Chapter LIII What the People Will Do?
It has been shown that the Augustinian dogma of a depraved nature is the foundation of all the large sectarian organizations in this country, and of the contentions, evil passions and waste of property resulting from such divisions among Christians.
It has been shown that the leading theologians have ceased to defend this dogma, that the pastors of churches are practically evading it, that the educators of the young are throwing it aside, and that the people in all directions are rejecting it.
This process of eliminating the Augustinian system from the system of common sense and the Bible, with which, for ages, it has been entwined, thus far has gone on as the result chiefly of the development of the intellectual and moral nature of all classes, but especially of the common people. A period has now arrived in which the question has become so far an intelligible and a practical one, that the two great principles of society indicated by the words conservatism and progress are arranging and accumulating antagonistic forces for an open and decided manifestation on this great question. What will be the precise nature of this manifestation no human mind can predict. But the distinctive principles of the two parties furnish some data for anticipating some future results, as they may occur in the several classes referred to in preceding chapters under the following heads:
What Theologians Will Do?
In attempting to indicate the probable future course of theologians, it is important to notice the relative positions of persons trained to sustain a system of doctrines, and of those who seek for truth and duty without any such commitment.
Most theologians grow up from infancy under a system of doctrines inculcated both from the pulpit and in the family. This enlists all the strong and inveterate influences of early education in its favor. Next, the collegiate pulpit instructions and associations all favor the same system. Next, the theological school brings the young under the direct training of the most acute minds, whose express business it is to teach all methods of supporting and defending that system. Here the young minister is taught how to construct his sermons so as most effectually to bring the popular mind under its control, and so as to most effectively oppose all antagonistic sects and teachings.
Finally, the office of a clergyman involves such ecclesiastical relations as subjects a man to constant espionage, and to ecclesiastical discipline and ejection if he adopts any views that would essentially modify the system in which he is trained.
If, therefore, any theologian or pastor finds himself doubting as to any doctrine, he perceives that it is so interlocked with the system of which it is a part that he is at once brought face to face with the question, Shall I give up the whole system in which I was educated, all the lectures and sermons framed on that system, all my ecclesiastical connections, my professional character and my salary?
It is as if a man should find himself in some emergency upholding by a single timber a portion of a building which so interlocks with every other portion that he can not let it go without throwing down the only house that can shelter himself and all he holds dear. In such a case a man must come to a decision as to whether the piece of timber ought to be removed, and when and how it should be done, with an anxiety, deliberation and forecast that would be inappropriate to a man who finds only a disconnected stick of timber in his way. This illustrates the relative position and difficulties of theologians in contrast with those which impede the common people in the search after truth and duty.
In this view of the case it would be unreasonable to expect that theologians as a class, though among the wisest and best of men, are to be leaders in any great or sudden change in religious opinions. On the contrary, it is to be anticipated that they will be the most earnest, energetic, and at the same time honest, defenders of time-honored religious dogmas, which it is their professional business to uphold. Nor is it any implication of their talents, learning, honesty or piety to suppose that they will be among the last to perceive the fallacies and evils involved in whatever system they defend.
Yet there are considerations which indicate that the experience of the past is not to be the exact image of the future. The progress of mind is as distinctly marked among theologians as it is among any class of society, and this being toward the system of common sense, involves the waning of the dogmatic spirit of infallibility and the increase of that humble and teachable spirit, which is alike the mark of true philosophy and of Christianity.
In the infantile development of our race mere physical prowess was deemed the chief virtue and was the grand aim of all manly culture.
In the next higher stage of development intellectual power became the object of highest veneration and assiduous cultivation.
The advent of a still higher stage of development is now dawning, which is best illustrated by the docile spirit of a little child, which feels exalted by taking a low place, which understands that true dignity and magnanimity consists, not in assumed infallibility, but in a modest and humble acknowledgment of ignorance, of mistakes, and of the need of knowledge and guidance, not only from God but from men.
It is believed that it is not too much to expect that this stage of high development is to be found even among that class most unfavorably placed for the attainment of it.
Should this be the case, there will soon be the conservative and the progressive parties among theologians; the one holding on to both of the contradictory systems, and maintaining their infallibility; the other, openly cutting loose from all that conflicts with their common sense and moral sense, will manfully and honestly confess their fallibility and past mistakes.
Between these two parties will be a third class, who either from policy or from timidity, or from inability to form decided opinions, will maintain entire silence as to any thing involving entire commitment to either party.
What the Pastors Will Do?
The pastors of the people are that class in which the division of conservatism and progress must most immediately and most distinctly appear. And the reason is, that the question to them is a practical one, more so than it can be to any other class of men.
It is their business and calling to teach men what they must do to be saved, and every week they must appear before the public to give their opinions on this very question.
In this situation, the conservative class will include all who have taken the opinions of their theological teachers as an act of memory, with very little original thought or investigation. These, being helpless as to any ability to investigate or to reason independently, will continue to preach and teach in the same round as was given them in their course of theological study. Such will be alarmed and distressed at the changes in opinion all around them, and will mourn over them as departures from the good old paths of truth and safely. Such will be sustained chiefly by the old and conservative portion of their parishes, while the most active minds, both young and old, will become more and more restless and dissatisfied, or forsake entirely such ministrations.
In the progressive class of pastors, there will be a marked division. The first will include those who have clear and decided perceptions of truth and duty, and at the same time a full conviction that outspoken frankness and honesty is not only a duty, but the best policy.
Thus, when they find their minds perplexed and doubtful as to the system in which they have been trained, they will, if called to speak, frankly say so. If they advance to a new position, and yet are not clear in regard to certain connected topics, they will say so. If they are clear that the system of Augustine is false, root and branch, they will say so, and carry out all the results involved in this position. In short, they will go forward in a perfect faith in truth, honesty and freedom of speech.
Nor will they consult “expediency,” except as to the time and the manner of making known their change of opinion.
The other portion will adopt the policy which assumes that peace and quiet in holding error is more important than truth which involves trouble and contention. Such will conceal their real opinions under forms of expression that will deceive the conservative portion of their people, by making the impression that they hold to old creeds and formularies, in the sense in which they formerly did, when they do not. They will use the stereotyped forms of orthodoxy, knowing that those of their people who are alarmed at supposed changes, will be quieted by impressions which are false. And they will do this, believing it to be Christian expediency, although it is a course exactly opposite to that pursued by Christ and his disciples.
What the Church Will Do?
In regard to church organizations, it has been shown that there are two diverse principles on which these organizations may be perpetuated. The first is the Augustinian, in which the principle of union is a supposed change of the nature transmitted from Adam, enabling a man to perform truly virtuous acts, as none ever do who are not thus re-created. The second is that of common sense, in which the principle of union is the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as Lord and Master, and the purpose to obey him in all things; or, in the words of the Episcopal formula, “a church is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure word is preached and the sacraments duly administered according to Christ’s ordinances.” This definition, in order to represent the common-sense view, assumes that “faithful men” are persons who believe in Christ’s authority, as the Lord of all, and who purpose to obey him.
It has been also shown, in a previous chapter, that the church organizations based on the Augustinian theory, are gradually modifying their practice so as more and more to recognize the common-sense principle.
It is believed that this process of quiet change is to be greatly accelerated by discussion. The people are not aware that the mode of church organization and discipline now most prevalent is an innovation, which has existed less than two centuries, and chiefly in this country, and that there can be found no authority for it, either in the Bible or church history. The word “church,” as used in the New Testament, in the original Greek means congregation, and includes all who unite in one assembly to worship.
No case can be found in the Bible of any such organization as corresponds with that which is now called by the name of “church,” as distinct from the “congregation.”
These being facts, the whole matter of church organization and discipline is soon to become a matter of general discussion, the result of which, of course, can not be predicted in any details. But it is certain that the more discussion there is, the more the common-sense system will become dominant. And it is certain that the portion of the people connected with churches will more and more demand discussion. They will assume that their pastors are not to be their authoritative, dogmatic teachers; but their leaders in worship and ordinances; their presiding officers in discussions, and the administers of much of that kind of knowledge needed by the people, to enable them to act independently in interpreting the Bible for themselves.
What Women Will Do?
The great principle of Protestantism, in distinction from Catholicism, is, that every person is to be an independent interpreter of the Bible, responsible to no man or body of men; and that every person is to protest against all that conflicts with this right.
This principle carried out consistently, makes theologians and pastors a class sustained by the people, not as dogmatic teachers of their own opinions, but as persons set apart for the purpose of gaining and of communicating to the people all the knowledge needful to fit them to use their rights as authorized interpreters of the Bible.
But though all Protestants hold this principle theoretically, by far the larger portion have never practically adopted it, but, as a matter of fact, go to theologians and pastors for their opinions, and not for the knowledge on which opinions are to rest. Thus it is that ecclesiastics control the faith of a large portion of the Protestant churches, as authoritatively as do the pope and priests control that of the Catholic church.
We have seen, in the case of Isabella of Spain, one of the most benevolent, conscientious and lovely of women led on to the most unjust and cruel deeds, simply from practically adopting the principle, that her religious teachers must be authoritative guides of her opinions, and that her own common sense and moral sense must bow to ecclesiastical dictation.
The present time is one in which the women of this country must decide in regard to this same principle and on practical questions of the deepest moment.
It has been shown, that with small exceptions, the Catholic and Protestant theologians and clergy unite in teaching a depravity of nature in every human being, involving these questions:
Are we so depraved as to be incapacitated to interpret the Bible, and made dependent on ecclesiastical and regenerated persons to interpret for us?
Does the invisible true church consist only of those whose nature has been re-created, or of those who, without any newly-created nature, truly desire and purpose to use all their natural powers according to the teachings of Christ?
Does a “visible church of Christ” consist of persons possessing a newly-created nature, by which alone any truly virtuous acts can be performed, or does it consist of persons who unite to sustain the public worship, ordinances and teachings of Jesus Christ?
Are children to be trained to believe that all their feelings and actions are “sin and only sin,” till they receive a new nature from God, or be taught that whenever they choose what is right, with the intention to do right, they act virtuously and please God?
Are children to be allowed to come to the table of their Lord and Saviour as soon as they can understand the nature of the ordinance, and wish and intend to obey Jesus Christ in all things, or are they to be excluded until church officers decide whether the signs of a new nature are to be found?
Are women and children to be excluded from the Lord’s table because they interpret the Bible diversely from the church with which they worship?
These are the practical questions involved in the doctrine of the depraved nature of man, as taught by the clergy of the great Christian sects.
It has been stated that many intelligent and pious women in various parts of our country have already quietly assumed their rights as authorized interpreters of the Bible on all these questions, have cast off the Augustinian theory, and thus, in fret, have set themselves in opposition to the clergy, except so far as the clergy themselves have come to the same results. The writer, in this work, has done little more than has also been done by many pious and intelligent mothers and teachers, except to define, methodize and publicly express opinions which other women have practically adopted in training children, as the result of their own experience, common sense and study of the Bible.
Some of the leading organs of the High Church party in the Episcopal church, and thus the most strenuous defenders of ecclesiastical infallibility and authority, in noticing the writer’s volume, Common Sense Applied to Religion, previously referred to, ask with naive simplicity, what right has a woman to apply common sense to religion, or to have any opinions except as she is taught them by the church, at the same time sneering at the idea, that “the dear people” are competent to understand and interpret the Bible for themselves.
This shows that the issue is now fairly presented and understood. The ecclesiastical party, more or less, openly claim that the only authorized interpreters of the Bible are the ordained priesthood, or the regenerated church. On the other hand, the people, and women, as that half of the people to whom the training of the human mind is especially committed, maintain that they are ordained to this office by a Higher Power and by the imposition of a nobler hand than any who boast an uninterrupted apostolical succession.
Moreover, it is claimed that every well-educated, pious woman of good common sense, who has trained young children, is better qualified to interpret the Bible correctly, on all points pertaining to such practical duties, than most theologians possibly can be. And the reasons are, that she is free from those biasing difficulties which have been pointed out as embarrassing theologians, while all her employments and all her culture eminently tend to aid rather than to embarrass her judgment on such subjects.
Add, also, that the Bible was written for common people, and not for metaphysicians, and in the language of common life, and not in theological terms, and that if it teaches the system of common sense, it is better fitted to the apprehension of those whose training has been practical rather than scholastic.
Finally, the promises of aid from the Author of the Bible, is to the meek and lowly of heart. “The meek will he guide in judgment; the meek will he teach his way.” That the position of those accustomed to rule and teach is as favorable to the cultivation of a meek, humble and teachable spirit as that of those trained to learn and to obey, few will maintain.
These facts being so, it is believed that ere long the greater portion of the most intelligent and conscientious women in this country, will gradually and quietly take this course. They will perceive that they are bound, not only to assume and exercise the distinctive rights of Protestantism, as authorized interpreters of the Bible, but to protest, by word and deed, against all that opposes the exercise of these rights.
In accordance with this, they will respectfully and privately express to their pastor and fellow-Christians their protest against the Augustinian system, as involving a dreadful slander on their Lord and Saviour, vailing in mystery and gloom his lovely character, which is the light and life of the soul; they will protest against every creed or confession or church ordinance that is based on this system, as an indorsement of this fatal slander; they will protest against being regarded as members of a church in any other sense than as persons united with a congregation to sustain the worship and ordinances instituted by Christ, and to aid each other in obeying his word; they will make it clear to all concerned, that they do not claim to possess any other nature than that received from God at birth, nor to be regenerated in any other sense than that they now desire and sincerely purpose to obey Christ in all things.
They will, moreover, protest against the exclusion of themselves or their children from the Lord’s table, for interpreting the Bible diversely from the church with which they worship, and against the interference of church officers to examine them or their children in order to ascertain their mode of interpreting the Bible or the any other signs of regeneration, than the expressed desire to unite with the congregation in the worship and ordinances appointed by Christ.
Should such a course as this result in exclusion from the Lord’s table, those thus protesting can depart peaceably to some church which could conscientiously receive them on such terms. And if no such church is to be found, they can quietly relinquish the privilege, until such time as it can be enjoyed without a sacrifice of principle and religious liberty.
If those thus protesting act consistently, they will accord to the church excluding them the same liberty to interpret the Bible, in regard to duty on this subject, as they claim for themselves. The church in cutting them off may feel as conscientiously bound to the course they adopt, according to their way of understanding the Bible, as those do who protest and withdraw. And if the true spirit of Christ, the spirit of humility, meekness and love prevails, such disruptions will occur without contentions or ill feelings on either side.
But in churches embracing many who possess very little of this spirit and cherishing the claim of infallibility,—first in deciding which is the true church and next in maintaining its dogmas,—there would result a mode of dealing with such Protestants very similar to that of former ages. This would lead to agitation and discussion. But even on this trying alternative more good than evil might be hoped, especially if those who protest and withdraw, maintain the meek, peaceable and quiet spirit required and exhibited by their Master.
What Young America Will Do?
The higher the development of humanity, the more the capacities for enjoyment and suffering are increased, and the more civilization multiplies the means and modes of gratifying increasing desires, the stronger becomes the deep-felt anxiety in regard to the invisible future. Are all these capacities, so infinite in their tendencies, to expand for ever, only to be wrenched and crossed and baffled as they are in this life? What are our dangers? What are we to do to escape them? This is more and more the agonizing demand of humanity.
It has been shown that a system of doctrine has been forced upon Christendom which has shrouded this great question in mysterious gloom. It has been shown also that the great organizations of the religious world are so vitally based on this system that its renunciation involves their certain dissolution. And though the advance of humanity has, more or less, modified the opinions and practice of the individuals embraced in such organizations, still the principle remains unchanged. Consequently any formal, open attack on this principle involves the combined antagonism of all the most powerful religious organizations of society.
Free discussion is not to be expected in our theological schools, where the young men know that they can not be recommended for license if they fail to adopt the creed of their sect. Nor can it be found in our colleges, most of which depend for patronage on, or are pledged to the interests of a sect. Nor can it be expected in our pulpits, where the minister teaches and the people have no chance of rejoinder or disputation. Nor can it be expected of the religious press, which is also bound to sustain sectarian interests. What power is there then which can contend against such portentous combinations, sustained not only by the prestige of ages and all the innate forces of long-drilled organizations, but by the honest and conscientious convictions of the great majorities thus enrolled?
It is the power of truth evolved by free discussion, and mainly as it is and will be administered in the hands of Young America and the secular press.
The young men of the nation have the control of their literary societies in our colleges and seminaries, and of the popular lyceums and other associations, where every member has a vote in deciding what shall be discussed; and here the battle will be fought for religious liberty and the Bible.
In this conflict there will appear two distinct classes. The first will be those of shallow capacity and acquirements, who, perceiving themselves to be in the party of reason and common sense, will imagine that they have acquired this position, not by the progress of the age, brought about to a great extent by the discussions, the labors and sufferings of wise and good men, many of them distinguished as metaphysicians and theologians, but that it is all owing to their own remarkable genius and independent thought. Thus they will become “heady, high-minded,” rash and contemptuous. Of these, some will be borne away to utter skepticism, immorality and final ruin. Others, unable to reason correctly, and bewildered by the conflict, will swing around to the opposite extreme, and enter a church where they can rest their faith on a priesthood claiming to be heaven-inspired, which shall decide all questions of faith and practice for them.
But the nobler portion of Young America will understand truly their great mission, and, taught by the mistakes and darkness of the past, with a modest and humble sense of their own inability to go forward without help, both from God and their fellow-men, will seek for truth, duty and happiness in the appropriate path of calm, honest, fair and free discussion. And their generous hearts and strong arms will be shield and buckler even to the feeblest who may enter the lists.
What the Religious Press Will Do?
This question is the most perplexing of all, at least to those who have attentively marked the recent developments in the religious world.
What is there that more clearly defies at once the moral sense, the common sense and the teachings of the Bible, than the system of slavery as it now exists in this country, and yet a majority of not only editors, but of the ministers of Christ, in some of our most intelligent and large denominations, openly refuse freedom of discourse on this subject; nay, more, some of the religious papers are openly justifying the slave trade, which politicians, even those without any pretensions to religious principle, have placed as piracy, the highest civil crime.
And the last year has witnessed the deliberate crushing of free debate on this subject, in one of our largest and most effective benevolent associations. And some of those whose whole lives have exhibited them among the most amiable, conscientious and exemplary men, are to be found upholding such a course.
Who then can predict what will be the course of the religious press, when every editor must maintain the distinctive tenets of a sect, or at once lose his professional character and his income?
It is very easy to predict what will be the course of those who will make no sacrifice for truth. A large portion will neither read, or think or discuss, or, so far as they have power to prevent, allow others to do so. Some will take this course in the satisfied belief that they, and the church which they have infallibly decided to be infallible, can never err. Others will avoid all discussion for fear of being convinced of mistakes, obliging them, if acknowledged, to sacrifices of pride, character and income.
Others will make some show of discussion, so far as to use the disgraceful arts sometimes resorted to, in order to satisfy and blind ignorant and unreflecting readers. Unfair and garbled quotations, misstatement of facts, depreciating implications of character and motives, invidious allusions to family or party connections, the use of unpopular terms, which humbler minds have been trained to regard as designating the most dangerous and destructive heresies, these, and many other discreditable methods, will probably be employed to stave off discussion, or to nullify its power.
But there is a class of minds who have access to the religious press, and can more or less control its action, who are far above such humiliating littleness and dishonesty. In regard to these, such are the influence of education and long-trained habits of thought, that an entire change of a whole system must be a gradual process. And when sermons, lectures, books and pulpit ministries have all been in accordance with one system, they can not be modified to meet another without many practical difficulties. Nor can men, whose professional associations with ecclesiastical bodies and with parishes impede them, settle many practical questions involved in any change of views, without demanding time for reflection, examination and consultation.
In this position of affairs in the religious world, a measure of retention, and even of protracted silence, in many cases, may be wise and justifiable. And charges of compromise, or of cowardice, or of intellectual deficiency, in such cases, would be false, ungenerous and unjust. All this should be taken into account in judging of the future action of those who control the religious periodicals and literature.
What the Secular Press Will Do?
The answer to this question is much more clear than the preceding one, inasmuch as the secular press, to a great extent, is free from the embarrassments that restrain the religious press.
It has become so manifest that the great body of the people are determined to enjoy perfect liberty of conscience, and to defend the right of free discussion in religion and morals, as well as in politics, that it is clearly for the interests of editors, not committed to sectarianism, to uphold these rights.
The distinguished popularity and success of that Daily which now boasts the largest circulation in the nation, is a most significant fact. Its career began long before the religious world had its distinctive tenets rudely assailed by any but ecclesiastical hands, and long before the secular press ventured to bring its common-sense maxims to bear on religious topics.
Single-handed, it fearlessly opened its columns to discussions on Fourierism, women’s rights, intemperance, slavery, religious doctrines, and all other matters that concerned the public weal, giving every party a fair chance to speak for itself. The religious world took the lead in the outcry and alarm against this course. But the people, and even a large proportion of the religious people, sustained this attempt at fair and free discussion, so honestly and fearlessly pursued, until the battle was fairly won. And now it is probable that the larger proportion of the most candid and intelligent editors of the secular press perceive that their pecuniary interests, in regard to free religious discussion, are in the same direction as their reason and conscience.
This being so, it is probable that the most powerful, fair and effective discussions of the grand question of life hereafter, will be found more in the secular than in the religious press, at least for a considerable period of time.
Should this be so, there would probably be an improvement in modes of discussion in several respects.
Among these may be anticipated an advance in a spirit of Christian humility, charity and of gentlemanly courtesy in dealing with the character and motives of those whose opinions, either in religion or morals, are discussed. The true spirit of Christian charity demands that we endeavor to present the best rather than the worst construction of our opponent’s character, motives and arguments.
A true humility implies such a self-distrust, and such a sense of our need of aid in discovering truth, not only from God but from our fellow-men, as will be indicated in a modest and unimpassioned exhibition of opinions and arguments, and a courteous reception of all criticisms and counter arguments. With this spirit the weakness or mistakes, or sophistries of an opponent would be exhibited more in sorrow than in triumph or scorn.
A true gentlemanly courtesy would enforce the same rules of delicacy and good breeding in public encounters as are regarded by well-bred persons in the drawing room. This would necessarily banish all allusion to personal or family failings, and all invidious or disrespectful modes of address or language.
No one who is familiar with the controversies on doctrine and morals, as conducted in the religious papers, can doubt that there is room for improvement in all these particulars.
Such improvement is to be anticipated, not on account of any mental or moral superiority of the conductors of the secular press, but rather from the fact that they are free from many of the embarrassments and exciting influences already pointed out as surrounding those who conduct the religious periodicals.
Another improvement to be anticipated is the withdrawal of the great questions in debate from the mists of metaphysical and theological technics to the clear, popular language of common life.
In the preceding pages it is shown that the most important questions of religious truth and duty can be discussed in the language of common life, so as to be made intelligible to all persons of ordinary education, who are sufficiently interested to give their attention to matters which demand intellectual exertion. Men will find that they must “labor to enter into the strait gate,” intellectually as well as morally, and that they are to “work out their own salvation with fear and trembling,” while thus they will learn to understand the nature of the encouraging assurance that “it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure.”
When, therefore, the secular press and the popular lyceum take up these great questions they will insist that the discussions shall be carried on in popular language, so that the labor demanded shall not be increased by the unknown tongue of theological and metaphysical science.
Again, there will be an improvement in the mode of conducting such discussions, by the banishment of all adventitious topics and the firm grasping of the one great fundamental point in debate. It will be insisted that the question is not at all whether Arminians or Universalists, or Unitarians hold this or that opinion, nor whether advocating such and such views would injure the cause of this or that institution, or sect or individual; nor whether this or that person has certain faults, or is a proper advocate of some innovations; nor whether undesirable results would follow from expressing certain views, but simply what is the truth, so far as it can be discovered by honest statements and fair discussion.
The grand question in debate is not whether men are depraved in character and action as they appear in the history of the world. All parties agree in the fact of such dreadful depravity. The question is in regard to the philosophy of this fact, that is to say, What is the cause or reason of this depravity?
Here it will be found that two classes exist in all the great Protestant sects, viz.:
Those who hold that the cause is a depraved nature, [signifying what men mean when in common life they use the terms, nature, organization, construction or constitution,] and those who deny that any such depraved nature exists. These two opposite opinions, ever since the third century, have been expressed by the terms, Augustinian and Pelagian.
The case is now so fairly and clearly before the people, that every theologian who has capacity and training sufficient to understand an argument must knowingly do one of these things:
1. Deny depravity of nature and allow that he is a Pelagian; or
2. Affirm such depravity, take rank as an Augustinian and then meet the argument which, on this assumption, destroys all evidence of the benevolence of God, and renders a reliable revelation from him impossible.
3. Withdraw from all discussion either by entire silence, or by hiding in the fogs of metaphysical and theological technics, or by the disgraceful arts of debate practiced to alarm and delude the ignorant.
Heretofore the editors of secular papers have practically conceded that the religious disputes and conflicts that agitated the churches were matters out of their province and to be turned over to the clergy and religious editors. And inasmuch as most of these contentions have related to matters of rites and forms, or to abstract doctrinal points having little practical bearings on the daily life, such abstinence seemed appropriate. But the progress of the age has at last fairly brought the organized church front to front with the unregenerate world on the greatest of all practical questions-a question with which every editor of every secular paper has as deep a personal and family interest as has any religious editor, or any doctor of theology, or any parochial pastor.
Is it a fact, or is it not, that every man at birth is so depraved in nature that every one of his moral acts is sin, and sin only, until a change in this nature is wrought by the creative power of God, and must all young children be educated on this assumption?
The training of the family, our institutions of education, the church organizations of the great religious sects, all depend on this question. The answer to it must be yes or no, for no third supposition is possible. Every intelligent man then must speak out in the affirmative, or in the negative, or else hide in silence or in the mists of deceit.
In this view of the case, it is believed that the educated class of powerful and cultivated minds, who are, by their position and talents, the leaders of the secular press, will not turn this matter over to their theological contributors, but will take the case into their own hands, and fearlessly and earnestly meet their high responsibilities.
Thus they may prove not only the most effective leaders in the intellectual and moral advance of humanity, but the protectors of many suffering, struggling minds, who unaided would sink in the conflict before them.
In this exhibition of the position of the religious world, the attitude of this work is very remarkable. It is in open and direct antagonism with all the religious organizations of the Christian world, and that too in regard to the very fundamentals on which each of these organizations depends for its existence. All the Augustinian sects are against the position of this work, that the mind of man is perfect in nature, and should they adopt the Pelagian ground consistently, every one of them would either come to an end, or change the very basis of its organization.
The only sect that openly and consistently avows the Pelagian view, is the Unitarian; but this organization is founded on the distinctive tenet of such a unity in God as forbids the idea of a plurality of eternal, self-existent Persons, having the highest attributes of God. This is contrary to the system of common sense, as exhibited in this work, page 100. The Universalist organization is based on the doctrine that none of the human race will continue sinful for ever, and thus insure the natural consequences of sin. This also is shown to be contrary to the system of common sense, as presented in this work, page 177.
The great body of persons, as yet unorganized, who agree in resisting the claims of the Bible as containing reliable revelations from the Creator, and thus authoritative rules of faith and practice, will be arrayed against such claims maintained in this work, as one of the inevitable results of the application of the principles of common sense.
Consequently, the whole religious organizations of the world, who rest their faith on the Bible, are antagonistic to this work, while those who repudiate the authority of the Bible are equally so.
Still more remarkable is the fact exhibited in this volume, that the writer, in a family circle embracing so many theologians and pastors, appears before the public as antagonistic to most, and supported openly by not one of them.
What then is the foundation of that confiding and cheerful equanimity with which all this imposing array of organizations and individual talents, learning and influence is regarded? It is, first, confidence in truth and the God of truth, and next, the intimate knowledge gained by the writer, of the characters and the mental experiences of some of the most powerful minds that are leaders of this host, and at the same time a similar knowledge of some of the noblest minds, who are most effectively influencing that great portion of the popular mind which is not embraced in these organizations. Whatever may be the opinions of these powerful classes, who may in form and position appear antagonistic, they will never be leaders in any attempt to crush perfect freedom of thought and expression, or to restrain that free and earnest discussion which is impending.
Nay more, if the distinctive feature of a follower of Christ is to be humble and teachable in spirit, “meek and lowly of heart,” and if that highest form of human development is dawning, when moral magnanimity shall take precedence of intellectual power in human estimation, then the world will soon behold what as yet has been deemed impossible, great and learned men, even doctors in theology, nay more, even men that have written books, resigning the claim of infallibility, and confessing that they have made mistakes.
The hope of this, moreover, is sustained by the character and position of some, who not only stand high in the theological world, but are among the most revered and beloved in that family circle, where the golden chain of perfect love has never for a moment been sundered by the widest diversities of opinion or the freest discussion of differences. What has transpired in one Christian family, it is believed, may be but the emblem of what is yet to prevail among the true children of Him, “of whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named.”22
Note
The work often referred to in the preceding pages, was written, at first, on a more limited plan than now appears. After a portion was printed, it was perceived that the discussion contained in this volume was indispensable, and the title at first designed for the whole work, became inappropriate to the first portion when issued alone. In making a change, the result has been, that the work has sometimes been advertised by its first name, the Bible and the People, and sometimes by its second name, Common Sense Applied to Religion, and sometimes by both together.
Hereafter, the title of the first volume will be Common Sense Applied to Religion. This volume is the second portion. The final portion, not yet published, will be entitled The Bible Interpreted by Common Sense.
Notes
Note A
The new school divines agree with the old school in teaching that previous to regeneration every moral act is sin and only sin, and that God has made no promises to unregenerate doings, which would obligate him to re-create the soul, in return for such performances.
On the contrary, they urge man himself to change his own heart, as that which is possible without any aid from God. And the interference of God to regenerate is represented by them as an act of sovereign, elective mercy, unbought by any labor or striving on the part of man.
Still, they encourage the use of the means of grace as the way in which God ordinarily meets the sinner, in bestowing this gift. They urge that experience proves, that though regeneration is not promised to the use of the means of grace, it is more frequently bestowed on those who use them than on those who neglect them.
Note B
There are three points on the subject of the future state, which need to be discussed separately.
The first is, will there be an eventual separation of the human race, at some final consummation, so that from that point, through all eternity, there will be two separate communities, the good being perfect in character and happiness, and the bad reaping the natural results of their evil tempers and conduct for ever?
The second is, does our conduct in this life have an influence in deciding our degrees of happiness or misery in a future state, so that we reap the natural good or evil consequences of all we do here for ever?
The third is entirely independent of the other two, and is this: Is the eternal condition of every human being fixed at the hour of death; or is there with some a continued process of culture and discipline, and of upward and downward progress in a future state, extending to the day of final separation and consummation?
That some may become so good in this life as to insure an eternal upward progress, and that some may become so bad as to insure a perpetual downward progress, may be true, and yet, to others new opportunities may be given.
It is by revelations from the Creator alone that these points can be effectually settled. It is shown in chapter 27, that every system of religion or morals must be decided by these questions. Therefore, these questions, and the authority of the Bible on these points, must become the subject of renewed and earnest discussion.
Note C
The doctrine of the Atonement can be regarded simply as a fact without any reference to the philosophy of it, i.e., the mode or cause of this fact. Jesus Christ came into this world to save men from sin and its inevitable penalties, by his teachings, sufferings and death. This fact may be received without any attempt to explain the why or the how it came to pass, or how it is made efficacious, which are the philosophy of this fact.
In regard to this philosophy, various theories have been incorporated into creeds and theological systems.
The most common theory at the present time, in this country, is, that the sufferings and the death of Christ avail to sustain the justice and the laws of God as effectually as would the infliction of eternal misery on all who are regenerated. That is to say, if by repentance and reformation, without an atonement, men should escape all the penalties for past sin, the result would be that God’s justice would be impeached and his laws be nullified, just as human lawgivers become unjust and their laws are made void when all penalties are remitted. This difficulty, it is supposed, on the common theory, was met by the sufferings and the death of Jesus Christ, as a vicarious substitute in behalf of those saved. That is to say, this atoning sacrifice operates to preserve the justice of God and the efficiency of laws, as effectually as would the eternal punishment, from which all regenerated persons are thus rescued.
This mode of explaining the why and the how may be relinquished and another mode adopted, or no theory at all may be deemed needful, while belief may remain in the great fact, that Jesus Christ wrought out the salvation of those who are saved, by his advent, sufferings and death, and that they could be saved by no other mode.
It is very important to recognize this distinction between the fact and the philosophical theories invented to explain the fact; because it is frequently the case that the denial of a theory is regarded as a denial of the great fact, when such is not the case. All may agree in the fact when very diverse theories are held to explain it.
Whether our Creator actually has come in human form into this world, and exhibited an example of self-sacrifice and suffering for the general good, is what we may infer as probable by the light of nature, but which we can fully prove only by revelation.
Note D
Whether the Creator ever communes with the human spirit except through the material organizations, is one on which reason and experience furnish no intimations.
No record is to be found of any communications from the Creator to mankind that were not made either by visible forms or intelligible sounds, or by visions and dreams in sleep. All the revelations recorded in the Bible were by some one of these methods.
This being so, the system of common sense neither affirms or denies the direct access of the creative mind to the minds of his creatures. It is a question to be settled solely by revelation.
Note E
This mode of explaining the depravity of mind is to be found in the Conflict of Ages. On page 90 the following passage exhibits the author’s idea, both of a perfectly constructed mind, and of a depraved mind:
“So there is a life of the mind. It involves an original and designed correlation to God, and such a state of the affections, passions, emotions, intellect and will, that communion with God shall be natural, habitual, and the life of the soul. He who has been so far healed by divine grace as to reach this state, has a true idea of the normal and healthy state of the soul. And if he finds that there is that in the state of his moral constitution and emotions which seems to lie beneath his will and undermine its energy to follow the convictions of reason and conscience, and that by divine grace this has been changed, and an energy not only to will but to do good is supplied, is it to be wondered at that, in some way, he should come to the conclusion that there is in his nature or moral constitution, depravity or pollution, anterior to the action of the will?”
The theory which this author adopts is, that the “normal” state of man’s “nature or moral constitution” was created in man by God in a preëxistent state, and that man’s “depravity or pollution anterior to the action of the will” consists in “a habit of sinning,” generated in this preëxistent state.
This habit of sinning was not a part of the perfectly-constructed nature made by God. Man himself introduced it into his own mind, thus rendering it so depraved that every moral act is sin, and only sin.
Regeneration, according to this theory, consists in a change of the “state of the moral constitution,” whereby “an energy not only to will but to do good is supplied.” That is to say, the “habit of sinning” can be lessened or removed by some supernatural change of the “moral constitution” by God. And yet all men are born with this depravity which God can remedy, and will not, except for a select few.
It is manifest, therefore, that this writer holds to a depravity of nature in the true and proper sense of the term, signifying constitution or construction.
This being so, his theory puts it out of his power to prove the benevolence of the Creator, or to establish any revelation from him as a reliable guide to truth and happiness.
For it is the nature of any created thing which proves the character and intentions of its creator. If then all human minds are depraved in nature or “constitution,” the Creator of these minds is thus proved to be depraved, and no revelations from him can be reliable. He prefers sin and evil to virtue and happiness, and of course his teachings can be no guide to truth, virtue and happiness. Thus, by his own theory, this author is debarred from any proof of a preëxistent state by revelation.
On page 20 it is further stated that “inasmuch as the mind of man is depraved, and there may be danger in trusting its unrevised, uncorrected decisions as to these principles [of honor and right], it is of great importance, for purposes of revision, carefully to study those developments of benevolent, honorable and just feelings, towards which the human mind, after regeneration, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is found most directly to tend.”
This passage shows that this depravity of the “moral constitution,” generated in a preëxistent state, in the view of this author, is such that there is danger in trusting our mental decisions as to the principles of honor and right at first implanted by God, but vitiated and impaired by the “habit of sinning.” This danger, it is suggested, is lessened “after regeneration,” so that regenerated persons are thus entitled to guide their unregenerate fellow-men in matters of truth and duty. This lays the foundation for the claims of a regenerate church and clergy to superior authority in deciding on the interpretations of the Bible. The tendencies of such claims to pride, dogmatism and persecution, are pointed out in chapter 41.
Note F
The following extract from the Views and Experiences of Religion, by Henry Ward Beecher, is an example of the vagueness and uncertainty referred to. It is part of an article entitled How to Become a Christian.
“The moment you realize this goodness of Christ, his helpfulness to you, his lenient, forgiving, sympathizing spirit, then you know what faith in Christ means. If such a Saviour attracts you, and you strive all the more ardently, from love toward him and trust in him, then you are a Christian: not a religious man, but a Christian.
“A man may worship through awe, or through a sense of duty, and I think there are hundreds of men in the churches who are only religious men, and not Christians. A man who feels toward God only awe or fear, who obeys merely from a sense of duty, who is under the dominion of conscience rather than of love, may be religious, but he is not a Christian.”
There is nothing said in this article of any need of any new creation of the nature of the mind; nor is this Augustinian dogma to be found in any of this author’s published works.
In this article, written expressly to give clear views of what it is to become a Christian, and how to do it, we find it taught “a man who feels toward God only awe or fear, who obeys merely from a sense of duty, who is under the dominion of conscience rather than of love, may be religious, but he is not a Christian.”
Suppose, then, a person with a strong sense of justice and great natural benevolence, is trained to believe the Calvinistic form of the Augustinian system, so that God appears to him only the awful, incomprehensible author of this dreadful system, and Jesus Christ, this same God, so united to a man (as this transaction is usually represented) that the human soul alone bears all the grief and suffering involved in the expiatory sacrifice demanded. Suppose, also, that, in this view, unable to feel any emotions but fear and awe, he says, “There must be a dreadful mistake somewhere. I can not fathom it; but I can and will do this: I will trust the word of Jesus Christ as to the character of God, and I will obey his teachings conscientiously in all things, as nearly as I am able;” and this determination is carried out in his life.
Is such a man a Christian, or is he not? Guided only by the above extract, it would be very difficult to decide, or to state what is this author’s view of regeneration; nor is there any thing in his published writings to remove the vagueness and uncertainty caused by such teachings as are embraced in the above extract, as to what change makes a man a true Christian.
According to the system of common sense (as explained chapter 24, and also on page 258) to form and carry out a ruling purpose to obey the laws of God, as made known by Jesus Christ, is loving God and Christ in the only way in which love can justly be made a subject of command. And when a man forms and carries out such a purpose, he is “under the dominion of conscience,” and is a true Christian.
The point where this writer seems to fail, in this extract, is, in a want of the distinction, pointed out in the chapter above mentioned, between voluntary and involuntary love. A person may be “under the dominion of conscience,” by a purpose to obey all the laws of God, and for want of the true view of God’s character, as exhibited in Jesus Christ, may experience only emotions of fear and awe in performing such obedience.
It is the true, efficient purpose to obey Christ which constitutes a man a Christian. It is right views of God’s character, as seen in Jesus Christ, that gives new strength to carry out such a purpose.
“When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly,” thus giving new motives of love and gratitude, in addition to those of fear and awe. Not until all the false theories that hitherto have vailed the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ are cast away, will the full meaning of the above text be fully understood.
Note G
Among theologians and pastors there are two classes now existing, in all the great Protestant sects, the one holding to a real depravity of nature, and striving to make such a fact consistent with common sense and with the ideas of benevolence and justice in the Creator; the other, holding only to a depravity of action and of character, resulting from such action in this life, are striving to evade open antagonism with the Augustinian theory.
No third position being possible, every man is necessarily Augustinian or Pelagian; either holding that man is depraved in nature, or that he is not.
In the first class, is one whom, above all others, the writer would prefer to meet in a discussion on this great question. It is one who is remembered in early life as the honest, serious, book-loving boy; next as the earnest Christian and faithful student, winning the highest honors of a collegiate course; next as a student of theology called to several of the highest city pulpits, even before finishing his preparatory course; next, even in youth, the president of a flourishing western college, taking a decided stand on the slavery question, defending the freedom of the press with its first martyr, and very nearly sharing his fate; next resuming the pastor’s office, mainly to gain more freedom to write and publish his peculiar views, which he well understood would encounter all the organized interests of Christendom, and place a drag-chain on all his personal and professional interests; finally, one who, as scholar, metaphysician and theologian, in the writer’s view, has never been surpassed, while he never has, and never will, resort to a cowardly or unfair mode to weaken or escape an argument. Thus much, if not allowable toward a brother, may be permitted toward an antagonist.
It is this brother who for years has been laboring to sustain the Augustinian dogma by a theory which—could it be proved—is the only one yet devised that is at once rational, intelligible and actually secures the end designed. For if it were a fact that the nature of mind is depraved, and if it were possible to prove that our race originally, in a preëxistent state, were created with a perfect nature, ruined themselves, and were born into this world for purposes of pardon and redemption, the grand difficulty would all be remedied, and God could be exhibited as wise, just and good in spite of this mournful fact.
But it is the fact of the depraved nature of the human mind, where the writer and this brother are at issue, and not on any theory to relieve the difficulties incident to that fact.
The argument of this work, to prove that there is no possible mode of proving the benevolence of God, or of proving that the Bible is a reliable revelation from him, to any man who teaches that the nature of the human mind is depraved in any sense that can be made intelligible by human language, this is the place where the author of the Conflict of Ages, in due time, will meet this discussion fairly, openly and honorably.
In the second class, mentioned above, is another brother, whom the writer believes to be as decidedly on the Pelagian ground. Whether he yet fully understands his position, is not affirmed by one, who has, for so short a time, fully understood her own bearings in this matter. But ere long, the only question remaining for him will be, whether he shall openly attack this strongly-entrenched error, this wholesale slander on his Lord and Master, or take the Tract Society mode of evading discussion. All who best know the writer of the Star Papers, best understand that any question of expediency will relate, not to the fearless, outspoken exhibition of his opinions, but only to the time and manner in which it shall be done. He must soon perceive that it is as much his duty openly to attack the African[A] enslavement of Anglo-Saxon minds, as it ever was to combat the Anglo-Saxon enslavement of African bodies.
It will be noticed that this public appeal to family friends was not made until all other theologians, especially obligated to meet this discussion, had evaded it, and some of them by unfair, ungentlemanly and unchristian methods.
Footnotes
2 The theory of Dr. E. Beecher, as it has not been accepted by any denomination, is not referred to here.
3 Most of the extracts in this and the preceding chapter are furnished by Dr. E. Beecher in his Conflict of Ages.
4 In scientific language, the object of desire is called the objective motive, and the desire itself is called the subjective motive.
5 These references are to portions of the volume before mentioned which are not introduced into this work.
6 Metaphysicians have mystified this subject thus:—They say “the will” (or choice) invariably, “is as is the greatest apparent good.” But when it is inquired, does “greatest good,” as here used, signify that which the intellect decides to be best far all concerned, and thus right, or does it signify that which causes the strongest desire as measured by our own consciousness? It will be found that, in this metaphysical statement above, it means both. This leads to the same sort of confusion as would result from using the word straight to include the two ideas of both straight and crooked. With such an enlarged, but improper, definition, it could truly be said that men invariably go straight, and as truly that they also invariably go crooked.
The only way in which the expression, “the will is as is the greatest apparent good,” can be true, is to use the term to include both what is the greatest good as judged by the intellect, and also the greatest good as causing the strongest desire, thus making one word express two diverse ideas.
It is this want of discrimination in the use of the term “greatest apparent good,” by President Edwards, which accounts for the fact that one class of the most acute metaphysicians regard him as the defender of free agency, and another class, equally acute, maintain that he teaches the exactly opposite doctrine of fatalism. It is by this deceptive use of the words greatest apparent good, and strongest motive, that such invariableness of antecedence and consequents is made out, as is the proof of producing causes and necessary effects in the material world. Thus results the idea of irrational free agency, making the mind of man like irrational brutes, inevitably and necessarily controlled by the strongest desire, (or strongest motive) and destroying all idea of rational free agency.
7 This is a very important point in regard to the question of a depraved nature.
8 This refers to those theologians who teach that regeneration consists not in a change of nature but of purpose.
9 In the Greek, the word in the New Testament translated “peacemakers,” is more correctly rendered “happiness-makers.”
13 This account is taken from Rev. Howard Malcom’s Travels in Asia.
14 The Arminians hold that Christ’s death has purchased the return of God’s Spirit withdrawn for Adam’s sin, and that owing to this aid, man has some power to obey God previous to regeneration, so that all the doings of the unregenerate are not sin.
15 Those new school Calvinists, who teach that regeneration consists in the formation of a ruling purpose by man himself, hold that this never takes place until the Spirit of God more or less rectifies the depraved nature consequent on Adam’s sin, and that previous to regeneration every moral act of every mind is “sin, and only sin.”
17 “State of the Impenitent Dead,” by Alvah Hovey, D.D.
18 From the article on Sanctification, in the magazine Beauty of Holiness, January, 1859.
20 In regard to the author of the Conflict of Ages, the writer is still uncertain whether he would or would not assent to the common-sense view of regeneration, here stated, as exact and complete, or whether he supposes that the “habit of sinning, generated in a preëxistent state,” is changed by some direct operation of the Spirit of God on the “nature” or faculties of the human mind, which is antecedent to any right voluntary action on the part of man, and without which, every moral act of every unregenerated mind is “sin, and only sin.”
These personal references are introduced to illustrate more effectively the vague and diversified teachings of theologians and religious teachers in answer to the great question, on which they claim that an eternity of blessedness or misery is depending.
21 The extent to which Judaism had spread among the upper ranks is strikingly shown by the fact that one of the first inquisitors, Peter Arbues, was assassinated by a conspiracy formed of the chief officers of the Arragonese government, who were most of them, according to Llorente, of Jewish blood or connections. The Inquisition, however, was odious on other grounds, as a royalist institution, like our Star Chamber.—See Llorente’s History of Inquisition.