most glorious monument. And is it absolutely certain that the ordinary course of theological instruction is adapted to inspire the young mind with zeal for the direct study of the Bible? Do not the majority of divinity students read fifty pages of profane composition to one of the sacred Scriptures? Do they not graduate with a literary rather than a Biblical taste, and ultimately enter the pulpit with an ambition to emulate the elegance and refinement of their classical models, rather than with a soul instinct with the living precepts and wrapt by the holy fervor of the gospel? Whence this affected erudition, this over-wrought and fastidious polish, this chiseled stiffness and molded precision of manner, in the pulpit? If they write, who is the exemplar, Isocrates or St. Peter? If they speak, who is the paragon, Cicero with his faultless symmetry, and finished, flowing periods, or St. Paul with his careless manly energy, with his free and irresistible power? The remedy of these evils lies with the enlightened friends of revelation. The Bible must be brought into action. It must shape the intellect and inspire the heart of the young. Its treasures must be thrown open to their view. The nature, extent, and value of its history must be engraved upon their memories. They must be taught to sit on the brow of the sacred mount, and listen to the philosophic sages of inspiration, while they expound to their opening faculties the sublime theory of nature. They must be permitted to soar upon the pinions of a heaven-illuminated fancy, and explore the broad limits of the universe, and celebrate with the psalmist the character of the great Creator, and with the prophets pursue the destinies of the deathless spirit, as it rises to the dignity and enters upon the fruition of immortality. Every thing, in a word, should be attempted to render the Bible more engaging to the young. The imagination is the first intellectual power that expands. It is the leading faculty in the development and cultivation of the mind. And, like the needle that vibrates to the pole, it cannot be directed by constraint; but is attracted with unerring certainty when left to the action of its relative power. That relative power is the Bible. It is the pole of the human mind. Remove all disturbing forces, all negative and counteracting influences, and let the Bible exert its native energy upon the soul, and man will soon return to his true position in the sight of God. Let the ruinous popular fictions of the day be discountenanced by every friend of mankind. If the fancy must be instructed by pictures; if it must be warmed by the touch of beauty; if it demands a peculiar aliment for its sustenance, and clamors for gratification; let those pictures be drawn by the pencil of inspira tion; let that touch of beauty be from the hand that planted the flowerets of Eden; let that aliment gently fall upon the soul like manna from the heavens. We need not fear we shall accomplish too much in attempting to throw a livelier interest around the Bible. A modern poet has correctly and beautifully said, "As into seven softer hues Shivers the silvery beam of light, As all the seven rainbow hues Run back into the dazzling white; With all your glancing witcheries play, Into one stream of perfect day." Can the reader evade the poet's touching appeal? What exertions should be regarded as arduous, in comparison of so happy a result? Let the sabbath school be made a nursery of little plants extracted from the paradise of revelation. Let the smaller gems of the Bible be transferred to the coronet of all juvenile readers. Let the pulpit become radiant with the literature of the Scriptures. Let the halls of education emit the twofold splendor of classic and Biblical learning. Let the fireside, the family circle, be adorned and hallowed by choice recollections of the history, philosophy, and poetry of inspiration. How many youthful, straying feet, might be allured to the noblest walks of piety and duty if the parent only, the mother, would take the pains to display the flowers which inspiration has thrown upon these paths of peace! For himself, the writer will take occasion at this moment to render a tribute of gratitude to divine Providence that a mother was allotted him who loved and appreciated the Bible; who stored his young fancy with such bright images and lovely pictures as a boy could receive. Thus early was he induced to reverence that religion, the record of which he had been taught to admire; and now "Before thy mystic altar, heavenly Truth, I kneel in manhood, as I kneel'd in youth; And what Christian will not exult, that the age is advancing when the literary character of the Bible shall be appreciated and acknowledged by all? Perhaps the period is dawning, when its literature shall have possessed and subdued the imagination; and the imagination shall have captivated the reason; and the reason of man, enlightened and controled by the philosophy of revelation, shall guide the fortunes of a redeemed and happy race, till the millennial light shall break upon the world, and the sun shall no more go down, neither the moon withdraw itself: when the sorrow which we now feel shall be dispelled by the brightness of that dispensation, when the Lord shall be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended. East Greenwich, R. I., June, 1842. T. ART. II.-Exposition of Heb. vi, 4-6. By Rev. SILAS M'KEEN. Biblical Repository, January, 1842. PERHAPS no department of study has, in this country, made greater advancement, or risen more in interest, within the last quarter of a century, than that of Biblical criticism. The labors of such men as Stuart, Robinson, Nordheimer, and others, have given an impulse to this branch of theological knowledge as honorable to themselves as it will be beneficial to the cause of Christianity. No harm can result to the cause of religion from the critical and thorough investigation of the Scriptures. On the contrary, when conducted upon the principles of candor and piety, its tendency is highly favorable, both as it interests the public mind in the word of God, and tends to remove error and establish truth. It is a test, therefore, from which no denomination should shrink: we should rather court it. If any are in error, the sooner they are undeceived the better. There is much in the exposition before us which every unprejudiced reader cannot but approve. The author deserves the credit of frankness and candor. What he concedes, he concedes explicitly, and when he opposes, it is with manly strength and decision. His article is marked with much learning and critical acumen. He directs his inquiries to the three following points :1. Who are the persons here spoken of; 2. What is supposed concerning them; 3. What is affirmed respecting them, in case the thing supposed should occur. On the first of these points, he maintains, with much force of argument and great depth of research, that the persons described are true Christians. We think his comment upon this part of the passage is the best we have ever seen. His earlier remarks, also, under the second division, are in general unexceptionable. He shows conclusively that by "falling away," the apostle meant an entire and utter defection from the high and holy state which he had just described in verses 4, 5. Having conceded these two points, that the persons in question are true Christians, and that their falling away denotes real and final apostasy, we did not see how he could well avoid yielding what appears to us a very natural and correct inference from these premises, namely, that saints do not of necessity, in all cases, persevere. But we soon found that though he had made these concessions, he had no idea of abandoning the main point of attack. He considered his citadel quite as impregnable as before he had surrendered his outposts. And as we differ from him upon this subject, we shall here join issue with him, and proceed to a short, but regular siege. And we will, first, let him speak for himself. "Some have maintained that the supposition of apostasy in this passage, and others like it, implies that the salvation of those concerning whom it is made-of true believers, if these were such— cannot be certain, even in the purpose of God. But the inference is not legitimate. For how does it appear that God might not from eternity have purposed, that this very warning against falling away should be the effectual means of preventing it? When God said, 'If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done,' Jer. xxxi, 12, [37,] he did not mean that the thing supposed was possible for man, but the contrary. When the apostle said, 'If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed,' it is plainly a case supposed, which was not expected ever to occur. And so when he said to the centurion with respect to those who were about to leave the foundering vessel, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved,' it did not imply that God had not purposed to save them; for he had said before, 'There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; for thou must be brought before Cesar: and lo, God has given thee all them that sail with thee.' God had determined to save them, and carried that determination into execution by warning them effectually against all measures inconsistent with his purpose. The supposition that the persons described were true believers, militates in no wise against the doctrine of the saints' perseverance. If God has determined that his saints shall persevere unto the end, he has, of course, determined to preserve them from apostasy; and this And he says, p. 208, "As thorough an examination as we have been able to make, has convinced us fully that the persons spoken of are true believers in Christ." not by absolute force, but by means of motives addressed to them as intelligent beings, and made efficacious by the agency of his Spirit on their hearts. God can effectually incline his people to obedience without the least infringement of their free agency. 'I will make,' he says, 'an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me,' Jer. xxxii, 40." Let us now examine these remarks in their order. "For how does it appear that God might not from eternity have purposed that this very warning against falling away should be the effectual means of preventing it?" 1. If this were so, then it would follow, that up to the time when this passage was written, the apostasy of the saints was possible, and now it is possible to all by whom it has not been read. 2. But is this according to genuine Calvinism? Does the Confession of Faith predicate the final perseverance of the saints upon the effectual influence of the sixth chapter of Hebrews? On the contrary, it declares, chap. xvii, sec. 2, that the perseverance of the saints depends "upon the immutability of the decree of election," &c. And likewise the Larger Catechism, answer to question seventy-nine, says, "True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of God, and his decree and covenant to give them perseverance, &c., can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace," &c. 3. Our expositor maintains that this text presents so effectual a warning to saints against falling away, as to be the very means of preventing it; and then goes directly on to show, by labored argument and several quotations, that the text contains no intimation that saints can fall away, but, to the contrary, teaches that such an event is impossible! That is, it gives an effectual warning, by teaching that all danger is out of the question! Surely, if this passage has served as an effectual warning heretofore, Mr. M'Keen has exerted himself faithfully to prevent it ever having that effect again. Let us now look a moment at his quotations. "When God says, If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done," (Jer. xxxi, 37,) he does not mean that the thing supposed was possible for man, but the contrary. 1. If this place is quoted to prove, directly, the final perseverance of the saints, it is wide of the mark, for the immediate context shows that it is of the national, and not of the spiritual Israel, that the prophet is speaking. See verses 35, 36. 2. If it was quoted because he imagined there was any important analogy between it and the |