THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 61 THE REFORMATION VIEWED AS THE RESURRECTION OF SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS. BY THE REV. THOMAS M'CRIE, EDINBURGH. THE history of man, as well as of nations, has its seasons of rise and fall-of death and resurrection. There have been periods in the world's history, when the attainments of early ages appear to have been entirely lost sight of; and mankind, reduced to a second childhood, required to be sent back to school to learn the elements of sciences once familiar to them, but now forgotten. The discoveries made in astronomy in the seventeenth century, by Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, were but the revival of old truths, formerly discovered. The real motions of the heavenly bodies were known as early as the age of Pythagoras, who lived nearly six hundred years before Christ, and who, in his turn, had gleaned his information from the priests of Egypt and the Magi of the East. The revival of learning, in the century preceding the Reformation, was occasioned mainly by the republication of the classical writings of antiquity; it was only the re-awakening in other lands of the genius of ancient Greece and Rome. Thus human knowledge, like the ocean, has had its neap tides and its spring tides, its fluxes and its refluxes; and thus it was with religion at the period of the Reformation. It was not a modern religion invented, but an old revived-it was not a birth, but a resurrection. To the common taunt of the Papists, "Where was your religion before Luther?" we might reply, It was buried-buried under the rubbish of Popery-but it was buried alive. For all the blessed purposes which it was designed by its Author to serve, in regard to the world at large, it may be said to have been buried; but the religion itself existed, and was never wholly extinct. It lived in the Bible," the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever"-it lived in the hearts of the pious few who, in the midst of surrounding death and darkness, had caught a glimpse of its saving light through the institutions which had survived the general wreck of Christianity-it lived in the valleys of the Alps, among the primitive Waldenses-it lived even in depth of the cloister, where occasionally the solitary monk found that its "stolen waters were sweet," and its "bread eaten in secret was pleasant;" and where, ultimately, the vital spark lighted upon the heart of the heroic Luther. Thenceforth the mighty heart of Germany was moved, and its pulsations were felt in the remotest regions of Europe. It was by the prayerful and persevering study of the Holy Scriptures, a copy of which he found in his convent, that Luther first acquired those views of divine truth which, gradually exNo. 6. | panding and unfolding as he advanced into the full-formed Gospel of Christ, made him a new man, and ushered him into a new world. And it is with feelings of no common interest that the reader of his life traces the course of this truly great man, from the moment that the truth dawned upon his mind, through the varied incidents of his progress. We dwell with delight on the heroic resistance he made, at the outset of his career, to the profligate sale of indulgences— his triumphant encounter with Tetzel and the Romish doctors. We hang with breathless suspense over his journey to the city of Worms, there to confront the emperor, surrounded by a multitude of princes, nobles, archbishops, bishops, and representatives from almost every kingdom in Europe, such as never, perhaps, convened before-to confront them alone, single-handed and unprotected, except by a safe-conduct which he knew had formerly been basely violated in the case of Huss. We hear him, with undaunted courage, replying to the entreaties of his friends not to enter the city: "Go and tell your master, that though there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs, I would enter it;" and when they said, "They will burn you to ashes, as they did John Huss," replying, with equal firmness, “Though they should make a fire reaching from Worms to Wittemberg, and rising to the sky, I would pass through it in the name of the Lord-I would appear before them-I would enter into the mouth of that Behemoth, and confess the Lord Jesus Christ!" Finally, we rejoice to see him terminating his days in peace, after having been the instrument of imparting to unnumbered thousands the blessings of an opened Bible, a recovered Gospel, and a purified Church. But the pious reader of this wondrous history will be at no loss to discover the real secret of his success. Nothing will he more deeply impressed on his mind than the conviction, that Luther would never have become a Reformer had he not first become a Christian; that the Reformation owed its success to the operation on the hearts of men of those same truths which first convinced Luther that he was a sinner, and laid him, a trembling but hopeful penitent, at the foot of the cross. We have said that Luther found his religion in the Bible; and it was not long before he discovered that, in every vital point, it was at variance with the system of Popery. One by one the abominations of that "mystery of iniApril 4, 1845. Scripture, while the same honour was paid to human traditions? Of what avail to acknow quity" rose into view, until it glared on him in all its monstrous proportions-the Antichrist of Scripture, the Man of Sin, and Son of Per-ledge the Trinity and the divinity of the Saviour, dition. On the other hand, in direct contrast, "the Mystery of Godliness" evolved itself, and the Temple of Truth was seen standing, as the rubbish was removed from it, fresh and fair, in all its beautiful proportions, as it was at the beginning. The discovery filled him with mingled feelings of amazement and delight similar to what, we may suppose, would be experienced by the late discovery of the ancient cities of Herculaneum, which, built in the palmy days of Rome, but buried for ages under the burning lava of Vesuvius, immediately upon removing the rubbish, presented themselves standing entire streets and houses, pillars and porticoes-as they stood at the fatal hour when first entombed in their fiery sepulchre. The Reformation, therefore, was truly what we have represented it-the resurrection of Scripture truths. If we are asked, What Scripture truths were then revived? we might answer with perfect propriety, that the whole of revealed truth, viewed as Scripture truth, was then revived; for the whole may be considered as having been buried with the Scriptures. When once the Pope had succeeded in his blasphemous attempt to substitute his authority in place of that of Holy Scripture, and had withdrawn the Word of God from the sight of men, "exalting himself above all that is called God and that is worshipped," it mattered little, in one respect, what truths materially scriptural were retained under the Papacy. The true foundation of faith was thus moved away; and thenceforth the faith which might be accorded to any scriptural truth rested not on "the power of God," but on " the wisdom of man." The truth might be believed, but it was believed not on the testimony of God, but of man; and of man, too, "sitting in the temple of God," and assuming his prerogatives. Some Protestants have gone so far, in the excess of their charity, as to maintain that, with all her corruptions, the Church of Rome retained all the cardinal truths of Christianity such as the inspiration of Scripture, the Trinity, the divinity of the Saviour, and even the atonement of the cross; and that Popery erred rather in excess than in defect, in requiring men to believe too much-not only to believe in what was revealed, but in more than was revealed. We might well ask, in reply to such representations, Can the blind, implicit faith of the Papist be compared with the enlightened faith of the Protestant?-can faith in the Church be put into the same category with faith in the Word of the living God? But it ought to be remembered, that the truths acknowledged by the Romish Church were all neutralized and nullified by the opposite errors with which they were associated. Of what avail was it to confess the divine authority of while angels and a whole host of saints were exalted to divine honours, and the Virgin Mary extolled much higher than the Son of God! And of what avail to profess the atonement of Christ, when the merit of salvation was shared by him in common with a multiplicity of earthly and heavenly mediators, and ascribed with an equal or not higher degree of confidence to the good works of the sinner himself? Did our Lord speak the more leniently of the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees in his day, because they still professed some regard to Moses and the prophets, or retained some of the institutions of divine worship No; he denounced the practised corruption as subversive of the professed truth: "Woe unto you, for ye have made void the law of God by your traditions." "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." It has been the policy of Popery to retain a substratum, or rather a sprinkling, of truth, in order to give currency to its errors, and a colour to its impostures. It is to the perversion of the Gospel of Christ, indeed, that it owes its success. And well do its interested supporters know how much they have been indebted to it. "How much," said one of the Popes, after receiving a vast sum for indulgences transmitted to Rome from foreign countries, "How much are we indebted to that Galilean!" If we look more closely to those doctrines which directly concern salvation, and which have been called the doctrines of grace, how miserably were they all corrupted under Popery. What a deplorable picture is that drawn by Myconius, a man who was long a monk himself, and subsequently an associate of Luther:"The sufferings and satisfaction of Christ were treated as a vain fable, somewhat like the Odyssey of Homer. On the subject of faith, that grace by which the righteousness of the Saviour is apprehended, and through it the inheritance of life obtained, a profound silence was observed. Jesus Christ was represented as a cruel judge, ready to condemn all who did not avail themselves of the intercessions of the saints, and the indulgences of the Pope. In his place they substituted, in the first place, the Virgin Mary, like the Diana of Paganism, and after her a crowd of saints, the list of whom was daily swelled with new creations by the Popes. To obtain the favour of these deities certain services were exacted-not the duties of the decalogue, but works of merit invented by the priests-acts of the most debasing kind; but such as to bring as much money as possible into their coffers. The people flocked to the convents-those receptacles of debauchery and licentiousness-laden with money and jewels, fowls, eggs, butter, and cheese; and then there might be heard the chanting of prayers and the chiming of bells, strangely mingled with BRIEF NOTICE OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 63 adoration, now became that of its horror and detestation. A statement of those peculiar doctrines of Scripture, which were revived at the Reformation, must be deferred to another paper. the chinking of glasses and the kitchen preparations for revelry; the whole being concluded by the solemn celebration of mass." In opposition to all this perversion and corruption, the Reformers re-asserted the great saving truths of the Gospel of Christ. But the first point which they set themselves to establish, was the sole infallible authority of the Word of God. This BRIEF NOTICE OF JONATHAN EDWARDS. was the primary and fundamental principle of the Reformation. All the subsequent reforms in the doctrine, as well as in the government, ritual, and morals of the Church, may be traced back to the successful establishment and application of this first principle. It is hardly possible, in the present day, to conceive the effect which must have been produced by this elementary truth, so obvious, and yet so long overlooked and borne down. Before this sacred ark of the testament the image of Dagon fell down, and was broken in pieces. Thenceforth the writings of the fathers, the decrees of councils, the bulls and decretals of the Pope, ceased to be regarded as any part of the rule of faith, and every doctrine was brought to the test of" the law and the testimony." - In connection with this, was the right of the Christian people to enjoy the Scriptures in their own language, and to peruse and search them in the free exercise of their private judgment. This invaluable privilege, so long denied them, was speedily obtained. Through the labours of Luther and Melancthon, the Scriptures were translated into German, and the pages of that book which is able to make wise unto salvation were thrown open to the inspection of all. Nor was this all. The preaching of the Gospel -that ordinance of life which had been so long prostituted or laid aside-was revived in all its primitive purity, and attended with almost all its primitive power. The writings of Luther, in which the doctrines of Scripture were simply explained, and the opposite errors boldly condemned, spread with unexampled rapidity; and such was the power of the Word of God, with the energetic principles of which they were impregnated, and to which they owed all their success, that in the course of three years the gigantic system of Popery, the growth of upwards of a thousand years, and raised by pontifical decrees, scholastic subtleties, monkish fables, and regal violence, to the highest pinnacle of power and splendour, began to totter, and in a short time fell into disgrace. As the truth dawned upon the minds of men, they began to see that Popery was neither more nor less than the great Antichrist of Scripture; and that he who sat on the Papal throne was the Man of Sin. This discovery, which Luther himself was slow to make, but which, once made, he was not slow to avow, proved the death-blow of Popery. Faith in the Divine Word, supplanted that which till now had been conceded to the Church alone; and the power of the Pope, long the object of the people's BY REV. JOHN FAIRBAIRN, ALLANTON. JONATHAN EDWARDS was born at East Windsor, U.S., in the year 1703, and was entered a student in Yale College in 1716. Until he entered college his education was conducted under the paternal roof. His father, who was a learned and godly man, devoted a portion of his time and much of his attention to the education of his family, and whilst no branch of useful study taught at the time and place was neglected, very great pains were bestowed by Mr Edwards on their religious training. His zeal, diligence, and prayers, seem to have been abundantly blessed and answered, not only in respect to Jonathan, but also as concerned his other children; from which, and many other like instances, parents should take encouragement to persevere diligently in that most important and responsible branch of their duty-the bringing up of their children in the fear of God. ■ Seckendorff, Hist. Luth., lib. i., p. 4. The industry with which young Edwards entered upon and prosecuted his studies at Yale College, shows that his home education had been of a judicious and solid kind. Nothing could exceed the ardour with which he engaged in the various branches of learning to which his attention was directed. But whilst he made progress in all these, the strong bent of his mind towards abstract and metaphysical pursuits soon discovered itself. It has often been remarked, that where there is a strong bias of mind to any particular pursuit, it will not be long till it manifest itself. The history of many eminent men, in the earlier parts of it, illustrates this and is the record of their struggles, in which they have overcome obstacle after obstacle lying between them and the object of their early and unquenchable aspirations. Many have been surrounded with innumerable difficulties, and overcome them. It was otherwise with Edwards. The circumstances in which he was placed, from his earliest years, were favourable to the nourishment and growth of the most marked peculiarities of his mind. His father's house was the resort of several eminent ministers, where, in their conversations, they gave their views on the most vital and interesting points in theology. At the age of fifteen, he is studying "Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding" with most exact care, and digesting it with a vigorous stomach. It is a rich mine for him. He has more intense pleasure in it than the miser in his moneybags. Having gone through the course of study prescribed at Yale College, he was licensed to preach the Gospel in the year 1722. He in the same year accepted of an invitation to New York, where he laboured, with much acceptance, for eight months. Some account should be given of his state of mind regarding spiritual concerns up till this period in his history. He was brought, at a very early period, under strong religious convictions, which, in the end, resulted in his conversion to godliness. His own account of the progress of divine grace in his mind is the best source from which to draw. "I had a variety," says he, "of concerns and exercises about my soul from my childhood; but I had two more remarkable seasons of awakening before I met with that change by which I was brought to those new dispositions and that new sense of things that I have since had. The first time was when I was a boy, some years before I went to college, at a time of remarkable awakening in my father's congregation. I was then very much affected for many months, and concerned about the things of religion and my soul's salvation, and was abundant in religious duties. I used to pray five times a-day in secret, and to spend much time in religious conversations with other boys, and used to meet with them to pray together. I experienced I know not what kind of delight in religion. My affections seemed to be lively and easily moved, and I seemed to be in my element when engaged in religious duties. And I am ready to think, many are deceived with such affections and such kind of delight as I then had in religion, and mistake it for grace." the inward burnings of my heart had vent. The d lights which I now felt in the things of religion we of an exceeding different kind from those befor mentioned that I had when a boy, and what then? had no more notion of than one born blind has d pleasant and beautiful colours. They were of a me inward, pure, soul-animating, and refreshing natura Those former delights never reached the heart; and did not arise from any sight of the divine excellenc of the things of God, or any taste of the soul-satis fying and life-giving good there is in them." He The eight months during which he remained a He New York, was a precious season to his soul. enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace of mind, and much intimate and sweet communion with God. pursued at great length, and with abundant profit to his own soul, his favourite meditations on the exce lence of the divine character. It was his habit t retire for hours into solitary places, and give himse up to such contemplations, carrying them often t great heights and depths, till his soul was humble and, at the sametime, filled with holy joy. In the years 1722 and 1723 (the nineteenth and twentieth of his age), he drew out the seventy rese Further on in the same record from which the lutions regarding his designs and intentions as to above is extracted, we find the following observa- self-government, so far as God should give him grace tions:-"From my childhood up, my mind had been to perform them; which are well known to all whe full of objections against the doctrine of God's sove- have read his biography. Some of these resolutions reignty in choosing whom he would to eternal life, are in many points of view remarkable, more espe and rejecting whom he pleased—leaving them eter- cially as being formed and expressed by one so young nally to perish, and be everlastingly tormented in They manifest a great reach of thought, a deep inhell. It used to appear a horrible doctrine to me. sight into revealed truth, mature growth in grace, an But I remember the time very well when I seemed entire dedication of himself to God, and an ardent to be convinced and fully satisfied as to this sove- desire after an increase in holiness. They show how reignty of God, and his justice in thus eternally dis- clearly he perceived that conformity to God's will is posing of men according to his sovereign pleasure. the highest state of the creature, and how earnestly But I never could give an account how or by he longed after being made more and more conformwhat means I was thus convinced; not in the least able to it. Of these seventy resolutions, only one imagining at the time, nor for a long time after, that or two shall be quoted at present:-"Being sensible there was any extraordinary influence of God's that I am unable to do anything without God's help, Spirit in it. However, my mind rested in it; and it I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me put an end to all these cavils and objections. And to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable there was a wonderful alteration in my mind, with to his will, for Christ's sake.-Resolved, that I will respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty from do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of that day to this. Absolute sovereignty is what I love God and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the to ascribe to God; but my first conviction was not whole of my duration; without any consideration of After this my sense of divine things gradually the time, whether now or ever so many myriads of increased, and became more and more lively; and had ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think my more of inward sweetness. The appearance of every-duty, and most for the good and advantage of manthing was altered: there seemed to be a calm, sweet kind in general. Resolved so to do, whatever difficast or appearance of divine glory in almost every- culties I meet with, how many soever and how great thing. God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and soever. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, love, seemed to appear in everything: in the sun, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends moon, and stars in the clouds and blue sky-in the to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can grass, flowers, trees-in the water, and all nature; possibly avoid it. Resolved, never to lose one mowhich used greatly to fix my mind. I often used to ment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable sit and view the moon for a long time; and in the way I possibly can. I frequently hear people in old day spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, age say how they would live if they were to live their to behold the sweet glory of God in these things; in lives over again. Resolved, that I will live just so as the meantime singing forth, in a low voice, my con- I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live templations of the Creator and Redeemer. And to old age." scarcely anything, among all the works of nature, was so sweet to me as thunder and lightning; formerly nothing had been so terrible to me. Prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which 80. In 1727, Edwards received a call to Northampton, in which place he faithfully laboured in the Gospel during the period of twenty-four years. For the details of his life and labours at Northampton, reference must be made to more copious biographies. Only dom of professing the faith which he had embraced, one or two particulars can be mentioned here. He he left Paris in company with Matthew Budé and applied himself with great assiduity to his studies, for some time in the house of his countryman, Pedro John Crespin, and went to Geneva, where he resided engaging in them twelve or thirteen hours daily. Gales. Having removed to Strasburg in the beginBeing of a weakly habit of body, such intense appli-ning of the year 1546. his talents and suavity of mancation was prevented from making fatal inroads upon his constitution only by the strictest attention to method in exercise, diet, &c. It has passed into a maxim, that nothing of worth can be accomplished without labour. The experience of every one confirms Scripture in this particular. His labours were greatly acknowledged and blessed by God, to the awakening and conversion of many in Northampton. Symptoms of a revival of religion for sometime manifested themselves, and in 1737 a great revival took place. It extended over the whole town. Every class of citizens was affected. Men talked of nothing but their spiritual concerns. The salvation of their souls became, in their estimation, the “one thing needful." The Gospel triumphed. The work of grace went forward with prosperity. Many were brought to the saving knowledge of the truth. It has been recorded, "that upwards of fifty persons above forty years of age-ten above ninety-nearly thirty between ten and fourteen, and one of four, became, in the view of Mr Edwards, the subjects of the renewing grace of God. More than three hundred persons appeared to become Christians in half a-year; about as many of them males as females." The Lord's arm is not shortened that it cannot save. For the details of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which are full of interest, reference must be had to Edwards' own ners recommended him so strongly to the celebrated Bucer, that he prevailed on the Senate to join the Spanish stranger with himself in a deputation which they were about to send to a conference on the disputed points of religion, to be held at Ratisbon. On Malvenda, whom he had known at Paris, and was going thither, Diaz met with his countryman, Pedro now to confront as an antagonist at the conference. To the pride and religious prejudices of his countrymen, Malvenda added the rudeness of a doctor of the Sorbonne and the insolence of a minion of the court. taken place in his sentiments, he expressed the utWhen informed by Diaz of the change which had most surprise and horror, saying, that the heretics would boast more of making a convert of a single Spaniard than of ten thousand Germans. Having laboured in vain, at different interviews, to reclaim him to the Catholic faith, he laid the matter before the emperor's confessor. It is not known what consultations they had; but a Spaniard named Marquina, who had transactions with them, repaired soon after to Rome, and communicated the facts to a brother of Diaz, Dr Alfonso, who had long held the office of advocate in the Sacred Rota. The pride degree by the intelligence of his brother's defection; and bigotry of Alfonso were inflamed to the highest and taking along with him a suspicious attendant, he set out instantly for Germany, determined, in one way or other, to wipe off the infamy which had fallen on the hitherto spotless honour of his family. In the and knowing the inveteracy with which the Spaniards meantime, alarmed at some expressions of Malvenda, hated such of their countrymen as had become ProNor can we enter on the statement of the circum-testants, Bucer and the other friends of Juan Diaz stances which led to his retirement from Northamp=ton in 1750; which was to him a very painful and severe trial—a dispensation of divine Providence very afflictive, but to which he resigned himself with truly Christian meekness. At Stockbridge, where he resided six years after his departure from Northampton, he engaged in his studies with his usual diligence and untiring delight, till he was chosen President of-professed that the arguments which he had heard New-Jersey College. He had scarcely entered upon the duties of this new office, when he was carried off by death. He died on the 22d of March 1758, in the fifty-fifth year of his age-full of peace and humble resignation to the will of God, resting with assured confidence upon Christ his Saviour. Our space forbids us from saying anything of his works. Nor is it needful. Their excellence is well known. He is the most acute of metaphysicians; one of the most cogent of reasoners; and, at the sametime, one of the most thoroughly practical of all divines. account of it. POPISH FANATICISM-ITS CRUELTY. A STORY OF THE REFORMATION. JUAN DIAZ, a native of Cuenca, after he had studied for several years at Paris, was converted to the Protestant religion by the private instructions of Jayme Enzinas. Being liberally educated, he had, previously to that event, conceived a disgust at the scholastic theology, and made himself master of the Hebrew language, that he might study the Bible in the original. With the view of enjoying the free had prevailed upon him to retire for a season to Neuburg, a small town in Bavaria situated on the Danube. On arriving at Ratisbon, Alfonso succeeded in discovering the place of his brother's retreat, and after consulting with Malvenda, repaired to Neuburg. By every art of persuasion, he sought during several days to bring back his brother to the Church of Rome. Disappointed in this, he altered his method had shaken his confidence, and listened with apparent explained to him the Protestant doctrines, and the eagerness and satisfaction to his brother while he passages of Scripture on which they rested. Finding Juan delighted with this unexpected change, he proposed that he should accompany him to Italy, where there was a greater field of usefulness in disseminating the doctrines of the Gospel than in Germany, labourers. The guileless Juan promised to think which was already provided with an abundance of seriously on this proposal, which he submitted to the judgment of his Protestant friends. They were unanimously of opinion that he should reject it; and in particular Ochino, who had lately fled from Italy, and was then at Augsburg, pointed out the danger and hopeless nature of the project. Alfonso did not yet desist. He insisted that his brother should accompany him at least as far as Augsburg, promising to acquiesce in the decision which Ochino should pronounce, after they had conversed with him on the subject. His request appeared so reasonable that Juan agreed to it; but he was prevented from going by the arrival of Bucer and two other friends, who, having finished their business at Ratisbon, and fearing that Juan Diaz might be induced to act contrary to their late advice, had agreed to pay him a visit. Concealing the chagrin which he felt at this unex |
