Excerpt from A Treatise on the Augustinian Doctrine of Predestination This general description of the structure and defence of the doctrine of predestination will perhaps be sufficient as an introduction to the present treatise. N akedly stated, the doctrine is simply paradoxical, and those who are acquainted with no more than the mere statement of it, are apt to feel surprise and perplexity how it could have been maintained by the pious and thoughtful minds that have maintained it. But it must be admitted that its paradoxical character is diminished, when we come to examine its grounds and construction. It happens in this case, as it does in many others, that the surprise which the conclusion produced is lessened by an acquaintance with the premisses, the steps by which it was arrived at. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.