l unite in
each;--Christ, the head, and by his Spirit the bond, or unitive 'copula'
of all, being the spiritual sun whose entire image is reflected in every
individual of the myriads of dew-drops. While under the Law, the all was
but an aggregate of subjects, each striving after a reward for himself,
--not as included in and resulting from the state,--but as the
stipulated wages of the task-work, as a loaf of bread may be the pay or
bounty promised for the hewing of wood or the breaking of stones!

Ib.

He (said Luther), that will dispute with the Devil, &c.

Queries.

I. Abstractedly from, and independently of, all sensible substances, and
the bodies, wills, faculties, and affections of men, has the Devil,
or would the Devil have, a personal self-subsistence? Does he, or
can he, exist as a conscious individual agent or person? Should the
answer to this query be in the negative: then--

II. Do there exist finite and personal beings, whether with composite
and decomponible bodies, that is, embodied, or with simple and
indecomponible bodies, (which is all that can be meant by
disembodied as applied to finite creatures), so eminently wicked, or
wicked and mischievous in so peculiar a kind, as to constitute a
distinct 'genus' of beings under the name of devils?

III. Is this second 'hypothesis' compatible with the acts and functions
attributed to the Devil in Scripture? O! to have had these three
questions put by Melancthon to Luther, and to have heard his reply!

Ib. p. 200.

If (said Luther) God should give unto us a strong and an unwavering
faith, then we should he proud, yea also, we should at last contemn
Him. Again, if he should give us the right knowledge of the law, then
we should be dismayed and fainthearted, we should not know which way
to wind ourselves.

The main reason is, because in this instance, the change in the relation
constitutes the difference of the things. A. considered as acting 'ab
extra' on the selfish fears and desires of men is the Law: the same A:
acting 'ab intra' as a new nature infused by grace, as the mind of
Christ prompting to all obedience, is the Gospel. Yet what Luther says
is likewise very true. Could we reduce the great spiritual truths or
ideas of our faith to comprehensible conceptions, or (for the thing
itself is impossible) fancy we had done so, we should inevitably be
'proud vain asses.'

Ib. p. 203.