Question, Modern

Question, Modern, is, in Scotland, "Whether it be the duty of all to whom the Gospel is preached to repent andl believe in Christ?" and it is called modern because it is supposed never to have been agitated before the early part of the last century. It originated in Northamptonshire, in the churches in which Mr. Davis of Rothwell preached, though it does not appear that he took an active part in it. The question thus started was pursued by a variety of inferior writers down to the time of Andrew Fuller, who very ably supported the positive side of the question, namely, that faith is the duty of all men, although, through the depravity of human nature, men will not believe till regenerated by the Holy Spirit. On the other side it was contended "that faith was not a duty, but a grace," the exercise of which was not required till it was bestowed. On this subject Mr. Fuller published The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation; or, The Duty of All Men to Believe in Jesus Christ. Thereupon Fuller was attacked by Mr. Hutton, a Supralapsarian, on the one hand, and by Mr. Daniel Taylor, an Arminian, on the other, to whom he replied by A Defence of his former tract.