A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CURIOUS AND SINGULAR.* FROM THE TENTH EDITION. Curious. FRIEND Singular, how and where have you been for a long time? Singular. If you are CURIOUS to know, I have been in different parts, and striving through grace to do as well as I could. C. That is well, but it is a great thing for one to say he does as he ought. S. True-but nevertheless we should act at all times, and on all occasions, as in the immediate presence of God-as the ship on the Ocean, let the course of the wind be as it may, the ship's head is aimed for the port of destination, so we should conduct for Eternity, as one who must give account. C. What makes you so Singular in your looks, dress and conduct, from every body else? S. As it relates to my looks, no two persons are exactly alike. And even your looks are peculiar to yourself, and no one is just like you. And as it relates to dress, if your's were flung into an heap with others, you could pick out your own from all the rest-and with regard to singularity, I am conscious I am never singular, merely for singularity sake. C. Why do you act and travel in the manner that you do. What are your motives and reasons for so doing? S. My motives are the glory of God in the salvation of immortal souls! My reasons are a consciousness of duty to my God and my fellow mortals for I wish for peace of mind! C. Do you suppose that all mankind are in the wrong, and none are right but you? S. I suppose many are right in many things, and all are liable to err-some are more right than others. And as it relates to myself, no These Dialogues are founded upon circumstantial facts. man should be our pattern further than he follows Christ. Also proper behavior should vary according to times and circumstances. C. Then I suppose you conclude you are the most right; and how is it that none have found out so right a way before? S. We are given to understand that there are various gifts in the Christian Church; and yet all by the same Spirit-and every man in his own order, at the coming of Christ. Of course we should have the spirit of our station in the Church of Christ. And this sphere of action I believe to be mine; in it, God gives me inward peace; out of it, I believe I should lose my usefulness to others. C. Then you are for an inspired ministry, and a Spiritual Church. What do you think of all the religious societies; are not some of these the Church of Christ?' S. To style one sect, the Church of Christ,' is to save that party at the expense of all the rest; and of course savors of religious bigotry, tyranny and superstition; as the preceding ages have horribly exemplified. Whereas the Book of Truth informs us, that 'God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him,' and shall join in the song of salvation, with the society above, out of every nation, kindred, tongue, language and people;' of course there may be bad and good people among all sects. C. Suppose all Christians should do like you, there would be no form or order in the world; and of course, confusion would come in at the door. S. To say if all should do like me,' you might as well say on the same principle, where would be the Carpenters if all were Blacksmiths? It is no just mode of reasoning. As the different branches of mechanism are necessary for society, so these different gifts are necessary, as the eye, hand and foot, &c., to constitute one perfect body. As the whole is composed of parts, and the parts collectively form one whole. As to confusion-what is termed confusion with and by men, may be order with God, who sees not as men see. C. What do you believe and preach? * It being both idolatry and blasphemy to give Divine honors to a mere creature, Jesus Christ must be viewed in a more noble light. Eternity, Immensity and Infinity, are words we have heard and can repeat; but who can fix any definite meaning to them? Though they are in common use, yet they not to be applied any where else; for they cannot be are words fit only to be applied to the Deity, and ought otherwise used without palpable absurdities, and nonsensical contradictions. And such abuses have too long been existing in the world already! An Infinite, Eternal Being of Immensity! Who or what can man know of HIM, the CAUSELESS CAUSATOR, but by Revelation, Inspiration or Manifestation? How can man worship his Maker with his understand ing, provided he be in the darkness of ignorance, so far, as neither to know nor understand any thing about it? The world by wisdom know not their Maker. He is a Spirit, and is spiritually discerned. What man know eth the things of man, save the spirit of a man which is within him? And how shall a man know the mind and will of his Maker, but by Revelation. If the Maker of man be a spirit, how shall His will be revealed, so as to be understood but by Inspiration? Should his voice be heard from the sky, over the whole world, who could bear the sound? The clash of ten thousand pieces of artillery redoubled, would be comparative silence Well might the Jews at Mount Sinai request Moses should speak to them, the voice of the Lord being so dreadful in their ears. The human family is so numerous, and their cases so many and so various; and their languages so different-as twenty in New Orleans -hence there could not any thing be heard distinctly, but all would be nonsense and confusion. Hence the tender care and goodness of God the Maker and Governor, over man his creature; in sending the influence of his Holy Spirit, to operate upon the mind and guide man upon the road to Jerusalem; so that without terror he may be enlightened to understand his Maker's will, and inspired with evidence and conviction on the all important subject. but was termed 'Jehovah,' which name the Jews consider The Angel of the Covenant, was not a created angel; as implying all the Divine attributes; and therefore will not speak it, lest it should not be done with suitable rev. erence, and so take this majestic name in vain, and not be guiltless. And hence they will write it only. The word 'Lord, printed in small capitals in the Old Testament, should be Jehovah; which the Jews understood to imply the Divinity of the Messiah, to be mani fested in the world as the Saviour of men. Whatsoever God, the Causeless Causator, does-it is done in and through Jehovah-the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called the Son of God. Thus, He existed in the beginning as the word. 'I AM ;' God hath appointed Him heir of all things-by Whom He made the worlds-by him all things were made, and without him was not any thing made that was made. Man was in the hand of Christ before Moral Evil' was in the world. And when man fell he still was in the hand of Christ, who called unto him in the cool of the day, which exhibits the beauty of those words,-' God so loved the world, that He sent His Son into the world, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.' Hence, 'We love God, because He first loved us. No man knoweth the Father save the son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.' Christ is the manifestation of God, through and from C. Do you feel willing to depend your everlasting welfare on Jesus Christ. S. To see one malefactor put confidence in !! another, who is under the same condemnation, to save him, exhibits great faith; and also a noble opinion, as exemplified in the instance of Calvary. To trust in a creature to save me, I cannot; but to trust in Christ, according to the Gospel, gives me peace, and brightens up the prospects of eternity before me. C. But supposing Christ was a deceiver? then he was only an impostor, and of course you are under a delusion. S. The worst of opposers to Christianity admit that Christ, as man, was a great man, of If so he was no impostor. Therefore, accordCourse no real good man will be a deceiver. ing to this admittance, his religion may be ge nuine and real. Again, it is too uncharitable to suppose and conclude, that all who have died so happy and triumphant in the love and religion of Jesus Christ were under a delusion. And if it be once admitted that it was a reality with even but one instance, the point is gained. C. How do you know that there ever was such a person as Jesus Christ upon earth? Also, S. Observe the account of Josephus, of Pilate to the Senate of Rome, our dates, with other historians, as well as Scripture. the many circumstantial proofs, as the letters of Pliny to Trajan, which Christian opposers admit to be genuine; with the many efforts made to root out Christianity from the earth in vain! Christianity has, does, and will prevail.* C. Admitting that Jesus Christ did exist, and was a good man, yet the resurrection may be fabulous, and Christianity of course a deception. S. On the resurrection and ascension of Je was entombed and missing, all agree. sus Christ, turns the whole affair. The body C. The body of Christ being gone from the vault, possibly he played the possum, and only feigned himself to be dead, and deceived them, and at night made his escape; and hence a false report was circulated that he was risen from the dead. S. Nay, such talk will never do! Consider the loss of blood from the thorns, the scourge and nails, &c. These wounds so long undressed must have terminated in dissolution. Again, the orders were to break his legs; but whom the Holy Spirit proceeds, to enlighten by his quickening influence, and guide, comfort and sanctify mankind. Thus there is an inward manifestation, by a revelation of Christ in the heart, corresponding to the outward manifestation given in the days of His flesh! And it is not possible that any man should sincerely pray to God to be taught by Him, and if He hath a Son, to reveal Him, in his heart, and not find a solution of the query to his own satisfaction. * There is Divine witness in my own soul. was not in the vault seventy-two common hours. S. We should not contend for words, but seek for facts, of course take people as they mean. The Jews did not divide time as we do, into twenty-four hours; but the daylight into twelve hours, and the night into watches. Our time begins and ends at midnight, but the Jews at sunset. The evening and morning was the first day. Any circumstance which we express by day, or include any part of what we call the twenty-four hours, their mode of expression included the day and night. The body was entombed before sunset on our Friday, continued there on the Jew when they saw he was dead, forbore to obey, lest they should be exposed to ridicule for breaking the legs of a dead man to prevent him from running away. And yet to put it beyond all doubt that Christ was dead, one of them up with a spear and run it through His heart; which puts it beyond all dispute He was really dead. Moreover, consider for a moment, a cell or prison hewed out in the centre of a rock, and there in prison confined, with a stone door, so large and weighty that three females thought they could not roll it away: and this door confined and sealed: and also a military guard placed to keep the same with all safety, and if any thing was amiss, must pay the forfeit with their lives! Hence it is ob-ish Sabbath, (our Saturday) which ended at vious the natural impossibility of such deception, imposition and escape. C. But the Apostles stole the body of Jesus Christ, and hid it, and then propagated a lie, that it was risen and ascended. S. It was naturally impossible for such a thing to exist, if we, in conjunction with the foregoing circumstances, consider that the apostles could have no access to the vault; second, no temptation to steal the body; third, they were not monied men to bribe the guard; fourth, though an individual may be bribed, yet I do not recollect to have read or heard of a whole guard being bribed; fifth, it was death under the Roman law, to sleep on guard; sixth, if the guard had been sleepy, the natural conclusion is, they would have set or lain on the stone door, or contiguous to it, so that no one could approach without giving alarm. Now for the seal to be broke, and the stone removed, without waking the soldiers when in such heaps and piles, would argue an unnatural sleep, and of course a miracle. Therefore, to obviate the idea of one miracle on one side, you must admit and argue one on the other side; of course your argument proves too much, like the Indian's tree; it was so straight it leaned a little over the other way. What is a miracle, but something unnatural, providentially? C. But the vault was undermined by the Apostles, and the body taken away through a subterraneous passage? S. Nay, but it would have taken a longer space of time to undermine the vault by digging through a rock, than the space of time the body was in the tomb. C. Some other body arose, and not the body of Christ. S. Nay, for man before was never there entombed, of course none could arise therefrom but the body of Christ. C. The account contradicts itself: "For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth," whereas he sunset; the third day had commenced before the body arose. Therefore, take their meaning, according to their mode of expression and the account will hold good, and of course may be received and held as sacred truth. C. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ be real, who saw him after he arose? S. The apostle and hundreds of others. C. If faith in his ascension be so necessary for salvation, why do we not have better proof thereof than the say-so of a few poor fishermen ? S. A fisherman can tell the truth as well as any one else, and of course relate what he saw. Reasonable evidence should be considered and received as proof to a reasonable mind. Therefore, if in the most consequential cases, even between life and death, two or three substantial witnesses where there is no evidence to the reverse, is considered sufficient; then the evidence of the fishermen may be credited as reasonable and proper testimony. C. They did not believe their own testimony, and of course were not sincere. S. Look at the circumstance impartially. They could not be prompted by either honor or lucre to bear such testimony, but to the reverse; their personal safety would be in jeopardy thereby. The only reason they assigned for their testimony was duty; and they evinced their sincerity therein by perseverance, and sealing the same with their blood. What greater evidence can we desire? C. Why did not Christ ascend in the view of all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and so have city testimony, instead of a few indivi duals? S. Admitting he had ascended in the view of the people of Jerusalem, that would not have mended the matter, for the people of Rome, who then exceeded three millions, might have made the same objection; 'Jews we know to be deceitful, why receive it only in their say-so? And if all people then living had beheld the sight, we were not living, and of course we might make the same ob jection. Why receive it on the say-so and tradition of our forefathers; why were we not favored with the sight? Thus to satisfy an unreasonable mind, Christ must come a second time, to die, rise, and ascend, and then you might upbraid God with cruelty to his son. Thus the objection leads to error, being only founded in error, and of course is an unreasonable objection, and plead for but by unreaable men. There is not a circumstance of antiquity so well authenticated and substantiated with concomitant circumstances, as the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ-of course, if we are not to give credit to the same, we must bid adieu to every thing which we have not personally sensible evidence of!! C. What do you think about the covenant made between the Father and the Son from all eternity? S. From, implies a starting place; as the American Independence was dated FROM the year 1776, so of course, if your covenant (which is not to be found in Scripture) be from eternity, then eternity is to be dated from the time of the making that contract or bargain in which God, you say, gives the major part of mankind to Satan, and only leaves a few for his Son-C. What next? S. Moral Evil, Moral Good, accidental (or providential) evil, accidental (or providential) good, natural evil, natural good?-C. What is the difference? S. Moral Good implies good motives-a pure intention to do good only-here is virtue in the mind! Moral evil, evil motives, an intention to do wrong to commit that which is not agreeable to right rectitude; but repugnant to equity and the law of righteousness, by following the inclination contrary to the dictates of a better judgment. Accidental evil-evil consequences unforeseen, and unavoidable; of course, can be accounted for only on the doctrine of Providence; is there any evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? Not sin, but affliction and calamities, &c. Accidental good, which can be ascribed only to a superintending Providence, as exemplified in the instance of Joseph. Moral evil in them, but Providential good resulted to him. ALL ye who love and trust in God, be resigned, remembering it is written, In all thy ways acknowledge thou him and he shall sustain thee. For thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on thee.' GOD. 'Natural good,' good comparatively, as the difference of dispositions, &c. Some dispositions are more sweet, even, and agreeable than others. Not that one is more holy by nature than another, for all are alike by na- | ture fallen; but the difference of disposition is rather arising or occasioned by the various differences of connection between the soul and body, effects produced from parental sensations. Natural evil,' such evil as will accrue or follow us whether we be good or bad, not as the effect of our own conduct, but the necessary consequence of the fall, as head-ache. tooth-ache, &c. In children, some things which some call sin, is only natural evil, but not moral evil, until they come to mature years to act from motives, and are capable of reflection for themselves. C. What about the doctrine of Justification? · S. There are four distinct justifications.* spoken of in Scripture.-C. What are the differences? S. The first is Infantile justification-acquittance from Adamic guilt by the gift or merit of Christ. The second, Adult justification by Faith, i. e. acquittance from the guilt and condemnation of personal sin: third, justification by Faith and works together, after pardon. Fourth, Justification by works in the day of Judgment, without faith, but only as the evidence, or fruits of it; as every man is to be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body-evil deeds, moral evil, will, have a bad reward; but good deeds, moral good, (flowing from the love of God, throngh faith, which purifies the heart in this life.) shall there and then in the day of judgment have a good reward, for God hath appointed a day to judge the world in righteousness, by' Jesus Christ. Thus by Christ, God was pleased to create the world; and secondly, by Christ to redeem the world; and thirdly, by Christ to judge the world in righteousness. And shall not the judge of all the earth do right.' Compare Heb. i. 2. John i. 3. with iii. 16. 17. Acts xvii. 31. C. What state are infants in by nature? Pure as Adam when he came from the hand of his Creator, or as graceless as devils? S. Neither; Adam was made, or created in the image of God, he lost it by sin; of course if restored it must be by divine inspiration, or infusion; all who have divine nature, must receive it by inspiration-Man is but a man he can propagate his own species only-he cannot propagate Divinity, any more than a stream can rise higher than its fountain, or an effect be more noble than the cause which produced it; for holiness is not an inherent principle of parentage, but is derived from God only. Devils receive no favors from the hand of God, which cannot be said in truth of infants : but as judgment came upon all men to con "Justification" signifies acquittance with approbation demnation, by the disobedience of one; even so the free gift came upon all men to justification of life, by the obedience of one, Christ Jesus.' Rom. v. 18. C. What about Justification by Faith? S. We no where read about the robes of Christ's imputed righteousness, in all the Bible; of course, it can be found only in the imagination of those who talk and tell about a Covenant made between the Father and the Son from all Eternity,' as if they were there present, and heard the bargain made, and was a personal witness to the affair. We read that Abraham believed God,' and his faith was counted or imputed to him for righteousness. milling stalks one day, he would give him a thousand dollars,' he cannot say he has merited the thousand dollars, for he has not earned it, therefore he will not claim it on the principle of his own merit, but by the other's grace and promise! Therefore we are not to sit on the stool of Do-nothing,' but up and do the will of God, for, 'Blessed are they who do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.' All we have, we received, of course we owe the whole; therefore we have nothing that we can call our own, consequently after we have done all, we cannot bring God into debt. Hence we must say, we are unprofitable servants; because we can do no more than is our duty to do C. What about justification by faith and works after pardon? Here observe, God spoke to Abraham—it was Abraham's duty to give credit to the Divine testimony. Abraham did so, and acted consonant therewith; this act of Faith (which was an act of the mind) was right, and Abraham was justified in it; his faith, i. e. the act was counted or imputed to him for righteous-nity, so we should act the part of the good Saness! C. Why was the act imputed to him for righteousness? S. Because the principle and ACT were right, and it was the lowest and only act that he could do that was right, in consequence of the fall; he is liable to mistake in judgment, and from thence to err in practice. Therefore by the deeds of the Paradisical Law shall no flesh be justified; that it may be by Grace through Faith. And hence the Law of FAITH' is fitted to man's necessity. Christ as the meritorious cause of man's Redemption, but Faith the instrumental cause of man's salvation. So God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth; as the equitable Ruler and Governor of the world, who judgeth in righteousness. Rom. v. 1 to 4. C. Have we any account of any more being justified by faith? S. Yes. Rom. v. 1. Being justified by faith; we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' C. Why need an adult be justified by faith? S. Because he hath forfeited his infantile justification, by his own personal sin, by not acting and obeying at all times the light of grace. C. How am I to be justified by faith? S. Submit to the righteousness of God, for in the act of submission there is dependence implied, and where there is dependence there is reliance, and where there is reliance there hope springs up, as the fruit or effects of faith. S. We must prove our faith and love to Christ by keeping his commandments, and walking in the light, the duty to our fellow mortals according to our ability and opportu maritan, doing as we would be done byalso, suffer, as well as do the will of God; and thus, by works shall faith be made perfect,' and 'a cup of cold water, given in the name of shall in no wise lose its reward. A man who hath a wife like Peter, and is called to preach, must undertake it by faith, the practice is work-thus his works flow from faith, as all Christian works should do, and we should then be justified in them; as Christ said, no man hath forsaken houses, Wife,' &c. for my sake and the gospel, but he shall receive an hundred fold (i. e. ten thousand per cent.) in this present world, beside the promise of the life to come. Thus he is Justified by works, and not by faith only,' James ii. 24--and so, 'He that endureth to the end shall be savel,' saith the Lord Jesus. C. What about Justification by Works in the day of Judgment without faith, but only as the evidence or fruits of it? S. Matt. xii. 36, 37. We are given to understand, that for every idle word, man must give an account thereof in the Day of Judgment,' and by thy words thou shalt be JUSTIFIED, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned!! It is no where said in all the Bible, that faith shall be called in question in the day of Judgment, but only our deeds, works, &c. Therefore our own past sins must be pardoned, and after pardon our conduct flowing from the Love of God, will meet the Divine approbation. Thus the moving princi ple being good, the conduct flowing from it is good, hence the Judge will say, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the S. If one should tell another to pull up joy of thy Lord.' But remember, the Judge C. Am I to merit salvation by my own works? or shall I sit on the stool of Do nothing? |