Christian
tin
Devoted to Religion, Morality, the diffusion of useful Knowledge, General Intelligence*. and the support of the Principles of the Christian Church.
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY.
“THE LORD CiOD IS A Sl7lf AND SHIELD/'
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RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SEPTEMBER 24, 1851.
NUMBER 18.
VOLUME VIII.
THE CHRISTIAN SUN
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Prom the Christian Palladium, Extra, No. 2.
EVILS OF CREEDS.
THEIR ORIGIN.
My Christian Brother—By the earnest solici
tations of very many who have read our last con
versation on the all-absorbing theme of Christian
union, I am induced with your permission, to re
sume the subject in the same friendly manner that
our investigations were then concluded. You re
member I presume, that we arrived at the follow
ing conclusions, that unhappy divisions have long
existed in the church, that sin is the cause of
_those divisions, and that the effect would never
cease until the cause shall be effectually re
moved. On these points there is no disagreement.
But perhaps my brother is not willing to admit
that human creeds, especially his favorite one,
are sinful, or constitute the very cause which pre
vents the union we greatly desire. My object in
addressing you at this time is not to anathamatize
your Christian character, nor hold up to public
derision your religious opinions, but to convince
you, if possible, by scriptural evidences, fair and
legitimate reasonings, that the saints can never be
gathered into one harmonious church until all hu
man legislation to govern them is abandoned.
Will you listen with patience and impartially
judge on the weight of my arguments when you
have heard them ? Then I will proceed to offer a
few reasons why I think man-made creeds should
be rejected by every branch of the true-ehGVch.
They are imperfect in their origin. . Wbafc—rr
the ostensible object of a creed, discipline, confes
sion of faith, or rule of church government ? My
brother will admit they aim at the highest and
most sacred of objects. „ They prescribe to man
his religious faith; tell him what he must believe,
and how he must conduct in this Ire, that he may
obtain eternal life beyond the grave. To accom
plish this great, this glorious, this immortal work,
they should he perfect in all their parts. And to
' give them this divine character their author, or
authors, should be infallible, or divinely inspired.
Hence, on being called upon to subscribe and pay
implicit obedience to any sysiem of faith, our
first inquiry should be, from whence did it
originate ? Is it of human or divine origin ?
Was its originator divinely qualified and author
ized to do this work, or did it originate in the prf
bitious mind of an imperfect and misguided man,
who assumed a work which is the sole preroga
tive of the immutable God to dictate ?
Does my brother say that the author and fra
mers of his creed were divinely inspired, or infal
lible men? If not, then why do you make their
.decisions the ruleof your faith and conduct, and
the criterion by which you judge of the Christian
character of your dissenting brother? Can you
tell why ? But if you say they were infallible;
then where are your evidences of this assump
tion? Can you produce one? I call for them";
nay, the divided church and a lost world demands
it at your hand ; and you will present them cheer
fully if you have any to give. God does not re
quire faith of his creatures in his own word with
out giving the most infallible evidence that it is
true. He wrought signs and mighty wonders to
prove to an unbelieving world the divinity of both
tlie old and new dispensations. And if the creed
makers had the same evidences to attest their
systems, then we would as fully believe them as
the word of Moses, the predictions of the proph
ets, the perfect law of Christ, and the preaching
of his apostles. But they have neither, neither can
they produce such evidence. Then my brother,
why believe your creed ? Did its author prove
its divinity by working miracles, such as healing
the sick by his word, opening the eyes of the
blind, giving hearing to the deaf, cleansing the
leper! curing the palsy, casting out devils, raising
the dead ; and has he sealed his testimony with
his own blood, and risen triumphant over death ?
You know this has • not been done. Not a mir
acle has ever been wrought in confirmation of the
inspiration of creed-makers. Unles we call the
conflicting doctrines their systems of human folly
teach the strife they have engendered, the divis
ions they have caused, the corruptions they have
produced, the anathamas, persecutions, tortures
and death, which have followed in their train,—
unless these are miracles, they are without such
You will not understand me, my brother by
these remarks, that I question the piety or impeach
the motive of the great reformers, so called. The
ipotive of a good man is undoubtedly always
pure, he may however, err in judgment, and com
mit an act most fatal in its consequences. The
physician may design to heal, yet for the want of
skill administer that which will kill his patient,
The framers of man-made creeds in legislating for
the church of God undoubtedly had commend
able objects in view—they wish to guard against
Heresies, and unite the true saints in one church—
but they depend upon their own wisdom to <Je
vise the plan, upon human strength, to accom
plish this divine work. They were fallible men,
unauthorized and unqualified to give laws to the
saints. Hence they have failed in their praise
worthy object. Instead of shutting out heresy
they have securely hedged it in; and instead of
uniting they have raised the cold walls of party
strife between the lambs of Christ. You will
admit that every good and wise man is not divine
•ly^inspired to legislate for God’s children : none
have ever possessed this right singe the days of
the apostles of Christ. If one has this right
why not all ? Why not open the wide door, and
say to every disciple, legislate for yourself, form
your own religious creed. The-rule that would
justify tfite framers of one human creed, would
authorize the existence of as many as there might
be found persons disposed to form one.
My brother will not contend that the authors
and framers of human compositions to govern
the saints were perfect or divinely inspired men,
nor that they had a divine warrant from the word
of God to legislate for his church. You will ad
mit that none but the kin'/ has a sovereign right
to^give laws to his kingdom : it is the province of
his subjects not to make laws, but to obey them.
It is the duty of children not to give rules to gov
ern each other, but to unite in paying implicit
obedience to the laws of their father. And the
sheep and lambs should not attempt to rule the
flock, but hear and obey- the voice of the shep
herd. Hence human laws lmve originated in an
nnasiuu ui tue mgu '**^*v- **-“*6
heaven, the Head of the Church, the Sheph(?Td
of the flock. Their authors have taken their seat
in the temple of God, showing themselves to be
Gods ;— have stretched out their dividing scep
tre over the once united and peaceful kingdom,
and a train of evils for centuries past have fol
lowed, from which the good of all classes turn
away with disgust, and weep at the^folly and de
pravity that has caused these evils. You must
acknowledge, from these facts, that human au
thoritative, creeds are imperfect, if not sinful, in
their origin. Hence you should reject them. But
another reason w hy you should renounce them is,
The fruit partakes of the nature of the tree
that bore it. and the water of the fountain from
whence it flows. Hence if the point is establish
ed that the authors and framers of authoritative
laws for the government of the church, were' fal
lible unii spired men, the conclusion is irresistible
that their productions also must be imperfect, It,
therefore, the first position is proved, the second
must be correct as a matter of course. But lest
my brother should still entertain doubts on the
justness of my conclusions, I will offer, in their
justification, a few more evidences. That all ec
clesiastical human laws are imperfect is evident,
ist. From their disagreement with each other.
My good brother knows that harmony and union
are indispeusible characteristics of perfection ; and
that disagreement and divisions are striking traits
of imprfection. God is perfect. And why ? Be
cause he is infinite in wisdom, power and mercy,
and is unchangeable in all his attributes. The
highest perfection marks all his acts—undisturbed
harmony reigns throughout his unbounded empire.
His word is perfect in all its demands, instructions,
promises,- and threatnings; it is one unbroken, har
monious revelation, of eternal truth, - designed to
save the sinner, make the man of God peifeet,
and serve as a perfect law for the government of
the true church. _
Can we say this in truth, of human laws? My
brother well knows we cannot. He knows that
their whole history is one of strife and divisions.
Disagreement, bitter wrangling, and confusion have
taken the place where heaven-born union, and
god-like harmony should reign. The conflicting
doctrines, laws, and worship, taught and enforced
by the different creeds, have been brought into
unholy collision with each other, and against the
truth of God. And the war of carnal strife is
still, like the angry elements, raging between them.
This is but a faint picture of their imperfection.
And does my brother know that the imperfect
features of his own favorite creed are seen upon
the painting ?—that it has produced its share of
the imperfect work to which I have alluded ?—
and that it is still a co worker with its bickering
neighbors in perpetuating those evils ? Abandon
it then, before you become chauged into its im
perfect and sinful likeness.
2nd. They have undergone changes. Truth
never changes. Like its immutable author it is
now, and eternally will be, what it ever has been.
It needs no revisions, additions or diminutions, to
suit its benign blessings to the varied wants of
sinner and saint, under all circumstances, in every
country, and age of the world. It is not a time
serving policy, conforming itself to the covetous and
sinful desires of a corrupt and fluctuating world,
and the growing pride of a divided and apostate
church. It changes not its dress to suit the fash
ions, moddled and remoddled in councils, synods,
conferences, or assemblies, but yesterday, to
THEIR CHARACTER.
day, and forever more wears the same spotless
robe that was fashioned in heaven and finished on
Calvary.
It is not so with error, or rules of faith and
conduct prescribed by imperfect mortals. They
are not now what they have once been. All have
been changed in some respects, and some hear
but little resemblance to their original features,
j If they were perfect at first, the least change
stamps them with imperfection now. But if they
are perfect now, then, before the change they must
have been imperfect—if-they are perfect now, they
will change no more. And if they are perfect now,
then they must all harmonize in doctrine, worship,
and government. My brother knows this is not the
case; matters of fact, in every creed and party
church, contradict it. How then can you, as a
conscientious Christian, longer support them ?
3rd. All admit they will he laid aside. Do
you think, my brother, that the union of’tbe saints,
for which you so fervently pray, will ever be con
summated while party creeds are in force? You
do not. You are confident that they must all be i
laid aside before this happy era can be ushered I
in,.* You are right, and are not alone in this just \
conclusion : the saints of every name and party
\ agrCe with you. They are devoutly praying, and j
looking for the destruction of party walls, or j
creeds between Christians. Is not this an indirect
admission of their imperfection? You must say j
it is ; for nothing which pertains to the perfection j
'of the church will be laid aside when it -attains to j
\ its highest state of union and perfection.
(To be continued.)
necessity-driven itinerancy, and the power of the
Bishops. I am convinced that the vast majority of
these people know but little about the govern
,ment of the Methodist E. Church. It is almost
as absolute as that of Rome 1 The people have
neither representation nor power 1 The itinerancy
elect, the Bishops, he appoints his favorites to the
best stations, the preacher appoints the class-lead
ers, <fcc. Is this not absoluteism ? Who could
believe that Americans would submit io such a
government ? Nor is this all, the preachers beg
money to build churches, and then have the deeds
made out in the name of the Conference ! Who
compose the conference ? The preachers only !
Hence, the preachers are the owners of all the
churches. Is not this a most stupendous system of
fraud t These are facts ; in illustration of which
I give one example. A Methodist E. Church in
Brooklyn city, New York, refused to receive the
preacher sent by Conference, and called another
by the unanimous voicq of-tlie congregation.—
When lo! The Conference sued for possession,
and the law of the land gave them the building,
because the Deeds were made out to the Confer
ence, and the people with whose money it was
erected had to leave !
And so it is with nearly all.the Meeting-houses
of the M. E. Church, (there are only about six
exceptions lo this in the United States.)
There is another thing in which the people are
knowingly and wickedly deceived, that is in re
spect to the works of Wesley, the present edition
issued by the Methodist Book concern is spurious !
I am prepared to prove this, and to show beyond
a doubt in the very works of Wesley himself,
that he was opposed to Bisnops, and by infer
ence opposed to the whole government of Metho
dism as now promulgated. _
When God would visit his severest judgment
upon a people, he scatters and divides them. The
race of Methodism is run, God has scattered
them. I do" assert,'that in iny judgment, sustain
ed by evidence, the Methodist sect were the ori
ginators in part at least, and are, now agitators both
North and South if not directly, yet indirectly of
disunion. It is a fact worthy of note that two
tliirds of the professors in South Carolina are Epis
copal Methodists ; and nearly seven-eights of the
Episcopal Methodists in the North are fanatical
ultraists. So let them look well to their handy
work.
The spirit of Bible Christianity that is sweep
ing noiselessly over the land, will,..I. trust, trans
form them into true sons of God. When bigotry
and sectarian strife are dead, the union will be
safe. O come quick, the hour in the Church of
Christ, when every man who acknowledges “Je
sus ” to be t‘‘ the Son of God ” in Bible language,
will be received by all who name the Blessed-, as
a Christian.
In addition to the Mount Olivet Church, Bro.
Plummer has established some four or five other
“ preach.ing stations,” the principal of which is
at a flourishing little village called Lewisville,
where,^recently through the instrumentality of
Bro. James Scott, a Free Meeting.house has been
erected; serving the double purpose of school
house and Church—-the Church room being in the
second story. Thus through the unwearied per
severance of Bro. Plummeri-the “ Christians ” in
this section have gained an influence and respect
which places them very nearly on a par with
(as far as numbers and respectability are con
cerned) the sects around them,
One thing I observe among the “ Christian Con
nection ” generally, which in ray humble judg
ment is a proper subject of reproof, viz : “ Thu
laborer is not worthy of his’hire ”—so many seem
to think. I am opposed to large salaries and cost
ly Churches, but the Brother who performs the
duties of a Pastor, should receive a fixed salary,
be that large or small, which shouldbe promptly
paid at the times appointed, this course, experi
ence has proved to be the best, and has the war
rant of scripture. The amount of salary to be
regaled bv the ability of the Church, and not as
some think according to the necessity of, the Pas
tor, who, if he does not receive enough to sustain
himself in respectability becoming the office which
he holds at one place, should as soon as circum
stances will allow, remove to some other station
if he choose, like Paul to labor with his own hands
and thus make up the deficiency very well, This
however does not release the brethren from their
obligation to minister of their carnal things to the
support of those who labor in spiritual things.
Very much evil has been done I think, by per
sons preaching at their own expense, and encour
aging the no-pav-principle. Thus encouraging a
bad spirit in the brethren towards those who are
of necessity compelled to demand a support.
Brother C. H. Plummer by his amiable and
Christian course, has drawn around him very
many whq had previously hindered the Christian
cause; and I doubt not but that in a few years, if
he continue where he is, tfc^e will be an abun
dant harvest gathered in to swell the ranks of the
sacramental hosts that travel upward and onward
to the New Jerusalem.
Yours in truth, union and Love, /
GEORGE F. GORDON.
Philadelphia, Aug. 25th, 1851.
A' For the Christian Sun.
Ouit Principles, let not the preachers, or
Churches relay their efforts; our principles will
sweep the world. The doctrine is invulnerable,
and the spirit must triumph ; but let us not be
impatient; God might have made the world in a
day ! but the hurry not being great, he took a
week. N. Summerbkll.
For the Christian Sun.
Communion with God. The churqh enjoys at
the present time^comparatively little* communion
with God ! The old Testament held out the idea
that the gospel age would be peculiarly blest by the
prevalence of the Spirit, and the dwelling of God
with his people. Jesus said to the Disciples greater
| works than these shall ye do! These things have
not yet beenjealized ! May the Christians claim
the promises,-and strive by faith and obedience
i that the church may draw nigher to God, where
I we can commune with angels, enjoy the miracu
| lous influence of his spirit, and thus lead the way
in return of the Church to an apostolic State.
N. SuMMERBELL.
“Christian Connexion.” This phrase, superflu
ous and contemptible is now regarded as the proper
cognomen of the' Christians. I hope that every
true brother will reject as of human origin, sectarian
in its nature, and altogether an unnecessary appear
ance. We claim to be simply “ Christians,” this
is sufficient. “The,” as a definite article may de
! fine the body, but we shall never be better con
j nected, from styling ourselves the “ Christian Con
; nexion.” N; S.
Quit New Sunday School Hymn Books are a
i first rate article, a little too good perhaps to sell as
low as some schools desire.! But, thev are quite
good enough for Church use, and much -better
than some now in use : and I think that it would
be a good plan for all churches, which have not
preaching oftener than once a week, and are in
moderate circumstances, to use the S. S. H. Book'
and see that all have them. N. S.
Prater. God’s people were ever a people"
of prayer, the Preacher who is not a man oi
prayer, is a wolf notwithstanding he is folded with
sheep. Do you pray in secret, with your family ?
If not self convicted by thine own heart do not
attempt to justify thyself with deceitful lips ! but
repent and commence better life, or hide thy face
! for shame, and renounce the profession which you
are now disgracing in your family and will one day
before the world. " N. S.
Our Books. Our Agents in different locations
have now a good supply -of Christian Books on
hand, let the preachers see that the people are
encouraged to procure and read them. My resi
dence and the Depot of the Christian Book de
partment for the West is on the 4th St. below
stone St. Cincinnatti Ohio. N. S.
“ Owe no Man anything,” Pay your debts
when due, live not on the property of others ; feel
not excused by a Bankrupt law ; or a compromise
with creditors if you owe pay or let poverty and
misfortune be your only plea. N. S.
Singing is a Christian duty as well as a very
interesting part of the worship of God ; Angels
sung when Jesus was born. The Prophets of ol
den times sung his praises, Jesus himself sung
with his disciples. Christian parents should see
that their children learn to sing, let them learn
to read music. Do not neglect this. N. S.
Our Campbellite brethren very strangely as
sume that they and us are one, that they are far
ahead of us, that we should unite with them, that
we are one and the same people, that they cannot
Apiite with us because we are Unitarians ; that
they are reforming that they have not changed,
but ard on the old ground, that we have changed
and that we are the same old thing and will not
change. N. S.
Protracted Meetings. Revivals of religion
have always been opposed by the cold philosophy
but they are iodispensible to the well being of the
Church, and he who wins the most souls to Christ
the earth, and be most esteemed by the angels
in heaven. N. S.
Love the brethren. Lore for the brethren
should ever be manisfest in our conversation and
deportment; if we love them and by a coldness
of manners convince them of the contrary, we
act the part of hypocrites, if we do not appear
to be born of love, and really do not, we should
repent and seek to be born of love. Love should
be the great predominating feature of the Chris
I tians. ’ N. S.
For the Christian Sun.
Btto. Hates : Our protracted meeting elosed
last night with the addition of 7 new members by
experience, and the prospects are as bright as when
we begun, but having no help at hand my preach
ing powers failed me, consequently had to de
sist. 1
The Christian cause is gaining ground rapidly
and bids fair ere long to be the prevailing opinion,
here its enemies are giving up the point, we
want a preacher, we can support one handsomely
and send him on, it is one of the best fields I
know of, a smart man here can do much, and if
you can send us one, you will confer a favor in
deed.
Our Conference meets on Friday before the
4th Sunday in October, after which you will hear
something more on the subject. We meet six
miles below Milledgeville at Liberty Church.
Yours in Christ.
JUBILEE SMITH.
September 1st, 1851.