Members,_ and
_Subjects:_ and can we suppose, that He, who is perfect in
Knowledge, would, in the Dispensation of his Laws, take less care of
the everlasting State of his immortal Creature _Man?_ Yet it is
plain, we differ in our Sentiments of Religion, and greatly too, for
want, as I sincerely hope, of the Knowledge of better Helps, to
direct our Inquiries, in Matters, the true Knowledge whereof, is of
so considerable Moment. Therefore,

I intend, in the Course of this Debate, to descant _freely_, on the
Doctrines of _Divine Sovereignty, Election, Reprobation_, and
_Original Sin;_ and also, on the Arguments which some ingenious
Gentlemen have used to support them. But I hope (with regard to the
_Authors_ I may possibly name) to be perfectly decent, and to treat
them with all becoming Respect and Deference, as I think Men of
Integrity, Learning and Abilities deserve; who, though in some
Points they may err, and hold Doctrines in their own Nature and
Tendency altogether subversive of Religion and Morality, do
nevertheless not perceive them to have these Tendencies, and are
therefore by _no Means_ chargeable with them. Yet, as touching the
_Doctrines_ themselves, I shall presume to speak freely, both in
regard to their Nature, and what appears to me to be their genuine
Fruits and Effects.

It is with me an establish'd Truth, that the mistaken Notion of some
_learned Men_, concerning the _Sovereignty_ of the _Deity_, has
given these Doctrines a more favourable Acceptance in the World,
than otherwise they would, or could, ever have met with; and
notwithstanding all the Pains and Arguments these Gentlemen have
bestowed, to reconcile their Doctrines to our common Sense of
_Right_ and _Wrong_, it is plain, that, at _bottom_, this is the
grand governing Principle. For, when their Attempts to reconcile
these Doctrines with common Sense and Equity fail, they have
immediate Recourse to God's _Sovereignty_, and even go so far, at
least in Effect, as to deny there is _any_ intrinsick Difference in
Things themselves, as shall be made appear from their most approved
Writers, whenever they are pleased to demand it: But as this
Principle of _Sovereignty_ is most certainly their strong Hold, I
shall therefore endeavour to go to the Depth of this Argument; and
shew, in the first Place, how greatly they misapprehend the Nature
of this _Attribute;_ and, in the second Place, granting it to be as
they say, I shall then shew the _precariou