And here I can conclude by showing the unity of my doctrine. My argument is that obedience to Christ is salvation, and that ultimately, as the result of the love of Christ, he will win universal love and obedience-That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,' not by compulsion, not by terror, not by force; but brought into willing obedience and worship, by persuasion, admiration, love.

VIII.

THE UNIVERSAL DELIVERANCE.

I FEAR I may arouse some prejudices in approaching, however remotely, the aspect of theology which bears upon the nature and extent of the freedom of man. So much bitter and fruitless controversy has been waged around the subject that men are loth to have it revived. And yet of necessity it comes to the front in any attempt to discuss the nature of man and his relation to God and to the order of things in creation. It is one of the perplexing problems of life. Is man a free, God-like being, able to carve out for himself a career in the great universe? or is he a mere puppet in the hands of a despot, clay in the fingers of a potter? Is he able, in the grandeur of his freedom, to withstand and overcome all the moral forces of the world? or is he bound by destiny, and all his actions predetermined by a will other than his own? It is generally assumed that

between these questions there is no alternative, that one or the other extreme must be true, and no attempt is made to reconcile the extremes by finding a middle ground upon which these two apparent contradictions will be seen to be consistent.

With regard to the bearing of the doctrine of free-will upon man's salvation, Dr. Pusey has much to say; and he admits that this assumed absolute freedom of man, which he declares to be as absolute as God's, is the only difficulty in the way of universal salvation.

'The only hindrance to man's salvation is, in any case, the obstinate misuse of that free-will with which God has endowed him in order that he might freely love Him.'

'God wills that all should be saved if they will it.' 'The only difficulty in reason is the creation of free agents.'

'He willeth that we should be saved, but He willeth not to do violence to our will, which He holds sacred as the finite image of His own infinite will, free, after the likeness of His own Almighty will.'*

This seems to me rhetorical and exaggerated. This unlimited, unrestricted freedom of man is

* 'What is of Faith,' etc., pp. 22-28.

nowhere to be found, else we were as gods, and might defy the Almighty to the end, as some apparently do for a space.

The truth is that man is free, but that his freedom is also limited by circumstance. He is like a man in a well-equipped boat on a strong current, go he must; how he goes will depend upon himself. It is the complexity of our nature and relationships which makes it so difficult to understand them. If the elements were simple there would not be much difficulty in discerning the truth. If man were not free at all, destiny would be universally recognised as lord. If man were absolutely free there would be no need to consider in what way he is bound. But there is a perplexing mystery which few have clearly seen through. Taking the view we do of Christian doctrine, we should expect to find in it the key to this mystery, which should also be in harmony with that which experience teaches us of our own nature.

What, then, are the limits to man's freedom? The difficulty in answering this question seems to have arisen by supposing the limit is outside man himself, in a law, or fate, or decree. Man's freedom is in his own nature, and such bondage as he is subject to is imposed by his own nature also.

The limits of his freedom are only such as arise from the imperfection and frailty of his own constitution as a created being, and by the material circumstances in which he finds himself. But, of course, as this nature was given by God, and the continuance of human life is permitted by God, and the final purpose of life is the will of God, it will be said that the limit is consequently imposed by God in subjecting us to the bondage of this nature and these circumstances. And this is exactly what St. Paul says

For the creature was made subject to vanity,* not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.-Romans viii. 20.

This subjection of man to imperfection, this limitation of his freedom by natural conditions, is of God: but then it is in hope,' for a definite and benevolent purpose; not arbitrarily, for the exercise and display of God's sovereignty and the ultimate misery of many of His creatures, but ‘in hope.' This subjection is only temporary, and is part of the development of a wide and extensive purpose in which all creation will be blessed.

* That which frustrates-imperfection-frailty.

Not wilfully-not by any blamable choice of the creature itself.