"alleviation of his mifery, if any could have been in 66 dulged? And was it not more agreeable to the in"finite mercy of God, that he should cherish and ftrengthen the fmalleft fparks of divine love in one "deprecating him, if any ray of it should have ap❝peared?"* Mr. Winchester fays, "I believe that Jefus Chrift 66 was not only able to pafs, but that he actually did "pafs that gulph, which was impaffable to all men, "but not to him: and he affures St. John that he had paffed it; and not only fo, but that he had the έσ keys of the fame in his poffeffion, Rev. i. 18.”+ Jefus Chrift affured the apostle John that He had "the keys of hell and of death," but He does not fay "that He had paffed" the gulph. Muft we believe that every jailer, who has the keys of a prifon, will certainly fet all the prifoners at liberty? * But Mr. W. has much other proof that Jefus Chrift croffed the gulph, and preached to the Spirits in prifon. After quoting 1 Pet. iii. 18-20.-iv. 5, 6, which paffages have already been confidered, he refers to Ifa. xlii. 6, 7. If Mr. W. had read on, he would have found that, not the inhabitants of hell, but the inhabitants of the earth-the fea-the iflesthe wilderness-the cities-the villages of Kedar, &c. are called upon, to "fing unto the Lord a new fong," for making this covenant with them. "Chrift was not only defigned," fays Mr. W. " to "be a covenant of the people, (meaning the Jews) "and a light to the Gentiles,-which two defcrip"tions comprehend all the living,-but alfo to bring " out the prifoners from the prifon, and them that fit "in darkness out of the prifon-houfe, which (if it be "not a repetition) muft intend the dead, as all the "living Differtation concerning the Endless Duration of punishment, + Dialogues, p. 66. P. 39, 40. living were mentioned before, Ifa. xlix. 6-10."* But why fhould Mr. W. doubt about its being a repetition? Is not the preferved of Ifrael, a repetition of the tribes of Jacob? Mr. W. says, the people means the Jews; if fo, the preferved of Ifrael, and the tribes of Jacob, are both repetitions fignifying the fame people. And feveral other repetitions might be fhewn in this paffage. If Mr. W. had only read the two next verfes, he would have feen that these prisoners are not commanded to go forth from hell: "And "I will make all my mountains a way, and my high46 ways fhall be exalted. Behold, thefe fhall come "from far; and, lo, thefe from the north and "from the weft; and thefe from the land of ❝ Sinim" Ifa. lxi. 1-3, is introduced, (p. 69.) without any comment; as though it did not leave room for a doubt about our Lord's miffion to hell. Jefus Chrift preached from this text one fabbath-day in a fynagogue at Nazareth; and opened His difcourfe with this remarkable obfervation, This day is this fcripture fulfilled in your ears, Luke iv. 16,-21. Once more," Our Lord Jefus Chrift," fays Mr. W. "by his procefs, hath laid a foundation for the recovery of all men; for to this end Chrift both "died, rofe, and revived, that he might be Lord "both of the dead and living, Rom. xiv. 9." p. 70. Read the two preceding verfes: "For none of us "liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For "whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whe"ther we die, we die unto the Lord; whether "we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Mr. W.'s argument is this, Those who live unto the Lord, and die unto the Lord, are assured that they are His both in life and death, for He is Lord both of the dead and living; therefore thofe who live unto the devil, and die unto the devil, shall be the Lord's!!! Dialogues, p. 68, 09. Ephef. Ephef. iv. 8-10, is cited (p. 72) without a word of comment; we have therefore to guess where the ftrefs is laid. Is it fuppofed that the lower parts of the earth means hell? Then it feems the local fituation of hell is at laft determined! Yet we ought furely to have had fome proof. The fame phrafe occurs in Pfalm cxxxix. 15. It is there applied to the womb: " My fubftance was not hid from Thee, when "I was made in fecret, and curiously wrought in the "loweft parts of the earth.” A fimilar phrase occurs in Matt. xii. 40, and is there applied to the grave: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in "the whale's belly, fo fhall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Our Lord's foul being three days and three nights in hell, could be no fign to the Scribes and Pharifees; but His refurrection from the grave on the third day, I was calculated to create full conviction of His being the Meffiah. It is not material in which of thefe fenfes we take the words of the Apofile, for they are both equally unfavourable to a defcent into hell. Zech. ix. 11. Ifa. xlix. 24, are introduced, (p. 73,) like the above, without any fort of proof that the pit intends hell, or that the captive is a damned fpirit. David was in the pit, and Ifrael in captivity, but neither the one nor the other was in hell. "Pfa. cvii. 10-16. This amazing deliverance," fays Mr. W. p. 73, "feems to be defcribed in fuch "language as correfponds much better with the de"liverance of the fpirits from their dreadful prifon, "than with any temporal mercies that are bestowed 66 on mankind here on earth." The deliverance here fpoken of had taken place when the Pfalm was penned He SAVED them out of their diftreffes.-He brought them out of darkness, and the Shadow of death, and BRAKE their bands in funder.-IIe hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in funder. funder. If this paffage, therefore, prove the doctrine of Univerfal Restoration, that happy event had taken place fome hundreds of years before Chrift appeared in the world. I have, at laft, gone through all the proofs which Mr. W. offers, that Jefus Chrift paffed the impaffable gulph, to preach falvation to thofe who cry in vain for a drop of water. Mr. Vidler has added notes to this part of the fubject, which contain nothing remarkable, except a few Hebrew and Greek characters, from which we perceive that Mr. V. is a learned gentleman. His abilities, as a Critic, will be examined under the last Section. What fettles this point with me, is, if finners may be converted in the intermediate state, we must give up that important gospel truth, that every one will be judged according to the deeds done in the body. For if finners may, and fome actually do, repent and obtain forgivenefs betwixt death and judgment, they cannot be condemned and doomed to fuffer the fecoud death for the fins of this life. Bishop Pearfon obferves, "But neither they" (the dead) " nor we" (the living) "fhall ever escape eternal flames, except we ob"tain the favour of God before we be fwallowed by "the jaws of death. We must all appear before the "judgment feat of Christ, that every one may re"ceive the things done in his body: but if they be in "the ftate of falvation now, by virtue of Chrift's de"fcent into hell, who were numbered amongst the "damned before his death, at the day of the general "judgment they must be returned into hell again; (6 or if they be received into eternal happiness, it will follow either that they were not justly con"demned to thofe flames at first, according to the "general difpenfations of God, or elfe they did not "receive the things done in their body at the laft; "which all fhall as certainly receive, as all ap66 pear, &c."* * Pearfon on the Creed, p. 270. The 13. The reafon affigned in Scripture why no means of converfion are, or will be ufed in hell, is, its inhabitants are incapable of improvement: See Matt. v. Luke xiv. 34, 35. As falt, when it hath loft its favour, cannot recover its feasoning power, but is caft out as good for nothing; fo men may be fo far corrupted by fin, as to be incapable of a restoration to moral virtue; and without this, they cannot be restored to happiness. SECTION XVI. . On the Promife of Deliverance out of Hell. THAT on which I dare venture the whole "caufe," fays Mr. Winchefter, "is, that God hath "abfolutely promised to reftore and bring again "thofe whom he hath utterly deftroyed." Unless God can 66 abfolutely" reconcile contradictions and perform impoffibilities, Mr. W. must be "utterly " mistaken. Out of many inftances, which might be adduced in proof of this ftrange propofition, Mr. W. fays, "I will fix upon one that is full to the purpose, "and unexceptionable: and that is the cafe of Sodom and her daughters, &c. Thefe wicked nations "fhall have their captivity returned; shall return to "their former eftate, and fhall be received by Jerus "falem as daughters, in the everlafting covenant; Jeru"falem and her daughters, more wicked themselves "than Sodom and her daughters, fhall be restored at "the fame time. It is evident that the inhabitants of "Sodom will be condemned in the day of judgment, "and punished in the lake of fire; confequently the "return of their captivity is not to be expected till "after the creation of the New Earth. See Ezek. ❝ xvi. 53-63. Matt. xi. 24."* Were it not that the whole caufe is ventured upon this prophecy, I fhould not have thought it neceffary *Dialogues, p. 179---182. |