they are in unison with the general argument; which we trust has been satisfactorily done. It will occasion the writer the deepest affliction, if, however unconsciously, he have been led in these remarks to alter or to diminish the full and true import of the divine word; and unutterably would he be ashamed of himself, if he could harbour a wish to evade, in however unwelcome a direction, the force of truth: but as, on the one hand, he hopes he has no aim but to know the mind of Christ; so, on the other, he solemnly believes what he has stated to be the correct expression of that mind, so far as the passages examined are concerned. He has not, perhaps, adduced every text on which stress has been laid in this discussion; but those which have been brought forward he hopes are fair specimens of the classes to which they belong, and sufficient to establish and illustrate the principles on which the whole are to be interpreted. Nothing is more true or more important than the sentiment, that the express and direct sense of scripture, wherever it can be ascertained, must determine every matter of religious opinion; but the case before us is one in which this very maxim has been made the foundation and the bulwark of an extensive

and long prevalent error. The declaration that men cannot come to Christ having been once supposed to mean that they have no power to do so, the force with which this is asserted seems to have attached to the mistake a most unmerited character of sacredness and inviolability. puted, this must not be called in question, because it was expressly asserted; and he who would dare to suggest a doubt of it could not but incur the heaviest accusations of heterodoxy and heresy. Slender basis for so vast a superstructure! Upon what films can widespreading errors be established! The whole is but an oversight; a mere inadvertency, in misinterpreting analogical phraseology as though it were literal, and thus throwing out of view other portions of the divine word, a fearless examination of which would instantly have dispelled the delusion. The writer yields to no man in his willingness to submit to the direct sense of scripture; he has no higher aim than to ascertain the mind of the Spirit therein. If he contends against what has long been held to be the express sense of scripture, it is because he is convinced that it is a mistake; and he calls upon his brethren opposed to him in

Whatever might be dis

argument to abide by their own principle, and to vindicate their claim to a supreme veneration for God's word. Which do they love best; their system, which they have long imagined the word of God to support; or the word of God, which they may now perceive leaves their system to fall? The writer hopes and believes the latter: but the result will declare it.

CHAP. XIII.

Whether the sentiment which ascribes power to man does not pre-eminently humble the sinner and glorify God:- The argument from the tendency of the doctrine.

IF we were to say that the apparent tendency of a sentiment should in all cases be held decisive of its real character and truth, we should doubtless be going too far. With our limited and imperfect knowledge, we may not always be competent judges on such a point; we may ourselves be misled by error, or blinded by our feelings. Yet there are grounds on which an inquiry into the tendency of an opinion is both reasonable and important. Every thing which is just in sentiment must also be right in tendency; rectitude in sentiment being nothing more than an accurate view of things as they really exist, and things as they really exist being adapted by divine wisdom to exert a right influence on the heart. If an opinion, therefore, according to its legitimate use, tends

apparently to evil, this is a presumptive evidence of its fallacy; as, on the other hand, there is a presumption in favour of its truth, if it tends to good. Though this is not to be considered a principal argument, it is an important auxiliary one, it is proper that every sentiment should be brought to this test, as a help towards ascertaining its character.

With respect to the accordance of religious opinions with the truth of the gospel in this point, we have considerable facility of judgment. The divine dispensation of mercy has very distinct and peculiar features. Its aspect is by no means vague or equivocal; in the midst of its boundless condescension and riches of grace, its tendency is manifestly to abase man, and to exalt his Maker. To the former is allotted shame and confusion of face, deep criminality and ill-desert; to the latter is ascribed unbounded and self-moved love, rich, free, and sovereign, as the sole spring of all that is happy for man, or excellent in him. It is an easy and effectual mode, therefore, of bringing a doctrine to the test, to ask what is its tendency. Does it abase the sinner? Does it glorify God? Does it breathe the acknowledged spirit of his dispensation of grace?