: "\ i X, I B R J± R Y I OF THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case ««->£— 'L2 Division / _' Shelf 3jb-7-Z- ' cct ' 9n Book THE vIVERSAL RESTORATION EXHIBITED IN A SERIES OF DIALOGUES BETWEEN A MINISTER AND HIS FRIEND. COMPREHENDING The Subftance of feveral Converfations that the Author had with various Perfons, both in America and Europe, on that interefting Subject* WMERRIV THE MO*T FORMIDABLE OBJECTIONS Are dated and fully anfwered. BY EL II A NAN / WINC HESTE R. THE FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED, WITH NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY, BY W. riDLER. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. BURTON, NORTH STREET, CITY ROAD, And fold byTsuLON, No. ico, Houndfuitch; Parsons, .No. 21, Paternofter-Row ; Scarlett, No. 3.48, Strand; And may be had of the Bookfellers in general. 1799, IROM THE CRITICAL REVIEW For September 1788. c OUR Author, with great candour and extenfive knowledge of the fubject, difcuiTes the doctrine of Eternal Punifh.nents. He thinks that there will be a period when every finner will be rc- itored to the Divine favour. This doctrine is perfectly coniiitent with the benevolence of the Deity. It is fupported by many wife and good men; nor is there any reafon to fwppofe it will be perverted to ferve the purpofes of vice and immorality. Mr. Winchefter, in his defence of it, fhews much charity, much hu- manity, and no little fhare of learning. The Fifth Dialogue alone, which relates to the defig.i and tendency of puniihment, might furnifh feme little foundation for a difference of opinion ; but in a queftion fo greatly above human attainment, the mind would be loft in the enquiry, and not greatly benefited by the difcuflion. The queftion of the Univerfal Reiloration muft be examined, as Mr. Winchefter has done, by the word of God, as revealed at different times, and particularly in the gofpe].' N. B. A confide rable part of the Fifth Dialogue, being printed in the Lectures on the Prophecies, is left out of this edition, and the remaining part is included in the Fourth Dialogue. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THE gofpel of the grace of God is in itfelf fo ami- able, and has fome thing in it io attracting and engaging, that, wherever it has come, it has gained profehtes, and commended itfelf to the hearts and con- sciences of many. It bringeth falvation to all men; but few, in comparifon, have feen this, fo as cordially to fall in with and confefs it, when by all men is to be understood every individual of the human race. Some indeed, in every period of the Chriftian church, have feen and acknowledged this; but, by one means or other, this excellency of the gofpel has been hid from the eyes of the generality both of its preachers and hearers. It has been too good news for fome — and too bad for others; and the objections they have railed a^ainft the univerfality of its grace, and the JiiMe/l ex- tent of its efficacy , and mercy, have been man/ and great. The moil formidable and important of them, I have endeavoured to obviate in the following Dia.- ues, which, in the fear of God, and with a view to his glory, I now commit to the public eye, aiming to commend myfelf to every man's ccnfcience, in fight of Gcd. They are the refuit of real convei tions with various characters, and perform of diffei cafts and complexions, both in my native country an J in this; and, 1 truft, have already had their ufe. Sen- fible I am writing for a wife, a good, and an all-power- ful Matter, (whole fmiles are heaven, and whole frowns are hell) I am ca\y in leaving all with him. a *i The IV. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The reader will eafdy perceive 1 have all along ftated the doctrine of the Uuiverfal Restoration in fuch a way as to imply and require a change of heart, and tho- rough alteration of mind and fpirit. from what we are by nature, and as wc come into the world. He will fee, that without a fecond and fpiritual birth, he can have no happy place in the kingdom of Chrift or of God. All muft be fubjeft there — none rebellious. It is to be lamented, feme have fo blended this noble and uni~ verfal view of the gofpel -grace, with their own mix- tures and mifconceptions of it, as to have caft an odium upon it, at firft view, and have occafioned many to ftumble at the very threfhold of their enquiries. How it fhould ever enter into the minds of any, that the gofpel was a libertine, lawlefs fcheme, is hard to con- ceive; or why they fhould even wifh and defire it, is as unaccountable, if they rightly underftood the nature of the falvation it brings. Thefe, then, have funda- mentally miftaken it, and made it another thing : but, muft the true, the real, and full gofpel be hid and con- cealed from mankind, becaufe men of corrupt minds will and do abufe it ? Upon the fame principle, then, the whole Bible muft be concealed 5 fince all its diftin- guifhing truths and doctrines are liable to this, and, by iome or other, have unceafmgiy been abufed. He, fure, muft have a deceived heart, that hath turned him afide, who is not as willing to be ruled as he is to hzfaved by Chnft : indeed, it is a main part of his falvation, if he did but know it. Sin is a difeafe, and muft be eradi- cated to make the patient happy. If fin is not re- moved and deftroyed, as well as pardoned and forgiven, the finner is but half faved. - Christ the Savjour, and not Christ the King ! Where has he fuch a irevealed character as this? And yet, from the talk and writings of fome men, and from the licentious fpi- rit of the times, one is almoft tempted to fuipecl whe- ther PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. V. ther fuch perfons think any higher of Chrift, in his regal office than the Jews of his own day did; who, notwithftanding their bowing the knee, and hailing him as their king, at the fame time crowned him with thorns, fmote him on the head with a reed, difrobed him, and in other refpeits, treated him with fuch con- tempt and abufe, as clearly (hewed it was all fham and grimace in them; mere titular and mock royalty :-.-:- they called him king) without intending him the leaft Subjection. The prefent work flands clear of all this ; and the doctrine it defends is made evidently appear to be a doclrine according to godllnefs ; and to have no fuch loofe and dangerous tendency ; but, on the contrary, fo to dilate and ennoble the hearts and minds of thofe who receive it as to promote and bring forward every hoiy, happy temper and practice, beyond any other view of the gofpel whatever. In the third 1)iaHg 1 have particularly laboured this. Did I, like fome, maintain that there was no future punifhment at all, it might, indeed, create an alarm ; but when I throughout the whole infill upon perfonal holinefs, and obedience to the law and gofpel of Chrift, from faith and love which is in him ; and have proved, that a ftrain and force muir be put upon the doctrine itfelf, if it be otherwife : the charge is frivolous and groundless, and the fear childiih, to fay no worfe of it* Future and proportionate punifhments there will be ; 1 every tranfgreffion and difobedience (unlefs mert c now repent and believe) Shall hereafter receive a juft * recompenfe of reward.' The current doctrine o£ endlefs mifery deftroys this rule of equity and propor- tion; for though it contends for degrees of future punifhment, yet it makes the duration the fame, whe- ther men fin more or lefs; and this has wrought un- happily upoa fome, who ha\e, in confequenee, fin. a \ VI, PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. as it were, with a cart-rope, and gone to the full length and ftretch of iniquity. There is fomething in the Idea of equity ?.n&jujllce that commends itfelf even to the hearts of the wicked and difobedient: with them punitive juflice is approved, an] has its happy effects ; while a fuppofed vindictive spirit in the Deity has only tended to petrify and harden tliem. In the fcriptural character of Jehovah, Love is the fir ft and leading attribute of his nature, and Mercy the laft per- fection he exercifes ; whereas, in man's defcription of him, as dealing with his rebellious creatures", ftern yiiftice brings up the rear, and rejoices over Love and Mercy ! The doctrine of endiefs mifery is liable to this objection, how many foever may feem to lie againfr. its being reJiriSUve only. But why publiih at all fuch a doctrine as this ? The queftion comes too late, as it is already known, and made public by' authors of various names, in a more formal and explanatory way. Mine is properly a de- fence of it, through the fuppofed diniculfies attending it — a Supplement to what others have but flightly and fuperficially touched upon. And this I have pubhfhed with various views. 1. That the doctrine itfelf might not fufFer, and be thought ill of, from the falie and fpurious mediums through which it has appeared, and for want of a more full and proper vindication of it. 2. To remove, as far as may be, thofe bars and ob- ftructions that have, in fome meafure, blocked up the waj, ar.d (hut up the minds of many, trom fe full and fa. r an equity into the gofpel as it deierves, and as they iuight otherwife have given it. 3. To correct the acidity of Reprobarian Leave ti y and to prevent (if poflible) thofe deipondencies and dejections of mind, which too frequently ariie from a ftrong and iecret fufpicion, that Chzift (tied only for the fins PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. VH. fins of a certain few, excluding all the reft of mankind from any faving benefit by his death. 4. To harmonize Scripture, and make it more con- fident with itfelf than it feems to have been yet made : alio, to conciliate and coalefce contending parties; bringing them hereby nearer to one another in love and afFedtion ; and fo to that unity, peace, and concord, fo devoutly to be wifhed. 5. To undeceive and co iuftice to tbe Englifh reader, who, when he takes up the infpired volume, is ufed to affix no other idea to the words eternal, ever* lofting, for ever, for ever and ever, than a Irrictly endlcfs duration, when either happinefs or mifery are annexed to them. 6. To eftablim and confirm the faith of fome, who have feen reafon to believe this dcdlrine, and w T ere fimply coming into it; but finding few, as yet, in the full belief of it, and hearing the continual outcries of its adverfaries, without being able, at firfr. view, to an- fwer them, they have got weak and wavering about it, and inclined to neglect it, for want of more and fufTi- cient evidence, as they fuppofe. Universal Salvation, feen through thcfe diffi- culties, is an antidote to all thefe evils; and it is eafjr to fee, that if this be admitted as a Scripture-truth, they mull at once fall to the ground. I would not know- ingly deceive, nor be deceived, in a matter of fuch vaftr importance ; nor vet could I wifh mankind to be ig- norant of it, I have, therefore, at the expence of cha- and -popularity with the religious world*- at the hazard of temporal inter eft and emolument, and refufing no other facrffice, in what I apprehend to be the cauie of God and Truth- — come forth as a writing witnefs on this fubject, and a defender of the faith which once I deflroyed. It was with caution and reluctance I came into this view mvfelf, fo that I can bear with others. If Vill. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. If conviction operate on them as on me, we will agree to fay, The evidence and force of truth conflraineth us. While I faw the provifion and falvation of the gof- pel to be only partial, I fo declared and delivered it ; but now it appears- univerfal muft I be filent? c He c that hath ray word, let him fpeak my word faithfully,* faith Jehovah by his prophet. Jer. xxiii. 28. c What i is the chaff to the wheat ? faith the Lord.' Partial redemption and lalvation, under mv prefent views, are the clarknefs and edipfe of the church of Chriii ; Univerfal Rejioration (of all lapfed Intelli- gences, for no other 1 meddle with in this defence) the Sun of Right eoufnefs, {himng in his full ftrength, and in all his ability to faye. I have left no room for any to think, that the fuf- ferings flnners go through for their fins, expiate or make atonement For them, as the fufFerings of Chrift do; neither have I fuppofed they are altogether ufe- lefs, or the endlefs confequence of their fad choice, and the wretched life they have led in this world, and incapable of being fanctified and over-ruled to their good. I have fpoken, I apprehend, as the oracles of God have fpoken on this head; and appeal to you as wife men, judge ye what I fay. Eecaufe a degenerate Church has made a wrong and corrupt ufe of this mat- ter, is there net a right and proper ufe thereof? Con- fidering how fne has corrupted moil of the other truths and doctrines of the gofpel, it is rather a prefumptive argument that this is a truth of it, though ftrangely abufed and perverted by her. Should I be miftaken in this particular, Rejioration itfelf may be true. The blind, but fpiritually-diicerning poet could fee this— l Man fball find grace,. i And ihall not grace find means?' Parudife JLofr ; b, iiu 1. 227, If PKLIACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, IX, If any think otherwife, and are difpofed, in the fpirit of Mofes and of Chrift, of meeknefs and love, to can- vafs the fubjedt further, I have no objection to give them a fuller reafon of the hope that is in me, con- cerning this. In the mean time, I am happy in find- ing fome who have, in ail ages, witneffed this good confeliion; the preient is not without them. And luch is my faith and hope, that when the age of ages fhall take place, full and ocular demonftration will then be given, that none were left without remedy \ nor any one of the now fallen intelligent creatures of God, but what (hall then be ratfed up again ; — not to fink into non-exiftencC) or the gloomy vale of annihilation ; much lefs to be endlefsly mifer able — but to fhine in all the borrowed light and glory of their tranfcendent Head and Reftorer, Jesus Christ: and in one united chorus of praife and thankfgiving, to fing Hal- lelujah to God and the Lamb, without ceafing, and without end ! Blachnan Street^ Southwarky Jun£4, J 788. EDITOR'S PREFACE. TWO large Editions of this book have already been fold; and iince the prefent has been in the prefs, there has appeared anojSjier edition, executed, indeed, in an inferior flyle, but calculated to make the Univerfal Doctrine ftill farther known. No an- fvver has yet appeared in defence of the tremendous doctrine of Endlefs Mifery. The abettors of that cruel fentiment have contented themfelves with voci- ferating threatenings of never-ending damnation upon the Univerfalifts, as Mr. Huntingdon andMr.Thomp- fon; or with a/fe? ting and reajferting the doSlrine of end- lefs fiunifhment, as Mr. Dan Taylor — to whom Mr. Winchefter gave a very able anfwer in his Rejlitation of all Things defended. To the former gentlemen we have returned no anfwer, as their paucity of argument and virulence 6T language make them unworthy of notice. This edition is printed on a type much fmaller than the two firft. The mean^&nd manner of Mr. Winches- ter's embracing the Univerfal Doctrine, which were prefixed to the fecond edition, are here omitted, as I have lately publiihed a Sketch of his Life, in which that is included ; but the Preface to the Firft Edition is retained, becaufe it is a good introduction to the work itfelf, and becaufe it contains good and weighty rea- fons why the full doctrine of divine love ought to be publicly made known. This edition alfo is accompanied with a considerable number of notes, chiefly of a critical nature, and tending KDITOIl o PREFACE. XK tending to corroborate the doctrine which Mr. Win* chefter has delivered. If I had known of any new objections to the Ui\l~ verfal Doctrine which are not noticed in this work, I would have brought them forward, and either attempt- ed to anfwer them, or have confeiTed my inability fo to do ; but as none have, to my knowledge, appeared, I may reafonably conclude, that the fubject, on that fide of the queftion, is exhaufted : for if the advocates of Endlefs Damnation had any thing more to oifer in favour of their fentiment, I have no reafon to believe they want zeal to bring it forward ; much lefs have I reafon to think that their prefent filence proceeds from a confeioufnefs of the liability of their views ; for manv, very many, ferious Chriitiansi otherwife of dif- ferent fentiments, begin to doubt of the truth of the current opinion concerning future punilhment; and the real character of the Deity begins to force its way upon the minds of men : and this ftate of things^ no fecret; the leading men, both among Calvin ills ana Arminiahs, know this fact, and are doing every thing which inte- reft, connexion, favour, or frowns can do, to prevent the threatening evil. But yet I would mew to them a more excellent way — namely, to prove from Scrip- ture, that the following work is not founded in truth : t-hat w^oultfbe the only effectual method to ltop the progrefs of the Uni verfal Doctrine. There is no doubt but the gentlemen alluded to have ability fuffi- cient for the work which I affign them; nothing, there- fore, but the want oi^ evidence on their fide, can, in my opinion, account for their iilence; and I am apt to think, that molt men will judge with me. As for the loud outcry, that the Univerfal Doctrine would lead men to immorality — it has greatly ceafed with XU. editor's preface:. with thofe who have had the beft opportunities of obferving the effects which it has had upon the lives of the generality of its profefTors. No doubt but this, like all the other doctrines of grace, is capable of abufe ; but that the idea of limited punifhment— in exact pro- portion to deeds done— -on the ground of mediation ihould lead to immorality, is hard to prove, even in theory, and the fact is contradicted by experience. The public have decidedly given their judgment of the doctrine contained in thefe Dialogues, by their con- tinual call for them. I dare fay fomebody will gravely tell me, that the judgment of the public is of no value, while the judgment of the church is again ft it. An anfwer to this would lead us to enquire, who is the church of God? and is the judgment of the church infallible? But I avoid entering into fo wide a field, and only obferve, that by the public I do not mean fuch men as walk according to the courfe of this world — they care for none of thefe things; nor yet the fierce and liery bigots of the different parties of Chriftians ; but chiefly fuch men as are poffeffed of the fpirit of the gofpel, and who have long attended to the contentions of Chriifians, but, fick of inconiillency and ftrife, have filently withdrawn themfelves fcejm A ^>ntention, ? and have been waiting in fecret for Pomc^f\#tTier difco- very of the defigns of God to men., in Chrift Jefus, in order to harmonize the word* of truth. A great many fuch there are among different denominations of Chriflians; and not a few, alfo, who do not rank with any denomination. By far the greater part of thofe who have embraced the Univerfal doftrine are perfons of this character— and among fuch it is ftill making a rapid progrefs. The EDITOR S PREFACE. XUI. The fentiment.of endlefs mifery is lofing ground very faft; not that every one who gives up this commences Univerfalift. Betwixt thefe the fentiment of Annihil* at ion — now called Deftruclion — comes in : I look with pleafure upon its progrefs, becaufe I confider it, in re- lation to the other two, juft as I do the Lutheran notion of confubftantiation, in relation to tranfubftantiatiort and a fimple remembrance of the death of Chrift, in the Lord's fupper. And I account for many good men embracing the doftrine of endlefs deftruclion, jull as I Jo for many good men embracing confubftantia- tion, when they had difcovered the error of tranfub- ftantiation — becaufe the full light of truth is more than their vifual powers can at prefent fupport *. But tranfubftantiation, among protectants, has long been call to the bats and the moles, and confubftantiation is haftening after it — a fimilar fate, I apprehend, awaits the fentiments of endlefs mifery and endlefs deftruclion.. W. VIDLER. LONDON, March 31, 1799. * See iioie on this fubjeft p. 176. CONTENTS. DIALOGUE I. PAGJS SCRIPTURAL meaning of the words ever, everlaflin&, evermore, eternal, &c. ... 1 Criticifm on aw®*, aidios 3 Scriptural meaning of the phrafe for ever and ever 9 Criticifm on «$ mmcc. cuuvov, eis aio?ia morion ... 13 Meaning of flWfijnjs, dienekes, ufed in the Epiftle to the Hebrews 14 g The fame expreffions of perpetuity are applied to the Mofaic law, as to the duration of future puniihment 16 The fame word being applied to' the happinefs of the righteous as to the mifery of the wicked, will not prove that awmv, aionion, means endlefs 13 Criticifm on eum,aion, and its derivatives . . ,25 Stronger expreffions are ufed in Scripture to ex- prefs future happinefs than future mifery . 2y Reafons why the happijiejs *of the righteous will Endlefs mifery 'founds u^ivt^»*^hraHp»rine pi two eternal pAiiGiriKS, gbod -atmJewWF . . ^33 Certajn rules. for uryife^imfcig.. thej&eatiiwg of tlfe^ The readinf^ ; • juftifie-a. :.: ? -Vvi:?*^', ^^SRk*£ ;K^ >: - 40 All things are how put under ^itiA,* bmjhall be put under him in a very different fenfe . .42 DIALOGUE CONTENTS, xt, DIALOGUE II. PAGE The * worm that dieth not, and the fire that is 1 not quenched/ explained by other Scrip- tures 45 What the #«•* 0/ agw is 47 Many fires mentioned in Scripture, of which it was faid they Jkall not be quenched ', are now extmct . . , 51 Fires, whofe fmoke is faid to afcend up for ever, long ago extinct . . . . . . . . . 53 Blafphemy againit the Holy Ghoft confidered . 56 The cafe of Efau confidered ....... 64 The great gulph confidered 65 Of Chriit preaching to the fpirits in prifon . . 66 On *?MXW flieol and uor t q, hades ...... 70 Chrift went both to Paradife and Gehenna . . ib. Future judgment and punifliment are mediatorial works . . 76 Cafe of Judas coniidered . 7% That Judas did not hang himfelf ..... 81 DIALOGUE III. The Universal Doctrine cleared from licenci- oufnefs ._ T ._.._., confiftent with Chrif- tian experience .* . . . J 05 The harm^k^Funkers in America are Univer- faliits^* 115 The itrongeit argument, as fome have fuppofed, in favour of endlefs punifliment . . . . 119 The doctrine of limited punifliment more reafon- able, equitable, and productive of better practical effects than the doctrine of endlefs punifliment .»♦....... ISO The xvi. CONTENTS. TAGS The Unlverfal Doctrine chiefly intended for the ufe of pious men 124 Clear fcriptural truths may be unknown to many * good men 127 DIALOGUE IV. Chrift's threatening to the Jews, John, vii. 34. 136 Sodom, Samaria, and Jerufalem are to be re- ftored 138 Promifes and threatenings mult be referred to their proper time of accomplifhment . . , 146 Objection from Job, xxxvi. 18. confidered . . 149 The hope of the hypocrite confidered . . . 1 56 The effects of punifhment when inflicted in dif- ferent degrees 161 Annihilation confidered . 17a Whether fin be an infinite evil .184 Reafons for preaching the Univerfal Doctrine • 100 a FAMILIAR DIALOGUES BETWEEN A MINISTER AND HIS FRIEND, CONCERNING THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS, DIALOGUE I. JFsif.vD. T HAVE taken the freedom to call upon yoi^ ■*" to have a little difcourfe with you concern- ing the doctrine of the Reft oration of all Things, which it is faid you believe ; and to propofe fome objections. Mjniste*. I am happy to fee you, and am willing to difcourfe upon any fubjecT: that may be agreeable ; but I have always made it a rule never to prefs the belief of my fentiments upon my friends ; and I can fafely fay, that, though fuch great pains have been taken by my adverfaries to prejudice people againft me, I have never gone about from houfe to houfe to propagate my opinions ; and I make it an univerfal rule not to intro- duce the fubject in converfation, unlefs denred ; but yet I never have refufed to own my fentiments, when afked, refpecting the matter ; and am ready, in the fear of God, to anfwer any objections that can be B made, DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. I. made, to a doftrine which I believe is plainly revealed in the Scriptures of truth, and appears to me worthy, of Cod. Friext). I ihall firft of all bring to view that grand objection, which is formed from the word eternal or cverlajiing being.applied to a future ftate of puniihment; as in the following paffages : Ifaiah, xxxiii. 14. * The ' iinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulnefs hath furprifed * the hypocrites. Who among us mall dwell with the * devouring fire? who among us ftiall dwell with ever- * la [iing* burnings?' Dan. xii. 2. ' And many of them that ileep in the * dun: of the earth lhall awake, fome to everlqfiing life, ' and fome to ihame and everlqjiirfg contempt.' St. Matt, xviii. 8. ' Wherefore, if thine hand or thy 1 foot offend thee (or caufe thee to offend) cut them * or]", and caft them from thee ; it is better foi thee ' to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having * two hands, or two feet, to be call into ev'erfafting * fire.' St. Matt. xxv. 41. * Then mall he fay alfo unto * them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye curfed > * into cvcrlaftwg fire, prepared for the devil and his ' angels.' Verie 46. 4 Thefe fhall go away into ever- * la/ling punifhment ; but the righteous into Wfc eternal, 4 or ever lofting,'* — the fame word in the original being wfed for both, though varied by the tranilators. * c The Iinners in Zion are (truck with dread; * Terror hath fcized the hypocrites: 1 Who among us can abide this conftiming fire ? 4 Who among us can abide thefe continued burnings?' LOWTH. The Bifhop fuprofes this text to be the language o£ the wicked Jews, while under fearful appreheniions of the defolation of their country by Senacherib. If this be the fenfe — and the context ftrojigly pleads for it — then the words have no reference to future \ imiihment, and we have one pallage lef>>, in our translation, in which the word everlafting is connected with future mifery. The Hebrew word whicli is here rendered ever/ajring is cby gnolam, and lb icily implies hidden ; and, when connected with time, it mean* a liiiicji (but not an eternal) Juration* St. Mark, MAT., r.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION*. 3 St. Mark, iii. 29. * But he that lhall blafpheme 1 againit the Holy (Jhbft, hath never forgiveflefe J but * is in clanger of eternal damnation.' 2 Thef. i. 1, 8, 9. * The Lord Jefus lhall be re* ■ vealed horn heaven with his mighty angels, in flam- c fng lire, taking vengeance on them that know not * God, and that obev not the gofpel of our Lord Jefus * (Thrift: who lhall be punilhed with everla/Iing de* ' lliuclion, from the prefence of the Lord, and from * the glorv of his power.' Jude, 6, 1. ' And the angels which kept not their 4 iirii eltate, but left their own habitation, he hath re- ' ferved in c-Lrrki/iing* chains under darknefs, unto the * judgment o( the great day: even as Sodom and * The Greek word aiJ;^, aidiou occurs in the ftcred canon only in Jude, 6. and Rom. i. 20.— -It is alfo found in Wifdom, vii. 26. The lexicographers give the fenfe cvcrfoftirg, ctcmal\ but that this cannot be the fenfe in Jude Teems clear, becaufe thel'e chains, bow- ever long the fallen angels may be he'd in them, will continue only till the judgment takes place. The word is alfo ufed in a limited fenfe by other Greek writers*, thus Thucydides, Ovfv adtov fxisSotyopav u7rap£iiv, othen aidion mifthophoran uparxein } ' from * whence he expected a perpetual l alary.' This only means afalary during hit life. Thucydides, therefore, ufes the word to exprefs an unknown (though certainly a limited) period. I conceive ai$w>, tidies, to have the fame etymology ab *£>;;, halm — from a, ncga- ti\e, and iJiiy. idein, to ftt\ and that therefore it ligniries un- feen or unknown: Rom. i. 20 where it is applied to the power or" the Deity, it means unknown power, becaufe we fee or know only a very fmail part of God's power. In Jude it mult be unknown ch-uns, becaufe we do not know the duration of that reilraint under vhich fallen angels are, and will be held, before. the awful judg- ment of the great d..y will commence In the Wiflom of Solo- mon, \ii. 26. wifdom is fpoken of as the brightnefs of the unknown light ; or, as Paul f.iys, ; the light which no man can approach onto.' I Tim. vi. 16. Some modern preachers and writers are fo fond of eternal punifh- ments for the wicked, that they have brought forward this word as containing certain proof of the point. It is to be hoped that in future they will be able to dltingu fh between unknown chains and cvcrlajiing chains. The former is the Scriptural exprcflioa, but the latter is net found in the faired pages of the original text. The Syrjac Teitament reads, both m Romans and Jude, cbj/ gnolam y unknown* B2 " Gomorrah, * DIALOGUES OK THE [DIAL, I. * Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, * giving themfelves over unto fornication, and going * after ltrange flefh, are fet forth for an example, fuf- * fering the vengeance of eternal fire.' Thefe texts, all together, form fuch an objection to the doctrine of the Reftoration, that I can by no means believe it, unlefs this can be fairly anfwered, and proofs brought from the Scriptures to fhew, that the words evcrlqjling and eternal ', being connected with the future punifhment of the wicked, do not neceffarily imply endlefs duration. Minister, I am glad that you have fo fully Hated the matter ; and I highly commend your refolution not to believe the univerfal doBrine^ unlefs this can be as fully anfwered, without perverting the Scriptures; and if 1 am not able, with God's afliitance, to remove this difficulty, I will publicly recant my fentiments. But, before I come to give a direct anfvver, I would beg leave to remark how very feldom this word is ufed to exprefs the duration of puhiihmerit. We fhould think, by fome fermons we hear, that ever lafling is ap- plied to mifery in every book of the New Teitament, if not in every chapter. A friend of mine told me, that he was once preaching in Maryland, and after fermon a man came and alked him, of what denomi- nation he was. To which he anfwered, ' A Baptilt.* — * I think,' fays the man, ' that you do not preach * up fo much ever la fling damnation as the Baptiits and * Methodilts among us do.' To which my friend re- plied — ' Everlajiing damnation is a Scripture doctrine.' — * True,' anfwered the man ; ' but fome preachers 4 give us more of it in one fermon than is to be found 4 in the whole Bible.' The truth of this remark will appear, if we confider that St. Luke never ufes the word aiamoy, aionion, or everla/iing, as connected with the mifery of the wicked, in his gofpel ; nor St. Mark but once, and then in a particular cafe only : in the gofpel of St. John it is not to be found at all, in that connection, nor in any of his epiftles: in the account •f the preaching of the apoftles through the world, in the CIAL.I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 5 &ie Bfft age of ChrilHanity, we do not find it mention- ed in that light fp much as once ; no, not in all the fermons, and parts of fermons, which St. Luke has preferved in the book of the Ads ; though the doctrine of cverlqfting damnation is the fubfiance of many modern difcourfes. St. Paul never mentions everla/ting dcjiruc- tion but once, though his writings form fuch a conlider- able part of the New Teftament. Neither are fuch words found in the epifde of St. James, or in thofe of St. Peter; and but three times 'in the gofpel of St, Matthew; and only twice in all the Old Teftament. But was the word cw«»iw, at onion, applied to miferybut orice in the whole Bible, it would deierve a ferious confideration ; and unlefs the force of it can be re- moved by the authority of Scripture, it muft remain an unanswerable objection. But I ihall proceed to anfwer it by bringing an equal number of palfages where the word cverlafitrig is applied to things and limes that have had, or mult have, an end : as in the follow- ing paflages: Gen. xvii. 1, 8. ' And I will eltablilh * my covenant between me and thee, and thy feed. after * thee, in their generations, for an cverlajiing covenant, * to be a God unto thee, and to thy feed after thee. * And J will give unto thee, and to thy feed after thee, 4 the land wherein thou art a ltranger, all the land of * Canaan, for an everlajiing pofleflion, and I will be * their God.' Verle 1:3. ' He that is born in thy 4 houie, and bought with thy money, muft needs be * circumcifed : and my covenant ihall be in your fleih ■ for an everlajiing covenant. ' Here note, that the land of Canaan is called an ever- Iqjiing nolle ilion, and the covenant of circumcifion in their fleih an everlafiing covenant: though it is certain that the land of Canaan, as well as the other parts of the earth, mult be ciillblved or melted in the general conflagration; and circumcifion is now declared null and void by the Holy fpirit; and the ceremony cannot endure to endlefs ages. Of the fame kind are the following paflages: Gen. xlviii. 3, 4. ' And Jacob laid unto Joieph, God Al- { mighty appeared to me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, B 3 < and € DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. r« * and blefled me, and faid unto me, Behold, I will make * thee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of * thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to ' thy feed after thee, for an everlafting pofleffion.' And in the blefling of Jofeph, he fays, ' The bleflings of * thy father have prevailed above the bleffings of mj * progenitors, unto the utmoft bound of the everlafting * hills.' By which, I fuppofe, the hills of the land of Canaan were meant. God faith to Mofes, Exod. xl. 15. ' And thou malt * anoint them (Aaron's fons) as thou didft anoint their * father, that they may minifter unto me in the prieft \s * office : for their anointing fhall furely be an everlajlinY * priefthood, throughout their generations/ Lev. xvu 34. ' And this ihall be an ever la/ling ftatute unto you, * to make an atonement for the children of Ifrael for * all their fins, once a year.' The apoltle declares, that thefe everlafting ordinances were only till the time of reformation, Heb. ix. 10. And this everlafting priefthood of Aaron's fons has ceafed long ago: * For the prielthood being changed, (by ' Chrift) there is of necethty, a change alfo of the law: * for he of whom thefe things are fpoken, pertaineth to 1 another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the * altar: for it is evident, that our Lord fprang out of * Judah; of which tribe Mofes fpake nothing concern- ' ing priefthood. And it is yet far more evident; for * that, after the fimilitude of Melchifedec, there arifeth * another prieft, who is made not after the law of a * carnal commandment, but after the power of an end- * lefs life: for he teftifieth, Thou art a prieft for ever, * after the order of Melchifedec: for there is verily a * difannulling of the commandment going before, for * the w r eaknefs and unprofltablenefs thereof.' Heb. vii. 12-— 18. The whole turn of the apoftle's argument, in this epiftle, tends to prove, that the eperlq/i ing ordi- nance is now no more; and the everlafting priefthood of Aaron and his fons is now abolilhed. Another paflage where the word everlafting is evi- dently ufed in a limited fenfe is Numb. xxv. 12, 13. 4 Wherefore fay, Behold, I give unto him my covenant * of fclAL. I,] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 1 c of peace: and he (hall have it, and his feed after him, c even the covenant of an ever Lifting priefthood. ' If the word ever laftmg intends endlefs duration, hovr mould we be able to reconcile this promife with the total ceffation of the Levitical priefthood? As for the family of Phineas, with whom this covenant of an everlajiing priefthood was made, it was entirely de- prived of the benefit of the fame within the fpace of four hundred years: for when the tons of Eli trani- grelfed the covenant, by profaning it, God fent him word, that, as they had broken it on their parts, it wag entirely, and to all intents and purpoies, diflblved. Read 1 Sam. ii. from the beginning of the 12th verfe to the end of the nth, and from the 2lth verfe to the end of the chapter: and alfo, chap. iii. 11, 12, 13, 14. I will repeat verfe 30 of the fecond chapter, in proof of my point. ' Wherefore Jehovah, God of * Ilrael, faith, 1 faid,- indeed, that thy houfe, and the * houfe of thy father, fhould walk before me for ever; ' but now Jehovah faith, Be it far from me; for them 1 that honour me, I will honour; and they that defpife 4 me, lhall be lightly e (teemed. ' Hophni and Phineas were foon after ilain in one day; and Saul, the King of Ifrael, fent Doeg the Edomite, who fell upon the priefts, and flew fourfcore and five perfons who wore a linen ephod, in one day. ' And Nob, the city of * the prieits, fmote he with the edge of the fword; ' both men, and women, and children, and fucklings, * and oxen, and afles, and fheep, with the edge of the * fword.' 1 Sam. xxii. 19. The whole houfe of Phi- neas feems to have been deftroyed at this time, except Abiathar; and when Solomon came to the throne, he thru ft him out from being prieft, ' that he might fulfil 1 the word of Jehovah, which he fpake concerning * the houfe of Lli, in Shiloh.' 1 Kings, ii. 21. From this time the houfe of Ithamar had the priefthood. It is fo evident that the word which is tranflated ever lofting, cannot, in the nature of things, absolutely ligniiy without end, that I fhould not think it worth while to quote any more paffages in proof of its in- tending 8 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. T, tending age or ages only, were it not conftantly ufed as a great objection againft the Univerfal Reitoration : I ihall therefore in (lance two or three more in particu- lar, in this place, and refer to a great number of others of the fame kind, all tending to prove the fame thing. Hab. iii. 6. 'The everlajlihg mountains were fcattered, 1 the perpetual hills did bow.' The gofpel is called * the evcrlajitng gofpel,' Rev. xiv. 6. } et it mult ceafe to be preached, when it iliall be needed no longer. Jonah faith, ' The earth with her bars was about me * for ever) yet haft thou brought up my life from cor- ' ruption, O Jehovah, my God/ Jonah, ii. 6. But it would be the higheft abfurdity, upon the fuppofition that the word tzhyh leg no/am, here render edj or ever, proper- ly fignifies without end, for him to fay, that his life was brought up from corruption ; and therefore we know that he could not ufe it in that ienfe, becaufe, on the third day he was delivered from his dreadful prifon. There is no doubt but the time that he was there, feem- ed an age; and while he was thus Unit up, there was no intermiffiori to the darknefs and diftreis. that over- whelmed him ; and therefore he might fay, with pro- priety, that ' the earth with her bars was about him for ever,' (i. e. perpetually, without ceffation) during the period he remained in the fifh's belly. But, as it would be a work of much time and labour to mention all the paifages where the word tranfiatedy*?/- ever evi- dently intends only an age, or period, I lhall jult direft you to the following, which you may look over at your ieifure : Gen. xiii. 15. xliii. 9. xliv. 32."---Exod. xii. 14, IT, 24. xxi.6. xxvii.21. xxviii. 43. xxix. 9, 23. xxx. 21. xxxi. 16, H. xxxii. 13.— Lev. iii. 11. vi. 13, 18, 20, 22. vii. 34, 36. x. 9, 15. xvi. 29, 31. xxiii. 14, 21, 31 , 41. xxiv. 3. xxv. 30, 46. — Numb. x. 8. xv. 15. xviii. 8,19. xix. 10. — Deut. iv. 40. xv. 11. xviii. 5. xxviii. 46. — Jofhua, iv. 1. xiv. 9. — 1 Sam. ii. 30. iii. 13. xxvii."l2. xxviii. 2, -—1 Kings, xii. 1.--- 2 Kings, v. 21. ---2 Chron. x. "J, Here T)IAL. I»] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 9 Here are more than fifty paffages where the word rendered for ever intends only age or ages ; to which man}' more might be added. Now, the rule for understanding words is this — "What muji be the meaning of the word in many places, and what may be the meaning in all, is its true fenfe. Frsesiu Although the (ingle word for ever, in thefe pailages, feems evidently to intend certain ifhknown, limited periods, yet, what can you do with thofe texts that fay, the mifery of the wicked fhall endure for ever und ever f Minister. Indeed they are terrible threatenings ; and, no doubt, will be fully executed. Friend. But do you imagine that fuch paffages as the following can intend lefs than endlefs mifery f Rev. xiv. 11. ' And the fmoke of their torment afcendeth * up for ever and ever ; and they have no re it, day nor * night, who worfhip the beaft and his image, and who- ' foever receiveth the mark of his name.' Rev. xix. 3. ' And her fmoke rofe up for ever and ever J* Rev. xx. 10. ' And the devil, that deceived them, was caft * into the lake of fire and brimftone, where the beail * and the falfe prophet are, and ihail be tormented, day ' and night, for ever and ever* Minister. I confefs you have propofed a difficulty, that I fhould judge to be unanfwerable, were it not for the following confiderations : lit, If for ever and ever is a longer time thanyor every which mult be granted, then is there fome proportion between them: thus, if for ever intends an age, period ', or fometimes ages, for ever and ever may intend ages, an age of ages, or ages of ages: but any proportio?i at all between two periods, fuppofes both to have an end, or there could be no proportion. 2dly, I find a time promifed when * there fhall be * no more death, neither forrow nor crying; neither t fhall there be any more pain; for the former things 4 are (or fhall then be) paffed away. And he that lat * upon the throne laid, Behold I make all things new. . £ And 10 DIALOGUES ON THE [dIAL.1, * And he faid unto me, (John) Write, for thefe words 1 are true and faithful. * Rev. xxi. 4, o. 3dly, I think there is fufficient reafon, from the words of St. Peter, in his fecond epiftle, third chapter, 5, 6, 1, 10, 11, 12 verfes, to conclude, that as the earth was once overflowed with water, and became truly a lake of water, "wherein the world of ungodly men pe- rilled, ¥o, by the general conflagration, the fame lhall become literally the lake of fire and brimftorie, in which the wicked fhall be punifhed after the day bf judgment: but I alfo think, that the 13th verfe of the fame chapter, compared with Rev. xxi. 1. Ifaiah, lxv, 11. and lxvi. 22. more than intimates, that the new heaven and earth fhall be created out of the fubltance of the old, diifolved by the fire: that the nc-jo earth lhall no more have afea therein, feems to imply, that in its former itate it had zfea, or why this exprelhon, * And * there was no more lea?' Now, if this hypothecs is right, the following will be the true ftate of the cafe, viz. — The lake of fire is expreflly declared to be c the fe- * cond death/ Rev. xx. 14. The earth, in its burnt, melted, and diflblved ftate, will be the general lake of fire and brimftone, according to the verfes above cited from St. Peter. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, created out of the fubltance of the old, In which there will be no more fea, either of water or of liquid fire ; confequently, the lake of fire, or fecond death, (which are declared to be fynonimous) mull end, and of courfe the punilhment of the fecond death mult then ceafe. 4thly, The fmoke of their torment is to afcend up for ever and ever, and they are to be tormented day and night: but, as the fmoke of the burning earth mull ceafe, when its fubltance is entirely diifolved or melt- ed, and ail combultible bodies are confumed; and as it is intimated in Job, xxvi. 10. that day and nighty lhall come to an end; and in Rev. xxi. 25. it is faid of the New lerufalem. ' And the gates of it lhall not -be < fliut DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 11 * iliut at all 1>\ day, for there (hall be no night there/ For all theie reafons 1 cannot he altogether perfaaded, that their being tormented day and night, for ever and tver y during which time the fmoke of their torment (hall conftantly afcend, is quite equal to endfcfs ttufery; efpecially as there lhall come a time when depth lhall be no more, pain lhall be no more, for rozv lhall be no more, fmoke lhall probably afcend no more, and, per- adventure, nigh lhall be no more.* 5thly, * Tim there will be a revohition of fay and night in the agti fuc- cceding the general judgment, is, I think, very plain From Rev. xx. 10. where the devil, heart, and falfe prophet are faid to be tor- mented day and night ei; ruq aioovx; toy euomov, eis tous atonal ion ai~ onion, to the age of ages. But is there not proof that night literally ffaal! ce?Se? Let the following coniiderations be attended to. — i. Docc, not farknc.fi of every kind, whether fpiritual or materia!, ftand in oppofition to God? c God is light, and in him is no dark- at all. 1 i John, i. 5. Hence he is called < the Father of < lights. 1 James, i. 17. And hence alio the firlr. work of God upon the chaos was to difpel darknefs and reftore l'£ht, Gen. i. 2, 3 And for the fame purpofe does the fpirit of God itiil work in o en in 2 men's eyes, and turning them from darknefs to light ; Aiming into their hearts to difpel their darknefs. in opposition to the god of this age, whofe work it is to blind their minds, and In- volve them in itill greater darknefs. The apoflle, addrefUng thofe who w r ere partakers of this enlightening fpirit, fays, <■ Ye were « ibmerimes darknefs, but now are ye liglit in the Lord.' 2. In the prefent flate, where neither abfolutegood norabfolute evil takes place without mixture, there is alfo a mixture of light and d.irknefs in the revolution of day and night. 3. But in the New Jerufalem {rate, where the fervants of God are totally delivered from mental darknefs, there will be conti- nual light, to the total exclufion of darknefs — - c there fliall be no * -night there.' Rev. xxi. 25. 4. But in the future age of punifhment there will be dill the revolution of day and night— -even to the age of ages ; to inti- mate, perhaps that, however feverely the wicked may be punifii- ed, yet it will by no means be inconfiflent with mercy and love ; but that the Divine fpirit will continue to operate in reconciling iinners 10 God, calling them out of darknefs into his marvellous light, until their darknefs be expelled by his fhining into their hearts; giving them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jefus Chrift, who is the true' fight. And when all fhail be filled with the effulgent ftlory of him who is the image of 12 DIALOGULS ON THE [dIAT.. I. Mhly, But the great reafon of all, why I do not conceive that forever and ever doth certainly intend end/efs duration, is, becaufe I find the words as often ufed for times and periods that muft have an end, as you find them ufed for the mifery of the wicked. You bring three pafifages, which are all that are to be found in the whole Bible, where they are ufed in relation to that fubjecT: ; I lhall now invalidate thofe evidences for ertdiefs damnation, by bringing an equal number of texts, where you will allow the words are ufed in a limited fenfe. Friend. Is it poilible that you can find any fuch pafiages in the Bible? Pray (hew them to me. JfixrsTER. Ifaiah, xxx. 8. ' Now go, write it before * them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be * for the time to come, for ever and ever.'' See Jer. vii. 1 — 1. The 1th verfe is, * Then will I * caufe you to dwell in this place, in the land that I * gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 1 Jer. xxv. 5. ' Turn ye again, now, every one from 'his evil way, and every one from the evil of your ' doings, and dwell in the land Jehovah hath given 4 unto you, and to your fathers, y^r ever and ever. 1 Thefe palfagesare as many, and as ftrongly exprefied, as thofe which you brought to prove endlcfs mifery ; and yet nothing can be more evident than that they cannot intend endlefs duration. — Here thefe periods mull be limited by the great conflagration; and thus (for ought that appears as yet) the mifery of the wicked may be limited, notvvithftanding the ufe of thofe expreflions fb fet forth its dreadful continuance to unknown ages; at leall, thofe words do not necenarily imply, that they fhall never, as long as God lives, be delivered from their fins and confequent fufferings. of the Snvifible God, and the brightnefs of his glory, then God kiinfelf, who is light, and in whom is no darknefs at all, fiall be all in ell : then darknefs, both fpiritual and material, will be intirely deftroyed, and univerfal light and love will eternally prevail throughout the immenie dominions of Jehovah. If DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. t'3 If we were always to read for ever endi we fhould let the Scriptures at variance; and no criti- cifm could ever reconcile them. Try, for inftance, to reconcile Pfalm cii. 25, 26. with Pfalm cxlviii. 6. ' Of 1 old halt thou laid the foundation or* the earth, and 6 the heavens are the work of thy hands. They fhall ' perilh, but thou lhalt endure: yea, all of them (hall ' wax old like a garment: as a vefture (halt thou * change them, and they (hall be changed.'---' He hath 4 alio eftabliflied them /or ever and ever: he hath made 1 a decree which lhall not oafs.' Now, if the words for ever and ever Ggnify v:\tlwut end, then there is a contradiction that cannot be recon- ciled; but only underiland them ages of ages* 9 (as, in- deed, they ought to be rendered) and the whole diffi- culty vanilhes at once. * Hi (tuna a.;xvwv ) eh a'sona aionon, which in our translation *3 rendered for ever and ever, Res', xiv. n. The following note on this phrafe is quoted from S r .onehouie ; p= 194. — < We find this remarkable expreflion in three places of the Ke- * velations: chap, xix. 3. denounced 'upon the great whore: c c xx. 10. denounced upon Satan, the beair, and thefalfe pTophet; 1 and, in the text quoted, denounced upon the worfhippers of the c beair. In the common editions of the Gr&ek Teftament the c reading is, nc rvq aim a; rm auiwwj eis tout qionas ton aionor^ < to the aiom of the aionu But the authority of fuch reading is dif- ' puted, becaufe theie paflages are found in Andreas, Archb.fhop of * Casfarea, as follows, viz. the former two, tig awx aix\xv } cii 1 aiona cionon^ to j/i ay.on of aiom ; the latter, g i? aUova £130*^*5 eiS c aiona aionos, to the aionion aion, which are equivalent, according to 4 Bengelius's computation of the word aion. 1 Andreas wrote upon the Revelations about the latter end of the c fourth century, and doubilels both had and uicd the belt copies * of it. For this and other reafons, (fee Bengeliusf) the collectors < of the various readings of the New Teftament freely prefer the ' reading found in Andreas's copy to that of the uiual editions of c our Greek Teftament^ where doubtlefs we find in many places c the wrong reading. c According to this reading, the punifhment of the w r icked is not 4 threatened' to continue/or the aicn of aions ; but =/; atma azmimv^ i eii aiona aionon, and, which amounts to the fame, r< *Jtora anc v ^, ; cis aiona aioaos } io the aionion aion f in plain Englifh, to the age of dgcu C Suppoft* 14 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. I. Suppofe a perfon Qioulclread Rev. xx. 11. and xxi. 1. ■ And I Taw a great white throne, and him that fat * upon it, from whole face the earth and the heaven 4 fled away; and there was found no place for them. * And 1 faw a new heaven and a new earth; for the ■ firft heaven and the fir it earth were palled away; and 1 there was no more lea;' and mould then lay, Thefe vilions cannot be true, becaufe Solomon hath laid, * One generation paffeth away, and another cometh, 1 but the earth abideth^or ever* Ecclef. i. 4. And God 4 laid the foundations of the earth, that it mould not 1 be removed for ever J 1 Pialm civ. 5. ' The world 4 alio is eltabiiihed, that it cannot be moved,' Pialm xciii. 1. See alio Pialm Ixxviii. 69. and xcvi. 10. What would you think of fuch reafoning.r Juft fo weak mult all reasoning againit the Univerfal Reitoration be from the words for ever, and for ever and ever, being applied to Hates of future mifery, if God has promifed to put an end to them ail, by reconciling all things to himielf, destroying fin, and introducing a new creation, and a itate of univerfal and permanent happinefs: for, if fuch promifes really exilt, and their exiitence can be Cemonltrated, all reafoning againit them muft be \ am and futile. I.::yn. It is certain, that when the word for ever is applied to things of this life and world, it intends a period', but when applied to fpirkual matters,* and things of another world, it muft be endlcfs, according to my judgment; and 1 am apt to think you will lind it fo too. Minister. I am certain, that you will foon be convinced to the contrary. The apoftle, fpeaking of Chrift, fays, ' But this man, after he had offered one * facriiice for tins.Jur ever* fat down on the right hand 4 of * The Gieek word in Heb. x. 12. is fcnvExnc, dicr.ekcs; it occurs only in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, cba . • . l.vi. 3. x 14. which places let the reader co fult. 1 he word is derived from hx, tftf, through, and m t, exte/ijive, prolonged. It is twice render , eel continual 'y\ yet evidently witU a view to a certain pericd, as DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL REST OR ATrON. 15 ! i .'God; from henceforth, expedling till his enemies made his footftooL' Heb. x. VI, 13. You to notice, that Chrift's luting down in the heavens, on the right hand of God, is not a circum- (tan id, or the things of time; and he is to (i r or ever; and vet that period, which, according to your hypothefis, muft be endlefs, is expreil- lv limited by the facred w ritings : the heavens have re- ed him '' until the : Cons, or ages) of refti- ' tution of all things, till the beginning, and *■ not the ending of thole times) which Goa hath lpo - ' of by the mouth of all his holy prophets iince the v\ e in chap. x. i. (acrifices were offered continually dfl A >(hic ceconomy. Chap. vie. 3- Melchifcdec is a prkft . If Melcbifedec be Chriii, as I fuppofe, tbei be of no longer duration tl I: - lion of which the great work of the reconciliation of all th ■ fmiihed there can no long i be an] exerc fe of'his prieil . : fee Pfalra ex. 4. which Montanus liter, lly 1 Us U Jtculum fupct verb um meum f Mctchifeicc, ' thou art a * upon my word, O Mtlchifedec."' Chap. x. 12. c He for eve 1 continually, fat clown on the right hand of G^d. 1 Sirting at the right hand of God denotes ayrar-, rather than a place, and isexprei- iive of the power of Cbrift during his mediation, whether he be a heaven or on earth; but when he (hall have fin idled his whole work, by fubduing all things then cometh the end, when he (ball deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. 1 Cor. xv. 24—- 28. So -that his fitting at the right hand of God is for a period, though the longed of all periods. Chap. x. 14. < By one off-: 1 he hath perfected for ever (continually) them that are fanctifu -—Even here hwvenne iicnckcSy muft mean that period which bounded by the reign of Cbrift, for revelation doeSnot extend be- yond that: and what will take place afterwards, we are no wbc e told, except that « there (hall be no more curfe,aad that theFathci < (hall be all in all.' As the number of Scriptures which are tranflated/W ever, ei sr- lajtingy &e. is very great, it is probable that Mr. Winchefrer did not confult them all in the original ; for hefeerm. to have reasoned on Heb. x. 12. as though the Greek had bees eumr, afan< A little inaccuracy feems alio to have dipt him here, as though ChriiTs fitting on the right hand of God was defensive of p. ace rather ihdiijhtc. This by no means affects die genera] argument; >et Mr, Marfom has aflumed great importance from the difcovery, See his book on Detraction, vol. ii. p. 14, C 2 ■ beton.' 16 - DIALOGUES OX 1 lii [dIAL.1. -n.' Acts, iii. 81- And die whole New Tefla- ment teacheth us to wait for the coming of jefus from en; (1 Thef. i. 10.) which would be highly ab- furd, upon the fuppoiition that he is always to abide there; which yet he muft, if the wordybr ever, as ap- ..ate, intends endlefs dure Friend. 1 confefe 1 never obferved this b- i you know of any parage in the In. • :>- tfds for evi r certainly in- limited duration f For I obferved, that all the in- ltances you brought were from the Old Tell ts; Hcb. i. 3. ' But unto the ion he one, (in diftinclion from the throne of ■:■;) O God, is for ever and ever; 1 vet we nad (iCor. xv. 24, 28.) of the end, when he (hall delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Fa- ' ther; when he (hall have put down all rule, and all and power: then (hall the fun alio himfelf : unto him that put ail things under him, that ; may be ail in ail.' end-. But when Chrift threatened finners with ting fire, ever la/ting punifnment, and eternal dam- nation, did not his expreilions naturally convey the Lqea of endlefs miferyf And may not the fon of 'God be aceuieu of duplicity and deceit, if he did not mean to denounce puni/hment without end? And therefore, if we believe his words to be true, as moil certainly they are, we muft rejecl: the doctrine of the Restoration, which puts an end to a itate which is cahed everlafting by the mouth of truch itfelf. — Are you able to anfwer this fairly? Minister, If I am not able to anfwer this objec- tion, which you have dated in the ftrongeil manner, I allure you I will confefs myfelf in an error, and mall thank you, as an inftrument, for bringing me to know it. The fame objection that you make a gain it the Reito- ration, the lews make againft Chrifi and his religion; for they argue thus: * God is an Unchangeable being, f and he declared, in the molt folemn manner, that the * ordinances of the Levitical difpenfation Ihould be ever* ' lafiing, and the anointing of Aaron's ions Ihould be an ' evcrlajiing DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. XI 1 everlajfmg priefthood throughout their generations; 1 ( fee Exod. xl. 15. and Lev. xvi. 34. ) and therefore we 4 mult reject the Meffiah of the Chriitians, as an impof- * tor; inafmuch as he pretends to aboliih thofe ftatutes 1 which God hath called everlafting, and to let himfelf 1 up as a prieit, contrary to the exprefs promife of" the ' Lord, who cannot lye, nor repent that Aaron and 1 his ions ihould have an everlafting prieithood; and 1 therefore, if this is the true Meffiah, God meant to 6 deceive us when he promifed thefe everhzfling bleff- ' ings and privileges, which we mult fuppofe were 4 only for a tone, if Chriftianity be true; therefore we 1 reject it, as being mconfiitent with the promifes of - God*.' It is evident, from this view of the matter, that the Jews reject Chri ft and his religion upon as good ground as you reject the Univerfal Reftoration, and perhaps better; for you have nothing to plead again ft the Re- ftoration but fome threatening^ of punilhments, which are called ever/aping, or eternal, in our tranilation; but they plead exprefs promifes of the ever/aping continu- ance of their church-Hate and worihip, in oppoiition to Chriftianity. But if it be true, that both the He- brew and Greek words, which our tranllators have ren- dered by the EnglifK word ever la/ting, do not intend endlefs duration, but a hidden period or periods, then the ground is changed at once, and the Jews have no right to object againit Chriliianitv, becauie God promifed a continuance of their temple worihip for a certain ao- e , or hidden period — nor the Chriitians to reject the Uni- venal Reftoration, becaufe God hath threatened the rebellious with fuch dreadful punilhments, which mail endure through periods, exprelfed in the fame terms. * That the Jews did reafon thus againfl: Chriftianity is more thrn probable, from the accufation brought againfl: Stephen, which runs thus: < We have heard him fay, that this Jesus of Nazareth /hail « dettroy this place, and Jhall changt the iufloms ixhkk Mojcs ddi- i-otrciui: Afts, vi. 14. The Jews thought their law would never be changed, for the fame words which deicribed its duration were wild alio in relation to the being of God. C3 U 18 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL.I. It is indeed confeffed by fome of the mofl learned Jews, that they have no word in their language which abfo- lutely iignihes endlefs duration', and therefore they can only argue the endlefs continuance of any thing from its nature, and not merely from the words rendered for ever, or everlafiingi And if this is the truth of the cafe, (as who can deny it?) then neither did Jehovah ipeak to deceive the children of Ifrael, when he pro- mised them bletlings of fuch long continuance, which have ended long ago, and which are never to be re- stored by virtue of that covenant which he made with their fathers when he brought them out of Egypt, but by the new covenant, which he will make with them, when he lhall return them to their own land ; nor did the fon of God fpeak to deceive when he threatened the wicked with thofe puniihments, which (hall not end till they have tmfwered the purpofes for which itfeems reafonable to believe they /hall be inflicled, viz. to bring them down, and humble their proud and flubborn hearts; which (hall be done during the periods of his kingdom, before he fhall have delivered it up to the Father, that God may be all in all. Friend, But if I iliould grant that the word #;- wiov, aionion, doth not, even in the New Teftament, always fignify endlefs duration, yet what would you gain by it, lince it plain that Chrilt hath fet the happi- nefs of the righteous and' the mifery of the wicked on$ againft the other, and hath expreffed the continuance of both by the fame word cuuvwv, aionion, in St. Matt, xxv. 46.? Here the punifhment of the wicked, and the life of the righteous are both declared to be &wu» 9 eionion, or. eternal, witkout diftinftion : now, can you fhew me any paffage of Scripture where the fame word is applied to two different things, whole existence is not the fame, or the time of their continuance not alike ? Minister. Fairly ftated! And if it be not as fairly anfwered, it lhall be looked upon as an infuperable difficulty. But happily there is a paffage, in Hab. hi. 6. where the fame word is ufed for very different thiqgtf : DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 19 things: ' He flood, and meafured the earth ; he be- * held and drove aiunder the nations ; and the ever- * Lifting mountains were (battered, the perpetual hills * did bow: his ways are everlafting^ In our tran Na- tion the mountains, and the ways of God, are called ig, and the hills perpetual', but in the original, the word ir gnad is applied to the mountains, and the word cshtf gnolam to the hiils, and the ways of God. But whether we argue from the original, or from the translation, it makes no difference : the queftion is, Are the mountains or the hills eternal in the fame fenfe in which the ways of God are? If fo, the earth muft have exifted coeval with the ways of Jehovah, and tke hills and mountains muft never be removed while his ways endure; and, as his ways can never be deftroyed, the abfolute eternity, not of the earth only, but of its prefent form, its mountains and hills, muft be inferred, contrary to liaiah, xl.4. xliv. 10. — Ezek.xxxviii. 20.-— 2 Pet. ili. 1, 10, 11,12.— Rev. xvi. 20. xx.-ll. Nay, even in this very text, the ways of God are fpoken of as being of a different nature from the mountains, which were f cotter ed, and the hills, which did boii\ Thus, no folid argument can be drawn from the ap- plication of the fame word to different things to prove that they lhall be equal in their continuance, unlefs their nature be the fame. Thus, in the Greek New Teftament, in Fvom. xvi. 25. we read of the myftery which hath been kept fe- cret, from x'P^k cuemoiq, chronois aionzois, and, in the 26th verfe, we find, that it is now made known by the com- mandment Td ouuvu3 0e*?, ton aioniou Theou. But mult it be argued, that, becaufe bwmok, aioniois, is applied to times, and aupmr, aionion, to God, therefore ti/ues are as ancient as Jehovah, and muft continue while he ex- ifts? The abfurdity of this is too glaring. Our tranf- lavors have rendered y^ovou; euuvtotq, chronois aioniois, ' Jince the world began,' inftead of ' eternal tunes;' and have thereby fliewn their judgment to be, that words can- not change the fubjefts to which they are applied, but the 20 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL.7, the meaning of the words muft be determined by the nature of the fubjecls. In Jer. xxviii. 8. the word \zzbyb legnolam is ufed in the Hebrew; but the tranilators did not think them- felves obliged to render it 6 from everla/iing, 1 or ' from * eternity \ as it would have been highly abfurd to have read ' eternal prophets/ or c prophets which were from * eternity? and therefore have rendered it ' of old J though it is a ftronger word than ijr gnad, which they have traniiated ' eternity' in Ifaiah lvii. Id. Many other instances of the like nature might be brought; but thefe are fully fufficient to convince any unprejudiced mind, that nothing can be concluded in favour of endlefs pimifliment, from the word owmqv, ai- onion, being ufed to let forth the duration of it, as well as the duration of that life which our Saviour promifes to the righteous. But upon the fuppofition that our Saviour intends no more by the ' life eternal,' in the 46th verfe of the xxvth of St. Matthew's gofpel, than he doth in the 34th verfe, by the 6 kingdom prepared from the foun- * dation of the world,' (which it would be hard to prove) then an anfwer might be given, without all this labour, in this manner, vi%. that as the Father hath appointed Chrift a kingdom, fo he hath alio appointed his faints a kingdom; (fee St. Luke, xxii. 29, 30. Rev. ii. 26, 21. iii. 21.) but as the kingdom which the Fa- ther hath given to Chrift, as Mediator and as Judge, fhall end, when he fhall have fubdued all things, and put down all rule, and authority, and power; (fee 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, 26, 21, 28.) fo, of confequence, that kingdom, which is given to the faints or overcomers to fubdue the nations, fhall alio end, when they fhall be all fubdued, and brought to fubmit. But as the glory of Chrift fhall not be lejfened but increafed, when God fhall be all in all, fo the happinefs of the faints fhall be fo far from ending, or being dimini/hedaX that period, that it fhall then arrive at the ftimmit of per- fection ; but fhall never clofe nor decreaie while Jehovah endures. Some DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 21 Some time ago, a woman came ro hear me, and I happened to mention in myfermon, that Chriit's medi- atorial kingdom was called everlafting, or a»w«ov, aioni- but that it mu/l conic to an end when the kingdom ::d be delivered up to the Father, when he mould have put down all rule, and all authorit} , and power. . r fermon Ihe was aiked how ike liked ; lhe ari- fwered, * Not at all: he faySj The everlafling kingdom ' of Chrift fhall end; and I never heard of fuch a 4 thing before in all my life; and I am fure it mult be * contrary to Scripture.* The perfon who aiked her told her that there, was fuch a text fomewhere, lhe could not tell exacTly where to find it. But the wo- man periiiled in it that there was no fuch text, and went away full of prejudice. Now had this paifage of Scripture been in the book of the Revelations, it would not have been lb much to be w r ondered at that lhe had never heard of it; but when we contider, that this is expreiied in that part of the xvth chapter of St. Paul's fir it epiftle to the Corinthians, which is in the burial fcrvice, what fhall we fay ? Thus, if Chrift's kingdom ffiali end, much more Sa- tan 's! If rewards, as fuch, fhall ceafe, how much more punijlnnenis ! If the everlafling kingdom of the faints, which they fhall pollers for ever and ever, (fee Dan. vii. 18, 21.) ihall end, or be fwallowed up in that kingdom of boundlefs love, where God lhall be All in all, how much more lhall all fm, pain, forrow, and death ceafe, and have no more a name in God's creation ! Friend. But fuppofmg the doclrine of endlefs viifery to be a truth, how would you expect to find it ex- preiied in the Bible ? Minister. I mould have a right to expecl, in the firft place, that there would be no promifes in the Scripture to the contrary ; no fuch paifages as thefe — ' For I have fworn by my (elf, the word is gone out of * my mouth in righteoufneis, and fhal not return, that * unto me every knee fhall bow r , and every tongue ' iliall fwear.' Ifaiah, xlv. 23. Mind well, lvlry TONGUE 22 . DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. U tongue shall swear — Swearing allegiance, as every civilian will tell you, implies pardon, reception, anil protection on the part of the king, and a hearty renoun- cing of rebellion, true fubjeclion, and willing obedience OQ the part of the rebels.- Kings of the earth may be deceived, but God cannot; he will never accept of any feigned fubjeclion ; and therefore all that fwear ihall fwear in truth and righteouihefs; fo mall rebel- lion ceafe, and difobedience be no more. The apoflle St. Paul feems to quote this paffage of Scripture with fome variation in his epiftle to the Phi- lippians, chap. ii. 9, 10, 11. where, fpeaking of the fuf- ferings of Chrift, and the coniequences of the fame, he fays, ' Wherefore God alio hath highly exalted him, * and given him a name which is above every name; * that at (or in) the name of J ejus every knee lhall * bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and * things under the earth ; and that every tongue ihould * confefs, that Jefus Chrift is Lord, to the glory of God ' the Father.' * Now this confeffion appears to me to imply a willing fubjeclion to the authority of the Saviour, brought about by the operation of the bleifed Spirit; for the fame apoltle faith, ' Wherefore, I give you to * underftand, that no man, fpeaking by the Spirit of * God, calleth jefus accurfed; and that no man can * fay, that Jefus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghoft. ' 1 Cor. xii. 3. Then the argument, thrown into a fyllogiftical form, will run thus : If every knee (hall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, then lhall all rebellion ceafe. But the firft is true, therefore alfo the laft. If every tongue lhall confefs, that Jefus Chrift is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and no man can fay, that [efus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghoft, then lhall the Holy Ghoft work effectually in every man. As the major is proved by Phil. ii. 11. and the minor by 1 Cor. xii. 3. the conciufion mult be evident to a de- mon itrat ion. DIAL. I,] UNIVERSAL R£STO&ATI(JN. Friend.' I acknowledge, tiat, in the prefent ftat<;\ no man can fay, that Jefus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghoft; but when they (hall ftand before his bar, they Shall confefs him Lord, to the glory of God the ra- ther, by force. Minister. But St. Paul fpeaks generally, ' that, no * man can lay that Jefus is the Lord, but by the Holy * Ghoit: > he does not mention time or place, but repre- fents the matter impoffible; beiides, every expreffion here ufed implies a willing^ and not a forced fuhjeclion\ as bowing in the name of Jefus ', and confeffing him to be Lord of all to the glory of God the Father. Friend. But we are fometimes told, that God is as much glorified by the eternal damnation of fome, as by the eternal falvatioii of others. Minister. I have indeed, heard fome affert the fame ; but as the glory of God is the ultimate end of all that he doth, we may properly aik, why he ihould take any pains to fave mankind? But, above all, there is one objection that may be brought againft this idea, which is hard to anfwer; and that is, God hath laid, * For I have no pleafure - in the death of him that dieth, faith the Lord God. * Say unto them, As I live, faith the Lord God, I have ' no pleafure in the death of the wicked ; but that the 8 wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn 1 ye, from your evil ways; for why w 7 ill ye die, O 1 houfe of IfraeL? 1 Kzek. xviii. 23. xxxiii. II. It is evident to me, that God muft take pleafure in what glorifies his name; and as he hath fworn, that he takes no pleafure at all in the death of the wicked, it muft be fet down for a truth, that puui/Jiment, without having the reformation and fubjeclion of rebels for its end, is unworthy of the Being we adore; and even now it is called ' his Jlrange work? and ' htsjlrange * all. But to proceed: if endlefs miiery were a truth, I ihould not expect that the myltery of the will of God, which he hath made known unto his chofen, ac- cording to his good pleafure, which he hath purpofed in himfelfj would be, ' That, in the difpenfation of 1 the 24 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. I. * the fulnefs of times, he might gather together in one, ' errehead) all things in Chrift, both which are in * heaven, and which are in earth.' Ephef. i. 9, 10. Far lefs mould I expect to find, that ' It. pleated the * Father that in him mould all fulnefs dwell; and, \ having made peace by the blood of his crofs, by him * to reconcile all things to himfelf; by him, I fay, whe- 6 ther they be things in earth or things in heaven.' Col. i. 19, 20. And I am not able to imagine how St. John's virion (Rev. v. 13.) could be jult, if end- lefs damnation is true, where he fays, ' And every crea- * ture who is in heaven, and on the earth, and under ' the earth, and fuch as are in the fea, and all that are ' in them, heard I, faying, Bleffing, and honour, and 6 glory, and power be unto him that lltteth upon the ' throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.' In the nature of things, it appears impoffible to me to believe thefe paflages to be ftriclly and literally true, if endlefs mifery be a truth : therefore I fay, that I ihould not expecl any intimations ■, far lefs abfolute pro- mifes, that God would deftroy death, the works of the devil, and make all things new, with many others of the like nature. We find it promifed, that every knee fhall bow : and left fome might fay, that every knee meant only fome knees, it is explained, by the infpired apoltle, to mean all things in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth : and not only fo, but every tongue lhall fuoear, and confefs, that Jefus Chrift. is Lord to the glory of God the Father; which could not be, except all were re- conciled to him, whether things in heaven or things in earth; wherefore this is alfo promifed; and, in confe- quence of their being fubdued, humbled, made obedi- ent, and reconciled, they ihall be reheaded in Chrift) ne- ver more to go aftray, nor break that band of eternal union, which fhall bind all together in one body, joined to one head; and all fhall give never-ceafmg praife to God and the Lamb, world without end. As endlefs damnation appears to me to be a^ainjl the firomifcS) I cannot hold it as an article of my faith; but btAL.I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION'. £5 but were there no promifes or intimations to the con- trary in Scripture, 1 lhould not require it to he threat* ened in any ftronger terms than it is; 1 fhould believerit as a truth, though I might not be able, at pretent, to lee the propriety and equity thereof; I fhould never forfrer my weak reafon to gainfay Divine Revelation. But m\ difficulty arifes from thefe exprefs promifes of God, which compofe lb great a part of that book which is given us as a rule oi" faith and practice; and which pro- miles expreflly affert a future (late of things beyond fin, forrow, pain, and death of every kind; when all things fhall be made new; and death, the lall enemy of God, Chriit, and man, (hall be deltroye-d, [wallow- ed up in victory; and fin, which is its iling, fhall be no more in exiitence; and tears fhall be wiped away from all faces. But, though I have acknowledged that I fhould not dare to difpute the doctrine of &ndlef$ damnation, unlefs God had given intimations, and even promifes, to the contrary, lince I find feveral dreadful threatenings in Scripture, in which the word muvm *, awnion, or cverhjU ™g% * The Greek word cttaev, alon, and its derivatives are fo render., ed in our Engliih verlion as to make the fubject of future punifh- ment obfeure to an Engl if h reader; this note is intended to aicer- tain their meaning. — Leigh, Kircher, Parkburft, Schrevelius, and others, render ttiw, aiony by tttrnky^ and cuwn < &* i aiohios^ fay they, is eternal, cverhjting. But I Lippeal from thefe great authorities to the common fenfe of" mankind, and affirm, that aw, alon, does not mean eternity, nor cui/'v:^, aionioiy eternal or everiaiting, for which I aiiign the follow- ing reafp.ns — I. The above lexicographers allow, that a:v», alon, is taken for tin hundred years — for the duration of a man's life, which is about feveiity years — for any meafurement oF time, efpeciaily if it be of long duration, or if its termination be bidden — yea, for a year. It is conceived, that thefe conceifions (which they were eonitrained to make, from the common ufe of die word in the Scriptures and in Greek writers) greatly weaken the force of their aifertion, that c tun?) aion, meant eternity ' feeing it often is taken for a limited period, and fometimes even for a very lhort one too II. That the writers of the New Teitament do not ufe the word »^^ ahn } to conyey the idea of eternity is evident, becaufe there D Us 20 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. I. ingj is joined with the punifliment of the wicked; yet a very little attention will .'hew us, that the felicity of the arc afferent atom fpoken of, and one aion is reprefented as fucceed- ing another. < The children of this aion are wifcr in their ge- * neration than the children of light."' Luke, xvi. 8. < The chil- < dren of this aion marry and are given in marriage ' Luke, xx. 34, 7 he phrafe//i/j aion occurs two and twenty times in the New Tes- tament, and wherever we meet with it, it necefTarily hands op* pofed to fome other aion; and therefore wc read of < this aion, and * alfo that -which is to come? Ephef. 1. 20. Mat. xii. 32. 1 That aion, and the refurre&ion of the dead.' Luke. xx. 35 Now we cannot poifibly underhand thefe Scriptures as meaning this eter- nity, and that eternity, for eternity can be but one, and implies an unity of confidence and Simple continuance : I would therefore render oa^v, aion, by age t and its plural by ages. It is prefumed this would give a jult and confident fenfe to the word in every place where it is found. III. Our Englifh translation, indeed, generally renders cnxv 9 -*ion, by world, and the plural worlds; by this, the glaring abfurdity of mak'ng our Lord and his apottles talk of eternities is avoided; but at the fame time a deception is pafled upon the Englifh reader, who does not know that when he reads of this world and the world to come, it ought to be this age and the age to come. it is not a little lingular that when awy aion, occurs as a noun, it Should be fo frequently rendered world; ^nd when as an adjec- tive the fenfe Should be eternal, evertafting, ever, Sec. yet lb our translation runs. The impropriety of this will appear, if we take fome of the paiTages, and enquire whether -world and its relatives, will do as a translation of onw, aion, and its derivatives. Mat. vi 13, * Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and theg'ory (e-;$ raq am*;, € eis tous aionas) to the worlds. John, vi, 51. w He that eateth of <■ this bread (hall live (&$ rov cuma, eis ton aiona) to the -word? Chap. xii. 26. l He mall sot die (e^ top ««»>■«, eis ton aiona) to the « -world.'' Rev. xiv. u. < The fmoke of their torment afctndeih * up {&$ cauvat; otfuvuv^ eis aionas aionon) to a -wo>ld of -worlds, 1 Thefe texts, to which many more might be added, are fufficiem to fhew, that -world is not a proper translation of cdorttaion, became ir many places it cannot poflibly bear that fenfe; but it may t>e rendered age every where. With refpect to the derivatives uxuv^i &H--U y aimx®-, aiwviev, aionos y atom, aionios, aionion, Sec. the re lath es of -wo v »D by no means be a proper rendering of thefe; for irftar.ee. M t .\ix 16. 4 What Shall I do that I may have {fyw sttamwj x-oen aionion) 1 worldly life? 1 1 Tim. vi. 12. < Fight the good fight of fait , lay < hold on [cum* &*$) aioniou zees) worldly life? Rom. xvi. 26. • Ac- ' cording PIAL. I. "J UNIVERSAL RESTORATION'. 2*1 the righteous is promifed in much ftronger language than the mifery of the wicked is threatened in the Scriptures. I remark, € cording to the commandment (ry ou&viu ©=tf, tou aioniau Theou) * of the worldly God.' 1 Heb. ix. 14. c Chrilt, who (Jw ir,:^^ 1 , ahr.ion^ &C, 1. It is a rule that no grammarian will difpute, /A2? 720 objective em have greater force than the Juhft 'jr.trce from which it U derived \ thus black cannot mean more than i/aeknejs, -white cannot mean more than vchitenefi^io neither can en oowou, j/M/w,mcan more than on wv, aion. The palpable departure from this rule in our t ran flat ion of the Scriptures mull be afcribeel to fyftem, which often has an un- happy influence even upon the minds of men who are other wife learned, prudent, and good. 2. As cuidMfr, aionion, is derived from eu»v, aion, and has rela- tion to it as an adjective to its fabltantive, it can only defcribe the- duration of fomething relating to that particular aion or age fpoken of, and with which it is connected. That this is the meaning of a onion in the Septuagint is very cer- tain, for we there read of the aionion covenant of circumciiion, Gen, >:vii. 13. — The aionion covenant of priefthood, Numb. xxv. 13. — The aionion ftatute of the day of atonement, Lev. xvi. 34. Sec. &rc. It would be an affront to Scripture and common fenfe both, to afcribe eternity to thefe things merely becaufe they are faid to be of aionion duration* for it is certain that flic aion or age to which all thefe things related, is expired and gone — the aionian co- venants and itatutes, Sec. waxed old, and have long ago vamlhed away, Heb. viii. 13. — alio, the aionion hills, Gen. xlix. 26. will mek and be diflblved, when the aion or age of the world (hall end, and the earth, andall that is thee in, fhall be burnt up, 2 Pet. iii. 10,11. The proper idea of aionion feems therefore to be Qg*-hjti*g\ as the agc- lafting covenants above mentioned, which continued during tne Jew In age the age-Iafting hills, which (hall continue during the age of the world— -the ii>x~/yi\.ov xwnov, evangelion aionion, age- lafting gofpel, which fhall continue 10 be preached during all the ages of the mediator's reign, till the reititutioa of all things be accomplished the frryivixocr^ aiay\>v,pncuniat)S aioniou, i. e. the {pint who has preiided over the church in ail ages, and will conti- nuefoto do rill, by his influence, in the fulnefsof the agesto come, all tilings will be quickened- - Ai for the eternity of God, we learn it from thenecefiity of his exiitence. 3. That the word aion and its derivative", even when applied to Godj do not convey the idea oi eternal duration, may be itillmore clearly fee si by obferving that we read of a time hcjo,t the aions began, 7r%o tujv cuiavwv^ pro Ion aionon, 1 Cor. ii. 7. — and aifo of* the end of the aions, cvvn'hua. t' be obferved, that the life there mentioned is that of the kingdom of Chriit, which kingdom will come to an end, when he f ha] 1 have put down all rule, authority, and power, and have fubjecled all things to himfelf ; then he fliall deliver up the kingdom to God even the Father, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. xv. 24— 28* The happinefs of the righteous will then no longer exiit in the kingdom fiat c^but in a more glorious {kite and degree, under ihcjb/e and immediate dominion of the F ther. On 'he whole, it follows, that aionion, as connected with future pun fhment, does not imply eternity of duration, but that thcie is an aion or age appointed for the punihment of the wicked, and therefore their puniihment is called aionion or agc-lajtir>g\ and v\ hen that age expires, the puniihment of it will ceafe, and the times of the rcltitution of all things will take place, which God hath fpoken by all his holy prophets, ,Act^ m. 21, pre Is PIAX.I.j UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 59 prefs the continuance of the well-being of the righte- ous. But not to infill on this, I obferve, that there are mam* llronger expreflions (even in our tranllation) to fet forth the well-being of the righteous, than any that are ufed as connected with the mifery of the wicked. Ifaiah, xlv. 11. we read, ' Ifrael ihall be faved in Jr> * hovah with an ever la/ting falvation; }'e (hall not be * afhamed nor confounded world without end.' But where d i we read, that the mifery of the wicked lhall have no end? The w T ord endlefs, or world without end, is never once ufed by our tranllators to exprefs the eter- nity of puniihment, in the whole Bible. We read in 1 Pet. i. 4. of 'an inheritance, incor- ' ruptihle and undeftled, and that Jadeth not away, re- 4 ferved in heaven:' and in chap. v. 4. of a crown of * glory that ihdeth not away;' and. Heb. xii. 1. of * a kingdom which cannot be moved/ And our blelfed Saviour's words are remarkably flrong upon this fubject in many places; as, in St. Luke's gof- pel, chap. xx. 35, 36. where he fays, ' But they 1 who ihall be accounted worthy to obtain that ' world, and the (firft) refurre<& ao&Yiq y.ahr/ocCiiy^ >)ftty, kath hyperbolen 4 fir hx pa-hole n, amnion baros duxes hater ga%etai ewin, a 4 glory exceeding at,6m?r s aiou'um] or eternal, to an excefsS I lore is an hyperbole upon an hyperbole; beyond eter- nal ; a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. But it is not fo much by the different words made ufe of to denote the permanency of the felicity of the righteous, from thofe which are ufed toexprefs the du- ration of the mifery of the picked, that I judge of the continuance of the one beyond the other, fo much as from tho different fources from whence they ilow, and of their different natures. The happinefs of thofe who are reconciled to God arifes from their union to Chrilt ; in which if they con- tinue grounded and fettled during this prefent life, wherein they pais through lb many lore trials, the union wis] become lo permanent, as that it will be impqilible to diflplve it; and the very nature of things thews, that if we abide firm to the end, through all diificulties, and overcome all thofe things that would leek to fepa- rate us from Chrift, when we come into thaa (late whore we (hall meet with no more temptations, nor any ifeing that hath the lea It tendency to draw our minds from (iod, we mull, of confequence, remain attached or united to him while we have an exiftence. This dpclrine was known to David, and therefore he laid, * ^Vhile I live will I praife Jehovah; 1 will ling praifes * unto my God while 1 have am being.' Pialmexlvi. 2. civ. 33. BTAL. I.] UNTVER-AT, Rr.STOR ATION. 31 civ. 33. It may he proved, that the union (hall eon- tip.iu- between Chrift and his foithful ones after thfe life, and Qiall become indiilbluble; and that neither * tribulation, nor dilireis, nor perfecution, nor famine, ' nor nakednefs, nor peril, n rfword; neither death, 4 nor life, nor angels, nor principal ties, nor powers, 1 nor things prefent, nor things to come, nor height, 1 nor depth, nor any other creature, ihall be able to * feparate us (who abide in him) from the love of God * which is in Chrift Jefus our Lord.' See Rom. \iii. 35—39. See alfo St. John, xv. 4, 5, 1, 9, 10. — 1 John, ii.<2!<— <2S. The never-ending continuance of the life or ftate of well-being of the righteous may be certainly inferred, with the greateft eafe, from the continuance of the life of Chrift, who is made an high-prielt, ' not alter the 1 law of a carnal commandment, but- after the power 1 of an endlefs* life.' Keb. vii. 16. And lie hath ex- preflly declared, * Becaufe I Lve, ye fhall live alio.* St. John, xiv. 19. Thus, as long as the eaufe remains^ die effeel mnft continue; but the caufe, even the life* of Chrift, mult undoubtedly continue to encllefs- pe- riods, therefore alfo, the eiFecT, or the life of thofe who are joined to him in an .indiilbluble union, li all continue. The apoitie Paul under flood logic as well as any in our days, and he thus reafons upon this, glorious truth ; ' The fpirit itfelf bearelh witneFs with. ' our fpirits, that we (who are led by the fpirit of God, * and have received the fpirit of adoption, whereby 1 we cry, Abba, Father) are the children of God: and ■ if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs 4 with Chrift: if fo be that we fufYer w ith him, that * we may be alio glorified together, J Rom. viii. 16, n. pAxsfcXvT©*, akitaJutoi. Heb. v'i.i6. enlhfs, fay our trarflators; liter 5 . ] y inJ/oluble. T ; c word is never comiecVd with puniih— mer.\ ad Uu tMs o n cc bfily \v b lite; which, however, (hews Ihat 'c facred writers ak ugjutm fife in a different; way than they do of f*tm fuvfimenh Now, 32 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. r. Now, as Chrift, the principal heir cannot be difin- herited, fo neither can thole who are joint-heirs with him. The Holy Spirit is given us as the earneft of our inheritance, and to feal us to the clay of redemption. 2 Cor. v. 5. l^ phef. i. 13, 14. and iv. 30. Chrift is the head, and the overcomers through the blood of the Lamb, are the members of his body, and fhall inherit all things; he will be their God, and they lhall be his children : he is their life, and he ' will make them pil- ' lars in the temple of God, and they fhall go no more ' out/ Rev.iii. 12. St. Paul fays, ' When Chrift, who * is our life, lhall appear, then fhall ye alfo appear ' with him in glory.' Col. iii. 4. And St. John fays, * Behold what manner of love the Father hath bellow- * ed upon us, that we ftiould be called the fons of God ; ' therefore the world knoweth us not, becaufe it knew * him not. Beloved, now are we the fons of God ; ' and it doth not yet appear what we fhall be ; but we * know, that when he (hall appear, we fhall be like * him, for we fhall fee him as he is.' 1 John, iii. 1, 2. Thus we are fure, from the Scriptures, and from the nature of things, that thofe who are drawn by the Father, united to the Son, fealed by the Holy Ghoir, willing!}' choofe the Lord for their portion, and con- Itantly adhere to him to the end, fhall never be fepa- rated from him in the future ages : for he himfelf faith, * As the living Father hath fent me, and I live by the ' Father, fo he that eateth me, even he fhali live by me. v St. John, vi. 57. And as Chrift is the great attracting- loadftone that fhall finally draw all things to him, it is evident, that he will preferve/or ever thofe whom he hath thoroughly drawn to himfelf, and who have ad- hered to him through the time of trial.. Thus is the life eternal of the righteous, or their endlefs ftate o£ well being, expreffed in much ftronger language than the mifer}' of the wicked; and, moreover, has its foundation in the union between Chrift and his church, and in the nature of things. Friexv. But if the fpirit of God dwelling in us, and thereby caufmg us to adhere to Chrift, aud to follow him Y3IAT.. I,] VNlVtlRSAL RLSTOR A T! >>\ $3 him through all trials, makes our union to him fo per- that nothing (hall be able to feparate us from him to nil eternity ; lince we are confirmed in habits of goodnefs by tree ehoiee, and by oft repeated exercifes, why, by the lame ride, {hall not the mifery of the wicked be endlefs, feeing that they have ehofen and adhered to evil through lite, ana- by eonitant practice ►nfirmed therein? Evil is grown up to a body ih them ; and it appears to me as difficult to reform and bring them oft' from their vicious habits, as it Would be to draw the faints in light from their adhe- rence to virtue and goodnefs. NisTSRn Your reasoning would be conclufive upon the fuppofition that there arc two eternal principles , viz. good and evil : if it can be proved, that evil is coexi it- em: with goodnefs — that it hath always been — then the abfolute eternity of fin and mifery may be eafily interred. This is the true foundation of aidlejs *iifcry % and it came from the pagan theology: the heathens believed in two eternal principles^ fever warring againit each other, and neither fully prevailing ; thai men had the liberty of enlifting under which they pleated; and that thofe who in life chofe virtue, mould enjoy end- lefs felicity ; while thofe who chofe and adhered to vice ihouid eternally remain under its dominion, and of confequence be always miferable. Thus, the in- fernal dieties being judged by the poor pagans to be as eternal as the good gods, and more powerful, they fa- crificed more to the evil principle than to the good, out of fear, and to appeaie the anger of thofe abhorred malevolent agents ; hence the frequency of human facniices. Now, when the Chriflian religion triumphed over paganilm in the Roman empire, many of the philoso- phers embraced and profeffed it, but withal retained many of their pagan notions, among which was the eternity of thefe two oppoiite principles: hence a rote the ancient feet of the Mamchees. who believed not only the eternal exiitence of two contrary eternal gods, one good and the other evil; but alio, that all viiible things 34? DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. I. things were created by the devil ; and upon this prin- ciple, they might argue the univerfality of damnation with as much eafe and certainty, as we, upon the con- trary, may argue the certainty of the Univerfal Refto- ration, according to that glorious promife of God, Ifaiah, Ivii. 16—19. '. For 1 will not contend forever, * neither will I be always wroth; for the fpirit Ihould * fail before me, and the fouls which I have made. i For the iniquity of his covetoufnefs was I wroth, ' and fmote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and he * went on frowardly, in the way of his heart. I have * fecn his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him * alfo, and reltore comforts unto him, and to his mourn- * ers. I create the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace, to * him that is far off, and to him that is near, faith Je- * hovah; and I will heal him.' Thofe who venture to contradidf, their Maker, and fay, that he will contend for ever, and he always wroth* ought to give as good a reafon, at leait, why he zvill, as he hath given why he will not; and, confequently, muft prove him not to be the Father of all fpirits, and the Creator of all fouls : if, therefore, it can be demon- ftrated that Satan is an eternal *, felf-exiiient, im- mutable, * A perfon lately called on me, apparently to difpute againft the doctrine of the Reitoration. .Acco- ding to his own account, he had attended the gofpel at different places for fe\eral years, and having heard of the Univerfal Doctrine, he thought it was his duty to op- pole it, becaule u was a damnable herefy. In the couife of con- vcrfation, I faid it was a great abfurdity to fuprofe that iin would cndleifly exifr, unlefs it could be proved that it had its root and foundation in God, or that there were two felf-exiftent and eternal beings, the one good, the other evil. He replied, that there were two llich namely, God and the devil. I thought at fi lit that he jetted ; but he ferioufly affirmed it again ; and added, that tl-e devil was omnipotent and infinite and eternal, and that the Scriptures faid fo. I ;<{ked for his proof— He paufed, and faid, he was fine that the Scriptures did lay fo, and he had always believed it, and thought it ftranye that I ihoulo doubt it: he e\en intimated, that it was jn vain to converfe with me, as I denied the Scripture. In vain did 1 reafon and c.uote Scripture— 1 could not move him. M I laid under the reproach of hciefy concerning the Restoration, my word DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 35 mutable evil being, and that he hath created all or a part of mankind, (as Come afferted formerly, and as I myfelf have heard lately) or that he hath drawn fame of God's creatures into fuch an union with himfelf, that they cannot be feparated from him ; and that he will maintain his crown, throne, and kingdom, in op- position to God, to all endlefs duration; then, and not till then, may the eternity of fin and mifery be con- cluded, from the nature of things, with equal eafe and certainty, as the perfection and happineis of the Taints. But, if the kingdom of evil, and all the works of fin, Satan, and dariinefs, fhall be totally dellroyed by Chriftj and all things fhall be reheaded in him, who is the head of all principality and power, as well as of every man— (fee Ephef. i. 10. Col.ii. 10. 1 Cor. 11. 3.) — if every knee (hail bow, and tongue lhall fwear, and all things, whether in heaven or in earth, or under the •earth, lhall confefs that he is Lord — and all things, whether in heaven or in earth, fhall be reconciled to him— (fee Ifaiah, xlv. 23. Phil. ii. 10. Col. i. 20.)— and all kingdoms (not excepting that of the prince of the power of the air) (hall be broken and dellroyed by the kingdom of Chrilt, which fhall itfelf be yielded up into the kingdom of boundlefs love, where judgment {hall be no more— what fhall we fay of that doclrine, that teaches us the endlefs duration of jtvilf So far is the endlefs fin and mifery of the wicked from being inferred from the endlefs holinefs and feli- city of the righteous, in the kingdom of the Father, that every proof and demon ftraiion of the latter, con- cludes equally againftthe former. One of the fir ft arguments that ever began to take hold of my mind, and to bring me to think ferioufly of the fyftem of the Reltoration, was what I read in word had ro authority with him, not even againft the leity of the devil, I underfiood him to be a Calvmift, i nd advifed h ; m to con- verfe with fame miniirer upon the fubject and ca)] upon me again, but I have not feen him fince. However, I can but thmk that this man took the only ground upon which the opinion of endlefs mifery can be maintained. a little 53 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. U a little book upon the fubjedl, called The Mverlafiing Gofpd, &:c. and is there thus exprelled — 6 It is as impolTible that there ihould he two endlefs contrary things, as that there ihould be two real con- trary deities, a good god and a bad one, or two Ions of contrary creatures, both of truly divine original, fprrie being made good by God, and others bad. For an abfolute and merely infinite duration, which has neither beginning nor end, is, according to the con- feflion of all divines, yea, of ever) reasonable man, a property peculiar to the uncreated Being only. But fuch an infinite duration, which, although it has a. beginning, yet (hall have no end, can only be the property of thofe creatures that are of divine origi- nal. For as thefe, according to the language of the Scripture, are of divine origin, and therefore are rooted in God, or in his almighty creating power, which has no beginning, they can alfo be evcrlafling — their exiflence or duration can alio be without end in God. But whatsoever has not its eternal root in God, or in his eternal creating power, but is fprung up in the creature in this world, by its voluntary turning away from God, and againft his holy will, and confequently is an abomination and difpleafure to the Mott High, and is only fullered by him, fuch as fin, and the punilhment depending thereon, thefe things cannot poflibly be of an abfolute endlefs exig- ence and duration, or remain fo long as God lhall exift, but mufi of neceffity once ceafe and be anni- hilated. For as God is a Being to thofe creatures which he created good, and which exift through his will, wherein they may fubiift and be preferred with- out end, fo he is on the contrary, to iniquity and fin, (which, agamlt his will, is fprung up in and flicks to the creatures) a confuming lire, \shcreby r all fin and perverfenefs in the creatures mull be at lall confumed, annihilated, and feparated from them in the highdl degree, in order to rellore them to their primitive purity , in the fame manner as the fire does not con- fume and deftroy the gold, but only the drofs, and that which is impure.' We D;AL. I.'j INIVf-RSAL IILSTOTIATIOS', ST We will now ftate fome of the arguments in favour of the endlefs continuance of the happinefs of the faints in the kingdom of their Father ; and thofe which prove that the ftate of mifery mall come to an end. Chrift hath promifed that the happinefs of the faints fhall have no end, becaufe his life ihall have no end, and he is their life. The mifery of the wicked mail end, becaufe the kingdom of evil (hall end. The power of God Hands engaged to preferve and keep thofe who commit themfelves to him; and thus their union with him ihall always continue. The fame is engaged to deftroy that covenant with death, and that agreement with hell, whereby miners are held in fubjection to Satan, and thus to take the prey from the mighty, and the captives from the ter- rible. The fubjecT:s of Chrift are his natural fubjeds; he is their rightful ibvereign ; but Satan's fubjects are flaves, led captive by him at his will ; he is an ufurper, and all that are in bondage to him belong to Chrift, who will finally draw them all to himfelf. Thofe that are in blifs fhall be eternally attracted by him, and lhall always choofe that which is good; but when evil is broken, its influence fhall no more prevail over thofe that are captivated by it; and they ihall feel the confequences of fin in fuch a manner as to loathe it ; and they ihall heartily return, and fwear allegiance to their rightful king. There (hall be no influence to draw the faints in blifs from Chrift, and thereby diflbhre his kingdom; but all the influence of God and goodnefs lhall tend to diifolve the kingdom of darknefs, and to put an end to the thraldom and mifery of its unhappy (laves. Thus I might go on with a long train of arguments upon this fubje6t, but thefe may furnce. Friend. Your arguments would feem very conclu- five for the entire fubjeclion of all things, if you could prove that the word all intends literally and mathe- matically the whole, without exception; but this, I £ doubt, 38 DIALOGUES ON THE [DTAL. I. doubt, will be difficult for you to do, as you mult know, that it is very frequently ufed in common lan- guage for a part, and fometimes for only a J mall part of mankind. Minister. I acknowledge this is the cafe in common converfation, and in fuch parts of the facred hiltory where we are in no danger of being milled by it, be- ing well informed by the context, or fome other paf- fages, or from the nature, or from the circumitances of the facts, that we muft take it in a limited fenfe; but I do not recollect any paifage, inhere any point of doctrine is fpoken of, in which the word all is ufed in that uncertain and indeterminate manner : and it is neceflary that it Ihoulcl not be ufed in that way in matters of im- portance, becaufe we might be led into confufion and great uncertainty thereby, not knowing whether to underftand it univerfally or partially. Wherefore I lay down this plain rule, vi%. When the word all is ufed in any paifage of Scripture, and we are not neceffarily oblig-ed, either by the context, or fome other text, or the nature and circumftanees of the cafe, to underftand h partially, and efpecially where any important point of doctrine is fpoken of, we are always to understand it univerfally, without exception. Friend. But can you prove from the writings of the apoftles, that they ufed the word all in this large and univerfal fenfe? Minister. Yes, my friend, very eafily, and in the moil unexceptionable manner. Hear what the author of the EpiiUe to the Hebrews fays upon this matter : * Thou halt put all things in fubjection under his ' feet; for in that he put all in fubjcdlion under * him, he left nothing that was net put under him. 9 Heb. ii. 8. It is evident that the apoftle's reafoning would be very inaccurate, if not entirely falfe, upon the fuppo- fition that all things did not intend all in the largelt fenfe : for how would this concluiion naturally and ne- ceilarily follow, ' For in that he put all in fubjection * under him, he left nothing not put unutr him,' unlets it DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION* 39 it be premifed, that all is ufed in the wriverfalfenfe of the word? Fr j 1 n d. But hath not the fame apoftle made an ex- ception, when he ufes the word all, in feme other of his writings? Minister* Yes, truly; but it is fuch an exception as juftifies this fenfe of the word more than a thoufand arguments: ' For he hath put all things under his •feet; but when he faith, all things are put under ' him, it is manifeft, that he is excepted which did put all 1 things under him.' 1 Cor. xv. 21. Here God the Fa- ilier being- alone excepted, proves all other beings to be included in the words all things; and that in to convincing- a manner, that i am aitoniiiied that I did not perceive it long before J did. Friend. It is true, that nothing can be plainer than that all things, in thefe places, mult mean all beings except God; but then, perhaps St. Paul only meant, that fchey fliould be iubject to his controul^ and not brought ■willingly to obey: if you can prove this point as clearly as you have the other, and from the fame authority, it will feem to put the matter with me be- yond difpute. Minister. This is very eafily done; for it is univer- fally acknowledged by all Chriitians, that all things are now, and have ever been, fubjecf to his controul; for when he was upon earth, in his lowelt Itate of hu-» miliation, even the unclean fpirits, the molt rebellious of beings, obeyed his word, which made thole who faw his miracles cry with amazement, 4 What thing is * this ? what new doctrine is this ? For with authority * commandeth he even the unclean fpirits, and they * obey him. , St. Mark, i. 21. The devils obeyed him univerfally, in whatever he commanded them ; and could not enter the fwine without his permilhon ; and how difagreeable loever his words were to them, they were forced to comply, without daring to complain; yea, they frequently teemed like humble fuppliants ; and once, we read, they went fo far as to adjure our Welled Lord not to torment them: fee St. Mark, E2 v.1, 40 DIALOGUES ON Tllfc [DIAL. I. v.1. The winds, waves, fi flies, all obeyed him; all difeafes, and even death itfelf, heard his voice, and de- parted at his bidding; and to his difciples he faid, * All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth.' Mat. xxviii. 18. And certainly now he is at ' the right * hand of God, angels, and authorities, and powers * are made fubjecft unto him.' 1 Pet. iii. 22. ' God * hath exalted him far above all principality, and pow- * er, and might, and dominion, and every name that * is named; not only in this age, (for fo I render the * word *um 9 alonl) but alfo in that which is to come ; * and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be * the head over all things to the church.' Kphef. i. 21, 22, But, as though the apoftle had known that the fenfe would be difputed, he hath laid, ' But now * we fee not yet all things put under him,'* Heb. ii. 8. All things were fubjeel: to his controul, even on earth) and they cannot be lefs fo, now he is exalted to heaven, to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was; and yet, many years after his afcenfion, the apoftle fays, ' But now we fee notjyet all things * put under him;' by which he muft certainly mean their being willingly fubjeel unto him; for, in all other fenfes, all things are now put under him, in the moil unlimited manner, as we have feen alrea- dy. But the apoftle goes on to tell how* far the im- portant work is accomplished, and that a fure foun- dation is laid for its entire completion; faying,— - * But we fee Jefus, who was made a little lower than * the angels, for the fullering of death, crowned with * glory and honour, that he, by the grace of God, 4 lhould taite death for all;' for fo the word wa.v\®* 9 pantos, ought to be rendered. There was anciently a manulcript in ufe, in which the words were x u f* ®**> choris Theou, inftead of x a $ h ® ey ' charm Theou, that is, for all, except God*. And there is little doubt of its * Mr. Winchefter has been charged with changing the reading of the text in this railage without any authority. Perhaps Mr. W. might DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 41 its being the true fcnle; becaufe St. Paul makes the fame exception, with refpecl to thofe who are put un- der Chrift, as we have before noted, 1 Cor. xv. 21, Then the apoitle adds, ' For it became him, for 6 whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in * bringing' many ions unto glory, to make the Captain * of their falvation perfect through fufferings. 1 Heb. ii. 9, 10. Iniieacl of the word all intending only apart, we find, in feveral places, that the word many intends al/ 9 as in Rom. v. 15, 16, 19. \ For if through the offence * of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, * and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jefus 4 Chrift, hath abounded unto many. The free gift is * of many offences unto jollification. For as by one * man's difobedience many were made iinners, lb, by might not think it neeeffary to quote that which muff have been veil known to every man of learning: but, however, as authority has been loudly called for, Jet the following betaken. — i. The reading yapc. ©£«, choris Theett^ God excepted, is found in St. Ambtofe in his Dc Fide ad Gratianurn y lib. ii. cap 4. He ex- pounds it as follows — c Chrilk raited death for all excepting G :d y <■ which is as much as to fay, * Chrilt died for all rational mtelli- K genccs — even for angels — only not for God — God I except.'* Ambrofe fiouriihed about the year 370. 2. Origen, whole learning no man ever doubted, fays, ( This c man ^meaning Chriil) is the great high-prieit, not only for men, 1 but for all — whatever is intellectual — offering himfelf a vicUm * once facrificed. For he tailed death for all, excepting God } or (as « fome copies have it) by the grace of God. W hether he tafted 4 death for all, God excepted, he died not only for man, but for « all intellectual beings; whether he tatted death for all by the ( grace of God, he died for all excepting God, becaufe it was by , grace of God, that he tatted death for ailj Origen on St. John's Gofpel. This learned Father was catechitt at Alexandria in the year 2C3; and. by his faying that certain copies read by the grace oj 'God, it ieems reafbnable to conclude that mop copies in his tine read God cx- ccpteh 3. TheSyriac Teilamcnt, both the Paris edition and that of Tre- mellmsread, < He untied death for a*l,G dcxccpici. 1 Thofe who require further information may coafult Bengelius's fai Readings E 3 42 DIALOGUES ON THE [diaL.T. * the obedience of one, (hall many be made righteous.* — Ifaiah, liii. 11, 12. * By his knowledge ihall my righteous fervant juftify many, (or the many) for he ihall bear their iniquities. And he bare the iins of tnam 9 and made interceflion for the tranfgreflbrs.' Thefe many are called all, in the 6th verfe: ' 411 we, like fheep, have gone aftray; we have turned every one to his own way ; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all* But to return to our fubjeft: St. Paul allures us, that though all things, without exception, are put under him, in one lenle; yet, in another, he fays, ' But now we fee not yet all things put under him.' But he leaves us not in the dark about the matter; but fpeaks of that effeclual fc working, whereby he is able even to fubdue all things unto himfelf.' Phil. iii. 21 . 'And when all things ihall be Jubdtted unto himfelf, then fball the fon alio himfelf be fubject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.' f Cor. xv. 28. Here we plainly find a very neceifary cliftindtion between all things being put under him, and all things being Jubdtted unto him; the former is already done in the fulleit manner; and the latter /hall be as perfectly and as fully accompliihed in due time: ' Be- * eaufe the creation itfelf ihall be delivered from the * bondage ©f corruption, into the glorious liberty of 6 the children of God. For we know, that the whole ' creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together un- * til now. '"Rom. x iii. 21, 22. Though w"hat hath already been fpoken, may feem more than enough to prove the point refpe&ing the word all, yet there is one paffage more, full to the pur- pose, that I would not omit; it being of itfelf fully fufficient to fettle the difpute for ever. The apoftlej fpeaking of Chrift, faith, ' Who is the image of the * the invifible God, the fird-born of every creature, for * by him were all tilings created that are in heaven, and * that are in earth, vrfible and invifible, whether they * be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or pow ers ; * all things were created by him, and for him ; and he i is DIAL. I.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 45 g is before all things ' 9 and by him all things confiR. And 4 he is the head of the body, the church; who is the 4 beginning, the firft-born from the dead; that in all ' things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleafed * the Father that in him ihould #// fulnefs dwell; and 6 having made peace through the blood of his crofs, 1 by him to reconcile all things unto himfelf ; by him, 1 1 fay, whether they be things in earth, or things iu * heaven.' Col. 1. 15—20. the word all is generally acknowledged to be ufed in its molt extenlive fenfe in every place of this paragraph, except the laft, there is no reafon to be given why the apoftle Ihould change the fenfe of the word, without giving us the leait notice of it; and indeed it would be very unkind, if not unfair, for him thus to do; as it would tend to miiiead us, in a matter of very great importance. Friexd. 1 hope that 1 am not lb attached to my own opinions as to be unwilling to hear and confider what may be advanced againft them; but the doctrine of endlcfs damnation has been fo generally coniidered as a molt important article of faith by all denominations, that I can by no means think of giving it up, unlets you are able to eftablifti the contrary fyftera upon the moil folid ground, and anfwcr all the fcriptural objec- tions fairly, that have been, or that can be brought ft it ; lor I mult ha\ e all my doubts fol\ ed beiore J can think of belies ing fuch a itrange doctrine as this appears to me. uster, 1 mofi heartily commend your prudence and fincerity : I took the fame refolution, and would receive this view till I could anfwer all objec- tions to my own fatisiaction : and if you are difpofed to enquire farther at another opportunity, I (hall be happy in giving you all the affiftance in my power. END OF THE FIRST DIALOGUE* 44? DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL, II, DIALOGUE II. Feiexd. /^OOD day to you, fir. I was juft parting vT by, and if you have a little time to fpare, I mould be happy to have fome farther difcourfe with you refpecling your fentiments; for, although I cannot fall in with your views, yet I am convinced that your mind is upright in the matter, and that you do not difa- ^ree with your brethren for the fake of differing, but for what you believe to be the truth. Minister.. I have this to fay, (and I can with truth declare it) that I never ihould have diifented from my brethren, had the}' only given, me the liberty of enjoy- |ing that natural right of freely thinking for myfelf in matters of religion. I lincerely wifli to live and die in unity with all that love God and keep his command- ments; and I ihould never have troubled the world with my fentiments, had not great pains been taken to reprefent me as a heretic, and my fentiments dangerous to mankind: this was done to prevent people from hearing what I had to fay in other matters. I was therefore, in a fort, compelled to lit down and anfwer all the objections that were brought againft the truth I believed; which anfwers, drawn (as Itruit) fairly from the Scriptures, have fatisfied many who have read what I then wrote upon the fubjeft. Fmexd. I never faw your anfwers to objections in print; but in our lait converfation, you gave fuch an- fwers to many queflions, as feemett to convince me that much more might be laid in favour of the general Reiloration than 1 formerly imagined: but 1 have a number of objections remaining, which appear to me unanswerable,' and. which I beg leave to ltate to you in the plaineft manner. Minister, Do, my dear friend ; you will give me pleafure by being free and open upon this iubjed : pro- DIAL. II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION* 4$ pofe all your obje&ions, in the ftrongc ft manner poffi- ble, and I will give you fuch anfwers as have latisried me in the matter; and I beg leave to allure you, that no light, trifling, or forced anfwer, far lefs a manifelt evafion, would fatisfy my mind upon this awful and intereiting fubject; and if what I believe is not capa- ble of a fcriptural defence, 1 ihall endeavour to quit the ground as fpeedily as pofiible. Friend. The words of our Saviour, recorded by St. Mark, chap. ix. 43 — 49. form, a very ferious, and, to me, an unanfwerable objection againft the Univerfal Reitoration. — 4 And if thy hand offend thee, (or caufe thee to * offend) cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into * life maimed,' than, having two hands, to go into hell; 'into the fire that never lhall be quenched (or that is 4 unquenchable); where their worm dieth not, and 4 the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend * thee, (or caufe thee to offend) cut it off: it is better * for ihee to enter halt into life, than, having two feet^ * to be calf, into hell, into the fire that never lhall be ' quenched (or that is unquenchable) ; where their * worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And * if thine eye offend thee, (or caufe thee to offend) 6 pluck it out : it is better for thee to enter into the 1 kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two ' eyes, to be call into hell lire ; wberetbeir worm dieth * not, and the tire is not quenched. For even one 4 fliall be faked with lire, and every faerifice lhall be « faked with fait.' Here our Lord repeats five times, that ' the fire is * not, or never lhall be quenched, or is unquenchable;' words of nearly nmilar meaning; three times he- f peaks of hell as a place where ' their worm dieth not;' and, to mew the perpetuity of the fuffeivags of the mifer- able, he fays, ' For every one lhall be falted with' lire,' u e. preferred by the lire, as fait preferyes meat. Thefe are the objections from this paifage, briefly ltated — Are }ou able to anfwer them fairly, without any eva- fion, from the authority oi Scripture? Mi}-- 46 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. II. Minister. This is certainly a moft terrible parage, and deferves to beconfidered particularly. There is no doubt but Jefus Chrift had his eye upon that paflage in Ifaiah, lxvi. 24. ' And they mail go * forth, and look upon the carcafles of the men that * have tranfgrelfed againft me ; for their worm fhall * not die, neither lhall their fire be quenched : and they * fhall be an abhorring unto all rleih.' It will be of ufe to us to undertland when this pro- phecy (hall be fulfilled: it fhall be when the children of Jfrael fhall return and be fettled in their own land ; and their enemies fhall come again it them, anct Ihali be deft roved, and their carcalfes lhall fall upon the moun- tains of Ifrael, and fhall be a prey to the fowls of hea- ven, and their nefh fhall be devoured by worms, which fhall not die, till they have eaten and entirely defiroye'd their bodies. ' Thou fhaltfall upon the mountains of Ifrael, thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every fort, and to the hearts of the field, to be devoured. Thou ihalt fall upon the open field; for I have fpoken it, faith Adonai Jehovah. And it mail come to pafs in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Ifrael, the valley of the paffengers on the eafr. of the fea : and it fhall flop the nofes of the paf- fengers ; and there fhall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they fhall cail it, The Valley of Ham- mon-Gog. And feven months lhall the houfe of Ifrael be burying of them, that they may cleanfe the land.' See Ezek. xxxix. 4, 5, 1 1, 12. ) ' And it mall come to pafs, that every one that is left of all the nations which cameagainfl Jerufalem, fhall even go up from year to year, towprfhipthe King, Jehovah of Holts, and to keep the feaft of tabernacles.' Zech. xiv. 16. And it fnall come to pafs, that from one new moon to another, and from one iabbath to another, fhall all flefh come to worihip before me, faith Jehovah/ Ifaiah, lxvi. SI . And they that fhall come up to Jeru- iaiein to worfhip the Lord, during the time thai thefe bodies . II.] UNIWltSAL RESTORATION. 47 bodies fliall lie in the open field, ill all go forth and be- hold them in a itate of putrefaction, a prey to worms ; and all the nations of the earth fliall feeGod's judgments executed upon thole who dare to rebel again it him, by making war againft the lamb, and againft his army. Rev. xvii. 14. xix. 19. It is alfo intimated by Ezekiel, that a fire fliall be kindled to burn their weapons of war, &c. which fliall kit for fome time. Hear his words: — ( And they that * dwell in the cities of Ifrael ihall go forth, and ihall ' fet on fire and burn the weapons, both the fhields 1 and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the 8 hand-ilaves and the fpears ; and they (hall burn them * with tire {tven years : lb that they ihall take no wood ' out of the field, neither cut down any out of the io- * reit-; for the)' ihall burn the weapons with lire.' See . xxxix. 9,10. Thus have I endeavoured to give the plain i'^nfe of the text to which our Lord alluded; and I have not the fmalleft doubt of its being hereafter literallv ful- filled. I will now endeavour to give what appears to me the meaning of the text before us:— -Chrilt threatened that thofe who would not deny tliemfelves, and cut off thofe things that led them into fin, ihould hereafter fuifer infinitely greater inconveniencies, by being call into hell lire. And oh! who can conceive how dreadful a portion is threatened to fome tranigrelYors! that they 6 ihall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which i is poured out without mixture, into the cup of his * indignation; and ihall be tormented with fire and ■ brimftone, in the pre fence of the holy angels and in * the prefenoe of the Lamb : and the fmoke of their 4 torment afcendeth up to the age of ages*; and they * have no reft day nor night/ Rev. xiv. 10, 11. Thus, * Eisaiwet i.i-..'-,. eh aiona aionion* See note p. 13. where the groper ienie of tins phrafe is given. • Let us now enquire what that lion aion ? or age of a^es is, to which the punifhment of fome of 43 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIM,. U. Thus, as the enemies of God, who fhall be deftroy- ed near Jerufalem, ihall have their earcailes expofed full of worms, and be an abhorring unto all that be- hold of the wicked will continue ; I fay fome of the wicked, for it is evident that only fome of them are threatened wiih fuch punish- ment : Ice Rev. xiv. u. Indeed there feernsto be a great variety or* degrees of future punifhment, according to the moral characters of men. This is perfectly coniiftent with the ideas which we have of distributive juftice in the Deity, and is fupported by the declarations of our Lord, who teaches us that there will he few ftripes and many\ and that it will be more tolerable for fome fm- ners in the day of judgment than for others. The degrees of punifhment mentioned in Scripture are, i. Shame - 2. Ldfs of the kingdom. 3. Punifhment of i'enfe; and this of various degrees, as before obferved; but the greateft. of all is to endure si; aiwa. atamoy, eis ciona aionion^ to the age of ages. 1. Whatever period this may be, the punifhment is to continue t& that age, not during it. That the Greek prepoiition ti;,cis, is often taken in that fenle, fee Mat. xv. 24. c I am not Tent but to the loir. * Iheep of the houfe of Ifrael.' John, xi. 31. c She goeth to the * grave to weep there.' John, xiii. 1. 'He loved them unto the < end.' 2- The age of ages in the New Teftament has clearly a reference to the jubilee m the Old Teftament ; and what -his is in the type, that is in reality. The jubilee contained in it all the other typical periods, as the weekly fabbnth — the yearly fabbaths, or foiemn returns of the facred fealrs — and the fabbath of years: fo the age of agei contains all the other periods, difpenfations, and ages that have been or ihall be And as thejubilee gave universal liberty to all who were in fervitude — exonerated everv obligation from thofe who were in debt — and returned every man to his inherit- ance : the commencement of the =ge of ages will give fpiritual liberty to every captive who is confined in fhe prifon-houfe — re- lieve every one who is burthtned with guilt — and reftor^ every one to the enjoyment of the Divine favour, which is the proper inherit- ance of every rational creature. 3. Lf I might be indulged with a further reflection upon this grand fubject, I ihonld think it probable that the duration of the age of ages (in wh ch there fhall be neither iin, forrow, crying, nor death of any kind) will at lealt be ecmalto all the periods and ages of guilt, pain,- j nd death pur together. My reafons for thinking that tins great age will be thus long in its duration, are. Fiirt t DIAX. II.] VNIVEKSAL RESTORATION 49 hold them, fo thofe who me call into the burning lake (hall he publicly expofed to fhame, and ihall fufier openly for their crimes; and the imoke of their tor- ment ihall afcend up coniinually, during thofe ages that the lake of fire, or the iecond death, ihall continue. But when I conlider, that this terraqueous globe itfelf Is probably to become the lake of fire, when the ele- ments mall melt with fervent heat, and yet, after that dreadful fcene is pair, the earth itfelf (hall be renewed, and become the habitation of righteoulhefs, I can hard- ly have any doubts, but all the rational part of the creation, ' ihall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 8 ruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of * God.' See Rom. via. 19,20,21,22. Thus, if the lake of fire, or fecond death itfelf, ihall be deftroyed, ihall ceafe and be no more, there is an end to tormenting pain: though, perhaps, fuch inward reflections •, ihall continue for ibme time longer, (if not to eternity) which, though they (hall tend excec ingly to increafe the love of God in the fouls thus de* iivered, ihall rill them with iharne, limilar, or perhaps more pungent than we feel here on earth, when we are melted under a deep (enie of our manifpld trsnf- greffionSj and of the pardoning love of God at le time. This feems to be the meaning of fuch *es as theie: — * O my God, make them like a wheel ; as the ftub- * Lie before the wind. As the fire burnetii the wood, Firft, That the glory of Chrifl demands it. To me it feerns proper the redeemer of his creatures fhonld reign as long over the creation in righteoufnefs, peace, love, and joy, as Iin hath reigned In guilt, pain, and death.' Secondly, Such a long and glorious period of universal lo order under Chrift, will give the fnlleit peillble proof to all created intelligences of the compleatnefs of his work, in having reconciled all things to the Father; and will be a proper prelude to his giving up his delegated kingdom: and will denionftrate that of God, by him, and lo him, are all things, by Chrift Jefus. But in this thought I have no controversy with any man; I only exprefs my own private fendment, I hope with humility/ F ' and tO t>IALOGt'ESON THE [dTAL. It, * and as the finme fetteth the mountains on lire, fo * periecute them with thy temped, and make them 4 afraid with thy florin. Fill their faces with fhame, 1 that they may ' fee k thy name, O Jehovah. Let them * he confounded and troubled for ever, yea, let them * be put to fhame and perilh; that" — (our tranflators have added the word men*-— but the fenfe determines that the addition mould be) — ' they may know that ' thou whole name alone is Jehovah, art the Moft * High over all the earth.' Pfalm lxxxiii. 13-— 18. * The wife fhall inherit glory, but fhame mall be the 4 promotion of fools.' Pro v. iii. 35. ' They fhall be greatly afhamed, for they fhall not 4 profper; their everlalting confufion fhall never be 4 forgotten. ' Jer. xx. 11. xxiii. 40. ' They fhall be afhamed, and alfo confounded, all * of them : they fhal! go to confufion together, that are ■ makers of idols/ Ifaiah, xlv. 16. ' And all that are 1 incenfed againfl him (Jehovah) fhall be afhamed.* Verfe 24. * For thus faith Adonai Jehovah, I will even deal * with thee as thou haft done, which haft defpifed the * oath in breaking the covenant. Neverthelefs I will * remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy 4 youth, and 1 wil; eftablifh unto thee an everlafting * covenant. Then thou (halt remember thy ways, and * be afhamed, when thou ihalt receive thy lifters, thine * Pfalm lxxxiii. 18. * That mtn may know, 1 &rc. A critical reader may obferve, that this text needs no fupplement : thus it reads:— : pxn bz by )vby -pnb rrsv "jot? rn* o ijm ' Et cognofcant quod tu nomen tuum Domine folus tu altiiTimus i fuper omnem terram.' Montanus, < And they fhall know that thou, whole name is Jehovah^ art « Ihe Moft High over all the earth.' I do not charge our translators with wilful error; but it is Jikely that they could not underftand how finners could be brought to the knowledge of Jehovah after they had been confounded and trou- bled for ever, or to the aje. and had been put to fhame andperifli- €d; and therefore they might even think that there was an error in theorem; J. 1 elder BXAX.II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION $t •elder and thy younger (vim. Samaria and Sodom); 4 and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not * by thy covenant. And I will eftablifli my covenant * with thee, and thou (halt know that I am Jehovah ; 1 that thou maye.lt remember, and be confounded, and * never open thy mouth any more, becaufie of thy ' ftiame, when 1 am pacified towards thee, for all that c thou halt done, faith Adonai Jehovah,' Ezek. xvi. 59— -63, g Then (hall ye remember your own evil ways, and ' your doings that were not good, and ihali loathe * yourfelves in your own right, for your iniquities, and * for your abominations. Not for your fakes do * 1 this, faith Adonai Jehovah, be it known unto you; * be aihamed and confounded, O houfe of Ifraei.' — Ezek, xxxvi. 31,32* But the lake of fire (hall go out, when all the pur- pofes for which it (hall be kindled are accomplished; and if fo, then is follows of courfe, that intelligences ihall be no longer tormented therein. F*l*SP% But when God fays, that a fire (hall not be quenched, does it not neceifariiy imply, that it ihaii never ceafe burning? Minister. By no means; for we read in feveral places of Scripture of fires that have ceafed ages ago, that were fpokea of in as itrong terms as are ufed by Quirt refpeciing the fire of hell. As for initance; in Lev. vi. 13. we read, • The fire * (hall ever be burning upon the altar; it ihall never go * out.' This is a much ilronger exprelhon than if it had been laid, ' It Ihall not be quenched;' for it is laid, ' Itjhall never go out :' but furely, it muft be ufed with fome limitation ; for we know that it hath ceafed ■o : and we read that Daniel propheried of the Melriah, that he mould ' caufe the faeririce and obla* * tion to ceafe,' Dan, ix. 21.; but it would certainly have been a weak argument agamit Daniel's prophecy, that, as Moles had laid, The tire lhould never go out upon the altar, therefore the Meffiah could never caufe tiiefacniice and oblation to ceafe; but it would be jurt 52 DIALOGUES ON TRB [DIAL. ttf as good an argument againft Daniel's prophecy, as the words of Ghrift are againit Ifaiah's:---* For 1 will not * contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth ; for ' the fpirit ihould fail before me, and the fouls which I * have made.' ' I have fworn by myfelf, the word is ' gone out of my mouth in righteoufnefs, and ihall not * return, That unto me every knee lhall bow, every * tongue lhall fvvear, furely mail fay, In Jehovah have * I righteoufnefs and ftrength; to him lhall come ; and * all that are incenfed againit him mail be afliamed.* Ifaiah, lvii. 16. xlv.23,24. In Jer. xvii. 21. we read, * But if you will not * hearken unto me, &c. then will I kindle a lire in the * gates thereof, and it ihall devour the palaces of Jeru- ■ falem, and it fiallnot be quenched J* See alfo chap. iv. 4. xxi. 12. Amos, v. 6. 2 Kings, xxii. 11. Similar threatenings we find poiitively pronounced by Ezekiel at the command of God; — ' Moreover the * word of Jehovah came unto me faying, Son of * man, fet thy face towards the fouth, and drop thy * words towards the fouth, and prophecy againit the * foreii of the fouth held; and fay to the forelt of * the fouth, Hear the w r ord of Jehovah; thus faith * Adonai Jehovah, Behold I will kindle a fire in * thee, and it lhall devour every green tree in thee, ' * an4 every dry tree : the flaming flame lhall not be 6 quenched; and all faces from the fouth to the * north mall be burnt therein; and all flelh mall fee * that I Jehovah have kindled it; it fliall not be quench* ' ecL y Ezek. xx. 45 — 48. S*e alfo Jer. vii. 20. Now thefe threatenings were furely executed ; for the people did not hearken unto God : he did certainly kindle a lire, and it burnt, and was not quenched, but confumed Jerufalem and all her palaces; and the beau- tiful foreiis that were fo much efteemed, fliaied the fame fate. But what perfon will argue, that the whole city and country mult be now in flames, and mult have been confuming. from the days of Jeremiah and Eze- kiel, becaufe of thefe exprdlions, ' The flaming llame 4 ihall not be quenched,' &c, iiuce wc know that Jcru- faiem, DIAL. II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 53 falem, and the county round about, have been fince inhabited, and will be again, in a more glorious man- ner than ever ? Neither will it help the matter to fay, that we muft un- derhand the fire figuratively for the anger of God, &c. for he declares by Zechariah, after the feventy years captivity, that he was * returned to Jerufalem wkh 4 mercies. 3 See Zech. i. 16. And though the prefent defolation of that land is compared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah andZeboim, l)eut. xxix.23 — 28. — and Ezekiel not only fpeaks of it as defolate and waite, but as having been always fo, though we know it was formerly idled with inhabit- ants — (fee Ezek. xxxvi. 34, 35. xxxviii. 8.)-— yet alt the prophets fpeak'of a time to come, when it ihall be much more flourifhing than ever it hath been ; and lfaiah fays, ' Whereas thou halt been forfaken and * hated, fo that no man went through thee ; I will * make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many ge-* 6 nerations. Thou ihalt no more be termed forfaken, * neither ilia 11 thy land be termed defolate ; but thou f fhalt be called Hephzibah [my delight is in her) and g thy land Beulah (married); for Jehovah delighteth in ( thee, and thy land ihall be married.' lfaiah, lx- 15* lxii.4. Thus we may fee by thefe and many other pafTages, that predictions, apparently directly contrary one to the other, ma}' be all fulfilled upon the fame land, peo- ple, and perfons, only allowing a proper time to each, without which we can never make (enih of many pro* pheeies. lfaiah, f peaking of the land of Bozrah, fays, ■ And '.the itreams thereof Ihall be turned into pitch, and the* * dult thereof into brimltone; and the land thereof 4 . ihall become burning pitch ; it lliall not be quenched * night nor day: the fmoke thereof ihall go up lot * ever : from generation to generatian it Ihall lie waite; ' none ihall pals through it for ever and ever. But the * cormorant and the bittern (hail poilefs it; the owl * alio and the raven ihall dwell in it'— (birds than can* not live in lire, pitch, and hruniionc any better than F 3 m$nj 54 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAT . IT. men) — -* And thorns fhall come up in her palaces, ' nettles and brambles in the fortreifes thereof; and it ' ihall be an habitation for dragons, and a court for 4 owls. The wild beaits of the defart ihall alfo meet * with the wild beaits of the iiiand, and the fatvr mail 4 cry to his fellow : the fcreeeh-owl alfo ihall reft there, 6 and find for herfelf a place of reil. There fhall the * great owl make her neft, and lay and hatch, and ga- 6 ther under her fhadow: there Ihall the vultures alfo * be gathered, every one with his mate. Seek ye out * of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of thefe * Ihall fail, none fhall want her mate : for my mouth it ' hath commanded, and his Spirit it hath gathered ' them. And he hath caff the lot for them, and his ' hand hath divided it unto them by line : they fhall * pollers it for ever ; from generation to generation fhall * they dwell therein.' Ifaiah, xxxiv. 9, 10, 11, 13, 11, 15, 16, n. Now in this pafTage there are fuch things fpoken of as are impoiTible to be fulfilled at once, without as great a miracle as w as wrought for the three children in the furnace; and which there is no reafon to expecl will be wrought in favour of cormorants, bitterns, owls, ravens, dragons, fatyrs, wild beaits, thorns, net- tles, and brambles. In the 10th verfe w T e read of a period, called far ever, wherein this land is to be on fire, and is not to be quenched night nor day : and thje fmoke of it is to afcend up for ever; but in the l"ith verfe, it is faid, that the beiore-mentioned birds and beaiis fhall poifefs it for ever, even from generation to generation fhall they dwell therein. But one of thefe periods mult end before the other can begin ; the fire muft cea'e to burn, and the fmoke to afcend, before beads can take up their confhmt dwelling there, and birds can lay and hatch, and gather their young ones under their fhadow*, and enjoy the fociety of their mate:;. ■•' ' nd thus the whole prophecy may be fulfilled, not in thefafne, but in different periods: and thus alfo may all the thrcatenings and all the promifes in the fecred book be accomplished, not at once, but each in their feafon. It DIAL. II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 65 It appears evident, that our Lord, by alluding to a fire that (hall bum on' earth, and to worms that fhali devour the flefli of the flaln, could not mean to prove the torments of men to be abiolutely endlefs; at Unit, the e^prefiions of the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, do not neccjfarily imply it; which has been fufficielitly proved by the palfages where the fame or fimilar exprefiions are ufed, where yet the fub- je>jalt, is a great purifier ; and preferves and clean fes thofe things which are able to endure it; and is the great agent by which all metals are feparated from their drols, and prepared for the ufe for which they were designed. Under the law, all unclean things that could endure the fire, were ordered to be caft into it 3 in order to their cleanfmg. Frjlxd. What you have faid concerning the fires that are reprefented as unquenchable, in feveral paf- fages of Scripture, is worthy of attention; but you fhould coniider, that the fe fires were all on earth, and in time, and therefore muft have an end, or ceafe to burn; but the tire of hell is in eternity, and therefore mult la it as long as eternity fhaii endure. Pray,, what can you fay to this? Minister. Had thofe unquenchable fires never gone out while earth endured, or while time lafted, there might have been iome force in this argument; but lince b6 DIALOGUES ON TKC [DIAL. II. fince the continuance of the fire does not depend upon tfie feqfon in which it is kindled, hut upon the comhuf- tiblcs that feed and fupport it, this can be no obj Re- jection: therefore, fince thofe unquenchable fires thai have been mentioned, were kindled on earth, and yet did not burn while earth lafted, but have gone out long ago, there Is no neceflity of granting, (even though we mould admit your premifes of the fire of hell being kindled in eternity) that the unquenchable lire of the burning lake fnuft unavoidably burn to all etcr~ nity, merely becaufe it is fuppofed to belong to that itate : but if punimments only belong to thofe ages before Chrilt ihall refign the kingdom to the Father, and the lake of fire lhall be this terraqueous globe, diifolved or melted with fervent heat, then the ground is changed, and the whole objection vaniihes of courfe. Friend. As you have come over this objection bet- ter than 1 expected you could, I fhall leave it for the prefent, and coniider more fully, when I am by my- felf, what you have laid upon this fuhject; and fhall now propofe the greateft objection that can be brought again It the Reltoration of all men, from the Scriptures; and which, if you can fairly anfwer, I ihall be aimoft perfuaded to believe with you ; but I am perfuaded, that you will be hard put to it. Minister. Produce your caufe, and bring forth your firong reafons, drat we ma}' hear them ; and if I am filenoed, I will not be alhamed to acknowledge it with all my heart. Friend. I fhall bring my objection from the Scrip- tures, and flate it with the utmoft precilion that 1 am able — It is the blafphemy againft the Holy Ghoft, of which our Saviour fpeaks in the moil awful manner, faying, * Wherefore I fay unto you, all manner of iia * and blafphemy mail be forgiven unto men; but the- * blafphemy againft the Holy Ghoit mall not be for* * given unto men. .And whofoever fpeaketh a word J againft the fon of man, it lhall (or may) be forgiven) *him: but whofoever fpeaketh againft the Holy •Ghoft, »IAL. IT.] VNlVfcRSAL RESTORATION. 57 Ghoft, it (hall not be forgiven him, neither in this world (or age) neither in the world [or age) to come. Verily, 1 fay unto you, all iins ihall (or may) be for- given unto the fons of men, and blafphemies where- with ibever they fliall blafpheme ; but he that (hall blafpheme again it the Holy Ghoft, hath never for- givenefs, (or hath not forgivenefs to the age) but is in danger of eternal damnation. ' St. Mat.xii. 31, 32. St Mark, iii. 28, 29. This is fuch a matter of import- ance, that three of the evangelifts notice it. St. Luke hath it thus: ' And whofoever (hall fpeak a word 1 again ft the foil of man, it mail (or may) be forgiven 1 him; but unto him that blafphemeth againil the Holy * Ghoil, it fliall not be forgiven.' St. Luke, xii. 10. St. Matthew faith, this fin fhall not be forgiven in this world, nor in that to come— St. Mark, that fuch an one hath never forgivenefs, but is in danger of eternal damnation— and St. Luke pofitively faith, it ihall not be forgiven : and to confirm the matter* ftill more, if poflible, St. Paul faith, ' For it is impomble for thole ' who were once enlightened, and have tafted the hea- venly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghoft, and having talted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they fhall fall away, (or and have fallen away) to renew them again to repentance ; feeing they crucify to themfelves the fon of God afrefti, and put him to an open fliame.' For if we fin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remainefh no more facrifice for lins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which fliall devour the adverfaries. He that defpifed Mofes's law, died without mercy, by the mouth of two or three wit- nefles, of how much forer puniihment, fuppofe ye, ihall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the fori of God; and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was fanc"tirled,an unholy * thing, and hath donedefpite uhtothe fpirit of grace?' Heb. vi. 4 ; 5, 0*. x. 26 — 29. And the fame apoftle directs tt DIALOGUES ON TH£ [dIA1.1I. directs us, faying, * Looking diligently, left any man * fail of the grace of God; left any root of bitternefs * fpringing up trouble you, and thereby many be de* ' filed; lelt there be any fornicator, or profane perfon, * as Efau, who for one morfel of bread fold his birth- * right. For ye know how that afterwards, when he f would have inherited the ble fling, he was rejected , * for he found no place of repentance, though he * fought it carefully with tears.' Heb. xii. 15, 16,-n. And St. John, the beloved difciple, fays, ' If any ' man fee his brother fin a fin which is not unto death, 4 he ihall afk, and he ihall give him life for them that ' fin not unto death* There is a fin unto death : I do * not fay that he fhall pray for it/ 1 John, v. 16. Now here is a lin for which there is no forgivenefs, neither in this world (or age) or in that to come-— which Ihall not be forgiven at all-— he that committeth it hath never forgivenefs, is in danger of eternal dam- nation — he caftnot be renewed again to repentance* becaufe he hath crucified Chrift to himfelf afreih, and hath put him to an open fhame : having iinned wilfully and malicioufly, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, to fuch no more iacrifice for fins remaineth— • judgment and fiery indignation are his certain portion — he is an adverfary, and muft be devoured-— a forer punifnment than death without mercy awaits him, of which he is worthy, for that he hath trodden under foot the foil of God, the only Saviour, and hath count- ed the precious blood of the covenant, wherewith he was fanCtified, and which alone is able to cleanfe from fin, an unholy thing; and hath done defpite to the fpirit of grace, which is only able to renew the heart, and therefore the cafe of fuch mult be defparate ; for if fuch an one, like Efau, ihould wifli to repent, and gain what he had loft; it could not be, for he would find no place for repentance, though he might leek it carefully with tears; for having committed the fin unto death, for which no prayer is to be mace, no in- tercefiion to be offered up, he is bound over to the fecond DIAL. II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION'. 59 fecond death, the lake of fire and brimftone, and mult bear the punilhment of his tins ibr ever and ever !!!—- - What fay you to this? Mi sister. As when Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel his dream, he was aitoniihed for one hour at the great- nefs of the punilhment which he faw would inevitably come upon the king, much more muit all thofe be who read and coniider thefe dreadful threatening*, which muit finely come upon all thofe who have iinned iu the manner defcribed ! I fhall make a few observations upon thefe molt terrible paftages of Scripture, partly to prevent feeble minds from falling into defpair, that may fee them collected in one ftriking view, partly to cure proud minds of prefumption, and partly to ihew that the doctrine of the Reltoration may be defended, notwithstanding. 1 . We are fure that the Scribes and Pharifees of our Saviour's time, who blafphemouflyafcribedhis miracles to the power of the devil, did, in the molt direct: and un- deniable manner, commit that fin ; and lbmeare doubt- ful whether it can be committed by any in thefe days. 2. It is generally acknowledged, that the Hebrews were in danger of committing that fin, by openly and wilfully apoitatizing from Chrifiianity, and publicly renouncing Chrift and his falvation, and blafpheming again!! the Holy Ghoft, after having been partakers of its extraordinary gifts. 3. It cannot be committed by ignorant perfons, nor without a considerable degree of malice prepenfe; light in the understanding and malice in the heart are neceffary ingredients of this dreadful crime ; and it appears to me, it muit be committed openly, and that it cannot be committed in thought only. 4. Under the Levitical difpenfation there were many unpardonable fins — crimes that could not be forgiven or overlooked, and for which no atonement could be made, and which were punifned with death, without mercy; other crimes, unlefs Sacrifices were offered, and repentance took place, fubje&ed the parties to death alfo ; but, under the gofpel, there is but one crime €0 DIALOGUIS ON THE [DIAL, II c crime that is properly unpardonable, and that abfo- lately fubjects the pcrfon guilty of it to the fecond death; yet many other iins are threatened with the fame puniihment conditionally, but they may be for- given, and not puniihed at all ; but this one mult as certainly be puniihed with the fecond death, as mur- der, or any other crime, was by the law of Mofcs pu- niihed with the death of the body, without mercy or forgivenefs. Forgery is the unpardonable I'm of Eng- land : petfple frequently fuffer death for other crimes, as well as this ; but other offences are fometimes for- given, but this never; it is always puniihed with death. This circumftance may ill u Urate my meaning. The fin againft the Holy Gholi is an offence of that kind, that, either owing to its uncommon malignity, as is moft likely, or ibme other caufe, expofes the guilty perfon to the age of judgment, from which he cannot efcape by repentance, pardon, and fprinkling of the blood of Chrift, as other iinners may; neither .can he be at prefent born of the fpirit, to which he liath done defpite ; nor can he be reclaimed by any poilible means, in this age, or in the age that is to fuc- ceed this ; but is inevitably bound over to fuffer the inconceivable torments of the fecond death, or lake of lire and brimfione, after the day of judgment. 5. There is no kind of difpute between us, refpecl:- ing the certainty of the puniihment of fuch; in this we both agree : he that iinueth againlt the Holy Ghoft is in danger of eternal damnation, or judgment, or the fecond death: — the queition is, Shall there ever come a time when the fecond death, or lake of lire, mail no more exiil ? Jf this can be proved, the concluiion will be evident, v/%. that not one (hall remain under the power thereof to all eternity : upon this, and this alone, depends the fplutibrt of this awful, intereiting, and molt important queition ; and I coniider all other an- fwers as mere quibbles, compared with this. And if it cannot be proved that a time will come when all that bears the name of death ihall be deitroyed, thofe who commit the fin unto death; nuift, at lea.il, be allowed DIAL. II.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION- 61 allowed to Hand as exceptions to the general rule; and J am apt to think the r.ule itfelf will be oven: 1 !. I fhall therefore labour this point a I mould be lb happy as to prove to yOur total deftruction of death, it will anfwer maj objections as well as this. My only efuge ture; if that fail me, I ihall not prefame to purine the fubject farther. Ifaiah, xxv. 8. * He- will fwallow up death in vie- * tory; and Adonai Jehovah will wi tears * from off all faces.' Hofea, xiii. 14. 6 I will r; ' them from the power of the grave; I A'ill r< * them from death. O death, I will be thy plagi* f grave, (or hell) 1 will be thy deftrucrion ; re] ' ance fhall be hid from mine eyes.' 1 C( 6 The laft enemy that fhall be deftroyed is death"— ox rather, as the words may more properly be arran^ ' Death, the laft enemy, fhall be deftrc cond death is infinitely more the enemy or mar the firil, and may therefore be conlidered as an v which God will deitroy. Now, If the laft enemy fhall be deftroyed, there will be one left: But the firil is true ; therefore alio the [ail Would it not be highly abfurd to fay, that, althi the very laft enemy fhali be deftroyed, vet many mil- lions fnall remain to all eternity? Yerfe56. ' The fting of death is fm.' While fib remains in exiftence, death will be able to ihew its fting ; but the time will come when death fhall have no fting to boaft of; therefore fin, and confequ death of every kind, fhall be deftroyed. 1 John, iif. 8. ' For this purpofe the fon of God was rnanlfefted, ; that he might deftroy the works of the devil.' Un- lets Chrift finally deftroys the works of the devil, even all fin out of the univerfe, his purpofe mult be eter- nally fruftrated: But the laft can never be; therefore the firft is true, Heb. ii. 14. ' Forafmuch, then, as the children are ' partakers of fleih and blood, he alio himfelf likewife & * took 62 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIALiTI. 6 took part of the fame; that through death he might ' deitroy him that had the power of death, that is the ' devil.' Now what death has the devil power over? the death of the body? or that of the foul, which confifts in enmity againft God, and feparation from him? 'To be carnally minded is death ; but to be ' fpiritually minded is life and peace. Beca ufe the •' carnal mind is enmity again (1 God; for it is not fub- * jecl: to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' Rom. viii. 6. 1. If this death, with the eonfequence of it, is that which the devil has the power of, then mult this death be deltroyed. But I think the firli is true ; therefore alfo the laft. Rev. xxi. 4. we read, 6 And God (hall wipe away ( all tears from their eyes; and there fliall be no more ' death, neither forrow, nor cr3 r ing, neither fhall there ' be any more pain; for the former things are palfed c away.' Here is a hate fpoken of beyond all death; a ftate wherein forrow, crying, and pain fliall be no more. This ltate is cotempornry with the new hea- ven and earth, after the lake of lire hath ceafed. F/iiEND. We have always understood this palfage to relate to the death of the body, and even to the death of the righteous only; but making this ltate cotem- porary v\ ith the new~ heavens and earth, feems to throw a new light upon the firbjecT:. Mini step.. Molt certainly the word death here im- plies the fecond death; for we are informed, in the foregoing chapter, of the fir it refurrection, even that of the martyrs, who were beheaded for the witnefs of Jefus, and for the word of God; and fuch as had not worthipped the bealt and his image, neither had re- ceived hu> mark in their foreheads, or in their hands: then we read of a thoufand years between this refur- rection, and the reft of the dead living again: after this, we find, that the dead, fmall and great, ltood before God, and were judged; and fuch as were not found written in the book of life, were caft into the lake of lire, which* is exprefsly called, ' the fecond * death;' which, as before oblerved, is probably the earth . II.] UNIVERSAL RLSTORATIOy. 63 earth in its melted ftate. In this chapter we find, that all things are to be made new; and death is to be no more, neither forrow, nor crying, neither an)- more pain. But this mutt be the fecond death, or lake of tire ; for the refurreftion of all the bodies, both of .t and nnjuft, had been fpoken o( before. s, as all fin, and all that bears the name of death, fliall be entirely deftroyed at kilt, the doctrine of end- " lefs miiery feems to fall to the ground, or, at lea it, cannot be certainly proved from Scripture, but rather the contrary. The time muft come when all things fliall be fubjcct to Chrift, when he fliall deitroy death, thelaft enemy, b\ deftroying fin, which is the fling of death; fo this dreadful iin, as well as others, ihall be no more. For if this was not to be the cafe, it could never be true that ' where fin abounded, grace did much more * abound ;' for it never would abound quite fo much ; neither would death and hell be filent when God ihall aik the great queitions, ' O death, where is thy fling*? 1 O grave, (or hell) where is thy viclory?' for death could fay, Here is my iting — that iin againftthe Holy Ghoit, which muft endure to all eternity, and whicii even divine grace ihall never deftroy ; i have, there- fore, the victory and dominion over thefe finners who have committed it, and will hold it while God himielf exiits. Then death could never be deftroyed, nor f wallowed up in victory ; neither would forrow, cry- ing, and pain ceafe; neither could God ever be all in all, in any other fenfe, with refpeCr to them, than he is now; nor would every tongue fwear ; neither would all things wholly be made new, nor all the former things ever pals away! neither could the univerfal chorus of praife ever be fung by every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and throughout God's wide domain; and, finally, many Scriptures would never feem to be fulfilled, in the fulleit ienfe. Rom. v. 20, 21. ' But where fin abounded, grace did * much more abound; that as fin hath reigned unto ' death, even fo might grace reign, through nghteouf- G 2 ■ ■ . : -;« nefc, 64 DIALOGUES ON THE [dIAL.1I. ' nefs, unto eternal life, by Jefus Chrift our Lord.' — » Now, if grace iliall abound more than fin, it fhall be as uriiverfal, and more powerful: but the firit is true, therefore alio the lait. i£ grace Iliall be as extend \e as fin, and more powerful, all who have huned (hail be reiiored: but the firit is true, therefore alio the laft. What confequences mult follow from the fuppofition thai fome of God's creatures lhall always remain his enemies ! Either God created fome to be miferable to endlefs ages — or mult be fruftrated eternally in his de- signs — or all mult be reilored at Tall, and made happy bylove and free love. The firftis blafphemous, the fecond is diihonourable to God; therefore the third mult be true; for I cannot think of a fourth concluiion. Friend. What do you think of the deplorable cafe of Efau, ' who, for one morfel of meat, fold his birth- k right; and afterwards, when he would have inherit- * e^ the blefiing, he was rejected; for he found no place * of repentance, though he fought it carefully, with JviixisTER. He certainly loft, or rather fold, his birth-right; in confequence of which he loft the blefi- ing belonging to the ririt-born : but left any ihould be led to conclude from this, that poor Efau had no Melt- ings at all, the fame apoftle informs us, that ' By faith 4 jfaac hlelfed Jacob and Efau, concerning things to ■ come.'' Heb. xi. 20. By this we find, he was bleiled as well as Jacob ; but in a lefs degree. Frtekd. Do we not read, ' Jacob have I loved, but ' Efau have I hated?' Rom. ix. 13. Mai. i. 2. 3*. Minister. Yes, moft certainly ; but then this love and hatred", fo called, wasmanifelled to their pofterit} , and not to their perfons, in the manner deicribed by the prophet; ' I have loved you, faith Jehovah; yet \ ye fav, Wherein hail thou loved us? Was not Efau ' Jacob's brother? faith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob, * and 1 hated Efau, and laid his mountains and his hc- 6 ritage wafte, for the dragons of- the wilder nets.' — f I his manifeftation of hatred did not affect the eternal ftate DIAL. IT.] UNIVERSAL RESTORATION. 63 ftate of their fouls, but their condition in this world. God declared, that Jacob's feed ihouldexift as a diftirift people to the end of time, but that Efau's mould not : and this difference is evident; for the remains of Efau's feed were, in the days of the Maccabees, incorporated with the feed of Jacob, and exilted no more for ever, as a nation by them lei ves. From Jacob's race the Mefliah was to come, and all nations were to be hleff- ed in the feed oi^ Ifrael. In all thefe inflances, and in many others, there was a manifeft preference of Jacob to Eiau; but nothing- like politive hatred can be intended. Chrift fays, (St. Luke, xiv. 26.) ' If any man come 6 to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife * and children, and brethren, and fillers, yea, and his ' own life alio, he cannot be my difciple.' But we cannot fuppofe our Lord intended politive, bat com- parative hatred; according to St. Matth. x. 31. ' He ' that loveth father or mother more than me, is not 6 worthy of me ; and he that loveth ion or daughter ' more than me, is not worthy of me.' Friend. What you have faid upon this fubject ap- pears to have fome weight, and I will conlider it more fully hereafter: but I mult beg leave to a Ik you how you get over that great gulph which is placed in Hades, of which Abraham fpeaks' to the rich man, faying, k And befides all this, between us and you there is ' a great gulph fixed; fo that they which would pais * from hence to you cannot; neither can they pais to ' us that would come from thence.' Does not this imply the abfolute impoffibility of the rich man's being ever reiiored? Minister. You have afked me many queftions ; give me leave to afk you one. ---Do you believe, that Jefus of Nazareth was able to pais that impaifable gulph? Friend. Indeed, that is a queition I never heard pro- poled before, and which I am not prepared to anfwer, without farther confideration. Pray, be fo kind as to give an anfvver yourfelf, and tell mi what voii think of it. 3 Af::. 66 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. II. Minister. I believe, that with man it is irripoffible; but with God all things are poilible: and 1 believe that Jefus Chrift was not only able to pafs, but that he actually did pais that gulph, which was impaflable to all el, no doubt; not to men in the body, but to the fpirits— -to thofe in a difembodied ftate ; not only fo, but to the fpirits inprifon: had they not been in the prifon, Chrift would not have gone into the prifon to preach to .them. But who were thefe fpirits? St. Pe- rforms us, that they are thofe who were fometime iifobedient ; but this expreflion intimates that the time perfectly pad; as, 'Ye were the fervants of fin : c for when ye were the fervants of fin, ye were free \ from righteoufnefs.' Rom. vi. n, 20. St. Peter tells us when they were difobedient; when once the long fuf- fering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark. d preparing : here he evidently diflinguifhes the two periods of their viiitation ; one is called the preaching* of Chrift, by his fpirit, after he was put to death in the flefh ; and the other is called the long-fuftering of God, which waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing. The long fuflering of God waited upon them, before they were drowned, while the ark was building ; but Chrilt preached to them when they were fpirits in prifon. They 'were dif- obedient to God's long fuffering ; but it is not cer- tain that they were fo when Chriit preached to them ; but the contrary is intimated in thefe words : *■ For, ' for tins caufc was the gofpel preached alfo to them that 6 are dead,' &c. This cannot intend thofe that are Spi- ritually dead only, but thofe whofe bodies are dead ; becaufe we here iind the dead fet in oppoiition to the quick, or thofe whofe boaies are alive, and not thofe that are fpiritually alive ; for we may obferve, that whenever the words quick and dead occur, by quick we always uuderftand thole whofe bodies are alive; and by dead, thofe who have ceafed to exilt here. Atfs, 68 DIALOGUES ON THE [DIAL. II. Acts, x. 40, &c. St. Peter, in his fermon to Corne- lius and his family, informed them of Jefus, who was flam, whom ' God raifed from the dead, and the wed ' him openly; not to all the people, but unto witneffes, ' chofen before of God; even to us, who did eat and ' drink with him, after he rofe from the dead. And ' he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to 4 teftify, that it is he, who was ordained of God to be ' the judge of quick and dead J* And St. Paul fays to Timothy, 6 I charge thee, therefore, before God, and * the Lord Jefus Chriit, who mall judge the quick and 4 the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom, preach *■ the word,' &c. See 2 Tim. iv. 1. So, in 1 Pet. iv. 5. the words quick and dead are ufed in the fame man- ner; and then immediately, while the idea is warm in our minds, the apoftle gives us the reafons why the gofpel was preached to the dead, (or the fpirits in prifon) of which he had before informed us, and now repeats again, and aflures us, that it was, that they might be judged according to men in the jlefii : or, as though they had heard it while they w r ere alive in the fteih: but alfo, that they might live according to God, in the Spirit. The gofpel not only was, but is preached to them that are dead in a moral or Spi- ritual fen:e. It need not have been faid, For, for this caufe was the gofpel preached AL50 to them that are dead, if only the fpiritually dead are intended; for it is rarely preached to any other but fuch. Why fhould it be faid, that they might be judged according to ■men in the jlcfli, if they were men in the flefh at the time when it was preached to them ? This paffage proves the exigence of the foul after the death of the body: for unlets the fouls of the an- tedeluvians exifled after the drowning of their bodies, Chrift could not have preached to them in prifon : but the dead being oppofed to the quick in this paffage, fufficiently, and even inconteflibly, determines the fenfe. With a little attention, we may eafily be convinced, that Chrift was not only defigued to be a covenant of the DIAL. II.] rNIVERSAL RESTORATION. Gi> the people, (meaning the Jews) and a light to the Gentiles — which two defcriptions comprehend all the living — but alio, to bring out the prifoners from the prifon, and them that fit in darknefs out of the prifon - houfe, which, if it be not a repetition) mull intend the dead, as ail the living were mentioned before. ' And he laid, It is a light thing that thou ihouldelt ' be my fervant, to raife up the tribes of Jacob, and ' to reftore the preferved of Ifrael; I will alio give 6 thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayeit be * my falvation unto the ends of the earth. Thus faith 4 Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, * and in a day of falvation ha\e I helped thee: and I * will preferve thee, and give thee for a covenant of \ the people, to eitabliih the earth, to caufe to inherit 6 the defolate heritages.' Thus far the redeemer's work feems limited to the earth, and refpe<9:s the liv- ing; but the prophet goes much farther, and fays — * That thou mayeit fay to the prifoners, Go forth ; to * them that are in darknefs, Shew yourfelves: they * ihall feed in the ways, and their pailures lhall be in * all high places. They ihall not hunger nor thirit; 4 neither ihall the heat nor fun finite them; for he that 1 hath mercy upon them ihall lead them, even by the ' fprings of water (hall he guide them.' See Ifaiah, xlii. 6. 1. xlix. 6, 8, 9, 10. compared with Rev.vii. 1 4 — n. The work of the Saviour, as described by the elegant pen of Ifaiah, (chap. lxi. 1, 2, 3.) feems to comprehend a great variety of particulars ; all which he hath performed already, or ihall execute in due time. ' The fpirit of Adonai Jehovah is upon me; * becaufe Jehovah hath anointed me, ( 1 ) to ('reach 6 good tidings to the meek : (2) he hath fent me to bind ' up the broken-hearted; (3) to proclaim liberty to the ' captives, (I) and the opening of the prifon to them 6 that are bounn : (5) to proclaim the acceptable year 4 of Jehovah, (6) and the day of vengeance oi our 4 God: (") to comfort all that mourn : (8) to appoint ' unto them that mourn in Zion,to give unto them,;?;//, * beauty for allies ; Jhco/idly, the oil of joy for mourning ; 6 thirdly ) ^0 DIALOGUES ON THE [dIAL.II, 5 thirdly , the garment of praife for the fpirit of heavi- * nefs ; that they might be called,//;// 7 , trees of right e- 1 oiifnefi ; ft (o)iddy^ the plaining of J eho v ah; ( and al l 6 for this great end) that he might be glorified.' Our Lord Jefus Chrift, by his procefs, hath laid a foundation for the recovery of all men; ' For to this * end Chrift both died, rofe.and revived, that lie n ' be Lord both of the dead and living.' Rom. xh . 9. He paifed through all our nates, that he might redeem us. He came down from heaven — he was concehed in the womb of Mary — he was born of her — he lived in the world unknown — he fympathized with us in our forrows — he bare our fins in his own body on the jtree — he was buried— he defcended into Hades* — he arofe — afcended — iitteth at the right hand of God— and maketh continual interceffion for us. • It feemed neceflary, that our Saviour fhould vilit men in all fituationsf, that he might, redeem them. The apoftle * The Greek atos 9 Ztf