out his knowledge, by Theunisz, serving as a precursor to the ex one of his principal defenders.posure of what is treated in a He published a second time, un- certain book called Raag-bezem der the title "A few Questions, (the broom), &c. serving to an investigation of the nature and power of the sacred scriptures, or the written word of God:" together with a letter addressed by himself to Hans de Rys. [This letter was precisely the preface of the former edition.] In this treatise, Frederic comes forward, as an impartial man, and examines into the real truth of the case, which had occasioned so much disquiet and difficulty in the church. The Waterland brother [representing Mr. Anslo] informs him, that the difference The work closed with the fol-respected the word of God, whelowing brief address: ther there was more than one "Nittert Obbensz to Hans de word of God; the ministers of Rys. "Do you suppose I am in an error, I will with pleasure receive your mild reply and parental instruction, and, as a good disciple of Christ, bend to the truth." In the mean time, Nittert Ob- | bensz did not desist, with the assistance of one or the other of his friends, to bring forward, by the press, his opinions, under the veil of anonymous writings, and in the most shameful way, to slander his colleagues, Wybrandez, Huseling, and one Klaas Anslo, as if they had treated him in the most unbecoming and inequitable manner. the Waterlander churches maintaining that the word was twofold; but their antagonists contended that there was but one word of God, that written in the books of the Old and New Testtaments. This he further explains by stating, that by the term, word of God, he meant, 1. That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father, was indeed the true God himself, by whom heaven and the earth, and all things visible and invisible were made, who was the word of God, at the same time the Son of God, and was a literal or written word, One of these writings was so and shall remain eternally, when exceedingly calumniating, that all our Bibles shall have perished. his colleagues perceiving no good This he proves from John, i. 5— results from a vivá voce dispute 14; 1 John, i. 1, 2; Rev. xix. with Obbensz, were necessitated 11-13. 2. He maintained, that to defend themselves by the the holy scripture is God's lite press, and to lay a fair statement rally written word, in which of the business before the public. God's will and pleasure were To this end Mr. Anslo pub-clearly revealed, which also abunlished A Dialogue between a dantly testifies of the Eternal truth-seeking Neutralist, (which he Word, Jesus Christ, the Son of names Frederic,) and A Water- God, our Lord and Saviour. In lander Brother, in which he this sense he contended, the briefly and undisguisedly demon- word of God was two-fold, and strates the difference existing that between both, when cach is between the ministers of the distinctly considered, there is as united churches and Nittert Ob- great a difference in power and bensz, concerning the word of ability as between the Creator God, and adherence to the same; and his creature. the word of life, by whose spirit and power, in believers there are excited spiritual feelings, inward desires, and hungerings after the girds, consolations, joy, and gladness in the Lord, according to the doctrine of Paul, that those who obey Christ, are led by the spirit of Christ, which dwelleth in them. For our teachers maintain, that as the spirit of sin has his work in the children of unbelief, and leads them from one sin to another, so much rather the spirit of Christ, who dwells in the faithful, has work in the souls of believers, exciting and duties, from one virtue to another. This inward inspiration and influence of the Holy Ghost they condemn as enthusiasm, teaching that there is no inward work whereby God can speak to his people, inspiring them by his Holy Spirit to good. Nittert Obbensz, and his party, on the other hand, assert that there is no other word of God by which God addresses men; the Holy Ghost unites faith and regeneration, &c. then the written and preached word. Which statement, if distinctly considered, and with the included inference of the same, that Jesus Christ is not the Eternal Word of the Father, since they acknowledge no other than the written word, the Waterlander brother wholly rejects, as contradictory to the express doctrine of the sacred scriptures. He moreover demonstrates, Nittert Obbensz attributes differ-inspiring them to all Christian ent things, which the Holy Ghost exclusively applies to Christ, to the written word, and thus robs Christ of his honour, and gives that to the letter of the sacred scriptures which belongs to him, John, vi. 35, 51, which place the orthodox Waterlander ministers believe to belong alone to Christ. The Waterland brother proves also fully, that they, in teaching that there is a two-fold word of God, namely, a speaking and a spoken one, the latter being confirmed and rendered fruitful by the first, under the enlightening co-operation of the Holy Ghost, to the souls of believers, are by no means to be considered as fanatics, enthusiasts, or the followers of the Munster rebels, or the night runners of Amsterdam, as they are most unrighteously accused of being, even by some who pretended to belong to their churches; but that they, in this their opinion, fully agree with all orthodox divines of every society, and of all times. "Our divines,' says he, "teach according to the sacred scriptures, and all Christian ministers, that God not only addresses us by the outward letter of the word, but also by Christ, "Thus this people seem to forsake the doctrine of the operation and enlightening of the Holy Ghost, as it appears, that they feel very little of the inhabitation of God, or taste the anointings of the Holy Ghost; his influence, teaching, consolation and witness, of which Paul says, "The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God.' For how otherwise could they reject and oppose the influences of the Spirit as the most injurious enthusiasm? appears, also, that they would conclude, from 1 Cor. iv. 15, that ministers by the letter, or audible preaching of the word, could alone beget sinners, and that the minister becomes a spiritual father in that respect only. This, however, proceeds from their ignorance of the meaning of Paul; that they do not understand what he means by begetting,' or It wherein the new birth consists. | request its printing, yet he knew of it while passing through the press; and confessed, that the common opinion of Christ being the word, &c. was, as he thought, one of the greatest absurdities in Christianity. For the new birth is nothing short of a new creation, by which the old man is destroyed, and the new man is formed, &c. Eph. iv. 24. This regeneration is not of man, but of God through Christ, see Psalm li. 12. God appropriates it to himself, see Jer. xxxi. 33; Ezek. xi. 19; and xxxvi. 26, and in many other parts. Yet this people dare to ascribe that to themselves, although they cannot create a flower in the field, or the least blade of grass!!!" This work was soon after followed by another, the joint production of Wybrandez, Huseling, and Anslo, in vindication of the truth and their own characters, which Obbensz had so shamefully aspersed. He likewise disputed concerning a sermon preached by Huseling just before, on Matt. vi. 17, and stated, that Huseling had preached more nonsense in treating of conversion and exhorting to repentance, and, among other things, in demonstrating the necessity of conversion, and the little power of sinners of themselves, and with respect to their own strength, by which true conversion could not be effected; but that it was requisite for the sinner to pray to God for help, and to ask his grace and the Holy Spirit, by whose assistance conversion was effected, and which God would give This was a very valuable apology, composed in the spirit of Christian meekness. It gives an accurate statement of the contro-him if he sincerely desired it. versy; by which it appears, that This Obbensz pronounced mere Obbensz had charged on his own party the enthusiasm of Munster, Swinckfeld, &c. because they contended for the scriptural notion of divine influence. nonsense. It was, in consequence, unanimously determined at a church meeting, that Obbensz should be exhorted to peace, and be excluded from the Lord's supper while the controversy stood open, until Hans de Rys should have replied to his book. This decision of the church was commu, nicated by Anslo and another, one of the deacons, in the most friendly manner; but was not After this publication, they remained silent for a considerable time, to see if Obbensz would perceive the imprudence of his conduct, after having witnessed the confusion, and injurious reports he had occasioned against the whole party. Obbensz did not alter in his conduct or senti-received in a Christian spirit. ments; and it was at length judged expedient and necessary to cite Obbensz before the church. It was stated to him, how much grief and painful disturbance had been occasioned in many, in consequence of the publication of his book, and a discussion of the subject followed. He af fected surprise, but at length confessed, that though he did These divines then published a full confession of their faith on the eternity and true divinity of Christ, the Son of God, who, being truly God, became also a child of man, in one and the same person truly God and truly man, having a true divine and a true human nature; who, remaining what he was, namely, God, and the Son of God, be came what he was not, namely, a true man, and the son of man. They maintain, that the sacred scriptures was the only rule, and infallible confession of faith, because in that was contained all that was necessary for a Christian to know and confess, concerning the ground of salvation. They adhered, moreover, to the confession of faith which was received by the church; not that they confirmed their doctrines from thence more than from the word of God; but to shew their agreement with other old teachers of their churches, against those who calumniated them, and who preached opposite doctrines to the ministers in former times. They defined a confession as a compendium of what they believed from the word of God, to distinguish them from others, to pretend likewise to adhere to the sacred scriptures, submitting their opinions to the sacred scriptures as what might be proved thereby. As to the then generally received confession of faith, called that of Hans de Rys, they stated, it was not a particular confession of Hans de Rys, but the joint production of him and Lubbert Gerritz, being two of the oldest and most distinguished ministers of the churches, who were commissioned for the purpose by delegates from different churches. They distinctly stated, that the word of God, sealed with the operation of the Holy Spirit, effected the regeneration and salvation of men; that Jesus Christ and his ratifying Spirit was the sole cause of our salvation; that the holy scripture taught us who Christ was, and conducts us to him; that in his regenerationthat man was passive in regeneration, but co-operated in conversion, &c. From this extract we learn1. What Anslo and his colleagues taught relative to the leading doctrines of the gospel, and how remote they were from enthusiasm, &c. 2. That the Waterlander Men. nonites who, in other respects, have been thought generally the most latitudinarian and moderate, are, as well as the Flemish, Freise, and German churches, carefully watchful for the second doctrine of faith, and sincerely pledge themselves against vain opinions; in suspending such persons from the Lord's table; yea, a minister from his pulpit, who is erroneous in the articles of faith, and who, in their moral character, demonstrate they are children of doctrines rather than of light; as they likewise clearly show, in their resistance to the doctrines of Socinius. Not allowing any one to confirm a doctrine with a "So says Socinius." 3. That the confession, called Hans de Rys, is not a particular but a general confession of the Waterlander churches. We will just add an account of the issue of this controversy between N. Obbensz and the other ministers. After different troubles, and the publication of various replies against the Dialogue of Anslo and the Apology of the whole of the ministers, it was agreed, that articles should be prepared by six impartial Waterland divines, which should be subscribed by Wybrandez, Huseling, and Anslo, on one side, and by N. Obbensz on the other. These ministers [Rippert Eenlves, James de Ring, Hans Almsen, Eagel Peters, Gerret Jansz, and John de Pla] proposed thirteen articles, fully or thodox, on the subject of dispute. These were signed by Obbensz tained, and the word of life, as the light by the golden candlesticks, exhibited. Amongst them our Lord Jesus Christ, as the high priest of our profession, is represented as walking; observing the good, and applauding it; point it; and holding up life and immortality to those who should overcome the temptations of the present state. "A Rembrant, paint the voice of Anslo-the visible is the least part of him; the invisible can be merely known by the ears. Who-ing out the evil, and censuring ever will see Anslo must hear him." Spinnituer has also composed the following verse, which stands under his portrait in Moatschaen: "Whoever looks at Anslo's portrait, feels himself excited in the heart by the fires of zeal that glow in the face and the eyes: but could the pencil of the artist cause us to hear his voice likewise, he would, with delightful force, allure every beholder to virtue." THE DISCIPLINE OF THE Let us suppose him to walk amongst our several churches, and to address us as he addressed the seven churches in Asia. We trust he would find some things to approve; but we are also apprehensive that he would find many things to censure. Let us then look narrowly into the Discipline of the primitive churches, and compare ours with it. By discipline, however, we do not mean to include the whole of PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. the order of a Christian church; but shall at this time confine our THE following Thoughts by the late attention to that part of churchRev. Andrew Fuller, were origi-government which consists innally drawn up in the form of a A mutual watch over one anoCircular Letter, addressed to the ther, and the conduct we are diBaptist Churches of the Northamp-rected to pursue in cases of distonshire Association by the Minisorder. ters and Messengers assembled at Olney, May 21, 22, 23, 1799. They are so admirably adapted to promote the purity and prosperity of our churches in general, that we think it suitable to give them a place in the Magazine. WHEN the apostles, by the preaching of the word, had gathered in any place a sufficient number of individuals to the faith of Christ, it was their uniform practice, for the farther promotion of his kingdom in that place, to form them into a religious society, or Christian church. Being thus associated in the name of Christ, divine worship was carried on, Christian ordinances observed, holy discipline main A great part of our duty consists in cultivating what is lovely, but this is not the whole of it; we must prune as well as plant, if we would bear much fruit, and be Christ's disciples. One of the things applauded in the church of Ephesus was, that they could not bear those who were evil. Yet we are not to suppose from hence that no irregularity or imperfection whatever is an object of forbearance. If uniformity be required in such a degree as that every difference in judgment or practice shall occasion a separation, the churches may be always dividing into parties, which we are persuaded was never encou |