. - '...“.:IRES'IH)YIERIAN . ';.: . 1- 7ANIER & ADVOCATE
prosbytorion Banner. Vol. Visit*. 4.
preabyterion Advocate. Vol. XIX. No• 51. I
DAVID MCKINNEY, Editor and Proprietor.
TERNS.--IN ADVANCE.
Original Vottrl.
Teach us Trust in Thee,
When shies are bright, and hearts are gay,
And friends around us throng ;
When life appears a Summer day
That smoothly glides along;
Lest we should e'er forget thy love,
So boundless and so free,
Dear Saviour, turn our thoughts above,
And teach us trust in thee.
But if a dark and lingering shade
•
Should fall upon the heart,
If youthful dreams forever fade,
And cherished hopes depart;
If sorrow's waves grow fierce and dark
Oa life's deep, troubled sea,
Oh I safely guide our slender bark,
And teach us trust in thee.
And oh ! when earthly scenes are past,
And death's dark hour draws near;
Wilt thou not shield from every blast,
And soothe each rising fear?
O lead us through death's gloomy vale,
Bid clouds and darkness flee;
And in that hour give us to feel
'T is sweet to trust in thee,
illontours, Pa
For the Presbyterian Banner sad Ad•ocate.
Evidences of Regeneration.
LetterXL—Regeneration is of God
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature : old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.-2. Cor. v. 17.
MY DEAR FRIEND :—lt has been well
observed by Dr. Spring that "it is no part
of true religion to find fault with the re
ligion of others ;" nor, on the other hand,
is it any breach of Christian charity frankly
to state what is our own. This is my aim.
Something has been said about the affections.
Right affections result from right apprehen
sions of truth; and hence there is a con
nexion between our views and our feelings.
Right apprehensions of truth are the fruit
of God's Spirit, for regeneration is of God;
and hence there is a Divine connexion—a
connexion of heavenly origin—between the
views and the feelings of those who are
born again. Thus Dr. Hodge in his com
mentary on Ephesians iv : 17 says : " The
Scriptures speak of an 'understanding heart,'
and of 'the desires of the understanding,'
as well as of ' the thoughts of the heart.'
They recognize that there is an element of
feeling in our cognitions, (or thoughts,) and
an element of intelligence in our feelings.
The idea that the heart may be depraved,
and the intellect unaffected, is, according to
the anthropology of the Bible, as incongruous
as that one part of the soul should be happy,
and another miserable; one faculty saved,
and another lost," The whole man is de
praved, and in regeneration the whole man
is renewed; his views and his feelings are
rectified; he is made a new creature—all
things become new.—See Hodge's Com
mentary on Ephesians
Religion, then, pertains to the whole
man. It is not mere feeling, nor is it mere
knowledge; it is both; it is belief, obe
dience, and enjoyment; theory, experience,
and practice; A SYSTEM OF FAITH, AND A
LIFE, INTERNAL, AND EXTERNAL, CON
FORMED TO IT. For "truth is not merely
speculation, the object of cognition. It has
moral beauty. In Scripture language, there
fore, knowledge includes love ; wisdom in
cludes goodness ; folly includes sin ; the
wise are holy; fools are wicked. Truth and
holiness are united as light and heat in the
same ray. There cannot be the one with
out the other. To know God is eternal
life; to be without the knowledge of God
is to be utterly depraved. Saints are the
children of light; the wicked are the chil
diem of darkness. To be enlightened is to
be renewed; to be blinded is to be reproba
ted. Such is the constant representation of
Scripture." " To know God is to love
him; and to love him is to know him.
Love is intelligent, and knowledge is emo
tional, Love is the highest form of knowl
edge. Knowledge without feeling is no
thing." The recollection of this will aid us
in considering the evidences of regeneration,
for as truth has moral beauty, and es knowl
edge includes love, so there can be no love
to God and no faith in Jesus Christ where
there are not some right views of truth.
Of course there can in such a ease be no
saving union with Christ, and hence no new
birth ; for if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature : old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.-2. Cor.
v : 17.—See Hodge on Ist Corinthians.
This passage teaches union with Christ,
both legal and vital ; for to be in Christ, as
has been shown before, is to be united to him
as a branch is in a tree; that is, united to it.
Thus in grafting, a scion is inserted in the
stock ; it derives nourishment from the
stock, and becomes united to it. So we are
raised up from death in sin; like a dry and
dead scion we derive life and nourishment
from Christ, are united to him as a branch
to the vine, and are then in him new crea
tures, and one with him. He is the vine,
we are the branches; and he says, As the
branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except
ye abide in me.—John xv : 1-8 Thus,
as Dr. Hodge says, "The only essential and
indispensable condition of participation in
the benefits of redemption is union with
Christ. * * This is by a spiritual resurrec
tion. God, and not ourselves, is the author
of the change. It is not to be referred to
any goodness in us, but to the abounding
love of God." The .ohange is of God.—
Eph. 4-0, and iii : 5-8. * * *
" We are said to be quickened together
with Christ. This does not mean merely
hat we are quickened as be was—that
there is an analogy between his resurrection
from the grave, and our spiritual resurrec
tion; but the truth here taught is that
which is presented in Rom. vi : 6-8;
Gal, ii : 19, 20 ; 2. Cor. v 14-17; 1.
Cot xv : 22, 23 ; and in many other pas
sages, viz.: that in virtue of the union,
• covenant and vital," legal and spiritual,
" between Christ and his people, his death
was their death, Lie life is their life, and his
dtation is theirs. * The resurrec•
- den, the quickening and raising up of
s'hritd'e people, were, in an important
sense, accomplished, when he rose from the
dead and sat down at the right hand of
God. * The life of the whole body is
in the Head, and therefore when the Head
rose, the body rose. Each in his own
order, however; first, Christ, and then they
that are Christ's." Thus it is written,
Our old man is crucified with Christ; if we
be dead with Christ, we shall also live with
him.—Rom. vi : 5-11. I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me.—Gal. ii : 19-21.
And, If one died for all, then were all dead.
Cor. v : 14-21. Again, As in Adam
all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.
—l. Cor. xv : 20-23. If ye then be
risen with Christ—quickened together with
him—seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God; set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth. For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in
God. When Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him
in : 1-4. See Hodge on
Eph. iv : 17-19.
A very able and instructive article in the
Princeton Review, of last year, says : "All
Christian affections and purposes are in
spired by ,a view of Christian truth. They
are otherwise impossible. And there is no
Christian truth which, presented in its due
proportions and surroundings, does not tend
to nourish some holy affection. * * *
The attempt to edify the Church without
doctrinal, nstruction, is like the attempt to
build a house without foundation or frame
work. Let any in derision call the doo
trines ' bones,' if they will. What sort of
body would that be which was flesh and
blood, without bones ? If any present
them in skeleton nakedness, divested of
their vital relations to life and experience,
that is the fault of those who do it, not of
true and proper doctrinal preaching, which
on one of its sides is practical and experi
mental. In fact, the two should never be
torn asunder, any more than flesh and bones.
They should ever blend with, and vitally in
terpenetrate each other, and be pervaded
by the unction of the Holy One. * *
It is related of the late Professor Stuart,
that during his short but efficient pastorate,
he dwelt much on certain doctrines of grace,
which had been neglected or disparaged by
his predecessor. The people were roused.
Some said one thing, and some another.
The result, however, was, that his preach
ing was in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power; his church was filled with eager
listeners; and experimental piety was
greatly and permanently promoted. Some
of his hearers, restive under a tone of
preaching to which they were unused,
begged him to give them less doctrine, and
more practical sermons. He complied with
their request, and commenced delivering
clear and thorough expositions of the Di
vine law. In a short time, however, the
same auditors waited upon him, with a re
quest that he would return to the doctrines.
They had enough of practice. The truth
is, aversion to legitimate preaching, whether
of doctrine or practice, originates in one
source. It is simple aversion to truth in
its antagonism to corrupt nature, which, if
doctrinal, requires a correspondent practice;
if practical, has its roots in a correspondent
doctrine. For truth is in order to goodness.
Hence men prefer some transient and blind
excitement of feeling, to that discovery of
truth which alone can awaken sound evan
gelical feeling; which purifies while it
quickens the heart, because it gives light to
the understanding, and thus makes perma
nently wiser and better. * * Preachers
are in danger of being influenced by this
vulgar prejudice, and to flatter themselves
that they can benefit a large class most by
imparting to them heat without light. We
apprehend that such heat can be but a mo
mentary glow of sympathetic or animal ex
citement, as flashy as its cause. The
rational soul can feel only in view of what
it first perceives. Emotions must be founded
on and determined by cognitions," thoughts
and truths perceived. " Christianity is not
a religion of blind feeling or capricious
impulse. It is a RELIGION OF TRUTH. It
sanctifies by the TRUTH." We are begotten
again with the WORD OF TRUTH. " And
the great duty of the preacher is, 'by mani
festation of THE TRUTH. to commend him
self to every man's conscience in the sight
of God.' Our religion is not,.as some one
has said, like the moon, giving light with
out heat; nor like the stove, giving heat with
out light ; but like the sun, giving perennial
light, and warmth, and life." Yet the
carnal heart does not like the truth of God;
and hence, as we shall see, love of the
truth and delight in it, is one evidence of a
change of heart.—See Princeton Review
for 1856.
It .A.
Hubbard Winslow, in a late work on
Moral Philosophy, says : "Regeneration is
not merely a change of appetite, or of affec
tion, or of desire, or of volition; so that
one of these, being itself renovated, may
rectify the others. Neither is it a change
or refining of mere taste, nor a quickening
or exaltation of emotion. It extends to,
and embraces all these, but is restricted to
neither. Deeper, more thorough and ge
neric, it is a change of the man himself.
lie is 'born again: " He is born of God.
He is a new creature in Christ Jesus. As
it is written, Ye were sometime darkness,
but now are ye light in the Lord; "that
is, in virtue of union with the Lord
Christ, ye are enlightened, renewed, sanc
tified, and blessed; walk as children of
light, that is, as the children of holiness
and truth."—See Hodge on Eph. v : 6-10.
This change is, the work of the. Holy
Spirit; it is wrought by the power of God,
the same power by which Christ was raised
from the dead, as Paul writes in Eph. i :
15-23, that ye may know the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who be
lieve, according to, or in virtue of, the
working of his mighty power, which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead. Regeneration is of God. They
believed in virtue of the working of the
mighty power of tied; " their faith was
due to the same energy that raised Christ
from the dead." And in Eph. iii : 7, Paul
says, "I was made a minister, according to
the gift of the grace of God given unto me
by the effectual working of his power." It
was not the blinding light, nor the fearful
voice, which he refers to the power of God,
but the inward change, by which he, a ma
lignant opposer of Christ, was instantly con
verted into an obedient servant," when on
his way to Damascus. The regeneration of
the soul is classed among the mighty works
of God, due to the exceeding greatness of
his power.—Eph. i: 19. So in Col. ii:
"ONE THING IS NEEDFUL :" "ONE THING HAVE I DESIRED OF THE LORD:" "THIS ONE THING I DO."
PUBLICATION OFFICE, GAZETTE BUILDING, FIFTH STREET, ABOVE SMITHFIELD, PITTSBURGH, PA.
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1557.
10-15, Circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands—risen with Christ
through the faith of the operation of God,
who bath raised him from the dead—and
you, being dead in your sins, bath he quick
ened together with him. Here, in these
and similar passages, "the Apostle com
pares the spiritual resurrection of believers
with the resurrection of Christ, and refers
both even to the operation of God, or to the
Divine power. Chrysostom says, ' The con
version of souls is more wonderful than the
resurrection of the dead.' Oceurnenins re.
marks, ' To raise up from spiritual death is
an exercise of the same power that raised
Christ from natural death.' Calvin says,
Some regard the language of the Apostle
as frigid hyperbole, but those who are prop
erly exercised, find nothing here beyond the
truth ; and he adds, ' Lest believers should
be cast down under a sense of their un
worthiness, the Apostle recalls them to a
consideration of the power of God; as
though he had said, their regeneration is a
work of God, and no common work, but oue
in which his almighty power is wonderfully
displayed.' Luther uses the following lan
guage : ' Faith is no such easy matter as
our opposers imagine, when they say, ' Be
lieve, believe, how easy it is to believe.'
Neither is it a mere human work, which I
can perform for myself ; but it is a Divine
power in the heart, by which we are new
born, and s whereby we are able to overcome
the mighty power of the devil and of
death; as Paul says to the Colossians, In
whom ye are raised np again through the
faith which God works.' " That is the
meaning of the words, faith of the opera
tion of God, in Col. ii : 12, FAITH. WHICH
GOD WORKS. It is his gift—the fruit of
his Spirit—the effect of his power, as Paul
says to the Ephesians; it was according to,
and in virtue of, the working of his mighty
power, that they believed and were con
verted.—Eph. i : 18-20 ; and ii: 8. "It
is nothing short of the omnipotence of
God to which the effect is due. No crea
tive power can raise the dead, or quicken
those dead in trespasses and sins," and
unite them to Christ by faith, and make
them new creatures in Christ Jesus. Re
generation is of God.—See Hodge on Eph.
i : 15-23; ii : 1-10 ; and, iii : 1-13.
Read Eph. i. and ii.; and Col. 1., ii. and iii.
Now bearing in mind that it is by the
power of God—by the same power which
raised up Christ from the dead—that we
have been quickened and made spiritually
alive, we shall be prepared to take a cor
rect view of the evidences of regeneration,
for the very first thing to be observed is
that regeneration is from heaven; it is a
change wrought by the Spirit of God, and
hence its evidences must be such as to prove
it to be the work of the Spirit. For as regen
eration is of God, its evidences must be such
as to prove it to be of him. Therefore,if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature :.old
thing are passed away; behold, all things are
becoce Cor. v : 17. Of this in my
next. The Lord be with and bless youl—
Num. vi: 22-27. YOURS, TRULY.
Romish Tolerance in Austria.
The Vienna correspondent of the Times
has the following :—On August the 26th , a
case ma tried here, the details of which are
carefully kept from the knowledge of the
general public. A somnambulist, a woman
belonging to the lower classes of society,
was arrested on a charge of having given
offence "to a Church recognized by the
State." When in a state of real or pre
tended "clairvoyance," the woman ridiculed
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, de
clared the worship of the'Holy Virgin and
the saints to be idolatry, and urged the persons
around her to remove from their rooms all
images of saints. The. Roman Catholic
clergy would fain have had an example
made of such an offender, but the public
prosecutor proposed that the woman should
be examined by the physicians of the
lunatic asylum before sentence was passed
by the Cuurt. The report returned by the
medical men was such that any further
judicial proceedings were quite out of the
question. The following statement of what
not long since occurred near Graz, the capi
tal of the province of Styria, will serve to
show how Protestants are now treated in
Austria by the Roman Catholic priesthood :
Last November, a Prussian, with his wife
and two children, emigrated to Croatia. As
the poor people did not get on well in
Croatia, they resolved to return to their na
tive place, Hirshberg, in Prussian Silesia.
On their way back the woman fell ill and
died. The corpse was conveyed for inter
ment to Kirchdorf, near Bruck, but the
parish priest refused to permit it to be laid
on the bier in the charnel house, the de
ceased being a Protestant. The body was
eventually deposited in a barn belonging to
an innkeeper. On the Bth of December the
widower requested the sexton to dig a grave
for his deceased wife eutside of the walls of
the Catholic churchyard. The man com
menced operations, but the priest again in
terfered, and refused to allow him to prepare
a grave for a heretic. The end of the mat.
ter was, that the afflicted husband was obliged
to dig the grave himself. On the 9th of
December the Prussian and his two chil
dren left Kirohdorf. The innkeeper of the
place was so indignant at what had occurred
that he gave a piece of land to the Pro
testant community for a cemetery, and a
wine merchant near Graz had an iron cruci
fix, with a stone pedestal, put up at the
head of the poor woman's grave with the
following inscription : "Here lies Juliana
Wache, of Hirchberg, in Prussian Silesia.
This was erected to her memory by Joseph
Pottinger, a Catholic." On the sth of
April the Protestant burial-ground was con
secrated by an Evangelical pastor, but on
the 18th of July the Roman Catholic priest
desecrated it by pulling down the iron cru
cifix. An appeal has been made to the
Stadtholder of the province, but no servant
of the State can now with safety venture to
censure the conduct of a servant of the
Church.
A VERY COMMON MISTAKE.—Many
Christians imagine that now since they have
believed, they must draw their comfort from
some different source, or in a different way
from what they did at first; they turn their
whole attention to themselves, their experi
ence and their graces. Forgetting that the
true way of nourishing these is by keeping
their eye upon the Cross, they turn it inward,
and try to nourish themselves by some pro
cess of their own devising.—H Bonar.
From our London Correspondent
Fresh News from India—Havelock's Successes—
Escape of Nena Sahib—Sorties and Fighting at
Delhi—Revolt at Delhi Arrival of Sir Colin
Campbell—Disturbances in Bombay Presidency—
Uneasiness at Benares, "the holy city" of Bin
dooim—Public Anxiety in England—ffeeting of
Emperors—The Alliance at Berlin—Variety of
Opinion in the English .: Church—Cases of Mr.
Ross and Mr. Robertsoii,; at Brighton—Special
Analysis of Mr. Robertson's Sermons—American
readers Cautioned—Perils from false 7'hcology—
Riots at 13014 st—rite " Times" and Mr. Hanna
—lnfidelity waning in London—Postscript— Rev.
Mr. Hay, the American Missionary, and India.
LONDON, September 10,1857.
FRESH NEWS FROM INDIA has just ar
rived. The best point in it is, that with
the exception of the murder of a command
ing officer and his Wife, in the Punjaub,
up to the departure of (he. mail there had
been no further massacres. More than this,
' the brave Havelock had' pecupied Bithoor,
the stronghold of the infamous Nena Sahib,
and burnt it. Thirteen guns were cap
tured, but the monster himself escaped, let us
hope only fora time. The Cawnpore butchery,
by his order, is confirmed. Havelock defeated,
ou the 29th of July, ten thousand men, on
his way to Lueknow, and eapttred fifteen
guns; expecting to reach Lucknow next
day. If, as is hoped, he should be victo
rious there, the brave and beleagured re
mains of the lamented Lawrence's force
would lib freed from their perils, and Oude,
in part at least, regained.
At Delhi, there had been continued' sor
ties, terrible conflicts, great loss to the mu
tineers, and five hundred ikilled and wounded
among the British and their auxiliaries.
Brigadier Nicholson was expected at Delhi on
the 15th August, with reinforcements.
That brave fellow destroyed the Sealkote
mutineers, (from thence I observe American
missionaries had been compelled to fly,) on
their way to Delhi, on the 17th of Jaly.
At Dinapore, on the Ganges, not far from
Benares, three regiments had mutinied, as
was feared; but preparations had been
made for the outbreak, and the British troops
again asserted their superiority by shooting
down eight hundred of the rebels. Sir
Colin Campbell had arrived at Calcutta, and
assumed his position of Commander-in-
Chief. His name is a tower of strength,
and we trust that, under God, he will ac
complish great things , as. soon as the rein
forcements arrive. Not less than eighty
seven thousand troops in all, are being sent
to India, and all will be required. In
Bombay Presidency, a native regiment had
mutinied, but the rising was, suppressed.
The Mohammedans in Bombay Presidency,
in the Mahratta country, are threatening_;
and this feature: of affairs, if it should end
in 'outbreak in. a Presidency where all has
been peace, assumes a serious aspect. Be
sides, at Benares, in Bengal, the " holy
city" of Hindooism, great. uneasiness pre
vailed. What but anxiety --can -prevail,
under all the circumstances! The rein
forcements only beginning to arrive; the
rain pouring down in torrents on the little
army before Delhi-; another General re
signed because of ill-health ; the dreaded
month of August, with its Mohammedan
festivals, so perilous, come and gone, and
yet we know not results. Ah ! the hearts of ;
multitudes are oppressed ; the news brought
by one mail but intensifies the desire for
further information. And thus I fear it
will be, for six months to come. God has
made us indeed to drink of " the wine of
astonishment."
The FRENCH EMPEROR, and his Guards,
have sent a large sum to the fund for the
relief of the Indian sufferers. Immense
sums will be raises for this purpose all over
the United Kingdom.
The EMPEROR OF RUSSIA AND LOUIS
NAPOLEON are to meet next week in friendly
conference, at Stuttgardt, in Germany. The
object, it is said, is to wipe away all painful
recollections of the late war, and of the
rudeness of the Czar Nicholas, personally
and officially, to Louis Napoleon, the par
venu, or " up-start." Some also say that
this interview may lead to a better feeling
between England and Russia.
The EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE is now sit
ting at Berlin. At one of the early meetings,
Mr. Wright, the American ambassador, had
delivered an eloquent speech. A zetter was
also read from the Archbishop of Canter
bury. The Court Chaplain addressed a
large assembly, and gave the Alliance a
hearty welcome : " Barriers that separated
us for centuries have suddenly fallen, and
we behold the universal community of
Christian believers' rising before our eyes.
Still, we shall not reach the goal without a
struggle." Dr. Simpson spoke in the
name of the American Methodists, and Dr.
Baird of the Presbyterians. Other countries
and communities were represented. The
Kin°. c' and Queen had given the members of
the Alliance, and the ladies who accompa
nied them, a magLificent entertainment.
The REMARKABLE VARIETY OF OPINION
IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, of which I
have given so many examples from time to
time, receives fresh illustration from the
publication of three series of " Sermons
preached at Trinity Chapel, Brighton, by
the late Rev. F. W. Robertson, M. A., the
Incumbent." Perhaps it would be wrong
to say that Mr. Robertson was the represen
tative or type of a large class in the English
Establishment. He belonged to the Mau
rice school of theology, and his views, as
they come out in sermons, especially as to
the doctrine of Sin and Sacrifice, Guilt and
Penalty, are precisely the same as those ad
vocated and held by the Rev. A. Ross, at
the Presbyterian church at Brighton, until
deposed brour, London Presbytery. It is
somewhat remarkable, indeed, that at one
and the same time, a clergyman who had
subscribed the English Articles, and used
the Communion office, in both of which the
doctrine of substiention , is so clearly brought
out, and that a Presbyterian minister, who
had signed the Confession of Faith, should,
in the same town, be found putting forth
dangerous heresy.
Our minister tried hard to prove that he
held exactly the same opinions as did the
compilers of the Confession of Faith. But
after thirteen examinations before a Com
mittee of Presbytery, in which the late
acute and accurate Professor Campbell ren
dered concealmentimpossible, and "fencing"
useless, we were able to reduce to writing
the Articles of a " libel," (in the Ecclesias
tical sense of the term,) every one of which
were distinctly brought home by evidence.
These Articles in substance were, that there
was no wrath in God—in other words, that
his justice and judicial character were ut
terly ignored ; that sin punished itself in
the sense not of penal or eternal retribution,
but as separating from a God of love; that
Christ did not die in the room and stead of
the guilty, but that he died for our sins in
the sense that the exhibition of self-sacrifice
on his part is the appointed means of caus
ing us to die to sin, and that his death was
in no other sense valuable than as the crown
ing act of a life of selfsacrifiee.
These are the views of Professor Maurice,
of Mr. Lynch, of Dr. John Young, (for
merly Scotch Secession minister at London
Wall,) and of the National Review.
They come out also in Robertson's sermons,
and with great beauty of language and il
lustration, with rare power of analysis, and
accomplished scholarship—all aided in the
original delivery by a most attractive pres
ence and elocution.
Soon after the public trial of Mr. Ross,
one of the feeblest of the prelates, the Bishop
of Chichester, interfered with Mr. Robert
son, on, the application of the Vicar of
Brighton; and his brilliant, though erratic
theological career, came to an early close, by
a premature death, at the age.of thirty-seven.
It is said that his decease, if not caused, was
hastened by the excitement of mind pro.
duced by the interference of his ecclesiasti
cal superiors. But whether this be true or
not, one thing is certain, that he furnished
one of those strange examples of men who
are in earnest, and who are otherwise
honest, who yet think it compatible with
their position to preach or publish opinions
diametrically opposed to the Articles they
have subscribed, and to the whole spirit of
the theology of their own Church. Thus,
Tractarians, Broad Churchmen, and (a
smaller class,) New School or Negative
Theologians all subscribe the thirty-nine
Articles, which, so far as they are theological,
(in contrast with their teachings on Church
Government,) are anti-ritual, anti-latitudi
narian, anti-Socinian, and, (in accordance
with the known views of the compilers of
the Articles in King Edward's days,) are
Protestant, Evangelical, Calvinistic, and
strong for the doctrine of a propitiatory
sacrifice and a perfect righteousness '
as
the only foundation and the Rock on
which faith reposes for justification.
But let me give some . examples of Mr.
Robertson's teachings :
Take his Sermon on The Trinity. He
sets out by inculcating , two lessons : let,
Charity; 2cl, Modesty. Under the first, he
says that "persons have been known and
heard to express the language of bitter con
demnation respecting Unitarianism, who,
when calmly required to express their con
ceptions, were proved to hold unconsciously
the doctrine of- Sabellianism." And so he
says there are in every congregation, uncon
scious " Tritheists and Sabellians." Then
he adds,' " To know God, so that we may be
said intellectually to appreciate him, is
blessed; to be unable to do so,'is a misfor
tune." Then, 2d. As' to modesty, those
" who are incined to sneer at the Trinita
rian" are told that " some of the pro
foundest thinkers and holiest spirits among
mankind, have clung to this doctrine as a
matter of life and death." All this seems
fair enough ; but the question arises, what
does Mr. Robertson believe about the Trin
ity. His,text is a strange one for such a
subject, but it brings out his peculiar views :
"The very. God of peace," &c. let. There
is a triad in discord, viz. : " body, soul, and
spirit," which the God of peace, "the
Trinity in unity," is to harmonize by
"peace," which, " according to the Trini
tarian
doctrine, consists in a three-one."
Now, as the "distinction in this (human)
trinity" is not physical, but metaphysi
cal, so is the Divine Trinity. "It is divis
ion in the mind of God." This he illus
trates from matter having "color, shape and
size," which are "three distinct essences,
yet form one unity ;" so is it in "the
evil affections and thoughts" of the one
man. These are "separate living conscious
nesses." And as " the act that a man does,
is done by one particular part of that man—
his genius, his fancy, his courage, his per
severance ; so as to the personalities of
Deity; the, work of redemption is attributed
to one, the work of sanctification to ano
ther, and yet the whole Deity performs that
work which is attributed to one essential."
14 . A. " distinctness of consciousnesses, "
then, is Mr. Robertson's theory of the Trin
ity, which he contrasts with the Unitarian
ism of "one person," and the "Sabellianism
of one essence and different manifestations."
But his theory seems very like the latter.
Thus, " the first power or consciousness
in which God is made known to us,
is as the
Father, the author of life ; and thus,"
(strange jargon, surely,) "in this respect,
God is, to us, as law." Then, "the second
way, of the personality and consciousness of
God, is revealed to us as the Son." And
what was the Son ? What is " eternal gen
eration ?" Why, this : " Before the world
was, there was that in the mind of God
which we may call the humanity of Deity.
it (!) is called, in Scripture, the Word; the
Son;
the Form of God;" and "through
this humanity in the mind of God,. a revela
tion became possible' to man. It was the
Word made flesh." , Is this Christianity ?
Is it not rather Platonism And is it any
better when her speaks of a third "enduring
relation in which ,God stands , tp .us—the re
lation of the Spirit?" It is "the Spiritual
manifestation of God to us, whereby he
blends himself with the soul of man."
These are "-the three consciousnesses by
which he becomes known to us." Mr.
Robertson hints there may be a fourth / In
another state it may be so, but "in the
present state, a fourth you cannot add to
these—Creator, Redeemer."
Such is a specimen of the daringly specula- ,
tive character of this remarkable mind. But
can it be said to be child-like or Scriptural
at all Ur is it the doctrine of the Trinity, '
as held by the Church of England, and the
true Catholic Church in all ages?
Take another sermon, on " Absolution."
It is a singular proof of the position, that
" extremes meet." The other day, Mr.
Maurice (as I noticed in a former letter,)
took part in a Tractarian service, bowed to
the altar, and at the name of Jesus, every
time it was mentioned. Mr. Robertson sets
out by showing, that in spite of all refuta.
tion and denial, of a " belief in a human ab
solving power," it has "a pertinacious hold
upon mankind." It was so in Paganism,
and in Romanism. At the Reformation,
there was "a mighty reaction, and, appar
ently, the whole idea of priesthood was
proved to be baseless, and men were referred
back to God as the sole absolver." " Yet
still, the belief, after three centuries, is as
strong as ever." * * " Private absolution
is asked by E.glisb.tnen, and given by Eng
lish priests." Does not this prove there is
something in the idea? Yes, says Mr. R.,
and he bases his solution on the text, "The
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins," The Pharisees' denial, who can
forgive sins but God only," was "a nega
tion. What did they effect by their sys
tem of negations ?" Then, the Scribes de
nied„ also, " the human power of absolution."
So there are, at this day, " Ronaish Scribes
who distinguish between venial and mortal
sins, and then" (a hit at the Evangelicals,)
" Protestant Scribes who have no idea of God
but as an incensed Judge; who prescribe
certain methods of, appeasing him—certain
prices;" (the atonement in the orthodox sense
alludd to, of which Mr. Robertson once
said the idea of it "was'drawn from the
bloody shambles of heathenism;") *
"men who send you into a perilous examina
tion of your spiritual experiences, to see
whether you have a right to call God Fa
ther." And the result is four.fold: "De
spondency, Spiritual pride, Superstition, and
Infidelity," which are "rife.among us."
Well, what is the remedy ? Why, says Mr.
It., "the power of the positive Church," as
contrasted with "negations." But what is it?
This is answered by another question, with
its reply : "What is forgiveness ? It is God
reconciled to us. What is absolution? It
is the authoritative declaration, that God is
reconciled to us. Authoritative! that is, a
real power of conveying a sense and feeling
of forgiveness." "Christ emancipated from
sin by the freeness of absolution," and thus,
" the absolving power is the secret of the
Gospel." God "loves without money and
without price." Suppose we admit all this,
as we do, although not in the New School
sense ;is "law" abolished No. And what
is; and who possesses the power to absolve ?
Christ had it, and Christ exercised it; and
(Christ as calling himself " the Son of Man,")
as " the High Priest of Humanity in the
name of the human race." (Here comes out
Maurice's heresy, that Christ is the Head
of the Human Race.) " The absolver ever
lives." How? "In human forgiveness."
Paul thus forgave (2. Cor. 10,) "in the
person of Christ." The Church forgives in
like manner. " The minister represents the
Church." And he "speaks in the name of
our god-like human nature;" that is, "the
Church." (!) True, there is "'no magic in
his absolution," but yet, while in the Abso
lution of the Visitation of the Sick, he uses
an absolute "I absolve thee," (as Rome
does,) he only declares to the man a 66 uni
versal Sonship," a "universal fact," So it
is just this : " every man is forgiven—lov
ingly assure him of it, and he is saved, and
-sanctified too. Is it not true that "..ex
tremes meet ?" But worst of all, the as
surance of forgiveness has a false basis, and
we conclude by showing this.
Here let me interpose a word of justifica
tion for the length of this notice. It is sim- .
ply this : that Mr. Robertson's sermons are
being extensively circulated, not only in
Britain, but in America.
In a note to a recent Consecration ser
mon at Lambeth, while referring to Guthrie
ae th,e Scotch, to Archer Butler as the Irish,
the Rev. Mr. Gurney stamps his imprimatur
on Robertson as the English pulpit orator.
This he does, I am sorry to say, with a very
faint protest against his theology. "I may
differ from the preacher in some things, and
listen doubtfully to others." That is all,
but " I know of no modern sermons, at once
so suggestive, and so inspiriting, as to the
whole range of Christian duty.". * * "Oh
that a hundred like him were given us by
God, and placed in prominent positions
throughout the land."
An eclectic class, then, _are reading the
sermons, and what do they find taught about
that verity of verities, " The Sacrifice of
Christ ?" Here is a rapid summary: The
act of Christ' is the act of humanity—that
which all humanity is bound to do. His
righteousness does not supersede our right
eousness," (justification and sanctification
confounded as by Rome, and the idea of im
putation abjured,) " nor does his sacrifice
supersede our sacrifice. It is the representa
tion of human life and human saorifice,--vi
carious for all, yet binding on all. That he
.died for all, is true. Ist, Because he was
the victim of the sin of all. * * He was
the victim of sin ; he died by sin." Mark,
the preacher studiously uses the word "of"
Christ was the victim of sin, " not for
sin." He suffered by every form of evil;
he "was the victim of false friendship and
ingratitude; the victim of bad government
and injustice." And so (1) " in the proper
sense of the words, he was a victim.'
The idea of substitution is thus ignored,
utterly; the "hstper " of, the Greek- text,
of Christ, of Paul, of Peter, sacrificed to a
new theory ! And then comes a misrepre
sentation of the orthodox doctrine. "It is
assumed that Christ was conscious, by his
omniscience, of the sins of all mankind; that
the duplicity of the child, and the crime
.of the assassin, and every unholy thought
that has ever passed through a human bo
soin, Were present to his mind in that awful
hour; as if they were his own."
But, 2d, "Christ died for all, in that his
sacrifice represents the sacrifice of all." The
idea of the Negative School here' comes as a
" self-sacrifice," as "one realized idea of
perfected humanity;" and so Mr. Robertson
gives us his interpretation of " imputed
righteousness," to which " meanings foolish
enough are sometimes attributed,' namely,
that " in Christ, therefore, God beholds hu
manity; in Christ he sees every one in
whom Christ's spirit" (of self-sacrifice)" ex
ists in germ."- • •
3d. ":The influence of the Sacrifice on
man, is the introduction of the principle of
self-sacrifice into his nature. * * The ele
ment of love makes this doctrine of self-sac
rifice an intelligible and blessed truth."
Now this is all, positively all, that is held
about the so-called " Victim,"_ who bled on
Calvary. It is truly painful, specially as
the heresy is very pleasing and palatable,
and has a dash of earnestness about it.
Worse, still, it is the one side'of truth. But
the obverse, alas! that which, viewed by
faith alone, as the objective, can produce the ,
subjective, whose ideal is so beautifully
sketched—that which awakens, as Chalmers
calls it, "the expulsive power of a new af
fection "—that tremendous Mystery of the
Cross—that glorious Propitiation revealed to
Philadelphia, 111 South Tenth Street, below Chestnut
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WHOLE NO. 264
the conscience•smitten sinner—alas I this
is concealed, unrecognized, unknown ! Is it
not a Satanic system ? Can true morality
flow from it?
"Talk they of morals, Oh thou bleeding Lamb I
Thou Maker of new morals to mankind;
The grand morality is love of thee !"
Let us hold fast, then, " the form of sound
words which we have been taught with faith
and love, which are in Christ Jesus." Once
drifted from her moorings, what remains
but breakers, shipwreck, ruin ?
The RIOTS AT BELPAST are now almost
quelled, but great excitement continues.
Mr. Hanna, the minister who preached in
the open air on one Sabbath, and intended to
do so on another, gave way to the counsels
of his senior brethren. The right was as
serted; but Christian expediency suggested,
that as bloodshed was imminent, it should
be practically suspended till the fury of
the Popish mob, and the exasperation of the
Orange Protestants should subside. The
Times is compelled to acknowledge the, just
criticisms of Mr. Hanna, as to its statements
about Romauists being "the majority."
They only form one-third of the inhabitants
of Belfast. But the Times tries to get out
of the misrepresentation by saying that it
meant not a "local," but "a national" ma
jority.
INFIDELITY is going down in London.
One of its former apostles, Cooper, the author
of the Purgatory of Suicides, is now a zeal
ous champion of the Christian faith. Hol
yoake disgusts his friends by decrying the
character of Christ, and the morality of the
New Testament. Open•air discussions have
convinced many. "This open-air preach
ing," said one, "we cannot abide." The
Sunday Bands' committee announce s defi
cit in their funds, and the Bands are discon
tinued. All this is cheering. J.W,
P. S. The Rev. Mr. Hay, an American
missionary escaped from Allahabad, made,
last night, at Southampton, a' very interest
ing public statement, describing, clearly, the
outbreak at his own station, and the condi
tion of Bengal generally. He does not
think that Delhi can fall before November
or December, for want of battering guns to
destroy the walls. It takes fifty days for
troops to reach Delhi, from Calcutta. He
thinks the communications will be inter
rupted, and that the latest news is not good,
although he has no doubt of the ultimate
defeat of the mutineers. He fears that
three American missionaries have perished
at Futtehgurh. He goes home by the Argo,
and probably will publish a full account of
his recent experiences and observations in
India.
The Prohibited Book.
Bedell was in the habit of repeating a
passage in a sermon, which he had heard
Fulgentio preach .at Venice, on this text,
"Have ye not read?" The Divine told his
audience, that if Christ were now to ask
them that question, all the answer they
could make, would be, "No, Lord ! we are
not suffered to do so !" On which he
zealously descanted on the restraint put on
the use of Scripture by the Romanists. This
Fulgentio was a Minorite friar, and the in
timate friend of Father Paul. He preached
in so enlightened and Scriptural a manner,
that Pope Paul the Fifth is reported to
have said of his discourses, "He has in
deed some
,good sermons, but bad ones with
al ; he stands too much upon Scripture,
which is a book that if any man will keep
close to, he will quite ruin the Catholic
faith." On one occasion, when preaching
on Pilate's question, " What is truth ?" he
told his audience that he had been long
searching for it, and had at last found it.
"Here it is , in my hand !" He held up a
New Testament, which as soon as the people
had seen, he returned to his pocket, ob
serving dryly, "The book is prohibited."
He took part in the Venetian controversy
against the Pontiff, but was induced by the
Nuncio to visit Rome, on promise of safe
conduct. He was at first received with
favor, and even with festivity, but his enter
tainers finished their kindness by burning
him alive.!
ladsan 'J Itnnngs+
CLANDESTINE MARElAGES.—Clandestine
marriages seldom bring happiness; the
woman who sacrifices home and a father's
and mother's affection for a lover, unless
the parents are unusually unreasonable, gen
erally reaps that reward which follows in the
footsteps of ingratitude and disobedience.
NONE LTVETH FOR HIMSELF.—God has
written on the flowers that sweeten the air
—upon the breeze that rocks the flowers
upon the stem—upon the rain drops that
refresh the sprig of moss that lifts its
head on the desert—upon its deep cham
bers—upon every pencilled sheet that sleeps
in the caverns .of the deep, no less than
upon the mighty , min that warms and cheers
millions of creatures which live in its light
—upon all the works he has written, " None
liveth for himself."
KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES AMONG
THE EARLY CHRISTIANS.--YOU may gene
rally perceive that our doctrine is known,
not only to those who are doctors of the
Church, and masters of the people, but
also to even tailors, smiths, weavers, and all
sorts of artificers; and, moreover, not only
to women, but to such as are least informed
among them, the laboring sort, as semesters,
servants, and handmaids. Nor is this
confined to citizens, but country people well
u_nderstand it—arguing concerning the holy
Trinity, the creation; and all things.— Theo
doret
Love CANNOT DIE :--
They sin who tell us love can die,
With life all other passions fly,
All others are but vanity,
In heaven ambition cannot dwell,
Nor avarice in the vaults of hell;
Earthly these passions of the earth,
They perish where they, have their birth;
But love is indestructible.
Its holy flame forever burneth,
From heaven it came, to heaven returneth ;
It soweth here with toil and care,
But the harvest-time of love is there.
. [Robert Southey.