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favor the idea of two distinct classes among mankind. The same man may be righteous at one time and wicked at another. Whenever men do righteousness, they are said to be righteous; and whenever they do wickedness, they are said to be wicked. This is the only sense in which the righteous and wicked are mentioned in the Bible. After making his statement, concerning his imagined two classes, the objector gives us a sweeping assertion, in which he is kind enough to embrace the whole ground of the controversy, and by which he settles it all at once. He declares, that the distinction between them exists now, that it will exist at the hour of death, before the throne of final judgment, and through every period of their existence." This settles the whole matter. But then we inquire, What authority has this man to assert these things It is certain, that the Bible does not contain a word in support of that assertion; but, on the other hand, it stands in contradiction to the objection. It is a matter of small importance to us, whether this writer can reconcile Universalism with his notions. "The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants," said the immortal Chillingworth; and the Bible does not support the doctrine of distinctions among mankind, either in the grave or beyond it. Of the dead the Scriptures say, "All go unto one place." Eccles. iii. 20. Speaking of the resurrection, Paul says, Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. xv. 22. Where, then, are the two classes? Continuing the same subject, this apostle declares, "So also is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.' "" 1 Cor. xv. 42-44. Is the notion of two classes after the resurrection compatible with this language? "We shall all be changed." ver. 51. "The dead shall be raised incorruptible." ver. 52. Could any careful person gather from this language the

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notion, that there will be two classes of mankind, the righteous and the wicked, after the resurrection? It is in vain to pretend it.

XII. "If I become a Universalist, I must believe, that mankind receive their total amount of punishment in this life. Whereas, Scripture, reason, and fact unite in testifying, that this is not the truth. Scripture declares, that one event happeneth to the righteous and the wicked, -'that God maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust,' – and also inquires, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?' Observation and facts teach us, that, if any thing which men suffer in this life may properly be called punishment, many of the most profligate and abandoned receive the least of it."

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There is a glaring contradiction in this objection, which shows that the writer knew little about his subject, and which destroys, of course, the little proof he supposed his objection to possess. In the first place, he says the Scripture declares, "that one event happeneth to the righteous and the wicked," and yet he says, before he closes his objection, that many of the most profligate and abandoned receive the least punishment in this life. The objector has fairly outreached himself; for a reasonable man would ask, how the wicked could suffer much less than the righteous in this life, if one event happens to both?

The objector declares, that the wicked are not fully punished in this life, and infers from this fact, that they will be punished hereafter. He saith, the Scriptures prove that men are not punished sufficiently on earth. We are compelled to declare, that the whole evidence of Scripture is on the contrary side. The sacred writers use the figures of sowing and reaping to represent the unavoidable connexion between sin and misery: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap; " and hence the recompense of the sinner is called the fruit of his doings." Now to say that man shall sin on the earth, and suffer the recompense in some other state of being, is alike reasonable with saying, that a man who sows a field of grain in Massa

chusetts shall reap the harvest in some other State. The Bible saith, "He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption." He proceeds,

"This argument failing me, I must,

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XIII. "Base my belief on the universality of Christ's atone ment. Because the atonement is sufficient for all, I must argue that all will be saved. Whereas, the truth is, that, though all who will, may be saved, yet he who will not believe, shall be damned."

In the fact that Christ died for all men, this writer sees no proof that all men will be saved. Those who will, he thinks, may be saved, but those who will not must be lost forever. This is a rather unfortunate proposition for the Hopkinsians,* for they have generally taught, that those shall be saved who are willing to be damned. A man must, at the same time, have a willingness to be damned and a desire to be saved, according to this writer's theology. Now we believe, that, as Jesus Christ died for all men, so all men will be saved. "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Isaiah liii. 11. Jesus predicated the salvation of all men, of the fact of his dying for all. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." John xii. 32. This certainly assures us of the salvation of all men; for he that cometh to Christ shall not be cast out. See John vi. 37. Men will not be forced, they will be drawn ; they will not be dragged to heaven against their wills, for the people of Christ shall be willing in the day of his power. "The heathen are his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth are his possession."

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XIV. "God wills, in a certain sense, the salvation of all, and is able to do whatsoever his soul desireth, therefore all will be saved. But I know, that, although God wills, in a certain sense, the holiness, repentance, and faith of all, and is able to effect all that he designs to do, yet many are unholy, impenitent, and unbelieving. My argument, therefore, will not stand the test of vigorous examination."

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* The author of these objections was a very zealous Hopkin. sian.

Here the objector slips over an argument very easily, that he seems unwilling to stop and examine at length. The argument of the Universalist is this, that as God wills the salvation of all men, and is able to do all his pleasure, all men will be saved. The objector avoids the argument, by saying, that God now wills the salvation, repentance, and faith of all, yet all do not repent. But the objector does not believe, that God wills determinately, that any thing shall take place at any time, which does not take place at that time. He does not now believe, that God wills men should repent, believe, and be saved, any further than they do repent, believe, and be saved. He believes, as well as the Universalist, that the will of God is done, on earth, and in heaven. And he believes, furthermore, that God's will shall be done, as much in the eternal damnation of those who may be lost, as in the eternal happiness of those who may be saved. The only question, therefore, that remains to be settled between him and the Universalist, is, whether God wills the salvation of all men. This he will not have courage to deny, in the face of the plainest declarations of the divine word. "God will have all men to be saved," saith Paul to Timothy. This will of God cannot fail, for "he doeth his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; none can stay his hand, or say unto him, why doest thou so?" Dan. iv. 35. This is the will of "Lo, I come And to show,

God, which Jesus came to accomplish. to do thy will, O God." Heb. x. 7. that he had secured the accomplishment of the divine. will, Jesus declared, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." John xvii. 4.

XV. "Universalists deny, that there is a day of general judgment to come, and contend that it is already past; that of course, there is no hell, no place of punishment, consequently, no punishment after death. But God has declared, 'It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.' The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that

have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' 'These passages are plain and explicit; they admit of no evasion. If language can teach it, we are here taught, that there will be a day of general judg. ment, and that some shall find life, while others shall be condemned.'

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The Universalist does not deny the scriptural doctrine of a day of judgment; he does not say, is no hell," "no place of punishment." The Universalist does not, indeed, believe in endless punishment; but every thing said in the Bible about judgment, or hell, or punishment, he believes as a verity. The Universalist does not misapply those passages in which these solemn subjects are spoken of; he endeavours to understand them in their true and proper sense.

The objector did not use due care in quoting one of the passages on which he so confidently relies; he has put it into a shape to suit himself. He says, God has declared, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." He has clipped this passage at both ends, and entirely altered its sense. See Heb. ix. 27, 28. The death here spoken of, the objector applies to all men; whereas, the apostle had reference to the sacrificial death of the high priests under the law, with which he was comparing the sacrificial death of Christ. This, any person will perceive at once who will read the whole passage. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Why are the particles as and so here used, if the apostle was not making a comparison between the death of the men spoken of, and the death of Jesus Christ? When the high-priest died figuratively, in his sacrifice, for the sins of Israel, he afterward came out of the holy of holies, bearing the judgment of the children of Israel upon his breast. See Exodus xxviii. 29, 30. Hence, the apostle says, "as it is appointed unto men [the high priests] once to die [in their sacrifice], and after this the judgment [which they bore upon their breasts]; so Christ was once offered [that is, in a sacrificial manner] to bear the sins of many."

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