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    from what it used to be , and much more palatable . There would seem to be a fashion ki ttoeee , as in other matters , atid that whieh is unquestionably necessary in order to arrive at Heaven today , is obsolete and out oi date , and has no tendency to further us on the road , to-rnorrmc . Indeed , in one part of his

    present performance , Mr . Erskine is very near discarding faith altogether as a means of salvation , and states such sentiments on t ! ie subject of belief , as no one could have believed would ever proceed from the school of which , as some seem to think , the learned gentleman is all but an inspired teacher . His wards are , * It cannot but appear strange to a

    moral and thinking being , that God should pardon him because he believes something . It gives such an unintelligible and uaedilyiug idea of the Divine character , an idea which never can impress the mind with holy feelings , or affections , or desires . The satisfaction

    derived from believing certain facts is comfort drawn from a dry cistern . " ( P . 150 . ) Aud iu another passage he says , still more pointedly , * The promise of pardon as the reward of faith in any thing seems to me a mere human invention in direct opposition to the whole ten oar of the gospel . " ( P . 156 . )

    Now , really , it docs appear strange that one who had brought his mind to consider faith— " faith in any thing "in this light , should entertain that opinion of its indispensable importance with respect to his new doctrine which has been shewn above ; for , as is there seen ,

    salvation , after all , is made to depend on the belief that a pardon was granted before it was asked . This , therefore , is only substituting belief in one thing for belief in another—faith in the fact of forgiteness , for faith in the ** plan for undoing the evil which the fall had introduced , " &c . y &c .

    This modification of the matter , however , is a great point gained , and mankind are much indebted to Mr . Erskine for opening a road to heaven so much more easily travelled thau that which he formerly pointed out to them . One can see many grounds for doubt and hesitation when required to give implicit credence to the doctrines of original sin , justification by faith , the Deity taking our nature oil himself to atone to

    himself , &c , &c- Mr : Erskine styles eome of these tenets ( and most men will agree with him ) ' < unraveiiable mysteries . " ( p . 189 ;) and to have pardon , and their fate thorough all eternity , made dependent on firmly believing one and all of

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    them , did seem somewhat of a hard measure dealt out to reasonable and thinking beings . But many whose mind * rerolt at , or are altogether inaccessible to , dogmas such as these , may have very ttttle difficulty in believing firmly that the goodness of God , so manifest in all his works , and his compassion for the creatures he has made , founded on his

    knowledge of the frail materials of which they consist , and the temptations to which their natnre makes them subject , will prevent his being strict to mark what they do amiss during their short and often painful pilgrimage upon earth , especially when they belong to a state of existence where whatever suffering is In - ¦ flicted can no longer operate as a warnice to deter others from offending .

    It is quite plain that those who take this view of the Divine government , and think that all the rational creation of God were destined by bis goodness for ultimate happiness , are far advanced in the faith which Mr . Erskine now thinks requisite . They can readily believe that a pardon has been granted , and an amnesty proclaimed , for it is only an anticipation of what they think

    likely to happen . They supposed , indeed , that the act of grace remained to be vouchsafed ; but if , for reasons of which they do not presume to question the sufficiency , it has already been extended , they have only the greater reason to praise and bless the Giver of all good , and eau scarcely fail to " feel and appreciate the value and the love of the pardon proclaimed by him , " ( p . 158 , ) which , according to Mr . Erskine , is all that is requisite to insure its efficacy .

    It must likewise be acknowledged that the new doctrine gives a much more ample and satisfactory effect to the atonement than the system which has hitherto been considered orthodox . According to the latter , it requires a good deal of explanation to make out and understand \ n what respect the situation of the human race is improved by all that wks fctotie and suffered on their account . It

    cannot be pretended that they are frefcd from disease and death in this World , though these formed part of the punishment to which they were subjected by the unfortunate lapse of their first parents , an ; l to which the promise of

    ' bruising the head of the serpent ' might therefore have been thought to apply . The effect of all that took place with a view to satisfy the justice of the Deity , and give his goodness scope for it « exercise , appears to be confined to the state after death , and seems to

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    Mueeliancuut Correspondence . 267

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    v 2

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1830, page 267, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2583/page/51/