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SEAM.
TfIE
ATONEMENT
OF
CäiRI9T.
f;á
attempt
upon the
life
of
a neighbour,
is
punished
with
imprisonment or
°a
fine
:
But
are
attempt
made
on
theliie
of
a
king deserves
death.
Now'
the
great God
our Creator,
being
a
king
of
infi-
nite
glory an& majesty,
infinitely
superior
to his
creature
man, every offence
against
this God, has
a
sort
of
infinity
in.
e:
And
God
may
demand satisfaction equal to the
offence,
that
is
infinite, which
poor sinful man
can
never
ray,
so
as:to
out
-live the payment.
On
this
account,
he
is
exposed
tattle
execution
of
the sentence
of
God for
ever
:
His punishment
has no
end.
Perhaps
this:will be
counted
an old
-
fashioned
argil-
Intent,
and
.not
so
generally received
in
our
day, as it was
in
the
=days
:of
our fathers
:
Therefore
I
have
examined
it
afresh with
all
the
skill
I
have,
and
having.
surveyed
the objections
which
are raised against
it, -I:
think they
are not
hard
to_be
answered
:
And,
after
all, so
far ascl
can
judge
in
a,
way
of
reasoning upon what
scripture
has
revealed,
this argument seemsto
have
weight
and strength
in
it
süll.
Were it not
for the supposition
of
the:
infinite
guilt
and
demerit of
sin,
I
do
not
so
plainly
see
the justice
or
equity of God
in
preparing everlasting chains
of
dark;-
-ness,
and
eternal
fire,
for
the
devil
and
his angels,
as,a
proper
punishment due
to
their
first
act of
rebelli.un
against
him,
and because they "
kept not
their
own first
estatet,"
Jude
6.
Nor
indeed
do
I
see such
evident
reason,
why
sinners among men should
be
threatened
with
eternal
punishments,
and punished
with
everlasting
destruction, as
a legal
penalty due
to
past
sins;
Mat
xxv. 46.
and
2
Thess.
i.
9.
which
sins were
done
per..ha.ps
*Every
circumstance
thataggravates
any crime, must
aggravateit,ia
a degree proportionable
to
that
circumstance:
otherwise
we
could
never
determine what
is
the degree of
this aggravation,
nor
adjust
the punish-
ment
in
proportion
to it.
On this
account,
if the
crime be committed
against God, an infinite being,
the guilt
must
be infinit.
ly aggravated.
t
I
grant,
1.
that
their continual
persistence
and
obstinacy
in
sinful
practices,
may naturally render them continually miserable; and,
2.
this
continued obstinacy may
also,
in a
legal
sense,
merit continual
new.pu-
bishment. And perhaps,
on
these two reasons, the
actual eternity of hell
may
be
justly supported.
But unless
we suppose
every wilful rebellion
against the
infinite
Majesty
of
God,
to have
also a
sort
of
infinite evil
in
it,
I do
not
see
that
everlasting chains, and eternal
fire, are a
proper
deserved punishment,
legally
due
to
their
first rebellion,
that
is,
to
one
act
of
sin.