The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-08-22

ereign election Of some, then it ia certain
that Christ died in order to secure the saliva
ton Of the elect, and not in order to make
the salvation Of all men possible. st. Angus
tine, and all consistent Augustinians, Cal
via, and all the Reformed Churches, held
that redemption, a. {. atonemenD is in order
to accomplish the purpose Of election.
Again on page 300: " The intended appli-
cation Of the atonement all Calvinists must
believe to be limited to the elect"
DR. Fuller, a Baptist predestinarian, says,
" 1t never was his intention to impart faith
and osher necessary benefits to any other
/ than his elect" Many other quotations
from their leading authors might be given to
show their construction Of the Westminster
Confession, but these will suffice for the
present
Thus it appears clearly that foreordination
is the fundamental idea Of their system
Yea, even the life and death Of Christ con-
stitute but subordinate wheels in the great
machine of Providence. Prcdestination
controls, directs, and restraints his actions,
and limits his satisfaction to the few chosen
ones With this idea and its consequents
! Cumberland Presbyterians join issue and
as an humble member of that God-honored
! Church, propose to give few reasons for
our dissent
! begin with the third section Of the third
chapter Of the Westminster Confession /
cannot believe that the great and good God,
the ever blessed Creator, and loving Father
Of all his creatures, did far back in the
cOunsels Of eternity, with the concurrence
OF the Son, and Of the eternal 81 irit deter
mine TO create some men and angels "
with the fixed and UnaiteTable purpose to
manifest his sovereign power in their de-
! structlon; and that, prior to the existence of
these intelligcnces, he solemnly and secretly
decreed to inilict upon them, irrespective Of
their character or actions, the terrOrs of his
wrathful power
And first as to the angels-this article
regard rs IN direct conflict with the word of
| God; yet it is the legitimate offspring of it's
| terrible parent; and is but an exhibition OF
the extremes into which men will run, when
/ upon one Idea-one great truth-they con-
! struct an entire system, and then try to es-
! tabllsh 1t in the overthrow or perversion Of
| all other truths
| First they excOgitate the system and then
] 90 to the unerring word to fOrtify the de-
| auctions Of reason thus reversing the order
| OF God, that men should 4" search the scrip
lures first, and learn only Of the great
! Teacher.
10 the second chapter Of his second Epis-
! tie, Peter predicts the coming of false teach
ers, with damnable heresies, even DENYING
the Lord that bought them; but assures the
! Church, that as God did not spare the an
/ gels, nor the old world nor the cities Of the
/ plain, so their Judgment lmgereth not, and
! their damnatiOn slumbereth not" There is
not the most remote intimation that the an
gels were by a secret and stern decree Gre
uted, and then cast into hell, to show the
! great power Of the sovereign God. But on
| the contrary, he declares that it was the
necessary consequent of their sin.
Hear him: For if God spared not the
angels that SiHued, but cast them downFto
hell, and delivered them into chains of dark
ness, to be reserved into judgment" Ac-
ccrding to the lHeducated Peter, the angels
sinned, they rebelled against their Sovereign,
and were therefore not spared, but over
thrown and cast into the dark prison of hell
loaded with chains of darkness and kept for
judgment. But what say the defenders of
the Confession
d" Peter was only a rude and unlettered
! fisherman, and did not know any better we
have fathomed the deep things of God, and
| have found out the secret cOunsels Of JehO-
YAH We pity his ignorance-but what
better could you expect of a fisherman
The fact Is, Peter Is wrong-they had not
sinned so far from that, it was not because
God even fOresaw that they would sin, but
by virtue Of an eternal decree, to manifest
his glorious justice, were they cast into
hell; yea, by the good pleasure of God they
were created for this very end"
Jude, another ignorant disciple, says,
And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains under dark
ness unto the judgment Of the great day"
1t seems, then, according to Jude, (simple
/ fellow,) they had a first estate, different
! from that they now fill, and which they had
failed to keep; they had habitation other
! than hell which they had forfeited or aban-
doned. Here we find a radical difference
between the doctors who compiled the West
minister Confession and Drs. Peter and Jude
How is this, Peter " The fact Is, that book
was made long after we were dead, and we
did not have it to correct our crude notions
Now, whom shall l believe, when the doc
tors disagree ? As "holY men of God, they
spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost" And as these apostles are ranked
with that number, and as Peter says, A." No
Scripture Is Of any private Interpretation,
l will receive and cling to the apostolic dec
larations, and discard the teachings of the
former. So much for the angels
| D. w. POINDEXTER.