ed. Here, then, is a dilemma from
which there is no escape. Either God is, _strictly and properly_,
the _author of sin_, or he is a _participant_ therein, and not
merely accessory, but _the principal_, the _plotter_, the _prime
mover_, the RINGLEADER thereof.

6. Another inevitable consequence of this doctrine is that,
admitting the existence of sin, God _prefers sin to holiness_ in
every instance in which sin takes place. This consequence is too
plain to require much illustration. If God _freely_ ordained
whatsoever comes to pass; if he was not under a fatal necessity
of ordaining just as he did; if he had it in his power to ordain
otherwise, he could have ordained holiness in the place of sin.
The fact that he was free and unnecessitated in his decrees, and
could ordain the one or the other, according to his good
pleasure, is proof substantial that he prefers sin to holiness in
every instance in which sin occurs. Had he preferred holiness, he
could have decreed it, and it would have come to pass. This
consequence has been admitted, and is, by many Calvinists at this
day, maintained as a doctrine. In fact, it has been a matter of
dispute amongst Calvinists--Dr. Taylor, of Connecticut, taking
one side, and Dr. Tyler, of Connecticut, taking the other. But
what a shocking conception! (See _Christian Spectator_, vol. iv.
p. 465.)

7. Nor can we resist the further conclusion, from these premises,
that sin is not a real evil, but, on the contrary, a good, and
that in every instance in which it is preferred to holiness, it
is worthy of such preference. This reasoning proceeds upon the
assumption that God is a being of infinite goodness and wisdom,
and, therefore, always prefers good to evil, being, of course,
always able to distinguish the one from the other.

This inference also has been admitted by many of the advocates of
Calvinistic predestination. They distinctly affirm that sin is
the necessary means of the greatest good, and, as such, so far.
as it exists, is preferable on the whole to holiness in its
stead--that its existence is, on the whole, for the best. I give
as authority for this affirmation, a publication of the
Presbyterian Board, entitled _Old and New Theology_. On the first
page we find this explicit statement: "It has been a common
sentiment among New England divines, since the time of Edwards,
that sin is the necessary means of the greatest good, and as
such, so far as it exists, is preferable, on th