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 Knowing the Odds
An Introduction to
Probability

John B. Walsh

Graduate Studies
in Mathematics
Volume 139

American Mathematical Society

Contents

Preface xi
Introduction xiii

Chapter 1. Probability Spaces 1

§1.1. Sets and Sigma-Fields 1
§1.2. Elementary Properties of Probability Spaces 6
§1.3. The Intuition 8
§1.4. Conditional Probability 15
§1.5. Independence 18
§1.6. Counting: Permutations and Combinations 22
§1.7. The Gambler’s Ruin 30

Chapter 2. Random Variables 39

§2.1. Random Variables and Distributions 39
§2.2. Existence of Random Variables 45
§2.3. Independence of Random Variables 48
§2.4. Types of Distributions 49
§2.5. Expectations I: Discrete Random Variables 54
§2.6. Moments, Means and Variances 60
§2.7. Mean, Median, and Mode 63
§2.8. Special Discrete Distributions 65
Chapter 3. Expectations II: The General Case 75
§3.1. From Discrete to Continuous 75

vii
viii Contents

§3.2. The Expectation as an Integral 81

§3.3. Some Moment Inequalities 85
§3.4. Convex Functions and Jensen’s Inequality 86
§3.5. Special Continuous Distributions 89
§3.6. Joint Distributions and Joint Densities 96
§3.7. Conditional Distributions, Densities, and Expectations 103
Chapter 4. Convergence 117
§4.1. Convergence of Random Variables 117
§4.2. Convergence Theorems for Expectations 122
§4.3. Applications 127
Chapter 5. Laws of Large Numbers 133
§5.1. The Weak and Strong Laws 134
§5.2. Normal Numbers 137
§5.3. Sequences of Random Variables: Existence 140
§5.4. Sigma Fields as Information 142
§5.5. Another Look at Independence 144
§5.6. Zero-one Laws 145
Chapter 6. Convergence in Distribution and the CLT 151
§6.1. Characteristic Functions 151
§6.2. Convergence in Distribution 162
§6.3. Lévy’s Continuity Theorem 170
§6.4. The Central Limit Theorem 176
§6.5. Stable Laws 182
Chapter 7. Markov Chains and Random Walks 191
§7.1. Stochastic Processes 191
§7.2. Markov Chains 192
§7.3. Classification of States 201
§7.4. Stopping Times 204
§7.5. The Strong Markov Property 208
§7.6. Recurrence and Transience 211
§7.7. Equilibrium and the Ergodic Theorem for Markov Chains 218
§7.8. Finite State Markov Chains 226
§7.9. Branching Processes 234
§7.10. The Poisson Process 242
Contents ix

§7.11. Birth and Death Processes 250

Chapter 8. Conditional Expectations 265
§8.1. Conditional Expectations 265
§8.2. Elementary Properties 268
§8.3. Approximations and Projections 272
Chapter 9. Discrete-Parameter Martingales 275
§9.1. Martingales 275
§9.2. System Theorems 282
§9.3. Convergence 290
§9.4. Uniform Integrability 295
§9.5. Applications 304
§9.6. Financial Mathematics I: The Martingale Connection 315
Chapter 10. Brownian Motion 335
§10.1. Standard Brownian Motion 336
§10.2. Stopping Times and the Strong Markov Property 344
§10.3. The Zero Set of Brownian Motion 348
§10.4. The Reflection Principle 351
§10.5. Recurrence and Hitting Properties 352
§10.6. Path Irregularity 354
§10.7. The Brownian Infinitesimal Generator 359
§10.8. Related Processes 363
§10.9. Higher Dimensional Brownian Motion 368
§10.10. Financial Mathematics II: The Black-Scholes Model 374
§10.11. Skorokhod Embedding 377
§10.12. Lévy’s Construction of Brownian Motion 388
§10.13. The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process 390
§10.14. White Noise and the Wiener Integral 394
§10.15. Physical Brownian Motion 404
§10.16. What Brownian Motion Really Does 410
Bibliography 413
Index 415
Preface

In the long-forgotten days of pre-history, people would color peach pits dif-
ferently on the two sides, toss them in the air, and bet on the color that
came up. We, with a more advanced technology, toss coins. We flip a coin
into the air. There are only two possible outcomes, heads or tails, but until
the coin falls, we have no way of knowing which. The result of the flip may
decide a bet, it may decide which football team kicks off, which tennis player
serves, who does the dishes, or it may decide a hero’s fate.
The coin flip may be the most basic of all random experiments. If the
coin is reasonably well-made, heads is as likely as tails to occur. But. . . what
does that mean?
Suppose we flip a coin, and call “Heads” or “Tails” while it is in the
air. Coins are subject to the laws of physics. If we could measure the exact
position, velocity, and angular velocity of the coin as it left the hand—
its initial conditions—we could use Newton’s laws to predict exactly how it
would land. Of course, that measurement is impractical, but not impossible.
The point is that the result is actually determined as soon as the coin is in
the air and, in particular, it is already determined when we call it; the result
is (theoretically) known, but not to us. As far as we are concerned, it is just
as unpredictable as it was before the flip. Let us look at the physics to see
why.
The outcome is determined by the exact position, angular position, ve-
locity, and angular velocity at the time of the flip. Physicists represent these
all together as a point in what they call phase space. We can picture it as
follows.

xi
xii Preface

T
H
T

H H
T T T T

H H H H

T T T

H H H

Figure 1. Phase space

This represents the initial condition of the coin in phase space. Some
points lead to heads, some to tails. But a small difference in initial conditions
completely changes the result. The conditions leading to heads are a union
of very small regions, which are evenly mixed up with those leading to tails.
This means that no matter how we try to toss the coin, we cannot zero
in on a particular result—our toss will be smeared out, so to speak, over the
“Heads” and “Tails” regions, and this will happen no matter how carefully
we toss it. This leads us to say things like: “Heads and tails are equally
likely,” or “Heads and tails each have probability one-half.”
Philosophers ask deep questions about the meaning of randomness and
probability. Is randomness something fundamental? Or is it just a measure
of our ignorance? Gamblers just want to know the odds.
Mathematicians by and large prefer to duck the question. If pressed,
they will admit that most probability deals with chaotic situations, like the
flip of a coin, where the seeming randomness comes from our ignorance of the
true situation. But they will then tell you that the really important thing
about randomness is that it can be measured—for probabilities measure
likelihood—and that we can construct a mathematical model which enables
us to compute all of the probabilities, and that, finally, this model is the
proper subject of study.
So you see, mathematicians side with the gamblers: they just want to
know the odds.
From now on, probability is mathematics. We will be content just to
note that it works—which is why so few casino owners go broke—and we
will leave the deeper meanings of randomness to the philosophers.
Introduction

There is an order to chaos. Unpredictability is predictable. In fact, random-

ness itself is so regular that we can assign a number to a random occurrence
which tells us in a precise way how likely it is. The number is called its
probability.
That is not to say that we can predict the result of a single toss of a fair
coin. We cannot. But we can predict that between forty and sixty out of a
hundred tosses will be heads. We might—rarely—be wrong about that, but
only once or twice in a hundred tries, and if we continue to toss: a thousand
times, a million times, and so on, we can be sure that the proportion of
heads will approach 1/2.
So randomness has its own patterns. Our aim is to understand them.
Probability is a rather unusual part of mathematics. While its full birth
as a mathematical subject can be traced to the correspondence between
Fermat and Pascal1 in the summer of 1654, the subject wasn’t put on a
rigorous footing until 1934, 270 years later, when A. N. Kolmogorov showed
it was properly a part of measure theory2. But probability had been around
for several centuries before measure theory existed, and it is quite possible to
study the subject without it. In fact, probability is taught at many different

1
Pascal and Fermat were by no means the first to study probabiity, but their work on the
“problem of points” was so much deeper than what had gone before that it is properly considered
the true beginning of the subject. See Keith Devlin’s “The Unfinished Game” [13] for an account.
2
See [22] for an English translation of Kolmogorov’s landmark paper. It showed that all of
probability theory could be regarded as a part measure theory, giving a general existence theorem
for stochastic processes (not present, alas, in this book, but see [12] or [9]) and a rigorous definition
of conditional expectations (see Chapter 8), which had previously been confined to special cases.
This was quite a change from the more intuitive approach, and it took some time to replace “could
be taken” by “is.” That was completed by Doob, culminating in his seminal book Stochastic
Processes [12].

xiii
xiv Introduction

levels, according to the mathematics the students know: in elementary and

high school, first year college, third or fourth year college, as well as in
graduate school. Certain things are common to all of these courses, but the
the more mathematics the student knows, the deeper he or she can go. This
particular text is drawn from a two-semester course taught over the years
at the University of British Columbia, mainly to fourth-year mathematics
honors students. It assumes the student is familiar with calculus and knows
some analysis, but not measure theory. Many of the students, but by no
means all, take a concurrent course in Lebesgue measure. It is not necessary,
but it adds depth, and gives the student some “Aha!” moments, such as
the sudden realization: “Aha! The expectation is nothing but a Lebesgue
integral3!”
We begin with the basic axioms of probability, and the all-important
ideas of conditional probability and independence. Then we quickly develop
enough machinery to allow the students to solve some interesting problems
and to analyze card games and lotteries. Just to show how quickly one can
get into non-trivial questions, we work out the problem of the gambler’s
ruin.
The systematic study of classical probability begins in Chapter Two. Its
aim is to prove two of the basic classical theorems of the subject: the law
of large numbers and the central limit theorem. Far from being recondite,
these theorems are practically part of Western folklore. Who has not heard
of the law of averages? That is another name for the law of large numbers.
What student has not been subject to “grading on a curve”, a direct (and
often mistaken) application of the central limit theorem? It is surprising how
much of the curriculum is determined by the modest aim of understanding
those two results: random variables, their expectations and variances, their
distributions, the idea of independence, and the ideas of convergence are
needed merely to state the theorems. A number of inequalities, the theory
of convergence in distribution, and the machinery of characteristic functions,
are necessary to prove them. This, along with enough examples to supply
the intuition necessary to understanding, determines the first six chapters.
The second part of the book introduces stochastic processes, and changes
the viewpoint. Stochastic processes evolve randomly in time. Instead of
limit theorems at infinity, the emphasis is on what the processes actually
do; we look at their sample paths, study their dynamics, and see that many
interesting things happen between zero and infinity. There is a large se-
lection of stochastic processes to study, and too little time to study them.

3
On the other hand, students who take probability before measure theory have their “Aha!”
moment later, when they realize that the Lebesgue integral is nothing but an expectation.
Introduction xv

We want to introduce processes which are major building blocks of the the-
ory, and we aim the course towards Brownian motion and some of its weird
and wonderful sample path properties. Once more, this determines much
of the curriculum. We introduce the Markov property and stopping times
with a study of discrete-parameter Markov chains and random walks, in-
cluding special cases such as branching processes. Poisson and birth and
death processes introduce continuous parameter processes, which prepares
for Brownian motion and several related processes.
The one non-obvious choice is martingales. This deserves some expla-
nation. The subject was once considered esoteric, but has since shown itself
to be so useful4 that it deserves inclusion early in the curriculum. There are
two obstructions. The first is that its whole setting appears abstract, since
it uses sigma-fields to describe information. Experience has shown that it
is a mistake to try to work around this; it is better to spend the necessary
time to make the abstract concrete by showing how sigma-fields encode in-
formation, and, hopefully, make them intuitive. The second obstruction is
the lack of a general existence theorem for conditional expectations: that
requires mathematics the students will not have seen, so that the only case
in which we can actually construct conditional expectations is for discrete
sigma-fields, where we can do it by hand. It would be a pity to restrict
ourselves to this case, so we do some unashamed bootstrapping. Once we
show that our hand-constructed version satisfies the defining properties of
the general conditional expectation, we use only these properties to develop
the theory. When we have proved the necessary martingale theorems, we
can construct the conditional expectation with respect to a general sigma
field as the limit of conditional expectations on discrete sigma fields. This
gives us the desired existence theorem . . . and shows that what we did was
valid for general sigma-fields all along. We make free use of martingales in
the sequel. In particular, we show how martingale theory connects with a
certain part of mathematical finance, the option pricing, or Black-Scholes
theory.
The final chapter on Brownian motion uses most of what we have learned
to date, and could pull everything together, both mathematically and artis-
tically. It would have done so, had we been able to resist the temptation
to spoil any possible finality by showing—or at least hinting at—some of

4
The tipping point was when engineers started using martingales to solve applied problems,
and, in so doing, beat the mathematicians to some very nice theorems. The coup de grâce was
struck by the surprising realization that the celebrated Black-Scholes theory of finance, used by all
serious option-traders in financial markets was, deeply, martingale theory in disguise. See sections
9.6 and 10.10
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xvi Introduction

the large mathematical territory it opens up: white noise, stochastic inte-
grals, diffusions, financial mathematics, and probabilistic potential theory,
for example.
A last word. To teach a course with pleasure, one should learn at the
same time. Fair is fair: the students should not be the only learners. This
is automatic the first time one teaches a course, less so the third or fourth
time. So we tried to include enough sidelights and interesting byways to
allow the instructor some choice, a few topics which might be substituted at
each repetition. Most of these are starred:  . In fact, we indulged ourselves
somewhat, and included personal favorites that we seldom have time to cover
in the course, such as the Wiener stochastic integral, the Langevin equation,
and the physical model of Brownian motion.
 Chapter 1

Probability Spaces

It is said that the best way to enter a cold swimming pool is to dive in head
first, not to inch in one toe at a time. Let us take that advice and begin
with a splash: the basic mathematical model of probability. We will explain
the intuition behind it afterwards.

1.1. Sets and Sigma-Fields

Let Ω be a set.
Definition 1.1. A class G of subsets of Ω is a field if
(i) ∅ ∈ G,
(ii) A ∈ G =⇒ Ac ∈ G,
(iii) A, B ∈ G =⇒ A ∪ B ∈ G;
it is a σ-field if
(i) ∅ ∈ G,
(ii) A ∈ G =⇒ Ac ∈ G,
∞
(iii) A1 , A2 , · · · ∈ G =⇒ i=1 Ai ∈ G;
it is a monotone class if
∞
(i) A1 ⊂ A2 ⊂ · · · ∈ G =⇒ Ai ∈ G,
i=1
∞
(ii) A1 ⊃ A2 ⊃ · · · ∈ G =⇒ i=1 Ai ∈ G.

Thus a field1 is closed under complementation and finite unions, a σ-

field is closed under complementation and countable unions, and a monotone
1
You might encounter these under other names. A field has also been called an algebra, a
Boolean algebra, and a finitely additive class. A σ-field—pronounced sigma-field—has been called
a σ-algebra, a Borel field, and a countably additive class.

1
2 1. Probability Spaces

class is closed under countable increasing unions and countable decreasing

intersections.
For our purposes, the σ-field is by far the most useful. This is because
it is closed under countable set operations. Finite unions and intersections
are not enough. We will be dealing with limits, and limits involve infinite
operations. However, in practice, the field is the easiest to come by. Once
we have a field, we often ask, “Is it actually a σ-field? If not, can we extend
it to be one?” The monotone class is an important tool for this: it is easier
to show that something is a monotone class than to show it is a σ-field.
Under certain conditions, this implies that it is a σ-field.
Remark 1.2. (i) Ac is the complement of A relative to Ω: Ac = Ω − A.
(ii) Note that a field or σ-field contains Ω as well as ∅, since Ω = ∅c .
(iii) A field (resp. σ-field) F is closed under  finite (resp.
 c countable)
c
intersections, too. For if A1 , A2 , · · · ∈ F , then n An = n A n ∈ F by
(ii) and (iii).

There are some obvious relations between the three:

(i) σ-field =⇒ field and monotone class.
(ii) Field and monotone class =⇒ σ-field.
 (iii) Let {G α , α ∈ I} be fields (resp. σ-fields, monotone classes). Then
α G α is a field (resp. σ-field, monotone class.)

(iv) If C is a collection of sets, there exists a minimal field (resp σ-

field, monotone class) containing C. This is called the field (resp. σ-field,
monotone class) generated by C.

Proof. (i) is obvious. For (ii), if G is a field, it is closed under complemen-

tation and finite unions, and if A1 , A2 , · · · ∈ G, then
   n

An = Aj ∈ G .
n n j=1

Indeed, the finite unions are in G since G is a field, so a countable union

can be written as a union of increasing sets, and hence is also in G because G
is a monotone class, proving (ii). And (iii) is easy! Just verify the defining
conditions.
To see (iv), note that if C is any class of subsets of Ω, there is at least
one field (resp. σ-field, monotone class) containing it, namely the class of
all subsets of Ω. Thus the intersection of all fields (resp. σ-field, monotone
classes) containing C makes sense, and, by (iii), is itself a field (resp. σ-field,
monotone class). It is necessarily minimal. 
1.1. Sets and Sigma-Fields 3

Example 1.2.1. Here are some σ-fields.

• All subsets of Ω.
• {Ω, ∅}. (This is called the trivial σ-field.)
• All countable subsets of R together with their complements.
• The Lebesgue-measurable subsets of R.
The first two are clearly σ-fields, for (i), (ii) and (iii) are immediate.
Note that every σ-field contains both ∅ and Ω, so the trivial σ-field is also
the smallest possible σ-field.
The third example contains the empty set and is clearly closed under
complements. Inaddition, it contains countable unions: if A1 , A2 , . . . are all
countable, so is n An since a countable union of countable sets is countable.

If at least one of the An is the complement of a countable set, so is n An .
In either case, it is closed under countable unions, and therefore a σ-field.
The last example—the Lebesgue-measurable sets—is for the benefit of
those who are familiar with Lebesgue measure, where they are defined and
shown to form a σ-field. It is also proved there that there are non-Lebesgue-
measurable sets, so that the first and fourth examples are actually different2.
Exercise 1.1. Show that the following two classes are fields, but not σ-fields.
(a) All finite subsets of R together with their complements.
(b) All finite unions of intervals in R of the form (a, b], (−∞, a], and (b, ∞).

Let us take a close look at one σ-field.

Definition 1.3. The class B of Borel sets in R is the smallest σ-field which
contains all open sets.

This is a natural class of subsets of R. While it is smaller than the class

of Lebesgue sets, it contains nearly any set we can think of.
We will only be concerned with the Borel sets of the line for the time
being, but let us note for future reference that they can be defined for any
topological space: if Z is a topological space, the class of Borel sets B(Z)
of Z is the smallest σ-field of subsets of Z which contain all open sets. In
particular, the Borel sets B(Rn ) can be defined for n-dimensional Euclidean
space.
They can be generated by far smaller classes than the open sets. For
instance, an open set is a countable union of open intervals, so that any σ-
field containing the open intervals also contains all open sets, and therefore
contains B, which is the smallest σ-field containing the open sets. So the
2
That is, they are different if you believe in the Axiom of Choice: the existence of non-
Lebesgue measurable sets is equivalent to the Axiom of Choice.
4 1. Probability Spaces

open intervals generate the Borel sets. Here are a few more possibilities.
Note that to prove that a class of sets generates the Borel sets, we need only
show they generate the open intervals.
Exercise 1.2. Show that the Borel sets are generated by any one of the following
classes:
(a) The closed sets.
(b) All closed intervals.
(c) All closed intervals with rational end points.
(d) All intervals of the form (a, b].
(e) All intervals of the form (−∞, x].
(f) All intervals of the form (−∞, x], where x is rational.

We say two sets A and B are disjoint if A ∩ B = ∅.

Definition 1.4. Let F be a σ-field. A probability measure P on F is a
real-valued function defined on F such that
(i) if A ∈ F , P {A} ≥ 0;
(ii) P {Ω} = 1;
(iii) if A1 , A2 , . . . is a finite or countably infinite sequence of disjoint
elements of F (i.e., i = j =⇒ Ai ∩ Aj = ∅), then
 
P An = P {An }.
n n
P {A} is called the probability of A.

Property (iii) is called countable additivity. Note that it holds for

infinite unions, not just finite ones. We will see shortly that this is really a
continuity property in disguise.

The Monotone Class Theorem . This section states and proves the
Monotone Class Theorem, and can be safely skipped for the moment. We
will not use it until Section 2.3. It is one of those theorems which seems very
technical. . . until it’s needed to make some otherwise-painful proof easy.
Theorem 1.5 (Monotone Class Theorem). Let F 0 be a field and G a mono-
tone class. Suppose F 0 ⊂ G. Then σ{F 0 } ⊂ G. In particular, the monotone
class and the σ-field generated by F are the same.

Proof. This proof makes extensive use of minimality. Let G  be the smallest
monotone class containing F 0 . Then G  ⊂ G. Since σ(F 0 ) is also a monotone
class containing F 0 , G  ⊂ σ(F 0 ). We will show σ(F 0 ) = G  .
Define two classes of subsets of Ω:
C 1 = {A ∈ G  : A ∩ B ∈ G  , ∀B ∈ F 0 } ,
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occur in its established order, must be felt to be by his permission.

To illustrate this, suppose a man appeared, claiming to be a teacher

sent from God. In proof of this, he commands a mountain to be
uptorn and thrown into the sea. Now, if this phenomenon should
follow his command, it would be impossible for any who witnessed
it, to refrain from believing that the Author of Nature performed this
miracle to attest the authority of his messenger.

In order to insure this belief in the interference of the Creator, there

must be full evidence that there can be no deception, and that the
miraculous performance is entirely beyond human power and skill.
Men always talk and act on the assumption that such miracles are
from God, and all rational minds so regard them.

We have shown that the chief cause of a wrong action of mind, is

that it commences existence in perfect ignorance, while all those
causes which experience shows to be indispensable to its right
action, to a greater or less degree are wanting.

The grand want of our race is perfect educators to train new-born

minds, who are infallible teachers of what is right and true.

We have presented the evidence gained by reason and experience

that the Creator is perfect in mental [pg 236] constitution, and that
he always has acted right, and always will thus act. This being
granted, we infer that he always has done the best that is possible
for the highest good of his creatures in this world, and that he
always will continue to do so.

We proceed to inquire in regard to what would be the best that is

possible to be done for us in this state of being, so far as we can
conceive.

Inasmuch as the great cause of the wrong action of mind is the

ignorance and imperfection of those who are its educators in the
beginning of its existence, we should infer that the best possible
thing to be done for our race, would be to provide some perfect and
infallible teacher to instruct those who are to educate mind. This
being granted, then all would concede that the Creator himself
would be our best teacher, and that, if he would come to us himself
in a visible form, to instruct the educators of mind in all they need to
know, for themselves and for the new-born minds committed to their
care, it would be the best thing we can conceive of for the highest
good of our race.

We next inquire as to the best conceivable mode by which the

Creator can manifest himself so as to secure credence.

To decide this, let each one suppose the case his own. Let a man
make his appearance claiming to be the Creator. We can perceive
that his mere word would never command the confidence of
intelligent practical men. Thousands of impostors have appeared and
made such claims, deceiving the weak and ignorant and disgusting
the wise.

A person with such claims, were he ever so benevolent and

intelligent, but having had no other evidence [pg 237] than his word
to support them, would, by sensible persons, be regarded as the
victim of some mental hallucination.

But suppose that a person claiming to be the Creator of all things, or

to be a messenger from him, should attest his claim by shaking the
earth, or turning back the floods of the ocean, it would be
impossible for any man to witness these miracles without believing,
that the Author of all things thus attested his own presence or the
authority of his messenger. We have shown that the very
organization of mind would necessarily force such a belief on all
sane minds.

One other method would be as effective. Should this person predict

events so improbable and so beyond all human intelligence, as to be
equivalent to an equal interruption of experience as to the laws of
mind, as time developed the fulfillment of these predictions, the
same belief would be induced in the authority of the person thus
supernaturally endowed.

In the case of miracles, the evidence would be immediate and most

powerful in its inception. In the case of prophecy, the power of the
evidence would increase with time.

Miracles and prophecy, then, are the only methods that we can
conceive of, that would, as our minds are now constituted, insure
belief in revelations from the Creator.

But if every human being, in order to believe, must have miracles,

there would result such an incessant violation of the laws of nature
as to destroy them, and thus to destroy all possibility of miracles.

The only possible way, then, to establish revelations to the race, is to

have them occur at certain periods of time, and then have them
adequately recorded and preserved.

[pg 238]
The Bible is a collection of books written at different periods of the
world's history. These books profess to be records of the various
manifestations and teachings of the Creator to mankind. It is
claimed for them, that their authority is established by miracles and
prophecy, with all the evidence that is possible, so far as we can
conceive, and that there are no other books in the world having any
such evidence of authorized revelations from God.

No attempt will be made to set forth this evidence, which, it is

claimed, is peculiar to the Bible. The point here attempted is, to
show that, were the Augustinian system contained in these writings,
it would destroy their claims as reliable revelations from God, even
allowing that miracles and prophecy attested their authority.

All must allow that it is possible to have such things given in a

revelation from God as would destroy its reliability. For example,
suppose it were a fact that a revelation, supported by miracles,
taught that there was no God. This would necessarily destroy its
authority as a revelation from God.

Suppose again, that it taught that the Creator, who wrought the
attesting miracles, was a liar, and loved to deceive his creatures; this
would also destroy its reliability as a guide to truth.

Suppose again, that it taught that the Creator was a being who
preferred evil to good, and chose to have his creatures ignorant and
miserable, when he has power to make them wise and happy. This
also would destroy the reliability of any revelation from the Creator,
even were it sustained by undisputed miracles and prophecy.

[pg 239]
This last is precisely what the Augustinian system does teach, and,
as its advocates claim, it is a part of a revelation from the Creator,
supported by miracles and prophecy.

In opposition to this, it is maintained that this system is not to be

found in the Bible, and that were it there, all the miracles and
prophecy conceivable could not prove these writings to be
revelations from the Creator, which are reliable as our guide to truth
and happiness. A Creator who wills ignorance and misery to his
creatures, when he has power to will knowledge and happiness in
their place, is not a being to be believed or trusted as our guide to
truth and happiness.

It is in this light that the Augustinian theory, as a part of the Bible,

brings the question fairly before the people, as “Bible or no Bible?”
Chapter XXXV. Tendencies of the Two
Opposing Systems.

The preceding chapters have presented the distinctive features of

two systems which, in their main points, are shown to be
contradictory, while both are exhibited as incorporated into the chief
creeds and theological teachings of the Christian world.

It is the object of this chapter to point out the tendencies of these

antagonistic systems.

It is maintained, that the common-sense system, resting as it does

on implanted principles common to all minds, is evolved and held
very much in proportion [pg 240] to the development of the
reasoning powers and the moral sense.

That part of this system which relates to man's duties and best
interests in this life, without reference to a future state, has been
more harmoniously evolved by the wise and good of all ages and
nations than any other. Thus, in the teachings of Confucius,
Zoroaster, Gaudama, Solon, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, and
the Antonines, who are among the chief heathen sages, we can find
nearly all the moral duties of man, to himself and to his fellow-man,
which are to be found in the Bible. It is true that there are diversities
and deficiencies in all; but a large body of pure morality could be
made up from their united teachings. The account given of the
system of Boodhism in a previous chapter is one illustration of this
fact.
But, while it is comparatively easy for the good and wise heathen to
reason out what is best for man in this life, as taught by experience,
the grand failure is in motives which will secure obedience to the
rules of virtue. “We see the right and yet the wrong pursue,” has
been the universal lament of humanity.

The character of the Creator, as “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, slow unto anger, of great kindness;” “who doth not
willingly afflict or grieve the children of men;” who “like as a father
pitieth his children;” who is “a father of the fatherless and a judge of
the widow;” “a God without iniquity, just and right;” “a judge of the
fatherless and the poor;” who “shall judge the world with
righteousness;” “a righteous God, who trieth the heart and the
reins;” who “will regard the prayer of the [pg 241] destitute;” who
“knoweth the wants of the heart;” “who knoweth our down-sitting
and up-rising, and is acquainted with all our ways;” who is “a
righteous Lord who loveth righteousness;” “whose judgments are all
right;” whose “word is right;” whose “word is truth from the
beginning;” who is “plenteous in mercy and truth;” such a character
as this, as it is recorded in the Jewish sacred books, was never
evolved or set forth by the wisest and best sages of all the earth,
unaided by these writings.

That such a Being regards our race with long-suffering compassion,

and came himself to earth, by his teachings, example and self-
sacrificing love, to save us from sin, this was never even imagined
by any of the heathen sages of earth.

The power of motive, secured by a belief in the omnipresence,

sympathy and love of such a God, never was attained by the
unaided reasoning of any human being.

The fact that the soul survives the dissolution of the body, and that
the good go where they are happy, and the wicked where they are
punished, has been more or less clearly evolved by the heathen
world. In some nations, as for example the followers of Boodhism,
this doctrine is quite definite and distinct, but with most heathen
nations all their notions on this subject are dim, shadowy and
unpractical.

It is those nations alone, who have had access to the Bible, who
have ever attained the powerful motives which are found in the
system of common sense. And yet, as has been shown, these
influences have been, to a great extent, nullified by a contradictory
system.

[pg 242]
It is claimed, that the system of common sense is the one on which
the revelations of the Creator, contained in the Bible, are founded.
This being so, those who are most developed in their reasoning
powers, and who also yield the most reverence to the Bible, are
those who are most powerfully protected against the pernicious
tendencies of the antagonistic system of Augustine.

Thus, a system which is antagonistic to reason and common sense,

has, by ecclesiastical authority and perversion, been fastened most
firmly on that class of minds who bring all their cultivated powers to
its defense, while at the same time the very cultivation of these
powers, and their reverence for the Bible, tend to the destruction of
the same system. We consequently find the strongest defenders,
and the strongest antagonists of the Augustinian system, in those
sects who were educated within its entrenchments.

If common sense and the Bible are to conquer this false system, it
must be done by those whose common sense and reverence for the
Bible are most effective and most prominent. And yet this class of
persons are the ones, who would the most vigorously apply their
energies in the defense of a system in which they have been trained
from infancy, and which is sustained by all the power of public
sentiment, and church organization. This being premised, the
tendencies of the two antagonistic systems will now be set forth.
[pg 243]
Chapter XXXVI. Tendencies of the Two
Systems As They Respect the Cultivation
of the Moral and Intellectual Powers.

The system of common sense rests on the assumption that there are
principles of right and wrong founded on the eternal nature of
things, existing independently of the will of the Creator in his own
eternal mind, and by which his character and conduct may be
judged.

The human mind is constructed in accordance with these principles,

as the embryo image of the Eternal Creator. By the aid of these
principles, we discover the design and character of God in the nature
of his works, and can perceive what is right or wrong in moral action
as tending to fulfill or oppose this design. Thus we are enabled to
understand and to adore the rectitude, wisdom and goodness of our
Creator, as manifested either in his works or in more direct
revelations from him.

According to this system, all voluntary action is right which produces

happiness without violating the laws of God. Thus every person who
is making self or others happy in the best way, guided by the
teachings of experience or by revelations from God, is fulfilling the
great design of our Maker, and thus pleasing him by promoting his
chief desire.

On the contrary, the Augustinian system assumes that the human

mind, being totally depraved, is entirely disqualified to judge of the
character and ways of [pg 244] God. Nay more, it assumes that
there is no standard of right and wrong by which we can judge of
the rectitude of the ways of God.

According to this theory, the fact that God wills a thing is what
makes it right; so that any thing is right if God does it, and true if he
says it, however contrary it may be to our moral nature and common
sense.

In the teachings of moral science, founded on this theory, it is

maintained that God has formed our minds to feel certain emotions
of approval or disapproval in view of certain relations and actions,
which are right or wrong only as agreeing or disagreeing with his
will. But as the mind of man is depraved, this constitution is no
certain guide, and we are dependent on direct revelations from God
to teach us what is in agreement with his will. Yet here again we are
at fault; for such is our depravity that we are disqualified to interpret
these revelations, except as we are regenerated by God.

Accordingly, man has no means of judging of the designs or

character of his Maker—nor, while unregenerate, as most of our race
are and have been, has he any sure means of discovering the will of
God, either by reason or revelation, saving as he may find infallible
priestly interpreters.
Tendencies of the Two Systems in Regard to the
Cultivation of the Reasoning Powers and Moral
Sense.

The common-sense system, resting on the assumption that

happiness-making, according to the laws of God, is the chief end of
man, naturally leads to the development of the intellect and reason
in order to discover these laws, and to the devotion of all our [pg
245] powers to happiness-making, according to these laws. This
being so, every thing that tends to make enjoyment and diminish
evil without violating law, is valued as good and right. All noble,
generous, self-sacrificing and honorable sentiments and acts are
regarded as right, pleasing to the Father of all, and tending equally
to promote the best good of ourselves and of all our fellow-beings.
In this light we become one with the Father and with all good beings
just so far as we obey all the physical, social and moral laws of our
Creator, and thus conform to his will, and add to his happiness. Thus
the direct tendency of this system is to promote an earnest desire,
first to discover all that is true and right, and then to follow it. And
such efforts naturally tend both to develop our highest powers, and
to bring the mind into harmony and communion with the Father of
our spirits.

On the contrary, the Augustinian system, resting on the assumption

that all the plans and ways of God are a mystery beyond our
comprehension; that man, by nature, has no power to understand
what is right or wrong in God's dispensations; that what we call
goodness and virtue in unregenerate minds is not so in God's sight;
that every act of every unrenewed mind is sin, and only sin; that
until regenerated we never do any thing to move God to re-create
our ruined nature; all this in its tendency leads to recklessness,
hopelessness and neglect of all virtuous efforts, as useless in regard
to our highest interests. As before intimated, these tendencies are
more or less counteracted by the teachings of common sense and
the Bible. Still, such tendencies must always be, more or less,
effective and disastrous.

[pg 246]
Chapter XXXVII. Tendencies of the Two
Systems in Respect to Individual
Religious Experience.

The Augustinian system, assuming that true personal religion

consists in the exercises of “a new nature,” tends to introverted
mental efforts, in order to discover whether the signs of such a
nature exist in ourselves.

As, on this theory, it is certain that man will do nothing to change his
fallen nature until the Spirit of God is given to aid, the great
attention and effort must be directed to those methods, which “the
church” decides, or experience has proved, to be connected with the
bestowal of this spiritual gift.

Not knowing clearly what the depraved nature is, which is to be

changed, nor the certain signs of its existence or re-creation, nor
any certain mode of securing the desired change, there is a
perplexing variety of vague instructions as to “what we must do to
be saved?”

In illustration of this, the following from an article by the editor of

the Methodist Quarterly, shows how Wesley and his followers
instruct on this subject:

“I have continually testified, in private and in public,” says

Wesley, “that we are sanctified as well as justified by faith.”
This being first stated, the great question follows, what is that faith
by which we are justified and sanctified? The answer is this:

“It is a divine evidence and conviction, first that God hath

promised [pg 247]it in the holy Scriptures; secondly, that
what God hath promised he is able to perform; thirdly, that he
is able and willingto do it now. To this, is to be added one
thing more: a divine conviction that he doeth it. In that hour it
is done.”18

That is, in order to be justified and sanctified we must have a divine

evidence and conviction that God is able and willing, and actually
does now give the justification and sanctification we seek. In other
words, in order to gain what we seek we must believe that we have
gained it. In order to get a blessing we must believe that we possess
it.

Thus it is, that one of the largest sects of our country is instructed
by its founder and his most intelligent and learned followers, as to
the way of salvation from everlasting and inconceivable misery. It
will be remembered, that this class of divines teach that the
depravity of man's mind consists in the deprivation of God's Spirit,
which is withheld from all the descendants of Adam on account of
his sin.

The following presents the mode of instruction in which the author

was educated. It is contained in a letter from Dr. Nettleton, a
celebrated revival preacher, who often resided with the author's
father during revivals in which they were co-laborers. This letter was
written to oppose the views of the New Haven divines, who
maintained that, although in consequence of Adam's sin, there is a
tendency or bias to evil so powerful as to insure “sin, and only sin”
till regeneration occurs, yet that the act of regeneration consists in a
choice or purpose on the part of man himself.
[pg 248]
In reference to these views of Dr. Taylor and others, Dr. Nettleton
says:

“They adopt a new theory of regeneration. It has been said by

some that regeneration consists in removing this sinful bias,
which is anterior to actual volition; this they deny. But whether
we call this propensity sinful or not, all orthodox divines who
have admitted its existence have, I believe, united in the
opinion that regeneration does consist in removing it,” [which
the New Haven divines denying, they are excluded from the
“orthodox” ranks, in the view of Dr. N.]

He continues thus:

“No sinner ever did or ever will make a holy choice prior to an
inclination, bias or tendency to holiness.

“On the whole their [i.e., the New Haven divines] views of
depravity, of regeneration and of the mode of preaching to
sinners can not fail, I think, of doing very great mischief. This
exhibition [i.e., that regeneration consists in man's choice]
overlooks the most alarming feature of human depravity and
the very essence of experimental religion. It is directly
calculated to prevent sinners from coming under conviction of
sin....”

“The progress of conviction ordinarily is as follows: Trouble and

alarm first, on account of outward sins; secondly, on account
of hardness of heart, deadness and insensibility to divine
things,—tendency, bias, proneness or propensity to sin, both
inferred and felt; and this the convicted sinner always regards,
not merely as calamitous, but as awfully criminal in the sight
of God. And the sinner utterly despairs of salvation without a
change in this propensity to sin. And while he feels this
 propensity to be thus criminal, he is fully aware that if God, by
a sovereign act of his grace, does not interpose to remove or
change it, he shall never give his heart to God, nor make one
holy choice.”

The great point taught by Dr. Nettleton and his associates was, that
man has a depraved nature consisting in a bias or propensity to sin,
consequent on Adam's sin, for which we are “awfully criminal in [pg
249] the sight of God,” and which man himself will never remedy;
that regeneration consists in the change of this bias by God, and
that until God does make this change man will “never give his heart
to God nor make one holy choice.” And yet his sermons, as the
writer heard them month after month, abounded in pungent
addresses to sinners, commanding them in God's name to “give their
hearts to God,” and maintaining that their inability to do so was
owing to their own fault and unwillingness to do so.

At the same time, the New Haven divines, in the same pulpit, were
urging their views, showing that regeneration consisted in “choosing
God and his service;” that man was fully able to do this, and yet that
owing to his depraved nature, he never would do it, until that nature
was in some way changed by God. Meantime, on their view also,
every voluntary act, previous to regeneration, was “sin, and only
sin.” Nor had God pointed out any sure mode of obtaining from him
the gift of regenerating grace. They, however, urged that the results
of experience proved that regeneration, though not promised to
unregenerate doings, is, as a matter of fact, bestowed more
frequently on those who use “the means of grace,” such as prayer,
reading the Bible and frequenting religious meetings, than on those
who do not.

The points of difference between the New Haven theologians and

their opponents, seemed to be, that the former taught that
regeneration was the act of man himself in choosing God's service;
while Dr. Nettleton and his associates taught that it consisted in the
change of man's nature by God, and not in what was done by man
himself. The New Haven [pg 250] theologians have been more
definite in their attempts to explain the exact nature of regeneration
than any other class. They all agree, however, that man never will,
in any case, become regenerated until God in some measure
rectifies the injury done to human nature by Adam's sin; that God
points out no definite way to secure this aid; and that previous to
regeneration every moral act of man is “sin, and only sin.”

As to the signs or evidence of regeneration, those who teach that

man's depravity consists in the deprivation of God's Spirit, on
account of Adam's sin, often lead to the expectation of some sudden
“light and joy,” as the first evidence of regeneration. Such, also,
follow Wesley's direction, and try to believe that they are justified
and sanctified, in order to become so. Others point out certain
emotions toward God or toward Jesus Christ as the proof of the
commencement of a new nature.

Some divines lead to the impression that the new nature consists in
a mysterious indwelling of God in the soul, or a union of our nature
to his, so that when it takes place, there is a natural outflowing of
good feelings and good works, as there was of evil before this union.
But they point out no intelligible way of gaining this union.

The Catholic church teaches that regeneration is conferred by the

rite of baptism, and that thus a seed or some mysterious principle is
implanted, which is developed by use of the forms and rites of “the
church,” and exhibited in “good works.” The Episcopal churches,
more or less, retain this view in the teachings of their clergy.

“Saving faith,” or the “faith which justifies,” is described [pg 251] by

religious teachers with most singular and inconsistent forms of
expression. If any person will make a collection of the various
diverse explanations of this indispensable requisite to eternal life, it
would prove a most mournful illustration of vague teachings in reply
to the great question, “What must we do to be saved?”
The following extract was prepared by a very intelligent theological
student at the request of the author, in reference to the great
question, “What must we do to be saved?” as set forth in a recent
work, highly recommended for its clear and practical views on this
great matter. This work, entitled “The Higher Christian Life,” exhibits
not only the author's views of what regeneration consists in, but his
views of another subject that has greatly interested many minds in
the religious world, under the name of Christian Perfection:

“I have examined, as you requested, the book entitled ‘The

Higher Christian Life,’ with a view of gaining the author's
definition of ‘conversion,’ or ‘regeneration,’ and his directions
for securing it, and also his idea of what the ‘second
conversion’consists in. His view of the first conversion, or
regeneration, is the generally entertained one, i.e., it is the
pardon of our sins. This pardon is instantaneous and entire.
The moment a soul believes in Christ, and accepts his
atonement, that moment it experiences a complete sense of
pardoned sin.

“Luther experienced this when, after fasting, and watching,

and struggling under the weight of sins unforgiven had
brought him to the brink of the grave, these words were
brought home to his mind, ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’
From that moment ‘joy filled his soul, and he arose quickly
from the depths of despair and the bed of sickness.’

“Second conversion is the cleansing from sin, which the author

[pg 252]says ‘is a work of indefinite length,’ and in this
particular alone differs from the first conversion.

“But, in the examples cited by him, the experience of this

second conversion has been as instantaneous as the first.
Luther, climbing Pilate's stair-case on his hands and knees, for
the purpose of gaining holiness, was brought to his feet by the
truth, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ‘Then,’ Luther says, ‘I felt
 myself born again. As a new man I entered by an open door
into the very Paradise of God.’

“So in all the other examples of this author, the apprehension

of Christ as the way, is instantaneous; and yet he says ‘the
work of Christ remains yet to be done in the future.’ In this
point only does it differ from the first conversion, that it is not
all done in an instant, although, as I have said before, his
examples all make the impression that in both cases the work
is instantaneous.”

This extract is not given as a correct exhibition of the views of this

author, for it may not do him justice. It is given to show how vague
and indefinite are the teachings of religious writers and preachers on
this subject. Here is a book recommended for its clear views by the
highest class of minds. It is read and re-read by an intelligent, well-
educated young man, who is studying theology in one of our first
seminaries. He then gives this author's view of regeneration, as that
which he supposes to be contained in that book, and also as “the
one generally entertained.”

And what is this answer to the great question, “What must we do to

be saved?”—a question on which the happiness of endless ages is
suspended.

It is the pardon of sin, which “is instantaneous and entire.” This is

something which God does, and this, as it would seem, is
regeneration.

Next it is stated that “the moment a soul believes in Christ and

accepts his atonement, that moment it experiences a complete
sense of pardoned sin.” Here one [pg 253] must ask, “what is
signified by believing in Christ and accepting his atonement? Is this
also regeneration, and if so, does it consist in the intellectual assent
to the proposition that Christ as God suffered and died, and by this
act secured the pardon of our sin?” There is nothing given to decide
these queries.

Next, it is stated that this act of faith is followed by “a complete

sense of pardoned sin.” Is this regeneration, or is it a part of it?
There is nothing given to decide this question.

It is certain that the young man, totally failed in his efforts to secure
any clear and definite conceptions of the author's meaning, exactly
as has been the case with the writer herself, for whom the above
extract was prepared.

It has been the privilege of the writer, often to listen to the

preaching of Dr. Bushnell, one of the most popular of all our religious
teachers. On one such occasion during the present season, the
object of his sermon seemed to be to teach what was that true
knowledge of God, which he urged on his hearers.

He stated that it was not merely an intellectual apprehension of his

character and deeds, but something which every soul must gain in
order to secure eternal life, something, as it seemed, which he
deemed regeneration.

He finally enunciated this, which seemed to be his idea of this

indispensable experience: “It is the return of God into the human
soul.”

In enlarging on this, he described something which was so vague

and indefinite as to make it useless to attempt to state the
impression made. Afterward, aid was sought from one of the
preacher's constant and [pg 254] most intelligent hearers. “Does Dr.
Bushnell believe in a preëxistent state, when God, in the manner set
forth, was in the soul of each human being? If not, what does he
mean by a ‘return of God into the soul?’ ” After some discussion, this
intelligent parishioner concluded that his meaning probably was, that
when we desire and intend wholly to submit our wills to that of God,
and to be guided wholly by him, we become in this respect one with
God. And this is what is meant by God's return into the soul. At what
previous time this state of union was experienced, and then lost, so
that regeneration is its “return,” seemed to remain, as it respects
information to be gained from parishioners, a matter of hopeless
speculation.

In a family of whom eight are ministers of religion, and several are

theological professors, the one who has seemed most fully to agree
with the writer in explaining the nature of regeneration, is the Star
contributor to the Independent.

It has been shown that Phrenology is antagonistic to the Augustinian

theory of implanted evil propensities, by teaching that every faculty,
when developed and regulated aright, tends to the best good of the
race, so that the extinction of any faculty or propensity would not be
an improvement, but rather an injury to the constitution of mind.

In regard to this brother, here referred to, the system of Phrenology

was embraced by him before his theological education was
commenced, and was never relinquished. In consequence, his mode
of explaining the nature of regeneration has been diverse from most
accepted methods of theological schools. And [pg 255] yet, when
the writer, applied both to his published articles and to some of his
most intelligent, regular hearers, to ascertain if the common-sense
view of regeneration, as here stated, was in perfect agreement with
her brother's views, it seemed difficult to decide.

In reading some of the Star Papers, the common-sense view of

regeneration is clear and unmistakable; in others, there are
statements as to the distinctive nature of Christian character, which
seem to be both additional and diverse. The result is, an uncertainty
as to the exact idea of what regeneration consists in, as taught by
this brother.19

The editors of the Independent quote the following sentence from

Common Sense Applied to Religion, or the Bible and the People, as a
statement of “the doctrine of the new birth,” which is “not materially
different” from that held by “the fathers and mothers of New
England for eight successive generations:”

“The ‘second birth’ is the sudden or the gradual entrance into

a life, in which the will of the Creator is to control the self-will
of the creature, while under the influence of love and gratitude
to him, and guided by ‘faith’ in his teachings, living chiefly for
the great commonwealth takes the place of living chiefly for
self. For this, the supernatural aid of the Holy Spirit is promised
to all who seek it, and without this aid, success is hopeless.
But the grand instrumentality is right training by parents and
teachers.” (Common Sense, etc., p. 333.)

Let this statement, by the Independent, of what the new birth

consists in, as held by the fathers and mothers of New England, be
compared with the preceding account of “conversion,” given by a
young theologian, born in Connecticut, and educated at Yale [pg
256] College, as the “generally entertained one,” and the case is
rendered increasingly difficult and perplexing.

In the view of the author, all theologians do so far hold the common-
sense theory of regeneration, that when they find a person whose
will seems to be entirely subjected to the will of God, while “under
the influence of love and gratitude to Him, and guided by faith in his
teachings, living chiefly for the great commonwealth takes the place
of living chiefly for self”—such a person is regarded by them as
regenerated. At the same time, bound by the Augustine system,
they give other views of the nature of regeneration, which are vague
and conflicting, as has been illustrated in the preceding pages.20

From all this results endless anxiety, doubt and distress, in

conscientious minds, from uncertainty whether their depraved nature
has been changed, and from perplexity in view of the multifarious
modes of teaching in regard to the nature and signs of regeneration.
From this, too, results false confidence and indifference to right and
wrong conduct, in those who imagine they discover in themselves
the signs of a [pg 257] regenerated nature, which will, as they are
led to believe, secure heaven without reference to the amount of
good or evil deeds.

This same incertitude as to what regeneration is, has also tended to

induce the fanaticism, extravagance and absurdities often connected
with religious excitements.

The idea that there is to be some mysterious change in the soul by

the gift of God's Spirit; that this is to be gained by prayer; that the
evidence of this change is to be found in sudden and great mental
agitation; together with the belief that an eternity of misery or bliss
is depending on such a change; and that death is the end of all hope
—all this tends to great extremes of distress and excitement.
Tendencies of the Common-Sense System.

In contrast to these tendencies of the Augustinian system, in regard

to individual religious experience, we notice those of the common-
sense system. According to the latter, the first birth brings man into
existence as an undeveloped being, with perfect and wonderful
capacities of knowledge, enjoyment and self-control. The first period
of existence is necessarily a period of experimenting, in which mind
is dependent on others for most of the knowledge indispensable to
right action, and also for the training of the physical, social and
moral habits. It is impossible to choose aright, intelligently, until a
child learns what is right, and this is a slow and gradual process. In
some cases, by a careful training, early virtuous principles and habits
may be so induced, that there can not be any marked period in
which the mind comes [pg 258] under the control of a ruling
purpose to obey all the rules of rectitude as disclosed by reason and
experience, or by revelations from God.

In other cases, the child may grow up to manhood entirely

unregulated by any such purpose, while self-gratification,
unrestrained by rules, is the perpetual aim. In such cases, a sudden
change, in which the man forms and carries out a ruling purpose to
act righteously and virtuously, in all his relations to man, to God and
to himself, may take place. This change, in the language of common
life, would be expressed thus: “The man has begun a new life; he is
a new creature.” And by a figurative use of language, the change
might be called “a new birth,” or, in theological language,
“regeneration.” In such a case, the chief desire or ruling passion
would be, to discover and to obey all the physical, social and moral
laws of the Creator, as they are taught by reason and experience, or
by revelations from God.
Such an experience would be properly expressed by the terms, faith
in God, love to God, repentance toward God, as these terms are
used by men in common life. Thus “regeneration,” according to the
common-sense system, becomes an intelligible, rational and practical
matter.

In case of a revelation from God by a prophet or messenger,

confidence in, and obedience to, the teachings of that messenger,
would be practical or saving faith, both in God and in his messenger
also. Thus, if Christ is proved to be a messenger from God by
miracles, whoever practically believes in Christ, believes in God also.
And just so far as a man understands Christ's teachings aright, and
purposes to obey him, [pg 259] and carries out this purpose, just so
far he has faith, and love, and repentance toward God and toward
Christ. And as men are named by the name of those they obey,
every man is a true Christian just so far as he understands Christ's
teachings aright and obeys them.

In this view of the case, the true “signs of regeneration” would be

each person's consciousness of the great end and purpose of his life,
and the fruits or results of this purpose in an habitual obedience to
the physical, social and moral laws of God, as learned by reason,
experience and revelation. Thus the answer to the great question of
life becomes clear, harmonious and practical, furnishing the means
for every person to judge of his own character and prospects.
Chapter XXXVIII. Tendencies of the Two
Systems in Reference to the Character of
God.

It has been shown (chapter 24) that emotive love, in view of noble
and interesting traits of character, affords a most powerful motive in
securing voluntary love or good willing according to the laws of God.
This is the grand reason why it is so important that all his creatures
should regard their Creator, whose laws they must obey, as perfect
in every noble and lovable quality. This would render it easy and
delightful to obey his will.

The principle of gratitude is the strongest in our nature, in calling

forth desires to please another. This [pg 260] renders it so important
that we should regard our Maker, not only as noble and lovely, but
as the dispenser of innumerable and constant favors to ourselves
and to those whom we love.

The highest emotions of love and gratitude are evoked when a noble
and lovely benefactor condescends to humiliation, suffering, and
even to death to rescue from great calamity. And the greater the
danger and suffering from which this goodness rescues, the stronger
the gratitude and the desire to please the benefactor.

In this view we can conceive of no way in which our Creator could

so powerfully influence his creatures to virtuous self-sacrifice for the
general good in obedience to his laws, as by such an exhibition on
his part.
It has been shown [Chapter 28] that by the light of reason and
experience alone, we infer that our race are exposed to dreadful risk
and danger of evils, which to some will prove interminable. If, then,
it can be made to appear that our Creator has submitted to great
humiliation and suffering to rescue us, and that his chief desire is
that his creatures should obey his beneficent laws, the strongest
conceivable motives would be secured to lead to glad obedience to
the rules of virtue. And having shown that the chief end of our
Creator is to do all in his power to make the most possible
happiness, we should infer that he had made or would make such a
manifestation of his character to his creatures. And were this
revealed to us as done, such a revelation would properly be called
“glad tidings,” as that which was best fitted to save men from sin
and suffering.

[pg 261]
According to the system of common sense, our Creator is presented
as the Almighty Father, who forms each finite mind an embryo image
of his own all perfect mind, with the great design of making all the
happiness possible. Although the highest happiness of each and of
all, depends on the perfect action of every mind, such action is not
possible in the nature of things except as a knowledge of his laws
and of the motives to secure obedience are made known by finite
educators, who must first be trained themselves by a long and slow
process. Thus every mind is dependent for its final success in
attaining perfect obedience to law, and for perfected happiness, on
God, on finite educators and on self.

In carrying forward the development and education of our race, the

Creator always has done and always will do the best that is possible
for the good of all. And yet, so far as reason and experience teach,
some will be ruined for ever. The deteriorating process begun in this
life, and its baleful results, will continue for ever.

The great consummation, when those that are hopelessly ruined will
be separated from the good, is at an indefinite period ahead, and
may be many ages, while the same process of labor and training are
proceeding in the unseen world, and yet so that the conduct and
character formed in this life have a decided influence on the whole
course of existence that follows.

Thus when the good man dies we may hope that his upward career
is eternally secure. But when the wicked die there must be “a certain
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.”

The Creator does, has done, and will do all that is [pg 262]possible
to save all that can be saved from this doom, and as the highest
possible motives we can conceive to secure this end, would be the
appearance of our Creator in human form as a teacher of his laws,
an example of virtue and a self-sacrificing Saviour, we infer that he
has done or will do this, at the time and in the manner which is best
fitted to the great end in view.

The Augustinian system presents a view of the character and

conduct of the Creator in mournful contrast to this.

Our only idea of a perfectly benevolent being is that of one who

prefers happiness to suffering, and who does all in his power to
promote one and prevent the other. Our only idea of a malevolent
being is, that he wills misery when he has full power to make
happiness in its stead. Our only evidence of the moral character of a
being (or that exhibited in willing) is the nature of his works. On the
Augustinian theory, all the chief works of the Creator's hand, the
immortal minds, which alone give value to any other existences, are
depraved so totally that there is no really good act done by any one
of them till created anew.

In other words, the Creator, having full power to make every mind
perfect in nature, and who still has power to re-create all with
perfect natures, has instituted a system by which the sin of one man
entails a depraved nature on a whole race, while the evil as yet has
been remedied only in the case of a small, “elect” number. All the
rest are doomed to eternal misery for conduct which is the certain
consequence of this misformed nature.

To save men from the punishment of the sins consequent [pg 263]
on their depraved nature, Christ, the most perfect and only
unsinning being that ever visited earth, undergoes deep humiliation
and excruciating sufferings.

To call such conduct as this just, or kind, or merciful, is a violation of

all our ideas of the meaning of such terms. What kindness is there in
giving existence to any being on such terms? What blessings are all
the comforts and enjoyments of this life, so soon to be snatched
away, thus making the contrast of future misery so much the more
horrible? What mercy is there in any mode of rectifying a wrong so
needlessly inflicted? What mercy, or what justice is there in adding
to all the miseries of our race the sufferings of so noble and lovely a
being as Jesus Christ, when all, and more than all, effected by his
agonies, could be so much more justly and reasonably secured by
regenerating all the minds thus needlessly ruined in their nature?
This strange and mysterious transaction only adds to the terror and
gloom that shroud such a Creator, whose character can be learned
only by the nature of his works.

To call all this a mystery is a misuse of terms, for there is no mystery

about it. More direct, clear, and open injustice, folly and
malevolence, can not possibly be expressed in human language than
that here set forth and ascribed to God.

Every mind instinctively asks, why did not the Creator give us a
perfect nature when he has the power to do so? Why does he not
stop all the sin and misery resulting from the depraved nature of
man by regenerating all, when he has power to do so? How can we
either respect or love a being who [pg 264] has done such awful and
endless wrong to our race, and for no conceivable good made
known to us? What cause of gratitude for the sufferings and death
of Christ to save the few of us who alone are to escape from such
needless and intolerable evils?

Meantime, the various theories invented to relieve the baleful

impression thus made as to the character of our Creator, only add
new difficulties.

To say that this perpetuated mode of bringing ruined minds into

existence, is a penalty for a single sin of the first pair, thousands of
years ago, what a violation of all our ideas of justice! To say that this
transaction is just because Adam was “regarded” by God as “the
federal head” of our race, and that he “imputes” the sin of the father
to all his descendants, what is this, to our conceptions, but puerile
folly added to the baldest cruelty and injustice?

To say that we all “sinned in Adam,” thousands of years before we

were born, and are punished by a ruined nature, so far as we can
conceive of such an absurd proposition, what is this penalty better
than inflicting endless tortures on myriads of new-born infants for
their first ignorant and unconscious sin?

To say that man, or Adam is the author of all this ineffable wrong,
because it is done by “a constitutional transmission” from parent to
child, of which God is the author, when he had full power to make
each child perfect in nature, what is this but adding to cruelty and
injustice a mean subterfuge in order to cast the blame on Adam and
his race?

The mind turns from a God so represented, with horror and dismay,
and it is only by concealing this [pg 265] system, by representations
that are perfectly contradictory, that the baleful impression is
lessened.

The view of God's character thus presented by the Augustinian

theory, not only lessens the power of motive which the common-
sense view of the Creator's character affords, but brings a powerful
positive influence to turn the human mind from that love and
obedience toward God which is so indispensable to peace and
happiness.
Chapter XXXIX. Tendencies of the Two
Systems as to Church Organizations.

It has been shown that the common-sense theory teaches that all
mankind must, in order to eternal happiness, be trained by human
agencies to choose what is best, guided by the laws of God, as
learned by experience or by revelation.

Under the guidance of this general principle, associated bodies

would result, whose aim would be discussion and instruction to
discover and perpetuate a knowledge of the rules of rectitude, and
to secure all those motives which experience has proved to be most
effective in securing obedience to these rules. In other words, the
chief end of such associations would be to find out what is best and
thus right, and also the best modes of securing right action.

The experience of mankind has shown that the most effective way
to extend and perpetuate any religion is to have a body of men
supported who shall [pg 266] give their chief energies and time to
this object. Social gatherings at regular periods have also been
found effective to this end. In short, were a system of religion
established, founded exclusively and consistently on experience and
common sense, it would include sabbaths of interrupted worldly
affairs, social gatherings to promote worshipful obedience to the
Creator and a body of men educated and sustained for the express
purpose of discovering, instructing in and perpetuating the
intellectual, social, moral and religious interests of humanity. Such a
ministry would be not dogmatic teachers, but leaders in discussions
and investigations.
The great aim of all these arrangements would be to discover by
inquiry and discussion what is best in all human interests and affairs,
in view of the immortality of man, and the risks and dangers of
eternity, and also to devise the best modes of influencing all to right
action.

Were this life the end of our being, and were all questions of right
and wrong to be settled in reference to the well-being of our race in
this short span, no such separate class of religious leaders and
organized instrumentalities would be needful. But if men are to be
trained to act with reference to the invisible state as the chief
concern, then organized instrumentalities to resist the overruling tide
of worldliness become indispensable.

The full tendencies of such organizations, based exclusively on the

principles of common sense, must be a matter of speculation merely,
for the world has had no experience of this kind. As yet we have
only the experience of mankind as to systems in which the [pg 267]
teachings of common sense have been combined with contradictory
influences of false dogmas, which have been sustained by the
strongest organizations, civil and ecclesiastical.

We will now trace some of the tendencies of the Augustinian system

as they have been exhibited in the history of church organizations.

It has been shown that the Augustinian theory of a depraved nature

is the foundation doctrine alike of the Catholic and the Protestant
churches. All agree that man by nature is so miserably misformed
that the gift of the Holy Spirit purchased by Christ to re-create is his
sole hope of escape from everlasting perdition, while there is little or
no ability to understand or obey God's revealed will until this gift is
imparted. From this originated a priesthood as the medium through
which this renewing gift is to be obtained, and who are the only
authorized interpreters of God's revealed will. The transmission of
this power through the rite of ordination, preserved in direct
succession from the apostles, is the leading point in the Episcopal
organization. Still more is this carried out to extreme results in the
Catholic church.

Both organizations assume that “the church” which has this power,
does not include the people, but is the priesthood alone. It is the
ecclesiastics of these churches who are to interpret the Bible for the
people, and the people are to receive these decisions as from God.
This is the theory, while common sense and the Bible have more or
less modified its practical adoption, especially in the Episcopal
churches.

The Puritans of England were the first among the Protestants who
organized churches as consisting solely [pg 268] of those who
“profess” to be “regenerated” on the theory of the renewal of the
depraved nature derived from Adam. To this profession in most
cases must be added an examination by persons who are
regenerated in order to ascertain whether the true signs of a new
nature, according to their pattern, really exist. Such churches are a
close corporation, having a minister to preach and administer
baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and deacons,
elders, or committees to decide who shall be received as regenerate
or turned out as unregenerate.

Among the Puritans and their descendants originated another

practice which has become prevalent, by which the churches thus
organized as regenerated persons, also claim the right of infallible
interpreters of the Bible, so far as to exclude all from their
communion who do not profess to agree with their interpretations.
That is to say, all persons, in order to be admitted to their
corporation and to the Lord's table, must not only profess to be
regenerate in the nature transmitted from Adam, but must confess
that they interpret the Bible according to the notions of the church
they seek to join.

It will now be shown that most of our large denominations in this

country are so founded on the Augustinian dogma that were the
people all to give up this theory the whole basis of sectarianism
would be destroyed.

The Congregational and Baptist denominations are severed simply in

reference to the rite of baptism as the mode of admission to their
regenerated churches. The Congregationalists hold that baptism
should be administered by sprinkling, and to the infants of [pg 269]
church members as well as to adults joining the church. The Baptists
hold that baptism should be administered by immersion, and only to
adults who join the church. This is all that divides the two sects.

Of course, if all the people ceased to hold that churches are to

consist of persons whose nature received from Adam is re-created,
all churches associated on the theory would be ended, and so these
disputes about modes of admission would be ended.

Again, the Presbyterians and Congregationalists separate on the

question of the appointment and duties of the officers of their
churches. The Congregationalists manage by church committees.
Each church is the sole tribunal in its own affairs, thus being strictly
democratic. The Presbyterian churches manage the business of each
church by sessions or elders appointed by the church, and when
they fail to give satisfaction, an appeal is made to a Presbytery
consisting of ministers and elders of several churches.

Thus again, if churches organized on the Augustine theory of the

regeneration of a depraved nature should cease, this dispute in
regard to church officers would end, and the Presbyterians,
Congregationalists, and Baptists would find all ground for separation
gone.

Again, the old and new school Presbyterian churches separate on

questions relating to man's ability to regenerate himself and in
regard to what is the nature of regeneration.

This all depends on the fact of a depraved nature transmitted from

Adam to be regenerated. If this dogma is relinquished by the people
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