the knowledge of what life must be; and from the Lord is reformation and salvation. If these three had been as the essentials of the Church, intellectual dissensions would not have divided, but only varied it, as the light varies the colors in beautiful objects, and as various diadems make the beauty in a king's crown.' He has also prefixed the following brief creed to his True Christian Religion.' The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church, in the particular Form, is this: That Jehovah God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or that he is Good itself and Truth itself: and that He, as to Divine Truth, which is the Word, and which was God with God, descended and assumed the Human, to the end that He might reduce to order all things which were in heaven, and all things which were in hell, and all things which were in the Church; since, at that time, the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, and, upon earth, the power of evil over the power of good, and thence a total damnation stood before the door and threatened. This impending damnation Jehovah God removed by means of his Human, which was Divine Truth, and thus He redeemed angels and men; and afterwards He united, in his Human, Divine Truth with Divine Good, or Divine Wis. dom with Divine Love, and thus, together with and in his glorified Human, returned into his Divine, in which He was from eternity. These things are meant by this passage in John, The Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word became flesh,' i. 1, 14; and in the same, I proceeded from the Father, and came into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father,' xvi. 28: and also by this, We know that the Son of God hath come, and given us understanding, that we might know the True; and we are in the True, in his Son Jesus Christ: This is the true God and eternal Life,' 1 John v. 20, 21. From these it is manifest that, without the coming of the Lord into the world, no one could have been saved. It is similar at this day: wherefore, unless the Lord should again come into the world, in Divine Truth, no one can be saved. 6 The particulars of the faith, on the part of man, are, 1. That God is One, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. 2. That saving faith is to believe in Him. 3. That evils should not be done, because they are of the devil, and from the devil. 4. That good should be done, because they are of God, and from God. 5. And that these should be done by man as from himself; but that it should be believed, that they are from the Lord, with him and through him. The two first are of faith, the two next are of charity, and the fifth is of the conjunction of charity and faith, thus of the Lord and man.' THE ARTICLES THEMSELVES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. 'That Jehovah God, the Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth, is Love Itself, and Wisdom Itself, or Good Itself, and Truth Itself: That he is One both in Essence and in Person, in whom, nevertheless, is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which are the essential Divinity, the Divine Humanity, and the Divine Proceeding, answering to the soul, the body, and the_operative energy in man: And that the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is that God. 2. That Jehovah God himself descended from heaven, as Divine Truth, which is the Word, and took upon him Human Nature for the purpose of removing from man the powers of hell, and restoring to order all things in the Spiritual world, and all things in the Church: That he removed from man the powers of hell, by combats against and victories over them, in which consisted the great work of Redemption: That by the same acts, which were his temptations, the last of which was the passion of the cross, he united, in his Humanity, Divine Truth to Divine Good, or Divine Wisdom to Divine Love, and so returned into his Divinity in which he was from eternity, together with, and in, his Glorified Humanity; whence he for ever keeps the infernal powers in subjection to himself: And that all who believe in him, with the understanding, from the heart, and live accordingly, will be saved. 3. That the sacred Scripture, or Word of God, is Divine Truth Itself; containing | fluences from both, and thus is kept in a a Spiritual sense heretofore unknown, whence it is divinely inspired and holy in every syllable; as well as a literal sense, which is the basis of its spiritual sense, and in which Divine Truth is in its fulness, its sanctity, and its power: thus that it is accommodated to the apprehension both of angels and men: That the spiritual and natural senses are united, by correspondences, like soul and body, every natural expression and image answering to, and including a spiritual and divine idea: And thus that the Word is the medium of communication with heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord. 4. That the government of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom is the Divine Providence; which is universal, exercised according to certain fixed laws of Order, and extending to the minutest particulars of the life of all men, both of the good and of the evil: That in all its operations it has respect to what is infinite and eternal, and makes no account of things transitory but as they are subservient to eternal ends; thus, that it mainly consists with man, in the connection of things temporal with things eternal; for that the continual aim of the Lord, by his Divine Providence, is to join man to himself, and himself to man, that he may be able to give him the felicities of eternal life: And that the laws of permission are also laws of the Divine Providence; since evil cannot be prevented without destroying the nature of man as an accountable agent; and because, also, it cannot be removed unless it be known, and cannot be known unless it appear: Thus, that no evil is permitted but to prevent a greater; and all is overruled by the Lord's Divine Providence, for the greatest possible good. 5. That man is not life, but is only a recipient of life from the Lord, who, as he is Love Itself, and Wisdom Itself, is also Life Itself; which life is communicated by influx to all in the spiritual world, whether belonging to heaven or to hell, and to all in the natural world; but is received differently by every one, according to his quality and consequent state of reception. 6. That man, during his abode in the world, is, as to his spirit, in the midst between heaven and hell, acted upon by in state of spiritual equilibrium between good and evil; in consequence of which he enjoys free-will, or freedom of choice, in spiritual things as well as in natural, and possesses the capacity of either turning himself to the Lord and his kingdom, or turning himself away from the Lord, and connecting himself with the kingdom of darkness: And that, unless man had such freedom of choice, the Word would be of no use, the Church would be a mere name, man would possess nothing by virtue of which he could be conjoined to the Lord, and the cause of evil would be chargeable on God himself. 7. That man at this day is born into evil of all kinds, or with tendencies towards it: That, therefore, in order to his entering the kingdom of heaven, he must be regenerated or created anew; which great work is effected in a progressive manner, by the Lord alone, by charity and faith as mediums, during man's cooperation: That as all men are redeemed, all are capable of being regenerated and consequently saved, every one according to his state: And that the regenerated man is in communion with the angels of heaven, and the unregenerate with the spirits of hell: But that no one is condemned for hereditary evil, any further than as he makes it his own by actual life; whence all who die in infancy are saved, special means being provided by the Lord in the other life for that purpose. 8.That Repentance is the first beginning of the Church in man; and that it consists in a man's examining himself, both in regard to his deeds and his intentions, in knowing and acknowledging his sins, confessing them before the Lord, supplicating him for aid, and beginning a new life: That to this end, all evils, whether of affection, of thought, or of life, are to be abhorred and shunned as sins against God, and because they proceed from infernal spirits, who in the aggre gate are called the Devil and Satan; and that good affections, good thoughts, and good actions, are to be cherished and performed, because they are of God and from God: That these things are to be done by man as of himself; nevertheless, under the acknowledgment and belief, that it is from the Lord, operating in him and by him: That so far as man shuns evils as sins, so far they are removed, remitted, or forgiven; so far also he does good, not from himself, but from the Lord; and in the same degree he loves truth, has faith, and is a spiritual man: And that the Decalogue teaches what evils are sins. 9. That Charity, Faith, and Good Works are unitedly necessary to man's salvation; since charity without faith, is not spiritual but natural; and faith without charity, is not living but dead; and both charity and faith without good works, are merely mental and perishable things, because without use or fixedness: And that nothing of faith, of charity, or of good works is of man; but that all is of the Lord, and all the merit is his alone. 10. That Baptism and the Holy Supper are sacraments of divine institution, and are to be permanently observed; Baptism being an external medium of introduction into the Church, and a sign representative of man's purification and regeneration; and the Holy Supper being an external medium, to those who receive it worthily, of introduction, as to spirit into heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord, of which also it is a sign and seal. 11. That immediately after death, which is only a putting off of the material body, never to be resumed, man rises again in a spiritual or substantial body, in which he continues to live to eternity; in heaven, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been good; and in hell, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been evil. 12. That now is the time of the Second Advent of the Lord, which is a coming, not in Person, but in the power and glory of his Holy Word: That it is attended, like his first coming, with the restoration to order of all things in the spiritual world, where the wonderful divine operation, commonly expected under the name of the Last Judgment, has in consequence been performed; and with the preparing of the way for a New Church on the earth,—the first Christian Church having spiritually come to its end or consummation, through evils of life and errors of doctrine, as foretold by the Lord in the Gospels: And that this New or Second Christian Church, which will be the Crown of all Churches, and will stand forever, is what was representatively seen by John, when he beheld the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.' HISTORY OF THE OMISH OR AMISH CHURCH, BY SHEM ZOOK, MIFFLIN COUNTY, PA. OMISH Or Amish, is a name which was, | Germany and Switzerland, where they in the United States, given to a society of Mennonites, but who are not known by that name in Europe, the place from which they originally came. In many parts of are still considerably numerous, they are there sometimes, for the purpose of distinction, called Hooker Mennonites, on account of their wearing hooks on their clothes; another party of Mennonites | nonites have also been charged with having being, for similar reasons, termed Button originated with the Anabaptist of Munster; Mennonites. The principal difference be- and have frequently been confounded with tween these societies consists in the former the followers of Bockhold, John of Leybeing more simple in their dress, and more den, and David Joris. This charge is strict in their discipline. In their religious equally and totally incorrect. It is not forms of worship, the different denomina- denied that many of those who have been tions of Mennonites vary but little from misled by these fanatics, ultimately joined other Protestants. They consider the scrip- the Mennonites; but they were not adtures as the only rule of faith, and main-mitted into their society until they had tain that the surest mark of the true church is the sanctity of its members. They have regular ministers and deacons, who are not allowed to receive fixed salaries; in their religious assemblies, however, every one has the privilege to exhort and to expound the scriptures. Baptism is administered to adults only, infants not being considered proper subjects, and is administered by pouring water upon the head of the subject. The Lord's Supper is administerod in commemoration of the death of our Saviour. It is considered unlawful to take an oath on any occasion, as well as to repel force by force; and they consider war, in all its shapes, as unchristian and unjust. Charity is with them a religious duty, and none of their members are permitted to become a public charge. wholly repudiated the wild and fanatical notions of the Munsterites. The many, and often bitter, controversies which took place during the time of the Reformation, not only between Catholic and Protestant writers, but often between the Protestants themselves, added to the fact that the history of the Mennonites has hitherto been written by writers of other sects, readily account for the mis-statements and incorrect accounts respecting the origin, history, and religious opinions of the Mennonites. The name Amish or Omish was derived from Jacob Amen, a native of Amenthal, in Switzerland, and a rigid Mennonite preacher of the seventeenth century; but that he was not the founder of a sect will be evident from the fact, that the society who are in the United States wrongfully called Amish or Omish, still rigidly adhere to the Confession of Faith which was adopted at Dortrecht, in Holland, A. D. 1632, (before the time of Jacob Amen,) by a General Assembly of ministers of the religious denomination who were at that time and in that place called Mennon Great injustice has been done the Mennonites by Protestant as well as by Catholic writers, by imputing to them doctrines which they never held with regard to the incarnation of Christ and the Millenium, or personal reign of Christ upon earth. That Menno Simon was charged with entertaining peculiar and unwarranted opinions respecting these matters is true, (doc-ites, (after Menno Simon, an eminent trines which we deem improper to mention, but an account of which may be found by referring to article Anabaptists, in the Encyclopædia Americana ;) but it is well known to all who are acquainted with the writings or works of Menno Simon, that if his written declarations are to be received as an evidence of his opinions, then the said charges are entirely gratuitous and without foundation in fact. The Men preacher and native of Friesland, in Holland,) but who were, (as has been well established by writers of the seventeenth century,) prior to that time, at different periods, known by the names of Henricians, Petrobrusians, and Waldenses. The number of the milder Mennonites in the United States is computed at 120,000, while that of the rigid Mennonites is not supposed to exceed 5000. |