kind, that God made the promise. (Gen. iii. 15.) The conditional new covenant does equally give Christ, pardon, and life, to all mankind, on condition of acceptance. The conditional grant is universal: Whosoever believeth shall be saved.

3. It is not to the elect only, but to all mankind, that Christ has commanded his ministers to proclaim his gospel, and offer the benefits of his procuring.

There are, Mr. Baxter allows, certain fruits of Christ's death which are proper to the elect only:-(1.) Grace eventually worketh in them true faith, repentance, conversion, and union with Christ, as his living members.--(2.) The actual forgiveness of sin, as to the spiritual and eternal punishment. Rom. iv. 1-34. —(3.) Our reconciliation with God, and adoption and right to the heavenly inheritance. Psal. iv. 6-16.-(4.) The Spirit of Christ to dwell in us, and sanctify us, by a habit of divine love. Rom. viii. 9-13. Gal. v. 6.—(5.) Employment in holy, acceptable service, and access in prayer, with a promise of being heard through Christ. Heb. ii. 5, 6. John xiv. 13.-(6.) Well grounded hopes of salvation, peace of

conscience, and spiritual communion with the church mystical in heaven and earth. Rom. v. 12. Heb. xii. 22.

(7.) A special interest in Christ, and intercession with the Father. Rom. viii. 32, 33.

(8.) Resurrection unto life, and justification in judgment; glorification of the soul at death, and of the body at the resurrection. Phil. iii. 20, 21. 2 Cor. v. 1, 2, 3. Rom. viii. 17-32.

Christ has made a conditional deed of gift of those benefits to all mankind; but the elect only accept and possess them. Hence he infers that, though Christ never absolutely intended, or decreed, that his death should eventually put all men in possession of those benefits; yet he did intend and decree that all men should have a conditional gift of them by his death.*

For an account of Mr. Baxter's sentiments respecting the trinity, see Trinitarians; see also Neonomians.

BEHMENISTS, a name given to those mystics who adopt the explications of the mysteries of nature and grace as given by Jacob Behmen.This writer was born in the year fifteen hundred and seventy-five, at Old Seidenburg near Gorlitz, in Upper Lusatia. He

learned men, the education he had received being too illiterate to furnish him with them. But as to the matter contained in his writings, he disclaimed having borrowed it either from men or books. He died in the year sixteen hundred and twenty-four. His last words were," Now I go hence into paradise !"*

Behmen's principles were adopted by the late ingenious and pious William Law, who has clothed them in a more modern dress, and in a less obscure style; for whose sentiments see article Mystics. BEREANS, a sect of protestant dissenters from the church of Scotland, who take their title from, and profess to follow the example of the ancient Bereans, in building their system of faith and practice upon the scriptures alone, without regard to any human authority whatever.

Mr. Barclay, a Scotch clergyman, was the founder of this denomination. They first assembled as a separate society of christians in the city of Edinburgh, in autumn, seventeen hundred and seventythree, and soon after in the parish of Fettercairn.

The Bereans agree with the great majority of christians, both protestants and catholics,

respecting the doctrine of the trinity, which they hold as a fundamental article of the christian faith. They also agree in great measure with the professed principles of the established churches of England and Scotland, respecting predestination and election, though they allege that these doctrines are not consistently taught in either church; but they differ from many other sects of christians in various particulars.

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1. Respecting our knowledge of the Deity. Upon this subject they say, that the majority of professed christians stumble at the very threshold of revelation; and by admitting the doctrine of natural religion, natural conscience, natural notices, &c. not founded upon revelation, or derived from it by tradition, they give up the cause of christianity to the infidels, who may justly argue, as Mr. Paine in fact does in his Age of Reason, that "there is no occasion for any revelation, or word of God, if man can discover his nature and perfections from his works alone." But this, the Bereans argue, is beyond the natural powers of human reason; and therefore our knowledge of God is from revelation alone; and

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that without revelation man could never have entertained an idea of his existence.

2. With regard to faith in Christ, and assurance of salvation through his merits, they differ from other denominations. These they reckon inseparable, or rather the same; because, they argue, God has expressly declared, He that believeth shall be saved; and therefore it is not only absurd, but impious, and in a manner calling God a liar, for a man to say, "I believe the gospel; but have doubts, nevertheless, of my own salvation." With regard to the various distinctions and definitions that have been given of different kinds of faith, they argue, that "there is nothing incomprehensible or obscure in the meaning of the word, as used in scripture; but that as faith, when applied to human testimony, significs neither more nor less than the mere simple belief of that testimony as true upon the authority of the testifier; so, when applied to the testimony of God, it signifies precisely the belief of his testimony, and resting upon his veracity alone, without any kind of collateral support from the concurrence of any other evidence or testimony whateyer." And they insist, that as this faith is the gift of God alone, so the person to whom

it is given is as conscious of possessing it as the being to whom God gives life is of being alive; and therefore he entertains no doubt either of his faith or his consequent salvation through the merits of Christ, who died and rose again for that purpose. In a word, they argue that the gospel would not be what it is held forth to be, (glad tidings of great joy) if it did not bring full personal assurance of eternal salvation to the believer; which assurance, they insist, "is the present infallible privilege and portion of every individual believer of the gospel."These definitions of faith, and its inseparable concomitant assurance, they prove by a variety of texts of scripture,

3. Consistently with the. above definition of faith, they say that the sin against the holy Ghost is nothing else but unbelief; and that the expres sion, It shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor that which is to come, means only that a person dying in infidelity would not be forgiven, neither under the former dis pensation by Moses (the then present dispensation, kingdom, or government of God) nor under the gospel dispensation, which, in respect of the Mosaic, was a kind of future world, or kingdom to come.