nature and fitness of things. Is it indeed! Pray, gentlemen, who told you fo? How came you to know this? You will be fadly puzzled to make it out by scripture; and, moft certainly, REASON did not teach it you. On this fubject let me afk a queftion: How could it confift with the goodness and wisdom of God, to form a creature who he knew would act in such a manner, that according TO THE NATURE AND FITNESS OF THINGS, he must be EVERLASTINGLY miferable? As the universe is created and governed by a being of infinite power, wifdom, and goodnefs, all things must finally and on the whole be for the best: but is it finally and on the whole for the beft, that any of his creatures fhould be for ever tormented?

INDEED, were the generality of finners and unbelievers to fuffer everlasting torments, what an inconceivable and inexpreffible scene of mifery would the human part of God's creation exhibit! Millions of millions, numbers beyond conception, of his creatures, fuffering, as hath been faid by an author already quoted, " punishment without pity, "mifery without any mercy, forrow without "fuccour, malice without meafure, torment "without eafe," and to all eternity. Hard then

* See this paffage at length in page 98, &c. in the Effay of Religious Cruelty, and from whence taken.

then would the lot of poor man be! Here his days are few and full of forrow, and, according to fome mens opinions, he seems neceffitated to come into this world for little elfe but to be damned in the next; where, fay they, he is compelled to live for ever, that he may be for ever miferable.

Ir this was the deplorable condition of our fpecies, would not Milton have had great rea> fon to represent the firft man, Adam, thus expoftulating with his Creator ?

Did I requeft thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man? Did I folicit thee

From darkness to promote me? * *

* As my will

Concurr'd not to my being, 'twere but right
And equal, to reduce me to my duft,
Defirous to refign and render back
All I receiv'd; unable to perform

Thy terms too hard, by which I was to bold
The good I fought not. To the lofs of that,
Sufficient penalty! why haft thou added
The fenfe of endless woes? Inexplicable
"Thy justice feems. ********

INEXPLICABLE indeed, were this the cafe. But we hope it has been evidently made to appear,

FIRST, That the juftice and glory of God are fo far from requiring he should punish finners

Paradife Loft, book X.

finners and unbelievers with eternal torments, that fuch punishments would be directly contrary to both.

SECONDLY, That notwithstanding very great men, divines efpecially, may have taught this doctrine, yet it is highly probable many of these have not believed it themfelves, but inculcated this opinion for fome particular purposes; and if they had believed it, that for very great perfons to be mistaken is not at all unusual.

THIRDLY, That learned men do not agree, whether these punifhments are denounced by fcripture or not: and if fome paffages should seem very much to favour the opinion that they are, yet as divers parts of fcripture were certainly not given forth by divine infpiration, and others, according to the apoftle Peter, "are hard to be understood," fuch paffages may be juftly included among one or other of thofe, and confequently not of fufficient authority in this point: and indeed, that no authority can be fufficient to command our affent to what is contrary to the effential attributes of the Deity".

FOURTHLY,

% - If any doctrine is either mediately or immediately contrary to the moral attributes of God, the confequence is, that fuch doctrine cannot be true; nor can any evidence (no not miracles themselves) prove, that

fuch

FOURTHLY, It feems evident, that this belief is not fo neceffary or effectual as is commonly thought, to deter men from being wicked; and that a doctrine fo contrary to the divine goodness cannot be any part of the foundation of a liberal and a true religion, although it may of a flavish and a falfe one; that it is attended with many very bad confequences, particularly imbittering mens lives, creating in their minds impious opinions of the Deity, or rendering them atheifts.

CERTAINLY, if we believe the world was created and is governed by a being of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, we must allow, that all abfolute evil is neceffarily excluded from the universe; and doubtless eternal mifery would be an evil of this kind.

A QUESTION may here arife: Do we not all experience many evils both physical and moral? We do indeed! And this occafioned fome perfons to imagine, tho' weakly, that the world was created and is governed by two beings, one good and the other bad: and according to a common opinion among the greater part of chriftians, who in words difclaim this doctrine, the world feems divided, tho' very unequally, between two such powers: I fay unequally; for by the number

of

fuch a notion can come from God. The Scripture Doctrine of the Redemption, &. By A. A. Sykes, D. D. C. I. p. 5

of wicked perfons fo vaftly exceeding the good, it appears, if this opinion be true, that the devil has beyond comparison the greater part of mankind under his dominion. But this only by the way.

SINCE the existence of evil, phyfical as well as moral, although but temporary in this world, hath greatly puzzled the wisest and most learned men to reconcile with the univerfe being created and governed by a Deity of infinite, wisdom, power, and goodnefs; how totally irreconcileable with the universe being fo created and governed would it be, were abfolute and everlasting evil to exift in the other world?

As God is infinitely powerful, he could, if he had so pleased, have prevented all evil; as he is perfectly good, he certainly will not permit, much less cause or inflict, any evil which is not ultimately productive of good: but eternal misery or torment, which is undoubtedly the greatest of evils, cannot be ul timately productive of good; therefore certainly God will not cause, or inflict, or even suffer it. Everlasting misery can indeed no more produce good, than everlafting darkness can produce light. In regard to temporary, phyfical evils, we may fuppofe they will end in good; and this perhaps is the only fup C c pofition