Jonathan Edwards Collection: Edwards, Jonathan - Personal Writings: 15a
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Jonathan Edwards Collection: Edwards, Jonathan - Personal Writings: 15a
TOPIC: Edwards, Jonathan - Personal Writings (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 15a
Other Subjects in this Topic:
CHAPTER XV.
ARRIVAL OF DAVID BRAINERD AT NORTHAMPTON--HIS SICKNESS AND DEATH AT
THE HOUSE OF MR. EDWARDS--HIS PAPERS--DEATH OF JERUSHA, THE SECOND
DAUGHTER OF MR. E.--HER CHARACTER--CORRESPONDENCE OF MR. E. WITH REV.
JOHN ERSKINE--ABSTRACT OF MR. E. `S FIRST LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE--PLAN
CONCEIVED OF THE FREEDOM OF THE WILL--DEATH OF COL. STODDARD--KINDNESS
OF MR. ERSKINE--LETTER OF MR. E. TO HIM--SECOND LETTER FROM MR.
GILLESPIE--LETTER TO MR. M'CULLOCH--LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE--LETTER FROM
MR. WILLISON--LIFE AND DIARY OF BRAINERD--LETTERS TO MESSRS. ERSKINE,
M'CULLOCH, AND ROBE--ORDINATION OF REV. JOB STRONG--ANECDOTE OF REV.
MR. MOODY--LETTER OF MR. E. TO HIS DAUGHTER MARY--SECOND LETTER TO MR.
GILLESPIE.
The reader will recollect, that while Mr. Edwards was at New-Haven, in
September, 1743, he formed an acquaintance with david brainerd, then a
missionary to the Indians at Kaunaumeek [28] , and became his
counsellor at a most interesting period of his life. In March 1747,
Brainerd, in consequence of extreme ill health, took leave of his
Indians in New Jersey, and in April came into New England; when he was
invited by Mr. Edwards to take up his abode in his own house. He came
there on the 28th of May, apparently very much improved in health,
cheerful in his spirits, and free from melancholy, yet at that time
probably in a confirmed consumption. Mr. Edwards had now an
opportunity of becoming most intimately acquainted with him, and
regarded his residence under his roof as a peculiar blessing to
himself and his family. "We enjoyed," he observes, "not only the
benefit of his conversation, but had the comfort and advantage of
having him pray in the family from time to time." He was at this time
very feeble in health; but in consequence of the advice of his
physician, he left Northampton for Boston, on the 9th of June, in
company with the second daughter of Mr. Edwards. They arrived on the
evening of the 12th, among the family relatives of Mr. Edwards in
Boston, and for a few days the health of Brainerd appeared much
amended; but a relapse on the 18th convinced his friends that his
recovery was hopeless. Contrary to their expectations, however, he so
far revived, that on the 20th of July they were able to leave Boston,
in company with his brother, Mr. Israel Brainerd, and on the 25th they
reached Northampton. Here his health continued gradually to decline,
until early in October it was obvious that he would not long survive.
"On the morning of Lord's day, Oct. 4," says Mr. Edwards, "as my
daughter Jerusha, who chiefly attended him, came into the room, he
looked on her very pleasantly, and said, `Dear Jerusha, are you
willing to part with me?--I am quite willing to part with you: I am
willing to part with all my friends: though if I thought I should not
see you and be happy with you in another world, I could not bear to
part with you. But we shall spend a happy eternity together." He died
on Friday, Oct. 9, 1747, and on the Monday following, Mr. Edwards
preached the sermon at his funeral, from 2 Cor. v. 8. entitled, "True
Saints when absent from the Body are present with the Lord;" which was
published in the December following.
Brainerd, after destroying the early part of his Diary, left the
residue in the hands of Mr. Edwards, to dispose of as he thought best.
Mr. Edwards concluded to publish it, in connexion with a brief Memoir
of his life.
In the ensuing February, Jerusha, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards, was removed by death. Her father, in a note to the Memoirs of
Brainerd, thus alludes to this distressing event. "Since this, it has
pleased a holy and sovereign God, to take away this my dear child by
death, on the 14th of February, next following, after a short illness
of five days, in the 18th year of her age. She was a person of much
the same spirit with Brainerd. She had constantly taken care of and
attended him in his sickness, for nineteen weeks before his death;
devoting herself to it with great delight, because she looked on him
as an eminent servant of Jesus Christ. In this time, he had much
conversation with her on the things of religion; and, in his dying
state, often expressed to us, her parents, his great satisfaction
concerning her true piety, and his confidence that he should meet her
in heaven, and his high opinion of her not only as a real Christian,
but as a very eminent saint: one whose soul was uncommonly fed and
entertained with things which pertain to the most spiritual,
experimental, and distinguishing parts of religion: and one, who, by
the temper of her mind, was fitted to deny herself for God, and to do
good, beyond any young woman whatsoever whom he knew. She had
manifested a heart uncommonly devoted to God in the course of her
life, many years before her death; and said on her death-bed, that she
had not seen one minute, for several years, wherein she desired to
live one minute longer, for the sake of any other good in life, but
doing good, living to God, and doing what might be for his glory."
In the course of the year 1747, an epistolary correspondence was
commenced between Mr. Edwards and the Rev. John Erskine of
Kirkintilloch, afterwards the Rev. Dr. Erskine of Edinburgh, which was
continued to the close of Mr. Edwards's life. This gentleman,
possessing superior talents, and having every advantage of birth,
fortune, and education, made choice of the clerical profession, in
opposition to the prevailing wishes of his family; and in May, 1744,
took charge of the parish of Kirkintilloch near Glasgow. In 1753, he
was translated to a parish in the borough of Culross, and, in the
autumn of 1758, to one of the parishes in Edinburgh. Distinguished
alike for his learning and piety, for his honourable and munificent
spirit, and for his firm attachment to evangelical religion, he
adorned every station which he filled by a faithful and conscientious
discharge of its various duties--private, social, and public;--enjoyed
the high respect of the wise and good, not only in Great Britain, but
extensively in both continents; and died in 1803, in his 82d year,
having been the correspondent, successively, of President Edwards, of
his son Dr. Edwards, president of Union College, and of his grandson
President Dwight, for the period of fifty-six years.
Mr. Erskine began the correspondence with Mr. Edwards early in 1747,
through the intervention of Mr. M'Laurin of Glasgow, by sending him
the "Remains of Mr. Hall"--a memoir, written by himself, of a most
respectable and beloved fellow-student in theology, a young gentleman
of uncommon promise. I have none of the letters of Mr. Erskine to Mr.
Edwards, and not having been able to procure the first letter of Mr.
Edwards to Mr. Erskine, written in the summer of 1747, must be
indebted for the following account of it to the "Life of Dr. Erskine,"
by the Hon. and Rev. Sir H. M. Wellwood.--"On this occasion Mr.
Edwards expressed, with great tenderness and delicacy, his sympathy
with one, who had lost his most intimate and estimable friend in the
prime of life, the companion of his youth, and, for a considerable
time before his death, the delightful and affectionate associate of
his studies and of his piety.
"In a postscript to this letter, he mentioned his book on Religious
Affections, then just published, and at the same time sent his
correspondent a copy of it in a book of which it is not too much to
say, that it is not only worthy of the talents and sincerity of its
author, but that while it shows that he was neither forward nor rash
in estimating striking or sudden impressions of religion, it contains
more sound instruction on its particular subject, and lays down more
intelligible and definite rules to distinguish true from false
religion, and to ascertain by distinct characters the genuine spirit
of vital piety, separated from all fanatical delusions, than any other
book which has yet been given to the world.
"In the same postscript to Mr. Edwards's first letter to Dr. Erskine,
he gave him a general sketch of a plan which he had then formed, and
which he afterwards executed with so much ability in his book on the
Freedom of the Will;--a book which, whether his opinions be questioned
or adopted, has certainly given him an eminent station both among
philosophers and divines. `I have thought,' he says, `of writing
something particularly and largely on the Arminian controversy in
distinct discourses on the various points in dispute, to be published
successively, beginning first with a discourse concerning the Freedom
of the Will, and Moral Agency; endeavouring fully and thoroughly to
state and discuss those points of liberty and necessity, moral and
physical inability, efficacious grace, and the ground of virtue and
vice, reward and punishment, blame and praise, with regard to the
dispositions and actions of reasonable creatures.'
"Such was the first idea of a work from which Mr. Edwards afterwards
derived his chief celebrity as an author; but a considerable time
intervened before he found it possible to make any progress in his
design."
The death of Col. Stoddard, which occurred at Boston, on the 19th of
June this year, was a loss severely felt, not only by Mr. Edwards and
the people of Northampton, but by the county and the province at
large. He was eminently distinguished for his strength of
understanding and energy of character, and had for a long period
unrivalled influence in the council of the province. He was also a man
of decided piety, and a uniform friend and supporter of sound morals
and evangelical religion. Mr. Edwards preached a sermon on his death
from Ezek. xix. 12. which was immediately published.
Early in the next year Mr. Edwards received from Mr. Erskine a number
of books which he valued very highly, as containing the ablest
exhibition and defence of the system of doctrines usually styled
Arminianism, which had at that time appeared before the public. In the
following letter he acknowledges the kindness of his correspondent,
and at the same time alludes to the decease of his daughter.
"To the Rev. John Erskine
Northampton, Aug. 31, 1748.
rev. and dear sir,
I, this summer, received your kind letter of Feb. 9, 1748, with your
most acceptable present of Taylor on Original Sin, and his Key to the
Apostolic Writings, with his Paraphrase on the Epistle to the Romans;
together with your Sermons and Answer to Doct. Campbell. I had your
Sermons before, sent either by you or Mr. M'Laurin. I am exceedingly
glad of those two books of Taylor's. I had before borrowed and read
Taylor on Original Sin; but am very glad to have one of my own; if you
had not sent it, I intended to have sought opportunity to buy it. The
other book, his Paraphrase, &c. I had not heard of; if I had I should
not have been easy till I had seen it, and been possessed of it. These
books, if I should live, may probably be of great use to me. Such
kindness from you was unexpected. I hoped to receive a letter from
you, which alone I should have received as a special favour.
I have for the present been diverted from the design I hinted to you,
of publishing something against some of the Arminian tenets, by
something else that Divine Providence unexpectedly laid in my way, and
seemed to render unavoidable, viz. publishing Mr. Brainerd's Life, of
which the enclosed paper of proposals give some account.
It might be of particular advantage to me, here in this remote part of
the world, to be better informed what books there are that are
published on the other side of the Atlantic; and especially if there
be any thing that comes out that is very remarkable. I have seen many
notable things that have been written in this country against the
truth, but nothing very notable on our side of the controversies of
the present day, at least of the Arminian controversy. You would much
oblige me, if you would inform me what are the best books that have
lately been written in defence of Calvinism.
I have herewith sent the two books of Mr. Stoddard's you desired. The
lesser of the two was my own; and though I have no other, yet you have
laid me under such obligations that I am glad I have it to send to
you. The other I procured of one of my neighbours.
I have lately heard some things that have excited hope in me, that God
was about to cause there to be a turn in England, with regard to the
state of religion there for the better; particularly what we have
heard, that one Mr. West, a clerk of the privy council, has written in
defence of Christianity, though once a notorious deist; and also what
Mr. Littleton, a member of the house of commons, has written. I should
be glad if you would inform me more particularly in your next
concerning this affair, and what the present state of infidelity in
Great Britain is.
It has pleased God, since I wrote my last to you, sorely to afflict
this family, by taking away by death, the last February, my second
daughter, in the eighteenth year of her age; a very pleasant and
useful member of this family, and one that was esteemed the flower of
the family. Herein we have a great loss; but the remembrance of the
remarkable appearances of piety in her, from her childhood, in life,
and also at her death, are very comfortable to us, and give us great
reason to mingle thanksgiving with our mourning. I desire your
prayers, dear Sir, that God would make up our great loss to us in
himself.
Please to accept of one of my sermons on Mr. Brainerd's death, and
also one of my sermons on Mr. Buell's instalment. I desire that for
the future your letters to me may be directed to be left with Mr.
Edward Bromfield, merchant in Boston. My wife joins with me in
respectful and affectionate salutations to you and Mrs. Erskine.
Desiring that we may meet often at the throne of grace in
supplications for each other,
I am, dear brother, your obliged friend,
Fellow labourer, and humble servant,
jonathan edwards."
P.S. I desired Mr. Prince to send to you one of my books on the
subject of the concert for prayer for a general revival of religion
the last year; and he engaged to do it; but I perceive he forgot it,
and it was long neglected. But I have since taken some further care to
have the book conveyed; so that I hope that ere this time you have
received it.
In the conclusion of your letter of Feb. 9, you mention a design of
writing to me again by a ship that was to sail the next month for
Boston. That letter I have not received."
Mr. Gillespie, imagining that the difficulties which he had stated in
his former letter, were not satisfactorily cleared up in the answer of
Mr. Edwards, addressed to him the following reply.
Letter from Mr. Gillespie.
"Sept. 19, 1748.
rev. and dear sir,
I had the favour of yours in spring last, for which I heartily thank
you. I did not want inclination to make you a return long ago, as I
prize your correspondence, but some things concurred that effectually
prevented me, which has given me concern.
It was my desire to be informed, and my inclination to make you
understand, how some passages in your book on Religious Affections did
appear to me and some others, your real friends and well-wishers in
this country, that determined me to presume to offer you some few
remarks on the passages mentioned in my former letter; and desire of
further information engages me now, with all respect, to make some
observations upon some things in your letter. I hope you will pardon
my freedom, and bear with me in it, and set me right wherein you may
find me to misapprehend your meaning, or to mistake in any other
respect.
You say, `You conceive that there is a great difference between these
two things, viz. its being a man's duty, who is without spiritual
light or sight, to believe; and its being his duty to believe without
spiritual light or sight, or to believe while he yet remains without
spiritual light or sight: it is not proper to say, it is a man's duty
to believe without faith,' &c. Now, dear Sir, the difference here, I
am not able to conceive; for all are bound to believe the divine
testimony and to trust in Christ, which you acknowledge; and the want
of spiritual light or sight does not loose from the obligation one is
laid under by the divine command to believe instantly on Christ, and
at all season, as his circumstances shall require, nor does it excuse
him in any degree for not believing. I own that a person who has no
spiritual light or sight cannot eventually believe, if by light or
sight is meant the influence or grace of the Spirit, by which one's
mind is irradiated to take up the object and grounds of faith, so as
to be made to have a spiritual sight of Christ, and to act that grace;
yet still, even when one, wants this, it is his duty, and he is bound
to believe, for we know it is a maxim, 'ability is not the rule of
duty.' I also acknowledge, that no person who is, and always has been,
without spiritual light or sight, is bound, nor is it his duty, to
believe that he has actually believed, or to conclude he is really a
partaker of the faith of God's elect. I have some apprehension this is
all you meant by the expressions I have noticed, and the reasoning in
consequence of them; or else certainly different ideas are affixed to
words with you and among us. There is indeed a great deal of
difference betwixt its being one's duty to believe, or to act faith,
and its being his duty to believe he has believed, or has acted divine
faith; i.e. you say you apply the particle without, respecting
spiritual light or sight, to the act of believing, by which I suppose
you intend, `all should believe, though none do really believe,
without spiritual light or sight;' in which I entirely agree with you.
The word duty indeed, which you use when treating that matter, is
ordinarily supposed to signify the obligation the person is under by
the divine authority to believe, as applied to the matter of faith,
and not to the act of faith put forth in consequence of such
obligation. Had I not supposed you plainly meant by the expressions I
quoted from the book, the duty or obligation to believe, and not an
act of faith exerted, I should have made no remarks on them. It is
indeed as absurd for one to conclude he has really believed without
spiritual light or sight, as to say one should believe he had
believed, without those things that are essentially implied in faith.
But I must differ from you in thinking it is not very proper to say,
it is a man's duty to believe without faith, i.e. while he yet remains
without spiritual light or sight, or to put forth an act of faith on
the Saviour, however void of spiritual light or sight; for if this was
not the truth, the finally impenitent sinner could not be condemned
for unbelief, as the Holy Ghost declares he will be, John iii. 19, 20,
24.. and that notwithstanding the power of the Spirit of faith must
make him believe. I should be glad to know the precise idea you affix
to the words faith and believing. I do not remember a person's
reflecting on his act of faith, any where in Scripture termed
believing. You remark, `That I seem to suppose that a person's
doubting of his good estate is the proper opposite of faith;' and I
own, as it is a believer's duty to expect salvation through Christ,
which, in other words, is to believe his good estate, Acts. xv. ll.
Gal. ii. 20. Eph. ii. 4. Job xix. 25. doubting of it must be his sin,
an effect of unbelief, a part of it, and thus the proper opposite of
faith, considered in its full compass and latitude. Thus once doubting
of his good estate by a true believer, and unbelief in one branch of
it, or one part and manner of its acting, are the same thing. Faith
and unbelief are opposed in Scripture, and what is the opposite of one
ingredient in unbelief must be faith in one part of it,--one thing
that belongs to its exercise. A person's believing is owned to be his
indispensable duty, and this comprehends or supposes his being
confident of his good estate, and is properly divine faith, because it
has the divine testimony now cited, on which it bottoms, Jer. iii. 19.
The Lord says, `Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn away
from me;' which is evidently faith, and no less manifestly belief of
one's good estate, or being confident of it, because the expression
must denote the continued exercise of faith, in not turning away from
the Lord. Crying Abba Father, Rom. viii. 15. is faith in the Lord as
one's father, which must have a being confident of one's good estate
inseparable from it, or rather enwrapped in it. I suppose what I have
mentioned is very consistent with what you say, `That faith, and
persons believing that they have faith, are not the same;' for one's
believing that he has faith, simply and by itself, has for its object
the man's inward frame, or the actings and exercises of his spirit,
and not a divine testimony. This is not divine faith; but, as I have
laid the matter, a being confident of one's good estate has for its
foundation the word of God, Heb. xiii. 5., &c. ultimately,--at least;
to be sure this is one way in which faith is acted, or one thing in
its exercise. I am far from thinking unbelief, or being without faith,
and doubting whether they have faith, to be the same thing in an
unconverted sinner, whom your words, 'being without faith,' must mean,
and therein we entirely agree. But I must think, as to the believer,
his doubting whether or not he has faith, is sinful, because it is
belying the Holy Ghost, denying his work in him, so there is no sin to
which that doubting can so properly be reduced as unbelief. You know,
dear Sir, doubting and believing are opposed in Scripture, Matt. xiv.
31. Matt. xxi. 21. Mark xi. 23. and I cannot exclude from the idea of
doubting, a questioning the truth and reality of a work of grace on
one's soul; for the Holy Ghost requires us to believe the reality of
his work in us, in all its parts, just as it is, and never would allow
us, much less call us to sin, or to believe a falsehood, that one is
void of grace, when he has it, that good might come of it, i.e. that
the person might be awakened from security, &c. 1 John iii. 3. `Every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, as he is pure;' I
think intimates, that in proportion to the degree of one's hope, that
the Lord is his Father, will be his aim after sanctification, and his
attainment of it; if so, to renounce this hope, to throw it up at any
season, on any account, must be unlawful; whence I infer, for the
believer to doubt of his gracious state, to call it in question for
any reason whatever, so as to raze it, it is simply sinful, 1 John ii.
12, 15. `I write unto you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven you, viz. Love not the world.' Here forgiveness of sin is
used as a motive or incitement not to love the world; and this
reasoning of the apostle would lose all its force, were it incumbent
on a believer, at some seasons, to think he was not within the bond of
the new covenant,--he is bound ever to hold that conclusion fixed. The
exhortation, not to cast away one's confidence, certainly comprehends
a call to persevere in believing in our interest in the Lord, and to
practise it at all seasons, Heb. x. 35. Job's friends endeavoured to
make him question, whether the root of the matter was in him, and to
conclude that he was a hypocrite. He resolved, though the Lord should
slay him, he would trust in him, chap. xiii. 15 being confident of his
own good estate, chap. xxvii. 3, 5. `All the while my breath is in
me;' and ver. 5. `Till I die, I will not remove my integrity from me;'
and we see, from the whole tenor of his book, what there he resolved,
he actually did practise; he never entertained the thought of
supposing the Lord was not his God, notwithstanding the grievous
eruptions of iniquity in him, in quarrelling with the sovereignty of
God, &c. And in the end, the Lord condemned his friends for speaking
of him `the things that were not right,' and pronounced that Job, his
servant, had said of him the thing `that is right,' Job iv. 1.; from
which, it is to be presumed, he was approved in guarding against
razing his state [29] . Also, 2 Cor. i. 12. what the apostle terms
there, `his rejoicing,' was what supposed his being confident of his
good estate, that he was participant of a principle of grace, which
made him capable of acting, as he did, with godly sincerity. All
which, with other considerations, do satisfy me, that a believer never
should raze his state on any account whatever; and that, as has been
mentioned, doubting of his gracious state is sinful, one way of
unbelief, its acting in him, though not the direct and immediate
opposite of that acting of faith by which a person renounces his own
righteousness and closes with Christ, yet the opposite of the
posterior exercise of faith in him, and upon the promise, in certain
respects. Your book is now lent, and therefore I cannot take notice,
as you wish and I incline, of what you say on this head, p. 80, 81.
more particularly than I have done. However, I have, I think, touched
the precise point in difference between us.
You observe, I seem to intimate, `A person's being confident of his
own good estate is the way to be delivered from darkness, deadness,
backsliding, and prevailing iniquity.' And you add, that `you think
whoever supposes this to be God's method of delivering his saints,
when sunk into an evil, careless, carnal, and unchristian frame, first
to assure them of their good estate and his favour, while they yet
remain in such a frame, and so to make that the means of their
deliverance, does surely mistake God's method of dealing with such
persons.' Here I think you represent the case too strong; for the
words in my letter to which you refer, were, `I have heard it taught
that the believer was bound to trust in the Lord in the very worst
frame he could be in, and that the exercise of faith was the way to be
delivered from darkness, deadness, backsliding,' &c. And afterwards, I
said, when questioning whether the believer should ever doubt of his
estate on any account whatever, `I know the opposite has been
prescribed; when the saint is plunged in the mire of prevailing
iniquity.' Now, as a believer may be thus plunged, and yet sin at that
instant be his grief and burden, Rom. vii. 24. and he may have the
hope and expectation of being relieved from it even then, Psalm lxv.
3. I do not think my words convey the idea you affix to them. Also you
will observe, I do not say, `that a person's being confident of his
own good estate is the way to be delivered from,' &c. but `that the
believer was bound to trust the Lord in the worst frame,' &c. This I
mention, precisely to state my words, and they are, I think, very
defensible; for the believer is called `to trust in the Lord for
ever,' Isa. xxvi. 4.. If so, when in the situation mentioned; for this
is a trusting in the Lord as one's God. The woman with the issue of
blood, her touching Christ, and the success, is, I suppose, a call and
encouragement to touch him by faith, for having the worst
soul-maladies healed, Mark v. 25.. Trusting in the Lord for needful
blessings, in the situation mentioned, gives him the glory of his
faithfulness, and engages him to act in the believer's behalf; thus to
do, it is both duty and interest. Jonah, when in a course of grievous
rebellion, and under awful chastisement for it, when perhaps he had
actually disclaimed interest in the Lord, or was in danger of it,
said, `he would look again toward the Lord's holy temple,' chap. ii.
4. evidently in exercise of faith in the Lord as his God, the Lord
assuring him of his good estate and his favour, by the operation of
the Spirit causing him so to act, and to be conscious of it; and,
verse 7. `when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and
my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.' Here is my
assertion exemplified in practice, by a believer, I may venture to
say, in an evil frame, when the Spirit breathed upon him. Though a
prophet, he deliberately disobeyed the express instructions of his
Lord, chap. i. 2, 3. and in a careless frame, for he slept securely in
the sides of the ship, during a tempest raised for his sake, and when
the heathen mariners every one called upon his god, chap. i. 5, 6. So
far was he from dreading, as he had reason to do, that the Lord would
plead a controversy with him for the part he acted, that dismal
security, awful carelessness, and a carnal frame had seized him; for
he declared to the Lord, that he said to him in his country, he would
repent of the evil he had said he would do to the Ninevites, if they
turned from their evil way, and assigned that for the reason why he
fled to Tarshish, chap. iv. 2.; and thus would rather that the Lord
should want the honour, that would redound to his name by the
repentance, though only outward, of the Ninevites, than that the whole
city should be destroyed, one of the largest the sun shone upon, and
the most populous, and that himself should lose the honour and comfort
of being the instrument of its preservation, than that he should fall
under the imputation of being a false prophet, for which there would
yet have been no foundation. Horrid carnality this! for as it was
dreadful selfishness, it may, in that view, be termed
carnality,--astonishing pride! this `filthiness of the spirit' is
worse than that of the flesh; and, all circumstances of his conduct
considered, he was not only in an ungodly frame, but in an inhumane
one, and he sinned presumptuously in one of the highest degrees, we
may suppose, in which it is possible for a believer so to act;
notwithstanding it appears the happy turn was begun in him, under the
influence of the Spirit, by renewing his faith in the Lord as his God,
and being confident of his good estate; upon which he prayed, as
already mentioned, and was heard by his God, see verses 7, 8. was
delivered out of his then dismal and dangerous circumstances, chap.
ii. 12.--Thus I have done more than I was bound to do, and have proved
the point, not only in the manner in which I have expressed it, but in
the strong light your words, a comment on mine, had set it; for one
plain scripture instance, such certainly as that I have given, is
sufficient, as agreed, to prove any thing. It is so far from being a
mistaking of God's method of dealing with such persons, as you
suggest, (pardon me, dear Sir,) to say, that it is `the Lord's method
of delivering his saints when in a backsliding condition, first to
assure them of their good estate and his favour, and so to make that
the means of their deliverance;' that I give you the words of the Holy
Ghost for it is as express and full as any thing possibly can be, Jer.
iii. 12, 13, 14.; verse 14. `Turn, O backsliding children, saith the
Lord, for I am married unto you.' This was, to be sure, the Lord's
intimating the new covenant relation in which he stood to the
spiritual Israel among them; and verse 22 of that chapter, the Lord
says, `Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your
backslidings;' and in the close of the verse, we have the Lord's thus
assuring them of their good estate and his favour, shown to be the
effectual mean of the backsliding being healed: `Behold, we come unto
thee; for thou art the Lord our God.' Hos. xiv. 4. `O Israel, return
unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.' Here
the first words of the Lord's message to his spiritual Israel, are,
that 'the Lord was their God,' and the expression, `fallen by
iniquity,' conveys a very strong idea, when applied to a believer,
perhaps as strong, as is comprehended in your words, 'evil, &c.
frame;' and I must think this verse is so expressed to work on holy
ingenuousness in them, for its revival when under the ashes of
corruption. It would perhaps be no difficult matter to multiply
scripture testimonies of such kind; but these adduced are, I think,
full proof of the point, for confirmation of which they are brought.
The love of Christ constrains the believer to return from folly, as
well as to other things in other respects, 2 Cor. v. 14.. I might
argue here from the efficacy of the love of God apprehended, the
genius of the new creature, and nature in believers, and a variety of
other topics, but choose, without expatiating, to confine myself to
precise scripture testimonies. As to what you say, that `among all the
multitudes you have had opportunity to observe, you never knew one
dealt with in this manner, but have known many brought back from great
declensions, that appeared to be true saints, but it was in a very
diverse way from this: first conscience awakened; they brought into
great fear of the wrath of God; his favour hid; the subjects of a kind
of new work of humiliation; brought to great sense of deserving God's
wrath, while they yet feared it, before God had delivered them from
apprehension of it, and comforted with a renewed sense of his favour.'
All I observe upon this is, that the way I have laid down, is
obviously that which the Lord declares in his word, he takes, for
bringing back his people from declensions, and thus that in it mercy
is to be expected, whatever the Lord may be pleased to do in
sovereignty, and he will not be limited; also, persons do not perceive
every thing that passes within them, far less are they capable to give
a full distinct account of every thing of each kind. Experiences of
Christians are to be brought to the touch-stone of the infallible bar,
and to stand or fall by it; the Bible is not to be brought to their
test, and judged of by them. I own we may mistake the sense of
Scripture, but it is so obvious in the passages I have quoted, that I
cannot see how it can be misapprehended.
I cannot say any thing now, about the other remarks I made on your
book, touched on in your letter, because I have not now the book to
look into. I understand the passages about prevalence of sin, so as to
denominate a person not in a gracious state, better, by what you have
wrote; and, if any difficulty shall remain after comparing your book
and letter, I may come to propose it to you afterwards.
What you wrote about the case of temptation was very agreeable, and I
thank you for it. I shall now state the case more plainly, because I
want much your further thoughts upon it. It is precisely this. A
person finds himself beset by evil angels, what if I remember right
Voetius terms obsessio, and one in that situation obsessus; they
incessantly break into his body and mind, sometimes by vain, at other
seasons by vile thoughts, now by the thoughts of a business neglected,
which was a seasonable thing to be done, then by a scripture text, or
an engaging thought of some spiritual truth, when entrance is not to
be had another way, and by a variety of other methods. They do all
they can, perpetually to teaze, defile, and discourage; he is
conscious of the whole transaction, and finds his spirit broken by it,
and goes not about to reason with Satan, knows the expediency of this
course, is aware Satan wants no better, than that he pray much and
long against his temptations, and so wont pray himself out of breath,
by his instigation; is convinced the remedy is to get them kept out of
body and mind; trusts, in dependence on the Lord, to the use of
medical, moral, and religious means for that end, because experience
shows all of them are expedient and advantageous in their place; but
all is in vain, no relief for him, relish of divine things wore off
the mind, no comfort, is rendered callous by cruel constant
buffetings, he cries, but the Lord hears not. By what I understand,
this is a just representation of the case, and will lead you to the
knowledge of other circumstances in it. What would you advise such a
person to do? How shall he recover savour of spiritual truths and
objects?
I wondered you said nothing in your letter, about what I mentioned in
mine, respecting supposed immediate revelations of facts and future
events, as special favours conferred on some special favourites of
heaven. I give in to your sentiments on that point, expressed in the
three treatises you have published, and greatly like what Mr. Brainerd
said on the subject, as mentioned, I think, by you, in the funeral
sermon on him, which I perused with a great deal of pleasure; and
shall now mention some things, said in favour of that principle, of
which people are very tenacious, that I may have your answers to them,
which will be a singular favour done me, for certain reasons: for
example, John xvi. 13. is affirmed to be an express promise of such a
thing:--it is urged, the thing is not contrary to Scripture, and
therefore, may be;--it is urged, John xiii. 24-27. is an example of
it, an intimation what the Lord will do in such kind when it pleaseth
him, till the end of time. It is pretended, and indeed this is the
strength of the cause, that the thing is a matter of fact, has nothing
to do with the Bible, therefore nothing about it is to be expected in
Scripture, and simply to deny it in all cases, is daringly to limit
the power of God. The Lord has not said he will not grant it, and how
dare any say it cannot be? It is reasoned, there are numbers of well
attested instances of the thing in different ages and places, facts
are stubborn things, and to deny them all is shocking, an overturning
of all moral evidence. It is insisted on, that the thing has been
formerly; it is confessed, and why may it not be now? We are told, a
considerable time before a thing happened, that it has been impressed
on the mind in all its circumstances, which exactly happened in every
point; if when asked, what one can say to this, he says, perhaps it
was from Satan, to this it is answered, does he know future contingent
events? The reply is at hand, it is not above him to figure a thing on
the fancy long before, which he is resolved by some means to bring
about; but to all this it is answered by advocates for immediate
revelations, such reasoning tends to sap one of the main pillars of
evidence of the divinity of the scripture prophecies.
I have, by what I remember, given you the force of the argument, to
establish what has had, I too well know, very bad effects, as commonly
managed, in Britain, as well as in New England; a history of instances
of them would not be without its use, and materials for it are not
wanting. I will long much to see what you say in way of reply to all
this. I am sure you cannot employ time better than in framing it. I
should have mentioned that the authority of eminent divines is brought
to bear upon them, whose stomachs stand at swallowing things, like
additions to the Bible,--Mr. Fleming, in the Fulfilling of the
Scriptures, Dr. Goodwin, &c. But on this, it has been pleasantly
observed, that the authority of the worthies in the eleventh of the
Hebrews, would have done a good deal better. I have some apprehension
this is a point of truth, which the Lord is to clear up in this age.
I have read your Humble Attempt, and with much satisfaction; was
charmed with the scriptures of the latter day of glory set in one
point of light. I do think humbly your observations on Lowman have
great strength of reason. The killing of the witnesses, as yet to
come, has been to me a grievous temptation; for which reason, I peruse
with peculiar pleasure what you say on this subject; but if you answer
the objection, `It would appear that the seventh trumpet is to sound
soon after the resurrection of the witnesses, and the kingdoms of the
world, &c. but that has not happened, therefore the witnesses are not
killed;' I say, if this you answer, I have forgot.
I should have also mentioned, that it seems evident, the doctrine of
immediate revelations must be simply denied as unscriptural, and thus
well-founded in no case; or it must be allowed in its full compass,
and latitude, let the consequences of it be what they will, for if the
thing is allowed possible, reasonings about its effects will not
conclude nor avail; I can see no middle way between the two things.
That principle taken for granted by almost all, in all times past, is,
as I mentioned in my last letter, to me a surprising thing.
Mr. Whitefield arrived at Edinburgh Wednesday last, and was to preach
on Thursday evening; but as I am fifteen miles from that city, of
which two miles by sea, I have not yet heard of the effects of his
preaching, or the number of the audiences; I wish they may be as
frequent as when he was last here. May Divine power specially attend
his ministrations! We need it much, as we are generally fallen under
great deadness. I believe he will find use for all his prudence and
patience in dealing with us, for different reasons. With great
pleasure, friends to vital religion, and to him, are informed he is to
make no collections at this time! I was glad to hear you write, that
he laboured with success in New England, in rectifying mistakes he had
favoured, about intimations made by the Lord to his people, &c. and
heartily wish he may be directed to apply an antidote here, where it
is also needed.
I have tired you with a long epistle, and shall therefore now break
off. What you was pleased to favour me with, upon the difficulty
started from Rom. viii. 28. was very acceptable, and I thank you much
for it. I will expect a letter from you the first opportunity after
this comes to hand; and in it all the news of New England,
particularly some account of the state of religion with you. It gives
me pleasure to think, I may write you my sentiments upon every thing
without reserve. Please make my affectionate compliments to my friend
Mr. Abercrombie, when you see him, or write to him, and tell him, I
remember I am in his debt for a letter. I hope the ship I am informed
of, for carrying this, is not sailed, and therefore it will not be so
long in coming to your hand, after being writ, as my last.
I am, &c."
Letter to Mr. M'CULLOCH.
"To the Rev. Mr. M'CULLOCH.
Northampton, Oct. 7, 1748.
rev. and dear sir,
I thank you for your letter of Feb. 19, 1748, which I received the
week before last. I had also, long before that, received the letter
you speak of, which you wrote the spring before, dated March 12, 1747,
which I wrote an answer to, and sent it to Mr. Prince of Boston, and
committed it to his care; and am very sorry that you never received
it. I am far from being weary of our correspondence. I ever looked on
myself as greatly honoured and obliged by you, in your beginning this
correspondence; and have found it pleasant and profitable; and
particularly your last letter, that I have but now received, has been
very agreeable and entertaining; especially on account of the good
news it contains. I cannot but think many things mentioned in your
letter, and the letters of my other correspondents in Scotland, which
came with yours, are great things, worthy to be greatly taken notice
of, and to be an occasion of much rejoicing and praise to all that
love Zion: viz. The remarkable change in one of the clerks of the
privy council; God's stirring up him and Mr. Littleton to write in
defence of Christianity; the good effect of this among men of figure
and character; the good disposition of the king, and the Prince and
Princess of Wales; the late awakening of two of the princesses, Amelia
and Caroline, and the hopeful conversion of one or both of them; the
hopeful, real piety of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his good
disposition towards experimental religion and the dissenters; several
of the clergy of the church of England lately appearing to preach the
doctrines of grace; several of the magistrates, in various towns in
England, exerting themselves with uncommon zeal to put the laws in
execution against vice; and the eminent piety of the Prince of Orange,
now the stadtholder of the Seven United Provinces. These things (at
least some of them) are great in themselves, and are of that nature
that they have a most promising aspect on the interests of Zion, and
appear to be happy presages and forerunners of yet better and greater
things that are coming. They look as if the tide was turning, and
glorious things approaching, by the revolution of the wheel of God's
providence. I think we, and all others, who have lately united by
explicit agreement in extraordinary prayer for a general revival of
religion and the coming of Christ's kingdom, may, without presumption,
be greatly encouraged and animated in the duty we have engaged in, by
the appearance of such a dawning of light from such great darkness;
and should be ungrateful if we did not acknowledge God's great
goodness in these things, and faithfulness in fulfilling the promises
of his word; such as these in particular, `If any two of you shall
agree on earth as touching any thing you shall ask, it shall be done
of my Father which is in heaven;' and, `Before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.' I have already
communicated these things to some belonging to this town, and other
places; some have appeared much affected with them; and one that
belongs to another town, has taken extracts of these passages. I
design, God willing, to communicate these things to my congregation,
before the next quarterly day for prayer, and also to the neighbouring
ministers, who, according to our stated agreement, will be met
together on that day, to spend the former part of the day in prayer
among ourselves, and the latter part in public services in one of our
congregations; and shall also probably communicate these things to
some of my correspondents in New Jersey and elsewhere, and I cannot
but think they will tend to do a great deal of good, in various
respects; and particularly will tend to promote the Concert for
Prayer, in these parts of the world. I desired Mr. Prince of Boston to
send you one of my books on the Concert, soon after it was published;
who engaged to do it; but long forgot it, as I perceived afterwards to
my surprise; but since that more thorough care has been taken about
that matter; and I hope you, and each of my other correspondents in
Scotland, have before now received one of those books.
I thank you, dear Sir, for sending me your thoughts on some things in
the prophecies of the Revelation of St. John, and for being at so much
trouble as to send it twice (supposing the first letter had
miscarried.) This I take as a particular mark of respect, for which I
am obliged to you. I received, as I said before, your former letter,
(which contained the same observations,) and sent an answer to it,
wherein I gave you my thoughts, such as they were, on those subjects.
But if you have received my book on United Prayer, &c. therein you
have seen more fully my thoughts on some things in the Revelation,
that have a near relation to the same matter that you write about; the
substance of which I before had written to you in a large letter,
desiring your opinion of what I wrote.
The letter I think you received, by some intimations contained in
yours of March 12, 1747. But you was not pleased to favour me with any
thing at all of your thoughts of what I had so largely communicated to
you, to that end, that I might have your opinion. But I am not the
less willing again to communicate my thoughts on your remarks.
As to what you observe concerning the number six hundred and
sixty-six, and that number being found in the name of the present king
of France; it is indeed something remarkable, that that number should
be found both in his Latin and French names, as you observe; and I do
not know but that the omniscient Spirit of God (who doubtless in his
predictions has sometimes his eye on several things in which he knows
they will be fulfilled) might have some respect to his name in the
prophecy; but I can hardly think that this individual king of France,
or any other particular prince in Europe, is what is chiefly intended
by the beast, so largely described in the 13th chapter of Revelation,
whose number is said to be six hundred and sixty-six. Of all the
conjectures concerning the number of the beast, that I have lit on in
my small reading, that of Mr. Potter's seems to me the most ingenious,
who supposes the true meaning is to be found by extracting the root of
the number. But after all, I have ever suspected that the thing
chiefly aimed at by the Holy Spirit, was never yet found out, and that
the discovery is reserved for later times. Yet one reason why Mr.
Potter's conjecture does not fully satisfy me, is, the difficulty
without adjusting the fractions in the root, when extracted. With
respect to your very ingenious conjectures, concerning the period of
forty-two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, of the
outer court and holy city's being trodden under-foot of the Gentiles;
you know, Sir, that that forty-two months, or one thousand two hundred
and sixty days, spoken of Rev. xi. 2. has been universally understood,
as being the very same period with the 1260 days of the witnesses
prophesying in sackcloth, spoken of in the next verse; and the one
thousand two hundred and sixty days of the woman's being led in the
wilderness, chap. xiii. 6. and the time, times, and half a time, of
her being nourished in the wilderness from the face of the serpent,
ver. 14. and the forty-two months of the continuance of the beast,
chap. xiii. 5. But it does not appear to me probable that these
forty-two months of the continuance of the beast, means the sum of the
diverse periods in which the plat of ground, whereon the ancient
literal Jerusalem stood, was under the dominion of the Romans,
Saracens, Persians, and Turks; but the space of time during which the
reign of antichrist or the popish hierarchy continues; and as to the
particular time of the downfall of antichrist, you see my reasons in
the forementioned pamphlet, why I think it certain that it will not be
known till it be accomplished: I cannot but think that the Scripture
is plain in that matter, and that it does, in effect, require us to
rest satisfied in ignorance till the time of the end comes.
However, I should be very foolish, if I were dogmatical in my thoughts
concerning the interpretation of the prophecies: especially in
opposition to those who have had so much more opportunity to be well
acquainted with things of this nature. But since you have insisted on
my thoughts, I conclude you will not be displeased that I have
mentioned them, though not altogether agreeable to yours. I am
nevertheless greatly obliged to you for your condescension in
communicating your thoughts to me. If we do not exactly agree in our
thoughts about these things, yet in our prayers for the accomplishment
of these glorious events in God's time, and for God's gracious
presence with us, and his assistance in endeavours to promote his
kingdom and interests, in the mean time, we may be entirely agreed and
united. That we may be so, is the earnest desire of, dear Sir,
Your affectionate brother and servant,
in our common Lord,
jonathan edwards."
In perusing the following letter, while the reader will deeply regret
the loss of that from Mr. Erskine to which it is an answer, he will
feel a lively interest in the mass of religious intelligence which it
contains, as well as in the interesting development which it gives of
the character of Governor Belcher.
"To the Rev. Mr. Erskine.
Northampton, Oct. 14, 1748.
rev. and dear sir,
A little while ago I wrote a letter to you, wherein I acknowledged the
receipt of your letter, and the books that came with it, viz. Taylor
on Original Sin; and on the Romans: with your sermons, and Answer to
Mr. Campbell; for which most acceptable presents I would most heartily
and renewedly thank you.
I sent my letter to Boston, together with one of Mr. Stoddard's
Benefit of the Gospel to the Wounded in Spirit, and his Nature of
Saving Conversion, with a sermon on Mr. Brainerd's death, and some
account of a history of his life now in the press, to be sent to
Scotland by the first opportunity; whether there has been any
opportunity or no, I cannot tell. I have very lately received another
letter from you, dated April 4, 1748, which was indeed exceedingly
acceptable, by reason of the remarkable and joyful accounts it
contains of things, that have a blessed aspect on the interests of
Christ's kingdom in the world: such as the good effects of the
writings of Mr. West and Mr. Littleton on some at court, and the
religious concern in Mr. Randy's and Mr. Gray's parishes, the hopeful
true piety of the Archbishop of Canterbury; this and the king's
disposition, not only to tolerate but comprehend the dissenters; and
their indifference with respect to the liturgy, ceremonies, and
episcopal ordination; the piety of the prince who is now advanced to
the stadtholdership, and has it established in his family for ever;
the awakening of the Princess Caroline; and the good disposition of
the Princess of Wales. I think it very fit that those, who have lately
entered into an union of extraordinary prayer for the coming of
Christ's kingdom and the prosperity of Zion, should inform one another
of things which they know of, that pertain to the prosperity of Zion,
and whereby their prayers are in some degree answered; that they may
be united in joy and thanksgiving, as well as in supplication; and
that they may be encouraged and animated in their prayers for the
future, and engaged to continue instant therein with all perseverance.
I think these things forementioned, which you have sent me an account
of, are worthy greatly to be observed, by those that are united in the
Concert for Prayer, for their comfort, praise, and encouragement. I
intend to communicate these things to my own people, before the next
quarterly season for prayer, and to the neighbouring ministers, who
are united in this affair; and also to my correspondents in this
province, and other provinces of America. I doubt not but they will
have a happy tendency and influence in many respects. I hope, dear
Sir, you will continue still to give me particular information of
things that appear, relative to the state of Zion and the interests of
religion, in Great Britain or other parts of Europe. In so doing, you
will not only inform me, but I shall industriously communicate any
important informations of that kind, and spread them amongst God's
people in this part of the world; and shall endeavour to my utmost to
make such a use of them, as shall tend most to promote the interest of
religion. And among other things I should be glad to be informed of
any books that come out, remarkably tending either to the illustration
or defence of that truth, or the promoting the power of godliness, or
in any respect peculiarly tending to advance true religion.
I have given an account of some things, which have a favourable aspect
on the interests of religion, in these American parts of the world, in
my letters to Mr. Robe, and Mr. M'Laurin, sent with this; which you
will have opportunity to see.
In your last letter you desired to be particularly informed of the
present state of New Jersey college, and of things remarkable of a
religious nature respecting the Indians. As to the former, viz. the
state of New Jersey college: by the last accounts I had, it was in
somewhat of an unsettled state. Governor Belcher had a mind to give
them a new charter, that he thought would be more for the benefit of
the society. Accordingly a draft of a new charter was drawn; wherein
it was proposed to make considerable alteration in the corporation of
trustees; to leave out some of the former trustees; and that the
governor, for the time being, should be a trustee, and three or four
of the council of that province. Those two things made considerable
uneasiness, viz. leaving out some of the former trustees, and making
it a part of the constitution that the governor and so many of the
council should be members of the corporation. Some feared that this
would not be for the health of the society; because the men in chief
authority in that province have, for the most part been men of no
religion, and many of them open and professed contemners of it. How
this matter has been settled, or whether these difficulties are got
over, I have not been informed. As to Governor Belcher himself, he
appears thoroughly engaged to promote virtue and vital religion in
those parts, which already has had some good effects; vice and open
profaneness, by the means, is become less fashionable among the great
men, and virtue and religion more creditable. The disposition of
Governor Belcher may in some measure be seen, by the following extract
of a letter from him, in answer to one I wrote to him on a special
occasion.