1 62 No formulated doctrine. CHAP. 



It is further to be remarked, that Saint Paul's 

 language concerning the relation of the will of man 

 to the will of God is uncertain, and might be called 

 wavering by those who demand a certain utterance 

 on all controverted questions. In one place he 

 says: "Who maketh thee to differ 1 ? and what hast 

 thou that thou didst not receive 1 But if thou didst 

 receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not 

 received it ? " x This passage, taken alone, would 

 appear to show that he regarded the Divine will as 

 everything, and the human will as nothing. But in 

 the passage from the Epistle to the Eomans which 

 we have been considering, the words "whom God 

 foreknew, He also foreordained," appear to show 

 that Saint Paul regarded foreordination, or election, 

 as depending on foreknowledge ; and it is perhaps 

 significant that this expression occurs in a passage 

 where the Apostle speaks of "calling" and fore- 

 ordination in a somewhat higher than the usual 

 sense. In the passage from the Epistle to the 

 Philippians with which we began our examination 

 of the subject, we have noticed that he does not 

 show himself conscious of the existence of any such 

 question. The only possible inference from the 

 comparison of these three passages one of them 

 seemingly on each side of the question, and the 

 third neutral is that on this subject Saint Paul 

 did not think it needful to have any formulated 

 opinion. 



1 1 Cor. iv. 7. 



