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THE
ESSENTIAL FAITH
OF
THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH;
DEDUCED FROM
THE SACRED RECORDS.
BY HARRIET MARTINEAU.
'Nulli praeclusa religio est; omnibus patet, omnes admittit, omnes
invitat; non elegit domum nec censum; nudo homine contenta est.'
BOSTON,
LEONARD C. BOWLES.
1833.
_Minot Pratt,----Printer._
ADVERTISEMENT.
In March 1830 the Committee of the British and Foreign Unitarian
Association offered 'a premium for three tracts, to be approved by them,
the object of which should be the introduction and promotion of
Christian Unitarianism among the Roman Catholics, the Jews, and the
Mahommedans respectively.' Each of the Essays was to be sent to the
Committee with the name of the writer in a sealed note, which would be
opened only after the decision in favor of the successful candidate.
Miss Martineau obtained the three prizes. The celebrity which she has
acquired in this country by those of her works which have been reprinted
here has induced the belief that these Essays would be read with
interest, although if they had come from an unknown author the nature of
the subjects might prevent their general circulation. The ability, the
tact, and the fine spirit which they display must increase the
admiration of Miss Martineau's talents which already prevails among us.
For grasp and vigor of thought, for a rich and felicitous style of
expression, and for general power of argument, without the slightest
mixture of asperity or unfairness, they will bear comparison with almost
any writings of the same class. The author has judiciously adopted a
different method of treating each subject, and may therefore expect that
opinions will be various about the comparative merits of the three
Essays, according to the intellectual habits or tastes of readers. But
no one can fail to pronounce them all remarkable productions.
The Essay addressed to the Catholics was first published. It is
therefore now first reprinted, and will be followed immediately by those
written for the Jews and the Mahommedans.
E. S. G.
BOSTON, May 1st, 1833.
PRELIMINARY ADDRESS.
As Christians addressing Christians, we, whose faith is called
Unitarianism, invite you, our Roman Catholic brethren, to join with us
in investigating the origin and true nature of that Gospel which we
agree in believing worthy of the deepest study, the most unremitting
interest, and the highest regard. We agree in believing every Christian
to be bound to promote the welfare of his race to the utmost of his
ability; and that that welfare is best promoted by the extensive spread
and firm establishment of Divine truth. We agree in believing that all
other gifts which the Father of men has showered on human kind are
insignificant in comparison with the dispensation of grace: or rather,
that their value is unrecognised till interpreted by it. We alike feel
that the material frame of the universe, fair as it is, is but as a
silent picture till a living beauty is breathed into it, and a divine
harmony evolved from it by its being made the exponent of God's purposes
of grace. We alike feel that the round of life is dull and tame, and its
vicissitudes wearisome and irritating, till it becomes clear that they
are preparative to a higher state. We alike feel that worldly pursuits,
and even intellectual employments, are objectless and uninteresting,
till they can be referred to purposes whose complete fulfilment must
take place beyond the grave. We alike feel how pervading, how perpetual
is the influence of Gospel principles in ennobling every incident, in
hallowing every vicissitude of life; in equalizing human emotions; in
animating the sympathies, in vivifying the enjoyments, and blunting the
sorrows, of all who adopt those principles in full conviction of the
understanding, and in perfect sincerity of heart. We agree in feeling
how the whole aspect of existence changes, as the power and beauty of
the Gospel become more influential;--as we learn where to deposit our
cares, where to fix our hope, what to prize as a real possession, and
what to regard as but loss in comparison of our inestimable gain. We
feel in common how endurance may become a privilege, and earthly
humiliation our highest honor, when sustained in the spirit, and
incurred for the sake, of the Gospel. Feeling thus alike respecting the
value of a common possession, desiring in common that all our race
should be partakers of it, making it the most earnest of our prayers
that we may receive it in its purity and employ it righteously, why
should we not help one another to apprehend it and hold it firmly? We
know, from the records of history, how the adherents of your faith have
so prized it as to sacrifice all things for it; how Catholic confessors
have borne long and painful testimony, and how Catholic martyrs have
triumphantly sustained the last proof of the strength of their
convictions. We can refer you to similar examples among those who
believed as we believe; and neither you nor we can doubt, that should
occasions of self-sacrifice again arise, every true Christian in your
body and in ours would show once more what the Gospel can do in
divesting the world of its allurements and death of its terrors. Why
then should we not congratulate each other on our common hope? Having
laid hold on the same anchor of the soul, why should we not rejoice in
each other's strength? And, differing as we do in the mode of holding a
common privilege, why should we not reason together to ascertain where
the difference lies, whence it arose, and by what means it may be
obviated? Though you and we may not regard variations in Christian faith
with an equal degree of regret and dread, we yield not to you or to any
on earth in our appreciation of the value of truth, and in our desire
that it may become the common possession of our race. Therefore it is
that we now propose to you an investigation into its principles; and
therefore it is that we seek the removal of all impediments to our
joining in hand as we already do in heart, in bringing those who are
astray to the fold of the true Shepherd.
The same means of ascertaining Divine truth are in your hands and in
ours, if, as your best writers declare and as we believe, you have free
access to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Our versions of
those Scriptures are, it is true, not exactly alike. It appears to us
that yours are, in various minor, and in some considerable points, less
correct than our own: but fair investigation will settle this
difference as well as others; and if not, such variations constitute no
insurmountable hindrance. The essential truth of the Gospel is not
involved in any or all of those modes of expression in which our
respective versions of the Scriptures differ. The difficulties which are
thus originated are of very inferior moment to those by which our
separation is perpetuated, and which depend on our application of the
spirit rather than our interpretation of the letter of the sacred
records. When we can as perfectly agree in our opinions concerning the
person of Christ, as we do in our veneration and gratitude for his
holiness and love; when we shall mutually rejoice in the universality as
well as in the blessedness of the salvation he brought, we shall not
dispute respecting the letter of some of his instructions, or long
lament the difficulty of reconciling some apparent discrepancies. If, as
you declare, the Scriptures are in common use among you, they must be
allowed to be the rule of your faith as well as of your practice; they
must be intended for your instruction as well as your confirmation; they
must supply subjects of thought as well as of feeling. Do us the justice
then, thus to use them as often as you hear us appeal to them. Compare
our interpretation of the Gospel with the records themselves. Compare
our deductions from facts with the original statement of those facts,
and with all which throws light on them from the history, the
discourses, the epistles which follow. To whatever common ground there
is between us, let us repair; and since that common ground is the very
spot where the living waters first sprang up, there can be no doubt but
that a patient search will bring vital refreshment to us all.
We know, brethren, that our mode of belief appears to you under the
greatest possible disadvantage, as being, even more than Protestant
religion generally, divested of the claims and graces of antiquity. You
regard our sect as newly formed from the dispersed elements of other
sects which have melted away. You find no mention of our heresy in the
records of the middle ages, or only such hints of the doctrines now held
by Unitarians as might serve as suggestions of our present opinions: and
you therefore naturally conclude that the parts of our faith to which
you object are but of yesterday, and consequently the impious inventions
of men. If it were so, our present address would indeed be indefensible;
our challenge to investigation would be an insult; our appeal to the
Scriptures would be blasphemy. But to shake your conviction of this
assumed fact, to convince you if possible that the reverse is the fact,
is the object of the exposition of our opinions which we now present to
you, and of every effort to explain and defend our faith. It is because
we believe our religion to be primitive Christianity that we are
attached to it as other Christians are to theirs. It is because we feel
that we can carry back our opinions to a remoter antiquity than other
Churches, that we prefer them; and though they were completely hidden
under the unauthorized institutions of the middle ages, we find no
difficulty in establishing their identity with those which were diffused
by the messengers and under the sanction of God. He who sees a stream
gushing forth from the cave, and can trace it back no further than the
darkness whence it issues, may reasonably conclude that he stands near
its source; but there may be a wayfarer who by observation and
experience knows and can attest that this is no subsidiary spring, but
the reappearance of a hidden stream, whose source is hallowed and whose
current is inexhaustible. We only ask you to listen to our evidence of
this, and to admit it or not, as you shall be afterwards disposed.
We agree with you in your reverence for antiquity in respect of the
faith; and desire nothing more than that by their comparative claims to
antiquity our respective religions should be judged. We feel that grace
as well as authority is conferred by every evidence of long duration. We
can enter into your reverence for your doctrines, because they were held
by Saints in cloisters which have crumbled to dust, by heroes and
anchorites whose arms were the relics of centuries gone by, or whose
rocky abodes have retained their sanctity for a thousand years. We can
understand your emotions on receiving sacraments or witnessing
ceremonies which fostered the devotion of the saintly and the heroic of
the olden time, and which filled the Christian temples abroad with music
and fragrance, while in our land the smoke of Druidical sacrifices was
ascending offensively to Heaven. But we thus sympathise because we too
refer our worship to ancient days. Our hearts also thrill under the
impulses which are propagated from afar. We also delight in spiritual
exercises, because they are sanctified by long-tried efficacy; and
enjoy our devotion more, because the same hopes exhilarated, the same
trust supported our spiritual kindred of the remotest Christian
antiquity. In our Churches we believe we feel the spirit of brotherhood
which first gave to the believers one heart and one soul. In the silence
of our chambers, or amidst the solitudes of nature, we are open to the
same incentives to prayer and praise which visited Peter on the
house-top, and Paul amidst the perils of the sea. When intent upon the
words of life, we, like the Apostle, are impelled to exclaim, 'O! the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!' And were
the times of persecution to recur, we doubt not but that, at the very
stake, the consciousness of fellowship with the holy Stephen would add
vigor to our courage and splendor to our hopes. We refuse to perpetuate
the imposing ritual of the early ages because it is not antique enough:
but whenever we behold two or three gathered together to worship with
the heart and voice alone; when we see men assembling on the first day
of the week to break bread in remembrance of Christ, in the simplicity
of the primitive ordinance; when we see teachers, in all external things
like their brethren, gathering wisdom from the fowls of the air and the
lilies of the field,--we could almost forget the lapse of ages in
sympathy with those from whom they separate us.
Such a sympathy, if originated here, will be perfected hereafter; for it
is too purely spiritual to be dissolved by death. It will then be also
extended to all in whom the spirit of the Gospel is a vivifying
principle; as it would be here, if we could throw off our prejudices and
see each other as we are. If it is to be, why should it not already be?
With the Gospel before us, with some portion of its light beaming on
each of us, some measure of its kindly warmth glowing within us, why
should we turn away coldly and silently from communion respecting our
best treasure?
If either body believe their brethren in error, is it right to leave
them so without an effort to reclaim them? If both believe the truth
destined to prevail, is it not incumbent on them to assist that
prevalence? We believe it is; and therefore we address you; mingling
with our entreaties for your co-operation in the development of Divine
truth earnest prayers that the Father will abundantly administer to all
the resources of that intellectual power and Christian love which
constitute a sound mind.
THE ESSENTIAL FAITH OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH.
The primitive Christian Church, gathered together in Jerusalem by the
command of Christ, and sanctified by the descent of the Holy Spirit,
consisted exclusively of Jews. The three thousand who were baptized on
that memorable occasion, the numbers which were daily added to the
Church, the multitude who were converted to Christianity during the next
fifteen years, were all Jews. In some cases, the process of conversion
was probably gradual; but in many, we know it was sudden, being caused
by the immediate and irresistible evidence of miracles. The change of
conviction which it was necessary to work in converting a Jew, was of a
nature which could be effected speedily and completely by the display
of one miraculous testimony. It was not a change in all, or any of his
views of Deity and Providence. He was not required to relinquish a
single article of religious belief which he had previously held under a
divine sanction. The fundamental doctrine of the Jewish religion,--the
strict Unity of Jehovah,--he was authorized to retain. He was confirmed
in his dependence on all that the Prophets had spoken, in his
conceptions of the Divine attributes, and in his trust in Divine
Providence. The only question on which depended his adhering to the Old,
or embracing the New Dispensation, was, whether Jesus of Nazareth was or
was not the promised Messiah. As the Jews were bound by the requisitions
of their own law (Deut. xviii. 19) to receive implicitly whatever should
be taught in God's name by a divinely authorized prophet, their
reception of the doctrines of Christianity was a sure consequence of
their acknowledgement of the Messiah; and that their acknowledgement of
Jesus in that character was the only thing essential to make them
Christians we have consistent and abundant evidence in the whole
Scripture history. In the preaching of the Apostles to the people of
their own nation, we find no intimations of any needful change in their
conceptions of God, and of his mode of government. On the contrary, it
was because the Jews were already prepared for their reception of
Christianity by their belief in the Unity of God and the consistency of
his moral government, that they were the most immediately and the most
easily incorporated with the Christian church. For proof of this, we
refer to the whole of the discourse delivered by the Apostle Peter on
the day of Pentecost, and to every other discourse addressed by the
Apostles to Jewish hearers.
The first Gentiles who were converted to Christianity were not
worshipers of a plurality of Gods; but men who from intercourse with
Jews, or from other opportunities of spiritual advancement, had attained
to the belief of One God, indivisible in his nature and unrivalled in
his supremacy. The same mode of teaching which sufficed for the Jews,
sufficed for them also, as far as the essential truth of Christianity
was concerned; and the same method was therefore adopted, as may be seen
in the discourse of Peter in the house of Cornelius.
The next converts were from the disciples of the Pagan theology of
Greece and Rome; with them a different method of instruction was
needed. Till they knew something of the Divine nature, it was useless to
open to them the Divine dispensations. The discourse of Paul at Athens
did not therefore begin with announcing the Saviour: if it had, his
inquisitive hearers would perhaps have inquired whether this messenger
was sent by Jupiter himself, or whether he was a deputy of some of the
inferior gods. The Apostle named not the name of Christ till he had
taught the fundamental doctrine--that Jehovah is not only supreme, but
sole; that all infinite attributes are centered in him; that all
dispensations proceed from him; not only those of nature, by which the
human race is created and preserved; but--the way being now prepared for
the annunciation--that of grace, by which the world is to be redeemed
through him whom God had ordained to be a Prince and a Saviour.
The heathen converts of the latter class had much more to learn, before
they could become confirmed Christians, than their more enlightened
brethren who had been prepared by intercourse with Jews. They were
equally ready in admitting the evidence of miracles, but not equally
clear as to the object for which those miracles were wrought. When Paul
and Barnabas restored the cripple at Lystra, the priests and people
could scarcely be restrained from offering sacrifice to them as gods,
even after the Apostles had explained to them the true nature of Deity.
Yet the true religion, being patiently and faithfully taught, was, at
length, fully understood and received; and the three classes of
converts, Jews, proselytes, and pagans, were made one in Christ;
holding, in undisturbed harmony of conviction, the essential doctrines
of the strict Unity of Jehovah, the divine authority of Jesus Christ,
and consequently, the divine origin of the Gospel he brought.
This unity of the faith seems to have been first broken in upon by the
introduction of a fourth class of converts, who, by incorporating their
former philosophical doctrines with the new theology they had embraced,
originated the first heresy. There had been disputes, it is true, in the
church; but not concerning matters of faith. In these disputes the
Apostles themselves had been not only involved, but actually opposed to
each other. These questions related to the fancied necessity of the
adoption by the Gentiles of the forms of the Jewish law: questions of
great importance to the Jews, as affecting their views of the ultimate
design of Christianity; to the Gentiles, as involving their spiritual
liberties; and to us and the Christian world at large, as throwing light
on the transactions of the primitive times, and as having originated
some of the Epistles of Paul.
But they bore no relation to the essential doctrines, which were held
free from corruption, controversy, or even doubt, till some converts
from the philosophical sect of the Gnostics introduced, within twenty
years after the death of Christ, the first taint of that corruption from
which the true faith has never since been freed.
The fundamental doctrine of the Gnostic philosophy was, that all mind is
ultimately derived from the Supreme mind; that the souls of all men have
therefore pre-existed; that there is a higher order of spirits, more
immediately emanating from the Supreme; that these superior
intelligences descend occasionally to inhabit the bodies of men, or to
assume their apparent form. This doctrine, to which they were much
attached, the Gnostic converts easily contrived to connect with their
new theology, believing Jesus to be one of these superior intelligences
in a visible form, or that the man Jesus was animated by such a spirit,
who was in reality the Christ. Against this corruption of the simplicity
of the faith the Apostle John protested in his First and Second
Epistles, in which he followed the example of Peter, Paul, and Jude.
That the Gnostics were the persons he had in view, is evident from the
fact that no other schismatics at that period troubled the peace of the
church, and also from his own application of his censure to such as
'confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.' (2 John 7.) The
'fables and endless genealogies' which Paul reprobates (1 Tim. i. 4.)
had the same origin; and the practices to which they led, of 'forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,' are condemned by him as
the work of 'seducing spirits.' Of the same class were the 'false
teachers,' accused by Peter of bringing in fatal heresies, 'by reason of
whom the ways of truth shall be evil spoken of.' All the opinions and
practices denounced by Jude, were either publicly maintained by the
Gnostics, or generally ascribed to them.
In order to disprove the truth of this representation, it will be
necessary to show who besides the Gnostics denied that the man Jesus
was the true Christ; who besides the Gnostics propounded fables,
originated schisms, and were addicted to superstitious practices, at the
times in which the Apostles wrote. This, we conceive, cannot be done.
That the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ must have been new and
strange to the faithful teachers of the church we know, not only from
their own intimation that it was so, but from the positive proof which
the Scriptures afford of the absence of all preparation for it. The
preaching of John the Baptist, and the conduct and discourses of Jesus
were such as to give his disciples the idea of his being truly and
entirely man; divine indeed in his derived power and spiritual
perfection, but human in his nature. His disciples accordingly testified
in their words and actions that they had no thought of his being any
thing else. They received him as their Messiah; but in all besides they
remained Jews, ascribing to God alone all divine attributes, worshiping
him alone, and paying honor to Jesus only as his most exalted messenger.
If they had been required to regard him as God, the history of their
conversion would have been widely different from what it is. A doctrine
to them so new and wonderful, would have engrossed their minds, would
have banished familiarity from their intercourse with the Saviour, would
have pervaded their preachings and writings; and, instead of being
wholly omitted in their addresses to their converts, would have been
made, as in modern creeds, a primary and essential article of belief.
Not till the introduction of oriental superstitions into the church,
however, do we find unquestionable evidence that such a doctrine had
been conceived by any individual mind; and then the information is
conveyed in the form of decided censure of the doctrine on the part of
the promulgators and guardians of the new faith. Even after this heresy
was introduced, we find no traces of it in the works of the Apostolical
Fathers, till nearly a century and a half from the birth of
Christ,--except in a very few writings, so uncertain in their date, so
wild and allegorical in their composition, and so evidently and
extensively interpolated, as to be of little or no authority. We refer
to the works commonly ascribed to Barnabus, Hermas, and Ignatius. The
only genuine epistle of Clemens Romanus which has come down to us,
neither advocates, countenances, nor alludes to any such doctrine.
Even the philosophizing Christians of the first century, against whom
the Apostles wrote, went no further than to suppose the Christ to be a
superior intelligence, inhabiting a mortal form, or assuming the
appearance of one: Cerinthus maintaining that Jesus was a man born of
Joseph and Mary, and that at his baptism the Christ descended upon him;
while Marcion held that the Son of God took the exterior form of a man,
and appeared as a man; and without being born, or gradually growing up
to the full stature of a man, he showed himself at once in Galilee as a
man grown. It was not till Justin Martyr, himself a philosopher, wrote
an apology for Christianity to a philosophical Roman emperor (A. D.
140), that any distinct mention appears to have been made of the
doctrine of the Divinity of Christ. It is not surprising that--feeling
how great a reproach the death of the cross must be in the eyes of the
potentate whom he wished to conciliate, and finding his mode of
exposition prepared by the Gnostic Christians, and by the application
made by the learned Philo of the Platonic doctrine of the
Logos,--Justin Martyr should have been tempted to recommend his new
theology by introducing an admixture of that philosophy which has
proved, according to the warnings of the Apostle, a 'vain deceit.' Such
we have no hesitation in calling it. A doctrine of this nature cannot be
in part true, but liable to mistake: it must be absolutely true or
absolutely false. We hold it to be the latter; because it was not made a
subject of distinct revelation by Christ, a primary article of belief by
the Apostles, or even a matter of distinct mention for a century and a
half from the birth of Christ.
All that, from the study of the records of Revelation, we hold to be the
primary and essential doctrines of Christianity, stand forth
conspicuously in the teachings, are confirmed by the deeds, and
illustrated in the lives of the Saviour and his followers. We propose to
bring them forward, with their evidence, in the following order.
I. The strict Unity of God.
II. The unlimited nature of the Redemption by Christ.
III. The existence of a Future State.
From these, various subordinate principles may be derived, some of the
most important of which we shall afterwards specify; and then proceed
to treat of the temporary sanctions and institutions of Christianity, in
distinction from its permanent principles.
It cannot be necessary for Christians, when addressing Christians, to
enter upon the evidence for the divine authority under which the Saviour
offered his Gospel, or for the consequent divine origin of that Gospel.
The name adopted by both parties is a sufficient testimony to the unity
of their faith thus far. Concerning the nature of Christ, we have
already declared that, in accordance with what we believe to have been
the faith of the primitive ages, we regard the Saviour as human in his
nature, but superhuman in his powers, and divinely appointed and
sanctioned in his office. The title 'Son of God' is peculiarly and
indefeasibly his own; for to no other being, as far as our knowledge
extends, has so immeasurable a portion of authority, of power, of grace
and truth, been vouchsafed; in no other has dwelt 'all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily.' The homage of reverence cannot be too fully and
freely rendered to him who was with God in His manifest presence; who
was one with Him in his purposes of eternal salvation to the human
race; who was the exponent of those purposes, and the means of that
salvation. The homage of love cannot be too fully and freely rendered to
him who suffered for our transgressions, and died for our justification;
who loved us with more than earthly love; who suffered in his compassion
for the sins and sorrows of men, as well as in the inflictions he
sustained for their sakes; and who, though wounded in spirit and
tortured in body, made use of the rule, authority, and power with which
he was invested, not for his own relief, but for our deliverance. To him
who brought us salvation, it is little to offer deep gratitude and
unbounded love. The homage of obedience cannot be too fully and freely
rendered to him who was wise with the wisdom of God, pure in heart,
sinless in his life, and sanctified by grace from the beginning. Even if
we did not know that obedience to Christ is the way to life eternal,
that obedience would be due to his divine claims: but knowing this, it
should be steadfast as our faith, cheerful as our hope, and boundless as
our love. Such was the obedience, such were the reverence and love of
the holy Apostles; and we desire to participate in them as fully as we
join, with heart and mind, in all that they have said concerning him.
They bow before his celestial authority,--so do we. They venerate his
perfect holiness,--so do we. They bless his love, testified in his
sufferings, sealed by his death, and glorified by his resurrection,--so
do we. They strove to be obedient in all things,--and we acknowledge the
obligation incumbent on us to be so likewise; and that we may be so, we
diligently inquire what were the doctrines which he confirmed and
revealed.
The great fundamental doctrine of the strict Unity of Jehovah was
abundantly confirmed by the Gospel. It had been long held in its purity
by the Jews, and was apprehended by a few, a very few, enlightened
heathens. It is called an essential doctrine of Christianity,--not
because it was originated by Christianity, but because it was thus first
introduced to the world at large, and because no other doctrine could
stand without it. It has accordingly been acknowledged in words by all
who have taken on themselves the name of Christ, while in its substance
it has been held pure by very few, we apprehend, since the apostolic
age. By the Unity of God we understand not a unity of substance
connected with a variety of persons, or a unity of persons accompanied
with a division of attributes; but a concentration of the attributes of
Deity in one eternal, indivisible substance. This, our fundamental
religious belief, is derived both from reason and from Scripture, and is
confirmed equally by both.
If we examine our own minds, we find that our first notions of a God are
low and earthly. We conceive of Him as of an earthly parent, watching
over our sleep with bodily eyes, furnishing our food with a bodily hand,
and following us from place to place with a material presence. As
infancy passes away, our conceptions become less gross. We think of Him
as omnipresent and invisible; but, deriving our notions from our
experience, we conceive of him as subject to emotions and passions. We
believe in the real existence--if not of his smiles and frowns--of his
joy, sorrow and anger, pleasure and pain. We can then imagine his
knowing and remembering all that has ever taken place, but can scarcely
conceive of his unlimited presence. Our childish obedience is then
yielded as to our parents,--partly through fear, partly through a desire
of approbation, and partly with the hope of of giving pleasure. All the
qualities or attributes which we ascribe to God have their origin and
counterparts in our parents, or those who supply their place to us: and
in no other way can the conception of Deity be originated. No mind can
arrive at the recognition of a general principle, but through an
observation of its particular applications; nor can a conception be
formed, otherwise than by the gradual reception of its elements; or
enlarged, but by adding to their number. From the watchfulness of its
parent in satisfying its wants and defending it from injury, the child
forms its first notion of Providence; and from the visitings of parental
approbation and displeasure, of a moral governor. When the presence of
Deity is thus recognised, some more abstract qualities are by degrees
attributed to him. Instances of the strength, foresight, and knowledge
of the parent are daily witnessed; and these, somewhat magnified, are
transferred to Deity;--and the moral attributes have the same origin.
Steadiness in awarding recompence, tenderness in inflicting punishment,
or readiness in remitting it on repentance, gradually communicate the
abstract ideas of justice, compassion, and mercy. Our first low notions
of holiness are formed by putting together all the best qualities we
have observed in the persons around us, and supposing them to be
unimpaired by the faults we are conscious of in ourselves. All these
attributes are ascribed to one Being; and the conception, already more
exalted than any we have formed of any other individual being, is
further improved by the richer elements of a more extended experience.
The imagination becoming stronger as the materials supplied to its
activity become more abundant, the conception of Deity perpetually grows
in grandeur and beauty, till it absorbs the intellect of a Newton and
engrosses the affections of a Fenelon. Still, this notion of a Being
whom we know and feel to be infinite, is formed from the results of our
finite experience; and the conception, however improved in degree, is
unchanged in kind. Let it be magnified to the utmost extent, it is still
only magnified, not metamorphosed. As there is a strict analogy between
the moral attributes of God and of men, there is also a strict analogy
between their natural modes of being. Justice in God is the same quality
as justice in men, however perfected and enlarged; and Unity in God is
the same as individuality in men, though ascribed to an almighty and
omnipresent Being.
A perpetual and perfect concentration of attributes is essential to our
notion of one God. We can conceive of his manifesting one attribute in
an especial manner on one occasion, and another on another; we can
imagine him conferring power analogous to his own on an inferior being;
but we cannot conceive of his laying aside, of his depriving himself of
any of the attributes of his nature, or of delegating his power,--if by
such delegation be implied any diminution or inactivity of it in
Himself. It is conceivable that he might employ some superior
intelligence in creating the material world (though we have no authority
to suppose that he did so;) but it is not conceivable that the work was
not, at the same time, wholly his own. It is conceivable that he might
send--it is certain that he did send--a being divinely furnished for the
work, to institute a dispensation of grace, and to offer pardon and
peace to sinful men. But it is not conceivable that the divine attribute
of mercy could previously, or subsequently, or ever, be laid aside, or
transferred, or suspended; that his unalterable purposes could be
changed, his compassion roused, his sympathies moved by any act of any
being, human or angelic. To suppose so, is supposing his purposes
mutable, and his compassion dormant; that is, divesting him of Deity. We
can, in accordance with our conception of Deity, understand how the
dispensation of grace may be committed, as it was committed, to a finite
being. But to suppose it the indefeasible prerogative of any eternal
Being but God, is clearly to suppose two Gods: and if the office of
sanctification be appropriated in a similar manner, we must suppose
three Gods. However long and deeply we may reflect and strive to
reconcile contradictions, we shall find at length that it is essential
to our belief in One God, that we ascribe creation, redemption and
sanctification, ultimately wholly to Him 'of whom, and through whom, and
to whom are all things.'
This unalterable decision of the reason is confirmed in every possible
way by revelation. It is needless to adduce proof from the Scriptures of
the Old Testament, as it is universally known that the Jews held, as the
fundamental doctrine of their religion, the strict Unity of Jehovah, in
nature, person, and attributes. There is not the slightest intimation,
in the records of the new dispensation, that any change took place in
the opinions of the Apostles, or of any other Jewish converts,
respecting the nature or person of God. They speak and write of Him as
One, ordaining the salvation of the world through Christ, and Himself
sanctifying those who were appointed to assist in the work. Jesus ever
spoke of himself as the servant of the Most High, deriving his purposes
and his powers from on high, and ascribing his achievements to the grace
manifested thence: 'I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught
me I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath
not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.' (John
viii. 28, 29.) 'My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine (whether it be of
God, or whether I speak of myself.' John vii. 16, 17.) Again, in
intimating the share which should be apportioned to his disciples in
publishing the new dispensation, he says, 'Ye are they who have
continued with me in my trials. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my
Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in
my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'
(Luke xxii. 28, 29, 30.) It is not conceivable that, anxious as he ever
was to attract the attention of men to the nature of his mission, and to
magnify the importance of the new covenant, he should have concealed the
most wonderful and important circumstance belonging to it, and have not
only left men in ignorance of his highest claims to their homage and
obedience, but have led them into it. That even his immediate followers
and the primitive Church had no suspicion of the Christ being more than
the most exalted of God's messengers, we have already declared our
conviction; a conviction which is confirmed by every page of their
writings. Paul was careful to declare 'the whole counsel of God.' Yet in
the passage of his writings in which, above all others he exalts the
Saviour, he tells how, for the meekness with which he bore the honors
which constituted in him a resemblance to God, for the humility with
which he took on him the office of a servant, and the compassion which
caused his submission to the death of the cross,--he was yet more
exalted by God, and favored with that name which is above every name,
through which every man is privileged to worship, and every tongue
permitted to offer praise, confessing 'that Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father.' (Phil. ii. 5--11.) Peter, in the discourse by
which three thousand persons were converted to Christianity, spoke of
Jesus of Nazareth as 'a man approved of God by miracles, and wonders,
and signs, which God did by him;' and as being made Lord and Christ,
raised from death and exalted to heaven by God. John repeats, in every
form of expression, that the love of God was especially manifested by
his sending his Son to be the Saviour of the world; and that as the Lord
manifested his love for us by laying down his life, we also should be
ready to lay down our lives for one another. Jude addresses his Epistle
to the Christians as to men 'sanctified by God the Father;' and in
almost every apostolic benediction and salutation we find the work of
sanctification as well as of grace ascribed to the Father.
But it is more satisfactory as well as easy to appeal to the whole body
of the sacred writings (which we confidently do,) than to separate
passages for proof that God the Father is the sole originator of every
work of nature and of grace; that as winds are his messengers, and
flaming fires his ministers in the world of matter,--righteous men,
prophets, apostles, and above all, Christ, the Holy One, are his agents
in the administration of the spiritual world, and the establishment of
the dispensation of grace.
Jehovah being thus sole in the possession of the attributes of Deity, is
the sole object of religious worship; for to God alone may such
adoration be innocently paid. This assertion rests not alone on the
commands delivered from above to the Israelites; though we hold the
authority of the second commandment of the Decalogue, as it stands in
Protestant Bibles, and is included in the Jewish version of the
commandments, to be equal to that of any part of the Mosaic law. 'Thou
shalt worship Jehovah thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,' is a
summary of the entire purposes and details of the first dispensation;
and the fundamental principle on which the second is based.
The prohibitions to the Jews to pray to any but Jehovah are too numerous
to be adduced, and too clear to need any further notice than a passing
reference. That the Israelites are not forbidden to seek the
intercession of departed spirits is accounted for by their ignorance at
first of a life beyond the grave, and their uncertainty respecting its
value afterwards: but that there was a total absence of all desire to
seek the intercession of a mediator in spiritual communion, is evident.
When Elisha stood by Jordan to witness the ascent of Elijah, no prayers
were wafted to heaven in the chariot of fire; no grace was sought
through the medium of the glorified prophet. When dangers compassed
round the prophet and his servant in Dothan, and a vision of heavenly
hosts was opened to them, no supplication was offered through the
radiant messengers; but Elisha offered his prayer immediately to
Jehovah. He, with all his nation, would have felt the liberty of direct
communion with God too great a privilege to be forgone, even if the
notion had occurred to them. No just fears which they could entertain
could be obviated by the employment of an intercessor; no desired
blessing could be so easily obtained as by a direct appeal to the
compassion of the Father of mercies. It would have been well if the
partakers of a fuller measure of grace had, in this respect, been
like-minded with their ancient brethren; had felt like them, that the
highest spiritual privilege is a free access to the divine presence,
the fairest spiritual promise that which declares 'If thou wilt call,
Jehovah shall answer thee. Come nigh unto me, and I will hear
thee.'--This privilege it was which Jesus himself used most abundantly;
and this promise he sanctioned by word and example, and taught his
followers to appropriate. He exhorted them to pray as he himself prayed,
in full assurance of faith, freely and immediately. On no subject were
his teachings more explicit, or his own practice and that of his
Apostles more fully ascertained. He taught them in what spirit, in what
manner, and for what objects to pray; viz. believing that what they
asked should be given, that what they sought should be found;--retiring
into recesses where none could intermeddle with the communion of the
heart; seeking whatever is needful for the body and the soul; supplies
of the means of life, pardon, grace and peace. After this manner his
followers prayed and taught others to pray. Paul mingled prayers for
forgiveness of his early misguided zeal with thanksgivings for the grace
vouchsafed to him, and ascriptions of praise to the supreme ordainer of
salvation. Peter prayed for strength to sustain persecution, and for
guidance in his mission. James directed his hearers to ask of God, if
they sought wisdom. In all their exhortations to prayer, however, there
is no intimation of a possibility that it may be offered otherwise than
immediately to Him to whom the Saviour prayed. Believing, as we are
convinced they did, that Christ was the son and servant of Him who
heareth prayer, and not authorised to usurp that holy prerogative, no
purpose could be answered by addressing supplications to him, but that
of alienating the heart of the suppliant from the prime Giver of good,
and no motive could be assigned for the act but a criminal distrust of
the divine love, or a groundless hope of evading his justice; motives
little likely to actuate apostolic minds. To prevent, however, the
supposition that such motives could have occurred, that the practice of
praying to Christ could have subsisted, we are in possession of a
declaration from Jesus himself which obviates all doubt. When about to
bid farewell to his Apostles, and to resign himself to death, he
promised them comfort from above; and from the fountain of prophetic
light within, casts gleams upon the stormy future for the guidance of
the trembling pilgrims whom he left behind. He told them that joy
should visit the world through their sorrow; and that his name, exalted
by the results of his mission and sanctified by death, should be the
seal of the rectitude of their prayers, and the pledge of their success;
while he distinctly disclaimed any part in the reception of their
prayers, any assumption of the offices of mediation or intercession. 'Ye
now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice,
and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day ye shall ask me
nothing. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
name, he will give it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name:
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have
I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh when I shall no more
speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father.
At that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not unto you, that I will
pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye
love me, and believe that I came forth from God.' (John xvi. 22-27.)
According to these sayings, the Apostles made their requests for the
more abundant effusions of grace in the name of Christ; but, believing
that the Father himself loved them, they felt no need of other
supplication than their own, for benefits which he was more ready to
grant than they could be eager to receive. If we may judge of their
opinions by the records which remain, we should be convinced that they
regarded the Holy Spirit as a divine power only, and not a divine
person. As a power, as influence exerted by God himself, is the spirit
spoken of in all the writings of the Apostles; as when Paul expresses
the relation which the spirit bears to God to be the same as the spirit
of a man bears to man; 'What man knoweth the things of a man, save the
spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no
man, but the spirit of God.' (1 Cor. ii. 11.) The mode in which the
operations of the spirit are described by them is perfectly inconsistent
with the notion of its being a separate person. Converts were said to be
_baptized_ with the spirit and _filled_ with the spirit, and they were
exhorted not to _quench_ the spirit. By the direction given to 'baptize
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,'
nothing more was understood by the primitive Christians, as we learn
from themselves, than the duty of spreading that religion which was
given by God through Jesus Christ, and comfirmed by miraculous power,
though, in comparatively modern times, it began to be used as a form
prescribed by Christ. As a form it does not appear to have been adopted
by his followers, who seem to have baptized in the name of Jesus only.
Like Christians of the present day, they believed the Holy Spirit to
have been the same by which the ancient prophets spoke; but, unlike the
modern belief, their conviction evidently was, that this spirit was the
same which moved on the face of the waters when the universe was called
up from chaos; the same which was manifested at Sinai; the same which
filled the temple of Solomon and abode in the Holy of Holies; the same
which wrought the works which Christ declared were not of himself; the
same which was and ever shall be, 'above all, through all, and in all.'
They believed the Spirit to be God himself, working in his creatures 'to
will and to do of his good pleasure.'