THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
T. FANNING AND W. LIPSCOMB, EDITORS.
VOL. I
NASHVILLE, AUGUST, 1855.
NO. 2.
THE CHURCH IN NASHVILLE
From various sources, we have learned that many of our readers and fellow-citizens anticipate a review of the new theology in the Nashville congregation; but however anxious our friends or enemies may feel upon this, to us, extremely unpleasant subject, we are not sure that the cause of Christ or good policy, at present, demands it at our hands.
A most satisfactory exposure of the whole matter was published last year, by a committee of the Church, and such as wish to read it, can be supplied by application to Cameron & Fall, Nashville, Tenn.
The apostle said: “All things that are lawful are not always ‘expedient,’ or calculated to ‘edify;’ and there are controversies which silence alone can terminate. The present is one of that character, and we are fully satisfied that the opposition has given life and energy to the new philosophy in Nashville. Every dissent has been adroitly construed into the vilest persecution. For the sake of our brethren, however, at a distance, we will respectfully state the matter in dispute, and intimate something of the progress of the controversy.
There is a party in the Church, the members of which maintain that the Bible is merely “a collection of spiritual communications,” that “the book is not an infallible revelation from God;” “The book,” say they, “has fulfilled its end, and man still stands on; miracles they regard as ‘developments of natural power.’ The pastor himself speaks freely of ‘the cruel laws of Moses,’ ‘the brutal curses of David,’ charges Paul of being under ‘the errors of a false philosophy of the creation,’ and says, ‘Did I believe that it (death) conducted to a gloomy under-world, I, too, with Paul, would expect a Deliverer that would carry that world captive.’ Thus the Bible is renounced, and even the need of a Redeemer is denied.
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These are the things taught now, in connection with Universalism and Spiritualism, openly and avowed, which no Christian people on earth have recognized, in a house erected a few years ago for the teaching of the Christian religion and the worship of God, through Christ.
We are not prepared to say how many of the members have adopted the new system, and the time has not fully arrived for drawing the lines. To be sure, many of the members have expressed their dissent, but no attempt has been made to reorganize the Church, although some of the members have thought proper to attend worship at other places. As elders and Christians, we express our earnest desire for all the members to choose whom they will serve. If the Scriptures are the creed of Christians, it is their privilege to maintain their authority; but if the new revelations, which have been published by some of the Nashville Church, are thought by the congregation to be true, it is the right of the members to adopt them. The revelations differ so widely that no one can adopt both.
So soon, however, as the excited feelings which have been encouraged shall become sufficiently calm for the brethren to decide the great question of allegiance to Christ alone, or to the new plans, all other controversies will become of minor importance.
We think we have understood the difficulties from the beginning, and we wish to assure our brethren abroad, that we believe a little time, godly patience, and Christian prudence, will put matters into a better shape in Nashville.
So much we have thought proper to say, by way of apology for not taking hold of the new philosophy in a different style, and we trust that it will not be necessary to give this subject a prominent place in our pages.
To be sure, it is our intention to discuss, as thoroughly as we may be able, every phase of the speculations of the times, so soon as we can do so without exciting improper feelings. We hope our brethren who know not so well as ourselves, our sad conflicts, will be patient with us. They may rest assured that there are many in Nashville who will never abandon the truth, and all of us are laboring to repair the breach in our Zion.
We most earnestly desire the prayers of the people of God.
T. P.
Progressiveness in our religious duties so happily employs our time, that we possess no inclination to run into excesses. Beware of sloth.
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A TOUR THROUGH GEORGIA, ALABAMA, AND MISSISSIPPI
(Continued from page 12.)
On Friday morning, May the 18th, 1855, at 4 o’clock, we left Atlanta—Georgia’s metropolitan—on the cars for Montgomery, the Capitol of Alabama, some 180 miles distant, and arrived safely at 3:30 P. M. This is a beautiful little city, and judging from the impressions made in the short time we spent, we should think the citizens are remarkably courteous. The respective denominations have meeting houses, and the different religious phases of society are carefully preserved. There are a few disciples in the city and vicinity, but we heard of no place of worship, not even a “colored house” or private dwelling, for the meeting of the saints.
At 7 P. M., the same day, we took the stage for Selma, distant 52 miles, and after a rather disagreeable travel through the night, we reached our point of destination on the morning of the 19th for breakfast. We were met at the hotel by Brother David Hamilton, and by his kind invitation we spent the time with him during our sojourn in Selma. Brother Hamilton was, a few years ago, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, but by investigation of the subject, he was enabled to declare himself convinced that it is better to be governed by the Bible alone than any other system. The result was a confession of the authority of Jesus Christ, and a burial in the Alabama creek by our mutual brother, the late Alexander Graham, of Marion. Since that date, Brother Hamilton has been laboring most energetically for the establishment of a congregation in the town, and the erection of a meeting house, and by great personal exertion with the most liberal use of his own purse, he has succeeded in both. The house of worship has just received the painter’s brush, and it was mainly for the purpose of being with the brethren in the opening of their very handsome and comfortable edifice, that we made the trip South at the time we did.
May the 20th, at half past 10 A. M., the doors were opened, and in a few minutes the house was crowded to its utmost capacity with intelligent citizens. It has seldom fallen to our lot to meet a congregation exhibiting more indications of high mental culture and refinement. We delivered a discourse at 11 A. M., and another at 7 P. M., to a respectful and deeply interested audience as we expect to meet again soon. We endeavored to present with as much perspicuity as possible the great and leading features of the Christian religion, and with the single exception, we heard of no dissatisfaction. Incidentally, however, we…
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Referred in the discourse of the afternoon to the Romish dogma of “baptismal regeneration” to cleanse the souls of infants from the supposed damnable “guilt of original sin,” and fit them for heaven, when a person who we heard was a Puseyite, gave tokens of marked indignation. Such a scene we had not witnessed for many a year, but it was the legitimate result of that arrogant and impious system emanating from the seven Italian hills, which drives its blinded and prejudiced devotees to the greatest extremities. In no country where Rome has had the power, has she permitted the people to doubt the divinity of her speculations. Though generally, the citizens paid most earnest attention, and we incline to the belief that the impression was favorable. We feel much interest for the little band of disciples at Selma, and we feel satisfied, if the members will show themselves proof against Satan’s insinuations that they cannot perform the service of God for themselves, they must prosper.
Monday morning, May 21, after breakfasting with sister E. M. Lavender, wife of the late lamented Dr. Lavender, we bade adieu to our friends in Selma, and in company with Col. Russel, a Presbyterian elder, who kindly offered us a passage in his buggy, we set out for Marion, a distance of 28 miles, and arrived in the afternoon of the same day. Although our appointment for preaching was not till the 22nd, from the anxiety of the brethren to hear preaching, we addressed the citizens at 8 P.M., on “the power of revelation.” We delivered two discourses on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday, to very deeply interested audiences. For no people can we feel greater concern than for the disciples in Marion. God, in His providence, had used us as an instrument in assisting to build up the Church at that place, and we did once consider it in advance of any congregation in the South. Though, at present, the brethren are “in deep mourning” from which they cannot soon recover. Alexander Graham, the first teacher in the place, the builder of the meeting house, and for many years the mainstay of the cause in Marion, and by far the most efficient man in the South, is no more. His equal the brethren may not soon find. This is truly a sad affliction; but another of more recent date is felt with much deeper anguish. Last year the disciples incautiously “gave out” their service to a “hireling,” who cared not for the sheep, because he was a hireling, and when he saw the wolf coming he fled, and the wolf caught some, and scattered others. Without a figure, the brethren with much liberality, and no doubt with the sincere hope of doing good, engaged the services of a preacher at $1500 for the year 1854. His task was to satisfy the…
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Members that the labor of reading and thinking belonged to the “pastor,” and that it was highly unbecoming in any, save a minister (clergyman), to preside at the Lord’s table, or to conduct any part of the worship. Moreover, it had been his labor for years to convince the brethren wherever he traveled, that it is Christian charity for every one to believe and act in obedience to the dictates of his own selfish desires, called conscience; and, indeed, he boasted of the same “liberal views of religion,” claimed by latitudinarians, transcendentalists, universalists, and infidels generally.
In teaching such things for a whole year, by way of good personal appearance, fair powers of declamation, and sympathies educated and highly trained for such insidious work, great power was given to the enemy: The results, though bad, might have been worse. The apostate preacher, towards the close of the year, gave indubitable evidence to the brethren of fatal moral bankruptcy, and as a stroke of his accustomed policy, took shelter in a Roman portico.
If the brethren at Marion should prefer serving God for themselves, and yet aid as their ability may allow, in “sounding out” the gospel, the Lord will bless and prosper them. They have our prayers and sympathies.
From Marion we journeyed to Mt. Hebron, in Green co., Ala., a distance of some 50 miles, and spent two very pleasant days with the disciples. At this point our esteemed brother, P. H. Lawson, who has been a constant and faithful laborer for years, met us, and accompanied us to Clinton. From Clinton, we traveled to Columbus, Miss., 81 miles distant, and took quarters with Brother D. Williams.
We spent Lord’s Day, May the 27th, and Monday the 28th, in Columbus, and delivered five discourses to very large and attentive audiences. We had the honor of planting the Church in this city in 1843, with some 115 or 20 members, and notwithstanding their many trials, from that point the gospel has spread in various directions. The brethren seemed much refreshed in spirit, and we rejoiced to learn that they do not fail to meet and observe the ordinances of the Lord’s house.
Brother Dr. W. H. Hooker met us at Columbus, and was kind enough to convey us to Palo Alto, in Chickasaw county, on Tuesday the 29th, and to Aberdeen, in Monroe county, on Wednesday, May the 30th. We were happy to learn that Brother Hooker had determined to devote his energies to the gospel, and without the least disposition to flatter, we feel that it is proper to say to Brother Hooker, it is in his power to accomplish much good.
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We preached once at Barton and Palo Alto, and twice in Aberdeen. Columbus and Aberdeen are amongst the most flourishing and agreeable places in the interior of Mississippi. At Barton, we were kindly entertained in the hospitable family of Brother Collins; at Palo Alto, we spent the time with our old friends Brother Dr. D. Hill and Lady, and also paid a short visit to Brother Dr. Dean; and at Aberdeen, we shared the bounties of Brother Bumpass.
Thursday, May the 31st, at 11 P.M., we left for Moulton, Ala. Passed Russellville, Tuscumbia and Courtland, and reached our place of destination on Saturday evening, June 2nd. Preached at night, three times on Lord’s Day the 3rd, and once on Monday the 4th, and left with Brother J. T. McDaniel at 1 o’clock the same day for Decatur, in Morgan county. We reached the town as the sun went down, and hearing there was a “revival meeting” in progress, not having witnessed the like in many years, we concluded to attend.
And whilst we feel no disposition to make a light or unkind remark, we think it will be instructive to the reader to very briefly notice what we witnessed. On entering the meeting house, we found perhaps some 150 respectable looking persons assembled, all of whom were strangers to us, and we soon learned there were three preachers engaged in the work. The young man who rose to preach took the text, “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” The passage, to say the least of it, had no application to that audience. The apostle was speaking of “a judgment” about “to begin at the house of God”—Jerusalem—and added, “if it begins at us;”—the obedient John—”what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” Then he suggests the difficulty of the escape of the obedient at the destruction of the temple.
But while the preacher was attempting to excite the congregation by urging that the righteous would “scarcely be saved,” the declamation of Peter that “an entrance shall be ministered abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” continued to press upon my heart. It had been many years since we had witnessed such vehemence of manner, and yet it was a little singular to behold the composed manner in which most of the old brethren slept under the monotony and thundering of the preacher’s voice. A few, however, seemed deeply affected, and at the call for mourners, three or four ladies, in great sincerity, no doubt, and anguish of soul, presented themselves as seekers of religion.
We remained to hear the prayers of two of the preachers, and the main point in each was a loud appeal to the Lord to come that night—immedi…
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ately—and pardon the penitents. But according to their own admissions, the Lord did not hear their prayers, and with all the singing, prayers and exertions, the mourners left uncomfortable. We call attention to the subject to ask these good brethren, and all of like practice, why did not God answer the prayers? Was ever a prayer offered to Heaven, not answered at the moment? Did mortal man ever approach the Lord, “believing that he is, and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him,” who was disappointed? Were not all the three thousand pardoned at Jerusalem upon the first call to save themselves? Were not the Samaritans, men and women, forgiven the moment they submitted to the gospel? (Acts 8, 12.) And are not all penitent believers pardoned in “obeying from the heart the form of doctrine” given for admission into the fold of Christ? When the gospel promises are sure, why will men who seem to fear God, adopt a system which must ever leave the subject of remission in doubt? The plain truth is, our friends, who adopt this practice rely not on the promises connected with the faith and obedience of the gospel, but upon some supposed “evidence of feeling,” for pardon. This “feeling evidence” must be a revelation immediately from God, or it is something beyond the feelings that naturally arise from a bewildered mind. It is both a pity, and crying shame, that the teachers of this age will not direct inquirers in the words of the Holy Spirit.
We left Decatur on the morning of the 5th, and at daylight on the morning of the 11th we reached Bridgeport, on the Tennessee river, at which place we took the cars for Nashville, and reached home on Wednesday night at 11 o’clock, after an absence of 24 days, having traveled over a thousand miles and delivered 37 discourses. We were thankful to a kind Father to find all our household in good health.
FIRST PRINCIPLES
NUMBER II
(Continued from page 15.)
In our former number, we intimated, therefore, to discuss “the first principles” of the Christian religion profitably. We should contemplate man in all his relations to nature and to God. Although this is a vast field for examination, when properly surveyed we can but be well prepared to appreciate the institutions revealed in the Bible. Philosophers, metaphysicians, speculators, moralists, and even grave religionists, agree that man is a trinity, viz: an animal, intellectual, and…
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Moral Being
We feel that we shall be in honorable company in walking in their illustrious footsteps, although we may differ widely in some of our conclusions. The attempt to review the different theories under any one of these heads would be quite unsuitable for a work of the size of the Advocate. Our purpose must be, therefore, to look at the results, and not stop to examine the processes by which the various authors have arrived at their conclusions.
1. Man in His Natural State
Man, in his natural, or animal state, is “without hope and without God in the world.” Yet, with the lower animals, he possesses fleshly feelings, or desires, denominated the “animal instinct.” We think it altogether proper to ascertain something of the nature and limits of the instincts of the lower animals, and, if possible, learn whether our instincts are superior or inferior.
Instinct is defined as “A certain power by which, independent of all instruction or experience, animals are unerringly directed to do, spontaneously, whatever is necessary for the preservation of the individual or the continuation of the kind.” This power enables animals to seek food, but not to produce it from the earth. They merely consume whatever is placed in their way; and, in some instances, their instincts protect them against poisonous substances.
Nature guides some animals to seek protection from the inclemencies of the weather, and others to construct mansions adapted to their wants. Thus, the bee makes its house with greater mathematical accuracy than the most cunning artificer of earth, and the bird builds her nest with an unacquired skill. But all instinctive movements are infallibly correct. The power is perfect at first. Hence, there can be no education or progress in any instinctive force. The first “wasp-nest,” or bee-hive, was as perfect as the last; and every worm, insect, and animal, from the least to the greatest, was as precise in its first natural movements as the last; but nature is bounded, and cannot permit her creatures to pass their own natural sphere.
Man’s Instincts
Man, too, possesses instincts or feelings which lead him, with other animals, to seek food, but not to produce it; and, like them, to love his kind; but beyond these offices of instinct, we can call to mind no natural powers sufficient to direct our steps.
It is maintained by transcendental philosophers, or such as believe in the ability of human nature as a physical, intellectual, and moral guide, without revelation or supernatural aid, that as a man possesses instincts to furnish his temporal wants, it is but reasonable to conclude he has also spiritual instincts for his moral light and guidance. This statement constitutes the pith and marrow of most of the religious…
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Controversies of this age, and we will, therefore, endeavor to examine it with some degree of clearness, but yet with brevity.
We ask, in the first place, if human beings do really possess powers for supplying their temporal wants? In civilized life, it is believed that comfortable clothing and mansions for protection are indispensable; but does nature guide in regard to these?
No barbarous people have ever, per se, made the least advancement in either their physical, intellectual, or spiritual condition; and if we are correct, we argue that there are no elements in human nature competent, muddled, to produce improvements. (We have seen, it is true, educated dogs, horses, &c., but the lower animals enjoy no principles of self-education.) All of their improvement is by superiors. Savage tribes, also, which have been improved, have been elevated from sources without, and never from inherent power. The civilized went amongst them, and after years of toil and self-sacrifice, the iron hands began to yield; and the history of missionary operations fully confirms our conclusions.
But if man exhibit a lack of internal natural force to elevate him physically, we should scarcely anticipate native ability to improve, without assistance, as to his moral and intellectual nature. Although we often hear of “self-educated men,” of men who, from the native force of their own inward being, have arisen to eminence, we doubt if there is any such a thing as self-education.
Whilst we admit as great differences by nature in human beings as others, we have yet to be satisfied that any one left to himself from infancy, could possibly rise above animal or natural men, in the words of inspiration. Education, to be sure, means to “bring out,” but this is accomplished by external influences.
If indeed, education and intellectual and moral improvement are the natural outgrowth of humanity, why so much to do in regard to schools and systems of improvement? Upon the hypothesis, they are not only useless, but most injurious.
We therefore conclude that we possess no native instinct to supply either our temporal, intellectual, or spiritual wants; and we might add, with much propriety, that the acquisition of every temporal blessing, above the lowest brute desire, and of all intellectual and spiritual advances, is adverse to every natural instinct. Eating bread by the “sweat of the face” is unnatural, and so adverse to all the feelings of humanity, that it requires a strong external force to enable us so far to deny ourselves, or renounce our own impulses, to gain an honest support.
Nature says, “Take what you can find, and give not an equivalent.”
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“lent;” and hence, while men are led by their instinct, they are, and will ever be, doomed to thefts and other heinous infringements upon law and the good order of society.
But an inspired writer has forever settled this question. Paul says, “The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other; so that you cannot do the things you would.”—(Gal. v. 17.)
2.
We may be told, by both metaphysicians and religionists, that CONSCIENCE is a natural and sufficient guide to man, so far as right and wrong are concerned. Although thousands and tens of thousands of volumes have been written upon this extravagantly absurd theory, when closely examined, it amounts to nothing more than the doctrine of guidance by the animal instincts, which we have already noticed. If the advocates of the speculation mean to say that man possesses a faculty of direct knowing, without study or external influence, then, all that has been done in the world in regard to education, is a most ridiculous farce; and worse still—it not only precludes the necessity of revelation for the instruction and guidance of our race, but, in the language of the infidel times, says, “The Bible has had its day,” restraints are thrown off, and the era of that freedom is claiming, when all can worship as they feel, in obedience to the dictates of their own conscience, or, in the language of Theodore Parker, in obedience “to conscience—God with us.”
This system of things was, not a century ago, attempted in infidel and bloody France; and should the American people adopt such a rule, if we may so honor the negation of all rule, anarchy must prevail, and restraints must yield, and savage and brute force must triumph most ingloriously.
It requires no philosophic eye to see that such must be the tendency of most of our speculative, political, metaphysical, and religious systems.
But it may be proper to say that every one’s conscience is the result of his education; but it never was intended as a guide or teacher. All men are led by their thoughts, and conscience “beareth witness” to the truth of what they think, whether true or false.—(Rom. ii. 15.)
But we intend not to show a discussion of these assumptions at present, as a plain statement of their import and tendencies.
3.
We are told that man is led by his “yea” and “nay,” and needs nothing higher. Whilst we flatter ourselves that no one more highly appreciates not only pure reason, but also all correct reasoning, we have been so thoroughly sickened by the application within a few years past, that we sometimes really fear a disposition to subject to the word.
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This feeling in our heart, however, we apprehend, has been produced by its use with unthinking men, whose highest ambition is to cater to ignorant prejudice for filthy lucre’s sake, whose fleshly and unright eous lives should be real and known of all men, and who are utterly incapable of defining the word, but who at the same time exhibit much composure in discoursing upon something they can reason. This, to the people generally, is a high-sounding word, without meaning. In the language of Sir William Hamilton, it is among the “vague and vacillating words” of the times.
Still, there is a philosophic use of the word to which it will become us to pay our respects. We are aware that most metaphysicians employ the word reason to denote “the divinity within,” “the heavenly spark,” the power of direct perception, or of knowing things visible and invisible without effort or learning. The Scottish metaphysician, Reid, used the word reason to denote the mental powers, or that “common sense” by which we know without learning. But if we possess such power we need nothing more, and both learning and revelation are useless.
Wishing, however, to be brief in the statement of all these vexed questions, we remark that we allow no meaning of reason which will involve the idea that man possesses any natural capacity, without the aid of superadded light, to work out any part of the problem of the origin of the race, or its destiny. Still, we feel constrained, by a high sense of duty to our readers, to give, if possible, a definition of reason which will stand the test of criticism.
Aristotle says, “Reason is not the faculty of principles, that faculty being intelligence proper.” It is manifest that this distinguished Greek regarded not reason as equivalent to independent or spontaneous knowledge, and that nothing short of pure divinity, which attaches not to man, can amount to “infallible intuition.”
The celebrated Bockle’s gives the same definition in much more perspicuous language. He states that “Reason, or discursive intellect, belongs to man, whilst intelligence, or intuitive intellect, is the exclusive attribute of divinity.”
It will be noted that the author maintains that “discursive intellect,” or the power of passing from premises to conclusions, is reason, which neither belongs to the brute creation nor God, but to man only. Jehovah alone possesses intuition, or the power of “direct knowing”—knowing without effort; but whatever man has, in the language of the Bible, he “receives;” still he boasts as if he did not receive it.
The conclusion of the whole matter, then, is that while man is the only being in the universe possessed of reason, his animal instincts are…
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few and imperfect; and as to direct apperception of the invisible, he has not the shadow of a claim. God sees the end from the beginning, looks through his vast universe without an effort; but man, who, for four thousand years, “felt after God,” is yet compelled to look to the Father, through his word and appointments.
So much we have deemed it most important to present to our readers in reference to our frail brotherhood of earth. In conclusion, it might be well to repeat, that our animal instincts point alone to the gratification of our fleshly desires, but they create nothing; conscience is but the result of our training, and whilst reason is peculiarly ours, it enables us only to examine the supernatural acts offered for our light and guidance through this wilderness of sorrow and affliction.
T. F.
THE PRICE OF KNOWLEDGE
The wise man said, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” The same writer also declared that “Wisdom is the principal thing;” therefore, said he, “get wisdom; and in all thy getting, get understanding.” Theoretically, all men regard knowledge as the greatest wealth of earth; but practically, few rise above the gratifications of sense.
Why these extremes? Why is it that all the aged, and most of our youth, can be thoroughly satisfied as to the intrinsic value of knowledge, yet but one in a score, with the most favorable opportunities, become truly learned and wise? We apprehend the error lies in some fatal mistake as to the price of knowledge.
Parents in affluence generally boast that they possess an abundance to give their children the best education the country affords, and yet, strange to record, not one son of wealth in a thousand becomes a distinguished man; and very few remain respectable to middle age. Ten youths from the industrial pursuits of life become healthy, wealthy, and wise, to one brought up in indolent ease.
All men distinguished in the professions of law, medicine, or theology, are laborious students, and most of them first graduated in the school of handicraft industry. Master scholars are always men of intense labor, extreme self-denial, and untiring endurance, physical and mental. Jehovah said to man, “Thou shalt eat bread by the sweat of thy face;” and from the moment the decree went forth from Eden, all physical improvement and enjoyment have depended upon labor—honest industry; and yet, mental culture is quite as important to high intellectual culture. The records of the world fail to point us to a single example of…
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An eminent scholar, distinguished professional gentleman, or renowned statesman, who did not pay an equivalent for his instruction in honest labor, the only price of knowledge. It is vain for parents or teachers to think of success in the education of our youth, unless the young mind can first be satisfied that the stores of knowledge have but “one price.”
No “Jewing” is admissible; there is no short and easy road of learning, and there can be no modification of terms. The first step is a determined resolution to advance, and then, persevering and unyielding effort will overcome mountains, till the reward is glorious.
But the writer feels deepest concern in the department of morals. He most devoutly wishes to serve his generation in stimulating his contemporaries to exertion in spiritual acquisitions. The publishing of papers and books, and delivering lectures, exhortations, and sermons, can be of no avail to a people not inclined to read, study, toil, and struggle for light divine.
Descartes, the philosophical dreamer, maintained that man becomes not wise till he shuts out all external influences; and modern anti-Christian religionists, with the delusive supposition that he is naturally inclined to pious emotions, support the dogma that the highest spiritual attainments are reached in passivity. That whenever the soul can entirely free itself from all that is without, whether it be the Gospel, the Church, or the world, its growth in spiritual light and vigor is most rapid. And how contradictory to every truth in human nature and the teachings of the good Spirit of God! All men left to themselves are “of the earth, and earthy;” and hence the Savior exhorts, “Renounce yourselves and take up the cross.”
Solomon, after a long and profitless struggle in fleshly gratification, exhorted, “Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and bow not unto thine own understanding.”
The plain and undisguised truth is, that religion, while it is contrary to human nature, and vastly superior to it, yet is well calculated to improve, honor, and exalt it. But all upon the single condition of effort on our part. An idleness that gives to others the labor of thinking for us on religious subjects, is the depraving and blighting sin of the age.
The Roman hierarchy stands forth as a monumental and deplorable example of vassalage, ignorance, depravity, and the deepest degradation, arising solely from a want of that religious knowledge which is in the power of all, if they did but know it, and possessed the energy to pay the requisite price. Any practice or system adopted in the churches, which transfers the habit of reading and investigating…
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the grave subjects treated in the Divine Orders, from the people to a class of men styled preachers, must, sooner or later, bring upon the members a spiritual dearth, which can but terminate in moral death. We can have no hope of profiting saint or sinner, but by aiding in the examination of matters pertaining to the spiritual interest of our times. Most persons in this country might soon not only learn the truth as set forth in Christ Jesus our Lord, but make most satisfactory attainments in spiritual knowledge, if they could only be persuaded to pay the price. Friends, brethren, countrymen, will you not, for the sake of “all that is in this life,” and immortality in the next, study God’s word and diligently study heaven’s philosophy, as spread over its spiritual pages?
T. F.
THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL
In the first number of the “Gospel Advocate,” we endeavored to present Christ as the author of salvation to the world. We attempted to show that the gospel was the declaration and attestation of his divine mission, and of the condition upon which he has offered pardon and justification to lost, wretched and ruined humanity. It is no beautiful theory of incomprehensible distinctions and invisible truth, but the glorious revelation to the world of God’s rich and merciful philanthropy, manifested, sealed, and made forever sure, in heaven and on earth, by the life, the death, the resurrection and ascension of his well beloved Son.
Such heavenly facts the gospel presents for man’s acceptance, upon the highest authority ever given in this universe. To men and women desiring to learn the way of salvation, the first great duty is to know these facts—become acquainted with this mighty Savior—to learn his character—the purpose of his mission to earth—in a word, to learn all the events of his momentous birth, his benevolent life, his cruel death, his triumphant conquest over the power of death and the grave, and his glorious ascension and coronation as Sovereign and Lord of the universe.
Without a clear understanding of these facts, and their purpose and meaning to the world, no attempt at religious life can avail in the least towards acceptance with God.
Nor is man at all excusable at this day for ignorance of these great and important matters. Possessing all the revelations which God has ever made to the world, he cannot be held guiltless in the sight of Heaven if he neglects to become acquainted with the will of God to man. Christ appointed one single means for spreading a knowledge of his mission over the earth, “Go teach all nations;” “Go…
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
Preaching the Gospel
To preach the gospel to every creature,” are his last injunctions to his disciples. To the man of this day the same commands extend, and a knowledge of the same facts is in the power of all. The glorious facts of the religion of Christ are so clear that none can be ignorant of them, with any just pretext in the sight of God. Having known Christ, man’s duty is to believe on him as he was manifested to the world.
Faith in him as the author of salvation—the great and only Name “given among men whereby we must be saved,” is the first step which any man or woman can take in Christian life. It is the first move which can be made toward that world of joy and peace and life eternal. To believe on the Lord Jesus as the Son of God—the Saviour and Lawgiver of the universe—stands before every other act on man’s part in the appointment of God.
Repentance and prayer and baptism have their appropriate place in the economy of God, but none of them occupy the first place. Faith alone precedes all others. No other act can be acceptable without it. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Philip to the Ethiopian nobleman demanding of him the ordinance of baptism, puts to him the condition, “If thou believest with all thy heart thou mayest.” His noble answer was, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
To the terrified and trembling jailor, who cried out to Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” their answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” But no man was required to believe at that day, nor is he at this, except upon testimony. No man can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, except upon the testimony given of Him. Philip did not ask for faith before he had given instruction. His plan was to present that ignorant, though doubtless God-fearing nobleman, the plan of salvation offered through the name of Christ. “He preached unto him Jesus,” and upon evidence given he demanded of him faith.
Paul and Silas did not stop with the simple command to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” but as men who understood their business as messengers of the gospel, “they spake unto him the word of the Lord.”
Again, we are taught that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Corinthians hearing, believed. There is, then, no mysticism, doubt or uncertainty in the plan which Heaven has appointed for the production of faith in the heart of man. It is simple, plain, direct, and perfectly adapted to man.
The word of the Lord—the gospel of God’s rich and abundant grace, was proclaimed to men as deep in ignorance, vice and crime, as this earth ever knew, but upon the testimony given they were convinced of their sinfulness, and made to feel the power of the great fact that…
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
Jesus was the Christ, and with trembling and fear to cry out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” No human eloquence ever convinced men of their deep and deplorable degradation with a power half equal to the simple and earnest language of the Apostle, in presenting the gospel of the Son of God.
God, as the author, not of confusion, but of order, appointed one simple means of faith. There was only one power in the days of the Apostles. They presented the facts and the testimony. If men received them, they were made to rejoice in the great deliverance. If they rejected them, the consequences were presented, but no other means was ever employed to bring men to Christ. It was this power used by Peter on the day of Pentecost which made the scoffing multitude bow in meek submission to the “same Jesus whom they had crucified,” and acknowledge him as “both Lord and Christ.” Philip went to Samaria and “preached Christ unto them, and the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake.” Peter at the house of Cornelius narrates in the plainest language the facts relative to Jesus of Nazareth, and closes by stating that “through his name whosoever believeth on him shall have remission of sins.”
In every example recorded in the Scriptures, this simple plan of preaching Christ to the people was strictly followed. So it must be at this day—the preaching of the gospel is Heaven’s only means for bringing men to Christ. If the announcement of the glorious and merciful facts of the gospel does not conquer men’s hearts and subdue them to love and gentleness and good works, then no power on earth or in heaven can be used by God’s authority. At that day this was the only means which was used with such mighty effects, and to-day its power and virtue are still the same as in the mouths of Peter or Paul.
If the gospel does not make men and women believe and obey its Heavenly teachings, and fully furnish them with all things which pertain unto life and godliness, then is the whole of God’s plan a sheer failure. If the gospel, the only appointment of Heaven for the conversion of the world, fails to turn the hearts of the people to the true and living God—if it fails to produce faith in men’s hearts—fails to make them just, holy, pure, and upright in thought, feeling, and action—if it fails to give consolation in distress and suffering, and to apply the balm of healing to the wounded heart—if it fails to light with the bright radiance of immortal hope the dark hour of death—then truly is the gospel an empty sound—a vain delusion, and a “cunningly devised fable.”
If men must look to other means for power to turn them from sin—
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They need all the modern human inventions devised by the cunning craftiness of men who have no faith in the truth of the gospel to make them do right; then it would be far better to have no revelation of God’s will to man.
But if there is truth in this universe, the gospel—the preaching of Christ—is the means of Heaven, and the only means, in the plan of redemption, to make men trust Christ as Saviour and Redeemer. Men who look for faith through any other means are as deeply and grossly deluded as any disciple of Jo Smith, or any listener to raps and knocks of tables.
There is a majesty and power in the simple words of the gospel, which must be received and acknowledged, and which alone can turn man’s heart to the love of God. The supreme demand of this age is faith in the Son of God.
Hid· eons and stultifying infidelity invades the field of God, for want of faith. Men lose all anchorage in the wild sea of human mysticism, in want of the authoritative principle of Christian faith. The world slumbers on in sin and forgetfulness, because the followers of Christ have not faith in His divine and glorious mission.
Christians turn to the weak and beggarly elements of the world—to every changing whim and phase of human speculation, for the simple reason that they have lost confidence in the words and promises of a crucified, risen and ascended Lord.
The cause of our Master languishes, and sickens even unto death, and sinful men rush on, unwarned, to destruction, for the simple and only reason that we, as Christians—as professed soldiers of a “captain made perfect through suffering”—have not the faith to put our hands heartily and earnestly to the work of the Lord.
W. L.
CHRISTIANITY NOT HUMAN
That the religion of God is as far superior to all human philosophies and human religions as the heavens are higher than the earth, no believer in divine revelation can doubt. Christianity, the religion which God has made known to the world, is not a bare theory or superstition, but a system of revealed and authoritative truth—so simple and so practical that all, even the untutored peasant or degraded slave, can receive and enjoy it as the power of God unto salvation.
After showing the utter futility and weakness of the wisdom and philosophy of the world, the apostle Paul adds: “Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, which come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.”
The religion of Christ is a development of the hidden purpose of God into definite, positive, and authoritative truth.
Eye
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had not seen, ear had not heard, neither had entered into the heart, the things which God had prepared for them that love him; but by the foolishness of preaching, it pleased God to reveal and unfold his great purpose by which “Christ Jesus is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
This glorious purpose of Heaven is no deduction of human reason—no development of “human progress.” Human philosophy never dreamed of its heavenly facts. They need no attestation and support from man’s philosophy. They infinitely transcend all his science and logic. As well might he attempt to prove the existence of the sun in the material heaven by his reasoning, as to establish the facts of the religion of Christ by deductions and tests of human speculation. They proceed from Infinite Wisdom, and as attested by Him they must be received, on the simple ground of His indisputable authority. Man cannot fathom the depths of infinite wisdom.
“Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Has poor, weak man the right to sit in judgment upon the things of God? Can human frailty measure divine perfection? Has it a right to arraign before the tribunal of human reason the wisdom of a plan of heaven for the redemption of man, emanating from the mind of Jehovah?
The Christian religion is a religion for life and for death, for time and for eternity; true, regardless of human reception or rejection, resting for support upon the authority of God, its author, and declining all help from human counsels or plans. So that “our faith may stand not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.” With such a foundation, we are secure for the present, and shall rise happy and triumphant “amid the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds.”
W. L.
PARTYISM VERSUS CHRISTIANITY
Wishing the aid of our editorial brethren, and feeling exceedingly anxious that our readers may have the benefit of the best thoughts of our best writers, we wish, from month to month, to extract such articles from contemporary journals as we may deem valuable. If it should not be thought to savor too strongly of arrogance, we would be pleased to publish monthly a synopsis of the papers issued by the brethren. In our first number, we gave a capital little article from the pen of our brother, Dr. S. E. Shepard, editor of the Reviser, N. Y.
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City, on Union.
We now give a good article from “The Christian Banner,” by the editor, Brother D. Oliphant, of Cobourg, Canada West, under the above caption.
T. F.
“The Christian—the follower of Jesus—is a jewel of goodness in this evil world. He looks abroad over the world’s family in a degree as the Savior does, and is ready to act for the welfare of all according to the noble and wide-stretching grace of his Lord. Not so with the partizan. He puts his own small measure on every man and every class of men, and divides off society into contracted scraps and parcels—makes a little nest and huddles himself and partizan friends in it, working, and only working, for my views, my faith, my order of people, my policy, my standard. His grace is the grace of a miser, that looks squint-eyed upon self. Partyism is indeed only enlarged self.
Trace the goings and doings of the Christian, and mark the ways of the partizan, and we need no magnifying glass to enable us to decide that they do not belong to the same family; we require no second sight to perceive that the one is of heaven, heavenly, and that the other is of earth, earthly. Quite true, there is a tincture of the pure metal in the dross; there is a mixture of some of the items of the Christian religion in the composition of the partizan, enough, usually, to make the counterfeit takeable or acceptable in the community where the partizan compound operates. It would be difficult for the shrewdest sharper to pass a coin of gold and silver without a little of the real metal in it; and precisely as difficult would it be to palm off a system for the Christian religion without a certain per cent. of Christian principle or Christian practice therein.
France, party-makers and party-lovers, from the least of them to the greatest of them, have as much Christianity tacked to their traditions as the scribes and doctors of old had of the Mosaic law while loving and practicing the traditional commandments of their fathers and brother doctors.
And that contrast between party men and Christian men may appear still more striking, let us say that—
- First – Partizans always persecute. Their persecution, too, is of this most obnoxious character, that it is against the purest, noblest, and most righteous people on earth.
- “Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted?” said preacher Stephen to the partizan Jews; and said the Great Teacher to the same class of men, speaking of what was done in Jerusalem, “thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them whom God sendest to thee.” Soon as Paul stepped out of his…
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Former ranks as a party man, he put himself in a position to be persecuted, bonds and afflictions awaiting him from city to city where he labored in his Master’s cause. Not to mention other proofs and evidences illustrative of the sad truth that partisans persecute, take the following brief extract from a small volume in our library, which relates of the establishment of the English National Church in the reign of what is called ‘good Queen Elizabeth:’
“There were already laws to exclude dissenters from all emoluments of office; to compel them to pay tithes, church-rates, oblations, and dues to the clergy of the Church; there were already laws to warrant them for life, and to cause thousands upon thousands to die in prison under this persecution; however, they still increased; and an act passed which was intended totally to put them down or to expel them from the country of their birth, or to kill them. But there was a difficulty in discovering who were and who were not dissenters. Devices were resorted to for this purpose; but, at last, the Church-makers fell upon the scheme contained in the aforesaid act, which was simply this: to compel all the people to go to the churches regularly, and there to join in the performance of divine service, and in the use of the Common Prayer Book. All persons, of whatever rank or degree, above the age of sixteen years, who refused to go to some ducal or place of common prayer, or who persuaded any other person not to go, or who should be at any meeting under color or pretense of the exercise of religion other than that ordered by the State—then every such person was to be committed to prison, there to remain until he should be ordered to come to some church or place of common prayer, and there to make an open submission and declaration of his conformity.
Now, what was the punishment in case of disobedience? The offender was to abjure the realm; that is to say, was to banish himself for life; and if he failed to do this, if he did not get out of the kingdom in the course of such time as should be appointed by the authority of the Queen, or if he returned to the kingdom without leave, such person so offending was to be adjudged a felon, and was to suffer, as in case of felony, without benefit of clergy; that is to say, suffer the sentence due to arson or murder—to be hanged by the neck till he was dead!”
Partisans persecute—always persecute. Now it is necessary to say that the people of the Lord never persecuted; therefore, in this criterion, there is all the difference between a partisan and a Christian that there is between a persecutor and one who ‘blesses and curses not,’ ‘prays for enemies,’ and ‘does good to him who treats him evilly.’
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CHRISTIAN CONDOLENCE
The shortest and one of the most striking verses in the Bible reads,
“Jesus wept.”
This he did at the grave of Lazarus, when sympathizing with the distressed sisters—evincing that “we have not a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,” but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. It is not only a high privilege to “rejoice with them that do rejoice,” but also “to weep with them that weep.”
Meldon has been more forcibly impressed with the importance of Christian sympathy than by an incidental remark in a recent letter from Brother B. Franklin, of Cincinnati, Ohio. He says: “I am in the midst of trouble! My son, nineteen years old, is lying in the room where I write, with small-pox. He is now to the nineteenth day, and an awful sight, you may rest assured, he is. I have been with him every day and night since he was taken, and I trust he will recover.”
One of the valuable purposes of the Christian religion is to better enable the miserable and frail beings of a day, to bear each other’s burdens in the sorrows of life. Said the wise man, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” It will not answer to merely know these things—they should be studied.
CHRISTIAN DUTY
The true Christian has a two-fold work to perform in this life. First, he must labor for his own improvement, in order that he may acquire such a character as will fit him for a higher sphere of existence than the present; secondly, he must exert his influence for the spread of the gospel, and the conversion of others to Christianity.
Those who imagine that the disciple of Christ has only to give diligence to make his own calling and election sure, regardless of the good of those with whom he may be associated in life, have a very low conception of the religion of the Bible. Our Savior taught his followers that they were to be as lights to the world—”a city set upon a hill, that cannot be hid.” The great end and aim of the Christian’s mission is the promotion of the glory of God and the good of the human race; hence, if we, like Paul, would fight the good “fight of faith,” and…
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Receive, as the reward of our labors, “a crown of righteousness,” all our purposes in life must be shaped in reference to the fulfillment of this mission.
To the young Christian, therefore, who is just preparing to step forth upon the stage to act his part in the drama of life, the important question is, “How shall I best discharge the duties which I owe to God and man?”
Our Heavenly Father, for the purpose of carrying out the plan of human redemption, has seen fit, in his wisdom, to employ human agency. We are the instruments in his hands for the accomplishment of his purposes; and if, by an improper use of the liberty he has given us, we should expend our energies in the pursuit of earthly, selfish objects, we prove unfaithful to our trust, and must not expect the reward which he has promised to his faithful servants.
Jesus laid down his life for us, and it becomes but our reasonable duty to consecrate ourselves to his service, and even to sacrifice our lives, if necessary, in defense of his cause.
And what are the inducements to the pursuance of such a mode of life? All, all the inducements known under the heavens, that are worth living for. We have the promise of happiness in this life, and of immortality in the world to come. This is the great inducement—the most powerful incentive to the practice of virtue in the universe.
Oh! what were man, deprived of the hope of immortality! What is it that can cheer the wayworn pilgrim’s heart amid the sorrows and afflictions to which flesh is heir? Can it be earth-born joys? Nay, these are as fickle and as fleeting as the wind. ‘Tis the promise of glory, honor, immortality, which his Master has left behind to cheer him on his way.
Of all men, the Christian alone is the truly blessed, the truly fortunate man. Others may live with reference to time alone, and in time they must assuredly reap their poor reward; but to the Christian—the man who is willing to bow his neck to Messiah’s yoke—when the few fleeting years of this life have passed away, existence and happiness are but just begun.
‘Tis true he may not be numbered among the demigods of fame. The historian may not chronicle his name and deeds for future generations to gaze upon and admire, yet he heeds it not; for he knows that that name and those deeds are registered in the Lamb’s book of life. No chaplet of earthly, fading laurel may encircle his brow, yet he cares not; for he knows that that brow is destined to be graced by a brighter diadem than any known to earth—even with “a crown of righteousness.”
Who, then, would not live the Christian’s life, and reap the Christian’s reward?
F. M. C.
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
“JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ONLY.”
(A Review, by request, of Dr. T. N. Ralston’s Lecture on the subject, See “Elements of Divinity,” p. 315.)
Text: The doctrine of justification by faith is taught in the sacred Scriptures; there can be no doubt. Faith is the vital principle in the Christian religion—the basis of all spiritual life. We can do nothing that will be acceptable in the sight of Heaven, without it. When, however, men assert that it is the only condition of justification, it behooves every lover of truth to examine carefully the grounds upon which this assumption rests.
The purpose of Dr. Ralston’s twenty-fifth lecture, in his work entitled “Elements of Divinity,” is to establish the proposition that justification is by faith only; and in support of this proposition, he quotes a number of passages from the New Testament Scriptures and one from the Old Testament. We wish to examine, as candidly and critically as we are able, this very popular doctrine of the nineteenth century, to see whether it has its foundation in faith. We believe it has not, and that it cannot be sustained without a manifest perversion and misapplication of the teachings of our Savior and his apostles.
The author’s first quotation in support of this theory of justification is from “Acts of the Apostles,” xiii. 39: “And by him, all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
He next proceeds to the Epistle to the Romans, and quotes such passages as those: “To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” “Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” etc. These scriptures, with others from the Epistle to the Galatians (iii. 8, 22-24), constitute the basis of his first argument.
Upon these he remarks: “In all these passages, St. Paul most clearly and explicitly declares that justification is by faith. Now, let it be remembered that in the Epistles to Romans and Galatians, from which the quotations are made, the Apostle is expressly discussing the subject of justification; and is not the conclusion irresistible, that faith is presented as the condition of justification?”
The conclusion that faith is the only condition of remission of sins is by no means a legitimate deduction from these scriptures. The Apostle Paul was not setting forth, in any of the passages quoted, a specific condition of pardon. The Epistles to the Romans and Galatians…
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Christians, it must be borne in mind, were addressed to Christians—subjects of the Messiah’s kingdom, who had already obtained remission of sins. It is evident that they could not have been pardoned without complying with the conditions of pardon; and furthermore, that they could not comply with those conditions without knowing what they were.
What propriety, therefore, was there in the Apostle’s entering into a long argument to prove to them what the conditions of pardon were? Paul was asserting the grand fundamental principle of the Christian religion—faith in the Son of God. Hence he speaks of justification by faith, in contradistinction not to any act of obedience enjoined under the new covenant, but to the deeds of the Jewish law. The privileges of the old covenant belonged to the Jews alone; but under the reign of the Redeemer’s kingdom, salvation was extended to the Gentiles, also.
But it is evident that this could not have been the case so long as the Jewish law was in force. It therefore, especially behooved the Apostle Paul, whose mission was to the Gentiles, to show that it had been done away, and that life and salvation were offered to all through the merits of Christ. It certainly is a fact of some significance, that none of the apostles enter upon the discussion of the subject of justification by faith except Paul, and that he speaks of it only when his chief purpose is to show that God respects alike the Jew and Gentile under the new dispensation.
Who gave utterance to the words which Dr. Ralston first quotes in support of his darling theory? Paul. In the thirteenth chapter of Acts, we learn that Paul and Barnabas entered into a Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath-day. The Jews in this city, adhering to the religion of their fathers, were assembled for the purpose of reading the law and the prophets. After the reading of the Scriptures, Paul, at the request of the rulers of the synagogue, arose and preached the gospel of Christ to them in a brief but pointed discourse, in which he says: “And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
Who wrote the Epistle to the Romans? Paul. And what was his object in the argument which occupies the last part of the epistle? Was it to teach the doctrine that faith only was the especial condition of pardon? The chief point of discussion was not remission of sins. In Romans iii. 28, 29, 30, the Apostle says: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law. Is he God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.”
Here we…
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Observe that the great point of the Apostle is to show that the Mosaic law, which was applicable to the Jews only, was no longer in force, and to present the fundamental principle of the Christian religion as the basis of salvation for Jew and Gentile.
He argues the same point in the Epistle to the Galatians. By reference to the second chapter, we learn that even Peter, notwithstanding the signal proof, which he had in his vision at the house of Simon, the tanner, that God was no respecter of persons, made a difference between Jews and Gentiles; but Paul “withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” Speaking of the dissimulation of Peter, Barnabas, and other Jews, he says:
“But when I saw that they walked not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter, before them all, ‘If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.'”
Now, if the Apostle’s object was to teach that faith was the specific condition of the remission of sins, in contrast to all acts of obedience whatsoever, why does he contrast it only with the deeds of the Jewish law? Does anyone imagine that the phrase “works of the law” includes the idea of obedience to the requirements of the gospel?
Here is the great mistake in the whole matter. The Apostle’s object was to show that the day had passed when God granted exclusive privileges to a single nation of the earth. Hence, in the same epistle, Galatians 5:6, he says:
“For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
This is the only hope of the Gentile world. No one could claim the privileges and immunities of the old covenant, so long as it existed, but he who bore the seal of the Jewish nationality; but under the reign of the kingdom of Christ, it was not necessary for one to trace his lineal descent back to father Abraham; but all, through faith, could claim an interest in the redemption which was purchased by our Redeemer’s blood. The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile had been broken down.
When Jesus suffered upon the cross, the reign of the Jewish age was at an end. The veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom, and the holy of holies, which had so long been held too sacred for the multitude to look.
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Upon, was exposed to the common gaze. The glory had departed from the consecrated place, and the voice of God was no longer to be heard between the cherubim. The Jewish people had no longer there a mercy-seat. The tithes of the field, and the firstlings of the flock, were no longer pleasing oblations in the sight of Heaven, and the “blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer,” could no longer take away sin; but all Jew and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian, were to expect salvation through faith in the great sacrificial offering for sin—”the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.”
F. M. C.
THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
It will be gratifying to the friends of The Gospel Advocate, to learn that it is succeeding far beyond all expectation, on the part of the projectors of the work. The rapid increase of subscriptions soon exhausted the whole of the first number, and we have been compelled to have an entirely new edition issued in order to meet the demand. The brethren have lent their aid and influence to the work with an earnestness and heartiness of purpose which are as unexpected as grateful. Brethren Anderson, Lawson, Murphree, Huddleston, Davis, Rives, Van Dyck, Ramsay, Cathey, Madearis, Lamar, Holbrook, Harlan, Cone, Lindsey, Holmes, Nance, Harris, Shirley, Jetton, McReynolds, Walling, Darnell, and many others, have sent us large lists of subscribers, and have our sincere thanks. With such evidences of a living interest in the cause of truth, on the part of so many of our brethren in different parts of the country, we cannot but hope that there are prospects of a brighter and more glorious day for the success of the gospel in our land. May God speed a day of better things.
W. L.
EAST TENNESSEE CO-OPERATION
The Co-operation of the brethren in the first counties in East Tennessee and South-Western Virginia, will be held at Buffalo Creek, Carter County, Tennessee, commencing on Friday before the fourth Lord’s Day in August.
SAMUEL H. MILLARD.
Whence but from heaven could men, unskilled in arts,
In different ages born, in different parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? Or how or why
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unlinked their pains, ungrateful their advice—
Barren their gain, and martyrdom their price.
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
FRANKLIN COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES
On Wednesday morning, July 4th, 1855, a large audience appeared in the Chapel of Franklin College, to witness the eleventh annual Commencement exercises. The services were opened with prayer by Elder J. J. Trott and a soul-stirring piece of music by the regular College teacher, Prof. Dana Brown.
Addresses were delivered in the following order, by the graduating class:
- WILLIAM I. LIPSCOMB, of Tennessee
Subject: American Institutions. - JAMES E. SCOTT, of Tennessee
Subject: Progress of Civilization. - THOMAS K. POWELL, of Tennessee
Subject: Philosophy and its Tendencies. - G. GRAND B. LIPSCOMB, of Tennessee
Subject: England. - WILLIAM C. HUMPHARD, of Tennessee
Delivered the Valedictory.
At the close of the last address, the degree of A. B. was conferred upon the members of the class.
The degree of Master of Arts was conferred on the following gentlemen, graduates of the Institution in 1852, viz:
- R. R. CULLEN, of Tennessee
- E. W. HERNDON, of Missouri
- L. HODGES, of Mississippi
- A. B. JONES, of Kentucky
- S. S. LAFFITTE, of South Carolina
- W. T. RICHARDSON, of Tennessee
The honorary degree of A. M. was also conferred upon Dr. C. KENDRICK, of Palestine, Texas.
At 12 o’clock the audience dined with the officers and students of the Institution, and after a recess of an hour again assembled to hear the address to the Alumni Society, by Mr. D. LIPSCOMB, of Franklin County, Tennessee. After the conclusion of the address, five or six pupils in Mrs. C. FANNING’s school read essays, and “credentials of scholarship” were granted by the Trustees and Faculty of Franklin College, in conjunction with Mrs. Fanning, to the following young ladies, viz:
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Miss Mary White Phillips
Miss Lizette Aldrich
Miss Mary Eliza Allen
Miss Sarah Elizabeth Towles
At 5 P. M., the exercises closed, and several hundred persons, young and old, convened again in the Chapel at 8 P.M., to spend a few hours in social pleasant conversation in regard to the past, and touching the prospects of the future. All seemed full of life and enjoyment.
In reference to the character of the exercises, we have but few remarks to make. The addresses of the senior class we considered in good taste, and some of them evinced a degree of thoughtful investigation superior to most youths of their age. The large assemblage manifested a high degree of satisfaction. We think it not improper to suggest, that there was a dignity which marked the proceedings, most gratifying to the faculty and friends of the institution; and, above all, a moral tone characterized the addresses highly flattering to the young gentlemen, their friends, and the Alma Mater.
Of the young ladies of Mrs. Fanning’s school, we can speak more freely. There was evidently a ripeness of scholarship evinced in some of the compositions rarely to be found; and we take the occasion to state that we are acquainted with no female school in which superior, if equal, advantages are afforded. In addition to the watchful care and accurate instruction of Mrs. F., the members of the faculty of Franklin College give every needed aid, and the pupils have access to the College Library, Apparatus, and Cabinet. We feel that we could not do the young ladies justice, without respectfully suggesting that their modest reserve, not only in their public exercises, but also in their everyday deportment, has won golden opinions from persons whose good taste will be respected. We regret that Mrs. Fanning limits her school to so small a number.
The Alumni address was considered by all an able document, but as it will be published we deem it unnecessary to give details, or offer a full expression as to its merits.
Finally, the day was spent in a manner quite agreeable to the friends of the schools, and the faculty of Franklin College rejoice in the belief that the Institution is accomplishing an amount of good which must be felt and acknowledged.
W. Lipscomb, Secretary
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
NOTICE BY THE “AGE.”
Brother W. W. Eaton, of the “Christian Age,” greets the Advocate with a most complimentary and approving welcome. Among other things, he says:
“It will give us pleasure to hear that The Gospel Advocate is taken, paid for, and read by every Christian family in Tennessee. The murky vapors of ‘Spiritualism,’ more appropriately, Materialism, which have recently gathered in the atmosphere, in and around the good city of Nashville, require a local effort such as we hope brethren Fanning and Lipscomb will put forth. May they be successful in convincing the people that the only ‘progression’ in Christianity is conformity to the word of God, and the only communion with the spirit-world is by faith in the Lord Jesus; and those who would enjoy constant happiness must first consecrate themselves to God, and then devote all their energies to the elevation and happiness of all around.”
INDEFINITE PREACHING.
Elder Ridge, July 31, 1855.
Dear Brethren:—The first number of The Gospel Advocate has already come to hand. I am very much pleased with its contents in general, and particularly with that part of Brother W. G. Roulhac’s letter that you have published, one sentence of which I beg leave to call your attention to. It is as follows:
“Our manner of preaching, in my judgment, has undergone, of late years, a change for the worse. Too many, through an ardent desire to please, preach in a very indefinite manner.”
This is true in regard to some preaching in this section. It has a tendency rather to strengthen the opposition, and impede the progress of the gospel, in my humble judgment. But the brother says, in the latter part of the sentence, “But I wish to pursue an uncompromising course.” To this I say, Amen.
Wade Barrett.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
The cause of Christ on earth can be greatly advanced, and the brethren can aid and encourage each other much in the Christian warfare by freely communicating with each other in regard to the prosperity of the truth, and its influence in enlightening and purifying our race.
We sincerely hope that The Gospel Advocate will be the means of awakening a deeper interest among Christians in each other’s welfare; and the brethren may rest assured that whatever they may write,
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
which will interest the lovers of truth, will always find a welcome to its pages.
Brother W. C. Huffman writes to Brother Fanning from Hartsville, Tenn., respecting the congregation, whose existence has not yet numbered one year:
“We meet every Lord’s-Day for worship at two o’clock. The brethren attend regularly, all who can. A good number of our neighbors meet with us. There were some seventy or eighty present on last Lord’s-Day, and among them a Methodist preacher, who is the second we have had to hear us. We invariably tell them it is their duty to set us right, if we fail to sustain, by the Bible, any position we may assume. Brother Stalker has preached two discourses, and Brother Dr. Crenshaw two; all pretty good. Several of the brethren pray when called upon. We look for much good to be done by the church here, if we can be favored with an occasional visit from you. The brethren at Hartsville have worked nobly for The Gospel Advocate. Brethren Huffman, Averett, and Bennett have sent more than thirty subscribers from the office at H.”
Brother W. C. Rogers writes from Colliersville, Tenn.:
“I have read a part of the first number of The Gospel Advocate. I am much pleased with it. I find in it much to approve and admire. Go on. Never look back. You are engaged in a noble work. Meet the demands of the age. Our wants are many in this section. We want more self-sacrificing proclaimers of the word. We want more knowledge—more devotion—more Christian living—more zeal—more energy—more enlarged benevolence in the great and glorious work of redemption. We want more of the spirit which characterized Elijah; more of the courage of David; more of the indefatigable perseverance exhibited by the Great Apostle of the Gentiles. Help us herald the truth of God abroad. Put down error, superstition, sectarianism, infidelity. Hasten that happy period when all shall love God and serve him, and all shall enjoy the liberty and blessing of sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.”
Brother Rogers has recently moved to Tennessee from Kentucky, and is laboring in the cause of our Master. Sister Elizabeth D. Bills, from Springfield, Mo., sends a good list of subscribers. Cannot some of our good sisters elsewhere aid in the work of the Lord? She writes:
“The Christian cause is advancing slowly in South-Western Missouri. The church at Springfield numbers about two hundred, and at this time, is in a better condition than formerly.”
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
Elder Wade Barrett, of Giles County, writes a most cheering letter respecting the cause of our Redeemer in the section of country through which he has labored so long and faithfully. Brother Barrett has, so far, done more for The Gospel Advocate than any of our brethren, though many, very many, have aided most efficiently. His last list of subscribers increases the list sent by him to about sixty.
He writes:
ELKRIDGE, June 16th
“Dear Brethren Fanning and Lipscomb:—In the first part of April last, business called me in the neighborhood of Franklin, Williamson County, Tenn. I determined to spend Lord’s Day in town with the brethren. I preached for them on Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, and Monday night. The result was four confessions and immersions into the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. The brethren and sisters were much gratified at seeing sinners turn to the Lord. I shall long remember the kindness of these brethren and sisters to me and mine; and, the Lord willing, I intend to visit them again at my earliest convenience.
“June 19th.—On yesterday we closed a very interesting meeting at Lynnville, of two days only, the result of which was ten confessions—nine from the world, and one from the Baptist. Prospects good for more—your humble brother the only laborer. This is a point at which I have long labored. The brethren are kind and liberal, and I will take the liberty to say, without their knowledge, if the brethren who are preachers, and who are intelligent, mild, and uncompromising, will call and preach for them, they will not send them away empty.
“Notwithstanding all the drawbacks we have had in this section, from various sources which I shall not now name, it is the humble judgment of your brother, that the prospects are better at this time for an ingathering into the kingdom with us, than they have been for nearly three years. A little assistance from the preaching brethren who are intelligent, mild, and uncompromising, and our course will again be onward and upward.
“Your brother, in hope of a better day in this life, and eternal life at last,
WADE BARRETT.
“July 9th.—I am now on my way home from Rural Hill in the western part of this county, where I preached yesterday, the result of which was two confessions and immersions. I send twelve more names as subscribers to The Gospel Advocate. I would like to swell the number to a hundred.
W. B.
Such cheering letters as this will make the hearts of Christians everywhere rejoice in the success of the gospel.
THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE
Correspondence
Brother Barrett writes, under date July 16th:
“I preached yesterday at Lynnville. At the close of the meeting three persons came forward; confessed their faith, and were immersed the same evening. Prospects good for more additions at that place.”
Brother J. K. Speer, in a note to the Publishers, of July 21st, says:
“I commenced a meeting with the church at Rock Spring, on the thirteenth instant, and have gained 40 souls to the good cause. Let us thank God and take courage.”
Brother E. R. Chalmers writes, under date of July 11th, from Butler, Missouri:
“I hope your efforts in advocating the cause of primitive Christianity will be crowned with abundant success. Brother Scruggs and myself have had 10 accessions within a short time. Will our brethren communicate freely respecting the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom?”
W. L.
A letter from Bro. D. P. Henderson, dated Louisville, Ky. July 25, 1855, says:
“Our meeting closed on last Lord’s-Day night. The house was crowded to overflowing, and a more solemn and impressive season I have rarely witnessed. Three came forward and made the glorious confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Since then, we have met for immersion when others came; and now this afternoon, we meet again for baptism. Two hundred and twelve have been added up to this time. Praised be the name of the Lord for his goodness.”
“For the endowment of Christian University, we have raised about $25,000.”
“Tomorrow afternoon, Deo volente, we leave for home.”
OBITUARY
“We sorrow not as those who have no hope; for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Truly these are comforting words to our beloved brother, Jas. Vaughn, of Wilson County, Tennessee, who lost his wife on Lord’s-Day morning, the 25th of June, aged 44 years and 7 days. Our beloved sister died in full assurance of faith, leaving nine children and a most deeply afflicted husband. She became a disciple of the Lord, with her husband, in the year 1834. She was a most amiable Christian, an obedient and affectionate wife, and a devoted mother. May the Father of mercies be a comfort to the bereaved husband, and a protector to the motherless children, and may they all finally meet in the realms of glory.
S. E. JONES