To the question thus put, I find myself obliged to answer, that, as eternal life is unconditionally bestowed upon the children of men, it must be bestowed UPON ALL OF THEM. For if bestowed hereafter, only upon those who are possessed of faith here, then unquestionably faith is represented to be the condition of everlasting life; or, everlasting life, instead of being unconditionally, is represented as being conditionally bestowed.

Here, of course, I shall be interrupted, for the purpose of being reminded of those passages of scripture, which not merely declare that he that believeth hath everlasting life, but expressly exclude from the possession of the privilege him who believeth not. And, also, of those passages which denounce condemnation and punishment against such persons as do not believe. This leads me to observe,

That the passages in question have not been overlooked by me; and that I have had my own share of doubt and perplexity, respecting the way in which they were to be reconciled with those other passages which speak of eternal life as the gift of God. After much diligent and prayerful examination of the scriptures as a whole, I have been obliged to come to the two following conclusions.

First. That there is a sense, and that, too, a very important one, in which eternal life is exclusively conferred on and enjoyed by those who believe. And And yet,

Secondly, It being impossible for the scriptures as the word of God to contradict themselves, while there is one sense in which eternal life is confined

to those who believe, there must be another sense in which as the gift of God it is conferred on the whole family of man.

To this I may add, that the principle so admirably stated and developed by Mr. Barclay, although I confess never intended by him to apply to my present purpose, is that which, when followed out, renders the sacred volume in regard to the point in question consistent with itself. God, he argues, after manifesting to his people, that eternal life is unconditionally bestowed; and, consequently, after manifesting to them, that it is their own certain and indefeasible privilege; can never contradict himself by manifesting it to them as conditionally bestowed: from which he draws the conclusion, that the conditional promises made to them must have a reference, not to eternity, but to time. By applying this admirable principle to the matter in hand, an easy, complete, and satisfactory solution of all the difficulties connected with it, is at once obtained. The fact of eternal life being in one sense unconditionally bestowed, implies, that ultimately it shall be enjoyed by the whole human race. The fact of its being in another sense conditionally bestowed, implies, that only a portion of the human race shall, while on earth, be admitted to the participation of it.

But although the possession of eternal life now by some, and ultimately by all, is the principle which pervades the sacred volume, and enables us to reconcile one class of its statements with another; were I to content myself with the bare annunciation of it, my readers

would have but a very inadequate conception of the subject, and of the strength of the position which I have taken up. In particular, their conception of the importance of possessing eternal life here, and of the great and glorious salvation which is therewith connected, would be extremely vague and erroneous. I am under the necessity, therefore, in order to do justice to them and to myself, of treating the subject at considerable length. It is not lightly or thoughtlessly, but after much deliberation and in opposition to the whole current of early and strong religious prejudices, that my present views have been adopted: a circumstance which, in more than one respect, gives me an advantage over those who have taken up views of a similar kind in a traditional way. Perhaps the great advantage which I derive from this is, that in abandoning the horrid doctrine of future and never ending torments, I do not find it necessary to run to the opposite extreme, of confounding the case of the righteous with that of the wicked. The point which I undertake to prove is, not that eternal life is IN EVERY RESPECT bestowed on all mankind alike; but that there is A SENSE in which everlasting life, meaning thereby everlasting happiness, is conferred on the whole family of man. This I intend to do by shewing, in the first place, that the doctrine of eternal life being ultimately enjoyed by all, so far from being merely an inference from the unconditionality of the privilege, is actually founded on and borne out by the general analogy and express statements of the sacred volume: and, in the second place, that the ultimate possession of

eternal life by all, does not militate against, but is, on the contrary, perfectly consistent with, the endurance of everlasting punishment by the wicked. The proof of the former of these positions, shall constitute the subject matter of this; that of the latter, of the following chapter.

THE FIRST POINT, THEN, TO WHICH I INVITE THE READER'S ATTENTION, IS THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS PROVED, THAT THE WHOLE FAMILY OF MAN ARE DESIGNED ULTIMATELY TO BE PARTAKERS OF EVERLASTING LIFE.

I would here repeat, what has already been hinted at, that the circumstance of eternal life being unconditionally bestowed, is of itself sufficient to establish the doctrine of its being bestowed on all. If only a certain number of human beings hereafter shall possess eternal life to the exclusion of all others, it must be either without any reason at all, or on the ground of something peculiar to them. It cannot be without any reason at all, for if so, the Supreme Being would act unwisely: besides that, those passages of scripture which speak of eternal life as necessarily connected with faith would be deprived of all significancy. Nor can it be on the ground of something peculiar to those who inherit the blessing, for if so, that peculiarity constituting the condition upon which they became entitled to it, eternal life hereafter instead of being the gift of God, would be a privilege conditionally bestowed. Considerations like

these force the conviction, that, however conditional,however dependent on the possession of the principle of faith, the enjoyment of eternal life may be upon earth, it is impossible from the conditionality of the blessing here, to infer its conditionality hereafter. Nay, as the scriptures expressly declare that eternal life is unconditionally bestowed, who that is duly enlightened can help perceiving, that its conditionality and limited enjoyment here, is a mere accommodation to the present state and circumstances of man; and that, although we are thus aided in our conceptions of it, yet viewed as conditional and limited it must be contrasted with its real nature, which is that of a blessing unconditionally and unlimitedly enjoyed? Upon grounds like these I am satisfied, that the unconditionality of eternal life, at once and unambiguously points to the fact, of its being ultimately destined for the whole human race. But, as I have already stated, I waive for the present any advantage to be gained from this; and proceed to establish my position by other media of proof.

Such is necessarily the inconsistency of error with itself, that at this point I might, if so disposed, bring the whole controversy to a close, merely by having recourse to the argumentum ad hominem. The opinions generally held, and the admissions generally made by religionists with regard to the wicked hereafter, are, when sifted to the bottom, actually and absolutely fatal to their cause. For instance; almost all of them allow, that the wicked shall have everlasting existence: and, a

B