THE MILLENNIAL HARBINGER, NEW SERIES. VOLUME III.. -NUMBER III. BETHANY, VA. MARCH, 1839. THE GOSPEL-No. I. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4. the THE gospel of Christ, presenting, as it does, eternal life and happiness to the human family, deserves, for its own sake, a full, careful, and unprejudiced examination. The mere announcement that everlasting joys and undying honors are placed within grasp of mortals, challenges at once attention and respect. The lofty hopes which it inspires are allied to the dearest earthly aspirations of the human heart, and the highest aims of worldly ambition; yet they surpass and include them all, as the "glad waters of the dark blue sea" overwhelm and drink up the glittering spray upon the mossy rock which is covered with the flowing tide. And, as to the permanency of their fruition, contrasted with that of sublunary anticipations, they are like the star-paved heavens, compared with the fallen domes and decaying palaces of ruined Tyre; or as the ever-during forests of Lebanon, to the broken column and mouldering capital which bears, as though in mockery, the inscription, "Roma Æterna." • Such is the character of the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel to him who receives it in its original purity and fulness. It is requisite, however, in the present dis tracted state of the religious community, that we should, before addressing our attention to the gospel, direct our thoughts to some important preliminary considerations. For the day of primitive Christianity, which once beamed so brightly, has been obscured by the murky darkness of human folly, ignorance, and guilt. In these preternatural circumstances, every thing in religion has assumed a false and sombre coloring; and men can no longer see the truth as it is, nor themselves as they ought. In the gloomy valley the host are troubled; uncertainty and distraction prevail, and each man's hand is raised against his brother. It is necessary, therefore, that, under the guidance of reason and experience, we should ascend the favoring acclivity, and seek a position elevated above the dusky vapors, that we may enjoy a better atmosphere, and obtain a clearer view beneath the undimmed radiance of heaven. It may be scarce worth while to remind the reader that in all the affairs of men, and in every subject submitted to human investigation, whether it belong to Art or Science, Religion or Government-truth, or that which really is, alone merits regard and veneration. Falsehood, or that which is unreal, can never profit any one, Such base coin proves only the poverty of its possessor; and that mind must be indeed vain and empty which can rest satisfied with the inanity of deceit, when it might be enriched with the substantial realities of truth. But if the possession of truth be desirable in those departments of human knowledge which appertain to this present life, it is supremely so with regard to religion. Here, indeed, it is more precious than rubies, and more to be coveted than the gold of Ophír. Hence it is, that in examining a subject of so much importance, the most particular attention should be paid to those rules and principles which the experience of the world has shown to be absolutely necessary to the discovery of truth. The first of these is, that THE MIND MUST BE FREE FROM PREJUDICE. Prejudice is pre-judgment—judgment formed beforehand without examination. It is obvious that one whose mind is thus pre-occupied is unable to receive the truth. He who would possess himself of truth must have the tablets of his judgment pure, and ready to receive a fair and clear impression from the evidence submitted. He must erase every image from his memory and every feeling from his heart, so that he may be as though he had never before heard any thing whatever in relation to the matter presented. So well known is this, that in courts of law a man is regarded as wholly incompetent and unfit to hear evidence, or sit in judgment, unless he can truly testify under the solemnity of an oath that his mind is uninfluenced by prejudice, and free from every bias and prepossession. And yet, however plain these things are, and how careful soever men are to recognize their importance, and enforce their practice in regard to every thing of a worldly nature; they pay little or no attention to them in religion. They imagine that, filled as they are with the cherished principles, and predominant influences, imbibed, during youth, from the deep-springing fountains of education and habit, they have yet room for conflicting sentiments, and capacity to judge the claims of other systems, or to estimate correctly the merits of their own. But this is as morally impossible, as it is physically so, that two things can be in the same place at the same time. "To expect," says Boyle, "that people, zealous for one religion, should examine the other maturely, equitably, and accurately, is like pretending that a person can be a fair judge between two women, with one of whom he is in love, while he has an aversion for the other.Lycidas is desperately in love with Urania, and mortally hates Corinna; tell us, says some one, which of them is the most charming; examine the matter: he will promise to do so, but to a certainty he will pronounce for Urania; and, not contented with preferring her to Corinna, he will prefer her also to all other women." It would seem, indeed, that, in society, the many are religionists; and the few religious. And there can be no question that the jealousies, controversies, and enmities which alienate and disturb Christendom, are perpetuated, for the most part, by that unjust prejudice or intolerant bigotry which induces men to decide from feeling rather than from evidence; and leads them to misunderstand and condemn each other for want of candid examination. In the language of Dr. Price, this "prejudice may be compared to a misty morning in October. A man goes forth to an eminence, and he sees, at the summit of a neighboring hill, a figure apparently of gigantic stature-for such the imperfect medium through which he is viewed would make him appear. He goes forward a few steps, and the figure advances towards him. The size lessens as they approach. They draw still nearer, and the extraordinary appearance is gradually but sensibly diminished: and at last they meet, and perhaps the person he had taken for a monster, proves to be his own brother." A second point of great moment in the pursuit of truth, is, that the whole of the evidence be heard, and the WHOLE TRUTH received. The evils which may arise from defective testimony and partial views of truth are incalculably great-greater often than those resulting from falsehood itself. Hence, to prevent erroneous and oppressive decisions, and preserve the purity of Justice inviolate, the witness is adjured to tell, not "the truth" merely, but "the whole truth." For experience and reason teach, that he who hears or examines a matter imperfectly, can never arrive at just conclusions. He can neither enjoy, nor properly appreciate truth, any more than the prisoner can estimate the beauties of the landscape from the partial glimpse which he obtains through the narrow grating in the massy wall of his dungeon. It is a partial exhibition of truth, which, like the gilding upon counterfeit coinage, gives currency to delusion, and success to impos ture. There is no doubt that this error has much to do with the present disturbed state of the Christian profession. Partyism springs from partial views of truth. There is not a single denomination which, along with its peculiar heresies, does not acknowledge some tenets which are indubitably true. And it can be just as easily shown, that there is not à sect in Christendom which embraces the whole truth, in doctrine and practice, as it was received by the first Christian churches. It is a melancholy reflection that the unity of the church and the integrity of truth-the sparkling diamond which once graced the coronal of apostolic faithfulness, should be thus broken up into so many insignificant fragments. Christianity, indeed, may now be compared to a ravelled web: each party has run off with a few of its threads, and interwoven them with the flimsy texture of its own many-colored robes-not one of them has had the ability, like Sampson, to carry off the whole of it. Or, it is like an ancient Grecian temple, erected for a Divinity, and once magnificent and perfect, but now overthrown by the rude hand of violence, and the materials carried off to compose a part of the mean fabric of the peasant-the richly sculptured marble, as in modern Athens, has become the stepping-stone to the mud-walled hut of squalid poverty! But again: It is possible for the whole truth to be received, yet rendered inoperative by dilution, or injurious by corrupt additions. We should be careful, therefore, to embrace nothing but the truth, and to preserve its simplicity unimpaired-to seek only the pure bullion, and to keep it untarnished and undrossy. There is, however, yet another point of great importance to the successful pursuit of truth, which we shall consider in our next. R. R. THE POWER OF SILENCE. "Silence and Darkness! solemn sisters; twins To reason." YOUNG. It seems not a little remarkable that our inquirers after truth, and our writers upon logic have, as it were with one consent, omitted to notice the vast amount of knowledge, and the overwhelming force of argument that are to be found in silence. It is an old adage that 'silence implies consent;' and what an admirable conveniency it is which enables a man not only to start as many new subjects as he pleases, but always to decide every question exactly to suit himself! But although none of our standard authors have, so far as I know, formally introduced silence amongst the leading principles of reasoning and scientific investigation; yet, in practice, it is astonishing how much advantage both speakers and writers have derived from it, especially when religion has been the theme. Here I need only mention the learned Dr. Warburton, |