The Book of Religions Part 11

2. With regard to faith in Christ, and a.s.surance of salvation through his merits, they differ from almost all other sects whatsoever. These they reckon inseparable, or rather the same, because (they say) "G.o.d hath expressly declared, He that believeth shall be saved; and, therefore, it is not only absurd, but impious, and, in a manner, calling G.o.d a liar, for a man to say, 'I believe the gospel, but have doubts, nevertheless, of my own salvation.' " With regard to the various distinctions and definitions that have been given of different kinds of faith, they argue that there is nothing incomprehensible or obscure in the meaning of this word, as used in Scripture; but that, as faith, when applied to human testimony, signifies neither more nor less than the mere simple belief of that testimony as true, upon the authority of the testifier, so, when applied to the testimony of G.o.d, it signifies precisely "the belief of his testimony, and resting upon his veracity alone, without any kind of collateral support from concurrence of any other evidence or testimony whatever." And they insist that, as this faith is the gift of G.o.d alone, so the person to whom it is given is as conscious of possessing it, as the being to whom G.o.d gives life is of being alive; and, therefore, he entertains no doubts, either of his faith, or his consequent salvation through the merits of Christ, who died and rose again for that purpose. In a word, they argue that the gospel would not be what it is held forth to be,-glad tidings of great joy,-if it did not bring full personal a.s.surance of eternal salvation to the believer; which a.s.surance, they insist, is the present infallible privilege and portion of every individual believer of the gospel.

3. Consistently with the above definition of faith, they say that the sin against the Holy Ghost, which has alarmed and puzzled so many in all ages, is nothing else but unbelief; and that the expression, "it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor that which is to come," means only that a person dying in infidelity would not be forgiven, neither under the former dispensation by Moses, (the then present dispensation, kingdom, or government, of G.o.d,) nor under the gospel dispensation, which, in respect of the Mosaic, was a kind of future world, or kingdom to come.

4. The Bereans interpret a great part of the Old Testament prophecies, and, in particular, the whole of the Psalms, excepting such as are merely historical or laudatory, to be typical or prophetical of Jesus Christ, his sufferings, atonement, mediation, and kingdom; and they esteem it a gross perversion of these psalms and prophecies, to apply them to the experiences of private Christians. In proof of this, they not only urge the words of the apostle, that no prophecy is of any private interpretation, but they insist that the whole of the quotations from the ancient prophecies in the New Testament, and particularly those from the Psalms, are expressly applied to Christ. In this opinion, many other cla.s.ses of Protestants agree with them.

5. Of the absolute, all-superintending sovereignty of the Almighty, the Bereans entertain the highest idea, as well as of the uninterrupted exertion thereof over all his works, in heaven, earth, and h.e.l.l, however unsearchable by his creatures. A G.o.d without election, they argue, or choice in all his works, is a G.o.d without existence, a mere idol, a nonent.i.ty. And to deny G.o.d's election, purpose, and express will, in all his works, is to make him inferior to ourselves.

The Bereans consider infant baptism as a divine ordinance, inst.i.tuted in the room of circ.u.mcision, and think it absurd to suppose that infants, who, all agree, are admissible to the kingdom of G.o.d in heaven, should, nevertheless, be incapable of being admitted into his visible church on earth.

They commemorate the Lord's supper generally once a month; but, as the words of the inst.i.tution fix no particular period, they sometimes celebrate it oftener, and sometimes at more distant periods, as it may suit their general convenience. They meet every Lord's day, for the purpose of preaching, praying, and exhorting to love and good works. With regard to admission and exclusion of members, their method is very simple: when any person, after hearing the Berean doctrines, professes his belief and a.s.surance of the truths of the gospel, and desires to be admitted into their communion, he is cheerfully received, upon his profession, whatever may have been his former manner of life. But, if such a one should afterwards draw back from his good profession or practice, they first admonish him, and, if that has no effect, they leave him to himself. They do not think that they have any power to deliver a backsliding brother to Satan; that text, and other similar pa.s.sages, such as, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," &c., they consider as restricted to the apostles, and to the inspired testimony alone, and not to be extended to any church on earth, or any number of churches, or of Christians, whether decided by a majority of votes, or by unanimous voices. Neither do they think themselves authorized, as a Christian church, to inquire into each other's political opinions, any more than to examine into each other's notions of philosophy.

They both recommend and practise, as a Christian duty, submission to lawful authority; but they do not think that a man, by becoming a Christian, or joining their society, is under any obligation, by the rules of the gospel, to renounce his right of private judgment upon matters of public or private importance. Upon all such subjects, they allow each other to think and act as each may see it his duty; and they require nothing more of the members, than a uniform and steady profession of the apostolic faith, and a suitable walk and conversation. (See Acts 17:11.

Rom. 10:9.)

The Berean doctrines have found converts in various parts of Europe and America.

MATERIALISTS.

Materialists are those who maintain that the soul of man is material, or that the principle of perception and thought is not a substance distinct from the body, but the result of corporeal organization. There are others called by this name who have maintained that there is nothing but matter in the universe.

The followers of the late Dr. Priestley are considered as Materialists, or philosophical Necessarians. According to the doctor's writings, he believed,-

1. That man is no more than what we now see of him; his being commenced at the time of his conception, or perhaps at an earlier period. The corporeal and mental faculties, inhering in the same substance, grow, ripen, and decay together; and whenever the system is dissolved, it continues in a state of dissolution, till it shall please that Almighty Being who called it into existence, to restore it to life again. For if the mental principle were, in its own nature, immaterial and immortal, all its peculiar faculties would be so too; whereas we see that every faculty of the mind, without exception, is liable to be impaired, and even to become wholly extinct, before death. Since, therefore, all the faculties of the mind, separately taken, appear to be mortal, the substance or principle, in which they exist, must be p.r.o.nounced mortal too. Thus we might conclude that the body was mortal, from observing that all the separate senses and limbs were liable to decay and perish.

This system gives a real value to the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, which is peculiar to revelation; on which alone the sacred writers build all our hope of future life; and it explains the uniform language of the Scriptures, which speak of one day of judgment for all mankind, and represent all the rewards of virtue, and all the punishments of vice, as taking place at that awful day, and not before. In the Scriptures, the heathen are represented as without hope, and all mankind as perishing at death, if there be no resurrection of the dead.

The apostle Paul a.s.serts, in 1 Cor. 15:16, that "if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins: then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." And again, verse 32, "If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." In the whole discourse, he does not even mention the doctrine of happiness or misery without the body.

If we search the Scriptures for pa.s.sages expressive of the state of man at death, we shall find such declarations as expressly exclude any trace of sense, thought, or enjoyment. (See Ps. 6:5. Job 14:7, &c.)

2. That there is some fixed law of nature respecting the will, as well as the other powers of the mind, and every thing else in the const.i.tution of nature; and consequently that it is never determined without some real or apparent cause foreign to itself, i. e., without some motive of choice; or that motives influence us in some definite and invariable manner, so that every volition, or choice, is constantly regulated and determined by what precedes it; and this constant determination of mind, according to the motives presented to it, is what is meant by its _necessary determination_. This being admitted to be fact, there will be a necessary connection between all things past, present, and to come, in the way of proper cause and effect, as much in the intellectual as in the natural world; so that, according to the established laws of nature, no event could have been otherwise than it _has been_, or _is to be_, and therefore all things past, present, and to come, are precisely what the Author of Nature really intended them to be, and has made provision for.

To establish this conclusion, nothing is necessary but that throughout all nature the same consequences should invariably result from the same circ.u.mstances. For if this be admitted, it will necessarily follow that, at the commencement of any system, since the several parts of it, and their respective situations, were appointed by the Deity, the first change would take place according to a certain rule established by himself, the result of which would be a new situation; after which the same laws containing another change would succeed, according to the same rules, and so on forever; every new situation invariably leading to another, and every event, from the commencement to the termination of the system, being strictly connected, so that, unless the fundamental laws of the system were changed, it would be impossible that any event should have been otherwise than it was. In all these cases, the circ.u.mstances preceding any change are called the causes of that change; and, since a determinate event, or effect, constantly follows certain circ.u.mstances, or causes, the connection between cause and effect is concluded to be invariable, and therefore necessary.

It is universally acknowledged that there can be no effect without an adequate cause. This is even the foundation on which the only proper argument for the being of a G.o.d rests. And the Necessarian a.s.serts that if, in any given state of mind, with respect both to dispositions and motives, two different determinations, or volitions, be possible, it can be on no other principle, than that one of them should come under the description of an effect without a cause; just as if the beam of a balance might incline either way, though loaded with equal weights. And if any thing whatever-even a thought in the mind of man-could arise without an adequate cause, any thing else-the mind itself, or the whole universe-might likewise exist without an adequate cause.

This scheme of philosophical necessity implies a chain of causes and effects established by infinite wisdom, and terminating in the greatest good of the whole universe; evils of all kinds, natural and moral, being admitted, as far as they contribute to that end, or are in the nature of things inseparable from it. Vice is productive, not of good, but of evil, to us, both here and hereafter, though good may result from it to the whole system; and, according to the fixed laws of nature, our present and future happiness necessarily depends on our cultivating good dispositions.

ARMINIANS.

Those persons who follow the doctrines of Arminius, who was pastor at Amsterdam, and afterwards professor of divinity at Leyden. Arminius had been educated in the opinions of Calvin; but, thinking the doctrine of that great man, with regard to free will, predestination, and grace, too severe, he began to express his doubts concerning them in the year 1591, and, upon further inquiry, adopted the sentiments of those whose religious system extends the love of the Supreme Being and the merits of Jesus Christ to all mankind.

The distinguishing tenets of the Arminians may be comprised in the five following articles relative to predestination, universal redemption, the corruption of man, conversion, and perseverance, viz.:-

"1. That G.o.d determined to bestow pardon and present salvation on all who repent and believe in Christ, and final salvation on all who persevere to the end, and to inflict everlasting punishment on those who should continue in their unbelief, and resist his divine succors; so that election was conditional, and reprobation, in like manner, the result of foreseen infidelity and persevering wickedness, (See Ezek. 18:30-32. Acts 17:24-30. Matt. 23:37. Rom.

2:4, 5; 5:18. 1 Tim. 11:1-4. 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:9.)

"2. That Jesus Christ, by his sufferings and death, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular; that, however, none but those who believe in him can be partakers of divine benefits. (See John 2:2; 3:16, 17. Heb. 2:9. Isa. 50:19, 20. 1 Cor. 8:11.)

"3. That true faith cannot proceed from the exercise of our natural faculties and powers, nor from the force and operation of free will; since man, in consequence of his natural corruption, is incapable either of thinking or doing any good thing; and that, therefore, it is necessary, in order to his conversion and salvation, that he be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of G.o.d through Jesus Christ.

"4. That this divine grace, or energy, of the Holy Ghost, begins and perfects every thing that can be called good in man, and, consequently, all good works are to be attributed to G.o.d alone; that, nevertheless, this grace is offered to all, and does not force men to act against their inclinations, but may be resisted, and rendered ineffectual, by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner. Some modern Arminians interpret this and the last article with a greater lat.i.tude. (See Isa. 1:16. Deut. 10:16. Eph. 4:22.)

"5. That G.o.d gives to the truly faithful, who are regenerated by his grace, the means of preserving themselves in this state."

The first Armenians, indeed, had some doubt with respect to the closing part of the latter article; but their followers uniformly maintain, "that the regenerate may lose true, justifying faith, fall from a state of grace, and die in their sins." (See Heb. 6:4-6. 2 Pet. 2:20, 21. Luke 21:35. 2 Pet. 3:17.)

METHODISTS, OR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

This denomination arose in England, in 1729, and derived their name from the exact regularity of their lives. In 1741, they divided into two parties, under George Whitefield and John Wesley. The former adopted the sentiments of Calvin, and the latter those of Arminius. The Arminian cla.s.s compose the great body of Methodists in this country and in Great Britain.

Both of those men were eminently distinguished for the variety and extent of their labors.

The following are the articles of religion, as published in the "Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church:"-

"1. There is but one living and true G.o.d, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in unity of this G.o.dhead, there are three persons, of one substance, power and eternity-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

"2. The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal G.o.d, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the G.o.dhead and manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very G.o.d and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of men.

"3. Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth, until he return to judge all men at the last day.

"4. The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal G.o.d.

"5. The holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. By the name of the holy Scriptures, we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the church. [Here follow the names of the canonical books of the Scriptures.]

"6. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for, both in the Old and New Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between G.o.d and man, being both G.o.d and man. Wherefore they are not to be heard, who feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the law given from G.o.d by Moses, as touching ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity to be received in any commonwealth, yet, notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.

"7. Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.

"8. The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon G.o.d; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to G.o.d, without the grace of G.o.d by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.