Can Change the World Again. |
DOCTRINE
OF
THE WILL.
BY REV. ASA MAHAN,
PRESIDENT OF THE OBERLIN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.
NEW YORK:
1845.
Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by
FORWARD BY CHARLES G. FINNEY. MAHAN ON THE WILL. MAHAN ON THE WILL.
This is an important work upon an important subject.
The liberty of the human will I regard as a first truth. But like some other first truths, it has been extensively denied in theory. A most false and injurious philosophy of the will has extensively prevailed in the christian church, and has given birth to a brood of theological dogmas alike absurd and ruinous. The above named work was designed and is I think highly calculated to correct and rebuke the philosophy just alluded to. It is a fair, an able, and it seems to me a thorough statement and discussion of the subject, and a complete refutation of the dogma of a necessitated will.
The book is small, cheap, and for a metaphysical discussion has the rare quality, of perspicuity. Since errorists every where teach and affirm the doctrine of a necessitated will, and since this is the stronghold of infidelity in all its forms, every youth and every person should acquaint himself with the truth and doctrine of the will and with the method of exposing error upon this subject. This treatise of President Mahan, presents the subject in a condensed form, and places it in a strong light.
Every family should possess and make themselves familiar with this work. It needs only to be read and understood to be appreciated as a highly important work, and one which cannot fail to exert a most important influence in the cause of truth.
CHARLES G. Finney.
The Oberlin Evangelist Vol. IX. No 25. (New Series Vol. IV.) Page 198, 1847, December 8
NOTICE PERTAINING TO THE THIRD EDITION.
Since the appearance of the first edition, the author has given the whole work a careful revision. Several important additions have been made, arguments deemed as too concisely, or obscurely stated have been expanded and elucidated, and verbal mistakes corrected. The work now appears in an enlarged, revised, and corrected form, in which the author is willing that it should be permanently submitted to public adjudication. The reception which the work has already met with from the public encourages the author to hope in respect to its future influence in the establishment of fundamental truth. A typographical error will undoubtedly appear on some of the following pages. Such mistakes, however, the reader will readily correct.
THE AUTHOR.
DEDICATORY PREFACE.
To one whose aim is, to "serve his generation according to the Will of God," but, two reasons would seem to justify an individual in claiming the attention of the public in the capacity of an authorthe existence in the public mind of a want which needs to be metand the full belief, that the Work which he has produced is adapted to meet that want. Under the influence of these two considerations, the following Treatise is presented to the public. Whether the author has judged rightly or not, it is not for him to decide. The decision of that question is left with the public, to whom the Work is now presented. It is doubtful, whether any work, prepared with much thought and pains-taking, was ever published with the conviction, on the part of the author, that it was unworthy of public regard. The community, however, may differ from him entirely on the subject; and as a consequence, a work which he regards as so imperiously demanded by the public interest, falls dead from the press. Many an author, thus disappointed, has had occasion to be reminded of the admonition, "Ye have need of patience." Whether the following Treatise shall succeed in gaining the public ear, or not, one consolation will remain with the writer, the publication of the work has satisfied his sense of duty. To his respected Associates it, the Institution over which he presides, Associates with whose approbation and counsel the work was prepared, the Author would take this occasion publicly to express his grateful acknowledgments for the many important suggestions which he received from them, during the progress of its preparation.
Having said thus much, he would simply add, that, TO THE LOVERS OF TRUTH, THE WORK IS NOW RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, WITH THE KIND REGARDS OF
THE AUTHOR.
Doctrine of The Will. By Asa Mahan 1845. Response to Jonathan Edwards
OBERLIN, OHIO: R. E. GILLET.
ASA MAHAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the
Southern District of New York.
NOTICE PERTAINING TO THE THIRD EDITION.
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.Importance of the SubjectTrue and false Methods of InquiryCommon FaultProper Method of Reasoning from Revelation to the System of Mental Philosophy therein pre-supposedErrors of Method,
CHAPTER II.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE MENTAL FACULTIESClassification verified, 15
CHAPTER III.
LIBERTY AND NECESSITYTerms defined
CHAPTER IV.
EXTENT AND LIMITS OF THE LIBERTY OF THE WILLStrongest MotiveReasoning in a Circle,
CHAPTER V.
GREATEST APPARENT GOOD
CHAPTER VI.
DOCTRINE OF LIBERTY AND THE DIVINE PRESCIENCE
CHAPTER VII.
DOCTRINE OF LIBERTY AND THE DIVINE PURPOSES AND AGENCY
CHAPTER VIII.
OBLIGATION PREDICABLE ONLY OF THE WILLMen not responsible for the Sin of their progeniorsConstitutional Ill-desertPresent Impossibilitiesrequired,
CHAPTER IX.
STANDARD OF MORAL CHARACTERSincerity and not Intensity, the true Standard,
CHAPTER X.
MORAL ACTS NEVER OF A MIXED CHARACTER
CHAPTER XI.
RELATIONS OF THE WILL TO THE INTELLIGENCE AND SENSIBILITY
CHAPTER XII.
TEST OF CONFORMITY TO MORAL PRINCIPLE
CHAPTER XIII.
ELEMENTS OF THE WILL IN COMPLEX PHENOMENA
CHAPTER XIV.
INFLUENCE OF THE WILL IN INTELLECTUAL JUDGMENTS
CHAPTER XV.
LIBERTY AND SERVITUDE
CHAPTER XVI.
LIBERTY AND DEPENDENCE
CHAPTER XVII.
FORMATION OF CHARACTER
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONSSee also: Lectures on the 9th of Romans; Election, and the Influence of the Holy Spirit.
Adam Clarke on Romans Chapter 9.
James Arminius: Analysis of the Ninth Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans.