erson in the at St. Paul, "God was in lf." Now, he atonement, the have been the Deen reconciling

he regards as an irst human being es in its own pernfinite capacity of sisted, not in tastturning from God

1 a sensual desire for

of this notion, he

le man of the dust of ated he them, a text ation of the woman is n for this fault, Law e would have increased s done, by a certain ded have enabled man to image.

Law derived from Jacob fined to the two tracts, Love," and the "Spirit of sing out of time into the hatever inference may be regard to his judgment, ör religious writer, (in which y appears in his "Serious an Perfection,") there are few eathe a more genuine spirit of e sentiments and mode of in

2 CORINTHIANS V. 19.

"God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."

No. 1.

man,

The peculiar opinions which that extraordinary William Law, entertained in the latter part of his life, were these, "That all the attributes of the Almighty are only modifications of his love; and that when in Scripture, his wrath, vengeance, &c. are spoken of, such expressions are only used in condescension to human weakness, by the way of adapting the subject of the mysterious workings of God's providence to human capacities. He held, therefore, that God punishes no one. All evil, according to his creed, originates either from matter, or from the free-will of man and if there be suffering, it is not that God wills it, but that he permits it, (for the sake of a greater overbalance of good that could not otherwise possibly be produced,) as the necessary consequence of an inert instrument like matter, and the imperfection of creatures less pure than himself. Upon his system all beings will finally be happy. He utterly rejects the doctrine of atonement, and ridicules the supposition that the of fended justice of the one perfect supreme being requires any satisfaction. His theory is, that man, by withdrawing himself from God, had lost the divine life in his soul, and that all communication between him and his maker was nearly lost. In order to remedy this, in order to make some mysterious way to re-open an intercourse between the deity and the soul of man; and finally, in order to afford the soul a more near, and, as as it were, sensible

perception of its maker, the second person in the trinity became man. Law alleges that St. Paul, when he speaks of redemption, says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." Now, he adds, had the Almighty required an atonement, the converse of this proposition would have been the truth, and the phrase would have been reconciling himself to the world.

The narration of the fall of man, he regards as an allegory. He believes that the first human being was a creature combining both sexes in its own perfect nature, and possessing an infinite capacity of happiness: the fall, he thinks, consisted, not in tasting of any forbidden fruit, but in turning from God as the whole source of joy, and in a sensual desire for a second-self. And in support of this notion, he adduces the text, And God made man of the dust of the earth, male and female created he them, a text which occurs before the formation of the woman is mentioned. Had it not been for this fault, Law supposes that the human race would have increased in number, as much as it has done, by a certain delegated power, which would have enabled man to create others after his own image.

These whimsies, which Law derived from Jacob Behmen, are entirely confined to the two tracts, entitled the " Spirit of Love," and the "Spirit of Prayer," or "the soul rising out of time into the riches of eternity." Whatever inference may be drawn from them with regard to his judgment, ör his sanity, as a practical religious writer, (in which character he exclusively appears in his "Serious Call," and his "Christian Perfection,") there are few men whose writings breathe a more genuine spirit of gospel love, and whose sentiments and mode of in

culcating them, at once simple and manly, appeal more forcibly to the heart.

See Southey's Life of Wesley, Note 13.

"For it is God who is reconciling the world to himself in Christ, by not imputing their sins unto them."-Wakefield's Translation.

"It is to be observed that it is here said, that God was reconciling the world to himself by Christ. There was no occasion to reconcile God to the world. He was always disposed to be at peace with men, whenever they should repent and turn to him. All that was wanting, therefore, was to bring men to repentance and reformation by preaching the gospel."

Priestley.

2 CORINTHIANS V. 21.

"He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

The Antinomians assert, that by God's laying our iniquities upon Christ, he became as completely sinful as we, and we as completely righteous as Christ.

Gregory's History of the Christian Church.

"For God hath appointed him, who knew no sin, to be a sin-offering for us, that we by him might be justified before God." Belsham's Translation.

"A sin-offering for us. Gr. sin, i. e. sin-offering. See Hosea iv. 8.; Heb. ix. 26. 28. Sin-offerings were appointed for sins of ignorance only; see Lev. iv. and Jennings's Jewish Antiquities, vol. i. p. 328. This shows how little foundation this text affords for the wild supposition that Jesus upon the cross was regarded as a sinner, and bore the punishment due to the sins of men. 'The Rabbis limit the law to those sins of ignorance, which, if they had been committed knowingly and wilfully, would have incurred the penalty of cutting off.' The offering, therefore, of the victim was a symbol of restoration to communion and to covenant with God. So the death of Christ may be considered figuratively as the ratification of the new covenant by the Gospel. The sin-offering for a ruler was a kid without blemish. So Christ was a lamb without blemish and without spot. He knew no sin, he had committed no transgression, by which his covenant privileges had been forfeited."

Belsham.

"Sin for us; That is, Christ who had never violated the law suffered death as a transgressor, that we gentiles, who as such were regarded as sinners and outlaws, might be justified or acquitted, and admitted to the privileges of the Gospel covenant. By the death of Christ the new covenant was ratified, the blessings of which are offered equally to Jews