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    versxble ; for I aow assure y ^ t , by $ tie spirit ttf ^ rophe ^ Sh ^ lharfAlmighty hath thnl subjected Ms rational j 4 dSspring ? - in < hope'J * o £ a better state and C 0 aditioriv > #£ wMeh ; he hath alreadpaffcwrded ail mankind some considerable intimation in the frame and

    coostitution of their own minds ; and asfelie ^ evercaiat deceive his creatures , nor does any thiiuj in vain , thfe hopfe will uitimat ^ l y be realized ' * aiid the creature itself ;? ' all mankind universally " shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God .

    This appears to the writer to be in the main a summary of Mr . Taylor ' s paraphrase upon this important passage . The * reader must determine this question for himself . It is true ,

    impenitent transgressors cannot be received into < c the liberty of God's children * ' while they remain such , but this being a leading principle of the gospel , needs not to be here insisted

    upon . The last passage of Scripture which we shall mention in an argumentative way , is the close of our Lord's parable , recorded Luke xii ., which undoubtedly relates to the judgments of futurity . It will be allowed , that we

    are to have a more especial regard to those parts of holy writ which treat of particular doctrines , in which the sacred penmen expressly reason upon them , than to those . where they are only alluded to in a general and

    cursory way . The apostles did not immediately , as in other cases , comprehend the full scope of this parable , and Peter desired an explanation , which was immediately granted ; and the sum and substance of the whole

    discourse is presented to us by the Evangelist , vers . 47 > 48 : " He who knew his Lord ' s will and did it not , shall be beaten with many stripes ; but he who knew not , and did commit things worthy of stripes , shall be

    beaten with few stripes : " and then the argument follows , founded upon the purest principles of eternal justice— for to whom much is given , of

    him shall be much required ; and to whom men have conniiitted mucb , of him will they ask the more . " In this memorable language our Lord lays down the true criterion of future

    judgment , and furnishes us with the key , as it were , to unlock the prison doors of Hades , and to afford us a

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    glimpse of- - those awful sufferings which ' &wa * t < the Mth 6 * to Mfcorri ^ We in a ftftufre sl&te . But iiiSlead of a paraphrase ujfcon it , let us t ¥ y a gyMo- * gum > and see how far the reasoning applies to the doctrine Which we have be ^ ti endeavouring to illustrate anil defend .

    Jesus Christ , the appointed judge of the whole earth , when treating of his future advent , hath assured us , that some of the victims of future sufferings shall be ¦ ** beaten with few

    stripes , " or m comparatively lenient degrees ; but the phrase € t a feifr stripes" is absolutely inconsistent with the idea of an eternal duration :

    therefore some of the victims of future condemnation shall not remain in a sta ^ te of punishment throughout an absolute eternity . If there be no defect in the second limb of this argument , then , unless our faculties deceive us , and we have

    no means of distinguishing truth from error , the conclusion must necessarily follow ; and a similar train of reasoning will justify us in extending the rule to the case of the delinquent who is to be ** beaten with many stripes , "

    unless we suppose ( Aorrendum dictu ) that the creature is stronger than his Maker , or that the Almighty ( to repeat the tremendous language of the poet ) hath "pushed into being a reverse of himself !"

    Thus hath our great Master , in this place , as in many of his divine discourses , set before us the paternal character of the Deity in the most striking and alluring light , inducing us to adopt the belief or moral suasion that the punishments of futurity ,

    being directed by infinite wisdom , power and goodness , holiness and justice , in eternal harmony and union , will be sanatory and medicinal , and not final and vindictive : only let us never forget that his infinite goodness is designed to attract us more and

    more to his service 3 to increase , not to abate , our dread of offending him ; that aggravated transgression will meet with aggravated punishment - , and that it is eternally true , and throughout every period of our existence , that if we refuse to submit to the sceptre of

    his grace , we must bow down before the rod of his indignation ! By the way , we may observe , that " the restitution of all things" is a Scripture phrase . Acts iii , 21 - .

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    A " Long-Lost Truth . " 7 l £

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1825, page 719, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2543/page/15/