p. 1 | Modern Orthodoxy by Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 30, 1864

Modern Orthodoxy.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

I HAVE just returned from a camp-meeting at which were gathered about a dozen preachers; several of them were what are generally termed "big guns." As I took notes of the sermons, I will give a few specimens of their quotations and applications of Scripture so far as they quoted it at all, which was very little.

Rev. ii, 10, was quoted: "Be thou faithful until death and I will give thee a crown of life;" instead of "unto death," as it reads. The idea in the text is, to be faithful though persecuted even unto death; but as misquoted it is that the crown of life will be given at death. To support the same idea 2 Tim. iv, 7, 8, was quoted thus: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, my crown of glory is ready which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give unto me and all who love his appearing." By thus perverting the Bible, they were able to make it appear that holy men receive their reward at death.

Then the Elder speaking of those who do not endorse this doctrine, said: "I would as soon reason with a brute or a dead dog." But hear Paul: "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Here we see that Paul said, "Henceforth" his crown was "laid up," and that he should receive it "at that day." What day? Let Peter answer. 1 Pet. v, 4: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

For proof that the world would all be converted in the last days, Dan. ii, 44, was quoted thus: "But in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom; and the stone shall smite the image on his feet and break them in pieces and become a great mountain and fill the whole earth."

A minister in attempting to quote 2 Pet. iii, 10, gave it thus: "The elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth shall be burned up and pass away with a great noise, amid the wreck of worlds and the crash of the universe." When I called the attention of another minister to the fact that Peter said nothing about the world's burning up, he thought that I was badly mistaken. When we read the passage as it was, he could find neither, "world burned up," "crash of worlds," nor "wreck of the universe" in it.

Another preacher said: "Many are worried about the coming of the Lord. My grandmother thought that he was coming in her day; but it didn't worry me any. She has been in Heaven fifteen years and the earth stands yet, with no signs of the end. (He thus fulfilled 2 Pet. iii, 4.) It is something that don't concern Christians. We need not bother our heads about it. It is all nonsense." "Amen, amen," shouted a dozen voices. "Infidelity!" cried a preacher as he emptied his mouth of the sacred juice of tobacco.

Soon after this another elder said that all the patriarchs, prophets, and saints, had looked with eager anticipation for the coming of Christ. Thus the two together branded all these holy men with infidelity!!

One minister quoting Matt. xxv, 46, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment," said, If sinners perish where is the everlasting punishment? They cannot be punished everlastingly if they perish." A short time after this another minister commenting on John iii, 16, said, "It is evident that those who do not seek Jesus will perish." Thus they squarely contradict themselves; and also make the Bible contradict itself.

At this meeting, I heard them, in praying for the conversion of sinners, quote a phrase founded upon Eze. xxxvii, "Let there be a shaking among these dry bones." Now this chapter is a description of the resurrection of the dead as we learn from the 12th and 13th verses. So if their prayers had been answered, the resurrection would have taken place immediately!

Many times they quoted Mal. iv, 2, "Let the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings," and applied it to the conversion of sinners. Now this passage has no application to the conversion of sinners, but relates to the coming of Christ. One man exhorted sinners to put on the image of Jesus and be changed "like unto his glorious body," thus applying Phil. iii, 20, 21, to a change of heart. Indeed, their whole aim seemed to be to quote some high-sounding Bible phrase to make an impression without any regard to what it does really mean.

They reminded me of the Irishman when he first went out to plow. Said he to his team, "Whoa, haw, gee, go where you are a mind to, it has all got to be plowed any way." So it is with them; the Bible must be quoted some, any way; and in doing this they frequently apply a passage here that really relates to the future kingdom, and vice versa. For instance, one preacher preached from Heb. iv, 9, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God," and applied it to the peace that Christians have here in believing.

How often in revivals, and especially was this so at this camp-meeting, do we hear them pray, "O Lord, baptize us now with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Now baptism with fire is the punishment of the wicked; so if their prayers had been answered, they would have been consumed on the spot!

Thus I might go on from the notes that I took at this meeting and give passage after passage that was misquoted, misapplied, mixed up, and perverted. It frequently happened in praying for the conversion of penitents that they prayed for the resurrection, the judgment, the coming of Christ, the destruction of the wicked, the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom, &c., &c., and applied it all to conversion!!

As to the doctrines taught, I could not have supposed that sane men would teach such contradictions and absurdities. I will here give some of their own language and see what it teaches when all put together: "Jesus was a perfect human body, and perfect human soul." "Jesus was the very and eternal God." "The death threatened Adam was death spiritual, death temporal, and death eternal." "Jesus suffered the same death threatened Adam. Jesus died spiritual death."

Question. What is spiritual death? The following is the orthodox definition: "Spiritual death is that awful state of ignorance, insensibility and disobedience, which mankind are in by nature; and which excludes them from the favor and enjoyment of God." Buck's Theological Dictionary.

Now put all these statements together and what do you have? The Creator of the universe became a human being, entered "that awful state of ignorance, insensibility and disobedience, which mankind are in by nature," i. e., became a sinner, and subject to the penalty of sin that is death (Rom. vi, 23) which they say is eternal misery in hell fire. Thus they drag the Creator from his throne, make him a sinner, and consign him to eternal misery!

That isn't all: if Jesus became a sinner, of course he could not suffer for the sins of others, as he must die for his own sins. "The wages of sin is death." So the human race is left without a Saviour, and is doomed to eternal torment; while the Devil is left supreme monarch of all! Such theology must suit him.

Here is some more from the same piece: "The old covenant was a covenant of works; the new, a covenant of faith. The first said, 'work and live;' the second, 'believe and live.' Faith takes the place of work, and is now the only condition of life." "We must have faith unmixed with works." The conclusion is that good works now are not only unnecessary but absolutely wrong! Thus in their endeavors to oppose those who teach the commandments of God, they run into the most ridiculous absurdities.

Of thirteen sermons which I heard at this meeting, not ten minutes were employed in preaching repentance for sins, or a reformation of life. It was one continual round of "come to Jesus," "get religion," "salvation," "faith," and "glory;" but not one rule given by which to obtain either, except it was "come to the anxious seat and be prayed for." Then woe to the unlucky penitent if their prayers should happen to be answered!

Those who were not ready to swallow all this, were held up as trying to get to Heaven by their good works, as not believing in Jesus as a Saviour, sticklers for points of law, carnal, not able to discern the things of

the Spirit, denying a change of heart, infidels, brutes, liars, hypocrites, wolves in sheep's clothing, &c., &c. In fact the whole English vocabulary was exhausted to find epithets bad enough for us.

"Truth crushed to earth will rise again, The eternal years of God are hers; But error, wounded, writhes in pain And dies amid its worshipers."

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Alma, Mich.