a But, if error there be, I would fain believe that evil there will be none; for it will at least be seen that I am not 66 man under authority," and for this reason, (as in a former volume,*) my name is made known. On me, therefore, and not upon the truth, be all blame,-unto God be all the glory, if the holy cause of truth be advanced, not hindered. "Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind,” and, like the "more noble" Bereans, "search the Scriptures whether these things are so." For thus advises Locke, "Whoever would attain to a true knowledge of the Christian Religion, in the full and just extent of it, let him study the Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, wherein are contained the words of eternal life. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter." "Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of my mouth, WILLIAM MERRY. Shinefield, 29th June, 1843. "The Philosophy of a Happy Futurity," published in aid of the funds of the Royal Berkshire Hospital.-G. Lovejoy, Reading. PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION CONSIDERED SCRIPTURALLY. The doctrine of election will not be adequately comprehended, without reference to the doctrine of original sin, and of God's foreknowledge; on which points, therefore, the following brief summary is submitted. Holy Scripture reveals to us, that when "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth," and in His wisdom ordained rules by which His creation should be governed and preserved as one beautiful system, among other primeval ordinances, was the divine decree, that like should produce its like, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind," and "every living creature that moveth," of the earth, of the air, and of the waters, "after their kind." As a consequence, when "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul," man, though placed at the head of creation, and having dominion, was subject to the same divine law by which all created things were to "increase and multiply and replenish the earth," namely, "after their kind." Thus, had our first parents, made as they were, a little lower than the Angels;" majestic and graceful of stature; "in the image of God;" remained in their primal innocence "faithful over a little," their very little test of obedience and fealty ;-had they, before whom God placed the teeming luxuriance and profusion of paradise, giving them all things richly to enjoy, all save one deadly fruit;-had they believed God's word that they should "surely die" if disobedient, and not inclined their ear, in wanton preference, to Satan, the father of lies, who said, "ye shall not surely die ;"-then had we their descendants been pure and sinless, because the source would have been pure. Like would have produced its like. But, inasmuch as this fundamental law of Providence, by which all creation else was to be sustained in uniformity, and with the same powers and instincts, could not be set aside because man departed from that law, nor because He, who passing nevertheless forewarned judgement on the misuse of that freedom of will,-hence we see, that the original source becoming impure instead of pure, our first parents having sinned against God, could only be the fountain of like impurity throughout the stream of time. "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig-tree bear olive berries? Either a vine figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." (James 3. 11.) "Do men gather (Matt. 7. 16.) We grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." know, on the contrary, that as surely as a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit," (Matt. 7. 17.) so, unavoidably, and by an unchangeable law, does that which is born of the flesh inherit the evil inherent in the flesh. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?" (Job 14.4.) "How can he be clean that is born of a woman?" (Job25.4.) "There is no man that sinneth not." (1. Kings 8. 46.) "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3. 23.) "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves." (1. John, 1. 8.) And "the wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6. 23), The stern fact, so traced from the Old Testament into the New; is thus forced upon our unwilling conviction, that as our church expresses it, man is "by nature born in sin, the child of wrath," and consequently of condemnation. The gates of Paradise and of Heaven, "Into which there can in no wise enter anything that defileth," are barred against us by an elemental law, not peculiar in its application to man, but affecting and ruling all creation, and operating healthfully upon every work of God's hand except man, the one atom in a wonder ful universe which has presumed to doubt its Creator's word, and to contravene His will; and has thus perverted that ordinance, which would have been his security and blessing, into a curse and a punishment. We cannot escape this truth. We cannot avoid distinguishing the evil of original sin, apart from actual sin, still actively influencing our nature, when we behold the struggling, though powerless, passions and tendencies of infancy and childhood. In vain would human pride murmur, and contend that if this be so,-if moral corruption, like the mental taint of insanity, or any other of "the numerous ills that flesh is heir to," be thus the result of inheritance "Why doth He yet find fault"? (Rom. 9. 19.) "What have I done, what is mine iniquity"? (1. Sam. 20. 1.) Such argument, even pushed to the extremest charge against what may appear, until farther examined, as contrary to God's justice, would in no degree avert or weaken the inevitable truth. The fact remains, obviously a fact, however much we may conceive cause, rightfully, or not, to complain against it. The son who inherits infirmity, mental or bodily, from his progenitors, is not less certainly afflicted because not afflicted through his own fault. Struggle as we will against that which humbles us, the ingenuous mind will ultimately find itself compelled to understand the saying of Job, “I have said to corruption thou art my father: to the worm thou art my mother and my sister: and where is now my hope?" (17. 14.) |