Part 9 (2/2)
In a written address, to the Conferential Session holden at Hartwick, at this time, to which two other names besides his own are affixed, some traces of his mind are visible. In that address is the following truly catholic sentiment:--
”Remember that this is a free country in which we live, and we ought to be as willing to let others think as to think ourselves. Others' rights are as dear to them as ours are to us, and if a Christian friend does not think as we do it is evident that we do not think as he does. While we trace the pages of ecclesiastical history, and view the uncharitable conduct of priests and rulers in this respect, we mourn the lack of charity, and feel in duty bound to warn our brethren against such pernicious practices. 'Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.'”
The month of October, which was pa.s.sed at home and in neighboring towns, brought some additions to his cause; and November, which was chiefly employed in the same way, was distinguished by a theological debate, held with Rev. Mr. T., chiefly on the Trinity and on the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ. The debate lasted two days; some other clergymen became in a degree involved in it; and from a minister then present I offer the following lines:--
”Under all circ.u.mstances Mr. Badger possessed a peculiar command of himself. He never permitted ruffled feelings to throw him into confusion or derange his clear equilibrium of mind. His ideas were always clear, and his command of language full and free. Thus he was always prepared on every sudden emergency. Some of his best polemical efforts were called out on the spur of the occasion, and seemingly without any forethought. This intuitive gift always rendered him ready, be the occasion what it might that called him to speak, and especially if to repel the attack of a religious opponent. Nor did he lack occasions of the kind. In the first spread of the Christian sentiments in western New York, public attacks on doctrinal subjects were common, and clergymen of various orders would frequently, after the close of an afternoon or evening discourse, rise and ask questions about the doctrine entertained. On occasions like these Mr. B. was about sure to leave his opponent in the condition of defeat. In every such instance he gained decided advantage and won the sympathy and influence of the ma.s.ses.
”In several instances he was called out by challenges for public discussion. On such occasions he evinced himself a cool, deliberate, shrewd manager. Often it would be said among those who heard his speeches, 'What a lawyer he would have made!' Whilst his opponent was speaking he usually took down notes, which he could do with great rapidity. Wo then to his antagonist, where he left weak points in argument, as Mr. B. was sure to fasten upon them in a manner that not only exposed them, but completely withered their effect. He had great skill in making his own arguments stand out in all their strength, and in stripping those of his opponent of all their seeming worth or value.
Occasionally, after he had made a solid fortress by candid argument, he would let loose a volley of sarcasm which was perfectly scathing, and was very apt to so affect the opposite party as to produce confusion of mind, one of the first elements of defeat.
”The Rev. Mr. T----, an aged and able Congregationalist minister, had sent a request to Mr. B. to call on him when convenient. Some weeks subsequent, Mr. Badger, in company with D. Millard, of West Bloomfield, called at his dwelling, but learned that he was absent. Shortly, as they pa.s.sed on, they met Mr. T., to whom they introduced themselves; Mr. B. acknowledging the receipt of Mr. T.'s request. Mr. T. soon asked him if he believed the doctrine of the Trinity, the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ, and Total Depravity, to which Mr. B. answered, after drawing him out on the meaning of the terms he employed, that he could not endorse all the views which Mr. T. entertained on these matters. 'I perceive,' says Mr. T., 'that you are wholly off from Gospel ground.' 'Then you should be alarmed at our danger and convince us of our errors,' said Mr.
Badger. 'Well, call on me and I will do it,' was his reply.
The time was agreed upon, and about ten days afterward quite a congregation a.s.sembled at the time and place selected, to hear Mr. T. show Messrs. Badger and Millard their errors.
”The doctrine of the Trinity was first investigated, each speaking twenty minutes on a side. Mr. T. led off, and dwelt much on the awfulness of the doctrine to be discussed, that none could be Christians without believing it. He said cases had occurred, where persons impiously denying the doctrine of the Trinity had been cut off by fearful judgments sent immediately from Heaven. Arius, for instance, whose death was sudden and awful, a fate he met soon after Constantine had recalled him to Constantinople, from a state of banishment, for rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. To this speech Mr. Millard replied stating that he could not see that any doctrine could be awfully important which is not even named in the Bible; that he could see no cause for introducing the melancholy death of Arius, unless it was to frighten the a.s.sembly into the belief that they would be apt to experience a loss similar to that of Arius if they should deny the Trinity; and that Mosheim's Church History contained evidence to show that Arius was secretly poisoned by his enemies.
”In his next speech, Rev. Mr. T. entered systematically on the arguments usually adduced on the Trinitarian side. In justice I would say he did it with ability. Mr. Badger followed him in four set speeches, and Mr. Millard in three. They both amply sustained their ground, but Mr.
Badger's adroitness and skilful management were peculiarly conspicuous to all present. The way he met the proof texts presented on the opposite side, his critical a.n.a.lysis of a trio of persons in one being, together with the absurdity of the two-nature scheme, made a very convincing impression on the minds of many then present. I should extend this article too far were I to attempt to give specimens of the arguments he used. The debate closed that day with an appointment to renew it one week afterward. At the next meeting a crowded a.s.sembly attended. An able Presbyterian minister was present, as a colleague with Mr. T. in the debate. I think Mr. Badger led off on that day. In his first speech he reviewed the points gained at the previous meeting. He showed just where the discussion then stood and challenged the opposite party to attempt a refutation of the position now occupied by him and his colleague. Mr. T.
and his a.s.sistant did their best. They evinced much ability and preparation for the contest. But Mr. Badger, in particular, was upon them in every position they took and every seeming fastness to which they fled. The debate continued from ten in the morning, with but a brief recess, till nearly sunset; the four engaged in it taking nearly equal parts. When about to close for the day Mr. Badger proposed that if the opposite party desired it, the debate could be continued another day. Mr. T. declined, as he stated, on account of ill health. Thus this animated discussion closed, and I may say with confidence, it left on the public mind a favorable influence for the Christians.”
In a New England paper, he says--
”But what is the most pleasant, is to see the good union that exists, and the steadfastness that appears. There are now between eighty and ninety members in connection with the church, and as yet there has not been to my knowledge but one that has brought any reproach on the cause. Our a.s.semblies have been so large that I have preached in a grove the greatest part of the summer past, but we have made a beginning in constructing a meeting-house, and the prospect is that we shall soon have better conveniences. In West Bloomfield, a town adjoining this, the work has been very glorious. Elder David Millard, who had been a few months in the County, last June, had his mind drawn into that town, and as the way opened he began to preach and to visit the people. He immediately saw the fruits of his labors--was soon joined by Elder E. Sharp, of Conn., who had formerly preached in the town. The work has embraced the old and the young, and has been carried on in a remarkably _still_ and solemn manner. Brother Millard has had several debates in public and private, on different subjects; and as the public mind has been much agitated concerning his opinion of _Christ_, he has written a treatise of about 48 pages, 12mo, which is now in press, ent.i.tled 'The True Messiah exalted,' which I think will be calculated to do good. A few weeks since a church has been planted at Bloomfield, and I think it consists of about thirty members. Prospects are still encouraging.”
He now had an able coadjutor in the field, one whose written arguments and oral discourses have long been strong barriers to the advocates of the old Athanasian theology. In December, Mr. Badger visited Canandaigua and preached to the people; the most of the time was devoted to the town of his residence, and in supplying the wants of adjoining places.
Speaking of this year in the retrospect, he says: ”One year more of my unprofitable life is gone. In it I have enjoyed myself well, seen much of G.o.d's goodness, attended many funerals, solemnized many marriages, and at its close am seriously reminded that
”'The year rolls round and steals away The breath that first it gave; Whate'er we do, where'er we be, We're tending to the grave.'”
CHAPTER XI.
THOUGHTS AND INCIDENTS OF 1819 AND 1820.
Mr. Badger is now in the twenty-seventh year of his age and the seventh of his ministry, and occupies a position that affords him more leisure for reflection than the activities of his itinerant life had yielded him. Among the subjects that he accepted for the action of his own thought was Universalism, whose pillars and foundations he seemed to have thoroughly examined, as set forth in the systems of that day. His mind was led to this by the circ.u.mstance that his father, for whom his letters and journal only express the kindest filial feeling and reverence, had, after much study and thought, adopted that system as his favorite form of religious belief. The doc.u.ment which contains his views is ent.i.tled ”An affectionate Address of a Son to his Father.” We offer from this a few extracts, in which the reader can see the candor, cogency and kindness that pervade the whole address, which covers some twenty-three pages of letter-paper, very finely and compactly written.
This is the opening paragraph:
”HONORED AND DEAR FATHER:--With pleasure I once more take my pen to address one for whom I have the most reverential regard, a regard greater than I cherish for any person on earth; one who has with hopeful anxiety watched over the days of my childhood and vanity, and wept at the follies of my youth. My former letters have given you the state of my affairs and prospects in this pleasant part of the country; also, in my several letters, I have noticed the extensive spread of the Gospel, the increase of light, and the effect of those glorious reformations I have been allowed to witness, the subjects of which are now my choice society; and you cannot imagine the unspeakable joy of your son, while a stranger in a strange land, to learn that his aged father has been entertained and comforted by the contents of his letters on those subjects. Permit me, my dear father, in this short treatise, to make a few remarks on the doctrine which you have for years embraced and vindicated relative to the salvation of all men. If this doctrine is true, it is a pleasant thing; if untrue, it is dangerous to rest on the sand. As I have serious objections against the system, I feel it a duty to lay them before you for your consideration, wis.h.i.+ng, if I am in error, to be convinced of it; and I hope that, should you find the doctrine you have esteemed as truth, cries 'peace and safety' to those whom sudden destruction awaits, you will be willing to exchange it for that truth which opens to the sinner the worst of his case.”
After this kind and gentle introduction, Mr. Badger proceeds to take up the chief arguments which his father had, in other years, employed for the support of the system,--arguments from general reason and from Scripture. He then attempts to show the origin of the system in human causes, and its disagreement with the plain teachings of Revelation, and with the spirit and genius of the Christian experience and life. Such is the plan of his treatise. The period to which these arguments belong, was one in which there was a strong controversial clash of theories, each one of which was undoubtedly a fragmentary and imperfect statement of some essential truth in religion; and as Calvinistic reasoning was then generally in the ascendant, as its bold premises were the main foundation of the plea of its opposite extreme,--the Universalian statement,--the subject seemed to take a fresh interest in the hands of one who approached it from an intermediate region of thinking.
”One of your favorite and powerful arguments in favor of this doctrine is, that in the beginning the soul of man was a part of G.o.d, and therefore cannot be defiled, condemned or punished, as Deity will not sentence a part of himself to misery. All the Scripture I ever heard quoted in favor of this view, is that 'G.o.d breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living soul,' which carries a very different idea from the one you derive from it. It does not say that the soul is a part of G.o.d, or that G.o.d breathed into man a part of himself. It means just this, that G.o.d breathed into man the breath of life, and that, as a result of this, he became a _living, active, intelligent creature_.
”Let us further reason on this subject. Can a part of G.o.d be ignorant of another part of himself? Yet are we not ignorant of what pa.s.ses in the breast of our neighbor? Does not one drop of a fountain possess _all_ the qualities of the fountain from which it was taken? But who will say that mortal man has all the qualities and qualifications of his Maker, G.o.d? If the soul is a part of G.o.d, where lies the propriety of those Scriptures wherein he threatens to punish the sinner? Would he threaten to banish a part of himself from himself forever, or say to a part of himself, 'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity?'
”The supporters of this theory, arguing on the old Calvinistic, fatal plan, say that 'G.o.d foreordains whatsoever comes to pa.s.s;'--a popular and highly esteemed idea, from which I must dissent for the following reasons.”
Mr. B. proceeds to urge half a dozen reasons for rejecting these theological premises, alleging, from the authority of scripture revelation, that many things have taken place which the Creator has disapproved of; that the premise a.s.sumed puts the decrees of G.o.d and his commandments into exactly hostile relations to each other; that it destroys the justice of all punishment whatever, unless it is just to punish human beings for doing the highest will in the universe, and for doing what they could not avoid.
”If all creation,” says he, ”moves in exact accordance with the divine will, I cannot find anything in the world that is sin. Where _all_ is right, there can be no wrong. Sin then is rendered virtue, falsehood is truth, darkness is light, Satan is man's friend and helper toward the 'new heavens' and the eternal bliss. Is it not strange that G.o.d should give laws to machines? For this scheme completely renders men such. He does not announce laws to the trees of the forest. What would we think of the goldsmith who should appoint a day in which morally to judge all his watches according to their works? This doctrine gives as much honor to Satan as it does to Christ, as it makes him as active as he is in the salvation and final happiness of men. It certainly makes him the brother of Christ, for Jesus said, 'He that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother;'--as universal foreordination causes the devil to do the will of G.o.d, it presents him as the brother of Jesus Christ. If the two ideas, that the soul is a part of G.o.d, and that G.o.d has foreordained whatsoever comes to pa.s.s, are true, then Universalism is correct; if they are not true, the system must fall, for these are the main pillars which support the fabric, and in my opinion they are as weak in their nature as were the feet of the king's image in the prophet's vision, which were 'part iron and part clay.'”
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