THE 
 
 DOCTRINES AND POLITY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
 CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 
 PART FIRST 
 
 BY REV. WILBUR F.'TILLETT, D.D., 
 
 Dean of the Theological Faculty of Vanderbtlt University. 
 
 PART SECOND 
 
 BY REV. JAMES ATKINS, D.D., 
 
 Sunday School Editor. 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN.; DALLAS, TEX.: 
 PUBLISHING HOUSE OP THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 SMITH & LAMAR, AGENTS. 
 1906.
 
 COPTRTOHTEO BT 
 
 BIOHAM & SMITH, AGENTS 
 
 1903.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 THE DOCTRINES OF THE METHODIST 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 2 
 
 I. Introduction: The Distinguishing 
 Doctrines and Features of Meth- 
 odist Theology 3 
 
 II. The Holy Scriptures 12 
 
 III. The Doctrine of God 23 
 
 IV. The Bible Doctrine of Man 36 
 
 V. Christ the Redeemer 46 
 
 VI. The Doctrines Pertaining to Per- 
 sonal Salvation 57 
 
 VII. The Doctrine of the Future Life 70 
 
 VIII. The Doctrine of the Church . . 83 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 THE POLITY OF THE METHODIST 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 
 Preface 92 
 
 I. The General Rules 93 
 
 (iii)
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 II. The Conferences of Methodism 118 
 
 General Boards 125 
 
 III. The Itinerancy 128 
 
 IV. Our Ministry 138 
 
 V. Our Connectionalism 144 
 
 VI. Fields of Work 156 
 
 Missions 156 
 
 Woman's Home Mission Society 162 
 
 The Sunday School 165 
 
 The Board of Church Extension 168 
 
 The Epworth League 169 
 
 The Board of Education 171 
 
 Statistics of the Methodist Episcopal 
 
 Church, South 172
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 THE DOCTRINES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
 SOUTH. 
 
 BY REV. WILBUR F. TILLETT, D.D., 
 
 Dean of the Theological Faculty of Vanderbilt 
 University.
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 To write a brief treatise that shall cover the 
 entire range of Christian doctrine, and yet be 
 neither a bare and dry skeleton, on the one hand, 
 nor a dull, superficial statement of mere common- 
 places, on the other, is the difficult task that has 
 been assigned to the author in this little volume, 
 In trying thus to combine brevity, clearness, and 
 completeness the author has kept constantly in 
 mind the class of readers for whom the volume 
 is intended viz., Sunday school teachers, can- 
 didates for the ministry, and Bible students gen- 
 erally, who desire to know what are the cardi- 
 nal doctrines of the Bible as it is interpreted by 
 the great body of evangelical Christian believers. 
 
 That the doctrines of the Bible, rightly in- 
 terpreted, and the doctrines of Methodism, 
 rightly stated, are one and the same, this writer 
 steadfastly believes, and in that faith this trea- 
 tise has been written, and is now sent forth in 
 the humble hope that it may give to those who 
 read x it a greater faith in their faith, and thus 
 enable them the better to give to others a reason, 
 for the hope and the faith that is in them. 
 
 WILBUR F. TILLBTT.
 
 L 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE DISTINGUISHING DOCTRINES AND FEATURES 
 OF METHODIST THEOLOGY. 
 
 METHODISM represents a distinct system of 
 Christian doctrine, and also a type of Church 
 polity. Methodists are not one the world 
 over in their ecclesiastical polity: some are 
 episcopal, some presbyterial, and some congre- 
 gational. But all Methodists are practically 
 a unit the world over in the type of theology 
 which they hold. Most of the cardinal doc- 
 trines of Methodism are held in common with 
 all evangelical Christian Churches. Such, 
 for example, are the inspiration and divine 
 authority of the Holy Scriptures, the Triuni- 
 ty of the Godhead, the divinity of Christ, the 
 fall of man and the universal sinfulnessof the 
 race, justification by faith, the necessity of 
 regeneration, the future and eternal existence 
 
 D / 
 
 of all men after death, and many other simi- 
 lar doctrines of the highest significance. 
 
 But there are certain other doctrines which, 
 though not held exclusively by Methodists, 
 have at least been more strongly emphasized 
 
 (3)
 
 4 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 in the faith and preaching of Methodism than 
 in any other branch of the Christian Church. 
 Among these may be mentioned the follow- 
 ing: the moral free agency and accountability 
 of man, the unlimited atonement of Christ, 
 the witness of the Spirit testifying to the re- 
 generate man of his acceptance with God, the 
 possibility of apostasy, and the attainability 
 of entire holiness in this life. 
 
 Methodism has been the instrument in the 
 hands of God of saving during the century 
 and a half of its existence not less perhaps 
 than fifteen to twenty millions of immortal 
 souls. This result, which is without a prece- 
 dent in the history of the Christian Church, 
 is to be attributed in no small degree to the 
 intensely earnest and practical character of 
 its theology. " It was not new doctrine but 
 new life that the Methodists sought for them- 
 selves and for others," says Bishop McTyeire 
 in the opening sentence of his "History of 
 Methodism." But the history of the Chris- 
 tian Church has established the fact that 
 progress in the spiritual life and maintenance 
 of sound doctrine are vitally related to each 
 other. 
 
 The doctrinal system of Methodism is some- 
 times designated as "Arminian theology."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 This designation connects it with the name of 
 James Arminius (1560-1609), a noted theolo- 
 gian of Holland. As Martin Luther and his 
 fellow-reformers, although reared in the 
 Church of Rome, were led by their enlight- 
 ened convictions to protest against what they 
 considered the corrupt practices and false 
 teachings of this Church, and were for that 
 reason called Protestants, so James Arminius 
 and his associates, although first instructed in 
 the strict teachings of high Calvinism, felt com- 
 pelled to utter a remonstrance against certain 
 extreme Calvinistic doctrines concerning pre- 
 destination, election, reprobation, etc., and 
 were for that reason called Remonstrants. 
 The celebrated "five points" of Calvinism, 
 setting forth the peculiar and distinctive doc- 
 trines of that system of theology, were offset 
 by the no less distinctive "five points" of 
 Arminianism, viz.: (1) Conditional election 
 that is, God elected to salvation those who, he 
 foresaw, would freely repent of their sins and 
 believe in Christ, and to reprobation those 
 whose willful impenitence and unbelief he 
 foresaw. (2) Jesus Christ died alike for all 
 men, but only those who repent and believe 
 will secure the- saving benefits of his atoning 
 death. (3) The ability of fallen man to re-
 
 6 THE DOCTBINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 pent and believe is of grace and not of nature, 
 and spiritual renewal or regeneration is en- 
 tirely of the Spirit's operation. (4) Never- 
 theless divine grace and the influence of the 
 Spirit are not, as Calvinism affirms, irresistible; 
 but may be resisted by man, who is a moral 
 free agent, and who, though he may be con- 
 victed of sin against his will, is never con- 
 verted against his will. (5) The possibility 
 of a truly regenerated man falling away from 
 his saved estate and being finally lost was first 
 left an open question, but was soon decided, 
 as the logic of the system required that it should 
 be, in the affirmative. 
 
 The doctrinal system of Methodism is also 
 designated as "Wesleyan theology." This 
 designation associates it with the names of 
 John and Charles Wesley. John Wesley 
 (1703-1791) was perhaps the greatest reform- 
 er, preacher, and evangelist that has ever ap- 
 peared in England. Methodism is but one of 
 the many results that have come from his life 
 and labors. John Wesley's theology was in- 
 tensely evangelical and practical, and, like 
 that of the apostle Paul, was to a large extent 
 colored by his own religious experience. He 
 accepted the system formulated by James Ar- 
 minius and the Remonstrants of Holland, in
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 all the points wherein that system differed 
 from Calvinism. But he did something more 
 for it than accept it. Arminian theology, as 
 it was formulated by the Remonstrants, was, 
 as an intellectual system of doctrine, logical, 
 self -consistent, and true; but it was cold; it 
 was lacking in the warmth and intensity of 
 spiritual life; it neecled to be quickened by 
 the faith and the fire of an evangelical experi- 
 ence. This is exactly what John Wesley did 
 with it and for it. He carried it, as it were, 
 to the altar, and there it was baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost; and, surcharged with evan- 
 gelical life and converting power, it was sent 
 forth upon its world- wide mission of evangel- 
 ization. In Methodism we find the doctrines 
 of Arminius put into practice as living truths, 
 made matters of personal religious experience, 
 and utilized as mighty spiritual forces for 
 saving souls and spreading the kingdom of 
 Christ. In Wesleyan theology the intensive 
 power of the gospel to save each individual 
 from all sin is as much emphasized as is its ex- 
 tensive power to save all sinners, whoever 
 they may be and whenever and wherever 
 they may live. 
 
 In 1784 John Wesley reduced the thirty- 
 nine Articles of the Church of England to
 
 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 twenty-five in number, and abridged and oth- 
 erwise altered some of those which he retained. 
 These he sent to America by Thomas Coke, 
 whom he had ordained bishop, and they were 
 accepted as the general creed of Episcopal 
 Methodism in America. They have ever 
 since occupied a foremost place among our 
 doctrinal standards. 
 
 John Wesley's sermons also have always 
 been numbered among the leading " doctrinal 
 standards" of Methodism. They may be 
 lacking here and there in the accuracy and 
 uniform self-consistency of doctrinal state- 
 ment that we have a right to expect in works 
 of dogmatic theology, but what they lack in 
 these respects they more than gain in the 
 spiritual power that belongs to them as 
 sermons glowing with a living Christian ex- 
 perience and setting forth the great truths 
 that pertain to man's salvation. Richard 
 Watson's "Theological Institutes" may not 
 be altogether up to date, but they have in 
 them a theology that is well adapted to the 
 world's conversion and upbuilding in the spir- 
 itual life. Adam Clarke, the first great repre- 
 sentative commentator of Methodism, showed 
 by his able and scholarly expositions of the 
 Holy Scriptures how thoroughly faithful to
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Bible were the doctrinal teachings of 
 Methodism. 
 
 Charles Wesley, the poet-preacher and the- 
 ologian, rendered a service to the theology of 
 Methodism scarcely less important and far- 
 reaching than that of his brother John. He 
 gave happy expression in verse to all the 
 great doctrines of Christianity, and he was 
 especially happy in the hymns which he wrote 
 embodying the more distinctive doctrines of 
 his faith. These hymns became at once im- 
 mensely popular with the people, and gave 
 wings, as it were, to the doctrines they em- 
 bodied. A sermon put into a song doubles 
 its power for good. Nor did these doctrinal 
 hymns of Charles Wesley simply meet a local 
 and temporary need; they have an abiding 
 value, and have carried, in the most effective 
 manner possible, the doctrines they contain 
 into the hymnals of all Christian Churches 
 the world over. While John Wesley's hymns 
 are not numerous, and are mostly translations 
 from other languages, they are in no way in- 
 ferior to those of Charles Wesley either in 
 poetic merit or doctrinal value. It is in por- 
 traying those doctrines which are matters of 
 religious experience that the Wesleyan hymns 
 are richest both in variety and in intensity of
 
 10 THE DOCTKLNES OF METHOKI8M. 
 
 utterance. The great reformation in Germa- 
 ny in the sixteenth century owed much to the 
 fact that Luther was a poet as well as a 
 preacher, and embodied all his leading doc- 
 trines in simple and popular hymns that were 
 adapted to the common people as well as in 
 sermons and theses that were adapted to the 
 learned. But the Wesleyan reformation owed 
 even more to its hymns. ' ' Let me write the 
 songs of a people," said one, "and I care not 
 who may write their laws; I will govern 
 them." " Let me write the hymns of a 
 Church," 'said another, "and I care not who 
 may write her creeds and ponderous volumes 
 of theology; I will determine the faith of her 
 membership." The Methodist hymn book 
 has always been reckoned among the doctri- 
 nal standards of the Church. It has ever 
 been one of the most effective of the agencies 
 employed for , indoctrinating the people in 
 that type of evangelical Christian faith W'hich 
 is known the world over as Methodist theology. 
 But the designation of Methodist theology 
 as "Arminian" and "Wesleyan " must not be 
 misunderstood. Methodist theology is first 
 of all and above all biblical. Every evangel- 
 ical Church recognizes the Bible as the source 
 and foundation of its theology. It is after
 
 INTBODUCTION. 11 
 
 all simply a question of the proper interpreta- 
 tion of the Bible. Calvinism is a logical and 
 self-consistent system of doctrine which finds 
 its starting point and its determining princi- 
 ple in the eternal decrees of Jehovah, and in- 
 terprets the entire revelation contained in 
 the Bible in accordance with that doctrine. 
 Methodism also has a logical and self -consist- 
 ent system of doctrine which in like manner 
 is based upon the Bible, but it finds its start- 
 ing point and determining principle in two 
 doctrines that mutually necessitate and sup- 
 port each other viz 1 . , the moral free agency 
 of man and the unlimited atonement of Christ; 
 and we may say that every other doctrine of 
 Methodist theology is a logical outcome of 
 these two doctrines. Methodism, therefore, 
 claims that its theology is the theology of the 
 New Testament, the theology of Christ and of 
 Paul. It is that simple and primitive type of 
 theology which began to be preached in its 
 completed form on the day of Pentecost, and 
 has never since been without its true witness- 
 es in any age of the Church's history. It has 
 needed, however, to be restated and reformu- 
 lated ever and anon. Such was the service 
 rendered by James Arminius and John Wes- 
 ley, and by others before and since their day.
 
 n. 
 
 THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
 
 WHAT doctrine does Methodism hold con- 
 cerning the Holy Scriptures? This is best 
 answered by first asking another question: 
 What does the Bible teach concerning itself? 
 The Bible teaches, we answer, that "All Scrip- 
 ture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for cor- 
 rection, for instruction in righteousness: that 
 the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished unto all good works." It teaches 
 that "prophecy came not in old time by the 
 will of man: but holy men of God spake as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghost; " and that 
 "God, who at sundry times and in divers 
 manners spake in time past unto the fathers 
 by the prophets, hath in these last days spo- 
 ken unto us by his Son." Moses is represent- 
 ed as having received directly from God the 
 Ten Commandments, which are with us to 
 this day, and whose high moral character 
 well befits their claim of a divine origin. 
 "The word of the Lord came unto me, say- 
 ing," is the preface with which the proph- 
 ets begin their messages. These remarkable 
 (12)
 
 THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 13 
 
 claims demand of us that we make serious in- 
 quiry as to their import. If this Book is 
 what it claims to be, no man can afford to ig- 
 nore oc neglect its teachings. ' ' These [things] 
 are written," says St. John, in concluding the 
 fourth Gospel, and it is in a sense equally 
 true of all Scripture, " that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and 
 that believing ye might have life through his 
 name." 
 
 These quotations cover the three main 
 questions which we need to ask concerning 
 the Bible, and suggest the proper answers to 
 them: (1) Where did the Bible come from? 
 We answer that it is divine in its origin, in 
 that its cardinal and distinguishing doctrines 
 were revealed by God to man. (2) How did 
 God reveal these facts and doctrines? We 
 answer: Through certain chosen men whom 
 the Holy Spirit inspired as trustworthy or- 
 gans for the communication of the divine 
 will. (3) What purpose are these inspired 
 Scriptures designed to fill in the divine econ- 
 omy as it concerns man? We answer: They 
 are a divinely provided guide for man in all 
 matters of a moral and spiritual nature, espe- 
 cially such as pertain to his faith and conduct 
 here and his life in the world to come. Thus
 
 14 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 we have the three theological terms, revela- 
 tion, inspiration, and the canon, answering 
 the three questions as to the whence, the how, 
 and the what of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 God reveals something of himself and of 
 his will through nature and providence, but 
 this general revelation has always proved in- 
 adequate to meet man's spiritual needs, being 
 insufficient to impart a true and satisfactory 
 knowledge of God, of the way of salvation, 
 and of the immortality and destiny of the 
 soul. That religious knowledge which fallen 
 man needed but could not secure from nature, 
 God has supplied in a supernatural manner by 
 revelation. ' It is these divine or supernaturally 
 revealed facts and truths which, as collected 
 together within the Bible, constitute it a di- 
 vine Book. Nevertheless, the Bible is not 
 wholly divine; it is rather divine-human, for 
 much that is contained in it is human in its ori- 
 gin and did hot need to be divinely revealed. 
 This unrevealed portion of the Bible is, in fact, 
 the larger portion. It is, however, a faithful 
 and trustworthy record, quite as much as is 
 that portion which records the divine revela- 
 tions. The human elements furnish the lit- 
 erary and historical framework for holding 
 the divinely revealed truths. The divine rev-
 
 THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 15 
 
 elations contained in the Bible are of trans- 
 cendent importance, and so far give character 
 to the volume as a whole that it is common, 
 and not inappropriate, to designate it as the 
 Book of Revelation. 
 
 What is the evidence that the Bible contains 
 supernatural revelations ? The divine authori- 
 ty of the Bible depends upon the truth of the 
 claim that it contains supernatural revelations; 
 and if this be true, the claim ought to be sup- 
 ported by supernatural evidence. And it is. 
 The prophets who claimed to have received 
 divine revelations proved the truth of their 
 assertions by working miracles. When Moses, 
 for example, announced to the children of Is- 
 rael in Egypt that he had received a revela- 
 tion and a command from God in the desert, 
 they immediately and very naturally demand- 
 ed proof of such a claim. The God who had 
 given the revelation had provided for this 
 reasonable demand, and empowered him to 
 work miracles. In some instances the vindi- 
 cation of the divine claim on the part of the 
 prophet was found in the fulfillment of pre- 
 dictions which he uttered concerning the fu- 
 ture. In yet other instances the revelations 
 announced by the prophets as coming from 
 God were self-evidencing that is, were in
 
 16 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 their nature so thoroughly accordant with the 
 moral character of God and man's religious 
 needs that they carried their own evidence in 
 them, and hence did not need to be supported 
 by miracles or predictions. Our reason, there- 
 fore, for believing that the Bible contains di- 
 vine revelations is found in part in the mira- 
 cles the prophets and the apostles wrought, 
 in part in the fulfillment of their predictions 
 of future events, in part in the intrinsic moral 
 excellence of the doctrines taught, and finally 
 in the uplifting and ennobling moral influence 
 the Bible has had upon the character of all 
 the nations and individuals that have believed 
 and followed its teachings. 
 
 But the passages of Scripture which were 
 quoted above seem to teach not only that God 
 has made revelations of his will from time to 
 time, but that it was his will that a trustwor- 
 thy record should be made of these revelations. 
 They imply that the Holy Spirit exercised an 
 influence upon those who wrote the books of 
 Holy Scripture such as cannot be claimed for 
 the writers of any other books. This special 
 influence of the Holy Spirit upon the minds 
 of the biblical writers was designed to prevent 
 them from making hurtful mistakes in the 
 statements they should give of the great mor-
 
 THE HOLY SCBIPTUBE6. 17 
 
 al and spiritual truths of religion, and in an 
 important sense to make their words God's 
 words, and their book to be God's Book. 
 This is what is meant by saying that the bibli- 
 cal writers were ' ' inspired. " St. Peter speaks 
 of a certain scripture " which the Holy Ghost 
 spake by the mouth of David." The author 
 of the Epistle to the Hebrews uses inter- 
 changeably the expressions " the Holy Ghost 
 testifieth" and "one [that is, the writer] in a 
 certain place testifieth." In other words, 
 what the inspired writer says God says. 
 
 To affirm that the biblical writers were in- 
 spired does not mean that they lost their hu- 
 man individuality and freedom, and were 
 turned into machines. The inspired proph- 
 ets and apostles were not shorthand report- 
 ers. Only in a few instances do they tell 
 us that they wrote down the very "words 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth." In the Ten 
 Commandments we have the very words of 
 God. But as a rule the expression of the 
 thought, even when it was revealed, was de- 
 termined by the individual writer, whose 
 style and other mental peculiarities may be 
 seen everywhere in his writings. There may 
 be several accounts of the same events, all 
 differing in the words used, and yet all be 
 2
 
 18 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 equally true and accurate. The great pur- 
 pose of inspiration is to secure truth in the 
 records, not uniformity and sameness of state- 
 ment. The four evangelists record very much 
 the same events, and yet they differ both in 
 literary style and, as a rule, in the words used; 
 but all are equally true and equally inspired. 
 The various books of the Bible are as genu- 
 inely human and as thoroughly marked by the 
 individual characteristics of their human au- 
 thors as if they had been written by unin- 
 spired men. To recognize the distinctly hu- 
 man element in the Bible is not to detract 
 from its moral value, but rather to add to its 
 value for man's guidance, even as the human- 
 ity of Christ makes him a better Saviour than 
 if he had possessed no human nature at all. 
 Truth is none the less true because uttered by 
 human lips. Christ is none the less divine be- 
 cause he had a genuinely human nature. 
 
 But the strongest of all arguments in proof 
 of the doctrine of biblical inspiration is the 
 manner in which Christ refers to the Scrip- 
 tures, and the absolute divine authority which 
 he attributes to them. To him and to the 
 apostles they were none other than God's own 
 words. Our Lord made distinct reference to 
 David's inspiration when he asks: " How then
 
 THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 19 
 
 doth David in spirit call him Lord* " If the 
 Old Testament was written by divinely in- 
 spired men and possessed of divine authority, 
 how much more the New, which was the full 
 and final expression of the revealed will of 
 God! We believe in the New Testament 
 chiefly because of what it tells us of Christ; 
 and in the Old Testament chiefly because of 
 what Christ tells us of it tells us by the way 
 he used it and appealed to it as the very word 
 of God. Perhaps the best possible definition 
 which we can give of the Holy Scriptures is 
 drawn from their relation to Christ, thus: 
 "By the Holy Scriptures we mean, (1) those 
 ancient sacred books of the Jewish Church 
 which Christ and his inspired apostles used 
 and appealed to as of divine authority; and 
 ( 2) those sacred books of the New Testament 
 which set forth the life and teachings of our 
 Lord, and which were written by or under the 
 direction of his apostles." Christianity be- 
 lieves in the Person first, and in the Book sec- 
 ond. It is the divine-human Person that makes 
 the Book, not the divine-human Book that 
 makes the Person. Christianity could live 
 without a Book, but it could not live indeed, 
 it could not be at all without the Person of 
 Christ.
 
 20 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 The Canon of Holy Scripture, then, is noth- 
 ing more nor less than that collection of sacred 
 books which were written under the guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit, and the primary object of 
 which was to meet man's moral and religious 
 needs. They incidentally contain history, bi- 
 ography, chronology, philosophy, science, etc. , 
 but they were not written primarily to teach 
 any of these things, and the entire accuracy 
 of their statements concerning questions of 
 this kind is a matter of absolute insignificance 
 as compared with the great moral principles 
 and spiritual truths that are the distinguishing 
 features of the Christian religion. It is in 
 reference to these truths that we appeal to it 
 as the divine and authoritative word of God. 
 
 The word " canon " means, literally, a rule; 
 and the Holy Scriptures are a canon in that 
 they are a divine rule of faith and practice, a 
 standard of doctrine and ethics. The word 
 u canonical " is also applied to the Holy Scrip- 
 tures to distinguish them from books which 
 were not regarded as inspired and of divine 
 authority, such as the Old Testament Apoc- 
 rypha. 
 
 There is every reason to believe that the Old 
 Testament Scriptures, as we now have them, 
 are substantially identical with the Scriptures
 
 THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 21 
 
 which Christ and the apostles used. These 
 Scriptures of the old covenant are not called 
 old because they are antiquated and obsolete; 
 for, although the dispensation for which they 
 were immediately written has long since come 
 to an end, having served its purpose, these 
 ancient Scriptures have an abiding significance 
 and value. A large part of the Old Testament 
 is occupied exclusively with setting forth the 
 ritual and ceremonial law of the Jewish 
 Church, which is not now binding and has 
 never been since the day of Pentecost; but, so 
 far as they embody God's moral law, they are 
 of as much authority now as they ever were, 
 and are of equal authority with the New Tes- 
 tament. Inasmuch, however, as transitory 
 and now obsolete precepts are intermingled 
 with those which are of perpetual obligation, 
 the Old Testament must be read and inter- 
 preted with intelligent discrimination. 
 
 All inspired books are of importance, but 
 some are of more importance than others. That 
 portion of the Bible which transcends in mor- 
 al value all other parts of the Bible is the f our 
 Gospels. Christianity is a historical religion. 
 Its Founder is a Person who lived at a definite 
 time and place, and the Gospels purport to 
 give a trustworthy record of the leading facts
 
 22 TH.K DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 of his life, his sayings and doings. The whole 
 question as to whether or not there is a super- 
 natural religion in the world depends upon the 
 historical trustworthiness of these Gospel rec- 
 ords. If any records in the literature of the 
 world are entitled to credence, these surely 
 are. Paul probably wrote his Epistles many 
 years before the Gospels were written. Four 
 of the Pauline Epistles (Romans, First and Sec- 
 ond Corinthians, and Galatians) are univer- 
 sally admitted by well-nigh all classes of theo- 
 logians and critics to be genuine, and to come 
 from about the middle of the first century. 
 These Epistles establish the fact beyond a 
 doubt that Christ was at that time regarded 
 as a divine-human Being, who had died upon 
 the cross and had risen again from the dead. 
 These are the main facts of supernatural reli- 
 gion viz., the incarnation of Christ and his 
 resurrection from the dead. If these are true, 
 the Gospels are fully confirmed, and the ex- 
 istence of a supernatural religion, with its su- 
 pernatural Christ, is established. This, we 
 saw at the outset, is the supreme and final end 
 for which the Scriptures ex;st: ' ' That ye might 
 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
 God; and that believing ye might have life 
 through his name."
 
 m. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 
 
 "!N the beginning God created the heavens 
 and the earth." It is impossible to conceive 
 a more appropriate sentence with which to 
 begin the inspired Book than these simple and 
 sublime words. No definition or explanation 
 of what is meant by God is given. A certain 
 knowledge of God is here presupposed. As 
 to how mankind came by the idea of God 
 whether it is innate, or intuitive, or a deduc- 
 tion of reason, or a revelation in the first in- 
 stance and thereafter transmitted to all others 
 -on this point, concerning which there has 
 been so much speculation among philosophers, 
 nothing is said. While the first inspired writ- 
 er assumes a knowledge of God on the part of 
 his readers, neither he nor later writers con- 
 sider that knowledge complete and perfect; 
 for a large part of their purpose in writing, as 
 is plainly manifest, is to reveal facts and truths 
 concerning the nature, attributes, and activi- 
 ties of the Divine Being. To discover and 
 state what the Bible has revealed concerning 
 God is the work before us in this chapter. 
 
 The Divine Being is revealed in the Bible in 
 
 (23)
 
 THK DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 part by the names given to him. The Hebrew 
 originals of "God "and "Jehovah " represent, 
 respectively, the ideas of "power" and ' ' essen- 
 tial being." All religions had their "gods," 
 but only the children of Israel had their "Je- 
 hovah." This name, by which he revealed 
 himself to the chosen people (Ex. vi. 3), was 
 derived from the verb "to be," and probably 
 means, "He who not only is, but who causes 
 things to be" that is, the Creator. When 
 God called himself (Ex. iii. 14) the "I Am," 
 " I Am that I Am," it was but another form 
 of ' 'Jehovah. " This was, however, among the 
 Jews at least among the later Jews the ' ' in- 
 effable Name." For some cause or other, 
 which is not now known, they never uttered 
 it or took it "between their sin-polluted lips." 
 In reading they always substituted for it the 
 word Adhonai, which is translated "Lord." 
 This latter title is in itself a most suitable 
 name for God, in that the Divine Being is not 
 only a God of power and One who is and causes 
 things to be, but he is also the Sovereign and 
 "Lord " of a kingdom, a God whose dominion 
 is over all free and rational beings. 
 
 The most significant and appropriate of all 
 divine names it was reserved for Christ to ap- 
 ply to God, and that is the name of "Father."
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 25 
 
 It had been used in a figurative sense before, 
 but Christ revealed it as his real name, the 
 name which, more than any other and all oth- 
 ers, represented his real character and his true 
 relationship to man. In revealing God to us 
 as a Father, Christ made him a lovable Being. 
 Hitherto he had been feared and worshiped 
 with awe, and obeyed frcm a stern sense of 
 duty; but Christ made God such a One as 
 could be loved. Christ transformed duty to 
 God into a willing service, a labor of love to 
 "our Father." The "Fatherhood of God," 
 then, may be said to represent the crowning 
 revelation of the Bible so far as it concerns 
 the Divine Being. 
 
 The three truths concerning the God of the 
 Bible, which from the beginning of Old Tes- 
 tament history were most conspicuously re- 
 vealed and were emphatically and repeatedly 
 reuttered, are his unity , his spirituality ^ and 
 his personality. "Hear, O Israel; the Lord 
 our God is one Lord," is, so to speak, the first 
 declaration of Old Testament theology, the 
 first article in the faith of the chosen people. 
 The unity of God means that there is and can 
 be but one God. To affirm the existence of 
 many gods is virtually to deny the existence 
 of any real and true God. Many gods means
 
 26 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 no God. The Jews were surrounded by peo- 
 ples who were polytheists that is, worshiped 
 many gods. But this declaration of the one- 
 ness of God does not stand alone in the Bible; 
 it is immediately followed by other words that 
 belong to the very same sentence: "and thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." 
 This implies that faith in the unity of God is 
 an antecedent condition to loving God. Poly- 
 theists fear their gods, but never love them. 
 Only those who believe in one God are capa- 
 ble of exercising that highest of all creaturely 
 acts of worship love. 
 
 But peoples who have not had the benefits of 
 divine revelations have not only multiplied their 
 gods; they have also materialized them. Their 
 deities have been generally gods of wood and 
 stone, the works of their own hands, and they 
 that made them were like unto them. Their 
 gods, instead of being their creators, were 
 their creatures. The many forms of idolatiy 
 that have characterized and degraded the hea- 
 then nations of the earth have been a result 
 of the materializing of Deity. But "God is 
 a Spirit: and they that worship him must 
 worship him in spirit and in truth." Spirit 
 has none of the properties of matter, but has
 
 THK DOCTR1NK OK GO1). '2, 
 
 consciousness, intelligence, moral nature, free- 
 dom, and similar attributes, none of which be- 
 long to matter. Man is both body and spirit, 
 but that which he recognizes as his real and 
 true self is his spirit. There could be no finite 
 spirits if there were not an Infinite Spirit, 
 and there could be no such thing as spiritual 
 religion if God were not a Spirit. 
 
 But there are those who believe in the 
 unity and spirituality of Deity, who yet do 
 not believe that God is a person. They affirm 
 that everything is God, that God is "the aW 
 of existence. Pantheists affirm that every- 
 thing is, in its ultimate analysis, out one 
 thing, and that thing is ' ' God. " Even matter 
 itself is but the "visible form" of Deity. 
 But Deity is not a person, not a somebody, 
 but a somewhat, an infinite "It " that eternal, 
 all-pervasive, indestructible something out of 
 which everything visible comes and to which 
 everything visible returns. But the Chris- 
 tian Scriptures affirm that God is a Person, 
 separate and distinct from everything else in 
 the universe. God is He, not It. All things 
 in the universe were made by God out of noth- 
 ing, and owe their existence to his will and 
 his creative power. If God were not a per- 
 son, there could be no such thing as personal
 
 28 THE DOCTKINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 religion, nor could there be any true worship, 
 or any love to God, or any sense of moral re- 
 sponsibility. We thus see that if there is any 
 real and true God at all, these three things 
 must be predicable of him: unity, spiritual- 
 ity, personality. Of the God of the Bible, 
 and of him alone, can all these things be af- 
 firmed. 
 
 But God is not only "Father;" he is also 
 "Son." The Father and Son are both alike 
 divine. God is not only our Father; he is, in 
 a unique and peculiar sense, the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is revealed in 
 the New Testament as the eternal Son of 
 God. He speaks of the glory that he had 
 with the Father before the world began. He 
 claims and receives honor and worship such 
 as can be properly given to none but God. 
 A third person, called the Holy Spirit, who is 
 represented as "proceeding" from the Father 
 and as "sent" by the Son, is also represented 
 as possessed of divine attributes and is accorded 
 divine worship. In a certain sense the Fa- 
 ther comes first, the Son second, and the 
 Holy Spirit third; but these three persons 
 are represented as alike eternal and equally 
 divine. And yet in immediate connection 
 with the recognition of the divine character
 
 29 
 
 of these three different Persons, our Lord 
 and the apostles repeat and emphasize what is 
 so often asserted in the Old Testament that 
 there is but one God. The only mode of 
 reconciling these apparently discordant state- 
 ments is to say that God is three in one 
 sense, and one in another sense. These dif- 
 ferent Persons share one common divine na- 
 ture. The whole of Deity is in each divine 
 Person. These truths find expression in the 
 theological term "Trinity" or the "Triunity 
 of the Godhead." 
 
 It is common to speak of Trod as possessed 
 of certain "attributes." The attributes of a 
 thing are those qualities or properties which 
 inhere in the thing, and which, being predi- 
 cated of it, serve to define it by distinguishing 
 it from all other things, whether similar or 
 dissimilar to it. A thing is never properly 
 defined until certain attributes are predicated 
 of it which do not, at least in their entirety, 
 belong to anything else. Among the leading 
 attributes which serve to define God may be 
 mentioned these: freedom, immutability, eter- 
 nity, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, 
 goodness, holiness, and love. 
 
 By freedom we mean that attribute that be- 
 longs to a self-conscious, rational, and moral
 
 30 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 being, by virtue of which his will possesses 
 self -determining power, and is necessitated to 
 put forth its volitions by nothing outside of 
 itself, the real determining cause of his voli- 
 tions and acts being in himself. God's will is 
 itself the uncaused cause of all things. Of 
 him alone can it be said that "He doeth ac- 
 cording to his will in the armies of heaven 
 and among the inhabitants of earth." But 
 the infinite Divine Will created finite human 
 wills, who possess within certain narrow lim- 
 its the same kind of free and self -determining 
 power that the Divine Will possesses without 
 limits. God is the only one "who worketh 
 all things after the counsel of his own will." 
 (Eph. i. 11.) 
 
 By the divine immutability we mean that 
 God changes not. It is not the same as immo- 
 bility, but is the attribute of an ever-active 
 Being whose principles of action are absolute- 
 ly uniform in their conformity to his per- 
 fect moral character. "I am Jehovah, I 
 change not." (Mai. iii.6. ) "Thou, Lord, in 
 the beginning hast laid the foundation of 
 the earth; and the heavens are the work of 
 thine hands: they shall perish; but thou re- 
 mainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a 
 garment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 
 
 31 
 
 them up, and they shall be changed: but 
 thou art the same, and thy years shall not 
 fail." (Heb. i. 10. ) Of Christ it is said that 
 he is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and 
 forever." 
 
 The eternity of God demies his relation to 
 time, and means that he is without beginning 
 of days or end of years. There never was a 
 time when he was not; there never can come a 
 time when he will not be. "Before the 
 mountains were brought forth, or ever thou 
 hadst formed the earth and the world, even 
 from everlasting to everlasting, thou art 
 God." (Ps. xc. 2.) He is described by 
 Isaiah as the "lofty One that inhabiteth 
 eternity." There is a sense in which it may 
 be truly said that all time is an "eternal 
 now " with God. All the events of the past 
 and of the future enter as fully into his con- 
 scious knowledge at every moment of time as 
 do the events of the present. But this phase 
 of his eternity involves omniscience. 
 
 The omnipresence of God is a term that ex- 
 presses his relation to infinite space. There 
 is no object or point in infinite space at which 
 he is not present at every moment. ' ' Behold, 
 the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot 
 contain thee," said Solomon truly. The ques-
 
 32 THE DOCTBINE8 OF METHODISM. 
 
 tions of the psalmist, "Whither shall I^go 
 from thy Spirit?" and "whither shall I flee 
 from thy presence ? " suggest their own answer. 
 " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, be- 
 holding the evil and the good." 
 
 By the omnipotence of God is meant that 
 he has power to do whatever he wills to do. 
 Man's power is limited; God's power is un- 
 limited. Man has to accomplish much of 
 what he does by working upon and through 
 other things; God's power is exercised im- 
 mediately. He wills, and it is done; bespeaks 
 the word of power, and it is executed. The 
 Scriptures tell us that "with God all things 
 are possible." But omnipotence cannot ac- 
 complish impossibilities. Whatever is a con- 
 tradiction in thought is an impossibility in 
 execution, even to divine omnipotence. Thus 
 God cannot, by an exercise of his omnipo- 
 tence, compel free moral beings to be moral- 
 ly good and holy. If he should do this, he 
 would destroy their free moral agency, which 
 is the very essence of their nature. 
 
 Omniscience is that attribute by virtue of 
 which God knows all things, past, present, 
 and future. ' ' His understanding is infinite. " 
 (Ps. cxlvii. 5.) "All things are naked and 
 opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 
 
 33 
 
 have to do." (Heb. iv. 13.) "Known unto 
 God are all his works from the beginning of 
 the world. " (Acts xv. 18. ) That phase of the 
 divine omniscience which is theologically the 
 most important is the foreknowledge of God; 
 and this because of its relation to the doctrine 
 of election and predestination. Between divine 
 foreknowledge and human free agency there 
 is no contradiction, any more than there is be- 
 tween the present knowledge of God and man's 
 freedom in his acts. But if God, before men 
 were even created, chose some to salvation 
 and others to damnation, and then predesti- 
 nated them to their foreordained lot, and is 
 now working out his eternal decrees in other 
 words, if it is God's will in eternity, and not 
 man's will in time, that determines who is to 
 be saved and who lost then it is impossible 
 that men should be free and responsible for 
 their character and destiny. The divine wis- 
 dom is the omniscience of God as manifested 
 in the accomplishment of the highest and best 
 ends by the use of ^the simplest and most 
 effective means. The grandest display of the 
 wisdom of God is found in the divine method 
 adopted for saving a lost world by the incar- 
 nation, death, and resurrection of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 3
 
 34 THE DOCTBINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 By the goodness of God is meant that attri- 
 bute of the divine Nature which seeks the well- 
 being and happiness of all creatures. "The 
 earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." 
 (Ps. xxxiii. 5. ) But the highest well-being and 
 happiness of rational beings is moral and spir- 
 itual good. To secure this higher good in 
 man it is often necessary for him to suffer 
 physical evil. Physical evil is one of the 
 most effective agencies employed by God to 
 correct moral evil. It is no reflection, there- 
 fore, on the goodness of God to find that he 
 has made a world in which there is much that 
 mars the mere physical comfort of his crea- 
 tures. He makes "all things to work togeth- 
 er for good to them that love him." 
 
 By the holiness of God we mean the ab- 
 sence from the divine character of every- 
 thing of the nature of creaturely evil, and the 
 presence of everything that is the opposite of 
 evil. But holiness is not simply a passive 
 personal attribute; it is also active in that 
 God is doing everything he can, in keep- 
 ing with the laws of his kingdom and the 
 free agency of man, to save his moral crea- 
 tures from sin and secure them in holiness. 
 Justice is but a form of holiness. It is con- 
 cerned with man's relations to law and gov-
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GOD. 35 
 
 ernment, to sin and its punishment, to vir- 
 tue and its reward. " Who is like unto thee, 
 O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, 
 glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing 
 wonders?" (Ex. xv. 11. ) 
 
 But love is that attribute that overshadows 
 and swallows up all others. It is represented 
 as belonging in some unique sense to the very 
 essence of God. ' ' God is love. " (1 John iv. 
 8. ) " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but 
 that he loved us. " (1 John iv. 10. ) " God so 
 loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth on him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 
 iii. 16. ) Grace is that form of the divine love 
 which contemplates man with an emphasis 
 upon his impotence and ill desert through sin, 
 and provides for his salvation through Christ. 
 The grandest expression of the love of God is 
 found in the gift of Christ. 
 
 We have enumerated here the more impor- 
 tant divine attributes. As a matter of fact, 
 God possesses every attribute that is conceiv- 
 able as belonging to a moral and holy being, 
 and he possesses each attribute without limit. 
 From these facts it follows that God is an in- 
 finite and perfect Being, worthy of the adora- 
 tion, worship, and love of all created beings.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE BIBLE DOCTRINE OF MAX. 
 
 IF God is the chief object of divine revela- 
 tion, man, we may say, is the principal subject 
 of revelation. The inspired Scriptures are ad- 
 dressed to man and are largely about himself, 
 his nature and needs, his duty and destiny. 
 The Scriptures give us four views of man: 
 first, primitive man, in his unfallen state, as 
 God made him, innocent and pure; second, 
 man in his fallen state, as he made himself, 
 sinful and depraved; third, man in a state of 
 gracious ability, as Christ made him by his 
 redeeming work; fourth, man in a state of re- 
 generation or restoration to the divine image, 
 as the Holy Spirit is ready to make all those 
 who come unto God by Christ. In this chap- 
 ter we shall consider man as originally created 
 and as fallen. 
 
 The only rational account we have of man's 
 origin, that in Genesis, makes him to be the 
 last and highest product of creation; and this 
 is equally true whether the inspired narrative 
 be explained literally or as truth taught in 
 allegorical and symbolical form. This high- 
 est of God's earthly creatures is possessed of 
 (36)
 
 THE BIBLK DOCTRINE OF MAN. 37 
 
 two natures, physical and spiritual, in one per- 
 sonality. Man is allied to lower animals in 
 his physical nature, but to the angelic world in 
 his spirit. His material or physical nature is 
 sometimes called flesh and sometimes body. 
 His immaterial nature is designated some- 
 times as soul and sometimes as spirit. It is 
 in man's immaterial or spiritual nature that 
 we find the real seat of manhood. It is this 
 spiritual nature that gives him his conscious- 
 ness and reason, his intellect, sensibilities, and 
 will, his conscience, his capacity for sin on 
 the one hand and for holiness on the other, 
 his capacity for the worship and service of 
 God, his likeness to God, his divine sonship 
 and immortality. Man is represented in the 
 Bible as having been created in the image of 
 God, endowed with reason and moral free 
 agency, placed under moral laws, obedience to 
 which results in holy character, and disobe- 
 dience to which is sin and results in" sinful char- 
 acter. His life here is probationary in that his 
 character as formed here determines his desti- 
 ny in the world to come. 
 
 The supreme purpose of God in creating 
 man seems to have been to make possible the 
 highest ideal of creaturely holiness and happi- 
 ness. There was need in the universe of a
 
 38 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 creature whose highest happiness would be se- 
 cured by his highest holiness; and this holiness, 
 in turn, would secure the highest glory of the 
 Creator. The holiness oi a free being is a 
 higher type of holiness than any kind of holi- 
 ness that might characterize a being who 
 should be necessitated by the will of the Cre- 
 ator to be and do what he is and does, and the 
 former holiness would glorify the Creator far 
 more than the latter possibly could. The lat- 
 ter could glorify God only as a house does its 
 builder, while the former would glorify him as 
 a dutiful and obedient son does his father, a 
 righteous citizen his ruler, or a brave soldier 
 his leader. But in order for God to make holi- 
 ness possible it was absolutely necessary for 
 him to make sin possible. But while God 
 made sin possible by creating free moral agents 
 and placing them in a state of probation, he 
 did not make sin actual. It was man, not 
 God, who made sin actual. God, we may say, 
 would not have made sin possible if he could 
 have secured the highest ideal of holiness in 
 man without such possibility. But there are 
 some things which even omnipotence cannot 
 do; it cannot do an impossible thing, and the 
 creation and probation of a free being who 
 cannot sin are an impossibility. But the high-
 
 TIIK BIBLK DOCTRINE OF MAN. 
 
 est ideal of the Creator as embodied in man, 
 the moral free agent, would have been realized 
 if sin had forever remained simply a possibil- 
 ity and had never become an actuality. That 
 ideal has been realized in one, and only one 
 the Son of Man. But the first Adam was as 
 free from sin when he came from the hands of 
 his Creator as was the infant born of the Vir- 
 gin. The first man was under no necessity to 
 
 & 
 
 sin. He was free. 
 
 We may say, then, that while man's first es- 
 tate was thus one of innocence and purity, two 
 alternatives were before him as a moral free 
 agent: holiness and sin. But the life and pro- 
 bation of the first pair had not been of long 
 duration before, by an abuse of their moral 
 freedom, innocence and purity gave place to 
 sin and guilt. The history of mankind, from 
 that time on, is the history of a fallen and 
 sinful race. The "fall of man" is a phrase 
 which is commonly used in theology to de- 
 scribe man's loss of original righteousness and 
 his coming under the dominion of 'sin. The 
 fall of Adam is regarded as the fall of the 
 race, because of the fact that he was not only 
 the natural head, but in such a sense the fed- 
 eral head and moral representative of the race, 
 which was serainally in him, that certain con-
 
 40 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 sequences of his sin were entailed upon them. 
 But Adam's relation to the universal sinful- 
 ness of the race is a matter of secondary im- 
 portance as compared to the undeniable fact 
 that all men are by nature sinful and stand in 
 need of a Saviour. 
 
 The Bible uses various expressions to define 
 the nature of sin. The essence of sin is self- 
 ishness, setting one's own will in opposition 
 to the will of the Creator, or willful trans- 
 gression of the law of God. Sin is "enmity 
 against God." The sinner is one who has de- 
 throned God, the rightful ruler, from his seat 
 of authority in the heart, and has set himself 
 up as ruler instead, and the result is a state of 
 internal moral anarchy. The fact that the 
 will of the creature so often manifests its 
 disobedience to the commands of God, by 
 yielding to the solicitations of the fleshly or 
 animal nature, has given rise to calling sin 
 "the flesh" or "the carnal mind." The seat 
 of sin, however, is in the inner spiritual man, 
 in the heart, and not in the flesh. Outward 
 acts are sins only in so far as they are expres- 
 sions of inner volitions, dispositions, and 
 states. "Out of the heart proceed evil 
 thoughts." If the tree is evil, its fruit must 
 be evil. The look of the eye that comes
 
 THE BIBLE DOCTRINE OF MAN. 41 
 
 from lust in the heart does not need the out- 
 ward act to make it sin. The decision to 
 commit murder, or even the hate of the heart 
 that may lead to murderous volition, makes 
 one a murderer in the eyes of God. There 
 are different degrees of guilt. There may be 
 sins of culpable thoughtlessness and igno- 
 rance, sins of surprise in which one is over- 
 taken in a fault, sins of deliberate choice and 
 malice aforethought, sins that involve the 
 breaking of a solemn covenant, and sins 
 against the Holy Ghost, in which the sinner, 
 by persistence in willful wrongdoing, passes 
 beyond the possibility of being renewed 
 again unto repentance, and hence beyond the 
 possibility of pardon. (Matt. v. 28, xv. 19; 
 1 John iii. 4; Rom. viii. 6-8; Mark iii. 29; 
 Heb. vi. 6.) 
 
 But sin is not only a voluntary transgression 
 of the law of God; it is also, according to the 
 definition of St. John, any want of conform- 
 ity to that law. Sins often repeated beget a 
 habit of sin. Sinful habits long continued in 
 beget sinful character. Sin in the first in- 
 stance always involves a consciously evil act, 
 but the oftener a man sins the more does sin 
 become to him the law of life, and the less 
 does the element of consciousness enter into
 
 42 THE DOCTRINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 his sinning. Whenever a man thus, by long- 
 continued violations of God's law, reaches the 
 point where conscience ceases to rebuke him 
 for his violation of God's law where he 
 ceases to feel painfully the guilt of his sins, 
 where sin has become the law of life to him, 
 has become, as it were, the natural thing to do 
 then he has become possessed of a sinful char- 
 acter. This is sometimes called acquired de- 
 pravity, as distinct from voluntary sin, or the 
 sin of nature, as distinct from willful sin. 
 Sinful character is the result of sinful volitions 
 and acts, but when character is formed it be- 
 comes a predisposing cause of the volitions 
 and acts that result that is, a man does not 
 come from the hand of his Creator a bad man; 
 he becomes a bad man only as a result of his 
 own evil volitions and evil deeds; but when 
 he has thus become a bad man, then the re- 
 verse is true, and we may say of such a one 
 that he does evil because he is a bad man. 
 We thus see what willful sin is, and also its 
 relation to moral depravity and to sinful char- 
 acter. 
 
 But there is such a thing as inherited de- 
 pravity as well as acquired depravity. It is 
 commonly called original sin, and may be de- 
 lined as that "corruption of the nature of
 
 THE BIBLE DOCTRINE OF MAN. 43 
 
 every man, that naturally is engendered of the 
 offspring of Adam, whereby he is very far 
 gone from original righteousness, and of his 
 own nature inclined to evil, and that con- 
 tinually." That all men do from their very 
 infancy manifest a tendency to do wrong 
 rather than to do right; that children left to 
 themselves as they grow up will do that which 
 is morally wrong rather than that which is 
 right is one of the most undeniable of all 
 moral facts. If the Church creeds and the 
 biblical writers were silent about it, we still 
 could not fail to recognize this universal sin- 
 fulness of man. As this bias to sin charac- 
 terizes man from his very infancy, it may 
 reasonably be inferred that it is inherited. 
 Hence it is sometimes called "birth sin." 
 Many think it unfortunate that it ever should 
 have been called "sin" or "guilt;" think 
 that these terms should have been reserved 
 for willful sin. Methodists do not believe 
 that the guilt of Adam's sin was imputed or 
 charged to his descendants in any sense ex- 
 cept that certain consequences of his wrong- 
 doing (as is more or less true of every par- 
 ent's wrongdoing) were entailed upon his 
 offspring. Nor does the inheriting of a bias 
 toward sin involve any culpability or guilt
 
 44 THK DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 whatever until a child arrives at an age of 
 moral accountability and can bring the sin- 
 ward tendencies of his nature under the do- 
 minion of grace, but refuses to do so. Then 
 he may justly be held responsible and punish- 
 able for it and its consequences. 
 
 Another phrase that is used in this connec- 
 tion, and is much misunderstood, is "total 
 depravity." It is a term that was coined by 
 theologians who took a view of original sin 
 and its effect that Methodists do not indorse. 
 This term and also that of "original guilt" 
 are quite consistent with the cardinal doc- 
 trines of Augustinian theology, but whenev- 
 er they appear in Methodist theology (as they 
 sometimes do) they call for definition and 
 explanation. There is, as we have seen, 
 both inherited and acquired depravity. We 
 believe that a man may, by persistent, willful 
 sin, acquire a character that is totally depraved. 
 But the theological phrase "total depravity" 
 refers to man's state as affected by the fall of 
 Adam and by inherited depravity, and car- 
 ries along with it the idea that all men in 
 their natural state are totally depraved and 
 devoid of all good. To say that sin has af- 
 fected every part of man's nature (body, mind, 
 heart, soul, spirit, etc.), that it is total, ex-
 
 THE BIBLE DOCTRINE OF MAN. 45 
 
 tensively considered, is undoubtedly true; 
 I >ut to say that all men until regenerated are 
 totally depraved in their moral nature (a 
 massa perditionis, as Augustine said), totally 
 devoid of all good, as bad as they can possi- 
 bly be that is a statement not in accord with 
 Methodist theology. Methodists believe that 
 the atonement of Christ embraced all men in 
 its saving benefits; and that, while men are not 
 actually saved by it until they accept Christ 
 by faith, yet many of its general benefits have 
 extended to all men from the very beginning 
 of the history of the race, and precede per- 
 sonal salvation. There is some good in all 
 men, even in unregenerate human nature, 
 which is therefore not to be regarded as to- 
 tally depraved. But, while this is true, Meth- 
 odist theology affirms that whatever of good 
 is found in unregenerate men is an effect of the 
 atonement, and therefore due not to nature 
 but to grace. If the fallen race had been 
 suffered to exist and propagate itself unre- 
 deemed, it would have become totally de- 
 praved, but God did not suffer it to go unre- 
 deemed. All men, as a result of the atone- 
 ment, have gracious ability to meet the con- 
 ditions of salvation.
 
 V. 
 CHKIST THE REDEEMER. 
 
 IN the preceding chapter we studied man as 
 originally created in innocence and moral free 
 agency, and also as fallen, in a state of sin and 
 guilt. We desire now to study man as re- 
 deemed by Christ. Two alternatives, we may 
 say, were before the divine mind when man 
 fell into sin: either bring the race to an end 
 with the first fallen pair, or else, if they are 
 to continue to propagate themselves as fallen 
 and depraved beings, to place them in a salva- 
 ble state and provide counter forces, as it were, 
 that will restore the moral equilibrium of the 
 human will. God, in his infinite wisdom, 
 adopted the latter method. This is what 
 man's redemption by the atonement of Christ 
 did for him. It did not place him back where 
 he was before the fall; but it did accomplish 
 this result, that henceforth he was regarded and 
 dealt with as a redeemed fallen being. When 
 man falls, then, God does not abandon him to 
 sin, but in mercy provides for his salvation. 
 This he does by the promise of a Saviour, in 
 the person of his own Son, who in the full- 
 ness of time will become incarnate, and, by 
 (48)
 
 CHRIST THE REDEEMER. 47 
 
 his life, death, and resurrection, will atone 
 for the sins of all mankind and bring such 
 moral forces to work on man as will help to 
 counteract the downward tendencies of his 
 fallen nature. The virtue of this divinely 
 provided atonement avails from the begin- 
 ning, and does not wait upon the actual ad- 
 vent and incarnation of the Son of God before 
 it becomes efficacious for man's salvation. A 
 sacrificial system of worship was employed 
 that was made symbolic and typical of the 
 great divine-human Sacrifice that was to come, 
 and it became, in connection with the dis- 
 pensation of the law, not only a temporary 
 channel of faith and grace to Old Testament 
 penitents and believers, but a "schoolmaster" 
 to prepare the world for, and lead it to, Christ 
 the Redeemer. We thus see how man, created 
 in moral innocence, became man fallen in mor- 
 al guilt, and how man fallen became man re- 
 deemed. The study of man, then, is the study 
 of a fallen but redeemed being. 
 
 Methodists, therefore, believe in "original 
 grace" quite as much as they do in " original 
 sin." When God decided to allow a fallen 
 and sinful race to propagate itself, he decided 
 in immediate and inseparable connection there- 
 with to redeem that race. Hence the history
 
 48 THE DOCTRINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 of fallen man is the history of redeemed man. 
 When the first probation ended with Adam's 
 fall, a new and gracious probation began with 
 a race, fallen, it is true, but also redeemed. 
 "Original sin is the sin of Adam's descendants 
 as under a covenant of grace. What it would 
 otherwise have been, we can never know." 
 Man's gracious abilities through Christ are 
 quite equal to his moral disabilities through 
 the fall. The fallen state, with original sin 
 and the accompanying benefits of Christ's 
 atoning work, doubtless furnishes as f avorable 
 conditions for human probation and the devel- 
 opment of creaturely holiness as did the un- 
 fallen state without the divine-human Redeem- 
 mer. So much for the effects of the fall on 
 man. And as to its bearing on God, we may 
 say, in the light of the New Testament Scrip- 
 tures, that the wisdom, goodness, holiness, 
 and love of God are manifested far more in the 
 redemption of fallen man than they could have 
 been by the mere creation of one or many un- 
 fallen beings like Adam and Eve. 
 
 "'Twas great to speak a world from tiaught. 
 'Twas greater to redeem." 
 
 Christ the Redeemer holds the foremost 
 place in the theology of Methodism and all
 
 49 
 
 other evangelical Churches. In one of our 
 articles it is said of Christ that "two whole 
 and perfect natures, that is to say, the God- 
 head and manhood, were joined together in 
 one person, never to be divided, whereof is 
 one Christ, very God and very man, who truly 
 suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to 
 reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacri- 
 fice, not only for original guilt, but also for 
 actual sins of men." His sacrificial death is 
 further defined as "the perfect redemption, 
 propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins 
 of the whole world, both original and actual; 
 and there is none other satisfaction for sin 
 but that alone." It is further said that the 
 Heavenly Father, "of his tender mercy, did 
 give his only-begotten "Son Jesus Christ to 
 suffer death upon the cross for our redemp- 
 tion; who made there, by his oblation of him- 
 self once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient 
 sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins 
 of the whole world. " 
 
 Methodists believe in an unlimited atone- 
 ment, but they do not believe in "universal- 
 ism" that is, that all sinners are actually 
 saved by the death of Christ. Christ has put 
 all men in a salvable state, and has endowed 
 all men with gracious ability to embrace the 
 4
 
 50 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 benefits of his atoning provisions; but each 
 man, as a moral free agent, must decide for 
 himself whether or not he will be freely saved 
 by grace. Christ has died for all men alike, 
 for those who do not accept him just as much 
 as for those who do accept him. Some perish 
 for whom Christ died. The reason why one 
 man is saved and another lost is not because 
 Christ died for the one in any sense that he 
 did not die for the other; but wholly because 
 the one, in the exercise of his liberty, accepted 
 the atonement and complied with its condi- 
 tions, and the other did not. The limitation 
 of the atonement, then, is the work of man, 
 not of God. While Christ is the Saviour of 
 alt men, he is in a special sense the Saviour of 
 those who accept him. He has paid in full, so 
 to speak, the redemption price of all who are 
 the slaves of sin; but no one enters upon his 
 purchased freedom until he complies with the 
 conditions of his Christian citizenship and ful- 
 fills those moral conditions which are the guar- 
 antee that his liberty will not be turned into 
 license; for Christian liberty does not mean 
 license to continue in sin. 
 
 The atonement was necessary not only to 
 satisfy the holiness and love of the divine 
 nature, but also to satisfy the immutable
 
 CHRIST THK REDEEMER. 51 
 
 laws of the divine government. If there is a 
 moral Governor of the universe, there must 
 be a moral government; and if a moral gov- 
 ernment, there must be moral laws; and if 
 moral laws are to have any force, their viola- 
 tion must be punished; and if punishment is 
 to accomplish its purpose, it must be adequate 
 to hold in existence these four things that 
 logically precede it and depend upon it. The 
 governmental problem is how to save man 
 the sinner. The sinner must either be pun- 
 ished or some substitute must be found to 
 take his place in bearing the penalty, or, we 
 may say, he must either be punished or some 
 substitute for punishment must be found that 
 will be compatible with the laws of moral 
 government. If substitution be allowed, the 
 following conditions must be met: (1) It must 
 be voluntary; forced substitution would be un- 
 just to the substitute. ( 2 ) The substitute must 
 be himself innocent, and therefore free from 
 obligation to suffer for himself. (3) If the 
 substitute is to count for more than one indi- 
 vidual, if he is to count as a ' 'ransom for many," 
 he must possess an intrinsic superiority either 
 in nature or in official rank that will give to 
 his person a governmental value equal to the 
 number for whom he is substituted. 4
 
 52 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 Some condition must be imposed upon the 
 sinner that will result in the transformation 
 of his moral character; otherwise the crim- 
 inal would be turned loose upon society, 
 while the innocent would be imprisoned or 
 put to death and no government could stand 
 this. (5) The principle of substitution must 
 be applied in such a way as to deter other 
 men from sin, and not, as would be the dan- 
 ger, so as to encourage them to go on in sin 
 because they would count on substitution. 
 If human governments could meet all these 
 conditions, they could afford to enlarge great- 
 ly upon the principle of substitution now 
 used to a very limited extent. But as a mat- 
 ter of fact they can meet none of these re- 
 quirements. But the divine government meets 
 them all. Christ is a voluntary substitute 
 who is entirely innocent and holy himself, is 
 possessed of a divine nature which gives infi- 
 nite value to his person; and repentance and 
 faith are such conditions precedent to the sin- 
 ner's release from liability to punishment 
 that on their fulfillment God not only pardons 
 all past transgressions but regenerates the 
 sinner, breaking the dominion of sin in his 
 nature and making him a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus. This is what is known as the
 
 rlllJlST Til 1C KKDKEMER. 53 
 
 Christian doctrine of substitution or vicarious 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The following truths are here emphasized: 
 (1) It is the divine - human Christ who 
 atoned for man's sins; it was the divinity of 
 Christ that gave infinite value to the suffer- 
 ings of his human nature. (2) It is said in 
 the first quotation above that Christ suffered 
 and died "to reconcile his Father to us," but 
 from the language used in the last quotation 
 we may say that the gift by the Heavenly 
 Father of his only Son is an expression of 
 his love and an evidence that he is himself 
 already reconciled, and our chief work is to 
 get sinners reconciled to God. (3) His atone- 
 ment is meant to meet all kinds of sin and the 
 sins of all men; it is absolutely unlimited in 
 its power to save all sinners and to save them 
 from all sin. (4) The absolute impossibility 
 of salvation in any other way than through 
 the atonement of Christ. 
 
 While the divine nature and all the attri- 
 butes of the Triune God are exercised in re- 
 demption, there are three attributes that are 
 especially conspicuous. The necessity for 
 atonement is found in the holiness of God, 
 which must forever keep itself aloof from all 
 creaturely evil. Either the sinner must be
 
 54 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 separated from God or else separated from 
 his sin. The atonement makes the latter pos- 
 sible. The originating cause of the atone- 
 ment is found in the love of God. "God so 
 loved the world that he gave his only-begot- 
 ten Sou." "Herein is love, not that we 
 loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
 Self-sacrificing love is the strongest motive 
 power in the universe. The best expression 
 of this love which the world affords is in 
 the case of a .father giving up his only son 
 and sending him forth to suffer and it 
 may be to die for others. It would cost a 
 father much less of sacrifice to go himself 
 than to send his son on such a mission. The 
 inspired writers represent the gift of Christ 
 as the greatest expression and proof of the 
 love of the Heavenly Father that it is possible 
 for an infinite God to give. The greatest ex- 
 pression of self-sacrificing love that a son can 
 give is to leave the comforts of his home and 
 go himself on a mission of mercy in which, 
 to save others, he will need to suffer and die. 
 The coming of Christ into our world to save 
 sinners by his death was no less his own vol- 
 untary act than it was an expression of God's 
 love. Thus the atonement is at once the
 
 CHRIST THK HKDKK.MI:K. . 5o 
 
 highest expression of love on the part of both 
 God the Father and God the Son. But not 
 only is the atonement the best possible ex- 
 pression of both the holiness and the love of 
 God, it is the wisest plan that the omniscient 
 mind of God could devise for saving lost men, 
 guarding their free agency, and at the same 
 time bringing to bear upon the free will the 
 strongest possible motives to righteousness. 
 It was the only possible method whereby God 
 could be just and yet the justifier of the un- 
 godly. 
 
 No doctrine of Christianity is more thor- 
 oughly supported by the uniform and abound- 
 ing teachings of the New Testament writers 
 than the doctrine of an unlimited atonement. 
 ' ' He was wounded for our transgressions, he 
 was bruised for our iniquities: the chastise- 
 ment of our peace was upon him; and with his 
 stripes we are healed. . . . And the Lord hath 
 laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isa. 
 liii. 5, 6.) "The Son of man is come to 
 seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 
 xix. 10.) "God our Saviour; who will have 
 all men to be saved, and to come unto the 
 knowledge of the truth. For there is one 
 God, and one Mediator between God and 
 men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself
 
 56 THE DOCTRINES Ol 1 METHODISM. 
 
 u ransom for all, . . . who is the Sav- 
 iour of all men, especially of those that be- 
 lieve. " ( 1 Tim. ii. 3-6, iv. 10. ) " That he by 
 the grace of God should taste death for every 
 man. . . . He is able also to save them to 
 the uttermost that come unto God by him." 
 (Heb. ii. 9, vii. 25.) "Who his own self 
 bare our sins in his own body on the tree. 
 . . . Christ also hath once suffered for 
 sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God." (1 Pet, ii. 24, iii. 18.) 
 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and 
 not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
 whole world." (1 John ii. 2.) These pas- 
 sages, rightly interpreted, justify every state- 
 ment that we have made above concerning 
 the doctrine of human redemption. Many 
 of these truths were very happily expressed 
 by John Wesley in these familiar lines: 
 
 Lord, I believe thy precious blood, 
 Which, at the mercy seat of God, 
 Forever doth for sinners plead, 
 For me, e'en for my soul, was shed. 
 
 Lord, I believe were sinners more 
 Than sands upon the ocean shore, 
 Thou hast for all a ransom paid, 
 For all a full atonement made.
 
 VI. 
 
 THE DOCTRINES PERTAINING TO 
 
 PERSONAL SALVATION. 
 IF we say that " God the Father plans, God 
 the Son executes, and God the Holy Spirit ap- 
 plies," we have a formula which states with 
 approximate accuracy the specific work of 
 each of the -three persons of the Trinity in the 
 great work of human redemption. The exe- 
 cution of the divine plan of redemption was 
 committed to the Son, and as fulfilled it is 
 called the atonement. The application of the 
 atoning work of Christ to the actual salvation 
 of men is the work of the Holy Spirit, whose 
 gracious influences act upon and cooperate 
 with the free will of man. It is but another 
 method of stating the same great truth to say 
 that the originating cause of man's salvation 
 is the love of God, the meritorious cause is 
 the sacrifice of Christ, the efficient cause is 
 the power of the Holy Spirit, and the deter- 
 mining cause is the free will of the redeemed 
 sinner. In this chapter we are especially con- 
 cerned with the two elements last named. 
 
 Personal salvation is a result of cooperation 
 
 (57)
 
 58 THE DOCTRINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 between God and man, between the divine and 
 the human will. Although salvation is of 
 God's free grace, it is none the less of man's 
 free choice. While man cannot save himself, 
 neither can God save him, in keeping with the 
 revealed principles of his moral government, 
 unless man himself chooses to fulfill the con- 
 ditions of salvation. As a mere matter of 
 power, of course the omnipotent divine will 
 can cause the finite human will to do any- 
 thing, to put forth any volition whatsoever; 
 but such a divinely necessitated human voli- 
 tion could not be free, and in the matter of 
 personal salvation man is entirely free to ful- 
 fill or not to fulfill the conditions of salvation. 
 The Bible represents God as being without par- 
 tiality and no respecter of persons. God our 
 Saviour "will have all men to be saved and to 
 come unto the knowledge of the truth," and is 
 "not willing that any should perish, but that 
 all' should come to repentance." Personal sal- 
 vation and damnation, therefore, are not de- 
 termined by election and nonelection in eter- 
 nity, but by the free will of man. The con- 
 dition of fallen man as affected by the atone- 
 ment is one of gracious ability to fulfill all 
 conditions necessary to salvation; but while 
 his present moral ability is of grace, that
 
 PKRSOVAL SALVATION. 59 
 
 grace itself is free and not arbitrary and irre- 
 sistible. 
 
 If the work of personal salvation be ana- 
 lyzed and separated into its various parts, it 
 may be said to consist of the following ele- 
 ments: (1) Conviction of sin, which is that 
 work of the Holy Spirit upon the conscience 
 of the sinner by which he is awakened and 
 made to realize his sinful and lost condition; 
 (2) repentance, which is such godly sorrow on 
 account of sin as leads to the forsaking of all 
 sin and the confession of sin; (3) faith, or that 
 belief of the mind and trust of the heart by 
 which the penitent sinner accepts Jesus Christ 
 as a personal Saviour; (4) justification, which is 
 something done for us, being that act of God 
 by which he pardons all the past sins of the 
 penitent believer; (5) regeneration, which is 
 something done in us, being that act of God by 
 which he breaks the dominion of the sin of na- 
 ture and creates us anew, which transforma- 
 tion is called the new birth and is followed 
 by adoption into the family of God; (6) the 
 witness of the Holy Spirit to the spirit of the 
 regenerate believer, testifying to his pardon 
 and adoption, and producing a divine convic- 
 tion of salvation; (7) sanctification, which as 
 commonly defined refers to that work of the
 
 DU THK DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 Holy Spirit, in cooperation with the regener- 
 ate spirit, which separates the soul from all 
 sin, carrying on the work begun in regenera- 
 tion, and completing it in Christian perfection. 
 
 The first six elements enumerated above 
 constitute "conversion," as this term is popu- 
 larly used. * There are three salvations spoken 
 of in the Bible. "Repent of thy sins and be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be 
 saved;" this is the first. "Work out your 
 own salvation with fear and trembling;" this 
 is the second, and it is a continuous, pro- 
 gressive work. ' ' He that endureth to the end 
 shall be saved;" this is the third, and refers 
 to final salvation at the last day. A clear 
 knowledge of all these doctrines may not be 
 necessary to salvation, but there can be no in- 
 telligent type of piety that is not based upon 
 both an intellectual and an experimental knowl- 
 edge of all that the Scriptures represent as 
 necessay to salvation. 
 
 Conviction of sin is a result of the Holy 
 Spirit's application of the preached word and 
 
 * If the term ' ' sanctification ' ' be used in its strictly 
 Scriptural sense, it also is included in conversion. 
 But the common theological use of that term refers 
 it to a work of grace, either progressively or instan- 
 taneously wrought, subsequent to "conversion."
 
 PERSONAL SALVATIOX. 61 
 
 the divine law to the heart and conscience of a 
 sinner, and is often irresistibly produced; but 
 while the sinner may be convicted against his 
 will, and in spite of efforts to the contrary, yet 
 he is not irresistibly converted. Under con- 
 viction he is free either to resist the wooings 
 of the Spirit or to follow the Spirit's leadings 
 on to repentance and faith. A moral free 
 agent is never more free than in that intense 
 and critical moment when he is irresistibly 
 awakened and brought to a knowledge of his 
 true condition. It is the most critical and re- 
 sponsible moment in all his life; for then it is 
 that his eternal destiny is hanging in the bal- 
 ance, and nothing but the will of the free agent 
 can determine which way the scales of destiny 
 shall be made to turn. Conviction of sin is 
 one of the chief offices of the Holy Spirit, as 
 Christ promised: "When he is come, he will 
 reprove [convict] the world of sin, and of 
 righteousness, and of judgment." (John xvi. 
 8. ) And he began this work on the day of his 
 coming at Pentecost: " Now when they heard 
 this, they were pricked in their heart, and said 
 unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ? " (Acts ii. 37. ) 
 Repentance and faith are man's work, the 
 only office of the Holy Spirit here being to
 
 62 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 graciously aid man in fulfilling these human 
 conditions of salvation. The necessity, na- 
 ture, and benefits of repentance may be shown 
 in these words of Scripture: "Except ye re- 
 pent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 
 xiii. 3.) "Let the wicked forsake his way, 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and 
 let him return unto the Lord, and he will 
 have mercy upon him; and to our God, for 
 he will abundantly pardon. " (Isa.lv. 7.) Of 
 faith it is said: "Without faith it is impossi- 
 ble to please God: for he that corneth to God 
 must believe that he is, and that he is a re- 
 warder of them that diligently seek him." 
 (Heb. xi. 6.) "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts xvi. 
 31.) This means to accept Christ as a per- 
 sonal Saviour. Confession of sin and confes- 
 sion of Christ prove that repentance and faith 
 are true. Justification and regeneration, on 
 the other hand, are entirely God's work; with 
 them man has nothing to do, save that he per- 
 forms the conditions on which the pardon and 
 regeneration of his soul are suspended. Jus- 
 tification is the pardon of sin, and is condi- 
 tioned not on our good works but on our 
 faith: "To him that worketh not, but belie v- 
 eth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his
 
 PKRSOXAL RALVATIOX. 63 
 
 faith is counted for righteousness." (Roni. 
 iv. 5.) To the penitent the promise is: "I 
 will f orgive their iniquity, and I will remember 
 their sin no more." (Jer. xxxi. 34.) But a 
 deeper work than this is necessary: "Ex- 
 cept a man be born again, he cannot see the 
 kingdom of God." (John iii. 3.) This is re- 
 generation; it also is conditioned on faith: "As 
 many as received him, to them gave he power 
 to become the sons of God." (John i. 12.) 
 
 In the Calvinistic system regeneration comes 
 first; and faith, repentance, and justification 
 follow. Faith is, according to Calvinistic 
 theology, the first act of a regenerate soul. 
 Regeneration, (which is confused with "ef- 
 fectual calling") and irresistible grace, must 
 needs come first because the fallen human 
 race are regarded as totally depraved, as ab- 
 solutely dead in sin, to exact conditions of 
 whom would be like demanding acts of a phys- 
 ically dead man as a condition of imparting 
 life to him. If God had from -all eternity 
 unconditionally elected certain ones to salva- 
 tion, and foreordained the means and the time 
 of their efficacious call and conversion; if it 
 were true that regeneration comes first, and 
 faith and repentance follow, then would the 
 preaching of the gospel to the unconverted
 
 64 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 and the call of sinners to repentance and sal- 
 vation seem to be a useless work, and the 
 present mode of preaching the gospel and 
 pressing the claims of the Christian religion 
 upon the consciences of sinners could not be 
 justified. More faithful to Scripture is that 
 theology which teaches that man, though fall- 
 en, and in a sense morally dead, is yet recog- 
 nized as a living and responsible moral agent, 
 endowed graciously with ability to seek and 
 obtain salvation through divinely appointed 
 conditions (repentance of sin and faith in 
 Christ), on the fulfillment of which God gra- 
 ciously pardons all his past transgressions, 
 and so transforms his sinful moral nature as 
 to deliver him from the dominion of sin and 
 make him a new creature in Christ. It is of 
 the greatest importance that we have true 
 scriptural views concerning the doctrines of 
 personal salvation. We should make no mis- 
 take in answering the question of the awakened 
 sinner: "What must I do to be saved?" 
 
 It may be asked why personal salvation on 
 God's part consists of both justification and 
 regeneration. Why would not justification 
 alone or regeneration alone suffice to make 
 complete the salvation of a soul? The an- 
 swer is not far to seek. It is because there
 
 PERSONAL SALVATION. 65 
 
 are two kinds of sins actual sin, or voluntary 
 transgression of the law of God; and the sin 
 of nature, which consists of both original sin 
 and the reflex influence on moral character of 
 repeated acts of sin, From both of these 
 kinds of sin man needs to be saved. Justifi- 
 cation, or pardon, concerns actual sin alone, 
 and has nothing to do with the sin of nature; 
 and so repentance also is of actual sins, and 
 not of original sin. Regeneration, on the 
 other hand, has to do exclusively with the sin 
 of nature original sin and the habitus of sin, 
 or hereditary and acquired depravity. A 
 tendency toward disease (consumption, for 
 example) may be inherited, or it may be 
 superinduced by acts of imprudence or by 
 sickness, or it may be both inherited and 
 superinduced; and if so, the two tendencies 
 run together and become one. And so it is 
 with fallen man: he inherits a bias toward 
 sin; and this is strengthened by the effects of 
 actual sin, both alike calling for that divine 
 act which is designated as regeneration. If 
 man were simply justified, and not at the same 
 time regenerated, his past sins would be par- 
 doned; but he would be left under the domin- 
 ion of his sinful nature, and would necessarily 
 continue to sin. Hence regeneration is rep- 
 5
 
 66 THE DOCTRINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 resented as "breaking the dominion of sin," 
 "cleansing the moral nature," "being born 
 again," "created anew." Acts of sin may be 
 compared to the black characters written upon 
 a sheet of paper; the sin of nature, to discol- 
 oring elements that enter into the very fiber 
 of the paper itself . The blotting out of sins 
 (Acts iii. 19) is the pardon of all actual trans- 
 gressions, but another and different act is re- 
 quired to cleanse and purify the sin-polluted 
 nature of man. Justification and regenera- 
 tion always take place at the same time. 
 
 Conviction of sin is the witness of the Spirit 
 to the sinner's true condition, and so the wit- 
 ness of the Spirit to the regenerate believer 
 may be called conviction of salvation. It is 
 thus that the Holy Spirit both begins and 
 crowns the work of personal salvation. The 
 soul that undergoes all these experiences is a 
 genuine and a happy convert, and nothing 
 less than an experience of all these elements 
 of personal salvation entitles one either to re- 
 ceive from God, as a sacred seal to his salva- 
 tion, the witness of adoption and the assur- 
 ance of sonship, or to be regarded by man 
 as a new creature in Christ Jesus. "The 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
 that we are the children of God." (Rom.
 
 PERSONAL SALVATION. 67 
 
 viii. 16.) "He that belie veth on the Son of 
 God hath the witness in himself." (1 John 
 v. 10. ) But what the child of God is conscious 
 of is not "the witness of the Spirit," but the 
 fact of being saved. It is the office of the Holy 
 Spirit to convince him of this fact. But this 
 blessed assurance that belongs by right to 
 every child of God should not be confused with 
 a certain ebullition of joy that sometimes ac- 
 companies certain ' ' happy conversions. " The 
 latter is a thing of temperament ; some have 
 it and some do not; moreover, it "comes and 
 goes." But the true witness of the Spirit is 
 not a thing of temperament, it does not " come 
 and go :" but is a birthright to be claimed by 
 every child of God, no matter what his temper- 
 ament. 
 
 "Quit your meanness, and be saved," may 
 pass for a "short method of salvation" and 
 "religion made easy," and may be followed 
 by shaking the preacher's hand and joining 
 the Church; but it is not the full and com- 
 plete salvation from sin that is described in 
 the Bible. Conviction of sin, repentance, 
 faith, justification, regeneration, the witness 
 of the Spirit all these are necessary to make 
 a genuine Bible Christian. Nor have we any 
 right to make personal salvation any simpler
 
 68 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 or easier than the Bible makes it. When con- 
 version is based upon an intelligent under- 
 standing and a genuine experience of all these 
 elements of salvation, then, and then only, 
 does it mean experimental religion and impart 
 spiritual power. Nor should we recognize any 
 conscious sin as compatible with the regen- 
 erate state except to be abhorred and forsaken, 
 pardoned and cleansed, as soon as it is seen by 
 the child of God. This ideal of holiness and 
 freedom from sin is the birthright privilege 
 and duty of every child of God from the very 
 moment of his regeneration; and we must not 
 lower God's high standard to make it fit man's 
 .shortcomings. 
 
 Great as is the work above described in the 
 salvation of a soul, it is not all that is to be 
 done; indeed, it is nothing more than entrance 
 upon the Christian life. And the Christian 
 life does not consist in merely retaining what 
 has been thus attained. The victory over sin 
 has not yet been fully and finally won; the 
 first great battle has been successfully fought, 
 and the long warfare has begun. All sin "in 
 sight" was given up at and in "conversion;" 
 but other sin will presently come in sight as 
 the Christian advances and his spiritual vision 
 OTOWS clearer. And all holiness and love
 
 PJSKSONAL SALVATION. 
 
 and duty in sight were welcomed, and assumed 
 according to the degree of knowledge and 
 faith then possessed.; but knowledge and 
 faith will increase, and soon it will appear 
 that if the character attained in justification 
 and regeneration was regarded as "perfec- 
 tion," \t was a very imperfect perfection. 
 Sinlessness, entire holiness, the perfect life 
 that is the ever-advancing goal that is ahead 
 of the regenerate child of God. 
 
 Christian perfection is the name given to this 
 doctrine which holds a place of highest hon- 
 or in Methodist theology. Perfection is a 
 term which the Scriptures use in describing 
 the ideal religious experience and character 
 which has been made possible by divine grace. 
 Methodism, taking the term from the Bible, 
 teaches that it is not only a possibility and a 
 privilege, but the duty of every child of God to 
 attain unto that type of Christian experience 
 and character, and to lead that life that may 
 be fitly described by the term "Christian per- 
 fection." As to what is to be accomplished 
 progressively and what instantaneously, and 
 whether or not Christian perfection is a 
 thing to be "professed" these are points 
 of secondary importance about which Metho- 
 dists do now differ, and always have differed.
 
 VII. 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE FUTURE 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 IT was a saying of one of the early Metho- 
 dists that "man's chief business in this world 
 is to get successfully out of it. " That was but 
 another way of stating a truth so often ut- 
 tered, in one form or another, by our Lord- 
 that the life that begins at death is the one 
 with reference to which we should constantly 
 live in this world. "What is a man profit- 
 ed if he shall gain the whole world, and lose 
 his own soul ? or what shall a man give in ex- 
 change for his soul?" But this view of the 
 life to come that it is the full and final reali- 
 zation of the divine purpose concerning man 
 instead of making this life of little impor- 
 tance, tends, on the contrary, to invest it with 
 the utmost possible importance, seeing that it 
 makes this life a probation in which man is 
 charged with the responsibility of deciding by 
 his conduct here what is to be his destiny in 
 the world to come. The crowning attribute 
 of man as a creature of God is his moral free 
 agency, and this is true only because this life 
 (70)
 
 THE DOCTRINE OK THE Fl'TUKK LIFE. 71 
 
 is probationary and preparatory to that life 
 which is to come. 
 
 Eschatology is that department of Christian 
 theology that treats of those events which will 
 transpire in the last days. Events that are 
 signals or forerunners of the end of the world, 
 as well as events that accompany and follow it, 
 come under this head. The one conspicuous 
 event that will itself determine the end of the 
 world is the second coming of Christ. Among 
 the notable events which are associated with 
 the end of the world are the following: 
 
 (1) The gospel will le preached throughout 
 the entire world: extensively it will have 
 reached all parts of the earth before the end 
 will come, though, as to its intensive effects, 
 there will doubtless always be some people 
 who have not come under its gracious influ- 
 ences. (Matt. xxiv. 14.) 
 
 (2) The Jews will J>e brought in before the 
 end comes. This does not probably refer to 
 an actual restoration of the entire Jewish race 
 to Palestine, as some hold, but rather to the 
 conversion of the Jews as a race to Christian- 
 ity. (Eom. xi. 15, 25. ) 
 
 (3) The millennium will be a period of a 
 thousand years of such peace and prosperity 
 to the Church that Christ is described as then
 
 72 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 reigning upon the earth in some unique and 
 significant manner not true of other periods. 
 (Rev. xx. 1-9. ) 
 
 (4) The coming of "Antichrist," or the 
 "Man of sin," who will be the enemy of God 
 and man, and who will, it seems, embody both 
 civil and ecclesiastical power, and be the lead- 
 er in a serous and widespread apostasy from 
 the faith. v Matt. xxiv. 21; 2 Thess. i. 8. ) 
 
 (5) Christ's second coming in visible form is 
 the most important event that shall precede 
 the end of the world. ' ' Premillenarians " say 
 that this second coming will take place at the 
 beginning of the millennium, and that the 
 millennium will consist chiefly in his visible 
 and personal reign upon the earth for a thou- 
 sand years. " Postmillenarians " believe that 
 Christ's second coming will take place at the 
 end of the millennium, and hence describe his 
 reign during the millennium as moral and spir- 
 itual, and not in actual and visible person. 
 They interpret the millennium as a period of 
 indefinite length. Christ taught the certainty 
 of the fact of his second coming, but with 
 equal clearness the uncertainty of the time of 
 his coming. (Mark xiii. 32; Acts i. 11; 2 
 Thess. i. 7.) 
 
 (6) The second coming of Christ will be
 
 THE DOCTB1NK OF THK FUTURE LIFE. 73 
 
 followed, according to the last, or postmille- 
 narian, view (which has most generally pre- 
 vailed in the Church), by the resurrection of 
 all men from the dead. This resurrection will 
 embrace the physical body, whose identity 
 will be preserved. It is a fact that the human 
 body changes in toto once every seven years, 
 and yet identity of physical person is pre- 
 served in spite of these numerous and total 
 changes in substance. If God does this in na- 
 ture, why should it be thought a thing incred- 
 ible that he should in the resurrection repro- 
 duce the same body, even though there be no 
 particle of matter in the resurrection body 
 that was originally in the earthy body which 
 was buried and soon thereafter disintegrated 
 and absorbed in surrounding nature? The 
 resurrection body of the saints, it is stated, 
 shall be made glorious, like unto the resurrec- 
 tion body of the Lord Jesus. But although it 
 is our mortal and physical body that is rep- 
 resented as being raised, the new resurrection 
 body is sometimes described as a "spiritual 
 body," and certain it is that the attributes of 
 the resurrection body that is described in the 
 Scriptures belong much more properly to 
 what we conceive spirits to be than to what 
 we know material bodies to be. (Isa. xxvi.
 
 74 THK DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 19; Dan. xii. 2; Luke xx. 37; John v. 28, 29; 
 Rom. viii. 11; 1 Cor. xv. 44; Phil. iii. 21.) 
 
 (7) What is called the intermediate or dis- 
 embodied state that begins with the death of 
 the body will end at the resurrection, when 
 the long-separated spirits are reunited to 
 their resurrection bodies. The intermedi- 
 ate state is not a state of unconsciousness, or 
 "soul sleep," as some affirm, but a state of 
 conscious misery for* the wicked and of con- 
 scious happiness for the good. ( Luke xvi. 22, 
 xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. v. 8. ) 
 
 (8) The general resurrection will be followed 
 by the day of final judgment, in which all men 
 will be judged, the wicked being separated 
 from the good as a shepherd doth separate the 
 goats from the sheep. This general and final 
 judgment will simply confirm the sentence 
 pronounced upon both the wicked and the 
 good at death. "It is appointed unto men 
 once to die, but after this the judgment." 
 "For we must all appear before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ; that every one may re- 
 ceive the things done in this body, according 
 to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
 bad." (Matt. xxv. 32; Acts xvii. 31; Rom. 
 ii. 16.) 
 
 (9) The future lot of the imclced is repre-
 
 THJ DOCTRINE OF THK FUTURE LIFK. 75 
 
 sented as one of unrelieved and unending mis- 
 ery. This misery does not consist so much in 
 sufferings externally inflicted as in the pangs 
 and torment of a guilty conscience. And if it 
 be true that the misery of the lost grows thus 
 out of evil character rather than out of mere 
 external environment, it follows that misery 
 is proportioned to guilt. But the misery and 
 punishment of no lost soul, not even the 
 worst in hell, will be one iota more in severity 
 than that soul justly deserves. God, who is 
 both omniscient and infinitely just, is the su- 
 preme and final arbiter in this matter. And 
 it is worth our while to bear in mind that the 
 most awful words ever uttered concerning the 
 doom of the incorrigibly wicked and finally 
 impenitent in the life to come came not from 
 Moses the lawgiver amid the thunders of Si- 
 nai, nor from Jeremiah, the stern prophet of 
 old, nor from John the Baptist, nor from 
 Paul; but from the Son of Man, whose gospel 
 was one of tenderness and love. We need to 
 remember that, while it is truly said that 
 "God is love,'- it is also said that "God is a 
 consuming fire" to wicked and impenitent sin- 
 ners. (Matt. xxv. 34, 46; Luke xvi. 25; 2 
 Thess. i. 9; Rev. xx. 10-14.) 
 
 (10) The future lot of the righteous is repre-
 
 76 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 sented as one of full and unending happiness. 
 The happiness of heaven grows not primarily 
 out of the place, out of mere external environ- 
 ment, but out of character, and therefore dif- 
 fers in degree for different individuals, being 
 proportioned to the capacity of each soul to 
 extract happiness out of the place that is pre- 
 pared for God's children. If the Christian 
 doctrine of the future life be true, this life of 
 probation is a training school for heaven, and 
 the object of life is the development, by grace 
 and love, by service and sacrifice, of a holy 
 character, which constitutes a moral capacity 
 for extracting happiness out of heaven. The 
 saints in heaven will not be rewarded on the 
 ground of their good works, as if they were 
 meritorious, but it has pleased God that they 
 shall be rewarded "according to their good 
 works." All souls in heaven will be holy, and 
 therefore happy; but some develop more of 
 holiness in this life than others; and therefore, 
 as "one star differeth from another star in 
 glory," so some souls will be happier than 
 others in heaven. As spiritual growth is the 
 great law of spiritual life in this world, so the 
 heavenly life will doubtless be one of ever-in- 
 creasing growth in holiness, and hence of 
 ever-increasing happiness. The more of holi-
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE FUTURE LIFE. 77 
 
 ness, the more will there be of happiness. 
 (Matt. xxv. 34,46; John xiv. 2; 2 Cor. v. 10.) 
 
 Most of these subjects embraced in Chris- 
 tian eschatology have been made the subject 
 of endless speculation. It is a department of 
 theology which has a great fascination for a 
 certain class of minds. While everything be- 
 longing to Christian revelation is of impor-' 
 tance, yet it is plain that some doctrines are 
 far more important than others, and this be- 
 cause they are more vital and practical. The 
 truths whose vital importance transcends all 
 others in this department of doctrine are the 
 immortality of the soul and the fact that man's 
 destiny in the future and eternal life is deter- 
 mined by his free conduct in this life. To the 
 consideration of these truths we shall there- 
 fore devote our attention mainly. 
 
 While the doctrine of a future life is con- 
 tained in the Old Testament, yet much less 
 stress is laid upon it there than is done in the 
 New Testament. With the children of Israel 
 "transitory promises" that pertain to this 
 life had relatively more weight and influence 
 than with New Testament believers generally, 
 who have been trained in the school of Christ. 
 St. Paul tells us that Christ "brought life 
 and immortality to light through the gospel."
 
 78 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 The existence of the soul after death is not 
 only assumed in the New Testament; it is ev- 
 erywhere taught and everywhere emphasized. 
 Hence, in this department of Christian theol- 
 ogy more than in any other, we are under the 
 necessity of confining ourselves almost entire- 
 ly to the revelations contained in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 The Bible teaches that this life is the seed- 
 time and the life to come is the harvest. We 
 shall reap in the future life the fruit of our 
 seed-sowing in this life. The law of sowing 
 and reaping is this: we must reap what we 
 sow, and we reap more than we sow. This 
 law pervades the moral and spiritual world 
 no less than it does the physical and intellec- 
 tual. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
 he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh 
 shall of the flesh reap corruption; he that sow- 
 eth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life 
 everlasting. " While it is true that every man 
 is constantly reaping in this life the fruit of 
 his sowing in former years, yet the largest 
 harvest that he will reap is that which awaits 
 him in the world to come. 
 
 Men will be judged by the deeds done in the 
 body. For every idle word that men shall 
 speak they shall give account thereof in the
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE FUTURE LIFE. 79 
 
 day of judgment; according as their words 
 and deeds shall be, they will be either justified 
 or condemned. While it is repentance and 
 faith that are the conditions of salvation in the 
 first instance, and while it is possible for one 
 to repent even on his deathbed and be saved, 
 through the great mercy of God, yet it is life 
 and works and character that determine sal- 
 vation at the day of judgment. Repentance 
 and faith are the moral conditions that make 
 possible the attainment of that life and char- 
 acter which are the conditions of salvation in 
 that day when the secrets of all hearts and the 
 real characters of all men will be revealed. 
 
 The uniform teachings of the Bible are to 
 the eftect that death ends probation in the or- 
 dinary sense of that term. We read of no 
 second probation after death. As the tree 
 falls, so it shall lie. He that is then unjust, 
 let him be unjust still; he that is then holy, 
 let him be holy still. Our Lord speaks of a 
 sin that is forgiven neither in this world nor 
 in the world to come. Some have tried to 
 draw from this utterance the inference that 
 all sins except this "sin against the Holy 
 Ghost" maybe forgiven in the world to come, 
 and that therefore probation is continued after 
 death. But this inference is unwarranted.
 
 80 THE DOCTEINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 Our Lord's words, rightly interpreted, mean 
 that while it is true of all sins that they have 
 no forgiveness in the world to come, here is a 
 sin that is so serious and culpable that it places 
 the transgressor, while yet in this life, beyond 
 the possibility of his ever being brought to 
 repentance and saving faith, and hence be- 
 yond the possibility of pardon. The reason 
 why any one becomes a sinner or continues to 
 be a sinner is always in himself, and not in 
 God. God will do nothing, either in this 
 world or the world to come, to keep a sinner 
 from repenting and giving up his sin. But it 
 would be wholly unwarrantable to draw from 
 this fact the inference that therefore lost sin- 
 ners can and will repent in the world to come. 
 Paul tells us that Christ not only brought 
 life and immortality to light, but that he ' ' abol- 
 ished death." This does not mean that when 
 Christ came physical death ceased, or will ever 
 cease till the end of the world. But it does 
 mean that he totally transformed the doctrine 
 of death. Instead of its being the cessation 
 of conscious life, as many believed, or the de- 
 scent of the soul into an "underworld," into 
 a shadowy, semi-conscious, and unhappy state 
 of existence, as others thought and hence a 
 thing to be feared and dreaded in either view
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE FTJTUKE LIFE. 81 
 
 Christ taught that to all who live rightly in 
 this present world death is the end of all that 
 can make existence in any way unhappy, and 
 the beginning of that state where nothing can 
 mar the highest happiness of which the soul 
 is capable. To the Christian, to be absent 
 from the body is to be present with the Lord 
 and to enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with 
 Him. Many figurative expressions are used 
 to describe what death is to those who are 
 found in Christ. To those who are weary 
 with the labors and sufferings of life it is de- 
 scribed as "rest for the weary" and "sleep 
 in Jesus/' Job says: "I will wait till my 
 change come." The tiny worm that spends 
 its brief existence within a few square yards 
 of earth, and feeds on dust and bark and 
 leaves, presently "dies" as to his present state 
 of existence; but what is death to him but his 
 translation into the beautiful insect that basks 
 in the sunlight, flies at will in the glad air as 
 its home, and feeds upon the perfume of the 
 flowers? To the soul tabernacling in a suffer- 
 ing body, who waits patiently until his 
 "change" conies, death is that which trans- 
 forms him who is a "worm of the dust" into 
 a glorified spirit which bounds away into the 
 glad freedom of the sinless and heavenly life. 
 6
 
 82 THE DOCTBINES OP METHODISM. 
 
 To Paul death was simply the occasion of his 
 "departure" into another life, his emigration 
 to another and better country. If this doc- 
 trine of death be true, then did Christ bring 
 to them "who through fear of death had all 
 their lifetime been subject to bondage" the 
 abolition of death and the light of life and im- 
 mortality. 
 
 But while death is all this and more to those 
 "in Christ," it is, nevertheless, likewise true 
 that to all who are found out of Christ at 
 death this "change," or "departure," is one 
 that introduces them into a state far more aw- 
 ful than that of nonexistence, and into a place 
 more to be dreaded than a vague and shadowy 
 underworld of semi-conscious and burdensome 
 existence. Since Christ came death has had 
 a new meaning to the sinner as well as to the 
 saint. If for the latter it is virtually abol- 
 ished, for the sinner it is made the gateway to 
 a life that is described as the "second death." 
 
 These are the truths concerning the future 
 life that Methodism has always taught and 
 emphasized. That theology can alone be suc- 
 cessful, either in calling sinners to repentance 
 or in comforting saints, which gives no un- 
 certain sound in its teachings concerning the 
 life to come.
 
 vni. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 OUR Thirteenth Article of Religion con- 
 tains the following definition of the Chris- 
 tian Church: "The visible Church of Christ 
 is a congregation of faithful men, in the which 
 the pure word of God is preached, and the 
 sacraments duly administered according to 
 Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of 
 necessity are requisite to the same." 
 
 This excellent definition suggests: (1) The 
 relation of the Church to Christ, its divine 
 Founder, whose ' ' ordinances " are its laws. (2) 
 The Church is organized Christianity, not an 
 aggregation of detached and unrelated units, 
 but a visible "congregation" or collection of 
 men bound together by a common relation to 
 Christ and to each other, and organized for the 
 accomplishment of a definite purpose in the 
 world. (3) It is composed of "faithful men" 
 that is, men who possess both faith in 
 Christ and fidelity to Christ, to secure which 
 type of character in its membership proper 
 conditions of admission to the Church and a 
 proper discipline over those in the Church must 
 be enforced. (4) The first function of the 
 
 (83)
 
 84 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 Church is the teaching or preaching of the 
 word, which must be committed mainly, 
 though not exclusively, to those especially 
 charged therewith and trained therefor that 
 is, the Christian ministry. (5) The sacra- 
 ments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, are to 
 be duly administered. (6) There are some 
 things which "of necessity are requisite" to 
 the Church and its sacraments, and other 
 things which are not of necessity required 
 in other words, essentials and nonessentials in 
 religion. In the former there must be unity; 
 in the latter there may be liberty. 
 
 While it is most common to designate the 
 Church as the Church of Christ, it is none the 
 less appropriately called the Church of God 
 and the Church of the Holy Spirit. It is the 
 Church of the Triune God. It is first of all 
 called "the church of God" (Acts xx. 28) 
 or the "household of God" (Eph. ii. 19). 
 As such it has existed from the beginning, 
 and is, in a sense, one in all ages. From the 
 beginning of time there have always been 
 true believers in God, and these have consti- 
 tuted the true Church. 
 
 The Church is most frequently and appro- 
 priately designated as the Church of Christ, 
 because it is founded upon his divine-human
 
 THE DOCTKINK OK THK CHUUCH. H.~) 
 
 person and work, upon his life and teaching, 
 upon his atoning death and resurrection, upon 
 his session at the right-hand of the Father, 
 and his intercession for the saints. The new 
 order of things which Christ came to. estab- 
 lish, he usually designates as his kingdom, 
 the "kingdom of God," or the "kingdom of 
 heaven." Only twice does he use the word 
 "Church" (ekkles-ia)^ the one case referring 
 to a local assembly of Christian people ( Matt, 
 xviii. 17), and the other being the classic pas- 
 sage in which he refers to the visible organi- 
 zation of Christian believers for all time, and 
 announces the faith, the foundation, and the 
 perpetuity of the Church : ' ' He saith unto them 
 [his disciples], But whom say ye that I am? 
 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou 
 art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Bless- 
 ed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and 
 blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my 
 Father which is in heaven. And I say also 
 unto thee, That thou art l*eter, and upon this 
 rock I will build my church; and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. xvi. 
 15-18.) When Christ said to Peter, "Upon 
 this rock I will build my church," he prob- 
 ably referred to St. Peter's confession, "Thou
 
 86 THE DOCTRINES OF METHODISM. 
 
 art the Christ, the Son of the living God;" 
 the one great truth contained in which viz. , 
 the divinity of Christ is the true rock of 
 faith upon which the Church is built. Some 
 think that Christ referred to himself as "this 
 rock;" others, that he referred to St. Peter 
 as a representative of the apostles, whose work 
 and inspired teachings were, in an important 
 sense, to constitute the foundation of the 
 Church. 
 
 The Church, again, is the Church of the 
 Holy Spirit. The beginning of the Christian 
 Church as a visible organization took place on 
 the day of Pentecost. For this beginning 
 Christ's work is shown by the Gospel records 
 to have been preparatory. Not until our 
 Lord's revelation concerning the nature of his 
 spiritual kingdom was complete, and not un- 
 til his atoning death and resurrection were 
 become historical facts, had the time come for 
 the historical beginning and foundation of 
 the Church. The Church is the organ which 
 the Spirit uses for the accomplishment of his 
 work in the world. The Spirit can and does 
 work under any outward form of Church 
 government. That is the truest Church that 
 can furnish, in the number of souls saved 
 through its agency, the most indubitable and
 
 THK DOCTKIXK <>!' TIIK CHUKCH. 87 
 
 abiding evidence of possessing this supreme 
 credential: the presence and power of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 The visible Church, in the widest sense of 
 that term, includes all Churches and all mem- 
 bers in all Churches who acknowledge Jesus 
 Christ as their Head and trust in him and him 
 alone for salvation. These constitute but one 
 spiritual body, as viewed by Christ the Head. 
 The true scriptural unity is not so much one 
 of outward form as of inward life; it is a uni- 
 ty based on a true confession of faith in one 
 God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It 
 is entirely consistent with this idea of scrip- 
 tural unity that there should be many reli- 
 gious denominations within the Church of 
 Christ. 
 
 There is a distinction to be made between 
 the outward and visible Church, which is com- 
 posed of all professing Christians, and the 
 true spiritual and invisible Church, which is 
 composed only of real and true Christians. 
 While the visible Church will always contain 
 in its membership some who are not in the 
 invisible and spiritual kingdom of Christ, yet 
 an effort should be made to make the two cor- 
 respond as nearly as possible. The Church 
 of the New Testament is composed of the
 
 88 THE DOCTRINKS OF METHODISM. 
 
 saved: " The Lord added to them day by day 
 those that were being saved." (Acts ii. 47.) 
 Before any one is admitted to full member- 
 ship in the Church, he should give evidence 
 not only of his sincere "desire to flee the 
 wrath to come and to be saved from his sins," 
 but also of "the genuineness of his faith;" in 
 other words, he should give credible evidence 
 of having exercised such repentance and faith 
 as are laid down in the New Testament as the 
 conditions of salvation. This will secure, ap- 
 proximately at least, a member ship of truly con- 
 verted people. If these scriptural conditions 
 of salvation be required as the conditions of 
 admission to the Church, and discipline be 
 duly enforced, then will the visible Church 
 be made as pure and spiritual as is possible 
 here on earth, and then only will the Church 
 be a "congregation of faithful men." 
 
 The Christian ministry is a divine vocation 
 in that only those may enter it who are di- 
 vinely called thereto. We believe that the 
 Holy Spirit chooses those whom he would 
 have to preach, and indicates his choice of 
 them by making an inward impression upon 
 their minds as to their duty in this regard. 
 But the Church also must sit in judgment on 
 those who feel called to preach, and thus "try
 
 THE DUCTIUNK OF THE CHURCH. 89 
 
 the spirits to see whether they be of God or 
 not." The Christian ministry, as its 'name 
 indicates, is first of all an office of service. 
 Ministers are servants of Christ and of the 
 Church. The most important function of the 
 ministry is to preach the word. The salvation 
 of sinners and the edification of believers de- 
 pend upon their fidelity to this part of their 
 work. If the "pure word of God" is to be 
 preached, the ministry must be educated in a 
 right understanding and interpretation of the 
 Bible; otherwise false and fanatical doctrines 
 may be drawn from the word of God by mis- 
 interpretation and unsound exegesis. 
 
 Methodism recognizes but two institutions 
 of the Church as sacraments: Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper. The Church retains the prim- 
 itive and apostolic custom of baptizing in- 
 fants. While it is the rule that the children 
 only of Christian parents (or guardians) are 
 presented for baptism, yet the Church teaches 
 that the right of a child to Christian baptism 
 grows out of his own relation to Christ, rath- 
 er than that of his parent or guardian. As 
 to the mode of baptism, Methodism favors 
 pouring or sprinkling as more simple and 
 symbolic of the "washing of regeneration," 
 but allows perfect liberty on the part of adult
 
 90 THE DOCTRI:NKS OF METHODISM. 
 
 applicants for Church membership to choose 
 either of these modes or immersion. The 
 Lord's Supper is regarded as a memorial serv- 
 ice and a means of grace of more than ordi- 
 nary sanctity. It is the privilege and duty of 
 every member of the Church to partake regu- 
 larly of this sacrament as opportunity offers. 
 
 If our doctrine of the Church be true, every 
 branch of the Christian Church is free to de- 
 termine its own polity or form of govern- 
 ment. The value of each can be tested only 
 by time and experience. The polity of Meth- 
 odism has been on trial for about a century 
 and a half; and that of Episcopal Methodism 
 for a little over a century, during which time 
 it has been constantly undergoing modifica- 
 tions and adaptations to new conditions as its 
 growth and ever- widening mission seemed to 
 demand. Judged by its history in the past 
 and its efficiency and rapid growth at the 
 present time, it is doubtful whether any branch 
 of the Christian Church, under the guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit, has ever devised a more 
 scriptural and efficient form of government 
 than that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South. It behooves every student of Christian 
 doctrines to give it a careful examination.
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 THE POLITY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
 SOUTH. 
 
 BY REV. JAMES ATKINS, D.D. 
 
 Sunday School Editor. 
 
 (91)
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN entitling the following pages "The Polity 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South," it 
 is not meant that they contain anything like a 
 full discussion of our economy. Such a pres- 
 entation would involve a full exhibit of the ra- 
 tionale of our Discipline, and even more. 
 
 The object has been to set forth the more 
 prominent features of our Church organization 
 and plan of working, and to call the attention of 
 our teachers to certain vital peculiarities of our 
 system, upon which its continued and enlarged 
 usefulness depends. If this much shall be ac- 
 complished by this brief survey, the end aimed 
 
 at will have been reached. 
 
 JAMES ATKINS. 
 
 (92)
 
 I. 
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 
 
 THK Church of Christ is an aristocracy of 
 virtue. It is the only one which has serious- 
 ly and successfully battled for a place among 
 men. Truly it is a kingdom of grace, but the 
 only end of that grace is holiness of character 
 and life. Tender and all-giving as Jesus was 
 in his attitude toward penitent men, nothing 
 can exceed his burning candor in laying down 
 the conditions of discipleship. These condi- 
 tions would be indeed harsh if the power of 
 execution were not furnished from above. 
 But by the divine reinforcement all things 
 are possible, and most moral achievements 
 easy, to men who believe. A life of self-de- 
 nial is the natural order for one in whom the 
 supreme act and purpose of self-abnegation 
 have gone before, and a life of heroic moral 
 doings is easy to a man who is moved upon by 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 The moral code of Methodism is contained 
 in what are called the General Rules. These 
 rules have thrown their gracious, helpful do- 
 minion over many millions who in these more 
 than one hundred and fifty years of our his- 
 
 (93)
 
 94 OUR POLITY. 
 
 tory have gone from the self-denials and la- 
 bors of this life into the rewards of another. 
 There are now about seven millions within 
 the Methodist fold who are confessedly walk- 
 ing by the same rules. 
 
 The only condition required of those who 
 seek membership in our Church is "a desire to 
 flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved 
 from their sins." 
 
 This surely is broad enough, and yet when 
 interpreted in the light of the Rules it leaves 
 nothing to be added. It certainly excludes all 
 who have a desire to flee from the wrath to 
 come and to be saved in their sins. 
 
 Those who have this desire to be saved 
 from wrath and sin will, if the desire be gen- 
 uine, give evidence of it in three ways: 
 
 First, by doing no harm that is, avoiding 
 evil of every kind. 
 
 Secondly, by doing good to both the bodies 
 and souls of men. 
 
 Thirdly, by attending upon the ordinances 
 of God. 
 
 THE THINGS FORBIDDEN. 
 
 Taking the name of God in vain. 
 
 This includes: 
 
 (1) Profane swearing and all forms of curs-
 
 THE GENERAL, RULES. 95 
 
 ing, especially such as involve the preroga- 
 tives of the Deity. - There is much sinful 
 swearing which does not contain the name of 
 God, but implies it. He who curses his fel- 
 low-man, with or without the mention of 
 God's name, assumes a place of judgment 
 which belongs to God only. 
 
 (2) Perjury, or intentionally false swear- 
 ing, in which God is called to witness to 
 the truth of what is false. This indicates 
 the utmost baseness of character, and the 
 penalties of the civil law against it are justly 
 severe. 
 
 (3) All sacrilegious and other vain or light 
 uses of the name of God. 
 
 (4) All idle swearing, which long ago 
 Chaucer pronounced a "crudeness," and 
 which is now, and must ever remain at the 
 least, an act of incivility, and lead the way to 
 more serious and more hurtful forms of the 
 offense. 
 
 The name of God stands for his character, 
 and therefore the breaking of the third com- 
 mandment is one of the most dangerous and 
 debasing of sins. 
 
 Profaning the day of the Lord, either by 
 doing ordinary work therein, <n> by buying or 
 selling.
 
 96 OUR POLITY. 
 
 The three great doctrines taught by the 
 Sabbath as we now have it are: 
 
 (1) That God is the Creator of all things; 
 
 (2) that Christ is risen from the dead; and 
 
 (3) that all our time belongs to God. 
 
 "The Sabbath, in its spiritual aspect and 
 meaning, is one of the strongest defenses of 
 the inspiration of the Bible and of the divin- 
 ity of the religion which it reveals. It is 
 man's day and God's day; more thoroughly 
 man's day because completely God's day. 
 It is their united time, time of fellowship, 
 hour of communion, opportunity for deeper 
 reading, larger prayer, and diviner consecra- 
 tion." (Joseph Parker.) 
 
 Christianity has no. more important institu- 
 tion than the Holy Sabbath. It would be 
 difficult to overestimate the value of the day 
 both to individuals and to communities. The 
 demand for it is laid in the physical constitu- 
 tion of man and the laboring animals. Not 
 only was the Sabbath made for man, but man 
 was made with reference to a Sabbath, so that 
 in this regard, as well as in other things, it is 
 to the best interests of man in his present 
 state to obey God's commands. Such a rest 
 is necessary to the highest sanity of the indi- 
 vidual and the community, and hence it is
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 97 
 
 that the Sabbath is one of the greatest safe- 
 guards of personal and national life. It 
 therefore becomes the duty not only of every 
 true religionist and philanthropist, but of 
 every true patriot, to advance by all means a . 
 proper keeping of the Sabbath day. 
 
 It will be noted that in the divine institu- 
 tion of the Sabbath it was made a day of 
 rest, not of recreation. One of the worst 
 evils of modern times is the habit of using 
 the Sabbath as a day of recreation, and even 
 of dissipation. It behooves all the teaching 
 agencies of Christendom to set themselves 
 against this pernicious drift by teaching in 
 the home, the day school, the Sunday school, 
 and the church how rightly to use the holy 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for 
 man, not man for the Sabbath; and in say- 
 ing this he was breaking from off the Sab- 
 bath those burdensome conditions which the 
 traditions of the Jews had placed upon it. 
 The divine Sabbath had been so obscured by 
 them as to be wholly lost sight of. The re- 
 ligious teachers who were objecting to Christ's 
 use of the Sabbath for works of mercy were 
 teaching the people that a man should not wear 
 shoes with tacks in them on the Sabbath, 
 ' 7
 
 98 OTIR POLITY. 
 
 lest the grass should be thereby crushed, 
 and thus amount to a sort of mowing; and 
 that a tailor should not place a needle in 
 his coat late in the day before the Sabbath, 
 lest he should forget and leave it there, and 
 thus bear a burden on the Sabbath day. 
 These are but samples of much foolishness 
 which was in vogue in that day, and which 
 perverted God's day so as to make it a burden 
 instead of a blessing. Now Christ, instead of 
 abrogating the Sabbath or implying that it 
 was to be used for recreation, was but re- 
 storing it to its original place as a day of rest 
 and religious improvement. 
 
 It seems that there were in the days of 
 Isaiah some who took the recreation view of 
 the Sabbath, and the words of the greatest of 
 the old prophets are sufficient to fully cover 
 the case now. God, speaking through him, 
 says: "If thou turn away thy foot from the 
 sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy 
 day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of 
 the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not 
 doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own 
 pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then 
 shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I 
 will cause thee to ride upon the high places of 
 the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
 
 THE GKXKRAL RULES. 99 
 
 Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken it." (Isa. Iviii. 13, 14.) 
 
 Let it be noted that the command to work 
 on the other six days is as explicit and as bind- 
 ing as that which requires us to rest on the 
 seventh. 
 
 Drunkenness, or drinking sfririfaicrus liquors 
 unless in cases of necessity. The Methodists 
 from the beginning have been a temperance 
 people, and they are still such, not in theory 
 only but in practice. The American Metho- 
 dists constitute, perhaps, the strongest single 
 phalanx in the nation against this mammoth 
 evil. But there needs to be the most thor- 
 ough and constant teaching on this subject, in 
 order that no generation of our young people 
 shall be liable to repeat the folly and sin of 
 drinking for lack of information. There is 
 no sphere in which it is truer that eternal 
 vigilance is the price of liberty. 
 
 Intemperance is the costliest and most de- 
 structive sin of mankind. It is this in itself, 
 and in addition it leads in very many cases to 
 every other form of sin. It is the mother of 
 crimes. Intoxicants, even when used under 
 the rule in "cases of necessity," ought to be 
 used with the utmost caution and under the 
 restraints of an enlightened conscience. The
 
 100 OUR POLITY. 
 
 story of the man who was bitten by a snake 
 and was given whisky for it, though not new, 
 is exact and apt. The bite got well, and in 
 due time the snake died, but twenty years 
 later the man was still taking the medicine. 
 
 All in all, total abstinence is the best rule, 
 because the only one that is absolutely safe. 
 
 (a) Fighting, quarreling, brawling; (b) 
 brother going to law with brother; (c) return- 
 ing evil for evil, or railing for railing; (d) 
 the using many words in buying or selling. 
 
 (a) These things are but little less than 
 barbarous, and are wholly out of harmony with 
 that spirit of fraternity which is ever a mark 
 of the truly regenerate man. 
 
 ( b) As a rule, litigation even for righteous 
 claims is harmful to one's relations and influ- 
 ence. In most cases it is better both morally 
 and financially to pay a lawyer to keep you 
 out of the courts than to take you through 
 them. 
 
 (c) "Evil for evil, or railing for railing," 
 embodies the spirit of the old order of "an 
 eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," which 
 Christ distinctly condemned. 
 
 (d) "Let your communication be, Yea, 
 yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than 
 these cometh of evil." Talk straight to the
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 
 
 101 
 
 point, and when you have done turn to some- 
 thing else. 
 
 The buying or selling goods that have not 
 paid the duty. 
 
 The days in which these rules originated 
 were days of much smuggling. The govern- 
 ment was being constantly defrauded by ship- 
 pers and merchants who in various ways were 
 avoiding the payment of the lawful duties. 
 This was simply stealing from the govern- 
 ment, and those who knowingly took part in 
 the benefits were partners with the thieves. 
 Of course no truly Christian man could do 
 such a thing. The principle involved still 
 abides. 
 
 The tariff may be right or it may be wrong: 
 but in either event the man who knowingly 
 deals in goods which have not paid it is cer- 
 tainly wrong. 
 
 There is a very loose notion abroad as to 
 the obligation on the part of the individual to 
 deal fairly and justly with the government 
 and with corporations. An honesty which 
 does not deport itself with exact righteous- 
 ness in relation to both is not worthy of the 
 name. 
 
 The giving or taking things on usury, i. ., 
 unlawful interest.
 
 102 OUR POLITY. 
 
 The word "usury" is from the Latin word 
 usus, which in this connection means "so 
 much for the use of "that is, any interest 
 whatever. It is in this sense that the word 
 is used in the Bible. It retained this sense 
 until within the last three centuries. The 
 Jews were forbidden by the law to take any 
 interest from each other for the use of money 
 or other commodities. Hence under their 
 law any interest was usury. Usury now 
 means unlawful interest that is, interest at 
 a higher rate than that provided for in the 
 law of the State within which the business is 
 transacted. The terms "giving" and "tak- 
 ing" seem to include him who borrows at un- 
 lawful interest as well as him who lends. It 
 must, nevertheless, be allowed that the two 
 cases are quite different as to the moral ele- 
 ment involved. 
 
 Uncharitable or unprofitable conversation, 
 particularly speaking evil of magistrates or of 
 ministers. 
 
 This is an exceedingly important rule. The 
 power of speech is one of the greatest and 
 most dangerous dignities conferred upon 
 man. "Out of the abundance of the heart 
 the mouth speaketh." Purity of speech is 
 one of the highest signs of a noble and re-
 
 THE GENERAL BULKS. 
 
 103 
 
 fined nature. Coarseness and baseness of 
 speech can come from but one source. Men 
 do not often make mistakes in their esti- 
 mate of it. The crudest men know that low- 
 ness of speech is unbecoming the children of 
 
 God. 
 
 Uncharitable speech indicates a harsh and 
 uncharitable mood, if not a fixed disposition. 
 It always inflicts two injuries, one upon the 
 victim of it and the other upon the author. 
 Charity even toward one's enemies is one of 
 the strongest pledges of trueness toward one's 
 friends. Uncharitable talk when once begun 
 knows no limits. It is like a fire in a field, 
 which does not burn according to metes and 
 bounds, but by its own heat and the material it 
 finds in all directions to feed upon. 
 
 The unprofitable conversation referred to in 
 the rule means light and trashy talk, such as 
 is common among gossips and gabblers, and to 
 which young people are especially liable if 
 not rightly guarded against it. The unfur- 
 nished mind finds it much easier to prate about 
 things of no value than to prepare for season- 
 able and profitable talk. But unprofitable 
 conversation also includes more serious and 
 thoughtful talk which lacks a pure and 
 helpful purpose. This is even more to be
 
 104 OUK POLITY. 
 
 avoided than idle and meaningless conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 Speaking evil of rulers and ministers is a 
 very common fault. It seems to be assumed 
 by many that any exaltation in office implies 
 the right of the people to make a sort of tar- 
 get of the man thus exalted. Nothing is far- 
 ther from the truth. Such men deserve the 
 sympathy and the support of those whom 
 they represent in so far as these can be con- 
 scientiously given. All faithful men occupy- 
 ing places of trust and power realize that the 
 higher they go as men reckon height, the 
 heavier their responsibilities become and the 
 more burdensome their duties. Men, wheth- 
 er magistrates or ministers, who serve the 
 people faithfully have a right to the moral 
 support of the public. To discount this by 
 evil-speaking is a wrong to the men and often- 
 times a crime against the civil or religious in- 
 terests which such men are set to serve. 
 
 If rulers or ministers are either incompe- 
 tent [or unfaithful, let a change be made in 
 a constitutional way. Evil-speaking corrects 
 nothing. 
 
 In general, the habit of reckless criticism 
 within the household needs to be most careful- 
 ly guarded against. Much infidelity is bred
 
 THE GENERAL HULKS. 
 
 105 
 
 in children by indiscriminate and indiscreet 
 criticism of the preacher and the preaching. 
 Whoever destroys in himself or another a 
 o-enuine reverence for superiors in years, in 
 attainments, in position rightly used, is fool- 
 ishly cutting from above him the rounds of 
 the ladder by which he would rise to higher 
 things. A true reverence, especially in young 
 people, is one of the most beautiful and 
 charming of virtues, and is the spring of un- 
 numbered blessings to society. It is the very 
 chivalry of man's moral nature, and adorns 
 every stage of life as nothing else can do. 
 
 Doing to others as we would not they should 
 do unto us. 
 
 This is merely the negative statement of 
 the golden rule, and includes all forms of in- 
 jury to our fellow-men. 
 
 Doing what we know is not for the glory of 
 God: #s, 
 
 The putting on of gold and costly apparel. 
 A display of extravagant and vainglorious 
 finery is always unbecoming in the children 
 of God. This is no doubt the spirit aimed at 
 in this rule. Any such interpretation of it as 
 would lead the Church to regulate the per- 
 sonal habits of its members in regard to their 
 attire has long since ceased. It is, neverthe-
 
 106 on: POLITY. 
 
 less, well for all to have due regard to situa- 
 tion and ability in their dressing. The use of 
 jewelry or fine clothing to the exclusion of a 
 liberal part in the benevolent movements of 
 the Church is wrong beyond question, and 
 shows a low and selfish disregard of the 
 claims of others for the necessities of life and 
 for mental and spiritual enlightenment. It 
 indicates a spirit which is far from the spirit 
 of Christ. "If any man have not the Spirit 
 of Christ, he is none of his." 
 
 The taking such diversions as cannot be used 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 The language of this rule clearly implies 
 that there are diversions which may be taken 
 without injury. Diversions which are not in 
 themselves harmful to health or character, 
 when not used to excess so as to become a 
 waste of time or a dissipation, may be used 
 with profit. 
 
 What those diversions are is left to the 
 intelligence and conscience of the individual 
 believer, except as to those which nave been 
 commonly condemned by men as evil, or have 
 been pronounced against by the authorities of 
 our Church . These prohibited amusements are 
 dancing, card-playing, theater-going, attend- 
 ance upon race courses, circuses, and ths like.
 
 THE GENERAL Kl'LES. 107 
 
 Chief among these offenses is the modern 
 dance. The bishops, in their address to the 
 General Conference of 1874, speak on the 
 point as follows: "An explicit utterance was 
 given by order of the last General Confer- 
 ence, in our pastoral address, on 'Worldly 
 Amusements. ' We now repeat that utter- 
 ance. We abate none of its teachings with 
 respect either to manifest inconsistency of 
 such indulgences with the spirit and profession 
 of the gospel, or the perils which they bring 
 to the souls of men. . . . Among these 
 indulgences ... is the modern dance, 
 both in its private and public exhibition, as 
 utterly opposed to the genius of Christianity 
 as taught by us." 
 
 The General Conference of 1890 appointed 
 a, special committee of fifteen to prepare an 
 address on the spiritual state of the Church. 
 The report of this committee was adopted by 
 the General Conference and published in the 
 Discipline of that year. In that report is 
 found the following language: 
 
 "In this same condemnation, as equally 
 contrary to the Scriptures, which declare that 
 'the friendship of the world is enmity against 
 God,' to our General Rules, and to the vows 
 which our members have voluntarily assumed,
 
 108 OUR POLITY. 
 
 this General Conference would include card- 
 playing, theater-going, attendance upon race 
 courses, circuses, and the like. These offenses 
 are likewise justifiable grounds of discipline." 
 
 The General Conference, having adopted 
 this report, took the following action: 
 
 "Resolved, That inasmuch as the deliver- 
 ances of our bishops, as contained in their 
 quadrennial addresses to the General Confer- 
 ence from time to time, and as quoted at 
 length by the Special Committee of Fifteen, 
 have declared dancing, theater-going, card- 
 playing, and the like worldly indulgences, to 
 be contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and 
 violative of the General Rules and moral dis- 
 cipline of our Church, as also of the vows 
 of our Church members; we therefore heart- 
 ily indorse the aforesaid deliverances as con- 
 taining the just and correct interpretation of 
 the law in the premises, and as such this 
 General Conference accepts the same as hav- 
 ing equal force and authority as if contained 
 in the body of the Discipline." (1497, Dis- 
 cipline of 1890.) 
 
 These utterances and acts put the position 
 of our Church on these diversions beyond 
 question. In this regard the Methodist 
 Church articulates and authoritatively states
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 109 
 
 what all the leading Churches hold. Espe- 
 cially is this true of the modern dance, which, 
 though practiced by many Church members 
 in the various denominations and is even con- 
 nived at by some communions, is approved 
 by no Church in Christendom, and is severe- 
 ly condemned by most. 
 
 A consensus of religious opinion running 
 through many ages of trial and embracing 
 many peoples touching the injurious nature of 
 any practice is itself an almost unanswerable 
 argument against such practice. But a care- 
 ful examination into the data upon which the 
 Church has made up and holds its estimate of 
 the dance will furnish ample proofs to every 
 age that the practice is thoroughly carnal, 
 wars against spiritual interests, and brings 
 much detriment to the spiritual life of many 
 who engage in it. 
 
 But let it be noted that a wise administra- 
 tion of discipline in regard to these things 
 will never be harsh. It is sometimes very 
 difficult for young persons to see in these di- 
 versions what the Church sees. While all 
 sane young persons can see that a vow delib- 
 erately made and deliberately and habitually 
 broken involves sin, it is still best to reen- 
 force them with such knowledge of the in-
 
 HO OUR POLITY. 
 
 herent or incidental evil of these practices as 
 will make them both clear and strong in their 
 own views against them. A wise discipline 
 will, therefore, always be by instruction, by 
 patience, and in the main by persuasion. 
 
 The singing those songs, or reading those 
 looks, which do not tend to the knowledge or 
 love of God. 
 
 The songs and books of a people are the 
 mightiest factors in determining of what char- 
 acter a people shall be. Singing and reading 
 are, therefore, suitable subjects for advisory 
 rules on the part of the Church which would 
 bring its members to the highest and best. 
 This rule does not mean that we are to sing 
 no songs or read no books except such as are 
 distinctly religious in character, but rather 
 that we shall avoid all such as are pernicious 
 or empty of substantial good. In Mr. Wes- 
 ley's time there was very little that was 
 wholesome and edifying in the literature of 
 the day, and much that was bad, and he did a 
 truly great work in expunging, recasting, 
 and making books for his people to read. 
 There is now no more important interest for 
 parents and religious teachers to look after. 
 Many a young person has been ruined by 
 making a companion of one bad book.
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Softness or needless self-indulgence. 
 There is no room for a lazy man in the 
 kingdom of God. A self-indulgent and ease- 
 seeking person cannot fairly claim to be a 
 follower of our Lord, who himself came not 
 to be ministered unto but to minister, and who 
 went about doing good. The servant is not 
 above his Lord. It is every man's duty to be 
 diligent, not only in spiritual concerns but 
 also in temporal affairs. No amount of 
 wealth or opportunity for ease can free a man 
 from the obligation to pursue with alacrity 
 some chosen field of service. 
 Laying up treasure upon earth. 
 Mr. Wesley in one of his sermons gives 
 three great mottoes on this subject: (1) Make 
 all you can. (2) Save all you can. (3) Give 
 all you can. Make all you can consistently 
 with perfect integrity and the rights of oth- 
 ers. Save all you can that is, waste noth- 
 ing. Give all you can consistently with your 
 plain obligations. Mr. Wesley himself made 
 much, wasted nothing, gave everything. Had 
 he been a man of family, he probably could 
 not have made so much, wasted so little, or 
 given all. Nevertheless, he preached the 
 right doctrine and gave the right example 
 concerning earthly treasures. Some wag has
 
 112 OUR POLITY. 
 
 said pithily at least that the maxim which 
 governs the business world of to-day is: 
 "Make all you can, and can all you make." 
 Perhaps no desire is more universal and more 
 hurtful to spiritual life than the desire to lay 
 up treasure upon earth. The Church is by 
 no means free from it, and there is much 
 need of sound teaching in order that our peo- 
 ple may be saved from an inordinate love of 
 the world. 
 
 Borrowing without a -probability of paying, 
 or taking up goods without a probability of 
 paying for them. 
 
 This is virtually obtaining money or goods 
 under false pretenses, which is a misdemean- 
 or under the laws of many, perhaps most, of 
 the States. Thoroughgoing honesty is one of 
 the most valuable fruits of the gospel, and is 
 one of the most charming traits in Church 
 members as they are looked upon by the eyes 
 of the world. There are honest pagans; 
 shall any Christian be less? 
 
 The next section of the Rules, on doing good, 
 is given so clearly and in such detail as to need 
 no comment. It is as follows: 
 
 It is expected of all who continue in these so- 
 cieties that they should continue to evidence 
 their desire of salvation,
 
 THE GENERAL RULES. 113 
 
 Secondly, by doing good, by being m every 
 kind merciful after their power, as they home 
 opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, 
 and, as far as possible, to all men: 
 
 To their bodies, of the ability which God gvv- 
 eth, by giving food to the hungry, by clothing 
 the naked, by visiting or helping them that are 
 sick or in prison j 
 
 To their souls, by instructing, reproving, or 
 exhorting all we have any intercourse with; 
 trampling underfoot that enthusiastic doctrine 
 that tl we are not to do good unless our hearts 
 be free to it. " 
 
 By doing good, especially to tJiem that are of 
 the household of faith, or groaning so to be,' 
 employing them preferably to others, buying one 
 of another, helping each other in business; and 
 so much tlie more because the world will love its 
 own, and them only. 
 
 By all possible diligence and frugality, that 
 the gospel be not blamed. 
 
 By running with patience tJie race which is 
 set before them, denying themselves, and taking 
 up their cross daily; submitting to bear the re- 
 proach of Christ, to be as the jilt h and ojf scour- 
 ing of the world, and looking that men should 
 say all manner of evil of them falsely for the 
 Lord^s sake. 
 8
 
 OUR POLITY. 
 
 It is expected of all who desire to continue in 
 these societies that they should continue to evi- 
 dence their desire of salvation, 
 
 Thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinance* 
 of God; such are, 
 
 The public worship of God. 
 There is much strength in fellowship, no 
 matter what the issue; especially is this the 
 case in spiritual things. No man is so strong 
 as not to need the reinforcement which comes 
 from communion with those of like mind and 
 heart. The doctrines of the Fatherhood of 
 God ajid the brotherhood of man stand very 
 close together. He who has lost his sense of 
 fellowship would do well to look closely into 
 the foundations of his faith. The great de- 
 fection of Thomas against his Lord was due to 
 his being absent from the first prayer meeting 
 after the resurrection. "Forsake not the as- 
 sembling of yourselves together, as the man- 
 ner of some is." When the Pentecost came, 
 the disciples were of one accord in one place. 
 The divine presence is promised to the assem- 
 blies of the saints. 
 
 The ministry of tlie word, citht / read ur ex- 
 pounded. 
 
 Jesus ordained that the world should be 
 saved by the preaching of the gospel. There
 
 THE GENERAL, RUI-ES. 115 
 
 is no substitute for preaching. It has regu- 
 lated the ethical state of men through the ages 
 more than any other influence, and will prob- 
 ably continue to do so* to the end. 
 
 Paul asks: " How can they hear without a 
 preacher? " It may also be asked: "How can 
 he preach without hearers?" It is the plain 
 duty of every member who can to attend regu- 
 larly upon the ministry of the word, and espe- 
 cially upon that of his own Church. All the 
 good ends of good preaching are helped by 
 good hearing. 
 
 The Supper of the Lord. 
 
 Our Lord, who while living made himself 
 of no reputation, left of himself when depart- 
 ing no monument except that he made of the 
 perishable elements, bread ad wine, a remem- 
 brancer. Even this is conditioned upon love 
 and faith upon the part of those who eat and 
 drink. He did not designate a place, a time, 
 or a quantity. He said in substance: Do this 
 as oft as ye shall do it in remembrance of me. 
 The use of this holy sacrament is both a privi- 
 lege and a duty. Many have been deterred 
 from it by foolish and superstitious conceits. 
 He eats and drinks worthily who eats and 
 drinks with faith, and, it might be added, 
 with a sense of his own un worthiness. '
 
 116 OUR POLITY. 
 
 It is the place of the stewards in each charge 
 to procure and arrange the elements for the 
 sacrament. This should always be attended 
 to in a becoming way. In some places there 
 is much neglect. A neat pitcher, however 
 cheap, is better than the bottle which some- 
 times appears. There is no occasion in con- 
 nection with which there is more reason that 
 all the proprieties should be carefully ob- 
 served. 
 
 Family and private pray &/'. 
 
 There can be no spiritual life without prayer. 
 It is " ^he Christian's vital breath. " The neg- 
 lect of it is always followed by religious de- 
 cline. The great movements of the Church 
 can be marked by the presence of men and 
 women who were mighty in prayer princes 
 who prevailed with God. 
 
 The family altar is the birthplace of rev- 
 erence and devotion as is no other place on 
 earth. Parents who allow their children to go 
 into the severe ordeals of life without its hal- 
 lowed memories and fruits commit a great 
 wrong against their offspring. 
 
 Searching the Scriptures. 
 
 One might as well expect to become a great 
 lawyer without studying the common law or 
 the statutes of his State as to become a robust
 
 THE GENERAL BULKS. 117 
 
 Christian without a thorough knowledge and 
 frequent reading of the word of God. It is 
 the sword of the Spirit, and he who fights sin 
 in himself and others must know and constant- 
 ly use it. The tendency to turn all Scripture 
 study out of the family into the Sunday school 
 is pernicious. The home is the best place for 
 readying and studying God's word. 
 
 Fasting or abstinence. . 
 
 This rule has fallen very much into disuse. 
 It is, nevertheless, an important one. There 
 are occasions in religious life and effort for 
 which fasting or abstinence is an almost nec- 
 essary preparation. It is wholesome for the 
 body, quickens the mental faculties, tends to a 
 sense of dependence by impressing us with the 
 perishable nature of our bodies and of all ter- 
 restrial life, leads to gratitude for material 
 gifts, and in many ways helps toward a more 
 spiritual order of living.
 
 n. 
 
 THE CONFERENCES OF METHODISM. 
 
 WHEN a number of persons join in the doing 
 of any work, it is well for them to understand 
 thoroughly three things : the reasons for do- 
 ing the work, the methods by which it is to 
 be done, and the field in which they are to 
 labor. 
 
 In the foregoing statement of our doctrines 
 are given what may be called in the highest 
 sense the reasons for all the labors which have 
 engaged the Methodists for more than a cen- 
 tury and a half and are engaging them now 
 throughout the world. In the following pages 
 it is proposed to set forth in a very brief way 
 the polity of Methodism, or its method of 
 working, and also to outline at least the fields 
 of its operation. 
 
 It may be well to say at the outset that the 
 polity of Methodism is unique that is, it dif- 
 fers in so many vital points from the polities 
 of the other Churches that there has been 
 nothing hitherto in ecclesiastical history to 
 which it may be compared. It will become 
 necessary in these pages to stress these pe- 
 (118)
 
 THK < ONKKKKNVKS OF MKTIK )l >ISM. 119 
 
 culiarities, sometimes to the point of making 
 a comparison of its results with those obtained 
 by other branches of the Christian Church, for 
 whose character and methods the writer en- 
 tertains a profound respect. 
 
 The assembly name of Methodism in all its 
 branches is the word "Conference." The 
 spirit and purpose of Methodist assemblies is 
 very well conveyed by this term, which means 
 a meeting together in order to confer touch- 
 ing all the persons and interests which lie 
 within the domain of the Conference. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
 has five kinds of Conference : Church, Quarter- 
 ly, District, Annual, General. 
 
 1. The Church Conference is composed of 
 all the members of the local Church and resi- 
 dent members of the Annual Conference. 
 The pastor is the chairman. A secretary is 
 elected annually by the body. This Confer- 
 ence is very much like a family meeting in 
 which all the interests of the household may 
 be freely discussed and all local interests 
 looked after, and is invaluable in quickening 
 all the interests of the Church. 
 
 The Church Conference is directed to meet 
 once a month in stations, and at least once 
 every three months at each appointment on
 
 120 
 
 OUR POI/ITV. 
 
 circuits. For order of work see Discipline, 
 [91. 
 
 #. The Quarterly Conference. This body 
 meets, as its name implies, once a quarter, or 
 four times in each Conference year. It is 
 composed of all the traveling and local preach- 
 ers residing within the circuit or station, with 
 the exhorters, stewards, trustees, and class 
 leaders of the respective circuits, stations, and 
 missions, together with the superintendents of 
 Sunday schools who are male members of the 
 Church, the secretaries of Church Confer- 
 ences, and the presidents of Senior Ep worth 
 Leagues, when eligible. The chairman of the 
 Quarterly Conference is the presiding elder 
 or, in his absence, 'the preacher in charge. 
 For order of work see Discipline, ^ 87. 
 
 3. The District Conference. This meeting 
 is held once a year in each district at such 
 time as the presiding elder may appoint. 
 The District Conference is composed of all 
 the preachers in the district, traveling and 
 local, and of laymen, the number of whom 
 and the mode of their appointment each An- 
 nual Conference determines for itself. The 
 chairman of the District Conference is a 
 bishop or, in his absence, the presiding elder. 
 For order of work see Discipline, ^ 72.
 
 THK COVKKKKNOES OF METHODISM. ] 2 I 
 
 4- The Annual Conference, This Confer- 
 ence is composed of all the traveling preach- 
 ers in full connection with it and four lay rep- 
 resentatives from each district. The lay mem- 
 bers are chosen annually by the District Con- 
 ference, and participate in all the business of 
 the Conference except such as involves minis- 
 terial character. The number and bounds of 
 the Annual Conferences are determined by the 
 General Conference. The time of each meet- 
 ing is appointed by the bishop in charge, and 
 the place is fixed by the Conference. The 
 President of the Annual Conference is one of 
 the bishops or, in his absence, a member of 
 the Conference elected by ballot. The presi- 
 dent thus elected discharges all the duties of 
 a bishop except that of ordination. 
 
 This is by far the most important, though 
 not the highest in authority, of all the Con- 
 ferences of Methodism. It has executive su- 
 pervision of all the interests of the Church 
 within its prescribed bounds, such as furnish- 
 ing the people with the gospel, Home and 
 Foreign Missions, Church extension, Sunday 
 schools, Epworth Leagues, and Christian 
 education. It has also large powers of initia- 
 tion. Indeed, much of our General Confer- 
 ence legislation originates as to the thought
 
 122 OUR POLITY. 
 
 and plan within one or more of the Annual 
 Conferences, and no constitutional matter 
 passed upon by the General Conference can 
 become law without the approval of three- 
 fourths of the members of all the Annual Con- 
 ferences. 
 
 The Annual Conference passes at each ses- 
 sion upon the personal life and official admin- 
 istration of .every preacher who is a member 
 of it. The method adopted in this is as open 
 and clear as possible. The name of each man 
 is called in open Conference under the ques- 
 tion, "Are all the preachers blameless in fheir 
 life and official administration ? " The answer 
 must be audible and without ambiguity. If 
 a negative answer be given by anybody, lay 
 or clerical, the law provides for an immediate 
 investigation, and the acquittal of the accused 
 or the imposition of proper penalties, the 
 extremest of which is expulsion from the 
 ministry and the Church. The right of ap- 
 peal belongs to every member who is con- 
 victed of any crime. That appeal is to the 
 General Conference next ensuing. If a mem- 
 ber be tried and acquitted, .there can be no ap- 
 peal: the decision of the Annual Conference 
 is final. The Annual Conference has the 
 right to locate one of its members for ineffi-
 
 THK COTS' l-'KREXOES OF METHODISM. 123 
 
 ciency or unacceptability. Such action does 
 not imply anything against the personal char- 
 acter of the one so dealt with. 
 
 We have forty-six Annual Conferences. 
 Four of these are in foreign countries, and 
 one lies partly in Mexico and partly in the 
 United States. 
 
 5. The General Conference. This body is 
 composed of an equal number of traveling 
 preachers and laymen, elected by the several 
 Annual Conferences. The maximum and min- 
 imum ratios of representation are fixed by what 
 is called the Second Restrictive Rule. Within 
 the limits thus fixed the General Conference 
 may determine from time to time such ratios 
 as it may deem advisable. The present ratio 
 is one clerical member for every forty-eight 
 members of each Annual Conference, and an 
 equal number of lay members. The latest 
 General Conference (1902) was composed of 
 two hundred and seventy-eight members. 
 
 The President of the General Conference 
 is one of the bishops or, if all the bishops 
 should be absent or disabled, a member of 
 the body elected by ballot. The bishops are 
 not members of the General Conference oth- 
 erwise than as Presidents of the body when 
 
 in session.
 
 124 OUR POLITY. 
 
 The General Conference is the only legis- 
 lative assembly of the Church, and its busi- 
 ness is largely transacted through estab- 
 lished committees, very much as in other leg- 
 islative bodies. The standing committees 
 are fourteen in number, and are as follows: 
 Episcopacy, Revisals, Boundaries, Itinerancy, 
 Missions, Sunday Schools, Epworth League, 
 Education, Temperance, Finance, Church 
 Extension, Publishing Interests, Colportage. 
 Appeals. 
 
 The General Conference, being a delegated 
 body, representative of the whole Church, 
 has power to do whatever it deems best for the 
 interests of the Church within the limits pre- 
 scribed in the Six Restrictive Rules. It has 
 power also to alter any of these rules except 
 the first, which relates to the making of any 
 change in our Articles of Religion. The 
 method prescribed for altering any of the 
 other five is given in a proviso to the Sixth 
 Rule. It provides that the proposed change 
 shall pass the General Conference by a two- 
 thirds majority, and then be ratified by 
 three-fourths of the members of the sever- 
 al Annual Conferences present and voting. 
 Such proposals of change may originate with 
 the Annual Conferences. In that event the
 
 THE CONFERENCES OP METHODISM. 125 
 
 order is reversed, and a three-fourths vote 
 in the Annual Conferences must be followed 
 by a two-thirds vote of the General Confer- 
 ence. 
 
 The General Conference meets once in four 
 years in the month of April or May, and at 
 such place as it may select. 
 
 In the interim of the General Conferences 
 the work prescribed by it is carried forward 
 under the direction of the following 
 
 GENERAL BOARDS. 
 
 (1) The Book Committee, which has full 
 supervision of all our publishing interests, 
 and to which all connectional officers are 
 amenable for their official conduct till the 
 meeting .of the General Conference. This 
 committee is composed of thirteen members, 
 six clerical and seven lay, elected by the Gen- 
 eral Conference, on "nomination of a special 
 committee appointed by the bishops. It elects 
 its own chairman and secretary quadren- 
 nially. 
 
 (2) The Board of Missions, which consists 
 of a President, Vice President, Secretary, 
 Treasurer, and seventeen managers, elected 
 by the General Conference quadrennially. 
 The bishops and the Secretary of the Board of
 
 126 OUR POLITY. 
 
 Church Extension are -ex offido members of the 
 Board. 
 
 The Board of Managers has full charge of 
 all foreign missionary affairs, such as the 
 raising of funds and their application, the 
 selection of candidates for the work, and the 
 supervision of all the interests of the Church 
 in foreign fields. 
 
 This Board has also an Assistant Secretary, 
 elected by the Board quadrennially. 
 
 (3) The Sunday School Board. This Board 
 consists of six members, five elected quad- 
 rennially by the General Conference, and the 
 Sunday School Editor, who is elected quad- 
 rennially by the General Conference, and who 
 is ex officio chairman of the Board. To this 
 Board belongs the general management of all 
 Sunday school interests throughout the 
 Church. 
 
 (4) The Ep worth League Board, consisting 
 of thirteen members, six clerical and six lay 
 and one of the bishops, who is e,c officio Presi- 
 dent of the Board. Besides the President and 
 General Secretary, who is elected quadren- 
 nially by the General Conference, the other 
 officers are three Vice Presidents and a Treas- 
 urer, who are elected quadrennially by the 
 Board.
 
 THE CONFERENCES OF METHODISM. 127 
 
 (5) The Board of Education, which is com- 
 posed of fifteen members, elected by the 
 General Conference on nomination of the 
 Committee on Education. The Board elects 
 its own President, Vice President, and Re- 
 cording Secretary, who also acts as Treasurer. 
 The Corresponding Secretary, known as the 
 Secretary of Education, is elected by the 
 General Conference. 
 
 It is the duty of this Board to supervise all 
 the educational interests of the Church, as 
 provided for in Chapter XII. of the Disci- 
 pline. 
 
 (6) The Board of Church Extension, which 
 consists of a President, Vice President, Cor- 
 responding Secretary, and Treasurer, and 
 thirteen members, elected quadrennially by 
 the General Conference, and continuing in 
 office until their successors are elected and 
 accept. The bishops and Secretary of Board 
 of Missions are ex officio members of the 
 Board. For a full statement of the work com- 
 mitted to this Board see Discipline, IT SSI- 
 SOS. 
 
 All these Boards meet once a year, usually 
 in the month of May, and in the city of Nash- 
 ville, except the Board of Church Extension, 
 which meets in Louisville, Ky.
 
 m. 
 
 THE ITINERANCY, 
 
 THE Methodist itinerancy is the most per- 
 fectly organized obedience the world has 
 yet seen to the great commission: "Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature. " 
 
 The two commands of the commission are 
 to go and to preach. 
 
 A Church which was the chief exponent of 
 that phase of Arminian theology which teach- 
 es that all men are free to be saved, and that 
 nothing stands in the way thereto except their 
 own agency, could not logically stop short of 
 claiming the world for its parish. To visit- 
 that parish with the gospel "was the great 
 economic problem with which it undertook 
 to deal in the production of an itinerant plan 
 for the preaching of the gospel. 
 
 Every one entering our traveling connec- 
 tion solemnly pledges himself to go any- 
 where to preach the gospel, whither the ap- 
 pointing power may send him. This does not 
 mean simply anywhere within that Annual 
 Conference with which he connects his for- 
 (128)
 
 THE ITINERANCY. 129 
 
 tunes, but anywhere within the range of a 
 reasonable demand for his services. 
 
 This leads me to remark that the Metho- 
 dist itinerancy is as general as the episcopa- 
 cy. Every preacher who unites with any 
 Conference thereby joins the traveling connec- 
 tionthat is, joins the ministry of Southern 
 Methodism to go whithersoever the bishop 
 may see such need of his services as justifies 
 his appointment. This is the economic fact 
 upon which the transfer power of the bishop 
 is based. Otherwise the transfer power would 
 become nothing more than a power of per- 
 suasion, and as a matter of authority amount 
 to nothing. It is proper to say here that our 
 bishops usually, perhaps unexceptionally, con- 
 fer with a preacher to be transferred from 
 his own to another Conference, so as, in a 
 good measure, to secure his assent before he 
 Ts appointed. The bishops, nevertheless, have 
 the power to transfer a preacher to any field 
 within our boundaries without his consent, and 
 even against his will in the case. It is due to be 
 said here that, inasmuch as our itinerancy is as 
 general as our episcopacy, and as our Church 
 confers upon the bishops the right to transfer 
 preachers without any final right on the part of 
 the preachers to refuse, such preachers, when
 
 130 OUR POLITY. 
 
 transferred, have the same right to considera- 
 tion and fellowship as those who have been 
 members of the receiving Conference from 
 the beginning. As a matter of fact, the 
 transfer has to forego many things which are 
 peculiarly dear to a Methodist preacher in 
 order to serve the Church by obeying the or- 
 der of Providence and the appointing power 
 to the extent of leaving his own Conference 
 to take work in another. 
 
 But the life work of nearly all our preach- 
 ers is within the bounds of the Annual Con- 
 ference with which they first connect them- 
 selves. Within those bounds every man is 
 appointed to his work each year by the bish- 
 op who presides. The bishop alone is the 
 responsible appointing power. This does not 
 mean that no others exert an influence. The 
 bishop receives much advice, a large amount 
 of which he is no doubt wise in disregard- 
 ing. But so vast a movement as the itin- 
 erancy does not leave so vital a matter to 
 haphazard. The bishops are furnished with 
 the best system possible for obtaining coun- 
 sel of the most seasoned kind in regard 
 to both the preachers to lie appointed and 
 the fields to be served. For the full vindi- 
 cation of this position it is necessary that we,
 
 THE ITINERANCY. 131 
 
 arlance at the order of work within the Con- 
 
 ~ 
 
 ference. 
 
 Each Annual Conference contains quite a 
 large territory, sometimes a whole state, 
 sometimes a half state, and so on, according 
 to the population to be served, etc. The lar- 
 srest Conferences have from one hundred and 
 
 o 
 
 fifty to two hundred pastoral charges, em- 
 bracing from sixty to one hundred thou- 
 sand Church members. Each Conference is 
 divided into a number of presiding elders' dis- 
 tricts, from ten to twelve, according to the 
 number of charges in the Conference. These 
 districts usually contain from twelve to twen- 
 ty pastoral charges. The presiding elder, 
 appointed annually by the bishop, has charge 
 of the district, and his duties in general are 
 to preach on four occasions in each pastoral 
 charge, to preside over the Quarterly and 
 District Conferences, counsel with the preach- 
 ers for their own improvement and for the 
 benefit of the Church, and to see that all the 
 interests of the Church are looked after. 
 This office is one of very great importance, 
 and when duly magnified stands second only 
 to that of a bishop. It involves heavy labors, 
 large responsibilities, and vast opportunities. 
 This leads us back to the question of the
 
 132 OUR POLITY. 
 
 appointing power and the usual method of its 
 exercise. All the presiding elders of an An- 
 nual Conference compose a council which has 
 come to be called the bishop's cabinet. Usual- 
 ly the presiding bishop calls the presiding 
 elders to meet him daily, and they together 
 go carefully over the charges, examining into 
 the work of the preachers, and making a ten- 
 tative appointment of each to a place. There 
 are frequent revisions of these appointments 
 before they are ready for announcement at 
 the close of the Conference. Not only does 
 the bishop have the full benefit of the counsel 
 of these chosen advisers, .but any preacher or 
 layman has access to the presiding elders and 
 the bishop to show any view he may hold in 
 regard to men and places. But after all, the 
 responsibility for every appointment is with 
 the bishop, who, if he should choose, has 
 power to change all the appointments agreed 
 upon by the presiding elders, including the 
 places of the presiding elders themselves. 
 
 It has been -said by some that this order 
 places too much power in the hands of the 
 bishops. This might be true under certain 
 conceivable conditions. But so long as wise 
 men do not put themselves to great trouble 
 to do foolish things, or good men to do bad
 
 THE ITINERANCY. 
 
 things, iu either case without reward and in 
 full view of persuasive penalties, there is no 
 danger of the misuse of this peculiarly sacred 
 power. Bishops are, of course, not infallible, 
 and may be deceived either intentionally on 
 the part of some who approach them or un- 
 wittingly on the part of others, and thus mis- 
 takes may occur. But even in that event 
 there are more expeditious and easier correc- 
 tions in our system than in any other yet tried 
 by the Church. 
 
 No preacher is appointed to any work for 
 more than one year at a time, nor can any be 
 appointed to the same charge for more than 
 the fourth year in succession, except in those 
 peculiar cases provided for in the Discipline. 
 Now and then a little local antagonism on 
 the part of preachers and congregations has 
 appeared on account of this feature the time 
 limit; but in reality there is not a more im- 
 portant feature of the itinerant system. 
 
 It has been said that it prevents us from 
 having a settled pastorate, such as is found in 
 the Churches which have the congregational 
 form of government, where the congregation 
 selects the pastor and keeps him so long as 
 the people want him and he wishes to stay. 
 A few instances of a pastorate running through
 
 134 OUR POLITY. 
 
 forty or even fifty years have given an incor- 
 rect impression as to the average duration 
 of the pastoral term in the congregational 
 Churches. On the other hand, the liability 
 to an annual change in our pastorate and the 
 certainty of it at the end f four years have 
 produced an erroneous impression as to its 
 average duration. 
 
 Some years ago Bishop McTyeire made a 
 very careful inquiry into this matter and 
 brought to light some very surprising data. 
 He made the field of comparison to cover the 
 leading towns and cities of the South and 
 Southwest where our Church has its chief 
 sphere of work. The three leading Congre- 
 gational Churches of the same region are the 
 Baptist, the Presbyterian, and the Protestant 
 Episcopal. Bishop McTyeire obtained the 
 record of the pastorates of these three Church- 
 es through a considerable period, and found 
 that the average pastoral term in our Church 
 was longer than the average term in the other 
 three that is, putting together the pastorates 
 of the other three Churches and obtaining the 
 average for the three, ours was found to be 
 the longer term. The Bishop called attention 
 to another feature of the situation which is 
 worthy of note viz., that when in other
 
 THK ITINERANCY. 
 
 135 
 
 Churches the people would be rid of a pastor 
 they must construct a prize with which to 
 lift him out, while with the Methodists the 
 wheel rolls round on schedule and rolls him 
 out. There can be no doubt as to the supe- 
 riority of the wheel over the lever as a means 
 of locomotion. 
 
 But there is a much more important thing 
 than the length of the pastoral term which 
 has been accomplished by our system as by 
 no other viz., the constant furnishing of all 
 our people with preaching and the other 
 means of grace. 
 
 It has been the economic boast of Metho- 
 dism that it has no preacher without a Church 
 to serve, and no Church without a preacher. 
 In the congregational Churches this, evil is 
 inevitable and constant. Occasional reports 
 made public touching this question show 
 thousands of Churches in the United States 
 without a pastor, and about the same number 
 of pastors without a Church. 
 
 Through the itinerant plan as used by us not 
 only is every congregation constantly sup- 
 plied with pastoral service, but by reason of 
 our connectional order men are often appoint- 
 ed to places where we have neither an organ- 
 ized society nor a place of worship. They
 
 136 otre POLITY. 
 
 are sustained out of a fund raised in each 
 Conference for that purpose until the people 
 have been evangelized and have themselves 
 become contributors to the further spread of 
 the same gospel which has saved them. 
 
 The itinerancy requires that many things 
 of a social nature be foregone by both pastor 
 and people, things which in themselves are 
 delightful and worthy to be sought. It also 
 involves many inconveniences, and even to 
 this day hardships of no ordinary kind. But 
 it is the best way of doing the thing proposed, 
 and is not likely to decline or grow effete so 
 long as the Methodist people maintain that 
 spirit of obedience to the great commission 
 which led to its origination and its use thus 
 far. 
 
 The success of the itinerancy as a means 
 of evangelization has been truly wonderful. 
 The organized movement began in England 
 with all odds against it in 1739, and in Amer- 
 ica in 1769. So rapid has been the growth 
 of the Church that its members now number 
 nearly seven millions, with probably not less 
 than fifty millions of adherents. It has not 
 only grown populous beyond any precedent, 
 but it has become rich and influential, and 
 has affected favorably the doctrines and poli-
 
 THE ITINERANCY. 137 
 
 ties of nearly all the Protestant denomina- 
 tions. God has unquestionably set his seal of 
 approval upon it. Notwitstanding the mar- 
 velous progress of the past, it is evident that 
 Methodism has but fairly begun its career of 
 evangelization, provided its leaders and peo- 
 ple are true to its doctrines and life. Many 
 lands, with their teeming unsaved millions, 
 await its ministry. In no land where it has 
 been planted thus far have its truths and 
 plans of work failed to command the respect 
 and acceptance of the people.
 
 IV. 
 OUR MINISTRY. 
 
 WE hold steadfastly to the doctrine that 
 God calls those whom he would have to pro- 
 claim his message, and that such a call implies 
 a call to thoroughly prepare for the best use 
 of the holy office. 
 
 When one is inwardly persuaded of his call 
 to the ministry, he is, if on examination found 
 worthy, recommended by the Quarterly Con- 
 ference of the charge to which he belongs for 
 license to preach. This recommendation is 
 now to the District Conference. Formerly 
 that is, from the time of our organization till 
 1894 the licensing of preachers was by the 
 Quarterly Conference. The District Confer- 
 ence receiving the recommendation examines 
 into the gifts, graces, and usefulness of the 
 candidate; and, finding him worthy, grants a 
 license for one year, which must thereafter be 
 annually renewed until the local preacher thus 
 made is ordained a deacon. This ordination 
 comes in due course, by vote of the An- 
 nual Conference, in four years, provided 
 the local preacher has done satisfactory work 
 and is recommended by the District Confer- 
 (138)
 
 OUR MINISTRY. 
 
 139 
 
 ence for this order. If the local preacher thus 
 made desires to join the traveling connection, 
 he procures a recommendation from the Dis- 
 trict Conference to the Annual Conference for 
 admission on trial. At the session of the An- 
 nual Conference he is examined by two com- 
 mittees touching his gifts, attainments, and 
 suitableness for this work. If found worthy, 
 and if he be needed, he is admitted on trial 
 by a majority vote of the Annual Conference. 
 He is not then a member of the Conference, 
 but is a local preacher on trial to become a 
 member. If at the expiration of two years 
 he has proven his fitness for the work, and 
 passed satisfactory examinations on the course 
 of study for the two years, he is by order c 
 the Conference ordained a deacon and admit- 
 ted into membership in the Conference, 
 he continue for two years more to demon- 
 strate his fitness for the work, and pass the i 
 quired examinations on the course of study 1 
 the third and fourth years, he is ordained 
 
 elder. . 
 
 When once admitted into membership 
 the traveling connection, there are five ways 
 of going out: To withdraw; to die; to be ex- 
 pelled for immorality, as provided for in the 
 Discipline; to ask for and receive a location;
 
 140 OUR POLITY. 
 
 and to be located by vote of the Conference 
 for inefficiency or unacceptability. When lo- 
 cation occurs, either by request or by the un- 
 solicited vote of the Conference, the one thus 
 located remains a local preacher. 
 
 It should here be noted that the work of a 
 local preacher is chiefly to preach within the 
 charge to which he belongs, under the direc- 
 tion of the preacher in charge, and to assist in 
 all manner of religious work as opportunity 
 may offer. The local preacher pursues some 
 other vocation for a livelihood, and usually 
 receives nothing for his services as a preach- 
 er. The local preacher has been, through 
 most of our history, a great power in the 
 Church. With the multiplication of reg- 
 ular pastors, and a decrease in the size of 
 pastoral charges, by which most of our peo- 
 ple are furnished with frequent opportuni- 
 ties for hearing the word, there has come 
 a decline in our local ministry which is to 
 be much regretted. There is still room for 
 the constant employment of thousands of 
 such godly and devoted men, and the seer 
 who can suggest a plan by which the local 
 ministry can be restored to its pristine pow- 
 er and spiritual glory will confer a lasting 
 benefit upon the Church. The English Meth-
 
 OUR MINISTRY. 
 
 141 
 
 odists, amidst their crowded conditions, are 
 making great use of it. 
 
 Within the Annual Conference, and apart 
 f roni those who are in the active work, there are 
 supernumerary and superannuated preachers. 
 k 'A supernumerary preacher is one who is so 
 disabled by affliction as to be unable to preach 
 constantly, but who is willing to do any work 
 in the ministry which the bishop may direct 
 and he may be able to perform." U A super- 
 annuated preacher is one who is worn out in 
 the itinerant service." Superannuated preach- 
 ers are supported in whole or in part, usually 
 in part, and a very small part at best, out of 
 the superannuates' fund a fund raised chiefly 
 by collections throughout the Annual Confer- 
 ence for that purpose. 
 
 The highest place in our ministry is that of 
 bishop, or General Superintendent. Our bish- 
 ops are elected by the General Conference, 
 which, as we have seen, is a delegated body 
 composed of an equal number of traveling 
 preachers and laymen. Bishops are^in every 
 way amenable ito the body which makes them. 
 The life and official administration of each is 
 passed under review once in four years. This 
 is done in what is known as the Committee on 
 Episcopacy. Any preacher or layman in the
 
 142 OUR POLITY. 
 
 connection may come, by letter or in per on, 
 before this committee with any complaint he 
 may wish to make. It thus happens that our 
 bishops' lives are lived in the open like those 
 of all our preachers. No class is held to a 
 stricter accountability; and yet there is in 
 that Committee, as elsewhere, a profound 
 reverence for the office and for those who 
 are called to fill it. This is largely due to 
 the unimpeachable integrity and purity of 
 those who have been occupants of that 
 place. We have never had a case of trouble 
 with a bishop on moral grounds, and none 
 of a serious nature on grounds of adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 The College of Bishops meets once a year, 
 in the month of May, to consider all the inter- 
 ests of the Church committed to them. There 
 is an annual assignment made of each bishop to 
 the work of the ensuing year. This is done 
 through a committee of bishops appointed for 
 that purpose by the College. 
 
 There is no class of preachers among us to 
 which is assigned so long and varied a list of 
 duties as to our bishops. Their responsibili- 
 ties are of the largest, and their fields of labor 
 practically boundless. This will be readily 
 seen by reading, in Chapter III., Section 2, of
 
 OUR MIMSTRY. 148 
 
 the Discipline, what the Church provides that 
 its bishops shall do. 
 
 The bishops, being general superintendents, 
 are supported by the general Church out of 
 funds collected for the purpose within each 
 Annual Conference. Bishops who have be- 
 come superannuated, and the widows and chil- 
 dren of deceased bishops, are sustained in the 
 same way. Both the salaries and allowances 
 are fixed by recommendation of the Commit- 
 tee on Episcopacy,
 
 V. 
 
 OUR CONNECTION ALISM. 
 
 WE may say, without any disparagement 
 of other forms of Church government, that 
 there is one element in Methodism which sur- 
 passes anything hitherto known in Church 
 organization. Tnat feature may be called 
 the genius of it rather than a mere element. 
 We refer to its connectionalism. We call it 
 the genius of Methodism because it pervades 
 with its spirit every part of the system from 
 the reception of a preacher on trial to the 
 bishopric or general superintendence, and is 
 in all the work of the Church from the exten- 
 sion of church - building within the home 
 field to the giving of the gospel to every 
 creature. By connectionalism we mean that 
 summation of conditions by which the whole 
 Church is present in a good sense wherever 
 any part of it exists that is, each part is in 
 vital relation to all the others. The most in- 
 experienced preacher in the humblest field is 
 there in effect by the appointment or will of 
 the whole Church. The Church brings this 
 appointment about by the simplest and most 
 rational method possible. Tt is through the 
 (144)
 
 OUR CONNECTION ALISM. 145 
 
 bishop, who has a wholly general relation, and 
 who is as truly subject to appointment by his 
 peers as the pastors are to appointment by 
 him. He has his work assigned him once a 
 year, and each time his field is as liable to be 
 within China or Brazil as in Tennessee. But 
 this general superintendence, which is thus 
 free from local prejudices, is not a haphazard 
 matter. The bishop does his work after 
 counsel from the presiding elders, whose busi- 
 ness it is to know in as far as possible both the 
 man and the field. The bishops themselves 
 are elected to this work by the whole Church 
 in a delegated assembly, which is composed 
 of traveling preachers and laymen in equal 
 numbers, and the bishops are constantly ame- 
 nable to this body for the way in which they 
 exercise this appointing power as well as all oth- 
 er functions which belong to the office. It is 
 in this way that the whole Church makes the 
 appointment of any preacher, whether he be 
 the pastor of the remotest mission, with its 
 peculiar hardships, or the episcopacy, with its 
 fullness of care and responsibility. This 
 principle finds most impressive illustration 
 when an Annual Conference meets in its last 
 session to receive the appointments. In the 
 whole body not a man knows certainly what 
 10
 
 146 OUR POLITY. 
 
 his field of labor will be until the pronounce- 
 ment falls from the lips of the bishop, the 
 man through whom the Church appoints him. 
 These men are not less ardent in their at- 
 tachments because of the fact that their sys- 
 tem makes them cosmopolitan in their sym- 
 pathies and habits of thought. No men have 
 stronger individuality or more definite pref- 
 erences than Methodist preachers: They go, 
 nevertheless, whithersoever they are sent with 
 a good cheer which is utterly inexplicable to 
 those who do not understand the workings of 
 our system. There is no truer exhibition of 
 moral sublimity in all the organizations of 
 men than an Annual Conference receiving the 
 appointments. 
 
 There is not to be found elsewhere in hu- 
 man history such a combination of self-sur- 
 render and pure democracy as is found in the 
 Methodist itinerancy and its loyal acceptance 
 by the Church. The self-surrender element 
 is found in the Catholic Church, especially in 
 its Jesuitism, but the democracy is not there. 
 With the Romanists everything proceeds from 
 a so-called infallible pope; with the Metho- 
 dists everything, including its ministry 
 throughout, is of the Church. The self- 
 surrender of the Methodist preacher, while
 
 OTTK CONNECTIOXALISM. 
 
 147 
 
 in a broad and high sense absolute, is yet un- 
 der guard of a democratic order so thorough 
 and complete as to take out of it all elements 
 of mere chance and as far as possible all dan- 
 gers from mere personal prejudice. Jn other 
 words, his surrender is not to any man or 
 committee of men, but to the whole Church 
 for the good of the whole. Not only so, but 
 the surrender of the right, on the part of the 
 preacher, to choose his field of work is an- 
 swered back to by the surrender, on the part 
 of the congregation, of its right to choose a 
 pastor. And yet there is no lack of intelli- 
 gent counsel both ways. A practical outcome 
 of this order is that probably no Church is bet- 
 ter satisfied with its pastors, and no preachers 
 more unselfishly devoted to their people. 
 
 As it is in the ministry, so it is in the work 
 of the Church. The Church itself in general 
 council determines what work shall be under- 
 taken of a general order, and by a rational 
 method determines what part of the work 
 shall be done by each part of the Church, and 
 thus stands back of the individual pastor, as 
 he proceeds to his task, and furnishes the 
 pledge of its assembled wisdom to each con- 
 gregation as it goes forward with the achieve- 
 ment of its part of the whole. It will be
 
 148 OUK POLITY. 
 
 easily seen that this plan greatly reenforces 
 the individual invention of the pastor, and, 
 when the pastor is wholly lacking in inven- 
 tion, provides for a safe and harmonious 
 schedule of Church work. 
 
 In the connectional order of Methodism 
 the Boards of Management are truly General 
 Boards. Each Annual Conference has its own 
 Boards, but in addition to superintending lo- 
 cal or Conference interests these Boards have 
 a connectional side. They execute within the 
 Annual Conferences the plans of the General 
 Boards. The General Boards are created by 
 the General Conference every four years, and 
 in all the interests committed to them they 
 stand for the General Conference in the in- 
 terims of its meetings. In this way the will 
 of the general Church or General Confer- 
 ence is made to run on without lack of 
 authority or resources as surely and as suc- 
 cessfully as if each interest were under the 
 immediate direction of the General Confer- 
 ence itself. As a result of this arrange- 
 ment, whatever these Boards undertake, 
 within the limitations put upon them, be- 
 comes a matter for the whole Church, in the 
 doing of which the honor of the Church is 
 
 O 
 
 involved, and in which the loyalty of every
 
 OUR CONNECTIONAL1SM. 14i) 
 
 charge to the will of the general Church comes 
 into play. 
 
 There are certain things which stand related 
 to this connectional organization very much 
 as in geometry a corollary is related to a the- 
 orem and its processes of demonstration. 
 Logically considered, they are " obvious con- 
 sequences," whether they have as yet mate- 
 rialized into a part of our polity, as some of 
 them have, or stand forth only in the form of 
 a logical demand that the Church shall use 
 them. 
 
 One of these corollaries is the transfer 
 power, which is born of the relation of our 
 general superintendency to our general itiner- 
 ancy as set forth in the discussion of "Our 
 Itinerancy." 
 
 Two other conclusions which connectional- 
 ism was bound to reach, and did reach long 
 ago, were a connectional organ and a connec- 
 tional publishing interest. How well these 
 have worked, we have all seen long ago. 
 Some years ago, when the Publishing House 
 became involved to a point of practical insol- 
 vency, the connectional spirit was appealed 
 to, and a process was begun which resulted 
 quickly in its recuperation, and brought it in 
 a short while to foundations which are among
 
 150 OUR I'OLITY. 
 
 the securest in modern commerce. The same 
 thing was illustrated in the payment in one 
 year of a missionary debt of more than one 
 hundred and thirty thousand dollars without 
 .diminishing the regular collections for that 
 interest. This magnificent result was largely 
 due to the fact that when the Secretary, Dr. 
 Morrison, went forth on his mission he was 
 as much at home and in authority in San 
 Francisco as he was in Nashville, where the 
 offices of the Boards are located. Again the 
 rallying of the connectional spirit, and the 
 use of the connectional opportunity, saved 
 the cause. 
 
 But there are two other conclusions which 
 are inevitable from the connectional order of 
 Methodism, which are just beginning to be 
 realized as a part of the polity of the Church. 
 One of these is a connectional system of edu- 
 cation. The present Board of Education has 
 taken steps which unquestionably tend in that 
 direction, and some progress has been made 
 toward practical results. Indeed, the act of 
 the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University 
 and of the General Conference in making 
 that institution the university of the whole 
 Church gives promise of a thoroughly re- 
 lated and compacted system which will en-
 
 OUR COXNECTioNAl.Is.M. 
 
 151 
 
 able us to lead the van, not by the sacrifice of 
 other great schools, but by an order which 
 will help them all, and which will reach 
 down and clasp hands with the public school 
 system so as to conserve rather chan in any 
 sense surrender the Methodist element in 
 
 them. 
 
 But perhaps the finest conclusion, and one 
 which we are barely entering upon, is the 
 creation of a connectional fund for our super- 
 annuated preachers. The doing of this is an 
 easy thing under a proper plan and with the 
 right time lirnits. This is a matter in which 
 we can much better afford to go slowly than 
 not to go at all. The lifetime of a Church is 
 a long stretch. So long as our itinerancy 
 continues, the worn-out preacher without re- 
 sources is to be a stupendous fact in our 
 Church life. The late General Conference 
 (1902) determined upon the raising of five 
 million dollars for this purpose. The sources 
 chiefly relied upon under that order are pop- 
 ular collections and bequests. Other sources 
 will probably be put under contribution later. 
 There are at least two others which might 
 be used with great profit to the fund. The 
 first of these is a certain per cent of the pop- 
 ular collection in every charge. The stimu-
 
 152 OUR POLITY. 
 
 lating effect of such a movement would make 
 the remaining per cent a larger amount than 
 that which is now raised for the same pur- 
 pose, and would result in the bringing of 
 this great claim clearly before our people. 
 The second is a fixed percentage of the clear- 
 ings of the Publishing House. 
 
 After all, nothing of an economic kind 
 would have a better effect in guarding our 
 ministry against the danger of the contin- 
 uance of inefficient men in the traveling con- 
 nection. Such a fund would bring a better 
 service and a greater dignity to the Church, 
 and a larger sense of security to the faithful 
 men who are toiling on amidst galling limita- 
 tions to serve their generation by the will of 
 God. 
 
 It is easy to see that the Methodist polity, 
 when operated according to its design, is an 
 organization of tremendous force and un- 
 equaled flexibility. The system is capable 
 of a vast impact, one which is scarcely re- 
 sistible within the domain of the Church's 
 work. But from the fact that our polity is 
 a perfect concatenation of parts that is, a 
 chain of essential links it follows that a 
 want of strength or adjustment at any point 
 affects the efficiency of the whole order. It
 
 OUR CONNECTIONALISM. 153 
 
 implies, therefore, an extraordinary respon- 
 sibility for all those who have any vital con- 
 nection with the operation of the system. 
 
 From what has been said concerning the 
 relation of parts in our system, it is not diffi- 
 cult to see that we are at the farthest remove 
 from the congregational system. The two 
 orders are as unlike as possible. They will 
 not mix. Whether the congregational order 
 could be improved by the organic adoption 
 of certain features of our polity is a curious 
 question on which we do not desire to enter; 
 but that any tendency toward congregational- 
 ism, or even broader forms of localizing, 
 works detriment to our interests there can 
 scarcely be any question. It is a question 
 whether or not there is such a tendency in 
 some sections among us. We have occasion- 
 ally seen symptoms which look in this direc- 
 tion, but nothing which indicates a serious 
 change of thought, only a loss of sympathy. 
 It is well, however, for every pastor and 
 teacher to keep careful and statesmanlike 
 guard over the loyalty of the people to our 
 connectional order and interests. And it is 
 well to remember that this loyalty is not a 
 thing to be effected by the exercise of author- 
 ity, but to be developed by a broad intelli-
 
 J54 OUR POLITY. 
 
 gence as to the nature of our polity and of 
 the vastness and importance of the general 
 work which the Church has taken in hand, a 
 work which is impossible of full accomplish- 
 ment except by the cordial cooperation of all 
 the congregations. It sometimes happens that 
 a community, or an element in a community, 
 loses sympathy with the general movements 
 of the Church, then loses the sense of connec- 
 tionalism; and finally, finding itself unable to 
 cooperate in this disjointed state with the 
 great body, goes off into independence that 
 is, becomes congregational. As a rule, such 
 movements have not succeeded; as a rule, 
 they probably never will. The conditions of 
 success which belong to the regular congrega 
 tional system are wanting, and the conditions 
 which bring success to a connectional Church 
 have been rejected. 
 
 What Methodism could do, if every man 
 would only do his duty in an ordinary meas- 
 ure, staggers conception. It is able not only 
 to girdle the globe with a holy and trium- 
 phant evangelism, but also to belt it with insti- 
 tutions of learning, of reform, and of char- 
 ity. To have part in the operation of a sys- 
 tem the possibilities of which are beyond 
 speech almost beyond figures --implies a
 
 01 K < (>N Nia'TIOXALISM. 155 
 
 vast responsibility, the very thought of which 
 ought to arouse every Methodist to new vigor 
 in the doing of his part. The system itself is 
 in default at no point. The only trouble is a 
 lack of fidelity on the part of those who have 
 formally given their allegiance but have with- 
 held their aid.
 
 VI. 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 
 
 MISSIONS. 
 
 THE missionary work of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, is divided into 
 Foreign Missions and Home Missions, and is 
 under the supervision of the Board of Mis- 
 sions, the Woman's Foreign Missionary Board, 
 the Woman's Home Mission Board, and one 
 Board in each of the Annual Conferences. 
 
 The statistics of these several fields are as 
 follows: 
 
 BOARD OF MISSIONS. 
 
 The following figures show the increase in 
 contributions for missions in the quadren- 
 nium ending March 31, 1902: 
 
 Regular Collections. 
 
 1899 $ 220,49492 $ 
 
 1900 285,116 51 
 
 1901 267,084 22 
 
 1902.. 291,67279 
 
 From 
 All Sources. 
 
 255,525 03 
 284,220 46 
 330,356 65 
 362,135 85 
 
 Total for quadrennium . .$1,014,368 44 $1,232,237 99 
 
 Former quadrennium . . . 901,59324 1,077,38813 
 
 Increase $ 112,775 20 $ 154,849 86 
 
 Number of missionaries, 160. Number of 
 native preachers. 102. 
 (156)
 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 157 
 
 CHINA MISSION CONFERENCE. 
 
 This mission was founded in 1848. Our first 
 missionary in that field was Rev. Chas. Taylor, 
 of the South Carolina Conference. The latest 
 reports give the following figures: Mission- 
 aries (including wives), 33; native traveling 
 preachers, 15; members, 934; Sunday schools, 
 29; scholars, 1,712; Epworth Leagues, 18; 
 membership, 599; organized Churches, 27; 
 Churches entirely self-supporting, 3; board- 
 ing schools, 2; pupils, 264; day schools, 8; 
 pupils, 153; hospital, 1; dispensaries, 2; pa- 
 tients treated, 16,462; total collections, $1,- 
 416.55; total value of 'mission property, $195,- 
 932.50. 
 
 THE KOREA MISSION. 
 
 The Korea Mission forms one district of 
 the China Mission Conference; but the lan- 
 guage, national life, and general conditions 
 make the work so radically different that 
 financially and administratively it is separate- 
 ly considered by the Board. It was opened 
 by Bishop Hendrix in 1895. Dr. C. F. Reid, 
 of the China Mission, was appointed superin- 
 tendent. The conversion of Mr. T. H. Yun 
 and his urgent appeal to enter Korea became 
 a call of Providence to the Church. The su- 
 perintendent reports: Missionaries (including
 
 158 OUR POLITY. 
 
 wives), 12; local preachers and helpers, 28; 
 members, 424 (increase, 155); Sunday schools, 
 11; scholars, 343; dispensary, 1; patients 
 treated, 405; collections, $272; total value of 
 mission property, $30,115. 
 
 JAPAN MISSION CONFERENCE. 
 
 Our work was begun in this field in 1886 
 by Drs. J. W. and W. R. Lambuth and O. 
 A. Dukes. The mission was organized into 
 an Annual Conference in 1892. In this An- 
 nual Conference we have: Missionaries (in- 
 cluding wives), 39; native traveling preach- 
 ers, 11; members, 744; Sunday schools, 42; 
 scholars, 1,654; Epworth Leagues, 2; mem- 
 bers, 60; organized Churches, 15; Churches 
 entirely self-supporting, 2; boarding schools, 
 2; pupils, 586; day schools, 8; pupils, 181; 
 total collections, $1,245.17; total value of 
 mission property, $62,694. 
 
 BRAZIL MISSION CONFERENCE. 
 
 Our missionary operations in Brazil had 
 their commencement in 1872, when Rev. J. J. 
 Ransom, our first missionary to that field, was 
 sent out. The mission was organized into an 
 Annual Conference in 1886. There are now 
 in the Brazil Mission Conference: Mission- 
 aries (including wives), 28; native traveling
 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 159 
 
 preachers, 19; members, 3,343; Sunday schools, 
 65; scholars, 2,370; Epworth Leagues, 7; 
 members, 315 ; organized Churches, 48 ; Church- 
 es entirely self -supporting, 7; boarding school, 
 1; pupils, 53; day school, 1; pupils, 39; total 
 collections, $7,301.38; total value of mission 
 property,- $115,338. 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 In thirty years this mission has grown into 
 three Annual Conferences. The combined sta- 
 tistics of the Central (organized in 1886), the 
 Northwest (organized in 1890), and the Mexi- 
 can Border (organized in 1885) three Mis- 
 sion Conferences now in Mexico, which rep- 
 resent the fruits of incessant toil and heroic- 
 devotion for thirty years are: Missionaries 
 (including wives), 34; native traveling preach- 
 ers, 53; members, 5,814 (increase, 106); Sun- 
 day schools, 116; scholars, 3,862; Epworth 
 Leagues, 47; members, 1,545; organized 
 Churches, 168; Churches entirely self-support- 
 ing, 5; boarding school, 1; pupils, 212; hos- 
 pitals, 2; patients treated, 3,133; total collec- 
 tions, $5,180.30; total value of mission prop- 
 erty, $167,107,08. 
 
 CUBA MISSION. 
 
 Our tirst work in Havana was organized in 
 1896, and in 1898 Cuba was taken under the
 
 160 OUK POLITY. 
 
 control of the Board as a regular mission field. 
 We are establishing ourselves firmly on the 
 island, as is shown by the erection of a sub- 
 stantial stone church in Matanzas and the pur- 
 chase by Bishop Candler for $15,000 of a cen- 
 trally located property in Havana well adapted 
 for church and school purposes. The work 
 has grown steadily, there being a marked in- 
 crease over last year. Rev. D. W. Carter, su- 
 perintendent of the mission, reports the follow- 
 ing statistics: Missionaries (incuding wives), 
 14; native traveling preachers, 2; members, 
 454 (increase, 62); Sunday schools, 9; scholars, 
 552; Epworth Leagues, 3; organized Churches, 
 8; day schools, 3; pupils, 288; collections for 
 all purposes, $2,884.57; total value of mission 
 property, $40,000. 
 
 OTHER MISSIONS. 
 
 In addition to these six foreign mission 
 fields occupied by our -Church, we have a Ger- 
 man Mission and an Indian Mission Confer- 
 ence, and our General Board of Missions to 
 aid the work of our Church in the Pacific, the 
 Los Angeles, the Columbia, the East Colum- 
 bia, the Denver, the Montana, the Western, 
 and the New Mexico Conferences.
 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 
 OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 
 
 The officers of the Board for the quadren- 
 nium beginning May, 1902, are as follows: 
 Bishop A. W. Wilson, President; Rev. James 
 Atkins, Vice President; Rev. Walter R. Lam- 
 buth, Secretary; Rev. Seth Ward, Assistant 
 Secretary; J. D. Hamilton, Treasurer. 
 
 WOMAN'S BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 This Board was given its constitution in 
 Atlanta, Ga., by the General Conference, in 
 1878. During the first year $4,104:. 27 was col- 
 lected, but the service at home last year result- 
 ed in $104,017.95, making the total of $1,396,- 
 188 collected since organization. The Wom- 
 an's Board supports 67 missionaries in the 
 following countries: China, Korea, Brazil, 
 Mexico, and Cuba. The women sent out oc- 
 cupy 29 stations, conduct 22 boarding schools 
 and 61 day schools, and there are 170 native 
 and foreign assistant teachers, 78 Bible wom- 
 en, 218 scholarships, 6 kindergartens, 2 hos- 
 pitals, and 2 Bible schools. There are 567 
 boarding pupils, 1,008 day school pupils, with 
 about five thousand women and children under 
 instruction, about two thousand of whom are 
 Sunday school pupils. The value of property 
 owned by the Woman's Board of Foreign Mis- 
 11
 
 162 OUR POLITY. 
 
 sions, including the Scarritt Bible and Train- 
 ing School, is 1401,500. 
 
 The officers of the Board are as follows: 
 Mrs. M. D. Wightman, President; Miss Maria 
 L. Gibson, First Vice President; Mrs. A. W. 
 Wilson, Second Vice President; Mrs. S. C. 
 Trueheart, Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. T. 
 B. Hargrove, Recording Secretary; Mrs. H. 
 N. McTyeire, Treasurer. 
 
 WOMAN'S HOME MISSION SOCIETY. 
 
 The Woman's Home Mission Society of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South, came into 
 existence in 1886. 
 
 The object of this Society is to enlist Chris- 
 tian women and children in securing homes 
 for itinerant preachers, in helping to make 
 comfortable the families of those ministers 
 whose charges are unable to provide sufficient 
 support, and providing religious instruction 
 for the neglected and destitute. 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 Miss Belle H. Bennett, Richmond, Ky., 
 President; Mrs. John D. Hammond, Nash- 
 ville, Tenn., First Vice President; Mrs. F. B. 
 Carroll, Dallas, Tex., Second Vice President; 
 Mrs. R. W. MacDonell, Nashville, Tenn., Gen-
 
 FIELDS OF WOBK. 163 
 
 eral Secretary; Miss Emily M. Allen, Macon, 
 Ga., Recording Secretary; Mrs. W. D. Kirk- 
 land, Nashville, Tenn., General Treasurer. 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 Number of members, 29,034; receipts for 
 connectional work, $269,935.11; receipts for 
 local work, $456,010.55; total receipts, $725,- 
 945.66; number of parsonages built and aided, 
 1,265; money donated to parsonages, $117,- 
 284.23; money loaned to parsonages, $37,100; 
 value of supplies distributed outside of re- 
 ceipts above stated, $44,921.06; number of 
 boarding and day schools supported, 4; num- 
 ber of night schools supported, 5; number of 
 pupils enrolled, 1,080; number of missionaries 
 and teachers employed, 47; number of city 
 mission boards, 9; number of Rescue Homes 
 and Doors of Hope, 2; value of property, 
 $69,000. 
 
 PARSONAGES. 
 
 During the year the Board granted $3,475 
 to 37 parsonages, while the Conference Socie- 
 ties, through their 50 per cent of dues, helped 
 92 to the amount of $6,424, thus making a to- 
 tal of 129 parsonages granted $9,899. Since 
 organization 1,265 parsonages have been aided 
 to the amount of $117,284.23.
 
 164 OUR POLITY. 
 
 SUPPLIES. 
 
 Last year goods valued at $8,136.54: were 
 forwarded to the heroes who hold those fields 
 known as the "hard appointments." In ten 
 years $44, 021. 06 has been distributed through 
 this department. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Of no part of our work are we more hope- 
 ful than of these character-building institu- 
 tions. The three schools for the Cubans at 
 Tampa, Ybor City, and Key West have been 
 filled by 403 scholars under the instruction of 
 14 teachers. 
 
 At London, Ky., the pupilage has been 265, 
 and during the year 32 students have been 
 converted. A large per cent of these students 
 go out to become teachers in district schools, 
 thus enlarging the influence of this school, 
 known as the Sue Bennett Memorial School. 
 
 The Industrial Home and School at Greene- 
 ville, Tenn., under the direction of Mrs. E. E. 
 Wiley, has given fostering care to 113 children 
 during the year. 
 
 On the Pacific Coast the Society carries on 
 night schools at Los Angeles, for Chinese; and 
 at San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda, for 
 Japanese. Since the organization of these 
 schools more than five hundred and fifty-nine
 
 OF WUKK. 165 
 
 students have been enrolled, and full three 
 score have become Christians. 
 
 At Augusta, Ga., in an annex to Paine Col- 
 lege, the society has undertaken the industrial 
 training of the young negro women who are 
 enrolled as students. 
 
 Two schools among the Choctaw Indians of 
 Mississippi have been opened. 
 
 Work has also been instituted in the mines 
 of West Virginia. 
 
 CITY MISSIONS. 
 
 In eleven cities the auxiliaries are organized 
 into City Mission Boards, employing trained 
 missionaries. In Atlanta, Nashville, and Nor- 
 folk small beginnings have been made in set- 
 tlement work, the missionaries living in needy 
 sections, thus getting into the home life and 
 close to the hearts of the people. 
 
 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 The Sunday school work is conducted for 
 the double purpose of instructing the young 
 in a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and 
 of training them in the habits of Christian 
 work. 
 
 In each congregation the Sunday school is 
 under the management of the Quarterly Con- 
 ference, which elects the superintendent an- 
 il *
 
 166 OUR POLITY. 
 
 nually on nomination of the pastor, who is 
 the superintendent in chief of all the schools 
 within his pastoral charge. The pastor and 
 superintendent together select the teachers 
 and give direction to their work. 
 
 The Sunday School Department is under 
 the management of the Sunday School Board, 
 which consists of five members, and the Sun- 
 day School Editor, who is ex officio chairman. 
 The Board is elected quadrennially by the 
 General Conference. The members for the 
 current quadrennium (1902-06) are as fol- 
 lows: James Atkins, D.D., Nashville, Tenn., 
 Chairman; John O. Willson, D.D., Green- 
 wood, S. C. ; John R. Pepper, Memphis, 
 Tenn.; B. M. Washburn, Montgomery, Ala., 
 Secretary; B. M. Burgher, Dallas, Tex.; M. 
 L. Walton, Woodstock, Va. D. M. Smith, 
 Nashville, Tenn., is the Treasurer of the 
 Board. 
 
 Statistics. Number of schools, 14,396; offi- 
 cers and teachers, 103,476; scholars, 884,329. 
 Total in schools, 987,805. 
 
 Literature. Sunday School Magazine, 48,- 
 800; Senior Quarterly, 325,000; Intermediate 
 Quarterly, 300,000; Home Department Quar- 
 terly, 9,300; Children's Visitor, 68,500; Illus- 
 trated Lesson Paper, 130,000; Our Little
 
 FIELDS OF WOSK. 167 
 
 People, 205,000; Olivet Picture Cards, sets, 
 70,000. Total circulation in 1902, 1,156,600. 
 
 Bible Teacher $ Study Circle. This de- 
 partment of training work was fully organ- 
 ized by the General Conference of 1902, and 
 Dr. H. M. Hamill was elected by the Sunday 
 School Board Superintendent of Training 
 Work. 
 
 The course for teachers is as follows: 
 
 First Course: "History of Sunday Schools," 
 by W. G. E. Cunnyngham, D.D.; "Bible 
 Studies," by A. E. Dunning, D.D.; "The 
 Sunday School Teacher," by H. TVL Hamill, 
 D.D. 
 
 Second Course: "Short History of Metho- 
 dism," by J. W. Boswell, D.D.; "The Books 
 of the Bible," by H. M. Hamill, D.D.; "The 
 Doctrines and Polity of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, South," by W. F. Tillett, D.D., 
 and James Atkins, D.D. 
 
 There is a seventh book for superintend- 
 ents and other officers "The Organized Sun- 
 day School," by Axtell. On the completion 
 of the first course a certificate is issued to 
 each teacher who meets the required stand- 
 ard, and at the end of the second course a full 
 diploma is awarded by the Sunday School De- 
 partment.
 
 168 OUK POLITY. 
 
 Tlie Sunday School and Missions. By or- 
 der of the General Conference, every Sunday 
 school is a missionary society. The order of 
 work is the setting apart of one Sunday in 
 each month as missionary day, the collection 
 on which goes to the use of the Board of 
 Missions; and in October a Missionary Rally 
 Day, with a collection for the same purpose. 
 The Sunday schools are now raising an extra 
 fund of $10,000 to endow a chair in the Soo- 
 chow University. The amount raised by our 
 schools for missions is now about $50,000 a 
 year. 
 
 The amount raised on Children's Day for 
 aiding destitute schools, and especially for 
 helping Sunday schools in foreign mission 
 fields, is about $15,000 per year. 
 
 THE BOARD OF CHURCH EXTENSION. 
 
 This Board was organized in 1882. The 
 originator of it, and its Secretary to the time 
 of his death, was Rev. David Morton, D.D. 
 
 The purpose of the Board is to aid in the 
 purchase or securing of church lots, and the 
 erection or securing of church buildings and 
 parsonages. The office of the Board is lo- 
 cated at Louisville, Ky. 
 
 Each Annual Conference has an auxiliary
 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 169 
 
 of the Church Extension Board, which is en- 
 titled to retain and apply within the bounds 
 of the Conference fifty per cent of all funds 
 coming into its hands, the other fifty per 
 cent passing to the Parent Board for admin- 
 istration. The Board has a loan fund of 
 $200,000. 
 
 The General and Annual Conference Boards, 
 since their organization, have aided 4,946 
 Churches, with $942,642 in gifts and $433,- 
 645 in loans. West of the Mississippi 1,816 
 Churches have been helped; east of the Mis- 
 sissippi, 3,101; and in the mission fields, 29. 
 Amount spent in helping Churches in mission 
 fields, $21,532. Amount donated to Churches 
 in the West by the General Board, $272,430; 
 in the East, $148,437. The assessment on the 
 Churches for the year 1902-03 is $125,460. 
 
 The officers of the Board are: Presley Me- 
 guiar, President, Louisville, Ky. ; R. B. Gil- 
 bert, M.D., Vice President, Louisville, Ky.; 
 Rev. P. H. Whisner, Corresponding Secre- 
 tary, Louisville, Ky. ; John Ouerbacker, 
 Treasurer, Louisville, Ky. 
 
 THE EPWOKTH LEAGUE. 
 
 Acting on a memorial submitted by the 
 Church Conference of Trinity Church, Los
 
 170 OUR POLITY. 
 
 Angeles, Cal., the General Conference of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at its 
 meeting in the city of St. Louis, in May, 
 1890, ordered the foundation, under the direc- 
 tion of the Sunday School Department, of 
 Young People's Leagues "for the promotion 
 of piety and loyalty to the Church." This 
 was the organic beginning of the Epworth 
 League in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, which was the first of the great bod- 
 ies of Christendom to make its young people's 
 organization a part of its corporate life. 
 Since its reorganization, in 1894, as a sepa- 
 rate department of connectional work, the 
 Epworth League has chartered 5,839 Senior 
 and 866 Junior Chapters. 
 
 The several departments of League work 
 are in healthy condition. About 6,000 vol- 
 umes are annually circulated in its Reading 
 Courses. The General Minutes of the Church 
 credit to it between $50,000 and $75,000 con- 
 tributed to the causes of the Church. The 
 most considerable of these contributions is 
 made to the cause of missions. The Epworth 
 Era, published at Nashville, Tenn., is the or- 
 gan of the League. The year just closed has 
 been the most prosperous in the history of 
 the organization.
 
 FIELDS OF WORK. 171 
 
 The officers of the General Epworth 
 League Board are: Bishop W. A. Candler, 
 President, Atlanta, Ga. ; and H. M. Du Bose, 
 D.D., General Secretary. 
 
 THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
 
 The Board of Education of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, was established by 
 the General Conference at Memphis, in May, 
 1894. 
 
 During its existence of eight years the 
 Board has organized and is now operating a 
 teachers' bureau; raised $25,000 for a new 
 building at Paine Institute, known as "Hay- 
 good Memorial Hall;" stimulated the An- 
 nual Conferences to lift their assessments 
 for education from a total of $70,750 in 1897 
 to a total of $93,160 in 1901; conducted a 
 campaign which resulted in a thank offer- 
 ing for education amounting to more than 
 $1,500,000; secured a better classification of 
 our institutions, and their more harmonious 
 adjustment in a system. 
 
 Statistics. The latest report of the Board 
 shows that the Church has one university, 18 
 colleges, 103 secondary schools, 8 affiliated 
 schools, and 64 mission schools of all grades, 
 domestic and foreign. In connection with
 
 172 OUB POLITY. 
 
 the Biblical Department of Vanderbilt Uni- 
 versity and under the direction of its faculty, 
 the Board has also recently established a Cor- 
 respondence School for ministers which is now 
 in successful operation, with an enrollment of 
 nearly one hundred and fifty pupils. 
 
 The officers of the Board are as follows: 
 Bishop C. B. Galloway, President; Bishop E. 
 R. Hendrix, Vice President; Chancellor J. H. 
 Kirkland, Recording Secretary; Rev. J. D. 
 Hammond, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 The Treasurer of the Board is Mr. D. M. 
 Smith, Nashville, Tenn. 
 
 STATISTICS OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 SOUTH, 1901. 
 
 Pastoral charges 5,037 
 
 Number of societies 17,898 
 
 Traveling preachers 6,293 
 
 Local preachers 4,982 
 
 Members 1,505,241 
 
 Total membership 1,516,516 
 
 Value of Publishing House, less all liabili- 
 ties, $926,094.53. 
 
 Combined circulation of periodicals issued 
 by the House, 1,156,600 copies. 
 
 The Agents for the House for 1902-06 are 
 Messrs. Bigbam and Smith, Nashville, Tenn.

 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 001 032 085 1