The doctrines and polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

PART FIRST. The Doctrines of the Methodist

Episcopal Church, South.

Pagb

Preface 2

I. Introduction: The Distinguishing Doctrines and Features of Methodist Theology 3

II. The Holy Scriptures 12

III. The Doctrine of God 23

IV. The Bible Doctrine of Man . . 36

V. Christ the Redeemer 46

VI. The Doctrines Pertaining to Personal Salvation 57

VII. The Doctrine of the Future Life 70

VIII. The Doctrine of the Church 83

PART SECOND. The Polity op the Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Preface 92

I. The General Rules 93

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IV CONTENTS.

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II. The Conferences of Methodism 118

General Boards 125

III. The Itinerancy 128

IV. Our Ministry 138

V. Our Connectionalism 144

VI. Fields of Work 156

Missions 156

Woman's Home Mission Society 162

The Sunday School 165

The Board of Church Extension 168

The Epworth League 169

The Board of Education 171

Statistics of the Methodist Episcopal

Church, South 172

Part First The Doctrines

OF THE

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,

SOUTH.

By Rev. Wilbur F. Tillett, D.D.,

Dean of the Theological Faculty of Vanderbilt University.

Prefatory Note

To write a brief treatise that shall cover the entire range of Christian doctrine, and yet be neither a bare and dry skeleton, on the one hand,, nor a dull, superficial statement of mere commonplaces, on the other, is the difficult task that has. been assigned to the author in this little volume. In trying thus to combine brevity, clearness, and completeness the author has kept constantly in mind the class of readers for whom the volume is intended — viz., Sunday school teachers, candidates for the ministry, and Bible students generally, who desire to know what are the cardinal doctrines of the Bible as it is interpreted by the great body of evangelical Christian believers.

That the doctrines of the Bible, rightly interpreted, and the doctrines of Methodism, rightly stated, are one and the same, this writer steadfastly believes, and in that faith this treatise has been written, and is now sent forth in the humble hope that it may give to those who read it a greater faith in their faith, and thus enable them the better to give to others a reason for the hope and the faith that is in them.

Wilbur F. Tillett.

Introduction

THE DISTINGUISHING DOCTRINES AND FEATURES OF METHODIST THEOLOGY.

Methodism represents a distinct system of Christian doctrine, and also a type of Church polity. Methodists are not one the world over in their ecclesiastical polity: some are episcopal, some presbyterial, and some congregational. But all Methodists are practically a unit the world over in the type of theology which they hold. Most of the cardinal doctrines of Methodism are held in common with all evangelical Christian Churches. Such, for example, are the inspiration and divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, the Triunity of the Godhead, the divinity of Christ, the fall of man and the universal sinfulness of the race, justification by faith, the necessity of regeneration, the future and eternal existence of all men after death, and many other similar doctrines of the highest significance.

But there are certain other doctrines which, though not held exclusively by Methodists, have at least been more strongly emphasized in the faith and preaching of Methodism than in any other branch of the Christian Church. Among these may be mentioned the following: the moral free agency and accountability of man, the unlimited atonement of Christ, the witness of the Spirit testifying to the regenerate man of his acceptance with God, the possibility of apostasy, and the attainability of entire holiness in this life.

Methodism has been the instrument in the hands of God of saving during the century and a half of its existence not less perhaps than fifteen to twenty millions of immortal souls. This result, which is without a precedent in the history of the Christian Church, is to be attributed in no small degree to the intensely earnest and practical character of its theology. " It was not new doctrine but new life that the Methodists sought for themselves and for others," says Bishop McTyeire in the opening sentence of his "History of Methodism." But the history of the Christian Church has established the fact that progress in the spiritual life and maintenance of sound doctrine are vitally related to each other.

The doctrinal system of Methodism is sometimes designated as "Arminian theology. v

INTRODUCTION. 5

This designation connects it with the name of James Arminius (1560-1609), a noted theologian of Holland. As Martin Luther and his fellow-reformers, although reared in the Church of Rome, were led \>j their enlightened convictions to protest against what they considered the corrupt practices and false teachings of this Church, and were for that reason called Protestants, so James Arminius and his associates, although first instructed in the strict teachings of high Calvinism, felt compelled to utter a remonstrance against certain extreme Calvinistic doctrines concerning predestination, election, reprobation, etc., and were for that reason called Remonstrants. The celebrated "five points" of Calvinism, setting forth the peculiar and distinctive doctrines of that system of theology, were offset by the no less distinctive "five points" of Arminianism, viz. : ( 1 ) Conditional election — that is, God elected to salvation those who, he foresaw, would freely repent of their sins and believe in Christ, and to reprobation those whose willful impenitence and unbelief he foresaw. (2) Jesus Christ died alike for all men, but only those who repent and believe will secure the saving benefits of his atoning death. (3) The ability of fallen man to reb THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM.

pent and believe is of grace and not of nature, and spiritual renewal or regeneration is entirely of the Spirit's operation. (4) Nevertheless divine grace and the influence of the Spirit are not, as Calvinism affirms, irresistible; but may be resisted by man, who is a moral free agent, and who, though he may be convicted of sin against his will, is never converted against his will. (5) The possibility of a truly regenerated man falling away from his saved estate and being finally lost was first left an open question, but was soon decided, as the logic of the system required that it should be, in the affirmative.

The doctrinal system of Methodism is also designated as "Wesleyan theology." This designation associates it with the names of John and Charles Wesley. John Wesley (1703-1791) was perhaps the greatest reformer, preacher, and evangelist that has ever appeared in England. Methodism is but one of the many results that have come from his life and labors. John Wesley's theology was intensely evangelical and practical, and, like that of the apostle Paul, was to a large extent colored by his own religious experience. He accepted the system formulated by James Arminius and the Remonstrants of Holland, in

INTRODUCTION.

all the points wherein that system differed from Calvinism. But he did something more for it than accept it. Arminian theology, as it was formulated by the Remonstrants, was, as an intellectual system of doctrine, logical, self -consistent, and true; but it was cold; it was lacking in the warmth and intensity of spiritual life; it needed to be quickened by the faith and the fire of an evangelical experience. This is exactly what John Wesley did with it and for it. He carried it, as it were, to the altar, and there it was baptized with the Holy Ghost; and, surcharged with evangelical life and converting power, it was sent forth upon its world-wide mission of evangelization. In Methodism we find the doctrines of Arminius put into practice as living truths, made matters of personal religious experience, and utilized as mighty spiritual forces for saving souls and spreading the kingdom of Christ. In Wesleyan theology the intensive power of the gospel to save each individual from all sin is as much emphasized as is its extensive power to save all sinners, whoever they may be and whenever and wherever they may live.

In 1784 John Wesley reduced the thirtynine Articles of the Church of England to twenty-live in number, and abridged and otherwise altered some of those which he retained. These he sent to America by Thomas Coke, whom he had ordained bishop, and they were accepted as the general creed of Episcopal Methodism in America. They have ever since occupied a foremost place among our doctrinal standards.

John Wesley's sermons also have always been numbered among the leading " doctrinal standards" of Methodism. They may be lacking here and there in the accuracy and uniform self-consistency of doctrinal statement that we have a right to expect in works of dogmatic theology, but what they lack in these respects they more than gain in the spiritual power that belongs to them as sermons glowing with a living Christian experience and setting forth the great truths that pertain to man's salvation. Richard Watson's "Theological Institutes" may not be altogether up to date, but they have in them a theology that is well adapted to the world's conversion and upbuilding in the spiritual life. Adam Clarke, the first great representative commentator of Methodism, showed by his able and scholarly expositions of the Holy Scriptures how thoroughly faithful to

INTRODUCTION.

the Bible were the doctrinal teachings of Methodism.

Charles Wesley, the poet-preacher and theologian, rendered a service to the theology of Methodism scarcely less important and farreaching than that of his brother John. He gave happy expression in verse to all the great doctrines of Christianity, and he was especially happy in the hymns which he wrote embodying the more distinctive doctrines of his faith. These hymns became at once immensely popular with the people, and gave wings, as it were, to the doctrines they embodied. A sermon put into a song doubles its power for good. Nor did these doctrinal hymns of Charles Wesley simply meet a local and temporary need; they have an abiding value, and have carried, in the most effective manner possible, the doctrines they contain into the hymnals of all Christian Churches the world over. While John Wesley's hymns are not numerous, and are mostly translations from other languages, they are in no way inferior to those of Charles Wesley either in poetic merit or doctrinal value. It is in portraying those doctrines which are matters of religious experience that the Wesleyan hymns are richest both in variety and in intensity of

10 THE DOCTKINEIS OF METHODISM.

utterance. The great reformation in Germany in the sixteenth century owed much to the fact that Luther was a poet as well as a preacher, and embodied all his leading doctrines in simple and popular hymns that were adapted to the common people as well as in sermons and theses that were adapted to the learned. But the Wesleyan reformation owed even more to its hymns. ' ' Let me write the songs of a people," said one, "and I care not who may write their laws; I will govern them." " Let me write the hymns of a Church," said another, "and I care not who may write her creeds and ponderous volumes of theology; I will determine the faith of her membership." The Methodist hymn book has always been reckoned among the doctrinal standards of the Church. It has ever been one of the most effective of the agencies employed for indoctrinating the people in that type of evangelical Christian faith which is known the world over as Methodist theology But the designation of Methodist theology as "Arminian" and "Wesleyan " must not be misunderstood. Methodist theology is first of all and above all biblical. Every evangelical Church recognizes the Bible as the source and foundation of its theology. It is after

INTRODUCTION. ] 1

all simply a question of the proper interpretation of the Bible. Calvinism is a logical and self -consistent system of doctrine which finds its starting point and its determining principle in the eternal decrees of Jehovah, and interprets the entire revelation contained in the Bible in accordance with that doctrine. Methodism also has a logical and self-consistent system of doctrine which in like manner is based upon the Bible, but it finds its starting point and determining principle in two doctrines that mutually necessitate and support each other — viz. , the moral free agency of man and the unlimited atonement of Christ; and we may say that every other doctrine of Methodist theology is a logical outcome of these two doctrines. Methodism, therefore, claims that its theology is the theology of the New Testament, the theology of Christ and of Paul. It is that simple and primitive type of theology which began to be preached in its completed form on the day of Pentecost, and has never since been without its true witnesses in any age of the Church's history. It has needed, however, to be restated and reformulated ever and anon. Such was the service rendered by James Arminius and John Wesley, and by others before and since their day n.

The Hojly Scriptures.

What doctrine does Methodism hold concerning the Holy Scriptures? This is best answered by first asking another question: What does the Bible teach concerning itself? The Bible teaches, we answer, that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." It teaches that "prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; " and that " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." Moses is represented as having received directly from God the Ten Commandments, which are with us to this day, and whose high moral character well befits their claim of a divine origin. "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying," is the preface with which the prophets begin their messages. These remarkable (12)

claims demand of us that we make serious inquiry as to their import. If this Book is what it claims to be, no man can afford to ignore or neglect its teachings. ' ' These [things] are written," says St. John, in concluding the fourth Gospel, and it is in a sense equally true of all Scripture, " that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

These quotations cover the three main questions which we need to ask concerning the Bible, and suggest the proper answers to them: (1) Where die! the Bible come from? We answer that it is divine in its origin, in that its cardinal and distinguishing doctrines were revealed by God to man. (2) How did God reveal these facts and doctrines? We answer: Through certain chosen men whom the Holy Spirit inspired as trustworthy organs for the communication of the divine will. (3) What purpose are these inspired Scriptures designed to fill in the divine economy as it concerns man? We answer: They are a divinely provided guide for man in all matters of a moral and spiritual nature, especially such as pertain to his faith and conduct here and his life in the world to come. Thus

14 THE DOCTRINES OP METHODISM.

we have the three theological terms, revelation, inspiration, and the canon, answering the three questions as to the whence, the how, and the what of the Holy Scriptures.

God reveals something of himself and of his will through nature and providence, but this general revelation has always proved inadequate to meet man's spiritual needs, being insufficient to impart a true and satisfactory knowledge of God, of the way of salvation, and of the immortality and destiny of the soul. That religious knowledge which fallen man needed but could not secure from nature, God has supplied in a supernatural manner by revelation. It is these divine or supernaturally revealed facts and truths which, as collected together within the Bible, constitute it a divine Book. Nevertheless, the Bible is not wholly divine; it is rather divine-human, for much that is contained in it is human in its origin and did not need to be divinely revealed. This unrevealed portion of the Bible is, in fact, the larger portion. It is, however, a faithful and trustworthy record, quite as much as is that portion which records the divine revelations. The human elements furnish the literary and historical framework for holding the divinely revealed truths. The divine revelations contained in the Bible are of transcendent importance, and so far give character to the volume as a whole that it is common, and not inappropriate, to designate it as the Book of Revelation.

What is the evidence that the Bible contains supernatural revelations ? The divine authority of the Bible depends upon the truth of the claim that it contains supernatural revelations; and if this be true, the claim ought to be supported by supernatural evidence. And it is. The prophets who claimed to have received divine revelations proved the truth of their assertions by working miracles. When Moses, for example, announced to the children of Israel in Egypt that he had received a revelation and a command from God in the desert, they immediately and very naturally demanded proof of such a claim. The God who had given the revelation had provided for this reasonable demand, and empowered him to work miracles. In some instances the vindication of the divine claim on the part of the prophet was found in the fulfillment of predictions which he uttered concerning the future. In yet other instances the revelations announced by the prophets as coming from God were self-evidencing — that is, were in their nature so thoroughly accordant with the moral character of God and man's religious needs that they carried their own evidence in them, and hence did not need to be supported by miracles or predictions. Our reason, therefore, for believing that the Bible contains divine revelations is found in part in the miracles the prophets and the apostles wrought, in part in the fulfillment of their predictions of future events, in part in the intrinsic moral excellence of the doctrines taught, and finally in the uplifting and ennobling moral influence the Bible has had upon the character of all the nations and individuals that have believed and followed its teachings.

But the passages of Scripture which were quoted above seem to teach not only that God has made revelations of his will from time to time, but that it was his will that a trustworthy record should be made of these revelations. They imply that the Holy Spirit exercised an influence upon those who wrote the books of Holy Scripture such as cannot be claimed for the writers of any other books. This special influence of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of the biblical writers was designed to prevent them from making hurtful mistakes in the statements they should give of the great moral and spiritual truths of religion, and in an important sense to make their words God's words, and their book to be God's Book. This is what is meant by saying that the biblical writers were " inspired. " St. Peter speaks of a certain scripture " which the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews uses interchangeably the expressions " the Holy Ghost testifieth " and "one [that is, the writer] in a certain place testifieth/1 In other words, what the inspired writer says God says.

To affirm that the biblical writers were inspired does not mean that they lost their human individuality and freedom, and were turned into machines. The inspired prophets and apostles were not shorthand reporters. Only in a few instances do they tell us that they wrote down the very "words which the Holy Ghost teacheth." In the Ten Commandments we have the very words of God. But as a rule the expression of the thought, even when it was revealed, was determined by the individual writer, whose style and other mental peculiarities may be seen everywhere in his writings. There may be several accounts of the same events, all differing in the words used, and yet all be 2 equally true and accurate. The great purpose of inspiration is to secure truth in the records, not uniformity and sameness of statement. The four evangelists record very much the same events, and yet they differ both in literary style and, as a rule, in the words used; but all are equally true and equally inspired. The various books of the Bible are as genuinely human and as thoroughly marked by the individual characteristics of their human authors as if they had been written by uninspired men. To recognize the distinctly human element in the Bible is not to detract from its moral value, but rather to add to its value for man's guidance, even as the humanity of Christ makes him a better Saviour than if he had possessed no human nature at all. Truth is none the less true because uttered by human lips. Christ is none the less divine because he had a genuinely human nature.

But the strongest of all arguments in proof of the doctrine of biblical inspiration is the manner in which Christ refers to the Scriptures, and the absolute divine authority which he attributes to them. To him and to the apostles they were none other than God's own words. Our Lord made distinct reference to David's inspiration when he asks: " How then doth David in spirit call him Lord? " If the Old Testament was written by divinely inspired men and possessed of divine authority, how much more the New, which was the full and final expression of the revealed will of God! We believe in the New Testament chiefly because of what it tells us of Christ; and in the Old Testament chiefly because of what Christ tells us of it — tells us by the way he used it and appealed to it as the very word of God. Perhaps the best possible definition which we can give of the Holy Scriptures is drawn from their relation to Christ, thus: "By the Holy Scriptures we mean, (1) those ancient sacred books of the Jewish Church which Christ and his inspired apostles used and appealed to as of divine authority; and (2) those sacred books of the New Testament which set forth the life and teachings of our Lord, and which were written by or under the direction of his apostles." Christianity believes in the Person first, and in the Book second. It is the divine-human Person that makes the Book, not "the divine-human Book that . makes the Person. Christianity could live without a Book, but it could not live — indeed, it could not be at all — without the Person of Christ.

The Canon of Holy Scripture, then, is nothing more nor less than that collection of sacred books which were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the primary object of which was to meet man's moral and religious needs. They incidentally contain history, biography, chronology, philosophy, science, etc. , but they were not written primarily to teach any of these things, and the entire accuracy of their statements concerning questions of this kind is a matter of absolute insignificance as compared with the great moral principles and spiritual truths that are the distinguishing features of the Christian religion. It is in reference to these truths that we appeal to it as the divine and authoritative word of God.

The word " canon " means, literally, a rule; and the Holy Scriptures are a canon in that they are a divine rule of faith and practice, a standard of doctrine and ethics. The word kw canonical" is also applied to the Holy Scriptures to distinguish them from books which were not regarded as inspired and of divine authority, such as the Old Testament Apocrypha.

There is every reason to believe that the Old Testament Scriptures, as we now have them, are substantially identical with the Scriptures which Christ and the apostles used. These Scriptures of the old covenant are not called old because they are antiquated and obsolete; for, although the dispensation for which they were immediately written has long since come to an end, having served its purpose, these ancient Scriptures have an abiding significance and value. A large part of the Old Testament is occupied exclusively with setting forth the ritual and ceremonial law of the Jewish Church, which is not now binding and has never been since the day of Pentecost; but, so far as they embody God's moral law, they are of as much authority now as they ever were, and are of equal authority with the New Testament. Inasmuch, however, as transitory and now obsolete precepts are intermingled with those which are of perpetual obligation, the Old Testament must be read and interpreted with intelligent discrimination.

All inspired books are of importance, but some are of more importance than others. That portion of the Bible which transcends in moral value all other parts of the Bible is the four Gospels. Christianity is a historical religion. Its Founder is a Person who lived at a definite time and place, and the Gospels purport to give a trustworthy record of the leading facts of his life, his sayings and doings. The whole question as to whether or not there is a supernatural religion in the world depends upon the historical trustworthiness of these Gospel records. If any records in the literature of the world are entitled to credence, these surely are. Paul probably wrote his Epistles many years before the Gospels were written. Four of the Pauline Epistles (Romans, First and Second Corinthians, and Galatians) are universally admitted by well-nigh all classes of theologians and critics to be genuine, and to come from about the middle of the first century. These Epistles establish the fact beyond a doubt that Christ was at that time regarded as a divine-human Being, who had died upon the cross and had risen again from the dead. These are the main facts of supernatural religion— viz., the incarnation of Christ and his resurrection from the dead. If these are true, the Gospels are fully confirmed, and the existence of a supernatural religion, with its supernatural Christ, is established. This, we saw at the outset, is the supreme and final end for which the Scriptures exist : ' ' That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

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The Doctrine of God.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It is impossible to conceive a more appropriate sentence with which to begin the inspired Book than these simple and sublime words. No definition or explanation of what is meant by God is given. A certain knowledge of God is here presupposed. As to how mankind came by the idea of God — whether it is innate, or intuitive, or a deduction of reason, or a revelation in the first instance and thereafter transmitted to all others — on this point, concerning which there has been so much speculation among philosophers, nothing is said. While the first inspired writer assumes a knowledge of God on the part of his readers, neither he nor later writers consider that knowledge complete and perfect; for a large part of their purpose in writing, as is plainly manifest, is to reveal facts and truths concerning the nature, attributes, and activities of the Divine Being. To discover and state what the Bible has revealed- concerning God is the work before us in this chapter.

The Divine Being is revealed in the Bible in part by the names given to him. The Hebrew originals of "God" and "Jehovah" represent, respectively, the ideas of "power" and "essential being." All religions had their "gods," but only the children of Israel had their "Jehovah." This name, by which he revealed himself to the chosen people (Ex. vi. 3), was derived from the verb "to be," and probably means, "He who not only is, but who causes things to be "—that is, the Creator. When God called himself (Ex. iii. 14) the "I Am," " I Am that I Am," it was but another form of ' 'Jehovah. " This was, however, among the Jews — at least among the later Jews — the l ' ineffable Name." For some cause or other, which is not now known, they never uttered it or took it "between their sin-polluted lips." In reading they always substituted for it the word Adhonai, which is translated "Lord." This latter title is in itself a most suitable name for God, in that the Divine Being is not only a God of power and One who is and causes things to be, but he is also the Sovereign and "Lord " of a kingdom, a God whose dominion is over all free and rational beings.

The most significant and appropriate of all divine names it was reserved for Christ to apply to God, and that is the name of "Father."

It had been used in a figurative sense before, but Christ revealed it as his real name, the name which, more than any other and all others', represented his real character and his true relationship to man. In revealing God to us as a Father, Christ made him a lovable Being. Hitherto he had been feared and worshiped with awe, and obeyed from a stern sense of duty; but Christ made God such a One as could be loved. Christ transformed duty to God into a willing service, a labor of love to "our Father." The "Fatherhood of God," then, may be said to represent the crowning revelation of the Bible so far as it concerns the Divine Being.