§ 114. CALVINISM EXAMINED. 569
destination of God is a labyrinth, from wliicli the mind of man can by no means extricate itself." ^
The only way out of the labyrinth is the Ariadne thread of the love of God in Christ, and this is a still greater, but more blessed mystery, which we can adore rather than comprehend.
The Facts of Experience.
We find everywhere in this world the traces of a revealed God and of a hidden God ; revealed enough to strengthen our faith, concealed enough to try our faith.
We are surrounded by mysteries. In the realm of nature we see the contrasts of light and darkness, day and night, heat and cold, summer and winter, life and death, blooming valleys and barren deserts, singing birds and poisonous snakes, useful animals and ravenous beasts, the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest. Turning to human life, we find that one man is born to prosperity, the other to misery; one a king, the other a beggar; one strong and healthy, the other a helpless cripple ; one a genius, the other an idiot ; one inclined to virtue, another to vice ; one the son of a saint, the other of a criminal ; one in the darkness of heathenism, another in the light of Christianity. The best men as well as the worst are exposed to fatal accidents, and whole nations with their innocent offspring are ravaged and decimated by war, pestilence, and famine.
Who can account for all these and a thousand other differences and perplexing problems? They are beyond the con- 'trol of man's will, and must be traced to the inscrutable will of God, whose ways are past finding out.
" Ed inne dolce cosifatto scemo,
Perche it ben nostra in questo ben s'affina, Che quel die vuole Dio, e noi volemo."
1 Com. on Rom. 9 : 14 : " Est prcedestinatio Dei veie lahijrinthus, unde hominis ingenium nullo modo se explicare cjiteat."
570 THE KEFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
Here, then, is predestination, and, apparent!}-, a double predestination to good or evil, to happiness or misery.
Sin and death are universal facts which no sane man can deny. They constitute the problem of problems. And the only practical solution of the problem is the fact of redemption. " Where sin has abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly ; that as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 5 : 20, 21).
If redemption were as universal in its operation as sin, the solution would be most satisfactory and most glorious. But redemption is only partially revealed in this world, and the great question remains : What will become of the immense majority of human beings who live and die without God and without hope in this world? Is this terrible fact to be traced to the eternal counsel of God, or to the free agency of man ? Here is the point where Augustinianism and Calvinism take issue with Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, Synergism, and Arminianism.
The Calvinistic system involves a positive truth : the election to eternal life by free grace, and the negative inference : the reprobation to eternal death by arbitrary justice. The former is the strength, the latter is the weakness of the system. The former is practically accepted by all true believers ; the latter always has been, and always will be, repelled by the great majority of Christians.
The doctrine of a gracious election is as clearly taught in the New Testament as any other doctrine. Consult such passages as Matt. 25 : 34 ; John 6 : 37, 44, 65 ; 10 : 28 ; 15 16 ; 17:12; 18:9; Acts 13 : 48 ; Rom. 8 : 28-39 ; GaL 1 : 4 Eph. 1 : 4-11 ; 2 : 8-10 ; 1 Thess. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13, 14 2 Tim. 1:9; 1 Pet. 1:2. The doctrine is confirmed by experience. Christians trace all their temporal and spiritual blessings, their life, health, and strength, their regeneration and conversion, every good thought and deed to the unde-