Leaving the Methodist Church
41
the resurrection vanished, and the great event itself assumed a new and
sublime importance. My mind had often been disturbed by its efforts
to reconcile the immediate reward or punishment of the dead with the
undoubted fact of a future resurrection and judgment. If at death the
soul entered upon eternal happiness or misery, where was the need of
a resurrection of the poor moldering body?
But this new and beautiful faith taught me the reason why inspired
writers had dwelt so much upon the resurrection of the body; it was
because the entire being was slumbering in the grave. I could now
clearly perceive the fallacy of our former position on this question.
The confusion and uselessness of a final judgment, after the souls of
the departed had already been judged once and appointed to their lot,
was very plain to me now. I saw that the hope of the bereaved is in
looking forward to the glorious day when the Life-giver shall break
the fetters of the tomb, and the righteous dead shall arise and leave
their prison house to be clothed with glorious immortal life.
Our family were all interested in the doctrine of the Lord’s soon
coming. My father had long been considered one of the pillars of
the Methodist church where he lived, and the whole family had been
active members; but we made no secret of our new belief, although we
did not urge it upon others on inappropriate occasions, or manifest any
unfriendliness toward our church. However, the Methodist minister
[41]
made us a special visit and took the occasion to inform us that our
faith and Methodism could not agree. He did not inquire our reasons
for believing as we did, nor make any reference to the Bible in order
to convince us of our error; but he stated that we had adopted a new
and strange belief that the Methodist Church could not accept.
My father replied that he must be mistaken in calling this a new and
strange doctrine, that Christ Himself, in His teachings to His disciples,
had preached His second advent. He had said: “In My Father’s house
are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.” When He was taken up to heaven before their eyes and
a cloud received Him out of their sight, as His faithful followers stood
gazing after their vanishing Lord, “behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you