The Book of Religions Part 5

The Tunkers are not so rigid in their dress and manner of life as formerly; still they retain the faith of their fathers, and lead lives of great industry, frugality, and purity.

MENNONITES, OR HARMLESS CHRISTIANS.

The Mennonites derive their name from Menno Simons, an ill.u.s.trious reformer. This people came to the United States from Holland, and first settled in Pennsylvania, where a large body of them now reside.

It is a universal maxim of this denomination, that practical piety is the essence of religion, and that the surest mark of the true church is the sanct.i.ty of its members. They all unite in pleading for toleration in religion, and debar none from their a.s.semblies who lead pious lives, and own the Scriptures for the word of G.o.d. They teach that infants are not the proper subjects of baptism; that ministers of the gospel ought to receive no salary; and that it is not lawful to swear, or wage war, upon any occasion. They also maintain that the terms _person_ and _Trinity_ are not to be used in speaking of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The Mennonites meet privately, and every one in the a.s.sembly has the liberty to speak, to expound the Scriptures, to pray, and sing.

The Mennonites do not baptize by immersion, though they administer the ordinance to none but adult persons. Their common method is this: The person who is to be baptized, kneels; the minister holds his hands over him, into which the deacon pours water, and through which it runs on the crown of the kneeling person's head; after which follow imposition of hands and prayer.

Mr. Van Beuning, the Dutch amba.s.sador, speaking of these _Harmless Christians_, as they choose to call themselves, says, "The Mennonites are good people, and the most commodious to a state of any in the world; partly, because they do not aspire to places of dignity; partly, because they edify the community by the simplicity of their manners, and application to arts and industry; and partly, because we fear no rebellion from a sect who make it an article of their faith never to bear arms."

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST; SOMETIMES CALLED CAMPBELLITES, OR REFORMERS.

The rise of this society, if we only look back to the drawing of the lines of demarkation between it and other professors, is of recent origin. About the commencement of the present century, the Bible alone, without any human addition in the form of creeds or confessions of faith, began to be preached by many distinguished ministers of different denominations, both in Europe and America.

With various success, and with many of the opinions of the various sects imperceptibly carried with them from the denominations to which they once belonged, did the advocates of the Bible cause plead for the union of Christians of every name, on the broad basis of the apostles' teaching.

But it was not until the year 1823, that a restoration of the _original gospel_ and _order of things_ began to be advocated in a periodical, edited by Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, ent.i.tled "The Christian Baptist."

He and his father, Thomas Campbell, renounced the Presbyterian system, and were immersed, in the year 1812. They, and the congregations which they had formed, united with the Redstone Baptist a.s.sociation, protesting against all human creeds as bonds of union, and professing subjection to the Bible alone. This union took place in the year 1813. But, in pressing upon the attention of that society and the public the all-sufficiency of the _sacred_ Scriptures for every thing necessary to the perfection of Christian character,-whether in the private or social relations of life, in the church, or in the world,-they began to be opposed by a strong creed-party in that a.s.sociation. After some ten years debating and contending for the Bible alone, and the apostles' doctrine, Alexander Campbell, and the church to which he belonged, united with the Mahoning a.s.sociation, in the Western Reserve of Ohio; that a.s.sociation being more favorable to his views of reform.

In his debates on the subject and action of baptism with Mr. Walker, a seceding minister, in the year 1820, and with Mr. M'Calla, a Presbyterian minister of Kentucky, in the year 1823, his views of reformation began to be developed, and were very generally received by the Baptist society, as far as these works were read.

But in his "Christian Baptist," which began July 4, 1823 his views of the need of reformation were more fully exposed, and, as these gained ground by the pleading of various ministers of the Baptist denomination, a party in opposition began to exert itself, and to oppose the spread of what they were pleased to call heterodoxy. But not till after great numbers began to act upon these principles, was there any attempt towards separation. After the Mahoning a.s.sociation appointed Mr. Walter Scott an evangelist, in the year 1827, and when great numbers began to be immersed into Christ, under his labors, and new churches began to be erected by him and other laborers in the field, did the Baptist a.s.sociations begin to declare non-fellows.h.i.+p with the brethren of the reformation. Thus by constraint, not of choice, they were obliged to form societies out of those communities that split, upon the ground of adherence to the apostles' doctrine. The distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristics of their views and practices are the following:-

They regard all the sects and parties of the Christian world as having, in greater or less degrees, departed from the simplicity of faith and manners of the first Christians, and as forming what the apostle Paul calls "the apostasy." This defection they attribute to the great varieties of speculation and metaphysical dogmatism of the countless creeds, formularies, liturgies, and books of discipline, adopted and inculcated as bonds of union and platforms of communion in all the parties which have sprung from the Lutheran reformation. The effect of these synodical covenants, conventional articles of belief, and rules of ecclesiastical polity, has been the introduction of a new nomenclature,-a human vocabulary of religious words, phrases, and technicalities, which has displaced the style of the living oracles, and affixed to the sacred diction ideas wholly unknown to the apostles of Christ.

To remedy and obviate these aberrations, they propose to ascertain from the holy Scriptures, according to the commonly-received and well-established rules of interpretation, the ideas attached to the leading terms and sentences found in the holy Scriptures, and then to use the words of the Holy Spirit in the apostolic acceptation of them.

By thus expressing the ideas communicated by the Holy Spirit, in the terms and phrases learned from the apostles, and by avoiding the artificial and technical language of scholastic theology, they propose to restore a pure speech to the household of faith; and, by accustoming the family of G.o.d to use the language and dialect of the heavenly Father, they expect to promote the sanctification of one another through the truth, and to terminate those discords and debates which have always originated from the words which man's wisdom teaches, and from a reverential regard and esteem for the style of the great masters of polemic divinity; believing that speaking the same things in the same style, is the only certain way to thinking the same things.

They make a very marked difference between faith and opinion; between the testimony of G.o.d and the reasonings of men; the words of the Spirit and human inferences. Faith in the testimony of G.o.d, and obedience to the commandments of Jesus, are their bond of union, and not an agreement in any abstract views or opinions upon what is written or spoken by divine authority. Hence all the speculations, questions, debates of words, and abstract reasonings, found in human creeds, have no place in their religious fellows.h.i.+p. Regarding Calvinism and Arminianism, Trinitarianism and Unitarianism, and all the opposing theories of religious sectaries, as _extremes_ begotten by each other, they cautiously avoid them, as equidistant from the simplicity and practical tendency of the promises and precepts, of the doctrine and facts, of the exhortations and precedents, of the Christian inst.i.tution.

They look for unity of spirit and the bonds of peace in the practical acknowledgment of one faith, one Lord, one immersion, one hope, one body, one Spirit, one G.o.d and Father of all; not in unity of opinions, nor in unity of forms, ceremonies, or modes of wors.h.i.+p.

The holy Scriptures of both Testaments they regard as containing revelations from G.o.d, and as all necessary to make the man of G.o.d perfect, and accomplished for every good word and work; the New Testament, or the living oracles of Jesus Christ, they understand as containing the Christian religion; the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they view as ill.u.s.trating and proving the great proposition on which our religion rests, viz., _that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the only-begotten and well-beloved Son of G.o.d, and the only Savior of the world_; the Acts of the Apostles as a divinely-authorized narrative of the beginning and progress of the reign or kingdom of Jesus Christ, recording the full development of _the gospel_ by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, and the procedure of the apostles in setting up the church of Christ on earth; the Epistles as carrying out and applying the doctrine of the apostles to the practice of individuals and congregations, and as developing the tendencies of the gospel in the behavior of its professors; and all as forming a complete standard of Christian faith and morals, adapted to the interval between the ascension of Christ and his return with the kingdom which he has received from G.o.d; the Apocalypse, or Revelation of Jesus Christ to John, in Patmos, as a figurative and prospective view of all the fortunes of Christianity, from its date to the return of the Savior.

Every one who sincerely believes the testimony which G.o.d gave of Jesus of Nazareth, saying, "_This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight_," or, in other words, believes what the evangelists and apostles have testified concerning him, from his conception to his coronation in heaven as Lord of all, and who is willing to obey him in every thing, they regard as a proper subject of immersion, and no one else. They consider immersion into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, after a public, sincere, and intelligent confession of the faith in Jesus, as necessary to admission to the privileges of the kingdom of the Messiah, and as a solemn pledge, on the part of Heaven, of the actual remission of all past sins, and of adoption into the family of G.o.d.

The Holy Spirit is promised only to those who believe and obey the Savior.

No one is taught to expect the reception of that heavenly Monitor and Comforter, as a resident in his heart, till he obeys the gospel.

Thus, while they proclaim faith and repentance, or faith and a change of heart, as preparatory to immersion, remission, and the Holy Spirit, they say to all penitents, or all those who believe and repent of their sins, as Peter said to the first audience addressed after the Holy Spirit was bestowed, after the glorification of Jesus, "Be immersed, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." They teach sinners that G.o.d commands _all men_, every where, to reform, or to turn to G.o.d; that the Holy Spirit strives with them, so to do, by the apostles and prophets; that G.o.d beseeches them to be reconciled, through Jesus Christ; and that it is the duty of all men to believe the gospel, and turn to G.o.d.

The immersed believers are congregated into societies, according to their propinquity to each other, and taught to meet every first day of the week, in honor and commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus, and to break the loaf, which commemorates the death of the Son of G.o.d, to read and hear the living oracles, to teach and admonish one another, to unite in all prayer and praise, to contribute to the necessities of saints, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord.

Every congregation chooses its own overseers and deacons, who preside over and administer the affairs of the congregations; and every church, either from itself, or in cooperation with others, sends out, as opportunity offers, one or more evangelists, or proclaimers of the word, to preach the word, and to immerse those who believe, to gather congregations, and to extend the knowledge of salvation where it is necessary, as far as their means allow. But every church regards these evangelists as its servants; and, therefore, they have no control over any congregation, each congregation being subject to its own choice of presidents or elders, whom they have appointed. Perseverance in all the work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope, is inculcated, by all the disciples, as essential to admission into the heavenly kingdom.

Such are the prominent outlines of the faith and practices of those who wish to be known as the Disciples of Christ; but no society among them would agree to make the preceding items either a confession of faith or a standard of practice, but, for the information of those who wish an acquaintance with them, are willing to give, at any time, a reason for their faith, hope, and practice.

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS.

This cla.s.s of Christians arose in England about the middle of the 17th century. They were at first called _Seekers_, from their seeking the truth; and afterwards _Quakers_, for directing their enemies to tremble at the word of the Lord. They prefer the more endearing appellation of FRIENDS, which has been transmitted to them by their predecessors.

George Fox was the first who publicly advocated their principles in England, and the celebrated William Penn in America.

The following is a SUMMARY of the doctrines and discipline of the society of Friends, published in London in 1800, and sanctioned by the orthodox society of Friends in this country.

DOCTRINE.-"We agree, with other professors of the Christian name, in the belief of one eternal G.o.d, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, and in Jesus Christ, his Son, the Messiah, and Mediator of the new covenant.

"When we speak of the gracious display of the love of G.o.d to mankind, in the miraculous conception, birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension, of our Savior, we prefer the use of such terms as we find in Scripture; and, contented with that knowledge which Divine Wisdom hath seen meet to reveal, we attempt not to explain those mysteries which remain under the veil; nevertheless, we acknowledge and a.s.sert the divinity of Christ, who is the wisdom and power of G.o.d unto salvation.

"To Christ, alone, we give the t.i.tle of the Word of G.o.d, and not to the Scriptures; although we highly esteem these sacred writings, in subordination to the Spirit, from which they were given forth; and we hold, with the apostle Paul, that they are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

"We reverence those most excellent precepts which are recorded, in Scripture, to have been delivered by our great Lord; and we firmly believe that they are practicable, and binding on every Christian, and that, in the life to come, every man will be rewarded according to his works. And, further, it is our belief that, in order to enable mankind to put in practice these sacred precepts, many of which are contradictory to the unregenerate will of man, every man, coming into the world, is endued with a measure of the light, grace, or good spirit, of Christ, by which, as it is attended to, he is enabled to distinguish good from evil, and to correct the disorderly pa.s.sions and corrupt propensities of his nature, which mere reason is altogether insufficient to overcome. For all that belongs to man is fallible, and within the reach of temptation; but this divine grace, which comes by Him who hath overcome the world, is, to those who humbly and sincerely seek it, an all-sufficient and present help in time of need. By this, the snares of the enemy are detected, his allurements avoided, and deliverance is experienced, through faith in its effectual operation; whereby the soul is translated out of the kingdom of darkness, and from under the power of Satan, into the marvellous light and kingdom of the Son of G.o.d.

"Being thus persuaded that man, without the Spirit of Christ inwardly revealed, can do nothing to the glory of G.o.d, or to effect his own salvation, we think this influence especially necessary to the performance of the highest act of which the human mind is capable,-even the wors.h.i.+p of the Father of lights and of spirits, in spirit and in truth; therefore we consider as obstruction to pure wors.h.i.+p, all forms which divert the attention of the mind from the secret influence of this unction from the Holy One. Yet, although true wors.h.i.+p is not confined to time and place, we think it inc.u.mbent on Christians to meet often together, in testimony of their dependence on the heavenly Father, and for a renewal of their spiritual strength: nevertheless, in the performance of wors.h.i.+p, we dare not depend, for our acceptance with him, on a formal repet.i.tion of the words and experiences of others; but we believe it to be our duty to lay aside the activity of the imagination, and to wait in silence, to have a true sight of our condition bestowed upon us; believing even a single sight, arising from such a sense of our infirmities, and of the need we have of divine help, to be more acceptable to G.o.d than any performances, however specious, which originate in the will of man.

"From what has been said respecting wors.h.i.+p, it follows that the ministry we approve must have its origin from the same source; for that which is needful for man's own direction, and for his acceptance with G.o.d, must be eminently so to enable him to be helpful to others. Accordingly, we believe that the renewed a.s.sistance of the light and power of Christ is indispensably necessary for all true ministry, and that this holy influence is not at our command, or to be procured by study, but is the free gift of G.o.d to chosen and devoted servants. Hence arises our testimony against preaching for hire, in contradiction to Christ's positive command, 'Freely ye have received, freely give;' and hence our conscientious refusal to support such ministry by t.i.thes or other means.

"As we dare not encourage any ministry but that which we believe to spring from the influence of the Holy Spirit, so neither dare we attempt to restrain this influence to persons of any condition in life, or to the male s.e.x alone; but, as male and female are one in Christ, we allow such of the female s.e.x as we believe to be endued with a right qualification for the ministry, to exercise their gifts for the general edification of the church; and this liberty we esteem a peculiar mark of the gospel dispensation, as foretold by the prophet Joel, and noticed by the apostle Peter.

"There are two ceremonies in use among most professors of the Christian name-water baptism, and what is termed the Lord's supper. The first of these is generally esteemed the essential means of initiation into the church of Christ, and the latter of maintaining communion with him. But, as we have been convinced that nothing short of his redeeming power, inwardly revealed, can set the soul free from the thraldom of sin, by this power alone we believe salvation to be effected. We hold that, as there is one Lord, and one faith, so his baptism is one, in nature and operation; that nothing short of it can make us living members of his mystical body; and that the baptism with water, administered by his forerunner John, belonged, as the latter confessed, to an inferior and decreasing dispensation.

"With respect to the other rite, we believe that communion between Christ and his church is not maintained by that, nor any other external performance, but only by a real partic.i.p.ation of his divine nature, through faith; that this is the supper alluded to in Revelation, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me;' and that, where the substance is attained, it is unnecessary to attend to the shadow, which doth not confer grace, and concerning which, opinions so different, and animosities so violent, have arisen.

"Now, as we thus believe that the grace of G.o.d, which comes by Jesus Christ, is alone sufficient for salvation, we can neither admit that it is conferred on a few only, whilst others are left without it, nor, thus a.s.serting its universality, can we limit its operation to a partial cleansing of the soul from sin, even in this life. We entertain worthier notions, both of the power and goodness of our heavenly Father, and believe that he doth vouchsafe to a.s.sist the obedient to experience a total surrender of the natural will to the guidance of his pure, unerring Spirit, through whose renewed a.s.sistance they are enabled to bring forth fruits unto holiness, and to stand perfect in their present rank.

"There are not many of our tenets more generally known than our testimony against oaths, and against war. With respect to the former of these, we abide literally by Christ's positive injunction, delivered in his Sermon on the Mount, 'Swear not at all.' From the same sacred collection of the most excellent precepts of moral and religious duty, from the example of our Lord himself, and from the correspondent convictions of his Spirit in our hearts, we are confirmed in the belief that wars and fightings are, in their origin and effects, utterly repugnant to the gospel, which still breathes peace and good-will to men. We also are clearly of the judgment, that, if the benevolence of the gospel were generally prevalent in the minds of men, it would effectually prevent them from oppressing, much more enslaving, their brethren, (of whatever color or complexion,) for whom, as for themselves, Christ died; and would even influence their conduct in their treatment of the brute creation, which would no longer groan, the victims of their avarice, or of their false ideas of pleasure.

"Some of our tenets have, in former times, as hath been shown, subjected our friends to much suffering from government, though to the salutary purposes of government our principles are a security. They inculcate submission to the laws in all cases wherein conscience is not violated.

But we hold that, as Christ's kingdom is not of this world, it is not the business of the civil magistrate to interfere in matters of religion, but to maintain the external peace and good order of the community. We, therefore, think persecution, even in the smallest degree, unwarrantable.

We are careful in requiring our members not to be concerned in illicit trade, nor in any manner to defraud the revenue.