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•The entrance of Thy Word giveth light’
A. 0. DAYTON, Editor.
JAS. N. ELLS, Secular Editor.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1863.
Our Platform.
1. None but those who make a credible pro
fession of faith in Christ should be baptized.
2. None are really baptized except those who
are immersed upon a profession of their faith in
Christ.
3. None can properly be members of the
church of Christ, except they have been bap
tized.
4. None can properly be ministers of Christ
who are not members of the church of Christ.
5. Non-afflliation with those who refuse to
obey Christ in these things —with those who re
fuse to walk according to the Divine rule.
6. We shall insist upon Baptists practising
what they hold and teach.
The next number will complete the
fourth volume of The Banner. Will not
each friend of the paper, who may read this
announcement, not only renew his or her
own subscription, but try to send us anew
subscriber? Will you do it?
Calvinists and Armenians.
For about two hundred and seventy
years the so-called Protestant churches have
been in perpetual, and often bitter, contro
versy about certain points in Theological
faith which have been termed Calvfcistic
and Armenian. The dispute however did
not begin with Calvin and Armenius. They
were only representatives of parties and
opinions that nave existed from the days
of the apostles, and which became neither
more nor less reasonable and Scriptural
from their advocacy of them. As, however,
She points of difference were clearly stated
*nd elaborately discussed in the disputes
between the parties under the leading of
these men, it is convenient to refer to the
doctrines as theirs. The Calvinists main
tained, Ist, concerning Election, that God
has, from all eternity, chosen a certain fixed
number of our race to happiness and heav
en ;that this choice was made without any
reference to faith, good works, or any other
condition whatever in the chosen, but only
of the sovereign grace and purpose of God.
The Armenians held, on the other hand,
that God, from all eternity, determined to
bestow salvation on those whom He fore
saw would repent and believe, and per-’
severe to the end of their lives in holiness.
Then, as regards Reprobation, the Calvin
ists held that all mankind who were not
chosen to life, though no worse than others,
were left by God to go on in sin and ordain
ed to everlasting death, to the praise of His
glorious justice.
The Armenians held that, though God
did, from all eternity, ordain the wicked to
death, it was because he foresaw that they
would not repent, believe, and persevere to
the end in good works.
With the Calvinists election and repro
bation are absolute, dependent only on the
will of God without regard to the character
of the persons, or, rather, regarding them as
all alike dead in sin and alike deserving
death, and unworthy of any favor. With
the Armenians the election and reprobation
are conditional, dependent on the faith and
obedience which God foresaw would be in
nome and wanting in others.
11. In regard to the extent of the Atone
ment :
The Calvinists held that, while the sacri
fice of Christ was sufficient for all the world
and secured, that salvation might be opened
to all; yet it was the will of God that it
should be efficacious only to those who had
been chosen from all eternity and given to
Christ by the Father as his own people.
The Armenians held that Christ died
alike for all, and that each and every indi
vidual of the race has equal interest in His
redemption, but none who do not repent,
believe, and persevere to the end can be
partakers of the benefit.
The efficacious relation of the atonement
depends, according to the Calvinists, upon
the simple will and sovereignty of God ;
and according to the Armenians, upon the
will of the persons saved.
HI. In regard to original sin :
Both parties agreed that man, by nature,
is so lost and dead in sin that no one, of his
own will, can truly and savingly repent and
believe, or perform any other good work,
and hence that repentance and faith are the
THE BA. J? TI ST BANNEH,.
result of the regenerating work of the Spirit
of God.
But the Armenians contend that this
spirit is given alike to all; and the reason
some are not, is to be found in the fact
that some receive and yield themselves of
their own wills to its- influences, while oth
ers resist and cast it from them.
The Calvinists do not see, either in the
Scriptures or the experience of men, any
evidence that the Spirit is given equally
to all; and if it were they hold that as all are
alike dead in sin, all ‘will alike reject it un
less the Spirit itself shall so change tfleir
hearts that they are willing and desirous to
receive it, and hence if any are brought to
repent and believe, it is not of themselves,
but of the will and power of God. They
are willing, indeed, but not till God has first
changed their wills.
IV. The Calvinists maintained that all
who were chosen of God are effectually
called, justified, sanctified, and saved, and
though men may resist the call of the min
istry and the Word, God will always make
this divine call efficient by giving with it a
heart to obey; so that while those who refuse
to hear are guilty and lost by their own sin,
yet those who hear and regard do so be
cause God changes their evil nature by the
power of his Spirit, and they give Him all
the glory.
The Armenians hold that no niore effec
tual call or other operation is given to the
saved than others, but when any one yields
of his own will to the influences given,
equally to all, then he is effectually called.
V. In regard to perseverance :
The Calvinists hold that, as all who are
converted to Christ are those who have
been chosen of God, called of God, justified
by God, so they will be surely sanctified
by God and saved. He that has begun the
work will perform it to the day of Jesus
Chrigt.
The Armenians, on the other hand, as
they hold that the will of man was efficient
in the beginning, so it is to determine the
continuance of the work ; and though God
gives to each the means by which he may
persevere, yet he has no assurance that he
will not fall away and be lost.
Such,, we apprehend, are the main points
of difference between the great parties into
which the religious world has been divided.
The church of England, while its Articles
are Calvinistic, has probably a large major
ity of its ministers and members on the
other side. So we think it is with the
Southern church. The Presbyterians, both
Old School and New School, are Calvinistic.
The Cumberland Presbyterians are Arme
nians. The Primitive Baptists are Calvin
istic. The Missionary Baptistsare divided.
In the last generation it is probable there
may have been a majority in some sec
tions of our country who were Armenians,
but at this time we know of no part of our
Confederacy where the Calvinistic element
does not predominate among our brethren.
For ourselves we profess not allegiance
to either party. We belong to no sect. —
We endeavor to follow Paul as Paul fol
lowed Christ. We will, when time and
circumstances permit, give to the readers
of The Banner our position, and the grounds
of it, and they may then locate us where
they please. a. c. d.
The Church and Hie Soldiers.
We visited a church, a few days since,
which is accustomed to write, monthly, an
especial letter to its members in the army,
and to receive answers from them. As
they are mostly in the same regiment, this
is easily done, and the results are very
happy to both parties. The young mem
bers who are in the camp are encouraged
and strengthened by the watchcare and
sympathy of the brethren and sisters at
home, and these, on the other hand, are en
abled to act with a better understanding of
all the facts connected with the condition
of the soldiers. The whole community is
interested in hearing of the religious, as well
as the temporal, welfare of the boys.—
Would it not be well for all our churches
to adopt some such plan] of regular com
munication with their young men who have
gone into the army ? It can be done by
many churches, and it seems to us it should
be done wherever it can. a. c. d.
State Change Bills.
The Comptroller General, in his forth
coming report, states that the sum of $473,-
! 000 in cnange bills (1,633,000 in number)
has been issued pursuant to law. We are
glad to see this small currency driving from
circulation most of the shinplasters signed
by individuals, most of whom are unknown
to the public who are called upon for con
fidence. The labor of signing, numbering,
registering, and trimming these bills is far
greater than most imagine. It has
required the attention of some half dozen
clerks continually for the last six months or
more. The work is not yet half completed,
if the entire million of dollars authorized
shall be prepared for circulation, all of
which, we presume, has been struck off by
the engraver.
The Christian Sabbath.
There is no question, as it seems to us,'
that God ordained the Sabbath as a day of
rest for all the race of man. See Gen. 2:3.
It was the first law God ever made for man.
To what extent it was observed after the
fall of Adam we have no means of knowing.
The historical record embodied in the book
of Genesis is very brief, and makes no fur
ther mention of the rest ordained by God
until Israel was in the wilderness upon their
way to Canaan. But there the Sabbath
was recognized and referred to as an exist
ing institution, and one which ought to have
been known and regarded by the people.
See Exodus 16 :22-30. This was before
the giving of the law from Sinai. It was
before there had been any legislation con
cerning the Sabbath for the Jewish nation.
God recognized his own law given some
fifteen hundred years before—observed it
himself on the’giving of the manna, and
when the people would still disregard, said
unto Moses, “ How long refuse ye to keep
my commandments and my laws ?
When the people came to Sinai he en
acted it again, and made it one of the Ten
Commandments. These commandments
were the laws of God, not to the Jewish
nation only, but to all the race. They are
the rule of right and wrong, not for one
nation, but for all mankind. This has, so
far as we know, never been questioned, ex
cept in regard to the fourth command. All
the others are now universally held to be
binding on all people. WHY ? Because
they are God's iaws for all people. But
some of these were reenacted as a part of
the civil code of the Jewish nation, and spe
cial provision was made to punish the
offender who should violate them under the
Theocracy or the government which sue
. ceeded the Theocracy. These municipal
i laws of the Jews were never binding on oth
er nations. They were not left, however, to
i worship idols without law, because God
; made special provison to punish idolatry
among the Jews. They were not »left to
dishonor their parents, because God*requir
ed a disobedient son among the Jews to be
. put to death. No more were other nations
left to violate the Sabbath, because God
required the youth who picked up sticks
that day to be stoned. God did not under
take to tell othsr nations how or to what
extent they should punish offenders against
these laws—but he did not absolve other
nations from obedience to them—and when
the municipal laws of the Jews were re
pealed, or ceased to be in force because the
execution of them was impracticable, this
did not repeal any one of the ten great mor
al laws which had been ordained for all.—
The law of the Sabbath was as much bind
ing on the whole world as was the law con
cerning theft or murder. It must continue
to be binding until it was repealed, or
changed by the same God who at first en
acted it.
The question, then, arises whether the
law has ever been repealed or changed.
It had not been repealed in the time of
Christ, for he was careful to observe it and
inculcate its observance on his disciples.—
He did, indeed, correct some foolish and
erroneous notions which the Jewish people
had concerning it, and taught them that the
Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath. He healed the sick upon
that day, and told them it was lawful to do
those things that were needful for the pres
ervation of health and life. See Mark
2 :27—28; Luke 13 :13—16. But he never
so much as intimated that the fourth com
mandment was to be repealed. After his
death the disciples, who were preparing to
embalm his body, ceased and “ rested upon
the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
Luke 23 :56. Jesus had never taught them
that the Sabbath was not to be any longer
a day of rest.
What, then, was the change which he, as
Lord also of the Sabbath, saw fit to intro
duce ?
The substance of the law that had always
been in force was simply this : That after
six labor there should come a day
of rest.
The Jews had been accustomed to count
this rest day as the seventh of the week and
thus they marked the time when Jehovah
rested from his six days’ labor. When
Christ had risen from the dead, his disciples
began to mark the day on which he rose
triumphant from the grave. They did not
refuse to rest each seventh day, but they
made a different counting of the time.—
They held a double Sabbath, and then la
boring six days rested ths seventh, which
would thus be counted «s the first. The
change was but a suitable commemoration
of the fact that our Redeemer had finished
the work greater than that of creation,
which he came to do.
But now we for the Scriptural
authority in which we make this statement.!
!We confess it is not sog£*lain as we might|
have deaired. There is no command to
i-nanga the day, much less to dispense with
*■ altogether as a day of rest. Those peo- '
! pie called “ Seventh day Baptists ,” who still '
insist on observing the last day instead of
the first of the week can make out a much
stronger case for themselves than we thirty
day Baptists can for holding our church !
meetings once a month.
But though we have no commandment,
we have the example of the first Christians,
begun in the days of the apostles, and con
tinued into after ages. We learn from
John 20:19 that the disciples were assem
bled with closed doors on the evening of
the first day of the week, awaiting the de
velopments of the reported resurrection of
the Lord, of which they had heard in the
morning, when suddenly Jesus himself ap
peared in the midst of them. Then in the
26th verse of the same chapter, we read
that after eight days, or on the eighth day
afterwards —that is the first day of the
next week—they were again assembled, and
Jesus again met with them. Then we read
in Acts, “That the disciples came together
1 on the first day of the week to break bread,
and Paul preached to them.” The manner
■ in whiehjt is mentioned, seems to intimate
that it was already a custom to meet on
> the first day. See Acts 20 : 7—And upon
- the first day of the week, when the disci-
> pies came together to break bread, etc.—
■ In Revelations 1 : 10, we find mention made
> of the Lord’s day. John says he was in
■ the spirit on that day. By reference to
! early church history we learn 'that it was
) the first day of the week that was called the
’ Lord’s day, and that it was observed as a
, day of worship to God ; and we learn fur
f ther that ever since the days of John, the
• Lord’s day —that is, the first day—has been
‘ observed by Christians as the rest day in
“ stead of the seventh.
These are, so far as we can now discern,
1 the grounds we have for the change of the
■ day from the seventh to the first.
They certainly do not look to the abolition
I of the Sabbath as a day of rest. They inti
' mate no repeal of the command which
’ says “ six days shalt thou labor and do all
■ thy work, but the seventh is the rest day
s of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not
> do any work.” The utmost that can be
i made of them is that they sanction a new
; starting place in the counting of time, and
make the week days begin on Monday in-
> stead of Sunday.
; But while this is our present opinion, we
■ are conviction ; and if any one can
prove to us that the old law of REST has
been repealed, we will at once protest against
: those laws of Georgia which forbid men to
i labor on the Sabbath as though it were a
sin. a. c. d.
Bank Deposits.
On the Ist of July, 1862, the sum of
sll, 588,378 was on deposit in the several
banks in Georgia, and at the same period
in 18G3, $25,101,848, showing an increase
of unemployed capital to the amount of
$13,513,470. By the act of November 29,
1862, the banks are entitled to twelve and
, a half cents on the hundred dollars for re
ceiving and paying out deposits, which, we
think, is a very moderate compensation for
keeping a man’s accounts and his funds in
safety.
Reduction of Prices.—The Confede
rate Society at Enterprise, Miss., formed
for the purpose of a general reduction of
prices to near the old standard, has been re
markably successful this far, as will be seen
from the following statement to the Mont
gomery Advertiser:
As I informed you would be the case,
corn is now selling to the soldiers’ families
at $1 per bushel. The extortioners \>re
selling cotton yarns at $22 to S3O, and thro’
the Society’s merchants, L.B. Moody &Co.,
we entered the list and sold at sl9, and we
are now making arrangements with the cot
ton factories of Georgia to sell at a much
reduced rate.
They sold rice at 30 cents per pound ; we '
sell at 18 cents. They sold salt at $45 per
bushel, with an upward tendency ; we sell at ,
$32, and hope to bring it lower still. They ■
sold flour at SSO a sack; we sell at $33. —
They sold sold sugar at $2,50 per pound, ;
with an upward tendency ; we now sell at
$1,60.
Now, we see no reason why a similar so
ciety here would not bring about a like re <
duction in the prices of the necessaries of 1
life. The experiment is at least worth atrial.
Foreigners in the Confederate States.
—lt appears from the United States census
for 1860, that the number of foreigners in
the States now forming the Confederacy
were:
Alabama 12,000
Arkansas 4,000
Georgia 11,000
Kentucky 59,000
Louisiana- 81,000
Mississippi 8,000
Missouril6o,ooo
North Carolina 3 qqq
South Carolina„ 10 000
Tennessee 20’000
Texas 47*000
Virginia 35,000
T0ta1443,000
Total number in non-seceding States and
Territories, 3,693,000.
The Rehoboth Association, Again
Our brief and very imperfect notice of
the meeting of our own little Association
has, very much to our surprise, induced
somebody to write a whole column for the
Index, headed “A. C. D. and Missionary
Plans.” The writer is very charitable. —
He apologizes very prettily for us. He is
convinced our notice must have been
written hastily due without consideration.”
But if not so written, he says : “ It may be
considered an open attack upon the system
“ favored by a majority of Baptists.”
We protest that we had no intention to
attack the Boards; we never thought <of
such a thing.
It is true that the article in question was
written hastily. We have no time to write
otherwise. But since reading the-strictures
of our brother, we have read it over delib
erately—very deliberately— and with all
the consideration which his remarks seemed
o reqnire—and have now to say, that were
we to write it again, barring one or two
errors in punctuation, we should make no .
changes in it. We take the responsibility.
We heartily endorse it all. We think our
hasty words were true words—our first
thoughts were right thoughts; and our ex
pression of them, though not quite so happy
as we might desire, was none too strong or
forcible. We have even felt more deeply,
since reading our good brother’s strictures’
the importance of bringing the missionary
work nearer to the hearts of the people.—
We believe, more than ever, that every
association should choose its oivn man, and
see him, and know him, and love him’ and
then send him out, and feel that the whole
responsibility rests on them to secure his
comfort while he is in the field. What is
everybody’s business nobody attends to;
and to that extent that responsibility is
divided, individual churches cease to feel it.
Every church that is able to do so, ought
to have its own missionary, supported by
itself and reporting to itself, as Paul and
Barnabas reported to the church at Antioch.
When one church can not do this alone, some
two ought to unite in the work, and when two
are notable of themselves, others may unite
with them, oven to the extent of all the
churches in an Association. This is our
idea of missionary plans, or rather of mis
sionary support. We think it is Scriptural,
and that commends it to us, mnch more
than to know it as “the system favored by a
majority of the Baptists.” We have never
been sure that majorities could not err. We
have seen much sin and suffered much sor
row from opinions and actions of majorities.
The Word of the Lord is worth more than
all the majorities in Christendom.
•But while this is the plan which we ap
prove, and which we would gladly see adopt
ed by every church and every association,
where it is practicable, we have no disposi
tion to force jt upo n our brethren. We
approve, and therefore we commend it. “ I
believed, and therefore have I spoken.” But
if there are any who prefer another way, let
them work by it. If they think their way
a better one, let them say so. We shall not
accuse them of making “an open attack on
the system favored by'the” minority “of the
Baptists -—“as though it were a crime.——
Though, for aught we can see, it is as likely
to be a sin to differ from the minority as
from the majority. For ourself, we ntlher
love* to be with the minority, especially
when the minority happens to ba with the
Word of the Lord. c< D
Receipts for The Banger.
Mrs. Eliza Baker, Rome, Georgia, $ 2 00
Mrs. J. J. Milner, Zebulon, “ 500
G. W. Milner, « « sqq
R. L. Crawley, Atlanta, “ 500
Elder J. M. Stillwell, Madison, “ 500
J. J. Collier, Vienna, “ 500
Mrs. E. C. Jones, Stilesboro, “ 250
J. C. Lockhart, Pigeon Creek, Ala., 5 00’
Mrs. M. V. Burton, Tuscaloosa, “ 500
L. M. Thomasson, Rose Hill, “ 500
W. T. McCarra, Henderson, “ 500
W. B. Holstead, Elba, “ 500
H. Goolsby, Old Town, « 500
J. H. R. Carden, Wilsonville, “ 250
C. D. Waller, Greenwood, So. Ca., 500
Elder J. M. Nicholson, Scooba, Miss. 5 00
J. A. Blanton, Army of Tennessee, 10 00
Elder J. M. Muse, Missionary of
Tallapoosa, for certain soldiers, 10 00
Ban* Reports. (
The condition of the several Banks in
Georgia, which made reports to the Ist
July, 1863, is summed up by the Comp
troller, showing an increase of $19,274,784
in their operations within the preceding
twelve months, nearly the whole of which
consists in Confederate Treasury notes, to
support the public credit. The Banks de
serve well for their patriotic course is this
respect.
jggfTerms of The Baptist Banner, $5
per annum—invariably in advance.