"he did not confider their Salvation as certain, but as depending upon the fuccefs of his exertions. The Elect are Chriftian con verts in general, who might or might not be faved; but the Calvinistic notion is, that the Elect are perfons infallibly def tined to Salvation.

"Next, in St. Matthew, c. xxiv. v. 21-24, the word faced does not relate to eternal falvation; but to prefervation in this world; as our Saviour is here defcribing the diftreffes which would attend the deftruction of Jerufalem; and the Elect muft mean thofe Chriftians who adhere to their Faith in the midst of trials, for whom God will shorten this tribulation; during which, impoftors, pretending to be the Meffiah, will practife every art to deceive, if they poffibly can, even thofe faithful, even the very ELECT."

The note, p. 213, on el duvalov is good; and in v. 29 and 31 of the fame chapter,

"when the ELECT are to be gathered together from the four winds, teaches, that after the deftruction of Jerufalem, his mes fengers or minifters will be fent into every quarter of the world to preach his Religion, who will gather into one holy Catholic Church all who fhall fincerely believe it; and that thus the diffolution of the Jewish polity, ecclefiaftical and civil, would be fucceeded by the formation of the Chriftian Church; and the kingdom of Chrift and the worship of God in fpirit and in truth immoveably established. In this paffage, which is prophetic of the destruction of Jerufalem by the Romans, and of the fubfequent propagation of the Gofpel among the Gentiles: the Elect cannot be spoken of as perfons felected by an irreversible decree of God for Salvation in the life to come; and indeed fuch an idea is not reconcileable with the cautions which our Saviour gave to his difciples upon this occafion.

"In Coloffians iii. 12, 13, the Apoftle applies the word ELECT to all the Coloffian Chriftians, called in one body to the peace of God,' through the knowledge of the Gospel. Their Salvation is reprefented as depending upon themfelves, upon their continuing in the faith, grounded and fettled, and not moved away from the hope of the Gofpel.'

"In Romans ix. 10-13, the purpofe of Election, which is mentioned, has no relation to a future life, but refers to the Election of the defcendants of Jacob to be God's peculiar people, in preference to the defcendants of Efau. Hence the expreffion; Jacob have I loved, but Efau have I hated.'

The Bishop then confiders the word Reprobate or Reprobation. Calvin refers it to a fuppofed decree of God; but its fenfe is very different both in the Old and New Tefta

ment.

"In the Old Teftament, Jeremiah vi. 30, in the Original and in the Septuagint, our tranflators have rendered the fame word reprobate,' when applied to filver, and rejected,' when ap plied to the Jews: from which it is evident that reprobate filver,' means rejected filver, filver rejected as not being good, in the fame manner as God was about to reject the Jews on account of their wickednefs. In the Septuagint, the word donos occurs twice, although it is not rendered reprobate in our translation*; and here again the 'word is applied to bafe filver, to filver rejected as not genuine."

The curious reader muft confult the learned notes in p. 219 and 225. In the New Teftament, the word Repro bate occurs in 2 Timothy, c. iii, v. 8, men reprobate concerning the faith:

"who, in refpect of their Faith, are precifely what bad money of metal is with refpect to its quality, unable to ftand the Fox, or proof, and therefore rejected as bafe and worthless, Here is no intimation of any decree of God, by which the greater part of mankind, are configned to eternal mifery; but it is a de fcription of perfons who will in the laft days' refift the truth of the Gofpel, and reject the Faith of Chrift.

"In Romans i. 21 and 28, the fame Apostle fays of the Gentiles prior to Chrift, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. This reprobate mind is not reprefented as the confe. quence of any antecedent decree of God, but as refulting from man's wilful blindnefs.

"So in Titus i. 16, unto every good work reprobate.' This expreffion relates to certain Cretans, whofe lives did not correfpond with the purity of that Faith which they professed; but their perfeverance in fin, and their perdition, were not irreversibly decreed. Again: in Hebrews vi. 7, 8, the original adóximos is tranflated rejected, when applied to the earth, which brings forth briars or useless herbs: fo men who profit not by religious inftruction, but bring forth only the fruit of unrighteous nefs, are rejected by God,

St. Paul fays of himself, left I myself fhould be a caft away, or reprobate. The word in the original is adonijos: he could not mean, left, he fhould be a perfon defined by God from all eternity to everlasting punishment; for, on other oc cafions he expreffes a confident hope in his own Salvation; on the contrary, had he conceived himself to be one of the elect, could

* "Prov. c. 25. v. 4. and If. c. 1. Y. 22. The Hebrew word in both thefe paffages is the fame, and is rightly tranflated drofs."

he have admitted the poffibility of his becoming a reprobate in the Calvinistic fenfe of those words?

In 2 Corinthians xiii. 5-7, the words Reprobates' and ་ approved' are oppofed; and confequently the word reprobates fignifies difproved or rejected; but the application of the word reprobate by St. Paul to himself is of itfelf a decifive proof, that he did not mean by it a perfon to whom the capacity of falvation was denied."

From the ufage of 'Adon and 4ox, in the Scriptures, after an examination of these paffages in which the words occur, the Bifhop ftates, that the former fignifies rejected after trial, and the latter approved after trial; and that the prominent idea in both is "probation with its probable refults; he then adds,

"that the Calvinistic doctrines of Election and Reprobation can receive no countenance from the paffages of Scripture in which thefe words occur, fince they are ufed in fenfes very different from thofe which the advocates for abfolute decrees affix to them.

"The Jews firft, and the Chriftians afterwards, were the elect people of God. God gave the Law to the Jews by the hands of Mofes, and the Gofpel to the Chriftians by his own bleffed Son Jefus Chrift, as their rule of life. God was pleafed, both by the Law and by the Gospel, to enter into Covenant with his chofen people the Jews and Chriftians; to promife re. ward to the obedient, and to threaten punishment to the difobe. dient. Yet neither in the Law, nor in the Gofpel, does he pro

We shall produce the paffage from the Ulpian, to which he refers, Lib. 24. Qui reprobos nummos folvit creditori, an habet pigneratitiam actionem, quafi foluta pecunia, quæritur?-et conftat, neque pigneratitia eum agere, neque liberari poffe, quod reproba pecunia non liberat folventem, reprobis videlicet nummis reddendis.' Ulpian. Lib. xxx. ad Edict. in Digeft. Lib. xiii, Tit. vii. 24. p. 223. Col. 1. CORP. JURES CIVILIS Edit. Elzev. Amftel. 1663. Fol.

The Bishop's explication may be further defended by H. Steph. Lex. Græco Latin. p. 365. Adóximos. REPRO BUS. Abfurdus. Gloff. D. H. Steph.

The very idea of Covenant is inconfiftent with the Calvinistic fyftem. Covenant implies conditions; abfolute decrees reject all conditions. A Covenant fays, you shall have fuch or fuch a reward, if you act in the manner ftipulated; abfolute decrees fay, that it is irreverfibly determined by the arbitrary will of God, that you shall or fhall not be faved, without any refpect to your conduct."

mife

mise certain Salvation; or threaten inevitable perdition, to any perfons, except as they thall, or fhall not comply with the expreffed conditions. There is a mutual connexion and exact confistency between these two Covenants; they are indeed parts of the fame fyftem decreed by the infcrutable counfels of God, before the world began.”

The Bishop then proceeds to examine fome other texts, which are urged by Calvinifts as favourable to Election and Reprobation, although the words themselves do not occur

in them.

They are Proverbs xvi. 4.-St. John xii. 37, on which the excellent remarks are accompanied by an admirable quotation from Bishop Bramhall.-Acts xiii. 48. [The pasfage, p. 234, 5, given as from Stebbing, fhould rather have been cited as from Clagget against Owen, on the Operation: of the Holy Spirit; incorporated with Stebbing, on the fame fubject, p. 21. Works. Folio. 1737.-B.C.] Romans viii. 28.-ix. 18-24. 1 St. Pet. ii. 7, 8.-St. Jude, 4.

2 Tim. i. 9.

"From this examination of the paffages of Scripture," the Bishop then adds," in which the words Elect and Reprobate occur, and alfo of those texts which are generally quoted in fupport of the doctrines of Election and Reprobation, it appears, that elect and reprobate perfons, in the Calviniftic fenfe, are not even known in the Old or New Teftament."

He goes on:

"To fend Chrift into the world that mankind might be faved, was the purpose of God from the beginning; but in making this decree, he appointed, that the benefits of Chrift's miffion fhould extend to all who believed and obeyed. There was a conditional offer of falvation to all. If Redemption be confined to the elect, Chrift came into the world to fave the elect only; and not to fave finners' in general. In Scripture, however, not a fingle text reftrains the object of Chrift's Incarnation. The impenitently wicked are alone excluded from the bleffed hope of everlasting life which God has given us in our Saviour Jefus Christ,'

་

He then difcuffes Calvin's notion of God's Decree. This part of the work is forcibly argued and eloquently

written.

[In p. 247, note (s), the citation from GERHARDUS is to be found in the learned profeffor's Loca The logica, Geneva,

* " 1 Tim. c. 1. V. 15."

fol.

That from

fol. 1639. De Provid. Cap. III. p 29. Wifheart, in the fecond volume of his Theologia, Edinburgh, 1716. Difcourfe XVIII. p. 606. Of the Decrees of God. B. C.]

Well does his Lordfhip in p. 249 affert, that

"There is a great difference between the not being able to comprehend the divine economy, and the afcribing to the Deity a mode of acting inconfiftent with his attributes. Thus, I can. not," he fays, "explain, ror underftand, how the free-agency of man is reconcileable with the pre cience of God. It is still a juft exercise of my faith, on a fubject above, but not contrary to, reafon; but that God fhould, without any refpect to their conduct, irreversibly predeftinate one part of mankind to eternal happinefs, and the other part to everlafting mifery, is a doctrine fo inconfiftent with the attributes of infinite juftice and infinite mercy, that I cannot bring myself to believe it. Further, the Calvinifts fay, that God acted thus to promote his own glory. How dreadful an affertion! Who could have conceived it poffible, that it should be made by perfons calling themfelves Chrif tians? This is not a difficulty in the difpenfations of God towards men, which relates to this world only, and may be corrected in that which is to come; it comprehends both worlds, both ftates of human existence, prefent and future; it is a decree extending to all eternity, abfolute and irreversible; nor is it a fyftem partially and imperfectly defcribed, in which we may be at prefent deceived, but which may hereafter appear wife, juft, and merciful, when completely revealed, and fully under. tood-an irrevocable fentence of everlasting torment is of itself a Whole, and open to no mifconception-end lefs and irremediable pain, known by the fufferers to be fuch, admits of no palliative, no confolation, no hope."

The reader muft confult the Refutation for the explanation and defence, which immediately follow, of his reasoning in the Expofition of the xvith Article, in the Elements of Chriftian Theology. [The extract from Grotius, note (u) pag. 251, is taken from the 4th volume of his theological works, p. 351. Concil. Diffident. de Re prædeftin. et Grat. Opin. B. C.]

We are then taught to diftinguish between doctrines, which are incomprehenfible, and doctrines, which are irreconcileable with any revealed truth, or the attributes of God: the former are not to be rejected, but the latter ought to be embraced.

"We are called on to exercise caution and humility in judging of the mysterious difpenfations of God, and of his in