(NOV 1 ' 1917 
 
 %^(. CM %3 
 
 BX 9941 .C6 
 
 Cobb, Sylvanus, 1798-1866 
 A compend of Christian 
 divinity 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/compendofchristiOOcobb 
 
( NOV la 1917 
 
 C M P E N D 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 BY SYLVANUS COBB. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 1846. 
 
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
 
 SYLVANUS COBB, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts 
 
 Stereotyped by 
 
 GEORGE A. CURTIS; 
 
 NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the preparation of this work for the pubHc, we 
 are governed by a desire for the promotion of Christian 
 knowledge and virtne. Though all knowledge is im- 
 portant in its place, and there are discoveries of sub- 
 lime moral and scientific truths, from a study of the 
 nature and fitness of things, yet nothing has such 
 power to enlarge, elevate, purify and bless the human 
 mind, as the knowledge and love of revealed religion. 
 
 This work is a desideratum in the Universalist pub- 
 lic. We have many able Theological productions ; but 
 they are devoted respectively to some particular point 
 or points of the general system of Christian doctrines, 
 no one book comprising a complete compend or 
 body of divinity. We often meet with inquirers after 
 truth, who ask our reference to a book, from which 
 they can obtain a knowledge of our views of Chris- 
 tianity as a whole, embracing all its essential princi- 
 ples. To such a book we have not been able to refer 
 them. The different writers have accomplished their 
 respective designs; but no one, of whom we know, has 
 grasped so extensive a plan. 
 
 This is the plan undertaken by the writer of the fol- 
 lowing pages. The being of God ; his Creation of the 
 world and all things in it : the Character of God ; his 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Law for the government of his children : the Penalties 
 of the law, their Nature and Design ; the Judgment 
 of God, and the Judgment committed to Jesus Christ ; 
 Forgiveness of Sins, viewed in relation to the Scrip- 
 ture doctrine of Retribution ; the Person of Jesus 
 Christ, — his Mission, and the great and glorious pur- 
 pose of his mission ; the Evidences of Christianity in 
 the Gospel History ; the Resurrection ; the Sovereignty 
 of God and Moral Accountability of Man ; Faith, 
 Repentance, and the New Birth ; and the practical 
 Influence of the Christian Doctrines on the heart and 
 life ; — all these subjects, in which are involved all the 
 principles of faith and practice in revealed religion, are 
 here consecutively presented, and variously argued, 
 each being exhibited in its own distinctive features, 
 and in its harmony with all the rest. 
 
 I have been several years contemplating this work, 
 and preparing different portions of it, as, from time to 
 time, my other engagements have afforded me leisure. 
 And now, having brought it to a completion, while I 
 am conscious of the imperfections of its execution, I 
 send it forth in the agreeable hope, that it will be the 
 humble means of aiding many inquiring minds on 
 their way to truth, to God, and to heaven. 
 
 I do not claim to represent, in all things, the entire 
 body of Christians to which I belong. There are 
 some minute particulars in which the true liberty of 
 thought among us has led to a variety of opinions. 
 Perhaps the point in which there is the greatest differ- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ence of opinion amongst us, is in the subject of our 
 thirteenth chapter, the Sovereignty of God in its rela- 
 tion to the AccountaJDihty of Man. But even here the 
 essential difference is not so great as the differ- 
 ence in the manner of expression. I have uttered 
 what I take to be truth on the subject, with faithful- 
 ness and candor. I piously believe that the evasions 
 which some Christians, of different orders, have prac- 
 tised in relation to this subject, are of unfavorable ten- 
 dency. A fear has been entertained in respect to the 
 moral influence of a full development of truth. Scrip- 
 tural and Philosophical, on this subject. But I believe 
 that no moral good can result from a perpetual 
 strife of the will against the convictions of the under- 
 standing, and an effort to build virtue on forced and 
 unsatisfactory ground. Better go with truth into all 
 its depths and heights, and build virtue on its own le- 
 gitimate, harmonious, and eternal principles. Better 
 dig down to the solid rock, and build our house upon 
 it, that when the winds beat upon it, and the floods 
 come, it may stand secure. 
 
 I Avould not be understood as meaning that there is 
 no discretion to be used, as to time, occasion and man- 
 ner, of dwelling on certain subjects, which lie deep in 
 the great heart of universal nature. The circulation 
 of the blood in the physical system is an important 
 fact, useful to be known. Yet I would not have one 
 forever thinking, and watching and dwelling on the 
 heart's palpitations. Adapting the knowledge of this 
 
 1=^ 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 great fact, as occasion requires, to its legitimate use- 
 ful purposes, we will ordinarily leave this grand hid- 
 den work to the laws which are established for it, and 
 go about the duties of those visible relations which be- 
 long to our common concerns. But all accessible 
 truths, the most hidden from the superficial glance, in 
 philosophy and revelation, it is our duty and privilege 
 to know, and, according to its natural uses, to improve 
 and enjoy. 
 
 It is recommended to inquirers after truth, that they 
 commence with this work, and read it through in 
 course. Let the Scriptures referred to in the sev- 
 eral chapters be examined in their connexions ; and, 
 by help of the Concordance, let the Scripture teach- 
 ings generally, on the same subject, receive due atten- 
 tion. And in pursuit of this interesting course of study 
 for Christian culture and improvement, let the har- 
 mony of the Christian doctrines be especially noticed, 
 as an internal evidence of their true divinity. Let 
 each precious truth, as you gather it on the way, be 
 treasured up, and put to practice, that ''your friends 
 may have occasion to say of you as the apostle said 
 to the Thessalonian Christians, that " your faith grow- 
 eth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of 
 you all toward each other aboundeth." 
 
 With regard to references to the original languages 
 of the Scriptures, I have been as sparing of them as 
 was deemed compatible with duty, touching the sense 
 of the sacred text. The words Sheol, Hades, Geheu- 
 
PREFACE. Vii 
 
 na and Tartarus, which are all rendered hell in the 
 Common Version, have become Anglicized by familiar 
 discussion and use. There is no more predantry in a 
 familiar reference to them, when discussing the pas- 
 sages in which they occur, than there is in the use of 
 the term baptize^ which is the Greek word with an 
 English termination. These words should all have 
 been permitted to stand, like bajHizo^ untranslated in 
 the Scriptures ; and then the definition and history of 
 them would have been introduced into our English 
 dictionaries, and the English reader of the Bible 
 would have found easier access to some of its teach- 
 ings. 
 
 The same remarks may be made on the word Aion^ 
 in its substantive and adjective forms. If it had been 
 invariably retained in the Common Version, untrans- 
 lated, it would only have been adding another word 
 to the English vocabulary, and the common reader 
 would have easily gathered an idea of its proper force 
 by observing its ample Scripture usage, and compar- 
 ing text with text. 
 
 To the foregoing catalogue may be added the Greek 
 word Krisis, which signi^es jndgme?ii, co7idemnatio7i 
 or punishment. It is in a few instances rendered dam- 
 nation in the New Testament. The school-boy reads 
 in the Scriptures, ''He that believeth not shall be 
 damned; " ''He shall be in danger of eternal {aio7iion) 
 damnationy He goes to the English dictionary, and 
 finds the word damn defined to signify, " To doom to 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 torments in a future state." In this manner he is de- 
 ceived. He does not know that the Saviour used a sy- 
 nonymous verb in the passage, ''He that believeth not 
 shall be damned^ as where it reads, " He that believeth 
 not is condemned already; and this is the condemnation, 
 that men have loved darkness rather than light, be- 
 cause their deeds were evil." If he had known this, 
 he would have been likely to perceive that Jesus, in 
 the first mentioned saying, spoke of the condemnation 
 which is connected with unbelief, and is limited by it. 
 And then, too, upon reading, (Mark iii. 29,) "Who- 
 soever blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, hath 
 never (not) forgiveness {eis ton aiona^ to the age,) but is 
 in danger of eternal damnation," {aionion h^iseos, age- 
 lasting punishment,) he would be able to comprehend 
 that the aionioji punishment to which the Jews should 
 be subjected for that sin, is the same aion of condem- 
 nation wito which they should not have forgiveness ; 
 an aion which shall have ended when the fulness of 
 the Gentiles are come in, and " all Israel shall be 
 saved, as it is written." 
 
 I do not mean, however, that the Greek word for 
 condemnation should have been preserved in the Eng- 
 lish Version. It would not have been so convenient a 
 word for Anglicizing. But there should have been a 
 greater uniformity in the translation. These facts all 
 should know, that they may not be misled by the 
 sound of a word in the English tongue. 
 
 I have referred to other original terms, in a few in- 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 Stances only, when it seemed necessary to give force 
 to an important idea involved in the subject. 
 
 It will be observed by the reader, that I have not 
 headed the chapters of this work with a statement of 
 doctrines which I pledge myself in the outset to main- 
 tain. The chapters are headed with the proposed sub- 
 jects of inquiry, and we follow the evidence in com- 
 ing at our conclusions. Truth is our aim ; and why 
 should a man desire to deceive himself, or to be de- 
 ceived? "Prove all things, hold fast that which is 
 good," is a noble sentiment for human life. As we 
 advance by the practice of this principle, we shall 
 pluck of delicious sweets as we pass along, — and new 
 beauties, and increasing glories will open to our view 
 as we travel onward. 
 
 There is one important fact which I think every 
 candid reader will distinctly perceive in the perusal of 
 this work. We have not depended upon the doubtful 
 criticism of a word to sustain a darling tenet. It is a 
 phenomenon, remarkable, but not unusual, to see 
 Doctors enlisted in the cause of dogmas, which are pal- 
 pably opposed to the revealed character of God, to the 
 avowed principles and purposes of his government, to 
 the spirit and design of the Saviour's mission, to the 
 acknowledged wishes of the Deity, to the deep 
 soul-moving prayers of all good men, — in short, op- 
 posed to every holy aspiration in earth or heaven, — 
 and there they stand, with inveterate will contending 
 for such dogmas, by the bare instrumentality of a 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 verbal criticism. And what must soon prove fatal to 
 their thankless cause, is, that this very sovereign de- 
 fence, their verbal criticism, is itself as great a perver- 
 sion of words, as their doctrines are of principles. 
 Ours is a happier lot. To all the essential doctrines 
 which are brought out and established by these inves- 
 tigations, we have been led as legitimate results, by 
 following the great fundamental principles of revela- 
 tion, as they flow in unbroken currents from the be- 
 ginning to the end of the Inspired Volume, — principles 
 which all sects acknowledge to gush out in the kind 
 desires of the eternal Father, and which have the 
 hearty AMEN of all benevolent beings. Yea, more, — 
 all true criticism of words, too, conducts to the same 
 results. Shall not these doctrines stand forever ? 
 
 We intended to comprise our work within the com- 
 pass of 400 pages ; but when it was nearly completed 
 in stereotype, we found ourself obliged to enlarge it 
 by the addition of 32 pages, and were obliged to abridge 
 the last two chapters, to avoid increasing it even to a 
 larger size. This addition renders the work more ex- 
 pensive to us, and will diminish the remuneration of 
 our own labors and outsets, — for we make no addition 
 to the contemplated price. Our hope is that it may 
 do good, and that it may be found worthy of a place 
 in many a Christian family in our country and the 
 world. Unto this end, may the blessing of God at- 
 tend it. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface, 3 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 God — His Existence, 13 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 God as the Creator, 19 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 The Character of God, . .33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 God as the Lawgiver. — Nature and Design of the Law, . . 50 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Penalties of the Law, 59 
 
 Section I. — Nature and Design of the Penalties, ... 59 
 Section H. — Controverted Terms, Designating and Qualifying 
 
 Punishment, 72 
 
 The term HeU, from Sheol and Hades, .... 73 
 
 Gehenna, 80 
 
 Tartarus, 96 
 
 Aion and Aionios, Forever and Everlasting, . . , 105 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Judgment, 112 
 
 Judgment by Jesus Christ, 123 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 Punishment and Forgiveness, 146 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 The Person of Christ. Who is He ? 168 
 
 Section I. — An Examination, by the Light of Scripture, of 
 
 Prevailing Opinions concerning Christ, . , 168 
 Section IL — A more particular View of the New Testament 
 
 Teachings of the Person of Christ, . . . 183 
 Section HL — Christ the Image of God, and Exalted in his Glory, 198 
 
XU INDEX. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 The Mission of Christ, 210 
 
 Section I. — Erroneous Views Examined, — Christ suffered not 
 
 Infinite Wrath as a Substitute for Man, . .210 
 
 Section II. — Salvation from Sin, 220 
 
 Section III. — The General Purpose of the Saviour's Mission, 228 
 Objections, 263 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Christ of the New Testament the Messiah of the Old, . . 273 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Truth of the Gospel History, 288 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Resurrection, 306 
 
 Resurrection to Condemnation, 320 
 
 Resurrection of the Just, 352 
 
 What shall be Raised? 359 
 
 Shall we know each other in Heaven? . . . .368 
 
 On the Time of the Resurrection, 370 
 
 The Spirits in Prison, 376 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God, and Moral Account- 
 ability of Man, 386 
 
 Section I.— The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God, . 386 
 Section II. — The Sovereignty of God and Accountability of 
 
 Man, Harmonized, 399 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Faith, Repentance, and the New Birth, 412 
 
 Faith, 412 
 
 Repentance, 415 
 
 The New Birth, 417 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Influence of Christianity in forming the Life, . . . 425 
 
COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GOD. HIS EXISTENCE. 
 
 The beginning of all things is God. This funda- 
 mental truth the Scriptures declare distinctly, and with 
 power. " There is one God." And it is interesting 
 to go often out into an exploration of the works of 
 God, for living confirmations of his blessed word. 
 " For the invisible things of him from the creation of 
 the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things that are made, even his eternal power and God- 
 head." 
 
 Indulge your thoughts in meditation, and you are 
 impressed with the evidence of power, pre-existent, 
 and all-controlling. You awake into being without 
 your own volition, and by the operation of a law mys- 
 terious as existence itself, which no man instituted. 
 You breathe and you see, by mechanisms which you 
 contrived not, and which you can never understand. 
 Your lungs are inflated by an atmosphere which you 
 formed not ; and you are warmed and enlightened by 
 a sun which you did not create. Regardless of your 
 consent, you are driven through space a thousand 
 miles every hour by the earth's diurnal rotation; and 
 more than sixty-eight thousand miles an hour by its 
 2 
 
14 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 annual revolution. Thus you are plunged into the 
 darkness of night ; and anon you are roused with the 
 brightness of day. And thus you are driven to your 
 firesides by the freezing cold of Winter ; and you are 
 again called forth to the airy field by the enlivening 
 warmth and the cheering song of Spring. You can 
 plant, to be sure, and you can sow; but you could 
 never have contrived a seed with vegetative power, 
 nor will the winds and rains obey orders from you. 
 The grain you sow, and the grass upon which your 
 cattle feed, grow by a process which you could never 
 have contrived, and which your boasted powers of 
 reason are unable to copy. 
 
 When you commence your existence, it is under cir- 
 cumstances of which you have no control; and you 
 are conscious of being, to a great extent, disposed of 
 through life by powers not your own. And when 
 your boasted selves go hence, and your mortal powers 
 lie motionless in death, no wheel in nature stops for 
 want of you ; — the power which brought you here, and 
 upheld you here a season, moves on its mighty works 
 when you are gone. 
 
 But unseeji power is not all the invisible essence, 
 which the mind discovers in the works of nature. 
 Inielligence is no less manifest than power. We see 
 design in the things around us. And design involves 
 counsel ; and counsel involves intelligence. 
 
 In the agreement of parts in nature, and the adapta- 
 tion of things to certain useful ends, we have demon- 
 strative proof of counsel and design. For what pur- 
 pose does the earth perform its annual ecliptic circuit 
 around the sun ? It is to bring about the pleasing and 
 profitable variety of seasons. And for what purpose 
 does the earth revolve daily on its axis ? It is to pro- 
 
GOD — HIS EXISTENCE. 16 
 
 duce the necessary interchange of day and night. 
 And to furnish this regular and frequent interchange 
 of day and night, is precisely as a world must have 
 been planned, to be a fit abode of such creatures as 
 inhabit our globe. We need frequent seasons of repose 
 in sleep ; and the darkness of night is adapted to our 
 want. How much better suited to the purpose of quiet 
 and refreshing sleep is the sable darkness, which 
 hushes all the world to silence and sleep at once, than 
 would be the glare of perpetual day, with the world 
 in bustle all around. And how kindly for man is the 
 arrangement, fixing for him his seasons of rest, rather 
 than that he, anxious to push his labors forward, 
 should have been left to select for himself A further 
 purpose of good is answered by the interchange of day 
 and night, in the healthful coolness of the atmosphere, 
 and the refreshment afforded vegetation. The cool- 
 ness combines with the darkness of the evening to 
 invite us to rest ; and the freshness combines .with the 
 light of the morning to urge us again to labor. 
 
 Another pleasing manifestation of design, proving 
 the existence of an intelligent Being to calculate, is in 
 the construction of the atmosphere. It is so contrived 
 as to break the rays of the sun into a pleasant light 
 and genial warmth, to supply us with breath and con- 
 vey sound ; and also to buoy up vapors, and discharge 
 them in gentle showers upon the earth's surface. If it 
 were not for this element, contrived just as it is, it 
 would have been in vain that we were furnished with 
 such wonderfully constructed lungs, for we could not 
 have breathed; — it would have been in vain that we 
 were furnished with such curiously organized ears, for 
 we could not have heard ; — it would have been in vain 
 that eyes were given us, for we could not have seen ; — 
 
16 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and it would have been in vain that the seeds of all 
 trees and herbs were in the ground, for they could not 
 have been watered by fructifying showers, nor warmed 
 by genial suns. Nor with this mysterious element, 
 could light, or heat, or showers have blessed us, if 
 there had been no sun to operate upon it. What a 
 wonderful calculation upon ends, and unerring adapta- 
 tion of means ! 
 
 See also the proof of counsel and design, in the 
 correspondence between the wants of all sentient 
 creatures, and the provisions which are furnished for 
 their sustenance. Every creature finds a provision 
 furnished, which agrees with its constitutional wants; 
 and the form of its body, and of all its members, is 
 accommodated to its use in procuring the provision 
 required. 
 
 Why have there not been animals brought into 
 being, with constitutional wants that have no corre- 
 sponding provision? And why has it not happened 
 that the construction of the bodies and limbs of ani- 
 mals was incompatible with the climate they were 
 made to inhabit, and unsuitable for use in supplying 
 their natural wants 7 Why had not the raindeer, who 
 loves upon hard sharp hoofs to prance over fields of 
 ice, the soft flagging feet of the tropical camel 7 Why 
 had not the lion that roars for his prey, the hoofs and 
 the teeth of the domestic horse? Why had not the 
 ox, whose stomach craves the herbs and grass of the 
 field, the neck and the mouth of the fishes of the sea? 
 And why had not the lungs, or the substitute for 
 lungs, of the fishes of the sea, been placed in the 
 winged and plumed bodies of the fowls of the air? 
 Why no such incongruities? Why, even in those 
 things which derive their existence from proximate 
 
GOD HIS EXISTENCE. 17 
 
 sources independent of each other, is there such pre- 
 cise and adaptable agreement, wherever such agree- 
 ment is needful ? It is because there is a GOD, answers 
 reason, whose wisdom and understanding planned, 
 when his power produced these things. 
 
 Surely that man must be in a strange delirium, who 
 imagines that all this agreement of parts in the uni- 
 versal whole, and this wise adaptation of means to the 
 production of useful and needful ends, is brought 
 about by a power as blind and senseless as the ab- 
 stract whirlwind. "While he laughs at credulity, a 
 blind credulity is his only faith. He is blind to the 
 evidence of truth, and believes the harder side. For 
 the existence of intelligence to plan and direct in what 
 we call the works of nature, is as evident as that there 
 is power to produce. We can as clearly see that things 
 exist for certain definite purposes, as that they exist 
 at all. 
 
 But I cannot find in all creation a stronger impress 
 of the Creator's wisdom, than in you, for whom I pen 
 these cogitations. Every bone, muscle, sinew, nerve, 
 artery, vein, in your bodies, is jointed, placed and 
 strung, precisely as it should be for the purposes of 
 life and motion, suited to your mode of being and 
 sphere of action. And the senses are exactly adapted 
 to the purposes of enjoyment. When I consider the 
 consummate wisdom and skill in the construction of 
 the organs of tasie^ by which we test the quality of the 
 sustenance received, and derive pleasure from the 
 mandication of the food we eat ; — and in the organs 
 of smelly by which we detect what is unsavory before 
 we receive it, and are delighted with the fragrance of 
 sweet spices and flowers ; — and of sight^ by which we 
 direct our steps in safety, and survey the delightful 
 2* 
 
18 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 beauties and glories of creation around us ; — of Aear- 
 ing, to hold sweet social converse, and to feast upon 
 the harmony of sounds, and the rich tones of friend- 
 ship and love; — and especially when I consider the 
 construction of the mind, to reason and judge on what 
 you hear and see, to store up the abundant treasures 
 of knowledge, truth and virtue, and to '4ook through 
 nature up to nature's God," — I exclaim with the Psalm- 
 ist, " The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." 
 Surely " the invisible things of him from the creation 
 of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things that are made, even his eternal power and God- 
 head." 
 
 St. Paul speaks of feeling after and finding God. 
 He who habitually disciplines his mind and moral 
 affections, by the study of the word and works of 
 God, and the communion of his spirit, will acquire the 
 power to perceive the being and enjoy the presence of 
 the eternal Father. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GOD AS THE CREATOR. 
 
 In the foregoing chapter, we have recognized the 
 being of God, as it is declared in the Scriptures, and 
 attested by the voice of nature. This second chapter 
 is substantially a continuation of the same subject, — 
 relating to God, however, more directly as the Creator 
 of the world, and especially of man. 
 
 The Scripture teachings of God's authorship of the 
 world and its furniture, are put forth in the simple 
 authority of truth. There is no shade of doubtful- 
 ness, no fear of contradiction. As a truth known of 
 God, and belonging to man, the inspired witnesses 
 utter it in sublime assurance. " In the beginning God 
 created the heaven and the earth." "So God made 
 man in his own image." " And hath made of one 
 blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of 
 the earth." 
 
 But this Bible doctrine in relation to the origin of 
 our race, some are disposed to question, even to cast 
 away. And what better account do they give us 7 
 None. When they discard the Bible testimony, they 
 are lost. Their folly becomes manifest, and their con- 
 fusion is pitiable. Yes ; after all the vain contradic- 
 tions of men, the Bible account of the origin of man is 
 the only philosophical, as well as the only authenti- 
 cated account, attained or attainable. Go and exam- 
 ine all the guesses of skeptics, who, in their proud 
 haste to make a masterly leap above the weakness of 
 credulity, plunge from rational faith into the merest 
 
20 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 credulity itself. How will they account for the begin- 
 ning of our race ? 
 
 Sometimes they will say that the human species was 
 without beginning, existing from eternity. Was there 
 ever then a first pair, male and female, who are self- 
 existent, and without beginning? Then they had 
 existed from eternity when they first had an issue; 
 and being self-existent, they had a necessary and inde- 
 pendent being, immortal of course, and are somewhere 
 in existence now. Where are they? They are not 
 transported to any other world, — for such a change of 
 worlds would require a miracle ; — and in miracles the 
 skeptic has no belief They must be somewhere on 
 the earth, an eternity old ! and we should be pleased to 
 see them. They are of course flesh and blood, objects 
 of sight; and we crave an introduction to that first 
 man and woman, who were without beginning, self- 
 existent, and independent ! 
 
 No ; they will not finally admit that there was a first 
 pair, or any individual, without beginning. It is the 
 species, the succession of individuals, and not a single 
 individual, that was without beginning. But this 
 hypothesis explodes itself If there was no individual 
 self-existent from eternity, then every individual of the 
 human race had a beginning. And if every individual 
 of our species had a beginning, then the whole race 
 had a beginning. So, also, if the whole race had a 
 beginning, there was a first individual, or first pair^ 
 that began to be. How did they begin ? This ques- 
 tion returns upon us. 
 
 We know that the first man must have been pro- 
 duced in a manner diiferent from the present descent 
 of one generation from another preceding; for the first 
 man had no preceding generation of men to produce 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. ^ 
 
 him. To say that the first pair were produced by the 
 rich mud of Egypt, is too silly to bespeak the sincerity 
 of those who assert it. Honorable minded man ! So 
 ambitious of the credit of denying the existence and 
 creative agency of God, as to ascribe thine own noble 
 being to the original creation of the senseless mud of 
 Egypt ! Go, then, take of the Egyptian clay, and in 
 filial homage worship it, — for it is thy Creator. 
 
 But if the fermentation of senseless matter, or any 
 natural operation of the laws of the material world, pro- 
 duced the first human being, why does not the same 
 cause produce such beings now ? Should a wild man be 
 found in the woods, would infidels believe that he had 
 grown up out of the ground with the trees and shrubs? 
 or that an accidental concurrence of atoms had formed 
 him ? They would scout the thought. They do not, 
 m fact, believe that there is power in senseless matter 
 to work out such results. 
 
 Let your thoughts dwell for a moment on the idea 
 of unconscious matter going at work to create a 
 human being. The particles which are requisite for 
 the purpose come together, and form a skeleton of 
 bones, providing such pieces, all in their due form, as 
 are requisite for the head, body and limbs, — and all 
 measured and jointed, and perfectly adapted to the 
 fiUure motion and convenience of the wonderful crea- 
 ture that is about to be. But these can never be of 
 service, unless there are ropes and cords provided for 
 moving them ; and so another description of particles 
 comes out from the arcana of nature, and they form 
 themselves into tough and elastic cords, adapted in 
 size and strength to the stations they are to take, — and 
 they string around this skeleton of bones, fastening 
 themselves here and there ; and where bands at the 
 
2i4 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 joints are needful to keep them in place, new particles 
 volunteer their service to form bands where they are 
 required ; and where loops are wanted, through which 
 for the cords to pass in order to draw the bones in the 
 right direction, other particles come up and form such 
 loops, taking care that they shall be so adjusted as to 
 give the pulleys free and effective action by them. 
 But these cords cannot serve their purpose without a 
 moving process ; and so another troop of particles vol- 
 unteer themselves, and form into muscles, which take 
 their stations so as to draw the ropes in the required 
 directions, and assume such size in the different sta- 
 tions, as their labor in such stations may demand. 
 And now another provision must be had. When the 
 skeleton of bones is strung with cords, and these, prop- 
 erly banded and looped, are bedded and hitched in 
 muscles, — and these, furthermore, are all wrapped and 
 secured in a beautiful covering of skin, there must be 
 some method of communicating motion to the muscles, 
 and impelling them to draw the ropes in the desired 
 direction. For this purpose a more subtle class of 
 particles combine, — all senseless matter, no intelU- 
 gence, no power of designing, — they happen to fall 
 together in such a manner as to produce a sensorium 
 and will, a will to command the motion of the muscles 
 in every part of the system, v/ith an authority to be 
 obeyed. But to give action even to the will which 
 commands the muscles, the blood must be provided, 
 and circulation given it; and a breathing apparatus 
 must be furnished, — and life, which none of these par- 
 ticles themselves possess, must be given this organized 
 body. For the breathing apparatus can neither give 
 life, nor act without it. Its action is a means of per- 
 petuating life in the system, but it cannot give it. 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. 23 
 
 When the life is gone from the body, no inflation of 
 the hmgs with air can restore it. Yet this Hfeless, 
 senseless matter, which happened to come together in 
 the formation of this wonderful structure of the first 
 man, gave it life ; — and in addition to other wonderful 
 contrivances too numerous to mention here, gave to 
 this new made creature the wonderful faculty of intel- 
 ligence and reason ! 
 
 Think, kind reader, of all this being done solely by 
 dead unconscious matter, with no intelligence to plan, 
 to design and superintend it. Who believes it ? Who 
 is so weakly credulous, or so madly infatuated? 
 
 And when this noble being is formed, he is alone ; 
 and though he has social faculties and wants, he must 
 remain alone while he lives ; and when he dies, leave 
 the world unpeopled again, unless the same sort of 
 senseless matter goes on creating others like him, — or 
 else happens to combine together in the establishment 
 of some other cause for the multiplication and perpe- 
 tuity of his species. And so we must believe, if we 
 will get along without a Creator, that about the same 
 time this first man was forming \%ithout a former, out 
 of unconscious matter, another set of particles was 
 happening, all without any intelligence in the universe 
 to design it, to be getting together in the formation of 
 another intelligent being, constituted female, to be a 
 companion and help-meet for the man. And having 
 thus provided, in the constitution of this first pair, for 
 the peopling of the whole earth, here this mindless 
 matter leaves its work, and never happens to produce 
 such beings in this primitive manner again ! 
 
 Surely no person can be stupid enough to believe, 
 upon reflection, in a position so absurd and ridiculous. 
 And hard must be the labor of that infatuated mind. 
 
^ COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 which has so strange a desire to orphanize the uni- 
 verse, as to purposely hide away from the Ught of 
 truth, which is shining before and behind him, above 
 and below, and on his right hand and left, in every 
 object he looks upon, and in every subject on which he 
 holds converse. 
 
 But we will return to the immovable position of the 
 Bible, where the mind finds rest and satisfaction. 
 There must be something self-existent, and without 
 beginning. And it is as easy to conceive of self-exis- 
 tent mind, as of self-existent matter. Indeed, that 
 alone of which you can conceive as unbeginning, is 
 that which, like space itself, is all-pervading and un- 
 changing, and whose existence is not composed of 
 measured parts, or successive revolutions. And when 
 we have received the fact of one self-existent GOD, an 
 unbeginning all-pervading MIND, there appears no 
 longer any thing strange in all the wonderful and glo- 
 rious works which are constantly going on in the uni- 
 verse around us. Without this faith, every day, hour 
 and minute presents us with a succession of unac- 
 countable and distracting wonderments. But in the 
 faith of God the Creator, all are accounted for in the 
 wisdom and power of Jehovah. The existence of our 
 glorious world, with the adaptedness, order, and util- 
 ity of its parts ; and of the various creatures which 
 live and move on the earth, with the nicely planned 
 structure of their bodies, their powers and capacities 
 suited to their states and natures, and the correspond- 
 ing provisions adapted to their wants; for all these 
 things the divine Greatness is an adequate cause. Yes j 
 when we consider our own wonderful existence, the 
 thousands of exact contrivances in our system, all 
 combined being necessary to make us what we are ; 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. 25 
 
 and when we reflect that there must have been a first 
 pair, male and female, brought into being in a manner 
 different from the present natural descent of our spe- 
 cies, even by the immediate creation of almighty Intel- 
 ligence, we come home with satisfaction to the Bible 
 affirmation : — ">S'o God created man in his own image; 
 in the image of God created he him ; male arid female 
 created he them. And God blessed them^ and God said 
 unto them^ Be fruitful^ and multiply^ and replenish the 
 earthy and subdue it.^'' '•'•He giveth to all life^ and breathy 
 and all things ; and hath made of one blood all natioiis 
 of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.^'' 
 
 While the Bible gives us the only rational and 
 authentic account of the origin of our race, the time 
 which it assigns for that origin is also confirmed by 
 every argument which is deducible from known and 
 historical facts. We know that within our own recol- 
 lection, there have been important improvements made 
 in the arts. From this we perceive that the human 
 mind is naturally on the stretch for discovery and 
 inventions, and that if our race had been here from 
 eternity, or for millions of ages, the progress of im- 
 provements would have gone far in advance of the 
 present. Indeed, the very idea of improvements in a 
 race of beings, leads us to trace them back to a begin- 
 ning. And when we go into authentic history, and see 
 what improvements have been added by the present 
 generation, and subtract them from the sum total of 
 human attainments, we see the civilized world of the 
 preceding age to be so much lower. And thus we go 
 downward as we trace backward. And by every 
 authentic source of information, we trace the human 
 species downward, back of all improvements, to a 
 3 
 
i6 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 State of simple nature, by the time we get to the date 
 of creation as given ns by the Scriptures. 
 
 I know that some have atttempted an argument 
 from certain figures which have been found in Egypt 
 and China, purporting to be dates running far back of 
 the Bible chronology. But it has been made evident 
 by learned researches, that the pretences which the 
 Egyptians made to antiquity, so far back of the time 
 recorded in the Scriptures, proceeded in part from their 
 calculating by lunar years or months ; and probably in 
 part from their reckoning the dynasties of their kings 
 in succession, which were cotemporary. For Hero- 
 dotus mentions twelve Egyptian kings as reigning at 
 one time ; which, if reckoned by an ignorant or a de- 
 signing chronologist as reigning in succession, would 
 make a vast difference in dates. They had such differ- 
 ent accounts, however, of chronology, that, as it is 
 affirmed, some of them computed about thirteen thou- 
 sand years more than others, from the original of their 
 dynasties to the time of Alexander the Great.^ Indeed, 
 there are numerous confutations, which I have not 
 time to recite, of the Egyptians' fabulous pretensions 
 to antiquity. They have nothing authentic reaching 
 back so far as the time assigned by Moses for the cre- 
 ation of our first progenitors. 
 
 The same remarks in general will apply also to the 
 pretensions of the Chinese. Indeed, they themselves 
 confess, that their antiquities are in great part fabu- 
 lous; and they acknowledge that their most ancient 
 books were in hieroglyphics, which were not ex- 
 pounded by any one who lived nearer than one thou- 
 sand seven hundred years to the first author of them ; 
 
 * Home's Introduction, vol. 1, p. 173. 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. 27 
 
 and that the numbers in computation are sometimes 
 mistaken, or that months are put for years. 
 
 Finall^r, as I said before, we get back to a point, by- 
 running back in any channel of authentic information, 
 by the time we have gone back six thousand years. 
 From beyond that period there has no improvement, 
 no trace of an earher age been handed along to us. 
 How wonderfully does this circumstance confirm the 
 Bible account of the beginning of our improvable 
 race, and of the time of such beginning. 
 
 Suppose a number of boys are taken in early child- 
 hood and placed upon an uninhabited island, in such 
 circumstances that they can just make a shift to sus- 
 tain themselves till they grow up to manhood. They 
 have no recollection of any human beings but them- 
 selves, and they know nothing of birth or of death. 
 When they have obtained a knowledge of the island 
 in which they live, including the growth and decay of 
 plants and trees, and have acquired the habit of rea- 
 soning, they start the question of their origin. One 
 suggests that they were in being from eternity ; and 
 another, that they had a beginning, and that at no very 
 distant period. Here they join issue. The former has 
 no other argument to offer than that they do not knoiu 
 their beginning. The latter argues from the following 
 facts : — They perceive that they have been advancing 
 in stature, in strength, and in knowledge. They have 
 marks upon their walls which designate the height of 
 their stature as they were a few years ago, — not half 
 their present height, — and they remember when they 
 were quite small and weak, and could not understand 
 nor do what they can at the present time. So they 
 trace back the retrograde of their growth and improve- 
 ments, to smaller and smaller things in relation to 
 
 f> 
 
fi8 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 themselves, until their recollection is lost in the con- 
 fused indistinctness of earhest childhood. From these 
 facts he argues, and that conclusively, that in some 
 way or other, and at a time not far from the termi- 
 nation of their recollection in the littleness of their 
 stature and experience, they had a beginning. 
 
 What is true of the boys in the case supposed, is true 
 of the human race as a species, — substituting history, 
 and the monuments of art, for the boys' memory. We 
 find the human race improvable and improved. We 
 trace back the retrograde of their improvements to 
 days of smaller and smaller things, until we find our 
 race in a rude, unimproved, infantile state, and pro- 
 fane history is lost in confusion. And all this is within 
 the compass of the last six thousand years. This is 
 not only decisive argument for the doctrine, which 
 nothing but extreme madness and folly can dispute, 
 that our race had a beginning ; but it is also strongly 
 confirmative of the date to which the Bible assigns 
 such beginning. How strangely in love with darkness 
 must that mind be, which will discard the Mosaic ac- 
 count of the creation of our species, because it assigns 
 such creation to so recent a date, when every circum- 
 stance which has a bearing on the subject confirms 
 this date, — and you cannot, by any authentic channel 
 of information, step a foot beyond it. 
 
 But some have thought that even the Bible account 
 implies that there were people on the earth before 
 Adam and Eve. For when there was only recorded 
 the creation of Adam and Eve, and the birth of Cain 
 and Abel, we read of Cain's murdering Abel, and then 
 of his being afraid lest every one finding him should 
 slay him. " And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest 
 any finding him should slay him." '' Who was there," 
 
 h 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. 29^ 
 
 it has been triumphantly asked, ^' for Cain to be afraid 
 of, since Abel, the only other progeny, was dead, and 
 he was left alone with his parents?" In answer, I 
 demand to be informed, what is the evidence that Cain 
 was then the only surviving child of his parents? 
 This very account of Moses implies that the progeny 
 of Adam and Eve had, by that time, become some- 
 what numerous. There are but five chapters of Gen- 
 esis devoted to the first fifteen hundred years. Of 
 course nothing more was attempted than to touch upon 
 some prominent features of the history, some important 
 links in the chain of events, from the creation to the 
 flood. The birth of only such persons is recorded, as 
 are made the subjects of some remark, or as stand in 
 the direct line of genealogy. The language of Moses 
 recognizes the fact, that much transpired which he did 
 not record. His language is, " And iii process of tbne 
 it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the 
 ground," &c. ^^ In jjrocess of time it came to pass;" 
 which is as much as to say, a considerable term of 
 time, and series of events, passed in their course, 
 which I do not record. Adam was one hundred and 
 thirty years old when Seth was born, which was soon 
 after the death of Abel. Accordingly there had been 
 nearly one hundred and thirty years, more than half 
 the age of the oldest North American civilized settle- 
 ment, for the posterity of Adam to multiply, and spread 
 out upon the face of the earth, when Cain, in guilty 
 despair, was afraid of summary vengeance from his 
 neighbors. 
 
 It has also been asked, " If there were no people on 
 
 the earth but Adam and Eve, with their posterity, how 
 
 did Cain get him a wife in the land of Nod?" The 
 
 record does not say that he did. People have read 
 
 3* 
 
30 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 carelessly. It speaks of Cain's departing, and going into 
 the land of Nod, and of an event there in relation to his 
 wife, in a manner implying that his wife constituted a 
 member of his family before. The word Nod signifies 
 vagabond; a name, of course, which the country did 
 not bear before, but which was given it on account of 
 this vagabond settling in it. It was probably an un- 
 settled tract, where, with his own family, he sought 
 seclusion. 
 
 Some have thought that the different statures and 
 complexions of men in different parts of the world, 
 argue against their common origin, as of one blood, 
 proceeding from one progenitor. But I am sure that 
 this objection will not hold. The difference of features 
 and complexion caii be rationally accounted for, by 
 the influence of climate and circumstances, affecting 
 the complexion and the phrenological developments. 
 Or, if some of the most strongly marked differences 
 should be thought to require a special interposition of 
 the divine agency, to make certain means effect the 
 change, it is more philosophical to suppose that such 
 divine agency was in such manner interposed, than 
 that as many first pairs were created out of the earth. 
 Reason concurs with the Scriptures, in tracing back 
 the descent of human kind all to one original stock — 
 so that, notwithstanding there are different complex- 
 ions, we shall view all men as members of one family, 
 all blood relations, bound to regard each other with 
 fraternal affection. 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 Finally, after all the war of words, the Bible stands 
 on an immovable basis of truth. Composed of writings 
 
GOD AS THE CREATOR. 31 
 
 which run through more than 4000 years, interwoven 
 freely and unreservedly with names of persons and 
 places, and with dates, and histories, it has borne the 
 strictest scrutiny — the rigid scrutiny of foes as well as 
 friends — and it stands unrefuted — ^nay, confirmed. 
 It waxes stronger and wears brighter by use. If there 
 has been any seeming advantage gained of it, it has 
 been by misrepresentation. It comes up from the 
 wars of ages, waving its banners of triumph, and 
 shining in divine beauty and glory. It contains a 
 chain of prophecies, whose consistency and fulfilment 
 attest their divinity; and it inculcates a system of 
 faith and morals, whose internal harmony and excel- 
 lence, and whose wonderful adaptedness to the comfort 
 and the moral perfectness of man, prove it to be the 
 workmanship, the provision, of the same God who 
 has constituted the human mind to need it. 
 
 I was filled with admiration for the value of the 
 Scriptures, when, some time since, I stepped into our 
 Supreme Court to listen a few moments to a plea of one 
 of the leading enemies of the Bible, who was on trial for 
 profanity and obscenity. In censuring the bad spirit 
 which he thought was manifested by the prosecuting 
 officer of government, he took occasion to contrast 
 it with the spirit and precepts of said officer's professed 
 Master. So he is constrained to resort to Jesus Christ, 
 or to his religion, as the standard of moral perfectness. 
 How strangely is that man set at work, to be employ- 
 ing misrepresentation, and every art, to ridicule, and, if 
 possible, overthrow, that system of religion unto which 
 he is forced to go, when he would refer to a perfect 
 standard of moral goodness ! Surely he must be like 
 Milton's fallen angels, seeking to get revenge on man- 
 kind, because of his own disappointment. He would 
 
32 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 rob US of our highest good, and in return, give us — 
 nothing. 
 
 We consent not to the exchange. We take to our 
 hearts the word of God. You that are aged, it is the 
 stay and solace of your dechning years. You that are 
 in the active prime of manhood, its principles cheer 
 and animate you in your labors, inspire and bless you 
 in your duties, and add a high zest to all your pure 
 enjoyments. You that are young, the teachings of 
 this sacred Book distill the refreshing dews of grace 
 and virtue into your expanding, blooming minds, and 
 nourish there those rich principles of faith and love, 
 which shall yield you the sure harvest of peace and 
 joy now and in after years. 
 
 " Here the Redeemer's welcome voice 
 Spreads heavenly peace around ; 
 And life and everlasting joys 
 Attend the blissful sound. 
 
 O may these heavenly pages be 
 
 Our study and delight ; 
 And still new beauties may we see, 
 
 And still increasing light." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 We have said that the beginning of all things is 
 God. But the value of God to the universe, the foun- 
 dation of all human confidence, and the reason of hu- 
 man praise, is his character. None, therefore, will be 
 reluctant to give devout attention to this subject, with 
 an earnest, child-like simplicity of heart. There are 
 certain intellectual and physical attributes of God, 
 which I shall here set forth, but not dwell upon, 
 because they are understood and conceded by all 
 theists. 
 
 First; — God is possessed of infinite Knowledge. 
 The comprehensive knowledge of the Deity is ex- 
 pressed in the Scriptures in various ways. The pro- 
 phet says, (1 Sam. ii. 3 :) " For the Lord is a God of 
 knowledge, and by him are actions weighed." Job 
 expresses the idea of unlimited knowledge in God, by 
 a challenge to all men to give him instruction. (Job 
 xxi. 22:) "Shallany teach God knowledge?" Again, 
 (Job xi. 8,) the boundless extent of the Divine knowl- 
 edge is represented thus: "It is as high as heaven; 
 what canst thou do ? Deeper than hell, (sheol, or the 
 unknown depths;) what canst thou know?" St. 
 Paul said, (Acts xv. 18,) " Known unto God are all 
 his works from the beginning of the world." 
 
 The unbounded knowledge or omniscience of God, 
 is involved in his omnipresence. And his omnipres- 
 
34 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ence is beautifully expressed by the psalmist in the 
 following poetic manner. (Psalm cxxxix. 7 — 10 :) 
 '' Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall 
 I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, 
 thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, {sheol,) 
 behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the 
 morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 
 even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand 
 uphold me." 
 
 But I need not weary the reader with the multipli- 
 cation of proofs, on a point which is not disputed ; and 
 I will close this section of my work, with the admira- 
 ble description of the Divine omniscience furnished by 
 Dr. Clarke. ^' Omniscience, or the j^oioei^ to knoio all 
 things^ is an attribute of God, and exists in him as 
 omnipotence^ or the power to do all things. * * God 
 cannot \\kvq fore-knoxdedge^ strictly speaking, because 
 this would suppose that there was something comings 
 in what we call futurity^ which had not yet arrived at 
 the presence of the Deity. Neither can he have any 
 after-knowledge^ strictly speaking, for this would sup- 
 pose that something that had taken place, in what we 
 call pretere'ity^ or p)(^st time^ had now got beyond the 
 presence of the Deity. As God exists in all that can be 
 called eternity^ so he is equally everywhere: nothing 
 can be future to him, because he lives in ^futurity : 
 nothing can be past to him, because he equally exists 
 in all past time : futurity and pretereity are relative 
 terms to us; but they can have no relation to that 
 God who dwells in every point of eternity, — with 
 whom all that is ^ast^ all that is present., and all that 
 is future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible, and 
 eternal NOW." (See Clarke on Acts ii. 23.) 
 
 Second; — God is infinitely Wise. "Blessed be the 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 35 
 
 name of the Lord forever, for wisdom and might are 
 his." " O Lord, how manifold are thy works ; in wis- 
 dom hast thou made them all." ( Ps. civ. 24. Dan. ii. 
 20.) " O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom 
 and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judg- 
 ments, and his ways past finding out ! " (Rom. xi. 33.) 
 Wisdom and knowledge, are, perhaps, generally 
 looked upon as synonymous terms. But they are 
 doubtless more accurate who consider them as dis- 
 tinct. "Knowledge consists in having a stock of 
 proper ideas and notions of things; wisdom consists 
 in reducing these to practice, in conducting any affair 
 with ingenuity and skill." Therefore as God pos- 
 sesses infinite knowledge and wisdom, he knows per- 
 fectly well what is best to be done, and has ability or 
 skill to contrive such a system, to institute such ar- 
 rangements, and to put things into such orderly and 
 harmonious operation, as to secure the desired and 
 intended ultimatum. 
 
 Ti^ird;— God hath almighty Poiver. To Abraham 
 he said, "I am the almighty God." (Gen. xvii. 1.) 
 " God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that 
 power belongeth to God." (Ps. Ixii. 11.) "Lift up 
 your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these 
 things, that bringeth out their host by number : he 
 calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his 
 might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." 
 " Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his 
 hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and com- 
 prehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
 weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a 
 balance? All nations before him are as nothing; and 
 they are counted to him as less than nothing, and 
 vanity." (Isa. xl.) " And he doeth according to his 
 
30 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 will in the army of heaveiij and among the inhabitants 
 of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say 
 unto him, What doest thou ? " (Dan. iv. 35.) " I am 
 God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is 
 none like me ; declaring the end from the beginning, 
 and from ancient times the things that are not yet done; 
 saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
 pleasure." (Isa. xlvi. 9, 10.) "Who worketh all 
 things after the counsel of his own will." (Eph. i. 11.) 
 
 Thus far we find the character of God to be such as 
 to inspire us with profoundest awe. Om?iiscie?it and 
 all-wise; his discernment is present in all time and 
 space, and comprehends all past, present, and future 
 events. And his wisdom plans all things, for "all 
 things are of God," and arranges them for successful 
 operation. And his omnipresent, all-pervading, al- 
 mighty power, works for him, grasping an infinite 
 variety of means, adapted to the countless natures, 
 relations, forms and manners, of the works and opera- 
 tions he designs. In humble submission we bow to 
 the force of his word by the prophet, ^^ I will work, and 
 who shall let ii?^^ (Isa. xliii. 13.) 
 
 But while we stand in wonder, amazement, and 
 awe profound, in contemplating the vastness of the 
 Divine intelligence, and wisdom, and power, there is 
 yet a feature in the Divine character which must be 
 especially considered, as the only foundation of confi- 
 dence, love and praise. Wisdom and might alone can- 
 not render a being an object of trust. Without moral 
 principle, that wisdom may be a fiendish cunning, and 
 that power the executor of fiendish malevolence. 
 Hence the importance of the divine moral attributes. 
 We will proceed then to expatiate, — 
 
 Fourth ; — On the Righteousness of God. This fea- 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 37 
 
 ture of the Divine character is the most constantly and 
 conspicuously held forth in the Scriptures, as the chief 
 corner-stone in Bible theology. And the rigiiteous- 
 ness, the mercy and the goodness of the Lord, are 
 always urged as the reason or ground of trust, and 
 love and praise. " O that men would praise the Lord 
 for his goodness, and his wonderful works to the chil- 
 dren of men." " O give thanks unto the Lord, for he 
 is good; for his mercy endure th forever." ''O praise 
 the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people. 
 For his merciful kindness is great towards us ; and the 
 truth of the Lord endureth forever." ^' How excellent 
 is thy loving-kindness, O God ! therefore do the chil- 
 dren of men put their trust under the shadow of thy 
 wings." "God is love." ''God commendeth his 
 love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners 
 Christ died for us." '' We love him, because he first 
 loved us."' 
 
 And here let it be remarked, that when the Scriptures 
 ascribe goodness, or love, to God, they mean the same 
 quality, or principle, as that which is attributed, by the 
 same terms, to man. Some have conceived of such a 
 difference between the moral qualities expressed by 
 these terms, when applied to God, and when applied to 
 man, as to make them even opposite principles. When 
 we have objected to a certain piu^pose which they as- 
 cribe to God, on the ground that it is shocking to every 
 principle of benevolence, and that the execution of it 
 would forever mar and even destroy the happiness of 
 heaven, they have urged that if we are saints, when we 
 become inhabitants of heaven we shall not be pained 
 by witnessing distress in others, for we shall then 
 get rid of these human feelings of tenderness, and shall 
 be like God! If it were so, the terms righteousness^ 
 4 
 
38 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 good7tess and love^ applied to God, were unmeaning 
 words. They express nothing which our moral sense, 
 in this world, has any power to conceive of. Then 
 they who profess to "praise God for his good?iess,^^ 
 are doing homage to, they "know not what," and are 
 as those who worshipped an '■^unknown GodP 
 
 But it is not so. The spirit of cold indifference to a 
 brother's or a child's sufferings, is even more ungodly 
 and unheavenly, than it is inhuman. The Scriptures 
 estimate that loving-kindness, that pure benevolence, 
 which feels for others' sorrows, and labors always for 
 their good, as the perfection of the Christian life, and 
 a oneness of spirit with God. " But love your enemies, 
 and do good, ^ * and ye shall be the children of the 
 highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful and the 
 evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is 
 merciful." (Luke vi. 35, 36.) "Be ye followers of 
 God as dear children." (Eph. v. 1.) "But I say 
 unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
 you, do good unto them that hate you, and pray for 
 them that despitefuUy use you and persecute you; 
 that you may be the children of your Father which is 
 in heaven. * ^ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 
 44 — 48.) "Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, 
 forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake 
 hath forgiven you." (Eph. iv. 32.) "Love is of God; 
 and every one that loveth is born of God, and know- 
 eth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for 
 God is love." " And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
 in God and God in him." (1 John iv.) 
 
 Hence it is seen that the more kindly sympathetic, 
 tender-hearted, and benevolent a man is, the more he 
 is like God ; and that the love of God to his creatures 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 39 
 
 is a living, active spirit of affectionate good will, de- 
 siring and seeking their highest ultimate good. How 
 sublime, then, in this light of divine goodness, is the 
 Scripture asseveration, that " The Lord is good to all, 
 and his tender mercies are over all his works." 
 
 Some may conclude that I have now said enough to 
 make myself understood on this part of my subject. 
 But I am far from believing that such is the fact. I 
 do not believe that all my readers yet fully under- 
 stand the nature and magnitude of the last stated sen- 
 timent. Nor, as I have intimated before, do all 
 Christians virtually agree in ascribing such a char- 
 acter to God. In form they will do this. They will 
 say that God is a being of vifinite benevolence. But 
 there are many who only use the expression from 
 habit, without intending to convey the meaning which 
 it truly bears. They do not mean that God exercises 
 a. sincere and ever-active interest for the ultimate good 
 of all his offspring. They believe that he has intro- 
 duced into being millions of rational creatures, to be 
 abandoned to the sport of endless and excruciating 
 torments. This could never be the work of good- 
 ness. To ascribe such works to God, and yet say that 
 he is an infinitely good being, sounds to us no less ab- 
 surd than saying, that while there is a quality in the 
 climate of the frigid zone to make perpetual ice, it is 
 yet an extremely hoi and torrid climate. It is to break 
 down all distinction between love and hatred, and to 
 confound benevolence with cruelty. If there could be 
 such a principle as infinite malignity, and it had at its 
 command creative power, for what purpose more cruel, 
 more perfectly malignant, could it force creatures into 
 being, than to make their existence an infinite evil, the 
 sport of unbounded torments ? 
 
'40 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 But we are told by one class of believers in endless 
 misery, that they do not ascribe to God so bad a dis- 
 position, as to say that he has created any for such a 
 purpose J that they should be suiferers of such an evil : 
 — but they will bring it on themselves. And we have 
 no right, they say, to complain of God for what his 
 creatures do, though they make themselves eternal 
 losers, infinite sufferers, by their existence. My 
 friends, we do not find fault with God, We adore 
 him in all his works, and in all his revealed purposes 
 we adore him supremely. But I am endeavoring to 
 communicate to your understandings, and impress 
 upon your minds, the doctrine of truth concerning the 
 moral character of God. And since the same lan- 
 guage which I find it necessary to employ in describ- 
 ing the Divine character, is also used by those who 
 differ widely from us in opinion on the Divine disposi- 
 tion, I find it necessary to notice the opinions of others, 
 so far as to expose what we consider their misuse of 
 such language. This I must do, that when / am 
 describing the character of God, I may not be misun- 
 derstood. 
 
 What do those persons mean who admit that it 
 would cast a foul stain on the Divine character to say 
 that God has ci^eated men for endless misery, and yet 
 contend that he will permit them to plunge themselves 
 into the same evil 7 For what purpose, then, did he 
 create them ? Was it that they might be ultimately 
 blessed ? Then so it will be, for God can never be dis- 
 appointed. Being of infinite knowledge, in the begin- 
 ning of all his works he sees the result. And it is 
 impossible, as we have seen, that one can seriously 
 undertake a purpose which he knows will fail. If a 
 part of the human family are to be finally miserable, 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 41 
 
 God had certain knowledge of it from the beginning. In 
 this certain knowledge he brought them forth out of 
 nonentity into being ; and in the supposed state of mis- 
 ery he holds them up in being forever ! For what ^wr- 
 'pose is this ? With him who was infinitely happy in 
 himself when man was not, and who saw the end from 
 the beginning, for whaf purpose was it that he chose to 
 exert his power, and force into existence those crea- 
 tures, to be held up in being forever, whose existence 
 he saw would be to them an endless curse 7 You may 
 evade this question in conversation, but you cannot 
 evade it in your own understandings. 
 
 If such a being as the world has believed in by the 
 name of Satan^ had creative power, and he wished to 
 bring into existence a number of creatures to be the 
 final prey of evil, could he but know that such would 
 be the horrid result, what would he care whether they 
 were to be brought into that evil by means of their 
 own use of the agency he should give them, influenced 
 by cooperative circumstances in the order of things 
 which he should establish, or whether it should be 
 brought about by his own agency more directly ex- 
 erted 7 
 
 I employ this plainness of speech, because I am on 
 a subject which lies near our hearts, which we regard 
 as of supreme importance, and which is all lost if it be 
 misunderstood. 2'he moral character of God^ as I 
 have said, is the most important subject in theology. 
 It is the foundation of all true piety and faith, and the 
 standard by which for us to form our own moral prin- 
 ciples. And if any represent the purposes, the govern- 
 ment, the works of God, in such a hght as to deny his 
 benevolence in fact and in deed, we care not for their 
 ascribing goodness to him in name. We care not how 
 4* . 
 
i& COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITYT 
 
 liberal they may profess to be, how charming to the 
 ear may be the music of the high-sounding epithets 
 they ascribe to God. These, while they please the ear 
 of men, will but blind the mind to the cause of their 
 pain and uneasiness of heart, if they are not taught to 
 believe and trust in God's unfailing and operative 
 goodness in all his acts, — in the creation, in the gov- 
 ernment, and in the final disposal of his family. How- 
 ever a man may ascribe, in epithet, every possible 
 perfection to God, if his mind is entangled and be- 
 fogged in such doctrines, that he cannot, in unwaver- 
 ing confidence, hang the safety of the universe on the 
 arm of almighty Goodness, he has an aching void in 
 the breast, which no earthly good, and no human doc- 
 trine, can fill and satisfy. No religious teaching 
 which is not salted and seasoned with this principle 
 of confidence and hope, can answer to the description 
 of that provision of God's house, which abundantly 
 satisfies the human mind. 
 
 On this point Dr. Wilham E. Channing uses lan- 
 guage full of just and noble sentiment. On the re- 
 mark that all Christians agree in ascribing to the 
 Supreme Being infinite justice, goodness, and holiness, 
 he replies, "that it is very possible to speak of God mag- 
 nificently, and to think of him meanly; to apply to his 
 person high-sounding epithets, and to his government, 
 principles that make him odious. The heathens called 
 Jupiter the greatest and the best ; but his history was 
 black with cruelty and lust. We cannot judge of 
 men's real views of God, by their general language, 
 for in all ages they have hoped to soothe the Deity by 
 adulation. We must inquire into their particular 
 views of his purposes, of the principles of his adminis- 
 tration, and of his disposition towards his creatures." 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 43 
 
 But it will be said '' the Lord is just as well as 
 good, and his justice, too, must be respected." True, 
 and this is no other than the same feature of the Divine 
 character on which we have been treating. What is 
 justice ? On this subject the mass of mankind enter- 
 tain vague and chaotic views. They have made jus- 
 tice to be a sort of separate and adverse divinity, 
 opposed to the other moral attributes of the deity, — 
 a mere vindictive spirit. It was in this view of the 
 subject that the poet Young penned the absurd line 
 in his " Night Thoughts," 
 
 " A God all mercy is a God unjust." 
 
 Such a sentiment must be a night thought, truly, 
 black as Egyptian darkness. It sets the justice and 
 mercy of God at variance, dividing the Divine nature 
 against itself, and throwing the Divine attributes into 
 strife and confusion. It makes the Creator and Gov- 
 ernor of the world to be unjust when he is merciful, 
 and unmerciful when he is just. The enlightened 
 worshipper of God feels his heart to revolt at this 
 treatment of the Divine character. 
 
 But the mind is happily freed from this thraldom 
 of darkness, by finding that, in the Scriptures, j?<5^/ce 
 is righteousness, and righteousness is justice. The 
 two words are rendered, in all cases, from the same 
 in the original. Where it is said the Lord is a just 
 God, the same original word is used, as where we read 
 in the translation that he is righteous. And so it is the 
 same whether we read of just, or righteous men. Let 
 the reader bear in mind then, and never forget, that 
 justice and righteousness, in Scripture theology, are 
 one. 
 
 And now, What is righteous7iess ? In all I have 
 
44 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 written in this chapter of the moral character of God, 
 'his goodness, mercy and love, I have been describing 
 the constituents of his righteousness. But as this 
 point is infinitely important, being that on which the 
 entire body of Christian Divinity rests, and as the 
 views entertained of it, by a large portion even of 
 Christendom, are so exceedingly false and pernicious, 1 
 shall be excused for detaining the reader a few moments 
 longer upon it. 
 
 In answer, then, to the inquiry. What is righteous- 
 ness? it must be said, in truth, — It is not a mere exer- 
 cise of power without a motive. Nor is it an exercise 
 of power with an evil and unkind motive. It consists 
 in a disposition and practice according to the principle 
 of right. It is, in short, doing right. And doing right 
 is doing well, and doing well is doing good. Accord- 
 ingly righteousness, or justice, can never be separate 
 from goodness. 
 
 There are such principles as real right and real 
 wrong. And the distinction between these principles 
 exists in the nature of things. No custom or fashion, 
 sanctioned by the conduct of any being, however high 
 and mighty, can destroy this distinction, so as to con- 
 vert right into wrong, or wrong into right. As this 
 distinction was never created by any previous custom, 
 or arbitrary rule, no adopted custom or rule can do it 
 away. 
 
 Even the supreme Being does not make things 
 morally right by performing them; but he performs 
 all things which he does, because they are right. In 
 all his doings he recognizes the self-existent distinction 
 between right and wrong, and he reproved not his ser- 
 vant Abraham for his interrogatory assertion, uttered 
 in fihal respect, that he was bound, by his own eternal 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 45 
 
 nature, to do right, Shall not the Judge of all the 
 earth do right 7 (Gen. xviii. 25.) 
 
 But we have said that many, even in Christendom, 
 entertain false and harmful views on the subject of 
 right as applied to the Deity. They suppose that his 
 conduct is not directed by any principle of right as 
 distinguished from wrong, — bat that, without refer- 
 ence to the moral disposition with which he should 
 act, anything which his power might perform would 
 be right, for the sole reason that he had done it. And 
 if we venture to say, that such and such principles of 
 action would be wrong, even if they could be exer- 
 cised by a supreme being, they will tell us that we 
 have become bold blasphemers, and expose ourselves 
 to the infinite ire of God's ofiended justice by enter- 
 taining the thought. 
 
 If men can in this way, by administering the bitter 
 dregs of terror, so benumb our moral sense that we 
 cannot perceive why anything is right which is done 
 by the supreme Being, by any other rule than that of 
 his having power to perform it, then we shall not be 
 startled at their requiring of us to receive a doctrine 
 which ascribes to God the most evil principles of 
 action. We may then have doctrines of corrupt moral 
 principle forced down into our minds, without pro- 
 ducing disgust, as we might have bitter and fetid food 
 forced down into our stomachs, if we could be first 
 induced to use a kind of drug which would destroy 
 our natural taste. 
 
 On this principle concerning right in a supreme being, 
 that it consists merely in the power and sovereign 
 will to do an action, without regard to moral disposi- 
 tion, — suppose there were, as some heathen philoso- 
 phers have believed, two self-existent supreme beings, 
 
46 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of equal powers, but opposite moral dispositions. How 
 would you decide which was right and which was 
 wrong? How would you know which to call the 
 goodj and which the evil being? Would you say the 
 two gods being of opposite moral dispositions, the 
 one who was benevolent towards the creatures of the 
 universe, seeking their highest good, is the good being, 
 — and the other, the cruel god who seeks the real evil 
 of the creatures of the universe, is the evil being? 
 That the former is rights and the latter wrong 7 By 
 what rule would you come to such a conclusion? 
 Would you say the fnoral disposition of the former is 
 good^ and that of the latter is bad? That the moral 
 disposition of the former is right^ and that of the latter 
 is wrong 7 But your rule which we are now consid- 
 ering will not help you to any such decision. Accord- 
 ing to this rule, you are not to judge concerning right 
 in a supreme being by consideration of his moral dis- 
 position. Anything is right which he may have the 
 power and sovereign will to do. And in the case now 
 supposed of two supreme deities, though their moral 
 dispositions and actions are opposite, they both alike 
 have the power and sovereign will to do whatever 
 they perform. Then if jjower and will make right^ 
 they are both equally right, equally good, equally 
 lovely, though one is the almighty friend^ and the 
 other the almighty foe of the universe of creatures ! 
 One is as morally right as the other, though one is 
 in fmiteiy malevolent, and the other infinitely benevolent, 
 because both alike do what they have the power and 
 will to do ! 
 
 It is upon this principle of making right to consist in 
 power, that all tyrants have proceeded, when they 
 have been striving for the diadem of glory, through 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 47 
 
 works of oppression, destruction and ruin, among 
 mankind. Adopting this principle concerning good- 
 ness and right, suppose you go to a virtuous republican 
 and Christian, and pronounce before him the following 
 encomiums on some earthly prince. '-Behold the 
 evidences of his high regard to moral right. He has 
 wrested from the hands of the people their hard earn- 
 ings, and reduced them to poverty. He has taken 
 from them their liberties, and made tliem slaves. And 
 for his amusement he brings large numbers before him, 
 and in various ways puts them to torture and to death. 
 See his mighty deeds of blood and carnage ; hear the 
 groans of distress from his oppressed people ; and in 
 view of such stupendous acts of goodness^ must you 
 not be struck with a sense of his pure love of moral 
 right?" Surely the republican and Christian to 
 whom you should deliver such harangue, would hear 
 you, with disgust, calling cruelty goodness^ and power 
 right. 
 
 Bat the heathen philosophers before referred to, who 
 held to two supreme beings of opposite moral dispo- 
 sitions, exercised common sense enough to make a 
 distinction between right and wrong. They knew 
 that nothing but benevolence was goodness, and that 
 nothing but goodness was right. Accordingly, their 
 deity who was supposed to be full of benevolence, 
 seeking the greatest good of all creatures, they called 
 the good deity; and his moral disposition they re- 
 garded as the only true standard of moral right. 
 They knew also that cruelty, malevolence, a disre- 
 gard to the good of mankind, was bad, was wrong. 
 Accordingly, their deity who was supposed to be ma- 
 levolent, to seek the real injury of mankind, they 
 called the evil deity ; and to imitate him they consid- 
 
4C| COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ered morally wrong. Thus they made a just distinc- 
 tion between right and wrong. 
 
 Such distinction we must make when we consider 
 the ways of God, or else we cannot do him honor. 
 To say that we would adore a disposition in a su- 
 preme being to do infinite injury to mankind, as being 
 just as right and praiseworthy as a disposition to do 
 them infinite good, is the same as to say that we 
 would adore a character directly opposite to God, as 
 being just as right and praiseworthy as God himself. 
 It would be seen then that we had no supreme respect 
 to the Divine Being, since we should profess that we 
 would respect an opposite character as much as we 
 respect the character which he sustains. 
 
 We cannot render to God acceptable honor, unless 
 we have a settled and enlightened disposition to 
 respect only the principle of moral right. If such a 
 disposition we possess, we shall respect and adore the 
 God and Judge of heaven and earth, in proportion as 
 we obtain a knowledge of his ways. For he will in 
 all cases do right. He will not require us to regard 
 a7iy thing as right which his power might be able to 
 perform, or which makers of religious creeds may 
 say he will perform. Nor will he require us to regard 
 what he does perform as right, merely because he per- 
 forms it, without our first understanding that all 
 which he does, he does because it is right, — because 
 it tends to the greatest good of his creatures. 
 
 The interrogation made by Abraham recognizes a 
 necessary principle of right as self-existent with God, 
 by which he will regulate all his doings. ''Shall 
 not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Though 
 Abraham uttered this inquiry with reference to a 
 particular occasion, yet it is founded on a principle 
 
CHARACTER OF GOD. 49 
 
 which is of universal application. In all cases God 
 will do right. In the administration of rewards and 
 •punishments he will do right; and in all the plans 
 and operations of his government he will do right. 
 '"Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy 
 throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face."^ 
 
 a Ps. Ixxxix. 14. 
 
CHAPTERIV. 
 
 GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. 
 
 I. Law is the principle or rule of action, whether 
 it relates to mind or matter. "The invariable ten- 
 dency or determination of any species of matter to a 
 particular form with definite properties, and the deter-, 
 mination of a body to certain motions, changes, and 
 relations, which uniformly take place in the same cir- 
 cumstances, is called a physical law. Laws of animal 
 nature are the inherent principles by which the econ- 
 omy and functions of animal bodies are performed ; 
 laios of vegetation^ the principles by which plants are 
 produced.^ Moral laio^ is that which prescribes the 
 duty of man to God, to himself, and to his fellow-crea- 
 tures. And this, like the others, has its foundation in 
 the nature and relations of things. The moral law, 
 comprising the principles and reasons from which 
 proceed the moral duties and obligations of men, is 
 inwrought with the constitution of human nature. 
 And as the health and perfectness of the plant require 
 the regular and harmonious action of all the principles 
 which conduce to vegetative life, so the health and per- 
 fectness of our moral nature depend upon the harmoni- 
 ous action of the will and afiections, with the foresaid 
 principles of the moral law. 
 
 The written law of God is but a revelation of the 
 said constitutional law, as the mathematician's writ- 
 ten rules are a revelation of preexisting mathematical 
 truths. This revelation was needful to mankind, to 
 
 a Noah Webster. 
 
GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. 51 
 
 give them sure knowledge of those principles, both of 
 duty and happiness, to which their natural ignorance 
 blinded them, and from which conflicting passions and 
 misconceptions lured them. 
 
 And now it is a fact of immense importance to be 
 borne in mind, that the author of all these laws is 
 GOD. Of course they are all in harmony with his 
 other works, and are the arrangements and produc- 
 tions of his wisdom and goodness. Take, for instance, 
 the physical law, which relates to the forms, order, 
 and motions, in the physical universe. This law 
 belongs to the physical system as a part of itself It 
 is not thrown in to thwart the general design of God, 
 in this department of his creation, but is indispensable 
 to the accomplishment of that design. What good 
 purpose could have been answered by the creation of 
 this earth, if it were not subjected to laws which secure 
 its diurnal and annual revolutions, and the coopera- 
 tion of its elements for the sustenance of animal and 
 vegetable life ? Remarks of the same import may be 
 made of the laws of animal nature^ and the laios of 
 vegetatio7i. They are all wisely adapted to the good 
 purpose of God, in those respective departments of the 
 great system of things. 
 
 And so of the moral laiv^ or the lav/ of God, pecu- 
 liarly adapted to man. It is an essential part of the 
 divine arrangement in the moral creation. Hence it 
 is not a trap or snare, by which the Creator has con- 
 trived to catch his children in such entanglement, as 
 he might make an occasion for doing them an infinite 
 injury. The Being, whose character stands portrayed, 
 and that truly, in the preceding chapter, could never 
 have been the author of such a lav/, — could never 
 have conceived so malignant a design. He, who has 
 
^S COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 made the laws of physical nature, to be so wisely 
 adapted to the good designs of the physical system, has 
 not failed to do as much for the crowning work of his 
 CREATION. The law of God to man is an arrangement 
 for carrying on his benevolent purpose in this, his 
 highest creation. And for this God-honoring and 
 trustful sentiment, we are not left alone to reason's 
 inductions from the Divine character. The supreme 
 Lawgiver has caused to be inserted in the book 
 which reveals his law, the following explicit exposi- 
 tion of its spirit and design: "And the Lord com- 
 manded us to do all these statutes, and to fear the 
 Lord our God, for our good always.'"' 
 
 And what other aim could the Creator have in 
 giving laws to his children, than their good? Will 
 you say that he aimed at the promotion of his own 
 glory 1 His essential glory was infinite before men or 
 angels had a being; and he was happy in his own 
 eternal perfections. And his declarative glory — what 
 is it? It is the display of his glorious perfections to 
 the understandings of his creatures. For what object? 
 For a mere display of himself, without regard to their 
 good? Would you be so blasphemous as to ascribe to 
 the Divine Being a vain pride? My blood curdles at 
 the thought. I am horror-stricken, when I think that 
 some men have represented that the declarative glory 
 of God is a mere show of strength, a spoilt as it were 
 of power, regardless of the welfare, or inftictive, rather, 
 of the final evil of his children ! The declarative 
 glory of God is the display of his glorious perfections, 
 all of which centre in his goodness. This display of 
 his glory, of course, which he makes to his creatures, is, 
 through his wise and benevolent, his wonderful and 
 
 i^Deut. vi. 4. 
 
GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. 53 
 
 glorious arrangements, designed for the promotion of 
 his creatures' happiness. Since, therefore, the glory 
 of God is the good of his children ; to say that he 
 aimed, in giving laws to his children, at the promotion 
 of his own glory, is the same as to say, that he aimed 
 at their good. 
 
 It should consequently be the chief concern of the 
 moral teacher, to influence the people's minds in their 
 choice of conduct, by enlightening them into a dis- 
 covery of the eternal connexion between duty and 
 happiness. This will be coming home to the very 
 principles of their nature, and the omnipotent springs 
 of action. They want happiness, — they love their own 
 good ; — and let them be brought out of the deceived 
 belief that their good may be found in doing wrong, 
 to know the reason and ground of their duties, and 
 that they are all commanded of God, for their good 
 always, and then their free choice of obedience will be 
 secured. With them self-love and social love will 
 then become the same. They will see the law of God, 
 and their own individual happiness, and the happiness 
 of the community in which they live, to be connected 
 links in one golden chain, which is fastened to the 
 throne of the Eternal. 
 
 II. To illustrate the sentiment above established, 
 and evince more practically the goodness of God, in 
 the institution of law for man, we will look at some 
 of its particular requirements in their application to 
 human life. Take the Decalogue, for instance, as a 
 summary of duty to God and fellow-man. 
 
 I. The first division of the Decalogue relates to 
 our duty to God, involving, of course, our duty to our- 
 selves. It prohibits all idolatry, and enjoins the single 
 5=^ 
 
54 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 worship of the one only living and true God.'' This is a 
 kind provision for human improvement and happiness. 
 It includes not the requisite form alone, but also the 
 spirit of devotion to God. It involves supreme love, 
 approbation and respect of the Divine character, — 
 thankfulness for the Divine favors, — and a looking to 
 God for direction, and for all needed good. In short, 
 this part of the Decalogue is, by our Saviour, summed 
 up in this, -'Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind."'* 
 
 It is obvious to sober reflection, that the doing of 
 this great and primary requisition of the law, must be 
 productive of the most sublime enjoyment, the most 
 high and exalted happiness. To put our minds to that 
 study of evidence, by which we attain to that knowl- 
 edge of God, that acquaintance with his adorable per- 
 fections, whereby we come into possession of supreme 
 love to him, this is coming into the privilege of trust- 
 ing God, and feeling safe in his care. For we can 
 never fear harm from one we supremely love. If we 
 love God with all the heart, we must view him in his 
 moral character to be supremely trustworthy. Hence, 
 the apostle's saying, " Perfect love casteth out fear," 
 because fear hath torment. To enjoy communion with 
 the all-pervading presence of the Deity, to worship 
 him in spirit and in truth, to hope in his almighty 
 goodness, and to rest confidingly in his kind paternal 
 care, this is the chief good of man. Nothing else can 
 equal it. 
 
 NoAV while the worship of the true God, in the 
 adorable character in which he is presented in the 
 Scriptures, as also exhibited in the preceding chapter 
 
 c Ex. XX. 1—7. ^ Blatt. xxii. 37. 
 
NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. B5 
 
 of this work, tends to such elevation of mind, and 
 such confidence and peace, it also tends to purify the 
 mind, — to assimilate it to the moral image of the holy- 
 object of worship. On the other hand, the worship of 
 idols, or false gods, who are always made to partake 
 of the corruptness of their debased inventors, both tends 
 ta a restless, perturbed state of the mind, and a down- 
 ward course of human character. 
 
 Thus far, then, in the law of God, we find the 
 kindest regard for the welfare of man. 
 
 The prohibition oi profanity is included in that part 
 of the law which we have noticed above ; as the pro- 
 fane and obscene use of the name of God is an act of 
 irreverence, and has a tendency to the growth and 
 spread of irreverence towards God. Hence its praci»rce 
 and influence robs man of the supreme good above 
 described, and violates the law of love and devotion 
 to the Father. 
 
 The appointment of the Sabbath^ or one day in 
 seven for rest from ordinary labor and care, may also 
 be included under the head of duties to God ; though, 
 like all duties to God, it involves our duties to our- 
 selves and mankind. It is a wise and good provision 
 for man, who is ever eager to push his worldly inter- 
 ests forward, that there should be a suitable time of 
 respite, for bodily rest and mental cultivation, fixed 
 for him by authority. And this arrangement is an 
 indispensable means for promoting obedience to all the 
 other commandments of the law. 
 
 2. The second division of the law relates directly 
 to our conduct towards our fellow-men.^ It requires 
 children to honor their parents ; which involves the 
 duty of love and respect while under their care, and 
 
 e Ex. XX. 12—17. 
 
56 • COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of nourishing and sustaining their decUuing years. It 
 prohibits murder^ and adultery^ and theft^ and false 
 witness^ and all covetoiis?tcss, that bane of social 
 friendship and peace. All this, too, the great Teacher 
 sums up in one word, love. " Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself" ^ And this commandment he 
 esteems as like unto the first, that of love to God. 
 For he who loves the Lord, who is "good unto all," 
 loves the spirit of universal goodness, and loves of 
 course the other objects of the Father's love, his other 
 children. So then, "he thafloveth is born of God, and 
 knoweth God, — for God is love." "And this com- 
 mandment have we from him, that he who loveth 
 God, love his brother also."° 
 
 Is not this commandment good for man ? Picture to 
 yourselves a neighborhood where all are walking in 
 obedience to it. Is a neighbor distressed 7 Does trou- 
 ble press upon his family ? They all sympathize. 
 The hand of kind aifection is stretched out, the balm 
 of consolation is applied, and the distressed are restored 
 to joy and gladness. Is one of them prosperous? Does 
 he receive a blessing which adds to the happiness of 
 himself and his beloved family? They all rejoice. 
 Being in the spirit of fraternal love, they think not to 
 derive happiness from each other's miseries, but the 
 happiness of each adds to that of all, and the happi- 
 ness of all to that of each. 
 
 What a heavenly scene is this ! Husbands and 
 wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, kin- 
 dreds and neighbors, all bound by the strong ties of 
 sincere affection, walking on, and aiding each other 
 on, in the path of perfection and felicity. 
 
 Finally, you may descend to particulars, in respect 
 
 f Matt. xxii. 39. si Jcphn iv. 7, 8, 21. 
 
NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. S7 
 
 to all the duties involved in the principles of the divine 
 laAV, and you will find them all to be necessarily con- 
 nected with our best good, our highest happiness in 
 life. Consider the duty of love and obedience to God ; 
 our duty to ourselves, to cultivate the mind, to im- 
 prove ourselves in all the moral graces, and to use the 
 good gifts of Providence in conformity with the rule 
 of temperance in all things ; and our duties to man- 
 kind, to exercise good-will to all, to be kind and for- 
 giving, just and true, sympathetic and helpful, to strive 
 for the general good. He who, in all these things, 
 obeys the Creator's law, rests in cheerful hope in God. 
 His time is occupied in some useful employment, in 
 the business of doing good. He walks among man- 
 kind with the fearless majesty of moral integrity and 
 truth ; and his mind, the mirror of heaven, is the clear, 
 the calm, and the pure receptacle of happiness serene, 
 rational, abiding. His heart responds, amen, to the 
 inspired description of wisdom's service ; — " Her 
 ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon 
 her, and happy is every one that retaineth her.'"" 
 
 O how miserably dark is the mind of that man who 
 lives in violation of the Father's laws ; — or of him 
 who, though a professor of religion, declares that if it 
 were not for his fear of foreign and extraneous punish- 
 ments of infinite magnitude, he would seek his greater 
 good in a life of sin ! The serpent hath deceived him. 
 Let him pull the scales from his eyes, just to take one 
 sober look at the condition he aspires to. An apostate 
 from the ivorship of God^ an alien from cominunioii 
 with the Father of mercies^ neglecting the means of self - 
 improvement^ practising intemperance and self-defHe- 
 
 bprov. iii. 17, 18. 
 
58 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Tiient^ living in envy and malice^ hateful^ false^ and 
 treacherous to mankind. Are these the constituents 
 of the wished-for good? They are deep, throbbing, 
 putrid sores to human hfe. And if the poor, tempted 
 soul had but open eyes to see, he would start back 
 with horror from the moral charnel house of sin, to 
 which his deluded steps are hastening. Then, too, 
 on tasting the bliss which pure obedience yields, 
 would his spirit glow with rapture in the chant of the 
 royal poet's song, descriptive of the moral law : 
 
 " The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; 
 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple ; 
 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart ; 
 The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ; 
 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever ; 
 The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 
 JMore to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold j 
 Sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb. 
 Moreover by them is thy servant warned ; 
 And in keeping of them there is great reward."' 
 
 This truth then is established; — that the law of 
 God to man, is the law of a Father, instituted in wis- 
 dom and love, for the children's good. From this 
 doctrine who dissents '? None. Then none will refuse 
 to accompany me into the subject of the succeeding 
 chapter. 
 
 'Ps. xix. 7—11. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Nature and Design of the Penalties. 
 
 We have considered the law of God to man, in its 
 wise adaptedness and benevolent design. And we 
 have seen and admired the reward of obedience, which 
 consists in all those physical and moral advantages 
 and blessings, in all that healthfulness and happiness 
 and glory, for the production of which the law was 
 given. And in all this we have seen renewed and 
 multiplied manifestations of the wisdom and goodness 
 of God, and his kind regard for his children. In this 
 subject, indeed, we find those provisions and arrange- 
 ments which involve the highest blessings which be- 
 long to the inheritance of man. For without the 
 moral nature, which renders him a proper subject of 
 law, and an accountable being, subject to conscious 
 approbation or guilt according to his conduct in rela- 
 tion to the law, he could not have been capable of 
 those high and sublime enjoyments, which are de- 
 signed for man as the child of God. 
 
 But the law has its penalties for transgressors. In 
 connexion with the very first instruction given to man 
 in relation to his course of duty, he was admonished 
 of evil as the fruit of disobedience. And now it is the 
 purpose of this chapter to bring out into a clear light 
 the nature and design of those penal sufferings. 
 
 And here it is safe to presume, in the outset, that 
 the penalties of the law are not designed to thwart 
 
60 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 God's purpose in the law itself. Let the reader dis- 
 pense with all haste now, and think Avith slow, candid 
 deliberation. For here we enter upon a subject which 
 is at the foundation of all religious controversy in 
 Christendom. 
 
 It has been asserted that the penalty of the law is 
 endless punishment, to be inflicted in a future immor- 
 tal state of being ; and that any act of disobedience 
 subjects man, by the rule of law, to an eternity of 
 woe. This makes the penal part of the law to be at 
 war with the spirit and design of the law itself. God 
 has created man an intelligent and moral being, and 
 given him a law adapted to his moral constitution, and 
 kindly designed, as we have seen, for the production 
 of happiness. He has also, for a wise purpose, placed 
 the moral nature of man in connexion with a physical 
 nature of such appetites and passions as subject him 
 to various temptations and trials. And now, the doc- 
 trine which we have just named, represents, that God 
 has annexed to his wise and good law a penalty, 
 which, if executed according to its true intent and 
 meaning, would, upon any act of transgression, cut 
 man at once and forever off from all subsequent privi- 
 lege of living in the very law of his moral nature, and 
 make his endless existence an endless evil ! The mo- 
 ment you come in contact with this item of theologica 
 belief, you feel a chill as from the touch of death, anf 
 are conscious of having passed out of the path of thav 
 true " Divinity," in which we have been walking, into 
 the invention of a depraved human mind. That doc- 
 trine which makes the penalty of God's law to coun- 
 teract the very design of the law itself, and to be the 
 instrument of infinite ruin to his children, can have no 
 foundation in the works and ways of the living and 
 true God, whose wisdom and love are so wonderfully 
 
NATURE OF THE PENALTIES. 61 
 
 evinced in the plans and arrangements of his crea- 
 tion. 
 
 Who of our readers, without shutting his eyes, and 
 doing violence to his own moral sense, can dissent from 
 this proposition, — to wit; that as the penalties are the 
 work of the same Lawgiver, and compose a part of 
 the legal system, which we have seen to be so wise 
 and good, they are designed to promote the good pur- 
 pose of the law? They are intended to be preventive 
 and curative in their operation, conducing to obedience. 
 Of course, punishment is not designed to be endless, 
 because it is not an ultimate end of the Divine admin- 
 istration, but a means, looking always to an end in 
 correction. 
 
 This wise penal arrangement of the moral law bears 
 a striking analogy with a corresponding feature in the 
 law of physical nature. There is an infraction of the 
 law of physical health, by improper diet, or by a 
 wound upon the body. This infraction is followed by 
 physical pain. The knowledge of the connexion be- 
 tween such infraction and the consequent pain, tends 
 to put men on their guard against the former ; and the 
 suffering of the pain upon the occurrence of the infrac- 
 tion, stimulates to the application of remedies. So far 
 then the government of God is in harmony with itself, 
 and with all the harmonious Divine perfections. And 
 so we shall find a beautiful harmony running through 
 all parts and principles of the entire body of " CHRIS- 
 TIAN DIVINITY." 
 
 By an appeal to the Scriptures, we shall find the 
 sentiment established by authority, to which the spirit 
 of the law itself has driven us, touching the character 
 of its penalties. For a sample of the Scripture ex- 
 positions of the design of punishment, see Lev. xxvi. 
 6 
 
62 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 14, and onward. ''But if ye will not hearken unto 
 me, and will not do all these commandments ; and if 
 
 ye despise my statutes, I also will do this unto 
 
 you ; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, 
 and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, 
 and cause sorrow of heart : and ye shall sow your 
 seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." 
 
 '' A?id if ye loill not yet for all this hearken unto me^ 
 then I will punish you yet seven times more for your 
 sins. I will break the pride of your power ; and I will 
 make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. 
 And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your 
 land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees 
 of the field yield their fruits." =^ * * 
 
 '•^ And if ye loill not he reformed by me by these 
 things^ but loill walk contrary unto me, then I will also 
 walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven 
 times for your sins," &c. 
 
 Here the sentiment is declared, and repeated over 
 and over, that the sole object in view by all these in- 
 flictions of punishment was the ameridment of the 
 people. Punishment after punishment was to be 
 added, in case they would not be humbled and re- 
 formed ; and even when the last degree of punishment 
 should be inflicted, and they should be broken up as a 
 nation, and scattered abroad and trodden under foot 
 of all nations, and they should pine away in their 
 iniquities in their enemies' lands, it is added, (v. 40,) 
 "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity 
 of their fathers ; — if then, their uncircumcised hearts be 
 humbled, and they then accept the punishment of 
 their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant 
 
 with Jacob, I will not cast them away to destroy 
 
 them utterly, for I am the Lord their God." 
 
DESIGN OF THE PENALTIES. 63 
 
 111 a case where the people had become bhnd and 
 stupid in their sins and sufferings, and were tending 
 to a state of desperation, the Lord said by his prophet, 
 (Isa. i. 5,) '-Why should ye be stricken any more? 
 Ye will revolt more and more ; the whole head is sick 
 and the whole heart is faint." Here we have the sen- 
 timent, as belonging to the principle of the Divine 
 administration, that it is not meet that punishment 
 should be inflicted beyond the point of its tendency to 
 good. And in the succeeding part of the chapter last 
 referred to, a different moral process is graciously prom- 
 ised, by which to affect the people's hearts with a sense 
 of the Divine goodness, and of their own ingratitude 
 and folly, and to turn them from their evil ways. 
 
 The cases which we have now quoted refer rather 
 to Israel in their national capacity ; but they elucidate 
 the principle on which punishment is administered 
 in all cases, upon nations and individuals. Though 
 God made a special revelation of the law of duty and 
 happiness to Israel, as he did not at the same time to 
 other nations, yet he favored them all with such ca- 
 pacities and means of knowledge as to their primary 
 duties, that they were not without law. As the 
 apostle says, "they are a law unto themselves, — 
 which shew the work of the law written in their 
 hearts."^ And the same Father is their Maker, Law- 
 giver and Judge. Though he is, with reference to a 
 special covenant made for a wise purpose with Israel, 
 often called the God of Israel^ yet the Scriptures do 
 not represent him as a titular deity. He is expressly 
 declared to be the God of the whole earth ;^ the God 
 of the spirits of all flesh ;'' the Creator of the heavens 
 and the earth, and all things in them;*^ the Judge 
 
 a Rom. ii. 14, 15. ^ Isa. liv. 5. 
 
 c Num. xvi. 22. d Gen. i. Acts xvii. 24. 
 
64 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 among the nations.^ And with regard to the primitive 
 dispensations of his law over all men, they are of the 
 same benevolent character as those described as hav- 
 ing primary reference to Israel. The royal psalmist, 
 in view of Jehovah's administration of law in general, 
 was inspired to sing, "Also mi to thee, O Lord, be- 
 longeth mercy, for thou renderest unto every man 
 according to his work."*^ So clearly did the psalmist 
 view the penalties of the law to be merciful in their 
 spirit and design. If he had been contemplating the 
 execution of such relentless vengeance as should make 
 countless millions of God's children curse him, and 
 curse their own existence, howling eternity away in 
 unavailing wishes to sink back into the quiet of non- 
 existence — surely the vision would not have suggested 
 the motions of infinite mercy. In vain do we look 
 for such pictures in the word of God. 
 
 In relation to the design of panishment, the Scrip- 
 tures employ even more expressive and affecting de- 
 scriptions than those already adduced. Wisdom says, 
 in her instructions to the erring children of men, 
 "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; 
 neither be weary of his correction : for whom the 
 Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in 
 whom he delighteth."' And St. Paul says to the He- 
 brews, (xii. 5, 6,) "And ye have forgotten the exhor- 
 tation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My 
 son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint 
 when thou art rebuked of him : for whom the Lord 
 loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom 
 he receiveth." In the light of this principle, the pro- 
 phet Jeremiah, bewailing the most direful calamities 
 of his apostate and cast-off people, submissively ex- 
 
 « Ps. xcvi. f Ps. Ixii. 12. g Prov. iii. 11, 12. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 65 
 
 claims, "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a 
 man for the punishment of his sins 7 Let us search 
 and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.'"" 
 [Surely the assertion, ichich is often heard fro7n cer- 
 tain quarters^ that this life is not a state of retribution, 
 is as false as the Bible is trne.] Here also, as through- 
 out the Bible, the truth shines out in cloudless noon- 
 light, that while the law subjects transgressors to 
 adequate punishment, it administers its penalties upon 
 such a principle, that no man on earth has occasion 
 to complain of it. For it is designed to humble and 
 correct the sufferers. 
 
 With regard to the nature or consistence of pun- 
 ishment, it is represented in the Scriptures as consist- 
 ing of those evils, in kind and degree, which legiti- 
 mately appertain to the kind and degree of sins. It 
 involves the deprivation of those blessings which 
 are abused, and the suffering of those positive evils 
 which are connected with the positive wrongs. If a 
 person neglects the cultivation of his mind, his life is 
 l)arren of the amiable graces and rich enjoyments of 
 good mental culture. If he abuses the social and do- 
 mestic relations, those relations become so many sores 
 and annoyances to him, as they should be sources of 
 pleasure. If he violates any of the laws of his nature, 
 those laws, respectively, will take their appropriate 
 vengeance upon him. And these appropriate evils are 
 urged upon human consideration, by the inspired 
 teachers, as the proper and e very-day motives, so far 
 as the fear of evil is designed to furnish motives, for 
 restraint, self-government, and virtuous living. 
 
 The wise man, for instance, in dissuading men from 
 the violation of the law of temperance, expostulates 
 
 bT.am. iii. 39,40. 
 
 6* 
 
66 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 thus: ''Who hath woe? who hath sorrow 7 who hath 
 contentions? who hath babbhng? who hath wounds 
 without cause ? who hath redness of eyes 7 They that 
 tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed 
 wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, 
 when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth 
 itself aright. At last it biteth like a serpent and sting- 
 eth like an adder."' And in relation to the trans- 
 gression of the law of personal chastity, besides those 
 burning plagues which must constantly consume the 
 heart, he gives a startling picture of the dreadful phys- 
 ical result if seasonable repentance is not induced — 
 " And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy 
 body are consumed." J 
 
 This legitimate mode of punishment, as a general 
 rule, is very comprehensively expressed by the inspired 
 penman, thus : " Thine own wickedness shall correct 
 thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." ^ " His 
 own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he 
 shall be holden with the cords of his sins."' "The 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear 
 the iniquity of the father ; neither shall the father bear 
 the iniquity of the son ; the righteousness of the righ- 
 teous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the 
 wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will 
 turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and 
 keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and 
 right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. '^ =^ In 
 his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. But 
 when the righteous turneth away from his righteous- 
 ness and committeth iniquity, * ^ in his trespass that 
 
 i Prov. xxiii. 29—32. J Prov. v, 11. 
 
 k Jer. ii. 19. ' Prov. v. 22. 
 
NATURE OF THE PENALTIES. 67 
 
 he hath trespassed, and m his sin that he hath sinned, 
 in them shall he die.""" 
 
 How clearly is the sentiment here expressed, that if 
 men transgress the law, its penalty is unavoidable, 
 and is comprised in the evils in which the transgres- 
 sions involve them. The death here spoken of as the 
 wages of sin, is not an extraneous punishment to be 
 inflicted in another world in revenge for sins in this. 
 It is a deprivation of good, suffered in sin. '-^ I?i his 
 sin that he hath sinned, he shall die." Yes, and such 
 is this death, that he who has been wicked a part of 
 his life shall have suffered it in his sin, — and being 
 reformed, shall be free from it; — for " i7i his righteous- 
 ness that he doeth he shall live J ^ 
 
 The New Testament writers explain this penal 
 death in sin, with much precision. "What fruit had 
 ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for 
 the end (i. e. the fruit which they had received) of 
 these things is death."" " For to be carnally minded 
 is death. =^ * If ye live after the flesh ye shall 
 die."° " Among whom also we all had our conversa- 
 tion in times past, in the lusts of ttie flesh, fulfilling 
 the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by 
 nature the children of wrath, even as others." ^ " You 
 hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and 
 in sins."'' "We know that we have passed from 
 death unto life, because we love the brethren. He 
 that loveth not his brother abideth in death."' And 
 this is the description of the penalty revealed to our 
 first progenitors. " In the day thou eatest thereof, (or 
 sinnest.) thou shalt surely die."" 
 
 Jesus Christ, the rehgious teacher's model of moral 
 
 ™ Ezek. xviii. 20—22. ^ Rom. vi. 21. « Rom. viii. 6, 13. 
 
 PEph. ii. 3. q Eph. ii. 1 ^ i John iii. 14. « Qgn. ii. 17. 
 
68 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 faithfulness, was likewise in the familiar liabit of 
 warning mankind against the manner of sins which 
 he saw them inclined to, by consideration of those 
 penalties in particular, to which their darling sins ex- 
 posed them. When he healed the impotent man, who 
 it seems had brought disease upon himself by his own 
 misdeeds, he kindly said unto him, " Sin no more, lest 
 a worse thing come unto thee.*'^ The idea is, that if 
 he should return to his evil practices, his troubles too 
 would return upon him, even with -increased severity. 
 But Vv^hen he addressed the self-righteous Scribes and 
 Pharisees, whose leading sins were irreverence^ self- 
 ishness, pride, turbulence and oppression, he grasped 
 and laid before them the sufferings which he saw im- 
 pending over theh^ manner of moral corruptness. At 
 one time some of them came and told him of the Gali- 
 leans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. 
 And Jesus answering said unto them, ^'Suppose ye 
 that these Galileans were sinners above all the Gali- 
 leans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, 
 nay : but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. 
 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, 
 and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above 
 all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay: 
 but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish."" 
 
 Now it is the practice of some religious teachers to 
 take this particular language of Jesus, which he ap- 
 plied to a particular people on a special occasion, with 
 reference to a peculiar exposure of theirs, and apply 
 it indiscriminately to all. "Ye shall all llkeioise 
 perish." Perish how? and Z/Z:ewhom? Like those 
 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and whose blood 
 Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. How miserably 
 
 I John vi. 14. " laike xii. 1 — 5, 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 69 
 
 qualified then to "rightly divide the word of truth," 
 are those who stand up and harangue the virtuous 
 and pure, whom the preacher would hardly accuse 
 of a fault, except, perhaps, in respect to their form of 
 faith, and menace them with the saying, " Except ye 
 repent ye shall all likewise perish." What reason 
 would they give for threatening their friends, for some 
 ordinary errors, with destruction like that inflicted 
 upon the Galileans, when Pilate slew them around the 
 altar upon which they were laying their offerings? 
 None, surely, but that they knew not whereof they 
 affirmed. But with regard to the people to whom 
 Jesus applied this warning, thousands and thousands 
 of them did perish by the fall of towers and walls, and 
 by fire and sword, when they had come up to the great 
 religious sacrifice in Jerusalem. And they perished in 
 their national capacity under these calamities. Ac- 
 cordingly they did perish likewise as did those upon 
 whom the tower of Siloam fell, and whose blood 
 Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus, 
 knowing their real exposure, gave them just and ap- 
 propriate warning in the words we have quoted. 
 What a beauty and force there would be in the moral 
 teachings and warnings of the pulpit, if the teachers 
 would all learn wisdom from the Scriptures. 
 
 For another instructive specimen of the inspired 
 teachings of legal penalties, I will refer the reader to 
 St. Paul. In urging npon his brethren the most im- 
 pressive warnings against the vices to which they 
 were most likely to be tempted, he arrays before them 
 a catalogue of striking examples. '' But with many 
 of them (the ancient Hebrews) God was not well 
 pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilder- 
 ness. Now these things were our examples, to the 
 
70 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 intent we should not lust after evil things as they 
 also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of 
 them. * ^ Neither let us commit fornication, as some 
 of them committed, and fell in one day three and 
 twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as 
 some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of ser- 
 pents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also mur- 
 mured, and were destroyed of the destroyer," — i. e. the 
 plague. "Now all these things happened unto them 
 for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition, 
 upon whom the ends of the Avorld {ciioiion^ ages) are 
 come "^ 
 
 When we witness these earnest and appropriate 
 Scripture teachings, in relation to the real evils of sin, 
 the legitimate penalties of God's law, we deplore the 
 defection of the middle and modern ages. We see a host 
 of teachers, grave and gay, who have lost sight of all 
 these sober realities, and are diverting the minds of 
 the people with off-hand declamation of fabulous ter- 
 rors. "To the law and to the testimony; if they 
 speak not according to this word, it is because there is 
 no light in them.'"'' 
 
 Some of the punishments enumerated in cases which 
 we have noticed, were inflicted more immediately by 
 the hand of God than punishments usually are; but 
 these were cases Vvdiere the people had sinned against 
 Divine requirements more specially revealed to them, — 
 and they were designed also to demonstrate that judg- 
 ment is of the Lord, and we are amenable to him ; 
 that " though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not 
 be unpunished." 
 
 The reader has now been led into a view of the 
 Scripture teachings on the subject sufficiently exten- 
 
 V 1 Cor. X. 5—11. ^Isa. viii. 20. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 71 
 
 sive to settle the question as to the nature and design 
 of punishment denounced by the law, and its harmony 
 with the spirit and purpose of the law itself. Yet 
 some may urge that there are terms employed to ex- 
 press the punishment of sin, and others to qualify it, 
 which contradict this philosophical and Bible view of 
 it, and prove it to be endless. Eet there be no haste 
 here. He who would make a qualifying word prove 
 the endlessness of punishment, may make it prove none 
 at all ; for he may thus destroy the Bible testimony. 
 We have seen what the Scriptures prove of the perfec- 
 tions of the Creator, and of the wise and good design 
 of his laws to his children, and of the accordant spirit 
 and purpose of the annexed penalties. Thus much is 
 established, not by a doubtful criticism of a word, but 
 by the plain every-day descriptions of these things 
 themselves, in their nature, and their relations to one 
 another. And now it must be a rash hand which 
 would essay, by a doubtful word, to break up the entire 
 concurrent force of the Divine nature and the primary 
 and common teachings of the revealed Word. 
 
 To illustrate, I will present a brief summary from 
 the book of the law, of its severest penalties. It is a 
 sort of judicial summary made out by the Lawgiver 
 himself, declaring that, if any man, or woman, or 
 family, or tribe of Israel, should forsake the Lord God 
 of their fathers, " The Lord shall separate him unto 
 evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the 
 curses of the covenant that are written in this book of 
 the law. So that the generation to com.e of your 
 children, that shall rise up after you, and the strangers 
 that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they 
 see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which 
 the Lord hath laid upon it^ *^ ^ ^ even all nations 
 
72 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 shall say. Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto 
 this land? What meaneth the heat of this great 
 anger? Then men shall say, Because they have for- 
 saken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, 
 * * * * and the anger of the Lord was kindled 
 against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that 
 are written in this book." * 
 
 Here we have the direct and explicit declaration of the 
 book of the law itself, that such is the amount of all the 
 curses, all the punishments, written in it, that their full 
 execution should be witnessed by him who should be- 
 hold the miseries of the transgressors in the land of 
 their habitation. The meaning in this case is express, 
 explanatory, and unmistakable. He, therefore, who un- 
 dertakes to prove from some qualifying term elsewhere 
 applied to punishment, that the proper curse or pen- 
 alty of the revealed law is endless suffering in the 
 future world, virtually undertakes to prove that the 
 testimony just quoted from the law is false. It cannot 
 be pretended that by such an effort he only charges 
 me with misconstruing the law. There is no con- 
 struction of mine in the case. The passage quoted 
 cannot be explained ; for it stands itself an explanation 
 of the legal penalties. It distinctly avers that in 
 pouring upon the people those plagues and sicknesses 
 which should desolate their land, the Lord would 
 bring upon them all the curses written in the book of 
 the law. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Controverted Terms, Designating and Qualifying 
 Punishment. 
 And now what are the terms, designating and quali- 
 fying punishment in other cases, which indicate any 
 
 »Deut. xxix. 18—28. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. TS- 
 
 new system of Divine retribution, or change the pres- 
 ent Hght of the subject ? It will be answered that the 
 descriptive term referred to is hell^ and the qualifying 
 term is everlasting or eternal. To these, then, we will 
 attend, briefly, and with care. 
 
 1. The word hell This is in the original Hebrew, 
 sheol^ and has its meaning well expressed in the Sep- 
 tuagint, by the Greek hades. This latter word is 
 defined by the lexicons to signify literally unseen, 
 dark^ covered^ hidden. And it is accordingly applied to 
 the state of the dead, as denoting it to be an unseen 
 state. To this word, in its literal meaning, the Eng- 
 lisli, or rather Saxon word, hell^ exactly corresponded 
 in its former usage. Dr. Parkhurst says, that in some 
 of the eastern, and especially in the western counties 
 in England, the word is used in that primitive sense 
 now. '^ To liele over a thing is to cover it.'"^ Hence 
 it is seen that this word literally expresses nothing in 
 opposition to the teachings of the law, before con- 
 sidered, in relation to its penalties. The use of the 
 word hell for punishment, would most literally indicate 
 a state of darkness, or at most the destruction of life. 
 
 We grant, however, that a word may be used in 
 some other than its primary and literal meaning. It 
 may be used figuratively. But you must be careful 
 how you force a figurative construction upon a word, 
 which shall make it contradict the most positive and 
 literal doctrines of the Bible. Figurative passages 
 cannot be taken for new revelations, but only for em- 
 bellishments and illustrations of known truth. Con- 
 sequently, we must construe a figurative passage in 
 relation to a given subject, in accordance with the 
 
 y Parkhurst's Gr. and Eng. Lex, on kades. See also, to the same purpcwt, 
 Dr. A. Clark's Commentarv, on Matt. xi. 23. 
 7 
 
74 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 general scope of the Divine testimony on that subject^ 
 taking into consideration the immediate occasion on 
 which it is spoken or written, and following out the 
 figure in its most natural bearing upon the subject. 
 
 And now, that the bearing of this term upon the pen- 
 alties of the law may be fully understood, I will present 
 the reader with all the cases of its occurrence in the 
 books of the law, or the five books of Moses. The 
 first instance of the use of this word in the Bible, is in 
 Jacob's lamentation for the loss of his son Joseph. ''I 
 will go down into the grave, {hades,) unto my son 
 mourning." The same was repeated by Judah, in his 
 eloquent plea for Benjamin before Joseph in Egypt.^ 
 None will say that the word is used here for a state 
 of endless misery, — for surely Jacob did not expect to 
 go into such a state, and to find his beloved Joseph 
 there. Neither did he mean by it any particular grave 
 or sepulchre ; for he did not suppose that Joseph was 
 buried in a grave, believing that he was devoured of 
 an evil beast. He meant by it the unseen state of 
 death. 
 
 The only other case of the use of this word in the 
 Pentateuch, is in Deut. xxxii. 22. "For a fire is 
 kindled in mine anger, and it shall burn to the lowest 
 hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and 
 set on fire the foundations of the mountains." It reads 
 on as follows : — "I will heap mischiefs upon them; I 
 will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be 
 burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, 
 and with bitter destruction. * ^ The sword without 
 and terror within, shall destroy both the young man 
 and maiden," &c. This, therefore, is the revelation 
 of no new description of penalty, but a warning given 
 
 »Gen. xxxvii. 35 ; xlii. 38 ; xliv. 29, 31. 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 75 
 
 to the people, on account of idolatry, of their exposure 
 to just such calamities as we have before seen were 
 denounced upon apostates in the book of the law. By 
 the lowest heU in this case, is obviously meant the darkest 
 and deepest hiding places of the earth. The threat- 
 ened calamities should reach them, though they might 
 hide in the deepest caverns, and dig into the bottoms 
 of the mountains. ''A fire is kindled in mine anger, 
 and it shall burn to the lowest Jmdes^ and shall con- 
 sume the earth with her increase, and shall set on fire 
 the foundations of tJie mountains.'''' 
 
 A similar description of an unescapabk calamity is 
 given by the prophet Amos, (ix. 2.) " Though they 
 dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them." No 
 one will suppose that the people would think of dig- 
 ging into a place of endless, unmitigated torment, to 
 escape danger, nor that the Lord would take them out 
 of such a place to punish them. The word hades is 
 used in this place, as in that last quoted from Moses, 
 according to its literal meaning, for a dark secret hid- 
 ing place. ''Though they dig into hades ^ thence 
 shall my hand take them ; though they climb up to 
 heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though 
 they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will 
 search and take them out thence ; and though they be 
 hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will 
 I command the serpent, and he shall bite them." 
 Thus does the connexion render it plain that a tempo- 
 ral judgment is the subject of this prophecy, and that 
 the strong language employed is poetically descriptive 
 of its unavoidable prevalence. 
 
 I have gone out of the Pentateuch for this quota- 
 tion, barely for an illustration. The reader has now 
 placed before him all the instances of the use of the 
 
"^6 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 word hades^ or hell, in all the books of the law. And 
 none can fail to see that its use neither teaches nor 
 intimates any sentiment in the least at variance with 
 the general teachings of the law in relation to its pen- 
 alties. 
 
 |l5=» Tlien no different doctrine on the subject of pun- 
 ishment will he found in the Old Testament. ^^ To 
 this position I call the attention of the Christian world. 
 The Pentateuch contains the entire legal covenant, the 
 revelation of the moral law and the institution of the 
 ceremonial, with the appropriate penalties. The entire 
 system of God's revelation to his earthly children is 
 comprised in two parts, the Icno and the gospel. ''The 
 law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
 Jesus Christ."" And the historical and prophetic 
 books of the Old Testament contain no new legal cov- 
 enant, no new principles of law, or of judgment. The 
 prophets were teachers and watchmen unto the house 
 of Israel, to teach them out of the law, and to warn 
 them, according to the word of the Lord, of any im- 
 pending judgments. But the judgments of which the 
 prophets gave warning, were those which should be 
 founded upoivthe principles of the revealed law, ac- 
 cording to the curses ^vritten in that book. I, there- 
 fore, call upon all Christians to reflect, that as they 
 will not pretend that endless punishment is a penalty 
 revealed in the law of Moses, they carmot find it in any 
 of the prophetic narrative/or warnings of judgment in 
 the administration of the law. And if they force an 
 unnecessary meaning upon a disputed word to make 
 out an illegal penalty.^ they do violence to the Scrip- 
 tures, and to the honor of God. 
 
 In what covenant^ then^ shall toe find the penalty of 
 
 a John i. 17. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 7T 
 
 endless torment? The only other covenant is the 
 gospel; but this is the covenant of grace. It does not 
 open unheard-of stores of wrath and vengeance for 
 feeble mortals, but it reveals a stupendous moral sys- 
 tem of divine operation, by which even to save man- 
 kind from sin itself, that they may thus be saved from 
 the condemnation of the law. Accordingly, the word 
 of God, setting forth the terms of the second covenant, 
 says, "But now hath he (Christ) obtained a more ex- 
 cellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator 
 of a better covenant, which was established upon 
 better promises. * * For this is the covenant that I 
 will make with the house of Israel after those days, 
 saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their minds, 
 and write them in their hearts. * * All shall know 
 me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be mer- 
 ciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and ini- 
 quities will I remember no more.'"' So, while the 
 law commands men to be holy, and denounces pun- 
 ishment upon disobedience, the gospel undertakes, by 
 the merciful influences of truth and grace, to inspire 
 men with the love of holiness, thus to fulfil the law in 
 their hearts. Hence, in the reception of this covenant 
 an apostle says, " For God hath not given us the spirit 
 of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound 
 mind.""' And again; "For ye are not come unto the 
 mount that might be touched, and that burned with 
 fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 
 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words ; 
 which voice they that heard intreated that the word 
 should not be spoken to them any more ; ^ * * But 
 ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the 
 living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."*^ 
 
 b Heb. viii. &— 12. <= 2 Tim. i. 7. ^ Heb. xii. 18—22. 
 
 7# 
 
78 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 In these cases, and in all cases of contrast between 
 the two covenants, the second is described as having 
 less of the ingredient of fear in it than the first. 
 Therefore nothing can be more safely and confidently- 
 concluded, than that, while the first, or legal covenant, 
 includes no penalty of endless punishment, the second 
 or gospel covenant has no such penalty, of course. 
 The legal covenant was designed in a particular 
 manner to influence human conduct by the considera- 
 tion of rewards and punishments. The gospel cove- 
 nant, though it does not abrogate the doctrine of 
 rewards and punishments, does specially, in as far as 
 it differs from the former, provide other and higher 
 influences. He, therefore, who will undertake, by the 
 criticism of a word^ to palm upon the covenant of 
 grace the penalty of endless, revengefid torments for 
 earthly sins, attempts a work which he has but illy 
 considered. He must show, from the radical meaning 
 and Scriptural use of the disputed word, and from the 
 occasion of its occurrence in a given case, that it so 
 necessarily bears his assumed sense, as to demand our 
 sanction of it, even to the nullification of the uniform 
 gospel description of the better covenant. 
 
 But so far as the word hell is concerned in the case, 
 it has been shown that it can answer no such ruinous 
 purpose. In the book of the law it has no such mean- 
 ing; nor in the prophets, for they do but teach and 
 warn upon the principles of the law. And surely the 
 same word which, when rarely it is made descriptive 
 of a state of punishment in the law and the prophets, 
 refers only to temporal punishment, cannot, with the 
 requisite demonstration, denote the infliction of infinite 
 suflerings under the dispensation of grace. 
 
 So obvious is this fact, that the learned and orthodox 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. T^ 
 
 Dr. Campbell, whose religious prepossessions would 
 naturally urge him to press into the support of endless 
 punishment all the Scripture words and phrases he 
 honestly could, was constrained by the imclouded 
 hght of this subject to put forth the following decisive 
 language : — 
 
 ''As to the word hades, which occurs in eleven 
 places in the New Testament, and is rendered hell in 
 all, except one, where it is translated grave, it is quite 
 common in classical authors, and frequently iised by 
 the Seventy in the translation of the Old Testament. 
 In my judgment it ought never in Scripture to be ren- 
 dered hell, at least in the sense wherein that word is 
 now universally understood by Christians. * =* ^ It 
 was written anciently, as we learn from the poets, (for 
 what is called the poetic is nothing but the ancient dia- 
 lect,) aides, and signifies obscure, hidden, miserable. 
 To this the word hell, in its primitive signification, 
 perfectly corresponded. For, at first, it denoted only 
 what was secret or concealed. This word is found 
 with little variation of form, and precisely in the same 
 meaning, in all the Teutonic dialects."' 
 
 After extending his classical illustrations of the 
 meaning of the word, the doctor repeats, — " But it is 
 very plain that neither in the Septuagint version of 
 the Old Testament, nor in the New, does the word 
 hades convey the meaning which the present English 
 word, hell, in the Christian usage, always conveys to 
 our minds." And speaking for biblical critics of his 
 acquaintance generally, he adds, — "It were endless to 
 illustrate this remark, by a;i enumeration and exam- 
 ination of all the passages in both Testaments wherein 
 the word is found. The attempt would be unneces- 
 
 « Sixth Pre. Dissertation, p. 131. 
 
80 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 sary, as it is hardly now pretended by any critic, that 
 this is the acceptation of the term in the Old Testa- 
 ment." 
 
 I do not quote Dr. Campbell as authority in matters 
 of religious faith ; — but the fact that learned critics like 
 him, whose prepossessions look for the doctrine of 
 endless punishment in the Bible, are forced, against 
 their wishes, by their criticisms on the literal meaning 
 of the word hades^ and its Scriptural usage, to relin- 
 quish all claim of support to such doctrine from that 
 term, is a circumstance weighing something in con- 
 firmation of the view to which we are brought by a 
 de novo examination of the subject. 
 
 II. But the word hell is sometimes rendered from an- 
 other .original term in the Scriptures, viz., gehenna. 
 Let it be distinctly observed, however, that it does not 
 stand as the representative of that word in the books 
 of the law, nor in the Old Testament. And as there 
 is no such penalty revealed in the law as endless pun- 
 ishment, but on the contrary the law expressly sums 
 up all its penalties in temporal sufferings, we should 
 not, by a j^rlori reasoning, expect to find Gehenna 
 introduced into other parts of the Bible as descriptive 
 of any other than temporal punishments. Neverthe- 
 less I will not avail myself, with the reader, of this 
 reasonable assumption, without submitting the subject 
 of it to a philological and Scriptural scrutiny. What, 
 then, is the radical meaning, and what the scriptural 
 use, of the word Gehenna 7 
 
 Gehenna is compounded of two Hebrew words, gee^ 
 land, or valley, and Hinnora^ the name of the person 
 who was the owner of the particular valley unto which 
 this compound word was applied. This valley of Hin- 
 nom lay near .Terusalem, on the western border of the 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 81 
 
 lot of the tribe of Jiidah. It became at length noted as 
 a place of resort for the idolatrous Jews, where they 
 burned their children alive in the fire, a sacrifice to 
 Moloch. But King Josiah in his reign prevented re- 
 sort to this place for a while, by rendering it insup- 
 portably odious with garbage and filth from the city; 
 as in 2 Kings xxiii. 10: " And he defiled Tophet, which 
 is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no 
 man might make his son or his daughter to pass 
 through the fire to Moloch." Tophet was the place of 
 the fire-stove in this valley. 
 
 From this time it seems that gee Hinnom^ the val- 
 ley of Hinnom, continued for a long period to be a com- 
 mon receptacle of garbage and filth from Jerusalem. 
 A fire was kept continually burning to consume the 
 garbage brought out there, and the worms were con- 
 stantly preying on that part of the filth, which, in its 
 abundance, lay about unconsumed. In this fire, also, 
 some writers tell us, criminals^ condemned to the most 
 shameful and distressing punishment, were put to 
 death. Such is the literal history of Gehenna^ the 
 valley of Hinnom. 
 
 But the prophets, who sought for the most striking 
 figures by which to impress on the minds of the peo- 
 ple the important subjects of their prophecies, used this 
 valley as an emblem or comparison, by which to rep- 
 resent the wretched condition in which a continuance 
 in vice would involve the Jewish nation. They not 
 only forewarned the people that they should bury in 
 Tophet until there should be no place, and their bodies 
 should lie unburied, food for the beasts of the field 
 and the fowls of the air, but also that their great 
 city should be like unto Tophet ; as in Jer. xix. 12 ; 
 " Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and 
 
82 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as 
 Tophet." 
 
 Thus far all are agreed. All agree that Gehenna is 
 literally the name of the valley which has just been 
 described ; and that in the Old Testament this valley 
 is never employed as an emblem of any other punish- 
 ment than that temporal destruction which should 
 come on the Jewish nation. How, then, shall it be 
 made to appear that this word signifies a state of 
 future misery, when it is used in the New Testa- 
 ment 7 It is used by our Lord as a word which the 
 people understood, or had the means of understand- 
 ing; for he used it inever^'" case without explanation. 
 And how could they know its meaning? They, in 
 address to whom the Saviour used this word, could 
 understand his meaning, because they were acquainted 
 with the valley of which this word was the proper 
 name, and with its use in the writings of their pro- 
 phets, as an emblem of temporal calamity, and prob- 
 ably with its use as a place for the execution of capi- 
 tal punishments. But how could they understand 
 him as meaning by it a place of punishment in the 
 future world? As he did not inform them that he 
 employed the word in any new sense, they must have 
 understood it, when employed by him, according to 
 its former usage. 
 
 But here some tell us that the Jews in their inter- 
 course with the heathen, between the last of the pro- 
 phets and the coming of Christ, had adopted into their 
 religious creed the heathen fables of a Tartarus, or 
 prison of fire below the earth, and that to this Tar- 
 tarus they had applied Gehenna^ the name of their 
 odious valley. And they conclude hence that when 
 Jesus used this word, he used it in its new sense, 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 83 
 
 meaning by it that world of torment which was orig- 
 inated in the said fables of the heathen, then lately- 
 borrowed by the Jews. 
 
 But we have not so learned Christ. When a speaker 
 uses a word without explanation, he is to be under- 
 stood as using it in the sense of such other authors as 
 he is knoT\ai to recognize as authority. Now unto 
 what did Jesus refer the people as authority? What 
 was he engaged in expounding, and enforcing on the 
 people 7 The corrupt fables of the heathen, borrowed 
 by the apostatized Jews? No; the Scriptures of the 
 Old Testament. The law and the prophets were 
 the authority recognized by Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
 when he used Scripture words, without explaining 
 them, he must have been understood by his disciples 
 as using them in the Scripture sense, however such 
 words may have been applied, by apostates, to other 
 things. 
 
 But the last named assumption, concerning the 
 Jewish usage of Gehenna in our Saviour's time, is 
 imfounded. It does not appear that the Jews, as 
 early as our Saviour's time, had ever used the word 
 Gehenna in application to a place or state of future 
 punishment. Some learned commentators have as- 
 serted that Gehenna was used for future punishment 
 in the original of the Apocrypha ; but Mr. Balfour has 
 detected their error, having ascertained that the word 
 Gehenna does not once occur in the original writings 
 of the Apocrypha. And though his book, announcing 
 this fact, has been before the public more than twenty 
 years, and some of his most learned opposers have un- 
 dertaken to controvert some parts of it, no one has 
 contradicted his statement of the absence of the word 
 Gehenna from the Apocrypha. There can be no dis- 
 
84 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 pute about it, foi the original of those books speaks for 
 itself; and they who have asserted that Gehenna is 
 there used for future punishment, must have got their 
 minds wrought into the idea without a personal exam- 
 ination. And their assertion was then the more safe, 
 there being but one party on the question. If there 
 had been any controversialist to call on them for the 
 authority upon which they made their statement, they 
 would have gone to those writings and examined for 
 themselves, in order to refer their opponent to book, 
 chapter and verse, and would hereby have discovered 
 their error. 
 
 And now with regard to other Jewish writings, to 
 which reference may be made for the settlement of the 
 question concerning the Jewish usage of Gehenna in 
 our Saviour's time, — Rev. H. Ballon, 2d, D. D., who is 
 extensively read in ancient Ecclesiastical History, has, 
 with much and critical labor, examined all the author- 
 ities which can probably ever be brought to bear on 
 this question, and has ascertained the fact that all 
 other Jewish writings now extant, are as free from the 
 use of Gehenna^ in reference to future punishment, as 
 are the books of the Apocrypha, until more than two 
 hundred years after Christ. No Jewish writing ex- 
 tant, of a later date than the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures, uses this word, until the Targum of Jonathan 
 Ben Uzziel ; and this, the best of critics agree, could 
 not have been written earlier than the end of the 2d 
 century ; some say the 4th, and some refer the work 
 to as late a period as the 7th or 8th century.^ 
 
 It seems nov/ to be a settled point, that the last position 
 from which disputants have argued for the application 
 of Gehernia in the New Testament to future punish- 
 
 i See Universalist Expositor for May, 1832. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 85 
 
 merit, is without evidence to support it. There is no 
 evidence on which rehance can be placed, that even 
 the apostatized Jews, in our Saviour's time, had ever 
 apphed the word Gehenna to future punishment. We 
 are therefore left to make up our judgment on the 
 meaning of the word in the New Testament, alto- 
 gether from the Old Testament use of the phrase Gee 
 Hinnom^ and from the connexions in the several 
 cases in which the New Testament employs it. 
 
 The literal sense and Old Testament usage have 
 been considered and determined ; and thus far all are 
 agreed. Since, then, it is incontrovertibly settled, that 
 Gee Hi?inom in the Old Testament is only used as the 
 proper name of the odious valley, and as an emblem 
 of the then future corruptness and desolation of the 
 Jewish city and nation; and since, furthermore, no 
 Jewish Avriter had used the compound word, Gehenna^ 
 in any other sense,^by what authority can it be 
 asserted, that this word, in the New Testament, is 
 used for a place or state of endless punishment 7 The 
 reader will perceive that, if there is any authority for 
 such an assumption, it must be found in some very 
 obvious assignment to it of. the new and unheard of 
 sense, by the great Teacher, in connection with his 
 use of it. Does he assign to it any such new signifi- 
 cation, either directly, or by implication ? To answer 
 this inquiry, we will briefly examine its New Testa- 
 ment usage. 
 
 Its first occurrence in this portion of the inspired 
 Book, is in Matt. v. 21, 22: "Ye have heard that it 
 was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill : and 
 whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judg- 
 ment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry 
 with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger 
 8 
 
86 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of the judgment : and whosoever shall say to his bro- 
 ther, Raca, (shallow brains,) shall be in danger of the 
 council ; but whosoever shall say, thou fool, (^Moreh^ 
 apostate^ shall be in danger oihellfire^^^ {Gehenna fire^ 
 Let it be borne in mind that this is the first instance 
 of the use of the word Gehenna in the New Testa- 
 ment ; and where is the evidence that it is here used 
 in our opposers' new sense? No such evidence ap- 
 pears. We find nothing introduced here but the same 
 Gehenna fire of which we read in the Old Testament, 
 and which appears to have been used for the infliction 
 of the highest punishments. Jesus here speaks in ref- 
 erence to three grades of 'punishment ; strangling^ by 
 the judgment of twenty-three members; stoning^ by 
 the council of seventy-two; and being burnt in the 
 valley of Hinnom. He used language which was so 
 familiar to the people he addressed, that it would have 
 been puerile for him to explain it. It seems to have 
 been his design to guard his disciples against any dan- 
 gerous mistake, with regard to the means by which 
 they might expose themselves to the judgment of the 
 civil tribunals of the country, to be cut off" from their 
 good work in form of law, and not as persecution for 
 opinion's sake. They were of like passion with other 
 men; they were punishable for injurious words as 
 well as for injurious actions ; and their enemies were 
 watching them for evil. Being of a class of commu- 
 nity not probably practised in judicial tactics, if they 
 were not cautioned and guarded in relation to these 
 things, they might unawares give occasion to their arch 
 and ever watchful enemies, to procure their death by 
 legal process. They might, in a momentary burst of 
 passion, excited by abusive opposition, cast at their 
 opposers some opprobrious epithet, for which they 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 87 
 
 would be subject to arraignment, and death by stran- 
 gling, or stoning, or burning in the fire of Gehenna, 
 according to the nature of the epithet. 
 
 Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on this pas- 
 sage, says, "It is very probable that our Lord means 
 no more here than this ; if a man charge another with 
 apostasy from the Jewish religion, or rebellion against 
 God, and cannot prove his charge, then he is exposed to 
 that punishment {burning alive) which the other must 
 have suffered if the charge had been substantiated. 
 There are three kinds of offences here, which exceed 
 each other in their degrees of guilt. 1. Anger against 
 a man, accompanied with some injurious act. 2. Con- 
 tempt^ expressed by the opprobrious epithet, Raca^ or 
 shallow brains. 3. Hatred and mortal enmity^ ex- 
 pressed by the term Moreh, or apostate, where such 
 apostasy could not be proved. Now, proportioned to 
 these three offences, were three different degrees of 
 punishment, each exceeding the other in severity, 
 as the offences exceeded each other in their different 
 degrees of guilt. 1. The jiidgme?it, the council of 
 twenty-three J which could inflict the punishment of 
 strangling. 2. The Sanhedrin, or great council, 
 which could inflict the punishment of stoning. 3. The 
 being burnt alive in the valley of the son of Hinnom. 
 This appears to be the meaning of our Lord."=^ 
 
 * Professor Stuart, after showing the literal meaning of this word to be 
 what we have stated, argues, what none will dispute, the frequent Scripture use 
 of words in a secondary or figurative sense. He then refers to this first use 
 of Gehenna in the New Testament, and says that it is " the only passage 
 which seems to be even capable of the literal sense." But upon quoting the 
 passage, he puts the inquiry, " Is all this literal, or spiritual?" And finally 
 he comes to his conclusion in these words : " The Saviour could not here mean 
 to say that the Jews would literally punish the various gradations of crime 
 which he marks. We must suppose, then, that he means to designate the 
 punishment which God, who could judge the heart, would inflict, and which 
 must be spiritJial.^' 
 
bo COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Gehenna occurs twice again in the same chapter, 
 (verses 29, 30:) "And if thy right eye offend thee, 
 
 Well, suppose it were so ; — suppose the design of Jesus was to teach that 
 the Lord, "who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, even to give unto 
 every man according to his ways," will administer different degrees of sipir- 
 itual sufferings, according to the different degrees of sinfulness in man. 
 What then? Does it follow that reference was made to punishment in an- 
 other world? No such punishment is written in the book of the laxo, — nor in 
 the prophets, of course, who founded their threatenings upon legal principles. 
 And now, is the mere fact that Jesus Christ speaks of a punisliment which 
 God will inflict, a proof that he means the infliction of" immortal pains? " 
 When David says, " Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou ren- 
 derest unto every man according to his work," he speaks of retributions ad- 
 ministered, not by Jewish rulers, but by the government of God. Does it 
 follow hence, that the Psalmist meant, that God will in mercy raise up his 
 offending children from the deep sleep of death, to inflict upon them unend- 
 ing torments ? Who would have supposed that the circumstance of a pun- 
 ishment being administered by Him who "judgeth in the earth," (Ps. 
 Ixii. 12,) is proof that it must be administered in a future world? Yet this 
 is precisely the argument of the learned Professor. After remarking that 
 Jesus " could not mean to say that the Jexcs would literally punish the vari- 
 ous gradations of crimes which he marks," and that "we must suppose, 
 then, that he means to designate the punishment which God, who can judge 
 the heart, would inflict, and which must be spiritual," he concludes,—" What 
 is meant must then be^ that God would punish, in a future world, with dif- 
 ferent degrees of severity, which were signified or symbolized by the Sep- 
 temviri, by the Sanhedrim, and by being burned in the valley of Hinnom." — 
 (Exegetical Essays on Gehenna.) 
 
 To Professor Stuart belongs the credit of such an argument. But it will 
 he seen that his argument just as much makes the words which stand for 
 Septemviri, and Sanhedrim, mean a place of endless punishment " in a future 
 world," as Gehenna. And this, then, is the first revelation, the original burst- 
 ing forth, of the astounding dogma, that God will raise up millions of his chil- 
 dren, and hold them up in unending being, that he may wreak upon them 
 unending vengeance ! It is not in the Law, — it is not in the Prophets, — it is 
 not in the literal meaning of the terms Septemviri, Sanhedrim, and Gehenna, 
 —nor is it in any explanation which the Saviour has given of these words,— 
 but it is in these six words of Professor Stuart in relation to a figurative use 
 of those terms, viz., " What is meant must then be! " And this, I apprehend, 
 is as good authority as that dogma will in any case be found to be entitled to. 
 
 It is granted that the word Gehenna is in some cases used figuratively, 
 " signifying or symbolizing " a punishment which God would inflict ; but the 
 reader who goes with me in the examination of its New Testament usage, 
 will see that the assumption that the punishment it symbolizes, is "in a 
 future world," is not only unauthorized by the testimony, liut opposed to it. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 89 
 
 pluck it out and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable 
 for thee that one of thy members should perish, and 
 not that thy whole body should be cast into Gehen- 
 na ^ The other verse is the same, except substituting 
 the hand for the eye. The same is recorded by the 
 Evangelist Mark, thus: (Mark ix. 43:) ''And if thy 
 hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter 
 into life maimed, than having two hands to go into 
 hell, {Gehenna^^ into the fire that never shall be 
 quenched ; ''' or, as the most literal translation is, into 
 the unquenchable fire; " where their worm dieth not, 
 and the fire is not quenched." This word Gehenna is 
 twice repeated in the same sense in the verses which 
 follow. 
 
 Now it is evident that in this case the word Ge- 
 henna has no reference to a place of future torment, 
 because Jesus was not discoursing on the subject of a 
 future state. Such a thing is supposed as an entrance 
 into the life here spoken of, maimed; and that on 
 account of denying ourselves of what would cause 
 offence against the gospel. Can this apply to the 
 future state ? Can you conceive of such a thing as a 
 person's entering into life, in the resurrection immor- 
 tal state, — entering into the blissful paradise of God, 
 feeling there maimed; and that too, in consequence 
 of having done so ivell in this world, as to cut off 
 what would have caused offence ? Such a thing is 
 not supposable. But in this world, persons may, by 
 faith and obedience, enter into the life of the gospel, 
 and yet feel maimed on account of some sacrifices 
 made. Here then is the entering into life maimed. 
 It can only be in this world. And as the casting into 
 Gehenna is set against the entering into life maimed, 
 this too must be expressive of some calamity on earth. 
 8* 
 
90 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 The plain sense of this passage is, that it was better 
 for the disciples to suffer what privations an adherence 
 to the gospel in that age required, and enjoy the gos- 
 pel life, and the divine protection which was promised 
 the true disciples, than to abandon Christ's cause, and 
 be cast into Gehenna^ or suffer in those dire calami- 
 ties of the unbelieving Jewish nation, which should 
 make their city like Tophet in Gehe7ina^ and literally 
 fill up that valley with the unburied carcasses of that 
 people. The phrase, "unquenchable fire," and the 
 saying, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is 
 not quenched," are allusions to the well known worm 
 and fire of the valley of Hinnom, before spoken of "^ 
 But figuratively used, as they seem to be here, they 
 denote the continuance and effectiveness of those evils, 
 which should, like the worm and fire of Gehenna^ 
 prey upon and consume that people. These calami- 
 ties were, by the prophets, even when the valley of 
 Hinnom was not referred to, called a fire that should 
 not be quenched ; as in Jer. vii. 20 : — " Therefore thus 
 saith the Lord God, Behold, mine anger and my fury 
 shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and 
 upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and 
 upon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burn, 
 and shall not be quenched." And Jer. xvii. 27 : 
 " Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it 
 shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall 
 not be quenched." Hence we perceive that this un- 
 quenchable fire was in the earth ; we read nothing of 
 
 •> On this phraseology Professor Stuart justly remarks, " It would seem 
 that the custom of desecrating this place, {Gehenna,) thus happily begun, 
 was continued in after ages down to the period when our Saviour was on 
 earth. Perpetual fires were kept up, in order to consume the offal Avhich 
 was deposited there. And as the offal would breed worms, (for so all putre- 
 fying meat of course does,) hence came the expression, ' Where the worm 
 dieth not, and ihe fire is nni qnench<^d.'" 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 91 
 
 it in the Scriptures when speaking of the resurrection 
 world. It being called unquenchable fire ^ denotes that 
 the judgment signified by it should not be checked, or 
 prevented from accomplishing its full destined work. 
 
 The word Gehenna occurs again in Matt, xxiii. 33 : 
 '■'• Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers ! how can ye 
 (iscape the damnation of hell?" (the punishment of 
 Gehenna 7) The meaning here is obvious. Jesus was 
 addressing those people whom the prophets had fore- 
 warned that they should be food for the beasts and 
 fowls in the valley of Hinnom, and that their city 
 should be as Tophet. He saw them in the practice 
 of the very iniquities on which were predicated these 
 threatenings of punishment, and yet they were plac- 
 ing reliance on their outside piety, as if that would 
 shield them. The whole of the preceding part of this 
 chapter he had devoted to an exposure and reprehen- 
 sion of their hypocrisy ; and here he interrogates them 
 as if he had said : " Ye brood of vipers, how can you 
 expect, by such hypocrisy, to escape that punishment 
 which your prophets have forewarned you shall crowd 
 Gehenna with the unburied carcasses of this people, 
 and even make your city as Tophet?" By the 'pun- 
 ishment of Gehenna we do not understand Jesus to 
 mean merely what should be suffered in that particu- 
 lar valley, but that judgment, that great calamity, 
 which should come on that whole people, and the 
 effects of which on that nation the prophets represented 
 by reference to the valley of Hinnom. That this is 
 what Jesus here meant by the 'punishment of Gehenna^ 
 is furthermore certain from his own succeeding expla- 
 nation of it. "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you 
 prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of 
 them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye 
 
^ COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them 
 from city to city ; that upon you may come all the 
 righteous blood shed upon the earth. Verily I say 
 unto you, all these things shall come upon this genera- 
 tion. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! Your house is left 
 unto you desolate," &c. Now what respect can we 
 have for all the assertions of men which are against 
 the words of Jesus? For he, directly proceeding to 
 describe the punishment of Gehenna^ shows that he 
 meant by it that calamity which should come on that 
 generation of the Jews, and desolate their country and 
 city. 
 
 Another instance of the use of the word under con- 
 sideration, is in Matt. x. 28 : "And fear not them which 
 kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but 
 rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and 
 body in hell." {Gehenna.) The same is thus recorded 
 in Luke xii. 4, 5. "And I say unto you, my friends, 
 Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after 
 that have no more that they can do. But I will fore- 
 warn you whom ye shall fear ; fear him, which, after 
 he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I 
 say unto you, fear him." 
 
 This is the only case in which there seems to be the 
 least plausible ground for an application of Gehenna 
 to punishment in the future world. It speaks of the 
 power of God to cast into Gehenna after he hath 
 killed. But a just consideration of the case will, it is 
 presumed, satisfy the reader, that the word is not here 
 used as a revelation of any such new description of 
 punishment. This passage was addressed by our 
 Lord to his ministering disciples, as he was sending 
 them out into the world to propagate his doctrines. It 
 is not to be supposed that he meant to threaten them 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 93 
 
 with a future Gehenna of endless torments, when he 
 had never warned the enemies of his cause with any 
 other than a Gehenna of temporal calamities. His 
 design was to guard them against being influenced 
 by the fear of man to abandon his cause. Men could 
 kill the body, but not the {psiike) soul. The word 
 here rendered so2d is most commonly used for life. 
 And the circumstance that a distinction is here made, 
 which is not made elsewhere, between killing the 
 {soma) body and the {psuke) life, leads us to the con- 
 clusion that in this case something is meant by killing 
 the body short of taking the life. 
 
 The word apokteinoj here rendered kill, signifies, ac- 
 cording to the lexicons, to kill, to slay, to take away, 
 to remove, to heat almost to death, to tease or plague, 
 &c. And as killing the body is here spoken of in dis- 
 tinction from killing the life, it appears to me evident 
 that it denotes the taking away of the comforts and 
 privileges of the body, the teasing or plaguing of the 
 body, (a sense which the word rendered kill may ex- 
 press,) without taking the life. And of this scourging 
 of the body, as Matthew shows us in his record of the 
 same conversation, Jesus had just been informing his 
 disciples that they should suffer. " Beware of men," 
 said he, "for they will deliver you up to the councils, 
 and they will scourge you in their synagogues ; ^ * * =* 
 and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's 
 sake ; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." 
 That is, he who continued faithful should have his 
 life preserved, though men might thus kill, that is, 
 scourge and plague the body. — " Fear them not, there- 
 fore," continued Jesus, ''for there is nothing covered 
 that shall not be revealed ; and hid which shall not be 
 known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye 
 
 ^4/f* 
 
94 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye 
 on the house-tops. And fear not them which kill the 
 bod}?-^ but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear 
 him which is able to destroy both soul [life] and body 
 in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a far- 
 thing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground 
 without your Father. But the very hairs of your 
 head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, for ye 
 are of more value than many sparrows." That is, 
 fear not men; for this is a repetition of what was said 
 in the 26th verse. " Fear them not, therefore." Jesus 
 was sending the disciples out to labor in the gospel 
 ministry, and aimed to inspire them with a confidence 
 in the Divine protection in the path of duty, — but 
 with a fear to forsake duty for human protection. 
 They might fear nothing in the path of duty; fear 
 nothing but to offend the laws of God. It would be 
 by such offence that they would subject themselves to 
 the greatest evil. Though it would not consist with 
 the Divine economy to work that constant miracle, 
 which would prevent men's sometimes killing, or 
 scourging their bodies^ — if they were faithful, God 
 would preserve their lives. But if they should aban- 
 don duty to procure the protection of men, the power 
 of God, after it had afflicted their bodies, would cast 
 them into Gehenna^ or destroy both their lives and 
 bodies by that judgment, which was called the punish- 
 ment of Gehenna. 
 
 True, some of the disciples were to lose their lives 
 for Christ's sake. But this should only be when they 
 should see their work to be done, as did Paul when he 
 said, "I am now ready to be offered," — so that they 
 should offer themselves a willing sacrifice to the cause 
 of truth. Then it might be said in truth of them, as 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 95 
 
 Jesus said of himself, " No man taketh it (my life) 
 from me, but I lay it down of myself" ' The disciples 
 were immortal, to tlie accomplishment of their mission, 
 if they were faithful to duty. 
 
 Such, then, seems to be the sentiment of this portion 
 of Scripture. Jesus designed to encourage his disci- 
 ples to a fearless march in the way of duty, by the as- 
 surance that in that way God would preserve their 
 lives, until he should make them to see, and cheerfully 
 consent, that it was tlie best time for them to die ; — 
 and until that time, though men might kill or scourge 
 their bodies^ they could not take their lives. And if 
 one is assured that, in faithfulness to duty, men can- 
 not destroy his life until he is prepared in his mind to 
 give himself a willing sacrifice for the cause he loves, 
 then in the path of duty he has nothing to fear from 
 men. But if, for fear of men, the disciples should 
 apostatize from the Christian cause, they would fall 
 under that judgment of God, which, after killing or 
 torturing the body, would cast into Gehenna^ — 
 would destroy both life and body in that calamity 
 which was called the punishment of Gehenna. I say 
 they would fall under that judgment of God which 
 xoould do this; for though the text only says that he 
 hath 'power to do it, the testimony of the Scriptures in 
 general on the same subject, as we have seen, shows 
 that the judgment here referred to woidd be executed 
 on the unbelieving Jews, and on the apostates from the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 Our Saviour employs this word, (Matt, xxiii. 15,) as 
 it might appropriately be employed, as an emblem of 
 odiousness : ''Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one 
 
 > John X. 18. 
 
96 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold 
 more the child of Gehenna than yourselves ! " The 
 proselytes were two-fold worse^ or more odious^ than 
 those who made them. And there is a passage in 
 James, where the destructive effect of the bad use of 
 the tongue is represented by the Jit^e of Gehenna. 
 (See James in. 6.) "And the tongue is a fire, a world 
 of iniquity; and is set on fire of hell," (^Gehenna.) 
 
 Thus endeth the catalogue of cases in which Ge- 
 henna occurs in the New Testament. And the candid 
 reader will participate with me in the high satisfaction 
 derived from the admirable harmony of the Scripture 
 doctrines. So far as we have made progress in our 
 investigations, we find no verbal description of pun- 
 ishment which contradicts the merciful design of 
 the law, and the adaptedness of its penalties to promote 
 its benevolent ends. 
 
 III. But there is one other word in the original of 
 the New Testament, which is rendered hell in the 
 common version, and which has been thought to mean 
 a place of endless punishment. It is Tartarus. It 
 occurs but once in the Bible, and that is in 2 Peter ii. 
 4. " For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but 
 cast them down to hell, {Tartarosas,) and dehvered 
 them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto 
 judgment." 
 
 As Tartarus is not found elsewhere in the New 
 Testament, and it does not occur in the Septuagint, 
 we^nust h^ve recourse to the Greek classics for its 
 meaning. From this source we learn that Tartarus 
 was the heathen name of their fabulous prison in the 
 bowels of the earth. Dr. Clarke quotes Hesiod as say- 
 ing, " Here, (in Tartarus,) the rebellious Titans were 
 bound in penal chains." And again. 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 97 
 
 "Black Tai1q,Tus, within earth's spacious womb." 
 
 The question now to be considered is, for what 
 purpose did Peter introdace this word in the case be- 
 fore us ? Did he mean to use it hterally, for the hea- 
 then fabulous prison of fire in the bowels of the earth, 
 with the design to give his sanction to those fables ? 
 No Christian will contend for this. It will be of no 
 avail, then, to assume that he used it to "symbolize" 
 the future hell of a portion of the modern Christian 
 church ; for no such "place of torment" is revealed or 
 taught in the Scriptures, to he symbolized. The au- 
 thors of the London Improved Version of the New 
 Testament, suppose that he meant to symbolize the 
 state of "judicial blindness," unto which God con- 
 signed the fallen or treacherous messengers,^ "Avho 
 were sent to spy out the land of Canaan, unto the 
 judgment of a great day, i. e. when they were de- 
 stroyed by a plague." For this view of the subject 
 they refer to "Simpson's Essays," a work to which I 
 have not had access. But these translators add', " Per- , 
 haps, however, the writer may refer to some fanciful 
 account of the fall of angels contained in the apocry- 
 phal book which lay before him, without intending to 
 vouch for that fact. He might introduce it merely to 
 illustrate his argument." 
 
 That Peter here quoted from an apocryphal book, 
 seems to have been the opinion of many critical com- 
 mentators ; and Jude is supposed to have quoted from 
 the same author. This opinion commends itself to my 
 mind as the most probable. The passage bears a 
 strong resemblance to many passages in Greek fabu- 
 
 J " Angelas,'' says Parkhurst, quoting Austin, <' is a name not of nature, 
 but of office." The office of messenger, which the word angel means, is 
 applied to eitiier spiritual or physical agents, as the case may be. 
 
 9 
 
98 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Ions descriptions of incidents in relation to Tartarus. 
 Some fabulous work, not Greek, but Jewish, is evi- 
 dently quoted by Jude, verse 9th. " Yet Michael, the 
 archangel, when, contending with the devil, he dis- 
 puted about the body of Moses, durst not bring against 
 him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke 
 thee." Such quotations from fabulous and apocryphal 
 works, and references to popular opinion, which are 
 used for comparison and illustration, never involve the 
 idea of a sanction of the stories or opinions referred 
 to. This reference to the story of a dispute between 
 Michael and the devil, where the writer's sense of pro- 
 priety made the former guard against raillery, even 
 toward the evil angel, was designed to set off the dis- 
 gusting arrogance of those disorganizers he was re- 
 proving, Avho ''despised dominion, and spake evil of 
 dignities." Our Lord said to the Pharisees, "If I by 
 Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children 
 cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges."" 
 He did not mean to admit that the children of the 
 Pharisees had the power to do those works which 
 they pretended ; but he argued with them upon their 
 own assumed principles, to convict them of injustice 
 towards him. He quoted also some fabulous story of 
 the Jews, when, in the latter part of the same chapter, 
 he introduced the case of the unclean spirit going out 
 of a man, and returning with seven other spirits more 
 wicked than himself, making the last state of that 
 man worse than the first. The moral of the story, as 
 applied to the Jews of that age, is all he aimed to in- 
 culcate, — viz., "So shall it be with this generation." 
 It is as if he had said, " The state of this generation 
 subsequent to the coming of their expected Messiah, 
 
 k Matt. xii. 27. 
 
WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 99 
 
 shall compare with that preceding, as the last state of 
 the demoniac in your fable compares with the first." 
 And with regard to the design of Peter in quoting from 
 the fabulous work in relation to the durance of certain 
 angels in Tartarus for judgment, the application he 
 makes of it is, that " the Lord knoweth how to reserve 
 the unjust unto a day of judgment to be punished." 
 And as the day of judgment with those apostates of 
 Avhom he was complaining, St. Peter says, " Whose 
 judgment now of a long time lingereth not^ and their 
 damnation slumber eth notP He was not treating on a 
 judgment to be postponed for ages. 
 
 It is now seen that the word Tartarus, as used in 
 this single case in the Scriptures, proves nothing con- 
 trary to the general tenor of the inspired teachings on 
 the legal penalties. But, in concluding my remarks 
 on the subject before us, I will show that the popular 
 use of this passage is utterly exploded by other parts 
 of the same creed which adopts it. It is supposed that 
 the Miltonian doctrine of the conversion of holy angels 
 to devils, is taught in this place. Dr. Watts versifies 
 the sentiment which the dominant sects hold of this 
 delivering of the angels into chains of darkness, in the 
 following stanza : — 
 
 " There Sat^, the first sinner, lies, 
 And roars and bites his iron bands ; 
 In vain the rebel strives to rise. 
 Crushed with the weight of both thy hands." ' 
 
 They at the same time maintain that these fallen angels, 
 or devils, are freely and actively ranging over the face 
 of this our world, scheming and working mightily and 
 successfully against the designs and operations of God 
 and his Christ, achieving and maintaining almost uni- 
 
 > Watts, H. 44, B. 2. 
 
100 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 versal empire in the great family of God's children. 
 Such brilliant achievements against the government 
 of the Eternal, acquired and maintained in the world 
 above ground^ by the imprisoned angels chained down 
 in Tartarus^ are incredible. The idea refutes itself 
 And we turn from these fables to the beautiful and 
 harmonious teachings of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 As we have had our attention called to the heathen 
 Tartarus, and to the occasional employment by the 
 sacred writers of popular opinions, to enforce truth 
 and duty, I deem this the proper place for the intro- 
 duction of the parable of Dives and Lazarus, (Luke 
 xvi. 19 — 31.) It may be urged by some that this par- 
 able presents an objection to the view taken, in the 
 beginning of this section, on the word hades, for here 
 it is represented as a place of torment after death. 
 The rich man is represented as being dead and buried, 
 and yet lifting up his eyes in hades, being in torment. 
 
 The objection here presented being at first view 
 plausible, notwithstanding we have shown by the 
 literal meaning of the word, and its use in the law, 
 and by the testimony of Dr. Campbell, who has the 
 general concurrence of learned critics, that the use of 
 this word cannot be relied upon as proof of punish- 
 ments contrary to the words of the law, yet I will give 
 place to a brief consideration of this pfrable. 
 
 With regard to the 'parabolic character of this pas- 
 sage, though occasionally a person of more party zeal 
 than knowledge insists on taking it as a literal nar- 
 rative, there is rarely an intelligent commentator 
 who will adopt a position so untenable. Lightfoot, 
 after ridiculing the idea that "this is not a parable, 
 but a true story," proceeds to say: "And that it was 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. lOl 
 
 a parable, not only the consent of all expositors may- 
 assure us, but the thing itself speaks it.""' 
 
 As it respects the elements of a parable, it may be 
 composed of natural incidents, literal facts, or fictitious 
 narratives, as may best suit the design. On this point 
 Dr. Barnes, an able Presbyterian commentator, speaks 
 with great clearness and truth, as follows : A parable 
 '' is a narrative of some fictitious or real event, in order 
 to illustrate more clearly some truth that the speaker 
 wishes to communicate. It is not necessary to sup- 
 pose that the narratives were strictly true. The main 
 thing, — the inculcation of spiritual truth, — was gained 
 equally, whether it was true, or was only a supposed 
 case. Nor was there any dishonesty in this. It was 
 well understood. No person was deceived. The 
 speaker was not understood to afiirm the thing lit- 
 erally narrated, but only to fix the attention more 
 firmly on the moral truth that he presented."" 
 
 The remark of some, that the story of the Rich Man 
 and Lazarus is not a parable, because the Saviour 
 says, " There was a certain rich maii^'' is too puerile 
 to be entitled to a labored notice. So parables are 
 usually introduced, not by a supposition, but in plain 
 narrative form. So the other parable in the same 
 chapter begins, — " There was a certain rich man 
 which had a stcAvard." And even the parable of 
 Jotham is introduced with the saying, "The trees 
 went forth on a time to anoint a king over them."" 
 But enough of this. 
 
 And what are the elements of the story which Jesus 
 employed in this parable ? They are the heathen fabu- 
 lous descriptions of the under world, which had been 
 
 «" See Paige's Selections, Sec, xlix. " Barnes' Notes, on Matt. xii. 3—9. 
 o Judges ix. 8. 
 
 9^ 
 
102 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 partially adopted by the Jews. To the entire subter- 
 ranean world they gave the name hades. This they 
 divided into two departments, Elysium, the blest 
 abode, and Tartarus, the prison of fire, — between 
 which there was a deep gulf or chasm. It is, indeed, 
 generally conceded, that the story employed in this 
 parable is founded on Judaized heathen views of hades. 
 Then let the sectarian make the most of it possible, 
 even taking it as a literal narrative, and he cannot 
 make it favor the doctrine of misery in the final im- 
 mortal state, beyond the resurrection. For admitting 
 the hades of the New Testament, unlike that of the 
 Old, to be as the poetic fables, and this story too, if 
 taken for literal truth, would represent the state of the 
 deceased, to be full of active life, and of enjoyment in 
 one department, and of suffering in the other, yet the 
 New Testament restricts us in its application to the 
 intermediate state. In the event of the resurrection 
 hades shall be destroyed, and the triumphant exclama- 
 tion shall be raised in a shout of ecstasy, " O hades ! 
 lohere is thy victory ? " This is an interrogatory asser- 
 tion, that in the consummation promised, not a single 
 victim shall hades boast. 
 
 Our opposers have sometimes tauntingly said to us, 
 '' There is an account of a rich man in hell ; how will 
 you get him out?" To which I would answer; 
 There is an account that this same hell, or hades^ shall 
 be destroyed, so that no victim shall be held in it. 
 And when all men are raised up from it, and hades 
 itself is destroyed, how will you get men back into 
 hades again? 
 
 But I do not admit that this parable was designed 
 to teach the doctrine of torment even in the interme- 
 diate state. Where did the Jews get their notions 
 concerning hades, that it was divided into Elysium 
 
WOR^§ DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 10^ 
 
 and Tartarus, a place of happiness and of misery? 
 Not from their Scriptures ; for,^ as it is conceded by 
 our most learned doctrinal opposers, the Old Testa- 
 ment Scriptures teach no such thing. They took 
 this view from the corrupt fables of the heathen, in 
 their intercourse with them after the age of the pro- 
 phets, and previous to the coming of Christ. And that 
 Jesns laid the scene of this story in those heathen 
 fables, is evident, in that he makes the parable to rep- 
 resent the places of the rich man and Lazarus as being 
 on a level, on the opposite sides of a great gulf or 
 chasm, precisely like the heathen fabulous under world 
 of Elysium and Tartarus. But the occasion on which 
 the parable was spoken, shows that Jesus designed to 
 represent by it the then approaching change of condi- 
 tions with Jews and Gentiles in this world, when the 
 former should be cast down and trodden under foot, and 
 the latter be exalted. And the sequel shows, that 
 though Jesus employed a story, which should call to 
 the minds of the Jews those heathen fables which they 
 had borrowed, he did it not to give his sanction to 
 those fables, but to reprove and shame them for their 
 adherence to them. For, in reference to the heathen 
 habits of necromancy, or conversation with the dead, the 
 parable makes the rich man to request that one should 
 be sent from the dead to instruct the Jews, and save 
 them from the evil unto which they were hastening. 
 But the answer is, '' They have Moses and the prophets; 
 let them hear them." Let them hear Moses and the 
 prophets about what? Surely not about torment in 
 hades^ for they never said a word about it. Moses 
 assured the people, as we have seen, (Deut. xxix.,) 
 that all the ciirs&s ivritteii in the book of the law^ should 
 be executed on transgressors, so as to be witnessed in 
 
104 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 the land of their residence, in which they should prac- 
 tise their sinful abominations. Yes, Moses, and the 
 prophets too, said much about those temporal calami- 
 ties to which that nation would expose themselves by 
 sin. And here Jesus makes his parable say of the 
 Jews, " Let them hear Moses and the prophets." As 
 if he had said; "Abandon your resort to heathen 
 fables, concerning torments in the state of the dead, 
 and go back to your own sacred Scriptures, to Moses 
 and the prophets, and give heed to their instructions 
 and warnings, concerning those real evils to which 
 you are exposed, and which are even at your doors." 
 An unfortunate parable is this for the doctrine of 
 future torments. The story borrows its imagery from 
 the fables of the heathen, for the purpose of being 
 so applied as to convey to the Jews the more cutting 
 reproof for having adopted those corrupt human for- 
 geries, and with more striking emphasis to command 
 them back to the Scriptures which they had neglected. 
 I have now devoted as much attention as my limits 
 will admit, to the three terms which have been 
 thought to designate a place of punishment in the im- 
 mortal world. These terms are Hades. Gehenna^ and 
 Tartarus. Sheol we merge in hades, which the Sep- 
 tuagint employs as a translation of it. Every occur- 
 rence of Gehenna and Taj^tanis has been examined, 
 and not the shadow of a doubt rests upon either case, 
 as to its application, when applied to punishment, to 
 sufferings in the present world. I have not adduced 
 all the cases of the use of hades, because my limits 
 would not admit it, and the labor were needless. It is 
 not pretended by the learned believers in endless pun- 
 ishment, that this word is used in the Scriptures to de- 
 scribe it ; and if it were so pretended, we have given so 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 105 
 
 full a definition of its meaning, and have gone so far 
 in exposition of its Scripture use, as to evince that an 
 attempt to raise the disputed doctrine from it must 
 obviously be futile, and to enable the reader to explain 
 every other case of its occurrence, by the connexions, 
 repectively, in which it may be found. 
 
 IV. We come now to the qualifying terms, some- 
 times applied to punishment, expressive of duration. 
 These are forever ^ everlastings and eternal. In the 
 Septuagint, and the Greek of the New Testament, 
 they are avon^ and its derivative, aionios. 
 
 Upon the meaning of these words, Professor Stuart, 
 in his Exegetical Essays, assumes that the proper sig- 
 nification of aion and aionios^ as used by the Greek 
 writers of the Septuagint and New Testament, is 
 eternity and eternal^ and that when they are used in a 
 limited sense, it is a catachrestic^ or forced and unnatu- 
 ral usage. Yet he has presented no facts to support 
 such an assumption. He has given us no authority 
 for departing from the following definition of aion^ by 
 his learned orthodox brother, Dr. Parkhurst. ^^Aion, 
 from aeij always, and otz, being, always being. It 
 denotes duratiG^^ or continuance of time, but with 
 great variety." This he gives as the p?vper and radi- 
 cal meaning of the word, ^^ duration, or contiiiuance 
 of time ;^^ and then adds, "but with great variety." 
 He then gives examples of diiferent uses of the word, 
 by reference to certain places of Scripture, of which 
 places every reader of the Bible is to judge for himself. 
 
 But you will say that if aion is compounded of aei, 
 always, and on, being, then the radical meaning of the 
 word is endless duration, or eternity. Let us look 
 then at the signification of the word aei, which is the 
 component part of aion that applies to duration, and is 
 
106 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 rendered always. ^^Aei, from a, intensive, and eo, to 
 be." 1. Ahvays, ever. Acts vii. 51, — "Ye do always 
 resist the Holy Ghost ; as your fathers did, so do ye." 
 2 Cor. vi. 10, — "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." 
 These are the only cases which Parkhurst brings to 
 support his strongest sense of the Greek aei ; and in 
 these, the reader perceives that the word means no 
 more than continual. His second definition is, ^'At- 
 waySj ever^ in a restrained seftse, i. e. at some stated 
 times." And third, " Very frequently^ continually.' - 
 And to these definitions he quotes Mark xv. 8, — "And 
 the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him 
 (Pilate) to do as he had ever done unto them." And 
 2 Cor. iv. 11, — " For we which live are always delivered 
 unto death for Jesus' sake." And 2 Peter i. 12, — 
 "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always 
 in remembrance of these things." Such is the signifi- 
 cation, and such the Scripture use, of the word aez^ 
 which with the word o?^, beings makes aion, the Greek 
 term under consideration. It is plain therefore that 
 the proper and radical meaning of this word is, as 
 Parkhurst has defined it, simply duration^ or continu- 
 ance of time ; i7idefi?iite duration. When, therefore, we 
 undertake to defitie the duration expressed by it, we 
 must do this by arguing from the nature of the subject 
 to which it is applied. The same remarks will apply 
 to the adjective aionios, which, as Professor Stuart 
 remarks in his Essays, p. 39, corresponds in meaning 
 with aion, the substantive. 
 
 Thus much I have thought proper to lay before the 
 reader with regard to aio7i and aio7iios, to show that 
 when one assumes that the proper signification af 
 these words is eternity and eternal, he assumes a false 
 position ; that the proper signification of these words is 
 
WORDS QUALIFYING PUNISHMENT. 107 
 
 dnratlon i?ideJinUe ; and that consequently whoever 
 asserts that either aion or aionios does in any given 
 case apply to ejidless duration, is bound to support his 
 assertion by argument from the connexion or the 
 nature of the subject. 
 
 I admit, however, that a word may become gradu- 
 ally changed by use, until it comes to be commonly 
 employed in a sense quite different from its radical 
 meaning. If any assert that this was the case with 
 aion in the time of the Greek writers of the Scrip- 
 tures, that it had then come into use to signify, prop- 
 erly, or by its own force, eteniity or endless dura- 
 tion^ let the assertion be judged by the facts which 
 appear in the Scripture use of this word. I have 
 examined 351 cases of the use of aion and aionios in 
 the Septuagint, which comprise nearly all the cases of 
 their occurrence in the Old Testament. In those cases 
 which I have examined, they are rendered by the 
 English words ever^ forever^ everlast'mg^ and eternal. 
 In 220 of these cases the words are applied to the 
 duration of times, things, and events, in the earth. 
 This I think no man, on examining each case, would 
 dispute. In the remaining 131 cases, the words are 
 applied to God, his attributes, his praise, the kingdom 
 of the Messiah, and of the saints, &c. Thus in nearly 
 iii'o thirds of the instances of the use of aion and aio- 
 nios in the Greek of the Old Testament, they are used 
 in application to Hmited duration of times and things on 
 earth. Does this look like these words having come into 
 use to signify, by their own force, eternity and eternal? 
 Far from it. Their Scripture use is according to their 
 radical meaning, duration^ or continuance of time^ the 
 extent of which is to be determined in each case from 
 the subject. And in many of the remaining 131 cases 
 
108 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of the use of aion and aionios in the Old Testament, it 
 does not appear that the sacred writers in using them 
 grasped the idea of eternity. When appUed to the 
 'praise of God^ and the displays of his goodness, 
 though these will continue eternally, it does not ap- 
 pear that the sacred writers by the use of aion meant 
 to express anything more than continual, perpetual, or 
 from age to age. The phrase, from generation to 
 generation, is sometimes used as a repetition of the 
 same idea that had just been expressed by aion, for^ 
 ever, ils in Lam. v. 19, — " Thou, O Lord, remainest 
 forever; thy throne /rom generation to generation^ 
 Now we may as well argue that the phrase, from, 
 generation to generation, expresses by its own proper 
 force eternal duration, because it is applied to the con- 
 tinuance of God's throne, as that aion expresses by its 
 own proper force eternal duration, because it is ap- 
 plied to the continuance of God's existence. And 
 with as much propriety might it be said that the pro- 
 per signification of the adjective great, is infinite, 
 because it is often applied to the Divine Being. 
 
 Because the word aion did not, with the Greek 
 writers of the Scriptures, properly signify eternity., 
 they would frequently repeat the word, when they 
 would express great extent of duration, and some- 
 times in the plural number, and add in some cases 
 the adverb eti, which signifies yet, still, or farther. 
 As in Ex. xiv. 18, — "The Lord shall reign (ton 
 aiona, kai ep aiona, kai eti) age upon age, or forever 
 and ever, and farther." And Dan. xii. 3, — ''They 
 shall shine as the stars {eis ton aiona, kai eti) to the 
 age, or forever, and farther." And Micah iv. 5, — 
 *' We will loalk in the name of the Lord our God, {eis 
 ton aioUj kai epekeina,) forever, and beyond it^ Now 
 
PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 109 
 
 to substitute the word eternity for aion^ in such cases, 
 reading from eternity to eternity^ and fartJier^ would 
 make perfect nonsense. The Scripture writers ex- 
 press the idea of God's eternity^ by different methods, 
 speaking of him as self -existent^ immortal^ U7ichange- 
 ablej of whose years there shall be no end^ &c. And so 
 is the endless continuance of the future state of human 
 existence in purity and happiness expressed, by its 
 immortality, incorruptibiUty, spirituality, heavenli- 
 ness ; (1 Cor. xv. 42 — 49 ;) by the saying that they 
 shall die no more^ (Luke xx. 36 ;) and shall be made 
 alive in and with him who is made after the power of 
 akatalutos^ endless or indissoluble life, (Heb. vii. 16.) 
 But it has been sufficiently shown that this idea of 
 God's eternity, and the endless continuance of the 
 future happy existence of men, is not expressed by the 
 natural force of the words aion and aionios. The 
 word aionios therefore, connected with the punish- 
 ment of the wicked^ is not the least proof of its endless 
 duration. Neither in the nature and design of punish- 
 ment, is there any thing from which you can argue its 
 unlimited duration. Even the reverse is shown in the 
 first section of this chapter. There are frequent men- 
 tions made in the Scriptures of cases in which God had 
 then, already, judged and punished the wicked ac- 
 cording to their doings, even according to all their 
 abmninationsy It is manifest, therefore, that the pim- 
 ishing of the wicked according to their doings is not 
 an endless^ an unlimited work ; and the word aionios 
 cannot make it so. But if one asserts that there is an 
 unlimited punishment, and that any particular passage 
 speaks of it, this must be made out, not from the word 
 
 p Ps. ix. 4 ; Ixxvi. 8, 9. Isa. xl. 2. Ezek. vii. 8 ; xxxvi. 19. 
 
 10 
 
110 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 aio7iios, but by sbowing that the givien passage speaks 
 of i\iQ future and Ji?ial condition of mankind. 
 
 But this, judging from what has been, I think none 
 will undertake. After all the concessions in relation to 
 the literal meaning and various uses of the word, when 
 the attempt is made to prove the eternity of punish- 
 ment, the reliance is found to be placed upon the mere 
 force of the word aionios (everlasting or eternal) 
 itself No effort is made, because there is no ground 
 of success, to prove by arguments independent of the 
 disputed ivord^ that the subject of discourse in the 
 given case is man's immortal and final state. But no- 
 thing can be more conclusively settled than is the 
 position that the natural force of aionios cannot prove 
 that to be endless, which is in its very nature limited. 
 
 With regard to the legal covenant by Moses, on 
 whose penalties we have been treating, it in no case 
 employs the word aionios in application to punishment, 
 unless we may regard in this light a few cases like 
 the following : (Ex. xxi. 5, 6 :) " And if the servant 
 (when entitled to freedom on the seventh year) shall 
 plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my chil- 
 dren, I will not go out free; then his master shall 
 bring him unto the judges, and his master shall bore 
 his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him 
 forever.''^ This everlasting service may be deemed by 
 some a punishment for the servant's refusal to accept 
 his freedom, but it is not endless. 
 
 An examination of the principal cases of the use of 
 aionios in relation to punishment, in other parts of the 
 Bible, will most admirably confirm the view which 
 we have now taken of both the radical and Scriptural 
 meaning of the word before us. But this examina- 
 tion, and likewise additional instruction on the legal 
 
WORDS QUALIFYING PUNISHMENT. HI 
 
 penalties, will be embraced in the following chapter, 
 on the subject of judgment. 
 
 In concluding this chapter, I will ask the reader to 
 "hold fast" the important sentiment which it estab- 
 lishes, and bear it along with him as he investigates 
 the different parts of the complete Compend of Divin- 
 ity. We have found the penalties to harmonize in 
 spirit and purpose with the purpose of the law, which 
 God instituted in love for the good of his children, — 
 adapted, not to thwart, but to promote the design of 
 the Supreme Legislator, in subjecting his moral crea- 
 tures to established rules of health and happiness. 
 We have seen also that no Scripture word, descriptive 
 of, or qualifying punishment, throws any shade of 
 darkness over this beautiful light of the subject. Thus 
 is Jehovah honored as LAW-GIVER ; — and shall he 
 not be equally honored as JUDGE 7 Come and see. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 " For all his ways are judgment."^* 
 
 No reasonable person can feel indifferent with regard 
 to the judgment of that almighty Ruler, to whom we 
 are all accountable, and whose goyernment disposes of 
 us. Perhaps no word has been more abused in its ap- 
 plication, than has the word judgment in the Scrip- 
 tures, in its popular use by modern theologians. 
 Rather than being understood of those wise decisions 
 of God, by which his government is in all things 
 directed for the wholesome discipline and ultimate sub- 
 jection of his moral universe, it has been applied to a 
 supposed future grand assemblage of the human race, 
 to hear at once an arbitrary sentence, pronouncing 
 their final doom. So familiar has been this applica- 
 tion of the word judgment in its theological use, that 
 most persons, at the mere sound of the word, are car- 
 ried in their thoughts to such an assemblage of all 
 mankind, receiving their final sentence. 
 
 . But we are persuaded that this view of the judg- 
 ment of God does not redound to the praise of his 
 glory. It does not represent him as the governor of 
 mankind for their good. We are satisfied that by a 
 careful attention to the Scriptures, we shall find this 
 subject presented in a more pleasing and profitable 
 light. We shall be presented with that adorable view 
 of the wisdom and goodness of God in his moral gov- 
 ernment, which will inspire us with confidence and 
 
 a Deut. xxxii. 4. 
 
JUDGMENT. 113 
 
 love towards him, and a filial reverential fear before 
 him. 
 
 We are informed concerning God, in the words of 
 inspiration which head this chapter, that "all his 
 ways are judgment." The original word which is 
 here rendered judgment, and from which the word 
 judgment generally comes in the Scriptures, signifies, 
 in its most literal definition, lights discernment^ and de- 
 cision. From the same root comes the Latin cerno^ to 
 discern or see. With God, therefore, judgment is a 
 discernment and decision of what is right. It is 
 sometimes used to express his discernment and decision 
 of what is right in general; sometimes, his discern- 
 ment and decision of what is right in particular 
 cases ; and not unfrequently it signifies the execution 
 of these Divine decisions. In the words, ''all his 
 ways are judgment," the sentiment expressed is, that 
 all the ways and works of God proceed upon a wise 
 and just decision of what is good and right. 
 
 But we shall not attempt at present to examine the 
 judgment of God in all his ways. It must sufiice for 
 the labors of this chapter, to consider the judgment of 
 God in the ways of his government and discipline over 
 his intelligent and moral creatures. 
 
 I. The first step in the establishment of a moral 
 government over mankind, was the giving to them 
 of suitable laws. And though this work of God is not 
 usually designated in the Scriptures by the term judg- 
 ment, yet this is one of the "ways" of God, which 
 required and received the direction of true and perfect 
 judgment. If laws had been given without a right dis- 
 cernment and decision, they might have been unsuited 
 to the constitution, the capacity, the wants and cir- 
 cumstances of mankind. But God has wisely adapted 
 10=^ 
 
114 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 his laws to the constitution of his creatures, for the 
 promotion of their happiness. He did not give laws 
 to his creatures for his own benefit ; nor was it either 
 for their injury, or for mere sport ; but it was for their 
 good. He knew man, he knew his capacities and 
 wants; for he created hira. And he failed not to 
 institute such laws as evince the perfection of his 
 judgment. 
 
 Hence David sang in those strains of grateful praise, 
 which we transcribed into the preceding chapter; 
 '-'■ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; 
 the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the 
 simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing 
 the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
 enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, 
 enduring forever ; the judgments of the Lord are true 
 and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they 
 than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also 
 than honey, and the honey-comb. Moreover by them 
 is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there 
 is great reward.'"" And the wisdom of God says to 
 the children of men, ''My son, forget not my law; 
 but let thine heart keep my commandments; for 
 length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they 
 add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee ; 
 bind them about thy neck ; write them upon the tablet 
 of thine heart : so shalt thou find favor, and good un- 
 derstanding in the sight of God and man."" Again, 
 "Great peace have they that love thy law, and no- 
 thing shall offend them."" 
 
 A good understanding of this subject is of indis- 
 pensable importance to the moral health of the com- 
 munity. There are many, including even some pro- 
 
 b Ps. xix. 7—11. c Prov. iii. 1—4. <i Ps. cxix. 165. 
 
JUDGMENT. 115 
 
 fessors of religion, who seem to imagine that the law 
 of God is an arbitrary rule, imposing restraints and 
 penances, which are inconsistent with their best earthly 
 enjoyment. Of what exceeding value Avould it be 
 to them to know, that tlie laws of God respect 
 solely the moral and physical health and happiness 
 of men. Then would they say, in the language of the 
 Psalmist, "I hate and abhor lying; but thy law do I 
 love." 
 
 II. I will, in the second place, bring to view, in its 
 Scripture light, the judgment of God, in relation to 
 discipline, or to the execution of rewards and punish- 
 ments on men according to their treatment of the law. 
 It is to this operation of the Divine government that 
 the word judgment is most commonly applied in the 
 Scriptures, when used in relation to the ways of God. 
 And I expect to show that the judgment of God in this 
 respect, is not the mere pronunciation of an arbitrary 
 sentence on the human race at the end of time, but 
 that it is an ever operative branch of the Divine gov- 
 ernment, taking continual cognizance of the actions of 
 men, deciding and executing what is right in relation 
 to every man's deserts. 
 
 If we suppose that God permits men to sin without 
 a retribution in the present life, and that in the future 
 world he will execute a judgment which shall shut 
 the door of reformation and of mercy against millions 
 of his creatures, and doom them to wickedness and woe 
 forever, — we thus ascribe to God a judgment which 
 is in opposition to the spirit of his law. For we have 
 seen that he gave his children laws in love, having no 
 design therein but their good. Therefore the retribu- 
 tive judgment of God, which is according to the spirit 
 of his law, will emplov no penalty or punishment but 
 
116 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 what is consistent with a regard to the good of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Indeed, the retributive judgment of God is the dis- 
 cernment of human desert, and the execution of the 
 awards provided in the law. Therefore we shall not 
 find in the Scripture records of judgment, the revela- 
 tion of any new principle of retribution, but of the 
 execution, the carrying into effect, of the provisions of 
 the law, with regard to the recompense of human 
 doings. Consequently the subject of this chapter is 
 but the carrying out of the principles embraced in the 
 two preceding, on the Law and its Penalties. The 
 LAW, the PENALTIES, and the JUDGMENT, will 
 be found to constitute three connected links in that 
 golden chain of '^ CHRISTIAN DIVINITY," which, 
 encircling the intelligent creation, is fastened to the 
 throne of God. 
 
 I have said that the retributive judgment of God 
 is not the mere passing of an arbitrary sentence on the 
 human race at the end of time, but that it is an ever 
 operative branch of the Divine government, continu- 
 ally taking cognizance of the actions of men, deciding 
 and executing what is right in relation to every man's 
 deserts. In support of this position we have the full 
 and lucid evidence of Scripture. See the commence- 
 ment of this administration of judgment, with the 
 commencement of God's exercise of his moral gov- 
 ernment over his children. To the first pair of our 
 race, God delivered his law, which they soon trans- 
 gressed. The law threatened, as its penalty in case 
 of disobedience, an evil which is expressed, in the 
 record, by the appellation death^ to be suffered by 
 them on the day in which they should transgress. 
 And on tlin same day when they had contracted the 
 
JUDGMENT. 117 
 
 guilt of sin, the judgment was set, the account was 
 opened, and sentence was pronounced in accordance 
 with the law. And there was no evil here embraced, 
 either in the previous threatening of the law, or in the 
 subsequent award of the judgment, that extended far- 
 ther than to the time when they should '-^return unto 
 thedusV 
 
 We will pass on to the case of that heinous sinner, 
 that first murderer, Cain. When he had wickedly slain 
 his brother, his Maker and Lawgiver called him to 
 judgment. The Judge said unto the criminal, "What 
 hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood 
 crieth unto me from the ground." Thus he is pro- 
 nounced guilty of the crime. And here follows the 
 sentence: ''And now art thou cursed from the earth, 
 which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
 blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground 
 it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. 
 A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the 
 earth."*" This was not a mere inelude to a punish- 
 ment. It was not the doing of an inferior court, bind- 
 ing over to a future judgment for the same offence. It 
 was Cain's full and final judgment for that crime; 
 and it caused him to cry out in the anguish of his 
 soul, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." 
 
 Passing a little further on in the sacred record, we 
 come to the judgment of the old world, which was 
 drowned by the waters of a flood. "And God said 
 unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me ; for 
 the earth is filled with violence, through them; and 
 behold, I will destroy them from the earth." ° Ac- 
 cordingly the Lord brought a flood upon the face of 
 the earth, which destroyed all flesh, except Noah and 
 
 e Gen. iii. 16—19. f Gen. iv. 9—12. & Gen. vi. 13. 
 
118 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 them that were with him in the ark. In this case of 
 judgment, the crime proved is the general depravity 
 of the inhabitants of the world ; the sentence pro- 
 nounced and executed, is, their destruction from the 
 earth ; and the object seems to be the putting of a stop . 
 to this prevaihng wickedness, and the purification of 
 the earth, to make it a better residence for other gene- 
 rations who should come. 
 
 Further on, our attention is arrested by the narra- 
 tive of God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, and 
 the cities of the plain. The angels of the Lord 
 warned Lot to escape with his family from the city of 
 Sodom, saying, "For we will destroy this place, because 
 the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the 
 Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it." '' Then 
 the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah 
 brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And 
 he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all 
 the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew 
 upon the ground.'"^ Because the desolation effected 
 by this fire was designed to be perpetual, at least for 
 many ages, St. Jude calls it aioiiion fire. He speaks of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah as being set forth for. an exam- 
 ple to others, " suffering the vengeance of aionion fire." ' 
 And what Jude calls the vengeance of aio?iion fire, 
 St. Peter, bringing the case forward for an example, in 
 the same manner, expresses by their being turned into 
 ashes, and condemned to an overthrow : " And turning 
 the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, con- 
 demned them with an overthrow, making them an en- 
 sample unto them that after should live ungodly."^ 
 
 Again, with regard to the retributive judgment of 
 God, he said unto Abraham, " Know of a surety that 
 
 hGen. xix. 13, 24, 25. 'Jude 7. J 2 Pet. ii. 6. 
 
JUDGMENT. 119 
 
 thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, 
 and shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them four 
 hundred years. And also, that nation whom they 
 shall serve, will I judge: and afterwards shall they 
 come out with great substance." "^ This judgment, ac- 
 cording to the word of God to Abraham, was indeed 
 executed on Egypt, when God, with a mighty hand, 
 delivered the Hebrews from iron bondage there. And 
 if we trace the history of the dealings of God with his 
 chosen people, the Hebrews, subsequently to their 
 departure out of Egypt, we shall perceive that he 
 kept up the administration of his moral government 
 by the exercise of an operative judgment. He did not 
 leave them, nor indeed this whole wide world of moral 
 bemgs, without a judgment. From day to day, from 
 week to week, and from year to year, he gave them 
 demonstrative proof of what the Scriptures declare, 
 that "Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth,"' 
 and that " The righteous shall be recompensed in the 
 earth; much more the wicked and the sinner.""" 
 
 In the legal covenant which God gave to the people 
 by Moses, embracing the moral law which had been 
 in substance communicated to all generations from the 
 beginning, with the addition of a ceremonial institu- 
 tion, he announced all the evils to which they might 
 by sin be subjected on the score of punishment, as 
 well as all the blessings to which they might be en- 
 titled by their virtue, on the score of just and merited 
 reward. For a full exposition of this subject, the 
 reader is referred to the preceding chapter. 
 
 AYith regard to the teachings and warnings of the 
 prophets concerning the retributive judgment of God, 
 they are all founded on the principles of the Divine 
 
 kGen. XV. 13. iPs. Iviii. 11. mProv. xi. 31. 
 
120 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 laws before given, through the patriarchs, and Moses. 
 Their teachings and warnings on this subject are in 
 unison with those of the patriarchs and of Moses, pre- 
 senting the continued exercise of judgment, as a part 
 of the ever active government of God, over his moral 
 and accountable creatures. Solomon, in his prayer at 
 the dedication of the temple, uttered this petition : " If 
 any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath 
 be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath 
 come before thine altar in this house, then hear 
 thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, 
 condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his 
 head; and justifying the righteous, to give him ac- 
 cording to his righteousness." " Hence we perceive 
 that Solomon's praying was in accordance with his 
 preaching. When he prayed that God would judge 
 the righteous and the wicked, to bring upon each the 
 just recompense of his doings, his prayer was in 
 agreement with what he faithfully preached; as, for 
 instance, in the passage before quoted, " Behold, the 
 righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much 
 more the wicked and the sinner." 
 
 David, speaking of the then present and continued 
 operation of the government of God, said, ''Also unto 
 thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest 
 unto every man according to his work." ° And again, 
 "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with 
 the wicked every day." ^ This judgment and anger 
 of the Lord are spoken of as being exercised simulta- 
 neously, and not as being put off to the end of time. 
 It was in operation every day. The words, " with the 
 wicked," in this passage, are added by the translators; 
 but the succeeding context seems to require the supply 
 
 n 1 Kings viii. 31, 32. " Ps. Ixii. 12, pPs. vii. 11. 
 
JUDGMENT. , 121 
 
 of these words, in order to express the full sense of the 
 text. The anger of the Lord is the ardor and condemna- 
 tory operation of his government against the Avicked; 
 and this, forget it not, is every day. The same writer 
 says again, " The Lord is known by the judgment which 
 he executeth."'^ Not that he shall never be known 
 imtil time is lost in the bosom of eternity, because he 
 shall never till then execute judgment: "The Lord is 
 known by the judgment which he execiiteth ;''^ for, it is 
 added, " The wicked is snared in the work of his own 
 hands." This was one means by which he executed 
 judgment upon them ; it was by snaring them in their 
 own evils. It is not admitted by all, that those evils 
 which men suffer, in consequence of sin, by and from 
 their own iniquity, are punishments proceeding from 
 the judgment of God. But we discover from the 
 Scriptures that they are of that character. It was 
 with reference to those very evils on sinners that the 
 Psalmist said, " The Lord is known by the judgment 
 which he executeth." He has wisely inwrought a 
 law in the moral and physical constitution of man, 
 and of the world we inhabit, by means of which he 
 executes punishments on transgressors. Accordingly, 
 it is said in Pro v. v. 22, " His own iniquities shall 
 take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with 
 the cords of his sins." And Jer. ii. 19, "Thine own 
 wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings 
 shall reprove thee." 
 
 We might continue our quotations from the Old 
 Testament to a great length, in direct support of the 
 position we have assumed, with regard to the present 
 and continual operation of the retributive judgment of 
 
 IPs. ix. 16. 
 
 11 
 
122 . COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 God. But a few more quotations must suffice. David, 
 in relation to the judgment of God affecting his own 
 case, said, " For thou hast maintained my right and 
 my cause ; thou sattest in the throne, judging right.' 
 And in prayer he said, '* Lift up thyself, thou Judge 
 of the earth; render a reward to the proud."' And 
 with reference to the redemption of Israel, when the 
 Egyptians were cutoff, he sang, ''Thou didst cause 
 judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, 
 and was still ; when God arose to judgment, to save 
 all the meek of the earth." t 
 
 By the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said of his trans- 
 gressing people, '' And I scattered them among the 
 heathen 5 * * * ^ according to their way, and ac- 
 cording to their doings I judged them." " And address- 
 ing Israel concerning punishments which were about 
 to be executed upon them, he said by the same pro- 
 phet, " Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon 
 thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee; and I 
 will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recom- 
 pense thee for all thine abominations." ^ And the 
 context informs us that the means by which this judg- 
 ment should be executed upon them, to recompense 
 them for all their abominations, were " the sword 
 without, and the pestilence and famine within." It 
 was not m part, that the judgment of God on earth 
 should recompense them ; it was for all their sins. 
 And this infliction of evil upon that people was not a 
 mere prelude, a shght indication of what should be, of 
 the execution of wrath upon them. It was the accom- 
 plishment, the recompense in full, of the penal suffer- 
 ings to which they were justly obnoxious. " I will 
 accomplish mine anger upon thee." 
 
 rPs. ix. 4. »Ps. xciv. 2 «■ Ps. Ixxvi. 9. 
 
 "Ezek. xxxvi. 19. '^Ezck. vii. 8. 
 
JUDGMENT. 123 
 
 In full confirmation of the view, which we have 
 now taken of the subject before us, as it is presented 
 in the Old Testament Scriptures, St. Paul, the faith- 
 ful apostle of Christ, adds the following conclusive 
 testimony: "For if the word spoken by angels was 
 steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience 
 received a just recompense of reward ; how shall we 
 escape, if we neglect so great salvation ; which at the 
 first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was con- 
 firmed unto us by them that heard him ?" '" By " the 
 word spoken by angels," St. Paul meant the law; for 
 he was here drawing a comparison between the law and 
 gospel. And Stephen said, in his address to the Jews, 
 that they had "received the law by the disposition of 
 angels, and had not kept it."* St. Paul likewise said 
 to the Galatians, that " the law was ordained by angels 
 in the hand of a mediator."^ And every transgression 
 of the law received a just recompense of reward. AH 
 the people, for every transgression and disobedience, 
 received a just recompense of reward, through the 
 righteous administration of the judgment of him, who 
 " searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, even to give 
 every man according to his ways." It follows, hence, 
 as a conclusion which we cannot avoid, even if we 
 would, that it is not the manner of the Divine govern- 
 ment, at least, that it was not in those former ages, to 
 put off" to the future world, either in all or in part, the 
 judgment of m.en for their deeds on earth. There 
 was no lack of justice in God's government of his 
 family. They received d^jiist recompense of reward. 
 
 III. Under the preceding head we have brought to 
 view, in its Scriptural light, the judgment of God, in 
 relation to discipline^ or to the execution of rewards 
 
 w Heb. ii. 2, 3. x Acts vii. 53. v Gal. iii. 19. 
 
124 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and panishments on men, according to their treatment 
 of the Divine law. The same judgment will be the 
 principal subject of this third division ; but we shall 
 here discuss GodJs judgment of the world by Jesus 
 Christ ; and chiefly as it is presented in the New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 The holy prophets had spoken beforehand concern- 
 ing the judgment of Christ. Isaiah had said, in evan- 
 gelical prophecy, " Behold my servant whom I uphold, 
 mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put 
 my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judg- 
 ment to the Gentiles. * -^ A bruised reed shall he not 
 break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench ; he 
 shall bring forth judgment unto truth." (The evan- 
 gelist quotes it thus : "He shall bring forth judgment 
 unto victory.") " He shall not fail nor be discour- 
 aged, till he have set judgment in the earth ; and the 
 isles shall wait for his law."' It appears that the 
 word judgment is here used for Christ's government 
 or kingdom. When he should set judgment in the 
 earth, the isles should wait for his law. That is, they 
 should wait for the law of truth and love, which his 
 judgment, his government or kingdom, would admin- 
 ister. And in the preceding phrase, " He shall bring 
 forth judgment to the Gentiles," the meaning seems to 
 be, that he should extend to the Gentiles the benefits 
 of his kingdom. The nature and operation of this 
 government or kingdom of Messiah is learned by read- 
 ing onwards. " Thus saith God, the Lord, =^ =^ I the 
 Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold 
 thine hand and will keep thee, and give thee for a cov- 
 enant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles ; to open 
 the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
 
 ' Isa, xlii, 1 — 4. 
 
JUDGMENT. 125 
 
 prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison- 
 house." It is hence seen that the judgment of Christ 
 here spoken of, is a kingdom of Hght, truth and love, 
 the influence of which deUvers the human mind from 
 the prison of darkness, sin and death. 
 
 This judgment of Christ was again spoken of by 
 the same prophet, as follows: "And there shall come 
 forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch 
 shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the 
 Lord shall rest upon him, * ^- and shall make him 
 quick of understanding in the fear of the Lord ; and he 
 shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither re- 
 prove after the hearing of his ears : but with right- 
 eousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
 equity for the meek of the earth ; and he shall smite 
 the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the 
 breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.'"- Then 
 follows a poetic description of the blessed and happy 
 effects of this execution of the judgment of Christ, in 
 smiting and slaying the wicked : " The Avolf also shall 
 dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and 
 the fatling together; and a little child shall lead 
 them." Such is the prophet's poetic description of 
 the loveliness and gentleness of the moral world, to be 
 effected by the judgment or kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
 It is, perhaps, the prevailing sentiment in the pop- 
 ular theology of our day, that when Christ shall sit 
 upon the throne of his glory to judge the children 
 of men. the execution of his judgment will bar the 
 door of reformation forever, and doom all sinners to 
 a hardened and irrecoverable state of sin and woe. 
 But such a judgment the wisdom of heaven has 
 
 '^ Isa. xi. 1 — 4. 
 
126 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 never planned, nor will Christ ever execute it. All 
 the judgments of God are designed to effect some 
 change for good. The execution of the judgment of 
 Christj as we have seen, instead of sealing forever the 
 eyes of the blind, and barring the prison-doors of 
 sinners, is designed to open the blind eyes, to break 
 open the prison -doors, and to bring out the prisoners 
 from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of 
 the prison-house. Instead of ordering that sinners 
 shall eternally continue in sin, it will smite and slay 
 the wicked, so that the most stubborn and lion-like 
 spirits of rebellion shall be subdued into the submissive 
 gentleness of the peaceful lamb. 
 
 After speaking, as above quoted, of the judgment 
 that was to be exercised by the righteous branch 
 which should spring forth from the root of Jesse, 
 the prophet adds, ''And in that day there shall be a 
 root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the 
 people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek ; and his rest shall 
 be glorious." To the same day, and to the same judg- 
 ment, St. Paul seems to have had reference, when, in 
 his address to the Athenians, he said : "And the times 
 of this ignorance God winked at; but now command- 
 cth all men everywhere to repent; because he hath 
 appointed a day in the which he will judge the world 
 in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; 
 whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
 he hath raised him from the dead.'"' We are aware 
 that many have understood this to speak of a judg- 
 ment in the future world, which shall decide the eter- 
 nal states of men according to their characters on earth. 
 But this would make entirely without sense, the reason 
 which the apostle assigns why the ministry of repent- 
 nnce should jioid. more than in former ages, be sent 
 
 '• Acts xvii. 30, 31. 
 
JUDGMENT. 127 
 
 unto all men. If he spoke of a judgment in the un- 
 seen Avorld, by which the final states of all men of all 
 ages are to be determined according to their conduct 
 on the earth, how should this fact be a reason why all 
 men, Gentiles as well as Jews, should have the minis- 
 try of repentance now^ more than in the former ages? 
 That would be no reason for such a difference. But 
 understanding this language of the apostle to refer to 
 the same judgment, and the same day, or dispensa- 
 tion of judgment, of which the prophet spake in the 
 instances we have quoted, the whole appears consist- 
 ent. The former times of ignorance with the Gentile 
 nations, God winked at, or suffered to remain. The 
 idea is expressed in Acts xiv. 16, in other words, thus, 
 — '' Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in 
 their own ways." The revelations of God in former 
 times extended not unto the Gentiles. But God had 
 appointed a dispensation, called here, as in the pro- 
 phet, a day^ in which he would set up, by Christ 
 Jesus, a judgment or kingdom of light and truth, 
 which should be calculated to extend its benefits to all 
 nations, Gentiles as well as Jews. He should bring 
 forth judgment to the Gentiles. In the fulness of the 
 appointed time, Christ Jesus came, and established his 
 judgment in the world. This appointed dispensation 
 of Christ's kingdom and judgment had commenced in 
 St. Paul's time; and this was certainly a good reason 
 why the ministry of it, calling on men to repent, or 
 turn themselves to the reception of its saving benefits, 
 should then be extended to all men, Gentiles as well 
 as Jews, — to them who were afar off, as well as to 
 them who were nigh. We think it likely, from the 
 similarity of expression, that St. Paul had in his mind 
 the passage above quoted from the prophet, when he 
 
128 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 addressed this to the Athenians. For, like the pro- 
 phet, he speaks of the judgment of Christy and of his 
 ''judging in righteousness," and calls the time of his 
 judging " a day." And in speaking of the propriety of 
 calling, at that time, on all men everywhere to repent, 
 the apostle probably had his mind on the prophet's 
 saying, that in that day he should stand as an ensign 
 to the people, unto which "the Gentiles should seek." 
 And that the judgment of Christ spoken of in the pas- 
 sages which we have quoted from the prophet, is his 
 kingdom, which commenced on earth at the close of 
 the Jewish dispensation, is rendered further apparent 
 by St. Matthew, in the application which he makes, in 
 his Gospel, of one of these prophetic sayings: (Matt. xii. 
 14,) — " Then the Pharisees went out and held a council 
 against him how they might destroy him. But when 
 Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence; and 
 great multitudes followed him, and he healed them 
 all ; and charged them that they should not make him 
 known : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
 by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, 
 whom I have chosen ; my beloved, in whom my soul 
 is well pleased : I will put my spirit upon him, and he 
 shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not 
 strive, nor cry ; neither shall any man hear his voice 
 in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, 
 and the smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send 
 forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall 
 the Gentiles trust." 
 
 But in the day or dispensation of the judgment or 
 government of the world by Jesus Christ, there is also 
 a retributive judgment, as well as under the former 
 dispensation. St. Paul testifies, that " God will render 
 to every man according to his deeds; to them who, 
 
JUDGMENT. 129 
 
 by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, 
 and honor, and immortality, {literally incorruptness,] 
 eternal life ; but unto them that are contentious, and 
 do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 
 indignation and wrath ; tribulation and anguish upon 
 every soul of man that doeth evil ; but glory, honor, 
 and peace, to every man that worketh good; to the 
 Jew first, and also to the Gentile ; for there is no 
 respect of persons with God. For as many as have 
 sinned without law, [i. e. without the written law,] 
 shall also perish without law ; and as many as have 
 sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, * * in 
 the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by 
 Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.'"" It is hence 
 perceived that the judgment of God, in its cognizance 
 of the moral actions of men, is the same now, under 
 the reign of Jesus Christ by his gospel, that it was 
 under the reign of the patriarchs, and of Moses and 
 the prophets, by their inspired teachings. Then, 
 every work was brought into judgment, and every 
 secret thing, and there was verily "a reward to the 
 righteous," and " every transgression received a just 
 recompense of reward." And so it is now, when God 
 judges the works, and even the "secret things" of 
 men, by Jesus Christ. He will render to every man 
 according to his deeds. He will award tribulation 
 and anguish to every one that doeth evil ; and glory, 
 honor, and peace, to every one that doeth good. 
 
 God's judgment, under the (^ristian dispensation, 
 is administered on the same priii^|j|e on which it was 
 conducted in former ages, it being according to men's 
 deserts ; varying in its awards, of course, according 
 to the different degrees of guilt : as St. Paul said in 
 
 c Rom. ii. 6—16. 
 
130 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 his address to the Hebrews, which we have noticed, 
 "If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and 
 every transgression received a just recompense of 
 reward ; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
 salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by 
 the Lord, and was confirmed unta us by them that 
 heard him." This great salvation is the record of 
 truth and grace spoken by Christ and his witnesses, 
 and confirmed by signs and wonders. And the idea 
 expressed in this place is, that if the Hebrews should 
 neglect and abuse the greater opportunities they en- 
 joyed from these more full and mighty proofs of 
 truth, they would be recompensed with sorer calam- 
 ities than had ever been suffered by their fathers ; 
 and calamities, too, which they could not escape. 
 For if others, who were before them, received a full 
 punishment for all their sins, they, for their greater 
 sins, could not escape their just, their greater punish- 
 ment. He introduces here no new kind of judgment, 
 set up in another world, but teaches their responsi- 
 bility to the same principle of judgment which had 
 fully recompensed others in the earth, and would 
 recompense them with a punishment no more severe 
 than in proportion as their guilt was greater. 
 
 Concerning the greater punishment which the He- 
 brews should receive in the judgment coming on that 
 generation, and which should be especially suffered 
 by any Hebrew Christians who should apostatize, the 
 apostle speaks directly in Heb. x. 28 : "He that de- 
 spised Moses' law^i^ed without mercy, under two or 
 three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, 
 suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath 
 trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted 
 the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sancti- 
 
JUDGMENT. 131 
 
 fiedj an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the 
 spirit of grace?" That this relates to a punishment 
 which should be administered in the judgment coming 
 on that generation, is evident from what precedes the 
 passage. The apostle had just exhorted the Hebrews, 
 saying, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith 
 without wavering, for he is faithful that promised; 
 and let us consider one another, to provoke unto love 
 and to good works ; not forsaking the assembling of 
 ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but 
 exhort one another ; and so much the more, as ye see 
 the day approaching ;'^ that is, the day of their judg- 
 ment or trial. -'For if we sin wilfully, after that we 
 have received the knowledge of the truth, there re- 
 maineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fear- 
 ful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, 
 which shall devour the adversaries." 
 
 The meaning of the apostle in this place is, plain: 
 If any of the Hebrews who had received the knowl- 
 edge of the truth, should wilfully, or from sinister 
 motives, abandon the Christian cause, they would 
 feel condemned ; and knowing that the sacrifices of 
 the Mosaic law were done away in Christ, they could 
 no more relieve their consciences by offering these 
 legal sacrifices for sin. They would remember the 
 teachings and warnings of Christ concerning the great 
 distress that should come upon their land, and the 
 wrath that should devour that people ; and they 
 would be troubled with a fearful looking for of that 
 threatened judgment, and that fiery indignation which 
 should devour the adversaries of the gospel. The 
 punishment administered by that judgment, was in- 
 deed a sorer punishment upon the Jews in general, 
 than any which had before been suffered. For Jesus 
 
132 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 said concerning that event, ''Then shall be great 
 tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of 
 the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." And 
 surely the apostatized Christians, who, in that un- 
 heard-of tribulation, had " their portion with the hypo- 
 crites," •* were the most miserable of that unhappy 
 people. 
 
 This particular instance of judgment, because it 
 was designed in its results to fulfil the words of 
 Christ, to put down the persecution of his cause, to 
 establish and extend his kingdom in the world, and to 
 exalt his name in power and glory among men, — was 
 called in a special manner the coming of Christ in 
 his power and kingdom, and his executing judgment 
 from the throne of the Father's glory ; as in Matt. xvi. 
 27, 28 : " For the Son of man shall come in the glory 
 of his Father, with his angels ; and then he shall 
 reward every man according to his works. Yerily I 
 say unto you, there be some standing here, which 
 shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man 
 coming in his kingdom." And Matt. xxiv. 30: "And 
 they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
 heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall 
 send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
 they shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds. * * Verily I say unto you, this generation 
 shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." And 
 having thus fixed the general time of this coming of 
 his in judgment, he resumes the mention of the same 
 event, in the last paragraph of the same discourse, to 
 give a further description of the attending circum- 
 stances : "When the Son of man shall come in his 
 glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he 
 
 dMatt. xxiv. 21, 51. 
 
JUDGMENT. 133 
 
 sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall 
 be gathered all nations." The gathering of the peo- 
 ple, or of the nations, is a familiar form of expression 
 in the Old Testament, to denote the widely prevailing 
 effects of such Divine judgments as were the subjects 
 of discourse. And as this judgment was designed 
 to introduce believers into a renewed and enlarged 
 enjoyment of those gospel blessings which are called 
 "everlasting life," and to pour upon the unbelieving 
 Jews that punishment which the prophet represented 
 by "a fire that should not be quenched,"' and "an 
 everlasting reproach,"^ so Jesus here describes it as 
 introducing some into "everlasting life," and others 
 into "everlasting punishment." = On the meaning of 
 the word everlasting in this case, we need not here 
 occupy room to argue, for it was settled in the preced- 
 ing chapter. I will here add, that it is conceded by 
 all that this word, when applied to events of time, is 
 used in a limited sense; and it is plain that in this 
 case it is applied to a punishment which has been 
 executed on the earth. It is no other punishment 
 than what Moses and the prophets forewarned the 
 Jews that they should suffer, if they should bring to a 
 certain crisis their moral corruptness. And surely 
 they did not forewarn the people of any other punish- 
 ments than what were comprehended in "all the 
 curses of the law."'' 
 
 The exceeding severity of this particular judgment, 
 which was executed at the coming of Christ in the 
 end of the Jewish age, is expressed by him in his 
 addresses to the cities of Israel, by way of contrasting 
 it with the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of 
 
 e Jer. vii. 20 ; xvii. 27. ^ Jer. xxiii. 40. 
 
 g Matt. XXV. 41, 46. »» Deut. xxix. 27. 
 
 12 
 
134 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Other cities : "Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! Woe unto thee, 
 Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which were done 
 in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would 
 have repented long ago in dust and ashes. But I say 
 unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and 
 Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And 
 thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, 
 shall be brought down to hades; for if the mighty 
 works which have been done in thee, had been done 
 in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 
 But I say unto you. That it shall be more tolerable 
 for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than 
 for thee."' We conclude that Jesus did not mean 
 here to teach that Sodom, Tyre and Sidon, were to 
 be literally judged and punished at some future time, 
 because every transgression and disobedience of the 
 words spoken by God's messengers in former ages, 
 had "received a just recompense of reward." And 
 besides, that the temporal judgment of Sodom was 
 referred to, is evident, in that it prevented that city 
 from "continuing unto this day." Jesus was also 
 speaking of the temporal destruction of these cities of 
 Israel. They had been exalted to heaven, but should 
 be cast down to hades. As their being exalted to 
 heaven, was their temporal exaltation in the earth, 
 so their reverse of fortune, expressed by being cast 
 down to hades^ was their temporal destruction. And 
 the time of such destruction to any city or nation, is 
 called the day of judgment, as it regards them. God is 
 said to execute judgment upon them.^ It seems to 
 have been the meaning of Jesus in this case, that the 
 judgment which should destroy the cities of Israel, 
 would be so much more distressing than that which 
 
 « Matt. xi. 21—24. J Gen. xv. 14. Ezek. v. 8 ; vii. 8 ; xxv. 17. 
 
JUDGMENT. 135 
 
 destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, that in the day of 
 judgment on those cities, that which Sodom and 
 Gomorrah had suffered would appear hght in compar- 
 ison. 
 
 The circumstance that the judgment of Sodom, and 
 that of the Jewish cities, are presented here in one 
 view, by one future tense, has been used as proof that 
 a judgment was here spoken of, which was then 
 future even in regard to the case of the ancient Sodom- 
 ites. But this argument is seen to have no weight, 
 Avhen viewed in connexion with the circumstances 
 which have now been considered, and the additional 
 fact that the prophets had employed the past wicked- 
 ness and judgment of Sodom in contrast with the then 
 future wickedness and judgment of Israel, and had 
 brought them together by the use of buf one tense : 
 " Thou also which hast judged thy sisters, [Sodom and 
 Samaria,] bear thine own shame, for thy sins which 
 thou hast committed more abominable than they ; 
 they are more righteous than thou.'^" And again, 
 " The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of 
 my people is greater than the punishment of the sin 
 of Sodom, overthrown as in a moment and no hands 
 stayed on her."^ These writers saw in prophetic 
 vision the then future iniquity and punishment of 
 Israel, and they looked also upon the then past ini- 
 quity and punishment of Sodom, and presented them 
 together in contrast by the use of one tense, as living 
 cases brought to a present view. Or, if they spoke 
 with reference to the then 'present corruptness and 
 wretchedness of Israel in the Babylonish captivity, it 
 alters not the fact that the then past punishment of 
 Sodom was brought forward, and placed in contrast 
 
 •^Ezek. xvi. 52. 'Lam. iv. 6. 
 
136 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 with the punishment of Israel, by the use of one tense. 
 And this is precisely what our Lord did in the place 
 above quoted. He took the judgment of Sodom, 
 which, though past, yet lived before the people in 
 the faithful records which were read every Sabbath- 
 day amongst them, and by the use of one tense, he 
 presented it in contrast with that judgment on the 
 cities of Israel which was then the subject of dis- 
 course.™ 
 
 Another important passage in relation to the judg- 
 ment of Christ is in Hebrews ix. 27. "And as it is 
 appointed unto [the] men once to die, but after this the 
 judgment ; sc Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
 of many; and unto them that look for him shall he 
 appear the second time, without sin, [without a sin- 
 offering,] unto salvation." 
 
 It appears that its being appointed unto men once to 
 die J is used as a figure of Christ's being once offered to 
 bear the sins of many. Christ was once offered to 
 bear the sins of the many, as it is appointed unto men 
 once to die. What death, and the death of what men, 
 does Paul speak of in this chapter as a figure of the 
 
 m Dr. Hammond, whose prejudices might have inclined him to make a 
 different application of these words of our Lord, was constrained by the 
 evidence in the case to explain them as we have in this article. On the 
 expression, " It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of 
 judgment than for thee," he gives the following paraphrase : "And therefore 
 you in all reason are to expect a sadder destruction and vastation, than that 
 which befell Sodom and Gomorrah." Bp. Pearce explains this Scripture in 
 the same way ; and the opinion of Dr. Clarke preponderates in favor of the 
 same application : " Day of judgment," he says, " may either refer to that 
 particular time in which God visits for iniquity, or to that great day in 
 which he will judge the world by the Lord Jesus Christ. The day of 
 Sodom's judgment was that in which it was destroyed by fire and brimstone 
 from heaven. Gen. xix. 24 ; and the day of judgment to Chorazin, Beth- 
 saida, and Capernaum, was the day in which they were destroyed by the 
 Romans." See also Universalisi Expositor, Vol. 3. pp. 27, 28. 
 
JUDGMENT. 13f 
 
 death of Christ? And what judgment did these men 
 enter into after this death, as a figure of Christ's ap- 
 pearing the second time without a sin-offering unto 
 salvation; or of his entering "into heaven itself, now 
 to appear in the presence of God for us 7 " By care- 
 fully reading this chapter, you will discover that the 
 apostle is making mention of the yearly sacrifices 
 made by those men who ministered in the priestly 
 ofiice, as figurative of Christ's being once offered for 
 the sins of the many. The high priest under the law 
 had to die — by proxy, or to signify his death by offer- 
 ing a sacrifice, once each time of entering into the 
 inner court, or place of judgment ; which was once a 
 year. After signifying liis death for the nation, by 
 offering sacrifices for himself and all the people, the 
 law directed that the priest should go into the inner 
 court with the blood of the sacrifice. And there he 
 must " bear the names of the children of Israel in the 
 breast-plate of judgment;" and "bear the judgment 
 of the children of Israel upon his heart." But this 
 going into " the judgment," bearing the judgment of 
 the people in the breast-plate upon his heart, could 
 not be until after he had slain his sacrifice, or died by 
 proxy, in the outer court. (See Lev. xvi. and Ex. 
 xxviii.) Then i\iQ judgment of the holy place was the 
 redemption of the people. 
 
 But "Christ is not entered into the holy places made 
 with hands, which are the figures of the true," says 
 our apostlcv " but into heaven itself, now to appear in 
 the presence of God for us : nor yet that he should 
 offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the 
 holy place every year with blood of others ; for then 
 must he often have suffered since the foundation of 
 the world : but now once, in the end of the world, 
 12* 
 
138 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 (age,) hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacri- 
 fice of himself. "And as it is appointed," — observe 
 the connexion, — ^^A?id as it is appointed unto men," 
 the men, it reads in the original ; i. e. the men who 
 ministered in the priestly office, '^ once to die," or 
 signify their death by their sacrifice, " and after this 
 the judgment," i. e. after this they could go into the 
 place of judgment, or holy place, and obtain the as- 
 surance of the temporal salvation of the people; "so 
 Christ was once ofiered to bear the sins of many ; and 
 unto them that look for him shall he appear the 
 second time," or in his risen state of glory, in his judg- 
 ment, " without a sin-ofiering unto salvation." 
 
 No subject could be rendered more plain than the 
 connexion renders this. It does not appear that Paul 
 had any reference here to the natural death of all 
 men, and a judgment for trial and retribution after 
 that. And even if he had, it would fall infinitely 
 short of proving that the retribution is what our oppos- 
 ers assert. But he who candidly reads the whole of 
 this chapter, will clearly see that the apostle speaks 
 of the sacrifices of the priests under the law, and their 
 afterwards entering into the judgment or holy place, 
 as figurative of Christ's being once ofiered, and after- 
 wards entering into his kingdom and glory, at the 
 right hand of the throne of God. 
 
 From the facts above noticed, it will be seen that 
 the word judgment in this case does not directly refer 
 to Christ, but to the holy place into which the high 
 priest entered once a year, after dying in the sacrifice 
 in the outer court. And the judgment of Christ, of 
 which this is introduced as a figure, is to be under- 
 stood in the more comprehensive sense of his kingdom^ 
 as in the prophetic Scriptures before referred to. 
 
JUDGMENT. 139 
 
 St. Paul, in 2 Cor. v. 10, testifies of our amena- 
 bility to the judgment of Christ, in the following im- 
 pressive language : — " For we must all appear before 
 the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may re- 
 ceive the things in body, according to that he hath 
 done, whether it be good or bad." * 
 
 We omit in this quotation the word done^ which was 
 supplied by the translators, because it encumbers the 
 sense. Reading as it correctly does from the original, 
 it distinctly testifies of a present judgment and retri- 
 bution. The subject of the apostle in this connexion is 
 that of our accountability to the authority of Christ, now 
 and ever. In the preceding verse he says, "Where- 
 fore we labor, that, whether present or absent, (or, 
 as the general subject explains his meaning, whether 
 in this life or another,) we may be accepted of him." 
 The idea is, that it is not alone for acceptance in an- 
 other life that we are laboring; happiness is as valua- 
 ble now as ever. We are God's moral, accountable 
 children, and it is only by living the life and receiving 
 the approbation of our blessed Master, that we can be " 
 said truly to live. Yes, even now we are amenable to 
 Christ the Lord. We must all appear {(favsoo)dr^vai^ be 
 manifest) before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every 
 one may receive the things (here) in the body, accord- 
 ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 
 If this were forced to such an application as to make 
 it testify of distinct and final retributions, and endless, 
 too, in the future world, for the deeds of men on earth, 
 it would require that those who have done som^e good 
 and some evil on earth, as most men have, shall be 
 both rewarded and punished, blessed and cursed, made 
 happy and miserable, to all eternity ! For the testi- 
 
 * To the same purport is Rom. xiv. 10. 
 
140 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 mony is, that every one shall receive according to that 
 he hath done, whether it he good or bad. But in the 
 light in which this passage, with its context, now 
 stands, the sentiment is beautifully consistent. It is 
 the same as that which has been quoted from the pro- 
 phet, (Ezek. xviii.,) teaching that the sinner shall die, 
 or suffer the condemnation of the law, in his sins ; but 
 that if he will turn from his iniquities and do that 
 which is lawful and right, iii his rlghteo7isness that he 
 doeth he shall live. Thus is every man made to re- 
 ceive according to his deeds, good or bad. 
 
 There is another important idea in this Scripture 
 doctrine concerning the judgment of Christ. It places 
 his judgment-seat in his kingdom. It makes Christ 
 the Judge while he is the Ruler, and his judgment a 
 cooperative branch of his kingdom. So it should be 
 Who ever heard of a government without a judgment, 
 — putting the judgment off till the government shall 
 have ended ? What good father has a family govern- 
 ment without a judgment, deferring all judgment and 
 discipline till he shall have lost his government? None. 
 The parental judgment is a cooperative branch of the 
 family government. Yet many have believed that the 
 judgment of Christ is to be postponed until his king- 
 dom is given up. Such views are the blackness of 
 darkness. They find no favor from the Word of 
 God. From this source we have learned, that when 
 God commenced the exercise of his moral government 
 over his children, he commenced the administration 
 of his judgment. In every age he "searcheth the 
 heart, and trieth the reins, even to give every man ac- 
 cording to his ways." (Jer. xvii. 10.) In these latter 
 days he exerciseth judgment by Jesus Christ. The 
 judgment of Christ is, as we have seen, in its most 
 
JUDGMENT. 141 
 
 comprehensive sense, synonymous with his kingdom. 
 In the more restricted sense, applying to discernment 
 of character and execution of penalties, it is an ever 
 active branch of his government, concurring to the great 
 consummation, when he shall resign his kingdom to 
 the Father, having subdued all things unto himself. 
 
 It is needless to multiply quotations from the Scrip- 
 tures in relation to our general subject. We have 
 already carried our examination of the Scriptures to a 
 sufficient extent, to ascertain with satisfactory clear- 
 ness, that this world of moral creatures is not left with- 
 out a Divine judgment, and without a Supreme Judge ; 
 but that the Lord " is a God that judgeth in the earth," 
 and that he " rendereth unto every man according to 
 his works ;" that he is the Judge while he is the Gov- 
 ernor of the world ; that he commenced an operative 
 system of judgment when he commenced the exercise 
 of his government over his moral creatures ; in short, 
 that a retributive judgment, rendering to accountable 
 creatures according to their deserts, is a perpetual and 
 cooperative branch of the Divine government. 
 
 Most of the passages which we have quoted on the 
 subject of retributive judgment, relate to external and 
 visible judgments on particular people, executed at 
 sundry times and in divers manners. But these bear 
 fully on the question of the perfect subjection of the 
 inhabitants of earth to the righteous judgment of God; 
 for these executions of visible punishment are repre- 
 sented as filling up the measure of retribution, accord- 
 ing to that of demerit in the people. There is also a 
 constant operation of Divine judgment, meting out 
 rewards and punishments to mankind, by the admin- 
 istration of internal happiness or misery according to 
 their characters. The Scriptures do not abound in his- 
 
142 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 tories of particular executions of this species of retribu- 
 tion, as of the external judgments, because it is com- 
 mon and invisible. But it is comprehended in the 
 general terms by which the subject of retributive judg- 
 ment is often expressed ; as in the following examples : 
 " Thou renderest to every man according to his 
 work." "In keeping them [the judgments of God] 
 there is great reward." ''Great peace have they 
 which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." 
 "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it 
 cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 
 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. '^' 
 "Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the 
 way of peace have they not known." "I the Lord 
 search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man 
 according to his ways, and according to the fruit of 
 his doings."" The Scriptures abound with testimo- 
 nies, of which these are a specimen, disallowing the 
 sentiment that the only recompense, or reward and 
 punishment, executed by the judgment of God on 
 earth, is in those cases of external and visible judg- 
 ment, many of which are made the subjects of pro- 
 phetic and historical record. " The anger of the 
 Lord," — that is, the condemnatory operation of the 
 Divine judgment, — is against the wicked "every day." ° 
 But when the sins of individuals or of communities 
 assume a certain character, and attain to a certain 
 degree. He who searches the heart, perceives that 
 their case requires the addition of some external and 
 visible punishment, to fill up the measure of their 
 deserts, and to operate as a necessary check on their 
 career, and a warning to others. 
 
 n Ps. Ixii. 12 ; xix. 11. Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. Rom. iii. 16, 17. Jer. xvii. 10. 
 => Ps. vii. 11. 
 
JUDGMENT. 143 
 
 We are aware that there are some who contend, 
 that however full and clear may be the evidence of 
 Scripture for this doctrine of an ever operative and 
 just judgment, it does not agree with fact. And they 
 adduce certain cases of persons, of different characters, 
 on earth, in which they say the doctrine of a just ret- 
 ribution does not hold true. But such will do well to 
 consider, in humbleness of mind before God, that they 
 can only look at the outward appearance ; that they 
 cannot correctly judge either of other men's moral 
 deserts, or of the amount of their happiness or misery. 
 But God looketh at the heart. He " searcheth the 
 heart, and trieth the reins, even to give every man 
 according to his ways, and according to the fruit 
 of his doings." If any assert that in some given 
 case it is not true that God judges the heart to 
 render a just recompense, the burden of proof is upon 
 his hand. But the impossibility of producing the 
 evidence of such a fact in any case, may discover 
 to him the folly and presumption of opposing his own 
 judgment to the judgment of God. Many an honest 
 confession from persons who have run a sinful career, 
 has exposed the error of such as had judged them 
 from outward appearance. Tiberius was doubtless 
 envied by thousands, for his rank, and his supposed 
 enjoyment. He had every means which earth could 
 aftbrd to gratify his sensual appetites; and by the 
 course he pursued he evinced a determination that, if 
 happiness were to be found in sin, it should be his to 
 enjoy. But the desired happiness was not there. We 
 are shown by the following letter from him to the 
 Roman Senate, that he received in himself, from the 
 judgment of God, "that recompense for his errors 
 which was meet:"p "What to write, conscript fa- 
 
 p Rom. i. 27. 
 
144 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 therSj in what terms to express myself, or what to re- 
 frain from writing, is a matter of such perplexity, that 
 if I know how to decide, may the just gods and the 
 goddesses of vengeance doom me to die in pangs, worse 
 than those under which I linger every day ! '^ '^ On 
 this, Tacitus, the heathen historian, makes the fol- 
 lowing pertinent remarks: "We have here the fea- 
 tures of the inward man. His crimes retaliated upon 
 him with the keenest retribution ; so true is the saying 
 of the great philosopher,' the oracle of ancient wisdom, 
 that if the minds of tyrants were laid open to our 
 view, we should see them gashed and mangled with 
 the whips and stings of horror and remorse. By blows 
 and stripes the flesh is made to quiver; and in like 
 manner, cruelty and inordinate passions, malice and 
 evil deeds, become internal executioners, and with un- 
 ceasing torture goad and lacerate the heart. Of this 
 truth Tiberius is a melancholy instance. Neither the 
 imperial dignity, nor the gloom of solitude, nor the 
 rocks of Caprese, could shield him from himself. He 
 lived on the rack of guilt, and his wounded spirit 
 groaned in agony." Hence, it is perceived that the 
 reason and observation of philosophers discover, in 
 real life, the fact, which attests the doctrine that we 
 have seen so fully asserted in the Scriptures, in rela- 
 tion to the judgment of God. 
 
 It is presumed that none will dispute there having 
 been, under the administration of the law in former 
 ages, as many of the description of cases from which 
 some argue the failure of a righteous retribution, as 
 there are under the present dispensation. Yet St. 
 Paul testifies that "every transgression and disobedi- 
 ence received a just recompense of reward." And in 
 
 q Annals of Tacitus, B. vi., § 6. i Socrates. 
 
JUDGMENT. 145 
 
 the same sentence he assures us, m the form of an 
 interrogatory assertion, that others must inevitably re- 
 ceive according to their deserts, from the same just ad- 
 ministration of the Divine judgment." There is no way 
 to be free fwm the misery of sin, but to be free from sin. 
 And we gratefully rejoice that God will execute judg- 
 ment through Jesus, even unto the destruction of the 
 works of the devil,' which are sin and its concomitant 
 evils. 
 
 Reader, our subject is important. You are in pur- 
 suit of happiness ; and if you ever choose a course of 
 moral wrong, it is because you do not practically be- 
 lieve in the doctrine of Divine judgment which we 
 have here presented from the Scriptures. Let these 
 words of apostolic wisdom be engraved on the tablet 
 of your heart: ''For he that will love life, and see 
 good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and 
 his lips that they speak no guile ; let him eschew evil, 
 and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it.'"" 
 
 8 For the writer's view of the consistency of this doctrine with that of for- 
 giveness as taught in the Scriptures, see the next chapter of this work, 
 entitled Punishment and Forgiveness. 
 
 t John iii. 8. 1 Cor. xv. 24—28. " 1 Peter iii. lOj 11. 
 
 13 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 
 
 Such is the title which we appropriate to this chap- 
 ter; because, while its main subject is that of For- 
 giveness, I design to present it in such connection with 
 that of Punishment, as to evince their harmony with 
 each other. To do this in a manner the most familiar 
 and intelligible to the reader, I must occasionally 
 recapitulate certain principles which I have argued at 
 length in some of the foregoing chapters. 
 
 I. The Scriptures of the Old Testament teach that 
 God renders to every man according to his work ;^ and 
 they also proclaim the Lord God merciful and gra- 
 cious, forgiving iniquity^ trans gressiori and sin.^ Nor 
 is either of these doctrines of the Old Testament abro- 
 gated under the Gospel dispensation. The Scriptures 
 of the New Testament expressly state, that God tviil 
 reiider to every man according to his deeds, in the day 
 (or dispensation) when God shall judge the secrets of 
 men by Jesus Christ f and also that he hath exalted 
 Jesus Christ to be a Prince and Saviour, to give re- 
 2Je?itance and forgiveness of sins.^ These two impor- 
 tant doctrines of the Bible have been so defined by a 
 respectable class of Christians, as to appear incon- 
 sistent with each other. They hold that the sentence 
 of the law against transgressors, in recompense to them 
 according to their deserts, is their consignment to end- 
 
 a Deut. XXX. 15. Ps. Ixii. 12. Prov. xi. 31. Ezek. xviii. 
 b Ex. xxxiv. 7. Ps. XXV. 11, 18. Jer. xxxi. 34. 
 <i Rom. ii. 6—16. d Acts v. 31 ; xi. 18. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 147 
 
 less punishment. And as ''all have smned," the just 
 desert of all is the aforesaid endless punishment. Yet 
 the class of Christians of whom I speak, notwith- 
 standing they believe that the just desert of all men is 
 eternal misery, and though they urge it as the plain 
 doctrine of God's word that every man shall be dealt 
 with according to his desert, do not mean to be under- 
 stood as believing that all men shall be made to suffer 
 that deserved recompense of misery. For the doctrine 
 of forgiveness^ they say, is likewise a doctrine of the 
 Scriptures ; and they hope that God, through the ex- 
 ercise of forgiveness, will make millions of sinners to 
 be participants of eternal happiness in heaven. Thus 
 the sinner's hope of final happiness is made to be the 
 hope of an escape from his deserved punishment. 
 
 Indeed, forgiveness has commonly been understood 
 to be the clearing of a 'person from some incurred jjen- 
 alty. How then shall the person who is tempted 
 to sin, know what to expect from the threatening of 
 God's law? If Divine forgiveness be a deliverance 
 from deserved punishment, then, though God has pos- 
 itively declared that he will render to every man ac- 
 cording to his deserts, yet he may render to no man 
 according to his deserts, — nor can he punish any to 
 whom he extends forgiveness. In this way the doc- 
 trines of punishment and forgiveness are set in oppo- 
 sition to each other ; and many, while they profess to 
 be strenuous advocates both for the doctrine of Divine 
 forgiveness, and of God's rendering to every man ac- 
 cording to his works, do, in the very labors in which 
 they undertake to urge these doctrines, alternately 
 deny them both. In urging the doctrine of the 'pun- 
 ishment of sinners, they preclude the possibility of 
 their ever being forgiven, and in urging the doctrine 
 
148 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of the forgiveness of sinners^ they preclude the possi- 
 bility of every man's being recompensed according to 
 his deserts. 
 
 But I hope to be able to show to the satisfaction of 
 the candid reader, that there is no inconsistency be- 
 tween the doctrines of punishment and forgiveness, as 
 taught in the sacred Scriptures. The better to ac- 
 complish our purpose, we will view the two subjects 
 both separately and in connection with each other. 
 
 In the first place we will take a brief review of the 
 teachings of the Scriptures concerning the pwiish- 
 ment of sinners. In the 18th chapter of Ezekiel there 
 is recorded a kind oi judicial decision, from the court 
 of Heaven, upon the meaning of the Divine law, about 
 which the people had fallen into mistakes. " The 
 word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. What 
 mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land 
 of Israel, saying. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, 
 and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, 
 saith the Lord God, ye shall not have any more to use 
 this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine ; as 
 the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is 
 mine : the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall 
 not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the 
 father bear the iniquity of the son : the righteousness 
 of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness 
 of the wicked shall be upon him." Hereby we are 
 informed that the law of God makes the wages of sin 
 to be death. Not eternal death, however, or endless 
 punishment, as they affirm whose sentiment has been 
 before stated. The death pronounced on sinners by 
 the Divine law is only to be coextensive in duration 
 with sin. To this point the word of God proceeds to 
 say, — '' But if the wicked will turn from all his sins 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 149 
 
 that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and 
 do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, 
 he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath 
 committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him ; in 
 his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." 
 Hence we learn that it is the principle of Divine law, 
 the justice of the government of Heaven, that when a 
 sinner has turned from the way of sin, and walks in the 
 possession and practice of the principles of godliness, 
 he is no longer a subject of that condemnation or death 
 which is the just portion of sinners. Justice condemns 
 him only while he is a sinner. And since the Divine 
 law does neither ordain nor predict that men shall 
 always continue in the character of sinners, it does not 
 determine that any shall be subjects of eternal death. 
 
 This view of the death or punishment of sin, that 
 its duration is measured by men's continuing in the 
 character of sinners, accords with the experience of 
 all who have been reformed. St. John says, "We 
 know that we have passed from death unto life, be- 
 cause we love the brethren. He that loveth not his 
 brother abideth in death."* He and his Christian 
 brethren, when they were in the spirit of opposition to 
 the law of God, were in that death which is the wages 
 of sin. On them was executed what God's law de- 
 clares, '■ The soul thatsinneth, it shall die." "For to 
 be carnally-minded is death." ^ But when they turned 
 from the way of sin, and walked in that love which is 
 the fulfilling of the law, they passed from death imto 
 life, and felt that, as far as they were holy, no just 
 law in the universe could condemn them. 
 
 What is contained in the word of God by Ezekiel, 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die," is expressed in 
 
 e 1 John iii, 14. ^ Rom. viii. 6. 
 
 13^ 
 
150 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Other words by the apostle Paul, in Rom. ii. 6 — 10, 
 "Who will render to every man according to his 
 deeds ; to them who, by patient continuance in well- 
 doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality ; ° 
 eternal life;'' but unto them that are contentious, and 
 do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, in- 
 dignation and wrath. Tribulation and anguish upon 
 every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, 
 and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace, 
 to every man that worketh good ; to the Jew first, 
 and also to the Gentile; for there is no respect of 
 persons with God." It is plain from this Scripture 
 that the just punishment of sin is the tribulation and 
 anguish which the disobedient suffer in their sins. 
 This sentiment is also clearly expressed by the same 
 apostle in Rom. iii. 16, 17. "Destruction and misery 
 are in their ways ; and the way of peace have they 
 not known." The way of sin is a way of misery, 
 and no true peace is found therein. Consequently. 
 
 s A(f9aqoiav, Incorruptness, or purity of doctrines and desi^s. 
 
 ^ Aionion life. Some have contended that the punishment of evil-doers, 
 spoken of in this passage, is eternal punishment in the future ?oorW, because 
 the reward of the well-doers is eternal life. I know that the Christian hopes 
 for an eternity of life and happiness beyond the grave ; not however, as the 
 fruit or reward of his present doings, but as the free gift of God's grace. 
 The aionion life, which is the Christian's reward, is the life and happiness 
 which he receives and enjoys in believing and obeying the gospel. In pos- 
 sessing himself of the glory, and honor, and incorruptness of principle which 
 he seeks, he possesses himself of aionion life. As in John v. 24, "Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth my word, and believeth on him 
 that sent me, hath everlasting (aionion) life, and shall not come into con- 
 demnation, but is passed from death unto life." Here what is called ever- 
 lasting life, is also expressed by the single term, life; as in 1 John iii. 14, 
 quoted above ; and Rom. viii. 6, " To be spiritually minded is life and peace ;" 
 and in many other places. And in this passage, the reward which, in verse 
 7, is called eternal life, is, in verse 10, called _§-/o?-i/, honor, nnd peace. The 
 doctrine of an eternity of happiness, as the reward of our good deeds here, is 
 as unscriptural as is the doctrine of an eternity of punishment for our evil 
 deeds. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 151 
 
 men must be punished with misery just as long as 
 they walk the sinner's way. 
 
 II. Having taken this brief view of the Scripture 
 doctrine concerning the jninishment of sinners^ we will, 
 \n the second place, consider the subject oi gosjyel for- 
 giveness. The original word translated forgive in the 
 New Testament is aphiemi^ from apo^ from^ and iemi^ 
 to send. To send away^ dismiss, deliver from. It 
 occurs in Matt. xiii. 36, and is rendered, sent away. 
 " Then Jesus sent the multitudes away.'''' In Mark 
 XV. 37, the same Greek word signifies to emit^ or give 
 lip. "And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave 
 up the ghost." It is also used in 1 Cor. vii. 12, for 
 putting away or dismissing a wife. "If any brother 
 hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to 
 dwell with him, let him not jnit her axoay?^ It also 
 occurs in Matt. iv. 20, 22, and is rendered by the 
 word left. "And they straightway left their nets and 
 followed him." This word in its substantive form 
 occurs in Luke iv. IS, in the sense of ^^ dismdssion, 
 deliverance, or liberty, as of captives."' "He hath 
 sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the 
 blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Here 
 the words deliverance and liberty are from the same 
 Greek word that is rendered forgiveness, whenever 
 this latter term is used in the New Testament. 
 
 We have been thus particular to give the significa- 
 tion of the word from which forgiveness comes in the 
 New Testament, and to present several instances of 
 its Scriptural use, for the purpose of discovering to 
 the reader the importance of proper care in forming 
 his judgment on this subject. We have remarked 
 
 ' Parkhursi on {^(ptoii) Aphesis. 
 
152 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 before, that forgiveness has been commonly under- 
 stood to mean the clearing of a person from deserved 
 punishment. But we find that the word does not, of 
 itself, signify a deliverance from deserved imnishment ; 
 but simply to send aioay^ dismiss, or deliver from. 
 To dismiss, or deliver from, what, must be decided in 
 every case by a reference to the subject unto which it 
 is applied. Accordingly, we find the original word, 
 which is rendered forgive, in one case which we have 
 noticed, used for disunissing or sending away the m^id- 
 titudes. In another instance it is used for dismissing 
 or sending away a wife. In another, for sending out 
 or givijig up one's life. And in another case which 
 we have noticed, we find the word used for deliveri?ig 
 from prison, frorn captivity, and from 'inaimedness. 
 And pursuing this necessary rule of construction, if 
 we find the phrase, forgiveness of deserved punish- 
 ment, we are to receive it as meaning a deliverance 
 from deserved punishment. 
 
 But such an expression as forgiveness of punish- 
 ment, does not occur in the inspired writings. The 
 gospel forgiveness is the forgiveness of sins. "God 
 hath exalted Jesus with his right hand, to be a Prince, 
 and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and 
 forgiveness of sins.''' ^ 1^\\q forgiveness in this case 
 is the deliverance spoken of in the passage before 
 quoted from Luke. The same original word occurs 
 in precisely the same form in both cases. In the one 
 case Jesus reads and appUes to himself the words of 
 the prophet, "He hath sent me to heal the broken- 
 hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives ;" and in 
 the other case^ Peter says of Jesus, '• Him hath God 
 exalted witli his right hand, for to give repentance to 
 
 j Acts V. 31. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 153 
 
 Israel, and deliverance from si?is.^^ Now, by giving 
 deliverance from si?is, Jesus fulfils that saying which 
 he applied to himself, ''He hath sent me to preach 
 (or proclaim) delivei^aiice to the captives." What 
 kind of forgiveness, liberty, or deliverance is this 7 Is 
 it, as some have imagined, a deliverance from going 
 to an endless prison of darkness in the future world, 
 as a punishment for sins committed in this 'I There is 
 nothing in the Scriptures to support such an opinion. 
 It is a deliverance from the dark prison of unbelief, 
 and from the miserable bondage of sin: so that the 
 subject of this deliverance can say, " This I know, 
 that whereas I was blind, now I see." " He hath 
 delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath 
 translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."*" 
 " For we have not received the spirit of bondage 
 again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adop- 
 tion, whereby we cry, Abba, father."^ 
 
 To render the light of our subject the more clear 
 to the careful reader, we will take him to the Scrip- 
 tures for instruction on the purpose and design of that 
 gospel, through which we receive forgiveness o"^ 
 sins. See Matt, xviii. II; "For the Son of man is 
 come to save that which was lost." Matt. i. 21; " He 
 shall save his people from their sins.^^ John i. 29 ; 
 " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 
 of the xoorld.^'' Acts iii. 26; "Unto you first, God 
 having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, 
 in turning away every one of you from his iniquities ^ 
 Eph. V. 25 — 27; "Christ also loved the church, and 
 gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
 it with the washing of water by the word, that he 
 might present to himself a glorious church, not hav- 
 
 k Col. i. 13. 1 Rom. viii. 15. 
 
 13* 
 
154 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ing spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it 
 should be holy^ and without blemish.''^ 1 Peter iii. 18; 
 ^^ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just 
 for the unjust, that he might bring us to GodP Col. 
 i. 19, 20; "For it pleased the Father, that in him 
 should all fulness dwell ; and having made peace 
 through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all 
 things to himself y 2 Cor. v. 18, 19 ; " And all things 
 are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
 Christy and hath given to us the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling 
 the world unto himself ^ 
 
 Hence we learn that the gospel is not a scheme 
 which God has contrived for clearing sinners from 
 suffering what his own word solemnly pronounced 
 upon them ; but it is a plan of redemption from sin 
 and darkness, into that state of holy reconciliation to 
 God, wherein they will no more incur those painful 
 stripes which the law threatens and inflicts upon 
 transgressors. Yes, this is the gospel purpose of 
 God; "To turn away every one of you from his 
 iniquity;" to "sanctify and cleanse" you; to "recon- 
 cile you to God," and present you " holy and with- 
 out blemish." And as far as you are partakers of 
 the gospel salvation from sin, and of reconciliation to 
 God, — so far you are partakers of the gospel forgive- 
 ness, or deliverance from sin. Of the forerunner of 
 Jesus, it was said, "Thou shalt go before the face 
 of the Lord to prepare his ways ; to give knowledge 
 of salvation to his people, by the remission of their 
 sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby 
 the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give 
 light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow 
 of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace."™ 
 
 m Luke i. 76—79. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 155 
 
 Here we are informed that the forerunner of the 
 world's Saviour gave the people knowledge concern- 
 ing that kind of salvation which takes place by the 
 remission of their sins ; i. e. by sending away tiieir 
 sins, or freeing them from their sins. And this free- 
 ing from sins takes place through the tender mercy of 
 God, whereby he makes the day-spring from on high 
 to visit us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, 
 to guide onr feet in the way of peace. 
 
 Having considered the subjects of 7J^m^5/^me^^^ and 
 forgiveness^ seimrately., we will now consider these 
 two subjects in connexion with each other^ that the 
 reader may see that there is no inconsistency between 
 them as they stand in the Scriptures. On the subject 
 of punishment we have learned that God, in "render- 
 ing to every man according to his deeds," will recom- 
 pense " tribulation and anguish upon e^ery soul of 
 man that doeth evil." Nor does the Scriptural' doc- 
 trine of forgiveness contradict this sentiment of 
 retribution ; for it teaches the forgiveness, not of 
 deserved j)unishment^ but of sins. This forgiveness 
 of sins frees men from the suffering of that tribulation 
 and anguish which God doth recompense upon every 
 man that doeth evil ; yet it does not oppose the 
 doctrine of a just recompense to every man accord- 
 ing to his deeds, — for it frees them from the before- 
 mentioned tribulation and anguish by freeing them 
 from sin. Then being freed from sin, they are no 
 longer that description of persons upon which the 
 law pronounces its curses. 
 
 In the present light of our subject, we can perceive 
 the consistency of the sentence in the writings of 
 Moses, which was referred to in the beginning of this 
 chapter. " The Lord God, merciful and gracious, 
 
156 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 
 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and 
 transgression, and sin, and that will by no means 
 clear the guilty." God, in tender mercy to sinners, 
 employs means in his wise and benevolent govern- 
 ment, to reform them, and free them from transgres- 
 sion and sin. And when, by the influence of those 
 means which the Divine government employs, sinners 
 are brought to repentance, or turn from the love and 
 practice of sin, then too they are freed from the guilt 
 and condemnation of sin, and God does not impute to 
 them their sins, or treat them as sinners any longer. 
 They are permitted to enjoy the sweets of communion 
 with God, in the consciousness of the Divine approba- 
 tion, as if they had never sinned. But while they remain 
 "guilty," walking in the way of transgression, God 
 "will by no means clear" them from the suffering of 
 that death and misery, that tribulation and anguish, 
 which the law makes to be the sinner's just portion. 
 Accordingly, the person who has been forgiven, has 
 suffered the proper punishment of his sins ; even as 
 the man who has been healed of a bodily disease has 
 suffered the natural evil of that disease. The sick 
 man is freed from pain by being freed from the disease 
 by which the pain was produced. And when the dis- 
 ease is removed, and the man restored to health, his then 
 experiencing a freedom from pain, and the pleasure of 
 bodily health, is in accordance with, and not opposed 
 to, that organic law of the corporeal system which 
 connects pain with disease ; for the same law connects 
 pleasure with health. Even so, when the man who 
 is reformed and forgiven, experiences a freedom from 
 the evil or punishment of sin, and enjoys the pleasure 
 of virtue and truth, this is in accordance with, and 
 not opposed to, that Divine moral law, which connects 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 157 
 
 punishment with sin; for the same law connects a 
 holy and rational pleasure with virtue and truth. The 
 language of this law is, "The righteous shall be 
 recompensed in the earth ; much more the wicked and 
 the sinner."" ''The soul that sinneth, it shall die,— 
 in his sin that he hath sinned, and in his trespass 
 that he hath trespassed, in them shall he die." " But 
 if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath 
 committed, and do that which is lawful and right, he 
 shall surely live. All his transgressions that he hath 
 committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him ; in 
 his righteousness he shall live." ° Surely this law is 
 not opposed to men's being freed from the condemnation 
 or death of sin, when they are freed from sin. 
 
 III. Thus far we have considered the subject of 
 forgiveness in its most comprehensive sense, as ap- 
 plying to the operation of the gospel scheme, in de- 
 livering the soul from the love and power of sin, and 
 thus working a freedom from condemnation and fear. 
 But this word, in its more practical, and perhaps more 
 familiar usage, even in the Scriptures, is applied to 
 that concomitant part of the work of spiritual deliver- 
 ance, which consists in a sensible freedom of the 
 mind from guilt, — a restoration to the privileges of 
 the righteous. In other words, it is the extension to the 
 penitent of the same treatment as if he had never sin- 
 ned. In the language of the Book, "his sins and 
 iniquities shall be remembered no more." 
 
 This form of forgiveness always presupposes gen- 
 uine repentance, or reformation. For while one is in 
 the life of sin, he cannot be viewed and treated as if he 
 were not a sinner. This would be at war with the 
 
 nProv. xi. 31. 'Ezek. xviii. 4, 21, 22, 24. 
 
 14 
 
158 CORIPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 whole tenor of both law and gospel. In the day or 
 dispensation of judgment by Jesus Christ, as well as 
 in the Mosaic age, tribulation and anguish shall be 
 upon every soul of man that doeth evil.p But upon 
 genuine reformation, the purified soul shall not be 
 taunted with his former errors, but he shall live in the 
 full fellowship of the spirit, and in the approbation of 
 the judgment of Heaven. 
 
 This forgiveness does not involve the discharge of 
 men from any moral obligation to God or man. Right 
 is right, and wrong is wrong, by the law of God, 
 founded in the eternal nature of things : and no dis- 
 pensation from any court can make either to be the 
 other. We cannot be absolved from any moral obliga- 
 tion. Indeed, there is no such obligation resting upon 
 us, but what it would be a curse to man to be absolved 
 from, even if he could be. But practical love to God 
 and man is our duty now and forever. While we 
 live in violation of it, we abide in death. "^ When we 
 return to duty, with a true heart, we receive forgive- 
 ness of sins, the approbation of the Father, the justifica- 
 tion of life. Then can we adopt the beloved disciple's 
 language, " We know that we have passed from death 
 unto life, because we love the brethren.'-' Such, too, is 
 the blessedness resulting from the Christian reformation, 
 as described by the Saviour in his commission to the 
 repentant Saul : — " For I have appeared unto thee for 
 this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, 
 both of these things which thou hast seen, and of 
 those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 
 delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, 
 unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to 
 turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 
 
 pRom. ii. 6—16. q l John iii. 14. rJb. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 159 
 
 of satan unto God, that they may receive forgivejiess 
 of si?is, and inheritance among them which are sanc- 
 tified, by faith that is in me."' 
 
 In this latter sense of forgiveness, applying to the 
 sensible enjoyment of the Divine approbation as a con- 
 comitant of the right living, is the word used by the 
 Saviour in the following instance: — "Forgive, if ye 
 have ought against any, that your Father also which 
 is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But 
 if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is 
 in heaven forgive your trespasses." ^ We are not to 
 construe this Scripture as teaching that God cherishes 
 an unfriendly disposition towards us while we cherish 
 an unfriendly disposition towards others. This would 
 represent him who is the standard of perfection, as 
 copying in his disposition after frail man, and even 
 after wicked, unforgiving men. God is unchangeably 
 good, "kind to the unthankful and the evil." Even 
 
 8 Acts xxvi. 16—18. 
 
 tMatt. vi. 14, 15. Mark xi. 25, 26. See also Matt, xviii. 21—35. 
 Some learned theological writers use this passage in support of the doc- 
 trine of endless punishment in the prison of hell. The man, they saj^, who 
 was cast into prison or delivered to tormentors until he should pay his debt, 
 could never make payment, and therefore could never get released from 
 prison ; and hence they argue, that those with whom God deals thus, (see v. 
 35,) will be cast into a prison from which there is no deliverance. But there 
 is no authority either for this statement or conclusion. The object of the 
 man in the parable, who cast his fellow-servant into prison, was, to obtain his 
 debt. "He cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt." It appears 
 hence that he expected that his fellow-servant might be able to make some 
 arrangement to pay the debt. And the same expectation is expressed of 
 the lord of the unforgiving servant, when he delivered him over to the 
 tormenters, or jailers. And though such debtor may have died in prison 
 before he had paid the debt, it does not follow that those to whom this para- 
 ble is applied, might not fully pay what their Lord required. The debt 
 required of them was, to forgive their brethren. And as the debtor in the 
 parable was to remain in prison until he should pay the debt, so should they 
 remain in the prison of death, until they should exercise a forgiving spirit. 
 " He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death." But there is no evidence 
 that any will eternally continue in an unfriendly or unforgiving spirit. 
 
160 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 while men are sinners, God's kindness to them em- 
 ploys means to bring them to repentance, that they 
 may come into the rich enjoyment of forgiveness, or 
 freedom from the guilt of sin. But we learn from the 
 above language of our Lord, that as long as we are in 
 the service of sin, God will not grant us a freedom from 
 its gidll. If we cherish an unkind and unforgiving 
 disposition towards our fellow-creatures, we are in 
 bondage to sin ; for such a disposition is sin. And it 
 is only by repenting or turning from sin, and exercis- 
 ing love which forgives our fellow-creatures, that we 
 can experience ourselves a freedom from guilt, and 
 enjoy the approbation of our Father in heaven. 
 
 Although the term forgive, in the last noticed 
 instance, seems to apply in particular to a freedom 
 from the guill or condemnation of sin, yet here is like- 
 wise implied that freedom from sin itself, which we 
 have shown to be meant, in its strict and com- 
 prehensive sense, by the ^ghxdiSQ, forgive7iess of sins. 
 Nor can the Christian find any forgiveness in his own 
 experience, but what involves a deliverance from sin. 
 The freedom from guilt which the Christian enjoys, is 
 only proportional to his freedom from the love and 
 practice of evil. And when, as enlightened Christians, 
 we pray to our Father, " Forgive us our sins," we do 
 not mean to ask God to let us go on in sin, and screen 
 us from the punishment which he has threatened on 
 transgressors; but the sense of our prayer is, ^^ Free 
 us from our sins, that we may live unto thee, enjoy 
 thine approbation, and suffer no longer that tribulation 
 and anguish, which is upon every soul of man that 
 doeth evil." 
 
 IV. We have now taken a general view of the doc- 
 trine of punishment as it is pronounced by the Divine 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 161 
 
 law, and administered by the Divine government ; and 
 also of the doctrine of forgiveness or remission of sins. 
 And it appears to be a clear case, that as these two 
 doctrines stand in the Scriptures, there is no inconsis- 
 tency between them. But in addition to those evils 
 which are regularly, and constantly executed in pun- 
 ishment upon sinners by the moral government of 
 God, there are certain special judgments, or external 
 calamities, unto which individuals and nations subject 
 themselves by a certain course and continuance of 
 vice. And there is a case recorded in the Old Testa- 
 ment, of one of these special judgments being threat- 
 ened on a certain people, and their afterwards being 
 preserved from the suffering of it. On this we will 
 here offer a few remarks, lest it should be thought, by 
 some readers, to be inconsistent with the views which 
 have now been given on the subjects of punishment 
 and forgiveness. " The word of the Lord came unto 
 Jonah, saying. Arise, go unto Nineveh, and preach 
 unto it the preaching that I bid thee." And Jonah 
 went, "and he cried and said. Yet forty days, and 
 Nineveh shall be overthrown." But the people re- 
 pented, and the threatened punishment was not exe- 
 cuted upon them." Did not forgiveness in this case 
 oppose the threatening of God, and clear that sinful 
 people from the punishment which was their just 
 desert? To give a correct view of the subject of this 
 inquiry, it is necessary to remark, that God informed the 
 people by his prophets, that whenever he should give 
 them warning of any special calamity, into which their 
 course of conduct was tending to bring them, and they, 
 on receiving his warning, should repent, they should 
 escape the calamity of which they were warned.' 
 
 w Jonah, chap. iii. 'Ezek. xxxiii, 13. 16. 
 
 14* 
 
162 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 There could not indeed be any reasonable motive to 
 send a messenger to forewarn sinners of an evil unto 
 which their course of conduct was exposing them, un- 
 less it were to afford them an opportunity to avoid the 
 threatened evil by timely repentance. Judging of the 
 case of Nineveh by the light of this principle, by 
 which God assured the people that he would direct 
 his conduct in all such instances, we must understand 
 it to be the meaning of the message which God sent to 
 the Ninevites by Jonah, that by a continuance in their 
 present course of iniquity forty days, they should be- 
 come overwhelmed in destruction. But they repented, 
 and did not continue in their wicked course the forty 
 days longer ; and so they did not suffer the threatened 
 punishment of temporal destruction. Accordingly, the 
 Divine forgiveness in this case did not oppose the 
 Divine threatening, nor screen those sinners from 
 deserved punishment. While they were sinners, they 
 must have suffered those evils with which the regular 
 administration of the Divine government always pun- 
 ishes the wicked. But they were not to be considered 
 as having incurred, or they were not to be reckoned 
 by the judgment of God as fully deserving, that spe- 
 cial external calamity, until they should have con- 
 tinued and multiplied their transgressions to a given 
 extent. And as their repentance prevented their con- 
 tinuance in iniquity, to that duration and degree on 
 which was predicted the threatening of destruction, 
 they were freed from the destruction, by being freed 
 from that degree of sin which would have incurred or 
 fully deserved it. Consequently, nothing is found in 
 this instance of God's dealing with sinners, inconsis- 
 tent with the doctrines of punishment and forgiveness 
 as before explained. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 163 
 
 The humble acknowledgements of Ezra and David, 
 saying in their addresses to God, that he had not 
 dealt with them after their sins, nor rewarded them 
 according to their iniquities,"^ may at first strike the 
 ear as being opposed to the universal application of 
 the testimony of the same David, '' Thou renderest to 
 every man according to his work."* But we think 
 Ihat by a fair construction of the language referred 
 to, such opposition will not appear. It is not pre- 
 tended that mankind receive no benefits but on the 
 ground of their merits. The recompense which God 
 renders to every man according to his deserts, is the 
 good or evil which men enjoy or suffer as the fruit 
 of their moral conduct. Besides these fruits of hu- 
 man doings, there are blessings which God bestows 
 upon mankind of his own munificent goodness, and 
 not according to their works. Even in punishing the 
 wicked according to their deserts, God designs their 
 correction and consequent benefit; and this benevo- 
 lent design of punishment is a good unto the sinner, 
 which is not according to his sins, but according 
 to the free mercy of God. And when Ezra and 
 David offered the language above mentioned, their 
 people had been far astray in the path of sin, and God 
 had punished and reformed them, and bestowed upon 
 them many blessings which they could not have 
 claimed on the ground of merit. Being deeply af- 
 fected with the view of this unmerited goodness of 
 God, and having that view of their own ingratitude 
 which caused David on another occasion to say, "I 
 was as a beast before thee," under these circum- 
 stances, their saying in prayer to God, "He hath not 
 dealt with us after our sins," &c., cannot be fairly 
 
 w Ez. ix. 13. Ps. ciii. 10. * Ps. Ixii. 12. 
 
164 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 construed as a disproof of the doctrine that men 
 suffer, while in their sins, according to their deserts. 
 For though they felt at such a time not only to con- 
 fess the Divine goodness to be above their merits, but 
 also to magnify the demerit of their sins as being 
 above the punishment which they had suffered, yet 
 we are not to take an expression of self-reproach, 
 which one utters under a deep sense of ingratitude 
 and shame, and employ it as if it disproved the well 
 supported and abstract doctrine of the Bible, concern- 
 ing the retributive government of God. 
 
 V. In concluding this chapter, it will be proper to 
 say a few words on the forgiveness which it is re- 
 quired of us to extend to one another. How are we to 
 forgive our fellow-creatures ? Surely not by remitting 
 all punishment. The Scriptures consider those rulers 
 who punish evil-doers to be ministers of God, ordained 
 of him to be a terror to evil works. "Whosoever 
 resisteth them," saith St. Paul, "resisteth the ordi- 
 nance of God.'"'' But can these ministers of God^ as 
 the apostle calls civil rulers, be what God has ap- 
 pointed them to be, a terror to evil-doers, and a praise 
 to them that do well, if they are always to clear the 
 guilty from punishment 7 If we cannot fulfil the com- 
 mand to f 07^ give those who tresi^ass against tis, without 
 clearing them in all cases from punishment, then we are 
 every day living in violation of the Divine requirement, 
 by supporting our present system of civil government ; 
 for our civil government inflicts punishment on those 
 who transgress its wholesome laws. 
 
 But wc have seen that the Divine forgiveness is not 
 a deliverance from deserved pimishment^ but a deliver- 
 ance from the love and power of sin, and its attendant 
 
 > Rom. xiii. 2, 3. 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 165 
 
 condemnation. And although we cannot in the high- 
 est sense forgive sins, so as directly to free others from 
 guilt, yet we can forgive the sins of others so far as it 
 respects our own feelings and conduct towards them. 
 We can cherish towards them that spirit of favor, 
 which will employ such means as human agency can 
 use, to lead those who trespass against us out of their 
 errors, and restore them to the favor of society. We 
 can exercise towards them that spirit of love and good 
 will, which shall forgive the injury as far as we can 
 forgive, "sending it away from" our feelings, so that 
 it shall not put into action a spirit of revenge, to injure 
 them because they have injured us. And this forgive- 
 ness may be exercised towards one whom we are the 
 means of bringing to punishment. We may chain or 
 confine a madman, in the exercise of the best of feel- 
 ings towards him, when his own safety or that of the 
 community seems to require it. Even so we may 
 bring a transgressor to punishment, when his own 
 good or the safety of the community seems to require 
 it, while we harbor no unfriendly disposition towards 
 him, but exercise that love which pities his folly, and 
 aims to promote his welfare. This same disposition, 
 if the punishment which we are the means of having 
 inflicted proves salutary, or if by any other means he 
 becomes reformed, and returns to society a good man, 
 this same disposition will lead us to receive him to 
 our respect, and give him a brother's hand, as if he 
 had never transgressed. It will dismiss his sins, or 
 blot them out of remembrance. 
 
 Here, then, is a man who has been punished and for- 
 given, in human society. I do not mean that he has 
 had his 'punishment forgiven. But he has had his 
 punishment administered, and his trajisgressiojis for- 
 
166 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 given. His transgressions are blotted out of remem- 
 brance, and society receives him as a just man. And 
 when we possess and practise the spirit here described, 
 which scorns retahation, and desires and seeks the 
 good of all, we can safely and consistently pray to our 
 Father in heaven, " Forgive us our sins, as we forgive 
 those who trespass against us." 
 
 OBJECTION. 
 
 It has been objected, that if man is adequately pun- 
 ished for his sins, and that punishment is limited in its 
 duration, he is not then saved by grace, but may de- 
 mand heaven as a right. But this objection, though 
 frequently offered, is founded upon an entire miscon- 
 ception of the subject. What particular right to sub- 
 sequent favor does a man gain by the mere fact of his 
 suffering for his sins 7 If his punishment proves a 
 means of promoting his reformation, and obedience to 
 the law, it in this manner operates as a favor to the 
 punished. But it gives him no claim on the future 
 favor of the Supreme Governor. 
 
 Suppose a child transgresses his father's law, and the 
 father, for his correction, subjects him to punishment. 
 The punishment proves salutary, and by this and other 
 means the child is reformed. In a subsequent conver- 
 sation with the father, the child inquires whether he 
 received an adequate punishment for the said trans- 
 gression. The father answers in the affirmative. 
 '' Then," says the child, " I demand of you, as my just 
 desert, a valuable estate, for my inheritance." " What 
 is your claim?" says the father. "It is the punish- 
 ment you inflicted upon me," responds the child. 
 Who would not regard this a singular ground for such 
 a claim ? His punishment was the just recompense 
 
PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS, 167 
 
 of his disobedience ; but who shall say that a rich es- 
 tate must be made over to him by the father, as the 
 just recompense of his punishment 7 Yet this would 
 be in character with the foregoing argument, that if 
 the sinner is made, by the judgment of God, to receive 
 according to his deserts, he may then claim heaven as 
 his right. 
 
 Though punishment is, in a legal sense, according 
 to men's deserts, yet there is something, even about 
 this, as I have shown in this chapter, which is not 
 according to our works. That benevolent, that fa- 
 therly design^ for which God administers chastise- 
 ment, is not according to our works, but according 
 to his own infinite goodness. And when, by his judg- 
 ments, and by the applications of his truth and love, he 
 weans us from sin, and wins our affections to him and 
 his law, we are overwhelmed with a sense of his 
 favor. To think of the punishment we had suffered 
 as entitling us to heaven, would be the most consum- 
 mate weakness, madness and folly. We could only 
 think of it with humility, as the fruit of our sins. We 
 have nothing for the future to claim on the ground of 
 our merits. Our hopes, full of comfort and peace, are 
 in the grace of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 In the light and spirit of the gospel there is no boast- 
 ing ; for we feel that in us is being fulfilled the mis- 
 sion of the Son, " to give knowledge of salvation unto 
 his people, by the remission of their sins, through the 
 tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from 
 on high hath visited us ; to give light to them that sit 
 in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our 
 feet into the way of peace." ' 
 
 z Luke i. 77—79. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE PERSON OF CHRIST. WHO IS HE ? 
 SECTION I. 
 
 An Examination^ by the Light of Scripture^ of Pre- 
 vaiVurg Opinions concerning Christ. 
 
 In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, 
 there is the record of a confession of faith in Christy 
 made by a leading apostle, which is so unambiguous, 
 and which met with so unreserved an approval of 
 Christ himself, that I will direct the reader's mind to 
 it here in the outset, that in the midst of all contro- 
 versies on the subject of the person of Jesus, we may- 
 have this as our polar star by which to make our 
 course. 
 
 " When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Phil- 
 ippi, he asked his disciples, saying. Whom do men 
 say that I, the Son of man, am ? And they said. Some 
 say that thou art John the Baptist ; some, Elias : and 
 others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith 
 unto them, But whom say ye that I am 7 
 
 '^ And Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art 
 THE Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 
 " And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed 
 art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not 
 revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in hea- 
 ven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter ; 
 and upon this rock will I build my church, and the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 
 Hence it appears that faith in Christ as the Son of 
 
THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 169 
 
 God, was the true faith from heaven, and that on 
 which he builds his church. Why, then, have many- 
 modern Christians required their brethren to beUeve 
 in Christ, not as the ''Son of the Uving God," but as 
 the very Hving God himself? This they have done, 
 and made a belief that Christ is the true essential God 
 an indispensable article in the Christian doctrine. 
 
 I have not, in my public labors, often entered into a 
 discussion of this particular subject. It is because I 
 have considered the Scriptures sufficiently plain upon 
 it without comment ; and I have furthermore been in 
 the habit of thinking, that if all Christians will be- 
 lieve in Christ, as the One altogether sufficient to 
 perform the great work which the Scriptures inform 
 us he came to do, it is of minor consequence now, 
 whether they believe he is the very God, or One that 
 proceeded and came forth from God. Perhaps another 
 considerable reason for my being less engaged, and 
 saying less in public, on this, than on most Scriptural 
 subjects, is the circumstance that I have never experi- 
 enced any trials and difficulties on it myself When 
 we have undergone considerable misery on account 
 of doubts and perplexities upon any subject, and 
 have obtained a happy deliverance from such trou- 
 bles, we very naturally feel more interested for others 
 on that subject. 
 
 But respecting the person of Christ, my mind has 
 never been in any painful anxiety. From a child, 
 though I was brought up among Trinitarians, and re- 
 ceived my first religious impressions from them, the 
 language which they used, as well as that which the 
 Scriptures employ, in speaking of Christ, carried the 
 impression to my mind that he is a being distinct from 
 God, and that he derived his existence from God, is 
 15 
 
170 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 dependent on him, and is ordained and empowered of 
 him to be the Saviour of lost men. And as I have 
 read the Scriptures, and the controversial writings of 
 Trinitarians themselves, my former impressions have 
 been confirmed. 
 
 Yet there are m.any learned and influential Chris- 
 tians, who so confidently believe that Jesus Christ is 
 the self-existent Jehovah, and think the behef so essen- 
 tial to the Christian religion, that they boldly denounce 
 all persons as infidels who do not believe it. This is 
 surely a high charge, and ought never to be preferred 
 by one class of professing Christians against another, 
 without the best and most unquestionable authority. 
 And since this charge of infidelity, upon the opinion 
 which I have now frankly professed, comes from men 
 of high standing in the Christian community, we will 
 carefully examine again, to see whether the Scriptures 
 authorize these hard speeches, which men have uttered 
 against us. 
 
 Now if the apostles were of the opinion that Christ 
 was the self-existent God, they would very naturally 
 have expressed such an opinion in the case before us. 
 For Jesus here asked them, saying, "Whom do men 
 say that I, the Son of man, am 7 And they said. Some 
 say that thou art John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and 
 others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith 
 unto them, But whom say ye that I am?" 
 
 He has now prepared the way for a direct answer 
 from his disciples, and an explicit statement of their 
 opinion, if they had any decided opinion, concerning 
 him. And we have every reason to expect that now, 
 after having spoken of the opinions of others concern- 
 ing Jesus, in answering this direct and pointed ques- 
 tion of their Lord, "but whom say ye that I am?" 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 171 
 
 they will express their very highest opinion of his 
 character,— that they will, in a simple, an unambig- 
 uous form of speech, give him as high a character as 
 they think he sustains ;— in short, that they will 
 plainly tell him just who they think he is. 
 
 What was their answer? That they believed he 
 was the eternal God, the self-existent Jehovah ? No. 
 '• Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God." 
 
 Hence it appears that the apostles did not believe 
 that Jesus was the "living God," but that he was 
 "the Christ, the Son of the living God." If any sup- 
 pose that notwithstanding they called Jesus the Son 
 of the living God, they yet believed he was the very 
 living God himself, believing that the Son was his 
 own Father, and the Father his own Son, they tax 
 the disciples with that palpable absurdity of which 
 their own words in no case prove them guilty. At 
 this time, when they were directly asked what they 
 thought of Jesus, and at every other time when they 
 spoke of him, they spoke of him as a being separate 
 from God the Father,— as much as Paul did of men 
 in general, when he called them "the offspring of 
 God." 
 
 If any ask whether Peter had a correct opinion of 
 Christ when he called him the Son of the living God, 
 the answer is, his opinion was correct, because it 
 received the full and unreserved approbation of 
 Christ. His reply was, "Blessed art thou, Simon 
 Bar-jona, (Son of Jonah,) for flesh and blood hath 
 not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in 
 heaven." Here we also find, that while Jesus speaks 
 a sentence with the design to express his approval of 
 what Peter said of him, he uses language apparently 
 
172 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 without designing it, which ascribes to himself the 
 same character. " Flesh and blood hath not revealed 
 it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." 
 
 If any can believe that, when Jesus called God his 
 Father who is in heaven, he meant to be understood 
 that he himself was that very Father in heaven, 
 nothing can be too absurd for their belief The Cath- 
 olic doctrine of Transubstantiation, for inconsistency, 
 is nothing in comparison. For the doctrine of Tran- 
 substantiation only supposes that the same power 
 which changed water into wine, changes the bread of 
 the sacrament out of one substance into another. And 
 this we can conceive a miracle might do. But it is 
 impossible to conceive that a father can be his own 
 son, and a son his own father ! 
 
 In order to qualify ourselves to answer with the 
 readiness of Peter, any who may ask us — What think 
 ye of Christ? Who is he? — let us go back to the 
 beginning, and examine the Scriptures along in 
 course, which testify of him. 
 
 The first is Genesis iii. 15, where God declares that 
 the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. 
 No one would be led to suppose, by reading this text, 
 that the seed of the woman was the very God himself 
 who was speaking. This Scripture implies that the 
 seed of the woman was a person who should proceed 
 from the woman, and should be commissioned and 
 empowered of God to destroy the cause of evil. 
 
 Again, Gen. xxii. 18, "And in thy seed shall all 
 the nations of the earth be blessed." Paul informs 
 us that this seed is Christ : not God, but the One 
 whom God raised up, of the seed of Abraham, to 
 bless the world. 
 
 Isaiah ix. 6, speaks of Christ in the highest terms, 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 173 
 
 thus :. — " His name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
 sellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the 
 Prince of- Peace." This text has frequently been 
 quoted in support of the opinion that Jesus Christ is 
 God the Father. But to me this very text seems to 
 weigh against such an opinion. Speaking of some 
 person, it is said, " His name shall be called Wonder- 
 ful," &c. Whose name shall be called Wonderful ? It 
 does not appear that the prophet was speaking of 
 the self-existent God, for He was already known by 
 the most important names here mentioned. He was 
 known as the Father of all, and not only as the 
 "Mighty God," but as the "Almighty God." The 
 prophet certainly appears to be speaking, not of the 
 real God, but of some other being who should be 
 honored with high appellations. We repeat the ques- 
 tion, Of whom does he speak ? 
 
 We will read the first part of the verse. " For 
 unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; 
 and the government shall be upon his shoulder ; and 
 
 his name shall be called Wonderful," It would 
 
 seem that this is enough to satisfy any candid mind, 
 that the prophet was not speaking of the eternal God, 
 but of some one v/no was to be born a child, and to 
 have a government or a kingdom committed to him. 
 But to say that He, whom the heaven of heavens can- 
 not contain, who fills immensity and inhabits eternity, 
 was to be born a child, and have a government given 
 him, is what the prophet could not have meant. The 
 government, even the government of the universe, 
 v/as in the hands of the Lord Jehovah from all eter- 
 nity. Hence, the government never was nor ever 
 could be given him. But when it was said of Christ, 
 "the government shall be upon his shoulder," this 
 15^ 
 
174 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 government was to be given him ; — as it was said by 
 the prophet Daniel, '' And there was given him do- 
 minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
 nations, and languages should serve him." 
 
 Speaking of this same exaltation of Christ, and 
 placing the government on his shoulder, Paul to the 
 Philippians says, — "Wherefore God also hath highly 
 exalted him, and given him a name which is above 
 every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
 and things under the earth, and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 
 of God the Father." And again, to the Ephesians; 
 '' That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
 of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom, — 
 that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of 
 his power to us-ward who believe, according to the 
 working of his mighty power, which he wrought in 
 Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set 
 him at his< own right hand in the heavenly places ; 
 far above all principality, and power, and might, and 
 dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
 this world, but also in that which is to come. And 
 hath put all things under him, and gave him to be 
 Head over all things to the church, which is his body, 
 the fulness of him that filleth all in all;" and to the 
 Corinthians he says, — "When all things shall be sub- 
 dued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be 
 subject unto him that put all things under him, that 
 God may be all in all." 
 
 Now it is utterly out of my power to believe that 
 these Scriptures mean, that the eternal God was to be 
 born a child, have dominion and a kingdom given 
 him ; that he was to die, be raised from the dead, 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 175 
 
 and set at his own right hand, — and when he has 
 subdued all things under him, that then he [God] 
 shall be subject to himself I 
 
 Had we not known that a respectable body of 
 Christians hold to a sentiment which requires such an 
 understanding of these Scriptures, if we had heard 
 one attempting so to construe them, we should cer- 
 tainly have thought that he was designedly ridiculing 
 the inspired writers. But as it is, we do not harbor 
 the thought. Those who hold to the real deity of 
 Christ, do not mean to trifle with the sacred writ- 
 ings, but have the impression strongly fixed upon 
 their minds that such an opinion is essential to the 
 christian faith. And when the inconsistencies which 
 we have noticed are brought before them, they endea- 
 vor to satisfy themselves and others, by giving them 
 the milder name, mysteries. 
 
 But to me, the idea that the high and lofty One 
 who inhabiteth eternity, was born a child, killed, 
 raised from the dead, and exalted at his own right 
 hand, does not appear so much a mystery, but that it 
 may be clearly seen to be the greatest of absurdities. 
 
 Perhaps, to avoid this difficulty, we may be told 
 that the Godhead consists of three persons, the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; these three are one, 
 the same in substance, equal in power and glory. 
 And this one, who was crucified and raised from the 
 dead, was the second person in the Trinity, God the 
 Son. He was raised up and set at the right hand of 
 the first person, God the Father. 
 
 But this attempt to explain away the former diffi- 
 culty involves another equally as great. For if by 
 three equal persons be meant three equal beings, each 
 of which is God, it requires us to worship three 
 
176 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Gods; whereas the Scriptures allow us to worship 
 out one. 
 
 Should it be said that the three persons are not 
 three distinct beings, but are meant only to be expres- 
 sive of different qualities, offices, or modes of action, 
 in the same being, who is strictly one God, — and that 
 Christ is this one God ; then we are thrown entirely 
 back into our former confusion. Yes, and more ; it 
 makes out that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are 
 neither of them, nor all of them God, nor any other 
 being, but only three qualities or offices of God. 
 
 Indeed, I have never seen the doctrine of the 
 Trinity stated in any form, but that it was equally 
 inconsistent with Reason and Revelation. If we say 
 that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are three dis- 
 tinct beings, and each one is God, then we make out 
 that there are three Gods. If we say they are only 
 three offices or modes in which the one God acts, then 
 we do not suppose either of them to be a proper 
 person or being, but they are only three offices of a 
 being. Hence, when God exalted the Son, called the 
 second person in the Trinity, at his own right hand, 
 it was only exalting the second office in his dominions, 
 and making it equal with the first. 
 
 If we say that the Father, Son, and Holy. Ghost, 
 are nothing more than three names, all applied to the 
 one living God, then, when we read, " Unto us a child 
 is born," — we must suppose either, as before noticed, 
 that the eternal God was to be born a child, or else 
 that one of his three names was the child that should 
 be born, and have the government placed upon its 
 shoulder ! And when God raised Christ from the 
 dead, and set him at his own right hand, he either 
 raised himself from the dead, and set himself at his 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 177 
 
 own right hand, or else only raised up from the dead 
 one of his three names, and placed it at his right 
 hand ! And all these suppositions are, not as some 
 have said, above reason, but below reason ; for reason 
 soars above them, looks down upon them, and detects 
 their inconsistencies. 
 
 We are by no means disposed to disbelieve every 
 thing that is mysterious. We acknowledge, in our 
 faith, the truth of many things which we cannot fully 
 comprehend. For instance, we believe in the exis- 
 tence of God, which we cannot fully comprehend. 
 But though we cannot fully comprehend the existence 
 of an infinite God, yet there is nothing inconsistent or 
 unreasonable about it. We can form a clear concep- 
 tion of the truth that there is one self-existent, eternal 
 God, who fills immensity, and who governs the 
 universe. 
 
 But to say there are three persons, the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, — that the Father by himself is 
 the self-existent, eternal God, — and that the Son by 
 himself is the self-existent, eternal God, — and that the 
 Holy Ghost by itself is the self-existent, eternal God ; 
 and yet that there are not three Gods, but one God 
 only, is to say that of which we can form no concep- 
 tion, only that we can clearly perceive it to be a 
 perfect absurdity. 
 
 Or, if we say that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 are not three infinite persons, but only three names of 
 the one infinite God, though so far there is no incon- 
 sistency, otherwise than that the term son is an 
 inappropriate name to apply to a being who can 
 acknowledge no father, because he is self-existent and 
 without beginning, — yet the difficulty comes to view 
 when we attempt to reconcile this with the Scriptures. 
 
178 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 For the Scriptures speak of God and Christ, or the 
 Father and Son, as not two names only, but as two 
 persons, two beings. And the apostles, if they have 
 testified rightly, knew Christ, the Son of the living 
 God, to be not a name merely, but a person ; and this 
 person, the Son, spoke of another person, God, as 
 being his Father. 
 
 But when we look at Christ as properly the Son of 
 God, and less than the Father, as he himself says, " My 
 Father is greater than I f when we understand that 
 all that he is, is what God hath made him to be, and 
 all the power and authority he has, is what God has 
 given him, — there is no difficulty in conceiving that 
 he was born into this world a child ; that he grew in 
 favor with God and man, and had the government 
 placed upon his shoulder ; that he was killed by 
 wicked men, and that God hath raised him again 
 from the dead, set him at his own right hand, and 
 has given him a name and authority above all other 
 created beings. 
 
 How, then, you will inquire, shall we understand 
 the prophet when he says, " His name shall be called 
 The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father ?" To this 
 question I reply ; It is much easier to account for a 
 created being, who is born into the world for so great 
 a purpose as that of being the '' Saviour of all men ;'' 
 I say, it is much easier to account for such a person 
 having these high names given him, than to remove 
 those difficulties which we have seen to fall in the 
 way of understanding the "living God'' to be the 
 ''child" who should be born, and the "son" who 
 should be given. For it is well known that the Old 
 Testament Scriptures often give names to created 
 beings which properly belong to God, or to some of 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 179 
 
 his attributes, on account of some part they are to act 
 which shows forth the power and goodness of God. 
 Thus one v/as called Eladah^ which, according to 
 Butterworth, signifies the eternity of God. Another is 
 called Eldaah^ the Knowledge of God. Another, 
 Hiel^ — Life of God. Another, Pennd^ Face of God. 
 And another, on account of the Divine power dis- 
 played through him, was called Elijah^ which is God 
 the Lord, or a strong Lord. And addressing the rulers 
 of Israel, the Lord said, "I have said, ye are gods." 
 It was because the Avord of God came to them, and 
 they imitated him in that they ruled over men, that God 
 applied to them his own name, and called them gods. 
 
 Is it hard, then, to account for its being said of Christ, 
 '■'• His name shall be called the Mighty God, the Ever- 
 lasting Father,"— though he is not the self-existent 
 God, — since God has committed into his hand the 
 government of the moral world, and given him a 
 name above every name, that at the name of Jesus 
 every knee should bow 7 
 
 Harmer, an English author of the last century, in 
 his Observations on Passages of Scripture, makes the 
 following remarks on the phrase, " His name shall be 
 called the Everlasting Father : " " It is common in the 
 East to describe any quality of a person by calling him 
 the father of the quality. Dr. Herbelot, speaking of a 
 very eminent physician, says he performed such ad- 
 mirable cures, that he was surnamed the father of 
 benedictions. The original word of this title of Christ, 
 may be rendered, the father of that which is everlast- 
 ing: — Christ, therefore, as the head and introducer of 
 an everlasting dispensation, never to give place to an- 
 other, was very naturally in the Eastern style called 
 the Father of Eternity." 
 
180 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Let US read farther the testimony concerning Christ, 
 to see whether he is not continually spoken of as a being 
 dependent on God, and by him endowed with all his 
 power and greatness. See Isa. xlii. '^ Behold my 
 Servant whom I uphold, mine Elect in whom my soul 
 delighteth : I have put my spirit upon him ; he shall 
 bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. — I will hold thy 
 hand and keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
 the people, for a light of the Gentiles." Also, Isa. 
 liii. "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief, — yet we did esteem 
 him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. — All we 
 like sheep have gone astray ; and the Lord hath laid 
 on him the iniquities of us all. And he made his 
 grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death ; 
 because he had done no violence, — neither was any 
 deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise 
 him ; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make 
 his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he 
 shall prolong his days ; and the pleasure of the Lord 
 shall prosper in his hand." 
 
 Who is this servant of God whom he has promised 
 to uphold, and to endow with his spirit, to hold by the 
 hand and keep, and give for a covenant of the people ; 
 who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 
 who died for our sins, and made his grave with the 
 wicked and with the rich in his death? Is it the 
 almighty God himself? Let us not so trifle with this 
 solemn subject, and with the Scriptures, as to assert it 
 for a moment. God would not have called himself 
 his own servant, nor would he solemnly have prom- 
 ised to uphold himself, and put upon himself his holy 
 spirit. Neither has God been put to death ; nor can he 
 ever die, and make " his grave with the wicked, and 
 
PERSOiN OF CHRIST. 181 
 
 with the rich in his death." If God were dead, who 
 then could Hve 7 
 
 Should it be here said, that it was not the infinite 
 or Divine nature, but the human nature of God that 
 suffered and died, I reply: If by the human nature be 
 meant, not God himself, but his elect Servant, whom 
 he has promised to uphold, and give as a covenant of 
 the people and a light of the Gentiles, I have no objec- 
 tion to the idea that it was he who suftered and died, 
 and rose again, and sits in glory at the right hand of 
 God. But I object to the term, hinnan nature of God. 
 It is not in the law nor in the testimony. I much pre- 
 fer the good Scriptural names applied to Jesus; not 
 the human nature of God, but the Son of God, the 
 elect Servant of God, the Christ, the Saviour of the 
 world. 
 
 At length the fulness of times came, when the prom- 
 ised Child should be bom, when the promised Son should 
 be given. Previously to his being born, however, an 
 angel from heaven said unto Joseph, who was sup- 
 posed by the people to be his father, " Thou shalt call 
 his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their 
 sins." And immediately after his birth, an angel of 
 the Lord came to a company of Israelitish shepherds, 
 and addressed them, saying, "Fear not, for, behold, I 
 bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to 
 all people. For unto you is born this day in the city 
 of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And 
 this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe 
 wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." 
 
 Now all this testimony shows that Christ is not 
 
 God, but a precious gift of God to the children of men. 
 
 For while Christ was a babe in the manger, God was 
 
 enthroned in heaven, and sent his angels down to men 
 
 16 
 
182 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 to proclaim the Saviour's birth. Yes, God then filled 
 immensity, and was superintending the affairs of the 
 universe. 
 
 But of the child Jesus it is said that he '' grew and 
 waxed strong in the spirit, filled with wisdom, and the 
 grace of God was upon him." At length he came to 
 John the Baptist to be baptized with his baptism. " And 
 Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight way- 
 out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto 
 him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a 
 dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from 
 heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom 1 
 am well pleased." 
 
 By whom were the heavens opened unto Jesus? 
 and from whom did he see the spirit descending? 
 Who was it that spoke from heaven, " Lo, this is my 
 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?" Was it 
 Jesus Christ himself? Was he the very God who 
 spoke from heaven at that time? and did he declare 
 himself to be his own Son? Can it be that there are 
 any Christians who will call us infidels for believing 
 that Jesus Christ was not the very God who spoke 
 from heaven ; Avhen the voice said of this same Jesus, 
 " Lo, this is my beloved Son?" If so, then so it 
 must be. For we must still believe that He who spoke 
 from heaven was not Jesus himself, but another being, 
 and the One who sent Christ into the world. 
 
 If any ask us, Who do ye say that Jesus is ? we 
 must answer with Peter, " He is the Christy the Son of 
 the living GocV And though men may condemn us, 
 Jesus himself will say, " Blessed are ye ; for flesh and 
 blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father 
 who is in heaven ; — and upon this rock will I build 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 183 
 
 my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it." 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 A more particular view of the New Testament Teach- 
 ings of the Person of Christ. 
 
 In the preceding section, after remarking on the 
 importance which some Christians have attached to 
 the doctrine of Christ's proper Deity, we entered into 
 a comparison of such doctrine with its own parts, and 
 into an examination of the Scriptures which testify of 
 him. We found the doctrine of the Trinity, in every 
 form in which its advocates have stated it, to be both 
 incongruous in itself, and utterly inconsistent with the 
 Divine testimony. 
 
 Taking as our motto the divinely commended profes- 
 sion of Peter, '' Thou art the Son of the living God," 
 we attended chiefly to the Old Testament Scriptures, 
 to the prophecies concerning Christ." But we came 
 into the New Testament so far as to notice the proc- 
 lamation of Jesus' birth, and the history of his bap- 
 tism by John, when " the heavens were opened unto 
 him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a 
 dove and lighting upon him ; — and, lo, a voice from 
 heaven, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased." We left the subject by remarking that, if 
 there are any who will call us infidels for not believ- 
 ing that Jesus was the very God who spake from 
 heaven at that time, so they may call us ; for we must 
 still believe that He who then spoke from heaven was 
 not Jesus himself, but another Being, and the One who 
 sent Jesus into the world. 
 
 As we read on in the New Testament, we find in 
 every chapter more or less evidence that Jesus is a 
 
184 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 being distinct from God, that he is dependent on God, 
 receiving all his power and authority from him. In all 
 his instructions to the people he spake to them of their 
 Father and his Father in heaven. He says, " My 
 Father is greater than I." " I am not come of myself; 
 — for he [the Father] sent me." '' For I came down 
 from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of 
 him that sent me." " The Son can do nothing of 
 himself, but what he seeth the Father do." He gave 
 thanks to God, and prayed to him. "At that time 
 Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, 
 Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these 
 things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
 them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight." At the grave of Lazarus, when 
 he performed one of the most wonderful of his 
 miracles^ he thanked God that he had heard his 
 prayer, and given him such an opportunity to prove 
 to the people the divinity of his mission. "And 
 Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said. Father, I thank 
 thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that 
 thou hearest me always : but because of the people 
 that stand by I said it, that they may believe that 
 thou hast sent me." 
 
 At another time, when he had sent his disciples 
 on board of a ship, and dismissed the multitudes, 
 "he went apart into a mountain to pray; and when 
 the evening was come, he was there alone." And 
 when he was in the agonies of death on the cross, 
 when God, as it appears, suffered his mind to sink 
 for a moment, that he might know how to be touched 
 with the feeling of our infirmities, "Jesus cried with 
 a loud voice, Eh, Eli, lama sabachthani 7 that is to 
 say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me 7" 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 1S5 
 
 What an affecting scene ! Go and visit the lovely 
 child— 
 
 "A manger's his cradle, a stall his abode, 
 The oxen are near him, and gaze on the babe." 
 
 See him when he has gone about his Father's work. 
 ''He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sor- 
 rows and acquainted with grief" He "hath not 
 where to lay his head." But in all his works he 
 breathes the love of heaven. See him weeping with 
 the afflicted. See him calling poor sinners around 
 him, to feed them with the words of everlasting life. 
 "The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk ; 
 the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear ; the dead 
 are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached 
 imto them." He is the Friend of man, sent of God, 
 to be the Light, the Life, and the Saviour of the 
 v/orld. 
 
 And now, lo, he is seized by a band of ruffians, 
 dragged to a mock trial, hastily adjudged to a shame- 
 ful and painful death, crowned with thorns; those 
 hands which had ever been employed in works of 
 love to men, and those feet which had always trodden 
 the paths of virtue, are pierced with the cold iron, 
 and nailed fast to the rugged wood. His friends all 
 forsake him ; his enemies revile him, and sport with 
 his miseries ; his mind begins to sink, and he ex- 
 claims, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me?" 
 
 On the ground that this Jesus was a created being, 
 dependent on God, and ordained of him to be the 
 Saviour of the world, all this view which we have 
 now taken of him, from the Scriptures, appears an 
 affecting reality. But to suppose that he, whom we 
 16* 
 
186 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 have just viewed upon the cross, and heard exclaim, 
 ''My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'' 
 was the very self-existent God himself, would change 
 the whole scene into a farce. For to represent God 
 as crying aloud in distress, and asking why he had 
 forsaken himself, is to represent that which never has 
 heen, nor ever can be a reality. And further, when 
 Jesus was about to expire, he said, "Father, into thy 
 hands I commend my spirit." 
 
 Indeed, Jesus, in all his conversation with both 
 friends and enemies, never once professed to be the 
 self-existent God, nor did he ever drop a word that 
 appears to have been designed to intimate such an 
 idea. 
 
 It is recorded in the 10th of John, that Jesus said at 
 a certain time to the Jews, " I and my Father are 
 one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone 
 him. Jesus answered them. Many good works have 
 I shown you from my Father ; for which of these 
 works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, 
 saying. For a good work we stone thee not, but for 
 blasphemy ; and because thou, being man, makest 
 thyself God." Hence it appears that the Jews, 
 enemies of Jesus, accused him with making himself 
 God, because he said, "I and my Father are one." 
 
 But we will not leave this without looking further, 
 to see whether Jesus made any answer, and what 
 answer he made to this accusation. For perhaps 
 they falsely accused him. We know that they fre- 
 quently misunderstood him, and were always dis^ 
 posed to put the most unfavorable construction on 
 what he said. It was but a short time before this 
 that they charged him with having a devil, for 
 saying, "If any man keep my saying, he shall never 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 187 
 
 see death." ''Now," said the Jews, ''we know that 
 thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets ; 
 and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying he shall never 
 taste of death." Here the Jews condemned Jesus for 
 his words without understanding them. They sup- 
 posed him to mean, that his disciples should not see 
 natural death. Whereas he had reference to the death 
 of carnal-mindedness and unbelief, which a man never 
 suffers when he keeps the saying of Christ, which is 
 spiritual life. 
 
 So it is very likely they falsely accused Jesus, when 
 they charged him with making himself God. To their 
 settled enmity towards Jesus, add their jealousy of 
 impostors, who were often rising up in the nations 
 around them, and pretending to be gods, and we need 
 not wonder that they fancied they saw such preten- 
 sions in Jesus, when there was no ground for their 
 suspicion. 
 
 I say, impostors were often rising up in the idola- 
 trous nations around, pretending to be gods : and the 
 people were duped by them, so that in their worship 
 they would deify those impostors, and adore them as 
 the true Divinity. When Cains, not far from our 
 Saviour's time on earth, attempted to force the Jews 
 to set up his statue in their temple, and to do as his 
 other subjects, who received him as they received the 
 gods, and sware by his name, they chose to die rather 
 than to do this thing. For their Scriptures taught 
 them to worship none as God but the invisible Jeho- 
 vah. Though they looked for the Messiah of whom 
 the prophets spake, yet they did not expect him to be 
 the infinite God, but the Servant of God, the Elect of 
 God, the Saviour of Israel. 
 
 Let us see now what answer Jesus, the Messiah of 
 
188 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 whom the prophets spake, gave to the Jews, when 
 they charged him with making himself God. If he 
 really meant to claim supreme Divinity, he would of 
 course refer them to some Scripture, if there were any 
 such, which would clearly show that the predicted 
 Messiah was to be the very invisible God. 
 
 His answer, however, is this ; — " Is it not written 
 in your law, I said, ye are gods ? If he called them 
 gods mito whom the word of God came, and the 
 Scriptures cannot be broken, say ye of him whom the 
 Father hath sanctified, and sent into tlie world, Thou 
 blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God 7" 
 
 Here Jesus refers his accusers to the portion of their 
 Scriptures which we quoted in the preceding section. 
 Who were they that were called gods 7 They were 
 the rulers of Israel. Why were they called gods ? 
 Because the word of God came to them ; or God, in 
 some measure, displayed his power and goodness to 
 the people through their instrumentality. 
 
 What ! did Christ refer his opposers to a case where 
 men were called gods, to show them that it was proper 
 for him to make himself the essential God 7 No ; for 
 the circumstance that men were called gods to whom 
 the word of God came, could have no bearing upon 
 the question of Christ's being the real God. But he" 
 referred to this Scripture to show his opposers that 
 their charging him with blasphemy, and with making 
 himself God, was rash, and unjust: for though he 
 professed to be the one " whom the Father hath sanc- 
 tified and sent into the world," yet he had never 
 applied to himself so great a name as their Scriptures 
 applied to their ancient rulers. For they were called 
 gods^ and he had only professed to be the Son of God. 
 
 I should think that this answer of Christ to the 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 189 
 
 Jews would be satisfactory proof to any candid mind 
 who will examine it, that Jesus meant to disclaim 
 any pretension to being the self-existent God. He 
 saysj to be sure, that he and his Father are one. And 
 he also prays to his Father, that all believers on him 
 may be one in them, even as they are one.^ Not that 
 they may all be one person, nor all be gods ; but that, 
 as the Father and Son are one in spirit and purpose, 
 so in this sense believers may all be one in them ; 
 being co-workers together with the spirit of grace and 
 truth. 
 
 But the first part of the first chapter of John's gospel 
 is quoted with great confidence, as proof of the proper 
 Deity of Christ. "In the beginning was the word, and 
 the word was with God, and the word was God." But 
 even this passage stands rather as a disinoof of such 
 sentiment. I think that any unprejudiced mind, on 
 reading this passage, must be struck with the impres- 
 sion that the Word here spoken of is something dis- 
 tinct from God, as it is said to be with God. To say 
 of the self-existent Deity, that he was in the beginning 
 with God^ would be a senselel^s expression. 
 
 Christ is, by a metonymy of speech, called the 
 Word of God, because the word or counsel of God is 
 revealed through him. This counsel was with God 
 in the beginning of his works, and is now manifested 
 unto us through Jesus Christ, who was sent in the 
 flesh to dwell among men, and show forth the word 
 of life in the most familiar and exemplary manner. 
 
 Hence it is said at verse 14th, "And the Word was 
 made flesh and dwelt among us." And it is by the 
 same metonymy of speech that it is said, " And the 
 word was God," as is employed in the saying that 
 
 n John xvii. 20, 21. 
 
190 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ''Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of 
 God."b Christ is the wisdom of God; i. e. the wis- 
 dom of God is wonderfully displayed through him. 
 Christ is the power of God ; i. e. the Divine power is 
 strikingly manifested in him. And the word was 
 God ; i. e. the word, Christ, was a manifestation of 
 God himself, in the fulness of his moral perfections. 
 As we have just seen, they were called gods to whom 
 the word of God came. 
 
 But the 3d verse has likewise been brought forward 
 in proof of Christ's being very God. " All things were 
 made by him, and without him was not anything 
 made that was made." But if even the word rendered 
 made in this place signified to create^ it would not 
 make out but Christ was, as many hold, a subordinate 
 being, unto whom God gave creative power. The 
 original word, however, which is rendered made^ in 
 this case, and which occurs fifty-three times in this 
 Gospel of John, signifies to be, to come, to become, to 
 come to jyass : also, to be done or transacted;" as in 
 
 b 1 Cor. i. 24. 
 
 c See note to London Im. VerSfon, in loco. To make this definition of 
 egeneto obvious to the common reader, I will here refer him to every instance 
 of its occurrence in St. John's Gospel. Besides the third verse above re- 
 marked upon, it occurs in the following places : — i. 6, and is rendered was ; 
 " There teas a man sent from God." i. 10, and is rendered made; " He was 
 in the world, and the world tvas made by him." The Improved Version 
 renders it enlightened; and Cappe translates it, " The world was made for 
 him ;" understanding by the world the Jewish dispensation, as in Gal. iv. 3 ; 
 Col. ii. 8, 20. Again, i. 12, it is rendered, to become ; " To them gave he 
 power to become the sons of God." i. 14, it is rendered was made; " The 
 Word ^cas made flesh :" i. e. it was, or it became flesh, i. 15, it is rendered 
 is; " He IS before me." i. 17, came; "But grace and truth came by Jesus 
 Christ." i. 28, were done; " These things were done in Bethabara." ii. 1, 
 it stands for was ; " There was a marriage in Cana." ii. 9, it is was again ; 
 " And knew not whence it was.'^ iii. 9, be ; " How can these things 6e?" 
 iii. 25j arose; " Then there arose a question." iv. 14, shall be; " The water 
 that I shall give him shall be in him," &c. v. 4, was made ; " Whosoever 
 
PERSON OF CHRI^. 191' 
 
 chap. XV. 7, where the same word in the future 
 tense is rendered shall he done. "If ye abide in me, 
 and I in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall 
 be done unto you." And so in this place, the sense 
 appears to be, that " All thhigs (i. e. all things in the 
 Christian dispensation) were done by him," or by his 
 authority. Accordingly, St. Paul said, "I can do all 
 things (meaning all things appertaining to his sphere 
 of action in the gospel ministry) through Christ that 
 strengthen eth me." 
 
 The same sentiment which John expresses in the 
 beginning of his gospel, he brings to view also in the 
 commencement of his first epistle, "That which was 
 from the beginning, which we have heard, which we 
 have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, 
 
 then first stepped in, was made whole." The same in verses 6, 9, 14. But in 
 verse 14, it occurs a second time, for come, or happen; " Lest a worse thing 
 come unto thee." vi. 16, was come; "And when even was now come.'' 
 vi. 17, teas; "And it Vas now dark." vi. 19, i/jere ;" And they tcere afraid." 
 vi. 21, was ; " And immediately the ship was at the land." vi. 25, earnest ; 
 " Rabbi, when earnest thou hither ?" vii. 43, was ; " So there was a division 
 among the people." viii. 33, he made, i. e. become; " How sayest thou then, 
 Ye shall he made free?" viii. 58, teas; "Before Abraham was." ix. 22, 
 should he ; " He should he put out of the synagogue." ix. 27, he ; " WUl ye 
 also he his disciples?" ix. 39, he made; "Might he made blind." x. 16, 
 he; " And there shall he one fold." x. 19, was ; " And there was a division." 
 The same at verse 22 ; " And it ^oas at Jerusalem." In xii. 29, it is not sep- 
 arately translated, but stands in the phrase translated, " it thundered,'' i. e. 
 it did thunder. In the next, the 30th verse, it is used for came ; " This voice 
 came not for my sake." xii. 36, he ; " That ye may he sons of hght." xii. 42, 
 it is, should he. xiii. 2, heing; " Supper being ended." At verse 19th, it 
 is twice rendered come to pass. xiv. 22, is; "Lord, how is it?" xiv. 29, 
 came to pass, repeated, xv. 7, be done; " It shall he done unto thee." In 
 the next verse it is rendered, will be. xvi. 20, shall be ; " Your sorrow shall 
 be turned into joy." xix. 36, were done ; "For these things were done.'' 
 XX. 27, he; " Be not faithless." xxi. 4, was come; " But when the morning 
 was now come." These are all the cases of the use of riNOMAl, or 
 tYBvsTo, in St. John's Gospel. And the reader cannot fail to see, from 
 the evangelist's use of the word, that its meaning is correctly defined above. 
 The same is its general usage. It bears not the sense of create. 
 
192 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and our hands have handled of the word of Ufe ; (for 
 the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear 
 witness, and show unto you that aionioii life, which 
 was with the Father, and was manifested unto us ;) 
 that which we have seen and heard declare we unto 
 you." 
 
 But it has been thought by some that the miracles 
 of Christ prove him to be God ; for he did those works 
 which none but God could do. 
 
 To this we reply, so did Moses and Elijah do works 
 which none but Divine power could perform. Yet 
 none ever thought of arguing from this that they were 
 gods. God wrought miracles by them. So of Christ. 
 Peter, in addressing the Jews concerning him, said, 
 " Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Naza- 
 reth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, 
 and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in 
 the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know ; Him 
 being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked 
 hands have cruci-fied and slain. — This Jesus hath 
 God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. There- 
 fore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and 
 having received of the Father the promise of the 
 Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye do now 
 see and hear. Therefore, let all the house of Israel 
 know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, 
 whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."^ 
 
 From this we discover that the miracles of Christ 
 were wrought indeed by the power of God, because 
 God imparted of his Divine power to him. And here 
 also the truth is confirmed of what we have before 
 learned, that though Jesus is to be honored as Lord 
 
 d Acts ii. 22, 33—30. 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 193 
 
 and Christ, it is because the Father hath made him to 
 be both Lord and Christ. 
 
 Another circumstance which has been adduced in 
 proof of the proper Deity of Christ, is that of his being 
 a proper object of worship. It is said, "Thou shalt 
 worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
 serve." Now as the Scriptures allow us to worship 
 none but God, if it can be shown that they justify the 
 worship of Christ, it has been thought to prove that 
 he is God. And that the Scriptures do justify the 
 worship of Christ, is thought to be proved from texts 
 like these; Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11; "Wherefore God also 
 hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that 
 is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every 
 knee should bow, — and that every tongue should con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
 Father." Rev. v. 13; "And every creature which is 
 in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and 
 such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
 I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
 be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb, forever and ever." 
 
 But here, though it is proved that every knee shall 
 bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue ascribe 
 blessing, and honor, and glory, and power to God and 
 the Lamb, yet this does not show that the Lamb is to 
 be worshipped as God. It only shows that all proper 
 honor is to be given him, as the " the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the sin of the world ;" as the exalted 
 "Prince and Saviour," the " Head of every man." 
 
 To worship^ simply signifies, to respect, to honor, to 
 
 reverence. And respect is to be shown to every one 
 
 who fills any important station above us, according to 
 
 his grade and merit. " It is written, Thou shalt wor- 
 
 17 
 
194 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou served 
 Does this mean that servants shall not sei^ve their mas- 
 ters, children their parents, nor suhjects their rulers ? 
 No. It simply means that we are to worship and 
 serve the Lord only, as God. Nor are we to serve 
 otliers in any sense, whose service will require us to 
 transgress the law of God. But we are to pay proper 
 respect to all who are appointed of God to fill neces- 
 sary stations above us; and even in doing this, we 
 are honoring and serving God, because he requires it 
 of us. 
 
 So when we ascribe blessing and honor to the 
 Lamb, and adore Jesus above all beings in the uni- 
 verse, (excepting Him only who hath exalted him, and 
 put all things under him,) by so doing we honor God. 
 Because it was for this purpose that God exalted 
 Jesus, and gave him a name which is above every 
 name ; — it was that men should honor him, that every 
 knee should bow to him. Accordingly, when we " con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord," it is "to the glory of 
 God the Father ;" because he hath raised up Jesus, 
 " and made him both Lord and Christ." 
 
 There are some other arguments which are brought 
 up to prove the Deity of Christ, which we do not deem 
 it important to consider in this place. But after all 
 controversy on the subject, it stands a solemn truth, 
 that, " There is one God, and one Mediator between 
 God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave him- 
 self as a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."^ 
 
 Does any one ask if we deny the divinity of Christ? 
 I answer. No. We deny no divinity which the Scrip- 
 tures ascribe to him. We honor him as a divine per- 
 son, because God has, to an extraordinary degree, 
 
 e 1 Tim. 5, 6. 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 195 
 
 communicated to him of his Divine perfections. We 
 honor him as the Son of God, in a sense in which no 
 other being in the universe is his Son. We beheve in 
 him as the one who possesses a power from God 
 which no other prophet ever possessed; a power to 
 look into time, past and to come, not hke the pro- 
 phets, who had things made known to them by signs 
 and visions, but intuitively ; that he could see intui- 
 tively the events of futurity, and that he can see 
 the mind of the whole human family, and know their 
 wants. 
 
 When Jesus described to his disciples the events 
 that were to come in the end of that age, he spake not 
 like the prophets, who only repeated what God had 
 spoken to them in some vision ; but he spake as of 
 things which he saw, as an eye-witness would see 
 them as they transpired. Not that his knowledge is 
 as infinite as the knowledge of God, for he spoke of one 
 event the time of which he did not know. None knew 
 it but the Father. But he had all knowledge given 
 him which was necessary for his carrying on the work 
 of his great and important mission. And Avhat knowl- 
 edge is imparted to him, is like the knowledge of God, 
 intuitive. That is, he can see things which have been, 
 which are, and which are to be, immediately by the 
 mind, or by perception, without the use of those means 
 through which others must gain their knowledge. 
 Hence, when Jesus was beyond Jordan, he saw that 
 Lazarus, in Bethany, was dead. He could see the 
 thoughts of his enemies ; and he knew that his disci- 
 ples had been disputing, when they were on their way 
 to Capernaum. It is truly a pleasing reflection, that 
 while we have a High Priest above who knows how 
 to be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, he 
 
196 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 also sees our condition, and knows what our infirmi- 
 ties are ; and that he knows how to apply such means, 
 and at the best time too, as shall heal our infirmities. 
 
 If you ask whether I do not weaken the ground of 
 hope in the accomplishment of the wonderful work of 
 love, by holding Christ to be a dependent being, I an- 
 swer, no. For God, on whom he is dependent, has 
 spoken it, and it shall be done. Thus saith Jehovah, 
 who cannot lie : " Behold my Servant whom I uphold ; 
 mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth. * ^ He 
 shall not fail nor be discouraged."^ "The pleasure 
 of the Lord shall prosper in his hand ; and he shall 
 see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.'" ° ' The 
 work is as sure to be accomplished, then, as God is 
 true. 
 
 Hence, though we believe in Christ, not as God, but 
 as the "Son of the living God," we ascribe to him a 
 higher character, and make him a more effectual and 
 extensive Saviour, than most of those who call him 
 God. Yes, when our opponents charge us with dis- 
 honoring Jesus, let it be told them, we honor him 
 as the efficient Saviour of the world ; but ye do not. 
 And we honor Jesus by acknowledging his existence ; 
 but ye, in effect, deny his existence. And can it be 
 honoring Jesus to deny his very being? 
 
 We, while we believe in God, believe also in Christ. 
 But ye deny the existence of Jesus Christ, that one 
 Mediator between God and man ; for ye say there is 
 no Christ but God. Thus you would take away the 
 lovely Jesus, for whose birth so many saints and 
 angels have sung praise to God. But our faith de- 
 lights to cling to his existence. We admire the Divine 
 
 f Isa, xlii. 1 sisa. liii. 11. 
 
PERSON OF CHRIST. 197 
 
 plan of a Mediator between God and men, who, under 
 God, shall be our Head, our Leader, forever. 
 
 Finally, brethren, however men may reproach us 
 for it, let us be satisfied to believe in Christ as '' the 
 Son of the living God." On this rock, i. e. on this 
 faith, Christ declares he will build his church, and the 
 gates of hell (hades, the grave) shall not prevail 
 against it. 
 
 Now gates are places of entry. By the gates of 
 hades, the grave, Jesus evidently meant those tribula- 
 tions and persecutions from the hands of wicked men, 
 which were as gates or entries into the grave. These 
 shall not prevail against that faith which is built on 
 Christ as the Son of God. 
 
 Now in this country there are not these same causes 
 to annoy us. Still there are gates of hades. Sickness 
 and death will bring us to the grave. But shall these 
 prevail against our faith in the Son of God, who is 
 our Resurrection and our Life, — and by whom the 
 Lord God hath promised to destroy death, and wipe 
 away tears from off all faces ? O, may our faith in this 
 mighty Saviour be strong and unmoved, and so our 
 hope in immortality shall remain bright and clear. 
 How exceedingly precious is this hope? How valu- 
 able above all things on earth. With this hope we 
 are rich ; without it, we are poor indeed. Christian, 
 when you see the devastations of sickness and death 
 among your friends and neighbors, and realize that 
 you too must be brought to death, to the house ap- 
 pointed for all living, — for what would you exchange 
 the hope that Heaven's immortal spring shall come, 
 death be swallowed up in the victory of life, and 
 tears be wiped away from off all faces? This hope, 
 17# 
 
198 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 this priceless hope is yours, through a Uving faith in 
 the SON OF GOD. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Christ the Image of God ; and Exalted i?i his Glory. 
 
 So rich and sublime are the sentiments involved in 
 the person and character of Christ, that we must give 
 to the subject another section in this elementary book. 
 The points of view in which I wish further to present 
 him to the reader, are comprised in the following 
 language of St. Paul, (Heb. i. 3:) " TTAo being the 
 brightness of his glory, and the express image of his 
 person, and upholding all things by the toord of his 
 poiver, iDhe?i he had by himself purged our sins, sat 
 down at the right hayid of the Majesty on high.^'' 
 
 In these few words of inspiration, which I will call 
 the text of this section of my work, we have a sum- 
 mary of what constitutes the excellence, the trust- 
 worthiness, the loveliness and glory of the blessed 
 Saviour. The passage relates to the moral character, 
 the priestly office, the divine authority, the glorious 
 exaltation and final triumph of the Son of God. 
 
 I. The first view which is here given us of Jesus 
 Christ, is that of his being the Brightness of the Fa- 
 t Iter's glory, and the express Image of his person. 
 
 We do not learn hence that Jesus Christ is the 
 eternal Father, — though this is another of the texts 
 which have been applied to such a sentiment. And 
 here I will add a few remarks to what was said in the 
 beginning of this chapter, touching the importance of 
 this controversy. I said that I had not been in the 
 habit of often discussing the question of Trinity and 
 Unity, because I had not attached to it, or to the con- 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 199 
 
 troversy upon it, so much importance as is attached to 
 it by many. It is important in its place, but not of 
 capital importance. Some have placed the question 
 of Trinity and Unity first of all, and reckoned the 
 moral character and purposes of God a matter of minor 
 importance. They can discuss from week to week, 
 and from year to year, the question whether God 
 exists in one person, or in three persons, or in three 
 natures,, or something of the kind united in one, — ^but 
 if you invite their attention to the question of the 
 moral character of God, his disposition towards his 
 children, and the design and final results of his gov- 
 ernment over them, they are soon impatient, — it is a 
 matter to them of smaller moment. 
 
 But to my mind and feelings the matter of greatest 
 concern is the grand gospel theme, the wisdom, and 
 love, and grace, and salvation of God. If I believed 
 that the creation and government of God shall result 
 in a boundless scene of wretchedness to his moral 
 creatures, it would be of little consolation to me to de- 
 termine whether there were three persons, or one, in 
 the Godhead which had planned and prosecuted the 
 system so fraught with disaster and ruin. It would 
 seem an occasion of regret that creation was ever 
 begun, and man called from nonentity, — equally so 
 whether it were the work of a triune God, or of a 
 single undivided person. 
 
 Yet, as I have said, the question of Trinity and 
 Unity is important in its place. It is important that 
 men should have clear and rational conceptions of the 
 unity, as well as wisdom and goodness, of the Being 
 they worship. And the habit of bowing the mind to 
 the reception of absurdities for truth, is hurtful to the 
 
200 COMPEND OP CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 mind, as to its activeness in the discrimination and 
 enjoyment of truth. 
 
 But I suppose that the real opinions of different 
 Christians on this subject, are nearer ahke than their 
 creeds and forms of profession. It has been my behef, 
 ever since I have thought upon this subject, that all 
 Christians are, in reality, unitarian on this point of 
 doctrine. I do not mean that those of the opposite 
 sects are hypocritical in their profession. They assent 
 to the doctrine of the Trinity, not pretending to 
 understand how it can be so, but supposing that so the 
 Scriptures teach, and that so it must be. They do 
 not mean to deceive, but they are themselves con- 
 fused. There is a sentiment in their souls which these 
 contrary professions can never obliterate. They may 
 assent to the Catholic profession of faith, " The Fa- 
 ther by himself is God, the Son by himself is God, and 
 the Holy Ghost by himself is God ; — yet there are not 
 three Gods, but one God ;" — they may assent to this, I 
 say, supposing it must be so. But they can never 
 take into their understandings, and carry in their 
 hearts, so absurd a proposition. I repeat here, I would 
 not have it understood that we are never to believe 
 what is mysterious. There may be a proposition that 
 is consistent, and established by abundant evidence as 
 true, which we may understandingly believe, though 
 we do not comprehend every circumstance about it. 
 We cannot comprehend the being of God. But the 
 truth that there is a God, the great first Cause, of infi- 
 nite wisdom and power, is reasonable, consistent, and 
 abundantly evident. But to say there are three distinct 
 persons, each of whom is by himself God, and yet that 
 there are not three Gods, but one God, is stating what 
 is not so much of a mystery, but that we see it to be 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 201 
 
 absurd, in so much that we cannot understandmgly 
 and practically believe it. 
 
 Therefore I conclude, as I said before, that all Chris- 
 tians are unitarian in their practical sentiments and 
 feelings on this point of doctrine. When they think 
 of God, they think of him as the eternal, self-existent, 
 all-pervading Spirit, the first Cause, the sole Creator, 
 and supreme Governor of all things. When they 
 think of Jesus Christ, they think of him as a being 
 having an existence separate from God, which he de- 
 rived from God as his Son, — and being commissioned 
 and sent from God, to act as his servant in the prose- 
 cution of an important enterprise. When they pray 
 God to send his holy spirit into their hearts, they con- 
 ceive of this divine spirit as the energy of God, the 
 spiritual influence upon their hearts of his presence 
 and power. And the rest of the Trinity is in name 
 only, in subtle disputation. 
 
 But there is an interesting sentiment conveyed in 
 the apostle's saying, that Christ is the bi'ightness of 
 the Father'' s glory ^ and the express image of his person. 
 Or, as other translators have rendered it, "he is a ray 
 of his brightness, and an image of his perfections." A 
 ray of his brightness. That is, Jesus Christ came 
 unto mankind in the spirit, the disposition, the moral 
 nature of God. In the expressions of his feelings and 
 affections through the glow of his heavenly counte- 
 nance, through his words and through his benevolent 
 acts, he brings to our sight, and to our feelings, the 
 moral affections of God towards us, as the ray of 
 light from the sun brings to our vision the form and 
 glory of that luminous source of day. 
 
 Did Jesus love the world ? Did he sympathize with 
 the distressed and afflicted, lead sinners home to virtue 
 
202 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and peace, and overcome evil with good 7 Did he man- 
 ifest a deep interest for the well-being of mankind, an 
 interest for them which no circumstance of theirs, not 
 even their hatred to him, could diminish, — and which 
 even death itself, inflicted by them without a cause, 
 could not overcome? By dying for sinners, giving 
 himself a ransom for all, tasting death for every man, 
 did he thus prove the infallibility of his love, that it 
 can never be forced to break its hold, that it is stronger 
 than all opposition, and will never cease to pursue the 
 good of mankind 7 In all these amiable moral traits 
 of Jesus' character, we see the moral disposition of 
 God, our Creator. Here we have the moral image of 
 the Divine perfections, a ray of the Divine brightness. 
 Think, ye ungrateful and sinful ; — think, ye unrecon- 
 ciled and doubtful, — that He who made the world and 
 all things in it, who upholds and governs the universe, 
 at whose command are the storms and tempests, life 
 and death, and time and eternity, — He is your friend. 
 Look into the life, and the death, — into the kind affec- 
 tions of Jesus, into that love of his which never faileth, 
 and you see the image of God's love to you. Away 
 with your doubts ; away with your ingratitude and 
 your fears ; your Friend is almighty, the Almighty is 
 your friend : — who, then, can inflict upon you ulti- 
 mate harm? Give him your hearts, and be at peace. 
 "We pray you, in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to 
 God." 
 
 Again, Jesus Christ is the image of God, specially 
 and singularly so, in another important sense. "iiZe 
 is thej)oiDer of God and the wisdom, of God." ^ That 
 is, God has imparted unto him of his own wisdom 
 and power, to be possessed and used by him, not only 
 
 h 1 Cor. i. 24. 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 203 
 
 in a greater degree, but in a different manner, from 
 what divine wisdom and power have been possessed 
 and used by any other created being. 
 
 This view of Christ as the Image of God, is the 
 same as that which we touched upon in the preceding 
 section, under the idea of his So?ishlp. We showed 
 that he was the Son of God in a special sense, bearing 
 pecuUar resemblances to the Father. Under this head, 
 Christ the Image of God, we will pursue those pecu- 
 liar and interesting resemblances farther. And in this 
 enlargement upon the subject, I Avill repeat nothing 
 said before, only insomuch as may be required for a 
 good understanding of the whole. 
 
 God, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake 
 unto the fathers by the prophets. And by some of 
 them he wrought miracles. But he did not give them 
 to possess any different kind of faculties, or different 
 kind of powers, to be their own, than was possessed 
 by others. When Moses communicated to the people 
 the revelations of God which he had received, it did 
 not imply any superior wisdom or higher mental fac- 
 ulties of his own, — any more than your handing to one 
 of your children a message for a neighbor, and his 
 ^conveying it, implies superior wisdom, or different 
 faculties in him, from the rest of your children. God 
 sent his angel, and communicated verbally to Moses 
 those things which he was to communicate to the peo- 
 ple; and he placed upon record, and preached unto 
 the people, those things which God spake unto him. 
 And the prophets were taught in visions the things 
 which they were to proclaim to the people. In some 
 instances the angel of God in the vision would ex- 
 plain to them the meaning of the message which they 
 were to carry to the people ; but generally they were 
 
204 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 left, as others, to exercise their own natural judgment 
 upon the meaning of their message. They went unto 
 the people with a '' thus saith the Lord," and commu- 
 nicated what the Lord, speaking unto them in vision, 
 had instructed them to say. But they said it not of 
 any superior wisdom of their own. The prophet 
 Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, " But as for me, this 
 secret is not revealed to me, for any wisdom that I 
 have more than any living. * ^ The great God hath 
 made known to the king what shall come to pass here- 
 after." And when miracles were wrought at the in- 
 stance of Moses, it was not by the direct putting forth 
 of power by Moses, power which God had given him 
 to be by him exerted at his pleasure. In these cases 
 God accompanied the motions of Moses, at particular 
 and previously specified times and occasions, with the 
 execution of these Y\^onderful works. Moses felt no 
 consciousness that he possessed a power, which God 
 had given him to be used at pleasure, to work mira- 
 cles. He had to obtain several signs from the Lord, in 
 order to satisfy himself that God would be with him 
 to sustain him, in the encounters which he was di- 
 rected to make with the authorities of Egypt. 
 
 But Jesus wrought miracles by the exercise of 
 power which he possessed as his own, to be used at 
 pleasure. When I say that he possessed this power 
 as his own, I do not mean that he was independent of 
 God. He everywhere acknowledged his dependence 
 upon God, as the source whence he derived all the 
 powers he possessed. But this superhuman, this 
 divine power of miracles, God gave to him to be his, 
 as the natural powers which he has given us are ours. 
 When we go about our ordinary work, though we are 
 sensible that it is in God that we live, and move, and 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 205 
 
 have our being, yet we expect to perform our work by 
 the use of powers which God has given us as a part 
 of ourselves, to be used by us at pleasure. So Jesus 
 had the power of miracles. It was his own by the 
 gift of God, to be used whenever he should choose to 
 use it, in the purposes of his gospel mission. He was 
 not to use it for other purposes. When he Avas 
 tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy his own 
 hunger, he refused to do it, because it would not be 
 consistent with the design for which he possessed this 
 divine ability. For his own subsistence he was to be 
 an example for others, relying on the ordinary provi- 
 dence of God. His divine power was not to be used 
 for purposes of his own temporal advantage. But in 
 the work of his mission he had it for use whenever he 
 wanted to employ it. This sentiment is expressed in 
 the word which John testified of Jesus, saying, (John 
 iii. 34,) "For God giveth not the spirit by measure 
 unto him." That is, as Farmer justly remark^, God 
 gave him the spirit of power for universal and per- 
 petual use, and not for a limited time and season. 
 
 And so with regard to the wisdom of Christ, his 
 knowledge of truth, and of things past, present, and 
 to come, so far as it was requisite for the purposes of 
 his high commission ; — this knowledge he possessed 
 as a part of his own understanding. He knew the 
 minds and thoughts of others. When his disciples 
 had been disputing on the way to Capernaum, who 
 should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he, 
 though distant from them, knew their conversation. 
 When he was at a distance beyond Jordan, he knew 
 the time when Lazarus, of Bethany, expired. He 
 had a mental discernment, unlike that of any other 
 prophet, by which he could see these things. And 
 18 
 
206 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 when he foretold things that should come to pass in 
 the future, he described them, not as the prophets who 
 related visions, but as perceiving them with his mind ; 
 as looking into futurity by an intuitive discernment. 
 As far as God saw fit to give him knowledge, it was 
 knowledge like his own, a direct and immediate dis- 
 cernment of things that were, and were to be. 
 
 Now in these respects, in respect to the kind, degree, 
 and manner, of the power and wisdom of Christ, as 
 well as in his moral character, he is in a special sense, 
 in a sense unknown in any other man, the express 
 image of God. 
 
 The same view applies to Jesus in his capacity as 
 the Life of the world. He says of himself, (John v. 
 26,) " For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath 
 he given to the Son to have life in himself" He 
 has in himself the power of life, the power to commu- 
 nicate life. He communicates moral life to the soul ; 
 and the energies of his life, which roused the sleeping 
 Lazarus from death, shall make the dead to live, until 
 in him shall all be made alive. 
 
 2. The second capacity in which Christ is pre- 
 sented in the text, is that of his ruling authority, 
 expressed by the words, " Upholding all things by 
 theioordof his poioer.^'' Some render it ^''governing 
 all things by the word of his power." The phrase 
 all things is variously limited to different classes of 
 things, according to the different subjects to which it is 
 applied. When Paul says to the Corinthians, " Let all 
 things be done to edifying," he means all the services 
 of public worship. When he says, "I can do all 
 things through Christ that strengtheneth me," he 
 means all things appertaining to the apostolic office. 
 And here, Christ's upholding or governing all things 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 207 
 
 by the word of his power, is his controlUng and direct- 
 ing all incidents and concerns which appertain to the 
 work of his mission, as the Messiah, the Saviour and 
 moral Ruler of the world. 
 
 The sentiment is similar in the words preceding the 
 text, " God hath in these last days spoken unto us by 
 his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things ; 
 by whom also he hath made the worlds." The 
 word here rendered ivorlds is not kosmos, which is 
 used for the material world, and never occurs in the 
 Scriptures in the plural number; but it is aionos, the 
 ages. God has given to Christ dominion, and glory, 
 and a kingdom, that all nations, and kindreds and 
 languages should serve him ; and he has for him con- 
 stituted the ages or periodical dispensations, which are 
 requisite for the accomplishment of this purpose. And 
 all things appertaining to this divinely glorious work, 
 does Christ sustain and govern by the word of his 
 power. 
 
 3. The third particular in the text concerning 
 Jesus is, that '' he by himself purged our sins." I shall 
 not have space to dwell on this particular at present, 
 farther than to remark, that it conveys allusion to the 
 blood of sprinkling under the law, which, in a legal 
 point of view, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. 
 But the blood of Christ is represented as cleansing 
 from sin. That is, the love of Christ, the cause of 
 Christ, which was sealed and attested by his blood, 
 cleanses from sin. Hence the apostle here speaks of 
 his purging our sins when he spilt his blood for us on 
 the cross, because he then sealed and confirmed that 
 covenant of love, that system of grace, which shall 
 " take away the sin of the world." 
 
 4. In the fourth place our text describes the final 
 
208 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 exaltation of Christ, by his sitting down on the right 
 hand of the Majesty on high." "Who being the 
 brightness of his glory, and the express image of his 
 person, and upholding (or governing) all things by 
 the word of his power, when he had by himself 
 purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the 
 Majesty on high." 
 
 This describes the divine authority and power in 
 which God has set his Son, whom he "has raised 
 from the dead, and made to be both Lord and Christ." 
 In this authority he must reign, until all are subdaed 
 unto him, united to him in love.' And then, though 
 he will be subject to him, who put all things under 
 him, yet he will ever be, as he is constituted of God, 
 the Head of every man, the Medium of communication 
 between us and the Father, the local and visible per- 
 sonification of God unto us. 
 
 It is precious, it is interesting to the soul, to con- 
 template Jesus in this high and exalted capacity; 
 related to us as a brother, and thus coming nigh unto 
 us in familiar intercourse, — and related to God also 
 in a higher sense than we, being the brightness of his 
 glory, and image of his person. We may expect to 
 be able, in our immortal, spiritual existence, to per- 
 ceive the Divine Being, and feel his presence, more 
 clearly and sensibly than we do here; yet he is an 
 all-pervading Spirit, filling immensity ; and his Christ 
 will be unto us his visible habitation, his mouth of 
 communication forever. 
 
 The sun is a vast body, a million times larger than 
 the earth, and ninety-six millions of miles from us. 
 Yet there is a medium through which the rays of light 
 from all parts of that great body are converged into 
 
 > 1 Cor. XV. 24—28. 
 
CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 209 
 
 the narrow pupil of our eye, and we perceive its whole 
 magnitude and its glories. So has God constituted 
 Jesus the wonderful medium of his own light and 
 glory, — so that we shall see, and know, and enjoy tlie 
 Father in him, insomuch that there will seem, to use 
 the language of our apostle, "to dwell in him all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily." 
 
 If there are other planetary worlds of intelligent 
 beings, we may reason from analogy that the one God 
 and Father of all, has constituted for them, each race 
 or world of them, a Head, to be the medium of his 
 presence and his communion with them, as he has con- 
 stituted Christ for us. But this is not a matter of rev- 
 elation. God's revelation to us relates to the interests 
 of our own mortal, yet purposed to be immortal race. 
 
 In the light and spirit of this revelation we will live 
 and rejoice. In our conscious weakness, we love to 
 remember " that we have a High Priest above," who 
 "knows what is in man," and "who knows how to 
 be touched with the feelings of our infirmities;" — that 
 we have a Prince and Saviour in so high exaltation, 
 who sees and knows the wants of our souls, — and 
 who will ever be unto us, in wisdom, power and love, 
 a Ray of the Father's brightness, and the Image of his 
 perfections. 
 
 18* 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Erroneous Views Examined. — Christ suffered not In^ 
 finite Wrath as a Substitute for Man. 
 
 I. Before the introduction of the Messiah into the 
 world, it was appointed that his name should be called 
 Jesus, which is, being interpreted, Saviour. This 
 name was given him to denote the object of his mis- 
 sion, the purpose of his coming, which is to redeem 
 and save makind. To save them from what 7 This 
 is an important inquiry, and the consideration of it is 
 rendered doubly important, if possible, on account of 
 the misunderstanding of it which has obtained, and 
 has dishonored the gospel. 
 
 It is the common sentiment on this question, that 
 the grand object of Jesus' mission is to save mankind 
 from suffering a penalty or punishment which they 
 have incurred by breaking the law of God. This 
 penalty is said to be endless death or misery. It has 
 been customary for pious clergymen to assert that 
 they themselves deserve endless misery for their very 
 best performances. Accordingly, if they should re- 
 ceive that punishment which strict justice requires, 
 eternal woe must be their doom. 
 
 The following is the sentiment of Dr. Watts on the 
 penalty of the broken law : — 
 
 " Far in the deep, where darkness dwells, 
 The land of horror and despair, 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 211 
 
 Justice has built a dismal hell, 
 And laid her stores of vengeance there. 
 
 " Eternal plagues and heavy chains, 
 Tormenting racks and fiery coals, 
 And darts t' inflict immortal pains, 
 Dipped in the blood of damned souls." 
 
 In speaking of the execution of this penalty, the 
 same learned divine uses the following language : — 
 
 " His nostrils breathe out fiery streams, 
 And from his awful tongue, 
 A sovereign voice divides the flame, 
 And thunders roll along. 
 
 " Tempests of angry fire shall roll 
 To blast the rebel worm, 
 And beat upon his naked soul 
 In an eternal storm." 
 
 The assembly of Westminster divines have declared 
 the punishment which mankind incur by sin to be 
 ^'AU the pains and miseries of this life, death itself, 
 and the pains of hell forever." 
 
 But it is not the pains and miseries of this life, and 
 death itself, which Jesus came to save men from suf- 
 fering, but the pains of hell forever ; or as Watts calls 
 it, immortal pai7is^ an eternal storm, of angry fire heat- 
 ing upon the naked sonl. This is the punishment 
 which Jesus undertook to save men from suffering. 
 How does he save them from it? By keeping them 
 from deserving it, or from exposing themselves to if? 
 No ; for they have deserved it already, and justice re- 
 quires that they shall suffer it. So the work of Jesus 
 is to save men from a punishment which they all justly 
 deserve. 
 
 How, or by what means, is this to be effected? 
 Answer. By Christ's suffering this punishment as 
 man's vicar or substitute. This is the only ground on 
 
212 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 which those who are commonly called orthodox pro- 
 fess to hope. The law is just and good, and it must 
 be magnified and made honorable. But since man has 
 broken and dishonored the law, in order that it may 
 triumph over this dishonor which man has cast upon 
 itj its dreadful sanction must be suffered ; and it must 
 be suifered by man, the transgressor, unless some sub- 
 stitute suffer it in his stead. Accordingly, they cannot 
 hope to escape from suffering the whole penalty of the 
 law, only on the ground that Christ has suffered it in 
 their stead. On the ground that Christ has suffered what 
 in their stead 7 Not the pains and miseries of this life, 
 and death itself; for these they expect to suffer them- 
 selves. And besides, these compose no part of the real 
 penalty of the law. Or, at most, they are only a kind 
 of foretaste of it, or a few trifling sparks of that fire, 
 the full and infinite blaze of which is reserved for the 
 future state. No ; according to the sentiment we are 
 now considering, it is not "the pains and miseries of 
 this life, and death itself," but " the pains of hell for- 
 ever," ^Hmmortal pains j''^ that Christ must suffer, in 
 order to afford us any ground to hope for salvation. 
 Tempests of angry fire must beat upon his naked soitl, 
 in an eternal storm ! ! Shocking thought ! Is such the 
 fate of him of whom the angel said, " Thou shalt call 
 his name Jesus?" Can the Saviour of men never see 
 peace 7 Must he forever dwell " far in the deep where 
 darkness reigns," there to suffer "immortal pains?" 
 
 If these be the " storms of vengeance" which justice 
 has laid up for sinners, and Christ suffer as their sub- 
 stitute, such must truly be his suffering. But the 
 subject has become too painful. The thought strikes 
 us with a cold chill of horror. It appears there must 
 be something wrong in tlie doctrine before us. At any 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 213 
 
 rate, it fills us with painful anxiety, and we fly to 
 the testimony for relief 
 
 Is there anything in the testimony to prove that 
 Jesus is suffering immortal pains ? No, there certainly 
 is not. Nor is there the least proof that Jesus has suf- 
 fered, or ever will suffer, aii]/ pains, beyond '' the pains 
 and miseries of this life, and death itself" 
 
 But we are not left merely to argue that there is no 
 proof that Christ suffers immortal pains in a land of 
 darkness and despair ; for there is positive evidence on 
 the other side, that it is not so. There is proof that 
 Jesus has ascended to heaven, and is seated in glory 
 at the right hand of the throne of God. 
 
 Where, then, is our hope ? If we can hope for sal- 
 vation only on the ground that Jesus suffers a punish- 
 ment of "immortal pains" in our stead, Avhere then is 
 our hope? It has vanished; ''and, like the baseless 
 fabric of a vision, leaves not a wreck behind." 
 
 But here it has been argued that Jesus Christ is the 
 very God. And the infinite God could endure as great 
 a quantity of misery in a short time as the whole world 
 could suffer to all eternity. So on this ground man 
 may be cleared from the fore-mentioned punishment, 
 because God himself, when he died on the cross, suf- 
 fered as much in quantity, though short in duration. 
 
 Is this, then, the foundation of the Christian hope ? 
 the idea that the eternal Jehovah, the Creator and 
 Governor of the immense universe, he whom the hea- 
 ven of heavens cannot contain, in whom we live, move, 
 and have our being, was actually nailed to a tree by 
 the hands of men, and there suffered and died ! The 
 thought is shocking ; it is even blasphemous. It is repug- 
 nant to reason, and no less repugnant to divine reve- 
 lation. 
 
214 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 No ; it is replied, Christ did not suffer as God ; but 
 it was only as man that he suffered. Though Christ 
 is God and man, mysteriously united, yet it was not 
 the infinite, but the finite, the human part, that suf- 
 fered and died. Now the pretended ground of hope 
 has again vanished. Forasmuch as it is and 7nust be 
 admitted, that it was only as man that Christ suf- 
 fered and died, this last attempt to make his sufferings 
 amount to as much as the endless misery of the whole 
 human family, is mere nothing. The fact is, if we 
 have no hope for salvation, only on the position that 
 Christ has suffered, or is to suffer, immortal pains in 
 our stead, we have no ground to hope all. We may 
 sit down in darkness and utter despair. 
 
 Again, this system of the vicarious sufferings of 
 Christ is a reflection on the character of God, and de- 
 tracts too much from the excellency and glory of his 
 plan of salvation. For it supposes that he saves us 
 from deserved punishment, by punishing an innocent 
 person in our stead. And this is directly against the 
 law of God, as well as against all human ideas of jus- 
 tice. Suppose a criminal, under sentence of death, is 
 committed to the disposal of the President of the United 
 States. The President wishes to spare the guilty per- 
 son, but cannot feel satisfied to spare him, unless he 
 puts the full amount of punishment on somebody else. 
 So he turns and executes an innocent person and clears 
 the guilty. The very report of such a procedure would 
 strike the citizens of these United States with horror. 
 To say that the innocent person oftered himself as a 
 substitute, would not justify the acceptance of such an 
 offer by the civil magistrate. It would still be directly 
 against the spirit of our wholesome laws. And these 
 human laws, which forbid the innocent being punished 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 215 
 
 instead of the guilty, are founded on the law of 
 God. 
 
 It seems to us a censurable species of irreverence, to 
 hold up that system for the gospel purpose of God, 
 which represents the Divine Lawgiver as violatino- 
 the principles of his own law. For he has expressly 
 declared that one shall not be punished for another's 
 sins, but every man shall die for his own sins. '' The 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die." And Jesus said to the 
 Pharisees, ''If ye had known what this meaneth, I 
 will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have 
 condemned the guiltless." Yet the systems of men 
 represent the infinitely just, wise and merciful Father 
 of us all, as practising on this principle which the 
 Scriptures condemn, punishing the innocent in order 
 to clear the guilty. 
 
 II. Before we spend longer time in examining the 
 schemes which men have devised for saving them- 
 selves from suifering an incurred penalty of endless 
 punishment, it may be well to search the Book of the 
 Law, to see if there be any such penalty there. The 
 first pair had a law given them, and death was threat- 
 ened as the punishment of disobedience. But this 
 death was comprised in the miseries which were to be 
 endured in this life. This we learn from the judg- 
 ment which was given upon the first case of trans- 
 gression. When the man and woman transgressed, 
 they were called to trial, convicted of sin, and sen- 
 tenced according to the laAV which was given them. 
 What was the sentence ? The Judge, when he pro- 
 nounced the sentence, told them that because they had 
 transgressed, they should suffer certain miseries till 
 they should return to the dust. 
 
 The second trial which is recorded, was upon a 
 
216 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 very noted offence, Cain's murder of his innocent bro- 
 ther. The Judge, who is the great Creator and Law- 
 giver himself, delivered the sentence thus. "The 
 voice of thy brother's blood crieth mito me from the 
 ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, 
 which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
 blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground 
 it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; a 
 fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." 
 These matters were duly considered in chapters lY. 
 and V. 
 
 We have also examined the law given by Moses. 
 There we find some threatenings of very severe punish- 
 ment, but nothing like that from which it has been im- 
 agined that Jesus came to save mankind. The most 
 severe threatenings Avhich we find in all the law of Moses, 
 are recorded in the 26th of Leviticus. There greater 
 and greater punishments are threatened in case of con- 
 tinued transgression, till it comes to this. "And if 
 ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk 
 contrary unto me, Then I will walk contrary unto you 
 also in fury ; and I, even I, will chastise you seven 
 times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of 
 your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye 
 eat. And I will make your cities waste, and bring 
 your sanctuaries unto desolation. * * And I will 
 scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a 
 sword after you ; and your land shall be desolate, and 
 your cities waste. ^ * And upon them that are left 
 alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts 
 in the lands of their enemies; and ye shall perish 
 among the heathen, and the land of your enemies 
 shall eat you up." 
 
 Though there were proportional punishments to be 
 inflicted upon all sins, yet this dreadful penalty which. 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 217 
 
 we have now read, was not to be incurred by any or 
 the least offence. They were not told that they had 
 already deserved it, and the Messiah was appointed 
 to screen them from it. It would only be incurred by 
 the continued practice of iniquity, after a long series 
 of lesser chastisements had proved ineffectual to re- 
 claim them. 
 
 But how is it with regard to these reasonable and 
 just punishments which the law does denounce upon 
 sinners? Did the "just" Saviour suffer for the " un- 
 just," to save them from those punishments when they 
 have been incurred? No, we have not yet found 
 the least intimation in the Scriptures, that after men 
 have continued their transgressions to the degree upon 
 which certain punishment has been threatened, they 
 shall then be saved from the deserved and threatened 
 punishment. 
 
 The children of Israel continued to transgress till 
 they incurred the foregoing penalty, and then they 
 suffered it. These threatenings, pronounced nearly 
 2000 years before, were then fully executed. And 
 though Jesus had then been on the earth, we do not 
 find that it was any part of his labors to devise a 
 scheme to save this people from said punishment when 
 they had incurred it. 
 
 To be sure Jesus called on this people to repent, and 
 turn from their iniquities, that they might avoid that 
 dreadful judgment. But this was not calling on them 
 to escape that judgment after they should have fully 
 deserved it, but it was calling on them to avoid incur- 
 ring it. They had not then filled up that measure of 
 iniquity upon which such punishment was predicated. 
 
 But when Jesus had called upon them to no effect, 
 seeing their hardness of heart and blindness of mind, 
 19 
 
218 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and knowing also what their prophets had long foretold, 
 he said unto them, " Fill ye up therefore the measure 
 of your fathers ; * * that upon you may come all the 
 righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood 
 of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of 
 Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the 
 altar. Verily, I say unto you, all these things shall 
 come upon this generation." 
 
 From this it appears their measure of iniquity was 
 not then fall. That is, they had not fully incurred 
 all this punishment. So when Jesus called on them 
 to turn from their iniquities, that they might escape 
 this dreadful punishment, it was not counselling with 
 them how they might escape it after they had fully 
 incurred it ; but it was calling on them to avoid incur- 
 ring it, to avoid filling up that measure of iniquity 
 upon which said punishment was predicated. 
 
 Indeed, so far is it from the truth that Jesus under- 
 took to screen men from their just deserts, or to pur- 
 chase impunity for them, that he testifies of himself that 
 the Father had committed judgment to him ; ^ and that 
 he, in his kingdom, will render to every man accord- 
 ing to his deeds.'' And St. Paul assures us, in the 
 most positive form of testimony, that of an interroga- 
 tory assertion, that as, under the law given by the 
 disposition of angels, every transgression and disobedi- 
 ence received a just recompense of reward, 2ve cannot 
 escape, if we sin against the principles of the gospel.^ 
 
 We have now examined the common sentiment on 
 the questions. From what has Jesns undertaken to 
 save sinners ? and how ? The common sentiment is, 
 that he saves sinners from suffering an incurred pen- 
 alty of the law, which is endless death or misery. 
 
 ) John V. 27. k Matt. xvi. 27 : Rom. ii. 6—16. \ Heb. ii. 2. 3. 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 219 
 
 And the ground of the sinner's hope for salvation has 
 been the supposition that Christ has suffered the pen- 
 alty in our stead. But, on examination, this hope 
 vanisheth away. For it is found that Christ has 
 never suffered any such penalty. It is also seen that 
 this sentiment dishonors the Judge of heaven and 
 earth ; for it would have us build all our hopes of good 
 on the supposition that he punishes the innocent 
 instead of the guilty ; and this is contrary to the laws 
 both of God and man. The word of God forbids that 
 we should ever expect that he will clear us from our 
 deserts by punishing an innocent person in our stead. 
 
 Being wearied with the absurdities and shocking 
 aspects of the doctrine, which many of our esteemed 
 fellow-Christians hold up in theory, we determined to 
 appeal '' to the Law and the Testimony." But we 
 have found no such penalty there as had been asserted. 
 Therefore there is no need of our seeking any longer 
 after ground to hope for salvation from a deserved 
 endless punishment ; because the law requires no such 
 punishment. 
 
 But we have seen that the law does threaten pun- 
 ishment, proper punishment, upon transgressors. We 
 have also inquired Avhether it is the object of Jesus' mis- 
 sion to save men, (not from the imaginary punishment 
 which learned creeds have threatened, but) from the 
 real punishment threatened by the law: that is, 
 v/hether it is the business of Jesus to save us from 
 suffering the threatenings of the law after we have 
 incurred them. And we find that it is not. We have 
 no ground to believe that we can commit sin with im- 
 punity. If we go on in sin, we must suffer the misera- 
 ble consequences. '' The wages of sin is death ; " and 
 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." "In his sin 
 
220 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 that he hath sinned, and in his trespass that he hath 
 trespassed, he shall die." So saith the law ; and Jesus 
 himself has never offered anything in opposition to it. 
 He has never engaged to prevent men's suffering 
 death as long as the law requires, which is as long as 
 they are sinners. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Salvation froWj Sin. 
 
 Let us now renew the inquiry ; — What is the salva- 
 tion to be effected by the mission of Christ 7 We find 
 an answer to this question by reading the latter 
 clause of the verse which commands the name Jesus, 
 or Saviour, to be given him. " Thou shalt call his 
 name Jesus ; fo?^ he shall save his people from their 
 sinsJ^"" This is the object of Jesus' mission, to "save 
 his people from their sins." The same sentiment is 
 expressed by the saying, '' He suffered, the just for the 
 unjust, that he might bring us to God."" 
 
 But what is the difference, it will be asked, between 
 saving people from their sins, and saving them from de- 
 served punishment. The difference is easily shown. Let 
 us take for instance the case of the Israelites, referred 
 to in the preceding section. They were threatened 
 with different degrees of punishment upon different 
 degrees of sin, till it came to the last and most severe ; 
 viz., "If ye will not after all this hearken unto me, I 
 will punish you yet seven times for your sins. The 
 flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters ye 
 shall eat," &c. Now there had been lesser punish- 
 ments threatened upon lesser and preceding sins. 
 Therefore, when they had sinned to the degree men- 
 
 '"Matt. i. 21. "1 Peter iii. 18. 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 221 
 
 tioned next below this last, and had suffered the pun- 
 ishment threatened upon such sin, they did not de- 
 serve the last mentioned punishment, till they had 
 sinned to the last mentioned degree. 
 
 Now when they had sinned to the last mentioned 
 degree, to have screened them from the threatened 
 punishment would have been against the law, and 
 proved the threatenings of Jehovah to be null and 
 void. But to have saved them from sin; that is, to 
 have saved them from committing that last mentioned 
 degree of sin, would have saved them from the pun- 
 ishment, not by screening them from it after they had 
 incurred it, but by keeping them from deserving it. 
 And this, of course, would not have been saving them 
 from any incurred punishment; it would have been 
 against no law; nor would it have made false any 
 threatening of God. 
 
 But here the reader will naturally, and very prop- 
 erly too, push his inquiry, "If Jesus did not suffer as 
 a substitute for men, to save them from deserved pun- 
 ishment, how shall we understand the language before 
 quoted from Peter,— ''For Christ also hath once suf- 
 fered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God ?" And what then is the meaning of 
 other Scriptures like these ?— '' But he was wounded 
 for our transgressions ; he was bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; 
 and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
 have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his 
 own way ; but the Lord hath laid on him the iniqui- 
 ties of us all." "He hath borne our sins in his own 
 body on the tree." How hath he ''borne our sins," 
 and " suffered for us," unless he has suffered in our 
 stead the imnishment of our sins ? 
 19^ 
 
222 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 I answer, in any sense in which Jesus has suffered 
 to redeem us from sin, and bring us to God, he has 
 suffered for us, and has borne our sins. A shepherd 
 has a flock of sheep astray in the wilderness, and un- 
 dertakes to redeem them out of their lost estate, into 
 his fold. But in doing this he has to endure many 
 labors and hardships. Now in these labors and hard- 
 ships he suffers for his flock. He bears their wander- 
 ings; not by taking on himself in their stead all the 
 consequences of their wanderings ; they themselves 
 must bear all the necessary consequences of their 
 rambling. It is the shepherd's work to save them 
 from their wanderings, or from their lost estate ; and 
 thus he saves them from farther harm, only by bring- 
 ing them out of that condition which occasioned their 
 sufferings.* And he suffers for them, and bears their 
 wanderings, not by becoming their substitute, but by 
 taking upon himself those labors and troubles, which 
 fall in his way as he perseveres in the work of their 
 redemption. 
 
 Let our simile now be applied. All we like sheep 
 have gone astray. We have been wandering in the 
 wilderness of sin. Jesus, as a kind shepherd, has 
 undertaken to redeem us out of the wilderness of sin 
 and misery, and bring us into the fold of righteousness 
 and peace. In carrying on this work, he had to pass 
 through scenes of suffering, and even a painful and 
 ignominious death. In these labors and sufferings, he 
 suffered for us, he bore our sins. But, like the sheep 
 in the wilderness, we ourselves must suffer all the just. 
 and necessary consequences of our wanderings ; for he 
 saves us from misery only by bringing us out of that 
 state and condition which occasions it. And Jesus 
 bore our sins, not by suffering, as our substitute, our 
 
THE MISSION OF CHRISt. 22^ 
 
 deserved punishment, but by enduring all the labors 
 and troubles which came in his way, as he pursued 
 the gracious work of saving us fi^om si?i, or from 
 deserving punishment. To this sentiment apply the 
 Scriptures just quoted. " By his stripes we are 
 healed;" — that is, healed of sin. "Christ hath once 
 suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
 us to God." 
 
 Washington suffered for this country ; he bore the 
 troubles and misfortunes of the people; and if he had 
 died in battle at the hands of the enemy, while con- 
 tending for his country's redemption, he would have 
 died for the people. But when Major Andre, or some 
 other criminal, had been sentenced by the law to be 
 hanged, if our Congress had accepted and executed 
 Washington as a substitute, it would have been a 
 different case, utterly different in principle. If such 
 an event had taken place, it would have cast a blot 
 on the pages of American history ; and whenever we 
 read it, we should have been ashamed of the folly and 
 injustice of our government. Now the same difference 
 is apparent between the sense in which Christ died for 
 us according to the Scriptures, and that which men 
 have asserted, as there would have been between 
 Washington's meeting death in his course, while la- 
 boring for the redemption of his people, and his being 
 executed by his own government as a substitute for 
 Andre. 
 
 But there is a key to this subject in the 8th of 
 Matthew. ''When the even was come, they brought 
 unto him many that were possessed with devils ; and 
 he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all 
 that were sick : that it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took 
 
224 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." How was 
 this saying fulfilled, ''Himself took our infirmities, 
 and bare our sicknesses "?" Was it by Jesus' becoming 
 sick in their stead ? When he found one sick of a 
 fever, did he take the fever from that person on him- 
 self, and so become sick of a fever in his stead? 
 When he found people blind and dumb, did he be- 
 come blind and dumb in their stead ? Is this the way 
 that Christ fulfilled the saying, " Himself took our 
 infirmities, and bare our sicknesses?" No; the text 
 informs us, " He healed all that were sick ; that the 
 saying might be fulfilled, He bare our sicknesses." 
 
 This, I say, will serve as a key to our subject. If 
 ever we come to doubt how the saying is fulfilled, 
 " He bare our sins," let us then inquire, how was the 
 saying fulfilled, " He bare our sicknesses ?" And when 
 we see that this saying was fulfilled by his healing 
 their sicknesses, then we may understand that the say- 
 ing '*' He bare our sins," or spiritual sicknesses, is ful- 
 filled by his healing them. " He shall save his people 
 from their sins." 
 
 OBJECTION. 
 
 Perhaps the question ought here to be considered, 
 which has, by a certain description of persons, been 
 thought of considerable weight, viz., If the law itself 
 do not require an endless punishment ; if man himself 
 may suffer the punishment of his own sins, and not 
 be endlessly miserable, of what use is a Saviour 
 at all ? 
 
 To prepare the way for a simple answer to this 
 question, let us propose another. If the sick man may 
 sufier the pain of his own disease, what need has he 
 of a physician ? or what need lias he of being healed ? 
 Your answer is, if his disease produces pain, and he 
 
MISSION OF CHRIST. 225 
 
 must suffer it himself^ he has the greater need of a 
 physician. For in this case, the longer the disorder 
 remains, the longer the distress continues ; and it is 
 necessary that the disease should be removed, that its 
 painful consequences may cease. 
 
 Here you will observe, that the person who has 
 been healed of some disorder, has suffered all the pain 
 which the law of our physical nature requires. This 
 law does not require that one shall suffer the pain 
 of a disease, after the disease is removed, and he is 
 restored to health. It only requires that he shall 
 suffer the pain as long as the disease continues. 
 
 So with the moral law. It only requires that a 
 person shall suffer the pain of his moral disease as 
 long as he continues in it. If a man commit iniquity, 
 saith Ezekiel, ''In his sin that he hath sinned he shall 
 die." "There is no peace to the wicked." ''God 
 will render to every man according to his work. 
 Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man 
 that doeth evil." This the sinner must suffer him- 
 self ; for it is the word of God who cannot lie. 
 Therefore a Saviour is absolutely necessary, to save 
 the sinner from sin. For as long as he continues 
 in sin, this threatened death, or tribulation and 
 anguish, will abide upon him. Hence, if men were 
 to continue in sin to all eternity, they would be 
 eternally miserable. For moral misery is coeval with 
 the moral disease! 
 
 We can now discover that the work of salvation 
 by Christ is very beautifully represented by the heal- 
 ing of the sick. For by this representation, we learn 
 that he saves us from moral woe, by removing the 
 cause, and restoring us to a state of spiritual health, 
 which is holiness. "Christ loved the church, and 
 
226 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
 it with the washing of water by the word ; and that 
 he might present it to himself a glorious church, not 
 having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but 
 that it should be holy and without blemish."° 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 We are now prepared to give short and direct 
 answers to these several inquiries. 
 
 1st. Who are the unjust^ for iDhom the just Saviour 
 suffered? Answer: They are mankind as a race of 
 beings. ''All we like sheep have gone astray, (have 
 become unjust,) and the Lord hath laid on him the 
 iniquities of us all." (Isa. liii. 6.) " He, by the grace 
 of God, tasted death for every man." (Heb. ii. 9.) 
 
 2d. In lohat sense are we to understand that Christ 
 suffered for the unjust 7 Has he suffered the punish- 
 ment which the unjust deserved^ or for the sins of the 
 unjust 7 Answer: Christ was not punished instead 
 of the unjust, which we have seen to be contrary to 
 the Scriptures, and to involve a principle contrary to 
 all revealed justice. But he has suffered for, or on 
 account of, the sins of the unjust ; because it was in 
 the prosecution of a work for their salvation from sin 
 and its evils, that he suffered and died* He "bare 
 our sins," in the same sense in which he fulfilled the 
 saying, "he bare our sicknesses," viz., by sympathy, 
 — and by taking on himself the charge of the case, 
 and the application of the cure. 
 
 3d. If Christ has suffered for the sins of the unjust^ 
 are the unjust to suffer for their own sins ? Answer : 
 Yes; because he did not suffer, as a substitute, the 
 punishment of their sins ; but he suffered as the ser- 
 
 o Eph. V. 20. 
 
MISSION OF CHKIST. 227 
 
 vant of God and friend of man, and attested by his 
 own blood the verity of that love Divine which shall 
 overcome all evil with good, and bring us, as dear 
 children, to our Father, God. 
 
 4th. If men do not suffer for their own sins, hoio 
 does '^ evei^y one^^ receive according to his loorks, lohether 
 good or bad 7 Answer : Men do and shall suffer for 
 their own sins. To deny this is to contradict the gen- 
 eral train of Scripture testimony on this subject. As 
 the strayed sheep in the wilderness, which the shep- 
 herd seeks to restore, must suffer the evils of their 
 own wanderings, — and the shepherd bears their wan- 
 derings only by sympathy, and in the labors and 
 sufferings of restoring them, — and he saves them from 
 continued sufferings only by bringing them out of the 
 condition which caused them to suffer ; — so must we 
 suffer the miseries of our sins while we will continue 
 to be sinners, — and Jesus saves us from continued 
 sufferings only by bringing us out of the condition 
 which occasions our miseries, viz., sin. " He suffered, 
 the just for the unjust, that he might biding us to 
 
 God:' 
 
 The reader will perceive, by duly considering the 
 expositions which we have offered on the subject of 
 the foregoing inquiries, that we are the only denomi- 
 nation of Christians who believe and maintain the doc- 
 trine so abundantly taught in the Scriptures, viz., that 
 "the Lord searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, 
 even tO give every man according to his ways, and 
 according to the fruit of his doings." All other doc- 
 trines make the whole multitude of those who 
 shall be saved in heaven, be they more or less, to be 
 exceptions to the truth of these Scriptural teachings. 
 Consequently, whenever they have aught to say of a 
 
228 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 sect of religionists who deny the threatenings of the 
 Bible, we may promptly and justly reply unto them, 
 Thou art the sect. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The General Purpose of the Saviour'' s Mission. 
 
 In viewing Jehovah's purpose through the mission 
 of his Son, we discover his grand design in the crea- 
 tion of our race. For in this we see the purposed 
 inheritance of man, his ultimate allotment. Surely, 
 then, there is no subject that can engage the attention 
 of man, which is so important as this. It would be 
 with an earnest solicitude that men would search the 
 revelations of some political economy, which should 
 promise an increase of national wealth. With what 
 devout faithfulness, then, should we search the record 
 of the infinite Father's will and purpose, involving the 
 interest of our immortal being. 
 
 There is no place for cavil here — nor for fear, other 
 than reverential fear. True, we are not now advanc- 
 ing upon a subject which relates to the reward of our 
 doings. It is upon an inheritance which is " not ac- 
 cording to our works, but according to the purpose 
 and grace of God, which was given us in Christ Jesus 
 before the world began." ^ But we should not for this 
 reason start back, shut our eyes, and refuse to look, 
 lest we should see revelations of grace so glorious as 
 to paralyze our moral efforts. From the mere fact 
 that a subject does not relate to the payment of our 
 earnings, it does not follow that it is demoralizing to 
 consider it. While we are assured that, " though hand 
 join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished," ^ 
 
 P2 Tim. i. 9. qPro. xi. 21. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 229 
 
 and that for all the good we do we shall receive pay- 
 ment in full, even for the smallest deed of virtue/ 
 we cannot be harmed by discovering other good, 
 which is beyond our merits. Are you afraid to open 
 your eyes to the wonderful revelations of science, lest 
 you should behold so much of the wisdom and majesty 
 and glory of God, which are not according to your 
 works, as to afflict you with moral indifference'? 
 Never! These advancing discoveries of the Crea- 
 tor's adorable perfections, as displayed in his works, 
 rather elevate your moral affections, and promote 
 their active vigor. So will "the light of knowledge 
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," inspire 
 increasing admiration and love for the Divine perfec- 
 tions, and add a zest to the pleasures of obedience. I 
 say then to the reader, in the language of Gabriel to 
 the shepherds, "Fear not" — to open your eyes and 
 your ears to the revelations of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But there is a point presenting itself here, which I 
 wish to settle with the reader in the outset. An un- 
 derstanding of it is essential to our pursuing with profit 
 the subject before us. It relates to the reality and 
 consistency of any such fact^ as an efficient purpose 
 and government of God in the moral creation. In the 
 views taken in the first two chapters of this work, 
 evincing the wisdom and power of God in the arrange- 
 ments, designs, and government of the physical world, 
 all will go with us. When they look into the arrange- 
 ment, adaptedness, and harmony, — 
 
 '' the bearings and the ties, — 
 
 The strong connexions, nice dependencies," 
 
 of this outward system, — they will all shout the praise 
 
 rMatt. X. 42. 
 20 
 
230 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and glory of God, in view of his perfect plan and 
 government in it. 
 
 But what is the physical universe 7 Of itself, alone, 
 it is worth nothing. All this vast material creation, 
 without a sentient creature to inhabit it, would be as 
 useless as boundless void. The prophet says of God's 
 creation of the world, " He created it not in vain; he 
 made it to be inhabited." And though it is made to 
 be the habitation of a great variety of animals, it is 
 chiefly designed for MAN, as an intellectual and moral 
 being. 
 
 It must have been for a noble purpose that God con- 
 stituted mankind with such faculties: — and in his 
 revealed word, and in his creation and providence, we 
 see the proofs of his corresponding care and regard for 
 us. The very ordinances of heaven are ordained for 
 our benefit. This vast and stupendous outward crea- 
 tion, with its wonderful order and grandeur and 
 utility, was not a sport of ingenuity and power. It 
 was designed as a means to occupy the mind of man, 
 and develope gradually to his understanding the 
 wisdom, and power, and goodness of Jehovah,— thus 
 contributing both to the physical support and the 
 mental enjoyment of his children. What a depth of 
 wisdom — what a vast profundity of wonderfully 
 contrived sources of human convenience and enjoy- 
 ment, is there provided in God's creation, into which 
 the human mind is gradually making discoveries, — 
 and which must forever have been useless, were it not 
 for such creatures as man, with capacities to seek out 
 and adapt their uses. Indeed, the whole visible crea- 
 tion, with all its wonders and utilities and glories, 
 seems chiefly designed for us. Strike out of being the 
 intellectual creation, the universe of created minds^ 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 231 
 
 and the chief adaptedness and glory of the material 
 creation are lost. 
 
 What an affecting discovery do we here make of 
 the importance of man in God's creation, and of the 
 Divine regard for him. The vast material universe is 
 specially provided for him, and is comparatively use- 
 less without him ! Methinks I see the minds of my 
 readers rising in the majesty of the subject, and con- 
 scious of the elevation of their rank, as creatures 
 receiving so great and special attention from the Eter- 
 nal, pressing the inquiry, with a pious earnestness to 
 know, and to improve by it, — '' What is the purpose 
 of God in this crowning work of his creation 7" 
 
 It is to this subject that we are to look for the chief 
 manifestation of the Divine perfections. Yet it is here, 
 mainly, that the creeds of men have dishonored and 
 exploded the wisdom and power of God. They look 
 into the physical system, and shout praises to the per- 
 fection of God's purpose and government in it; — but 
 coming to the intellectual and moral creation, they 
 hardly dare look whether there is a purpose and gov- 
 ernment there, evincing the wisdom and power of 
 God, or not. It is as if you were sitting in judgment 
 on the character of a father, and formed your decision 
 by the splendor of his house, utterly regardless of his 
 conduct towards his family. 
 
 Did I say that men hardly dare look into the moral 
 system, whether there is a perfect plan and govern- 
 ment there or not? Nay, in treating of this most im- 
 portant department of God's creation, they ascribe to 
 him malevolence, and weakness, and folly. They 
 assert that countless millions of God's immortal family 
 will be doomed to employ their minds, and all their 
 faculties as thinking, moral, feeling beings, in cursing 
 
232 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 God, cursing their own existence, and in demonstra- 
 tions and howlinsfs of boundless torment. And how 
 should this appalUng catastrophe be the end of God's 
 moral creation and government 1 It used, when there 
 was more hardihood in theologians than there is now, 
 to be assumed that this was pursuant to the original pur- 
 pose of the Creator. John Calvin says, in his Book of 
 Institutes, ''All men are not created to the like estate, 
 but to some eternal life, and to others eternal damna- 
 tion, was fore-appointed." 
 
 But it is so obvious to common sense that this view 
 denies to God that wisdom which works always to 
 a good end, and ascribes to him a purpose which none 
 other than a spirit of infinite malignity could devise 
 and prosecute, that there is scarcely a man now who 
 will ascribe to God such an original purpose. Yet, the 
 creeds of many still embrace the same dreadful result. 
 And why shall it so eventuate? They say the origi- 
 nal intentions of God were good and benevolent. ' The 
 creation of man was a motion of the Divine benevo- 
 lence, with the design to produce and rear up a great 
 family of children to share with him in eternal felicity. 
 Why, then, shall the result be so painfully different, 
 presenting, instead of the intended scene of moral 
 beauty and blessedness, a boundless scene of moral 
 wretchedness and ruin? Of course so many unex- 
 pected events must have taken place, and things in 
 their operation must have had so different a bearing 
 upon one another from what was intended, that the 
 Deity is painfully disappointed, and irretrievably 
 failed, in the end ! There is a failure of the Divine 
 plan ! 
 
 This view obviously ascribes imperfection to God, in 
 respect to his knowledge, his wisdom, and his power. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 233 
 
 If unexpected events occurred to defeat the original 
 plan of the Deity, he was of course ignorant of those 
 contingent events. Infinite knowledge, or prescience, 
 cannot be disappointed. To say that God foreknew 
 the result, and yet adopted and pursued the abortive 
 plan, is to deny his wisdom ; for nothing but con- 
 summate folly will engage in a purpose it knows wiL. 
 fail. And in either case the 'power of God is limited ; 
 for he is represented to be unable to accomplish his 
 own purpose, in the most important department of his 
 creation and government. 
 
 But there is a late specious method of evading 
 these irreverent conclusions, which result from the 
 passing theology of the day. It is to say that God 
 does not fail in his purpose, although his children, 
 few, many, or all, should be the subjects of final 
 wretchedness ; — for that his purpose was that mankind 
 should be finally happy or miserable, just as they 
 should make themselves, under the various and coun- 
 ter influences in the midst of which he would place 
 them. But strip the idea here comprised, of the 
 sophistical garb in which it is dressed, and it is simply 
 and plainly this, — that God had no definite purpose in 
 the creation of the human race. By a sport of inge- 
 nuity and power he threw them out into existence, 
 with their wonderful capacities, and cast them upon 
 the varying and eddying tide of time, with ho purpose 
 at all as to what they should be, how they should 
 fare, or how their faculties should be employed, whe- 
 ther to the production of final good or final evil ! 
 
 Surely the system of faith which comprises such a 
 
 view of the creation of God, cannot be received as the 
 
 gospel of him, who, by a just metonymy of speech, is 
 
 called the loisdom of God. We look into the physical 
 
 20=^ 
 
234 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 creation, and in things of comparatively no impor- 
 tance, there is acknowledged on all hands to have 
 been a definite and infallible purpose in their produc- 
 tion. But those beings, for whom all other things 
 were made, — the universe of created minds, each one 
 of which is of more importance than all the universe 
 besides, are supposed to be thrown out into existence 
 without a plan ! there being with the Creator no great 
 purpose as to their final employment and condition ! — 
 But these dark, blank, soul-mystifying schemes of 
 religious profession, are the folly of man, and not of 
 God. 
 
 I have made these brief references to opposites, in 
 order to make more clear and impressive the affirma- 
 tive of our subject. In the grand moral system taught 
 by the revelation of Jesus Christ, is the highest and 
 fullest manifestation of the wisdom, and all the perfec- 
 tions of God. And here his wisdom is seen to be that 
 which is " full of mercy and good fruits, without par- 
 tiality and without hypocrisy." « Its moving energy is 
 love. And the communication of this interesting truth 
 is the first aim and efibrt of the gospel. "God is 
 love." ''God commendeth his love towards us, in 
 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."' 
 And this testimony of love is for our race; for, "he, 
 by the grace of God, tasted death for every man."" 
 It is hence evinced that " the Lord is good to all and 
 his tender mercies are over all his works." ^ Such 
 being the moral character and disposition of the Cre- 
 ator, it was of course his desire^ in the creation of our 
 species, to make their existence to be their blessing. 
 All, indeed, ascribe to God this benevolent desire. 
 And as a wise Creator, he would, of course, institute 
 
 « James iii. 17. i Rom. v. 8. « Heb. ii. 9. ^ Ps. cxlv. 0. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR'S MISSION. 235 
 
 a purpose agreeable to his desire. And so he did. By 
 the revelation of Jesus Christ, "he hath abounded to- 
 ward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made 
 known unto us the mystery of his will, according to 
 his good pleasure, which he hath purposed i?i hiniself, 
 that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he 
 might gather together in one all things in Christ, both 
 which are in heaven and on earth, even in him.'"' 
 
 It is hence seen to be a settled point, that God hath 
 a purpose in his moral creation, — not a purpose which 
 may be anything or nothing, purposed and thrown at 
 loose ends in some weak and fallible agency, — ^but he 
 hath purposed it i?i himself, — committing its perform- 
 ance to his owii wisdom and might. And this purpose 
 is, that his moral creation shall be harmonized and 
 beatified with his own spirit of love and blessedness, 
 revealed in Jesus Christ. And though some have told 
 us that if all this is true, it is not wise and prudent to 
 preach it, yet the apostle assures us that in the full 
 revelation of this glorious truth, God "hath abounded 
 toward us in all wisdom and 2J?'udencey That it is 
 so, we shall see demonstrated in the sequel. 
 
 An objection to our faith-inspiring view of the per- 
 fect and successful wisdom and power of God in his 
 moral creation and government, has been thought to 
 be raised from the present existence of evil. " God," it 
 is said, "is as wise, and good, and powerful now, as 
 he ever will be ; and therefore as evil now exists, not- 
 withstanding such are the perfections of God, it always 
 may exist with equal consistency." But this is a beg- 
 ging of the question. There is no dispute that evil 
 exists; but why is it permitted to be? We are no- 
 where told that it is in frustration of any purpose of 
 
 " Eph. i. S— 10. 
 
236 COMPEND OP CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 God. God saw fit to give us our initiatory state of 
 being in a mortal constitution, with passions and ap- 
 petites subject to various and counter influences. He 
 has given us a law, or rule of right and happiness. 
 But he has not revealed it as his 'purpose^ at once and 
 from the beginning, to fill the minds of men with the 
 full light and knowledge of his truth and glory, and 
 bring to bear upon them all that moral influence, 
 which should make this law of right the governing 
 principle of the whole man. True, the neglect of this 
 law is sometimes called the not doing of the toill of 
 God. But a will of precept is here meant, and not a 
 will of purpose. Men may, and do, in this peccable 
 state, violate the law of commandment, or rule of 
 moral right, given them to guide and discipline. But 
 if we once admit that men may frustrate the purpose 
 of God, to our mind the Deity is dethroned, — all our 
 hope in him is vanished, and, "like the baseless 
 fabric of a vision, leaves not a wreck behind." 
 
 But our immortal hope is not in the will of precept, or 
 law of commandment, which is made binding upon all 
 men from the beginning ; — it is in the revealed will of 
 purpose which Jehovah hath purposed in himself. 
 His own perfections, then, are pledged for its accom- 
 pHshment — not all at the present moment, but "in the 
 dispensation of the fulness of times." And for the ac- 
 complishment of this purpose, God will make tributary 
 the very incidents which have been urged as objec- 
 tions to his successful wisdom and goodness in his 
 plans. The experience which shall be derived both 
 from the obedience and disobedience of the will of pre- 
 cept, and the rewards and punishments consequent, — 
 and from the various blessings and trials of earth, — 
 and from the ravages of death, and the resurrection from 
 
237 
 
 the dead, — and the teachings and manifestations of 
 truth and love, — all these disciplines, trials, mercies, 
 and moral influences, will God make to couour, by 
 their operations, in due time to remove the very will 
 and disposition of wrong, and make the law of love, 
 and life, and liberty, and praise, the ruling spirit of the 
 universal whole. 
 
 What ! the present existence of evil an objection 
 to this hope 1 We have seen that the present exist- 
 ence of evil is not a failure of the original purpose of 
 God ; — but its eternal continuance would be. Such is 
 the revealed word. " The creature (creation) was 
 made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason 
 of him who hath subjected the same in hope ; because 
 the creature itself also shall be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God."^ IS the fact, then, that the creation 
 is as God made it, subject to vanity, an argument that it 
 shall not he as he has puijjosed to make it, delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of 
 the children of God? — The wisdom of the world is 
 foolishness indeed, compared with the wisdom of 
 Heaven. 
 
 The Scriptures are so full of instruction on the great 
 subject before us, that it is difficult to restrict our selec- 
 tions to the space that can be afforded. But to inspire 
 the reader with admiration of the fulness, the force, 
 and the harmony of the inspired teachings, on this as 
 on other great and important doctrines, I will go back 
 to the beginning, and present specimens of the testi- 
 mony as it proceeds from age to age. 
 
 On the instance of the first communication of God 
 to man, after he had fallen under the power of evil, he 
 
 « Rom. viii. 20,21. 
 
238 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 declared in substance, that the seed of the woman shall 
 bruise the serpenfs headJ Let us maintain, now, the 
 shiiphcity of an inquiring child, and receive this, and 
 every other witness, in its legitimate and natural bear- 
 ing. Go back in your thoughts to that interesting 
 occasion. There stand the human race, in embryo, in 
 their first progenitors. They have just fallen a prey 
 to deception, and become involved in the bondage of 
 sin. The source of the deception, and the consequent 
 evil that is preying upon them, is represented by the 
 metaphor of a serpent, which is an emblem of cim- 
 n'mg. And now, their Creator and Father, for their 
 encouragement and hope, declares in their hearing, 
 that the woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head. 
 As the bruising of the head denotes entire destruction, 
 the plain indication of this passage to the unsophisti- 
 cated mind, is, that God would raise up one of the 
 woman's progeny, who should make an end of evil, 
 and free from its dominion the moral creation. 
 
 There is the same indication in the promise of God 
 revealed to Abraham, and renewed to Isaac, and 
 again to Jacob: — "In thy seed shall all nations (kin- 
 dreds and families) of the earth be blessed." ^ St. 
 Peter applies this to Jesus Christ; and explains the 
 promised blessing to be the salvation described in the 
 preceding section, deliverance from sin. "Ye are the 
 children of the prophets, and of the covenant which 
 God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, 
 And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be 
 blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his 
 Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away 
 every one of you from his iniquities."" St. Paul also 
 
 y Gen. iii. 15. ■'■ Gen. xviii. 18 ; xxii. 18 ; xxvi. 4 ; xxviii. 14. 
 
 a Acts iii. 25. 26, 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUFv's MISSION. 239 
 
 draws from this ancient promise the same hope of 
 spiritual good. To the Galatians he says, "And the 
 Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the 
 heathen through faith, preached before the gospel 
 unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be 
 blessed." And he further assures us that there is no 
 principle involved in the law, which was given to 
 Moses four hundred and thirty years after this gospel 
 promise, which shall in any manner interfere to pre- 
 vent the graciously promised work of moral renova- 
 tion. ^ 
 
 The prophet Isaiah, describing in poetic strain the 
 blessed work of Messiah's mission, says, — " He shall 
 smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with 
 the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. The 
 wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
 shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the 
 young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child 
 shall lead them."° Observe, it is with the breath of 
 his lijjs that he will slay the wicked, — the word of his 
 truth and grace. And as it is not with the brute crea- 
 tion, but the moral world, that his mission has to do, 
 what is here said of the friendliness and docility of the 
 leopard, wolf and lion, is a poetic description of the 
 effect upon the moral world, to be wrought by the 
 reign of Christ. 
 
 The same blessed work is signified again by a deliv- 
 erance from darkness and prison. "I the Lord have 
 caUed thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, 
 and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
 the people, for a hght of the Gentiles; to open the 
 blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, 
 
 b Gal, iii. 8, 17. <^ Isa. xi. 4, 6. 
 
240 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and them that set in darkness out of the prison- 
 house.'"^ 
 
 There is an important point in all these gospel testi- 
 monies, to which I would call the reader's particular 
 attention. They do not treat on the reward of human 
 virtue, but on the plan of God to produce virtue itself. 
 We are not here instructed as to what shall be the 
 allotment of those who will escape from darkness and 
 from prison; but we are taught of the purpose of 
 God's moral government through Christ, to open the 
 blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, 
 and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. 
 
 The purpose of God in Christ contemplates mankind 
 as in moral darkness, in the bondage of sin and error ; 
 and it institutes plans and arrangements for their en- 
 lightenment and moral renovation. By duly observ- 
 ing this trait in the gospel teachings, as you make 
 progress, you will be the better qualified to appre- 
 ciate our elucidation of the same in the sequel. 
 
 Passing over a world of instruction on this interest- 
 ing subject, by the prophets, we will come and listen 
 to the first annunciation of the Saviour's advent. 
 ''And there were in the same country shepherds 
 abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks 
 by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
 them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about 
 them ; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said 
 unto them. Fear not; for^ behold^ I bring unto you 
 good tidifigs of great joy, which shall be unto all 'peo- 
 ple. For unto you is born, this day, in the city of 
 David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."' 
 
 Unto whom is Christ born to be a Saviour ? This 
 was addressed to the shepherds of Judea; " Unto you 
 
 <J Isa. xlii. 6, 7. t: Luke ii. 8—11. 
 
241 
 
 is born a Saviour.'* Is he born for others? Yes; for 
 the angel said this good news shall be to all 'people^ — 
 "unto you is born a Saviour." So, then, the creden- 
 tials with which the Messiah is introduced upon earth, 
 correspond with the expectation which prophetic vis- 
 ions had inspired. And who can be indifferent to this 
 sweet angelic message 7 All heaven is in excitement. 
 The angel host, in glowing love to men, seeing the end 
 of that high mission which shall make them angels 
 too, draw near to earth in rapturous song, — " Glory to 
 God in the highest, and on earth peace, good loill to 
 
 " Angelic hosts above 
 
 The blest Redeemer sing, 
 And all the blissful seats of love 
 
 " Ye pilgrims too, below, 
 
 Your hearts and voices raise ; 
 Let every breast with gladness glow, 
 And every mouth be praise."' 
 
 [Digression. Kind reader, I desire you to hold in 
 mind the point of progress in our subject at which we 
 now break off, while you go with me in a short di- 
 gression. I solemnly ask you to ponder, with prayerful 
 candor, the question I have to ask you. The stage of 
 our progress in the study of Messiah's mission, is the 
 precise spot for our halting to turn our face to the ques- 
 tion I allude to. The matter of inquiry is this, — How 
 can we expect to find, in this blessed gospel mission, 
 announced from heaven as matter of rejoicing unto all 
 people, — and insuring results, the view of which made 
 songs of praise resound through upper worlds, — how, I 
 ask, can we expect to find, in this special economy of 
 grace, a revelation of infinite, revengeful wrath, to 
 21 
 
242 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 prey upon countless millions of souls immortalized in 
 endless torments 7 It is a settled case, that if we are 
 to find this doctrine in the inspired revelation at all, 
 we are to find it revealed in this gospel ministry of 
 glad tidings to all people, which filled angelic minds 
 with thoughts of Heaven^ s good will to men ! ! 
 
 Be gentle, dear reader : — I perceive that you will 
 turn your head with horror at the disgusting incon- 
 gruity. The thought that such an appalling doctrine 
 should, as an essential and distinguishing constituent, 
 peculiarly belong to such a glorious system of love, is 
 distracting to the mind which has lived upon harmo- 
 nies. Such a combination of theological parts, if it 
 were not infinitely more horrid, would be no less 
 ludicrous than the poet's description of the incongru- 
 ous painter : 
 
 " Suppose a painter to a human head 
 Should join a horse's neck, and wildly spread 
 The various plumage of a feathered kind 
 O'er limbs of different beasts absurdly joined ; 
 
 Would you not laugh, such pictures to behold ? 
 Such is the book, which, like a sick man's dreams, 
 Varies all shapes, and mixes all extremes. 
 
 Monstrous to mix the cruel and the kind, 
 
 Serpents with birds, and lambs with tigers joined." ^ 
 
 But at the enormous incongruity, which makes a 
 boundless world of moral desolation and inexhaustible 
 anguish the revelation of the glad tidings, and of good 
 will from Heaven to men, — at this, I say, we cannot 
 laugh. In the language of its eloquent advocate, 
 Saurin, "It makes some melancholy, and others 
 mad;" and to thousands "it makes life itself a cruel 
 
 f Francis' Horace. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 243 
 
 bitter." And how can it otherwise affect the sensitive 
 soul that truly believes it? To feel the pressure of 
 infinite consequences pending our present doings, 
 — "infinite joy, or endless woe" = — to be turned one 
 way or the other to our allotment by our every thought, 
 word, or deed in life, — is what no mind, grasping its 
 magnitude, could endure, and be sane, for a single 
 hour. And though there is a theoretic belief of this 
 doctrine, which, in some degree affects its millions, — 
 and though thousands have been capable of realizing 
 the tremendous hazard, so as to be crushed and made 
 wrecks by its weight, — yet it is a happy circumstance 
 that comparatively few are constitutionally capable of 
 grasping the subject. 
 
 St. Paul congratulated his Christian brethren, in 
 that they had "not come unto the mountain that 
 might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto 
 blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the voice of 
 words, which voice they that heard entreated that the 
 word should not be spoken to them any more ; " but that 
 they were " come unto mount Sion, and imto the city of 
 the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." But if the 
 doctrine which we have now turned aside to look upon, 
 were the genius of mount Sion, the contrast must have 
 been reversed. For I would leave these mountains of 
 human divinity, and cast myself down at the foot of 
 mount Sinai with pleasure. And Sinai's cloud, which, 
 compared with the Christ'ion gospel, was so black and 
 portentous, should, in comparison with this human 
 gospel, be as the soft cloud of spring which varie- 
 gates the sky; and Sinai's thunder, which was com- 
 paratively so fearfully terrific, should be as the mild 
 floating breezes along the green meadow : — for, even our 
 
 g Watts, H. 55, B. 2. 
 
244 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 opposers being judges, there was nothing revealed on 
 Sinai's summit, by a million times multiplied without 
 end, so terrible, as the doctrine of immortal anguish, 
 entire and hopeless torments. 
 
 That this doctrine was not revealed under the Old 
 Testament dispensation, was shov/n in the appropriate 
 place, under the penalties of the law. But I will here 
 add, not proof, but further evidence that I did not per- 
 vert the testimony in making out the proof referred to. 
 One circumstance to this point is the fact, that such a 
 man as Professor Stuart, the head of the first Calvin- 
 istic school in our country, with all his desire to find 
 this doctrine in the Old Testament, is unable to put 
 his finger upon its revelation there. He does, indeed, 
 in his Exegetical Essays, make an efibrt to palm this 
 doctrine, in some form, upon two or three passages of 
 these Scriptures. But the manner of his doing this, sets 
 his entire want of proof in a light most strong and con- 
 clusive. The method of his argument is substantially 
 this: — ''Sheol denotes, primarily, the under-ioorld^ the 
 region of the dead^ whither both the righteous and the 
 wicked go, at their decease. And in this sense it is 
 commonly used. Still, there are certain texts in which 
 Sheol occurs, where it may indeed be explained, as 
 usual, of the state of the dead universally, but where 
 it may also be supposed to include the idea of a place 
 of punishment there; that is, if we first take for 
 granted that the respective writers held that there 
 was such a place there.'"" 
 
 What a remarkable argument is this, from siich an 
 author! And how forcible is its evidence to the point 
 before us ! With his deep penetration, strong grasp of 
 intellect, extensive learning, and irrepressible desire to 
 
 h Stuart's Essays, p. lOG— 114 ; and note in Uni. Ex. v. 3. p. 412. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 245 
 
 sustain the doctrine in question, he can find no reve- 
 lation of it in the ancient Scriptures. The most he 
 can find, is, two or three figurative texts, where it 
 nmy he supposed that a place of torment beyond 
 death is alluded to, if we take for granted that the 
 respective writers held there was such a place there ! 
 So, then, these writers have never revealed such a doc- 
 trine. They have never told us that they held that 
 there was such a place in hades as a place of tor- 
 ment. We have got to take for granted^ without 
 proof, that they held it, and then we may suppose 
 fchat they included the disputed idea in the texts 
 referred to. Yain, then, has been the learned Profes- 
 sor's search, in those Scriptures, for the doctrine in 
 question. 
 
 I must also present the reader, in this place, with 
 the conclusion of the learned and critical orthodox 
 Jahrij upon the same subject. 
 
 " That the ancient Hebrews believed, that there was 
 a difference, in their situation in sheol, between the 
 good and the bad, although it might indeed be inferred 
 from their ideas of the justice and benignity of God, 
 (Matt. xxii. 32,) cannot be proved by direct testimony. 
 The probability, however, that this was the case, 
 seems to be increased, when it is remembered, that 
 the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, who, in chap- 
 ter iii. 18, speaks somewhat skeptically of the immor- 
 tality of the soul, says in chapter xii. 17, that the 
 ^spirit shall return to God who gave it^'' [and, although 
 he nowhere in express terms holds up the doctrine 
 of future rewards and punishments, informs us in 
 chapter xii. 14, of something very much like it, viz., 
 ' That God shall bring every loork into judgment^ 
 with every secret things lohether good or eviV "] 
 21=* 
 
246 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 "We have not authority, therefore, decidedly to say, 
 that any other motives were held out to the ancient 
 Hebrews to pursue the good and to avoid the evil, 
 than those which were derived from the rewards and 
 punishments of this life. That these were the motives 
 which were presented to their minds, in order to influ- 
 ence them to pursue a right course of conduct, is 
 expressly asserted in Isa. xxvi. 9, 10, and may be 
 learned also from the imprecations which are met with 
 in many parts of the Old Testament." ' 
 
 Finally, it can hardly be regarded as a disputed 
 point in theology, among the learned, that endless 
 punishment was not revealed in the ancient oracles 
 of God, which he committed to his chosen people. 
 Of course, the people of those earlier ages, including 
 the first four thousand years of the world, are not 
 to be judged by a law involving such a penalty. It 
 is contrary to all justice, human and Divine, to judge 
 a man by an ex post facto law. The earlier inhabi- 
 tants of the earth were amenable only to the law 
 under which they lived. If endless punishment, then, 
 is a constituent of the second covenant, or covenant 
 of grace ! which is a revelation of the gospel of good 
 tidings to all people ! ! none but those whose lot it is 
 to live in the Christian age, can be exposed to its 
 terrible vengeance. What a covenant were this, in 
 the light of which for the believers to say, " For God 
 hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, 
 and of love, and of a sound mind."^ And if Sion's 
 thunder were so infinitely more tremendous than 
 that of Sinai, what a wonderful congratulation was 
 that of St. Paul to the Hebrew Christians, that they 
 
 i Jahu's Biblical Archoeolo,^, § 111, 3 2 Tim. i. 7. 
 
 ti 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 247 
 
 had not come unto the Sinai of their fathers, but that 
 they had come unto Mount Sion ! 
 
 But enough of this. That merciless doctrine, which 
 the learned who looiild find it, cannot^ in the old cove- 
 nant, forms no part of the new. Therefore we will 
 return to our subject, the purpose of the Saviour's 
 mission.] 
 
 And now we are at home again, returned from our 
 long digression, to "the glorious gospel of the blessed 
 God." I was showing that the mission of Jesus com- 
 prises matters of joyful interest to the human race. 
 In the same light do the Saviour's own words abun- 
 dantly represent him. '' For the Son of man is come 
 to save that which was lost."" And he represents his 
 faithfulness to be as that of a shepherd, who, in pur- 
 suit of the wandering of his flock, will never relinquish 
 his enterprise, whiie there is one lost sheep in the 
 wilderness. He will press on, to the joy set before 
 him, the greeting of the last poor wanderer restored.' 
 
 The apostles of Jesus, to whom he gave the words 
 the Father had given to him, abound in the most 
 plain and unambiguous testimony on the purpose of 
 God in Christ. I have drawn somewhat upon them 
 already, and shall not find space, nor do I deem it 
 needful, to give but a few additional specimens of 
 their style of gospel witness. St. Paul, in his epistle 
 to the Romans, (v. 15 — 19,) represents the greatness 
 and extent of the cure, through Christ, of the evils 
 of humanity, by placing it in comparison with those 
 evils, and giving it the supremacy. " But not as the 
 offence, so also is the free gift. For if, through the 
 offence of one, many be dead ; much more the grace 
 of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, 
 
 ^ Matt, xviii. u, • Matt, xviii. 12, 13 ; Luke xvi. 4—6. 
 
248 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. * * * * 
 Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came 
 upon all men unto condemnation, even so, by the 
 righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men 
 unto justification of life. For as by one man's dis- 
 obedience many were made sinners ; so by the obe- 
 dience of one shall many be made righteous." 
 
 We are not permitted, by the rule of Divine judg- 
 ment revealed in the Scriptures, to construe this as 
 meaning that the individual sins of Adam are imputed 
 to his posterity ; for it is declared by Jehovah that the 
 son shall not be condemned for the sins of the father.™ 
 The apostle seems to take a view of mankind as 
 standing in the earthy or Adamic nature, and as all 
 being subject, to a greater or less degree, to the same 
 infirmities and evils, in that same nature. Then, on 
 the other hand, he shows it to be the plan of Divine 
 grace to bring about the same effective and character- 
 istic relation between mankind and Christ, or the hea- 
 venly nature ; — and to make this relation equally 
 extensive, and even ^nore productive of its legitimate 
 fruits. To deny this construction, would be to make 
 this portion of the Record without meaning. 
 
 The same sentiment is expressed in Rom. viii. 20, 
 21. The passage was incidentally quoted in a former 
 part of this section, but we introduce it again for a 
 more critical examination. "For the creature was 
 made subject to vanity, not wilHngly, but by reason 
 of him who hath subjected the same in hope ; be-, 
 cause the creature itself also shall be delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of 
 the children of God." The term rendered creature in 
 this quotation, is the same as that rendered creation, 
 
 "^ Ezelc. xviii. 
 
249 
 
 in the succeeding verse. It is obviously used for the 
 human species. It cannot mean less than the entire 
 human species, because no less than the whole of this 
 creation was made subject to vanity, and this word 
 is never used to designate any favored class, such as 
 believers. Indeed, believers are distinctly and sep- 
 arately referred to in the succeeding context, as, at 
 least, but a portion of that creation. " For we know 
 that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 together until now. And not only they, but ourselves 
 also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, groan 
 within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the 
 redemption of our body." Here, then, we are certified 
 by the apostle, that by the creation spoken of in this 
 case, he means the whole creation^ (or j^'^sa kiisis, 
 every creature.) 
 
 Again, nothing 77iore than the human creation could 
 have been meant ; for it comprises only such creatures 
 as "shall be delivered from the bondage of corrup- 
 tion, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." 
 It may no more be applied to brute and inanimate 
 creatures, than may the commission of our Lord to 
 his apostles, " Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the gospel to ev€?ij creature.'^ 
 
 And now, what is the truth affirmed, concerning the 
 hmuan creation? In the first place, it "was made 
 subject to vanity," — constituted mortal, and placed 
 in a peccable state, — "not willingly," not of its own 
 choice ; the human species were not counselled as to 
 the constitution in which they should be brought into 
 being, or the world in which they should be placed ; 
 — "but by reason of him who hath subjected the 
 same, in hope." God, in his wisdom, saw fit to intro- 
 duce mankind into an initiatory state of being like this 
 
250 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 — in hope. This is not man's final home. This is 
 not his chief inheritance. He is heir to an immortal 
 life. Consequently, God has placed in the very con- 
 stitution of his present being, a desire, a longing, a 
 travail of soul, a hope, reaching for that greater good 
 to come. At verse 19th, it is called an ^'■earnest ex- 
 pectation, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of 
 God," — imnting a manifestation of that blessed truth 
 which was already possessed by those who were 
 characteristically the sons of God. At verse 20th, it 
 is called hope, and at vei-se 22d, travail. All these 
 terms are used to denote that principle in the con- 
 stitution of man, which is the basis of the religious 
 sentiment, and which wants the truth of Christianity. 
 
 And why has God, in placing his moral children in 
 this dying, peccable state, inwrought with their nature 
 the principles of this hope 7 The answer is before 
 us : — '' Because the creation shall be delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty 
 of the children of God." In the consummation of his 
 gospel purpose, God will show forth a perfect work, 
 — a moral creation in a finished state, answering to 
 the designs indicated by the "hope" of their incipient 
 being. 
 
 There is a most luminous testimony of St. Paul, 
 on our present subject, in his first epistle to the 
 Corinthians, which I will reserve to a subsequent 
 chapter, on the resurrection of the dead. The fol- 
 lowing to the Colossians (i. 19—21) is to the point. 
 ''For it pleased the Father that in him should all 
 fulness dwell ; and having made peace through the 
 blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to 
 himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in 
 earth, or things in heaven. yVnd you, that were 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 251 
 
 sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by- 
 wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." That 
 the phrase all things^ in this case, refers not to a 
 present visible church of believers, but to the mass 
 of mankind, is evident from the circumstance that 
 the latter class are said to be now already reconciled. 
 And that the great reconciliation promised, is spiritual 
 assimilation, is shown by the reference made to the 
 reconciliation of christian believers, as a sample of the 
 entire work to be accomplished. 
 
 Another most clear and conclusive witness to the 
 great truth before us, is in the following remarkable 
 words : (Phil. ii. 9—11 ;) " Wherefore God also hath 
 highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
 above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every 
 knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
 glory of God the Father." The saying. Every crea- 
 ture above the earthy on the earthy and under it, was a 
 common periphrasis among the Greek writers, for the 
 universe. The idea is, that God designs that the uni- 
 verse of his moral creatures, whether now living or 
 dead, whether above the earth, on the earth, or under 
 it, shall be brought into subjection to his Son Jesus 
 Christ. And this subjection can be no other than 
 spiritual, because Christ reigns in no other than a 
 spiritual kingdom. And the same kind of subjection 
 is involved in the act of confessing him their Lord, 
 their Owner and Master, to the glory of God the 
 Father. 
 
 But we should extend our work to the making of 
 many books, were we to undertake the quotation and 
 exposition of one half of the Bible testimonies upon 
 
252 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 the great gospel purpose. I will barely add, in this 
 place, that in confirmation of the view we took of the 
 first quotation from Genesis, upon the bruising of the 
 serpent's head, St. Paul says to the Hebrews, (ii. 14, 
 15,) "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers 
 of fiesli and blood, he also himself likewise took part 
 of the same, that through death he might destroy him 
 that had the power of death, that is the devil ; and 
 deliver them who through fear of death were all their 
 lifetime subject to bondage." The word devil (diabo- 
 los) signifies an impostor, a deceiver, an enemy, &c. 
 It is sometimes used for personal adversaries and de- 
 ceivers, and sometimes for evil principles. In this 
 case it seems to be used as a sort of personification of 
 the principles of evil, mcluding the physical with the 
 moral, — whatever is adverse to the well-being of man. 
 All this shall be destroyed by the energies of that 
 power and love Divine, which are sealed and attested 
 by the death of Christ. And again ; (1 John iii. 8 ;) 
 "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, 
 that he might destroy the works of the devil." These 
 works are sin, and its concomitant evils. 
 
 Contemplate, now, the sum of what we have learned 
 from the Scriptures, of the purpose of the Saviour'' s 
 mission. It is to enlighten the human mind, and de- 
 liver it from the prison of moral darkness, — to regene- 
 rate and purify it, and deliver it from the bondage of 
 sin and error. It is to instruct and elevate the uni- 
 verse of created minds, and reconcile and harmonize 
 them with the spirit of the Eternal ; in the prosecution 
 of which work every principle and power of evil shall 
 be destroyed, and the universe shall join in the triumph- 
 ant shout of the victory, the perfect victory, of life and 
 good. And the designs of this gospel mission are not 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUk's MISSION. 253 
 
 appropriated to any particular class or denomination of 
 men, — but they are for man^ for the offsj)ring of God, 
 for the kuman creation. 
 
 To say that all the blessings proposed by this gos- 
 pel purpose are suspended on precarious conditions to 
 be performed by man, proposing that certain good 
 shall come to the lot of those who will perform cer- 
 tain works of obedience, leaving it uncertain whether 
 any will comply with the terms, — this indicates an 
 utter blindness of mind in relation to the whole sub- 
 ject. This gospel purpose does not propose certain 
 rewards to men on condition they will be free from 
 sin, and become holy. There is abundance of Scrip- 
 ture which instructs us of the rewards of faith and 
 virtue : but this gospel purpose of grace looks upon 
 mankind in the character of sinners, and proposes, by 
 appropriate means, to deliver them from the love and 
 power of sin, and win their hearts and affections Xo 
 truth, to holiness, and to God. 
 
 As this is an important point in the character of the 
 Saviour's mission, on which, in truth, its value mainly 
 depends, I will detain the reader a few moments upon 
 it. I will take him to a portion of the inspired record, 
 which gives special instruction on this very feature of 
 the gospel covenant, and places it in contrast with the 
 law. The Scripture I refer to is the eighth chapter of 
 Hebrews, beginning at the 6th verse, — from which it 
 reads as follows : — " But noio hath he obtained a more 
 excellent ministry^ by how much also he is the Mediator 
 of a better covenant^ which was established upon better 
 promises. For if tha/. first covenant had been fatdtless, 
 then should no place have been sought for the second. 
 For finding fault with them^ he saith, Behold the days 
 come, saith the Lord^ lohen I loill make a new covenant 
 22 
 
254 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 with the house of Israel and the house of JudahP — 
 To this contrast between the two covenantSj and the 
 distinguish mg characteristics of the second on the 
 point under present consideration, we will devote a 
 brief and respectful attention. 
 
 1st. Wherein consisted the fault of the first cove- 
 nant ? It was not in its unsuitableness to answer the 
 end for which God designed it. Some have repre- 
 sented that God designed the first covenant as an op- 
 portunity for man to procure, by conditions performed 
 by himself on earth, a title to heaven ; but that it 
 failed to answer this design, and so God devised a 
 second plan for securing the same object. But the 
 first covenant never proposed to man, as the reward 
 of his complying with its conditions, an immortal hea- 
 ven. To possess mankind of that infinite good God 
 never devised but one plan, and that is the gospel plan 
 whose character is our present subject. This we shall 
 find to be the first and last, the only plan devised of 
 God for the accomplishment of that end. And this 
 plan shall never fail. 
 
 But the first covenant, which in some respects was 
 faulty, was 'perfect in its place, or in view of the ends 
 for which it was designed. It was, in the first place, 
 designed in its immediate use, to redeem a chosen 
 people, and generally to secure them as a people, from 
 the popular idolatries of the world. All the sacrifices 
 of the Mosaic ceremonial law had their meaning in 
 this respect. Many useful animals, such as cattle, 
 sheep, &c., were worshipped by the Egyptians and 
 other nations, as gods. The Hebrews had their edu- 
 cation in the midst of these idolatries, and needed 
 some very eflicient means to wean and preserve them 
 from the prevailing practice. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 255 
 
 Now what could be better calculated to wear off 
 these people's superstitious veneration for those idol 
 gods, than to habituate them to take these same crea- 
 tures after Avhose image those idols were made, and 
 sacrifice them as burnt offerings to the Lord Jehovah 7 
 As Moses said unto Pharaoh, when he had asked per- 
 mission to go far into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to 
 God, and Pharaoh refused, saying, " Go ye, sacrifice to 
 your God in the land." Moses said, "It is not meet 
 so to do, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the 
 Egyptians to the Lord our God : Lo, shall we sacrifice 
 the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, 
 and will they not stone us?" 
 
 Indeed, all the ceremonies of the Mosaic law had 
 either a direct or indirect reference to some sinful and 
 idolatrous practice of the surrounding heathen nations, 
 against which it was important that Israel should be 
 guarded,— while they indicated also the purity of 
 character which the Hebrews should maintain. And 
 he who is well informed concerning the state of the 
 Hebrews, and of the world, in those early days,— and 
 who considers that it is suitable to the dignity of God 
 to employ means adapted to circumstances, and to the 
 appointed ends,— will perceive that the first covenant 
 was perfectly fitted to the use it was designed for, 
 in the particular which has now been noticed. 
 
 In the second place, the first covenant was not 
 faulty, in respect to its adaptedness to its intended use, 
 as preparatory to the introduction of the new and 
 better covenant. It was designed to keep up a broad 
 line of distinction between the Jews and the idolatrous 
 heathen nations^ so as to make that nation a repository 
 of a series of teachings and prophesies, pointing to the 
 coming Messiah, and preparing for the introduction and 
 
256 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 establishment of his more perfect, or rather, most per- 
 fect system of rehgion. In this respect the law is, as 
 St. Paul said, "our schoolmaster to bring us to 
 Christ." 
 
 In what respect, then, was that first covenant faulty ? 
 It was faulty in that it was not adapted for the accom- 
 plishment of all that for mankind, which God designed 
 by some means to do for them. St. Paul was here 
 reasoning with the Hebrews, some of whom, it ap- 
 pears, had imbibed the opinion that the whole Mosaic 
 institution was designed to be confirmed and perpetu- 
 ated under the reign of the Messiah. He aimed to 
 show them that the Mosaic dispensation, though good 
 in its place, must be seen to be faulty at once, when 
 proposed as a perpetual institution for all nations 
 and all ages. And he urged upon them the self- 
 evident fact, that if that covenant had not been 
 faulty in this respect, — if it had been fitted to answer 
 all the purpose of good for mankind which God had 
 designed for them, — then there should have been no 
 place for a second covenant ; and he referred them to 
 the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied, saying, '^ Be- 
 hold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will 
 make a new covenant with the house of Israel and 
 with the house of Judah ; 7iot according to the cove- 
 nant which I made with their fathers, in the day when 
 I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land 
 of Egypt." 
 
 Accordingly, that first covenant was faulty, in that 
 it was not fitted to the completion of God's perfect work 
 of good for mankind. It was designed for the tem- 
 porary use of a particular people; the blessings 
 which it promised were of a temporal nature ; and its 
 promises were conditional^ the bestowment of them 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 257 
 
 being uncertain according to the uncertainty of the 
 creature's faithfulness. 
 
 2d. In the second place I will point out the specific 
 difference of the second covenant. This our apostle in 
 the context pronounces a bette?' covenant^ established on 
 better promises. Wherein is it better 7 
 
 First; it is better, because it engages the bestowment 
 of better things. Now the word covenant signifies a 
 testament, a contract, or an agreement. It may be an 
 agreement mutually entered into by two parties, its 
 performance depending equally on both. Or it may 
 be an engagement which one party takes on itself, un- 
 conditionally to perform for the benefit of the other. 
 This second covenant is an engagement which God 
 has made, of his own free grace, to bestow spiritual 
 and immortal good on the human race. Hence it is 
 said of the gospel, which is the revelation of this better 
 covenant, testament, or engagement of the Lord, that 
 life and immortality are brought to light by it. 
 
 Secondly ; this second covenant is better, and estab- 
 lished on better promises, in that its promises are un- 
 conditional. This is a conspicuous difference which was 
 pointed out by the prophet, whom the apostle quotes 
 in the case before us. "I will make a new covenant 
 with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 
 not according to the covenant which I made with their 
 fathers, because they continued not in my covenant, 
 and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." Here the 
 fact is noted, that even the temporal blessings which 
 were proposed to the people by that first covenant, 
 Avere not always enjoyed by them, because the bless- 
 ings were proposed on conditions which they failed to 
 perform. And the circumstance that the people failed 
 of enjoying even the full blessings proposed by the first 
 22^ 
 
258 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 covenant, through their own faHibihty, — this circum- 
 stance, I say, being offered by Jehovah as an impor- 
 tant reason why he would secure those better blessings 
 which he designed for them, by a covenant not like 
 the former, certainly directs our attention to the article 
 of conditionality ^ as the point of difierence specially 
 referred to in this place. It notifies us that the new 
 covenant should not be subject to any faultiness or 
 failure, in regard to the final communication of its 
 promised blessings to mankind, through their not 
 xDolking in it. And the fact of which we are hereby 
 notified, is clearly seen in the terms of the covenant 
 itself, which here follows: "For this is the covenant 
 which i will make with the house of Israel, after those 
 days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their mind, 
 and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them 
 a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they 
 shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every 
 man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all 
 shall know me, from the least to the greatest; for 
 I will be merciful to their unrighteousness ; and their 
 sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." 
 
 It is hence made to appear, beyond controversy, that 
 this new covenant is an unconditional engagement 
 which God has made, of himself, in his own free 
 grace, to confer the needed benefit of salvation on his 
 moral creatures. God here publishes his positive en- 
 gagement of what he will do, or will bring his crea- 
 tures to be and to do. 
 
 But I will caution my readers, that none of you leave 
 this subject, with the impression, that this new cove- 
 nant engages to bless mankind in their sins. It recog- 
 nizes the necessity of your being holy in order to be 
 happy, as much as the law does. But the difference 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 259 
 
 is in this, — that while the law commands men to be 
 holy, but is not an engagement to make them so, the 
 new covenant is the free testament of God, whereby 
 he engages to employ and direct means to make men 
 holy. It has been shown that, of the Mediator, or 
 Executor of this new and better covenant, God's angel 
 said, "He shall save his people from their sms." 
 "For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, 
 that he might destroy the Avorks of the devil," and 
 " reconcile all things unto himself" To inquire, there- 
 fore, by way of objection, whether men can be saved, 
 if they will never love God, and be holy, would only 
 be to inquire, whether men can be saved, if God 
 should not, according to the better promises of his bet- 
 ter covenant, save them? We have only to answer, 
 in the words of the apostle, Let God be true. 
 
 But it is the wonder of the world, — a stumbling- 
 block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness, — that 
 GOD should institute a purpose and prosecute a gov- 
 ernment, in relation to the future character and condi- 
 tion of moral accountable beings. "Surely," it is 
 objected, " God will not force sinners to be saved, 
 whether they will or not ! " No, no ; there is no such 
 absurdity in the Divine system of operation. The 
 Creator of the physical world is also the Author of 
 the human nmid. It is his workmanship. Its moved 
 agency is his workmanship. It is "a wheel within a 
 wheel," placed there by the Author, not to defeat his de- 
 sign in the whole, but to promote his benevolent plan. 
 Man could not be man, — he could not become the holy, 
 happy being intended, without this accountable agency. 
 But the Creator of mind perfectly well knows his work. 
 He knows its spring of action, and by what influences 
 its motions may be governed. And He who rolls the 
 
260 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 spheres in their orbits, and who governs the "free 
 winds," by touching the causes that regulate their 
 motions, can also accomplish his great purpose, in the 
 universe of mind, without violence to the established 
 moral principles and laws. 
 
 When God has revealed to men his laws of com- 
 mandment, touching their moral duty, they have often 
 transgressed, and subjected themselves to the conse- 
 quent punishment. But when he has revealed any 
 purpose of his own, even relating to the character and 
 condition of moral agents, such purpose has never 
 failed. He said long beforehand to Abraham, '' Thy 
 seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs ; 
 and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And 
 that nation whom they shall serve will I judge ; and 
 afterwards shall they come out with great sub- 
 stance." " There Avere thousands of free moral agen- 
 cies (using the word free for voluntary) connected 
 with these events. Unbelief would ask, " what if the 
 people would not go into the strange land referred to ? 
 Or, if they should go there, what if the authorities of 
 that land would never afflict them? They will not 
 afflict them imless they are disposed to do so; and 
 what 7/they should not indulge that disposition? Or, 
 if they should afflict them, what if the Hebrews 
 would not consent to go out?" Such, I say, would 
 be the language of unbelief Such are the inquiries, 
 or rather arguments, by which we are often met in 
 our christian labors. We present the word of God 
 affirming his purpose of grace in Christ ; and the ob- 
 jector arrays his army of ifs against us. " What if 
 the people will never consent to this revealed arrange- 
 ment of Johovah? " 
 
 nGen. XV. 13, 14. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 261 
 
 But had Abraham any misgivings here? No. Abra- 
 ham believed God^ and it was counted unto him for 
 righteousness."" And how was the event? In due 
 time Godj in his providence, brought about such cir- 
 cumstances affecting Abraham's progeny, that they 
 saw it to be their hfe to go down into Egypt. A 
 desolating dearth prevailed in Canaan ; a message was 
 received through Joseph, from the sovereign of Egypt, 
 bidding them welcome to the best of the land of 
 plenty ; and they consented, they chose, they desired 
 to go there. When they had abode there for a season, 
 and Joseph and Pharaoh were dead, and another king 
 arose who knew not Joseph, he looked with jealousy 
 on their growth and enterprise, and fearing their 
 rivalry, he oppressed them with burdens. In this he 
 deliberately acted his own choice, believing he might, 
 by oppression, dwarf their energies, and hold them in 
 servitude. But at length their burdens became intol- 
 erable, and they sighed for freedom. The Lord 
 raised them up a leader, and opened a way before 
 them; and they went out with a desiring mind, and 
 with much substance. 
 
 Thus all these events, with which so many thou- 
 sands of moral agencies were connected, transpired 
 with the voluntary action of those accountable agents, 
 — and also according to the Divine arrangement made 
 known to Abraham hundreds of years before ! 
 
 Saul of Tarsus is an instructive illustration of this 
 important principle. He was raving on his way, in the 
 spirit of war and violence against the cause of Christ. 
 Jesus met him, and at the light of his glory the perse- 
 cutor fell upon the ground. He was put upon his 
 reflections by the majestic voice of love, '' Saul, Saul, 
 
 °Rom. iv. 3. 
 
262 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Avhy persecutest thou me 7 " " Who art thou, Lord ? " 
 the Pharisee inquired, '' I am Jesus, whom thou per- 
 secutest." ''Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 Here he is — not forced, whether he will or not, — but 
 desiriiig to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus 
 said to him at the time, "I have appeared unto thee 
 for this purpose." What ! ^inirpose to accomplish on 
 a free moral agent? Yes, — ''I have appeared unto 
 tliee for this inuyoseP And what is the purpose? 
 " To make thee a minister and a witness of me." '' 
 What an instrument was he, all in his mad career, 
 with intent to exterminate the christian cause from 
 earth, for Jesus to select, and meet there upon the 
 way, to change into a cheerful and loving minis- 
 ter of his truth ! It was the gnarliest stick in the 
 moral wilderness, that Jesus chose, to work up, that 
 very day, into the beautiful spiritual temple. Did he 
 succeed? He did so, With all the ease with which 
 the rising beams of the morning dispel the dark shades 
 of night, did the sweet light of Jesus dispel the dark- 
 ness of that madman's soul, and enhst his moral 
 affections into his love and service. 
 
 And when, in the fulness of times foretold, the face 
 of the covering shall be taken away from over all 
 people, and the sweet light of heavenly truth and love 
 shall shine into every mind, — then, because they are 
 free moral agents, and xoill love what appears to them 
 supremely lovely, and nothing in the universe can 
 hinder it, will they all love and adore the eternal 
 Father, " and enjoy him forever." 
 
 Such, then, is the purpose of the Saviour's mission, 
 and the harmony of its operation with the constitution 
 
 PActs xxvi. 4 — 20. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 263 
 
 and laws of our moral being. We see in it the per- 
 fect and unfailing wisdom and ability of God, — 
 
 " From seeming evil still educing good, 
 And better thence again, and better still, 
 In infinite progression." 
 
 OBJECTIONS. 
 
 1st. But it is objected, that salvation is sometimes 
 represented in the Scriptures as a reward, to be be- 
 stowed on the condition of faith in the gospel. Jesus, 
 for instance, in his last commission to his apostles 
 before his ascension, said unto them, ''Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature. 
 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but 
 he that believeth not shall be damned." "^ This latter 
 clause has been taken by some to declare the very 
 gospel itself which the disciples should preach. The 
 passage has been quoted, even by some learned men, 
 in the following manner : — "Jesus said unto his dis- 
 ciples, ' Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
 to every creature, saying, he that believeth and is 
 baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 
 be damned.' " But if the saying, " He that believeth 
 shall be saved" — is the gospel which was to be 
 preached, may we not ask, he that believeth tvhat? 
 What is it, by the belief of which we shall be saved, 
 and for the disbelief of which we shall be condemned'? 
 It is the gospel. And what is the gospel? Those 
 just referred to would answer, "It is this: 'He that 
 believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not 
 shall be damned.' " We repeat the inquiry, He that 
 believeth what ? 
 
 ^Mark xvi. 15. 16. 
 
264 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Suppose I enter a room, in which are assembled a 
 company of my readers, and say to you, '' I come to 
 communicate important tidings." Turning with eager 
 desire, you ask with one accord, '' What is the news?" 
 I gravely answer, '' Those of you who believe it, shall 
 receive a signal favor, and those who believe not shall 
 suffer deprivation." " Those who beheve what .^" you 
 would ask with emphasis. And if I were to continue 
 reiterating the same answer, you would take me for 
 either a trifler or a madman. I should first communi- 
 cate the proposed tidings, the truth to be believed : and 
 then it would be in season to talk of the effects of your 
 believing or not believing. 
 
 So in the case before us. The Saviour did not, in 
 this instance, make a statement to the disciples of 
 what the gospel was. They had been with him from 
 the time when he called them to his service, and had 
 learned of him the subject matter of his gospel mis- 
 sion ; and he promised to send them the Holy Spirit, 
 to farther lead them into all truth. He had told them 
 before, not to go in the way of the Gentiles, but only 
 to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But now he 
 had "offered himself once for all," and broken down 
 the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gen- 
 tiles ; and he enlarged the sphere of their ministry, say- 
 ing, " Go ye into all the loorld^ and preach the gospel, 
 (the glad tidings of truth into which I have taught 
 you,) to every creature.''^ And then he proceeds, not 
 to instruct them again into the revelations of that gos- 
 pel which they were to preach, but to describe the 
 consequences which should result to the people, ac- 
 cordingly as they should treat the apostolic message. 
 " He that believeth shall be saved." That is, the true 
 believer should enjoy, as the legitimate fruit of his 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 265 
 
 faithj salvation from the moral darkness, the hopeless- 
 ness, the guilt, the fears, and all the evils of an unbe- 
 lieving and sinful state ; while the unbeliever should 
 remain, as a prisoner under condemnation, in the suf- 
 fering of all those evils. 
 
 This sense of the Saviour's use of the word saved^ 
 in the foregoing case, is beautifully explained by St. 
 Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. He was an 
 unbeliever for a long time after the date of this dec- 
 laration of Jesus, " He that believeth not shall be 
 damned." At length he received the gospel by a liv- 
 ing faith, and became a faithful teacher of it. When 
 he had, by his personal ministry, established a church 
 of believers in Corinth, he heard of some misunder- 
 standing among them on certain essential points of 
 Christian doctrine, especially that of the resurrection. 
 Therefore he wrote them letters on the gospel theme, 
 and other matters of interest to them. In his first 
 letter he says, — "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
 you the gospel which I preached unto you, which 
 also ye have received, and wherein ye stand ; by 
 which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what 
 I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.'" 
 How completely this explains and confirms the saying 
 of Jesus, when he commissioned his disciples to go out 
 and preach the gospel, that they who would receive 
 their message, shoidd he saved in their faith. The 
 brethren whom the apostle addressed had believed the 
 gospel, and, they loere saved, by the legitimate influ- 
 ence of the gospel upon their minds. 
 
 So, then, the gospel is not a declaration of the fruits 
 of faith and unbelief, but it is the revelation of the 
 truth to be believed. It is the subject matter upon 
 
 M Cor. XV. 1,2. 
 
 23 
 
266 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 which for faith to act. Consequently, it is not made 
 true by the belief, nor false by the disbelief of man. 
 It is, as we have most clearly exhibited in the course 
 of this chapter, the revelation of that grand and stu- 
 pendous purpose of grace in the moral system of God's 
 creation, which shall work, and overturn, and reform, 
 until the last vestige of unbelief itself shall be over- 
 come, and the light and spirit of God shall be all in 
 all. Of this revealed plan the apostle says, " But 
 what if some did not believe ? Shall their unbelief 
 make the faith (the promise) of God without effect ? 
 God forbid."" But unbelief shuts man out of the en- 
 joyment of the truth, while he abides in it. For so it 
 is written, " He that belie veth not the Son shall not 
 see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." ' The 
 wrath of God is the condemnatory operation of his 
 law upon transgressors, under the action of which St. 
 Paul had his part, when he was among those who were 
 •'children of wrath, even as others."" Again, ''He 
 that believeth on him is not condemned ; (the same in 
 the original as the word damned in the other passage ;) 
 but he that believeth not is condemned {damned) 
 already. — And this is the condemnation, that light 
 is come into the world, and men have loved darkness 
 rather than light, because their deeds are evil." " But 
 "he that receiveth my word, and believeth on him 
 that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
 into condemnation, but is passed from death unto 
 hfe."^' 
 
 There is a marked distinction kept up throughout 
 the Scriptures, as there is such distinction in fact, 
 between the character and condition of the virtuous 
 
 » Rom. iii. 3, 4. t John iii. 36. " Eph. ii. 3. 
 
 " John iii. 18, 19. ^ John v. 24. 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 267 
 
 and vicious, the believer and the disbeliever. While 
 the wages of sin is death, the fruit of faith and obe- 
 dience is life, salvation and peace. But there is not 
 the least shade of discrepancy between this Scriptural 
 and experimental fact, and the triumphant faith of 
 God's purpose in Christ, to win the hearts and affec- 
 tions of his great family to himself. 
 
 2d. Again, it is objected, "that all men are not 
 reconciled to God in the present life ; many die in 
 impenitence ; and we have no ground to hope for the 
 enlightenment of the blind, the instruction of the 
 ignorant, and the renovation of the sinful, in the 
 future life." 
 
 This objection is founded on the prevailing senti- 
 ment, that this mortal life is distinctly and peculiarly 
 a day of probation for eternity ; and that the eternal 
 states of all the human race are to be decided by the 
 characters formed in time. But there is not the slight- 
 est foundation in the Scriptures for such a sentiment, 
 and nothing could be more absurd in the eye of reason. 
 Elevate yourself in thought to some lofty position, from 
 which you can view the entire face of the globe. Look, 
 then, with a searching and contemplative eye, upon 
 the whole human race in this mortal state of being. 
 See, in one section, tribes ushered into being under 
 circumstances of the most utter destitution of moral 
 advantages, opening their eyes from infancy upon the 
 most low and degrading idolatries, and growing up 
 under the influence of examples the most corrupt and 
 debasing. In another place the child is surrounded 
 with circumstances of favor, and is trained up by the 
 precepts and examples of virtue and truth. And look ; 
 there are tens, hundreds, and millions, of tender in- 
 fants, whose life passeth away as the dew of the morn- 
 
268 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 iiigj and they tarry not to do good or evil. They have 
 formed no character here — and shall they have none 
 in eternity ? They have deserved neither reward nor 
 punishment ; and shall they, therefore, neither enjoy 
 good nor suffer evil in eternity ? If you say they shall 
 be eternally blessed by the good favor of God, you 
 explode your doctrine, as applied to more than one 
 half of the human race, of making the mortal life a 
 state of probation for the rewards of eternity. — And 
 look ! There is a beautiful little lad, whose filial love 
 and cheerful smiles delight the fond hearts of his doat- 
 ing parents. Yesterday, he attained to an accountable 
 age in the moral government of God. To-day he has 
 committed some juvenile error ; and now, the furious 
 steed tramples over him, and the wheel crushes him. 
 He expires. Must eternity be to him an inheritance 
 of wailing and sorrow ? — But yonder is a different 
 scene. A youth is treading the paths of vice and folly. 
 He slights all the counsels of wisdom, scorns reproof, 
 and sinks deeper and deeper into moral defilement. 
 He advances in age and in sin, until he is old and grey 
 in years. At length he becomes guilty of crimes the 
 very thought of which alarms him ; he is brought to 
 reflection and repentance, and soon drops into the 
 grave. Shall he claim an eternity of bliss on the score 
 of reward for his earthly deeds ? — In short, when you 
 take this comprehensive view of the case of man on 
 earth, noting the various terms of time which are 
 allotted to this mortal life, from a moment to a hun- 
 dred years, — and the different circumstances under 
 which they live, including every grade of privilege, 
 from the most advantageous to almost none, or even 
 to the most pernicious precepts and examples, — and 
 also the variety of temperaments, and passions, and 
 
269 
 
 cerebral conformations for the development of mind, 
 — what, to reason's eye, could appear more prepos- 
 terous, than the position that this is the state, and the 
 07ily state, which the great and wise Father of all has 
 appropriated to his children, to form characters for 
 eternity 7 It is impossible. 
 
 In saying this, we speak with reverence for the 
 Scriptures, as well as for common sense. For the 
 objectionable sentiment is no less repugnant to the 
 inspired word of truth. There were a few fabricated 
 texts of Scripture formerly applied to this subject, 
 which are now out of date. One of these was made 
 to say, " There is no repentance beyond the grave ;" 
 and another, "As death leaves us so judgment v/ill 
 find us." The first is a glossary on the words of 
 Solomon, (Eccl. ix. 10,) " For there is no work, nor 
 device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, 
 (hades) whither thou goest." This is an expression 
 of the silence and inactivity of hades^ the state of the 
 dead ; but it has no reference to the condition of that 
 immortal life which is brought to light through the 
 gospel. Surely he did not mean that there will be no 
 knowledge nor wisdom in that blest world. The 
 other passage, "As death leaves us so judgment will 
 find us," was conceived, we know not how, as an 
 idea belonging to the words of the same writer, in 
 Eccl. xi. 3; "If the tree fall towards the south, or 
 towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth, 
 there it shall be." But no ingenuity can show the 
 application of this language to the future life of man. 
 If you insist on applying the fall of the tree to the 
 death of man, you will make the saying, ^^ in the place 
 where it falleth there it shall ^e," to deny the resur- 
 23* 
 
270 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 rection. But these words of Solomon had no such 
 reference. 
 
 And now, I ask, what reason have any to assume, 
 that the eternal state of existence is a mere monotony ? 
 that passing out of this momentary, infantile state, 
 into one immortal, undying, men pass beyond the 
 bounds of intellectual and moral improvement ? We 
 urge the inquiry, Where is the authority for so un- 
 divine, and unphilosophical an assumption ? And 
 echo answers, " Where ?" 
 
 Will not mankind be moral beings in the future 
 world 1 Will they not be possessed of moral powers 
 and perceptions, of capacities to judge between right 
 and wrong, and to appreciate the difference between 
 them 1 If not, then they cannot be subjects of con- 
 demnation there. The improved theology of orthodox 
 schools, makes the punishment of the future world to 
 consist in guilt, remorse, and shame, on account of 
 sins committed on earth. Then the subjects of such 
 punishment will be moral beings, capable of repen- 
 tance and moral reform. If they suffer guilt, shame, 
 and regret, for having sinned against their heavenly 
 Father, then there is a principle in their moral natures 
 at war with sin, and capable of loving and choosing 
 holiness. If they were possessed of natures radically 
 evil, utterly opposed to God, like that of fabled de- 
 mons, loving all evil and hating all good, — Avith such 
 natures they would not suffer shame or regret for their 
 sins. If their recollection of the past should trouble 
 them at all, it would be that they had not sinned 
 more inveterately here, against the God they hate so 
 radically there. 
 
 Hence it is seen, that for the very purpose of creat- 
 ing a future hell for sinners, the schools have indued 
 
PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 271 
 
 it with principles which shall work its destruction. 
 For if man possesses such a moral nature, that, away 
 from temptations to other wrongs, he so truly appre- 
 ciates the right, as to be ashamed of the wrong, and 
 filled with regret for past sins, he will certainly reject 
 the wrong, and love and choose the right. 
 
 And this is not only the philosophy, the principles 
 of which have found way into the scholastic creeds, 
 but it is Christian philosophy. God will not clothe 
 men with his own immortality, and crown them with 
 his eternity, for a vain and useless purpose. When 
 they are raised into a spiritual, immortal state, their 
 circumstances will be, of necessity, far more advan- 
 tageous for moral improvement, than in the present 
 life. They will be freed, to say the least, from a 
 large share of the temptations and mistakes of the 
 present mortal world, — their organization will be more 
 perfect, — they will be free from those sicknesses and 
 wants which were the cause of much unreconciliation 
 here, — and they will bear with them, in the very fact 
 of the resurrection life, demonstrative proof of glorious 
 truths, touching the existence, and perfections, and 
 government, and purposes of God, which their gross 
 perceptions did not grasp in their earthly house of 
 clay. 
 
 And there, too, will Jesus be found, the Resurrec- 
 tion and the Life. The testimonies of his mission 
 limit not his work to the mortal hour of human being. 
 He is to prosecute his work to its accomplishment, in 
 the dispensation of the fulness of times. And he is to 
 gather together into the harmony of his own spirit, 
 and reconcile to God, all things, whether now living 
 or dead, whether above the earth, on the earth, or 
 under it. Then will he see of the travail of his soul 
 
272 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and be satisfied. Then, in the full triumph of that love 
 which sustained him, when he tasted death for every 
 man, his ransomed possession, beatified and blessed, 
 will he present before his Father and our Father, his 
 God and our God, saying, " Behold I, and the chil- 
 dren which thou gavest me."* 
 
 » Heb. ii. 13. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE CHRIST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE MESSIAH OF 
 THE OLD. 
 
 When Philip had become a follower of the Son of 
 Mary, he found Nathanael, and said unto him, " We 
 have found him of whom Moses in the law and the jwo- 
 phets did write^ * We have already treated somewhat 
 largely on the person, the character, and the mission 
 of Christ. And it was meet that we should do so, for 
 CHRIST IS CHRISTIANITY, and Christianity is 
 our hope. And now I propose to present the relation 
 of Jesus to the ancient prophecies, as an invaluable 
 species of evidence for the truth of Christianity. 
 
 I. That the Jews had among them a long succes- 
 sion of reputed prophets, it would be a work of super- 
 erogation for me to argue. I am not aware that this is 
 a disputed matter. The fact is everywhere visible 
 upon the face of the Scriptures, which are the accredited 
 records of the Jewish nation. Nor does it appear to be 
 any less obvious, that these reputed prophets prophe- 
 sied of the coming of an important personage, called 
 the Messiah, and peculiarly the Sent of God. Different 
 appellations, however, in the course of these prophe- 
 cies, are ascribed to the expected One, — and the de- 
 scriptions of character vary in verbal expressions, ac- 
 cording to the different names under which he is pre- 
 sented. 
 
 Moses prophesied of the One who was to come, in 
 the following terms;— "The Lord thy God will raise 
 
 a John i. 45. 
 
274 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy 
 brethren, Hke unto me: unto him shall ye hearken."^ 
 The prophet here promised was not Joshua, Moses' 
 successor in office ; for the historian who finished out 
 the book of Deuteronomy after Moses' death, speaks 
 of Joshua, and writes as a witness of his acts ; but he 
 adds, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel 
 hke unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face."" 
 (The saying that the Lord knew Moses face to face, 
 simply denotes that he granted to him the favor of a 
 free and familiar intercourse, for the purposes of 
 his calling.) Neither was this promised teacher 
 either of the other prophets that came under the Old 
 Testament dispensation. They all pointed on, beyond 
 themselves, to the great Prophet and Teacher, Prince 
 and Deliverer, that was to come. It was with regard 
 to them, as it was said of John the Baptist, " He was 
 not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
 Light." None of these prophets claimed to be the 
 Messiah, but they all spake of him as being yet to 
 come after them. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah said much of the promised 
 Prince of peace, and of his blessed reign. And his de- 
 scriptions abound with surpassing eloquence. As an 
 example, we will repeat one of the passages which 
 Avere quoted on the subject of the Messidh^ s jiidgmeiit. 
 " There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, 
 and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the 
 spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of 
 wisdom and understanding, the spirit rf knowledge, 
 and of the fear of the Lord ; and shall make him quick 
 of understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he 
 shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither re- 
 
 '' Deut. xviii. 15. <^ Deut. xxxiv. 10. 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 275 
 
 prove after the hearing of his ears ; but with righteous- 
 ness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for 
 the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth 
 with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
 lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall 
 be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle 
 of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 
 and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the 
 calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and 
 a httle child shall lead them. * * And in that day 
 there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for 
 an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek, 
 and his rest shall be glorious." <* 
 
 It must, I think, be obvious to every mind, that 
 this prophecy describes something more than a prophet 
 and teacher like those who were then addressmg the 
 people, — and one very unlike any of the conquerors 
 whom the world had known. It describes one who 
 was, like Moses, to combine the character of prophet 
 and teacher, with that of lawgiver, ruler and judge. 
 And he was to be a spiritual, not a secular ruler. For 
 it was to be with the 7^od of his mouth, and with the 
 breath of his lips, that he was to smite and slay the 
 wicked. This denotes his moral power, the successful 
 workings of his spirit of truth. He was to be a spir- 
 itual King, and to establish a spiritual kingdom. 
 And the benefits of this kingdom were to extend unto 
 all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews. 
 
 Such prophecies are not the inventions of those 
 Jewish leaders who spake them. They bear no re- 
 semblance to the proud, selfish, partial, national Jew- 
 ish spirit. Though uttered by Jews, they are seen to 
 be the breathings of that wisdom of God, " which is 
 
 d Isa. xi. 1— 10. 
 
276 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and 
 without hypocrisy." They describe a Messiah, to be 
 alike the Friend and Deliverer, the Salvation and 
 Glory, of Gentiles and Jews. This is a remarkable 
 characteristic of all the Scripture prophecies of Christ, 
 and a strong internal evidence that they are not Jewish 
 forgeries, but the teachings of Him who is the God 
 of all. 
 
 II. But it is the more particular design of the pres- 
 ent chapter, to elucidate the fact that the Christ of the 
 New Testament is this promised Messiah of the Old. 
 And in the prosecution of this design, we shall simul- 
 taneously carry out the subject of the foregoing re- 
 marks, the looking forward of the prophets to the 
 ONE who was to come. 
 
 1st. The time of his coming is that which had been 
 variously designated by Moses and the prophets. This 
 time had been described, both by the numbering of the 
 intervening periods, and by connecting it with a variety 
 of other great events ; events, the simultaneous occur- 
 rence of which it would be the weakest credulity to 
 admit that human sagacity could have foreseen, and 
 imagination have conceived of 
 
 There is a wonderful designation of the time of 
 Christ's coming, by description of the intervening 
 periods of time between it and another event, as re- 
 corded by the prophet Daniel.^ " From the going forth 
 of the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- 
 salem, imto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven 
 weeks, and three-score and two weeks;" i. e. sixty- 
 nine weeks. And then there was to be one week in 
 which for him to finish his work; making in all 
 seventy weeks, to "finish the transgression, and 
 
 e Dan. ix. 24—27. 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 27T 
 
 make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for 
 iniquity, — and to anoint the most Holy:" — or, in other 
 words, for sealing and establishing that covenant as a 
 moral system, which, by its efficient energies, shall 
 make an end of evil. 
 
 With regard to the reckoning of prophetic time, 1 
 adopt no enigmatical rule. I receive the record of 
 time by the prophets as by other writers, days for days, 
 and weeks for Aveeks, unless in any particular case 
 they inform me that they use one period as the sign 
 of another. And so I understand this seventy weeks, 
 taking the word weeks as it is in the original, where it 
 is sevens. It is not the word which is used for weeks, 
 but it is literally sevens. "Seventy sevens are deter- 
 mined upon thy people." Now to take this in its most 
 literal sense, we must understand the word sevens to 
 apply to the most noted and natural divisions of time, 
 especially when mentioned in reference to great and 
 important events. Such most noted and natural di- 
 visions are years. Each one of each of the sevens^ 
 being taken for a year, it is seventy sevens of years, or 
 four hundred and ninety years. And according to the 
 accepted chronology, which cannot be far from the 
 truth, Jesus Christ was offered upon the cross, and thus 
 made a sin-offering once for all, superseding the neces- 
 sity of the daily sacrifices, in just four hundred and 
 ninety years from the date of Artaxerxes' command- 
 ment to Ezra, for the completing and beautifying of 
 the temple, the reestablishment of the service of God, 
 and the more perfect restoration of Jerusalem. There 
 were other edicts, which had more particular reference 
 to the rebuilding of the walls, (fee. of the city ; but as 
 this last, by Artaxerxes, related to the completion of 
 the work and the full restoration of Jerusalem to its 
 24 
 
278 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 religious privileges and blessings, the prophetic refer- 
 ence in this case is sufficiently applicable. 
 
 This is an agreement, with wonderful exactness of 
 time, between the event and the prophecy. But more 
 wonderful, if possible, is the agreement in those cases 
 where the time of Messiah's coming is described by its 
 connexion with other important, and in some instances 
 improbable events. Moses said, " The sceptre shall 
 not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between 
 his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the 
 gathering of the people be." The word Shiloh signi- 
 fies the Sent of God. This prophecy foretells the con- 
 tinuance of regal authority in the tribe of Judah, until 
 the Sent of God should come ; and involves the facts 
 of the loss of this authority to Judah, and the coming 
 of Shiloh, as simultaneous events. And it was so, 
 taking Jesus for the promised Shiloh. Judea was 
 made a Roman province about eleven years after the 
 birth of Christ. Still some judicial authority was left 
 among them in relation to some of their domestic con- 
 cerns. But in the year 70, at an event by which the 
 cause of Christ was more generally, and permanently 
 established in the world, and which was called " the 
 coming of Christ in his kingdom ^^^ then the power of 
 that people was utterly scattered, and the distinctness 
 of the tribe of Judah was lost. So then the sceptre 
 did remain with Judah until Jesus came; and then 
 Judah fell. Is not Jesus then the promised Shiloh % 
 
 Again, it was foretold by the prophet Daniel, (chap 
 ii.) that, succeeding the then present Chaldean mon- 
 archy, there would be three universal monarchies, 
 making in all, four; — and that in the time of the 
 fourth and last universal earthly monarchy, the God 
 
 fMalt. xvi. 27,28. 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 279 
 
 of heaven would set up a kingdom which should 
 never be destroyed. It will not be disputed that this 
 indestructible kingdom is the kingdom of the promised 
 Messiah, who was to reign in righteousness, and of the 
 increase of whose government and peace there should 
 be no end. The setting up of his kingdom was of 
 course to be at his coming ; and this Avas to be in the 
 time of the fourth universal monarchy. The Roman 
 kingdom was the fourth universal monarchy on the 
 earth, and probably the last; for it does not appear 
 likely that there will ever be another. And it was in 
 the time of the Roman monarchy, when Caesar Au- 
 gustus was Emperor, that Jesus was born into the 
 world. Is not Jesus, then, the incumbent of the throne 
 of that kingdom, which the God of heaven should set 
 up in the time of the fourth universal monarchy 7 
 
 Again, with respect to the time of the promised 
 Messiah, who should, by the virtues of his kingdom, 
 constitute the proper Desire of all nations, Haggai pro- 
 phesied (chap, ii.) that he should come while the 
 second temple in Jerusalem should be standing, when 
 that house should be filled with glory. Jesus did 
 come, and teach in that temple his glorious truth. 
 But that temple is now demolished ; the very founda- 
 tions thereof have been ploughed up, and a Turkish 
 mosque is reared on its ruins. Is not Jesus, then, that 
 Desire of all nations, who should visit that second 
 temple before its dissolution ? 
 
 I might pursue this subdivision of my subject, but 
 should exceed my limits. And enough has now 
 been presented to show conclusively, that the time of 
 Jesus' coming, is the time which the prophets had 
 designated for the coming of the expected Messiah. 
 The further you carry the examination of this depart- 
 
280 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ment of the evidence of Christian truth, the more inter- 
 esting it becomes. The great variety of ways whereby 
 this time was designated, makes an examination of 
 the subject the more satisfactory. It was to be in 490 
 years from the going forth of the commandment to 
 rebuild Jerusalem ; — it was to be about the time when 
 the sceptre should depart from Judah ; it was to be in 
 the time of the fourth and last universal earthly mon- 
 archy : it was to be while the second temple in Jeru- 
 salem should be standing. And at the point of time 
 where all these events and circumstances, which the 
 prophets had foretold, not only at sundry times, but in 
 such diverse manners, and on such various occasions, 
 as evince that they were not copying each other ; 
 I say, at the point of time where all these events and 
 circumstances converge and centre, Chr^ist Jesus came 
 into the world. And such was the understanding of 
 the prophets by the Jews themselves, that they were 
 looking for their Messiah to come about that time. 
 When they were suffering their tribulations in that 
 same age, they were easily induced to follow almost 
 any artful impostor who rose up pretending to be the 
 Messiah. But the claims of all these pretenders were 
 exploded, almost as soon as they were put forth. Not 
 so with Jesus. He came at the time appointed ; and 
 his name is enduring as the sun. Is not this the 
 Christ? 
 
 2d. The Christ of the Ncav Testament, who came 
 at the designated time^ appears also in the personal 
 character ascribed to the expected Messiah by the pro- 
 phets. Unlike the character which the sentiments of 
 the world would associate with princely greatness in a 
 royal personage, the Messiah was to come, though in a 
 glory surpassing that of all the kings of the earth, yet in 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 281 
 
 meekness and lowliness, humility and love. His great- 
 ness was to be a moral greatness ; his glory was to be 
 the splendor of his doctrines, the majesty of his good- 
 ness. For a sublime description of this trait in his 
 character and mission, listen to another passage from 
 the evangelical prophet. " For he shall grow up be- 
 fore him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry 
 ground, he hath no form nor comeliness. * ^ He is de- 
 spised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and 
 acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our 
 faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed 
 him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and car- 
 ried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, 
 smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded 
 for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
 with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
 have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own 
 way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of 
 us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet 
 he opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb 
 to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
 dumb, so he opened not his mouth. * * He was cut oif 
 out of the land of the living, for the transgression of 
 my people was he stricken. He had done no violence, 
 neither was any deceit in his mouth. When thou 
 shall make his soul (his life) an offering for sin, he 
 shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the 
 pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He 
 shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied ; by 
 his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify (the) 
 many; for he shall bear their iniquities."^ 
 
 s Isa. liii. 
 
 24:* 
 
282 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 So precisely does this prophecy describe the charac- 
 ter which Jesus did indeed bear, that if we had not 
 the indubitable evidence that this was published hun- 
 dreds of years before the coming of Christ, we might 
 reasonably have indulged the suspicion that it was a 
 narrative written after the fact. 
 
 His being said to be without form or comeliness^ does 
 not refer to bodily deformity, but to the meanness of 
 his birth, the humbleness of his life, and the character 
 of his teachings, — all being unlike that which would 
 attract the gaze and admiration of the world. 
 
 He was a Tnan of sorrows and acquainted with 
 griefs^ bearing our griefs and carrying 02ir sorrows. 
 The wanderings and the sufferings of mankind were 
 observed and felt by him. He wept with the weeping, 
 and mourned with the sorrowful, and had compassion 
 on the ignorant and on them who were out of the way. 
 "When John, being cast into prison, heard of the 
 works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and 
 asked him, saying. Art thou he that should come 1 or 
 do we look for another? Jesus answered and said 
 unto them. Go and show John those things which ye 
 do hear and see ; how that the blind receive their 
 sight, and the lame walk ; the deaf hear, and the lepers 
 are cleansed; the dead are raised up, and the poor 
 have the gospel preached unto them.'"* This answers 
 to the prophetic description, which Jesus read in the 
 meeting of Jewish priests and people in the syna- 
 gogue of Nazareth, and applied to himself: " The 
 spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath an- 
 ointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath 
 sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the 
 
 •'Malt. xi. 2—5. 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 283 
 
 blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach 
 the acceptable year of the Lord." ' 
 
 It is recorded in the 8th of Matthew, that " they 
 brought unto him many that were possessed of de- 
 mons ; and he cast out the spirits with his word, and 
 healed them that were sick ; that it might be fulfilled 
 which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Him- 
 self took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." 
 Surely then he bore the griefs and carried the sorrows 
 of men. And though he was '' despised and rejected 
 of men," who hunted him as beasts of prey, for his life, 
 yet he was gentle and forgiving, and his tears flowed 
 in sympathy even for the sufferings of his enemies. 
 " When he was reviled he reviled not again; when he 
 suffered he threatened not; but committed himself to 
 him that judgeth righteously." 
 
 Thus while Jesus taught the doctrine of forgiveness 
 and love, overcoming cruelty with kindness, and evil 
 with good, he faithfully and constantly practised the 
 same. And when he had spent his allotted time 
 on earth in labors of love, and was seized by a band 
 of ruffians, dragged to a mock trial, and adjudged to a 
 shameful death, he was still meek and forbearing. And 
 knowing the fixed intent of his persecutors, and that 
 any argument of his in support of his divine commis- 
 sion would be seized and bandied by them as proof of 
 his blasphemy, he was passive in their hands, and 
 contradicted not their falsehoods. Herein was ful- 
 filled the prophetic saying before quoted, " He was 
 oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ; 
 he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
 sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not 
 his mouth." 
 
 'Luke iv. 16—22. 
 
284 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 This prophecy goes on to show that the promised 
 One whom it describes would be put to death by the 
 wickedness of his persecutors ; being taken from prison 
 and from judgment, and cut off from the land of the 
 living, because he had done no violence, and there 
 was no deceit in his mouth, — and being smitten for 
 the transgressions of the people. And when his life 
 should have been made an offering for sin, he was to 
 live again ; for he was then to see his seed, prolong his 
 days, or his existence, and the pleasure of the Lord 
 should prosper in his hand. 
 
 All these things were foretold of the Messiah of the 
 prophets ; and they were fulfilled in the Christ Jesus 
 of the New Testament. And see, on the cross, how 
 he carried out the principles of love, unconquerable 
 love, which he taught and practised in his life. He 
 was surrounded by his murderers, who were deriding 
 him in his agonies inflicted by themselves ; and yet 
 he lifted his eyes and his voice to the King eternal, 
 and in the majesty of his love he cried, — ''Father, for- 
 give them." 
 
 Then this mighty Prince of peace, when he had 
 prayed for his persecutors, and commended his spirit to 
 the Father, meekly bowed his head and died. He was 
 laid in a new tomb ; and the chief priests and Phari- 
 sees, recollecting that he had said he should rise from 
 the dead on the third day, went to Pilate, and pro- 
 cured a strong guard to be placed upon the sepulchre, 
 that the disciples might not steal away his body, and 
 report that he had risen. But on the morning of the 
 third day from his crucifixion, Jesus arose from the 
 state of death, and showed himself unto his disciples. 
 He tarried with them a sufficient length of time to 
 confirm to them the truth of his resurrection, and to 
 
€H11IST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 285 
 
 order and establish the affairs of his spiritual king- 
 dom, and he was then borne hence into the invisible 
 world, to reign in his mediatorial kingdom, until all 
 things should be subdued unto him, or, as the prophet's 
 language has it, until he shall see of the travail of his 
 sold and he satisfied. 
 
 I might multiply the comparisons on this point to a 
 much greater extent,— the comparisons, I mean, between 
 the prophecies of the Old Testament and the history of 
 the New. But the fact shines clearly in what has now 
 been presented, that the Christ of the New Testament, 
 who came at the designated time, appears also in the 
 personal character ascribed to the expected Messiah 
 by the prophets. And my closing remarks under this 
 head, have also run into an observation of the fulfil- 
 ment of the prophecies concerning the death and the 
 resurrection of the promised One, in what actually 
 took place with the blessed Son of Mary. 
 
 3d. There is a third view in which the Christ of 
 the New Testament is seen to be the Messiah of the 
 Old, viz., in his official character. The promised Mes- 
 siah of Moses and the prophets was to bruise the ser- 
 pent's head, or make an end of the evil unto which 
 the human race have become subject ; he was to make 
 blessed all nations and families of the earth ; he was 
 to be a commissioned servant of God, endowed with 
 his spirit, to be light to the blind, deliverance to the 
 captives, salvation to the Gentiles, and the redemption 
 and glory of Israel. He was to subdue the wicked 
 with the breath of his lips and the rod of his mouth, — 
 the word of his truth and grace. He was to be em- 
 phatically the Prince of i^eace ; and of the increase of 
 his government and peace there was to be no end. Or, 
 in other words, it should extend, until it should en- 
 
286 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 circle all. For there was to be given him dominion and 
 glory and a kingdom, that all nations and kindreds 
 should serve him ; and his kingdom should never be 
 destroyed, nor his dominion have an end.J And as he 
 was to be a sin offering for those whom he should 
 subdue and redeem, it was said by the prophet that 
 he should hear the iniquities of us all. 
 
 In the same official character, or characters rather, 
 is Jesus presented in the New Testament. As a j^riest 
 he is said to have made a sin-offering for the people; 
 "not by the blood of bulls and of goats, but by his 
 own blood, he hath entered once into the holy place, 
 having obtained eternal redemption for us." * " There 
 is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, 
 the man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for 
 all, to be testified in due time." " We see Jesus, who 
 was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffer- 
 ing of death, crowned with glory, and honor, that he by 
 the grace of God should taste death for every man." 
 "And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for 
 ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." ' 
 
 As a King, " He is exalted far above all prin- 
 cipality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
 every name that is named, not only in this world, but 
 also in that which is to come." ■" " God also hath 
 highly exalted him, and given him a name that is 
 above every name, that at the name of Jesus every 
 knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 
 of God the Father."" " For he must reign till he hath 
 put all enemies under his feet. Then will he deliver 
 
 1 Dan. vii. 13, 14. ^ Heb. ix. 12. 1 1 John ii. 2, 
 
 "lEph. i. 20, 21. "Phil. ii. 9—11. 
 
CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 287 
 
 up the kingdom to the Father, having put down all 
 rule and all authority and power. And the last enemy 
 shall be destroyed, (which is) death." ° 
 
 How instructive is the study of the sacred Volume ! 
 How rich is the knowledge it yields ! When we pore 
 over the statutes, and the histories, and the diversi- 
 fied teachings, of the ancient chosen people, and see 
 interspersed, at sundry times and in divers manners, 
 the sweet prophetic breathings of promise and hope for 
 the perfect One to come, the creation's Desire ; and 
 then we turn our minds to the history of Jesus, the 
 Christian's chosen Master, — our glad hearts leap up, 
 and we exclaim in the language of the admiring 
 Philip, '' We have found him of whom Moses in the 
 law and the prophets did writeJ^ 
 
 o I Cor. XV. 24—26. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 
 
 The truth of Christianity, as a revealed system of 
 rehgious hope, is involved in the truth of the Evan- 
 gelical history. This history records the life, the super- 
 human works, and the death of Jesus Christ, and his 
 resurrection from the dead as the first fruits of them 
 that slept, the hope of human kind. Give to this his- 
 tory, or to all there is peculiar to it, the character of 
 legends and forgeries, — and you relinquish all tangible 
 hold upon Christianity as such, and draw again over 
 our mortal vision^ the impenetrable vail of heathen 
 darkness. With all that candor, then, which becom- 
 eth children, made after the image of God, we will in- 
 quire into the credibility of the Gospel Records, and 
 truth of the Christian system. 
 
 I. And here in the outset we will premise, that the 
 truth of Christianity is in the nature of things probable. 
 We are not, therefore, to be predisposed to discredit 
 good evidence in its favor. We are rather to prepare 
 our minds for giving all evidence its due weight, in the 
 spirit of St. Paul's appeal for the witnesses of Jesas, 
 "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with 
 you that God should raise the dead?" 
 
 When we consider man, his intellectual powers and 
 faculties, whereby he calculates and weighs causes and 
 effects, beholds the beauty of order, and traces the foot- 
 steps of design in all the works of nature, visits the 
 revolving planets, strides among the stars, and behold- 
 ing all above, beneath and around, admires the wisdom, 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 289 
 
 and adores the benevolence of the Creator, and claims 
 to him the high relationship of children^ — we are 
 incited to inquire; — just as he begins to be, — ^just as 
 he begins to look around, — just as he begins to soar, — 
 and has tasted enough of life and knowledge to make 
 him pant for more, — must he fall back into nonentity ? 
 Must he be plunged into eternal night? Most gloomy 
 thought! And a thought as unreasonable as it is 
 gloomy. 
 
 It is unreasonable to suppose that the infinitely wise 
 and benevolent Creator has so constituted any grade 
 of creatures, as that they shall possess important, even 
 constitutional wants, infinitely beyond what he has 
 made provision to meet. The wisdom and perfection 
 of God's works in creation and providence, consist in 
 the correspondence and harmony of all its parts, and 
 the exact adaptation of everything to its proper end. 
 If you look into the brute creation, you will see the 
 form of the body, limbs, claw, tooth or beak, of every 
 animal, exactly adapted to the procuring of that kind 
 of food which its nature requires, and not a constitu- 
 tional want but what finds a provision made to meet 
 it. And it is fair to conclude, that, if the all-wise 
 Creator had designed to limit the whole sphere of 
 mans existence to a few moments here on earth, he 
 would have given him such a constitution of mind as 
 well as body, as that the productions of the earth 
 would yield him satisfaction. He would not have 
 made us so, that when we have health of body, and 
 all riches and comforts which earth affords, we should 
 feel an aching void within the breast, unsatisfied and 
 unfilled, — an earnest reaching forward for lasting good 
 to come, which never can be met but by a hope of 
 immortality. 
 
 25 
 
290 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Again, when you look into the natural world, you 
 see everything, every species of brutes and plants, 
 come up to a state of maturity. Every species, as a 
 whole, seems to answer its destined end. The tender 
 plant comes up, until it becomes a perfect herb or tree, 
 according to its kind. Nothing can be discovered in 
 its structure, which shows it to tend to any higher 
 state, or bespeaks a design for any higher end than it 
 fully answers here. Not so with man. Consider him 
 as an intellectual being. Consider his ability and 
 disposition to acquire knowledge, and his growing 
 thirst for it as he advances in it. And yet in this re- 
 spect he brings nothing to perfection here, — comes up 
 to no fixed standard of perfect knowledge. The mind 
 is but a tender shoot, when the winter of death invari- 
 ably comes upon it. (Such species of plants always 
 live and flourish again in the succeeding spring,) 
 Even the comparatively learned and philosophical 
 Newton, felt conscious of being such an infant in knowl- 
 edge, that he considered himself as a little child picking 
 up pebbles on the shore of the great ocean of philosophy. 
 
 Since, then, the human mind only enters at most 
 upon the threshold, upon the first rudiments of that 
 knowledge, for which it appears to be formed, and in 
 which it tends to advance; since it never, in this 
 world, but just tastes enough of knowledge and happi- 
 ness to make it pant, and show forth its capacity, for 
 more, — the dictates of reason are, that man is yet to 
 live ; that he is to resume his studies in another state 
 of being, and progress in that knowledge, for which the 
 constitution of his mind is so wonderfully adapted. 
 
 It is owing to this feature of the human mind of 
 which I speak, that the nations of the earth in general, 
 even the savage tribes of the wilderness, have cher- 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 291 
 
 ished expectations of another life. Without the light 
 of revelation, they have formed various and some ex- 
 travagant notions of that future state ; but the wants 
 and tendencies of the human mind have induced them 
 to seek relief from present pains and troubles, in look- 
 ing forward to another and a better life. 
 
 " The soLil, uneasy and confined from home, 
 Rests and expatiates in a life to come. 
 Lo, the poor Indian, v,'hose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind ; 
 His soul proud science never taught to stray- 
 Far as the solar walk, or milky way ; 
 Yet simple nature to his hope has given, 
 Eehind the cloud-topt hills, an humbler heaven ; 
 Some safer world in depths of wood embraced, 
 Some happier island in the watery waste ; 
 Where slaves once more their native land behold, 
 No thieves torment, nor Christians thirst for gold." 
 
 That this reasonable hope of future existence will be 
 answered, does not, even in the nature of things, 
 appear either impossible or im'prohahle. The doctrine of 
 the resurrection is no more mysterious than many things 
 with which we are acquainted. Indeed, there is no 
 more mystery in it than there is in everything we see. 
 Our own present existence, which we do not pretend 
 to dispute, is as mysterious as the resurrection from 
 the state of the dead. 
 
 II. But I will proceed to consider the nature, and 
 the manner, of the transactions which the New Testa- 
 ment records as the basis of its claim of Messiahship 
 for Jesus, and as the ground of Christian hope. 
 
 When we have come to indulge some trembling 
 hope, through the reasonings of our own minds, it 
 crowns our desire with a happy assurance^ to find ex- 
 ternal evidence on which to rely. Especially on so 
 
292 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 deeply interesting and vastly important a subject as 
 the one before us, it would give us unspeakable hap- 
 piness to receive tangible proof, to convert our travail 
 of soul into the assurance of hope. 
 
 Now if the Lord would show us one raised from 
 death to life, whom we know to have been dead, we 
 should receive it as sufficient external evidence of 
 this glorious doctrine. But would it be necessary 
 that we should see such an instance ourselves? 
 This would be to say that, in order to keep the doc- 
 trine established in the world, it is necessary that the 
 Lord should continue raising men in every country, 
 and in every neighborhood, and in every age, so that 
 every individual should be witness of it. And this 
 would be turning out of employment that investigation 
 of evidence, which improves the mind, and by which 
 "it is well that we should come into the truth. We 
 will not be so unreasonable as this. If we can find 
 account of some one person, a person of notoriety, who 
 has been dead, and raised again to life, as a sample 
 of the human race ; and if we can find this account as 
 well authenticated as many histories which we have 
 of past events, — we will be satisfied with it as a good 
 proof of the doctrine of a future life. 
 
 Well, we have a book put into our hands, containing 
 such an account, — and, I think, even better attested 
 than any history which we have, relating events that 
 transpired in ages past. I have the book now before 
 me. It gives an account of one Jesus, called the 
 Christ, sent from God on an important errand, on a 
 divine commission. It is said that he is the Light of 
 men, and came to be the Saviour of the world. He 
 was so extraordinary a personage, and bent on so 
 gracious an errand, that an angel from heaven came 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 293 
 
 and thus proclaimed his advent; — ''Behold, I bring 
 you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all 
 people." And a multitude of the heavenly host, in 
 view of the result of his glorious mission, came down 
 to the shepherds' plains, and raised their joyful song, 
 "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and 
 good will towards men." 
 
 He went on, and proved that he was sent of God, 
 and endowed with divine authority and power, by 
 a long series of miracles. He made the blind to see, 
 the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, 
 and the dead to hve. These things appear well at- 
 tested and faithfully recorded, and the miracles were 
 generally performed in such a manner, and under such 
 circumstances, as not to admit of deception. 
 
 Let us take, for instance, the case of the man born 
 blind, restored to sight. This was not done in an ob- 
 scure corner, and a person reported to have been re- 
 stored to sight, of whom no one knew whether he was 
 ever blind or not. It was done at Jerusalem, and 
 upon a person well known there. The neighbors, 
 and they Avho had seen the man who was born 
 blind, said, "Is not this he that sat and begged? 
 Some said. This is he; others said. He is like him: 
 but he said, I am he." Then they brought him to the 
 Pharisees, who also asked him how he had received his 
 sight. And he told them. But they hoped it might 
 not be made to appear that he had ever been blind. 
 So they called the parents of him that had received his 
 sight, "And they asked them saying, Is this your son, 
 who you say was born blind? How then doth he 
 now see ? His parents answered, We know that this 
 is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what 
 25^ 
 
294 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 means he now seetli, we know not : he is of age, ask 
 him : he shall speak for himself." 
 
 " Then again they called the man that had been 
 blind, and said, Give God the praise ; we know that 
 this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether 
 he be a sinner or no, I know not ; one thing I know, 
 that whereas I was blind, now I see." But they were 
 still in perplexity. "They asked him again, What 
 did he unto thee 1 How opened he thine eyes 7" 
 With boldness and good sense he answered them, ''I 
 have told you already." And on his reasoning with 
 them to show that so good a deed could not have 
 come, as they insinuated, from a bad spirit, they re- 
 viled him and cast him out. 
 
 There is no need of multiplying cases to show that 
 the miracles of Jesus were known among his enemies 
 as well as among his friends. This was generally the 
 case. His enemies did not dispute that he wrought 
 these wonders. They admitted the fact. But they 
 charged him with doing these works through the 
 agency of an evil spirit. It was as unreasonable, 
 however, as it was malicious, to ascribe all these 
 good works to an evil agency. 
 
 Concerning the character of Christ, it is unimpeach- 
 able. His doctrine bears the evidence of its being 
 from above ; and his instructions are delivered with 
 a majesty well becoming a divine Teacher. Every- 
 thing we can see in all his life, — in his works, and 
 in his doctrines, — appears totally opposite to what 
 might be expected from an impostor, aiming at his 
 own aggrandizement. 
 
 But the prejudices of the Jews against him are 
 strong ; at the spread of his doctrine they are much 
 alarmed ; and they resolve to get him out of the way. 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 295 
 
 — They seize him, — drag him before the magistrates, 
 — where he is hastily and maliciously condemned. 
 They send him up to a higher tribunal ; Pilate, the 
 judge, examines him, and is persuaded of his inno- 
 cence. But he is intimidated by the magistrates, and 
 delivers him up into their hands. They crucify and 
 bury him ; — seal the sepulchre, and set their own 
 watch upon it. A short time after, and even before 
 the very magistrates who condemned him, it is boldly 
 published that Jesus, whom they had crucified, is 
 
 RISEN FROM THE DEAD ! 
 
 Is there any evidence against this ? — What say the 
 strong guard, which were placed upon the sepulchre 
 on purpose to prevent imposition? Do they come 
 forward and show that the body of Jesus remained 
 in the sepulchre beyond the time he had set for his 
 rising? No. They make mention of the wonders 
 which took place at the set time ; and all Jerusalem 
 knows that the body was then gone from the tomb : 
 but the soldiers are hired to say, that Jesus' disciples 
 stole away his body while they were asleep. 
 
 I^et us examine this testimony, the only testimony 
 which pretends to account for the absence of Jesus 
 from the tomb, without admitting his resurrection. 
 How did they know that the disciples carried away 
 their Master's body ? Answer : Because they were 
 asleep when it was done. Such testimony is not 
 admissible ; for then they knew nothing, and of 
 course, their witness is nothing. 
 
 But how incredible is it that the watch did all 
 fall asleep. As we should naturally suppose, under 
 such an excitement, every precaution was taken to 
 prevent deception concerning Jesus' rising from the 
 
296 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 dead ; for they knew that he had said he should 
 rise again on the third day. 
 
 Therefore, '' the chief priest and Pharisees came to- 
 gether unto Pilate, saying. Sir, we remember that that 
 deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days 
 I will rise again. Command therefore, that the sepul- 
 chre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples 
 come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the 
 people, He is risen from the dead : so the last error 
 shall be worse than the first.'"" — Under these circum- 
 stances, we cannot doubt that they placed upon the 
 sepulchre such a guard, that, under the dreadful re- 
 sponsibility in which their laws placed such guards, 
 there was no danger of their all at once falling 
 asleep. 
 
 And, on the other hand, such an undertaking as 
 that of stealing away the body of Jesus, and reporting 
 that he had risen from the dead, could hardly have 
 been thought of by the disciples, with all theii tim- 
 idity, and the views they had entertained. — First^ as 
 it respects their timidity. Not one of them had cour- 
 age enough to stand by their Master when he was 
 condemned to be put to death. Even Peter, who had 
 been the most resolute, found his courage to fail. He 
 thrice denied his Lord. How then would these poor 
 cowardly fishermen have dared to risk themselves to 
 get the body of Jesus away from a strong guard, in 
 a time of such mad excitement? And second^ as it 
 respects the views they had entertained. They had 
 been expecting that Jesus would build up a powerful 
 kingdom in this world, and redeem Israel from the 
 Roman yoke. Their thoughts did not rise above tem- 
 poral things. ''We trusted," said they, "that it had 
 
 a Matt, xxvii. G3, 64. 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 297 
 
 been he which should have redeemed Israel." Such 
 being their views, we can find nothing to favor a sus- 
 picion, that the disciples would have wished to steal 
 away his body, even if they could safely have done 
 so. For if they believed that God would raise him 
 from the dead, they would rather choose to leave him 
 as he was, that the power of God might be displayed 
 and evinced before their adversaries. And if they did 
 not expect that he would rise again, all their hopes of 
 his restoring Israel were at an end ; for they could not 
 expect to make his dead body king over Israel, if they 
 had carried it away. Therefore, considering the views 
 and expectations of the disciples of Jesus at that time, 
 I can see no reason for the suspicion that they would 
 have wished to steal away his body, if they had cour- 
 age to undertake it. 
 
 No wonder that the Jews suspected them of such a 
 design ; for the progress of the cause of Christ, of the 
 nature and design of which they were ignorant, had 
 much alarmed them ; and when persons are under a 
 high excitement of fear, they will imagine a thousand 
 dangers. Their suspicions doubtless were, that the 
 disciples of Jesus might think to steal away his body, 
 and report that he had risen from the dead :-^and that 
 then they would put forward the most artful and 
 active of their number, to personify him, and draw 
 away the people after him as the Messiah, the one 
 who had been crucified and raised from the dead, 
 until sufiicient strength had been collected to seize on 
 the reins of government. But such a plan, as it ap- 
 pears, the disciples never thought of. When they 
 preached Jesus, that he had risen from the dead, they 
 never presented any personage as a claimant of an 
 earthly throne, nor did they seem to be pushing their 
 
298 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 efforts at all for promotion and power in the world. 
 They had then learned that their Master's kingdom 
 is not of this world. 
 
 But it appears to have been so evident at that day 
 that Christ was alive from the dead, that the Jews 
 themselves had hardly boldness enough to dispute it. 
 When Peter restored the lame man that sat at the 
 gate of the temple, and the wondering multitude 
 crowded around him, he addressed them on the sub- 
 ject of the resurrection of Christ, as a matter against 
 which he feared no argument. — "Ye men of Israel, 
 why marvel ye at this] Or why look ye so ear- 
 nestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness, 
 we had made this man to walk ? — The God of your 
 fathers hath glorified his So?i Jesiis ; whom ye de- 
 livered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, 
 when he was determined to let him go.'"" Though 
 the priests and rulers were angry at such addresses, 
 and were pricked at their hearts, yet they never 
 encountered them with any formal argument. 
 
 When Paul was brought before the rulers on trial 
 for his doctrine, he stood up with confidence, bold- 
 ness, and simplicity, and declared his conversation 
 which he had held with Jesus, who had been cruci- 
 fied, and raised again to life. ''And the king," saith 
 he, ''knoweth these things, before whom I speak 
 freely ; for I am persuaded that none of these things 
 are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in 
 a corner." And King Agrippa, by Paul's defence of 
 his cause, was almost persuaded himself to be a 
 Christian. What ! Notwithstanding the preaching 
 of the resurrection of Christ had raised so great an 
 excitement, and enraged the people in that coun- 
 
 b Acts iii. 12, 13. 
 
TRI/TH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 299 
 
 try to so great a degree, had they no regular testi- 
 mony against it? No. Their principal argument 
 was, to call the witnesses of Jesus Satan's children, 
 disturbers of the peace, and turners of the world 
 upside down. 
 
 But when the enemies of Christ had put him to 
 death, and had him in their own hands, knowing that 
 he had said that he should rise again on the third day, 
 — and they had taken particular care, as we might sup- 
 pose they would, to prevent any deception being prac- 
 tised by his disciples, — if he did not rise as he had 
 foretold, when the third day had passed, they would 
 have produced the body, and the whole matter would 
 have been set at rest. All the officers and people 
 who had been concerned in the crucifixion of Jesus, 
 — all these at least would have run together, and 
 made themselves certain of the fact, that Jesus was an 
 impostor. They would have shown to the world that 
 he had not risen as he said, — that they had his body 
 in their own possession. Then, if any had afterwards 
 come forward, and reported that Jesus rose from the 
 dead on the third day, abundant and regular proof 
 would have been brought against them, and their bold 
 and arrogant imposture would have been put down 
 forever. But as it is, this is so far from being the 
 case, that when a witness of Jesus' resurrection is 
 brought to trial on account of his doctrine, there is no 
 evidence against him ; and the king himself, who is 
 on the side of the witness' enemies, and before whom 
 he stands for judgment, openly declares to this minis- 
 ter of Jesus, that he is almost persuaded to believe his 
 testimony ! 
 
 Indeed, after examining, by the strictest rules of 
 criticism, the testimony of Christ's resurrection, I am 
 
300 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 unable to conceive how we could have been furnished 
 with more satisfactory evidence. Even if all the rulers 
 and people of Israel had espoused the doctrine of his 
 resurrection, it would not have been so evident as it 
 now is to us. For then, as there would have been no 
 opposition to it, we should have had more room for 
 suspicion that the whole affair was a mere fabrication, 
 which the Jewish rulers had agreed to support from 
 sinister motives. — But the opposition of the Jews, con- 
 sidering the circumstances noticed under which they 
 opposed, the kind of opposition, and the kind of suc- 
 cess which it met with, tends to confirm the testimony 
 of the Christian witnesses. 
 
 III. But may it not be that this book, which bears 
 such indubitable marks of truth, admitting it to have 
 been written, and to record what was publicly and 
 extensively preached, in the age to which it ascribes 
 these events, is itself the fabrication of a later age ? 
 That there never was such a man as Jesus Christ, 
 making the excitement in the world which is here 
 represented ; being crucified under the reign of Tibe- 
 rius Csesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of 
 Judea ; and being preached soon after as risen from 
 the dead ? That there were not, shortly afterwards, 
 churches formed in his name, at Rome, Corinth, 
 Ephesus, &c., nor any such men as Paul, Peter, and 
 others, visiting among such churches, and writing to 
 them the letters which are herein contained? — May 
 it not be that this book was wholly forged in some 
 later age, and palmed upon the people as having been 
 written in the age to which it assigns these events 7 
 - No. Such a supposition cannot be admitted for a 
 moment. It does not bear sufficient marks of prob- 
 ability, or even possibility^ to be adhered to by any 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 301 
 
 man of respectable discernment. Fix upon what time 
 you will for the bringing forward of this forged book, 
 say some time in the third century. This would be, 
 of course, the origin of the sect who espouse the 
 system it contains. I might rather say, it would be 
 the origin of the system itself. Yet the book professes 
 to have been written three centuries before; and it 
 represents its cause and its converts as having been 
 notorious, and extended throughout Judea, Jerusalem, 
 Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, 
 Thessalonica, and other countries, in that long passed 
 age, — three centuries before the sect was ever heard 
 of, or ever started in the world ! It is plain to be seen 
 that the book must have destroyed itself the very day 
 of its appearance. 
 
 I can find no more reason to doubt there having 
 been such a man as Jesus Christ, and that all these 
 things herein stated were said and written about him 
 at the time they purport to have been, and by the 
 persons to whom they are ascribed, — than I have for 
 doubting that there was such an emperor as Tiberius, 
 such a governor as Pilate, and such a king as Agrippa ; 
 or that the works ascribed to Josephus were written 
 by the man whose name they bear. 
 
 That there was a person called Jesus Christ, the 
 founder of the sect called Christians, who lived and 
 was crucified at the time stated by the book before us, 
 the New Testament, — and that shortly after, there 
 were churches formed in his name, in Rome, and 
 other places, where Paul and other apostles are herein 
 represented as having visited, preached, and written, 
 — these things, I say, are supported by the testimony 
 of our enemies. I will instance a quotation from 
 Tacitus^ a celebrated Roman historian and pleader 
 26 
 
302 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 under the reign of Domitian and Nerva, whose reigns 
 were between fifty and sixty-five years after the death 
 of Christ. He wrote the work to which I refer, how- 
 ever, five years after the death of Nerva, about severity 
 years from Christ's crucifixion. In giving an account 
 of the setting of fire to Rome, by Nero, an event which 
 took place about thirty years after the crucifixion, 
 Tacitus writes thus: — "But neither these exertions, 
 nor his largesses to the people, nor his offerings to the 
 gods, did away the infamous imputation under .which 
 Nero lay, of having ordered the city to be set on fire. 
 To put an end, therefore, to this report, he laid -the 
 guilt, and inflicted the most cruel punishment, upon a 
 sect of people, who were held in abhorrence for their 
 crimes, and called by the vulgar, Christians. The 
 founder of that name was Christ, who suffered death 
 in the reign of Tiberius, under his procurator Pontius 
 Pilate. This pernicious superstition, thus checked for 
 awhile, broke out again, and spread, not only over 
 Judea, where the evil originated, but through Rome 
 also, whither everything that is bad finds its way, 
 and is practised." With what this writer says of the 
 character of the Christian religion, we have no concern. 
 It is not an hundredth part so strange that he was un- 
 acquainted with the excellency of the system, and called 
 it a pernicious error, as it is that some learned profes- 
 sors of Christianity, in this day, should be almost totally 
 ignorant of the doctrine we profess, except its name, 
 and should call it a pernicious heresy. But this emi- 
 nent heathen historian is good evidence, that the Chris- 
 tian doctrine, after the crucifixion of Christ, started 
 anew and with vigor in Judea, (just as the New Tes- 
 tament writers represent,) and soon extended itself 
 even unto Rome : — and that the author of this religion 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 303 
 
 was the crucified Jesus, who also suffered under Pon- 
 tius Pilate. 
 
 Finally, of the genuineness of the writings which 
 we have in the New Testament, there is more evidence 
 than of that of any other work of as early date. This 
 is as it should be. The abundance of evidence should 
 always correspond with the importance of the subject. 
 This is truly the fact in the case before us. The his- 
 torical books of the New Testament, in particular, by 
 which I mean the four Gospels, and the Acts, are 
 quoted and referred to as authentic and genuine, by a 
 connected chain of Christian writers and commenta- 
 tors, from some cotemporary with, or immediately suc- 
 ceeding the apostles, down to the present time. But 
 I have not room here to make quotations from them. 
 I will barely say, that from the heginnmg there were 
 but four Gospels mentioned as being relied upon as 
 indisputably genuine, and they are the four which are 
 embraced in our Scriptures. 
 
 In short, we need no better evidence than we have, 
 that the account which we have before us of the life, 
 the doctrine, the death, and the resurrection of Christ, 
 was written and made public in the same age and 
 country to which these things are ascribed. And there 
 is not to be found, against the resurrection of Christ, 
 any better argument than the one before considered 
 and found to be nothing, — that the disciples stole 
 away the body while the guard were asleep. 
 
 But why should the Jews have been such deter- 
 mined enemies to Jesus 7 Or why should they have 
 persisted in declaring him an impostor? They did 
 not, as we have seen, deny the reality of the works 
 which the Gospels ascribe to him ; but they charged 
 his wonderful powers upon a confederacy with evil 
 
304 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 demons. Even Celsus, in his work against Chris- 
 tianity, written in the 2d century, admitted the mira- 
 cles of Jesus, but, Uke his brethren of the Saviour's 
 time, ascribed them to demoniacal agency. But why 
 did they charge him with imposture? His life, suf- 
 ferings and death, so exactly answered to the descrip- 
 tion which their prophets had given of the expected 
 Messiah, that, in reading the prophets, we should 
 think, if we did not know to the contrary, that we were 
 reading a narrative of Jesus written by a personal ac- 
 quaintance. And they have indicated the time, too, 
 with such precision, that the Jews generally were 
 looking for his advent as near. These prophetic books 
 are held sacred by the Jews. Our enemies have been 
 our librarians^ keeping for us the Scriptures, which 
 point out the character, and the time of our Saviour. 
 
 And he came at the time their prophets had foretold. 
 But because they knew him not, neither the voice of 
 their prophets, which were read every Sabbath day 
 amongst them, they fulfilled them in condemning him. 
 Though he came in the character which the prophets 
 had described, yet it was not as their national pride 
 and worldly ambition had pictured to themselves. 
 But he disdained to play the impostor that he might 
 gain their favor. He steadily pursued his heavenly 
 Father's will. Through trials and persecutions, he 
 labored in the cause of love and good will to men. 
 He died on the cross, and was laid in the tomb. " But 
 note is Christ risen from the dead^ and become the first 
 fruits of them that slejjty 
 
 Since, then, God has kindly given us so good external 
 evidence of that doctrine, which is so reasonable, and 
 for which we have such real need, such constitutional 
 want, we will gladly receive it for the satisfaction of 
 
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 305 
 
 our souls. Since Christ, the First Fruits, has come in,' 
 we will steadfastly look for the coming of the harvest. 
 " Though now we see him not, in him believing, we 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiv- 
 ing the end of our faith, even the salvation of our 
 souls." 
 
 26* 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 " For as in Adam all die ; even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 
 XV. 22. 
 
 In the preceding chapter, we examined some of the 
 evidence touching the truth of the Gospel history. 
 On the main facts recorded by this history, comprised 
 in the writings of the New Testament, we ground, as 
 Christians, our system of reUgious faith. In the said 
 examination we did not take an extensive range of 
 argument, for so we might have filled, with that single 
 subject, an expensive volume. We restricted this de- 
 partment of our labor to a few of the most direct, com- 
 prehensive and conclusive arguments, available to the 
 simplest and most illiterate reader. 
 
 Among the important facts established by the record, 
 are those of the crucifixion of Jesus, and his resurrec- 
 tion from the state of death as the first-fruits of them 
 that slept. Receiving Christ, then, in this relation to 
 mankind, as alive from the dead, our own resurrection 
 to a future life is a consequent truth. So does the 
 apostle argue, in that portion of his writings from 
 which I have taken my key-text and motto^ at the head 
 of this chapter. Having certified the fact of the resur- 
 rection of Christ, he proceeds to argue the resurrection 
 of all men in him. 
 
 It appears, from the manner of his discourse in the 
 commencement of the chapter, that there were some in 
 Corinth who admitted the Messiahship and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, and yet denied the doctrine of the gen- 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 307 
 
 eral resurrection. "For I delivered anto you first of 
 all, that which I also received, how that Christ died 
 for our sins according to the Scriptures ; and that he was 
 buried, and that he rose again the third day according 
 to the Scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, 
 then of the twelve ; after that he wa:5 seen of above 
 five hundred brethren at once ; of whom the greater 
 part remain unto this present, but some are fallen 
 asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of the 
 apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, 
 as of one born out of due time. Now if Christ be 
 preached that he rose from the dead, how say some 
 among you that there is no resurrection of the dead 7 
 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is 
 Christ not risen : and if Christ be not risen, then is our 
 preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and 
 we are found false witnesses of God ; because we have 
 testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he 
 raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." 
 
 The apostle further shows them that they were, 
 upon the whole, losers by professing the Christian 
 name, if they were looking for nothing through Christ 
 but temporal things. For the most valuable doctrine 
 of the gospel of Christ, is that of a glorious immortal- 
 ity beyond the tomb. This answered to their wants, 
 supported them under trials, gave them joy in afflic- 
 tions, and a heaven on earth. 
 
 While their spirits were cheered and animated by 
 this blessed hope, and their hearts were warmed by 
 the love of Christ, they could faithfully labor to dis- 
 seminate this gospel, and bless mankind; — and what- 
 ever were the persecutions, or external hardships they 
 met with, they were yet the most happy of all men 
 on earth. Their lively and exalted hope of immor- 
 
S08 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 tality, was worth more than all temporal goods, or 
 worldly ease. 
 
 But if they hoped in Christ for nothing but temporal 
 things, then their hope was worth no more than that 
 of their unbelieving enemies. In that case, by openly 
 professing the name of Christ, they subjected them- 
 selves to those additional troubles and persecutions, 
 without the advantage of that infinitely valuable hope 
 of immortality, to more than counterbalance them. 
 
 " But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
 the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man 
 came death, by man came also the resurrection of the 
 dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive." 
 
 It is the grand object of our present inquiries, to 
 obtain a correct understanding of the Scriptural doc- 
 trine of the resurrection. We must understand what 
 the doctrine of the resurrection is, before we can know 
 whether to rejoice, or to mourn, in contemplation of it. 
 Paul does not, while dwelling on this subject, call 
 upon the people to choose whether they will have 
 endless happiness or endless misery, in the future 
 state ; but he urges the doctrine of the resurrection, in 
 opposition to the doctrine of no future existence — of 
 perishing like the brutes. And to know whether to 
 rejoice or to mourn on account of his doctrine, I must 
 know whether that resurrection state which Christ 
 has brought to light, is better or worse than no exist- 
 ence at all. 
 
 I shall perhaps look with the more care and dili- 
 gence into this subject, on account of the views which 
 many of the learned and pious of my elder Christian 
 brethren have entertained upon it. The views which 
 they have held on man's immortal state, would render 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 309 
 
 the doctrine of the resurrection far more gloomy to me 
 than that to which the apostle was engaged in oppos- 
 ing it. Yes, even if I expected to share with the most 
 favored class, I should never think on the subject of 
 the resurrection, but with insupportable pain and an- 
 guish of heart. My horrors would be as great, at 
 least, as those expressed by Young, when he thus 
 approaches the subject of his doctrine on the future 
 state : — 
 
 " Horrors beneath, darkness on darkness, hell 
 Of hell, where torments behind torments dwell ; 
 A furnace formidable, deep and wide, 
 O'er-boihng with a mad sulphureous tide. 
 Expands its jaws, most dreadful to survey, 
 And roars outrageous for the destined prey. 
 
 # # # # * 
 
 " I faint, my tardy blood forgets to flow, 
 
 My soul recoils at the stupendous woe ; 
 That woe, those pangs, which from the guilty breast, 
 In these, or words like these, shall be expressed :— 
 
 Who burst the barriers of my peaceful grave ? 
 Ah ! cruel death, that would no longer save. 
 But grudged me e'en that narrow dark abode. 
 And cast me out into the wrath of God ; 
 
 Where shrieks the roaring flame, the rattling chain 
 And all the dreadful eloquence of pain. 
 Our only song ; black fire's malignant light 
 The sole refreshment of the blasted sight." 
 
 Such are the vivid colors, lurid with madness and 
 horror, in which learned divines have portrayed the 
 condition into which, they say, the resurrection shall 
 introduce countless milhons of our race. If I can be 
 made to believe it, I will go sorrowing all my days. 
 I make no appeal to tlie selfish principle here,— no 
 allusion to the class into which I or you may fall. I 
 speak as a member of the great intelligent family, to 
 
310 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 whom existence is a thankless gift, unless it is on the 
 whole a blessing, and around the whole circle of 
 whom should flow the spirit of the royal law, " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Who, in the 
 exercise of this Christian spirit, even forgetting him- 
 self as to his own allotment, would not regard as a 
 calamity, a source of regret rather than of hope, the 
 resurrection, as a whole, of the human family, in the 
 light of those human doctrines 'I 
 
 Now the true Christian "faith is the substance of 
 things hoped for f^'' and by its influence upon the 
 mind it produces "joy unspeakable and full of glory." ** 
 Suppose there is a family who are living in the 
 enjoyment of kind affection, and of a common share 
 of earthly good. But they have no hope of a life to 
 come ; and when they think of death, as certain soon 
 to sever those ties of love, and quench those intelli- 
 gent spirits, forever — it fills their minds with dark- 
 some gloom. A member of the loving group is sick 
 unto death, and they are all sitting in melancholy 
 mood, pondering upon their hopeless separation. A 
 messenger enters their silent mansion, and professes 
 to come with authority to assure them of another, 
 and an endless life. They all start up from their 
 seats with joyful surprise, and the very dying child 
 rises up in his bed, to hear the full statement of the 
 messenger. He proceeds to say, that they shall all 
 be raised up from the sleep of death, into a life that 
 shall never end ; — that one half of their number 
 shall be placed upon seats of bliss, — and the other 
 half plunged into a sea of liquid fire, looking up 
 with a countenance distorted with agony, crying for 
 the Power that made them, to strike them out of 
 
 a Hob. xi. 1. ^ I Peter i. 8, 9. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 311 
 
 being, and their cries answered with scalding volleys 
 of increasing vengeance — forever ! Who could pic- 
 ture the sad disappointment of the listening family 7 
 Who could describe the more killing anguish, and 
 the multiplied sorrows, of such as should believe the 
 message? Their turning to this description of a 
 future life, for relief from the gloomy thoughts of 
 eternal sleep, is "as if a man did flee from a lion, 
 and a bear met him ; or went into the house, and 
 laid his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.'" 
 They would delight to go back, like the subjects of 
 Jupiter in the fable, to their respective former allot- 
 ments. 
 
 I do not speak this, under an impression that our 
 choice about these things can alter the purpose of 
 God. I rejoice that it cannot ;— for I verily believe 
 that the purpose of God is such, that, when rightly 
 understood, every reasonable being must supremely 
 prefer and admire it. But I have made these reflec- 
 tions to induce you to a very strict and prayerful 
 inquiry, whether the life and immortality which Jesus 
 brought to light through his gospel, in a view of 
 which saints of old, and angels in heaven rejoiced, 
 is such, that a benevolent heart must prefer to it, 
 even as a whole, the darkness of eternal non-exist- 
 ence for the race. 
 
 Upon this grand subject of inquiry, involving the 
 value of the resurrection to man, we are now pre- 
 pared to advance. And in pursuit of our object, we 
 will methodically consider the key-text we have 
 chosen ; and, in connection with it, we will avail 
 ourselves of the light of the context, and of the 
 general Scripture teachings on the subject. 
 
 c Amos V. 9. 
 
312 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 1st. ''As in Adam all die." Let it be here ob- 
 served, that the apostle does not say, "As in Adam 
 all rfiec?," six thousand years ago ; — alluding, as some 
 have understood it, to the total fall and corruption of 
 human nature in the first transgression. But, " As in 
 Adam all die.'''' He speaks in the present tense, im- 
 plying a sense in which all are noiv in Adam. Is 
 there any sense in which mankind are, universally, 
 in Adam? We are in Adam by an inheritance of 
 the Adamic or earthy nature. We are in the image 
 of the earthy man. The apostle so explains it after- 
 wards in the same chapter. " The first man is of the 
 earth earthy ; the second man is the Lord from hea- 
 ven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are 
 earthy ; and as is the heavenly, such are they also 
 that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image 
 of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
 heavenly." 
 
 In this earthy man, or in the image of the earthy, 
 as exhibited in the first Adam, " all die." We are 
 all partakers of mortality and death." "All flesh is 
 grass, and the glory of man is as the flower of grass." 
 " Man cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down, — he 
 dieth, and wasteth away." 
 
 2d. " Even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 When you carefully consider here the apostle's antith- 
 esis^ his putting our participation of life in Christ, 
 over against our participation of mortality and death 
 in Adam, the sentiment clearly expressed is this, — 
 that we shall then be in Christ " even so," or in the 
 same sense in which we are now in Adam ; that we 
 shall inherit his state and nature ; — 'that Christ will 
 be as properly the "Head of every man" in the 
 resurrection state, as Adam is reckoned to be in this ; 
 
THE R"ESURRECTION. 313 
 
 — that we shall not only be immortal like him, but 
 possessed of the same moral nature, governed by the 
 same moral principles. 
 
 But Paul does not leave us to gather this important 
 sentiment alone from an observation of his antithesis^ 
 in the text. Though it is clearly involved in this, to 
 one who duly considers it, — yet he proceeds directly 
 and distinctly to declare this essential fact in the 
 character of the immortal state. This explanation 
 follows the text: — "But every man in his own 
 order : Christ the First-fruits ; afterwards they that 
 are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
 when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
 God, even the Father ; when he shall have put 
 down all rule, and all authority and power. For he 
 must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his 
 feet. The last enemy shall be destroyed, death. 
 For he hath put all things under his feet. But 
 when he saith. All things are put under him, it 
 is manifest that he is excepted who did put all 
 things under him. And when all things shall be 
 subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself 
 be subject to him that put all things under him, 
 that God may be all in all." 
 
 From this we learn, Jii^st^ that at the resurrection, 
 men will not only be immortal, but also subject to 
 Christ ; — that then will take place the ultimatum of 
 the gospel plan ; and Christ, having accomplished his 
 work, and subjected all to his blessed reign, will 
 deliver up the kingdom to God the Father. And, 
 second, that the all things which are to be subjected 
 to Christ, comprehend all beings excepting God, who 
 put all things under him. And also, third, that the 
 sense in which all are to be subject unto Christ, is 
 27 
 
314 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 the same as that in which he will be subject to God 
 the Father; consisting in a willing and reverential 
 siibmissionj and a oneness of mind and character. 
 For when Paul speaks of the subjection of Christ to 
 the Father, in connection with the subjection of all 
 things to Christ, he must have expressed a common 
 meaning by the word subjection, or else there is no 
 harmony in the sentence. This blessed sense in 
 which the human family is to be subjected to Christ, 
 had been clearly expressed in the same epistle, in 
 the 11th chapter. "But I would have you to know 
 that the head of every man is Christ ; and the head 
 of the woman is the man ; and the Head of Christ 
 is God." 
 
 After having thus connected with the resurrection 
 this important subjection to Christ, this oneness of 
 mind with him, — and then considered some foolish 
 questions of his opposers relating to the bodies with 
 which the dead should be raised, the apostle resumes 
 again his discourse on the character of the immortal 
 state. "One star differeth from another star in glory. 
 So also is the resurrection of the dead." — That is, as 
 God has made many different kinds of bodies, and 
 has made some stars to differ from other stars in 
 glory, so also will he make us in the resurrection 
 state to be different from what we are in the present. 
 "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown 
 in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown 
 in dishonor ; it is raised in glory : it is sown in weak- 
 ness ; it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body ; 
 it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
 body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is 
 written. The first man, Adam, was made a living 
 soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 31j5 
 
 Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but 
 that which is natural ; and afterwards that which is 
 spiritual." — Here follow the three verses which were 
 quoted to the subject of dying in Adam. They are 
 further explanatory of the text, showing the sense in 
 which we are in Adam, and in which we shall be 
 in Christ. "The first man is of the earth, earthy; 
 the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is 
 the earthy, such are they also that are earthy ; and 
 as is the heavenly, sach, are they also that are hea- 
 venly. And as Ave have borne the image of the 
 earthy, we shall also bear the image of the hea- 
 venly." 
 
 Further he says, " This corruptible must put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortal- 
 ity. So when this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
 mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying 
 that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory." 
 This saying Paul quoted from the prophet Isaiah : — 
 " He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord 
 God will wipe away tears from off all faces."'* 
 Hence it appears that the immortal state is free 
 from all cause of pain and sorrow, so that when 
 death is swallowed up in victory, tears will be wiped 
 away from off all faces. The whole resurrection is 
 like the First-fruits. " Now is Christ risen from the 
 dead, and become the First-fruits of them that slept." 
 And the same writer lays it down as a theological 
 axiom, "If the first-fruits be holy, the lump is also 
 holy." 
 
 The same is the doctrine which Jesus taught, with 
 great plainness, concerning the resurrection state. In 
 
 d Isa. XXV. 8. 
 
316 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 controversy with the Sadducees, who say there is no 
 resurrection, Jesus said, (Matt. xxii. 29, 30,) "Ye do 
 greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 
 of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry 
 nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of 
 God in heaven." Here the whole subject of the resur- 
 rection is before them ; — the question is, whether the 
 human species are to live again after death. The 
 Sadducees say, no. And they now bring a case of a 
 woman who had seven husbands, in order to present 
 some difficulty in the way of the regulation of society 
 in the future state. They do not appear to conceive 
 any question, but that, according to Jesus' doctrine of 
 the resurrection, the woman, and the seven men who 
 had been her husbands, would all live again, and all 
 in the same world ^ as much as they did on earth. 
 
 And Jesus, in his answer, did not undertake to de- 
 scribe how that probably a part of the persons they 
 spoke of would be howling in infinite torments, and 
 the others rejoicing over them ; — nor did he undertake 
 to frighten them into a profession of the doctrine of 
 the resurrection, by telling them that they would find 
 it true when it would be too late for them to be bene- 
 fited by it. No ; — He answers with a dignity well 
 becoming a divine teacher : " Ye do greatly err, not 
 knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For 
 in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given 
 in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven." 
 And then, in support of the doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion, he refers them to their own Scriptures, where 
 God spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, long after 
 their death, in such a manner as recognized them still 
 in existence, or destined yet to live. Here the fact is 
 distinctly stated, that the resurrection state is, without 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 317 
 
 any limitation or reserve, as the state of the angels of 
 God in heaven. 
 
 Jesus is represented as declaring this sentiment with 
 equal plainness, in Luke xx. 35, 36: — "But they 
 which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, 
 and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor 
 are given in marriage : neither can they die any 
 more ; for they are equal unto the angels ; and are the 
 children of God, being the children of the resurrec- 
 tion." 
 
 Jesus leaves no room for the notion that there will 
 be an immortal slate, in which men will continue in 
 sin and shame, the characteristic children of the 
 wicked one. ''They," without distinction, '-'■they 
 which shall be accounted worthy to obtain the resur- 
 rection from the dead, shall be equal unto the angels ; 
 and are the children of God, being the children of the 
 resurrection." 
 
 Hence it is certain, that if there are any who will 
 not become sharers of a glorious and happy immortal- 
 ity, being children of God, — they will never be raised 
 at all into an immortal state. For the gospel reveals 
 no other. There is a sect of Christians, sometimes 
 called annihilationists^ who believe there are some 
 such, — some who will never be raised again from the 
 dead. And they have used the Scripture last quoted 
 as favoring their views. They have laid particular 
 emphasis on the word, worthy. " They which shall be 
 accounted looriliy to obtain the resurrection from the 
 dead." This they have considered to apply exclu- 
 sively to a particular class, whose virtues entitle them 
 to an immortal state of being, as a just reward. 
 
 But an attention to the general doctrine of the gos- 
 pel, and a due consideration of the several records 
 27** 
 
318 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 made of this same discom-se of our Lord to the Sad- 
 ducees, will expose the incorrectness of this opinion. 
 Though this doctrine is not a millionth part so appal- 
 ling as that popular doctrine which we quoted from 
 Young, yet its glory is not worthy to be compared 
 with that of the gospel. Jesus Christ and his apostles 
 urge the doctrine of suitable rewards and punishmentSj 
 pending the conduct of men ; but they never give 
 out the idea, that a future immortal state of existence 
 is either to be bought or sold by the doings of men in 
 time. If such had been the sentiment which Jesus 
 expressed to the Sadducees ; if the word worthy was 
 applied to the moral desert of men, as procuring for 
 themselves a resurrection state, — then this would cer- 
 tainly have been the most important word in the 
 whole conversation. It would have contained a point 
 in the doctrine of the resurrection, which every faith- 
 ful witness would have kept foremost^ whenever he 
 spoke or wrote on the subject. 
 
 Rut of the three Evangelists who have recorded this 
 discourse of Jesus, two have not used the word worthy 
 at all. Matthew writes, '■^For in the resurrection — 
 they are as the angels of God in heaven." And Mark, 
 (xii. 25,) " For when they shall rise from the dead, — 
 they are as the angels which are in heaven." Now, 
 although there are frequently some verbal differences 
 in the records which the several Evangehsts have 
 made of the same discourses of Christ, yet they are 
 all particular to give every important idea ; they omit 
 no distinguishing point of doctrine, which any dis- 
 course they record was meant to enforce. This con- 
 sideration, together with the general sentiment of the 
 Scriptures, obliges us to conclude that the word ivorthy^ 
 which IiUls:c alone has used in this case, (and he is the 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 319 
 
 Evangelist who did not personally hear the words of 
 Jesus,) was not intended to apply to the moral desert 
 of human conduct, but to the worth or value which 
 God sets upon his creatures, according to the scale of 
 being in which he has placed them. The same idea 
 is expressed by the word vahie^ in Matt. x. 31; "Ye 
 are of more value than many sparrows;"— and also 
 the word better, in Matt. vi. 26 ; " Behold the fowls of 
 the air! are ye not much better than they?" Moral 
 desert could not have been meant by the words value 
 and better, because in this respect there is no com- 
 parison between man and the fowls and sparrows. 
 The reference was to God's estimate of them as his 
 intelligent children. So of the word worthy in the 
 case before us. In this view, the three Evangelists 
 represent Christ as speaking the same sentiment, viz., 
 that they on whom God sets such value as that he de- 
 signs to give them a resurrection from the dead, shall 
 be as the angels in heaven, and characteristic children 
 of God. And who are they? Answer: The human 
 species. " For as in Adam all die; even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive." " There shall be a resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, both of the just and the unjust."" 
 
 In the latter passage, while we have an answer to 
 the question, "who shall share in the resurrection 7 " 
 and an answer, too, which precludes all cavil as to its 
 speaking of the whole race, or a particular class of 
 men, we have also a clear indication of the character 
 of that state. The resurrection of mankind, even of 
 the unjust, was to the apostle an object of hope. This 
 he could not have said if he had believed the unjust 
 would be raised up, and held up in being forever, for 
 the sake of an endless existence of suffering. If Paul 
 
 e Acts xxiv. 15. 
 
320 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 had believed this, he would have said of it as he said 
 of the foreseen temporal sufferings of the Jews, that 
 the contemplation occasioned " great heaviness and 
 sorrow." But hope involves expectation and desire ; 
 and to charge the benevolent soul of the apostle with 
 desiring an existence of infinite evil to a portion of 
 his fellow-creatures, would be an outrage of common 
 decency. No ; the inspired ministers of Jesus viewed 
 the universal resurrection of the dead, as altogether a 
 subject of thanksgiving and praise, of consolation and 
 hope. And there is no testimony of the Scriptures, 
 which evidently relates to the literal resurrection, 
 which contradicts this sentiment of hope, or casts a 
 shade upon it. The gift of immortal life to man is 
 not according to the purpose of God alone, but it is ac- 
 cording to the purpose and grace of God, which are 
 brought to light through the gospel.^ 
 
 Resurrection to Condemnation. 
 
 There are a few passages in the sacred Volume, 
 which have been thought by some to teach a different 
 doctrine; and these we will examine at the present 
 stage of our progress. The most important text of the 
 class referred to, is that in John v. 28, 29: ^^ Marvel 
 not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that 
 are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come 
 forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection 
 of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection 
 of damnation.''^ 
 
 These words were pronounced by our Lord before 
 the unbelieving Jews, when they had been seeking to 
 kill him because he healed an impotent man on the 
 
 f2 Tim. i. 9, 10. 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 321 
 
 Sabbath day, and also called God his Father, making 
 himself, as they construed it, equal with God. Much 
 reliance has been placed on this text, by some, for sup- 
 port to the sentiment of endless guilt and condemna- 
 tion. They have supposed it to be a declaration of 
 the literal resurrection of all men from the state of the 
 dead, into a final, fixed, and eternal state ; — a state of 
 unalterable happiness to some, and of unalterable 
 misery to others, according to their works on earth. 
 
 If this be the sense of the text before us, we wish to 
 know it. No person in his right mind can wish to be 
 deceived, or to misunderstand the word of God. Truth 
 will stand. And so far as we deceive ourselves, if it 
 be by any abuse of the opportunities we have for correct 
 information, we must suffer a just punishment for our 
 iniquity. Every sober man's inquiry is, What is 
 truth ? When he reads and considers any portion of 
 the Scriptures, his fervent desire is, to know what the 
 inspired writer or speaker meant. He is equally cau- 
 tious against taking from, and adding to, the word, in 
 any case. For one of these practices as well as the 
 other, is treating with disrespect that wisest and best 
 of Beings, by v/hose inspiration the Holy Scriptures 
 came. It is, in effect, to say, that He is not so capa- 
 ble as ive^ to plan a system of religion to be revealed 
 to mankind. Under a solemn sense of our own little- 
 ness, and of the unerring wisdom of Him, who dehv- 
 ered the words above quoted, let us proceed with 
 impartial candor, and prayerful earnestness, to seek 
 the true meaning of his speech. 
 
 It is my usual custom, when inquiring into the 
 meaning of an important text upon which many learned 
 and pious of my elder Christian brethren have given 
 an opinion, in respect to them, and in dislike to all 
 
322 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 needless innovation, to examine their opinions first; 
 and viewing them by the light of Scripture, to follow 
 them so far as they have followed the Divine testi- 
 mony. This course I will pursue in the present case. 
 1. I have already mentioned the popular opinion, 
 that the text relates to the introduction of all men into 
 a final and unalterable state. But here we deem it a 
 solemn duty to inquire, what is the Scriptural author- 
 ity for such an opinion 7 There is certainly nothing 
 in the text, nor in the context, which authorizes the 
 opinion that Jesus here spoke of all men being intro- 
 duced into an unalterable state. The declaration is 
 simply this: "The hour is coming, in the which afl 
 that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
 come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resur- 
 rection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the 
 resurrection of damnation." Nothing is here said 
 about their condition becoming unchangeable. Where 
 then shall we find support for this opinion 1 Do the 
 tScripticres in general, when speaking on the state and 
 kingdom which God will fix and make unalterable, 
 afford us any good reason for understanding the text 
 in the sense which is now in question 7 Very far from 
 it. Jesus here speaks of some men coming forth into 
 a state of condemnation. Now is it the sentiment of 
 Scripture in general, that a state of sin and condemna- 
 tion is ever to be established of God, as a final, fixed, 
 and unalterable state 7 Every person who is conver- 
 sant with the Scriptures knows better. To what part 
 of the Bible will you direct me, that I may find the 
 word of Jehovah pledged, for his building up, immor- 
 talizing, and unchangeably fixing the reign of darkness 
 and condemnation 7 You will not undertake to show 
 me a text which speaks so strange a sentiment. The 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 323 
 
 word of God engages for the support of the opposite 
 cause, that of holiness and peace ; and for the putting 
 down of the reign of evil. In execution of his word, 
 he has commissioned and ordained his Son, and given 
 him all power in heaven and in earth, to destroy sin, 
 and subdue all things to himself — to his own holy 
 reign. This has been abundantly exemplified in pre- 
 ceding parts of this volume. 
 
 Now, since it is an undeniable truth, that with the 
 annihilation of sin, and the subjection and reconcilia- 
 tion of all men to God, guilt and condemnation will 
 cease, it follows of course that God, whose revealed 
 purpose is that sin shall be destroyed, and all men 
 reconciled to him, does not design to establish a state 
 of guilt and condemnation as a final and unalterable 
 state. For surely he has not two purposes directly 
 opposite to each other. He has not purposed to make 
 eternal like his own existence, that which he has pur- 
 posed to destroy. 
 
 Forasmuch then as our text does not suggest that 
 the state of condemnation into which it says that some 
 '^ shall come forth," is their final and unalterable state ; 
 and the word of inspiration elsewhere recorded forbids 
 the supposition that a state of guilt and condemnation 
 ever will be unchangeably fixed, — we cannot adopt 
 the common opinion on this Scripture. Even admit- 
 ting that Christ here spoke of the literal j^esurrection 
 with immortal bodies^ we cannot admit that he spoke 
 of the introduction of all into an vmalterable state of 
 mind. For if when all are raised with immortal 
 bodies, some are in a state of guilt and condemnation 
 of mind, in opposition to Christ, — though their bodies 
 may not be changed, there must be yet a change of 
 mind. For Christ must reign, and will not deliver up 
 
324 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY, 
 
 his kingdom to God the Father, until he has subdued 
 and reconciled all to himself. So long, therefore, as a 
 single mind remains in opposition to Christ, his whole 
 work is not done, and there must of course be yet 
 some further change. 
 
 Having ascertained that Christ in the words before 
 us, whether he spoke of the literal resurrection or not, 
 did not teach the introduction of all men into their 
 final and unalterable condition of onind, we are now led 
 to question whether he did speak with reference to the 
 literal resurrection. 
 
 What is the evidence, we inquire, that Jesus here 
 spoke of the literal resurrection ? Do you rely on the 
 particular language which he used '? On the phrase, 
 *'A11 that are in the graves — shall come forth 7" It 
 does not follow from this that the literal resurrection 
 was meant ; for such language is sometimes used in 
 the Scriptures in a figurative sense. Indeed, most 
 words and phrases which literally express any state, 
 or condition, or local situation of man, or apply to 
 natural objects in the earth, are also used in a figura- 
 tive sense, with application to various subjects. 
 
 The TYiountain is used for exaltation and stability ; 
 as in Isa. ii. 2: "The 7nountain of the Lord's house 
 shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and 
 shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall 
 flow unto it." Here the true religion of heaven is called 
 a mountain, to signify its exalted character, and per- 
 manent establishment. The 7'ock is likewise employed 
 as an emblem, to represent permaneiicy and 2^e?]fection ; 
 as in Deut. xxxii. 4: *' He is a Bock, his work is per- 
 fect." And as the perfection of God and the perma- 
 nency of his word are represented by the 7'ock, they 
 who trust in him and walk in the light of his counte- 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 325 
 
 nance, are said to stand upon a rock ; — while the op- 
 posite unsettled state of unbelief and sin, is figura- 
 tively represented by the horrible pit and miry clay ; 
 as in Ps. xl. 20: ''He hath brought me up also out 
 of the horrible pit, and of the miry clay, and set my 
 feet upon a rock, and established my goings." The 
 prison-house is likewise used as an emblem in the 
 sacred Scriptures, to signify the dark and enslaved 
 state of mind from which Christ would redeem sin- 
 ners. See Isa. xlii. 6, 7 : "I will give thee for a cove- 
 nant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles ; to open 
 the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
 prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison- 
 house." The terms sleep ^ and death^ are figuratively 
 used to express a carnal and stupid state of mind. 
 And coming out of this stupid state is called awaking^ 
 and arising from the dead ; — as in Paul to the Ephe- 
 sians : "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
 dead, and Christ shall give thee light." 
 
 The term grave is also used as an emblem, to de- 
 note a very low, degraded and oppressed condition. 
 And the redemption of persons from this low state of 
 trouble, is called their being brought up out of their 
 graves. See Ezek. xxxvii. 11, 12, 13 : " Then he said 
 unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house 
 of Israel : behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and 
 our hope is lost : we are cut off for our parts. There- 
 fore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord 
 God, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause 
 you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into 
 the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the 
 Lord, when I have opened your graves, and brought 
 you up out of your graves, — and shall place you in 
 your own land." Here the redemption of the Jews 
 28 
 
326 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 from their seventy years' Babylonish captivity, was 
 signified to them by the promise of God, that he would 
 cause them to come up out of their graves, to inherit 
 the land of Israel. 
 
 And now I inquire, what reason have you to offer why 
 we should not understand that this coming forth from 
 the graves^ under consideration, is likewise a figurative 
 expression of some change of condition with persons 
 living on the earth. The Greek word rendered graves 
 in this case is the same, or a derivative from the same, 
 that the LXX. use for graves in the 12th verse of the 
 passage just cited from Ezekiel. It is not hades^ the 
 state of death, from which the Scriptures represent 
 that the literal resurrection brings mankind ; but it is 
 mnemeia^ the tombs^ graves^ or sepulchres. Therefore, 
 if we apply the text to the literal resurrection, we 
 shall make it a very partial resurrection, the resurrec- 
 tion only of such as have been regularly buried. But 
 thousands have lived and died, who were never in- 
 terred in miiemeia or graves. The bodies of the ante- 
 diluvians mouldered to dust upon the surface of the 
 ground. The bodies of the Sodomites were burnt to 
 ashes, and their ashes probably scattered to the four 
 winds of heaven. The same has been the fate of mul- 
 titudes of others, both of the wicked and the just. 
 And the carcases of thousands of Jews, who perished 
 in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, were food 
 to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. 
 
 But though there have been so many thousands of 
 the human species who were never interred in sepul- 
 chres or graves, yet they all went to hades^ the state 
 of death. Jacob said of his son Joseph, "I will go 
 down into hades to my son mourning."^ He did not 
 
 s Gen. xxxvii. 35. 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 327 
 
 mean by hades any single grave or tomb, for he did 
 not suppose that Joseph was entombed. He beheved 
 that Joseph was eaten up by an evil beast. But it 
 was into the unseen state of death that Jacob expected 
 to go, to be like his beloved son. Hades is used to 
 express this state, and it is from this state that the 
 resurrection is represented as raising mankind. The 
 Scripture doctrine of the resurrection has nothing to do 
 with the dust which is deposited in mnemeia^ the 
 tombs ; it relates to the raising of the intellectucd man 
 from hades^ the state of death.*" He who is the resur- 
 rection and the life proclaims his purpose, saying, 
 ''O death, I will be thy plagues ! O hades, I will be 
 thy destruction !"' And when the resurrection of all 
 men is completed, then the triumphant exclamation 
 will be raised, "O death, Avhere is thy sting? O 
 hades, (state of death,) where is thy victory?"^ The 
 
 h When that spiritual part of man, which, being organized with the 
 grosser earthy matter, constitutes him a living, rational, and moral being, 
 goes out at death into a disorganized state, that disorganized state is what 
 is expressed by the term hades, state of death. It is the state in which Sol- 
 omon says, (Eccl. ix. 10,) " There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor 
 wisdom." But when this same spirit, be it sooner or later, is, by the omnific 
 povrer of God, regci>erated in organized bodies of the refined and heavenly 
 substance, preserving its identity and resuming its consciousness, this be- 
 comes a perfect resurrection from hades; — and this second organized man is 
 not of the dust of the ground — is not of the earth, earthy ; but is of the hea- 
 venly substance, or heavenly nature. As we have seen, " The first man is 
 of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from heaven. And as we 
 have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the hea- 
 venly." (1 Cor. XV. 47, 49.) "For we know that if our earthly house of 
 this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
 made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this v/e groan, earnestly 
 desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven ; — that 
 mortality might be swallowed up of life." (2 Cor. v. 1, 4.) Then will 
 this mortal put on immortality ; that is, we, as rational beings, who here 
 exist in mortal constitutions, shall then exist in constitutions immortal and 
 heavenly. 
 
 i Hos. xiii. 14. J 1 Cor. xv. 55. 
 
328 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 circumstance, thereforCj that the text speaks of a 
 coming forth from mnemeia^ the tomhs^ into which 
 there are thousands of the dead who have never en- 
 tered, and with which the literal resurrection has no 
 concern, — this circumstance, I say, argues strongly in 
 favor of this Scripture's heing taken, like the coming 
 up out of mjiemeia, the tombs or graves, in Ezekiel, as 
 a figurative expression of some event on the earth. 
 
 Where, then, is the argument for applying this 
 Scripture to the subject of the literal resurrection? 
 Will you refer me to the context ? Will you say that 
 the context shows that Jesus was speaking on the sub- 
 ject of the literal resurrection 7 I answer, the context^ 
 so far from showing that Christ spoke in the text of 
 the literal resurrection, favors^ and perhaps I may say. 
 authorizes the conclusion, that the text was intended 
 to be taken in a figurative sense. Begin at the 24th 
 verse: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that re- 
 ceiveth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, 
 hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condem- 
 nation : but is passed from death unto life." Here is 
 a passing from death unto life spoken of, which all 
 will allow to he Jigiiraiive ; meaning the passing out 
 of unbelief and its concomitant evils, signified by the 
 term, death, into faith in Christ and its connected 
 blessings, expressed by the term, life. 
 
 Jesus proceeds, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, The 
 hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear 
 the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall 
 live." Christ in this verse repeats the sentiment 
 expressed in the preceding, but with this addition. 
 While in the preceding verse he simply stated that 
 whosoever receiveth his word hath passed from death 
 unto life, in this he emphatically declares and engages 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 329 
 
 his own agency in causing the dead to hear and receive 
 his voice, and to pass from death unto hfe: saying, 
 " The hour is coming and now is, when the dead 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of God," &c. To 
 show the fulfilment of this, St. Paul, a considerable 
 time afterwards, said to a numerous circle of brethren, 
 "You hath he quickened^ who were dead in trespasses 
 and sins." 
 
 Now, considering that Jesus spoke the words of this 
 text while he was thus engaged in discoursing on a fig- 
 urative resurrection, and that he did not intimate that 
 he changed his subject from a figurative to the literal 
 resurrection, we have no reason to believe that any 
 such change of subject was made. Even should we 
 say nothing of other reasons against taking this text in 
 a literal sense, the connection in which it is found 
 rather requires us to consider it figurative. 
 
 But I have another, and a very important circum- 
 stance to present, which bears with great weight 
 against the common opinion on this Scripture. The 
 circumstance is this. Wherever the literal resurrection 
 is evidently spoken of, it is represented as introducing 
 mankind into a state free from all sin, and guilt, and 
 shame, even as the angels of God that are in heaven. 
 The proofs of this fact have been, thus far, the main 
 business of this chapter. 
 
 From the foregoing considerations it appears abun- 
 dantly evident, that this text, which speaks of some 
 coming forth " to the resurrection of condemnation," 
 is not on the subject of the literal resurrection. And 
 since the lajiguage of the text will admit of being con- 
 strued as figurative^ and the context requires such a 
 construction, and the testimony of Scripture in general 
 28* 
 
330 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 forbids any other, — we can, with full satisfaction, 
 dismiss the common opinion concerning it ; and pro- 
 ceed — 
 
 2d. To inquire for the true meaning of this Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 Jesus had just said that they who received his word 
 had passed from death unto life; and that the hour 
 was coming and then was, when the dead should hear 
 his voice and live. "For," said he, "as the Father 
 hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son 
 to have life in himself. And hath given him author- 
 ity to execute judgment also, because he is the Son 
 of man." 
 
 " Marvel not at this." Marvel not at what? Mar- 
 vel not at what I have said concerning the efficacy of 
 my word to affect the state and condition of those who 
 receive it, and of my authority to execute judgment ; 
 "for the hour is coming in which" you shall witness 
 my " authority to execute judgment," and see a more 
 extensive display of Divine power; when not only 
 those who receive my word shall realize the sway of 
 my authority, but even those who continue to be my 
 enemies and persecutors shall feel the effect of the judg- 
 ment which God hath given me to execute. "All 
 that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
 come forth." That is, all who may be in situations 
 resembling in some respects the dead in the tombs, 
 shall be aroused by the judgments which I shall exe- 
 cute. " They that have done good, unto the resurrec- 
 tion of life, and they that have done evil, unto the 
 resurrection of damnation." That is, they that have 
 done well shall come into a confirmed and more 
 full enjoyment of life and happiness ; and they that 
 have continued in unbelief and evil doing, shall be 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 331 
 
 aroused to their full measure of guilt and condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 Now of what display of his authority to execute 
 judgment, then coming, is it most likely that Jesus 
 spoke? The judgment on which the other three 
 Evangelists have, by their records, represented Christ 
 as speaking more frequently and emphatically than on 
 any other particular judgment, is that which was to 
 inflict the dreadful punishment upon the disobedient 
 Jews, of which Moses and the prophets had long fore- 
 warned them. And since Christ, according to the 
 other three Evangelists, spoke so frequently and so 
 emphatically upon this judgment, representing it to 
 be the most terrible that ever was or ever shall he^ it 
 would have been strange if John had passed this sub- 
 ject entirely unnoticed, and never once introduced it 
 in all his narrative. But there is no discourse of 
 Christ which John has recorded, that more evidently 
 refers to this judgment than the text before us. It 
 speaks of a wonderful display of the power and au- 
 thority of Christ to execute judgment, and a striking 
 distinction between those that do good and those that 
 do evil. And the discourses of Christ recorded by the 
 other Evangelists, on the judgment which was then 
 coming upon the Jews in that generation, call it em- 
 phatically, The revelation of the So?i of man in j)oicer 
 and great glory ; ^ and speak of the same distinction 
 of character; of the awarding of life and favor to 
 faithful disciples, and shame and distress to the wicked 
 and disobedient. And you will further bear in mind, 
 that Jesus addressed these words to that same people 
 whom the judgment then coming in that generation 
 
 k See Matt. xvi. 27, 28 ; xxiv. 30 ; xxv. 31. Mark xiii. 26. Luke xxi. 
 22, 27. 
 
332 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 was to arouse to the suffering of shame and condem- 
 nation. And he addressed them on the same occa- 
 sion on which the other EvangeUsts represent him 
 as speaking to them most pointedly concerning that 
 judgment; viz., the occasion of their determined oppo- 
 sition to his wholesome instructions, and seeking to 
 put him to death. And this is not all which we have 
 to offer, for applying this Scripture to the judgment 
 which was then at hand. The form of the verb used 
 here to express the coming of this event, denotes that 
 it was approaching^ — that it was, as it were, on its 
 way. " The honr is coming ^ Our Lord was in this 
 place discoursing on what then was^ and what was 
 then approaching^ or next in order. The same phrase 
 occurs in the 25 th verse. ^' The hour is comings and 
 noiD is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son 
 of God." This work of quickening them who were 
 dead in sin, which was yet coming, had also begun 
 to be. 
 
 The phrase erchetai hora, which in this text is ren- 
 dered the hour is coming, occurs in six other instances 
 in John's gospel, in all of which it applies to events 
 which were then near approaching. (See chap. iv. 
 verses 21 and 23; and chap. xvi. verses 2d, 4th, 25th, 
 and 32d.) These passages relate to the more perfect 
 establishment of spiritual gospel worship, the persecu- 
 tions to be endured by the Christian disciples, their 
 dispersion at the time of his crucifixion, and his after- 
 wards showing them more plainly of the gracious 
 counsels of God. These were all approaching events, 
 and accordingly Jesus said of them, as of the event 
 spoken of in the text, erchetai hora, the hour is 
 coming. Thus in every other case where John's 
 gospel has the phrase which in this place is rendered. 
 
RESTJRRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 333 
 
 the hotir is comijig^ it is used in reference to an event 
 which is approaching. And the Scriptures generally, 
 perhaps I may say invariably, when they say of any- 
 thing that it is comings or it cometh^ mean that it ap- 
 proacheth^ or that it is next in order of time to some- 
 thing else spoken of Therefore the circumstance, 
 that of the time of the judgment which is the subject 
 of the text, it was said, the hour is comings corrobo- 
 rates the view which is so evident from other consid- 
 erations, that it was the then approaching judgment 
 of that generation. 
 
 In confirmation of the opinion that the text applies 
 to the judgment which was to come in that generation, 
 an opinion which we have drawn from a consideration 
 of the occasion on which it was spoken, and a compar- 
 ison of this with discourses of Christ recorded by 
 other Evangelists, and from the fact that of the time 
 of its fulfilment it was said to be then '-^ coming^'' I 
 I will refer you to a parallel passage in the 12th of 
 Daniel. ''And at that time shall Michael stand up, 
 the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy 
 people : and there shall be a time of trouble, such as 
 never was since there was a nation, even to that same 
 time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, 
 every one that shall be found written in the book. 
 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to 
 shame and everlasting contempt." This Scripture, 
 learned divines of all denominations have considered, 
 and that with the greatest propriety, to be parallel 
 with that in John. The awakening from the dust of the 
 earthy some to everlasting life^ and some to shame ayid 
 everlasting contempt^ in Daniel ; and the coming forth 
 from the graves ; they that have done good unto the 
 
334 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 7'esnrrectwn of life ^ &c., in John, — are evidently spok. 
 of as the same event. And since Jesus so clearly 
 informs us in what event this prophecy of Daniel 
 was to have its fulfilment, this^ parallel with the 
 record of John, explains that. 
 
 Jesus, in discoursing to his disciples on the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem and events connected therewith, 
 referred to this very chapter in Daniel, saying, 
 ''When ye therefore shall see the abomination of des- 
 olation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, — then let 
 them which be in Judea flee into the mountains ; — for 
 then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since 
 the beginning of the Avorld to this time, no, nor ever 
 shall be." Here Jesus speaks of the same time of 
 trouble of which Daniel spoke ; and he then fixes the 
 time to that generation. 
 
 In the generation in which Christ was on earth, 
 therefore, was that fulfilled which Daniel spoke; 
 ''And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never 
 was since there was a nation even to that same time. 
 And many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
 awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
 and everlasting contempt." And I cannot see the 
 least shadow of a reason to doubt that Jesus in the 
 text spoke of the same event. We should very natu- 
 rally have supposed, that Avhen Jesus was addressing 
 the people to whom the prophets spoke, and on a par- 
 ticular judgment which they had predicted, he would 
 sometimes use the language which they had used on 
 the same subject. 
 
 It is plain that events did take place in the time of 
 that judgment, which, considering the ancient mode 
 of speaking and writing, justified the strong language 
 of the text, as spoken with reference to it. When 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 335 
 
 Jesus was here, he used to address the Jews as the 
 most wicked people then on earth. Yet he found 
 them hiding under false pretensions of piety ; and cal- 
 culating to escape the Divine threatenings, to which 
 their works so clearly proved them to he subject. 
 And, according to Joseph us, though after this time, 
 succeeding and increasing calamities came upon them, 
 yet they slept on still. They appeared to be blind to 
 the enormity of their sins, and deaf to all the threat- 
 enings of God,— until they began to experience this 
 '^ great tribulation, such as was not since the begin- 
 ning of the world, no, not ever shall be." When 
 these terrible calamities began to break forth upon 
 them, then they were waked from the dust ; they were 
 called forth from the graves, or the secret places in 
 which they had been sleeping,— they were roused from 
 their dormancy. They came forth to a sense of their 
 own shame, to the resurrection of condemnation^ — and 
 suffered that dreadful punishment, of which Moses and 
 the prophets, and the Son of God, had so repeatedly 
 forewarned them. 
 
 And this judgment did not affect the wicked alone; 
 it affected the faithful disciples of Jesus, too. It called 
 them forth into a more full enjoyment of life and hap- 
 
 1 The word hrisis, rendered damnation in the text, is the same word that 
 is rendered judgment in verse 27th, and condemnation in verse 24th. It 
 signifies judgment, condemnation, and punishment. See Parkhurst on 
 this word. In this case it means the same punishment that is, in jMatt. 
 xxiii. 33, called " the damnation of hell," rijg xniosvjg reg yEevrj;c, the pun- 
 ishment of gehenna, or of the Valley of Hinnom. The prophets had tes- 
 tified of a punishment to come on the Jews, which should make their 
 city like Tophet in the Valley of Himiom ; and that Jesus meant the same 
 temporal calamity by the punishment of gehenna is evident, in that he 
 certified in the succeeding verses that all these things, these calamities, 
 should come on that generation of the Jews, and should make their house 
 unto them desolate. 
 
336 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 piness. They had been pressed down under grievous 
 persecutions, and the calamities of war prevailed in 
 all the land. And when everything in the natural 
 world appeared blackness and darkness, no doubt con- 
 siderable darkness brooded over their 7ni?ids. We 
 know that some things which Christ said to his dis- 
 ciples when he was with them, they did not under- 
 stand until after they were fulfilled. For instance, 
 though he had repeatedly told them that he should be 
 put to death, and should rise again on the third day, 
 yet when he was crucified they were disconsolate, and 
 understood not what he had told them, until " The 
 Loi^d Imd risen indeed.''^ So, likewise, notwithstand- 
 ing Jesus had given his disciples frequent instructions 
 concerning this most dreadful judgment, and had 
 engaged that they should meet deliverance, even as 
 Daniel said, "Then shall thy people be delivered, every 
 one that shall be found written in the book," yet we 
 may reasonably conclude that when the terrible calam- 
 ities of war, pestilence, and famine, were added to the 
 grievous persecutions they were experiencing from the 
 hands of the Jews, they were, for a time, in great 
 darkness and trouble. But they were all delivered 
 from the calamities of this war ; and likewise from the 
 persecutions of the Jews. This explained and fulfilled 
 the promises of Jesus relating to their salvation in this 
 judgment; — and at the same time that it saved them 
 from the principal of their temporal distresses, it of 
 course cleared away the clouds which these evils had 
 spread over their minds, confirmed their faith and con- 
 fidence in him, raised them into more light, and renewed 
 and advanced their enjoyment of gospel life and peace. 
 Now this important change in the condition of the 
 disciples, so wonderfully wrought, was as properly 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 337 
 
 called their coming forth from the graves^ through the 
 authority of Christ, to the resurrection of life, as the 
 redemption of the Jews from Babylonish captivity into 
 their own land, was called of the Lord, by Ezekiel, the 
 bringing of them, up from their graves, to inherit the 
 land of Israel And equally striking is the declara- 
 tion, They that have done evil shall come forth to tht 
 resurrection of condemnation, to express this effectual 
 arousing of the wicked and unbelieving from their 
 graves of secrecy and refuge of lies, to misery, 
 "shame and contempt." "* 
 
 m Since I published the first edition of a sermon on this passage, I have 
 had the privilege of reading the works of Newcomb Cappe, an English 
 divine, in which I find the same explanation given this Scripture that I 
 have here given it. As he was a believer in the doctrine of future punish- 
 ment, his prejudices would have inclined him to apply this Scripture to that 
 subject, were it not that he felt obliged, by the clear evidence in the case, to 
 apply it otherwise. And I think it must have been the clear evidence in 
 the case, that led two persons, of difierent sentiment on the subject of future 
 punishment, residing in distant parts of the world, and having no knowledge 
 of each other's writings, to give this Scripture so precisely the same sense, 
 and in a manner so similar. The following is his paraphrase on the two 
 verses embraced in the passage before us, with the three preceding verses, 
 beginning with the 25th :— " Verily I say unto you, the period is approaching, 
 and is not far off", when, after my exaltation, they who are now insensible and 
 inattentive to the teachings, and warnings and ministry of the Son of man, 
 of me, in my present humble circumstances, will hear my voice, when, being 
 constituted the Son of God, I shall speak from heaven, by the Holy Spirit, 
 sent to my apostles ; and they that hear shall live. (26.) For as the Father 
 liath life in himself, and hath the power of giving life unto the dead, so 
 hath he given to the Son the like power : he will enable him, by means of 
 the Holy Spirit, accompanying the witnesses of his resurrection, to quicken, 
 to give apprehension, sensibility, and discernment, to many who seem now 
 to have them not, who are figuratively and spiritually dead : he will enable 
 him to endue the converts to his gospel with the gifts of the Spirit, and thus 
 raise them from the dead, in imparting to them new principles of life ; and 
 besides this, he will enable them to preserve their natural lives in the ap- 
 proaching desolations of their country; thus will the Father honor him 
 whom ye calumniate and reject. (27.) Nevertheless, it is not for such gra- 
 cious purposes alone, that I am ordained unto a kingdom ; though I am a 
 •Son o/vjian, low as I now am, and undistinguished from among the com- 
 mon of mankind, I am appointed also to judge, and to execute judgment 
 
 29 
 
338 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 But my readers may wish to be informed of the 
 j)roof that the prophetic declaration of the text, with 
 such interpretation as has now been given it, was ever 
 fulfilled by corresponding /acA Were the disciples of 
 Jesus preserved during those tribulations which de- 
 stroyed their oppressors? And were they preserved 
 unto such circumstances as constituted a resurrection 
 or deliverance from their preceding state of trouble and 
 persecution ? — The history of the Christian church fur- 
 nishes us with a satisfactory answer to this inquiry. 
 
 The believing or Clwistian Jews, icere preserved 
 through the destruction which came on their country. 
 "It was under the government of St. Simon," says 
 Tillemont, "that the (Christian) Jews left Jerusalem 
 by God's order, before that city was besieged in the 
 year 70, and withdrew beyond Jordan into the city of 
 Pella."" And their lives were not preserved unto 
 
 upon this untoward generation. (28, 29.) Let not what I say amaze you ; 
 suffer not yourselves to be lost in groundless hesitating and unprofitable 
 wonder : believe me, for it is true, not only that the hour is very near at 
 hand, when some who are now perfectly inattentive, and insensible to 
 my call, shall hear the voice in which I will address them, from my ap- 
 proaching state of exaltation, and being obedient thereto, shall live ; but 
 it is alike true that though farther off, yet the time is at no great distance, 
 within the compass of this present generation, when all that now are 
 in the graves, who at present sit in darkness and the shadow of death, the 
 whole body of the Jewish people, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, 
 summoning them to judgment ; and being then at length all awakened to 
 perceive who and what he is, shall come forth out of their present state of 
 darkness and ignorance, to a new state of mind, to a resurrection, which to 
 those who have been obedient to the calls of Providence, shall issue in the 
 preservation of their lives, amidst the calamities which shall overwhelm 
 their country ; to those who have refused to hearken to them, shall issue in 
 tlicir condemnation, to fall among them that fall, and to take their share in 
 all the bitterness of the calamities that are hastening to involve this coun- 
 try." Cappe's Works, vol. i., pp. 322 — 325. Such is the agreement of Cappe's 
 opinion with the view which we have offered on this Scripture. 
 
 n Till. Eccl. Mem., vol. ii., p. 145, — referring to Eusebius, lib. de Demon- 
 stratione Evangelica ; Paris, 1627, 3 c. 5, p. 124. 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 339 
 
 continued persecutions and tribulations, but unto the 
 promised season of rest and peace. For Tillemont 
 adds, that, " after the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 Christians returned thither, and appeared with reputa- 
 tion by reason of a great number of prodigies and 
 miracles, so that the church of Jesus Christ flourished 
 again there, being composed of a great number of 
 Jews, who had embraced the faith, and thus continued 
 luitil the city was destroyed again in the last years of 
 Adrian." The last years of Adrian were about A. D. 
 139, which makes the time when the Jewish Chris- 
 tians had the peaceful occupancy of Judea and Jeru- 
 salem, after the dispersion of their nation, to be more 
 than 60 years. 
 
 Gibbon says, that " The Jewish Christians, who 
 united the law of Moses with the Christian religion, 
 remained in solitude in Pella about 60 years, enjoying 
 tlie comfort of visiting the Holy City^ which they loved 
 and revered. They were vastly outnumbered by the 
 Christians from Gentile nations, who rejected the 
 Mosaic ceremonies. But under the reign of Hadrian 
 the desperate fanaticism of the Jews filled up the mea- 
 sure of their calamities, and the Romans exercised the 
 rights of victory with unusual rigor. A new city was 
 founded on Mount Sion, privileged as a colony ; and 
 the Jewish Christians, or Nazarenes^ by giving up their 
 Jewish habits, enjoyed a free admission into the colony 
 of Hadrian." Of course there was then no opposition 
 to Christians only as they were confounded with 
 Jews. In reference to this historical fact, Jortin, in 
 his remarks on Ecclesiastical History, on the words 
 of Christ, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- 
 herit the earth," says, " This was literally fulfilled, 
 
 Gibbon's Rome, vol, ii., chap. 15, p. C6. 
 
340 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 when the beheving Jews returned to their own coun- 
 try, after the destruction of Jerusalem.''^ 
 
 The historical researches of Milner have led hirn to 
 the statement of the same fact. He says that, "the 
 congregation of Christian Jcavs were commanded, by 
 an oracle, revealed to the best approved among them, 
 that before the wars began, they should depart from 
 the city, and inhabit a village beyond Jordan, called 
 Pella. Thither they retired, and were saved from the 
 destruction, which soon after overwhelmed their coun- 
 trymen. And in so retiring they at once observed the 
 precept, and fulfilled the well known prophecy of their 
 Saviour. The death of Nero, and the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, would naturally occasion some respite to 
 them from their sufferings ; and we hear no more of 
 their persecuted state until the reign of Domitian, the 
 last of the Flavian family, who succeeded to the em- 
 pire in the year 81. He does not appear to have 
 raged against the Christians, till the latter end of his 
 
 reiffu. 
 
 55 q 
 
 But concerning the Christian church in general, 
 there is no account of any persecution against it, after 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, until that of Domitian, 
 A. D. 95. Fleury, who seems to be particular to men- 
 tion all the trovhles of the church, even those which 
 tradition reported, makes mention of none before this; 
 and this he represents as " short, and not violent."' 
 Milner says, that " Nerva, Domitiaii's successor, pub- 
 lished a pardon for those who were condemned for 
 impiety, recalled those who Vv^ere banished, and for- 
 bade the accusing of any man on account of impiety 
 or Judaism. Others, who were under accusation, or 
 
 P Jort. Rem. vol. i, p. 72. fl Miln. Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 104. 
 
 •^Fleu. Eccl. Hist., vol. i., b. 2, pp. 151—2—3. 
 
RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 341 
 
 under sentence of condemnation, now escaped by the 
 lenity of Nerva. This brings us to the close of the 
 century, in which we behold the Christians, for the 
 present, in a state of external peace." 
 
 Thus it is abundantly shown in history, that the 
 prophecy of our Lordj with the application which all 
 the circumstances we have considered require us to 
 make of it, has been wonderfully fulfilled. During 
 the rage of those calamities which overthrew the Jew- 
 ish nation, the Christians were preserved. And after 
 that event, the Jews having lost the power, and per- 
 haps in a measure their disposition to molest them, the 
 Christians enjoyed a considerable season of undis- 
 turbed rest from persecution. They enjoyed a season 
 of at least twenty-jive years of quietude, without mo- 
 lestation, from the year 70, when the Jews' overthrow 
 was consummated, to the year 95, the commencement 
 of Domitian's persecution. And with the exception 
 of this light persecution of about one year's continu- 
 ance, the time of rest to the Christian church extended 
 to between thirty and forty years ^ which probably ran 
 out the natural lives of all who became followers of 
 Christ when he ministered on earth, and of most of 
 those who espoused his cause in season to share with 
 his disciples in the persecutions which preceded the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 When the Christians had witnessed what their Mas- 
 ter had before told them concerning their own suffer- 
 ings in his cause, and then what he had said of that 
 judgment which should arouse their persecutors from 
 their graves of self-righteous security, into shame, 
 condemnation, and destruction, — and what he had 
 said also concerning their own preservation, and suc- 
 ceeding season of peace ; when they had witnessed all 
 29* 
 
342 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 these things, they had an entrance into life of a double 
 nature. They not only received a resurrection, a de- 
 hverance, from these persecutions which had threat- 
 ened them with death, into the enjoyment of their 
 natural lives in external peace and safety,' but these 
 events must so have disciplined their minds, and con- 
 firmed and built up their faith, as to raise them also 
 into a very enlarged enjoyment of the gospel religion, 
 which is called everlasting life/ For though the be- 
 lievers had everlasting life, as in John iii. 36, yet at this 
 time they were raised into a new and enlarged enjoy- 
 ment of it. What a pleasing and wonderful fulfilment 
 of our Saviour's prophetic declarations, one of which is 
 contained in this text ! The reader may have the 
 satisfaction of reflecting, that he need not wrest these 
 prophetic Scriptures from their most evident meaning, 
 by any private interpretation, to avoid opposing them 
 to fact. 
 
 Kind reader, a careful attention to the Scriptures, 
 and to corresponding historical facts, has rendered the 
 subject of our present inquiries plain and clear. The 
 truth on this subject we have found to be worth our 
 seeking. It enables us, in the present case, to under- 
 stand the complete fulfilment of the Scripture before 
 us, and to improve it as an ''example" and "admoni- 
 tion," to ourselves, without cutting short the v/ork of 
 the Saviour, or discouraging the prayers of saints. It 
 enables us to believe what God hath threatened, and 
 to believe too what God hath promised; to look 
 through the dimness of those tears, which sin, and 
 pain, and death, have drawn from our eyes, — and be- 
 hold Jesus triumphant, death swallowed up in victory, 
 
 8 Matt. xvi. 25, 26 ; xxiv. 31. Luke xxi. 28. 
 iMatt. xiii, 43 ; xxv. 29, 46. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 343 
 
 sin banished the universe of God, and tears wiped 
 away from off all faces ! 
 
 St. Paul treats with brevity on the subject of the 
 resurrection, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, 
 (iv. 13 — 18.) Then the succeeding chapter is com- 
 menced with these words; — "But of the times and 
 seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto 
 you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of 
 the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when 
 they shall say. Peace and safety, then sudden destruc- 
 tion cometh upon them." 
 
 The immediate succession of this language to the 
 above-mentioned description of the resurrection, has 
 led different people to different erroneous applications 
 of the said description. Some have used it as proof 
 that there is to be a judgment connected with the 
 resurrection, which shall execute sudden and final 
 destruction on a portion of our race. Others, finding 
 the idea of wrath and destruction never connected 
 with the immortal resurrection, have concluded that 
 the apostle did not treat upon that subject in the pre- 
 ceding chapter. They have applied what is there 
 said of the raising up of them that sleep, to the same 
 event as is signified in the fifth of John, by the resur- 
 rection to life, and to damnation. But both these ap- 
 plications of the subject I take to be wrong. 
 
 In the first place, the, conclusion of chapter fourth, 
 refers evidently to the literal resurrection. The apostle 
 says, " But I would not have you to be ignorant, 
 brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye 
 sorrow not, even as others, which have no hope. For 
 if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so 
 them also which sleep, in Jesus will God bring with, 
 him," (or, as Wakefield and others render it, "even so 
 
344 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 them which sleep will God through Jesus bring with 
 him.") " For this we say unto you by the word of the 
 Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the 
 coming of the Lord, shall not prevent {^rj (pdaaM/usv^ 
 shall not go before) them which are asleep. For the 
 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 
 with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of 
 God ; and the dead, in Christ shall rise first : (that is, 
 the dead shall rise in Christ first :) then we which are 
 alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
 them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and 
 so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, com- 
 fort one another with these words." 
 
 That St. Paul treats the subject of the literal resur- 
 rection of the dead in the 15th of 1 Corinthians, none 
 will dispute. And I will now show that the passage 
 just quoted relates to the same subject. 
 
 First; — In addressing the Corinthians, the apostle 
 makes the resurrection of Christ the ground of the 
 Christian hope of immortality. ''If Christ is not 
 raised, then there is no resurrection of the dead. But 
 now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
 first-fruits of them that slept." So here to the Thes- 
 salonians he says, " For if we believe that Jesus died 
 and rose again, even so them also which sleep will 
 God through Jesus bring with him." 
 
 Second ; — To the Corinthiaps he represents that all 
 who sleep or may sleep in death, shall be raised, or 
 made alive "in Christ." So here, "Even so them 
 which sleep will God in or through Jesus bring Avilh 
 him." And again, at verse 16th, " The dead shall rise 
 in Christ first.'''' It has commonly been taken to 
 mean that there is a certain class of the deceased, in- 
 cluding such as had been righteous on earth, who are 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 345 
 
 called the dead in Christy and who will rise before the 
 rest of the dead. But on close observation, it will be 
 seen that there is but one class of the dead spoken of, 
 and that is the deceased of mankind as a species. "I 
 would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- 
 ing them which are asleep," — i. e. the human dead. 
 Again, " Even so them also which sleep^'''' i. e. the dead 
 in general, spoken of above, "in Jesus will God bring 
 with him." And yet again, " The dead^ in Christ shall 
 rise first." And what next? Is there another class 
 of the dead to be raised afterwards 1 Nothing is said 
 of any such fact. The next thing mentioned is, 
 " Then we which are alive and remain, shall be 
 caught up together with them in the clouds." So, 
 then, "them which sleep," in verses 13, 14, and "the 
 dead," in verse 16, are all who are to be subjects of 
 the resurrection of which the apostle here testifies, 
 except those who shall be alive on the earth at the 
 completion of the resurrection work. And by placing 
 the comma after the word dead, in verse 16, "the 
 dead, in Christ shall rise first," or "the dead shall 
 rise in Christ first," the sentiment is made to be in 
 perfect agreement with that to the Corinthians, " Even 
 so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 Third ; — The apostle to the Corinthians represents 
 that all the dead shall be raised, before the last of the 
 living shall be made immortal. "For the trumpet 
 shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorrup- 
 tible, and (then) we shall be changed." So here to the 
 Thessalonians, " For we which are alive and remain 
 imto the coming of the Lord, shall not go before thein 
 which are asleep. For the dead shall rise in Christ 
 first, (before the living are changed,) then we which 
 
346 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 are alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
 them in the clouds." 
 
 Thus is this apostle's description of the resurrection, 
 which he gives to the Thessalonians, in exact agree- 
 ment, in all prominent points, with that given to the 
 Corinthians. And I can find no way by which I can 
 lawfully apply them to different subjects. 
 
 So likewise is the character of the resurrection de- 
 scribed to the Thessalonians, indicated as being the 
 same as that ascribed to it in the letter to the Corin- 
 thians. It is represented as being altogether a subject 
 of grateful hope. "I would not have you to be igno- 
 rant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that 
 ye sorrow not, even as others, which have no hope." 
 The hope here spoken of is not a hope for one's self 
 in particular. When the members of certain sects 
 speak of their having "obtained a hope," they mean 
 by it a hope for themselves, to which they think that 
 something they have done or felt, entitles them. But 
 the Christian's hope spoken of in the Scriptures, is not 
 a mere selfish hope. It is a hope for man. And in 
 this case, the hope spoken of is for deceased friends. 
 The beathen sorrowed for the dead without hope, and 
 employed extravagant expressions of anguish, and 
 acts of self-torture. But the apostle would have his 
 believing brethren to know, that this hopeless sorrow 
 for the dead, was from ignorance of their allotment. 
 He would have them to understand the gospel doc- 
 trine of immortality, that they might be comforted 
 concerning the deceased. 
 
 Let it be considered here, that these Thessalonian 
 Christians had the dearest friends and relations of 
 life, who were in the heathen state of unbelief, and 
 were, one after another, dying in that state. Did the 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 347 
 
 gospel give them no hope for such 7 Perhaps when 
 this letter was received from the inspired apostle, and 
 the brethren were called together to hear it read, some 
 pious believing daughter had just closed the eyfes of a 
 fond and doating mother, who died without the hght 
 of Christ. She hears these words of kindness and 
 love, ''I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, 
 concerning them which are asleep ; that ye sorrow not^ 
 even as others, which have no hope." Could she 
 draw consolation from these words of truth ? Could 
 she have hope for that dear departed mother? Ac- 
 cording to modern creeds, she could have no hope 
 from her gospel faith, to soothe her sorrows for her 
 dearest friend asleep. But the ministry of the primi- 
 tive gospel bade her sorrow not, but rejoice in hope. 
 Did the Christian apostle mean to have his brethren 
 harden, their hearts to cold indifference for all their 
 friends who were not believers with them? Such 
 were a majority of their earthly friends. Would their 
 Christian teacher have them comforted ivithoiit hope 
 for them ? Were the sorrows, which he feared they 
 would indulge, alone for deceased Christians, in utter 
 forgetfulness and indifference for the great mass of 
 their friends who had fallen asleep ? I should tremble, 
 in the conscious guilt of blasphemy, to harbor the 
 thought for a moment. The Christian spirit is love 
 and affection for all. And with regard to them who 
 are asleep^ without any limitation or reserve, the 
 apostle would have us not to be so ignorant of their 
 destiny as to sorrow on their account, but to cherish 
 for them a consoling hope. For since Christ died, 
 and rose again, so them also which sleep, will God 
 through Jesus bring again from the dead. And every- 
 where has the apostle had it understood, that the 
 
348 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 resurrection from the dead is an introduction into a 
 higher and better state. 
 
 If any still contend that the glorious and desirable 
 resurrection, described in the passage we have now 
 been considering, and also in that to the Corinthians, 
 includes but a part of the human dead, I will remark 
 that the conclusion of the latter argument referred to, 
 brings to a settlement this question, and that forever. 
 At the event of the resurrection which he there dis- 
 cusses, ''shall be fulfilled the saying that is written, 
 Death is swallowed up in victory." And then the tri- 
 umphant shout is raised, " O death, where is thy sting? 
 O hades, (state of death,) where is thy victory?" 
 Here we have the most positive and decisive assur- 
 ance, that not a single victim shall then remain in 
 hades, or under the power of death. The subjects, 
 then, of that blessed resurrection, to an immortal, in- 
 corruptible, spiritual, heavenly, and glorious state of 
 being, are, as we have seen before, the great Adamic 
 family. 
 
 But why should the apostle say, (1 Thess. v. 1 — 3) 
 in the next paragraph succeeding that which we have 
 quoted on the resurrection, that the day of the Lord 
 should come as a thief in the night, and bring sudden 
 destruction upon them? I answer, he changes his 
 subject. By due attention to this portion of his epistle, 
 you will perceive that the apostle is not here engaged 
 in a continuous argument, but delivers short para- 
 graphs, on different subjects. He commences chapter 
 4th with exhortations touching the connubial relation, 
 and common honesty. At verse 9th, he changes the 
 subject, with the disjunctive hiil^ — "But as touching 
 brotherly love, ye have no need that I write unto 
 you." Then, after a few remarks upon their own 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 349 
 
 knowledge and practice on this point, he changes the 
 subject again, with the same disjunctive, — " But I 
 would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- 
 ing them which are asleep." And after the brief in- 
 struction he gives upon the topic of the resurrection, 
 he again changes the subject in the same manner as 
 before, — "But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye 
 have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves 
 know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as 
 a thief in the night. For when they shall say. Peace 
 and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon 
 them." Here the subject is professedly and distinctly 
 changed from the resurrection of the dead, to the 
 times and events which were to be observed as signs 
 of a notable day of the Lord for which they should be 
 looking. On some, that day should bring swift de- 
 struction. Jesus had described it thus : — " But as the 
 days of Noe were, so shall the coming of the Son of 
 man be. For as in the days that were before the 
 flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
 giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the 
 ark; and knew not until the flood came and took 
 them all away ; so shall also the coming of the Son 
 of man be. Then shall two be in the field ; the one 
 shall be taken, and the other left."" And again, — 
 "When ye shaVl see Jerusalem compassed with ar- 
 mies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 
 Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains. 
 — For these be the days of vengeance, that all things 
 which are Avritten may be fulfilled. For there shall be 
 great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 
 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and 
 shall be carried away captive into all nations. And 
 
 " Malt. XXIV. 37—40. 
 
 30 
 
350 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and 
 in the stars ; and upon the earth distress of nations, 
 with perplexity ; — men's hearts failing them for fear, 
 and for looking after those things which are coming on 
 the earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 
 A?id they shall see the >Son of 7na?i coming in a cloudy 
 with power and great glory. And he spake to them a 
 parable ; Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees ; when 
 they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own- 
 selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise 
 ye, when ye see these things come to pass, ye know 
 that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I 
 say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till 
 all be fulfilled."^ 
 
 This is the day of the Lord, the coming of which 
 was nigh when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and 
 the coming of which would be attended with sudden 
 destruction upon the principal enemies of the gospel. 
 But no such descriptions are applied to the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead. 
 
 It will be borne in mind, that for the very reason 
 that this notable day of the Lord should come as a 
 thief in the night, in judgment upon the Jewish nation, 
 it deeply concerned the leading enemies of Christ at 
 Thessalonica. For these leading opposers Avere Jewish 
 citizens, who had a synagogue there, and who, when 
 Paul and Silas were preaching there, stirred up the 
 baser sort to drive them from the city. And the judg- 
 ment of that day affected not only the Jews in Jerusa- 
 lem, but in all the provinces abroad. They became 
 weak and degraded, and crushed beneath the feet of 
 the Gentiles, everwhere. 
 
 Of this judgment the apostle reminded the Thessa- 
 
 ' Luke xxi. 20—32. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 351 
 
 lonians again, in his second epistle. He assured his 
 Christian brethren there, that though they were then 
 suffering persecutions and tribulations from the har- 
 dened unbelieving Jews, yet God would recompense 
 tribulation to those troublesome opposers, and give the 
 Christians rest from their persecutions, when the Lord 
 Jesus should be revealed from heaven in the working of 
 that power which had been foretold, which should, as 
 by the rage of fire, punish them with aionion destruction 
 from the presence of the I^ord and the glory of his 
 power.'^ The prophet had described the political de- 
 struction of that people in similar terms. '' And I will 
 cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your 
 brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim."^ Again, 
 — '^ Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget 
 yoUj and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave 
 you and your fathers, and cast you out of my pres- 
 ence; and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon 
 you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be for- 
 gotten."^ It will not be disputed that these prophecies 
 relate to the temporal dispersion of Israel. The de- 
 struction of their city and temple, — their deprivation 
 of the Divine favor which they had enjoyed in their 
 Avorship there, where dwelt the symbols of Jehovah's 
 presence, — and their slavish captivity among the hea- 
 then, were represented by the Lord's casting them out 
 of his sight, and out of his presence. And so did the 
 apostle, when that calamity was near, describe it as a 
 '' destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of his power." But, I repeat it, these various 
 judgments have no connection with that grand and 
 stupendous event, which shall swallow up death in 
 the victory of life immortal. 
 
 w 8 Thess. i. 3—10. * Jer. vii. 15. J Jer. xxiii. 39, 40. 
 
352 COMPENB OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 ^^ Resur7^ection of the Justy 
 
 When Jesus was invited to eat bread at the house 
 of a chief Pharisee, and he saw some who were bidden 
 choosing out the chief rooms, he put forth a parable 
 unto them, saying: "When thou art bidden of any 
 man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, 
 lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of 
 him ; and he that bade thee come and say to thee, 
 Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to 
 take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, 
 go and sit down in the lowest room, that when he 
 that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee. Friend, 
 go up higher ; then shalt thou have worship of them 
 that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth 
 himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself 
 shall be exalted." 
 
 "Then said he also to him that bade him, When 
 thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, 
 nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neigh- 
 bors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense 
 be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call 
 the poor, the lame, the maimed, the blind : and thou 
 shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee ; 
 for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the 
 just:' (Luke xiv. 8—14.) 
 
 Those Christians who are in the habit of referring 
 men to the future state of existence for the rewards of 
 all, even the most trivial performances in life, em- 
 ploy this text as a support to such doctrine. They 
 suppose that our Lord here teaches that, for even call- 
 ing the poor to a feast, we shall be rewarded in the 
 resurrection world ; — that the account of all our ac- 
 tions here, shall be settled and balanced there. Now 
 
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 353 
 
 in favor of such an application of this text, I can see 
 no authority, but there is much against it. 
 
 First; — There is nothing said hereabout a resur- 
 rection from the dead to immortal life. The text says, 
 " Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection (or 
 rising) of the just." It does not say that it shall be at 
 their rising from hades ^ or the state of death, but sim- 
 ply their rising ; and what rising is meant must be 
 determined by the connection, and the nature of the 
 subject. 
 
 The word here rendered resurrection is anasasisj 
 which Parkhurst defines to signify — 
 
 1. A standing 07i the feet again, or rising, as 
 opposed to falling. It occurs, though figuratively, in 
 this view, Luke ii. 34: "And Simon blessed them, 
 and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is 
 set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel." 
 
 2. A rising or resurrection of a dead body to life, as 
 in Heb. xi. 35 : " Women received their dead raised to 
 life again." 
 
 3. A rising or resurrection of the body from the 
 grave; both of Christ, and of men in general." He 
 adds* that this word occurs twice in the Greek of the 
 Old Testament, "in both which it signifies to rise, 
 to stand iqyP These two cases are, Lam. iii. 62 : 
 "The lips of those that rose up against me;" and 
 Zeph. iii. 8: "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the 
 Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey." 
 
 Hence it is seen that the word resurrection in the 
 text simply denotes a rising. The original word from 
 which it is translated, is used with all the variety of 
 application with which we use the word rise, — 
 whether it is a rising from a seat, or from obscurity to 
 eminence, or from inactivity to action, or from literal 
 30=^ 
 
354 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 death to life. Consequently, the bare occurrence of 
 the word aiiasasis^ or 7^ising, in this case, does not 
 prove that the rising meant is from literal death. In 
 conversation on a politician who has become unpopu- 
 lar, should one say, ''He is down," and another re- 
 join, "He will rise again," you would not understand 
 him to speak of a rising into immortality : — the sub- 
 ject of the discourse would determine it otherwise. 
 And so does the subject of discourse connected with 
 this passage, as we shall shortly see, determine other- 
 wise concerning the meaning of the word resurrection 
 in it. 
 
 Second ; — The application of this Scripture to the 
 future world, is opposed to the general teachings of 
 the Bible on the reward of our virtues, and on the 
 tenor of the resurrection life. It would indeed be be- 
 neath the dignity of the subject, and beneath the dig- 
 nity of our Lord, to refer men to the immortal state 
 for the recompense even of making a dinner for their 
 poorer neighbors, — a recompense which it is at the 
 same time said that their richer neighbors might them- 
 selves make them in the present world. And if it is in 
 the future world that men are to be rewarded for all 
 their good deeds done on earth, that state will not be 
 free from cause of boasting, and even of envy. There 
 will be an infinite variety of condition in heaven, cor- 
 responding to the nature and number of good deeds 
 here. And as it was shown under the head of " ob- 
 jections," to chapter ninth, if there is no condition in 
 the future world but what is to be expected on the 
 score of recompense for deeds in the present, those 
 who die in infancy, having done neither good nor evil, 
 will be allotted to no condition at all. 
 
 But this habit of making up the future heavenly 
 
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 
 
 State, out of the matters of recompense for human 
 works below, so fraught with absurdities, and so at 
 variance with the usual teachings of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, has no sanction from the words of Christ before us. 
 I have shown that the original word for resurrection^ in 
 this case, simply means a rising; and a rising /rom 
 what, and to what, must be determined by the nature 
 of the subject. 
 
 And now, by consideration of the subject itself, I 
 will proceed to exhibit what I regard as the meaning 
 of our Lord, by the rising of the just. " Then said he 
 unto him that bade him. When thou makest a dinner 
 or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, 
 neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors ; lest they 
 also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee." 
 The recompense here meant is the return of a similar 
 favor. The rich were just as well able to make a 
 feast for him, as he was to make one for them ; there- 
 fore his bidding such was a mere act of courtesy, and 
 not of benevolence. 
 
 '' But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, 
 the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt 
 be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee." — Here 
 is something to be expected in calling the poor and 
 needy, which was not mentioned in the case of call- 
 ing the rich, — a blessing. " And thou shalt be blessed^ 
 for they cannot recompense thee." There was no- 
 thing said of a reward for calling the rich, other than 
 the return of a similar expression of respect from 
 them. But there is a peculiar blessing, a generous 
 pleasure, a noble and heartfelt satisfaction, in the 
 exercise of the principle of benevolence, in the doing 
 of needed good to our fellow-creatures. Hence Jesus 
 assured the Pharisee, that by cultivating that spirit of 
 
356 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 benevolence which would call the poor unto his table, 
 he should be blessed. And then a recompense^ or re- 
 turn of similar favors, of like temporal good as he 
 had bestowed, might as a general thing be expected. 
 "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of 
 the just." That is, when the just, the virtuous poor, 
 rise^ their circumstances change, and they come to 
 promotion, — and when you shall stand in need, — then 
 you will receive the like favors from others, which 
 you had imparted to them. For it is delivered as a 
 general truth by the Saviour, that." with what judg- 
 ment ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and what mea- 
 sure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 
 
 But some may object to this view, and say that it 
 must be incorrect, because it makes Christ affect to 
 offer the people a better motive of action than they 
 practised in their custom of calling in the rich, and 
 yet offers them the same motive at last for calUng in 
 the poor, viz., the prospect of a recompense. But if 
 this were an objection, it would bear with equal force 
 against any view which can be offered on this passage. 
 For it cannot be pretended that Christ did not offer 
 the assurance of a recompense for calling in the poor, 
 as well as for calling in the rich. This fact is not 
 changed by carrying the promised recompense into 
 the future world. 
 
 But this subject of recompense is not the point of 
 difference on which Jesus here laid stress, with regard 
 to the calling of the rich or poor. It cannot be dis- 
 puted that a recompense is to be expected in both 
 cases. But the preference which is given to the act 
 of calling in and giving meat to the poor and needy, 
 is, that it is a deed of present charity. The rich do 
 not at present need it, but the poor do ; and therefore 
 
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 357 
 
 by feeding them, you relieve distress, and do a deed 
 of charity in which you shall feel to be "blessed." 
 And then, further to encourage his host, the rich Phar- 
 isee, to such acts of benevolence, in relief of those 
 who were unable then to recompense him as the rich 
 might do, he assured him that in addition to the bles- 
 sedness of doing good, he should receive returns of 
 temporal favor, and that too at a time when he might 
 find himself in greater need. 
 
 It is a truth, which was especially applicable to 
 those ancient ages, that the righteous were at times 
 liable to be pressed down in regard to their external 
 condition ; but that it could not long at a time remain 
 so, for by the order of the administration of God's 
 government, the righteous poor would soon rise, and 
 then, in those times of perpetual fluctuations in com- 
 munities, their wicked oppressors would be brought 
 down. But when the righteous poor were risen, 
 they would remember in liberal return of favor, 
 those of the rich who had remembered them in their 
 poverty. 
 
 This sentiment is contained in the preaching of 
 Solomon, (Eccl. xi. 1, 2;) "Cast thy bread upon the 
 waters ; for thou shalt find it after many days." 
 That is, be prudentially charitable, and you shall 
 not be losers, but shall at some day find a return 
 of the good you do. "Give a portion to seven, and 
 also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall 
 be upon the earth." That is, by the changes and 
 revolutions that are going on in the earth, you who 
 are now able to glve^ may be in need to receive ; and 
 they who now need to receive from you, may be able 
 to bestow upon you their favors. 
 
 There was a time in that age in which our Lord 
 
358 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 was upon earth, when there was a remarkable resur- 
 rection, (anasasis,) or rising of the just; and at the 
 same time there was a wonderful fall of that corrupt 
 people, the unbelieving Jews. And it appears from 
 what followed upon Christ's pronouncing the Avords 
 of the text in question, that he here had some refer- 
 ence to that event. — '' And when one of them that sat 
 at meat with him heard these things, he said unto 
 him. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom 
 of God." Upon which Jesus spoke a parable, relating 
 to the rejection of the gospel by the haughty Jews, 
 and to its reception by the poor and maimed, the pub- 
 Hcans and sinners in the highways and hedges. And 
 the parable further taught, that at the coming of the 
 kingdom of God, (which should be in that genera- 
 tion,) these just ones, the obedient poor, would rise to 
 safety, peace, and plenty, when the disobedient and 
 proudly rich should be cast down. Thus many who 
 were then alive when this conversation was had with 
 Jesus, did live to enjoy the blessedness of eating bread 
 in the kingdom of God. 
 
 Our Lord, in a passage referred to in the preceding 
 division of this chapter, speaking of the events of the 
 judgment of that age, adds, "And when these things 
 begin to come to pass, then took up, and lift up your 
 heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." That is, 
 the redemption of the disciples from the grievous 
 calamities of war and persecution, then drew nigh. 
 The just were soon to rise and prosper. He proceeds, 
 ''So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to 
 pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at 
 hand." Here the more firm establishment and wide 
 extension of the gospel of Christ's kingdom, and the 
 state of rest and peace of the Christian church, which 
 
WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 359 
 
 should succeed the destruction of the Jewish poUty, is 
 called the coming of the kingdom of God. 
 
 Hence, though the disciples of Christ were then mostly 
 of the poor, yet the rich who should receive Christ's 
 cause, and practise the benevolent principles which he 
 enjoined, though the poor could not recompense them 
 at that time for their deeds of charity, should yet find 
 their recompense at the rising of the just, which in that 
 generation was brought to pass. 
 
 The general lesson unto which we are to improve 
 this subject is, that we shall be blessed in doing good ; 
 that virtue, though it may at certain times seem to be 
 oppressed, shall rise and prosper. And that he who 
 does good to those who need it, may himself, in a 
 change of conditions, both need and receive the same 
 favors from them who have shared of his kindness. 
 The benevolent and upright in heart, have the assur- 
 ance from God, that " their place of defence shall be 
 the munition of rocks, their bread shall be given them, 
 and their waters shall be sure." 
 
 What shall be Raised 7 
 
 It is thought by some essential to the true faith of the 
 esurrection, to believe that this earthly body is to be 
 raised. Painful descriptions have been given, of scat- 
 tered limbs and fragments of the old body flying from 
 different parts of the globe, to meet and take their 
 places in the formation of the heavenly man. And 
 when it has been asked how the same particles of 
 matter which composed the body of each at death, 
 shall go to compose the new body in the resurrection, 
 since the body Of one, in cannibal tribes, may have 
 served as food to another, and thus the same particles 
 
360 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 have belonged to different bodies at death, — the diffi- 
 culty has been answered by the sweeping remark, 
 " There is nothing impossible with God." 
 
 We know there is nothing impossible with God, 
 which does not involve absurdity or wrong. God can- 
 not deny himself; and he cannot make a thing, at the 
 same time, to be and not to be. It is easy to conceive 
 that the same particles which compose, in part, the 
 body of an individual when he dies, may be a compo- 
 nent part of another at a subsequent date. But that 
 the same particle of matter should, at the same time, 
 constitute parts of different bodies, is impossible in the 
 nature of things. 
 
 But the resurrection of the gross earthly body, is 
 not a Scriptural doctrine. That which is raised is not 
 that which was deposited in the sepulchre, or grave. 
 The resurrection is a deliverance from hades, the stato 
 of the dead, and not from mnemeia, the tombs. Wc 
 have remarked in another division of this chapter, that 
 there are thousands of the human race who were nevei 
 interred in innemeia, or graves ; but all go to hades. 
 This word is never used in the plural ; it is significant 
 of one state, in which, as Job says, "are the small 
 and great, and the servant is free from his master.'^ 
 " There the prisoners rest together, and they hear not 
 the voice of the oppressor." Joseph was supposed by 
 his father to have been devoured by an evil beast. No 
 sepulchre contained the ashes of his mortal body. 
 But he Avas in hades, whither Jacob expected to go 
 and meet him. When the witch of Endor was re- 
 quested to bring up Samuel, she did not go to the 
 sepulchre of his body to divine over that, nor was 
 there the least idea of disturbing his mouldering mor- 
 tal frame. The state of the dead was supposed to be 
 
WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 361 
 
 a subterranean region, and it was the manes of Samuel 
 that was expected to be brought up. It was supposed 
 to be a conscious, yet dreamy state; and Samuel is 
 represented as saying to Saul, ^' Why hast thou dis- 
 quieted me, to bring me up.*'' From this state it was 
 supposed to be tq?^ to any point of the earth's surface. 
 I do not refer to this case of divination, as authori- 
 tative revelation touching the state of the dead. In- 
 deed the very use of the word sheol^ or hades^ in ap- 
 plication to it, denoted that it was an unrevealed, 
 unknown, hidden state. I have no doubt of the truth 
 of the account referred to, as a simple narrative of 
 what transpired in relation to Saul. He was not in a 
 situation to scrutinize the transactions himself, and 
 the woman knew enough of his circumstances to pre- 
 dict with great safety, what would be the result of 
 the morrow's battle. Either she contrived to manage 
 the case successfully with the dejected, credulous king, 
 or God savsT fit to interpose with his warning to the 
 unrighteous monarch. But this is not to our present 
 point. My design in referring to this and other cases 
 is to shoAv, that when the Scriptures speak of persons 
 in hades^ or the state of death, they speak not of the 
 body in the tomb, but of the intellectual and moral 
 nature, the mind, the spirit, — or the individual as a 
 personal identity. These personal identities the peo- 
 ple of Old Testament times conceived of as existing, 
 though in a state of which they formed no clear con- 
 ception. And when there were prophetic breathings, 
 (as there were at sundry times) of the sentiments of 
 hope for a resurrection of the dead, it was of a reorgani- 
 zation of these dreamy manes^ to bring them up into 
 perfect active being. Hence the accomplishment of 
 
 2 1 Sam. xxviii. 15. 
 ox 
 
362 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 such a rising of the dead was not denominated the 
 destruction of the tombs, but of hades. "I will ran- 
 som them from the power of hades^ I will redeem 
 them from death : O death, I will be thy plagues ; O 
 hades ^ I will be thy destruction." "" 
 
 This is the view which St. Paul gives on the point 
 under consideration. In his labored argument on the 
 resurrection, from which we have already derived so 
 rich instruction, he raises an objection for the opposer. 
 ^' But some men will say, How are the dead raised 
 up? and with what body do they come?" The ques- 
 tion is not, How are the dead bodies raised up ? and 
 with what body shall the dead bodies appear ? The 
 dead are conceived of in a personal capacity, as spirits, 
 (whether dreamily conscious, or unconscious, it affects 
 not the present argument,) and the question is pro- 
 posed, How shall they be reorganized into tangible 
 active beings? and with what body shall they be 
 clothed? 
 
 The objection was designed to imply, on the part 
 of the opposer, that as the mortal body was mouldered 
 away, the resurrection of the dead was incredible, as 
 they had no bodies to be raised in. But the apostle 
 replies, — "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not 
 quickened, except it die ; and that which thou sowest, 
 thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare 
 grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain ; 
 but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and 
 to every seed its own body." That is, to each seed is 
 given that body which belongs to its species. 
 
 The sense of this figure is to the point. The old 
 body of the germinating seed dies, and is not raised 
 again. There is a spirit, a germ of the seed, that 
 
 aHos. xiii. 14. 
 
WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 363 
 
 lives, and constitutes its identity in species with the 
 seed sown. But it hath a new body, as God has been 
 pleased, by the laws of his creation, to give it. But 
 the figure is not to be applied in all its points, nor are 
 figures generally. Figures and comparisons are only 
 meant to be applied in those prominent points which 
 are brought to bear directly upon the subje<Jt in ques- 
 tion. The purpose of the apostle in the use of this 
 figure was, to teach that the old body will not be 
 raised in the resurrection, but that God will give us 
 new bodies. There is another fact in the case of the 
 .grain, viz., that the new body, though not the former 
 hull raised up, is like the former. But this point the 
 apostle did not intend to have applied to his subject. 
 Nay, he guards against such an application, by pro- 
 ceeding directly to explain, that the resurrection body 
 of man shall be different from the earthly body. Enu- 
 merating different descriptions of bodies, one of which 
 differs from another in glory, he adds, — " So also is 
 the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; 
 it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor ; it 
 is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness : it is raised 
 in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a 
 spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is 
 a spiritual body. Howbeit, that was not first which 
 is spiritual, but that which is natural ; and afterward 
 that which is spiritual." 
 
 So then, as God has, out of these grosser elements, 
 organized bodies for us here, adapted to the purposes of 
 our being in this earthly state, — he will, of refined ethe- 
 real substance, organize for us new and glorious bodies, 
 better adapted to the legitimate developments of mind, 
 and fitted for the heavenly state of being. And then, 
 though we shall inherit new and immortal bodies, we 
 
364 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 shall be the same identical persons, knowing ourselves 
 to be the same, raised into a higher and better life. 
 That which constituted the man on earth, shall con- 
 stitute the man in heaven. 
 
 The conscious identity of the person depends not on 
 a connexion with the same particles of matter. There 
 is a continual waste of the physical system, which is 
 supplied by other matter digested from the aliments 
 leceived. By this process, all the gross substances of 
 the body are changed every fev/ years, and we have 
 literally new bodies. Yet the person^ the man, is iden- 
 tically and consciously the same. And so he will be 
 when God shall give him a heavenly body. 
 
 There is a beautiful expression of this sentiment in 
 Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, (v. 1 — 4.) 
 *' For we know, that if our earthly house of this taberna- 
 cle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this 
 we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our 
 house which is from heaven: if so be that, being clothed, 
 we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this 
 tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that we 
 would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality 
 might be swallowed up of life." This is the same 
 subject that was treated in the former Epistle to that 
 church, in chapter fifteenth. The result he there 
 described by the saying, "Death is swallowed up in 
 victory ; " and the language describing the same in 
 this passage is, " That mortality might be swallowed 
 up of life.'^ And here is the same distinction made be- 
 tween the person and the body, as in the other case. 
 The body is represented under the figure of a house. 
 This mortal body is called an earthly house which 
 shall be dissolved ; and the resurrection body is called 
 
WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 365 
 
 a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens. And there is no intimation 
 that the latter house was to be composed of the ashes 
 of the former. By this resurrection, it is not the tomb, 
 but Jiades^ that shall be deprived of its victory. For, 
 as we have had occasion repeatedly to observe before, 
 at the consummation of this glorious resurrection 
 work, the joyful shout of triumph shall be raised, ''O 
 hades, where is thy victory ?" 
 
 There are a few expressions in the apostolical writ- 
 ings which have been thought to indicate the rising 
 of these earthly bodies ; — Such, for instance, as '' This 
 corruptible shall put on incorruption ; and this mortal 
 shall put on immortality." And again, " Who shall 
 change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like 
 unto his glorious body, according to the working 
 whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself.'"* 
 These passages have been thought to mean, that these 
 mortal bodies shall be made immortal. But the ex- 
 pression is the same as that which closes the sketch 
 of the resurrection in chapter fourth of Second Co- 
 rinthians, viz., "That mortality might be swallowed 
 up of life. Whereas in the very sketch thus closed, it 
 is distinctly stated that, "If the earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved,'' (not if it were raised, but 
 if it were dissolved^) we have a building of God, an 
 house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 And the apostle would be unclothed of this earthly 
 tabernacle, not that he might be naked, but clothed 
 upon with the heavenly body. Hence it is obvious 
 that the sayings referred to, of this corruptible put- 
 ting on incorruption, and this vile body being fash- 
 ioned like unto his glorious body, are but brief and 
 
 bPhil. iii. 21. 
 
 31* 
 
366 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 comprehensive expressions of the idea, that we, who 
 here exist in a mortal constitution, shall hereafter be 
 made, as it respects the entire being, immortal and 
 glorious. 
 
 The resurrection of the earthly body of Christ has 
 been employed as an argument for the rising of the 
 mortal bodies of mankind. But we are nowhere in- 
 formed that this circumstance was designed to incul- 
 cate such a lesson. His rising from the dead, into 
 life, was designed as demonstrative proof of the resur- 
 rection of our race. But the work of decomposition 
 had not commenced in his body, and it was necessary 
 that he should resume that body for the then present, 
 as a witness to the fact of his real resurrection. I have 
 no doubt that the mind, or spirit, organized in a hea- 
 venly body adapted to its full developments, can 
 recognize spirit by mental discernment. I have tested 
 clairvoyant experiments, to know that the mind, even 
 here, may be placed in a position so to exercise its 
 powers, as to recognize other minds. But it was ne- 
 cessary that Jesus, after his resurrection, should be 
 recognized by the bodily organs, the physical senses 
 of his friends. Otherwise they could not have been 
 duly qualified witnesses of his resurrection. Their 
 testimony may have passed with the ghost stories of 
 the times. Even for themselves, they could not have 
 determined, by their natural faculties, that their very 
 Master had indeed come forth from the dead. It will 
 be recollected that his own apostles needed to see for 
 themselves that it was the person, in very form, with 
 whom they had been acquainted ; and some of them 
 must needs examine the nail-prints in his hands. By 
 such personal examination, they were qualified to go 
 forth with the bold language of John ; — " That which 
 
WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 367 
 
 was from the beginning, which we have heard, which 
 we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
 upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life ; 
 (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, 
 and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal 
 life, which was with the Father, and was manifested 
 unto us ;) that which we have seen and heard, de- 
 clare we unto you."'' 
 
 Since, then, the coming forth from the tomb of the 
 earthly body of Jesus, was indispensably necessary 
 for the purpose just explained, and also, as I may 
 have added, to take from his enemies their expected 
 argument for his imposture, by showing his body in 
 their own possession after the third day from his 
 death, — and since the circumstance was never applied 
 by his witnesses to any other purpose, we have no 
 authority to argue from it further. Who, indeed, ex- 
 pects to see Jesus in the heavenly state, with the nail- 
 prints forever in his hands and feet, and the perfora- 
 tion of the soldier's spear in his side ? Yet this may 
 as Avell be argued from the fact of his showing them 
 to his disciples, and even that his being raised with 
 those wounds is proof that men will be raised with 
 their bodily scars and deformities, as that the coming 
 forth of his body from the sepulchre is proof that our 
 fleshly bodies shall be raised. To us it is obvious 
 that this appearance on earth for the space of forty 
 days after his resurrection, was not that of his glori- 
 fied body; for then " would his face have shone like 
 the sun, and his raiment have been white as the 
 light." "^ And should any ask what became of the 
 crucified body, upon his ascension on high, — let it be 
 considered, that the power which has formed the 
 
 c 1 John i. 1—3. d Matt. xvii. 2. 
 
368 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 gross substances of our bodies from the arcana of the 
 elements, even the power which raised up Christ 
 from the dead, could dissipate those substances again 
 at pleasure. 
 
 Shall loe know each other in Heaven 7 
 
 By some, this question has been regarded as one of 
 trifling importance ; but with me it involves the chief 
 interest of the future life. If we know not one 
 another, we shall not know ourselves : and to talk 
 to me of my being raised into another life, where I 
 shall neither recognize myself nor the loved ones of 
 earth, would be but to mock my hopes. It would be 
 but to promise, what the infidel and atheist believes, 
 a succession of other beings, when we are no more. 
 The recognition of ourselves and of one another in 
 the future life, is essentially and necessarily involved 
 in the Scripture doctrine of the resurrection. The 
 life from the dead which is promised, is our life, and 
 that of our felloiv-beifigs ;— so that we should be com- 
 forted concerning our friends who are fallen asleep, 
 through the hope that they shall live with us, and we 
 with them, in a life immortal. But if we are not to 
 possess conscious identity there, then we have no 
 future life, though God may create other grades of 
 beings after us. On this point, I can see no ground 
 for a question. 
 
 On the doctrine of personal identity in the future 
 life, is also founded the argument which reconciles 
 with the wisdom of God, the allotment to man of this 
 mortal existence. If mankind are to enter the future 
 life ignorant of having existed before, then why might 
 they not have been made immortal at first ? For how 
 then can they be advantaged by the weaknesses, the 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 369 
 
 sorrows and trials of earth, and by passing down into 
 the valley of death ? How then can they admire a 
 crucified and risen Saviour? — and how shall they 
 praise God for their deliverance from the bondage of 
 corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children 
 of God ? Indeed, the idea of our recognition of our- 
 selves and one another in heaven, is inseparably 
 interwoven with all the Scripture teachings of a 
 future life, — with all the consolations of experimental 
 hope, — with the familiar intercourse of Jesus with his 
 friends after his resurrection, — with the fact that even 
 in his glorified state he " knows how to be touched 
 with the feeling of our infirmities,"^ — and with all 
 the visits of angelic servants of God from the spirit- 
 land, bespeaking a sympathetic interest for men, and 
 bearing for ns messages of love. 
 
 Does any object to this doctrine of personal identity 
 in heaven, on the ground that a remembrance of the 
 doings and incidents of the mortal life, may be a 
 source of eternal guilt and suffering? If the objector 
 is a Christian, let him review the revealed doctrines 
 of the gospel, and he will find among them such an 
 operation as the forgiveness of sins. This subject is 
 explained in chapter seventh of this work. It com- 
 prises the idea of a deliverance from sin, and a free- 
 dom from its sting ; the restoration of the sinner on his 
 reformation, to the privileges of the righteous. Let 
 him look at the brethren of Joseph, when they had 
 fully comprehended how the Lord overruled their 
 evil for good, — at St. Paul, when his soul had become 
 imbued with the spirit of him whom he had perse- 
 cuted with madness. — and at the distinguishing spirit 
 and purpose of the gospel, through which God is in 
 
 e Heb. iv. 15. 
 
370 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 Christ reconciling the world unto himself, " wo^ imput- 
 ing their trespasses unto them f^ and in the light 
 derived from these sources, he will perceive, that 
 though we shall never take pride in a remembrance 
 of our own past errors, but shall learn hence humility, 
 — yet God may give to our memory some better em- 
 ployment, amidst all the great things he hath done for 
 us, than to serve forever as a mere accuser. 
 
 On the Time of the Resurrection. 
 
 Whether there shall be a simultaneous resurrection 
 of all men from the dead on some unknown future 
 day, or whether the work is going on progressively, is 
 a question on which there is a diversity of opinions 
 among different sects of Christians. As it is a mere 
 question of time, in relation to a work which belongs 
 to God alone, it does not appear to have been made a 
 special subject of revelation. The Scriptures teach 
 that man shall live again, and that, too, in a life which 
 shall never end. In this cheerful hope, we are re- 
 quired to do as Jesus did, commend our spirits into 
 the Father's hand. Our first waking moment will be, 
 to us, the next to that wherein we shall have fallen 
 asleep. 
 
 But though this question does not appear to be 
 specially and designedly answered by revelation, yet 
 there seem to be some remarks and facts incidentally 
 given, which may have a bearing upon it. The con- 
 versation of Jesus with the Sadducees, though applied 
 directly to the fact of a future life, seems in some of 
 its circumstances to involve the idea of a progressive 
 esurrection. He said unto them, " And as touching 
 the dead that they rise, have ye not read in the book of 
 
 f 2Cor. V. 19. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 371 
 
 Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, 
 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and 
 the God of Jacob 1 He is not the God of the dead, 
 but the God of the hving : ye therefore do greatly 
 err."° True, it is urged on the other side, that this is 
 spoken in the sense in which God "calleth those 
 things which be not as though they were." But the 
 language most naturally comports with the idea of a 
 regular administration of God, in raising man to a 
 higher hfe. And so in the very passage just referred 
 to is this idea uppermost :—" As it is written, I have 
 made thee a father of many nations, before him whom 
 he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead^ and 
 calleth those things which be not as though they 
 were.'"" Here the quickening of the dead is spoken 
 of as a common work with Jehovah. 
 
 And the language of St. Paul in one of the passages 
 which were adduced to another point, seems appli- 
 cable here : — " For we know, that if our earthly house 
 of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to 
 be clothed upon with our house which is from hea- 
 ven. Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed 
 upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 
 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that 
 whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from 
 the Lord : for we walk by faith, not by sight: (that 
 is, our enjoyment of Christ's presence is by faith, not 
 by personally seeing him as he is;) we are confident, 
 I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, 
 and to be present with the Lord." In this case, the 
 apostle seems very clearly to express the sentiment, 
 
 & Mark sii. 26, 27. ^ Rom. iv. 17. 
 
372 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 that when he should be unclothed of the earthly body, 
 he should be successively clothed upon with the hea- 
 venly ; that when he should be absent from the body, 
 he should be present with the Lord. 
 
 The same sentiment is expressed with equal clear- 
 ness, in the letter to the Philippian church ; — (i. 21 — 
 24;) ''For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor ; 
 yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a 
 strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to 
 be with Christ, which is far better; nevertheless, to 
 abide in the flesh is more needful to you." Now such 
 apostolical Isinguage as this, seems utterly incompati- 
 ble with the idea of a suspension of the work of life 
 for many ages, before rising to be with Christ. And 
 when Jesus spake to his disciples of going from them, 
 referring to his passing through death, and rising, and 
 going to the Father, upon his saying to them, as he 
 had said to the Jews, "Whither I go ye cannot 
 come,"' Peter proposed the inquiry, "Whither goest 
 thou?" And "Jesus answered him. Whither I go, 
 thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow 
 me afterwards." This does not, to be sure, describe 
 the length of time afterwards to the coming of his dis- 
 ciples into the heavenly world : but the familiar idea 
 expressed is that of a proper succession of events. 
 
 I will add, that the translation of Enoch and Elijah 
 are incidents which favor the view that the introduc- 
 tion of man into the heavenly state, as into the 
 present world, is a progressive work. So is the re- 
 mark of the angel to John, — the angel whom Christ 
 sent to communicate to him the appropriate revela- 
 tion. When John fell down to worship before the 
 
 ' John xiii. 36. 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 373 
 
 feet of the angel who showed him these things, then 
 said the angel unto him, " See thoa do it not; for I am 
 thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, 
 and of them which keep the sayings of this book."J 
 He was one of the prophets raised from the dead. 
 And the disciples in the vision of the transfigura- 
 tion, saw Moses and Elias talking with the Son of 
 man." 
 
 It is conceded that St. Paul's description of the 
 resurrection, in 1 Cor. xv., and 1 Thess. iv., treat of 
 it as if it were to be a simultaneous work, altogether 
 in future time. But to my mind, the evidence, though 
 chiefly incidental, which is presented on the other 
 side, may warrant the conclusion that in these two 
 instances, where the resurrection was made the entire 
 subject of discourse, the apostle adopted the strong 
 and unqualified style of those chapters as a convenient 
 testimony of the work as a whole. In relation to a 
 great purpose which is in progress, when a bold testi- 
 mony to its certainty, and description of its full con- 
 summation is given, it is natural to throw it into the 
 future tense, and to treat it as one event, without dis- 
 tinction of periods in its progress. 
 
 The most plausible objection to the belief of a pro- 
 gressive resurrection, admitting it to have commenced 
 in the former ages, is in the fact that Christ is denom- 
 inated the first-fruits of them that slept. But it is 
 certain, however, that he raised several of the literally 
 and really dead in his own lifetime, which was before 
 his own resurrection. The facts too, which we have 
 adduced, concerning Enoch, Elijah, Moses, Elias, and 
 the angel who was one of the former prophets, are all 
 in our memory. If these are to have the weight we 
 
 J Rev. xxii. 9. ^ Matt. xvii. 3. 
 
 32 
 
374 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 have allowed them, then Christ as the first-fruits of 
 them that slept, is to be understood of the order of 
 rank, rather than of time, — being the One appointed 
 of God as the head of the heavenly state, and as 
 the One to rise from the dead, in a manner, and for 
 the purpose, to complete and establish, as a great 
 system of revelation, the doctrine of our immortal 
 hopes. 
 
 Finally, it is the pleasant belief of the writer, and 
 he thinks this belief is authorized by the general con- 
 currence of evidence in the case, and confirmed by the 
 philosophy of all God's works, not that man shall 
 enter upon the fully developed life immortal the next 
 moment after physical death, but that of the principles 
 of life there is no annihilation : — that in the work of 
 life there are no ages of suspension ; — that as it is with 
 the insects and plants which have a second life, and 
 with all things in God's creation which are appointed 
 to different stages, — so with man, whose first stage is 
 the present life ; — the principles of life shall operate, 
 unto the reorganization of the perfect man, by the 
 progressive workings of God. With this faith we care 
 not to know the precise time; it would have been 
 incompatible with the purposes and the relations of 
 our present being, to have had it given us to know 
 what shall immediately succeed the moment of our 
 decease. The idea of the successive operations, through 
 the regenerative power of God, of the principles of life, 
 unto the perfecting of our new and heavenly being, 
 will accord with the sentiment of our being unclothed 
 of this, "that we may be clothed upon of our house 
 which is from heaven." And here we rest, in filial 
 confidence of the dying Master, — "Father, into thy 
 hands I commend my spirit." 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 375 
 
 The reader will bear in mind, that I have not been 
 laboring to decide upon the condition of man in the 
 intermediate state between death and the resurrection. 
 The Hebrews used the word sheol for the state of the 
 dead, to signify that it was dark, hidden, unrevealed. 
 And the Greek hades is used for the same purpose. 
 Into this state I have not seen the light of revelation 
 shine. When Christ arose from the dead, though 
 by his resurrection he brought the final immortal 
 state of the human creation to light, he did not bring 
 the state of the dead to light. He gave no account of 
 what or where he was from his crucifixion to that time. 
 Hades is hades still. The imaginations of some learned 
 speculators have been there, and they have confused 
 the minds of many more by the different reports which 
 they have given of it. But for me the sentiment of 
 Moses shall suffice, — "Secret things belong to God, 
 but the things which are revealed, to ourselves and 
 our children." 
 
 It is called "the valley of the shadow of death." 
 When my mind has gone to the borders of this valley, 
 the next spot on which I see the light of revelation 
 clearly shine, is the mountain of the resurrection, over 
 beyond this valley. And it is unto that mountain, not 
 into this valley, that I have been directing your atten- 
 tion for the hope of the future. 
 
 There is one passage, however, which has been 
 thought to contradict the assertion that hades remains 
 hades still. It is taken by spme to be a direct exposi- 
 tion of circumstances and transactions in sheol^ or the 
 intermediate state. Consequently, though it does not 
 relate to the main subject of this chapter, yet as it is 
 thought by others to relate to an incidental matter 
 which we have embraced in it, I will appropriate this 
 
376 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 place for a consideration of it. The case referred to is 
 that of 
 
 The Spirits in Prison. 
 
 ^^ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins^ the just 
 for the ujijust^ that he might bring us to God ; being 
 jnit to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit^ by 
 which also he ivent and preached imto the spirits in 
 prison; ivhich sometime id ere disobedient, when once the 
 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah^ 
 while the ark was a preparing, loherein fexo^ that is 
 eight soids, were saved by watery^ 
 
 Most writers of commentaries on the Scriptures, 
 have supposed that St. Peter here spoke of Christ's 
 preaching by his spirit through Noah, at the time the 
 ark was preparing before the dehige. But no reason 
 is offered for this view of the text, other than the 
 simple fact that the circumstance of the deluge in the 
 days of Noah is here introduced. But this circum- 
 stance is not sufficient to satisfy my mind that Chrisfs 
 preaching to the spirits in prisoji, was Noah^s preach- 
 ing to the antediluvians. This preaching was ascribed 
 to Christ. What was done by his apostles and minis- 
 ters, whom he chose, qualified and sent out, might 
 justly be, and often is ascribed to Christ, as if he per- 
 sonally did it. But I know of no apostolical usage, 
 for applying directly to Christ the works performed by 
 men before he came into the world. And this preach- 
 ing to the spirits in prison, is ascribed directly to 
 Christ, and is introduced as something performed after 
 his resurrection, or being quickened by the spirit. 
 " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just 
 
 ' 1 Peter iii. 18—20. 
 
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 377 
 
 for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; being 
 put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit, 
 by which also he went and preached unto the spirits 
 in prison." Now it is clear, that if there was any 
 such work performed as here described, as I think I 
 shall be able to show that there was, by Christ's own 
 power and authority, subsequently to his being quick- 
 ened by the spirit, it will be most reasonable to apply 
 the text to such subsequent work. 
 
 Others have understood Peter to teach in this place, 
 that the spirits of the antediluvians were in a prison 
 of darkness, suffering punishment for their sins on 
 earth, and that the spirit of Christ, between his death 
 and resurrection, went down into that prison to preach 
 to them, and to save them. 
 
 We will now examine whether it is fair to conclude 
 that Peter designed to teach, by the words before us, 
 as a doctrine of fear to influence our conduct, that 
 there is a prison in which men are shut up and pun- 
 ished after death for the sins of this life, and that Christ 
 went on a mission there during the time when his 
 body was in the sepulchre. I offer the following 
 reasons, which influence my mind against such an 
 understanding of it. 
 
 1st. No such doctrine was ever taught by the patri- 
 archs and prophets, who, through the space of nearly 
 four thousand years, were commissioned of God to 
 warn the people of all real dangers with regard to 
 their conduct in life. Since these patriarchs and pro- 
 phets were commissioned of God to declare to the 
 people of the first four thousand years the dangers to 
 which sin would expose them, and since they did not 
 teach the people that they would be put into a prison 
 for punishment after death, I feel obliged to conclude 
 32* 
 
378 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 that such a prison was not one of the dangers to which 
 they were exposed. 
 
 It will not be to the point for my brother to argue 
 here, that we may as well conclude that the doctrine 
 of life and immortality is not true, because it was not 
 revealed under the Old Testament dispensation; for 
 this doctrine is there revealed, though not so clearly as 
 in the New Testament But what if it had not been 
 revealed under the Old Testament dispensation at all? 
 It is what God has secured to all men by his own pur- 
 pose and grace, and is not to be either obtained or lost 
 by their works. It is, therefore, a different subject 
 from that which relates to the rewards and punish- 
 ments of human doings. And further, the patriarchs 
 and prophets were not specially commissioned to be 
 ministers of the doctrine of life and immortality ; but 
 they v)ere specially commissioned and enjoined to 
 encourage the people in virtue, and dissuade them from 
 sin, by plainly declaring to them the benefits of the 
 former, and the evils of the latter. I cannot accuse 
 them of unfaithfulness; and consequently, as they 
 did not warn the people of a prison for punishment 
 after death, I cannot admit that such a prison was one 
 of the evils to which they were exposed. And, accord- 
 ingly, I consider it both fair and requisite, as lovers 
 of the Scripture, to take the position that if the lan- 
 guage of the text, written in the year of the world 
 4063, will admit of any other fair construction, we 
 ought not to apply it to the doctrine of such infernal 
 prison. 
 
 2d. But Peter does not here introduce the mention 
 of the spirits in prison as the main subject of discourse, 
 nor as a motive of fear to restrain sinners, nor as if he 
 designed to make a communication of anything new. 
 
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 379 
 
 He was engaged in urging upon his brethren the ex- 
 ample of Christ, who suffered for sinners, and being 
 raised again from the dead, pursued their interest, in- 
 structing and enlightening those who were in prison. 
 This mention of the spirits, or as Wakefield translates 
 it, the minds of men in prison, is introduced incidentally 
 to illustrate the remarks concerning Christ's faithful- 
 ness to the interests of mankind, and the benefits of his 
 mission, which extended to sinners. But nothing ap- 
 pears here like a design to introduce any new doctrine 
 in relation to the dangers of sin. 
 
 3d. If St. Peter designed to teach that all who died 
 in unbelief before the coming of Christ, had been kept 
 in a state of suffering in an infernal prison, and 
 were visited by Christ's spirit between the time of 
 his death and resurrection, why did he mention those 
 in particular, and those o??7y, who were drowned in 
 the deluge? This reference to the antediluvians, and 
 the mention of ihe few of them who were saved upon 
 the water, appears like a design to introduce a co?7i- 
 parisofi between that case and some other; but it 
 does ?iot appear like a design to teach the doctrine of 
 all unbelieving souls going into an infernal prison after 
 death. 
 
 4th. But this text does not say that the work here 
 ascribed to Christ was performed between the time of 
 his death and resurrection. Nor is there any other 
 text of Scripture which asserts that Christ did any 
 work during the time when he was in the state of 
 death. The language of the text, with the preceding 
 context, implies that the work here ascribed to Christ 
 was performed after his resurrection. " Being put to 
 death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit; by 
 which also he went and preached to the spirits in 
 
380 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 prison." He was put to death in the flesh, then 
 quickened by the spirit, — and then, by the same spirit 
 or power by which God raised him from the dead, he 
 enabled him to preach to the spirits in prison. 
 
 Having now given my reasons against adopting 
 either of the opinions on this text, that it signifies 
 Clirist's ^preaching formerly through Noah, or his 
 preaching to souls in an infernal prison, — I will pro- 
 ceed to present what I consider a rational and Scrip- 
 tural interpretation of the passage. 
 
 And here I will premise, that the word spirits in the 
 Scriptures, sometimes means men, or the minds of men, 
 who are alive in the flesh; as ^^the spirits ofjiistmen 
 made perfect ^^^ (Heb. xii. 23,) unto whom the Hebrew 
 Christians had come, certainly means living men. 
 They had come into a unison of mind with just men, 
 made perfect in love. And in the phrase " Father of 
 spirits, ^^ (Heb. xii. 9,) the sentiment is the same as in 
 the saying, " We are also his off*spring." God is our 
 Father. And ''he is the God of the spirits of all 
 flesh," i. e. he is the God of all men. 
 
 But on this word there are several various readings 
 in ancient copies of the New Testament. Dr. Adam 
 Clark says that in some of the Greek MSS. it reads in 
 spirit, the word spirit applying to Christ. By which 
 he came m sjnrit, and preached to them who were in 
 prison. And he says that he had before him, in 
 writing his Commentary, one of the first, if not the 
 very first edition of the Latin Bible, in which the 
 verse stands thus: "By which he came spiritually, 
 and preached to thdm that were in prison." And in 
 several very ancient MSS. of the Vulgate, which he 
 had in his possession, the clause was similar. Christ 
 came in spirit and preached to them who were in 
 
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 381 
 
 prison. Or, as Wakefield renders it, " preached to the 
 minds of men in prison." 
 
 Who, then, were those men in prison, to whom Christ 
 preached in spirit after his resurrection from the dead 7 
 On this subject the Scriptures give us very clear and 
 satisfactory light. The Lord said by the prophet 
 Isaiah, "Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; mine 
 Elect, in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my 
 spirit upon him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the 
 Gentiles. I the Lord have called thee in righteous- 
 ness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, 
 and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light 
 of the Gentiles ; to open the blind eyes, to bring out 
 the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in 
 darkness out of the prison-house." Here the prophet 
 speaks of the Gentiles as being in darkness and in 
 pnso}i, and of Christ being appointed by the spirit of 
 God to give them light. 
 
 In another place Christ is represented as saying, — 
 '•' The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord 
 hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, 
 to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to 
 the captives, and the ope?iing of the j)rison to them that 
 are hounds 
 
 But this work of liberating the Gentiles^ who were 
 especially meant by those in darkness and in prison, 
 did not go into eflectual operation, until Christ had 
 been put to death in the flesh, and raised again by the 
 spirit of God. During his life in the flesh, he charged 
 his ministering disciples not to go in the way of the 
 Gentiles, but rather to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel. But when he had been put to death, and had 
 risen again, he commanded his apostles, saying. '• Go 
 ye into all the worlds and preach the gospel to every 
 
382 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 creature.'^'' And he promised to be with them alway, 
 even mito the end of the age. 
 
 Soon the apostles went among the Gentiles with the 
 gospel ministry, and great multitudes of these spiritual 
 prisoners received the word with gladness. And as 
 the apostles did all things in the work of their ministry 
 through Christ loho strengthened them^ hereby Christ 
 ivas preaching to 'inen who were in prison. 
 
 But how shall we understand the saying, "By 
 which he went and preached to the spirits (or minds 
 of men) in prison, lohich sometime ivere disobedient^ 
 when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days 
 of NoahV Does not this prove that Peter meant that 
 Christ preached to the same individuals who were 
 drowned by the flood? In answer to this I will 
 remark, that Wakefield^ in his translation of the New 
 Testament, supplies the word as here, to express what 
 he thinks the connection shows to be the true meaning. 
 He thinks that the scope of the apostle's discourse, and 
 especially the word feio^ "wherein feio were saved 
 upon the water," denotes a comparison, which must 
 be expressed by supplying the word as, thus, — "By 
 which he went and preached to the minds of men in 
 prison, who were disobedient as those upon whom the 
 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah:" 
 meaning that he preached to the Gentiles who were 
 alive on the earth in the apostolic age, but were as 
 disobedient as the antediluvians. 
 
 But I do not perceive the need of this supplement of 
 the word as to express the sense here. I would take 
 it as it stands. Christ, after his resurrection, preached 
 to the same 2)eople, in the sense in which the Scrip- 
 tures often speak of a people, though not to the same 
 individuals, which were sometimes disobedient in the 
 
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 383 
 
 days of Noah. God said to Abraham, ''Thy seed 
 shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and 
 shall serve them four hundred years, — and afterwards 
 they shall go out with great substance." Not one of 
 the individuals that went down into Egypt lived to go 
 out again. Yet they were called the same 2?eople who 
 went out. And long after all the individuals who 
 went out of Egypt were dead, it was said to that 
 people that the Lord delivered them from bondage in 
 Egypt, and made them a great nation. And so on, the 
 events which took place upon that class of the human 
 race, through different ages, are represented as taking 
 place upon the same people. 
 
 And there was another grand division of the human 
 race, called heathen, or Gentiles. And although these 
 particular names were not applied to them in Noah's 
 time, there was the same description of people. And 
 they then constituted a very large poriiori of the world. 
 They were loithont God, i. e. atheists, or idolaters^ 
 in the world. And the same description of people, St. 
 Paul sets forth the Gentiles to be in his day. But to 
 this people, men in prison, who through all ages have 
 been atheistical and idolatrous, and who even in 
 Noah's time were disobedient, insomuch that only few 
 lives were saved upon the water, — to them Christ, after 
 his resurrection, preached the gospel by his inspired 
 servants, to the enlightening and liberation oi thousands. 
 
 St. Peter, who was the first that went with the 
 gospel among the Gentiles, speaks on the same subject 
 in the 4th chapter of this Epistle. "For this cause 
 was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, 
 that they might be judged according to men in the 
 flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." 
 
 This verse Wakefield translates thus; — "For this 
 
384 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 indeedj was the effect of the preaching of the gospel to 
 the dead, (the unconverted Gentile,) that some will be 
 punished as carnal men, but others lead a spiritual 
 life unto God." 
 
 Macknight renders it, " For this purpose hath the 
 gospel been preached to the dead, (i. e. the Gentiles,) 
 that although they might be condemned indeed by 
 men, in the flesh, (their persecutors,) yet they might 
 live eternally by God in the spirit." 
 
 KnaichbuWs translation of it is this, — "For this 
 cause was the gospel preached to them that were 
 dead, that they who live according to men in the 
 flesh, may be condemned; but that they who live 
 according to God in the spirit, may live." 
 
 All these agree in understanding the dead in this 
 case to mean the Gentiles. They were spiritually in 
 prison and in death. St. Paul, addressing Gentile 
 believers, said, "You hath he quickened, who were 
 dead in trespasses and sins." 
 
 So, then, we have received no message from the 
 deeps of hades. But we hear the fiat of Jehovah, pro- 
 nouncing the final destruction of hades, by the resur- 
 rection of the dead to life. And now, as we are 
 about closing our remarks upon this subject, let it be 
 observed by the reader, that we have not asserted the 
 equality of all men in the resurrection state, in respect 
 to all their faculties and graces. We have endeavored 
 to walk in the simplicity of gospel truth, receiving and 
 reflecting the clear light of revelation. In this light 
 Ave look through the vista of the ages, and see death 
 swahowed up in the victory of a higher and better 
 life, sin finished, and tears wiped away from off all 
 faces. But what shall be the first emotions of men 
 on awaking to the future life, — of men who had closed 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 385 
 
 their earthly career at different stages of progress, — we 
 say not J for God has not taught us. That they will be 
 freed from the positive evils which flesh is heir to, and 
 placed in circumstances of vastly greater favor as to 
 mental and moral progress, which shall make it a state 
 of reconciliation to God, we have abundantly shown 
 from the testimony. As for the rest, every one is at 
 liberty to philosophize for himself But this much is 
 settled, that the inspired teachers have given us no 
 authority for dogmatizing with our philosophies, as if 
 they were the essentials of Christian faith and virtue. 
 Finally, if we are blessed with that Scripture light 
 in which we see the evil of sin, we shall not be envi- 
 ous of the wicked. If we have true conceptions of the 
 excellence of the Christian knowledge and graces, they 
 will constitute the supreme good of our soul's desire. 
 And if we have the spirit of Christian perfectness, love 
 to God and love to man, the progress of others, even 
 from below us, unto the knowledge, and love, and 
 enjoyment of our God, instead of troubling our envy, 
 will increase our own admiration, thankfulness and 
 joy. 
 
 33 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, AND MORAL 
 ACCOUNTABILITY OF MAN. 
 
 " Him, being delivered by the foreknowledge and determinate council of 
 God, ye have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." 
 Acts ii. 23. 
 
 SECTION I . 
 
 The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God. 
 
 The above words of Scripture distinctly set before 
 us the reputed perplexing subject of the foreknowledge 
 and sovereignty of God, in connection with the moral 
 accountability of man. 
 
 It is often asked as an unanswerable question, " If 
 God, either by his foreknowledge or predetermination, 
 or both, has made certain any future character or con- 
 duct of his creatures, how are they accountable for 
 that conduct?" Many have wrecked their minds 
 almost to distraction in making effort to settle this 
 inquiry ; and not a few, finding themselves unable to 
 settle the question to the satisfaction of their own 
 minds, have turned away and denied the premises. 
 They have discarded the doctrine of God's having 
 a determinate counsel, or even a foreknowledge, in 
 relation to the future doings of his moral accountable 
 creatures. 
 
 That learned and popular commentator. Dr. A. 
 Clarke, has furnished us the followmg labor of con- 
 fused thought on this important subject. "God is 
 omniscient, and can knoio all things ; but does it follow 
 from this that he 7nust know all things ? Is he not as 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 387 
 
 free in the volition of his wisdom^ as he is in the voli- 
 tion of his 'pmver 7 God has ordained some things as 
 absolutely certain ; these he knows as absolutely certain. 
 He has ordained other things as contingent ; these he 
 knows as contingent. It would be absurd to say, that 
 he foreknows a thing as only contingent, which he 
 has made absolutely certain. And it would be as 
 absurd to say, that he foreknows a thing to be abso- 
 lutely certain, which in his own eternal counsel he has 
 made contingent. By absolutely certain, I mean a 
 thing which must be in that order, time, place, and 
 form, in which Divine Wisdom has ordained it to be ; 
 and that it can be no otherwise than this infinite counsel 
 has ordained. By contingent, I mean such things as 
 the infinite wisdom of God has thought proper to 
 poise on the possibility of being or not being, leaving 
 it to the will of intelligent beings to turn the scale. 
 To deny this would involve the most palpable contra- 
 dictions, and the most monstrous absurdities. * =^ Sin 
 is no more sin, a vicious human action is no crime, if 
 God have decreed it, and by his foreknowledge and 
 will impelled the creature to act it. On this ground 
 there can be no punishment for delinquencies ; for if 
 everything be done as God has predetermined, and his 
 determinations must necessarily be all right, then 
 neither the instrument nor the agent has done wrong. 
 Thus all vice and virtue, praise and blame, merit and 
 demerit, guilt and innocence, are at once confounded, 
 and all distinctions of this kind confounded with 
 them." 
 
 " Now allowing the doctrine of the contingency of 
 human actions, (and it must be allowed in order to 
 shun the above absurdities and blasphemies,) then we 
 see every intelligent creature accountable for all its 
 
388 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 works, and for the use it makes of the powers with 
 which God has endued it. And to grant all this con- 
 sistently, we must also grant, that God foresees 
 nothing as ahsoliitely and inevitably certain, which he 
 has made contingent ; and because he has designed it 
 to be contingent, therefore he cannot know it as abso- 
 lutely and inevitably certain. I conclude that God, 
 though omniscient, is not obliged, in consequence of 
 this, to know all that he can know; no more than he 
 is obliged, because he is omnipotent, to do all that he 
 can do." 
 
 Such is the reasoning of Dr. Clarke. It will be 
 acknowledged that he presents, in its strongest light, 
 the popular objection to the doctrine of the foreknowl- 
 edge and decrees of God. And he denounces the 
 doctrine as involving the most monstrous absurdities 
 and blasphemies. But let us see how well or how illy 
 he succeeds, in clearing himself from absurdities and 
 blasj)hemies. The Doctor perceived that to say a 
 thing is foreknown of God, makes it to be as certain to 
 take place, as to say he decreed it; indeed, that his 
 foreknowing it involves the fact of his having decreed 
 it. And this is evident; for though a man may be 
 made to foreknow an event which he does not purpose, 
 it is because there is a power above him which pur- 
 posed jt, and reveals to him the knowledge of it. And 
 to suppose that God foreknows the events that are to 
 come, and yet has not purposed them, would be to 
 suppose there is a fate, or some power before God, 
 which laid out the chain of events that should come, 
 making certain their causes, and then God rose up, and 
 by his prescience looked forward, and saw the chain 
 of causes and effects which he had no agency in es- 
 tablishing, but which a prior power had fixed before 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 389 
 
 him. And this \yould not reUeve the difficulty at all 
 in relation to human accountability : for if events be- 
 longing to the doings of men were foreknown of God 
 to be certainly so, and could not be otherwise, whe- 
 ther that certainty were founded in the operation of 
 causes in the nature of things as fixed by eternal fate, 
 or whether it were founded in the purpose of God, the 
 question labors in the same perplexity, '' How is man 
 worthy of either praise or blame for what he does 7" 
 
 But to escape this difficulty. Dr. Clarke, (I name 
 him because he is the most prominent mouth-piece of 
 this sentiment,) denies God's foreknowledge of the 
 moral actions of mankind, and so involves himself in 
 the strange absurdity, that the omniscient God is igno- 
 rant of all future events in relation to the moral char- 
 acter and condition of the human race ! Yes, when 
 he devised the plan of creating a race of intelligent 
 beings, and when he called this race into existence, he 
 had no knowledge of what any of them would ever 
 do, or of what might be their moral state and condi- 
 tion. He chose to be thus ignorant, to leave the 
 moral actions and circumstances of all his creatures 
 contingent even to himself, having no knowledge of 
 what they would be until they should transpire. So 
 then, as the history of the world is a history of doings, 
 and circumstances, and events, belonging, directly and 
 indirectly, to the moral actions of mankind, we are here 
 required to view the history of all nations, from the 
 creation of the world unto the present time, as a his- 
 tory of undirected contingencies. And the professed 
 Christian, with this view, can no more hope in the 
 Divine government for any future moral good, than 
 the veriest skeptic, who believes in no God. For this 
 sentiment represents, nay, it asserts, that God does not 
 
390 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 'purpose — that he does not even know any moral 
 transaction or condition of mankind, before it comes to 
 pass. This sentiment will afford us no hope for the 
 continued happiness of any saint of God, even in the 
 immortal state. For it represents that what God fore- 
 knows as absolutely certain, it is no virtue or holiness 
 in the creature to do, even if it be in itself good. 
 Therefore God does not foreknow that there will be any 
 holiness in heaven, for if he foreknew it as absolutely 
 certain, it would not be holiness. And if God does not 
 know that men will be holy in heaven, then he has not 
 revealed any such knowledge, and we of course have 
 no information on which to hope for future holiness 
 and peace. 
 
 Such is the strange and hopeless condition in which 
 we of necessity become involved, by assuming the sen- 
 timent which denies the purpose and foreknowledge 
 of God concerning the moral state of mankind. For 
 the reason which they who espouse this sentiment 
 offer for so doing is, that if a train of causes and effects 
 is fixed of God, so that he foreknows all their opera- 
 tions and results, including even the moral actions of 
 men, then there is no virtue or vice, no praise or 
 blame-worthiness, in human works. The argument 
 affects what are called virhimis as well as vicious ac- 
 tions, assuming that one class of actions no more have 
 merit or virtue in them, than the other class have 
 blame, unless God himself is ignorant of them, not 
 knowing what they will certainly be, until after they 
 take place. Therefore, as they are not willing to give 
 up all idea of righteousness and sin in the human char- 
 acter, they choose to deny the foreknowledge and de- 
 terminate counsel of God in relation to those moral 
 concerns. Of course they must deny God's positive 
 foreknowledge that any portion of his creatures will 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 391 
 
 be righteous in the future world ; for if he have pur- 
 posed so as to foreknow what will be their moral 
 character there, then there can be no righteousness, as 
 well as no sin there. Men must be there without 
 moral characters, must cease to be moral beings. And 
 will that be heaven, where men have no moral char- 
 acter? Which horn of the dilemma will you take? 
 Will you allow that God certainly foreknows the 
 characters of men in heaven, and therefore they will 
 have no character there? or will you maintain that 
 men will have a moral character in heaven, you 
 know not what, and that God is ignorant of what it 
 will be ? 
 
 The learned commentator referred to, denounces as 
 absurd and blasphemous the sentiment which he is 
 pleased to say denies tlie accountability of man. Is it 
 any less absurd and blasphemous to deny the omnis- 
 cience of God, and disallow him any share in the 
 government of the moral world ; to represent the grand 
 concerns of the moral creation as under the sole direc- 
 tion of atheistical chance^ and sink the doctrine of a 
 Divine revelation and enlightened hope of future moral 
 good? 
 
 But why should we deny either? How happy 
 would it have been for the universe, if there had been 
 wisdom in the Creator to devise a system of creation, 
 so that he could have allowed himself to be omniscient, 
 to know and superintend the affairs of his moral crea- 
 tures, and yet they be accountable beings, having 
 individual moral characters. And such, yes, so hon- 
 orable to God and grateful to man, I think we shall 
 yet find the fact to appear. 
 
 But some may accuse me of doing injustice to Dr. 
 Clarke, in saying that he denies God's omniscience. 
 
392 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. \ 
 
 He says that God is omniscient. True, but he defines 
 omniscience to be merely the poiver to know all things, 
 and not the possession of infinite knowledge. Thus 
 while he ascribes to God the term omniscient, he at the 
 same time denies the fact of his omniscience, by a false 
 definition of the word. For, although all-powerful 
 signifies an ability to do all things, yet all-knowing does 
 not signify merely an ability to know all things. For 
 if ability to know all things constituted omniscience, 
 though that ability might not be employed to gain 
 knowledge, or actually to know, then we might be 
 presented with an omniscient being actually kriow- 
 ing nothing, choosing to withhold the exercise of 
 his power to know, and remaining in utter igno- 
 rance. Yes, and upon this definition of knowledge, its 
 being the power or capacity to know, then the ignora- 
 mus^ who knows not his letters, may be called a wise 
 and learned man, because he had ability to learn, if 
 he had chosen to exert that ability for the acquisition 
 of knowledge. But it is not so. Omniscience is all- 
 knowing, the possession of all knowledge. And who- 
 ever ascribes to God an ignorance of anything past, 
 present, or to come, denies his om7iiscie?ice. 
 
 But Dr. Clarke does not find himself able to carry 
 out, uncontradicted, this sentiment of God's voluntary 
 ignorance of the moral actions of men. In immediate 
 connexion with this unaccountable efibrtof his to limit 
 the actual knowledge of God, he gives the following 
 full and necessary definition of the Divine omnis- 
 cience, which we quoted in a former chapter: — ''God 
 cannot have foreknowledge, strictly speaking, because 
 this would suppose there was something coming, in 
 what we call futurity, which had not yet arrived at 
 the presence of the Deity. Neither can he have any 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 393 
 
 afterknowledge, strictly speaking, for this would sup- 
 pose something that had taken place, in what we call 
 pretereity, or past time, had now got beyond the pres- 
 ence of the Deity. As God exists in all that can be 
 called eternity^ so he is equally everywhere : nothing 
 can be future to him, because he lives in all futur- 
 ity : nothing can be past to him, because he equally 
 exists in all past time; futurity and pretereity are 
 relative terms to us ; but they can have no relation to 
 that God who dwells in every point of eternity, with 
 whom all that is past, all that is present, and all that 
 is future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible, and 
 eterno.l ?zo?r." 
 
 Who would imagine that the man who could give 
 such a definition of the omniscience of God. holds at 
 the same time that there was a most important class 
 of events, viz., moral events, which had not in the 
 beginning, and have not yet, arrived at the presence 
 of the Deity? If God dwells in every point of eter- 
 nity, so that all that is past, all that is present, and all 
 that is future to man, exists with God in one infinite, 
 indivisible, and eternal nou\ then surely every event, 
 moral as well as physical, future as well as past and 
 present, is known to God. And being known to God, 
 it belongs to a course of operation by a train of causes 
 and effects which he has established, and is certain to 
 take place. Yes, such an event as the wicked cruci- 
 fixion of Jesus Christ, was according to the determi- 
 nate counsel and foreknowledge of God. To this con- 
 clusion we are brought by our belief in the proper 
 omniscience and supremacy of God, and precisely this 
 is asserted by the sacred penman in the words at the 
 head of this chapter. 
 
 But there is a way which some have, otherwise to 
 
394 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 dispose of our text. We will refer again to the learned 
 commentator before quoted. And here let me remark, 
 I do not quote his words by way of controversy with 
 Dr. Clarke, nor as a reviewer of his works. I am on a 
 a subject, which, to many minds, seems perplexing. 
 Certain objections, and attempts at explanation, are 
 common among us. And rather than expose myself 
 to the charge, or even the suspicion, of not stating the 
 objections and opposing explanations fairly, by giving 
 them in my own language, I choose to present them 
 in the language of one of their own strongest and 
 boldest authors. This is the only purpose for which 
 I quote Dr. Glarke. This commentator says on the 
 Avords which I have placed at the head of this 
 chapter, that this determinate counsel " is that coun- 
 sel of God which defined the time, place, and circum- 
 stance, according to his foreknowledge, which always 
 saw what was the proper time and place for the 
 manifestation and crucifixion of his Son: so that 
 there was nothing casual in these things ; God having 
 determined that the salvation of a lost world should 
 be brought about in this way, and neither the Jews 
 nor the Romans had any power here, but what Avas 
 given them from above. It was necessary to show the 
 Jews, that it was not through Christ's weakness or 
 inability to defend himself, that he was taken ; nor 
 was it through their malice^ merely, that he was slain ; 
 for God had determined long before, from the founda- 
 tion of the world. Rev. xiii. 8, to give his Son a sacri- 
 fice for sin ; and the treachery of Judas, and the 
 malice of the, Jews, were only the incidental means 
 by which the counsel of God was fulfilled: the coun- 
 sel of God intending the sacrifice ; but never ordering 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 395 
 
 that it should be brought about by such wretched 
 means. This was 'permitted^ the other was decreed^ 
 Here then, we have the wisdom of this world, ex- 
 posing its foolishness more and more conspicuously. 
 God's determinate counsel defined the time, place, and 
 circumstance of the crucifixion of his Son ; he deter- 
 mined that his Son should, at that time and place, be 
 crucified, but did not determine that anybody should 
 do it ! Yes, according to his determinate counsel, he 
 delivered his Son into the hands of men, for the pur- 
 pose that he might be crucified at the determined time 
 and place, but he did not determine, nor even know 
 as an absolute certainty, that they would crucify him ! 
 That act of men Avas left undetermined, contingent 
 and uncertain, even to God himself, until it took 
 place ! Does anybody believe this ? Can anybody 
 believe it ? That God determined that a certain thing 
 should be done, and done at a particular time and 
 place, and done by men too, and yet did not design 
 that men should do it ? Is this good sense ? If it is, 
 I must confess that my own mind is strangely consti- 
 tuted. And then, to persons who handle the sacred 
 record in this manner, how wonderful must it appear 
 that when their God has determined that a particular 
 thing shall be done, at a fixed time and place, without 
 determining that anybody should do it, men should 
 by chance take it into their heads to do that particu- 
 lar thing, at the same time and place, and thus with- 
 out God's designing it, be the incidental means by 
 which God's design is fulfilled ! It seems, then, if it 
 were not for the lucky coincidence of these undirected 
 chances with the plans of God, his designs would not 
 be fulfilled. We shall therefore owe as much praise 
 at least to the atheist's chance, as to the Arminian 
 
396 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 God, for any purposes which may finally succeed, 
 affecting the concerns of the moral universe. 
 
 But away with these blasphemous and mind-de- 
 grading sentiments. We multiply, rather than escajje 
 our difficulties, by denying the foreknowledge and 
 purpose of God concerning the moral state of his 
 moral creation, with a view to support the account- 
 ability of man. Everything in doctrine is great loss, 
 which we must purchase by the sacrifice of the per- 
 fections of God. Indeed, all labor to support such a 
 view of human accountability as must exclude the 
 foreknowledge and purpose of God, is but mere talk, 
 mere verbiage, against the sober conviction of the 
 understanding of those who employ it. For after all 
 is said, the sober conviction of every mind which 
 reflects on the subject is, that He who made all 
 things, in whom we live and move, knows all the 
 events which take place in his moral, as well as in 
 his physical creation ; and that they were just as well 
 known to him from the beginning, as they are now, 
 or ever will be ; and that, of course, all these events, 
 of both classes, belong to a chain of causes and effects, 
 which is established by the Author of creation, who is 
 God alone, who sees the end from the beginning, 
 whose counsel shall stand, and he will do all his 
 pleasure. It will not avail us, in respect to the appli- 
 cation of this sublime doctrine, to make a distinction 
 between great and small events, and moral and phys- 
 ical. For such are the mutual and alternate bearings 
 and connections of these things, that 
 
 « From the great chain whatever link yon strike, 
 Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike." 
 
 AH will admit the existence of this great American 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 397 
 
 nation to have been embraced in the counsel of God. 
 For this, every Christian gives thanks to God, and 
 not to luck and chance. But in tracing back the 
 chain of events which resuhed in the settlement of 
 this country by our forefathers, we touch upon thou- 
 sands of incidents, among Avhich the most important 
 are doings of men, involving both praiseworthiness 
 and blame. It required a powerful motive to deter- 
 mine those fathers and mothers to tear themselves 
 from their loved homes, and friends, and all the dear 
 and familiar scenes of earth, and embark upon the 
 trackless deep, for a waste howling wilderness upon 
 these distant shores. What was the reason ? It was 
 their supreme love of their religion. And why should 
 this have moved them to such a pilgrimage ? Because 
 they could not enjoy their religion, and discharge its 
 duties at home. What hindered them ? It was the 
 wicked and oppressive measures of their government. 
 If that government had been otherwise disposed, our 
 pilgrim fathers would not have come to these shores, 
 and this nation would not have been here. 
 
 Permit me to indulge a little personal reflection. I 
 love to regard myself as a child, not of chance, but of 
 God. I trace my lineage directly back to members of 
 that pilgrim band, who came by the second voyage 
 of the May-Flower to the Plymouth shore. Were it 
 not for the tyranny of the English crown, as we have 
 seen, they would not have come here. And were it 
 not for a piece of bribery, which purchased the treach- 
 ery of the May-Flower's captain, they would have 
 been landed upon the Hudson, and not upon Plymouth 
 rock. These important incidents in the train being 
 different, thousands of connected and succeeding events 
 would have been different, — and / should not have 
 34 
 
398 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 been here, nor upon the stage of being. When I thus 
 meditate, in my devout and reverential confidence in 
 God as his child, who hath numbered the very hairs 
 of my head, I dare not, I cannot admit the thought, 
 that even the conduct of the pilot which disappointed 
 the plan of our pilgrim fathers, was a chance, contin- 
 gency, or accident, in relation to the government of 
 God. 
 
 Let any of my readers take a retrospective view of 
 his past life, and he will probably recall some event 
 which seemed insignificant at the time, which gave 
 such a turn to affairs, as essentially to affect, or totally 
 change, the whole subsequent course and condition of 
 his life. If the more important events of his life were 
 contemplated in the arrangements of the Deity, so 
 was that lesser which conduced to them. It belongs 
 to a chain of causes and effects, established by the 
 wise and benevolent Governor of all. 
 
 Such being the truth, supported by Scripture and 
 reason, let us hold it fast. It is the only principle on 
 which we can rest the safety of the universe, or enjoy 
 any confidence in the government of God. Will you 
 say we must deny this, however true it may appear, 
 in order to make men accountable beings ? — that to 
 admit this, is to do away all accountability, all virtue 
 and sin in the children of men 7 Be not so easily 
 frightened. There is no merit, nor wisdom, nor pru- 
 dence, in such rashness. Rather say, that if this sen- 
 timent is true, then human accountability is something 
 different from what you have imagined. When you 
 have found an important truth, do not be frightened 
 from it by imagined difficulties. Stand in the light 
 and the power of that truth, and encounter the 
 supposed difficulties as faithful Christians. Let the 
 
THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 399 
 
 difficulties come, and examine them, and they will be 
 found not to be. 
 
 "But the difficulty now before us." says one, "I 
 cannot overcome. If man acts as he is induced, by 
 the influence of means or causes in the order of things 
 established by the foreknowledge and determinate 
 counsel of God, how is he accountable, — how is he to 
 be praised or blamed, — how is he deserving of reward 
 or punishment, for what he does ?" 
 
 To answer this inquiry, to reconcile the doctrines 
 of the Divine foreknowledge and purpose, and the 
 moral accountability of man, in a manner most con- 
 ducive to Christian faith and virtue, will be the labor 
 of the succeeding section. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Harmony of the Divine Sovereigfity, and Human 
 Acconntabilili/. 
 
 It is a question which has confused and perplexed 
 many minds, "If God, by his foreknowledge and 
 determinate covmsel, has made certain any future 
 moral actions of men, how are they accountable for 
 those actions?" The foregoing section offers various 
 important considerations preliminary to an under- 
 standing of this inquiry, and which urge the mind to 
 a most earnest effort to obtain such understanding. 
 
 Some have decided that, on the premises here 
 stated, men are not accountable for their conduct, 
 have neither moral merit nor demerit. And so, to 
 support human accountability, they deny the prem- 
 ises, the foreknowledge and purpose of God in rela- 
 tion to the moral state of his creatures. Thus they 
 have deprived the moral creation of a Divine gov- 
 ernment, even of a God ; and have deprived them- 
 
400 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN WVINITY. 
 
 selves of any ground of hope for future moral good. 
 For if God have no purpose in relation to the moral 
 condition of men, because the existence and operation 
 of such a purpose would incapacitate men for an 
 individual moral character, — then we have no Divine 
 purpose to trust in for future moral good, and the 
 whole Christian system of faith and hope is null 
 and void. 
 
 But no man would ever think of denying the fore- 
 knowledge of God, embracing all events, and a fore- 
 knowledge the certainty of which is based on the 
 original and comprehensive jy^t'^T^se of the all- wise 
 Creator and Ruler of the universe, were he not driven 
 into the denial by affright, lest it should infringe on 
 the free agency and the moral accountability of man. 
 And to answer the inquiry which has raised this 
 bewildering affright, to reconcile the doctrines of the 
 Divine foreknowledge and decrees, and the moral 
 accountability of man, in a manner most conducive 
 to Christian faith and virtue, is the assigned labor of 
 this section of my work. This I shall now attempt 
 to do, — 
 
 1st. Scripturally. 
 
 2d. Philosophically. 
 
 1st. I will show from the Scriptures that the doc- 
 trine of a Divine 'purpose concerning moral as well 
 as physical events, and the moral accountability of 
 man for his actions, are both true^ and of course con- 
 sistent with each other. 
 
 A case in point is placed at the head of this chapter. 
 It is furnished us by Peter, Acts ii. 22 : "Him being 
 delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowl- 
 edge of God, ye have taken, and with wicked hands 
 have crucified and slain." The same sentiment is in 
 
god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 401 
 
 Acts iv. 27, 28: ''For of a truth, against thy holy 
 child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod 
 and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people 
 of Israel, were gathered together ; for to do whatso- 
 ever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to 
 be done." The sentiment of these Scriptures is, that 
 the persecution and crucifixion of Christ by the hands 
 of men, was before purposed- of God, and also that 
 they were guilty for doing it; they did it with 
 "wicked hands," or herein acted a sinful part. 
 
 And when Jesus was yet with his disciples on the 
 earth, he foretold to them what persecutions they 
 were to suffer at the hands of their religious opposers. 
 He described these transactions with all the exactness 
 with which an eye witness could describe them in 
 liistory after they had taken place. Of course he had 
 committed to him from God, of that prescience^ by 
 which he saw those transactions beforehand, and saw 
 them to be certain by the operation of causes in the 
 fixed order of things under the Divine government. 
 They could not be otherwise, because they were 
 certain to be so, as Jesus saw and foretold they 
 would be. Yet those persecutors were condemned 
 for those deeds of malice, and were judged and pun- 
 ished for them. 
 
 Look at the case of Pharaoh. God said to Moses, 
 when he sent him to Pharaoh with a certain message, 
 that he would harden Pharaoh's heart, that he should 
 not grant his request. That is, though it was neces- 
 sary, as one means of bringing about the designed 
 end, that Moses should go to Pharaoh with the mes- 
 sage which the Lord directed him to carry, yet he 
 knew that the influences in the order of his provi- 
 dence, would dispose Pharaoh to refuse compliance 
 34* 
 
402 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 with Moses' request. Yet Pharaoh was condemned 
 for his conduct, and was punished for it. 
 
 And so we may go through with the whole course 
 of the prophetic Scriptures, and we shall find a num- 
 berless variety of events predicted, relating to the 
 moral character and conduct of man in then future 
 time, — conduct both good and evil. If God had, 
 according to Dr. Clarke's plan, withheld his knowl- 
 edge of these events, and poised them on the pos- 
 sibility of being, or not being, so that even in the 
 mind of God, they were as likely not to be, as to 
 be, how could he have revealed to his prophets the 
 certain foreknowledge of them? God foreknew all 
 these events as certain to be, and inspired his pro- 
 phets to foretell them as certain to be, and all which 
 related to times which have come, have certainly 
 taken place as they were foretold. Yet the actors in 
 these foreordained, and consequently foreknown and 
 foretold events, were judged as subjects of praise or 
 blame, of reward or punishment, according to the 
 parts which they severally acted in them. 
 
 The prophets, for instance, predicted, among other 
 things, that at a then future time, many people should 
 come and say, " Let us go up to the house of the 
 Lord, to the mountain of the mighty God of Jacob ; 
 for he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in 
 his paths." It was then certain that this prophecy 
 would be fulfilled, though it spoke directly and solely 
 of the moral actions of men. It was as impossible for 
 it to be otherwise, as it is that God should lie. God, 
 in the purpose of his government, had provided those 
 means of moral influence, which should dispose and 
 bring the people thus to return and walk in the paths 
 or the laws of the Lord. Yet this walking in the 
 
god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 403 
 
 laws of God, when it takes place, is reckoned a righte- 
 ousness and a merit of reward to them who do so. 
 
 The inspired prophets spoke beforehand of the 
 coming and the character of the Messiah. They de- 
 scribed with great particularity the character which 
 he sustained, and the works which he would per- 
 form. And he came, and he acted, precisely as they 
 foretold. I think there is hardly a Christian of any 
 sect, of so great intellectual and moral perversity 
 as not to admit that God purposed, from the begin- 
 ning, what character his Son should sustain on the 
 earth, and what works he should perform. He 
 determined, as the prophet expresses it, to hold his 
 Messiah's hand and keep him, to put his spirit upon 
 him, and give him wisdom and understanding, and to 
 keep him surrounded by the influence of such circum- 
 stances and such principles, as that he should certainly 
 sustain the character and perform the works which 
 were purposed. Yet was there no merit, no virtue, 
 no holiness in the character and works of Christ? 
 Because his moral character and works were made 
 certain by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
 of God, — will you therefore deny that there was any 
 merit or virtue in his works 7 Then you must per- 
 ceive that it is not me, but the Bible, that you are 
 contending against. For every word of the Bible 
 concerning the Messiah's character, shows that he 
 acted throughout according to the previously fixed 
 purpose of God, and also that he was a subject of 
 approbation and reward, as an accountable being, for 
 what he did.* 
 
 * For further Scriptural and practical illustrations of this subject, the 
 harmony of the Divine purpose with the legitimate action of the moral 
 agency of man, see Chap. IX., sec. iii., pp. 259 — 262, 
 
404 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 It seems unnecessary to pursue this division of our 
 subject longer, for it is established beyond controversy, 
 by authority of Scripture, that God's foreknowledge 
 and foreordination of the moral character and works 
 of his moral creatures, is compatible with their ac- 
 countability to his moral law, and their merit or 
 demerit, approvableness or blame, accordingly as their 
 actions agree or disagree with the precepts of that 
 law. Still some minds remain unsatisfied. They 
 are satisfied that I have established my position by 
 the authority of the Scriptures, but they are not 
 satisfied of the reasonableness even of the Scripture 
 sentiments on this subject. Their minds still labor 
 under the inquiry, "How can it be, even as the 
 Scriptures teach, that those moral actions of men 
 which are foreknown of God, and embraced as links 
 in the great chain of events which he has purposed, 
 are in justice approvable or condemnable, rewardable 
 or punishable, by the judgment of God 7 How can 
 men be accountable for such actions?" — I will then 
 pass on, 
 
 2dly — To consider the same subject philosophically. 
 And here I need do but little more than free the mind 
 from certain false ideas attached to the principal words 
 which the question employs, and settle upon correct 
 views of the sense which these terms bear. What do 
 you mean by sin 7 Is it a frustration of the Divine 
 purposes, and disappointment of the Divine expec- 
 tations? If you put this definition upon sin, no 
 wonder you cannot conceive how there can be any 
 sin, if all events are embraced in the original pur- 
 pose of God. You can have no such sin until you 
 have dethroned God, and thwarted the purpose of his 
 government. 
 
god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 405 
 
 And what do you mean by blame ? Is it an extra- 
 neous thing, an external expression from the mouth 
 of Godj of disapprobation and disappointed feeling 
 toward the sinner ? And what do you mean by man's 
 moral accountability 7 Do you mean that when he 
 has done acting in the body, he shall be called before 
 God in another state of being, and required to give 
 account, relate a history, of what he has done, and the 
 reason of his conduct? And what do you mean by 
 man's desert of reward or punishment ? Is it that when 
 he has accounted of himself as above, if the account 
 is in truth favorable, he shall be paid off for the grati- 
 fication he has afforded the Deity, with the extraneous 
 reward of an endless residence in heaven? And that 
 if the account proves unfavorable, God will, for this 
 offence, disappointment, and indignity suffered, wreak 
 eternal vengeance on the offending sinner's soul? I 
 apprehend that the objector's mind is confused with 
 some such notions of sin, blame, and accountability. 
 And with such a view of the sense of these words, no 
 wonder that he should ask in perplexity of mind, 
 " How is man accountable, how to blame, how pun- 
 ishable for what he does, if his actions are induced 
 by the influence of circumstances which God arranged 
 for this purpose in his own established order of 
 things?" 
 
 But we will try not to be deceived by the sound of 
 words. We will endeavor to take hold of the knowl- 
 edge of facts. What is sin? "Sin is the transgres- 
 sion of the law." Of what law? Is it the transgres- 
 sion of the law or rule of the Divine purpose, by which 
 God worketh all things after the counsel of his own 
 will? No; it is the law or rule of human happiness, 
 or moral right, established in the nature of things, 
 
406 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 and revealed in the published lavsr, or word of God. 
 Then when we violate this law, we sin. This is no 
 farce; it is a reality. This law of happiness does 
 exist. Though God has published it in his word, it is 
 founded in our very nature. And when we violate it, 
 the wrong, the sin, does really exist, — because sin is 
 the violation of this rule, or law. If God has placed 
 us in the midst of circumstances, which for a wise 
 purpose he designed should have an influence upon us 
 to induce us at times to violate this moral rule or 
 law, it does not alter the fact, and make it that there 
 is no sin : for this is the sin, it is the violation of this 
 law. 
 
 And with regard to accountability ; it is that princi- 
 ple which God has established in the constitution of 
 his moral creation, by which we are caused to feel 
 approbation or disapprobation, happiness or unhappi- 
 ness, accordingly as we obey or violate the principles 
 of this moral law. And this accountability is real. 
 This principle really exists, and will mete happiness 
 or unhappiness to man, according to his actions, 
 though he acts as he is acted upon by the stronger 
 influence of circumstances affecting him. 
 
 Permit me to illustrate this principle by the help of 
 a certain principle in physical nature. There is a 
 natural law, by which, if you do violence to the prin- 
 ciples of your physical nature, you must suffer pain 
 as the consequence. If the wound you receive was 
 ordered by the providence of God, it removes not this 
 fact. While groaning under the pain of a burning 
 fever, or a broken limb, if any should remark to 
 you that this evil is ordered by a wise and kind 
 Providence, — you would not say, "If providence 
 ordered this event, then I have no disease, no broken 
 
god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 407 
 
 limb, no pain." The evil is there; it is just as much 
 there if it came by order of Divine Providence, as if it 
 came by chance. The law of our physical nature 
 will continue to inflict the pain, as long as the disease 
 counteracts its principles. And moral accountability 
 is that principle in our moral nature, which answers 
 to the principle just described in our physical nature. 
 It is really there, and will inflict pain on our violation 
 of the law of our moral constitution, just as certainly 
 as the other principle will cause pain upon any viola- 
 tion of the law of physical nature. And this pain 
 which proceeds from a violation of the moral law, is 
 called punishment. Hence, man is accountable and 
 punishable for a violation of the moral law, and that 
 in perfect consistency with the doctrine of the Divine 
 purpose embracing the moral as well as physical cir- 
 cumstances of mankind. So, if the question of account- 
 ability be reiterated in another form, asking, why 
 should men be punished for doing what they are 
 induced to do by circumstances foreknown of God, 
 the answer is, the punishment is not an arbitrary 
 infliction of revengeful torture, but it is the necessary 
 evil which belongs to the violation of the moral law. 
 Such is the moral nature of man, that the exercise and 
 practice of hatred, jealousy, injustice, or any evil prin- 
 ciple, must as necessarily produce the moral woe 
 called punishment, as physical disease causes bodily 
 pain. 
 
 And the institution and administration of this retri- 
 butive principle of accountability is just and right, 
 because it is good, it is corrective. If the child could 
 put his fingers into the fire without pain, he might 
 burn them ofl" before he should become old enough to 
 make them useful. The pain which accompanies 
 
408 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 certain destructive circumstances of the body, induces 
 us to guard against those circumstances. And so the 
 pains or punishments of sin exert an influence to 
 guard us against sin. And they do, to a great 
 extent, prove efficacious. That constitution of our 
 moral nature by which we shrink from the touch of 
 evil principles, as we shrink from the touch of fire to 
 our flesh, operates to a great extent to preserve man- 
 kind from moral disease. And even those punish- 
 ments which God has sometimes inflicted by a special 
 interposition of external providence, are also just and 
 right because infinite wisdom sees them necessary as a 
 means for the proper exercise of his moral government 
 over the world. 
 
 I think that our general subject is cleared from diffi- 
 culty. Only cease from using words without definite 
 ideas, and come down to a view of facts, rather than 
 dally upon the sound of words, and all appears clear. 
 God is viewed and adored in all his infinite perfections, 
 as the all- wise and omniscient Governor of the natural 
 and moral world, — and man also, by a wise and benev- 
 olent economy of God, accountable^ i. e. rewardable and 
 punishable for his conduct. And these truths must 
 have existed for the glory of God and the good of man. 
 If God had not devised a plan, and did not exercise a 
 government to carry that plan into effect, in relation to 
 the moral as well as the natural circumstances of his 
 creation, he would have been unworthy of human 
 confidence and praise. And if he had not subjected 
 men to this principle of moral accountability, they 
 would not have been capacitated for coming up into 
 that peculiar species of individual enjoyment as moral 
 beings, for which they are designed. The more we 
 examine this subject, the more we see and admire the 
 
god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 409 
 
 consummate wisdom and goodness of God, in the con- 
 stitution and government of the moral, as well as of 
 the natural world. 
 
 With a few brief remarks on the practical influence 
 of a belief in the doctrines of this chapter, I will 
 conclude. Some have thought that this belief is 
 unfriendly to the cause of virtue. But so widely do I 
 differ, as to think that no sentiment is so friendly to 
 virtue's cause. The sentiment which I have advo- 
 cated is not that of some predestinarians, who hold to 
 the arbitrary decrees of God, executed by a constant 
 miraculous exertion of Divine power impelling men to 
 action, and to arbitrary and revengeful punishments. 
 The decrees of God are founded in the constitution of 
 things ; in the connections and dependencies of circum- 
 stances and events. The actions of men are induced 
 by circumstances, so that with the creature they are 
 voluntary ; or /ree, if you will take the word free to 
 apply to the voluntary action of the mind, not com- 
 pelled by outward force. This is the only sense in 
 which man's agency is free. It is not free in a sense 
 to be able to will one thing as well as another, under 
 circumstances the same. God himself is not free in 
 this sense. His holy nature admits of no freedom to 
 do wrong as well as right. '-It is impossible for God 
 to lie." He is free to do his pleasure; he is free to 
 choose what he will. But it would be irreverence to 
 say that he can will to do evil, or the lesser good. 
 And with regard to our moral freedom, it consists only 
 in the fact that the mind acts by the influence of 
 motives operating within itself, so that its own consent 
 is obtained. Indeed, we are as morally free as we 
 could be, surrounded by the circumstances in the midst 
 of which we are placed, even if there were no intelli- 
 35 
 
410 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 gent power above us. The difference between us and 
 some others, is chiefly in this; that the direction of 
 the circumstances affecting the influences that bear 
 npen us, is of the government of God, and not of athe- 
 istical Chance or heathen Fate. But God does not, by 
 any direct interposition, interfere with the voUtions 
 of our minds. They are our own, in the sense 
 in which our existence is our own. But that our 
 choice is influenced by motives, and those motives by 
 circumstances, no man will deny, unless he shuts his 
 eyes upon himself. And why should one wish to 
 shut his eyes upon the knowledge of himself, and of 
 man? How important is a knowledge of the facts 
 which we have brought to view in relation to man, in 
 its practical bearing. We must understand the nature 
 of human agency, and the principle of government 
 over mind by moral influences, in order to apply a 
 successful system of moral education. And with the 
 true knowledge of man in this respect, we shall both 
 be able to conduct the better system of moral disci- 
 pline, and at the same time to see that God may 
 accomplish all his purposes with regard to the moral 
 state of his creatures, and even bring them all to 
 worship and adore him, by the operation of causes 
 which shall induce their own voluntary action. 
 
 One circumstance which repels the consent of the 
 mind to acts of wrong, and inclines it to the choice of 
 virtue, is the discovery of the principle of accounta- 
 bility, which has just been explained, connecting hap- 
 ness with virtue, and misery with vice. And moral 
 and religious instruction is a means of placing this cir- 
 cumstance in its healthful influence, before the mind. 
 
 By the constitution of nature which God has given 
 uSj we as strongly desire happiness, and dislike misery, 
 
411 
 
 with our belief in the foreknowledge and government 
 of God, as if we believed that the affairs of the moral 
 creation were left to the blind sport of chance. We 
 admire the wisdom of God in the constitution of our 
 moral as'well as of our physical nature. Our innate 
 desire of happiness, with the objects around us affect- 
 ing that desire, excites us to action ; the knowledge of 
 the connexion between sinful actions and miser}^, 
 repels our choice of sin : and our acquaintance with 
 the fact that virtue's fruit is happiness, induces our 
 choice of virtue's road. And this view of the principle 
 of accountability as being founded in the moral consti- 
 tution of our nature, and being certain in its awards, 
 must have a better and steadier moral influence, than 
 the opposite view of its being extraneous and uncertain. 
 Thus nothing is lost, but rather something is gained, 
 by the doctrine of this chapter, as it respects the moral 
 influence of the doctrine of rewards and punishments. 
 And then everything is hereby gained on the score of 
 confidence in God, and pious hope, and gratitude and 
 praise. It is only in the light of this sentiment, that, 
 when, with Paul, we have viewed the human creation 
 made subject to vanity, and have seen the reign of 
 moral as well as natural evil, even of unbelief and 
 sin, — we can look through the cloud of darkness, rise 
 above the jarring elements of moral contrarieties, and 
 rest on the perfect government of God for the consum- 
 mation of a purpose, to eventuate in the highest uni- 
 versal good ; — yes, and with that holy apostle exclaim 
 in pious rapture, '^O the depth of the riches both of 
 the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearch- 
 able are his judgments, and his ways past finding 
 out. * * For of him, and through him, and to 
 him, are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FAITH, REPENTANCE, AND THE NEW BIRTH. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Faith. 
 
 The Christian faith is a beUef and trustful confi- 
 dence in Christian truth. It is a plain and interesting 
 subject ; yet human theology has defrauded the mind 
 of its blessed simplicity, by throwing around it the 
 garb of mystery. And not a few there are, whom 
 education has so accustomed to associate religion and 
 mystery, that an intelligible, common-sense doctrine 
 is hardly viewed as possessing the dignity which 
 belongs to religion. 
 
 Our present subject is defined by Dr. Brown, in his 
 Dictionary of the Bible, in the following manner : — 
 " Saving faith is that gracious quality, principle or 
 habit wrought in the heart by the Spirit taking the 
 things of Jesus and showing them to us, whereby we 
 receive and rest alone on Christ for salvation as he is 
 offered to us in the gospel. By this faith we are 
 united to his person, as our spiritual head and hus- 
 band, and he dvvelleth in our heart ; are interested in 
 his righteousness and fulness; and by improvement 
 thereof, become bold before God, and active in his 
 service. This is the faith of God's elect, as none but 
 they are made sharers of it, and they alone are in the 
 faith; that is, possessed of, and act according to the 
 principles of it. Faith, as a habit or principle, is 
 implanted in every regenerated infant, even though 
 the word of God can neither be the means of their 
 
FAITH, REPENTANCE, AND THE NEW BIRTH. 413 
 
 regeneration, nor can they act faith on it, as it is 
 unknown to them." 
 
 Now who can understand the nature of the Chris- 
 tian faith, from this definition of it 7 What is it? 
 and how will you go at work to obtain it? Why, the 
 author above quoted says, " it is that gracious quality, 
 principle, or habit, wrought in the heart by the Spirit 
 taking the things of Christ and showing them to us." 
 The elect only can have it; and even elect irifants 
 may possess it, though they have no understanding. 
 And if elect infants may have it without understand- 
 ing, of course elect men and women may possess the 
 Christian faith likewise, while as ignorant of the 
 truths of the gospel as those regenerated infants ! 
 
 The proper Christian faith, then, as thus defined, 
 does not, as St. Paul describes it, come by hearing the 
 word of God, nor by reading or understanding it. It is 
 an imagined inexplicable something, supposed to be 
 miraculously wrought in the person's constitution, 
 before he can understand or receive God's word. Of 
 course, it no more comes through the medium of the 
 understanding, than does the curdling chill of the 
 blood in the cold winter's blast. 
 
 It is the prevalence of this view of religious faith, 
 that exposes so many minds to slavish entanglement in 
 dark and absurd theological schemes. When they have 
 imbibed the opinion that faith is a mysterious "qual- 
 ity," wrought by the Spirit of God, but not through 
 the means of instruction and enlightenment of the 
 mind, they are then in a situation to be imposed upon 
 by the sleight of men. Any frame or emotion of 
 feeling, which even the impostor's operations excite^ 
 maybe dignified into the gracious "quality" of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 35* 
 
414 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 But as I said in the outset, our subject is not in 
 itself mysterious. Christian faith is the reception, with 
 a loving, trusting heart, of Christian truth. St. Paul 
 says it "is the substance of things hoped for, and the 
 evidence of things not seen." * It is to be obtained, 
 then, through the medium of evidence. Hence the 
 same apostle says, in another place, — "So then faith 
 Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." ^ 
 The word hearings in this case, includes reading, or 
 any means of instruction by which to come at the 
 word of God. When we read the Scriptures, the 
 word of God speaketh unto us through the inspired 
 record ; and if we ponder and understand, we hear the 
 word of God. 
 
 If, then, we are to obtain faith by the means of hear- 
 ing, what shall we believe? Everything we hear? Is 
 the mere fact of our hearing a thing said, the only condi- 
 tion of our belief in it 7 If so, we must believe a most 
 mammoth collection of contradictions and absurdi- 
 ties. Our faith must be a vast reservoir of all the 
 good and evil, truth and falsehood, which we read or 
 hear. No: this hearing by which the true faith 
 Cometh, is by the word of God. And even what we 
 hear alleged as the word of God, we must not receive 
 implicitly; for there are diverse sentiments whose 
 abettors assure us that they are the sentiments of 
 God's word. "Beloved," saith an apostle, "believe 
 not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are 
 of God ; because many false prophets are gone out 
 into the world." You must try what you hear, by the 
 accredited record of Divine truth. So did the noble 
 Bereans, who heard the preaching of Paul. " They 
 received the word with all readiness of mind, (that is, 
 
 a Keb. xii. 1. bRom. x. 17. 
 
REPENTANCE. 416 
 
 they received it for examination,) and searched the 
 Scriptures daily, whether these things were so : there- 
 fore many of them beheved." 
 
 Hence it is seen that there is nothing more forbid- 
 ding to the reasoning mind in the subject of faith, 
 than in any vahiable matter of human inquiry. It 
 invites the attention of all, young and old, grave and 
 gay, as a subject you may investigate, understand, 
 feel, enjoy. It is the belief of the word of God, 
 which by the gospel is preached unto you, and which 
 addresses itself to your reason and conscience. And 
 while the faith of the gospel is the belief of its teach- 
 ings, it involves a confiding trust in the government 
 of God, that in life or death, for time and eternity, the 
 full heart can exclaim, " JEHOVAH-JIREH." ° 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Repentance. 
 
 Repentance, as it is taught in the Scriptures, is a 
 change or alteration of mind and character for the 
 better. The original word {rnetanoeo^ to repent) is 
 defined by Parkhurst as meaning, "to understand 
 afterwards, to be wise after a fact committed, to change 
 one's mind and opinion so as to influence for the better 
 his subsequent conduct." It involves, of course, the 
 idea of reformation. It means something more than 
 sorrow on account of certain wrong committed; for 
 one may regret having done certain evil things, not 
 that he has really changed his mind as to the pursuit 
 of the same course, but because he is detected and 
 suffers punishment for his wrong. Sorrow and repent- 
 ance are not synonymous, though " godly sorrow 
 
 c Gen. xxii. 14. " And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah- 
 Jirehj" i. e,, God will provide. 
 
416 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented 
 of." ^ That is, godly sorrow for sin worketh a change, 
 a reformation of mind and conduct. 
 
 It is hence perceived that gospel repentance includes 
 a change of mind and affections with regard to sin 
 itself. Consequently, when we hear professing Chris- 
 tians remark, that if they could throw off certain for- 
 eign and extraneous fear, such, for instance, as the 
 fear of the fabled Tartarus of Pluto, they would care 
 not for the service of God, but would take their fill of 
 sin, we know they have not passed through the work 
 of Christian repentance. Their hearts are in love 
 with sin; they are ''in the gall of bitterness, and in 
 the bond of iniquity." Their professed repentance is 
 a mere piece of wary policy. It is like the case of the 
 supposed dying man, who ordered his son to convey 
 back to his neighbor's barn an item of stolen property, 
 but on finding himself convalescent countermanded 
 the order, and had the property retaken to his own 
 use. There was the passion of fear, but no inward 
 hatred of sin. 
 
 There is a good illustration of the subject of repent- 
 ance in the parable of the prodigal son. It is true the 
 sufferings of the poor wanderer were a means of bring- 
 ing him to himself, to his sober reflections. And this 
 is a fac-simile of all punishment in the government of 
 God, as to its purposed use. It is to check, restrain, 
 and bring the transgressor to himself. But the prod- 
 igal was not governed by the consideration of any 
 extraneous harm, any future revenge, from an enraged 
 father. He was in a lost condition ; sin itself was his 
 most dreadful enemy; and he had no prospect, in 
 transgression's path, but darkness and woe. He 
 
 J 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
THE NEW BIRTH. 417 
 
 turned his back upon his sins, and returned to his 
 father's house. And the congratulation which he met 
 upon his return was, not that he had thus averted the 
 father's wrath, which would have inflicted a dreadful 
 death upon him, but that he had escaped from the death 
 in which his sins had involved him. '' This, thy bro- 
 ther, was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and 
 is found." 
 
 Such, then, is gospel repentance ; — to see yourself 
 away from the Father's service, — to feel your dreadful 
 moral deprivation in the way of error, — to appreciate 
 the excellence of God and your obligations to serve 
 him, — and come home, with a contrite loving heart, to 
 God, to truth and duty. Such a repentant will not 
 draw back unto perdition. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 The New Birth. 
 
 Jesus said unto Nicodemus, who came by night to 
 pay him a respectful compliment, '' Except a man be 
 born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." * The 
 kingdom of God, or of heaven, is usually employed in 
 the Scriptures to denote the spiritual reign of Christ. 
 The prophets had foretold the coming of the Messiah, 
 who should establish a kingdom of righteousness and 
 peace. The Jews generally were expecting that this 
 kingdom would be a temporal one, swayed and sup- 
 ported by physical force. And even the chosen disci- 
 ples of Jesus, what time he was with them on earth, 
 though they learned much of the nature of his religion, 
 did not understand to apply the term kingdom to it, — 
 but for this they were looking for a worldly reign, 
 
 e John iii. 3. 
 
418 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 which should break the Roman yoke, and restore to 
 Israel their former, and more than their former poHti- 
 cal freedom and glory. But Avhen they had learned 
 that the kingdom of Jesus is a spiritual kingdom, they 
 doubtless understood in a new and clear light such 
 previous sayings of their Master as these: — " Go,- 
 preach the kingdom of God ; " ^ " The kingdom of God 
 is come unto you;"= "The kingdom of God cometh 
 not with observation ; neither shall they say, lo here ! 
 or lo there ! for behold, the kingdom of God is within 
 you ; '"" and again, " The kingdom of heaven is like 
 unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
 measures of meal, until the whole was leavened."' 
 The kingdom of God being a spiritual kingdom, it is, 
 then, in literal terms, the religion of Jesus. It is 
 called a kingdom Avith reference to its government of 
 the hearts and lives of men. That, indeed, is very 
 literally a kingdom, which controls the inner man, — 
 which forms the mind, directs the will, and governs 
 the life. And it is the kingdom of God and of heaven, 
 because it is of God, and in its nature heavenly. 
 
 Such being the kingdom of God, the qualifications 
 for an inheritance of it must be spiritual, and not 
 worldly. Accordingly, when Nicodemus came to 
 Jesns by night, in a favorable opinion of him to be 
 sure, but rather with the etiquette of worldly courtiers 
 than with the spirit of the Christian warfare, the Mas- 
 ter said unto him, " Except a man be born again, he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God. 
 
 Though I take the sentiment expressed by these 
 words, in a general application, yet I will prepare the 
 reader's mind for a better understanding of it, by a few 
 remarks on the use of the particular language in the 
 
 fLuke ix. 2. ?Matt. xii. 28. ^ Luke xvii. 21. ' Matt. xiii. 24. 
 
THE NEW BIRTH. 419 
 
 case before us. Why did Jesus employ this particular 
 form of expression here, to signify a change which he 
 usually described by other language ? I will offer 
 some reasons for believing that he designed this lan- 
 guage in particular, for application to the Jeics^ a 
 ruler of whom he was addressing. 
 
 One circumstance to be noticed is, that the Jews 
 were expecting the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom, 
 on the ground of their natural relation to Abraham. 
 When Jesus, on a certain occasion, informed them by 
 what means they might become free, they said, " We 
 be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any 
 man: how sayest thou, ye shall be made free?" 
 " Jesus answered them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 whosoever committeth sin, is the servant (or slave) 
 of sin." They would have it, that, as they were Abra- 
 ham's seed, that was enough. They were never in 
 bondage, and they needed not to be made free. And 
 so with regard to the kingdom of the promised Mes- 
 siah, — they supposed that when he should come, they 
 should, of course, as the children of Abraham, enjoy 
 his immediate favor, and inherit the benefits of. his 
 kingdom. They supposed that they, as the natural 
 posterity of Abraham, in distinction from other na- 
 tions, were the legitimate heirs, by natural birth, of 
 this distinguishing favor. But Jesus insisted that they 
 needed a change. They were slaves to error and 
 vice, and needed a liberation from their thraldom. Or, 
 in the words employed in the present case, they must 
 be horn again. Their natural birth did not entitle 
 them, more than others, to the kingdom of God ; they 
 must be born again, bor7i from above ^ as the marginal 
 reading is, by the word of God. This was an appro- 
 priate figure of speech to be applied to those who were 
 
420 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 erroneously expecting to inherit the kingdom of Christ 
 by virtue of their natural birth as Abraham's progeny, 
 — to tell them they must be born again^ by the influ- 
 ence of principles from above, in order to enjoy that 
 blessing. 
 
 In the second place, there was a common form of 
 speech among the Jews, quite similar to this, which 
 they applied to the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism. 
 They used to say that a Gentile convert was as a 
 new-born child^ and had commenced a new life. The 
 use of such language among the Jews, in relation 
 to Gentile converts, is what justifies Christ's reproof 
 to Nicodemus, when he put so strange a construction 
 as he did on the expression, "born again," — saying, 
 "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these 
 things?" This censure cast upon Nicodemus would 
 have been arbitrary, unless there had been some use 
 of language in Israel, with which he as a master in 
 Israel must have been familiar, which should have 
 led him to put a more rational and correct construc- 
 tion on the words uttered by Christ. But the fact 
 now adduced explains and justifies the censure; for 
 as the Jews reckoned that a proselyte to their religion 
 from Gentilism, was as a new-born child, he should 
 not have regarded it as an absurd use of language for 
 Christ to say that even the Jews^ to inherit his reli- 
 gion, must be born again, or become as new-born 
 children. 
 
 That this particular form of speech was designed 
 for a special application to the Jews, is furthermore 
 evident, from the circumstance that in all the recorded 
 teachings of the apostles, when the ministry of the 
 gospel was extended to the Gentiles as well as Jews, 
 this form of speech is not employed to express Chris- 
 
THE NEW BIRTH. 4^1 
 
 tian conversion, except in one instance in the first 
 Epistle of Peter, which was Avritten especially for con- 
 verted Jews : — " Seeing ye have purified your souls, 
 in obeying the truth through the spirit, unto unfeigned 
 love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with 
 a pure heart fervently ; beiiig born again, not of cor- 
 ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, 
 which liveth and abideth forever."^ And St. John, 
 who recorded the words of Christ referred to, intro- 
 duces into his Epistles a similar form of speech, bei?ig 
 born of God. ''He that loveth is born of God, and 
 knoweth God, for God is love." These epistles, 
 though they may have been addressed to believers in 
 general, were written by one whose ministry was 
 chiefly among the Jews. 
 
 But because the phrase, born again, is employed in 
 two or three cases in the New Testament, for a partic- 
 ular application to the Jews, who were depending 
 on their distinction of natural birth, — some have raised 
 a doctrine from it but little less strange than were the 
 ideas which Nicodemus at first attached to this form 
 of speech. They have associated with these words 
 the idea of a sort of change, or production of a new 
 moral nature, which, in every individual so changed 
 constitutes as real, direct, and great a miracle, as the 
 causing of the sun to stand still, or the raising of the 
 literally dead to life. 
 
 So strangely blinded have some minds become on 
 this subject, that they are incapable of receiving any 
 rational ideas in relation to it. You may describe the 
 real Christian conversion in the most plain and intel- 
 ligible language, even in the language in which the 
 Scriptures usually describe it, and they will not be 
 
 J 1 Peter i. 22. 
 
 36 
 
422 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 aware that you have preached the doctrine of the 
 new birth. Much that you have spoken, they will 
 say, is good so far as it goes. You seem to hold that 
 we must, in order to enjoy the happiness of the king- 
 dom of God, study, understand, believe, feel and prac- 
 tise, the true principles of the gospel ; but then you do 
 not urge the necessity of the 7ieio birth ; our Saviour 
 says, "Ye must be born agai?i.^^ Thus they are so 
 blinded by a false idea attached to a figurative expres- 
 sion, that while they describe the very change which 
 is expressed by the phrase, being born agaifi, and ac- 
 knowledge that you hold it, they yet judge that you 
 do not hold the doctrine of the new birth. 
 
 Now the Christian new birth is comprised in the 
 very things which are stated above, — studying^ un- 
 derstandings believing^ feeling and practising^ the true 
 principles of the gospel. St. Peter so describes it in 
 the case which we have quoted from him: — ''Seeing 
 ye have purified your souls, in obeying the truth 
 through the spirit, — see that ye love one another with 
 a pure heart fervently; — being born again, — by the 
 word of GodP Thus is the new birth defined as be- 
 ing produced by the influence of the word of God, 
 which is preached by the gospel ; and as being enjoyed 
 and manifested by obedience of the same word of 
 truth. And believing and obeying the gospel did 
 indeed produce such a change with the Jews, as far as 
 they received it, as made them new-born children. It 
 brought them entirely into new views concerning the 
 kingdom of the Messiah, into new feelings towards 
 mankind, and into new hopes and expectations. And 
 however they might boast of their relation to father 
 Abraham, and their favor with God in the possession 
 of his oracles, these new views, new feelings, and new 
 
THE NEW BIRTH. 423 
 
 hopes and expectations, they must have, — they must 
 be born into them, in order to inherit the Messiah's 
 reUgion, the kingdom of God. 
 
 Though the words referred to were spoken by our 
 Lord for a particular appUcation to the Jews of that 
 age, yet a similar change to what was meant by these 
 words, is necessary for all men of all ages, to be ex- 
 perienced in a greater or less degree, according to 
 previous character and circumstances. No one is 
 naturally born in possession of the light of Divine 
 truth, nor does he by his physical growth come into 
 possession of it. Though he may gradually come 
 into the knowledge and enjoyment of it from child 
 hood, being trained up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord, yet the same change in substance is ex- 
 perienced, for his enjoying the religion of the gospel. 
 He does not have to be changed from so much actual 
 error and moral corruption, as were the Jews who 
 were converted to Christianity in the Saviour's time. 
 But he is and must be changed from ignorance, from a 
 state of destitution with regard to these things, into the 
 knowledge and practice and enjoyment of them. He 
 has been born into the world a living soul : but he 
 must be born again, intellectually and morally. The 
 mind must, by cultivation, be made a fruitful field, or 
 it will be overgrown with thorns, and become a waste 
 wilderness. 
 
 I do not by this give countenance to the idea that 
 human nature is radically and totally corrupt. Human 
 nature may be good enough ; but we know that so it 
 always has been, and so it is, that when the human 
 mind has been let alone, — when it has not been culti- 
 vated and disciplined by the teachings of truth from 
 God, so as to be born from above, — it has become en- 
 
424 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 cumbered with weeds of noxious errors. So, for a 
 wise purpose, God has constituted and circumstanced 
 the human mind. It must be changed from ignorance 
 to knowledge, — and from knowledge to knowledge, 
 from glory to glory, by the culture of Christian truth. 
 
 A correct view of man in this respect, is of great 
 importance, both with regard to our treatment of 
 ourselves, and of the rising generation. Concerning 
 ourselves, it is not enough that we can boast of our 
 relationship to patriots and freemen. We may boast 
 of our political and religious rights, into the inherit- 
 ance of which we are born ; but we must be born 
 again ; the mind must be enlightened with truth and 
 stored with goodness, or we cannot see the kingdom 
 of God, the blessed reign of moral liberty and peace. 
 
 And with regard to our treatment of the rising gen- 
 eration, — we are urged by the sentiment before us, to 
 strive for their Christian education. This will lay 
 the foundation of all other good in life. It will recon- 
 cile the young aspiring mind to the government of 
 God, and fill the soul with hope in his goodness. It 
 will render the study of his laAV delightful, and ele- 
 vate the affections to the pure and the good. 
 
 " With joy it crowns succeeding years, 
 And renders virtue strong." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IN FORMING THE LIFE. 
 
 Having now, after exceeding my intended limits, 
 presented the reader with what I regard as a com- 
 pend of the Christian doctrines, I will close with a 
 brief chapter on the practical influence of these doc- 
 trines in forming the life. 
 
 1. The system of faith herein comprised, involves 
 the practical exercise of Supreme Co7ifidence in God. 
 It evinces, in all its principles and parts, the infinite 
 perfectness of God in all his adorable attributes. By 
 the light of its teachings we see the eternal Father, in 
 the perfectness of his knowledge and wisdom, the 
 infinity of his love, the excellence of his justice, the 
 almightiness of his power, and the indissolubihty and 
 glory of his grace. It does not ascribe these perfec- 
 tions to God in 7iaine merely, and at the same time, in 
 describing the purposes and operations of his creation 
 and government, make him short-sighted, unwise, in- 
 consistent, feeble, and unkind;— but it exhibits these 
 adorable perfections in all the Creator's purposes and 
 doings. In the creation of this beautiful world and 
 its furniture for man ; in the constitution of our bodies, 
 and of our minds, and of all the interesting relations 
 in which we are placed; in subjecting us to high 
 duties as his children, by the institution of laws 
 adapted to our being as made in the Divine image; 
 in the annexation of penalties to those laws, and the 
 administration of judgment in their execution ; and in 
 36* 
 
426 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 the grand purpose of his grace revealed through Jesus 
 Christ our Saviour, — in all these plans and operations 
 of God, we see the harmonious action of all his per- 
 fections. All concur to promote the wise and good 
 design, to rear up, discipline, and qualify, a great 
 family of children, to enjoy with the Father immortal 
 felicity. 
 
 The faith of this great and harmonious system of 
 truth, when it has existence in the mind, must pro- 
 duce a most peaceful confidence in God. We cannot 
 fear any ultimate harm from the operations of his 
 government. Even when disappointments and trou- 
 bles become a portion of our allotment, we rest in 
 hope, seeing that unerring wisdom is overruling pres- 
 ent evil for ultimate good. 
 
 " This can my fears control, 
 And bid my sorrows fly ; 
 What real harm can reach my soul, 
 Beneath my Father's eye ?" 
 
 In this faith we have also a double enjoyment of 
 the blessings of life. It enables us to receive the daily 
 gifts of his providence, as the kind benefactions of an 
 almighty Father, whose goodness will never leave 
 nor forsake us, but be more and more visibly dis- 
 played forever and ever. 
 
 " Thus we can with his people taste 
 The blessings of his love, 
 While hope attends the sweet repast 
 Of nobler joys above." 
 
 2. The faith of the Christian system, as here ex- 
 hibited, involves also the exercise of Siipreme Love to 
 God. This is indeed comprised in the confidence just 
 described. For where there is confidence there must 
 
THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN LIFE. 427 
 
 be love. You cannot exercise supreme confidence in 
 any being, unless you can view him in a character 
 supremely lovely. Neither can you love a being 
 supremely, unless you can view him in a character 
 perfectly trustworthy. Confidence and love are twm 
 sisters. 
 
 Now it is the first great commandment of the moral 
 law, that we love the Lord our God with all our 
 heart. And it is the purpose of the Christian mission 
 to bring the moral creation into the blessed service of 
 this love, in the spirit of reconciliation to God. This 
 can never be done but by the power of reason and 
 love. Men may be taken and thrown by brute force 
 into one or another posture; or they may be driven 
 by slavish fear into proscribed professions, attitudes, 
 and genuflections ; but in these operations there is 
 nothing akin to virtue, or related to the service of 
 God. For a dumb and senseless idol, a blind and 
 senseless worship may suffice : — but to the God of 
 supreme intelligence and glory, no worship is accep- 
 table, but that which is rendered in the understand- 
 ing, and in the spirit of sentimental gratitude and 
 love. But no man can love God until he has so 
 learned the truth as to see him in his loveliness. It is 
 not an affection into which the mind can force itself 
 without a reason. But in the light of truth, and the 
 communion of love Divine, the soul can respond to 
 the beloved disciple, " We love him because he first 
 loved us." So certainly did the apostle view it a set- 
 tled principle, that when a man has a true and eflfect- 
 ive knowledge of the character of God, he will love 
 him, that he boldly affirms, "He that loveth not, 
 knoweth not God; for God is love." He who knows 
 God, therefore, will love him. Hence, it is the econ- 
 
428 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 omy of God's wisdom, for the reconciliation of man to 
 himself, to make known his everlasting love, and his 
 effective grace. 
 
 It is on this point especially, that the wisdom of the 
 world is foolishness with God. Human policy has 
 suggested, that even if God's great purpose of unfail- 
 ing grace for mankind is true, it is not wise and jt>n/- 
 dent to promulgate such truth. But the inspired 
 apostle assures us, that in " making known unto us 
 the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure 
 which he hath purposed in himself, that he might 
 gather together in one, all things in Christ," — '' God 
 hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence."* 
 He knows what is in the moral nature of man; he 
 knows by what influences his heart is to be won to 
 the Source of all good ; and accordingly, the very first 
 aim of the gospel mission is, to assure his children, 
 even his lost and sinful children, that he loves them. 
 "God commendeth his love towards us, in that while 
 we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." " Herein is 
 love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
 and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
 Go, then, ye servants of Jesus, and fear not that it 
 shall harm the children to let them know that the 
 Father loves them. 
 
 3. Christianity, which it has been the labor of this 
 volume to condense from the Scriptures, produces a 
 filial respect for the Law of God, and obedience to its 
 Precepts. The confidence in God, before described, 
 will naturally beget the assurance that his laws are 
 the laws of a friend, wisely framed, and adapted to 
 our welfare. It is not from a peaceful confidence ii^ 
 God that men are led into sin. It is from a distrust 
 
 aEph. i. 8— 10. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN LIFE. 429 
 
 of God's wisdom and goodness, a dissatisfaction with 
 his government and laws, and a hope to do better for 
 themselves by pursuing their own ways. The human 
 doctrines of revenge, ascribed to the government of 
 God, will not effect the needed reform. Look upon 
 the more hardened sinners, and you will see that these 
 are the principles which have formed their hearts, the 
 moral atmosphere which they inhale. Their very 
 throat is an open sepulchre, from which issue per- 
 petual streams of "hell and damnation." The same 
 streams issuing from the pulpit will not refine them. 
 They need the contact of a different moral element, 
 that of love Divine, They need light, the light of 
 truth, to see that God's love is not interposed between 
 them and their best good in life, but leads them in the 
 way of peace. Let them have the clear light of the 
 Father's law, as presented in the fourth chapter of 
 this work, and then the same motive, the love of life 
 and good days, which prompts mankind to all their 
 ordinary labors, will return them to obedience and 
 duty. And if, in an evil hour, one is tempted by the 
 thoughts of greater good in sin, the truth we have 
 exhibited on the penalties of the law, will counteract 
 the evil. It will sound the caution in his ear, ^' Do 
 thyself no harm ;" " There is no peace to the wicked ;" 
 *' Destruction and misery are in their ways ;" '' Though 
 hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpun- 
 ished." 
 
 Here, then, is a perfect system of faith and practice. 
 It secures the highest principle of virtue, confidence in 
 God, and at the same time preserves the assurance of 
 punishment in case of wrong. And one of these prin- 
 ciples of action is not countervailed by the other. Our 
 confidence in God does not free us from the assurance 
 
430 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 of punishment in case we transgress, — nor does our 
 fear of punishment interfere with, or weaken oiu* con- 
 fidence in God. This is the beautiful and practical 
 harmony of Christian Divinity^ peculiar to itself, un- 
 known in the religions of human schools. 
 
 But, above all, as we have remarked before, the 
 supreme principle of virtue is love. We have attended 
 to the first commandment, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God." The second is like unto it, or rather is 
 involved in it, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self" Like begetteth like ; love begetteth love. The 
 manifestation of God's love to us brings us into the 
 reciprocity of this love Divine ; — and then it fills the 
 soul with the spirit of communicative goodness. And 
 this spirit of communicative goodness, the principle of 
 pure philanthropy, of universal kindness, is the moral 
 power by which man can reach, win, and save his 
 brother man. 
 
 We thank God that this supremely important prin- 
 ciple is becoming better understood. It seems, in 
 truth, to be getting enthroned as the ruling genius of 
 the age. What a change the power of kindness is 
 working in civilized society ! The rulers of the world 
 have been mainly depending, for the orderly govern- 
 ment of mankind, on tyrannic severity and brute 
 violence. They have deemed knowledge and free- 
 dom among the people to be unsafe, and their gov- 
 ernment has been based upon perpetual warfare 
 against the dearest rights and purest aspirations of 
 the human soul. Hence, their thrones have been 
 erected in seas of blood, the waves of which, rebound- 
 ing, have again dashed them to ruin. Go with the 
 philanthropist Howard, by the perusal of his me- 
 moirs, into the prisons of Europe as they were. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN LIFE. 431 
 
 There the offenders against the laws, if that offence 
 were only the inability to pay a debt, were cast out 
 from the kind sympathies of the community. They 
 were left abandoned there, generally in under-ground 
 cells, to dampness, cold, hunger, filth, sickness, and 
 chains. Their treatment was calculated to promote 
 hostility in them and their friends, against the com- 
 munity. These real hells were fashioned after the 
 model of the fabulous hell of the people's creed, where 
 punishment is revenge and not chastisement. 
 
 But a blessed change is in progress. As we have 
 said, the principle of heavenly wisdom, the spirit of 
 universal philanthropy, is becoming the ruling genius 
 of the age. It is reforming creeds, leavening the hearts 
 of all sects, and modifying governments and laws. We 
 see it in the prison discipline movement, which, en- 
 listing the co-operation of different sects, is laboring 
 to make our prisons schools of moral discipline, rather 
 than engines of torture. We see it in the anti-slavery 
 enterprise, which, bating all the indiscretions of men 
 in the use of means, is founded upon the broad prin- 
 ciples of the universal paternity of God, and the 
 universal brotherhood of men, who are all bound to 
 labor for each other's instruction, elevation, prosperity 
 and happiness. We see it in the temperance reform, 
 the spirit of which discerns a brother in the low and 
 degraded, breathes upon them a brother's love, and 
 warms them into life, — reaches forth a brother's arm, 
 raises them up, and leads them home to virtue and 
 peace. 
 
 This is the working of Christian truth, in forming 
 the life. Its messengers may be despised for their 
 humbleness, or forgotten in the bustle of the world j 
 
432 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 
 
 but their principles will live on, — truth shall survive, 
 and work its work, " and none shall hinder it." 
 
 And now, beloved brethren, be it our chief ambi- 
 tion, so to live as co-workers with the spirit of Chris- 
 tian truth, that he who examines our faith, and 
 witnesses our life, shall be constrained to say of us 
 as it was said of father Abraham, "So, then, faith 
 wrought with his works, and by works was faith 
 made perfect." 
 
 -r