x Welsh Tract Publications: JOHN H. SPENCER'S EXPLANATION OF ELDER THOMAS DUDLEY'S CHRISTIAN WARFARE VIEWS 1844

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Saturday, May 18, 2024

JOHN H. SPENCER'S EXPLANATION OF ELDER THOMAS DUDLEY'S CHRISTIAN WARFARE VIEWS 1844


Editor's note: We do not agree with Spencer’s attack on Dudley's views, although he presented fairly accurately. Per Elder Crowley: "Spencer's line "The other family was created in, and simultaneously with Jesus Christ" seems that he thought Dudley was an Arian.  I thoroughly agree with this: 4. The nature of each of these families, is uniform and unchangeable. That of the natural man is wholly corrupt, and remains so perpetually, in every member of that family: That of the spiritual man is wholly pure, and can never be, in any degree, corrupted or tarnished." John H. Spencer, in his A History of Kentucky Baptists, wrote of T. P. Dudley's Circular Letter:



In 1845 [1844], Thomas P. Dudley was appointed to write the circular letter for the ensuing year. He wrote on the subject of "Christian Warfare, including the Eternal Spiritual Oneness of Christ and the church." Showing the paper to some of the brethren, it was privately discussed, before the Association was organized. Learning that some objection would be made to the letter, Mr. Dudley declined to present it, and it was not published, for the time. But its contents were discussed among the brethren, and, as Mr. Dudley averred, its teachings were misrepresented. In order to correct the erroneous impressions, made on the public mind, Mr. Dudley, in 1849, printed and circulated a thousand copies of the letter, in pamphlet form. The style of the treatise is labored and obscure, but the substance of the doctrine contained in it was understood to be as follows:

1. God created two distinct families of men. The first was created in Adam and was denominated the natural man. As the great oak, with its innumerable branches, leaves, and acorns, was contained in the acorn from whence it sprang: so the whole human family, comprising the countless millions of all its generations, was contained in Adam, at his creation.

2. The other family was created in, and simultaneously with Jesus Christ, and was called the spiritual man. As every soul of the natural family was comprised of Adam: so every member of the spiritual family was embraced in Jesus Christ, at his creation.

3. What men call a multiplication of these families, is only a development, or manifestation, of human perception, of what God created instantaneously, in the beginning.

4. The nature of each of these families, is uniform and unchangeable. That of the natural man is wholly corrupt, and remains so perpetually, in every member of that family: That of the spiritual man is wholly pure, and can never be, in any degree, corrupted or tarnished.

5. A Christian is a compound being, composed of one natural man and one spiritual man, mysteriously combined by the power of the Holy Spirit, while the original nature of each remains unchanged and unchangeable.

6. The Christian's warfare consists of a life-long struggle between the two men of which he is composed, often called, in the sacred Scriptures, the "old man" and the "new man." In the end, the spiritual man triumphs over, and utterly destroys his antagonist, and then returns to God, who sent him to be developed in this warfare.

The Christian's warfare consists of a life-long struggle between the two men of which he is composed, often called, in the sacred Scriptures, the "old man" and the "new man." In the end, the spiritual man triumphs over, and utterly destroys his antagonist, and then returns to God, who sent him to be developed in this warfare.

This teaching was popularly called the "Two-Souls doctrine," and was regarded heretical by some of the churches and all the correspondents of the Licking Association. Such was the influence of Mr. Dudley, however, that a majority of the churches acquiesced in his interpretation of his pamphlet. But much disturbance followed its publication. Salem Association of Predestinarian Baptists withheld correspondence from Licking, in 1850. Foreseeing the storm that was gathering, James Dudley, a brother to the author of the "Christian Warfare," sent a circular to all the churches in the Licking Association, inviting them to send messengers to meet at Bryants, in March 1850, for the purpose of endeavoring to allay the confusion. Most of the churches responded to the call. But Friendship and Stony Point issued a joint manifesto, denouncing the teaching of Mr. Dudley's pamphlet, and declaring non-fellowship for three churches which had received it, and for all who believed as they did. This resulted in a speedy division of the Association. Friendship, Stony Point, Twin Creek, Williamsburg, Rays Fork, and Fork Lick churches withdrew, and constituted a new fraternity, under the style of "Twin Creek Old Regular Baptist Association." This occurred, in 1850. The next year, all the Associations in Kentucky withheld correspondence from Licking. The body still exchanged minutes with two or three distant fraternities, but, in 1853, even this shadow of a correspondence was dropped. But Mr. Dudley, who has been the leading spirit of the Association, for more than fifty years, was a man of great energy and excellent address, and, by visiting the various Associations, preaching among them, and conciliating them, wisely and prudently, he succeeded in re-establishing correspondence with most of those fraternities from which his Association had become alienated. - Volume II, 1881, pp. 245-246.

AGAIN WE THANK JIM LUVILL FOR HIS TYPESETTING EFFORTS.


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