rofe from men's believing, that God was an enemy to wick ed men? Undoubtedly; for, had all profeffors of chriftianity believed, that God had compassion on the ignorant, and those who are out of the way, how could they have perfecuted those whom they believed in error? But, with contrary views, thofe who profeffed to believe in Chrift, who profeffed to be the real difciples of him who taught his difciples to love their enemies, have been the fomenters of perfecution; they have perfecuted, even unto death, those who could not believe all the abfurdities in orthodox creeds. It may be afked, if those animofities did not arife from pride, ambition and carnal mindedness? I answer, yes; and fo does the God in whom perfecuting chriftians believe, for they form a God altogether like unto themfelves; therefore, while they vainly fancy they are in the fervice of the true God, they are following the dictates of pride and unlawful ambition, the natural productions of a carnal mind; and atonement is the only remedy for the evil.

Men are diffatisfied with the Almighty and his providence, they are diffatisfied with, and are enemies of one another; whereas our true happinefs confifts in loving God, and our neighbors. Men in poffeffion of vile appetites, purfue, with greediness, their gratification; but still, they retain their wants, their fouls are allied to heaven and holinefs, and can never be happy without them. They are confcious of fin, and feel condemnation refting on their minds; they look forward to the awful scene of a diffolution, and their fouls ftart back with horror. Death is the King of terrors to the unreconciled; how awful are the thoughts of death to those whofe hopes are only the feeble productions of their fears and wants, unfupported with divine evidence! O, how neceffary is atoning grace, on fuch an occafion, whereby a divine confidence may be enjoyed; the value thereof cannot be

eftimated by earthly treafures; all the fhining duft of India, and the riches of the fouth, are poverty, when compared with the riches of a reconciled mind.

Without atonement, God's glorious defign, in the ever lafting welfare of his offspring, man, could never be effected; the ordination of an infinitely merciful God could never be carried into effect. The Almighty muft not be depriv ed of the means of accomplishing his gracious defigns. We read of his covenant with day and night, which cannot be broken; but it would be broken at once, fhould the causes ceafe that produce their changes. So of the covenant of eter nal mercy, the teftament of eternal life, it must be put in force by the death of the teftator, and its life and immortal glory be brought to light through his refurrection. Let it be understood, that it is man who receives the atonement, who ftands in need of reconciliation, who, being diffatisfied, needs fatisfaction; and not place those imperfections and wants in him who is infinite in his fulnefs; and the doctrine of atonement may be fought for in the nature of things, and found to be rational to the understanding.

That man receives the atonement, was evidently the opin ion of St. Paul, fee Romans v. 11. "And not only fo, but we alfo joy in God, through our Lord Jefus Chrift, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Were there a fingle paffage in the fcriptures that would reach half as far, in ing, that God received the atonement, as the one just quoted does to prove that man received it, the matter might be confidered more difputable than it now is.

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We read, that men are enemies to God, by wicked works, which teaches us that enmity is wickedness: Should we then dare to fay, that God is our enemy? It is wrong for us to be

enemies even to those who injure us, much more to thofe who never had it in their power to do us any harm. I wish to afk, did any of God's creatures ever injure him? Surely not. Why then does he turn our enemy? He commends us to love our enemies, that we may be like him; but if he hates his enemies, we must hate ours, if we would be like him. If he is not our enemy, he needs no atonement. But if men are enemies to God, they need an atonement, to bring them to love him who loves them.

Here the reader will obferve, that we fhun thofe difficul ties which have reprefented the gospel of Chrift fo inconfiftent. We now view the Almighty the fame, yesterday, to day and forever; by no means changed in his difpofition towards his creatures, but always defigning and working all things for their good. Here is no need of the felf-contradictory notion of altering an unalterable being; of fatisfying an infinite diffatisfaction; of reconciling a being who was never unreconciled; of producing love in love itfelf; of caufing an eternal unchangeable friend to be friendly, or of offering a facrifice to the eternal Father of our fpirits, to caufe him to love and have mercy on his offspring.

How much more reasonable it is, to fuppofe ourselves in need of thofe alterations. But unhappily, men have looked at Deity through the medium of a carnal mind, and have formed all their evil tempers in Jehovah; like the deceived aftronomer, who fancied he faw a monfter in the fun, occafioned by a fly on his glafs. This creature being in the medium of fight, was fuppofed to be in the object beheld; and though it was fall in itself, and would have appeared fo, could it have been feen where it was; yet, carrying it into the fun, it magnified to an enormous fize. So it is with our vile and sinful paffions, could we behold them in ourselves,

and view them as they are, they would appear in their finite and limited sphere; but the moment we form thofe paffions in Deity, they magnify to infinity. Let a council of aftronomers be called, who are all deceived by the fly; let them confult on the bignefs of the monfter, calculate how long it has been growing, and how foon it may wholly abforb the fun; let them endeavor to account for its caufe, and analyze its conftitution, informs us the degrees of heat that its lungs fuftain, and how many degrees hotter it is than iron can be heat in a furnace. But here is room for difagreement, which may give rife to great difputations. To one, it appears much larger than to another; they cannot judge alike, with regard to its age, nor how much larger it will grow; fome are ready to difpute its being a living creature, fancying it may be an opaque body. They are all agreed, that there is a phenomenon in the fun, but difpute, and even quarrel, about its peculiarities. What would become of all their calculations, the moment they fhould discover the fly? All would be gone, at once, and the fun would be relieved of the burden of fo ponderous a monster.

How many various calculations have Divines made, on the fury and wrath which they have discovered in God! How much they have preached and written, on the awful fubject; and how many ways they have invented, to appeafe fuch wrath and vengeance! When we come to fee the error, and find thofe principles in ourselves, all thofe notions vanish at once. The fly on the glafs might eafily have been removed, or def troyed; but had there been a monfter in the fun, what calculatious could mortals have made, to remove it? Enmity in man may be overcome with love; but, did it exift in God, it must be infinite and eternal.

conclude, the fuppofition, that Deity receives the atonement, or any poffible advantage from the gofpel plan, whereby an alteration is effected in him, for the better, amounts to the inexplicable abfurdity of making omniscience more wife, omnipotence more powerful, juftice more just; and of giving love the power of loving, of making mercy more merciful, truth more true, and goodness better; for thefe are the feven fpirits of God, which are in all the earth, and they are without the shadow of turning.

Having fhown, as I hope, to the reader's fatisfaction, the neceffity of atonement, and where fatisfaction must be made and reconciliation take place, I shall pass to make fome inquiries into

The perfonage of the Mediator who makes the Atonement, and bis ability for performing the work.

I have already stated fome of the abfurdities contained in the opinions of most christains, respecting the Mediator; I fhall now be a little more particular on the fubject.

I fhall contend, that the Mediator is a created depen dant being. That he is a created being, is proved from Rev. iii. 14, where he is faid to be "the beginning of the creation of God." His dependancy is proved, by his frequent prayers to the Father. That he acknowledged a

fuperior, when on earth, is evident, from many paffages which might be quoted. See St. John v. 19. Chrift here fays, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." He acknowledged a fuperior in wifdom, fee Matthew xxiv. 36. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." This paffage implies, that he did not know of that day himfelf. St. Mark is ftill more explicit, fee chap. xiii. 32, "Bat