13 Means question

13. Means question Autobigraphy - James H. Oliphant

CHAPTER XIII. In 1880 to 1886 a difference arose on the "Means" question and division resulted. Some churches in Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Virginia, and in Kentucky, were affected by it. Elder Pence and I discussed the question in the "Messenger of Peace," then published by Elder J. E. Goodson. The "Means" party held that eternal life is conveyed by means of the written or preached word, that the work of quickening sinners, dead in sins, is effected by means of the preached word. I will not attempt to give the arguments produced by Elder Pence and the "Means" brethren, but will give some of the positions I took, and views by our people.

I maintained that all the use that God or men have for the Bible is summed up in the word, "teach"---"GO teach." That under no circumstances is there anything more done than is expressed by the words teach, edify, etc. Then I contended that there is something in true religion not produced by teaching, and if so, there is something in religion that is not produced by means of the word. I contended that the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit, so he needs a preparation for the right hearing of the word before he can be benefited by it. That all the benefit that men receive from it is through their understanding of it, and to say that men derive capacity to understand by means of the word is to say they are benefited by it before they understand it.

I contended that life is an entity. "He that hath the Son hath life." The Son is an entity, if not, then the Son is nothing. So life is an entity. "The gift of God is everlasting life." Life here is an entity; it is an entity or it is nothing. THE WORD, WRITTEN OR SPOKEN, IS A NON-ENTITY. That is, if you take away the ink and paper from the Bible, nothing remains, then nothing would be left. The ink and the paper are not the word, so the word is a non-entity. To say that an entity is conveyed by a non-entity is an absurdity.

I contended that "God has reserved a place at the genesis of life" where He alone acts, and that there is a clear distinction between life and the motions of life; that repentance, love, hope and joy are the motions and evidences of life. I conceded that repentance, peace, joy, etc., may be instrumentally produced by the word, but these must be distinguished from life. I contended that in the reception of life we are passive, but in repentance, faith, etc., we are active. I conceded that in all those things in which we are active we could admit instrumentality. But in the new birth we are not active, but passive. "It is not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." In giving you a watch you must actively receive it, but not so in giving life, it is passively received. To say that a sinner must be willing to receive eternal life is to say that he must have the motions of eternal life before he has the life. We never think of the dead in their graves consenting to the resurrection in order to its being successful. We could admit that every right thought we have of God, or spiritual things is produced by means; but life is back of the thinking as truly as it is back of any other act. Thinking does not produce the new life. It may tend to its growth, as physical actions tend to the development of the physical life.

I contended that there is a distinction between regeneration and conversion. "Regeneration is the motion of God in the soul, conversion is the motion of the soul to God." "In regeneration we are passive, and receive from God; in conversion we are active and turn to God." "Regeneration is instantaneous; one instant we are dead in sin, the next we are spiritually alive. Conversion is gradual and by degrees." "Regeneration is a preparation for the right hearing of the word, and not a right hearing of the word a preparation for regeneration."

I contended that God is the giver of life. "With Thee is the fountain of life." We never expect means of any kind tending to produce animal or vegetable life, nor need we to expect means to produce spiritual life. I contended that the gulf between living and not living is so broad and so deep that divine power alone can deliver from death in sin; that life spiritual, as well as in the natural, can only come from the previous touch of life. I contended that God alone can introduce that current of life which shall endure while the eternal ages shall roll on; that He alone can implant in the soul that which shall never be rooted up, but bear the fruit of a beautiful life on earth while we live, and after death in distant worlds live on to the eternal glory of God and to the safety and eternal happiness of the sinner rescued from woe.

I contended that the angels, or pope or priest have no power to control or direct the spirit of God in His life-giving work, that the "Son quickeneth whom He will," and that to God alone belongs all the glory of our salvation, while all the benefit is ours. I consented that the preached word, in the spiritual kingdom, does no more than the rain and dew do in the vegetable kingdom. Rain and dew, with warm sun, will make living things grow, but will not make dead plants live. Little children learn early in life that vain is the help of man when death must be dealt with, and a discerning minister learns that sinners need more than what he can do for them. We need the arm of the Lord to be revealed in our assemblies. God is not a local, inactive being, carrying on His kingdom by means of men or angels, but He is an omnipresent, active being, carrying on the work of grace to His glory and our good. This will give some idea of the issues that were discussed in that trouble. The idea that the written word is the means of the eternal salvation of men win lead to the idea that the heathen are lost for the want of it; lost for want of human effort. It promotes trust in men and money, while these sentiments from which we plead promote a reliance on the Lord. In all these divisions good people are alienated from each other, families are divided, and distress comes to many hearts. But the truth is better understood, and more searched into. I hope that I may never see division again. It is ruinous to our churches, and a generation must pass away before the evil effects of division are gone. The Danville association and the White Water suffered considerably. In Ohio there were churches divided, and some in Virginia, but the body of our people throughout our country stood with us, continued correspondence with us, visited us, nourished us, and our churches have lived to this day. Let us try to live in peace and avoid questions that gender strife. Let us seek to build up our cause by speaking the truth in love.