1 
 
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 A 
 
 IALOGUE 
 
 
 BETWEEN THE 
 
 Confession of Faith 
 
 > ' IN THE 
 
 • t. j « 
 
 * 
 
 Presbyterian Church, 
 
 • # 
 
 i 
 
 V •* ’ *1^ • V AND A 
 
 PREACHER IN THAT SOCIETY, 
 
 WHO HOLDS THE DOCTRINE OF AN INDEFINITE, OR 
 
 # 
 
 Universal Atonement. 
 
 t 
 
 Who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord f~He 
 that hath clean hands , and a pure heart ; who hath 
 not lift up his soul unto vanity , nor sworn.deceitfully . 
 
 Psalm 24* 
 
 Printed in 1814 
 
 * * 
 
 4#&i 
 
 / 
 
A DIALOGUE, &c. 
 
 * 
 
 
 r Confession. It grieves me to the heart to hear 
 you pervert my testimony and doctrine after you have 
 with all the solemnity of an oath, professed at your 
 Licensure and ordination that you received and adop¬ 
 ted me as holding and teaching the truths of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Preacher, I do not consider my profession at 
 
 my Licensure and ordination, in the style of an oath* 
 
 * ' 
 
 Confession. You solemnly professed that you 
 sincerely received and adopted me as containing the 
 system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures , and 
 upon this ground you promised to study the peace, 
 unity and purity of the Church . If you did not un¬ 
 reservedly adopt me in your heart you, like Ananias 
 and Sapphira, were guilty of lying to the Holy 
 Ghost : there was an implicit* appeal to God in the 
 solemn profession and promise which you made.—- 
 You stand chargeable with something in the shape of 
 perjury in a two-fold respect: 
 
 1st.—You professed a falsehood ; for in the act 
 of adopting me, you had some exception in your mind, 
 and mental reservation is not admissible in such so¬ 
 lemn professions. 
 
 2d.—You violated promises which you made, to 
 the Church, to God, and to the public. 
 
 You have therefore by this false profession, and 
 violation of promise, deceived the Church of God,, 
 
and in the court of Heaven, you stand guilty of lying 
 to the Omniscient Spirit, and a violation of your min¬ 
 isterial vows. * 
 
 Preacher. But it wa3 understood that [ made 
 some reserve when I was licensed and ordained. 
 
 Clnfession. II you expressed yourself as ma¬ 
 king a reserve or reserves, the Presbytery, indeed, 
 partook of your sin, and are with you responsible for 
 the consequences. The Presbvterv had no newer to 
 give indulgence in such cases : it is as much bound 
 by law as an individual : it is a mere organ of the So¬ 
 ciety vested with power to license and ordain only 
 according to given forms of government ; the con- 
 
 * 
 
 Doctor Doddridge in speaking of subscription to the 
 Articles of Faith in the Church of England, which is of 
 the same nature with the profession which Presbyterian 
 preachers make at their ordination, introduces the follow¬ 
 ing under the head of perjury : 44 Great care ought to be 
 taken that we subscribe to nothing that we do not firmly 
 believe. 55 But the Clergyman says, 4 * if we have reason 
 to believe that it is not expressly declared that he who 
 imposes subscription, does not intend that we should 
 thereby declare our assent to those articles, but on- 
 Jy that we should pay a compliment to his authority, 
 and engage ourselves not G.penly to contradict them ; we 
 may in this case subscribe what is most directly contrary 
 to our belief; or that if, we declare our belief, in any 
 book as (for instance) the bible, it is to be supposed, that 
 we subscribe other articles only so far as they are con¬ 
 sistent with that ; because we cannot imagine, that the 
 law would require us to profess our belief of contrary pro¬ 
 positions at the same time.’ 5 
 
 To this equivocation the Doctor gives a silensing stroke 
 when he remarks; 44 But subscription upon these princi¬ 
 ples seems a very dangerous attack upon sincerity and 
 public virtue, especially in those designed for public 
 cfRces . >y —Doddridges Course of Lecture, 
 
spiracy of Presbytery with you, in pretending to test 
 the doctrine which you held, by me, is a flagrant act 
 of imposition upon the Church and the public. The 
 want of honesty and fidelity in the Presbytery, will 
 neither justify you, nor yet atone for your crime. 
 
 In pretending to act as a minister in the Church 
 uoon my system you are a false witness, disturber of 
 the unity and peace, and a corrupter of that purity 
 which l have been studious to maintain among all the 
 people that have tried me, and proven me, and found 
 me worthy of their confidence. 
 
 Preacher. But though I solemnly professed 
 that I received and adopted you, as containing the sys¬ 
 tem of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, I am 
 still free from the charge of falsehood in this profes¬ 
 sion ; for an indefinite or general atonement which I 
 teach and preach is not denied bv your system, 
 though not contained in it. 
 
 Confession This indeed is one of your evasions, 
 and the cunning craftiness which it evinces, proves 
 
 * Respecting subscription to religious articles, a cham¬ 
 pion for truth in the Church of England says ; “ Edward 
 was too sincere a Christian to s gn what he did not be¬ 
 lieve ; a species of prevarication reserved for the more 
 accomplished ingenuity of after-times ; and which bids 
 fair to end in the externadon of all religion from amongst 
 
 US. 
 
 
 Tofilady , i. 53. 
 
 Witness (says the same writer) the Assembly who 
 drew up the 33 Articles, to which Mr. Wesley has, In¬ 
 deed, over and over again, set his hand: but with the 
 same simplicity and Godly sincerity (2. Cor. i. 12) which 
 seem to have actuated Dr. Reid, Dr. Oswald, and Dr. 
 Beattie, when they subscribed to the confession and cat¬ 
 echism cf the Westminster Assembly.” 
 
 Tofilady , V. 6, P. 1 10$ 
 
} r ou to be capable of all that insincerity and falsehood 
 of which I charge you. 
 
 If I should only assert in my various chapters that 
 Christ died to redeem the elect, the people of God, or 
 those who are effectually called and saved, and that in 
 his obedience and sufferings, he wrought out a right¬ 
 eousness and made satisfaction for them, would not a 
 proper rule of construction induce candid minds to 
 understand me as excluding from this redemption 
 those who are not by me pointed out as sharers in it i 
 So I have taught in my rules for the right understan¬ 
 ding of the commandments—Quest. 99. 4. Where a 
 promise is anntxed K the contrary is included . and where 
 a threatening is annexed the contrary promise is annex¬ 
 ed. Should any one take it into his head to say that 
 man would die though he had not eaten the forbid¬ 
 den fruit, and alledge that he did not contradict the 
 Scripture, it would be just like the assertcrs of a gen¬ 
 eral atonement saying they do not contradict the 
 .cor.f-ssion. 
 
 Upon the ground of system, my simple assertion 
 that Christ died for the elect, would preclude the 
 universality in the redemption or atonement for 
 which you plead, had I not used any exclusive ex¬ 
 pression ; but to shew that I am pointedlv opposed 
 to your generalism and indefinition upon this subject, 
 and that you have not so much as a place to set the 
 sole of your foot upon in my confines, I will here 
 state niv doctrines in my own words ; 44 Those of 
 'mankind that are predestinated unto life , God. before 
 the foundation of the voorld was laid , hath chosen in 
 Christ unto everlasting glory T —Cohf. chap. iii. y. 
 ( The Scripture) who hath saved us and called us with 
 an holy calling , not according to our works y but accor¬ 
 ding to his own purpose and grace, which was given 
 
us, in Christ jcsus , before the xvorld began —2. Tim. 
 
 1 . 9 . 
 
 Here I teach that those who were chosen in Christ 
 are the same persons who were predestinated un¬ 
 to life, they were contemplated as the objects 
 for whom he made the atonement In his pur¬ 
 pose, God selected them, and they are saved agree¬ 
 ably to his purpose, and the favor of God secu¬ 
 red to them by the redemption or the atonement, or 
 the reconciliation which Christ had engaged to make 
 r for them before the world had an existence. This 
 election and redemption of human beings did not take 
 place in consequence of the foresight of faith in the 
 the creature ; but is indeed, the cause why many of 
 the iace of Adam are made the subjects of faith. 
 
 Again in chapter III. VI —My words are ; <c As 
 God hath appointed the elect unto glory , so hath he -— 
 foreordained all the means thereunto . Wherefore , 
 they who are elected , being fallen in Adam , are re¬ 
 deemed in Christ—neither are any other redeemed by 
 Christ—hut the elect only” (Scripture) “ I pray not 
 Jor the worlds bat for them which thou hast given me $ 
 for they are thine— John, 17. 9. Here is, 
 
 First —Appointment to glory : 
 
 Second— Those who are thus appointed, are re- 
 t deemed by Christ that they might obtain the end for 
 which they were appointed : 
 
 Third —No others redeemed by Christ : he paid 
 his obedience and suffering as a ransom, or propitia¬ 
 tory sacrifice for those who were elected exclusive of 
 all others : 
 
 Fourth —Those were given to Christ as objects of 
 his Father’s Grace when he undertook the work of 
 redemption : 
 
 Fifth— therefore did not make intercession for 
 
any other ; of course the atonement was not made 
 
 lor others. 
 
 I am aware (said the Confession) that some of 
 your generalizing preachers who wish to make use of 
 my name to give you greater weight and interest in 
 the churches, and among the people attached to me, 
 attempt to avail yourselves of a distinction, which 
 you fabricate, betwixt the thing signified by an atone¬ 
 ment and redemption ; by this stratagem and play 
 upon words, you vainly imagine and venture to say* 
 you do not contradict me when I affirm— Neither are • 
 any other redeemed by Christ — hut the elect only 
 Had I said neither are any other atoned for by Christ; 
 but the elect onlv, would not the sense be the same? 
 Certainly it would. u An atonement is something 
 done which removes the offence and reconciles par¬ 
 ties at variance and that something under the one 
 name and the other* means the mediation of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Farther, (added the Confession) I have told you in 
 the same chapter, section VII, that, “the rest of 
 mankind. God was pleased according to the unsearcha¬ 
 ble counsel of his own will, zvhereby he extendeth or 
 withholdetli mercy as he pleaseth — to pass by , arid to 
 ordain thnn to dishonor 8? wrath for their sin”. Here 
 let it be observed, that I do not say, the rest of man-^ 
 kind shall be passed by when an application of redemp¬ 
 tion might be actually made to them, (which is the 
 scheme generalists) but God was pleased in the 
 counsel of his will, when he formed the plan of re- • 
 demption, to pass them by, and withhold mercy from 
 them. I must be understood then as limiting the sa-* 
 tisfacticn made bv Christ to the elect, and not exten- 
 ding it indefinitely* and leaving an open door for the 
 supposition that Christ died in some sense for the 
 rest of mankind. 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 This will still more fully appear to be the doctrine 
 which I teach, by my eighth chap, which treats of the 
 mediator : (Sec. 1st.) There I have said that u God 
 did from all eternity give a people to the Mediator , to 
 be his seed , and to be by him redeemed\ called justified, 
 sanctified and glorified. But according to your doc- 
 *tirne the whole of Adam’s race was redeemed, i. e. 
 the obedience and sufferings of Christ w r ere rendered 
 for them, so as to make a general atonement, and 
 ^then after this atonement was made upon a general 
 scale, Christ would only call, justify and glorify a 
 part ; and though you consider the application of re¬ 
 demption* the work of the Spirit only, I cor.s der it 
 the work of Jesus Christ, and teach that he is a pro¬ 
 phet, priest and king, in the execution of which offi¬ 
 ces he completes the salvation of those for whom he 
 was made under the law in a state of substitution— 
 Your general redemption and partial application, 
 places Jesus Christ in the atitude of “ The duke of 
 Alva, who having given some prisoners their lives, 
 refused them food saying, he would grant them life, 
 but no meat.” And they famished to death . 
 
 In Chap. VIII. Section, 5, I again teach that w The 
 Lord Jesus , by his perfect obedience , and sacrifice of 
 himself—hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father ; 
 
 ' andpurchased not only reconciliation , but an everlast¬ 
 ing inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, for all those 
 zvhom the Father hath given unto him Here you 
 w may see a finished salvation, secured by the obedi¬ 
 ence and sacrifice of Christ : justice fully satisfied-— 
 reconciliation, and an everlasting inheritance in Hea^ 
 ven purchased. What more is wanting ? 
 
 I hope your tender conscience, pious zeal, and 
 honesty will not feel molested by my old fashioned 
 words in Cap. VIII. Sec. 8, where I say 3 that u To 
 
 B 
 
all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption f 
 he doth certainly and effectuality apply and communicate 
 the same . Does the doctrine of your general propitia¬ 
 tion, which you have set up in my chuches, possess 
 that Romish virtue which affords licenses to break, 
 faith, violate covenant!, and solemn promises pledged 
 
 your ordination or licensure, because lam a Pro¬ 
 testant ; If so, I have no security in any form of ob¬ 
 ligation which I can lay upon men of your principles, 
 that my doctrine shall be preserved uncorrupted, and 
 taught in their genuine purity, and the unity and 
 peace of the church weded to me shall be maintained: 
 she may be rent, and torn in pieces by the internal 
 instrumentality of her professed friends. 
 
 But as I do not admit the maxims of holy fraud* 
 practised by the votaries of Anti Christ, I must yet 
 trouble you with a quotation from my eleventh Chap. 
 Sec. 2, 3, & 4. 44 Those effectually called are justified 
 
 by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ 
 unto them— Christ by his obedience and death did fully 
 discharge the debt of all that are thus justified , and did 
 make a proper , real, and full satisfaction to his Father s 
 justice in their behalf . God did Jr email eternity , de¬ 
 cree to justif y all the elect ; and Christ did, in the full¬ 
 ness c) time die for their sins , and rise again for their 
 justificationT 
 
 Christ did all this for the elect, and God decreed 
 it from all eternity. Now why do I sav that he did 
 it for the elect, if I am to be understood as admitting 
 that he did also for the rest of mankind ? Besides 
 what is done by Christ must infallibly procure par¬ 
 don and absolution from sin, with respect to ail those 
 for whom it was done : for it is a proper, real and full 
 satisfaction, and fully dischargeth the debt of sin.— 
 The properties arid virtue of this mediatory act of 
 Christ, leave no room for supposing it was done for 
 
sny, but those who are saved. Such as die under the 
 weight of their own sins are treated according to the 
 merit or demerit of their own conduct, under the ob¬ 
 ligation and justice of the law. 
 
 The Confession called the attention of his opponent, 
 to the XXIXth chap. Sec. 11. where he uses ttie word 
 ♦propitiation in the same limited sense that he does 
 redemption : The Popish sacrifice of the Cross, as 
 they call it , is most abominably injurious to Christ s 
 cne sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sim of 
 *the elect . Why should I have said the sins of the 
 elect irl had considered the propitiation as universal? 
 Besides being learned in the original languages of the 
 Scripture, and the word being taken in the sense of 
 a covering, I well knew that the propitiation did not 
 serve as a covering to the sins of the persons of the 
 non-elect from the sentence of the law : For he that 
 believeth not is condemned already , and the wrath of 
 God abideth on himP John indeed says that Christ 
 is the propitiation for the sins of the whole xvorld — but 
 he says that the whole world lieth in wickedness, and 
 in the Revelation that the world wondered after the 
 beast; but in the one case and in the other the whole 
 of mankind is not included : he could only mean that 
 very many of the human race lay in the wickedness 
 *■ of nature , and many of the world were devoted to the 
 beast. And all my able friends in commenting upon 
 this and similar Scriptures, explain the latitude of 
 expression, as designed to correct the contracted no- 
 r lions of the Jews, who imagined that all the favors oi 
 God should be restricted to their own nation. 
 
 The Larger Catechism being in company with the 
 Confession, and having always been a fellow-laborer 
 and v/itness of the same truths which he so faithfully 
 testified, was much disgusted at the unrighteous and 
 hypocritical pretentions of thi3 preacher of a genera! 
 
t 12 ] 
 
 atonement and partial application—not so much for 
 maintaining that doctrine, if it was his belief ; but for 
 teaching and propagating it in defiance of, and in op¬ 
 position to the venerable Confession, under whose 
 auspices and in whose name he had his standing as 
 a teacher and as a preacher. 
 
 The mulish obstinacy which he also discovered, id 
 
 r 
 
 alledging that his doctrine did not contradict the sys¬ 
 tem of the confession, when the opposite appeared to 
 be so evidently proven, excited the catechism to pro-; 
 pose to the preacher, the following question ; (9, 59,) 
 gt Who are made partakers of redemption through 
 * Christ p 
 
 When disdaining the slippery answers of Mr. In¬ 
 definite, the Catechism, himself, replied in the follow¬ 
 ing emphatic manner: “ The redemption is certainly 
 applied> and effectually communicated , to all those for 
 whom Christ has purchased it, who are , in time , by 
 the Holy Ghost enabled to believe in Christ according 
 to the GospelV 
 
 At this plain dealing of the Old Catechism, the 
 Preacher fetched a deep groan, and having assumed 
 the sanctimonious air, which, in times of old, accom¬ 
 panied the priests in fabricating holy frauds, replied, 
 that he was truly hurt at such extreme rigidness, that 
 he was sincere, and his own conscience before an in¬ 
 visible judge, justified him in preaching the gospel 
 after the manner of a universal redemption and 
 partial application of its benefits—that he held a \ 
 much as the confession did, God designed to save but 
 the elect. 
 
 Confession. You are hurt at our rigidness, and 
 so are the votaries of Anti-Christ. Does a well di¬ 
 rected conscience permit men to make false-profes- 
 sions, and violate solemn promises, as you have done 
 iu the case of your ministerial vows and subsequent 
 
L 13 3 
 
 conduct ? Remember when you appeal to the invisible 
 Judge, he is a being that will not lie, and must of 
 course abhor your duplicity. According to my friend 
 the Catechism, cm the ninth commandment, u You 
 are from the heart , sincerely, freely, clearly , and fully, 
 to speak the truth , and only the truth , in all things 
 whatsoever—and to keep lawful promises, and forbid¬ 
 den to violate them 
 
 By coupling together your general atonement, and 
 my doctine of election, you give a perverse view of 
 my system, and set the a tributes of Deity at variance 
 with each other. Th* satisfaction rendered bv Christ 
 (jousav) is universal ; of course justice is universally* 
 satisfied ; but divine goodness and mercy refuse their 
 aid to promote this universal good contemplated in 
 redemption. Thus you give the appearance of stub¬ 
 born and unreasonable dissenters to these amiable 
 perfections of Jehovah, and the appearance of iniquity 
 to to the conduct of God himself. 
 
 Preacher. You quite misunderstand me; and 
 take the subject in a wrong light. 
 
 Confession. Are you sure that you understand 
 yourself, and that your ideas are sufficiently luminious 
 to give light to others ? 
 
 Preacher. Christ died to repair the breach 
 which sin had made in the divine law, and to glorify 
 God. 
 
 Confession. This indeed is one way of expres¬ 
 sing the mediation of Christ somewhat friendly to 
 gencralism, because it abstracts the subject, from the 
 immediate idea of the salvation of sinners, and co¬ 
 vers it with a cloud, that bewilders your own mind, and 
 enables you to launch out into the wild fields of infin¬ 
 itude, in which you take scope by the use of words* 
 without knowledge. But sir, I wish you to define 
 
[ 14 ] 
 
 your ideas, that yourself and others may understand 
 what you say and mean. 
 
 Preacher. I mean what I said. 
 
 Confession Well, then I must endeavor to as¬ 
 certain your meaning. You seem to compare the 
 lav/ to a wall, in which sin has made a breach , and 
 the act of redemption by our Savior, to that of a raa* . 
 son or mechanic, who would build up the gape, or 
 breach, and the wall is thereby made again complete. 
 By this act of reparation the proprietor of the wall is 
 glorified. v 
 
 Here the effect of sin is taken in the general, and 
 the sinful agents who committed sin are left out of 
 sight, as though God had nothing to do with the sin- 
 tier, nor yet the mediator in repairing tile breach. 
 
 By such delusive forms of speech you shove in, 
 your doctrines of a general atonement, and impose 
 upon the ignorant, who get lost in the deception of 
 your expression. Taking this view of your subject, 
 you think yourself prepared to sav, that though there 
 be a general satisfaction rendered to the law, that 
 does not suppose that God designed to make an ap¬ 
 plication of it to any but the elect. 
 
 Such a dark delusion of words, is more suitable to 
 the wily stratagems of the ministers of Satan, than to 
 an honest minister of Jesus Christ, in addressing the * 
 gospel of Salvation to poor sinners. Christ came in¬ 
 to the world to save sinners—to seek and to save that 
 which was lost—to purchase the Church of Gzcl with 
 his own blood — to lay down his life for his sheep—for * 
 <as many as the Father hath given him—he gave him¬ 
 self for them , that he might redeem them from all ini¬ 
 quity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people. 
 
 For the salvation and reconciliation of this people, 
 Christ repaired the breach which they had made in 
 the divine law, (to use your own expression) and they 
 
are by this medium justified and acquitted from all 
 sin. Therefore, those for whom he substituted him¬ 
 self, in obedience to the law, and as many as he re¬ 
 presented, and those onlv, shall be saved. 
 
 It is true that Christ Jesus in this work of salva¬ 
 tion glorified God ; but it is not by doing away the 
 effect of sin in the abstract, or in a general sense ; but 
 by maintaining and satisfying the rights of the law, in 
 the case of those who become the subjects of grace 
 *and mercy: As to others who die under the con¬ 
 demning sentence of the law, they sufficiently mani¬ 
 fest the power of God, and the perfection of divine 
 justice, by their suffering. 
 
 Preacher. Well, but did not Christ magnify 
 the law and make it honorable ? 
 
 Confession. The law could not really be made 
 
 * 
 
 any greater or less than it is, by any obedience to, or 
 violation of it : for it must truly remain the perfect 
 law of God, though all intelligent agents should vio¬ 
 late it ; but when God saves sinners from punishment 
 by mercy, Christ’s obedience to the law for them, 
 shews in their case the high estimation in which Je¬ 
 hovah holds his righteous law : in that view, the obe¬ 
 dience of Christ made it honorable. 6( Can a man be 
 ^profitable tin to God , as he that is wise may be profitable 
 unto himself P Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that 
 thou art righteous ? Or is it gain to him that thou ma «■ 
 kest thy ways ferfect P (Job, xxii. 2. 3.) What if some 
 7 did not believe P Shall their unbelief make the faith of 
 God without effect (Rom. ii. 3.) 
 
 Preacher. But Christ made an atonement of in¬ 
 finite value, and it is therefore equally applicable to 
 ail sinners, whether God designed to save them or 
 not Here I have you fast: for you cannot deny but 
 what the value of the atonement is infinite, and would 
 
C 16 ] 
 
 serve, if applied, to save every individual of the humas 
 race ; it is therefore general or indefinite. 
 
 Confession. And will you not be candid enough 
 to acknowledge, that the use which you make of these 
 premises, would extend the atonement to the salvation 
 of Lucifer and his legions, as well as cover the human 
 race universally ? 
 
 Preacher. That I dont know : for Christ did 
 not appear in the nature of angels. 
 
 Confession. Jt makes no difference according to > 
 the ground of your inference, in what nature he ap¬ 
 peared : for you draw your conclusion from the i/ 2 - 
 finite value of the atonement. Will you say that it 
 is impossible for the son of God to make an atonement 
 for the sin of angels, in any other nature but their 
 own ? If y’ousay so, you limit his power, and like¬ 
 wise the extent of the atonement, and your argument 
 of course evaporates, and will not support your doc¬ 
 trine, were it not confutable in any other way. 
 
 This, indeed, is the most honorable retreat which 
 men in your situation hold, and you establish a kind 
 of strong hold here, when you are forced into the 
 light of my system, in order to prevent a discovery of 
 the repugnance of your scheme to my doctrine. 
 
 But, sir, said the Old Confession, 1 have through 
 blood and persecution maintained my testimony—* 
 been attacked by formidable enemies, and wounded 
 in the house of my friends—I have witnessed very 
 insidious attempts on both sides of the Atlantic, to ^ 
 pervert and corrupt my doctrine : it is, therefore, a 
 yain thing, after so great experience, to think of im¬ 
 posing upon me by a little artifice of words. 
 
 If you mean that the atonement is of infinite value 
 to those who are saved bv it : that is true. If vou 
 
 J * J 
 
 mean that the virtue of it infinitely secures the peace 
 ?»nd favor of God, and the sanctification and happi- 
 
C w 1 
 
 ness of those, for whom Christ made it, that is like¬ 
 wise admitted. But if you mean that the value of it 
 infinitely extends to all sinners, without exception, 
 and that in that extension, it serves as a covering from, 
 divine wrath, why are they not all saved ? Here the 
 fact stares you in the face. 
 
 * If you say that the intrinsic value of the atonement 
 does not cover sin, so as to secure justification with¬ 
 out some qualities, or condition on the part of sinners, 
 you contradict the notion of its infinite value : for in- 
 ^finite value set in opposition to sin, as a saving or 
 justifying power, must certainly supersede the ne* 
 cessity of conditions on the part of the creature. In 
 proportion as you extend the atonement where it is 
 not productive of effects adequate to its nature, you 
 subtract from its infinite value. 
 
 In a word, according to your notion of redemption, 
 it is ridiculous to to speak of the infinite value of the 
 price laid down for the ransom of sinners, for you hold 
 that it has not merited the graces of the Spirit by 
 which the soul is fitted for glory, and that these gra¬ 
 ces are sovereign gifts, not at all, to be considered as 
 purchased for sinners in the redemption : if the ran¬ 
 som does not possess the intrinsic virtue of procuring 
 all grace for the glorification of those whom it res~ 
 %pects, it cannot be infinite ; and if it does possess that 
 intrinsic value, all whom it respects must be saved. —» 
 Here you are reduced to a dil mma, and either sup¬ 
 position must prove equally fatal to your scheme. 
 
 ^ Preacher. Let me now illustrate my doctrine 
 of a general redemption by a comparison, and you 
 will see that it is quite reasonable. Suppose captives 
 in a state of hard serviture, or prisoners in a dungeon, 
 and that a friend laid down a price for their liberty 
 which was saiisfactorv : hut when this satisfaction is 
 
 C * 
 
[ 18 1 
 
 rend - red,.and their freedom announced to them, they 
 refuse to accept of deliverance, being degraded and 
 debased in their dispositions, so that they prefer sla¬ 
 very to freedom, and to the privileges of the commuity 
 to which they were formerly attached. Is not this 
 the case of sinners when the gospel is announced to 
 them, and the}’ refuse to accept of salvation and a 
 3avior ? 
 
 Confession Truly, the conduct of those captives 
 supposed, mav be considered as similar to that ofip 
 sinners when the gospel is announced to them ; but 
 let it be remembered, that this gospel of salvation 
 has not been preached, or made known to all men, 
 and that there are large portions of mankind who 
 know no more about it than the beasts that perish. 
 u Faith cometh by hearing , and hearing by the ward 
 of God ; and how .shall they hear i without a preacherV 
 Again, though the unreasonable conduct of sin¬ 
 ners, in refusing the offers of the gospel, may bear 
 some resemblance to that of the captives, the com¬ 
 parison by rto means illustrates the redemption made 
 by Jesus Christ, but rather ohs ures it : for it leaves 
 out of view the complete provisions of the redemp¬ 
 tion of sinners. Christ cures the diseases of sin in 
 ibe mind——he has become wisdom and righteousness 
 to his people, and makes them willing in the day of 
 his pow’er : the power and virtue of redemption aro 
 employed in delivering those sinners, for whom it 
 was made, irom the folly of unbelief, and the domin • \ 
 ion or sin ; hence, it is said, that he gave himself to 
 redeem us, (i. e his people) from all iniquity, and to 
 purity them to himseih When Christ takes away thn 
 ston\ heart, and gives the heart of flesh, and writes 
 his law in the minds of sinners, he cures the mad di. 3 - 
 oncers oi the mind, and enables them to set a proper 
 
r is ] 
 
 value upon their true interest. This is ah done by 
 virtue of the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all 
 sin ; and it is in vain to talk of the redemption of 
 sinners when these effects are not realized. 
 
 Preacjier. But if the atonement be not made 
 for all, without exception, the gospel offer cannot be 
 •sincerely made to all. 
 
 Confession. It is really curious, to hear a man 
 like you, who holds the doctrine of predestination and 
 election, make this objection : For when Isay that 
 God did unchangeably ordain xvhatsoever comes to pass, 
 —may not the same be said of all other things which 
 are required, but are not decreed? The agency re¬ 
 quired of man, and the ordination of God, are two 
 distinct and disconnected objects. Therefore, tho > 
 the atonement be only made for a particular number, 
 that number is actually interested in it, according to 
 the nature of second causes. These second causes 
 are the means appointed in the word, to be used for 
 exciting men to act faith upon Chi ist ; and all men 
 have assurance given them, that when they act faith 
 upon Christ, the savior died for them, and they stand 
 justified in the account of God. In agreement with 
 this view of the subject, I teach,'that by divine ordi¬ 
 nation, however absolute in itself, <c Violence is not 
 'offered to the zvill of the creature , nor is the liberty , 
 cr ccntincrencit of second causes taken aw an , but rather 
 established; Chap. iii. 2. Tet nothing is to God, 
 contingent or uncertain ; Chap. ii. 2. If this objec¬ 
 tion have any validity, it must stand fully against 
 your own system : for I understand you do not con¬ 
 sider redemption, as made with a design in the divine 
 mind, that the non'elect shall be saved by it. 
 
 Freaciier. Bat I find that my manner of preach¬ 
 ing the gospel, is more blessed, than your old view of 
 
E 20 ] 
 
 the subject ; therefore, God is better pleased with 
 mv form of doctrine. 
 
 Confession. By this boastful remark, you only 
 give evidence of the vanity and weakness of your 
 own mind. Those who preach redemption by Anne 
 Lee, and many other enthusiasts, in the ravings of 
 their follv, speak the same language. 
 
 Preacher. The majority of the members in our 
 Presbytery, hold to a general atonement, and par¬ 
 tial application of it ; and we have the testimony of a* 
 late divine, from the East, who has become one of 
 our body, that we are the most learned and harrrto- 
 nious set of men, that he has ever known, collected in 
 one Presbytery. 
 
 Confession. It is no wonder that vou have got¬ 
 ten so ample a testimony from an Eastern divine, 
 %vhen you have received so much of vcur divinitv 
 from the same Hopkinsian source. 
 
 You have, indeed, reported to Synod, that the 
 churches are in a state of harmonv, though you know 
 that a number of the ministers in your Presbytery, who 
 hold to my doctrine on redemption, very seriously 
 differ from yGU on that subject ; and that the intel¬ 
 ligent part of your congregations, who have correctly 
 adopted my system, cannot be satisfied with your 
 mortar, however smoothly it is made, by which you 
 attempt to daub their understandings. Truly, the 
 Presbyterian congregations, who are taught in my 
 principles, and are wedded to them, must, in tamely* 
 submitting to this generalizing syste m of the atone¬ 
 ment, and the arguments which are connected with it f 
 be very much like what Old Jacob savs of one of his 
 sons: “ Issachar is a strong ASS ) couching dozen be - 
 7i tweetwo burdens* And he saw that rest was good, 
 and the land that it was pleasant ; and bowed hie 
 shoulders to bear."— Gen. 49. 14. 
 
1 
 
 [ 21 ] 
 
 The congregations couch down between the two 
 burdens, of violated ordination vows, and the obtru¬ 
 sion of a strange doctrine, instead of my legitimate 
 doctrine, to which they are wedded : they, like the 
 ancient Jews, upon the mountains of Judea, go after 
 strange vanities ; but the people think rest is good, 
 they bow their shoulders to bear, and are converted 
 into Strong Asses. A number of the ministers in 
 the connection, though they do not hold the same 
 r doctrine themselves, considering that rest is good, 
 give into this passive obedience, and become strong 
 asses likewise, couching down between two burdens. 
 Their exhortation is to bear and forbear—they plead 
 up charity—style the difference between me and 'hese 
 corrupters of my churches, in considerable shades of 
 difference—and affect not to understand them—that 
 they are too minute to be noticed by minds shaped to 
 grasp the great essentials of religion ; but they should 
 remember, that he who is not faithful in that which is 
 little, will not be faithful in that which is great. 
 
 Though Ananias and Sipphira thought it was, but 
 a small matter to keep a little of their property out 
 of the common stock, and tell a harmless littie lie 
 about it too, it was not so deemed Dy the Holy Spirit to 
 whom their fraud was naked. 
 
 When the little political forces of an obnoxious par¬ 
 ty in a church are united, with the Juke- warmness and 
 easy indifference of other members—with ignorance 
 7 and want of discernment—with the influence of cau¬ 
 cus and private misrepresentation, together with the 
 milk and water temperature of some men’s moral 
 views, it is as difficult to obtain a redress of errors in 
 the courts of the church, as to resist the tide of selfish 
 policy in the court of St. James. In reflecting upon 
 such religious swindling, the honest ecclesiastic can¬ 
 not but exclaim : 0 my soul 3 come thou not into their 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 secret; unto their assembly mine honor be not thou uni - 
 ted* < ' «•. :y |1| - 
 
 Preacher. These are hard savings Who can 
 bear them ? 
 
 Confession. Those who give occasion to these 
 sayings, ought to remember the obtrusive nature of 
 their own conduct, and that the liberties which they,* 
 take, are intolerable to my faithful friends and ad¬ 
 herents. Do they not whisper about to the elders of 
 congregations, and others, that all the leading charac-r^ 
 ters in the church, are oftheir sentiments, and by this 
 means, disgrace the general assembly, who have re¬ 
 quired that the professors in their late theological in¬ 
 stitution should be put under a special oath ot strict 
 and literal adherence to my system, in teaching the 
 students of divinity ? 
 
 If the legitimate councils cf the church do not 
 make some satisfactory expression of their true and 
 faithful adheranoe to my system, I may sav with the 
 certainty of phrophecy, what Mordicai said to Es¬ 
 ther, w’hen she hesitated about an interferance in be¬ 
 half of the injured Jews. u If thou altogether hold - 
 cst thy peace , at this time , then shall there, enlargement 
 and deliverence arise to the yews Jrom another place ; 
 but thou , and thy father s house shall he destroyed 
 Esth. 4. 14. * 
 
 The whole tribe cf Amalgamators, cannot.? persuade 
 the true hearted man, who holds to my doctrine, 
 that an atonement made in a general sense, where the ^ 
 salvation of its pretended objects is not comtempia- 
 ted, and by which the Deity conceals himself in a noc¬ 
 turnal cloke cf vengeance, to give the prete 3Ek t ° f j us- 
 tice to the condemnation of sinners, is the same with 
 the atonement which I teach, as being satisfactory for 
 
 * Gen. 49 6. 
 
a-1 those for whom salvation was made, and effective 
 of their reconciliation. 
 
 •The Preacher affecting an aversion to controversy, 
 •took his leave of the company, and departed. 
 
 After this I observed, that a gentleman came iijto 
 the room and attached himself to the company, dres¬ 
 sed in a very singular garment, of various colors.—- 
 From his conversation, you would not have known 
 whether he was a physician, lawyer, politician or 
 Preacher ; he seemed to himself to be somewhat con¬ 
 siderable, and master of every subject—he confronted 
 the vtnerable confession, by a Pelagian work, styled, 
 the phylosophy of the human mind inrespect to religion , 
 which with an authoratative air charges those who hold 
 the doctrine of a particular atonement, with being con¬ 
 sistent in inconsistency—and the adoption of a three 
 pound ten plan of atonement—and curtailing the death 
 oj Christ , of its infinite merit. See pa^fc£78. 
 
 Confession. Truly sir, (said the 
 Scriptures speak of the atenen 
 for the salvation of sinners, a, 
 uable blood of Christ. The co? 
 phy is not able to break the Scripture 
 ridiculous the language of divine fflKj££ration. 
 may citeth** aut^^to prove that the new birth 
 
 inculcated by Jesus in John 3d, signifies the 
 
 resurrection of the i leave this famous 
 
 in the airy castles of 
 hen a writer like this one, 
 makes an empty parade of learning and demonstration, 
 and only, beclouds his subject by an effusion of high 
 sounding words, without connectiou of idea, or force 
 of argument, and disgusts his reader in every page, 
 by an accumulated repetition, he merits no attention. 
 
 ^ssion) the 
 id down 
 
 javaj 
 phi io: 
 
 nor to rend: 
 
 You 
 
 production to glori 
 jhis own imagin 
 
 .\-o 
 
 * See Page 2Q5 ; &c» 
 
* Such are well described bv the Apostle, when hesa^ 
 Clouds they are -without water , carrie about of winds— 
 racing waves of the sea. foaming out: heir own shame- 
 spots in your feasts of charity—w ndering stars, 
 whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever* 
 
 • Jk 
 
 • ■ ; *V - " {>. 
 
 THE END.