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struction, especially when we consider that there arose another beast out of the earth, who commanded all to worship the first beast, and that they should be killed if they would not, Rev. Xiii, 11, on to 17, which I take to be civil magistrates, supporting false religion, and exercising the cruel inventions of it.

Not only all this difficulty in the way of the common people, but this hateful stuff came under the name of Christianity, and pretended to have the authority of God; so that the people verily thought that it would be a wicked thing to call in question any thing which the church proposed; and if the Spirit of truth moved in their minds any thing contrary to the doctrine and practice of the church, they thought they ought to reject it as a wicked thought, just as you now think when any thing comes into your mind contrary to the establishment of your church.

Now, let us observe, considering all nations from Adam to Moses, and all the gentile nations, from Moses, to the coming of Messiah, and all nations from an early age of Christendom till within a short time past, together with all those who have lived, and now live in a state of ignorance, in the most enlightened ages of Christendom, and die so. I say, when we have taken a just view of the children of men, we shall find that far the greatest number, probably more than nine tenths of the whole family of man, have gone into the eternal world without knowing who they have sinned against. And according to the doctrine of eternal misery, must remain eternally sealed up in a state of pain and despair without the least pity from their Creator.

Let me ask the reader, (if he holds said doctrine,) to look at the following similitude:

Supposing a man had ten children or servants, and he had authority to deal with them as he pleas; ed even in case of life and death. He proposes

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in his own mind, if they perform a certain piece of work, which he knows how it must be done on a certain day, he means to let them live; but if they do not perform it by the time he has set, he means to put them to death.

They are all in the first place ignorant of his desiring any such work to be done, or of his intention concerning them. He informs one of the ten, of his part of the work, and how to do it, and when it must be done; but gives the other nine no information about it, and they, of course, remain ignorant of the whole affair until the night of the day in which it must have been done has arrived, and the first thing they ever know of the matter is, he orders the executioner to fall upon them, and they, nine, are all put to death.

Should you consider such a man good, just, or merciful? and if not, can you not see that your doctrine charges our good Creator with that which is worse? For if he always intended that every one who did not attend to the work of regeneration before the night of death, should suffer endless torment, and then suffer nine tenths of them to remain wholly ignorant of it until it overtook them, and they, of course, were past recovery. What becomes of his goodness, his justice or his mercy? where is all his compassion, and his tender mercies which are over all his works? If you will still believe this absurd doctrine because others have believed it, and will give no ear to Sacred Scripture nor sound reason, I beg of you to be sparing of your censures upon me, and others, for rejecting such absurdities, until you can meet and refute these arguments.

PART III.

I shall now arrange, by quotations, those promises of God, recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures, which appear to me to prophesy in a conspicuous manner, universal restoration, and show, by New Testament Scriptures, that they have been, or are to be fulfiled in the reign of Christ, or the gospel dispensation, and that the best feelings of man correspond with the same idea.

And now for the promises of God recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. The first quotation which I shall now advance, mentions "the seed of the woman" which I think is universally acknowledged to mean Christ. And "the serpent," which is also universally acknowledged to mean the devil, or sin. Gen. III, 14, " And the Lord God said unto the serpent, thou art cursed, &c. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed, and her seed: it shall bruise thy head." I cannot see but that this positively prophesies that Christ shall utterly destroy the serpent, or devil, or sin. Whereas, we know that if a serpent's head is bruised, he of course is destroyed, or killed.

The next class of quotations shall be those promises of God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their seed, which seed is plainly shown to mean Christ in a number of New Testament passages, particularly Acts III, 25, and Gal. III, 16. If you will carefully notice these following passages, you will see that God promised Abraham, that all nations should be multiplied to him, in his seed, and that all should be blessed in him, or his seed, which is Christ. And therefore, it was that St. Paul said, Rom. IV, 13, 17,

that Abraham was the father of many nations, and the heir of the world, through Christ, who was the seed of Abraham according to the flesh." Gen. XV 5, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward Heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be." Chap, Xvii, 5, "For a father of many nations have I made thee." Chap, Xxii, 16, 17, 18, "By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, &c. that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the Heaven, and as the sand upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." God's promise to Isaac is as follows: Gen. xxvi, 3, 4, "And I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of Heaven, &c. and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

God's promise to Jacob was this: Gen. Xxviii, 14," And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Whereas, St. Paul saith, Gal. III, 16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made; he saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed. which is Christ." It is, therefore, clearly shown that God promised Abraham with an oath, that all nations. and families of the earth, should be blessed in Christ.

The next class of promises which I will quote are those which prophesied that God would give all families, and kindreds of the earth to Christ; and that be should reign over them all; and that in the time of his reign, he should judge them, and reward and punish them according to their works. That punishment shall not continue eternally, but

that as punishment was designed for the reforma tion of the disobedient, it shall effect its object, in that all will submit to God, under this infinitely wise reign, or government, of Jesus Christ.

Psalm ii, 7, 8, "I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, thou my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give the heathen thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth thy possession." Psalm Lxxii, 1, on to 17, "Give the King thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King's son. He shall Judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with Judgment. He shall Judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. All Kings shall fall down before him : all nations shall serve him, and shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed." DANIEL VII, 14, "And there was given him dominion, and glory; and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him," verse xxvII, "Whose kingdom an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Isaiah Ix, 6, 7, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. Of the increase of government and peace no end upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with Judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."—It is conspicuously stated by the foregoing Scriptures that God promised to give Jesus Christ all the children of men: that he should reign over them all, and that they should all obey him. It has also been stated by some of these foregoing passages, that Christ should

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