as i travel thru ThisPilgrimLand

Great Quote on the Gospel

From Volume 1 of Alexander Campbell’s Millenial Harbinger:

“The ancient gospel spoke by facts, and said little about principles of action of any sort.  The facts, when realized or believed, carried principles into the heart without naming them; and there was an object presented which soon called them into action.  It was the true philosophy, without the name, and made all the philosophy of the world sublimated folly.  It was ridiculous to hear Epicurians and Stoics reasoning against Paul.  While they were talking about atoms of matter and refined principles, about virtue and vice, Paul took hold of the Resurrection of the Dead, and buried them in their own dreams.  He preached Jesus and the Resurrection; he proclaimed reformation and forgiveness of sins; and before they awoke out of their reveries, he had Dionysius the Mayor of the City, the Lady Damaris, and other notable characters, immersed into Jesus.

The ancient gospel left no man in a reasoning mode about any principle of action.  It left him in no doubt about the qualities or attributes of faith.  It called for the obedience of faith; and by giving every man an opportunity of testing and showing his own faith by his works, it made no provisions for cases of consciences, nor room for philosophic doubting.  But I do not here eulogize it, but only intend to say that it is the only and the all-sufficient means to destroy antichrist, to heal divisions, to unite christians, to convert the world, and to bless all nations; and viewing it in this light, we shall find much use for it in all that we shall attempt in this work.”