INTRODUCTION.

'COME now, and let us reason together.' 'Let us choose to ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.' Let us 'judge even of ourselves what is right;' let us 'Prove all things, and hold fast that which is GooD' Let us 'Believe not every spirit, but TRY the spirits, whether they are of GOD-[worthy of Him, and in accordance with His creation, providence, and word,]-because many False Prophets are gone out into the world.' 'The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,' and 'is earthly, sensual, devilish.' 'But the wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, FULL of mercy and good fruits, WITHOUT PARTIALITY, and without hypocrisy.' 'The simple believeth every word; but the prudent man looketh well to his going; a wise man feareth and departeth from wrong.' 'The simple inherit folly; but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.' 'Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge.' 'Beware lest any man spoil you through [pretencive] philosophy and vain conceit, after THE TRADITION OF MEN, after the rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST."

'What saith the Scripture?' 'To the law and to the Testimony, [then ;] if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' 'Lo! this that we have searched out is true; hear it, and know thou it for thy

A

good.' 'I think myself happy because I shall answer for myself this day touching all the things whereof we are accused.' *I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.' 'O that I might speak to the Almighty; and I would have confidence in arguing my cause before God. For truly, ye are forgers of sophisms !-Physicians of no value, all of you! O, that ye would be entirely silent, and it would be to your wisdom! Hear, I pray you, my reasoning, and attend to the arguments of my lips. Would ye speak falsely for God? for Him will ye utter fallacy? Do ye flatter yourselves that ye can deceive Him or evade His searching, as man deceiveth his fellow man? Surely He will rebuke you if ye secretly have respect to persons. Should not His excellency restrain you, and His majesty fill you with awe? Your remembrances of Him are as the light ashes, and your conceptions as the rotten clay.Hold peace, and let me speak, and then let anything come upon me! In regard to this, I will take flesh in my teeth and my life in my hand,-yea, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him; I will still vindicate my cause before Him, and He also shall be my salvation. Attentively hear my words, and to my doctrine give ear.

my

Behold, now, I

have set in order my cause, I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will plead with me? for I shall guide my tongue, and in the truth I will give up the ghost.' 'If it be

*In many of these passages from the book of Job, the improved translation of Mr. Barnes is chiefly followed, in preference to the sometimes less expressive construction of the common text. It may be as well also to observe here, that the renderings of quite a number of passages cited in the course of this work, are, upon the best authorities, varied from the standard King James' version; though in general, and on the whole, Universalists are no more at variance with the venerable English Bible as it is, than, and in some cases not half so much, as, other persuasions.

not true now, who will confute me, and show my argument to be worthless?' 'If thou can'st, answer me; set thy words

'Produce your cause; Let them bring them

in array before me,-stand firm!' bring forth your strong reasons. forth, and show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; and declare to us things to come, and show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods.' 'Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.' 'But I beheld, and there was no man ; even among them there was no counsellor, that when I asked of them could answer a word! Behold, they are all vanity!' 'MENE: God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. TEKEL: Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.'

Therefore we both labor and suffer reproach: because we trust in the Living God; who is the Saviour of All Men, especially of those who believe' [Him thus to be, for their salvation is already entered upon.] But, 'Charity beareth all things, believeth all things [that appertain to the Gospel of Glad Tidings,] HOPETH all things, endureth all things.' 'And we have also a more SURE word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts; knowing this first, that No Prophecy of Scripture is of any PRIVATE, [selfish, limited,] INTERPRETATION.' 'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, [appealing to the fears, prejudices, ignorance, weaknesses, and passions, rather than to the intelligence, moral impulses, and finer feelings of the soul,] but mighty, through

God, to the pulling down of strong-holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.' 'For God hath not given

us the spirit of Fear, but of Power, and of Love, and of a Sound Mind.' There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. He that feareth, is not made perfect in 'love.'

'Now we believe, and do testify, that the Father sent the son to be the Saviour of THE WORLD;' 'to PUT AWAY Sin;' 'to renconcile All Things to the Father.' That 'he died for All;' that 'the Father hath given All Things into his hands;' that 'all that the Father hath given him shall come unto him ;' that he 'will draw All Men unto him,' 'give eternal life to as many as God hath given him,' 'reconcile the World,' 'subdue All Things unto himself,' 'save that which was lost,' 'destroy the works of the devil,' 'finish the work,' 'bring Every Knee to bow, and Every Tongue to confess,' 'to the glory of God the Father,' that 'in the Lord they have righteousness and strength,' 'see of the travail of his soul, and be SATISFIED.' That 'the Lord is good unto all his works,' even 'kind to the unthankful and the evil,' 'loves us even while we are enemies,' 'is very pitiful and of tender mercy,' and 'his mercy endureth forever,' and 'his salvation is forever, for he is the Lord, and changeth not,' and 'knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are but dust;' that he is 'the Father of the spirits of All Flesh,' ,knoweth what his children have need of,' 'will never leave nor forsake us,' 'will not always chide,' 'doth not afflict willingly,' and 'will not cast off forever,' for he 'chastises for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness,' and 'as the father chasteneth his children, so the Lord our God

dealeth with us.' That his hand is not shortened that it cannot save,' for 'he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth and fashioneth their hearts alike,' and will 'put his law in their hearts, and write it in their minds, that All shall know Him from the least unto the greatest;' for He' 'will have All Men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,' and 'who hath resisted His will?' 'Of Him, and through Him and TO Him are All Things,' for 'For His pleasure are All Things created,' and 'He doeth all His pleasure.' 'He hath Purposed in Himself to gather together in One All Things in Christ,' that 'there shall be One Fold and One Shepherd,' and 'every Purpose of the Lord shall stand.' The Covenant which the Lord made unto Abraham, saying, In thy seed shall All the Kindreds of the Earth be blessed, by turning away every one from their iniquities,' we 'stagger not at through unbelief,' 'for He is faithful that Promised,' and we are 'fully persuaded that what He hath Promised He is able also to perform,' while He hath also 'confirmed it by an Oath, saying,' 'By Myself have I sworn &c., and thy seed, [the Messiah,] shall possess even the gate of his ENEMIES; and in thy seed shall All the Nations of the Earth be blessed.' 'Looking for that blessed hope,' when 'the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption [to which 'God hath subjected' it in hope,] into the glorious liberty of the children of God,' when 'tears shall be wiped from off All Faces,' when God shall ‘overcome evil with good,' so that 'where sin abounded, Grace shall much more abound,' 'and there shall be no more pain,' nor 'death,' nor 'curse,' nor 'sin,' 'and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,' 'and the vail of the covering that is cast over All Nations shall be removed,' when 'the glory of the