fastens it around their waists, still God is not the author of sin, for he binds on the leaden jacket from a good motive, namely, to show forth bis power and justice. That is to say, God is not the author of sin, because in issuing his decree he is not actuated by improper motives, does not ordain the sin as an end, but as the means to an end ; and, moreover, because there can be no sin for him, since sin is the violation of a law, and he is above all law.

3. The numerous necessary consequences and developments of this doctrine are clearly set forth and accepted by Calvinists. An obvious corollary from it is, that man has no free will, no power to act or not to act, to do good or to do evil, and that every thing in him proceeds necessarily from the decrees of God, in such a manner that it is not his will that chooses, but God's decree that necessarily and inevitably makes him act. Some Calvinists, indeed, admit, in words, the existence of free will in man; but they mean by it merely that man wills what he does, without having any power to do the contrary. If a stone be dropped from a tower, all readily conceive that its falling to the ground is the necessary effect of gravity, and that the stone has no power to rise or to stop. Still, admitting it to have knowledge and will, it would fall voluntarily, willingly, and even delight in falling, according to the law of its nature. This sort of will would proceed from necessity, and it is all the free will Calvinists do or can concede to man. Or take another example. No one who reflects on numbers but must yield his assent to the assertion that two and two make four. A Calvinist will say that this assent is free, because voluntary. But persons not versed in Calvinistic subtilties will contend that this is not an example of free will, since we are not free not to yield the assent in question.

4. Other consequences no less remarkable follow, such as that salvation is possible, not to all men, but to the elect only, and though some others may be called externally, they cannot attain to salvation, because the Almighty has predestinated them to evil ; that Christ has redeemed, not all men, but merely the elect, and therefore the graces necessary to assist our free will, so strongly inclined to evil since the fall of Adam, are granted to the elect only, and totally withheld from the reprobate ; that the grace which is given to the elect imposes on them the necessity of doing good, since, according to Calvinists, it would be impious and blasphemous to assert NEW SERIES.

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VOL. I. NO. II.

that men may resist divine grace,

and yet the grace

offers no violence to their will, but makes them yield voluntarily, as we yield to the proposition, two and two make four ; that the commandments of God are, in many instances, impossible both for the just and the wicked, - for the wicked, in consequence of their predestination and destitution of all grace, and for the just, because God would keep them humble by causing them to fall into sin. All these consequences are clearly contained in the Calvinistic premises, and the statements we have just given comprise the sum and substance of the Calvinistic theology, as laid down by Calvin himself, and as set forth in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, in its “ ratified and amended” edition. We have taken no other liberty with it than to divest it of the disguises under which its adherents seek to conceal its hideousness.

5. Now, the very first proposition we take up in the Confession of Faith is, that God has made some men for eternal life and the rest for eternal death. In chapter third, which contains most of the Calvinistic tenets on predestination, it is clearly and explicitly asserted, that "God from all eternity did unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass,” and that, “ by the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained unto everlasting death.” Again, " Those

“ of mankind that are predestinated unto life God bath chosen, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them. ..... The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.” The doctrine that God has made some men and angels for the purpose of making them miserable is here unequivocally taught. The effort to conceal it under the phrase "pass by," so that its harshness should not revolt the unprejudiced reader, - a phrase which Calvin would have stigmatized, as invented to disguise a wholesome doctrine, -is fruitless. The whole context exhibits

. substantially all the tenets of Calvin, and the miserable verbiage adopted fails utterly to conceal them. The Scriptural passages quoted at the bottom of the page are the very ones adduced by the Genevan theologue, with the exception of a few additional texts which have no bearing on the question ; and we may, without fear of contradiction, assert, that the

Confession plainly and undeniably teaches the doctrines we have set forth as the Calvinistic.

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II. We proceed now to examine and refute the proofs which Presbyterians in their Confession adduce in support of their doctrine. The first proof we will consider is 1 St. Pet. ii. 8, Being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed." The Westminster divines find in this text an express warrant of that leaden jacket with which the Almighty clothes the wicked to make them sink. Here, say they, we find that certain persons were appointed by God to be disobedient, unbelievers, reprobates. But it is not said in the text, whether they were appointed by God or by their own malice, through their own free choice; and, for aught that appears, the meaning of the text may be the reverse of what Presbyterians, following Beza, their leader, suppose. They suppose that St. Peter intends to teach that God makes certain men disbelievers that he may send them to hell, which is to make God play the part of the most cruel tyrant. But the text may be rendered, "Some stumble at the word (the Gospel), being disobedient to that for which they had been appointed." That is, the Gospel had been appointed for the Jews first, and it is to the Jews St. Peter addresses his Epistle, and our Saviour commanded his Apostles to preach it to them first, and to announce it to the Gentiles only when the Jews should have rejected it. What mockery, then, to adduce this text as a proof of the blasphemous doctrine that God predestinates men to sin! Erasmus, who cannot be suspected of undue partiality to Catholics, gives the interpretation we have given, and even the English translation will bear the same sense, by making whereunto relate, not to the disobedient, but to the word. It will then simply teach that the scandalous Jews were disobedient to the Gospel which had been destined for them. Hence, the text shows merely that God designed the Gospel to be preached first to the Jews. It is sufficient for our purpose to show that the text may receive a consistent sense, according to the rules of grammar, without including the Presbyterian dogma. It is for Presbyterians to show, not only that it may, but that it must, have the sense they give it, before they can use it as a proof of their cherished doctrine.

The second text, among those adduced in the Confession, which we will consider, is from St. Jude. "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation; ungodly men," &c. Here we

cannot mistake the cloven foot. The English translators were so determined to find predestination to sin, that they let slip no occasion of introducing it unawares, as crept in those heretics of whom St. Jude speaks. The text is mistranslated. The Douay version reads, “who were written of long ago unto this judgment " ; for in the Greek it is not “ before of old ordained,” but before written. That is, St. Jude says it had been previously written, foretold, and announced, that there would be heretics in the Christian community. It had been written by St. Paul, St. Peter, by the Evangelists in the name of Christ hinself, who tells us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, and by the prophets of old, who threaten false prophets with the severest judgments of God. It is not necessary, then, to deduce from this text the abominable doctrine, that God ordained the men of whom St. Jude speaks to the impieties mentioned, and did it that he might condemn them. St. Jude, in the remark so eagerly seized upon by Presbyterians, seeks merely to forestall a difficulty which might arise in the minds of the faithful, namely, If these men creep in unawares, how shall we avoid them? He answers, that Christians bave been warned beforehand, and that those heretics have been described already by our Lord, the apostles, and the prophets.

The third text we notice appears to be selected with more skill than the two we have just dismissed ; but it can afford Presbyterians no support. "The Lord hath made all things for himself ; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Prov. xvi. 4. If we may believe Calvin and others of his school, this means that God has made the wicked for the purpose of consigning them to eternal damnation, or the day of evil. But Presbyterians cannot adopt this interpretation, without supplying many things not found in the text. They may, indeed,

, pretend to have the Spirit to direct them in the interpretation of the Bible, but this, whatever it may be for themselves, is nothing to others, and they must sustain their interpretations by arguments which can be addressed to others, before they can expect them to be adopted. The text under consideration is susceptible of a different interpretation, and which requires less to be supplied.* “ The Lord has made every thing for himself, and therefore the wicked shall fall into the evil day.” This is the translation of Vatable, who is not unpopular among Protestants, and who cannot be suspected of partiality: Solomon means that every thing turns out for the glory of God, even the punishment of the wicked ; but this is something very different from saying that he makes the wicked fall into iniquity for the purpose of punishing them. It is one thing to say that God is glorified in the punishments which he indicts on the wicked; it is another thing to say that he makes men wicked that he may be glorified in their punishment. The former is compatible with the most perfect justice and goodness ; the latter is compatible only with the grossest injustice and cruelty.

The last text we shall examine, and, indeed, the principal text adduced in the Confession in support of the doctrine in question, is taken from Rom. ix. This is the great war-horse ridden by Calvin and his associates, and Presbyterians introduce it everywhere, and use it for every assertion, as cooks use salt for every dish. Their use of it shows clearly how shamefully the Scriptures may be perverted, and how dangerous a weapon they may prove in improper hands, as well as why St. Peter said that St. Paul had written in his Epistles things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction. We quote the pas

sage entire.

“ The children (Jacob and Esau] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger : as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say, then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have com. passion. So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharao, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say, then, unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will ? Nay, but, О man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor What if God, willing to show