The first thing to do is to describe the belief system of Two Seedism. The next thing will be to trace the causes that gave birth to this system and to observe the history of its advocates and that sect.
Maxims & Premises of Two Seeders
There are some maxims of the Two Seeders that give in a nutshell their views. Here are two of them:
1. "If the head of the body existed before the world began, then so too did his body (the elect), for it would be absurd to think the head existed without a body."
2. "Nothing goes up to heaven but what first came down from heaven."
Some of the leading premises or propositions of Two Seeders are these:
1. The man Christ Jesus had a human existence before the world began, being created a man with a human soul when he was "begotten" by the Father, his being begotten having to do with his humanity and not with his divinity.
2. When the man Christ was begotten or created before the world was created, the souls of the elect were also then created in Christ, so that both the human Christ and the elect preexisted the creation of the world.
3. The elect had thus a vital living and actual union with the man Christ Jesus before the world began.
4. Regeneration or Rebirth is simply a coming down from heaven of the souls of the elect in order to enter into their human bodies when conceived in the womb.
5. Regeneration thus does not change a man. The preexistent soul is not changed from sin's impurity for it was already pure by being in Christ from before creation, nor is the sinful body changed when it becomes possessed by the eternal spirit of the elect. The holy nature of the descended spirit was not changed and the depraved nature of the flesh was not changed when possessed. It is like when a rabbit runs into a hollow log. The log is not changed as a result. Hence we have the "hollow log" doctrine or no change in regeneration.
6. All the non-elect were united to their father the Devil also before the world began. Thus the "two seeds," one of God and the other of Satan.
7. God did not create the Devil. Thus, both God and the Devil are uncreated beings. The Devil never was in heaven as a pure angel, thus he never fell from heaven. Nor has any angel fallen from heaven.
8. The non elect never fell in Adam.
9. The Christian warfare of flesh (body) with the inner renewed spirit is the result or evidence of the preexistent spirit entering the depraved body.
10. There is no need for a resurrected body, for a return to being a pure spirit is preferred.
11. The seed of the Devil cannot be saved and they should not be preached unto and offered salvation.
12. Being "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1: 4) and "given grace in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1: 9) necessarily imply that the elect actually existed before the world began, and not merely existed in God's mind.
13. In the beginning God had appointed that Eve should bring forth only a certain number of offspring; the same provision applied to each of her daughters. But when the particles of evil essence had been diffused by Satan, the conception of Eve and her daughters was increased. They were now required to bear the original number, who were styled the seed of God; and an additional number who were called the seed of the serpent. (See B.H. Carroll's "The Genesis of American Anti-Missionism")
14. The elect were justified from sin from eternity. T. P. Simmons, author of a good systematic theology, said the following about Two Seedism's embrace of the doctrine of eternal justification: "As commonly used, this is a logical corollary of the two-seed doctrine." He also said: "We utterly reject this doctrine. It is wholly anti-scriptural, and is the absurdest nonsense. It is aptly described as "a curious revival, with some modifications, of the ancient speculative philosophy of Manichaeus" and "a very disgusting form of Gnostic heresy." ("Two-Seed Doctrine and Eternal Justification" by T. P. Simmons, 1931; See here)
15. The non elect have no souls.
We could also possibly add the doctrine known as "the absolute predestination of all things," but it seems that Daniel Parker may not have believed this doctrine, though some later advocates of Two Seedism did.
Two Seedism borrows, as we will see, elements of its system from the following religious systems:
1. Manichaeism (Dualism or Zoroastrianism)
2. Gnosticism or Mysticism
3. Arianism or Semi Arianism
4. Hyper Calvinism
We could possibly add Mormonism, but really it seems that Mormonism borrowed from Two Seedism rather than the other way around.
Elder Hosea Preslar was a Primitive Baptist minister who lived in both North Carolina and Tennessee in the early to mid 19th century and I cited him in an article (See here) where he listed eight beliefs of the Two Seeders that he battled in those states, especially in middle Tennessee. He was an associate of Elder (Dr.) John M. Watson who likewise contended against the Two Seeders and wrote a book called "The Old Baptist Test" wherein the first half of the book attacks the heretical ideas of the Two Seed Baptists. We will refer to both these men in upcoming chapters. Preslar wrote a book titled "Thoughts on Divine Providence," a book I have in my library from which I cited several times.
He lists many of the items in the list I have above, but adds that it was the Two Seeders who began to teach that God does not use his word in the regeneration of sinners. He said:
"Sixthly: That the gospel never was designed for anything else, but for the edification of the body of Christ, and that believers are the only subjects of gospel address."
That citation was taken from his book, mentioned above, and from page 87 (See my other post here)
In a previous article I cited the following words from Hardshell leader and historian, Elder Sylvester Hassell, about Two Seedism:
"...the heathenish perversions of Scriptural truth set forth by Eld. Daniel Parker, of Tennessee, about 1835, in his pamphlet called "My Views on the Two Seeds," have corrupted Primitive Baptist doctrine more, and rent off more members and churches from our fellowship, than any and all other causes combined." (The Two Seed Heresy
The Gospel Messenger--March 1894)
Other Hardshell Baptists have said the same. See all my previous articles on this, especially what Elders Grigg Thompson and Hosea Preslar (who lived during the time of Parker) have testified to the same fact Elder Hassell states.
On pages 179-180 of Preslar's book he writes (emphasis mine):
"From that time forth I was persecuted by some of those people (Two Seeders), but I thought, perhaps that Divine Providence had sent me to Tennessee to defend the truths of the gospel, with others of like calling; and that we should suffer together for His sake. To speak of all the distress this doctrine caused, within my knowledge, would be too tedious. But for the satisfaction of those that are not acquainted with it, I will endeavor to give the reader a short, but plain sketch of their doctrine, though they, among themselves, seem at times to have it almost every way, any way, and as it were, no way at last. Some call them the "Sadducees," some "Non-Resurrectionists," but mostly the "Two-Seeders." Now if there is any system to their doctrine, or if they preach any system, I understand it to be about as follows..." (He then lists a number of the beliefs of the Two Seeders; see my two postings mentioned above with links)
In writing on the "Two Seed" Baptists, of which Elder Daniel Parker was the first leader and promulgator of "Two Seedism," one must first define it. What are the leading ideas inherent in that system? Simply put, it is the belief that there are two seeds in scripture, the seed of Satan and the seed of the Lord. The seed of Satan stands for the "children of the Devil" that Jesus spoke about. The seed of the Lord stands for the "children of God." That basic proposition finds little opposition from the Christian world. What does find opposition, however, is what Parker and others following him taught relative to these two seeds.
Parker and the first promoters of Two Seedism believed in the preexistence of the souls of both seed groups. The seed of the Devil existed in the Devil before the world began. The seed of the Lord likewise existed in the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began. These views arose out of several ancient heretical ideas. One is Manichaeism, also known as Dualism or Zoroastrianism. Another one of these ideas is the belief in the preexistence of souls. Another is the heresy known as Arianism. Another idea inherent in Two Seedism is borrowed from some aspects of Gnosticism. Finally, another heretical idea involved is the idea that Christ in his human nature existed in some form before the world began. Two Seedism is the result of blending these ideas together.
We should also mention what is called "eternal vital union" which says that the elect had a literal existence in Christ the Son of God before the world began. Just as Eve was in Adam before she was made from his rib, so the elect, as the bride of Christ, existed in him before they were born into the physical world. This idea denied that "vital union" with Christ is begun in time when the sinner unites himself with Christ by faith.
Following Parker there were those who took the lead in promoting Two Seed ideology. Elder Gilbert Beebe took that lead along with Elder Samuel Trott and other leading writers of the periodical "Signs of the Times." Immediately after helping to write "The Black Rock Address" in 1832 (a document where the Hardshells declared non-fellowship with all other Baptists who did not agree with them) he began to publish the first Hardshell periodical called "The Signs of the Times."
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