A compend of Christian divinity

Preface

In the preparation of this work for the public, we are governed by a desire for the promotion of Christian knowledge and virtue. Though all knowledge is important in its place, and there are discoveries of sublime moral and scientific truths, from a study of the nature and fitness of things, yet nothing has such power to enlarge, elevate, purify and bless the human mind, as the knowledge and love of revealed religion.

This work is a desideratum in the Universalist public. We have many able Theological productions ; but they are devoted respectively to some particular point or points of the general system of Christian doctrines, no one book comprising a complete compend or body of divinity. We often meet with inquirers after truth, who ask our reference to a book, from which they can obtain a knowledge of our views of Chris^ tianity as a whole, embracing all its essential principles. To such a book we have not been able to refer them. The difierent writers have accomplished their respective designs; but no one, of whom we know, has grasped so extensive a plan.

This is the plan undertaken by the writer of the following pages. The being of God ; his Creation of the world and all things in it : the Character of God ; his iv

PREFACE.

Law for the government of his children : the Penalties of the law, their Nature and Design ; the Judgment of Godj and the Judgment committed to Jesus Christ ; Forgiveness of Sins, viewed in relation to the Scripture doctrine of Retribution ; the Person of Jesus Christj — his Mission, and the great and glorious purpose of his mission ; the Evidences of Christianity in the Gospel History ; the Resurrection ; the Sovereignty of God and Mora] Accountability of Man ; Faith, Repentance, and the New Birth ; and the practical Influence of the Christian Doctrines on the heart and life; — all these subjects, in which are involved all the principles of faith and practice in revealed religion, are here consecutively presented, and variously argued, each being exhibited in its own distinctive features, and in its harmony with all the rest.

I have been several years contemplating this work, and preparing different portions of it, as, from time to time, my other engagements have afforded me leisure. And now, having brought it to a completion, while I am conscious of the imperfections of its execution, I send it forth in the agreeable hope, that it will be the humble means of aiding many inquiring minds on , their way to truth, to God, and to heaven.

I do not claim to represent, in all things, the entire body of Christians to which I belong. There are some minute particulars in which the true liberty of thought among us has led to a variety of opinions. Perhaps the point in which there is the greatest differ-

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V ence of opinion amongst us, is in the subject of our thirteenth chapter, the Sovereignty of God in its relation to the Accountability of Man. Bat even here the essential difference is not so great as the difference in the manner of expression. I have uttered what I take to be truth on the subject, with faithfulness and candor, I piously believe that the evasions which some Christians, of different orders, have practised in relation to this subject, are of unfavorable tendency. A fear has been entertained in respect to the moral influence of a full development of truth, Scriptural and Philosophical, on this subject. But I believe that no moral good can result from a perpetual strife of the will against the convictions of the understanding, and an effort to build virtue on forced and unsatisfactory ground. Better go with truth into all its depths and heights, and build virtue on its own legitimate, harmonious, and eternal principles. Better dig down to the solid rock, and build our house upon it, that when the winds beat upon it, and the floods come, it may stand secure.

I would not be understood as meaning that there is no discretion to be used, as to time, occasion and manner, of dwelling on certain subjects, which lie deep in the great heart of universal nature. The circulation of the blood in the physical system is an important fact, useful to be known. Yet I would not have one forever thinking, and watching and dwelling on the

heart's palpitations. Adapting the knowledge of this 1^ vi

PREFACE.

great fact, as occasion requires^ to its legitimate useful purposes, we will ordinarily leave this grand hidden work to the laws which are established for it, and go about the duties of those visible relations which belong to our common concerns. But all accessible truths, the most hidden from the superficial glance, in philosophy and revelation, it is our duty and privilege to know, and, according to its natural uses, to improve and enjoy.

It is recommended to inquirers after truth, that they commence with this work, and read it through in course. Let the Scriptures referred to in the several chapters be examined in their connexions ; and, by help of the Concordance, let the Scripture teachings generally, on the same subject, receive due attention. And in pursuit of this interesting course of study for Christian culture and improvement, let the harmony of the Christian doctrines be especially noticed, as an internal evidence of their true divinity. Let each precious truth, as you gather it on the way, be treasured up, and put to practice, that ^'your friends may have occasion to say of you as the apostle said to the Thessalonian Christians, that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.''

With regard to references to the original languages of the Scriptures, I have been as sparing of them as was deemed compatible with duty, touching the sense of the sacred text. The words Sheol, Hades, Gehen-

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vii na and Tartarus, which are all rendered hell in the Common Version, have become Anglicized by familiar discussion and use. There is no more predantry in a familiar reference to them, when discussing the passages in which they occur, than there is in the use of the term baptize^ which is the Greek word v/ith an English termination. These words should all have been permitted to stand, like baptizo^ untranslated in the Scriptures ; and then the definition and history of them would have been introduced into our English dictionaries, and the English reader of the Bible would have found easier access to some of its teachings.

The same remarks may be made on the word Aion^ in its substantive and adjective forms. If it had been invariably retained in the Common Version, untranslated, it would only have been adding another word to the English vocabulary, and the common reader would have easily gathered an idea of its proper force by observing its ample Scripture usage, and comparing text with text.

To the foregoing catalogue may be added the Greek word Krisisj which signi&es judgment, coTidemnation or punishment. It is in a few instances rendered dam- 7iation in the New Testament. The school-boy reads in the Scriptures, '^He that believeth not shall be damned ; " He shall be in danger of eternal {aioniori) damnation.'^ He goes to the English dictionary, and finds the word damn defined to signify, To doom to viii

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torments in a future state." In this manner he is deceived. He does not know that the Saviour used a synonymous verb in the passage, ^^He that believeth not shall be damned^ as where it reads, He that believeth not is condemned already; and this is the condemnation, that men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." If he had known this, he would have been likely to perceive that Jesus, in the first mentioned saying, spoke of the condemnation which is connected with unbelief, and is limited by it. And then, too, upon reading, (Mark iii. 29,) ^^Whosoever blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, hath never (not) forgiveness {eis ton aiona^ to the age,) but is in danger of eternal damnation," (aionion kinseos^ agelasting punishment,) he would be able to comprehend that the aionio7i punishment to which the Jews should be subjected for that sin, is the same aion of condemnation unto which they should not have forgiveness ; an aion which shall have ended when the fulness of the Gentiles are come in, and all Israel shall be saved, as it is written."

I do not mean, however, that the Greek word for condemnation should have been preserved in the English Version. It would not have been so convenient a word for Anglicizing. But there should have been a greater imiformity in the translation. These facts all should know, that they may not be misled by the sound of a word in the English tongue.

I have referred to other original terms, in a few in-

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ix

Stances only-j when it seemed necessary to give force to an important idea involved in the subject.

It will be observed by the reader, that I have not headed the chapters of this work with a statement of doctrines which I pledge myself in the outset to maintain. The chapters are headed with the proposed subjects of inquiry, and we follow the evidence in coming at our conclusions. Truth is our aim ; and why should a man desire to deceive himself, or to be deceived? ''Prove all things, hold fast that which is good," is a noble sentiment for human life. As we advance by the practice of this principle, we shall pluck of delicious sweets as we pass along, — and new beauties, and increasing glories will open to our view as we travel onward.

There is one important fact which I think every candid reader will distinctly perceive in the perusal of this work. We have not depended upon the doubtful criticism of a word to sustain a darling tenet. It is a phenomenon, remarkable, but not unusual, to see Doctors enlisted in the cause of dogmas, which are palpably opposed to the revealed character of God, to the avowed principles and purposes of his government, to the spirit and design of the Saviour's mission, to the acknowledged wishes of the Deity, to the deep soul-moving prayers of all good men, — in short, opposed to every holy aspiration in earth or heaven, — and there they stand, with inveterate will contending for such dogmas, by the bare instrumentality of a

X

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verbal criticism. And what must soon prove fatal to their thankless cause, is, that this very sovereign defence, their verbal criticism, is itself as great a perversion of words, as their doctrines are of principles. Gurs is a happier lot. To all the essential doctrines which are brought out and established by these investigations, we have been led as legitimate results, by following the great fundamental principles of revelation, as they flow in unbroken currents from the beginning to the end of the Inspired Volume, — principles which all sects acknowledge to gush out in the kind desires of the eternal Father, and which have the hearty AMEN of all benevolent beings. Yea, more,— all true criticism of words^ too, conducts to the same results. Shall not these doctrines stand forever?

We intended to comprise our work within the compass of 400 pages ; but when it was nearly completed in stereotype, we found ourself obliged to enlarge it by the addition of 32 pages, and were obliged to abridge the last two chapters, to avoid increasing it even to a larger size. This addition renders the work more expensive to us, and will diminish the remuneration of our own labors and outsets, — for we make no addition to the contemplated price. Our hope is that it may do good, and that it may be found worthy of a place in many a Christian family in our country and the world. Unto this end, may the blessing of God attend it.

Index

Page.

Preface, 3

CHAPTER I God — His Existence, 13

CHAPTER n.

CHAPTER HI.

The Character of God, .33

CHAPTER IV.

God as the Lawgiver. — Nature and Design of the Law, . . 50 CHAPTER V.

Section L — Nature and Design of the Penalties, ... 59 Section H.— Controverted Terms, Designating and Qualifying

Punishment, 72

The term Hell, from Sheol and Hades, .... 73

Gehenna, 80

Tartarus, 96

Aion and Aionios, Forever and Everlasting, . . . 105

CHAPTER VI.

Judgment by Jesus Christ, 123

CHAPTER VH.

CHAPTER VIH.

The Person of Christ. Who is He ? 168

Section I. — An Examination, by the Light of Scripture, of

Prevailing Opinions concerning Christ, . . 168 Section II. — A more particular View of the New Testament

Teachings of the Person of Christ, . . .183 Section III. — Christ the Image of God, and Exalted in his Glory, 198 xii * INDEX.

CHAPTER IX.

Page.

Section I. — Erroneous Views Examined. — Christ suffered not

Infinite Wrath as a Substitute for Man, . . 210

Section III. — The General Purpose of the Saviour's Mission, 228 Objections, 263

CHAPTER X.

The Christ of the New Testament the Messiah of the Old, . . 273 CHAPTER XI.

CHAPTER XH.

Resurrection of the Just. ....... 352

Shall we know each other in Heaven ? .... 368

On the Time of the Resurrection, ..... 370

CHAPTER Xm.

The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God, and Moral Accountability of Man, ,386

Section L — The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God^ . 386 Section II. — The Sovereignty of God and Accountability of

Man, Harmonized, 399

CHAPTER XrV.

Faith, Repentance, and the New Birth, 412

Faith, 412

Repentance, 415

CHAPTER XV.

The Influence of Christianity in forming the Life, . . . 425

COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

CHAPTER 1.

GOD. HIS EXISTENCE.

The beginning of all things is God. This fundamental truth the Scriptures declare distinctly, and with power. There is one God.'' And it is interesting to go often out into an exploration of the works of Godj for living confirmations of his blessed word. ^^For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.''

Indulge your thoughts in meditation, and you are impressed with the evidence of power, pre-existent, and all-controlling. You awake into being without your own volition, and by the operation of a law mysterious as existence itself, which no man instituted. You breathe and you see, by mechanisms which you contrived not, and which you can never understand. Your lungs are inflated by an atmosphere which you formed not ; and you are warmed and enlightened by a sun which you did not create. Regardless of your consent, you are driven through space a thousand miles every hour by the earth's diurnal rotation; and more than sixty-eight thousand miles an hour by its 2

COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

annual revolution. Thus you are plunged into the darkness of night ; and anon you are roused with the brightness of day. And thus you are driven to your firesides by the freezing cold of Winter ; and you are again called forth to the airy field by the enlivening warmth and the cheering song of Spring. You can plantj to be sure, and you can sow; but you could never have contrived a seed with vegetative power, nor will the winds and rains obey orders from you. The grain you sow, and the grass upon which your cattle feedj grow by a process which you could never have contrived, and which your boasted powers of reason are unable to copy.

When you commence your existence, it is under circumstances of which you have no control ; and you are conscious of being, to a great extent, disposed of through life by powers not your own. And when your boasted selves go hence, and your mortal powers lie motionless in death, no wheel in nature stops for want of you ; — the power which brought you here, and upheld you here a season, moves on its mighty works when you are gone.

But unseen power is not all the invisible essence, which the mind discovers in the works of nature. Intelligence is no less manifest than power. We see design in the things around us. And design involves counsel ; and counsel involves intelligence.

In the agreement of parts in nature, and the adaptation of things to certain useful ends, we have demonstrative proof of counsel and design. For what purpose does the earth perform its annual ecliptic circuit around the sun ? It is to bring about the pleasing and profitable variety of seasons. And for what purpose does the earth revolve daily on its axis ? It is to pro?

GOD — HIS EXISTENCE.

duce the necessary interchange of day and night. And to furnish this regular and frequent interchange of day and night, is precisely as a world must have been planned, to be a fit abode of such creatures as inhabit our globe. We need frequent seasons of repose in sleep ; and the darkness of night is adapted to our want. How much better suited to the purpose of quiet and refreshing sleep is the sable darkness, which hushes all the world to silence and sleep at once, than would be the glare of perpetual day, with the world in bustle all around. And how kindly for man is the arrangement, fixing for him his seasons of rest, rather than that he, anxious to push his labors forward, should have been left to select for himself. A further purpose of good is answered by the interchange of day and night, in the healthful coolness of the atmosphere, and the refreshment afforded vegetation. The coolness combines with the darkness of the evening to invite us to rest ; and the freshness combines with the light of the morning to urge us again to labor.

Another pleasing manifestation of design, proving the existence of an intelligent Being to calculate, is in the construction of the atmosphere. It is so contrived as to break the rays of the sun into a pleasant light and genial warmth, to supply us with breath and convey sound ; and also to buoy up vapors, and discharge them in gentle showers upon the earth's surface. If it were not for this element, contrived just as it is, it would have been in vain that we were furnished with such wonderfully constructed lungs, for we could not have breathed; — it would have been in vain that we were furnished with such curiously organized ears, for we could not have heard ; — it would have been in vain that eyes were given us, for we could not have seen ; —

C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

and it would have been in vain that the seeds of all trees and herbs were in the ground, for they could not have been watered by fructifying showers, nor warmed by genial suns. Nor with this mysterious element, could light, or heat, or showers have blessed us, if there had been no sun to operate upon it. What a wonderful calculation upon ends, and unerring adaptation of means !

See also the proof of counsel and design, in the correspondence between the wants of all sentient creatures, and the provisions which are furnished for their sustenance. Every creature finds a provision furnished, which agrees with its constitutional wants; and the form of its body, and of all its members, is accommodated to its use in procuring the provision, required.

Why have there not been animals brought into being, with constitutional wants that have no corresponding provision ] And why has it not happened that the construction of the bodies and limbs of animals was incompatible with the climate they were made to inhabit, and unsuitable for use in supplying their natural wants ? Why had not the raindeer, who loves upon hard sharp hoofs to prance over fields of ice, the soft flagging feet of the tropical camel ? Why had not the lion that roars for his prey, the hoofs and the teeth of the domestic horse? ^Vhy had not the ox, whose stomach craves the herbs and grass of the field, the neck and the mouth of the fishes of the sea? And why had not the lungs, or the substitute for lungs, of the fishes of the sea, been placed in the winged and plumed bodies of the fowls of the air ? Why no such incongruities ? Why, even in those things which derive their existence from proximate

GOD HIS EXISTENCE.

sources independent of each other, is there such precise and adaptable agreement, wherever such agreement is needful ? It is because there is a GOD, answers reason, Avhose wisdom and understanding planned, when his power produced these things.

Surely that man must be in a strange delirium, who imagines that all this agreement of parts in the universal whole, and this wise adaptation of means to the production of useful and needful ends, is brought about by a power as blind and senseless as the abstract whirlwind. While he laughs at credulity, a blind credulity is his only faith. He is blind to the evidence of truth, and believes the harder side. For the existence of intelligence to plan and direct in what we call the works of nature, is as evident as that there is power to produce. We can as clearly see that things exist for certain definite purposes, as that they exist at all.

But I cannot find in all creation a stronger impress of the Creator's wisdom, than in you, for whom I pen these cogitations. Every bone, muscle, sinew, nerve, artery, vein, in your bodies, is jointed, placed and strung, precisely as it should be for the purposes of life and motion, suited to your mode of being and sphere of action. And the senses are exactly adapted to the purposes of enjoyment. When I consider the consummate wisdom and skill in the construction of the organs of taste^ by which we test the quality of the sustenance received, and derive pleasure from the mandication of the food we eat; — and in the organs of smelly by which we detect what is unsavory before we receive it, and are delighted with the fragrance of sweet spices and flowers ; — and of sight^ by which we direct our steps in safety, and survey the delightful 2=^ beauties and glories of creation around us ;— of hearings to hold sweet social converse, and to feast upon the harmony of sounds, and the rich tones of friendship and love; — and especially when I consider the construction of the mind, to reason and judge on what you hear and see, to store up the abundant treasures of knowledge, truth and virtue, and to '4ook through nature up to nature's God," — I exclaim with the Psalmist, The/(9o/ hath said in his heart, there is no God." Surely ^'the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead."

St. Paul speaks of feeling after and finding God. He who habitually disciplines his mind and moral affections, by the study of the word and works of God, and the communion of his spirit, will acquire the power to perceive the being and enjoy the presence of the eternal Father.

Chapter II. God As The Creator

In the foregoing chaptetj we have recognized the being of God, as it is declared in the Scriptures, and attested by the voice of nature. This second chapter is substantially a continuation of the same subject, — relating to God, however, more directly as the Creator of the world, and especially of man.

The Scripture teachings of God's authorship of the world and its furniture, are put forth in the simple authority of truth. There is no shade of doubtfulness, no fear of contradiction. As a truth known of God, and belonging to man, the inspired witnesses utter it in sublime assurance. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." ''So God made man in his own image," ''And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth."

But this Bible doctrine in relation to the origin of our race, some are disposed to question, even to cast away. And what better account do they give us 7 None. When they discard the Bible testimony, they are lost. Their folly becomes manifest, and their confusion is pitiable. Yes ; after all the vain contradictions of men, the Bible account of the origin of man is the only philosophical, as well as the only authenticated account, attained or attainable. Go and examine all the guesses of skeptics, who, in their proud haste to make a masterly leap above the weakness of credulity, plunge from rational faith into the merest

COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

credulity itself. How will they account for the beginning of our race 7

Sometimes they will say that the human species was without beginning, existing from eternity. Was there ever then a first pair, male and female, who are self-existent, and without beginning? Then they had existed from eternity when they first had an issue; and being self-existent, they had a necessary and independent being, immortal of course, and are somewhere in existence now. Where are they? They are not transported to any other world, — for such a change of worlds would require a miracle ;— and in miracles the skeptic has no belief. They must be somewhere on the earth, an eternity old ! and we should be pleased to see them. They are of course flesh and blood, objects of sight; and we crave an introduction to that first man and woman, who were without beginning, self-existent, and independent !

No ; they will not finally admit that there was a first pair, or any individual, without beginning. It is the species, the succession of individuals, and not a single individual, that was without beginning. But this hypothesis explodes itself. If there was no individual self-existent from eternity, then every individual of the human race had a beginning. And if every individual of our species had a beginning, then the whole race had a beginning. So, also, if the whole race had a beginning, there was a first individual, or first pair, that began to be. How did they begin ? This question returns upon us.

We know that the first man must have been produced in a manner different from the present descent of one generation from another preceding ; for the first man had no preceding generation of men to produce

GOD AS THE CKEATOR.

him. To say that the first pair were produced by the rich mud of Egypt, is too silly to bespeak the sincerity of those who assert it. Honorable minded man ! So ambitious of the credit of denying the existence and creative agency of God, as to ascribe thine own noble being to the original creation of the senseless mud of Egypt ! Go, then, take of the Egyptian clay, and in * filial homage worship it, — for it is thy Creator.

But if the fermentation of senseless matter, or any natural operation of the laws of the material world, produced the first human bemg, why does not the same cause produce such beings now ? Should a wild man be found in the woods, would infidels believe that he had grown up out of the ground with the trees and shrubs ] or that an accidental concurrence of atoms had formed him ? They would scout the thought. They do not, in fact, believe that there is power in senseless matter to work out such results.

Let your thoughts dwell for a moment on the idea of unconscious matter going at work to create a human being. The particles which are requisite for the purpose come together, and form a skeleton of bones, providing such pieces, all in their due form, as are requisite for the head, body and limbs, — and all measured and jointed, and perfectly adapted to the future motion and convenience of the wonderful creature that is about to be. But these can never be of service, unless there are ropes and cords provided for moving them: and so another description of particles comes out from the arcana of nature, and they form themselves into tough and elastic cords, adapted in size and strength to the stations they are to take, — and they string around this skeleton of bones, fastening themselves here and there : and where bands at the

COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

joints are needful to keep them in place, new particles volunteer their service to form bands where they are required ; and where loops are wanted, through which for the cords to pass in order to draw the bones in the right direction, other particles come up and form such loops, taking care that they shall be so adjusted as to give the pulleys free and effective action by them. But these cords cannot serve their purpose without a moving process ; and so another troop of particles volunteer themselves, and form into muscles, which take their stations so as to draw the ropes in the required directions, and assume such size in the different stations, as their labor in such stations may demand. And now another provision must be had. When the skeleton of bones is strung with cords, and these, properly banded and looped, are bedded and hitched in muscles, — and these, furthermore, are all wrapped and secured in a beautiful covering of skin, there must be some method of communicating motion to the muscles, and impelling them to draw the ropes in the desired direction. For this purpose a more subtle class of particles combine, — all senseless matter, no intelligence, no power of designing, — they happen to fall together in such a manner as to produce a sensorium and will, a will to command the motion of the muscles in every part of the system, with an authority to be obeyed. But to give action even to the will which commands the muscles, the blood must be provided, and circulation given it; and a breathing apparatus must be furnished, — and life, which none of these particles themselves possess, must be given this organized body. For the breathing apparatus can neither give life, nor act without it. Its action is a means of perpetuating life in the system, but it cannot give it.