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    appeal we have made to the human heart against the terrific doctrines of the Genevese Reformer . But will it not carry Dr . W . farther than he is exactly prepared to go ? Is not the idea of myriads of human beings perishing , even though only through permission , to all eternity—and that of three persons in one God —and two natures in one person—of three being one—rand the finite and the infinite existing in the same being , apart and

    unblended , «* at variance with every notion we should naturally he led to form , " and " we may be sure , "" therefore , * ' will be revealed , if revealed at all , in the fullest and most decisive language" ? But , ex concesso , these notions are not so revealed , and in consequence , on Dr . W . ' s own principles , they are unfounded and false . In reference to the doctrines we have mentioned , as well as to imputed sin and imputed righteousness , the following language of Dr . W . may be used :

    " It is not once or twice , therefore , it is not obscurely or obliquely that we might expect to find St Paul speaking to his converts of this imputed sin and imputed obedience . As the foundation of salutary dread and of consolatory hope , as connected most intimately with every question relative to the punishments and rewards of the next world , we might expect him to make the most explicit declarations respecting a point of such moment , to dwell on it copiously and earnestly , to recur to it in almost every page . Now , when we proceed to actual examination-of Scripture , do we find these most reasonable expectations confirmed ? Far otherwise . "

    Dr . W . ' s reasonings from Scripture are good , but not new ; and on a subject with which our readers are so familiar , it is not necessary to enter into an exposition of them . He terminates his examination in these words : u cannot but conclude that that system of imputed sin and righteousness which I have been considering is altogether fanciful and groundless . " Dr . Whately , therefore , denies either that Adam ' s sin or ChristVrighteousness is accounted to us . And , in a spirit not altogether becoming one

    who has evidently drawn not a litUe on Unitarian writers , he tells his readers that the doctrine of imputation which he impeaches " is a favourite point of attack to the Infidel , and especially the Socinian ; who pretend and probably believe themselves" ( surely belief is hardly compatible with pretence ) " to have exposed to contempt the great doctrines of the Atonement and the Divinity of Christ , by exposing the chimerical pretensions of doctrines which are taudit in conjunction with these , and represented as parts of the

    same system . " If Unitarians have so acted , their justification is to be found in Dr . W . ' s own words . Imputed sin and imputed righteousness , he tells us , are taught in conjunction with the Atonement , and represented as parts of the system . " Not only so , " he says , in another part , " if true , it must be the very key to eternal happiness , " and in consequence so is jt taught in his own shewing by those who think it true . And , in point of fact , it cannot be denied that this doctrine still constitutes the essence of the

    Atonement as taught from the pulpit , and as may be seen from the quotations we have made , as enforced by societies for the evangelization of the people . We proclaim Dr . W-, therefore , heretic in this point , and tell him that whether or not his systeni of Atonement is obnoxious to exposure from Unitarian arguments , the common notions on this subject most unquestionably are ; for in all essential points they are identical with the doctrine of imputation which , after many Unitarians , Dr . W . has exploded . Take away from " the Atonement" the doctrine of imputed sin and imputed righteousness , and we know not that there remains much that is objectionable , though we confess that we should wish to see a change of doctrine followed

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    Whately * s , Essays on the Writings of St , Paul . 616

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1829, page 615, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2576/page/15/