“Why, what difference would it make whether I am a Christian or not?” cried the old man. “If I’m to be saved, I’ll be saved anyhow, and if I’m to be lost, I’ll be lost anyhow, no matter what I may do.”
“Look here, father Grimshaw,” said the elder, “did Brother Edgefield say anything like that?”
“If he didn’t say it, that’s what his doctrine leads to.”
“I confess,” said the elder mildly, “that I cannot see that it leads to any such conclusion. But that is the way with some of you people. You draw your inferences, and take them as the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church. You know that Brother Edgefield said that all could be saved who wanted to be. I should like to know how much broader you desire the plan of salvation. Do you want God to save people, nolens volens?”
“No, sir,” replied father Grimshaw. “But if certain people are fore-ordained to eternal death, how can any of them be saved?”
“Brother Edgefield made that as plain as anything could be,” replied the Elder. “But I will answer your question. Of course, if they are fore-ordained to eternal death, they cannot be saved, but whose fault is it? God does not prevent their salvation. It is nothing but their own wicked hearts—their own perverse will. No man ever was lost simply on account of predestination.”
“But why don’t they have the will?” asked father Grimshaw.
“I do not know, but that is the truth,” replied the elder. “Their lack of the will is not to be attributed to any eternal decree, and if that be so, I am sure the sinner can charge the loss of his soul to nobody but himself. We naturally hold every man responsible for his own character. If a man is a thief, it is not natural for us to think that God made him so. Neither do we hold the Lord responsible for any man’s will. If, then, the sinner lacks the disposition to be saved, surely he cannot charge God with injustice. Every man has the consciousness that he could be a Christian, if he only desired to be. Then, I ask you, in the name of common sense, how does predestination prevent his salvation?”
“I don’t know how to argue the question,” cried father Grimshaw testily, “but it does appear horrible to me that God should choose one man to eternal life and condemn another to eternal death, when both are alike by nature—both sinners.”