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THE PHILOSOPHY OF “GETTING RELIGION.”
TTIRST in order, let us ascertain what is meant by the phrase, “getting religion.” All will concede that.it is not a Scriptural phrase,
but the term religion is. Etymologically, the word religion means, to re
bind, to bind again. If the term be applied to persons, this meaning
suggests several ideas : i. A person to be bound again ; 2. A person
to whom he shall be bound again; 3. That the person to be bound has
been loosed; 4. A bond. If we consider this word historically and
theologically, all these thoughts find in it an authorized symbol.
Under this view of the term, to say that a man “gets religion,” con
veys no definite conception. If then, we would arrive at the current
meaning of the phrase, we must consult the usus loquendi—the usual
mode of speaking, past or present. Inasmuch as words and phrases
are the signs of ideas, and! because neither this phrase nor its
synonym was used in apostolic times, we have evidence, prima facie,
that the idea.3is of post-apostolic origin. Hence, on theological
grounds, our jealousy of it may be justified.
The usus loquendi, then and now, assigns to the word religion a
meaning which Webster thus expresses: “ Theology, as a system of
doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; a system of faith
and worship.” The proper reception of the Christian doctrine, as a
rule of life, binds a man to God in covenant relationship. The term,
therefore, ordinarily relates to the system which a man receives under
the idea of a bond. This is one of the thoughts growing out of the
etymology of the term. But usage has made this the paramount idea.
Can it be, then, that to “get religion” is to possess one’s self with
the Christian system of truth? Surely not. Then there must be
some idea involved by the term, as phrased, different both from its
etymological and ordinary sense.
It is certain that this phrase is eminently peculiar to the litera
ture of a special class of religionists; particularly those who adopt
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the “anxious-seat” as an instrumentality to facilitate conversion.
They evidently mean, by the phrase, a subjective or psychological
experience—a sudden revulsion of the emotions from a more or less
profound depression, through conviction of sin and fear of its conse
quences, to a high state of exultation and joy, on account of pardon.
It must not be supposed that a psychological experience is peculiar
to this class, although some, under the influence of this system, have
denounced others as “ head religionists;” for we must believe that
every one who becomes reconciled to God has an experience pecu
liarly his own. But from the fact that, under this system, this ex
perience is sought for by peculiar methods as the direct gift of the
Holy Spirit, and as having a priceless value as the evidence of par
don, it becomes the paramount object of the sinner’s seeking. And
as this revulsion, by a singular use of the word, is called religion,
naturally enough the obtainment of it is called “getting religion.”
With others, the objective point is not “getting religion,” but getting
themselves into' harmony with religion, or the Christian system,
knowing that if they can effect this, their emotions will take care of
themselves. Hence, they do not need to coin a new phrase to ex
press a new religious idea, but simply to use the Scriptural term,
reconciliation.
INFLUENCE OF THEORIES.
Every theory determines its own methods and inspires its own
literature. The literature of the theory now referred to, is character
ized by such expressions as “ experimental religion,” “ seed of grace,”
“grace of God in the heart,” “grace of faith,” “getting the power,”
“ getting through,” “ soundly converted,” “ hopefully converted,” “ I
feel to thank God,” “ I feel to do right,” “ I know that I am a child
of God, because I feel it.” The emotions are first, last, and all the
time. They become the standard of truth, as well as duty. And if,
under the law of affinities, the most abundant harvests of converts are
not gathered from the emotional classes, there would be occasion to
revise all our systems of mental philosophy.
Nor is it surprising that there should be a perplexing confusion
of Scriptural terms, in order to adjust them to a system whose central
thought places its advocates under the necessity of coining so many
unscriptural words and phrases, in order to furnish it a lingual habi
tation and a name. The terms conversion, regeneration, change of
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heart, born again, are modified by the phrase “getting religion,” or
made its synonyms ; generally, the latter.
Were it not for the logical and theological connections of the idea
of “ getting religion,” we might tolerate it as a comparatively inoffen
sive affair. But just here we hesitate. It is affirmed that it is the
immediate—without means—direct work of the Holy Spirit; that
saving faith is an inspiration by the Holy Spirit, as the writer re
cently heard in a discourse by a prominent minister.
The necessity for this position is laid in a theory of the fall of
man—in .the doctrine of total native depravity, as the hereditament
from Adam of every human being; that this corruption of man’s na
ture is such, that “he can not turn and prepare himself, by his own
natural strength, to faith and calling upon God, . . . without the
grace of God, by Christ, preventing [anticipating] us, that we may
have a good will ” (see M. E. Discipline, Arts, vii, viii) ; that man
can not exercisesaving faith when he hears the Gospel, because of
natural inability inherited; that the Holy Spirit must directly im
part the power.
Hence, a distinguished writer in the Methodist
Quarterly, of A. D. 1869, page 266, says, “The method of Meth
odism is inspiration, in distinction from
The'larger Catechism (questions and answers 25, 26, 27, and 67,)
avows the same doctrine of original sin, with the necessity for Spirit
impact, in order to predetermine man’s will to the exercise of saving
faith. In accordance with which, Dr. Rice, in Debate with Alexander
Campbell, page 672, says: “ Every thing has its nature. The lion,
however young, has its nature. . # . Plant two trees in the same
soil, and let them be watered by the same stream, and one will
produce sweet fruit and the other bitter. They possess different na
tures.” From these comparisons, we learn that man’s nature since
the fall differs from his nature before the fall, as a lion’s from a lamb’s
nature, or as the nature of a peach-tree from that of a crab-apple
tree. But man’s nature before the fall was created by God, and was
a human nature. He fails to tell who created his second nature, and
of what kind it is. Its creator must have been God, man, or the
devil. If God, then every creature of God is not good. If the devil,
then one thing was made without the Word. If man, then why can
he not new-create himself? That Dr. Rice understands his stand
ards to teach that God’s original creative power is exerted in regen
eration, is clear from page 635 : “Now, if God could originally create
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man holy without words and arguments, who shall presume to assert
that he can not. create him anew, and restore his lost image ?” This
he said, in order to show the possibility of infant moral regeneration,
which, but for the logical demands of a theory, no one need attempt
to prove, since the Savior has said, “ Of such is the kingdom of
heaven.” When Mr. Campbell charged that Dr. Rice’s theory made
every conversion a miracle, he was met by an emphatic denial. But
the logic of a system will sometimes crop out through advocates who
are not constrained by controversial considerations. Hence, in his
■ Early Years of Christianity,” page 24, Dr. E. Pressense declares
that the Church, “born of a miracle,' by a miracle lives. Founded
upon the great miracle of redemption, it grows and is perpetuated by
the ever-repeated miracle of conversion.”
We would not be understood as disparaging the terms conversion,
regeneration, born again, change of heart, being healed, new creation,
in their Scriptural usage; nor the eminently Scriptural idea that the
Holy Spirit is the efficient agent in regeneration; but we do most
courageously object to any theory which requires such a set of
exegetical laws as makes these beautiful figures mutually destructive,
and arrays them all against every man’s consciousness and the analogy
of faith. For example, if the sinner is dead, in the strained sense
put upon this figure, how can he, under another figure, be diseased
and capable of cure ? If he must be created anew, according to and
in the manner this theory demands, how can he be born again ?,
RATIONAL VIEW.
That a revulsion of the emotions, called “getting religion,” does
occur, as is claimed, the writer sincerely believes. It is not a ques
tion of fact, but of the explanation of the fact. Those who question
the fact, speak unwisely; for this would be to assume that many of
the most estimable men are guilty of hypocrisy and downright false
hood—the only effect of which would be to shut the ear against
reason, to turn the edge of argument before whetting, to clothe the
claimants with a coat of mail more impenetrable than Greek or Ro
man warrior ever wore. If this revulsion is the effect of an imme
diate impact of the Holy Spirit, then we must concede all its logical
and theological antecedents and consequents. If it can be accounted
for without transcending the bounds of natural causes and natural
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laws, then the opponent must cease to demand for the fact a solely
supernatural explanation, or stand self-convicted of fanaticism.
Let no one deny our right to deal with this subject philosophic
ally ; for Rev. C. G. Finney, late President of Oberlin College, has
defended it upon philosophic grounds. He, more than any other
man, perhaps, was instrumental in promoting the great revivals which
swept the country forty years ago. His staid, quondam Presbyterian
brethren objected to certain “ new measures ” used by him to promote
revivals; one of which was the anxious-seat. In his “ Revival Lec
tures,” page 253, he replies: “Of late, this measure has met with
more opposition than any of the others. What is the great objec
tion ? I can not see it. The design of the anxious-seat is undoubt
edly philosophical, and according to the laws of mind'.'
Singular how extremes meet. Mr. Finney swung off to an oppo
site extreme from the prevailing theories of conversion, and adopted
the anxious-seat as a measure to facilitate conversion, because its
design is philosophical, and in accordance with the laws of mind, while
others held on to the old theories, and adopted it for the same
purpose, disclaiming its design. Whgr^ consistency lies, the reader
must pronounce. Chide us not, then,, nor complain, if we at
tempt to ascertain these laws of mind, or the philosophy of “getting
religion.”
Let us look in upon a revival scene, The . sermon culminates in
an impassioned, rhetorical descpption of the sinfulness of sin, the
terrors of judgment. The peroration flames and fumes with fire and
brimstone. As the writer once heard, “ Hell is uncapped, and the
wails of the damned salute the sinnerjs earhe “ is hair-hung and
breeze-shaken over the gulf of damnation.” The imaginative, no less
than the moral, emotions are wrought up to a fearful pitch. The cry
is heard, “What must we do ?”“ Come to the anxious-seat, and the
Lord’s people will pray for you. and. the Lord will speak peace to
your souls.” They come. Preacher and people wait on them to in
struct, admonish, exhort, or entreat,jMpeach case may require, or as
the psychological condition of each may. seem to demand. “ How do
you feel ?” If the sense of guilt does not seem deep enough, the
effort is to “ break him down, so that he can neither stand nor go
or, in other words, to depress the emotions to the lowest possible
point. This done, the effort begins to “ get him through,” or to se
cure a rebound of the emotions. For this purpose, the power of
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payer and song and encouraging exhortation is called into requisiton- The penitent is addressed thus : “ Do you not believe that God
is able to save you ?” “ Is he not willing ?” “ Heaven, with all its
glories, is yours, if you will only surrender your heart to the Lord.”
“ If you will only give up all your sins; if you will only believe,
the Lord will receive you, and give you the evidence of accept
ance.” “ Ask, and you shall receive.” “ Seek, and you shall find.”
He repents, and prays, and weeps, and mourns. He asks, but
does not receive. A flash comes over him ; but it is a flash of
withering skepticism. “ Surely,” he thinks, “ if what I am told is
true, I would obtain the blessing so long and earnestly sought for.”
Some one by his side, who came long since he did, rises with a glow
ing halleluiah upon his lips. This only perplexes him the more. He,
after along struggle, is still unblessed, while the joyful convert by his
side has received the blessing after a very short struggle. The thought
steals upon his mind, “ Surely, God must be a respecter of persons ;
but if he is, the Bible is false, for it says the contrary.” Discour
aged, disheartened, and perplexed beyond measure, he sinks into
a skeptical stolidity. His friends note it. They come about him with
increased solicitude and intensified prayerfulness. One says to him:
“ This is a device of Satan to ruin you, when you were just escaping
from his power;” “Don’t give way to your doubts.” “I was just
so, says another ; “ I had a long struggle and a hard one to get relig
ion, but I finally succeeded, and I was so happy.” “ Pray on, brother ;
we will pray for you, that you may yet prevail.” “ If you will only
believe, God will speak peace to your soul.” “ Pray to the Lord to
give you faith ; to give you the victory over Satan.” His doubts
overcome, at least quieted, by the confidence he has in those who re
late their experiences, and encouraged by their earnest exhortations,
he plunges again into the struggle. Special attention is now given
him, as a brand that must be plucked from the burning. He and
others are animated for the struggle with the idea that it is a hand-tohand conflict with Satan, who is striving, with more than usual per
sistency, to keep this soul under his dominion. Victory over an
opposing foe is always sweet. Prayers go up, earnest, sincere, tearful,
agonizing prayers. Songs are inspired with the hope of impending
victory. Heaven is addressed: “Lord, send down the power.” “Come
down, and convert this poor sinner.” “ Drive back Satan to his own
native hell, and give this soul release.” “ Lord, baptize him with the
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Holy Spirit and fire.” “ Lord, pour light into this darkened soul.”
Meantime, the penitent is exhorted: “Now give up all to Christ.”
“Hold back nothing.” “Turn away from all your sins.” “Ask,
and you shall receive.” “Now, don’t you believe?” “Just believe
that you have the blessing, and you have it.” “Just believe that
God has pardoned you, and you are pardoned.” “Just rise up, and
shout glory to God, and it will be all right; you will feel happy.”
“ Open your mouth, and the Lord will put a new song into it.”
Then the altar resounds with the chorus:
“O believe him, O believe him,
O believe him, just now.
He will save you, he will save you,
He will save you, just now !”
A heavenly smile begins to chase away the sadness which has hung
like a pall over the penitent’s countenance. Before he has had time
to express a word, a score of happy voices lift the choral halleluiah,
in which he joins with his shouts of joy. “His was a mighty work
of grace.” “The Lord was merciful.” His conversion becomes the
theme of sermon and song, to incite others to seek religion.
How fortunate for the poor penitent, when he was on the verge
of infidelity, that his reasoning process was cut short and his judg
ment overborne by the solicitude of friends! Otherwise he might
have deepened skepticism into confirmed infidelity, with the contra
dictions and inconsistencies of the system. The preacher had told
him that the unregenerate can not exercise saving faith, without the
enabling power of the Holy Spirit; yet all the while he was exhorted
to believe—to believe just now. What ? That Jesus is the Son of
God ? No. He believed that already. Believe that he was a sinner ?
No. What then? Why, “just believe that you are pardoned, and
you are pardoned.” Or, otherwise, a man must believe in order to
be pardoned; still he can not, being unregenerate. Then, he is par
doned if he believes so. Then, of course, believing that he is par
doned, he will be happy, has the desired revulsion of the emotions,
or has “gotten religion.” Then, his feelings become the evidence of
pardon ; or he believes he is pardoned before he has the evidence, in
order to obtain the evidence. But did he believe without evidence
entirely ? Surely not; for that is impossible. His faith must have
rested upon the testimony of his advisers, or it was nothing but
imagination, or both combined. Of the power of the imagination,
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hear what Professor Haven, of Amherst, says in his “ Mental Philos
ophy,” page 153. This is a standard text-book in many of our insti
tutions of learning:
“ Errors of Imagination.—Undoubtedly there are errors, mistakes, prejudices,
illusions of the imagination ; mistakes in judgment, in reasoning, in the affairs of
practical life, the source of which is to be found in some undue influence, some
wrong use of the imagination. We mistake its conceptions for realities. We
dwell upon its pleasing visions till we forget the sober face of truth. We fancy
pleasures, benefits, results, which will never be realized, or we look upon the dark
and dreary side of things, till all nature wears the somber hue of our disordered
fancy.”
It would seem that Professor Haven must have had his eye upon
the anxious-seat when he penned this paragraph.
While presenting the foregoing description of anxious-seat
conversion, the thought occurred to the writer that he might be
charged with an attempted caricature; for, he is free to confess that,
if he had not carefully noted the facts, it would be difficult to regard
it as a representation of sober reality. But those who have frequented
such scenes, will confess that he might have colored the picture even
more highly, without violence to truth. He is not conscious of “ hav
ing set down aught in malice.”
With this procedure before us, we propose to deduce those mental
and emotional laws which should be recognized in this process of
“getting religion,” and under the operation of which it is believed
the fact may be rationally explained. In order to appreciate this
psychological experience in its varied manifestations, it must be pre
mised that the intensity of emotional activity depends largely upon the
strength and development of the moral sense and the imagination;
that the intensity of emotional activity, caused under the influence
of the imagination, is ordinarily greater than that produced under the
influence of the moral sense. But if both the imagination and the
moral sense are involved, as is generally, if not always, the case in
religious excitements, we may expect an intensity of emotional ac
tivity correspondent to the united strength and development of both
these faculties, only modified by the degree of precision and force
with which the objects producing the excitement are presented to the
mind, and also the nature of the objects; for, if the objects be such
as are not trivial, but directly connected with our highest interests
for time and eternity, they would naturally command our most ear
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nest solicitude. Hence, we would most confidently expect, what is a
notorious fact, that the results of revivals, conducted according to the
anxious-seat method, should depend largely upon the rhetorical and
emotional power of the minister. If he be a man of warm, impulsive
nature, with a vivid imagination and good pulpit address, so that he
can clothe his transcendently important themes with the chameleon
changes of the sublime and the sorrowful, the terrific and the beau
tiful, the awful, grand, or pitiful; if he can touch, every note in the
diapason of human feeling, with the exquisiteness and the dash of a
well-skilled orchestra,—then we may readily believe that great results
will be achieved. Hence, in our time, an evangelist is regarded as
little else than an expert revivalist. Let no one think, because the
writer speaks thus, that he is opposed to revivals. Far from it. If
procured and conducted in accordance with the Word of God, they
are great instrumentalities for good. But it is the abuse of them, by
pressing them into the service of a human system, that has well-nigh
turned the world against them.
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL LAWS.
I. We most readily imagine or believe that which is in accordance
with our desires.
II. The facility of faith is variable in different persons, on account
of constitutional peculiarities, and in the same person at different
times, on account of associations, personal habits, or other causes.
III. Confidence in the veracious character of witnesses predisposes
the mind to faith in their testimony.
IV. Imagination and faith exercise a controlling power over the
emotions. We feel as we imagine or believe.
V. The imagination or belief of a falsehood affects the emotions
in precisely the same manner and to the same degree as the truth
upon any given subject, provided the falsehood appears to be truth.
VI. If the emotions be borne out of their normal condition to any
extreme of intense activity, nature demands a revulsion, or a gradual
subsidence, at the peril of insanity.
VII. Generally, if the emotions be intensely excited under the
influence of the imagination or moral sense, or both combined,
bodily agitations will appear, particularly in persons of a nervous
temperament.
VIII. Generally, emotional excitement is contagious.
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These laws of mental and emotional activity are not submitted
as applicable only to religious revivals, but to mental and emotional
activity under all circumstances. Without undertaking to prove or
illustrate them, which would be a pleasant pastime, if space allowed,
the writer appeals to the consciousness of every reader for their jus
tification, confident, also, that the observation of every man will afford
an abundance of facts from every-day life to fully illustrate them.
APPLICATION OF THE ABOVE LAWS.
Let us recur to the penitent whom we left, a little while since,
filled with the new-born joy of “getting religion,” that we may trace
his psychological experience, to ascertain whether or not it was gov
erned and explainable by these laws.
Why were his emotions so depressed, even to the very verge of
an anguishing despair, till he could say, “ The pains of hell get hold
on me?” Was it because of an immediate impact of the Holy Spirit
upon his spirit? Or, was it because he believed himself to be a sin
ner, exposed to the wrath of God ? Because he saw, through faith in
the Word of God, a hell yawning to receive him, and his imagination
pictured the woefulness of its torments to his mind. Because he had
begun to realize that he deserved it all, for sinning so long against a
Holy God, whose matchless love, in the death of Christ, he had so
long despised. Because, too, not only his own faith and imagina
tion had shown him these things, but the faith and imagination of
preacher and people had assisted his own vision. His faith and
imagination being intensely active, his emotions were agonizingly
depressed. (See Law IV.)
But, says the objector, if the Spirit of God had not been striving
with him, he would not have felt this deep conviction. Grant it. But
did the Spirit strive, by direct impact, or through intervening instru
mentalities, in accordance with the laws of our mental and moral con
stitution ? This is the point. If in the former manner, then his
conviction had no moral character, for he must have been without
will in the matter. If in the latter manner, then his own agency was
involved; and conversion is not a miracle, but to be effected in a
rational way, although none the less by a supernatural, efficient cause.
Why did the penitent’s feelings rebound so suddenly? and why
did they not rebound sooner? For, perhaps, he had been “seeking
religion” for weeks—may be months. In favor of this revulsion several
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principles conspired: I. He earnestly desired and sought for the par
don of his sins. (See Law I.) 2. He had confidence in his religious
advisers, who testified that God would pardon him, and gave their
own experience in proof. (See Law III.) 3. Nature demands a re
bound of the emotions when borne away to a given extreme. (See
Law VI.) 4. Many around him were happy, having recently “gotten
religionothers were happy in the demonstrative joy of the new
converts, and in the faith of their own salvation. (See Law VIII.)
Why, then, should he not find the object of his seeking sooner ? His
faith and imagination combined to depress his emotions; why did
they not, under these seemingly favorable circumstances, combine to
exalt them to the acme of peace and joy? Here is the puzzle, if con
version, or “getting religion,” is an effect of the direct, immediate
operation of the Holy Spirit. Does not the Holy Spirit aim at and de
sire every sinner’s conversion ? Had not many already been converted,
who came to the anxious-seat long since this penitent came ? Why,
then, is he not converted sooner ? Perhaps this explanation may avail
us: The Word of God testifies plainly against sin, showing us also its
sinfulness and its punishment; also, of the love of God, and the death
of Jesus for the sinner. The Holy Spirit had laid a broad foundation
for the penitent’s faith in regard to his lost condition without Christ.
That same Word had deigned to assist his imagination by such rep
resentations of the fearful consequences of sin as were calculated to
give activity to his imagination. We can readily understand how he
was “pricked to the heart;” how he was prostrated under a sense of
guilt and fearful apprehension. But in vain does the poor man search
the Word of God for a promise of pardon connected with the anxiousseat. In vain does he search the Divine record for an example of
conversion according to this method. The broad foundation where
he rested his faith for conviction, is now wanting. He is dependent
upon the testimony of men, that God will forgive his sins in this
way. The fact that, in giving his experience, he may rest his faith
upon some promise contained in the Scriptures, does not change the
fact that the testimony of men is the real basis of his faith; for, if
there is no promise of God connected with the anxious-seat, or if
this method of conversion is unscriptural, then, of course, all promises
construed with it are misapplied, and therefore cease to be the testi
mony of God, and become simply the testimony of men,—just as the
Scripture quoted by Satan, when tempting the Savior, ceased to be
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the Word of God, and, as then applied, became simply a positive
falsehood. Perhaps the convert was like Thomas, constitutionally
incredulous; not inclined to believe, ordinarily, without palpable evi
dence. Perhaps he may have become slow to believe the testimony
of men, because his confidence had been violently shattered or weak
ened by human treachery and deception. Perhaps his own personal
habits may have replaced a confiding disposition. (See Law II.) If
any or all these things were true of him, it is easily explained why
he did not “ get religion ” sooner. Still, the very fact that he “ got
religion” at all, indicates a preponderance of the favorable influences
over the adverse. Now, the revulsion being at last secured, perhaps
under a tremendous pressure of the imagination, combined with
what strength of faith he was able to command, may be carried up to
the most intense emotional excitement, producing bodily agitations
of the most astonishing violence; or, the physical powers sometimes
whelmed with the emotional flood, the man sinks into a semi-con
scious state, when he is said to be in a trance. (See Law VII.)
Then the mind is given up to the most delightful visions. This used
^to be regarded as evidence of an unusual display of the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Seeing that similar revolutions of the feelings, as well as bodily
agitations, sometimes take place where no one contends that the
Holy Spirit has any thing to do with them, suppose it should turn
out that the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with many of these sup
posed “ sound conversions that there is a clear non causa pro causa
committed,—then they would simply fall under and be explained by
Law V. The belief or imagination of a falsehood upon any given
subject will produce precisely the same emotional effect as the truth
upon that subject, if the falsehood be accepted as truth. When Jacob
saw the blood-stained coat of his son Joseph, he accepted it as evi
dence of his death. Doubtless his imagination painted fearful and
heart-rending pictures of his son’s fatal struggle with the wild beasts.
He believed a lie. Joseph was not dead. But would his sorrow have
been more pungent and agonizing if Joseph had actually been dead?
Then, what a revulsion in his emotions when he afterward believed
him to be alive, and next to the throne of Egypt! What a culmina
tion of his joy, when the aged patriarch fell upon Joseph’s neck and
kissed him, amid the splendors of his royal estate!
The pious Catholic goes to confessional with a heavy heart; con
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fessing his sins, he receives the declaration of absolution from the
priest, and departs a happy man. The pagan, too, distressed and
agonized by a sense of guilt, offers his atoning sacrifice, and then re
joices with a joy unspeakable. Men under delusion may believe a lie,
be happy, and yet be lost.
RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM.
The worst is not yet. According to Law VI, nature demands a
subsidence of excessive emotional excitement, whether the emotion
be pleasant or painful. The new convert naturally measures the evi
dence of his pardon by the nature and volume of his feelings. As
the volume of joy diminishes and temptations crowd upon him, he
begins to sing, in a doleful tone:
“ ’Tis a point I long to know—
Oft it causes anxious thought:
Do I love the Lord or no ?
Am I his, or am I not?”
'-
Sentiments about as unscriptural as the system which inspired them.
What wonder that these doubts have ended so often in an incor
rigible apostasy? The Methodist, one of the ablest papers of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, declares that eighty out of every hun
dred of their converts fall away. So unstable were they, that an
other human expedient must be devised, not only unscriptural, but
anti-scriptural and ruinous,—take them on six months' trial. Every
theory works out through its appropriate forms.
Another class are made infidels because they can not “get religion.”
Failing to distinguish between religion and its abuse, they, like Gib
bon, condemn it as a whole, because of their disgust with the abuse.
Another class are made hypocrites. Under the pressure of a
public commitment, by going to the anxious-seat, they feign. what
they do not feel, or studiously conceal what, if revealed, would forfeit
the good opinion of others. It is not averred, here, that there are
more hypocrites among those who believe in the anxious-seat than
among others, but that with a certain class there is a direct tendency
in the system to produce hypocrisy; while, under the simple Gospel,
if men are hypocrites, they must be so despite the system.
There is still another ipore pitiable class—those who, having been
long under conviction and fruitless agony, failing to find relief, and
concluding that they have committed the unpardonable sin, under
♦
�I
14
The Philosophy of “ Getting Religion!'
the operation of Law VI, become hopelessly insane. Asylum records
will abundantly corroborate this statement:
Another fearful result is a wide-spread indifference to all religion.
Apostasy is the rule ; or those who remain steadfast are only as one
to five, according to the New York Methodist. The last state of the
apostate is, uniformly, worse than the first. It is always more diffi
cult to stir his religious consciousness. What, then, must be the
effect upon the eighty out of every hundred converts—to say nothing
of the indurating influence of so much apostasy upon the public
mind—but indifference to all religion ? Of course, apostasy may and
does occur under any system; but it is one thing to facilitate it by a
system, and quite another thing to have it occur against a system.
A CORRUPTION OF THE GOSPEL.
President Finney admits it. On page 254, after contending that
it is necessary to have a test for the sinner’s faith, he further says:
“The Church has always felt it necessary to have something of the kind to
answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles, baptism answered this pur
pose. The Gospel was preached to the people, and then all those who were will
ing to be on the side of the Lord, were called on to be baptized. It held the
precise place that the anxious-seat does now, as a public manifestation of their
determination to be Christians.”
Baptism is confessedly a Divine command. Who authorized its
substitution, for any purpose, with the anxious-seat ? That is a small
matter, however, if it is only a “ mere form',' or if only “ something of
the kind" of the anxious-seat. In apostolic times “ the Gospel was
preached, and those who were willing to be on the side of the Lord,
were called on to be baptized!' Now they are called to the anxiousseat. “It held the precise place that the anxious-seat does now!'
Exactly. Hence a new Gospel. “ He that believeth and cometh to
the anxious-seat, shall be saved.” “ Repent and come to the anxiousseat, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission
of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” “And he
commanded them to come to the anxious-seat, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ.” “Arise and come to the anxious-seat, and wash away
your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” “ The like figure whereunto even the anxious-seat doth also now save us.” “ Know you not
that so many of you as have come to the. anxious-seat, have put on
Christ ?” Is this a perversion of the Gospel, or another gospel ? If
the anxious-seat occupies the place of baptism, of course it is a com
«
�The Philosophy of “ Getting Religion'.'
15
mand of God, and the promises which He attached to baptism, must
be attached to it; hence, baptism is pushed out of its place in the
plan of pardon. It becomes a mere “ Church ordinance,” to be
changed at pleasure, as to its form and uses. (See Bishop Gilbert’s
“Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles,” page 251.)
SANCTIFICATION,
Otherwise Perfectionism, is simply anxious-seat conversion in extenso. It is a subjective, or psychological experience, produced in the
same manner as “ getting religion,” and explainable by the same laws.
It is less frequently enjoyed, however, because the people generally
have less faith in the doctrine; hence, fewer persons attempt the
experiment.
THE WAY OUT OF CONFUSION.
“ Preach the Word.” Show the people their sins and their con
sequences. The love of God in Christ manifested. If they believe,
and are “pricked in the heart,” or become convicted of sin, and cry
out, “ What must we do ?” tell them, as of old, “ Repent and be bap
tized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission
of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do not
seek to work up the feelings by artificial means. Do not call into
play the pride of character by public commitment, before the heart is
ready. How often do we hear the preacher say, “ Now, if you wish to
go to heaven [who does not ?], rise up.” “ If you wish the prayers
of the Lord’s people [who does not ?], rise up.” “ Now, all who
have voted that they wish to go to heaven, that they desire the
prayers of the Lord’s people, come to the anxious-seat.” Ah, the
trick! the trick !! thinks many a person who has voted, and instantly
he is filled with disgust. People will endure, or even applaud, strategy ;
but not in religion.
Again: the religious sensibilities always shrink from public expo
sure, unless the will is won over. To have one’s incipient religious
experience displayed before the prurient gaze, or to be bandied
about by the gossiping tongue, is exceedingly repulsive to a person
whose sense of propriety is well developed. Many a sinner’s thoughts
have been drawn off in the attempted reconciliation of himself to this
unscriptural procedure, when they ought to have been engaged in the
work of reconciling himself to God. Let the struggle begin and go
�16
The Philosophy of “ Getting Religion!'
forward to a final issue without ostentation, then it will be time for
public commitment to Christianity. If the friendly counsel of proper
persons may be given quietly, to lead the soul out of its entangle
ments, and break its sinful alliances, it is well. Reason, propriety,
philosophy, and Scripture concur to demand this course.
If the subject is ignorant of Christ as the Savior, tell him first, as
Paul did the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
shall be saved.” As soon as he expresses a willingness to receive
Christ, “speak to him the Word of the Lord,” for his enlightenment
as to the Lord’s means of salvation, and through repentance he will
soon find his way to baptism, and come again rejoicing through faith.
(See Acts,xvi.) If he be a believing penitent, like Saul at Damas
cus, tell him to “ arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling
on the name of the Lord.” In short, give to each, according to his
condition, a portion of the Word suited to his case, in due season.
Never mind your theories ; speak the Word.
But, says the objector, must we rule out a psychological expe
rience ? Must we simply have a “head-religion,” without any heart
in it ? No ; by no means. Nor will there be the least danger, if we
cling to the apostolic methods. The revulsion of the emotions from
the pungency of conviction to the exhilaration of joy will always be
secured, if the sinner really believes that he is pardoned, although he
may believe a falsehood. (See Laws IV, V.) It matters not upon what
kind of testimony his faith may rest. If, then, he be led to a hearty,
intelligent submission to Christ, according to the Gospel plan, his
belief that he is pardoned will rest, not upon the testimony of men,
nor upon imagination, but upon the express promises of God, which
can never fail. The Pentecostan converts began to be glad as soon
as they learned from Peter that they could be saved. “ They gladly
received the Word,” and were baptized the same day. But they were
more joyful still, afterward, when they were able, through their faith
and obedience, to appropriate the Divine promises. Then “ they, con
tinuing daily, with one accord, in the temple, and breaking of bread
from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness
of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people.”
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The philosophy of "getting religion"
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Hobbs, Alvin Ingels [1832-1900]
Description
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Place of publication: Cincinatti
Collation: 16 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Republished from Christian Quarterly. Attribution from Virginia Clark catalogue.
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[s.n.]
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[1873?]
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G5351
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The philosophy of "getting religion"), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
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English
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Philosophy
Religion
Conway Tracts
Philosophy and Religion