"impregnating his discourses" with to the counsels and conduct of God, 66 their destructive influence, must of necessity sink him deeply in my esteem as a preacher of the gospel of our blessed Lord and complete Saviour, Jesus Christ," who," as an inspired apostle tells us, gave himself for us, that HE (and not death) might redeem us from all iniquity; and purify us unto himself, as a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus, ii. 14. Having thus, sir, communicated an outline of what I consider the genuine doctrines of Calvinism, with some allusions to their dangerous tendency, and the great dishonour they reflect on the sacred attributes of Deity; I shall, with your permission, proceed | to advance a few thoughts, as connected with the subject, on the doctrines of the divine foreknowledge, predestination, and contingency, which I cheerfully submit to yourself, as well as your enlightened and learned readers and correspondents, as matters of discussion rather than dictation. The acknowledged eternity and immutability of the divine nature have induced many pions and learned men, and certainly not without some show of reason, to attach those attributes in reference to their influence upon the temporal and eternal states of men; which many, indeed, suppose to be dependent for their ultimate issue, solely upon the uncontrollable and irresponsible will of the Sovereign of the universe. Man, however, being a rational creature, and to a certain extent a free agent also, he is placed in a responsible situation by his Creator; and being the subject of law, and of equitable reward or punishment, it must upon these principles be admitted that he is in a great degree the arbiter of his own fate: yet he can be such only in proportion to the powers he possesses, and the advantages he enjoys. His righteous Creator will be his impartial judge, and as such He will be the final ar biter of his fate; but his judgment will proceed upon the equitable terms of truth and justice, grounded on the various dispensations of grace and mercy under which each individual has lived and acted; as flowing from the universal redemption of all mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if what we call the foreknowledge of God is perfect, this must put him eternally in possession of all the actions and dispositions of men, upon which his final judgment of their characters, and his ultimate adjudication of their states, must rest. In this point of view, therefore, predestination is nothing more than God's eternal deter there is an inherency of sin in the body, which, like the ivy in the wall, hath its root so folded up in the very recesses of our nature in the flesh, that until death it never ceases to send forth its deadly buddings. In the grave the root of sin falls out. By this blessed process we are for ever delivered from the remains of indwell-mination of every man's ultimate fate, ing sin, and not the smallest budding of it can any more appear, &c. &c." p. 7 and 8. Now, if I do not greatly mistake, the crown of salva tion is bere taken from the head of the Lord Jesus Christ, and put on that of his conquered enemy. Christ may paralyze, and in some degree even neutralize, the power of sin, but death, almighty death alone, is capable of annihilating this enemy of God and man! Here not only is a fundamental principle of Christianity violated, and mankind are misled into a false and most dangerous expectation of holi upon his eternally foreseen obedience to, or violation of, the terms of salvation under which he lived and acted. The question, however, now arises, Is the foreknowledge of God thus perfect? The affirmative of this question appears to be most generally adopted by modern critics and theologians, as founded not only on the general perfection and harmony of the divine attributes, but also upon the express declarations of scripture, and of the undeniable fact of innumerable predictions of future events, both such as are apparently contingent in their nature, and those which may be considered as the result of divine predestination, being contained in the inspired volume. Some very able writers, however, have denied that there can be any such thing as fore knowledge ness to be attained" in the grave," and by the dissolution of the material body; but a most unphilosophical and absurd principle is inculcated, viz. that the effect can destroy the cause which gave it birth! Death is the result, and the wages of sin; and under the influence of sin, both body and soul become the victims of temporal and eternal death-but death hath no power to destroy one particle of sin; if it could destroy sin, it would ultimately destroy itself also; (for, remove the cause, and the effect will cease,) and restore every one who passes through it, to eternal life! Nothing can be more absurd, antichristian, and dan-any more than after knowledge in God; gerous than this doctrine. but these assertions do not indicate any defect in the divine knowledge, | actions it perceives; but maintains, but on the contrary, arise out of the ad- or at least does not oppose, the free mitted uniformity, perfection, and uni- agency of man. 3d. Nevertheless, it versality of the divine omniscience; appears to ascribe a kind of actual which penetrating, perceiving, and present existence to actions and events, comprehending at one glance, every which, though "future to man," and transaction of time and eternity, can- really so, in respect to the revolutions not be properly divided into past, of time, are yet seen as now actually present, and future knowledge, as the existing by the omniscience of God. perceptions of the human mind must Hence, I conclude, that what is thus be designated. As no modern writer, the present object of the divine knowthat I am aware of, has expressed ledge and vision, must have a present himself more clearly or more deci- existence; for even God cannot see sively on this point than Dr. Adam nonentities, neither can nothing either Clarke, (although he is not the author | be an object of the divine knowledge, of the doctrine,) such of your readers or "arrive in his presence;" what he as are not in possession of his excel- sees are therefore existing realities, lent Commentary, from whence the visible indeed to God, but, many of following extract is made, will feel them at least, concealed from human obliged to me for quoting it; while view by the curtain of time; yet by those who have it will be gratified by its revolutions, each object will be seeing so grand a sentiment, expressed revealed to the human eye in its rein such elegant language, more exten- gular succession as foreseen by God. sively circulated: 66 God," says the Doctor, "cannot have foreknowledge, strictly speaking, because this would suppose that there was something coming in what we call futurity, which had not yet arrived at the presence of the Deity. Neither can he have any afterknowledge, strictly speaking, for this would suppose that something that had taken place, in what we call pretereïty or past time, had now got beyond the presence of the Deity. As God exists in all that can be called eternity, so he is equally every where: nothing can be future to him, because he lives in all futurity; nothing can be past to him, because he equally exists in all past time: futurity and pretereïty are relative terms to us; but they can have no relation to that God who dwells in every point of eternity, with whom all that is past, all that is present, and all that is future to man EXISTS in one infinite, indivisible, and eternal Now." Dr. Clarke's Commentary on Acts ii. finale. Meantime, the incapacity of the human eye to perceive those objects at present concealed from its view, can have no effect upon their actual present existence with God; nor can it prevent the certainty of their revelation to man, when the period of time in which God now sees them existing, shall arrive to man. Thus, for instance, the period of time will arrive in which the greatest benefactor the British nation now possesses, will be obliged to resign his exalted station to a successor that melancholy event is now present with God—as is the year, and every other event of that year, in which it will occur. Could we see with God's eye, we could now set down in figures the precise year, day, and hour in which the nation will sustain that loss, It is, however, concealed from our view, but not from that of God. The event most certainly will take place, and at the precise moment which God now sees as producing it; and when that moment arrives, we also shall know it, if On this admirable passage I rewe are then alive. The same may be mark, 1st. That it ascribes the most said of every other event "now existabsolute perfection to the divine om- ing with God," but " future to man;" niscience, as pervading and embrac- that is, all that ever will take place in ing every actual as well as every pos- the revolutions of time, or in the ages of sible transaction of every creature in eternity. All these, according to our the universe, whether contingent or premises, are now existing with predestinated, from eternity to eter- God," and all shall be infallibly exhinity. 2d. That this perfect know-bited to men and angels, as the periods ledge does not imply, or necessarily in which they are now seen to exist, include, any coercive influence by the successively arrive in their presence, Deity, upon the production of the (To be concluded in our next,) 66 ANALYSIS OF FABER'S CORROBORATION OF THE PENTATEUCH FROM HISTO RY, TRADITION, AND MYTHOLOGY. (From the Classical Journal, No. 64.) THE venerable Bryant, in his Ancient Mythology, has furnished an important link in the chain of Scripture proofs. His Dissertation on the Plagues of Egypt, though primarily intended as an elucidation of that great episode, is in fact a commentary on the mission of Moses. But a wider range has been embraced by Mr. Faber, in his elaborate Hora Mosaica, originally delivered from the university pulpit: to compose them, he has ransacked the whole world for evidence, and framed a structure, which, if not secure in all its parts, rests on a foundation not to be shaken, or even assailed but by those who can suppose that mankind have been from the commencement in a conspiracy to deceive each other. His work will form the basis of the following remarks: but much additional information is derived from the researches of M. de Humboldt, as translated by Miss Helen Maria Williams, and other sources. In the margin of his work, Mr. Faber has given the authorities whence he has derived the coincidences stated; but these we have omitted for the sake of brevity. I. 1. The Creation.-According to the Phoenician system, the principle of the universe was a dark air, the earth without form, darkness diffused on the surface of the abyss, and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. From a personification of divine love, 66 a chaotic mixture was produced, and within it were comprehended the rudiments of all things." Then appeared the sun, moon, and stars, fishes and animals, and lastly two human beings. 2. According to the Persians, God created the world, (not in six days, but) at six different times, the last being devoted to the formation of man. 3. The Hindoos relate from the Institutes of Menu, that the Supreme, "having willed to produce various beings from his own divine substance, first, with a thought, created the waters; and placed in them a productive seed," which became a bright egg, in which he remained alone; when, by the operation of thought, he caused it to divide itself into two parts, the 87.-VOL. VIII. heavens and the earth: in the midst he placed air, and the permanent receptacle of waters. Having finished his labours, he was "absorbed in the Supreme Spirit, changing the time of energy for the time of repose." 4. The Chinese call the first of men Puoncu, and believe that he was born from the chaos or allegorical egg, of which the shell produced the heavens, the white the atmosphere, and the yolk the earth. 5. The Etrurians had a tradition not unlike that of the Persians, that the world was created gradually in 6000 years. 6. The Edda, (a compendium of Runic mythology) states, that the world was a naked abyss, of which the northern part was filled with ice and storms, the latter was formed of lightning and sparks, while the middle was serene. By a breath of heat, the cold vapours were melted into drops, from which sprang a man, "by the power of Him who governed;"-his name was Imer, and he was the progenitor of the giants. From another person named Bore, descended a second race, and between these two there was a continual war, till all the race of the giants perished, excepting one who saved himself in a bark. A second creation (allusive to the renovation of the world) then took place, when the three sons of the conqueror were elevated to the rank of deities, and a new race of men was produced. The stars then began to shine, and the seasons to be distinguished. 7. We are informed, that the Virginians attribute the creation of the world to the Supreme Being, but the immediate act was committed to inferior deities. Water, in their cosmogony, was the first principle. 8. The Otaheitians have this opinion respecting the divine essence. The general denomination is Eatooa, but there are three Supreme Personages, termed, 1. Tane te Medooa, the Father. 2. Oromattow Tane de Myde, God in the Son. 3. Taroa Mannoo te Hooa, the Bird the Spirit. 9. The Mexican tribes have numerous traditions agreeing with Scripture in the main. Their Adam is called Tonacateuctli, and his wife Tonacacihua, or woman of our flesh.66 The Mexicans considered her as the mother of the human race; and, after the god of the celestial Paradise, Ome P teuctli, she held the first rank among the divinities of Anahuac." II. 1. The Primitive State.-From the paradise of Scripture, the heathens derived their belief in a state of pristine integrity. "Immediately (says Hesiod) after the birth of man, the golden age commenced, the precious gift of the immortals who acknowÏedged Cronus as their sovereign.Mankind then led the life of the gods, free from tormenting cares, and exempt from labour and sorrow. Old age was unknown; their limbs were braced with a perpetual vigour, and the evils of disease were unfelt. When the hour of dissolution arrived, death assumed the mild aspect of sleep, and laid aside all his terrors.Every blessing was theirs; the fruits of the earth sprang up spontaneously and abundantly; peace reigned, and her companions were happiness and pleasure." 2. By the Satya Yogue, or age of perfection, the Hindoos "obscurely allude to the state of perfection and happiness enjoyed by man in Paradise." 3. "The reign of Quetzalcoatl (says M. de Humboldt) was the golden age of the people of Anahuac. All that period, all animals, and even men, lived in peace; the earth brought forth, without culture, the most fruitful harvests; and the air was filled with a multitude of birds, which were admired for their song, and the beauty of their plumage. But this reign, like that of Saturn, and the happiness of the world, was not of long duration.' The legend here becomes fabulous, but it is clearly defined as primitive, because it is succeeded by an account of the deluge. of the Mosaic Eden is discerned by Sir Walter Raleigh. "The fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, was taken from the serpent which tempted Evah; so was Paradise itself transported out of Asia into Africa, and made the garden of the Hesperides: the prophecies that Christ should break the serpent's head, and conquer the power of hell, occasioned the fables of Hercules killing the serpent of the Hesperides, and descending into hell, and captivating Cerberus." To enlarge on the story of Pandora would be superfluous, for its coincidences are obvious. We suspect, too, that Proserpine's eating the pomegranate, and the punishment of Ascalaphus, are remotely connected with this history. III. 1. The Serpent.-The form assumed by the tempter is preserved in almost every country; particularly in the Dionysiac festivals, where the name of our common mother was vociferated by the devotees. His name is traced by Colonel Wilford to the Sanscrit Deva-Nahusha, or the God Naush, bearing an affinity, perhaps, to the Hebrew wny (Nahash) a serpent. Pherecydes Syrus styles the prince of certain evil spirits, that contended with Saturn, Ophioneus, or the serpent deity. Stillingfleet observes, that Satan tempted Eve by a promise of the acquisition of wisdom; hence came the use of serpents in divination, w signifying both a serpent and to divine, while in Greek oiwviɛodai, from oiwvòs, a serpent, is taken in the same sense. The destruction of Python by Apollo resolves itself into the same meaning, unless that circumstance be regarded as purely physical, and typical of the purification of the earth, after the deluge, by the rays of the sun. 4. The first inhabitants of the world, 2. Among the Goths, the arch-deaccording to the Goths, were consi-ceiver is spoken of in a similar mandered more than human. "Their abode was a magnifieent hall, glittering with burnished gold, the mansion of love, gold, and friendship. The very meanest of their utensils were composed of the same precious materials, and the age acquired the denomination of the golden.... The blissful period of innocence was soon contaminated; certain women arrived from the country of the giants, and, by their seductive behaviour, corrupted its pristine integrity and purity." 5. In the mythological story of the garden of the Hesperides, a tradition ner. Lok, the evil being, has two children, Death, and an immense serpent: "the universal father despatched certain of the gods to bring those children to him; when they were come, he threw the serpent down to the bottom of the ocean. But there the monster waxed so large, that he wound himself around the whole globe of the earth. Death, meanwhile, was precipated into hell. Here she possesses vast apartments, strongly built, and fenced with grates of iron. Her hall is grief; her table, famine; hunger, her knife; delay, her servant; faintness, her porch; sickness and pain, her bed; and her tent, cursing and howling." Few descriptions equal this horrible sublimity. IV. 1. The Redeemer.-In the Gothic mythology, Thor is represented as the first-born of the Supreme God, and is styled the eldest of sons. According to the annotators, he was esteemed a middle divinity, a mediator between God and man.' "With regard to his actions, he is said to have wrestled with Death, and, in the struggle, to have been brought on one knee; to have bruised the head of the great serpent with his mace; and, in his final engagement with that monster, to have beat him to the earth, and slain him. This victory, however, is not obtained but at the expense of his own life. Recoiling back nine steps, he falls dead on the spot, suffocated with the floods of venom which the serpent vomits forth on him.'" 2. Serpents are met with in the Mexican mythology. Besides that represented in company with the woman of our flesh, "other paintings exhibit to us a feather-headed snake, cut in pieces by the great spirit, Tezcatlipoca, or by the sun personified, the god Tonatiuh." 3. A similar notion prevails among the Hindoos. "Two sculptured figures are yet extant in one of their oldest pagodas, the former of which represents Chreeshna, an incarnation of the mediatorial God Vishnu, trampling on the crushed head of the serpent; while in the latter it is seen encircling the Deity in its folds, and biting his heel.' By Volney the serpent is called Calengam. 4. A similar tradition exists among the Chinese, but perverted, like the Pollio of Virgil. "At that time, (says the historian,) a celestial spirit, passing about in all directions, gradually introduced civilization, and softened the natural ferocity of man. This was effected the more easily, since the great dragon, which disturbed the whole world, by confounding heaven and earth together, had been slain.For, after his destruction, matters were arranged, each according to its own proper rank and dignity." V. 1. The Giants.-Hesiod relates, that "the second race degenerated dreadfully from the virtues of the first; they were men of violence and rapine; they had no delight in wor shipping the immortals, nor in offering up to them those sacrifices which were daily required." The brazen age he describes as producing a race of men, fierce, strong, warlike, and insulting; their hearts of adamant, their corporeal power immense, and their nervous arms, firmly knit to their broad shoulders, irresistible. Sanchoniathon mentions that from révos (Cain) were descended "sons of vast bulk and height, whose names were given to the mountains on which they seized." The mythologists, it may here be observed, speak of three wars of the giants: in the first were concerned, Cottus, Briarens, and Gyas; in the second, the Titans; and in the third, Otus and Ephialtes, with Typhoeus, who relate to the events at Shinar. Ovid places the impious race which strove against the Deity, anterior to the deluge. 2. "Before the great inundation, which took place four thousand eight hundred years after the creation of the world, the country of Anahuac was inhabited by giants." Such are the words of Los Rios, a Dominican monk, who copied, in 1566, all the Mexican hieroglyphics he could pro cure. VI. 1. The Deluge.-According to the Chaldæans, Xisuthrus, the tenth in descent from the first created man, in obedience to the commands of the Deity, furnished a vessel with provisions and animals, and embarked with his family. When the flood began to abate, he sent out some birds, who, finding no rest, returned; the second time, their feet were besmeared with mud; and the third, they disappeared. From this he concluded that the waters had subsided, and, after making an aperture in the vessel, disembarked on a mountain, where he built an altar, and offered sacrifice. 2. The story of Deucalion, as related by Lucian, is too similar to be repeated: a chasm was shown at Hierapolis, where the waters are said to have descended, and Deucalion consecrated a temple to Juno over it, and twice a year they poured sea-water through the aperture. The Latin word Juno, is simply a corruption of (Yuneh) a dove, which bird was held sacred in that district; and on Juno, the rainbow, personified under the name of Iris, was supposed to attend. 3. According to the Hindoos, the |