NUMBER III.

INDEFINITENESS OF CALVINISM.

The readers of the Christian Advocate and Journal will recollect the proposition, made to the Rev. David Metcalf, in the 8th No. of the present volume, on the subject of his review of my sermon. This proposition has not been complied with on the part of Mr. M., and according to the following extract from the New-York Evangelist, no compliance can be expected:—

“We have seen,” says the editor of the Evangelist, “in the Advocate, since Mr. Metcalf’s work was published, a letter from Dr. F., in which he shows his desire that the discussion shall still go forward. There is one condition he exacts, however, which we think impracticable. It is, that some person should be designated, by a sort of common suffrage, as the champion of Calvinism. Now the truth is, Calvinists, as a class, are rather remarkable for thinking for themselves; and of course, while there are great principles on which, as a class, they all agree, there are many things which will be held or stated differently, by different minds. Consequently, we can, each of us, defend ourselves, and defend Calvinists as a class; notwithstanding, each one may think his fellow holds some errors, and therefore, in his contest with Calvinism, Dr. F. must assume to himself the responsibility of selecting those doctrinal points and modes of statement which distinguish Calvinists as a class. And when he has found these principles, we hope he will either confute or embrace them.”

I have copied the above for the farther notice of the public, not only as a remarkable paragraph in itself, but also as having an important bearing on the present controversy. There are several things in it worthy of special notice.

In the first place we see, if other editors think with this one, and that they do, we are left to infer from their not offering their periodicals for the controversy, there is no hope that my proposition will be accepted. We then have the reason—because there is one impracticable condition. But why impracticable? The editor tells us, “Dr. F. exacts that some person should be designated by a sort of common suffrage to be the champion of Calvinism.” I cannot believe the editor means to misrepresent me; and yet he has done it. My words are, “Provided that the Calvinistic editor shall, by consenting to this arrangement, be considered as thereby acknowledging that Mr. Metcalf is a suitable man to manage the controversy on the part of the Calvinists.” Here is nothing said about a “sort of common suffrage.” In case of compliance by Mr. Leavitt, or any other editor, the only vote to be polled and counted would be his own. Not a very extensive suffrage this! And if Mr. L. thinks the condition impracticable, it must be owing to moral inability existing in his own mind, growing out of the belief that Mr. Metcalf is not a suitable person to manage this controversy. Hence it is well I took the precaution I did; for Mr. M. is a stranger to me; and I do not wish to engage in a controversy on this subject with any man who is not, by his class, considered responsible. Perhaps Mr. Leavitt knows of some one, who would be suitable, in his judgment, and who would accept of the offer; or perhaps he himself would be willing to engage in the discussion. I do not wish to confine it to Mr. M.; nor do I wish to be considered in the light of a general challenger who is seeking an adventure. The subject is an important one, and I am willing to discuss it with any candid responsible man. We were most unjustly, as I believed, accused of keeping our people in ignorance of Calvinism, and of preventing them from reading on the other side, for the base purpose of preventing them from being convinced of the truth. To render the subject fair and equal, therefore, and to wipe off this aspersion, I made the proposal; and if Mr. M. is not a suitable man, let some other be found.

But we are informed farther in this paragraph, that one great difficulty in complying with my condition is, that “Calvinists, as a class, are remarkable for thinking for themselves,” &c. If the editor designs to say, as the natural construction would imply, that the whole class are remarkable, in their character as Calvinists, for thinking and believing differently and independently of each other, then his proposition is a contradiction. They, as a class, are remarkable for not being a class at all, having no properties or qualities in common! His argument also would require this construction, because he is showing why no one could be the proper champion of the class, for the reason that, as a class, they did not think alike. If Calvinism be a general term, it includes, in its extension, all those individuals or sub-classes of individuals, and only those, that hold certain doctrines in common, and it embraces all those doctrines, and only those that are held in common by the class. If, therefore, there is any such class, then most certainly they think alike in all those things that constitute them a class; and by consequence, any one of the number, otherwise competent, would be qualified to represent and defend the class as such, however much he might differ from many of “his fellows,” in other things. If, therefore, there is any force in the argument, that it is impracticable for any one of the number bearing the name, to become the champion of the class as such, because they differ so among themselves, it must arise from the fact, that there are no “great principles” held in common among them, and, of course, there is no class. All the writer says afterward, therefore, about “great principles in which they all agree,” is mere verbiage, signifying nothing. For if we give it any meaning, it would be a contradiction of what he had stated before, and a complete nullification of the only argument adduced as a reason for not complying with my proposal. There is another reason why I think the above a fair view of this subject. In the same paragraph it is said, “Therefore, in his contest with Calvinism, Dr. F. must assume to himself the responsibility of selecting those doctrinal facts and modes of statement which distinguish Calvinists as a class.” This is more unreasonable than the requisition of Nebuchadnezzar, when he commanded the wise men to make known the dream, as well as the interpretation. Would an intelligent and ingenuous man, such as we have a right to expect a religious editor to be, give such an answer, under such circumstances, if he could have told us what Calvinism is? We have been accused, not by Mr. Metcalf only, but by Calvinists of the old school, and the new school, and all the schools, that we misrepresent them, that our preachers make it their business to misrepresent them,—that my sermon was a most scandalous misrepresentation, and that we studied to keep our people ignorant of what Calvinism is. When this is replied to, by entreating and conjuring those who bear the name of Calvinism, to tell us what it is; and when we offer to discuss the subject, in their own periodicals, and give them an opportunity to discuss it in ours, and to inform our people, in their own way, on this doctrine —a death-like silence on the subject reigns throughout the whole corps editorial; until at length the Evangelist speaks,—We cannot comply; we each and all, as a class, are so remarkable for thinking for ourselves, it is impracticable for any one to state and defend those doctrinal facts which distinguish us as a class, and therefore Dr. F. must assume to himself the responsibility of selecting them!! If Calvinists cannot agree in their own system, and cannot trust any of their fraternity to state and defend it in behalf of the class, why do they accuse us of willful misrepresentations, in stating their system? Why, in short, do they not begin to doubt whether, as a class, they have any system? It is time for those who bear the name to know, and for the public to be distinctly informed, whether there is any thing real represented by the term Calvinism? If there is, then, whether the term is a common or a proper noun? If it is a common noun, or a general name, then, what are the qualities, the properties, or doctrines designated by it? If no one can tell,—if those who “write about it, and about it,” week after week, think it impracticable to define or describe those doctrines for the class, because they think so differently, of course it follows, if the name is retained, it is not a general, but a proper name, and belongs only to individuals. And though it has been assumed by many individuals, yet it has in each case an individual definition, which by no means enters into the definition of the term, as assumed by any other individual. And therefore it is as inconsistent to talk about the class of Calvinists, as it is to talk about the class of Johns or Joshuas, and as absurd to infer that two men are in any of their real characteristics alike, because each is called Calvinist, as to argue that the editor of the Evangelist and Joshua, the son of Nun, belonged to the same class, because both are called Joshua. And this appears to me to be very nearly the true state of the case. Calvinism, as designating a class, has always been rather vague and unsettled in its definition, from the days of John Calvin himself. And this was one of the offensive objections brought against it in my sermon—an objection, however, that has been abundantly confirmed by recent events. As I wrote and published of another doctrine some years since, so I may say of Calvinism now. It is a proteus that changes its shape before one can describe it —an ignis fatuus, that changes its place before one can get his hand on it. And here I will stop to say, It will avail nothing for any one to take offence at this statement. It is not because I dislike men who are called Calvinists, that I thus speak. I know many of them personally, and esteem them highly, but of their doctrine, and their system, and their name, I must speak freely. And the best refutation they can give, is to come out if they can, and define and explain their system. I care not what shape it is presented in; I am willing to meet it. If it puts on an Arminian character and dress, like the review in the Christian Spectator, I will only ask the privilege of baptizing it anew, and giving it a legitimate name. But as there seems now little hope of being permitted to meet it in the manner proposed, it only remains that I proceed, according to promise, to “occupy the columns of the Advocate with a few numbers, touching the present Calvinistic controversy, both as relates to their own differences, and as relates to the general question between them and us.”

I cannot but think this an important moment to look into this subject. The signs of the times indicate that the spirit of inquiry is abroad, and the old platforms are shaken. In this breaking up of erroneous systems, there is danger of extremes and extravagancies, more to be dreaded, perhaps, than the old errors themselves. Hence, the necessity for every man who has the truth to be on his guard against the currents, new and unprovided for, that may otherwise drive him from his safe moorings: and hence the necessity also, that he who has weighed anchor, and is afloat upon the unexplored sea of philosophic speculation should be aware of the rocks and the quicksands on the opposite shore. An abler hand than mine is certainly needed on this occasion; such a one I hope may be found. But in the mean time I will, as I am able, say a few things, with the sincere prayer that I and my readers may be led into all truth.