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It will appear from the foregoing observations, that it Is the belief of
the Quakers, that every man has the power of inward redemption within
himself, who attends to the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and that as
outward redemption by the sufferings of Jesus Christ extends to all,
where the inward has taken place, so redemption or salvation, in its
full extent, is possible to every individual of the human race.
This position, however, is denied by those Christians, who have
pronounced in favour of the doctrine of election and reprobation;
because, if they believe some predestined from all eternity to eternal
happiness, and the rest to eternal misery, they must then believe that
salvation is not possible to all, and that it was not intended to be
universal.
The Quakers have attempted to answer the objections, which have been
thus made to their theory of redemption; and as the reader will probably
expect that I should notice what they have said upon this subject, I
have reserved the answers they have given for the present place.
The Quakers do not deny the genuineness of any of those texts, which are
usually advanced against them. Of all people, they fly the least to the
cover of interpolation or mutilation of scripture to shield themselves
from the strokes of their opponents. They believe, however, that there
are passages in the sacred writings, which will admit of an
interpretation different from that which has been assigned them by many,
and upon this they principally rely in the present case.
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