speak for himself. On page 612, of the review, he asks the question,
"But in what sense are we to understand the position that he (God)
purposes the existence of sin?" He proceeds to answer: "Not necessarily,
in the sense of his preferring its existence in his kingdom to its
non-existence, &c. In affirming the doctrine of predestination we affirm
no more necessarily than that God, with the knowledge that these beings
would sin in despite of the best measures of providence and government
he could take, purposed to create them and pursue those measures, not
for the sake of their sin, but for the good which he nevertheless saw it
was possible to secure in his moral kingdom. This would be a purpose
with respect to the existence of sin, a purpose to permit its existence,
rather than to have no moral system."--Again, page 613: "Nothing more
(touching free agency) is implied in the purpose spoken of than a
CERTAINTY _foreseen_ of God, that if he creates and upholds that being,
and pursues wise and good measures of providence, he (the being) will at
a given time, fully choose in a given way." In page 612 he says, "God
confers on them (mankind) in their creation the powers of free agency,
and he uses _no influence_ in his providence or government to procure
their sin." Page 614, "He (God) most obviously has no will opposed to
his law, though with a foresight of their conduct he should purpose to
permit their sin, rather than dispense with the existence of a moral
kingdom." But it is useless to multiply quotations. Suffice it to say
that the reviewer's whole ground of defence against the arguments of the
sermon, on the question of predestination, is solely this Arminian
explanation of the doctrine of predestination. He acknowledges, nay
boldly asserts, in a strain "of rugged controversy" with his brethren
who may differ from this view of the subject, that there is no other
explanation by which the arguments of the sermon can be avoided--that
is, as I understand it, the only way to avoid the arguments against the
doctrine of Calvinian predestination is to give it up, and assume the
Arminian sentiment on this subject. If the reviewer does not mean this,
he will of course explain himself fully, and point out the precise
difference between his views and those of the Arminians. If, on this
subject, the reviewer is an Arminian, he has too much candor, I trust,
not to acknowledge it frankly, and too much moral courage to be afraid
of the name. If he is not, the cause of truth and his own consistency of
character imperiously demand an explanation. Until this point,
therefore, is decided, farther arguments on the merits of the question
in which we are supposed to be at issue, are useless.
I am not, however, quite ready to dismiss the review. I stated at the
commencement it was difficult to pursue this controversy without
alluding to the manner in which it had been conducted on the part of our
Calvinistic brethren; but that there was less ground for objection in
this article in the Spectator than in most others. There are some things
in this article, however, that I cannot justify. I will state them
frankly, though I trust in Christian friendship. I cannot approve of the
reviewer's use of terms: though, to my understanding, he has evidently
given the doctrine of predestination not merely a new _dress_, but a new
_character_, yet he more than intimates that it is the old doctrine with
only a new method of explanation; and seriously and repeatedly complains
of the author of the sermon for "confounding the _fact_ of God's
foreordaining the voluntary actions of men with this or any other
_solution_ of that fact or theory as to the _mode_ in which it comes to
pass." And so confident is the reviewer that he still believes in the
_fact_ of predestination, in the old Calvinistic sense, that in stating
his sentiments on this subject he uses the same forms of expression
which Calvinists have used, when their meaning was as distant from his
as the two poles from each other. He tells us, for instance, that "God
determined that the events which take place should take place in the
very manner in which they do, and for the very ends." Now if the writer
mean what the words naturally imply, then he believes that, in the case
of a finally impenitent sinner, God predetermined that all his sins
_should_ take place in the manner they did, and for the very end that he
might be damned! Again he tells us, "God, in his eternal purpose, has
predetermined all events." And, quoting from the Assembly's Catechism,
"God, from all eternity, did freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever
comes to pass," he tells us that this expresses essentially the views
entertained by the orthodox Congregationalists of New-England, among
whom, I suppose of course, he would include himself. Now, after what I
have said of the reviewer's Arminianism, I doubt not but some of my
readers will be startled at these quotations, and be ready to accuse me
of great credulity in the judgment I have formed of the writer's
sentiments. I shall exculpate myself, however, by saying, in the first
place, that if there is any contradiction in the writer's sentiments or
language, it is not my fault, but his; and if I should attempt to
reconcile them, perhaps the reviewer would not thank me for my
officiousness. Beside, after what has been said, I feel safer in
understanding the reviewer in an _Arminian sense_, because he and some
others take it very ill of me that I have represented them as
Calvinists. But, in fairness to the reviewer, it is presumed that he
will not consider himself justly chargeable with contradiction. He has
used these old terms, it is true, and thus has _subscribed_ to the
Calvinistic creed as positively as the staunchest Calvinist; but then,
let it be understood, he has _explained_ that creed, and defined the
terms, and protests against being held responsible for any other
construction than his own. Hence by God's predetermining that sin
_should_ take place, in the very manner, and for the very ends it
does--by God's foreordaining whatsoever comes to pass--he only means
that God foresaw that sin would certainly take place, and predetermined
that he would not hinder it, either by refraining from creating moral
agents, or by throwing a restraint upon them that would destroy their
free agency. In short, that he would submit to it as an evil unavoidably
incident to the best possible system, after doing all that he wisely
could to prevent it! This is _foreordaining sin!!_ This is
_predetermining_ that it _should be!!!_ I cannot but express my _deepest
regret_ that a gentleman of the reviewer's standing and learning should
lend his aid and give his sanction to such a perversion of language--to
such a confusion of tongues. We do not complain of the doctrine
contained in the _explanation;_ but we protest, in the name of all that
is pure in language, in the name of all that is important in the
sentiments conveyed by language, against such an abuse of terms. Alas
for us! When will the watchmen see eye to eye! when will the Church be
at peace! while our spiritual guides, our doctors in divinity, pursue
this course? By what authority will the reviewer support this
definition? Do the words _predestinate_, or _foreordain_, or _decree_
mean, in common language, or even in their radical and critical
definition, nothing more than _to permit--not absolutely to hinder--to
submit to as an unavoidable but offensive evil?_ The reviewer certainly
will not pretend this. Much less do they mean this when used in a
magisterial or authoritative sense, to express the mind and will of a
superior or governor toward an inferior or a subject.--What is the
_decree_ of a king? What is the _ordinance_ of a senate? What is the
official determination of a legislative body? Let common sense and
common usage answer the question. Not a man probably can be found, from
the philosopher to the peasant, who would say these words would bear the
explanation of the reviewer. Yet it is in this official and
authoritative sense that theologians, and our reviewer among them, use
these terms. The Assembly's Catechism, as quoted by himself, says, "God,
from all eternity, _did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own
will, freely and unchangeably ordain_," &c. Now it would be a gross
insult to common sense to say of such language as this, in the mouth of
an earthly potentate, that the sovereign meant by this nothing more than
that he permitted the existence of certain unavoidable, and in
themselves, highly offensive evils in his kingdom, because he could not
remove them without embarrassing the essential operations of his
government. There is not, probably, a clearer case in the whole range of
philology.
But the use of these terms by those who believe as I understand the
reviewer to believe, is the more unjustifiable, because they are used by
most Calvinistic authors in a different sense.--Why, then, should the
reviewer, believing as he does, continue to use them in the symbols of
his faith? Different persons might give different answers to such a
question. For one, I would prefer he should answer it himself.
I cannot approve of the reviewer's censures upon my manner of treating
the doctrine of predestination. He accuses me of confounding the
_doctrine_ itself, with _modes_ of explanation. He says they are
perfectly distinct; and though some may have been unfortunate in their
modes of explanation, and though he acknowledges my arguments bear
against such, yet the _fact_ of the doctrine itself is not thereby
affected. His mode of explanation, for example, he thinks untouched by
the arguments of the sermon. But his mode of explanation, as we have
seen, turns the doctrine into _Arminianism_. And it would, perhaps, be
no difficult matter to show, that any explanation of the doctrine, short
of doing it away, would be exposed to all the weight of the arguments
urged in the sermon. But the sermon was never written to oppose those
who hold to the decrees of God in an Arminian sense. Why then does the
reviewer complain of the sermon? Why does he so "deeply regret" that the
author of the sermon "should come before the public with an attack on
the faith of a _large part_ of the Christian community, conducted in a
way so obviously erroneous and unjust?" The sermon was against
Calvinism, not Arminianism. It is true, the reviewer may say, the sermon
alludes, in some parts, to the Calvinism of New-England, and therefore
he felt himself implicated. But he certainly was not unless he is a
New-England _Calvinist_--unless he believes that "God foreordains
whatsoever comes to pass," in the proper sense of those terms. Indeed,
it seems that Calvinism, in its proper character, is as obnoxious to the
reviewer, as to the author of the sermon; and the former seems to have
taken this opportunity to show the _nakedness_ of the system, and bring
into notice a better doctrine. If so, is it safe that the reviewer
should still accord to them their old symbols of faith? And is it just,
that the author of the sermon should be held the defendant on the
record, when the execution is issued against Calvinism itself? In answer
to the former question, I would say, it is utterly _unsafe_, and never
will be approved of, I believe, by Arminians. With respect to the latter
question, if it is _safer_ to attack Calvinism in this indirect way, I
will not object, though it may seem at present to my disadvantage. But I
cannot see that it would be safer--an open bold front always ends best.
What if it should subject the reviewer, and the theological doctors in
New-Haven generally, to the charge of heresy? Still they ought not to
shrink from their responsibilities--they occupy a commanding influence
among the Churches and over the candidates of their theological school,
and that influence should be openly and decidedly directed to
discountenance error. They should remove it, root and branch. Especially
should they discard those old symbols of faith, which are not only in
themselves, in _their true and proper meaning_, a reflection upon the
clerical character, and a _black spot_ upon an otherwise orthodox creed,
but are also especially obnoxious, because they are the very articles
which the great body of the Calvinists have maintained, in a sense
widely different from that of the reviewer. At the head of these stands
Calvin, the author of the system, in the Protestant Church. Calvin, who
says, "I will not scruple to own that the will of God lays a necessity
on all things, and that every thing he wills necessarily comes to pass."
"Adam fell, not only by the _permission_, but also by the _appointment_
of God. He not only _foresaw_ that Adam would fall, but also _ordained_
that he should." "The devil and wicked men are so held in on every side,
with the hand of God, that they cannot conceive or contrive or execute
any mischief, any farther than God himself doth not _permit_ only, but
_command_--nor are they held in fetters, but compelled also, as with a
bridle, to perform obedience to those commands." Calvin, it seems, was
far from thinking that _appointment_ only meant _permission_, or that to
_ordain_ only meant certainty _foreseen_. In this he was correct: in
this he has been followed by a host of writers down to the present day,
and copied in numerous ecclesiastical symbols, in different parts of
Christendom; and does not the reviewer know that these terms are
understood by Hopkins and Emmons, and all the Calvinists of that school,
in a sense widely different from his explanation, and in a sense, too,
much more in accordance with the _proper meaning_ of the terms? Does he
not know that a great majority of the Calvinists of the United States,
and perhaps in New-England, even understand these terms, as indeed they
ought to be understood, when used in reference to sin, as expressing a
preference of sin, in that part of the Divine plan where sin occurs, to
holiness in its stead? Indeed, as I understand the reviewer, from the
days of John Calvin down to the present hour, there is, on this point,
between the great body of Calvinists and himself, almost no likeness,
except in the use of words. Theirs is one doctrine--his another. Why,
then, does he oppose the opposers of Calvinism, and thus keep error in
countenance? Especially, why does he hail from that party, and hoist
their signals, and then, alter _seeming_ to get the victory, by
espousing the very cause of the assailed, encourage the _Calvinists_ to
triumph, as if _their_ cause had been successful? Is this justice to the
author of the sermon? Is it the best way to promote truth? But I
forbear. The reviewer's subsequent explanations may remove these
difficulties. At any rate, the cause of truth will doubtless advance.
The appearance of this review has given additional strength to the
sentiment, Calvinism "is waxing old, and is ready to vanish away." The
dogma that "God has predetermined all events, and elected (in a
Calvinistic sense) out of our guilty world all who shall be heirs of
salvation," withers at the touch of advancing truth, and is fast losing
credit in the Christian Church.
Since writing the above, I have seen an inquiry of a correspondent in
one of the Calvinistic papers, in these words, "Why do our Calvinistic
writers retain the words which seem so sadly to perplex our Arminian
brethren, when it is certain that we do not attach the signification to
them which they always pretend?" and then instances in the word
"foreordain." The editor, in reply, gives as a reason for using these
words, that they are Scriptural; and seems to deem it necessary that
they should _persist_ in this use until we submit. This reply of the
editor reminded me of a remark of Mr. Tyler, in his sermon already
alluded to: "The Calvinist contends that God resolved, from eternity, to
permit all the sins and miseries which were to take place; and this he
calls, in the language of the Bible, _foreordination_." Now, not to stop
here, to show that no true Calvinist would ever call _foreordination_
and _permission_ the same thing, for Calvin has, as we have seen,
clearly distinguished the two words from each other, I beg the privilege
of adding a thought or two on this idea of Scripture authority for the
use or these terms. For if it is only because the Scriptures use these
words in this sense, that they _persist_ in using them, I think we may
easily settle this question. Let it be shown that the Scriptures use
"foreordination," or "predestination," in the sense of mere
_permission--not absolutely hindering_. Again: let _one passage_ be
shown in which it is said, God "predestinates" all things, or
"foreordains" whatsoever comes to pass. If this cannot be done, how
futile, how more than absurd is it, to talk about using these words,
because the Scriptures use them! To use Scripture words out of the
Scripture sense, and then appeal to Scripture to sanction this use, is
as sad a perversion of the Scriptures as it is of logic. Indeed, to give
such a meaning to the word predestinate, is at once to take away the
principal scriptures quoted by the reviewer, and others, to prove
Calvinistic election. See Eph. i, 5; ii, 10; Rom. viii, 29. Does
predestination in these passages mean merely _to permit_, or not _to
hinder?_ and do these passages teach a personal election to eternal
life? Is this all the Calvinists mean by the _election_ of _sovereign
grace_, not of man, nor of the will of mans but of God? Alas! for the
elect! If man does not elect himself, and God _only predestinates_, that
is, _permits--does not hinder_ his election; who, we ask, will elect
him? How does error destroy itself! These gentlemen may take which
ground they please; they may either acknowledge that Bible
predestination means an _efficient purpose of God_ to accomplish an
object, and then meet the sermon on the issue there proposed; or they
may interpret these words as the reviewer has, and then give up those
passages which they consider their strong hold, in favour of Calvinian
election. In either case their system must suffer serious loss. Nothing
could be more unfortunate, I think, than this appeal to the Bible to
sanction such an abuse of terms. As to the word foreordain, I do not
recollect that it occurs in our translation. Jude 4, has "before of old
ordained," &c, but it is in the original very different from the word
rendered predestinate. The allusion is to characters that were
proscribed for their sins, and designated for deserved punishment. The
original for predestinate, proorizo, is used in only one place, so far
as I can find, with any direct reference to a sinful act, Acts iv, 28.
This passage is quoted by the reviewer. But the determination here
spoken of, he himself informs us, relates to "the purpose of God to make
an atonement for the sin of the world, by means of the death of Jesus
Christ." Hence the predetermination of God, in this instance, probably
refers to the _work_ of atonement, without including therein any special
decree in respect to the means of the suffering. Christ _could_ have
suffered, even unto death, in the garden without any human means. But
inasmuch as these men had the murderous purpose, God "chose to leave
Christ to their power," &c, therefore _decreed_ the atonement, but
_permitted_ the means. This seems to be the most rational construction.
But whatever Calvinists may think of this passage, the Scriptural use of
the word is clearly on the side of its _proper_ meaning--an
_authoritative ordinance_ that the thing predestinated _shall be_.
I will avail myself of this opportunity to correct one or two errors of
the reviewer, respecting the sentiment of the sermon, which had escaped
my notice. He says, my "view of predestination is a determination of God
to produce a given result by his _own immediate_ and _efficient_
energy." This is a mistake. I said nothing about _immediate energy;_
this is an essential misrepresentation of the sermon. Again: "On Dr.
Fisk's principle, it is impossible for God to use the voluntary agency
of any creature, to accomplish any valuable end in his kingdom, and yet
leave that creature accountable for his conduct." This is so manifestly
incorrect and unjust, that I am sure I need only call the attention of
the reviewer to it a second time, to secure a correction from himself.
NUMBER II.
A PROPOSITION TO CALVINISTS.
The communication below contains a proposition from Dr. W. Fisk, which,
however much we dislike theological controversies, we believe is
appropriate and interesting at this time. Such a discussion, under such
arrangements, will give the merits of the controversy to both sides; and
will, at least, convince all of one truth--that the Methodist Episcopal
Church seeks not concealment from the world or her members, as charged
by her adversaries. But it will develop a still more important truth,
and that is, what are the settled and definite opinions of the old or
the new school in the Calvinistic Churches. It is known to all the
world, that there is great difficulty in ascertaining what are the
theological opinions of those ancient Churches of the land. They seem to
be as far apart from each other as they are from Arminianism; and their
replies and rejoinders to each other are as severe as if directed
against us. The discussion must be interesting and profitable, carried
on by two such persons as Dr. Fisk and his opponent, and under the
steady supervision, as to temper and manner, of third parties as
proposed.--Eds.
I have just received a pamphlet of about forty-eight pages, containing a
series of letters, in answer to my sermon on predestination and
election. These letters are written by the Rev. David Metcalf, of
Lebanon, Connecticut, and purport to be an answer, not only to the
doctrinal part of the sermon, but to the "charges," as the writer is
pleased to call them, contained in the sermon, and published afterward
in a specific form, first in the Connecticut Observer, and then in the
Christian Advocate and Journal.
It will be recollected by your readers, that I pledged myself to
vindicate my statements against any responsible person, who, with his
own proper signature, would come forward and deny them: or if I failed
to support them, I would retract what I had written. This pledge Mr.
Metcalf calls upon me to redeem; not indeed by bringing forward my
proofs, or by making a reply; but, having thrown in his plea, he
supposes that the cause is decided, and has himself made up the
judgment, and issued the execution, and forthwith comes forward, and
claims his damage. His words are--"Of the author of the sermon we claim
a public acknowledgment of his errors, and make justice and equity the
ground of our claim." Again, "If Dr. F. makes no public retraction from
the ground taken in his sermon--if after he shall receive these letters,
[!!] remembering also what is said in the Christian Spectator's review
of his sermon, he shall allow another copy of it to be printed, I think
he will find it difficult to convince any intelligent candid man, that
he is not guilty of breaking the ninth commandment," &c. The intelligent
reader, who has studied human nature, will know how to make suitable
allowances for the dogmatical and premature decisions, and high claims
contained in the foregoing extracts. It is not an uncommon thing, that a
zealous advocate succeeds in _convincing himself_ of the truth of his
cause; but utterly fails with respect to all others. I do not say, that
this writer will not gain his argument; but it requires more
"foreknowledge" than I am disposed to accord to him, to affirm this as a
"certainty." I demur against this hasty manner of making up the
judgment. I wish to be heard in defence of my statements, and have
objections also to bring against his statements, and supposed proofs and
arguments.