Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger / Fourth Edition

by E. G. Holland

In the treatment of this topic, Mr. Badger has but two simple divisions; the first is the offence and condemnation, the second treats of the free gift and its design. After alluding to Calvinism and to Universalism as having the same roots, and differing only in respect to the number embraced in the arbitrarily elective plan, he announces the truth as being free from these extremes, and as leading the mind of the hearer along the healing stream of God's benevolence as it widening flows through all nations and climes.

In referring to the primeval state, he suggests that we are a distant posterity; that we may not presume to know all that belonged to the early Eden and to man's primitive condition. He asks the question—What is sin? What is its origin? What are its effects? He says, that the definition given by St. John 3: 4, is the most definite that the whole Scripture yields, that, in 1 John 5: 17, there is a good general view of it in the statement that all unrighteousness is sin, and in James 4: 17, the same view is confirmed in the affirmation, that "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

"The first sin of every man," says Mr. Badger, "is the doing of wrong when he knows what is right. There must be a knowledge of wrong; there must be a law in the mind of the actor to render his action sin. Admitting this scriptural view, how can we consider infants, and children unborn, to be sinners? Are they acquainted with God's will? Do they know his law? We often hear people tell of the 'sins of our nature,' and of being 'sinners by nature,' and of the 'sins we bring into the world with us;' but such sins are unknown to the Scriptures, are unnamed in the word of God, and the idea was invented in the wilderness ages of Christianity.

"Some, in speculating on the Garden of Eden, have so spiritualized the transaction as to please their own fancy; others have taken the garden, trees, and fruit in the most literal sense, and thereby have plunged themselves into darkness and difficulty. It is said that 'God planted a garden eastward,' but, as none are informed of its locality, its latitude and longitude on the globe, it is impossible for those who take it in a literal sense to add any discoveries to the scripture statements. It is evident that the sin of our first parents consisted in their doing a forbidden act, which was disloyalty to the true King. All that I will venture to say is this, that 'God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.'

"In regard to the question, who is the author of sin, I answer, the actor is its author. Temptation is not sin. Sin consists in submitting to the influence of tempting objects. If, in the story of the garden, there are three distinct sentences of condemnation pronounced, there were also three distinct sinful actors. Sin originates in each lustful mind. Some say, Is not God the author of all things? did he not make all creatures? Yes. But sin is neither a thing nor a creature. It is the act of a creature who is enlightened and free. Many, failing to make God the author of their sins, labor to prove that the devil originates them, and thus lay to him that of which he is not guilty, and that which they had better take to themselves."

On the second division of the subject, he dwells on Christ as the great mediatorial centre of light and mercy, where God will meet all mankind in their striving to realize the salvation of their souls. By pleading the eternal life revealed in Christ as a free gift, and by urging mankind to use their personal freedom in improving the new advantages, he presents a practical At-one-ment—a real harmony of man with God, without adopting the arbitrary notions of grace prevailing in the then common theology, and without implying a pacification of "the infinite wrath" of God to men, a sentiment which, in a world that could realize the import of words so carelessly employed in theory, would be regarded as the utmost profanation, as the last step in the descending grades of religious irreverence and unbelief.

"The heathen," says Mr. B., "who has never heard the Gospel's joyful sound, is not without hope, as the gentle rays of the Holy Spirit have influenced his mind to reverence the Great Spirit, as Christ is 'a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' He may arise from his darkness and misery to some bright mansion in the New Jerusalem, while high-minded professors and superstitious Jews may find their hopes to be those of the hypocrite. Under these views, the partial atonement appears in feeble colors, and the universal love of God to men shines conspicuously from the holy scripture and from reason."

Under date of February 22, 1821, at Mendon, N. Y., Mr. Badger informs the readers of the Christian Herald, that he has just returned from Genesee and Alleghany counties; that in Covington a successful reformation had begun; that in Perry, Warsaw, Gainesville, Orangeville and Pike, he found the people attentive; that "the star which rose in the east shines in the west with unfading lustre." He speaks of the glad news of revivals that had reached him from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada, and different sections of the State of New York. "My health," he adds, "has been poor the month past, which has located my labors some; before that, for six months, I had as many meetings as there were days. O, how delightful the thought of meeting all the elect around the Father's throne in glory, where, from every nation and sect, all will join in one harmonious song!"

March 12, 1821, he speaks of preaching twice at Perry, to large and solemn assemblies, among whom he thinks the power of the Highest was spiritually manifest; of meeting the aged parents of Rev. W. True, who were happy in the hopes of immortal life. At Middlebury, he says that he found the attention great to "hear the word;" that at the Academy his assemblies were large; that, one evening, by request, he preached on the character of Christ, taking Isaiah 9: 6, for his text.

"One Presbyterian and several Baptist clergymen were present. I first spoke on the origin, nature, character, titles and dignity of Christ, in which I endeavored to prove him divine, and an object of worship. 2. I noticed the origin, nature, effects and supports of the doctrine of the Trinity, in which I gave the reasons why I dissented from that doctrine. I endeavored to show that my faith gave me a divine Saviour, and that Trinitarianism is obliged to rely on a human sacrifice."