Rose, Delbert R.

English

Asbury Theological Seminary

Joseph H. Smith and His Viewof ScriptureDelbert R. RoseUsually students of revivalism have not associated "the study"with the camp meeting, nor scholarly aptitude with the soul-winningart. These two emphasis, however, seem to have met, merged, andremained inseparable in the ministry of the Reverend Mr. JosephH. Smith, 1855-1946.Mr. Smith, for sixty years a member of the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Church, has been esteemed by some aforemost expositor-evangelist of the Wesleyan movement in America. After a period of pastoral service within his home conference,Smith became identified with the Methodistic movement known asthe National Campmeeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness. He rapidly rose to a place of spiritual leadership within thatmovement which was dedicated to the task of propagating inter-denominationally the Wesleyan interpretation of the doctrine ofholiness.Smith's life touched both the original leaders of the NationalCampmeeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness (nowcalled the National Holiness Association), organized in 1867, underwhom he was schooled in thought and methods, and the majority ofthe younger, present-day leaders of this movement. No other man inthe movement has shared with Smith this distinction. He gave moreyears of consecutive service than any other one leader to thespecific purpose of promoting "Scriptural holiness" through thevarious channels of this interdenominational organization.Dean of Holiness ExpositorsSmith excelled in the exposition of the Scriptures. This wasevidenced by the way he was repeatedly called to the same campgrounds year after year, a record unparalleled by any other teacherin the Holiness Movement.Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture 91The Scriptural Doctrine of ScriptureSince for Smith the seat of authority for the Christian faithwas the Bible, the Scriptures' teaching concerning themselves wasof utmost importance. He could not allow the Scriptures' testimonyto themselves to be questioned and still retain as valid what theyhad said about God, man, sin, Christ and salvation.^Citing Jesus's and the apostles' attitude toward the Old Testament�which Scriptures alone were extant in Jesus's time�Smithfelt Scripturally bound to hold "the written Word" and the "spokenWord of God" as inseparable. He found a basis in Christ's andthe apostles' teachings for esteeming the New Testament as sacred,inviolable and authoritative as they had regarded the Old Testament.* Of the whole Bible he affirmed: "We need no other authority or proof for what we declare, than that it is plainly taughtin the Bible. It it is there, God hath spoken it."*Two passages clearly voiced for him the basic doctrine ofScripture : "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instructionin righteousness : that the man of God may be perfect . . ." ". . . noprophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For theprophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but holy men ofGod spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'"Revelation And InspirationIn Smith's view, the divine will and plan for all time havebeen supernaturally revealed, objectively recorded, and providentially preserved in the Holy Bible for the salvation of all mankind.In that sense revelation has ceased and is final.But the appropriation and application of that revealed salvationin each individual's life and service is unrevealed and unrecordeduntil personally received by faith in each believer's life. In that� Smith, "The Spirit's Light," The Pentecostal Herald, September 22,1937, p. 4.' John 14:36; 16:13-15; 2 Pet. 3:15, 16. See Smith, Things Of TheSpirit, pp. 69f.� Smith, "God Hath Spoken," God's Revivalist, June 3, 1926, p. 11.* 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.� n Pet. 1 :20, 21.92 The Asbury Seminariansense "revelation" may be said to be continuous through the HolySpirit's illuminating and teaching ministry to each individual.. . . revelation is for the whole Christian world and deals with the thingsof the kingdom in general, while illumination is for the individual Christian,in the interpretation and application of revelation and in the discovery oforte's own place and the direction of his own path in the way and in thework of the kingdom here."While there was repeated and progressive revelation withinthe Old Testament Scriptures for Israel, yet for both Israel andthe Church revelation reached its perfection in Christ and theapostles, and then ceased (with the death of the last apostle) forthis Gospel era or dispensation. Continuous revelation was not knowneven in Israel, for there were periods, such as the inter-testa-mental era, when no new revelation was given.In all the progress of the Christian centuries, Smith maintained, neither theologians, philosophers, nor scientists have either added or changed a single doctrine of Biblical theology as the apostlesknew it. The apostles and prophets had scaled, by supernatural assistance, the mountain peaks of spiritual truth and what they sawtShey set forth in the Scriptures. The history of Christianity isevidence that the recovery of lost truth, rather than "revelation"or the "discovery" of any new truth, has produced and marked therevivalistic and fruitful periods within the Church.Smith cautiously distinguished between the Word of God andthe Scriptures. Tlie Word of God existed prior to and in someinstances apart from the Scripture for centuries, and even Jesus'swords�the very Words of Life�were not in written form at first.Even many Israelites, not understanding the meaning and application of their own written Scriptures, were still without "the Wordof God." The same principle obtains in this New Testament era,for "many persons have Bibles and have Biblical scholarship thatdo not know what God has said." Nevertheless, Christians this sideof the primitive Church have not had "the Word of God againstor apart from the Scriptures," even though many may have had theScriptures without having "the Word of God." Having the body ofScripture, without the Spirit who inspired them, is to be withoutthe "Word of God." To have the "Word of God" one must have� Smith, "Light On Our Pathway," God's Revivalist, October 28, 1929,p. 2.Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture 93both the letter of Scripture and the living Spirit illuminating thatletter to the believing mind.'"Special" or "supernatural revelation" brings to man what Godhas not revealed or is undiscoverable by man elsewhere. "In theBible is revealed everything that is necessary to salvation, and whatGod has revealed elsewhere is not enough to save mens souls."*Revelation itself, however, is not salvation, although necessary forit. For without this revelation to man's faith, he is left at Mar'shill with a "forestry of interrogation points as to deity and eternity,"and in Athens before the altar to the unknown god."Smith rejected any mechanical theory of inspiration by whichspecial revelation was brought to men. He held a more "dynamicview" by which the Holy Spirit so supernaturally supplemented thelimitations and frailities of the prophets and apostles, withoutdestroying their individuality, as to produce an accurate record ofprecisely what God wanted permanently preserved in Scriptures.'*Inspiration is that movement of God's Spirit upon the memory, perceptionand imagination of men's mind, whereby His revealed Truth is communicatedto man, and that movement upon his language by tongue whereby it is transmitted from His chosen agents to the people to whom it is addressed. Thisis the Word. And when this transmission was by His wisdom, carried fromdirect speech and from tradition to writing under divine guidance, help andcontrol, this gave us the Scriptures. And again, God's message to men, thusin Scripture is the Word of God."At least six things were sufficient proof for Smith of theinspiration, and therefore of the reliability and divine authority,of the Scriptures: (1) their enduring universality;" (25) theirinherent, superhuman content; (3) the "unlettered" authors, suchas Peter and John, who wrote such epistles as the Epistles of John' Smith, "The Scriptures and the Word of God," Heart and Life,August 1923, pp. 18, 19.* Smith, "The Inspiration and Interpretation of the Scripture," op. at.,December 1919, pp. 13, 14, 16.� Smith, Things Of The Spirit, pp. 33, 34." Smith, "Spiritual Life Suggestions," The Christian Witness, March 18,1937, p. 10." Smith, "Private Interpretations"; "The Holy Scriptures"; "The Wordof Christ," Heart and Life, February 1924, p. 7." Smith, "Spiritual Life Suggestions," The Christian Witness, December17, 1936, pp. 12, 13.94 The Asbury Seminarianand the Epistles of Peter;" (4) the effects of the Scriptures uponthe morals and spirits of men; (5) the testimony of such enduring,superhuman, and effective writings to their own origin and nature;'"and (6) the literal fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripturesconcerning the Birth, Life, Ministry, Death and Resurrection ofChrist"Inspiration and IlluminationThe Holy Spirit is the one source of both divine inspirationand of spiritual illumination, whose objective in each is to producesalvation. The illumination, which the Spirit imparts, differs mainly in degree from the inspiration given to the prophets and apostles.There is no new revelation (either in germ or norm) given, butonly the assistance necessary to understand and apply that whichhas been revealed for salvation in this dispensation.We fully believe that God's mind was revealed to the writers of the Bible,so that the internal revelation might be handed down to us, but we furtherbelieve that God will so quicken our spiritual and mental powers by Hisblessed Holy Spirit that we will first appropriate the same, and then in turn,reproduce these ideas and transmit them to the minds of others. This maybe termed either "direct illumination," or rather, the revelation of God.. . . while the Holy Ghost does neither substitute nor supersede Scripture byHis direct illuminations. He does open the secrets of the same, apply theprinciples thereof, and inspire and authorize timely and personal applicationsof the same in living messages of faith. The Bible is not a casket in whichthe Spirit of revelation is buried; it is a jewel box from the gems of whichthe living Spirit of Light radiates."Just as "inspiration," reserved alone for the prophets andapostles, brought them knowledge which neither genius nor progress in learning could attain, so "illumination," falling upon thatwhich has been revealed through uniquely inspired men, brings theChristian knowledge unattainable by the highest intellectual reachof unillumined minds. As it required "inspiration" for the prophetsto receive and show these things to others, so it requires "illumination" for men to receive and understand these "revealed truths"" Smith, "Be Ye Holy," Heart and Life, November 1928, pp. 6, 9." Smith, "The Inspiration and Interpretation of the Scritptures," Heartand Life, December 1919, pp. 13, 14, 16." Smith, "Question Box," The Christian Witness, January 20, 1938, p. 6." Smith, "Inspiration and Illumination," Heart and Life, December 1926,p. 10.Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture 95today. "Both are divine. But they are not equal." Yet both arenecessary, if God is to be known." Since "the world by wisdomknew not God," that which brings the knowledge of God to man,.namely, divine inspiration and illumination, correspondingly transcend human intelligence as the latter transcends animal instinct."*Illumination and InterpretationThe Spirit's illumination of the human mind is requisite tagrasping the "Word of God." While Biblical scholarship brings tolight interesting facts about the Scriptures, only by spiritual discernment, immediately given by the Holy Spirit, can men apprehendthat "saving truth" as it is in Jesus which alone brings eternal life.Nor is this illumination securable to any but penitent souls who areseeking the light.". . . as Inspiration was needed to give us a correct and completed Revelatioitof God, so Illumination is necessary to give us a correct and complete understanding of the will and way of God and also of God Himself. And Jesus,has come to give us such an understanding. In nature man was in darkness.and in ignorance of God ... By Grace we are made capable of knowing God.And by the Spirit's Illumination "we behold as in a glass the glory of the;Lord" . .While following the Protestant principle in stressing individualstudy of the Scriptures, Smith warned against "private interpretations" which violated any plain teaching of the Bible or substituted.one's own opinions or supposed "illuminations" for the best lightof sanctified, scholarly study of the Bible." Remembering that considerable of the Biblical message is presented in the form of sign-and symbol. Smith cautioned against personal fancy, or hasty,.superficial treatment governing the reader in his interpretation ofthe Scriptures. "The diligence of a student and the devotion of a.worshipper is required to decipher God's sign language aright."""" Smith, "Education! Inspiration! Illumination!" op. cit., May 1925,,p. 8." Smith, Things Of The Spirit, pp. 27f." Smith, "The Spirit's Light," The Pentecostal Herald, September 22,.1937, p. 4." Smith, "Education! Inspiration! Illumination!" Heart and Life, May1925, p. 9." Smith, "Question Box," dp. cit., December 1920, p. 19; Smith, "TheScriptures and the Word of God," op. cit., August 1923, pp. 18, 19.^ Smith, "Expository Suggestion," Heart and Life, July 1924, pp. 8f.96 The Asbury SeminarianFor Smith one of the plainest and most valid of all rules ofinterpretation�of Scripture or any other book�was that literatureshould be "understood as bearing its plain and primary literalsense, unless a good reason can be given why it should be understood otherwise."" His "qualified literalism" displayed itself in histreatment of the book of Revelation, "the most pictorial in thewhole Bible."And as in other instances of Scriptural rhetoric�as the description ofthe holy city on the one hand, and the fiery torments of hell upon the other,"we must penetrate into their higher and deeper significance than of anythingmerely material and i^ysical, so must we pray for anointed eyes to seethrough the angel's "signs" for that which is infinitely more glorious or�even more terrible that may be signified thereby."Believing that all the truths, principles and laws underlying allScripture are applicable to every day and age. Smith held that "theKipplication of them under the differences of the Spirit's administration (see I Cor. 12:5) will vary . . . with the differences in thedays and the times."" For example, "the harlotry stigma of awoman's shaven or shorn head in Paul's day" may pass away withthe "change in society or in women" which causes it to mean lessm this day." Consequently Smith enjoined Bible students thus:�"Study the customs of the times in the light of what is written andsee what abiding principle is in the midst of that particular�custom.""He laid down five rules which he himself had followed ininterpreting the English Bible: first, the right understanding anduse of the English language; second, the rule of a holy purpose instudying the Scriptures ; third, the right key to unlock its treasures,"both in the Old and New Testaments, which is Christ; fourth, theproper aim of finding out the things God has not revealed elsewhere ; and fifth, the rule of dependence upon the Holy Spirit,who inspired the Word, to bring illumination to the reader's heart" Smith, unpublished articles in F. S. Teed collection, Ann Arbor,Michigan.�* Smith, "Expository Suggestion," op. cit., pp. 8, 9." Smith, "Question Lecture Drawer," Heart and Life, March 1918, p. 13.** Smith, unpublished articles in F. S. Teed collection, Ann Arbor,Michigan.*' Smith, "Question Lecture Drawer," op. cit., March 1918, p. 13.Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture 97and mind.** Following those rules Smith found an inner unity oftheme and harmony of objective and progression of movementwithin the Scriptures which led him to believe there were no contradictions within the Bible, but that if seeming contradictions appeared they existed in the Bible reader, due to lack of scholarly information or spiritual illumination, rather than in the Bible itself.Christ in the ScripturesAll revelation for Smith was Christocentric and all illuminationrested upon what had been revealed of Christ in the Scriptures. Atno time, he affirmed, is the personal Christ loet sight of when believers are under the "illumination of the Spirit.""Christ is the all absorbing doctrine of truth of the Scriptures. All other truthsend in or emanate from Him. He is the Truth. And inspired writers are soimbued with this truth that they refer all preaching and prophesying foundin the Bible to Christ ... So that the doctrine of not a part but of the wholeBible is the doctrine of Christ.'"But the Christocentricity of Smith's theology was not withoutits inseparable anthropological reference. For it was not Christ increation, or in providence, or in incarnation, or in suffering, or inregal honor or in judgment alone, but Christ indwelling His peoplethat Smith found His supreme glory manifested. "Christ in you,the hope of glory," whether in time or in eternity, was to him thecrowning glory of the gospel."In thus understanding the Christ of the Scriptures Smith theMethodist was one with his older contemporary, the noted Baptisttheologian, Augustus Hopkins Strong, who, addressing some theological students, said: "... I believe that the doctrine of unionwith Christ is the central truth of all theology and of all religion.""^ Smith, "The Inspiration and Interpretation of the Scripture," Heartand Life, December 1919, pp. 13, 14, 16.Smith, "Education! Inspiration! Illumination!" Heart and Life, May1925, pp. 8, 9.^ Smith, "Cardinal Doctrines of the Bible," Heart and Life, March 1921,pp. 6f," Smith, Rau'ine Perfection, pp. 106, 107; Smith, "What Christ PlansFor His Own," God's Revivalist, November 2, 1933, pp. 4, 13..Argii^tiin Hopl-ins Strong, One Hundred Chapel Talks to TheologicalStudents, p. 24.

Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture

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Joseph H. Smith and His View of Scripture

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