future destination. In the 58th verse, which is the closing up of the chapter, and the apostle's argument upon the resurrection, he intimates a moral connection between our present characters and our future destination, by exhorting his brethren to stand fast in the Christian faith, "knowing that their labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Please read over this chapter once more, and then say, as an honest man, who can have no interest in being deceived, if the 15th of the 1st Cor. does not clearly and fully teach the doctrine of a marked distinction in the resurrection.

Yours as ever.

My Dear Sir:

LETTER XIII.

I will now proceed, according to your expectations and my promise, to consider the remaining proof-texts, upon which you depend for the support of your doctrine of no future punishment. We often find Eph. 1: 9, 10, brought forward to sustain Universalism. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him."

Does this passage give any intimation that all are equitably and fully rewarded in this world according to their characters? No. Does it teach that our moral characters will not go with us to the eternal world? or that our future condition will be in no respects affected by our present characters? No. This you cannot pretend. Here, then, we might dismiss the passage as having nothing to do with the controversy. But as you profess to regard this text as affording some proof of what you yourself do not believe in, a restoration of all mankind, it What does may be proper to give it a little more attention. it then declare as made known, and that God hath purposed? That God will gather together in one glorious and happy family, all men, the righteous and the wicked, the malignant and blasphemous persecutor and the devoted saint? No. Is there any intimation here that any will be gathered together in one," except those who are in Christ? The text promsies that in

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the dispensation of the fulness of times, i. e. at the consummation of probationary time, God will gather together in one vast and immortal family, all things (beings) in Christ, which are in Christ, both which are in heaven, (the angels and glorified saints) and which are on earth; that is, those saints who shall be alive and remain till the coming of their Lord. That all are not now "in Christ," you will hardly require me to prove. Paul says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," and again, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1. None are in Christ Jesus, then, but those who are regenerated and freed from condemnation. But the text tells us, (and fairly construed it tells us no more,) that all in Christ shall be gathered together in one." Where? Where? When? (1.) The gathering will be "in the dispensation of the fulness of times," or at the coming of our Lord. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER." Matt. 24: 30,31; Luke 21: 27; Mark 13: 26,27; Matt. 16: 27; 14;41 -43; 1 Thes. 4: 16-18. (2.) The gathering will be to Christ in the clouds of heaven, as he descends from "the most excellent glory," to raise the righteous dead, and introduce the judgment. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we [Christians] which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them IN THE CLOUDS to meet the Lord in the air." 1 Thes. 4:16,17; Acts 1:9-11; 2 Thes. 1:7; Rev. 20: 4 -6; Dan. 7; 13, 14.

(3.) At the same time there will be a gathering OUT of the glorified kingdom of God, as well as a gathering IN of all the "elect" "from one end of the heaven to the other.""As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world [age, or gospel dispensation.] The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall GATHER OUT of his kingdom all things which offend, and them which do iniquity." Matt. 14: 40,41. These passages, taken in connection with Eph. 1: 9, 10, give us distinctly to understand when, where, and how God will gather together in one all things in Christ. They teach us

[1.] That the promise is to be fulfilled when the dispensa.

tions of time shall be fully consummated, "when the Son of Man shall be SEEN coming in the clouds of heaven."

[2] That the gathering will include "all his mighty angels"-"all his ELECT from one end of the heavens to the other,' ""the dead in Christ" and Christians that "are alive and remain."

[3.] That at the same time, God, by the efficient agency of his "mighty angels," will GATHER OUT of his kingdom all things that offend and do iniquity." I hope, my dear sir, it will be your happy lot not to be "gathered out" of the blissful kingdom of God in that day when he shall "gather together in one all things in Christ." There will then be a marked distinction between the righteous and the wicked.

Another text, which deserves attention as a proof-text of Universalism, is 1 Tim. 2: 4. "Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto a knowledge of the truth."

Perhaps you would be more willing to risk the whole controversy on this text than on any other passage which Universalists are in the habit of quoting to sustain their doctrine; and I confess the argument which is predicated upon this text is more specious than any I have seen attempted from any other parts of the Word of God. You will readily admit, if Universalism cannot be proved from 1 Tim. 2: 4, it cannot be proved from the Scriptures. The argument, in all its strength from this text, is stated thus:

God is infinitely good and therefore wills the salvation of all men. He is infinitely wise, and therefore can devise all the means to save all men. He is infinitely powerful, and therefore can give universal efficacy to the means of his grace; therefore, all men will surely be saved.

This is the argument in its full strength, and it is the most specious argument of which the system is capable. If any part or portion of your evidence will bear a careful, logical, and critical examination, this is the passage, and this is the argument. Well, now, to this argument I object,

1. That it overlooks the fact that moral agents are governed by the law of persuasion, and not by the law of physical force. God governs the physical universe by the law of physical force. The earth rolls round on its axis and performs its yearly circuit round the sun; the sun rises, shines, and sets, and all the plan ets move and fill the appointments of their Maker's will, by the law of physical force, and hence in their movements there is no moral action-no sin—no virtue. But when we enter the mor

al government of God, we find moral agents possessing the power of choice, governed, not by physical force, but by persuasion. Here an infinite will of pleasure and infinite physical force may be resisted by the volitions of moral agents; and, as a matter of fact, clearly beyond all dispute the pleasurable will of God, despite of his infinite power, (which cannot consistently with the nature of his moral government be brought to bear upon the volitions of moral agents,) is successfully resisted millions of times every hour. It is true God can, by an act of his infinite will arrest the progress of sin. He can, by a nod, blot the moral universe out of existence, and roll the waves of teternal oblivion over men and angels; or he can strike down the freedom of the human will and control henceforth the actions and affections of man by instinct, or by the physical omnipotence of his own will. But in the latter case man would as truly cease to be a moral being as though he were annihilated. He would be governed by force, and hence would be neither blameworthy nor praiseworthy. Let his acts be what they might, he himself would be neither righteous nor wicked. But,

2. I object to the Universalist argument drawn from 1 Tim. 2:4, because, as the logicians say, the argument proves too much, and therefore proves nothing. It proves [1] That there never was any sin or misery in the Universe. Let me illustrate. Carry yourself back to the morning of the creation.The earth, sun, moon and stars are ushered into being and hung on the pinions of gravitation. God is about to crown and complete the great work by the creation of man. The angels of heaven and the sons of God, as they look down from the windows of heaven upon the sublime and august scene, begin like Modern Universalists to speculate upon the future. Say they to each other: "The beings now to be created in the bright image of their Maker and crowned lords of this beautiful world, must be uniformly and universally holy and happy ; for God is infinitely good, and must therefore wILL their holiness and happiness. He is infinitely wise, and can, therefore, devise the means. He is infinitely powerful, and can, therefore, render the means uniformly and universally efficacious; ergo, the earth will be a world of Universal bliss." But" the brother's blood" of the first murderer, crying from the ground to heaven for vengeance, would speedily unravel this sophistry and overturn the strongest pillar in the temple of their Universalism. [2] The argument upon which you so much depend will prove that all men are Now holy and happy. Let us see.

God wills the holiness and consequent happiness of all men NOW. There is no better way of ascertaining the WILL of a Lawgiver than to consult his laws. The laws of God require all men to be holy-he now commands all men every where to repent. This then is his will. Well, he has infinite wisdom and can therefore devise the means. He is infinitely powerful and can, therefore, give certain, uniform, and universal efficacy to these means, ergo, all men are NOW holy and happy.

Thus you see your argument proves too much. It is therefore unsound. When carried out it contradicts the experience and observation of all men in every age of the world. As a matter of fact no man in his sober senses can deny that God's law is an expression of his will of pleasure, and that wherever and whenever his laws are violated, there his will is successfully resisted. This is done many millions of times every hour; and every instance in which moral agents have, during the history of our race, violated the will of God as expressed in his laws, may be regarded as so many unanswerable refutations of this specious and most sophistical argument in favor of Universalism. Is it not so? Yours as ever.

LETTER XIV.

My Dear Sir:

Having in my previous communications, shown the doctrine of Modern Universalism to be unphilosophical;-and having also examined the scriptural evidence, upon which you depend for the support of the system, and found it to be" wanting," I now propose to turn over one more page of this controversy, and read up to you some portion of the direct scriptural testimony in favor of the doctrine of a judgment to come.— But before I proceed to an examination of this testimony, I will make a few preliminary remarks, designed to prepare your mind for this investigation.

1. It may be well to remember, that if but one passage of the Word of God can be found, which, by fair construction, expresses or necessarily implies the doctrine of future retribution, that doctrine is fully established; for the truthfulness of a