NINE SERMONS ON THE DECREES AND AGENCY OF GOD. BY WILLIAM R. WEEKS, D. D. THIRD EDITION. NEWARK, N. J. PUBLISHED BY THE ECCLESIASTICAL BOARD OF OF THE GOSPEL. John R. Weeks, Printer. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. THE design of this little volume is to present a compendious view of one of the great doctrines of the Gospel. It is intended to furnish a plain statement of the doctrine, a brief view of its proofs, and a short answer to the principal objections which are made against it. In doing this, the author has aimed to present in a small compass the substance of what is not elsewhere to be found, except in large volumes. But, as in laboring to be brief, he may sometimes have been obscure, he would entreat the reader, not for his sake, but for the truth's sake, and for his own sake, not to reject any part, unless by a repeated and careful perusal, he shall be well assured he is not rejecting that truth of God by which he must himself be judged in the great day. The first edition of these discourses was published at Plattsburgh in 1813, the second at Providence in 1819. The present edition has been prepared at the request of the Ecclesiastical Board of Trustees for the Propagation of the Gospel, and contains but few alterations from the preceding. If it shall aid in defending a doctrine now much despised and neglected, the author will feel himself amply rewarded for his labor. Newark, N. J., May, 1839. |