degraded, and enslaved people, to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of their ancient patrimony. Certainly no figure or form of speech could more beautifully and more graphically describe this event, than that which Daniel has used-"Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake."

But we depend not on the authority of Mr. Taylor, or any other profane writer. In the following extract from the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, Jehovah has himself for ever settled this question : "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the valley which was full of bones. And he caused me to pass by them round about; and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophecy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophecy unto the wind; prophecy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

Had no explanation been given of this vision, how very few of us would have understood it. Most commentators would, no doubt, have regarded it as a symbolical representation of the final resurrection of all the dead. But fortunately for us, all uncertainty as to its true application has been removed. For thus saith the Lord, "These bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophecy, and say unto them, I will open your graves, and cause you to And ye come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord God."

This vision has no reference to any portion of the wicked who are now literally dead and buried; for upon such God will never bestow the blessings which he has here promised. Nor can it refer to the righteous dead; for they utter no such exclamations of despondency. They never say, " Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts." But this is the language of many living Israelites who are trampled in the dust-who are buried in the graves of sorrow and oppression-and who are almost ready to abandon the hope of the promise made unto their fathers. For the encouragement of such, was this vision given and interpreted. In it they have an assurance, as plain as language can make it, that their present distress will not continue for ever; that their fetters will soon be broken, their graves opened, and they themselves restored to all the pleasures, the honors, and the immunities of Palestine regained.

This, then, sustains with a very high degree of probability, if not with absolute certainty, the exposition which we have given of the first clause of the second verse and twelfth chapter of the Book of Daniel. The harmony of this narrative and Ezekiel's vision, is certainly very remarkable. They are both metaphorical--they relate to the same people-their antecedents are the same, and also their consequents, so far as revealed. Daniel says, the Israelites will all be delivered, and Ezekiel says, their graves will be opened; Daniel says, many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, and Ezekiel says, they shall come up out of their graves; Daniel says, this awakening from the dust of the earth will occur when God shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people; which seems to imply that it will consist either in their full restoration to all the joys and pleasures of Palestine, or at least in their general revival immediately antecedent to this event; and Ezekiel says, they shall, after their resurrection, be gathered out of all countries into their own land.

We, therefore, conclude, that these two inspired witnesses refer to the same series of events--that they both describe, under the figure of a resurrection from the dead, the general revival of the oppressed Israelites in the lands of their dispersion; which will, however, be consummated only by their return to Palestine and their re-organization in the land that God will again cause to flow with milk and honey.

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THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.

THE clear intimation of the Scriptures is that all men are led either by the flesh or by the Spirit. The guidance of one leads man to wickedness, corruption, infamy, and everlasting destruction. The other to glory, honor, peace, and life eternal. There can be no mistake with us in determining by which we are guided. The spirit of the gospel is as distinct from the will of the flesh, as noonday from midnight gloom. "By their fruits you shall know them," says our blessed Saviour. Vain and empty professions, without a genuine faithful determination of the whole man to God, are wicked and worthless. In Christ Jesus we are new creatures, with hearts renewed, quickened, and made alive by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Being born of God, and having purified our souls in obeying the truth, every purpose to follow the flesh is quickly cut short, and we permit sin not to dwell in us. Guided by the Spirit of Christ, we manifest the fruits of that Spirit. These the Apostle most distinctly sets forth to the Galatians, (v. 22-23.) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law." When any people, in the fear of God, and in honor of the authority of Christ, are endeavoring to produce these fruits, as sure as there is truth in the word of Heaven they are the people of God, beloved and accepted of him.

It is a most ruinous notion that people can be in the body of Christ without manifesting a single fruit of the gospel; that they can day after day, and week after week, live in utter indifference to their solemn vows of consecration to God. If Christianity does not make us a better people, there is no use in it. There is no hope of heaven for us except upon an upright, faithful, and patient devotion to the things of God. It is in fact the great matter of this age-to induce men and women who profess to believe the gospel to live the gospel-to bring forth, not on stated occasions or in times of much feeling, but through seasons of outward coldness and depression, the fruits of peace and righteousness.

The grace of God manifested in Christ Jesus is the source of all our strength, confidence, joy, hope, and love. Trusting in Him as our Saviour, and daily toiling with unceasing vigilance for the cause of our Master, the fruits of the Spirit manifest themselves in all the words and acts of our lives. We love Him who has so richly loved us, and we love his people for His sake. We have joy

in our Christian life, springing from our acceptance with God, and our hope of eternal life. Peace dwells in our hearts, we being reconciled to God through the obedience of the gospel. We are forbearing toward our fellow creatures of earth, knowing that without the mercy of Heaven we were altogether hopeless and miserable. An earnest, sincere goodness exhibits itself in all our relations with our fellow beings; faithfulness to God and man, meekness in our tempers, and temperance in curbing every unlawful desire, and in following in the footsteps of our Heavenly Exemplar. Thus living, young and old become an intelligent, earnest and godly people, ready at all times with deeds of true kindness and gentle and fitly spoken words, to commend to all the wisdom and benevolence of the glorious mission of the gospel. But if on the contrary we serve the flesh, we will reap its rewards. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. He that sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. We cannot serve two masters, my brethren. The honors, the wealth and distinction of this world are not the things of God. And in setting our affections upon these things, the sure hope of a better life takes its flight for ever. It is a vain delusion to hope for glorious rewards of a Christian life, upon a barren pretext that we are nominally members of a church. Jesus has promised to reward men upon no such condition. The heavenly welcome, "Come ye blessed of my Father," will be to those only who have brought forth the fruits of the gospel and manifested the works of Christian love. "I was a hungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye clothed me, I was sick and ye visited me, I was in prison and ye came unto me. ." For these acts done in obedience to the law of love in Christ Jesus, the faithful servant of God will be permitted to "inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world." W. L.

EARTH'S PUREST JOYS.

Oh! if there's aught on earth might claim
High kindred with the joys of Heaven,
'Tis surely when we feel within

The secret bliss of having striven,
With open hands and heart sincere,
Unfetter'd with a selfish fear,
To lighten misery on its way
Laden with cares, dried up the tears
That sorrow rains, the hungry fed,
The naked cloth'd, dispell'd their fears,
Plucked from the lava streams of vice
The frail and erring of our race;
Call'd into being thoughts that speak
The better feelings of the heart,
Made them to feel that Virtue gives
More lasting joys than all the art
That Vice employs. Deeds such as these
Rise far above the things that please
The passing hour. Fame's loudest blast,
Lust's sweetest draught, a sceptre's sway,

A nation's glory, and its wealth,
Leave but their dross, and pass away;
But deeds of kindness still remain

In memory's gaze without a staiu.

NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE-No. I.

BY DR. RICHARDSON.

IN a recent number we endeavored | to direct attention to a very common and a very unfortunate error of the religious world, which consists in supposing doctrine to be the object of the Christian faith, when, in reality, Christ is the object; thus making the Christian faith doctrinal, when, in fact, it is personal. We showed, from the express language of the Scriptures, that true Christian faith is simply belief in Christ-a trusting in Christ, and that it has nothing to do with the reception of doctrinal tenets, such as are propounded in Protestant creeds.

Regarding this error as of the utmost importance, since it is the basis of all Protestant partyism, and the chief cause of the inefficiency of the modern profession of Christianity, we would earnestly commend it to the careful consideration of the reader; and would beg leave here to present, in connection with what we have already said, some reflections on the nature of the Christian doctrine, in order to detain his attention a little longer on the general subject, and also to prevent certain misconceptions, to which our views are liable.

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In speaking of "doctrines," above, we would be understood as having respect to what are usually termed " religious tenets." In a wide sense, doctrine signifies merely teaching, and in this sense facts themselves are matters of doctrine; that is to say, they are taught or communicated. But in the theological, and what has now, unfortunately, become the popular sense, both 66 doctrine" and doctrines" indicate the tenets of a particular religious system, or some abstract and theoretical dogmas, addressed mainly or entirely to the intellectual part of our nature. They are certain "views" taken of what is considered " religious truth," and this truth itself being speculative, the views" taken of it are mere theories about religion; arranged inferences, or systems of religious ideas. We have, thus, doctrines or theories of the Divine nature, of the Divine government, of faith, of conversion, of justification, of future destiny, of church order, &c.

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Now, it is very far from our present

purpose to controvert any supposed religious truth, or to question the soundness of any doctrine based upon it. Neither would we be understood as doubting the propriety of holding “religious views," or of having these clearly defined and stated. Unquestionably, the propositions contained in what are termed the "evangelical doctrines," acknowledged by most of the Protestant denominations, however sometimes awkwardly expressed, and confused in scholastic jargon or sectarian cant, are, nevertheless, fairly deducible, as to their substantial import, from Scripture premises, and some of them might be expressed in the very terms of Scripture. Our inquiry is not, whether, in the general or the particular, "religious doctrine" be true, but whether such doctrines or "tenets" do really constitute what may scripturally, and hence properly, be considered the Christian doctrine. That they do not form the object of the Christian faith, we have already shown, and we will now endeavor to prove that they are just as far from constituting THE CHRISTIAN

DOCTRINE.

And just here, I would remark, that I feel it exceedingly difficult to render myself understood in relation to this particular question by those on whose attention it has a special claim. But the difficulty does not arise from the nature of the subject, or from the want of any facility of expression, but from the peculiar modes of thought to which those referred to have become habituated in respect to religion. So thoroughly has the Protestant mind been imbued with the notion that the saving efficacy of religion depends upon the accuracy of our views of it, and so completely is it preoccupied with doctrinal questions and controversies, that it seems almost incapable of entertaining simple views of Christianity, or of contemplating, with just perception, the character of this institution, as it was originally presented to the world by the ministry of the apostles. It seems to be taken for granted, that the errors introduced into Christianity, in its early history, have occasioned such a doctrinal fermentation throughout the entire sub

stance of Divine truth, that this has | lost all its original sweetness and power to nourish the soul, and that it is now only fit to be distilled in the alembic of systematic theology, to obtain the intoxicating and maddening spirit of sectarism, or the nauseous acerbity of religious bigotry and intolerance. Oh! there are few who seem to have power to ignore the present and the past controversies about religion; to renounce the tyranny of mental habits; to rise above the influences of religious associations and training, and seek, with honest hearts and earnest sincerity, the original and uncorrupted fountain of Divine knowledge!

There is, again, another matter which renders the difficulty, just mentioned, still greater, viz. that as a necessary consequence of a departure from scriptural ideas, our religious vocabulary has become greatly changed from that of apostolic times, and it is scarcely possible to use the latter any longer so as to be understood. New terms have been introduced in countless numbers, and Scripture words and phrases have received senses and applications wholly novel and foreign to those which they possess in the Book of God; or these have been so curtailed or so expanded that the real value of the expression can no longer be determined. The sterling coin of truth, stamped with a Divine impress, has been mutilated by the file of the sectary, or debased by the alloy of the theorist, so that it is no longer current even with those, who, though they may still recognize a portion of the image and superscription which it bears, can never, by its reception, sanction such corruption of the currency of Heaven.

The question before us now, is one directly of this nature. It is an inquiry into the scriptural meaning and application of a scripture term; and, as we proceed with the investigation, and contrast the primitive with the modern uses of the words "doctrine" and "doctrines," our subject will itself present a clear illustration of that condition of our religious vocabulary to which we have just adverted.

ecclesiastical authority. To speak of a religious doctrine, is to speak of some special tenet which is thus stated and embraced as a distinct proposition by a religious party. And as these "tenets" are very numerous, we have this word doctrine oftener in the plural than in the singular. We have the doctrines of Arminius, the doctrines of Calvin, the doctrines of Universalism, &c. &c.

In the Scriptures, however, in striking contrast with modern usage, the word doctrine, in the singular, though of frequent occurrence, is never, in one single instance, applied to a particular tenet or dogma; and, what is worthy of special notice, whenever it is used in the plural, when of course it does embrace particular opinions or usages, it is always employed in a bad sense. Hence we have before us, in the outset, the remarkable fact that, in Scripture, while no "doctrine," in the special modern sense of the word, is ever taught or recommended, all "doctrines" in the plural are condemned, and Christians are warned against them. Thus, those are censured who "teach for doctrines the commandments of men;" who "give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils," and who are carried about with diverse and strange doctrines ;" but, in no place, do we have mention made of "doctrines which are to be received as true. We read in Theology of the "doctrines" of Luther, of Zwingle, of Calvin; but we never read, in the Scriptures, of the doctrines of Christ.

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The word dogma also, we may here incidentally remark, which is now used interchangeably with "doctrine” or "tenet," and indicates an intellectual view or doctrinal notion, has, in Scripture, a totally different meaning, being applied there to an established law or enactment having respect to conduct, and not to belief. In some profane writers, and in a theological sense, it occasionally signifies an opinion, or mental decision, but, for the most part, it is used in reference to a legal decision-a law of the civil authority; as a decree of the king or of the senate, and always has respect to something to It will not, we presume, be disputed be performed. In this sense, it is conthat these words are now, as we have stantly used in the Scriptures, and has stated, in their religious use, almost never any reference to men's opinions. always indicative of some settled opin-Thus, Luke ii. 1, "There went out a ions or dogmas propounded by some decree (dogma) from Cæsar, that all