the anger of the Divine Being, and effecting on his part a reconciliation. Thus Jesus Christ had the sin of the elect laid upon him; and, in this sense; Luther said that Jesus Christ was the greatest sinner in the world! This doctrine, however, is reprobated by some of their divines, who consider the death of Christ as simply a medium through which God has been pleased to exercise mercy towards the penitent. Thus Dr. Magee, archbisop of Dublin, in his work on the Atonement, says, "The sacrifice of Christ was never deemed by any, who did not wish to calumniate the doctrine of atonement, to have made God placable, but merely viewed, as the means appointed by divine wisdom by which to bestow forgiveness. But still it is demanded, in what way can the death of Christ, considered as a sacrifice of expiation, be conceived to operate to the remission of sin, unless by the appeasing a Being who otherwise would not have forgiven us? To this the answer of the Christian is, I know not, nor does it concern me to know, in what manner the sacrifice of Christ is connected with the forgiveness of sins; it is enough that this is declared by God to be the medium through which my salvation is effected; I pretend not to dive into the councils of the Almighty. I submit to his wisdom, and I will not reject his grace, because his mode of vouchsafing it is not within my comprehension." It will be observed, that Dr. Magee thus disclaims the doctrine of satisfaction, commonly deemed the only true doctrine of the atonement. And the late Mr. Andrew Fuller observes, "If we say, a way was opened by the death of Christ for the free and consistent exercise of mercy, in all the methods which sovereign wisdom saw fit to adopt, perhaps we shall include every material idea which the Scriptures give us of that important event." Hence it has been remarked, that God is represented as reconciling, by the death of Christ, not himself to man, but man to himself. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. See Mr. Fuller's publication, entitled, "The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Compared," which is admired by some Religionists,

but condemned by others, as not coming up to the full standard of orthodoxy. The late Dr. Toulmin and the Rev. J. Kentish replied to this work, whilst Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham, against whom it was written, did not think proper to notice it.

But to ascertain the real sentiments of this body of Christians, recourse should be had to the Assembly's Catechism, which is taught their children, and may be supposed to contain a just account of their religious opinions. The reader is here referred to two small volumes on the subject, the one by Dr. Pye Smith, in favour of Calvanism: the other by the Rev. T. Belsham, as a reply to it. Dr. W. B. Collyer, in a continued series of Lectures" at Salter's-hall, especially in his volume on "Doctrines," has vindicated the Calvinistic system with candour and ability.

SUBLAPSARIANS AND SUPRALAPSARIANS.

AMONG the refinements of Calvanism are to be ranked the distinctions of the Sublapsarians and Supralapsarians. The Sublapsarians assert, that God had only permitted the first man to fall into transgression, without absolutely pre-dete rmining his fall: whereas the Supralapsarians maintain that God had from all eternity decreed the transgression of Adam, in such a manner that our first parents could not possibly avoid this fatal event. Dr. Doddridge, in his Lectures, has thus stated these abstruse distinctions :-"The Supralapsarian and Sublapsarian schemes agree in asserting the doctrine of predestination, but with this difference, that the former supposes that God intended to glorify his justice in the condemnation of some, as well as his mercy in the salvation of others; and for that purpose decreed that Adam should necessarily fall, and by that fall bring himself and all his offspring into a state of everlasting condemnation: the latter scheme supposes that the decree of predestination regards man as fallen by an abuse of that freedom which Adam had, into a state in which all were to be left to necessary and

unavoidable ruin, who were not exempted from it by predestination." Recent divines, who have gone to the height of Supralapsarianism, are Mr. Brine and Dr. Gill. were any thing more necessary to elucidate this subject, it might be added, that the term Supralapsarian is derived from two Latin words, supra, above, and lapsus, the fall; and the term Sublapsarian, from sub, below or after, and lapsus, .the fall.

Calvin, in his "Institutes," states and defends at large the principles of the system. It is dedicated to Francis 1. king of France, in a strain admired for its boldness and magnanimity. The work has been translated by Mr. Allen into English, comprising three octavo volumes, with a portrait. Calvin was educated for the church, but conceiving a dislike to popery, he applied himself to the law. He, however, afterwards resumed his original studies, was an eminent reformer, and died in 1564. He was a man of great talents and learning, writing both French and Latin with equal purity. His works amount to nine folio volumes! Bishop Horsley says, "The opinions of Austin, which are the basis of Calvinism, have had their strenuous assertors in the church of Rome itself; indeed, for a long time, they were the prevailing opinions of the Latin church.

For professed defences of Calvinism, see Edwards on the Will, Brine's Tracts, Dr. Gill's "Cause of God and Truth," and Toplady's "Historic Proof of the Calvinism of the Church of England," a new edition of which has been published. The works of Jonathan Edwards are reckoned a standard as to Calvinism; he was an American divine of extraordinary ability. "Essays on the Religion of Mankind," by the late Rev. Mr. Burnside, of recent appearance, espouse the same system. of theology.

ARMINIANS

The Arminian favours the tenets of Arminius, the disciple of Beza, and latterly professor of divinity at Leyden,

who flourished about the year 1600. Thinking the doc trine of Calvin, with regard to free will, predestination, and grace, contrary to the mild and amiable perfections of the Deity, he began to express his doubts concerning them in the year 1591; and upon further inquiry, adopted sentiments more nearly resembling those of the Lutherans than of the Calvinists. After his appointment to the theological chair at Leyden, he thought it his duty to avow and vindicate the principles which he had embraced; and the freedom with which he published and defended them, exposed him to the resentment of those that adhered to the theological system of Geneva. The controversy, thus begun in the lifetime of Arminius, ended not with his death, and for a long time roused the violence of contending passions*. His tenets include the five following propositions: 1st, That God has not fixed the future state of mankind by an absolute, unconditional decree, but determined, from all eternity, to bestow salvation on those whom he foresaw would persevere to the end in their faith in Jesus Christ, and to inflict punishment on those who should continue in their unbelief, and resist to the end his divine assistance. 2dly. That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular: that, however, none but those who believe in him can be partakers of this divine benefit. 3dly. That mankind are not totally depraved, and that depravity does not come upon them by virtue of Adam's being their public head, but that mortality and actural evil only are the direct consequences of his sin to posterity. 4thly. That there is no such thing as irresistable grace in the conversion of sinners. And, 5thly, That those who are united to Christ by faith may fall from their faith, and forfeit finally their state of grace. Thus the followers of Arminius believe that God, having an equal regard for all his creatures, sent his Son to die for the sins of the whole world; that men have the power of doing the will of God, otherwise they are not the proper subjects of approbation

Arminius's motto was a remarkable one-"A good coscience is a paradise."

and condemnation; and that, in the present imperfect state, believers, if not particularly vigilant, may, through the force of temptation, fall from grace, and sink into final perdition. The Arminians found their sentiments on the expressions of our Saviour, respecting his willingness to save all that come unto him; especially on his prayer over Jerusalem, his Sermon on the Mount, and, above all, on his delineation of the process of the last day, where the salvation of men is not said to have been procured by any decree, but because they had done "the will of their Father, who is in heaven." This last argument they deem decisive, because it cannot be supposed that Jesus, in the account of the judgment day, would have deceived them. They also say, the terms in the Romans respecting election, are applicable only to the state of the Jews as a body, without reference to the religious condition of individuals, either in the present or future world. The reader is referred to "A Refutation of Calvinism," in which the doctrines of original sin, grace, regeneration, justification, and universal redemption are explained, &c., by George Tomline, D. D., late Bishop of Lincoln, but now of Winchester. This work, however, has been animadverted upon by the late Dr. Williams, and other divines of the Calvinistic persuasion.

Dr. Whitby, the commentator, who was originally a Calvinist, has written an elaborate defence of Arminianism; and the reader should consult Dr. Taylor's "Key to the Epistle to the Romans," which has been admired on this subject. Since the days of Laud, who was archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Charles I., by far the majority of the English clergy have taken this side of the question. Bishop Burnet has given a full account of the opinions of this sect, in his Exposition of the Seventeenth Article.

In the 17th century, disputes ran very high in Holland between the Calvinists and the Arminians. On each side talents and learning were displayed; but some called in the interference of the civil power; and thus terminated a controversy, which for some years had agitated the religious world. For this purpose the famous synod of Dort