Erhalten Sie Zugang zu diesem und mehr als 300000 Büchern ab EUR 5,99 monatlich.
- Herausgeber: Darolt Books
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
William Swan Plumer (July 26, 1802 – October 22, 1880) was an American clergyman, theologian and author who was recognized as an intellectual leader of the Presbyterian Church in the 1800s. William S. Plumer was born to William and Catharine Plumer (née McAlester) in Greersburg, present day Darlington, Pennsylvania, on July 26, 1802. He graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University in Virginia) in 1825, received his religious education at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. He was licensed in the Presbytery of New Brunswick, a Presbytery in New Jersey, as a clergyman in 1826, and the state's Orange Presbytery ordained him as an evangelist in 1827. Plumer was the minister of several churches during his career, most notably: First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia (1834 –1846); Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Maryland (1847–1854); Central Presbyterian Church, Allegheny, Pennsylvania (1854–1862); Arch Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1862–1865); and Second Presbyterian Church, Pottsville, Pennsylvania (1865–1867).
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 268
Das E-Book (TTS) können Sie hören im Abo „Legimi Premium” in Legimi-Apps auf:
Ähnliche
PREFACE
THEOLOGY
I. The word THEOLOGY means a discourse concerning God. The word itself is not found in the Scriptures. We have there "the word of God," "good doctrine," "sound doctrine," "form of doctrine," "doctrine of God," "doctrine of Christ," "form of sound words," "the Scriptures," and such like phrases. Theology is divinity, as a theologian is a divine. Theology treats of the being and perfections of God, of his relations to us, his purposes towards us, his promises made to us, his will concerning us, and the right way of pleasing him.
II. We cannot learn theology from other sources, than those which God himself opens to our minds. These are the volume of nature and the volume of revelation. The volume of nature is made up of all God's works. What we learn from it is called Natural Theology. In studying God's works we make use of our reason and of all true science, searching out all that we may know. Natural Theology is the foundation of all true religion. David says, "The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world." Psalm 19:1-4.
Paul says, "since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:19-20. The Psalmist says, "Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them." Psalms 111:2. Many parts of Scripture say a great deal about God's works of creation and providence.
III. The other volume from which we learn theology is the Bible. This is the very word of God. 1 Thess. 2:13. It is the word of the living God, that abides forever. 1 Pet. 1:23. In this volume God makes himself known to us in a new and special manner for our salvation. It draws out at length many of the lessons of natural theology, and tells us very clearly many things which nature taught us but dimly. Its peculiar glory is that it teaches the way of salvation to sinners. What we thus learn is called Revealed Theology.
IV. The knowledge of God possessed by angels and by the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, is very different in degree from that possessed by even godly and able men on earth. Here all men are liable to err, and all men do err. No man on earth is without some wrong view, or some ignorance, which mars his knowledge. This is no reason for sloth or discouragement; but it is a good reason why we should be humble and careful and teachable, and pray for light and divine guidance. It is far different in heaven. There they do always behold the face of God. Matt. 18:10. They do not hope for anything, for they already possess all good. Romans 8:24. "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Cor. 13:12. Knowledge without any mixture of error belongs only to the heavenly state. Yet a great part of the knowledge which the inhabitants of heaven have concerns the very things which good men are learning in this world. Those above know perfectly what we know in parcels only.
V. Natural theology teaches enough to make us guilty for not loving and obeying God. It condemns usbut it cannot save us! It leaves us without excuse, but it also leaves us without hope. Romans 1:20. It gives us clear information that there is something wrong in us, but it does not tell us how things may be put right. Natural conscience convinces of sin, and human misery shows that we have displeased God. But nowhere among the works of God do we read of mercy to the lost or pardon to the guilty. "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." Romans 2:14, 15.
God never leaves himself without witness, in that he does good, and gives us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Acts 14:17. Men ought to know, and if their hearts were not blind they would knowthat God made the world and all things therein, and that he is Lord of heaven and earth, and that they should seek the Lord, for in him they live and move and have their being. Acts 17:24-28.
VI. Revealed theology takes for granted and confirms all the truths taught by God's works. The volume of revelation never contradicts the volume of nature. He who speaks to us by his works is as surely the God of truth as he who speaks to us in Holy Scripture. God can neither deny nor contradict himself. Even Balaam's theology went so far as to admit that God cannot lie. Numb. 23:19. The divine sincerity is proclaimed in all worlds, and by all God does. If man had never sinned, nature would have taught him enough to make him an acceptable worshiper. But now that he has lost the favor and fellowship of God, and knows not where to turn, there is need of a guide from heavena new lesson both as to the matter and manner of serving God. The light of nature does not avail to salvation. The wisest of the heathen have declared their belief in the need of a great teacher with new light from heaven.
VII. This lack is supplied by Jesus Christ, his prophets, and his apostles. He said, "My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me." John 7:16. The prophets were moved to write by the spirit of Christ. 1 Pet. 1:12. Indeed, all the holy men who wrote the Scriptures spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Pet. 1:21; 2 Tim. 3:16. In Scripture are the best lessons of heavenly wisdom. The word of God is very plain. But the human mind is very weak, and sadly darkened. So that "the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 2:14. Yet "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm. 19:7. The Scripture was given that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. 2 Tim. 3:17. If any man would be a good minister of Christ, let him "hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." Tit. 1:9. The word of God is wholly unerring. Its authority is perfect. No flaw has ever yet been discovered in it. It leads the soul back to God, whom we have wickedly forsaken.
VIII. The end of all God has done and spoken is his own glory. "The Lord has made all things for himself; yes, even the wicked for the day of evil." Proverbs 16:4. "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11. But the peculiar excellence of God's word is that it is suited to lead men to salvation. "These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name." John 20:31. God's word is savingly applied to his people, that they should show forth the praises of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Pet. 2:9.
REASON AND REVELATION
I. If man could not reasonhe would be no better than a brute. When he will not reasonhe is no better than a fool! He who gave us souls gave us our reason. We are guilty when we refuse rightly to use all our powers of mind. The stronger our faculties are the better, if directed to a right end. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; let us know the God who keeps and feeds us always. Brutes have instincts; men have reason. Let them think often, earnestly, wisely.
II. We may have a deep sense of our needs; but we are not fit to tell God in what he should instruct us. Nor can we judge of truths of which we are wholly ignorant. But by using our reason aright we may learn whether God has indeed spoken to us in the Bible. In the same way we may, by his blessing, learn what his word means. Yet men are not saved by their wit nor by their logic. Some seem inclined to put reason in the place of the Almighty, and worship it. They speak great swelling words of vanity. They say that they have too good an opinion of God to believe that he will do such and such things; when he has often said he will do them, and when he is doing them every day. The human mind is very weak. It is liable to many prejudices. He who would find truth must love truth. Sincerity is always called for. He who would find truth must search for it as for hid treasure.
III. Reason cannot believe an absurdity. No contradiction is a truth. Men sometimes say that they believe things absurd, but they are mistaken. No lie is of the truth. It has not its nature nor its marks. If we knew all about it, we would see how absurd it is. A thing may be very strange, and yet it may be true. "Wonder is broken knowledge." God never wonders, because his knowledge is infinitely perfect.
IV. For a long time men sought to know God by reason alone, but they utterly failed. For ages the world by wisdom attempted to know God, but it knew him not. 1 Cor. 1:21. The more completely men were left without divine teaching, the grosser was their ignorance. A revelation therefore was clearly necessary. In lands where the word of God was not, the more the arts and sciences have been cultivated, the more have false gods been multiplied. The Chinese know many useful and ornamental arts, and have much literature, yet they have gods by the million. The more ancient Rome extended her conquests, the more gods did she worship in the Pantheon. The Athenians worshiped all the gods they knew, and then to be sure they omitted none, they erected an altar to the unknown God. Acts 17:23. Left to itself, reason will but grope its way to the judgment through the thickest darkness. "Whatever the light of nature could do for man before reason was depraved, it is evident it has done little for man since."
V. Why should it be thought incredible that He who made man should speak to him? The heathen tell us that their gods wrap themselves up in the mantle of their dignity, and retire from human affairs. But while the true God is in the heavens, he is also upon earth. To the teachable the volume of nature is constantly telling its secrets. Why may not He who knows all things, tell us something about himself, and the right way of pleasing him? He knows all things; why should not he tell us those things which greatly concern both his honor and our welfare? "He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who formed the eye, shall he not see? He who teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?" Psalm 94:9, 10. It is perverseness to deny that God can make known his mind if he chooses to do it. He who knows all things can teach us whatever it is important for us to know.
VI. A revelation, not accompanied with sufficient evidences of its being from God, would avail us nothing. If it were unfriendly to truth, justice, honor, kindness, or piety, we might know that it did not come from God. If it contained falsehoods or contradictions; if it rested on the mere assertion of some man who said God had spoken to him; if it were accompanied with no power over the human heart and conscience; if its doctrines were unworthy of even a good man; if it were accompanied with no signs, or wonders, such as God only can give; if its aim was not holiness; if those who walked most according to its spirit and precepts were vile and bad men; in short, if it promoted ungodliness and malignitywe could not regard it as a communication from a good God.
So, if the men who testified of the life, character, doctrines, and miracles of Jesus Christ, had been greedy of filthy lucre, anxious for human applause, or earnest in seeking for sensual gratifications, and by their stories had succeeded in these base plans, we could not have credited what they told us. But none of them ever accumulated wealth. Instead of pleasure, they had torture. Instead of honor or applause, they were esteemed the offscouring of all things. They were accounted as sheep for the slaughter all the day long. They were always delivered unto death. Yet they never swerved from their testimony, but they constantly affirmed the truth of all they had spoken. Every kind of appropriate evidence accompanies the revelation which God has given us.
VII. When we open the Bible we find its statements calm, sober, reasonable; its doctrines searching and humbling to the pride of man; its precepts pure, just, and comprehensive; its promises plain and well suited to cheer the heart of godly men; its threatenings awful, and suited to deter the wicked from their courses. In short, it says nothing hurtful to man or unworthy of God; but it greatly encourages holy men in their right ways, and God is by it more honored than by all other books ever written. The only people who cheerfully submit all to God, are those who firmly believe the Bible.
VIII. This book has authority over the human mind and conscience. Such is its power, that when two noted and ingenious infidels of former days undertook to read it through in order to find faults in it, they were both converted, and both wrote in its favor. Its words are life and spirit. In a day of God's power they entirely transformed three thousand of Christ's murderers into his adoring worshipers. It still converts, purifies, and comforts the hearts of all who truly receive it.
IX. This word of God is intended for all. Even infidels, who know it and reject it, shall be judged by it. So said Christ, who will judge the world: "He who rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48. By searching the Scriptures David was made wiser than his enemies. He had more understanding than all his teachers. He understood more than the ancients. Psalm. 119:98-100. He who has ears to hear, let him hear all that God says. He who has eyes to read, let him read all God's word. To a great mass of people, some of them enemies and opposers, Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39. It is a sad error in any church to discourage the reading and study of God's word by the people. Such take away the key of knowledge. Luke 11:52. God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path. Psalm. 119:105.
DIVINE TRUTH EXCELLENT, THOUGH OFTEN MYSTERIOUS
I. Truth is in its very nature excellent. Religious truth has the highest excellence. As mind is above matter, as eternity is more lasting than time, as heaven is better than earth, as God is greater than his worksso religious truth excels all other truth. The fear and knowledge of God are the beginning of wisdom. He who has them, has light and understanding. "Divinity is the haven and Sabbath of all man's contemplations." The subjects, of which it treats, surpass all others in worth and practical usefulness. It opens to us the glorious fountain of all being, and of all blessedness. It tells us whence all creatures come. It gives the true theory of human nature. It teaches man correct views of himself, and of the moral government under which he lives. It settles the doctrine of an endless life beyond the bounds of time. Its truths make glad all the most virtuous of every generation. It cheers and guides poor wanderers through the wilderness of this world. It purifies men's hearts. For power, for sublimity, for refreshment, for purity, nothing can compare with its lessons. They humble without debasing. They elevate without puffing up. They beget modesty without cowardice. They embolden without impudence. They at once inspire beneficial fears and animating hopes. They give joy without levity. They make men to sorrow after a godly sort, and yet they greatly multiply the sources of happiness. To these ends they have a fitness in themselves.
II. To those who seek him with all the heart, God makes his truth efficacious by special divine influences. Even a heart dead in sin will revive under the energies of truth in the hands of the great Sanctifier. Therefore we ought to seek unto God by prayer. Often did David cry: "Teach me your statutes." "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law;" "Teach me good judgment and knowledge." We ought to be willing even to suffer affliction if it may but enlighten us in divine truth. The Psalmist said: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes." Psalm. 119:71. It is the very office work of God's Spirit to lead the soul in the way of life. All the understanding we have comes from him. Job 32:8. A man may have a sun-dial, but he cannot tell the time of day unless the sun shines upon it. So he may have the blessed Bible, but unless God's Spirit shines upon it, he will not gain the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
III. If the study of divine things is not a blessing to any person, it is because he is "sensual, having not the Spirit." He is blind, and cannot see afar off, and yet is too proud to submit to divine teaching. If men will not believe the truth that comes before them with proper evidence, they must continue ignorant of the greatest truths. And if men will not practice what they do know, they will make but slow progress in learning what they do not know. David learned much because he delighted himself in God's commandments. Psalm. 119:47. The promise is, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5. A disobedient spirit is wholly opposed to good progress in knowledge. Jesus said, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." John 7:17. All this is true.
IV. Yet many truths have mysterious aspects. God himself is the greatest mystery in the universe. His gospel is a mystery of love, and grace, and wisdom. We can believe a mysterythat which we do not fully comprehend, which is above the power of our natural reason, or which we never could have known if God had not revealed it to us. We cannot believe anything which is absurd; but he who believes nothing except what he fully comprehends, will have a very short creed. Absurd things are not true. But many truths are mysterious. Man himself is known perfectly to none but Jehovah. All God's works are inscrutable. The greatest man on earth cannot tell how the grass grows; how soil, and air, and water, and seed, and light, produce a plant. Nor do we know how bread, and meat, and milk, and honey, are turned into sustenance, and so made to nourish our bodies.
V. If God were no greater than ourselves how could we adore him? To worship one who is known to be in all respects an equal, or an inferior, is contrary to all right reason. Therefore those do greatly err, who think that God is altogether such a one as themselves; or who think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stonegraven images of man's device. Acts 17:29.
VI. A mysterious doctrine may be very important to us. "The most mysterious of all are, in reality, the most important; not because they are mysterious, but because they relate to things divine, which must of course be mysterious to weak mortals, and, perhaps, to all creatures whatever."
VII. If it were our business to govern the world, it would be very important to us to know all things, and the reasons of them, as well as the modes of their working. But our work is far different. We must obey, submit, be learners, and have the spirit of little children.
VIII. The truths of revealed religion are most mysterious, as they respect the gospel plan. As far as the truths of natural religion are concerned, they are as plainly stated in Scripture as anywhere else. But when the question is, How shall sinners be saved? reason gives no answer, and nature teaches no lesson. The law of nature says, Do and live, disobey and die. But the gospel plan is for saving the guilty, and bringing back lost souls to God. Here was a great work to be done, and none but God could do it. Moreover, none but God knew how it could be done.
IX. It would be a great wonder if poor, blind, feeble men knew all about God, or could understand his wonderful ways. Augustine determined to give three days and nights in succession to prayer and meditation that he might know all about the mystery of the trinity. On the third night he was overcome with sleep, and dreamed he was walking on the seashore. There he saw a little child, who was scooping a hole in the sand, and filling it with sea-water from a shell. "What are you doing, my child?" said Augustine. The answer was, "I am going to put all the sea in this hole." Augustine said, "You can never do that." The child looked up, light beaming in his eyes, and said, "I can do it, Augustine, as easily as you can comprehend the subject of your thoughts."
X. The errors into which men have fallen respecting mysteries are two. Some count everything false or doubtful which is mysterious. Others pretend to explain everything so as to make it comprehensible. The former are infidels, the latter are vain pretenders. The right way is to receive all the truth we can acquire respecting mysteries, and humbly leave the rest until God shall see fit to explain it to us. Thus, I know that God gave his Son to live and die for sinners, because he says so; but I know not how a holy and infinite God could stoop so low. If Jehovah hides himself, he is still Jehovah.
SHORT EXPLANATIONS OF SOME TERMS
Quite a number of words are used in theology which deserve some explanation.
I. One of these is RELIGION. This word points to the most important matter which can claim the attention of mortals. Sometimes it denotes the whole body of truth, which has God for its subject. Sometimes it points to that class of affections and that course of life, which have God for their highest object. Sometimes it seems to embrace all these. If men are right in their religion, other errors are reparable. If here they err, every step will be towards ruin. Religion is either true or false. There can be but one true religion. But the number of false religions are countless. If Christianity is true, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Mohammedanism are false. If either of them is true, Christianity is false. Where a religion in the main is true, some of the forms of it may have much error mingled up with considerable truth. This mixture of error may be so great that the system may differ but little from some of the forms of false religion.
Some think the word "religion" is derived from a Latin word which means to review, or to reconsider. If this is the sense, it denotes a study of all that pertains to our duty to God. But most writers derive religion from a word which means to bind fast. If this is the sense, then religion is the same as obligation in regard to moral subjects. These may well employ the highest powers of the noblest creatures God has made. No man can slight them without loss and injury to his mind and heart. If these deserve no attention, life is an utter vanity. And if they deserve any attention, it is clear that they deserve our supreme attention. The foundation of all religion rests on the belief of the existence of God.
II. Another word requiring some explanation is WORSHIP. Sometimes the word is used generally, very much in the same sense as religion. But when we speak exactly, by worship we mean supreme religious homage paid to God alone under a sense of our moral obligations to him. The seat of acceptable worship is the soul. All sincere worship engages both the understanding and the affections. It must be hearty. "The true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a spirit: and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:23, 24. The better we know God, the more capable are we of worshiping him aright. It is sad indeed when it can be truly said of men, "You worship you know not what." John 4:22. "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. In understanding be men." 1 Cor. 14:15, 20.
Into all worship pleasing to God must enter faith, love, reverence, humility, uprightness, and knowledge. Insincere worship is highly offensive to God. Worship is either private or public. Private worship ought to be as secret as our circumstances will allow. Matt 6:5, 6. Public worship cannot be laid aside with out the greatest loss to the cause of truth and piety. All worship ought to be solemn, free from vanity and levity, in act, word, or spirit. It ought also to be free from vain forms and idle ceremonies. It ought not to be morose, nor surly, but cheerful and animated. It ought to be pure from superstition and fanaticism.
III. What is the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD? Sometimes we use the phrase "knowledge of God" as meaning the whole of true religion. But commonly we attach a more exact idea to it.
1. There is a speculative or theoretical knowledge of God. This is sometimes quite extended, embracing one's views respecting the existence, perfections, and will of God. But it has no power over the heart and conduct. He who has it lives like an atheist or an infidel. He holds much truth, but he holds it in unrighteousness. His knowledge, because not used aright, increases his guilt in the sight of God. "To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17.
2. There is a saving knowledge of God. This affects the heart and controls the conduct. It is eminently practical and experimental. This is that spoken of by Jesus Christ when he says, "This is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3. This knowledge is accompanied by love to God and man, and by true faith in the Redeemer and in the Father who sent him. It humbles the soul, and yet it sustains it in great trials. We would all have more knowledge of God if we put a higher estimate upon its value; if we had a deeper sense of our own ignorance, errors, and weaknesses; if we sought for knowledge with more earnestness, and especially if our prayers were more fervent. The great hindrances to our growth in divine knowledge are pride, self-conceit, a trifling levity of mind, sloth or a lack of diligence, the indulgence of whims and fancies, calling men our masters, or believing things upon human authority.
IV. Who is a THEIST? He is one who believes in God. All Christians are theists. Originally the word theist meant the same as the word deist, and pointed to a believer in the divine existence. But for a long time the word deist has denoted modern infidels, who, professing to believe in the existence of God, denied that he had ever revealed his will to men. Commonly the writings and the lives of deists have been as contrary to good morals as they have been hostile to piety. All who believe in God are theists.
