the Son then has a Father that begot him, and a Mother who bore him. How then is he undivided? God is self-existent. God the Son had a Father, how then is he self-existent when his Father begat him? God is eternal, never had a beginning. God the Son is a son, as such he must have had a beginning; his Father from whom he derived his being, must have preceded him the cause must precede the effect, the begetter the begotten.How then can he be eternal, as old as his Father. God is infinite, boundless—but God the Son was limited, bounded in a virgin's womb; he who fills immensity with his presence was encircled in his mother's arms, rested on a mother's bosom, was the babe of a span long, was cradled, bounded, limited in a corner of a manger ! God bounded by a manger! Yes, you will have me believe that he who was born in a stable, and cradled in a manger, is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. Oh no, it was only the human nature, the mere child. Forgive me, if I prefer the testimony of the angel Gabriel to a Trinitarian, and he declares to Mary the mother, "that the holy thing which shall be born of her shall be called the Son of the Highest,"-God; and you would oblige me to believe that he is God the Son. God alone hath immortality—cannot die or be put to death; yet Joseph and Mary, had to take the young child, God the Son, and fly into Egypt to save his life. God the Son, whom you declare to be omnipotent, was hungry, weary, faint, had an angel from heaven sent to strengthen him-to strengthen omnipotence !-nay, God the Son, hung upon the cross, was dying, dead. The Son of God, whom you say is God the Son, I know suffered this, "for we are redeemed, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of the Son of God." But was God the Son dying, dead! the second person of the Trinity dying! a dead God. Why Paganism never went so far in absurdity as this. But you tell me it was only the human nature, the man who was strengthened, shed his blood, died. And yet you speak of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and that sacrifice, infinite, because, as you affirm, nothing less than the suffering of an infinite Being could satisfy an infinite justice offended; and yet, you have afterwards the audacity to declare, that this infinite sacrifice was a mere human nature, the death of a man, and that you, a Trinitarian, are redeemed with the blood of a man, that infinite justice is satisfied with the sacrifice of a human being, the blood of an innocent man, offered in the room and stead "of guilty men,

whose "sin is infinite, and which required an infinite ransom to be paid for its redemption"-the sacrifice of an innocent man made "to satisfy the Father's justice," a sacrifice which God condemns, which he declares he will not accept, nay, which he has pronounced an abomination in his sight.

(To be continued.)

BALLYCARRY, July 7th, 1847.

WM. GLENDY.

MODERN ORTHODOXY.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. COQUEREL.

SECTION VIII.-THE BASIS OF SALVATION.
(Concluded from page 223.)

ON this subject our general principle is thus announced.-"We believe that Salvation originates in God's compassionate love, and that the means of salvation are the mission of Christ in all its extent-his doctrine, his life, his sacrifice, his voluntary death, and his glorious resurrection."

Why does God desire to save men? Because he loves themCreation and salvation have the same origin; for salvation, like creation, is an act of benevolence. Wonderful to say, the language of theology here corresponds with the ideas conveyed by the doctrine. In religion as in science, one of the main obstacles to progress and perfection is the vague and feeble and insufficient language we are obliged to employ, words too often serving to obscure, instead of elucidating thought. But here, this difficulty is little felt, and the received mode of expression admirably corresponds to the subject. To LOVE is a pleasure all hearts understand, and all admit how natural it is to SAVE from danger those whom we love. To love and to save are correlative terms-one implies and includes the other. Mighty, therefore, as the work of salvation for a whole world may be, it is simple, intelligible, written as with a sunbeam before the eyes of all, and only to be mystified by the pride or perverseness of theological obstinacy. God is the father of all men-he saves them because he loves them. We cannot go farther nor mount higher than this. There we stand at the fountain head, at the source of the mighty stream which flows onward to life eternal. Created in love, this is the first

On these

principle of natural religion; saved by love, this is the first principle of Christianity. These remarks throw light upon a subject which ancient orthodoxy has perseveringly obscured, and tortured Scripture to pervert its language to its own views of interpretation, we allude to the doctrine of "unpurchased salvation. We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, nor does the darkness in which the verbiage of our opponents has enveloped this topic affect our reception of this truth. Among the blessings of heaven there are some which appear to be our due, arising from engagements which the Creator seems to have made with the creature, and which will be kept faithful while this world endures. Such are, the necessary conditions of life without which existence would cease, and which are in some respect rights conferred by birth upon all men: to these may be added reason, affection, conscience, as rights of our intellectual and moral natures. we may be allowed to reckon, for God having annexed the continuance of physical and moral life to these conditions, it would be impious to imply, that he would require the one, without conferring the other. But this amounts to saying, that God will continue faithful to his promises, and steadfast to his designs; that God will maintain the laws he has established, and carry out the purposes he has decreed. In all such blessings we see undoubted benevolence, but we also see undoubted justice-a justice which provides for events which it has itself created. But the salvation of a world lost through its own misconduct must be a free gift. God does not under any view owe it to mankind. His justice would be still unimpeached, did he allow the sin of one generation to entail its unnatural consequences of evil upon all subsequent generations; if he have given a Saviour, it is because "he so loved the world." If he have saved mankind, it is from pure grace, and salvation is his free gift. Not that we mean that man must remain passive under the influence of this salvation, but that God in bestowing life and the means of life, did not engage, where these are abused, to restore the advantages which men may lose in the exercise of their free will. This is the evident meaning of all those texts which speak of salvation as a gift which man cannot purchase, a reward which his efforts cannot merit, a blessing not involved in the act of creation, and therefore we are told that "God first loved us ;" that we have not chosen him, but that he has chosen us." Our whole argument amounts, then, to this, that in the natural world

the care of God is a condition, a necessity of creation, or in other words, we cannot conceive of God separate from his Providence ; but that in the spiritual world, salvation is a gratuity, we can conceive of God without this exercise of his benevolence, and can imagine worlds where a Saviour may be unneeded or ungiven.

It is clear, then, that salvation originates in God's compassionate love, we proceed to show that the means of salvation are the mission of Christ in all its extent. The importance of this position, as well as the proof of its truth, seems too evident to require lengthened illustration. God is one, his works partake of the unity and completeness of his nature. In them nothing is redundant, and nothing defective. Each holds its allotted place, and possesses its just proportions. The details are admirable, the whole is perfect. The smallest parts are as finished, as the entire is complete. The same divine adaptation is seen in every dispensation. In judging, therefore, of any operation of God's power or love, we should contemplate it as a whole, and regard it in its varied aspects, if we look at it in but one position, or one point of view, we do injustice to its completeness.

How full of disorder, of chance, and of aimless or evil purpose are the phenomena of the unlearned world until observation has determined the general laws which control and govern the universe! It is the same in the world of religion. If we attach an undue importance to one portion of our Saviour's mission, ascribe the reconciliation he has effected to the influence of one act alone, see salvation in one event, as the Jews saw holiness exclusively in one place or vessel-then we are narrowing the salvation of the world within our own confined conceptions-diminishing its grandeur without enhancing its simplicity-making a selection and showing a preference where all is equally worthy of admiration, gratitude and love. To our view the redemption made known in the gospel is both grander and more simple than the redemption made known by theological creeds. WE see salvation throughout the entire history of Christ. We do not limit it to the base or summit of the hill of Calvary. WE behold it in the manger, see it on the cross, and follow it to the Heavens instead of finding it painfully amid the prayers and agonies, and tortures of his ignominious death alone.

We are confirmed in this view when we consider that the language of the sacred volume, gives no support to the doctrine that

would confine the work of redemption to one circumstance of the Saviour's mission. It is evident that in whatever point of view the writers of the New Testament regard the life of Jesus-whether they direct attention to his birth, or to his life, or to his precepts, or to his miracles, or to his example, or to his prayers, or to his sufferings, or to his death, whether they enable us to weep at his cross, or to rejoice at his deserted tomb, or to break bread with him after his resurrection, or to follow him with our ardent gaze as he ascends in triumph to his heavenly kingdom, and sits down at God's right hand in every event they desire us to behold salvation; it is not here or there, but every where, concealed amid the swaddling clothes, and hidden in the shroud, as well as manifest to all surrounded with the glories of God's presence in the heavens. Theology steps in to disarrange this grand and consistent whole, to divide the gospel into parts, to show one to the world, and say, “this saves," to keep the rest out of view, and sentence it to disregard by saying "that concerns not salvation." Who, then, show the greater respect to the written word of God, and to Him who was the word "before the world was;" those who believe that Christ is in every aspect, and at all times the Saviour of the world, or those who see him such only when nailed to the cross? Who evidence the greater faith in the Son of man-those who believe that he equally ransoms us from sin when taking little children in his arms he blesses them, and shows by this tender act who are worthy heirs of the kingdom of heaven, as when he prays for his murderers, while the pikes that fasten him to the cross lacerate his limbs, or those who must see his blood flow, and hear his expiring cry ere they have confidence in his promise, or hope in his love?

Are you not afraid, it may be asked, that modern orthodoxy on the plea of not overlooking any circumstance in the mission of Christ, may sacrifice the details to the whole, instead of, with what she regards the overcaution of her opponent sacrificing the brilliant whole to some single event less attractive to the imagination, and thus lessen our compassion for his sufferings, or our admiration of his triumphs? In religion as in every thing, the best blessings may be abused and truths perverted, and we cannot hope that our principles shall escape. We know that throughout all ages of the church, there have been voices heard from various throats exclaiming-It is Jesus preaching who saves; or, it is Jesus