spirituality of affection. And if he does this, the evil will quickly be cured. For error naturally retires from that mind, in which the light of the knowledge of divine glory clearly shines. Whenever God shall be pleased more abundantly to pour out his Spirit upon his ministers and people, and more fully to sanctify their hearts, they will at once attain to better conceptions of divine things, and will be happily freed from a variety of mistaken or defective views, which are sure to accompany lower degrees of sanctification.

You will find a Christian here and there, who is very tenacious of his mistaken opinions. He may contend for them because he is ambitious to be the head of a party. Or, through a misguided conscience, he may really believe his errors to be important truths, and so may contend for them to do God service. What shall be said of such a case? I reply, as to the individual himself who thus pertinaciously maintains wrong opinions from feelings of ambition, or from religious motives, it may be that nothing can ever be done effectually to open his eyes, before the light of another world shall shine upon them. And others may be associated with him, or rise up after him, who will pertinaciously adhere to the same false notions. But the time will come, when those false notions will be exposed and rejected. The event is certain. Perhaps men of a more correct faith will be raised up, whose writings or oral instructions will cast such a light on the doctrines of divine truth, that error will be instantly seen by every one, and renounced as soon as seen. Or God may judge it best to let the error run on, till its hurtful consequences shall open the eyes of all to its deformity and mischievous tendency.

Are there any of you, then, whose hearts throb with fear, or are oppressed with gloom, on account of the errors which prevail? To such I would say, remember that the Lord, who reigns over all, is an unchangeable enemy to error; and that, however great the subtlety with which it contrives to conceal itself, he will finally bring it to light, and expose it to contempt. And what is more; he will make the temporary prevalence of error the means of bringing his people to a more perfect knowledge and a more

That he has

unwavering belief of the doctrines of revelation. often done this, the history of the church shows. And that he will continue to do it, his promises imply. We have then solid reason quietly to commit the cause of truth to his almighty protection, and to cheer ourselves with the assurance that he will give it success. Long and dreary has been the time in which error has borne sway. But the bright and glorious day will come, in which truth shall reign through the world, and shall reign forever. Happy are they who discover and embrace the truth, and are active in its defence. The Lord will compass them with his favor as with a shield. As to error, all error, whether more or less flagrant, we ought from our heart to be afraid of it, and to labor with the greatest earnestness to rid ourselves of it. For error is as really opposed to the character and will of God, as sin is. And they who would not be partakers in the evils of its overthrow, must not be found among its subjects or its allies. Away, then, with every false opinion, however zealously we or others may have contended for it, and however great the selfdenial which the renunciation of it may require. If any one of our errors is dearer to us than others, it is just so much the more injurious; and giving it up will be a sacrifice more acceptable to God, and will do more to fit us for heaven.

This search for the truth and this endeavor to rid ourselves of error, is a work which ought to be pursued with unremitting diligence; and never to be given up as long as life lasts. In the day of adversity, and on the bed of sickness, we may still be growing in the knowledge of divine things, and detecting and renouncing errors which have been injurious to our spiritual interest. Happy they, who, with a humble reliance upon the grace of God, are thus intent upon the great work of curing the disorders, and promoting the health, beauty and vigor of their own immortal minds.

But in this momentous work, how could we proceed, and what hope could we have of success, were we left to the mere guidance of our own erring reason? In what uncertainty and error should we have been perpetually involved, had not God granted us his

word to be a guide to our faith? And in consequence of the great ignorance that is in us because of the blindness of our hearts, how unable should we still be to come to a right knowledge of God's word and to a right faith in its heavenly truths, without the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit? With these helps, that is, the word and the Spirit of God, if there is a pious docility and diligence on our part, we shall not fail of success in our inquiries. after the truth.

That the word of God is the only and sufficient rule of our faith and practice, is the grand principle for which Protestants have contended. This principle, universally received and acted upon, would put an end to error and division, and would ultimately bring all Christians to see the light and glory of divine truth.

But the right reception and use of this Protestant principle implies much more than is commonly, apprehended. It implies a full conviction, that the Scriptures were written under the infal lible guidance of the Holy Spirit; that they contain truth unmixed with error; and that they teach. all which is necessary for us to know in our present state. It demands that our great and only inquiry should be, what did God intend to communicate to us by these writings; in other words, what is the meaning of the divine testimony; and that in determining what this meaning is, we should be free from prejudice, distrustful of ourselves, earnestly desirous of knowing the truth, and resolved to embrace it, how much soever it may oppose the prepossessions of our natural reason or the bias of our own heart. And it requires that we should apply ourselves, with diligence and prayer, to the business of interpreting the Scriptures by just and proper rules.

LETTER II.

BRETHREN AND FRIENDS,

As the close of the last Letter, I stated the Protestant principle, that the word of God is the only and sufficient rule of our faith and practice, and endeavored to show, in part, what is implied in rightly receiving and applying this principle.

There is one point of great importance, though often overlooked in practice, namely; that as soon as we ascertain what God teaches us in his word, we have come to the end of our inquiry we have attained to the knowledge of the truth.

This is a principle so essential to believers in revelation, and so extensive. in its influence, that I shall dwell upon it with more than ordinary care.

Suppose, then, I am desirous of learning the truth in regard to the duration of future punishment. Accordingly I apply myself to the study of the Scriptures, and find a variety of passages which represent the punishment of the wicked as endless. I am quite sure that if the sacred writers spoke of the happiness of the good in a manner exactly similar, no one would doubt that they meant to teach its endless duration. But the question soon rises in the mind, whether the everlasting misery of many of the human race is consistent with the benevolence of God, or with the atonement of Christ. What regard shall I pay to a question like this in ascertaining the meaning of the Bible? None at all. Suppose God had addressed me thus: This subject hath depths which you cannot fathom. But for the glory of my justice and holiness, and for the benefit of my eternal kingdom, it is my purpose that the wicked, according to their proper desert, shall suffer a punishment without end. Could any one doubt the fact? Now God does virtually address me in this manner. He plainly teaches this tremendous truth, although he knew all the difficulties which would arise in our minds respecting it. These difficulties he does not undertake to solve. He requires it as a most reasonable

thing, and a proper expression of our confidence in him, that we should believe the doctrine which he teaches, notwithstanding its unsearchableness, and that we should believe it to be perfectly accordant with his infinite wisdom and goodness, though we may be unable to see how it is so. But should not the natural horror we feel at the thought of endless misery, and our strong desire that it may be prevented, have an influence upon our judgment as to the meaning of the Scriptures? To answer this, take another case. Our legislators make a law, that every murderer shall be put to death. The words of the law are plain and determinate. But men in general, especially criminals, feel a natural horror at the thought of such a punishment, and a wish that it might not take place. Ought such a feeling to affect the sense they put upon the law, and to lead them to say, Such cannot be its meaning; it is too dreadful to believe? Surely not. And for the same reason, the horror we feel at the thought of the endless punishment of impenitent sinners, and our desire that all may be happy, cannot be permitted to have any influence upon us in determining the sense of Scripture. We have no reason to think that God, in making his laws and arranging things in his moral kingdom, was influenced merely by such views and feelings as belong to ignorant imperfect beings. But to make the sense of his laws conform to our views and feelings, would be in effect to attribute our views and feelings, circumscribed, fallible, and disordered as they are, to his infinite mind. It would be saying, that he is subject to all our weaknesses, and is no more influenced by a regard to his own glory and the general interests of his kingdom, then we are. It would, in short, be making God altogether like ourselves. Hence our natural views and feelings as to the propriety or the desirableness of any particular doctrine should not influence our judgment as to the true meaning of the revelation which God has made.

If in the instance now before us, the question should be, whether the endless punishment of the wicked, admitted to be a certain truth, has anything in it inconsistent with the dictates of justice or benevolence; we might then direct our reasoning to