THE FICTITIOUS AND GENUINE CREED. 297 tionally, for all men ; but absolutely for all that die in their infancy, and for all the adult who obey Him, and are "faithful unto death." 66 We believe that, in consequence of the general and temporary redemption procured by Christ for all mankind, every man is unconditionally blessed with a day of grace, which the scripture calls, "the accepted time" and "the day of salvation." During this day, (under various dispensations of grace, and by virtue of various covenants made through Christ, David, Moses, Abraham, Noah, or Adam,) God, for Christ's sake, affords all men proper means, abilities, and opportunities to "work out their own salvation,” or to "make their calling and" conditional "election" to the eternal blessings of their respective dispensations sure:" and as many as do it, by keeping "the free gift which is come upon all men," or by recovering it through faithful obedience to re-converting grace; or, in other terms, as many as know, and perseveringly improve, "the day of their visitation," are, in consequence of Christ's particular redemption, entitled to an eternal redemption or salvation; that is, they are eternally redeemed from hell, and eternally saved into different degrees of heavenly glory, according to the different degrees of their faithfulness, and the various dispensations which they were under. While they that bury their ilent, and "know not" (that is, squander away) "the ay of their visitation," forfeit their initial salvation, and secure to themselves God's judicial reprobation, together with all its terrible consequences. We believe, moreover, that, although Christ "tasted death for every man," yet, according to his covenants of peculiarity or distinguishing grace, he formerly showed more love to the Jews than to the Gentiles, and now shows more favour to the Christians than to the Jews, and to some Christians than to others; bestowing more spiritual blessings upon the protestants than upon the papists; more temporal mercies upon the English than upon the Greenlanders, &c. We farther believe, that this special favour is not only national, but also, in some cases, personal: thus it seems that God showed more of it to Jacob than to Esau; to Esau than to Shechem; to David and Solomon than to Jonathan and Mephibosheth; to St Paul than to Apollos; and to Peter, James, and John than to Judas, Bartholomew, and Matthias. We likewise believe, that God (according to his prescience) has a regard for the souls who (he foresees) will finally yield to his grace; and this regard he has not for those souls who (he foresees) will finally harden themselves against his goodness. Thus, with respect to divine foreknowledge, we grant that Christ had a respect for fallen Peter, which he had not for fallen Judas: for when they were both lying in the guilt of their crimes, he could not but prefer him who had not yet sinned out his day of grace, to him who had; him who had done the Spirit of grace a partial, temporary despite, to him who had done that Spirit a total and final despite; and, in a word, him who would repent, to him who absolutely would not. However, this peculiar regard for some men, this lengthening or shortening a sinner's day of grace arbitrarily, and this bestowing more talents, that is, more temporal and spiritual blessings, upon one man than upon another, according to sovereign prerogative, which God claims in his covenants of peculiarity; this peculiar regard for some men, I say, never amounts to a grain of partiality in judgment; much less to a rape committed by overbearing grace, or infrustrable wrath, upon the moral agency of two men, (suppose Peter and Judas,) to bring about, in an unavoidable manner, the final perseverance of the one, and the final apostasy of the other. For, had the covetous traitor humbly repented when he could yet do it, he would have gone to heaven; and had the lying, perjured apostle put off his repentance as obstinately as Judas did, he would have gone to the place of impenitent apostates. For, God having put life and death before the sons of men, and having appointed eternal rewards for those who finally choose life in the rectitude of their conduct, and eternal punishments for those who finally "choose death in the error of their ways," he can no more finally turn the scale of their will than he can deny himself, and turn the solemnity of the great day into the pageantry of a pharisaic masquerade. The end of the first article of Mr. Hill's fictitious creed is not less contrary to all our principles than the middle part. For, according to all our doctrines of grace, persons who are in glory like Peter are infinitely more indebted to Christ's grace than persons who lift up their eyes in torments like Judas. This will appear, if we consider the case of those two apostles. Although they were both equally indebted to Christ for his redeeming love, which put them in a state of initial salvation; and for his distinguishing favour, which raised them to apostolic honours; yet, upon our scheme, Peter is infinitely more beholden to free grace than Judas; and I prove it thus : Christ, according to his remunerative election, which draws after it a particular redemption and an eternal salvation ;— Christ, I say, according to that remunerative election, has chosen Peter to the reward of an heavenly throne and a crown of glory. Now this election, in which Judas has no interest, springs from God's free grace, as well as from voluntary perseverance in the free obedience of faith. It was of free grace that God designed to give to all penitent, persevering believers, and, of consequence, to Peter, a crown of glory in his heavenly kingdom: for he might have given them only the conveniences of life in a cottage on earth; he might have dropped them into their original nothingness, after having blessed them with one single smile of approbation; nay, he might have demanded their utmost obedience, without promising them the least reward. Therefore Peter, and all the saints in glory, are indebted to Christ, not only for their rewards of additional grace on earth, but also for all their eternal salvation, and for all the heavenly blessings which flow from their particular redemption. Infinitely gracious rewards these, which God does not bestow upon Judas, or upon any of those who die impenitent! Infinitely glorious rewards! which nothing but God's free grace in Christ could move his distributive justice to bestow upon persevering believers. Hence it is evident, that Mr. Hill has tried to make our fundamental doctrine of general redemption appear ridiculous, by absurdly clogging it with an odious consequence, which has no more to do with that comfort able doctrine, than we have to do with Mr. Hill's uncomfortable tenet of absolute reprobation. THE FICTITIOUS CREED. ARTICLE II. "I BELIEVE that divine grace is indiscriminately given to all men; and that God, foreseeing that by far the greater part of the world would reject this grace, doth, nevertheless, bestow it upon them, in order to heighten their torments, and to increase their damnation in hell." THE GENUINE CREED. ARTICLE II. We do not believe that divine grace is indiscriminately given to all men. For, although we assert that God gives to all at least one talent of true grace to profit with, yet we acknowledge, that he makes as real a difference between man and man as between an angel and an archangel; giving to some men one talent, to others two talents, and to others five, according to the election of distinguishing grace maintained in the "Scripture Scales," section xii. But the least talent of grace is saving, if free will does not bury it to the last. And we believe, that although God foresaw that, in some unhappy periods of the world's duration, the greater part of adults would reject his grace, he, nevertheless, bestows it in different measures upon all; but not (as Mr. Hill says) "in order to heighten the torments, and increase the damnation," of any "in hell." This is an horrid conceit, which we return to those who insinuate, that God gives common grace (that is, we apprehend, unsaving, graceless grace) to absolute reprobates; that is, to men for whom (upon Mr. Hill's scheme of absolute reprobation) there never was in God the least degree of mercy and saving goodness. This shocking consequence, fixed upon us by Mr. Hill, is the genuine offspring of Calvinistic non-election, which supposes that God sends the gospel to myriads of men, from whom he absolutely keeps the power of believing it; tantalizing them with delusive offers of free grace here, that he may, without possibility of escape, sink them hereafter to the deepest hell, the hell of the Capernaites. According to the gospel, the reprobation that draws eternal damnation after it springs from our own personal free will doing a final despite to free grace; and not from God's eternal free wrath. And if Mr. Hill asks why God gives a manifestation of the spirit of grace to men who (he foresees) will do it a final despite, as well as to those who, through that grace, will work out their own salvation, we reply 1. For the same reason which made him give celestial grace to the angels who became devils by squandering it away,-paradisiacal grace to our first parents,-expostulating, Gentile grace to Cain,-Jewish, royal grace to Saul, -and Christian, apostolic grace to Judas. If Mr. Hill says he does not understand what that reason is, we answer: By the same reason which induced the master, who corrected Mr. Hill for making a bad exercise at Westminster school, to give his pupil pen, paper, ink, and proper instruction, before he could reasonably call Mr. Hill to an account for his exercise. And by the same reason which would make all Shropshire cry out against Mr. Hill as against a tyrannical master, suppose he horsewhipped his coachman and postilion for not driving him, if he had taken away from them boots, whips, spurs, harness, coach and horses; and if he had contrived himself the fall of their apartment, that they might put all their bones out of joint, when the floor gave way under them. 2. If Mr. Hill is not satisfied with these illustrations, we will give him some direct answers. God gives a manifestation of his grace to those who make their reprobation sure by finally resisting his gracious Spirit. First: because he will show himself as he is, gracious and merciful, true and long-suffering towards all, so long as the day of their visitation lasts. Thus he bestows a talent |