For, first, God abfolutely wills that all men should be unconditionally faved with an initial falvation: and THUS all men are unconditionally faved: and fecondly, he abfolutely wills that all men who are obedient, and faithful unto death fhould abfolutely be faved with an eternal falvation; and THUS all men who are obedient and faithful unto death are actually faved. They fhall never perifh, neither fhall any pluck them out of Christ's protecting hand. But what has this fcripture doctrine to do with calvinifmi with the neceffary, eternal, finished salvation of ALL the difobedient meep, who turn goats, foxes, lions, and ferpents who, far from remembering Lot's wife, flily rob their neighbours of their ewe-lambs-their heart's blood-theirreputation 1

To conclude: The most that Mr. Hill can juftly fay against our principles, is: (1) That, according to the gofpel which we preach, Man is a free agent, and God is wife, holy, true, and juft; as well as good, loving, patient and merciful: And 2) That one. half of thefe attributes do not permit him to NECESSITATS free-Agents; that is, to make them abfolutely DO or FORBEAR thofe actions, by which they are to fland or fall IN JUDGMENT. And let men of reafon and religion fay, if this doctrine is not more rational and feriptural, than the Calvinian doctrine of finished falvation, and of its infeparable counter-part, finished

damnation.

"could be fruftrated and vanquished, its defeat would arife " from the created wills either of angels, or of men. But "could any created will whatever, &c. counter-act and baffle "the will of God, the will of the creature must be SUPERIOR "either in ftrength or in wifdom to the will of the Creator: "which can by no means be allowed." We fully grant to Mr. Toplady that the argument is "extremely conclufive," provided the two words abfolutely and abfolute be taken into it therefore we maintain, as well as he, that man is actually faved," to far as God obfolutely wills.

And

The

The Fictitious Creed.

ARTICLE V.

cr I BELIVE that the Redeemer not only fhed his precious blood, but prayed for the falvation of many "fouls who are now in hell; confequently that his blood "avas fhed in vain, and his prayer rejected of his Father, "and that therefore he told a great untruth when he said, "I know that thou heareft me always."

The Genuine Creed.

ARTICLE V.

E believe that the Redeemer did not fhed his

WE precious blood, or pray abfolutely in vain for

any man feeing he obtained for all men, in their feafon, a day of grace and INITIAL falvation, with a thoufand fpiritual and temporal bleffings. Nor were his prayers for the eternal falvation of thofe who die impenitent rejected by his Father; For Chrift never prayed that they fhould be eternally faved in impenitency, Before Mr. Hill can reafonably charge us with holding doctrines, which imply that Chrift told a GROSS UNTRUTH when he faid, "I know that thou hearest me al ways," he must prove, that Chrift ever afked the eternal falvation of fome men whether they repented or not; or that he ever defired his Father to force TO THE LAST repentance, faith, and obedience upon any man. If Mr. Hill cannot prove this, how can he make appear that, according to our doctrines of grace, one of our Lord's prayers was ever rejected? We grant that Chrift afked the forgivenefs of his murderers, and of

thofe

thofe who made fport with his fufferings; but he afked it upon gofpel-terms, that is, conditionally. Nor was his prayer ineffectual: for it obtained for them time to repent, and uncommon helps fo to do, with a peculiar readiness in God to pardon them upon their application for pardon: And if after all, thro' the power of their free-agency, they defpifed the pardon offered them in the gospel, and repented not, they hall defervedly perish according to Chrift's own declaration. He has acted towards them the part of a gracious Saviour: he never engaged himfelf to act that of a tyrant.-I mean, he never fent either his good fpirit, or the evil fpirit of Satan, to bind the wills of men with adamantine chains of neceffitated righteousness, or of neceffitated iniquity, that he might caft fome into Abraham's bofom and others into hell: as Nebuchadnezzar fent the firongeft men in his arny to bind Daniel's companions, and to caft them into the burning fiery furnace.

Once more: We believe that, with refpect to the reward of the inheritance, and the doctrine of eternal falvation, Chrift's atonement, and interceffion are like his gofpel. Now his gofpel is guarded by what one of Mr. Hill's feconds queerly calls "the valiant fergeant if" that is, the conditionality of the promifes and threatnings which relate to eternal falvation and eternal damnation; and this conditionality is the rampart of the old gofpel and the demolition of the new ; ftrongly guarding the antient doctrines of free-grace, free-will, and juft-wrath, against the novel doctrines of overbearing grace, bound will, and free-wrath.

I fhould not do justice to our caufe, if I difmiffed this Article without retorting Mr. Hill's objection. I have fhewn how unreafonably we are accufed of holding doctrines, which by unavoidable" confequence, reprefent Chrill as "telling a gross untruth"

A a 2

And

And now we defire Mr. Hill, or his feconds, to how how the Son of God could, confiftently with truth, profefs himself to be the Saviour of men, the Saviour and Light of the world, and the Drawer of all men unto himself; if most men have been from all eternity under the fearful curfe of Calvinian reprobation.-We ask if the Redeemer would have "told a gross untruth,” upon the fuppofition that Calvinifm is true, had he called himfelf The REPROBATOR of men- -The NONREDEEMER, the DAMNER of the world, and the REJECTER of all men from himself; feeing that, according to the doctrines of grace (fo called) the bulk of men was EVER reprobated-NEVER redeemed-NEVER initially faved-and NEVER drawn to Chrift.- -We befeech candid Proteftants to fay, if the bible does not clear up all the difficulties with which prejudiced divines have clogged the genuine doctrines of grace, when it teftifies, that our Redeemer and Saviour has procured a general temporary redemption, together with an initial falvation for all men univerfally; and a parti calar eternal redemption, together with a finished falation for them that obey him and endure to the end. And we intreat the lovers of the whole truth as it is in Jefus, to help us to bring about upon this fcriptural plan, a reconciliation between thofe who contend for the doctrines of particular redemption and finished falva. tion; and those who maintain the doctrines of geseral redemption, and of a day of filvation for all maukind.

The

The Fictitious Creed.

ARTICLÈ VII.

Believe that God forefeeing fome men's nature will improve the grace which is given them, and that "they will repent, believe and be very good, cleats them. "unto falvation."

W

The Genuine Creed.

ARTICLE VII.

E believe that out of mere mercy, and rich free-grace in Jefus Chrift, without any ref pect to foreseen repentance, faith or goodness, God places all men in a flate of initial falvation; electing them to that ftate according to the myflerious coun fel of his diflinguifbing love, which places fome under the bright and direct beams of gofpel-truth; whilst he fuffers others to receive the external light of it, only thro' that variety of clouds which we call Calvinifm, Popery, Judaifm, and Mahometanifm*;.

* CALVINISM is chriflianity obfcured by mifts of pharifaic. election and reprobation, and by a cloud of floical fatalifmPOPERY is chriftianity under a cloud of pharifaic bigotry, and under thick fogs of heathenith fuperftition.-JUDAISM is chrif tianity under the vail of Mofes.-MAHOMETANISM is a junble of Christianity, Judaifm, Gentilifm, and impofture.—And GENTILISM is the religion of Cain and Abel; or, if you pleafe, of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, under a cloud of falfe or dark tradition, fome call it the religion of nature: I have no objection to the name, if they understand by it the religion of our nature in its prefent ftate of initial recovery thro' Chrift, from its total fall in Adam.

leaving