The Communistic Societies of the United States Part 26

TO JEWELERS.--A SINGLE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE! This inestimable Jewel may be obtained by application to Jesus Christ, at the extremely low price of "all that a man hath!"

TO BROKERS.

WANTED.--Any amount of SHARES OF SECOND-COMING STOCK, bearing date A.D.

70, or thereabouts, will find a ready market and command a high premium at this office.

ATTENTION!

SOLDIERS who claim to have "fought the fight of faith" will find it for their advantage to have their claims investigated. All who can establish said claim are ent.i.tled to a bounty land-warrant in the kingdom of Heaven, and a pension for eternity.

ROOMS TO LET in the "Many Mansions" that Christ has prepared for those that love him.

DIRECTIONS for cultivating the fruits of the Spirit may be obtained _gratis_, at MEEK & LOWLY'S, No. 1 Grace Court.

Practical Reflections on CHRIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT may be had also as above.

LEGAL NOTICE.--Notice is hereby given that all claims issued by the old firm of Moses and Law were canceled 1800 years ago. Any requirement, therefore, to observe as a means of righteousness legal enactments bearing date prior to A.D. 70, is p.r.o.nounced by us, on the authority of the New Testament, a fraud and imposition.

THE EYES! THE EYES!!--It is known that many persons with two eyes habitually "see double." To prevent stumbling and worse liabilities in such circ.u.mstances, an ingenious contrivance has been invented by which the WHOLE BODY is filled with light. It is called the "SINGLE EYE," and may be obtained by applying to Jesus Christ.

WATER-CURE ESTABLISHMENT.--I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.--Ezekiel x.x.xvi., 25, 26.

PATENT SIEVES.--The series of sieves for CRITICISM having been thoroughly tested, are now offered to the public for general use. They are warranted to sift the tares from the wheat, and in all cases to discriminate between good and evil. A person, after having pa.s.sed through this series, comes out free from the enc.u.mbrances of egotism, pride, etc., etc. All persons are invited to test them gratuitously.

MAGNIFICENT RESTAURANT!--In Mount Zion will the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord G.o.d will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.--Isaiah xxv., 6-8.

PATENT SALAMANDER SAFES.--Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.--Matt, vi., 19, 20. This safe, having been submitted for 1800 years to the hottest fire of judgment, and having been through that time subject to constant attacks from the fiery shafts of the devil, is now offered to the public, with full confidence that it will meet with general approbation. Articles enclosed in this safe are warranted free from danger under any circ.u.mstances.

TO THE AFFLICTED!--WINE and MILK for the hungry, REST for the weary and heavy-laden, CONSOLATION and BALM for the wounded and invalids of every description--may be had _gratis,_ on application to the storehouse of the Son of G.o.d.

The _Circular_ contains each week extracts from journals kept in the two communities, and "Talks" by Noyes and others, with a variety of other matter relating to their belief and daily lives.

II.--RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND FAITH-CURES.

They call themselves "Perfectionists."

They hold to the Bible as the "text-book of the Spirit of truth;" to "Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of G.o.d;" to "the apostles and Primitive Church as the exponents of the everlasting Gospel." They believe that "the second advent of Christ took place at the period of the destruction of Jerusalem;" that "at that time there was a primary resurrection and judgment in the spirit world;" and "that the final kingdom of G.o.d then began in the heavens; that the manifestation of that kingdom in the visible world is now approaching; that its approach is ushering in the second and final resurrection and judgment; that a Church on earth is now rising to meet the approaching kingdom in the heavens, and to become its duplicate and representative; that inspiration, or open communication with G.o.d and the heavens, involving perfect holiness, is the element of connection between the Church on earth and the Church in the heavens, and the power by which the kingdom of G.o.d is to be established and reign in the world." [Footnote: Statement in the _Circular_.]

They a.s.sert, further, that "the Gospel provides for complete salvation from sin"--hence the name they a.s.sume of "Perfectionists." "Salvation from sin," they say, "is the foundation needed by all other reforms."

"Do you, then, claim to live sinless lives?" I asked; and received this answer:

"We consider the community to be a Church, and our theory of a Christian Church, as const.i.tuted in the apostolic age, is that it is a school, consisting of many cla.s.ses, from those who are in the lowest degree of faith to those who have attained the condition of certain and eternal salvation from sin. The only direct answer, therefore, that we can give to your question is that some of us claim to live sinless lives, and some do not. A sinless life is the _standard_ of the community, which all believe to be practicable, and to which all are taught to aspire. Yet we recognize the two general cla.s.ses, which were characterized by Paul as the "nepiou" and the "teleioi." Our belief is that a Christian Church can exist only when the "teleioi" are in the ascendant and have control."

In compliance with my request, the following definition of "Perfectionism" was written out for me as authoritative:

"The bare doctrine of Perfectionism might be presented in a single sentence thus:

"As the doctrine of temperance is total abstinence from alcoholic drinks, and the doctrine of anti-slavery is immediate abolition of human bondage, so the doctrine of Perfectionism is immediate and total cessation from sin.

"But the a.n.a.logy thus suggested between Perfectionism and two popular reforms is by no means to be regarded as defining the character and methods of Perfectionism. Salvation from sin, as we understand it, is not a system of duty-doing under a code of dry laws, Scriptural or natural; but is a special phase of _religious experience_, having for its basis spiritual intercourse with G.o.d. All religionists of the positive sort believe in a personal G.o.d, and a.s.sume that he is a sociable being. This faith leads them to seek intercourse with him, to approach him by prayer, to give him their hearts, to live in communion with him. These exercises and the various states and changes of the _inner_ life connected with them const.i.tute the staple of what is commonly called _religious experience_. Such experience, of course, has more or less effect on the character and external conduct. We cannot live in familiar intercourse with human beings without becoming better or worse under their influence; and certainly fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d must affect still more powerfully all the springs of action. Perfectionists hold that intercourse with G.o.d may proceed so far as to destroy selfishness in the heart, and so make an end of sin. This is the special phase of religious experience which we profess, and for which we are called Perfectionists."

Among other matters, they hold that "the Jews are, by G.o.d's perpetual covenant, the royal nation;" that the obligation to observe the Sabbath pa.s.sed away with the Jewish dispensation, and is "adverse to the advance of man into new and true arrangements;" that "the original organization inst.i.tuted by Christ [the Primitive Church] is accessible to us, and that our main business as reformers is to open communication with that heavenly body;" and they "refer all their experience to the invisible hosts who are contending over them."

I must add, to explain the last sentence, that they are not Spiritualists in the sense in which that word is nowadays usually employed, and in which the Shakers are Spiritualists; but they hold that they are in a peculiar and direct manner under the guidance of G.o.d and good spirits. "Saving faith, according to the Bible, places man in such a relation to G.o.d that he is authorized to ask favors of him as a child asks favors of his father. Prayer without expectation of an answer is a performance not sanctioned by Scripture nor by common-sense. But prayer with expectation of an answer (that is, the prayer of faith) is impossible, on the supposition that 'the age of miracles is past,' and that G.o.d no longer interferes with the regular routine of nature." Hence their belief in what they call "Faith-cures," of which I shall speak further on.

Community of goods and of persons they hold to have been taught and commanded by Jesus: "Jesus Christ offers to save men from all evil--from sin and death itself; but he always states it as a necessary condition of their accepting his help that they shall forsake all other; and particularly that they shall get rid of their private property."

Communism they hold therefore to be "the social state of the resurrection." The account on the sides of life and death arranges itself thus:

APOSTASY,

UNBELIEF

Obedience to

_Mammon,_

PRIVATE PROPERTY,

DEATH.