Tupon him, and continue faithful to the end, and be saved, he will, by no means, permit him to live and die in his present state, but will order matters so, out of the treasures of his divine wisdom, that he shall sooner or later be brought to the union of the Church of Christ, out of which he has ordained that salvation cannot be found.

Q. 17. This is, without doubt, an unanswerable proof, if it be certain, that by our calling or vocation, mentioned in the above passage of St. Paul, is meant our vocation to the faith and Church of Christ; but how can this be proved ?

و,

A. Nothing is more evident from the whole tenor of the New Testament; for, wherever the object of our calling or vocation is spoken of, it is always declared to be the faith and Church of Christ. Thus, St. Paul, speaking of his own vocation, says, "It pleased him, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son to me," Gal. i. 15. So exhorting us to walk worthy of the vocation in which we are called, by humility and charity, he immediately adds the object of our vocation, as a most powerful motive for us to do so: "One body," says he, one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Eph. iv. 4. Again, "Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also ye are called in one body," Col. iii. 15. Also, "We testified to every one of you, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you to his kingdom and glory," 1 Thess. ii. 12.; to his kingdom here, and to his glory hereafter. From all which it is manifest, that the object of our vocation is the one faith of Christ; the body of Christ, and the kingdom of Christ, which is his Church. Hence the same holy apostle says in another place, "But ye are come to Mount Sion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of

the first-born who are written in heaven," Heb.. xii. 22. See here the object of our vocation, the Church of Christ; and St. Peter says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that ye may declare his virtues who hath called you out of darkness into his admirable light," 1 Pet. ii. 9. To be a member then of this holy nation, to be one of this purchased people, to be brought to this admirable light of the true faith, is the grand object to which our calling brings us.

Q. 18. But after all, how does it stand with the infinite goodness of God, that none should be saved. without the true faith of Christ, and without being: in the communion of his Church, since by this: means by far the greatest part of mankind must be lost; seeing the number of those who have not the faith, and are not in. the communion of his Church, has always greatly exceeded the number of those who are ?

A. That the greatest number of mankind will belost is a truth which Christ himself declares, where he says, that "many are called, but few are chosen," and that, "many walk in the broad road to destruction, but few there are which find the narrow way to life." The difficulty of reconciling this with the goodness of God, will easily vanish, and the goodness of God appear in all its beauty, if we consider what the Christian revelation teaches us concerning this matter. For there we learn that man, by the voluntary abuse of his free-will, having lost that happy state in which God, out of pure goodness had created him, had rendered himself totally unworthy of any favour or mercy from God; so that God, without any breach of justice, nay, with the greatest justice, could, if he pleased, have left him without remedy, a prey to that misery. which his sins deserved, as he actually did with

the fallen angels. It was, therefore, the effect of his infinite goodness alone, that God was willing to shew mercy to man at all; and still more so, that he was pleased to provide so unheard of a remedy for his evils as he did: "God so loved the world," says our blessed Saviour, "that he gave his only begotten Son," to seek and save those that were lost, by dying upon a cross for them. But as man, by the voluntary abuse of his free-will, had lost the favour of his God; therefore God positively decreed, that none who come to the full use of their reason, should reap the benefit of the redemption of Christ, but by a voluntary performance of those conditions which he requires from them; for Christ" is become the cause of eternal salvation to all that obey him," Heb. v. 9. And whereas man, by the miserable corruption of his nature by sin, was absolutely incapable of performing these conditions of himself, therefore God, out of the boundless riches of his goodness, and the sincere desire he has that all should be saved, through the merits of Jesus Christ, gives to all mankind, in whatever state or condition they be, such supernatural helps of his grace, as he sees proper for their present state, with a view to their salvation; that is to say, by these graces he moves them, and enables them to do some present good, or withdraws them from, and enables them to avoid some present evil, with this view, that if they co-operate with this heavenly motion of his grace, he will give them more and greater graces; and, if they continue their correspondence to those, he will go on to give them still more, till he brings them at last to the true faith and Church of Christ, and to a happy end; but, if they resist his graces, if they abuse them, and act contrary to them, if they reject these calls and offers of mercy which God gives them, this abuse and ingratitude, God, out of his infinite good

ness, bears with for a while, till at length he stops the continuation of such undeserved favours to them, and leaves them to perish in their own obstinacy and ingratitude. Hence, if the greater part of mankind be lost, this is wholly owing to themselves in abusing the goodness of God, and resisting the means he uses for their salvation; so that our salvation is only from the goodness of God, and our perdition wholly from ourselves, according to what he says by his prophet, "Destruction is thine, O Israel, thy help is only in me," Hosea, xiii. 9.

Q. 19. This is, indeed, a full vindication of the divine goodness; but there are some parts of it which need to be properly ascertained: and first, How does it appear from Scripture, that God gives to all mankind the graces here mentioned, with a view to their salvation?

A. This is manifest from three strong reasons recorded in Scripture; first, The Scripture assures us, that God wills all men to be saved, and that none should be lost. Thus, "As I live," saith the Lord God, "I will not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live,” Ezech. xxxiii. 12. So our Saviour declares, "It is not the will of our Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish," Matth. xviii. 14. "God dealeth patiently for your sake," says St. Peter, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance," 1 Pet. iii. 9. And St. Paul affirms it in express terms, saying, “God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth," 1 Tim. ii. 4. He wills all men to be saved, and he wills them to come to› the knowledge of the truth, as an essential condition of salvation. Now, from this sincere will of God for the salvation of all mon, it follows as a necessary consequence, that he gives to all men such helps

of his grace as are sufficient, if they make a good use of them, to bring them both to the knowledge of truth and to salvation: for, as they are obsolutely incapable of taking any step towards this end without his aid, if he wills the end, he must of necessity apply the means in such a manner, that, if the end be not accomplished, it is not owing to him; and, if he did not do so, bis affirming that he wills all men to be saved, and even swearing that he wills not the death of the wicked, would only be sporting with his poor creatures, and insulting over their misery, which is blasphemy to suppose.

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2ndly, The Scripture positively declares, that Jesus Christ died for the redemption of all mankind, without exception. Thus, "Jesus Christ gave himself a redemption for all," 1 Tim. ii. 6. "If one died for all, then all are dead, and Christ died for all," 2 Cor. v. 15. We hope in the living God, "who is the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful," 1 Tim. iv. 10. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world,' 1 John, ii. 1. Hence St. John the Baptist said of him, Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world," John, i. 29. And he himself says, "The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world," John, vi. 52. Again, "The Son of man," says he, came to seek and to save that which was lost," Luke xix. 10, and "I come not to judge the world, but to save the world," John, xii. 47.; and St. Paul says of him, "A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners," 1 Tim. i. 15. But, as all were lost, as all without exception were sinners, therefore Jesus Christ came to seek and to save all. Now from

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