"diverted from the right way of thinking, as to be 66 come equally disabled and unfit for governing its "actions according to the dictates of right_rea 66 fon, as a lame man is for a race? If, there"fore, God do not interpofe his omnipotence, the "fame errors, the fame ignorance, the fame habit of a perverted mind and obftinate propensity to evil, which here draws us afide from the right path, 66 may continue with us for ever: nor will the foul "that is immerfed in this kind of evil be capable of ❝curing itself. For one that is infected with thefe maladies is as unfit to help himself, as one that has 4 cut off his hands and feet is unable to run or feed ❝ himself."* That moral liberty may be loft, fo as never to be regained, is proved from Heb. vi. 4-6. Here is a ftate of mind defcribed which cannot be improved. It is IMPOSSIBLE to renew them again unto repentance. This fiate is illuftrated by ver. 7, 8. After land has received the rain of heaven, and the culture of the hufbandman, if it produces nothing but thorns and briars, it is rejected as a foil incapable of improvement. So men, who have been favoured with the gospel and the labour of the spiritual husbandman in this life, and yet have not brought forth the fruits of the Spirit, are rejected: their END is to be burned. Can laws be given to creatures who cannot obey them? 66 66 The influence and ftrength of finful habits are well defcribed by Mr. Addifon. "Thofe evil fpirits," fays he, who, by long cuftom, have contracted in the body habits of luft and fenfuality, malice, and revenge, an averfion to every thing that is good, juft, and laudable, are naturally prepared for pain and mifery. Their torments have already taken "root in them; they cannot be happy when divest- -ed of the body, unless we may fuppofe, that Pro❝vidence * Origin of Evil, p. 510, 511. vidence will, in a manner, create them anew, and work a miracle in the rectification of their faculties. "They may, indeed, taste a kind of malignant pleafure in thofe actions to which they are accustomed, "whilft in this life; but when they are to be re"moved from all thofe objects which are here apt to "gratify them, they will naturally become their own "tormentors, and cherish in themselves thofe painful habits of mind which are called, in fcripture phrase, The worm which never dies. This notion of hell is fo very conformable to the light of nature, that it was difcovered by feveral of the moft exalted heathens *." It has frequently been objected against us, that if punishment be endless, the reign of fin will be endless alfo. It is a fufficient anfwer to afk, Does thieving reign in that country where all the rogues in it are confined in prifon? But if the Univerfalifts ftill contend, that fin will be committed till punishment shall ceafe, I beg leave to inform them, that they admit a principle, which, in its confequences, overturns their fyftem. Sin in hell deferves punishment as well as that which is committed in this world. So that if we fuppofe a man deferves fifty years punishment for finning fifty years in this world, yet fhould he fin during thofe fifty years of punishment, he will merit punishment for fifty years longer to expiate thofe fins, and fo on ad infinitum. But did it ever enter into the head of any one, that a man is violating the laws of his country while fuffering in a prifon, in the stocks, or the pillory for his crimes? On a review of the foregoing it appears that the finful habits of the damned are too ftrong to be eradicated in a way confiftent with the relations which fubfift betwixt God and rational creatures. They muft, therefore, be miferable for ever, fince, by the Divine conftitution, no creature can be restored to happiness, who is not first made virtuous. *Spectator, No. 447. SECTION ป SECTION XII. On the DESTRUCTION of the SECOND-DEATH. THERE HERE is a famine in the land of promife on this article, otherwife, I fuppofe, Mr. Winchefter would not have produced fuch paffages as the following to fupport it: Pía. lxxxiii. 13-18. Prov. iii. 35. Jer. xx. 11-xxiii. 40. Ifai. xlv. 16, 24*. If these texts favour the doctrine of the Reftoration, I think it may be proved from every verfe in the Bible. It would be infulting the common fenfe of my readers to spend time in fhewing that these texts are irrelevant to the fubject. On Ifa. xxv. 8; Hofea xiii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 26, Mr. Winchefter observes, "The fecond death is infinitely 86 more the enemy of man than the first, and may "therefore be coufidered as an enemy which God ❝ will deftroy."+ Mr. W. ought to have known that the Apoftle does not fay, or mean, every enemy of man fhall be deftroyed: his words are, "He mult "reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” The obvious meaning of those words is, Jefus Chrift will reign till every enemy to his government be conquered. I believe it would be as difficult to prove that the second death is an enemy to the Divine go. vernment, as that a prifon, for offenders, is an enemy to human governments. It appears from Matt. xxv. 41, that the fecond death, which is there called everlafting fire, is prepared by the Judge for the punishment of the wicked; and it is not very probable that he would prepare an enemy to himself. The * Dialogues, p. 50. + Ib. p. 61. I The fing of death is fin. "While fin remains in "exiftence," fays Mr. W., in the fame page, "death "will be able to fhew its fting; but the time will come "when Death will have no fting to boaft of; there"fore fin, and confequently death of every kind fhall be deftroyed." The Apoftle is not here speaking of death of every kind, but of one kind only; namely, of that which reigns over the body; as is evident from the preceding verfes: "When this corruptible fhall have put on incorruption, and this mortal fhall have put on immortality, then fhall be brought to pass the faying that is written, Death is fwallowed up in victory? O death! where is thy fting? O grave! where is thy victory?" It immediately follows, "The fting of death is fin." No man can doubt but that by this corruptible, and this mortal, is meant the body. When it fhall be raised to incorruption and immortality, then this victory over death fhall be celebrated. But will not the refurrection precede the day of judgment? and will not finners be doomed to fuffer the fecond death after the day of judgment? How is it poffible, then, to include any triumph over the fecond death in this fong? To what wretched fhifts are men reduced when they are determined to abide by a fyftem right or wrong! I was led to this reflection on turning to Mr. Vidler's notion of God's Love, p. 18, 19. This gentleman fays, "We allow that, in the first refurrection, it" (1 Cor. xv. 54, 55.) will have part of its fulfilment, but we are perfuaded that it reaches much further than the first refurrection, or even than the general refurrection." This is a bold ftroke ; but Mr. V. proceeds to the proof. "The Apoftle," fays he, introduces the doctrine of the refurrection on "the largeft poffible ground, v. 21-23. We understand the refurrection here in a three-fold progreffion ; Chrift as the firft-fruits, afterwards they are Chrift's at his coming, but every man in his proper rank. 6.6 "Here, then, are two ideas concerning, univerfality "and order, to which the Apoftle adds another, ver. "49, which is conformity to Chrift in his refurrection ftate. Was it the righteous only who have borne "the image of the firft man, or have all mankind "borne it? If all mankind, then will all mankind "bear the image of the fecond man in his refurrection "ftate, but in different orders (ranks) and degrees. Thofe who believe and obey the gofpel will have their vile bodies changed into the likeness of his "glorious body, immediately on his fecond coming, as a fample of that mighty power by which he is 66 able (and we think willing) to fubdue all things un66 to himself; but those who believe not, and obey 66 not the gospel, will pafs thro' the fecond death be"fore they can receive their measure of conformity to Chrift in his refurrection state." 66 Mr. V's comment on ver. 49, is far-fetched indeed. Suppose I had written to a few pious friends, and informed them, for their confolation, that as we have borne the image of Adam, we fhall alfo bear the image of Jefus Chrift: what would be thought of a commentator who fhould fay my meaning was, that believers, and unbelievers, and damned Spirits, fhould all bear the image of the Lord Jefus ? The Apoftle, in chap. i. 2, informs us who are included in this pronoun we. He wrote to the Church of God at Corinth, to them that were fanctified in Chrift Jefus, called to be faints, with all that in every place called upon the name of Jefus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Mr. V. contends that fome will have to pafs thro' hell before they attain to conformity to Chrift, and that they will not have completed this progrefs till long after the general refurrection; but the Apofile fays, It" (the body) "is RAISED in glory. When this corruptible fhall have put on incorruption"then shall be brought to pass the saying that is writ 66 1 2 66 tell, |