Wesley Corpus

You add: ‘“Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” Here you have God's own word for it, nothing but love chasteneth.’ (Page 81.) We know His love chasteneth His children. Of these only God is speaking here, as appears from the latter clause of the sentence. And yet we cannot say even as to them, ‘It is nothing but His love.’ It is mercy mixed with justice. You cite one text more: ‘I have smitten you: yet have ye not returned to Me’ (Amos iv. 9); and say, ‘Now, how is it possible for words to give stronger proof’ (Ibid.) Proof of what Not that God did not punish them, but that ‘in the midst of wrath He remembered mercy.’ To these texts of Scripture (wide enough of the point) you subjoin: ‘The doctrine of Atonement made by Christ is the strongest demonstration that the wrath to be atoned cannot be in God’ (page 85). Who talks of ‘wrath to be atoned’ ‘The wrath to be atoned’ is neither sense nor English, though it is a solecism you perpetually run into (I hope not on purpose to puzzle the cause): that the sin to be atoned cannot be in God we all allow; but it does not affect the question. Once more, to silence all contradiction at once, to stop the mouths of all gainsayers, you say: ‘This (that there is no anger, no vindictive justice in God, no punishment at all inflicted by Him) is openly asserted, constantly affirmed and repeated, in the plainest letter of Scripture.’ Whether this or the very reverse is true will appear from a few out of numberless texts, which I shall barely set' down without any comment and leave to your cool consideration. You say: (1) There is no vindictive, avenging, or punitive justice in God. (2) There is no wrath or anger in God.' (3) God inflicts no punishment on any creature, neither in this world nor that to come. God says, --