into which the wicked are thrown. But that used to be the orthodox faith. They used to believe that there was literal fire and brimstone in hell. So there has been some progress on his side, after all; and who knows, if he keeps on progressing, but that he will finally come to the truth, and give up the doctrine of an endless hell altogether?

He says he admits all of my first speech, except the deductions. Well, all I have to say to that is, that when the premises of that speech are admitted, the deductions necessarily follow. One of the premises was that man is free to learn and to follow the truth now, and my position was that he will be free to learn and to follow the truth forever; and so I affirmed that there would be no hinderance there in the way of a man's salvation. And I went on to say that God wills the salvation of men there, for he wills it here, and what he wills now will be his will forever, for he changeth not. And his will must be accomplished; and as he wills the final holiness and happiness of all men, their final holiness and happiness will be secured.

He wants me to reconstruct my argument in the form of a syllogism; but if he takes hold of my argument as it stands, I think he will have enough to do. Let him try his hand on that first, before he asks for any change in the form of my argument.

He says God will have no new attributes. Very well. But then he seems to intimate that he has an attribute of vengeance. But I want to know whether the Bible teaches that vengeance is an attribute of God? I want to know whether he thinks vengeance exists in God as it exists in man? The Bible says, "God Is LOVE;" but it does not say that he IS VENGEANCE. And I want him to tell us how he can found vengeance on love, or how it can be made to appear as an expression of mercy? I admit that there is a sense in which God may be said to exercise vengeance; but I deny

squarely that vengeance is an attribute of God, and I defy him to prove that it is; and I defy him to prove that because God says, "Vengeance is mine," therefore he is a God of vengeance. But he says that the argument I founded on the attributes of God is not a valid argument, because it would prove that there can be no sin here, when sin does exist here; and if it exists here, it may exist in the final state. But I proved that God made man a free agent, and I showed that this involves the possibility of sin, and that sin came in through the action of the creature, that it is incidental to his being here that it came "by man" and through man, and that therefore God is not the author of sin. And I showed that God had a purpose in the creation of man, and I have shown that the final purpose of God with respect to man is that he shall be finally holy and happy with him forever. And this purpose of God involves the destruction of sin and misery in man, and this purpose God will ultimately fulfill. But he says it is the purpose of God that man should not sin in this life. I say it is the purpose of God that man shall be subject to law, and that he shall be free in his moral actions, which implies the possibility of sin here.Hence it is said:

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day." Deut. 11: 26–28.

He purposes to reward, even in this life, them that obey him, and to punish them that disobey him. But he has not designed this as the end of man's creation. There is something beyond this life, and the end which he had in view in our creation is the final holiness and happiness of the race. My friend dare not say that what God has designed to exist here he designs to be forever. He dare not say that, and he will not say it. And he forgets that man comes into being very low in

the scale of existence-ignorant, and therefore liable to sin. He forgets that the law of God was given for the education, direction, and salvation of men. He forgets that God has placed us here under a law of discipline, to which men must conform in order to their final salvation. And he forgets that all these things imply this grand end. All my argument requires is to show that this end will be finally attained. Now God designs that the acorn shall be an oak; but he does not design that it shall be an oak while it is an acorn. God designs that the babe shall be a man; but he does not design that it shall be a man while it is a babe. So there is the same principle recognized in the kingdom of grace, for we have "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." Mark 4: 28.

Having thus noticed my brother's speech, I will now proceed.

IV. THE JUSTICE OF GOD. God is a God of justice. "A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. 32: 4. "A just God and a Saviour." Isa. 45: 21. God's justice finds expression in his perfect law. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19: 7. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom, 13: 10.

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. 22: 37–40.

The requirement of God's perfect law finds its end in the holiness of man. For he who loves God and his fellow man is "born of God." 1 Jno. 4: 7. "Has passed from death unto life." 1 Jno. 3: 14. Is holy, therefore happy; and God's justice is satisfied in the only possible way. "Now the end of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." 1 Tim. 1: 5.

This is its end, or the object in giving the command

ment.

Divine justice can not be satisfied with the endless injustice of man. Justice requires of man-of man universally—his entire conformity to its righteous requirements, now and ever. The time will never come, here or hereafter, when man will not be under obligation, and justice require him to love God with all his heart; and he, therefore, have the ability to do so. God's justice is eternal; man's obligation eternal; and his ability and freedom to obey the law must be equally so. Nor will anything short of his entire conformity ever satisfy the claims of justice or the righteous demands of the law of the Most High. His law is the law of eternal justice, and demands of all supreme love to God, and universal love to man.

Will the law-the immutable law of God-be fulfilled? If not, then justice never will be satisfied. Then the law of God is not perfect, and never will be fulfilled. Then the solemn asseveration of Jesus is un

true, when he says: "For verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5: 18.

I know that it has been taught that Divine Justice is to be satisfied with the infliction of an endless penalty on the violation of God's law. Then justice requires. something contrary to the demands of God's law. Yea, it demands something contrary to its own requirements. For they both require obedience. And they then stultify themselves, and are contrary one to the other. But God's justice does not require the endless punishment of the sinner. For justice can only demand a penalty in proportion to the guilt of the offender; and that punishment to enforce obedience to the requirements of God's law. Its penalties are for the good of the of fender. The hand with which justice inflicts is guided by mercy. "Justice and judgment are the habitations

of thy throne; mercy and truth go before thy face." Ps. 89: 14.

"That God which ever lives and loves,
One God, one law, one element,
And one far off divine event,

To which the whole creation moves."

V. THE PATERNITY OF GOD. God is the Father of all mankind. "Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?" Mal. 2: 10. "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Eph. 4: 6. God has constituted himself our Father by creating us in his own image. "So God created man in his own image.." Gen. 1: 27. It is by virtue of this image, or likeness, that we are the children of God. Hence, "God is the Father of spirits." Heb. 12: 9. Paul teaches that we are the offspring of God.

"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Acts 17: 28, 29.

The paternal relation is a real one. Not an artificial relation that can be assumed and laid aside at pleasure. It is a tie of nature. The parent can not dissolve the relationship existing between himself and his child, let that child become what it will. The wandering, sinful, miserable prodigal could look back to a father and a father's house. It can not be said that man sinned; lost the divine image, and severed the relationship existing between God and himself. For four thousand years after the creation of man, it was declared that "men are made after the similitude of God." James 3: 9. Sin can not destroy this relationship. It is the privilege of all men to say, "Our Father who art in heaven." Matt. 6: 9. God addresses the Jews at one time as "backsliding children." Jer. 3: 14. Why call them children if sin had destroyed that relation?