Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Daniel Parker a Means Baptist?

Here is what Elder Sylvester Hassell had to say about Daniel Parker:

"Eld. Daniel Parker seems to me to give up his whole system when, in his "Supplement," he says, on the third page, that "sin is the serpent's seed;" and, on the eleventh page, that "the eternal condemnation of the lost will not be because they were of the serpent's seed, or non-elect, but because of their sin against God in His divine law and their unbelief in Christ;" and, on the thirteenth page, that "the Baptist doctrine of salvation by the sovereign distinguishing grace of God stands completely established by the authority of the word of God, as well as by Christian experience, independent of his own views as to the origin of the two seeds." When the author of this system makes these broad confessions, how can a single one of his followers hesitate to abandon forever this worthless human invention--this heathen corruption of the gospel that has, for sixty years, poisoned, hardened, chilled, confused, and divided the Church of God?"

("Interpreting the Scriptures-The Error of Eternal Vital Unionism" - The Gospel Messenger—September, 1894 (see here)

What this citation helps to prove is the fact that though Parker opposed mission and evangelistic methods of those who were called "missionary" Baptists, he nevertheless did not deny that those who rejected the Gospel would be eternally lost.  "eternal condemnation" for "their unbelief in Christ."  Further, his belief in "two seedism" did not cause him to deny that faith in Christ was essential for being eternally saved, for he knew that such a view would not be in line with "the Baptist doctrine of salvation."

Further, today's Hardshells want people to know that "two seedism" was a temporary problem in the early stages of their formation as a denomination, but notice that Hassell says that the heresy of two seedism "has, for sixty years, poisoned, hardened, chilled, confused, and divided the Church of God."  Further, other Hardshells in the 1870s and 1880s were writing against two seedism, so it was still being battled.

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