not on purpose to exhibit the system of grace, but in order to bring into being the children of Adam, that they might be punished by the curse of the covenant of works."-That " the world would have stood and all the generations of men would have appeared in it, even if there had been no redemption provided for sinners."

I am glad to perceive that, in the Evangelical Witness, there is a considerable falling from these assertions. There it is only said, "the Secession ministers were driven to deny the procurement of common mercies by the death of Christ, and to maintain, that the covenant of works secures to believers, and to all men, their temporal blessings." vol. iv. p. 506.

It is admitted, that Associate Presbyterians, "reject the opinion of those, who teach that Christ did by his death, purchase the benefits of this life, which are common to all men." But they believe, that "the provision they need for their outward state, is given to them as to children, free from the curse which is on the basket and store of the wicked; and thus, all the good that is in these benefits, to believers, flows from the death of Christ. The same provision might have been given them, though he had never died for them, but not with the same gracious design of the giver, nor with the same blessing attending them." Test. p. 87. They profess to believe, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the representative and surety of the elect people of God—that he redeemed them by his blood-that they shall be infallibly saved by his life, and that for Christ's sake, God is pleased to bless their temporal, as well as spiritual mercies. But it appears, they do not profess to believe that Christ died to purchase temporal benefits for his people, and no doubt their reason for not doing so is, because there is no such doctrine in the holy Scriptures. And surely it is prudent, as well as dutiful, not to embody any thing in the public Standards of a church, unless it be taught in the Bible. It seems they also judged it contrary to the Shorter Catechism, for they say, "the blessings purchased by Christ are of that nature, that the holy Spirit only can make us partakers of them, and they can be actively received by faith only," and they are ever described as such in the Scriptures .Now, this precisely agrees with the account given of them in the Shorter Catechism, where it is distinctly asserted, that "the redemption purchased by Christ, is applied to us by the holy Spirit and received by faith." See Cat. Quest. 29, 30. And what is still more to the purpose, all this can be clearly proved from the word of God; which plainly teaches, that Christ was made a curse for us, and through him we are called, that we may inherit a blesssing.

It is also admitted, that the same provision might have been given to them, though he had never died for them, but not with the same gracious design of the giver, nor with the same blessing attending it to them. It will be seen by this, taken in connection with what is stated above, that they believe all, that is really good in temporal blessings, flows from the death of Christ; and as to the rest, it is a mere supposition. They say "the same provision might have been given them, though he had never died for them." It is then, merely a hypothetical case. It is obvious, it can be nothing else, because it is admitted, that Christ hath actually come and died for his people. Now, since such a conjecture has been hazarded, we may enquire for a moment into the reasonableness of it. And here we may observe, it will loose nothing by a comparison with the supposition made by these Reformed Presbyterian brethren, (for they also, have a supposition on this subject.)— It is said, in the Scotch Reformed Testimony, (p. 183.) they acknowledge, "the standing of the world, and all the common favours of life indifferently enjoyed by mankind sinners, to result as native, necessary and determined consequences, from the interposition of Christ in behalf of his spiritual seed, and to have their ultimate foundation in the infinite sufficiency of the blood and sacrifice of Christ, God-man." This declaration, evidently supposes that, had it not been for the undertaking and sacrifice of Christ, the world must have been destroyed immediately on the fall of man. Now this is an opinion, neither supported by reason nor scripture, and it is altogether inconsistent with the Confessions of most of the Reformed Churches. To give an example. It is taught in the Shorter Catechism, that Adam represented all his posterity descending from him by ordinary generation, and that in consequence of his sin, they became liable to the punishment threatened against himself and all his posterity. Quest. 16 and 19. But, according to the opinion given in the Reformed Testimony, the posterity which Adam represented in the covenant of works, (in the case supposed,) could never have had any existence. For, it is not easy to see, how Adam could have had a posterity descending from him by ordinary generation, without the standing of the world.

This supposition of our Reformed brethren, is indeed too absurd to be admitted; and surely it is much more reasonable to think, that the posterity of Adam, against whom the threatening was denounced, was at least to have an existence: nor is it easy to conceive how this could have been the case, without at least some of the benefits of this life. Besides all this, the supposition, in the Associate Testimony, is perfectly agreeable to the VOL. III.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, in which it is taught, that, God permits sin and disposes of sinners for his own holy ends. "The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth itself even to the first fall and all other sins of angels and men, and that not by a bare permission, but such as has joined with it, a most wise and powerful bounding and otherwise ordering and governing them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends, yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature and not from God." Confession chap. v. sec. 4. Indeed the whole matter amounts to no more than this, that God raises up and disposes of wicked men for his own holy ends.For "the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.” Rom. ix. 7.

The only other statement, in the Historical View of the Catholic Church, that remains to be considered, is, that "the world stands not on purpose to exhibit the system of grace, but in order to bring into being the children of Adam, that they might be punished with the curse of the covenant of works." This is introduced into the Roformed Testimony, as a quotation taken from the public Standards of the Associate Church. Now, I have examined the standards of that church with a great deal of attention, and, I will venture to affirm, that there is no such statement to be found in them, and no doubt the whole thing is a fabrication. As I wish for nothing but truth and candour, I will not say but there probably may have been individuals, who may have so expressed themselves, that their Rerformed brethren may have thought it safe to draw such an inference, from what they may have said, as this assertion may possibly turn out to be. The only thing, however, that I have been able to discover, even in the writings of individuals, bearing the slightest resemblance to this assertion, is a passage in an anonymous pamphlet quoted by the Rev. Dr. Anderson in his excellent work on church communion. The following is the passage: "Seceders believe that the world stands on purpose, that the covenant of grace may be exhibited and carried into execution, though they do not say that it stands for this purpose only; because, the standing of the world is also necessary, in order to the execution of the covenant of works, for which, as well as for the execution of the covenant of grace, the truth of God is engaged." Now, allowing this to have gone all the length of the assertion in the Reformed Testimony, it is obvious, it would not justify our Reform

ed brethren in affirming, that such a sentiment was maintained by the Associate Church; because it is only the work of an unknown individual, and has never been acknowledged by that church, nor introduced into her Testimony. Just as it would be altogether unjustifiable, to represent all the opinions set forth in the Evangelical Witness, as doctrines maintained by the Reformed Presbyterian Church. To refer only to one example. It is given as an opinion, in the Evangelical Witness, that Moses when in the mount (Sinai) with God was partly employed in learning the method of alphabetical writing. It is asked, in the Witness," Was it not a part of the work in which Moses was employed during forty days in the mount of God, to learn letters, and to familiarize himself with the nature of this sublime and wonderful discovery ?" vol. iv. p. 103. It may indeed be allowed, that this is a very ingenious discovery, and it is vastly curious to think of the aged prophet sitting on the mountain learning the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; but it would be altogether improper to say that this was a principle held by the Reformed Presbyterian Church, although it should appear to be the opinion of one of kes ministers.

But although we were to admit the passage taken from the pamphlet, to be agreeable to the principles of the Associate Church, still it will be seen, that it is totally a different thing from the assertion in the Reformed Testimony. It asserts, that "Seceders believe that the world stands on purpose that the covenant of grace may be exhibited and carried into execution, though they do not say it stands for this purpose only," which is perfectly sufficient to convince every unprejudiced person that there is no foundation in this passage for the principle unjustly împuted to Seceders. But there ought to be no difficulty about the principles of the Associate Church, because they are printed and published, and may be seen in the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Declaration and Testimony of that church.

The professed belief of the Associate Church on this subject, is, that God made and upholds the world, and disposes of all his creatures and orders all their actions for his own glory. Con. chap. v. sec. 1, 2. Larger Cat. Quest. 18. And as God does all things for his own glory, so for this end the world is maintained, that the covenant of grace may be exhibited and carried into execution, and also for every other thing that God may see meet to appoint or permit for his own glory. Thus it is said in the Confession of Faith chap. iii. sec. 3.-" By the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predes

tinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death." And to this, agree the words of the holy Scriptures. Rom. ix. 22.-" What if God, willing to make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.." And Prov. xvi. 4.-"The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."But I believe it is altogether unnecessary to take up longer time by attempting to prove what must be already abundantly obvious; especially as it is generally known, that the ministers of the Associate Church are in the habit of preaching, among other truths, that God made and upholds the world and all things in it, for his own glory; and in that church, christian parents are solemnly bound to teach their children, that "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever:" and that, "The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass."

Thus, I have briefly adverted to those statements in the Evangelical Witness and in Reformed Principles Exhibited, wherein some of the principles of the Associate Church, are entirely misrepresented. It seemed proper that these misrepresentations should be noticed, because it is known that some well meaning people have been misled by them. And, as I think it is highly probable, that the harm which men do to one another, is generally the result of mistake, I hope our Reformed Presbyterian brethren will not be unwilling to correct the mistakes which have been noticed.-9th Feb. 1827.

Mr. EDITOR,

For the Religious Monitor.
ON REGENERATION.

Observing lately, upon reading Dr. Ridgely's Body of Divinity, on the subject of Regeneration, a sentiment advanced by the doctor upon that subject, which, in my opinion, is very exceptionable; and a sentiment, which, as far as is known to the writer of this paper, was never maintained before by any who passed for orthodox on the general and leading doctrines of the gos→ pel. As the doctor will be considered as an authority by many on subjects of this kind, and as the work is by a late extensive edition of it, published in this country, put into the hands of great numbers, and something like the sentiments advanced by the doctor begins to make its appearance in some of the publications of modern times, whose character for orthodoxy is not disputed,