"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death: For he hath put all things under his feet." (1 Cor. xv. 20, &c. The Epistles of this eminent Apostle of the Gentiles, every where abound with passages corroborative of the doctrine of Universal Redemption. Their number preclude the possibility of our giving them all a place in this limited introduction, which has already exceeded our original design in this publication. And we have thus proved by the Sacred Scriptures; from the concurrent testimony of the Prophets of the Old, and the Apostles of the New Testament, that this is a Scripture doctrine, promised first of God unto Adam, preached unto Abraham by the Angel of the Lord, perpetuated by the Prophets, renewed and confirmed by the life, sufferings and death of the Son of God; and is now every where proclaimed, by the faithful and true witnesses of God! in all the world.

We therefore conclude this section with the following appropriate inquiry.-With such indisputable declarations as the foregoing; with such facts as are indelibly recorded in the legitimate canons of the Scriptures, and that are held sacred by Christians of every sect or denomination; will any sincere person deny, that the foregoing cited passages of Prophecy and the declarations of Christ himself, together with the explanations given to this doctrine by his Apostles, do not, literally, plainly, and in pointed terms, support the doctrine of the reconciliation, and final salvation of all men, as contended for, by the advocates of this faith?-or, that it is a Scripture doctrine, and hence the doctrine of the primitive Apostolic Church of Christ?

And that all men may be apprised of their duty when praying-the Apostle adds, "I will, therefore, that men pray every where"--for the salvation of all men, but they

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must remember to pray "lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting." (1 Tim. ii. 8.) Alas! many pray for the salvation of all men, but at the same time, doubt the unalterable promises of God.

SECTION II.

Testimony of the Apostolic Fathers, and other early writers, in support of this doctrine.

In introducing to the notice of our readers, the opinions and testimonies of the Apostolic Fathers, in support of the doctrine of the final restoration of all men to holiness and happiness, it is necessary that the mind of the reader should be fixed upon the great truth, that this doctrine has been proved, in the preceding section, to be a Scripture Doctrine, and does not depend upon the opinion of any man, or sects of men, for its confirmation; that it is plainly and unequivocally expressed in those Scriptures, and is therefore a Truth, whether we believe it or not; and that our denying it to be a truth, does not alter the nature of it; nor does our believing it make it so, since it is a truth, whether we believe it or not.

Our object, therefore, in referring to the Apostolic Fa thers, is to show, that for the first six or seven centuries after Christ, this doctrine was almost universally prevalent, particularly among the Bishops and Rulers of the Eastern Churches, and that are recognized by all the Primitive and Apostolic Churches of Christ.

We take leave, however, to advise the reader, that we are aware of the numerous weighty and rational objections that are sustained by high and respectable writers, both ancient and modern, against the superstition and credulity of the early fathers. We would, therefore, at once disarm our opponents of their most weighty argument, by rejecting on the threshhold of our inquiry those inconsistencies, errors, and superstitions of these fathers, that have been the subjects of the just criticisms of later writers; determining to accept, as matters of Faith only,

as it regards our religion, those doctrines and tenets that are contained in the canons of the most authentic versions of the Holy Bible..

We cheerfully accord with that severe and caustic writer, the Rev. Dr. MIDDLETON, in the sentiment, "that we ought to accept the writings of those Fathers, because they serve to teach us the doctrines, the rites, the manners, and the learning of the several ages in which they lived: yet as witnesses only, not as guides; but as declaring what was then believed, not what was true; what was practised, not what ought to be practised; since their works abound with foolish, false, and dangerous opinions, universally maintained, and zealously propagated by them all. Their errors and corruptions afford an useful lesson, profitable to us; since, the corruptions which crept into the Church in those very early ages, are a standing proof and admonition to all the later ages, that there is no way of preserving a purity of faith and worship in any Church, but by reviewing them from time to time, and reducing them to the original test and standard of the Holy Scriptures."*

Having premised thus much, we now proceed to inquire whether this doctrine was maintained by those early fathers, or otherways. And with regard to the writers of the two first centuries, we have no knowledge of any remarks on this most glorious feature of the gospel doctrines, in the writings of these fathers, and we fairly presume that it will be conceded, there was no ne cessity for such remarks, since it could not but have been known to them, that this doctrine was contained in the writings of the Apostles, and that it is improbable that they could either mistake or overlook it, so early as the century immediately succeeding to that of the advent of the Saviour; and it is also fairly presumed, that, being at that time a doctrine universally known to the Universal Church, it might not have been considered necessary to express their opinions of that which, though not essential to salvation, was the common faith of all.

Introductory Discourse to a Free Inquiry. pp. cxii

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But in the beginning of the third century, when corruptions and heresies had assumed an aspect alarming to the devout and humble followers of Christ; when in fact the enemies of Christianity, within and without, were laboring to overthrow their doctrines, it appeared to them an imperative duty to exert their united energies and talents, towards resisting the increasing oppositions, and of repelling the false accusations of their opponents: and to effect this laudable purpose, a reference to, and critical examination of the MSS. copies of the writings of the Apostles was undertaken by several of the early Fathers, at the head of whom was justly placed the most learned and devout Presbyter of the Alexandrian Church, Origen, the disciple and successor of Clemens Alexandrinus, and President of the Catechetical School of that great seat of learning and philosophy. With regard to the talents and qualifications of this great man, both ancient and modern writers are agreed; and we believe, the following acknowledgements from the learned Dr. Mosheim, are sufficient to prove, that he was eminently qualified for the noble task which he had undertaken.

"The great end of Christ's mission," says Dr. Mosheim, "was to form a Universal Church, gathered out of all the nations of the world, and to extend the limits of this great Society from age to age: Hence, extraordinary teachers were indispensably necessary to promulgate and extend among those nations the Religion of Christ,* who, after his Ascension, gave the most unequivocal proofs of the majesty and power to which he had been exalted, by the effusion of the Holy Ghost upon his disciples, according to his promise;† thereby proving, that though invisible to mortal eyes, he was still their Omnipotent protector, and their benevolent guide. This glorious manifestation of his Divine Power, was accompanied with a variety of spiritual gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, by which the Apostles were immediately qualified to

* Eccl. Hist., Vol. 1, pp. 84.

+ Acts, ii. 1, &c.

preach the Gospel, and to proclaim to all nations, kindreds and languages, the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

The first Christian Church founded by the Apostles, was that of Jerusalem, which was the model of all those that were afterward erected during this first century: and the forms of their religious worship, the innocence and simplicity of their lives, together with the spotless purity of the doctrines they taught, are the most indubitable proofs that there has been, and still is, a most wide departure from the primitive faith and practice, to be at once readily detected in nearly all the Christian Churches. of succeeding ages.

"At the commencement of the second century, the Christian Religion had found its way to many nations, and we have the most unexceptionable testimonies, that Christ was worshipped as God almost throughout the whole East, as also among the Germans, Spaniards, Celts, Britons and many other nations.* In this century, translations of the sacred writings were spread abroad, particularly Latin versions of them, because that language was now more universal than any other." As yet, the books which now compose the New Testament had not been collected into a volume, and it is not yet satisfactori ly decided, whether they were thus collected by the Council of Nice, which assembled in the year 325, or that of Laodicea, in the year 364.†

"If we turn our view to the human means employed in the beginning of the third century, to multiply the number of Christians, and to extend the limits of the Church, we shall find a great variety of causes, uniting their influence, and contributing jointly to this happy purpose. Among these must be reckoned the translations of the Sacred Writings into various languages, as above noticed; the zeal of Origen in spreading abroad copies of them every where; his prompt compliance with the invitation of the Prince of Arabia to preach the Gospel among

Mosheim Eccl. Hist. vol. 1, p. 124.

+ Preface to Apocryphal New Testament, p. 6.