The Doctrines Of God’s Everlasting Love
The Doctrines Of God’s Everlasting Love
To His Elect, And Their Eternal Union With Christ
Together With Some Other Truths, Stated And Defended
In a Letter to Dr. Abraham Taylor
SIR
Having had the happiness of hearing, and since of reading, your two Discourses, Of the Insufficiency of Natural Religion (See Lime Street Lecture, ed.); I cannot but express a satisfaction with your method of treating the argument; nor would you have heard from me in this public manner, had you not, in your performance, fallen foul on some of your friends, whilst you was engaging with the common adversary.
When I heard your first discourse on this subject, I observed a paragraph which gave me some uneasiness. I determined to take notice of it to you, as I had opportunity and knowing I should be present when you condescended to submit your discourses to the correction of some friends, I purposed humbly to offer some reasons for either dropping or altering the paragraph; but, to my great satisfaction, I found myself under no necessity of doing it. The passage I refer to being omitted in reading, I concluded from hence, that upon a revisal of your discourses, you had seen reason in your own mind to strike it out but, since reading your sermons, now made public, I find it stands, and, if I mistake not;, with some additional keenness and severity: your reason for this you best know. Your words are these (A Defence if some important Doctrines of the Gospel, by several Ministers, Vol. I).
“It has been said, that during the times of our civil commotions, there was little preached up but faith in Christ; and that the duties of morality were little insisted on: it is certain that some ignorant enthusiastic preachers insisted then much on eternal union with Christ, and that sin could do a believer no harm; but all wise and thoughtful men abhorred such immoral conceits.”
What I have to complain of in this passage, is as follows: