MYSTERIES OF RELIGION AND SCIENCE
by Valerius
The Masonic Review - 1857
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I
Chapter II - The Mystery of God
Chapter III - The Mystery of Jehovah's Attributes
Chapter IV - The Mystery of Evil
Chapter V - The Mystery of Redemption
CHAPTER I
MYSTERY is the angel which comes to us in the
still hours of the night, or the solitary
musings of the day, and whispers to us words
of wondrous import. She always bears about
her a charm and a power of fascination which
at once arrests our attention and we are all
eye and all ear to her movements and her
voice.
A distinguished writer has said, "No sound
mind is ever perplexed by the contemplation
of mysteries. Indeed, they are a source of
positive satisfaction and delight. If nothing
were dark - if all around us and above us
were clearly seen, the truth itself would
appear stale and mean. Every thing truly
great must transcend the powers of the human
mind, and hence, if nothing were mysterious,
there would be nothing worthy of our
veneration and worship. It is mystery,
indeed, which lends such unspeakable grandeur
and variety to the scenery of the moral
world; without it all will be clear it is
true, but nothing will be grand. There would
be lights but no shadows, and around the very
lights themselves there would be nothing
soothing and sublime, in which the soul might
rest and the imagination revel." The truth of
this sentiment commends itself to the
experience of all. If there were no dark,
impenetrable mysteries spreading away before
the mind, taxing its energies and calling
forth its mightiest efforts to pierce the
gloom, there would soon be a stagnation of
thought, and a Dead Sea would roll its leaden
monotonous waves around us forever. It is
affirmed by him who bears the appellation of
the wisest man that ever lived, that "it is
the glory of God to conceal a thing," and
hence we infer that the very mystery with
which we are surrounded, and which enshrouds
the universe of matter and mind, more
effectually develops the glory of God and
enhances our bliss, than if there were no
mysteries to excite our attention and wonder.
There is much that we know not and cannot
know in relation to God, nature, mind and
matter; and the essence of the entities of
the vast universe around us, above us, and
below us, must elude the grasp and
comprehension of the most acute and subtile
intellect. Some mysteries will be forever
hidden by impervious shadows, and though the
mind may eternally progress in knowledge,
there will be depths which no line can
fathom, and hights which no ken can explore.
The prince of philosophers after a long life
devoted to the study of nature's mysteries,
and who had evolved some of the most
important principles of modern science said
in his closing hours, "I have been wandering
upon the shore, interested and gratified in
picking up a smooth round pebble here, and a
beautifully variegated shell there, while the
vast and boundless ocean of truth unexplored
stretched out before me." How true that mind
in its most cultivated and mature condition
is but in its infancy, that man at his best
estate has but just entered upon the
threshold of knowledge, and through the
partly drawn curtain has but just caught a
glimpse of the unknown wonders in the vast
domain of science and religion. This fact
instead of suppressing inquiry and
investigation should prompt to more increased
exertions. Because but little comparatively
can be known, and we are enshrouded in
mystery, having only in our gropings caught
the thread which leads through ever dark and
interminable labyrinths, shall we, therefore,
stop or hesitate in our pursuit? In the vast
and various departments of human science,
shall the dark robed angel of mystery that
flits across our path terrify us and prevent
our search ? Never. Rather let her be the
alluring angel that beckons us onward.
We have no sympathy for the infidel doctrine,
that where mystery begins religion ends, if
by the assertion we are to understand, where
there is mystery there is no religion. If by
mystery we understand what is above the
comprehension of human reason, the same
remark will apply with equal force to science
itself, and we may retort upon the infidel
philosopher, and say, where mystery begins
science ends, because there are mysteries in
science as profound and incomprehensible as
any of the mysteries of religion. The idea
that because a thing is mysterious no truth
or fact can be elicited from it is a most
pernicious and destructive idea, and one that
no solid mind will consider worthy of a
moment's consideration. To say that we are
not to give credence to that which is
incomprehensible, is to assume a principle
which would take away the very foundations of
all the modes of existence in the universe,
and drive every inquirer after troth out in a
crazy uncharted vessel upon an ocean in which
there are no soundings, and to which there is
no shore.
Religion like science, her affianced bride,
reveals some things above the conception of
human reason, but not inconsistent or
contradictory to any of her teachings; and
Coleridge has justly remarked, "If there be
anything in the system of religion that
contradicts reason, it does not belong to the
household of faith." The highest, clearest
faith in the mysteries of science and
religion is compatible with reason in her
loftiest exercise, and to say that because
the cannot comprehend a doctrine of religion,
we will therefore reject it as unworthy of
belief, is the same as to say we cannot
conceive of infinite space, and therefore
there is no such thing as infinite space. The
foundations of faith in religion are as
immovably established as the foundations of
faith in science, so far at least as
compatibility with reason is concerned, and
to destroy these foundations would leave the
man of science in as hopeless a condition as
the believer in divine revelation.
It is not what is really mysterious in
religion or science that has caused the mind
of the sincere inquirer after truth to
stagger, or has produced infidelity or want
of faith in their doctrines or assumptions,
but the attempt to shroud in mystery that
which is plain and comprehensible when
rightly interpreted. Some, prompted by the
mere love of mystery, have been induced to
throw a veil over plain intelligible truth,
while others to obviate the absurdity of
cherished dogmas have sought refuge in
mystery, and they are alike enemies to truth
and reason, and are responsible for much of
the error and infidelity that exist in the
world. The volume of nature and the volume of
revelation are both spread out before us for
study. They alike contain truths which the
feeblest intellect can comprehend. Others are
more difficult, and can only be understood by
minds disciplined by severe study; yet the
more recondite are as clear to the
comprehension of cultivated reason, as those
which are most simple are plain to the
uncultivated, and no more mystery belongs to
one than the other. The mystery does not
consist in the want of consonance with
reason, nor yet in anything necessarily dark
and insolvable inhering in the subject, but
in the want of intellectual power to solve or
comprehend it. The milky way, which, to the
wondering eyes of earth's millions in ages
and centuries past, seemed like snow flakes
scattered along the pavement of the sky,
would forever have remained a mystery as to
what it was, had not science extended the
boundary of her discoveries, and resolved
those ethereal flakes into solid globes of
matter - suns of systems immensely larger
than our own.
Though we would not rush with reckless and
inconsiderate daring
"where angels fear to tread,"
or rudely seek to tear off the veil, or draw
aside the curtain which has concealed the
mysteries of the world from the eyes of the
vulgar, yet we propose in a calm, quiet and
courageous manner to bring what little
ability we may possess to the investigation
of those mysteries which for ages have
excited the wonder of the world. We hold that
nothing within the reach and range of
thought, whether as pertaining to religion or
science, mind or matter, time or eternity, is
interdicted from the scrutiny of man, and
that while in the language of the poet
"Felix qui potuit rerum cognoseere causas,"
man is also justified who seeks to explore
the vast arcana, though it contain mysteries
profound as eternity. It is only to nature
which God has bound fast to the laws of
necessity, that he says, "Thus far shalt thou
go, but no farther." To the human intellect
as an emanation from the Almighty mind, he
has given a freedom equal to his own, and a
scope boundless as eternity. Man was "created
in knowledge," and to know all that lies
within the province of knowledge this side of
Omniscience itself, is the destiny of mind.
The sin of primitive mind did not consist in
aspirations for knowledge, even such as would
raise him to a god, and impart to him a
godlike power of intellect. His was a mind
created to "search all things, even the deep
things of God," and thus employed, "wisdom
was justified of her child," It was not the
intellect that led man astray from the laws
of his being and happiness, but perversion of
the affections, or their withdrawment from
the source and centre of bliss, and allowing
them to flow towards an object less than God.
Just as the earth would lose its light and
heat and beauty, by being withdrawn from the
sun and wander on in darkness forever from
the central orb; so man withdrew from God his
Sun and source of light and holiness and
love, and brought upon himself darkness,
despair and death.
Nowhere in the whole volume of revelation or
nature is the prohibition to be found,
interdicting the mind from its researches.
The knowledge resulting from the eating of
the fruit of the forbidden tree - the power
to distinguish between the good and evil -
was not the curse threatened, it was a mere
accident growing out of the infraction, and
the information received through this act
constituted no valuable accession to the
domain of knowledge. God has spread out the
vast universe for man as a theater upon which
he may enter without let or hindrance, and
with reason to guide him in his researches,
he may enter every avenue and explore every
recess. We have in obedience to this
indication launched our little bark upon the
vast and boundless ocean of thought, and
though clouds and darkness may come down and
settle around us and close us in on every
side, impeding our progress and forbidding
our advance, yet with reason and revelation
for our guide, we shall make as best we can
our reckonings, and steer our course whither
they may direct.
TRUTH. - The light which truth sheds upon
human steps is the only certain guide through
this valley of tears. It is not only the
"foundation of every, virtue," but will guide
to the highest happiness.
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CHAPTER II - THE MYSTERY OF GOD
WE shall not attempt to prove the existence of a great first eternal
cause; for though there be no innate ideas of the existence of Gad,
yet all nations, in every stage of mental development from the most
ignorant and besotted up to the most thoroughly refined and educated,
acknowledge his existence. It is as foreign to our subject as it is
unnecessary in itself, to enter upon any argument either a priori or a
posteriori, to prove the existence of a fact which as naturally
impresses itself upon the conviction and consciousness of every
intelligent being as the light of the sun. The labors of theologians
in the field of metaphysical investigation, to prove a universally
self-evident fact, have not only demonstrated the utter uselessness of
the undertaking, but have made most apparent the truth of the
assertion, that some will seek to be wise above what is written.
Revelation in no part of its record or in any of its dispensations has
attempted any thing of the kind. The existence of God from first to
last is assumed as a fact not only not requiring any proof, but which
could not be made more clear and palpable by any arguments that might
be adduced. If holy men whose minds were pervaded by the infinite
Spirit, and whose pens were touched with holy fire, entered upon no
investigation or line of argument to prove the existence of God, it
is, to say the least of it, a needless attempt on the part of
uninspired man; nay more, it savors much of that bold and reckless
temerity which prompts man with thoughtless presumption to invade a
sanctuary where seraphs would fear to go.
Indeed, as well might one with a rush light attempt to reveal the sun
or enhance its brightness, as for any man, no matter how deeply versed
in scholastic or theological lore, by the scintillations of his
learning or logic, his wisdom or wit, to reveal the existence or throw
light upon the character of God. It becomes a question of grave
importance, and one which we submit to the metaphysicians and divines
of the christian school, whether the very speculations which have been
indulged in, have not, instead of satisfying the inquiring mind, in
many instances produced the very skepticism which they were intended
to remove. We would give to reason the largest liberty and the widest
scope. We would allow it in its researches to grasp after the infinite
and thus come up to the development of its highest power, but at the
same time we would not forget that the human intellect has its limit,
and there are bounds which it cannot pass. However great may be the
approximation towards the infinite, there must forever be an
impassable gulf. Inspiration pervading and controlling human reason
kept it within its God-appointed range, and never allowed it to waste
its energies on objects beyond its grasp on the one band, or those
which were unnecessary and useless on the other. Instead therefore of
attempting to prove the existence of God, the entire record is founded
upon an assumption of the fact, and gives to the world simply a
narrative of his acts. As before remarked then, our work is not to
prove the existence of that great eternal Being who has pavilioned
himself in darkness. With the Bible we admit the fact, and it is to
the mystery of this fact that we call attention.
That there is a God is the great central fact of the Universe. The
causeless and dateless existence of this wondrous being must forever
be involved in mystery. We travel back through time and include the
various epochs of the world's history in our journey. The period of a
thousand years takes us through fields of light, the brightest and
most glorious period of the world's history, the era embracing the
rapid approximation to the culminating point of Christianity. Another
millenium, but it is one embracing periods of darkness and gloom. From
the twilight of the reformation we enter shadows, and they lengthen
and deepen until we reach the midnight of the dark ages. Anon, the
darkness decreases and faint glimmerings of light are seen in the
valley. Onward we urge our way, the night is passed and the day has
come. The "Sun of Righteousness" himself pours his beams upon the
world, and nations and kings gaze upon his brightness. It is the day
of Christ, another cycle begins. We enter the land of prophets and
walk over the ruins of an ancient God appointed dynasty, embracing its
wonderful history to this day unwritten, because its destiny is not
yet fulfilled. We travel on through its astounding miracles up to its
mysterious origin, and contemplate, as we journey, the surrounding and
cotemporary dynasties that have passed away, and whose history is only
to be found in the records of the past. Monuments rise from deserted
plains in grim colossal grandeur, to tell of their greatness and to
mark the place of their graves. At length we reach the last cycle, the
last as we travel back but the first in the order of time. Nineveh and
Babylon, mighty cities, unrivalled for strength and splendor by any
succeeding age. Tyre, Sodom and Petrea are full of commerce and luxury
and art, and their marts and streets and palaces echo to the shouts of
thousands. All is silent now. The Mediterranean dashes its sweeping
tide over Tyre, the Dead Sea rolls its leaden bitter waters over
Sodom, and the drifting sands and wandering Arabs of the desert hold
possession of the proud city of Edom. We are in the land of the
patriarchs, a world of waters is before us and we cross the flood.
Gloomily rises before us the huge unsightly tower of Babel, confusion
reigns, for the earth has corrupted its way, and violence and blood
are in the land. Prom generation to generation we travel up to Adam
and wander with him, not a fugitive accursed, among the bowers of
Eden, and pluck its flowers and eat its fruits. Birds of brightest
plumage and sweetest song are here, and here are beautiful forms of
living creatures who come and sport in the presence of their lord and
master. This blooming Paradise echoes not only with the voice of bird
and beast and man, but the voice of God has sounded in tones of
fatherly love through all its sylvan shades.
So far for the history of man, but time has left other records. We
walk over the green sward of the earth, and smile upon its youthful
face, and kiss its virgin flowers, as though it had just sprung from
the hand of its Creator and started on its bright career amid the
worlds. But this face, like the smile of beauty which often conceals a
sorrowful heart, has beneath it a gloom. Eden blooms and all is joy,
but deep down in the bosom of earth are marks of hoary age and sad
decay. Let us go beyond this fair exterior and examine within. Let us
dig a grave in the dust of Eden, and search in its abyss for the
relics of buried life which existed before Adam's dust was fashioned
into man. The history of man is passed, and we must seek for a higher
chronology than the planting of Eden. The first formation takes us
beyond the period of six thousand years, and as the descend into the
earth and examine the remains embedded in its crust, and the extent of
its strata formed by slow sedimentary processes, we sweep over not
only thousands but millions of years. Extinct species of plants and
extinct orders of animals present themselves to view as if collected
by a naturalist into a great and well arranged cabinet, while we
pursue our downward track indicating uncounted periods of time.
Proceeding onward, we approach a region older than death, because
older than life itself, without any forms whatever of vegetable or
animal existence. Before us are trackless, ages. What untold periods
must have been consumed in the formation of the immense granite rind,
miles upon miles in extent, who can tell? And that mighty molten sea
which rolls within this rocky rampart, when it commenced its surges
what mind can fathom? Or when the globe came whirling from the
Creator's hand, a molten mass of primeval fire in that "beginning" of
which the sacred record speaks when it breaks the silence of ancient
night and first pours light upon man's darkened vision. Who can count
the number of the years?
But we leave this globe of fire and rock and earth, and soar to the
nearest star and ask its history. Here silence reigns, or if it have
inhabitants we may not hold converse with them, they speak a tongue we
understand not. On and on we take our flight and soar
"From world to luminous world afar,"
until we make the circuit of the solar system and rest our wearied
wings in the brightness of the sun, the centre as well as the first
creation of the system which bears its name. Surveying all, we ask,
when did these "morning stars sing together and shout for joy" over
the period of their birth? But we have scarcely entered upon the
threshold of creation. Suns innumerable, and systems which no
arithmetical power can reach, rise before us and spread away in
distances which no ken of man or telescope can discover. In the vast
infinity oś space there are stars whose light shot forth at their
creation, so distant that their rays have not reached the earth, and
there are bright orbs rolling on in their destined tracks, created
centillions of ages agone, whose rays never will reach the earth even
after millenillions of ages have pawed away.
Mystery deep and awful is around us. We have started from the less and
ascended to the greater, from a mere speck like the earth to worlds of
matter millions of times greater in magnitude. We have seen the works
in part - how small a part - of the Great Creator, but where shall we
find his beginning? With the old seer of earth, "we go backward, but
he is not there, we go forward, but we cannot perceive him; on the
left hand where he doth work, but we cannot behold him; he hideth
himself on the right hand that we cannot see him." Beyond the earth we
find the universe peopled with angels, if not with men, myriad hosts
running up through all gradations of angelic nature, and the
hierarchies of heaven occupying "thrones and dominions, and
principalities and powers," but where is he, and whence came he, who
made them all? "Who by searching can find out the Almighty to
perfection. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us, we cannot attain
unto it. It is higher than heaven, what can we do, deeper than hell,
what can we know?" What line shall measure, what plummet fathom the
abyss of this mystery? What power can penetrate the deep awful
solitude of that eternity in which he dwells! What hand shall lift the
veil from the "High and Holy One who inhabiteth that eternity?" Who
shall describe the existence of him who is "without beginning of days
or end of years," from eternity to eternity the AL-AEON who is in and
through and over all, the blessed forever? None can enter the secret
place of his pavilion or find out the hidings of his power. None can
know his "counsels, for they are of old even from eternity," and they
shall stand for ever. The reasons that impelled him to create the
world of matter and the world of mind, find their origin only in
himself, and shall forever be beyond the search and scrutiny of men
and angels. The knowledge which we now have in part, but which in
eternity shall be perfected, will never enable us to fathom the
infinite mind to such an extent that we shall know the motives which
prompted him to create the universe and its intelligences, nor will
any intellection or spiritual insight, clear and far reaching as it
may be, enable us to unravel the mysteries of that creation. As we
have no line by which we can measure eternity, so we can have no
mental power by which to scan the mind of the
infinite God.
Nothing can be so clear as the fact of the existence of a great
eternal self-existent Being, from whom all things have emanated and to
whom all things are allied, as an endless series of effects from this
first great cause. This fact is as thoroughly impressed upon all
intelligences, as the laws of matter upon material objects, or the
laws of mind upon intellectual. The consciousness of this fact as much
inheres in mind as attraction and cohesion inhere in matter; but the
mystery of the fact will for ever remain a mystery, and so far as
anything pertaining to its revelation is concerned, it is unapproached
and will be unapproachable for ever.
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CHAPTER III - THE MYSTERY OF JEHOVAH'S ATTRIBUTES
IN our last Chapter we considered the mystery
of the Divine existence; we shall now call
attention to the mystery of the Divine
attributes. All the attributes of God are
co-eternal with his existence, even as matter
and its attributes are co-existent, and as we
cannot conceive of matter in any of its forms
without connecting therewith its essential
attributes, no more can we conceive of God
only as in possession of those attributes
essential to his nature and existence.
Progress and development can only be
predicated of creatures; perfection, absolute
and eternal, from which nothing can be taken
and to which nothing can be added,
essentially and necessarily belong to the
Creator. What he was away back in the
infinitely remote periods of his own eternity
existing alone, that he is this moment, and
what he is now that he will be for ever,
unchanged and unchangeable.
As the existence of this eternal Being is a
mystery, so alike is the mode of that
existence, and as the human mind never will
be able to tell the origin of this mysterious
Being, neither can it define the mode of his
existence; both are alike involved in an
impenetrable veil. In contemplating the
latter however, we are not left as in the
former without data or information on which
to base our opinions and conjectures. The
path of our investigation is illumined by
light from heaven, Revelation instructs us in
relation to the attributes of the eternal
self-existent One.
In our dissertations on the attributes of God
we shall not attempt to pursue any
theological order, and shall first invite
attention to his infinite knowledge. The fact
of such possession is frequently and
variously asserted in Divine revelation, and
the mind, indeed, apart from, any revelation
on the subject, at once infers such a
possession in a being who is the cause of all
things in the world of matter and mind. With
him all facts, all events and all things in
the eternity, past, in the time present and
in the eternity to come are known with
infallible certainty, so that with him, so to
speak, there is no succession of ideas, no
past, no present or future, but one eternal
present, in which all things from eternity to
eternity are seen and known as clearly and
certainly as one may know his present
thoughts and what is transpiring around him.
What the infinite mind sees and knows in the
future is not seen and known contingently,
without foresight or expectation. This is a
mere theological expression which is as
destitute of propriety as it is of relevancy
in a discussion on the Divine attributes.
Knowledge with God is an absolute state of
mind dependent upon no contingency whatever.
To say that he has all knowledge and yet that
some things are known by him contingently, is
quite as ridiculous as to say though he is
omniscient yet there are some things he does
not know. Equally ridiculous is the
speculation of some theologians, who to avoid
a difficulty in the way of their creed,
affirm that there are some things which God
does not choose to know. The capacity or
ability to know all things are very
different, as much so as the difference
between the finite and the infinite. This
infinite knowledge is of necessity, and
nothing can come up upon the boundless
horizon of the future that has not been and
is not now and ever will be present in the
Divine mind as a palpable reality. Though no
event can transpire simply because it was
known to God, yet as known to him it must
come to pass and could not by any possibility
be otherwise.
Before the first atom was created or the
first mind shot forth its intellectual fires
through all the endless series of physical
and intellectual creations, there has not
been a single motion of the one or a thought
of the other, and there never will be, that
was not known to God from all eternity. The
first thought of the first angelic mind that
ever existed was known from eternity. The
moment of man's birth and the moment of his
death were known with infallible certainty
from everlasting. Every thought, emotion,
volition and action of every moment of our
lives in time and forever were known unto
God. Man may resolve and re-resolve and
counter-resolve, he may determine,
pre-determine and then change his mind, but
his resolves and purposes and final acts are
just such and only just such as they were
seen and known of God before he had a
beginning. Any other view than this would
deprive the infinite mind of omniscience and
make Jehovah like ourselves, dependent upon
contingencies and the reception of knowledge
through the media of the senses or the
intellect as the case may be. It must be
obvious that any addition to the knowledge of
God, by the occurrence of any event whatever
in the future, would necessarily argue
progress which cannot be predicated of
infinite knowledge or absolute perfection,
and would be equivalent to the affirmation
that God does not know all things in the
future as well as the present and past.
Some have attempted to evade the doctrine of
the Divine omniscience in relation to the
future by asserting that God cannot know what
is not the subject of knowledge. Hence, it is
said he cannot know a thing as existing
before it does exist. We reply, of course
not, as this is in itself a contradiction and
absurdity. There is no limit to the Divine
omniscience but in that which implies a
contradiction and an absurdity. Though it is
possible for God to know all things, just as
it is possible for him to do all things, yet
he cannot know what is in itself an
absurdity, nor can he do what is wrong.
Whatever will transpire in the future, he
knows as future. There is a difference
however between divine knowledge and divine
power, the latter to become active must be
preceded by volition, but not so with
knowledge, as that is a state of the Divine
mind wholly independent of volition.
Omniscience is a full and perfect knowledge
of all future events. This knowledge extends
through all tune and through all eternity,
and not only embraces a perfect cognizance of
all things which shall yet crime to pass, but
of all things which have transpired through
all the cycles of eternity back to the first
entity in the universe of God. Before matter
was created or a single change had taken
place in the modes of its existence, before
the earth, was made a habitation for man out
of whose dust he was fashioned, all the
scenes that would be enacted upon it,
together with the nature and consequences of
all the actions, and the names and characters
and destinies of all the actors were
perfectly known to God. So far as this world
is concerned, a succession of events
embracing a period of six thousand years has
transpired, the nature of which with their
proximate and ultimate consequences were
known from all eternity. Taking our stand
point at the beginning we look out upon the
earth as a vast theatre, and behold
successively the several acts of the grand
drama of life, performed according to the
precise order and manner in which they
existed in the mind of God. There was not in
all the past a single prelude, interlude or
afterpiece, incidental or accidental, that
was not perfectly known to the omniscient
mind as certainly as if they had been written
out in a programme and occurred in the order
laid down; and nothing shall occur in the
future, even to the "fall of a sparrow," that
is. not a matter of the same certain definite
knowledge. The seduction of Satan in Eden,
whereby he sought the ruin of its sinless
inhabitants, was precisely such as
Omniscience saw before that rebel angel left
his first estate and was cast-out of heaven.
Our first parents fell from their state of
holiness and happiness in their thoughts,
emotions, and volitions, just in the very
manner and at the very time it was foreseen
of God. The heart of Cain was excited to envy
and conceived the dreadful deed which
resulted in the death of his righteous
brother, and sent himself a murderer and
fugitive accursed over the earth, just as God
foresaw the sad and melancholy event. The
antediluvians were filled with all manner of
wickedness, and covered the land with
violence and blood so that their crimes
reached heaven and called for vengeance, just
as Jehovah foresaw them before Cain fled "to
the land eastward from Eden." The faith and
righteousness of Noah, the building of the
ark and the destruction of the human race by
a flood, all came to pass as forever known.
The disgrace of Noah, the wickedness of Ham,
and the curse of Canaan and his descendents
forever, all transpired not as foreordained
but as foreknown forever. The wonderful and
tragic events in the life of Abraham and Lot,
the gross unnatural wickedness of the
Sodomites and the dreadful destruction of the
cities of the Plain, the fate and fortune of
Joseph, and all the events connected with his
wonderful life in the court of Egypt; the
birth, preservation, and exaltation of Moses,
his flight to Arabia, his return to Egypt,
the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, the
astounding miracles, the deliverance of the
Israelites, the passage of the Red Sea, and
all the events connected with their wonderful
desert wanderings until their entrance into
Canaan; the life, fortunes and history of
David, the perversity of Absalom, the fate of
Saul and Jonathan, the numerous wars of the
Israelites, their successes and defeats, and
all the events connected with their wonderful
history, as well as those which transpired
among surrounding and cotemporary nations,
the destruction of armies and cities, the
rise and fall of empires were all known
precisely as they came to pass, from all
eternity.
All the events and circumstances connected
with the birth of Christ, the sending of
Pilate from Rome to Judea as Governor, the
ministry of John, the baptism of Jesus, his
temptation in the wilderness, all his
miracles, parables, sermons and acts, his
betrayal, denial, sentence, crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension were all known
unto God before angels fell or Adam sinned.
The stoning of Stephen, the conversion of
Saul, his ministry, imprisonment and
martyrdom, together with all the actions of
the apostles and all the cotemporaneous
events, the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, the
immense slaughter of the Jews, the
preservation of the Christians, the
banishment of John, including all events not
here enumerated found in sacred, profane and
unwritten history, the wonderful spread of
the Gospel, the ten Pagan persecutions, the
destruction of the Roman Empire, the events
which occurred during the long dark night of
a thousand years, the rise of Mahommedanism
and Popery were all and singular known to the
infinite God. The dawn of the Reformation,
the struggles and successes of Luther and his
coadjutors, the translation of the
Scriptures, the burning of Tyndal and
Wickliff, the Papal persecutions, the art of
printing, the discovery of America, the
revolt of the Colonies, the foundation of a
Republic, all the wars and revolutions that
have occurred in all pants of the world, and
all the events that have transpired and are
now transpiring were in the Divine mind
forever.
If any object to this particular and
comprehensive knowledge of God on the ground
of its being unnecessary or beneath the
notice of the infinite mind, let them
remember that the very necessity of the case
requires it, and it could not by any
possibility be otherwise. The Omniscient God
who sees the end from the beginning, unto
whom all things are naked and open, whose
infinite eye takes in its universal gaze all
time and all eternity, must know all things
past, present and future. Every thought,
every perception, every emotion, and every
volition of our minds, whether awake or
asleep, and every action of our lives from
our entrance into the world to the present
time, together with every thought, ward and
act of our lives, through the future period
of our probation and through the endless
duration of a future state were forever known
to God. All the events that have befallen us,
all the circumstances by which we have been
surrounded and all the events that shall
befall us, both as it regards their nature
and the manner and time of their occurrence,
are all known with absolute certainty, and as
known they will come to pass as absolutely as
if they had been decreed. This foreknowledge
does not make them come to pass, nor yet does
it argue that they might not have been
otherwise, for had they been otherwise they
would have been thus known. The period of
time we have to live, the day, hour and
moment of our death, and the manner of it,
and all the attendant circumstances, and the
destiny that awaits us in the future world
are all known and were known before we had an
existence with as much certainty as if they
had been foreordained of God. The very nature
of Jehovah as revealed in nature and
revelation shuts us up to this belief.
Nothing can be more clear and conclusive than
the fact that if God be eternal, omniscient
and omnipresent, there can be no place in the
universe where he is not always present, and
there can be no thing which he does not know.
There is no escaping this conclusion without
denying the existence and attributes of God,
and the flimsy and puerile argument that
omniscience is simply a capacity to know all
things, just as omnipotence is a power to do
all things; and hence, as God does not choose
to do all things he may not choose to know
all things as before stated, is an absurdity
too gross and palpable for a moment's
consideration. Such a statement may properly
be affirmed of man, for there is no limit to
his capacity to know, while there is a limit
to his power to do, but to affirm it of God
is a species of irreverence if not blasphemy,
which we should shudder to utter. What does
such a statement require, but that the
knowledge of God in relation to some things,
and his ignorance of others shall depend upon
his choice, which makes the whole hypothesis
absurd and ridiculous, inasmuch as to be able
to make a selection of those things he would
choose to know, he must necessarily know the
nature of those things concerning which he
chooses to be ignorant. It is vastly better,
honestly and frankly to acknowledge a
difficulty which we may find impossible to
reconcile with our preconceived notions of
theology, than to endeavor by any sophistry
to evade it, as all efforts of this
description do ultimate injury to the common
cause of truth. Theologians may draw out the
finest spun theories interwoven with the
nicest metaphysical subtitles, bewildering
and confounding to minds not adequate to
detect their fallacy; but truth needs not
such foreign aid, she walks forth not like a
spectre dimly seen in the misty twilight,
with a veiled face and downcast eyes, but she
stands erect, unveiled, full-eyed and
beautiful, shining in her own light. To see
her is to know her, and to know her is to
love her.
The question is not whether the certainty
which exists in the mind of God in regard to
all events which have come to pass or which
shall come to pass is compatible with man's
freedom or not, but whether there is such
certainty in the divine mind. It is a
question of fact and with that alone we are
concerned. We should "Follow Truth where'er
she leads the way," if in so doing we should
cross and re-cross every path we have made in
the wilderness of thought for a thousand
years. If the temple which we have reared and
in which we have enshrined the object of our
worship prove to be an idolatrous temple, and
our worship a false misplaced one, the sooner
we behold it a heap of ruins the better.
Truth is that "pearl of great price" which we
should be anxious to purchase at any cost or
sacrifice within our power. Better throw all
our loves away than put out the only light
that can shine in eternity.
As it regards the connexion or bearing of
God's foreknowledge upon human events and
actions, we confidently affirm there is not
the remotest conceivable contact so far as
causation is concerned in bringing them to
pass ; and there can be no more connexion
between foreknowledge and foreordination than
there is between the volitions of a human
mind and the revolutions of a planet, the
transit of a star, or the circuit of a comet.
The idea that a foreknowledge of every thing
that will transpire, from the wreck of a
nation to the fall of a bird, or from the
conflagration of a world to the derangement
of an atom, is attributing to the Almighty a
trifling employment, can only be entertained
by those who take a narrow and contracted
view of his Providence, which extends to the
minutest insect invisible to the naked eye,
as specially as to the mastodon whose tread
shakes the earth. In all God's illimitable
empire there is nothing trifling or
insignificant, and the same wisdom and power
are displayed in the creation and
preservation of an atom as a world, of an
insect as an archangel.
Though all things come to pass as they were
foreknown of God, yet there are some things
that come to pass which were predetermined.
These events of course are absolute and
unavoidable. God predetermined the creation
of the Universe with its suns and systems,
and all the orders of intelligences from
seraph to man. He also foreordained all the
laws for the government of the physical and
intellectual universe. He also determined the
essential freedom of angels and men and
endowed them with adequate power to obey all
the laws of their being, and any other view
of angels or men would make them beings of
necessity, mere moral automata, entirely
without moral character and without
accountability. Hence, there could have been
no such thing as sin in the world, unless
indeed, we could conceive the horrid idea of
making the Creator its author. It would be
just the same as if matter should infract one
of the laws by which it is governed, and
should in consequence thereof be held
accountable for the violation. The infinite
knowledge of Jehovah took in the fall of
angels and men as the result of an abuse of
their freedom, and all the provisions growing
out of that fall, as well as all the
consequences, were alike predetermined. But
though all thin is true, yet in man's nature,
duty, and mysterious destiny, there are no
dark inflexible decrees fixing from all
eternity his fate. No terrible iron barrier
frowns across his pathway to the world
beyond. The same freedom to rise from the
fall with gracious help provided by infinite
love is his, and in the inception and
development of this scheme of restoration a
more glorious mystery has been opened up to
man's vision than was ever before brought to
the contemplation of the minds of angels.
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CHAPTER IV - THE MYSTERY OF EVIL
THERE is no mystery connected with that which
is good and right, as we are enabled without
any effort or, obscurity to trace the good,
and the true, and the right directly to their
source. God is essential goodness, and truth,
and righteousness, and from him as an
exhaustless fountain these qualities flow out
into the infinite space which he occupies, as
necessarily and spontaneously as light from
the sun. Nor yet is the fact of the existence
of evil so much a mystery, as its origin. If
God is the Creator of all things, if his
presence fills all space, his wisdom and
holiness pervades all eternity past, all time
present, and all eternity to come, and his
omnipotence upholds and governs all worlds,
whence came evil ? As we contemplate the
mysterious problem and attempt its solution,
an indefinable sense of bewilderment steals
like the shadows of evening upon the mind,
deepening and lengthening as we pursue the
thought, until midnight darkness settles upon
it and we are lost in the gloom.
Revelation tells us, that away back in a
remote period of eternity, beyond the
chronology of man, evil took its rise and
dates its origin. It informs us that beings
of a nature pure and seraphic, inhabiting
heaven and shining in its brightness,
conceived sin, and by an infraction of the
laws of their being and blessedness, lost
their glorious possession and were "cast down
to hell, where they are reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness, to the
judgment of the great day." The allusions to
this event are almost as mysterious and
obscure as the event itself. We have the
simple record of the fact, but the history of
the transaction as relating to the motives
which led to the sin of the angels is not
given. Concerning the cause or causes of what
theologians call original sin, revelation is
silent, and what little it has given us on
the subject, only leaves us darkly to infer
the origin of evil. For a period of four
thousand years, during which patriarch and
prophet walked and talked with God, nothing
was communicated on the subject either as it
regarded the fall of angels itself, or the
nature of that fall; at least no record,
bearing however remotely upon the subject, is
found in the Jewish Scriptures, and if we
accept the declaration of Christ as bearing
upon the subject, in which he speaks of
having seen Satan fall like lightning from
heaven, there is but one other distinct
allusion found in the second Epistle of
Peter, Jude having evidently quoted his
language from that writer, and both having
been regarded as spurious by the Church to
the fourth century. We repeat it, revelation
records the fact of the introduction of evil
in heaven among the angels, and the sad
consequences growing out of it; but the cause
of its origin and the permission which
allowed it, are beyond the scrutiny of man.
Revelation discloses the existence of beings
emanating from the Great first cause,
possessing all the attributes of their divine
original, of the same type in regard to the
quality of their nature, differing only in
degree, allied to God in the scale of
existence and forming the connecting link in
the chain of causes from the first causeless,
dateless existence, down through all the
inferior existences to the end of time and
through eternity. First in the order of this
divine emanation or creation, were the
Cherubim through whom the divine glory was
manifested, and whether in the language of
revelation Jehovah was described as at rest
or in motion, as seated on a throne or riding
upon the wings of the wind, they were
essential to that description. The next in
the order of creation were the Seraphim or
fiery celestial beings, who are represented
as standing around the throne of Jehovah,
having a human form furnished with wings,
executing his will and praising him with
their voices. Belonging to the hierarchy of
heaven are other orders, all of which,
however, come under the common designation of
angels or messengers of Jehovah. These form
the connecting link between man and the
Creator, and are next in the series of
creation to the Seraphim, and their agency is
represented as being principally employed in
the guidance of human destiny.
In the midst of, and reflecting the all
surrounding glory of the High and Holy One
who inhabits eternity, the four-faced and
four-winged Cherubim are ceaselessly poised;
surrounding these as the mighty officers and
guard of the throne, are the human formed six-
winged Seraphim clothed with fire, and
executing the will of the mighty sovereign;
still beyond, and encompassing all, are the
angels ten thousand times ten thousand in
number, and sent forth on ministries to earth
and man. It was among these myriad hosts sin
began. Here the sad defection rose, and
treachery and insurrection sprang up in
heaven., Among this sinless, radiant host,
sin effected an entrance. All before was
perfect obedience, harmony and happiness.
Throughout the vast expanse of heaven there
was no thought, emotion or volition that did
not accord with and vibrate in unison to the
touches of heavenly love. All the affections
like a sea of love itself, ebbed and flowed
at the divine command, and the highest,
fullest tide of happiness consisted in
obedience to the will of heaven. The largest
capacity was satisfied with an inflow of
knowledge, and the largest desire with the
fulness of bliss. Above, around, beneath,
everywhere, all was perfect fruition and joy.
No interdict frowned across the path of the
most free and enlarged inquiry after
knowledge, and no position presented itself
to ambition, the attainment of which could by
any possibility enhance the bliss. We know
that the poet has indulged in a license as
unwarrantable as it is untrue, representing
the angels as aspiring to the place of God,
and asserting this as the cause of their
fall. According to the poetic conception the
revolt, however, was not confined to angels,
but extended up to Seraphim and Cherubim,
until many of the higher as well as lower
order were involved in the crusade against
Omnipotence, and the wild clarion shout of
war rang through the vaulted heaven. That
depravity should rebel against holiness and
goodness, presents no psychological
difficulty, and would not be considered as
remarkable ; but that purity and love, the
very element of angelic existence, should
engender corruption and hate, is a mystery
beyond expression inscrutable.
But whence came the evil? What was the
mysterious spirit alchemy that changed an
angel of light, and holiness, and love, the
very type and image of God, into a fiend of
darkness, corruption and hate? What power
changed a friend and an ally into a foe and
adversary of the King of heaven? If evil was
not to be found in God, the great fountain of
being and blessedness, nor yet in Cherub, or
Seraph, or angel, all endowed with the same
nature and moral attributes, and basking in
the same light and glory, from whence-we
repeat it-drank in the pure, etherial,
stainless spirit, the deep, dark, damning
draught which blighted his nature, blackened
his spirit, and changed him from a holy,
obedient and benevolent creature, into a
depraved, rebellious and malicious fiend ? We
may adopt any conception, hypothesis or
exegesis of poets, philosophers or
theologians, in regard to the nature of the
sin of the rebel angels, but the deep, dark,
solemn mystery remains. Sin and ruin sprang
up in heaven, in the immediate presence of
God, and we come back to the question, whence
came this sin? Where did it originate ? And
how did it originate ? Was it ab extra or ab
intrafrom without, or from within ? If from
without, from what quarter did it come ? If
from within, in what department of the soul
did it take its rise ? Was it in the
perceptions, reflections, emotions or
volitions, or was it in all ? Did the
perception of God and the reflection of his
greatness and glory awaken emotions, (not to
be like him, for they were already like him,)
to mount his throne and wrest his sceptre,
and were the desires followed by volitions
and acts corresponding thereto ? Whence these
acts of the mind ? What cause or motion
produced them ? The effect was evil, only and
everlastingly evil, what then could have been
the cause ? Like causes we are told produce
like effects in like circumstances. Whether
this be a truth of universal application and
to which there can be no exceptions, we know
not, but we are authorized in affirming that
a good moral cause is invariably attended
with good moral effects. He who was himself "
the truth," asserted that a good fountain can
not send forth bitter waters, any more than a
corrupt fountain can send forth sweet waters.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
any more than a bad tree can bring forth good
fruit. The effect will partake of the nature
of the cause, and can not by any possibility,
if allowed legitimately to operate, be
otherwise. So the same divine teacher
affirmed, that a good man out of the good
treasure of his heart bringeth forth good
things, and that an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil
things. An evil mind can not conceive holy
thoughts, and is not capable of holy emotions
and volitions ; nor on the other hand, is a
pure and sinless mind capable of sinful
emotions or acts. The pure fountain, the good
tree, and the holy mind, alike must be
changed in their nature, radically and
essentially, before bitterness and badness
and sin can proceed from them.
If these assertions be true, where, whence,
how came sin into the pure, bright, ineffable
regions of the heavenly world. All questions
about God willing it on the one hand, or his
permitting it on the other, are foreign and
evasive, and touch not the great and awful
mystery in regard to the origin of evil. In
the order of events every effect must have a
cause. Properly speaking there are no
casualties or accidents. All miracles have
their final as well as formal causes, and it
may be that what we regard as contrary to the
laws of nature, or a suspension of those
laws, is in perfect conformity with laws to
us unknown. Nothing causeless can come.
Whatever things we see, or hear, or feel, or
know, or do, are connected with causes
proximate or remote, and in the endless
chain, link after link may be traced to the
last, Just so sin may be traced to its
origin, though it may take an infinite mind
to discover it. To find its origin the mind
has labored for centuries. Tomes of
controversy have been written about it,
endless speculations' have been indulged in
regard to it, and some have lost the healthy
balance of their religious belief in
reasoning upon it, but the whole volume of
revelation is silent as the grave in relation
to the nature of its origin; and hidden in
the mysterious depths of the omniscient mind,
which no hand can unseal, it will remain
unknown until that which is perfect has come,
and the arcana of heaven shall be opened to
the study of man. And the mind is as much at
a loss and bewildered in its efforts to
ascertain the date of its origin, as the
origin itself. It is perfectly evident from
revelation as well as from the nature of the
thing, that angels have existed from an
indefinite period anterior to the creation of
the material universe. We know that at the
laying of the foundations of the earth, "the
morning stars sang together and all the sons
of God shouted for joy." They witnessed the
creation of the material out of which the
earth was composed. They saw the chaotic mass
when it was enveloped in darkness, and "
without form and void." They beheld it when
it started on its first revolution around its
axis, and saw it assume a spherical form.
They saw the gathering of its waters, the
rising of its mountains, the opening of its
vallies, the unfolding of its plains, and the
coursing of its rivers. They saw the light
first darting from its sun and shedding its
genial beams upon its trees, and plants, and
flowers. And what they saw in the wonderful
formation of the earth, they also doubtless
saw in the formation of all the planets of
the solar system, and the other planetary
systems of the universe. What to us is
history gathered from the successive layers
of rocks, as so many leaves folded over the
earth's surface, and which in fossil language
describes the first organic formation, to
them is personal knowledge. The period when
sin entered among the angels, and discord was
first heard in heaven, is beyond the ken of
mortals. It may have been before a single orb
was created to display the material glory of
the infinite one, when in all the vast
expanse of space nothing but Jehovah and his
angels existed. Or, their "first estate and
habitation" may have been abandoned for a
residence on some distant orb, which they
beheld rolling away from the Creator's hand
in brightness and beauty to its destined
sphere.
We now turn from the contemplation of the
introduction of evil among the inhabitants of
heaven, and direct our attention to its
origin on earth. Man, as we have already
intimated, was created next in order to the
angels, in the language of inspiration, only
"a little lower, crowned with glory and
honor," created "in righteousness and true
holiness" and reflecting the image of his
Maker. Thus formed and fashioned he was
placed in a region of perfect loveliness and
perpetual bloom. No imagination can conceive
of the exalted bliss enjoyed by the one man
Adam, the lord of the creation around him.
The sun rose in peerless splendor over the
far off summits of the blue mountains, and
its glittering beams were reflected from the
mirror-like surface of the lakes of Eden,
around whose margin flowers of the most
gorgeous hue and delicate perfume grew in
wild yet graceful luxuriance. Lofty trees
cast their grateful shade upon the soft green
carpet of the earth. Birds of brightest
plumage and sweetest song, filled the air
with enchanting music. For him all were made
and in perfect rest and bliss amid the
bowers, and by the streams he walked and
talked with nature and her God. As if to
enhance, if possible, his bliss, for him was
created, and to him was given, a form like
unto his own. Revelation informs us that on
awaking from a deep, undisturbed slumber, he
beheld before him a being like unto himself,
of unsurpassing loveliness. Possessing the
same nature physically and intellectually,
but cast in a somewhat finer mould, she was
not above him or below him, and to her
conjointly with himself was given authority
over the earth and all its animate and
inanimate objects. The two were one in every
conceivable adaptation of mind and heart and
form. A mysterious influence like the
attraction of the spheres bound them
together, producing an intercommunion of soul
with soul that could only be interrupted by
the destruction, of their nature. The love
they bore to each other was little less than
that which unitedly they bore to God their
Creator.
Such was Eden and such was man. We now
approach the mystery of the introduction of
sin into this pure and peaceful abode, and
the equally wonderful mystery connected with
its consequences. Sacred history tells us
that one of the fallen angels attracted by
the bliss of Eden sought its ruin, and that
assuming the form of a serpent, he wound his
scaly folds around " the tree of knowledge of
good and evil." Of the fruit of all the other
trees of the garden, Adam and Eve were
permitted to eat, but the fruit of this tree
was interdicted by divine command, and death
was the penalty of its violation. The wisdom
and cunning of the demonized serpent proved
too great for the virtue of the woman. Sense
and reason were alike invaded. The fruit
forbidden was beautiful to the eye and
pleasant to the taste, and above all it
imparted a knowledge above that of mortals.
Those who ate it should be like God himself,
knowing good and evil. The fatal: fascination
prevailed, and the pure and taintless hand,
obedient to the will, plucked the fruit. The
deed was done. The act, however, did not
involve her companion in guilt. Sin had not
yet entered his sinless soul, and he might
have retained his purity and immortality
until now, for anything his unhappy spouse
had done. The fatal spell was on her, and
with an art obtained from the dark spirit of
evil, she was not long in persuading him to
become a partner in her guilt. The first act
of the dreadful tragedy was now finished, and
the thunder of Jehovah announced the fall of
a midnight curtain over Eden. Next came the
malediction of heaven. The serpent was cursed
above all cattle and creeping things, the
woman was cursed with perpetual sorrow and
subjection to her husband, the ground was
cursed for man's sake, and in toil and sorrow
he was to eat of its fruit all the days of
his life. They were driven from Eden, and
Cherubim with swords of fire were sent to
guard the way of the tree of life in the
midst of the garden.
Some have called in question the truthfulness
of this narrative of the fall, and have
denominated it an oriental allegory, but
whatever may be the opinions or speculations
of men about the theory of the introduction
of sin into the world, the fact of its
existence is apparent, and the sad history of
our race demonstrates that sin abounds. It
has also been affirmed that because the
prohibition in regard to the eating of the
fruit of the tree of knowledge was made to
Adam, that therefore in all probability the
curse would not have come upon Eve, if she
had not tempted Adam and effected his ruin.
All such speculations are fruitless, and
touch not the dreadful mystery of the fact of
the existence of evil in the world.
But we are not done with the mystery of
Adam's sin. It extends further, and like a
bitter stream grows deeper and darker, and
more bitter as we pursue it. Theology informs
us that the consequences of Adam's sin not
only involved the death of the body, but the
infliction of endless pain and misery upon
the soul of every descendent down to the last
of his posterity; that in the sin of Adam our
nature, which was originally holy, became
depraved and unholy, and that this depravity
is inborn, so that being inclined to evil
only and continually, it is as natural for a
human being to sin when his mind begins to
act emotionally and volitionally, as it is
for him to breathe or move, or as it is for
trees to grow, or the water to seek a level,
or the atmosphere an equilibrium. We think
some theologians have erred in the discussion
of the subject of depravity. After stating
the doctrine of innate depravity or inborn
sin, as it is found in the systems of
theology, and essays, and sermons, which have
been written upon it, the writers :almost
invariably start out upon elaborate
discussions on the actual depravity which
exists in the world. This is all superfluous
because conceded by every right mind, and
besides, the existence of universal depravity
does not touch the question of innate
depravity, inasmuch as there was nothing
whatever in the condition and circumstances
of Adam, when in a state of perfect holiness,
which prevented him from transgressing the
command of God, and that in the most wilful
and deliberate manner. In his holy state it
was as natural for him to obey God and work
righteousness, as it is for the unholy to
sin. Hence, all mankind, may, like Adam, have
fallen by their own deliberate choice and
act, and a universal depravity overspread the
earth. The question relates to man's native
condition, or in other words, to the natural
state in which he was born. We are taught
from childhood that "in Adam's fall we sinned
all," and that as the representative of our
race all who have descended from him are
alike in nature, and as the streams partake
of the nature of the fountain, be that
fountain bitter or sweet, and as the fruit
partakes of the nature of the tree, be that
fruit good or bad, so human nature as to its
quality is nothing more and nothing less than
its origin.
The introduction of evil into the moral
universe was a much profounder mystery than
the introduction of evil upon earth. The sin
of a higher order of intelligences argues at
least the possibility of sin in a lower
order, and the sin of man, though not
necessary, is a sequence in the great chain
of disastrous events brought about by the
first transgression in heaven. The great
mystery connected with the sin of Adam does
not consist in the fact of his transgression
and fall, but in the nature and effects of
that transgression. The sin of the first
transgressing angel did not affect the nature
or destiny necessarily of any other angel.
When he violated the divine law, whatever
that violation may have been, the penalty was
due to him alone. If others had not with the
same deliberateness joined in the
transgression, they would be still in the
enjoyment of their first estate. Not so,
however, with the sin of Adam. We are
informed that his sin involved the entire
race in ruin, and that all the millions of
his posterity by his act were made sinners,
and come into the world under the same
condemnation which rested upon his guilty
head. That the sin of Adam was transferred to
his posterity in the sense that his act was
their act, or in other words, that all his
descendents sinned in him, and thus like him
fell under the wrath and curse of God,
becoming inheritors of " all the pains and
miseries of this life, to death itself, and
all the pangs of hell forever." At such a
mystery human reason staggers ; nor is the
difficulty under which the mind labors in its
endeavors to understand the rationale,
obviated by the admission of the probability
that all men would have followed the first in
the way of transgression, and thus would have
become personally guilty, and hence deserving
of hell, because there is really no valid
ground for such a supposition. Indeed, we
have reason to infer the contrary from the
case of that portion of the angels who did
not sin with Satan, nor have they sinned
since, but have " kept their first estate and
are denominated on that account "the elect
angels," confirmed in holiness and happiness
forever.
In consequence of Adam's sin we are told that
"every man naturally engendered of his
offspring is corrupt and inclined to evil
only and continually." Sin be must, as soon
as he begins to act, and that as necessarily
as he breathes, because he is born into a
state of sin, and in sin itself.
"Soon as he draws his infant breath
The seeds of sin grow up for death,
The law demands a perfect heart,
But he is defiled in every part"
And for this sinful state which he has
inherited by birth and over which he could
have no control, and for all the acts growing
out of it he is held personally accountable.
"Cursed be the man, forever cursed,
Who doth one wilful sin commit,
Death and damnation for the first
Without relief and infinite."
How terribly gloomy are the mysteries which
gather around this subject. But there is
another side to this cloud. Though all is
dark, and not a single line of light relieves
its margin, yet the sun shines on the other
side, and all is light and glorious there.
Though religion has mysteries dolorous, she
has also mysteries glorious, but these we
shall reserve for another chapter.
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CHAPTER V - MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION
HAVING discussed the mystery of evil as it
regards its origin and consequences, we
propose in this chapter to discuss the
equally profound mystery of redemption. Man,
as we have seen, having revolted from
obedience to his Maker, in acting contrary to
his express and positive commands, placed
himself necessarily at variance and war. A
state of rebellion had sprung up in his soul.
The healthy harmony which reigned in all his
faculties was interrupted, and a sad conflict
began in his mental and moral nature, which
nothing but omnipotence could arrest. A
derangement existed in his being which could
only be rectified and cured by the author of
that being. But how was this to be effected ?
The creature and the creator were at
variance, the sin of man had broken off his
connexion with and bad separated him from his
God. There was no remove on the part of God,
nor was there any act on his part which
severed a connexion on which depended animal
and spiritual life-it was solely the act of
the creature and the necessary consequence
synchronical thereto ; not only destroyed all
conformity with the divine mind, but
destroyed all disposition to act in harmony
therewith. But more than all this, it
destroyed all ability to act in harmony with
God, had it even left the disposition,
converting the very nature of man into that
of opposition, thus making the hostility not
only one of relation, but one of state.
What is perhaps as great a mystery as any
connected with the human mind in its fallen
condition, is the fact that it hates the
object against which it is at war, and this
hatred is in proportion to the injury
inflicted by that mind ; so far as human
experience goes, it is invariably the case
that we hate those whom we have injured. This
strange fact looms up in the experience of
all, so that no matter what may have been the
cause of the injury done to an individual,
especially where personal wrong is
considered, the mind invariably harmonizes
with the thought, or word, or act by which
that opposition is expressed, and a feeling
of hatred or contempt springs up. We repeat
it, this is a mystery. But when we come to
contemplate the state of the mind in relation
to God, the mystery grows deeper and darker.
He is essential goodness ; never has done
wrong, and never can do wrong , has always
sought our happiness as the creatures of his
everlasting love. He is the eternal fountain
of love itself, and no bitter waters of
hatred can ever flow therefrom - yet man has
turned away from this fountain of perpetual
blessedness, and has hewn out to himself
cisterns, broken cisterns; has dug stagnant
pools, and sought to quench his thirst for
happiness in their polluted waters. Such
strange and unnatural conduct on the part of
man has caused the Almighty to exclaim,
"Hear, O, Heavens, and give ear, O, Earth; I
have nourished and brought up children and
they have rebelled against me. Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts, let him return unto the Lord, who
will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon."
The history of the past is but a continuous
record of man's hostility to God, and the
experience of the present but verifies and
confirms the sad and terrible truth. A chasm
was opened in Eden separating man from God,
which has been growing wider and deeper for
six thousand years ; the Creator and the
creature at variance, the latter in open
rebellion. In this state of things how can a
reconcilliation be effected, how can an
atonement be brought about, so that Jehovah
and his creatures may be one again. To whom
does it belong to make the conditions of
peace ? From whence shall come the overtures,
from the offended or the offending, from the
guiltless or the guilty, from God or man ?
Evidently where the offence began, there must
begin the reparation, where injustice and
wrong has orignated, there must commence the
restitution. If man is the offender, if human
nature has trangressed the divine law, human
nature must suffer the penalty, unless the
claims of that law be set aside ; but these
claims cannot be set aside ; they must be
executed, or Jehovah must give up his throne,
relinquish his government, and yield the
universe to anarchy. The demands of a
violated law must be met.
Every step we take in the investigation of
this subject, from the starting point of
man's rebellion against God, only increases
the difficulties connected with
reconcilliation and atonement. The law given
to man as a rule of action required perfect
and perpetual obedience ; the moment it was
violated, the fulfillment of its requirements
on the part of man was utterly impossible,
and as we have seen, had it left man in
possession of an ability to comply with its
demands without leaving a disposition and
willingness to do so, the impossibility would
have been equally as great.
The event of the fall and all its
consequences was of course known to God from
all eternity, and as no provision was made
against it, so as to prevent it, the
presumption is that a plan was devised for
man's restoration, which in clue time would
be made known to the race. How much of this
was made known to the first transgressors,
and how clearly it was revealed, we are not
able to determine. Sacrifices were offered at
an early period in the world's history, and
the death of the animal victim seemed to
shadow forth the medium of satisfaction for
sin, but what connexion there could be
between the death of an ox or an heifer, a
goat, a ram or a lamb, and the satisfaction
to justice for the sin of a human soul was,
and is, a mystery beyond the power of man to
comprehend. How the sprinkling of the blood
of these animals upon the altar and the mercy
seat, and upon the person, could communicate
purification and pardon, none but omniscience
who ordained the rite could explain. The
whole history of redemption from first to
last is full of mystery. In order that we may
be able to trace this mystery, though
incapable of comprehending it, as a subject
in which we are all more deeply interested
than any other that can occupy the mind of
man, it will be necessary to refer to
revelation. Our space will not allow us to
enter into detail on this subject, and we can
only touch upon certain points in the
development of the great plan as they are
brought to view in the sacred scriptures. In
the dealings of God with mankind, we shall be
able to ascertain the state of the Divine
mind towards our race. .
The first intimation given in revelation on
this subject of redemption or restoration to
divine favor is darkly hinted in that obscure
passage which after the fall announces that "
the seed of the woman shall bruise the
serpent's head." From woman, through whose
agency the ruin of the race was effected, we
learn, was thus to come its redemption.
Though man was ejected from Eden and
forbidden access to the tree of life, he was
not entirely separated from his Maker.
Jehovah manifested himself under a new form,
not as the Creator, but as the Savior. The
race increased, and multiplied upon the
earth, and in proportion to its increase it
became corrupt, until, as sacred history
informs us, the whole earth was filled with
violence and . blood. So perfect was the
anarchy that reigned, that the entire race,
with the exception of one family, was
destroyed. Revelation informs us, that in
view of this destruction it repented Jehovah,
that he had made man, yet he declared for his
sake he would not again destroy the earth by
water, and as a sign of its perpetual
preservation from such a calamity, he set the
rainbow in the heavens. Again the earth was
peopled, but with no purer race. Wherever men
existed, wickedness was found, and especially
where they congregated in large cities,
scenes of polution and excess perpetually and
invariably greeted the eye ; judgment from
heaven fell in fire storms on devoted cities
; armies met each other on ensanguined fields
; nations were extinguished and cities
destroyed. A Chaldean is called from his star
worship, and listening to the mysterious
voice he hears, which assures him that in him
and his descendants all the nations of the
earth are to receive a distinguished
blessing. After many years of disappointment,
and when old age had come to him and his
spouse, at length he is blest with a child.
Through this child the promised blessing was
to come. But before he had reached his
majority, the same mysterious voice commanded
the father to take him to a certain mountain,
which should be divinely designated, and
there offer him up as a burnt sacrifice to
Jehovah. He obeyed the command, and just as
he was about to plunge the fatal knife unto
his son's heart, the same voice which
commanded the sacrifice told him to stay his
hand, as the command was but a test of his
faith and obedience. The promise was then
renewed, but Abraham slept in Macpelah before
it was fulfilled. To Isaac, the child of
promise, is born a son, who in the line of
the same divine power is blest with a
numerous progeny. One of his sons
particularly was designated as the chosen
vessel through whom the promise was to flow.
But Jacob died and his numerous descendants
were reduced to slavery in Egypt, and years
of affliction roll on. At length through the
occasion of a cruel decree, one of the
Israelites is introduced into the court of
Pharaoh and adopted as a member of the royal
family. When he came to years, "he espoused
the cause of his down trodden brethren," and
was obliged, because of slaying an Egyptian,
to flee to Arabia. 'While there pursuing a
pastoral life, he went one day to the summit
of Sinai in pursuit of a wanderer from the
sheep fold. He was startled at beholding a
bush on fire, and his surprise was increased
when he discovered that the flames which
perfectly enveloped it did not consume it. As
he drew near it, he-heard a voice, as if
coming out of the fire, calling upon him to
take off his shoes, because he was standing
on holy ground. The same voice declared that
he who conversed with him was Jehovah, the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in
confirmation of the assertion converted the
shepherds crook which he held in his hand
into a serpent, the moment he threw it upon
the ground, and when he took it again it
resumed its former state. In further
confirmation, he was commanded to put his
hand into his bosom, and on taking it out it
was leprous, but by returning it again it was
restored. The voice commanded him to go down
to Egypt and command Pharaoh to let the
Israelites go free, and if he refused, he
would work miracles of power by his hand,
which would liberate them.
Moses went into the presence of Pharaoh and
communicated the divine command. The King
refused to obey, and miracle after miracle
was wrought, some of which the magicians
imitated, but being entirely foiled in their
attempts at others, they acknowledged the
hand of God. Finally the Israelites were
released after the first born in every house
of the Egyptians was slain by the passover
angel. Thus liberated, they entered the
desert, a bright cloud went before them for a
guide, and spread over them like a pavillion.
At night it became a pillar of fire. The
wonderful rod smote the Red Sea, and its
waters were divided so that three millions
passed over dry shod. The Egyptian army
attempting to follow, the waters closed upon
them and they were drowned. The wants of the
vast army were supplied in the desert by
miracle. At Sinai a tabernacle was
constructed by directions given to Moses, on
the summit of the same mountain where he
first heard the divine voice which commanded
him to bring the people there to worship.
Awful and glorious scenes were displayed on
the summit of this mountain. At one time it
was covered with a dark cloud, and from it
issued lightnings and thunderings, and the
sound of a trumpet. Moses was forty days with
Jehovah on this mountain, and received the
ten commandments on tablets of stone. The
people enter into covenant with Jehovah after
being sprinkled with the blood of a bullock
offered in sacrifice upon an altar made after
the pattern shown in the mount. The cloud of
glory which rested on the mountain came down
and filled the tabernacle, and a peculiar
glory rested upon the Ark of the Covenant in
which was placed the tablets of stone, the
rod of Aaron, and the pot of manna. The
encampment finally removed, and the different
tribes took up the line of march. The order
of the priesthood was established, and the
high priest wore a mysterious breast-plate,
composed of twelve precious stones, bearing
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
This was the urim and thummim, and as a
divine oracle it could be consulted, and
divine responses were always given.
But we can not dwell in detail upon all the
incidents connected with the wandering of the
Jews in the desert, and the mysterious nature
of their worship. Moses died, and was
mysteriously buried by angels. He was
succeeded by Joshua. After forty years,
during which time their clothes did not wear
out, they entered Canaan, but no adult who
left Egypt, except Caleb and Joshua, entered
the promised land, the rest all perished in
the wilderness. Miracles continued with them
in Canaan. Wars succeeded to wars ; the
Israelites became settled in Palestine, and
rose to a great nation, were governed by a
succession or Kings, some of whom were
righteous and others wicked. The chosen and
peculiar people became idolatrous, renounced
allegiance, and were subject to various
fortunes. Their magnificent temple was
destroyed, and they carried away to captivity
in Babylon. The glory; departed. They were at
length allowed to return and rebuild their
temple, yet they never recovered their former
glory. During the existence of the latter
temple, the Messiah so long promised was
born, but he was despised and rejected and
finally put to death as an imposter. Not long
after, the temple and city of Jerusalem were
destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews were
scattered among the nations, where they exist
denationalized to this day. The descendants
of Ishmael, not Isaac, are the rulers of the
promised land, and where stood the holy
temple, now stands the temple of the false
prophet.
We have thus given a rapid outline sketch of
the history of that wonderful people, chosen
of God as the medium through which redemption
was to come to the world, and the race was to
be restored from the ruins of the fall
Revelation informs us that the mystery of
redemption was kept from ages and
generations, and that this mystery was make
known when God became incarnate. The great
mystery of redemption was set forth when "God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
gentiles, believed on in the world, and
received up into glory." God before was
manifest in the garden of Eden, on Sinai, in
the tabernacle and temple, but now he assumes
the form of humanity, and instead of a
transient manifestation, takes up his abode
among men. Revelation teaches expressly that
he took not the form of an angel, but was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he
might condemn sin in the flesh, and thus
deliver man from its curse ; that in assuming
human nature, "he became sin for us," and
thus, substitutionally, satisfied all the
claims of the violated law. Of all the
mysteries which we have been contemplating,
or which it is possible for man to
contemplate, this is the greatest,
transcending all the works of the visible
creation, including that of the creation of
angels, and all the vast systems of Jehovah's
empire, the work of redemption, both in its
inception and development, towers sublimely
above all, and leaves the mind bewildered in
the broadest, profoundest mystery ever
brought to the contemplation of men or
angels. It has been the theme of angelic
study from its first announcement. Prophets
who communicated the tidings of this mystery
in language veiled in imagery or clothed in
bold and striking figures or in plain literal
description, when they announced the rise of
a star in the distant future, or spoke of a
scepter and law giver, or the miraculous
birth of a child to whom should be given the
titles of " wonderful, counsellor, the mighty
God, the everlasting father, the prince of
peace," and "upon whose shoulders the
government should rest," knew not the import
of the words they uttered; that the Great
Eternal I AM of the patriarchs, and the
Jehovah of the Jews who appeared in the bush,
was with them in their desert wanderings,
whose awful glory made Sinai tremble with its
burden, and who dwelt in the holy of holies,
should veil that Godhead and glory in
humanity, pass through the ordinary process
of human generation so as to be born of a
woman, under the law, pass through all the
stages of life, from . childhood to manhood,
submitting to all the filial relations, and
all the rites of the church, lead a life of
suffering and sorrow, and die upon the cross
the death of a criminal, makes a mystery
overwhelmingly astounding. Nor is this all
connected with the manifestation or
appearance of God in human nature. He who
created the earth, and to whom belonged all
that it contains, became a wanderer upon its
surface, a poor houseless, homeless stranger.
He who created cherubim and seraphim, and
whom all the hosts of heaven obey, and who
declared that those who had "seen him, had
seen the father," allowed himself to be
insulted, blasphemed, spit upon, buffeted,
scourged, nailed to the cross, and scornfully
taunted with the declaration, "he saved
others, himself be cannot save," and was
challenged if he were equal with God to come
down from the cross, and they would believe
on him, is a mystery we wonder not that a Jew
should stagger under, and claims a faith in
all where reason must be kept in abeyance,
and the simple truths of revelation must be
credited without question. The declaration
that "God was in Christ reconciling the world
to himself," embraces the whole of the
mystery of redemption. In this declaration
there are no turns abstruse or speculative,
every word is plain, and not above the
comprehension of a child, and yet they
announce a doctrine which a seraph never can,
by the most intense application, comprehend,
much less explain.
It may be asked why in the scheme of
redemption was provision not made for fallen
angels? Why pass them by in their chains and
darkness without a provision of mercy or a
space for repentance ? This, like the mystery
of redemption itself, must remain
inscrutable. Jehovah assumed human nature
that he might represent human nature. He
tasted death for every man that, as in Adam
its first representative, all became subject
to death, as the penalty of transgression, so
in him all might be restored to life, as the
result of his obedience to death, and a full,
perfect, sufficient satisfaction to the
claims of the violated. law be met ; that as
by the disobedience of Adam, judgment passed
upon all men to condemnation, so by the
obedience of Christ;' justification passed
upon all men. Human nature was assumed and
human nature was redeemed, and thus as human
nature only is included in the transaction,
angelic nature, so far as the manifestation
of God in the flesh is concerned, is not
provided for.
The death of the Savior, who in the language
of Revelation, "gave himself a ransom for
us," and who was "the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world," clears up the
mystery connected with the sacrificial
offerings under the law, so far as the design
of those offerings was concerned ; but as it
respects the reason in the divine mind why
there could be " no remission of sin without
the shedding of blood," eternity only can
disclose. The death of Christ was the grand
consummation of the scheme of human
redemption. Here type and shadow were
fulfilled and passed away. Here was the end
of a priesthood ordained to prefigure the
last great sacrifice when the high priest of
the better dispensation would offer up
himself once for all and forever. The last
words of the expiring God-man, "it is
finished," as they sounded out amid the
darkened - heavens, announced the completion
of the great work begun in Eden.
"Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man, the creature's sin.
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