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GOD'S METHOD IN REFORMS.

BY H. H. VAN AMRINGE.

SOME philosophers impute all things relating to the progress and destiny of man, to the arbitrary will and predestination of Jehovah. Man, say they, is saved solely by sovereign grace; and their meaning seems to be, that the external condition of the human family is a matter of small consequence in the work of regeneration, or indeed of no weight at all, and that salvation proceeds from an inward Divine breathing. Other philosophers assert quite a contrary doctrine; they allege that man is a creature of circumstances; that his character and destiny are wholly controlled by circumstances; and in their list of governing powers, the existence and will of Jehovah are entirely rejected.

Those who believe in a God should have no doubt that the progressive conditions and salvation of man were, from eternity, in the mind and purpose of the Deity, and that all circumstances are the continual development of his predestination; the parts whereof are so connected in the chain of causation, that the separation of a single link must produce its results in human destiny. Man can no more be saved without circumstances, or preparatory conditions, than a knowledge of the higher departments of mathematics can be obtained without instruction in the first elements. We are indeed saved by the grace of Jehovah; but His grace is breathed into us, in and through all circumstances, which are but His ministers.

What is salvation? Is it any thing else but deliverance from ignorance and folly; from hate, jealousy and lust; from the supreme love of self; from enmity to our fellow-men and to God; and the enlargement of the mind by truths, truths growing in extent and increasing in number, relating to all things, to matter, to physiology, to mind, to man, to the Deity; and the empire in the heart, of the affections of mercy, justice, meekness and love? This is the meaning of the much misunderstood and mistranslated passage, " Except a man be born again, (in other words, except a man be born from above,) he cannot see the kingdom of God." His affections and truths must be born from the

higher powers of the mind and heart; for the sensual and selfish passions, when in predominance, tie you to the earth; they are earthly; the higher powers, when dominant over the lower, have their seat in heaven. It is by these higher powers and sentiments that we are conjoined with God in Christ, and are united in love and harmony to our fellow-men. Not that any power can be extirpated from the mind; but the lower are brought into willing subordination to the more noble.

Nothing is more necessary, in the work of reform, than to dispel the erroneous idea that salvation is something external to man; something that can be picked up and thrown into him. Salvation is within you; it is the harmonious development of our entire phrenological constitution, in such a manner that the whole man shall be under the power of Divine love. This condition of mind is heaven. Arbitrary salvation, or arbitrary condemnation, is an impossibility.

The mind of man is endowed with various powers; for instance, causality, comparison, ideality, constructiveness, benevolence, veneration, and many others. Each of these powers must act in conformity with the laws of its peculiar construction or organism; that is to say, causality must act as causality, and not as ideality, nor benevolence, nor constructiveness; just as the eye must act by seeing, and not by hearing. And how can they act, except by the presentation of proper objects or circumstances? In proportion as any power is exercised and habitually trained, it is drawn forth, in other words, educated, strengthened and improved; and thus by the just action of the moral and spiritual faculties and affections, man is elevated continually into higher mansions of heaven, he is renewed into the Divine image or character, and seated on a throne of judgment and righteousness with God, our Lord and Saviour.

So far then from preparatory conditions of external circumstances, not being needed for salvation, they are indispensable to it; the power of the mind, in order to act and be developed, must be brought into connection with their proper objects. A ventriloquist may cause a voice to seem to issue from a stone; but it is the voice of the ventriloquist, not of the stone. The deity may cause a voice of intelligence to sound from the lips of an idiot; but it would not be the act of the idiot. Righteousness is the voluntary action of the faculties of a moral agent, choosing good and rejecting evil. Righteousness, therefore, cannot be arbitrarily infused into any Being. We must choose it for ourselves. If the surrounding circumstances in which we are placed, are too adverse, we may sink without hope. A child must crawl, before it can walk; and walk, before it can run. There is a just proportion between trial and power.

We see, then, the unspeakable importance of attempts to alter

and reform the external relations and condition of society. In fact, by examining history, sacred and profane, we shall discover that God's real method, in elevating or reforming man, has been by inducing changes in his external circumstances.

At the creation, before man was brought into being, the external condition of the world was suitably prepared for his recep-. tion. The fall of Adam, is no proof that the salvation and destiny of the race, are not dependent on circumstances; but the reverse. If external condition is not influential upon character, why were our first parents driven from the garden, into new circumstances? In order to bring in the accomplishment of the Divine promise, concerning the seed of the woman, namely salvation in Christ, why, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to the calling of Abram, were changes caused in the external condition of man and society; and why do we perceive throughout that period, and constantly, forever, the influence of circumstances upon mind, so that no character in existence, was that which it was, independently of the circumstances under which it was formed!

It will be understood that I do not advocate the doctrine, that favorable circumstances alone are sufficient to keep men good, or to reform them. Divine life flows into us from the Lord. But the method of the Lord in regenerating and saving man, is to act upon us, in and through external conditions and agents.

The Lord had said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. It is not doubted by the Church, that this call includes the promise of Christ, the seed of the woman. Three things

here are enjoined upon Abram; he was not only to abandon his father's house, but his country; and not only to abandon his country, but also his kindred. He was to quit home, and land, and relations; in other words, he was to be placed entirely in new external conditions. Why was this immense change in the physical and external circumstances of the man, necessary for the salvation of Abram, and of his descendants, and of the world? No answer can be given to this question, except one which goes to show the indissoluble connection between the outward body of circumstances, and the inward condition of the mind; between society and external agents and salvation: the earthly and natural man comes first; the spiritual and celestial afterwards.

It is generally supposed that Abram at once obeyed the Lord, and that he left home, land and kindred. But he did not do so. He separated himself from home and land as commanded; but

not from kindred. Sarah, his wife, being one with him, was not to be left; for God could not order the violation of his own law of union. But Lot, his nephew, went with him. The punishment of this transgression, was a strife between their herdmen ; and in order to prevent contention between themselves, the uncle and the nephew separated, and dwelt in different parts of the land. Had they and their children remained together, it would have been impossible for the Lord to bring upon Abram, that which He had spoken of him. For the change in the external relations of Abram, was manifestly enjoined with reference to the formation, the confirmation and preservation of character in Abram and his descendants, in order that God might make of him a great and mighty nation, and might cause the Messiah, the promised seed, to come forth from that people. For what says the Lord Himself (Gen. xviii. 17-19)? "And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the mighty nations of the earth shall be blessed in him: FOR I KNOW HIM, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord MAY BRING UPON ABRAHAM, THAT WHICH HE HATH SPOKEN OF HIM." When, therefore, the general descendants of Noah were sinking into spiritual ignorance and idolatry, Abram was called from the East, from his father's house, his land and his kindred, with the clear design and foreknowledge, that, from the training and education of Abram and his children, under new external circumstances, and in a new world, separated from others, this new and peculiar external condition, in connection with subsequent political, social and physical changes, would be productive of a special character, ultimately fitting the Israelites to be depositaries of the Divine Law, and the progenitors, according to the flesh, of the Lord and Saviour. Had Lot and his descendants remained with Abraham and his children, it would have been as morally impossible for the Deity, to have brought upon Abraham that which He had spoken of him, as it would have been to have made Lot, the Ammonites and the Moabites, the progenitors of Christ. For the same circumstances act, with modified results, upon different mental organizations, just as the same light and heat of the sun, act differently upon different organizations of vegetable matter. This does not disprove the power of circumstances, but only the more evinces the need of attention to peculiarity of external condition, in order to develope the best character, and to produce the most happy destiny of Man.

That you may perceive the necessity of the separation of Abraham from Lot, I ask your attention to Gen. xiii. 14-18,— "And the Lord said unto Abram, AFTER THAT LOT WAS

SEPARATED FROM HIM, Lift up, Now, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever," &c. My attention, some years since, was first called by my friend Dr. Darragh, of Philadelphia, to the emphatic manner in which the promise was repeated to Abram, after his separation from Lot; and I think, any one on reading the verses, must perceive that Abram had not fully complied with the command of the Lord to get from his country, and his kindred, and his father's house, until he had separated himself from Lot also.

As another instance of the absolute need of a change in the external circumstances of a people, in order to effect reformation, regeneration, and salvation, I refer to the Exodus of the descendants of Jacob from Egypt. All the events in the history of the Israelites, and of all other people, and of every individual, are confirmations of the invincible law, connecting character with external condition; but I select these examples, as not less demonstrative than others; and because Christians cannot deny them to be proofs and instances of God's real method in the work of redemption.

What need was there for Moses to lead Israel from Egypt? Why did he not say to his brethren, it matters not where you are; nor what are your particular circumstances of life, and social organization. Man is to be converted and saved individually; therefore, instead of disturbing the present order of things, let each man be changed in his own heart, and the work is done. Will it be answered that an Exodus, at that time, was necessary, because the Jews were to be placed under peculiar institutions, ordinances, and government, as preparatory to the advent of the Messiah? An answer of that kind, yields the whole question. It admits that the Messiah cannot come to his temple in Man, unless the way be prepared, and his path be opened through circumstances, training, preparing, and educating the mind. Again I would ask, why was Israel kept forty years in the desert; why not at once conducted into Canaan? The reason is, because the generation reared in bondage was unfit for freedom; unfit to go and take possession of the promised land. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness, and, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, all the adults, who went out from Egypt, perished. A new generation, reared in the wilderness, under entirely new circumstances and social organizations, crossed over Jordan and took possession of the country. This fact,-the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness for forty years,-is often made an objection against the truth of the Scriptures; but it is a strong evidence of their authenticity. God's method of work to change the heart,

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