The problem of Methodism

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE

Preface

The following treatise is the result of years of investigation. The conclusions which we have adopted are the most reasonable and scriptural solution of the difficult problem involved. If there be those who can not accept our views, we shall think none the less of them for it. We claim the right to think and investigate, and we accord the same to others. If any man has any new light to shed upon the problem we have discussed, let him speak in the fear of God and the love of the truth, and we will hear him patiently. As truth is the pearl we prize above rubies, if we are in error we are ready to receive new light. We are not so shut up to our views but that we are ready to adopt any theory of the divine life which is more reasonable and scriptural than the one we have adopted.

Our object is not to lower the standard of Christian experience, but to remove some of the confusion which has gathered around it, and place it where the inspired writers left it.

While we have called in question some opinions

Preface.

of our standard authors, yet our views quadrate with our Articles of Faith, and are in harmony with our Standards so far as they are in harmony with themselves. We allow no one to esteem our standard authors more highly than we do, but we do not believe that they are infallible any more than the Pope of Koine. If we did not believe that we have thrown new light on some points we would not offer another book on this often investigated subject; but believing this, this volume is sent forth on its mission by the Author.

Introduction

Dr. Thoenwell truly says: "We love opinions instead of truth. Education becomes second nature — the dogmas of the one are mistaken for the instructions of the other. So we quietly accept as intuitively obvious, that which we learned in the nursery — hence, error is perpetuated from age to age. One generation transmits a large legacy of errors to another; and the dream of tranquillity is not disturbed until some emergency arises, which compels examination and enforces inquiry."

But even then, the world js slow to give up longreceived opinions. Every new idea advanced is weighed and criticised to see if it agrees with preconceived opinions, instead of trying it by the standard of reason and the word of God. Though Luther and Melanchthon succeeded in breaking loose from the leading errors of Romanism, they did not live long enough to give to the world a system of doctrine complete and harmonious in every part. A work of such magnitude as the Reformation could not easily be accomplished in one gener-

Introduction.

ation. The errors of the " Dark Ages" were many, deep, and radical. But, by the aid of science and a more thorough study of the Bible, many of the tenets in that stupendous compilation called Orthodoxy have been modified; as time moved on new errors were discovered, exposed, and finally renounced ; and still the work is not done.

My idea is that we make a mistake in calling any of our systems orthodox — even the best of them. They are all imperfect; they all contain error — perhaps a good deal of it. In making up our Creed, we ought to start with the idea of choosing between imperfect orthodoxies, and not between one orthodoxy and a hundred heterodoxies; then take the one which on the whole presents the fewest difficulties and fits the largest number of ascertained facts. I would not dare to frame a form of words, however clear to my mind, and say to another man: Accept this, or you are not orthodox. " The Lord has more truth yet to break out of his holy word." I can not sufficiently bewail the condition of those who have come to a period in religion. Luther, Calvin, and Knox, great and good and wise and learned ; Arminius, Wesley, and Wat-

Introduction.

son, also great and good and wise and learned: is it high treason to say of any of them and all of them, " These penetrated not into the whole counsel of God ? " With every discussion there has been real progress. More comprehensive and precise statements, as well as clearer conceptions, have been attained up to the present day. In the future progress will largely depend upon our liberality in considering opinions which vary from the current and accepted orthodoxy, and also upon our vigor and boldness in resisting the error we may discover in such opinions. So let us help one another, and God will guide us into all truth. Then we shall all be orthodox.

CHAPTER I. A General Survey of the Subject

The mission of Methodism is to " spread scriptural holiness over these lands." Mr. Wesley says : " My brother Charles and I, reading the Bible, saw we could not be saved without holiness ; we followed after it and incited others so to do. . . ... Holiness was our object — inward and outward holiness. . . God then thrust us out to raise up a holy people." "This doctrine (inward and outward holiness) is the grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called Methodists ; and for the sake

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of propagating this doctrine he appears to have raised us up."

In writing to his brother Charles, Mr. Wesley says : " Insist everywhere on full salvation received now by faith. Press the instantaneous blessing." Again he says : " Let all our preachers make a point of preaching perfection to believers, constantly, strongly, explicitly. ... I am afraid Christain j)erfection will be forgotten. A general faintness in this respect has fallen on the whole kingdom. Sometimes I seem almost weary of striving against the stream of both preachers and people." He wrote to Dr. Clarke thus : " To retain the grace of God is much more than to gain it. And this should be strongly urged on all who have tasted of perfect love. If you can prove that any of our preachers or leaders, either directly or indirectly, speak against it, let him be a preacher or a leader no longer. I doubt whether he should continue in the Society. Because he that could thus speak in our congregation cannot be an honest man."

Dr. Clarke says : "If Methodists give up preaching entire sanctification they will soon lose their glory. . . . Let all those who retain the apostolic doctrine, that 'the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin,' press every believer to go on to perfection and expect to be saved while here below, unto the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

Bishop Asbury says : "lam divinely impressed with a charge to preach sanctification in every sermon."

Bishop McKendree wrote to the seraphic Summerfield thus : " But superior

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to all these I trust you will ever keep in view, in all your ministrations, the great design which we believe God intended to accomplish in the world, in making us i a people that were not a people.' I mean the knowledge, not of a free and a present, but also a full salvation — in other words, a salvation from all sin unto all holiness. Insist much on this ; build up the Churches herein, and proclaim aloud that 'without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' Under the guidance of the Spirit of Holiness, this doctrine will be acknowledged of God ; signs will follow them that believe and press after this uttermost salvation, and our people will bear the mark of their high-calling, become a holy nation, a peculiar people."

In addition to these individual utterances, the Bishops in their quadrennial addresses, and the General Conferences in their pastoral addresses to the whole Church, "have, at various periods, sent forth the most unequivocal and emphatic deliverances."

In their quadrennial address to the General Conference of 1824, the Bishops said : " Do we, as preachers, feel the same child-like spirit which so eminently distinguished our first ministers? Do we come to the people in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of peace? . . . Are we striving by faith and obedience to elevate our hearts and lives to the standard of gospel holiness? or are we wishing to have the standard lowered to our unsanctified natures? In short, are we content to have the doctrine of Christian holiness an article of our Creed only, without becoming experimentally and practically acquainted with it? Are we pressing after it as the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus? ... If the Methodists lose sight of this doctrine they will fall by their own weight. Their success in gaining members will be the cause of their dissolution. Holiness is the main cord that binds us together. Relax this and you loosen the whole system. . . . The original design of Methodism was to raise up and preserve a holy people. This was the principal object which Mr. Wesley had in view. To this end all the doctrines believed and preached by the Methodists tend. Whoever supposed, or who that is acquainted with the case, can suppose it was designed, in any of its parts, to secure the applause and popularity of the world, or a numerical increase of worldly or impenitent men? Is there any provision made for the aggrandizernent of our ministers or the worldly-mindedness of our members? None whatever! "

In 1832 the General Conference issued a pastoral address to the whole Church, in which they said : " When we speak of holiness we mean that state in which God is loved with all the heart and served with all our powers. This, as Methodists, we have said, is the privilege of the Christian in this life. . . . Is it not time, in this matter, to return to first principles ? Is it not time that we throw off the inconsistency with which we are charged in regard to this matter? . . . And when this shall come to pass we may expect a corresponding increase of Christian enjoyment, and in the force of religious influence we shall exert over others."

Passing by many more documents of 2

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this kind from which we might quote, we come to the Centennial Conference of American Methodism, which met in Baltimore in 1884, and which re-affirmed the faith of the Church in all its branches, in these words : " We remind you, brethren, that the mission of Methodism is to promote holiness. This end and aim enters into all our organic life. Holiness is the fullness of life, the crown of the soul, the joy and strength of the Church. It is not a sentiment or an emotion, but a principle inwrought in the heart, the culmination of God's work in us followed by a consecrated life."

Thus an earnest desire for Bible. Holiness drew together in Christian sympathy and finally organized that band of godly men which were first called the "Holy Club," then " Methodists."

As they said themselves, they banded together to " seek inward and outward holiness." They " hungered and thirsted after righteousness." They groaned to be " cleansed from all sin," and to be "filled with all the fullness of God." So they " organized class-meetings, where they might open their hearts one to another, and tell their conflicts and triumphs, their joys and sorrows, and thus mutually stimulate and assist." They met in foundries and workshops and in the open air to pray and sing and exhort. In love-feasts the} 7 told of their growth in grace and of their yearnings after holiness of heart and life. They were filled and ruled by one supreme, overmastering desire to be holy themselves and urge others to the same experience. They preached it, prayed for it, professed it, sung of it, illustrat-

The Problem of Methodism.

ed it in their lives, and died testifying " The blood of Jesns Christ his Son cleanseth from all unrighteousness." And when this band of devout souls " crystallized into a Church," it was for the expressed purpose of elevating Christian experience, reviving primitive Christianity, and of " spreading scriptural holiness over the land." And so they adopted the " General Rules " of Mr. Wesley's " United Societies " as their " conception of Bible religion, affirming that all these rules are taught of God in his written word, which is the only rule and the sufficient rule of our faith and practice. And all these we know his Spirit writes on truly awakened hearts."

In keeping with all this, we call attention to the fact that the vows of Church-membership demand a complete

A General Survey of the Subject.

consecration : " Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works — the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow or be led by them ? Answer : I renounce them all. Wilt thou then obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life? Answer: I will endeavor so to do, God being my helper." Thus a complete surrender was demanded of each applicant at the very threshold of the Church ; none were invited to join unless he had a fixed " desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from his sins."

When ministers were to be set apart in this Church, " these spiritually-minded fathers" said: "Let the following questions be asked : Do they know God as a pardoning God? Have they the love of God abiding in them ? Do they desire nothing but God? Are they holy in all manner of conversation?" When, after sufficient trial, these preachers were brought forward to be received into the Annual Conference, and appointed regular pastors over the flock, they were asked the following questions — viz. : " Have you faith in Christ ? Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? Are you groaning after it? Are you resolved to devote yourself wholly to God and his work?" In these questions, and the answers given, the mind and purpose of the Methodist Church are clearly defined. Raised up, as she was, to " spread scriptural holiness over these lands," she has always refused to ordain any preacher who was indifferent on the subject of Bible holiness.

Here, then, we find the central purpose and inspiration of Methodism. It is Primitive Christianity revived — " Christianity in earnest " — " Christ in you the hope of glory:" "whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." " Methodism is for Bible holiness, or it is for nothing. Take that out of our preaching and it is emasculated. Take that out of your living and you have nothing left worth your time and effort!"

If we turn to the Bible we find holiness taught, holiness commanded, holiness offered, holiness attainable, holiness already attained and enjoyed. If "Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous

The Problem of Methodism.

of good works," then we may be "purified" and become a "peculiar people." If " Christ died without the gate that he might sanctify the people with his own blood," then the people may be "sanctified" and "preserved blameless until the coming of the Lord Jesus." If " Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it, and present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish," then the Church maybe "holy, not having spot, or wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing! " To assume any thing less than this is to cast contempt on the provisions of grace, and to limit and dishonor the vicarious death of Christ ! Holiness is the great truth that glows on every page of revelation, and webs

A General Survey of the Subject.

its way all through the Bible. It sparkles, and whispers, and sings, and shouts, in all its prophecy, and biography, and poetry, and promises, and prayers ! No wonder, then, that John and Charles Wesley concluded "from reading the Bible," that they " could not be saved without holiness." The truth is, all who read the Bible as the word of God are led to the same conclusion. Even the Church of Rome, with all her corruptions and abominations and perversions of Scripture, found it easier to invent a purgatory in which to purify the soul, than to set aside the grand Bible doctrine, ''without holiness no man shall see the Lord." And if there is a Church on earth which does not hold and teach that holiness is necessary to get to heaven, I have never heard of it. The only controversy among the Churches is in regard to the time, the place, and the means by which the work is done. Methodism stands alone among all the Churches, in preaching a present salvation from all sin, by faith in the blood of the Lamb, and the possibility of such a one " abiding in Christ and sinning not."

Now, while every branch of Methodism stands pledged to preach a present salvation from all sin, to be followed by a life of holiness, yet it is a lamentable fact that from John Wesley to the present there have been two theories of the divine life shut up in the womb of Methodism ; and, like Esau and Jacob, they have " struggled together." While John Wesley did more than any other man to revive primitive Christianity and to clear up the muddy theology of the Dark Ages, yet it is a remarkable fact that he failed to harmonize his theory

A General Survey of the Subject.

of the divine life at some points; "and what shall the man do that cometh after the king?" The modern Methodist fathers and authors, who adopted Mr. Wesley's theory, have not only failed to harmonize Mr. Wesley with himself, but they have " found no end in wandering mazes lost." If the reader thinks these are strong statements, we plead guilty, for we weighed every word in order to make them strong; but if he thinks they are too strong, then we ask him to suspend his final judgment until he has read these pages through.

The great mistake Mr. Wesley made was in adopting the " residue theory of regeneration" and the "second change theory of sanctification." The next mistake was in confounding " sanctification with Christian perfection." This mistake has done a deal of harm. Take any theory of sanctification you please ■ — let it be a first, second, third, or fourth blessing; but do not confound sanctification with Christian perfection. Sanctification is moral purity ; perfection is Christian maturity. The one is the result of an act of cleansing; the other is the result of a growth in grace. The one is done in a moment ; the other is the work of time and experience. The newborn soul may be pure, but he cannot be mature.

After reading every book on the subject I could obtain, after consulting every text of scripture quoted, I have reached this conclusion: Regeneration is a complete work in its nature, and includes sanctification, or moral purity, while Christian perfection is a state of freedom from sin, and includes a maturity of the Christian graces. The one is instantaneous and complete, admitting of no degrees ; the other is progressive — a growth, a going on, until the full stature of a perfect man in Christ is reached. Holiness and perfect love will fit into this theory, at the proper place, as we proceed.

The Ninth Article of the Church of England declares that ''original sin is the corruption of the nature of every man ; . . . and this infection of nature doth remain in them that are regenerated." As Mr. Wesley belonged to this Church, and wrote from the stand-point of this Mnth Article, we can see how he came to adopt the residue theory of regeneration; and then he had to give up the doctrine of sanctification, or else bring in sanctification as a " second change" to get rid of this "remaining corruption." But, as Mr. Wesley cut

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this objectionable clause out of the Articles of Faith which he prepared for the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, it is a little strange that so many American Methodists adopted the residue theory of regeneration.

In reading up on this subject, I have been amazed to see how this theory of the divine life has led men to minify regeneration and magnify sanctification. Take a few examples: "The carnal mind survives the work of regeneration, and is often actively rebellious in the hearts of real Christians." " In this regenerate state, the former corruptions of the heart may remain and strive for the mastery." "Although in regeneration holy principles are infused into the soul, yet the change produced is only partial.'" "As long as Christians live in a partially purified state," etc. " The new

A General Survey of the Subject.

life has existence in a soul partially carnal in the mere regenerate." "Regeneration removes some sin or pollution, and entire sanctification removes the corruption which remains after regeneration." " Regeneration consists simply in partial renovation and divine adoption."

Now I submit that any theory of the divine life that leads to such expressions as the above cannot be harmonized with the Bible idea of the " new birth," the "new man," and the "new creation." Hence, Mr. Wesley never did reconcile the residue theory with his own definition of the "new birth." I would like to see one of our modern " Holiness Conventions" harmonize the following utterances of Mr. Wesley:

1. "By all the grace given at justification, we

1. "To be born again, is to be inwardly changed cannot wholly cleanse either our hearts or hands. Most sure we cannot, till it shall please our Lord to speak to our hearts again, to speak the second time, ' Be clean ! ' and then only, the leprosy is cleansed. Then only the carnal mind is destroyed, and inbred sin subsists no more."

2. " If there be no second change, no instantaneous deliverance, after justification, then we must remain full of sin till death." "Certainly sanctification is an instantaneous deliverance from all sin."

from all sinfulness to all holiness." "He is created anew in Christ Jesus. He is washed, he is sanctified. His heart is purified by faith; he is cleansed from the corruption that is in the world." "That which is born of the Spirit is spiritual, heavenly, divine, like its author."

2. " Every one that hath Christ in him the hope of glory is saved from all sin, from all unrighteousness." " It is undeniably true that sanctification is a progressive work, carried on in the soul by slow degrees."

After reading the above deliverances, and many more of the same import, we are prepared to hear him say: " Per-

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haps I have an exceedingly complex idea of sanctification ! "*

We propose to examine the residue theory of regeneration and the second change theory of sanctification, in the light of reason, psychology, and the Word of God. In order to explain those mental states which have been called "sin in believers," "inbred sin," the "remains of the carnal mind," the " corruption of our nature," the "body of sin," and the "old man," we must first discuss the twofold nature of man, the effects of the fall, and the philosophy of temptation.

* The only solution of this confusion is given in the last chapter of this book, to which we call special attention.

CHAPTER II. The Twofold Nature of Man

Every man — and of course every Christian — has at least two natures.* The one is designed to be subordinate and subservient to the other. Each has its office to fill — it takes both to constitute a man; and "the highest style of man " is he whose twofold nature is in

* The sharp psychomachy, which Paul so well portrays, interprets the consciousness of millions. That man is not all of the earth; that he is endowed with a higher nature, reaching to heaven, all Christians agree, and with them thousands who are not Christians coincide. In the minuter analysis of humanity, Dichotomists and Trichotomists contend, and many deeply interesting questions in Ontology and Psychology arise. These mysteries of humanity have bewildered theologians, and thereby troubled Christians. (34)

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harmony at once with itself and with the Creator.

In reference to the effects of the fall of man and the work of restoration through the gospel, there are two erroneous opinions or theories. The one is, that such is the condition of man's lower nature, since the fall, that it is impossible for him to live without committing sin daily. The other is, that all the lower affinities and sensibilities of our nature must be so crucified and destroyed that there will be no stirring of the emotions nor enkindling of the desires toward any forbidden object.

The first theory is supposed to be taught in the seventh chapter of Romans. But the character described there is a convicted Pharisee, and not a renewed and sanctified Christian. The new life and the Christian character

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are described in the eighth chapter of Romans. Moreover, John says : " Whosoever is born of God [and abideth in him] doth not commit sin."

The second theory is supposed to be set forth in the sixth chapter of Romans and other passages, where the Christian life is represented as a "crucifixion of the old man." and a "death of sin." Now the great object of the gospel is to give to our spiritual nature, which is "dead in sin," its true, original life, and through it to restore all the lower elements of our essential constitution to order and their proper functions, but not to destroy any of them. Dr. Clarke says : " The ' old man,' the £ body of sin,' is the same as the ' infection of our nature,' in consequence of the fall." Hence, the "old man." the "body of sin." must be " destroyed," but not the nature of man. The " corruption of our nature" must be removed, but all the essential elements of our twofold nature are left intact. When the " desires are drawn out and enticed " by an evil object, the desires must be "rejected" and thereby " mortified" but neither the capacity to desire, nor the susceptibility to feel the force of enticement to sin, are to be destroyed ; for that would put man beyond the possibility of being tempted, which possibility must exist while probation continues.

Let us go to the very root of this subject. Without a clear view of man's essential nature, we are incompetent to judge of the correctness or defects of any theory of the divine life. If we wish to know what were the effects of the fall upon man's essential nature, and what is necessary to renew man's nature

"in righteousness and true holiness," we must ascertain what that nature was as he came from the hand of his Creator. We learn from the Bible that man, while in a state of innocence and purity, was subjected to temptation ; and that he possessed, then, appetites, emotions, and desires similar in nature to those belonging to the human mind and constitution now. " When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat." (Gren. iii. 6.) Here we have: first, a perception of a forbidden object; second, the appetite for food awakened; third, the emotions of pleasure stirred ; fourth, the desire to know enkindled; and, finally, the volition and act that constituted the sin by which man fell.

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It is clear, then, that man, in his best estate, possessed all those mental capacities called natural sensibilities, and that these sensibilities were susceptible of being addressed and excited by a forbidden object. Instead, then, of these natural sensibilities being, in some mysterious way, the result of the fall, they belong to and are inseparable from the human constitution in its original organization. Man, considered in the light of Biblical psychology, possessed them all in his pristine purity. But when he fell, those faculties which were essential to humanity became perverted and corrupted, and passions which were intended to perform only a subordinate part became controlling; but no new faculty was projected into his constitution. Whatever we may find in man's fallen, depraved nature to purify and regulate, we find no constitutional sensibilities to be obliterated, no faculty to be destroyed.

Depravity, then, is not a real entity, existing apart from man's essential constitution — not an actual substance, or real entity, projected into man's constitution ; but a corruption and a perversion of man's essential powers. In the absence of spiritual life, the great controlling principle which was lost in the fall, man's moral nature is not only paralyzed, but all the lower elements of his essential nature transcend their true bounds and run riot in indulgence, so that " man is prone to go astray from his youth up." Now, this depravity is personified by Paul as the "old man," the "body of sin;" because man's higher nature is under the dominion of his lower nature. This depravity, this dominion of the flesh over the spirit, this "course of carnal thinking," Paul also calls "the carnal mind." Now this "course of carnal thinking," this "inherited tendency to sin," is what Paul calls "the law of sin and death," from which, he affirms, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes us free" Hence, " to be carnally minded is [spiritual] death ; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his;" and, "if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you," then this " law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made you free from the law of sin and death." How any man can read and study the sixth chapter of Romans, where Paul proves conclusively that the normal state of spiritual life presupposes a "crucifixion of the old man" and a "destruction of the body of sin" and a "death to sin," and then hold to the "residue theory of regeneration," is simply amazing ! And how any man can read and study the eighth chapter of Romans, where Paul discusses the "carnal mind" and the "spiritually minded," and then say that " this carnal mind survives the work of regeneration, and is often actively rebellious in the hearts of real Christians," is a mystery that transcends the enigmatical philosophy of the Persians. To be able to expose such errors, and to explain those mental states relied on to prove them, we must investigate the laws that govern our twofold nature far enough to have a clear view of the mental states involved in the philosophy of temptation.