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September 13, 1911 ]
"ELECT." EROO. NON-ELECT!.
Rev. James L. Martin, D. D.
Just a brief article or two on this
vexed but interesting and vital question.
lh my study of this theme I have
concluded, that the most direct route
to the truth is by the way of examples.
But, before submitting them?to prevent
confusion Of Ideas?let us distinctly and
carefully notice, thttt we are compelled
to acknowledge the distinction between
the metaphysical category of "Thought"
hhd the category of "Being;" in the
former category every movement of the
mind is toward affirmation and negation;
*hhreff?r?? Elfirt riivpssiirliv imnllwi
md vice-versa. In the category of
* st It Is not so in the cate*'
... tf is admitted on all
of Thought is
not .ig. In the
latter caw .e position of
any given fact uc leceseitate the
admission of the contra;./ as a fact; that
may or may not be so, and whether it is
or not remains to be proven?not taken
for granted as a logical necessity; much
less can you argue from the admission of
a certain proposition in the category of
Thought to the real existence of its contrary
or its identity In being. E.g. You
canhot say: There are elect In category
of fact ergo there must be Non-elect in
category of Thought (All right so far);
but, When you proceed to say; now,
since I have Ndn-elect in category of
being in fttct, you are all wrong; that
may or may not be, and i? the thing
that remain? to be proven from the
Scriptures. These points it is my purpose
to illustrate by the examples.
I begin with a few which may seem
puerile; but the Bible enjoins, "Line
upon line, here a little and there a little."
He has a wife, ergo he has a non-wife.
He has a young wife ergo he has an old
one. A. B. owns a lot of choice ("elect")
lambs, ergo he hae a lot not choice
("non-Elect"), C. D. has an orchard of
choice?select?"elect" peach trees: Ergo
he hat an orchard of worthless"?
sorry?reprobate?non-Elect trees. John
2nd. Epistle, verses 1 and 13, writes
"to the elect lady;" of course he must
have written to the "non-Elect" lady,
also; furthermore, that "elect lady" had
an "elect sister," verse 13; of course,
she must nave naa a non-eiecx sister"
also. In Isaiah 42: 1 (cf. 1 Pet. 2:6).
We are told of one of whom God calls
"Mine Elect In whom My Soul delighttetb;"
shall we apply the rule of these
sophists and say?ergo there Is a "Nonelect."
What? But my pen refuses to
write Hie word: Look at it! there is
an "Elect" Christ; ergo, surely let me
write quantum suffloit. But let us go on
with the "Testimony of God:"?Twice
in rapid succession, Gal 5:6, and 6:15, by
Divine inspiration, absolutely this, so
called inexorable logic in the realm
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THE PRESBYTERI
not of "Thought" but of "Being" Is
by Paul repudiated. Listen! "For In
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything nor uncircumcision, but
faith which worketh by love"?"For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything;, nor uncircumcision but a
new creature." If the sophistical rule
we are combating is not sophistical but
good logic then Paul could not have said
neither one nor the other '^availeth
anything;" but he, Paul, must have
said: "If the circumcision" avails
nothing," then the uncircumcision must
avail much; but I (Paul) affirm that
uncircumcision avails "nothing;" ergo,
circumcision avails "everythng"?for
circumcision necessarily implies uncircumcision.
This, of course, might be
reversed, and the illustration prolonged
indefinitely. A. must be either in China
or in Aferica; but A. is In China. ?reo
not In America.?True. But you cannot
argue because A. Is in China, ergo B. Is
in America: this must be proven?; B.
may be in China; or In America; or
somewhere else. So It does not follow
that because some infants are elect ergo
others are non-elect; this must be proven;
others?all others?may be elect for
aught we know, but whosoever affirms
It must prove it. This man 1b either
circumcised or uncircumcised. Now
prove that he is circumcised, and
of course, you have proven that
he is not uncirccumcised, but you
have proven nothing as to any other
man's being circumcised or uncircumcised.
But for the sake of finishing off
on this head, let me exhibit a few more
samples of this bastard loeric:
There are elect Angels In Heaven;
ergo there must be non-elect angels,
there. For if this argument is true as
to infants so it must be true of Angels
also. The law of antithetical movement
of Thought must hold good like an axiom
everywhere, throughout all time and all
eternity and by all?angels, men and
demons There are non-elect
angels in perdition, ergo there must be
elect angels there. . . . The whole race
of angels were at one time unfallen;
then became divided into (1) Fallen;
(2) Unfallen; as fallen?that whole
class was "non-elect," what becomes
of "ergo elect" in this case? So all the
unfallen are "elect"?the whole class?
what becomes of "ergo non-elect" in
this case? If our whole race had been
"elect" then ergo none would have been
non-elect; but "ergo non-elect" would
be proven illogical; yet not altogether,
for it is plain to be seen, that even
thus in the category of thought non
eieoc wouiq nave remained tnougn none
existed in the category of being. As
to being, all would be classified as elect,
yet non-elect remains as an antithetical
classification. Let us push this
probe a little deeper: Fallen angels
some are non-elect; ergo some must
be elect; the rule must work both wayBIf,
indeed, the sophistry is too palpable
to be for the moment believed, even
so let it be in the exactly parallel case
as to "infants." How do /ou escape
this conclusion as to angels? By "Scripture
express, as "good and necessary
consequence," that all are non-elect.
Now do the same in regard to infants
from Scripture, not from logic, that all
are elect. ... In the counsels of hjs
mind "all" were "elect," ergo in the
same category?counsels of his mind
there must have been some non-elect.
ThiB Immaculate conception of logic
may be applied without contradiction
to 1st, the angels; 2d, the infants; 3d,
the whole human race; and as a corollary
you have this amazing hybrid of
logic: All the angels were elect, but
fwii?7 ncic Hvn-cicvt, an iiiiauus wcic
elect, but Bome were non-elect; all the
human race were elect, hut some were
non-elect The rule must hold
good all along the line. Lot those
AN OF THE SOUTH
who endorse this logic see to it. But
try it in another dress?more familiar:
Fallen "men," some are "elect," ergo
some must be non-elect. Fallen "Infants,"
some are "elect," ergo some
must be non-elect- What is this but
glaring sophistry? . . . God has some
fallen angels amongst his creatures who
are non-elect Amongst the
creatures of God he has some who an
elect angels; ergo he has some amongs
his creatures who are non-elect angels
Is that good logic? True, it corresponds
to fact, but logic oould not prove; i. e.,
furnish the "fact". You must resort
to "Scripture" as to "good and necessary
consequence;" 1. e., prove It "logically"
from SriHntnra Porhono
reader by this time is saying "ad nauseam;"
if so, the "emetic" is taking
effect.
Let us pass on to another question:
In the Confession of Faith, Oh. 1, par.
6, we find the clauses?"expressly set
down in Scripture, or by good and necessary
consequence may be deduced
from Scripture." In Form of Government.
(10) Besides the above clauses,
there is added, "and to which things
he commands that nothing be added,
and that from them naught be taken
away;" and in the Old Book, page 402,
"which are in anything contrary to his
word, or beside it in matters of faith."
It is interesting and profitable to inquire,
What is meant by "good and necessary
consequence may be deduced
from Scripture." The Westminster Assembly
did not make this law; they
simnlv recoenizert U an ? fonoroi low
of thought and applied it to this particular
department God made the
"Liaw" in man's creation; man incor]>orated
it into his system of scientific
investigations as a "Rule" by which
we must work if we would work successfully.
Any dictionary will give you
the meaning of "good" > and of "necesHererri^
NEW LIGHT (
ON { that I
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(881) 17
sary." Besides the dictionary any logic
will tell you the meaning of "good and
necessary consequence." E. g. Rom.
13: 1, 2d clause and 3d clause, "For
there is no power but of God; the
powers that be are ordained of God."
This latter clause is a direct, immediate
inference from the former clause; It
is a "good and necessary" conclusion;
it is undeniable. Rom. 9: 18, "Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
For the first clause Paul had
"express" Scripture, verse 15; but for
me universal proposition which he embraced
in the second clause of his conclusion
he had only "good and necessary
consequence" deduced from Scripture,
verses 15, 16 and 17 combined
with Ex. 10:1 and other similar passages?"And
the Lord said unto Moses,
go unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened
his heart and the hearts of his servants,"
etc., thus arguing from these
typical examples to a universal proposition.
Now, in all this Paul was not
adding to Scripture, but to our knowledge
of Scripture, using the Rules of
Logic to unroll what the Holy Spirit
had rolled up in the words of Holy
Writ; in other words, he was exercising
himself in "Exegesis." Leaving the
sphere of Scripture, let us take an example
from secular things?the old familiar
example, e. g., All men are mortal;
Oaesar is a man, ergo Caesar is
mortal.
To this no other conclusion is possible:
harness the mind up in the first and
second promises and there is no escape,
ft is shut up to the conclusion?if it
move at all it must move In that groove,
ergo Caesar is mortal; this is nothing
else than "certain." Given the major
and minor premises this conclusion is
immediate, "good and necessary." This
( Continued on page 21.)
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