kness over the whole
economy of divine providence. It was that darkness, that perplexing and
confounding darkness, by which the mighty soul of Foster was oppressed
with so many gloomy thoughts, and filled with so many frightful
imaginations.

For our part, if we could believe that God could easily work holiness in
the heart of every creature, and that he does not do so simply because he
does not intend their salvation, we should not have attempted to vindicate
his perfections. We should have believed in them, it is true; but we
should have been constrained to confess, that they are veiled in
impenetrable clouds and darkness. Hence, if we had not confessed ignorance
and inability for all minds and all ages, as so many others have done, we
should, at least, have confessed these things for ourselves, and supinely
waited for the light of eternity to dispel the awful and perplexing
enigmas of time. But we hold no such doctrine; we entertain no such
sentiment. We believe that God, in his infinite, overflowing goodness
desires, and from all eternity has desired, the salvation of all men. We
believe that salvation is impossible to some, because a necessary holiness
is impossible, and they do not choose to work out for themselves what
cannot be worked out for them, even by omnipotence. It was the bright and
cheering light which this truth seemed to cast upon the dark places of the
universe, that first inspired us with the thought and determination to
produce a theodicy. And it is in the light of this truth, if we mistake
not, that the infinite love of God may be seen beaming from the eye of
hell, as well as from the bright regions of eternal blessedness. This
conclusion we shall endeavour methodically to unfold, and to set in a
clear light.

In the first place, then, to begin with our fundamental position, the
Creator could not necessitate the holiness of the creature. Hence this
holiness, after all the means and the ability were given to him, must be
left to the will of the creature himself. All that could be done in such a
case was, for God to set life and death before us, accompanied by the
greatest of all conceivable motives to pursue the one, and to fly from the
other; and then say, "choose ye:" and all this has God actually done for
the salvation of all men. Hence, though some should be finally lost, his
infinite goodness will be clear. Let us see what objections may be urged
against this conclusion.

Supposing it grant