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    sition , and convert ev ^ n ar » enemy mto a friend . Rejecting , th ^ efore , the idea of infinite vengeance or iroptaeabte wrathy which are one and the g * ine , a ? utterly inapplicable to the ! Dfoine character , we may consider the ? ptmftire or vihdktive justice of tfee Almighty as ft branch of bis justice in the ab ^ r ^ ct ,

    " which is nothing else but the absolute rectitude anet perfection of his nature ; " * and in a relative vfevry m " that invariable willy by which a total difference will be made between the

    righteous and the wicked—the former most gloriously rewarded , and the latter severely ponisbed : " f but if there be any force in the preceding arguments , there is nothing that we can conceive in the simple idea of divine justice , either in an absolute or relative settee , which should lead us to conclude

    that the suffering ' s of the impenitent will be strictly and properly everlasting . But it is- said , thai sm is an infinite evil , because committed against an infinite being . Far be it from any of us to detract from the essential evil and

    malignity of sin I It is that one great , comprehensive evil , which the Scrips cures , perhaps obscurely , intimate to have procured the fall of some of the aittrehc hosts , which banished Adaitt

    from paradise , brought diseases and death mto the world , and which , While inherent in the rational nature , must for ever separate feom the Divine ptfesenee and favour . Bat the qxtem&n here is not respecting the nature of

    sin in the abstract , as to which there can be no dispute f but a * tD its absolute perpetuity , either in itself ot in its effects ; and we employ words without ideas , if we say , that in these senses sin is an infinite en ) .

    To say that sm te eternal and infinite in its own n < % Here , \ & manifestly absurd , as well 00 knpiotss > : it fe to tevfcre the ancient error of the Manichee * > who hold an intelligent principle of evil , etetnally opposing add counteracting

    tile goodness and energy of the Deity . Sach si notion , id the present state of ti&ligioufe light and fe&owte < J # e , you will scarcely venture to eaptm&e * Would ytftt then , on the otherh&nd , invest with the attribute of infinity , an accident , a . . ..., > f > f i , Wtehcatt . f ^ etajpfeite .

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    fmcuhv * la mter ^ privation , tlte birth of time ; which eaa only subsist in created nat ^ re ^ r ^ an d which ^ in the p ^ TBon of our SArio ^^ ad probably of joaany pf those sttperior beings ivhe , m the imnaeasumble scale of the iateltee $ ual wojtUL

    4 " left not their ftrst e ^ ta ^ M never subsisted at rfl ? Te * ay that sia will be iafiaile in Us effectsj is ^ the very proposition we have been endeavottriflg to dispifove ; and which we nui&t stiU decline to receive ^ tiU we see better reasons produced io * k than those which have hitherto been offered .

    It is true , all sin is e © B& * mtted against an Infinite Being ; it is enmity against God , in its nature , though &e € always ia . the intention Of tike sinner . Hence David says , " Against thee only have I sinned ; nevertheless , as Job

    observes , it cannot reaeh or " extend to Mm" " Thy wickedness may hrofcrta man as thou art , and thy righteousness may profit the son of man . " Not ea& the Divine glerg ami majesty require , according to our conceptions of them , an eternal punishment for the sins of time . The

    glory of God is either his essential or his reflex glory . The former is uncb&Rggable $ the latter may indeed be dimmed and tarnished by the transgression of the creature ; but surely not Jj&r ever I " As he is the first principle of all things , so he must be 'thelafct end of them : his holiness

    requires that all his works should return and gire glory to their original ! " * What sati » fa € tio » or complacency caa he derive from rum $ what glory f rom the destruction or eternal misery of bis Creatures ? In . reality , this * opmioit

    doth no * admit of proof < i prfafi , by the confeseioii of eminent cfivities > f and Dr . Clarke hitoself , in the close of hid remarks above aikided to , quotes some Heathen , writers as agreeing , " that the puirifihn ^ at of the iiieorrlgible should be aiww <*; + without artv determinate ot known m / At" which

    appears to be giving up the question ; for , however prot ^ eted may be the period of ftotwto sufferings in ptirtidtlar instaBtce ^ would you < Jeny to the Supreme Mind that iishei / e&t prerogative which all wiae lfegfelatttres have Conferred upon earthly sovereigns—a

    * Wisheart . t See Doddridge ' s Lectures .

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    464 Modern ? Orthodox' * N * timk * tf Fifty ** Punisfcmenfc

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1820, page 464, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2491/page/20/