sons form of the force of the same arguments, and, instead of cherishing a positive feeling, that he is right, he is much more disposed to bear in mind the possibility of his being under those common influences by which we impose upon ourselves respecting the conclusiveness of our own reasonings, and to attend with thankfulness to any one who may do him the favor to correct any mistake into which he may have fallen. To the friends who encouraged him to proceed with this work, by honoring him with their names as subscribers to it, as soon as they heard it was projected, the author returns his thanks; and the ardent testimony of approbation which he has received from some of them, since its publication, has excited the hope, that he has not written wholly in vain, and that these pages may perhaps be the means of speaking peace to the perturbed mind, and of solacing the sorrows of the mourner, when the hand which penned them is motionless, and the heart which dictated them shall have ceased to beat with human emotion. CONTENTS. SECT. 1. Of the Proof of the Government of God, SECT. 2. Of the Manner in which the Divine Government is ad- INTRODUCTION.-Of the kind of evidence which is necessary to es- tablish the Doctrine of the Ultimate Purity and Happi- Of the evidence in favor of the Final Restoration of all Mankind to Of the Argument in favor of the Doctrine of Universal Restoration, derived from the Perfections of God. SECT. 1. Of the Goodness of God, SECT. 2. Of the Evil of Defect, and of Natural and Moral Evil, SECT. 3. Of the Evils of the Social State, and especially of the Evils SECT. 4. Of the Design of God in the Creation, and of what is really CHAPTER II. Of the Argument in favor of the Doctrine of Universal Restoration, from the Nature of Man, CHAPTER III. Of the Argument in favor of the Doctrine of Universal Restoration, from the Nature and Object of Punishment, and of the Proof, that the future Punishment of the Wicked will be corrective, in answer to the Objections and Reasonings of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, . Part Third. Of the Objections which are urged against the Doctrine of Universal Restoration, whether derived from those passages of Scripture, or from those Reasonings, which are supposed to prove the Doctrine of Endless Misery, or from those which are conceived to favor the Doctrine of Limited Punishment, terminated by Destruction, 141 153 . 172 CHAPTER I. Of Endless Misery, 173 SECT. 1. Of the term, Everlasting, 177 SECT. 2. Of the Application of the same Word to the Happiness of the Righteous, aud the Punishment of the Wicked, SECT. 3. Of the Argument in favor of Endless Misery, derived from the phrase, Unquenchable Fire, 191 195 SECT. 4. Of the Argument in favor of Endless Misery, founded on the case of Judas, . 201 SECT. 5. Of the Argument in favor of Endless Misery, derived from the Language which is used concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost, 204 SECT. 6. Of the Argument in favor of Endless Misery, deduced from the Parable of the Great Gulph, 209 SECT. 7. Of the Opinion, that there will be no successive Duration in a Future State, 211 CHAPTER II. Of the Arguments conceived to favor the Doctrine of Endless Misery, which are not founded on the express Declarations of Scripture. SECT. 1. Of the Infinite Evil of Sin, 214 SECT. 2. Of the Argument in favor of Endless Misery, founded on 217 236 CHAPTER III. Of the Doctrine of Limited Punishment, terminated by Destruction, 241 Part Fourth. Of the Scriptural Evidence in favor of the Doctrine of the Final CHAPTER I. Of the Passages of Scripture which imply that all Mankind will be ultimately restored to Purity and Happiness, CHAPTER II. Of the Passages of Scripture which appear expressly to affirm that all Mankind will be ultimately restored to Purity and Happiness, APPENDIX, 252 255 267 285 ILLUSTRATIONS, &C. Part First. OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. SECTION I. OF THE PROOF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. IN endeavoring to account for the existence of the world, we find it impossible to resist the conclusion, that it is the production of a Being of almighty power and of perfect goodness. It is evident that it did not create itself, for creation necessarily supposes a pre-existing intelligence. It is evident that the creatures on its surface did not give being to themselves, for they do not comprehend the mode of their own existence. They must therefore derive their origin from some Being who understood their nature, and who endowed them with the faculties they possess. The simplest ideas we seem capable of forming of this Being are, that he is intelligent, and that he is uncaused. Intelligent he must be, for there are in his works proofs of exquisite and amazing skill; and, if there be any thing of which we may be certain, it is, that, wherever there is contrivance, there must have been a Contriver, and that an adaption of means to an end cannot possibly exist without the operation of a Being who perceived and designed the end, and fitted the means to accomplish it. That the Great First Cause of all things must be himself uncaused, is also a truth which we are obliged to admit; for, if we imagine that the immediate Creator of the world derives his existence and power from some supe |