4.13
THE ETERNAL
bt7RATION
OP
[Dtsc.
XTti.
Ans.
3.
Whenever
any such criminal
in
hell shall be
found making
such
a
sincere and mournful address to
the
righteous and merciful
Judge
of
all,
if at
the
same
time
he
is
truly humble and penitent
for
his
past
sins,
and
is
grieved
at
his
heart
for having offended
his
Maker
and
melts into sincere
repentance,
I
cannot
think
that a
God
of
perfect equity
and rich mercy
will
continue such
a creature
under
his
vengeance
;
but
rather,
that
the per
-
fections
of
Gód
will
contrive
a
way
for
escape, though
God
has
not
given
us
here any revelation
of
such'
special
grace
as
this.
But
on
the
other
hand,
whatever melting
'or
moving speeches may
be
made
by
sinners here on
earth,
in compassion
to the
sinners
who
are
gone
before
them
to hell
;
yet
if
no such
person be ever found in
hell,
truly and humbly repenting
of
his sins,
nor
havé
We
any
reason
to think
there ever
will,
why
should
a
righteous God
be
obliged to cease punishing
a rebel
who
only
is
vexed
and
raging
under
his own
chains, and whö
continues
in
the
spirit of
obstinacy
and rebellion against
God, and
will
not repent of it?
Objection the
fifth, is
derived
from
the
"
mercy
and
compassion
of
a God, compared
with
the
mercy
and
compassion
of
man." Surely the compassion
of
the
ever-
blessed
God,
who has
described himself
"
rich
in
mercy,
abundant
in goodness,
and
whose
very name
is
love
:
1
John
iv.
8.
must have transcendent tenderness
and
pity towards
his
creatures,
the work
of
his hands,
above
all
the
compassions
that
any one fellow-
creature
can express
towards another. Now the
very
thought and
name
of
eternal
punishments, or endless torment,
is
such
as seems to shock the
nature of
a
good-
natured
man
;
and though
he
was
ever
so
much injured,.
ye he would
never
have
a
thought
of
wishing
his
enemy
any
kind
of
eternal
punishment
for
it,
much
less
of
condemning him
to everlasting
misery,
and
supporting
him in
being
on
purpose
to
suffer
it
'and
therefore
we
cannot suppose
that
God
will
do it.
This
objection
is
further strength-
ened
by an expression
of
our Saviour himself; Luke
xviii.
19.
"
There
is
none
good,
save
one,
that
is
God
:"
As much
as
to
say,
.
there
is
none equal or compara-
ble in goodness
to
God
himself
:
And
it
is
further
sup-
ported.
still
by
the common
notions
which good men have
of
God
,'
those expressions in
the apocryphal
writings
6