Mahometans. According to them every action in a
man's life has been written down in the _preserved tablets_, which
have been kept in the seventh heaven from all eternity. "No
accident," saith the Koran, "happeneth on the earth, or on your
persons, but the same was entered into the book of our decrees
before we created it. Verily this is easy with God: and this is
written lest ye immoderately grieve for the good which escapeth you,
or rejoice for that which happeneth unto you." They might fall in
battle, but it was so decreed, and at the resurrection they would
appear with their "wounds brilliant as vermilion, and odorous as
musk." Since the primary principle of Calvinism is a foundation
principle of Pantheism, Socialism, Stoicism, and Mahometanism,
Calvinists may well question whether they have not been building
upon the sand, instead of the eternal rock of immutable truth.

In view of the doctrine we have advocated, viz., that God has not
ordained whatsoever comes to pass, but has left each man to be the
arbiter of his own fate, we can see the propriety of the
exhortation, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live" (Deut. xxx. 19). It is the same still. God has provided a
Saviour for all, and, therefore, for each. It is the province of the
Holy Spirit to testify respecting Christ,--that He is able to save
the very worst, and as willing as He is able. Each may choose to
neglect this Saviour, or reject Him by choosing some other ground;
or may choose Him as his only refuge. This choice has to be made by
each man himself. No man can choose for another any more than he can
eat or drink for another. It belongs entirely to each to do this. To
choose Him is to choose life. To neglect or reject Him is to choose
--death. Which will it be? The principle--viz., of choice, runs
through life. Your happiness here depends on it in numberless
instances. It is recognised everywhere in the Bible. Its
exhortations summed up are expressed thus--"Turn ye, turn ye, why
will you die?" It thus rests with you, and with you only--after what
God has done for you--whether you shall live or die.

PART II.--REPROBATION.

CHAPTER I.

THE CALVINISTIC DOCTRINE OF REPROBATION STATED.

THE subjects of reprobation and election are so closely connected
that they might be considered in one chapter. I