kind, but the reverse. They declare that man was made subject to vanity, as the creature of hope; but hope never looks backward! They tell us nothing about the original holiness, perfection and immortality of the first Adam. And instead of representing that our final condition in the spiritual world will be a state of restoration, or a return to some former condition, they plainly show us that it will be a state of advancement and progression.

The reader will please notice another declaration of the apostle Paul :-" And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" 5that is, as we now exist in the nature of the first man, who was made of the dust of the ground, and created with a mortal constitution, we shall also live hereafter in the spiritual nature of the second man, our vile body being changed by the resurrection, and "fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." No intimation is given that the first Adam was created in the spiritual nature and immortal constitution of the second man; that he lost his original nature by sin; and that to be made alive in Christ beyond death will be a restoration to the state in which Adam at first existed! But the Scriptures plainly show us that our condition in the resurrection, so far from being a state of restoration, will in fact be a state of the highest advancement. And instead of looking backward and expecting to be restored to a former estate, we should look forward to the time when man shall have advanced to his high and holy destiny as the child of God! Jesus has assured us that the subjects of the resurrection shall be equal unto the angels. Man will attain this equality with pure and spiritual existences in heaven, not by a retrogade movement, but according to the law of progress, in passing from that inferior state of existence in which he was created, into the higher, holy and heavenly life brought to light through the gospel!

But the reader may be ready to ask, does not the writer, in view of the final destiny of the human race, believe in universal restoration, a doctrine of which Universalists have so much to say? He answers, No, nor even in par

5 1 Cor. xv. 49.

6 Philippians iii. 21.

tial restoration. If we have any correct understanding of the word restoration, it signifies "the act of replacing in a former state"-and such, we believe, is the meaning which this word is commonly understood to express. And sure

ly we do not believe that the whole creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, by being replaced in any former state. Such a notion stands utterly opposed alike to reason, analogy, and the word of God. It is indeed a mere conception of the imagination; and though very clearly set forth in Milton's Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained, it entirely lacks the warrant of Scripture authority. And the reader will understand that it is not the mere word, restoration, to which we object, but the very idea expressed by this word. This idea has been very generally received in the Christian Church, not excepting our own denomination.

Dr. Good, in speaking on the subject of Materialism, says, "There seems a strange propensity among mankind, and it may be traced to a very early period of the world, to look upon matter with contempt. The source of this has never, that I know of, been pointed out; but it will probably be found to have originated in the old philosophical doctrine we had formerly occasion to advert to, that "nothing can spring from, or be decomposed into nothing" and, consequently, that matter must have had a necessary and independent existence from all eternity; and have been an immutable Principle of Evil, running coeval with the immutable Principle of Good; who, in working upon it, had to contend with all its essential defects, and has made the best of it in his power. But the moment we admit that matter is a creature of the Deity himself, that he has produced it in his essential benevolence, out of nothing, as an express medium of life and happiness; that in its origin, he pronounced it, under every modification, to be "very good;" that the human body, though composed of it, was at that time perfect and incorruptible, and will hereafter recover the same attributes of perfection and incorruptibility, when it shall again rise up fresh from the grave,contempt and despisal must give way to reverence and gratitude."

7 Series iii., Lecture 1.

Here the reader will perceive that the doctrine of restor ation, or the notion of man's recovery of his original "attributes of perfection and incorruptibility," is made the grand solvent of the mysteries of Materialism! And Dr. Adam Clarke has been merciful enough to suppose that even the brute creation will be restored in common with man; yea, that all brutes will be restored, while many men will be lost. (How much better is a sheep than a man!) For he not only says, "Thou hast lost thy God, thy paradise, thy-soul, look about thee, leave no stone unturned; there is no peace, no final salvation for thee till thou get thy soul restored to the favor and image of God;" but he also says, "It does not appear that the brute creation are incapable of this choice; and it is evident that they are not placed in their present misery through either their choice or their sin; and if no purpose of God can be ultimately frustrated, these creatures must be restored to that state of happiness for which they have been made; and of which they have been deprived through the transgression of man..... Hence it is reasonable to conclude, that as from the present constitution of things, they cannot have the happiness designed for them, in this state, they must have it in another."9 But the merciful doctor could not say as much of man. ("Pain is for man.") He says in the notes referred to, "God has decreed that they shall be happy, if they will; all the means of it being placed within their power; and, if they be ultimately miserable, it is the effect of their own unconstrained choice; therefore his purpose is fulfilled, either in their happiness or misery; because he has purposed that they shall be happy if they please, and that misery shall be the result of their refusal." Behold again how much happier a sheep is than a man! Oh! that we were sheep! We can go astray like sheep 10-but, alas! we cannot be so easily and certainly restored again!

The reader need not be informed that even the preachers of our own faith have attempted to prove their doctrine by referring to Acts iii. 21, which declares that the heaven must receive or retain Jesus Christ, "until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

8 Note on Matt. vii. 7. 9 See Notes at the end of Rom. viii.
10 Isaiah liii. 6.

We have, however, seized upon many words without much judgment; and in our talk about the doctrine of the Restitution, we have put forth some very questionable proofs. But without attempting anything like a thorough examination of this passage, we think it may well be doubted, Ist, Whether it has any direct reference to the final destiny of the human race; and 2d, If it has such reference, whether it actually means what the word restoration properly signifes; that is, that man will be brought back to a former condition. For speaking of John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elias, our Saviour said, "Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them." 11 Now here we find the same expression that is rendered "restitution of all things" in Acts iii. Doddridge renders the passage in Matt., "shall first come and regulate all things," and the one in Acts, "times of the regulations of all things." And he adds, in regard to the passage last named, "This apokatastasis may so well be explained of regulating the present disorders in the moral world, and the seeming inequalities of providential dispensations, that it is surprising to find Dr. Thomas Burnet, Mr. Whiston and other learned writers, urging it for such a restoration of the paradisiacal state of the earth as they on their different hypotheses have ventured to assert, without any clear warrant from Scripture, and amidst a thousand difficulties which clog our conceptions of it." And the Rev. Albert Barnes also says of the word in question, "The word has also the idea of consummation, completion, or filling up. Thus it is used in Philo, Hesychius, Phavorinus, and by the Greek classics. (See Lightfoot and Kuinoel.) Thus it is used here by the Syriac. Until the completion or filling up of the times;' that is, of all the events foretold by the prophets, &c. Thus the Arabic, Until the times which shall establish the perfection or completion of all the predictions of the prophets,' &c."

Now the idea of regulating all things, or of completing

11 Matt. xvii. 11, 12.

and accomplishing all that the prophets have spoken, does not necessarily imply the return to a former state. But it is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of progression for which we contend; which all nature teaches, and which the word of God has most fully sanctioned. We are well

satisfied that the notion of a final restoration of man is altogether without foundation in truth. But we rejoice to believe that in the great order of progression which God has established in his works, the vast race of humanity, who here bear the weak and corruptible nature of Adam, will be made alive in the resurrection-state, in the spiritual, glorious and heavenly nature of Jesus Christ!

We do not fear that any man in passing from the present into the future state of existence, will fall back into a worse condition than that in which we now live. The future state will be a state of advancement; and, what is true even of the insect, that developes new powers and beauties in passing through its successive stages of being, is alike true in regard to man. In the present state of existence man is sinful, suffering and mortal; in the future state he will be pure and holy as the angels in heaven, and will be alike immortal and the child of God, being the subject of the resurrection. And although we know nothing of the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, and pretend not to determine when all the purposes of divine wisdom and benevolence shall be accomplished, we devoutly bless the name of the Lord that we are permitted to believe without a doubt that the time will come when every man shall truly and joyfully say, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength."

A. M.

ART. XXIII.

The Present Inequalities of Life consistent with a Present Retribution.

In this article we propose to explain some difficulties, connected with the doctrine of a present retribution, furnished by the apparently unequal condition of mankind in this world.