Origen:
b. c. 185,, probably Alexandria, Egypt d. c. 254,, Tyre,
Phoenicia [now Sur, Lebanon] Quotes from Dabney
From Origen's day we
find the Christian Fathers constructing their
discourses on the principles of philosophy, and
a false, artificial rhetoric. See Chrysostom
Then began the season
of shallow and heartless conversions and of general corruption.
And soon after came Arianism, Prelacy, Neo-Platonism, Pelagianism, Popery.
The same
steps of decline were trodden again after the
Reformation.
Luther and Zwinglius, Farel and Calvin, Latimer and Knox, preached expository
sermons,
in which
the word
of God was simply set forth in its application to
the soul; and the consequence was a revival almost as wide as
christendom.
Paul and others
would identify self-composed sermons or songs as
speaking in tongues:
"The central meaning
of the Arabic root is "anticipating another," then
hurry, negligence, excess, inadvertence in act, and,
in speech, exaggeration in praise, and 'got the first
word,' 'spoke precipitately, the tongue outrunning the
sense.' Walid... says that the corresponding Arabic
participle is used to those 'who extemporize poetry, i. e. sing extempore
without thought. (Barnes, Albert, Amos, p. 308).
Barnes identifies this with "soulless versifying which
Bruner in The Holy Spirit identifies as "low-level
glossolalia."
While you may not
agree with Carl Ketcherside on all issues, his
comments on the Professional Pastor are factual and
Biblical. They are also in agreement with the founders
of the Restoration Movement.
"It is a common
error in this degenerate age for men to reason that
the duty of elders is to oversee and supervise the work,
but they may hire another to do the work.
"They are
willingly ignorant of the fact
"that their
relationship to the flock in a governmental sense is
expressed by the term bishop;
"but their
relationship to the flock in a developmental sense is
expressed by the term pastor.
"Now they would
refuse to hire a man for the first, and claim to
hire him only for the second. But it is the second which makes him a pastor, and not the first.
"Ask a hireling minister or "located
evangelist" the difference between his position and that of the other
sectarian pastors about him. His
sole glib reply will be that he does not run or
manage the church, but is under the elders.
"This has nothing to
do with "pastorating." The overseeing or
superintending is covered by the term bishop.
"The question is not
about hiring bishops, but pastors! If a rancher hires
a man to prepare feed and dispense it to his sheep, to
visit the flock and lead it, has he not hired a
shepherd?
"And if the work
becomes too arduous and an associate is hired to assist, is
he not an associate shepherd?
"Could these argue
that they were not shepherds because they worked under
supervision of the rancher to whom the sheep belonged,
and were subject to him as an overseer?
Supervising is the
work of bishops,
feeding the flock
is the work of pastors.
"Just because one is
not hired to supervise or govern is no sign he is not
hired to pastorate. The whole truth is that the very
argument of the hireling ministers is a candid
admission that they are "pastors" and "associate pastors." (That they All May Be
One, Carl Ketcherside, p. 9)
Jesus validated His
own preaching by saying that he did not compose or
make up His sermons. Rather, He spoke only that which the
Spirit within revealed to Him. In the same way Paul
validated his ministry by repudiating the messages of
song and sermon which came out of the Corinthian's own spirit and preached only that
which the Spirit revealed to him. The restoration
movement fails to the extent hired help usurps the
authority of the collective body of Christ.
Those who followed
Paul understood the difficult nature of Spiritual
teaching and knew that those who tried to embellish this
Spiritual truth must be false teachers. For instance, Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 4?
B.C. - 65 A.D.; Roman philosopher, dramatist, & statesman) in the
early literature entitled "Paul and Seneca" which is supposed to be
correspondence with Paul, wrote:
"I profess myself well content with the
reading of your letters which you sent to the Galatians,
Corinthians, and Achaeans; and may we so live together
as you show yourself to be inspired with the divine frenzy (horror). For it is the
holy spirit which is in you and high
above you which expresses these exalted and adorable
thoughts.
(BUT) I would therefore have
you careful of other points, that the polish of the style may not be wanting to
the majesty of the thought. And, brother, not to
conceal anything from you, and have it on my
conscience, I confess to you that the Augustus was
moved by your views. When I read to him the beginning of the
power (virtue) that is in you (perhaps he meant your
exordium about virtue) his words were these: that he
could wonder that a man not regularly educated could
think thus. I replied that the gods often speak by the
mouths of the simple (innocent),
not of those who
try deceitfully to show what they can do by their
learning. And when I cited him the example of
Vatienus the rustic, to whom two men appeared in the
territory of Reate, who afterwards were recognized
as Castor and Pollux, he appeared fully convinced. Farewell.
When the people
ran out of bread, Paul sold his coat to feed them.
He was the feedER not the feedEE.
In chapter 13 he
wrote-
"Much in every part
of your works is enclosed in allegory and enigma, and therefore the great
force that is given you of matter and talent (?)
should be beautified, I do not say with elegance of
words, but with a certain care. Nor should you fear
what I remember,
you have often
said; that many who affect such things vitiate the thought and emasculate the strength of the
matter.
But I wish you
would yield to me and humour the genius of Latin,
and give
beauty to your noble words, that the great gift
that has been granted you may be worthily treated by
you. Farewell.
Paul disqualified the
exploitive teachers in Corinth by implying that they
were "trained speakers." If they had read or taught his
inspired message without having to resort to preaching
skills then they could have added nothing to that which
the Corinthians already had free of charge and could
not, therefore, have commanded a wage. Seneca understood
that anyone who "set off" Paul's writings with
"rhetorical flourishes of speech" simply repudiated
Paul's message. Seneca understood that all that the
teacher had to do was to read the message with proper
elegance.
Paul warned Seneca that the Word of God is
not popular and the masses will not or cannot receive it:
"To your meditations
have been revealed those things which the Godhead has
granted to
few.
With confidence, therefore, I sow in a field already
fertile a most prolific seed, not such matter as is liable to corruption,
but the abiding word, an emanation
from God who grows and abides for ever. This your
wisdom has attained and you will see that it is
unfailing -so as to judge that the laws of heathens
and Israelites are to be shunned.
You may become a new author, by showing forth with
the graces of rhetoric the unblameable wisdom of Jesus
Christ, which you, having well nigh attained it, will
instil into the temporal monarch, his servants, and
his intimate friends,
yet the persuading of them
will be a rough and difficult task, for many of them
will hardly incline to your admonitions.
Yet the Word of God, if it be instilled into
them, will be a vital gain, producing a new man, incorrupt, and an
everlasting soul that shall hasten from hence to God.
Farewell, Seneca, most dear to me.
The writers of the
American Restoration Movement came out of churches where
the pastor was dominant as a continuance of Catholicism.
However, they knew
that this was not part of the church they sought to
restore to Jesus Christ as the Master Teacher:
> "The priests of the
pagan
temples had been paid from the purse of the Empire,
but now Caesar was a Christian and the priests of Mars and Venus hastened to
their baptisms.
For the first time
in the history of the church, salaries were paid to
Christians workers. Tradition has it that Constantine's
mother was the first to give the money for the
erection of a church building... All this (meetings
in homes) was over now. The rags of persecution gave
way to softer garments, and the church began to
enjoy the feel of silk upon its flesh.
Thus the Pergamos stage of church history came
into being, the church was married to the world." (Barnhouse, D.G.,
Revelation, Zondervan, p. 52).
> "With the victory of Christianity and the
development of the service came
a soaring of the sermon. Preaching became more
frequent, being employed even during the week and during fast seasons in some places daily.
As the Church
during that period assimilated more and more Greco-Roman culture, the sermon developed
para passu.
The most noted Christian preachers had
not seldom been educated in the rhetorical schools of
the heathen,
and employed in
their sermons the rule of rhetoric and the artistic
effects taught there, and polish became almost an end,
often giving more brilliancy than warmth.
The hearers came to
look for esthetic
satisfaction rather than for edification,
leaving after the
sermon and before the Eucharist." (The New
Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, Preaching,
p. 150)
Indeed, preachers
sowed discord by adding musical instruments and
appealed to pagan authority which is the only
authority. Writing to Alexander Campell one of them
wrote:
"Music exerts a
mysterious charm upon man--it takes captive the citadel of life--carries him out of
himself,
and leads him where it will. The shrill fife and the
rattling drum, inspire the soldier just about to enter
into battle, with a zeal and daring which no
hardship can overcome, and no danger intimidate, and
causes him to rush headlong into the thickest of the
combat, regardless of consequences.
If martial music thus inspires the worshippers of Mars, will sacred music do
less for the humble followers of the meek and lowly
Jesus--the worshippers of the true and living God? Alexander Campbell
Denominational
Urges to Restore Paul's Pattern
As the early church
fell into apostasy, those men (often elders or bishops)
who had travelled around their region preaching the
gospel and establishing churches, began to settle into a given church from
which they could "oversee" their district. In time, they
saw themselves as permanently located with the power to
tax the people for "buildings and grounds" and
"salaries." The Biblical command to take collections
only for the poor was satisfied by a "poor box" into
which people could put their loose change.
Because these located
men had control of the funds of the church they had
power to remain in power. It is fitting, therefore, that
when the Reformation came the buildings were taken over
by the state and the "poor preachers" went out preaching
the gospel as a reformation of the preaching task.
In time, however, the
church regained control over the "taxing power" and the
"pastor" controlled the church. It is significant that
denominational scholars have led the way in trying to
put down this evil. In this, they are part of the
restoration movement.
While the absolute
command of Jesus and Paul is understood by most
thoughtful Bible students, it seems impossible to
restore it as part of our restoration movement. That
this is totally irrational is shown by Fredrick Bruner in his book on the Holy Spirit when he wrote-
"At a time when
there is a rising protest against monologues and therefore sometimes
monotonous 'one man ministries' in the churches, and
when it is complained increasingly that
the preacher is
one of the few remaining public figures whose formal
remarks allow no public interrogation or discussion
(even Presidents are subjected now to the discipline
of public interview),
it is perhaps
in order for the churches to look here in
Corinthians to their earliest structures.
Perhaps the worship
services should include or append a period of
thoughtful discussion following the sermon-or sermons
(v. 29)-in place of the often dull and unprofitable
responsive readings before it and of
some of the
singing which seems to be often, at the conscious or
mental level at least,
low-level
glossolalia with instrumental accompaniment." (Bruner, p. 300).
(Note, in the church, Paul used a Greek word which
means "dialog" and not preach in the form of
"sermonizing." (Bruner, Fredrick, The Holy Spirit)
"There is, in our
day, a marvellous idolatry of talent; it is strange
and a grievous thing to see how men bow down before
genius and success. Draw the distinction sharp and
firm between these two things-goodness is one thing, talent is
another. It is an instructive fact that the son of Man
came not as a scribe, but as a
poor working man. He was a teacher, but not a Rabbi.
When once the
idolatry of talent enters the Church, then farewell
to spirituality; when men ask their teachers, not
for that which will make them more humble and
God-like,
but for the excitement of an intellectual
banquet, then farewell to Christian progress.' (F.
W. Robertson, Hastings on 1 Cor. p. 10).
Again we quote the
Pulpit Commentary as it "dots the i's and crosses the t's"
of the warning from the Old Testament, of Paul, and of
the testimony of church history about one-man
ministries-
"If this be so: 1.
Should Christian teaching be regarded as a profession? It is so now: men are
brought up to it, trained for it, and live by it, as
architects, lawyers, doctors.
Surely preaching
the gospel should no more be regarded as a
profession than the talk of loving parents to
children.
Is the Church
justified in confining its attention to the ministry of one man?
In most modern
congregation there are some Christian men who, by
natural ability, by experimental knowledge and
inspiration,
are far more qualified to
instruct and comfort the people than their
professional and stated minister.
Surely
official preaching has no authority, either in
Scripture, reason, or experience, and it must
come to an end sooner or later." (Pulpit Commentary,
1 Cor. p. 464).
Commenting on
Paul's prohibition of a one-man teaching ministry-even
by inspired prophets-in First Corinthians, chapter
fourteen, Albert Barnes said-
"It was possible
that those who claimed to be prophets might err, and it was the
duty of all
to
examine whether that which was uttered was in
accordance with truth. And if it was a duty then, it is a duty now;
if it was proper even when the teachers
claimed to be under divine inspiration,
it is much more
the duty of the people now.
No minister of
religion has a right to demand that all that he
speaks shall be regarded as truth, unless he can
give good reasons for it:
no man is to be
debarred from the right of canvassing freely, and
comparing with the bible, and with sound reason,
all that the minister of the gospel advances." (Barnes, Albert, 1Cor
Commentary, p. 273).
Paul prescribed a
system of "dialog" rather than "preaching" in the assembly so that
one man's comments (even if inspired) would be tested or
judged by another person. He could make wild claims
about Scripture but he was regulated by knowing that he
would be challenged before the spit dried from his
bombast. This was the Scriptural pattern.
The Restoration
Movement claims for itself and condemns those who
disagree that "there must be a direct command, an approved example, or a
reasonable inference in the New Testament or it is a sin
to add any belief or practice to the church."
Those who are more
tolerate might allow reason to rule. For instance, there
is no command, example, or inference that the church
should own real property but reason allows us to believe
that God did not have to command us to get in out of the
rain. We violate our Restoration Rule because it appeals
to our human reason.
Another writer
said-
"We Americans have
tended to take Christianity for granted, and we have
used our sophisticated intellects to concoct a myriad of
pseudo-religious
notions
that we follow as if they were the gospel.
Many Americans file
into church sanctuaries Sunday after Sunday
to hear befuddled ministers blather a confused
mixture of Scripture, psychology, humanistic philosophy, and advice from Dear
Abby.
Many of our
seminaries send out graduates who aren't sure whether
Jesus is the Son of God, whether the Bible is God's
inspired Word, or even where to find the book of
Hosea. We have invested tremendous amounts of money
and raw human energy in our quest to know the truth
about life;
all we have found
are abstract philosophies, empty symbols, and a
perverse
kind of self-worship. We have much in
common with the Greeks and Romans... Professing to
be wise, we have become fools". (Sumrall, Lester, Where was God when
Pagan Religions Began, p. 81).
[Heard a TV
bishop showing how "God shut Noah up in the Ark of
the Covenant.]
"Modern fraudulent teachers are not newly invented but have ancient Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian, and
perverted Jewish ancestors for their pattern. More
recently, the sale of relics such as bones or enough
fragments of the cross to build the ark, church offices,
indulgences and
other devices have been used to dupe the ignorant or
superstitious into allowing the idle clergy to live
without making an honest living.
"In 1300 we are told
that Pope Boniface VIII declared a
"jubilee" and offered indulgences to pilgrims to St.
Peters. It is estimated that two million people
attended the "jubilee" to see the "marketeers" display their bodies
and their wares. After designating a tomb as that of
the apostle Peter, two priests used rakes day and
night to rake
in the money. The proceeds were used to buy castles for the "in" group who
were primarily relatives of the Pope."
By the Middle ages the
church owned whole cities and much of the farm land and
those who occupied it were taxed by the church. This was
not "free-will" giving but what was "of necessity" or
extortion which Paul opposed in 2 Cor. 9:7. For
instance, Woodward reports that because few people knew
how to draft a will, the priests were required to
witness it and any secular notary who wrote a will was
excommunicated. This coupled with the demand for Extreme
Unction as a man died guaranteed an endless supply of
extortion for the self-proclaimed leaders.
After one was
baptized and then sinned:
"there still remains the temporal punishment
required by divine justice, and this requirement must
be fulfilled either in the present life or in the
world to come, i.e. in Purgatory. An indulgence offers
the penitent sinner the means of discharging this debt
during this life on earth" (Woodrow, Ralph, Babylon
Mystery Religion, p. 66).
Perhaps too often,
money is contributed as a legal way to buy unstated
"indulgences" and because there is too much, it is
stored by the "treasurer" in the "treasury" because
their might be a "rainy day" even if it is presently
raining on the heads of the poor.
We are told today that
if you find yourself in a bookstore to buy a certain
book, don't think that you had anything to do with it:
God led you there to buy the book to learn what the
Bible claims for itself: surely the sale of the free
Word (Isaiah 55) goes on.
The Catholic
Encyclopedia says:
"the practice was fraught with grave
danger, and soon became a fruitful source of evil... a
means of raising money... indulgences were employed by
mercenary ecclesiastics as a means of pecuniary gain... abuses were
widespread." Those whom Paul would call "pedlars of
the word" travelled over the land and "issued a letter
of pardon, sometimes for the payment of two pence,
sometimes for a glass of beer, for the hire of a
harlot, or for carnal love."
An indulgence is
in the form of a promise or a threat.
A modern
INDULGENCE is to promise widows that "they are
sacrificing to GOD" if only they will pledge their
farm to GOD rather than provide for their children.
An indulgence is
to falsely claim that "God commands that you give us
a tithe of your wage income and lay it by in the
collection plate EACH Sunday or you have not
worshiped.
The "Sliding Scale"
for buying redemption still persists.
"High mass can be
very expensive, depending on the flowers, candles, and
number of priests taking part. It is sung in a loud
tone of voice. The low Mass, on the other hand, is
much less expensive-only six candles are used and it
is repeated in a low voice. The Irish have a saying,
'High money, High mass; low money, Low Mass; no money,
No Mass!" (Woodward, p. 69)
None of this could
ever have happened and millions of people never died or
imprisoned to protect the faith if the professional
clergy had not usurped the authority of those paying the
bill.
The Restoration
Movement Restored Christ's Pattern
A fundamental goal of
the American Restoration Movement was to root out the
"dominant pastor" or clergy from the church just as
surely as it intended to root out the changes which such
a system had introduced. it has succeeded in removing
instruments form the building, opening up "closed
communion," and restoring believer's baptism but these
arose again like a Phoenix from the ashes. It appeared,
for many years to have substituted "lay" preachers who went
everywhere founding the movement for clergy trained in
liberal schools but it wasn't too long until those who
had planted churches were succeeded by "located" men
whose leisure permitted time to "conference" with others
and gradually restore those things which had been put
down.
It is logical that a
non-professonial like Alexander Campbell who understood
the cause-and-effect between going out to virgin
territory and planting churches would see the located
clergy as "Jay birds" or Cuckoos who found that nest
stealing is easier than nest-building.
While Alexander Campbell was wealthy, his
principles were based upon the Bible and the history of
division created by dominant pastors.
Alexander Campbell on Regenerating
the Church notes:
And, first of all,
be it observed, that in some churches there appears to
be wanting a proper method of handling the
Scriptures to the edification of the brethren. It is admitted by all
the holy brethren that the Scriptures of truth, called
the living
oracles,
are the great instrument of God for all his purposes
in the saints on earth. Through them they are
converted to God, comforted, consecrated, made meet
for an inheritance among the sanctified, and qualified
for every good word and work. Every thing, then,
depends upon the proper understanding of these volumes
of inspiration. They can only operate as far as they
are understood.
The system of
sermonizing on a text is now almost universally
abandoned by all who intend that their hearers
should understand the testimony of God.
Orators and
exhorters may select a word, a phrase, or a verse;
but all who feed the flock of God with knowledge
and understanding know that this method is wholly
absurd.
While
his comments may not represent the total movement, or
necessarily the opinion he always held, the following
quotation clearly shows that Campbell saw the need for a
total restoration movement back to the Biblical model of
the church:
"Give money to make poor pious
youths learned clergy, or vain pretenders to erudition;
and they pray that they may preach to you; yes, and
pay them too. Was there ever such a craft as priestcraft? No, it is the craftiest
of all crafts. It is so crafty that it obtains by its
craft the means to make craftsmen, and then it makes
the deluded support them!" (Campbell, Alexander,
Christian Baptist, Dec. 1, 1823, Vol. 1, p. 91).
"Money is of vital
consequence in the kingdom of the clergy. Without it a
clergyman could not be made, nor a congregation
supplied with a 'faithful pastor.' O Mammon, thou
wonder-working god!" (Ibid., p. 124).
"'Will you,' said an
honest inquirer, 'allow the clergy no salary at all?
Will you not allow the poorer class of the clergy a
decent little competence?' I replied I have no
allowances to make. Let them have what the Lord has allowed
them. 'How much is that?' said he, Just nothing at
all, said I. A church constituted upon New Testament
principles, having its own bishop or bishops, or, as
sometimes called, elders, will not, and ought not to suffer them to be
in want of any thing necessary, provided they labor in
word and doctrine, and provided also, they are
ensamples to the flock in industry, disinterestedness,
humility, hospitality, and charity to the poor. Such bishops will now be esteemed
very highly in love for their words sake; but
especially those who, by their own hands, minister not
only to their own wants, but also to the wants of
their brethren." (Ibid, p. 140).
"That any man is to
be paid at all for preaching, i.e. making sermons and pronouncing them; or
that any man is to be hired for a stipulated sum to
preach and pray, and expound scripture, by the day,
month, or year, I believe to be a relic of popery."
(Ibid., Vol. 3, p. 185).
"Our Elder labors
with his own hands, that he may live honestly..."
(Vol. 5, p. 163).
"... our elders
labor... for their support, and are not burdensome
to the church; but in case of need..." (Vol, 5, p. 95).
Campbell undoubtedly
lived with and ate with members in the communities in
which he preached and would not, therefore, have
objected to treating preachers the way Paul advised when
he allowed the ox to eat part of that which it had personally produced. However, he
would not allow the ox to stray and consume the
work-product of the donkey. Like the modern threshing
machine, he was not hired for the whole year.
"IN my former essay
I showed that there is not a single passage in the whole of the New
Testament, from beginning to end, which records the
fact, that any disciple of Christ ever had hands
laid on him to authorize him to preach the gospel
and baptize believers. The object of this
essay is to ascertain the scriptural use and meaning
of the term "ordination." [566]
"It is deeply to be
deplored that in the common English version of the
scriptures there are to be found so many outlandish
words, which to the common reader can convey no
definite signification whatever.
Had every word been
translated into plain English, and the "laity" been
permitted to hear the truth in their own mother
tongue, the creed-makers would have been in a great
measure defeated;
and the "clergy"
would have been deprived of one of their most
successful methods of imposing on the ignorance and credulity of
mankind.
Had Bishops, which
in England has no meaning, except what the reigning Priesthood choose to give it, been
translated Overseer, then every body would have known,
that, in the New
Testament, Bishops meant nothing more than the
associate Elders or Overseers of one Christian
congregation.
Had Minister been
translated servant, as it should have been,
then the
distinctions between servants of Christ and
Ministers of Christ would have been unknown.
"How fatal must the
base translation of this word have proved to the
dominion and arrogant pretensions of the Clergy, who impiously dare to
lay an exclusive claim to the rank of
Ministers of the Gospel, and to the right of performing certain
parts
of the service under the New Constitution--such,
especially, as preaching the gospel and "administering
its ordinance;"
thereby disfranchising the great mass of
God's "royal Priesthood," and degrading them
to the rank of mere menials in the Kingdom.
"In like manner, if
ordination had been translated into
English, it would have been simply appointment. Every appointment,
then, no matter to what duty or office, or in what
mannerit might have been made, would have been an
"ordination." But by anglicising the Latin word ordinatio, instead of using the
English term appointment, ORDINATION easily comes to
have a cabalistic meaning.
An ambitious and self-constituted
Priesthood can easily attach to the word a
signification favorable to their exclusive pretensions, and persuade the 'laity' that it means
consecration to the "HOLY MINISTRY"
by the laying on
of the hands of a duly "ORDAINED MINISTRY." Thomas Campbell
Oh! for the day when
faithful translations of the scriptures into every
tongue under heaven shall enable us all, every member
of the human family, to learn the truths of scripture,
"in that language in which we were born." May God
hasten its advent!
When a peculiar
meaning, no matter how erroneous, has thus been
appropriated to an outlandish word, and that meaning
has been extensively incorporated with religious
prejudices, it becomes a Herculean task to disabuse
the public mind, and restore the word to its true
signification.
Ordain, and its
derivative ordination, fall within the scope of these
remarks. So soon as ordain is heard with reference to
religious matters, it is immediately and almost
irresistibly inferred that hands were imposed; and he who
would question this inference would be regarded as
questioning the fact of ordination, and doubting the
veracity of the historian. But is this a correct view
of the subject? Let us examine a few passages where
ordain occurs, and see what is the scriptural meaning
of the term:-- [567]
Isaiah xxvi. 12.
"Lord, wilt thou ordain peace for us?" Psalm viii. 2.
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou
ordained strength." Psalm viii. 3. "The moon and the
stars which thou hast ordained." Psalm cxxxii. 17. "I
have ordained a lamp for mine Anointed," Acts xiii.
48. "As many as were ordained to eternal life,
believed." Acts xvi. 4. "The decrees that were
ordained of the Apostles and Elders." Romans vii. 10.
"The commandment which was ordained to life."
Galatians iii. 19. "The law was ordained by angels." I
Tim. ii. 7. "Good works, which God hath before
ordained." Jude 4. "Ungodly men, who were of old
ordained to this condemnation."
In all the foregoing
passages (and similar ones might be multiplied almost
ad infinitum) it is manifest to the intellect of a
child, that to interpret ordain so as to include the
laying on of hands, would make sad havoc alike of
scripture and of common sense. MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES. VOLUME III.-----NUMBER XI. B E T H A N Y,
VA. NOVEMBER, 1839.
