If indeed by the force of Matthew's example, by persuasion or by additional and more mysterious influences, or by an inward co-agency, compatible with the existence of a personal will, James should be led to repent; if through admiration and love of this great goodness gradually assimilating his mind to the mind of his benefactor, he should in his own person become a grateful and dutiful child--_then_ doubtless the mother would be wholly satisfied! But then the case is no longer a question of _things_, or a matter of _debt_ payable by another. Nevertheless, the _effect_,--and the reader will remember, that it is the _effects_ and _consequences_ of Christ's mediation, on which St. Paul is dilating--the effect to _James_ is similar in both cases, that is, in the case of James the debtor, and of James the undutiful son. In both cases, James is liberated from a grievous burthen; and in both cases he has to attribute his liberation to the act and free grace of another. The only _difference is_, that in the former case (namely, the payment of the debt) the beneficial act is _singly_, and without requiring any re-action or co-agency on the part of James, the efficient _cause_ of his liberation: while in the latter case (namely, that of Redemption) the beneficial act is the _first_, the indispensable _condition_, and _then_ the _coefficient_.
The professional student of theology will, perhaps, understand the different positions asserted in the preceding argument more readily if they are presented _synoptically_, that is, brought at once within his view, in the form of answers to four questions, comprising the constituent parts of the Scriptural Doctrine of Redemption. And I trust that my lay readers of both sexes will not allow themselves to be scared from the perusal of the following short catechism by half a dozen Latin words, or rather words with Latin endings, that translate themselves into English, when I dare assure them, that they will encounter no other obstacle to their full and easy comprehension of the contents.
_Synopsis of the Constituent Points in the Doctrine of Redemption, in Four Questions, with Correspondent Answers._
{ 1. _Agens Causator?_ Who (or What) is the { 2. _Actus Causativus?_ { 3. _Effectum Causatum?_ { 4. _Consequentia ab Effecto?_