LETTERS ON "GOD IN
CHRIST," AND "CHRIST IN THEOLOGY"
"Thus, again, man is born of Nature into a higher nature. He therefore alone is possessed of two natures, - a lower, in common with animals, and a higher, peculiar to himself. The whole mission and life-work of man is the progressive and finally the complete dominance, both in the individual and in the race, of the higher over the lower. The whole meaning of sin is the humiliating bondage of the higher to the lower. As the material evolution of Nature found its goal, its completion, and its significance in the ideal man - the divine man; as spirit, unconscious in the womb of Nature, continued to develop by necessary law until it came to birth and independent life in man, so the new-born spirit of man, both in the individual and in the race, must ever strive by freer law to attain, through a newer birth, unto a higher life." - JOSEPH LE CONTE, Evolution and its Relation to Religious Thought, p. 307.
THE personal life of Dr. Bushnell while he was engaged in the preparation and defense of "God in Christ" must not be passed by. The glimpses of him at this time, few but revealing, are gained chiefly from his letters and from the written accounts of his friends. His prolific and self-contained mind is seen in the easy production of the two volumes, and his patience under the storm they raised about him. It was at this time that he gave his address at Cambridge on "Work and Play," and also that on "The Founders Great in their Unconsciousness" before the New England Society of New York. These addresses, prepared while his professional life was in jeopardy, revealed the sources of his power. Work may become play or a sort of music of the soul by the free activity of the spirit seeking to express itself; and life may resolve itself into poetry as "the real and true state of man." One who thought in this way could not be greatly vexed by accusations of heresy; or if they troubled him, he found another refuge in the Puritan spirit and in the companionship of
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the Founders of the State and the Church to which he belonged. During this period he also made a notable address before the Legislature of the State, which he named, with his usual skill, a "Historical Estimate." It was a careful review of the history of Connecticut, calling attention to what was most noble in its history, and explaining or softening what seemed otherwise. It was written at the very time when the Fairfield West Association was most busy in its preparations for bringing him before the next General Association. During this time, also, he produced "The Age of Homespun" and his discourse on "Religious Music," which was delivered before the Beethoven Society of Yale College, at the opening of a new organ, - the first used in the college, - an original and distinct contribution to the subject, and as remote in its spirit from his immediate circumstances as a symphony from the grinding of a mill; it was like a hymn out of chaos. Bushnell was not indifferent to his ecclesiastical standing, and he regarded the whole matter as one to be treated with dignity and seriousness, but he did not sink himself in it, nor suffer it to worry him beyond what was inevitable. If it had any effect upon him intellectually, it was to add keenness and vigor to his work in other directions. A quotation from Dr. Leonard Bacon, bearing on the two recently published books, is inserted here, though written a quarter of a century after their publication. It has weight as coming from a man of great ability, who watched the entire career of Bushnell
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with the keen eye of a critic, and yet with a breadth of sympathy that revealed his own largeness of nature.
"My reexamination of those two volumes, not often consulted since I first read them, more than a quarter of a century ago, and my recollections of the theological and ecclesiastical disturbance of which they were the occasion, have given me a new perception of their value as a contribution, not to theology only, but also to the advancement of religion. Freely and thankfully acknowledging their effect on myself, I cannot doubt that they have had a similar effect, though not always the same, on other minds. As their author called no man Master, so he founded no special school party, and has left behind him no disciples that call themselves or are called by his name. But, what is better, his influence embodied in those volumes has contributed much to make our New England theology - let me rather say, all the evangelical theology of our English tongue - less rigidly scholastic, more scriptural, broader in its views, more inspiring in its relations to the pulpit and to the Christian life. The one theme on which dissent from his doctrine has been loudest and most persistent is the work of Christ, the atonement. Yet on that theme he has been an efficient teacher, even of many who protest against his teachings. If, in their understanding of him, he has too little regarded those illustrations of the atonement which theologians, and especially our New England theo-
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logians, have drawn from the nature of a moral government, he has nevertheless taught even the most scholastic and logical expositors that the saving work for which He who was at once the Son of God and the Son of Man came into our human world and lived and died, is a theme too large, too transcendent in its relations to the infinite and the eternal, to be illustrated by any one analogy, or to be comprehended and carried about in any formula. It is increasingly characteristic of Christian thought in these last years of our century that the evangelical churches are turning from dogmas about Christ to Christ himself, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person." 1
The following letter is inserted, not only because it states Bushnell's feeling and position on the question, but that of the vast majority of the Congregational clergymen of New England. Those not sharing in it were apt to be found in the ranks of extreme conservatism in theology.
TO DR. BARTOL
HARTFORD, May 6, 1851.
... Is it not a hard thing we have to do in these times, not to break out in a little excess? For one, I confess that I want, about half the time, to do something that will require to be pardoned; and I verily believe that I should, if I were not drawn more and more towards the conviction that
1 New Englander, September, 1879, p. 710.
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the renovating power of true Christianity is the principal hope of man; and more and more deeply impressed with a conviction of the impotence of all attacks on sin, that take the line of morality or mere external reform. As it is, I must and will say, as I have opportunity, that there are things required in this abominable Fugitive Slave Law that I will not do, no, not even to save the Union, I could cheerfully die to save it; but chase a fugitive or withhold my sympathy and aid from a fugitive from slavery! May God grant me grace never to do the damning sin of such obedience! Nay, I will go farther. The first duty that I owe to civil government is to violate and spurn such a law that is, in the points alluded to. ...
TO THE REV. HENRY GOODWIN1
May 26, 1851.
I begin to think of giving myself wholly to the more practical side of religion, and to practical duty and work. I seem to be now very much cut off from access to the public; not so, I trust, from access to God. God is left, and He is the best public to me, the only public in which I have any
1 To no one was Bushnell under greater obligation at this crisis than to Dr. Goodwin, excepting Dr. Porter, of Farmington, and Mr. Chesebrough (Criticus Criticorum). Dr. Goodwin, soon after, took a professorship at Olivet College, and became well known by his writings, and still more by the beauty of his character. He was in himself a true representative, as he was the ablest defender, of Bushnell's theology.
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satisfaction; and I think with the highest delight of going apart with Him into a desert place to rest awhile. No, not to rest, but only to get away from noise, and live in the silence of love and duty. I long inexpressibly, for the rest of my life, to be wholly immersed in this better element; and it is my daily prayer that God will give me this best and most to be desired of all gifts, the gift of a private benefit to be seen in the usefulness of my ministry to my own flock. These know me and love me, and I pray that God will enable me to lead them into his green pastures.
TO DR. BARTOL
September 8, 1851.
My own position, as you will understand, is now sufficiently settled. I do not say that I have converted my ministerial friends to my heresies, or any number of them. But the younger very generally give me their sympathy and stand by me, resolved that nothing shall be done against me. And that is all I want. If I can have my position unmolested, it is all I can ask.
Nothing is more beautiful, I sometimes think, than to watch the working of men's opinions, especially here in New England, just at this time that is passing. The motion clearly is all in one direction, slow, silent, and quite undiscovered by many, but still regular and sure. My hope is that this convergence will in due time issue in a grand catholic coalescence, a new and better type of
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evangelism, possible to be developed nowhere else, and a necessary condition of the universal triumph of Christianity. Let us wait, watch, work, and take courage.
The following note was written to Mr. Chesebrough, who seems to have asked him to frame a creed: -
HARTFORD, December 24, 1851.
I write a few words from the bookstore just to answer your note. I cannot undertake to write a creed; I have too much else on my hands. I will barely suggest what I have often thought of, no creed save what is contained in the covenant where the faith works (such, for example, as our Church Covenant, which I send you), with perhaps something wrought into it, to recognize a little more directly depravity and regeneration.
This, you know, was the Puritan Fathers' method, - no creed, but a covenant.
The difficulties in the way of bringing Bushnell to trial and the stout support he received in his Association and throughout the State against un-fair and illegal treatment did not indicate his real standing among his brethren. They would not permit him to be treated unjustly, but the majority went no further. For years in his own city, pulpit exchanges and cooperation in church work were withheld. The College Chapel and the churches in New Haven were, however, open to him, and
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he was in demand everywhere for stated occasions. Dr. Hawes of the Centre Church in Hartford allowed his opposition to pass into a personal animosity that continued for years, fed, perhaps, by rumors of good-natured raillery from Bushnell that did not fail to reach his ears. Bushnell bore this aggressive disfellowship with patience, and strove at times to overcome it in one way or another, but without success until the era of general peace arrived.
In the winter of 1852 he delivered a course of lectures on the Supernatural, one of which he gave as the Dudleian lecture at Cambridge in May. Meanwhile the Fairfield West Association, moved by the second book, "Christ in Theology," renewed its efforts to bring him to trial, in the shape of an appeal to the ministers of the State. Dr. E. P. Parker refers to it as follows: -
"This formidable document reviews all proceedings up to date, and contains several papers not elsewhere now obtainable. It contains elaborate and painful criticisms of Dr. Bushnell's books; points out the barrier in the way of his prosecution for heresy; wants to know if there is not some way of securing, not only his condemnation, but also that of the Association which has publicly shielded and countenanced his heresies; and announces that Fairfield West will send delegates to the next General Association, instructed to present to that body suitable questions on that subject."
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It met with "a solemn protest" in the body where it originated, yet it was sent to all the ministers in the State, and not without effect. Bushnell presented to the annual meeting in 1852 a remonstrance against any action being taken in his case, indignantly charging that it would convert "a body of fraternal conference" into a "vigilance committee." Nothing came of the proposed action except two resolutions, which virtually dismissed it from the General Association as having no place there, and remanded the complainants and all concerned to "our ecclesiastical rules."
"At the next General Association, at Danbury, June, 1852, Fairfield "West's delegates appeared with their questions and requests. The Protest by Dr. Linsley, signed by nine members of Fairfield West, was circulated with marked effect. Dr. Bushnell sent an earnest remonstrance against any action of interference in the case, saying, however, that he hoped the brethren would not imagine that he was at all anxious for the result." 1
Only one way remained by which Bushnell could be reached, namely, through the Consociation. To this end it was necessary that he should be presented for trial by three members of his church, together with a certificate from the pastor of another church. No one could be found to do this, but in order to prevent possible trouble in this direction, the church unanimously voted to
1 Rev. E. P. Parker, D. D., The Hartford Central Association and the Bushnell Controversy
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withdraw from the Consociation. That an adverse verdict could have been secured even then was highly improbable, but the church had no mind for the conflict. Separation from the Consociation did not end the efforts of his accusers to bring him to trial, but it narrowed the field of battle to a straight conflict between the complaining Association and the General Association, where, later on, victory was won in the form of a refusal to present him for trial. It was, however, an ecclesiastical, not a doctrinal vindication. It reflected the catholicity of the Congregational churches of Connecticut, but it did not indicate agreement with Bushnell's views of the trinity and the atonement. His feeling in regard to this very important action of his church is shown in the following letters: -
TO THE REV. A. S. CHESEBROUGH
HARTFORD, July 6, 1852.
I can hardly tell you how good it is to hear some one speak as a friend, that is, in the full, unqualified assent of confidence and sympathy. I have a great many who call themselves friends, and who would be hurt if I were to call them by any other name; I believe they respect me, and mean to have justice done me; but they have a great many qualifications, some that are qualifications of prudence, and have reference to the saving of themselves from unnecessary reproach, and some that are really required by the partial coin-
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cidence they have with my sentiments. But there are only a few, God bless them, who have been ready to give me their open, unrestricted sympathy, as you have done, and in your letter, despite the rather frowning aspect of my affairs, continue to do. I hardly know whether my "martyrdom" is at hand, as you suggest, or not. I did begin to think it might be so; but the more I turn the matter about, the less do I see how the fire is going to be kindled. There is really no way left of coming at me now, unless they attack my church first, in the matter of their withdrawal, denying their right and making it an act of revolution, which I think will be a rather unpopular undertaking. I was a good deal in doubt about this step; but while I was deliberating, the matter was taken out of my hands, and I consented to let it be so. I wish you could have been at the meeting of the church. It was a beautiful sight, all in just the temper of calmness and decision that I could wish. And now the more I look at the matter, the more I seem to see that it was of God. Let us wait in God and see.
TO DR. BARTOL
HARTFORD, July 19, 1852.
I am glad to know that my position in reference to my ecclesiastical adversaries satisfies you. It is even the more welcome to know that my friends whom I most respect approve it, that I think it is approved by God. This, at least,
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has been my first and principal study, and I feel the more confident that I have his sanction, that good and right-seeing minds are able to yield me theirs. The step recently taken by my church is theirs, not mine, though I suppose I could have kept them from it still, as I have done for the past two years, if I had seen fit to exert myself in that way. There was no need of such a step, because of any danger that threatened me, in case of a trial before the Consociation. I should have carried my point, but it would have cost a whole year's struggle; the trial would have been a farce, - not a trial, but only a polling of votes already fixed, for the most part; and then my adversaries would not have been able to sit down under their defeat any the more quietly. Therefore, I concluded that the better way was to be off, and throw myself on my character at once. What now is to come I do not know, something, doubtless; the agitation will go on in some new shape; it cannot rest.
The heavy labors of the pulpit, book-making, lecturing, and, above all, the tax on his nervous system induced by his ecclesiastical experiences, began to make serious inroads on his health. Partial prostration and a slight hemorrhage showed that the crisis of his strong life had come. But the slow dissolving of the tabernacle revealed his natural strength, and the wonder is that he did not succumb earlier, and that he lasted so long.
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A visit to Newport in August and to Saratoga in September brought no sensible improvement.
In October, his health not having improved, a longer rest was deemed necessary, and he started on a trip to the West in company with friends. It was hard to leave his work, but he confessed, "When his knuckles were rapped so hard, he had no choice but to let go." He spent the first Sunday in Oberlin with Dr. Finney, "a most happy and blessed day," The two men were unlike, but on one or two points they were in sympathy, and each felt the greatness of the other. Both also were enduring the fires of persecution, - one for being over-good and the other not good enough, but in each case on theological grounds. At a later date he wrote of Finney: -
"I know not how it is, but I feel greatly drawn to this man, despite the greatest dissimilarity of tastes, and a method of soul, whether in thought or feeling, wholly unlike. I said I knew not how, but I do know. It is because I find God with him, and consciously receive nothing but good and genuine (he would say honest) impressions from him."
After a wearisome journey to Minnesota, then supposed to be a region favorable to weakened lungs, he returned by way of Galena, St. Louis, and Niagara, which he visited for the third time and with fresh impressions: -
"It is so great in itself, and magnifies so wonderfully the revelation of its grandeur, that it
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finally conquers, and compels us at last to say, 'There is nothing like it, nothing of magnificence to class with it.' The more bald it is in the matter of surroundings, the more magnificent, the better we like it. Oh, this pouring on, on, on, - exhaustless, ceaseless, like the counsel itself of God, one ocean plunging in solemn repose of continuity into another; the breadth, the height, the volume, the absence of all fluster, as when the floods lift up their waves; the self-confidence of the preparation, as grand in the night when no eye sees it as in the day; still bending itself downward to the plunge, as a power that is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; wanting no margin of attractions to complement the scene it makes; making, in fact, no scene, but doing a deed which is enough to do, whether it is seen or not! Verily, my soul reveled within me today, as never since I was a conscious being, in the contemplation of this tremendous type of God's eternity and majesty. I could hardly stand, such was the sense it gave me of the great-ness of God."
In the same letter are a few lines that not only sum up his religious experience, but explain his theology as well as anything we have. The conception of God here stated shows why he fell into his semi Sabellian view of the trinity, and why, "Minded by excess of light," he failed to see the absolute humanity of Christ - seeing only a reflection of the face of God in him. Bushnell was the broadest man of his day, but he was still mastered
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by one idea; it held him like a passion, and drove out everything that even seemed to detract from it, Novalis' phrase, "God-intoxicated," applies to him as clearly as it did to Spinoza. But what he seemed to withhold from the external order he transferred to God, where it became a perfect reality. Hence his patripassianism; Bushnell was not a pantheist, but he was pantheistic.
"How little do we know as yet, my dearest earthly friend, of what is contained in the word God! We put on great magnifiers in the form of adjectives, and they are true; but the measures they ascribe, certified by the judgment, are not realized, or only dimly realized, in our experience. I see this proved to me, now and then, by the capacity I have to think and feel greater things concerning God. It is as if my soul were shut in within a vast orb made up of concentric shells of brass or iron. I could hear, even when I was a child, the faint ring of a stroke on the one that is out-most and largest of them all; but I began to break through one shell after another, bursting every time into a kind of new, and wondrous, and vastly enlarged heaven, hearing no more the dull, close ring of the nearest casement, but the ring, as it were, of concave firmaments and third heavens set with stars; till now, so gloriously has my experience of God opened his greatness to me, I seem to have gotten quite beyond all physical images and measures, even those of astronomy, and simply to think God is to find and bring into my feeling
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more than even the imagination can reach. I bless God that it is so. I am cheered by it, encouraged, sent onward, and, in what He gives me, begin to have some very faint impression of the glory yet to be revealed."