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 THE 
 
 OLD LOG HOUSE, 
 
 HISTORY AKD DEFEASE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Sumlmjinttit [fq$Itgl^mt S^tjt^t 
 
 BY 
 
 T. C. BLAKE, D.D. 
 
 Il^ASHYILLE, TeNN. : 
 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Publisliing House, 
 
 41 Union Street. 
 
 1878.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 
 T. C. BLAKE. 
 
 PUBLlSnED FOR THE AUTHOR BY THE CUMBERLAND 
 PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISUING UOUSE.
 
 SRL6 
 URL' 
 
 TO THE 
 
 MEMBERS AND FRIENDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 eUMBEElAND PEESBYTEEIAN CHUEC 
 
 IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 (3)
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter L— The Picture, - - 9 
 
 Chapter II.— The Great Revival, 14 
 
 Chapter III.— The Young Men, - 34 
 
 Chapter IV.—The Terrible Struggle, 40 
 
 Chapter Y.— The Old Log House, - 53 
 
 Chapter YL— The Two Items, - 64 
 
 Chapter YIL— The Eoman Catholic 
 
 Church, 83 
 
 Chapter YIII.— Church of England 
 
 —The Episcopal Church, - 100 
 Chapter IX. — The Presbyterian 
 
 Church, 117 
 
 Chapter X.— The Baptist Church, 133 
 Chapter XL— The Methodist Church 166 
 Chapter XII.— Other Churches, - 243 
 Chapter XIII. — The Cumberland 
 
 Presbyterian Church, - - 265 
 
 (5)
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The greater portion of this little book 
 was written several years ago, but, until 
 now, the author could never get his con- 
 sent to publish it. 
 
 Soon after the publication of the 
 Sabbath- School Gem was commenced, the 
 idea was conceived that the members in 
 general, and the youth in particular, of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
 needed a small work which would not 
 only give the history of said Church, 
 but would also give the points of diifer- 
 ence between it and other denominations. 
 The idea was soon afterwards put into ex- 
 ecution ; and, by devoting Saturday even- 
 ing of each week to the matter in hand, 
 the greater part of the book was written. 
 
 In gathering the material, I consulted 
 ever}^ book within my reach, which I 
 
 (7)
 
 8 PREFACE. 
 
 thought would assist me; and it is prob- 
 able that, in some instances, I may have 
 used the language as well as the ideas of 
 those consulted. But it was not ray in- 
 tention so to do; and if any one should 
 see such a thing without the proper 
 credit, he will understand that it was an 
 oversight — was not intentional. Besides, 
 as has been said, the most of the manu- 
 script was prepared several years ago, 
 and the author could not now recall all 
 the ''helps" which were consulted, to 
 ascertain whether or not there have been 
 any omissions in giving proper credit. 
 
 If this humble oftering shall contribute 
 anything towards the upbuilding of a 
 Church to which I owe a debt of grati- 
 tude that can never be paid, and in 
 whose doctrines my faith grows stronger 
 every year, then Avill I be amply com- 
 pensated for my labors. 
 
 T. C. Blake. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., December, 1877.
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PICTURE. 
 
 In the county of Dickson, State of Ten- 
 nessee, there once stood an old-fashioned, 
 double log house. By turning to the 
 first page of this book, the reader will 
 see a perfect picture of that building. 
 The man who erected that house was 
 Rev. Samuel McAdow. He was born 
 April 10, 1760, in Guilford county, Xorth 
 Carolina, and was the youngest of eight 
 children, four of whom were sons. 
 
 Dr. J. M. Larkin, of Clarksville, Ten- 
 nessee, who is a grandson of Mr. McAdow, 
 and who, when he was a boy, used to 
 spend a great deal of his time in that 
 sacred old house, drew the sketch from 
 
 (9)
 
 10 THE PICTURE. 
 
 which this picture was engraved. Let 
 the reader turn back and look at it 
 closely. The house, as will be seen, was 
 made of logs; and it was a story and a 
 half high. There was a wide passage or 
 hall between the two rooms. The entire 
 building was covered with chap-boards, 
 which were kept in place by "weight- 
 poles," as they were called. The chim- 
 neys were made of wood, and dirt, and 
 rock — only the back and jambs, however, 
 were stone. The logs were hewn with a 
 broad-ax, and the cracks were daubed 
 with mud. The windows were small, as 
 will be seen from the picture; and, as 
 there was no sash or glass in them, they 
 were closed by shutters made of clap- 
 boards, which hung upon wooden hinges. 
 All the floors of the building were made 
 of undressed plank; and the steps in 
 front of the passage or hall were con- 
 structed of puncheons. To the left of 
 the building there stood a large oak
 
 THE PICTURE. 11 
 
 tree, and from beneath tlie roots of that 
 "giant of the forest" there bubbled up 
 a bold, limpid stream of water. This 
 was the '-family spring," and close by it, 
 on a stick, hung a large gourd. Hun- 
 dreds, yea, thousands, of weary men, 
 and women, and children have slaked 
 their thirst at this pure fountain; and to 
 this good day that clear, beauti stream 
 pours forth a vast volume of water, a 
 fit emblem of the "fountain opened in 
 the house of King David for sin and un- 
 cleanness;" and a fit emblem too of the 
 noble generosity of the man who once 
 owned the humble dwelling which stood 
 hard by. 
 
 Mr. McAdow was not tne only great 
 and good man, however, that lived in 
 an unpretending home. Abraham, the 
 father of the Jewish nation and of 
 the Church, dwelt in a tent; Elijah, one 
 of the mighty prophets of Jehovah, lived 
 under a juniper tree; and the blessed
 
 12 THE PICTURE. 
 
 Saviour, the son of Mary and the Son 
 of God, could say, and speak truly, "the 
 foxes have holes and the birds of the air 
 have nests, but the Son of man hath not 
 where to lay his head." 'Nor is an hum- 
 ble dwelling any evidence that purity 
 may not reign within. God sent his 
 angels to the tent of Abraham to reveal 
 to him the doom of Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah, and he condescended to talk face to 
 face with Elijah as he sat under that 
 juniper tree. We must not, therefore, 
 conclude that because Mr. McAdow lived 
 in the humble home referred to, God did 
 not love him and dwell with him. As 
 was said before, he was a pure, good 
 man ; and, no doubt, more than a thou- 
 sand times, as he gathered his household 
 around the family altar, he felt that God 
 was there. 
 
 But there are other items of deep and 
 thrilling interest connected with this old 
 log house, which will be revealed at the
 
 THE PICTURE. 
 
 13 
 
 proper place; hence the reader will par- 
 don the- author for calling attention to 
 other things for a short time, inasmuch 
 as these matters must he fully explained, 
 in order to justify and vindicate the 
 transaction which subsequently took 
 place in that house.
 
 14 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 In the early history of Tennessee and 
 Kentucky a great deal is said of the 
 "Cumberland Country." This included 
 that portion of the two States just men- 
 tioned which lies West of the Cumber- 
 land mountains between the Green and 
 Tennessee rivers. It is one of the most 
 beautiful and productive portions of the 
 United States, and the city of E'ashville 
 is its geographical and commercial cen- 
 ter. This rich and fertile country, which 
 has just been spoken of, once belonged 
 to the Indians, and not until 1780 was 
 there a permanent settlement made by 
 the whites. In a short time afterwards, 
 liowever, hundreds and thousands of the 
 most l)rave and enterprising citizens of
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 15 
 
 Virgiuia and ^tTorth Carolina immigrated 
 to the land which they believed "flowed 
 with milk and honey." But, while the 
 land was very rich, the people, in one 
 sense, were very poor, for they had for- 
 gotten the promise in that best of all 
 books which says, "Seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
 and all these things (earthly comforts) 
 shall be added to you." Like Lot, they 
 saw that the land was "even as the gar- 
 den of the Lord," and like that same 
 selfish man, they were willing to pitch 
 their tents "toward Sodom!" 
 
 In order that the reader may know 
 something of the condition of the " Cum- 
 berland Country" at that time, a short 
 extract is here inserted from the pen of 
 Rev. Dr. Davidson, a minister in the 
 Presbyterian Church. He says: 
 
 "A decided majority of the people 
 were reputed to be infidels, and as infi- 
 delity is the prolific parent of vice, it is
 
 16 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 uot surprising to find that the whole 
 country was remarkal)le for vice and dis- 
 sipation. A melancholy spectacle is pre- 
 sented to our view. We behold infidelity 
 and vice combined, rolling their turbid 
 tide over the land, while the Church, that 
 should have been busily erecting bar- 
 riers to arrest its progress, is either be- 
 numbed by covetousness or wasting her 
 energies in frivolous disputes. * * * 
 The elder clergy w^ere few and past 
 their prime. They had been useful in 
 gathering the people into congregations, 
 and introducing the rudiments of Church 
 order, but the altered times demanded a 
 more active kind of labors. The most 
 of them were not above mediocrity ; nor 
 was the dullness of the ax compensated 
 by putting tliereto more strength. Ac- 
 customed to a certain fixed routine, they 
 could not move out of it. They were 
 men of some information, and sound in 
 the I'aith, bat not deeply imbued with
 
 THE GREAT REVIVxVL. 17 
 
 the spirit of the gospel. Coming from 
 various parts of the older States, they 
 brought with them the petty prejudices 
 and sectional jealousies to which they 
 had been habituated; and, living far 
 apart, they had little opportunity of be- 
 coming acquainted with each other, and 
 acquiring that mutual confidence which 
 w^ould have enabled them to act with 
 concert and efficiency. They were a 
 stately and dignified set of men, the re- 
 serve of whose manners had the effect of 
 keeping people at a distance, and check- 
 ing familiarity. The formal and set 
 method to which they adhered, was bet- 
 ter adapted to build up believers than to 
 awaken the unconverted. ^ >ti ^5^ ^ 
 The approach of young persons to the 
 communion was a rarity never expected. 
 It was the general impression that none 
 but elderly persons, who from their years 
 had acquired steady habits and were out 
 of the way of temptation, should par- 
 2
 
 18 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 take of the ordinance. As a natural 
 consequence, tlie young felt at ease, and 
 gave themselves no concern about re- 
 ligion; and the Church, gaining no ac- 
 cessions, was in a fair way of becoming 
 extinct through natural decrease." 
 
 This is truly a gloomy picture, but it is 
 doubtless correct. There were preachers 
 living in all the settled portions of the 
 country, and some of them were very 
 learned men, but they were cold, formal, 
 and lifeless in their services. They talked 
 a great deal of the ''elect of God,'^ but 
 they did not say much about the '•'neio 
 birth'^ — the religion of the heart. Such 
 preaching of course did but little good. 
 The gospel, therefore, was a savor of 
 death unto death, instead of being a 
 savor of life unto life. The truth is, 
 some of the preachers of those days were 
 not converted men ! Rev. James Mc- 
 (jrready, a minister in the Presbyterian 
 Church, preached for several years be-
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 19 
 
 fore he was a Christian! Others could 
 be Darned who did the same thing, but 
 such items of history are unpleasant. 
 1^0 wonder then that the Church was 
 cold and indifterent. E'o wonder that 
 sinners were not heard crying, ''Men and 
 brethren, what shall we do to be saved?" 
 It was not the will of God, however, 
 that such a country should be so com- 
 pletely under the influence of Satan. 
 He therefore raised up the proper instru- 
 ment to correct the evil. One night af- 
 ter Mr. McG ready (the minister whose 
 name has just been mentioned) had re- 
 tired, he overheard two friends, who 
 were lodging in the same room, talking 
 about his case. They did not believe 
 that he was a converted man. This led 
 him to a close self-examination ; where- 
 upon he came to the conclusion that they 
 were correct. He at once sought the 
 sal station of his soul, and at a sacra- 
 mental meeting which was held near the
 
 20 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 MonoDgahela River, in the State of Penn- 
 sylvania, he found "the pearl of great 
 price." This occurred in the year 1786. 
 Soon after this took place he removed to 
 the State of J^orth Carolina — the State 
 in which he was born. The conversion of 
 the Apostle Paul scarcely produced a 
 greater change in his history than did 
 this remarkable event in the life of Mr. 
 McGready. Prom this time on, the 
 character of his preaching was entirely 
 changed. He spoke in thunder tones to 
 the sinner, saying, "Ye must be born 
 again." He also insisted upon time and 
 place religion — that sinners should know 
 the time when and the place where they 
 were converted. Such preaching in 
 those days, as a matter of course, awak- 
 ened terrible opposition, and at one time 
 a letter was written to him in blood, 
 telling him if he did not leave the coun- 
 try that his life would be taken! As 
 evidence that the people were in earnest
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 21 
 
 ill this matter, tliey assembled, destroyed 
 the seats of his church and burnt his 
 pulpit to ashes! Just such bitter oppo- 
 sition, however, did the disciples of the 
 blessed Saviour meet with! 
 
 In 1796, Mr. McGready removed to 
 Logan county, Kentucky. There he 
 took charo^e of three small cono^re^-ations 
 of the Presbyterian Church. The names 
 of the congregations were Muddy River, 
 Gasper River, and Red River. He 
 preached as he had done in IS'orth Caro- 
 lina, and not unfrequently the questions 
 would be asked him, "Is religion some- 
 thing that can be felt?" "If a sinner is 
 converted will he know it?" Mr. Mc 
 Gready saw that there was a great work 
 to be done, consequently he entered into 
 a most solemn covenant with the few 
 Christians who believed as he did, that 
 they would for one year spend the third 
 Saturday of each month as a day of fast- 
 ing and prayer for the conversion of sin-
 
 22 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 ners, and one-half hour each Saturday, 
 at the hour of sunset, and the same 
 length of time each Sabbath morning, 
 at the hour of sunrise, for a general out- 
 pouring of God's Spirit, and for a great 
 revival of religion. Their prayers were 
 answered, for in a short time there com- 
 menced one of the most powerful revi- 
 vals of religion ever witnessed on the 
 American continent. 
 
 In a letter to a friend, postmarked 
 Logan County, Kentuck}^, and dated 
 October 23, 1801, Mr. McG ready thus 
 describes it: 
 
 "In the month of May, 1797, which 
 was the spring after I came to this 
 country, the Lord graciously visited 
 Gasper Iliver congregation (an infant 
 church then under my charge). The 
 doctrines of regeneration, faith, and re- 
 pentance, which I uniformly preached, 
 seemed to call the attention of the peo- 
 ple to a serious inquiry. During the
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 23 
 
 winter the questions were often proposed 
 to me, Is religion a sensible thing? If I 
 were eonvertecl, would I feel it and know 
 it? 
 
 In May, as I said, the w^ork began. 
 A Avoman, wdio had been a professor, 
 in full communion "with the church, 
 found her old hope false and delusive; 
 she was struck with deep conviction, 
 and in a few days was filled w^ith joy 
 and peace in believing. She immedi- 
 ately visited her friends and relatives, 
 from house to house, and warned them 
 of their danger in a most solemn, faith- 
 ful manner, and plead with them to re- 
 pent and seek religion. This, as a 
 means, was accompanied with the divine 
 blessing to the awakening of many. 
 About this time the ears of all in that 
 congregation seemed to be open to re- 
 ceive the word preached, and almost 
 every sermon was accompanied with the 
 power of God to the awakening of sin-
 
 24 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 ners. During the summer, about ten 
 persons in the congregation were brouglit 
 to Christ. In the fall of the year, a 
 general deadness seemed to creep on 
 apace. Conviction and conversion work, 
 in a great measure, ceased ; and no visible 
 alteration for the better took place until 
 the summer of 1798, at the administra- 
 tion of the sacrament of the Supper, 
 which was in July. On Monday the 
 Lord graciously poured out his Spirit; a 
 very general awakening took place; 
 perhaps but few families in the congre- 
 gation coukl be found who, less or more, 
 were not struck with an awful sense of 
 their lost estate. During the week follow- 
 ing but few persons attended to worldly 
 matters, their attention to the business 
 of their soids was so great. On the lirst 
 Sabbath of September the sacrament 
 was administered at Muddy Eiver (one of 
 my congregations). At this meeting the 
 Lord graciously poured forth his Spirit
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL 2o 
 
 to the awakening of many careless sin- 
 ners. Through these two congregations 
 ah^eady mentioned, and through Red 
 Kiver, my other congregation, awaken- 
 ing work went on Avith power under 
 every sermon. The people seemed to 
 hear as for eternity. In every house, 
 and ahiiost in every company, the whole 
 conversation with people was about the 
 state of their souls. About this time 
 Rev. J. B. came here, and found a Mr. 
 R. to join him. In a little time he in- 
 volved our infant churches in confusion, 
 disputation, etc.; opposed the doctrines 
 preached here; ridiculed the whole work 
 of the revival; formed a considerable 
 party, etc., etc. In a few weeks this 
 seemed to have put a final stop to the 
 whole work, and our infant congrega- 
 tion remained in a state of deadness 
 and darkness from the fall, through the 
 winter, and until the month of July, 
 1799, at the administration of the sacra-
 
 26 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 ment at Red River. This was a very 
 solemn time throughout. On Mondaj' 
 the power of God seemed to fill the con- 
 gregation; the boldest, daring sinners in 
 the country covered their faces and wept 
 bitterly. After the congregation was 
 dismissed, a large number of people 
 sta^^ed about the doors, unwilling to, go 
 away. Some of the ministers proposed 
 to me to collect the people in the meet- 
 ing house again, and perform prayer 
 with them; accordingly we w^entin, and 
 joined in prayer and exhortation. The 
 mighty power of God came amongst us 
 like a shower from the everlasting hills 
 — God's people were quickened and com- 
 forted; yea, some of them were filled 
 with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 
 Sinners vs'cre powerfully alarmed, and 
 some precious souls were brought to 
 feel the pardoning love of Jesus. 
 
 At Gasper River (at this time under 
 the care of Mr. Rankin, a precious in-
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 27 
 
 strumeut in the hand of God), the sacra- 
 ment was administered in Augnst. Tliis 
 was one of the days of the Son of 
 Man, indeed, especially on Monday. I 
 preached a phiin gospel sermon on Ileh. 
 xi. 16 :— " The Better Countrv." A great 
 solemnity continued during the sermon. 
 After sermon, Mr. Rankin gave a solemn 
 exhortation — the congregation ^vas then 
 dismissed; but the people all kept their 
 seats for a considerable space, whilst aw- 
 ful solemnity appeared in the counte- 
 nances of a large majority. Presently 
 several persons under deep conviction 
 broke forth into a large outcry — many 
 fell to the ground, lay powerless, groan- 
 ing, praying, and crying for mercy. As 
 I passed through the multitude, a 
 woman, lying in awful distress, called 
 me to her. Said she: 'I lived in your 
 congregation in Carolina; I was a pro- 
 fessor, and often went to communion; 
 but I was deceived; I have no religion;
 
 28 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 I am going to hell.' In another place 
 an old gra}' -headed man lay in an agony 
 of distress, addressing his weeping wife 
 and children in such language as this: 
 'We are all going to hell together; Ave 
 have lived prayerless, ungodly lives; the 
 work of our souls is yet to hegin; we 
 must get religion, or we will all he 
 damned.' But time would fail me to 
 mention every instance of this kind 
 
 At Muddy River the sacrament was 
 administered in September. The power 
 of God was gloriously present on this 
 occasion. The circumstances of it are 
 equal, if not superior, to those of Gasper 
 River. Many souls were solemnly awak- 
 ened; a number, we hope, converted — 
 whilst the people of God feasted on the 
 hidden manna, and, with propriety, 
 might be said to sing the new song. 
 
 But the year 1800 exceeds all that my 
 eyes ever beheld upon earth. All that 
 I have related, is onl3^, as it were, an in-
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 29 
 
 trodnction. Althongli many souls in 
 these con2:reo:ations, during: the three 
 preceding years, have been savingly con- 
 verted, and now give living evidences of 
 their union to Christ ; yet all that work 
 is only like a few drops before a mighty 
 rain, when compared with the wonders 
 of Almighty grace that took place in 
 the year 1800. 
 
 In June the sacrament was adminis- 
 tered at Eed Eiver. This was the 
 greatest time we had ever seen. On 
 Monday multitudes were struck down 
 under awful conviction; the cries of 
 the distressed filled the whole house. 
 ^<^here you might see profane swearers 
 and Sabbath breakers pricked to the 
 heart, and crying out, ''What shall 
 we do to be saved ?'^ There, too, 
 frolickers and dancers were crying for 
 mercy. There you might see little 
 children often, eleven, and twelve years 
 of age, praying, and crying for redemp-
 
 60 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 tion in the blood of Jesus, in agonies of 
 distress. * >i^ >k 
 
 In July the sacrament was adminis- 
 tered in Gasper liiver congregation. 
 Here multitudes crowded in from all 
 parts of the country to see a strange 
 work, from the distance of forty, fifty, 
 and even a hundred miles; whole fami- 
 lies came in their wagons; between 
 twenty and thirty wagons were brought 
 to the place, loaded with people and 
 their provisions, in order to encamp at 
 the meeting house. On Friday nothing 
 more appeared, during the day, than a 
 decent solemnity. On Saturday matters 
 continued in the same way, until in the 
 evening. Two pious women were sitting 
 together, conversing about their exer- 
 cises; which conversation seemed to af- 
 fect some of the by-standers; instantly 
 the divine flame spread through the 
 whole multitude. Presently you might 
 have seen sinners lying powerless in
 
 THE GREAT REVIVAL. o^ 
 
 every part of the house, praj^ing and 
 crying for mercy. Ministers and private 
 Christians were kept busy during the 
 nisrht conversing]: with the distressed. 
 Tiiis night a goodly number of awak- 
 ened souls were delivered by sweet be- 
 lieving views of the glory, fullness, and 
 sufficiency of Christ, to save to the utter- 
 most. Amongst these were some little 
 children — a striking proof of the relig- 
 ion of Jesus. Of many instances, to 
 which I have been an eye-witness, I shall 
 only mention one, viz.: a little girl. 
 I stood by her whilst she lay across her 
 mother's lap almost in despair. I was 
 conversing with her when the first gleam 
 of light broke in upon her mind — she 
 started to her feet, and in an ecstasy of 
 joy, she cried out, '0, he is willing, he is 
 willing! He is come, he is come! 0, 
 what a sweet Christ he is! 0, what a 
 precious Christ he is! O, what a fullness 
 O, what a beautv I see in
 
 32 THE GllEAT REVIVAL. 
 
 him! O, why was it that I never could 
 believe! that I never could come to 
 Christ before, when Christ was so will- 
 ing to save me?' Then, turning round, 
 she addressed sinners, and told them of 
 the glory, w^illingness, and preciousness 
 of Christ, and plead with them to re- 
 pent; and all this in language so heav- 
 enly, and, at the same time, so rational 
 and scriptural, that I w^as filled with 
 astonishment. But were I to write you 
 every particular of this kind that I have 
 been an eye and ear witness to, during 
 the past two years, it would fill many 
 sheets of paper." * * * 
 
 IsTo one can read the foregoing without 
 thinking of the day of Pentecost, de- 
 scribed by Luke in the second chapter 
 of Acts. In Mr. McGrcady's descrip- 
 tion of that great revival, it is hoped 
 that the youth who may read this book 
 will not fail to notice the account which 
 he gave of the deep interest which chil-
 
 THE GKEAT REVIVAL. 33 
 
 clreu took in that great work, especially 
 of that sweet little girl who embraced 
 religion while on her mother's lap. The 
 Lord Jesus Christ still lives ; and he is 
 just as willing to bless little children 
 now as he was in that great revival; 
 just as willing as while on earth he 
 took them in his arms and blessed them, 
 and said, of such is the kingdom of 
 heaven.
 
 34 THE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 The great revival, spoken of iu the last 
 chapter, occurred in the territory occu- 
 pied by the Transylvania Presbytery ot 
 the Presbyterian Church, and in that 
 Presbytery were two parties — a revival 
 party and an anti-revival party. Minis- 
 ters of the right kind were, therefore, 
 very scarce. God's good Spirit was at 
 work among the people, and sinners, by 
 the thousand, were crying out, ""What 
 must we do to be saved?" but there were 
 comparatively few preachers who seemed 
 to take much interest in tlic work; many 
 of them actually opposed it — even made 
 sport of it, calling the friends of the re- 
 vival "new lights," "fanatics," etc. But 
 this was not the first time in the woi-ld's
 
 THE YOUNG MEN. 35 
 
 history that good men were opposed and 
 ridiculed. On the day of Pentecost there 
 were those present who accused Peter 
 and the rest of the apostles of being "full 
 of new wine!" The false charge, how- 
 ever,did not put an end to the great work, 
 as will be seen by reading the second 
 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, nor 
 did the opposition of the enemies of the 
 revival of 1800 stop that great, rising, 
 swelling tide of Jehovah's love. 
 
 As was previously stated, ministers of 
 the right kind were very scarce, and the 
 question which greatly disturbed the 
 friends of the revival was, What shall we 
 do for earnest, consecrated men to lead 
 sinners to the cross of Christ? The re- 
 vival preachers, as they were called, were 
 greatly troubled upon this point, but the 
 God to whom they looked for guidance 
 soon relieved their minds. The Eev. 
 Dr. Pice, who was an old, experienced 
 minister in the Presbyterian Church,
 
 6b THE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 having heard of the great revival, deter- 
 mined that he would visit the " Ciimher- 
 land Country," and see for himself. After 
 a calm and quiet survey of the whole 
 work, he advised the revival ministers 
 to encourage a number of young men 
 (who might feel it to be their duty to do 
 so) to exercise their gifts publicly, and to 
 preach the gospel, although they might 
 not have enjoyed the advantages of a 
 regular collegiate education. The sug- 
 gestion was a good one — the very one 
 that should have been made — and, no 
 doubt, the day of eternity will reveal the 
 fact that God's blessed Spirit prompted 
 the good man to give that advice. Among 
 those who had professed religion in that 
 great revival, there were several young 
 men of fine promise, the names of three 
 of whom were Finis Ewing, Alexander 
 Anderson, and Samuel King. Th^se 
 precious young brethren labored almost 
 day and niglit, and their efforts were
 
 THE YOUNG MEN. 37 
 
 owned and blessed by the great Head 
 of the Church. 
 
 The Bible has given us an excellent rule 
 by which we may judge, and that rule is, 
 "Ye shall know them by their fruits." 
 Applying this rule to the young men 
 under consideration, we are obliged to 
 conclude that they were good men, and 
 were doing the will of God; for, wherever 
 they preached, sinners by the score w^ere 
 convicted and converted. The people 
 heard them gladly, and they were de- 
 lighted that Dr. Rice had encouraged 
 these young "sons of thunder" to go 
 forth and preach Jesus to a lost and per- 
 ishing world. But, strange to tell, these 
 young men had some most bitter ene- 
 mies. In the Transylvania Presbytery, 
 as has been previously stated, ther^ were 
 two parties among the ministry — a revi- 
 val party and an anti-revival party. 
 Those who were opposed to the revival 
 did all in their power against these young
 
 do THE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 men, and when the time came for tlie 
 young brethren to read their discourses, 
 the anti-revival party would not consent 
 to have them read in open Presbytery! 
 Dr. Rice, however, heard them privatel}^, 
 and he was so impressed with the belief 
 that the hand of God was in this matter, 
 that he urged the Presbytery to encour- 
 age them in their work. Six months 
 afterwards, at the fall meeting of the 
 Presbyter}^, it was so evident that the 
 good Lord was blessing the labors ot 
 these young men, that the Presbytery 
 yielded to the wishes of the people and 
 licensed these young brethren to preach 
 the gospel. It is worthy of particular 
 notice in this connection, however, that 
 these young men adopted in their licens- 
 ure the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
 "with the exccj)tio7i of the idea of fatal- 
 ity." But this point will come up again 
 after awhile. 
 
 The young men were licensed in the
 
 THE YOU^^G MEN. 39 
 
 fall of 1802, and in October of the same 
 year, the Synod of Kentucky divided the 
 Transylvania Presbytery, and called the 
 new one which was formed the Cumber- 
 land Presbytery. In this latter Presby- 
 tery there were ten ordained ministers, 
 live of whom belono'cd to the revival 
 party and five to the anti-revival party. 
 The names of the first were James Mc- 
 Gready, William Hodge, William Mc- 
 Gee, John Rankin, and Samuel McAdow; 
 the names of the others w^ere Thomas 
 B. Craighead, James Balch, John Bow- 
 man, Samnel Donnell, and Terah Temp- 
 iin. The most of the latter class turned 
 out badly; some of them were deposed 
 from the ministry, and the others sunk 
 into the obscurity which they so justly 
 deserved. The former class lived to an 
 honorable old age, and died universally 
 respected by all good people, except 
 Mr. Rankin, who, late in life, tarnished 
 his reputation by joining the Shakers.
 
 40 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 People of strong and wicked preju- 
 dices are, in the main, restless and unfor- 
 giving; consequently, the anti-revival 
 ministers did all in their power to annoy 
 and vex the good men who were engaged 
 in the blessed work spoken of in the 
 last chapter. They called them by hard 
 names, and did their utmost to induce 
 the people to turn away from such a 
 ministry. Finding that they could not 
 succeed in this, they then made an efibrt 
 to induce the Synod of Kentucky to 
 take action upon the subject. The 
 Transylvania Presbytery, it will be re- 
 membered, belonged to that Synod, and 
 so did the new one, called the Cumber- 
 land Presbytery, which had been formed
 
 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 41 
 
 out of the Transylvania Presbytery. 
 But, according to the system of govern- 
 ment of the Presbyterian Church, the 
 Pi'esbijtery, and not the Synod, has the 
 power to decide as to the character and 
 qualifications of the men who enter the 
 ministry. To prove that this is true, see 
 Form of Government, Chap. X., Sec. 8, 
 of the Confession of Faith of the Pres- 
 byterian Church. The language is ex- 
 plicit, and is as follows: "The Presby- 
 tery has power * ^^ ^ to examine and 
 license candidates for the holy ministry; 
 to ordain, install, remove, and judge 
 ministers," etc. ^ow, by examining the 
 same book, Chap. XL, it will be seen that 
 the Synod has no such powers. It can 
 judge Presbyteries, but it cannot judge 
 the individual members of Presbytery, 
 unless individual cases have been carried 
 by appeal from the Presbytery to Synod; 
 and even in such instances the Synod 
 does not really judge the i)erson, but the
 
 42 THE TERRIBLE STRU(iGLE. 
 
 case — simply decides whether or not the 
 Presbytery has acted according to law. 
 But, strange to say, the Kentucky 
 Synod was guilty of the folly of attempt- 
 ing to try the individual members of the 
 Cumberland Presbytery, for it w^ent 
 through the formality of summoning all 
 the members of said Presbytery to at- 
 tend "the next stated meeting of the 
 Synod." Of course no one paid any at- 
 tention to such an unreasonable "cita- 
 tion" ; for the same Confession of Faith 
 previously quoted, says : " Process against 
 a gospel minister shall always be en- 
 tered before the Presbytery of w^hich he 
 is a member." The same Synod which 
 did this unlawful thing, appointed "a 
 committee to attend the earliest meeting 
 of Cumberland Presbytery, and report 
 the result of their observations." What 
 folly ! yea, what impudence ! "Who ever 
 heard of such a thing before? The 
 committee appointed evidently felt that
 
 THE TEllRIBLE STRUGGLE. 43 
 
 it was an outrage, for it paid no at- 
 tention to the matter. But, to cap the 
 climax, the same Synod, in October, 
 1805, appointed a Commission, composed 
 of ten ministers and six elders, "vested 
 with full S^'Uodical powers," to confer 
 with the members of Cumberland Pres- 
 bytery, ''and adjudicate upon their Pres- 
 byterial proceedings, which appear upon 
 the minutes of said Presbytery." (See 
 Minutes of Synod of Kentucky.) It is 
 unnecessary to consume time to show 
 that this was contrary to the genius of 
 Presby terianism. A Commission " vested 
 with full Synodical powers"! l\o won- 
 der that Mr. Davidson, the partial histo- 
 rian of the Presbyterian Church, admits 
 that the like had never been done be- 
 fore; nor is it strange that Kev. J. P. 
 Wilson, one of the most prominent 
 ministers in the Presbyterian Church, 
 after a thorough examination of the 
 case, pronounced it ud constitutional.
 
 44 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 But at the appointed time and place, that 
 Commission met the revival party. 
 The following is a list of the ordained 
 ministers who belonged to the revival 
 party : James McGready, William Hodge, 
 John Rankin, William McGee, Samuel 
 McAdow, Finis Ewing, Samuel King, 
 Thomas ^NTelson, Samuel Ilodge, and 
 James Hawe. Among the licentiates, 
 we find the names of Hugh Kirkpatrick, 
 James B. Porter, Robert Bell, and David 
 Foster; among the candidates, Thom.as 
 Calhoun, Robert Guthrie, Samuel K. 
 Blj^the, and Samuel Donnell. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hawe, whose name appears 
 in the foregoing list of ordained minis- 
 ters, was at one time a preacher in the 
 Methodist Church. The Commission, 
 however, seemed to have some doubt as 
 to his theological views; and, though he 
 was an ordained minister, they pro- 
 posed to take him up and examine him. 
 He, of course, indignantly refused to
 
 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 45 
 
 submit to such procedure. But the 
 Commission was not to be thwarted — 
 the members composing it had met to 
 have an ecclesiastical battle. After 
 much labor, therefore, tw^o charges were 
 made against the Presbytery. First, 
 Candidates in their licensure and ordi- 
 nation had been permitted to adopt the 
 Confession of Faith, with the reserva- 
 tion, "So far as they deemed it agreea- 
 ble with the word of God." Second, 
 The literary qualifications required by 
 the Confession of Faith had been dis- 
 pensed with. 
 
 Immediately after making out these 
 two charges, the Commission resolved to 
 examine the young men, and see if their 
 qualifications were such as the Confes- 
 sion of Faith of the Presbyterian Church 
 demanded. The old ministers of the re- 
 vival party boldly and fearlessly took the 
 position that the Commission had no 
 anthoritv to make such a demand; and
 
 46 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 tliey refused to have the young men ex- 
 amined. The Commission then called 
 npon the 3^oung men to submit to the 
 examination. Rev. Finis Ewing, who 
 was one of those said to have been ''ir- 
 regularly licensed and ordained," arose 
 and said : '"If any man lack wisdom, let 
 him ask of God.' We therefore request 
 that we be permitted to retire to ask 
 counsel of the Most High, before we 
 give our answer." Some of the mem- 
 bers of the Commission made sport ot 
 the practice of going to the secret grove 
 for prayer, as was common during the 
 great revival. One of the Commission, 
 by the name of Allen, who had been 
 CJerk of the Court in Green County, 
 "said that he had seen prisoners at the 
 bar of justice, and criminals at the gal- 
 lows; but that this was the first time he 
 had ever known men to be denied the 
 privilege of prayer under any circum- 
 stances." The remark of Mr. Allen
 
 THE TERllIBLE STRUGGLE. 47 
 
 silenced all opposition, and the young 
 men were permitted to retire. All of 
 them repaired separately and alone to the 
 silent grove. Mr. Hutchinson, who was 
 an eye-witness, thus describes the scene. 
 Says he: "They were completely out of 
 sight of each other, but perhaps not en- 
 tirely out of hearing. I also was alone; 
 while some were on my right, and some 
 on my left. I remember for a few min- 
 utes there was a profound silence. Then 
 faint whispers and low murmurs were 
 heard, then sighs. iS^ext, sounds reached 
 my ears resembling groanings which 
 cannot be uttered ; they seemed like the 
 suppressed cries of men, wrestling in an 
 agony of prayer, ^ever, while I live, 
 c^n I forget that scene. It did seem that 
 heaven and earth, never before nor since, 
 came so near each other. It did seem 
 that our young friends had approached 
 very, very near to a throne of grace, and 
 were almost talking and counseling face
 
 48 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 to face with our Father in heaven. 1 
 love to think of that time and that place. 
 It is a hallowed place. It will ever he 
 dear to memory. I had all along acted 
 for the revival and with the majority of 
 the Presbytery, because I felt assured 
 they were right. Seeing a Commission 
 of venerable and good men arrayed in 
 opposition, and listening to their solemn 
 appeals, I thought it necessary to pray 
 submissively, and inquire solemnly of the 
 Lord, whether we all might not have 
 been wrong. I was glad when Mr. Ew- 
 ing asked this privilege. My heart was 
 afflicted, and I said, ']^ow, Lord, lead 
 me and guide me.' And my feeling 
 trolly was, 'Thy will be done.' I did not 
 know but some, or even all, of the young 
 men might submit. My prayer was that 
 tlie Lord might guide them to this, if it 
 was according to his holy will. I 
 thou2:ht, Hhe Lord reigns;' and then 
 how I did rejoice! I arose strengthened
 
 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 49 
 
 and refreshed from my knees, saying", ' 
 Lord I will praise thee: though thou 
 wast angry with us, thine anger is turned 
 away, and thou comfortedst us.' I felt 
 that God would carry on his glorious 
 work by means of his chosen instru- 
 ments, his blessed name be honored, and 
 precious souls saved; and this was 
 enough. As I came out of the woods, 1 
 saw the young men were repairing to the 
 house. Mr. Ewing came out of the 
 thicket near ni}^ path. He saw me not. 
 With head erect, his eyes were fixed on 
 vacancy or cast towards heaven. His 
 hands were pressed upon his bosom, as 
 if to hold a heart from breaking. His 
 cheeks, lately so blooming, were pale as 
 death. His step was slow but firm ; and 
 his whole air and manner indicated a deci- 
 sion and energy that would not allow him 
 to yield to the injustice of men, because he 
 feared God. I saw plainly that he had 
 settled the question in the fear of God." 
 4
 
 50 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 When the young men returned from 
 the grove, the Commission, after sol- 
 emnly adjuring them "to submit," put 
 the question to each one separately : " Do 
 you submit, or not submit"? All of 
 them, however, most positively refused; 
 and gave as a reason, that the Cumber- 
 land Presbytery was a regular Church 
 judicatory, and competent to judge of the 
 qualifications of its ministers. In this 
 position they were certainly correct, and 
 no one can successfully refute it. But 
 strange to say, in defiance of all law and 
 authority, the Commission made the 
 following decision : " The Commission of 
 Synod prohibit, and they do hereby sol- 
 emnly prohibit, the said persons from 
 exhorting, preaching, and administering 
 ordinances, in consequence of any 
 authority which they have obtained from 
 the Cumberland Presbytery, until they 
 submit to our jurisdiction, and undergo 
 the requisite examination." Before the
 
 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 51 
 
 Commission adjourned, they cited several 
 of the old revival ministers to appear at 
 the next meeting of Synod, and answer 
 to the charge of heresy. 
 
 For eight or nine days this Commis- 
 sion was in session, and it would, per- 
 haps, be safe to say that never, in that 
 space of time, were there so many intol- 
 erable blunders committed by a body of 
 men claiming to be followers of the meek 
 and lowly Saviour! The revival minis- 
 ters, however, had long since decided the 
 question whether it was "better to obey 
 God rather than man." They, therefore, 
 resolved that they would continue to 
 preach and administer the ordinances as 
 they had done, and that they would still 
 encourage and defend the young men 
 whose labors God had so signally owned 
 and blessed. To render the work more 
 effective, they organized themselves into 
 a Council; and, to show that the people 
 were in sympathy with them, almost
 
 52 THE TERRIBLE STRUGGLE. 
 
 every congregation within the bounds of 
 the Cumberland Presbytery joined the 
 Council. 
 
 The Synod met in October, 1806, and 
 Messrs. Rankin and Hodge were sent by 
 the Council to that Synod to projDose a 
 reconciliation. But the Synod endorsed 
 the action of the Commission, and de- 
 manded that the young men should 
 submit to an examination. The unrea- 
 sonable demand, however, was refused, 
 and, as might have been expected from 
 such a court, Messrs. Rankin and Hodge 
 were suspended from the ministry, and 
 the Cumberland Presbytery was dissolved 
 — blotted out of existence ! What folly ! 
 "What madness !
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 Ix the first chapter of this little book 
 the promise was made that something 
 more should be told about the Old Log 
 House; and this is the time and place to 
 redeem that pledge. 
 
 The reader will not forget that the 
 great and good men who belonged to the 
 revival party were treated most shame- 
 fully by those who were opposed to it. 
 Those pure-minded, noble-hearted men, 
 however, had been taught in the school 
 of Him who, when he was reviled, ''re- 
 viled not again;" they, therefore, like 
 Stephen, when his enemies maltreated 
 him, could pray, "Lord, lay not this sin 
 to their charge."
 
 54 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 Time and again did these faithful men 
 of God do all in their power to bring 
 about a reconciliation. They had im- 
 plored the Synod to do them justice, and 
 had even sent delegates to that body to 
 plead for a settlement of the difficulty. 
 The Synod, however, had turned a deaf 
 ear to their supplications, and, to add 
 insult to injury, had endorsed the unlaw- 
 ful acts of the Commission ! 
 
 The revival party felt that there was 
 one more tribunal to which they could 
 appeal. They therefore addressed a let- 
 ter to the General Assembly (the highest 
 court in the Presb3^terian Church), pray- 
 ing for interference in their behalf; but 
 while it seemed to be the conviction of a 
 majority of that court that the Synod 
 had violated the constitution of the 
 Church, yet, strange to say, the General 
 Assembly declined to decide the case, 
 because it had not come before that body 
 l)y a regular appeal from Synod ! Being
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 55 
 
 still anxious to have the difficulty settled, 
 another petition was sent to the General 
 Assembly by the Council in the spring 
 of 1808, but the General Assembly re- 
 plied that no relief could be given ! The 
 next year the General Assembly sustained 
 the action of the Synod, and said ''that 
 the Synod deserved the thanks of the 
 Church for the firmness and zeal with 
 which they had acted in the trying cir- 
 cumstances in which they had been 
 placed!" The revival party, however, 
 determined to make one more efi^brt. 
 They, therefore, appointed two Commis- 
 sioners to visit the Synod and propose 
 terms of peace and reconciliation. The 
 proposition which they submitted was 
 as follows: "The revival party would 
 submit to an examination on the tenets 
 of our holy religion by the Synod, by 
 the Transylvania Presbytery, or by a 
 committee appointed for the purpose, 
 with the understanding that they should
 
 56 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 be received or rejected as a connected 
 Dody ; that, if required, they would adopt 
 the Confession of Faith, with the excep- 
 tion oi fatality only." But this proposi- 
 tion was rejected by the Synod. This 
 was the last effort that was made to effect 
 a reconciliation ; nor could anything else 
 have been done without compromising 
 the self-respect of the revival party. 
 These noble men, then, were compelled 
 to either abandon the good work of God, 
 or constitute a new Presbytery, separate 
 and distinct from the Synod of Kentucky. 
 They chose to do the latter, and for so 
 doing they were willing to be judged, not 
 only by the great God whom they served, 
 but by generations then unborn. 
 
 On the 3rd day of February, 1810, 
 therefore. Finis Ewing and Samuel King, 
 in company with Ephraim McLean, who 
 w^as then only a licentiate, went to the 
 residence of Samuel McAdow, and pro- 
 posed to him the propriety of constitut-
 
 THE OLD LOG 110 USP:. 57 
 
 ng a new Presbyteiy. ^Ir. McAdow 
 said that it was a very important matter, 
 and that he must have time for reflection 
 and prayer. He accordingly went to the 
 secret grove, and there in earnest, im- 
 portunate prayer until midnight, sought 
 for divine guidance. "When he arose 
 from his sleepless couch early the next 
 morning, he was still undecided. He 
 therefore went again to his place of secret 
 d.evotion, and while upon his bended 
 knees in earnest supplication, God's good 
 Spirit enabled him to decide what he 
 should do. At once he arose and re- 
 turned to the house, saying to his breth- 
 ren, '' God has ansAvered the doubtful 
 question, and I am now ready to consti- 
 tute, and to ordain this young brother 
 (McLean) before we adjourn." A Pres- 
 bytery was then and there constituted, 
 which was called the Cumberland Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
 This important event occurred on the
 
 58 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 4th da}^ of February, 1810, in the county 
 of Dickson, State of Tennessee, and in 
 the Old Log House which was the home 
 of Samuel McAdow, as stated in a pre- 
 vious chapter. The following is an exact 
 copy of the record made by those three 
 faithful men of God in the solemn act 
 of constituting the Cumberland Presby- 
 tery: "In Dickson county, Tennessee 
 State, at the Kev. Samuel McAdow's, 
 this fourth day of February, 1810 : we, 
 Samuel McAdow, Finis Ewing, and 
 Samuel King, regularly ordained minis- 
 ters in the Presbyterian Church, against 
 whom no charge either of immorality or 
 heres}^ has ever been exhibited before 
 any of the Church judicatures, having 
 w^aited in vain more than four years; in 
 the meantime petitioning the General 
 Assembly for a redress of grievances and 
 a restoration of violated rights, have con- 
 stituted, and do hereby agree and deter- 
 mine to constitute into a Presbytery,
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 59 
 
 Known by the name of the Cumberland 
 Presbytery." 
 
 Immediately after constituting the 
 Presbytery, Ephraim McLean was or- 
 dained, or set apart to the wdiole work 
 of the ministry. Mr. Ewing, in a letter 
 to a friend afterwards, thus speaks of the 
 constitution of the Presbytery and of its 
 action: ''During the preceding transac- 
 tions," says he, "I felt an indescribable 
 awe, solemnity, and even timidity. My 
 judgment was clear that it was a duty to 
 constitute a Presbytery, but I feared that 
 I had no immediate", special, and over- 
 powering evidence direct from God that 
 we were about to do right. But being 
 appointed to preside in the ordination, 
 it became my duty to pray. I distinctly 
 recollect that, with one hand upon the 
 head of the preacher and the other lifted 
 to heaven, the first sentence I uttered 
 the immediate presence and power of 
 God were most sensibly felt by me, and,
 
 60 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 I believe, by all engaged in the transac- 
 tion; and such, were my feelings that 
 every doubt concerning the propriety of 
 what we had done was entirely banished." 
 From the foregoing, it will be seen that 
 we have found the origin of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church. It is true, 
 it had an humble birth-place — an old log 
 house — but it is not the only great thing 
 that was born in obscurity. The first 
 Church ever organized in the world's his- 
 tory, had its origin in the family of Abra- 
 ham ; and the Bible tells us that he dwelt 
 in a tent — did not have even a house of 
 logs! Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour 
 of the world, was born in a stable. He, 
 consequently, made his advent among the 
 lov»iy and the despised. When, there- 
 fore, the time came for him to select those 
 whom he would send forth as the apos- 
 tles of his blessed religion, he w^ent, not 
 to the mansions of the great nor to the 
 palaces of kings, but to the liumblo
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 61 
 
 walks of life, and chose from the poor of 
 this world those who were destined, like 
 their divine Master, to be despised and 
 rejected of men — chose the lowly but 
 zealous fishermen of Galilee, who would 
 be content to lay every laurel at the foot 
 of the cross, and to "count all thin^^s 
 but loss for the excellency of the knowl- 
 edge of Christ Jesus their Lord." "When, 
 too, the time carae to institute the sac- 
 rament of the Supper, he directed his 
 apostles to go, not to some splendid hall 
 in the great city of Jerusalem, but to 
 "an upper room." 
 
 It has ever been God's plan to choose 
 what seemed to the world the feeblest 
 instruments to accomplish the greatest 
 results. When he would select a great 
 law-giver, he went to the ark of bulrushes 
 that was quietly floating upon the river 
 iS'ile, and rescued from a watery grave 
 the little child Moses. When a king was 
 to be chosen for the great Jewish nation,
 
 62 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 
 
 he directed his priest to pour the anoint- 
 ing oil upon the least, the youngest son 
 of Jesse. AYhen the Church was scat- 
 tered throughout the hundred and twenty 
 and seven provinces of Persia, he chose 
 an obscure daughter of the captivity to 
 serve his people; and in a short time 
 the palace of Shushan and the gorgeous 
 court of the Shah w^ere made to stand in 
 awe of Esther's God. When he w^ould 
 proclaim his name and his rightful 
 claims to sovereignty from the highest 
 battlements of earthly power, he sent 
 a youth of nineteen years to the great 
 city of Babylon, and there, by the power 
 and influence of a holy life, the king and 
 the court, the nobles and the people, pub- 
 licly acknowledged the God of Daniel, 
 and "blessed the Most High, and praised 
 and honored him that liveth forever, 
 whose dominion is an everlasting do- 
 minion, and his kingdom is from genera- 
 tion to generation." The reason why
 
 THE OLD LOG HOUSE. 63 
 
 the raiglitj Jehovah thus acts is given by 
 the great Apostle of the Gentiles in the 
 following words: "Because the foolish- 
 ness of God is wiser than men ; and the 
 weakness of God is stronger than men." 
 Before closing this chapter, it can with 
 propriety be said that no Church on 
 earth can boast of a purer body of men 
 as its founders than the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church. King, Ewing, 
 and McAdow, the men who organized 
 it, were men of unblemished reputation. 
 It is true, they were persecuted and 
 traduced, but the most bitter enemies 
 that assailed them could not say aught 
 against their moral character and Chris- 
 tian integrity. The same cannot be said, 
 as will be seen after awhile, of all the 
 founders of all the other Christian 
 Churches. What a legacy, in this respect, 
 then, has been left to those who are 
 members of the Cumberland Pi-esbyte- 
 vian Church !
 
 64. THE TWO ITEMS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 As was stated in a former chapter, the 
 men who afterwards became the founders 
 of the Cumberhand Presbyterian Church, 
 did not believe in the doctrine of fatality, 
 nor did they think it wrong or sinful for 
 a man to preach the gospel simply be- 
 cause he may not have been thoroughly 
 educated in some great institution of 
 learning. The Confession of Faith of 
 the Presbyterian Church — the denomi- 
 nation which the founders of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church left — most 
 clearly and unmistakably teaches the 
 doctrine oi fatality ; and it also teaches 
 that no man should be allowed to preach 
 the gospel unless he is higlily educated.
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 65 
 
 To satisfy the reader, then, that these 
 things are so, the two items will now be 
 presented from the Confession of Faith 
 of the Presbyterian Church — the highest 
 authority of that denomination. 
 
 First — Fatality. By fatality is meant 
 that God created a certain part of the 
 human family to be saved, and a certain 
 part to be lost; that is, he predestinated 
 some to everlasting life, and fore- 
 ordained others to everlasting death; 
 and that this was done "before the foun- 
 dation of the "^vorld was laid" — before 
 the persons themselves were created. 
 And yet, worse than all, we are told that 
 God did this without any regard to the 
 actions of those whom he would save or 
 damn ! Is not this enough to make us 
 shudder? 
 
 IsTow for the proof. In the third 
 chapter of the Presbyterian Confes- 
 sion of Faith, we have the following 
 language: "By the decree of God, for 
 5
 
 66 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 the manifestation of his glory, some men 
 and angels are predestinated unto ever- 
 lasting life, and others fore-ordained to 
 everlasting death. Those of mankind 
 that are predestinated unto life, God, be- 
 fore the foundation of the world was 
 laid, according to his eternal and immu- 
 table purpose, and the secret counsel and 
 good pleasure of his will, hath chosen 
 in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of 
 his mere free grace and love, without any 
 foresight of faith or good works, or per- 
 severance in either of them, or any other 
 thing in the creature, as conditions or 
 causes moving him thereunto, and all to 
 the praise of his glorious grace. The 
 rest of mankind, God was pleased, 
 according to the unsearchable counsel 
 of his own will, whereby he extendeth 
 or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, 
 for the glory of his sovereign power 
 over his creatures, to pass by, and 
 to ordain them to dishonor and wrath
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. b/ 
 
 for their sin, to the praise of his glorious 
 justice." 
 
 ]^ow, if the foregoing does not teach 
 the doctrine oi fatality, then words have 
 no meaning. Let, then, the reader go 
 back and look closely at the language 
 which has been copied, and see how 
 clearly the idea is set forth, that God de- 
 termined, from before the foundation of 
 the workl, to save some, and to damn 
 others, without regard to anything that 
 they might do. AVhat a sentiment! ^o 
 wonder that the good men connected 
 witli that great revival which has been 
 described, objected to the doctrine of 
 ''fatality" — refused to believe it and to 
 preach it. How could they believe such 
 a sentiment when the Bible so clearly 
 teaches to the contrary? Hear what 
 God himself says: "Whosoever will, 
 let him take the w^ater of life freely." 
 " Come unto me all ye that labor and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
 
 68 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 The Scriptures likewise tell us that 
 Christ, "by the grace of God, tasted 
 death for every mau." Also, that he 
 "gave himself a ransom for all to be tes- 
 tified in due time." A great many other 
 passages of this kind might be pre- * 
 sented, but this is not the j)lace to multi- 
 ply them. Surely these are suiBcient to 
 prove that the doctrine of "fatality," as 
 it is called, is not sustained by the Word 
 of God. 
 
 Second — Education. In Chapter XIY., 
 Form of Government, in the Confession 
 of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, 
 we have the following language in refer- 
 ence to the qualifications which a minis- 
 ter must possess before he is licensed to 
 preach: "And it is recommended that 
 the candidate be also required to produce 
 a diploma of Bachelor or Master of Arts, 
 from some college or university; or at 
 least some authentic testimonials of his 
 having gone through a regular course of
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 69 
 
 learning. Because it is highly reproach- 
 fal to religion, and dangerous to the 
 Church, to entrust the holy ministry to 
 weak and ignorant men, the Presbytery 
 shall try each candidate as to his knowl- 
 edge of the Latin language, and the 
 original language in which the Holy 
 Scriptures were written. They shall also 
 examine him on the arts and sciences; 
 on theology, natural and revealed, and 
 on ecclesiastical history, the sacraments, 
 and Church government. And in order 
 to make trial of his talents to explain 
 and vindicate, and practically to enforce, 
 the doctrines of the gospel, the Presby- 
 tery shall require of him : 1. A Latin 
 exegesis on some common head in di- 
 vinity. 2. A critical exercise; in wdiich 
 the candidate shall give a specimen of 
 his taste and judgment in sacred criti- 
 cism; presenting an explication of the 
 original text, stating its connection, 
 illustrating its force and beauties, remov-
 
 70 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 iiig its difficulties, and solving any im- 
 portant questions which it may present. 
 3. A lecture or exposition of several 
 verses of Scripture. 4. A popular 
 sermon." 
 
 The same book, in the same chapter, 
 also says: "That the most efl'ectual 
 measures may be taken to guard against 
 the admission of inefficient men into the 
 sacred office, it is recommended that no 
 candidate, except in extraordinary cases, 
 be licensed, unless, after his having com- 
 pleted the usual course of academical 
 studies, he shall have studied divinity at 
 least two years, under some approved di- 
 vine, or professor of theology." 
 
 The foregoing is certainly sufficient to 
 convince any one that the Presbyterian 
 Church holds to the position that no man 
 should preach the gospel unless he is 
 most thoroughly educated — must under- 
 stand the arts and sciences, the original 
 languages (Latin, Greek, and Hebrew),
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 71 
 
 and must likewise, in addition to hav- 
 ing mastered all these, spend two years 
 in a theological school! 
 
 Kow, those great and good men who 
 were instrumental in founding the Cum- 
 herland Presbyterian Church, were not 
 opposed to education, nor to a thorough 
 education either; but they did not adopt 
 the extreme views of the Presbyterian 
 Confession of Faith on this subject. 
 They, therefore, in view of the great 
 need of "the Cumberland Country" for 
 ministerial help, determined to licejise 
 men to preach the gospel who had not 
 been as thoroughly educated as the Con- 
 fession of Faith required. In taking this 
 position, they, as has been seen, had God's 
 approval, for he owned and blessed the 
 labors of those men — placed the seal of 
 his approbation upon their ministry, 
 ^or was this the first time in the history 
 of the Presbyterian Church that men 
 were inducted into the ministry who re-
 
 72 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 fused to adopt all the doctrines and sen- 
 timents tauo'ht in the Confession of 
 Faith. The Presbytery in I^Torth Caro- 
 lina, we are told, permitted some of its 
 members to make similar exceptions to 
 those made by the men who afterwards 
 became the founders of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church. It is also a fact 
 of history, that Pevs. Messrs. Stone and 
 ITelson, of Kentucky, and a number of 
 others, were ordained with the same "ex- 
 ceptions"; and this was done, too, pre- 
 vious fo the time now under considera- 
 tion. The truth is, the Confession of 
 Paith of the Presbyterian Church was 
 not adopted in the United States until 
 the year 1729; and in the Adopting Act, 
 we lind the following language in the 
 records of the Synod of Philadelphia: 
 "And in case any minister of this Sjaiod, 
 or any candidate for the ministry, shall 
 have any scruple with respect to any ar- 
 ticle or articles of said Confession of
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 73 
 
 Faith or Catechism, he shall at the time 
 of making such declaration, declare his 
 sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, 
 who shall, notwithstanding, admit him 
 to the exercise of the ministry within 
 our bounds, and to ministerial commis- 
 sion, if either Synod or Presbytery shall 
 judge his scruple or mistake to be only 
 about articles not essential and necessary 
 in doctrine, worship, and government." 
 As additional proof, we quote from 
 President Davies, one of the most promi- 
 nent ministers in the Presbyterian 
 Church. He visited England in 1753, 
 and was interrogated on the subject of 
 ordaining men who made " exceptions to 
 the Confession of Faith." His answer 
 was: ""We allowed the candidate to 
 mention his objection to any article in 
 the Confession, and the judicatories 
 to judge whether the articles objected 
 against were essential to Christianit}^; 
 and if they judged they were not, th(!y
 
 74 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 would admit the candidate, notwith- 
 standing his objections." Mr. "Wood, 
 another minister of prominence in that 
 Church, quotes what Mr. Davies says, 
 and then uses the following language: 
 "It will be remembered that this w\as 
 the principle upon which the American 
 Presbyterian Church was founded — this 
 was the spirit of the Adopting Act of 
 1729." 
 
 From the foregoing, then, it w^ill be 
 seen that it was quite common in the 
 early history of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States to license and or- 
 dain men who made "exceptions" to the 
 Confession of Faith, provided these "ex- 
 ceptions" were not considered "es- 
 sential and necessary articles of faith." 
 Why, then, abuse the Cumberland Pres- 
 bytery for doing the same thing? As 
 was stated before, the country was sadly 
 in need of earnest, consecrated ministers. 
 The unconverted "were groaning for re-
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 75 
 
 demption in the blood of the Lamb, and 
 the little flocks scattered through the 
 wilderness were without the care of 
 faithful shepherds. IIow, then, could the 
 friends of God and humanity behave 
 themselves as did the anti-revival party? 
 How could they find it in their hearts to 
 oppose the great revival because some, 
 like the good Samaritan, "with a loud 
 voice glorified God, and fell down at 
 Jesus' feet, giving thanks"; and others, 
 like the blind Bartimeus, "cried out, 
 Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on 
 me"? 
 
 Many, we are sorry to say, have la- 
 bored hard to make the impression that 
 the only reason why the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church was brought into 
 existence was, that its founders were op- 
 posed to an educated ministry. The as- 
 sertion is utterly false, as the facts of 
 history will prove. Mr. Davidson, the 
 uncandid and unfair historian of the
 
 76 THE T^YO ITEMS. 
 
 Presbyterian Church, when he comos to 
 that point, is obliged to admit that it 
 was not the want of classical learning 
 that produced the difficulty. On page 
 256 of his history, he uses the following 
 hmguage: "Calvinism is a complete and 
 compact system, and, as in a well- 
 constructed arch, every separate doctrine 
 is a kej^stone, which cannot be abstracted 
 without endano'erino; the whole. As 
 from a^foot we may infer the proportions 
 of a statue, or reproduce a Saurian from 
 its fossil fragments, so each single doc- 
 trine of the Calvinistic scheme naturally 
 and necessarily involves the adoption of 
 all the rest. Forgetful or unconscious of 
 this truth, they (the Cumberland Presby- 
 terians) endeavored, in the altered edition 
 of the Confession and Catechisms, to 
 steer a middle course betw^een Calvinism 
 and Arminianism (if a middle course 
 there can be), rejecting the doctrines of 
 eternal reprobation, limited atonement,
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 77 
 
 and special grace, and maintaining that 
 the Spirit of God operates on the world, 
 or co-extensively with the atonement, so 
 as to leave all men inexcusable." 
 
 As additional proof upon this subject, 
 the reader is referred to " The Assembly's 
 Digest" — a book published by the Pres- 
 byterian Church. On page 629, we 
 have the following: ''They hold doc- 
 trines contrary to those contained in 
 our Confession of Faith, viz.: That 
 they in effect deny election^ and hold that 
 there is a certain sufficiency of grace 
 given to every man, which if he will 
 improve, he shall obtain more, etc., until 
 he arrive at true conversion." Also on 
 page 633, we have the following: "The 
 grounds of their separation from us 
 were, that we would not relax our dis- 
 cipline, and surrender some important 
 doctrines of our Confession of Faith." 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, the at- 
 tention of the reader is called to the fact
 
 78 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 that, in 1866, an effort was made on the 
 subject of Organic Union between the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 (the Presbyterian Church, South), and 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
 Able Committees were appointed by the 
 General Assembly of each Church; and 
 when they met in the city of Memphis, 
 Tennessee, the Committee on the part of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
 proposed that it would agree to adopt 
 the "standard" of the Presbyterian 
 Church on the subject of the educa- 
 tion of the ministry, provided, that that 
 Church would so modify its Confession 
 of Faith as to remove therefrom the idea 
 of- unconditional election and reproba- 
 tion. The Committee from that Church 
 did not accept the proposition, but 
 agreed to refer the matter to the General 
 Assembly of that Church. In 1867, in 
 the city of Nashville, Tennessee, that 
 General Assemblv refused to accede to
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 79 
 
 the proposition made by the Committee 
 from the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, and said, "the time had not yet 
 come to change the time-honored Stand- 
 ards which have been for so many years 
 the glory of the Presbyterian Church.'' 
 
 The same thing in substance occurred 
 when, in 1874, two similar Committees 
 met with a view to Organic Union be- 
 tween the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America (the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, jSTorth), and the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Church. Those Com- 
 mittees met in JN'ashville, Tennessee, and 
 remained in session several days; bat no 
 promise whatever could be extorted from 
 the Committee on the part of that 
 Church, that the doctrines of its Confes- 
 sion of Faith would be in the least mod- 
 ified on the points mentioned in the 
 other case — unconditional election and 
 reprobation. 
 
 From the foregoing we see how utterly
 
 80 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 untrue the charge that the only cause of 
 the organization of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church was opposition to 
 an educated ministry. Let it be remem- 
 bered, too, that the items of history 
 which have just been quoted, come 
 from members of the Presbyterian 
 Church — and the first three, from 
 those who were bitter enemies of 
 the Church organized in the Old Log- 
 House by King, Ewing, and McAdow. 
 The reader must not forget, however, 
 that the founders of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church were not opposed 
 to education, nor to an educated minis- 
 try; but they did believe — and for this 
 belief they have the Bible and reason on 
 their side — that a man may preach the 
 gospel without having received ''a di- 
 ploma of Bachelor or Master of Arts 
 from some college or university"; and 
 that after having completed such a 
 course, "he shall have studied divinity
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 81 
 
 at least two years, under some approved 
 divine or professor of theology." But 
 as these two items — " fatality and educa- 
 tion" — will come up again for consid- 
 eration before this little book is com- 
 pleted, they are dismissed for the present. 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
 as has been seen, was brought into exist- 
 ence. The great question is, Did the 
 founders of that denomination do right 
 in organizing a new one ? Why did they 
 not join some Church that was already 
 in existence? If the reader will be pa- 
 tient, the reason shall be given in the 
 chapters which follow ; for the leading 
 denominations of the world will now be 
 taken up one by one, and the objectiona- 
 ole features to each will be presented. 
 In doing this, the reader will find that, 
 if I have "nothing extenuated," neither 
 have I " set down aught in malice." The 
 emphasis with which utterances are made 
 must not be construed as unkindncss to 
 6
 
 82 
 
 THE TWO ITEMS. 
 
 any one or to any Church, for such a 
 feeling does not exist. It is with sys- 
 tems of doctrine, and not with persons, 
 that we have to do in this work, and we 
 wish the matter so understood by all 
 who read this book, and, also, by all the 
 members of the difierent denominations 
 whose Creeds are criticised.
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 83 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 One of the oldest Churches in existence 
 is the Eoman Catholic Church. Why, 
 then, it may be asked, did not the found- 
 ers of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church join that organization? 
 
 I. — ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 The friends of this denomination say 
 that it is the Church which the Saviour 
 himself established when he was upon 
 earth, but there is no truth in this asser- 
 tion. The following is a brief but accu- 
 rate statement in regard to its origin. 
 For a considerable time after the com- 
 mencement of the Christian era, the city 
 of Pome was ruled by Pagan emperors, 
 but in the fourth century, Christianity
 
 84 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 became the religion of tlie Common- 
 wealth under Constantine the Great. 
 Soon after this event the Empire was 
 rent in twain — one part, the Eastern, 
 with the city of Constantinople as its 
 capital; the other part, the Western, 
 with Rome as its capital. AVicked rival- 
 ries soon sprang up between the prom- 
 inent ministers of these two great cities, 
 and the question was, "AYho shall be 
 first in the kingdom of God?" An em- 
 peror by the name of Mauritius made 
 one of the ministers of Constantinople 
 universal bishop — made him the head 
 and ruler of the whole Church. In a 
 short time, however, this emperor was 
 put to death by Phocas, who afterwards 
 became emperor. One of the first things 
 which this sovereign did was to move 
 the seat of government of the Empire 
 from Constantinople to Rome; and, hav- 
 ing done this, he conferred the title ot 
 Universal Bishop on Boniface III. This
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 85 
 
 occurred A. D. 607, aud this is the date 
 of Papal supremacy — the true origin of 
 the Eoman Catholic Church. What a 
 wicked heginiiing! An emperor who 
 was guilty of murder was the one who 
 appointed the first Bishop ! 
 
 II. — THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE. 
 
 It is claimed that Peter, who was one 
 of the apostles of the blessed Saviour, 
 was the supreme head of Christ's Church 
 upon earth, and that the Pope of the 
 Roman Catholic Church is his successor. 
 This assertion is utterly untrue — has no 
 foundation in the word of God. 
 
 The following are the passages of 
 Scripture which are relied upon to prove 
 the doctrine : " I say unto thee. That thou 
 art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
 my Church; and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it. And I will give 
 unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven ; and whatsoever thou sbalt bind
 
 86 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 on earth shall be bound in heaven; and 
 whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth 
 shall be loosed in heaven." — Matt. xvi. 
 18, 19. 
 
 Roman Catholics tell us that Peter is 
 the rock upon which the Church is built. 
 Christ, however, did not say that upon 
 Peter he would huild his Church, but upon 
 the confession w^iich Peter had made that 
 he, the Saviour, was "the Christ, the Son 
 of the living God." Nor did Peter so 
 understand it, for he evidently considered 
 Qirist as the rock upon which the Church 
 is founded. In addressing the Sanhe- 
 drim, he saj^s; "This is the stone" 
 (speaking of Christ) "which was set at 
 naught of you builders, which is become 
 the head of the corner." — Acts iv. 11. 
 And in the second chapter of his first 
 Epistle, he thus speaks of Christ: "If 
 so be ye have tasted that the Lord is 
 gracious. To whom coming, as unto a 
 living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 87 
 
 but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, 
 as lively stones, are built up a spiritual 
 house, an holy priesthood, to offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by 
 Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is con- 
 stained in the Scripture, behold, I lay in 
 Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious : 
 and he that believeth Qn him shall not 
 be confounded." Surely the testimony 
 of Peter ought to be sufficient upon this 
 sulDJect. But we have additional evi- 
 dence from the Bible. "Other founda- 
 tion can no man lay than that is laid, 
 which is Jesus Christ," etc., etc. 
 
 It is true that Christ said to Peter, 
 "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
 shall be bound in heaven," etc., but he 
 said the same to all the other apostles. 
 See Matt, xviii. 18 : " \^erily I say unto 
 you (not unto thee), Whatsoever ye shall 
 bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; 
 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth 
 shall be loosed in heaven." See likewise
 
 88 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 John XX. 21-23: "Then said Jesus to 
 them (to all the apostles) again, Peace 
 be unto you : as my Father hath sent me, 
 even so send I you. And when he had 
 said this, he breathed on them, and saith 
 unto them,Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost: 
 whose soever sins ye remit, they are re- 
 mitted unto them; and whose soever 
 sins ye retain, they are retained." Was 
 not then the same power given to all the 
 other apostles that was given to Peter? 
 Why, mobt assuredly. Then away with 
 the doctrine that Peter was the prijiee or 
 chief or Bishop or Pope of the apostles! 
 
 But let us look a little further into this 
 matter. Did Peter, after the resurrection 
 and ascension of Christ, exercise suprem- 
 acy over the other apostles ? 'No, indeed. 
 In the election of Deacons, Acts vi., it 
 IS said, "Then the twelve (not Peter) 
 sailed the multitude of the disciples unto 
 them, and said. It is not reason that we 
 should leave the word of God, and serve
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 89 
 
 tables." The disciples chose men, 
 " whom they set before the apostles ; and 
 when they had prayed, the}^ laid their 
 hands on them." In Acts xv.. we learn 
 that some matters of controversy among 
 the churches were referred to the apos- 
 tles and elders at Jerusalem. Peter was 
 present and participated in the discus- 
 sion. Paul and Barnabas also made 
 speeches; but James presided over the 
 assembly, summed up its decision, and 
 concluded with the words, -'My sentence 
 is," and so on. Is it possible, then, that 
 if Peter was supreme; if he was chief 
 of the apostles, the Pope; if he was the 
 head of the Church, that he would not 
 have presided at this, the first Synod or 
 General Assembly which the N'ew Testa- 
 ment Church held? Most assuredly he 
 would. 
 
 Again, if Peter was the prince or chief 
 of the apostles, why did they not treat 
 him with marked respect? Why did
 
 90 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 they treat him simply as an equal? The 
 Pope sends his messengers whithersoever 
 he pleases, but Peter was sent whither- 
 soever the apostles desired that he should 
 go! See Acts viii. 14: "]N'ow when the 
 apostles which were at Jerusalem heard 
 that Samaria had received the word of 
 God, they sent unto them Peter and 
 John." Paul was not a bigot, yet he 
 says that he "was not a whit behind the 
 very chiefest apostles." — 2 Cor. xi. 5. 
 Moreover, Paul says that he withstood 
 Peter to the face, " because he was to be 
 blamed."— Gal. ii. 11. If, then, Peter 
 was the vicar of Jesus Christ, as the 
 Roman Catholics assert, how" could he 
 be wrong? But the blessed Saviour 
 settles this question forever. Matt, xxiii. 
 8: "Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is 
 your Master, even Christ; and all ye are 
 brethren." Also Mark ix. 33-35: "And 
 he (Christ) came to Capernaum: and be- 
 ing in the house he asked them, "What
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 91 
 
 was it that ye disputed among yourselves 
 by the way? But they held their peace: 
 for by the way they had disputed among 
 themselves who should be the greatest. 
 And he sat down, and called the twelve, 
 and saith unto them. If any man desire 
 to be first, the same shall be last of all, 
 and servant of all." 
 
 We, therefore, see that there is no 
 foundation for such a claim. 
 
 III. — THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church teaches 
 that it is right to worship images. The 
 language from their own books is, that 
 "images of Christ and of the Virgin 
 Mother of God, and of other saints, are 
 to be had and retained, especially in 
 churches, and due honor and worship to 
 be paid to them." 
 
 The reader will at once see that this 
 is contrary to the Bible. That blessed 
 book says (Ex. xx. 4, 5) : '' Thou shalt
 
 92 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 not make unto thee any graven image, 
 or any likeness of anything that is in 
 heaven above, or that is in the earth be- 
 neath, or that is in the water under the 
 earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself 
 to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord 
 thy God am a jealous God, visiting the 
 iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
 unto the third and fourth generation of 
 them that hate me," etc. How wicked, 
 then, to do a thing which God so positively 
 forbids ! But go into any Roman Catho- 
 lic church you may, and you will see the 
 members bowing down before these 
 images ! 
 
 IV. — READING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 This Church also teaches that the 
 people ought not to be permitted to read 
 the Scriptures. The language is as fol- 
 lows: "Seeing it is manifest by expe- 
 rience, that if the Holy Scriptures be 
 permitted to be read everywhere indis-
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 93 
 
 criminately, in the vulgar tongue, more 
 biirm than good would result," etc. Just 
 think of it: the people not permitted to 
 read the Bible! God made that book 
 for every one to read, and yet the mem- 
 bers of this Church are not permitted to 
 enjoy that privilege! The Bible says 
 (Psa. cxix. 130): "The entrance of thy 
 words giveth light ; it giveth understand- 
 ing to the simple." J\gain, also, we read 
 (Prov. XXX. 5): ''Every word of God 
 is pure." So, likewise, the Apostle Paul 
 tells us that the Scriptures are to make 
 us wise unto salvation. 2 Tim. iii. 15: 
 "And that from a child thou hast known 
 the holy Scriptures, which are able to 
 make thee wise unto salvation through 
 faith which is in Christ Jesus." The 
 blessed Saviour also says (John v. 39) : 
 "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye 
 think 3'e have eternal life: and they are 
 they which testify of me." 
 
 How, then, can a Church, with all this
 
 94 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 testimony against it, dare prevent its 
 members from reading the Bible! Yet 
 it does ! 
 
 V. — CONFESSION TO PRIESTS. 
 
 The members of this Church are re- 
 quired to confess their sins to a priest. 
 The language is : " that sacramental con- 
 fession of sins is necessary to salvation 
 by divine right, and that he is accursed 
 who says that confession to a priest 
 alone, in secret, is a human invention." 
 But the Scriptures teach that it is to God, 
 and not to man, that we must confess our 
 sins in order to have them pardoned 
 David says (Psa. xxxii. 5): "I acknowl- 
 edged my sin unto thee, and mine ini- 
 quity have I not hid. I said, I will con- 
 fess my transgressions unto the Lord; 
 and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. 
 Selah." Also, Psa. li. 4: "Against thee, 
 thee only, have I sinned, and done this 
 evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be
 
 THE ROxMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 95 
 
 justified when thou speakest, and be 
 clear when thou judgest." Again, the 
 question is asked in Mark ii. 7: "Who 
 can forgive sins but God only." 
 
 VI. THE SACRAMENT OF THE SUPPER. 
 
 The Eoman Catholic Church does not 
 permit its members to partake of both 
 the bread and wine in the sacrament of 
 the Supper. The edict " pronounces any 
 one accursed who says that by command 
 of God, or necessity of salvation, all and 
 each of the faithful in Christ ought to 
 receive the sacrament of the Eucharist 
 in both kinds." But the Bible positively 
 contradicts such teaching. Matt. xxvi. 
 26-29 : "And as they were eating, Jesus 
 took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, 
 and gave it to the disciples, and said, 
 Take, eat; this is my body. And he 
 took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave 
 it to them, saying. Drink ye all of it: 
 for this is mv blood of the new testa-
 
 96 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 meut, which is shed for many for the re- 
 mission of sins. But I say unto you, I 
 will not drink henceforth of this fruit ot 
 the vine, until that day when I drink it 
 new with you in my Father's kingdom." 
 Also Mark xiv. 22, 23: "And as they 
 did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, 
 and brake it, and gave to them, and said. 
 Take, eat; this is my body. And he 
 took the cup, and when he had given 
 thanks, he gave it to them: and they all 
 drank of it." 
 
 We, therefore, see that the blessed Sav- 
 iour intended that his followers should 
 partake of both kinds (the bread and 
 the w^ine), and commanded that all who 
 partook of the one, should likewise par- 
 take of the other, both being done to- 
 gether in remembrance of his broken 
 body and his shed blood. Hence, it is 
 plain that there is no sacrament at all as 
 Christ ordained it, unless it be celebrated 
 ill both kinds — the bread and the wine.
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 97 
 
 How wickedly, then, does this Church act 
 when it thus administers the sacrament! 
 
 VII. — MARRIAGE OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 This Church does not permit its min- 
 isters to marry. The law is positive that 
 the "clergy may not marry." But the 
 Bible teaches no such doctrine. Heb. 
 xiii. 4: "Marriage is honorable in all, 
 and the bed undetiled: hut whoremon- 
 gers and adulterers God will judge." 
 Again, 1 Cor. vii. 2: "i^evertheless, to 
 avoid fornication, let every man have his 
 own wife, and let every woman have 
 her own husband." 
 
 From the fores^oino:, it is evident that 
 no exception is made of the clergy or 
 ministers of the gospel; nor can any one 
 show that God has excepted Priests or 
 Monks. 
 
 VIII. THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The history of this Church is written 
 in blood. For centuries after its birth, it 
 7
 
 98 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 wielded the sword with most desolating 
 effect. It laid its bloody hand upon 
 almost every instrument of torture — the 
 sword, the faggot, the dungeon. If any 
 one doubts this, let him read the history 
 of the Waldenses and the Albigenses, 
 through many generations, and see how 
 the blood of those pure, good people 
 flowed like a river from under the hand 
 of Papal persecution. Let him also cast 
 his eye over the mountains of Bohemia, 
 or the green fields of Spain, and see 
 them covered witb the dying and the 
 dead. Let him likewise go to Paris and 
 witness the horrors of the massacre of 
 Saint Bartholomew; or to Holland, and 
 see her sons dying by tens of thousands 
 in the slaughter occasioned by the Duke 
 of Alva. 
 
 John Dowding, D.D., in his history of 
 Romanism, tells us that from the birth 
 of Popery (the Roman Catholic Church) 
 in 607, to the present time, it is estimated
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 99 
 
 by careful and credible historians, that 
 more than fifty millions of the human 
 family have been slaughtered by that 
 Church, an average of more than forty 
 thousand religious murders for every year 
 of the existence of Popery! How ap- 
 propriate, then, the language of the 
 apostle (Rev. xvii. 6) : ''I saw the woman 
 drunken with the blood of the saints, 
 and with the blood of the martyrs of 
 Jesus." 
 
 The foregoing are only a few of the 
 objections that can be urged against the 
 Roman Catholic Church, but surely they 
 are sufficient. We are not astonished, 
 therefore, that the founders of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church preferred a 
 new organization rather than connect 
 themselves with such a denomination.
 
 100 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER A^II. 
 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND — THE EPISCOPAL 
 CHURCH. 
 
 "Why, it may be asked, did not the 
 founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church join the Episcopal Church ? This 
 denomination had its origin in England 
 during the fifteenth century. There it 
 is called the Church of England; in this 
 country it is known as the Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 I. — ITS EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 This Church, as we now find it, was 
 organized during the reign of Henry 
 VIII., King of EngUmd. For a num- 
 ber of years this monarch had been a 
 zealous member of the Roman Catholic
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 101 
 
 Church, and did all iu his power against 
 the Eeformation. He went so far as to 
 write a book opposing Martin Luther 
 and defending * the Roman Catholic 
 Church. For this great service the Pope 
 of Rome complimented him with the 
 title of "Defender of the Faith " But 
 he was a very wicked man, and his at- 
 tachment to his Church did not last 
 many years. He conceived an affection 
 for a woman named Anne Boleyn, and 
 resolved to divorce his wife, Catherine of 
 Aragon, to whom he had been married 
 eighteen years. The Pope refused to 
 grant the divorce, and King Henry then 
 assumed the title of Supreme Head of 
 the English Church. Having taken this 
 step, he put down the monasteries of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, and appropri- 
 ated the property to secular purposes. 
 He then married Anne Boleyn, but in a 
 short time he had her beheaded on the 
 scaffold, and married Lady Jane Sey-
 
 102 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 mour, who died soon afterwards. He 
 next married Anne of Cleves, but the 
 union proving to be an unhappy one, he 
 divorced her, and caused Cromwell, who 
 helped to make the match, to be be- 
 headed. His next wife was Catharine 
 Howard, whom he also beheaded. He 
 then married Catharine Parr. 
 
 From the foregoing, it will be seen 
 that this wicked king had six wives, and 
 for this reason he is called in history the 
 many- wived Henry ! He was also a very 
 cruel man, for, during his reign, he 
 burnt the famous Tyndale at the stake, 
 and a number of other great and good 
 men. Truly has it been said of him, 
 ^' that he never spared man in his anger 
 nor woman in his lust." 
 
 II. — SALVATION BY BAPTISM. 
 
 In baptizing an infant, the priest or 
 minister is instructed to say, after the 
 child has been baptized, " We yield thee
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 103 
 
 hearty thanks, most mercifal Father, 
 that it hath pleased thee to regenerate 
 this infant with thy Hol}^ Spirit, to re- 
 ceive him for thine own child by adop- 
 tion, and to incorporate him into thy 
 holy Church." The same doctrine is 
 taught in receiving grown persons into 
 this Church in the act of Confirmation; for 
 the Bishop is taught to say, "Almighty 
 and ever-living God, who hast vouch- 
 safed to regenerate these thy servants by 
 w^ater and the Holy Ghost, and hast given 
 unto them forgiveness of all their sins," 
 etc. Let the reader look again at this 
 language: "Regenerate this infant with 
 thy Holy Spirit." ^ow, to show" that 
 we have not mistaken their meaning, the 
 commentators on the Prayer-book (a 
 book about which we will speak in an- 
 other place) say that this " regeneration " 
 takes place alone in or by baptism. And 
 as additional proof, read the following 
 questions and answers, which are copied
 
 104 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 from a catecliisni published b}^ that 
 Church for children: 
 
 ^'Q. What were you made in baptism? 
 
 A. A member of Christ. 
 
 Q. And what else? 
 
 A. The child of God. 
 
 Q. What else? 
 
 A. An inheritor of the kingdom ot 
 heaven. 
 
 Q. What is the special grace of bap- 
 tism ? 
 
 A. Cleansing from sin." 
 
 By examining again the language used 
 in baptizing adults, we see that the priest 
 is required to say that they are regen- 
 erated "by water and the Holy Ghost." 
 Water, then, to say the least, is one of 
 the agents that regenerates the soul. 
 Attention is also called to a catechism of 
 that Church for adults. In response to 
 the question, "What is baptism?" the 
 answer is: 
 
 "It is the sacrament wherein persons
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 105 
 
 are made members of Christ, children of 
 God, and inheritors of the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 What an absurdity ! How can the ap- 
 plication of water cleanse and purify the 
 heart? There is not a single verse in the 
 Bible that teaches such a sentiment. But 
 as this doctrine of salvation by baptism 
 ^vill be considered at some length under 
 the head, "Campbellite Church," it is 
 dismissed for the present. 
 
 III. — APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 
 
 The members of the Episcopal Church 
 claim that it is the Church, because 
 they say they can prove that tlieir 
 preachers are in the "regular line of 
 succession" from the apostles them- 
 selves. The doctrine they teach is 
 simply this: that the persons called 
 Bishops were each ordained by a pre- 
 ceding Bishop back to the apostles, 
 whose successors the Bishops in this
 
 106 THE EPISCOPAL ClIURCU. 
 
 Church claim to be; that not one link 
 in the long chain is wanting; that or- 
 dination by these Bishops'alone is valid; 
 and that the persons ordained by them 
 are the only true ministers of the gospel. 
 In reply to this absurd theory, we have 
 space only for a few arguments. 
 
 1. There is not the slightest evidence 
 in the Bible for Bishops at all in the 
 sense in which Episcopalians use the 
 term. The words presbyter and bishop 
 mean precisely the same thing in the 
 Kew Testament; and Presbyters were 
 the ancient Bishops, and are the only 
 Bishops which are mentioned in the 
 sacred Scriptures. In the previous chap- 
 ter — the chapter upon the Roman Cath- 
 olic Church — it was proven by the Sav- 
 iour himself that he had but one kind 
 of ministers, and that they were equal 
 in power and autliority. 
 
 2. If the theory of the Episcopa. 
 Church is true, then there is no Church,
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 107 
 
 for there is not a denomination on earth 
 that can show a regular succession from 
 the apostles until now. If one link is 
 wanting, then all depending on it will 
 fall; and that many links have been 
 broken, no one familiar with the facts of 
 history will deny. 
 
 3. The best informed men in the Epis- 
 copal Church admit that the theory is a 
 myth — is utterly false. The great histo- 
 rian of England, Macaulay, who was a 
 member of the Church of England — the 
 Episcopal Church — says: "The trans- 
 mission of orders from the apostles to 
 an English clergyman of the present 
 day, must have been through a very 
 great number of intermediate persons. 
 ]S'ow it is probable that no clergyman in 
 the Church of England can trace his 
 spiritual genealogy, from Bishop to 
 Bishop, even so far back as the Refor- 
 mation. There remain fifteen hundred 
 or sixteen hundred vears during^ which
 
 108 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 the history of the transmission of orders 
 is buried in utter darkness. And whether 
 he be priest by succession from the apos- 
 tles, depends on the question whether, 
 during that long period, some thousands 
 of events took place, any one of which 
 may, without any gross improbability, 
 be supposed not to have taken place. 
 We have not a tittle of evidence to any 
 one of these events. AVe do not even 
 know the names or countries of the men 
 to whom it is taken for granted that 
 these events happened." 
 
 The foregoing admits all that we could 
 ask, and coming from such authority in 
 the Episcopal Church, it is conclusive 
 against the dogma of succession. 
 
 4. Its strongest advocates have to 
 admit that their succession has come 
 down through men of the greatest wick- 
 edness and the worst of morals. Often, 
 very often, the prelacy was obtained by 
 money, murder, and war! J^ow the
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 109 
 
 question is, would God use such a vile, 
 corrupt channel for keeping his Church 
 in existence? i^o, never! The Bible 
 tells us that "it pleased God by the fool- 
 ishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe." In other words, God has or- 
 dained that by the preaching of the gos- 
 pel the world is to be saved; yet, accord- 
 ing to this theory, no man dare preach 
 this gospel unless he is in the succession ! 
 Is it possible that God has left the great 
 matter of human salvation upon such 
 uncertainty? In some cases the succes- 
 sion came, say the advocates, through 
 children ; and the certainty that no irreg- 
 ularity occurred with this child, or this 
 drunken man, or this murderer, is as 
 important to the Christian, if this doc- 
 trine be true, as the resurrection of 
 Christ. If the Saviour had not risen 
 from the grave, all would have been lost. 
 And, likewise, if there is a defective link 
 anywhere in this chain, all is lost for-
 
 110 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 ever. God forbid that the salvation of 
 sinners should have to depend on a chain, 
 made up, in great part, of drunken, li- 
 centious, debauched men ! The truth is, 
 a "succession" is not needed, for all 
 true ministers are still called to the work 
 as was Aaron. Then where is the neces- 
 sity for "succession?" 
 
 Eoman Catholics, Episcopalians, Mo- 
 hammedans, and Mormons all profess to 
 have this "succession." But surely all 
 of them cannot have it; and, unless bet- 
 ter evidence can be given than has ever 
 yet been produced, we will not believe 
 that any of them have it. In the list of 
 those claiming to have it, we omitted the 
 Kalmucks, a race of the Tartars. They 
 are confident that they have it, and this 
 is the way they say they obtained it: 
 "When the High Priest or Bishop dies, 
 his body is burned to ashes, and the 
 ashes are carefully collected into a bottle. 
 Every day his successor mixes some of
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Ill 
 
 the ashes with water and drinks it, until 
 all the ashes are used up. In this way 
 the body of the Bishop is taken into the 
 body of his successor. This is '' apostolic 
 succession" among the Kalmucks; and 
 the theory is fully as plausible as that of 
 the Episcopal Church. The whole thing 
 of "succession" is the mainspring and 
 the mainstay of priestcraft. 
 
 IV. — CONFIRMATION, HOLY DAYS, ETC. 
 
 According to the doctrines and usages 
 of this Church, members are not entitled 
 to the sacrament of the Supper until the 
 hands of the Bishop have been laid upon 
 their heads. By so doing, he confirms 
 them — brings them into Full fellowship 
 in the Church. Remember, however, 
 that no one but a Bishop can do this. 
 He has a large field to visit — his diocese 
 covering the area of a State or more — 
 yet no one, until the Bishop says so, can 
 oe permitted to celebrate the death and
 
 112 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 sufferings of Christ — must be at least 
 ready for confirmation. What an ab- 
 surdity! What folly! 
 
 That Church also has quite a list of 
 Holy Days— St. Peter's day, St. Mark's 
 day, St. Thomas' da}^, together with 
 Fasts and Lents, etc., etc. — which they 
 observe. But all these Good Fridays, 
 l^ew Moons, etc., as the Church observes 
 them, are nothing on earth except the 
 "traditions and endless genealogies," 
 which the Bible condemns, and which 
 come either from the Roman Catholic 
 Church or from Pagan mythology! 
 God says (Isa. i. 14) : "Your new moons 
 and your appointed feasts my soul 
 hateth — they are a trouble unto me; I 
 am weary to bear them." 
 
 V. — THE PRAYER-BOOK. 
 
 The prayers offered by ministers and 
 people are printed. They are good, in 
 the main, but thev tend to formalism.
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 113 
 
 Yet to this printed liturgy they are 
 bound by a law that is inflexible — it must 
 always be used in public worship ! The 
 book, too. so far as we know, is always 
 used in private devotions. Who ever 
 heard a minister in that Church pray 
 except "out of a book"? iN'ow the 
 question is. Can any book of printed 
 prayers meet the wants of all Christians 
 on all occasions of worship? The patri- 
 archs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, never 
 so prayed — were never so circumscribed 
 in their religious devotions. Had the 
 great John Knox so prayed, the proba- 
 bilities are that Mary Queen of Scots — 
 a Roman Catholic Sovereign — would not 
 have said that she feared his prayers 
 more than she did the army of England. 
 But when he prayed, " God, give me 
 Scotland or I die," the very earth seemed 
 to tremble! In brief, the longing, sor- 
 rowing heart demands more freedom, 
 more latitude, and greater variety of 
 8
 
 114 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 expression, than is found in thtit Prayer- 
 book. 
 
 VI. — TOO LOOSE IN ITS DISCIPLINE. 
 
 It would, perhaps, be safe to say that 
 no denomination permits greater liberties 
 in its members tlian the Episcopal 
 Church. A venerable Bishop, it is said, 
 once observed to a gentleman who left 
 the Methodists to join the Episcopalians, 
 ^'I am, if possible, more opposed to 
 dancing than are the Methodists, because 
 ours is called the 'dancing Church.'" 
 In short, there is apparently so little 
 spirituality in that Church, that the 
 members are not reproved for becoming 
 absorbed in the fashions, vanities, and 
 frivolities of the w^orld. Who ever 
 heard of a revival of religion in that 
 Church? And why is it that we rarely 
 find one of their churches in the country'^ 
 They have their strength in towns and 
 cities, where mirth, gayety, and pleasure
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 115 
 
 seem most to abound; and were it not 
 for other Churches, the people in the 
 country would be left to perish ! 
 
 VII. WAXT OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 The Episcopal Church is greatly want- 
 ing in that broad Christian fraternity 
 that characterizes most of the other de- 
 nominations. The ministers rarely, if 
 ever, exchange pulpits with the clergy 
 of other Churches. The expression may 
 seem harsh, but facts justify it: the 
 general bearing of the ministers and 
 members of that Church seems to say, 
 " We are more holy than you." This 
 want of fraternity, however, may be due 
 to the fact that the Episcopalians claim 
 to be the Church, and look upon all 
 others as ''sects" and "heretics." This 
 High Churchism, however, tends not only 
 to sectarian bigotry, but to spiritual de- 
 cay; for in proportion as we exalt ritual 
 service, in the same proportion do we
 
 116 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 neglect vital godliness. Paul said : " But 
 God forbid that I should glory, save in 
 the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by 
 whom the world is crucified unto me, 
 and I unto the world." — Gal. vi. 14. 
 
 Other objectionable features could be 
 presented, but these are sufficient to jus- 
 tify the founders of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church in passing by the 
 Episcopalians when they were seeking 
 an ecclesiastical home.
 
 rilE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. u 
 
 We have already seen in this little 
 book that the founders of the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Church left the Pres- 
 byterian Church, and organized a new 
 one. The reasons for that step have 
 already been given; but the promise was 
 made that, at the proper place, the sub- 
 ject would be more fully discussed, in a 
 doctrinal point of view. 
 
 The word Presbyterian comes from the 
 Greek word Fresbuteros, which means 
 senior, or elder, signifying that the gov- 
 ernment of the Church is by Presbyters ; 
 that is, by an association of teaching 
 elders and ruling elders. There is 
 nothing, therefore, in the word that in-
 
 118 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 dicatcs doctrine. To ascertain what their 
 tenets are, we must examine their 
 Standards. 
 
 The Confession of Faith of the Pres- 
 byterian Church was formed by what is 
 known in history as the "Westminster 
 Assembly. This body was appointed by 
 the Long Parliament of England. It 
 consisted of one hundred and twenty- 
 one clergymen and thirty laymen — ten 
 of whom were Lords and twenty Com- 
 moners — together with four clerical and 
 two lay commissioners from the Church 
 of Scotland. This notable Assembly 
 held its first meeting July 1, 1643, and 
 continued to sit till February 22, 1649 — 
 six years. The doctrines agreed upon 
 by that Convocation, constitute the Con- 
 fession of Faith of the Presbyterian 
 Church. It ma}^ not be improper to 
 state in this connection, that the theolog- 
 ical views of John Calvin were the doc- 
 trines which were incorporated in that
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 119 
 
 book. He was born July 10, 1500, in 
 ]N"oyon, France, and was brought up 
 in the Roman Catholic Church; but 
 at the age of twenty-three he left that 
 organization. As a scholar and debator 
 he had few equals in his day. Being a 
 man of strong and determined will, he 
 was accused of being tyrannical in his re- 
 ligious sentiments. Because his theo- 
 logical views were, in the main, adopted 
 by the Westminster Assembly, those who 
 adhere to that system are called Calvinists. 
 Having made these explanatory state- 
 ments, it is now proposed to follow the 
 general plan of this little book, and 
 show why the founders of the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Church could not 
 adopt the system of doctrines taught by 
 the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 I. — GOD THE AUTHOR OF SIN. ^ 
 
 In the Confession of Faith of the 
 Presbyterian Church, Chapter III. Sec. 1,
 
 120 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 it is said: "God did from all eternity, 
 by the most wise and lioly counsel of 
 his own will, freely and unchangeably 
 ordain whatsoever comes to pass." 
 'Now it is most certain that sin "does 
 come to pass"; hence, according to the 
 doctrine here taught, God must be the 
 author of sin ! Let the reader carefully 
 note the word ^' whatsoever J^ This em- 
 braces everything — from the greatest to 
 the least event that can happen — every 
 motive, every desire, every inclination, 
 every act of the whole human race, 
 whether virtuous or vicious! It is true, 
 the same book, in the same Chapter and 
 Section, adds, "Yet, so as thereby neither 
 is God the author of sin, nor is violence 
 oflered to the will of the creatures, nor 
 is the liberty or contingency of second 
 causes taken away, but rather estab- 
 lished." But what good does that "ye^, 
 so as^' do? It is simply an assertion 
 without proof. If God has ordained
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CUURCII. 121 
 
 "whatsoever comes to pass," and as sin 
 does ''come to pass," how can it be said, 
 ''neither is God the author of sin"? 
 That ''yet, so as'' therefore, is worth 
 nothing I 
 
 II. — THE DOCTRINE OF FATALITY. 
 
 In the same Chapter (HI.)? Sec. 3, it is 
 said: "By the decree of God, for the 
 manifestation of his glory, some men and 
 angels are predestinated unto everlasting 
 life, and others fore-ordained to everlast- 
 ing death." In the same Chapter, Sec. 
 5, it is said that the "elect" are chosen 
 in Christ "without any foresight of faith 
 or good works, or perseverance in either 
 of them, or any other thing in the crea- 
 ture, as conditions or causes moving him 
 thereunto; and all to the praise of his 
 glorious grace." In Sec. 7, of the same 
 Chapter, it is said: "The rest of man- 
 kind, God was pleased, according to the 
 unsearchable counsel of his own will,
 
 122 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 whereby he extendeth or withholcleth 
 mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his 
 sovereign power over his creatures, to 
 pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor 
 and wrath for their sin, to the praise of 
 his glorious justice." 
 
 This item of fatality, or this particular 
 phase of it, at least, was commented upon 
 in the historical part of this little book, 
 and it is not deemed necessary to con- 
 sume further time upon the subject. It 
 will not be out of place, however, to say 
 that the doctrine here taught is in direct 
 violation of the plain declarations of the 
 sacred Scriptures. If " some men and an- 
 gels are predestinated to everlasting life, 
 and others fore-ordained to everlasting 
 death," and this is done, too, "without 
 any foresight of faith or good works," 
 then men and angels are not free agents. 
 Away with such absurd teachings; 
 they are dishonoring to God, to angels, 
 and to men !
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 123 
 
 in. — A LIMITED ATONEMENT. 
 
 The Confession of Faith of the Pres- 
 byterian Church teaches that Christ 
 died for none bat the ''elect." In Chap- 
 ter III. Sec. 6, it is said: "Wherefore 
 they who are elected, being fallen in 
 Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are ef- 
 fectually called unto faith in Christ by 
 his Spirit working in due season," etc. 
 And in the last clause of the same sec- 
 tion, it is said: "]!!Teither are any others 
 redeemed by Christ, effectually called, 
 justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, 
 but the elect only." 
 
 i^ow, to show that we do not misrepre- 
 sent the sentiment of the Church upon 
 this point, we will quote what Rev. 
 Eobert Shaw says. He wrote an Expo- 
 sition of the Confession of Faith, and it 
 has been endorsed by that Church. His 
 language is : " Christ died exclusively for 
 the elect, and purchased redemption for
 
 124 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 them alone; in other words, that Christ 
 made atonement only for the elect, and 
 tluit in no sense did he die for the rest of 
 the race." But the Bible says (John iii. 
 16): "For God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth in him should not per- 
 ish, but have everlasting life." Again 
 Heb. ii. 9: "But we see Jesus, who wav 
 made a little lower than the angels for 
 the suffering of death, crowned with 
 glory and honour; that he by the grace 
 of God should taste death for every 
 man." Also, 1 John ii. 2: "And he is 
 the propitiation for our sins: and not 
 for our's only, but also for the sins of the 
 whole world " 
 
 IV. — THE COXDITIOX OF INFANTS. 
 
 The Confession of Faith, Chapter X., 
 Sec. 3, says: "Elect infants dying in in- 
 fancy, are regenerated and saved by 
 Christ through the Spirit, who worketh
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 125 
 
 when, and where, and how he pleaseth. 
 So also are all other elect persons who 
 are incapable of being outwardly called 
 by the ministry of the word." 
 
 Let the reader note the language, 
 "elect infants," etc. If there are "elect 
 infants," there must be non-elect infants, 
 else the expression has no meaning. If 
 there are non-elect infants, then they are 
 lost if they die in infancy. Our Calvin- 
 istic friends, it is true, attempt to evade 
 this point by saying that none but 
 "elect infants" die in infancy. How do 
 they know this? But if the doctrine of 
 '^election,'' as held by Presbyterians, is 
 true, then it is certain that there are 
 "elect" and non-elect infants. It could 
 not be otherwise, if " some men and angels 
 are predestinated unto everlasting life, 
 and others fore-ordained to everlasting 
 death"; for, if this predestination took 
 place, as the Confession of Faith de- 
 clares, "before the foundation of the
 
 126 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 world was laid," then it was true of the 
 two classes when they were iyifants. 
 Consequently, there must be ''elect" and 
 non-elect infants; and as none can be 
 saved but the " elect," no difference when 
 the non-elect die, whether in infancy or 
 in old age, they are most certainly lost ! 
 Instead, then, of trying to evade the 
 doctrine of "infant damnation," as our 
 Presbyterian friends do, why do they 
 not simply say that such a doctrine is in 
 perfect agreement with the theor}^ of 
 "election" as taught by them? In 
 other words, why may not God just as 
 well punish an infant as to punish a 
 grown person, inasmuch as a grown 
 person, if he is of the number that 
 has been "passed by," is just as helpless 
 as an infant — can no more believe in 
 Christ than can an infant; nor is he one 
 whit more responsible for not believing, 
 if this doctrine of 
 true?
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAX CHURCH. 127 
 
 V. CONCERNING THE HEATHEN. 
 
 The same Confession of Faitli, Chap- 
 ter X., Sec. 4 (latter clause), says : " Much 
 less can men, not professing the Chris- 
 tian religion, be saved in any other way 
 whatsoever, be they never so diligent to 
 frame their lives according to the light 
 of nature, and the law of that religion 
 they do profess." Also in answer to 
 Question No. 60, in the Larger Cate- 
 chism, we have the following: "They, 
 who, having never heard the gospel, 
 know not Jesus Christ, and believe not 
 in him, cannot be saved." 
 
 ^ow, as we have already seen else- 
 where, this same book teaches that God 
 chose some "unto everlasting life," with- 
 out reference to either their "faith or 
 good works"; then why may not God 
 have chosen some of the heathen to 
 "everlasting life"? AYhy can there not 
 be elect heathen? Whv must God be
 
 128 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 confined to Christian lands, inasmuch as 
 the condition, faith, and good works of 
 the elect had nothing to do as "causes 
 moving him thereto"? Is it not strange 
 that not one of the millions upon millions 
 of the adult heathen were elected to 
 everlasting life? Yet not one of them 
 has been so chosen, if the Confession of 
 Faith be true. But how do they know 
 this? Should they not be a little more 
 cautious ? 
 
 Vr. — THE EFFECTS OF SUCH A SYSTEM. 
 
 If God, from the foundation of the 
 world, as this Confession of Faith 
 teaches, chose some to everlasting life, 
 and others to everlasting death, with- 
 out reference to "faith or good works," 
 then whore is the necessity of preaching 
 the gospel ? This book teaches that the 
 number to be saved is definite and fixed, 
 and the number to be damned is also de- 
 finite and fixed. What, then, have we
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 129 
 
 to stimulate us to action? The practical 
 teudeucy of such a system is evil, and 
 evil continually. Skepticism, impeni- 
 tence, discouragement, and hardness of 
 heart, are the legitimate results of such 
 a system. 
 
 Vn. — MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 In a previous chapter in this little 
 work, we saw, from the Standards of the 
 Presbyterian Church, that no one is 
 permitted to become a minister therein, 
 unless he has "a diploma of Bachelor or 
 Master of Arts," and, in addition, " shall 
 have studied divinity at least two years, 
 under some approved divine, or professor 
 of theology." 
 
 ]^ow, be it distinctly understood, the 
 founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church were not opposed to the educa- 
 tion of the ministry, and to the very 
 highest education when practicable, but 
 they were unwilling to adopt the rigid 
 9
 
 130 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 rule of the Presbyterian Church. They, 
 therefore, made the minimum of lit- 
 erary qualifications, to consist of a 
 good English education ; but at the same 
 time, they insisted upon a classical edu- 
 cation when circumstances would jus- 
 tify. They would not say, however, that 
 the extensive course prescribed by the 
 "Mother Church" w^as indispensable^ be- 
 cause the}^ did not think that such a po- 
 sition could be sustained by either reason 
 or Scripture. 
 
 In many sections of the country, it is 
 next to impossible to furnish an adequate 
 number of ministers who have been 
 classically educated; and, indeed, if it 
 could be done, it would not be for the 
 best. Besides, the blessed Saviour made 
 no such requisitions of his apostles, for 
 there was not one out of the tioelve that 
 was thus educated. It is true, Paul was, 
 but he was not called to the ministry until 
 after the death and ascension of Christ.
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 131 
 
 The truth is, a Church, as well as any 
 other organization, must take a practi- 
 cal, common-sense view of matters and 
 things. Some of the most eminent men 
 in other professions — law, medicine, etc., 
 — ^liave heen those who were not classi- 
 cally educated. And has not the same 
 been true in relation to the gospel min- 
 istry? Most certainly it has; and, if the 
 reader will pause a moment, he can recall 
 a vast number of instances. Who would 
 dare silence such men as Whittle, 
 Moody, and a host of others of that kind 
 that might be mentioned? Yet the 
 "standard" in the Presbyterian Church, 
 on the subject of ministerial education, 
 would seal their lips forever ! 
 
 Does God never call men to the minis- 
 try who profess religion rather late in 
 life — men of families, and men who have 
 neither the time nor the means to take 
 the extensive course prescribed by the 
 Presbyterian Church? What of old
 
 132 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHUROH. 
 
 John Bunyan and a host of others like 
 him, whose names are immortal? 
 
 This is an interesting topic, but there 
 is neither time nor space to pursue it 
 further. We cannot dismiss it, however, 
 without saying in one broad, compre- 
 hensive sentence : Such a rigid standard 
 as the Presbyterian Church demands on 
 the subject of ministerial education, is 
 warranted neither by reason nor Scrip- 
 ture, and will inevitably curtail the use- 
 fulness and efficiency of any denomina- 
 tion that adheres to it. 
 
 Because of the foregoing objections, 
 therefore, we can readily see how the 
 founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church could not remain in the Presby- 
 terian Church.
 
 THE BAPTIST CHLRCU. 
 
 13? 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 Some, perhaps, are ready to ask, "Why 
 did not the founders of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church join the Baptist 
 Church? 
 
 Why this denomination took the name 
 Baptist is rather curious. If it has any 
 significance, it is because those who bear 
 that name baptize; but then all other 
 Churches baptize, too, and for this reason 
 we fail to see why that name was selected, 
 unless it is because .they attach very 
 great, if not undue, importance to that 
 ordinance. 
 
 I. — THE ORIGIN OF THIS CHURCH. 
 
 Our Baptist friends — at least the 
 greater portion of them — clai m that they
 
 134 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 are not only the oldest Church in exist- 
 ence, but that they are the true Church. 
 Its origin, we are told, dates back to 
 John the Baptist; and the Baptist 
 Church of to-day professes to be able to 
 show that it has a "regular succession" 
 from the apostles themselves — that there 
 has never been a time, since Christ was 
 upon earth, in which their doctrines and 
 usages were not held and practiced. But 
 this is a great mistake — is simply an as- 
 sumption. 
 
 Dr. Wall, a historian that every one 
 respects, in his work on Infant Baptism, 
 written in 1705, in speaking of the Bap- 
 tist Church, sa3^s: "In England there 
 were now and then some Dutchmen 
 found of the Anabaptist opinion ever 
 since it had taken footing in Holland, 
 but none of the English nation are 
 known to have embraced it in a long 
 time after." He also quotes from Bishop 
 Jewel, who says: "They ha,ve no ac-
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 135 
 
 quaintance with us, either in England, 
 Germany, France, Scotland, Denmark, 
 Sweden, nor in any place else where the 
 gospel is clearly preached." 
 
 Rev. Robert Hall, one of the most 
 prominent ministers the Baptist Church 
 ever produced, yields the point; for, in 
 speaking of a separate and distinct Bap- 
 tist Church in early history, he says: 
 " Of this not the faintest trace or vestige 
 is to be found in ecclesiastical history. 
 'Not the shadow of evidence can be pro- 
 duced to prove the existence, during that 
 long trace of time, of a single Society of 
 which adult baptism was the distinguish- 
 ing characteristic. Indeed, we read of 
 the separate existence of no Baptist 
 Churches anywhere upon the Continent 
 during the whole period of the Middle 
 Ages." 
 
 A large amount of additional testi- 
 mony on this point could be presented, 
 but the foregoing is sufficient, especially
 
 136 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 when we remember that the greater por- 
 tion of it is from Baptist authority. 
 
 From the most reliable information 
 we can get, we learn that the Baptist 
 Church originated in Germany, about 
 the year 1522; and the evidence, too, is 
 that they came from the Anabaptists, an 
 organization that took its name from 
 two Greek words ana, ''new," and Baj)- 
 tistes, a "Baptist," signifying that those 
 baptized in infancy should be baptized 
 anew. The Church was, then, formed 
 out of a people who had once believed 
 in and practiced infant baptism! The 
 origin of the Baptist Church in the 
 United States, according to Benedict, a 
 Baptist historian, was as follows : " Koger 
 Williams, the founder of the first Baptist 
 Church in America, was born in Wales, 
 in 1598. He landed in America, Febru- 
 ary 5, 1630. He settled at Providence, 
 1636; and, in 1639, he was baptized by 
 Ezekiel Holliman, a layman, who was
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 137 
 
 appointed by the little company for that 
 purpose. Then he (Roger Williams) 
 baptized the rest of the company, and 
 thus laid the foundation for the first Bap- 
 tist Church in Providence, and on the 
 American continent. Some of our wri- 
 ters have taken the pains to apologize 
 for this unusual transaction ; but, in my 
 opinion, it was just such a course as all 
 companies of believers who wish to form 
 a Church in such extraordinary circum- 
 stances should pursue." 
 
 The reader must not forget that, ac- 
 cording to the theory generally held by 
 Baptists, there is no "gospel ministry 
 except an immersed and an immersing 
 ministry;" consequently, Mr. HoUiman, 
 as he had not been immersed, had no 
 authority to immerse Mr. Williams, and 
 the whole thing, according to their own 
 theory, must be null and void. Yet, 
 according to this same historian — Mr. 
 Benedict — the Church which was thus
 
 138 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 organized was the only one out of which 
 a vast number of other Baptist Churches 
 sprang; for, says he, ^'It would be diffi- 
 cult at this day to make a complete list 
 of the Baptist communities which have 
 sprung from this ancient and prolific 
 mother. From it probably originated, 
 in early times, all which arose in the 
 !N"orthern part of the State. This Church 
 shot out into divers branches as the 
 members increased." Surely, to say the 
 least, there is no "succession" in this! 
 
 II. — NO BAPTISM BUT IMMERSION. . 
 
 The Baptist Church claims that there 
 is no authority in the Bible for adminis- 
 tering the ordinance of baptism in any 
 other way than by immersion. This is 
 a bold position — a position, too, which 
 cannot be maintained. 
 
 All orthodox Churches agree that 
 water baptism is a symbol, and shadows 
 forth the purifying operations of the
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 139 
 
 Holy Spirit. Is it not reasonable, then, 
 that the mode should correspond to the 
 manner in which the Divine Spirit is 
 represented as descending upon the heart? 
 But this is uniformly by 'pouring or 
 sprinkling. "I will pour out my Spirit 
 unto you." "I will sprinkle clean water 
 upon you, and ye shall be clean." This 
 ''pouring out" of the Spirit is called in 
 Scripture the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 
 and water baptism is the instituted sign 
 of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It 
 would, therefore, seem evident that pour- 
 ing or sprinkling is the proper mode of 
 water baptism. 
 
 1. Baptism of John the Baptist. — We 
 are told by those who believe in immer- 
 sion that John "baptized in Jordan." 
 But does not the same record say that he 
 baptized " in Bethabara beyond Jordan?" 
 Bethabara, as we all know, was a place, 
 not a river. The whole trouble arises 
 from the use of the little Greek word
 
 140 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 e??, which means "on," "by," "near," 
 "with," etc., as well as "m." Hence we 
 can with as much propriety say that 
 John baptized "at" or "near" Jordan, 
 as that he baptized "in" Jordan. The 
 Bible says that " Jesus went up (eis) into 
 a mountain." But did he go under the 
 mountain ? Peter says, " When we were 
 with him (Christ) in {en) the holy mount." 
 But were they under the ground? When, 
 therefore, it is said that a person is bap- 
 tized "in" a stream, does it mean neces- 
 sarily that he was put under the water? 
 By no means. 
 
 Our Baptist friends tell us, however, 
 that when Christ himself was baptized, 
 he "went straightway up out of the 
 water." The trouble here is caused bj 
 the little Greek word "apo," which 
 means ^'from^' as well as ^^out of.^' l^o 
 one, then, is authorized to say that Christ 
 was immersed. 
 
 2. Baptism on the Day of Pentecost. —
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 141 
 
 By reference to Acts ii. 1-15, we learn 
 that three thousand persons, from at least 
 fifteen different nations, were baptized 
 on the day of Pentecost, after nine 
 o'clock in the morning. To do this, 
 there were eleven preachers, and if they 
 had done nothing else from the hour 
 specified until sundown, they would have 
 had to baptize jive persons every minute! 
 Is it possible to have immersed that num- 
 ber in so short a time? ]^o, indeed. 
 There was no stream there in which to 
 immerse them, except the little brook 
 Kedron, which was to the East of Jeru- 
 salem; and the time when it occurred 
 was midsummer, when not only this 
 stream was low, but when also the pools 
 and cisterns of the city were scantily 
 supplied with water. Besides, who for 
 a moment will believe that the citizens 
 would have permitted the apostles to 
 use their pools and cisterns for such a 
 purpose? They had just crucified the
 
 142 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 Saviour, aud of course they were in no 
 condition to accommodate his followers, 
 whom they so detested and hated. More- 
 over, the people who were baptized were 
 visitors — perhaps had not a change of 
 raiment. Then, if they were immersed, 
 they remained during the day w^th their 
 wet clothing upon them ! Has God in- 
 stituted an ordinance which subjects his 
 followers to such inconvenience and to 
 such exposure? Surely not. The three 
 thousand, then, must have been baptized 
 by simnkling or pouring^ as was predicted 
 by the prophet Ezekiel: "I will sprinkle 
 clean water upon you, and ye shall be 
 clean." 
 
 3. The Baptism of the Eunuch. — The 
 reader is requested to turn to Acts viii. 
 26-39, and read this interesting case with 
 care. Philip, as will be seen, was going 
 from Jerusalem to Gaza, and every one 
 who has studied geography closely, 
 knows that there are no streams of any
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 143 
 
 size in that region. So destitute is it ot 
 water that it is called "desert." (See 
 latter clause of verse 26.) The record, 
 however, is as follows: "And he com- 
 manded the chariot to stand still: and 
 they went down both into the water, 
 both Philip and the eunuch; and he 
 baptized him." Here is another case 
 similar to the one which has already 
 been considered — the same little words 
 "ei5," "eA'," "a/90," — and every scholar 
 knows that it would be just as correct to 
 say they "went down both to the water," 
 as to say, ^^into the water;" and it would 
 likewise be as correct to say (verse 39), 
 "And when they were come up /rom the 
 water," as to say, " out of the water." 
 To prove this, take the case of Saul, on 
 his way to Damascus. When the light 
 shone around him, he fell (eis) to the 
 ground — not into the ground. Hence, if 
 we must say that Philip and the eunuch 
 went down into the water, we must say
 
 144 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 that Saul fell into the ground, for it is 
 precisely the same word in both cases. 
 Again, in John xxi. 9, we have these 
 words: "As soon as they were (eis) to 
 land," not into the land — the same 
 word in both cases. Take one more 
 case. The Saviour commanded Peter to 
 go (eis) to the sea, and cast a hook and 
 take the first fish that came up. Did 
 Peter go {eis) into the sea? E'ot so; but 
 he went to the sea. Hence Philip and the 
 eunuch went to the water, not into the 
 w^ater ; and we firmly believe that Philip 
 sprinkled or poured the water upon him. 
 4. The Baptism of Saul. — The reader 
 will find a history of Saul's conversion 
 and baptism in Acts ix. At the eigh- 
 teenth verse of the same chapter we have 
 these words: "And immediately there 
 fell from his eyes as it had been scales ; 
 and he received sight forthwith, and 
 arose, and was baptized.'' In the original 
 Greek, as every scholar knows, the Ian-
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 145 
 
 guage is, "Having risen up (or standing 
 up), he was baptized" — baptized, too, in 
 the very house in which he professed re- 
 ligion. E'ow, in the name of reason and 
 common sense, how could Saul have been 
 immersed'^ Our Baptist friends feel that 
 this is a strong case, and they endeavor 
 to meet it by saying, they might have 
 gone off to a stream, or there might have 
 been a pool of water in the house. 
 '^ Might have gone !" " might have been !" 
 Both suppositions are unreasonable, not 
 to say absurd; and no man can, by any 
 fair argument, get a case of immersion 
 out of it. The language is; '^He arose, 
 and was baptized'^ — baptized just where 
 he was when he arose. 
 
 5. The Baptism of Cornelius. — The 
 history of this case is found in Acts x. 
 From the forty-fourth to the forty- 
 seventh verse inclusive, we have the fol- 
 lowing: "While Peter yet spake these 
 words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them 
 10
 
 146 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 which heard the word. And they of the 
 circumcision which believed were aston- 
 ished, as many as came with Peter, be- 
 cause that on the Gentiles also was 
 poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 Hor they heard them speak with tongues, 
 and magnify God. Then answered Pe- 
 ter, Can any man forbid water, that 
 these should not be baptized, which have 
 received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 
 These words can mean nothing, unless 
 they mean that water should be procured 
 and poured upon them, just as the Holy 
 Ghost had been '' poured out.^' If any 
 one doubts that this was the meaning 
 o.f Peter, let him read the fifteenth verse 
 of the next chapter — chapter xi. lu 
 % speaking of this same affair, Peter says ; 
 "The Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us 
 at the beginning. Then remembered I 
 the word of the Lord, how that he said, 
 John indeed baptized with water (not m 
 water) ; but ye shall be baptized with the
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 147 
 
 Holy Ghost." In other words, Peter 
 baptized them with water, just as God 
 had baptized them vnth the Holy Ghost. 
 There is not the shadow of evidence that 
 they were immersed. 
 
 6. The Baptism of the Jailer. — In Acts, 
 chapter xvi., we have a full history ot 
 the baptism of the jailer and his family. 
 The thirty-third verse reads as follows: 
 "And he (the jailer) took them (Paul 
 and Silas) the same hour of the night 
 (midnight) and washed their stripes; and 
 was baptized, he and all his, straight- 
 way." 
 
 Now let us calmly look at the facts in 
 this case. Paul and Silas had been ]3ut 
 in jail. That prison had three depart- 
 ments, the inner and outer prison and the 
 jailer's room, the latter occupied by him 
 and his family. When Paul and Silas 
 were delivered to the jailer, he was posi- 
 tively instructed to "keep them safely;" 
 and, to secure them well, he "thrust
 
 148 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 them into the inner prison, and made 
 their feet fast in the stocks." At mid- 
 night Paul and Silas prayed and sang 
 praises, and suddenly a great earthquake 
 came, and the prison doors flew open. 
 The jailer sprang out of hed and called 
 for a light, for he thought that the pris- 
 oners had fled. In his excitement, he 
 determined to take his own life; but 
 Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do thy- 
 self no harm, for we are all here." The 
 jailer then fell at the feet of Paul and 
 Silas, and in deep contrition of soul, he 
 cried, "Sirs, what must I do to be 
 saved?" 
 
 Now the question is, By what mode 
 were the jailer and his household bap- 
 tized? One thing is certain, they were 
 baptized in the jaiL Paul and Silas did 
 not leave the prison. They positively 
 refused to do so, until the magistrates 
 should "come and fetch them out." 
 Then, as the baptism took place in the
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 149 
 
 jail, do we not see at a glance that it 
 could not have been by immersion? How 
 could it have been by immersion? It 
 was a heathen jail, and, of course, there 
 was no arrangement in it for immersion. 
 The fact is, there is not the shadow of 
 proof that these parties were immersed, 
 and it is absurd and ridiculous to so 
 contend. 
 
 7. Buried with Christ in Baptism. — In 
 Romans vi. 3, 4, we have the following : 
 "So many of us as were baptized into 
 Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ; 
 therefore we are buried with him by 
 baptism into death." We also read in 
 Col. ii. 12: "Buried with him in bap- 
 tism." Our Baptist friends think that 
 these scriptures are unanswerable — that 
 they mean nothing, unless they mean 
 immersion! The truth is, they have no 
 reference whatever to the mode of bap- 
 tism. The meaning is that when we are 
 baptized, we, by that act, show our faith
 
 150 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 in his death — the efficacy of his death; 
 hence, we are ''baptized into his death." 
 The expression, "buried with him by 
 baptism into death," simply means that, 
 by baptism, we thereby declare ourselves 
 to be as dead to the love of sin as if we 
 were buried in the grave. The leading 
 idea in this matter then is a spiritual bap- 
 tism; and being "baptized into his 
 death," and "buried with him by bap- 
 tism into death," mean that by our bap- 
 tism we attest our faith in his death, and 
 that, having taken that stand, we are 
 likewise dead unto sin. Those, there- 
 fore, who contend that there is no bap- 
 tism but immersion in these passages, 
 are welcome to all the immersion that 
 can be obtained from them. 
 
 Having examined with care the several 
 cases of baptism mentioned in the "New 
 Testament, and having failed to find a 
 single instance in which immersion was 
 practiced, we arc prepared to say that
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 151 
 
 our Baptist friends are widely mistaken 
 when they assert that the only scriptural 
 mode of baptism is by immersion. 
 
 In conclusion upon this point, may 
 we not say that it does not seem reason- 
 able that God would require compliance 
 with an ordinance which could not be 
 performed at all times. How difficult 
 to administer baptism by immersion in 
 the frigid zones ! How difficult, too, in 
 vast deserts! How inconvenient to a 
 person that may embrace religion upon 
 a dying bed ! Is it not true that in every 
 case of adult baptism mentioned in the 
 New Testament, the parties were bap- 
 tized at the place ivhere, and at the time 
 when, they professed religion? Not a 
 single instance is given of delay, nor of 
 going ofi'to seek water. 
 
 III. — INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 Another objection to the Baptist 
 Church is that it denies to the children
 
 152 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 of Christian parents membership in the 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 ISTow, every Bible reader will admit 
 that, in all the covenants which God has 
 ever made with men, children have been 
 embraced. Thus it was with the cove- 
 nant made with Adam, with l^Toah, and 
 with Abraham. The covenant made 
 with Abraham was, in some respects, a 
 peculiar one. It not only embraced 
 temporal and spiritual blessings, but it 
 contemplated an organization into which 
 Abraham and his descendants were to 
 be gathered. This covenant is spoken 
 of in the Old Testament (Gen. xvii. 7) 
 as " everlasting," and in the ]N"ew Testa- 
 ment (Luke i. 55), as to endure "forever." 
 It is represented by Paul as a covenant 
 of "promise," and as "confirmed of 
 God in Christ." Believers under the 
 gospel dispensation are spoken of as 
 children of the covenant with Abraham. 
 — Acts iii. 25. And because of their
 
 TUE BAPTIST CHURCH. 153 
 
 interest in this covenant, they are de- 
 nominated "Abraham's seed." — Gal. iii. 
 29. For the same reason, Abraham is 
 represented as "the father of all them 
 that believe." Inasmuch, then, as this 
 covenant is called an " everlasting" cove- 
 nant, and one to endure "forever"; and 
 inasmuch as it has been "confirmed of 
 God in Christ," and inasmuch, too, as 
 Abraham is called "the father of all 
 them that believe," we ask the question, 
 Was not the organization of which we 
 have just spoken a Church? It must 
 have been, for, from the time that cove- 
 nant was made, God spoke of Abraham 
 and his descendants as his people. He 
 directed Moses to say to Pharaoh : " Thus 
 saith the Lord, Let my people go that 
 they may serve me." — Ex. viii. 1. Again : 
 "Thus saith the Lord, 31]/ people went 
 down aforetime into Egypt, to sojourn 
 there." — Isa. Iii. 4. 
 
 If, then, this was not a Church, there
 
 154 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 is no Church, nor has there ever been 
 one. A careful examination of the seven- 
 teenth chapter of Genesis, however, will 
 convince every unprejudiced reader that 
 there and then the Church was first or- 
 ganized. We also see in the same chap- 
 ter who were to be members of that 
 Church — believing parents and their 
 children. Then and there, Paul says 
 (Kom. iv. 11), "He (Abraham) received 
 the sign of circumcision, a seal of the 
 righteousness of the faith which he had, 
 yet being uncircumcised: that he might 
 be the father of all them that believe." 
 Into this Church Abraham admitted his 
 children by the express command of 
 God; and into that Church, during the 
 entire Old Testament dispensation, chil- 
 dren were permitted to enter. 'No one 
 will dare deny this statement. If, then, 
 God permitted children, for more than 
 two thousand years, to be members of 
 his Church, why would he not continue
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 155 
 
 to do SO? Those who oppose infant 
 membership, however, tell us that the 
 organization of which we have spoken 
 was not a Church. But the Bible says it 
 was. "This is he" (speaking of Moses) 
 "that was in the Church in the wilder- 
 ness." — Acts vii. 38. 
 
 As has been stated, children were per- 
 mitted to enter this Church, nor will any 
 one deny the fact. But we are told that 
 when the Saviour made his appearance 
 upon earth, he organized a new Church, 
 and that from that time forth a different 
 policy prevailed. Is it a fact that Christ 
 organized a Church ? If so, when? and 
 ivkere? l^o mortal on earth can show 
 that he did. On the contrary, he was, 
 when a child, made a member of the 
 same Church that was organized in the 
 family of Abraham; was put into that 
 Church, just as all other children had 
 been, by the rite of circumcision. "And 
 when eight days were accomplished for
 
 156 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 the circumcising of the child, his name 
 was called Jesus, which was so named 
 of the angel hefore he was conceived in 
 the womb." — Luke ii. 21. In this Church 
 the Saviour lived and died — never 
 uttered one word about organizing a new 
 one. Neither did John the Baptist, nor 
 any one, nor all, of the apostles, do such 
 a thing. If so, let it be shown. Do we 
 not know, too, that if the Saviour had 
 intimated that children were to be ex- 
 cluded, the whole Jewish nation would 
 have complained most bitterly? Yet, 
 not one word of complaint do we hear. 
 He, it is true, changed some of the or- 
 dinances — put baptism in the place of 
 circumcision, and the sacrament of the 
 Supper in the place of the feast of the 
 Passover — but he organized no Church, 
 nor did he in the least interfere with in- 
 fant membership. On the contrary, he 
 said, "Suffer little children to come unto 
 me, and forbid them not; for of such is
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 157 
 
 the kingdom of God." — Mark x. 14. 
 Thank God for the expression, little 
 children ! 
 
 But Paul forever settles the question 
 as to whether or not there has ever been 
 but one Church — the Church organized 
 in the days of Al^ham. In speaking 
 of the Gentile believers, he represents 
 them as grafted into the same olive tree 
 from which the Jews, for their unbelief, 
 were broken off, and into which the con- 
 verted Jews shall be grafted again. — 
 Rom. xi. 17. Could language be plainer? 
 The Church of God is represented under 
 the figure of an olive tree. From this 
 tree many of the Jews, because of unbe- 
 lief, were broken off; but into this same 
 grand old olive tree — the Church of 
 Abraham — all the Gentiles who embrace 
 Christ shall be grafted. As the Church, 
 then, under the I^ew Testament dispen- 
 sation is the same as the^ Church under 
 the Old Testament dispensation, and as
 
 158 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 children were admitted into the Church 
 before the birth of Christ, who will dare 
 say that they should not be admitted 
 after the birth of Christ? If, then, chil- 
 dren, as well as grown persons, were re- 
 ceived into the Chu^cii,r^|nust they not 
 have been admitted^ntq it by the same 
 ordinance in ^jdiich- theif ^parents were? 
 Under the oM^ispensation that ordi- 
 nance was circumcision^ under the new 
 it is baptism. That they were admitted 
 into the Church in both dispensatiohs, 
 we have abundant proof. Then have 
 we not established beyond the possibility 
 of doubt the doctrine of Infant Baptism ? 
 That they were baptized, the ITew Testa- 
 ment clearly teaches, for in the four in- 
 stances mentioned (Acts xvi. 14, 32; 1 
 Cor. i. 16) of Gentile baptisms, household 
 baptism is expressly declared in three, 
 and strongly implied in the fourth. 
 Would it not be strange if there wore 
 no children m any of these household bap-
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCII. 159 
 
 tisms? Again, those wlio immediately 
 succeeded the apostles, baptized parents 
 and their children. Origen, the great 
 historian, whose father, grandfather, and 
 great grandfather were Christians (going 
 clear back to th^ days of the apostles 
 themselves), says that they obtained the 
 custom of baptizing ih^iAts from the 
 apostles. Cyprian, wlj^jRived in the 
 same age with Origen, says that "sixty- 
 six Bishops, being convened in a council 
 at Carthage, having the question referred 
 to them, whether infants might be bap- 
 tized before they were eight days old, 
 decided unanimously that no infant is 
 to be prohibited from the benefit of bap- 
 tism, although but just born." Augus- 
 tine and Pelagius say that they never 
 heard of anyone, orthodox or heretic, 
 who denied baptism to children. 
 
 A large amount of additional evidence 
 could be given, but surely this is sufii- 
 cient. It is, therefore, preposterous to
 
 160 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 deny to children a place in the Church, 
 for they have done nothing to forfeit that 
 right. 
 
 IV. — CLOSE COMMUNION. 
 
 Another ohjection to our Baptist 
 friends is, they will not permit any one 
 not a member of their Church to com- 
 mune with them, nor do they allow their 
 members to commune with others. How 
 such a practice or rule ever gained a 
 foothold in this Church, we are utterly 
 at a loss to even conjecture. "With them 
 the test for communion is membership 
 in the Baptist Church. It is not immer- 
 sion, for they will not allow an immersed 
 member of any other denomination to 
 commune with them. E'er is it regen- 
 eration or the " new birth," for they ad- 
 mit that there are Christians in all other 
 Churches. Hence membership in their 
 Church must be the test of communion! 
 The Bible, however, authorizes no such
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 161 
 
 a test. It says: "Let a man examine 
 himself." It does not say, Let the 
 'preacher or the Church examine him, but, 
 "Let a man examine himself, and so let 
 him eat of that bread, and drink of that 
 cup."— 1 Cor. xi. 28. What a fearful 
 responsibility, then, must a minister as- 
 sume when he refuses the sacrament of 
 the Supper to all Christians who do not 
 belong to his Church, and does so, too, 
 because they do not ! How inconsistent 
 is the course of our Baptisr friends! 
 They will sing, and pray, and preach, 
 and rejoice with the members and min- 
 isters of other Churches, but will not 
 take the sacrament with them! The 
 blessed Saviour has said to all his fol- 
 lowers, "Do this in remembrance of 
 me." "As oft as ye do this, ye shew 
 forth the Lord's death until he comes." 
 The design of this feast, therefore, is to 
 show our love to Christ and our interest 
 in his death. Do not all Christians love 
 11
 
 162 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 him? and have not all Christians an in- 
 terest in his death ? 
 
 The Bible authorizes ns to believe that 
 this sacrament is administered in heaven. 
 The Saviour said to his disciples, "I will 
 not any more drink of the fruit of the 
 vine, until I drink it new with you in 
 my Father's kingdom." Wonder if all 
 Christians do not sit down together 
 around that communion table in heaven ? 
 If, then, they commune together in 
 heaven, why should they not commune 
 together upon earth? Away with the 
 doctrine of close communion! 
 
 v. — FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 In the Baptist Church, each congrega- 
 tion is independent of the other. In 
 other words, there are no Church courts 
 to which these separate congregations 
 are responsible. When we read the 
 New Testament, we see that sucli was 
 not the case in the Cliurches wliicli the
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 163 
 
 apostles and their successors established, 
 for they often met in council to settle 
 questions of interest. These councils 
 were composed of ministers and elders, 
 and they exercised authority over these 
 congregations. Acts xv. 5, 6, 19, 20: 
 "But there rose up certain of the sect 
 of the Pharisees which believed, saying, 
 that it was needful to circumcise them, 
 and to command them to keep the law 
 of Moses. And the apostles and elders 
 came tos^ether for to consider this mat- 
 ter." "Wherefore my sentence is, that 
 we trouble not them, which from among 
 the Gentiles are turned to God : but that 
 we write nnto them, that they abstain 
 from pollutions of idols, and from forni- 
 cation, and from things strangled, and 
 from blood." The verses just quoted, 
 show conclusively that this meeting of 
 "apostles and elders" legislated for the 
 separate congregations, and they also 
 show that these separate congregations
 
 164 THE BAPTIST CIIURCn. 
 
 were expected to obey the instructions 
 which were given. Many similar in- 
 stances could be cited, but it is not 
 necsssary to do so. The truth is, Church 
 government is just as necessary as civil 
 government. What would become of 
 this country, or of any other country, if 
 each county or locality were to "set up" 
 for itself? The very idea is absurd! 
 
 Though our Baptist friends disclaim 
 all Church government except congrega- 
 tional, yet they make that exceedingly 
 rigid and severe. When a person joins 
 this Church, there is no possible way to 
 get out of it honorably, except to die out 
 of it I They will not give a letter of dis- 
 mission to any of their members, to join 
 any other branch of Christ's Church; 
 and if any of their members were to do 
 so, they would most certainly be expelled ! 
 The truth is, a letter of dismission in 
 the Baptist Church is conditional — is 
 not worth the paper upon wliicli it is
 
 THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 165 
 
 written, unless the one who has it, pre- 
 sents it to a Church of the "same faith 
 and order." In no other Church in 
 Christendom, except the Eoman Catlio- 
 lic Church, do we find such illiberality, 
 not to say tyranny, in this respect. 
 
 From the foregoing, therefore, we are 
 not astonished that the founders of the 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Church did 
 not join the Baptist Church.
 
 166 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 The Methodist Church received its 
 name from the following circumstance: 
 A number of young men who were at- 
 tending college in England, resolved 
 that the}^ would set apart a certain day in 
 each week for religious improvement; 
 and so regular and punctual were they 
 in this respect — so methodical — that the 
 other students, rather by way of derision 
 than otherwise, called the young men 
 who were thus engaged Methodists. 
 
 I. — THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 John Wesley, who was the prime 
 mover of the association just spoken ot, 
 was the founder of the- Methodist 
 Church. He was born at Ep worth, in
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 167 
 
 Lincoliislnre, England, June 17, 1703. 
 His ftither was a minister in tlie Churcli 
 of England (the Episcopal Church), and 
 John was ordained a minister in the 
 same Church hy Dr. Potter, then Bishop 
 of Oxford, in the autumn of 1725. In 
 his early life as a minister, he and some 
 others came to what is now the State of 
 Georgia, then one of the colonies of 
 Great Britain. He commenced his la- 
 bors at Savannah, a town in the State 
 just mentioned. In a short time, how- 
 ever, he became involved in a church 
 difficulty with a Mrs. Williamson, who 
 was a daughter of the chief magistrate 
 of said city. He refused to admit her to 
 the communion, and for this cause her 
 husband raised an action of law against 
 him. Finding that Savannah was not 
 a suitable place for him, and, as he said, 
 ''shaking the dust oft his feet," he re- 
 turned to England, having resided in 
 America not quite two years.
 
 168 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Oil the 24th of Ma^^ 1738, some 
 months after he returned to England, he 
 attended a meeting, and while some one 
 was reading Luther's preface to the 
 Epistle to the Romans, he experienced 
 such a change of religious feelings, that 
 he ever afterwards regarded it as the 
 time of his conversion. This occurred, 
 too, as will be noticed, about ten years 
 after he had been a preacher. 
 
 Erom this time Mr. Wesley seemed to 
 redouble his zeal; and, in connection 
 with Mr. Whitefield, the great revivalist, 
 he held meetings in the open air, at 
 which a large number professed faith in 
 Christ. He and Mr. Whitefield soon 
 separated, however, because they dif- 
 fered most materially in doctrine — Mr. 
 Whitefield being a Calvinist, and Mr. 
 Wesley an Ar mini an. 
 
 During the great revival meetings of 
 which we have just spoken, Mr. Wesley 
 employed quite a number of lay iwcachers,
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 169 
 
 as they were called, men who had not 
 been regularly inducted into the min- 
 istry. The organizations, too, which 
 were formed, were called Societies, not 
 churches. 
 
 Before many years elapsed, those who 
 were identified with this religious move- 
 ment in England, sent their missionaries, 
 as they might be called, to America. 
 "Societies" were formed in this country, 
 and, through the agency of Mr. Wesley, 
 a number of men were sent here — such 
 men as Richard Boardman, Joseph Pill- 
 more, Francis Asbury, and Richard 
 Wright. In the meantime, the War of 
 Independence in the United States broke 
 out, and all except Mr. Asbury returned 
 home to England before the close ot 
 1777; but others of native origin took 
 their places. Let the reader, however, 
 bear in mind that, up to that time, there 
 was no separate denominational organi- 
 zation of these "Societies" in America
 
 170 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Having seen how these "Societies" were 
 brought into existence in England and 
 America, let us next examine and see 
 when and how they were formed into 
 churches — denominations. 
 
 From the most reliable history at 
 command, we learn that the " Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church^'' in England, was or- 
 ganized in 1739. The theological system 
 (embracing doctrine and government) was 
 prepared by Mr. Wesley; and in 1743 he 
 drew up those rules of his "societies," 
 which have continued to be the general 
 rules of the Methodist churches, both in 
 England and America, to this day, with 
 scarcely any exceptions. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
 United States was organized in the city 
 of Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 
 1784. Mr. "Wesley was also the founder 
 of this Church. As proof of these as- 
 sertions, let Mr. Wesley himself speak. 
 In a letter addressed to Rev. Mr. Asbury,
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 171 
 
 September 20, 1788, lie says: "You are 
 the elder brother of the American Meth- 
 odists; I am, under God, the father of 
 the whole family." 
 
 'Now for some points of interest in re- 
 gard to these two Churches and their 
 founder. 
 
 1. In doctrine they are precisely the 
 same — their creed being the ''Thirty- 
 E'ine Articles " of the Church of England 
 (the Episcopal Church), with modifica- 
 tions and omissions. 
 
 2. In government they are very dissimi- 
 lar — the "Wesleyan Methodist Church" 
 rejecting Episcopacy, and the "Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church " adopting it. 
 
 3. John Wesley, though he was "the 
 founder of the wliole family," lived 
 and died in the Church of England — 
 never did belong to the Methodist 
 Church! Is it not a little curious that 
 a man would bring into existence t200 
 Churches— yea, be the "founder of the
 
 172 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 whole family of Methodists" — yet join 
 none of them? 
 
 ]^ow, if the reader will give close 
 attention, the method by which " JEjnsco- 
 pacy" got into the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in the United States, will be ex- 
 plained; and that no sort of injustice 
 may be done, the exact words of Mr. 
 Wesley himself are given. He says: 
 
 "Know all men that I, John Wesley, 
 think myself to be providentially called 
 at this time to set apart some persons for 
 the work of the ministry in America. 
 And, therefore, under the protection of 
 Almighty God, and with a single eye to 
 his glory, I have this day set apart as a 
 Superintendent, by the imposition of my 
 hands and prayer (being assisted by 
 other ordained ministers), Thomas Coke, 
 Doctor of Civil Law, a Presbyter of the 
 Church of England, and a man whom I 
 judge to be well qualified for that great 
 work. And I do hereby recommend
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 173 
 
 him to all whom it may concern, as a fit 
 person to preside over the flock of Christ. 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 
 my hand and seal, this second day of 
 September, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand seven hundred and eighty-four. 
 John Wesley." 
 
 It is also a matter of historical fact, 
 that Dr. Coke, when the matter was first 
 suggested to him by Mr. Wesley, " was 
 startled at a measure so unprecedented," 
 but, after two months' deliberation, he 
 consented. This occurred in 1784, when, 
 too, Mr. Wesley was eighty-one years old. 
 
 It will be noticed that the office to 
 which Mr. Wesley ordained Dr. Coke, 
 was that of " Superintendent." jN'ow the 
 question is, what did Mr. Wesley mean 
 by the word Superintendent? Did he 
 mean Bishop ? He says most positively 
 that he did not; and that the reader 
 may know just what he did say, we give 
 his own words :
 
 174 ' THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 "London, September 20, 1788. 
 
 There is, indeed, a wide difference be- 
 tween the relation wlierein you stand to 
 the Americans, and the relation wherein 
 I stand to all Methodists. You are the 
 elder brother of the American Metho- 
 dists; I am, under God, the father of the 
 whole family. Therefore, I naturally 
 care for you all, in a manner no other 
 person can do. Therefore, I, in a mea- 
 sure, provide for you all; for the sup- 
 plies which Dr. Coke provides for you, 
 he could not provide were it not for 
 me — were it not that I not only permit 
 him to collect, but also support him in 
 so doing. 
 
 But in one point, my dear brother, I 
 am a little afraid the Doctor and you 
 differ from me. I study to be little, you 
 study to be great; I creep, you strut 
 along. I found a school, you a college. 
 Nay, and call it after your own names! 
 O, l)eware! Do not seek to be some-
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 175 
 
 tiling! Let me be nothing, and Christ 
 be all in all. 
 
 One instance of this, of your great- 
 ness, has given me great concern. How 
 can you, how dare you, suffer yourself to 
 be called a Bishop? I shudder, I start 
 at the very thought. Men may call me 
 a knave, or a fool, ii rascal, a scoundrel, 
 and I am content; but they shall never, 
 by my consent, call me a Bishop ! For 
 my sake, for God's sake, for Christ's 
 sake, put a full end to this! Let the 
 Presbyterians do what they please, but 
 let the Methodists know their calling 
 better. 
 
 Thus, my dear Franky, I have told 
 you all that is in my heart, and let this, 
 when I am no more seen, bear witness 
 how sincerely I am your aifectionate 
 Friend and brother, 
 
 JoHX TVesley." 
 
 The foregoing is an exact copy of the 
 letter written by Mr. Wesley to Rev.
 
 176 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Francis Asbury, who was then filling the 
 office of Bishoij! Dr. Coke had been or- 
 dained by Mr. Wesley as "Superintend- 
 ent," and at the organization of the 
 *• Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
 United States," in the city of Baltimore, 
 Maryland, December, 1784, he and Mr. 
 Asbury were unanimously elected as 
 "General Superintendents," the latter 
 having received his ordination as " Super- 
 intendent" from the former, at the sug- 
 gestion and by the direction of Mr. 
 Wesley. In four years afterwards, as 
 the letter of Mr. Wesley to Mr. Asbury 
 shows, these men who had been or- 
 dained "Superintendents," were called 
 JBishops; hence the severe reprimand of 
 Mr. Wesley in the letter which we have 
 given. 
 
 As to whether or not Mr. Wesley in- 
 tended to establish an "order" in the 
 ministry to be called Bishops, we must 
 of course, accept his own positive asser-
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 177 
 
 tioii ; but that lie did intend to establish 
 an "order" clothed with the functions 
 of Bishop, there can, we think, be no 
 doubt. With him the office of " Super- 
 intendent" evidently meant the same as 
 that of Bishop. It was the name, and 
 not the office, that Mr. Wesley was dis- 
 pleased with. He proposed to have a 
 Church organized in America, and he 
 wished to have it as different from the 
 Church of England in regard to name, 
 titles, etc., as circumstances would justify. 
 For this reason, too, he substituted Elders 
 for Priests — the second order in the 
 ministry. To sustain this declaration, 
 the following reasons are assigned: 
 
 1. Dr. Coke himself so understood 
 the matter. Had he not thus believed, 
 he would not have been so " startled at a 
 measure so unprecedented," etc. 
 
 2. The ordination itself is proof 
 positive on this point. Dr. Coke was at 
 the time of his ordination a Priest in the 
 
 12
 
 178 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Churcli of England — was in the highest 
 "order" of the ministry known to that 
 Church except Bishop. If Mr. Wesley, 
 then, did not intend to confer upon him 
 higher ministerial functions, what on 
 earth could he have meant? 
 
 3. The highest official authority 
 in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 the United States has ever so said and 
 declared. The exact language is, " The 
 General Conference, held at Baltimore, 
 did unanimously receive the said Thomas 
 Coke and Francis Asbury as their 
 Bishops, being fully satisfied of the va- 
 lidity of their Episcopal ordination." 
 
 From the foregoing, it is evident that 
 Mr. Wesley did intend to create the office 
 of Bishop in the ordination of Dr. Coke, 
 though he gave it the name of "Super- 
 intendent." 
 
 Having seen how the office of Bishop 
 was introduced into the Methodist 
 Church in this country, the next point
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 179 
 
 of inquiry is, by what authority was it 
 thus introduced? To this question there 
 is but one answer — hy the authority of Mr. 
 Wesley. But where did he get his autho- 
 rity? Ah! that is the question! Mr. 
 Wesley, as we have seen, was a minister 
 in the Church of England — a Church 
 that recognizes three orders in the minis- 
 try: Deacon, Priest, BlshoiJ. The office 
 he held was that of Priest — the second 
 grade — was never a Bishop in his life. 
 Yet he, as we have proven, conferred 
 upon Dr. Coke, and, through him, upon 
 Mr. Asbury, the powers and functions of 
 Bishop! How could he do such a thing? 
 According to the doctrines and usages of 
 the Church of England — the Church to 
 which- he belonged — it requires a Bishop 
 to make a Bishop; yet, in this case, a 
 Priest made a Bishop ! 'Eo wonder that 
 Dr. Coke was " startled at a measure so 
 unprecedented." Some say that, though 
 this w^as in violation of the doctrines
 
 180 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 and usao:es of the Church of which Mr. 
 Wesley was a member, yet the Bishops 
 which he ordained were not for the 
 Church of England, but for a new Church 
 that was to be organized in America. 
 Does that remedy the difficulty? ITot 
 one particle. By what authority could 
 Mr. "Wesley ordain a Bishop or any 
 other officer for another Church? The 
 idea is absurd. It is likewise a little cu- 
 rious, to say the least of it, that accord- 
 ing to the Discipline of the very Church 
 for which Mr. Wesley ordained Bishops, 
 it requires a Bishop to make a Bishop. 
 (See Discipline, page 165, Chapter III., 
 Section 2.) Yet Mr. Wesley is the 
 fatlier of that Discipline! He then did 
 what he would not permit any one else 
 to do! Xo wonder that that Church, 
 though it believes in Einscojpacy (a gov- 
 ernment by Bishops), yet rejects the 
 doctrine of "Apostolic Succession." It 
 has two good reasons for so doing: First,
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 181 
 
 the Bible does not teach such a doctrine; 
 Second, that Church has certainly no 
 such "succession" — cannot go beyond 
 Mr. Wesley for its Bishopric, yet he was 
 not a Bishop ! 
 
 II. — THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The Methodist Church in this country 
 recognizes three classes of preachers — 
 Deacon, Elder, Bishop. Its very name 
 shows that it recognizes Bishops, for it is 
 called the Methodist Ejnscopal Church. 
 (We, of course, are not speaking of the 
 minor branches that have broken oft' 
 from the parent stem.) And according 
 to Webster, and, indeed, according to 
 all authorities, the word Episcoimcy (from 
 which Episcopal is derived) means a 
 "government of the Church by Bishops 
 or prelates." Besides, the Discipline of 
 that Church clearly recognizes grades in 
 the ministry. ITow, it will be remem- 
 bered that in a previous chapter, we at-
 
 182 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 tempted to show (and we think we suc- 
 ceeded) that Christ taught no such doc- 
 trine; hence it is not necessary to repeat 
 the argument here. 
 
 The doctrine of that Church, however, 
 does recognize grades in the ministry, 
 and we now propose to show from their 
 own Discipline, the functions and powers 
 of these separately. 
 
 1. The office of Bishop. — It is the duty 
 of the Bishop to preside in the General 
 and Annual Conferences; to fix the ap- 
 pointment of the preachers in the An- 
 nual Conference; to choose the Presid- 
 ing Elders, fix their stations, and change 
 them when he judges it necessary; to 
 change, receive, and suspend preachers 
 in the intervals of the Conference, as 
 necessity may require, and as the Discip- 
 line directs; to ordain Bishops, Elders, 
 and Deacons; to decide all questions of 
 law coming hefore him in the regular 
 business of an Annual Conference; to
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 183 
 
 hear and decide appeals of the Quarterly 
 Conferences on questions of law, when 
 he shall be presiding in any Annual 
 Conference; to see that the districts be 
 formed according to- his judgment; to 
 unite two or more circuits, stations, or 
 missions together for Quarterly Confer- 
 erence purposes, allowing the financial 
 interests and pastoral duties of each to 
 remain separate and independent, and to 
 divide a circuit, station, or mission into 
 two or more when he judges it neces- 
 sary; to travel during the year, as far as 
 practicable, through the Presiding El- 
 ders' districts, which maj^ be included in 
 his Episcopal district, in order to preach 
 and to oversee the spiritual and temporal 
 afiairs t»f the Church. 
 
 The foregoing is a long sentence, and 
 the reader, before he got through with 
 it, felt, no doubt, not only like stopping 
 to catch his breath, but to consider the 
 immense power vested in one man ! Eead
 
 184 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 that long sentence again (and every 
 word of it is from the Discipline), and 
 see what a Bishop in the Methodist 
 Church may do — rather what he may 
 not do! Think of- it: he stations the 
 preachers — tells each man where he is 
 to go; and, in so doing, there is no 
 earthly power that can hinder — all the 
 legal restraint in the case is that he shall 
 permit no man " to remain in the same 
 circuit or station more than four years 
 successively." 
 
 'Now why should not a congregation 
 be permitted to select its own preacher? 
 Does it not know better than even a 
 Bishop what kind of minister it wants? 
 And why, too, may not a preacher stay 
 with his flock longer than four years? 
 "Why may not a preacher, like a lawyer 
 or physician, remain indefinitely in a 
 community? What peculiarity in the 
 ministerial profession precludes the idea 
 of a longer stay in one place than Ibur
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 185 
 
 years? A hundred similar questions 
 could be asked, but they are left to the 
 reader. 
 
 Again, it is the Bishop's prerogative 
 to choose all his Presiding Elders, fix 
 their stations, and change them when he 
 deems it necessary; not when the other 
 preachers or people, or both, may judge 
 it necessary, but when he, the Bishop, so 
 thinks! (Please read that long sentence 
 again.) 
 
 Moreover, he ordains the preachers — 
 all of them; and before he does so, 
 among other questions which he pro- 
 pounds to them, the two following 
 should not be overlooked. To Deacons 
 he asks, "Will you reverently obey them 
 to whom the charge and government 
 over you is committed ; following with a 
 glad mind and will their godly admoni- 
 tions"? The answer to the same is, "I 
 will endeavor so to do, the Lord being 
 my helper." To Elders he asks, " Will
 
 186 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 you reverently obey your chief minis- 
 ters unto whom is committed the charsre 
 and government over you ; following 
 with a glad mind and will their godly 
 admonitions, submitting yourselves to 
 their godly judgments"? The answer 
 is, "I will so do, the Lord being my 
 helper." Now, when we scrutinize the 
 foregoing questions, we find that the 
 Deacon promises to ^'reverently obey" 
 the Bishop, and the Presiding Elder ; and 
 the Elder promises to " reverently obe}^ " 
 the Bishop. The onl}^ comment w^e 
 offer in this case is, What hximility and 
 self-abasement ! 
 
 Again, the Bishop decides all questions 
 of law coming before him in the Annual 
 Conference ; nor is there an}^ appeal from 
 this decision to any court except to a 
 "College of Bishops" — not even the 
 loliole Conference can reverse his deci- 
 sion! He also decides all appeals of 
 the (Juarterly Conferences; and forms
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 187 
 
 the districts ^'according to his judg- 
 ment." 
 
 A great deal more might be said, but 
 we forbear; and, in conclusion upon this 
 point, we ask every candid reader if 
 there is not too much power put into t4ie 
 hands of one man? Was Peter, Paul, 
 or any other apostle ever clothed with 
 such authority? I^ever, no, never! 
 
 2. The Presiding Elder. — The next in 
 authority to the Bishop, in the Meth- 
 odist Church, is the Presiding Elder. 
 His duty is to travel through his ap- 
 pointed district, in order to preach and 
 oversee the spiritual and temporal affairs 
 of the Church; in the absence of the 
 Bishop to take charge of all the travel- 
 ing and local preachers, and exhorters, 
 and suspend preachers in his district, 
 during the absence of the Bishop, as the 
 Discipline directs; to be present, as far 
 as practicable, at all the quarterly meet- 
 ings; to decide all questions of law
 
 188 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 which may come up in the regular busi 
 ness of the Quarterly Conference, when 
 submitted to him in writing, subject to 
 an appeal to the President (Bishop) of 
 the next Annual Conference; to take 
 care that every part of the Discipline be 
 enforced in his district; to attend the 
 Bishop when present in his district, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 The foregoing is likewise a long sen- 
 tence; but it contains a synopsis of the 
 duties of Presiding Elder. An extended 
 comment is not necessary in this case. 
 A careful examination will show the 
 reader that the Presiding Elder possesses 
 almost as much power in his district, as 
 the Bishop does in his; there being this 
 difference, however: the Bishop controls 
 the Presiding Elder, while he, the Elder, 
 controls the preachers, exhorters, etc., 
 that are in his territory. Removing the 
 over-shadowing presence and power of 
 the Bishop, therefore, the Presiding
 
 THE METHODIST cniJRcn. 189 
 
 Elder possesses very great power — too 
 much for any one man to exercise. 
 
 3. The Deacon. — Besides Bishops and 
 Presiding Elders, there are those who 
 are "in charge of circuits, stations or 
 missions, but as they are ministers of the 
 same grade as Presiding Elders, we pass 
 them by, and devote only a line or two 
 to Deacons. This is the first order (the 
 lowest grade) in the ministry; and we 
 refer to it simply because we have prom- 
 ised to do so. His duties are defined to 
 be "To administer baptism, and to sol- 
 emnize the rite of matrimony, in the ab- 
 sence of the Elder (can't do so if he is 
 present) ; to assist the Elder (the minister 
 of the second grade) in administering 
 the Lord's Supper (can't do so by him- 
 self) ; and to do all the duties of a trav- 
 eling preacher." 
 
 "We cannot resist the impulse to offer 
 at least one criticism. There are but 
 two sacraments in the Church — baptism
 
 190 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 and tlie Lord's Supper — and if a Deacon 
 can administer one, why can he not ad- 
 minister the other? Yet we see from 
 the foregoing that, though he may ad- 
 minister the ordinance of baptism, he is 
 not permitted, by the Discipline, to ad- 
 minister the sacrament of the Supper! 
 "Who can tell us why? 
 
 A few more words will close all 
 we have to say upon the government 
 of the Methodist Church. At the time 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
 was organized (1810), no minister in the 
 Methodist Church was permitted to 
 remain in one charge or station longer 
 than tioo years; nor was lay represen- 
 tation tolerated. Both of these changes 
 are of recent date; the latter in 186G, 
 and the former in 1870. But what 
 can la}^ repesentation amount to in a 
 Church where the ministry — especially 
 the Bishops and the Presiding Elders — 
 have such power? Besides, when we
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 191 
 
 scrutinize the matter, the hiy represen- 
 tation is comparatively nominal; would 
 not, perhaps, when we take all their 
 Church courts into consideration, aver- 
 age more than one layman to three minis- 
 ters, and a portion of the lay delegation 
 may be local 'preachers! Moreover, the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, North — 
 the largest branch of the Methodists in 
 the world — still refuses to tolerate lay 
 representation, in all its courts. 
 
 Summing the whole matter up, then, 
 we ask the question. Is not the govern- 
 ment of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 very objectionable? Let the reader an- 
 swer the question, but let him do so with 
 the teachings of Christ and his apostles 
 in view. 
 
 III. CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOX SAXCTIFI- 
 
 CATION. 
 
 The Methodist Church teaches the doc- 
 trine of Christian perfection in this lite —
 
 192 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 that Christians may live without sin. 
 This theory is, we think, so contrary 
 to the Bible, that it is not deemed neces- 
 sary to devote much space to a consid- 
 eration of it. 
 
 The Scriptures abound with the most 
 explicit declarations against this doc- 
 trine. "For there is not a just man 
 upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth 
 not." — Ecc. vii. 20. "Who can say, I 
 have made my heart clean, that I am 
 pure from my sin?" — Prov. xx. 9. "If 
 w^e say that we have no sin, w^e deceive 
 ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 
 1 John i. 8. Scores of just such pas- 
 sages could be quoted; but surely these 
 are sufficient, especially when we con- 
 sider how positive they are, 
 
 If Christian perfection is attainable in 
 this life, is it not a little curious that not 
 one of the characters spoken of in the 
 Bible ever reached that point? Read 
 the lives of the patriarchs, the prophets,
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 193 
 
 and the apostles, and not a case can be 
 found where a single one of them set up 
 such a claim ! Abraham and the other 
 patriarchs sinned. Moses, "the meekest 
 man," did likewise. Even Job, who 
 had been chastened by the severest af- 
 flictions, says: "If I justify myself, 
 mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I 
 say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me 
 perverse." — Job ix. 20. John, "the be- 
 loved disciple," says: "If we say that 
 we have not sinned, we make him (God) 
 a liar, and his word is not in us." — 
 1 John i. 10. And Paul, one of the 
 grandest specimens of Christian charac- 
 ter that the world ever saw, instead of 
 claiming such perfection, says: "But I 
 see another law in my members, warring 
 against the law of my mind, and bring- 
 ing me into captivity to the law of sin 
 which is in my members." — Rom. vii. 
 23. Again: "For the flesh lusteth 
 against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
 13
 
 194 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 the flesh ; and these are contrary the one 
 to the other; so that ye cannot do the 
 things that ye would." — GaL v. 17. 
 
 Then, as not even an inspired person 
 dared to claim such perfection, how can 
 v)e hope to reach it? Is it not a fact 
 (the question is asked in all kindness) 
 that, as a general thing, those who pro- 
 fess this sanctification are the ones in 
 whom others have comparatively little 
 confidence? This, too, is a fair ques- 
 tion ; for the tree (the doctrine) is to be 
 judged by its fruits. 
 
 IV. — CLASS-MEETINGS AND SEEKERS. 
 
 When the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church was organized, the Methodist 
 Church required its members to attend 
 class-meetings; and it received into its 
 pale '-seekers" — persons who made no 
 pretensions to being Christians. ]^ow 
 the "rule" is so relaxed that it is not 
 made obligatory upon its members to
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 195 
 
 attend class-meetings; and receiving 
 "seekers" into the Church has been 
 abandoned entirely. It was certainly 
 wise in the Church to abandon the latter 
 practice, for there is no authority in the 
 word of God for it. And as attending 
 class-meeting is now left to the discretion 
 of the members, this, we think, is 
 a virtual acknowledgement that class- 
 meetings are of not much authority — we 
 mean Scriptural authority. It is true 
 the Discipline says: "And let the mem- 
 bers be exhorted to attend the meetings 
 of the same." But, as has been stated, 
 the members are not required to attend 
 — they meet " at their own option." 
 
 V. — LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 According to the Discipline, "Love- 
 feasts shall be held quarterly, or at such 
 other times as the preacher in charge 
 may consider expedient, wdth closed 
 doors, to which, beside Church members,
 
 196 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 other serious persons may be admitted." 
 It will also be seen from the same Dis- 
 cipline, that "every one present then 
 partakes of a little bread and water, in 
 token of brotherly love." 
 
 ITow, where is the authority in the 
 Bible for such a ^^ feast"? Why, too, are 
 these "feasts" held with closed doors? 
 Both questions, we think, would be 
 rather difficult to answer. It is true, we 
 read of one service in the l^ew Testa- 
 ment which commenced with closed doors; 
 but while Paul and Silas prayed, these 
 doors, though bolted and barred, flew 
 open ! But where the Scriptural autho- 
 rity comes from for a love-feast with 
 bread and water, we know not. 
 
 ■ VI. — APOSTASY — FALLING FROM GRACE. 
 
 The Methodist Church also teaches that 
 a Christian may lose his or her religion — 
 that a truly regenerated child of God 
 may so apostatize as to be finally lost.
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 197 
 
 This is an important snbject — a sub- 
 ject in which all Christians especially, 
 are most deeply interested. And 'that 
 no sort of injustice may be done to the 
 advocates of this doctrine, we give their 
 own points, one by one — their strongest 
 points, too. Before doing so, however, 
 the attention of the reader is called to 
 an explanatory remark. Those wdio op- 
 pose the doctrine of apostasy do not 
 deny that a Christian may do wrong — 
 may, through the temptations of Satan, 
 the world, and the flesh, incur God's 
 displeasure, and may be deprived of the 
 comforts of religion — but they do deny 
 that such will ever so apostatize as to be 
 forever lost. ISTow for the arguments, 
 as we promised. 
 
 1. "Angels fell, and if they fell, why 
 may not Christians?" 
 
 "We answer. Yes, they did fall, but 
 those angels did not live under the dis- 
 pensation that Christians do. They
 
 198 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 were under law, and one sin, in thought 
 or deed, decided their destiny forever. 
 The 'same is true now of all angels. One 
 sin would hurl from the battlements of 
 heaven the brightest angel that vies 
 around the throne of God, because each 
 one stands or falls upon, his own merits — 
 has no Saviour, no Christ, no Surety. Do 
 we not, then, at once see that the cases 
 are not at all similar? The argument 
 (if indeed it is worthy the name) amounts 
 to nothing. 
 
 2. Adam fell, and if he fell, why may 
 not Christians? 
 
 Yes, Adam did fall, but, like the an- 
 gels just spoken of, he was to stand or 
 fall upon his own merits — was under "a 
 covenant of works." It, therefore, re- 
 quired only one sin to cause his fall, just 
 as in the case of the angels. But, in 
 consequence of the "new and better 
 covenant" (the covenant of redemp- 
 tion). Christians stand upon a foundation
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 199 
 
 very different from that upon which the 
 angels stood, and from that upon which 
 Adam in his primitive state stood, for 
 Christ is their (the Christians') surety; 
 in him, not in themselves, they stand or 
 fall. We, therefore, see at a glance that 
 there is no analogy whatever between 
 the "standing" of Adam in his original 
 state and that of Christians under the 
 new covenant, of which we have just 
 spoken. This argument, then, like the 
 other, amounts to nothing. The truth 
 is, if it be an argument, it proves too 
 much for the advocates of apostasy; for 
 it shows that only one sin, and the very 
 least sin, too, that the mind can possibly 
 conceive of, would cause apostasy — 
 would im-regenerate the soul; whereas, 
 the advocates of this doctrine will not 
 agree that one, or even a hundred such 
 sins would produce such a dreadful ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 3. Bible cases of apostasy.
 
 200 THE xMETHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 The champions of this doctrine tell us 
 that it must be true, because there are 
 many cases of apostasy mentioned in 
 the Bible. Let us examine the cases to 
 which they refer, one by one. 
 
 (a) The case of Saul. 
 
 Saul was a very wicked man — behaved 
 himself in a most ungodly manner — but 
 we are not particularly astonished at his 
 conduct, for we have no proof whatever 
 that he was ever a child of God — a 
 Christian. "But," say the advocates of 
 apostasy, "Saul must have been a re- 
 generated man, for God gave him 'an- 
 other heart,' and he 'prophesied.'" It 
 is admitted that God did give him " an- 
 other heart;" he, however, gave ITebu- 
 chadnezzar "another heart," but it was 
 the heart of a beast. Eemember, the 
 Bible does not say that God gave Saul 
 a ''^new heart" — the heart of a regen- 
 erated man — but "aiiother heart." And 
 while we admit that the Spirit of the
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 201 
 
 Lord came upon him, so that he did 
 " prophesy," jet we must also remember 
 that the Spirit of the Lord came upon 
 Balaam, and he prophesied, even con- 
 cerning Christ, but who will dare say 
 that he (Balaam) was ever a Christian? 
 The Bible also tells us that Caiaphas, 
 the high priest, prophesied, but no man 
 will say that he was a good man. 
 
 We must, therefore, be excused for 
 demanding better evidence than "an- 
 other heart" and the power to "proph- 
 esy," before we can admit that Saul was 
 ever a Christian. 
 
 (h) The case of David. 
 
 It is true that David did very wrong — 
 even caused a man to be murdered — but 
 how deeply did he repent of his wicked- 
 ness, and how fervently did he pray God 
 to "deliver him from blood guiltiness!" 
 But he never "fell from grace" — simply 
 lost, for a short time, the ''joys of salva- 
 tion," as he confessed, but he never did
 
 202 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 lose the salvation itself, for every one 
 admits that he was saved. 
 
 (c) The case of Solomon. 
 
 "No one v^ill deny that Solomon was, 
 at one period of his life, a very dissolute, 
 licentious man, hut that he was finally 
 lost no one can prove. The fact is, the 
 evidence is all on the other side; for, in 
 the latter part of his life, he confessed 
 that such a course as he had at one time 
 pursued, was all "vanity and vexation 
 of spirit;" also, "the conclusion of the 
 whole matter" with him was, "fear God, 
 keep his commandments, and live." He 
 must have been a Christian, else God 
 would not have permitted him to write 
 three books of the Bible; and one of 
 these — the book of Ecclesiastes — shows 
 most conclusively that he not only had 
 the "root of the matter in him," but 
 that, like a genuine Christian, he was 
 willing to confess his sins and repent of 
 them. Hence, we see nothing in this
 
 THE METUODIST CHURCH. 203 
 
 case to prove the doctrine of final apos- 
 tasy, as taught by our Methodist friends. 
 
 {d) The case of Judas. 
 
 With the advocates of this doctrine, 
 the case of Judas is a strong one — the 
 strongest of all. That Judas was lost — 
 died and went to hell — no one, perhaps, 
 will deny; but that he ever v»^as a Chris- 
 tian, no one can prove. Our Methodist 
 brethren tell us he was one of the twelve, 
 and t\\Qj ask triumphantly, "Why did 
 Christ choose him as one of the apostles, 
 if he was not a good man?" Why he 
 was chosen, is not the question. The 
 question is, was he a good man — a Chris- 
 tian? Let the Bible answer, for that is 
 the only evidence that is worth a farthing 
 in this case. The Saviour says : " Have 
 I not chosen you twelve, and one of yo: 
 is a devil?" — John vi. 70. This Ian 
 guage, be it remembered, was spoken 
 before Satan entered into Judas to betray 
 Christ. John says "he was a thief," and
 
 204 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 this, too, was said jprior to the time that 
 he betrayed the Saviour. Again, the 
 Saviour saj^s: "There are some of you 
 that believe not. For Jesus knew from 
 the beginning who they were that be- 
 lieved not, and who should betray him." 
 — John vi. 64. What else can this verse 
 mean than that from the very commence- 
 ment of the ministry of Judas he was a 
 non-believer, and would be ready, as 
 soon as opportunity offered, to betray 
 his Master? If, then, the foregoing 
 scriptures do not prove that Judas never 
 was a Christian, then language has no 
 meaning. ITow, why he was chosen by 
 Christ one of the twelve apostles, we 
 cannot tell; but, as remarked before, 
 that is not the question under considera- 
 tion. The point we are trying to settle 
 is, was he a Christian? And, surely, to 
 the unbiased mind, the scriptures we 
 have quoted do settle that point forever. 
 The triitli is, he did not have the first
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 205 
 
 element of a Christian — was a '^ thief ^^ 
 and a '^ devil,'' and "cared not for the 
 poor." Away, then, with the idea that 
 he fell from grace; he never had any 
 grace ! 
 
 (e) The case of Peter. 
 
 We admit that Peter was a Christian — 
 had been regenerated or "born again" — 
 and if the advocates of apostasy can 
 prove that Peter fell from grace, we will 
 yield the peint. 
 
 Let us briefly look at the facts in the 
 case. Peter was a bold man and had a 
 great deal of confidence in himself. As 
 evidence of this, when the blessed Sav- 
 iour said, "All ye shall be offended be- 
 cause of me this night," Peter promptly 
 replied, "Though all men shall be of- 
 fended because of thee, yet will I never 
 be offended."— Matt. xxvi. 31, 33. When, 
 however, the trial came, Peter's courage 
 failed, and he not only denied his Mas- 
 ter, but he cursed and swore. But did
 
 206 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 he fall from grace? did his faith fail, 
 and did he have to he re- regenerated? 
 "We say, jN"o, most emphatically; and we 
 so answer for two reasons : 
 
 First. The Saviour, after having w^arned 
 Peter that "Satan desired to have him 
 that he might sift him as wheat," said, 
 "But I have prayed for thee, that thy 
 faith fail not." Was the prayer of the 
 Saviour answered? Most assuredly it 
 was, for he said the Father aWays heard 
 him. — John xi. 42. If, then, the prayer 
 of Christ was answered, Peter's faith 
 never failed him, for the hurden of that 
 prayer was, that it (Peter's faith) should 
 not fail. 
 
 Second. The language used hy the 
 Saviour himself in reference to Peter's 
 case, shows most conclusively that he 
 (Peter) had not lost his religion. Said he : 
 "When thou art converted, strengthen 
 thy brethren." — Luke xxii. 32. E"ow, 
 the Greek word which is translated
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 207 
 
 "converted," as every scholar knows, 
 means "to turn," "to turn about." John 
 xxi. 20: "Then Peter, turning about, 
 seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved," 
 etc. The word translated in the last 
 verse "turning about," is precisely the 
 word which the Saviour used when, in 
 addressing Peter, he said, " art converted.'^ 
 Therefore, all that Peter had to do was 
 to "turn about;" not a w^ord is said 
 about being regenerated again. The 
 word which signifies to be "born again," 
 as used by Christ in conversation with 
 ]^icodemus, is a very different word from 
 the one emplo^^ed by the Saviour in ad- 
 dressing Peter. Though Peter had done 
 wrong, very wrong, yet he did not need 
 to be "born again," the Saviour himself 
 being the judge. Then have we not 
 proven most conclusively that Peter 
 never fell from grace ? 
 
 We cannot, however, dismiss this case 
 without reraarkinor that this transaction
 
 208 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 was a very important one to Peter- 
 taught him and all other Christians a 
 great lesson. He imagined that he was 
 strong enough to stand alone; forgot 
 that his strength was in Christ, and not 
 himself. How nobly, too, he confessed 
 his error, in the first epistle he ever 
 wrote? Hear him: "Blessed be the 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, which according to his abundant 
 mercy hath begotten us again unto a 
 lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
 incorruptible, and undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not awa}^, reserved in heaven for 
 you, who are kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation ready 
 to be revealed in the last time." — 
 1 Pet. i. 3-5. 
 
 4. The frequent warnings and threat- 
 enings of the Scriptures. 
 
 The advocates of apostasy tell us that 
 the doctrine must be true, else there
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 209 
 
 would not be so many warnings in the 
 Bible on this subject. 
 
 'No one acquainted with the Scriptures 
 will deny that they do contain warnings 
 and admonitions in regard to Christian 
 fidelity, but the question is, are these 
 warnings and admonitions intended to 
 teach that a Christian may lose his relig- 
 ion and be lost? AYe think not. 
 
 There are in the Church (we use the 
 word Church in its broadest sense) three 
 classes of adult members, viz. : the true 
 Christian, the self-deceived, and the 
 hypocrite. ISTo one, it is believed, will 
 call in question this statement. Unless 
 the Bible, therefore, should contain mat- 
 ter adapted to the wants and necessities 
 of these three classes — matter calculated 
 to bring out the best possible results 
 from such material — it would fail to be 
 the book the Church needs. It must 
 have encouragements, admonitions, and 
 threateniugs, else the Christian could 
 14
 
 210 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 not be developed, the self-deceived coula 
 not be awakened, nor could the hypocrite 
 be aroused. These admonitions and 
 warnings, too, must of necessity be 
 general. For instance, it vrould not be 
 for the best for it to be said in these 
 promises, warnings, etc., that this is for 
 the true Christian, this for the self- 
 deceived, and this for the hypocrite, be- 
 cause the very ones, (the self-deceived 
 and the hypocrite) who most need 
 these warnings and threatenings would, 
 under the protection of a Christian pro- 
 fession, say, we do not belong to either 
 class; whereas, by making these warn- 
 ings, etc., general and not specific, those 
 who need them may be greatly profited 
 by them. 
 
 To illustrate still further: In our Com- 
 monwealth, we have citizens of differ- 
 ent kinds (just as in the Church we have 
 members of different classes), but the 
 enactments of our civil code are general —
 
 THE xMETIIODIST CHURCH. 211 
 
 must be so. The laws, with their " warn- 
 ings and threatenings," are addressed to 
 all citizens. They, for instance, tell the 
 penalties for theft, for house-burning, 
 etc., and all citizens are "warned" by 
 these penalties. They say to the honest 
 man. If you steal, you shall be pun- 
 ished, and to the upright citizen. If you 
 burn your neighbor's hoi»se, you shall be 
 put into the penitentiary. In all such 
 cases, however, the answer w^ould be, 
 " We know that these things are so, but, 
 then, we have not the most remote idea 
 of committing either crime — have no 
 idea of stealing another man's goods, 
 nor of burning his house." l^ov do such 
 laws with their penalties, though they 
 are made general, even imply that honest 
 and upright citizens are in the least pos- 
 sible danger. They are enacted for the 
 benefit of had men ; of men who, though 
 they mix and mingle with the good, 
 being citizens of the same Com-
 
 212 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 mon wealth, yet do not belong to that 
 class. 
 
 Just so, precisely, is it with the warn- 
 ings and threatenings of the Scriptures. 
 They, it is true, tell what would be the 
 result if Christians were to do thus and 
 so; but, then, the genuine child of God 
 says: "Those penalties do not in the 
 least disturb me, for I have no inten- 
 tion whatever of placing myself in such 
 an attitude; these warnings and threat- 
 enings, though general, cannot reach me, 
 for they, like the penalties of the civil 
 law, are intended to reach the vicious, 
 not the virtuous." 
 
 By keeping the foregoing suggestions 
 in view, the reader will not only see that 
 the "warnings and threatenings" fail, 
 utterly fail, to establish the doctrine of 
 apostasy; but he will have in his pos- 
 session a key which will enable him to 
 understand thoroughly all that class of 
 Scripture texts to which the advocat.es ot
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 213 
 
 apostasy have reference. For illustra- 
 tion: Paul says, "But though we, or an 
 angel from heaven, preach any other gos- 
 pel unto you than that which we have 
 preached unto you, let him be accursed." 
 — Gal. i. 8. The assertion of Paul is 
 certainly true, but did he, " or an angel 
 from heaven,'' have any intention of 
 doing so? ISTo, never. Again: "If any 
 man draw back, my soul shall have no 
 pleasure in him." — Heb. x. 38. This is 
 likewise true; but mark, Paul does not 
 say nor intimate that a Chrisdan can 
 " draw back." Likewise, the same apos- 
 tle says: "If Christ be not risen, then is 
 our preaching vain, and your faith is 
 also vain." — 1 Cor. xv. 14. But did Paul 
 intend to express a single doubt that 
 Christ had risen? ^ot so. 
 
 Such passages could be multiplied in- 
 definitely, but, with the explanations 
 which have preceded, these are sufficient 
 to convince us that the "warnings and
 
 214 , THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 threatenings" of the Bible contain no 
 evidence that the doctrine of apostasy as 
 taught by our Methodist friends is true. 
 
 5. The doctrine of apostasy must be 
 true, else man would not be a free agent. 
 
 The meaning of this language, when 
 we anah^ze it, is simply this: A Chris- 
 tian is not a free agent unless he can, at 
 pleasure, sever his connection with 
 Christ — can commit sin enough to damn 
 his own soul ! 
 
 Let us examine this position and see 
 if it iS true. Upon what terms are 
 Christians made? In other words, how 
 do sinners become Christians? The an- 
 swer is, By faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. There are, then, two parties to 
 this transaction, Christ and the sinner. 
 To become a Christian, therefore, the 
 sinner must accept Christ as his Saviour, 
 and he must accept him, too, on the 
 very condition Avhich he (Christ) pre- 
 scribes. That condition is faith, as
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 215 
 
 we have already said. The sinner's 
 agency, therefore, is consulted in this 
 transaction; he has to accept Christ. 
 ISTow, for how long a time does the sinner 
 accept him? Is it for a limited or an 
 icnlimited time? If he accepts him for a 
 limited time, then his agency would be 
 destroyed should he be forever confirmed 
 in a state of grace — he would not only 
 have more than he asked for, but he 
 would cease to be a free moral agent. 
 If, however, he accepts him for an un- 
 limited time, for time and eternity, then 
 not to forever confirm him and make 
 him sure of heaven, would be less than 
 he asked for. i^ow, what does the sin- 
 ner want when he goes to Christ? There 
 is but one answer: It is salvation, eter- 
 nal life, heaven. He asks for nothing 
 less, desires nothing less. And as Christ 
 has nothing else, in this respect, to give 
 but eternal life, then the sinner either 
 gets that or he gets nothing. If, then,
 
 216 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 the sinner gets simply what lie asks for — 
 no more, no less — is his agency destroyed 
 when he gets it? How can it be de- 
 stroyed when he is not only a party, but 
 a w^illing party, to the transaction? 
 Would he not, too, rather make a con- 
 tract which would stand forever, inas- 
 much as he is the gainer by such a con- 
 tract? Would he not prefer to be eter- 
 nally happy, than to be happy for a few 
 days? Would he not, also, be very un 
 wise not to make that contract for eter- 
 nity, if he could do it, rather than for 
 the present f How on earth, then, is a 
 man's agency destroyed when he has 
 secured to him simply what he asked 
 for? What motive could prompt him to 
 have it otherwise? Instead, therefore, 
 of having his agency destroyed' by being 
 confirmed in a state of security, the very 
 reverse is true with the child of God. 
 He wants eternal life, and nothing else 
 will satisfy him. Besides, if a state of
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 217 
 
 confirmation or security, while we are 
 on earth, destroys our agency, would not 
 the same be true with the blood-washed 
 throng in heaven? If, in other words, 
 the Christian while here, must have 
 power to fall from grace in order to make 
 him a free moral agent, must he not 
 have the same power after he gets into 
 the city and paradise of God? Most 
 assuredly he must. Then, there is no 
 security even in heaven! What a 
 doctrine ! 
 
 6. Actual cases of apostasy among us. 
 
 As proof that the doctrine of apostasy 
 is true, we are told that there are now 
 among us a great many who have ac- 
 tually fallen from grace. That there are 
 many in all our Churches who were once 
 professors of religion, and who now have 
 gone back to the world, no one will 
 doubt; but, unless it can be proven that 
 they were regenerated — born again — the 
 existence of such cases proves nothing for
 
 il8 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 the advocates of tbe doctrine of apostasy 
 Our only standard on this subject is 
 the Bible, not the doctrines and profes- 
 sions of men. That book, we think, 
 forever settles the question; for, in 
 speaking of just such cases, it sa3^s: 
 " They went out from us, but they were 
 not of us: for if they had been of us, 
 they would no doubt have coiitinued 
 with us: but they went out, that they 
 might be made manifest that they were 
 not all of us." — 1 John ii. 19. Again, 
 says the Saviour: "If a man love me, 
 he will keep my words: and my Father 
 will love him, and we will come unto 
 him, and make our abode with him." — 
 John xiv. 23. It is also said: "He that 
 saith, I know him, and keepeth not his 
 commandments, is a liar, and the truth 
 is not in him." — 1 John ii. 4. 
 
 Many more such passages could be 
 given, but ten thousand more could not 
 add anything to t lie plain, positive declar-
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 219 
 
 ations that have been quoted — passages, 
 too, which seem to have been written 
 for the purpose of teaching that those 
 who say that they were once regenerated 
 and have lost their religion, are simply 
 mistaken — are spurious cases. 
 
 In accordance with the promise made, 
 we have taken up, one by one, the argu- 
 ments relied upon by our Methodist 
 friends to prove the doctrine of apostasy, 
 and we have seen that they fail, utterly 
 fail, to establish the fact that a truly re- 
 generated man or woman can lose his or 
 her religion and be lost. But, "to make 
 assurance doubly sure," it is now pro- 
 posed to consider briefly the arguments 
 in favor of the doctrine to the contrary. 
 
 THE OTHER SIDE — THE FINAL PERSEVERANCE 
 OF THE SAINTS. 
 
 Instead of admitting the probability 
 or the possibility of the theory of apos- 
 tasy, we take the position that the truly
 
 220 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 regenerated &oul will certainly ''perse- 
 vere" to the end, and will be eternally 
 saved. In support of this position, the 
 following reasons are assigned : 
 
 1. From the nature of the covenant 
 which God the Father made with Christ 
 the Son. 
 
 In this covenant the promise was 
 made by the Father to the Son that, if 
 the latter would become a propitiation 
 and an intercessor for sinners, he should 
 have, as a reward for his labors, a king- 
 dom which should never end. As proof 
 of this, read the following: "When 
 thou shalt make his soul an offering for 
 sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong 
 his days, and the pleasure of the Lord 
 shall prosper in his hands. He shall see 
 of the travail of his soul, and shall be sat- 
 isfied: by his knowledge shall my right- 
 eous servant justify many; for he shall 
 bear their iniquities. Therefore will I 
 divide him a portion with the great, and
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 221 
 
 he shall divide the spoil with the strong; 
 because he hath poured out his soul unto 
 death: and he was numbered with the 
 transgressors; and he bare the sin of 
 many, and made intercession for the 
 transgressors." — Isa. liii. 10-12. In ac- 
 cordance with the same sentiment, the 
 Father says: "Yet have I set my King 
 upon my holy hill of Zion." — Psa. ii. 6. 
 Furthermore, the Father says to the Son, 
 " Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever; 
 the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right 
 sceptre." — Psa. xlv. 6. 
 
 The foregoing passages (and many of 
 the same kind could be added) prove 
 four things:. First, that a covenant was 
 made between the Father and the Son; 
 second, that the Son was to make "his 
 soul an offering for sin" — was to become 
 the Saviour of sinners; third, that, for 
 the work which he (the Son) performed, 
 he was to have a kingdom; fourth, that 
 this kingdom should have "no end."
 
 222 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Of the exact date of tins covenant, we 
 know not because God has not revealed 
 it to us. It was certainly in time to save 
 Adam, else the promise could not have 
 been made immediately after the fall, 
 that "the seed of the woman shall bruise 
 the serpent's head." 
 
 The foreknoioledge of the Father (not 
 his fore-ordination) enabled him to make 
 the promise of a kingdom to his Son 
 for he knew that many of the human 
 race would, of their own voluntary free 
 will, accept Christ as their Saviour; 
 would, without any decree on his part, 
 become the subjects of Christ, and, con- 
 sequently, members of his kingdom — 
 the Church. He also reveals the man- 
 ner in which he would forever keep them 
 as members of that kingdom. "And I 
 will make an everlasting covenant with 
 them, that I will not turn away from 
 them, to do them good; but I will 
 put my fear in their hearts, that
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 'ZTo 
 
 they shall not depart from me." — Jer. 
 xxxii. 40. 
 
 This kingdom, too, as we have seen, 
 was not only to be established, but it 
 w^as to have ''no end," for the Father, 
 in speaking of its durability, says : " Once 
 have I sworn by my holiness that I will 
 not lie unto David. His seed shall en- 
 dure for ever, and his throne as the sun 
 before me." — Psa. Ixxxix. 35, 36. Again, 
 he says; ''His seed will I make to endure 
 forever, and his throne as the days of 
 heaven." 
 
 In the passages just quoted, we have 
 two positive promises of the Father — 
 promises, too, confirmed b}'' an oath of 
 the great Jehovah. First, David's throne 
 was to be as the days of Heaven — endure 
 as long as God himself lived; second, 
 his seed or subjects were to "endure for- 
 ever." I^ow, by turning to the gospel 
 by Luke, we find that the throne of 
 David is the throne which Christ pos-
 
 224 TEE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 sesses. The angel Gabriel, in speaking 
 of the child that was to be born, said: 
 "He shall be great, and shall be called 
 the Son of the Highest; and the Lord 
 God shall give unto him the throne of 
 his father David: and he shall reign 
 over the house of Jacob for ever; and of 
 his kingdom there shall be no end." 
 
 This throne or kingdom, of coarse, 
 means the Church — coukl not possibly 
 mean anything else. And, in perfect 
 agreement with this idea, Christ, in 
 speaking of his Church, says: "The 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 it."— Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 If the foregoing be true (and we know 
 it is), do we not see that there is no sort 
 of doubt in regard to the present and 
 eternal salvation of every person that 
 has been, is now, or will be "born" into 
 that kingdom ? If this certainty did not 
 exist, then the promises made in regard 
 to the perpetuity of that kingdom, could
 
 <» 
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 225 
 
 not have bcien made: for if one Christian 
 may fall from grace, all may; and if all 
 may, then God himself could not have 
 said that the "kingdom" and the "seed" 
 shall "endure forever," and "as the days 
 of heaven." 
 
 2. From the legal relation which the 
 Christian sustains to the Divine govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The only possible way for a sinner to 
 be justified is by a perfect obedience to 
 the law of God. This perfect obedience, 
 however, cannot be rendered by him 
 because he is a fallen creature. If, then, 
 he is ever justified, it mnst be by another 
 who could render that perfect obedience 
 for him which the law imperatively de- 
 mands. The only being in the universe 
 that could do that is Jesus Christ; and 
 that he has rendered that obedience, is 
 evident from the Scriptures. "For as 
 by one man's disobedience many were 
 made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
 15
 
 226 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 shall many be made rightequs." — liom. 
 V. 19. Again: "For Christ also hath 
 once sufiered for sins, the just for the 
 nnjnst, that he might bring us to God, 
 being put to death in the flesh, but quick- 
 ened by the Spirit."—! Pet. iii. 18. Also : 
 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, 
 who knew no sin; that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him." 
 —2 Cor. V. 21. 
 
 From the foregoing passages (and 
 many more of the same kind could be 
 furnished), we see that Christ has, by the 
 atonement which he made, "wrought 
 out" or purchased a righteousness which 
 may be made available by the sinner. 
 The condition, too, upon which that 
 righteousness can become the righteous- 
 ness of the sinner, is likewise plainly 
 stated in the Scriptures. "Therefore we 
 conclude that a man is justified by faith 
 without the deeds of the law." — Rom. iii. 
 28. Also : " Therefore being justified by
 
 • THE METHODIST CnURCH. 227 
 
 « 
 
 faiths we have peace with God through, 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." — Eom. v. 1. 
 
 The rigteousness of Christ, then, is 
 the ground on which the sinner is par- 
 doned, and that righteousness becomes 
 the sinner's righteousness whenever he 
 exercises faith in Christ. "For Christ 
 is the end of the law for righteousness 
 to every one that believeth." — Eom. x. 4. 
 The very moment, therefore, that the 
 sinner exercises faith in the Son of God 
 as his Saviour, then it is that the right- 
 eousness of Christ becomes his — is im- 
 puted to him. "And he (Abraham) re- 
 ceived the sign of circumcision, a seal 
 of the ri«:liteousness of the faith which 
 lie had, yet being uncircumcised: that 
 he might be the father of all them that 
 believe, though they be not circumcised; 
 that righteousness might be imputed 
 unto them also." — Rom. iv. 11. Again: 
 "E"ow it was not written for his sake 
 alone, that it was imputed to him; but
 
 228 THE METHODIST CIIURCn. • 
 
 for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, 
 if Ave believe on him that raised up Jesus 
 our Lord from the dead; who was de- 
 livered for our offenses, and was raised 
 again for our justification." — Eom. iv. 
 23-25. 
 
 It is also proper to state in this con- 
 nection, that, if the first Adam had stood 
 the test — had met Satan and resisted 
 him — then he and his descendants would 
 have been confirmed in a state of holi- 
 ness — would have had everlasting life 
 secured to them in view of Adam's 
 fidelity. I^Tow, Christ, the second Adam, 
 did stand the test, and stood it most 
 successfiill}', too, for he overcame the 
 combined powers of earth and hell. 
 Single-handed he met the tempter in the 
 wilderness, the agonies in the garden, 
 and the sufferings on the cross; yea, met 
 Satan, met sin, met death, met the grave, 
 and came off conqueror. Then wliy 
 may not his children — those who have
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 229 
 
 been ^'borii again" — be confirmed in a 
 state of everlasting life because of his 
 fidelity ? 'No man living can give a good 
 reason why it should not be so. On the 
 contrary, we have every reason to be- 
 lieve that such is the case. In the eyes 
 of the law, he has placed his believing 
 children precisely Avhere the first Adam 
 would have placed his, if he had stood 
 the test. This idea, too, agrees perfectly 
 with the teachings of the Apostle Paul, 
 who, when speaking of himself and 
 other Christians, asks, "Do we then 
 make void the law through faith? God 
 forbid : yea, we establish the law." — Eom. 
 iii. 31. "What then? shall we sin, be- 
 cause we are not under the law, but 
 under grace? God forbid." — Rom. vi, 15. 
 The same apostle likewise says: "For 
 sin shall not have dominion over you: 
 for ye are not under the law, but under 
 grace." — E,om. vi. 14. 
 
 We see, then, that " Christ is the end
 
 230 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 of the law for righteousness" to the be- 
 liever; and, as his righteonsness is the 
 righteousness of his children, and inas- 
 much, too, as his righteousness is com- 
 plete, it follows necessarily that his chil- 
 dren are safe. So long, therefore, as the 
 law has no claims against Christ, it can- 
 not possibly have any against his chil- 
 dren. They, then, are just as safe as 
 Christ is, for they are, in the expressive 
 language of the Apostle Paul, ''joint 
 heirs with Christ" — have just as perfect 
 a title to heaven as he has. As long, 
 therefore, as Christ is secure, the Chris- 
 tian is secure. The Divine government 
 can make no demand upon the Christian 
 until the Surety fails. But it cayinot 
 fail, for it is perfect; therefore the Chris- 
 tian is forever safe. 
 
 3. From the vital relation which the 
 Christian sustains to Christ. 
 
 The Christian is his child; is ^'born 
 again " into his family or kingdom ; is a
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 231 
 
 member of his body; is iiii integral 
 part of the great spiritual temple. '' Ye 
 must be born again." — John iii. 7. '' For 
 we are members of his body, of his flesh, 
 and of his bones."— Eph. v. 30. "Know 
 ye not that 3'e are the temple of God?" 
 —1 Cor. iii. 16. 
 
 Moreover, the connection between 
 Christ and the Christian is compared to 
 that which subsists between the vine and 
 the branches. "I am the vine, ye are 
 the branches. He that abideth in me, 
 and I in him, the same bringeth forth 
 much fruit; for without me ye can do 
 nothing." — John xv. 5. What a close, 
 what a vital relation ! 
 
 Again, so tender and so intimate is 
 the relation between the blessed Saviour 
 and the child of God, that the life of the 
 latter is said to be " hid with Christ in 
 God." "For ye are dead, and your life 
 is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, 
 who is our life, shall appear, then shall
 
 232 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 ye also appear vrith him in glor3\" — Col. 
 iii. 3, 4. Since, then, Christ is "the life" 
 of the Christian, and since, too, that 
 "life is hid with Christ in God," how 
 can it be lost? Can Satan find and bring 
 to ruin such a life? No, indeed! Why, 
 he could not even find the body of Moses, 
 which God had hid, though he (Satan) 
 endeavored to compel Michael the arch- 
 angel to discover it to him. (See Jude 9.) 
 Then, how on earth is he to find the 
 Christian's life which is hid, not in the 
 earth, but ''with Christ in God?'' Can 
 he, with his fiendish army, storm the 
 buhvarks of heaven? Can he force his 
 way through that invincible host of 
 angelic legions which, as a great body- 
 guard, stand sentinel at the gate of 
 heaven? Yet more than this he would 
 have to do before he could reach the 
 Christian, for he w^ould have to lay open 
 the Father's heart, and then wring from 
 the Saviour's grasp the sacred treasure!
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 233 
 
 Can he do it? The question is almost 
 an insult to humanity, much more to Di- 
 vinity. Satan do such a thing? JSTo, 
 never, never, never! "How can one enter 
 into a strong man's house, and spoil his 
 goods, except he first bind the strong 
 man?'-'— Matt. xii. 29. 
 
 4. From the constant indwelling of 
 the Iloiy Spirit in the heart of the 
 Christian. 
 
 The Holy Ghost is one of the prime 
 agents in the worlv of salvation. He 
 not only convinces us of our sin and 
 misery, enlightens our minds in the 
 knowledge of Christ, and applies to our 
 hearts the redemption purchased by the 
 Son of God, but he dioells in the heart 
 of everj^ one from whom the evil spirit 
 has been cast out. "I will pray the 
 Father, and he shall give you another 
 Comforter, that he may abide with you 
 for ever." — John xiv. IG. To show, too, 
 that this gift of the Spirit was not pe-
 
 234 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 CLiliar to the apostles, we read: ''If any 
 man (any Christian) have not the Spirit 
 of Christ, he is none of his." — Eom. 
 viii. 9. 
 
 The Spirit, then, does not enter the 
 hearts of Christians as a transient visitor, 
 but to "abide with them forever." For 
 this reason, Christians are called "the 
 temple of God, because the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in them." By this constant 
 abiding of the Spirit, Christians are not 
 only comforted, but they are assisted in 
 their infirmities; yea, are "sealed to the 
 day of redemption." "Likewise the 
 Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for 
 we know not what we should pray for 
 as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh 
 intercession for us with groanings which 
 cannot be uttered." — Eom. viii. 26 
 This Spirit, too, is given to the Chris- 
 tians " as an earnest of their inheritance." 
 Now, Ave all know what "an earnest" 
 is; it is a part given as a security that
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 235 
 
 the wliole shall be given. Since, then, 
 the Spirit is given as "an earnest" of 
 the "inheritance" of Christians, if they 
 can fall from grace and lose that "inher- 
 itance," then, God's security (the Holy 
 Ghost) has failed! But how can he fail? 
 He is one of the three persons in the 
 Godhead; yea, is God! What better 
 security, then, could the Christian ask? 
 
 5. From the intercession of Christ, 
 and from his anxiety and ability to save 
 his followers. 
 
 In speaking of Christ, the Bible says: 
 "He ever liveth to make intercession for 
 them." — Heb. vii. 25. "If any man sin, 
 we have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous." — 1 John ii. 1. 
 What is the nature of the " intercession " 
 which he makes for his children? The 
 answer is at hand: he prays for them 
 just as he did for Peter, "that their faith 
 fail not." We have a specimen of his 
 prayers: "Holy Father, keep through
 
 236 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 thine own name those whom thou hast 
 given nie, that they may be one, as we 
 are." "I pray not that thou shouldest 
 take them out of the world, but that 
 thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 
 They are not of the world, even as I am 
 not of the world. JSanctify them through 
 thy truth : thy word is truth." — John 
 xvii. 11, 15-17. Lest, too, some one might 
 eay that that prayer was only for his 
 disciples, or for such as had already be- 
 lieved on him, he says: ''ISTeither pray I 
 for these alone, but for them also which 
 shall believe on me through their word." 
 — John xvii. 20. If there is efficacy in the 
 prayers of the Saviour, then all his chil- 
 dren wall be saved. And that there is 
 efficacy in those prayers, we have the 
 testimony of Christ himself: "Father, I 
 thank thee that thou hast heard me. 
 And I knew that thou hearest me 
 always." — John xi. 41, 42. 
 
 His anxiety for the eternal salvation
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 237 
 
 of his followers is likewise assured in 
 the Scriptures. "Father, I w^ill that 
 they also, whom thou hast given me, be 
 with me where I am; that they may 
 behold my glory, which thou hast given 
 me." — John xvii. 24. The Father, too, 
 has the same solicitude. "And this is 
 the Father's will which hath sent me, 
 that of all which he hath given me I 
 should lose nothing, but should raise it 
 up again at the last day." — John vi. 39. 
 The truth is, the entire history of Christ 
 — his birth, suft'erings, and death — would 
 be without meaning, if this deep, abid- 
 ing anxiety for his followers had not 
 existed. Will he not, then, " see of the 
 travail of his soul and be satisfied?" It 
 must be so, for to him, in an especial 
 manner, is committed the "keeping" of 
 his children. 
 
 Let us now for a moment inquire as to 
 his ability in securing the everlasting 
 salvation of his people.
 
 238 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Paul s^ys: "Wherefore he is able also 
 to save them to the uttermost that come 
 unto God by him." — Heb. vii. 25. Again : 
 "ISTow unto him that is able to keep you 
 trom falling, and to present you faultless 
 before the presence of his glory with 
 exceeding joy, to the only wise God our 
 Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion 
 and power, both now and ever. Amen." 
 Jude 24, 25. 
 
 Having seen what the power of Christ 
 as an intercessor is, and having seen, also, 
 that he is not only anxious to save his 
 children, but is able to do so, the ques- 
 tion arises. Will he do it? But one an- 
 swer can be given : lie will. Would not a 
 kind, pure father save a child from ruin 
 if he had the ability? AVe wuU not in- 
 sult the intelligence of the reader by 
 answering sach a question. But the case 
 under consideration is a much stronger 
 one, for no father loves his children as 
 tenderly as Christ loves his children.
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 239 
 
 6. From positive declarations of the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The Bible is literally full of positive 
 assertions that the truly regenerated soul 
 will be saved. So numerous, indeed, are 
 they that we scarcely know where to 
 begin; but we have space for only a few. 
 
 "Whosoever drinketh of this water 
 shall thirst asrain : but whosoever drink- 
 eth of the vrater that I shall give him 
 shall never thirst; but the water that I 
 shall give him shall be in him a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life." 
 —John iv. 13, 14. 
 
 "Yerily, verily I say unto you, He 
 that heareth my word, and believeth on 
 him that sent me, hath everlasting life, 
 and shall not come into condemnation; 
 but is passed from death unto life." — 
 John V. 24. 
 
 " God is faithful, who will not suffer 
 you to be tempted above that ye are 
 able; but will with the temptation also
 
 240 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 make a way to escape, that ye may be 
 able to bear it."— 1 Cor. x. 13. 
 
 "There is therefore now no condem- 
 nation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 
 who walk not after the flesh, but after 
 the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of 
 life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
 from the law of sin and death." — Rom. 
 viii. 1, 2. 
 
 "I am the good shepherd: the good 
 shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." 
 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know 
 them, and they follow me: and I give 
 unto them eternal life; and they shall 
 never perish, neither shall any man 
 pluck them out of my hand. My Father, 
 which gave them me, is greater than all ; 
 and no man is able to pluck them out 
 of my father's hand."— John x. 11, 27-29. 
 
 "For if, when we were enemies, we 
 were reconciled to God by the death of 
 his Son, much more, being reconciled, 
 we shall be saved by his life." — Rom. v. 10.
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 241 
 
 "He that believeth on me liath ever- 
 lasting life." — John vi. 47. 
 
 " AVho shall separate us from the love 
 of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, 
 or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, 
 or peril, or sword ? " " ]^ay, in all these 
 things we are more than conquerors 
 through him that loved us. For I am 
 persuaded, that neither death, nor life, 
 nor angels, nor principalities, nor pow- 
 ers, nor things present, nor things to 
 come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
 other creature, shall be able to separate us 
 from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord." — Eoni. viii. 35, 37-39. 
 
 We have given the foregoing without 
 " note or comment," for they need 
 neither, and it would be an easy matter 
 to give a hundred more of the same 
 kind, hut want of space forbids. We 
 cannot close this discussion, however, 
 without makinof one additional remark. 
 We have positive testimony from the 
 16
 
 242 
 
 THE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 Bible that many of the righteous are in 
 heaven, and that many of the wicked 
 are in hell ; but no man can say on the 
 authority of the Scriptures that an un- 
 regenerated soul ever went to heaven, or 
 that a truly regenerated person ever went 
 to hell. 
 
 From the foregoing, therefore, we can 
 readily see why the founders of the 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Church did 
 not cast their lot with the Methodists.
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 243 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 Although we have examined into the 
 doctrines and usages of a number of 
 Churches, there yet remains quite a list. 
 But in view of the fact that these hold 
 to doctrines and usages with slight modi- 
 fications from those which have been 
 stated and commented upon in previous 
 chapters in this little book, it is deemed 
 unnecessary to consider any of them at 
 
 length. 
 
 THE LUTHERANS. 
 
 This denomination takes its name 
 from Martin Luther, the great German 
 reformer, who was born 1483, in Saxony. 
 There are diflerent kinds of Luth-
 
 244 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 erans — Evangelical and High Symboli- 
 cal Lutherans. They differ, too, in 
 Church polity — some of them a kind 
 of Presbj^erianism, and some a kind 
 of Episcopacy. All of them, however, 
 cling to those old "symbolical books"; 
 and those books, as we all know, teach 
 the doctrine of "baptismal regenera- 
 tion" — that the soul is regenerated in 
 the act of water baptism. Many of 
 them, it is true, will tell you that they 
 do not thus believe; but it is in their 
 Church standards, and, if they really do 
 not believe the doctrine, they ought to 
 change their written Creeds. 
 
 THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 
 
 It is rather difficult to give the date 
 of the origin of this Church. It is gen- 
 erally believed, however, that it began 
 in 1608, in England, and that Eev. James 
 Eobinson was its founder. The very 
 name of the Church shows that, like the
 
 OTHER CnURCIIES. 245 
 
 Baptists, the members recognize no 
 higher ecclesiastical authority than the 
 individual churches. This Church also 
 believes in the doctrine of election and 
 predestination. Both these points, how- 
 ever, have already been considered, and 
 it is not necessary to repeat the argument. 
 
 THE CAMPBELLITES. 
 
 This denomination calls itself the 
 ^'Christian Church''; but it has no right 
 to assume such a name. What would be 
 thought of a political organization that 
 would assume the name "Honest Party," 
 or " Patriotic Party" ? The world would 
 laugh it to scorn. But such a thing 
 would not be more ridiculous than for 
 Campbellites to assume the name " Chris- 
 tian Church.'' If the name has any sig- 
 iiificance, the meaning is, this Church — ■ 
 the " Christian Church" — is the Church 
 of Christ, and no other is! Who ever 
 heard of such arrogance?
 
 246 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 When the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church was organized, there were no 
 Campbellites; but if there had been, 
 there is not the most remote probability 
 that their claims would have been seri- 
 ously considered. 
 
 Alexander Campbell, of Virginia, was 
 the founder of this sect; and for a num- 
 ber of years, was a minister in the Bap- 
 tist Church. He, however, w^as excluded 
 from that Church ; after which he organ- 
 ized what is now known as the Camp- 
 hellite Church. 
 
 As to the system of doctrines to w^iich 
 they adhere, it is exceedingly difficult, 
 on many points, to tell; for they have no 
 written Creed — no book which gives 
 their doctrines in a S3^stematic form. 
 They boast that their "Creed" is the 
 Bible; but if that be true, why is it that 
 we have such a variety of teachings 
 among the membership of that Church? 
 If the Bible is their Creed, and they
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 247 
 
 all understand it as well as they -profess 
 to, why is it that they are not a unit on 
 doctrine and usage? Every one, how- 
 ever, who has investigated the matter, 
 knows that no such unity of sentiment 
 exists. The remark is not made in an 
 irreverent spirit, but we could have very 
 little respect for the Bible, if we thought 
 that the vagaries aud contradictions of 
 Campbellism were taught in it. The 
 truth is, that Church, upon the whole, is 
 a singular affair. Every man preaches 
 who wishes to do so; and, as the denom- 
 ination has no "written Creed," every 
 one, it seems, makes his own theological 
 system ! Who, for instance, knows the 
 sentiments of that Church, as a whole, 
 in regard to the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, 
 the sacred Scriptures, the Atonement, the 
 sacrament of the Supper, Predestination, 
 E.epentance, Faith, Regeneration, Crea- 
 tion, Providence, Fall of Man, Deprav- 
 ity, etc. ? 1^0 one on earth I They do not
 
 248 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 know themselves! The Bible is their 
 Creed, yet no human being can tell what 
 the Church, as a whole, understands the 
 Bible to teach upon the great and vital 
 points just mentioned. Even political 
 parties are ashamed to go before the 
 world without a declaration of princi- 
 ples — a written platform or Creed, upon 
 which they as parties stand. What 
 would be thought of a political organi- 
 zation that would say, "the Constitution 
 is our Creed?" Would not all other po- 
 litical parties say the same? Most as- 
 suredly they would. The party, there- 
 fore, that claims the Constitution as its 
 platform, must tell the world what it 
 understands the Constitution to teach. 
 Then, when a Church says the Bible is its 
 Creed, have we not a right to ask that 
 Church what it understands the Bible to 
 teach upon the great and fundamental 
 doctrines of our religion? Away, then, 
 with such a subterfuge as the Camp-
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 249 
 
 bellites resort to upon the subject of 
 Creeds ! 
 
 On the mode and design of water bap- 
 tism, there is, perhaps, greater unity in 
 that Church than upon any other two 
 subjects. They recognize no mode, 
 judging from their practice, except im- 
 mersion. Kow, in a previous chapter, 
 we examined all the cases of water bap- 
 tism reported in detail in the l!Tew Testa- 
 ment, and we failed to find a single case 
 where immersion was probable. In re- 
 gard to the design of water baptism, the 
 Campbellites teach, judging from their 
 plan of " making disciples," that baptism 
 is for the remission of sins; that is, there 
 is no remission of sins without baptism 
 — ^baptism, too, by immersion! How 
 can any one believe such a doctrine? 
 Does any one really believe it, or is it a 
 delusion? It is the soul of man that is 
 depraved; how, then, in the name of 
 reason and common sense, can an external
 
 250 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 ordinance, cleanse and purify an internal 
 nature — a nature which it cannot, by anj 
 possibility, reach? But, perhaps some 
 one is ready to say, the ivater does not 
 pnrify^ it is the Holy Spirit operating 
 through the water that does the cleansing, 
 the purifying. Is that so? and is it im- 
 possible for sins to be pardoned, except 
 through the agency of water baptism? 
 Cannot the Holy Ghost reach the soul in 
 conversion except through water? "Who 
 can believe such an absurdity? 
 
 "Were none saved during the Old Test- 
 ament dispensation? If so, how? ]^ot 
 by the operation of the Hol}^ Ghost 
 through water baptism, for we all know 
 that, until after the birth of Christ, water 
 baptism had not been instituted. Let 
 the reader examine with care what Paul 
 says upon this subject in the eleventh 
 chapter of Hebrews. It is there said to 
 be by faith. Faith, then, and not water 
 baptism, was the medium through which
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 251 
 
 the Holy Ghost purified the hearts of all 
 who were saved before the birth of 
 Christ. For about four thousand years, 
 therefore, God saved sinners without 
 water baptism. He is an unchangeable 
 Being — the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 forever. The method of saving sinners, 
 therefore, has never been changed. How 
 could it be changed? The relation be- 
 tween God and the sinner is the same to- 
 day that it was from the hour the prom- 
 ise was made: "'The seed of the woman 
 shall bruise the serpent's head." In 
 order, however, that the reader may see 
 how absurd this doctrine of "salvation 
 by water" is, we call attention to the 
 following points: 
 
 1. It would make the salvation of the 
 sinner depend upon man. If the sinner 
 can have his sins pardoned only through 
 the agency of water baptism, then he 
 cannot be saved unless some one will 
 baptize him. How can he? He cannot
 
 252 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 baptize himself; lie is therefore depend- 
 ent upon man for salvation. 
 
 2. It, according to the Carapbellite 
 Church, confines the Hoh^ Ghost to a 
 certain mode — to a particular method of 
 administering baptism. That Churcli 
 tells us that there is no baptism except 
 immersion. This doctrine, then, not only 
 confines the operations of tlie Holy 
 Ghost in regeneration, to water, but to 
 immersion in water. J^ovv, to sustain 
 their theory, they must prove two things : 
 first, that the Holy Ghost does not reno- 
 vate the heart except through water bap- 
 tism ; second, that the only mode of 
 Daptism authorized by the Scriptures is 
 immersion. But they cannot, if it would 
 save their souls, prove either one of these 
 propositions. 
 
 3. If this doctrine be true, then salva- 
 tion is by works. If the heart can be 
 regenerated only through the ordinance 
 of baptism, then how can the sinner be
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 253 
 
 saved without works — works performed 
 by the minister and by himself. But 
 Paul says, "Therefore we conclude that 
 a man is justified by faith, without the 
 deeds of the law." Again says lie, 
 "]N'ot of works, lest any man should 
 boast." Also the same apostle says: 
 "Therefore by the deeds of the law 
 there shall no flesh be justified in his 
 sight." 
 
 4. This doctrine positively contradicts 
 the Bible. In the gospel by John, chap- 
 ter iii., verse 18, we have the following: 
 "He that believeth on him (Christ) is not 
 condemned," iSTow, every sinner in his 
 natural state is condemned; but, accord- 
 ing to this scripture, when he ^'■believes on 
 Christ," he is "not condemned" ; that is, 
 his sins are pardoned — pardoned, too, 
 because he believes. Here we have the 
 declaration of Christ himself that he be- 
 stows pardon because of faith — does not 
 even mention baptism. Again, verse
 
 254 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 36, ''lie that believeth on the Son hath 
 everlasting life." The Saviour does not 
 say, he that believeth may or shall have 
 everlasting life if he will be baptized by 
 immersion; not a word' of it, but "he 
 that believeth" hath everlasting life — 
 has it as soon as he believes. In chapter 
 vi., verses 35, 40, of the same gospel, we 
 have these words : "And Jesus said unto 
 them, I am the bread of life: he that 
 cometh to me shall never hunger; and 
 he that believeth on me shall never 
 thirst. ^ ^ t^ And this is the will ot 
 him that sent me, that every one which 
 sceth the Son, and believeth on him, may 
 have everlasting life: and I will raise 
 him up at the last day." Could lan- 
 guage be stronger? "Everlasting life"; 
 and yet not one word about baptism ! 
 
 Again, when the convicted, trembling 
 jailer asked, "What must I do to be 
 saved?" Paul said, "Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 255 
 
 saved." Remember, Paul did not sav. 
 
 "Be baptlzedy and thou slialt be saved," 
 not a word of it; but, ^'Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved." 'Now, if water baptism was 
 necessary to the jailer's salvation, then 
 Paul misled him — did not tell him the 
 truth. But who will dare accuse Paul of 
 such a deed? 
 
 The case of Cornelius is, if possible, 
 still stronger against the doctrine of sal- 
 vation by water. Turn to Acts, chapter 
 X., and read it with care. It will there 
 be seen that Peter did not baptize any 
 one until after "the Holy Ghost fell upon 
 all them which heard the word"; until, 
 in other words, their sins had been par- 
 doned. The exact language is, "While 
 Peter yet spake these words, the Holy 
 Ghost fell on all them which heard the 
 word. And they of the circumcision 
 which believed were astonished, as 
 many as came with Peter, because that
 
 256 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 on the Gentiles also was poured out the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard 
 them speak with tongues, and magnify 
 God. Then answered Peter, Can any 
 man forbid water, that these should not 
 be baptized, which have received the 
 Holy Ghost as well as Ave?" Scores of 
 just such passages could be produced, 
 but these are sufficient. 
 
 Our Campbellite friends, however, will 
 say that we have omitted some of their 
 strong texts. One of them is as follows 
 (John iii. 5): "Jesus answered, Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be 
 born of water and of the Spirit, he can- 
 not enter into the kingdom of God." 
 In this verse the Saviour is endeavoring 
 to explain to IN'icodemus how the "new 
 birth" is brought about. The "water" 
 spoken of could not possibly refer to 
 Christian baptism; even Alexander 
 Campbell, the founder of the Cam[)bellite 
 Church, admits that at the time this lau-
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 257 
 
 guage was used, Christian baptism was 
 not in existence. The Saviour, therefore, 
 could not have intended to try to explain 
 a matter to i!^icodemus by referring to 
 something which Nicodemus did not 
 understand. But he did expect is'icode- 
 mus to understand him; for he says to 
 him, "Art thou a master (teacher) of Is- 
 rael, and knowest not these things?" 
 He thought it strange that Kicodemus 
 should be a teacher of the Old Testa- 
 ment, and yet be ignorant of the matter 
 which he was trying to explain to him. 
 It is therefore evident that the doctrine 
 taught by the Saviour, is taught in the 
 Old Testament, else he would not have 
 reproved Nicodemus for not understand- 
 ing it. Now, no one will say that water 
 baptism, for the remission of sins, is 
 taught in the Old Testament. Hence, 
 such could not have been the meaning of 
 the Saviour. But the doctrine of a 
 change of heart (regeneration) is taught 
 17
 
 258 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel we read 
 (chapter xxxvi. 26): "A new heart also 
 will I give you, and a new spirit will I 
 put within you: and I will take away 
 the stony heart of your flesh," etc. 
 Again, David prayed (Psa. li. 10) ; 
 " Create in me a clean heart, God ; and 
 renew a right spirit Avithin me." The 
 Saviour was then simply teaching the 
 necessity of a "new heart" hy the puri- 
 fying power of the Holy Ghost. We, 
 then, are not to understand by the water 
 and the Spirit, in the verse referred to, 
 two different things ; for it is evidently a 
 form of expression signifjdng the cleans- 
 ing or purifying power of the Holy 
 Spirit under the similitude of water. In 
 Matt. iii. 11, it is said: "He shall baptize 
 you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." 
 Here the Holy Ghost and fire do not 
 mean two things, but one, viz. : the Holy 
 Ghost undci the similitude of fire, refin- 
 ing and purifying the whole. There is,
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 259 
 
 therefore, nothing in this verse to sustain 
 the doctrine of ^' water baptism for the 
 remission of sins." 
 
 Let us next examine another passage 
 upon which our Campbellite friends so 
 confidently rely. It reads as follows 
 (Acts ii. 38): "Tlien Peter said unto 
 them, Eepent, and be baptized every one 
 of you in the name of Jesus Christ for 
 the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost." These 
 words were spoken by Peter. They 
 constitute a part, too, of that ever mem- 
 orable sermon preached by him on the 
 day of Pentecost. In that discourse he 
 was exceedingly severe upon the Jews, 
 because they had not only rejected 
 Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the 
 world, but "had by wicked hands" cru- 
 cified him. Peter's w^ords w^ere so 
 pointed and so true, that the Jews were 
 "pricked in the heart." In their deep 
 sorrow and anguish, they asked, " What
 
 260 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 shall we do?" Peter then used the lan- 
 guage which has been quoted. 
 
 Let us briefly look at the facts in the 
 case. The Jews believed in the Father 
 and in the Holy Ghost; but had rejected 
 Christ as the Saviour. Their great sin, 
 therefore, consisted in refusing to receive 
 Christ as the promised Messiah. Peter, 
 however, knew that there was no possi- 
 ble way to be saved except by receiving 
 and relying upon Christ for salvation. 
 The burden of his sermon was on this 
 point. The Jews, as he knew, needed 
 light upon this subject. He, therefore, 
 said, ''Repent, and be baptized every 
 one of you in the name of Jesus 
 Christ," etc., which Tvas equivalent 
 to saying, "You cannot be saved 
 without Christ; he is your only hope 
 for salvation; and you must publicly 
 acknowledge him in your baptism, by 
 having his name in the baptismal for- 
 mula, thereby showing that you now
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 261 
 
 receive him and trust him, though you 
 once rejected him." 
 
 There are, therefore, only two points 
 in the case — a repentance and a baptism 
 looking to Christ alone for their efficacy. 
 Without these, Peter tells them that the 
 whole thing will amount to nothing — can 
 be no remission of sins — no receiving of 
 the Holy Ghost. ISTow, if Peter had in- 
 tended to teach that water baptism was 
 to save them,he would certainly have in- 
 sisted that it should be administered in 
 the resrular form — would have said " Re- 
 pent, and be baptized in the name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"; but he 
 said no such thing, for the simple 
 reason that he was not discussing the 
 efficacy of water baptism. All that 
 he meant, therefore, was, ''repent of 
 your sins," relying on Christ for salva- 
 tion; and, in receiving the ordinance 
 of baptism, see to it that the name 
 of Christy as well as the name of the
 
 262 OTHER CHUllCIIES. 
 
 Father and the Holy Ghost is in it, ehe 
 the whole thing — your repentance and 
 baptism — will be worthless; will secure 
 no ''remission of sins," or "gift of the 
 Holy Ghost." Then where, in this pas- 
 sage, do we find the doctrine taught by 
 the Campbellite Church? In the same 
 way we could prove that the other pas- 
 sages, on which they rely, utterly fail, 
 when properly understood, to teach the 
 doctrine which that Church advocates. 
 Moreover, if this doctrine be true, why 
 did Paul place the estimate which he did 
 upon water baptism? In the first epistle 
 to the Corinthians, chapter i. 14-17, he 
 says : " I thank God that I baptized none 
 of you, but Crispus and Gains; lest any 
 should say that I had baptized in mine 
 own name. And I baptized also the 
 household of Stephanas : besides, I know 
 not whether I baptized any other. For 
 Christ sent me not to baptize, but to 
 preach the gospel: not with wisdom of
 
 OTHER CHURCHES. 263 
 
 •» 
 words, lest the cross of Christ should be 
 
 made of none eflect." 
 
 'Now, if sins can be forgiven only by 
 or through water baptism, why did Paul 
 utter the words which have just been 
 quoted? AYould he have thanked God 
 that he had baptized such a small num- 
 ber? No, never! What! thank God 
 that he had instrumentally saved only a 
 few sinners? Yet he certainly did thus 
 rejoice, if there is no remission of sins 
 without baptism! But who can believe 
 such an absurdity? The reason for his 
 comparative indifference upon the subject 
 is fully explained in the seventeenth 
 verse : '' For Christ sent me not to bap- 
 tize, but to preach the gospel." Ah ! that 
 is it! The great object of his mission 
 was to preach; to induce sinners to be- 
 come Christians by believing, not by being 
 baptized loith water, nor in water 
 either, for neither mode could save 
 them, as Paul very well knew. Away,
 
 264 OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 then, with the dogma of baptismal 
 regeneration ! 
 
 One more brief item will close our 
 criticism upon this denomination. From 
 its origin it has been a proselyting 
 Church. Its ministers have gone into 
 other ecclesiastical communions — other 
 Churches — and have done all in their 
 power to unsettle the faith of those 
 belonging thereto. Of a truth may it 
 be said, " They compass land and sea to 
 make one proselyte." To some extent 
 they have succeeded, but whether they 
 have done any good thereby is the ques- 
 tion. That they have produced discord, 
 jargons, and "contentions without a 
 cause," there is no doubt. The truth is, 
 like Ishmael of old, " their hand is against 
 every man" — against all who do not 
 agree with them! Such a Church, even 
 if it had been in existence at the time, 
 could not have satisfied the founders of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 265 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Having given in previous chapters a 
 brief summary of the origin, doctrines, 
 usages, etc., of the other leading denom- 
 inations of Christendom, it is now pro- 
 posed to do the same thing in relation to 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
 Kor is it necessary that this, the con- 
 cluding chapter of this little book, 
 should be a very lengthy one, for the 
 reader is very well informed as to the 
 origin of said Church, and the same is 
 true likewise, to a great extent, in refer- 
 ence to its doctrines; the latter having 
 been learned by reading the criticisms
 
 266 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 made upon the tenets of other de- 
 nominations. 
 
 I. — ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 As has been said, this Church was or- 
 ganized February 4, 1810, in Dickson 
 County, Tennessee. It is, therefore, to 
 the "manor born" — is an American 
 Church. And, though it does not num- 
 ber its years by centuries, as some others 
 do; yet, on the other hand, it is free 
 from the imperfections and decrepitude 
 generally incident to old age. The 
 three ministers who organized it — King, 
 Ewing, and McJ^dow — were men of un- 
 blemished Christian character and in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 It is also true that this Church, as we 
 have seen, was born in the great revival 
 of 1800, one of the most gracious out- 
 pourings of the Holy Ghost that this 
 country ever witnessed. It was, there- 
 fore, begotten and brought forth under
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 267 
 
 the purifying and sanctifying influences 
 of the blessed Spirit of God. To that 
 revival spirit, too, the Church has, 
 throughout its history, adhered with the 
 
 greatest tenacity. 
 
 II. — ITS THEOLOGICAL POSITION. 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
 claims to occupy what it denominates 
 the "Medium System of Theology" — a 
 middle ground between Calvinism and 
 Arminianism. The two latter systems 
 (Calvinism and Arminianism) as we all 
 know, are regarded as the extremes of 
 theology. It is also claimed by the ad- 
 vocates of these systems that there is 
 no medium ground; that every one 
 must either be a Calvinist or an Armin- 
 ian in hi^ religious belief, else he is 
 nothing; but such an assertion, when we 
 analyze it, is absurd — might as well say 
 that there is no territory between the 
 North and South Poles, or that there is
 
 268 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 no space between the extreme ends of a 
 platform ! How could those two systems 
 be the extremes of theology without hav- 
 ing this intermediate area — this medium 
 ground? 
 
 But let us examine those systems (Cal- 
 vinism and Arminianisra), and see if 
 there is not a theological medium ground. 
 
 1. The Doctrine of Election. Calvin- 
 ism teaches that election is uncondi- 
 tional. Arminianism teaches that there 
 is no election in this life, lledium Sys- 
 tem teaches that there is an election, but 
 that it is conditional. 
 
 2. The Doctrine of Salvation. Calvin- 
 ism teaches that salvation is uncondi- 
 tional to sinners, but certain to Chris- 
 tians. Arminianism teaches that salva- 
 tion is conditional to sinners, but uncer- 
 tain to Christians. Medium System 
 teaches that salvation is conditional to 
 sinners, but certain to Christians. 
 
 3. The Date of Election. Calvinism
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 269 
 
 teaches that the date of election is before 
 man was created. Arminianism teaches 
 that the date of election is not prior to 
 the death of the Christian, if indeed it 
 occurs then. Medium System teaches 
 that the date of election is the moment 
 when the sinner is regenerated. 
 
 4. The Extent of the Atonement. 
 Calvinism teaches that Christ died for 
 only a part of the human race — that sal- 
 vation is not possible to all, and that 
 none but those who were " elected from 
 the foundation of the world," will be 
 saved. Arminianism teaches that the 
 atonement of Christ was made for all 
 mankind — that salvation is possible to 
 all ; but, as Christians may fall from 
 grace, it is not certain that any one will 
 be saved. Medium. System, teaches that 
 the atonement was made for all man- 
 kind — that salvation is possible to all, 
 and that every one who has been truly 
 reo:enerated will be saved.
 
 270 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 5. The Perseverance of the Saints. 
 Calvinism teaches that perseverance de- 
 pends principally upon the immutability 
 of the decree of unconditional election. 
 Arminianism teaches that perseverance 
 depends principally upon the good works 
 of the creature. Iledium Sy -3(6771 teaches 
 that perseverance depends, not upon the 
 immutability of the decree of uncondi- 
 tional election, nor upon the good works 
 of the creature, but upon the love of 
 God, the merits of Christ, the abiding of 
 the Spirit, and the covenant of grace. 
 
 Other points could be given wherein 
 these three systems differ, but surely 
 these are suiBcient to show any unpreju- 
 diced reader that there is a medium 
 ground between Calvinism and Ar- 
 minianism. On that medium ground 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
 stands; and it rejoices to know that its 
 foundation is broad and Becure. ISTor 
 do we hazard the truth in saying that
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAX CHURCH. 271 
 
 not only the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church stands upon this medium ground, 
 but that nineteen-twentieths of the 
 Christian world to-day really occupy the 
 same position. How rare to find a Cal- 
 vinist who adopts all the sentiments of 
 Calvin? And how rare, too, to find an 
 Arminian who adopts all the sentiments 
 of Arminius? Instead, then, of finding 
 no ground upon wdiich to stand between 
 these extremes, we find a vast area — an 
 area large enough to hold not only Cum- 
 berland Presbyterians, but also the great 
 body of professing Christians through- 
 out the world. The people can find that 
 medium ground, although theologians 
 may not be able to do so. 
 
 III. — A GENERAL STATEMENT OF ITS DOC- 
 TRINES. 
 
 For a full and extended exhibit of the 
 doctrines of the denomination, together 
 with the Scripture authority therefor,
 
 272 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 the reader is referred to the Confession 
 of Faith of said Churcli. Still, it is not 
 considered out of place to give here a 
 very brief synopsis or outline. 
 
 Passing by the catalogue of doctrines, 
 in which all orthodox Christians sub- 
 stantially agree — such as the existence of 
 God, the Trinity, the authenticity of the 
 Bible, Creation, Providence, the Fall 
 of man, etc., etc. — the Cumberland Pres- 
 byterian Church holds to the following 
 doctrines: That Christ died for the 
 Vvdiole human race; that the atonement 
 is sufficiently broad to embrace in its 
 provisions every son and daughter of 
 Adam ; that the Holy Spirit strives with 
 all; that the sinner is saved by the im- 
 puted righteousness of Christ; that faith 
 is the condition upon which salvation is 
 bestowed; that every truly regenerated 
 soul will be saved; that all infants d^-ing 
 in infancy are regenerated and saved by 
 Christ, through the Spirit, so also are
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CIIURCU. 273 
 
 others who have Dever had the exercise 
 of reason, and who are incapable of 
 being outwardly called by the ministry 
 of the word; that water baptism is not 
 for the remission of sin, but is simply a 
 sign and seal of the covenant of grace ; 
 that dipping the person into the water 
 is not necessary, but that baptism is 
 rightly administered by pouring or 
 sprinkling water upon the person; that 
 the Church of Jesus Christ is composed 
 of believing parents and their chil- 
 dren ; that the sacrament of the Supper 
 should be administered to all Chris- 
 tians of good standing in their respec- 
 tive Churches. 
 
 The foregoing synopsis is peculiarly 
 Cumberland Presbyterian, inasmuch as 
 no other Church on earth teaches these 
 doctrines as a w^hole. Moreover, all 
 these points have been discussed and 
 enforced in their appropriate places in 
 this little book. Can any unbiased mind, 
 18
 
 274 cumbehland Presbyterian church. 
 
 with the Bi'ble in his hand, object to these 
 doctrines? 
 
 IV. — ITS FORM OF GOVERXMENT. 
 
 As we have ah-eady seen, the word 
 Presbyterian comes from the Greek noun 
 Presbuteros, which means Presbyter or 
 Elder. The form of church govern- 
 ment which the founders of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church selected, 
 is, as the name indicates, that of Preshy- 
 terianism, w^hich simply means a Church 
 governed by elders. These elders, from 
 the earliest times, were divided into two 
 classes, namely, teaching elders or min- 
 isters, and ruling elders, l^or can any 
 one, we think, find scriptural authority 
 for any other form of church govern- 
 ment. 
 
 "When God directed Moses to deliver 
 his people from Egyptian bondage, he 
 told him to "Go, and gather the elders 
 of Israel together, and say unto them,
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 275 
 
 The Lord God of your fathers, the God 
 of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, 
 appeared unto me, saying, I have surely 
 visited you, and seen that which is done 
 to you in Egypt." — Ex. iii. 16. Eemem- 
 ber, Moses was not told to go and ap- 
 point elders, but "to go and call them 
 together." This circumstance shows 
 three things : First, that the elders were 
 already in existence — were a part and 
 parcel of that grand old Church which 
 was organized in the family of Abraham; 
 second, that they had been chosen by 
 the people — not appointed by a Bishop 
 or any other one man; third, that the 
 tw^o classes of rulers, previously spoken 
 of, were recognized in the very infancy 
 of the Church. 
 
 Moreover, when the Angel of Death 
 w^as commissioned to perform his work 
 of destruction, Moses called for the 
 elders and directed them to sprinkle 
 with blood the lintels of the doors o-'
 
 276 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 those who were to be saved. Here we 
 again see these two officers. 
 
 Again, though Moses was commanded 
 to smite the rock in Horeb, "because of 
 the scarcity of water," yet he was not 
 ]3ermitted to do so until he had by his 
 side the elders of Israel. The same offi- 
 cers again. 
 
 Likewise, when Moses was called to 
 Mount Sinai, w^here the Law was to be 
 given, he not only took with him Aaron, 
 ^adab, and Abihu, but also seventy of 
 the elders. 
 
 Such instances could be almost indef- 
 initel}^ multiplied, but these are enough 
 to establish the position that there were 
 two, and only two, classes of rulers in 
 the primitive Church. We also have 
 the clearest evidence that tlie continued 
 services of the elders (both kinds) were 
 recognized during the administration of 
 Joshua, the Judges, and the Kings; also 
 during the captivity; for when they re-
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 277 
 
 turned, we find that the people (the 
 Jews) were governed by these same 
 elders. Upon this point, we quote from 
 iiev. Samuel Miller, a man of great 
 learning, and a historian of the highest 
 integrity. He says: "While eminent 
 writers on Jewish antiquities have dif- 
 fered on other things, they are all per- 
 fectly agreed in one point — namely, that 
 in every synagogue there was a bench 
 of elders, charged with the whole in- 
 spection, government, and discipline of 
 the synagogue," etc. 
 
 The same is true of the Church under 
 the New Testament dispensation. Christ 
 came (as we have seen in another place 
 in this little book) not to organize a new 
 Church ; and there is nothing more cer- 
 tain than that the Jewish synagogue was 
 the model, so far as officers are concerned, 
 of the Churches planted by Christ and 
 his apostles. Under the Christian dis- 
 pensation, both classes of rulers are
 
 278 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 called elders — preaching or teaching el- 
 der and ruling elder. Peter says: "The 
 elders which are among you I exhort, 
 who am also an elder." — 1 Pet. v. 1. 
 Says Luke: ''And when they had or- 
 dained them elders in every Church," etc. 
 This was done by the apostles, and, of 
 course, these elders were not preaching 
 elders, but ruling elders, else they would 
 have had a large number of ministers in 
 each congregation. But Paul settles the 
 matter positively when, in writing to 
 Titus, he says: "For this cause left I 
 thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in 
 order the things that are wanting, and 
 ordain ciders in every city, as I had ap- 
 pointed (instructed) thee." — Titus i. 5. 
 In those days all Christians living in a 
 city belonged to the same Church; and 
 as elders (several of them) were ordained 
 for each congregation, it is evident that 
 those ordained (not appointed) by Titus 
 w era ruling elders. Again: "And from
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHUlCCII. 279 
 
 Miletus, he (Paul) sent to Eplicsus, and 
 called the elders of the Church." — Acts 
 XX. 17. Of this Church Paul had been 
 pastor for a number of years, and he 
 wanted to see the ruling, not the teaching, 
 elders. 
 
 Having seen that the Church under 
 both dispensations had two classes of 
 rulers — the teaching elder and the ruling 
 elder — the question arises, How was 
 it with the successors of the apostles? 
 They most assuredly organized the same 
 kind of Churches that their predecessors 
 did — would be absurd to suppose the 
 contrary. Then they organized upon 
 the Presbyterian plan; nor do we find 
 any thing to the contrary until the third 
 century. At that time we begin to see 
 the influence of a worldly ambition, 
 which induced some ministers of influ- 
 ential positions to try to lord it over 
 others who occupied more humble sta- 
 tions. From such wicked beginnings,
 
 280 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 too, the power of the priesthood rose to 
 the height of Papal arrogance, until a 
 regular Episcopacy (a government by 
 Bishops) was established in the Roman 
 Catholic Church ! 
 
 All other Church governments, then, 
 except that of the eldership (Presbyte- 
 rianism), is, to say the least, a departure 
 from the Bible plan. In Presbyterian- 
 ism, as we have seen, the people have a 
 voice; they, too, elect the men through 
 whom they speak — do not permit any 
 one, not even a Bishop^ to do that for 
 them. According to the same system, 
 too, all ministers are equal ; no one can 
 say to another, "Go, and he goeth, and 
 to another, come, and he cometh," Nor 
 can one minister, according to Presby- 
 terianism, suspend another; it takes a 
 majority of his brethren, both lay and 
 clerical, composing the Presbytery, to do 
 such a thing. Then, too, a minister or a 
 layman has the power of appeal from a
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAX CIIURCU. 281 
 
 lower to a higher court, until the very 
 highest court has been reached; just as 
 he can do in our civil courts. Who, 
 then, we inquire, can object to the Form 
 of Government of the Camberland Pres- 
 byterian Church? Is it not, we ask in 
 all candor, greatly superior to Episco- 
 pacy? Is there not something in Episco- 
 pacy against which the heart of an inde- 
 pendent man instinctively revolts? 
 
 V. — ITS REVIVAL SPIRIT AND ITS PROGRESS. 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
 as we have seen, was born in a revival, 
 and at no period in its history has it ever 
 forsaken or abandoned that revival spirit. 
 When it was organized, it had three 
 ministers — four with the one whom they 
 ordained immediately after "constitut- 
 ing" — but one of the number was at the 
 time a-n old man and quite infirm. But, 
 like the apostles, they gave all their 
 energies to "the ministry of the word."
 
 282 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Wherever tliey went, gracious revivala 
 were the results of their labors, and 
 thousands upon thousands were added 
 to the Church. Being a new organiza- 
 tion, the ministry met with serious and 
 formidable opposition — could get no 
 houses in which to preach, without, in 
 many instances, going into school-houses 
 and court-houses, and oftentimes were 
 compelled to preach in the open air 
 under a brush arbor! But they had the 
 unction of the Spirit, and wherever they 
 preached, "sinners were convicted and 
 mourners were comforted." A large 
 portion, therefore, of the material which 
 they were instrumental in saving, was 
 lost to the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, because they had no organiza- 
 tions or church-houses in man}^ of the 
 fields in which they labored. But, in 
 spite of all these embarrassments, the 
 Church grew in an unprecedented man- 
 ner. Many, it is true, predicted that in
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 283 
 
 a few brief years the zeal of its founders 
 ■would subside, because, as was asserted, 
 it had no theological stand-point. jS'o 
 via media, it was boldly asserted, could 
 be found between Calvinism and Armin- 
 ianism ; but a few years corrected the 
 mistake. The superstructure stood, be- 
 cause it rested upon the solid rock. 
 
 In three years after the Church was 
 organized, it had ministers enough to 
 form three Presbyteries, and, conse- 
 quently, to organize a Synod. These 
 Presbyteries met at the Beech church, in 
 Sumner county, Tennessee, in the month 
 of October, 1813, and constituted said 
 Synod, which received the name of 
 Cumberland Synod. At this meeting of 
 the Synod a brief statement was made 
 and ordered to be published, setting forth 
 the points wherein Cumberland Presby- 
 terians dissented from the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith, and these points are 
 as follows:
 
 284 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 First. That there are no eternal repro- 
 bates. 
 
 Second. That Christ died, not for a 
 fart only, but for all mankind. 
 
 Third. That all infants dying in in- 
 fancy are saved through Christ and the 
 sanctification of the Spirit. 
 
 Fourth. That the Spirit of God oper- 
 ates on the world, or as co-extensively as 
 Christ has made atonement, in such a 
 manner as to leave all men inexcusable. 
 
 At this same meeting of Synod, too, 
 a committee, composed of Eev. Messrs. 
 Finis Ewing, William McGee, Eobert 
 Donnell, and Thomas Calhoun, was ap- 
 pointed to prepare a Confession of Faith, 
 setting forth the doctrines of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church, in 1814, 
 the report of the committee was pre- 
 sented to the Synod which met at 
 Suggs' Creek church, Wilson county, 
 Tennessee, and it was unanimously 
 adopted as the Confession of Faith of
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 285 
 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In order to give the reader some idea 
 of the growth of said Church, we men- 
 tion the fact that in 1820, ten years after 
 the organization, there was quite a num- 
 ber of strong congregations in Tennessee, 
 Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Indiana, 
 and Illinois. In the year 1826, the idea 
 of an institution of learning was con- 
 ceived, which soon resulted in the estab- 
 lishment of Princeton College, in the 
 town of Princeton, Caldwell county, 
 Kentucky. In 1828, the Cumberland 
 Synod was large enough to form four 
 Synods, viz. : Columbia, Franklin, Green 
 River, and Missouri Synods. At this 
 same meeting arrangements were made 
 to organize a General Assembly; and 
 in 1829, the first General Assembly was 
 held in Princeton, Kentucky. 
 
 It will not be out of place to give just 
 here, a few additional statistics to show 
 how rapidly the Church grew. In 1822,
 
 286 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 the Church, had forty-six ministers, and, 
 during that year, two thousand seven 
 hundred and eighteen persons were con- 
 verted through their instrumentality. 
 In 1826, the number of ministers had in- 
 creased to eighty, and, during that year, 
 three thousand three hundred and five 
 were converted. During the next year 
 (1827), there were four thousand and six 
 professions. What an unparalleled growth 
 do we find in reviewing these facts and 
 figures ! 
 
 Passing by the intermediate years, for 
 want of space, we give the following 
 figures from the Minutes of the General 
 Assembly for 1877 : Ordained ministers, 
 1,283; licentiates, 257; candidates, 201; 
 Presbyteries, 110; Synods, 26; General 
 Assembly, 1; communicants, not less 
 than 125,000. 
 
 It is also proper to state in this con- 
 nection, that there is not a more harmo- 
 nious body of Christians on earth than
 
 CUiMBERLAXD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 287 
 
 are the Cumberland Presbyterians. They 
 believe the same things and preach the 
 same thinsrs. The "Standards" of 
 the Church have never been changed, 
 nor is there any probability that they 
 ever will be changed. ISTo obsolete dogmas 
 clog this system. ^STothing belongs to it 
 which cannot, on all occasions, be 
 preached, for it is suited to the saint and 
 to the sinner — to all classes and condi- 
 tions. Besides, it has been tried as by 
 fire, and it has stood the test. 
 
 VI. — ITS FRATERNITY AND CONSERVATISM. 
 
 'No class of ministers in the world are 
 more fraternal, if indeed as much so, as 
 are the preachers in the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church. They are ready 
 for every good word and work; and 
 side by side they have stood, and side 
 by side do they now stand, with all who 
 labor for the advancement of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom — for the propagation
 
 288 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 of a religion vitiilized by the Holy Ghost 
 During its whole history it has been a 
 Church of peace, and when it was re- 
 viled, it followed the example of the 
 blessed Saviour, and ^'reviled not again." 
 Its policy, too, has ever been to keep 
 Church and State separate — to " render 
 unto Csesar the things that are Caesar's, 
 and unto God the things that are 
 God's." The great civil war between 
 the ISTorth and the South — a conflict 
 which deluged the United States in 
 blood, and which rent in twain the lead- 
 ing denominations not previously severed 
 by politi-cal feuds — was not sufficient to 
 divide the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church. This denomination has never 
 prostituted the pulpit nor the religious 
 press to political ends. With it, the 
 Church has ever been considered an 
 asylum for the heart, and not an arena 
 for fierce and bitter contests in regard 
 to the kinirdoms of this world.
 
 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 289 
 
 With such a Church, then, who can 
 tiiid fault? And when a serious, thought- 
 ful person — man or woman — is trying to 
 decide the Cjuestion which denomination 
 he or she should unite with, can there be 
 found one whose doctrines and srovern- 
 nient are more in accord with the teach- 
 ings of the Bible than those of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church ? It is true, 
 it has not the age nor the numbers of 
 some others, but what difference does 
 that nuike? Such items should not, and 
 do not, weigh a feather with a conscien- 
 tious man or woman. The point is, which 
 Church, in its 2'heology and Government^ 
 comes nearest to the Bible? When that 
 question is settled, there is but one course 
 for a sincere inquirer to pursue — join 
 that Church if it is not ten years old, 
 and if it did not have one thousand 
 members, all told. But even on these 
 items — age and numbers — who can ob- 
 ject to tlie Cumberland Presbyterian 
 19
 
 290 CUMEEKLAM) PRE^BYTEiUAX CIlUllCU. 
 
 Church? It has outstripped till others in 
 proportion to age — is now second in nieiii- 
 hership, in the United States, amoug the 
 whole famil}^ of ]?resbyterian Churches! 
 And though it does not make a classical 
 education a sine qua non to entering 
 the sacred profession, yet no eccle- 
 siastical denomination more strongly 
 favors a highly educated ministry, when 
 circumstances justify such extensive cul- 
 ture. As proof of this, the Churcii, 
 though still in its infancy, not only 
 stands abreast with the older and more 
 powerful denominations in its institu- 
 tions of learning, but it now embraces 
 in its ministry many of the finest scholars 
 and most vigorous thinkers of the age. 
 
 In conclusion, the reader will permit 
 a personal reference. While with Paul 
 I can say, "l>y the grace of God, I am 
 what I am," yet it is a fact that that 
 grace has reached me through the chan- 
 nel of the Cumberland Presbyterian
 
 CUMBERLAXD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 291 
 
 Church. When I was a poor, trembling 
 sinner, ministers in that Church led me, 
 as I humbly trust, to Christ After- 
 wards, that same denomination took 
 me by the hand, when I was a penniless 
 boy, and educated me tor the ministry. 
 For this latter favor, however, I am 
 especially indebted to lion, liobert L. 
 Caruthers and his excellent wife, of Leb- 
 anon, Tennessee. For four years their 
 house was my home, and while I was with 
 them, every temporal want was supplied. 
 Mrs. Caruthers, on6 of the best women 
 that ever lived, has passed over the river, 
 and is in the city and paradise of God; 
 therefore, " she rests from her labors, and 
 her works do follow her." Judge Caruth- 
 ers, at this writing (1877), still lives ; and 
 like the proud old oak that has with- 
 stood a thousand storms, he towers above 
 his fellows. Though called upon to fill 
 some of the highest political and judicial 
 positions within tlie gift of this great
 
 292 CUMBERLAND rRfiSUYTERlAN CllURClL 
 
 nation, yet liis hand and bis purse liavd 
 ever been at tlie command of tlie Cum- 
 berUmd Presbyterian Cburcli — a Cburch 
 within whose communion he has been a 
 most efficient ruling elder for more than 
 half a ceutury. Though he became 
 connected with that Churcli when it was 
 only a " little flock," yet by its side he has 
 ever stood as one of its best friends, and 
 as one of its wisest counsellors. And, die 
 when he may, no man can take his place 
 — can fill the vacuum that will be made. 
 Of him it can be truly said, as it was of 
 the intrepid Greek w^arrior, "]^o man 
 can bend his bow or bear his shield." 
 
 Without the knowledge or consent 
 of Judge Caruthers, this brief tribute 
 of affection and gratitude has been writ- 
 ten ; nor could the author of this little 
 book consent to "die and go hence," 
 without making this public acknowl- 
 edgment, (lod bless his name and 
 memorv for ever! An<l, now that he is in
 
 CITMBERLAXD PRESBYTEIUAX CTITTRCH. 293 
 
 the evening of life, may tlie light which 
 fulls upon his pathway he as the soft, 
 mellow rays which gild the vales and 
 the hilltops of a quiet, heautiful, autum- 
 nal sunset — -yea, may that light "sliinc 
 more and more unto the perfect day." 
 
 One more paragraph and this little 
 ])ook is finished. The Church in hehalf 
 of wdiich these pages have been written, 
 will live as long as time shall last; and, 
 when in the final day, " the captain of 
 our salvation" shall, with the "Old Ship 
 of Zion," lead the other vessels into the 
 harbor, side by side with them will sail 
 that glorious ship, the Cumberland Pres- 
 byterian, with her colors flying and her 
 crcw^ shouting, '' Unto him that loved us, 
 and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, be glor}' and dominion "for ever 
 and ever. Amen." 
 
 TEIE END,