passage, must have some other meaning. It means Preserver; and in this sense the living God is the Saviour of all men without exception; he upholds them in being, he sustains them in temporal life, in him they live, and move, and have their being; while he extends a peculiar care to believers who are partakers of his special grace.*

'We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.' (Heb. ii. 9.) The word man here is not in the original; the phrase runs for every one,-iTig TAVTÒS. Now, the rule with regard to universal terms is, not to extend them beyond the subject of which the writer happens to be treating; and, in the case before us, the persons spoken of are the 'sons' whom the Captain of salvation brings to glory,—they who are sanctified, '—his 'brethern,'' the children which God had given him;' from all which we are surely warranted to presume the meaning of the disputed expression to be, that Jesus tasted death for every one of these, and not for every one of the human race. Nor is this interpretation different from what we are required to adopt in similar instances, in which even stronger language is employed in the original. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man (xáory) to profit withal.' (1 Cor. xii. 7.) This cannot possibly be understood universally. Neither can the following, where even the term man occurs in the Greek,- Whom we preach, warning every man (rávra üvegrov) and teaching every man,' (πάντα ἄνθρωπον.) (Col. i. 28.)

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These, we believe, are all the passages in which the phrases in question occur, in connexion with the death of Christ. Or, if there are any others, they are to be explained on the same principles. The sources of explanation are chiefly two that universal terms are not to be extended beyond the subject in reference to which they are usedand, that all,' with special reference to the greater extension of new testament blessings, means all WITHOUT DISTINCTION, and not all WITHOUT EXCEPTION. canons kept in view and applied, will serve to explain every difficulty which may be supposed to arise from the use of universal terms, in speaking of the subjects of Christ's death.

These

* See Ps. xxxvi. 6: "O Lord, thou preservest (in the Greek Septuagint, was, wilt save) man and beast."-ED.

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5. There remains but one other objection, that, namely, which rests on those passages of Scripture which seem to imply a possibility of some perishing for whom Christ

died.

If such a thing could be shown to be fact, or even proved to be possible, then would the doctrine of a definite atonement be overthrown, and the theory of universality would possess a high degree of probability. But the passages referred to, when closely examined, give support to no such idea. Let us give our attention for a little to these passages.

Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition: that the Scripture might be fulfilled.' (John xvii. 12.) Here, it is supposed that one of those who were given to Christ to be redeemed by his blood is said to be lost. The explanation of this passage depends on the view taken of the phrase, those that thou gavest me.' If this refers officially to the giving to Christ of certain persons to be his apostles, then there is nothing which impugns our doctrine in what is expressed, namely, that Judas, one of the apostles, had apostatised and fallen from his apostleship. But we apprehend that by those given to Christ, we are to understand the elect of God, the redeemed from among men, who in the context are said to have kept his word,' and to have 'believed in him.' To this number, Judas, who was always a hypocrite, never belonged. The particle but (i u) is thus not exceptive but adversative; it does not suppose the son of perdition to be included in the number of those given to Christ, but to be contrasted with such; the language is elliptical, and the ellipsis requires but to be supplied, to render the passage one of the strongest in the Bible in our favour: those that thou hast given me I have kept, and none of them is lost. But the son of perdition is lost, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.' Such is the force of the particle in many other passages, which may serve to illustrate and confirm this explanation: No man knoweth the Son, but the Father-(in Пarng, i. e. but the Father knoweth the Son;) neither knoweth any man the Father, but the Son;' (Matt. xi. 27;) (si un ò riòs, i. e. but the Son knoweth the Father.) Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias-but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, (si un sis Zagarra,) a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow' (Luke iv. 25, 26.) That the

particle is here adversative, not exceptive, is plain from the circumstance that Sarepta was not in Judea, and of course the widow who abode there was not a widow in Israel; the manner in which God treated this widow, by sending to her his prophet, is contrasted with his treatment of the many widows in Israel, to whom he sent him not. Thus, also, in the passage which immediately follows:Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving (in) Naaman the Syrian.' (Luke iv. 27.) Naaman the Syrian was not a leper in Israel; the force of the passage lies in the implied contrast ;- none of THEM was cleansed. But NAAMAN THE SYRIAN was cleansed.' Take two other examples of the adversative force of the particle:-' And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only (in) those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads,' i, e. only those men shall they hurt. And there shall in no wise enter into it, any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but (i) they which are written in the Lamb's book of life: i. e. they shall enter into it. (Rev. ix. 4; xvi. 27.) Surely, after these passages are considered, no candid person will insist that Judas, the son of perdition, was included among those who were given to Christ to be redeemed by his blood; for, on the same principle might it be maintained, that the Father was a man, that Sarepta was a city of Judea, that Naaman the Syrian was a leper in Israel, that the men who had not the seal of God in their foreheads were grass or trees, and that those who are written in the Lamb's book of life were persons who are defiled, and work abomination, and make a lie. That a mere English

reader might be led, by the passage under consideration, to adopt the idea, that those for whom Christ died may possibly perish, would not be wonderful, although the texts in which a parallel phraseology occurs might have prevented even such from error; but that persons conversant with the original language should take such a view of it, is utterly inexcusable, inasmuch as the very opposite is what the original terms import.

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died.' (Rom. xiv. 15.) Similar to this is a passage in another epistle of the same writer,

which must be explained on the same principles :—' And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?' (1 Cor. viii. 11.) These texts seem at first sight to be formidable; but they are capable of being satisfactorily explained. It occurs to remark, at the outset, that if they actually imply that those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ may finally fall away and perish, then do they directly contradict other passages of Scripture, which as expressly teach us the contrary of all this; such as the following:- All that the Father hath given me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall NEVER PERISH, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. -Who shall also CONFIRM you unto the end, that ye may be blameless unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.-The Lord is faithful who shall STABLISH you and keep you from evil. Who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation.' (John vi. 37. 39; x. 28. 1 Cor. i. 8. 2 Thess. iii. 3. 1 Pet. i. 5.) Such as maintain the possibility of any for whom Christ died perishing, will find it difficult to explain these passages in consistency with this opinion; but they are as much bound to reconcile the passages on which they found the sentiment in question with those we have now adduced, as are the advocates of a definite atonement to reconcile the same passages with the sentiment they have espoused. Nay, we greatly mistake if the latter be not a much more easy task than the former.

The true explanation of these passages seems to be, that the tendency of the wicked conduct denounced is what is pointed out. The tendency is to destroy, or make to perish, the brother for whom Christ died. All sin tends to the destruction of the soul; and such, in every case, would be its effect, were there nothing to prevent it. This is the case with the sins of the people of God, as well as those of others; and nothing but the justifying righteousness of the Redeemer in which they are interested by faith, prevents this end from supervening. Such, of course, is the case with the temptations to sin to which they are exposed from others the tendency of these temptations is to bring about their destruction, to cause them to perish. Because such a consummation shall not be permitted to take place, it is not less true that it is the tendency of the conduct in

question to lead to it. And, in speaking of a line of evil conduct, and setting forth its enormity with a view to deter from pursuing it, what more natural or fitting than to describe it by its evil and pernicious tendency! It is thus that he who believeth not God is said to make God a liar. The tendency of the conduct is to such an end; but the end itself can never be in reality. So in the case before us; the tendency of the conduct described is to cause the brother to perish for whom Christ died, although such is the grace of God that this consummation shall never be permitted to take place.

'Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.' (Heb. x. 29.) The apostle is showing the aggravated criminality of apostasy from the gospel. One aggravating circumstance is, that the apostate treats with contempt the blood of the covenant; which blood is said to be, as magnifying still more the crime, that wherewith he was sanctified.' The question here is, who is it that is referred to by the pronoun 'he?" Who is it that was sanctified? Is it the apostate himself?

or is it the Son of God? The former is, of course, understood by those who adduce the passage as an objection to the doctrine of a definite atonement. But this we are disposed to question; the immediate antecedent is the Son of God; thus understood, the passage is rendered more strongly expressive of the writer's object; and this is the view which is taken of it by some of our best writers. That the blood, which apostates from the gospel profane, is that by which the Son of God was himself consecrated or set apart to his mediatorial offices, is surely a consideration fitted to deepen their crime. But, admitting that the apostate. himself is meant, the passage presents no opposition to our doctrine. In the first place, the word 'sanctified,' often means nothing more than consecration to the service of God, which may apply to hypocrites as well as true saints, in respect of their profession of the gospel; making that profession, they avowedly set themselves apart to the service of the Most High. And in the second place, supposing the word sanctified to be used in its more frequent acceptation to mean inward purification of the soul, may we not understand the apostle here to reason regarding the