There are several tenets of Two Seedism that are surely heretical, for they are surely false teachings on major fundamental doctrines of the Bible and the Christian faith. These tenets are heterodox in areas of theology dealing with the nature and works of God, such as the Trinity, or in several points in soteriology dealing with election, the means of faith and repentance, and the means of the word of God or Gospel, etc. In the previous chapters we have been examining what Elder Lemuel Potter wrote against Two Seedism in 1880. We have reviewed the eleven tenets of Two Seedism that Potter listed and rebuttal comments made by Potter against them. Now we will begin to cite what else Potter said about Two Seedism.
Keep in mind that Potter was well versed in it. He lived in Illinois (before moving to Indiana) where Daniel Parker first published his books promoting Two Seedism and a state where Two Seedism was embraced by a seeming majority of "Primitive" or "Old School" Baptists. He has also said that in his early years in the ministry (late 1860s into the 1870s) that he "rather favored" Two Seedism, though he says he did so without investigating the matter first. He also had at his disposal in 1880 two previous lengthy writings against Two Seedism, the first by Elder Grigg Thompson (1860-61), and the second by a brother minister in Illinois, Elder George Y. Stipp (1826-1886), who published his treatise in 1879. You can read that treatise by Stipp at the web site of the Primitive Baptist Library (here). He no doubt was well read in the debate about Two Seedism that was carried on in the various Hardshell periodicals from the days of Gilbert Beebe and Joshua Lawrence (1830s).
In previous chapters we have been citing from Elder Potter's small pamphlet titled "Unconditional Election Stated And Defined; Or, A Denial Of The Doctrine Of Eternal Children, Or Two Seeds In The Flesh." It can also be read at the above web page (See here). In this chapter we will cite further from this same work. Following this we will look at some things Potter said about Two Seedism in some of his other published works.
Potter wrote:
"But we wish to notice the origin of man a little farther. We are frequently told that Adam was a figure of Christ, and that as Adam possessed Eve, his bride, in himself, so the church of Christ, or his bride stood in him, before the world began. If Adam and Eve are ever mentioned in scripture as being a figure of Christ and the church, we have failed to see it. So, such a foundation as that for the doctrine of eternal children is unwarranted in the scripture."
And,
"We sometimes hear it said, that as Adam was the figure of Christ, and that when he was first formed out of the dust of the ground Eve was in him, that Eve is also the figure of the church. On this it is claimed that Adam and Eve are a figure of Christ and the church. We have been wonderfully surprised at the universal acceptation of this idea among our brethren. But as we must be allowed to believe for ourself, regardless of the numbers that are against us, we now take the liberty to say, that there is not a solitary text in the whole volume of God's word that proves Eve to be a figure of the church more than any other lawful wife."
And,
"After assuming the positions that Adam and Eve are a figure of Christ and the church, then, the next thing is to show that Adam's wife was in him before she was developed, so the bride of Christ, in order to be a true antitype of Adam and Eve, must have been in him before she was developed. In this state she existed in Christ in heaven before the world began, and grace was given her in Christ before the world began. There is only one text in the Bible that says Adam was the figure of Christ, and that has no allusion to the relation between Christ and the church. The apostle is merely showing the manner of the introduction of sin and death into the world. He is not speaking of Adam in any other sense only to show that by his transgression, he involved his posterity in sin and death. The sin and transgression of Adam proved as effectual in bringing condemnation upon his family, as the obedience and righteousness of Christ would be in bringing justification and salvation, and eternal life upon his. Each one represented his own people; the act of Adam effected all his people because he represented them; so the act of Christ effected all his people because he represented them. This is the matter, and the only sense in which Adam was a figure of Christ, and Eve is not mentioned in the whole connection. Hence it is unreasonable as well as unjust to draw such conclusions as many do from such premises as this. Let us always limit our conclusions to what the Bible says, on the subject we treat on, and if we are taking a position that is not at all sustained by the Bible, we had better give up the idea than to misconstrue scriptures."
Two Seed apologists relied heavily on Adam and Eve being symbols of Christ and the church, as Potter indicates. In previous chapters we have cited from Beebe and others on this argumentation by the Two Seeders. Potter does a fairly good job in stating the reasons why their view on the supposed symbolism of Adam and Eve are not right. However, he should have agreed that it is not denied that the union of Adam and Eve is a type of the union of Christ and the church, but not more than all wives and husbands. So Paul said:
"22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Eph. 5: 22, 28-32 nkjv)
The church was not the wife of the Lord Jesus from eternity past. The Lord "foreknew" his people's existence, and in his decrees concerning those who he intended to create he chose every believer to salvation, to be one of his people, to be a member of his social, spiritual, or ecclesiastical body, to be married to the Lord Jesus Christ. She was not the wife of the Lord before the world began. A believer does not become united to Christ, or married to him, until he exists, and until he chooses to marry the Lord. In support of this we cite the following words of the same apostle who wrote the above Ephesian epistle:
"Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God." (Rom. 7: 4 nkjv)
The words "that you may be married to another" show that believers were not married in eternity past. They are married when they say "I do" in being united to Christ by an act of faith. Paul, writing to the believers in Corinth, wrote: "For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." (II Cor. 11: 2 nkjv) If the believers were already Christ's wife from before the world was made, the above language of the apostle is a falsehood. Why does he need to betroth, espouse (kjv), or engage them if they were already the wife of the Lord? Paul also wrote to the Corinthian believers and said: "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him." (I Cor. 6: 17 nasb)
Eve was once a part of Adam, having been made from a rib taken from his side. But, no other wife was ever a part of her husband nor had her origin in him. Two Seeders who use this fact to affirm that as Eve was in Adam before she was created and joined to Adam as his wife so too was each believer (or chosen one) in Christ before he or she was created and joined to Christ by an act of choice (betrothal) and faith. So, Potter is correct to say that Eve is not especially a picture of the bride of Christ. He should have stated, however, that in saying that Eve was such a type of the church one should be careful not to read too much into that. The same is true with Adam who, though being "a figure of him who was to come" (or Christ; Rom. 5: 14) is not like Christ in every way imaginable. Adam sinned, but Jesus the second Adam never sinned. The first Adam was of the earth, the second Adam was the Lord from heaven.
Remember the words of Paul who said: "For Adam was first formed, then Eve." (I Tim. 2: 13 kjv) This text alone destroys the whole argumentation of the Two Seeders, for they say that Eve was as old as Adam, since she was created in Adam and existed in him from the moment of his creation. Paul says, however, that Adam existed by himself alone before Eve came into existence. In fact, God said "it is not good for man (Adam) to be alone" (Gen. 2: 18). But, if Eve was always present in Adam, then he was not really alone.
Potter wrote:
"Those people were given to Christ in the covenant, and have sustained a covenant relationship to him ever since; or from all eternity. They are his by gift, not that they are his because they were in him as the plant is in the seed, and have emanated from him in that sense."
The Two Seeders would say that the giving of the elect to Christ through the covenant made between the Father and Son implies that the elect existed, for how can one give to another what does not exist? They make the same argument from another popular text of theirs, the one where Paul wrote:
"Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." (II Tim. 1: 9 nkjv)
If grace was given to believers before time began, argued the Two Seeders, then they must have existed, for how can God give a gift to people who existed not? Two replies to this were made by those who opposed the Two Seeders. First, they were given grace by giving it to the Son of God who was appointed to be the head and representative of the elect by a covenant agreement. Second, it is a case where things not yet existing or occurring are spoken of as having already existed or already occurred. So Paul wrote:
"(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." (Rom. 4: 17 kjv)
God spoke in the past perfect tense to Abraham when he said "I have made you a father of many nations." At that time however Abraham was not yet the father of many nations, those nations not yet being in existence. Paul explains this by saying that this is a case where God "calls those things which be not as though they were." Isaiah also wrote this oracle of God:
"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isa. 46: 10 kjv)
In the movie "Back To The Future" the characters in the movie went into the future and came back in time and then related what they saw. In describing that future they would use the present tense saying "you are put in jail." That is what is called the "futuristic present tense." This is where simple present or present continuous verbs describe future events that are scheduled, fixed, or already arranged, often implying high certainty or immediacy. Common examples include -- "The train is leaving at 5 p.m," meaning it is scheduled to leave at 5 p.m, even though the present tense words "is leaving" are used.
It also needs to be said that the above texts that speak of the Father gifting the elect, church, or body of believers, to the Son of God, do not only imply that the elect then existed when they were gifted but also do not imply that Christ as a man then existed. Two Seeders, as we have seen, not only affirmed that the elect existed from eternity but so too did the humanity of Christ exist from eternity. When the gift was given, the Son of God had not yet become a man, though he, like the angels, could appear in human form in old testament times. So we read where the apostle John said that "the Word," or the "Logos," the one who created all things and who was both with God and was God himself, "became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1: 14) So we also read where he who was "in the form of God" from all eternity did in time, via the incarnation, take upon himself the "form of a servant." (Phil. 2: 6-8)
Potter wrote:
"There are only two sides to the issue. They eternally possessed the spiritual nature of Christ, or it is given to them in time. If the former, they need not to be born again to possess it; if the latter, then it must begin when they are born again."
The life that is given to believers is eternal, without beginning, but that does not mean that they possessed it from eternity. Beebe and the Two Seeders argued that the children of God existed in that eternal life fr all eternity, which is a fable.
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