Predestination

the decree of God, whereby he is supposed to have, from all eter= _ nity, unchangably appointed whatsoever comes to pa ; and hath more especially fore-ordained’ certain individuals of the human race to ever. lasting happine , and hath pa ed by the rest, — and fore-ordained them to everlasting misery, The former of these are called the heat and | the latter are called the reprobate. This doctrine is the subject of one of the most perplexing controversies that has occurred — among mankind. Bat it is not altogether pe- — culiar to the Christian faith. The opinion, that whatever occurs in the world at large, or in the - lot of private individuals, is the result of a pre~ vious and unalterable arrangement by that Su- — pre me Power which presides over nature, has — always been a favourite opinion among the vul= gar, and has been believed by many speculative — men, The ancient Stoics, Zeno and Chrysippus, — whom the Jewish E enes seem to have follow ed, a erted the existence of a Deity that, acting wisely, but nece arily, contrived the general — system of the world; from which, by a series of causes, whatever is now done in it unavoidably _ results, This series or concatenation of causes, they held to be nece ary in every part; and that God himself is so much the servant of nes ce ity and of his own decrees, that he could not have made the smallest object in the world otherwise than it now is, much le is he able to alter any thing. According to the words of Seneca, ‘* Eadem nece itas et Deos alligat. Irrevocabilis divina pariter atque human a cursus vehit. Ille ipse omnium condito ac rector scrips it. quidem fat a sed sequitur. Semper paret, semel ju it.’— «©The same chain of nece ity constrains both gods and men. Its unalterable course regulates divine as well as human things, Even he who wrote the Fates, the Maker and Governor of all things, submits to them. He did but once command, but he always obeys.” The stoical fate differs, however, from the Christian predestination in several points. They regard the divine nature and will as a nece ary part of a — nece ary chain of*causes; whereas the Christians consider the Deity as the Lord and Ruler of the Universe, omnipotent and free, appointing all things according to his pleasure. Being doubtful of the immortality of the soul, the Stores could have no idea of the doctrine of election and reprobation; nor did they ever doubt their own freedom of will, or power of doing — good as well as evil, as we shail presently see the Christian predestinarians have done, Mahomet introduced into his Koran the doc- _ trine of an absolute predestination of the course of human affairs. | He represented life and death, prosperity and adversity, and every event that befals a man in this world, as the result of a previous determination of the one God wno rules over all; and he found this opinion the best engine for inspiring his followers with 661