The great law book...

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The Great Law Book.

THE KINGDOM AND REIGN

* OF THE

Preface

"We have not taken our pen at this time to apologize for what we have here written, but because we have not been able to write and present it to the reader in a manner more satisfactory to ourself. Seven or eight years ago we took the Bible with the single object of collating a Book of Precepts for the use of man, all men, everywhere, in every condition and circumstance of life. We had not proceeded far before our plan was enlarged, so as to comprehend every subject treated of in that wonderful book : and it was not until we had collated and arranged, under appropriate heads, about 16,000 verses of the Old and New Testaments, that we met with similar works of other men, which, to a good degree, seemed to meet the exigency demanded, except in regard to the subject of " The Great Law Book," herein presented; "The Words of Christ," just published, " The Great Statute Book : Divine Precepts and Judgments, for the Government of Man, with Bevealed Commentaries upon them," which is being prepared.

When commencing this Great Work we contemplated only one volume ; but, in our estimation, it has arisen to infinite upon infinite, infinite upon infinite. Instead of exhausting the subjects, or saying half we wished to say, not half we have written, have we yet had time or strength to present, for public inspection. Even in this volume, in many cases, thoughts have been presented as given, (not by superhuman revelation, but in the way of God's appointment: "if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not,") and often repeated, from want of health, and competent help to condense and arrange them more systematically. But if the work possesses no other merit, it unquestionably has this, thought upon thought, and not unfrequently new, it is said, and line upon line, imitating in this particular the sacred writers of our Bible.

With pen and paper before us, to consider these important and sublime subjects; and, when on our knees we sought from God the needful aid, we pledged him, if He would give us his aid and guide our pen, it should follow his directions wherever it might lead us. But little did we think of writing such a book as the present one. And iv

PREFACE.

we thought still less of the many toilsome days and sleepless nights, wasting our physical energies and drying up almost every spark of vitality, necessary to the prosecution of such an enterprise. Yes, we little thought of all this, and of the many things a New-Englander, born, and educated, and converted in their most strictly puritanic schools, would have to unlearn ; how many prejudices and prepossessions, which had been accumulating for half a century, would have to be given up ; and how many old and long-tried friends, in the Church and out of it, might thereby be repulsed, if not entirely alienated. But we had vowed unto the Lord, and must not defer to pay. He has, to the letter, we believe, performed his part of the contract ; and we wish to perform ours, cost what it may.

In justice to our readers, as well as on our own account, it should be understood that many of the following thoughts were hastily penned by the author, as mere memoranda, to be, at a future time, amplified, systematized, and arranged for this book, when the plan should have been perfected, and all the material therefor gathered, as is our usual custom.

It is now about two years since most of the present work has been in this shape ; not that we were not ready, and very anxious to publish it, but because our eyesight had failed, and past efforts had prostrated our whole physical system. Being therefore unable to prepare the work satisfactorily to ourselves, and the difficulty of safely intrusting this amplification and organization to others, the only alternative seemed to be to publish it, in its present shape, or perhaps not at all. We have therefore arranged and tied together, as best we could, under the circumstances, a few of the very many thoughts on these subjects, penned as they occurred to us, from time to time. This is our only apology for giving them to the public in this somewhat repetitious and desultory manner.

We rejoice that our views, gathered from conversation and the few papers heretofore published in other forms, have been spreading, sometimes from the pulpit, sometimes from periodicals, and even from highly valuable books. Our main helps — indeed, we may truthfully say, almost our only helps — in preparing these papers, except our memory of ecclesiastical and profane history, have been the Bible, especially the New Testament, and our own reflections. For in vain have we sought, before or since, to find authors, ancient or modern, who could aid in many an emergency, which long would seem to be desperate, when at last, fight has beamed from above to dispel the darkness, remove the prejudice, and imprint truth in virgin beauty, never before discovered. It is not that Hand Books, Manuals, Institutes, Catechisms, Statute Books, Law Books, Histories of the Church and State Governments, Political and Ecclesiastical, ancient and modern, Christian, Jewish, Mohammedan and Pagan, etc., etc., in great numbers, were not at hand, nor were the labors of others undervalued, but because they had, all of them, taken other views, which were unsatisfactory to our mind. They failed to meet our desires for this peculiar occasion.

We have not strength of body, however desirable it might be, to expatiate on the great variety of matter presented, but must leave

PREFACE.

V the reader to examine for himself and supply any deficiency, and correct any defects that may be discovered, either in matter or manner of execution, for many a page has been written with a faint heart and trembling hand, and with eye-sight so dim as to leave it impossible to read a single paragraph of it. Under such circumstances some parts of each chapter have been written, and hurried together, while yet the author might be able to advise in putting it together, and hearing the proof read.

The Christian Dispensation has received far more thought and attention than either of the others ; much of which still remains to be presented. Indeed, but for this, and to render more clear and plain our views, much that has been said on them would have found no place here, being of less importance in these last times.

"When presenting a subject for the consideration of others, especially when it has engaged, and is still engaging, the most lofty intellects, the ablest scholars, the humble Christian, and the aspiring Pharisee ; a subject upon which have been written thousands of volumes, scarcely any two of which agree, and which have left the world almost as much in the dark as before they appeared; it is difficult to know where to begin ; what plan to pursue ; and when enough has been said: suffice it to say, that it has been our endeavor to exhibit a plain, unpretending, common-sense view, resulting from a protracted, most thorough and honest examination of every word and sentence uttered by the Founder of this new and last dispensation ; and of its statutes and discipline, as recorded by the Evangelists in the New Testament. And here again, more than in the foregoing, have we been led by a way we knew not, and least expected.

It has so often been said by those supposed to know, and whose praise was in the churches, that Christ prescribed no specific rules for the government of his Church, but left it to the wisdom and fidelity of his Apostles, perhaps to other disciples coming after them, to enact, amend, abridge, alter, or annul, as might be dictated by the ambition, selfishness, caprice, or an honest desire for the highest good of all, as the case might happen to be ; that our great surprise has resulted not from finding so little in Christ's teachings on this point, and that, too, quite ambiguous, as from finding such a flood of light, such perspicuity, particularity, and definiteness; such specific and peremptory commands, adapted to, and intended for, all time, all people, and under every circumstance, even to the second coming of our Lord.

"Were we now to admit that the King who is to rule over all, and whose Kingdom is to embrace all others, and last forever, has enacted no definite rules by which his people shall be governed as well as judged in the last great day, it would be at the expense of all reason as well as truth — and it is hoped that in the sequel it will be found, even as we believe : surely, if there are no rules of government, no explicit commands to be obeyed, no definite Law existing, then there can be no sin ; for where no law is, there can be no transgression.

But suppose we admit, for a moment, that no definite rules have been given, but that discretionary power was given to the Apostles, or each body of believers, in every place and age, and what would

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PREFACE.

be the result? Just what Satan, and every other enemy of the Gospel, would desire — so many rules, so inadequate and unadapted, would arise, as to leave the brotherhood in a state of confusion, uncertainty, assumption, oppression, and anarchy ; so that, instead of a community of interest and unity of feeling, we should have just what is now seen ; not because there is no specific rule for the government of this Kingdom, but because its enemies have succeeded in making its subjects believe the lie, so ancient and often repeated, that " there is no" general rule. Should we succeed in adding another ray to the light already exhibited, thereby showing more clearly the character of God, honoring the Law, and removing the imputation of forgetfulness, carelessness, incapacity, or willful disregard, on the part of Christ, of the best interests of his Kingdom, the great desire of our heart will be realized.

And now to the words of the King. We have found them full of directions as to our thoughts, desires, words, and actions ; not overlooking, however, our faith in him, as the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the great, cardinal virtue necessary to our corning to Him, that we may have life. When He commands, all may understand him. Whenever He teaches, all is plain* even "the weyfaring man, though a fool need not err therein." None, therefore, need be surprised when we attempt to bring them back, and confine them to his express, explicit teachings, touching the Law and the discipline of his Kingdom. If He has given rules best adapted to the government of his people, it certainly can be discovered. If He has not, then the fact will be no less evident : but should the Law and the Precepts be made manifest, it will be the imperative duty of all men to acknowledge and abide by them. That such may be the result, is the ardent prayer of

The Author.

Chapter I. The Bible

" Eveky word of God is pure. Add thou not unto his words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it."— Prov. 80 ; 56 ; Isa. 8 : 20 ; Ps. 119 : 140, 189. See Rev. 22 : 18, 19.

Our Bible is a wonderful Book ; and so say all religionists of their sacred books ; the Hindoo of his Shaster, the Mohammedan of his Koran, the Parsees of their Zendavesta, the Mormon of his Book, etc., etc. ; nevertheless the Bible, the divinely inspired Word, is infinitely superior to them alL as it contains truths old and new, with no mixture of error. For whatever God speaks is as true, consistent, and important as what He does. And if any thing could or should be found in the numerous writers of the Bible that is not true, or accordant with his works and ways, it surely would not be his word.

But the sacred books of all other religions are a commixture of truth and falsehood, reality and fiction, wisdom and folly, because their origin is of men. And all the marks of real wisdom which they exhibit were doubtless derived from traditionary notions of the true God, from the Scriptures, or from the study of his works and ways : for He is to be known in all the works of his hand, and the course of his providence, as well as the voice of his Spirit — " the invisible things of him from the creation of the world being clearly seen," etc. (Rom. 1 : 20.) Before the Bible, men had a conscience : they always had one, which, unimpaired, would accuse or excuse, and leave its possessors without apology if they fell into sin. To the conscience are added the aid and evidence of the natural law — the law or constitution of our being, by which we may learn what is good and useful or bad and hurtful — what is holy, and what is sinful. But God has in mercy added the evidence of the Bible.

There is one fact in this matter, however, which deserves particular notice, and prompt and implicit imitation on the part of the devotee of the Bible, the Christian's sacred book. Notwithstanding its vast superiority in every respect over other sacred books so-called, especially those of the pagan and the infidel, its salutary influence is often nearly or quite lost in regard to uniformity of belief and practice on the paxt of its professed advocates and adherents. The Hin-

THE GREAT LAW BuOK.

doos and Mohammedans, for instance, and their followers, observe them to the very letter. "Whatever their books prescribe is strictly and literally obeyed. "Whatever they forbid or enjoin, is their supreme law ; and not what this or that one may prefer to it, as is often done by the pretended friends of the Bible, who change the letter and spirit too, for something nearly analogous to it, especially when it relates to action rather than belief. But not so with the followers of most other religious systems. Whatever their books say, has the effect to silence all controversy : a Hindoo is generally a Hindoo, a Mohammedan is a Mohammedan still, at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances ; and they do not take the liberty to enact statutes, each for themselves, as the nominal Christian often does, producing the divided, 1 and consequently hurtful ranks of sectarianism. "We too often forget that " the Bible, the Bible abne, contains the religion of Protestants."

Now we Christians have before us, as it were, three books, namely, those of creation and providence, and the written word, each bearing unequivocal marks of a common, divine origin, infinite in wisdom, order, benevolence, and power. Hence they must all be true, harmonious, and supremely important, claiming consideration and respect from all men. Man needs but a just comprehension of these books, in order to know, admire, love, and confide in their Author. It is the fool only who says there is no G-od. It is too late, since modern science has shed her light, since Nineveh, yea, the old Assyrian world has been exhumed, to testify for the Bible, to be skeptical on a subject of such unutterable importance as that which brings "life and immortality to light;" which treats of G-od, of his Son, and of the Holy G-host ; of angels, of heaven and hell ; of myriads of worlds and all things in them ; of man especially, his relations and obligations, both to his Creator, his neighbor, and himself ; which tells him of his sin and danger, and how and when he may escape from a deserved perdition, and fly to a benignant heaven. For such are the high topics of the Book of books. Nay more, it speaks of the whole realm of spirituality, as well as of the physical universe. It tells us of the devil and his works, and how evil entered the creation of God, as well as of the instituted means of its expulsion ; of man, in all his conditions, relationships, and experience, as a race and as an individual ; of existences in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; of the sciences and arts ; of the seasons, day and night, cold and heat, seed-time and harvest. There is not a department of science in which this holy oracle does not utter its voice. Natural history and natural philosophy contribute equally to its elucidation. It treats also of governments, divine and human, obedience and disobedience, belief and unbelief, hope and fear, joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity, honor and dishonor, riches and poverty, liberty and slavery, health and sickness, life and death, time and eternity, judgments and mercies, promises and threatenings, faith and worship, justice, purity, charity, generosity, contentment, benevolence, truth, falsehood, etc. And we must go to the Bible as the fountain of our liberties, civil, political, social, and religious. It is the

THE BIBLE.

true Magna Charta of all our rights, and of the rights of all. It is too late now to shut our eyes to the flood of light thus bursting upon us through all these channels of knowledge ; from above, and beneath, and all around, identifying the Author of the written Scriptures with the Author of that " elder scripture," the book of Nature and of Providence. And oh ! for a heart suitably to love and adore ; for a voice appropriately to set forth the goodness and mercy of Him who has done so much for man, in giving him the Book !

But again, the Bible is the oldest written book ; the most lucid and reliable, instructive, comprehensive, perfect, interesting, learned, invigorating, elevating, purifying, refining, and ennobling of all books. We can not overstate the infinite variety and value of its items of information, and of its communications to the sum of human knowledge. Its annunciations outweigh in importance, even to the life of man on earth, all that ever fell from angel or men. Its title to universal and unlimited confidence is perfect, reflecting, too, like a mirror, the image both of God and of man ; and, like the daguerreotype, impressing on the believing soul the attributes and the character of its wondrous Maker. It accomplishes a work in man and for man, which the magnificent volume of the visible creation, and the living language of Providence have never been able so fully to effect.

The Bible is a book of history, realized and anticipated, of the past and of that which is to come. It is mainly and essentially historical ; yet we may also say that it is so far forth also an inspired commentary upon all that is, was, and is to be. And, as such, it is a most gracious gratuity. God might justly have left us— when He ceased to address us orally — to depend on traditional instruction, as to what He has been saying for these six thousand years. And what is mere tradition, but the blind leading the blind ? Now we have, in the Bible, indisputably, a true history from God, and of God, and a true manifesto of the divine will, and of man, and his duty. Its prophetic part is but history by anticipation, or future history, written before the event, and fixed as due and certain on the unchangeable time-tables of the universe. For the All-wise knows, and has always known the end from the beginning; and He had only to say to his servants, " Take your pens, and write thus ;" and what they should then write on parchment would, and must, in due time be written in the living characters of fact, and become the subjects of history proper.

Again, the Bible is a book descriptive of the Law, Order, or original constitution of things ; of man's being, the demands of his nature; of all being; and of the primitive natural law by which they are governed and controlled. It is not, strictly speaking, the law, so much as a shadowing forth, or explicit and luminous exposition of it, so that all men seeing it may know their necessities, and the ample provisions made for them ; while it warns them of their utter inability to make out a way for themselves, and to direct their own steps. It is a history of the Law, or great plan of God's operations, so far as man is concerned to know ; or, in other words, the revealed constitution of being. The commandments here recorded are not the

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THE GREAT LAW BOOK.

Law, but one chosen method of pronmlging it, and thereby publishing the will of God, which is perfectly consonant, and eternally contemporaneous with the divine constitution of things. This has been done that man, the subject, may know more perfectly the law of his being, and thus be taught in the easiest manner how to conform thereto.

The Divine Being has, in this volume, been pleased to notify human agents of the consequences, here and hereafter, of a violation of this law, as much as to say: How the law is fixed; if you conform your lives to it, it will be well with you : if you do not, I can not prevent its being ill with you : for now you are, in view of it, to form a character, by little and little, which, consistently with your free agency, I can not change or obliterate. If that character be good, as I in this book command you to form it, you can not but be blessed ; if bad, be accursed. You now, in view of all this, and of the examples of obedience which I have therein caused to be recorded, must act for yourself freely. I institute no compulsory measures. Choose and live — reject and die. Here, then, is a history of God's will and desire as we find them in the written word.

The Bible is a book of precepts, covering the whole matter of duty ; enjoining the right, and forbidding the wrong ; and allowing to none the privilege of making or obeying any other : as well as a publication of a system of rewards and punishments, duly to sanction alL Indeed we are here taught all things to be learned or unlearned, to be done or avoided, to be believed or discredited, received or rejected, loved or hated. Thns is it the wisdom of God condescending to teach us ; the munificence of Christ, manifested in a perfect rule of human conduct ; the fruit of the Spirit, hanging before us on every branch of the tree of life.

The Book has been summed up by its Author into ten principal words, or precepts, called TTtti Commandments. These He caused to be divided, and written on two tables of stone : the first relating to man's duties to his Creator, the second, to his duties to himself and his fellow-man. Under one or the other of these general precepts may most appropriately be arranged the entire moral contents of this wonderful Book. The Ten Commandments speak of, L One God; 2. His worship; 3. Hallowing his name; 4. Labor and rest; 5. Social obligations : 6. Injuring no one ; 7. Obstructing not their increase ; 8. Invading not their possessions ; 9. Tarnishing not thenreputation ; 10. Coveting not another's. Or otherwise expressed thev are a directory, with respect to, L God ; 2. Worship ; S. Manners: 4. Occupation of time ; 5. Submission to authority ; 6. Charity and humanity; 7. Our character ; 8. Our property; 9. Truth and sincerity; 10. Our desires. Again, they guard, 1. Jehovah's supremacy; 2. The purity of His worship ; 3. His holy name ; 4. His day ; 5. All good governments ; 6. Men's persons ; 7. Their purity; 8. Their property; 9. Their speech; 10. Our desires. This law' requires, L That we believe in God; 2. That we serve Him only; 3. That we speak reverently of Him ; 4. That we improve our time ; 5. That we honor our superiors ; 6. That we do good to all ; 7. That we be

THE BIBLE.

continent; 8. That we be just; 9. That we be truthful; 10. That we be generous. Another form of statement. I am the Lord. 1. Have no other; 2. Make no likeness of any; 3. Profane not my name ; 4. Improve your and my days ; 5. Be obedient ; 6. Do no murder ; 7. Be chaste ; 8. Be honest ; 9. Be veracious ; 10. Be content. And thus may the variations of their expression be varied almost indefinitely, covering, as they do, the whole ground of human obligation, in all its diverse, ethical phases.

Love— to G-od and to man — is the brief but comprehensive summary of the whole. A monosyllable — love, is the condensed expression of the whole Decalogue. In this spiritual and universal form it stands forth in its essential, eternal unity, with the Gospel, which is a history of Redeeming Love, set forth in the life and death of the only Lawfulfiller, and a new revelation in the flesh of the true, original Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. In Jesus alone and first, did the holy law become actualized in man's will.

In general, the poetry of the Bible is the language of holy love ; its praise and thanksgiving, the gushings of grateful, benevolent hearts. And all true faith and prayer, in our world, flow forth from this pious fountain, opened in Scripture, and are the result of that enlightened, subdued, and filial spirit, which is both inculcated in this message from Heaven, and guaranteed to all who will accept it.

The light communicated through this written channel has been progressive and cumulative. The dispensations it records have been successive and perfective. Still, through them all, the religion they embody and have taught was essentially one and the same. G-od existed with certain fixed attributes ; man, the fallen, was, as now, to be raised to favor. And all must be done with a view to this end.

In order the better to understand this word, it is necessary to acquaint ourselves, as nearly as possible, with the chronological order in which it was communicated to the various writers ; when, where, and under what circumstances they wrote ; the modes of thought, habits, customs, and language used and understood by the writers and the people around them : and also with the geography of the countries, and the many and material changes which words then used have in some instances undergone during the thousands of years which have intervened since the first and even the last was written.

Were this word to-day to be spoken to the people of the United States, or England and Scotland, in plain vernacular language, which we understand, as it was to Moses, to Daniel, or Malachi, to Matthew, John, and Peter, in a language which they understood, most assuredly should we also know what was communicated, as clearly as they did. For a revelation which reveals nothing is no revelation ; or if so dark and obscure as to admit of many meanings, as different as they are numerous, it would be often injurious, if not useless. Surely the blessed Spirit had both capacity and honesty to make his mind and will equally intelligible to the men of all ages.

And neither can the Divine Spirit have willed, or the Divine "Word have led to, a misunderstanding of the message, or even to any corruption of the terms in which it was originally delivered ; so luminous with truth as they must have been.

THE GREAT LAW BOOK.

In this Book alone have we "a Body of Divinity," worthy of the name. How often do we find this presumptuous title given to a volume of human speculations, or to a dry, metaphysical system of dogmatic propositions ! But in the Bible we have the True System of Theology ; the one given by the Holy Ghost. In comparison with it, the works of all systematizers are but oppositions, or impositions. Its pages alone are untainted by the virus of sectarianism, untrammelled by the chains of prejudice and earth-born passion. And one of its characteristic excellences, as "every man's Book of Divinity," is, that it presents Truth's lessons to her scholar, man, consecutively, according to the necessary chronological laws of mental reception, and conception — speaks and writes the first thing first, the second thing second, and so on with respect to every subject of which the Scriptures treat. There is no misplacing of No. 1 for No. 5, and No. 20 for No. 6, etc., to make out a sectarian, disjointed theory, that may mean something, or nothing, or every thing which a sect may desire. This is a kind of theological work, that every man or woman may make, who, disregarding the true principles of Scripture collocation, capriciously displaces or dislocates what is contained in Holy "Writ, for the regulation of our faith and practice. But would we know the mind of the Spirit, our infallible Teacher, we must lay aside our sectarian partialities, and, in child-like simplicity, receive the engrafted word, as it has pleased him to set it in order before us, and not as our pride would suggest, or our ignorance conceive to be the best way of communication. Proceeding in this manner, we shall find our eye directed from point to point, in the order of the divine arrangement, and of historical development ; and our mind will be able to grasp the mighty whole, from first to last, in the most natural and impressive manner ; and each reader and hearer will thereby be assisted to climb the sacred ladder of Scripture, " without note or comment;" and the confused hubbub of wrangling sectarians will soon be unheard in the distance, and the long-lost unity of the people of G-od on earth be realized again, in the free and pure atmosphere of Bible Christianity. Let all the sincere friends of truth take this stand-point, and we shall have no more occasion to apprehend coming crops of men-formed bodies of Divinity, and to tremble lest there should be more arrows yet, dipped in gall, remaining in the quivers of the numberless sectarists, who exist, as we fear, rather to curse than to bless mankind. Oh I when will every thing be banished from this distracted world, which breaks the holy peace of Christ's kingdom, and transforms brethren into fierce anathematizers of one another !