Harmonizing the Scriptures.
By M. B. Smith
ALL Protestants profess to believe that the Bible as a whole is the book of God; that it was written by men who "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." This being true, we must come to the conclusion that it teaches one harmonious chain of truth, and that each writer must write in harmony with all the rest. How is it, then, that there is such a vast difference in the faith and practice of those who take this book for their guide? Can the fault be in the Bible? Certainly not; for if the Bible was written by men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, 2 Pet. i, 21, then all who have spoken in this manner have spoken harmoniously; for it is not really the words of man, but the word of God; and our Saviour said in his prayer to the Father, "Thy word is truth," John xvii, 17, and truth must be harmonious. Again, Solomon says, "Every word of God is pure." Now taking it for granted that the Bible is the word of God, it must be pure, truthful, and consequently harmonious. At the present day we find a multitude of sects, all professing to be guided by this book, and yet their teachings all differing and contradictory. Now however good the intentions of many in these sects may be, we must come to the conclusion that they have a great deal of error. If these errors were of but little consequence, if they did not strike at truths that were of vital importance, we should say that it was of but little use for us to spend much time or effort to counteract them. All Protestants who do not believe in Universalism believe that this doctrine has a very bad tendency, and that this doctrine is sustained only by perverting the Scriptures. I am fully persuaded that this doctrine has no real foundation in the Bible, and although Universalists can bring a host of scriptures which they suppose teach universal salvation yet I come to the conclusion that they do not teach such a doctrine, 1. From the fact that there is nothing positive about these texts teaching thus, and 2. That there are a host of other texts that are entirely at variance with this doctrine. Now Universalists do not try to prove universal salvation upon any other grounds only that the Bible teaches it, and yet we find upon a thorough examination that there is no such doctrine taught in the Bible. Why is it, then, that they make such a great mistake, i. e., to suppose that the Bible teaches that all men will have eternal life, when it really teaches that the majority never will have it? I have satisfied my own mind how it is that Universalists have made such a fatal mistake, and have come to such an erroneous conclusion. It is simply this: they do not try to sustain this doctrine upon a harmonious view of the Scriptures, but by taking a few isolated passages, here and there, without looking at the general teaching of the Scriptures, and harmonizing the whole. Universalists never take the scripture that says that "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned," to prove their position; or the one that says that Christ has "become the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey him," or that the wicked "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power," and a multitude of other passages that might be named. Nor can their position and those scriptures ever be reconciled. This way of using the Scriptures has always been practiced from the time of our Saviour's mission to the earth until the present. It was this error that led the wicked Jews to crucify Christ; and although they had the scriptures which told them all about our Saviour's first coming, yet they sought to build up their own pre-conceived notions upon some isolated passages without harmonizing the whole, and were thus blinded, and consequently led to reject and crucify him. We have spoken quite lengthily of the Universalists, because there are a great many that will acknowledge that this is the course they take in trying to prove universal salvation. And now we wish to make a more general application of the subject under consideration; for while the orthodox churches in general will be willing to admit that we are correct in applying this to the Universalists, they undoubtedly are unwilling to admit that they are in a great measure guilty of the same thing, and that many of their doctrines are based upon the same sandy foundation. There are a great many at the present day who take the position that the law of God, the ten commandments, is abolished, and that we are not required to render obedience to that law in the gospel dispensation. They select a few passages that speak of the "law being our school-master to bring us to Christ," "not under the law, but under grace," "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified," &c., &c., and from these they come to the conclusion that the law of God is abolished. Now if these persons who teach thus would look at the general teaching of the Scriptures, and would seek to harmonize this doctrine with them, they would find that it could not be done; for the same apostle who wrote many of the texts that they quote to prove the abolition of the law, also teaches that the law is spiritual, holy, and good, and that sin is the transgression of the law, which could not be if the law had been abolished long before he wrote this. They seek to sustain their doctrine by a class of scriptures that are less plain than other scriptures that plainly teach the opposite, and thus fulfill 2 Pet. iii, 16, where he speaks of some who wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. Those who teach that the dead are conscious take the same course; for while the Scriptures plainly teach that the dead know not anything, and that when they die their thoughts perish, they will select a class of scriptures that are more or less obscure and try to prove that when a person dies (the body, I mean, for they teach that the person proper does not die at all) he is more conscious, if possible, than ever, and that then he is permitted to enjoy the realities of the eternal world. Almost all the false doctrines taught by those who profess to take the Scriptures for their guide are sought to be sustained in this manner of treating the Scriptures; and in thus doing they bring a reproach upon the cause of God, cause infidelity to increase, and dishonor God and his word. O, when will those who profess to take God's word for their guide cease to put light for darkness and darkness for light; good for evil and evil for good? Alas, we have no reason to hope that it will ever be, but that on the other hand it will ever be that very many of the professed friends of Christianity will be its worst enemies.