wise Job, the oldest theologian in the world, tells us
chap. v. 7: "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upward," and in chap. xiv. 4: "Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean?" and xv. 14, "What is
man, that he should be clean, and he which is born of
a woman that he should be righteous ?"
Here we see what was the prevailing character of
the race in his day, which is supposed to be those of the
patriarchs. See also Psalms li. 5; lvii. 3, 4: "Behold
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me. The wicked are estranged from the
womb, they go astray as soon as they are born." Also
Jer. "The heart is deceitful above all and desperately
wicked." "For the carnal mind is enmity against God,
124
ANTHROPOLOGY
for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed
can be." Rom. viii. 7. "For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now."—verse 22.
6. These testimonies of scripture are sufficient for
our purpose, and most abundantly confirm all said in
the first paragraphs of this chapter concerning what we
see in our own time.
Now these things are said of man as man, not of a
selected few, not of any one class, or so-called race of
men, but of the whole species. The wise man Solomon
said: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child."
Not the influence of bad example merely, but "bound
up in his heart.'' It was inherent in the nature. This is
depravity in its fruit—it$ issue. The word depravity,
signifies, made crooked; put out of line. Latin pravus
Greek hraibos. It is a state, a result. The cause is
sin, or estrangement from God. The popular sense or
use of this word leads to misunderstanding. It is usu¬
ally applied in common use to those persons who are
utterly destitute of any virtue, who are totally abandoned
to vice. Hence the difficulty of comprehending the
theological meaning (when it is said that "all men are
depraved, totally depraved." We readily see that if it
be intended by this, that all men, not Christians, are
wholly vicious, it cannot be believed; for it is hard to
find a man anywhere who has not some redeeming
traits. "There is a bright spot in every life," is a gen¬
eral truth.
7. The exact language of our confession of faith on
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 125
this subject (depravity), is as follows:
"It is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that is natural¬
ly engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from
original righteousness."
This article, we confess, asitstands in the creed of the
church of England, and that of Methodism, is not suf¬
ficiently plain for the common reader. It is a very lit¬
eral translation of the Latin version, word for word,
and hence an obscure idiom. But the real meaning
seems to be that in the primal revolt of Adam from the
commandment of God, he lost what we may call, vital
moral connection with the spirit of God; that which
kept up the power and love of holiness in his heart.
This rupture between the soul and its Maker, became
estrangement, alienation. In this estrangement came
also the feeling of rebellion. Not combativeness to¬
ward God, but intractability. That thing in the heart
which says "I won't!" Job describes it, or rather Zop-
har in Job xi. 12. "For vain man would be wise,
though man be born "a wild ass colt." Our word
"like" is not in the phrase.—Wild, fierce, intractable.
Instead of returning to God and to holiness he inevita¬
bly and universally goes the other way.
St. Paul describes it, Eph. iv. 18, as being "aliena¬
ted from the life of God," through ignorance and
blindness."
8. This description, then—"Ignorant," "blind,"
'' wild," " alienated," " depraved,'' applies to every
man descended from Adam. Old people, children, too,
and all; all are obnoxious to holiness. * This word,
obnoxious, is Latin. It does not mean hateful to any-
126
ANTHROPOLOGY
one or anything, but it means "disordered," "dis¬
eased," "damaged." It is like silk or broadcloth,
that has been in a. fire or a shipwreck; it is damaged
and has no power of' itself to recover its original
beauty or worth.
But there are those who stoutly deny this universal
moral disease. They argue that the child coming into
the world is as innocent, as holy as Adam when
created by the hand and breath of his Maker, who
pronounced him "very good." " Since sin," say they,
"is the transgression of law, and since there can be no
transgression by those who have not yet become con¬
scious of right and wrong, it is absurd to allege that
such are sinners. For if life is thus begun in uncon¬
scious innocence, it is begun at the same point and un¬
der the same conditions—evil example excepted—that
Adam began his probationary career, and hence no
need of redemption except for the ruin that each indi¬
vidual brings on himself." They allow that the
chances of a holy life and continued innocence are
against him, because of the wicked influence and ex -
ample of others; but for all, no one's status is or can
be affected until his own choice has been made. This
is-substantially what is known as Pelagianism.
9. Herein we meet with insidious plausibility, but
not with truth. We appreciate the difficulty of com¬
prehending how a just and holy God should regard
any soul as guilty who has not sinned by choice and
actual transgression. But this difficulty arises largely,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 127
if not wholly, from too narrow a view of sin in the
first place, and too narrow views of the law.
(1.) What is sin? Heb (Chattah), and Greek
(hatnartia). It is to miss, to come short of our true
destiny. It is not only, and merely, actual transgres¬
sion, but infirmity also. It is to fail in any sense or
degree. Now the end of our being is godliness—or
God-likeness. Not only innocence but holiness,
including the life and likeness of God in the soul; dis¬
posing that soul to perpetual harmony with his will.
Now, no one who will speak out the whole truth of
his own experience, or of his observation, will claim
that either he himself or any one he has ever known,
even as a child, comes up to this description. Let it
be remembered that he must not " miss" the mark.
He must have righteousness and true (very) holiness.
(2.) Sin in the Bible sense is polution, (disease,) cor¬
ruption, (debility,) deterioration. This then is what
is understood by "depravity" or "original sin." Not
by actual transgression of the commands of God, but
by inheritance. That by which th£ natural children of
Adam are "far gone"—quam longissime as the creed
expresses it—from original righteousness. So far in¬
deed that they can never get back to it but by the
preventing (going-before) grace of God.
(3.; " How then shall I be counted guilty and pun¬
ished for that which I have not done?" No, if you
can keep the law of righteousness and attain true holi¬
ness, you may be saved; but you will not, because you
cannot. You are diseased now and sure to grow worse.
ANTHROPOLOGY,
The Scripture proofs cited in the preceding sections
are a sufficient exhibit on this subject. " All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to
his own way, and the Iyord hath laid on him the ini¬
quity of us all," Isa. liii, 6.
Having now shown the fall and the corruption ot hu¬
man nature, by natural introduction of the subject, we
proceed to the study of the remedy which has been
provided for our pardon and cleansing. Namely, the
Atonement made by the Saviour, the Christ of God,
through the sacrifice of himself for us.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 129
PART THIRD.—CHAPTER I.
SOTERIOI.OGY.
The Atonement.—"But now hath he appeared once
in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." Heb. ix. 26.
1. The word atonement is from the Saxon: "at-one-
ment," and answers in meaning to the Greek verb,
hilaskomai, to change; appease, or reconcile.
Atonement, therefore, scripturally, is that reconcilia¬
tion of God to man, and man to God, which is pro¬
cured by the vicarious, and propitiatory sacrifice of
Jesus our Saviour.
2. The holy scriptures, throughout, represent the
Almighty as displeased with sin. None that work
iniquity can abide in his presence. It was for this cause
that he destroyed the old world. He is represented as
saying: "I will destroy man whom I have made, from
off the face of the earth; for it repenteth me that I have
SOTERIOLOGY.
made him." This is a strong figure of speech, as that
also which represents him as being "angry with the
wicked every day."—Psalms vii. 2.
Now while we know the Lord does not repent as we
repent, nor is angry as we are angry, yet certainly in no
other way could the scriptures bring home to our un¬
derstanding the holy and deep repugnance of sin and
sinners to our Maker. He is a being of essential holi¬
ness. Bishop Payne describes it as "reppellent holi¬
ness." Job tells us "He charged his angels with
folly," iv. 18; "and the heavens are not clean in his
sight," xv. 18. Now compare these ideas of the Divine
nature and character with Gen. vi. 5: "And Gcd saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,"
and that "every imagination of the thoughts o f his heart"
was only evil "day by day" i. e., continually. Think
of it! Every image in the thoughts of his mind, was
an evil, wicked, sinful image. "Every," is "all," clis-
tributively, taken one by one, so the thing affirmed is
that from the morning till the night, every day, all they
thought of was wickedness.
In full accord with this is the saying of the Apostle.-
"For the carnal mind"—i. e. the mind subordinated to
mere animalism—"is enmity against God, for it is not
subject to the law of God neither indeed can be."
Looking now on this picture, then on that, the holy
God, and fallen men, what awful stretch of space will
illustrate the gulf of separation between the offended
God, and offending man? To bridge that awful gulf
and restore harmony and complacency between the sin-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 131
ner and his Maker is the problem of wisdom, grace and
love revealed alone in our Bible. It is solved by the
incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God. This
problem is the sealed book of John, that no man in
heaven, nor in earth, nor under the earth could open,
save he who is called "the Lion of the tribe of Judah."
The philosophy or system of truth required to fully'set
forth the grace of God in human redemption, covers
the whole canon of scripture. As already observed in
a preceding section, this whole volume of revealed
- truth, groups itself around the majestic person of Jesus
the Christ.
3. The substance of scriptural teaching concerning
the grace of God in redemption, is that from the foun¬
dation of the world, God, foreseeing just what would
befall the human race, provided for its redemption and
restoration to holiness, happiness and heaven, by the hand
of a mediator.
4. The most comprehensive term applied to the ac¬
complished work of Christ as mediator, is "Salvation,"
called in the Greek scriptures Soterio. Hence soteriolo-
g-y, as found in theological science, means the doctrine
or science of salvation.
[1 t'li corrupt and fallen estate in which man is
fjund, he is not only displeasing—offensive to God, but
h^ is under condemnation and also under sentence of
diath—death of the body and of the soul; involving
th2 total and final loss of holiness, peace and heaven.
The sentence of death—as we have already observed
—was suspended for awhile as to Adam and his wife,
132
SOTERIOLOGY.
and they were sent out from the garden, and being cut
off from the tree of life, they were doomed to corrup¬
tion and physical decline. The labor and sorrow allotted
to them, could only accelerate their journey to the
tomb. For while it is truly said that man was made
to labor, as evidenced by his form and the structure of
the members of his body it is certainly not true that
he was created for slavish, exacting toil, such as has
characterized his whole history since the fall; attended,
as it is, with pain, hunger and the rapid exhaustion of
the vital force. No, this thing is not natural, or normal;
it is a part of the curse, the sentence in perpetual en¬
forcement, for sin. It is an enforced, but futile, effort
to escape the penalty of administrative justice. He is
in the condition of the ox on the wheel of a treadmill,
always pushing toward the end of his journey, but mak¬
ing no progress, because the centripital motion of the
wheel leaves each foot fall precisely where the step be¬
gan. Or as the pendulum in a clock fails of progress,
because the sweep in one direction is perpetually com¬
pensated by the counter impulse in the opposite di¬
rection.
The horrid forms of labor to which millions have
been subject is little less than a veritable perdition.
After all, then, sentence for transgression was only
half suspended. But there was hope.
6. Let us inquire then, what was require J in order
to effect reconciliation and the recovery of that which
had been lost.
(i) God is a just and righteous governor—His law,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 133
like himself, is holy, just, good. It has been violated
and demands satisfaction.
(2) This law of God was not—we may be sure—the
merely verbal order prohibiting the use of certain fruit,
but the fundamental law lying back of that order, the
law of which that command was but the outward form,
or test.
(3) That violation must, therefore, not be passed by.
It must be punished adequately. While it is freely ad-'
mitted that finite sinful man cannot speculate concern¬
ing motives actuating the Divine will, without danger
of irreverence, yet there has been a strong desire to
contemplate the subject of punitive justice in the Divine
administration from some other standpoint than, that
of a purely legal requirement.
(4) The conception of this subject that has pre¬
vailed most widely, is almost exactly similar to a case
in a court of law. Offending man is brought before the
bar of justice, is tried, condemned and sentenced. And
now punishment must be inflicted because God is im¬
mutable and what he has threatened must be accom¬
plished. The majesty of law must be upheld In
other words, the law has been violated and justice, as
an advocate, demands the penalty.
Here it is that the mediator appears in the transac¬
tion, and offers himself as a substitute. The offer is
accepted, and the penalty due to man, on account of
transgression, fell on him.
7. This is a brief outline of the most wonderful
subject in the whole of revelation, and thus it has stood
soteriolqoy.
in the conception of men from century to century. It
)ias been often assailed by dissenting opinions, but
devout men have clung to it because they believed it to
be firmly planted in the infallible scriptures.
3. We are obliged to confess that, to our mind, this
view presents too much of law and too little of the in¬
finite grace and love which the scriptures clearly show
to have been intimately connected with this procedure.
On the other hand there have been those who, seeing
nothing else but the fullness of love going forth in the
person and sufferings of Christ, have lost sight of the
claims of justice. So it came to pass that in studying
theological theories on the subject of the atonement we
have quite as many different views as different points
of view, from which writers have set out to traverse
the subject. Without attempting to give even an out¬
line of the many varying theories among orthodox
Christians on this fundamental and profound theme, we
will now attempt to put in the closest possible compass
what seems to us to be the substance of scriptural
teaching as to the atonement.
II-
1. In order that we may proceed with clear ideas in
our presentation of this subject, we may recur to what
was said in chapter 2, page 14, concerning the func¬
tions of sovereignty ; Author, Legislator, Governor,
Judge; involved in the names assumed by the Om¬
nipotent Creator,
mOKSt OF CHRISTIAN THKOLOOY. *33
Syllabus.
We have then as postulates: (i), God as Author,
made the world, and the plan and disposal of it, in all
its parts, is his. (2), As legislator, He gave the world
•its laws; regulating all, and establishing its order. (3)
As Governor, He rules the world after the counsel ot
his own will, that is to say, according to the laws he
has given and the order which he has ordained. (4),
As Judge, He presides in the Court of the universe.
At his bar every creature he has made must appear at
his summons. He is "the Judge of all the earth."
Anothar view.
2. But there is another view which we are happily
privileged to take of the Infinite One.
(1), He is the Father of spirits, and "we are his off¬
spring." Acts xvii. 28, 29. Hence, as a Father, the
attributes of love and mercy ascribed to God, must
have full and equal recognition in the Divine adminis¬
tration. As a father he loves his children, and will
not willingly cast them off. He has no pleasure in pun¬
ishment, nor in the death of any soul he has made.
See Ezek. xviii. 32: "For I have no pleasure in the
death of him that diethsaiththe Lord God." "O death,
I will be thy plague-" Hosea xiii, 14. This God of'
infinite love and mercy will not surrender the man bear¬
ing his own image to the power of sin and death. The
fall, though a calamity, was not all loss.
A New Trial.
A new system of trial, under surer conditions had
been provided for before the first had come to issue.
G0TEftI0I,06Y,
3. Speaking humanly, there was no surprise in the
court of heaven when Adam fell. There was no need
for any procedure as in a court of law. There was no
clamoring of justice for blood or vengeance. When
the mischief had been wrought, and sin with fatal en¬
ergy made its advent in the garden, there was no need
for a trial. The trial and conviction took place imme¬
diately in the court of Adam's conscience, so that in
shame and fear he hid himself. Hence all the public
act required was a formal recognition of the transgres¬
sion, and announcement of the sentence threatened in
the law.
Justice, Mercy and Love.
Justice indeed attended court when the righteous sen¬
tence was published; but love, and mercy too, were
there. Not one of these antagonizing the other, but
all conjoined in most perfect harmony, and in full man¬
ifestation of the glory of God.
The holiness of God, will not tolerate the polution,
the defilement of sin. The justice of God will nut
commute sin. The mercy of God pities the sinner
and the love of God provides a ransom. These joints
of consideration may assist us somewhat in compre
hending more easily the wherefore of the atoning sac¬
rifice by which we may have peace with God, and be
restored to the Divine fellowship and favor
III.
Mystery of Truth.
1. Think of it as we may, it seems a mystery that
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 137
the breach of sin should ever have occurred, and that
the essential, or universal righteousness of God ordains
the penalty of death against it, enforcing that terrible
penalty through all time and eternity. See Rev. 21-8.
Yet such is the case, and there can be no caviling about
it. The rule of punishment and reward is rigorously
enforced. Hence, it is found that no being under the
moral government of God can "sin" and live.
Essential holiness, and absolute righteousness are
repellent of sin, the moment that sin occurs,
in this holy realm, the sinner dies. Nor is there any¬
thing of vindictiveness in this; for how could it be
otherwise in the presence-chamber of the most pure
and holy God ? See Rev. xxi. 27.
2. Now if we bear in mind that man was made for
God, that he is, in an important sense, a son of God, it
is not at all shocking to the reason or moral sense to
say, that his native home is in this royal presence-
chamber, within this moral kingdom of perfect right¬
eousness and true holiness. Men and holy angels only
are admitted to this august presence and to this most
blessed relation.
3. Outside of this sacred, holy fellowship with
God, is spiritual and moral death. This is not so,
figuratively, but truly. It is called by our Saviour
"outer darkness," a state of distress and weeping. See
also Gal. v. 19, 20, &c. Rev. 22, 15. "Without are
dogs, whoremongers, murderers, and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie.''
The rupture between sin and holiness is a real
138
SOTERIOLOGY.
breach. The loss of fellowship and the righteous favor
of God, is to fall into the power of every possible evil.
We- reiterate these statements, for the purpose of
making the fact and the evil of sin emphatic, as the
Bible makes it emphatic. Witnesses to the malevolence
of sin are as multitudinous as the swarms of criminal
men, women and children that surround "and beset us
every day and hour; while the scriptures of revealed
truth teem with testimonies of its utter repugnance to
the pure and holy God. "Thou art of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity." Hab. i. 13.
A Principle.
4. We reach here another element in the
righteous government of God. Such is the constitu¬
tion in this moral realm, that when once fallen under
condemnation of the law,when once cut off from the fa¬
vor of God there is no way of return. This fact is in the
very nature of law. When once the law has decided a
case of guilt there is no retreat. When once the gate
to paradise is shut, the way is closed, and cherubim
with sword in hand keep the way. Repentance nor
grief, nor any possible reformation will or can restore the
relation of harmony, between the offender and his God.
Mediator must be Divine.
God himself must send forth a mediator from the
bosom of love, who is to be clothed with a majesty, a
dignity, and worth that will match the loftiest honor of
the law. A name than which there is no higher in the
august Court of heaven. Only the Son of the Highest
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 139
may come to the region of human enthrallment and
fetch man back to God.
5. This august mediator, issuing from the bosotix
of the Father, and from the plains of ineffable light,
must be the "seed of the woman"But when the full¬
ness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman* made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law that we might receieve the adop¬
tion of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5.
Herein do we behold the amazing resources of infin¬
ite wisdom and love. The Co-equal, consubstantial, co-
eternal Son, becomes incarnate, that he might be in
fitting relations to reconcile God to man, and man to
God. "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God!" Rom. xi. 33.*
Propitiation. The idea involved in propitiatory sac¬
rifice, is satisfaction, appeasement. It is, as it were,
to bridge the way to relations of harmony, between
those who were at variance. Consequently as soon as
sin had been committed propitiatory sacrifices were in¬
stituted, and the practice was continued from age to
age until the culmination of the system took place on
Calvary.
Another view.
6. (a) But it has been argued that the death of Christ
was not expiatory.t It is held by some that he died
only as a martyr to the truth which he taught. That
his death as such, was influential and exemplary; but
they believe his life and example of perfect obedi-
*See Appendix. Sonship of Christ. | fSee Appendix. Note Expiation
140
SOTERIOLOGY
ence, and the supreme excellence of his teaching were
far more influential and valuable than was his death.
(b) They allow that such a horrid death was not ne¬
cessary to the pardon of sin. That it is shocking to rea¬
son, as well as discreditable to the mercy and goodness
of God to suppose that he would require shedding the
blood of any victim to appease his anger, much less
the most horrid torture of his only begotten Son.
Thus do the fickle endeavors of human reason, joined
to effeminate sentimentalism fall short of the mark, and
miss that conception of truth, upon which hangs all
that is highest, holiest and best in the work of our re¬
demption.
(c) In contending for the view that the sacrifice of
Christ was not propitiatory,* and not necessary to the
pardon of sin, the idea is that God was not angry with man,
that the whole ground of estrangement is in the rebel¬
lious state of the human heart. And hence, that so far as
reconciliation is effected by the death of Christ, it con¬
sists in the softening and appeasment of the human
soul.
(d) That God proclaimed himself a pardoning God
from the beginning, long before the advent of the Mes¬
siah. That he has no pleasure in sacrifice, requiring
only the sacrifice of a "broken contrite heart."
7. To all which it may be replied: (1) Although
God has, indeed, declared himself a pardoning God,
the promise is always connected with satisfaction. It
may be regarded as an axiom in revealed truth, or
*See note Appendix Propitiation: and Expiation.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. u<
in the scheme of covenant grace,that " without shedding
blood there is no remission cf sin."
In Exod. xxxiv. 6, etc., where God proclaims him¬
self "the L,ord God, merciful and gracious, abundant
in goodness, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin,"
there is no ground for supposing the promise of pardon
to sinners referred to here, is made without reference to
expiation. The whole system of sacrifices ordained
and described in the preceding chapters of this book,
and the appointment of a regular officiating Priesthood
make such a supposition impossible.
It is practically impossible to explain the significance
of the sacrifices of the Mosaic economy, except on as¬
sumption of their symbolic character.
If they do not index the propitiatory sacrifice of
Christ, then were they of no significance at all. They
were in no way different from the idolatrous ceremo¬
nies of paganism.
(2) How can the prophetical scriptures which so
fully and plainly teach the doctrine of atonement by
substitution, the just for the unjust, be explained, if we
are to believe the divine economy required no satisfac¬
tion for sin ?
8. The Bible testimonies relied on in support of the
doctrine of substitution and propitiation by the death
of the cross, through which alone our sins are pardoned,
are so numerous that only a few leading quotations
need be given. Isa. liii. 4: "Surely he hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted; but he was
SOTERIOLOGY.
wounded for our transgressions, he w(\s bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him,
and with his stripes we are healed." * * * "The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." *** "And he
made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in liis
death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth." * * "Yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him, he hath put him to grief." * * But'' He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied; by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for
he shall bear their iniquity.'' No mere device of words
can explain away the plain, simple meaning of this
passage.
(1) He is "bruised for our iniquities." "The chas¬
tisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed.'' Suffering thus in our stead, we escape
the bruising, the chastisement, and the stripes.
(2) The just suffers for the unjust. "Because he
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth." Yet it pleased the Lord "to bruise him,"
and "put him to grief." Zech. xiii. 11. "Awake 0
sword against my shepherd, and against the man that
is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the shep¬
herd, and the sheep shall be scattered."
(3) "And one shall say unto him, what are these
wounds in thine hands ? Then He shall answer: Those
with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
This prophecy, written, as nearly as can be ascertained,
five hundred years before the advent, points out the
cruel manner of the sacrificial offering, and that it was
DI. V.X- CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 143
to be in pursuance of Divine appointment. The sword is
called out "against the man that is my fellow." And
the order is' to "smite the Shepherd." Compare this
passage with St. John x. 30: "I, and my Father are
one." These are some of the testimonies in support of
the doctrine of atonement by substitution, found in the
Old Testament writings.
9. The New Testament evidences, as set forth both
by our Lord and all of the Apostles, are very full, and
show beyond the possibility of mistake the nature and
extent of the Atonement.
There is a great deal of dispute, as we have before in¬
timated, on both of these heads. But these conten¬
tions arise either about the force and meaning of words,
by which men seek to enforce their own theories of this
doctrine, or strive to overturn those of some opposing
school of thought. But of this, we may offer more
further on; yet as relates to the main point, there should
be no serious differences among true believers in the
doctrine of Mediation.
10. Our Saviour's own words at the institution of
the Supper, which is to be his memorial in the church
and in the world forever, ought to be sufficient for all:
"This is my body which is given for you."
"This is my blood of the New Testament, (new cov¬
enant) which is shed for many for the remission of sins,"
This testimony shuts us up to the necessity of accept¬
ing the doctrine that Jesus died for us. That our sal¬
vation is by his death, or we must assume that in this
i44 SOTERIOLOGY,
most solemn and sacred institution, he "has given us a
worthless illusion.
Whether he died by the dictum of law or love, or
both, as indeed he did, is not so important to sinners
needing pardon, cleansing and peace with God, as to
know that at all events, he died for us.
f)n. For additional testimony, see Phillips' sermon
to the Kunuch, Acts viii. 32, etc. Acts x. 43, St.
Peter to Cornelius. Romans v. 10, 21 and vi. 23; stu¬
dy also, the Bpistle to Hebrews, chapter 5 to 10 in¬
clusive.
12. To sum up the points contained in these les¬
sons on the atonement, we have these: (a) For the
salvation of man, God, before the foundation of the
world, ordained a Mediator, which was with him in the
beginning, and one in essence with God, revealed in
scripture as the Logos or eternal Word, (b) This
august person, of the adorable Trinity, assumed our
nature, and becoming incarnate, is named, as to his
humanity, Jesus—the Saviour. He was annointed or
consecrated by the Holy Ghost, Acts x. 38; and there¬
fore known as The; Christ.
(c) As Mediator, he, in some way, which we do
not—cannot—know, became our surety; making a cov¬
enant for us, which he himself calls the New Testa¬
ment, the sign of which is his blood. This "New
Covenant" is spoken of in distinction from the old,
and although he does not tell us what the old one was,
it is evidently that agreement God made with Adam as
the condition of life, and which was in the nature of a
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 145
covenant, whatever it was. So then, he becomes by
the double right of kinship, (elder brother), and sure¬
ty, the second Adam, the head of the race.*
(d) This puts him in such relation to both the Di¬
vine and human side of the problem of human salva¬
tion, that he had the right of redemption, to buy back
the forfeited life and rights of our delinquent race.
Hence, the saying: "Ye are not your own, ye are
bought with a price." Not with perishable gold, but
with that which is so precious that but one alone has
this price to give. He gives freely the price required,
and man, redeemed, becomes his.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life and
they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them
out of my hand.'' In Christ, therefore, "all things are
yours," "And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Section IV.
1. Before introducing discussion on the extent of
the atonement, we have concluded to present some
closing observations on what we will designate a theory
of the atonement, or the philosophy of the scheme of re¬
demption as deduced from the scripture testimonies ex¬
hibited above.
We will say first of all, that these observations are in
the line of speculative inference, and are suggestively
addressed to more advanced and thoughtful minds than
* See appendix note.
146
SOTERIOLOGY.
the majority of those for whom this work is pre¬
pared. And yet we may certainly believe that the drift
of christian thought in the present day, requires that
the postulates of this all-commanding theme should be
put in the broadest possible light consistent with faith¬
ful adherence to the tenor of holy scripture.
2. As observed in a preceding section, there has
been a steady effort on the part of many to find a dif¬
ferent point of view from which to contemplate this
whole redemptive scheme, than that of a strictly legal
transaction. From the days of the socinian heresy, to
the recent deliverence of the Andover school of the so-
called new theology, you may find abundant evidences
of this desire.
3. Earnest reflection will reveal, that, at the bottom
of all supposed difficulty in the problem, lies the theo¬
ry of the Divine attributes, brought to view by the fall
of Adam, and the course of administration developed
in this scheme or plan of redemption, namely:
(a) Holiness which secures the Divine nature from
complacency with sin. (b) Absolute justice that can
not commute sin. Hence, (c) considered with relation
to Holiness and justice, the transgressor is hopelessly
undone. There could not be a shadow of hope. But
(d), Infinite love in the form of mercy goes out alter
fallen man, and is inconsolable until reconciliation is
secured. Now it is, that infinite wisdom, commanding
the resourses of the whole Deity, in response to Ip^e.
provides for reconcilement and the recovery of the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 147
race, (e) In the provision made, the fullness of the
Godhead involving Trinity, appears.
Thus the full mystery of the Trinity is seen in the
plan of redemption. Nor can it ever have been even
dreamed of by man, or angel, so far as shown in scrip¬
ture, otherwise than in this disclosure.
4. We have then, as the moral ground of ovr
Saviour's death for fallen man: (a) the demand of justice,
which could only be met in this way, (b), the claims of
Divine authority, which could be upheld only by the
punishment of the offender, or in other words, as all of
the theologians put it, "The moral government of
God is such that its authority must be vindicated."
5. Now whatever the wise and good may be able to
say or explain here, this presentation of the case puts
the whole matter in the apprehension of common minds,
on strictly legal grounds, and hence as viewed from this
standpoint, no wealth of rhetoric or poetry can free the
mind from the impress of legal incongruity. Our teach¬
er in Theology long years ago, was wont to say, "it
was an extra legal measure," which can only mean that
it was a measure above law, and therefore, not law at
all, but grace. Jesus Christ is the gift of love to man.
'1 God so loved the world that he gave his only begot¬
ten Son," &c. To our apprehension, the demand of
love is the final cause of all that is revealed in this
marvelous plan of redemption.
To those who regard only the legal aspect of the
atonement, but one half of the subject is seen. There
is a !eg-al aspect, and there is a gracious aspect. They
248
SOTERIOLOGY.
are not opposed to each other, but concordant; yet he
who would grasp the whole must see them together.
The propitiatory death of the cross clears the way for
clemency, but pardon is not our whole need. If the
death of Christ had been only a measure to avoid the
result of distributive justice in the punishm2nt of each
and every sinner, it would have fallen short of the high
aim proposed in the scheme revealed in the Bible. For
he must not only shield us from the blow threatened by
the offended law, but he must also,by the procurement,
and administration of divine grace, rescue us from ill
desert through sanctification of the soul. So that the
same inestimable merit that saves from hell, fits us also
for heaven. Our salvation, (which is grace finished,),
is not only 11 by him" but "/whim." It is a narrow
view of the subject that would hedge the Almighty
with legal limitations, that should restrict the salvation
of men to legal grounds alone. As a matter of fact, the
death of Christ, considered in'relation to law, was an
atonement for all, and sufficient for all. For "as in
Adam all died, even so in Christ all are made alive,"'/.
e., the law was satisfied. Yet all are not saved. Why
not ? Why, plainly because sin will not cease without
help to throw off its yoke. And this only comes
through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the name and
for the sake of Christ.
6. Let it be remembered that his redemption contem¬
plates much more than propitiation or clearing the way
for pardon. Sin must not only be pardoned, but de¬
stroyed. Man needs not only redemption from the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 149
curs:, but deliverance from the power of sin. Its spell
must be broken, so that the tide of his moral nature
may be drawn back to the channel of righteousness.
Thus the death of Christ procures justification; adop¬
tion as sons, and cleansing, or sanctification. All these
blessings come to us by the fullness of Christ. It is not
law, but love clothed with life and power. The love
ot God alone in Christ can win and save fallen man.
7. From this standpoint we can view the scheme of
redemption as a plan of grace wholly, while it meets
and satisfies the highest claim of authority and law.
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak."
etc. It could claim satisfaction, but could not cleanse
polluted hearts, nor win them back to righteousness.
"The God and Father of our L,ord Jesus Christ hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessing in Christ; and hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the
good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
See Eph. i : 3, 6.
From this point we might review with great advan¬
tage the ancient sacrifices of the L,evitical law.
(1) Especially the sin offering and burnt offering.
(2) The appointment of , a regular Priesthood to act
as Mediator in the adminisration of these offices, and
thus trace the parellelism illustrated so forcibly by the
Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
15°
S0TERI0L0GY.
(3) The contrast brought out between the ministry of
Christ as Priest, and that of the old Priesthood. They
offering, once a year, first for themselves, and then for
the people, a victim chosen by the offerers. But he,
once for all, offers, not another, but himself, by which he
obtained eternal redemption for us. So that in this
great sacrifice he is both Priest and victim.
The next step in the course of our stud}', brings us
to the topic called by theologians: The extent of the
atonement.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. =51
PART THIRD.—CHAPTER II.
Extent of the Atonement.
1. Under this division of our subject we have the
questions:
Was the atonement limited ?
Was the sacrifice of love, offered on the summit of
Calvary, designed for the whole human family, or only
for some part of it ?
Upon these questions there is a great variety of opin¬
ions among christians. The various classes of belief on
the question of universal or limited atonement, may be
presented about as follows:
(a) The old school Calvinist view.
(b) The view of modern Calvinists.
(c) The Universalist theory.
(d) The theory known as the Arminian doctrine of
the atonement.
There are still other schools of thought Qt\ this s&b-
152
SOTERIOLOGY.
ject, but as they present no features of special inipOT
tance we shall not yield space for their exhibition.
2. (a) The old school Calvinists regard the atone
ment as strictly limited; as having been made exclu¬
sively for those called the elect.
(b) Their system considered in some of its points,
logically makes the election the ground of the atone¬
ment; as if the election were the antecedent purpose in
the Divine economy, and the atonement an incidental
and subordinate purpose.
The scheme in substance is, that God was pleased in
the counsel of his own will, to chose out of the human
family, a specific number of persons, whom he ordained
to everlasting life. That for these, and for these only,
he gave his son, that through propitiation by the death
of the cross, he should be their Saviour. They hold
that the atonement is sufficient for all men, but it was
made for the elect only.
(c) Concerning these elect, they teach that God has
ordained the means of their effectual calling, so that
every one of them will be reached and brought to re¬
pentance and faith in Christ, and will be ultimately
sanctified and saved.
3-^ (a) As to the rest of mankind, they hold that in
the inscruiable wisdom and secret counsel of God, he
as fore-ordained them to eternal damnation. Later
bv°r 'n soften tI:"8 revolting- phraseology,
lilZrT, g 0t,her fUn,M °f that, while
' (b) ThevT' l0fT,lV am°Unt t0 the
(b) They say of the non-elect, God "passed them
DIGEST OF ..CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 153
by" in the exercise of electing grace, and so they were
hopelessly left to perish forever. Denied the benefits
of redemption, they are left in guilt, tinder sentence of
death for original and actual sin, until the judgment,
when they will be subjected to everlasting punishment.
4. The following quotation will sufficiently illus¬
trate the high Calvinistic scheme of doctrine on this
subject. "Predestination we call"the eternal decree of
God, by which he hath determined in himself what he
would have to become of every individual of mankind.
For they are not all created with similar destiny; but
eternal life is fore-ordained for some, and eternal dam¬
nation for others. Every man therefore being created
for one or other of these ends, we say, he is predestina¬
ted to life or death." (See Watson's Inst, volume 2,
page 281.)
5. The modern, or low school Calvinists, present a
scheme that is, in some features of it, a decided modi¬
fication of that just given.
(a) They allow, the holy scriptures teach, that the
atonement was made in fact for all men. (b) That
there was abundant worth and sufficiency in the death
of Christ for the salvation of the whole race. Further¬
more, that by his death all legal obstacles were removed
out of the way, so that repentance and faith as. the con¬
dition of pardon and acceptance, is offered in good
faith, (bo7ie fide) to all men. (SeeBoyce's Theol. page
338-) (c) They believe that all who die in infancy
are saved, (d) They allowthat some of the benefits of
154
SOTERIOLOGY
Christ's atonement are applied to all, so that our whole
dispensation of probation and forbearance under which
all rest, since the fall, "including for the unjust as well
as the just, temporal mercies, and the means of grace,
is part of the purchase of Christ's blood." (e) Hence
they say, since all legal obstacles are removed, "his
satisfaction may be applied to one man as well as an¬
other, if God so wills it."
6. But the question, say they, is of the Divine pur¬
pose. What was the design ? "The design of Christ
in dying, was to effect what he actually does effect,
(i.) Incidentally to remove the legal impediments out
of the way of all men, and render the salvation of every
hearer of the gospel objectively possible, so that each
has a right to appropriate it at will. (2) His specific
design was to impetrate, (pray for) the actual salvation
of his own people, in all the means, conditions and
stages of it, and render it infallibly certain." (See Dr.
Hodge, "Outlines of Theol."—415 onward.)
7. Arminians positively deny these Calvinistic the¬
ories of the atonement as unscriptural, irrational and
opposed to the whole spirit of evangelical truth.
(2) They insist, negatively, that we can know noth¬
ing of God's secret counsels, nor of the mystery of re¬
demption, excepting as he is pleased to reveal these in
his word. They admit, as all must admit, that much
is found in holy scripture in reference to fore know¬
ledge, fore-ordination and "the elect;" but they deny
that any or all the passages relating thereto can be so
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN. THEOLOGY. 155
construed as to furnish support to the doctrine of elec¬
tion as set forth by Calvinists, and shown in the above
paragraphs and quotations.
2. In order to obtain the clearest possible view of
what Arminians believe as to the extent of the atone¬
ment and fore-ordination, we will transcribe here an
extract taken from the Volume of Miscellany by Rich¬
ard Watson, and printed in McClintock's Cyclopedia of
Theology, vol. i, A. B., page 415.
Extent of the Atonement.
It is as follows:—(1) (a) "God by an eternal and
immutable decree, ordained in Jesus Christ, his Son,
before the foundation of the world, to save in Christ,
because of Christ, and through Christ, from out of the
human race, which is fallen and subject to sin, those
who, "by the grace of the Holy Spirit, believe in the
same, his Son, and who, by the same grace, persevere
unto the end in that faith and the obedience of faith,
(b) But on the contrary, to leave in sin and subject to
wrath, those who are not converted, and are unbeliev¬
ing, and to condemn them as aliens from Christ, ac¬
cording to the gospel." John iii. 36.
2. (a) "To this end,—i. e., the salvation of believ¬
ers—Jesus Christ the Saviour of'the world, died for
all, and each one, so that he has gained for all, through
the death of Christ, reconciliation and the remission
of sins; on this condition, however, that no one in
reality enjoys that remission of sins, except the faith¬
ful man; and this, too, according to the gospel: St.
John iii. 16, and 1 John ii. 2.
156
SOTERIOLOGY.
But (b) man has not from himself, or by the power
of his free will, saving faith, inasmuch as in the state
of defection and sin he cannot think or do of himself
any good, such as saving faith is; but it is necessary for
him to be boYn again, and renewed by God in Christ
through his Holy Spirit, in his mind, affections, will,
and all his faculties, so that he may be able to under¬
stand, think, wish, and perform something good, ac¬
cording to that saying of Christ in John xv. 5."
Arminius.
8. It is seen from this selection, taken out of the
writings of the primitive teacher of Artninian doctrine,
that the fact of election, or fore-ordination involved in
the Divine fore-knowledge, and enunciated in manjr
passages of scripture, is not denied nor evaded; but it
is taken out of that cruel relation of severe in-equity in
which Calvinism places it, and is put more correctly
on the rational and just ground of evangelic truth.
And yet even these views of Arminius, in paragraph
2, b, are materially modified by later authorities of his
school.
They believe in election such as the scriptures teach, •
not of A or B, but of believers. They believe that
God has fore-chosen unto eternal glory, every soul that
will be saved, but on the sole condition that every one so
saved has, or shall have voluntarily accepted the offer
of pardon by faith in Christ, by the help of the Holy
Spirit given to them for his sake.
They believe that God has immutably ordained some
men to death everlasting; yet not so of A or B, through
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 157
any secret counsel or purpose, but every one that has,
or shall have resisted the Holy Spirit of assisting grace,
rejecting thereby the offer of pardon and justification
through Jesus Christ. These positions are fortified by
abundant scriptural testimony, which we will now pro¬
ceed to show: (a) We appeal to those passages that
declare universal redemption, St. John i. 39:—"Behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh (or beareth) away the
sin of the world!" "And I saw, and bear record that
this is the Son of God." 1 Cor. 15 : 3. "For I deliv¬
ered unto you first of all, that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scrip¬
tures." What scriptures ? See Isa. lxiii. 6,&c. 11 All we
like sheep have gone astray * * * and the Lord hath
laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Here all of the
first part, declaring we have gone astray, is not differ¬
ent from the all of the last part, that says, "the Lord
hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Heb. ii.
9.—"But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffeiing of death, that he, by the
grace of God, should taste death for every man."
"Every" is all, one by one. See also, Johniii. 16, 17:
"For God so loved the world," &c., and John xii. 32.
"Being 'lifted up,' He draws all men toward himself."
Roman v. 18.
The "offence" and ''judgment" came on all, and also
the 'freegift" of righteousness. These passages are
enough as sustaining most completely the Arminian
view of the Atonement. It was made for all. With a
good reference Bible, many other scriptures of like im-
153
SOTERIOLOGY.
port can easily be found.
(b) We appeal to those passages that declare for the
elect, and show that they are believers only. See Eph.
i. : 4, 12.—"According as he hath chosen us in hira
before the foundation of the world, * * * having pre¬
destinated us unto the adoption of children,'' &c. "In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being pre¬
destinated according to the purpose of him whoworketh
after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.'' Here
"the trusted in Christ" is manifestly the qualifying
term of the passage. The predestination and election
refers solely to those who have this trust. Gal. iii.: 25,
26: "But after that faith is come, we are no longer
under the law, (schoolmaster.) For ye are all the chil¬
dren of God by faith." The fore-chosen, fore-ordained
'children of God," not by a secret arbitrary decree,
but "by faith
St. John i: 11, 13: "He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power, or the right to become the chil¬
dren of God, even to them that believe on his name;
which were born not of blood, nor of the will of man,
but of God.'' This noted passage is quoted by Calvinists
as affirming the doctrine of unconditional personal elec¬
tion. Now what can be plainer than that in so far as
this passage refers to the 4 'sovereign right or good pleas¬
ure of God" in choosing some and leaving others, it
merely and only shows that his "elect" are not born of
flesh and blood as were the old Israel, the chosen and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 139
elect people of old, but the elect of faith? The words
are: "but as many as receive him, to them gave he
power to become the children of God." As with this
plain and easy passage, so with nearly every one relied
on by Calvinists. Search.them out, and you will find
them capable of explanation in perfect harmony with
the one leading evangelical doctrine of the New Testa¬
ment, namely: the believer elected and saved.
Dr. Boyce, in his Abstract of Theology, after insist¬
ing that the Bible is fall of evidence of fore-ordina¬
tion and election, starts off with a glow of dogmatic
fervor and calls in testimony such as this: Luke
vi. 13, "And when it was day, he called unto him
his disciples; and of them he chose twelve, whom also he
named Apostles." And Matt. xxiv. 40, 41. "The
one shall be taken and the other left," &c., which was
given by our L,ord as descriptive of the great trouble
incident to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.
Hence, the one taken and the other left in a visitation
of that kind would be no more of an election than if
they had been the victims of a hurricane or an earth¬
quake. Appeal is made also to the xxxvi. 32 of
Ezek. "Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord
God, be it known unto you." This passage a learned
Calvinist brings into service as supporting the doctrine
of unconditional personal election. While the plain
meaning of the passage, which, in itself, says nothing
about choosing or election, is, that God declares his pur¬
pose of vindicating his own honor; .not for the sake of
the unworthy Israelites, but for his own name and hon-
SOTERIGLOGY
or, because of his ancient covenant with their fathers.
(Read the place from verse 21 to 36 and see.)
Nor can the famous passage always resorted to by
Calvinists as the stronghold of Calvinism, be used to
any better purpose. Viz. Romans ix. 11. The case
of the twins. "The children were not yet born, and
had not done either good or evil," and yet the one is
"loved" and the other "hated." "This case illustrates
election," say Calvinists, and so it does; but of what
sort, and to what extent ? Why, "that the purpose of
God might stand, not of works, but of him that call-
eth." "So then, it is not of him that willeth nor of
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," as
the inspired Apostle explained." To all which en¬
lightened Arminians would say, "amen!" And still
we must deny that this passage establishes the alleged
doctrine ot election, or even illustrates in any degree,
the doctrine of the atonement as to its extent and ap¬
plication under the present dispensation of the Holy
Spirit.
Now let us look into this passage with a little atten¬
tion and see if we may not find its real significance to
be such as leads to a widely different construction from
that put upon it by Calvinists. Two things, or features
of the case are to be examined.
(1) What was the gist of the Apostles' argument;
what was he talking of ?
And (2) What were the facts pertaining to the his¬
tory of Jacob and Esau?
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 161
i. This whole epistle to Romans, is a persuasive ar¬
gument with the Jews, in support of the true Messiah-
ship of Jesus Christ, and was designed to bring them
to accept him as their Saviour and Lord. In this dis¬
cussion, he labors to show them that the past dispen¬
sation, or Mosaic system, had passed away, and that
salvation is now by faith in Christ, and not by the
keeping of the Mosaic law; and that of this salvation
by faith, the Gentiles had been chosen as fellow heirs
with the Jews. It was in this he strove to exhibit
the sovereign right of Jehovah to make whatever people
he might be pleased to select, his chosen. This truth he
illustrates by the example of these two brothers—Esau
and Jacob; by the example of Pharoah, and by the
parable of the potter and his vessel in the book of Jere¬
miah xviii: i-io. This last example most exactly ex¬
hibits the teaching of the whole series of illustrations
used by St. Paul in his letter to the Roman Jews.
Please turn to Jeremiah and read the passage indicated,
and then read the parallel quotation of St. Paul> Rom.
ix: 21-33, and observe the application hfe makes of it
in the last verses. It will be seen that not only is
there not a line supporting the doctrine of absolute,
unconditional election, but m both the original para¬
ble of Jeremiah, and the argument of the Apostle drawn
from it, the one invariable rule of the Divine adminis¬
tration as revealed in holy Scripture, is made specially
prominent, namely: the rule of obedience and faith as
the condition of national preferment and prosperity,
to the case of individuals,
162
SOTERIOLOGY.
And let it be remembered that it is to national af¬
fairs, that is to say, the providence of God in dealing
with nations, that each and all of the three examples
refer.
2. As to the case of Esau and Jacob, it is plain in
the light of what has been said already, that while
they are spoken of by name as individuals, it is nev¬
ertheless in their representative character, as patriarchs
or heads of nations. By the right of primogeniture
(firstborn), Esau was entitled to preferment, but God
was pleased, for purposes known to himself, to prefer
Jacob, the younger brother. He chose Jacob to be
legal head of the patriarchal family, under the coven¬
ant with Abraham and Isaac. Here was a case, not
of faith, of course, but who can say it was not a choice
of fitness, as the respective character of each was de¬
veloped in course of time? Esau became Edom, or
Idumea, and Jacob became Israel. But the point is,
that the "love" and "hate" of the text in Romans, oi
which Calvinists make so much, has no reference at
all to the spiritual worth, or eternal destiny of either.
Thus falls to the ground, every prop of evidence set
up in proof of unconditional personal election.
3. Arminians, so-called, believe most joyfully in
the special providence of God, whereby he choses
special persons for special ends, and ordains them, sets
them apart by peculiar equipment for the execution of
theirmission. Such were Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, Samuel, David, the prophets, major and minor,
the Baptist John, and "all the holy Apostles, conspicu-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 163
ous among whom was St. Paul. "The God of our
fathers hath appointed thee to know his will." Acts
xxii: 14; "For I have appeared unto thee for the put-
pose, to make thee a minister and a witness * * *
Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles,
to whom I now send thee, to open their eyes, and to
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of
sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified
by faiih that is in meActs xxvi: 16-18.
Not a word is said here, in this special call and
commission of St. Paul, as a minister of the word'of
grace, about election or fore-ordination; but he is
sent with the same testimony given to those who were
commissioned at the first.
'' Go ye into all the world and preach the good tidings
to every creature. He that beueveth and is bap¬
tized shall be: saved ; but he that beueveth not,
shall be damned." As we believe these observations
and scriptural testimonies fully sustain the Arminian
denial of the peculiar tenets of Calvinism, our space
forbids further discussion of the subject. God has de¬
creed, elected, foreordained and chosen from all eter¬
nity, that in, through and by Jesus Christ, the believer
shall be saved. And in like manner, he has foreor¬
dained, decreed and appointed that the wicked, unbe¬
lieving and ungodly, shall suffer indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish forever. See Romans
ii: 5~9-
164
SOTERIOL,OGY.
Section II.
1 1. In the present day, we are confronted with many
forms of skepticism, and doubtful theology; mxny
minds seem inclined to shake off the yoke of responsi¬
bility to God and the moral law, and find some way of
escape from the consequences of its violation.
2. Believing, as we do, that those plausible theories
of Christian belief, which lead to syncope of the moral
nattire, causing men to rest their hope of salvation on
principles at variance with those clearly taught in the
New Testament are dangerous, we feal obliged to yield
a passing notice to the theory of Universalists con¬
cerning the atonement in its extent and application.
• 3. We observe, first of all, that this sect of believ¬
ers is of venerable origin. Clement, of Alexandria, a
learned man, who flourished in the second century, is
set down by historians as the first influential teacher
of Universalism. (See Mosheim's Ch; Hist., vol. 1-61).
The substance of the Universalist doctrine may be
condensed to terms about as follows: (a) That God, fore¬
seeing the fall of Adam, and the consequent enthrallment
of his posterity, provided redemption for the race, (b)
That this atoning sacrifice, in all the stages and phases
of it, is the outcome of divine love, (c) That the
love and goodness of God, in which all the divine
perfections agree, dispose him to rescue from sin and
death, his fallen creature—man. (d) That Christ
cannot have died in vain, nor can he be defeated of his
gracious purpose in the atonement. Hence, (e) The
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, IOJ
gospel and all the means of grace are for all; pardon
has been purchased for all, and all will eventually be
pardoned, justified and saved.
%4. This is a very plausible theory, but as visionary
as it is plausible. For every condition of pardon and
justification proposed in the gospel contradicts it. For
although God has said by the prophet that he has ' 'no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth," yet the words
imply that if the sinner continues to sin, he must die,
though his death is not pleasing to God. "The soul
that sinneth it shall die,'' is emphatic. (See these pas¬
sages, Ezek. xviii. 23, 32 and Mark xvi. 15. These,
with many of the passages citied in the preceding sec¬
tion, will serve for a sufficient refutation of the theory
of universalism. The claim, therefore, that all punish¬
ment is merely remedial and reformatory, falls into
error, in the face of the positive declarations of the
sacred word. (See Matt. xxv. 31,46.)
5. The whole theory overlooks the fact that we who
now live, are living under a covenant, the conditions
of which are repentance, faith and continuance in well¬
doing.
The first covenant was a promise of life on condition
of obedience; but the second covenant is a measure of
grace purely, and solely; and is conditioned upon re¬
pentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. See Acts xx: 20, 21: "How I kept back
nothing, * * * and have taught you publicly, and from
house to house. Testifjdng both to Jews, and also to
the Greeks, repentance toward God," &c. See-also
&e?£iaotooy,
Luke xxiv. 147, "That repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
Greek {pan ta ethna.)" All the Nations. God is
not under any obligation to pardon and save sinners.
His offer to do so, is purely a matter of grace. He can
consistently do so, because Christ died for them, and
He has been pleased to accept the atoning sacrifice as
satisfaction to the Divine law.
6. It is a repellent belittling of the whole system
of redemption to put salvation in the light of a mer¬
cantile transaction, wherein our Lord, by giving this for
that, purchased the souls of men, and must not there¬
fore, have paid the price in vain.
Higher, yea, infinitely higher must he look, who
would comprehend the holy principles from which have
issued this marvelous and matchless redemption.
©icmss? of emusmAN tuxcotuov. *
PART FOURTH.—CHAPTER I.
SECTION I.
Blessings of the Atonement.
We now direct our attention to a brief study of the
advantages and blessings conferred on the world by the
atonement.
i. By the transgression and fall of Adam every¬
thing was lost, both for himself and his posterity.
Even life itself was forfeited both as to the body and
the soul. But the grace of God in Christ provides for
the perpetuation of human existence, under a mixed
scheme of providential administration, that prevents
sotsrio^OOY.
the full force of mischief that must soon have resulted
from unbridled passion and the unrestrainted wicked¬
ness of men. (See Nehemiah ix. : 26, 27, 28, 32, etc.
and Deut. xxvii. : 46, &c. and Dan. iv. 18, &c.)
2. Not only by the iron hand of controlling
providence did God restrain and keep the world in awe,
but also by the positive and gracious influences of his
spirit. His Spirit strove with men in the antediluvian
age. (See Gen. vi. 3.) Also the prophet tells us of his
mercies as "rain upon the parched earth." See first 9
verses of the lxxii. Ps. and Hos. x. 12: "For it is
time to seek the Lord till he come and rain," etc.; see
the same vi. 3. Thus does the whole revelation of the
old dispensation, manifest, in providence and prophecy
the gracious purpose of God, to hold in check the
dark tide of human wickedness, until the time should
come for a full display of his grace by the death of
the cross.
3. Taking this view of providence and revelation,
we make Christ the central character, and the atone¬
ment the central fact in our world's history, from the
dawn of creation to the consummation of time. This
view alone accounts for the prominence given to him
in all the scriptures, as to the history of this world and its
affairs. ' 'All things created by him and for him,''' 'and
by him all things consist," "andhe is the head of the body
the church; the first born from the dead," "that among
all things he might have the pre-cmincnce. It is most fully
shown in the scriptures that we owe all our temporal
good to the death and intercession of our L,ord Jesus
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 169
Christ, as well as all the moral and merciful agencies
that mitigate the evils of a sinful estate.
4. But these are not salvation, there was need for a
revelation of power in the hearts of men that should
serve to reconstruct the moral nature and rebind
the will and affections to God.
This leads to inquiry in regard to what is called Ex¬
perimental Religion. A work accomplished by the
spirit and word of God, and whose terms of descrip
tion are: "Repentance," "Faith," "Justification"
and "Adoption" as the sons of God. These all clus¬
ter about, and depend upon, the atoning sacrifice of
our Lord Jesus Christ, as branches hang upon the cen¬
tral stock of a tree. Religion thus considered, is a
word of Latin origin signifying a bond, and hence our
derived meaning expresses the pious obligation resting
upon those who enter into covenant relations with
Christ.
5. Religion may be considered in two ways: First,
as a subjective course of experience, or, secondly, as
an objective system of truth to oe studied and under¬
stood in order to our enlightenment. It has to do
therefore with both the understanding and the heart.
It is not a thing, or an article of virtu, to be found
and kept, or lost at pleasure, but a state, a relation to
God in Christ: but it is such a state and relation that
it may indeed be retained or forfeited by loss of faith
and the consequent withdrawal of the supporting in¬
fluences of the Holy Spirit,
SOTERIOLOGY.
6. Christian doctrine, unlike any other system of
instruction, for instance, law or medical science, does
not aim merely to furnish the mind with information
for secular ends, but its aim is to pave the way for
restored relations of amity between the soul and its
God. It aims at higher ends than any other system
known to earth; the re-linking of our human will to
the Divine.
7. Religion, in this sense, answers the utmost aspi¬
ration of the human heart, so that it is in fact the
summit of all attainments. It is "wisdom, power,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption." "But of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God, is made unto
us, Wisdom, and Righteousness and Sanctification and
Redemption." See 1 Cor. 1—30. "O Israel, thou
hast destroyed thyself- but in me is thy help." Hosea
xiii, 6. " Who is wise and he shall understand these
things, prudent, and he shall know them? For the
ways of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in
them," Hosea xiv, 9.
8. But the burden of our effort in this chapter, is
to explain the principles, and enforce the claims, of
expeximental religion. This word occurs but four
times in the New Testament, Of these instances,
twice it has reference to doctrine or belief, Acts xxvi.
5 ., and Gal. i. 13, 14. But in the passage found in the
Epistle of James i. 26, 27. Reference is had to
principles of a spiritual origin, rather than to those,
that are merely doctrinal. "Pure religion," he tells
us; "is to visit the fatherless and widows in their af-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 171
fliction, and to keep one's self unspotted from the
world." This formula relates not to dogmatic belief,
but practical religion; it is charity and purity of life,
or benevclence and holiness. These can only proceed
from a regenerate heart.
9. Religion, therefore, contemplates a readjustment
of the lost relation between man and God; it is to be¬
come anew, 'the children of God' by a right and power
which Christ alone, through the Holy Spirit, can con¬
fer. The restoration of sonship is the end and consu-
mate flower of redemption.
SECTION II.
Repentance.
1. The first step in the way of salvation, imposed
upon all men by the gospel, is repentance. The Greek
word used for repentance, (St. Luke xxiv. 47,) is
metanoia. "That repentance and the remission of sins
might be preached in his name among all nations."
These are the words of Jesus himself, as recorded by
the evangelist, after the resurrection, and as they
were given to describe the very thing itself, which men
are to receive as the result of his death and resurrec¬
tion, which he declares to be the one procuring cause,
it behooves us to study closely the force and full mean¬
ing of each word. Let us begin at verse 44 of this,
xxiv. chapter of St. Luke, and read the whole passage,
ZJ2
SOTERIOLOGY.
as literally translated from the most improved Greek
text, compiled by the recent translators of the New
Testament.
"And he said unto them: These are my words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with jtou;
how that all things must needs be fulfilled, (plerothenai),
which are written in the law of Moses, and the pro¬
phets, and the Psalms, concerning vie. Then opened
He their mind, (tote dienoixen on ton), that they might
understand the Scriptures, (sunicnai graphas); And
He said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ
should suffer, (pathcin to Chris ton) and rise again
from the dead the third day, and that—in order that,
to the end that—Repentance and the Remission of
sins might be preached in his name among all the na¬
tions." (panta ta cthne).
2. The first thought that occurs to us on reading
this passage, is that there is no need of any special
exegesis to discover the force and full meaning of
every one of these words of our I^ord. There is no
hidden signification lurking in the text that requires
hunting down. He combines the whole weight of
revelation, as contained in the law, the prophets and
the Psalms, and points them at the cross, and then de¬
clares that all these, from first to last, mean no more
nor less than that "repentance and remission of sins"
might be offered to the whole world in his name.
3. The conclusion we arrive at, in the light of this
exposition of the scriptures by our L,ord, which really
Drop,ST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, m
contains more than any sermon ever preached by any
man, and more than all the volumes ever written about
repentance and pardon, is that all the blessings of the
atonement are contained in these two words, "Re¬
pentance," and Remission op sins." There is a
great deal of smoke and fog of human learning gath -
ered about this word repentance. The word is bor¬
rowed from the Latin, Poena, punishment. The verb
form is Poenitcrc, to be grieved, sorry, regretful. Then
follows the adjective and other forms, as Poenitentia,
Repentance, and "pocnitetme" impersonal, I reppnt.
But all this is unimportant; the popular meaning of
the word is good enough, and gives a sufficiently clear
apprehension of the force of our Saviour's words in
the passage. But the question still arises, what does
it really describe in human experience ?
4. We are told by theologians that there are several
kinds of repentance, (a), Worldly repentance, where
a man has made a mistake in some secular transaction,
and has suffered loss in consequence of his miscalcu¬
lation or blindness. He is sorry now that he did it,
and so he is said to "repent," because having blun¬
dered,, he is punished by loss. Remember that this
is the primary meaning of the word "poena," punish¬
ment. Whence our word "penitentiary," a place of
punishment, for crimes committed against society and
against the law. (b) Hypocritical, or feigned repent¬
ance, which, of course, is no repentance at all. (c)
Legal repentance. This form of repentance is dan¬
gerous, because it may be mistaken for the genuine.
H 4
SOTERI0L0GY.
Legal repentance is that kind of sorrow which arises
from fear of the punishment that God has denounced
against sin. Thousands of men go trembling in the
course of sin for years, through fear of eternal
wrath; and yet they are never pardoned or saved.
Such was Felix' repentance, when Paul reasoned be¬
fore him," of sin, of righteousness and of judgment."
"Felix trembled." We are told that even the '"devils
believe and tremble."" James xi: 19.
5. None of these definitions nor instances illustrate
that which is intended by our Lord in his exposition
of scripture, and of the object of his death.
It is repentance and remission. He closely connects
the two blessings together, He copulates them as if
they were so united that where the one is, the other
must be. This we earnestly, firmly believe to be the ex¬
act meaning of his words.' And we say it without fear
of the apparent consequence to which it leads, namely,
that wherever, and with whomsoever there is genuine
repentance, offered by virtue of Christ's death, to every
man who hears the gospel, remission of sin, or justifica¬
tion, if you please, follows as certainly as the rising sun
dispels the night.
The revisers tell us that some ancient authorities, i.
e., manuscripts, read, "repentance unto the remission
of sins.*"
6. It follows hence that the repentance required by
our Saviour's formula., is the gift of God through the
mediation of Jesus Christ. Therefore in searching for
♦So they make the revised text read; eis aphesin hamartion, w unto
remission."
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. *75
some illustration of the subj-ect that will make it plain
as to the initial steps and following development of
repentance, we must look for the working of the Holy
Spirit who is sent from the Father in Christ's name,
and of whom he said: "He shall reprove the world
(convict the world) of sin, and of righteousness," etc.
John xvi. 13.
Before we shall have gathered many testimonies on
this point, we will find that the meaning of repentance
and remission is the same with that saying in John i.
12: "To them gave he the right to become the chil¬
dren of God, which were born,'' etc. And of the words
expounded to Nicodemus: "The wind bloweth where
ltlisteth" * * * * "so is every 0)i2 that is bom of the
Spirit.1'
7. With these lights in our hands, we need only to
find some true instances of the Holy Spirit's agency in
convicting, awakening and renewing sinners, and we
shall have no further need of speculation on the nature
of repentance, nor of its place in the process of Chris¬
tian experience. , Take the case of the Ethiopian
Prince to whom Philip preached. While he sat in his
chariot reading the scriptures, the Holy Spirit said to
Philip, "Go near and join thyself to the chariot," and
we learn that the result was, the man was granted re¬
pentance unto salvation through faith, and all this dur¬
ing this single interview.
We find substantially the same course of things in
the conversion of Saul, of the jailer, and many others.
Our only puzzle is with the suddenness of the work
176
SOTERIOEOGY.
wrought. The process seems to be simply this: a sud¬
den illumination or awakening of the soul, that is fol¬
lowed by alarm and a marked degree of disquietude
leading to self rcnuncialion. We conclude, therefore,
this illumination and self renunciation to be the essence
of repentance. The first is clearly the work of the
Holy Spirit, and the second, the act of the creature.
SECTION III.
In conclusion of our observations on this subject,
we may abbreviate the process thus : When we say
that repentance is the gift of God, we mean that no
sinner—and all are sinners—can repent without pre¬
venting grace, that is to say, without the Holy Spirit's
agency, illuminating, softening and inciting the
feelings.
2. This is so because the heart of man is estranged
and in a state of enmity against God,- and in so far as
he himself is able to do anything to bring himself to the
love of God, it is precisely as if he were dead; and so
the scriptures declare him to be. He is an incurable
rebel against the Divine law, and hence, a child of
wrath. And }Tet these same scriptures declare that God
graciously wills to bring every man to repentance, that
"he has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth."
3. In accord with this gracious design, he directs
the gospel to be preached to "every creature," to every
individual than. He calls on "all men everywhere to
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. i77
repent." (See Paul's sermon at Athens, Acts xvii. 30.)
"He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."
L,uke xi. 13. Of course we understand this promise to
be of a grant to the prayer of faith, which is impossible
to the impenitent, but the death of the cross procured
the ministration of the Holy Spirit for all men. "By
the grace of God" he "tasted death for every man."
This confirms in the New Testament, the teaching of
the same inspiration in the Old. "Let the wicked man
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought;
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mer¬
cy upon him, and to our Ood, for he will abundant¬
ly pardon." Isa, lv. 7.—"And whosoever will, let hini
take of the water of the fountain of life freely."
4. We hold, therefore, that a gracious offer of Di¬
vine help is made in good faith to every man who is
blessed with the privilege of hearing the gospel, or of
reading the written word. And hence, we affirm that
the dogma of Calvinists, which claims a general call to
repentance, made to all men, but not effective, because
God does not intend it to be; and a special call, made to
the elect, and made effectual because they are fore-or¬
dained to life, is unwarranted by anything found in
either the Old or New Testament.
We affirm further that such dogma, is repugnant to the
just and holy character of God, and hence, lies against
the whole tenor of revelation.
5. The agencies of the Holy Spirit by which he
leads men to repentance, faith and conversion, are as
numerous and varied as in the wisdom and goodness of
178
SOTERIOIyOGY.
God he is pleased at any time to select. Chiefly, how-
ever, it is by the preaching of the word. Our Lord
himself, as also his inspired Apostles, la}rs the greatest
burden on this agency. In our chapter on the institu¬
tions of religion, we shall speak of this subject
in its order. "Behold I stand at the door and knock,
are the words of the glorified Redeemer of men. "If
any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come
in to him, and will sup with him and he with me."
Thus it is by his word, by his Spirit, by every event of
his providence, whether of blessing or trial, that the
kind hand of him who ' 'was bruised for our iniquities,"
is rapping at the door of human hearts, with the view
to bless them with the fullness of his grace.
6. It is no part of our aim to exhibit the metaphys¬
ical aspects of a christian experience as portrayed in
the voluminous writings of theologians. We have
aimed only to treat of the doctrine of repentance from
a purely Biblical standpoint. The relation of repen¬
tance to regeneration, and of these to justification and
adoption, are matters that are more speculative than
profitable. The two words used by our L,ord for a de¬
scription of that which denotes our transfer from the
world into the Kingdom of God, from the dominion oi
sin and Satan, to sonship and fellowship with God, are
"Repentance" and "Remission of sins," and to be
"Born from above.'' Kvery other word or phrase used
by him to denote personal salvation may be easily
translated, in meaning, into one or both of these we
have quoted
DIGEST OE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 179
The word Regeneration, occurs but twice in the New
Testament, and in the first of these, it has no reference
to personal experience, but to the series of persecution
and suffering which his disciples would endure in estab¬
lishing the truths of the gospel. In Titus iii. 5, where
St. Paul uses the expression, "Washing of regenera¬
tion and renewal of the Holy Ghost," the allusion i-> to
baptism with water. So it is certain that the word re¬
generation in the sense of a religious experience is not
in the .New Testament. But there are so many words
and phrases of kindred and exactly parallel significa¬
tion, that regeneration may well be put for them all.
Nevertheless
7. We shall be safe enough when we comprehend
that repentance, regeneration, justification and adop¬
tion are all connected parts of one work, and that they
are so connected that, like the faculties of the mind, if
you destroy the one the other will be either destroyed
or useless And so, as to this theme, we end where we
began. It behooved Christ to suffer, that repentance
and the remission of sins might be preached among all the
nations in his name. The repentance he grants to all
who seek it, is "unto life."
SECTION IV.
Blessings of the Atonement continued.
Faith.
The next element or factor in Christian experience,
is faith. The sacred scriptures clothe this grace with
i8o
SOTERIOLOGY.
the highest dignity and worth. As belonging to the
galaxy of Christian graces, it is a star of the first mag¬
nitude.
i. We may ask what is faith, evangelical, saving
faith? The word is from Greek, pistis faith, from the
verb theme, peitho, I believe; I persuade; trust, &c.
The full meaning, then, of the word, is to believe and
trust. Belief and trust rests on persuasion of the
truth of the thing believed. Again, we may observe
that this faith always relates to persons, or to the cred¬
ibility of some doctrine or system of truth presented to
the mind for its examination. We say of a certain
man, I believe in him—that is—in his integrity and
worth as a man of truth and perfect honor. But if
one should quiz you as to why you believe in him so
implicitly, your answer would be, "because I am. per¬
suaded or convinced of his worth and character as de¬
scribed, by testimony that I cannot doubt." Having
said so much, it might be further asked "define this
testimony that is so effective and convincing ?" To this
you would probably reply thus : (i) "I have known
him all my life, or for many years, and my acquaint¬
ance has not been incidental, but intimate and con¬
stant, so that I could observe his demeanor in every
circumstance of life; in temptation, in trials of patience
and courage, in prosperity and honor, and in all these
I have seen nothing but steadfastness and unwavering
fidelity to right. Moreover, (2), I have the unbroken
testimony of many other friends of discretion and prob-
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY.i8x
ity to the same end, and whose opportunities for
knowing are equally good with my own."
2. Here is faith and confidence, on testimony of the
most solid kind that can be furnished by human rela¬
tions. But a closer analysis of such an experience, by
one man with another, will reveal that there are other
elements besides mere belief in the integrity of this
person, and reliance on his honor. We will find also
that there are sympathy and admiration, esteem—begot¬
ten by these self disclosed testimonies to the nobility of
his character.
These elements, "faith," "admiration," "sympathy,"
are the fundamentals of love; and so you may say truth¬
fully—indeed you must say—"I love the man." This
is so because there is that in' our nature which responds
to the high call of these .noble qualities. In the pres¬
ence of such qualities, we have no choice to the contra¬
ry, but freely and gladly yield our sympathy and love.
3. Though out of the usual method, we offer this
example as the best illustration of "faith" in its gene¬
sis and outcome, and as analogous to that faith de¬
scribed in scripture as the one condition of our justifi¬
cation and acceptance with God.
It is said that faith is not merely an intellectual con¬
sent of the mind to the general truth of revelation, nor
yet to the particular statements of holy scripture con¬
cerning the atonement and redemption by Christ. It
is plain that a man may believe all these, as thousands
do; for under the influence of party spirit, there are
men who would shed their blood in defence of the gen-
182
SOTERIOLOGY.
eral truth of Bible doctrine, and yet continue in Pro"
fligacy, dying at last in open rebellion against God.
Hence, it must be clear that the faith by which we are
delivered from the bondage of moral corruption,
is a subjective, personal matter connecting us immedi¬
ately with Christ in his atoning sacrifice. The object
of faith is Jesus Christ, as our Divine-human Saviour;
and it discovers him to us as the only and sufficient
Saviour.
4. But what is it that incites men to turn their eyes
on Christ in his official and redemptive character with
contemplative interest? Why, it is, as we have said
before, when speaking of repentance, the result of
spiritual illuminatioyi. The focal splendor of the upper
world falls upon the heart through the understanding, as
it did on Saul of Tarsus. The soul being now awakened
as from a deep slumber, beholds for the first time, its sin
and barrenness; it sees and feels the meaning of holi¬
ness, and the essential beauty of the moral law. It is
lost in solemn amazement at the sight of its own defile¬
ment and destitution of all good. Being thus made
deeply conscious of total estrangement from God and
with a mountain of offences resting on the conscience,
the inquiry "what must I do f" is as certain to rise from
the lips of one so awakened, as the child in pain or peril
is, to call for its mother.
5. Now since the faculties of the mind are all alert
in this condition, and the painful sense of the Divine
displeasure more intense every hour, the gospel call to
faith in Christ as the way of reconciliation and pardon
DIGEST OE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 183
arrests the attention and draws the contemplative eye.
Here it is that faith is given. In contemplating Christ
the heart believes, and the sinner is instantly justified;
that is, accounted righteous. Justification is purely a
judicial act of God, and as such we could not even be
aware of it, except for that which follows; namely:
p:jcc. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have
J>:ace with God through our I^ord Jesus Christ."
Romans v. 1.
6. Now, whether, as our Calvinist brethren claimy
this faith and trust, by w7hich we receive the blessing of
pardon (justification) and peace, is the gift of God
ab extra, a gift of something "from without" the maij,
or, as we believe, a gift,—potcntiac ad intra, agitate—
"of power aroused within," is a question of some im¬
portance, because it has to do with the question wheth¬
er faith in Christ is properly and truly the act of the
believer, or something else.
We believe truly that faithis the gift of God, but not
in the*same way, or sense. In Heb. xii. 2, Jesus is
called "the author and finisher of our faith." This is the
reading of our common version, and though not strict¬
ly a literal rendition of the Greek of St. Paul, it will
do. Our word "Author" is not in the Greek text at
all, though the word used may be figuratively used in
that sense. The Greek word translated author, is, arche.-
gon (arkegon), "Captain." The whole passage is an
allusion to the races, wherein the runners are divided
into companies with chiefs, calle 1 a Captain. Ilence,
we read: '%et us lay aside every weight * * * * and
184
SOTERIOLOGY
lit us run,—Greek, trechomen—the race—agona- * * '
looking unto the captain a)idperfector of our faith, pts~
icos, even Jesus." It will be readily seen that there is
nothing in this passage showing that the ' * Captain is
the author of the faith of the runners alluded to, ex¬
cepting as he inspires it by his presence, and enthusiasm
for the fray. And yet-this passage is a very strong hold
of predestinarians as proving that penitent sinners have
nothing to do with faith but as passive receivers of an
enforced gift.
7. The Calvinist doctrine of unconditional personal
election, hinges on what they denominate "effectual
calling,'' in which there is a secret administration of
grace that distinguishes between the "elect'' and non-
elect. They reverse the Arminian order and bible or¬
der as well, of Christian experience, and make regener¬
ation precede faith, and faith precede repentance. See
Shedd's Theol. vol. 2, page 531—39. "Faith is an ef¬
fect of which regeneration is the cause." And see also
Boyce Abs. Theol. page 380—81. He uses simply the
three terms: "Regeneration, Repentance, Conversion,"
using faith as the instrument of the two last. Still he
puts regeneration first. But in all this it is more a
change of words than of facts. For that which Armi¬
nian writers call "Conviction of sin," they term "re¬
generation." The verbal difference is nothing, in their
logical significance they amount to the same thing.
We all must agree that the awakening influence of
the Holy Spirit must precede every other agency in the
conversion of the soul. (See Eph. ii. 1.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 185
8. But God calls men to repentance,, and sends his
word and his Spirit to bring them to it. He calls men
to believe in Christ, whom he has set forth as the pro¬
pitiation for sin, and to the end that they may see the
why, and how of the whole requirement, lie gives to the
world a most copious revelation of his will, his wrisdom
and his grace, as showTn in the Covenant of mercy which
he has made with the Redeemer on our behalf. He
encourages men to believe and accept the offer of sal¬
vation, by every consideration of love, even to the sur¬
render of his only begotten; by the merciful administra¬
tion of his providence; by the disclosure of his own mor¬
al perfections; and finally, by declaring that to reject
the offer he has made, is tc challenge his rectitude and
his sovereignty; that against all such incorrigible
men, he will at length unsheathe the sword of justice,
and visit them with a punishment that shall know of
no repair.
Now wre affirm that the faith, to which all men are
called, is the gift of God, in such sense only, as that it is
in the reach of every man required to exercise it.
If this be not so, then is the whole philosophy of
salvation an incomprehensible maze, that becomes only
the more perplexing in proportion to the increase of
labor and prayerful diligence, employed in its study.
So strong is the current of scripture evidence in favor
of the fullest and freest offer of salvation to every one
that will believe, Calvinists are compelled to make at
least a show of accepting it.
i86
SOTERIOLOGY.
Shedd says, page 531, Vol. 2: " Evangelical faith is
an act of man and is described in the Scripture
phrases, "coming" to Christ Matt. 11. 58, "looking
to Christ, John 1. 29."
He says again: " Evangelical faith is an act of both
the understanding and the will. It is complex; in¬
volving a spiritual perception of Christ, (whatever
that may mean), and an affectionate love of liim."
This is an exactly parallel conception with that giv¬
en by us in the first and second pages of this section,
as an illustration. We were aiming to show that faith,
as the chief, the masterful power of the soul, is the re¬
sult of testimony presented to the awakened under¬
standing of a penitent heart. And we conclude that at
this point faith is given; that is to say, the power to
believe on. the crucified Christ to the saving of the
soul. But we still see concurrence in it; there
is and must be, to such extent as that the faith
exercised in believing and appropriating the
atonement, is the man's faith, not God's. This is the
victory that overcometh, even " our faith." By grace
ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God." Here grace is the procuring
cause of salvation, and faith the instrument. It is by
grace through faith. See the passage Eph. 11. 8.
9. Finally we observe that faith in Christ, which se¬
cures our pardon, is not mingled with doubt or fear. It
is a firm affectionate grasp of Divine truth as set forth
in the gospel concerning the sacrificial atonement of
Christ as an all sufficient testimony of God's love, and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 187
of his willingness to pardon and save him that will
believe in Him. Such a faith is not merely belief in
Christ, it is trust. It is such an overshadowing of the
whole internal powers with the light of ransoming
grace, that there can be no room left for doubt and no
possibility of fear.
10. Again, it may be remarked that this experience
is most deeply internal and spiritual. It has to do with
the conscious invisible powers within, and is so far in¬
dependent of the merely physical organism, that it
makes use of it only as a vehicle for conveying ob¬
jective truth to the heart through the understanding.
Precisely as a man employs a horse and carriage, or
a railway train to convey himself or his message to one
with whom he desires to transact business, does the
Holy Spirit use the faculties of sense perception; the
ear to hear the word, the eye to read the truth, the in¬
tellect to take it up in memory's arms and bear it to
the laboratory of the soul—the seat of the affections,
where the understanding, the judgment, the will, the
feelings may be "illuminated," "quickened" and re¬
newed .
The Case of Infants and Imbeciles.
1. This being true, we see how even in¬
fants and feeble minded people may be visited and
renewed by the gracious ministration of the Holy
Ghost. For " it is not by might, but by my spirit saith
the Lord." Zech. iv, 6. The inability of infants,
very young children and idiots to comprehend objec¬
tive trtrth is purely a physical matter of the intellect.
i88
SOTERIOLOGY.
The soul is as complete and perfect as that of any oth
er human being, but in children the rational power is
undeveloped, in idiots it is deranged; like a bad
watch, the parts may be all there, but being out of ad¬
justment it can't run.
2. This leads to the further remark that these
considerations show us that physical demonstra¬
tions in religious experience stand for very little.
It is not an affair of the body. It can't be.
Hence the warning of the apostle in the Epist. to
Tim. iv, 1-7: "Now the spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines
of devils; speaking lies in hypocricy." The eviden¬
ces of these seducing spirits, working hypocricy, he
describes thus: " forbidding to marry and commanding
to abstain from meats," and further on he admonishes
him to '' refuse old wives fables,'' such as strange and
wonderful stories about religious experiences, dreams,
visions, sights, voices, the communication of spirits
and the whole brood of superstitions that have come
down to our own time. Such as spirit rappings, com¬
munications from the dead, trances, etc., all of which,
if anything at all, are purely physical phenomena, and
as far from the scriptural line of the Holy Spirit's in¬
fluence, as the orbit of Jupiter from that of the moon.
"Bodily exercise," he tells us "profiteth little."
Hence "let all things be done decently and in order,"
I Cor. xiv. 40.
Faith, in the sense of admiration, love and trust is
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. i89
within the capacity of every soul, including children
and those that are very young. " From a child thou
hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to
make thee wise," 2 Tim. iii, 16. John the Baptist was
filled with the Holy Ghost even from the womb,"
Luke i, 15.
It is the duty of every man to seek earnestly the
gift of faith and the knowledge of God's righteousness
that cometh thereby. The justice of justification is
the justice of God. It is to be sought for by reading
the Scriptures, by prayer, by earnest meditation on the
wisdom and goodness and greatness of God. By hu¬
mility and self-forgetfulness, by resort to the house of
prayer, by attendance on the ministry of the word. So
that it may please God to open the mind and heart, as
he did Lydia's when Paul was preaching. For the Lord
is nigh unto all them that call upon him, Psa. cxlv, 18.
190
SOTERIOLOGY.
PART IV—CHAPTER II.
SECTION I.
Benefits of the Atonement—-Justification.
In considering this subject, we shall try to answer
the questions, (a) What is justification ? (b.) Why-
are we justified ? Or on what ground? (c), With
what result ?
i.. We have alluded to this subject in the preceding
sections, as a work concomitant with repentance. It
is substantially the same thing as "remission of sins,"
associated with repentance by our Lord, in the passage
quoted from St. L/uke xxiv: 47.
As we tried to show that this compound phrase used
by our Saviour in a comprehensive way, contemplates
all the blessings of the atonement, it remains to be
explained that the "remission" means justification;
or plainer still, pardon.
Justification is a technical term borrowed from the
law, and is used in theology to describe the judicial
act of God whereby he releases sinners from the pen¬
alty of past transgression, and stands third in the list
of those benefits of the atonement which exhibit our
translation from the estate. of condemned aliens to
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 191
citizenship in the "Kingdom of God."
2. The justification of a sinner may be stated a$
the sovereign act of God, when, as judge, fie pronounces
sentence of pardon to every one that believes on Jesus
Christ. "Be it known unto you, brethren, that
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins ; and by him all that believe are justified from
all things, from which ye could not be justified by the
law." Acts xiii: 38-9. "It is God that justifieth,
who is he that condemneth ?' Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect ?" "It is Christ that died,
yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us." Rom. viii: 33 &c.
Watson says, (Theo. Inst. vol. 2, p. 213,). After
quoting the passage Rom. iv: 4-8, "The quotation
from David, introduced by the Apostle, by way of il¬
lustrating his doctrine of the justification of the un¬
godly, by "counting his faith for righteousness,"
shows clearly that he considered "justification," "the
imputing of righteousness," "the forgiveness of in¬
iquities," the "coveringof sin," the "non-imputation
of sin," as of the same import; as acts substantially
equivalent to one another, though under somewhat
different views, and, therefore, expressed by terms
respectively convertable.
This variety of phrase being adopted probably
to preserve the idea which runs throughout the
whole Scripture, that in the remission or pardon
of sin, Almighty God acts in his character of Ruler
l$2
SOTERIOLOGY.
and Judge, showing mercy upon terms satisfactory
to his justice, when he might in rigid justice
have punished our trangressions to the utmost. The
term justification especially is judiciary: and this
judiciary character of the act of pardon is also con¬
firmed by the relation of the parties to each other, as
it is constantly exhibited in Scripture. God is an of¬
fended sovereign; man is an offending subject. He
has offended against public law, not against private
obligations; and the act therefore by which he is re¬
lieved from the penalty, must be magisterial.''
Further on he tells us. "The importance of acquir
ing and maintaining this simple distinct view of justi¬
fication—that it is remission of sins—as stated in the
passages quoted above, will appear from the following
considerations: i. We are taught that pardon of sin
is not prerogative, done above law, but a judicial pro¬
cess, done consislently with law, * * * * God is judge
in this process, not, however, by the law of creation
and of works, but by the law of redemption and grace.
Not as merely just, though just; but as merciful, not
as merciful in general, and ex n7ida voluntati (i e, by
the bare exercise of will) without any respect had to
satisfaction; but as propitiated, by the blood of
Christ."
3. These quotations from scripture, and from the
writings of devout and learned men, explaining them,
might alone suffice to show the nature of this gift, and
the conditions upon which it is granted, that is to say,
the procuring cause and the condition; for they are
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 193
very distinct from each other. The cause is Christ's
atoning sacrifice, and the condition of pardon, is faith in
him. One other matter must not be overlooked, how¬
ever, in this case. As a judicial transaction, the par¬
don is not pronounced until confession of guilt is made.
And plainly this is the reason why the very first utter¬
ance of the gospel, {euanggeliou) "the good tidings," is,
' 'repent." It is not for repentance, though, nor faith, nor
tears nor all combined,that pardon is granted, for there
is no merit in any of these that could in any degree
meet the dignity of violated law. It is, therefore, for
Christ's sake alone that we are forgiven.
Therefore, it is said, Eph. ii. 8, "By grace are ye
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it (sal¬
vation) is the gift of God." See Acts xx. 24, the gos¬
pel is called "the gospel of the grace of God."
4. These observations are sufficient as showing what
it is to be justified, and that the sole ground of pardon
and acceptance with God is the sacrificial and propitia¬
tory offering of Christ, and that this blessing is re¬
ceived and appropriated by faith.
SECTION 11.
Salvation of Infants.
1. Before proceeding to speak of the fruits of pardon,
we may appropriately pause at this point to consider
another subject connected with the Scripture theory of
Justification, viz. the regeneration and saving of infants.
194
SOTERIOLOGY.
We have before observed that the nature of justifica¬
tion is such that we might not even know of it, ex¬
cepting for the peace that follows, because faith has
comfortingly connected us with Christ. But in the
case of young children this experience cannot be. On
account of incapacity to comprehend and embrace the
condition of pardon offered to adults. And since there
is no specific rule laid down in Scripture, for the pardon
and regeneration of infants and imbecile persons, the
question has often been propounded as to the ground
of belief that they are saved.
2. As an exhibit of the veiws held generally by
theologians of nearly all schools of thought in regard
to this subject we subjoin the following quotations.
Speaking of the difficulties involved in this case. Wat¬
son says, Theol. Inst, Vol. 2, page 59:
"As to infants, they are not, indeed, born justified and regenerated; so
that to say that original sin is taken away, as to infants, by Christ, is not
the correct view of the case, for the reason given before; but they are all
born under the " free gift," the effects of the righteousness of one, which
extended to " all men;" and this free gift is bestowed on them in order to
j ustification of life, the adjudging of the condemned to live. All the mys.
tery, therefore, in the case arises from this; that in adults we see the free
gift connected with its end, actual justification, by acts of their cwn, re¬
pentance and faith; but as to infants, we are not informed by what process
justification with its attendant blessings is actually bestowed, though the
words of the apostle are express that through " the righteousness of one"
they are entitled to it.
Nor is it surprising that this process should be hidden from us, since the
gospel was written for adults, though the benefit of it is designed for all.
If, however, an infant is not capaple of voluntary acceptance of the benefit
of the " free gift;" neither, on the other hand, is it capable of rejecting it.
and it is by rejecting it that adults perish."
3. Dr. Shedd, in Theol.Vol. 2, page 505, is, if possi¬
ble, even more luminous than Watson. He says:
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 195
Regeneration is a work of God in the human soul
that is below consciousness. There is no internal sen¬
sation caused by it. No man was ever conscious of
that instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit by which he
was made "anew creature" in Christ Jesus. And
since the work is that of God alone, there is no neces¬
sity that man should be conscious of it. This fact
places the infant and the adult on the same footing, and
makes infant regeneration as possible as that of
adults." He then affirms that infant regeneration is
taught in the Scriptures, and cites, Luke 1, 15, and
xviii, 16, in support of his view
4. Boyce says: "Regeneration may exist in infants
without faith and repentance. This must be true of all
infants and of all otherwise incapable of responsibility,
as for example idiots." page 381.
Calvin says. "This word; 'for of such is the King¬
dom of heaven.' " "Christ comprehends— lam parvulos,
quam eorum similes,—little children themselves as well
as those who are like, {similes), or resemble them," viz:
imbeciles, idiots, etc.
Adam Clarke in commenting on the passage in Luke
as given above, and the parallel.passages in Mark and
Matthew, takes substantially the same view.
A perusal of every available authority reveals the
same concurrent opinion from Augustine down. In
very early times there was some quibbling about the
necessity of baptism, as being required apparently to
sitisfy the terms of the new covenant; but as baptism
is only a sign of that covenant and not the thing itself,
jg6
SOTERIOLOGY.
all questioning was ultimately swept away, and the
view of universal infant salvation accepted.
5. In conclusion of our presentation of this subject,
two points may be considered: The belief in the uni¬
versal salvation of children dying in infancy, is founded
on the general, rather than the specific teaching of holy
scripture. Hence, the concurrence of opinion in re¬
gard to it among all schools of doctrinal belief is clearly
the result of a powierful common feeling on the subject.
When Calvin and Luther, and Wesley, and Watson
and Shedd, and Hodge all come to a common agree¬
ment on a case like this, we can see how strong the cur¬
rent of influences must be that bears them all onward
in one direction.
SECTION HI.
Relation of Children.
Confessedly difficult as this subject is, we feel
that we owe it to our readers to indulge some further
reflections upon it, in order that all the light that can
possibly be gathered may be brought to bear in its illu-
cidation.
1. First of all, it may be said that all christian peo¬
ple throughout the christian world practice what is
technically called paido baptism, that is the baptism of
young children, excepting only the worthy and numer¬
ous denomination known as Baptists. These alone de¬
ny authority in scripture, expressed or implied, for the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 197
administration of the rite to children, they being u.nre¬
generate and unjustified.
With the ground of their objection, we have at pres¬
ent no concern, except to say that in their view, infants
are not, and cannot be any part of the visible church
of Christ. That this church is composed exclusively
of believers, and none else. And so children, with them,
are rigidly excluded.
Yet they believe, in common with their fellow chris¬
tians, that all children dying in infancy, or below the
line of moral accountability are saved by the death of
Christ. They suppose that in articulo mortis,—the hour
of death,—the Holy Spirit illuminates, and regenerates
their fallen nature, and God graciously justifies and
adopts thenl for his own, through the mediation of
Christ. (See Dr. Boyce on this subject.)
2. But the question lies,—even supposing this sup¬
position granted, and it is only supposition-the question
still lies, what are the scriptural grounds of this belief
in the church? To this question we now turn our ear¬
nest attention and our search shall be for truth.
The first question presented is, what is the relation
of children to either of the great Covenants revealed in
scripture? There is nothing showing or tending to
show that they were held in any different regard to
others. Under the old covenant with Adam, the whole
race, as we have already seen, suffered by the fall. So
that the sentence of death and death actual, came upr
on all. The same corruption and moral taint is the in¬
heritance of all. Evidence of this has already been
tyi pnTisiuakttOV
abundantly presented' In the discussion on depravity,
and there can be no disagreement about that.
3. Coming then to the second covenant, that of
promise made with Abraham, Gen. xvii: 7,we find a new
element introduced, namely, that of faith. Faith is here
connected with obedience and gives it all its value. It
i.5 called in scripture "the obedience of faith," Rom. i.
5. and xvi. 26. One of the stipulations of that cove¬
nant, was the gift of Canaan, itself a type of heaven,
or the heavenly inheritance, and so St. Paul tells us in
Heb. xi. 19, &c., that "By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, 1 the heirs with him of the same promise." But
that this promise and hope looked beyond the temporal
to the spiritual and eternal inheritance. He tells us
"they looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God."
It is now a covenant of works no more, but a cove¬
nant of grace, conditioned upon faith unto obedience.
In this solemn engagement the Almighty Father bound
himself by an o^th to make good the promise made to
Abraham. Now the promise was not only an inheri¬
tance and temporal blessings for himself and his chil¬
dren; but the promise was that in his seed "all the na¬
tions of the earth should be blessed." And so the
scriptures declare that all believers, all 'who are of like
faith, "the same are the children of Abraham.' " "And
the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, 'in thee shall all the nations be blessed.' "
jne^st o# etiRx^nAN THKO^GOV, m
St. Peter preaching at the peneeost, said, "the pronii
ise is to you and to your children."
Construe these scriptures with the words of our Lord
in taking the little children to himself and declaring
them to be "of the Kingdom of heaven," we shall see
that the provisions of the covenant of grace are all
comprehending. It is in accordance with truth that
the Apostle affirms that "the free gift" by grace had
come to all "unto justification of life."
On this point Calvin says: "that if the children be
not saved by the provisions of the covenant of grace,
even unbaptized children, then are we worse off under
the gospel, than they were under the law. For the
promise was that he would be "a God to us and our
seed after us," and in this "he pronounces that he
adopts our infants before they are born." (See Cyclo¬
pedia of Theology, vol. iv. page 578.
The confusion and doubt which many experience
in regard to this subject, (and the people so conditioned
are not few) grows out of the fact, perhaps, that during
. the whole period of our national life, religious activities
have been chiefly on the line of evangelization by revival¬
ism. This plan of work, having always chief reference
to adults. Salvation by faith only has been the theme of
all thinking and all preaching and all theological writ¬
ing, so that the grace of God that brings salvation to
all men," is become obscured in the cQmmon mind.
Now faith, great and indispensible as it is, is never¬
theless only the instrument of Dinine favor granted to
men for their exercise in appropriating Christ. But
SCO
SOTERIOLOGY.
faith is by no means the cause of that grace. "Abra¬
ham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness." Rom. iv. 3, Not that he was righte¬
ous absolutely, nor yet is faith righteousness, but for the
reason that God graciously consents to accept it as, or
in lieu of actual righteousness. But the blessing prom¬
ised to Abraham was not confined to him alone; it
passed over to his children after him. Moreover, the
Apostle asks: "How was faith reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness?" verse 10. "When he was in cir¬
cumcision or uncircumcision? Not in circumcision;
and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of ths
righteousness of the faith which he had, being as yet
uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them
that believe; that righteousness might be imputed (reck¬
oned, adjudged) unto them also." Therefore, it is ol
faith that it might be by grace; to the end that the pro n-
ise might be sure to all the seed.''
SECTION IV.
These illustrations of a very profound and obscure
system of truth may not be very clear to the minds of
many, and yet it is clear that they display the consti¬
tution of a veritable Kingdom, which in its unfolding
should comprehend, the people of all nations. But it is
a Kingdom of grace; the mercy and goodness of Cod
breaking out like the surging overflow of a pent up
fountain, and manifesting itself in the glorious person
and Priestly atonement of our L,ord Jesus Christ.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 201
From the first to the last, faith is the invisible gate
of entrance to this Kingdom, and circumcision was the
outward sign and seal of acceptance given to Abraham,
as baptism is the outward sign of admission to us; but
we may be sure that none of these ordinances, nor in¬
struments of salvation, can preclude, by their use or
non-using, the grace of God in Christ by whom he is
reconciling the world to himself.
Abraham was blessed and 'recieved the promise be¬
fore he was circumcised, Paul tells us. And in this his
children were included. And as he is the representa¬
tive of the faithful in all time, by this covenant with
God, so also his followers and their children are in¬
cluded. And as the children of that covenant, dying
before the eighth day, being uncircumcised, were saved,
so our children dying without water baptism, the sign
of regeneration, and the testimony of God's gracious
promise to us, and to our children.—Joel ii. 28, and
Acts ii. 17, are saved.
Saved by the death and mediation of our Lord, who
as "a high priest of good things to come," has ob¬
tained eternal redemption for them.
Do we lay aside faith then? No; not at all. The
condition of faith is for them that are able to receive
and exercise it.
Repentence and faith are the bars and doors that shut
out incorrigible men who hear the truth and will not obey.
But for the. redeemed innocents—who are guilty only
by implication with a corrupted descent—the gates and
202
SOTERIOLOGY.
bars and doors are "lifted up" at the command of him.
who has "the keys of the Kingdom."
"Arrd they brought to him little children, Greek
(paidia), that he might touch them, and he took them
up in his arms and blessed them laying his hands upon
them." "Of such is the Kingdom of heaven. We
conclude then, that our children dying in infancy are
saved, not because of baptism, nor on the faith of par¬
ents, for that would imply merit in faith, whereas there
is none; but because Christ died for them and rose
again for our justification, and having procured by his
death the fullest ministration of the Holy Spirit. He
is sent forth to quicken, regenerate, sanctify and
exalt to heavenly places in Christ all the heirs of
promise.
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou
hast ordained strength,'' Ps. 8-2. "Moreover, your
little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your
children, which in that day had no knowledge between
good and evil, they shall go in thither, and to them
will I give it, and they shall possess it." Deut. i. 39.
And when the chief priests and scribes saw the won¬
derful things that he did, and the children crying in
the temple and saying hosanna to the Son of David;
they were sore displeased, and said unto him, 'Hearest
thou what these say?' and Jesus said unto them, "yea;
have ye not read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings thou has perfected praise?"
We think these scriptural passages furnish sufficient
evidence to show that the little ones are not left out from
DIGEST OF. CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 203
any part or portion of the plan of mercy, designed of
God for the salvation of the world.
CHAPTER III.—PART IV.
Benefits of the Atonement—Regeneration.
We have already had occasion to say that this term
is found but twice in the New Testament, and that in
only one of these, Tit. iii: 5, can it be regarded as
referring to that peculiar spiritual experience intended
by the word as used in theology.
1. In theology, regeneration means that effectual
change of our spiritual nature, which is called in
Scripture, a " new birth," a new creature or creation.
The use of the word is most fully justified in Scripture
as denoting that complete change of the inward moral
nature which always characterizes those who have been
justified by faith and have realized the peace of Divine
love in the heart. This radical change of the affec¬
tions resulting from the direct influences of the Holy
Spirit on the human soul, may well and truly be called
a regeneration, a new creation. It is precisely the same
in force of meaning with our Lord's words to Nicode-
mus, being " born of the Spirit," and of St. John
i . 13, Which were "born," not of blood, nor of the
will of man, but of God. And those of 1 Peter i: 3,
'' Which according to his abundant mercy hath be¬
gotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead." All these testimonies
204
SOTERIOLOOtY.
point out the work of Divine grace in the hearts of
men by which they aie brought into a state of fa vol
with God and heirship with his Son, Jesus Christ.
But they refer in every ease, so far as we are able to
find, to the man in his completely renewed state, and
not to any specific work that is distinguished or dis¬
tinguishable from justification by faith, and the result¬
ing peace derived from love and a holy comfort
in the soul. I have searched diligently the New Tes¬
tament writers on this subject, and have failed to find
a single passage containing anything that distinguish¬
es regeneration from those other experiences which are
included in repentance, faith and justification.
2. Turning from the Scriptures to the writers on theol-
ogy,we find them differing widely, and for the most part
at sea. All modern writers agree in m irking regeneration
as a separate work, and quote much from the Scriptures,
but with so feeble result, that one despairs of attaining
a definite footing. If space would allow, we would
insert for the benefit of our readers, a number of the
proof texts adduced, but it is not practicable.
Dr. Shedd, than whom there is no more discrimina¬
ting or scholarly theologian in America, tells us that
the old theolgians left it out, or rather did not discuss
it as a separate topic of experience. What modern
divines call regeneration, they gave the title " effectual
calling,'' and so placed it first in the order of experi¬
ence.' And this view, from their standpoint, was cor¬
rect. It was, therefore owing to the vagueness and
confusion arising from the many words and phrases of
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 205
the Greek writers in the New Testament, that this
word was gradually adopted as the best expression of
the meaning of them all. The Greek word from
which regeneration is a literal translation is paliggen-
esia (palinggenesia) from palin again, and geno, or
genomai, to beget, produce, etc. But by common conj
sent this word, as used (only twice), has no reference to
regeneration in our theological sense. It is found in
Matt, xix: 28, Tit. iii: 5.
3. We conclude that it is unnecessary to pursue the
subject further as there is nothing to be gained.
The man who has evangelical repentance, faith in
Christ and peace with God, is a regenerate man.
Mr. Wesley, Watson, Clarke and other arminian
writers make regeneration a very strong topic in their
system, but a rigid analysis of all they say brings us at
last to St. Paul's simple formula, "Repentance toward
God, and faith in our L,ord Jesus Christ."
^OTitKlOLUGY,
CHAPTER III.
SECTION II.
Benefits of the Atonement—Sanctification.
We enter now on the presentation of the last theme
of the doctrines comprised under the head of Soteriolgy.
i. There is a popular belief that the doctrine of sanc¬
tification is peculiarly a tenet of Methodism, but it is
not the case, except as it may be so considered in a re¬
stricted sense. As a general doctrine of holy Scripture,
it is held and taught by all the orthodox churches and
by the Catholic Church also. The Catholics anathe¬
matised all who might deny the doctrine, as early as
the great Council of Trent. The Presbyterians have
an article in their confession of faith on this doctrine.
Larger Cat. p. 223, Q. 75.
" What is Saticification ?"
Ans. Sanctification is a work of God's grace where¬
by they, whom God hath, before the foundation of the
world, chosen to be holy, are, in time, through the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. *©7
powerful operation of his Spirit, applying the death
and resurection of Christ unto them, renewed in their
whole man after the image of God; having the seeds of
repentance unto life and all other saving graces put
into their hearts, and those graces so stirred up, in¬
creased and strengthened, as that they more and more
die unto sin, and rise unto newness of life." Yet they
say, p. 228, that sanctification is imperfect and that the
saints fall into many sins, "are hindered in all their
spiritual services, and their best works are imperfect
and defiled before God."
2. The Catholic doctrine is that the sacrament of bap¬
tism washes away all guilt of every kind, if rightly
administered.
3, The views held by Mr. Wesley, as stated by
McClintock, are in substance as follows: (3) "Thatregen-
eration begins the process of cleansing, but, except in
some exempt cases possibly, does not complete it; a de¬
gree of depravity still remaining in the regenerate. (4)
That the process of cleansing is in some cases gradual,
the remains of the evil wearing away by degrees; in
others, instantaneous, the believer receiving the bless¬
ing of "a clean heart" a few days, or even hours only,
after his regeneration. He held that this special bless¬
ing was to be specially sought for, and obtained by a
special act of faith. This second attainment is wit¬
nessed by the Holy Spirit as in the case of regenera¬
tion; and that it is to be "confessed," that is, made
known on suitable occasions, "for the glory of God."
Lastly, that this blessing is the high privilege of every
2o8
SOTERIOLOGY.
one who is born of God to live free from tlie sins which
bring the soul into condemnation, by the voluntary
transgression of known law. Yet, lilhat involuntary
errors and mistakes, needing the atonement of Christ, re¬
main to the end." We italicize this last concessive
sentence, as showing, after all, that there is no wide dif¬
ference of opinion on this doctrine So little indeed,
that "there should be," as Mr. Wesley himself says,
"no strife about mere words."
4. As to this doctrine of christian perfection or
holiness, the English Wesleyan Church is said to hold
somewhat divergent views from those of Mr. Wesley.
The Compendium of Theology by Dr. Pope, tutor in
Didsbury Wesleyan College is offered as representative
authority, says Dr. McClintock, vol. ix., page 333.
"In several important points he differs from We.-dev
(1) He pronounces sanctification always a gradual
work.1'
(•2) Then quoting directly from the text of his work,
he says : "It must be remembered that this final and
decisive act of the Spirit is the seal set upon a previous
and continuous work. The process may be hastened
or condensed into a small space; they must be passed
through.
Instead of lying within the reach of any novice, to
be attained at any moment, christian perfection is the
exceeding great reward of perseverance in the renunci¬
ation of all things for God; in the exercise of love fot
God, as shown in the passive submission to his will,
and in the strenuous obedience of all his command
ments."
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 209
He intimates that the time of the completed work of
grace "is known only to God," or "if revealed in the
trembling consciousness of the believer, a secret that
he knows not how to utter." So we see that unlike
Mr. Wesley, he sees no place for the confession of sanc-
tification for any reason. Moreover, he regards that
"something still remains of concupiscence, liability to
temptation, or affinity with evil, which besets man in
this world."
From the same valued source we transcribe the follow¬
ing condensed statement of the view held by the masses
of Arminian believers in our own country on this theme
of Christian doctrine; especially those of the Method¬
ists: (1) "Moral depravity is a real and positive qual¬
ity of the unregenerate human spirit. (2) In the re¬
newal of the soul at conversion, whereby man becomes
a new creature, a new man, wThich after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness, the inborn depravi¬
ty is removed from the immortal nature, which, so far
as the work of cleansing is concerned, is i?i that mo¬
ment fitted for heaven itself.
3. From the very hour of justification, the renewed
soul is summoned to live a holy life, a life of continu¬
ous victory over sin, and of freedom from condemna¬
tion, and is, through grace, equipped for such a life ;
so that he who fails thus to live falls below his high
privilege and his bounden duty.
4. Such a life, holy, free from sin, cleansed from all
unrighteousness,—is the Christian life to which every
child of God is summoned.
2 IO
SOTERIOLOGY
5. The believer thus renewed, is still human, nothing
less than man, possessing all the innocent appetites, pas¬
sions and affections which belong to human nature ; and
that these, though in themselves innocent, need to be con¬
trolled by reason and conscience, else they lead to sin.
6. It is the privilege of the believer thus renewed,
to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, gain¬
ing day by day, more of strength and beauty, until he
becomes a perfect man, and reaches the measure of the
stature ot the fullness of Christ; this is what is prop¬
erly called maturity, or " Christian perfection."
With these illustrations of the doctrine before us as
shown in the views of various branches of the Christian
family, we are now prepared for a closer inquiry
and investigation of the subject for ourselves.
The questions proposed to us are these: first, What
is sanctification as taught in the Scriptures and be¬
lieved in the Church? Secondly, is the state herein
spoken of, the result of a specific and distinct operation
of the Spirit, that may be known and distinguished
from the experience realized in conversion? Thirdly,
Do the Scriptures relied on in testimony of the doctrine,
set this object before regenerated believers as a thing to
be specially sought for ? Or is it only a name given by
theologians to progressive advancement in piety,
through the means of grace, and the influences of the
Holy Spirit ?
We arepersuaded that anyone giving a plain and sat¬
isfactory answer to these questions would render thereby
an unspeakable service to plain minded Christian men.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 211
1. Tlie word Sanctify as used in scripture has two
distinct meanings.
(a) In a general way it is the same as our word
"consecrate," that is, to set apart from common to sac¬
red uses, as we do in dedicating a chapel for Divine
worship„ Whence we have the word sanctuary, r.r_i
other kindred terms, as the "Holy place," Holy ves¬
sels," the "Holy annointing oil." Exod. xxx. 25.
So in the New Testament, the Greek word is hajiazin,
to consecrate, appoint, set apart, etc. John x. 36, we
read, "Saj7- ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified
—cgiasen—and sent into the world—ton kosmon—thou
blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?"
So, Matt, xxiii. 17, "It is the temple that sanctifieth
the gold," and the alter that "sanctifieth the gift." In
all these, the idea of sacredness arises from the relation
of appointment to sacred use
(b) But there is another class of texts that bear a
different construction and sustain a widely different
idea. 1 Cor. i. 30, "Who of God is. made unto us
sanctification," and vi. 17, "But ye are washed, ye are
sanctified." John xvii. 17, "Sanctify them through
thy truth.''
1 Thess. iv. 3, "This is the will of God even your
sanctification." "How to possess his vessel," i. e.y his
heart, "insanctification." "Through sanctification of
the spirit and belief of the truth. 2 Thess. ii. 13.
These passages are sufficient to show the signifi¬
cance of the term as used in theology. It is not "ded¬
ication," merely, but purification, cleansing. We have
212
SOTERIOLOGY.
evidence also that it applies to the whole nature of man.
"The God of peace sanctify you wholly. i Thess. v.
23. "I pray God your whole spirit, and soul and body
—pseuche, pnenma, soma—be preserved blameless unto
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Same chapter
and verse as above. "Create in me a clean heart 0
God, and renew within me a right spirit." Ps. li. 10.
c. Having thus ascertained the meaning of the doc¬
trine, we may proceed to the second question, namel} :
Is the state herein spoken of the result of a distinct opera¬
tion of the Holy Spirit, distinguished in scripture from
the experience of regeneration, or conversion ? We
think it is, in a certain sense; but in the sense of a sec¬
ond blessing, or second conversion, no.
1. Logically, and philosophically considered, the
scion is not yet the fruit tree, the babe is not yet the
man, the "tender blade" is not "the full corn in the
ear." So neither is the newly converted man the
strong and masterful character that he may be when he
has been a disciple and companion in fellowship with
Christ through many scenes of temptation and trial.
The scion is the fruit tree in promise; a babe is as
perfect in its degree as the man ; the tender blade is the
promise of corn, but none of them have, as yet, at¬
tained the excellence and maturity designed in their
creation. And just so we apprehend of the experiences
in the grace of God through faith in Christ. A man
being justified and accepted, is as really a Christian, a
saint if you please—which is only another form of the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 213
word sanctification—as he can ever be, and yet far
from clean of "all unrighteousnes."
2. If we keep this in'mind then, that "sanctifica¬
tion '' is not a change of our legal status in any sense,
nor of our relation to God as sons, since to be adopted
once is all there is or can be of it, in any Scriptural
sense; but the estate of sanctification is a cJiange relating
to degree.
3. We shall try to show that this view is as thoroughly
Scriptural as we have already shown it to be philosoph-
cal. " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he
tiketh away ; -and every branch that beareth fruit, he
purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit," John
xv : 2. "Unto you that hear shall more be given."
That is; to them that receive instruction, more instruction
shall be given. Markiv: 24, "First the blade then
the ear, after that the full corn in the ear, v. 28. And
so through all the Saviour's teaching, we may find con¬
tinual reference to this law of growth, in the kingdom
of God. Whether it be an illustration by the seed
sown in the ground, or the branch in the true vine, he
gives in every case the same deep spiritual idea of im¬
mediate and continous expansion,
4. We may note also, that in this Christian philos¬
ophy of our Lord, there is no room for immobility.
The seed grows or it dies. An immediate expansion
or collapse of the germ life and it is no more. The
branch yields fruit, and is "purged." that is, pressed to
bear more fruit, or else it is cut away.
214
SOTERIOLOGY.
5. To the same import we shall find the testimony
of all the Apostles. 1 Peter ii. 2, "As new-born babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may gio~a>
thereby.'' "Not as though Iliad already attained, either
were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may
(to the end that I may, etc.) apprehend that for v^hidi
also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus, * * I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus." Philip, iii. 12, etc. "There¬
fore, leaving the first principles of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go on to perfection." Heb. vi. 1. This
passage, as also that in chap. v. 11, 12, 13, has refer¬
ence rather to growth in Christian knowledge, than to
growth in the graces of the spirit. Nevertheless, it in¬
dicates a kindred principle, and leads to the same end,
the wisdom of salvation, and enlarged comprehension of
saving truth. Likewise, the call "to put off the old
man and put on the new," to "be renewed in the spirit
of the mind," is not a call to conversion, but a call to
holiness.
6. We conclude, therefore, (a) that sanctification or
holiness is an exalted attainment, distinct from, and
subsequent to, the experience of conversion, (b ) That
it is set before believers who have been adopted into
the number of the saved, not only as a privilege to be
sought for, at the option of those who et'///, but the
bounden duty of all believers of every rank and degree
to seek for, strive after,—restlessly, earnestly—that
"holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
digest of christian theology. 215
(c) But it is not "a second conversion," nor "a second
blessing." We find nothing in scripture showing or
tending to show any such specific experience definable
by a description of the time and place of its occurrence.
7. The scriptures encourage us to strive for this
high estate of grace and knowledge—for it includes
both,—graces of piety and purity and knowledge—and
to anticipate certain success. They assume that awak¬
ened and regenerate hearts cannot but struggle, and
that ceaselessly, for entire deliverance from the despot¬
ic sway of sin, whether it relates to the body, soul or
spirit. They are taught that the High Priest of
their salvation "is able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him. For such a High Priest be
came us—that is, was suited to our case—who was holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, ajid made
higher than the heavens." Heb. vii. 25-6. "Having
therefore, these promises dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthincss of the flesh and spirit-, per¬
fecting holiness in the fear of God." Here again both
parts of our twofold nature, as also in its threefold
function or manisfestation, is called to participate in
this cleansing. »
The religion of the New Testament, as that of the
Old, lifts up a standard of holiness that is wholly in¬
compatible with moral polution, either inward or out¬
ward. Hence, we are represented as "groaning with¬
in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the re¬
demption of our body." Rom, viii. 23. We need offer
no more testimony on this point, for the, \vhole gacred
2l6
SOTERIOLOGY.
volume from lid to lid, is aglow with the call to holi¬
ness. Permit lis to request you to take this same chap¬
ter, Romans eighth, and carefully, studiously read the
first twenty-seven verses. Then turn back and study
prayerfully verse 9, without the spirit of Christ "we are
none of his,"then verse 11. The spirit of Christ being
in you, then he that raised him from the dead, "shall
quicken your mortal body by his spirit.1' This is not
an allusion to the resurrection, but to the conquest of
the dead principle reigning in our whole being. Next
seek for the deep, awful significance of verses 19 to 25;
none of this has any reference to conversion, but a
calm survey of the conflict still before us with forces
within and without, and reaching on to the future un¬
til the "redemption" is complete. The Holy Spirit
comes to human help "with groanings that cannot be
uttered."
8. Thus have we traversed this subject sufficiently,
we think, to set at rest all caviling or doubt in the
mind of any enlighted Christian, seeking for the truth,
The difficulty that besets most people on this subject, an,
we apprehend it, arises from the popular conception
that the infirmities of the flesh, of these frail bodier.
which we must tenant until death, can never be curcjd
of lust and pride, and anger, and the many vices to
which we are prone "as the sparks fly upward." But
this is a grave error. The seat of sin is not in the
body, as the pagan world believed, but in the soul.
The lawless appetites and passions of the natural or
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 2x7
camel man, are the result of a depraved heart. There
is nothing essentially bad in matter. A vicious
life is but the outward symtoms of a diseased spirit
within. Let the heart be set right, and with proper
and prayerful endeavor, complete control of the out¬
ward character can be obtained. For if the course of a
fountain be turned, the stream below must soon disap¬
pear. We can never be free from temptations to evil,
but the meekness of Christ's spirit within us, can save
us wholly from the spirit of revenge, and herein lies the
evil of anger. "Be ye angry and sin not." Eph. iv.
26, and so, onto the end. (Read it, please.) "For it
is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the
Lord." Rom. xii. 19.
The doctrine of holiness is a scriptural doctrine; and
is not only within the reach, but is the bounden duty
of every truly converted man. Indeed it is the aim and
end of conversion. "Who gave Himself for us, that He
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Him¬
self a peculiar people, zealous of good works.'' Tit. ii 14.
9. The means of sanctification are the means of
grace appointed by our Lord for our instruction and
comfort, (a) Reading the word, (b), studying earnest¬
ly the holy doctrines contained therein. "Search the
scriptures; these are they which testify of me." (c)
Listening attentively to the preaching of the gospel,
^d) Reverent and devout participation in the sacra¬
ments, together with fixed habits of pious meditation
and prayer. "Let my prayer be as incense, and the
lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." He
2lo
SOTERIOLOGY
is blessed, "whose delight is in the law of the Lord and
that meditates thereon day and night." .As a tree
planted by the river, his leaf shall be green, and his
way prosperous. (See i Tsalm.)
10. Whether this estate of perfect trust, perfect rest,
perfect love, as the result of a sturdy, ripe unshaken
faith, can be attained in this life, and that too, at a com¬
paratively early stage in Christian experience, ought
not to be questioned by any who knows the power of
God to save But sanctification is not sanctimonious¬
ness. It is not in dress, nor canting words, nor noisy
blustering professions of holiness. Cut Christliness in
doing the will of God, in peace and joy and comfort in
the Holy Ghost. "Rejoice always, and again I say,
rejoice!"
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 219
PART V.
CHAPTER I.
SECTION I.
Eschatology.
This term is applied in theology to those doctrines
which relate to death, the resurrection,the second advent
of Christ as judge, to the final sentence of the ungodly,
and the crowning reward of the just.
1. The belief in a final judgment, (when God will
terminate the present state of things and vindicate his
moral government, by rewarding with the gift of
eternal happiness those that have been obedient in
faith and duty ; and by visiting eternal retribution
upon those that have resisted the overtures of his for¬
giving love to the end of their probation), has been
steadfast in the Church, and in the general conviction
of mankind, from the earliest ages. The grounds of
this belief are doubtless twofold.
First, as a general conviction, it arises from our idea
of the nature and character of God; from the universal
220
ESCHATOLOGY
prevalence of sin; and from the innate testimony im¬
planted in our hearts against it by the Holy Spirit, and
called conscience. (See Rom. ii: 14-15.) "For when
the Gentiles, i.e., the heathen nations, which have not
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law, are a law unto themselves,
which shew the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also witnessing with them ; and
their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing
one another." This we may safely believe is the
ground of universal testimony against sin, and of the
general conviction that the sinner will be judged and
condemned.
The universal consciousness of sin, and the general
belief that the sinner will be, and ought to be, con¬
demned, may be stated as a natural law in the moral
world. Among all rational creatures, endowed with a
moral nature, we may be sure this feeling and convic¬
tion prevails.
Andso we read, '' Some men's sins are evident, going
before unto judgment; and also, some they follow after.
In like manner also, there are good works that are evi
dent; and such as are otherwise cannot be hid." 1
Tim. 1-24. "If our hearts condemn us, God is greater
than our hearts, and knoweth all things," 1 John, iii:
20-21.
2. As to the end of the world, that final period
when the history and progress of all we see shall cease
to be, we must chiefly rely on the testimony of Holy
Scripture as given by Christ and the Apostles.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 221
"The end of the world," as used. by our Lord in
many cases, as elsewhere, means only the end of the
age. It is used in this sense in all those places which
refer to the overthrow of the Jewish state, and the de¬
struction of their chief city, and the consequent end
of their civil polity.
See on this subject Matt, xxiv; Markxiii, and Luke
xxi.
But in the midst of all he said, concerning the great
Calamity of the Jews, he also points out a larger and
more remote event, that should be more than a nation¬
al Calamity; it is to be a world's catastrophe. "And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world, for a witness to all nations; -then shall the end
come." Matt. xxiv. 14. "But of that day and hour
knoweth no man; no, not even the angels of heaven;
but my Father only," See also Mark xiii, 32, to the
end. "Take heed, watch and pray; for ye know not
when the time is; for as a snare shall it come on all
them that dwell on the face of the earth."
It is plain that the gospel preached in all the world,
"unto all nations" means more than Jerusalem and
Judea. And the judgment coming " as a snare on all
them that dwell on the face of the earth" includes the in¬
habitants of the globe.
But this end of the world does not involve, by any
means, the popular notion of the end of time. The
oath of the angel in Rev. x, 5-6, "that there should
be time no longer," does not mean " time" abstractly,
as measured by days and years in succession, but his-
222
ESCHATOLOGY.
toric time, recorded by the flow of events in history.
All our ideas of "time" refer to this flow of events,
whether our measure be long or short; days, centuries,
or ages, they still are limited by, and lie within this
recording flow.
All events through every age lead onto culmination,
but under our observance these culminations are as the
billows of the sea, the subsidence of one creates an¬
other, and so we witness an apparently endless series.
Hence to speak of the end of time is meaningless un¬
less it refers to historic time.
3. Concomitant with the end of the world we have al¬
so testimony to the second coming of Christ as fudge.
a. "But now commandeth all men everywhere to
repent; because he hath appointed a day, in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained, wherein he hath offered faith
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the
dead," Acts xvii: 30-31. b. "And he commanded
us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is
He, which was ordained by God to be the Judge; of the
quick (living) and dead." Acts x: 42. c. "For the
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg¬
ment unto the Son," John v: 22. d. And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, be¬
hold, two men stood by him in white apparel; which
also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye, etc. * :i
This same Jesus which ye see taken up from you shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven, Acts 1: 10-11, e, Here we see it is to be the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 223
"same Jesus," and hence his appearing will be person¬
al and visible. Not a spiritual and invisible appear¬
ance as some hold. f. Note also that he is to come in
a day appointed of God. And that this day is a secret
in the counsel of heaven. The angels are ignorant of
it, and St. Mark reports him as saying, though the
text is doubted by some, but the revisers hold it fast:
"Neitherthe Son" knoweth the day.
4. Simultaneous with his appearing There is
to be a general resurrection of the dead.
The hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. * * *
Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which
all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall
come forth; they that have done good, etc., and they
that have done evil, etc," John v: 22, etc. See also
1 Peter, iv: 5, and Rom. xiv: 10, and Jude, verses 14,
15. 1 Thes. iv: 13--18. Last of all, for a full explicit
statement £>f the inspired testimony on the resurrec¬
tion of the body, we need only turn to 1 Cor. xv. and
read the unparalleled deliverance there from the 35th to
the 55th verse. Construe that passage with the pas¬
sage in 1 Thes. iv: 13 18, and these two full statements
with those already adduced from the gospels and from
the Acts, and we -have one of the most perfect state¬
ments of doctrine to be found in the whole scrip¬
tures.
5. Having stated the doctrines and given a partial
list of the evidences for the end of the world, the, sec¬
ond coming of Christ, and the resurrection of the
324
KSCHATOLOGY.
dead, the next thought in regular order is
the judgment.
a. Its time. b. Its object, c. Its manner as disclosed
in Scripture.
Passing by the mere description of splendor and
array of forces that shall usher in the day of final as¬
size, we give a passing thought to the day of Judg¬
ment.
i Speaking scientifically, the objection has been
interposed that Christ as a personal judge coming to
earth could not be seen by its millions in a day or a
year, much less could they be judged and rewarded.
But here, as in many other matters, men fall into silly
error by confounding a work of God with the transac¬
tions of men.
2. In any work performed by the Infinite Creator
it is foolish to think of Him as being limited by the
physical conditions that make analogous transactions
impossible with men. In the first place the day of
Judgment may not be a sun-day of four and twenty
hours. It might be; it may be a century or an age.
3. Let it be remembered that the wheel of historic
ages will have ceased its revolutions and be locked by
Divine command, Rev. x: 6, in the iron arm of eter¬
nity, the issues and decisions following will be in
" the eternal now." The eternal destiny of all men
will then be fixed. See 2nd Epist. Peter, iii: 7, 10, 13.
He tells us here, that "the heavens and the earth
which are now, are kept in store by the power of God,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 225
reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and per¬
dition of ungodly men. ***** But the day will
come as a thief in the night." "The heavans shall
pass away with a great noise, * * * the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burnt up."
Whether this material destruction is figurative language
pointing out, by metonymy, the destruction of all
mundane things by a general and awful catastrophe, is
not easily decided, nor is it very important to us;
whether it shall be an utter disolution of our ter-aque-
ous globe, or a sweeping destruction of all vegetable
and sentient life, leaving a " dead world."
4. A world whereon the "sea is dead," and where
there is no plant, nor seed of plant, nor flower; no bird,
no beast, no man, and where the atmosphere that
makes our telescope to view the heavens, has been
rolled up and dashed away, will be desolate and dark
enough to justify the liveliest description possible for
even an inspired pen. The rational universe may well
be amazed at the magnitude of the awful scene.
5. The object of the Judgment will be the completion of
the Divine purpose concerning the world. Rev. iv: 2;
Isa. xl: 5.
First, by publicly rewarding the faithful of all ages
of the Church with the good which God has promised
them in his word, as the gift of his grace through
Jesus Christ, 1 Thess. iv : 15-18.
Second, to vindicate his moral government by exe¬
cuting the sentence of wrath upon wicked men and
226
JiSUliATULUliY.
devils, and thus declaring his righteousness in the pres¬
ence of all. See 2 Thess. i: 5-9.
a. The justice of God requires such a final adjudica¬
tion to afford a complete exhibit of the Divine equity
and the perfect righteousness of his law.
b. In this world perfect justice is unknown. The
righteous suffer, while the wicked pass unwhipped of
their crimes and guilt. Unworthy and polluted men
are exalted in this world to stations of honor and pow¬
er very often, while the pure and good "wash their
hands in innocency, and the waters of a full cup are
wrung out to them."
c. Deceit, hypocricy the most daring, conspiracies
of evil, and in fact all the forms of evil olten prevai1
in disheartening contrast to the apparent misfortunes of
good and really God-fearing men. d. Even in Chris¬
tian lands and at the closing hours of the Nineteenth
century of the Christian era, right is inseparable from
might in the moral conception of millions. In a large
part of our own free and enlightend land, might is sub¬
stituted for right in the civil control of millions.
6. Now according to the view of universal justice or
righteousness so fully revealed in the Scriptures, and
which God has impressed on human consciousness there
has been a general expectancy that God will somehow,
somewhere and at sometime correct the widespread
evil, by rewarding the good and punishing the evil¬
doer. The Bible, in both Testaments is full of threats
and promises, and of assurances that these will ulti¬
mately be fulfilled. '• He will save the poor and him
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 227
that hath no helper," "He shall redeem their souls
from deceit and violence; and precious shall their
blood be in his sight," Psa. lxvii: 12-14. When
Paul was shipwrecked and landed on the isle of Malta,
and a viper sprang from the fire and stung his hand,
the Maltian heathen said, "doubtless he was a mur¬
derer whom vengeance would not suffer to escape,"
thus showing that even the heathen believe in a uni¬
versal principle of righteousness, and that the execu¬
tive power behind this moral law will enforce its claims.
'' Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with
him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe
to the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward
of his hand shall be given him." Isa.,iii: 10 11.
7. From many other sources, both heathen and
Christian, we could glean testimony showing that the
doctrine of reward to the good and retribution to the
wicked agrees with the universal sentimeut of man¬
kind. It is the consensus of the world. If these doc¬
trines of the resurrection and the judgment be not
sure, then indeed are they that have fallen asleep
perished.
8. But pending the advent of the final Judgment,
what are we taught concerning the states of the dead f
(1) The scriptures teach that the body is not awak¬
ened out of the dust until the advent of Christ, and the
call to judgment. "So man lieth down, and riseth not;
till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor
be raised out of their sleep." Job xiv: 12. And
many that sleep in. the dust of the earth shall awake,.
228
ii5CHATOL,OGY.
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever¬
lasting contempt." Dan. xii: 2. (See also Matt, xxv:
31—46.) We may say in a word, that all those scrip¬
tures which support and establish the doctrine of the
resurrection of the body, practically fix the time of the
resurrection at the the judgment of the last day.
(2) There are those who, however, have advanced
the theory of an immediate resurrection, of a spiritual
kind at death, and that they then immediately enter
the region of the departed spirits, (Hades), and there
remain, both the just and the unjust, until the great
assize at the last day. This is the theory of the fol¬
lowers of Emanuel Sweedenbourg. They are in part,
the same ideas as held b}> the old pagan philosophers.
Dr. Shedd shows that the doctrine of purgatory, a
place intermediate between heaven and hell, was de¬
rived from pagan sources by the old theologians of the
church. As these questions are largely speculative,
many sided, and of little value, study upon them may
well be deferred to a later stage in our reading.
9. Paradise. (i)The wordsof Jesus, to the dyingthief
on the cross, assure us that the souls of dying believers
are immediately carried to that place of happy abode.
Duke xxiii: 43, "This day shalt thou be with me in
Paradise." St. Paul tells us, 2 Cor. xii: 2-4. that this
Paradise is "the third heaven." John tells us of "/he
tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God. " And
then in chap, xxii: 2, he tells us where it is. "And he
shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crys¬
tal."—i. e., transparent glass—proceeding out of the
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 229
throne of God. In the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life. '
These passages taken together with the dying words
of our Lord, prove that the good, when they die im¬
mediately enter Paradise, and that paradise is heaven.
Paul says, as we have seen, that it is "the third heav¬
en," that is to say, the highest heaven; illustrated pos¬
sibly, by the porch, the holy, and the most holy place
of the Temple.
Paul was ' 'willing rather, to be absent from the body
that he might be present with the Lord.''
(2) But the antithesis of what is here proven, as to
the just, can be also proven of the wicked. If the
saints are borne away at death to heaven, the wicked
are also borne away to hell.
(3) A great deal of learned discussion has been ex¬
pended in definition and explanation of the words in
the Bible translated "Hell,". Sheol in Hebrew and
Hades in Greek. But the only construction that ren¬
ders them consistent and intelligible, requires the inter¬
pretation to be a place of punishment. Heaven a^d
hell are contrasted throughout the scriptures, as show¬
ing the place of reward on the one hand, and the place
of punishment on the other.
4. All other notions concerning the places of abode,
and the state of departed souls, are heathen notions in¬
troduced into the Christian doctrines by those who mis¬
conceived the truth, or wished to profit by error.
The Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory has no
foundation in Scripture; although they quote from the
liSCHATOLOCY.
sacred text some passages for its support. lake the
passage Matt, xii: 32. as one of the places supposed,
or rather, alleged to support this doctrine: 1' But who¬
soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall nut
be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world
to come."
The onl}T ground of support to the idea of future
pardon must be an assumed implication, to wit: that
because reference is made by our L,ord to '' the world
to come," he implies that some sins maybe forgiven
in that world; although this particular sin of Uas-
, phemy against the Holy Spirit will not be. But such
an argument is so far fetched as to need no refutation.
The doctrine of Purgatorial suffering is founded on
propositions which are anti-scriptural. They are about
a? follows: (r ) Every sin, however small, is an of¬
fence to God deserving punishment, and will be pun¬
ished hereafter, if not previously cancelled. (2. ) Such
small sins do not deserve eternal punishment. (3.)
But few men die in a state of such entire sanctity that
they be not still in debt to Divine justice, and hence
few can escape some degree of punishment; since infi¬
nite holiness can admit none into heaven that are not
pure from all sin. (4.; Since none may enter into
bliss but such as have been fully cleansed, etc., there
must be of necessity some place or state where souls
departing this life, that have been pardoned as to ori¬
ginal or eternal guilt, yet are guilty as to some temporal
and veinalsin, may be purged and purified before ad¬
mittance into heaven. See on this subject Watson'3
DIGEST OK CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 231
Biblical and Theol. Diet. pp. 799 and following-.
11. Other parts of scripture are cited in support of
purgatory, but are not of sufficient merit to claim in-<
vestigation at length, (a.) It suffices our purpose to
say thac the blood of Christ, by which we are redeemed,
redeems from all sin. (b.) If a man is justified by
faith in Christ, and pardoned, that is all the law cf
God requires, and all that Divine justice demands. Fcr
he is " the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth," whether Jew or barbarian.
(c.) The soul that suffers after death, for sin, suf«
fers without Christ, and suffers eternally. "Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that jus tifietli, who is he that condemneth ? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who
is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh in¬
tercession for us." Rom, viii: 33-34.
':We who in Christ believe
That he for us hath died,
We all his unknown peace receive,
And feel his blood applied.
Stronger than death or hell
The sacred power we prove,
And conquerors of the world we dwell
In heaven, who dwell in love.
—Charles Wesley.
12. Departed souls are disembodied, and the scrip¬
tures are silent as to the how of their abode; but there
is reason for believing that some vestiges of corporeal
influence, impressed on the soul by residence and de-
?33
BSCHATOLOOY.
velopment in the body, remain with them tliroughoin
the intermediate state.
On the mount of transfiguration, the Apostles recog¬
nized the persons who conversed with the Saviour,
as Moses and Elias. From this circumstance, as well
as other intimations of scripture,—instance, L,azarus in
Abraham's bosom,—-we infer that the human soul,
though disembodied, still wears the human form. Wo
can have no idea of a finite being without body cr
form, for in such a case the identity so far as we can
see, would be entirely lost. We conclude from hence,
that there is perfect recognition in the spirit world.
section II.
Op Heaven and Heu,.
i. The word Heaven, (Our anon), in common use
has three significations.
(i) The region immediately above our heads, limited
by the upper atmospheric lines that bear the fleecy
clouds along the face of the sky. Reference is had to
this lower, or first heaven, in Jer. ix: 10, the expres¬
sions, "Fowls of heaven." Job xxxv: ii. ''Th2 dew
of heaven,"* "the clouds of heaven," etc. The sec¬
ond region called heaven lifts our thought to the sun
* See Gen. xxvii: 33—9. Dan: iv. 15, etc.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 233
and planetary spaces stretching away into the millions
of miles in distance from the face of our globe.
(2) This department of space is called in the scrip¬
tures, the firmament or expanse. (See Clark on Gen.
i : 8). But the third heaven is represented to be the
seat of the Divine presence or throne of God; the place
where Christ is gone to prepare for his saints, and
which is the abode of the holy angels.
(3) This abode is described as ineffably glorious and
is called by the Saviour, "My father's house." St.
Johnxiv.: 2. It is the "Mount Sion " ofSt. John, Rev.
xiv: 1. "And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the
Mount Sion, and with him an hundred and forty and
four thousand."
(4) The idea conveyed by all this imagery, is that in
the infinite depths of space, beyond the reach of mor¬
tal vision, there is a region where Almighty God reveals
his presence in unconceivable glory to created and holy
angels, and to redeemed and holy men. That this re
gion is veiled or concealed from us because of our in¬
firmity, and its vast remove from our sphere. Here is
the place where Christ has entered "to appear in the
presence of God for us." Heb: ix. 24.
Christ "ascended up far above all heavens." Eph-
iv: 10.
2. It is useless in us to speculate about heaven.
The scriptures do not tell us much directly about it, and
for the plain reason that we are not able to compre¬
hend it. Such descriptions as are given, are veiled in
earthly representations, that serve to adumbrate or
234
ESCHATOLOGY.
faintly reveal some feeble idea of that which is real.
But there is no ground for doubt about either the
place or the estate of bliss. All true believers ac¬
cept with joyful hope the promise of an endless life in
heaven. By a faith all conquering, they believe the in¬
spired testimony, that "when our earthly house of this
tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'' 2
Cor. v: 1.
3. It cannot be difficult to the reason of any one
who believes at all in God, as the Creator and upholder
of all things, to believe that He who built and furnished
the resplendent frame which we behold, can also pre¬
pare a domain in the regions of boundless space, that
shall be a thousand-fold more glorious than fallen man
can conceive.
4. It is just this fact that the holy scriptures shadow
to our view. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neith¬
er hath it entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him." 2 Cor. ii:
9. 'And he carried me away in the spirit * * * ,
and shewed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, *
* * Having the glory of God: * * * * And I saw
no temple therein; for the L,ord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the Temple of it. And the city had no need
of the Sun, neither the Moon, to shine in it; for the glo¬
ry of God did lighten it, and th6 I^amb is the light
thereof. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by
day; and there is no night there." Rev. xxi: 10,
11, 23, etc.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 235
5. Much more can be found in the scriptures respect¬
ing the heavenly estate, but it is not necessary to re¬
hearse it here. Any one desiring to learn • all that is
taught by the Holy Spirit through inspiration on
this theme, can easily find abundant testimony. In
more than one hundred places instruction can be found,
directly or by implication concerning heaven as a place
and state of bliss.
The heart of faith is thrilled by the hope set before it
in this regard. "The former things are passed away"
So that the fear of sin and death, is forever passed, and
with these, all the terrible concomitant evils pertaining
to this life. Our temporal loves and temporal relations
will have forever ceased. In that world "they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage." There is no grow¬
ing youth, nor declining age; they are all as the "an¬
gels of God." No thirst nor hunger, nor labor, nor
weariness, nor yet enui from indolence.
But they follow the Lamb, their Shepherd, who leads
them and feeds them with a full supply forever. Neith¬
er can they die any more." luke xx : 36.
section iii.
Of punishment. ■ Will it be Endless f What do the
Scriptures teach about it ?
1. Perhaps a thousand treatises have been written
by men who were wise and by men who were un¬
wise on this theme. After much reading and some
236 ESCHATOLOGY
meditation on it, we reach the conclusion that much
of the interminable difficulty,' (for it seems as inter¬
minable as a circulating decimal fraction), grows out
of the question of place.
2. The place called hEU, is the antithesis of the place
called HEAViiN. But let it be remembered that it is a
logical antithesis and not necessarily longitudinal, nor
antipodal. Neither geography nor geometry has aught
to do with it. Theology affirms that the same Scrip¬
tures which promise a life of bliss that is endless in
Heaven, to the children of God, promise also a life of
punishment that shall be endless to the incorigibly
wicked, the children of the devil* in Hell Now this is
either true or not true. If it is the teaching of Holy
Scripture, no amount of sentiment can push it aside;
but if, on the other hand, it is not there, no amount of
human zeal for upholding the mere opinions of
Divine justice and law should be permitted to force a
dogma of so tremendous import on the system of
Christian belief.
3. The whole matter of reward and punishment is
with God, this must be allowed by all. If in the Di¬
vine administration it is his will to reward some men
with eternal happiness, accepting their faith for right¬
eousness, and to punish other men with eternal .woe
condemning them for unbelief and actual wickedness,
who is he that dares to say nay?
Now we have seen already in the preceding sections
of this work that God has declared his will, and the
" See John viii: 44.
DIGEST OV CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 237
purpose of his administration in this regard. And we
have seen that the moral conviction of mankind at
large consents that it ought to be so.
4. This accepted, the only questions that meet us
fairly are: a. The nature of this punishment, and
b. how long? If it be the will and purpose of God to
condemn sin, and punish the sinner, and if he has
expressed that will and purpose, he who seeks to de¬
ceive men by argument and persuasion to the contrary,
is an enemy. But if it is not so, then he who
urges the doctrine is a false teacher and a slanderer of
the Most High. No subject nor question in theology
is of deeper interest to men than this.
The Scriptural testimony relied on by the orthodox
Christian world, has been combatted, (1) by an equivo¬
cal exegesis and verbal criticism; (2) by the plea of in¬
consistency with the character and attributes of God.
But there is a general cor sent that under a righteous
government, sin must and will be punished. All ar¬
gument opposed to this principle has long since been
so utterly refuted that the voice of protest is scarcely
audible anywhere. The question turns then upon
what is the nature of the punishment, and how long
it is to be endured.
5. As to the nature of this punishment we have the
following Scripture terms and phrases by which it is
described: 1. By " fire," Matt, xiii: 42 ; " And shall
cast them into a furnace of fire," and the same words
are repeated by our Lord in the 50th verse of the
same chapter. In chapter xviii: 8, he describes it as
23* ESCHATOLOGY.
" everlasting fire." In verse 9 he tells us, If thine
eye—ho aphthalmo sou—-offend thee, pluck it out, and
cast it from thee, for it is better, etc., than having two
eyes to be cast into hell fire." gehenan puns, "hell of
fire." In Rev. xiv: 10, it is called the lake of fire and
brimstone. In Mark ix: 44, the unquenchable fire.
Matt, xxiv: 21, "tribulation," and Romans ii: 9,
'' tribulation and anguish," " indignation and wrath.''
2 Thess. i: 8, 9, it is "fiery vengeance," and "ever¬
lasting destruction'' from the presence of God and
from the glory of his power. It is called "outer dark¬
ness," Matt, xxv: 30; "disinheritance from the king¬
dom of God," " Weeping and gnashing of teeth"
6. If these Scriptures do not affirm and sustain the
doctrine of punishment, then we may search the Bible
in vain for evidence. But we do not say they teach
the doctrine of a literal fire, but they surely teach
punishment; and by the symbols used, they teach punish¬
ment of the severest conceivable degree. The men
who suffer the punishment hereby indicated will find it
truly '' a fearful thing to have fallen thus into the
hands of the living God." It may be observed here
once for all, that the words used in describing the pun¬
ishment that shall befall the ungodly, are all in figura¬
tive language. Hell, Gehena, Hades, Tartarus >
are all borrowed terms employed to accommodate or
facilitate our understanding. And in this regard it is
precisely at one with those that describe the nature of
that bliss which shall be conferred on the children of
God. The conditions of the world to come are utterly
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 239
alien to those of our present estate, and the language
that will adequately describe those conditions cannot
be framed of the things which belong to this life.
7. Taking this view of the case, we conclude that if
the figurative language used to describe the blessed¬
ness of the blest in the better world be accepted as con¬
veying truth to us in symbol; then ought we, must we
accept as truth, that which, conveys to us a description
of the perdition of the lost. From this conclusion we
see no way of escape.
Concerning the question of duration of punishmentj
the same Scriptural evidence sustains it, and the same
argument holds good.
1. The terms of duration are, "everlasting punish¬
ment" "everlasting fire," "everlasting destruction."
"The worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
"Everlasting burnings." Isa. xxxiii : 14. "The black¬
ness of darkness forever,'' ' 'the bottomless pit.'' These
and many other phrases are used by way of description
of the punishment which they shall suffer, who have
dispised the grace and goodness of God revealed in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. Nor do we see any relief from this view of the
case by any quibbling resort to exegesis, in the attempt
to explain away'the plain force of this figurative lan¬
guage.
The fact will remain that our Lord, as did his Apos¬
tles, used these various words and phrases to make
known, in so far as it is possible to know, the fate of
souls in the world to come, as the result of that inqui-
240
ESCH ATOLOGY.
sition and righteous judgment which is to be executed
at the last day. "For he cometh to judge the earth;
He shall judge the world with righteousness and tae
people with his truth." Psa. xcvi : 13.
The Pica of inconsistency with the Divine Character.
1. To be brief as possible in our statement here, we
may observe that all the arguments we have found on
this line of thought, viz: the inconsistency of eter¬
nal punishment, have these two elements as the ground
of protest, (a) God is infinite in all the attributes of
his nature. He is, therefore, infinitely great and infi¬
nitely good; hence, it is inconceivable that such a be¬
ing should punish with endless torment any creature
he has made, (b) Since God is infinitely great and
good, he cannot be vindictive, for this implies passion
and jealousy of his creatures as though they were
equals. (c) Since God is not and cannot be, vindic¬
tive, all punishment inflicted by him must be paternal
and corrective.
It is not difficult to see how men of mental power,
and trained in argumentation, may construct, from
theses of this description, a potent protest against eter¬
nal punishment.
2. On the other hand, it might be shown that the
reasoning which must be employed to make these pro¬
positions good is essentially fallacious. But this labor
is unnecessary since the appeal in support of the doc¬
trine of endless punishment is not to logic, but to revel¬
ation. No man, though he possess archangelic wis¬
dom, can settle by logic or debate, a question of this
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOI.OGY.241
nature. No one but God can tell us what is to be done
in the future world. This he has done with so much
plainness and explicitness that all may understand.
It must be observed also, that the assumption that
all punishment not corrective is vindictive, is gratui¬
tous; for there is punishment in this world under hu¬
man administration that can never be corrective as to
the person punished, and yet it is not vindictive. It is
distributive justice executed in defense of the inno¬
cent, or for the purpose of upholding the law. For
righteous government is honored as wrell in the punish¬
ment of criminals as in the protection of innocent men.
3. Moreover it is pure sentiment to think or talk of
punishment redeeming impenitent men from their
wickedness and enmity against God. If the good¬
ness and long suffering that characterized his adminis¬
tration here, and if the death of the cross will not win
them, w7hat hope is there that the pangs of punitive
anguish will do more than intensify their hatred of all
that is good ?
There is no -syord of promise in revelation that any
further offer of pardon will be made, or any further
administration of the means of grace. Cut off from
the society of all that is good, and given over to com¬
panionship with devils and demonized men, what in¬
fluence will be left to draw or incline the condemned
and banished sinner to ways of penitence, or promote
in him feelings of piety ?
Considered from any point of view, the men who
drop into perdition are forever lost.
242
ESCHATOLOGY.
We see therefore that the theory of "eternal Hope"
is a delusion. Hope is the product of expectation and
desire. It can follow 110 one into .eternity. That which
is seen can be no longer hoped for. But "the hope of
the hypocrites shall perish" says holy writ; and "the
expectation of the wicked shall be cut off.''
The hope of a further probation to the departed
souls of men is as groundless as the other assump¬
tions of which we have spoken.
The strongest plea made on this head is, that as God
• did not execute fully the threatened punishment against
Adam, but suspended it, and gave further opportunity
for tyial, and that too, when the gracious purpose to do
so was concealed from the sinning pair; so now he
may offer these last of his fallen creatures a probation
in the intermediate state. But to all this we must still
urge there is not one word of warrant for it in the Bi¬
ble.
In the first place, Satan, that old deceiver, contra¬
dicted the Almighty and told Adam he should not
die. Adam believed him and fell. Then immedi¬
ately he hid himself in shame and remorse, and
was driven from paradise under sentence of labor and
death.
So it is that Satan was always a liar. And they will be
found to have been the servants of Satan who now
teach men that they may hereafter somehow be saved
without repentance and reformation of life. '' Without
holiness no man shall see the I^ord."
I*et every man put the question to himself; how shall
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 243
I escape, if I neglect this great salvation f For the words
spoken of God are steadfast," and "every transgressor
and disobedient shall receive a just recompence of re¬
ward ''—
"O fearful thought! One act of sin
Within itself contains
The power of endless hate of God,
And everlasting pains." —Faber.
Shedd sajTs : vol. 11, page 731: "The opponent of
endless retribution does not draw his arguments from
the impartial conscience, but from the bias of self-love
and desire of happiness. His objections are not ethi¬
cal but sentimental. They are seen through the col¬
ored medium of self-indulgence and love of ease and
sin "
Again he says: "The guilty conscience expects
endless punishment. There is in it what the scripture
denominates, 'the fearful looking lor of judgment, and
fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries of
God. This awful apprehension is of an eVil that shall
last forever, otherwise it would not be so fearful."
There is a familiar saying to the effect, that when the
soul shall cease sinning, suffering for sin will cease,
and that whensoever there is penitence there will be
pardon. Suppose we allow this as true, which we do
not, the question still lies, can the leopard change his
spots? or the Ethiopian his skin? Then may ye
also do good that are accustomed to do evil." Jer: xiii
23. They who have "eyes full of adultery cannot
cease to sin." 2 Pet. ii: 14. We may conclude, there-
244
ESCHATOLOGY
fore, that judicial blindness and hardness of heart are
terrible premonitions of endless death.
Who can doubt that through sensuality, luxury, blas¬
phemy of the name and atonement of Christ, resistance
to the Holy Spirit, the cultivation of a murderous,
bloody and vindictive temper, may lead to that hard¬
ness of heart which renders repentance impossible ?
Remember Ksau who sold his birth-right; and Judas
who sold his L,ord. And "Let us fear, lest the prom¬
ise left us of entering into rest, some of us should come
short of it" forever. See Heb. iii: 12, 13, -&c. "L,est
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin." ''L,est there be in any of you an evil heart, in
departing from the living God."
So we end as we began, with the solemn warning of
the inspired and infallible word of God. L,et us tl^re-
fore be sober and diligent watching unto prayer.
And may the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the
Sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make us perfect in every good work to do his will;
working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and
ever; amen."
Thus have we completed our course of study, in
brief paragraphs upon the cardinal doctrines of re¬
ligion.
Henceforth to the end, we turn attention from con¬
sideration of abstract truth to a review of those that are
practical.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 245
PART VI.
CHAPTER I.—SECTION I.
practical, theology.
1. I11 this department of Christian science, we at¬
tempt to ascertain the results, or the practical outcome
of the doctrinal truths contained in the scriptures.
Doctrinal theories go for but little, unless it can be
shown that something practical and permanent has
been wrought in the condition and lives of the various
peoples who have accepted them as true.
2. We have seen in the course of our studies that
it is the office of the Holy Spirit to convince and sanc¬
tify believers through the truth. John xvii : 17, xv: 3,
and Eph. v: 26., and many more. The individual per¬
sons, of all nations who are thus sanctified, or set apart
from the world, through "belief of the truth," 2 Thess.
ii: 13, become the church, or "Kingdom of God" in the
world. All believers from righteous Abel, to the
last one that shall be received before the great day of
judgment belong to this Kingdom.
3. Our first endeavor then, shall be to take a curso¬
ry view of the Church.
246
THE CHURCH,
Her Composition.
1. The question has been asked, "what constitutes
the church ?" as also, "what constitutes the state?
A first general answTer would be, that both are ordained
of God. But we are told in our Catechetical instruc¬
tion; "the visible church of Christ is'a congregation
of faithful men, in which the pure word of God is
preached, and the sacraments duly administered 1."
Meth. Cat. art. 13. Again, we are told, "The Caiho-
lie or universal church, which is invisible, consists of/he
"whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or sh ill
be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof '
Presbyterian confession, chap. xxv. Again, larg r
Cat. Q, 62. The visible church is a society made v\\)
-of all such as in all ages and places of the world do
profess the true religion, and of their children."*
2. The Church is thus divided into visible and invis-
ble. The former including all believers on earth, and
the latter all who have been called in the ages past to
the paradise of God.
"Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.''
—Chas. Wesley.
As to those who are to believe in the future, we can
hardly say they are visible or invisible, since we
know nothing about it. God can so speak, but not
man. Electionists, however feel authorized to speak
for him.
* "For tlie promise is to you, and to your children." Acts ii--to
Cor. vii: 14. ' ' *,y
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 247
II.
Her History.
1 - The Church as to her history may be divided
into three periods—Patriarchal, Jewish and Chris¬
tian. Each of these is a part of the one Church,
ordained of God and founded on the one changeless
principle of faith in redemption. But it must be noted
that the outward form or aspect of the Church greatly
yaries, according to the age in which it exists. It is
owing to this fact that so much misapprehension has
been entertained in regard to the identity of the Church
in all ages. That is, the visible Church, for the invisi¬
ble\ can be known to none but God.
2. The absolute unit}' of the Church is predicated,
not on historic union, nor uniformity of confession, but
on the changeless fact that Jesus Christ is her redeemer
and her head. Every soul on earth or in heaven, who
has a part in the inheritance of eternal life, was re¬
deemed by His blood and saved by the ministry of the
.Holy Spirit on behalf of Christ alone. Eph. i: 10,
■"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven," &c. "That also he should
gather together the children of God that were scattered
abroad," John x : 16.
3. The Patriarchal Church, took its rise under the
ministry of the Holy Spirit by the hand of Angels.
See Gen. xix: 16 ; xxxii: 1.
After the call of Abraham, and the. cQvenant that
248
THE CHURCH.
was made with him the visible church became restrict¬
ed to his seed. The covenant made with Abraham
should not be regarded as a new one, but the renewal
of the old one made with Adam when the promise of
a Messiah was first promulgated and vicarious worship
instituted among men to symbolize the great atonement.
See on this subject, Watson's Dictionary, p. 241, etc.
4. The Christian, or Apostolic Church is but the
continuation of the one and same church, instituted in
the beginning, but greatly changed, by the fact that
the promised Messiah having come, a great change
was required in both organization and worship. The
visible Church should no longer be confined to the
Jews, but the whole Gentile world, was to be embraced
in it as wellv
5. Prior to the days of the ministry of our Lord, the
visible assembly of God's people was simply denom¬
inated "The Congregation," as in Exodus xii: 6,
xix: 47; "All the congregation of Israel," 2 Chron.
v: 6. But from this time onward it is styled the
"Church" (Ecclesia), or the Kingdom (Basilcian) of
God. This word is used, however, only twice in the
gospels, viz., as above cited, and in Chap, xviii: 17, of
the same book. But in nearly all the teachings of our
Lord he used the word kingdom. And so, Dr. Wm.
Smith tells us, it is used in St. Matthew's gospel not
less than thirty-six times.
But after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord
the company of believers who joined the fellowship
of the Apostles were denominated "the Church,'"
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 249
ccclesia, the regular Greek word for congregation or
assembly. In Apostolic usage it acquires a dif¬
ferent signification. It is no longer an assembly
gathered for the transaction of business merely ; but
the congregation "called out from the world."
6. It is a proper expression, when we speak of "the
church.'''' There need be nothing at all exclusive in its
meaning. ^ .
There may be, and in the nature of things, there
must be many branches of the one church, but they all
must have attachment to the true vine.
III.
Her Organization.
We may next refer to the Organization of the Church.
1. The church is an organized body. For without
organization it would be functionless. It could do no
work, nor accomplish any end.
The primitive Jewish church was a Theocracy, (Theos
a?id Crates), that is, government by Divine council or
direction. It was a State church, comprehending the
whole people. But this does not imply that they were
all the spiritual children of God. "For they^ are not
all Israel which are of Israel, neither, because they are
the seed of Abraham, are they all children" of God.
Rom. ix : 6, 7. Only such as were "justified by faith''
—then as now—were the true children of God.
2. The head of the church is Jesus Christ. "He
gave himself for us." But in the external work and
life of the visible church, there must be direction and
25o THE CHURCH.
government, and this "has been the function of a heav¬
en appointed ministry.
3. The derivation of the ministerial office is rather a
matter of historical, than of practical theology; but it
is pertinent to cur present inquiry to observe that from
first to last, the record shows it to be a Divinely ap¬
pointed office, and for the most part the Divine agency
lias been potent in the selection of the men to discharge
this exalted function in the church. "And the Lord
spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying,'''' is the style of
expression throughout the history of the Mosaic period.
See Num iv : 1. And the same with Joshua after
Moses. "And the Lord said unto Joshua: This day
will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel,
that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I
will be with thee. " Josh, iii: 7. So also, with all the
prophets. "And the word of the Lord came unto me
saying: "Son of man, " etc., is the exordium of all
prophecy.
4. Passing over into New Testament times, we find
substantially the same thing. In the.sixth of St. Luke,
12 and 13, we learn that Jesus went out to the moun¬
tain to pray before he chose his disciples (students)
who were afterward called Apostles. "And he contin¬
ued all night in prayer to God," and he was alone.
"When it was day, he called his disciples and of the
whole number he chose twelve, whom also he named
Apostles." •
5. This was the nucleus of the Christian
church. And thus we learn that here In the new, as
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 251
in the old church, the pastoral faculty were not
"church called," but called of God. At the end of
their course of instruction, which consisted of practice,
precept and example, they were commissioned to go and
make "disciples of all the Nations in all the world."
The word "Apostle," means one sent. From the
Greek words apo, from; and slt'Uo, to send. "Go your
ways; behold I send you ('Idion apostello humas) as-lambs
in the midst of wolves." Luke x : 3.
6. The passage in St. Matt, xvi: 18, &c.: "Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," etc.,
has been the subject of much controversy.
Protestants deny, rightfully we think,. the Roman
claim, that our Lord gave precedence to St. Peter over
all the ministers, by this saying. At the same time,
we are persuaded that the explanation usually given is
strained, if not indeed, unworthy of the emphasis used
by our Lord, and of the importance which the occa¬
sion bears on its face.
1. It was upon such an occasion as, when a teacher
should seat himself in the recitation room to impart an
important lesson to his class; that Christ and his disciples
were together and apart from the people. It was such
a time as he was wont to instruct them. " Whom do
men say that I, The So?i of Man am ?"
Answer, " Some say John the Baptist, others, Elias,
and others still, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Very well, " But whom say ye that I am?"
"Thou art the Christ," said Peter, the "Son of the
living God."
252 THE CHURCH.
" Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah, e*C'
happy art thou in thine answer. Thou hast answered
correctly. The honor of a correct answer belongs
to thee. Now I will reveal to you (all) not Peter alone,
hut to Peter as spokesman of the class the precedence
and authority that shall be conferred on your order.
"I will give to you the keys of the "Kingdom
of Heaven," that is the Church; as we have already
shown that our Lord denominated the Church " King¬
dom of heaven," '' Kingdom of God,'' &c. " The keys
of the Church " is the proper translation of this passage.
Proof: '' Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven." Therefore, the
'' Rock'' on which he would build was not Peter, as the
Roman Church would have it, nor yet Peter's faith as
our Protestant brethren would make it, by a far-fetched
interpretation; but upon your apostolic ministry,
which I hereby appoint, ordain and seal* with this
abiding authority and dignity ; nor earth nor the pow¬
ers of darkness shall prevail against it. We will con¬
tend with no one who would have the meaning to com¬
prehend also, Peter's faith, or that even our Lord
comprehended it himself, f in his allusion to the Rock,
for he is the author of all; but to our thinking, the
.meaning .is plain enough, that it was simply a meta-
phoric expression, by which he illustrated the power
conferred on the ministry, and its stability.
• i- Cor. Ix: 2, and a Cor. xii ^ 12. | f See Wesley's notes on this place.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 253
IV.
The government of the Church,
1. Government in the Apostolic church was a very
simple matter. Church polity, like all other institu¬
tions, depending largely on human endeavor, as we see
it to-day, is a developement, a growth from very small
beginnings.
At the beginning they were but few, and the work
of the Apostles was simply that of evangelists,—preach¬
ers of the good news. They had received thorough
training as to the spirit and morals that should charac¬
terize the "Kingdom of God." That company that
would be ever after known as the ecclesia tou theeu.
They had but few to govern, and but little to govern
or deliberate about. They were engaged in saving
souls, and were zealous that the work should go on.
They had a keen discernment, and were assisted by the
Holy Spirit in detecting deceivers. See Acts v.
The point we make here and all that we desire to
make, is that they had the authority of administering
discipline and exercised it.
As to ministerial grades or ranks.
2. We find that distinct functions were exercised
by various persons so early as the times of the Apos¬
tles. See 1 Cor. xii: 28. "God hath set some in
the church," etc. Note especially the "Pastors" and
"Teachers." These show that the work of develop¬
ment was progressing. "All things are of God who
hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, and
854
THE CHURCH.
hath, given unto us the ministry of reconciliation,"
&c. See also Eph. iv : n, 13 and Heb. xiii : 17. All
these testimonies show that the Christian ministry is of
Divine appointment, and not merely an outgrowth of
• circumstances. On this point see Acts xx : 28. "All
the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
OVERSEERS." Last of all we read: "God hath or¬
dained that they which proclaim the gospel should live
of the gospel." 1 Cor. ix : 14. This is exactly at
one with the provision made for the old Priesthood un¬
der the Mosaic economy.
3. But as to the question of Bishops, Elders and
Deacons, the three orders of ordained ministers known
in the church from very early times, we need only
say, that so far as we can find, no practical distinction
is made between Bishops and Elders in the Apostolic
age of the church. If there was any distinction be¬
tween them the New Testament writers do not point
out what it was. The apostles were a class of men
clothed with inspired powers, and the gift of
miracles; so that their separation from .all others is
clear; but such is not the case as to any others. It is
agreed, also, by the learned, that there was an early
appointed Eldership of men who were not preachers,
or at least, not such in the pastoral sense, although
they were called by the same name, Presbuteroi, "El¬
ders." These, probably, were officers who assisted the
pastors and Bishops in overseeing and conducting the
affairs (spiritual) of the congregation. Next there
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. *35
were Deacons, Diakonoi, 1 Tim. 3: 8, 13. But these
are connected in the same lecture with the Bishop,
Episcopos, who is to be the " one wife man," tnias
gunaikosandras, but clearly, the connection shows that
this officer had precisely and only the official function
of the pastor, poicmen Both \K7ere overseers of the
flock, and hence both were shepherds. Nor must we
forget the women in this connection. For there were
Deaconesses in those days. "Women in like manner
must be grave, temperate, faithful," etc. Not as our
version has it " their wives." See Revised Gr. Test.,
and Prof. H. J. Ripley's Church Pol. page 175. We
have then, as the roll of church officials, in Apostolic
times, about as follows:
(a.) Bishops, Episcopoi; Elder, Presbuteroi; both of
whom were overseeing pastors. Sometimes with larger
or smaller jurisdiction,
(b.) Pastors, Poimenes.
(c.) Elders assistant, Proestotes; * 1 Tim. 5: 17.
leading men, corresponding, probably, to the old
men, i. e. "Elders," among the Jews.
(d.) Deacons. A class who attended to the chari¬
ties, and perhaps assisted in the ordinances of the
church. A function corresponding to the modern
steward or ruling elder, i. e., lay elder.
* Nominative Plur. Participle, from prdetaimazo, meaning to prepare
beforehand. In the New Test, to appoint beforehand. Hence the mean¬
ing seems to be one who has been elected to office and approved by good
works, an experienced ruler. Eph. 2:10. It is akin to our word "pre¬
eminence." Let them be accounted worthy of double honor, dxples
times. The rendering " double pay" is out of the question here.
THE CHURCH.
(e.) Evangelists. Euaggelistai, Acts xxl: 8.
•' Phillip the Evangelist," St. Luke calls him, and in
the eighth chap, 5,6, we see what was the function he
exercised as a preacher, that gave him this distinctive
title.
This Very useful office should never be discontinued
nor undervalued in the church. When God selects a
man for this work, he is a power in the world that is
widely felt. Well may we adopt the litany of our
I<ord; " pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that
he would send forth more laborers," (of this particu¬
lar class) " into his harvest."
4. In conclusion, we may observe that the root of
this whole ministry was the Apostleship. These men, as
we have seen, were chosen and ordained by Christ
himself, after a whole night of solemn agonizing
prayer: and he himself named'them "Apostles."
Around them sprang up all these ' 'helps'' and orders of
officers for the edification of that church which St. Paul
calls, 1 Tim. iii: 15, the pillar and ground of truth."
Considered with reference to human agencies, these
were the foundation on which the whole, ecclesiastical
structure was built. "And are built upon the founda¬
tion of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone.''
Notes on Deacons.
1. It may be of use to particularize somewhat on
this office, (a) As to the word "Deacon," Diakon,
"Deaconess," Diakonia, the primary meaning is, to
serve or assist as a deoutv. Another meanine- is to
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 257
act as a commissioner, or, in the verb sense of the
word, the commission itself. (See Liddell and Scott
G. Lex. and Groves also). It is so used in this sense by
St. Paul, Acts xx : 24. "I hold not'my life dear * *
* * that I may finish, (,teleiosai) my course, and the
ministry (diakonian) which I received from the Lord
Jesus."
(b) But it is used for the most part, in the New Tes¬
tament as a title of the ministry authorized to preach
and assist the Bishops and Elders. See 1 Cor. iii : 5.
Paul here styles both himself and Apollos as diakonot,
through whom ye believed, i. e., commissioned preach¬
ers. And so in many places. (See Bagster's Gr. Lex. of
the New Testament on this office.) (c) But the diakonia,
"deaconess," is always serving, waiting, attending and
performing friendly offices of assistance to others.
See the case of Martha, Luke x : 40. "But Martha is
distressed about much serving," pollen diakonian. 2
Tim. iv : ii, Heb. i : 14. etc.
These must suffice. Let the student pursue these
questions to the fullest satisfaction. Concerning this
whole subject we must now refer our readers to
special authorities that have given years of study,
with great learning to their elucidation. Moshiem's
and Neander's Church History, Ripley's Church Pol.
and Lord King's plain account of the primitive church.
It is said to have been the study of this last work that
determined the conduct of Mr. Wesley in ordaining his
assistants for the work of the ministry. See Steven's
Hist, of Meth.
258
THE CHURCH.
V.
Of Church Membership.
1. Admission to membership in the Apostolic Church
was a matter of very little ceremony. The first
requisite was profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and
an orderly consistent life corresponding thereto. This
consistent life was denominated "fruits," "good
fruits,"" "fruits of righteousness," " fruits meet for re¬
pentance," &c. Immediately following this public
confession come baptism and admission to fellowship.
There - is nothing we have been able to find either
in the Apostolic or early Church showing beyond
doubt, that the membership of the churches as a body
ever met for deliberation or conduct of church business
except When called together by authority of the
Apostles and Elders. See Acts i: 15, where they were
called in council to elect a successor to Judas ; and
Actsvi: 2,3, &c., where they were called to select
seven stewards, " Choose ye out from among you breth¬
ren, seven men. of good report, full of the Spirit, etc.,
whom we may appoint over this business." The whole
talk of independents about the members of the congre¬
gations attending to their own business without a
" guiding senate vanishes when we turn to the record
itself.
2. The right to admit to membership was clearly con¬
ferred on the ministry, and by parity of reason, as well
as by the truth in practice, they also exercised the
power of exclusion. The citation of 1 Cor. xvi: 3,
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 259
as an instance of Church action independently, fails
for while the Church chose the messengers, Paul sent
them, "Them will I send," nor that of 2 Cor. viii: 23.
We cannot give time and space to treat of the exer¬
cise of church discipline. It is enough to say that
for gross sins and doctrinal heresies, affecting any fun¬
damental principle of the faith, or party spirit tending
to schism, persons were expelled.
We mean by gross sins, adultery, fornication, lying,
frauds, drunkenness. By heresy, we mean, such as
denied the resurrection, 2 Tim., ii: 17, 18 ; abuse of
the sacrament, 1 Cor. v: 4, and many more.
Reducing to diagram what we have learned, our
catalogue will be thus:
1. (a.) Appointment of the Apostolic College by
our I,ord.
(b.) Their qualification was that they were taught
by the Master and Lord of all, and given the inspira¬
tion of the Holy Spirit to guide them.
2. (a.) Closely associated with these as helps and
pastors of the churches, were Presbyters, called Elders
after the Jewish custom.
(b.) These men became the successors of the Apos¬
tles and had the power of administering discipline and
good government of the church.
(c.) These Elders were indefinitely and interchange¬
ably denominated Bishops and presbyters.
3. (a.) A third class of ministerial officers were
called Deacons.
26o
THE CHURCH.
(b.) They were authorized and commended as as¬
sistant preachers of the word.
(c.) Another class of deacons were not preachers,
but only "helps" in the ministration of charities, etc.
4. There was a class of men called Elders, who
were not preachers, but assisted the pastors and bish¬
ops, locally, in governing the church, and possibly
baptized.
5. There were women in the Church who acted as
serving deacons.
6. (a.) There was a class of ministers in the
Apostolic Church known as Evangelists. They held
no special charge, but were itinerant missionaries.
(b.) They carried the Gospel into regions without
the Church, both at home and abroad.
7. All other functionaries called " prophets " and
"gift of tongues," were temporary and soon passed
away.
8. There have been no Apostles since the last one
appointed by our Saviour died.
9 (a) There are-but two orders of ministers exhib-
ted in the New Testament since the death of the origi¬
nal twelve. The two are Bishops and Deacons.
(b) There is no intermediate office in the record.
The Bishop, as distinct from the Elder, arose in tht*
church very early, after the Apostolic days, but his or¬
ders were ecclesiastical, not Divine.
10 It follows from hence that the church in adop¬
ting Episcopacy, as she had the right to do, could not
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 261
minish, by any human law, the rights and dignity of
the Eldership. As a minister of Christ, established by
Divine appointment, he has full ministerial power to
administer discipline and pastor the flock of Christ.
Much more might be written on this line, with the
support of high authority, but not by the infallible
word.
We seek for such truth only as is clearly taught, or
easily deducible from the written word.
VI.
The Bishopric.
1 The logical outcome of the foregoing theses requires
that we should point out the source of authority for
that venerable and most honored office in the church,
through eighteen centuries, or more. In the first place
a clear, full answer to this indirect query, would re¬
quire more space and labor than are contained in half of
the chapters in this book. But it may help to the un¬
derstanding of the case to say, the sum of historic tes¬
timony is about as follows:
(1) When the Apostles were all dead, and their in¬
fluence had ceased.
The world was still dark, and the cause of Christian¬
ity yet in juvenile weakness.
(2) The Elders and New Testament Bishops were all
equals and chiefly confined to their own cities, or im¬
mediate neighborhoods.
(3) Contentions and dissentions many, soon arose.
THIS cauftCH;
Frequent councils of various kinds became iiecessrav
to prevent anarchy and dissolution.
(4) Heresies in doctrine frequently occurred.
(5) In their assemblies the. older and most enlight¬
ened men naturally took the lead.
(6) They were recognized as leaders, and their au¬
thority increasingly respected. It was found to be
beneficial, pacifying, helpful.
(7.) They soon became what is known in church
history as primi inter pares, "Chiefs among the El¬
ders," or "equals." Neander says: "It is certain
that every Church (in the Apostolic age), was gov¬
erned by a union of the Elders, or overseers chosen
from among themselves ; and we find among them no
individual distinguished above the rest, as primus inter
pares • though probably in the age immediately suc¬
ceeding the Apostolic, of which we have, unfortunately,
so few authentic memorials, the practice was introduced
to apply to such a person, the name of primus inter
pares (Bishop), by way of distinction."
(8.) Thus did the Episcopal office become the cen¬
ter of unity, authority and stability in the infant Church.
(9.) It is easy to see how the agency and influence
of this office, both to local churches and the general
Church, would soon become indispensable. And as
the decades rolled by, this influence expanded until
everything was absorbed by it, and the incumbents of
it assumed the authority and functions of the Apostle-
ship itself.
CHRISTIAN THKOLOOV, art;.
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
CHRISTIAN ORDINANCES.
1. Baptism. The rite of baptism is of very ancient
origin. Just when it began as a ritual ceremony no
one seems to know. It has been claimed by some
and stoutly denied by others, that it was employed
by the Jews as a mode of admitting proselytes to their
faith in very early times, long before the Christian age.
We take the side of doubt on this subject.
2. But our business is with the rite as a Christian
ordinance, (a) The significance of Baptis7n. "Bap¬
tism, says Dr. Shedd, is the sign and seal of regenera¬
tion. It is emblematic and didactic of this doctrine."
Vol. 2, page 574.
3. Watson says: Diet, page 129. ; "Baptism, from
the Greek word Baptizo, is a rite or ceremoney by which
persons are initiated into the profession of the Christian
religion; or is the appointed mode by which a person
assumes the profession of Christianity, or is admitted to
a participation of the privileges belonging to the dis¬
ciples of Christ." All protestants substantially agree
in this significance of the rite.
4. The Presbyterians say : Cat. Q. 165. "Baptism
is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein Christ
hath ordained the washing with water in the name of
264
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
the Father," etc, to be a sign and seal of engrafting in¬
to himself, of remission of sin by his blood, and regen¬
eration by his spirit, * * * and whereby the parties
baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church,
and enter into an open and professed engagement to be
wholly and only the Lord's."
5. The Roman Catholics, together with all the rit¬
ualistic churches, including some called "high church¬
men," in the Protestant Episcopal churches, believe
baptism to be the instrument of regenerating grace.
6. We do not believe that any special grace is com¬
municated to the subject receiving the rite. Consid¬
ered as a means of grace, it is not more or less than any
other. The baptized are blessed if they have faith; if
not, it will profit them nothing.
7. It is nevertheless, a positive Christian duty, be¬
cause positively commanded by Christ and so closely
connected with the profession of faith in him, that the
one supposes the other. Have you faith? If so then
your immediate duty is to profess it publicly and for¬
ma1 ly by being baptized.
Mode of Baptism.
8. There has been much contention among Chris¬
tians about the mode of baptism ; as if the manner
thereof had been the most important thing in Christian
practice; whereas, in fact, it is among the least
(a) No one'living can tell what was the invariable
mode of baptizing in Apostolic times. And it is cer¬
tain that the Apostles laid down no rule on the subject.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 265
The Greek word for baptism as used in the Bible
was first employed by the seventy translators of the
Bible into Greek from the Hebrew. The Hebrew
word used, tabal, is agreed to mean "plunge." But
it was not used in a ritual, or initiatory sense, and hence
has no bearing on the points of difference now made. In
the Greek language, baptizing means, in a general
sense, washing. Hence there is no special manner
indicated by the expression. Every communion of
Christians may adopt the mode it prefers, without at
all invalidating the rite. It is only required, on the
ground of sound propriety, that it be done in a decent
and orderly way. The noisy and boisterous demon¬
strations that too often occur is an offense to Christian
good taste, and a reproach on the sacred triune name
in which the rite is administered.
As to the Baptizing oj Infants.
9. Nothing is to be gained to either sido of the de¬
bate on this subject by an attempt to discuss it here.
Baptism was not instituted to represent or symbolize
the death and burial of Christ, but is the rite initiatory
to membership. So, respecting the practice of paido-
baptism, the question turns on the right of children to
membership in the Church. The arguments on this
theme we cannot reproduce here. We insist, however,
with the vast majority of Christians throughout the
world, that the little ones have a right to baptism and
connection with the visible church.
For a clear and full exposition of this matter we
266 PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
direct to the many excellent works on baptism and es¬
pecially to the work of Dr. L. J ■ Coppm on The rela¬
tion of baptised Children to the Church." Pub. Phi a.,
189 o.
VII.
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
1. This is the last, in order, of the two sacraments
instituted by our Lord. The rite, like that of Baptism,
is a Christian symbol.
(1) Its office is that of a memorial as explained by
the Saviour himself. "This do in remembrance of me.''
Luke xxii : 19. "For as often as ye eat this bread and
drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he
come." 1 Cor. ii : 26.
2. As a means of grace it is precisely the same with
all other means of grace appointed by the divine head
of the church. Nor is it more or less. The theory of
transubstantiation by which the elements are said to
become the real body and blood of Christ is a mere fic¬
tion without warrant in the scriptures
That those who partake of the elements in faith and
thanksgiving, are greatly blessed and comforted, none
may doubt; but if it were truly the body and blood of
Christ, then would it be no longer a symbol. A sign
is of no value in presence of the thing signified. And
herein is the distinction between the Priest, so called,
and the minister. The one claims to administer a
real sacrifice of the body of Christ in the mass, while
DIGEST OK CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 267
the other only administers the emblems or memorials
of Christ in the bread and wine, after prayer with
thanksgiving.
There is no Priest in the church of Christ. See Heb.
x : 10, 12, 14. "One sacrifice," "once for all." The
only sacrifice to be offered since the death of Christ, is
the sacrifice of love with praise and prayer.
3. It is the duty of all Christians to partake of
these memorials. In doing so they witness a fellow¬
ship with one another, and union with their head.
The bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, are divine¬
ly appointed symbols, and seals, or witnesses to the
covenant of mercy, of which the believer is a benefici¬
ary, and are effective in confirming our interest in
Christ.
4. It may be of interest to mention that the word
sacrament is from the Latin Sacramentum 1' an oath;''
aot that of a witness, but an oath of allegiance as a
poldier, entering the army swears allegiance to the
government, or as an officer, civil or military, swears
to his purpose of faithfulness in the discharge of his
trust.
The Roman Catholics seem to use it in this sense
with regard to the ceremony of marriage. In this way
It might be applied to everything that has the nature of
1 covenant between man and man, or man and God.
5. Viewed from this standpoint, their theory of sev¬
en Sacraments is not so inconsistent. Viz: Baptism;
The Supper of our Lord, Marriage, Penance, Extreme
Unction, Confirmation and Holy Orders. But it is plain
268 PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
that only two of those disallowed by protestantism,
have even the form or shadow of a Sacrament. The
vows assumed in marriage as practiced by all the church
authorities save the Quakers have something of the na¬
ture of an oath of duty. It is symbolic, mystical and
divinely authorized. But it lacks this; that it was nev¬
er given the character of a Sacrement by Christ. Nor
are there any words for its institution as such. Besides,
it is not a seal, sign or witness of any obligation be¬
tween man and God. It has nothing to do with the
covenant of our salvation. It is a solemn ceremony
only, that may be celebrated by either civil or religious
authority. And precisely so with orders. However
solemn the engagement, it is only a ceremony and can
never rise to the dignity of a Sacrament in the true
Christian sense.
6. What then are the characteristics of a Sacrament?
Answer: (a.) That it be appointed by the Lord, (b.)
That the words of institution be given, (c.) That it be
a symbol or sign, addressed to the eye, the ear, the
touch, of an invisible spiritual grace; and thus it be¬
comes a witness and seal of God that the grace he has
promised to bestow, will be, is now being realized to
the heart of the faithful participant. See the XXXIX
Articles, Church of England, Watson's Diet. 833, Mc-
Clintock's Cyc. Vol. ix: 216, and Wesley's Notes
on 1 Cor. 11: 20-27
II.
1. Moral Duties or Religious Obligations—Worship.
" 1 Qibort therefore that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 269
and giving of thanks, he made for all men; for Kings, (i. e. rulers), and for
all in authority, that they may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli¬
ness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Saviour." 1 Tim. ii:il3.
It has been said by some one that "worship is
instinctive in the human heart." We believe this is
true in a certain sense. And for aught we kqpw it may
be instinctive in other creatures than man. But we are
certain that man alone is capable of rational worship.
That is to say, capable of realizing the being and na¬
ture of God, and rendering to him a service of praise
and prayer as the fruit of a loving, thankful heart.
Love and Reverence.
2. As his creatures, dependent on his will for our
being and support, we are bound by an indissoluble tie
to love and reverence Him. As our duty to love and
obey our natural parents springs out of the nature of
our relation to them as children, so in our relation to
God as his creatures, and especially, as redeemed by
the gift of his love and grace, we are doubly bound to
offer to him the tokens of our love and trust.
3. Under this relation, the will of God, in so far as
he has been pleased to reveal it, is the supreme rule of
life and conduct for every soul on earth. For it is on
ly in harmony with that will that man can find his
best security and peace.
4. It is a first duty then, to seek to know the will
of God concerning all our ways,' and to employ in our
quest, every means which he has appointed to the at¬
tainment of this end. Among the means so ordained
are reading and searching the holy scriptures. Our
Lord commanded to ' 'search the scriptures,'' for' 'these
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
are they which testify of me." To this end, every
Christian in the world ought to know how to read his
Bible. And if from any circumstance, or past condi¬
tion in life as blindness, or poverty, or deprivation of
liberty, he has been unable to learn to read, if he be
not utterly too old, he should address himself to the
task of learning at once, and never cease until he has
acquired the ability to read God's word.
5. Prayer is another indispensable means of com¬
munion with God, of spiritual enlightenment and
strength.
Let any who will, procure a copy of the little "Bible
index," published by the Reformed Church of Amer¬
ica, New York, and examine texts on "Encourage¬
ment to prayer." (a) For temporal good; (b) for spir¬
itual blessings; (c) the answers promised; (d) family
prayer; (e) private prayer; (f) public prayer; (g) exam¬
ples of prayer, and forms of the same, and he will see
what estimate the word of God has placed on this
means of grace.
See on this subject also, the Theol. Inst, of Watson,
vol. 2, 480 onward.
III.
Praise.
" But be filled with the spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing and making merry in your hearts to the Lord.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father, in the name of
pur Lord Jesus Christ," Eph. v.-19, 20. " And at midnight Paul and Silas
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 271
{jrajed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them; and sud
denly there was a great earthquake," etc. Acts 16: 25.
1. Christians have no more right to abandon sing¬
ing, than they have to abolish any other form of wor¬
ship. Christ and the Apostles sang a hymn at the
close of the supper before he went out to pray. See
Matt. xxvi. 30.
2. A careful study of sacred song, will show that,
—excepting the prologiuvi, a song in the nature of the
Te Deum. "We praise thee O God,'' etc. and the dox-
alogium, song in the nature of the Gloria Patri, of
which the "Praise God from whom all blessings, "etc. is
an example—the aim and end of song is to teach doc¬
trine (didactical), or to offer prayer, (hortatory). So
that song, as an agency of worship, is exactly at one
with preaching and prayer. It is only a variation of
form by which the same word of instruction is ad¬
dressed to the understanding and heart, that is heard in
the sermon, or in the prayer; with the advantage that
if the song be true poetry, and the doctrine of it sound
and scriptural, it is sure to be more eloquent and quick¬
ening than most sermons. Especially so, if the music
to which it is set be correspondingly good.
The power of sacred song, well rendered, is unsur¬
passed by anything to heighten and direct the devo¬
tional spirit.
3. But even in this exercise, the most free and pop¬
ular of all, there should be regulation, order and pro¬
priety. "Let all be done to edifying.'' There are but
few more profitable employments for the devout minis-
272 PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
ter, or any churchman, than persevering, analytical
study of spiritual hymns, chants, &c., that have given
inspiration to worship from generation to generation.
4. Only the best compositions live for any consider¬
able time while ditties and chaff, die like bubbles be¬
fore they are fairly seen.
IV.
Christian Missions.
" All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them* in the name of the Father,and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things -whatsoever I
have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end oi
the world."
i. This is the credential given to the first mission¬
aries by our Lord. Its terms are not those of permis¬
sive authority, but positively mandatory. Clearly it
contemplates a persistent aggressive warfare on the
kingdom of darkness. And so the Apostles under¬
stood it. They began their work in the martial spirit
of conquest. They believed their commission meant
victory, and therefore resolved to achieve it.
The sermon of Peter at Pentecost, and that of Ste¬
phen, the martyr, give us the key to that holy enthu-
isam by which they were animated. As an example of
evangelical fervor and aggressive courage we may re-
* We are not to infer that Paul undervalued baptism because he said,
Christ sent him not to baptize, but to preach, 1 Cor. 1:17, but only that he
regarded it relatively of less importance than the commission to preach.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 273
view the address of St. Paul before Agrippa, Acts
xxvi: 19, 28.
2. But mission work, like everything else to be suc¬
cessful and fruitful of large results, must be an organ¬
ized and persistent enterprise.
The mission work of any branch of the Church
must be wisely directed and well sustained in order to
win satisfying results.
3. A study of the mission field of to-day and the re¬
sults being accomplished, reveal two facts: (1.) That
wherever we find missionaries animated by the same
spirit that characterized the men of early times, they
are realizing like results, and wherever this spirit is
wanting, the progress of the work is slow, and not in¬
frequently enterprises that were for a while most
promising, have perished. (2.) That those denomina¬
tions which exhibit the broadest missionary spirit, both
at home and abroad, are the most prosperous in all
their labor. Indeed you might accurately guage the
progress of a religious communion by the degree of the
missionary spirit by which it is animated.
4. When it is remembered that aside from worship
and prayer, Christians have little else to do bur oattle for
the conversion of the world, we can see how, in the very
nature of things, a church destitute of the aggressive
spirit of missions, must soon become dry and withered
like a sapless tree.
The aspect of the church on earth is militant. She
is a marshalled army, and the triumph toward which
she looks forward is the conquest of the world, and the
274 PASTORAI, THEOLOGY.
bringing of its forces into the Kingdom of God.
5. Happy would we be, if it were possible to give
our readers a tabular exhibit of the progress of Chris¬
tian missions throughout the world, as shown by vari¬
ous writers in the cyclopaedia of Biblical and Theologi¬
cal literature, vol. vi. page 369, 370. And even here,
the collation is only made up into the sixth decade of
this century.
Tens of thousands have been won to Christ in heath¬
en lands since this compilation was made.
6. Of the various mission societies in the United
States, operating in foreign fields, we here give partial
summaries of a few:
Ord.
Miss.
Communi¬
cants.
Scholars in
d'y school
Annual
Income
American Bapt. M. Union . ,
American B. Com. for Foreign
Missions,
Dutch Reformed Church
Meth. Episcopal Church .
Meth. Episcopal Church South
Presbyterian B. of For. Miss.
United Pres. B. " "
Southern Bapt. Board "
Nova Scotia Pres. Ch. Miss.Bd.
49
131
17
53
2
129
16
12
5
2 648
28 718
1 123
5 182
70
3 700
35i
301
1 000
7 397
14 410
'2341
4078
32
10059
2 113
1 500
1 500
$210 100
428 690
69 320
268 488
52 739
484 366
56 250
51 023
7 5oo
Total
414
43 °93
43 43°
$1 628 476
7. One writer tells us : -'The progress and results,
especially of Protestant missions within the current
century, not only justify all the efforts of the past, but
give most hopeful promise for the future. These re¬
sults comprise not only the conversion and salvation of
individuals of every race and condition of humanity,
but the actual christianization of whole nations;
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 275
and the initial steps by which whole races of men may
be expected, at no distant period to receive the gos¬
pel." Harris' Great Commission, page 185, etc.
8. The following works will be found valuable mis¬
sionary literature: "Lives of the Fathers," Morrison;
"American Missionary Memorial," Pierson; "Pion¬
eers and Founders," Younge. These are all Biogra¬
phies of Missionaries, renowned in the annals of this
high and holy calling.
Then we have for instruction and information about
the work, "The Great Commission," Harris; "Mis¬
sions the chief end of the church," Duff; "Philoso¬
phy of Missions," Campbell, and many more. Most of
these works can be had through any reputable dealer.
With these observations, we must give the closing
lines of our labor to thoughts on Christian Schools, or
that intellectual cultivation which is demayided by both rev¬
elation and reasoii to conduct to a successful issue the high
aim of Christia?iity in the world.
0
V.
1. The mission of Christianity is only half under¬
stood by him who supposes that it has to do only with
the affections and moral sentiment of men. Man, as
we have seen in our preceding studies, is a composite
being, made of physical, intellectual and spiritual
parts. Religion is an experience, and it is also practi¬
cal. The one without the other is vain. See St. James.
"Faith without works is dead." God can communi-
276
PASTORAL THEOLOGY.
cate directly with men's hearts by his Spirit, as indeed
he does; still this is not a religion, but a revelation, so
that whatever revelation might be made to the individ¬
ual in this way, would not be binding on any other
soul but that to which it is made. On the other hand,
a religion adapted to practical life, must be written and
recorded. Thus it becomes a science, a cultus, ad¬
dressed to the understanding as well as to the heart.
Without this culture, religion would immediately de¬
generate into a superstition, and become an incongruous
mixture of faith (?) and idolatry.
2. The propagation of Christian truth, in the ab¬
sence of divine inspiration, must be in the hands of
trained and enlightened men. "His watchmen are
blind; they are all ignorant men," etc. See Isa. lvi: 10
and Matt, xv : 14. "They be blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall
into the ditch." It may be laid down as an axiomatic
truth, that no church nor community can make religi¬
ous progress any faster than it shall produce enlight¬
ened men to teach and guide the work. This is the
normal process; any other is abnormal and temporary.
3. We learn that there were schools of the Prophets in
ancient times, atGibeah of Benjamin; atNaiothin Rama;
at Bethel and at Jericho and Gilgal. See 1 Sam. x : 5.
and xix : 19, 24. These men were taught the princi¬
ples and the ceremonies, or ordinances of religion, and
also music, so that they were skillful to expertness in
all the departments of their calling. These young
DIGEST OE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 277
men doubtless chanted the responses in the sacred
Psalms composed for the services of the sanctuary.
They were called the "Sons of the Prophets," and
were many in number.
4. It may be seen from this, how important it is,
that those who are called to the highest office on earth,
to be watchmen and commissioners for God, should not
be "weak and ignorant men." See 1 Tim. iii: 6, 7.
St. Paul calls himself "a wise master builder." 1 Cor,
iii: 10. And such he was. Apart from the question
of inspired authority, in which he was only the equal
of his brethren, how much "more abundantly did he
labor than they all?" How superior the memorials or
inspired literature which he left ? What would be the
loss to Christendom had we been deprived of the Epis¬
tles to Romans and Hebrews ? Or what our loss as to
the initial history of the infant church, but for the
learned and painstaking St. Luke, in the record he
left in the Acts ?
5. These considerations point to the necessity of
training schools for ministers of the gospel and for all
who would be useful by eminence as teachers in the
Church of God.
6. In this it is not affirmed nor implied that God
has not, and will not in the future as in the past, hon¬
or, yea, exalt to pre-eminence in the church many who
have not enj oyed the aliment of collegiate or academic
culture. God forbid; for when these fail God sends his
snessage by whom he will. Thus Amos was not a pre*"
otlg the students; but he was
•er of sycamore fruit (figs),
e from behind the flock; and
Go," "prophecy," etc, "Now
of the I,ord." See Amos vii
Nor the "Son of a prophet,"
12, 17-
7. If you will carefully read him through you will
see that he had a two-fold mission, viz: to foretell the
downfall of the reigning dynasty, and to denounce the
Divine displeasure with the existing pastoral fraterni¬
ty. The whole cult, as it appears, had become cor¬
rupt. And so he aimed his thunderbolts against
"Bethel" and "Gilgal," that is to say, the schools of
those places. By metonymy he puts the place for the
people. The whole Cullus theologium had declined and
fallen into corruption. One can but think of the days
of Luther, and those of Wesley. Certainly God will
rescue his people by whomsoever he pleases;-but all
this does not alter one iota, the regular and settled law
of our being and growth. The church within the pale
makes the churchliness without, possible. So that
sometimes we find higher types of character without,
than many within the pale. So also, the schools of
philosophy, make outside philosophers, and schools of
Divinity make it possible to have eminent men with¬
out. But in neither case, would the latter be possible,
without the former.
8. Bv collateral principles, equally conclusive, it
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 279
may be shown that the indirect influence of religious
cultuie and christian schools foster and stimulate the
general education of the masses in all the nations.
9. And now dear reader we have reached the point
in our journey, where we must part company, at least
fjr awhile. Be ye assured that it gives us great pleas¬
ure to know that you peruse these pages, good of indif¬
ferent as they may be, with infinitely less labor and anx-
i>ty than they have cost us. If the exhausting hours
of search, and perusal of books, pamphlets, histories,
and Bible authorities, over the benumbing influence of
the midnight lamp, with burning eyes, have served to
place on these pages that which shall encourage, en¬
lighten, comfort and help any .soul in his pursuit of
truth and knowledge, then we have therein our best
reward. ^
28c analytical diagram.
I. ANALYTICAL DIAGRAM OF THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE.
This diagram is designed to guide the student in his
course, and to afford a freer method of examination than
is offered by the old stereotyped method of printed
questions.
It is intended for a scheme of theology approximate¬
ly complete; so that an intelligent Elder or Committee,
can ascertain in 20 minutes whether one has studied
either this work in order, or any theology whatever.
The questions to be asked, spring out of the scheme
itself in each branch of study. We have not been
permitted to give it as much study and completeness as
is desirable, but we ask for it a careful perusal.
(a) Sources ?
(b) Process of inquiry ?
FIRST ?
Concerning God
Where ?—Introduction.
Sacred Literature.
Twofold.
SECOND ?
Concerning Man.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 281
2. THEOLOGY
To God belongs,
To God belongs, (b) By
His Moral Character
PROPER.
(а) By his nature ?—
(1) Necessity of being, or Inde¬
pendency,
The "toon," of the Greeks.
Being absolute,
(2) Unity.
i (3) Spirituality.
(4) Eternity.
(5) Omnipotence.
(б) Omniscience.
(7) Omnipresence.
(8) Immutability. Where ? Chap¬
ter I—II.
1. Holiness. 2. Justice.
3. Goodness. 4. Truth.
5. Mercy. 6. Love.
Chapters 1 and 2.
J (a) Trinal. (b) Per¬
sonal distinction.
Where ?
4. Mode of Divine Exist¬
ence ?
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Where ? Chap, iii-28
5. Works of God In? { $ g^nce.
Where? Ch. I. Part 2.-56, and see ch III. 100.
C(a) His origin
6.
Anthropology;
Of Man?
(1) 4 (b) His nature
(c) His history which
gives him as
(a) Spiritual.
(b) Immortal.
(2) (c) Will, (d) Freedom.
(e) Conscience.
(f) Physical nature with
power of reproduction.
282 ANALYTICAL DIAGRAM.
7 In Anthropology-
f Relations between the Divine
j and human show
r (a) God as Creator and preserver.
Relating to God (i ] (b) As lawgiver, just: (c) As a
(_ Father providing for man.
Where? Ch. I. Sec 2, 60.
Who, as a Son, bears the
image and likeness of God.
As a creature, he is depend¬
ent on the Divine bounty.
As subject, he was obliged
to obey. Where ?
f(a.)
8. I
Relating to Man ?(2 j (b.)
(c.)
Soteriology, or Doc¬
trine of Grace
f (a) God the
| man.
Son, becomes
1. As it relates to God, ? (b) The Incarnation.
I (c) Life and Atonement.
Result,Propitiation. Where?
(2)
As it relates
to man ?
10. In Sotereiology
we have
(1) As relates to God
(a By transgression, fallen.
(b) Sentenced to death.
(c) Saved by the grace of
God through Christ, on
repentance and trust in
him. Where ?
f (a) Fulness of Christ.
((b) Salvation.
(a) God the Father loves
man.
! (b) In mercy pities him.
(c) Of free unmerited
grace He resolves to save.
Where ?
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 283
(2)
The. Son
(3)
f(a)
I (b)
1 (c)
f(a)
The Holy Ghost -I (b)
(c)
f
11. Salvation—(1) as it •' (b)
relates to man,is what? (c)
1(d)
God the Son loves man,
And comes to save him.
Result? Expiation, bv
the death of the cross,
and pardon freely of¬
fered to all. Where ?
God the Holy Ghost ?
Loves and prays for
man. Scripture proof?
He administers through
the word of truth, the
benefits of redemption;
With what result to
man ?
Spiritual awakening,
Repentance,
Justification by faith,
Sanctification. How ?
(2)
Means
f (a) By means of the
| preached word, (b) Prayer.
I (c) Nourishment of Divine
grace, (d) Participation in
the sacraments. Where ?
and scripture support.
(a) Partakers of this salvation
compose "The kingdom of
God'' —the Ecclesia. Where ?
f (1) (Internal Elements)
| (a) Spiritually; children of God by
Characteristics, -i adoption, (b) Two parts: visible
What are they ? I and invisible. Where ? (c) Christ
{their king. Where ? And Scripture.
(1)
12. Kingdom
(2)
*84 ANALYTICAL DIACRAM.
(3)
(2) Organization.
Outward character.
' (a.) Witli Pastors. Autho*
rized by her head,
(b) Orders ? How many ?
Name them? Where?
1 (c) Immovable Ordinances.
(Sacraments) ? How
many? How adminis¬
tered? By whom? Where?
13. (1) f (a) Edification.
Mission of the Church. ■< b) Propagation.
(2) f (a) Holiness within.
Result ? ■< (b) Conversions without.
(_ Conquest.
(3) f (a) Missions—Home and
Activities of the Church j Foreign.
((b) Education. Schools.
14. Eschatology ?
(a) End of the world.
(b) The resurrection.
(c) The judgment.
2. Result of,
!(a) Reward; Heaven,
(b) Punishment; Hell.
Where? How? What?
Bible study resolves itself into
f rrMtinn C Genesis, of Patriachs.
(a) History j Providence ] Exodus, of Moses and
V. the Exodus.
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 283
(b) History of ^ origin f Church developement.
] The covenants { Theocracy.
(c) History of
(d) Regal j Saul )
History ( David j
Solomon -
1 and 2 Sam., 1 and
2 Kings, Chronicles;
including the Schism
and separation be¬
tween Judah and Isra¬
el, and destruction
of Jerusalem.
( Ezra f Esther, the Queen,
(e) History of the J Nehemiahl End of Jewish Nation -
Interegnum ] and | al life.
(. (, Study causes.
Suggestions—Keep memoranda and make notes on every topic and every
prominent name.
SECOND ORDER.—PROPHECY.
(a) Major
Prophets.
4-i
Isaiah flourished when ?
Jeremiah " " ?
Ezekiel " " ?
Daniel " " ?
*8<S ANALYTICAL JMACJKAM.
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obediah.
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
I Zechariah
t Malachi
Minor
(b) Prophets
o
£
a
M
T Job, (from chapter 3). 1
. ' The Psalms.* Proverbs ! *Used in
^c) oe ry. 5 1 an(j ^he Song of Solomon 1 Worship
[ Lamentations of Jer. J
(d) Meditations i { ^^^cher.
( Moses, Samuel,
. » Special prophecy ' Elijah, Elisha.
' ' and Prophets. / Give special traits, and
[ official work.
NEW TESTAMENT SCHEME.
J* Matthew,*
History, Mark,*
<a> Gospels,' 4' j Luke,'* \ *CaIled Synoptics.)
{John. J
(b)
f Beginning at Pentecost,
I Organization. Appointment of
History, ^ Deacons and Officers.
Acts | Conversion and Ministry of
I Saul of Tarsus.
_ DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. m
Prophecy,
(c) veiled in
Allegory,
(d) The Epistles
(i) Pauline;
(e) Epistles
(2) General;
Revelation;
Analyze:
*) First Part,
>■ Middle,
) Last.
f Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians;
j Galatians; Ephesians;
^ Philippians; Colossians;
| 1-2 Thess.; 1-2 Timothy.
[Titus. Philemon, Hebrews.
(* St. Peter, two. ] Study,
I St. James, one. j Docrines,
{ St. John, three. \ Promises,
St. Jude, one. I Warnings,
J and Examples
m
APPENDIX.
NOT® A—Of the existence of God. Page 6.
(i) Natural Theology, or the revelation of God in nature, is sufficiently
manifest to impress the rational mitid with the fact of his existence. Con¬
scious of our own existence, we cannot escape the inference that there is
some being or beings in the universe greater than we. Nor can we conceive
of the forces in nature which are observed to be in ceaseless activity, yet
orderly and rythmic in all their procedure, as self-constituted and self-sua-
tained. But if we conclude that the world is the product of an intelligent
author, we must reflect on the question as to his character, and cannot avoid
feeling that he must be very great, (a) Greater than all things controlled by
him. (b) Before all things, and therefore omnipotent and eternal.
Thus two essential attributes of the Divine nature would be manifest to
reason. In like manner we may infer that the ancient heathen philoso¬
phers, aided by a remote tradition, derived their imperfect ideas of God.
And this is just the information'we receive from their own testimony as
drawn from their writings and preserved by various means to our day.
2. But the same testimony shows that all their reasoning on the Divine
nature, the attributes and government of God, was rendered worthless by
contradictions. The existence of evil, and the consciousness of human
guilt, upset all their theories of the Divine unity, and brought in the con
ception of polytheism, (many gods) some of whom were supposed to be
good and others evil. Others thought if there is a supreme deity, he must
reside far away, and be careless of the affairs of the world. Others still
believed that a state of antagonism, of perpetual conflict, prevails among
these opposing deities, which in its turn give rise to the doctrine of fate.
Man becomes the sport of casuistry under this sort of instruction. There
is not a shadow of hope or trust in such systems—if they can be called sys¬
tems—of belief.
3. We see from these things the necessity of a written revelation from
God himself. One that shall be authenticated by invincible evidences, as
are the Christian Scriptures. See the notes on heathen philosophy In vol.
1-35 etc., Watson's In
00000
00000
NOT® B—The Bible, page 9.
This word is Greek, meaning "Book," and as used with respect to the
Holy Scriptures, it becomes by emphasis, The Book. For, although it is
In fact many books, yet it contains but the one revelation of divine truth
combined in one volume, and is truly and properly called the book
These books were compiled by different persons at widely different periods
of time
The Old Testament, "Palaia diatheka," was composed in the Hebrew
language, while the "New Testament, "Kaine diatheka, was composed in
BIG33ST 01* CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. a8$
Greek. The texts of the Bible niost known and in the reach of general
scholars, are the Hebrew, Greek and Latin, known as Testamentum He.
braica, the Bible in Hebrew, Vetus Testamentum Greece (Greek Bible) and
Biblia Sacra. These three versions, representing the three great languages
of the historic world, contain the whole of Divine revelation. The earliest
complete translation of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, is that made
into Greek about 200 years before Christ, and known as the Septuagint. It
is said to have been done by seventy learned men in Egypt, and many ro¬
mantic traditions have prevailed as to the manner in which their labor was
performed. It is regarded by many as the most worthy of all the versions,
and was held in high esteem in the times of our Lord. Both he and
the Apostles make many quotations from it, thus authenticating its re¬
liability. As a result, nearly all the names of the books of the Bible in
our English version, as of all the versions, are those adopted by the seventy
translators. The fourth book of Moses they translated arithmoi, which
in English, is Numbers.
As the Greek language covered a wider literature in its day than any-
other, the Scriptures of that venerable and most scholarly tongue became
widely diffused, so that traces of Bible truth, and Bible poetry, became in¬
corporated with the highest and best enunciations of wisdom throughout
the world. Out of these four gi eat philosophic and commercial languages
—Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English—the Bible has been translated in late
years, into nearly all the languages and most of the dialects of earth, and
we may well believe that at no distant date, the representatives of every
people under heaven, will be privileged to read in their own tongue, that
living Word of God which the prophets declare "must stand forever."
o o o o o
o o o o o
NOTE C—Orthodoxy; page 28.
This word is Greek, Orthos, right; and doxa, belief or opinion. In thi.
general sense, the word applies to any system of teaching, as philosophy,
science, law, government, or religion.
Orthodoxy in religion means the holding fast those cardinal principles of
revealed theology derived from the Bible. These cardinal doctrines may
be listed as follows:
a. The being and attributes of God—unity, spirituality, omniscience*
Omnipotence, Omnipresence, etc,, and the moral character ascribed to
him in the Bible.
b. The Trinity.
c. In relation to man, Depravity, Immortality of the soul.
d. The doctrines of Christ, or redemption.
e. The doctrine of reward and punishment.
Aras:\*mx,
These doctrines art; regarded es standards of truth, by which the «ouMd*
tiess of all religious teaching must be tested. Hence
2. If any deny the existence of God as a personal being, or the attributes
ascribed to him; if any deny the Trinity; if any deny the atonement of
Christ by th« death of the Cross; if any deny the depraved and fallen con¬
dition of man; if any deny the plain teaching of punishment and reward
as it is set forth in the Bible, that man parts company with the inspired
authority of Holy Scripture; he breaks company with Moses and the pro¬
phets, with Christ and the Apostles, and is become an heretic, (heterodox),
and by the apostolic rule, is to be denied fellowship among the faithful.
3. It may be observed that heresy in regard to any of these great princi¬
ples, for instance, the resurrection of the body, is a very grievous error.
When false doctrines are held by those who have attained prominence and
influence in the church, the heresy becomes a dangerous matter—danger¬
ous to the peace of the church and dangerous to the welfare of immortal
souls. It may be observed, also, that closely related to heresy, is the milder
but dangerous fault of schism.
Whenever men, who are few in number, being still in the bosom of the
church, seek to introduce theories and customs novel and alien to the
established customs of religion, or the established order of their com¬
munion, they become thereby schismatics and should be resisted until
their newly found notions are fully developed and their fallacies made
harmless by exposure.
4. As a general rule, young men and ministers are most secure who
keep the beaten path of faith and practice laid down by the fathers. That
man is in danger of conceit and a fall who imagines himself wiser than a
vast majority of his peers and seniors. IJven solid reforms in practice
looking to the restoration of primitive simplicity and purity, should be
pursued under the rule "festrna lente"—"hasten slowly."
o o o o o
00000
NOTE D—Satan and the Serpent, pages 60 and 91.
1. Of the natural history of created inteligencies inhabiting the
celestial world, we know but little. Their existence and employments
are related in Scripture only in an incidental way. No such specific
information is given concerning their creation and endowments as we
find in relation to man.
Many of the Jews denied their existence altogether. Yet the Scrip¬
tures are full of references to the angels. In not less than one hun¬
dred and fifty places reference is made directly to angels. Among
these we have the phrasing, " Angels of the Lord," "Angels of God,"
' Holy Angela," " Mighty Angels." Finally we have: "the devil and
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 291
iiis angels." Oar word "Satan" i3 Habrew, letter for letter. The
if,®ri!e(* that the meaning, in the verb form of the word, is to
lie in wait" as a beast of prey, or to " oppose." As a noun, or prop¬
er name, it is an " opposer," an " adversary."
In Zech. iii: 1, 2, we have an instance of the specific use of the word
as applied to tbe Arch enemy. "And he showed me Joshua (Jesusl
the high Priest, hiera ton megan, standi a? before the angel of the
Lord, and the de il DCABot,oson his ri^Ut haul to resist him." This
represents Satan in his uniform and proper character.
He bears a host of titles that would require a small book to trace
and explain; but there is a singular historic record concerning the
worship of Satan under the form of a serpent that, deserves, we think
a little notice.
He appeared to Eve in the garden in that form, as we have seen, un¬
der the Hebrew name Nachash. Many conjectures have been framed
about the true meaning of this word. Dr. A.. Clarke thinks he was an
ape, or at least some of the monkey tribe; but he is unable to give any
sufficient reason for his belief. His conjectures in fact are wholly im¬
probable. On the contrary there are strong inferential reasons for be¬
lieving that he really appeared as a serpent, and that the tradition of
bis converse with Eve gave rise to the practice of veneration, which
wo are told, "has prevailed among all the nations of earth." If self
exaltation or the ambition of Divine honor was, as believed bv many,
the original passion of Satan, by reason of which he rebelled and was
cast out of the celestial world, we may see from all that has followed
of his recorded conduct, that he has been true to his earliest history;
a " Slanderer," " Calumniator," " liar." He lied to Eve and to all who
have ever listened to his blandishments. He is the author of divina¬
tion, daemonology, witchcraft necromancy, and every species of lying
imposture by which giddy and credulous people are led astray. See
the case of Baalim, of Saul and others. In Watson's Bible and Theol.
Dictionary, we learn that Devil Worship prevails in many parts of the
East until now, and that the image or symbo' of his majesty is the
dragon serpent and python, and that this custom is intimately con¬
nected with the customs in Egypt and elsewhere.
So it seems that he who tempted our first parents by falsehood and
adroitness, and who assaulted Jesus himself with the same form of
temptation, has really succeeded in securing the honor (?) of venera¬
tion by many of the fallen and degraded sons of men. Let ub learn
from these things to be watchful of his wiles; for as a lion in wait for a
victim, he ever seeks to destroy the souls of men.
292
APPENDIX.
NOTE E—Page 78.
It is worthy of note that Eve, in repeating to the serpent the command of
God, used the words we have emphacized in the text, neither shall ye
touch it.
These words are not in the original command given to Adam in Chapter ii.
and have led to the idea that we have only an abbreviated form of the
first instruction given to him. However this may be, her explicit rehearsa 1
of the order not to eat or touch, shows that her husband had carefully rela¬
ted to her the instruction he had received. For it is to be remembered that
she was not as yet his companion when the order was given.
NOTE F—Page 85. Death. See following pages 87, 88.
NOTE F—On the Sonship of Christ.
After examination of this subject by various authorities, we conclude it is
too recondite for a purely elementary work. We refer the student to Wat¬
son, Wesley, Hodge, Shedd and Dr. A. Clarke's note on St. Luke i :35.
NOTEG—On "Expiation," and "Propitiation".
These two words are much used, both in scripture, and theological writ -
ings. Expiation refers to the satisfaction which the death of Christ
made to the claims of the Divine law While propitiation refers to that
which is the result of expiation; that is to say, appeasement, reconciliation ;
appeasement of the Divine displeasure, and appeasement of human enmity
to to the law and will of God. Paul tells us that we are reconciled to God
"by the death of his son."
o o' o o o
o o o o o
NOTE H -On Sacrifice.
1. Opinions.widely differ as to the primitive origin of sacrifice Not
however, as to the fact that people of all nations have practiced the
rite from very early times, but as to what gave rise to it; some con¬
tending that the cause is found in human nature. They believe that
the idea of God is inborn and that the feeling of worship springs out
of this innate consciousness From this view, the conclusion is, that
the significance of all su^h observances in primitive times was no
more than the expression of gratitude; that is, thanksgiving in ac¬
knowledgment of the bounty and goodness of God.
2. Dr. Wm. Smith, in his Dictionary of tin Bible, page 594, takes
substantially this view, and seems to lean toward those who think the
rite was of human, rather than of Divine appointment. He says that
the total silence of Holy Scripture on the subject lends a presumption
at least, against the idea of Divine appointment
3. On the other hand Richard Watson, who was as learned and de¬
vout as any man in modern church history, takes the ground that
-jthesa rites ^ere Pivinely appointed from the very beeinniner. {soa
DIGEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 293
Watson's Dictionary p. 834.) With this view, a vast majority of aH the
authorities, in our reach, concur.
i We do not see how aay other belief can be entertained in view of
tae fa^ts of the case acknowledged by all.
The recorded fa^tsai-e these :-d) Nearly all nations of the earth pra^
or have at some time practiced, the rite of sacrifice. (2) All men
are conscious of si a aai guilt. The sense of sm is certainly much
stronger and more universal than that of gratitude. (3) We knov
that as early as the time of Job (See Jobxlii: 8 ) Sacrifices were offered
in t'lP sensa of propitiation (atonement) for sin; and that too, by tt o
express command of God, and it was accepted. See also Micah vi : 7.
' Sha'l I give my first-born for mj tbansgbession, the fruit of my body
for 1 TF. sin of my soul ?"
We think these testimonies sufficiently sustain the view we have
taker in the text of the chapter on the atonement. Here we must
leave he subject with our reader.
rTHE END.]