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JOSEPH S. BAKER —Editor.
VOL. XIII.
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For the Christian J/uic.i .
Sermon on Theological Education:
Delivered before the Convention at
Forsyth, May 18th, 1845. Publish
ed by request of the Convention.
ilosea 4th, second part of 6th \rs. “Be
cause thou hast rej t ied knowledge, / will
also reject thee, that thou shutl be no priest
unto me ; Serins thou hast forgotten the
law of thy God, / kill ulsofam'd thy j
children.” J t
Man should be humbled byrthe con
sciousness of his own ignorance. There is :
eo much lobe learned, and so little time or
capacity (or learning, that our greatest at
tainments are small, and the most richly ‘
cultivated mind is seamy and unproductive. 1
The objects of nature, the laws of Creation,
ihe r wonders of Science and art, the lu-aiilies
o” Intt jfl I'TT I , ’TfvrtTfoS’ -rf —■ a*! *■ uun| . _
and the glories ol the Godhead sum! be
fore us, in all their sublimity, commanding
our study, and challenging our understand
ing, mud the mind, awed, ami overpower
ed, shrinks hack into itself, humbled at its ‘
weakness, and ashamed of its ignorance.—
*4yvas with this feeling that the Psalmist 1
sSnTIJtd, “When l consider the heavens
Jo work of diy fingers. the moon and stars
which thou hast ordained, what is man that I
g> ,u an mindful of him, or the Son of man
■ thou kuowest rhy
ing, thou uTo'ugh'is afar
off. Thou hast beset nfiybehind and before,
and laid iltiue hand /upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is
high, 1 cannot attain unto it,”
IVhai makes our ignorance the more la
mentable, it is increased and perpetuated by
liewieedness of the human heart. How
very difficult is it to prevail 00 man to use
the mind ivkieb God has givtm turn-! To
exercise his reason, to command his atten
tion, lo chain i.is thoughts to any great sub
ject, paiticularly the Salvation jof his Soul.
Yes, my hearers, how often do we neglect
and prostitute the mind ; stealing awry its
energies,draining its resources,impoverish
ing its treasury, and condemning it to eter
nal barrenness, and spiritual night! Np
wonder the inspired penman exclaims,
“Israel doth not know, my people doth not
consider.” And again in the text-Berause
thou hast rejected knowledge, l will also
reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to
me; Seeing tliou hast forgotten the law
of thy God, I will also fotget thy children.
Herein is contained a most awful denuncia
tion against those priests, those public
teachers, spiritual guides who reject knowl
edge. But what sort of knowledge is here
alluded to ? It is that, doubtless, for which
Solomon prayed unto God, and said, “Give
me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may
go out, and come i:t before this people, lor
who can judge this thg people, that is so
great?” “The fear of the Lord is the begin
ning of knowledge.” It is that knowledge
which the dying David bequeathed lo his
youthful sou, “And thou Solomon, know
thou the God of tliy . ,ms. and serve him
with a perfect heart an 1 . g mind.”—
My brethren, I stand before you this morn
ing, at the command of o-r Convention,
speaking I trust the command of God, to
dwell upon this knowledge, which is to
enrich the intellect, and w arm up the soul
of the Christian minister.
As definitions are important on every
subject, particularly on that liable to be
misunderstood and forced into unnatural
forms by the rough hanthof cruel prejudice,
we shall define that of which wo are about
to speak. It is absolutely necessary that
the heaters no less than the speaker, under
stand the point to be arrived at, the thing
to be proven. Otherwise, we shall speak
in ail unknown tongue, and bring the con
gregation to no definite conclusion. Edu
cation tlien, yes, theological Education is
auch a training of the mind and improve
ment of the heart as will enable a minister
of Christ to accomplish, instrumentallt/
the most good in this world, and secure the
greatest amount of happiness to himself
and others in the world to come. Remem
ber we said a minister of Christ. One call
ed of the spirit to preach the gospel, and
of course possessing undoubted piety, and
humbly relying in all hi%fforts upon the
promised grace, of God. We further re
mark, by way of defining our position, that
unsanetified learning not unlrequenlly puffs
up a little mind, and draws from ?the nar
row way a deceived soul. We here and
there may meet with one professing to be
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
a son of the prophets, who, with much la
bor, having reached a small eminence,
fondly conceits he stands upon the highest
peak ol the Amies ; and supposes his nar
row horizon limits the world; ignorant
alas, that beyond, there roll deeper sueatns
and mightier Oceans, and there arise yet
higher hills aud loftier mountains. He
immediately gives himself up to profane
anil vain babblings, and foolishly engages
in the oppositions of science falsely so call
ed. Such charaeteis do the cause of edu
cation more injury than all its enemies.—
They are often a uisgrace to religion itself;
and wc may pronounce against them the
wo tlmt Christ pronounced against the con
ii ‘ r ,
ye have not enteied in yourselves, and the)’
that were entering in ye hindered.”
Having said so much by way of expla
nation, tve now assert this proposition,
drawn from die text; It is plainly the will
ol God that his ministers should study to
have knowledge, as well as piety ; and that
an ignorant ministry ever has been a prin
cipal cause ol error in the church, and
spoitual darkness to tite rising generation.
We might here pursue llte usual method of
prool, and bring forward a host of argu
ments drawn Irom the dignity of man, the
~ *' ie die pleasures ofknowl
ctp, our accountability to God for the im
provement of lime and talents &c.; and
Uieu answer the old objections, of ministe
rial inspiraiim;, of having a machine shop
fur manufacturing preachers; of wasting
time m pouring over dry books, while the
souls ol men aie being lost —and such like.
Hut brethren, we came not here for eonlro-*
vur.sy ; itis easy on any subject to make
objections, to find I.mil and heap up diffi
culties. Were we speaking to others, rath
er than to Baptists, then there would he
more reason fur indulging an objector, and
umw**u iu uoVwering Cavillers.
But vv 1 ftr you we appeal,, at once to ihs
foundation ol Baptist lailli and practice;
we throw ourselves upon the Bible, your
boasted text book ; we resort to the word
ol God, and the history of his chosen peo
ple 111 every age. This then is tlm plan of
our discourse We shall inquire of the
Bible tlm will ol God on tins subject; who
were the charaeteis,He chose to be bis
puhhe if ache is jglapce hurriedly at a few
’ the Apostolic days;
4, e>c la, is lead us
. lot as the Apostle
r bo true and e.very/ojau a liar.”^^^^P
We read in tlieText of a certain charac
ter culled a priestrlTiffrthut he was rejected
from being one, because he had n-jccic.i
knowledge. Every sensible man would
conclude tlierelure, that the possession of
knowledge was requisite to being a priest.
As further proof of tins, Malaeln says, 2.
ch., 7. vrs., “For the priest’s tips should
.keep knowledge; and they, (that is the
people,) should seek the law at his mouth;
lor he is the messenger of the Lord of
hosts.” But a minister ofGod is die mes
senger ol the Lord of liosts, therefore a
priest was a minister of God, consequently
the lips ol die minister should keep knowl
edge :We take it for granted that there
ever has existed a chosen people since
God’s promise to Adam. It is granted al
so, that before tiie coming of Christ, Israel,
as a nation was this chosen people, and
among them were to be found me true ser
vants of God. Now the order ol the priest
hood was established, not only to offer sac
rifices typical of the death of the Lamb,
but to leach the people the law, and
lo impress upon them through their
type.- and shadows, faith in the coining
Messiah. Aaron, of the liibe of Levi, was
divinely appointed tone the founder of the
priesthood. This Aaton was the btother
ol Moses, who was Israel’s l ai erand law
giver, learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians. It was through the eloquence
ol Aaron that Xloscs made his communica
tions to Pnaroah; they were constantly to
gether, forming their plans, and seeking
counsel ol UirJ. Who does not see that
Aaron would thus soon acquire, (il he-did
not possess it before,) much of the learning
and wisdom ofAIosos? He was then cho
sen, and thus lined by his piety, his elo
quence and knowledge to be the priest oi
minister of God. “The tribe of Levi was
ihusaet apart” says a pious writer, “for
the public ministry, to attend upon the at*
tar at Jerusalem, and to teach the > people
“up and down the nation; and for the bet
tet fitting them for teaching, they had forty
eight cities allotted them. These cities
were so many Universities, where the
ministerial tribe distributed in companies,
studied tin. la>v, and became learned ; and
thence seatteied through the whole nation,
dispersed learning and the ‘knowledge of
the lavvjn all the synagogues!
But under the Jewish dispensation, there
was anoLher veiy important class of teach
ers. These were styled the puiphels.—
We have seen that it ;vas necessary for the
priests to'possess knovf ledge, and we know
that the prophets must, because they were
inspired ; hut they were required also to
study, and become acquainted with the
wisdom of men. We refer you to the
child Samuel, whom his pious mother plac
ed, at a very tender age, under the instrue
titfhs of the aged Eli. And as he minister
ed in the temple, and studied the law from
day to clay, “he grew on, and .was in favor
bbtli with the I.cid* and also with men.”
There were also collections or schools of
young men, upon whom rested the spirit of
prophecy, in different parts of Judah aud
FOR THE BAPTIST CONVENTION 0] THE STATE OF GEORGIA.
PENFIELD, GA., JhNE 20,1845.
Israel. We read of a certain young man,
who was engaged in his agricultural pur
suits ploughing, with twelve yoke of oxen
before him, and he with the twelfth, and
the great prophet Elijah passed by, and
cast his mantle upon him. And he left all,
and went after Elijah, and ministered unto
him. He was for years under his instruc
tions , he loved and imitated him; and
when his master was about to be taken up
from him into iliaven, his last request was,
“let a doule portion of thy spirit rest upon
me.” And as he beheld him ascending,
he ciied, -‘My father, my -father,” that is
“aiy master, my teacher, instructor, the
chariot oflstael and horsemen thereof.” —
--T1..U1 dftlVnifH my nation
<*f will.” “Thou
wast Israel’s artillery, its glit
tering legion, iis invincible licTsh’/ Oh that
we had such ministers now. Wln.should
he the guardians of the pulpit, the shidd ol
the church, and the invincible legion aid
bulwark of their country's piety. Now
mark the destiny of these two young men
we have mentioned. Samuel, having been
trained under the experienced Eli, was liiin
sell to become the instructor of a company
of young men collected in a retired country
seat called Naiolh. (Read 1 Samuel 19.
20.) And Elisha, succeeding his lamented
teacher, came to Jericho where there were
collected fifty voting men, and when “they
saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah
doth rest upon Elisha, and they came to
meet him, aud bowed themselves to the
ground before him.” He went also to
Gilgal, where there were ail hundred of the
sons of tile prophets, that is, the pupils of
the prophets and they sm bcfoie him lo
receive his instructions. There was anoth
er Institution located at Jerusalem; hut we
are not informed as to the number ol schol
ars or teachers engaged in it. It is simply
Saul in 2 Kings 22. 14. “That Huldah the
prophetess dwelt in Jerusalem in the Col
lege.” We are not to suppose that this
name College indicates any superiority to
the other instiiutions we have mentioned ;’
they were all colleges, schools, here pious
young men were prepared for usefulness.
“Tlieso institutions, in the language of a
nuther, were the depositories of Israelite
light pnd justice. They shone as lumina
ries iutacrooked and perverse nation.—
And wv'lTtr'ieU say, whajNrearns’ of living
waters flowed J'~*’*T Ijoini lin to re
| fresh--" 4 fertilize TTieed my
footers,
mpKnongst ancient jmoptm—
■bis of atrkmds existed every where
(lie Jews.” In every city and town
there was a school where children weie
taught lo read the law. And from the na
ture id that law the Jewish learning must
have been more or less theological The
most celebrated of these schools, was that
ofaJevvish Rabbi named Ilillel.the gtand
futli-r of Gamaliel, the teacher ol the Apos
tle Paul. The teacher sat on a platform
elc above (lie heads of bis pupils;
hen iis said of the great apostle, that
he \ brought up at the feet of Gamaliel.
VY c have thus taken a rapid glance at tiie
arrangements ofGod under the ancient dis
pensation for the building up of Zion and
the instruction ol'his people, We pause
to ask if we find any tiling here., in the Old
Testament, to discountenance our humble
efforts in schooling the mind and heart for
the wink of the holy ministry? On the
contrary, when did wickedness prevail in
Israel, and vice and error scourge the land?
YVas it not the first act of the w icked King
Jereboam, when lie wished to establish
idolatry, lo appoint priests of the lowest
most ignorant order of the people? Did
not the prophet describe a season of wick
edness by saying they were without the
true God, and u teaching priest? And
again in the verse of the text, my ptjpple
are destroyed for lack of knowledge, .bus
it has ever been when ignorance prevailed.
Well did Julian the apostate understand the
power of education, when in his attempt to
extinguish Christianity, and min paganism,
he forbade the children to attend Christian
schools; he abolished these institutions,
and commanded the young lo be placed un
der pagan instructors.
But it is time we come to the New Tes
tament scriptures, as many rely more im
plicitly on their audio ity. The first prom
incut character that meets us here, is the
great forerunner of Christ, of whom it was
said, “there hath not been born of woman a
greater than John the Baptist.” He was the
son of Zecharias and Elizabeth. They
ministered in the temple and “walked in
all the ordinances and commands ofGod,
blameless.” “And die child grew and wax
ed strong in spirit.” He grow in body,
and was instructed by his father in the law;
iiis mind was expanded, his spirit was
strengthened and imbued with the nature
of his sacred office. “And he was in the
desert all the day of his shewing to Israel.”
And how, do we suppose he inustTave
spent his days of seclusion from the wrfrkl?
Did he relire to sleep anil dream away his
time? Or would he not rather lend all
the energies of his mind to the study of his
great work, and like Moses in the Mount,
receive his instructions from the mouth of
Deity, and at length come forth from his
place of study ami devotion, prepared to
preach tho plan of Redemption to listening
thousands, and call upon them to prepare j
the way of the Lord and make his path.* i
straight. He was indeed an
man. Having received all the education of
a priest of Levi, added to which were years
of retired study, he made the wilderness of
Judea rint; with his eloquent appeals, and
mu'MTThEI Aateis of Jordan with Into-,
dredPp&illing converts. His influence
“to fas the elegant language of a living
wrii3F‘reach.ed the palace of Herod, and
his r ‘i >6fs tingled in (he-'!eajrs.of4ie /ux
uriot'monatch.” He gleamed jj pmi tlte
worl ivilh a meteorls brig
us th Sayfajir has said 1 , He* yf as, a on filing
and; dinning Hghl.'• Such was John the
Bap l l. ‘Does - die furnish iis with an ex
amp of ministetiaL ignorance and mentaL
slotl ‘ *’
B we Come now so the Apostles ol
Chri , who have been proverbially styled
illite ite fisherm..n. YYe ask yfour candid
and: siitive hearing to two or three, re
in;:.jjjj viiiiceruiiie these met!. We observe
Ist.'TeeyTiafl received, in oo;. moil with
their cuvndyinen the advantages ol these
schools, And; synagogue instructions so
strictly /itteudrd to by the JeYvs. They
unilefsteod tie Hebrew of the Old Testa
meiijsi'riptui'es, (fir they were Hebrews.
They knew tie Greek ianguage, for their
vritßgs are ii the Greek tongue. Observe
2. ‘tfhey wev acquainted with the Geog
iaplivof thec untry ; its mountains and
vallev. its Inks and rivers. Aud men la
niili*'iih all he customs and riles alluded
to iim.c Bible We inquire if any of the
preapers ofojr day possess such advan
ti
thft acquirements, tliey vv ’® r< j. Les-j fry
the fldly Spirit, had the gdtol __ gtfes, the
powjr of wcj king miracles. the glori
ous Jrivilegit'of all the rnys
teridi of itie gorfcllJfdu ask then why
thcqpwere
mej of oh-c/.ro birth, in the humble walks
ofwb. They made no pretensions to the
lofting of t'ie Rabbis and doctors of the
la chose not the chief seats in
tlnftynajjogties and matknt-places. ‘i'hey
mum no/ela'iin to tho philosophy and astro
noiMj ‘iAl curious |i.esiions of the day
‘l’lnyTtk no part in the learned discuss
ion* ufv|e Jew, or the classic refinement
of the i|lished Greek. But with p,ia;..
sense ail solid acquirements, and minds
inrhned (with holy spirit they preached
ChCTt i ticified to the Jew a stumbling
bloqk. iad to the Greek foolishness. Oli
that ‘i.'ifiad in our day many such illiter
ate ijfiermeii. p
i •jß'yet.'jbreihren, it was necessar
f i ftMli in n ii ail mi ii with
tlituiogy"v^fc;_
: was necessafjjjj ‘if
i thqul surely what ought we to do ? ShsTfW
; wo/ever relax in our efforts to be good aiirJ
- letraed men ? Ought we notto go onwaid,
i irnnfove every opportunity, uso every
3 mCnjl, aiKjety, mightily lojfod to aid us in
t befouling'learned in the wisdom of men
. anil mighty in the Holy Scriptures.? Let
. us :t least never plead again the character
) Apostles as an excuse for our idle
; nitisoran apology for our ignorailcc.
t i hall we go on to cite you to the learned
. Ap stle of the Gentiles, standing in the
5 *4* Os Mur’s-hill, quoting to the men oil
. At! ens passages ‘rom their authors to prove
1 to them the character of the great God ?
i Shall we refer you to the eloquent Apollos,
1 mighty in the Scriptures—but whosubmit
: ted himself to the leaching of Aquilla and
r Prtfciila, and learned from them the way of
• Gotj more perfectly ? How anxious must
i thtie good people have been that the Gos
? pci of Christ be not retarded by the iguor
r anti of the preacher! Had Apollos been
i likjSome young men of our day, he would
; ha e been so puffed up with his popularity &
I papers of eloquence, that lie would have
- nJßfcd away with mortification and con
■ tempi from the honest-hearted teaching of
1 ihii pious couple. And had they been like
3 buvtoio many of the fathers and mothers of
i thy present time, they would have regarded
. the young man as a prodigy of eloquence
; and learning—thin Ling, perhaps, he had a
i little 100 much of die latter; or, at rate,
, joining with the crowd in making him sat
i i.-lii'd with his attainments, and spoiling
, him by flattery. But, ah! those wcio the
• days of honesty, of pious simplicity, and
‘fl|Hhr. > ~ . ~: a c-fordingMto knowledge. Look,
. too, at the youthnd Timothy, acquainted
. with the Scriptures from a child—but whom
the Apostle exhorted to close reading, to
: statly to shew himself approved, and togive
; himself wholly to the woik. Oh, breth
i ren ! lake the New Testament and point
; me to a single passage or example that can
encourage the Christian minister in folding
his arms in idleness, in throwing aside Ins
books forever, in shutting the avenues-of
the intellect against all knowledge, in luil
i >g Ids mind into at) eternal slumber, in
(Stowing over the people of his charge the
;>jU of hopeless ignorance, and leading
them on erring, and dark and blind to the
chiulov/ qf death and the scenes of the Judg
ment.
1 once heard a young minister say that
ho knew nothing about English Grammar,
< n(i, moreover, lie did not believe it neces
sary for a preacher to understand it; as for
himself he had no use lor it. Surely, sure
ly, aud has it come to this? The teacher
of the people, the ambassador of God, the
expounder of the mysteries and glories of
Cross, to rise before an intelligent, but
y**rishing people—and, with stammering
j tongue and darkened ideas, to render uu
foyclcome and almost despicable the sweet
**-s>vilaiions of Jesus, by throwing them forth
in barbarous terms and murdered English!
No, no, no! my young brethren; would to
God that we knew not only our mother
tongue in all its force and beauty, but were 1
familiar also with the original languages ol
the Bible, were acquainted with the man
ners and customs of those times, with the
mountains, and lakes and rivers’ of the
‘country, and Were conversant with the ve
ry scenes and Walks of the blessed Sa
■gwqg'. *
ilere, brethren, we might cease out dis
course—and, with the Bible in our hands,
proclaim to this assembly, to the Baptist
denomination —yes', to.the world, tire truth
wish which we started —that it is God’s
will that the Ministers of should
be learned as well as pious. . But we beg
your patient hearing still luithflr, w hile we
rim over a few facts a (folding additional evi
dence of our doctrine.
ignorance has ever been a fiuitful source
of error. Any one, who will east his .. . ;
over the history of the Christian Church,
will see this truth exemplified in ail its
force. During the lives of the Apostles,
and the fathers immediately succeeding
them, the doctrines of the gospel were
taught in all heir purity : hut, us these holy
men were taken away, mul others of less
.knowledge and piety came forward—as
persecutions gradually ceased, and church
es multiplied—the means of communication
became more difficult and less pure : prim
ing not yet being invtailed, Uje manuscripts
Alii -pul NeurTeslaments were eir-
Tulated but slowly amongst the people.
‘The great mass of the Church, therefote,
were dependent upon the reading and inter
pretation of the few ; and many of those
lew soon lailed to overcome the diffieiilth s
of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the
“Scriptures—ignorance began to prevail
among teachers and people, and the Bible
ueeessaiily was misinterpieted, and the or
dinances of the church were comipted.
“The state of religion, during tire 2nd
and 3rd centuries, exhibits melancholy proof
of a gradual departure from the simplicity
of the gospei. Instead of regarding the in
spired writings as the 1 sole depository of
truth, professing Christians acted as though
the Bible were only one of the sources of
religious knowledge. It cannot be too
deeply deplored u,. e1..a..a...y v.iw modi
fied and mingled with philosophy, and that
the simple worship of the first Christians
was quickly corrupmJ by the introduction
of rites and forms burrowed from Jewish
or tieaiiien observances. It uas </
i auy for the Church. Baptism a|o //IvJ
Khmer:k were treated as oßDjjLvjj^Jp
■HMgli SALVATIOtv. l f
0 ~~ 1 r ' T u Jjj
13 r
[‘work published by the ‘ .frnerican Traci]
‘Society , styled “ The Reformation in Eu-]
rope.” YVe are here taught that bapfism
thus eally was misconstrued into anesku
tial of salvation, and assumed the place of
faith itself. It was consequently adminis
tered to sick and dying persons, sprinkling
being substituted for immersion. At length,
this blind construction embraced infants,
100, as the preper subjects of this saving
ordinance; and thus FcdoL>aptiiii, we
will not say a sciiyud ignorance, (for doubt-,
less very many were better informed,) but
at least an exotic, unknown in apostolic
days, was grafted oil the church ; and there
it yet remains a singular, strange-looking
limb, having imbibed so much of the sap
and strength of the tree, that it has defied
the learning and piety of hundreds of years
to lop it off. llow many controversies,
aud strifes, and divisions, has this one er
ror caused ! My brethren, Baptists, of all
others, ought to be educated ; for il is now
necessary to pul on the whole armor ol
God, to fill the intellect with stores of
knowledge, and the heart with treastues of
piety, in order to defend ourselves fiotn this
■rude supplanter, or strike one blow at this
Flowering branch. The biead used in the
Supper was also, in these daysol darkness,
transformed into the actual body of Christ,
and the wine into his blood, and transub
stantiation. is now believed in by thousands
professing to revere the Gross. But again,
as Christians multiplied in the 3rd and 4th
“centuries, in the large cities, they scattered
off and formed churches in tho country.
These, however, were in a great measure
dependent upon the mother church sci
preachers and instructions. Thus die city
churches began to feel and assert their su
periority; aud, in the course of time, the
city pastors actually appointed the country
pastors, and held them accountable for their
conduct and teaching. Btittiie cities them
selves began now to be rivals; and that one
would naturally gain the ascendancy, which
was the metropolis of cotnmeice, and the
seat of the arts and sciences. This was
imperial Rome, still possessing much of
her ancient grandeur. She asserted that
the Church here was one of the oldest, and
her Bishop claimed descent from the Apos
tles, and possession of the keys of Si. De
ter. Thus was founded the Papal See,
and the Pope of Rome was enthroned. lie
soon stretched his dominion over the kings
and princes of the earth.: he hurled his
anathemas against his offending subjects,
and the thunder'd of the Vatican made Eu
rope tremble.
Here we see, brethren, tho error-and
danger of yielding for a moment the inde
pendence of the churches; lor hence sprang
the rule of Episcopacy, and all the tyranny
and abominations of Roman Catholicism,
There was an ignorant zealot, by the
name of Anthony, who inisconstiued cer
tain passages in the New Testament, and
lied to the wilderness to escape the evils ol
society, and to bury himself in a hermit’s
cell; numbers flocked after him. Con
vents and monasteries were gradually found
ed, celibacy was enjoined, demonology
PußLisiiEii—BENJ. BRANTLY.
was believed im, the doctrines ol penance
and auricular confession soon followed, the
bbiunlaries of purgatory were marked out.
and finally, indulgences for crime were
qjought and sold, and ilark-tiess covered the
e-iirtli, and gross darkness the people. Gh#
tlic fatal power of ministeiial ignorance!
Look, my’ heaters, at that starless night*
and tell me, where were the people of God ?-
It does, indeed, appear that the blighting
curse of the text had descended upon the
church: “ Because tliou hast forgotten the
law ol thy God, I also will forget thy chil
dren.” \Y ill not this whole congregation
join me, and semi up to lieuvfen thedevjmt
prayer ol the lamented Mercer? “ The
Lord save'us from an ignorant ministry !”
, And hoy, brethren, look back upon the
| ground ovaf-which \ve have foistil'’ travel
ed ; consider t.od's appointments and in
strumentalities in all igesand dispensations,
and answer the important question—What
is God’s will respecting the improvement
ol'his sacred teachers ? Oh, it does seem
to your speaker to come with the plainness
of demonstration, that he wills his minis
ters to ‘cultivate the mind as well ns the
heart, and that he will invariably etiiso
those “ blind guides, leaders of the blind,”
aud will bless the efforts ol'his faithful ser
vants to spread his knowledge, and roll
round the glorious jubilee of the gospel.
But before we close, we are asked, by
some honest hearer, cannot Got! use even
the ignorant to accomplish his purposes ?
cannot he bring light out of darkness,
strength out of weakness, and out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings perfect
praise ? Yes, my brethren, he can and
docs do it. He is able ol ilitse stones to
raise up children to Abraham. Man is alto
gether vanity; and those the most gifted,
and learned and pious, are hut as babes and
sucklings before the Almighty. In this
sense he docs it. ,
But ! urtiier—(here are many pious and
successful ministers who neve; /robbed ihe
walls ol a CuiiwjjeVdr labored through the
ponderous volumes of the Seminaries and
Universities. I see many such around me
to-day—the honored servants of the blessed
Jesus, whose venerated forms have braved
the dangers of live wilderness, and whose
hallowed lips have preached the gospel to
the poor, the ignorant and the dying : but >
these same men have struggled on with difrtt
tieulties innunierable--they have applied*
all their flowers of tniitij Vuhe woik—-they^
~.. “gp#* i
jUireniMe : they have felt ihe jd by brotli
and would not chain the rising ministry to r ’
the same difficulties, and keep them shroud-'*
ed in darkness, when light is fast spreading
over the people they are called to teach.
Oh no, no ! I see them crowding up here
from their fields of humble labor—some,
alas ! with tottering frames and whitened
heads, but all the hardy pioneers of the
Cross. I see them rallying round the
standard of Christ, and saying toiheir young
brethren, Come, coim -like Psiul from the
very feel of Gamaliel, w ith sanctified learn
ing and crucified heart, take this banner and
beat it to the Jew and the Greek, the
learned anil the ignorant, plant it on every
shore, unfurl it to every breeze, till its
broad folds shall sweep the earth, and’ the
shout of universal triumph shall proclaim
the day’ of millenial glory.
We turn then, in conclusion, to ask Bap
lists of Georgia, What are we doing ? YVo
have often been reproached for our idleness
and ignorance; ar.d it has fiequently been
said, that if Baptists would wake up, take
an elevated stand, and send forth men of
learning and piety, capable of advocating
and proving their doctrines, we would soon
overrun the Slate and take the world.
Brethren, it is high time urn were awake.
Others have commenced the march of im
provement, and arc endowing their schools,
qualifying their young men, and propagat
ing their tenets throughout the land : ansi
where are we ! ’1 is true, we have not
been altogether idle. Various efforts have
been made, ever since 1802, in the cause
of education.
Many year.; ago, there was a stranger
youth—poor, indeed, but having mind and
piety in the small village ol Eatonton,
who, with but little assistance from teach
ers, silently’ pursued his studies, and prs
-1 pared himsell for College, supported only
by the charities of his brethren: that one
is now the President ol Alabama Universi
ty. 1 here was another in the same vil
lage, and similarly situated, who has walk
ed many a weary mile to supply a country
church, anti has spent many a sleepless
hour in prayer and study. Ho toiled on,
through difficulties and poverty, to success
and prosperity, and has often raised his
voice for Christ and education ; and was
ready, even to-day, as an alternate, to advo
cate beforeyou the cause his labors, his ener
gy, his whole life, have proved so dear to his
heart. Yve have also sent out a few shi
ning lights from our Mercer University:
Inn, brethren, the number is too small; o"ur
Institution is too much neglected. It is
now at an important crisis: late events in
vite and urge us to gather fresh around it.
Come, Baptists, we speak not to a few;
there are thousands in our beloved State:
come, then, let us assemble a mighty band
to this glorious work, and make our school
a nursery of piety, an armory for the Lord.
Young brethren, I turn to you. This
work, in a great measure, must be yours.
Our Elder Brandy, our Marshalls and
Mercers, are gone; and our Poseys, and
Sanders’, and Callaways, will soon follow.
In a few years, we shall assemble here—
NO-. 25.