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    the vices , jof kings , aud we all may suffer by the transgression of Adam ; but his guilt is never said in Scripture to be imputed to his posterity . Punishment auci

    Suffering imply very different ideas . Punishment is suffering , but suffering is not always punishment : for punishment supposes guilt . Christ may have suffered on our account , but could not be punnhed 9 because * ia frina was no sin . ' "—Pp . 216 ,

    217 . We agree , and unless we lay aside both our ' ftason and our feelings cannot help agreeing " , with Dr . Bruce in his elementary principle of true Christian theology :

    " In the first place , we may be assured , that no true doctrine can impeach the Divine moral character ; and that no principle , which casts an imputation on the Divine character , can be true ; for there is nothing of which we can be more certain , than the purity , equity and benignity of our heavenly Father . This conviction , results from the exercise of all

    those rational powers , and moral principles , with which he has endowed our nature ; from the authentic declarations of his prophets , and from the fact of our redemption by his Son ; which we all acknowledge to be a dispensation of free grace . This conviction we should ever hold fast : nor ever suffer it to be shaken

    by any speculations . It is the fountain of all our hopes , and the ground of our own moral character . Without tins , there would be no faith , hope , nor charity ; no purity , truth , nor brotherly love . Without this , we could not love God . This conviction we should especially keep in mind , while treating of what is called the atonement ; for it has been the source of

    the grossest calumnies against the Most High . "—Pp . 228 , 229 . The preacher is very successful in pointing out the contradictions in the scheme of atonement as commonly received , on the vainly alleged authority of scripture . The following passage reminds us of some of the pithy

    arguments of the late Rev . Henry Taylor in his learned and , in many respects , invaluable work , " Ben JVlordecai ' s Apology / ' a work to which Dr . Bruce refers , and which he probably consulted , and with evident propriety , on most of the subjects of his Lectures :

    " In short , the whole scheme is full of injustice and inconsistency . If the guilt of our bins were literally laid on Christ , be could not l ) e a Lamb , without spot ajfid blameless : —if not , ' he could not be

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    justly punished for them , tf -tfeer death of Christ be literally a payment of our debt j it cannot be literally a ransom jfrpm captivity ; nor does God exercise free grace in forgiving us : —if it be a rausom ,

    it cannot be a punishment ; if a ppriish - inent , it is no ransom , nor sacrifice : if a sacrifice according to the Mosaical law , it is neither the payment of a debt , nor a ransom , nor a punishment , nor a substitution : if it be 3 $ in offering , it is no peace offering ; if a peace offering , i % is

    not a sin offering ; if it be a sacrifice , it is not a passover ; if a passover , no sacrifice . Finally , if oar sins be forgive n freely , there can be no literal payment , nor ransom , nor punishment , nor sacrifice , nor vicarious suffering ; pther \ yise what becomes of free grace ? These are all figurative expressions , intended for

    explanation : but instead of explanation ^ we employ them for confusion ; and instead of relying on the plain and positive assertions of Christ and his apostles , we convert similes into arguments , free grace into unjust exaction ,, and divine , gratuU tous mercy , into cruel and tyrannical punishment . " —Pp . 235 , 236 .

    With a severity , which is not usual with him , the preacher reprobates the " detestable opinion of certain ^ profligate" fanatics . " There are at this day , and in these countries /* ( he says ,

    p . 244 , ) a multitude of wretched and ignorant enthusiasts , whose pernicious fanaticism engages them to delight in the prevalence of vice / ' He expresses himself even more bitterly . He may allude to some sect of Antinoimans

    peculiar to Ireland , of whose tenets and conduct we have no knowledge ; but if he has in view merely Ultra ^ Calvinists , such as we see them in England , we think the description is exaggerated and the censure uncharitable . We have known many who have carried their Calvinistic theory to an extreme that has alarmed us ,

    who yet would have been the ornar ment and boast of any faith , not excepting the purest , on account of the excellence of their temper and t he purity and usefulness of their liyes . *

    ? One of these we remember in particular , who was fond of speaking disparagingly of good works , and never hesitated to avow that he looked upon the g reat mass of mankind as the non-elect ,

    doomed by an eternal decree to damnation , who y ?\ made use of his creed as an ai gumt'ut for charity . il Poor things !" lie would say , on shewing kindness to the

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    300 Jl £ vittv . - > -Bme £ > $ Sermons an the Study vflhc Bible .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1825, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2536/page/44/