from their youth: for the Children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For this city hath been to Me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, because of all the evil of the Children of Israel and of the Children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned unto Me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my Name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin." v. 30-35. How then could it be His secret will, that they should do these things!

If we admit this doctrine, it must follow, that all laws, human and Divine, are mere mockery-all regard to our actions, all efforts to be virtuous and happy are futile and ridiculous; because the whole course of events in this world, as well as the condition to be experienced in the next, are fixed beyond the power of altering either. What signify the pompous appendages of civil government! Laws, penalties, and punishments, have no effect: the secret will of God fixes all things, and renders every thing else inoperative. What are the in

stitutions and rules of religious society, and the preaching of the Gospel, but solemn mockery, played off to excite the fears of the multitude, and create unnecessary distinctions and troubles in society! Why say; "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" The message passes into air, and the event remains the same. Why draw distinctions between vice and virtue! The distinction is lost in the absolute decrees; and the saint and the sinner may regard each other as brethren, faithfully and punctually accomplishing the will of the same God, who has assigned to each his proper place and business, “in filling up his grand designs of provi dence and grace.”

means.

It is happy for mankind, as this doctrine is admitted, that its supporters have insisted on the necessity of Though this is a contradiction to the principle, yet it is important to the well-being of society. They insist too, on religious rectitude, and the practice of virtue, and make as decided distinctions between virtuous and vicious characters as others. This too, is a departure from their principle; and it is well for the human family that this departure is made. They preach to the Elect and Reprobate-they insist on the moral obligations that rest on ALL-consider that every man is bound to love, honour, and obey God, and that he should actually do so-that if he violates civil or religious duties, he is left without excuse, is culpable, is amenable to laws human and Divine. And in the ordinary transactions of life, a man may do this or omit that, according to his own will. Thus, as relates to practical purposes, the doctrine is not sustained: it is held as a solemn truth, at once believed and disbelieved.

And the welfare of civil society depends on this practical dereliction of the principle in question. For if this principle were brought into operation, without any of the checks which religious feeling and the good sense of mankind have given-it would completely paralyse every laudable and virtuous effort, both public and private. The secret will and unchangeable decree, which cannot be resisted or changed, would be supposed to do all for us. We need to cultivate neither our fields nor our minds-neither resist temptation, nor admonish the wicked, nor encourage the humble Christian. The Eternal Fiat will clothe our fields without our toil; light and knowledge will spring up without the discipline of schools, and the painfulness of research; the wicked will pursue the undeviating tenour of his way; and the elect will neither be comforted by our sympathy nor discouraged by our forgetfulness. We ourselves shall not be the better for treading the path of self-denial, nor the worse for giving the loosened rein to our perverse inclinations. These are the natural tendencies of the principle in question. And every precept, human and Divine, every measure tending to the public good, every act of social duty, and every religious exercise in the human mind, are in direct opposition to this principle, and its simple operation in human affairs.

But much labour has been devoted to the doctrine, to reconcile it to Scripture and to reason.

The principal support which has been drawn from the Scriptures, has been from the Epistle to the Romans, and a few other passages. But this is by taking detached portions of Scripture, and giving them a construction; for the Scripture no where asserts that a fixed, unalter

able decree determines beforehand the salvation of all that are saved, and the destruction of all that are lost. Those who contend that the Scriptures are the primary rule of faith and practice, are certainly bound to support their faith and practice by plain and clear declarations of Scripture, and not by forced construction: and especially as this construction would militate against the whole scope of Scripture testimony.

We know that detached sentences may be taken from any writing we please, and, by the help of constructions, be made to convey an idea, altogether different from that intended by the writer. If we would understand his sentiments, we must take into view his whole design, and not reject the explanations which he gives of his own language.

To those who rest their hopes of salvation on foreordination, it may not be improper to remark, that if their opinions on these subjects are unfounded, the pride of opinion will be a poor compensation for the consequences of the fatal error. In a concern so important as the salvation of the soul, it is certainly unwise to be governed by prejudice, or the bias of education or previous opinion. Multitudes adhere to opinions once adopted, with a pertinacity that seems to suggest the belief, that to maintain the opinion is the great and important object in view, without once considering that it may be erroneous, and, if erroneous, its effects may be of the most melancholy consequences to themselves and others. If it is a point of true wisdom to examine, with care, our titles to earthly inheritances, how much more important is it to be anxious, and deeply inquiring, in regard to an inheritance of eternal duration !

F

The apostle Peter, speaking of the Epistles of Paul, says; "In which are some things hard to be understood; which they that are unlearned [in that wisdom which is from above] and unstable, wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Pet. iii. 16. This is an important caution, which ought to be borne in mind whenever we resort to constructions of the writings of that eminent apostle. He wrote much in the mystery of Divine things. But, as we believe that his writings, or rather the doctrines of the Gospel, do all harmonize, we should have some regard to the grand scope of the whole; seeking also for Divine wisdom, which alone can unfold them to the human understanding.

The apostle Paul very frequently uses the terms election, election of grace, &c. but some have given to these terms a construction, which it does not appear the apostle ever gave them. It does not appear that he ever rejected obedience from the work of salvation. We have not sufficient evidence, that he either believed or preached unconditional election and reprobation. Indeed the doctrine does not appear to have been professed in the primitive Church. On the contrary, it was several centuries before it was distinctly brought into view.

A leading feature of the heathen philosophy, was the doctrine of fate, or eternal necessity, which operated" on all things, not excepting the Supreme Deity himself. As this doctrine had long prevailed among both the Greeks and Romans, and as it was among those very people that it first became denominated a Christian Principle, it is easy to discover the school from which it emanated. It still bears the strong marks of its origi nal character, as it was handed down from one heathen