Solomon, this is asserted in the most express and strongest manner, of the heart of kings and of all men; so that it seems impossible not to understand, or to evade the truth here expressed; as no words, perhaps, can be devised to convey it in a more clear, unequivocal, and decisive manner.

All the objections made against God's foreordaining all the moral evil that takes place, and his being, in this sense and so far, the origin and cause of it, as has been asserted and explained above, do equally lie, and are as strong against this passage, and many others which have been mentioned under this and former particulars.

4. In divine revelation an evil spirit which is in men, and takes place among them, is said to be from God, and to be sent or caused by him.

"Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech." (Judg. ix. 23.) "But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul." (1 Sam. xvi. 4; xviii. 10.) "Now, therefore, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets." (1 Kings xxii. 23.) "The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof." (Isa. xix. 14.) Whatever be meant by an evil, lying and perverse spirit, whether it be no more than the evil inclination and exercise of the hearts of men, or an evil agent, distinct from their spirits, exciting them to sinful exercises, - God is, in these Scriptures, represented as superintending and ordering this spirit to take place in men, as it did. And, if he did this, and yet maintained his own infinitely holy character, and these men were, notwithstanding, wholly free in their evil inclinations and conduct, and accountable and deserving of blame and punishment for them, which was most certainly the case, then all the evil volitions of men may be, in the same sense, manner, and degree, from God, consistent with all these. It is, therefore, easy to see that all objections against the doctrine under consideration may, with equal reason, be made against such declarations as these, which are found in the Holy Scriptures.

5. God is said, in the Scriptures, to order, send, and effect the sinful deceptions and delusions of men. "With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his." (Job xii. 16.) "O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways?" (Isa. Ixiii. 17.) "And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that

prophet." (Ez. xiv. 9.) "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thes. ii. 11, 12.) According to these passages, the divine hand and agency are concerned in all the errors and deceptions which take place among men, by which many of them run on to destruction.

6. In the Scriptures, God is many times said to "blind the minds," and "harden the hearts" of men. This is often ascribed to him in the most express terms, without saying any thing to qualify, soften, or explain the expressions, or to intimate that they are not to be taken in their plain, natural meaning. These will be now produced, as worthy of particular attention.

"And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isa. vi. 9, 10.) We have this remarkable passage quoted in St. John's gospel, in the following words, and applied to the Jews in his day: "Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." Here those words in Isaiah -"Make the heart of this people fat, and shut their eyes" have the meaning of them given in the following words: "He"—that is, God- "hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts." God is here said to do what Isaiah was directed to do; for the prophet was infinitely unequal to produce the effect, and could be only the instrument by whom God caused it to take place. In this view, and in no other, the evangelist appears to have given the true sense of the passage, while he uses these strong and pointed expressions.

"For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes. They have not known, nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand." (Isa. xxix. 10; xliv. 15.) "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for: but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded;" (or hardened, as it is in the original.) " According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber; eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day." (Rom. xi. 7, 8.)

Those passages are now to be produced, in which hardening

the hearts of men is expressly ascribed to God. This is done more than ten times in the history of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. "But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." (Ex. iv. 21.) " And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you." (Ex. vii. 3.) "And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said." (Ex. vii. 13.) "And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses." (Ex. ix. 12.) "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him; and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord." (Ex. x. 1, 2.) "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go." (Ex. x. 20.) "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go." (Ex. x. 27.) "And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land." (Ex. xi. 10.) "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." (Ex. xiv. 4.) "And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel." "And I, behold I, will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host." (Ex. xiv. 8, 17.)

There are other passages, in which God is said to harden the hearts of men, which are now to be mentioned. "But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hands as appeareth this day." (Deut. ii. 30.) "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly." (Josh. xi. 20.) "O Lord, why hast thou hardened our heart from thy fear?" (Isa. lxiii. 17.) It might be safely and with good reason argued, from these instances of God's hardening the hearts of men, that God bardens every heart that is hard and obstinate, as no reason can be given why he should do this in one instance and not in another; or, there is the same reason why the hardness and obstinacy of men's hearts in general, and wherever it takes place,

should be as really ascribed to God, as these instances which are mentioned; and there can be no objection against his hardening the hearts of all men whose hearts are hard, that may not, with equal reason, be made against his hardening the heart of Pharaoh, and others concerning whom it is expressly asserted. But this is made certain, as the consequence is drawn to our hand by one under divine inspiration: "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." (Rom. ix. 18.) The apostle, in these words, has reference to God's hardening the heart of Pharaoh, whom he mentions in the words immediately preceding; and, from this instance of God's raising him up and hardening his heart to answer his own infinitely wise purposes, he makes this inference: "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Here, every one of mankind is comprehended in those on whom God has mercy and those whom he hardeneth; and it is asserted that he hardeneth all those on whom he will not have mercy, that is, all whose hearts are hardened. It must be further observed,

7. In the Sacred Scriptures, God is expressly said to form, make, or produce moral evil.

"The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." (Pr. xvi. 4.) Here God is said to make the wicked, not considered merely as men, but as wicked; for in this character, or as wicked only, are they the proper subjects of natural evil or punishment. What less can his making the wicked mean, than his having some hand or agency, in some way or other, in forming their character as wicked? And is this any less or more than his willing that there should be such existences as wicked men, because moral and natural evil are necessary, as necessary as any other existence, to answer the infinitely wise and important purposes of God, in the brightest display of his perfections? He has made them for himself, to put them to his own use, and by them to manifest his own character, his holiness, hatred of sin, etc.

"I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." (Isa. xlv. 5, 6, 7.)

These words are addressed to Cyrus, who was not then born; but was to arise in the eastern world to conquer the Babylonians, and to release the Jews from their captivity, and

order the temple and Jerusalem to be rebuilt. He was born and educated where the God of Israel was not known, and where they were taught that the good being, who was the author of all good, was not the only power that reigned; but that there was an evil being or principle which reigned, so far as to counteract the good principle or being, and introduce all the evil, both moral and natural, which takes place, and of which he is the proper cause or author. The good principle, or being, they represented by light, and worshipped him before the sun or fire, considering it the brightest emblem of him, and, in a peculiar manner, possessed or inhabited by him. The evil being, and the evil of which they supposed him to be the cause and author, they represented by, and called, darkness. There is an evident reference to these false and hurtful notions in which Cyrus was educated, in the address to him, part of which has been cited, in which Jehovah declares them to be great and dangerous delusions, and repeatedly asserts that he is the only Supreme God: "I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no other God besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none besides me." And then he asserts that he is the cause of all that which they ascribed to the evil being which they believed in and feared: "I form light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things."

Does not God, in these words, expressly take to himself this character, and assert that he is the origin and cause of all evil? If so, then we have no reason to be afraid to think and speak of him as such, but may consider ourselves as promoting true piety and the honor of the only true God, while we be

* The Magians began first in Persia, and there and in India were the only places where this sect was propagated, and there they remain unto this day. Their chief doctrine was, that there were two principles, one of which was the cause of all good, and the other the cause of all evil; that the former is represented by light, and the other by darkness, as their truest symbols, and that of the composition of these two all things in the world are made. Therefore, when Xerxes prayed for that evil upon his enemies, that it might be put into the minds of all of them to drive their best and bravest men from them, as the Athenians had Themistocles, he addressed his prayer to the evil god of the Persians, and not to their good god. The good god they always worshipped before the fire, as being the cause of light, and especially before the sun, as being, in their opinion, the perfectest fire, and causing the perfectest light. (Isa. xlv.. 5, 6, 7.) "I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God besides me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I form light. and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." These words, being directed to Cyrus king of Persia, must be understood as spoken in reference to the Persian sect of the Magians, who then held light and darkness, or good and evil, to be the supreme beings.-Dr. Prideaux, Connection, 9th ed. pp. 252, 253, 304.