I in English. Its system is the same as that of the or- thodox Protestant churches in general, except so far as the question of predestination and the points con- nected with it are concerned. "As some heterodox \ writers have called themselves Arminians, and as the true theory of Arminianism has been often grossly maligned, it may be proper here to allude to certain points with regard to which it has been especially mis- represented. If a man hold that good works are nec- essary to justification ; if he maintain that faith in- cludes good works in its own nature; if he reject the doctrines of original sin ; if he deny that divine grace is requisite for the whole work of sanctification ; if he speak of human virtue as meritorious in the sight of | God, it is very generally charged by Calvinists that : he is an Arminian. But the truth is, that a man of [ such sentiments is properly a disciple of the Pelagian and Socinian schools. To such sentiments pure Ar- minianism is as diametrically opposite as Calvinism itself. The genuine. Arminians assert the corruption of human nature in its full extent. They dechu-e that | we are justified by faith only. They assert that our justification originates solely in the grace of God. They teach that the procuring and meritorious cause of our justification is the righteousness of Christ. Propter quum, says Arminius, Deus credentibus pecca- : turn condoned, eosque, pro juslis riputat non aliter atque ; si legem perfcte implevissent . [For the sake of which God pardons believers, and accounts them as righteous precisely as if they had perfectly obeyed the law.] ! They admit in this way that justification implies not i merely forgiveness of sin, but acceptance to everlast- i ing happiness. Junctam habet adoptionem injilios, et collationem juris in hereditalem vital eternal. [It has ; connected with it adoption to sonship, and the grant i of a right to the inheritance of eternal life.] The}' [ teach, in fine, that the work of sanctification, from its j very commencement to its perfection in glory, is car- i ried on by the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is ! the gift of God by Jesus Christ" (Edinh. Encyclopcedia,
; s. v.).
" The whole sum and substance of religious doctrine and theory is embraced in these three terms : God's nature, man's nature, and the relation subsisting be- tween the two. Theology is nothing more than the | systematic definition, adjustment, and exposition of j these three terms. Christian theology, or genuine orthodox}', is simply a system of theological views upon these three points, which is self-coherent, and harmonious with the teachings of Scripture. For the I development of such a system, exhibiting the precise , truth relative to these cardinal points, without redun- I dancy or defect, it is necessary that each of these three i points be made a special object of scrutiny and discus- sion. An error in respect to either will not only de- stroy at once the system's self-coherence, but infalli- bly conduct to the gravest heresies. For example, an i error respecting the first (Theology) may give us Pan- theism ; an error on the second point (Anthropology) may lead to Atheism : while an erroneous theory re- specting the third gives us the two extremes of an iron fate or a groundless chance. True orthodoxy states and maintains a consistent doctrine respecting each, authenticated by the assertions of God's revela- tions. Casting now a philosophic eye upon the doc- trine of the church as developed in history, we cannot fail to be struck by the remarkable fact that the three great controversies which trisect the historic develop- ments of Christian doctrine as a scientific system have followed without deviation the natural order of these three terms. That development has hinged success- ively upon each in order. Athanasius, Augustine, and Arminius represent in themselves the whole sweep of the dogmatic unfoldment of Christianity; these factors being given, we can construct the whole history of Christian doctrine. The first is the repre- sentative of that speculative movement which devel-
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oped into scientific form and defensible shape the ec- ' clesiastical doctrine respecting God's nature ; the sec- ond, of the subsequent movement by which the true ; doctrine of man's being was evolved ; the third, of the still later and scarcely yet completed one by -which the relations of the two are instigated and defined.
"The ancient church believed vaguely in the true divinity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit; but Atha- nasius was raised up to explain with clearness, to maintain, and to bring forth into suitable prominence J the great doctrine of a substantial tri-unity of the Di- vine essence, under all temporal manifestations of sep- ' arate hypostases, on which suppositions only the an- cient beliefs of the church and the unqualified declara- tions of Scripture could be true. His mission was the enunciation, exposition, and defence of a great truth respecting the Divine nature, and round that truth was grouped all the Christian thinking of that age. There was no great doctrinal system of the time, heret- ; ieal or not, which was not logically related to this cen- tre thought of the church. It implied in itself all an- terior and all subsequent speculations upon the Divine nature, Origenistic, Arian, Sabellian, Monophysitic, Nestorian, or orthodox.