A denomination in the sixth century, so called from Damian, bishop of Alexandria. Their opinions were the same as the Angelites, which see.
A name given by the ancients to certain
spirits or genii, which, they say, appeared to men, either to do them service,
or to hurt them.
Several of the heathen philosophers held that
there were different kinds of daemons; that some of them were spiritual
substances, of a more noble origin than the human race,and that others had once
been men.
But those daemons who were the more immediate
objects of the established worship among the ancient nations were human
spirits, such as were believed to become daemons, or deities, after their
departure from their bodies.
It has been generally thought, that by daemons we
are to understand devils, in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament.
Others think the word is in that version certainly applied to the ghosts of
such dead men as the heathens deined, in Deut. xxxii. 17. Ps. cvi. 37. That
daemon often bears the same meaning in the New Testament, and particularly in
Acts xvii. 18. 1 Cor. x. 21. 1 Tim. iv. 1. Rev. ix. 13, is shown at large by
Mr. Joseph Mede, (see Works, p. 623, et. seq.) That the word is applied always
to human spirits in the New Testament, Mr. Farmer has attempted to shew in his
Essay on Daemoniacs, p. 208. et. seq. As to the meaning of the word Daemon in
the fathers of the Christian church, it is used by them in the same sense as it
was by the heathen philosophers, especially the latter Platonists; that is,
sometimes for departed human spirits, and at other times for such spirits as
had never inhabited human bodies. In the fathers, indeed, the word is more
commonly taken in an evil sense, than in the ancient philosophers.
A human being whose volition and other mental
faculties are overpowered and restrained, and his body possessed and actuated
by some created spiritual being of superior power. Such seems to be the
determinate sense of the word; but it is disputed whether any of mankind ever
were in this unfortunate condition. That the reader may form some judgment, we
shall lay before him the argument on both sides.
I. Daemoniacs, arguments against the existence
of. Those who are unwilling to allow that angels or devils have ever
intermeddled with the concerns of human life, urge a number of specious
arguments. The Greeks and Romans of old, say they, did believe in the reality
of daemoniacal possession. They supposed that spiritual beings did at times
enter into the sons and daughters of men, and distinguish themselves in that
situation by capricious freaks, deeds of wanton mischief, or prophetic
enunciations. But in the instances in which they supposed this to happen, it is
evident no such thing took place. Their accounts of the state and conduct of
those persons whom they believed to be possessed in this supernatural manner,
show plainly that what they ascribed to the influence of daemons were merely
the effect of natural diseases. Whatever they relate concerning the larvati,
the cerriti, and the lymphatici, shows that these were merely people disordered
in mind, in the same unfortunate situation with those madmen, ideots, and
melancholy persons, whom we have among ourselves. Festus describes the larvati,
as being furiosi et mente moti. Lucian describes daemoniacs as lunatic, and as
staring with their eyes, foaming at the mouth, and being speechless. It appears
still more evident that all the persons spoken of as possessed with devils in
the New Testament, were either mad or epileptic, and precisely in the same
condition with the madmen and epileptics of modern times. The Jews, among other
reproaches which they threw out against our Saviour, said, He hath a devil, and
is mad; why hear ye him? The expressions he hath a devil, and is mad, were
certainly used on this occasion as synonymous. With all their virulence, they
would not surely ascribe to him at once two things that were inconsistent and
contradictory. Those who thought more favourably of the character of Jesus,
asserted concerning his discourses, in reply to his adversaries, These are not
the words of him that hath a daemon; meaning, no doubt, that he spoke in a more
rational manner than a madman could be expected to speak. The Jews appear to
have ascribed to the influence of daemons, not only that species of madness in
which the patient is raving and furious, but also melancholy madness. Of John,
who secluded himself from intercourse with the world, and was distinguished for
abstinence and acts of mortification, they said, He hath a daemon. The youth,
whose father applied to Jesus to free him from an evil spirit, describing his
unhappy condition in these words, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic, and
sore vexed with a daemon; for oft times he falleth into the fire, and oft into
the water, was plainly epileptic. Every thing,indeed, that is related in the
New Testament concerning daemoniacs, proves that they were people affected with
such natural diseases as are far from being uncommon among mankind in the
present age. When the symptoms of the disorders cured by our Saviour and his
apostles as cases of daemoniacal possession correspond so exactly with those of
diseases well known as natural in the present age, it would be absurd to impute
them to a supernatural cause. It is much more consistent with common sense and
sound philosophy to suppose that our Saviour and his apostles wisely, and with
that condescension to the weakness and prejudices of those with whom they
conversed, which so eminently distinguished the character of the Author of our
holy religion, and must always be a prominent feature in the character of the
true Christian, adopted the vulgar language in speaking of those unfortunate
persons who were groundlessly imagined to be possessed with daemons, though
they well knew the notions which had given rise to such modes of expression to
be ill founded, than to imagine that diseases which arise at present from
natural causes, were produced in days of old by the intervention of daemons, or
that evil spirits still continue to enter into mankind in all cases of madness,
melancholy, or epilepsy. Besides, it is by no means a sufficient reason for
receiving any doctrine as true, that it has been generally received through the
world. Error, like an epidemical disease, is communicated from one to another.
In certain circumstances, too, the influence of imagination predominates, and
restrains the exertions of reason. Many false opinions have extended their
influence through a very wide circle and maintained it long. On every such
occasion as the present, therefore, it becomes us to enquire not so much how
generally any opinion has been received, or how long it has prevailed, as from
what cause it has originated, and on what evidence it rests. When we
contemplate the frame of Nature, we behold a grand and beautiful simplicity
prevailing, through the whole: notwithstanding its immense extent, and though
it contains such numberless diversities of being, yet the simplest machine
constructed by human art does not display greater simplicity, or an happier
connection of parts. We may, therefore, infer by analogy, from what is
observable of the order of Nature in general to the present case, that to
permit evil spirits to intermeddle with the concerns of human life, would be to
break through that order, which the Deity appears to have established through
his works; it would be to introduce a degree of confusion unworthy of the
wisdom of Divine Providence.
II. Daemoniacs, arguments for the existence of.
In opposition to these arguments, the following are urged by the Daemonianists.
In the days of our Saviour, it would appear that Daemoniacal possession was
very frequent among the Jews and the neighbouring nations. Many were the evil
spirits whom Jesus is related in the Gospels to have ejected from patients that
were brought unto him as possessed and tormented by those malevolent daemons.
His apostles too, and the first Christians, who were most active and successful
in the propagation of Christianity, appear to have often exerted the miraculous
powers with which they were endowed on similar occasions. The daemons displayed
a degree of knowledge and malevolence which sufficiently distinguished them
from human beings: and the language in which the daemoniacs are mentioned, and
the actions and sentiments ascribed to them in the New Testament, show that our
Saviour and his apostles did not consider the idea of daemoniacal possession as
being merely a vulgar error concerning the origin of a disease or diseases
produced by natural causes. The more enlightened cannot always avoid the use of
metaphorical modes of expression; which though founded upon error, yet have
been so established in language by the influence of custom, that they cannot be
suddenly dismissed. But in descriptions of characters, in the narration of
facts, and in the laying down of systems of doctrine, we require different
rules to be observed. Should any person, in compliance with popular opinions,
talk in serious language of the existence, dispositions, declarations, and
actions of a race of beings whom he knew to be absolutely fabulous, we surely
could not praise him for integrity: we must suppose him to be either exulting
in irony over the weak credulity of those around him, or taking advantage of
their weakness, with the dishonesty and selfish views of an impostor. And if he
himself should pretend to any connection with this imaginary system of beings;
and should claim, in consequence of his connection with them, particular
honours from his contemporaries; whatever might be the dignity of his character
in all other respects, nobody could hesitate to brand him as an impostor. In
this light must we regard the conduct of our Saviour and his apostles, if the
idea of daemoniacal possession were to be considered merely as a vulgar error.
They talked and acted as if they believed that evil spirits had actually
entered into those who were brought to them as possessed with devils, and as if
those spirits had been actually expelled by their authority out of the unhappy
persons whom they had possessed. They demanded, too, to have their professions
and declarations believed, in consequence of their performing such mighty
works, and having thus triumphed over the powers of hell. The reality of
daemoniacal possession stands upon the same evidence with the Gospel system in
general. Nor is there any thing unreasonable in this doctrine. It does not
appear to contradict those ideas which the general appearances of Nature and
the series of events suggest, concerning the benevolence and wisdom of the
Deity, by which he regulates the affairs of the universe. We often fancy
ourselves able to comprehend things to which our understanding is wholly
inadequate; we persuade ourselves, at times, that the whole extent of the works
of the Deity must be well known to us, and that his designs must always be such
as we can fathom. We are then ready, whenever any difficulty arises to us in
considering the conduct of Providence, to model things according to our own
ideas; to deny that the Deity can possibly be the author of things which we
cannot reconcile; and to assert, that he must act on every occasion in a manner
consistent with our narrow views. This is the pride of reason; and it seems to
have suggested the strongest objections that have been of any time urged
against the reality of daemoniacal possession. But the Deity may surely connect
one order of his creatures with another. We perceive mutual relations and a
beautiful connection to prevail through all that part of Nature which falls
within the sphere of our observation. The inferior animals are connected with
mankind,a nd subjected to their authority, not only in instances in which it is
exerted for their advantage, but even where it is tyrannically abused to their
destruction. Among the evils to which mankind have been subjected, why might
not their being liable to daemoniacal possession be one? While the Supreme
Being retains the sovereignty of the universe, he may employ whatever agents he
thinks proper in the execution of his purposes; he may either commission an
angel, or let loose a devil; as well as bend the human will, or communicate any
particular impulse to matter. All that revelation makes known, all that human
reason can conjecture, concerning the existence of various orders of spiritual
beings, good and bad, is perfectly consistent with, and even favourable to, the
doctrine of daemoniacal possession. It is mentioned in the New Testament in
such language, and such narratives are related concerning it, that the Gospels
cannot be well regarded in any other light than as pieces of imposture, and
Jesus Christ must be considered as a man who took advantage of the weakness and
ignorance of his contemporaries, if this doctrine be nothing but a vulgar
error; it teaches nothing inconsistent with the general conduct of Providence;
in short, it is not the caution of philosophy, but the pride of reason that
suggests objections against this doctrine. See the essays of Young, Farmen,
Worthington, Dr. Lardner, Macknight, Fell, Burgh, &c. on Daemoniacs; Seed's
Posthumous Sermons, ser. vi. and article DAEMONIAC in Enc. Brit.
Condemnation. This word is used to denote the final loss of the soul; but it is not always to be understood in this sense in the sacred Scripture. Thus it is said in Rom. xiii. 2. "They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation," i.e. condemnaion, "from the rulers, who are not a terror to good works, but to the evil." Again, in 1 Cor. xi. 29. "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself;" i. e. condemnation; exposes himself to severe temporal judgments from God, and to the judgment and censure of the wise and good. Again, Rom. xiv. 23. "He that doubteth is damned if he eat;" i.e. is condemned both by his own conscience, and the word of God, because he is far from being satisified that he is right in so doing.
A sect which sprung up about 1373 in Flanders, and places about. It was their custom all of a sudden to fall a dancing, and, holding each other's hands, to continue thereat, till, being suffocated with the extraordinary violence, they fell down breathless together. During these intervals of vehement agitation they pretended to be favoured with wonderful visions. Like the Whippers, they roved from place to place, begging their victuals, holding their secret assemblies, and treating the priesthood and worship of the church with the utmost contempt. Thus we find, as Dr. Haweis observes, that the French Convulsionists and the Welch Jumpers have had predecessors of the same stamp. There is nothing new under the sun. Haweis, and Mosheim's Ch. Hist. Cent. 14.
The absence, privation, or want of natural
light. In Scripture language it also signifies sin, John iii. 19. trouble, Is.
viii. 22. obscurity, privacy, Matt. x. 27. forgetfulness, contempt, Ecc. vi. 4.
Darkness, says Moses, was upon the face of the
deep, Gen. i. 2. that is to say the chaos was plunged in thick darkness,
because hitherto the light was not created. Moses, at the command of God,
brought darkness upon Egypt, as a plague to the inhabitants of it. The
Septuagint, our translation of the Bible, and indeed most others, in explaining
Moses's account of this darkness, render it "a darkness which may be
felt;" and the Vulgate has it, "palpable darkness;" that is, a
darkness consisting of black vapours and exhalations, so condensed that they
might be perceived by the organs of feeling or seeing; but some commentators
think that this is carrying the sense too far, since, in such a medium as this,
mankind could not live an hour, much less for the space of three days, as the
Egyptians are said to have done, during the time this darkness lasted; and,
therefore, they imagine that instead of a darkness that may be felt, the Hebrew
phrase may signify a darkness wherein men went groping and feeling about for
every thing they wanted. Let this, however, be as it may, it was an awful
judgment on the Egyptians; and we may naturally conclude that it must have also
spread darkness and distress over their minds as well as their persons. The
tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the
apparitions of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and murmurs which
they made. What made it still worse, was the length of time it continued; three
days, or as bishop Hall expresses it, six nights in one.
During the last three hours that our Saviour hung
upon the cross, a darkness covered the face of the earth, to the great terror
and amazement of the people present at his execution. This extraordinary alteration
in the face of nature, says Dr. Macknight, in his Harmony of the Gospels, was
peculiarly proper, whilst the Sun of Righteousness was withdrawing his beams
from the land of Israel, and from the world; not only because it was a
miraculous testimony borne by God himself to his innocence, but also because it
was a fit emblem of his departure and its effects, at least till his light
shone out anew with additional splendour in the ministry of his apostles. The
darkness which now covered Judea, and the neighbouring countries, beginning
about noon, and continuing till Jesus expired, was not the effect of an
ordinary eclipse of the sun, for that can never happen but at the new moon,
whereas now it was full moon; not to mention that the total darkness occasioned
by eclipses of the sun never continues above twelve or fifteen minutes;
wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power, in a manner we are
not able to explain. Accordingly Luke (chap. xxiii. 44,45.) after relating that
there was darkness over all the earth, adds, "and the sun was
darkened;" which perhaps may imply that the darkness of the sun did not
occasion, but proceeded from the darkness that was over all the land. Farther,
the Christian writers, in their most ancient apologies to the heathens, affirm
that as it was full moon, at the passover when Christ was crucified, no such
eclipse could happen by the course of nature. They observe, also, that was
taken notice of as a prodigy by the heathens themselves.
The adherents of David George, a native of Delft, who, in 1525, began to preach a new doctrine, publishing himself to be the true Messiah; and that he was sent of God to fill heaven which was quite empty for want of people to deserve it. He is likewise said to have denied the existence of angels good and evil, and to have disbelieved the doctrine of a future judgment. He rejected marriage with the Adamites; held with Manes, that the soul was not defiled by sin; and laughed at the self-denial so much recommended by Jesus Christ. Such were his principal errors. He made his escape from Delft, and retired first to Friesland, and then to Basil, where he changed his name, assuming that of John Bruck, and died in 1556. He left some disciples behind him, to whom he promised that he would rise again at the end of three years. Nor was he altogether a false prophet herein; for the magistrates of that city being informed, at the three years' end, of what he had taught, ordered him to be dug up and burnt, together with his writings, by the common hangman.
A servant, a minister.
1. In ecclesiastical polity, a deacon is one of
the lowest of the three orders of the clergy. He is rather a novitiate, or in a
state of probation for one year, after which he is admitted into full orders,
or ordained a priest.
2. In the New Testament the word is used for any
one that ministers in the service of God: bishops and presbyters are also
styled deacons; but more particularly and generally it is understood of the
lowest order of ministering servants in the church, 1 Cor. iii. 5. Col. i.
23,25. Phil. i. 1. 1 Tim. iii.
The office of deacon originally was to serve
tables, the Lord's table, the minister's table, and the poor's table. They took
care of the secular affairs of the church, received and disbursed monies, kept
the church's accounts, and provided every thing necessary for its temporal
good. Thus, while the bishop attended to the souls, the deacons attended to the
bodies of the people: the pastor to the spiritual, and the deacons the temporal
interests of the church, Acts vi.
A female deacon. It is generally allowed, that in the primitive church there were deaconesses, i.e. pious women, whose particular business it was to assist in the entertainment and care of the itinerant preachers, visit the sick and imprisoned, instruct female catechumens, and assist at their baptism; then more particularly necessary, from the peculiar customs of those countries, the persecuted state of the church, and the speedier spreading of the Gospel. Such a one it is reasonable to think Phebe was, Rom. xvi. 1. who is expressly called a deaconess or stated servant, as Dr. Doddridge renders it. They were usually widows, and, to prevent scandal, generally in years, 1 Tim. v. 9. See also Spanheim. Hist. Christ. Secul. i. p. 554. The apostolic constitutions, as they are called, mention the ordination of a deaconess, and the form of prayer used on that occasion. (lib. viii. ch. 19,20.) Pliny also, in his celebrated epistle to Trajan (xcvii.) is thought to refer to them, when, speaking of two female Christians whom he put to the torture, he says, qux ministrae dicebantur, i.e. who were called deaconesses.--But as the primitive Christians seem to be led to this practice from the peculiarity of their circumstances, and the Scripture is entirely silent as to any appointment to this supposed office, or any rules about it, it is very justly laid aside, at least as an office.
An ecclesiastical dignitary, next under the bishop in cathedral churches, and head of the chapter. The Latin word is decanus, derived from the Greek ten, because the dean presides over at least ten canons, or prebendaries. A dean and chapter are the bishop's council, to assist him in the affairs of religion.
Is generally defined to be the separation of the
soul from the body. It is styled, in Scripture language, a departure out of
this world to another, 2 Tim. iv. 7. a dissolving of the earthly house of this
tabernacle, 2. Cor. v. 1. a going the way of all the earth, Josh. xxiii. 14. a
returning to the dust, Eccl. xii. 7. a sleep, John xi. 11. Death may be
considered as the effect of sin, Rom. v. 12. yet, as our existence is from God,
no man has a right to take away his own life, or the life of another, Gen. ix.
6. Satan is said to have the power of death, Heb. ii. 14; not that he can at
his pleasure inflict death on mankind, but as he was the instrument of first
bringing death into the world, John viii. 44; and as he may be the executioner
of God's wrath on impenitent sinners, when God permits him. Death is but once,
Heb. ix. 27. certain, Job xiv. 1,2. powerful and terrific, called the king of
terrors, Job xviii. 14. uncertain as to the time, Prov. xxviii. 1. universal,
Gen. v. necessary, that God's justice may be displayed, and his mercy
manifested; desirable to the righteous, Luke ii. 28-30. The fear of death is a
source of uneasiness to the generality, and to a guilty conscience it may
indeed be terrible; but to a good man it should be obviated by the
consideration that death is the termination of every trouble; that it puts him
beyond the reach of sin and temptation: that God has promised to be with the
righteous, even to the end, Heb. xiii. 5. that Jesus Christ has taken away the
sting, 1 Cor. xv. 54. and that it introduces him to a state of endless
felicity, 2 Cor. v. 8.
Preparation for death. This does not consist in
bare morality; in an external reformation from gross sins; in attention to a
round of duties in our own strength; in acts of charity; in a zealous
profession; in possessing eminent gifts: but in reconciliation to God;
repentance of sin; faith in Christ; obedience to his word: and all as the
effect of regeneration by the Spirit. 3 John iii. 6. 1 Cor. xi. 3. Tit. iii. 5.
Bates's four last Things; Hopkins, Drelincourt, Sherlock, and Fellowes, on
Death; Bp. Porteus's Poem on DEath; Grove's admirable Sermon on the fear of
Death; Watts's World to Come.
Spiritual Death is that awful state of ignorance,
insensibility, and disobedience, which mankind are in by nature, and which
exclude them from the favour and enjoyment of God, Luke i. 79. See SIN.
Brothers of Death, a denomination usually given
to the religious of the order of St. Paul, the first hermit. They are called
brothers of death, on account of the figure of a death's head which they were
always to have with them, in order to keep perpetually before them the thoughts
of death. The order was probably suppressed by pope Urban VIII.
Death of Christ. The circumstances attendant on
the death of Christ are so well known, that they need not be inserted here. As
the subject, however, of all others, is the most important to the Christian, a
brief abstract of what has been said on it, from a sermon allowedly one of the
best in the English language, shall here be given. "The hour of Christ's
death," says Blair (vol.i. ser. 5.) "was the most critical, the most
pregnant with great events, since hours had begun to be numbered, since time
had begun to run. It was the hour in which Christ was glorified by his
sufferings. Through the cloud of his humiliation his native lustre often broke
forth, but never did it shine so bright as now. It was indeed the hour of
distress, and of blood. It is distress which ennobles every great character, and
distress was to glorify the Son of God. He was now to teach all mankind, by his
example, how to suffer, and how to die. What magnanimity in all his words and
actions on the great occasion! No upbraiding, no complaining expression escaped
from his lips. He betrayed no symptom of a weak, a discomposed, or impatient
mind. With all the dignity of a sovereign, he conferred pardon on a penitent
fellow-sufferer: with a greatness of mind beyond example, he spent his last
moments in apologies and prayers for those who were shedding his blood. This
was the hour in which Christ atoned for the sins of mankind, and accomplished
our eternal redemption. It was the hour when that great sacrifice was offered
up, the efficacy of which reaches back to the first transgression of man, and
extends forward to the end of time: the hour, when, from the cross, as from an
high altar, the blood was flowing which washed away the guilt of the nations.
In this hour the long series of prophesies, visions, types, and figures were
accomplished. This was the centre in which they all met. You behold the law and
the prophets standing, if we may speak so, at the foot of the cross, and doing
homage. You behold Moses and Aaron bearing the ark of the covenant; David and
Elijah presenting the oracle of testimony. You behold all the priests and
sacrifices, all the rites and ordinances, all the types and symbols assembled
together to receive their consummation. This was the hour of the abolition of
the law, and the introduction of the Gospel; the hour of terminating the old
and beginning the new dispensation.--It is finished. When he uttered these
words he changed the state of the universe. This was the ever-memorable point
of time which separated the old and the new world from each other. On one side
of the point of separation you behold the law, with its priests, its
sacrifices, and its rites, retiring from sight. On the other side you behold
the Gospel, with its simple and venerable institutions, coming forward into
view. Significantly was the veil of the temple rent in twain; for the glory
then departed from between the cherubims. The legal high priest delivered up
his Urim and Thummim, his breast-plate, his robes, and his incense; and Christ
stood forth as the great high priest of all succeeding generations. Altars on
which the fire had blazed for ages were now to smoke no more. Now it was also
that he threw down the wall of partition which had so long divided the Gentile
from the Jew; and gathered into one all the faithful, out of every kindred and
people. This was the hour of Christ's triumph over all the powers of darkness;
the hour in which he overthrew dominions and thrones, led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men; then it was that the foundation of every pagan temple
shook; the statue of every false god totterd on its base; the priest fled from
his falling shrine, and the heathen oracles became dumb for ever!--This was the
hour when our Lord erected that spiritual kingdom which is never to end. His
enemies imagined that in this hour they had successfully accomplished their
plan for his destruction; but how little did they know that the Almighty was at
that moment setting him as a king on the hill of Sion! How little did they know
that their badges of mock royalty were at that moment converted into the
signals of absolute dominion, and the instruments of irresistible power! The
reed which they put into his hands became a rod of iron, with which he was to
break in pieces his enemies; a sceptre with which he was to rule the universe
in righteousness. The cross, which they thought was to stigmatize him with
infamy, became the ensign of his renown. Instead of being the reproach of his
followers, it was to be their boast, and their glory. The cross was to shine on
palaces and churches throughout the earth. It was to be assumed as the
distinction of the most powerful monarchs, and to wave in the banner of
victorious armies, when the memory of Herod and Pilate should be accursed; when
Jerusalem should be reduced to ashes, and the Jews be vagabonds over all the
world." See ATONEMENT; Person and Barrow on the Creed; Owen's Death of
Death in the Death of Christ; Charnock's Works, vol. ii. on the Necessity,
Voluntariness, &c. of the Death of Christ.
The ten commandments given by God to Moses.
The ten commandments were engraved by God on two
tables of stone. The Jews, by way of eminence, call these commandments the ten
words, from whence they had afterwards the name of decalogue; but they joined
the first and second into one, and divided the last into two. They understand
that against stealing to relate to the stealing of men, or kidnapping;
alleging, that the stealing one another's goods of property is forbidden in the
last commandment. The church of Rome has struck the second commandment quite
out of the decalogue; and, to make their number complete, has split the tenth
into two. The reason is obvious.
Consists in passing any thing upon a person for what it is not, as when falsehood is made to pass for truth. See HYPOCRISY.
See SELF-DECEPTION.
A speech made in public in the tone and manner
of an oration, uniting the expression of action to the propriety of
pronunciation, in order to give the sentiment its full impression on the mind.
It is used also in a derogatory sense; as when it is said, such a speech was
mere declamation, it implies that it was deficient in point of reasoning, or
had more sound than sense.
DECLAMATION OF THE PULPIT. "The dignity and
sanctity of the place, and the importance of the subject, require the preacher
to exert the utmost powers of his voice, to produce a pronunciation that is
perfectly distinct and harmonious, and that he observe a deportment and action
which is expressive and graceful. The preacher should not roar like a common
crier, and rend the ear with a voice like thunder; for such kind of declamation
is not only without meaning and without persuasion, but highly incongruous with
the meek and gentle spirit of the Gospel. He should likewise take particular
care to avoid a monotony; his voice should rise from the beginning, as it were,
by degrees, and its greatest strength should be exerted in the application.
Each inflexion of the voice should be adapted to the phrase and to the meaning
of the words; and each remarkable expression should have its peculiar
inflexion. The dogmatic requires a plain uniform tone of voice only, and the
menaces of God's word demand a greater force than its promises and rewards; but
the latter should not be pronounced in the soft tone of a flute, nor the former
with the loud sound of a trumpet. The voice should still retain its natural
tone in all its various inflexions. Happy is that preacher who has a voice that
is at once strong, flexible, and harmonious. An air of complacency and
benevolence, as well as devotion, should be constantly visible in the countenance
of the preacher; but every appearance of affectation must be carefully avoided;
for nothing is so disgustful to an audience as even the semblance of
dissimulation. Eyes constantly rolling, turned towards heaven, and streaming
with tears, rather denote a hypocrite than a man possessed of the real spirit
of religion, and who feels the true import of what he preaches. An air of
affected devotion infallibly destroys the efficacy of all that the preacher can
say, however just and important it may be. On the other hand, he must avoid
every appearance of mirth or raillery, or of that cold unfeeling manner which
is so apt to freeze the heart of his hearers. The body should in general be
erect, and in a natural and easy attitude. The perpetual movement or contortion
of the body has a ridiculous effect in the pulpit, and makes the figure of a
preacher and a harlequin too similar; on the other hand, he ought not to remain
constantly upright and motionless like a speaking statue. The motions of the
hands give a strong expression to a discourse; but they should be decent,
grave, noble, and expressive. The preacher who is incessantly in action, who is
perpetually clasping his hands, or who menaces with a clenched fist, or counts
his arguments on his fingers, will only excite mirth among his auditory. In a
word, declamation is an art that the sacred orator should study with assiduity.
The design of a sermon is to convince, to affect, and to persuade. The voice,
the countenance, and the action, which are to produce the triple effect, are
therefore objects to which the preacher should particularly apply
himself." See SERMON.
Are his settled purposes, whereby he foreordains
whatsoever comes to pass, Dan. iv. 24. Acts xv. 18. Eph. i. 11. This doctrine
is the subject of one of the most perplexing controversies that has occurred
among mankind; it is not, however, as some think, a novel doctrine. The
opinion, that whatever occurs in the world at large, or in the lot of private
individuals, is the result of a previous and unalterable arrangement by that
Supreme Power which presides over Nature, has always been held by many of the
vulgar, and has been believed by speculative men. The ancient stoics, Zeno and
Chrysippus, whom the Jewish Essenes seem to have followed, asserted the
existence of a Deity, that, acting wisely but necessarily, contrived the
general system of the world; from which, by a series of causes, whatever is now
done in it unavoidable results. Mahomet introduced into his Kiran the doctrine
of absolute predestination of the course of human affairs. He represented life
and death, prosperity and adversity, and every event that befalls a man in this
world, as the result of a previous determination of the one God who rules over
all. Augustine and the whole of the earliest reformers, but especially Calvin,
favoured this doctrine. It was generally asserted, and publicly owned, in most
of the confessions of faith of the reformed churches, and particularly in the
church of England; and to this, we may add, that it was maintained by a great
number of divines in the last two centuries.
As to the nature of these decrees, it must be
observed that they are not the result of deliberation, or the Almighty's debating
matters within himself, reasoning in his own mind about the expediency or
inexpediency of things, as creatures do; nor are they merely ideas of things
future, but settled determinations founded on his sovereign will and pleasure,
Isa. xl. 14. They are to be considered as eternal: this is evident; for if God
be eternal, consequently his purposes must be of equal duration with himself:
to suppose otherwise, would be to suppose that there was a time when he was
undetermined and mutable; whereas no new determinations or after thoughts can
arise in his mind, Job xxiii. 13,14.--2. They are free, without any compulsion,
and not excited by any motive out of himself, Rom ix. 15.--3. They are
infinitely wise, displaying his glory, and promoting the general good, Rom. xi.
33.--4. They are immutable, for this is the result of his being infinitely
perfect; for if there were the least change in God's understanding, it would be
an instance of imperfection, Mal. iii. 6.--5. They are extensive or universal,
relating to all creatures and things in heaven, earth, and hell, Eph. i.
11.Prov. xvi.4.--6. They are secret, or at least cannot be known till he be
pleased to discover them. It is therefore presumption for any to attempt to
enter into or judge of what he has not revealed, Deut. xxix. 29. Nor is an
unknown or supposed decree at any time to be the rule of our conduct. His
revealed will alone, must be considered as the rule by which we are to judge of
the event of things, as well as of our conduct at large, Rom. xi. 34.--7.
Lastly, they are effectual; for as he is infinitely wise to plan, so he is
infinitely powerful to perform: his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his
pleasure, Isa. xlvi. 10.
This doctrine should teach us, 1. Admiration.
"He is the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God
of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is he," Deut. xxxii. 4.--2.
Reverence. "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth
it appertain," Jer. x. 7.--3. Humility. "O the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!--how unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out!" Rom. xi. 33.--4. Submission. "For he
doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants
of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou?" Dan. iv. 35.--5. Desire for heaven. "What I do, thou knowest
not now; but thou shalt know hereafter," John xiii. 7. See NECESSITY,
PREDESTINATION.
Decrees of Councils are the laws made by them to
regulate the doctrine and policy of the Church. Thus the acts of the Christian
council at Jerusalem are called, Acts. xvi. 4.
A letter of a pope, determining some point of question in the ecclesiastical law. The decretals compose the second part of the canon law. The first genuine one, acknowledged by all the learned as such, is a letter of Pope Siricius, written in the year 385, to Himerus, bishop of Tarragona, in Spain, concerning some disorders which had crept into the churches of Spain. Gratian published a collection of decretals, containing all the ordinances made by the popes till the year 1150. Gregory IX. in 1227, following the example of Theodosius and Justinian, formed a constitution of his own, collecting into one body all the decisions and all the causes which served to advance the papal power; which collection of decretals was called the Pentateuch, because it contained five books.
A religious ceremony, whereby any person or
thing is solemnly consecrated, or set apart to the service of God and the
purposes of religion.
The use of dedications is very ancient, both
among the worshippers of the true God, and among the heathens. In the Scripture
we meet with dedications of the tabernacle, altars, &c. Under Christianity
dedication is only applied to a church, and is properly the consecration
thereof. See CONSECRATION.
See SELF-DEFENCE.
(Fidei Defensor,) A peculiar title belonging to the king of England; as Catholicus to the king of Spain, and Christianissimus to the king of France. These titles were given by the popes of Rome. That of Fidei Defensor was first conferred by Leo X. on king Henry VIII. for writing against Martin Luther; and the bull for it bears date quinto idus, October 1521. It was afterwards confirmed by Clement VII. But the pope, on Henry's suppressing the houses of religion, at the time of the reformation, not only deprived him of his title, but deposed him from his crown also; though, in the 35th year of his reign, his title, &c. was confirmed by parliament, and has continued to be used by all his successors. Chamberlayne says, the title belonged to the kings of England before that time, and for proof thereof appeals to several charters granted to the University of Oxford: so that pope Leo's bull was only a renovation of an ancient right.
Ecclesiastical, is the deprivation of a priest of his dignity. We have an instance of it in the eighth century at Constantinople, in the person of the patriarch Constantine, who was made to go out of the church backwards, stripped of his pallium, and anathematized. In our own country, Cranmer was degraded by order of the bloody queen Mary. they dressed him in episcopal robes, made only of canvas; put the mitre on his head, and the pastoral staff in his hand, and in this attire showed him to the people, and then stripped him piece by piece.
A class of people whose distinguishing character
it is, not to profess any particular form or system of religion; but only to
acknowledge the existence of a God, and to follow the light and law of Nature,
rejecting revelation and opposing Christianity. The name of deists seems to
have been first assumed, as the denomination of a party, about the middle of
the 16th century, by some gentlemen in France and Italy, who were desirous of
thus disguising their opposition to Christianity by a more honourable
appellation than that of atheists. Viret, an eminent reformer, mentions certain
persons in his epistle dedicatory, prefixed to the second volume of his
Instruction Chretienne, published in 1653, who called themselves by a new name,
that of deists. These, he tells us, professed to believe in God, but shewed no
regard to Jesus Christ, and considered the doctrine of the apostles and
evangelists as fables and dreams. He adds, that they laughed at all religion,
though they outwardly conformed to the religion of those with whom they lived,
or whom they wished to please, or feared to offend. Some, he observed,
professed to believe the immortality of the soul; others denied both this
doctrine and that of providence. Many of them were considered as persons of
acute and subtile genius, and took pains in disseminating their notions. The
deists hold, that, considering the multiplicity of religions, the numerous
pretences to revelation, and the precarious arguments generally advanced in
proof thereof, the best and surest way is to return to the simplicity of
nature, and the belief of one God; which is the only truth agreed to by all
nations. They complain, that the freedom of thinking and reasoning is oppressed
under the yoke of religion, and that the minds of men are tyrannized over, by
the necessity imposed on them of believing inconceivable mysteries; and contend
that nothing should be required to be assented to or believed but what their
reason clearly conceives. The distinguishing character of modern deists is,
that they discard all pretences to revelation as the effects of imposture or
enthusiasm. They profess a regard for natural religion, though they are far
from being agreed in their notions concerning it.
They are classed by some of their own writers
into mortal and immortal deists; the latter acknowledging a future state; and
the former denying it, or representing it as very uncertain. Dr. Clarke
distinguishes four sorts of deists. 1. Those who pretend to believe the
existence of an eternal, infinite, independent, intelligent Being, who made the
world, without concerning himself in the government of it.--2. Those who
believe the being and natural providence of God, but deny the difference of
actions as morally good or evil, resolving it into the arbitrary constitution
of human laws; and therefore they suppose that God takes no notice of them. With
respect to both these classes, he observes that their opinions can consistently
terminate in nothing but downright atheism.--3. Those who, having right
apprehensions concerning the nature, attributes, and all-governing providence
of God, seem also to have some notion of his moral perfections; though they
consider them as transcendent, and such in nature and degree, that we can form
no true judgment, nor argue with any certainty concerning them: but they deny
the immortality of human soul; alleging that men perish at death, and that the
present life is the whole of human existence.--4. Those who believe the
existence, perfections, and providence of God, the obligations of natural
religion, and a state of future retribution, on the evidence of the light of Nature,
without a divine revelation; such as these, he says, are the only true deists:
but their principles, he apprehends, should lead them to embrace Christianity;
and therefore he concludes that there is now no consistent scheme of deism in
the world. The first deistical writer of any note that appeared in this country
was Herbert, baron of Cherbury. He lived and wrote in the seventeenth century.
His book Dr. Veritate was first published at Paris in 1624. This, together with
his book De Causis Errorum, and his treatise De Religione Laici, were
afterwards published in London. His celebrated work Dr. Religione Gentilium was
published at Amsterdam in 1663 in 4to., and in 1700 in 8vo.; and an English
translation of it was published at London in 1705. As he was one of the first
that formed design into a system, and asserted the sufficiency, universality,
and absolute perfection of natural religion, with a view to discard all
extraordinary revelation as useless and needless, we shall subjoin the five
fundamental articles of this universal religion. They are these: 1. There is
one supreme God.--2. That he is chiefly to be worshipped.--3. That piety and
virtue are the principal part of his worship.--4. That we must repent of our
sins; and if we do so, God will pardon them.--5. That there are rewards for
good men and punishments for bad men, both here and hereafter. A number of
advocates have appeared in the same cause; and however they may have differed
among themselves, they have been agreed in their attempts of invalidating the
evidence and authority of divine revelation. We might mention Hobbes, Blount,
Toland, Collins, Woolston, Tindall, Morgan, Chubb, lord Bolingbroke, Hume,
Gibbon, Paine, and some add lord Shaftesbury to the number. Among foreigners,
Voltaire, Rousseau, Condorcet, and many other celebrated French authors, have
rendered themselves conspicuous by their deistical writings. "But,"
as one observes, "the friends of Christianity have no reason to regret the
free and unreserved discussion which their religion has undergone. Objections
have been stated and urged in their full force, and as fully answered;
arguments and raillery have been repelled: and the controversy between
Christians and deists has called forth a great number of excellent writers, who
have illustrated both the doctrines and evidences of Christianity in a manner
that will ever reflect honour on their names, and be of lasting service to the
cause of genuine religion, and the best interests of mankind." See
articles CHRISTIANITY, INFIDELITY, INSPIRATION, and SCRIPTURE, in this work.
Leland's View of Deistical Writers; Sermons at Boyle's Lecture; Halyburton's
Natural Religion insufficient; Leslie's Short Method with the Deists; Bishop
Watson's Apology for the Bible; Fuller's Gospel of Christ its own Witness;
Bishop Porteus's Charge to the Clergy, for 1794; and his summary of the
Evidences of Christianity.
See Jesus Christ.
The flood which overflowed and destroyed the
earth. This flood makes one of the most considerable epochas in chronology. Its
history is given by Moses, Gen. vi. and vii. Its time is fixed by the best
chronologers to the year from the creation 1656, answering to the year before
Christ 2293. From this flood, the state of the world is divided into diluvian
and ante-diluvian.
Men who have not paid that regard to sacred
history as it deserves, have cavilled at the account given of an universal
deluge. Their objections principally turn upon three points: 1. The want of any
direct history of that event by the profane writers of antiquity.--2. The
apparent impossibility of accounting for the quantity of water necessary to
overflow the whole earth to such a depth as it is said to have been.--And, 3.
There appearing no necessity for an universal deluge, as the same end might
have been accomplished by a partial one.
To the above arguments we oppose the plain
declarations of Scripture. God declared to Noah that he was resolved to destroy
every thing that had breath under heaven, or had life on the earth, by a flood
of waters; such was the threatening, such was the execution. the waters, Moses
assures us, covered the whole earth, buried all the mountains; every thing
perished therein that had life, excepting Noah and those with him in the ark.
Can an universal deluge be more clearly expressed? If the deluge had only been
partial, there had been no necessity to spend an hundred years in the building
of an ark, and shutting up all sorts of animals therein, in order to re-stock
the world: they had been easily and readily brought from those parts of the
world not overflowed into those that were; at least, all the birds never would
have been destroyed, as Moses says they were, so long as they had wings to bear
them to those parts where the flood did not reach. If the waters had only
overflowed the neighbourhood of the Euphrates and the Tigris, they could not be
fifteen cubits above the highest mountains; there was no rising that height but
they must spread themselves, by the laws of gravity, over the rest of the
earth; unless perhaps they had been retained there by a miracle; in that case,
Moses, no doubt, would have related the miracle, as he did that of the waters
of the Red Sea, &c. It may also be observed, that in regions far remote
from the Euphrates and Tigris, viz. Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany,
England, &c. there are frequently found in places many scores of leagues
from the sea, and even in the tops of high mountains, whole trees sunk deep
under ground, as also teeth and bones of animals, fishes entire, sea-shells,
ears of corn, &c. petrified; which the best naturalists are agreed could
never have come there but by the deluge. That the Greeks and western nations
had some knowledge of the flood, has never been denied; and the Mussulmen,
Chinese, and Americans, have traditions of the deluge. The ingenious Mr.
Bryant, in his Mythology, has pretty clearly proved that the deluge, so far
from being unknown to the heathen world at large, is in reality conspicuous
throughout every one of their acts of religious worship. In India, also, Sir
William Jones has discovered, that in the oldest mythological books of that
country, there is such an account of the deluge, as corresponds sufficiently
with that of Moses.
Various have been the conjectures of learned men
as to the natural causes of the deluge. Some have supposed that a quantity of
water was created on purpose, and at a proper time annihilated by Divine power.
Dr. Burnet supposes the primitive earth to have been no more than a crust
investing the water contained in the ocean; and in the central abyss which he
and others suppose to exist in the bowels of the earth at the time of the
flood, this outward crust broke in a thousand pieces, and sunk down among the
water, which thus spouted up in vast cataracts, and overflowed the whole
surface. Others, supposing a sufficient fund of water in the sea or abyss,
think that the shifting of the earth's centre of gravity drew after it the
water out of the channel, and overwhelmed the several parts of the earth
successively. Others ascribe it to the shock of a comet, and Mr. King supposes
it to arise from subterraneous fires bursting forth with great violence under
the sea. But are not most, if not all these hypotheses quite arbitrary, and
without foundation from the words of Moses? It is, perhaps, in vain to attempt
accounting for this event by natural causes, it being altogether miraculous and
supernatural, as a punishment to men for the corruption then in the world. Let
us be satisfied with the sources which Moses gives us, namely, the fountains of
the great deep broken up, and the waters rushed out from the hidden abyss of
the bowels of the earth, and the clouds poured down their rain incessantly. Let
it suffice us to know, that all the elements are under God's power; that he can
do with them as he pleases, and frequently in ways we are ignorant of, in order
to accomplish his own purposes.
The principal writers on this subject have been
Woodyard, Cockburn, Bryant, Burnett, Whiston, Stillingfleet, King, Calcott and
Tytler.
Corruption, a change from perfection to imperfection. See FALL, SIN.
A term applied to the manner of performing some ceremonies in the form of prayer. The form of absolution in the Greek church is deprecative, thus expressed--May God absolve you; whereas in the Latin church it is declarative--I absolve you.
Of Christ into Hell. See HELL.
A term made use of to denote an unhappy state of mind, occasioned by the sensible influences of the divine favour being withdrawn. Some of the best men in all ages have suffered a temporary suspension of divine enjoyments, Job xxix. 2. Ps. li. Is. xlix. 14. Lam. iii. 1. Is. i. 10. The causes of this must not be attributed to the Almighty, since he is always the same, but must arise from ourselves. Neglect of duty, improper views of Providence, self-confidence, a worldly spirit, lukewarmness of mind, inattention to the means of grace, or open transgression, may be considered as leading to this state. As all things, however, are under the divine control, so even desertion, or, as it is sometimes expressed in Scripture, "the hidings of God's face," may be useful to excite humility, exercise faith and patience, detach us from the world, prompt to more vigorous action, bring us to look more to God as the fountain of happiness, conform us to his word, and increase our desires for that state of blessedness which is to come. Hervey's ther. and Asp. dial. xix.; Watts's Medit. on Job, xxiii. 3.;Lambert's Ser. vol. i. ser. 16.; Flavel's Works, vol. i. p. 167. folio.
Is an eagerness to obtain or enjoy an object which we suppose to be good. Those desires, says Dr. Watts, that arise without any express ideas of the goodness or agreeableness of their object to the mind beforehand, such as hunger, thirst, &c.; are called appetites. Those which arise from our perception or opinion of an object as good or agreeable, are most properly called passions. Sometimes both these are united. If our desire to do or receive good be not violent, it is called a simple inclination or propensity. When it rises high, it is termed longing: when our desires set our active powers at work to obtain the very same good, or the same sort of good, which another desires, it is called emulation. Desire of pleasures of sense, is called sensuality; of honour, is called ambition; of riches, covetousness. The objects of a good man's desires are, that God may be glorified, his sins forgiven and subdued, his affections enlivened and placed on God as the supreme object of love, his afflictions sanctified, and his life devoted to the service of God, Prov. xi. 23. Ps. cv. 19.
The loss of hope; that state of mind in which a
person loses his confidence in the divine mercy.
Some of the best antidotes against despair, says
one, may be taken from the consideration, 1. Of the nature of God, his
goodness, mercy, &c.--2. The testimony of God: he hath said, he desireth
not the death of the sinner.--3. From the works of God: he hath given his Son
to die.--4. From his promises, Heb. xiii. 5.--5. From his command: he hath
commanded us to confide in his mercy.--6. From his expostulations, & c.
Baxter on Religious Melancholy; Claude's Essays, p. 388, Robinson's edit.;
Gisborne's Sermon on Religious Despondency.
Those who believe that the final punishment
threatened in the Gospel to the wicked and impenitent consists not in an
eternal preservation in misery and torment, but in a total extinction of being,
and that the sentence of annihilation shall be executed with more or less
torment, preceding or attending the final period, in proportion to the greater
or less guilt of the criminal
The name assumed by this denomination, like those
of many others, takes for granted the question is dispute, viz. means annihilation:
in strict propriety of speech, they should be called Annihilationists. The
doctrine is largely maintained in the sermons of Mr. Samuel Bourn, of
Birmingham; it was held also by Mr. J. N. Scott; Mr. John Taylor, or Norwich;
Mr. Marsom; and many others.
In defence of the system, Mr. Bourn argues as
follows: There are many passages of Scripture in which the ultimate punishment
to which wicked men shall be adjudged is defined, in the most precise and
intelligible terms, to be an everlasting destruction from the power of God,
which is equally able to destroy as to preserve. So when our Saviour is
fortifying the minds of his disciples against the power of men, by an awe of
the far greater power of God, and the punishment of his justice, he expresseth
himself thus: Fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more
that they can do; fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Here he plainly proposes the destruction of the soul (not its endless pain and
misery) as the ultimate object of the divine displeasure, and the greatest
object of our fear. And when he says, These shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into life eternal, it appears evident that by
that eternal punishment which is set in opposition to eternal life, is not
meant any kind of life, however miserable, but the same which the apostle
expresses by everlasting destruction from the presence and power of the Lord.
The very term, death, is most frequently made use of to signify the end of
wicked men in another world, or the final effect of divine justice in their
punishment. The wages of sin (saith the apostle) is death; but eternal life is
the gift of God, through Christ Jesus our Lord. See also Rom. viii. 6.
To imagine that by the term death is meant an
eternal life, though in a condition of extreme misery, seems, according to him,
to be confounding all propriety and meaning of words. Death, when applied to
the end of wicked men in a future state, he says properly denotes a total
extinction of life and being. It may contribute, he adds, to fix this meaning,
if we observe that the state to which temporal death reduces men is usually
termed by our Saviour and his apostles, sleep; because from this death the soul
shall be raised to life again: but from the other, which is fully and properly
death, and of which is fully and properly death, and of which the former is but
an image or shadow, there is no recovery; it is an eternal death, an
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his
power.
Hi next proceeds to the figures by which the
eternal punishment of wicked men is described, and finds them perfectly
agreeing to establish the same doctrine. One figure or comparison, often used,
is that of combustible materials throws into a fire, which will consequently be
entirely consumed, if the fire be not quenched. Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. The meaning is, a
total, irrevocable destruction: for, as the tree that bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire, and is destroyed; as the useless
chaff, when separated from the good grain, is set on fire, and, if the fire be
not quenched, is consumed; so, he thinks, it plainly appears, that the image of
unquenchable or everlasting fire is not intended to signify the degree or
duration of torment, but the absolute certainty of destruction, beyond all
possibility of recovery. So the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to have
suffered the vengeance of an eternal fire; that is, they were so effectually
consumed, or destroyed, that they could never be rebuilt; the phrase, eternal
fire, signifying the irrevocable destruction of those cities, not the degree or
duration of the misery of the inhabitants who perished.
The images of the worm that dieth not, and the
fire that is not quenched, used in Mark ix. 43, are set in opposition to
entering into life, and intended to denote a period of life and existence.
Our Saviour expressly assigns different degrees
of future misery, in proportion to men's respective degrees of guilt, Luke xii.
47,48. But if all wicked men shall suffer torments without end, how can any of
them be said to suffer but a few stripes? All degrees and distinctions of
punishment seem swallowed up in the notion of never-ending or infinite misery.
Finally, death and the eternal destruction, or
annihilation, is properly styled in the New Testament an everlasting
punishment, as it is irrevocable and unalterable for ever; and it is most
strictly and literally styled, an everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
Dr. Edwards, in his answer to Dr Chauncey, on the
salvation of all men, says that this scheme was provisionally retained by Dr.
C.: i.e. in case the scheme of universal salvation should fail him: and
therefore Dr. E., in his examination of that work, appropriates a chapter to
the consideration of it. Among other reasonings against it are the following:
1. The different degrees of punishment which the
wicked will suffer according to their works, proves that it does not consist in
annihilation, which admits of no degrees.
2. If it be said that the punishment of the
wicked, though it will end in annihilation, yet shall be preceded by torment,
and that this will be of different degrees according to the degrees of sin; it
may be replied, this is making it to be compounded partly of torment, and
partly of annihilation. The latter also appears to be but a small part of
future punishment, for that alone will be inflicted on the least sinner, and on
account of the least sin; and that all punishment which will be inflicted on
any person above that which is due to the least sin, is to consist in torment.
Nay, if we can form any idea in the present state of what would be dreadful or
desirable in another, instead of its being any punishment to be annihilated
after a long series of torment, it must be a deliverance, to which the sinner
would look forward with anxious desire. And is it credible that this was the
termination of torment that our Lord held up to his disciples as an object of
dread? Can this be the destruction of body and soul in hell? Is it credible
that everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power, should constitute only a part, and a small part, of future
punishment; and such too, as, after a series of torment, must, next to being
made happy, be the most acceptable thing that could befall them? Can this be
the object threatened by such language, as recompensing tribulation, and taking
vengeance in flaming fire? 2 Thess. i. Is it possible that God should threaten
them with putting an end to their miseries? Moreover, this destruction is not
described as the conclusion of a succession of torments, but as taking place
immediately after the last judgment. When Christ shall come to be glorified in
his saints, then shall the wicked be destroyed.
3. Everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord, and from the glory of his power, cannot mean annihilation, for that
would be no exertion of divine power, but merely the suspension of it: for let
the upholding power of God be withheld for one moment, and the whole creation
would sink into nothing.
4. The punishment of wicked men will be the same
as that of wicked angels, Matt. xxv. 41. Depart ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. But the punishment of wicked
angels consists not in annihilation, but torment. Such is their present
punishment in a degree, and such in a greater degree will be their punishment
hereafter. They are "cast down to hell;" they "believe and
tremble;" they are reserved in chains under darkness, to the judgment of
the great day; they cried, saying, "What have we to do with thee? Art thou
come to torment us before our time?" Could the devils but persuade
themselves they should be annihilated, they would believe and be at ease rather
than tremble.
5. The Scriptures explain their own meaning in
the use of such terms as death, destruction, &c. The second death is
expressly said to consist in being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
and as having a part in that lake, Rev. xx. 14. xxi. 8: which does not describe
annihilation, nor can it be made to consist with it. The phrase cut him
asunder, Matt. xxiv. 51. is as strong as those of death, or destruction; yet
that is made to consist of having their portion with hypocrites, where shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
6. The happiness of the righteous does not
consist in eternal being, but in eternal well-being; and as the punishment of
the wicked stands every where opposed to it, it must consist not in the loss of
being, but of well-being, and in suffering the contrary.
The great Dr. Watts may be considered, in some
measure, a destructionist; since it was his opinion that the children of
ungodly parents who die in infancy are annihilated. See ANNIHILATION, HELL;
Bourn's Sermons; Dr. Edwards on the Salvation of all Men strictly examined;
Adam's View of Religions.
In the native importance of the word, signifies
the withdrawing or taking off from a thing; and as it is applied to the
reputation, it denotes the impairing or lessening a man in point of fame,
rendering him less valued and esteemed by others. Dr. Barrow observes (Works,
vol. i. ser. 19,) that it differs from slander, which involves an imputation of
falsehood; from reviling, which includes bitter and foul language; and from
censuring, which is of a more general purport, extending indifferently to all
kinds of persons, qualities, and laudable actions, the reputation of which it
aimeth to destroy. It is a fault opposed to candour.
Nothing can be more incongruous with the spirit
of the Gospel, the example of Christ, the command of God, and the love of
mankind, than a spirit of detraction; and yet there are many who never seem
happy but when they are employed in this work: they feed and live upon the
supposed infirmities of others; they allow excellence to none; they depreciate
every thing that is praise-worthy; and, possessed of no good themselves, they
think all others are like them. "O! my soul, come thou not into their
secret; unto their assembly, mine honour be not thou united."
Calumniator, or slanderer; a fallen angel, especially the chief of them. He is called Abaddon in Hebrew, Apollyon in Greek, that is, destroyer.--Angel of the bottomless pit, Rev. ix. 11.--Prince of the world, John xii. 31.--Prince of darkness, Eph. vi. 12.--A roaring lion, and an adversary, 1 Pet. v. 8.--A sinner from the beginning, 1 John iii. 8.--Beelzebub, Matt. xii. 24.--Accuser, Rev. xii. 10.--Belial, 2 Cor. vi. 15.--Deceiver, Rev, xx. 10.--Dragon, Rev. xii. 3.--Liar, John viii. 44.--Serpent, Is. xxvii. 1.--Satan, Job ii. 6.--Tormentor, Matt. xviii. 34.--The god of this world, 2 Cor. iv. 4. See SATAN.
In the primary sense of the word, means a person wholly given up to acts of piety and devotion; but it is usually understood, in a bad sense, to denote a bigot, or superstitious person.
A religious and fervent exercise of some public act of religion, or a temper and disposition of the mind rightly affected with such exercises. It is also taken for certain religious practices which a person makes it a rule to discharge regularly. "Wherever the vital and unadulterated spirit of Christian devotion prevails, its immediate objects will be to adore the perfections of God; to entertain with reverence and complacence the various intimations of his pleasure, especially those contained in holy writ; to acknowledge our absolute dependence on and infinite obligations to him; to confess and lament the disorders of our nature, and the transgressions of our lives; to implore his grace and mercy through Jesus Christ; to intercede for our brethren of mankind; to pray for the propagation and establishment of truth, righteousness, and peace, on earth; in fine, to long for a more entire conformity to the will of God, and to breathe after the everlasting enjoyment of his friendship. The effects of such a spirit habitually cherished, and feelingly expressed before him must surely be important and happy. Among these may be reckoned a profound humility in the sight of God, a high veneration for his presence and attributes, an ardent zeal for his worship and honour, a constant imitation of our Saviour's divine example, a diffusive charity for men of all denominations, a generous and unwearied self-denial, a total resignation to Providence, an increasing esteem for the Gospel, with clearer and firmer hopes of that immortal life which it has brought to light."
In the school theology, an appellation given to
certain books of holy Scripture, which were added to the canon after the rest,
either by reason they were not wrote till after the compilation of the canon,
or by reason of some dispute as to their canonicity. the word is Greek, being
compounded of second; and canonical.
The Jews, it is certain, acknowledged several
books in their canon, which were put there later than the rest. They say that
under Esdras, a great assembly of their doctors, which they call, by way of
eminence, the great synagogue, made the collection of the sacred books which we
now have in the Hebrew Old Testament; and they agree that they put books
therein which had not been so before the Babylonish captivity; such as those of
Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, &c. and those of Esdras and Nehemiah. And the
Romish church has since added others to the canon, that were not, and could not
be, in the canon of the Jews, by reason some of them were not composed till
after: such as the book of Ecclesiasticus, with several of the apocryphal
books, as the Macabees, Wisdom, &c. Others were added still later, by
reason their canonicity had not been yet examined; and till such examen and
judgment they might be set aside at pleasure. But since that church has
pronounced as to the canonicity of those books, there is no more room now for
her members to doubt of them, than there was for the Jews to doubt of those of
the canon of Esdras. And the deuterocanonical books are with them as canonical
as the proto-canonical; the only difference between them consisting in this,
that the canonicity of the one was not generally known, examined, and settled,
as soon as that of the others. The deuterocanonical books in the modern canon
are, the book of Esther, either the whole, or at least the seven last chapters
thereof; the epistle to the Hebrews; that of James, and that of Jude; the
second of St. Peter, the second and third of St. John, and the Revelation. The
deuterocanonical parts of books are, the hymn of the three children; the prayer
of Azariah; the histories of Susannah, or Bel and the Dragon; the last chapter
of St. Mark; the bloody sweat; and the appearance of the angel related in St.
Luke, chap. xxii. and the history of the adulterous woman in St. John, chap.
viii. See CANON.
An assembly of the states of Germany. We shall only take notice, in this place of the more remarkable of those which have been held on the affairs of religion. 1. The diet of Augsburgh, in the year 1530, was assembled to re-unite the princes of the empire, in relation to some religious matters. The emperor himself presided in this assembly with the greatest magnificence imaginable. The elector of Saxony, followed by several princes, presented the confession of faith, called the confession of Augsburgh. The emperor ended the diet with a decree, that no alteration should be made in the doctrines and ceremonies of the Romish church till the council should order it otherwise.--2. The diet of Augsburgh, in 1547, was held on account of the electors being divided concerning the decisions of the council of Trent. The emperor demanded that the management of that affair should be referred to him; and it was resolved, that every one should conform to the decisions of the council.--3. The diet of Augsburgh, in 1548, was assembled to examine some memorials relating to the confession of faith; but, the commissioners not agreeing together, the emperor named three divines, who drew the design of this famous interim, so well known in Germany and elsewhere. See INTERIM.--4. The diet of Augsburgh, in 1550. In this assembly, the emperor complained that the interim was not observed, and demanded that all should submit to the council, which they were going to renew at Trent; which submission was resolved upon by a plurality of votes.--5. The diet of Nuremberg, in 1523. Here pope Adrian VIth's nuncio demanded the execution of Leo Xth's bull, and Charles Vth's edict against Luther. But the assembly drew up a list of grievances, which were reduced to an hundred articles, some whereof aimed at the destruction of the pope's authority, and the discipline of the Romish church; however, they consented that the Lutherans should be commanded not to write against the Roman Catholics.--6. The diet of Nuremberg, in 1524. In this assembly, the Lutherans having the advantage, it was decreed that the pope should call a council in Germany; but that, in the mean time, an assembly should be held at Spire, to determine what was to be believed and practised; but Charles V. prohibited the holding this assembly.--7. The diet of Ratisbon, in 1541, was held for re-uniting the Protestants with the Roman Catholics. The emperor named three Roman Catholics and three Protestant divines, to agree upon articles. The Roman Catholics were, Julius Phlug, John Gropper, and John Eckius; the Protestants were, Philip Melancthon, Martin Bucer, and John Pistorius; but, after a whole month's consultation, they could agree upon no more than five or six articles; which the emperor consented the Protestants should retain, forbidding them to solicit any body to change the ancient religion.--8. The diet of Ratisbon, in 1546, decreed that the council of Trent was to be followed, which was opposed by the Protestant deputies; and this caused a war against them.--9. The diet of Ratisbon, in 1557, demanded a conference between some famous doctors of both parties; which conference was held at Worms, in September, between twelve Roman Catholic and twelve Lutherans being divided among themselves.--10. The diet of Spire, in 1526. In this assembly (wherein presided the archduke Ferdinand) the duke of Saxony, and the landgrave of Hesse, demanded the free exercise of the Lutheran religion: upon which it was decreed, that the emperor should be desired to call a general, or national, council in Germany within a year, and that, in the mean time, every one should have liberty of conscience.--11. The diet of Spire, in 1529, decreed, that in the countries which had embraced the new religion, it should be lawful to continue in it till the next council; but that no Roman Catholic should be allowed to turn Lutheran. Against this decree six Lutheran princes, viz. the elector of Saxony, the marquis of Brandenburg, the two dukes of Lunenburg, the landgrave of Hesse, and the prince of Anhait, with the deputies of fourteen imperial towns, protested in writing; from which solemn protestation came the famous name of Protestants, which the Lutherans presently after took.--12. The diet of Worms, in 1521. In this assembly, Luther, being charged by the pope's nuncio with heresy, and refusing to recant, the emperor, by his edict of May 26, before all the princes of Germany, publicly outlawed him.
Distrust, want of confidence in ourselves. Diffidence, says Dr. Johnson, may check resolution and obstruct performance, but compensates its embarrassment by more important advantages; it conciliates the proud, and softens the severe; averts envy from excellence, and censure from miscarriage.
A denomination which sprung up in Germany, in the fifteenth century; so called because they dug their assemblies under ground in caves and forests. They derided the church, its ministers and sacraments.
Christian, is constancy in the performance of all those duties enjoined us in God's sacred word. It includes activity and vigour--watchfulness against intruding objects--firmness and resolution--patience and perseverance. The shortness of our time; the importance of our work; the pleasure which arises from discharging duty; the uncertainty of the time of our dissolution; the consciousness we do not labour in vain; together with the example of Christ and all good men, should excite us to the most unwearied diligence in the cause of God, of truth, and our own souls.
A letter given by a bishop to a candidate for holy orders, having a title in his diocese, directed to some other bishop, and giving leave for the bearer to be ordained by him.
The circuit of every bishop's jurisdiction. It is formed from the Greek--government.
A kind of regulation for the performance of religious worship, drawn up by the assembly of divines in England, at the instance of the parliament, in 1644. It was designed to supply the place of the Liturgy, or Book of Common Prayer, the use of which they had abolished. It consisted of some general heads, which were to be managed and filled up at discretion; for it prescribed no form of prayer, or circumstances of external worship, nor obliged the people to any responses, excepting Amen. The substance of it is as follows:--It forbids all salutations and civil ceremony in the churches;--the reading the scriptures in the congregation is declared to be part of the pastoral office;--all the canonical books of the old and New Testament (but not of the Apocrypha) are to be publicly read in the vulgar tongue: how large a portion is to be read at once, is left to the minister, who has likewise the liberty of expounding, when he judges it necessary. It prescribes heads for the prayer before sermon; it delivers rules for preaching the word; the introduction to the text must be short and clear, drawn from the words or context, or some parallel place of Scripture. In dividing the text, the minister is to regard the order of the matter more than that of the words: he is not to burden the memory of his audience with too many divisions, nor perplex their understanding with logical phrases and terms of arts: he is not to start unnecessary objections; and he is to be very sparing in citations from ecclesiastical or other human writers, ancient or modern, &c. The Directory recommends the use of the Lord's Prayer, as the most perfect model of devotion; it forbids private or lay persons to administer baptism, and enjoins it to be performed in the face of the congregation; it orders the communion-table at the Lord's supper to be so placed, that the communicant may sit about it. It also orders, that the sabbath be kept with the greatest strictness, both publicly and privately; that marriage be solemnized by a lawful minister of the word, who is to give counsel to, and pray for the parties; that the sick be visited by the minister under whose charge they are; the dead to be buried without any prayers or religious ceremonies; that days of fasting are to be observed when the judgments of God are abroad, or when some important blessings are desired; that days of thanksgiving for mercies received be also observed; and, lastly, that singing of Psalms together in the congregation is the duty of Christians. In an appendix to this Directory it is ordered, that all festivals, vulgarly called holy days, are to be abolished; that no day is to be kept but the Lord's day; and that as no place is capable of any holiness under pretence of consecration, so neither is it subject to pollution by any superstition formerly used; and therefore it is held requisite, that the places of public worship now used should still be continued and employed. Should the reader be desirous of perusing this Directory at large, he may find it at the end of Neale's History of the Puritans.
A scholar or one who attends the lectures, and professes the tenets of another. A disciple of Christ is one who believes his doctrines, imbibes his spirit, and follows his example. See CHRISTIAN.
Church, consists in putting church laws in execution, and inflicting the penalties enjoined. See CHURCH.
Book of, in the history of the church of Scotland, is a common order drawn up by the assembly of ministers in 1650, for the reformation and uniformity to be observed in the discipline and policy of the Church. In this book the government of the church by prelates is set aside; kirk sessions are established; the superstitious observation of fast days and saint days is condemned, and other regulations for the government of the church are determined. This book was approved by the privy council, and is called the first book of discipline.
Uneasiness at our present state.
Man never appears in a worse light than when he
gives way to this disposition. It is at once the strongest proof of his pride,
ignorance, unbelief, and rebellion against God. Let such remember, that
discontent is a reflection on God's government; that it cannot alter the state
of things, or make them better; that it is the source of the greatest misery;
that it is an absolute violation of God's law, Heb. xiii. 5; and that God has
often punished it with the most signal judgments, Numb. xi. Ps. cvii. See
CONTENTMENT.
Prudent behaviour, arising from a knowledge of
and acting agreeable to the difference of things. "There are," says
Addison, No.l 225, Spect. "many more shining qualities in the mind of man,
but there is none so useful as discretion: it is this, indeed, which gives a
value to all the rest; which sets them at work in their proper times and
places, and turns them to the advantage of the person who is possessed of them.
Without it, learning is pedantry, and wit impertinence; virtue itself looks
like weakness: the best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly in
errors, and active to his own prejudice.
"Discretion is a very different thing from
cunning: cunning is only an accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds.
Discretion points out the noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and
laudable methods of attaining them; cunning has only private selfish aims, and
sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion has large and
extended views, and, like a well formed eye, commands a whole horizon; cunning
is a kind of short-sightedness that discovers the minutest objects which are
near at hand, but not able to discern things at a distance. Discretion, the
more it is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who possesses
it; cunning, when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable
of bringing about even those events which he might have done, had he passed
only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us
in all the duties of life; cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out
after our immediate interest and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of
strong sense and good understandings; cunning is often to be met with in brutes
themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them. In short,
cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men, in the
same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for
wisdom." See PRUDENCE.
Contempt, as unworthy of one's choice. It is distinguished from haughtiness thus: Haughtiness is founded on the high opinion we have of ourselves; disdain on the low opinion we have of others.
See SELF-LOVE.
The act of dealing out any thing. The two different methods of revealing the truths of the Gospel before and after Christ's death are called the Old and New Testament Dispensation. The dealing of God with his creatures in his providence is called a dispensation. The state of supernatural or revealed theology may also be divided into six dispensations. 1. From the fall of Adam to the flood.--2. From Noah to the giving the law.--3. From that time to the time of David and the prophets.--4. From David to the Babylonish captivity.--5. The period from that, to the time of Christ, finishes the Old Testament dispensation.--6. From Christ to the end of time, the Gospel dispensation. The superiority of the fast dispensation, as Dr. Watts observes, appears, if we consider that it contains the fairest and fullest representation of the moral law; and which is more particularly explained here than in any of the former dispensations.--2. In this dispensation the Gospel or covenant of grace is revealed more perfectly and plainly than ever before; not in obscure expressions, in types and carnal metaphors, but in its own proper form and language.--3. The rites and ceremonies under this dispensation are preferable to those in former times, and that in this respect: they are fewer, clearer, and much more easy.--4. The Son of God, who was the real mediator through all former dispensations, has condescended to become the visible mediator of this dispensation.--5. This dispensation is not confined to one family, or to one nation, or to a few ages of men, but it spreads through all the nations of the earth, and reaches to the end of time.--6. the encouragements and persuasive helps which Christianity gives us to fulfil the duties of the covenant, are much superior to those which were enjoyed under any of the former dispensations. Watts's Works, vol. i. ser. 47. 8vo. Gill's Body of Div. Introd. Robinson's Sermons, p. 147. Ridgley's Div. qu. 35.
Of mankind was occasioned by the confusion of tongues at the overthrow of Babel, Gen. xi. 9. As to the manner of the dispersion of the posterity of Noah from the plain of Shinar, it was undoubtedly conducted with the utmost regularity and order. The sacred historian informs us, that they were divided in their lands: every one, according to his tongue, according to his family, and according to his nation, Gen. x. 5,10, 31. The ends of this dispersion were to populate the earth, to prevent idolatry, and to display the divine wisdom and power. See CONFUSION OF TONGUES.
That temper of mind, which any person possesses.
In every man, says lord Kaims, there is something
original that serves to distinguish him from others, that tends to form a
character, and to make him meek or fiery, candid or deceitful, resolute or
timorous, cheerful or morose. This original bent, termed disposition, must be
distinguished from a principle; the latter signifying a law of human nature
makes part of the common nature of man; the former makes part of the nature of
this or that man.
Religious, is the agitation of any religious
question, in order to obtain clear and adequate ideas of it. The propriety of
religious disputation or controversial divinity has been a matter of doubt with
many. Some artfully decry it, in order to destroy free inquiry. Some hate it,
because they do not like to be contradicted. Others declaim against it, to save
themselves the disgrace of exposing their ignorance, or the labour of examining
and defending their own theses. There are others who avoid it, not because they
are convinced of the impropriety of the thing itself, but because of the evil
temper with which it is generally conducted.
The propriety of it, however, will appear, if we
consider that every article of religion is denied by some, and cannot well be
believed without examination, by any. Religion empowers us to investigate,
debate, and controvert each article, in order to ascertain the evidence of its
truth. The divine writings, many of them, are controversial; the book of Job,
and Paul's epistles, especially. The ministry of our Lord was a perpetual controversy,
and the apostles came at truth by much disputing, Acts xv.7. xvii.17. xix. 8.
To attend, however, to religious controversy with advantage, the following
rules should be observed; 1. the question should be cleared from all doubtful
terms and needless additions.--2. The precise point of enquiry should be
fixed.--3. That the object aimed at be truth, and not the mere love of
victory.--4. Beware of a dogmatical spirit, and a supposition that you are
always right.--5. Let a strict rein be kept on the passions when you are hard
pushed. Vide Robinson's Claude, p. 245, vol. ii; Watts on the Mind, chap. 10;
Beattie on Truth, 347, &c; Locke on the Understanding, chap. 10. vol. iii.
Those who separate from the established church. The number of dissenters in this kingdom is very considerable. They are divided into several parties; the chief of which are the Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Quakers, and Methodists. See those articles, as also NONCONFORMISTS and PURITANS.
A denomination applied in Poland to those of the Lutheran Calvinistic, and Greek profession. The king of Poland engages by the pacta conventa to tolerate them in the free exercise of their religion, but they have often had reason to complain of the violation of these promises.
The act of dissembling. It has been distinguished from simulation thus: Simulation is making a thing appear which does not exist; dissimulation is keeping that which exists from appearing. Moralists have observed that all dissimulation is not hypocrisy. A vicious man, who endeavours to throw a veil over his bad conduct, that he may escape the notice of men, is not in the strictest sense of the word a hypocrite, since a man is no more obliged to proclaim his secret vices than any other of his secrets. The hypocrite is one who dissembles for a bad end, and hides the snare that he may be more sure of his prey; and, not content with a negative virtue, or not show of positive virtue, and appears the man he is not. See HYPOCRIST.
Death, or the separation of the body and soul. The dissolution of the world is an awful event, which we have reason to believe, both from the Old Testament and the New, will certainly take place. 1. It is not an incredible thing, since nothing of a material nature is formed for perpetual duration.--2. It will doubtless be under the direction of the Supreme Being, as its creation was.--3. The soul of man will remain unhurt amidst this general desolation.--4. It will be an introduction to a greater and nobler system in the government of God, 2 Pet. iii. 13.--5. The consideration of it ought to have a great influence on us while in the present state, 2 Pet. iii. 11,12. See CONFLAGRATION.
Something that unbends the mind, by turning it off from care. It seems to be something lighter than amusement, and less forcible than pleasure. It is an old simile, and a very just one, that a bow kept always bent will grow feeble, and lose its force. The alternate succession of business and diversion preserve the body and soul in the happiest temper. Diversions must, however, be lawful and good. The play-house, the gaming-table, the masquerade, and midnight assemblies, must be considered as inimical to the morals and true happiness of man. The most rational diversions are conversation, reading, singing, music, riding, &c. They must be moderate as to the time spent in them, and expense of them; seasonable, when we have (as Cicero observes) dispatched our serious and important affairs. See Grove's Regulation of Diversions; Watts's Improvement of the Mind, vol. ii. sec. 9. Blair's Sermons, vol.ii. p.17. Burder's Sermon on Amusements; Friend's Evening Amusements.
Is a conjecture or surmise formed concerning
some future event from something which is supposed to be a presage of it; but
between which there is no real connection, only what the imagination of the
diviner is pleased to assign in order to deceive.
Divination of all kinds being the offspring of
credulity, nursed by imposture, and strengthened by superstition, was
necessarily an occult science, retained in the hands of the priests and
priestesses, the magi, the soothsayers, the augurs, the visionaries, the
priests of the oracles, the false prophets, and other like professors, till the
coming of Jesus Christ, when the light of the Gospel dissipated much of this
darkness. The vogue for these pretended sciences and arts is nearly past, at
least in the enlightened parts of the world. There are nine different kinds of
divination mentioned in Scripture. These are, 1. Those whom Moses calls Meonen
of Anan, a cloud, Deut. xviii. 10.--2. Those whom the prophet calls, in the
same place, Menachesch, which the Vulgate and generality of interpreters render
Augur.--3. Those who in the same place are called Mecasheph, which the
Septuagint and Vulgate translate "a man given to ill practices."--4.
Those whom in the same chapter, ver.11. he calls Hhober.--5. Those who consult
the spirits, called Python.--6. Witches, or magicians, called Judeoni.--7.
Necromancers, who consult the dead.--8. Such as consult staves, Hosea, iv. 12.
called by some Rhabdomancy.--9. Hepatoscopy, or the consideration of the liver.
Different kinds of divination which have passed
for sciences, we have had: 1. Aeromancy, divining by the air.--2. Astrology, by
the heavens.--3. Augury, by the flight and singing of birds, &c.--4.
Chiromancy by inspecting the hand.--5. Geomancy, by observing of cracks or
clefts in the earth.--6. Haruspicy, by inspecting the bowels of animals.--7.
Horoscopy, a branch of astrology, marking the position of the heavens when a
man is born.--8. Hydromancy, by water.--9. Physiognomy, by the countenance.
(This, however, is considered by some as of a different nature, and worthy of
being rescued from the rubbish of superstition, and placed among the useful
sciences. Lavater has written a celebrated treatise on it.).--10. Pyromancy, a
divination made by fire. Thus we see what arts have been practised to deceive,
and how designing men have made use of all the four elements to impose upon
weak minds.
Something relating to God. The word is also used figuratively for any thing that is excellent, extraordinary, and that seems to go beyond the power of nature and the capacity of man. It also signifies a minister, or clergyman. See MINISTER.
The science of theology. See THEOLOGY.
See SCHISM.
Is the dissolution of marriage, or separation of
man and wife. Divorce a mensa et thoro, i.e. from bed and board,--in this case
the wife has a suitable maintenance allowed her out of her husband's effects.
Divorce a vinculo matrimonii, i.e. from the bonds of matrimony, is strictly and
properly divorce. this happens either in consequence of criminality, as in the
case of adultery, or through some essential impediment; as consanguinity, or
affinity within the degrees forbidden, pre-contract, impotency, &c. of
which impediments the canon law allows no less than 14. In these cases the
woman receives again only what she brought. Sentences which release the parties
a vinculo matrimonii, on account of impuberty, frigidity, consanquinity within
the prohibited degrees, prior marriage, or want of the requisite consent of
parents or guardians, are not properly dissolutions of the marriage contract,
but judicial declarations that there never was any marriage; such impediment
subsisting at the time as rendered the celebration of the marriage rite a mere
nullity. And the rite itself contains an exception of these impediments.
The law of Moses, says Dr. Paley, for reasons of
local expediency, permitted the Jewish husband to put away his wife; but
whether for every cause, or for what cause, appears to have been controverted
amongst the interpreters of those times. Christ, the precepts of whose religion
were calculated for more general use and observation, revokes his permission as
given to the Jews for their hardness of heart, and promulges a law which was
thenceforward to confine divorces to the single cause of adultery in the wife,
Matt. xix. 9. Inferior causes may justify the separation of husband and wife,
although they will not authorize such a dissolution of the marriage contract as
would leave either at liberty to marry again; for it is that liberty in which
the danger and mischief of divorces principally consist. The law of this
country, in conformity to our Saviour's injunction, confines the dissolution of
the marriage contract to the single case of adultery in the wife; and a divorce
even in that case can only be brought about by an act of parliament, founded
upon a previous sentiment in the spiritual court, and a verdict against the
adulterer at common law; which proceedings taken together, compose as complete
an investigation of the complaint as a cause can receive. See Paley's Mor. and
Pol. Philosophy, p. 273; Doddridge's Lectures, lect. 73.
The followers of Julius Cassianus, one of the Valentinian sect, towards the close of the second century. They believed and taught that the actions and sufferings of Jesus Christ were not in reality, but only in appearance.
The principles or positions of any sect or
master. As the doctrines of the Bible are the first principles and the
foundation of religion, they should be carefully examined and well understood.
The Scriptures present us with a copious fund of evangelic truth, which, though
it has not the form of a regular system, yet its parts are such, that, when
united, make the most complete body of doctrine that we can possibly have.
Every Christian, but divines especially, should make this their study, because
all the various doctrines should be insisted on in public, and explained to the
people. It is not, however, as some suppose, to fill up every part of a minister's
sermon, but considered as the basis upon which the practical part is to be
built. Some of the divines in the last century overcharged their discourses
with doctrine, especially Dr. Owen and Dr. Goodwin. It was common in that day
to make thirty or forty remarks before the immediate consideration of the text,
each of which was just introduced, and which, if enlarged on, would have
afforded matter enough for a whole sermon. A wise preacher will join doctrine
and practice together.
Doctrines, though, abused by some, yet, properly
considered, will influence the heart and life. Thus the idea of God's
sovereignty excites submission; his power and justice promote fear; his
holiness, humility and purity; his goodness, a ground of hope; his love excites
joy; the obscurity of his providence requires patience; his faithfulness,
confidence. &c.
A religious order; in some places called
Jacobins, and in other Predicants, or preaching friars. The Dominican take
their name from their founder, Dominic de Guzman, a Spaniard, born in 1170, at
Calaroga, in Old Castile: he was first canon and archdeacon of Ossuna; and
afterwards preached with great zeal and vehemence against the Albigenses in
Languedoc, where he laid the first foundation of his order. It was approved of
in 1215, by Innocent III. and confirmed in 1216, by a bull of Honorius III.
under the title of St. Augustin; to which Dominic added several austere
precepts and observances, obliging the brethren to take a vow of absolute
poverty, and also the title of preaching friars, because public instruction was
the main end of their institution, and to abandon entirely all their revenues
and possessions. The first convent was founded at Thoulouse, by the bishop
thereof and Simon de Montfort. Two years afterwards they had another at Paris,
near the bishop's house; and some time after, a third in the Rue St. Jaques,
(St. James's street,) whence the denomination of Jacobins. Just before his
death, Dominic sent Gilbert de Fresney, with twelve of the brethren, into
England, where they founded their first monastery at Oxford, in the year 1221,
and soon after another at London. In the year 1276, the mayor and aldermen of
the city of London gave them two whole streets, by the river Thames, where they
erected a very commodious convent; whence that place is still called
Blackfriars, from the name be which the Dominicans were canned in England. St.
Dominic at first only took the habit of the regular canons; that is, a black
cassock and rochet: but this he quitted, in 1219, for that which they have ever
since worn, which, it is pretended, was shown by the Blessed Virgin herself to
the beatified Renaud d'Orleans. This order has been diffused throughout the
whole known world. They reckon three popes of this order, above sixty
cardinals, several patriarchs, a hundred and fifty archbishops, and about eight
hundred bishops, besides masters of the sacred palace, whose office has been
constantly discharged by a religious of this order ever since St. Dominic, who
held it under Honorius III. in 1218.
Of all the monastic orders, none enjoyed a higher
degree of power and authority than the Dominican friars, whose credit was
great, and their influence universal. But the measures they used in order to
maintain and extend their authority were so perfidious and cruel, that their
influence began to decline towards the beginning of the sixteenth century. The
tragic story of Jetzer, conducted at Bern, in 1509, for determining an uninteresting
dispute between them and the Franciscans, relating to the immaculate
conception, will reflect indelible infamy on this order. In order to give the
reader a view of the impious frauds which have sometimes been carried on in the
church of Rome, we shall here insert an account of this stratagem.
The Franciscans maintained that the Virgin Mary
was born without the blemish of original sin; the Dominicans asserted the
contrary.
The doctrine of the Franciscans, in an age of
darkness and superstition, could not but be popular; and hence the Dominicans
lost ground from day to day. To support the credit of their order, they
resolved, at a chapter held at Vimpsen, in the year 1504, to have recurse to
fictitious visions and dreams, in which the people at that time had an easy
faith; and they determined to make Bern the scene of their operations. A person
named Jetzer, who was extremely simple, and much declined to austerities, and
who had taken their habit as a lay-brother, was chosen as the instrument of the
delusions they were contriving. One of the four Dominicans, who had undertaken
the management of this plot, conveyed himself secretly into Jetzer's cell, and
about midnight appeared to him in a horrid figure, surrounded with howling
dogs, and seeming to blow fire from his nostrils, by the means of a box of
combustibles which he held near his mouth. In this frightful form he approached
Jetzer's bed, told him that he was the ghost of a Dominican, who had been
killed at Paris, as a judgment of Heaven for laying aside his monastic habit;
that he was condemned to purgatory for this crime; adding, at the same time,
that by his means he might be rescued from his misery, which was beyond
expression. This story, accompanied with horrible cries and howlings, frighted
poor Jetzer out of the little wits he had, and engaged him to promise to do all
that was in his power to deliver the Dominican from his torment. Upon this the
impostor told him, that nothing but the most extraordinary mortifications, such
as the discipline of the whip, performed during eight days by the whole
monastery, and Jetzer's lying prostrate in the form of one crucified in the
chapel during mass, could contribute to his deliverance. He added, that the
performance of these mortifications would draw down upon Jetzer the peculiar
protection of the Blessed Virgin; and concluded by saying, that he would appear
to him again, accompanied with two other spirits. Morning was no sooner come,
than Jetzer gave an account of this apparition to the rest of the convent, who
all unanimously advised him to undergo the discipline that was enjoined him,
and every one consented to bear his share of the task imposed. The deluded
simpleton obeyed, and was admired as a saint by the multitudes that crowded
about the convent; while the four friars that managed the imposture magnified,
in the most pompous manner, the miracle of this apparition in their sermons,
and in their discourses. The night after, the apparition was renewed with the
addition of two impostors, dressed like devils, and Jetzer's faith was
augmented by hearing from the spectre all the secrets of his life and thoughts,
which the impostors had learned from his confessor. In this and some subsequent
scenes (the detail of whose enormities, for the sake of brevity, we shall here
omit) the impostor talked much to Jetzer of the Dominican order, which he said
was peculiarly dear to the Blessed Virgin: he added, that the Virgin knew
herself to be conceived in original sin; that the doctors who taught the
contrary were in purgatory; that the Blessed Virgin abhorred the Franciscans
for making her equal with her Son; and that the town of Bern would be destroyed
for harbouring such plagues within her walls. In one of these apparitions
Jetzer imagined that the voice of the spectre resembled that of the prior of
the convent, and he was not mistaken; but, not suspecting a fraud, he gave
little attention to this. The prior appeared in various forms, sometimes in
that of St. Barbara, at others in that of St. Bernard: at length he assumed
that of the Virgin Mary, and, for that purpose, clothed himself in the habits
that were employed to adorn the statue of the Virgin in the great festivals.
the little images, that on these days are set on the altars, were made use of
for angels, which, being tied to a cord that passed through a pulley over
Jetzer's head, rose up and down, and danced about the pretended Virgin to
increase the delusion. The Virgin, thus equipped, addressed a long discourse to
Jetzer, in which, among other things, she told him that she was conceived in
original sin, though she had remained but a short time under that blemish. She
gave him, as a miraculous proof of her presence, a host, or consecrated wafer,
which turned from white to red in a moment; and after various visits, in which
the greatest enormities were transacted, the Virgin-prior told Jetzer that she
would give him the most affecting and undoubted marks of her Son's love, by
imprinting on him the five wounds that pierced Jesus on the cross, as she had done
before to St. Lucia and St. Catharine. Accordingly she took his hand by force,
and struck a large nail through it, which threw the poor dupe into his greatest
torment. The next night this masculine virgin brought, as he pretended, some of
the linen in which Christ had been buried, to soften the wound; and gave Jetzer
a soporific draught, which had in it the blood of an unbaptized child, some
grains of incense and of consecrated salt, some quicksilver, the hairs of the
eye-brows of a child; all which, with some stupifying and poisonous
ingredients, were mingled together by the prior with magic ceremonies, and a
solemn dedication of himself to the devil in hope of his succour. The draught
threw the poor wretch into a sort of lethargy, during which the monks imprinted
on his body the other four wounds of Christ in such a manner that he felt no
pain. When he awakened, he found, to his unspeakable joy, those impressions on
his body, and came at last to fancy himself a representative of Christ in the
various parts of his passion. He was, in this state, exposed to the admiring
multitude on the principal altar of the convent, to the great mortification of
the Franciscans. The Dominicans gave him some other draughts, that threw him
into convulsions; which were followed by a pipe into the mouths of two images,
one of Mary, and another of the child Jesus, the former of which had tears
painted upon its cheeks in a lively manner. The little Jesus asked his mother,
by means of this voice (which was that of the prior's,) why she wept? and she
answered, that her tears were owing to the impious manner in which the
Franciscans attributed to her the honour that was due to him, in saying that
she was conceived and born without sin.
The apparitions false prodigies and abominable
stratagems of these Dominicans were repeated every night; and the matter was at
length so grossly over-acted, that, simple as Jetzer was, he at last discovered
it, and had almost killed the prior, who appeared to him one night in the form
of the Virgin with a crown on her head. The Dominicans fearing, by this
discovery, to lose the fruits of their imposture, thought the best method would
be to own the whole matter to Jetzer, and to engage him, by the most seducing
promises of opulence and glory, to carry on the cheat. Jetzer was persuaded, or
at least appeared to be so. But the Dominicans suspecting that he was not
entirely gained over, resolved to poison him; but his constitution was so
vigorous, that, though they gave him poison five several times, he was not
destroyed by it. One day they sent him a loaf prepared with some spices, which,
growing green in a day or two, he threw a piece of it to a wolf's whelps that
were in the monastery, and it killed them immediately. At another time they
poisoned the host, or consecrated wafer; but, as he vomited it up soon after he
had swallowed it, he escaped once more. In short, there were no means of
securing him, which the most detestable impiety and barbarity could invent,
that they did not put in practice: till finding at last, an opportunity of
getting out to the convent, he threw himself into the hands of the magistrates,
to whom he made a full discovery of this infernal plot. The affair being
brought to Rome, commissaries were sent from thence to examine the matter; and
the whole cheat being fully proved, the four friars were solemnly degraded from
their priesthood, and were burnt alive on the last day of May, 1509. Jetzer
died some time after at Constance, having poisoned himself, as was believed by
some. Had his life been taken away before he had found an opportunity of making
the discovery already mentioned, this execrable and horrid plot, which in many
of its circumstances was conducted with art, would have been handed down to
posterity as a stupendous miracle.
The Dominicans were perpetually employed in
stigmatizing with the name of heresy numbers of learned and pious men; in
encroaching upon the rights and properties of others, to augment their
possessions; and in laying the most iniquitous snares and stratagems for the
destruction of their adversaries. They were the principal counsellors by whose
instigation and advice Leo X. was determined to the public condemnation of
Luther. The papal see never had more active and useful abettors than this
order, and that of the Jesuits.
Is his absolute right to, and authority over, all his creatures, to do with them as he pleases. It is distinguished from his power thus: his dominion is a right of making what he pleases, and possessing what he makes, and of his disposing what he doth possess; whereas his power is an ability to make what he hath a right to create, to hold what he doth possess, and to execute what he hath purposed or resolved.
Ancient schismatics, in Africa, so denominated
from their leader, Donatus. They had their origin in the year 311, when, in the
room of Mensurius, who died in that year, on his return to Rome, Caecilian was
elected bishop of Carthage, and consecrated, without the concurrence of the
Numidian bishops, by those of Africa alone, whom the people refused to
acknowledge, and to whom they opposed Majorinus, who accordingly was ordained
by Donatus bishop of Casae Nigrae. They were condemned, in a council held at
Rome, two years after their separation; and afterwards in another at Aries, the
year following; and again at Milan, before Constantine the Great, in 316, who
deprived them of their churches, and sent their seditious bishops into
banishment, and punished some of them with death. Their cause was espoused by
another Donatus called the Great, the principal bishop of that sect, who, with
numbers of his followers, was exiled by order of Constans. Many of them were
punished with great severity.--See CIRCUMCELLIONES. However, after the
accession to Julian to the throne in 362, they were permitted to return, and
restored to their former liberty. Gratian published several edicts against
them, and in 377 deprived them of their churches, and prohibited all their
assemblies. But, notwithstanding the severities they suffered, it appears that
they had a very considerable number of churches towards the close of this
century; but at this time they began to decline, on account of a schism among
themselves occasioned by the election of two bishops, in the room of Parmenian,
the successor of Donatus: one party elected Primian, and were called
Primianists; and another Maximian, and were called Maximianists. Their decline
was also precipitated by the zealous opposition of St. Augustine, and by the
violent measures which were pursued against them by order of the emperor
Honorius, at the solicitation of two councils held at Carthage, the one in 404,
and the other in 411. Many of them were fined, their bishops were banished, and
some put to death. This sect revived and multiplied under the protection of the
Vandals, who invaded Africa in 427, and took possession of this province: but
it sunk again under new severities, when their empire was overturned, in 534.
Nevertheless, they remained in a separate body till the close of this century,
when Gregory, the Roman pontiff, used various methods for suppressing them: his
zeal succeeded, and there are few traces to be found of the Donatists after
this period. They were distinguished by other appellations, as Circumcelliones,
Montenses or Mountaineers, Campetes, Rupites, &c. They held three councils,
that of Cita in Numidia, and two at Carthage.
The Donatists, it is said, held that baptism
conferred out of the church, that is, out of their sect, was null; and
accordingly they rebaptized those who joined their party from other churches;
they also re-ordained their ministers. Donatus seems likewise to have embraced
the doctrine of the Arians; though St. Augustine affirms that the Donatists in
this point kept clear of the errors of their leader.
Synod of; a national synod, summoned by authority of the states-general, the provinces of Holland, Utrecht, and Overysel excepted, and held at Dort, 1618. The most eminent divines of the United Provinces, and deputies from the churches of England, Scotland, Switzerland, Bremen, Hessia, and the Palatinate, assembled on this occasion, in order to decide the controversy between the Calvinists and Arminians. The synod had hardly commenced its deliberations before a dispute on the mode of proceeding, drove the Arminian party from the assembly. The Arminians insisted upon beginning with a refutation of the Calvinistic doctrines, especially that of reprobation; whilst the synod determined, that, as the remonstrants were accused of departing from the reformed faith, they ought first to justify themselves by scriptural proof of their own opinions. All means to persuade the Arminians to submit to this procedure having failed, they were banished the synod, for their refusal. The synod, however, proceeded in their examination of the Arminian tenets, condemned their opinions, and excommunicated their persons: whether justly or unjustly, let the reader determine. Surely no one can be an advocate for the persecution which followed, and which drove these men from their churches and country into exile and poverty. The authority of the synod was far from being universally acknowledged either in Holland or in England. The provinces of Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelderland, and Groningen, could not be persuaded to adopt their decisions; and they were opposed by king James I. and archbishop Laud, in England.
An ancient sect among the Samaritans, in the first century of the Christian aera; so called from Dositheus, who endeavoured to persuade the Samaritans that he was the Messiah foretold by Moses. He had many followers, and his sect was still subsisting at Alexandria in the time of the patriarch Eulogius, as appears from a decree of that patriarch published by Photius. In that decree, Eulogius accuses Dositheus of injuriously treating the ancient patriarchs and prophets, and attributing to himself the spirit of prophecy. He makes him contemporary with Simon Magus; and accuses him of corrupting the Pentateuch, and of composing several books directly contrary to the law of God.
And Fears, are terms frequently used to denote the uncertainty of mind we are in respecting our interest in the divine favour. The cause of our doubts may be such as these: personal declension: not knowing the exact time, place, or means of our conversion; improper views of the character and decrees of God; the fluctuation of religious experience as to the enjoyment of God in prayer, hearing, &c.; the depth of our affliction; relapses into sin; the fall of professors; and the hidings of God's face. While some are continually harassed with doubts and fears, there are others who tell us they know not what it is to doubt: yea, who think it a sin to doubt: so prone are men to run to extremes, as if there were no medium between constant full assurance and perpetual doubt. The true Christian, perhaps, steers between the two. He is not always doubting, nor is he always living in the full exercise of faith. It is not unlawful at certain seasons to doubt. "It is a sin," says one, "for a believer to live so as not to have his evidences clear; but it is no sin for him to be so honest and impartial as to doubt, when in fact his evidences are not clear." Let the humble Christian, however, beware of an extreme. Prayer, conversation with experienced Christians, reading the promises, and consideration of the divine goodness, will have a tendency to remove unnecessary doubts.
A hymn used in praise of the Almighty, distinguished by the titles of the Greater and the Less. Both the doxologies are used in the church of England; the former being repeated after every psalm, and the latter used in the communion service. Doxology the Greater, or the angelic hymn, was of great note in the ancient church. It began with the words the angels sung at the birth of Christ, "Glory to God," &c. Doxology the Less, was anciently only a single sentence without a response, running in these words: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, amen." Part of the latter clause, "as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be," &c. was inserted some time after the first composition.
One of the methods used by papists after the revocation of the edict of Nantz, under Lewis XIV., for converting refractory heretics, and bringing them within the pale of their church. If the reader's feelings will suffer him to peruse the account of these barbarites, he will find it under the article PERSECUTION in this work.
Is a degree of permanent fear, an habitual and painful apprehension of some tremendous event. It keeps the mind in a perpetual alarm, in an eager watchfulness of every circumstance that bears any relation to the evil apprehended.
The priests, or ministers of religion among the
ancient Gauls, Britons, and Germans. They were chosen out of the best families;
and the honours of their birth, joined with those of their function, procured
them the highest veneration among the people. They were versed in astrology,
geometry, natural philosophy, politics,and geography; they were the
interpreters of religion, and the judges of all affairs indifferently. Whoever
refused obedience to them was declared impious and accursed. We know but little
as to their peculiar doctrines, only that the believed the immortality of the
soul, and, as is generally also supposed, the transmigration of it to other
bodies; though a late author makes it appear highly probable they did not
believe this last, at least not in the sense of the Pythagoreans. The chief
settlement of the Druids in Britain as in the isle of Anglesey, the ancient
Mona, which they might choose for this purpose, as it is well stored with
precious groves of their favourite oak. They were divided into several classes
or branches, such as the priests, the poets, the augurs, the civil judges, and
instructors of youth. Strabo, however, does not comprehend all these different
orders under the denomination of druids; he only distinguishes three kinds;
bardi, poets; the vates, priests and naturalists; and the druids, who, besides
the study of nature, applied themselves likewise to morality.
Their garments were remarkably long; and when
employed in religious ceremonies, they likewise wore a white surplice. They
generally carried a wand in their hands, and wore a kind of ornament, encased
with gold, about their necks, called the druid's egg. They had one chief, or
arch-druid, in every nation, who acted as high priest, or pontifex maximus. He
had absolute authority over the rest, and commanded, decreed, and punished at
pleasure. They worshipped the Supreme Being under the name of Esus or Hesus,
and the symbol of the oak; and had no other temple than a wood or a grove,
where all their religious rites were performed. Nor was any person permitted to
enter that sacred recess unless he carried with him a chain in token of his
absolute dependence on the Deity. Indeed, their whole religion originally
consisted in acknowledging that the Supreme Being, who made his abode in these
sacred groves, governed the universe; and, that every creature ought to obey
his laws, and pay him divine homage. They considered the oak as the emblem, or
rather the peculiar residence of the Almighty; and accordingly chaplets of it
were worn both by the druids and people, in their religious ceremonies: the
altars were strewed with its leaves, and encircled with its branches. The fruit
of it, especially the misletoe, was thought to contain a divine virtue, and to
be the peculiar gift of Heaven. It was, therefore, sought for on the sixth day
of the moon with the greatest earnestness and anxiety; and when found, was
hailed with sure rapture of joy, as almost exceeds imagination to conceive. As
soon as the druids were informed of the fortunate discovery, they prepared
every thing ready for the sacrifice under the oak, to which they fastened two
white bulls by the horns; then the arch-druid, attended by a prodigious number
of people, ascended the tree, dressed in white; and, with a consecrated golden
knife, or pruning hook, cropped the misletoe, which he received in his robe,
amidst the rapturous exclamations of the people. Having secured this sacred
plant, he descended the tree; the bulls were sacrificed; and the Deity invoked
to bless his own gift, and render it efficacious in those distempers in which
it should be administered.
Intoxication with strong liquor. It is either actual or habitual; just as it is one thing to be drunk, and another to be a drunkard. The evil of drunkenness appears in the following bad effects: 1. It betrays most constitutions either to extravagance of anger, or sins of lewdness.--2. It disqualifies men for the duties of their station, both by the temporary disorder of their faculties, and at length by a constant incapacity and stupefaction.--3. It is attended with expense, which can often be ill spared.--4. It is sure to occasion uneasiness to the family of the drunkard.--5. It shortens life.--6. It is a most pernicious awful example to others.--7. It is hardly ever cured.--8. It is a violation of God's word, Prov. xx. 1. Eph. v. 18. Is. v. 11. Rom. xiii. 13. "The appetite for intoxicating liquor appears to me," says Paley, "to be almost always acquired. One proof of which is, that it is apt to return only at particular times and places; as after dinner, in the evening, on the market-day, in such a company, at such a tavern." How careful, then, should we be, lest we form habits of this kind, or choose company who are addicted to it; how cautious and circumspect should we act, that we be not found guilty of a sin which degrades human nature, banishes reason, insults God, and exposes us to the greatest evils! Paley's Mor. Phil. vol. ii. ch. 2. Flavel's Works, vol. ii. p. 349; Buck's anecdotes, vol. i. p. 82, 4rth edition; Lamont's Ser., vol. i. ser. 15,16.
the followers of Dulcinus, a layman of Novara in Lombardy, about the beginning of the fourteenth century. He taught that the law of the Father, which had continued till Moses, was a law of grace and wisdom; but that the law of the Holy Ghost, which began with himself in 1307, was a law entirely of love, which would last to the end of the world.
A denomination which took its rise in the year
1724. It was founded by a German, who, weary of the world, retired to an
agreeable solitude within fifty miles of Philadelphia, for the more free
exercise of religious contemplation. Curiosity attracted followers, and his
simple and engaging manners made them proselytes. They soon settled a little
colony, called Enphrate, in allusion to the Hebrews, who used to sing psalms on
the borders of the river Euphrates. This denomination seem to have obtained
their name from their baptizing their new converts by plunging. They are also
called Tumblers, from the manner in which they performed baptism, which is by
putting the person, while kneeling, head first under water, so as to resemble
the motion of the body in the action of tumbling. They use the triune
immersion, with laying of the hands and prayer, even when the person baptized
is in the water.
Their habit seems to be peculiar to themselves,
consisting of a long tunic, or coat, reaching down to their heels, with a sash
or girdle round the waist, and a cap, or hood, hanging from the shoulders, like
the dress of the Dominican friars. The men do not shave the head or beard. The
men and women have separate habitations and distinct governments. For these
purposes they have erected two large wooden buildings, one of which is occupied
by the brethren, the other by the sisters of the society; and in each of them
there is a banqueting room, and an apartment for public worship; for the
brethren and sisters do not meet together, even at their devotions. They live
chiefly upon roots and other vegetables, the rules of their society not
allowing them flesh, except on particular occasions, when they hold what they
call a love-feast: at which time the brethren and sisters dine together in a
large apartment, and eat mutton; but no other meat. In each of their little
cells they have a bench fixed, to serve the purpose of a bed, and a small block
of wood for a pillow. The Dunkers allow of no intercourse between the brethren
and sisters, not even by marriage. The principal tenets of the Dunkers appear
to be these: that future happiness is only to be attained by penance and
outward mortification in this life; and that, as Jesus Christ by his
meritorious sufferings, became the Redeemer of mankind in general, so each
individual of the human race, by a life of abstinence and restraint, may work
out his own salvation Nay, they go so far as to admit of works of
superorgation, and declare that a man may do much more than he is in justice or
equity obliged to do, and that his super-abundant works may therefore be
applied to the salvation of others. This denomination deny the eternity of
future punishments, and believe that the dead have the Gospel preached to them
by our Saviour, and that the souls of the just are employed to preach the
Gospel to those who have had no revelation in this life. They suppose the
Jewish sabbath, sabbatical year, and year of jubilee, are typical of certain
periods, after the general judgment, in which the souls of those who are not
then admitted into happiness are purified from their corruption. If any within
those smaller periods are so far humbled as to acknowledge the perfections of
God, and to own Christ as their only Saviour, they are received to felicity;
while those who continue obstinate are reserved in torments until the grand
period typified by the jubilee arrives, in which all shall be made happy in the
endless fruition of the Deity. They also deny the imputation of Adam's sin to
his posterity. They disclaim violence even in cases of self-defence, and suffer
themselves to be defrauded or wronged rather than go to law.
their church government and discipline are the
same with the English Baptists, except that every brother is allowed to speak
in the congregation; and their best speaker is usually ordained to be the
minister. They have deacons and deaconesses from among their ancient widows and
exhorters, who are all licensed to use their gifts statedly.
Any action, or course of actions, which flow from the relations we stand in to God or man; that which a man is bound to perform by any natural or legal obligation. The various moral, relative, and spiritual duties are considered in their places in this work.