The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets Part 14

The Confessions of the Waldenses were approved by Luther and the other Reformers. Luther published them in 1533, with a preface.

But the Creed called the Apostles', which the Waldenses in their first article adopt, expressly ascribes the work of creation to the Father: "I believe in G.o.d the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord." Probably this formula should not be dated so early as the first, or even the second century. The Creed called the Nicene, which was in 325 adopted by the Council of Nice in opposition to the Gnostics, the Judaizers, and the heresy of Arius, comprises various terms explanatory of the views then held concerning the Son, while it speaks of the Father as the maker of all things. "We believe in one G.o.d, _the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible_. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, the only begotten: begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father. G.o.d of G.o.d; Light of Light; true G.o.d of true G.o.d; begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father," &c.

The Second General Council, which was held at Constantinople in 383, determined that the Nicene Creed should be the standard of orthodoxy.

This creed continued to be held by the Roman Catholic Church, and was adopted and still continues in use by the Protestant Episcopal Churches both of Great Britain and this country.

Probably the phraseology both of the Nicene and the Apostles' Creed, in respect to the ascription of the works of creation _to G.o.d the Father_, having been adopted and followed by all succeeding writers of authority, was received and acquiesced in by all the Reformers and the different Protestant denominations, and thus, coinciding essentially with the Talmudists and Rabbinical Doctors, was in every way sanctioned and commended as an example to our translators.

In the Confession of Faith and Catechism of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and that of this country, there is indeed, in respect to the subject under consideration, a less exact copy than in earlier Confessions of the phraseology of the Nicene formula. The work of creation is, however, in no respect ascribed to the Mediator personally.

The doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son is very distinctly avowed; and the works of creation are ascribed to G.o.d, though not with any restricted reference to the Father, as distinguished from the other Persons.

These brief references may serve to show that the ascription of the work of creation by some to the Father, in such a manner as to indicate that it is his personally, and by others to the Deity, in distinction from the delegated official Person and work of the Mediator, owed its origin primarily to the nature of the heresies and controversies by which the Church was agitated, and the methods of the orthodox in defending the doctrines of the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ, against the Judaizers, the Gnostics, the Arians, and others; and was handed down in their treatises and creeds from one age to another. In the same way the doctrine of _eternal_ generation, and all the phraseology in the Nicene Creed, for example, respecting the Son, which is not to be found in like terms in the Holy Scriptures, appears to have arisen. And it is to be observed that, in close connection with these opinions as adopted by Protestants, is the doctrine that the personal and official work of the Mediator had respect only to the redemption of man, and commenced in personal acts not till his appearance incarnate.

In view of the origin, nature, and tendency of the heresies above referred to, their extended influence, and the manner in which they were controverted, one can hardly avoid the conclusion, that the order of Divine instruction in the most essential particulars was inverted, by the a.s.sumption of some and the acquiescence therein of others, that the Old Testament revealed only the one invisible Deity absolutely considered, as the Creator and Governor of the world, whose oneness or unity was so regarded by one cla.s.s as to preclude the idea of any personal distinction in the G.o.dhead; and so regarded by many others, who held both the unity and the distinction of Persons, as to lead them, irrespective of that distinction, to ascribe the works of creation and providence to the one Supreme Deity, or to the Father.

Of the cla.s.s first above mentioned were the Jews at the period of the Incarnation. They therefore opposed and rejected the Messiah, on account of his Divine pretensions, making himself a distinct Person of the G.o.dhead, equal with G.o.d. They looked not for a Messiah of such a character, nor for deliverance from sin through faith in his vicarious sufferings, nor for a salvation which was to be extended to the Gentiles. They held to justification by their ritual services and obedience to the law of Moses, and desired only a Messiah or leader who should deliver them from temporal evils.

There were, at that period, considerable numbers of Jews resident in the several provinces of the Roman empire, who, following the early examples of their kindred in Judea, opposed and persecuted those who believed in the Divinity of Jesus the crucified, as the true Messiah. At the same time they professed the utmost zeal for the doctrine of the Unity, and for the exclusive wors.h.i.+p of the one Supreme Deity, and a.s.sociated their rejection of the gospel and its Author with their vehement opposition to idolatry. As the preaching of the gospel was extended from Jerusalem to the provinces, many Jews professed to receive it, who, retaining their former religious opinions and prejudices, and setting up to be preachers, endeavored to subvert the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and to subject the converts, real and nominal, to their notions of Judaism and of the ritual of Moses. These Judaizing teachers still insisted on justification by the works of the law, held firmly to their national prejudices, exclusive privileges, and hatred of the Gentiles, and to fortify themselves, joined with those Gentile heretics whose errors were consistent with their own.

The Jews themselves far exceeded all others in opposing the doctrines of the gospel, and persecuting those who embraced them. "Other nations,"

says Justin Martyr to Trypho, [A. D. 115 or 120,] "are not so culpable for the injury that is done to us and to Christ himself, as you, who first caused them to entertain so great a prejudice against that Just One, and us his disciples and followers. For after you had crucified him who alone was unblamable and just, by whose stripes they are healed who come unto the Father by him; after ye knew that he was risen from the dead and ascended up into heaven, as the ancient prophecies foretold concerning him; ye were so far from repenting of those evil deeds which ye have committed, that even then _ye dispatched from Jerusalem, into all countries, select missionaries, to inform them that the impious sect of Christians, lately sprung up, wors.h.i.+pped no G.o.d_; and to spread abroad those false and scandalous reproaches which all that are unacquainted with us and our religion do even to this day lay to our charge." Brown's Version, sec. 17. The Jews denounced the Christians as atheists, because they wors.h.i.+pped the Christ as G.o.d, instead of restricting their homage to Him whom they regarded as the one Supreme, invisible Creator.

Under the influence so widely diffused from this source, and that of the heresies above referred to, the Church pa.s.sed into the dark cloud of Popish superst.i.tion, ignorance, and imposture. The era of inspiration and miracles had pa.s.sed. The idolatrous forms of paganism were transferred from the heathen to the so-called Christian temples. The theory of religion then, combining elements from Judaism, Oriental philosophy, Paganism, and Christianity, was practically accommodated to the heart of man in his natural state. Modes of interpretation were introduced, by which truth, so far as it was admitted, was made to serve all the ends and purposes of error. The Popish system, for example, while it retains, in terms, the doctrine of the Trinity, denies all those collateral and dependent truths which render that doctrine of any value in the affair of man's salvation. It allows the Divinity of Jesus Christ, but supersedes him in respect to his sacerdotal and regal offices, and in effect denies his personality. In place of his atonement, it subst.i.tutes the Ma.s.s. To supersede or obviate his personal mediation, it offers, like Paganism, a thousand creature mediators. To nullify his personality, and the admission of his Divinity, it professes even to create him.

The subjects of controversy to which these heresies gave rise were such as, under the influence of certain controlling circ.u.mstances, unavoidably to change or modify the faith, in respect to some doctrines, of those who continued to be in the main evangelical. The circ.u.mstances referred to resulted from the nationalization of the Church, the a.s.sumption by the civil power of legislative authority over its doctrines and all its concerns, and the consequent prescription, under the severest penalties, of entire uniformity of faith and wors.h.i.+p.

Hence, when heresies arose and spread, Councils were called to suppress them, and to prescribe the rule of faith which was to be enforced. Their determinations, of course, must be in conformity not only with the opinions of a majority of those convened, but with the sentiments of the reigning emperor. Whenever he and the majority of those summoned to a Council were inclined to Arianism, image wors.h.i.+p, and the like, those who held the primitive faith had to choose between a surrender of their principles and deposition, banishment, or death. The tendency of this course of things to drive the true confessors of Christ into the wilderness, and to induce the best of those who remained in the so-called Catholic Church to dissemble, and to adopt the sentiments and phraseology of those whom they deemed to be in error, is too apparent to require any ill.u.s.tration.

Now those controversies from the first with the Gnostics, the Cerinthians, Valentinians, Monarchians, Sabellians, Manichaeans, Arians, and various others, related to the character of the Supreme Being, the Creator; the mode of Divine existence; the Trinity; the Person of Christ; and topics intimately connected with these. The changes and modifications of phraseology and sentiment which, for the sake of unity, or for other reasons, the more evangelical adopted, as in the Nicene Creed and in their theological writings, were regularly handed down to the period of the Reformation. These writings were studied, and had their influence with the Reformers, on their receding from the corruptions of Popery.

In this way, a departure in some things from the patriarchal, the early Jewish and the primitive Christian faith, is believed to have taken place; particularly in the omission to ascribe the works of creation and providence to the Christ, in his delegated personal character as Mediator, and ascribing those works to the Father; and in adopting the sentiments that the mediatorial work commenced after the fall, and had for its sole object the salvation of men, and that his second coming and reign would not be personal and visible, but only spiritual, at least not until the final judgment and consummation of all things.

The first of these errors--that of ascribing the creation to the Father personally, or to the invisible Deity, irrespective of any distinction of Persons in the G.o.dhead--is to be traced back in the line of the Jews to the period of the Babylonish exile, and to the influences and state of mind under which they renounced idolatry, and with it the entire doctrine of mediation, and all belief in a divine, atoning, and interceding Messiah; and, obscuring by their traditions and glosses, or wholly rejecting, those prophecies which relate to the first advent and sufferings of the Saviour, looked for a human deliverer and temporal chief, a king to resume the throne of David, in those predictions of the second advent which indicate a period of universal peace and happiness.

The Jews, previously to their exile, had both in respect to their knowledge of divine things and their practice, greatly degenerated. They had long been addicted to idolatry. They had rejected their Divine Protector and King, and yielded themselves to the false notions and corrupt practices of the heathen. The Divine presence and favor were withdrawn. They were afflicted and driven out of their country.

Prophets were sent to instruct, admonish, and encourage them; but they refused to hear, being hardened and blinded in unbelief. They regarded the G.o.d of Abraham, the Jehovah who led them out of Egypt, and, in the Shekina, presided over their nation, either as having become their enemy, or as having withdrawn from them for ever. Under these circ.u.mstances, there is ground to conclude that they willingly settled down in the notion of a Supreme Creator, invisible, far removed from the concerns of mortals, and indifferent or inattentive to them. On abandoning the forms of idolatry, and rejecting the pretended mediators of idolatrous wors.h.i.+p, while yet continuing impenitent, and maintaining a proud and haughty spirit as Jews, though now depressed, and apparently abandoned of G.o.d; they are believed to have banished from their minds all near apprehensions of the Divine Being, and all ideas of a Divine Mediator, and to have taken refuge in the abstract notion of a Supreme Creator, who, though no longer regarded as their covenant G.o.d and present protector, had promised a leader, a Messiah, who should deliver them from their temporal calamities.

Such is believed to have been their state of mind at the close of their exile; such the change attending their renunciation of idolatry; and that the error and defect in question, respecting the teachings of the Old Testament, had its source with them. Their sentiments and state of mind having been perpetuated down to the period of the Advent, were propagated afterwards in the manner above referred to.

There was, indeed, a partial, outward reformation under Nehemiah, after the return from Babylon, and the temple service was resumed; but the Shekina did not reappear, and there was no general or lasting change amongst the people. The Chaldee expositors, and afterwards the paraphrasts, labored to revive and perpetuate the lost meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures; but though a few, a remnant, of such as rightly apprehended and truly feared Jehovah were preserved and perpetuated, the theology and religion of the nation generally underwent no important change for the better.

The foregoing considerations may suffice to show how it has happened that the Old Testament has, both by Jews and Christians, so long and so generally been understood to ascribe the works of creation and providence, not to the Mediator, but to the Father, or to the Deity, irrespective of any personal or official distinctions.

That this error, and others intimately a.s.sociated with it, respecting the person and work of Christ, should have arisen and been perpetuated in the manner specified, cannot reasonably be regarded with surprise.

The nature of the case, and the lights of the intervening history, are at war with the supposition that the true doctrines upon these subjects, concerning which the governments, hierarchies, and people of the whole heathen world were in utter darkness and error, were preserved by the Jews after their return from Babylon, and after their rejection of Christ, and by the apostate hierarchy of the Romish system imbued with the spirit and degenerated to the level of Paganism, in all but the name. If, as is notorious, they did not truly teach the doctrines of Scripture upon other subjects, least of all can it be believed that they taught the truth concerning these.

NOTE. Concerning the Work of Creation and its completion at one Epoch.

It is clear from Colossians, chap. i., that the work of creation, there and elsewhere ascribed to the Christ, included the invisible as well as the visible worlds and all creatures; that they were called into existence by him and for him, for the purposes he was to execute and the ends which were to be accomplished by him. He is accordingly referred to as upholding and governing all things, as having all power in heaven and earth, as heir and Lord of all. Angels, princ.i.p.alities and powers are subject to him; and to him in his official character (as visibly manifested "the Son of Man") all judgment is committed.

Now these comprehensive ascriptions to him in his delegated character, and in express connection with his work as Mediator and Redeemer, as in the pa.s.sage above referred to, and in Heb. i., render it preposterous to suppose that worlds and creatures invisible to us, or any portion of the works of creation, were brought into existence prior to that creation which is described in the Mosaic narrative. For if they were, what conceivable connection or relation could they have had with his person or character as Redeemer, Messiah, G.o.d-man? Did he sustain that official character or exercise any of its offices ages prior to the creation of man?

In _the beginning_ He created the heavens and the earth. Gen. i. He was in _the beginning_; all things were made by him. John i. In _the beginning_ he laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of his hands. Heb. i. In six days he made _the_ heavens and the earth. Exodus xx. But if the phrase "in the beginning," so frequently employed in this connection, marks the epoch of the creation of the heavens, it refers that of the earth to the same epoch. The "all things"

doubtless include the invisible as well as the visible worlds, and the foundations of the earth were laid _in the beginning_. "Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the sea and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven wors.h.i.+ppeth thee." Neh. ix.

7. "The heaven and the heaven of heavens is Jehovah's, the earth also with all that therein is." Deut. x. 14. In these and all similar connections, as Gen. i. 1: Exod. xx. 11, where the Hebrew word is in the plural form, _heavens_, the universe of worlds visible and invisible is meant. To preclude all doubt of this comprehensive reference, Moses and Nehemiah, both having occasion to guard against the pretensions of idolatry, employ the phrase, heaven of heavens.

Accordingly, wherever the work of creation is mentioned, whether distinctively as the work of Jehovah, or historically, as including all worlds, the plural word, _the_ heavens, is employed, and put in contrast with _the_ earth. "Thus," at the close of the six days, "the _heavens and the earth_ were finished, and all the host of them." Gen. ii. 1.

"These are the generations of _the heavens_ and of _the earth_ when they were created, in _the day_ that the Lord G.o.d made the earth and the heavens." Gen. ii. 4. "Thus saith G.o.d the Lord, he that created _the heavens_ and stretched them out, he that spread forth _the earth_, and that which cometh out of it." Isaiah xlii. 5. "Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee: I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth _the heavens_ alone, that spreadeth abroad _the earth_ by myself." Isaiah xliv. 24. "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his maker, ... I have made _the earth_ and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched forth _the heavens_, and all their hosts have I commanded." Ibid. xlv. 12. "Thus saith the Lord that created _the heavens_; G.o.d himself that formed the earth and made it; he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none else." Ibid. xlv. 18. "The Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth _the heavens_ and laid the foundations of the earth."

Ibid. li. 13. "The Lord is the true G.o.d, he is the living G.o.d, and an everlasting King.... The G.o.ds that have not made _the heavens_ and _the earth_, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.... He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." Jer. x. 10, &c., also Psalm xcvi. 5; cii. 25, &c., &c.

In these and similar pa.s.sages, where, in the most comprehensive and unequivocal manner, the creation of all things is a.s.serted, the simultaneous creation of all is clearly indicated in the collocation of the words _the heavens_ and _the earth_, the latter being sometimes placed before and sometimes after the former.

The same plural word is employed in other connections: "Blessed be Abram of the Most High G.o.d, possessor of the heavens and the earth.... I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High G.o.d, possessor of the heavens and the earth." Gen. xiv. "Is not G.o.d in the height of the heavens?" Job xxii. "Look down from thy holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless thy people." Deut. xxvi. "O G.o.d, look down from the heavens and behold." Psalm lx.x.x. "The Lord he is G.o.d in the heavens above and upon the earth." Deut. iv. "Praise ye the Lord from the heavens.... Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens.... Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever, he hath made a decree which shall not pa.s.s." Psalm cxlviii.

The Scriptures speak of one creation only; and of that, directly and incidentally, in such terms as to leave no room for the supposition that any portion of the material universe was called into existence prior to the Mosaic epoch. They exhibit nothing from which an inference can be derived that all were not created at one epoch. The contrary supposition is not founded on any authority of inspiration, but upon conjecture or a.s.sumption. It is by some a.s.sumed that by _the heavens_ Moses meant the orbs of our solar system only, or at most, the stars visible in the firmament to the una.s.sisted eye. They think it unreasonable to suppose that in all past eternity nothing was created more than about six thousand years ago. They cannot imagine what the Creator was doing, if he did not exercise his power in creating worlds. But the same supposition might with equal reason be made with respect to any earlier conceivable epoch. For at any such earlier epoch there had been a past eternity, a duration without beginning. The terms of the supposition are solecistical and absurd, so far as relates to the Creator, and with respect to the little mind of man, they are of no significance, unless the invisible worlds are eternal.

It is more obvious than necessary to suggest an astronomical argument against the supposition of successive creations of suns and systems. It is a doctrine of astronomy that our sun with its dependent system revolves round a central orb, as our planets revolve around the sun; but in an orbit of such immense extent as to require near two millions of years, at the rate of thirty millions of miles a year, to accomplish one revolution. From the observations and facts which verify this doctrine, it is legitimate to infer that there is a like revolution of all other suns and systems, and that the laws which govern those vast and complicated movements were established at the creation. With these considerations in view, we may confidently infer that the infinite Creator did not call into existence and establish the relations, motions, and revolutions of a portion of the celestial orbs at one epoch, and another portion at a later epoch, so as to derange all that had been perfected, and require new adjustments, new relations, new movements, new velocities, and peradventure enlarged forces of attraction and gravitation throughout the realms of s.p.a.ce.

To judge of the force of this argument, one must, in view of the harmony of the existing material system under the well-known laws which govern it, consider what would be the necessary and inevitable effects of adding to that system new stars equal in number and dimensions to those visible from the earth, or even one other solar system, equal to that to which the earth belongs. Undoubtedly, if our mathematics, our inductive philosophy, and our astronomy are to be relied on, the addition to the existing orbs of one globe like the earth would more or less disturb and derange the whole, or require an infinite miracle to prevent disturbance.

Closely connected with the supposition of worlds created longer ago than the earth, is that of successive creations of plants and animals to supply the defect of new or remote continents and islands. Many who, conformably to the Scriptures, hold to the ident.i.ty of the human race as descended from one primitive pair, though distributed over all the continents and islands, and exhibiting in many respects extreme diversity, profess nevertheless to believe that there have been many successive creations of brute animals since, if not prior to the deluge.

Though pairs of the inferior races as well as of the human race were preserved in the ark, and for the same reason--"to keep seed alive _upon the face of all_ the earth," and though no greater obstacles existed, so far as we know, to the dispersion of the inferior animals to all quarters of the globe than to that of man, they indulge the notion, without any authority from Scripture, or any demonstrable necessity, or any better reason than the exigency of a geological theory, that the Creator of the universe, in the course of his providence over this apostate and blighted world, has, from time to time, exercised his power in creating races of brutes to be subject to the conditions of those who shared in the consequences of the apostasy of man.

Such a notion seems in every view incongruous and preposterous, without reason or necessity, inconsistent with the law of creation in respect to man, and unworthy of the perfections and of the moral purposes and administration of the Creator. It seems to imply the further notion, that the same providence which dispersed and preserved the human race in all quarters and climates of the world, was inadequate to the same results in the case of the lower animals, and that it was of such moment to keep every locality stocked with savage and carnivorous beasts as to call, from time to time, for the interposition of creative power.

The object of the works of creation, as the scene of the moral and providential administration of the Creator, would, in harmony with the announcements of Scripture, seem to imply that they were brought into existence at one epoch. That administration had a beginning: at the beginning he created the scene and subjects of it. It extends to all worlds. It is one comprehensive, universal, perfect system, involving the rights and prerogatives of the Supreme Ruler, which are founded on the fact of his being the Creator of all; and the obligations and duties of intelligent creatures, which arise from the fact of their owing their existence to him.

Now, since there could be no conceivable obstruction to his bringing all the worlds and creatures throughout the realms of s.p.a.ce into being at one epoch; and since the administration of which they were to be the scene was to comprehend them all, it would seem better to comport with the admitted object of them and with his infinite perfections, to believe that he created them all at once, than to suppose that he laid the foundation of his empire in part at one and in part at a later epoch. On the latter supposition, it would be easy, at least, to suggest very plausible objections and difficulties, for which, on the former, there is no room.

The pa.s.sage in Job xxviii., "Whereupon are the foundations of the earth fastened? or who laid the corner-stone thereof, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of G.o.d shouted for joy?" is by some supposed to imply, that when the earth was created, there were preexisting worlds and intelligent creatures to witness and celebrate the event. But if such were the meaning of this poetical description, those morning stars must have been such as were visible from the earth, or else the earth could not be supposed to be visible from them. The Scriptures, however, refer to the visible stars as being created at the same time with the earth. In the narrative of the fourth day it is said, "And G.o.d made two great lights; ... he made the stars also; and set them in the firmament of heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night," &c. Gen. i. It is not conceivable that the reference in Job should have been meant to exclude the visible stars; and if it included them, then it included celestial worlds which were created simultaneously with the earth. The phrase, "morning stars,"

doubtless signifies stars visible in the morning. The terms employed in Job may, perhaps, be better rendered, "The stars burst forth together as light, or as the morning."

From the narrative of the temptation in Eden, some imagine that Satan had existed and fallen before the creation of Adam. But there is no reference to that evil being till after Adam and Eve were placed in the garden. How long they were there before the temptation, we know not. It was long enough, however, for them to receive instruction as to the prohibited tree, and for Adam "to give names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;" long enough for them to become familiar with the place, and with the voice and other tokens of the Creator's presence. Now, on the supposition that all the angelic hosts were created simultaneously with the heavens and the earth, what was there to hinder the apostasy of Satan between the date of that creation and his a.s.sault upon Adam, which would not equally have hindered the apostasy of man so soon after his creation? Is it not, from the nature of the case, more probable that Satan revolted very soon after his creation, than at a remote period? As in the case of Adam, who, had he continued holy for scores or thousands of years, would, we may well presume, have been less likely to fall than at the outset of his career, before he had formed habits of obedience, or had the benefit of experience.

It is remarkable with what facility the most preposterous a.s.sumptions have been adopted and perpetuated respecting the Creator, the works of creation, providence, moral government, &c., to aid in support of preconceived religious, philosophical, physical, and social theories.

The princ.i.p.al religious heresies, whether propounded under the garb of theology or that of philosophy and science, falsely so called, have rested upon false a.s.sumptions respecting the character and condition of man as a fallen creature, and the one only Deliverer and way of deliverance, and respecting the character, prerogatives, and rights of the Creator and Ruler of the world, and the nature, epoch, and object of the work of creation. Witness the Gnostic, Arian, Pelagian, Socinian, and other ancient religious heresies, on the one hand; and on the other, the theory of our modern geologists, in its relation to the inspiration, authority, and meaning of the Scriptures, the nature, date and purpose of the creation of the world, and the causes and reasons of the physical changes it has undergone.

The fact that all the great heresies and false systems by which the post-diluvian world has been deceived and held in the bondage of corruption, have risen from false a.s.sumptions and erroneous theories concerning the Creator and the work of creation; and from those a.s.sumptions and theories, as starting-points, have diverged from the truth as revealed in Scripture; this fact, and the consideration that the rights and prerogatives of Jehovah, in relation to his creatures and their obligations and duties towards him, are founded in the fact of his being the Creator, demonstrate that the account which he has given of his works is of equal authority with the other contents of his Word. It lies at the foundation of his moral law and government, and of his providential administration over all worlds, and is essential to his claim of supreme allegiance and homage from all intelligent creatures. It lies at the foundation of all scriptural faith in G.o.d and in the doctrines of his Word, and is the basis of the true, in contradistinction to all false religion.

CHAPTER XXV.

The great Antagonism--in what manner will it terminate?