Wesley Corpus

You go on : “If he saw himself as he really is,” (Sir, do not you see yourself so?) “if he conceived himself and all his actions necessarily linked into the great chain, which renders the whole order both of the natural and moral world unalterably determined in every article, what would follow ** Why, just nothing at all. The great chain must remain as it was before; since whatever you see or conceive, that i “unalterably determined in every article.” To confute himself still more fully, he says, “If we knew good and evil to be necessary and unavoidable,” (contradiction in terms; but let it pass,) “there would be no more place for praise or blame; no indignation at those who had abused their rational powers; no sense of just punishment annexed to crimes, or of any reward deserved by good actions. All these feelings vanish at once, with the feeling of liberty. And the sense of duty must be quite extinguished: For we cannot conceive any moral obligation, without supposing a power in the agent over his own actions.” If so, what is he who publishes a book to show mankind that they have no power over their own actions? To the objection, that this scheme “makes God the author of sin,” the Essayist feebly answers: “Sin, or moral turpitude, lies in the evil intention of him that commits it, or in some wrong affection. Now, there is no wrong intention in God.” What then? Whatever wrong intention or affection is in man, you make God the direct author of it. For you flatly affirm, “Moral evil cannot exist, without being permitted of God. And with regard to a first cause, permitting is the same thing as causing.” That I totally deny: But if it be, God is the proper cause of all the sin in the universe. 4. Suppose, now, the Judge of all the earth,-having just pronounced the awful sentence, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,”-- should say to one on the left hand, “What canst thou offer in thy own behalf?” Might he not, on this scheme, answer, “Lord, why am I doomed to dwell with everlasting burn ings? For not doing good? Was it ever in my power to do any good action?