Congregational College, all uniting in exalting Jesus a Prince and a perfect Saviour, because he had saved them from all unright eousness. What shall we do with this testimony? Shall we pass it by as unworthy of notice? Shall we ignore the whole thing? We must, like Hume, discredit all testimony, because it has proved in some cases unreliable, or, like Christians, believe that these witnesses have truthfully declared what God has done for their souls. To say that they were mistaken, is to discredit all testimony with reference to experimental religion; for no testimony was ever given, with reference to regeneration, more clear and satisfactory than is here given with reference to entire sanctification. But if these witnesses were mistaken, how do we know it? How do we know that they did not enjoy the fulness of love? Were they not as intelligent, and as well qualified to understand their mental and moral state, as we are? We ask, then, how do we know that they were not up to the standard? In order to deny the possibility of such an attainment, we must test the power of grace and the efficacy of Jesus' blood to save the soul, to its fullest extent. We must confess ourselves saved to the extent of the Divine willingness and ability. To say that God's word does not inculcate such a doctrine, is to say that we understand all the teachings of the Word and Spirit on this subjeet. For if there is an attainment in Christian holiness not yet enjoyed by us, how do we know but that unenjoyed blessing is the fulness of which our witnesses speak? The fact is, if this blessing is not attainable in this life we do not know it. The summary manner in which these witnesses have been disposed of, and their testimony answered, by some learned, but mistaken men, may be seen in the following extract from Dr. Parsons Cook's Centuries, vol. ii. p. 155. The Rev. Dr. says, "It is common to find those who profess to be perfect, to be men of really no religion at all, making good that word, 'If I should say I was perfect, that would prove me perverse.' We can hav? no surer certificate of the rottenness of one's character. If otherwise he seems to be a Christian, that pretence shows that he is far from it." Methodists This shaft was aimed at the alone; but in so doing, the Doctor has stricken down some of the most God-honored men and women of his own denomination. Like Samson, he seems willing to sacrifice his own life, if by so doing he can destroy those hated Philistines. All the evidence necessary to convince him that a man has no religion at all is, to have him profess that he keeps the first commandment, without which, St. John declares every man a liar who professes to love God. The Doctor wants no surer certificate of the rottenness of one's character than a profession that "the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth from all sin." We might have expected this from an infidel, a man who had fallen out with the Bible, and the Christian's Redeemer, - but for a professed gospel minister, and grave Doctor of Divinity, 2 man, professing to believe in a Saviour who "saves his people from their sins;' deems them from all unrighteousness; cleanses them from all filthiness of the flesh and R. spirit," and 'preserves them blameless unto - to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," Not only is Wesley, Whitefield, Fletcher, Bramwell, Carvosso, Whatcoat, Asbury, James B. Taylor, Mahan, Finney, Upham, Boardman, and thousands more, in the Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, and other churches, unchristianized by the Doctor, but he aims his shaft alike at all whom God has pronounced "perfect." Thus, when God says to Abraham, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect," he means, according to the Doctor's logic, that Abraham was to present a "sure certificate of rottenness of character." It is said of Asa, that from a given time, "his heart was per-, per-R fect all his days; " that is, he had "no religion at all." We are to "mark the perfect man," etc., for his end is peace; that is, 4 those who present a 66 sure certificate of rot- fect," i. e., as many as "Be perfect," i. e., "As many as be per have the sure certificharacter, "be thus 66 "The God of peace make you perfect; i. e., rotten hearted. "Go on unto perfection;" i. e., unto the loss of all religion. James is very bold, and says, "He that offends not in word, the same is a perfect man," i. e., a rotten hearted man, who has no religion at all. Such is the logic of Rev. Parsons Cook, D. D. We see at a glance the perfect fallacy of all such attempts to disprove the doctrine of full |