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Leader (1850-1860), 20th November 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1252, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      that Boston in Lincolnshire was a town within the boundaries of the American Union . Into such a mistake , however , Mr . Atkinson has unconsciously fallen ; and passes quietly from the one sense to the other , as ' though in abusing chemical analysis he had been preparing the way for proving the inductive method of reasoning to be an , erroneous one . lie have next to observe that the inductive method is the one which scientific men have agreed to adopt , and the only one by which discoveries in science have ever been made . In every subject into which the mind of man is capable of inquiring , the same truth holds eood . that general laws are discovered by an

      analytical process of thought , and applied by a synthetical one , and no amount of ignorant assertion on Mr . Atkinson ' s part will be likely to alter a necessary and fundamental condition of the exercise of the' human reasoa . Mr . Atkinson ' s grand "Eureka "—his chief remedy for all our political and social evils—is , that the chemical law of definite proportions admits of an application to the sciences of which he undertakes to treat . We are first at a loss to understand his meaning , as he loses himself in a cloud of words , just Avhere an explanation in detail is the thing we require . As far , however , as can be gathered from a comparison of different passages , it would seem that there are two senses in which Mr . Atkinson

      applies his great discovery . The first of these is , that in trade , as in other things , every one ought to engage neither too much nor too little , and should extend or contract his operations in obedience to this fundamental law . We will not venture to dispute the truth of this assertion , especially as the author has established it by a series of elaborate proofs , and supported it by quotations from the Scriptures and the poets . The other sense is , that ,

      ¦ when trade has commenced , and supply and demand have become adjusted to one another , the equilibrium is to be continually maintained , the consumers are always to require the same amount , the manufacturers to supply it ; and , above all , no diversion of the national capital to foreign commerce is for one moment to be thought permissible . We will not waste the reader's time by attempting a grave refutation of this extraordinary proposition . -

      ¥ e are now entitled to ask what Mr . Atkinson can mean by the promises implied in his advertisement—what proof has he given us of the " study , and that , too , consisting of arduous mental labour , " b y which he has earned the right to conduct his disciples to " the summit ? " His work is filled with prophecies , denunciations , and passages of Scripture , strangely misapplied . There is no trace whatever of sound argument , or real acquaintance with the science , of which he treats , His book reads like —a tale Told by an idiot , full of sound and fury , Signifying nothing .

      Untitled Article

      ERIC Eric ; or , Little by Little . By Frederick W . Fnrrnr . Edinburgh : A . and C . Woe * . There is a moral to be deduced from this tnjo ; so at loast we ventured to assume after ¦ having rcoa through tho volume with unflagging a ^' . " 1101 ! ^ feel almost disposed to alter tho last word to satislac tion . Tom Brown ' s jSc / woldaus seems iQ have been tho model selected by Mr . l ^ arrar—selected vi iw judgment , and without laying himself ° pe » , f ° charge of imitation . Tho school oaroor nnd « s influences aro brought out into strong re el nna tho moral wo have assuinod spams to bo—that oyi oonnoxions in early lifo produce such an evil w fluenco on character as to . warp , well- ' wposeo natures from priaciplca . of virtuo into evil wny » .

      The Doctrine Of The Holy Trinity

      If we but look around us we sooti become sensible of this fact . Churches and chapels have multiplied on all sides , not the barn-like structures of the last century , but edifices which are evidence themselves of the greater respect and veneration paid by the nation to the outward forms of public worship , and these edifices are erected by Churchmen ana Dissenters , by Romanist and Protestant ; for in . all creeds and sects the movement has been simultaneous , and in all there has been alike the same

      the true import of the words Spirit of Qod , Spirit , Holy Spirit , and Holy Ghost , as these are emplo 3 'ed in the Scriptures . It is in this way alone that we are likely to arrive at correct conclusions . To maintain that the Spirit must be an " influence " because we read of His being " poured out ? or " breathed on" the saints in the Old Testament , or on Christ , and his disciples in the New , would be obviously erroneous , because the simple principle of construction would make the heart , and the spirit , and the soul of man , which are usually spoken of as synonymous with the man himself , to be also severally an influence ; for we often read in Scripture of pouring out the heart , the spirit , and the sbul in prayer to God . Taking these words thus , literalry , we should be compelled to come to the conclusion that a man ' s spirit , soul , or heart , is wind or _« .. • _ ^ * . *_ _ : J _ C * __ * . _ M *** m ~ .. ^ ^^^^^^^

      water , because the term " breath" implies wind , and the phrase "topour out , " involves the idea of water . I am it will be understood , speaking of that rule of construction which is based on the interpretation of terms according to their primary signification . That in the two instances in question , where the Spirit of God is spoken of by the phrase " breatJdng on" or the other phrase ' pouring out , " the interpretations cannot be made in accordance with the literal hypothesis , must be plain to all , inasmuch as the Spirit of God could not be compared with propriety to both wind and water these being essentially different elements . The expressions , therefore , " breathing on" and " pouring out" with others of a similar kind , are evidently to be understood , when applied to the Holy Ghost , as merely figurative . When the Spirit of God is represented as having at the time of the creation of the world , " moved on the face

      of the waters , " or made the heavens and all their hoste by the breathing of his mouth , " or ns having " breathed on the dry bones" in the vision of Ezekiel , or been " poured out , " the obvious meaning simply is , that God through His Spirit performed these acts . " The grass withered ) , the flower fadeth ; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it ; surely the people is grass , " clearly demonstrates the fact that the Spirit is here spoken of as an agent , and that the blowing is but the process through which the Spirit , as that agent , produces a certain result .

      We have quoted . ' this passage at length to show how the author addresses himself 1 o every " capacity —the lowest as well as the highest . Both may follow his line of argument in combating the fallacies which he lays ' bare , and it is this very quality which will be sure to render the . p-rcs . eht-volume not less popular than those which Lave preceded it . Our limits will not permit us < o quote more , but the reader will find in the volume itself the most convincing proofs of the Personality and Divinity of the Holy Spirit : of His ever active agency in the conversion of sinners ; of His teaching , sanctifying , and comforting all who through Him recognise the efficiency of prayer , and tho atonement by the sorrows and suffering :, of the Saviour . « There arc many things which out of the bcriptures alone cannot be clearly and satisfactorily

      proved without the aid of tradition . By tradition we do not mean that oral tradition set up by the Church of Rome , but written tradition contained in tho writings or the fathers of the Church in the earliest and purest ages of Christianity , by which alone we can comprehend what was tho consentient belief and practice of the disciples of the Apostles themselves , who were instructed m the faith by the living oracles of God . Tho value of this tradition is recognised by our author , whose labours , vre earnestly trust , may ensure that blessing , which he humbly " but earnestly seeks in the . concluding para . cr-anli of his preface . His book is written to

      confirm tho believer , to convince the wnverer , ana , wnu tho blessing which he prays for , to bring the disbe-Hover to God and to Christ bv the Holy Spirit ot Truth . II ; is most difficult to write a good book upon such an all-engrossing subject ; it is not eumcult but pleasant to call attention to such a one when it appears . The task has been hw-Uio plcasuro ours .

      deep and settled purpose . In . private - families , morning and evening prayer is no longer the exception but the rule , sobriety has replaced the cbriety of the dinner-table , and the habitual uttering of meaningless asseverations is confined to the lowest of the low . " Profane swearing , " as the habit was miscalled , has gone out of date ; it could not exist with that increasing reverence for holy persons and holy things which is the best earnest of a nation ' s faith .

      In the first volume the author identifies the Father of Mercy with Love , shows how boundless is that love , and how our love of God is the truest and most acceptable offering we can place upon His altar . In the second , the Redeemer , " the Brother born for adversity , " is held up as the great exemplar of patience and resignation under affliction , and of hopeful reliance upon a happy issue out of all trouble . In both volumes there is an earnestness of purpose manifested , and the matter is clothed in clear and simple language which makes its way at once to the heart . Botli are already deservedly popular , and new editions of each bear testimony to the just appreciation of their merits . But it is not of these that we are about to speak , and our remarks must be confined to the third , and , we believe , by far the most important section of our author ' s labours .

      All men who approach the Godhead through Christ , " admit , ' as the sustaining point of their faith , the Divinity of the Father . The Socitiian no less than the Trinitarian readily acknowledges with gratitude the Love which called him into being , which cherishes and supports him in the trials of life . The heresy of Hermias would- "find few followers in these days . The eternity of creation and the materiality of the Creator was a doctrine winch could only arise -out of pagan philosophy . The Pelagian denial of original sin and of the preexistence of Christ still holds its ground amongst the followers of Socimis and Priestley ; but in this country their number is comparatively insignificant ,

      and whilst other sects and denominations of Christians show considerable increase in the many additional chapels and churches to which we have already referred , Unitarian chapels do not advance with the increase of population . When progress ceases , retrogression already begins , and it is to works like the present that such a result must , in some measure , be attributed ; for no man who thinks deeply , and meditates upon the teaching of the Gospel in the spirit of Christianity , can peruse either of these volumes without arriving at . the conviction of the nothingness of the Pelagian

      heresy , the foundation of the denial of the Holy Trinity , which finds its last resting-place amongst the followers of Socinus , Crcllius , and Schlichtinglus , of Clarke and of Priestley . But there is another , and fat greater evil , which true Christians have to deplore , and which has of late years spread with the rapidity of a gangrene over the body of our Protestant Churches . No one can doubt that the Agency of tho Holy Spirit in conversion , sanctification , and C hristian comfort is very much overlooked , if not altogether ignored , in many evangelical pulpits and publications of the day . As the Personality and perfect Deity of tho Holy Ghost lie at the foundation of all true holiness , the author has dwelt

      THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY . I . God is Love ; or , Glimpses of the Father ' s infinite Affection for Bis People . II . The Brother born for Adversity : or , the Similarity of the Saviour ' s Sorrows and Sufferings to those of Jits Followers , III . The Cornforter ; or , the Holy Spirit in His glorious Person and gracious Work . Darton and Co . " Go yo therefore , " are the injunctions of the great Founder of our faith to his chosen Apostlesj " and teaoh all nations , baptising them in the Name of the Tattler , o £ tho Soif , and of the Holy Ghost , teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you , audio I am with you alway , even , unto the end of the world . " We have in those memorable words the distinct and undivided personifioation and inseparability— -the Trinity in Unity of tho Godhead , clearly placed before us ; for we are received into the family of Christ in the single aud united name—not in tho names—of the Creator , of tho Redeemer , and of tho Sustainer and

      Comforter . As there is but one name , so there is but ono God ; as there are three names so there aro three persons , There is the Unity , and there is tho Trinity—the Trinity in Unity . It is to illustrate to every capaoity the beauty and simplicity of this doctrine that the threo volumes which wo have enumerated at the head of this articlo have occupied the leisure , houra of tho author , whose daily oqcupation as the editor of ono of the leading journals of the metropolis has given him an . insight into the yearnings and requirements of the age , in which , whatever may be its faults , tho chief sustaining power is its deep and earnest search into tho grcufc truths pf the Gospel .

      at groat length on these attributes of the Spirit . Without a Aycll-grounded faith in tho Holy Ghost as a sentient and Divino Being , there can bo no true Christianity , and wo earnestly recommend all who waver in the belief in that essential doctrine of our faith to peruse carefully tho four first chapters of "The Comforter in his glorious Person and gracious work , " tho third volume to which wo have called tho reader ' s attention . Th « arguments which have been employod to prove that tho Hol y Spirit has no personal qualities , bu t is simply an ?• influence , " or power , or quality , posaess , nt first sight , a certain' amount of plausibility 5 but when carefully examined tholr speciousneas disappears , and they are soon to be nothing' but ingenious sophisms . Those who havo embraced the belief that the Holy Spirit

      is merely an " influence " exerted on tho mind , oniony ground this belief on tho assumption , that tho word Spirit , both in the Hebrew and the Greek , properly denotes wind or breath . Lot us seek to ascertain what is

      Untitled Article

      1252 THE Ii E APE R . . [ No . 452 , November 20 , 1858 . i . j—— — ' . _ — - ^^—^ ii ^^————^ __ _ ¦ ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 20, 1858, page 1252, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2269/page/12/