CIHM I ■ • V, ■ ■ MiGrofich9 Series -J- ■\ > ICMH .Collectioh de microfiches (monographies) ^:-- € Canadian Instituta for Hiatorical Microraproductiohs /Ihatitut Canadian da microraprodudtiona hittoriquaa » aa ■■.. ■ . . ■' - 1 ', . ■ ■ ' . ■ ■ \ ; \' ■■'■-■; ■ ■■.." - ■ ■ :■-:: ;• -•■':■ ■ '■ '■" . '. ■ ' . ■/ Ttchnical and BibNogra^hte NoMt / NotM ipchniquM •! biMibfrapHiqum TN rmtitut* hM «lt«m^tMf to eirtain «tM IMM oriiiiMl CQPV avrnlaM* for f ilinin«. Faaturat of thi» «o^ wrhich may ba MMiofraphically imiqua, «fhkh may altar any of tlM iinatas in iIm raprodtietidn. or wfttMi may > lignifkantlv chanfa tha utnal mathod of f ilmbit, aif chadcad balow. "^ L'Inrtitut a microfihnt la itMiilaur aiiamplaira qu'il Ih) a M poniMa data procurar . 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IVIGCIINS, A. HI. • ■ ^ SAINT JOHN: PHINTED BV UEIfRY CHUBB it COMPANT, ■ "' ,; ^ ^ • ■ - p. « ^ ^ PBINCC WILtlAW STBKST- "V ■ ■ : :'' :, -" 1851. .■; _ '■;' ■/•' ■ ^. ■.• ■ xg^t * ' / • ^».. - , ^ b1iHhHi>i>/ HH^ . . ^ ^. ) V _^-^-^. f'i > \ ■4- \ ( J LETTER. cava me Ihfl llbertr to know*, to uttor, nml to nrHH« I'lvrly, ncror^ing tocouKtence, above nil lllM>rty.«~!IIl[/roN. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND TUK LORD BISHOP OF FREDEBICTON. Mv LoRD,"^ I When I forwnnled to yo\i, for perusal, two volumes written bytlio lato Rev. Mr. Clowes, of Manchester, Englani). I tlesicfiied to test the question of doctrines therein contiiined. Tlie previous controversy between the Rector of Trinity Church ond myself did not toucli the question. Ho conRned himself to the consloemtion of Mr. (Mowes' opinionsjgaj4 coanceicd with the dogmatic tcnching of the Church, and decWKaltogcther to discuss the subject on Scriptural authority. , Your opmiiti, as expressed to me, is ofi the abstract ground of doc- trine itself; arid you cTeclarc, in this vioW' of the subject, that Mr. Clowes denied the Trinity, the intercession of Christ, and the eleventh article of the Church of England ! — The controversy with the Rector of Trinity Church, just alluded to, has done its work, and left its impress on the public mind, and the developments of the subject dis- cussed wilV be more fully seen in due time. But the present letter i^ more important in its bearing, as requiring, from the very ground taken by yourself, not only an explanation of the doctrines of Mr. Clowes, but also a distinct recognition of the authority on which Mr. Clowes founded his views of these doctrines. There is a wise discretion, as to the time and opportunity, demanded of us, in enCnr- cing the truths of the interior sense of the Word, and therefore this recognition has not been so distinctly called for before. \ It is a grave charge that is now made by yourself, however, against o venerable Clergyman of the Churclr of England, who was sixty- two years Rector of a Parish, and who lived in the affections of his people, to say, on the abstract question, that he denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The chaige is still more grave when it js known that, in reply to those who accused him of this heresy, in the beginning of his ministry, the Bishop, before whom ho was arraigned, told his accusers to go and become like him whom they denounced. Neither the doctrine not the man was found ccnsuiablo by Bishop Porteus. But the Bishop himself might have been an heretic, by the % I., U'nnn nml tU'lliiitionn of the Church of England, nml iho iiiiralUm ihfwforo nriiM'ii, what ia thi- ihKtrino h**!!! by Mr. Clowua, and ianc- tibnoil hy tho Rinhnp of tho DioM'M in which hfl waa a drrjorman f Mr. Clowi'K lM)Iii«l in tho writinj;;* of SwodunlmrK, that the Lord ia ono, and indivisible, and that hu who proc«eda from ano- thor in not (Jod: tho lA>rd ho ia (Ipd. Ho taujfht diHtinctly from tim word, that tho Lord is the Croator, aa well aa tho Kodcointr; that Ho ia tho forj(iv«!r of ain«, nn well na tho Hcinp ajfninat whom thoy liavo IJCfu coinrnittiul; and that He ia tho Wor«l itaolf,— th«i Word which wna in tlio bvginninflf, tho Word wljo apnko to tho propheta, and ihu Word which waa nia'nilcsti-d in tho flo»h. Ho tmight, inoroovor, that tho Lord ia man, very man, that Hjj ii tho Divine man, that Ho ia a p«>raon, and that Ho waa alwaya human in potency, though not in actuality; that in uaauming our nature He became the Lord in ulHmatrs, an hf waa in lirat principh^s ; that the tirat became the hiat, the, Alpha ||«»iil y«!t t-ach (litroring from thu other, it it nnnarkitblo that the very <|ualitiet attributed to tlie Father urn d<>ni««d by ttna tri-|N>p«ointl tlx'ory of ri'di'ni|>tion. It in dvclnrod thnt the love of Miving the hiunun nice origiiuit«*d with tha Father, that th« Son undortakcii the work of Hnlvuliun, aul yvt thaf . when the work in done the tjon noeda to inter ceiU witMim Father, nnd even to prcnunt Hin blet'ding woiiiuU to move the Father to mercy ! If the domnndK of jtuticti nro fully siitiHlivd, where ia the neceuity for " interceiwion ?" And if, indeed, the Fathor ia just, how could Ho allow the moat innocent lieing in the univemn to auiler in order to antiiify thnt jumUci; ? Thia ia to consider the Divine princi* pie out of thu Lord, when, novertholoas, it ia in Ilim ; and thu per* ' ception of tho Lord's JXieinity poriahca with thia idea, for it makua two out of one ! Tho dbctrine ia monatroua, atid it haa blighted nnd deaolntod the Chriatian Church. I jim aware that the du«'trinu ia mixed up with tho emotional part of our nature, and (tomthii cause atone it haa lM>en capable hitherto »f being over-ruled by the Lor4 for good in the Church; but thia cntotionnl tendency ia all towarda tho Saviour, while it'btjcomca alienated from' the Father, or God himaolf; and tho conaequenco baa been, to der))r the Deity of the Lord, by considering Him a victim to appease n being who waa ermter than Himself, and totally different in hia nature and attri- utca. So far as those doctrines aro concerned, they are treated of, according to my humble ability, in tw). Sermons lately publiaheit' with tho view of covering thu whole ground in the lato coiKrovursy here; as to the facts devclo|K!d in that controversy, they apeak for themselves. With regard to faith alone, tho time has gone by when that doc- trine might be defended, any more than the doctrines which gavo riso to it, It has been often declared, aince the Reformation, that tho Church was to riso or fall by this doctrine, and she has fallen by it. This justification by faith alone is not -a faith in tho Lord as tho Je- hovah, and therefore cannot save tho soul ; for tho Lord is present according to the perception that man has of tho Lord ; and if thia per- ception IS not that the Lord is tho only Person of Oodi the Divine Being himself is not present in His omnipotence. Thtrf? doctrines, as atill taught by tho CHurch, are falsifications of tho Word, by sub- stituting the apparent for the real truths of Scripture, in order to suit tho depravity of human nature. Tho doctrine of " faith alone " is declared by the article beforo alluded to as being a most comfortable doctrine ; but however comfortable it may appear in tfnt Wdrld, it is doubtless instrumental in leading many to uneasinej}s and disquiet- ude in the world to come \ ■ ■ . ' , ^ The doctrines of Swcdcnbofg, of which Mr. CloWes was the faiUiful expositor and exemplar, need yet to bo fully known; and when known, ; no intcljligent mail will have the hardihood to controvert or deny ^cm. iPricstley was wilted to the earth by such nn attempt, uud ^ s.,.-._. ";v t. "■. ...■■' \ ^ ; .. - ■ iji,' was compelled to bo uUnt under the ovcnvhellininfj nature of the evidences of Swedenborg's 'Divine mission. AH who have since ta- ken the same course have retired from the controversy with the samo success. They have felt that though there may be enough apparent weakness in the sy&tem to invite attack, -there is hidden strength enough to repel it. The truths there which appear helpless from their very innocence, will be found to exert an influenroof which the mightiest may be well afraid. Their claims are not the claims of a seft, but of a new dispensation. They are truths descending from God out of Heaven, and accompanied by the living voice of the Lord . '—Behold I make all things new. Hitherto it has been argument enough to meet the claims of Swe- denborg with ridicule ; but such an argument is no longer available in the world, and consequently the Vrorld has given it up. The peo- ple who hold these views lately had a convention in London, and the proceedings were reported by the leading morning journals, a^)nro- ceedings not to be despised.. The New Church was represented at that meeting by an order of intellijrenco not inferior to any in Eng- land, and by distinguished individuals from Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, ond the United States ; while communications were received even from the Indian Empire, Edfh of these countries is a centre, from which rays are beginning to diverge in all directions, while the light of the new Jerusalem will mingle with artd temper the discordant elements of a \yorld in ruins. This Church has no retrograde motion; its truths never die out, in minds where they have once fairly lodged; they are as imperishable as the source from whence they come. After struggling against conflicting elements for nearly a century, these trutns are now taking a position and holding a tone of languag:e, which -they who know them best are the least willing to question or to oppose. And as if to support these claims, and as an eviderice io some minds of their reality, the philo- sophical^writings of Swedcnborg are now in bourse of translation from theoriginal Latin. In these writings are contained all the prin- ,ciple8 of natural science; and the critical journals of the day have "already begun to accord their testimony to the wonderful truth*-, therein developed. They are truths of the most profound nature, acquired by the deepfest research and most exact science, supported by the severest induction, and are confirmed and established by a system of the most merciless dialectic*. But I have not to do at present with the philosophical but the theologicol writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. The former, indeed, are evidences of what the human faculties may perform, when trained to the pursuits of natural science ; but the latter are evi- dences of the same highly trained laculties, acting under the influence of Divine illumination. The oho was preparatory to the other in the order of Providence; but these departments of know- ledge are separated from each other by '•distinct degrees in the human mind. It is not competent for the natural to ascend to the spiritual degree, though all things; on the natural plane, are con- firmed and established by the higher evidences of Divine illumi- nation. p" \ , That nteh an illumination in necessary for tlic full understanding^ of the spiritual sense of the Word, is evident from the very naturu of the Word iJself. The Word, in iho letter, is the distinct embodi- ment of the Mind of Cod to fallen beings, and the tendency and design of the>ipiritiml sonso can be seen only by ascending to the spiritual piano. Naturally, man can form no distinct conception of the.Divino Being ; he has no organs to discern Ood as He is, but tho very organa themselves have to be formed by which he may attain to correct ideas of the Deity. This must be so from the very nature of things. In departing from Qod man lost the actual knowledge of God, and his knowjledgo of God thence became relative, not actual. Me had, thereforc j^lll positive knowledge of who God is; and in tho absence of such knlwledgc he necessarily considered God to bo such an onqas himself. Hence his idea of God in all ages has been tho mere Outbirth, or reflex, of his own mind, and he sees this Image^ as it were, in huge lineaments on the sky. ■ The mere letter of the Word tends only to modify this Image, not to deface it; and hence the Chrisitian Church, as Well as the Gentiles, have devised gods of thei? ownX^The Heathen have gods according to their characteristic thoughts ancMcclings. Even the Jews worshipped, for a time, tljcir own mental creations ; and when driven to the distinct acknowldlg- ment of (me God, they still clothed Him with«their own arbitrary' and vindictive passions. The Christian Church has dtylded the same idea into thnte — thus dividin^g the essence of- the !ti<)rd-^and: fed by. the letter of the Word; and: from this appedrmvce of truth ,\instead of the truth itself, they have p^jected a theory which denies the very attributes of God, and renders Him, like themselveSj placable to His friends, and wmthful to His enemies. In this state of things a new dispensation became necessary. The , letter of the word was no longer available as a guide to the human xnind ; and the spiritual sense was disclosed through the medium of Eftianuel Swedenborg. He was prepared by the Lord foir that pur- pose from his very infancy ; and the evidences of his mission aire to be found in the works he published under the Divine guidance.. These works are attested by mimcles of the highest order, and such as leave the human mind no ei^ape, but by ignoring the very facul- : ties themselves which God has given to man. These miracles are not evidenced by letters of fire on the sky, or by the suspension of the laws of nature, so called, or by any thing compulsory upon the mere bodily senses; but by evidences which address themselves to the interior perceptions of man, and demand a tacit assent to their Divine origin.- These evidences begin in the higher regions of the mind, and are felt to be from a Divine source. Ihey are not merely the thunderings and lightnings at the foot of the mount, addressed merely to the sensual mind, and compe//m^ assent to the external law, but the lambent flame of heavenly love from which the law pro- ceeds, and the tone of heavenly wisdom. by w'hich it is directed. ■ Theseare indeed high claims as an expositor to, be put forth by a human being, but they ^re no less true than exalted, and demand the unqualified subtnission of sound reason and common sense. These '^fy^'"^^'?' / :4 -. writirtffs givm a perfect exposition of tho Word of Coil, mid oflTonl nn infallible principle of interpretation, or exegttis, by which each Gissage of Scripture is seen in its own light, and all in the light of eaven. Jhe spirit is revealed through the letter, and eveiy truth is subject to the' spiritual test. There is no escape from their con- elusions ; the reasoning is irresistible, and the honest mind yields its «A^v assent to these laws of Scriptural interpretation. ^ This IB strong language, you ma^ say ; but it is not so strong aft the subject requires, because the evidences are higher than may be contained in any niero expressions of human thought. What do you think of a principle of interpretation which shall explain every chapter and verse m the Word of God by on« uniform rule— which shall read out to ydu, for instance, in plain and intelligible language, the meaning of each and every syllable in the first ten chapters of Genesis, and make the Apocalypse itself translucent from a Divine source— that book which is eUe darker than the midnight sky ? The difference between the expositions of Swedenborg and that of the reigning Church is as the difference between the eagle flying in the air and the serpent crawling upon the ground. Do you ask how the word is explained ? I answer, by the use of that language in which it was first written, and the knpwiedge of which was suffered to lai»e in the order of Divine Providence, but is now again restored, through a messenger chosen by the Lord for that purpose. Thjs language is literally Divine ; it is the expression of the Divine Mjnd from all eternity, and was read and understood by men before bqbks and letters were the medium of thought and affec- . tion. It is the language written all over the face of creation, where Xevery object to the expression of a Divine thought andof a Divine emotion. T|ii« book of natural things contains all possible know> ledge, to tho«e who have learned to read ; its letters are the indefi^ nite things of all creation, and their combinations ^re infinite. Originall V Ais >va» the ardy Word of God, and it w^ read fluently and at sighlt, by the first r^ce of men, called Adam* They had an instinctive perception of what each thing in Nature signified, or, in other wordsl what was its name or quality. Every object in^ creation, y^from the d^ist under their feet to the sun, moon, and stars over their heads, hadja distinctive meaning; it was a Word of God, a^d had its application to some thought ot emotion of the human niind; there vms i correspondence between the external and-the intertial man, and the whole mind was efiigied or imaged in the visibk creation. The Creation, therefore, represented man ; and hence he \ was called the Microcosmj or the universe in miniature, because he ' partook, as it were, of all it$ parts.. ^ When man departed from innocence, Mm intuitive perception of Ae name or quality of things was lost, by degrees, as he descended lower and lower in the scale of being, till he finally sunk into that grossness Of the senses which prompted him to worship the objects of Nature themselves, instead of considering them as tiie representa- . tives of heavenly things. At this period the Word was vyrUten,9Xii the created word was transcribed into the written word^ and thougl< ^ embracing a continuous history, it was to written, that all things '•1 f) mid afTord Axich each hd light of sveiy truth their con- 1 yields its ) strong nft n may be hat do you lain every lie — which language, hftpters of a Divine ky? The hat of the ing in the the use of >wledge of' nee, but is rd for that iression of erstood by a.nd aiTec- ion, where a Divine ble know- the indeii- ite. d fluently ey had nn ied, or, in I creation, oysT their ,aild had m nii^d ; 3 internal he visible^ hence he\ ;cause he VI f • » ■ fhordn expressed from the iialiyml creation should correspmi to things spiritual and Divine. By this doctrine of correspondences there is a spirit wilhin the tetter— an internal to which the external corresponds, and by which the Wtyd is one continuous and un« broken series of Divine communications addressed to the internal man. What is obscure is thus made translucent from a Divine source, and all apparent contradictions vanish away at once. Hence the Creation becomes alive again; it is sieen as the present work of the Lord, and utters its innumerable voices to the living soul of man. The letter still renmins, in all its power, for th€ natural man ; and ho is still led by it, profitably. When no higher sense can be discerned. This letter of the Word is holy in every part, and in- spired as to every jot and tittle ; but its inspiration is plenary or full, because it contains what 19 hqly within it, aiid conveys in the spirit, or its higher sense, the expression df the Divine Mind to the man who is progressing in , the work of regeneration. " It it the spirit that qutckeneth, the Jlesh prqfiteth nothing; the teords that I speak unto you, they dr« mirit,and they are life" According to this internal sense, the Word is now made to speak a language wlxich is dear and intelligible to all who are willin|f to learn, and obey it. By tlie Divine mercy of the Lord, the spirit and life of this Word are disclosed to the world on subjects hithcrta hidden frwn the inind of man, such as l^ie nature of the resurrection of the body, of the day of judgment, of the destruction of this earth by- lire, and of there^vards and punishments of- Heaven and Hell. ^ Nor are the/disclosures of Swedenborg confined XS" an exposition of the Word* Wonderful as those disclosures are; but they are con- firmed and /illustmted by revelations from the spiritual world itself, or by things actually seen and heard in 'the intermediate state, and Heaven and Hell! These are established by a weight of evi- m dence, f^om reason and analogy, which makes it more difficult doubt Aem ^an to believe them, considered on the authority of their char^ter as rielations merely; and these, taken together with the do<;tnnes he illustrates, leave no vront or craving 9f the human id une»itisfied : tho'system, as a AVhole, is fuD, perfect, and com- {et&-r" totus, teres atgue rotundus." This _wa8 a subject on which ^ihe human mind required definite and exact teachingr and which, in tfie present state or the world, could no longer be left in doubt or obscurity. Hence Uie Lord has fully disclosed these things ; and'it nvust be evident to all who read these disclosures that nothmg less than such relations from the spiritual world can now suffice to in- fluence the' hearts of meBu The dogmatic teaching of the day has destroyed all sensibility to impression on this subject, and the power to influence the mind on the realities of Heaven and Hell is gone. The veil, which concealed the future jErom 'the jpresent world, is therefore uplifted; and men may see, iif the writings 6f Sweden- borg, their future lot written out in living characters — a destiny which is nei^er arbitary nor compulgory, but the natural and \ obvious result of laws which they have voluntarily chosen to obey, ^r %o6d or evil, while upon earth. These discWsures, as they arc read, are known to be true by higher evidcncdj than belongs to thiq ,/ N' ,,.■•' ■•10 . ■ ■ ■ ■ : ■■ '_ mero narration of another who hns soon and hoard ; they arc felt to bo truo by an internal dictate — " a voico louder than nevcn thunders " —by the voico of conscience, the voico of God. You are, therefore, cdlled iiJ)on, my Lord, to consult the writingn of Emanuel Swcdcnborg. You arc called upon by one who baa deeply studied these writings himself, and who is anxious, from a deep senfte of their inestimable value, that -others should become ac({uaintcd with them too, and especially that those should become cquainted ^ith them who stand in.the responsible situation of reli* ifious teachers. It is but one voice, indeed, that calls upon you in ^us letter, but it is the voico of one thoroughly Jn earnest, of one flimong thousonds who have imbibed these trutfn, x^ho know what tney believe, and who are - prepared to defend them against the orld. Bat you will soon bo called upon by otha- voices than mino you and all the professed ministers, of truth will bo called upon to ow some cause why you reject, or neglect to examine, or to con- te, if you can, the testimony of a person who was accredited from eaven to Unfold the spiritual sense of tho Scriptures, and to reveal I detail the momentous realities of Heaven and Hell. You will be called upon, I mean, by those Avho deny the Word itself — you \vrlt le callea upon by them to explain its whole meaning, to reconcile its t pprent contradictions in the letter, ond to account for its conflicting evidence against the discoveries qf modern science. These things you oinnot do ; and yet these are stern requisitions, and they miat be met and answered, or the infidel will boldly meet you on your own gtound, and vanquish you by the very weapons that he has wrested oi^t of yoUT own nands. The truth is, my Lord, that the first Christian Church, as a dis- pensation, had come to its end. It is now the consummation of the age\ translated (erroneously, as you are aware,]h the end of the world, as p^diicted in Matthew xxiv. 3 ; and a new dispensation is arising out 0^ the old, and which is destined to change the face of the earth, or the state of the moral world. This is expressed as the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of Heaven, or as the disclosure of the spiritual sense of the word, the light, (John xii. 34, 36,) through the clouds of thie letter which obscure it. Hence the coming^of the 'Son of Man, Or the light of Divino truth, is with the pow^r and great glory of tho interior and hidden senses of the word. This dispen- sation is the crownin?, dispensation of all others; it is the New Heaven and the New Earth which are to remain; it is the New Church which is to grow and thrive, while the old is to pass for ever away. The present theological systems are like the exuvico, or cast-off clothing, which are no longer serviceable to the Christian world. The" existing, or recognised Church, is consummated, or btoughl to its end ; and this is beginning to be felt by many anxious and thou^tfol minds, enquiring more or less, ardently, where ia the Church ? The Church that they ask for has already ceased to be, .and what 'of good is apparently there still, is not of the old Church, bat of the new. The old Church, as a Church, has been destroyed- by man ; and what man has once destroyed man ni^er can restoie, and the Lotd MVer does. He does not f e-build, but: He brings what i > 11 ■i [n neto out of tho old ; and at tl^o close of any dispcnstntion He innti- tiitcH an order of thingn which gradually and silently takes tho placo of that which is passing away. Thu causo of the Lord is onward ; He makes all things new, because He can do all thingi/, and knows all things ; but tho power of man can only demolish, while thu voice of man, from mere defect of knowledge, is comiieUed to bo dumb, or , to utter only retrospective words. The present parties in the Church, my Lord, arc doing this work of demolition, and they are doing it with all ^hcir might; they nro not leaving one stone unon another in tho Spiritual Church which they are not throwing aown. This is in tho order of Divine Provi* dcncc, and they aro pulling down as fast as thn Lord's New Church is prepared to build tip. There is neither force nor violence in this necessary work of demolition, but nil things are done according to known laws, and in accordance with human freedom. The Lord bends, but never breaks, the freedom of the human will ; and while men arc contending for their distinctive creeds and systems, each mrty, by a gradual and silent process, is undermining the other. This work of disintegration is silently going dn, and the work is seen now, not so much by a conflict of sects against each other, as by internal strifo and discord among themselves. T^is is the daily complaint in the Church of England, as you are aAwarii? for her merh- bers are at issue on the essential principles contained^ in their very creeds, ond the toleration of ono^ parly by the other is not even dreamed 'of. It is war — a bitter, ceaseless hosti^ty — evidenced among us by everything subtle and malignant; Their dogmatic teaching needs to be reviewed, and their priesent potty strifo and pergonal animosity to bo hushed, to rest, by the voice of doctrines which will tell upon the temper, habits, and dispositions of men. But these very doctrines' are rejected by the Church, and all parties, as such, in the Church make commo/t cause against tliem, and hence the desolation of the Church. With the reigning system of religion there is no hope for the world ; the Church, so called, is fast losing its power to control the thoughts and affections of men;'and a new order of truth is required, adapted to the state of the public mind, as the precursor and harbinger of that glorious era which is even now dawning upon the world, and which in the Lord's good time will change the whole structure of human society. With this view it becomes the paramount duty of all who possess the truth to declare it for the good of others. - Let each man speak out what truth is in him, and in this way offer a plain refutation of false Soctrines. Truth must be supported, at any rate ; and while .)the reigning Church persecutes and opposes those who do so, that Church is only completing her final consummation. The life she still, has is the result only of what truth she yet possesses ; and this life is feeble and dying, because much of this truth is only apparent truth, and the residue is mixed with the false that arises from ign(h ranee, and which, on that account, the Lord can overrule for good; Hence many persons in that Church are better than their creeds, and live above the system which they ignorantly think is better thaft themselves. They do not sec that their creeds and systenu, Uiough / i !v V' K ■ * *^ If tuntaining (ho apparent truth, and thence lield by many cotiscicii* (ioua pemonn, am still really unncriptiiml, an 7u»o tauj:i[|it, ond to bo rejected accordingly ; and that the present dogmatic teaching leadn of necessity to tinoclief and sin, oiid consequently to the final ruin of the soul. How con mere thought, or the mental process, on tho one hand, save the soul — the doctrine of faith alone f Or, on the other, how can the mere ordinances bo rendered efficacious to land a man in Heaven, as it were, by extreme unction ? These two systcmH contain the all of the Church, and theso have parted /(he garmtnU of the Jjord between them! But they cannot rend His vesture ; they cannot destroy the spiritual seme ai the word, however thejr may divide the literal senses, so as to lead to all kinds of conflict and denial of the word itself. The vesture, or internal, is one ; it is mlhout seam, woven from the top throughout. Unittf^n the Church iq on impossibility any longer, bocauso the Lord is denied, i. e. the oneness of His person, attd hence the spiritual . sense of His Word, which is one also. The first Christian Church wos to fall by degrees, as predicted, and as described in the Apictpalypse as to itsparticular states of declension. This Church was1« be replaced by a new one, when men were able to comprehend and accept the sole and supremo Divinity of Jesus Christ. " At that doy ye shall ask in my name, and no more in the name of the Fother%" The first Christian Church could not believe that He alone was the Jehovah ;. and if this truth had been cnforced>upon them^^ it is evident that Christianity could not have been suijfained, since this truth is widely denied in the Church, even at this day. In order to save Chris- tianity, and to prevent the denial of God, the Church, therefore, ad- mitted three persons into the Trinity, when no such expression is founa in the Scriptures! From that Nicene Council is dated (he fall of the first Christian Church ; and the Reformers admitted thii fact, when they denied the authority of human councils to impose -.creeds and to enforce belief. This was called Protestantism— the protest against all humoin tradition and human authority ; and iii only bond 0^ union now is an opposition to' the Papacy from which it revolted. Left to itself, Protestantism is falling to pieces, and will be divided into as many sects aa there are. persjons, when there arc no longer Pjaipists or Puseyites to oppose. Protestantism claims the right of j)rt>a/0 judgment ; and when they who have been accus- tomed to think from the authority of others begin to think each for himself, there will result a confusion and contradiction of opinions 'which will be faintly imaged l^y the language of Babel, and which will call for a new dispensation of the Gospel, as the sole refuge from a mere chaos of human thought. Then the dry land will appear, and the first signs of v^table life will give evidence of the New Heaven and of the New Earth, which 'ure destined to renu^in,' as the crowning dispensation of all that have gone before. 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