belief, that the distinctive doctrines of Christianity do not lie in the minds of the clergy so clearly and sharply defined, and that their discussion of them in the pulpit is by no means so frequent, clear, and uncompromising as in past times? Is it not a matter of remark and solicitude in the churches, that the ministry of the present day do not preach so doctrinally, or so closely, as did the fathers? Is it not true, that the great doctrines of the sovereignty of God, of the native depravity of man, of atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Christ, of personal election, of unconditional submission, of regeneration by the special influences of the Holy Spirit, of justification by faith alone, and of the literal eternity of future punishments, are not formally discussed in many of our pulpits once in a year, or even once in a lifetime? Is it not the fact, that revivals of religion are less pure, that conviction of sin is less profound, and the exercises of professed converts are less satisfactory? And is it not true to a considerable extent, that in the great Revival two years since the ministry was less honored as the instrumental power, and lay agency used as never before in the work of converting men?

In the light of facts such as these, so unusual, so significant, and so lamentable, what are we to think of the claim, that the utterances of the pulpit are sounder, more searching and effective, than in the days of the fathers? The fault of that part of the evangelical pulpit to which we refer is not that it rejects the cardinal doctrines of the Bible, but that it does not present them in that formal, frequent, and earnest manner, which the exigencies of Zion demand. Their uncomfortable angularities are practically rounded off, and their penetrating edge is practically blunted. Their moral force is evaporated by the very learned, and philosophical, and tasteful style in which they are discussed. They are not wholly ignored, neither are they thoroughly preached. So far as they are presented at all, it is rather by implication than by open confession, by an assumption of their truth, than by a direct demonstration of it. The churches vitally need more of that unpretending but alarming exhibition of the fearful truths of the Bible, which, under the preaching of Edwards, started the congregation at Enfield to their feet, and made them cling to the banisters of

the pews to save them from sinking into hell: more of that preaching of "Christ and his Cross," which rendered the ministry of the eloquent Griffin "one scene of divine wonders": more of that ardent zeal for the immediate conversion of sinners which glowed in the heart of Payson, and which daily said, "Give me Portland, or I die": more of the apostolic gravity and pastoral fidelity of Hyde, who was "a good minister of Jesus Christ" every where, in his family, in the street, in his journeys, as well as in the pulpit: and more of the dichotomizing ability of Nettleton, to lay open the sinner's heart to his own astonished view, and pursue him with persistent earnestness through all his windings and excuses, till he surrenders at the feet of Jesus.

But while a part of the pulpit of our country, and especially of New England, gives evidence that it has made no "progress in theology" in the right direction, there is another part by whom the doctrines of grace are enforced with all fidelity. Indications, too, are not wanting of return to sounder views, on the part of some divines, who, thirty years ago, were nearly "lost" in the "wandering mazes" of a false philosophy and a speculating theology. The New Haven divines of 1860, with two or three exceptions, are not the New Haven divines of 1830. The leaven of those speculations is yet indeed widely spread in the ministry and the churches, and, in modified forms, it pervades some of the chairs of theological institutions; but the sound conservatism of the New England heart, and the New England head, and the old New England piety, will, we trust, ere long, by the grace of God, bring back the theology of New England to the platform of Edwards and the Catechism. Jehovah reigns. The true faith will yet triumph. "The good time coming" will certainly arrive.

"The groans of nature in this nether world,

Which Heaven has heard for ages, have an end,
Foretold by prophets and by poets sung.
The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes,
Six thousand years of 'error' have well nigh
Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course
Over this sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things
Is merely as the working of a sea,
Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest."

ART. VI. DENOMINATIONALISM, NOT SECTARIANISM.

By Rev. J. FEW SMITH, D.D., Newark, N. J.

THE existence of numerous sects in the Christian Church, is a standing reproach in the mouth of the scorner and the infidel. And yet it is a reproach, which, fairly considered, is unworthy of an intelligent and candid mind. No man capable of making a just discrimination will honestly regard it as a valid objection against the truthfulness of the Christian religion, or at variance with the essential unity of the Church. At first an honest inquirer may be perplexed by it; and seeking for the church of Christ, may anxiously inquire in which of the numerous "denominations" he shall find it. And any lover of what is good and pure and true, may find occasion for chagrin and grief in a spirit not unfrequently exhibited by these denominations, far different from that which his heart approves, and the book of God enjoins. But a little reflection will remove the perplexity, and show that the spirit thus lamented is an unhealthy excrescence, and not the natural and sound outgrowth of the denominational existence. On the same rock, spreading wide its firmly supported surface, may be built a variety of superstructures, all having a common foundation. And all denominations resting solely on the Rock Christ Jesus, are really the building of God, a house of many apartments, where the various parties of the family of God may find suitable abiding places. A vital principle may be one and unchangeable throughout, and yet there may be an almost endless variety in the circumstances of its development. There is a common principle of natural and of moral life, pervading our whole race, and constituting us, as one body in the creation of God, mankind; yet who can enumerate the varieties in which human life is seen?-varieties attaching

to the broadest generalization of classes, and to the last distinction of individuals. So a common, life principle animates the various denominations of Evangelical Christians, and finds its development, more or less perfect, in their various modifications. The life of Christ in man which is the essence of Christianity, we must remember, is yet struggling against the corruptions of sin in the soul, and the deadly antagonisms of worldliness. It is working with such instrumentalities as fallen human nature in a world of sin furnishes. It comes to man as he is, with his peculiarities of temperament, of mental constitution, and aims to take entire possession of him. It will subject each alike to the authority of God, and pervade each alike with love to God; but it will do this to each individu. ally, as he is, and while giving to each the same life, will yet preserve to him his distinct personality. Paul and John and Peter, are alike filled with the life of their Lord: who shall say that one more than another of them wears his image? And yet how distinct their manifestation of that life! Uniformity in matters of intellect and feeling is incompatible with the variety that exists in mental constitution and character. Minute agreement in these departments ought no more to be expected, than we should expect to see all men, because made in the image of Adam, precisely alike in form and feature. Heaven will doubtless be a place of harmony. Love to God will be the animating principle of all its holy inhabitants. Yet we cannot imagine a dull uniformity prevailing there. And we can imagine Gabriel and Michael, Peter and Paul, serving God all the better, and making his praise all the sweeter, because while living with one life and for one end, each will be himself, with all his personal characteristics; just as it is the blending of many voices and various parts that gives beauty and richness and power to stir the soul to our songs of praise and "hymns of lofty cheer."

The existence of different denominations of Christians in its legitimate tendencies bears some analogy to this. There is a beauty in such a variety pervaded by a common life; and there is an energy in it, and a spirit of enterprise, that counterbalance any evil tendencies to which its working is

exposed. We may grant that the division of the church into sects has its evils, and is a characteristic of an imperfect state, which in its prominent features is to pass away, as the church progresses towards the period when it shall stand forth purified, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, a Bride adorned for her glorious Spouse. Still these sects may be just one of the very instrumentalities which Jesus will use in spreading his gospel, elucidating his truth, gathering and purifying his church. At present no one division of the church dare say that it alone has the truth, or that it possesses all the truth. Each denomination is working out some problem in the Christian life, developing some portion of truth. Each has its part to perform, its peculiar work to do for the kingdom of Christ, which it, in the present condition of things, is better fitted to do than another.

Fairly considered, the existence of denominations in the church is just what might reasonably be expected from such a religion as that in which we rejoice; and rightly used it may turn to good account. Already is there an accumulation of facts, to testify of great things in the church's progress achieved by its instrumentality. We know not the force which rent asunder the several asteroids and gave them their distinct orbits, nor the specific object which God had in view in their disruption and starting forth on their separate circuits. Yet we may readily believe that an emergency had arisen which was to be met by that disruption, and that the balance of our system was thereby to be adjusted, and to be preserved by their separate motion. So we believe denominations accomplish important ends in the economy of grace. But the evil is, that poor human nature mingles so much of its impurity with the good works of God. The denominational spirit, proper and useful within its natural limits, is perverted into a wicked sectarian spirit. The church is forgotten in the denomination; Christ is hidden from view by the rivalry of party; faction takes the place of family; and then there is cause of reproach. Men cannot say "See how these Christians love one another;" but they look on sadly or sneeringly and