OF THK PRINCETON, N. J. i>c3 TV -'V T X c» :::v ov SAMUEL AGNEW, OF PHILAHF. LPHIA, PA. ^y(7/^)i^'j Q.Q. »5>;?a- 'S9 Jefus Chrift declares, / and the Father we are One. And the infpired apoflle Paul fays, Rom. ix. 5, " Chrift is over all, God blefled for ever. " Amen." Alfo, 2 Cor. v. 19, " God was in Chrift, *^ reconciling the world unto himfelf " Again, Colofl'. ii. 9, " In him (Chrift) dwelleth all th^fulnefs of the " Godhead hod^iXy" Therefore you fee the unutterable danger of believing the do6trines of Soclnians, or any other i^Gt who deny the divinity of the Lord Jefus Chrift} wlio is called in the margin of our Holy Bible, Ads iii. 1 5, " The Author of Life j" and in i Cor. ii. 8, " The Lord of Glory." From which the reader may perceive that they (the Socinians) have alTuredly " perverted the words of the living God," Jer. xxiii. 2^. Is it not " for this caufe that God hath " fent them ftrong delufion, that they ftiould believe a " lie: That they all might be damned who believed not " the truth?" See ^ThelT. ii. 1 1, 12. For it is written, Plalm cxix. 89, " For ever, O Jehovah, diy word is " fettled in the heavenj *." And the wife king Solo- mon fays, " Every word of God is pure," Prov. XXX. 5. And the royal pfalmift fays, " By the word of " thy lips I am kept f from the padis of the deftroyer," . * Heb. Cn*^'^. t ^^\'^\y^ -JX. rft Perf. fing. in Kal. not Hithpacl. B 2 Pfalm 4 PREFACE. Pfalm xvil. 4. Alfo, he fays, " In God will I prai fc " the Word, in Jehovah will I praife the Word," Pfalm Ivi. 10*. Therefore, fceady Chriftians will take the advice of the infpired apoftle, and " contend " earncilly for the faith, which was once delivered unto *' the faints,'*' Jiide, vpr, 3 ; and look for falvation *' unto a reconciled God in Chrift," 2 Cor. v. 18, " 19. Who, having exifted (vttkpx^^) '^^ die form of " God, he thought (or efteemed) it no robbery to be " equal Vy'Ich God," Phil. ii. 6. For which caufe every true Chriftian will afcribe, with the apoftle, " To " the only wife God our Saviour^ hh glory and majefty, " dominion and pov/er, both now and ever. Amen." Jude, ver. 25. I am aware how extremely difficult it is to perfuade the men of the v/orld to pay the leaft ferious attention to religious fubje6ls, and that moft men are offended if you attempt to remind them of an eternal flatC] they fuppofe it an affront upon their prudence as well as upon tlieir underftanding to conclude that, if they be atten- tive to their temporal concerns, they will be unmindful * The pronoun bis is not in the Hebrew of this text, nor in the Septuagint, but the' latter read- the laflr cldufe of the verfe, *' f^i Tfc- xvpiu Mvia-ui Xoyov,"^ In the Lord will I praife the Logos. I am therefore of opinion that the verfe ihould be read. In the Aleim will I praife the Logos ; in Jehovah will I praife the Logos ; Chrift, as a divine perfon in the Aleim, confequently, in Jehovah. But, as the Hebrew will adruit of it, .may not the verfe be read ■thus ? I will praife the Legos in the Aleim, I will praife the Logos in Jehovah. For though the Pfalmlft moft certainly efceemed the written Word v^ry highly, he did not adore it; but he did adore the MeJJJah, of PREFACE. f of riiofe which are of fuch infinite importance; yet you may fee thofe very men " living in pleafurc," following the world, and purfuing its maxims with the utmoft avidity; but never giving any proofs of their regard " tOkjthe things that are unfeen and eternal :" on the contrary, fwearing and infilling that " there is no *'. harm in doing fo," profaning the holy fabbath of the Lord, and declaring that " God takes no notice " of iti" yet all the time fuppofing that at death their inheritance will be " that weight of glory which " God has prepared for them that love him," Mi- ferable depravity! awful delufion! Neverthelefs, it is greatly to be feared that fuch is die ftate of at leaft half of tlie genteel men in this land of light and golpel- liberty. May we not then lament, with the apoftle, and fay tliat " light is come into the world, but men " have loved darknefs rather than light;" which clearly manifefls that " their deeds are evil?" Should you queftion them concerning the impurity of their lives, their anfwer in general is, " Poh ! can you fup- " pofe that God takes notice of fuch aflions ? He is " othei-wife engao-ed than to regard what we do." How then iliall " God judge the world in righteoufnefs, or *' miniiler true judgment unto the people ?" If the kings of the earth are lb vigilant in watching over the honour of their laws, will not that Gody " who fearcheth the " hearts and triedi the reins of the children of men," be jealous for his laws, and vindicate the honour of hjs namt; ? Surely he will. Oh ! then, " let the wicked *^ forfake his way, and the unrighteous man his B 3 " thoughts, 6' PREFACE. " thoughts, and let him return to the Lord^ and he " will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he " will abundantly pardon." Ifaiah Iv. 7. Should it be afked, why I have not affixed my name to thefe fheets ? I would reply, that my name is not fufficiendy important to recommend them, provided their contents do not recommend themfelves to die Public. — -Another reafon is, that thofe who would not read them on account of my name, may read them from the peculiarity of the author's fignature, who has ufed the feas more than forty years, as often as he could get employed, and his health would enable him to ferve thereon. And he humbly recommends it to every one who has the leaft doubt of the divinity of the Lord Jefus Chrift, to examine the Scriptures here- after quoted with holy reverence, attention, and im- partiality J at the fame time befeeching the God of all grace to give him, " to be filled with the knowledge " of his will, in all wifdom and Ipiritual underftand-- " ing i" Col. i. 9. " In whom (Chrift) are hid all the *' treafures of wifdom and loiowledgej" Col. ii. 3. I was alfo induced to write what follows in the an- nexed Iheets from a perfuafion that there may be many fimple- hearted honeft men, who have been de- luded by Dr. Prieftley's eloquence, rather than by the validity of his arguments or the purity of his do6trines, who, perhaps, may not have leifure or opportunity tq weigh his doflrines properly, nor abilities to conflite his opinions, but who wilh to be fet right in fo im- portant a concern, I^ therefore, offer to the reader (free PREFACE. *f (free of every degree of pecuniary advantage to myfelf) a full confutation of his doftrines, and the unutterable danger of living and dying in that Do(flor's religious principles ; which, I have proved, muft infallibly end in utter ruin, and in eternal, irremediable woe, unlefs Dr. Prieflley and his adherents can prove that the Old and New Teftaments are a forgery, and not the written " Word of the only living and true Gody" but the de- vices of men " of like paflions with themfelves." But whoever confiders the wifdom therein manifefted, in the moral precepts fet forth j — the holy commandments delivered i — the prophecies that have had their full accomplilhment ; befide many other excellencies, not to be found (even in a very fmall degree) in any othef book, or from any other authority j he muft be necef- fitated to confefs that tlie holy Bible is of the wifdom of God, and " is able to make us wife unto falvation, " through faith which is in Chrift JefusV 2 Tim. iii. 1 5. It is alfo farther alTcrted by the apoftle, Rom. i. 16, That " the gofpel of Chrift is the power of God unto " falvation to every one that believeth." — How?— • Ver. 17, " For therein is the righteoufnefs of God re- " vealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the juft: " fliall live by faith." See alfo Habbakuk ii. 4; Gal. iii. 1 1 ; Heb. x. 3 8 : and the righteoufnefs there fpoken of as God's righteoufnefs, is called, Phil. iii. 9, " the " righteoufnefs of Chrift." And Jeremiah, propheiy- ing of Chrift, chap, xxiii. 6, calls him " Jehovah our " righteoufnefs,'' Alfo, the prophet I faiah, liv. 17, fays, that i;he righteoufnefs of God's fervants " is of me;, B 4 faitli S PREFACE. *' faith Jehovah;" which manifeftChrifc's divinity. Nor is there a text in the whole Bible, when taken in con- nexion with its context, but what overturns the foun- dation upon v/hich the Arians and Socinians build their hypothefis. So that they rejed: " the exceeding great " and precious promifes" whereby true believers " are made partakers of the divine nature," i Pet. i. 4; but which, inftead of being a fweet favour of life uftto life, mull be unto them a favour of death unto death. May the righteous mercy of God, in Chi id Jefus, " turn them from their difobedience to the wifdom of ** the juft," for his great name's fake ! Permit me, candid reader, only to remark, that I have not been fo lludious to obferve order as truth, and to point out the errors of the day wherein many are enveloped, and are inattentive refpefting the confe- quences. I expert to be as fcverely animadverted upon by in- fidels as cenforious criticifm can invent ; but I am very indifferent about that, as I flatter myftlf every truly ferious Chriftian will approve rny labour, and " v/ifh" it " fuccefs in the name of the Lord." I am, &c, A Grey-Headed Seaman, As A PRAYER, &C. As the fingiilirity of the title and the peculiarity of the fignature of this book may, perhaps, furprife Dr. Prielilcy a litde, that a feaman fhould prefume to doubt hib abilities to teach the truth of the Chriflian religion, or to call in queftion that fyftem which he has thought proper to adopt, and endeavours with great zeal to propagate, and whereby he may be fo far dif- concerted as not to be quite in fo proper a frame of mind for prayer as he might wifh; and, as I fuppofe that he would not read a book fo very cppofite to his preachings and publications without fervent fupplica- tion, that, if he iliould be wrong, he may be convinced of iti if right, that the controverfy may not waip or miHead him — I have therefore compofed a prayer,^ whicli appears, to me, fuited to the exigence; and, if he fhould be inclined to ufe it during his liirprife, or until he can compofe a better, it is entirely at his fervice. A PRAYER, Preparatory to reading the follozvhig Pages. O Lord Gcd of infinite wifdom, mercy, and good- nefs, who art the Fountain of all BlelTednefs, and from whom alone cometh every good and perfeft gift ; who haft not only encouraged, but alfo invited us to call upon thy adorable Maiefty, in fr.ll affurance that " whaifocver we afl^; in the name of Chrift we (hall " receive i" -afid, as I moft fmcerely defirc that my eye Ihould be finglc to thy glory, and my heart without guile before Thee, I bow my knees to beg for wifdom, knowledge, and underftanding, in v/hat belongs to my eternal peace; moft earneftly entreating, that whatever is dark in me, may be illumined j what is low, may be raifedi to A PRAYER, SrC. raifedi v/hat I underftand not, as I ought, vouchfafe to teach me -, what I am unacquainted with, that I ought to know, condefcend to make known to me, and guide me by thy wifdom, dired me by thy counfel, and regulate my ideas by thy under ftanding ; for it is writ- ten, " If any lack wifdom, let him aflv of God, — and it " fhall be given liim *." I, therefore, humbly claim the gracious promife, and befeech thy divine Majefly to give me " that wifdom which is from above, that is *' firft pure, and then peaceable; that wifdom which '^ is profitable to direft; that wifdom which it is thy *' prerogative to beftow." And be further pleafed to enable me to read thefe fheets with impardality and without prejudice ; and give me to fee thy mind clearly concerning the Scriptures therein quoted j that, if my opinions and fentiments of religion are, in any de- gree, contrary to thy^ bleffed will, as revealed in thy holy Word, let me be convinced thereof, be guided into all truth, and be made " obedient to the faith" (A6ls vi. 7), in humility, fear, and love; fo that,, when " the great white throne Iliall be fet — the dead, " fmall and great, ftand before God — the books *' opened, and the fpirits of all flefh judged according " to what is written therein j-;" I may not he found a deceiver of my ownfouly hut a faithful minifler of thy mofl Jacred Word. And all that I aflv is in the name, and for the alone fake, of thy " dear Son Jefus Chrift, our " Lord." Amen. As the contents of the following fheets are of high import to every one not firmly eftablifhed in the mo- jnentous do6trines of which they treat, it may not be * James i. 5, f Dan, vii. 10. Rev, xx. 11 12. SCRIPTURES CORRECTED. It" an iinneceflary caution to any reader that he Ihould ufc the fame prayer, or fome other fimilar to it -, omitting the latter part of the words printed in Italics, towards the conclufion of it, by fuch as are not in the miniftry of the gofpel; whereby they may receive a benefit from this book which they do not expeft. And that they may be fo favoured, is tJie very earnefl interceffion of the Writer. I confefs that it would be unutterably prefumptuous in me to attempt correcting any part of our valuable Bible traiiflation were there not fome ovcrfights in it, from caufes inexplicable to me ; but which are fo very appofite to the difpute in queftion as to render it indifpenfably requifite (in my opinion) Ito alter fome few texts from the common reading. I, there- fore, humbly hope that I fhall be excufed for doing fo, cfpc- cialiy as every alteration 1 have made, not only brings the reading nearer to the meaning of the facred original, but alfo accords more ftrictly with thofc articles, &c. uhich are the foundation of our excellent, eftabliflied, national church. Could our invaluable reformers and learned tranflators have forefcen, that Socinianifm would have been fuffered to rear its baneful head, and flallc through the nation with that confi- dence which our days prefcnt, I am humbly of opinion that thofe pious and learned gentlemen would have been more guarded in tranflating thofe texts which I thought it needful to alter ; and, as I have not any other view in fo doing, than to make the truth of GocTs moft holy Word appear more ex- cellent, I hope that this apology will entitle', me to that can- dour which I have afliduoufly endeavoured to merit. The plain Englilh reader, unacquainted with Hebrew and Greek, is entreated not to be difcouraged fron^ perufing this book becaufe of the words he may meet v/i'h m either of thofe languages, as I humbly hope that he will find all of them clearly explained ; and I have infcrttd them enly with a view to determine the pnflage that each refers to ; for though the validity of my arguments do not depend entirely upon tl SCRIPTURES CORRECTED, upon the accurate tranfiation of thofe texts, yet they are thereby rendered more important by being more convincing and irrefutable. But fhould any humbled, believing foul be difcouraged by thofe tranflations from laying hold of any precious promife fuitable to his cafe, and fay, " It is true ; this promife v^-ould " be very precious to me could I be afiured that it is rightly *' tranflated, but perhaps it is not fo — " To fuch I would reply, that it is an honour to our valuable Bible that the prom'tfes are, in general, accurately tranflated ; or, if there be any miftake in them, it is that they do not hold out fo great confolation to the fmcere humble Chriftian as the original warrants; fo that the true members of either of the churches of England or Scotland may raife a very fafe fuper- ftrudlure on the invaluable foundation upon Vvhich both of them are founded ; for " Jefus Chrifl is the chief corner- " f!:one" in both thofe elegant temple?, which, in elTentials, anfwer to each other " as face anfvvers to face in a glafs." For inftance, Pfalm XX. 'i — 4, and xxiii. i — 4, are all promifes ; and ver. ift of Pfalm XX. may be read, " Jehovah will hear thee in " the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob fliall be " thy impregnable fortrefs." Alfo, Pfalm cxli. 4, inftead cf " Incline not my heart to any evil thing,'* &c. that verfe is a pomfcrtable afTurance that God will not incline my heart to any evil. And, Hebrews xili. 5, lafl claufe, fiiould be read, " I v.'ill never, " jiever leave theej no, never, never forfake thee." Or, if we look for elegance of compofition in the difplay of Jehovah's perfecSlions, the original holds them forth much more encouraging and delightful than the tranfiation. Inftance. Ifaiah xlv. 7, " I form the light and concrete darknefs, I ** make peace and caufe triumph (or rejoicing)." Alio, Pfalm cviii. 4, " For thy exuberant goodnefs (kindnefs or mercy) " is magnified in the higheft heavens, and thy truth " beyond the confiiding ethers." I N T A o- [ 13 ] INTRODUCTION. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, LL. D. F. R. S. SIR, I HAVE read part of your writings, which (from one who calls himfelf a Chriflian divine) appear to me fo very extraordinary, that I cannot refift die impulfe I feel to reply to a fmall part of them ; and I am more ftrongly induced to addrefs you, as thofe give room for ftippofidon that you are a principal leader, and a chief pillar of the fe6t of the Socinians ; who, I am v/ell in- formed, are at this day exerdng themfelves with die iitmoft diligence to propagate their dreadful herefy through every part of the kingdom ; confelTing that " whatever zeal any one may have for die do6lrine of " die Trinity, they have not lefs for Socinianifm j af- " ferting that the divinity of Chrift is no more to be ** proved in the New Teftament than the dodlrine of " Tranfubftantiation." But when you caft your eye upon my fignature (which is not a feigned one) you will, probably, difdain me as Goliath of old contemned the flripling David. Indeed, when you recoiled the fmart, fenfibie, publica- don of the Rev. Mr. Shepherd, vicar of Tollar, Dor- fet ; the learned and incontrovertible arguments againil your notions of the Rev. Mr. Parkhuiil, M. A. and the very ingenious Remarks which the Rev. Mr.' Rowles of Chard, Devon, has alfo publifhed againft your wiidngs, in a I'mali pamphlet ; togedier with the important letters of the Rev. Mr. Madan, and the very excellent fermons of die Rev. Caleb Evans, D. D. you and your coadjutors may think it highly prefump- tuou^ t4 INTRODUCTIOlSf. tuous in me, an old feaman, to entertain the leall: hope of confuting Dr. Prieftley ; and, in truth, fo Ihould I, were it not for the following reafons : ift, I find fo much felf-contradi6lion in your publifhed opinions of the holy Scriptures as I never fuppofed would drop from the lips or pen of any man who pretends to in- ftruft others, a»d which leads me to fuppofe that it will not be a difficult tafk to confute thofe opinions, and overturn them, idly. The reverend gendemen, whofe names I have mentioned above, have omitted many elTendal portions of the precious word of God, which will afford me the mofl potent weapons to beat down your fuppofed irrefutable arguments, and enable, even me, not only to refute the principles of that foul- deftruftive herefy you maintain, and are endeavouring (alas! with too much fuccefs, I fear) to propagate; but alfo to confute and confound Socinus and all his adherents, except they totally rejed: the authenticity of the boiy Scriptures. But it gives me pleafure to under- ftand. Sir, that this is not your unhappinefs, and, in fome meafure, encourages this addrefs; for I learn from one who heard you openly " avow your reception " of the holy Bible as die Word of God." Being agreed on this very momentous point, any further intro- dutlion is unneceflary; and, as the royal Pfalmift fays, Pfalm xvii. 4 — " By the Word of thy lips I am " kept from the paths of the dellroyer;" fo, while you believe the facred Scriptures to be the Word of God, there is fome " hope of your end," becaufe ^ they are able to make you wife unto falvation, " through faith which is in Chrift Jefus," 2 Tim. iii. 15. Here, Sir, I muft beg leave to make a digreffion ; becaufe that, although you may receive the holy Bible as " the Word of God," fome may read this addrefs 6 who INTRODUCTION. tj •who believe many parts, and objed to other parts of the holy Scriptures; but this is to impeach tlie wifdom of the Holy Spirit, This is, inllead of being " doers of " the Word," to judge and condemn " the Word of *^ the living God*." Therefore, I would alk fuch objectors, if the facred pages of the holy Bible are not allowed to be the chief guide and umpire in every theo- logical difputadon, to whom, or to what, fhali we ap- peal ? Each to thofc of our own opinion ? This will rather extend the difference than reconcile us. To thofe called Chriftians of difierent perfuafions ? Thefc, probably, inftead of approving eidier, will condemn both. Should it be faid, let the writings of fome of the antients be the arbiters, for (notwithflanding their mil- takes in religion) " they were very learned, very fen- *' fible, and, in general, moral, good fort of people;" this would be wande/ing veiy far from the point in- deed, to bring in a num.ber of perfons to adjudge a con- troverfy v/ho liad never the leaft acquaintance with the fubjed they Ihould decide upon. Yet even this, Itrange as it may feem, would be a fhorter way of de- • A bifhop ifi France, we arc told, has lately fiid, " Reli- " gion — is eternal reafon, watching over the order of things." This idea has a kind of beauty that at firfl fight captivates; but it is only found. Reafon is not religion. Right reafon concurs with true revealed religion ; and, when reafon is truly fanclified, it approves no other religion than that which is fouaded on the great truths, the glorious doctrines of God's holy written Word. Every other religion is founded on ignorance, error, fuperilition, or enthufiafm. The flupid idolatry of which all nations were guilty (Judea excepted) before the publication of the holy gofpel, fully proves this. Had that biftiop fdd, " Natural religion Is the " law of God announced by the voice of reafon," he would have found many fupporters of his affcrtion ; but he would have fpokeii piuch more laudably had he faid, " The Chrlfaan religion is tiie *• law," or rather gift *' of God, announced by the voice of Re- *' velation." termining l6 INTRODUCTION". termining the dirpute than by referring to thofe wha are prejudiced againft any part of the holy Scriptures; becaufe it cannot be denied that the heathen (from the earlieft antiquity, down to the period when our Lord became incarnate) worfliipped, as they iijppofed, one divinity in a plurality of objefts. It would alfo be eafy to demonftrate that the Scripture do6lrir:e of the Holy Trinity is fo far from being " a Pagan idea, derived " from Pagan mythology, as the Arians, &c. aiTert,'* that it was preached, believed, maintained, and efta- blilhed, long before that there was fo pitiable a being on the earth as either Pagan or Arian. But as many perfons conceit that " moft of the heathen were faved *' eternally, on account of their having been moral, " good fort of people," I would afk, with whom was that morality to be found ? Amongft the lower clafs ? No: Thofe generally imitate their fuperiors; and, therefore, what is done by the latter is commonly pradifed by the former. — Among the philofophers ? No: Thofe not only held opinions, but taught pre- cepts contrary to moral reditude, as may be feen in Dr. Leland's " Advantage and Ncceffity of Revela- " tion." — Among their men of genius and learning? No : What the apoftle Paul declares of the heathen in general, in that very humiliating Scripture, Rom. i. 27, where he fays, " Men burned in their lufts one to- " wards another," was literally verified in a perfon of the moft elevated* genius and improved underftanding that the Heathen world could boaft of, and who lived in an age when mere human learning was at its zenith. I m^ean Virgil, who was a ftriking and irrefutable comment on the Scripture juft quoted; for he (Virgil) v/as not afhamed to defcribe his fcan- dalous ^nd unnatural luft for a youth whom he calls Alexis, INTRODUCTION. ,17 Alexis, ill the cleareft 'mariner, and by the moft em- phatic expreffions j " for he ufes the very words, Ardeo, *' to burn} and Uro, to inflame." See the whole of his fecond Eclogue; where hn. 68, 9, runs thus: *' Formofum Paftor Corydon ardebat Alexin *• Me tamen urit amor." Nor was this abominable (in peculiar to poets, and other learned men, among the Heathen ; even philo- fophers were not altogether innocent of " the accurfed " thing." It alfo pervaded the court of Tiberius Cjefar, and Was fafliionable there ; for he, himfelf, {ct the example, and kept his horrid revellings, in various parts of his empire. I, myfelf, have been at an ifland, called Caprfa (i. e. a Goat), delightflilly fituated, from which is a moft enchanting profped, natural and arti- ficial; but there is alfo a natural phrcnomenon, in full view, that the modern Italians call " the mouth of " hell i" which, one might fuppofe, would have been a check to their unbridled, deteftable, lulls ; but they knew not the facred Scriptures, nor the purity of that holy, omnipotent, God, therein revealed, therefore they feared not the punifliment that their iniquities dcfervedj for on that ifland Tiberius Casfar kept boys for his accurfed pleafures, and the remains of their apartments are there to be feen at this day. And it is a natural conclufion, that if the holy Scrip- tures were as little regarded and efleemed by all men, as they are by fuch objedtors, the world (from die awful examples, even in this nation) would be as dif- folute and abandoned as were Tiberius, Virgil, &c. The danger of even lightly efteeming thofe invalu- able facred oracles is unutterably great 3 as the reve- lation they contain, the glorious, invaluable, truths therein fet forth^ are of the very utmoft confequence C to 1 8 AtilUS §LAil^, Al^D to our prefent peace and happinefs, as well as to our' eternal felicity: but to deny their authenticity has a tendency to fubvert government and difturb the publici tranquillity; for take away the righteous denunciations againft fin threatened in the facred writings, and you thereby open a door for the moll hardened finners to commit the greateft enormities; becaufe experience has fliewn, that though many have but little dread of human laws, yet, when they have time to refleft^ the threatenings of the divine law caufe the ftouteft hearts frequently to tremble; "which fhew the work " of that law to be written in their hearts," and on their confciences, though they too often ftifle the mor- nitor till they be ruined eternally. — The holy Scrip- tures, therefore, muft, for no other writings can (with the leafl degree of propriety), be the umpre in fuch controverfies* CHAP. I. Part of Dr. Priejlky^s ajfertions given. — Shown to con-^ tradicl a great 'number of learned-^ -pious men; thfi fundamental principles of all the reformed churches in Europe i and oppofe the facred Scriptures of divine truth. — The old Seaman's ajfertions fiated, and fuppcrted by feveral eminent divines, and other learned gentlemen. — ' Twelve irrefutable proofs given to Jhow that D^'^'7^* is a plural noun. But to refume my addrefsf As you are a philofopher, you know, Sir, that any propofition, that is founded upon a falfe thefis, will be deteded when duly examined, of courfe its principles will SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. I9 will be reje6led; and if die poftulatum has a tendency to produce dangerous errors, or any great evil, the propofer, if he perfifts in endeavouring to eftablilh his pofition, will be difregarded, if not defpifed, by all honefl upright men who really efteem truth, pro- bity, and virtue. Now, Sir, whether or not the following quotation from your writings (exclufive of many other parts that I have omitted) has a dangerous tendency, you will not permit me to determine; neverthelefs I have a right, not only to judge for myfelf, but alfo to publifh my opinion ; and likewife to remark upon fuch opi- nions of yours as are injurious to our countrymen and fellow citizens; but the pofition which you endeavour to eftablifh, and the aflertion you have made, that I mean chiefly to confider and to animadvert upon, as unutterably dangerous to th'e beft interells of mankind, is as follows: " I am perfuaded, from the fludy of the Scriptures, *^ that Chrift * is properly a man — a mere man like " ourfelves, naturally pofiefTed of no other powers *' dian other men have; — the fon of Jofeph and Mary, " capable of mifapplying the Scriptures of the Old ^' Teftament, naturally faUible, peccable, weaki in *' Ihort, juft like other men." Your aflfertion is pofitive; but where are your proofs ? I am irrefutably certain that fuch a confirma- tion, as is indifpenfably requifite to give your pofition validity, is not to be found on earth, nor even in Jiell : * You cannot mean any other than Jefus Chrift, who is called by the apoflle, 1 Cor. ii. 8, " -^iv Kv^hy tijj Sa^ns,. The ZW of gfory." Whether the Apoftle's afTertion, or Dr. Prieftley's, dc- ftrves the moll credit, will be readily determined by every trus Cbrillian, C 2 the 20 ARIUS SLAIN, AND the former cannot produce the leaft authentic proof; the inhabitants of the latter dare not attempt it. On the contrary, they voluntarily declared, " We know " thee who thou art, " o a'yio; t» 0£», the Holy One of God," Luke iv. 34. As thofe devils fpake Hebrew, we may fuppofe that they faid (as anfwering to thofe Greek words) czD'n'^Nn wip. The Holy One of the Aleim. And they prayed to Chrift not to torment them, nor caft them into the Abyfs. Could any mere man do that? You know it is impofTible. See then how your affertion contradi6ls, not only the Holy Bible, and the articles of the eftabliflied Church (which I fuppofe you formerly fubfcribed), but it is alfo adverfe to the fentiments of all the truly ^■i;^fz^c'//f^/Diirenters through- out the whole empire. Nor is there any of the re- formed churches abroad whofe fundamental principles do not militate againft you; for which reafons you mull produce better authority than any that you have yet advanced, before ferious thinking Proteftants, evan- gelical Chriftians, can pofTibly be perfuaded that you have any other view than to propagate a religion of your own, not founded on the facred Scriptures, the written word of the holy and ever bleffed God; there- fore your dofbrine is an error that ought to be greatly dreaded; an enthufiaftic notion that Ihould be mofl ferioufly deprecrated. But you acknowledge that this mere man (as you call him) gave fight to the blind, caufed the lame to walk, cleanfed the lepers,, made the deaf to hear, and the- dumb to Ipeak, raifed the dead, and walked upon die fea; alfo, " he gives " eternal life." And moft of thefe wonderful adls were foretold; as you may fee, I fa. xxxv. 4 — 6, where it is faid, that God fhould come and do thofe great things, and none but God could perform them: yet Chrift performed them^ therefore he is God.— But 80CINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, fel But more of this hereafter. (Compare Ifa. xxix. i8; xxxii. 3, 4j xlii. 7.) Was I now to continue and advance only flat con- tradiflions to your aflertions, I Ihould fpend my time iinprofitably to myfelf ; and fliould certainly difappoint thofe real ferious Chriftians, who may do me the honour to confider my arguments. But it is unavoid- ably requifite, in order to determine the matter pro- perly agreeable to the ftrideft, cleareft, truth, and the general tenor of the Holy Scriptures, to lay down fome method, as well to avoid prolixity, as fully and finally to decide the controverfyj though, in fo doing, I am conllrained to advance an aflertion diametrically oppofite to that I have already quoted from your publications i which, I confefs, would be more uncivil than I willi to be to any one, but that the importance ofthefubjeft renders it neceflary. For, believe me. Sir, though I abhor your religious principles, I have not the leafl enmity to your perfon; on the contrary, I moil devoutly befeech the Father of all mercies *^ to grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to '^ be renewed in the fpirit of your mind, that you may " be enabled to comprehend," with every true believer, " what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and " height, of the love of God in Chrift Jefusi" and that you may be " delivered from the power of dark- " nefs and tranflated into the kingdom of his dear " Sons" fo that you may have " redemption through " his blood, even the forgivenefs of your fins." And as a happy confequence, may you, " through the " fupply of the fpirit of Jefus Chrift, approve die " things which are excellent, that you may be com- " plete in himy" fo that " you may be fpodefs, and " without offence, until the day of Chrift, and be filled ** with the fruits of righteoufnefs, which are by Jefus C J " Chrift^ HI ARItTS SLAIN, AND " Chrifl, unto the glory and praife of the" Aleim.— • And that the reader may behold the contrail at one view, I exhibit our different aflertions in the follow- ing order, Dr. Priejiky aff^rtSj " I am perfuaded, from " the ftudy of the Scrip- *' tures, that Chrift is pro- '* perly a man — a mere " man like ourfeives, na- " turally poffcffed of no '* other powers than other " men have." Preface to Lett. p. 2, 8, lo.— " The ** fon of Jofeph and Mary, *' capable of mifapplying *^ the Scriptures of the *^ Old Teftament, natu- **' rally fallible, peccable, *^ weak ; in fhort, jufl like ** other men," An old Jmman has the honour to unite in affertr ing, with many invalua- ble characters, that Jefus Chriji has all the divine names ^wtn him ; the per- fections of Deity afcribed to him ; the power of Je- hovah manifefted in him^ and exhibited by him : and all thofe elorious charac- ters fupported by the in- fallible teftimony of the facred Scriptures of divine truth. And alfo, that the Holy Ghoji is a divine and a diftinct perfon in the Godliead. As your opinion. Sir, flatly contradicts not only the exprefs teftimony of the Holy Scriptures (fee Matt. i. 21 J Luke i. 2S)-> ^^^ ^"^^^ militates againft the opinion of a great cloud of the moft refpeCtable names and the moft valuable characters this nation ever produced, no real Chriftian will admit your af- fertion, without fuch proof as you do not even attempt to produce. I have already fliewn that the Sacred Scriptures alone muft be the umpire in our conteft. But when I could not find any fufEcient proofs of your opinion in thofe invaluable records, I faid within myfelfj SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. iZJ inyfelf, Is it pofTible that any gentleman of learning, a profeHed teacher of Chriftianity, can infift on a pro- pofition fo contrary to its exprefs interefts -, a propofi- tion that can have no other tendency than to fubvert .entirely the religion of Jelus Chrift ? For, alas! fuch tendency, and fuch only, have the tenor of the theo- gical parts of your late publications. Neverthelefs, as you bear the honorary titles of LL. D. and F, R. S. fome refpedl is due thereto. But ^v■as you dignified t,^'C-r^ with all the honours that the whole fcientific world could confer, and ennobled by the highcil title which the crown could bellow, you would appear little and pitiable in the eyes of every intelligent true Chriflian, fo long as you endeavour to overturn the great, the glorious, the invaluable, foundation of our moft holy religion, by attempting to deftroy that unutterably bleffed and comfortable precious do6lrine, the divinity of our Lord Jefus Chrift. Alfo, as you are generally jefteemed a fenfible man, it appears llrange to me that you did not conlider that thinking men cannot accede to your opinion without the fulleft proofs; and, wherein the evidence muft be of fuch nature as to accommodate itfelf to all ranks of men i for, to acquire their concurrence, there muft be that fort of notoriety in the evidence which leads the vulgar, the unthink- ing, the illiterate ; and there muft alfo be fuch proof as fliall determine the ingenious, the inquifitive, the learned. But to my great furprife no fuch evi6tiori is to be found in your writings. I will therefore return to my own aflertions, and endeavour to prove each under its refpettive head. Namely, that Jefus Chrift is a divine perfon in the Gpdiiead, die. &;c. See the preceding page. But befide thofe, I have alfo afterted in my title page, C 4 that S4 ARIUS SLAIN, AND- that there are a plurality of perfons in the Godhead ; which firft claims my attention, and demands proof. The learned Mr. Parkhurll, in his anfwer to Dr. Prieflley, fuppofes that the dodlor " has not much *^ acquaintance with the Hebrew language;" and hav- ing explained that Hebrew, comfortable, divine, name CD'H^K, Aleim, and proved it to be a plural noun, although frequently conflru6led with lingular verbs and pronouns; arid alfo, fometimes, with pronouns and verbs plural; of which he gives inftances in Gen. i. a6, 27, and irrefutably proves to every unprejudiced Hebraift, that the word cn'nbK is a plural noun; it is therefore unneceffary for me to go over the fame arguments, efpecially as I mean to tread on new ground, or endeavour to convince, chiefly by new arguments. But, as that learned gentleman has not given any other tranflation of thofe two verfes than the common one, it may not be improper for me to give one, that the mere Englifli reader may fee clearly that the word n'nVK, Aleim, tranflaced God, is a plural noun, and alfo perceive that it is conftru6ted with both fmgular and plural verbs and pronouns.— Gen. i. 26. And the Aleim faid, we will make man in our image, according to our fimilitude, and let him have dominion over the fifh of the fea, &c. &c. Ver. 27. So the Aleim created the man after his ex- ternal form, according to the image of the Aleim he created him, male and female he created them *. Farther, the firft time we meet with the word t3n!?K, Aleim, is in Gen. i. i ; and, as already Ihewn, * *' ri?D1 is more than CdH* J Ais expreffes the general form, 9r delineation ; that the conformity, or refemblance of the Parts." Parkhurst. if IS SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 2^ *<^ Is a plural noun," from the root n^H, Aleh, a curfc, or an oath; " neither is there any other root from ** whence it can be derived, without oiiering great *^ violence to the eftablifhed rules of the Hebrew " tongue." (Sermon on the Right Knowledge of God, by the Rev. William Romaine, M.A.) The late Lord Prefident Forbes fays, " In looking over " the radical words of the Hebrew language, one " finds the root nba, Aleh, to mean an oath, or adjura- " tion; the execration made to affeft the breaker of a " covenant -, and the genius of the language certainly " admits the word Aleh to be ufed, from that, to fig- *^ nify a perfon that hath taken upon him this oatii, *' and Aleim, to denote more perfons, become fubjeft '' to it, or entering into covenant or agreement toge- " ther; and nothing was more common among the " Heathen than the notion, that the fupreme God " could bind himfelf by oath ; nay they defcribe, with " fictitious circumftances, the particular oath that was ** immutable; a very extraordinary notion, very far " from being deducible by the light of nature, picked " up and maintained univerfally, among the moft an- *^ tient nations that we know of; which tallies won- *^ derfully with what the Sacred Book (of which diey " knew nothing) exhibits, and mull therefore have " flowed from the fame original." I'boughts on Reli- gion. The word Aleim is, in our comm.on Bibles, tranf- lated God, when it means the only living and true God-y and gods, when it refers to the idols of the Heathen.— Mr. Parkhurll, M. A. fays, " C3'n':?i< " fignifies, the Denouncers of a conditional curfe." And the late Rev. Juhus Bate, M. A. fiys, " Aleim '* is a title of the ever bleflcd Trinity; it means the 6 " perfons -26 ARIUS SLAIN, ANP " perfons under the oath, or binding curfe of " a covenant." — -Alfo, the Rev. Alexander Cat cot t fays, " Aleim fignifies Fcederators, or Covenanters, " upon oath," — The late veiy learned Mr. HutchinJoK fays. That cd'H^n, Aleim, has hVk, Aleh, for its root. " In man who takes an oath, it is to imprecate *' a maleditlion upon himfelf, if he performs not th " covenant. In Jehovah, or Aleim, it is a conde- " fcenfion to the capacity of creatures; he or diey " call their own attributes to witnefs, and cannot lie. " So n'?H, Aleh, is that a6lion which is performed in " making a covenant by oath.— But in thefe czd'h^x, " Aleimj it is not only the confederates among them- ** felves, the makers of the covenant, the fwearers, thofe '* who had bound tliemfelves to perform the condi- f* tions, the witneffes of the oath, the adjurators, but ^' now the Performers of that oath, fo that we cannot " find any fiagle or compound word to exprefs ^'■Jleim*,'* It * Agreeable to thefe charafters, I find, Gen. xvii. i6, " By *' myfelf, have I fworn, faith Jehovah j ver» 1 8, in thy feed fhall ** all the nations of the earth be blefled " How ? or by what means ? ** Jehovah hath fworn in truth, — of the fruit of thy body will 1 *' fit upon thy throne;" Pf. cxxxii. ii. Again, Ff Ixxxix. 3, " I have made a covenant with my chofen, I have fworn unto my *^ beloved." Ver. 35, " I have fworn bv my holinefs ; i will not ** lie unto the beloved." Here we find Jehpvah fwearing that he will be a king, and fit on David's throne. In Pf. ex. 4, " Jeho- *' vah fwears to Adoni, and will not repent, thou art a Prieft for *' ever, after the order of MelchiKcdek" the king of righteoufnefs. Here Jehovah fwears unto Adoni : who is Adoni ? Ifaiah teJis us, vi. I, "He that fitteth upon the throne, the high and lofty One,'* who faid, ver 8, ** Whom ftiall I feud } and who will ga f* for us y^ But if there be not more perfons in Jehovah than one, how could he fwear to Adoni ? But Jfaiah, chap. vi. fhcvvs who SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. Tf It would have been iinneceflary for me to have taken up fo much time to have fhewn, from the opi- nions of others, that the word Aleim is plural, as you, I fuppofc, muft have known or heard that the learned gentlemen above named have publifned what I have quoted, and much more to the fame purpofe; but I have given their declarations on that word for the fake of fome of my unlear^ied readers, who may, un- happily, have imbibed part of your fentiments, and who might wifli to fee my affertion fupported by the opinions of fuch valuable authors as thofe. But, as I have read that you, and fome of your friends, do not admit Aleim, n::'n'?x, to be a plural noun, " but a word " that has no fingular number with a plural termina- " tion, which fometimes influences the adjunft * in " oppofition to the fenfe," I would, therefore, recom- mend to you, Sir, and others of the fame perfuafion, to examine the 24th chapter of Jofhua, 19th verfe, where you will find, " Ye cannot ferve Jehovah (for " he is, c^'iyrp cdh'^n, Aleim Kedfhim), the holy " God." — Kedlhim is the adjedtive (holy), is plural mafculine, agreeing with Aleim in gender and num- ber 3 for, if cnbx, Aleim, had been fingular, it would have been i:?np, Kadofli, not c:;'!:^ip, Kedlhim, who Adoni is, and demonftrates, in conneflion with this Pfalm, the plurality in quellion. But what anfwer does Adoni make ? Pf. cxix. 106, He fays, '♦ I have fworn, and will perform, that I " will keep thy righteous judgments." With the performance of \vhich Jehovah is delighted; for he fays, Ifa. xlii. 21, " that he *' is well pleafed for the fake of his righteoufnefs ; becaufe he t* hath glorified (and) fupremely magnified the law." (See the Jiebrew of that text.) f Adjund means *' fomething adherent, or united to another. iJee Johnfon's Diil. Again, JtS ARIUS SLAIN", AND Again, In Pfal. Iviii. lafl verfe, I find cs'^S'^:; a*nbi<-w* 1^, ak ifh Aleim Ihophtim; verily the Jleim are Judges. Here a'lODi:*, fhophtim, alfo is a plural noun *, reprefenting the Aleim as a plurality of per- fons, and the office (if I may fo exprefs myfelf) wherein they were engaged. To fupport thefe inftances, and prove inconteflably that a^n^K is plural, I find in Levit. xxi. 7, " Huf- " bandj for he is holy unto his God." Hebrew vn'?^^ J^in ii^-ip-o, ki kadofli heva I'Aleiu. Here the word for God is plural, but ii'np, kadofh, is fingular, be- caufe it agrees with ^<'l^, heva, be, meaning the hufbandj which meaning is fully confirmed and illuftrated by Numb. XV. 40 ; xvi. 3, in the Hebrew. Before I pro- ceed to the fecond part of my alTertion, I will give the true reading of a few more texts to fhew that Aleim is plural. Gen, xxxi. 7, lafl claufe. But the Aleim they fuffered him not to hurt me. XXXV. 7, middle. Becaufe the Aleim fbey were revealed unto him there. Exod. xl. 10, two lafl. Thou Jhalt fanftify thai altar, and it jfhall be the altar con- fecrated to the Holy Ones, czj'iz^np t:?np f. * I have fearched all the texts where the word " judgeth" Is elfewhere ufed in the tranflation, but in every one of thefe places the word is £ODli', fhaphat, not CD'IDD'viS fhophtim; but wherever the word is tranflated " judges," there it is always CD'IDDtl'* Ihophtim. f Who were thofe Holy Ones? Indubitably the divine Perfons in the Aleim ; for altars were eredted and confecrated, or fet apart to Jehovah Aleim c?ily (fee Gen. xxxiii. 20; Jolhua viii. 30), noi to creatures. N. B. The word "vi'npj kadofh, literally means '* to " feparate, confecrate, fet apart." Jofh, SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, 2g MDomlnus Deorum Deus Dominus Deorum Deui . xxii. 22, /[^^\ cr'n)N bn mm cd'h^x ba Jehovah gods of God the Jehovah gods of God The Montanus. Cognofcit ipfe knows. he There is a fhort text In Deut. vi. 4, which ought to filence every objeftion to the word CD^nba (or, wliich is the fame, 'H^N, in regimine, or conftruc- tion), which feems to be in- troduced very particularly, as of the utmoft importance. Deut. vl. 4, -"If^^ '^^'^' P'n^b< niiT bn'iD* vouf • ^ is. cut Jehovah Alei our Jehovah Jfrael O Hear Hear, • While I was meditating on the fubjeft of thefe fheets, I acci- dentally met with two Jews, one of whom underftood the Englilh language, for he fpake it correftly. I therefore took occafion to afic them how they underftood this text (Deut. vi. 4) ; and how they could read it in the Hebrew without cLarly perceiving that there are a plurality of perfons in Jehovah. They anfvvered, " OTiVn (iilohim), is not always plural, much lefs >n^K, Eloi:" but gave no reafon for their afTertion. I am therefore fully fatif. fied, that this anfwer (if it is the general opinion of the prefent generation of Jews), arifes from this Scripture proving fo clearly and forcibly the plurality of perfons in Jehovah, that they cannot poflibly refill the evidence in any other way, than by afTerting (what they ought to know is) a falfehood ; as may be fcen from the teftimony of their elder brethren, Ralii Simon Ben Jochai, and Rabbi Limborch ; whofc teftimony is quoted in page 30. And in Pfal. xcvi. 5, we have the fuUcft proof that »n/«, Alei, is plural as well as CD>n'?«, Aleim; for it is there faid 'n^«-^3, all the alei, or gods of the nations, are Q'V''?«, alilirn, vain, worth- lefs thing! of nought. Alfo Pfal. xcvii. 7, '• Worftiip him'* D'n^j< Ira, all gods. But if we read the noun C3»n^«, Aleim, in the fmgular number, fee what nonfenfe it would make. ** Wor- " Ihip him" all god. Alfo, that cn^K, and 'n^«, are fynony- xnous, may be clearly manifelled by Uie Hebrew te.xt of Pfal. lix. laft 30 ARIUS SLAIN, ANt> Hear, O Ifrael, Jehovah our Alei, Is one Jehovalir' Obferve the emphafis which the infpired writer has laid upon the word one; and with admirable propriety: becaufe that " the noun nm^ is fingular, and knows '' no plural ; therefore to fay that Jehovah is One (is " not plural), would be unnecelTary, were it not for the " plural word hVk, Alci, whereby men might have " been led into a miflake ; to prevent which, this de- " claration was indifpenfably necefiary : namely, that " though in Jehovah there be more Alehs (nVx, Aleh, " is the fingular of ldih^iV, Aleim), than one, yet " thefe different Alei were but one Jehovah; one ne- " ceffarily exillent Effence, which is allowing a plu- " rality, not of diftinft deities, but of diftinft Aleim *' in the fame Effence, Godhead in Jehovah, who is One." Lord Prefident Forbes. Alfo " Rabbi Simon Ben *' Jochaiy in the Talmudical traft Zohar, on the fixth '^ feftion of Leviticus, fays, come and fee the myftery " of the word Elohim (ci:vn'7iN). There are three de- " grees, and every degree by itfelf alone (j. e. diftinft), *' and yet they are all one, and joined together in one, *^ and are not divided one from another." Mr. Park- hurji's Anfwer to Dr. Priejiley. Likewife " the Jewifh Rabbi Limborch tells us, " that in the word Elohim (or Aleim) there are three **^ degrees, each diftincSt by itfelf, yet all one, joined in " one, and not divided from one another." Lejly's Short Method with Deijis and Jews, lail verfe. The moft fcrupulous head, or the moft; incredulous mind, cannot in reafon defire a fuller proof of the words »n^!S; and a'nV« being plural, than thefe Scriptures afford. Jews, Socinians, &c. muft all be confounded here ; and may the fovereign unmerited grace of the holy Aleim lead them to true unfeigned repentance> lor Jehovah Jefus' fake. Amen, " Is SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 3 1 "Is this teaching that God, Elohim (or Aleim), is " fimply one? Or rather does it not teach the diftinc- " tions of three perfons in one divine Effence ?" And coming from the Jews, better evidence ought not to be defired to prove that cnMbs is a plural noun. But attend to fome otlier texts of die facred Scrip- tures. I Sam. iv. 8. Wo unto us ! who fhall deliver us out of the hand (or from the power) of thefe illuitrious Aleim ? Theje are thcfe ylle'tm^ the fmiters of the Egyptians with all tlie plagues in the wilder- nefs. aSam. vii. 23. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Ifracl, whom theyy the Aleim, went to re- deem ? Ecclef. xii. I. Remember now thy Creatorj-. Ifaiah liv. 5. Thy Makers are thy Hulbandj. Having fhewn from fo great a variety of paflages that nn^n^x, Aleim, is a plural noun, if you wiU not be convinced from thofe (and there are not any other writings extant in the whole world to which we can ap- peal), I am convinced, that if one whom you knew in the flelli fhould be permitted, or enabled, to come from the abode of death and declare that truth, you would no longer credit the report than the conflernation might laft, which fo unexpected a vifit would occafion ; for be affured. Sir, that " whoever believes not Mofes and ** the prophets, would not be perfuaded though one " fliould appear to them from the dead." From con- fidering tlie very refpediable charaders for learning, whofe names I have quoted, with many others diat might have been referred to, which for the fake of brevity 22 ARruS SLAIN, AND brevity I have omitted, together with twelve Scriptures I have quoted, which inconteftably prove that Aleim is plural, we may from thofe perceive the propriety of the expreffions in Gen. i. 26, " Let us make man in " our image, after our likenefs." See alfo iii. 22 j xi. 6, 7; Ifaiah vi. 8. Perhaps it will be faid, that in thofe pafTages the Aleim is fpeaking as a king exprefles himfelf when about to do any thing in his magiilerial capacity, as if in the name of himfelf and his privy council. But though a king may fay. Let us enadl a lav/, and let us reafon upon the advantages which will apparently refult to our kingdom from that law, he can- not fay (without rifking a fufpicion that his intellecfls are difordered). Let us create a horfe, much lefs a man with rational faculties; for although it be admitted that " every fpirit can reafon, none but the Omnipo- " tent Spirit can create." Befide, it was not likely that infinite Wifdom v/ould adopt the language of earthly kings to exprefs the determination of the di- vine Aleim, when as yet no man had exiftence : alfo, thQ Hebrew is niz/y], we will make -, not, " let us " make;" therefore the cavils of Socinians andArians are fo very futile, as to find fupport f-om thofe only who have determined upon their creed without duly confidering the holy Scriptures. Laftly, we read of a covenant made by the Aleim, Ifaiah Iv. 3, which is expreffed by the infpired writer tjius : " Incline your " ear and come unto me, hear and your foul fhall " live," becaufe I have made for you an everlalting covenant (fee the Hebrew of this text), " even the *' fure mercies of David." V\^hich St. Paul, A6ls xiii. 34, declares to be Chrift. And David fays, to thofe that fear him (Jehovah), " he will fhew them his co- *' venant i" or, as the margin has the fentence, " he " will N. SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. JJ " he will make them to know his covenant." Again, Pfal. Ixxxix. 3, we have >-\>nzb nnn >rrc, I have made a covenant for my eleft. Ver. 34, '^ My covenant " will I not break." Ezek. xx. 37, " I will bring " you into the bond of the covenant." When was this covenant made in behalf of God's elect ? The apoftle tells us, Ephef. i. 4, " Before die foundadon of the " world." See as unutterably important 2 Tim. i. 9; Titus i. 2; I Pet. i. 203 Rev. xiii. 8. — It naturally follows, to afk with whom this covenant was made ? With angels ? No. With men ? There were not any created. But it is fhewn with whom: for " it is " now made manifeft by the Scriptures of the pro- " phets, and the preaching of Jefus Ciirift according " to the revelation of the myflery which had been kept " fecret fince the world began, according to the com- " mandment of the everlafling God." Rom. xvi. 25, 26. W^hat have the prophets declared.'' That " in the " feed of Abraham all the nations of the earth Ihould " be bleffed." See Gen. xii. 3; xviii. 18; xxii. 18; xxvi. 4. The apoftle Peter, Acls iii. 25, and the apoftle Paul, Gal. iii. 8, 14, 16 — 18, refer thofe pro- mifes to Chrift. But the very nature of a covenant requires at leaft two parties, otherwife no covenant can be made J in confequence there are more perfons in the Aleim than ofJCy or the Aleim could not liave entered into that covenant j therefore the noun yf/f/;;;, D^"^'^^^, mujl be plural. But to put this aflertion out of all doubt, and render it inconteftably certain that Aleim is a piural noun, behold. Sir, with reverence and holy attention, what is yc gods faid Iiave I v/ritten Pfil. Ixxxii. 6, on^ D^"^'?^? ^ni;2yi"'':N\ And compare tliis v;ich the Greek of John x. ^^, where D von 34 ARIUS SLAIN, AND you will find that he renders the word a'n^K, Aleim, S-foI. And the whole pafTage, 'e^w aTro. ©£oj In, " I " have faid ye are gods." Then adds, " If he called " them S-fx;, gods," &c. But pleafe to remember that they are the words of the Lord Jefus Chriil, and only recorded by John as his amanuenlis. Do you objeft to the teftimony of this infpired apollle and evangelill, and demand another evidence ? This is not difficult to procure; and ibat as impartial an one as you, or the moft incredulous (even an apoftate Julian), could reafon- ably have demanded : I mean the Septuagint ; who have tranflated the above-quoted Hebrew text, 'Eyu siTroe. ©so) sVej which is exadlly as St. John reads it. Muft not Jews, Socinians, &c. give up the argument here, or prove (which is impofTible) that the Septuagint is a forgery, and that the beloved apoille was not in- fpired; or that he did not faithfully record the words of his divine Mailer; nor underftand his mother tongue; nor comprehend the difference between Theos and Theoi ; though it muft be confeffed that he lived and preached many years among the Greeks, Alfo Exod. xxxii. I, reads Aleim; but Ads vii. 40i where Stephen quotes it,; fays Theous (accuf. plur.), gods. The next Scripture which demands our attention, namely Gen. iii. 22, has, I humbly fuppofe, fome- thing of more importance in the original againft the opinions of Arius and Socinus than the common tranflation holds out. Gen. iii. 22, " And (Jehovah, " Aleim) the Lo'rd God faid." Here is a new name in addition to that mentioned in Gen. i. 26, neither is it found in any part of that chapter; but before we pro- ceed, it may be neceffary to undeftand its fignification, as well to illuftrate the argument as to avoid mifcon- ceptions 6 SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. ^S ceptlons of what may be advanced diereupon. What has been already faid in page 29, on Deut. vi. 4, might fuffice ; but I will give the meaning of that word from other authors, for the fatisfaftion of thofe v/ho are un- acquainted with the Hebrew, and who may willi for the fuUell tellimony. CHAP. II. - The meaning of the name, nin-, Jehovah, given from vari- ous learned divines and other learned gentlemen. — A ne'UJ tranjlaticn of Gen. iii. 11 ; xi. 7; xviii. i, 2, &c. Ifa. vi. I — 3, 8 ; Gen. iii. 24, with a Note rejp£ling the flaming fword there mentioned. The Jews term this v/ord mn% Jehovah, '• Shem '^ Hemphorelh, the fole incommunicable name;" and in reading their prophets, wherever they meet with ic they always pronounce it Adanoi, for *J"fN, Adonij *' f]-om which the Greeks took their Dios, and the " Syrians their Adonis ; and from Jehovah Sabaoth, it " is probable that the Greeks gave their Jupiter the " name Jovis Sabafion: but the true meaning of mn', is " the eflence exifting, or felf-exiftent elTcnce." See a very valuable and important fermon " upon the " Right Knowledge of God," by the Learned and Rev. William Romaine, M. A. wherein thofe divine names Aleim and Jehovah, are moft excellently iiluftrated *. I might * Dr. Prlcrtlcy fays (in his Letters to a Philofophical Unbe- liever, Letter xii. p. 195),' ** I diflikc the plirafcology of Dr. D 2 " Clark, j6 ARIUS SLAIN, AND I might here produce the afTertions of the late learned Profeflbr Robertion, John Hutchinlbn, Efquire, Dr. Adam Littleton, Lord Prefideni: Forbes, Mr. Spear- man, Mr. John Parkhurll, M. A. &rc. but thofe quo- tations would fwell this little Traft far beyond the limits I mean to give it. Yet the obfervations of the learned Mr. Parkhurft are fo much to my purpofe on the name Jehovah, that I cannot excufe myfelf from quoting them; as fome of my readers who cannot purchafe that gentleman's valuable works may have the fatisfadion of perceiving his attention to whatever might enrich his lexicons beyond vv^hat fuch books ge- nerally contain. On the word nz'^ fhaddi, he refers to Exod. vi. 3, " I appeared to Abraham, to Ifaac, " and to Jacob, nzb^-2y as the Lord all bountiful, but " by my name mns Jehovah, I was not known to " them." — " That the name mn" itfelf, was known " to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, is certain from Gen. " xii. 8; xiii. 4; xxvi. 25s xxviii. 13, 16; and many *' other paflagesi but God was not experimentally " known, or had not difplayed himfeif to them under " the character of Jehovah — as he was now about to " do in a train of aftonifhing miracles for the deliver- *' ance of his people and the deftru6lion of their ene- " mies. Compare ver. 6 — 8, which laft concludes / " am Jehovah." In 6cn. iv. 26, we find mn^ DtiO t^"ip, to call on " Clark, when he fometimes fpeaks of neceffity being the caufe *' of the Divine Exiftence." So do f ; but there is a felf-exident Effence who calls himfeif Jehovah, of whofe infinite and eternal Exiftence we have no proper conceptions, who is neceflarily felf- exiftent, but the neceflity of his exiftence i^ not the caufe of it. See Mr. Cruden's definition of the words God and Lord, in his very excellent Concordance. 7 the SOCIN^US MORTALLY WOUNDED. 37 the name Jehoiah. " This exprefTion, -when applied to " men, figniftcs not only to invoke the true God, but " to invoke him by liis name Jeho'vah^ thereby ac- " knovvlcdging his necellary exiftence, eflential perfec- " tions, and infinite fuperiority over all created be- " ings." — " It feems highly probable that by this " time (A. M. about 231) the name □'^'7^< was be- " come equivocal, being applied both by the believ- " ing line of Seth and by the idolatrous one of Cain, " to their refpeftive godsj and that therefore believers " to diftinguifli themfelves invoked God by the name " Jehovah. Thus in after times, when idolatry pre- " vailed, we read of Abraham's (Gen. xii. 8), and " of Ifaac's (Gen. xxvi. 25), mn"" Dl^n ^»•^p, calling " on the name 7^^'''^'^^' (Compare 2 Kings v. 11.) " And in that folemn conteft between Elijah and the " prophets of Baal, i Kings xviii. Elijah faith to the " people, ver. 21, l( Jehovah be God (Heb. □'n'7Krr, " The Aleim or Saviours), follow him, but if Baal, *' then follow him; and ver. 24, to the prophets of " Baal, Call ye on the name of your gods (Heb. '^ QiDTl'??^, your Aleim), and I will call on the name *^ Jehovah, which they accordingly did refpedively. " Compare ver, 26, 2^, 21-" ^"^ "^'^^' 3^ fhews the event; ver. 39 die people's confeffion; for " they " all fell proftratc on their faces, and they faid, Je- '* hovah he the Aleim, Jehovah he the Aleim" — " That " this divine name Jehovah was well known to the " heathen there can be no doubt. Diodorus Siculus, " lib. i. fpeaking of thofe who attributed the framiing " of their laws to the gods, fays, Para tois Joudaiois " Mofen iftoroufi ton lAH epikaloumenon Theon. ^'- Among the Jews they report diac Mofes did this to ^^ tji? God called Jac" D 3 *' \>rrQ ^8 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " Varro, cited by St. Auftin, fays, * Deum Jude^ '*■ orum efTe Jovem. Jove was the God of the Jews.* " And from mn% Jehovah, the Etrufcans feem plainly " to have had their Juve or Jove ; and the Romans " their Jovis or Jovis-pater, i. e. Father Jove, after- " wards corrupted into Jupiter. And that the idola- " ters of feveral nations, Phenicians, Greeks, Etruf- " cans, Latins, and Romans, gave the incommuni- " cable name 7\'\T\\ v/ith fome dialeftical variation, to " their falfe gods, may be feen in an excellent Note in ^' the Ancient Univerfai Hiftory, Vol. xvii. p. 274, *^ &c." — " From this fame divine name the Greeks " had their exclamation of grief. Ion, as lou, Icu ^vrriv.-, " and the Romans theirs of triumph, lo, lo triumphe, ** both of which were originally addreifes to Jehovah." I have dwelt fo long on the divine names Aleira and Jehovah:, that the unlearned readers (for whofe fakes chiefly I write) may be enabled to comprehend the arguments more clearly I mean to bring forward, to prove the accurfed herefy Dr. P. is endeavouring (I hope ignorantly) to propagate. I now return to the confideration of Gen. iii. 22, "wherein, as I before obferved, there is fomething of much greater importance in the original, to overturn the opinions of Arius and Socinus, than the common tranflation leads us to underftand; which 1 humbly fup- pofe ought to be read as follov/s: — And Jehovah Aleim faid. Behold the man hath been as one fiom z/j, who muft experience good and evil *, Again, * Behold the man — rrn (Montanus reads it fuit), hath been— *sn«D, as one, — IJdd, raimenu, ivho from us,- — ijd, would have teen fufficient to have fignified or expreiTed, " from usj'' but as th'S SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 3^ Again, Gen. xi. 7, Come we will defcend, and ijoe will confound there their language (perhaps their reli- • gious fentiments). Hebrew nsttr. Lip *. Gen. xviii. i, 2, And Jehovah again appeared unto him, in the grove of oaks, near Mamre, as he fat in a tent-door about the heat of the day. Ver. 2, When he lifted, up his eyes, and looked, and behold three men hovering f above him, and he feared (or reve- renced), the word feems a compound of 'd and un, I underftand it to have an additional iignihcation ; and that the firft d, is an abbreviation of the pronoun 'd, ixho; the », jod, being omitted as in Ifa. xlviii, 17, where I find the d prefixed, and tranflated " which" (/. ^. who) twice. The Maforites have alfo pointed that d in Gen. iii. 22, with liiric parvum; n;t?i'?, the infinitive of j/T, to experience, &c. with h, lamed, prefixed; — muft experience. And as a proof of this being proper, I refer to Judg. i. 19, where h is rendered " could;" 1 Chron. xv. 2, *•' ought;" Either, iv. 2, " might;'* Ecclef. iii. 14, " can;" i Chron. xxii. 5, " muft." See Mr. Parkhurll's Heb. and Eng. Lex. under h, p. 317. Befide, the common reading has not any thing to recommend it; for furely the fin of Adam had not afhrnilated him to the Deity that man Ihould have thereby become as one of the Aleim, therefore the common tranflation requires amendment, and I humbly hope that which I have given ib agreeable to the divine original. * The plural number is here fo indubitably exprefled in the tranflation I have given it, which is the true reading, that it would be an infult to every common underftanding to attempt to prove it by any comment. f If CjUYJ be a participle, as a renowned Hebraift hath rendered It (but 1 confefs both the marks of a participle are wanting), then hovering may be very proper. Neither is it a verb, as the tranf- lators have rendered it; but it moft certainly has all the marks of a noun plural, from the root avJ ; and if rendered aright in 1 Sam. X. 5, and 2 Sam. viii. 6, 14, garrifons, then it fignifies ftationed foldiers ; which implies defenders, proteftors. In Gen. xxxii. 2, the vifible appearances of the Aleim are called Mahanaim, ** en- " campers;" therefore, thefe, agreeable to the conftruftion of D 4 caoyj. 40 ARIUS SLAIN, AND renced), but hailed to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himfelf to the earth *. In Ifaiah vi. i, "In the year that king Uzziah " died, I faw alfo the Lord (Hebrew, Adoni) ; he fat " upon the throne high and hfced up, and his train " filled the temple." Ver. 2, Around him f Hood the feraphim j D»avJ, in Samuel, may juftly be rendered three men proteftors, or defenders ; becaufe garrifons are places of protedlion and de- fence. * The word a'lYJ, which I have rendered hovering, is in 1 Sam. X. 5, 2 Sam. viii. 6, 14, rendered *' garrifons ;" and it is highly probable that the word here may imply, that the three men were fufpended above Abraham in appearance, fo united as if but one. If they had been Handing by Abraham he would have had no occafion to run to meet them. But the firft verfe fays, Jehovah appeared to him; and the fecond verfe fays, this appearance of Je- hovah was that of three men; and it ihould be remarked, that after Abraham had paid obeifance to them, he addreffes them as one ii> eflence, though the real number of perfons were three: for he fays, ver. 3, " My Lord, Heb. Un«, Adoni, if now 1 have found fa- " vour in thy fight," I pray thcu wilt not pafs away from thy kr- vant. Ver. 4, A little water fhall now be brought, and wafh ye your feet, dnd recline j^ under this tree. Ver. 5, I will fetch a morfel of bread, and comfort j^ your hearts, after that pafs ye on; for therefore came ye to your fervant. And they faid. So do as thou hall fpoken. Ver. 9, h.xiAthey faid unto him — Ver. lo, /will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo! Sarah thy wife fhall have a fon. And Sarah heard — Ver. 12, *' Therefore Sarah laughed." — Ver. 13, Then Jehovah faid unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh? — Ver. 14, Is any thing too hard for Jehovah ? At the time appointed / will return unto theq, ■*' and Sarah fhall have a fon." — Js it poffible that any fenfible man can read this xviiith chap, of Genefis, and not fee that there are a plurality of perfons in Jehovah, inconteftibly expreffed by the word Aleim in other places of the Holy Scriptures ? ■f " Ground him Hood the feraphim, &c." In taking the liberty to alter the common reading fo eflentially, it is requifite that I Should alTign a proper reafon. ill. The Septuagint render the paf- fage SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 4I leraphim; each had fix wings, with twain hiding his faces *, widi twain concealing his feet, and with twain flying fwiftly f. Ver. 3, And they proclaimed one con- cernmg fage •' y.yy.^o; acToy," round about of it, or him. 2. The Hebrew is ^b hvDO. It muft be confefled, that if the words had been de- figned to have fignified no more ihan " upon it," or " above it," ih hv would have fufficiently exprefled that; but as the » is dou- bJedj it is reafonable to fuppofe that it has a different meaning: for TTo is fometimes rendered " lifting up, &c." and n, when pre- fixed, " before, in the prefence of, &c. &c." I am alfo of opi- nion, that " flood," in ver. z, is not the literal meaning of anar; it perhaps may mean their (landing, or flation, a plural word in regiminc, agreeing with feraphim, with the D poilfixed as a pronoun. It is rendered Pfal. cxlviii. 6, " eftablilhed;" J'jdg. xvi, 25, " pillars;" alfo I Kings vii. 15, &c, ** pillars." There- fore I reafonably fuppofe, that the paffage may be read, The fe- raphim in their Handing (or ftation) furroundrd him; for obferve. He is the high and lofty one. (See Hebrew of Ifa. Ivii. i,, which are the very fame words as are rendered in the firfl verfe of this chapter, " high and lifted up.") Therefore the feraphim were not *' above him." A(jn«, Adoni, from the root p, with a form- ^' ative « and '; and fignifles a Ruler, Direfior, Suftainer, Lord; '* from whence, moil: probably, the idol Adonis had his name." — Here I beg leave to remark, that " names in the Hebrew Bible ** were not given arbitrarily as among us; they always denoted J'.fome quality or charadler of the perfons or things to which they *' referred, or on which they were impofed." f V3 is a noun in regimine, and as fucli denotes command or order; for >s, is tranllated commandment. Gen, xiv. 21; Exod. xvii. I ; Ecclef. viii. 2. I fuppofe that not any perfon will exclude the Fatlier in the creation, becaufe it is written, Ifa. Ixiv. 8, *' But now Jehovah thou art our Father, v/e the clay, and thou our Foimer,'" and we all are the v^-ork of thine hand." — With rcfpedl to the ^'ord Jehovah, Pfal. xxxiii. 6, it undoubtedly means the Logos (Cl)riil;) ; for the Septuagint read it, " Tw /.iyai -rot; ;:ipay d ". i-j^aio't t'ri['M-}--)o-c(.v. By the Logos of the Lord (Jehovah, Keb.) |ke heavens were eftabli(hed. After SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 43 Before I enter upon the proofs of the divinity of the Lord Jejus Chr'ift-, it may be necelTary to obferve, that there was a piece of facred furniture ere6led by the ex- prefs command of Jeho'uah, both in the tabernacle of Mofes and in the temple of Solomon, which feem to have been hieroglyphic emblems of the divine 7>?>/f/r, v/ich the manhood ccmprifed ; and the overlooking of this, or not duly attending to it, leaves much obfcu- rity on many important texts, which that may lead to the comprehcnfion ofj I mean the cherubim. The firft mention made of it is in Gen. iii. 24. But as that text is not accurately tranjQated, I will endea- vour to give a better reading of it, as follows : Gen. iii. 24, So he expelled the' man, and placed the cherubim eailward of the garden Eden, and an emblematical inftrument of fire turning itfelf to dire(5t the way to the tree of lives*. See Exod. xxv. 22; Num. vii. 89; Pf. Ixxx. i; xcix. i. CHAP. After all thcfe proofs, furely no one that believes the Holy Piblc to be the xiord of God can any longer doubt that there are a pluia- lity of perfons in the Godhead. * The Hebrew word?, tranflated " a flaming fvvord," in our Bibles, are Sinn dpi'?, they are both nouns fingular; and cnV (in the plural 'sn^,) is tranflated, Exod. vii. 11, " inchantnient.s," which imply fomething hidden under what app^'ars; i. e. myAical, or emblematical. — Alio the n, before the noun nn, is or.Iy emphatic in tliis place; and the root nn, as a verb, fignifies " to drain off, t' dry up, lay wafte,dellroy, confume, make defolate, &c. And as a ** fubftantive, any diminifliing, wafting, or dcfolating, inftrument; *' as a. Jhj.ord draining the body of its blood; Gen. x.wii 4c; " xxxiv. 35. A k?i-fe; Jofli. v. 2, 3. A i^cigger ; Jud iii. 21, *' 22. An axe ; Ezek. xxvi. 9." All thefe fignifications, confi- dered, lead me to fuppofe that we may juftly tranflate thefe two fubflantivcs, mnn ton"?, lahat hachcrcb, an emblematical deftroying inftrument, or an inftrument of fire; and, poflibly, was figurative of Uie inftrument whereon the bh:.d cf the divine Je/us was to be drawn 44 ARiUS SLAIN, AND CHAP. III. A isjcriftion of the CheruUm^ its figmficat'tony import y and md. — 1'he writer's opinions Jupported by the tejiimony of the heatheHy andfeveral learned gentlemen^ as well as by fever al parts of the Holy Scriptures, Having given my reafons for altering the 24th verfe. of Gen. chap. iii. it is now requifite to confider why fuch a figure was made, or fueh a repreftintation creded, as the cherubim ; for as it was there placeci by drawn from his moft blefTed. body, a crofs, f ; and in that repre- fentation might point as a dlredory to the cherub'm. iirft fpoken of in this text; Gen. iii. 24, For a? it is defcribed, a- turr.mg itfilf every way, I know not of any figure which cculd be formed that woald turn more eafily upon its bafe, or in its turning, fo naturally and conftantly (at every point of view) dir?6l to the cbjed it was intended as a diretiive to; namely, the cherubnn, which was the temporary habitation of Jehovah, as may be f^e^i by comparing Hxod. XXV. 12, v.'ith Num. vii. 89; Pfal. Ivxx. i ; xcix. i ; and, perhaps, might be defigned as a perpetual memorial to the church, - prior to Cnrill's incarnation, that they fhould obferve tiiis (the cher rubim) as a m.ean of leading to the true knowledge 0/ the tree of life (rather lives, for the Hebrew Vv'ord C2'»n is plural), and may imply life fpiritual ; life eternal. I fhould alfo obferve that tani?, as a noun, fignifies " liame, or ignited matter;" therefore if it Ihould not be allowed that lahat hachereb will admit of being tranf- lated an emblematical (it cannot be denied that it means an) in-- ilrument of f^re. Alfo, HjEnnDn, hamrnithapeket, is a participle benoni, in hithpael ; and, icU-'V, iiHimar, is tranfla'ced as a verb ; Pfal. cxix 5, *■' diret^ted;" whereby, I am countenanced in tranf- lating t..e word in the infinitive, as it has, h, the fign of the infini- tive pn-rixeJ. Should Dr. P. or any other gentleman, diflike the tranil liioii 1 have given of Gen. iii. Z4, he may oblige the public by riving a better, as the common one is moil certainly inaccurate. Perhaps, SOCINUS MOR.TALLY WOUNDED. 45 by Jeliovah himlelfj it was indlfputdbly fet up for fome great and important end. Although the prophet Moies has omitted to gi/e a defcription of the cheru- bim in this place, Ezekiel has fbpplied the deficiency, and given a very particular reprefentation of their figure; chap. i. ver. 4 — 11. We have aifo their di- menfions and place in the Molaic tabernacle; Exod. XXV. 18, 20. And their pofition; Exod. xxxvii. 7 — 9. Alfo their enlarged dimenfions, dzc. in Solomon's Temple; i Kin. vi. 23 — 29. Again, their end and in- tention are Hiewn ; i Kin. viii. 6, 7 ; 2 Chron. v. 7, 8; namely, to proted and eftablifh the everlafting cove- nant. For thofe manifcft that the covenant of the Elohim, or Aleim, h under the immediate continual Perhaps, it might be read, He (Jehovah) dwelt, or tabernacled ia the cherubim, on the eaft of the garden liden, and an inllniment of £re, tuj;iing itlelf, direfted the way to the tree of lives; for the very fame word ptr'l is rendered, Gen, xix. 27, he fliall dwe'L See alio Gen. xvi. 12; Deut. xxxiii. 12, et .1. I beg leave only to add,' that the late learned and Rev. Mr- Catcott fays, " The root p.u^, fecen, fignlfies to dwell, or inhabk; •* and the firfl time it occurs in Scripture, is in Gen. iii. 24, and ** is there fpoken of the reftder.c: of the di-vine prcjince in the cbe- *' ruh:m. And we rerd, Exod. xxv. 1, 8, Jehovah fpake unto " Moles, faying, ver. 8, Let them make me a finduary, TJDt?'!, *' ve(hakanti, that I may dwell, or tabernacle, among than." When he quotes, John i. 14, " The ivc../ was made" (rather became) " flcfh, and dv/elt (?cx>ii^;r., eikcnofen, tabernacled) "* among us." " The Jews, whci difpuiing with the primilive " Ci'riftians, could not get clcnr of the true meaning of the words " of this text. Gen. iii. 24, without confeding that they lead to tee " idea of a Trinity of perlbns, and to Jchovah'.s incarnation; but " not being willing to r.llow that, in its fulleft and proper figni- "*' ficaticn, t' :y havr iince pcriuaded thcmiclves, that the v/ord " cherubim fignifies angeh :^'' which ftrange notion too many Jiavc given into tlut ought to know better, inl^5e6lion 46 ARIUS SLAIiSr, AND inipeftion of the divine Perfons reprefcnted by the cherubim. See Pf. xci. 4; cvi. 45. — In Ezek. xli. i8 — 20, 25, we have an abridged account of the cherubim, fomewhat differing from the others i and which might have been fo placed for the following pur- pofe: that, wherever they call their eyes when wor- fhipping in the temple, it might lead them to him whom the young lion and man reprefented, Chrifl; fo that the palm-tree between the face of the lion and the face of the man, might prefigure the peace v/hich Chrift fhould make for man. It may therefore be necelfary, firft, to inquire v/hat this cherubim repre- fented, and the probable meaning of the reprefenta- tion. — The firft time we find the cherubim men- tioned, after this, is in Exod, xxv. 18, wJiere Jehovah commanded Mofes to make two cherubim of gold of beaten work 5 and ver. 19th informs us, that they were to be made mDDn"]D of die matter of the propitiatory, or mercy-feat, and to be placed at the two extremities thereof; and the 20th verfe direds that their wings fliould cover the mercy-feat, and their facej were to look one to another. (Compare Exod. xxxvii. 8, 9; and 2Chron. iii. 13.) Toward the mercy-feat Ihall be the fjcei- of the cherubim; and ver. 22 fays, " There I " will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee, *' from above the mercy-feat, from between the two *' cherubim." — " And when Mofes v/as gone into " tht tabernable — then he heard the voice of cne fpeak- '^ ing unto him from off the mercy-feat — from be- '^ tween the two cherubim." Num. vii. 89. Here we have not any defcription of the figures of the che- Tubim, only that by having facej- they were plural; nor does it appear that the workmen had any pattern to SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 47 to make them by, as they had of the other parts of the facrcd furniture, recorded Exod. xxv, xxvi.; in which, at the 8th verfe, we find " they wrought che- *' rubim in the curtains of the tabernable of fine twifted " linen, in colours of blue, purple and fcarlet;" from which we may fuppofe that the figures of the cheru- bim were well known to the artificers. I believe it is generally acknowledged that the Teraphim, men- tioned Judg. xvii. 5; xviii. 14, 20; Hof. iii. 45 (and in the Hebrew of Gen. xxxi. 19, 34, 2S* improperly tranflated " images"), were a portable reprefentation of the cherubim; becaufc, in Gen. xxxi. 30, 32, Laban calls thofe images (Heb. Teraphim) his gods; pn^«; and, as among the Heathen, both in very ancient times and later, they had many compound images; " fo we find that the Teraphim were in ufe am.ong " believers, as the above texts Ihew ; they were alfo in " ufe among unbelievers, as may be fcen m the Hebrew of 2 Kin. xxiiii. 24; Ezek. xxi. 21 ; Zech. x. 2; and " feem to have been their penates, or houfehold gods, as "the Tyrians, Virgil, iEn. iv. lin. 21, who burned " incenfe to them, ^En. i. lin. 708 ; the Trojans, 7En. " i. lin. 382, from whom the Rom.ans derived their's. " The Trojan penates, according to Virgil, JEn. ii. " lin. 510, &c. v/ere placed in the open air, near a great " altar, and under the fliade of an ancient laurel; and^ *' after being faved from the conflagradon cf Troy by " ^neas, we find them furrounded with a glory, and " giving him oracular directions. lEn. iii. lin. 148, &c. " Com.pare Jud. xviii. 5, 6; Ezek. xxi. 21; Zech. x. « 2." See Parkhui-ft's Heb. and Eng. Lex. p. 646. The next Scripture account we have of the che- rubim is in I Kin. vi. 23 — 3^- Here alfo we have no particular dcfcriprion of their figure; fo that, when the 4? ARIUS SLAIN, AND the Jews erected the fecond temple, in the time of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah, they v/ere fo much un- acquainted, not only with the meaning, but alfo the figure of the cherubim, that, if it had not been for Ezekiel's vifions, we fhould not have had any knowledge refpedl- ing them. But as the clear comprehending of thefc figures was of high import, it pleafed God to fhew to that prophet, by repeated vifions, the figure of thofe emblems v/hich he has carefully recorded in the ifi: and xth chapter of his propheyj and, though the Jews be- lieve Ezekiel to have been a true prophet of God, and his writings to have been infpired, they did not pay tliat attention to thofe vifions that might have been na- turally exped:ed ; and which i'eem to have been given the prophet, on purpofe to remind the Jews of the ne- cefiity of their having their place in the holy of holies, in the temple they were about to build, as in that of Solomon, which fome of their old men muft have re- membered; and it is the more furprifing, as the Jews agree to this day, that ^' thofe vifions contain the moft " important myftery; and, in the defcription of them, the prophet has been fo very particular as to render it aimoil impoffible to miftake the great outlines of it. In chap. i. i, the prophet defer ibes his fituation " among the captives by the river of Chebar;" when " the heavens were opened, and he faw" by vifions tlie ^leim. — Verfe 2, "In the fifth day of the month, " in the fifth year of King Jehoiakim's captivity — " Ver. 3, The word Jehovah came exprefsly unto " Ezekiel the priejf. — Ver. 4, And behold a whirl- " wind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire " infolding itfelf, and a brightnefs was about it, and out " of the midfi: thereof as the colour of am.ber out of the " midft of the fire. — Ver. 5, Alfo out of the midft thereof " came SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 40 *^ came the likenefs of four living beings, and this was *' their appearance, they had thelikenejs of a man — Ver. *^ 6, And every one had four faces, and every one ** liad four wings. — Ver. 8, And they had the hands *' of a man under their wings, on their four fides. — *' Ver. lo. As for the likenefs of their faces, they four *' had the face of a man^ and the face of a lion on the " right fide, and they four had the face of a bull on *^ their left fide, they four alfo had the face of an eagki '' — Ver. II, Thus were their faces, and their v/ings *^ were ftretched upwards, two wings of every one " were joined one to another, and two covered their " bodies. — Ver. 26, And above the firmament, that " was over their headi, was the likenefs of a tiirone, " as the appearance of a faphire ftone, and upon the " likenefs of the throne was the likenefs as the appear- " ance of a man above upon it." In tlie tenth chapter the prophet gives a finiilar defcription of the cherubim, as in the firfl chapter, and in verfe 17, laft clauie (Hebrew), becaufe thtfpirit of life was in them. But the 20th verfe is very remarkable. " 'This is the liv- " ing" being " that I law" in the place " of the God of ** Ifraeli by the river of Chebar, and I knew that they " were the cherubim." If there was no other proof that the cherubim, a compound figure, was meant to reprefent one living being, liirely the 20th verfe (taken in connexion with the other parts of the chapter) ought to determine it ^ and, as I obferved before, is an intelligible rcprefentation of the perlonjin the divine Trinity y with the manhood comprifed. St. Paul, Heb* ix. 5, defcribing the furniture in die holy of holies, mentions " the cherubim of glory." And we find the i8di veill- of Kzek. chapter x. mentions that " the glory of Jehovah flood over the cherubim." E " Knowing 50 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " Knowing thus from Ezekiel the form of the cheru- *' bim, and knowing the ufage of the moft ancient " nations, particularly the Egyptians, of forming " compounded figures of this kind, for hierogly- " phical or fymbolical purpofes, from the remains of " their antiquities, ftill extant," we cannot entertain any doubt that this reprefentation was highly fignifica- tivej and that the cherubim, compounded of bull, man, lion, and eagle, were intended to fignify feveral charadlers, powers, or perfons, united together in one. Nor were the Egyptians fingoilar in compounding the figures of their deities. " The Italian Janus had two *^ faces, fometimes four; Diana at Ephefus had three; " and many Egyptian monuments fhew two, fometimes *' three, heads of different creatures to one body." " In *' vaft numbers of Gems, particularly thofe called " Abraxa's, human bodies have the heads, fometimes " of dogs, fometimes of lions, fometimes of eagles, or " hawks, &c." and it can Icarcely be doubted " that *' each of thofe reprefentations was fymbolical." Lord Prefident Forbes. If it fhould be afked how the Egyp- tians, &c. firft conceived the idea of forming thofe ftrange compounds, as the building of the tabernacle was not fo early as to give rife thereto ? It Ihould be remembered that the cherubim was immediately ex- hibited upon man's expulfion from Paradife, and was fo well known, when the Ifraelites left Egypt, that the workmen falhioned the figures of it v/ithout any direc- tion, as already obferved, page 46. May we not there- fore fafely infer, that " the compound figures of the *^ ancients, to reprefent their deities, had no other ori- *^ ginal but that at the entrance of the garden of Eden ?" Neverthelefs, in procefs of time, " they feparated " thofe fymbols, fuppofed die different figures to be " different SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 5 I •' different deities, and at lafl worlhipped them apart." For inftance, " the Egyptians had their Apis, the " bull;" " the Perfian Mithras was in all the devices " of the worfhippers of that idol, piflured a lion, or with " a lion's head ; and the Egyptian Sphinx, which flood " at the entrance of their temples, had only two of the " cherubicai figures joined in a flrange manner, the " head of the man put upon the body of the lion." " The eagle was to the Greeks and Romans an em- " blem facred to Jupiter, or Jovis, their great god, " whom they pidured like a man ," therefore, " from " the application made by the ancient Pagans to each " of the figures in the cherubim to fignify a different " deity, we may with reaibn conclude that they under- " flood that particular figure in die cherubim, which " they choofe for their prote6lor, or deity, reprefented " in the hieroglyphical ufage of the early times, the " power, the thing, or perfon, tliat they intended to " ferve." " Thus, for example, if the curled hairs and horns " in the bull's head were, in hieroglyphical writing, " made the emblem of fire in general, or fire at the " orb of the fun, thofe who took material fire for " their deity, would fet up that emblem and wor- « fhip it." " If the lion's piercing eyes," his mane, his colour, or, &c. occafioned " that animal to be the emblem of " light in general, or of light iffuing from the body of " the fun, fuch as took hght" for the objec5l of their worfhip, might efleem the lion a proper emblem. Or, " if the eagle's foaring flight, and commerce " thereby with the air, brought that bird to be the em- " blem of air, fuch as imagined a divinity in the air, in E 2 "clouds. ^1 aRius slain, and " clouds, in winds, would take that bird to reprefent " their deity." And the human figure in the cherubim muft, one iOiould fuppofe, be the moil natural occafion of that nniverfal miitake which all the Heathen, at length, dropped into of picturing their gods with human bo- dies, and the very eailiefl gave fome countenance to, in joining parts of the human body, to, almofl, all their reprefentations of their gods. " We know" (fays Lord Prefident Forbes) " from many texts of Scripture, " and from many paflages in Heathen hiflorians and " Mythologifls" (relators or expofitors of the ancient fables of the Heathen), " that the objeds of the ear- " lieft Pagan adoration, after lofing the idea of the true *' God," and his determined incarnadon (which the cherubim was, moll probably, intended to keep in re- membrance), " were the powers in the heavens that " were fuppofed to maintain this fyftem, the fun, moon, " and liars, the hoft of heaven, the queen of heaven ; " fire, which v/as fuppofed to be one of the chief agents, *' in fupporting the motion of the univerfej light, iflli- " ing from fire ; and the air, clouds, winds, &c. which ^'^ had infinite force, and were fuppofed to a6l a very " confiderable part in the government and preferva- " tion of the material world. — In particular we know " that fire, at the orb of the fun, was worlhipped by " the ancient Egyptians, who made ufe of Apis, the '' bull, for their emblem j and that the worfliippers of " Baal, the heifer, believed their god had the command " of fire," as may be gathered from i Kings xviii. •22 — 39. " Therefore it is no rafh conclufion that " the JduH's head v/as the hieroglyphical emblem of " fire, perhaps fire at the orb of the fun." ■ " "There SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. ^;^ " There were feveral temples in Egypt and Canaan " to the light of the fun; and in Egypt, as well as in " Perfia, the lion was a facred emblem. Wherefore, " it feems highly probable, the lion was ufed as the *' fymbol, or emblem of light, as the bull was made " ufe of as the emblem of fire." — " It is alfo well " known that die earlieft Heathen took the air, wind, " that which in the ancient languages is exprcfled by *^ a word fignifying, promifcuoufly, wind and fpirit, " that invifible agent which we feel, and wi'ch per- " forms fo many confiderable effefts in nature without " being feen;" this they alfo held as " a deity, and " to it they afcribed infpiration. Their fibyls," that is, " deliverers of oracles," " were inflated. Futurities, the " will of their god, was difcovered by the countenance " of clouds, and the flight of birds, which were reli- " gioufly obferved by Augurs (in the Hebrew, *' cloud-mongers). Thunder was the voice of their *^ god, which was portentous and much obferved. " Thunder was afcribed to the great Jove, the diun- " derer; and the eagle, with the thunderbolt, was his " enfign. Whence we may pretty fafely conclude, that " the eagle, to the worfliippers of the air, reprefented, " hieroglyphicaUy, nir^ windy fpirit." " If the deity, to give fome idea of himfelf from a " fenflble objed, had made choice of the heavens as " that fenflble objeft, from which to take the imperfed " idea of his immenfity, perfonality, manner of exift- " ence, and operation; if, by the vaftnefs and extent of " them, his immenfity was to be reprefented ; if, by "/r^ the firfl: named perfon, necefl^arily and continually " generating and fending forth light tlie fecond named " perfon, and confliantly and neceilariiy fupplied by " air or fpirit, the third named perfon; the ^m/'/y co- E 3 " cxiiling, 54 ARIUS SLAIN", AND " exlilingj and co-operating, for the fupport of the " whole, and in aid of each other, was to be repre- *' fented; then, upon difcovering this to mankind, the *' heavens would become the type oijehovah, the divine *^ elTence j fire would become the type of the lirft named *' perfonj light of the fecond; and air or fpirit of the " third ; fo that whatever emblems, in hieroglyphical *^ writing," or reprefentations, " were ufed to exprefs '^ thefe, as the names of the one, would or might be " ufed for the appellations or names of the other." " From all which we may perceive, that if this refem- " blance, or reprefentation, fliould be expreffed in ftone, " wood, or metal, the emblems of fire, light, and air, " or fpirit j that is, from what has been faid, the bull, " the lion, and the eagle, ought to be conjoined toge- ** ther into the form of one animal ; then every body, " who underftood the hieroglyphical emblems, would *^ be immediately led to think on the heavens which " they reprefentedj and, from thence, raife to himfelf the *' intended image of the 'Trinity in the divine efTence." "It calls for very particular attention, that the firfl, " and the grand miftakes in religion, proceeded from ** taking literally, what was meant figuratively, or em- " blematically only; and fo denying in efFe61; the fym- " bolical meaning ; for whatever pretence a revela- " tion, recorded in words by writing, might have to " be fo (literally) underftood, fure it was extremely " perverfe to take pi6tures only for the original " things, or perfons defigned to be exhibited by thofe " piftures." " The firfl who wandered from the truth miftook " the heavens, fire, light, and air, or fpirit, for what *' they were intended to reprefent, the invifible holy « 'Trinifji and as fuch worlhipped them, ufing the *' figures SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 55 ** figures of the bull, the lion, the eagle, only as hiero- " glyphical reprefentations of thofe powers which they " truly were intended to be. But, in procefs of time, " their fucceffors forgetting the fuppofed influence of " thofe powers in the air or heavens, and obferving " religious fervice paid to the forms of thofe animals, " made a fecond millake ; looked no more to the hcii- " vens, as their gods, but Itupidly imagined a deity to '^ be inherent in thofe graven or molten images which " they worll:iipped and ferved, and from whom they " looked for favour and proteftion." See Exod. xx. 4, 5. " It was alfo taking fymbols for realities that " led men to fuppofe a purifying quality in the blood " of beafls, which alfo led them to fancy diat Heca- " tombs, flaughtered, appeafed the Deity; and that *' God was delighted with the fmoke which arofe from " the fat of burnt-offerings." But though the Headien fell into thofe abfurd and abominable miftakes, it may be fully and clearly proved, from holy Scripture, diat the cherubim were intended for the moll valuable pur- pofes of information; and, when firfl placed at the gar- den of Eden, their fymbolical meaning was indifput- ably explained to Adam, and by him to Eve; or elfe they might have fuppofed thofe fymbols fet up as ob- jefts of worlliip, and paid adoration to them as fucli. Butwhen he was told that the bull, the lion, and tlie eagle, v/ere the I'ymbols of lire, light, and air, or fpirit, having been rjiade acquainted with the powers and ufe of each of thofe elements, as he had been of all the pro- perties of nature, as appears from his underilanding the properties of all the creatures, {o as to give tjiem names applicable to their nature, he would eafily com- prehend how thofe emblems might be fymbolical of the charaders or perfons in the divine elfence; for, E 4 " whatever 5^ ARIUS SLAIN, AND " whatever occafion man might have had for the *^ knowledge of the diftinftion of perfons In the Deity, " before the fallj it feems certain the manner of his " falvation, after his defe6lion, could not have been *'^ imparted to him without revealing that truth" (namely the diftin6lion of perfons in the Godhead), *^ undifcoverable by the light of nature. He could *^ not poffibly know by v/liat means, or upon what *^ account, his fins were to be pardoned, and himfeif *^ reinftated in the favour of God, without being told " that the Deity confifts oi three perfons 3 that, of thofe " three, purfuant to a covenant made before the crea- ?^ tion *, the fecond" named " was to take on him ^* flelli, and in the form of man to fuffer, and thereby " atone for the fins of mankinds and that the third'- named " was to keep a communication with the fouls *' of men for their guidance and comfort; and man *^ could not poffibly keep up, with any certainty, the '^ memory of this revelation without fome memorial, ^^ fome fymbolical adt or thing to preferve it ; or look " upon fuch fymbol (knowing the fenfe of it) without " gratefully confeffing his obligations to thofe divine ^' perfons to whom he owed his heingy his comfort^ his ^'^ Jahation" " A ChriJiicWy the moft important article of whofe «' creed it is, that the Deity was joined to die humanity, '^ that the Word was made flelh, that a perfon in Je- *' hovah became the fon of man, and a man, born of * We read, Ephef. i. 4 ; 2 Tim. i 9 ; Titus i. 2, " of a choice ; *•' perfons chofen in Chrift before the world began;" and in Gen, ix. 9, of God's efiablifhing bis covenant with Noah, which implies it had been made before. And the Pfalmifl: fays, Pfal. Ixxiv. 20, ** Have refpeft unto the covenant." And Ifa. liv. 10, " Neither f? (hall the covenant of my peace be removed, faith Jehovah." *^ a virgiq SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 57 ^' a virgin, become the Son of Jehovah, will not dif- " credit when he is told, that in the reprefentation of " the Deity exhibited under fymbols in the cherubim " for the inftruftion and comfort of mankind, the fi- *^ gurc of a man is added to thofe that reprefcnt the *' Trinity i that thia figure of a man is placed at the " right hand of that emblem which reprefents the Fa- " ther, the firft named perfon, the fire; and that it is " in a particular manner conjoined with the lion, the " fecond named perfon, the hght; but will then firmly " believe what thefe figures tlius explained reprefent; " and muft think it agreeable to the great condefcen- " fion and merciful goodnefs of God, to acquaint man " from the beginning with what fb nearly concerned " him, and what without revelation he could not pof- " fibly have any idea of" Lcn^ Frejident Forbes. It is not only the hieroglyphical reprefentation in the cherubim that deferves particular confideration, from the figures of which it was compounded, but alfo tlie rank the cherubim had in the tabernacle and in So- lomon's temple. I have already Ihewn from various Scriptures, that the cherubim were to be made out of the matter of the mercy-feat, which they were to cover with their wings, and that, (landing at each extremity of that mercy-feat, their faces were to look towards each other, and to- wards the mercy-feat, and that from thence Jehovah would commune with Mofes, Exod. xxv. ii; and from Numb. vii. 89, it appears he did fpeak to Mofes agreeable to that promife. Nor was his refidence there confined to the days of Mofes ; for we find in Pfalm Ixxx. I, the prophet fays, " Give car, O thou Shep- *' herd of Ifrael, thou that leadeft Jofeph hke a flock; " thou that dwelleft- between the chenibim, Ihine forth.'* See fS ARIUS SLAIN, AND See alfo Pfal. xcix. i. From which (Scriptures) It appears, that the fpace between the two cherubim h defcribed particularly as the place of the refidence of the Deity, and of his appearance, and from thence to make his will known. " Befides this, there was a " flated folemn ceremony to be performed once a year, " on the day of expiation, he/ore the mercy-feat -, the " high prieft was to bring within the vail the blood of " the fin-offering, and with that to make atonement " for all the people by fprinkling of the blood upon " the mercy-feat, and feven times before it -, and the " blood fo Iprinkled is faid to expiate." Alfo a charge was given, " that the high prieft (Levit. xvi. 12, 13) *' fhould take a cenfer full of burning coals of fire from *' off the altar I'efore the face of Jehovah, and his hand " full of fweet incenfe beaten fmall, and bring them " within the vail -, and he fhall put the incenfe upon " the fire before the face of Jehovah, that the cloud " of the incenfe may cover the mercy-feat which is " above the teftimony, that he die not." Why is the mercy-feat to be covered ? Becaufe Je- hovah fays, ver. 2, " / will appear in the cloud upon " the mercy-feat." " The atoning blood, in this higheft and moft fo- " lemn a6t of the Mofaical infcitution, was fprinkled " on that part of the mercy-feat towards which the " feveral faces of the cherubim were diredled; and if " they were to fee, they had not any objed: to look " at on this folemn day of expiation but the prieft in " die holy garment, the emblem of the fecond named " perlbn, the light, fprinkling the blood on and to- " • wards the mercy-feat ; which could hardly fail to " raife the idea, that the blood fo fprinkled was the " objed that the divine perfons whom thefe figures " (in SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 59 ** (In the cherubim) reprefented, looked upon as the " propitiation, the ranfom, the atonement." " And " if it was neceflary towards making this emblem fully " perfeft to reprefent all the perfons as looking upon " and accepting this blood, then it was requifite to ** make two feveral complete cherubim, and to place *^ them, as the prophet defcribes, at the different ex- " tremities of the mercy-feat, that the faces of each " figure (or cherub) might be direfted towards the " very Ipot whereon the blood was to be fprinkled; " becaufe, had there been no more than one repre- " fentation of the figures in the cherubim, tv/o only of " the four faces could have been directed to the place *' on which the blood was to be Iprinkled," and Je- hovah could not have dwelt between them. " Be- " fides, whoever believes that the covenant (from ** which the appellation Aleim arofe) was made, or " entered into by the Aleim from the beginning, and " was intimated to Adam upon the fall, or when the " purpofe of mercy was firft revealed ; and when, for " explaining and recording that purpofe of grace, the " whole emblematical inftitution was appointed, and " the cherubim exhibited, he will readily admit that '^ the pofition of the two compound figures with their " faces looking towards each other, and at the mercy- " feat, where the blood of atonement was to be Iprin- *' kled, might reprefent the Aleim as parties in the aft " for making a covenant, looking and relying on each *' other for the performance, and regarding the bloody " which was the emblem of the confideration for " which man was to be redeemed ; and this opinion " he will the more readily confcnt to wiien he recol- " lefts that the ark which fupported the mercy-feat " and the cherubim, the principal emblems of the 7 " Jewilh Bo ARIUS SLAIN, AND *' JewIHi religion, is commonly called " tne ark of " the covenant." If It fhould be aflced, what the faces of the other fi- gures in the cherubim were fuppofed to be looking at while their conlbciates were viewing the perfon fprink- ling the blodd before and upon the mercy- feat ? I would reply, that as the cherubim extended their wings from lide to fide of the holy of holies (fee aChron. iii. 1 1 — ij), fo thole whofe faces are reprefented as being out- wards, may be fuppofed to have been " extending " their gracious, companionate, benevolent attention " to the whole earth." It mull be confeifed, that the account given us by Mofes of the publication of the gofpel after the fall, is very fliort and concife ; " The "^ feed of the woman fhall bruife the ferpent's head.'* Yet it is highly probable, that the revelation made to Adam and Eve was in itfelf very full and explicit^ for hopes of mercy are fo far recorded in that fingle fen- tence, as to have preferved them from defpair and felf- deflru6lion until the cherubim was exhibited and ex- plained, which appears to have been immediately on the expulfion of our firll parents from Paradife^ when, doubtlefs, our moil merciful and gracious Creator would, in the explanation of the cherubim, reveal all, or perhaps more than was afterwards made known to Moles, relpe6ling the meaning thereof: for whoever duly conliders what has been faid above, unlefs he wil- fully fliuts the eyes of his intelle6lual faculties againft truth, and what ought to be efleemed demonllrative tefcimony, he mull, from what has been advanced, he confh-ained to acknowledge, that the cherubim led to a clear unequivocal idea, if not to a demonftration, that iJiere are three perfons in the Godhead i " whereof 3 . • ff one SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 6t *^ one became bound to join himfclf to humanity, per - " form complete righteoufnefs, and give the fuUeft " fatisfadlion for the fins of mankind; one became " bound to aflill man thus redeemed, to believe in, " and lay hold upon this glorious redempdon," and then to fanflify his whole foul and body after the image of his Creator, in righteoufnefs and true holinefs; and " one became bound to accept of that fatisfaiflion, and " upon receiving it, to admit man to fellowfhip and " favour;" and whoever is convinced of thefe precious truths will be led to confefs, that even " before the " creation a covenant was made to this purport be- " tween the facred Tbjrcj in the event of man's fall- ^' ing;" and will with more pleafure acknowledge it when he reflects upon feveral pafTages of Scripture which have an immediate tendency to confirm the text; particularly Gen. vi. 1 8, ix. 9, where^ it is faid, " I " will eitabUfh my covenant;" which fuppoles a cove- nant to have pre-exifled as a promife of mercy, &c. David fays, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, " He hath made for me " an everlafting covenant." Pfal. Ixxiii. 20, the pro- phet fays, " Have refpc(5t unto the covenant." Ezek. xvi. 60, laft claufe, *' I will eftablifh unto thee an " everlafting covenant." Zech. ix. 1 1, " As for thee " alfo, by the blood of thy covenant I have fent fordi *' thy prifoners out of the pit where is no water." Ifa. Iv. 3, " I have made for you an everlafting covenant, " the fure mercies of David." Heb. xiii. 20, " The " blood of the everlafting covenant." After what has been faid, I think it needful only to obferve, that " whatever religious a6l was done under " the Mofaic difpenfation, was diredled to be where " the Deity was to refide, to dwell, to appear in the " midft of the people, in the place where he was to " put 6l ARIU5 SLAIN, AND " put his name ; the place where, and where only, in " exclufion of all others, facrifice was to be offered, *' the altar was to be fet up, and every other ceremo- " nial or emblematical a6t of their religion was to be " performed i" and more particularly the higheft al- ready fpoken of, the fprinkling of blood upon the mercy-feat before the cherubim; " therefore whatever " was there done is laid to have been done before Je^ *' hovahy in the Hebrew, always before the faces of «' Jehovah:" now, if the feveral faces of the cherubim are taken to reprefent the perfons in the Deity, and tlierefore to be called xhc faces oi Jehovah^ the reafon of this phrafeology v/ill be obvious, as the phrafe itfelf will be fignihcant. CHAP. IV. 'Twehe irrefutable 'proofs given that Jejus Chriji has the incommunicable name, Jehovah.^ afcrihed to him by the iifpired writers 3 and that he is the Lord the Sa- viour. Adam and Eve being thus fully inflrufted in the meaning of the cherubim, and learning from thence, that in the fulnefs of time a perfon in Jehovah lliould (agreeable to the everlafting covenant, fee 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ; Ifaiah xxiv. 5 ; Heb. xiii. 20, and agreeable to the name Aleim) become man, we may juftly ac- count for Eve's exclamation upon bringing forth her firll-born, Cain, when flie fays. Gen. iv. i, nin^"71i* 8;^t5 "JT'ipa kaniti, I have gotten, ailh or ilh, a perfon, eth SOCINUS MORTALLY WOONDED. 6^ - cth Jehovah, of the EfTence exifting *." Does not this text lead us naturally to conclude, that God preached to Adam and Eve before he expelled them from Paradife (or perhaps when he was pleafed to explain the meaning of the cherubim to them), that Jehovah was to become incarnate ? But Eve not know- ing when, and having brought forth a man child, llie would naturally utter the fentence under confideration, with that earned eager joy by which a man exprefles * 'n'Jp, firfi: perfon iing. Indie, preter. in kal; from the root njp, to get, poflefs, &c. ir>'«, a noun, with a formative «, fig- nifying " a being, or thing fubfifting or exiting." It is fome- times tranflated " a man;" but in Numb. xix. 18; I Sam. xvi. 18; 2 Sam. iv. 9, it is rendered " perfon." n«", a particle, de- noting " nearnefs, approach; alfo the very fubfiance of a thing; •* the; the very." -niiT. Perhaps fome perfons u'ould tranllate thofe words, " I have gotten a man the Lord." Bat it Ihould be remembered, the word is mns Jehovah; not 'JT«, Adoni; and therefore ought (in that cafe) to be read, I have gotten a man, the — Jehovah; not " from Jehovah;" as there is not any word or letter in that Hebrew "-ext which fignifies,yroOT. Befides, mn', Je- hovah, is a compound word, as I have already fhewn, p. 35. And the late learned John Hutchinfon, Efq; fays, that " mn', is com- *' pounded of n', the effence, and the participle mn, exifling by ** fome virtue, power, or aftion, neceffarily and voluntarily in it- ** felf ; fupporting or fuftaining its exiilence perfonally, in manner, *' in virtue, in power, in ftrength, in adlion, in wifdom, &c.'* Again, he fays, ** The word n', expreffes fimply the effence; the " word mn goes further; implies every perfon, power, and man- *' ner which is in, or with the Effence, &c." See his Mofes's Sine Principio, p. 22, 23. And as this learned gentleman's opinion is fupported by others, enumerated p. 36, I have tranflated the paf- fage, I have gotten 2l perfon of the Effence exifting. Mr. Hutch- infon himfclf has rendered thofe words in his Introduction to Mofes's Siae Principio, p. 202, " I have got a man, the very Je- *' hovah." Had the word been »:i«, Adoni, inllead of Jehovah, it might have been rendered, I have got a man, the Lord, the Rul- er, the Governor, &c. ; but as the wofd is mn>, Jehov-ah, I hum- bly conceive it Hiould be read as i have tranflated it. himfelf ^4 ARIUS SLAIN, AND himfelf when he has with much pains and attention accompliihed or obtained fomething that he moft ear^ rieftly defired. — Inftance. — When Themiftocles the Athenian admiral delerted to the king of Perfia, that king was fo exceedingly elated, that he would fre- quently cry out when he awaked from his fleep, " Thank the gods ! I have gotten Themiilocles the " Athenian." So Eve, in a rapturous tranfport of joy, — Kanithi aifh eth.— Jehovah ! I have gotten a perfon of the Effence exifting ! And why this ecftafy ? Becaufe fhe had experienced a ftate of holinefs, and had alfo felt the bitter evil and baneful confequences of fin. She therefore longed for that Deliverer who was to come from her feed, that fhould " bruife the fer- " pent's head, deflroy fin, and him that had the power «' of fin, that is, the devil." And as Ihe was firfl called " nE?t^, alhah, a woman j" fhe wanted to ex- perience that her new name, " mn, chavah, the ma- « nifefier," Ihould be fulfilled; * and that Ihe might behold " God manifeft in the fiefli," i Tim. iii. i6, to take away her fins, to redeem her from all iniquity, and that fhe might be created anew " in righteoulhefs *' and true holinefs, and be thereby enabled to live to **■ the praife of the glory of his grace." Having clearly and inconteftably proved in the pre- ceding pages, from the fullefl evidence which ought to be required by any perfon (who is not determined to refift all evidence, and difpute againft the cleareft proof), that there are a plurality of perfons in the * ** Adam calls her name E-ve (Hebrew mn, chavah, " mani- " feller).'' See John i. 4; xi. 25; Col. ii. 3; iii. 4; and particu- larly 1 John i. 2, where in the expreffion, " the life was'manifefted," the apoltle plainly alludes to the \ziy name given to Eve, and the " reafon of it." Farkhurji. Aleim, SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 6$ Aleim, or Godhead ; and that the cherubim feems to have been erefted, partly to keep that great truth in remembrance, as well as to teach that the manhood was to be taken into the Godhead, in confequence of an antimundane covenant which the word Aleim leads to the idea of, as already fhewn, p. 26 and 40. I now come to prove that Jefus Chrift has the names of God given him; and as Gen. iv. i, is fo fiill to the purpofc, and is of To very early a date, I (hall begin with that. Gen. iv. 1, " Then Adam Icnew Eve his wife," *' when fhe conceived, and bare Cain, and faid," I have gotten a per/on of the EJfence exijling *. Proof j?ry?, that Je- fus * It flrikes me, that while our firfl: parents were in a ftate of in- nocence Adam had not any carnal knowledge of his wifej pofiibly had no inclination, or perhaps the fhort time of their continuing in that ftate (with the purity of their thoughts) might fcarccly af- ford them an opportunity ; for it is probable, that Adam had all the knowledge imparted to him of which he was fo eminently pof- feffed, prior to the woman's creation; and it appears by Gen. ii. 19, 20, that " Adam gave names to every living creature, to all " cattle, to the fowls of the air, and to every beaft of the field " (agreeable to their natures, which manifefled his wifdom) ; but ** as to Adam, there was not found an help-meet for him." Now if Adam had been in carnal connexion with his wife while in a ftate of innocence, fhe might have conceived then as well as Qie did afterwards. In that cafe, muft not the child have been holy? But after they had finned, and the curfe was denounced, fear might be fo powerful a reftraint upon their inclinations as to prevent fuch commerce ; but when the promife was clearly underftood by the exhibition and explanation of the cherubim, they would be natu- rally led to indulge their inclinations, as by that means they I:nped for a fpeedy accompliftiment of the promife, " Thy feed mail " bruife the fcrpent's head." I have therefore tranflated the firft 1, vau, in the verfe as a conneftive particle, thtn; as in Gen. iii. 5; Ecclef iv. 7 ; and the i before nnn, ^johen\ as in i Sam. xii. 12 ; Prov. iii. 28; and as an additional reafon to thofe already given, for tranflating the Lift clau'.e of the verfe, *' I have gotten a per- ' F " fon 6S ARIUS SLAm, AND fus Chrlfl Is Jehovah, or a perfon in the ElTence e'lift- ing.— In Exod. xxiii. lo^ it is written, " Behold I " win fend the angel before thee*"— Ver. 21, " Be- " v/are of him and obey his voice, provoke him not, " for he will not pardon your tranfgreffions, becaufe " my name is in hi?n.'' Who was this angel? The proto-martyr Stephen, fpeaking of Chrift, proving him to be the Meffiah before the Sanhedrim, or great coun- *' fon of the Eflence exifting;" I find the Septuagint have gen- dered that claufe, " 'EKT>jaa/Alo5 avB^uvoi/ h» Tii Sea,'' I have got- ten a man of God. Had the Hebrew been agreeable to their tranf- lation, it would have been a»n'?t^n ty'«, inftead of mn»-n« m^H; and then Mofes might as well have claimed the Meffiahfhip as the blefled Jefus Chrift; for he is called, Pfal. xc. in the title, czi'n^Kn t:»'«, a man of God; but blefled be the Lord, the facred original is Aifh, eth— Jehovah; and muft (to do it juftice) be read as J have tranflated the claufe, or as Mr. Hutchinfon reads it, *' I have got a man, the very Jehovah;" or, I have gotten a per- fon of the Jehovah ; therefore this is a proof that Jefus Chrift is a divine perfon, or a perfon in the Godhead. Had there been a a, mem, prefixed to the particle n«, ath, then it might indifputably have been read, I have gotten a man from the Lord, or from Je- hovah ; but as the Old Teftament, as well as the New, was fo ad- mirably indited by the Holy Spirit of infinite Wifdom, that there is not a letter fuperfluous nor a letter omitted; becaufe ** every *' word ftands for fome material and fenfible objeift, which God ** created to reprefent and to give us ideas of fome correfpondenc " and fpiritual objeft." " Alfo, the Hebrew language, like a ** ftriking picture, generally defcribes the paflions by the eifedls " they have on the body." Therefore, that letter ?d being want- ing, prevents the claufe being read as our tranflation has given it, and demands to be read as above tranflated; and it is as eafy a claufe to tranflate as any in the whole Hebrew Bible ; becaufe the words follow each other : and there are no difficult grammatical in- flexions or variations, fo as to render it poflible to miftranflate it, unlefs that be done wilx'iilly, or from prejudice againft the doctrine it holds forth. Montanus reads it, " Acquifivi virum cum Do- *' mino," I have gotten a man with the Lord ; and in the margin he reads it, '* per Dominum," by or through the Lord. Cil SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. ^7 cU of the Jews, fays, Afts vii. 38, " This is he that " was in the church in the wildernefs, with the angel " whicli fpake to him in Mount Sina *." — Ver. 2S» " The angel which appeared to him in the buQi," who is called, Exod. iii. 2, " The angel Jehovah i" who, in ver. 6, fays, " I am the Aleim of thy father, " the Aleim of Abraham, the Aleim of Ifaac, and the " Aleim of Jacob. Then Mofes hid his face, for lie " was afraid to look upon God." Stephen calls him, Adsvii. 31, " oi/Tj Kupiou, the voice of the Lcrd.'* The very fame word which the Septuagint fubftitute always for Jehovah. But it lliould be ferioufly re- marked, that if that angel is not Jehovah he could not -pardoHy and therefore the exprefTion would have been abfurd; but admit him to be Jehovah, as he moft certainly was, and then both the charge and the reafon for giving it appear juft, requifite, and proper. Alfo, in chap, xxxiii. 14, Jehovah fays (for he is the fpeaker)j " My prefcncc fliall go with thee, and I will *^ give thee reft." Therefore it was the angel Je- hovah, or Chrift, as appears by comparing the feveral texts quoted in this page. Here is a Jecond proof that Chrift is Jehovah. And in chap, xxxii. 31, " Mofes " returned to Jehovah, confefled that the people had *^ finned a great finj" then fays, ver. 32, " Yet now, ** if thou wilt forgive their finj but if not, blot me, I *' pray thee, out of thy book which thou haft written." Ver. 1^2)^ Then Jehovah faid unto Mofes, " Whofoever ** hath finned againft me, him will I blot out of my « bockr But I find. Rev. xxi. 27, calh it, " The '^ Lamb's bock of life." Alfo, Rev. xiii. 8, calls it, *' The book of life of the Lamb fiain from the founda- * St. Paul fays, i Cor. x. 4, " That fpiritual rock which (mar- ** giu) attended them was Clu-ift." Fa ** tion ^S ARIUS SLAIN, AN© « tlon of the world." Who was this Lamb? John thel Baptift fays, pointing to Chrift, John i. 29, " Behold the " Lamb of God." Alfo, ver. 36, " And looking upon " Jefus as he walked, he faith. Behold the Lamb of " God." And St. John calls him. Rev. v. 5, " The Lion " of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David." And in chap. xxii. 16, "I Jefus — am the Root and Offspring " of David." Alfo this Lamb is reprefented (Rev. V. 6), " ftanding as a lamb that had been flain, having " feven horns (to denote his omnipotence), and feven " eyes" (to declare his omnifcience) ; and to manifeft his divinity, the hierarchies of heaven, the elders, ,the angels, and the fpirits of the juftified who were " made " pcrfecb in glory," to the number of " ten thoufand " times ten thoufand, and thoufands of thoufands (but " no Socinians among this great multitude), fung," vcr. 9, " a nev/ fong of praife unto him-i^ and ver. 12, they fay " with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb " that was flain;" and ver. 13, " Blefling, and honour, *' and glory, and power, be unto him that fitteth upon *' the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Now, Sir, thefe were not fallible men, but the whole army of heaven that afcribed the fame glory to the Lamb as to him that fat upon the throne. Again, chap. vii. 9, 10. The innumerable multitude of the redeemed that were " clothed with white robes (to denote their *^ complete juftification), and with palms in their hands" (to fhew their complete victory over Arius, Socinus, fin, death, the grave, and tlie powers of hell). Ver. 10, And they cried with a loud voice, faying, " Salvation *' to our God who fitteth upon the throne, and to the " Lamb." Furthermore, the prophet, defer ibing " the " holy Jerufalem" in chap. xxi. fays, at ver. 22, " I " faw no temple therein j for the Lord God Almiglity '' and SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, 69 " and the Lamb are the temple of it." Ver. 23, " And the city had no need of the fun, neither of the " moon to (hine in it i for the glory of God did en- " lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Here the Lamb is exprefsly faid to be " the glory of God, " and the light of the holy city, the new Jerufalem." Alfo chap. xxii. i, " And he Ihewed me a pure river " of water of life, clear as cryftal, proceeding out of " the throne of God and of the Lamb." Again, ver. 6, " The Lord God of the holy prophets fent his angel " to fhew unto his fervants the things which muft: " fhortly be done." But in ver. 16, " I Jefus have " fent mine angel to teftify unto you thefe things in the " churches." Therefore " Jefus is the Lord God of " the holy prophets." Put thefe Scriptures together, confider them well. Sir, and remember that God hath pofitively declared, Ifaiah xlii. 8, " I am Jehovah, that is my name, and '' my glory will I not give to another." Yet the apoftle to the Hebrews, chap. xiii. 21, fays, " Through Je- " fus Chrift, to whom be glory for ever and ever. " Amen." And he repeats the declaration, to make it indifputably fure, Ifaiah xlviii. 11, " I will not give " my glory unto another." Yet the fame glory is given to the Lamb as to him that fat upon the throne. Here is a third irrefutable proof that Jefus Chrift, the Lamb, is Jehovah. Again, Ifai. xlvi. 6, " Thus faith Jehovah tlie king " of Ifrael, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hofts, I am " the firft and I am the laft, and befides me there is " no God." Again, chap, xlvii. 4, " As for our Re- " deemer, the Lord of Hofts is his name, the holy One " of Ifrael." Again, chap, xlviii. 12, " Hearken unto *^ me, O Jacob, and Ifrael my called 3 I am he, I ani F 3 " the 70 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " the firft, I alfo am the laft." But I find in Rev. i, lo, the prophet fays, " I was in the Spirit on the '^ Lord's day, and heard a voice behind me as of a " great trumpet," Ver. ii, *' Saying, I am Alpha " and Omega, the firft and the laft." Ver. 12, "I *^ turned to fee the voice that fpake to me, and being *' turned, I faw" — ver. 13, " the likenefs of the Son " of man." Ver. 17, " And when I faw him I fell at '^ his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, *^ faying unto me, Fear not, I am the firft and the laft." And chap. xvii. 13, *' I am Alpha and Omega, the " beginning and the end, die firft and the laft." Proof fourth that Jefus Chrift is Jehovah. In Exod. xvii. 2, " Wherefore the people did chide " with Mofes — who faid unto them. Why do you " chide with me? Wherefore do ye tempt Jehovah?" Ver. 7, " He called the name of the place MafTah, *' i. e. temptation— becaufe they tempted Jehovah." See Numb. xxi. 5, " And the people fpake againft " God and againft Mofes j Wherefore have ye brought " us up out of Egypt to die in the wildernefs ? — there <^ is no water." Ver. 6, " And Jehovah fent fi.ery ** ferpents among the people, and they bit the people, *' and much people of Ifrael died." St. Paul, fpeaking of thefe infults, &c. i Cor. x. 9, fays, " Neither let us " tempt Chriji as fome of them alfo tempted, and were " deftroyed of ferpents." A ^/i? proof that Chrift is Jehovah. I now come to a pafiage which fo fully and clearly proves the angel (fpoken of Exod. xxiii. 20 — 22, as I have already ftiCwn in the preceding page) to be Chrift, I am naturally led to fuppofe, that not only Arians, but Socinians, muft be confounded and put to filence, fo as no longer to eruet their horrid blafpheraies againft SOCINUS ^fOR■TAI.LY WOUNDED, J t *'^" the Prince (or it may be read Author) of life," Ads iii. 15; and " Lord of glory," i Cor. ii. 8 *. The pafTage is in Jofhiia v. 13 — 15, " And it came to " pafs when Jofhua was by Jericho, that — behold " there flood a man over againil him with his fword " drawn in his hand ; then Jofliua went unto him, and " faid unto him. Art thou for us, or for our adverfa- " ries? Ver. 14, "And he faid, nay:" m^T*'-^^:3^i— iiy ^JK O, for I am Prince of the hoft Jehovah. " Then " Jofhua fell on his face to the earth and" worfhipped him: and " faid unto him, What faith my Lord " unto his fervant?" Ver. 15, Then fpike the Prince of the hoft Jehovah unto Jofliua, " Loofe thy Ihoe " from off thy foot," becaufe the place which thou didft ftand upon it (is) confecrated ; " and Jofliua did " fo." What can you (or the Jews) fay to this. Sir? For I hope neither you nor the Jews will fay, I have not given it a proper tranflation! If this man was not Jehovah, Jofliua was guilty of fhameful idolatry j fuch • I would here advertife the reader, that he may probably ob- ferve fome texts of Scripture quoted more than once, and may blame jt as tautological prolixity; but I requeft him to confider, that I jnyfelf intend to raife cbjedtions, fuch as, I fuppofe, the Socinians would advance in argument; whereby I hope to (how that each of thofe texts which I have repeated, is an anfwer to fevcral of their objedions. 1 fhall alfo manifeft, that Jefus Chrift has all the di- vine names, viz. Aleim, Jehovah, and Adoni, given him; and in proving this, perhaps it ^ay be requifite to quote the fame texts, either to prove thofe points or to fupport other portions of Scrip- ture that correfpond therewith; becaufe, as they (the Socinians) do not allow the plenary infpiration of the canonical books, it may be neceffary to confirm the point by the teftimony of various pro- phets or apoftles ; and in fo doing it may poffibly be requifite to repeat the fame text more than once, efpecially as I have thought it needful to reply to feveral of Dr. Prieflley's negations of the doci Criacs contained in the holy Scriptures. F 4 a% 72 ' ARIUS SLAIN, AND as Jehovah would not have excufed in a prophet, which Jofhua was beyond contradiftion. For if he had been only a man, he could not have been the captain of the hofti becaufe Jofhua was eminently fo by God's appoint- ment. Had he been only an angel that Jehovah had fent before Ifrael, or with them, and his created glory had led Jofhua to fuppofe that he was one of the divine per- fons of the Aleim, when Jolhua proftrated himfelf to worlhip him, he would moft afllirediy have faid to Jo- fhua as the angel that fhewed John the great things he beheld, " When I had heard and feen, I fell down to " worfhip at the feet of the angel (compare Rev. xix. " lo), which fhewed me thefe things. Then faith he " unto me. See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow- *^ fervant, and' of thy brethren the prophets — ^worfhip " God." Rev. xxii. 8, 9. From which we may fafely conclude, that the perfon whom Jofhua worfhipped was not an angel -, he dared not to have taken the glory due to his divine Mafler alone: had he been only a m.an, Jofhua would not have worfhipped him j there- fore he was the God-man, Chrift Jefus, who frequently appeared in the human form, and that Jofhua knew well; becaufe he had miniftered to Mofes many years, had bee.a his conftant attendant, was with him in the Mount forty days, and abode continually in the taber- nacle as the fervant of Mofes, or his minifter. See Exod. xxxiii. 11. Befide, read his folemn declaration before the whole congregation of Ifrael, Jofhua xxiv. After briefly enumerating the mercies that God had conferred upon them as a peculiar people, from Abra- ham's time to that day, he fays, ver. 15, " If it feem *' evil unto you to ferve Jehovah, choofe ye this day " whom ye will ferve, whether the gods which your *^ fathers ferved that were on the other fide of the " fiood^ SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 73 *^ flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whofe land ye " dwell ; but as for jne and my houfe we will ferve Je- " bovab.'* For all thefe reafons Jofhua was the moft unlikely man upon earth to worlliip any creature, even the moft exalted of the heavenly hoft -, therefore the man whom he worfhipped was be to whom divine wor- fhip is juftly due, the God-man Cbrift Jefus. Ilere is a lixth proof that Jefus Chrift is Jehovah. In the Book of Judges, chap. xiii. we have another inconteftable proof that the angel who was with the church of Ifrael at this time alfo, was the Go^-man, as may be clearly feen from the following verfes, of which I have given a juft tranflation. Ver. 3, " And the angel '^ Jehovah appeared unto the woman" (Manoah's wife.) Ver. 6, " Then the woman came and told her huf- " band, faying, a man of God (the Hebrew is DMbl^n " 'tyj^, a man, or rather a perfon of the Aleim) came " unto me, — but I afked him not whence he was," neither did he tell me his name. Ver. 7, " But he faid " unto me. Behold, thou llialt conceive and bear a fon ** — the child Ihall be a Nazarite to God from the " womb to the day of his death." Ver. 8, " Then " Manoah entreated Jehovah, and faid, O my Lord, " let the" Man of the Aleim (or die Perfon of the Aleim) " whom thou didft fend, come again to us, &c." Ver. 9, " And the Aleim hearkened to the voice of " Manoah, and the angel of the Aleim came again, " &c." Ver. 15, " Then Manoah faid unto the angel " Jehovah, I pray thee let us detain thee undl we Ihall " have made ready before thy facej a kid of die goats." Ver. 16, " If thou wilt offer a burnt-offering thou " muft offer it unto Jehovah, for Manoah knew not " that he was" the angel Jehovah. Ver. 17, And Manoah faid unto the angel Jehovah, What is thy name ? 74 ARIUS SLAIN, AND name ? that when thy words come to pafs we may do thee honour. Ver. i8, And the angeJ Jehovah faid unto him, Why aflceft thou after my name, feeing k is exceeding wonderfjl * ? Ver. 1 9, So Manoah took a kid with a meat-oftex ing, and offered it upon a rock unto Jebcvab, and he did wonderoufly; aiid Manoah and his wife looked on. Ver. 2,0, For ic came to pafs, when the flame went up from off die altar towaid the teavens, that the angel Jehovah afcended in the flame cf the altar; but Manoah with his wife looking on, then fell on their faces to the ground. Ver. 21, But the angel Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife -, then Manoah knew that be was the angel Jehovah. Ver. 22, And Manoah f^id unto his wife. Dying we fliall die, becaufe we have feen God (Hebrew, Aleim). See alfo Judg. vi. 1 1 — 24, which correlpond fi) exa<5tly with the paffages in chap. xiii. quoted in this page, tiiat to deny this angel being a perfon of the Aleim, and of the Effence-exifting, is to confefs an un- derftanding fo weak as not to comprehend the mean- ing of two circumfl:ances that have the mofl: perfect re- iemblance to each other; for ver. 23 pofitively afferts tlie perfon fpeaking to Gideon to be Jehovah, to whom Gideon built an altar, and called it " Jehovah-flialom," " Jehovah is reconciled." Compare attentively ver. I4> 16, 22, 23, and you muff inevitably perceive that that angel was the hord God. See alfo Numb. xxii. and compare ver. 9, 20, 2S-> ^"^^ ^^j 3^j ^'^ ^^'^ ^hat " the angel of the Lord" is Aleim, and Jehovah. A due refleftion upon the verfes above quoted will naturally lead to a conclufion fomething fimilar to what * »K^s, plural, implies more than wonderful; and perhaps might be juftly rendered e^'ceeding comprehmfion. The fame word, only fin- gular inftead of plural, is rsndeKd " wonderful." Ifaiah ix. 6. follows. SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 75 (bllows. If this angel, as he is called (Hebrew, ']S*'?,'3), was not the angel of the covenant, and a perfon in the Aleim, Manaoh and Gideon intended to worfhip a creature, and cohfequently to become idolaters; for they muft have known that the bleflings then and there promifed to them could only come from Jehovah. Obfervc, that in ver. i8 of chap. xiii. his name is ex- ceeding wonderful} and in ver. 19, it is faid, Jeho- vah did wonderouflyi and in ver 20, that he afcended in the flame of the altar; and in confequence of that glorious but awful fight, Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground; being then aflured, ver. 21, that he was the angel Jehovah; and it appears from ver. 22, that Manoah expected a fpeedy death, becaufe, fays he, " we have feen God.'^ A proof that this was Jehovah Jefus " who was in the church in the wilder- •" nefs, &c." Aftsvii. 38. But it fhould be remarked, thit the word God in ver. 22, is in the Hebrew Aleim j and the woman fays in ver. 23, " If Jehovah was in- " dined to have flain us, he would not have received ^' a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands, " neither would be have fhewed us, nor would he at ** this time have /o/^ us all thefe things." From whence it appears, by comparing ver. 22, and 23, that this angel was Jehovah y^JIeim; alfo that Manoah and his wife faw (what the apoftle afferts iCor. iv. 6) " The " S^^U o^ ^^^ i" ^^^ per/on of Jefus Chriji." And as Manoah faid when he faw the glorious angel of the co- venant, " We have feen the Aleim;" that is, " the " fulnejs of the Godhead" fo the apoftle Paul fays, ** In him (Chrift) dwellech all the fidnejs of the God- ^^ headho^\\y" Colof ii. 9. A yh.'c'/^//:' proof that Je- fus Chrift is Jehovah. A very learned gentleman, whofe writings are an honour 7^ ARIUS SLAIN, AND honour to this nation, reads, i Sam. vii. 28, " And " now Adoni of the EJfence-^yii'^mgy thou thyfelf art of " the Aleim, and thy words Iliali be eftablilhed." If tliis be a true reading of the facred text (and 1 believe it would puzzle all the Arians and Socinians on earth to prove the contrary), here is another proof of the plurality of perfons in the Godhead; and it feems as if Chrift Jefus was that divine perfon whom the king- prophet is addreffing under the names Adoni Jehovah. In Pfalm xxiv. I find words expreffive of ^reat joy; fuch as might be fung on the triumphant return of feme royal mighty conqueror, v/ho had vanquifhed ail his enemies by a complete viftory over them. — Attend, Sir, to their rapturous language, and fuppofe that you hear their melodious accents. Ver. 7, " Lift up your " heads, O ye gates ! and be ye lift up, ye everlafting " doors! and the King of glory Ihall come in." Ver. 8, *^ Who is this King of glory? Jehovah ftrong and " mighty; Jehovah mighty in battle." And the ce- leftial armies feem impadent for his arrival, as if their biifs was not perfedly complete in his abfencej for they repeat their ftrains of joy. Ver. 9, " Lift up your " heads, O ye gates, " and be highly elevated " ye .*' everlafting doors, for * " the King of glory" cometh in. * I perfaade myfelf that the Hebraift will not cenfure me for the alteration I have made in ver. 9; becaufe «iyj, fignifies " eleva- ♦' tion, exaltation, rifmg, fwelling, &c." as well as to " lift up;" and the polite Englifh reader Vt^ill perceive a difference that will rather pleafe than offend. Alfo, I hope to be excufed for having altered the verb in the lall: claufe from the future to the prefent tenfe; becaufe, if the King of glory was not upon the point of en- tering, there v/oald not have been any neceifity for the importunity which feems to be marnfcfled for the immediate aperture of the ce- lefbial gates, the doors of eternal blifs. The word is " «l'i, va- ** jabo;" SOCINCS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 77 in. But upon finding the heralds fo very importunate, it is again demanded, Ver. lo, " Who is this King " of glory?" The fame anfwer is repeated with an additional epithet. '^ The Lord of Hofis, he is the " King of glory. Selah." // is epMiJhed. Take particular notice (as if the prophet had faid), all ye who deny that Chrift is Jehovah. — For if a perfon in Jehovah had not defcended to perform that great falva- tion (afcribed juftly to Chrift), wHy that elevation of the portals of heaven? why that expanfion of die ave- nues and entrance to the celcftial manfions of glory? Or upon what other occafion did a perfon in Jehovah ever defcend, to which this divine fong is fo properly applicable as to Chrift on his afcenfion ? And it is faid, Pfalm xlvii. 5, " God is gone up with a ftioutj Je- " hovah with the found of the trumpet." Therefore, as the armies of heaven celebrated the arrival of this glorious triumphant conqueror in fuch high ftrains of praife, when he " afcended up on high, and led cap- '' tivity captive," and hail him " the Lord of Hofts, " and the King of glor}^," — lliouting aloud, " Sing ** praifes to God, fing praifesj fing praifes to our " King, fing praifes," Pfal. xlvii. 6 3 furely thefe high encomiums were given as a juft tribute of praife to him who died for our " fms, and rofe again for our " juftification;" " who having fpoiled principalities " and powers, he made" public exhibition " of them, " triumphing over them" by himfelf j Colof ii. 15. " And is fet at the right hand of God, far above all " jabo;" firll perfon future, with vau converfive; but as the fenfe of the paflage will not allow it by any means to be tranflated in the preter; and from what I have advanced above, it docs not feem to be at any diftant period, I have rendered it in the prefent tenfe, aj bcft correfponding with the context. " piinclpality ^8 ARIUS SLAm> AND "^ principality and power, and might and domhioFij *' and every name that is named, not only in this *' world, but alfo in that which is to comej" Ephef. h 20, 21. And this agreeable to the ftridteft rules of equity; becaufe " all thrones, dominions, principali- **■ ties, and powers, and things in heaven, and things " in earth, were created l>y him zndfor him" Colof. i^ 1 6. And " he is the head oiall principality and power;" Colof. ii. lo. — Alfo the idea 1 have given the above Scriptures is confirmed fully by the apoftle, where he fays, " Had they known, they would not have cruci- " fied the Lord oi glory" i Cor. ii. 8. Here is the eighth proof that Jefus Chrilt is Jehovah. Again, Pfal. Ixxxix. 8, 9, " O Lord God ofHofls " (Heb. Jehovah Alehi tfabbaoth), who is like to " thee the flrength of the EJfence!" — Ver. 9, " Thou " ruleft the raging of the fea; when the waves thereof *' arife" thou wilt calm them. And in Ifaiah Ii. 1 5, I am Jehovah thy God, ftilling the fea and the rollings of its waves; Jehovah of Hoils is his name. Alfo in Jer. xxxi. ^S^ " Thus faith" Jehovah — who flopped* the motion of the feas, and the roarings of their waves^ the Lord of Hofts his name. Here are three Scrip- tures, wrote by different prophets, each one of whom af- ferts, that he who flilleth or floppeth the motion of the fea is truly Jehovah. Now I find in the Gofpel by St. Mark, iv. 37 — 39, as follows: " And there arofe a " great florm of wind, and the waves beat into the " fliip fo that it was now full; but he (Chrifl) was in *' the after-part of the fhip, afleep on a pillow, when *' they awake him, and fay unto him, Mafler ! carefl " thou not that we perifh? Then he arofe, and re- " buked the wind, and faid unto the fea, Peace, he ftill-, " and the wind ceafed," and it became a profound calm, 7 Matt» SOCINUS MOPvTALLY WOUNDED. 79 Matt. vlii. 23' — 27 } Luke viii. 23 — 25, contain the fubftance of this miracle. If we confider thefe pafTagfs merely as an authentic hiftory only, the mod deter- mint;-.t (rcJl^jpo; Itict!* Xpirs." — Ifa. viii* I3> 14, It is written, " Sanftify the Lord of Hojls himfelf. ** Ver. 14, hvAhe fhall be for a fanftuary, but for a " flone of Humbling and for a rock of offence to both " the houfes of Ifrael." St. Paul applies this to Chriit, Rom. ix. 32, 33; and St. Peter in ifl Epiille, chap. ii. 8. Thofe prove Chrifi to be Jehovah o( Hefts. Here is a twelfth proof that Jefus Chrift is Jehovah. The I Cor. i. 30, is much to my purpofe, in the Greek; and I might have quoted it here to fapport the others I have cited; but I referve it for another occafion, when I will give it the proper literal tranflation. C H A P. V. Dr. Trieftkfs tefthnony in favour of the authenticity of the gofpelSi the book of ASls^ and the epftles of the apcftle Paul. — A cavil fuppofd, ft aiedt and arfivered. — Seven irrefiftible proofs that Jefus Chrift is God and Saviour. Having now manifefted, by twelve irrefutable proofs, that the holy Scriptures declare Jefus Chrift to be Jehovah, I proceed to fhew that they alfo pofi- tively declare him to be Aleifn. It is written, Exod. iii. 6, " I am the God of diy ** father, the God of Abraham, the God of Ifaac, and *^ the God of Jacob. And Mofes hid his face, for he " was afraid to look upon God." I have already fhewn that St. Stephen faysj This God was Chriil, in 7th SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 83 7th chap, of A6ls: who, when he gives Mofes his com- mifllon, to go unto the children of Ifrael in Egypt, Ver. 13, " Mofes faid unto God, Behold when I come " unto the children of Ifrael, and fliail fay unto them, " The God of your fathers hath fent me unto you, and " they (hall fay unto me. What is his name ? What " fhall I fay unto them? Ver. 14, And Gi?^faid unto " Mofes, / am that I amy Pleafe to remember. Sir, that you have publicly declared from the pulpit, that you " believe the Bible to be the word of God:" and you have declared from the prefs, " It is either a " mifunderftanding of the nature and objecSt of true *' revealed religion, or an inattention to the nature ^^ of its evidence, that is the caufe of the prefent unbe- " lief" Letters to William Tayleur, Efq. 1787. And in Letters, No. vii. and viii. to that gentleman, you (in the moft forcible and exprefTive terms) give the fullcft evidence that can be defired for the genuine- nefs and authenticity of the gofpels, the book of A6l:s, and the epiftles of St. Paul. Well then. Sir, Gcd fays, Exod. iii. 14, " / am that I am" and Chrift fays, John xviii. 5, 6, Ej/w ?(/>.» — on tyu siim. I am that I am. A divine power alfo accompanied his declara- tion; for, as foon as he had fpoken thofe words, they tliat heard him " went backward, and fell to the " ground." But, as the bleffed Jefus fpake in He- brew to thofe people, it is highly probable that he made ufc of the very words tha,L the Aleim made ufe of to Mofes, T^T^'A "li:'K r\'*7]'i^y which had much the fame efFed, even upon Mofes; " he hid his face, for he was " afraid to look upon God." Alfo, I find in John viii. 24, " If ye believe not, on lyo aiMy That I am, " ye fliall die in your fins." The fcptuagint read the paillige, Exod. iii, 14, Ityu uy.i U,. I a)?t the Being, G 2 But ^4- ARIUS SLAIN, .AND But in John viii. 58, Jefus fays, "Before Abraham " was made (or created), /^;w. Alfo I find that, in the three following Scriptures, viz. Matt. xiv. 27; Mark vi. 50J John vi. 20; the Greek is " f}/w £iju,<," I amj though they are tranflated, " It is I." But, had this been the proper reading, I fuppofe the Greek would ha /e been, £,u.auTov eo-n j or scmv sy.acDTov. Again, I find, Luke xxiv. 39, " Ort avro? lyu iI[ja ;" which is not (what the common tranflation reads it) " That " it is I myfelfj" but, literally, 'Thai I am he. This is another of the divine appellations that Jehovah hath given to himfelf in Ifa. li. 1 2, lii. 6, N^in"^Jh5-''D. Here is one irrefutable proof that Jefus Chrifl is God. If you Ihould attempt to bring John x. 34, 2 $3 ^s an anfvver to this proof of Chrift's being a perfon in the Godhead, you will pleafe to remember that I have given twelve proofs that he is Jehovah, and in that very chapter, ver. 30, Chrift fays (in the Greek), / and the FATHER, we are ONE. And in ver. 38, lafl claufe, "The Father is in me and I in him." Again, Pf. xiv. 6, " Thy throne, O God, is for ever " and ever." The apoflle, writing to the Hebrews, fays, chap. i. i, " God, who at fundiy times and in " divers manners fpake of old unto the Fathers " by the prophets, ver. 2, hath in thefe laft days " fpoken unto us in the Son.'' Of whom, he faith, ver. 6, " Let all the angels of God worlhip him." Why? becaufe, ver. 8, " To the Son, he faith. Thy " throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Here is a Jecond proof that Chrift is God. And whoever attends to the matter of the Ixxii. Pfalm, muft (if not fpiritually blind) confefs that it is an addrefs to Chrift, under the charader of wifdom ; for, by a due attention to the nth, 15th, and 17th verfes, it will appear that they are SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 05 are not applicable to King Solomon, David's fon and fuccefTorj therefore applicable to none but Jefus CJirift. Again, Pf. Ixxviii. 2Sy " They remembered that God " was their rock, and the high God their Redeemer" Ver. ^6 J " Yet they tempted and provoked the moll: " high God." Pf. xviii. 31," Who is God, fave the " Lord.f* Or who is a rock, fave our God?" Deut. xxxii. 15, " He forfook God who made him, and " lightly efteemed the ri3C/l' of his falvation." The apo- ftle Paul fays, i Cor. x. 4, " They drank of that Ipi- " ritual rock that followed them (margin, more pro- " perly, " went with them), and that rock v/as Chrifl." Here is a third proof that Chrift is God. Again, Ifa. xlv. 1 5, " Verily thou God hideft thy- " felf, O God of Ifrael the Saviour." Or perhaps it may be rendered, Verily thou art a ftrong hiding place, O Go^ of Ifrael the Saviour. Luke i. 47, " My *' fpirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." A6ls xiii. I2i " God hath, according to his promife, raifed unto " Ifrael a Saviour Jefus." Phil. iii. 20, " The Saviour " the Lord Jefus Chrift." i Tim., iv. 10, "We truft " in the living God, who is the Saviour." Titus i. 3, " According to the commandment ofGod our Saviour." ii. 10, " Adorn the doftrine of God our Saviour in all " things." iii. 4, " The kindnefs and love of God " our Saviour toward man appeared." 2 Pet. i. 11, " An entrance fliall be miniftered unto you abundantly, " into the everlafting kingdom of our Lord and " Saviour Jefus Chrift." Jude, ver. 25, " To the " only wife God our Saviour be glory and majefty, " dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Colof iii. 3, " Your life is hid with Chrift in God." G 3 Here S6 ARIUS SLAIN, AND Here is -^ fourth inconteftable proof that Jefus Chrift is Gody from eleven teftimonies. Again, Ifa. xlv. 22, " Look unto me, and be ye " faved all the ends of the earth; fori am God, and *' there is none elfe*." John v. 18, " The Jews ^' fought the more to kill him, not only becaufe he had « broken the Sabbath," (How ? By healing a man, who had been lame 38 years, by the word of his mouth?) " but faid alfo, that God was his Father, " making himfelf^^a^/ with Gc^." And, xix. 7, " The " Jews anfwered him (Pilate) we have a law, and by " our law he ought to die, becaufe he made himfelf *' the Son of God." Where had Chrift declared his equality with the Father ? I anfwer, in many parts of the gofpel by St. John. iii. 16, " God fo loved the " world that he gave his only begotten Son, that " whofoever believeth in him fliould not perifh, but *' have everlafting life." Ver. 17, " That the world " through him might be faved." — 2dly, chap. v. 37, * A very fenfible anonymous writer, in the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1752, endeavours to difprove (though his arguments do not appear to me conclufive in the leaft degree, and, which, I humbly fuppofe are clearly and fully confuted by p. 27, 28, of this Traift) that the noun O'hVk is plural; yet he fays of Pf xlv. 6, 7, Thy throne, O Elohim, is for ever and ever ; this (fays he) " is " indubitably meant of the fingle perfon of the Son, in diftinftion •< from the Father," I would alfo remark, that the hymn which . the angels fung at our Lord's nativity, recorded, Luke ii. 14, was in Hebrew ; otherwife, we may fuppofe that thofe poor fhep- herds could not have underftood them; and therefore they doubt- lefs afcribed " glory to the Aleim in the higheft;" and though I do not affert that this was an afcription of praife to the Son (Mefiiah) only, yet I run no rifk of being confuted in faying it was not addreffed to the Father only, but to the holy, adorable, co-equal, and co-eternal divine X^initj, ^' The SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 87 " The Father hath borne witnefs of me." Where? Matt. iii. 17, Mark i. 9, Luke iii. 22, " This is my *' 'oved Son, in whom I am well pleafed." — jdly, Johii vi. 40, " That every one that feeth the Son, and '^ believeth on him^ mr.y have eternal lire, and / will *' raij':; him up at the laft day." How? Becaufc, ver. 57, " I hve in (ei?) the Father^" and xiv. lo, " The Father that dwclleth in me, he doth the " works." Ver. 20, " Ye fhall knov/ that I am in " my Father." Chap. viii. 16, "I am not alone, " but /and the Father that fent me." Ver. 42, " I " proceeded forth and came from God." Ver. 58, " Jellis faid unto them. Verily, verily, I fay unto you, " before Abraham was / «;/*." — 4thly, chap. x. 15, " As the Father knoweth me, even fo know I the " Fadier." Ver. 27, " My fheep hear my voice, *^ and I know them, and they follow me." Ver. 28, '^ And / give unto them eternal life.'' How could he give them eternal life ? Becaufe, ver. 30, /and the Father y we are one. " Ego kai o Peter -Iv efmen."— fthly, ver. 38, "The Father is in me and I in him." — 6thiy, chap. xii. 44, 45, " Jefui cried and faid, ' " he that believeth on rne, believeth not on me, but " on him that fent me. And he that feeth ;?? Adls ii. 30 ; wherein St. Peter ex- prefsly declares, that, the Jehovah fpoken of by the Pfalmifl in faid Pfal. cxxxii. 1 1, was Chrift. Fifteenth proof that Chriji is Jehovah. — And, as the Jews look upon the names Adoni and Jehovah to be fynonymous as to the Being meant by each of thofe names (as may be fully proved by Pfal. Ixxxvi. and xcvii. 5, and other texts), it is an inconteftable proof that Jefus Chrift is Adoni, the Lord of all things. Since I wrote what precedes I have met with Ezek. xiv. 11, in which chapter the prophet addrefles Ifl-ael with very dreadful threatenings, prophets as well as people, to deter them from idolatry, &c. ; and, that they may be afllired of pardon for their paft offences, he gracioufly promifes them that " they Ihall be his people, and " he will be their Aleim, faith Adoni Jehovah." Again, in chap, xxxvii. 26, " Moreover" I will cut off for them the reconciling Purifier; he fhall be unto them an everlafting Purifier, " and I will place them, " and multiply them, and fet my fanftuary in die midft " of them for evermore." Ver. 27, And I will ta- bernacle with them (or I will be an inhabitant among them), " yea, I will be their Aleim, and they Ihall be " my people." St. John i. 14, confirms the tranflatlon I have given. Ver. 27, where the Apoftle fays, " The Logos became " flejh (x«i £a-xr]vajo-5^), and tabernacled among us, and we "beheld his glory" (fee Mat. iii. 17; xvii. 2 — lOj Mark ix. 2 — 8; Luke ix. 28 — 2^; 2 Pet. i. 17), " the " glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of " grace and truth." (See p. 45.) Thefe prove Chrift Ha CO |00 -^ ARIUS SLAIN, AN& to be Adoni Jehovah, Aleun. But I will alfo givO fome proofs from the Scriptures which flilly demon* ftrate that the manhood was taken into the Godhead,, or that Jehovah became incarnate j for I glory in that '.' he was very man as well as truly God." I have already lliewn (p. 62 — 66) that Adam and Eve underftood from that text, Gen. iii. 1 5, that " the " woman's feed" was to be a Perfon in Jehovah, af- fuming the human nature; and both Jews and Chrif- tians, in general, have underftood that the promifes re- peated and reiterated to Abram, and to Abraham, Gen. xii. 3; xviii. 18; xxii. 16, 18, " In thee fhall all *^ the nations of the earth be bleffed," was a promlfe of the Meffiah, from his feed ; and in the laft of tliofe Scriptures it is confirmed by an oath. A^er. 16, *' By " myfelf have I fv/orn, faith Jehovah;" ver. 18, "In " thy feed Ihall all the nations of the earth be bleffed." The apofUe Peter, Afts iii. 25, refers this to Chrift: " Ye are the children — of the covenant which God " confirmed to our, &c. ;" and the apoftle Paul, Gal. iii. 8, does the fame. Even the heathen, in very early times, expeded a Saviour of a miraculous conception ; and, to keep that in remembrance, they built a city and called it " Beth-haran," Num. xxxii. ^^y that is, " the " temple of conception." (See Mr. Bate /« /ij^^.) Alfo the malice which the heathen ever manifefted toward the Ifraelites was becaufe of that tradition, and other reafons which they had for believing that the original promife given of a Saviour was then confined to Abra- ham's feed. See Pfal. Ixxxiii. and compare Pfal. ii. and Pfal. cxxxvii. to prove this. The children of Ifrael's dwelling in booths was to that people an annual memento that Jehovah was to become incarnate j and was kept at that feafon of the year SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, lOl year in which he did afhially appear in the flelh. The tabernacle made under the direftion of Mofes in the wiklernefs, by the fpecial command of Jehovah, typi- fied the fame as did the temple of Solomon. The ihew-bread alfo typified " Chrift Jefus, the Bread of " Lifei" and the Manna which was given the Ifraelites in the wildernefs did the fame: for Jefus faith, John vi. 25 and 48, " I am the Bread of Life." And, ver. 41, 50, " I am the living Bread which came down from heaven.'' In Pfal. xl. 6, " Burnt-offering and fin-offering" (or rather facrifice and oblation) thou haft not delighted in. (See the Hebrew.) Ver. 7, " Then faid I, behold! I " come." That this means Chrift is indubitable, when we confider ver. 1 5, (which may be read). They that fay unto me. Aha ! Aha ! fhall be defolate, and their end ftiame. See Pfal. Ixx. 3, and compare Mark xv. 29. In Mat. iii. ij, 12, John the Baptift bears teftimony to the incarnation and divinity of Chrift. For he fays, ver. II, "I indeed baptize you with water unto re- ** pentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier ** tlian I, whofe fhoes I am not worthy to bear 3 he " fhall baptize you with the Holy Ghoft and with fire." Ver. 1 2, " Whofe fan is in his hand, and he will tho- " roughly purge his floor, and gather the wheat into " the garner J but will burn up the chaff with un- " quenchable fire." Thefe are the alone prerogatives of God which the Baptift afcribes to Chrift. In Ha. ix. 6, there is a text that will puzzle the genii of all die Socinians to refute, and confound them at laft. I have already quoted it to prove the God- head of Chrift; I now cite it to prove that God af- fumed human nature, and that " God and man be- *' came one Chrift." " Unto us a Son is born, unto H 3 nTn>, my united one ; the margin of the Bible reads it " my only one." The root nn», fignifies primarily *' to unite, make one, &c." Should it be a&ed, what the prophet meant by ** my united one?" Undoubtedly the human nature of Chrill: united to the fecond named Perfon in the divine Trinity. § I do not confider ver. 19, 20 (of Pfal. xxii.) as a prayer, when the facred original is duly attended to; but as claiming the promife in the antimundane covenant; called 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ; Zech. ix. 1 1 ; Heb. xiii. 20; et al. "The everlafting covenant;" and "the *' blood of the everlafting covenant;" becaufe it was to be ratified by blood. Therefore I have altered the common reading to what is nearer the Hebrew text, and more agreeable to its meaning. "me." SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. lOg '* me." But ver. 20, 21, clear the matter fully, and prove his torments, his agony, to have been unutter- able. Read, Sir, the pathetic, the diflrefsful language of his afflided foul. Ver. 20, " Reproach hath brok- *^ en my heart, and I am full of heavinefsj I looked *' for pity, but there was nonej and for comforters, *^ but I found none." Ver. 21, " They gave me gall " for my meat, and in my thirft they gave me vinegar ** to drink." Compare this with Mat, xxvii. 34; Mark xv. 2^> Luke xxiii. ^(^'y John xix. 29, 30, and you may have the cleareft evidence that thofe afflic- tions belonged to Chrift, to him alone, and not to any other perlbn. Ifaiah alfo fays, chap. lii. 14, " His " vifage was fo marred more than any man, and his " form more than the fons of men." Again, chap, liii. 3, " He is defpiled and reje6t:ed of men, a man of " forrows and acquainted with griefs." Ver. 7, " He *' was oppreffed, and he was affliftcd." Although a due attention to the Scriptures here quoted, would have convinced you of your dreadful error, in afTerting what I have cited from your writ- ings in the preceding pagej yet you have gone further, and fay, in your " Hiftory of the Corruptions of Chrif- " nanity," Vol. I. p. 158, " If the dodirine of atone- " ment be true, it cannot be pretended that David, or " any other pious perlbn in the Old Teftament, was at " all acquainted with it; and therefore the belief of it " cannot be neceflary to falvation, or indeed of much- 1 " confequence." Awful declaration ! Bold afTertion ! Drer.dfuUy dan- gerous infinuation! Hoy/ do you read die verfes quoted above, from Pfal. xxii. and hdx. and from the pro- phecy of Ifaiah? V\^ere not die former penned by Da- vid, who mud have known, as a propiict, th:t tliey co-lJ no ARItrS SLAIN, AND could not have reference to any other than the Mef- fiah ? and we know for a certainty, that they were lite- rally accomplifhed in the perfon of the Lord Jefiis Chrift; exaftly at the time, and in the very manner that thofe and other prophecies declared they fhould be fulfilled ; and, being confirmed by that " evangelical " prophet, Ifaiah," your alTertion muft be invalid, and the doctrine you depreciate fo unutterably, muft be ne- cefTary to falvation, and therefore of the utmoft conle- quence. But, alas ! what I have already quoted from your writings is not all; for you fay, p. 184, " Though the " death of Chrift is frequently mendoncd, or alluded " to by the ancient prophets, it is never fpoken of as a " fin-oftering. For the propriety of our tranfladon of " Ifai. Hii. 10, may be doubted 5 or, if it be retained, " it cannot be proved to exhibit any thing more than *' a figurative allufion." Nor even is this dreadful, unfupported, and infupportable confident affirmation all; for you aflert, Vol. I. p. 155, " Is it not furprif- " ing, that in all the books of Scripture we no where ** find the principle on which the do6trine of the atone- " ment is founded ? Nay, the contrary fentiment occurs " every where." Before I reply to this four ftrand cord of Socinlan delufions, or confute their foul-ruining principles, I will remark on what you fay refpeding ver. 10, of Ifai. liii. and then invalidate your fuppofition by a lite- ral tranflation of that verfe. Firft, your doubt refpecting the common tranfla- tion, tacitly implies that the original is authentic and divine, adly, Your faying, " It may be doubted," gives room to fuppofe, that you yourfelf cannot deter- mine the point ; becaufe, if you have any knowledge of SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, tit 6f the Hebrew, you might eafily have fatlsfied youifdf and your readers in that particular; for its trannation is not difficult; and, I humbly fuppofe, fliould be read thus. Yet it pleafed Jehovah to crufh him with pierc- ings : feeins that thou wilt make his breathino;-frame 2.fm-offeringi he Ihall fee the feed, he fliall prolong tlie days, and the pleafure of Jehovah fhail profper in his hand *. Now it is of very Uttle fignification in this argument, whether that text be read as I have wrote it, or as the common tranflation reads it; for when taken in connexion with ver. 4, 5, 6, and the laft claufe of ver. 8, 1 1, the idea of atonement is not only underftood, but exprefled. For to what end were immolations, facrifices, oblations, except that they were confidered as atoning, or rather as types of the great atonement? I will now proceed to confute thofe four extremely dangerous alfertions, as far as they refpecSt the docStrine of atonement ; becaufe, in proving the truth of that comfortable dodrine, the other parts of thofe alfertions fall to the ground. Dr. Prieftley fays, " If the do6lrine of atonement *' be true, it cannot be pretended that David, or any " other pious perfon in the Old Tefcament, was at all " acquainted with it ; and therefore the belief of it " cannot be neceflary to falvation, or indeed of much " confequence." If facrifices were not vicarious, as types of the great atonement which Chrift made, what are we to under- ftand by Lev. i. 3, 4, particularly ver.4.'' which reads thus. " And he (liali put his hand upon the head of " the h\ -offering, and it fnall be accepted for him, • C3 ''-f*', are both in the conjugation hiphil ; and the iirft lit ...■.-, Thou wilt cauil; to be made; the fecond. He will ',. oiongation. 4 " to 112 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " to make atonement" (vbv) inftead of him (or ra- ther on his account). Compare Lev. iv. 15 — ^Sj o^ which latter verfe the laft claufe may be read (and in many other texts) ihus " Ihall the prieft make an *' atonement for him*," and the fin which he hath finned Ihall be forgiven him. Alfo, Lev. xvii. 1 1, " The life of the flefh is in the blood, and I ** have given it to you upon the altar, to make an V atonement for your fouls j for it is the blood that ** maketh an atonement for the foul." But Exod. xii. and Levit, xvi. fo accurately prefigure the Lord Chrift as our atonement, that they dem.and very particular at- tention} becaufe the delineation is fo very explicit as not to admit of a miflake, when taken in connexion with the other parts of the facred volume -, for " among " all the facrifices inllituted by Mofes, none more cir- *f cumftantially typified the blefled Jefus, or more ap- " pofitely expreffed the benefits of his oblation, than ** the pafchal lamb, and the fin-offering on the day of " atonement." " The pafchal lamb was without blemifli. Such 'f was the Laml^ of God; free from all taint of original " fin, and from every fpot of adtual tranfgreflion. — A " lamb of the firft year, in all the fprightlinefs and flo- " ridity of youth. Chrift alfo laid down his life, not • That the particle 1 vau, fhould be read thus, in this place, the context manifefts.. And 1 vau, is fo tranflated Gen. vi. 22; xx. 16; Lev. XV. 31, et al. therefore I am juftified in the alteration. But if that 1 vau, muft be read " and," then it muft be underftood of Chrift, " the great High-prieft of our profeffion," and of him only; as no other prieft ever confidered himfelf, under the Mofaic difpenfation, as capable of making an atonement in any other way than by the facrifices which God had appointed, as types of the divine facrifice, Chrift Jefus, '' when SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. IIJ *' when worn with age, or debilitated with ficknefs; but *' in the prime of his days. The lamb was to be (lain ** fo as to occafion the moft copious effufion of his blood* " And was not this very exaftly fulfilled in our fufFer- " ing Saviour ? His blood flowed out in vaft abundance " by the amazing fweat in die garden; by the rending " lalhes of the fcourge ; by the lacerating points of the " thorns j by the dreadful nails which cleft his hands " and his feetj by the deadly fpear which ripped open *^ his fide, and cut its way to his heart. Though the " blood was to be fo liberally fpilt, a bone of the lamb *' was not to be broken. And you cannot but recol- " left die wonderful interpofition of Providence to ac- *^ complifh this emblematical prediftion. When the *' foldiers had received a command to break the legs *' . of the three crucified perfons; when they had adually " broken tlie legs of the two thieves which hung on " the right hand fide of our Lord, and on the left, " they left all his bones unhurt/' " The Lamb was to be killed before the whole af- ** fembly. And did not the wiiole miukitude of the " Jews confpire againfc Chrift to put him to death ? " Did they not all cry out, as with one voice, cmcify " him ! crucify him ! Was he not put to death at one " of their grand feflivals, and in the fight of the whole *^ aflembled nation ?" Therefore the pafchal lamb was an inftru6live type of him whofe blood *' fhould take '^ away the fin of the world." John i. 29. But " the fin-offering feems to have been die moft emi- " nent facrifice, and the mofi: comprehenfive ; bccaufe it " fhadowed forth not only the death of Chriil, but alfo his " refurredtion from death, and his afcenfion into heaven. " — As the various aftions of fome iiluflrious perfonage, ♦* which cannot be exhibited by the painter in a fingle I " draught. 114 ARIUS SLAIN, AND ** draught, are difplayed in feveral compartments j yet all ** Gonftitute one and the fame grand hiftorical pifture ; fb *' thefe glorious events, incapable of being reprefented " by any fingle animal, were typified by two kids of the *' goats ; which, neverthelefs, were reputed but as one *' offering. Thefe goats were brought to the door of the " tabernacle, and there prefented before Jehovah.— '' Chrift alfo prefented himfelf before the Lord whtn he *' went up to Jerufalem, that all things written by the pro- " phets concerning him might be accomplifhed, Luke " xviii. 31. The goat, on which Jehovah's lot fell, *' was devoted to death. Chrift alfo, being delivered ** by the determinate counfel and foreknowledge of '* God (A6bs ii. 23), was crucified and flain.— -The " body was burnt without the camp. And did not *' this point at the very place, and pifture out the very " nature, of our Lord's fufferings ? For he fuffered *' without die gate (Heb. xiii. 12); was there expofed " to the rage of men, and the fierce wrath of God; " under the molt exquifite pains of body, and the ut- '* moll diftrefs of foul. All fignificantly typified by *' the flame of a devouring fire; than which nothing is " more fierce, more penetrating, or more feverely ** tormenting." — " As the animal, which was flaugh- " tered, Ihewed forth the Redeemer dying for our fins; ** that which efcaped prefigured the fame Saviour rifing " again for our juftification. — The high prieft put his " hands upon the head of the fcape-goat, and with " great folemnity confeffed the fins of the whole con- " gregation. The import of this ceremony is exprefsly " declared in the facred canon. Ver. 22, " The goat " fhall bear upon him all their iniquiries." And the prophet Ifaiah fays, " Jehovah hath caufed to meet " upon him the iniquities of us ail." And the Hebrew word SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, IIj Word (i^m) is ufed in both places, which fignifies to *' bear fin, as an offender, and vicarioufly," &c. Did not that fervice exprefs fomething like this, when the offender laid his hands upon the fin-offering ? " Lord, I confefs myfelf guilty. Punifhment and death " are my due. But let them fall, I befeech thee, on *' my vi(5tim; that thy juftice being glorified, and thy ** law fatisfied, thy mercy may be honourably difplayed ** in thy forgivenefs of my tranfgreffions." Milton, upon this fubjedl of facrifices, and with reference to their principal defign, calls them. Religious rites Offacrifice; informing men, by types And fhadows, of that dellined feed to bruife The ferpent, by what means he fiiall achieve Mankind's deliverance *. Book xii. ver. 231* Having flTiOv/n that not only priefls and Levites, but the whole congregation of Ifrael confidered facri- fices as atoning, I come now to prove that both David the king, and other pious perfons, mentioned in the Old Teflament, did ' underftand the doftrine of atonement. Indeed it is fcarcely poffible that any man, who * The favage inhabitants of Mad.igafcar ufe facrifices when they would fupplicate the Deity in their dillrefles. Upon which Mr. Ives, in his Travels through Perfia, obferves, that *•' he faw *' many circumftances in the Madagafcarian facrifice, fo exadly •" rclembling thofe which are iij'jntioned in the Old Teflament as " otlercd up by the Jews, that he could not turn his thoughts back " to the original without being fcnfibly ftruck at the exaiilnefs of " the copy." Ives's Voyage, p. 16. See Horae Solitariae. Intro- duflion, p. 6. — I had not the happinefs to fee any part of thofe va- luable effays, until thefe fliects were completed, or they would have grratly facilitated my feeble attempt to overturn Socinianifm. I 2 reads o lltS ARIUS SLAIN, ANI? reads the holy Scriptures with proper attention^ cai^ avoid perceiving that the doftrine of atonement for fin was not only declared, but the great Antitype clearly prefigured, both in the pafchal lamb, and by the goats on the great day of atonement, already fpoken of i but, that this important dodlrine Ihould be kept in perpetual remembrance, you may fee, by confulting Exod. xxix. 38 — 42, that there fliould be morning and evening facrifices, or burnt-offerings ; and at each a lamb of one year old was to be a part of the immo- lation, which was to be confumed by firej and it is again repeated, Numb, xxviii. 1 — 8, with an additional injundion refpeiling the extraordinary offering on the Sabbath day, mentioned, ver. 9, 10. Alfo they were enjoined to make an increafe of their offerings at the beginning of their months j at the paffover; on the day of the firft-fruitsj at the feaft of trumpets j on the day of affliding their fouls; and on the eight days of the feaft of tabernacles ; for all which you may fee a par- ticular mandate in Numb, xxviii. xxix. and there you will find thofe called fin-offerings (as well as burnt- offerings) which were to make an atonement for the people; and if you confult Dan. ix. 20 — 27, you may, perhaps, fee that thofe oblations were really typical of the Meffiah, or Chriff. I humbly hope I have Ihewn, p. 62 — 6^, that Adam and Eve believed in the atonement of Chrift, and expefted falvation from it; and that Abel, Seth,, and all the antediluvian believers hoped for that bleff- ing on the fame principle, I cannot fee any reafon to doubt; and that Noah was poffeffed of " like " precious faith" appears clearly, when we duly confider Gen. viii. 20, 21. But fo depraved is human nature, in confequence of original fin, that SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. II7 that In the coiirfe of 400 years, that is, from the deluge to the patriarch Abraham's time, there was fo aftonifh- ing a proof of human depravity, that the whole race of mankind were gone aftray from the true worlhip of God, and were totally given to idolatry; fo that, in order to prevent the continuation of this awful defec- tion, Jehovah condefcended x.oJele5l Abraham from all the families of the earth, and to promife that " in his " feed all the nations of the earth fhould be blefled." Gen. xviii. 183 xxii. 18. That Ifaac, Jacob, and Jofeph, expected falvation from an atonement will not be controverted, I fuppofe, by any true Chriftian, when their hiflory is duly attended to. But from the time of Jofeph, to the deliverance of Ifrael from Egypt, there appears to have been another dreadful falling away, as may be feen by confulting the facred hiflory of that timej until the prophet Mofes is fent of God to inftru6t them concerning his will, and the firil obje(5l to which he leads the attention of the people of Ifrael (after he had given them the fulled proof of his divine miflion, by the aftonifhing miracles that were wrought of Jehovah, agreeable to Mofes' predidlion) is, the pafTover j of which I need not fay any thing here, as I have already been fo copious thereon in the preceding pages; but you know that there was a man in the land of Uz named Job, whofe hiflory is allowed to have been " written by Mofes, while he " was among the Midianites, before Chrifl's circum- " cifion 1520 years." This patriarch believed in that . great atonement of Chrifl; for he reprefents the Aleim as faying, " Deliver him from going down to the " pit, I have found, "ISD, an atonement," as the mar- gin of our Bibles properly reads; and is the very fame Word ufed in Levit. xvi. 16, 30, &c. &c. And being I 3 , perfuaded JlS ARIUS SLAIN, AND _ perfuaded of this invaluable truth, he alfo declares his faith in the Redeemer, and of his afllirance of a refur- redlion, as you may fee chap. xix. 25- — 27. And as none of Job's thr^e friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar, attempt to contradict him, we may conclude that they were either confirmed in the fame opinion before, or 1 clfe were convinced of the do6trine from his aflerdng iti for they were very ready to contradict him in whatever differed from their own fentiments. And though Elihu heard Job's faith in the atonement de- . clared, and confeffes, chap, xxxii. 8, " That the in- " ipiration of the Almighty giveth man underftand- ** ing," yet he does not contradid Job in thofe grand flindamental dodtrines, though he reproves him fe- verely for his murmuring and felf-righteoufnefs. Sec. That the prophet Jolhua was eflablifhed in the fame faith with Mofes cannot reafonably be doybted, when we confider that Jofhua miniftered unto Mofes, was v/ith him in the. mount forty days, and was fo fully' affured that the Angel of the covenant was Jehovah Jefus, that " he worshipped him, falling on his face " to the earth," in die deepeft felf-abafement. See Jolh. V. 14. See alfo page 71. That Gideon and Manoah (in Judges vi. xiii.) believed the invaluable truth, I flatter myfelf is fully proved, page 73, 74, And if you confult i Sam. vii. 9, 10, I fuppofe you will admit that the prophet Samuel was a partaker of the fame " precious faith." That is, I mean, they all believed in, and were perfuaded of, the dodrine of atonement, or elfe why fliould Samuel, for infhance, offer a burnt-offering, a lamb, but becaufe that Ifrael had been repeatedly -forely fmitten by the Philiftines on account of their idolatry; therefore Samuel takes the appointed mean of reconciling them to the true 4 Aleim;, SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. IIQ Akim, by offering a lamb as a facrifice, the type of that Lamb " which taketh away the fm of the world.'* John i. 29. That Jeholhaphat, Hezekiah, and Jofiah, kings of Judah, firmly believed the dodlrine of atone-, ment cannot be well doubted, when their various hifto- ries are duly attended to, as recorded in the books of King3 and Chronicles. In 3 2d Pfalm the royal pro- phet is defer ibing ver. i, the bleflednefs of thofe whofe fins are (''IDD) covered (or have a covering). But in ver. 5, " I faid I will confefs my fins unto Jehovah i and ** thou didft bear away (nKl^j) the iniquity of my fin." Selah. Alfo, Pfal. Ixxxv. 2, we have the very fame word ufed in the fame fignification. How were all thefe fins and iniquities borne away I Ifaiah tells us, chapter liii. ver. 6. And you may know who the him there fpoken of means by confulting Mark ix. 12; Rom. iv. 25i I Cor. xv. 3 j i Pet. ii. 24. When King David fays, Pfal. xl. 6, " Sacrifice and " offering thou didft not defire." (See Ifa. i. 10 — 15 ; Ixvi. 3 ; why facrifices were no longer pleafing to Je- hovah.) — Ver. 7, "Then faid I, Lo! I come; in the *' volume of the book it is written concerning me."— • Did David fpeak here of himfelf ? I am perfuaded you know better. Then who was to come and do that which facrifices and burnt-offerings (of beafts) were inadequate to ? The apoftle to the Hebrews, chap, x, informs us, and fhows to be Chrift; therefore, if King David had given us no other proof, in his writings, this ought to fufBce. But David fays, Pfal. li. 7, " Purge me,— wafh me, and I fhall be clean." Here I would obferve, that the Hebrew word tranflated, " Purge me," is ''Ji^iDnJl, 2d perfon fing. fat. and the root is Mran, which fignifies " To expiate, cleanfe, *' or purify, by a fin-offering'^ And where a fin- I 4 offering 120 arius slain, and offering is made, NDH is the word that exprefles it in Exodus, Leviticus, &c. therefore, it is manifeft, that David looked forward to the great atonement, Chrill, or the Meffiahj for, in Pfal. xxxii. he is affured of pardon for the iniquities of his fins ; but he alfo knew, that though ^* the blood of bulls and of goats, &c. " might fan6lify to the purifying of the flefh, yet he ** knew that none but the blood of Chrifl could purge " the confcience." Heb. ix. 13, 14. Who, by his own " blood' — obtained eternal redemption for us." So that, as the pfalmift beautifully expreffes it, " Mercy ^' and truth are met together, righteoufnefs and *' peace have embraced each other." Pfal. Ixxxv. 10. And God can be faithful and juft, even while he jufli- fies the ungodly that believe in Jefus. Faithful, becaufe he has promifed; jujl^ becaufe his juftice has been fully fatisfied, and his holy law unutterably magnihed, by the complete obedience and death of our Em- manuel. To this King Solomon fets his feal. iKin. viii. 62, Then the king, and all Ifrael with him, offered facrifices before the faces of Jehovah. Ver. 63, Alfo Solomon offered the facrifice of peace-offerings which he flew before Jehovah. Here King Solomon him- felf does not prefume to enter into the prefence of the holy One of Ifrael without the blood of the facri- fice i the type of the great Antitype ; and who the prophet Micah calls, " The Ruler, in Ifrael, whofe " goings forth have been from of old, from everlafl- " ing," Chap. v. 2. And, in ver. 4, the prophet fjiys, " And he fhall fland and 7'ule in the (Irength of ♦* Jehovah, in the majelly of the name Jehovah his ** Alehi." Ver. 5, ubv H] n\"n. And this (man) ihall be the pace. And as St. Paul beautifully ex- preffes SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 121 prefTes it, " Ye, who fometimes were far off", are '^ made nigh by the blood of Chrift ; for he is our " peace." Ifaiah calls Chrift " The Prince of " Peace." Again, Zechariah fays, " The Branch (Chrift )-.~ " he fhall be the Counieilor (r.^iyi) oi Peace " From all which, I think, we may fafely conclude that King Solomon had an eye to the Lord Chrift, as his atone- ment, in thofe facrifices. I ftiould now bring the teftimony of Ifaiah, but no one that reads chap. lii. 13 — 15; hii. and confults the many explanatory Scriptures referred to in the margin, but muft be convinced that Chrift's moft precious blood was poured out as an atonement for the iniqui- ties, traiifgrcffi -ins, and fins, of all who " believe to " the f^vi 'g of their fouls ;" and that Chrift Jefus is the glorious perfonagc fpoken of, as Jehovahy whole garments were not only " fprinkled and ftained," but alio dyed red "with bloody" fo he was " their Sa- " viour." Or, " 'Thus he was to them for falvation." See Ifa. Ixiii. i — 8 *. And the apoftle fays, " Being " juftified by his (Chrift's) blood, we fhall be faved " from (t^? o^yvtq) that " wrath through him.'' But there is a very remarkable exprefFion in Ifa, xxxii. 2, " A man ftiall be as an hiding-place from the " wind, and a covert from the tempeft; as rivers of *' water in a dry place; as the ftiadow of a great rock " in a weary land" (rather a land of fatigue, from its heat, &c.). iVnd Jehovah will create upon every ^ The fury, vengeance, and fury, mentioned in thofe I'erfes I humbly conceive to be againft fin, and the finners who rejed^ fJhrift's atonement and righteoufnefs. But ver. 9 refers to true bdievers. dwelling- 122 ARIUS SLAIN, AND dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her afiem- blies, a cloud and fmoke by day, and the fplendor of fire flaming by night j but upon all that glory 111 all be a vail. Yet there Hi all be a pavilion, for a fhadow in the day time, from the heat ; and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from the ftorm and from the rain. (Ifa. iv. 5, 6.) Who is this glorious perfonage that fhall be the glory, and yet the cloud- covering pavilion, &c. to Mount Zion and her aflemblies ? The prophet in- forms us, chap. XXV. 1, " O Jehovah, thou art my *' God, I will exalt thee, I will praife thy name, be- ** caufe thou haft done wonderful things j" Ver. 4, " For thou haft been ftrength to the poor, ftrength to *^ the needy in his diftrefs, a refuge from the ftorm, a " fliadow from the heat." And the prophet, as you may fee, calls him, iD'ii and mns a man; yet Jeho- vah. Therefore all thefe Scriptures ftiow that Jefus Chrift is the refuge from the fury and vengeance threatened, Ifa. Ixiii. i — 8, which magnifcft that he \s the atonement. But does Jeremiah bear no teftimony to the truth of the doftrine of atonement ? He fays, chap. xvii. 5, *' Thus faith Jehovah, curled be the man that trufteth ** in man, and maketh fiefli his arm, and whofe heart " departeth from Jehovah." Ver. 5, " The heart is ** deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked." And chap. xxxi. 22, " Jehovah createth" a new thing in the earth. A " vv^oman fhall compafs a man." For, " Behold the days come, faith Jehovah, that I ** will raife unto David a righteous Branch" — Chap. xxiii. 5, 6, " In his days Judah fhall be faved, and */ Ifrael fhall dwell fafelyj and this is his name whereby «' he fhall be called, Jehovah our Righteciifnefs" I tliercfore conclude, that as this prophet depended upon die SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 12^ the righteoufnefs of Chrift Jehovah for his acceptance before the throne of the Aleim, and denounces an awful curfe upon all that truft in themfelves; he indifput- edly looked alio for atonement to " the blood of the *^ covenant." (See Exod. xxiv. 8i Zech. ix. ii; Heb. X. 29; xiii. 20.) Ezekiel alfo looked for a ckanfing from Jehovah; for we find, chap, xxxvi. 25, Jehovah — yldoni Jehovah fays (See ver. 23, to fhew that he is the fpeaker), " I " will fprinkle upon you" purifying waters, and ye Jhall be purified; from all your pollutions, and from all your idols, will I purify you. How ? Water, of itfelf^ could not purify from the pollution of fin; it would be ridiculous to fuppole it ; therefore we are naturally led to conclude, that this purification is the fame as the apoftle to the Hebrews refers to where he fays, chap. X. 10, "We are fanftified through the once offering *' of the body of Jefus Chrift." We now come to the prophet Zecharlah, who Ipeaks fo very plain to the point, that it will require a great deal of Ibphiftry to make any man (however preju- diced) believe that the great atonement, made by Chrift, is not there referred to. That prophet fays, chap. ix. 1 1, " As for thee alfo, by the blood of thy'* (/1^")2*, which fignifies, purifier, purification, and) ** purificatiori-facrifice, " I have fent forth thy prifon- f' ers out of the pit wherein is no water." Alfo, chap, xiii. I, " In that day there ftiall be a fountain opened * nm is ufed in this fenfe, that is, as a purification-facrifice, (though not exprefl'ed in the Bible tranflation). Gen xv. 18; jpxod. xxiv. 8; Jer. xxxiv. 18 ; and Pfal. 1. 5. Compare Heb ix. 20; I Pet. i. 2. But " it is particularly applied to Chrill as the " real purifier, and antitype, to all the facrilical ones, li'a. xiii. 6 ; xlix. 8j" as well as in Zech. ix. ii, " to 124 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " to the'houfe of David, and to the inhabitants of Je- " rufalem, for fin'' (aftual tranfgreflion) and for un- *' cleanefs." (Perhaps legal, or involuntary impuri- ties.) Is it poflible to read this verfe, and not per- ceive that an atonement is clearly meant; and that' fuch an atonement as no blood could make but the '^ blood of Chrift, who, through the eternal Spirit, " offered himfelf without fpot to God." Laftly, Nehemiah, who was the lateft writer of any of the canonical books, except Malachi, bears his tefti- mony alfo to the bleifed important do6i:rine of atone- ment. Chap. X. ';},'7^. — " The fin-offerings to make an " atonement for Ifrael." Flere "13D is ufed, as well as in m.any other places, where atonement is men- tioned. Thus I have given the teftimony of a great cloud of witnelTes; even of infpired prophets, bearing witnels to the certainty of the truth of the dodrine of atone- ment in the Old Teftament, though you pofitively affert, that " it cannot be pretended that David, or any *^ other pious perfon in the Old Teflament, was ^t all *^ 'acquainted with it." And I might alfo fhow that all the fynod of die *^ holy apoflles," Ephef. iii. 5, underftood the facri- fices as typical of the precious facrifice of Chrift, *^ bearing our fins in his own body on the tree;" I Pet. ii. 24. Agreeable to what St. Paul fays, Heb. ix. 13, " If the blood of bulls and of goats fanftifieth ^^ to the purifying of the flelh;" Ver. 14, "How *^ much more Ihall the blood of Chrift purge your *^ confcience.- — Ver. 22, " And almoft all things are '^ by the law purged with blood; for without fheddlng " of blood is no remifTion." — Ver. 26, " Now, once in *' die end of the world, hath he (Chrift) appeared to " put SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. 12^ ♦f put away fin by the facrifice of himjelf.'" — Ver. 28, ^^ So Chrifl: was once offered to bear the fins of many." And, becaufe Jehovah had no pleafure in the offerings or facrifices under the law ; (fee Pfal. xl. 6 ; Heb. x. I — p.) then lays Chrifl, vcr. 9, " Lo I come to do " thy will" (O my Aleh), " O my God."— Ver. 10, "By the which will we are fanftificd through the of- " fering of the body of Jefus Chrifl." — Ver.^ 19, " Having therefore, brethren, boldnefs to enter into " the holiefl by the blood of Jefusi — " Who, though " he knew no fin, was made fin (or a fin-ofl'ering) ** for us, that we might be made the right eoujnejs of " God in him." 2 Cor. v. 11, The fame apoflle alfo declares, Rom. v. 8, " God commendeth his love to- " wards us, in that, while we were yet finners, Chrifl " died for us." — Ver. 6, " In due time Chrifl died " for the ungodly." The apoflle Peter alfo bears his teflimony further to this blefled truth, i Pet. i. 18, " Ye were not re- " deemed with corrupdble things;" ver. 19, *^*' But " with the precious blood of Chrifi. — Chap. ii. 2i> " Chrifl alfo fuflered for us." — Ver. 24, " Who, his " own felf, bare our fins in his own body on the tree;" — " by whole flripes ye were healed." — Chap, iii. 18, " Clirifl alfo hath once fuffered for fins, the jull "■ for the unjufl, that he might bring us to God.'* Alfo St. John fets his feal to this invaluable truth-. I Epifl. i. 7, " The blood of Jefus Chrifl, his Son,. " cleanfeth ns from all fin." — Rev. \. ^, " Unto him " that loved us and waflied us from our fins in his own " blood." — Chap. vii. 14, " Thefe are they whicli " came out of great tribulation, and liave wafhed their " robes, and made them wliite, in tlie bleed of the "• Lamb:' Again, tiS ARIUS SLAIN, ANd Again, it appears from A6ts x. 43, " To hwt " (Chrift) give ail the prophets witnefs, that, through " his name, whofoever believeth in him Ihall receive " remiffion of fins." " Neither is there falvation in ** any other." A6ls iv. 1 2. Should you fay, Oh! you make falvation very eafy indeed. — To make a profeffion of the faith in Chrift, I confefs, is not difficult; but to be a partaker of tbaf faith which " purifies the heart, Afts xv. 9; and " bringeth falvation," is called, Ephef ii. 8, " The " gift of God;" and Col. ii. 12, « The faith of the *' operation of God." So that to whomfoever this faith is given, diat perfon is " juftified from all things, " from which he could not be juftified by the law of " Mofes." A6ts xiii. 39. Nor is this all, for they that are " juftified are aifo fanftified," i Cor. vi. 1 1 ; and are " made meet to be partakers of the inheritance " of the faints in light." Col. i. 12. And being jufti- fied, and fandified, they have the fulleft aftlirance that they ftiall be " glorified." Rom. viii. 30. For being a " purchafed" and " redeemed people, not with cor- " ruptible filver and gold, but with the precious " blood of Chrift," they ftrive earneftly " to fhew " forth the praifes of him who hath called them out of " darknefs into his marvellous light." i Pet. i. 18, 19; ii. 9. Thus, I humbly hope, I have inconteftably proved that fin required an atonement by blood, and the death of the facrifice ; and that, according to the types and prophecies above fet forth, " Cbrijl our pafibvcr was ^^ Jacrificed for us" i Cor. v. 7. '' Who died for our *' fins, according to the Scriptures'' Chap. xv. 3. And '* that his death was a full and a proper atonement for " the fins of all that truly believe in him." — " Whom " God SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, Ilf ** Gc^ rore-ordained to be 2. propitiation." (See Rom. iii. 25, margin). So that it mud be an inconteilable fa6t, that " there remaineth no more Jacrifice for « fins*." Permit me now. Sir, to call your ferious attention to what follows. Here is the evidence of at kaft fix- teen prophets^ and three highly favoured and peculiarly diftingui filed apofiks, v/hofe teflimony would overturn that of the fineft genius; the mofl learned philofopher; yea, if he were even the greateft emperor that the world ever produced. — -How pitiable then mufl your cafe be in the eyes of every ferious Chriftian when they read your vague, infupportable, alTertions, and confider the immutable declaration of die God of truth: " He *^ that defpifed Mofes's law died without mercy, under " two or three witneffes ! Of how much forer punilh- " ment, fuppofe ye, fhall he be thought worthy who " hath trodden under foot the Son of Gody and hath * There are two remarkable Scriptures that lofe much of their Im- portant fignification by the common reading, viz. Jer. xxxiv, i8 ; of which the learned Mr. Parlchurfl: has given us the following tranfla- tion. " The men who have not performed, n»ll nil, the terms *• of the purihcation-facrifice, which, ini3, they cut in pieces *' before me, ^jpn, the calf which, o'Jira in"i2, they cat in two. *' Here, fays he, the calf is plainly called, nns, the purifier, or ** purification facrifice " — " So, Pfal. 1. 5, nat 'h]i 'n'"vi 'ms, who " have cut in pieces my purifier, or puriftcation-viftim in facri- ** fice." See his Hebrew and Englifh Lexicon, page 3 10, under rn3, where he fhews that *' The cuflom of, nnn mo, cutting in *' pieces a purification facrifice was ufed both by believers and •* heathen at their folemn leagues; at firll, doubtlcfs, with a view. " to the great facrifice who was to purge our fms in his own " blood," kc. And he biings in proof of it. Homer, Virgil, donyfius Hallcarnafius, and Livy. And it is obfervable that ** Homer's phrafc is, opja teu>m», to cut off, or in pieces, the oath- •' offerings, which he exprefsiy fays, II. iii. lin. 245, 246 (comp. *' lin. 269), were, Apt oV»;, two lambs.'' " counted 128 ARIUS SLAIN, AND " counted the hlood o( the covenant an unholy thing!'* Heb. X. 28, 29. — " It is a fearful thing to fall into the ** hands of the living God.'* Ver. 31. — " When the *' Lord Jefus fhail be revealed from heaven, with his ** mighty angels, in flaming firej taking vengeance on ** them that know not God, and thac obey not the " gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift." — Tiie queflion here naturally occurs, Vv'hat is that gofpel we muft experience eternal deftruftion for (fee Mark xvi. 16), except we believe and obey it ? The anfwer is very fhort. " If ye believe not (on ej/w ei^j) that I am,'*, «« ye fhall die in your fms." John vlii. 24. CHAP. vir. Another very Jirange ajfertion of Dr. Priejlky^s Jiatedi where he Jays^ that "Jacrifices might be of men's in- *^ ventiony' and that " they appear eafdy to fall under *^ the general notion of gifts ■, or the more particular one *' of entertainmejitSy and furnifoed at the expence of the " perfon who was dependant and obliged" Anfwer ed and refuted by the tejlimony and practice of the heathen^ nniverfallyi as well as thofe of the Jews^ andfupported by the holy Scriptures^ B u T it feems as if you were determined to leave none of your ideas untried whereby your followers might be brought into the utmoft depths of infidelity and abfurdityi for, in Vol I. p. 189, you fuppofe that " facrifices might be of men's invention," and that " they appear eafily to fall under the general " notion' SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED, 12^ " notion of gifts, or the more particular one of enter- " tainments, and furniihed at the expence of the per- " fon who was dependant and obliged." Indeed, Sir, your ideas relpefting the holy Scriptures are fo very ftrange and unaccountable, that in general they excite pity for youi but here my rifible faculties can fcarcely be reftrained from exerting themfelves highly. — >What ! " Sacrifices, gifts!" To whom? If you do not mean to Jehovah, to whom elfe could they be given ? Read Pfaim 1. 9 — 13, and you will fee the abfurdity of that fuppofition. And as to " facrifices being entertain- " ments" of Jehovah, the idea is too ridiculous to merit a ferious reply *. Were they intended as enter- tainments * Will not every attentive reader be led to fuppofe, that a ju- dicial blind nefs has been fent upon thofe gentlemen who manifell: fuch very ftrong prejudice agaiaft the diQ))ro(.t, •aipo? juf," They fhall look upon me with reverence; and " x; v-'o^ovtm i-K aurov," They fhall wail or lament for him. I would therefore fet this in oppofi- tion to thofe manufcripts, as being at leaft as ancient an * *' Metonymy." It may be necefTary to inform fome of my readers, perhaps, that the word is *' a rhetorical figure by which *' one word is put for another." authority 80CINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. -133 authority as thofe, and probably better attefted. Like- wife, as the prepofition i]g governs the accufative in John xix. 37, I humbly fuppofe, that, if it fliould be read, " They fhall look upon him," the prepofition would have been It], and the pronoun aurov (ett' aurov), and not " iU ov," agreeable to what die Septuagint have wrote the words, and as they are written or print- ed. Mat. xii. 1 8, John i. 32, Szc. Since I wrote my own opinion on this head, I find that you not only doubt the truth of the dodlrine of atonement, and deny that the principle on which it is founded is any where to be met with in the books of Scripture, but you likewife aflert, that " atonement " for the fms of men by the death of Chrifl is another *^ caufe of infidelity." It is natural to fuppofe, that every man of learning knows, who has but a flight acquaintance with the hea- then mythology, how " flrongly and univcrfally they " retained the tradidon of an atonement, or expiation " for fin J although diey expeded it from a wrong ob- " je6t and by wrong means." But, lefl it fliould be-fuppofed that my opinion on the do6lrine of atonement may be erroneous, I will beg the reader's patience while I advance the opinions of a few gentlemen, whofe learning and abilities have very few equals; and who fupport this doftrine fo effec- tually, as to make it of very little fignification whether Dr. Prieftley holds or rejefls it. " We find (fays Mr. Parkhui-ft, A. M.) a tradition " of the doflrine of atonement, or expiation for fin, <* exprefled in very clear terms among the Romans, " even fo late as the time of Horace." Ode II, lin. 29, *' Cui dabit partes fcctlus expiandi Jupiter ?" K -! '' Ami 134 ARIUS SLAIN, AND *' And whom, to expiate the horrid guilt, will }ove appoint ? The anfwer by the poet is, " Apollo, the fecond perfoii of the heathen trinity." "And Flerodotus informs us (Book ii. ch. 39), dif- " fercnt animals (fays he) were facriticed in different " countries; but one common and general ceremony " was obferved in all facritices, viz. the laying of hands " upon the head of the vi6tim, loading it at the fame <' time with imprecations, and praying the gods to di- " vert upon that vidim all the calamities which might " threaten Egypt." Compare Levit. i. i — 4. Mr. Roliin alfo makes it appear, in his Ancient Hiftory, that " the whole world, from the earlieft times, ufed *' nearly the fame rites and religious inftitutions for " placating the Deity, averting wrath, procuring fa- " vour, returning thanks by facrifices, burnt-offerings, " and blood." " Means (fays the late Lord Prefident " Forbes) that in nature have no fort of connexion " with the end propofed, and therefore could not pof- " fibly have had their origin from reafon or natural " light; and as thefe obfervances, &c. prevailed among " mankind, without any fupport from, but rather con- *^ trary to, reafon, it is a juft conclufion, tliat the au- " thority for fuch a belief, and fuch obfervances, muff '' have been exceeding high and ftrong; and men can- " not think of any fufficient authority which could *' have produced that univcrfal faith fliort of divine ** revelation." " Alfo, the doctrine for the remiffion " of fins, and expiadon by blood, is, dil the fecret be " explained by revelation, fo deftitute of any founda- " tion in reafon, and apparently fo contrary to it, that *' no reafoner would have thought of it ; or, if he had, ^' no one could have given credit to it without Ibme 7 " convincing SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. I35 *' convincing proof for the authority af that do6trine; *' therefore the iiniverfal reception of it is a demonftra- ** tion in itfelf, that it had divine authority." Here I might produce a great number of inftances wherein facrifices were confidered as atoning and mak- ing expiation: but that would lead me too far, and make this Traft too voluminous. " When Iphigenia " was flain at the altar, wliat was the import of that " memorable adlion?" Was it not intended " to ap- " pcafe the indignation of the fuperior powers, and to " obtain a propitious gale for the wind-bound fleet, and " confederate forces of Greece?" *' Sanguine placafti ventos, et virgine caefa.'* Seneca fays, alluding to the cuftom of facrifices, and the prevailing opinion concerning them, " Fuerim •" tancum nunquam amplius dolitur^ domus piamen- '^ turn." — -" What we are to underftand by piamejttum, " the author himfelf explains in the preceding claufe: " Qjicquid matri dolcndum fuerit, in me tranfieritj " quicquid avice in me. To which his judicious com- *' mentator Lipfius, from an extenfive knowledge of *^ antiquiLy, adds, ka^x^^x, five piacularis vidima." Sen. ad Helv. The fame writer, in the fame confolatory epifllc, has another fentcnce ftill more to our purpofe: " No- " bilitatur omnium carminibus, quas fe pio conjuge " vicariam dcdit."-^" Juvenal, relating this very fad:, " exprelTes himfelf in very remarkable language; fiich ^ as fhews us, with. the utmoft clearnefs and piecifion, ** what the ancients meant when they affirmed of a fuf- ^* fering or dying perfon, that he gave himfelf for an- « other." Spedat fubeuntcm fata mariri Alcpltim, ct fimilis h pcrmutatio detur. Sat. vi. K 4 There t^6 ARIUS SLAIN, AND There Is a paflage in Livy which moft of all de- ferves our notice, as it feems to imply a popular be- lief of the dignity, the more than human dignity, of the/acnfce which was neceflary to appeafe the wrath of heaven. It relates to Decius devoting himfelf for the public good: " Conipe6lus ab utraque aciee, aliquanto " auguitior humano vifu, ficuti ccelo miffus, piaculum ?^ omnis deorum irsp." Lib. viii, cap. 9. Now, if he who ^^ took away fin by the facrifice of ^^ himfelf," ^^ who was made fin for us (though he *^ knew no fin), that we might be made the righteouf- " nefs of God in him," :j Cor. v. 21, was only " a *' frail peccable man hke ourfelves," how came Ho- race by his idea quoted in the preceding page, and how came Seneca^ Juvenai., and Livy, by the id "as I have quoted, except from a very ancient tradition among the nations t You know, Sir, that expiatory facrifices were very common, not only among the Greeks and Romans, but alfo amongft the Carthaginians; " and the Mexi- *^ cans had a fimilar cuftom." They all offered even human facrifices as expiatory ; " who were loaded with *^ curfes, affronts, and injuries, in their way to the al- ** tars at which they were to bleed. Thefe wretched *^ vi6tims were called KaSapiaara, as their death v/as '*^ efteemed an expiation : and when their afhes were '* thrown into the fea, the very words, fignifying. Be *' thou a propitiation, r»va n£pi\];>5jw«, Tm KaO(Zp//.«, were '' ufed in the ceremony." Alfo, fome of the idolaters, in more ancient times, called their idols *^ Baal Berith, i. e. *^ Baal the Purifier." From ail this my readers, I hope, will be perfwaded that your doftrines are mere notions, not worthy of the leafl attention ; as they are not countenanced^ much lefs fupported, by either the i holy SOCINUS MORTALLY WOUNDED. I37 holy Scriptures or the pra£tices of even any of the an- cient nations, but flatly contradi