Therefore, the future glory, or manifestation of the Sons of God, is that towards which the strongest instinctive longings and tendencies of the whole intelligent creation, now in a state of suffering, are directed. Verse 19th.

THIRD ARGUMENT.

A series of reasons, why the fact of the endurance of sufferings by intelligent beings now, although these sufferings are the result of sin, is not inconsistent with future emancipation from them.

First reason for present sufferings being perfectly consistent with future emancipation.

He who has been involuntarily subjected to a state of sin and suffering, cannot be treated as if he had placed himself voluntarily in such a state; and as sufferings hereafter would be the suitable punishment of intelligent beings who had placed themselves voluntarily in such a state, it is clear that intelligent beings who have been involuntarily subjected to sin and suffering here, cannot be subjected to sufferings hereafter:

But human beings have been placed in a state of sin and suffering involuntarily :

Therefore, human beings cannot be subjected to sufferings hereafter. Verses 20th and 21st.

Second reason for present sufferings being followed by future deliverance from them.

The sufferings of creatures, however intense, can never be carried beyond a certain length; relief of one kind or another, whether by death, or by obtaining the deliverance which a woman in the pains of childbirth does, being the necessary result :

But human beings are creatures subjected at the present moment to sufferings of the intensest kind :

Therefore, from their present sufferings, human beings are destined, in one way or another, and at one period or another, to obtain deliverance. Verse 22d.

Third reason for the present sufferings of intelligent beings being followed by deliverance from them.

That which is an essential property of sufferings as undergone by any one class of human beings, must be an essential property of sufferings as ungone by all of them:

But the sufferings, which, from our connection with the body, are still undergone by us who are the Sons of God and have the first fruits of the Spirit, necessarily point to future deliverance from them on our part; or, it is essential to the undergoing of sufferings by us now, that they shall be followed by emancipation from them in our case hereafter:

Therefore, the sufferings undergone by the rest of the human race, necessarily point to future deliverance from these sufferings on their part; or, it is essential to the undergoing of sufferings by them now, that they shall be followed by emancipation from them in their case hereafter. Verse 23d.

FOURTH ARGUMENT.

Reason for the present sufferings of the Sons of God, pointing to deliverance from these sufferings on their part.

Perhaps the conclusion may be thus briefly expressed: Therefore, a state of suffering cannot be the final state of any intelligent being. Or, therefore, a state of suffering, instead of being the ultimate state of any intelligent being, must, in the case of every such being, be a state subservient aud preliminary to an ultimate state.

That which is an object of divine hope, is something which, although not enjoyed now, is yet certainly to be enjoyed hereafter:

But emancipation from present sufferings is, to the Sons of God, an object of divine hope:

Therefore, emancipation from sufferings, although not enjoyed by the Sons of God now, is a privilege which certainly awaits them hereafter. Verse 24th.

And so on.

R

Volume II, page 361.

It is scarcely possible to conceive greater controversial ignorance, or unfairness, than is displayed by Dr. Hamilton of Strathblane, in his "Remarks on certain opinions recently propagated respecting universal redemption" already referred to. In that work, the Bereans are represented as holding, that "1. God, for Christ's sake, loves every human creature, and has redeemed all by the death of his Son. 2. As it is only for the sake of the atonement that any iniquity is forgiven, and the atonement was complete on the day that Jesus died, the sins of the whole world were all pardoned then, and every child of Adam succeeds by birth to an interest in Christ, and all the blessings of his salvation. 3. Saving faith is the knowledge or belief of the truth, that Christ is the propitiation for sin, that he died for the ungodly, that God loves us, has redeemed and pardoned us. 4. Justification is the knowledge or belief that we are redeemed and pardoned. 5. Since all men are born with an interest in Christ, and the sins of the whole world were forgiven when Jesus died, it is as absurd to pray for mercy, pardon, an interest in Christ, and similar

blessings, as to pray for our creation, the formation of the sun or moon, or the communication of gravity to matter." Remarks, &c.; pages 22 and 23. Now, not to take notice of the other false representations of the Berean doctrines which abound in Dr. Hamilton's works but to confine myself to the quotation just made, I observe, that out of the five sentences of which it consists, three, viz., the first, second, and fifth, state what is positively untrue; one, viz., the third, defines saving faith in a way which I do not think the Bereans themselves would approve of; and one, viz., the fourth, although expressing a sentiment of the Bereans, in the sense in which they themselves employ the words, does not so in the sense in which they are employed by Dr. H. More particularly. In the first place, the Bereans do not hold, that " God for Christ's sake, loves every human creature, and has redeemed all by the death of his Son ;"-on the contrary, they hold, that "God loves only his people or the elect, and that He has redeemed them only by the death of His Son." In the second place, the Bereans do not hold, that "the sins of the whole world were all pardoned when Jesus died, and that every child of Adam succeeds by birth to an interest in Christ, and all the blessings of his salvation ;"-on the contrary, they hold, that " "by the atonement of Christ Jesus, all the sins of the people of God were taken away, and that every one belonging to the number of God's people, in due time enters by faith into the enjoyment of his interest in Christ, and all the blessings of salvation.' In the third place, the Bereans do not hold, that "since all men were born with an interest in Christ, and the sins of the whole world were forgiven when Jesus died, it is as absurd to pray for mercy, pardon, an interest in Christ, and similar blessings, as to pray for our creation, the formation of the sun and moon, or the communication of gravity to matter";-on the contrary, they hold,

that "since every one who believes, knows his interest in Christ, it is as absurd for every one who believes to pray for mercy," &c. In the fourth place, I do not think that the Bereans would define saving faith as being abstractly, "the knowledge or belief of the truth, that Christ is the propitiation for sin, that he died for the ungodly," &c.; but, on the contrary, they would define it as a principle which always has reference to ourselves, or, as the knowledge or belief that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, that is, the sins of us who believe, that he died for us who believe although by nature ungodly, and that he loves us, has redeemed and pardoned us, who believe." In the fifth place, "Justification," according to the Bereans, "is the knowledge or belief that we, not as mere human beings, which is evidently the sense in which Dr. Hamilton assumes them to hold the idea, but as believers "are redeemed and pardoned." In one word, the Bereans, instead of giving into and sanctioning the Arminian errors which Dr. Hamilton would represent them as having adopted, contend for the five points, in their Calvinistic sense, as fully and strenuously as the most decided supporters of the Decrees of the Synod of Dordt can do.

Poor Dr. Hamilton's mistake has arisen, from his confounding the sentiments of the Bereans, with those which have been espoused and propagated by Messrs. Irving and Campbell. But is blundering like this excusable in any man, especially in one pretending to be a learned divine, when we consider, that the views of the Bereans have been before the public, in the writings of Barclay, Brooksbanks, Nicol, &c., for more than half a century; and when it is well known, that the Bereans of the present day have in no material respect deviated from the sentiments of their founders? That they have neither adopted nor sanctioned the views of Messrs. Irving and Campbell? Surely wisdom and common honesty both dictate, that before any man attempt pub