§ 113. PREDESTINATION. 567
Charles Wesley fully sided with the Arminianism of his brother John, and abused his poetic gift by writing poor doggerel against Calvinism. i He had a bitter controversy on the subject with Toplady, who was a devout Calvinist. But their theological controversy is dead and buried, while their devotional hymns still live, and Calvinists and Methodists heartily join in singing Wesley's "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," and Toplady's " Rock of Ages, cleft for me."
V. Modern Calvinism.
Modern Calvinism retains the doctrine of an all-ruling providence and saving grace, but denies reprobation and pretention, or leaves them to tiie sphere of metaphysical theology. It lays also great stress on the moral responsibility of the human will, and on the duty of offering the gospel sincerely to every creature, in accordance with the modern missionary spirit. This, at least, is the prevailing and growing tendency among Presbyterian Churches in Europe and America, as appears from the recent agitation on the revision of the Westminster Confession. The new creed of the Presbyterian Church of England, which was adopted in 1890, avoids all tlie objectionable features of old Calvinism, and substitutes for the eight sections of the third chapter of the Westminster Confession the following two articles, which contain all that is necessary in a public confession : —
Art. IV. Of Providence.
" We believe that God the Creator upholds all things by the word of his power, preserving and providing for all his creatures, according to the laws of their being; and that he, through the presence and energy of liis Spirit in nature and history, disposes and governs all events for his own high design ; yet is he not in any wise the author or approver of sin, neither are the freedom and responsibility of man taken away, nor have any bounds been set to the sovereign liberty of him who worketh when and where and how he pleaseth."
Art. XII. 0/ Election and Hegeneration.
" We humbly own and believe that God the Father, before the foundation of the world, was pleased of his sovereign grace to choose unto himself in Christ a people, whom he gave to the Son, and to whom the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life by a secret and wonderful operation of his power, using as liis ordinary means, where years of understanding have been reached, tlie truths of his Word in ways agreeable to the nature of man; so that, being born from above, they are the children of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
1 This is a specimen : —
' O Horrible Decree,
Worthy of whence it came! Forgive their hellish blasphemy, Who charge it on the Lamb! "
568 THE REFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
§ 114. Calvinism examined.
We cannot dismiss this important subject without examinino- the Calvinistic system of predestination in the light of Christian experience, of reason, and the teaching of the Bible.
Calvinism, as we have seen, starts from a double decree of absolute predestination, which antedates creation, and is the divine program of human history. This program includes the successive stages of the creation of man, an universal fall and condemnation of the race, a partial redemption and salvation, and a partial reprobation and perdition : all for the glory of God and the display of his attributes of mercy and justice. History is only the execution of the original design. There can be no failure. The beginning and the end, God's immutable plan and the issue of the world's history, must correspond.
We should remember at the outset that we have to deal here with nothing less than a solution of the world-problem, and should approach it with reverence and an humble sense of the limitation of our mental capacities. We stand, as it were, before a mountain whose top is lost in the clouds. Many who dared to climb to the summit have lost their vision in the blinding snow-drifts. Dante, the deepest thinker among poets, deems the mystery of predestination too far removed from mortals who cannot see " the first cause in its wholeness," and too deep even for the comprehension of the saints in Paradise, who enjoy the beatific vision, yet "do not know all the elect," and are content " to will whatsoever God wills." 1 Calvin himself confesses that " the pre-
1 Paradiso, XX. 130-138 : —
" O predestinazion, quanto rimota E la radice tua da quegli aspetti Che la prima cagion non veggion tola !
" E voi, mortali, tenetevi sireiti
A giudicar; cM noi, die Dio vedemo, yon conosciamo ancor ttttii gli eletti :