Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1894-02-17


necessary az long as the world lasts
The following illustration viii show
also that we claim nothing unreasonable.
Parents give their children the natural L
life aud thus partake of the creative pow
er of God. DO we mean TO ~eny by this
that Con made us2 We know perfectly /
we'll that parents act but "a SECONDARY
AGENTS in dependence on GoD. Now as |
in the natural order Con has dscreed TO |
give US life, not directly by Himself but |
through others; so also in the new dis |
pensation He has decreed that ORDINARI- !
LY we are TO receive the spiritual life (sup
posing pardon of sin) through others
whom He has appointed His agents.
Since you so dishonestly and persis-
tently ignore and dlstOrt my arguments,
am forced to reproduce them here YER
batim:
When we remember how, both in the
old and in the new Law, God sometimes
allowed certain men to do things which
| He alone has the power to do, such "a to
heal the sick and even to raise the de-
to life again; it eau no longer be 20
cred impossible that God may a.
! tbe pOwer to forgive sins.
| What do conclude from this7 Tha.
| God has actually given that power? By
no meansl You have twice tried to faith
/ or this conclusion on me, but can as
sure you it is but brat OF your own,
! having no existence save in your own
brains which have been ndowed with an
Intelligence SO far superior to that OF the
900. 600 600 "poor deluded creatures"
That God actually did give this power l
| conclude not from the foregoing but
mark this well,-from the following:
1. From Matthew 1918, where Christ
says to His Apostles: Amen, / to you,
Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth,
shall be bound also in heaven; and wDat-
soever you shall loose upon earth, shall
be loosed also in heaven" lu these
words Christ gives his Apostles the full
est power, including also that of forgiv-
ing sins.
2. From John 2O:2I, %, %, where
Christ thus addresses His Apostles, and
be il remembered, His Apostles ALONE:
"As the Father has sent Me i also send
you. When He had said this he breathed
on them and He said to them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall for
give they are forgiven them and whose
sins you shall r>tain. they are retained" !"
. Here we are informed that 1.-THE true
T meaning of that passage is that whose
| ever sins We DECLARE or PRONOUNCE for
given they shall be
forgiven, also whosoever sins yeDE' LARE
| unforXiven they ar6
unforgiven." l answer. This is what
You say and not Christ. What right
have you TO tamper with the words OF
the Saviour and give them a meaning
which was practically unheard of for
1900 years7
/ That Christ really meant to confer the
r power OF forgiving sin on His Apostles, is
] evident from every word of His and from
every circumstance. There is question
here of that pardon of sin. 1. Whose
: author the Holy Ghost Himself is, where
fore Christ, before giving that power
} said: Receive We the Holy Ghost" that
is TO say, by your own power you can
not do so, but the Holy Ghost will work
: through you. 2. They receive the same
i power OF pardon as Christ Himself pos
8 sessed, of course dependen on Him. "Af
the Father has sent Me, L a'so aend you
2 B. The same words are used hoe
! places wheF JV1 II SAID 10 grant pa
Q ! don, whether BY Himself Immediately, 81
: medlateiy through some one else a.
} poiuted by Him. Against this we at,
;. told, that in thissolemn, plain commits
sion Christ merely directed His Apostles
to announce the conditions upon which
u that pardon was to be granted. Oh
Il what grounds, sir, you say 80, il incom
y prehensible, as surely it does not appe4
r from the words quoted above. rhe cOu
mission you speak of, was included il
o that general command Go aud teacl
o all nations, go and preach the gospel"
lie Again you objact that Christ merel.
" speaks of the pardon which we ehou
1 give those who have offended US. Wron
- again. That duty was laid before al
"a not before the Eleven only, in the sermO
on the mount, and again in the answe
'r given by Christ to st. Peter when the la
ter asked Him how often he ought 70 Ia
1 give his brother. Alec in Matt 1915
Luke 1884 as quoted by you. In thos
words of John 20 81 etc, Christ speak
of twofold power; that of forgivin
and retaining. Do you mean to say tha
Ot Christ should give :he Holy Ghost tina
IL the Apostles might sometimes not fc
give their brother when he threatens a
with eternal damnatiOn If they refuse
do so7 How ridiculous! how shocking
This, insist, makes it as Gle ar as tt
MONDAY, that Christ gave to his apo
ties the power to forgive Gin in his nam
, note that expression ''in h is name"
In my first letter I also added the
n | those words have been understood
this way by the whole church for 100
years. The writer's of the first. secon'
third and following centuries interprets
them IN this same way, and l venture
say that they knew nearly as muC
0u about what our Lord meant than yo
ph do. How did you answer this Nc
et one word. And what have you to 81
a ture Nothing, absolutely nothing e.
cept this Having 2iven my interpret
tion of that passage, L will not give
a here"
er Yes,and that by my answer took Il
ou starch out of your Interpretation, is ev
ay | dent from your endeavor to brace it q
with mud and dirt. The texts whiC
You quote from the Old Testament ba'
no bearing on the subject; for as the
there was no Christian Baptism. 6
in there was no absOlutioG.
", you have proved that in In1
Ice quoted above, Christ did not give Il
ire pardoning power to his Apostles, there
no need of showing that they exercise
/. it in single case. 1t has been prove
Ow without a shadow of q doubt that Il
Igs Apostles received that power; will yC
I'd. dare to deny it for no other reason the
ng the silence of the Bible as to the use
ear that power AS a negative argument
the cannot affect the positive words of o.
Dry Lord. Will you deny that st. Thome
If st. James and other Apostles were COZ
'ur missioned to baptize, because the Bit
will makes no mention that they did actu'
Iy do so. If the President sends q mi
md ister to foreign court, is he not ful
on rccredited agent even before he exercis
a any diplomatic functions. While l a
IN not Dranarad at all IN admit fhaf I