“O, no,” replied Mr. Hillston, “I think he honestly believed that the doctrine of predestination, as taught by most Baptist ministers and especially by the Presbyterian Church, has no foundation in the Scriptures, and thus believing, he could not admit the plain meaning of what seems to me a plain passage. He, no doubt, thought by transposing a clause, he would make the Bible say what was intended. But what does the Doctor gain by this transposition? If Jesus was not a free agent, we are under no obligation to Him for fulfilling the law in our stead and suffering for us. He was merely undergoing a penalty which He could not avoid. Was it not necessary that Jesus should be a free agent as well as that men should?” “But according to your view,” said Ernest, “He could be a free agent, and yet His career be fore-ordained.” “Exactly, but according to Dr. Clarke’s view, if His career was foreordained, He could not be a free agent; that is the difference. These men, Herod, Pilate, and the others, carried out their own will and the Divine will at the same time, and I see no difficulty in it. That is the great advantage the predestinarian has. When he meets with a passage that teaches predestination, he admits it; and when he meets with another that teaches free agency, he admits it. He makes no pause to try to reconcile them, because he sees no inconsistency. But when Dr. Clarke, and those who believe like him, come to one of these passages, ‘hard to be understood,’ as Peter says, they halt and endeavor to harmonize it with their belief. When the Bible, in speaking of Pharaoh, says, “For this purpose have I raised thee up,” we predestinarians at once acknowledge God’s hand, and we read on without stopping to explain. But Dr. Clarke comes to it and finds an obstacle. He must pause and try to determine what is meant by ‘raising up,’ and must explain it so as not to interfere with man’s free agency. We read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and in the next passage we read that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. We predestinarians find no difficulty here, for we see the two doctrines working together in perfect harmony, but Dr. Clarke becomes puzzled. ‘How is this?’ he says. ‘If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, how could Pharaoh have hardened his own heart?’ So the good Doctor must enter into a long explanation of this hardening process.” “One of the passages you have quoted,” said Ernest, who appeared to be confused by perplexing thoughts, “says, ‘according to the fore-knowledge.’ Could it not have been that God merely fore-saw what Judas and others would do and based the prophecy upon foreknowledge?” “That only removes the difficulty one step,” replied Mr. Hillston. “For whatever God fore-saw, must take place. But the passage says also ‘determinate counsels.’ What does that mean?” “I know you think it means predestination.”