Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again / A Life Story

to come to Him. We cannot come to Him literally now, as people did when He was on earth; but we can leave all other teachers and guides, and renounce the dominion of our appetites and passions,

His cause, &c., of no effect. He said, "Come just as you are. If you tarry till you are better, you will never come at all;" which seems to me, neither Scripture nor common sense. To come to Christ, in the proper sense of the words, is to become better;-it is to cease to live to ourselves and sin, and to live to God. Hence Christ, in conn

om Baxter. "Every truth of God is appointed to be His instrument, to do some holy work upon your heart! Charity is the end of truth." Here is another: "The Gospel is a seal, on which is engraven the portrait, the likeness of Christ. Our hearts are the

gion above the doctrinal; charity above fa

an do what amounts to the same thing. We can read Christ's words in the Gospels, as Mary heard them from His lips; and we can do as He bids us, and look to Him for all we need. And this, in truth, is the

reached on the subject on Tuesday night, and said things which, to me, seem

your ide

y not dead? And wh

d. I believe men have good thoughts, good feelings, and do good things, before they are regenerated; and that they are regenerated in consequence of their good thoughts, good purposes, and good deeds. "They consider their ways," and turn to God. They cease to do evil, and learn to do well, and so get washed. T

nd that is neither Scriptural nor wise. There are two tendencies in unregenerate people, one to good, and one to evil, and it is their duty to resist the one and obey the other, and thus to seek for regenerat

and content themselves with speaking as the oracles of God speak. If we can't do anything but sin till we are regenerated, who is to blame for our sin, but

rouble. He thinks me wrong, but

d burn. He mentioned several fires spoken of in the Bible that did burn, such as the fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah; the fire that formed one of the plagues of Egypt; &c., but he came at length on the fire in the bush that Moses saw, and, poor man, he was obliged to acknowledge that that would not burn. The bush was unconsumed. He got away from that fire as soon as he could, and found a number of other fires that did burn. By and by however he came upon

than a bad one spoken. Let us have good sound sense, real Christian doctrine, and fervent Christian love, in the first place, and then as many other good things as we can get. But do let the children of God

It was not to my taste. The preacher did not seem to understand his subject. What he said had nothi

d to prove something; but whether he succeeded or not, I cannot exactly tell. It

ah's vision. It amounted to nothing. I prefer

was not so great nor so foolish as the others. The l

re wise enough on smaller matters; it is only on the greatest that their understandings are at fault. But the silliest preachers repeat good words in their sermons, such as Christ, God, love and heaven, and these words no doubt call up good thoughts, and revive good

text and introduction were good; b

is to visit the members, and stand at the head of the societi

highly of good works, one might suppose that the world and the Church were going to be sent to perdition for too much piety and charity; for doing too much good, and making too many sacrifices for God and the salvation of the world. O foo

crying with ceaseless labors for the removal of those abominations,-that they would try to bring the world into the Church, and lift up the Church to the standard exhibited in the life and cha

rmons,-wood, hay, and stubble sermons,-sermons without any Gospel in them; an

congregation. I expect it was useful too. There was not much Christian truth in it, but it stirred the people's better fe

re such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil th

an who believes in Christ, to obtain pardon and eternal life is, to do God's will. I distinguish between faith and trust; faith is belief; trust or hope is one of its fruits. People believe in Christ, and turn to God; then they trust in Christ and find peace. He did not state this point with sufficient clearness; and that was the only defect I saw in the

t's the first thing: "Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord:" that's the second. These two include the whole way of salvation. "Blessed is everyone that hears the word of God and keeps it." This is both in one.

t people being wholly sanctified, or perfected in goodness, instantaneously, by some particular act of faith? "But God can do it in an instant," said Mr. Hatman. But it is not all God's work. It is partly ours; and it is partly the truth's. Can man purify himself as God is pure, in an instant? God could make a babe into a man in an instant, for anything I know; but that is not His way. He allows it to grow gradually, first by the use of milk and exercise, and then by the use of stronger meat, and greater labors. And according to Scripture, this is His plan of bringing up spiritual babes to spiritual manhood. God could make seed produce a crop instantaneously, if He would, I suppose; but His plan is to let the grain grow and ripen gradually. And it is His plan, according to Scripture, to let the spiritual grain grow up and the spiritual harvest ripen gradually. And it is better it should be so. Gradual growth in knowledge and goodness is most conducive, I believe, to the happiness of man. I would not make a child into a man all at once if I could. I would let him have the pleasure and the privilege of passing, in the ordinary way, through all the intermediate stages. Nor would I alter the arrangement with regard to spiritual growth. It is best to learn a lesson at a time. You might raise the dough quicker by gunpowder than by leaven or yeast; but I prefer to see it raised in the ordinary way. I am content to grow in grace and knowledge, as people grow in strength and stature. It is God's plan,

is to have the mind of Christ; but the mind of Christ was a self-sacrificing mind. "He p

e subjects; but I have not heard one for years. I have heard charity sermons as they are called, and missionary sermons, into which a remark or two on doing

on. But it is not the Christian doctrine of redemption for which Mr. W. labors so zealously, but a theory, a crotchet, an invention of the elders. The doctrine itself requires no labored proof, no doubtful criticisms, no learned or unlearned inquiry into Greek and Hebrew etymologies. It lies on the surface of the sacred page. "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." "He died the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." "He died for all, that they who live should henceforth live

e appearance of a good man, and nine-tenths of this work of his is mischievous trifling. The clown at a theatre, the mountebank on the stage, are not so badly employed as theolog

ters. And I can understand well enough how Christianity, which brings life and immortality to light, should beget in men's minds a hope of glory. 2. I can understand how Christ, in the sense of Christ's spirit, temper, disposition, mind, can be in us. We sometimes say of a person who exhibits much of his father's disposition, He has got a deal of his father in him.

Divine nature is purity, wisdom and love. We share the common human nature and the common animal nature; that is, we have certain qualities or properties in common with men generally, and with the inferi

believing nor trusting has anything to do with our salvation? But the whole theory is as anti-scriptural and false as it is foolish and mischievous. The preacher said, "We are not under the law,-Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law." Very true; but we are under the Gospel; and the Gospel requires a more perfect life than the law required. The law of Christ is much stricter than the law of Moses. He said, "By the works of the law no flesh living can be justified." But we may still be justified by the works of th

tward in the flesh" avails nothing under the Christian dispensation: but that which is i

s of our own. The righteousness of God means the righteousness which God requires; the righteousness of Christ means obedience to His precepts, and conformity to His mind and character. True, if I obey the Gospel, my obedience is my own, but the law, or the righteousness prescribed, is Christ's. It is when men make a law of their own,-when they set aside God's law, and put some othe

pearls more

than the mo

ves as Christ lived, and who, in doing so, expects, according to Christ's promise, God's blessing and eternal life. The idea that God looks on any persons as having lived like Christ when they have not done so; or that He supposes any persons to be righteous, or treats them as ri

but by stray truth from the Gospels, and by the Christian lives and Christian labors

oving God and loving man, and living to do good. Wesley was always sensible in

made as effectual to the gradual conversion of a child as the preaching of a pastor from the pulpit. Nor can I see why a gradual elevation of a child to the higher spiritual life should not be as possible and as probable as the sudden elevation of a hardened and inveterate sinner. 'You cannot give your children grace,' it is said: but it is easy to answer, 'God can give children grace through the medium of Christian pa

nd are honored in doing so. It would have been better for all of us-it would be better for us now, could churches keep this their peculiar

ear of punishment. Obedience to God's law is dispensed with, if men will diligently profess certain opinions, or practically take part in certain rites.

ripture. And some of them exert a mighty influence for evil on the church and the world. They check the spread of Christianity. They strengthe

since he began to listen to my conversation. The truth is, preachers will never know what great, good things there are to be talked about, till they get rid of their foolish fancies. Nor will they know the true pleasure of talking till they come to feel that their utterances are the

ted in nature and in the Scriptures. Every subject I take in hand requires ten times more time to do it justice t

do so much as I have done, towards purging revelation from those doctrines and pract

g it would be. What a world of work wants doing, both in the church and in the world. Save me from an impatient, pugnacious, disagreeable spirit. Perhaps I see the ne

rs, and what heaps of expressions one meets with in religiou

. Many of the things said from the pulpit are unintelligible. The people strain their minds to get at a meaning, but to no purpose. It is Latin or Greek to them. They listen, but do not learn. They hear sounds, but catch no sense. They reverence, they worship, but they do not und

eep look up an

religion, and many preachers, seem to deal only in words. And the consequence is, many fancy religion is a delusion, a fanaticism, a dream. Others believe there is something in it, but they cannot conceive what it is. Yet teachers and preachers appear not

ld sacrifice everything at variance with Christian truth; and I would prese

ntinually told to do, do, do.' I do not wish people to be comforted unless they will do their duty; and they will never lack comfort if they do do it. Comfort is for those who labor to comfort and benefit others, and not for those

se of truth in general, but reject and persecute its various portion

understanding, and strangely blin

o do its work without clamor and disturbance, it is strange to see how things will

ch all profess, than to oppose the particular opinions of any

truth, and to comply with them in their errors and extremes; but hold to the truth and k

end of all religion. If its tendency be

or a few texts against many that are as plain. That passage that is interpreted against

se principles to the

y people with excuses for their neglect of duty. And He knew that divine help is never withheld from any man. All have the help needed to do w

believe in the sacredness of nothing but Scripture truth and common sense. They cannot understand me, and I cannot accept their nonsense. And they have no idea of liberty or toleration. They allow no excuse for not being sound in the faith, and no one is sound in the faith according to their notions but those who agree with them. They know nothing of the foundation on whic

e great mountain. But no; I must stand my ground, and do my duty. Shall truth be timid, and error bold? Shall folly rage and

ethodists were the worst in the whole Hymn Book. It is the same still I fear, to some extent. Let those who would like to know to what words and hymns we refer, take themselves to task for a time, and demand Script

or two. I cannot s

Lord that I

death of Chr

God hath die

t die. Great allowances are made to poets; but the

always feels T

annot say I feel the blood. I feel the happy effects of the death o

he dust of d

mansion in

is shall be

lived and d

five talents more." And so far was his Lord from finding fault with his plea, that he answered, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithf

stian writers should be so ignorant of the Bible, or so regardless of its teachings. Some of them seem to think they are saying v

a fine thing, but tr

s for drunkards to give up their drink. But it would be well for them to consider, that self-deni

r, but do let us have substantial truth. Do not let us encumber and disfi

are great idols. No man has ever carried a people one march nearer the promised land without being in dang

spect in all sects, from the Quakers to the Catholics; and I hate nonsense,

extracts fr

Christian Advocate, and I can't resist th

ted theology, but there is not

self-sufficient animal, that has neither sense nor grace, bawl out something about 'Christ,' or 'His blood,' or 'justification by faith,' and there are no

sing-song cadences, and their favorite pulpit phrases-and you take away the principal p

y in the presentation of old worn-out theories, musty scholastic philosophi

questioned by his imps why he ventured on such a deliverance, he replied very significant