More Browne today, still in Article 17.
Browne works through the Calvinist and Arminian positions with methodical patience, finds the problems in both, and then does something refreshing — he goes back to Scripture. His observation on the translation is pointed: the authorized version renders the Hebrew as chosen and choice in the Old Testament, and elect and election in the New, as though they were different concepts. They aren’t. The original languages carry the same idea across both Testaments. The Church has always had one people, chosen by God’s good pleasure, not by foreseen merit.
Browne’s conclusion is practical rather than speculative: we are not told the secret motives of God’s will, and we cannot fathom them. What we are taught is how to avail ourselves of the privileges we have — to escape the dangers, profit by the advantages of our position. That is revealed truth. That is enough.
Tomorrow: more Browne.
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