reality, the worft being God, when he created mankind, perfectly knew that fome of them would fuffer endless torment, for their fins; he muft, therefore, have intended them for that purpose.. For, it is inconfiftent to fuppofe, that the Almighty would create, without a purpose; and his purpofe could not be contrary to his knowledge. The matter then ftands thus, God created millions of: beings for endless mifery, which they could not efcape; the Devil is defirous of having them miferable, and does all in his power to effect it. Now, reader, judge between these two beings. Had this. Devil been confulted, by the Almighty, when he laid the plan of man's final deftiny, I cannot conceive him capable of inventing one more eligible to his infernal difpofition, than this which I am now difputing.

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As reafon will not confent to the plan of God, as described in the foregoing scheme, I will fhow that the fcriptures equally oppose it. It is granted, that Jefus. Chrift died for mankind, as the fcriptures declare; but not in the way, in which thousands have believed. But fuppofing he died inftead of the finner, in the way which I difpute, Iftill wish to prove, that he died for the whole of Adam's pofterity, as much as he did for any. If Isaiah did not believe that, that would be the cafe, I cannot reconcile his words to his opinion, which I find in chap. liii. ver. 5, 6." But he was wound. ed for our tranfgreffions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chaftifement of our peace was upoh him, and with his ftripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone aftray: We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us ALL. St. Paul muft have been of this opinion, when he wrote to Tim

othy, or his words are not expreffive of his belief. See 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Chrift Jefus; who gave himself a ransom for all to be teftified in due time." 1 Epiftle General of John ii. 1, 2." My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye fin not, and if any man fin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our fins, and not for ours only, but alfo for the fins of the whole world." Hebrews ii. Hebrews ii. 9. "But we fee Jefus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the fuffering of death, now crowned with glory and honor; that he, by the grace of God, fhould tafte death for every man." The above fcriptures, with their connexions and correfponding paffages, as fully prove that Chrift died for ALL men, as any one thing can be proved from the bible. Now, as there is not, in all the fcripture, a fingle hint to the reverse of these paffages which I have introduced, it appears strange. and unaccountable to me, that any perfon, who profeffes to believe the teftimony of the bible, fhould ever have entertained the idea, that what thefe paffages fay, is falfe, and that which is not faid, in contradiction to what is, is true!

Look, ye readers, and fubmit to astonishment, at what has been believed in, as divine truth. An almighty, infinitely wife and good being, createsan innumerable multitude of rational intelligences; they rebel against him, and raise an infinite diffat isfaction in his mind towards them; this infinite. diffatisfaction gets removed toward part of the of. fenders, by the facrifice of innocence! With the reft, God is ftill difpleafed; yet, he is almighty and infinitely wife, and employs his power and

wifdom to make the works of his own hand as miferable as their natures will bear, for being just fuch ereatures as he knew they would be, before he made them. But it is argued, that God's know. ing what fort of creatures men would be, did not influence them, in the smallest degree, to be what they are. Let this argument be granted. But did not God know what would influence men to be what they are? Anfwer, yes. Was it in his power to remove this influential caufe? If it were, why did he not do it, if it were like to displease him? If it were not in his power to prevent the mischief, I wish to know whether it were in the creature's power to prevent it? If it were not in the power of either of them to prevent the operation of things in the way in which they have, and do take place, why is God's anger fo warm against his poor impotent offspring? It feems an unhappy circumftance, for both Creator and creature. The Creator is not fatisfied with his creatures; his creatures find themselves introduced. into an existence infinitely worse than none. I am born into this world of forrow and trouble; the first vibration of fenfe is want; I endeavor to fupply my wants, and to maintain my exiftence, which my Maker has bestowed upon me; but as foon as I come to years of understanding, I am told of an infinite debt which ftands against me, which I owed thoufands of years before I was born; and that my Maker is fo angry with me, and has been, ever fince the debt was due, that he has prepared a furnace of endless flames to torment me in, according to the due requirements of juftice! My father gives me his farm, and puts me in poffeffion of it; I am pleased, and prize it very highly. In confequence of my poffeffion, I

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paint to myself many pleafing profpects; but, to my mortification, a perfon comes and prefents me with a mortgage of my farm, for five times itsvalue, the mortgage running fo as to hold the poffeffor to clear it; I will leave the reader to fsay, whether my father was kind, or unkind. Yet, the circumftance into which the Almighty has introduced millions of his creatures, is infinitely worfe, according to the doctrine which I am examining. It is argued, with much affurance, that God has a juft right to do with his creatures as he pleafes, because he has it in his power fo to do; and that he never does any thing, because it is right; but what he does, is right, because he does it.

If the above statement be juft, moral holiness confifts in the power of action, and not in the dif pofition that defigns the action. If fo, my argument in favor of fin's exifting only in the defign of the actor, and not in the action, is groundless; and we are driven to fay, that unholinefs, or fin, is the want of power to perform an action; and holinefs confifts in having the power to do it. One man defigns to murder another for his money, he makes the attempt, and fails; his fin confifted in not having power to execute his defign; but, in the defign, there is no evil. On the other hand, he makes the attempt, and fucceeds; here is no evil at all, because he had power to do it. On this principle, every thing that can be done, is moral holiness; and every thing that cannot be done, is fin, or moral evil.

Here we are presented with a picture the moft to be dreaded, of any thing which the imagination of man is capable of inventing. Power moving on in front, exhibiting tyrannic majesty in eve ry action; and meagre juftice in the rear, obfe

quiously pronouncing all right! If thefe things be fo, our fenfes are nothing but mediums of deception; and all our experience has ferved us no other purpose, than to make us more ignorant. Who is there in the world, poffeffing common fense, that does not dread and revolt from power, in every inftance, where they fee it connected with an evil difpofition? Are we right, in wishing our enemies weak? We are, and that because their ftrength being directed by their wicked designs, gives us fear.

But, for the fake of the argument ftill further, let it be granted, that God being fupreme, had a right to do, because he had the power. And he creates millions of beings, whom he intends for endless torments, and puts his whole defign into execution; and this is called fupreme goodness. Now I wish to know, how a fupreme evil could be defcribed? All will grant, that evil is in oppofition to good; then an opposite description would be juft. To create, with an intention to make eternally happy, and to put that defign into execution, would be fupreme evil! But, according to the doctrine which I am examining, God contains these two characters in himself, having created fome for one purpose, and fome for the other. It will be of no advantage to the reader to have the abfurdity of the above propofition any more expofed, than enough to have it rejected. Inever heard, or read any argument to prove the propriety of the difputed propofition. It is a begged propofition, and ftands without the leaft fhadow of evidence from fcripture or reafon; but it requires no great ingenuity to fee what the chimera was invented for; without it, the whole plan and scheme of atonement, which I am now examining, would fall, for want of foundation.