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was held, 1618, where the Arminians were scandalously treated. Mosheim is of opinion, that even before the meeting of the synod, it was agreed upon, that, on account of their religious opinions, they should be deemed enemies of their country, and accordingly be exposed to every species of persecution. A curious narrative of its proceedings may be seen in the series of letters written by the ever-memorable John Hales, who was present on the occasion. This synod was succeeded by a severe persecution of the Arminians. The respectable Barnevelt lost his head on a scaffold, and the learned Grotius, condemned to perpetual imprisonment, escaped from his cell, and took refuge in France. The storm some time after abated; and Episcopius, an Arminian minister, opened a seminary in Amsterdam, which produced able divines and excellent scholars.

The Arminian writers are, Episcopius, Vorstiuus, Grotius, Limborch, Le Clerc, Wetstein; not to mention many others of modern times, particularly Mr. John Wesley, in his numerous works, and Dr. Fellowes, in his "Religion without Cant," and in in his elegant work, entitled, "Christian Philosophy." The works of Arminius have been announced for publication in this country, in three volumes, with memoirs illustrative of his theology.

The Arminians are sometimes called the Remonstrants, because they, in 1611, presented a Remonstrance to the States-general, wherein they pathetically state their grievances, and pray for relief. See an interesting work, entitled, “An Abridgement of Gerard Brandt's History of the Reformation in the Low Countries," 2 vols. 8vo. Dr. Maclaine says "it is certain that the most eminent philosophers have been found, generally speaking, among the Arminians. If both Calvinists and Arminians claim a King, it is certain that the latter alone can boast of a Newton, a Locke, a Clarke, and a Boyle." Archbishop Usher is said to have lived a Calvinist and died an Arminian. The members of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, the Moravians, the General Baptists, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Quakers, or Friends, &c., are Arminians; and it is supposed that a large proportion of the

clergy of the kirk of Scotland teach the doctrines of Arminius, though they have a Calvinistic confession of faith. What a pity it is that opinions, either Calvinistic or Arminian, cannot, in the eye of some persons be held without a diminution of Christian charity.*

BAXTERIANS.

The Baxterian strikes into a middle path between Arminiasnism and Calvinism, and thus endeavours to unite both schemes. With the Calvinist, he professes to believe that a certain number, determined upon in the divine councils, will be infallibly saved; and with the Arminian he joins in rejecting the doctrine of reprobation as absurd and impious; admits that Christ, in a certain sense, died for all, and supposes that such a portion of grace is allotted to every man, as renders it his own fault if he does not attain to eternal life. This conciliatory system was espoused by the famous nonconformist Richard Baxter, who died in the year 1691, and who was celebrated for the acuteness of his controversial talents, and the utility of his practical writings. Most of his pieces, excepting his "Saint's everlasting Rest," and "Call to the Unconverted," are now little read, or rather they are sunk into oblivion. Among Baxterians are ranked both Watts and Doddridge. Dr. Doddridge indeed has this striking remark—-” That a Being who is said not to tempt any one, and even swears that he desires not the death of a sinner, should irresistably determine millions to the commission of every sinful action of their lives, and then with all the pomp and pageanty of an universal judgment condemn them to eternal misery, on account of these actions, that hereby he may promote the happiness of others who are, or shall be, irresistably determined to virtue, in the like manner, is of all incredible things to me the most incredible!" See Two Hundred and Twenty-third Lecture of

*Dr. Hammond mentions a ludicrous instance of Bigotry, assuring us, that when a Dutchman's horse does not go as he would have him, he calls him in a great rage an Arminian.

Doddridge's "Lectures on Pneumatology, Ethics, and Divinity.'

In the scale of religious sentiment, Baxterianism seems to be, with respect to the subject of divine favour, what Arianism is with respect to the person of Christ. It appears to have been considered by some pious persons as a safe middle way between two extremes. Baxter was an extraordinary character in the religious world. He wrote about one hundred and twenty books, and had above sixty written against him! Though he possessed a metaphysical genius, and sometimes made a distinction without a difference, yet the object of most of his productions was peace and amity. Accordingly, his system was formed, not to inflame the passions and widen the breaches, but to heal those wounds of the Christian church, under which she had long languished. As a proof of this assertion, take the following affecting declaration from the "Narrative of his own Life and Times :"-" I am deeplier afflicted for the disagreements of Christians than I was when I was a younger Christian. Except the case of the infidel world, nothing is so sad and grevious to my thoughts as the case of the divided chuches! And, therefore, I am the more deeply sensible of the sinfulness of those who are the principal cause of these divisions. O! how many millions of souls are kept by their ignorance and ungodliness, and deluded by faction, as if it were true religion. How is the conversion of infidels hindered, Christ and religion heinously dishonoured! The contentions between the Greek church and the Roman, the Papists and the Protestant, the Lutherans and the Calvinists, have woefully hindered the kingdom of Christ." For a detail given of the Calvinistic and Arminian sentiments, see a brief history of the Christian church, in two vols., by Dr Gre

gory.

The best ecclesiastical history is Mosheim's in six volumes, translated from the Latin into English by the late Dr. Maclaine, who has enriched it with valuable notes. The last edition of this work has a continuation to the end of the eighteenth century, by Dr. Charles Coote, and an additional Appendix to the first book, by the Right Rev.

Dr. George Gleig, of Stirling, Dr. Priestley also published, in six octavo volumes, "A History of the Christian Church," from the birth of the Messiah down to the present time. Milner's "Ecclessiastical History," a clergyman lately deceased, has been brought down to the Reformation by another clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Scott, son of the late Rev. Thomas Scott, of evangelical celebrity. The "History of the Church," by John Wesley, has much merit for its clearness and brevity.

ANTINOMIANS.

The Antinomian derives his name from two Greek words, Avu, against, and Nouos, a law, his favourite tenet being, that the law is not a rule of life to believers. It is not easy to ascertain what he means by this position. But he seems to carry the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ, and of salvation by faith without works, to such lengths as to injure, if not wholly destroy, the obligation to moral obedience. In controversial tracts they are sometimes denominated Solifidians, a term composed of two Latin words, solus, alone, and fides, faith, contending for faith alone without the necessity of good works. Antinomianism may be traced to the period of the Reformation, and its promulgator was John Agricola, originally a disciple of Luther. The Catholics, in their disputes with the Protestants of that day, carried the merit of good works to an extravagant length, and this induced some of their opponents to run into the opposite extreme. Justification by faith, not necessarily productive of good works, and righteousness imputed to such a faith, are the doctrines by which Antinomians are chiefly distinguished. This sect sprung up in England during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, and extended their system of libertinism much further than Agricola, the disciple of Luther. Some of their teachers expressly maintained, that, as the elect cannot fall from grace, nor forfeit the divine favour, the wicked actions they commit are not really sinful, nor are they to be considered as instances of

their violation of the divine law; consequently, they have no occasion either to confess their sins, or to break them off by repentance. According to them, it is one of the essential and distinctive characters of the elect, that they cannot do any thing displeasing to God, or prohibited by the law. Luther, Rutherford, Sedgwick, Gataker, Witsius, Bull, &c., have written refutations, whilst Crisp, Richardson, and Saltmarsh, put forth defences of Antinomianism. The late Rev. Mr. Fletcher, vicar of Madely, in Shropshire, published "Four Checks to Antinomianism," which have been much admired. But Dr. Tobias Crisp, a clergyman of the established church who flourished during the reign of the Stuarts, was the champion of Antinomianism;-his doctrines were confuted in the amplest manner by Dr. Daniel Williams, founder of the Dissenter's Library, in Redcross-street. His defence of "Gospel Truth," against Crisp, was received by those of his brethren who laid any claim to good sense and moderation with high satisfaction.

The term Antinomian has been frequently fixed on persons by way of reproach, and therefore many who have been branded with this name have repelled, the charge. There are many Antinomians, indeed, of a singular cast in Germany, and other parts of the continent; they condemn the moral law as a rule of life, and yet profess a strict regard for the interests of practical religion. Some persons, however, pronounce Antinomianism to be nothing more than Calvinism run to seed; or, as Mosheim declares, that the Antinomians are a more rigid kind of Calvinists, who pervert Calvin's doctrine of absolute decrees to the worst purposes, by drawing from it conclusions highly detrimental to the interests of true religion and virtue. The late singular and eccentric William Huntington was deemed an Antinomian of this description, but he himself disclaimed it. And it is curious that when the Rev. R. Adam made an application to him for an account of the Antinomian sect in England, he never replied to him on the subject. But speculative sentiments of any kind ought not to be carried to a degree which might endanger, even in appearance, the sacred cause of moral

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