Page:The kernel and the husk (Abbott, 1886).djvu/323

Letter 27] destroy the works of the devil"—did or said anything that involves a suspension of the laws of nature? I have already shewn that the "miracles" wrought by St. Paul himself were in all probability works of healing, and natural; and the manifestations in which Christ "appeared" to him and to the other disciples have been shewn to be, in all probability, visions in accordance with the laws of nature, though representing an objective reality. There is no reference in St. Paul's works to the Miraculous Conception, nor to any of those miracles of Jesus which, if historical, must be admitted to be real miracles. On the other hand there runs through all his epistles an acknowledgment of a continuous spiritual Law, predetermined and inviolable. What else does St. Paul mean by the continual assertion that the calling of the Gentiles, and the "election" of all men, are "predestined?" Perhaps you have never yet appreciated the circumstances which led the Apostle to lay so much stress on the "predestination" apparent in history. I do not think you can ever understand St. Paul's teaching on this subject, as long as you fasten your attention on two or three isolated texts which appear to set it forth. You must look at it as a whole, and have regard to the motive of the author; and then you will find that it is to be understood negatively rather than positively. When St. Paul says "God predestined this, or that," he means, "God did not make a mistake, or change his mind, about this or that: the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."

In setting forth Predestination, St. Paul is always mentally protesting against two tendencies already perceptible to him in the Church, the tendency of the Jews to regard the admission of the Gentiles into the Church as an after-thought, perhaps as a mistake; and the tendency of the Gentiles to regard the Law of