Subject of the last Chapter continued--Results of the earliest
and most prevalent Heresies.
During the first age after the apostles, the Scripture doctrines
respecting the Trinity, and the Person and work of the Mediator, appear
to have prevailed in the Church generally; afterwards a change of
phraseology among the leaders and teachers of the Church took place, and
the work of creation came to be ascribed, not to the Son, but to the
Father.
Tertullian, about the close of the second century, in his answer to
Praxeas, who founded the sect of Monarchians, expressed himself in
scriptural terms respecting the Trinity and the Person of Christ; and
describes the faith which he held in that respect, as that which had
obtained from the beginning of the gospel; _i. e._, among those admitted
to be orthodox. He soon after separated from the Catholic Church. About
fifty years later, the Bishop of Carthage procured the excommunication
of the Reformer Novatian, founder of the Cathari, or Puritans of that
day, who, following his example, formed numerous seceding churches all
over the empire, which flourished during the two succeeding centuries,
and a succession of them down to the Reformation. "He was," says
Mosheim, "a man of uncommon learning and eloquence." He wrote a work
upon the subject of the Trinity, of which the first eight sections
relate to the Father; the next twenty to Christ: the Old Testament
prophecies concerning him--their actual accomplishment--his nature--how
the Scriptures prove his divinity--confutes the Sabellians--shows that
it was Christ who appeared to the patriarchs, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, &c.
From the character ascribed to Novatian by ecclesiastical historians;
from the censures cast upon him by the Popish writers, who represent him
as the first antipope, author of the heresy of Puritanism, and parent of
an innumerable multitude of seceding Puritan congregations all over the
empire; from his work above alluded to, written in 257, six years after
his separation from the dominant Church; and from the known character of
the Cathari, he is doubtless to be regarded as an eminent example of
primitive scriptural faith, and a distinguished leader of those who,
driven into the wilderness by persecution, perpetuated that faith
essentially and in most particulars down to the era of Luther.
The Paulicians, whose rise is dated in the seventh century, appear to
have been of similar character. To these succeeded the Waldenses,
Albigenses, and other true worshippers in the valleys of Piedmont.
The Waldenses, in their creed of 1120, adopt all the articles of the
so-called Apostles' Creed. They distinctly express their faith in the
Trinity and in the canonical books of Scripture, which, they say, "teach
us that there is one God, almighty, unbounded in wisdom and infinite in
goodness, and who in his goodness has made all things." In another
Confession, dated 1544, they say: "We believe that there is but one God,
who is a spirit--the Creator of all things--the Father of all, who is
above all," &c.
The Confessions of the Waldenses were approved by Luther and the other
Reformers. Luther published them in 1533, with a preface.
But the Creed called the Apostles', which the Waldenses in their first
article adopt, expressly ascribes the work of creation to the Father: "I
believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in
Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord." Probably this formula should not be
dated so early as the first, or even the second century. The Creed
called the Nicene, which was in 325 adopted by the Council of Nice in
opposition to the Gnostics, the Judaizers, and the heresy of Arius,
comprises various terms explanatory of the views then held concerning
the Son, while it speaks of the Father as the maker of all things. "We
believe in one God, _the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible
and invisible_. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only
begotten: begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the
Father. God of God; Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not
made; consubstantial with the Father," &c.
The Second General Council, which was held at Constantinople in 383,
determined that the Nicene Creed should be the standard of orthodoxy.
This creed continued to be held by the Roman Catholic Church, and was
adopted and still continues in use by the Protestant Episcopal Churches
both of Great Britain and this country.
Probably the phraseology both of the Nicene and the Apostles' Creed, in
respect to the ascription of the works of creation _to God the Father_,
having been adopted and followed by all succeeding writers of authority,
was received and acquiesced in by all the Reformers and the different
Protestant denominations, and thus, coinciding essentially with the
Talmudists and Rabbinical Doctors, was in every way sanctioned and
commended as an example to our translators.
In the Confession of Faith and Catechism of the Presbyterian Church of
Scotland and that of this country, there is indeed, in respect to the
subject under consideration, a less exact copy than in earlier
Confessions of the phraseology of the Nicene formula. The work of
creation is, however, in no respect ascribed to the Mediator personally.
The doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son is very distinctly
avowed; and the works of creation are ascribed to God, though not with
any restricted reference to the Father, as distinguished from the other
Persons.
These brief references may serve to show that the ascription of the work
of creation by some to the Father, in such a manner as to indicate that
it is his personally, and by others to the Deity, in distinction from
the delegated official Person and work of the Mediator, owed its origin
primarily to the nature of the heresies and controversies by which the
Church was agitated, and the methods of the orthodox in defending the
doctrines of the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ, against the
Judaizers, the Gnostics, the Arians, and others; and was handed down in
their treatises and creeds from one age to another. In the same way the
doctrine of _eternal_ generation, and all the phraseology in the Nicene
Creed, for example, respecting the Son, which is not to be found in like
terms in the Holy Scriptures, appears to have arisen. And it is to be
observed that, in close connection with these opinions as adopted by
Protestants, is the doctrine that the personal and official work of the
Mediator had respect only to the redemption of man, and commenced in
personal acts not till his appearance incarnate.
In view of the origin, nature, and tendency of the heresies above
referred to, their extended influence, and the manner in which they
were controverted, one can hardly avoid the conclusion, that the order
of Divine instruction in the most essential particulars was inverted, by
the assumption of some and the acquiescence therein of others, that the
Old Testament revealed only the one invisible Deity absolutely
considered, as the Creator and Governor of the world, whose oneness or
unity was so regarded by one class as to preclude the idea of any
personal distinction in the Godhead; and so regarded by many others, who
held both the unity and the distinction of Persons, as to lead them,
irrespective of that distinction, to ascribe the works of creation and
providence to the one Supreme Deity, or to the Father.
Of the class first above mentioned were the Jews at the period of the
Incarnation. They therefore opposed and rejected the Messiah, on account
of his Divine pretensions, making himself a distinct Person of the
Godhead, equal with God. They looked not for a Messiah of such a
character, nor for deliverance from sin through faith in his vicarious
sufferings, nor for a salvation which was to be extended to the
Gentiles. They held to justification by their ritual services and
obedience to the law of Moses, and desired only a Messiah or leader who
should deliver them from temporal evils.
There were, at that period, considerable numbers of Jews resident in the
several provinces of the Roman empire, who, following the early examples
of their kindred in Judea, opposed and persecuted those who believed in
the Divinity of Jesus the crucified, as the true Messiah. At the same
time they professed the utmost zeal for the doctrine of the Unity, and
for the exclusive worship of the one Supreme Deity, and associated their
rejection of the gospel and its Author with their vehement opposition
to idolatry. As the preaching of the gospel was extended from Jerusalem
to the provinces, many Jews professed to receive it, who, retaining
their former religious opinions and prejudices, and setting up to be
preachers, endeavored to subvert the peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
and to subject the converts, real and nominal, to their notions of
Judaism and of the ritual of Moses. These Judaizing teachers still
insisted on justification by the works of the law, held firmly to their
national prejudices, exclusive privileges, and hatred of the Gentiles,
and to fortify themselves, joined with those Gentile heretics whose
errors were consistent with their own.
The Jews themselves far exceeded all others in opposing the doctrines of
the gospel, and persecuting those who embraced them. "Other nations,"
says Justin Martyr to Trypho, [A. D. 115 or 120,] "are not so culpable
for the injury that is done to us and to Christ himself, as you, who
first caused them to entertain so great a prejudice against that Just
One, and us his disciples and followers. For after you had crucified him
who alone was unblamable and just, by whose stripes they are healed who
come unto the Father by him; after ye knew that he was risen from the
dead and ascended up into heaven, as the ancient prophecies foretold
concerning him; ye were so far from repenting of those evil deeds which
ye have committed, that even then _ye dispatched from Jerusalem, into
all countries, select missionaries, to inform them that the impious sect
of Christians, lately sprung up, worshipped no God_; and to spread
abroad those false and scandalous reproaches which all that are
unacquainted with us and our religion do even to this day lay to our
charge." Brown's Version, sec. 17. The Jews denounced the Christians as
atheists, because they worshipped the Christ as God, instead of
restricting their homage to Him whom they regarded as the one Supreme,
invisible Creator.
Under the influence so widely diffused from this source, and that of the
heresies above referred to, the Church passed into the dark cloud of
Popish superstition, ignorance, and imposture. The era of inspiration
and miracles had passed. The idolatrous forms of paganism were
transferred from the heathen to the so-called Christian temples. The
theory of religion then, combining elements from Judaism, Oriental
philosophy, Paganism, and Christianity, was practically accommodated to
the heart of man in his natural state. Modes of interpretation were
introduced, by which truth, so far as it was admitted, was made to serve
all the ends and purposes of error. The Popish system, for example,
while it retains, in terms, the doctrine of the Trinity, denies all
those collateral and dependent truths which render that doctrine of any
value in the affair of man's salvation. It allows the Divinity of Jesus
Christ, but supersedes him in respect to his sacerdotal and regal
offices, and in effect denies his personality. In place of his
atonement, it substitutes the Mass. To supersede or obviate his personal
mediation, it offers, like Paganism, a thousand creature mediators. To
nullify his personality, and the admission of his Divinity, it professes
even to create him.
The subjects of controversy to which these heresies gave rise were such
as, under the influence of certain controlling circumstances,
unavoidably to change or modify the faith, in respect to some doctrines,
of those who continued to be in the main evangelical. The circumstances
referred to resulted from the nationalization of the Church, the
assumption by the civil power of legislative authority over its
doctrines and all its concerns, and the consequent prescription, under
the severest penalties, of entire uniformity of faith and worship.
Hence, when heresies arose and spread, Councils were called to suppress
them, and to prescribe the rule of faith which was to be enforced. Their
determinations, of course, must be in conformity not only with the
opinions of a majority of those convened, but with the sentiments of the
reigning emperor. Whenever he and the majority of those summoned to a
Council were inclined to Arianism, image worship, and the like, those
who held the primitive faith had to choose between a surrender of their
principles and deposition, banishment, or death. The tendency of this
course of things to drive the true confessors of Christ into the
wilderness, and to induce the best of those who remained in the
so-called Catholic Church to dissemble, and to adopt the sentiments and
phraseology of those whom they deemed to be in error, is too apparent to
require any illustration.
Now those controversies from the first with the Gnostics, the
Cerinthians, Valentinians, Monarchians, Sabellians, Manichæans, Arians,
and various others, related to the character of the Supreme Being, the
Creator; the mode of Divine existence; the Trinity; the Person of
Christ; and topics intimately connected with these. The changes and
modifications of phraseology and sentiment which, for the sake of unity,
or for other reasons, the more evangelical adopted, as in the Nicene
Creed and in their theological writings, were regularly handed down to
the period of the Reformation. These writings were studied, and had
their influence with the Reformers, on their receding from the
corruptions of Popery.
In this way, a departure in some things from the patriarchal, the early
Jewish and the primitive Christian faith, is believed to have taken
place; particularly in the omission to ascribe the works of creation and
providence to the Christ, in his delegated personal character as
Mediator, and ascribing those works to the Father; and in adopting the
sentiments that the mediatorial work commenced after the fall, and had
for its sole object the salvation of men, and that his second coming and
reign would not be personal and visible, but only spiritual, at least
not until the final judgment and consummation of all things.
The first of these errors--that of ascribing the creation to the Father
personally, or to the invisible Deity, irrespective of any distinction
of Persons in the Godhead--is to be traced back in the line of the Jews
to the period of the Babylonish exile, and to the influences and state
of mind under which they renounced idolatry, and with it the entire
doctrine of mediation, and all belief in a divine, atoning, and
interceding Messiah; and, obscuring by their traditions and glosses, or
wholly rejecting, those prophecies which relate to the first advent and
sufferings of the Saviour, looked for a human deliverer and temporal
chief, a king to resume the throne of David, in those predictions of the
second advent which indicate a period of universal peace and happiness.
The Jews, previously to their exile, had both in respect to their
knowledge of divine things and their practice, greatly degenerated. They
had long been addicted to idolatry. They had rejected their Divine
Protector and King, and yielded themselves to the false notions and
corrupt practices of the heathen. The Divine presence and favor were
withdrawn. They were afflicted and driven out of their country.
Prophets were sent to instruct, admonish, and encourage them; but they
refused to hear, being hardened and blinded in unbelief. They regarded
the God of Abraham, the Jehovah who led them out of Egypt, and, in the
Shekina, presided over their nation, either as having become their
enemy, or as having withdrawn from them for ever. Under these
circumstances, there is ground to conclude that they willingly settled
down in the notion of a Supreme Creator, invisible, far removed from the
concerns of mortals, and indifferent or inattentive to them. On
abandoning the forms of idolatry, and rejecting the pretended mediators
of idolatrous worship, while yet continuing impenitent, and maintaining
a proud and haughty spirit as Jews, though now depressed, and apparently
abandoned of God; they are believed to have banished from their minds
all near apprehensions of the Divine Being, and all ideas of a Divine
Mediator, and to have taken refuge in the abstract notion of a Supreme
Creator, who, though no longer regarded as their covenant God and
present protector, had promised a leader, a Messiah, who should deliver
them from their temporal calamities.
Such is believed to have been their state of mind at the close of their
exile; such the change attending their renunciation of idolatry; and
that the error and defect in question, respecting the teachings of the
Old Testament, had its source with them. Their sentiments and state of
mind having been perpetuated down to the period of the Advent, were
propagated afterwards in the manner above referred to.
There was, indeed, a partial, outward reformation under Nehemiah, after
the return from Babylon, and the temple service was resumed; but the
Shekina did not reäppear, and there was no general or lasting change
amongst the people. The Chaldee expositors, and afterwards the
paraphrasts, labored to revive and perpetuate the lost meaning of the
Hebrew Scriptures; but though a few, a remnant, of such as rightly
apprehended and truly feared Jehovah were preserved and perpetuated, the
theology and religion of the nation generally underwent no important
change for the better.
The foregoing considerations may suffice to show how it has happened
that the Old Testament has, both by Jews and Christians, so long and so
generally been understood to ascribe the works of creation and
providence, not to the Mediator, but to the Father, or to the Deity,
irrespective of any personal or official distinctions.
That this error, and others intimately associated with it, respecting
the person and work of Christ, should have arisen and been perpetuated
in the manner specified, cannot reasonably be regarded with surprise.
The nature of the case, and the lights of the intervening history, are
at war with the supposition that the true doctrines upon these subjects,
concerning which the governments, hierarchies, and people of the whole
heathen world were in utter darkness and error, were preserved by the
Jews after their return from Babylon, and after their rejection of
Christ, and by the apostate hierarchy of the Romish system imbued with
the spirit and degenerated to the level of Paganism, in all but the
name. If, as is notorious, they did not truly teach the doctrines of
Scripture upon other subjects, least of all can it be believed that they
taught the truth concerning these.
NOTE. Concerning the Work of Creation and its completion at one Epoch.
It is clear from Colossians, chap. i., that the work of creation, there
and elsewhere ascribed to the Christ, included the invisible as well as
the visible worlds and all creatures; that they were called into
existence by him and for him, for the purposes he was to execute and the
ends which were to be accomplished by him. He is accordingly referred to
as upholding and governing all things, as having all power in heaven and
earth, as heir and Lord of all. Angels, principalities and powers are
subject to him; and to him in his official character (as visibly
manifested "the Son of Man") all judgment is committed.
Now these comprehensive ascriptions to him in his delegated character,
and in express connection with his work as Mediator and Redeemer, as in
the passage above referred to, and in Heb. i., render it preposterous to
suppose that worlds and creatures invisible to us, or any portion of the
works of creation, were brought into existence prior to that creation
which is described in the Mosaic narrative. For if they were, what
conceivable connection or relation could they have had with his person
or character as Redeemer, Messiah, God-man? Did he sustain that official
character or exercise any of its offices ages prior to the creation of
man?
In _the beginning_ He created the heavens and the earth. Gen. i. He was
in _the beginning_; all things were made by him. John i. In _the
beginning_ he laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of his hands. Heb. i. In six days he made _the_ heavens and the
earth. Exodus xx. But if the phrase "in the beginning," so frequently
employed in this connection, marks the epoch of the creation of the
heavens, it refers that of the earth to the same epoch. The "all things"
doubtless include the invisible as well as the visible worlds, and the
foundations of the earth were laid _in the beginning_. "Thou hast made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all
things that are therein, the sea and all that is therein, and thou
preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." Neh. ix.
7. "The heaven and the heaven of heavens is Jehovah's, the earth also
with all that therein is." Deut. x. 14. In these and all similar
connections, as Gen. i. 1: Exod. xx. 11, where the Hebrew word is in the
plural form, _heavens_, the universe of worlds visible and invisible is
meant. To preclude all doubt of this comprehensive reference, Moses and
Nehemiah, both having occasion to guard against the pretensions of
idolatry, employ the phrase, heaven of heavens.
Accordingly, wherever the work of creation is mentioned, whether
distinctively as the work of Jehovah, or historically, as including all
worlds, the plural word, _the_ heavens, is employed, and put in contrast
with _the_ earth. "Thus," at the close of the six days, "the _heavens
and the earth_ were finished, and all the host of them." Gen. ii. 1.
"These are the generations of _the heavens_ and of _the earth_ when they
were created, in _the day_ that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens." Gen. ii. 4. "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created _the
heavens_ and stretched them out, he that spread forth _the earth_, and
that which cometh out of it." Isaiah xlii. 5. "Thus saith the Lord thy
Redeemer, and he that formed thee: I am the Lord that maketh all things,
that stretcheth forth _the heavens_ alone, that spreadeth abroad _the
earth_ by myself." Isaiah xliv. 24. "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One
of Israel, and his maker, ... I have made _the earth_ and created man
upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched forth _the heavens_, and all
their hosts have I commanded." Ibid. xlv. 12. "Thus saith the Lord that
created _the heavens_; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he
created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and
there is none else." Ibid. xlv. 18. "The Lord thy maker, that hath
stretched forth _the heavens_ and laid the foundations of the earth."
Ibid. li. 13. "The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting King.... The gods that have not made _the heavens_ and _the
earth_, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens.... He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the
world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his
discretion." Jer. x. 10, &c., also Psalm xcvi. 5; cii. 25, &c., &c.
In these and similar passages, where, in the most comprehensive and
unequivocal manner, the creation of all things is asserted, the
simultaneous creation of all is clearly indicated in the collocation of
the words _the heavens_ and _the earth_, the latter being sometimes
placed before and sometimes after the former.
The same plural word is employed in other connections: "Blessed be Abram
of the Most High God, possessor of the heavens and the earth.... I have
lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High God, possessor of the
heavens and the earth." Gen. xiv. "Is not God in the height of the
heavens?" Job xxii. "Look down from thy holy habitation, from the
heavens, and bless thy people." Deut. xxvi. "O God, look down from the
heavens and behold." Psalm lxxx. "The Lord he is God in the heavens
above and upon the earth." Deut. iv. "Praise ye the Lord from the
heavens.... Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise
him, ye heavens of heavens.... Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for
he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for
ever and ever, he hath made a decree which shall not pass." Psalm
cxlviii.
The Scriptures speak of one creation only; and of that, directly and
incidentally, in such terms as to leave no room for the supposition that
any portion of the material universe was called into existence prior to
the Mosaic epoch. They exhibit nothing from which an inference can be
derived that all were not created at one epoch. The contrary supposition
is not founded on any authority of inspiration, but upon conjecture or
assumption. It is by some assumed that by _the heavens_ Moses meant the
orbs of our solar system only, or at most, the stars visible in the
firmament to the unassisted eye. They think it unreasonable to suppose
that in all past eternity nothing was created more than about six
thousand years ago. They cannot imagine what the Creator was doing, if
he did not exercise his power in creating worlds. But the same
supposition might with equal reason be made with respect to any earlier
conceivable epoch. For at any such earlier epoch there had been a past
eternity, a duration without beginning. The terms of the supposition are
solecistical and absurd, so far as relates to the Creator, and with
respect to the little mind of man, they are of no significance, unless
the invisible worlds are eternal.
It is more obvious than necessary to suggest an astronomical argument
against the supposition of successive creations of suns and systems. It
is a doctrine of astronomy that our sun with its dependent system
revolves round a central orb, as our planets revolve around the sun; but
in an orbit of such immense extent as to require near two millions of
years, at the rate of thirty millions of miles a year, to accomplish one
revolution. From the observations and facts which verify this doctrine,
it is legitimate to infer that there is a like revolution of all other
suns and systems, and that the laws which govern those vast and
complicated movements were established at the creation. With these
considerations in view, we may confidently infer that the infinite
Creator did not call into existence and establish the relations,
motions, and revolutions of a portion of the celestial orbs at one
epoch, and another portion at a later epoch, so as to derange all that
had been perfected, and require new adjustments, new relations, new
movements, new velocities, and peradventure enlarged forces of
attraction and gravitation throughout the realms of space.
To judge of the force of this argument, one must, in view of the harmony
of the existing material system under the well-known laws which govern
it, consider what would be the necessary and inevitable effects of
adding to that system new stars equal in number and dimensions to those
visible from the earth, or even one other solar system, equal to that to
which the earth belongs. Undoubtedly, if our mathematics, our inductive
philosophy, and our astronomy are to be relied on, the addition to the
existing orbs of one globe like the earth would more or less disturb and
derange the whole, or require an infinite miracle to prevent
disturbance.
Closely connected with the supposition of worlds created longer ago than
the earth, is that of successive creations of plants and animals to
supply the defect of new or remote continents and islands. Many who,
conformably to the Scriptures, hold to the identity of the human race as
descended from one primitive pair, though distributed over all the
continents and islands, and exhibiting in many respects extreme
diversity, profess nevertheless to believe that there have been many
successive creations of brute animals since, if not prior to the deluge.
Though pairs of the inferior races as well as of the human race were
preserved in the ark, and for the same reason--"to keep seed alive _upon
the face of all_ the earth," and though no greater obstacles existed, so
far as we know, to the dispersion of the inferior animals to all
quarters of the globe than to that of man, they indulge the notion,
without any authority from Scripture, or any demonstrable necessity, or
any better reason than the exigency of a geological theory, that the
Creator of the universe, in the course of his providence over this
apostate and blighted world, has, from time to time, exercised his power
in creating races of brutes to be subject to the conditions of those who
shared in the consequences of the apostasy of man.
Such a notion seems in every view incongruous and preposterous, without
reason or necessity, inconsistent with the law of creation in respect to
man, and unworthy of the perfections and of the moral purposes and
administration of the Creator. It seems to imply the further notion,
that the same providence which dispersed and preserved the human race in
all quarters and climates of the world, was inadequate to the same
results in the case of the lower animals, and that it was of such moment
to keep every locality stocked with savage and carnivorous beasts as to
call, from time to time, for the interposition of creative power.
The object of the works of creation, as the scene of the moral and
providential administration of the Creator, would, in harmony with the
announcements of Scripture, seem to imply that they were brought into
existence at one epoch. That administration had a beginning: at the
beginning he created the scene and subjects of it. It extends to all
worlds. It is one comprehensive, universal, perfect system, involving
the rights and prerogatives of the Supreme Ruler, which are founded on
the fact of his being the Creator of all; and the obligations and duties
of intelligent creatures, which arise from the fact of their owing their
existence to him.
Now, since there could be no conceivable obstruction to his bringing all
the worlds and creatures throughout the realms of space into being at
one epoch; and since the administration of which they were to be the
scene was to comprehend them all, it would seem better to comport with
the admitted object of them and with his infinite perfections, to
believe that he created them all at once, than to suppose that he laid
the foundation of his empire in part at one and in part at a later
epoch. On the latter supposition, it would be easy, at least, to suggest
very plausible objections and difficulties, for which, on the former,
there is no room.
The passage in Job xxviii., "Whereupon are the foundations of the earth
fastened? or who laid the corner-stone thereof, when the morning stars
sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" is by some
supposed to imply, that when the earth was created, there were
preëxisting worlds and intelligent creatures to witness and celebrate
the event. But if such were the meaning of this poetical description,
those morning stars must have been such as were visible from the earth,
or else the earth could not be supposed to be visible from them. The
Scriptures, however, refer to the visible stars as being created at the
same time with the earth. In the narrative of the fourth day it is said,
"And God made two great lights; ... he made the stars also; and set them
in the firmament of heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule
over the day and over the night," &c. Gen. i. It is not conceivable that
the reference in Job should have been meant to exclude the visible
stars; and if it included them, then it included celestial worlds which
were created simultaneously with the earth. The phrase, "morning stars,"
doubtless signifies stars visible in the morning. The terms employed in
Job may, perhaps, be better rendered, "The stars burst forth together as
light, or as the morning."
From the narrative of the temptation in Eden, some imagine that Satan
had existed and fallen before the creation of Adam. But there is no
reference to that evil being till after Adam and Eve were placed in the
garden. How long they were there before the temptation, we know not. It
was long enough, however, for them to receive instruction as to the
prohibited tree, and for Adam "to give names to all cattle, and to the
fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;" long enough for them
to become familiar with the place, and with the voice and other tokens
of the Creator's presence. Now, on the supposition that all the angelic
hosts were created simultaneously with the heavens and the earth, what
was there to hinder the apostasy of Satan between the date of that
creation and his assault upon Adam, which would not equally have
hindered the apostasy of man so soon after his creation? Is it not, from
the nature of the case, more probable that Satan revolted very soon
after his creation, than at a remote period? As in the case of Adam,
who, had he continued holy for scores or thousands of years, would, we
may well presume, have been less likely to fall than at the outset of
his career, before he had formed habits of obedience, or had the benefit
of experience.
It is remarkable with what facility the most preposterous assumptions
have been adopted and perpetuated respecting the Creator, the works of
creation, providence, moral government, &c., to aid in support of
preconceived religious, philosophical, physical, and social theories.
The principal religious heresies, whether propounded under the garb of
theology or that of philosophy and science, falsely so called, have
rested upon false assumptions respecting the character and condition of
man as a fallen creature, and the one only Deliverer and way of
deliverance, and respecting the character, prerogatives, and rights of
the Creator and Ruler of the world, and the nature, epoch, and object of
the work of creation. Witness the Gnostic, Arian, Pelagian, Socinian,
and other ancient religious heresies, on the one hand; and on the other,
the theory of our modern geologists, in its relation to the inspiration,
authority, and meaning of the Scriptures, the nature, date and purpose
of the creation of the world, and the causes and reasons of the physical
changes it has undergone.
The fact that all the great heresies and false systems by which the
post-diluvian world has been deceived and held in the bondage of
corruption, have risen from false assumptions and erroneous theories
concerning the Creator and the work of creation; and from those
assumptions and theories, as starting-points, have diverged from the truth
as revealed in Scripture; this fact, and the consideration that the rights
and prerogatives of Jehovah, in relation to his creatures and their
obligations and duties towards him, are founded in the fact of his being
the Creator, demonstrate that the account which he has given of his works
is of equal authority with the other contents of his Word. It lies at the
foundation of his moral law and government, and of his providential
administration over all worlds, and is essential to his claim of supreme
allegiance and homage from all intelligent creatures. It lies at the
foundation of all scriptural faith in God and in the doctrines of his
Word, and is the basis of the true, in contradistinction to all false
religion.