Mozley: A Treatise on the Augustinian Doctrine of

Note VIII.
359
and that without any cause moving Him one way or other,
are we not all in His hands as clay ? If thus God did
deal, what injury were it ? How much less now, when they
on whom His severity worketh are not found like the day
without form, as apt to receive the best shape as any other,
but are in themselves and by their own disposition
fashioned for destruction and for wrath. Keble s Ed. vol.
ii. p. 748. Now, of this explanation the first part un
doubtedly adheres to the natural meaning of the passage
in S. Paul more faithfully than the latter, which diverges
from it ; mankind being plainly represented by S. Paul as
being like clay of the same lump, previous to election, and
any difference of disposition in them, in this previous state,
so far from being asserted, being expressly denied. Indeed,
as Jansen says, if S. Paul meant foreseen goodness as the
ground of election, he would not have silenced the complainer
by a reference to God s inscrutable will, but would
have given this simple and intelligible answer to his
objection. But non isto nititur cardine. De Graf.
Christi^ p. 347.
On the whole, that which is commonly called the Cal-
vinistic sense, appears to be the natural sense of these
passages of Scripture ; and the Calvin istic use of them
should be met, not by denying this sense, and explaining
away the natural meaning of the language, but by opposing
to them other passages of Scripture which speak equally
plainly of man s freewill. I may add, that perhaps more
has been made by many of the text in S. James than it
will exactly bear, and that, though proving difficulty, this
text does not prove so much difficulty in those, parts of
S. Paul s Epistles as many would maintain. These epistles
were certainly addressed to the whole Church, and were
meant to be understood by men of average intelligence
who applied their attention properly.
Their predestinarian
meaning in parts is, on the whole, clear and decided and
;
the reason why their meaning is thought by many to be so
very obscure and difficult to get at, is that they will not
acknowledge this predestinarian meaning to be the true
ojie. These interpreters
create difficulties for themselves