nally, the business is complete; he is now a true disciple, properly prepared and qualified to believe any thing. They can believe, that the decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the council of his own will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass; rapes, robberies, murders, sodomy, and all the abominable, filthy crimes that have ever been committed by mankind. They can believe, that after the Deity had established every possible event by absolute immutable decrees, and determined the fate of every human being by the decrees of election and reprobation, he instituted a deceptive system of probation by constituting Adam the head and representative of all his posterity, and entering into a covenant with him, that on the sole condition of his abstaining from eating the forbidden fruit, the whole human race should enjoy an happy immortality; but if he transgressed, death temporal, spiritual, and eternal, should be the fate of all his posterity, who were not of the elected number. They can believe, that although every possible event was fixed and predetermined by eternal, immutable decrees, and the positive foreknowledge of God, that Adam acted as a free, unbiassed, moral agent, because he was entirely ignorant of both the secret decree, and the absolute prescience of God. But when Adam trans

gressed, as they believe it was positively decreed that he should, for they positively deny that God left any thing contingent, that is, which might, or might not happen, they believe that all his posterity (who were not elected) lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. And their preceptor Calvin says, that infants bring their damnation out of their mother's bellies! They can believe, that Christ fulfilled the law in behalf of the elect only, which are denominated his sheep, for whom alone he made an atonement, and left the goats (which he had reprobated, and consigned to the devil by an eternal, immutable decree, divested of all moral ability) subject to the dominion of the law of works, by which the scriptures declare, in positive terms, that no flesh shall be justified, and argue in the true Hibernian style, that although the descendants of Adam lost a power which they never had, about five or six thousand years before they were born, which might have enabled them to keep the law.

"That though man by his fall hath lost his strength to keep the law, God hath not lost his power, nor the law its force or authority. No allowance can be made or indeed given to man

to do amiss. If he fails in one point of the law, the law is broken, and charges the guilty sinner with a breach of the whole. The terms in this are always the same, obey perfectly, or die eternally."*

We behold in the above opinion, a true picture of what the Calvinists have denominated justice. They believe, that although our depravity and ruin originated in the decrees of God's sovereign will, which was compleated by the transgression of the agent which he chose to act for us, he is not under the least obligation, either as the Creator or Redeemer of mankind, "to make any allowance for our inability, the learn ed and the ignorant, the wise man and the fool, the idiot, and every thing that may be called human, must obey perfectly, or die eternally. But as they believe every thing that is wrong, it is also necessary to constitute them truly orthodox, that they should disbelieve every thing which is right. They therefore disbelieve, that the grace of God, which bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared.

They disbelieve, that it is the will of God that all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.f

* Baptist Association.

+1 Tim. ii. 4

L

They deny, that Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.*

That Christ gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.†

That the Father sent the Son to be the Sa viour of the world.‡

That Christ died for all, &c. That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.]]

That Christ tasted death for every man. . That he will destroy him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil. And deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.**

That the Son of God will ever finally destroy the works of the devil.ft

That Christ hath made peace through the blood of his cross, and will ever reconcile all things to God.‡‡

That Christ will take away the sin of the world.*

That the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life.t

That every knee will bow to Jesus, and every tongue confess that he is Lord.‡

That whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.ll

That Christ hath obtained eternal redemption for us.**

That Christ was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; that the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and that with his stripes we are healed. And that the Lord laid on him the iniquity of all who had gone astray, which includes the whole hu man race.tt

They also deny, that it ever was the intertion of Christ, after his crucifixion, to draw all