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A 
 
 SCRIPTURAL CONFUTATION 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 ARGUMENTS 
 
 AGAINST THE 
 
 ONE GODHEAD 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 FATHER, SON, and HOL,y GHOST, 
 
 PRODUCED BY 
 
 Tbe Reverend Mr. LINDSE Y 
 Jn his late APOLOGY. 
 
 By WILLIAM BURGH, Efq. 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Omnes ad sacras literas sunt ducendi, ut 
 
 INDE TALIA HAURIANT, QUiE, NISI DeO SE- 
 MET PATEFACIENTE, COGNOSCI NEQUEUNT. 
 
 G R O T I U S. 
 
 YORK: 
 
 Printed by A. Ward, for the Author, and fold by 
 W. NicoLL, in St. Paul's Church- Yard, London j 
 and by all Bookfellers in Town and Country. 
 
 M DCC LXXV. 
 
 [PRICE THREE SHILLINGS.] 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 T O 
 
 EDMUND BURKE, Efq; 
 
 SIR, 
 
 WHEN I firft committed the volume, 
 with which I now prelent you, to the 
 public, I was aftuated purely by a defire to 
 flop the progrefs of errour, which I feared, 
 from the facrifice that had been m.ade to her, 
 would be miitaken for truth ; and as fuch em- 
 braced by many unfufpefting, and marly indo- 
 lent perfons. A train of thinking, upon one 
 fide of the queftion, had been prefcribed to 
 them, and the conclufions, fet up for their 
 affent, abetted by proofs of fincerity, which I 
 apprehended fuch men would confider as the 
 criterion of truth. For their benefit I ventured 
 to interpofe, and, to the beft of my pover, 
 have pointed out the only premifes f'om 
 which any conclufions in religious enquiry 
 can refult j and from which they may proceed 
 a to 
 
iv 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 intention, and thrown a. weight into the . oppo- 
 fite fcale, lufficient to preponderate againft his 
 huge mafs of human authority. I have the 
 honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 With the greateft refped and efteem, 
 Your much obliged, 
 And moft obedient^ humble fervant, 
 WILLIAM BURGH. 
 
Advertifement. 
 
 IN the following {heets, which I am de- 
 lirous of rendering univerfally ufeful, I 
 have taken care to write the third and fourth 
 chapters in fuch a manner, as that they may 
 be read feparately by perfons to whom the 
 preceding part of the work might be diffi- 
 cult or unneceflary. — The plan I have pur- 
 
 fued throughout is as follows. Having, 
 
 as I think, fet afide Mr. Lindfey's founda- 
 tion of argument in the introdu6lion, and 
 fhewed the fallacy or inconclufivenefs of 
 what he builds moft upon, I have in my 
 iirft chapter ftated the proper premifes up- 
 on which our reafon is at liberty to adl 
 with relped: to fcripture truths. In my 
 fecond, I have endeavoured to (hew the 
 nature of the evidence which is borne to 
 that great Icripture truth to which our faith 
 is required. And in the fubfequent parts 
 of the work have Ihewed what the evidence 
 itfelf is. — I have but one requeft to make 
 of my reader, which is, that he will do by 
 me as I did by Mr. Lindfey ; and when he 
 is reading my book, that he will place the 
 a Bible 
 
( iv ) 
 
 Bible befide him; for, by my agreementi 
 with that only do I defire to fland ; nay, if 
 I (hail be found to difagree, I wifh to fall. 
 In fome few inftances, for the fake of con- 
 tinuing a fentence, I have changed the per- 
 ibn ufed in a fcripture precept, and, inftead 
 of abfoiutely adhering to fuch words as 
 {{o ye, have fometimes faid we are deftred to 
 do, 6cc. and in a few inflances have omit- 
 ted a multitude of nominatives, where one 
 anfwered the purpofe full as well, as in 
 Rev. vi. 15, i6, where it is faid that t^:ye 
 kings of the earth, and the great men, and 
 the rich ?nen, and the chief captains, and 
 the mighty men, and every bojid man, and 
 every free man hid themfehes in the dens, 
 and in the rocks of the mountains ; in fuch 
 cafes I have ufed only the firii. Of this 
 I think it neceffary to apprize my reader, 
 lell he fliould charge me with inaccuracy in 
 my quotations ; v/hereas I will promife him 
 that, throughout the whole work, he will 
 not iind the fmalleft alteration made in the 
 hwiQ. The paffages with which I have 
 taken this liberty are but very few alfo; but 
 let him lay the Bible before him, and there 
 is no great danger of his being mifled. — - 
 Sometimes inflead of quoting I have para- 
 
 phrafed ; 
 
( V ) 
 
 phrafed ; but that will always appear in the 
 inftance. — In the 66th page I have made 
 a comment upon John viii. 58, and con- 
 futed an obje<5lion brought againfl it by an 
 author who ftyles himfelf ** a Lover of the 
 Gofpel." Tlie pafTage which I have treat- 
 ed of was pointed out to me; it remained 
 on my mind, and by miftake I have afcribed 
 it to Mr. Lindfey. This is but of fmall 
 importance. I mention it only that I may 
 apologize to him for it. 
 
SCRIPTURAL CONFUTATION, &c. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE condu6l of Mr, Lindfey, in refigning 
 the vicarage of Catterick on certain fcru- 
 ples, excited my curiofity to know what his 
 particular objeilions to the fubfcription of 
 the articles of the church of England were. His refig- 
 nation was foon followed by a book under the captiva- 
 ting title of " The Apology of Theophilus Lindfey, 
 A. M. on refigning the vicarage of Catterick, York- 
 shire." With this book, which was gre edilybought up, 
 I alfo furnifhed myfelf. What I expedted to have found 
 in it, is of no confequence to the public; but I did 
 indeed find a much " larger circuit taken" than the 
 title promifed, and that " the defign was not barely to 
 offer a vindication of the motives and condu61: of a pri- 
 vate perfon," but to afTail every fundamental do6lrine 
 of the church, from the miniftry of which he had reti- 
 red ; to degrade the God of our falvation ; to fnatch 
 from us the object of our religion ; and to evince, that 
 Jefus Chrift is not one, with the Father and the Holy 
 Ghoft, God. Upon what foundation he has raifed the 
 flimfy fuperftruclure of his own dodlrine, or rather with 
 what engines he has endeavoured to fubvert the fixed 
 fabrick of our religion, and force it from the bafis ot 
 revehtioii, I fhall proceed to foewj and without infi- 
 A nuating 
 
[ 2 ] 
 
 nuating pretenfions to divine affiftance, from the grant 
 of which it might be inferred, that my caufe had the 
 particular favour of heaven, I hope to evince the divi- 
 nity of our bleiled Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, and, 
 in oppofition to all the human authority convened by 
 Mr. Lindfey, to ihew that God himfelf has borne tef- 
 timony to it; and if, from his revelation, it be clearly 
 fet forth that Jefus Chrift is both God and man, I hope 
 and believe the pofition will be acceded to, hov/ever 
 unable reafon may be to comprehend it, or how numic-. 
 rous foever the voices may be which have lifted them- 
 felves up againft it. 
 
 Before I enter upon the fubje^ propofed, I think it 
 neceffary to remove fome prejudices which favour Mr. 
 Lindfey's caufe, prejudices fo natural to the mind of 
 man, that he has been aware of their ufe, and, with 
 fuperfluous diligence, beftowed near half his book to 
 inftill them. The influence of thefe upon my readers I 
 muft, however, try to avert before I can hope for an 
 impartial hearing; for I have refigned no vicarage; I 
 have puflied from me no worldly advantages ; I have 
 given no proofs that a little, with a fettled confcience, 
 is preferable, in my eyes, to great riches retained by 
 acquiefcence in that which I do not believe; all of 
 which he has done, and for which let me freely pay 
 him the tribute of my praife ; let me declare that I ho- 
 nour the fmcerity which fuch a condud demoftrates ; 
 but let me never fay that, from the redtitude of his heart, 
 I can deduce the reftitude of his opinions. Such proofs 
 of my fmcerity, it is true, I have it not in my power 
 to produce; but even Mr, Lindfey has borne fuch tefti- 
 mony to the troubles of an unquiet fpirit, that no man 
 will conceive that I fhould feek to incur them by a vo- 
 luntary engagement in the caufe of falfehood, or look 
 upon the falvation of my immortal foul as a matter of 
 
 fo 
 
[ 3 ] 
 
 fo little importance to me, that I fhould maintain a doc- 
 trine, conne£led as this is with the felicity of a future 
 ftate, if I were not clearly convinced of its truth. 
 
 Unlefs then I am to confider it written with a view 
 to prejudice the Reader, the aim of the long chapter of 
 fufferers for the maintenance of Mr. Lindfey's do£lrine 
 is altogether inexplicable to me, becaufe I am unable to 
 deduce the truth of a fyftem from any other fource 
 than that of reafon or fair argument. SubmiiKon to 
 miferv, in preference to the conceflion of an opinion, 
 does indeed prove the fincerity of the fufFerer, but by 
 no means the opinion for which he has fufFered ; it 
 may prove the weaicnefs of his underftanding, but by 
 no means the ftrength of his caufe. In India the dif- 
 tortions of die Bramin are the teftimony of the divinity 
 of his Ixora; in the holy office, the fubmiffion of the 
 Jew to the extremeft tortures, is the teftimony that 
 our Saviour had not even divine affiftance ; and now in 
 England we find a number of unhappy wretches fufr. 
 fering under equally unjuft and cruel infiiclions, tp 
 prove a negation of our Saviour's divinity ; and this 
 lift of mifcrable creatures is held out to the public by 
 a gentleman who has voluntarily added himfelf to the 
 number. I have already faid that I confidered fuch a 
 condu6t as a proof of fuicerity, but I cannot fubmit to 
 allow it the name of martyrdom, or in the Icaft degree 
 a proof of the juftice or truth of the opinion for tlie 
 maintenance of which it is fuftained ; dcK3:rines tiie 
 moft contradi6lory v/ould elfe be true. Papal fuprema- 
 cy and regal fupremacy have almoft mingled their bla- 
 zing teftimonies, and were they both truly to be main- 
 tained ? What horrible proofs have been given to the 
 world that flour and water are fiefti and blood ; and 
 will any man declare that the contrary do£lrine has de- 
 rived validity from equal, nay greater, ftreams pf blood 
 A 2 poured 
 
[ 4 ] 
 
 poured out to teftify that they were flour and water 
 ftill ? No man, furely ; becaufe this is a pofition, the 
 proofs of which are fubmitted to all men, and a ftrong- 
 er degree of teftimony, than my ftedfaflnefs, may be 
 and is borne to it by the fenfes of all mankind. Both 
 fides of this queftion have had their bleeding advocates, 
 and are they therefore both true ? I will go yet farther 
 and fay, that were I to undergo the fharpeft afflictions 
 for entertaining the oppofite doctrine to that of Mr. 
 Lindfey, (and I would undergo them rather than de- 
 part from the belief for which I think I have fo fuffi- 
 cient grounds) yet I fhould not conceive that I had 
 added even the flighteft proof of the truth of it. My 
 fincerity the world would, I believe, allow, but what 
 could my fincerity evince ? I fufFer for a pofition, and 
 becaufe I have believed it upon arguments feeming luf- 
 ficient to me ; if they be in faft fufficient, 1 have done 
 well to adhere to them, and they were as valid before 
 my fufFering as afterwards ; and if they are defective, 
 my miferies cannot alter the conclufions following from 
 them. Their truth or falfehood, the juftice or injuf- 
 tice of the inference are pre-exiflent to my teftimo- 
 ny, and fo abfolutely independent of my belief, or 
 any proofs that I may give of the fincerity of my 
 belief, and are fo far from deriving ftrength from my 
 fufFering in behalf of them, that they would have 
 been precifely the fame though I had never been born, 
 as if I had made my exit at a ftake. I am anxious 
 to eftablifh this point, and therefore dwell upon it, for 
 I fear that too eafy credit may be yielded to a dodrine 
 held forth by a claimant to martyrdom ; the feal of 
 blood has given a feeming validity to many a pofition, 
 from which the aflertors had before derived no glory ; 
 the ftake, where it has been the only argument, has 
 fometimes been confidered as a very convincing one 5 
 and a departure in flames has been thought to have re- 
 vealed 
 
[ 5 } 
 
 vealed the angel, where the precepts for which they :ire 
 fufta ned had perhaps only fhewed forth the contempti- 
 ble man : But martyrdom is not now to be deduced from 
 fmcerity, which is all that can be concluded from ftre- 
 nuous fufFering. The apoftlcs indeed were martyrs, 
 they bore teftimony to fads fubmitted to their fenfes, 
 and had even a fenfible perception of divine afiiilance, 
 of which alfo they gave proofs to the world : They 
 bore teftimony, and they would not recede from it ; 
 what they teftified they knew, and promulgated by ex- 
 traordinary aid, of which they were eminently confci- 
 ous ; what they knew, not what opinions they formed 
 without divine affiftance, was their do6trine ; and from 
 the teftimony of what they knew they would not be 
 deterred ; they fufFered, and their conftancy was a proof 
 of their fmcerity : But they were fmcere, not in the 
 maintenance of dubious controvertible doctrines, but in 
 having teftified, that what they had preached they had 
 known. As then they were fincere, and had proved 
 themfelves fo, we muft conclude that they did know 
 what they had preached, and confider their ftedfaft ad- 
 herence to what they had fet out with as an exceedingly 
 ftrong teftimony borne to the truth of it ; and fuch a 
 teftimony as this is what is properly called martyrdom. 
 I hope that this may be fufficient to warn my readers 
 from looking upon fmcerity as a proof of the opinioiv 
 fincerely believed ; let it recommend the heart, but by 
 no means the head, the errors of which may be as fm- 
 cerely believed as the beft eftablifhed maxims. 
 
 The prodigious number of names, only pretendina, 
 to human authority, which are produced by Mr. Lind- 
 fey to fu_ port his dodrines, might perhaps be well op- 
 pofed by citing as great a multitude of eminent men, 
 who have agreed with the church of England, and afcri- 
 bed divinity to our blefled Saviour, Were it only to 
 
 fatisfy 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 fatlsfy him, with whom, I fear, the authority of the 
 fcriptures will fignify but little, I would purfue this 
 courfe of argument (if argument it may be called) j 
 but I fcorn any other foundation than that of God him- 
 felf, whofe written word, not feen through the medi- 
 um of a comment, is alone evidence to me ; let it not 
 therefore be inferred, that I am unable to meet him up- 
 on his own ground, becaufe I choofe that which is bet- 
 ter ; for I could, to him, oppofe as good human autho- 
 rity to maintain my belief as any ten Dutch women in 
 Europe, however ftrenuoufly they might have fuflaincd 
 and fufFered for the doctrines of Anabaptifm. 
 
 The difpofitions of mankind lean tov/ard thofe who 
 flatter their reafon, and endeavour to reduce all things 
 to her comprehenfion, or to thofe who abet that pride 
 with which fhe is defirous of rejciiing v/hatfoever fhc 
 cannot comprehend ; from this principle it is that they 
 who familiarly illuftrate the moft unfamiliar difficulties, 
 or flatly deny theexiftence of that which tranfeends the 
 faculties of man, are heard with partial ears. Againft 
 this prejudice alfo, in favour of Mr. Lindfey, I ara 
 obliged to guard ; for he has declared, that " our Sa- 
 viour Chrift teacheth no myfterious dodtrines". As I 
 have already faid, that the fcriptures fhall be rr^y only 
 appeal ; to this denial of a myftery, nay to that ridicule 
 with which the word Myjiery is treated throughout Mr. 
 Lindfey's book, I fhall oppofe the ferious declara- 
 tion of St. Paul, v/ho, fpeaking of the gofpel of Je- 
 fus Chrift and him crucified, and that not with enti- 
 cing words of Man's wifdom, but in demonftration of 
 the Spirit, that our faith might ftand not in the wifdom 
 of man, but the power of God, declares, " we fpeak 
 the wifdom of God in a myftcry" ; and this he fays he 
 does '' by the Spirit of God, by which alone the deep 
 things of God arc fearched" ; and he farther declares, 
 
 that 
 
[ 7 ] ^ 
 
 that " the fpirit compares fpiritual things with fpirituai; 
 but that thefe things are fooUfhnefs to the natural man 
 •who receiveth not the th'ngs of the Spirit of God." 
 See I Cor. ii. 
 
 Will Mr. Lihdfey now perfevere to fay, that the doc- 
 trine of Chrift is not myfterious ? The moral dodrines 
 delivered by himfelf I grant, indeed, are not fo; but on 
 the contrary moft perfpicuoufly clear ; but a manifefta- 
 tion of him who delivered thofe do6trines, and a reve- 
 lation teftifying of him, and fetting forth Vv'ho he was, 
 and is, and Ihall eternally be, and that " in him dwell- 
 eth all the fulnefs of the Godhead bodily," Coloff. ii .9, 
 Is not this a myftery ? " Now, without controverfy, 
 great is the myftery of godlinefs ; God was made 
 tnanifeft in the flefh, juftified in the Spirit, feen of an- 
 gels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world, received up into glory," i Tim. iii. 16. Let us 
 then beware of the philofophy of the natural man, of 
 the enticing words of man's wifdom, which St. Paul 
 has warned us againft, becaufe he well forefaw that it 
 would ftand in the way and preclude " the acknow- 
 ledgment of the myftery of God, and of the P'ather, 
 and of Chrift," Colofl". li. 2. This warning to beware 
 of the deceits of philolophy is given at fuch a time, 
 and in context with fuch a doctrine, as makes it utterly 
 aftonilhing to me how any man in his fenfes fbould at- 
 tempt to warp it to the purpofes of overturning our Sa- 
 viour's divinity: We are deftred to beware of it, becaufe 
 it might be oppofite to the declaration which immedi- 
 ately follows, that " in Chrift dwelleth all the ful- 
 nefs of the Godhead bodily j" that " Chrift is all in 
 all ■" that " Chrift forgave us all j" that " of the 
 Lord we fliali receive the reward of the inheritance, for 
 we ferve the Lord Chrift;" that " whatfoever v\e do, 
 we ftiould do it heartily, as to the Xord, and not unto 
 
 man." 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 inan." In fhort, St. Paul has given us this warning in 
 the midft of his epiftle to the Coloffians, to which I 
 refer as a moft explicit declaration of our Saviour's di- 
 vinity throughout. Let us juft confider now, whether 
 this warning can have any other obje6l in view. Mr4 
 Lindfey's principal objection to the Godhead of Chrift, 
 is, that it is not reconcilable to reafon; St. Paul fays, 
 that the Greek requires wifdom. Mr. Lindfey fays, 
 that it is a dodrine fraught not only with impiety but 
 abfurdity ; St. Paul fays, that it is to the Greek fooU 
 ifhnefs. Of what doctrines, of what philofophy now 
 was St. Paul afraid? Will Mr. Lindfey fay, that he 
 feared that the Greeks would, from their demand for a 
 reafonable dodrine, adopt a docSlrine contrary to what 
 he thinks reafonable himfelf ? Or will he fay that the 
 apoftle apprehended, from their averfion to that which 
 was foolifh, their adoption of a doclrine which he him- 
 felf declares to be foolilh ? If this be his mode of rea- 
 foning, it is fo felf-fubverted that it requires only to be 
 read for its own confutation. His affertion, that the 
 Trinity is an idea adopted from Plato, is full of im- 
 piety, and fo extreamly weak, that I am forry to fee any 
 man capable of promulgating it ; and, were I not af- 
 i"ured of this gentleman's fincerity, from the proof 
 which he has given to the world, that upon the whole 
 he difbelieves our Saviour's divinity, I fhould incline to 
 conceive that he meant to impofe this on mankind up- 
 on the faith of a martyr. I will now advance one of 
 the like nature, and allure Mr. Lindfey that the idea of 
 the Unity of God is derived from the philofophy of So- 
 crates, who, notwithftanding his having been educated 
 in a country where fuch a dodlrine was efteemed impious, 
 yet dared to preach this imagination of hi5 own brain. 
 How does this found ? Juft as well as the other, and is 
 advanced with fully equal truth. For my own part, I 
 muft nov/ declare to this gentleman, that (fo far from 
 
 having 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 having drawn my faith in the Trinity from Plato, the 
 only book I have ever read on the fubjed:, (except his 
 ovi'n, which I was led to look into by my curioficy to 
 fee the motives of his uncommonly conlcientious 
 condud:) is the Bible. That I have thence deduced 
 the doflrine of the Trinity ; that both the Old and 
 the New Teftaments evince it ; the Old by typical and 
 verbal prophecies ; and the New, by the events which 
 juftify the prophecies; that our Saviour's life and lef- 
 fons teach it ; and that the more explicit teftimony of 
 the Holy Ghoft declare and enforce it; that, in the 
 epiftles of St. 'Paul, evaded or trifled with, it is deli- 
 vered in nearly fo many words. But I muft farther 
 declare, that though it be not precifely fo denominated 
 there, or in any part of the fcriptures, I cannot form 
 an idea why I am not at liberty to give a name to 
 that, which another (hall fo defcribe as to put it into 
 my power to give it a name for the benefit of commu- 
 nication. The Godhead of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghoft, is a dc(Strine which I de- 
 duce from the facred writings, and to thefe three per- 
 fons I am furely at liberty to give a name that ihall at 
 once comprehend them all, and ferve the purpofe of 
 more expeditioufly conveying my mind on the fubje6t, 
 •whenfoever I {hall fall upon it, without levity. From 
 the fame fource alfo I deduce the being of but one God ; 
 and as I have before given the name of Trinity to the 
 three Perfons, to this Godhead I give the name of Tri- 
 nity in Unity; and what Ihall preclude my giving a 
 name where the fcriptures have given the fubftance, 
 I own I do not fee ; nor can I conceive this objecStion 
 to the Trinity of perfons, and the Unity of the God- 
 head, to be a bit better grounded than that of the Qua- 
 kers to the ufc of the word you^ becaufe the term is not 
 to be found in the Bible. It is objefted alfo to the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity, that the word was not formed till 
 B lace 
 
late in the fecond century. As to the date of a word t 
 cannot fee it to be of any fort of confetjuence, if the 
 idea to which it is annexed be but conveyed by it. If 
 V7G had not been termed Chriftians by the people of An^ 
 tjoch, and that the profeffors of Chrift's religion had> 
 as yet, continued without a name, would potterity de- 
 my the exiftcnce of Chriftianity, or difpute the proprie- 
 ty of the term, becaufe it was of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury ? The word Chrijiiam was equally applicable to 
 us before we were called by it at Antioch, as after % 
 and the word Trinity was equally applicable to the 
 three perfons of the Godhead before mankind agreed to 
 iiil them by it, as after. 
 
 But if the name only were In debate, I fhould be but 
 very little concerned about it, the Unity of the God- 
 head, and the Divinity of the three Perfons being allow- 
 ed, I care not by what appellation they are called : But 
 I am fony to fee, at a time when I believe the de£fritus 
 is what Mr. Lindfey would confute, that he is weak 
 enough to conceive that a difapprobation of the name 
 will in the ieaft contribute to his purpofe ; for either ht 
 muft conceive that it does, and fo trifle -, or not con- 
 ceiving fo, acknowledge that he is talking about words 
 only ; and fuiely nothing can be more uncandid than 
 iuch a procefs. He muft aflhredly know that his deli- 
 cate condu£i will procure him more readers than he 
 could with modefty have hoped for, had his book been 
 put forth without fuch a concomitant circumftance ; 
 and alfo that, in the multitude of his readers, uftder- 
 ilandings of every ilze muft be numbered ; and it is 
 therefore impoffible but he muft have forefeen that fome 
 will be of fo contratSled dimenlions, as to reckon the 
 diflike of the word among the arguments againft the 
 fubftance named. To what purpofe elfe than that of 
 deception is it advanced, that to Ltither " the word 
 
 Trinity 
 
[ " ] 
 
 Trinity founds od4Iy> an4 Js of human iiTvenUon>, and 
 that it were better to csIJ Almigbtj' God, Gorf, than 
 Trinity.*' And that Calvin feys " I like net this 
 pi-ayer, O holy, blefled, and glorious Trinity, it fa- 
 vours of barbarifm." Are Luther and Calvin among 
 the opponents of the do£lrine of the Trinity ? No 
 fuch thing; and Mr, Lindfey himfelf fhall te!l you that 
 they were \vt\l known ajnd warm contenders for what is 
 called the doctrine of the Trinity, though they exprvffed 
 fuch a djfljke of the woi'd itfeJf. I cannot fee hi? infe- 
 rence, unlefs be would insinuate that a diflike of the 
 word, is a difl^ke of the doctrine, and therefore avail 
 himfelf of the authority of thefe *^' virtaous holy" men : 
 But that authority is altogether agairift him, as himfeff 
 acknowledges ; and Calvin, by a horrifeie inftawce, pro- 
 ved the fincerity of his belief in the Trinity, for he 
 adhially brought Servetus to the ftake foroppofing it. 
 
 If this deVicticj of Calvin, concerning the fearfearifra 
 ©f a term, be admitted in argument, I fee no reafoo 
 wherefore we flxould rcje£t a claffic mythology j op 
 why, when we fpeak of our Savour's incarnatioHj^ ws 
 ihould not ufe the words with which Erafsnus ridiculed 
 ^he faftidious wits of Leo's polilhed court, and fay, 
 ** E ccelo defcendit fiiius Jovis.'* In fhort, I can fee 
 no reafon wherefore v/e fliould not, like Leo himfelf, 
 pafs judgment upon the whole of the facred wridngs,^ 
 declare thero barbarows, and never read the Bible for fcaj:> 
 of fpoiling our tafte. And with ref^eO. to what is faid 
 concerning Luther, however jt may be aflerted that he 
 prefers the calling upon God, by the name of God, tq. 
 t^he calling upon him by the name Trinity, it is ded*a-r. 
 eible from this affertion, that he looked upon the two 
 words as fynonimows, and confequently that the word 
 Trintiy^ though it might found oddly, was expreffive 
 pf the idea,, which he chocies rather to exprefs hy the 
 B 2 term 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 term God ; a term perhaps more pleafing to his 
 ear. 
 
 Thus far I have written, not with a view of deroga- 
 ting from the real worth of Mr. Lindfey, nor of leflen- 
 ing the value of fuch worth in the eyes of mankind ; 
 but with a purpofe of preventing the merits of the ho- 
 neft confcientious man being carried over to his caufe, 
 and concluded to be the merits of his argument. I 
 am my felf defirous that the favour which is due to his 
 virtue ftiould attend his perfon, but not be converted 
 into partiality for his caufe. I feek not to obtain the 
 favour of the public to my felf, but their unprejudiced 
 ear, and that men fhould yield their convictions to 
 truth only, and not take prepofleflions for conviction. 
 Preliminaries being, I hope, fettled, I fliall now no 
 longer withhold my reader from that line of argument, 
 by which alone it feems to me poflible to inquire into 
 the fubjeCt before us, and by the purfuit of which, I 
 trufl, I fliall be able to evince the Diviijity of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jefus Chrift. . 
 
 CHAP. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 On the Province of Reafon^ with Refpe5l to its Enquiry 
 into Scripture Truths. 
 
 MR. Lindfey commences with an afTertion, 
 that " the unlearned reader fees at once, 
 that the God who made him, and whom he 
 is to adore, is one, without multiplicity or divifion, even 
 as he knoweth himfelf to be one, being one pcrfon and 
 not many ;" and on this pofition he proceeds to argue. 
 If Mr. Lindfey means by the unlearned reader, the 
 reader of his book, who has never read the Bible, per- 
 haps he is right ; but I believe that every reader, who 
 has read the Bible, will fee the fallacy of this great 
 foundation of all that follows in confutation of a trinity 
 of Perfons in the Godhead. On a fuppofition that na- 
 ture has fuggefted, and philofophy refined upon the fug- 
 geftion of a God, I do not doubt that natural religion 
 might acquiefce in this allertion ; but are we to come 
 to the fcriptures, which all men allow to be the founda- 
 tion of our religion, with a religion already formed, and 
 to judge of the revelation made by the God of truth, ac- 
 cording to its correfpondence with our previous perfua- 
 fions ? Are we to exalt our own reafon, and fay, that 
 it is a ftandard whereby to mcafure the infinite extents 
 of power and wifdom ? or are we to fet bounds ta 
 infinity, and annihilate all thr.t ftretches beyond the 
 grafp of our limited comprehenfion ? The fhort-fighted 
 man may, with equal truth, and equal wifdom, deny 
 thr exiftence of all objedis beyond the reach of his vi- 
 fion. And yet one of thefe confequences muft be in- 
 ferred from the afTertion, either that our reafon is infi-, 
 
 nite 
 
T H 1 
 
 nkc to mesfnre infinite wlfiom ; or that the mfi<xa ©f 
 God is finite, ai^fl narrowly limited, in order to be cou-. 
 formable to our reafon ; for the facuhy muft be com- 
 jiienfurate to the obje«S^, before it can take it into ob- 
 fcrvation and determine wpon it. 
 
 I fhould be forry to have it iwiderffood, that I wiffi 
 to fet up one boundary which original nature has 
 fuffered reafon to pafs. I think, hovyever, that, as 
 there are boundaries already formed, beyond which fhe 
 is not permitted to expatiate,, it is an objeft of con- 
 sequence to mankind to find where they are fixed ; for,^ 
 by an acquaintance with our limits, we {hall alfo pof- 
 iefs a definite idea of that which, is within our compre- 
 henfion ; and fo, inftead of idly fquandering our ufefuX 
 hours in purfuit of knowledge tha,t is too high for us,^ 
 :jnd which, when we conceive th^t we h^ve attained 
 ■unto it, tenninates not in conclufion, but at the very 
 beft in fpecious fallacy, we fhall turn the foi;ce of oust 
 faculties againft objefts which muft yield to our vigo- 
 rous exertions, atchieve that which, retained, maybe 
 ferviceable to ourfelves, or, communicated, proye he-: 
 aeficial to our fellow creatures. 
 
 My fi«rpo(« is only to inquire iato thofe limits bj; 
 which reafon is^ circumfcribed with regard to fcripturc 
 truths, and into the proper condu^ of reafon within, 
 thofe limits. 
 
 By the word Reafon, I mean that faculty of tl:ie 
 mind by which it perceives the relative qualities of the 
 ©bjefts of our perception j by which it compares the 
 •bjeds of our percejplion ; and, upon com{«rifon, fees 
 the conclufions, of tvhatfoever nature they be, which. 
 »fa)t. 
 
 The 
 
[ '5 } 
 
 The ^j^ord Gomparifon I ufc in an extenfive fenfc, 
 for every manner of laying together the relativ'e quali^ 
 ties ia ofd«er to Mifer ; and I choofe to fay, that reafon 
 fees rather thaai foams the conclufions, becaufe I fup- 
 pofe them to have been formed, and cxifting at all 
 times, whether obfcrved or not, and no more to be 
 annihilated by my withdrawing my obfervation, than 
 Mr, Hume is by my blowing out the candle, by the 
 light of which I had (according to his own philofo- 
 j)hy3 feen him into exiftenoe. 
 
 That great truth of Scripture which I wilh to hoiii 
 forth for the afient of mankind, and which I wi(h alfo 
 to prefcribe an^d purfue a proper manner of inquiring" 
 into, is, that Jefus ChrUi is one .with the Father and 
 dieHoIjGhoft, God. 
 
 It has often been aflerted, that reafon abfolutfc!^ 
 contradided the poffibiJity of fach a union of divine 
 perfedion and human imperfedion, and thence the im- 
 polTibility of fuch a union is inferred, and the Godhead 
 of Jefus Chfift denied upon this unweighed aflertion- 
 -whereas, were it confidered, that the relative quaiities 
 of God a«d of Man are the obje«3:s of comparifon, and 
 that the incompatibility of thefe two natures, upon ^ 
 fDerccptJon of the qualities of €a<:h, muft be feen from 
 the comparifon, perhaps men who deny our Saviour's 
 divinity would hefitate a moment before they would 
 even pronounce that their reafon had^ «pon naturd 
 premifes, given any teftimony whatfoever concerning 
 him J for, in the procefs, it m-uft be enquired into, 
 whether the obgetSs of the comparifon be really the 
 obJ€<as of their perception, how far even the nature of 
 man is within their comprehenfion, and how far the 
 nature of God is beyond it; and if, upon enquiry', it 
 be found, that the relative qualities of the two natures 
 arc altogether unknown, reafon muft be declared in- 
 
 i;x).T.petent 
 
[ i6 ] 
 
 competept to make a comparifon, and confequently t<* 
 fee an;, conclufion whatfoever. Reafon, therefore, can 
 never have denied, that Jefus Chrift is both God and 
 Man, however ignorance and prefumption may, under 
 her refpcftable name. 
 
 I do not dcfire, on the other hand, to conclude a be- 
 Jief in fcripture truths from the unafTifl-ed light of rea- 
 i'on ; I only defire to put that religion, which we may 
 imagine nature has found by that light, out of the quef- 
 tion ; and then firft to call for the obfervation of reafon, 
 when maxims, whence argument may proceed, are efta- 
 blifhed ; when we firft find obje6ls which we may com- 
 pare, and from the comparifon of which we may con- 
 clude : But till fuch are found, and agreed upon, we 
 muft walk upon uncertain ground ; and if we fhould 
 liappcn to come right in the end, it muft be by ways of 
 which we could not have been certain while on our pro- 
 grcfs. To fabricate maxims is not the office of reafon, 
 but to obfcrve upon fuch as are ready made and fubmit- 
 ted to her cognizance, I therefore afk no aid to my 
 caufe fror, any fuggeftions that flie may be fuppofed to 
 have made, nor will I allow that fhe can have afforded 
 any to infidelity. I wifii only to diflliade from looking 
 upon a negative as proved, becaufe the affirmative does 
 not follow from premifes not cognizable : From fuch 
 premifes.we never can argue to any conclufion what- 
 foever ; for no relation being vifible, no refult can iffue. 
 A declaration from natural religion that God is omni- 
 potent and ail-wife, can by no m^eans fet afide a decla- 
 ration that he has done that which to us may appear 
 weak and foolifti ; we muft be competent to judge of in- 
 finite power and infinite wifdom before we can compare 
 the aft with the agency ; and we muft be very fure that 
 the a61: v/nich is inconfiftent with our degree of wifdom, 
 muft be inconfiftent with a greater height th:;n our own, 
 
 before 
 
[ '7 ] 
 
 before we can pronounce that it is impoflible for infinite 
 wifdom to fee a reafon for fo ading. Even in the courfe 
 of worldly tranfadlions, how often has a man of fenfe ac- 
 counted for imputed abfurdity of condu6t, and, by (hew- 
 ing us the grounds of his adl:ion, extorted our applaufe 
 where we had before been too liberal of our cenfure ? The 
 reafons which influence man are intelligible to man, and 
 therefore, when affigned, may indemnify his aft ; but 
 the reafons of the conduft: of our infinite Maker muft 
 be incommunicable, becaufe unintelligible to our facul- 
 ties, unlefs our minds were enlightened above our fphere ; 
 that is, unlefs mankind were placed higher in the chain 
 of intelledlual beings, which fomewhere requires the 
 exiftence of fuch a creature, and fo ihould not be man. 
 We cannot then argue, from any idea we are able to 
 form of any attribute of God, to the a6lion properly 
 proceeding from it ; and therefore can never deny an aft, 
 by himfelf afcribed to any of his attributes. Has infi- 
 nite mercy let loofe the bloody tyrant to fcourge man- 
 kind ? Or does infinite juftice choofe to afflift the meek 
 and benevolent heart ? Can the aflumption of flem, 
 and fubjeftion to the infirmities of man, be imputed tp 
 the wifdom of God ? Or does infinite power and glory 
 beam from a helplefs bleeding body hanging on a crofs ? 
 And yet as reafonably may thefe two latter inftances of 
 impotence and folly be afcribed to infinite extents of 
 power and wifdom, as the two former, the profperity of 
 the wicked, and the broken heart of the benevolent, to 
 the infinite extents of mercy and juftice. If then the 
 conduft of the affairs of this world be not reconcilable to 
 our ideas of infinite faculties, we muft, if we interpret 
 from the aft to the agent, difprove the exiftence of thofe 
 attributes with which we cannot reconcile fuch conduft, 
 and confequently the exiftence of the being in which we 
 had before conceived them inherent ; fo that returning 
 to God by the fame road by which we defcended from 
 C him. 
 
r '8 ] 
 
 him, we no more find him, and the infinitely great 
 Creator of all things we then difcover to have been a 
 mcer Creature of our own imaginations. 
 
 Such is the procefs of unconduited reafon : With the 
 fame arguments {he conceives and annihilates her God : 
 At every turn flie finds and lofes him, yet ftill regrets the 
 lofs, and though (he cannot maintain the pofleiBon, re- 
 linquifhes it with relu£lance. If from our longing af- 
 ter immortality, our immortality is to be concluded, from 
 our longing after an acquaintance with an intimated 
 God, we may likewife infer the reafonablenefs of a re- 
 velation admitting us to that acquaintance, and helping 
 us to a permanent idea, which nature was never enabled 
 to acquire of herfelf. It feems then an a(S confiftent 
 with our previous perfuafions, in which even reafon ac- 
 quiefces, that a God, endowed with benignity, fhould 
 ftretch forth his hand to mankind thus wandering in 
 eternal intricacies, mercifully vouchfafe himfelf to be- 
 come his guide, lead him to truth, and make his own 
 way flrait before him. This mode of argument, how- 
 ever, I do not infift upon, I make ufe of it rather to iiluf- 
 trate than infer. I can do without any conceffions from 
 reafon; for, at all events, I am certain, that, if (he does 
 not affirm, fhe cannot, upon the principles which I 
 have already laid down, deny the confiftency of fuch 
 an a(Sl with the agent of whom it is fuppofed ; but if 
 the ftrongeft external tefi:imony bear witnefs, that God 
 has revealed himfelf, and that reafon be incapable of 
 producing any evidence to the contrary; nay, if a re- 
 velation be what reafon might have herfelf prefcribed, 
 and hoped as a guide to her own errors, wherefore 
 fhould we not acquiefce in it when related, and look 
 upon it as a fail, that God has a(Sl:ual]y revealed him- 
 felf? The nature and validity of the teftimony, upon 
 which the alTertion is made, is extreamly well worth 
 
 enquiry. 
 
L ^9 J 
 
 enquiry, and certainly fhould be Inveftigated by all who 
 entertain any doubt of the faft aflerted. For my own 
 part, I am fatisfied; and Mr. LIndfey has exempted me 
 from the neceflity of going into the enquiry here; hav- 
 ing acknowledged that God has revealed himfelf, that 
 the fcriptures are his revelation, that they afford " au 
 evidence which no fair mind can refift," and that they 
 are " the only rule of faith and confcience to Chriftian 
 men:" In all of which I perfe6lly and entirely agree 
 with him. The credibility of God, whom all allow, 
 and who has pronounced himfelf to be the God of 
 truth, is a ground whereon to build our faith in what- 
 foever he Ihall relate of his own incomprehcnfible ma- 
 jefty; and, as I have faid before, that the conduft of 
 God can never be meafured by his attributes, fo I now 
 fay, that there lies no appeal from his credibility, from 
 his truth to the infcrutable nature; we muft acquiefce 
 in that which he has faid; it muft be; it is true. 
 
 Having admitted the fcriptures to be the word of God, 
 and that whatfoever is fet forth in them is true, we are. 
 not yet to conceive that he has fo far fubmitted himfelf 
 to our faculties as to enable us to draw any argument 
 from him ; for we are not yet to compare his conduct, 
 as revealed therein, with God himfelf, nor to judge of 
 the confiftcncy of any adf therein declared to be his, with 
 the infinite Agent ftill left incomprehcnfible ; for to 
 render him otherwife to us, the enlargement of our fa- 
 culties muft attend upon a revelation of all his glory, 
 and therefore a revelation of all his glory is not to be 
 required. Perhaps the diftindlion is not here fo clearly 
 marked as I could defire, and that what I have laft 
 written may feem to be only a repetition of what im- 
 mediately precedes it ; it is not fo ; what I v^ifh to 
 inculcate is briefly this, that, as in natural religion, no 
 comparifon can be had between the attributes of God, 
 C 2 and 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 and the moral evils of the world fubmittcd to our ob- 
 fervation, and yet that we do not quite confent to anni- 
 hilate an original to nature, becaufe his government 
 feems to argue againft him ; fo we fhould not, when 
 revelation declares a courfe of condu^l;, which we can- 
 not reconcile with the attributes afcribed to him, any 
 more deny that courfe of conduct, from its irreconcile- 
 ablenefs with God, than we fhould deny the exiftence of 
 moral evil, becaufe we had by nature pronounced that 
 Original to be great, wife, and good : For if moral evil 
 were incapable of rooting out the acknowledgment of the 
 fxiftence of a caufe fupremely good ; fo a conduft, not 
 underftood to be wife, fhould not be admitted an argu- 
 ment againft the exiftence of a revealed God ; but we 
 cannot deny the exiftence of moral evil, and yet nature 
 jfays there is a good God ; wherefore then fhould we con- 
 ceive, that an acknowledgment of a conda6t confelTedr 
 Jy not underftood, and therefore not to be reprehend- 
 ed, can militate againft the acknowledgment of the 
 God who has revealed himfelf? Let us then, if we adr- 
 mit a good caufe confiftent with moral evil, not argue 
 againft the confiftency of an incomprehenfible God, 
 and an unintelligible conduct : There may fubfift an 
 unfeen relation in this latter cafe ; whereas an eventual 
 evil, refulting from a fupreamly good caufe, feems ac- 
 tually to contradict our reafon. The purpofe for which 
 I have written this, is to put men upon their guard 
 againft any fuggeftion, that the revelation of God, made 
 by himfelf, fhould convey an adequate idea of his great 
 glory. That it fhould do fo to man I have fhewed to be 
 impoffible. It has indeed declared him infinite, but a 
 declaration that God is infinite, is a declaration that 
 he is incomprehenfible : An indefinite majefty is all that 
 can pofTibly be afcribed to God ; and, in the conduct of 
 incomprehenfible wifdom, it is not probable that much 
 can occur exa^ly conformable to our faculties. If then, 
 
 cveft 
 
[ 2J ] 
 
 even a revelation be unable to make him comprehended, 
 we are ftill to confider him beyond the reach of reafon ; 
 and when he relates his own adlions, ftill conceive that 
 the agent is not cognizable, that he fhould be compa- 
 red with them. To make us better men upon hope 
 grounded on his mercies, is the moft beneficial purpofe 
 for which we can conceive it poflible for God to reveal 
 himfelf ; and to this very purpofe we find a revelation 
 made, wherein that providence which extends to us is 
 declared. To what end fliould God lay before our eyes 
 the government of all that Vv^e are not concerned in ? 
 That he has created and redeemed us, is a motive to 
 gratitude and to brotherly love ; it is fufficieut to fhew 
 in him a power to be feared for its extent, and adored 
 for its beneficent exertion. To evince that he has pro- 
 mifed to every man the reward of his works, and 
 pointed out thofe works which lead us to hope in hitn 
 that is faithful, is a fully fufficient motive to faith, 
 hope, and charity ; that he bears the relative fuperiority 
 of a creator over his creature, is a fufficient motive to 
 us to pronounce him our God, and afcribe to him all 
 honour and glory, without feeking for a farther revela- 
 tion of the exertion of his infinite power, which we are 
 not concerned to know. But in the government of the 
 univerfe, it may be faid, he has feletSled this little orb, roll- 
 ing through infinite fpace, as a fceneof a moft wonderful 
 tranfaiSion in which we are certainly concerned ; for it is 
 aflertcd that our falvationis the confequence, and was the 
 end propofed ; and are we not yet to comprehend him ? 
 By no means ; the infinite wifdom which dictated and 
 knows wherefore fuch a tranfadtion is the fitteft means 
 of our falvation, has not yet fubmitted itfelf to our 
 inveftigation, nor diredly told us why this was the moft 
 adequate means to fo beneficent an end ; he ftill remains 
 incomprehenfible, and that tranfadlion by which we 
 are become partakers of eternal life, being revealed, 
 
 amounts 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 amounts only to a foundation and motive for us to rely 
 upon God, and a6t according to his will thereby decla- 
 red to us, and not' to a difplay of all that muft neceiTarily 
 exceed the limits of our perception. We are not called 
 upon to account for his conduct; but we are required to 
 love him, to hope and to truft in him. A declaration of 
 his power, and the exertion of fo much of it as bears 
 relation to us, is all then that was neceffary for thofe 
 ends; thefe are beft declared by a revelation of the con- 
 dudl of God towards man. Such a revelation is made, 
 and there is much in it that we cannot underhand ; 
 and fuch muft ever be the cafe, for in whatfoever ac- 
 tion we look upon, proceeding from a higher intelledl 
 than our own, we fhall fee fomewhat not intelligible 
 till the grounds of it are communicated. In whatfo- 
 ,€ver a£tion of God, made percsptible to us, we look 
 upon, we fhall fee fomewhat which muft eternally 
 continue unintelligible; for it proceeds from infinite 
 heights of intelleft, and confequently muft be incom- 
 municable. 
 
 Reafon is, as it were, the eye of the mind ; and as 
 the eye is incapable of comparing invifible things, or 
 viftble with invifible, fo is reafon incompetent to bring 
 together objedls not perceptible, or to compare that 
 which it can^ perceive with that which is beyond her 
 perception. A view into that which is invifible, is 
 not neceflary ta give exiftence to that which the eye 
 has feen ; neither is the comprehenfibility of 9bjc6ls not 
 perceptible, neceflary to the exiftence of that which is 
 fubmitted to the perception of reafon. 
 
 Having, as I hope, now proved that there can fubfift 
 no vifible relation between the conduct of God and the 
 uncomprehendcd God of natural religion, and therefore 
 that reafon cannot deny that he has revealed himfelf ; 
 
 and 
 
 J 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 and having farther Ihewed, upon the fuppofitioh that 
 he has revealed himfelf, that it was neither neceflary 
 nor pofTible for him to render himfelf comprehenfiblc 
 to our faculties ; and therefore that his conduct, as 
 revealed, cannot be brought into comparifon vi^ith him- 
 felf, that it ftiould be denied of him by reafon ; Xve 
 muft come to this conclufion, that God is not an ob- 
 je£l of our perception, and confequently his faculties 
 are not a groupd whence argument can proceed, that 
 which is incomprehenfible not being to be brought to 
 the teft of reafon, nor by her made a mcafure for znf 
 thing which may be afierted concerning them. About 
 matters which we do not comprehend, it is obvious 
 that we cannot with certainty fay any thing. The in- 
 comprehenfible attributes of God then are not fit pre- 
 mifes, no conclufion poffibly following, from any com- 
 parifon of them with whatfoevcr may be revealed to 
 have been effedted by them. 
 
 The infinite and incomprehenfible majefty of God 
 then is an objedl beyond the limits of reafon j we are 
 Incapable of forming any idea of him ; and confequent- 
 ly, from whatfoever ultimate maxims reafon may pro- 
 ceed with relation to fcripture truth, ihe is debarred of 
 any appeal to God himfelf, or to any imagination ihe 
 fiiay conceive herfelf able to entertain of him. 
 
 .But the fcriptures are admitted to be the word of 
 God, and whatfoever is fet forth in them is admitted 
 to be true ; henceforward reafon may proceed. The 
 fcriptures are that ultimate, that axiom, beyond which 
 we are not to feek for the grounds of whatfoever is 
 afi'erted in them ; they are the word of God, and they 
 are true. This is granted, and from this datum there 
 lies no appeal,' 
 
 Come 
 
[ H ] 
 
 Come on ^en, for reafon has now found a com- 
 mencement to her work ; and firft fhe fays, the fcrip- 
 tures, being true, contain no contradiftions, the truth of 
 contradidlories being impoflible : Her bufinefs then it is 
 to reconcile what feem to be contradictions, to com- 
 pare, one with another, the pafTages which lead to par- 
 ticular conclufions, and to yield her aflent to that 
 which Ihe cannot underftand, referring it only to the 
 credibility of him who is the author of it ; to acquiefce 
 in the condu6l of infinite wifdom^ and not feek for 
 principles beyond her own limits. By fuch a procefs 
 ihe will never pronounce any thing to be impoflible, 
 the impoflibility of which fhe does not fee upon a com- 
 parifon of perceptible qualities ; but, acknowledging 
 herfelf incapable of giving counfel to her Maker, be- 
 lieve that he has employed means for our falva;tion 
 which we cannot look into ; truft him with the means 
 who has fo gracioufly emploj^ed them for fuch an end ; 
 look upon the end not with vain and impious curiofity, 
 but with unbounded gratitude ; habituate our minds 
 by fuch a profpedt to love him, and from love and gra- 
 titude afcend to the defire to pleafe him ; feek from him- 
 fclf the means of pleafmg him, and with renewed love 
 and gratitude learn that to bear good will towards man, 
 is the condu6l moft conformable to his will, that by 
 which we fhall beft afcribe glory to God on high, and 
 by which we (hall procure to ourfelves eternal happinefs 
 through Jefus Chrift our Lord and Saviour. Is this a 
 condud beneath the dignity of reafon ? It is a glo- 
 rious undertaking which is committed to her charge,-^ 
 Let us now come more direftly to the point. 
 
 If then the teftimony of our Saviour be allowed, and 
 the teftimony of the Holy Ghoft, to which he refers 
 enquirers into his nature, be admitted as credible ; and 
 if by tjiefe it be declared that Jefus Chrift is God from. 
 
 everiaftjng. 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 feverlafting, I fee not how a doubt is to be entertained 
 that he is God, one with, and equal to, the Father : 
 But if his having appeared clothed with flr^fh among 
 men, as a man; if his fympathetick tears; if his ap- 
 prehenfive agonies and prayers to have the cup of evil 
 put away from him; if his having fallen under ilv fc- 
 vereft affliiSions, and even having fufFered an ignomini- 
 t)us death, added to his own teftimony and that of the 
 Holy Ghoft, be admitted as evidence that he Was man, 
 I fee not how a doubt can be entertained that h; .as 
 Man, inferior to God, as we are inferior to him : and if 
 thefe be both admitted, it muft neceflarily follow, 
 that Jefus Chrift is both God and Man : But if both 
 God and Man, I do not fee the force of the objcftion 
 to his Godhead, that he has ailed and fuffered as Man; 
 that he refers the preferVation of his human nature to 
 the power which is alone equal to the prefervation of 
 It; that he prays as man for the world, which he fym- 
 pathizes with ; that he declares his human naiare and 
 the man Jefus to be a meflenger to man, and adling 
 \vith power dei-ived of God. For as I believe that 
 men, who make a difficulty of believing that any union 
 between the two natures is poflible, will hardlv inftft 
 upon their own capacity to explain the manner of it, or 
 to Ihew that, upon fuch an union, fo much of the divi- 
 jiity is derived to the manhood of Chrift, as to render 
 it independent of God, and able to ail for its own 
 purpofes, without farther application than the exertion 
 of this derived power: fo I will not admit of their -x*- 
 planations of our blefTcd Saviour' t^ prayers, and decla- 
 rations that he was fent ; for thefe prayers were breathed 
 by the man Jefus; and this commiflion to die for and 
 to adopt a world, was given to the human nature by 
 God, and not to the divine nature of Chrift, which 
 was itfelf the power, one with the Father, God Al- 
 mighty, which had fg fent forth this man to atone for 
 D us. 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 US. I am far from fa) ing that I am myfelf able to ex- 
 plain this union, God forbid ; but that I am not able 
 to explore the ways of an Almighty God, whofe little 
 creature I am, is not a reafon why I fhould doubt his 
 ■word, when he is pleiifed to reveal any part of them to 
 me. We are told, that the ways of God are not as our 
 ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts • And fhall we 
 attempt to contradiil the declarations of his power, be- 
 caufe we cannot exert the like? Or queftion the wif- 
 dom which we cannot comprehend, merely becaufe we 
 cannot comprehend it? Were God pleafed to open the 
 ftores of his wifdom to our eyes, but not to open our 
 eyes to look upon them with more extended faculties 
 than we now enjoy, is it to be imagined that we fhould 
 comprehend them? Surely not; and wherefore fhould 
 we reject the belief of that wonderful exertion of his 
 power for our redemption, which he has laid open to 
 us? It is a way of God, and not of man; and is its 
 being wonderful a caufe? It is away of God, and not 
 of man ; and is its exceeding the limited comprehenfion 
 of our faculties a caufe ? It is not to comprehend that 
 we are required, but to believe ; and to yield that de- 
 gree of afTent which we call belief, is certainly the befl, 
 nay the only exertion of our reafon in the cafe before 
 us ; for, having granted that God is true, and that he 
 has fpoken, the inference is, that what he has fpoken is 
 true ; and as his power is adequate to all things, no ex- 
 ercife of it can oppofe the conclufion drawn; as hi^ 
 wisdom is infinite, no didate of it is referred to our 
 judgment; and therefore our judgment muft retire 
 from giving any decifion upon other premifes than thofe 
 laid down; and confequently, inftead of oppofing, 
 mufl: abet the conclufion that follows from thofe which 
 are flated. If our blefTed Saviour himfelf, though in 
 union with Godhead, was humble, and referred all to 
 God, I (hould conceive that, inftead of arrogantly op- 
 
 pofing, 
 
[ 
 
 27 
 
 poiing, we fhould cultivate in ourfelves that mind 
 which was in Chrift Jefus, and humbly fubmit to his 
 will, who has in part revealed, and in part referved 
 for future revelation, the myftery of our redemption, for 
 a myftery I muft agree with St. Paul in calling it, ra- 
 ther than with any mere human authority in denying it 
 to be fuch. 
 
 Mr. Lindfey fays, That, in a multitude of paflages 
 to which he refers, " Jefus Chrifl formally profefles 
 his inferiority and dependence, that he received his be- 
 ing and all his powers from God." It is of no confe- 
 quence whether the paflages referred to prove it or not, 
 for I readily grant him this pofition, " There is one 
 God, and one mediator between God and Men, the 
 man Chrift Jefus," i Tim. ii. 5^ And when I have 
 granted it, what will he infer more than I have already 
 laid down, that, as Man, the man Jefus. Chrift (evi- 
 dently intended here to be diftinguiftied from God by 
 that name only, and therefore in other refpe6ts implied 
 to be one with the father, God) was inferior to God; 
 that is, that having two natures, one was greater, and 
 confequently one lefs than the other. Were I in the 
 midft of an argument, proving the immortality of the 
 foul of man, to declare, that I laboured under a linger- 
 ing difeafe of which I feared that I fhould die, would 
 even Mr. Lindfey fay, that I had confuted my own 
 dodlrine of the foul's immortality? Would he pro- 
 nounce that I meant my foul ftiould die ? And yet he 
 might as well, as in the cafe before us, declare, that 
 when Jefus Chrift fpeaks as Man he denies his God- 
 head. 
 
 I do not mean to fay, that there exifts any analogy 
 between the union of fpirit and flefli in man, and the 
 wnion of God and Man in Chrift j for I do not at all 
 
 underftand 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 underftand how the union of foul and body exifts, and 
 conlequently cannot compare it with that which I ao 
 little underftand, for I cannot fay that I underftand it 
 Jefs ; and how, if I am abfolutely unacquainted with ar> 
 union, which not only fubfifts in every perfon I hourly 
 converfe with, but even in myfelf, how, I fay, am 1 to 
 declare that an union between God and Man, of which 
 but one inftance has ever offered itfelf to human obfer- 
 vation, is impoffible ? And I refer it to Mr. Lindfey, or 
 any of his difciples, to explain the nature of Spirit, and 
 to fhew its compatibility with Flefh; or that of Flefh, 
 and to fhew its compatibility with Spirit; and if my re- 
 queft be not complied with, from their abfolute and en- 
 tire ignorance, I muft then requeft farther that they will 
 defift from denying the compatibility of Natures, which 
 they muft allow they as little underftand. They yield 
 their aflent in the one cafe, becaufe daily obfervation 
 confirms the exiftence of an animal in which fpirit and 
 fiefh are conjoined, and they take their aflent to be a 
 conclufion from premifes fupplied by reafon; but be- 
 caufe Chrift is but one, they have not had a^ opportu- 
 nity of analyfmg him, as they think they have done by 
 their own nature, and fo dgny what they could never 
 have underftood, had there been as many Chrifts as 
 Men. Would they defire fuch an intimacy ? would 
 they defire fuch a multiplication ? fee where the impious 
 tenet ends, " Jefus Chrift once crucified is not a fuffi- 
 cient atonement for the fins of mankind." I (hall make 
 no farther comment than to declare, that whenfo- 
 ever reafon withholds belief in that which it compre- 
 hends not, merely becaufe it is beyond the reach and 
 comprehenfion of reafon, the union of the body and 
 foul in man muft be denied ; for it never can be pro- 
 ved by reafon, which muft underftand the compatibi- 
 lity of both before the union can be declared to exift. 
 I would then advife every man not determined to be a 
 
 fcepticj 
 
t 29 ] 
 
 fceptic, whom I will not hefitate to pronounce 3 fool, 
 to look upon a revelation of one, the fufficiency of 
 which precludes the neceflity, and confequently the 
 exiftence of more, to be adequate to a fuller view of 
 that which admits of a fuller view. In fhort, my re- 
 commendation amounts to no more, nor lefs, than the 
 pld eftabliflied maxini, that proofs, and confequently 
 Dur credit, are to be deduced from the bcft evidence 
 the nature of the cafe admits of. 
 
 The beft evidence then, which the nature of the cafe 
 before us admits of, is the revelation of God, allowed 
 to have been made by him, and admitted incontro- 
 vertibly true. Whatfoever is related therein, is ad- 
 vanced upon authority fulEcient to vi'arrant our afl'ent; 
 but as the revelation is not itfelf fupported by an equal- 
 ly ftrong evidence as that which, upon admittance, it 
 affords to whatfoever it teftifies, we are not required to 
 yield more than belief to the aflertions contained in it; 
 were it as certainly the word of God, as the word of 
 God is certainly true, we fhould pofTefs little lefs than 
 certainty of the fails revealed therein ; but being al- 
 lowed, upon that evidence which is unqucftionably 
 fufficient to induce credit, it remains to be enquired 
 into, whether it bears teftimony to the divinity of our 
 blefled Reedeemer Jefus Chrift, or not ? 
 
 As I have now reached the threfliold, and am juft 
 entering into the proofs, and the nature of the proofs, 
 which the fcriptures afford of the truth of this great 
 myftery, once more let me warn, and deeply incul- 
 cate the warning, to beware of the delufions of natu- 
 ral religion, if fuch a religion there be, and if that 
 which we conceive to have been derived from nature, 
 be not rather a refiduum, after our pride has rejeiled 
 ivhatfoever is revealed beyond its reach. 
 
 The 
 
[ 3° 1 
 
 The Chinefe philofopher believes, that the earth, 
 ftands vipon the back of an elephant, which ftands up- 
 on the back of a tortoife, which ftands upon the back 
 ©f, &c. &c. &c. Now, fuppofe this fame philofo- 
 pher to be inftrudled in the Copernican fyftem, and 
 that he had, upon full confideration, yielded his affent 
 to the great probability of its truth ; would it not ra- 
 ther feem abfurd in him, after a time, to recur to his 
 old tenets, becaufe the fufficiency of the fun's attrac- 
 tive power to fupport this world, was inconfiftent with 
 the occupation of his old elephant and tortoife, and 
 that he could not fee how it fhould be poffible for ani- 
 mals fo loaded, and of themfelves none of the fwifteft, 
 to carry the earth, whirling through its orbit with fuch 
 aftoniftiing velocity ? Juft fo abfurd fhall we be, if, af- 
 ter our affent to the truth of God, and admiflion that 
 he has revealed himfelf, we fuffer any one previous per- 
 fuafion to recur, and require that fcripture fhould be 
 confonant to it, after we have admitted that the word 
 of God is true, whether it be confonant to any previous, 
 perfuafion or not. The fenfible Chinefe would fure-. 
 ly reje£l his ancient tenets upon the admiffion of that 
 which he had affented to, becaufe of the value of thofe 
 arguments which had induced his affent ; let us then, 
 upon the admiflion of the fcriptures as the ultimate 
 boundary of argument, reje<5l whatfoever feems to 
 make againft their ceded truth; bowfoever we may~ 
 perfuade ourfelves that reafon had fupplied it to us, 
 we muft have expatiated beyond her limits to feek for 
 the tenet, for within her proper province it is not to 
 be found. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Nature of the Evidence of our Saviour^ s Divi- 
 nity afforded by the Scripture. 
 
 TH E full eifulgence of the Gofpel did not burft 
 fuddenly upon mankind. That fun of righteouf- 
 nefs, by the light of which we are enabled to walk, did 
 not at once reach its meridian height; fo exceedingly 
 gradual was its progrefsj that, when firft it dawned 
 upon the world, its rays were not difccrnible ; " it ftione 
 in darknefs, and the darknefs comprehended it not;" it 
 encreafed in fplendor, but was not fufficient to be the 
 " light of thofe who come into the world ; at length 
 the day-ftar arofe, and a light flione forth to lighten the 
 Gentiles, and the day-fpring from on high hath vifited 
 us, to give light to them that fit in darknefs, and in 
 the fhadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of 
 |)eace," 
 
 To drop the metaphor. We find the prophecies of 
 Our blefled Saviour, from great obfcurity, become more 
 and more explicit as they approach the great event: At 
 the firft they were extreamly indefinite, and fuch only 
 as were adapted to the puxpofes for which they were 
 pronounced. The firft hope of redemption to mankind 
 accompanied the fentence of condemnation, and was 
 gracioufly conveyed by God himfelf, who comforted 
 the forlorn ftate of our fallen parents with a promifc 
 conceived in general terms, that the feed of the woman 
 Ihould bruife the head of the ferpent which had beguil- 
 ed her. 
 
 Noah is afterwards taught by the Spirit to hope, and 
 to exclaim, "blefled be the Lord God of Shem." To 
 
 .ihew 
 
i 32 ] 
 
 ihew that this bleffing is a prophecy, it is enough to 
 fay, that Noah fpoke it in a train of prophecy concerh- 
 ina; the future ftate of his c^wn fbiis and their pofterity. 
 From Shem defcended Abraham, to Abraham was the 
 promife made, and from Abraham, as concerning the 
 flefh, Chrift came. From the manner in which the 
 blefling upon Shem is pronounced, I incHne greatly to 
 believe that this dcfcent was the objed: of Noah's pro- 
 phetic vifion; it feems to have been the refult of his 
 having forefeen, that, in the progeny of Shem, all the 
 families of the earth fhould be blefled : and let it be 
 remembered, that Noah was no unconcerned prophet 
 in whatfoever (hould happen to any future inhabitants 
 of the earth ; for all v/ere then equally to defoend 
 from him as iheir common parent ; and well might 
 he rejoice and blefs the God of Shem, by one of whofe 
 line he forefaw that all his pofterity fhould be blefled. 
 
 To Abraham, becaufe he had obeyed the voice of the 
 Lord, it is foretold, (and this is by the New Teftament 
 declared to be fpoken of Jefus Chrift) that in his feed 
 all the nations of the earth fhould be blefled ; and this 
 promife is from time to time renewed in that line of 
 which our Saviour was to be born; to Ifaac, in prefe- 
 rence to Ifhmael ; to Jacob, in preference to Efau ; and 
 to Judah, in preference to his eleven brothers, 'to 
 Judah, indeed, there is fomewhat of more particular 
 revelation made, for the length of time during which 
 he fhall bear the fceptre (that is, continue a tribe) is 
 made commenfurate with the coming of Shiloh, upon 
 which the fceptre is to depart from him. Judah alone 
 continued to be a tribe after the Aflyrian Captivity, 
 <and then only ceafed when Chrift came; whence, 
 however diiBcult it may be to explain this paflage with 
 certainty, it is to be prefumed that the prophecy of 
 Jacob, coiicerning the fceptre of Judah and its time 
 
 of 
 
[ 33 r 
 
 tjf departure, bears reference to the coming of the 
 Meffiah. 
 
 Mofes, Who is the relater of what was fpoken before 
 his day, in his own perfon alfo often fpeaks of a future 
 prophet : And in the compelled prophecies of Balaam, 
 when he poured forth bleffings from a heart replete 
 with curfes, and in fpight of that indignation with 
 which he afcehded the rock to denounce evil, fore- 
 fliewed the future brightnefs of the ftar that fhall come 
 forth out of Jacob, there is fomething which, how- 
 ever obfcure it may be, is certainly referable to our 
 Lord. 
 
 David hoped for one of his feed to fit upon his 
 throne •, and though he looked for a defcendent from 
 himfelf, he has neverthelefs " in fpirit called him 
 Lord." That our Saviour was the objedl of David's 
 expectation, though he knew not why he called him 
 Lord, and only trufted that fome great good was pro- 
 mifed to him, the declaration of the angel to the Vir- 
 gin Mary evinces, who fays to her of the child wh-ch 
 flie is to bear, and whom flie is to call Jefus, " He 
 Ihall be great, and Ihall be called the Son of the Hi^ h- 
 eft; and the Lord fhall give unto him the thron-; of 
 his Father David, and he (hall reign over the houfe of 
 Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there fhall be no 
 end," Lukei. 32, 33. 
 
 Every fucceeding prophet throughout the Old Tefl:a- 
 ment found a confolation to the feveral troubles of Ju- 
 dea, in looking forward to that which was revealed to 
 them in a general way by the fpirit of Chrift; but the 
 full declaration of that which was fo revealed was with- 
 held from them; they underftood it not themfclves, nd 
 even when they fpoke of the divinity of our Saviour, 
 E like 
 
[ 34 ] 
 
 Uke Balaam, they fpoke it conftrainedly ; they uttered 
 only the word which the Lord had put into their 
 mouths. If they who fpoke it were ignorant of its 
 meaning, it is no great wonder that they who heard 
 did not underfland the full force of the prophecy of the 
 Godhead of him who was to come; nor is their mifap-r 
 prehenfion a reafon why we fhould doubt that the pro- 
 phets foretold it. The purpafe of prophecy is '* to 
 tell before it come to pafs, that when it come to pafs 
 we may believe," John xiv. 29. And the object of 
 the prophecy of the Old Teftament is the coming of 2 
 great deliverer, pf whom fuch feeming contrarieties are 
 declared, that it is not poflible the Jews could ever 
 have formed a definite idea of the expeded Meffiah. 
 It is forefhewn of our Saviour, (whom all allow to be 
 the Chrift) that he was to be a King of the feed of 
 David, and to fit upon his throne j that he was to be 
 €ut oflF, but not for himfelf ; that he was to be exalted 
 and extolled, and to be very high; oppreffed, affiided,- 
 bruifed and put to grief, numbered with the tranfgref- 
 fors, taken from prifon, and from judgment, and cut 
 ofF out of the land of the living; ruling the nations, 
 &c. Ifaiah lii. an<l liii. With fuch irreconcileable 
 declarations were the hopes of the Jews kept alive j 
 but in aJI this there is nothing that could have fuggeft- 
 ed an expe^ation that God himfelf would come; for 
 how fhould the idea of his infinite majefty unite itfelf 
 with that of a man of forrows and acquainted with 
 grief, having a cheek turned to the fcorner ? and how, 
 indeed, could even fuch an idea as this agree with the 
 expe£l:ation of a great King, to overcome all their ene- 
 mies? It cannot, therefore, be admitted in argument 
 againft the divinity of Jefus Chrift, that it was not 
 underftood by the Jews; for how fhould they under- 
 ftand it, when the prophets, who prophefied of the 
 grace that fliould come unto us, have enquired and 
 
 fearched- 
 
I 35 1 
 
 ftarched diligently of this fali'aflon, " fearcTiing what, 
 or what manner of time, the fpirit of Chrtft which 
 was within them did fignify, when it teflified before- 
 hand the fufterings of Cbrift, and the glory that ihould 
 follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that, not u-ntn 
 themfelves, but unto us, they did minifter the thing'~> 
 which are now reported unto you by them that hav« 
 preached the gofpel unto you, with the Holy Ghoft 
 ient down from heaven j which things the angels defirc 
 to look into, i Pet. i, lo, ii, 12. and that many pro- 
 phets have defired to fee thefe things which our Saviour 
 (hewed forth, and have not feen them." 
 
 To us then, who have come after the event, it be- 
 longs to explain the prophecy, as that which is fore- 
 ^Id is come to pafs; and therefore we muft ceafe to 
 look for fuch teftimony from the prophets as fhould 
 bav? explained the faft, to fuch as had ne\'er feen it : 
 of the fufferings of Chrift, and the glory that fliould 
 follow, they could form no certain idea whatfoever, nor 
 did the prophecy put things into that order, as to impart 
 a notion that the glory was to be fubfequent to the fuf- 
 ferings; and this I aflert, notwithftanding that Ifaiah 
 had faid " he Ihali divide the fpoil with the ftrong : 
 becaufe he hath poured out his foul unto death," Ifa. 
 liii. 12. For even the expe£lation of a man to arife 
 from the dead, never feems, by the hiftory of the Jews, 
 throughout the Old Teftament, in the leaft degree to 
 have fuggefted itfelf to them ; for if it had, Chrill 
 crucified could not have been to the Jews a ftumbling 
 block; and it is even probable, that fuch a fatl, clear- 
 ly underftood, might have withheld their hands from 
 inflicting that death whereby '* Chrift was perfected." 
 
 Still nearer to the manifeftation of Chrift the Angel 
 
 has declared, that the Prophet, who fhould be the 
 
 E 2 preparer 
 
t 36 ] 
 
 preparer of the ways of the Lord, (hould be filled with 
 the Holy Ghoft, even from his 'mother's womb; arhi 
 Zacharias, upon the birth of John, breaks that filence 
 which had been impofed upon him becaufe of his un- 
 belief, and, being filled with the Holy Ghoft, cried 
 out, *' Blefled be the Lord God of Ifrael, for he hath 
 ■vifited and redeemed his people, and hath raifed up an 
 horn of falvation for us, in the houfe of his fervant , 
 Divid; as he fpake by the mouth of the holy prophets, 
 which have been fince the world began," Luke i. 67, 
 68, 69; and then fpeaking of h's own fon, who was 
 the appointed harbinger of the Chrift, whom he has 
 already called the Lord God of Ifrael, he fays, *' and 
 thou child fhall be called the Prophet of the Higheft; 
 for thou (halt go before the face of the Lord to prepare 
 his ways," Luke i. 76. The angel faid alfo to the 
 Virgin Mary, when he gave her afTurance of the birth 
 of her fon to be called Jefus, " He fhall be great, 
 and fhall be called the Son of the Higheft ; and the 
 Lord God fhall give him the throne of his father Da- 
 vid;" and "that Holy Thing which {hall be born of 
 thee, fhall be called the Son of God," Luke i. 32, 33, 
 35. The babe leapt in the womb of Elizabeth for 
 joy upon the falutation of Mary, and Elizabeth afks 
 this remarkable queftion, fimilar in expreflion to the 
 prophecy of David already cited, *' whence is this to 
 me, that the mother of my Lord fhould come to me ?" 
 Luke i. 43. The fhepherds are told by an angel, 
 " unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a 
 Saviour, which is Chrift the Lord," Luke ii. 11. 
 At the prefentation of the infant Redeemer in the 
 temple, Simeon, to whom it was revealed by the Holy 
 Ghoft, that he fhould not fee death before he had feen 
 th. Lord's Chrift, taking the babe in his arms " blcftcd 
 God, and exprefled his contentment to depart then, 
 his eyes having feen the promifed fburce of falvation," 
 
 Luke 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 Luke i. 28, 29. And fubfequent to thefe myflerious 
 prediftlons concerning the fuppofed child of a carpen- 
 ter, came forth a prophet, cotemporary in birth with 
 :Jefus Chrlft, appointed to be his immediate forerun- 
 ner, to prepare the way of the Lord, and to make his 
 paths ftraight, and he declared of him that ** he that 
 _cometh from above, is above all ;" and that " he that 
 believeth on the Son, hath everlafting life," John iii. 
 
 Thus, from the firft obfcure hint of falvation to our 
 firft parents, do the prophecies gradually approximate 
 to an explanation of the gi-eat glory which {hould in 
 the end be revealed ; but by no means have they be- 
 come fo explicit yet, as to render a revelation unne- 
 ceflaryj nay, there is yet to proceed a new fpecies of 
 previous intimation to makind of " the falvation of 
 God which all flefh fhall fee," Luke iii, 6; and ac- 
 cordingly now came forth the great fubjccl of all that 
 had been teftified, but not yet to be declared, nor yet 
 indeed the full fubjeft of the prophecy, nor of the 
 fubfequent teftimony of the fpirit, having before him 
 that mighty work to do, toward which the hopes of 
 the prophets looked as the fource of deliverance, in 
 vain fearching into what the manner of it was to be; 
 a work by Vv'hich we have received the atonement, 
 and obtained reconciliation, the word and miniftry of 
 which was afterwards to be committed by God to thofe 
 who were to be the appointed witnefles of our Lord : 
 and this miniftry of reconciliation is that which alone 
 can be, according to the fcriptures, pronounced the 
 manlfellation of Jefus Chrift ; and therefore I confider 
 himfelf, even the Lord of glory, who was crucified, 
 who arofe from the grave, and afcendcd into heaven, 
 as only bearing, by his miracles, a practical teftimony 
 ^uring his ftay on earth, to that which fhould be re- 
 vealed 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 vealed of him when his work fliould be flniQied. 
 This, indeed, I admit to be a much clofer evidence 
 of the Godhead than any given before; and that, per- 
 haps, by vi^hich the minds of men fhould be led to look 
 «pon the expeiSled King of the Jews in a much more 
 exalted light than the former prophecies had inftru6tcd 
 them to do. It is fuch an evidence as, when referred to, 
 might well provide credit, when it fhould come to pafs, 
 for that which before it came to pafs it had forefhewn. 
 Our Saviour himfelf, for the moft part, declines bear^ 
 ing witnefs to himfelf, but refers both to the fcriptures 
 ■which had now begun to be fulfilled, and which he de- 
 'fircs to have diligently fought into as about to receive 
 their full completion, and to the teftimony of the Holy 
 Ghoft hereafter to be given for the purpofe of manifeft-i 
 inghim; and whenever he does bear record, it is ra- 
 ther fuch as he would have fecond to that which fhould 
 follow the finiftiing of his work here, thence to derive 
 its explanation, than fuch as he would have principal 
 in the line of evidence. 
 
 Had our blefled Lord and Saviour borne any ultimate 
 teftimony to the Jews that he was God, they would 
 have known this hidden myftery; and, " had they 
 known it," fays St. Paul, " they would not have cru^ 
 cified the Lord of glory," i Cor. ii. 8; and fo the very 
 end of his coming in the flelh would have been defeat- 
 ed; mankind muft flill have remained due to the juf^ 
 tice of God, without the atonement which wc have re- 
 ceived by the death of Chrift. The blood of our gra- 
 cious Redeemer was to be the price of our falvation, 
 and would it have been confident with wifdom to take 
 meafures to prevent the (bedding of it? It was enough 
 that his miracles fhould teftify of him to thofe who 
 were afterwards to preach him, and offer them to man- 
 kind as marks of a life confiftent with what they fhould 
 
 relate 
 
t 39 ] 
 
 telate concerning his death, refunre^Hon, and afcenfion, 
 which were the great perfuafives to believe in his God- 
 head, and in that mighty work which he came in the 
 flefh to do for our fake. 
 
 Our Saviour^ I fay, did not frequently bear record 
 to himfelf; but continuing the train of prophecy of 
 that by which we alfo have become the children of 
 Abraham, the Ifrael of God, even of that which all 
 the prophets had in view, the redemption of makind, 
 he very frequently foretells his own fufFerings, that 
 <* the Son of man fhali be lifted up as Mofes lifted ujy 
 the ferpent in the wildernefsj" that " he will raife the 
 temple in three days, and this he fpake of his body;" 
 and " that he will go before us into heaven." That 
 this great event, attended by fuch mighty confequences 
 to us, confolatory in every woe of Ifrael, and making 
 all men heirs of falvation, (hould be the object of pro- 
 phecy, and of the fubfequent teftimony of the Holy 
 Ghoft, no man furely can doubt, when, in order to 
 enable us to become partakers of the benefits thence 
 derived to mankind, it is nccefiary that we believe in 
 Chrilt, " who gave himfelf a ranfom for all, to be 
 teftified in due time," i Tim. ii. 6- *' How beautiful 
 then upon the mountains are the feet of thofe who 
 bring good tidings of good!" A preacher, even the 
 Holy Spirit, has inft:ru6ted us in the falvation which is 
 of God, and *' faid unto Zion, thy God reigneth." 
 
 This then is the line of teftimony ; this the obje<5l 
 of revelation, namely, that ** Chnft, by being made 
 perfect, has become the author of eternal falvation un- 
 to all them that obey him ;" that he hath been the Re- 
 deemer of mankind by the full accomplifliment of all 
 that he came to do for us ; and not, according to Mr. 
 Lindfey, that he has merely come into the world as a, 
 
 teacher. 
 
f 40 ] 
 
 teacher, the truth of whofe do6lrines were to be wit- 
 nefled by his death. And let not this be confidered as 
 an unfupported fuggeftion of my own, it is authorifed 
 by St. Luke in the firfl chapter of the A6ts ; where, 
 fpeaking of that hiftory which he had before fet forth 
 df the life of our Saviour, he is fo far from confidering 
 it as the manifeftation of Chrift, that he fays, " The 
 former treatift- have I made, O Theophilus, of all that 
 Jefus began both to do and to teach, until the day in 
 which he was taken up:" fo that all the life of our 
 Lord in the flefh was but a commencement of that 
 which was afterwards to be revealed. In the moment 
 of his afcent too^ the fame apoftle prefents Chrift tell- 
 ing his difciplcs that " ye fhall receive power after that 
 the Holy Ghoft is come upon you : and ye fhall be 
 witneffes unto me, both in Jferufalen, and in all Ju-- 
 dea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermoft part of 
 the earth," Adis i. 8. Of what were they to be wit- 
 neffes unto him? of that which he had already died to 
 teftify? Was his death then fo defective a teftimpny to' 
 thofe who had feen it in Jerufalem, and who had alfo 
 feen his refurreftion ? If thefe were intended but as a 
 mere teftimony that he had lived, wrought miracles^ 
 and taught among them, we muft declare that they 
 have come verj' fhort of anfwering the purpofe, if there 
 ftill remained a neceffity of appointing farther witneffes 
 to concur in proving their objed:. Was it ever before 
 heard of, that the breathlefs corpfe of a man is a better 
 evidence of hrs having been born into the world than his 
 living and adive body, that our Saviour's death fhould 
 be confidered only as a proof of his life? Did a conti- 
 nued feries of miracles, performed before the eyes of 
 the multitude, ftand in need of one more, to prove, 
 to thofe who had iztn them, that they had been per- 
 formed ? or are thofe moral doftrines, which our bleff- 
 ed Redeemer delivered to mankind, of fuch a dubious 
 
 nature. 
 
[ 4t ] 
 
 nature, that any man fliould entertain a doubt of their 
 juftice, requiring fo ftrong an engine as the death and 
 refurredion of the preacher, in order to remove it ? 
 No, but on the contrary, fo obvious is their reilitude, 
 fo far from requiring any teftimony whatfoever to their 
 indifputable truth, that many who never became Chri- 
 liians allowed their value; and even Trajan, who per- 
 iecuted thofe " who called upon Chrift as God," adopt- 
 ed from his fermons that charitable do£lrine of return- 
 ing good for evil. But of what were they to be wit- 
 neffes unto him ? of his death and refurre£lion ? What? 
 to Jerufaiem, and all Judea, and to Samaria ? did 
 Chrift hang invifible on a crofs at Jerufaiem, that a 
 witnefs fhall be wanting to teftify it ? or was his death 
 and refurreclion a tranfadtion carried on in fecret ? On 
 the contrary, at the very time when he was dragged 
 *' from judgment to pour out his foul unto death; 
 when he was numbered with the tranfgreffors, and 
 made interceffion for the tranfgreffors," Ifaiah liii. all 
 Judea were eye-witnefies of the fa£l j for it was at th6 
 time of the pafTover, when all Judea had come up tb 
 Jerufaiem, the fcene of the tranfaftion, to celebrate 
 that feaft: nay, farther, where all Judea, as if to fill up 
 the meafure of her rebellions, and juftify her approach- 
 ing defplation, had, with one voice, cried out, "crucify 
 him, crucify him." Of this then they were hot to be 
 witneftes unto him ; but of that which the prophets had 
 hot made manifeft, of that which the life and leflbns of 
 our Saviour himfelf had not made manifeft, without 
 farther explanation. They were to be witnefTes unto 
 him. that he was the expeded Chrift, and that the 
 Chrift was the " mighty God, the everlafting Father, 
 the Prince of peace j" that the Godhead of him, 
 whom their own eyes had feen^ fo far from beini^ a 
 great king, that he was actually in " the form of a 
 fervant," and an ignominious fufferer, was the ro) alty 
 F which 
 
r 42 ] 
 
 which they had looked for in the expected king of If- 
 rael ; that he was indeed a '' king who had all thing? 
 put under his feet, who had led captivity captive, and 
 hath o-iven to us the viftory over death apd the gravel ; 
 a king, whofe throne endureth for ever, and the fcep- 
 tre of whofe kingdom is a right fceptre." To thefe 
 witnefles of Jefus Chrift the Holy Ghoff was given,' 
 even the fpirit of truth, to fliew forth the means of ouf 
 redemption, by which his infinite mercy had reconciled 
 mankind to his infinite juftice: whatfoever the pro- 
 phets had faid was given to them to underftand, to 
 open, and to reconcile : and whatfoever our Lord had 
 done and faid in the flefh, vvas given to their remem- 
 brance to corroborate that which they fhould themfelves 
 declare; and thefe they have accordingly called upon, 
 and fhewed to be a teftimony bearing toward the truth, 
 which it was their appointment to render fully mani- 
 feft even this great truth, that the blood which ftream- 
 ed from a fuppofed malefador, dying for imputed blaf- 
 phemy upon a crofs, was the blood of God himfelf, 
 A£ls XX. 28. " poured out for our tranfgreflions," 
 and "by which we have received the atonement." 
 This is the full manifeftation of Chrift to mankind ; 
 till the work was finifhed it could not be' related, and, 
 when done, fo portentous was the deed in itfelf, fo 
 above the reach of all human intelle61:, that it requi- 
 red and obtained a miraculous teftimony; a teftimony 
 precifely adequate to that which is required of thofe 
 who receive it, our belief, which alone is called for as 
 the terms upon which this great falvation is offered to 
 us, " that eternal falvation of which, by being made 
 perfe<ft, he became the author unto all them that obey 
 him," Heb. v. 9. 
 
 The prophecies waited for their explanation till all 
 _which they had prediiled fhould have come to pafs. 
 
[ 43 ] 
 
 and therefore were not evidence to thofe who lived be 
 fore the event. The four gofpels relate, that a man 
 had come into the world endowed with a power of 
 working miracles, which he was perpetually exerting 
 in a6ts of benevolence; inftruaing mankind in. virtue,- 
 by lefTons fuperior to thofe of any other man; fpeaking 
 of the kingdom of God, and faying, that he was the 
 door by which it was to be entered; inculcating faith 
 in God, and the hope in his mercies, arifmg from the 
 cultivation of piety toward him, and goodwill toward 
 man; teftifying that he was the objedt of former pro- 
 phecy; forefhevving things which the hearers remem.- 
 bered, when they came to pafs, to have heard of, but 
 not to have underftood before; dying upon a crofs, 
 arifmg from the grave, and afcending into heaven; 
 that is, the gofpels relate the hiftory of Jefus Chrift in 
 the flefti, but have by no means revealed him, nor de- 
 clared finally who or what he is, wherefore he died, 
 arofe, and afcended. They tell us that he did the 
 work for which he came, but the full import of this 
 work, and why undertaken by this man who finifhed 
 It, was not the obje6l of the hiftorian to reveal ; and 
 till.it was finifhed it could not be revealed to what end 
 it had been done. From our Saviour we are not to. 
 expe6l this revelation, for his afcenfion into heaven be- 
 ing a part, the final part of his work, he continued 
 not among men to declare its end. Another teftimo- 
 ny then muft be found, and that fuch as muft be very 
 powerful; we accordingly now find the apoftolic body 
 come forth in the ftrength of the Lord, endowed with 
 miraculous powers to be exerted before all hearers, 
 and blefled with elocutioa in every language, that all 
 hearers might underftand and believe; and thus the 
 end of all that has been done is declared; that our 
 falvatlon was the obje6l is revealed ; that for our fins 
 Chrift died, and that for our juftification he rofe again; 
 
[ 44 ] 
 
 that he has taken our nature into heaven, " having 
 appeared to put away fin, by the facrifice of himfelf," 
 Heb. ix. 26. and, " by his own blood entered in once 
 into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption 
 for us," Heb. ix. 12. that, becaufe he can have a feel- 
 ing of our infirmities, having been in all points tempt- 
 ed like as we arc, he is now our high-prieft and inter- 
 ceflx)r; and that, for the fame gracious reafon, he is 
 to be our judge, when, in the laft day, he Ihall come 
 forth in his glory, and all nations fhall be gathered 
 before him, even before their God. 
 
 I hope and believe now that I have pointed out the 
 degrees of proof v/hich have been afforded to the world, 
 that the Lord of life, Jefus Chrift, who redeemed it, 
 is the God of our falvation ; and having fhewn by 
 what light he has been manifefted, even that which 
 has come frorn hirnfelf after his afcenfion and re- 
 fumption of his former glory, it is eafy to fee that the 
 prophets and evangelifts are to be read by that light 
 only: by ths alone the expetStations of Ifrael are to 
 be reconciled, and the prophets found to have fpo- 
 ken confiftently; and what other circumftances could 
 have reduced their predictions to good fenfc, but a re- 
 velation of the glory that has followed the fufFerings 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift ? what other 
 circumftances than the death, burial, refurredlion, 
 and afcenfion of a man revealed to be the *' King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords," Rev. xix. 16; "who has 
 become the captain of our falvation, who fhall come 
 once again with power and great glory, fitting upon 
 the throne of his glory, bringing his reward with 
 him, to judge all men, could reconcile the expectations 
 which the prophets had imparted, that the Mefliah 
 ftiould be a King, fitting on the throne of David for 
 eyefj that he fhould be a great deliverer, fubduing 
 
 all 
 
[ 45 ] 
 
 all nations under them ; and alfo, that he fhould be 
 a man defpifed and reje(5lcd of men, wounded for our 
 tranfgreflions, and bruifed for our iniquities, upon 
 whom was the chaftifement of our peace, and by 
 whofe ftripes we are healed ?" Ifa. liii. 5. for fuch 
 were the indefinite hopes of the Jews, and therefore 
 their ignorance is never to be; confidered as of any 
 weight in argument againft the Godhead of Chrift, nor 
 a defe(£t of teftimony in ti:e Old Tcftament taken by 
 itfelf, and not explained by the fubfequent revelation, 
 as any ground for denying that which it was never 
 written with a view of ultimately proving. The fame 
 thing may be aflerted of the four evangelical hiftories of 
 pur Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, they were not in- 
 tended to have been ultimate ; and, confequently, if par- 
 tial quotations do not evince his divinity to partial en- 
 quirers, it is not in the leaft degree an argument that 
 he was not one with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, 
 God. Thofe hiftories, I have faid already, were writ- 
 ten with a view of fetting before all men the works 
 which our blefled Redeemer did, in evidence of a 
 power concerning which he withheld his own teftimo- 
 ny, but for the promulgation of which he refers to the 
 fcripcures already written, and to the teftimony of 
 the Holy Ghoft hereafter to be aftbrdcd, the truth of 
 which, he forefaw, would be lefs liable to doubt than 
 that of his own record, which he therefore declined 
 bearing, faying, that it would not be received as 
 true. Had our Lord therefore been wholly filent up- 
 on this head, not even his abfolute filence would 
 have derogated from the evidence of his divinity. 
 *' He came not to bear witnefs of himfelf," " but to 
 be teftified in due time ;" and he even faw that his 
 teftimony, had he attempted to have borne it, would 
 be rejefted, as an evil interpretation was put upon the 
 moft benevolent exertion of his power j that the faith 
 
 of 
 
r 46 ] 
 
 of even his perpetual hearers was defedive^ and that 
 they had fallen from him, becaufe they could not 
 comprehend him. He therefore looked for the be- 
 lief of mankind from a miraculous declaration and 
 teftimony of his Godhead, to become, not after a 
 partial, but a full execution of that great work which 
 he took our nature upon him to do ; and faw that 
 Godhead would be more readily acquiefced in, as in 
 union with a man who fhould be teftified to have 
 rifen from the dead, and afcended into heaven, than, 
 with one, the courfe of whofe innocent life was feem- 
 jngly unable to refift perfecutions and forrows, nay the 
 infliction of an ignominious death. An acquaintance 
 with grief, a cheek turned to the fcorner, the grave 
 and the fhadow of death, which he had often (and 
 even with agonies which certified his feeling of our in- 
 firmities) predi61:ed to be all before him, were fo far 
 from conveying an idea of divinity, that they afforded, 
 but a very humiliating piclure of humanity. The be- 
 lief of mankind was not required from fuch circumr 
 ftances, and they who infli<Sted thofe miferies upon him 
 were forgiven, for they knew not what they did. It 
 is at the fame time true, that Jefus Chrifl has not left 
 tis without a record of himfelf, as I fliall hereafter 
 have occafion to (hew, but it was carried only fo 
 far as to become a teflimony, when explained after- 
 wards, otherwife they who crucified him muft have 
 known what they did. On the day on which our 
 Lord was betrayed, knowing that his hour was come, 
 he fays to his difciples " I have yet many things to 
 fay unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, 
 when he the fpirit of truth i:; come, he will guide you 
 into all truth : for he ftiall not fpeak of himfelf; but 
 whatfoever he fhall hear, that fliall he fpeak : and he 
 willfhew you things to come. He fhall glorify me : 
 for he Ihall receive of mine, and fliall (hew it unto 
 
 vou . 
 
[ 47 ] 
 
 yoiii All things that the Father hath, are mine : thet-e- 
 fore {liid I, that he fhall take of mine, and fhall fhew 
 it unto you," John xvi. I2, 13, 14, 15. What is this 
 but Aiying, that as they are as yet unable to bear the full 
 revelation of his nature, he will in a future time {hew it 
 to them by the fpirit who fhall fpeak as he (hall receive 
 of Chrift. And that it is the full declaration of the 
 Godhead, which, he fays, they ate as yet unable to 
 bear, and which he will reveal by the fpirit who fhall 
 teflify of the truth, is evident from the teftimony which 
 he proceeds to fay this fpirit fhall bear to him ; for *' he 
 fhall glorify him," having received that which he is to 
 fhew from Chrift, whole it is, and from the Father^ 
 whofe it is, equal poffeiTors of the glory which fliall be 
 revealed. A triumph over death, and an afcent into 
 heaven, were iirft to intervene ; and thefe, added to 
 every miracle performed in the prefence of multitudes, 
 Vfere fa<Sts, which, when referred to, were fully fuffi- 
 cient to fhew forth a power that none could doubt to 
 be the power of God ; and if the Holy Ghoft, by mi- 
 racles fubfequent to fuch an a6l as that of rifing frora^ 
 the darknefs of the grave to the manfions of light, 
 fhould tefl^ify of him who had fo aited, that he was 
 God, I fee not how a more proper line of evidencef 
 could have been adopted, or a more certain means of 
 fpreading information among men, not hardened againfl 
 the receipt of it, devifed ; nor do I fee it to be lefs 
 than an impious prefumption to deny the attefted fac^, 
 becaufe we have not ourfelves had the condutt of the 
 evidence, and therefore do not find it where it is not 
 reafonably to be expelled. 
 
 The do£lrine of Chrifl's godhead then may be con- 
 fidered as imparted to us by four different forts of reve- 
 lation ; firft, by the prophecies, and the law, or in ge- 
 neral terms that which was called the fcriptures, be* 
 
[ 48 ] 
 
 fore the writing of the New Teftamcnt, to which wc 
 are referred, and told that " they are they which tefti- 
 fy of me j" fecondly, by the teftimony of our bit-fled 
 Saviour himfelf, whether by words or v/orks, through- 
 out the writings of the evangelifts ; thirdly, by the tef- 
 timony of the apoflilcs, confirmed by the Holy Ghoft, 
 to which our Saviour ufually referred enquirers into his 
 nature, whether delivered by them in the gofpels, 
 •which were written after the Holy Ghoft had been 
 given to the writers, or by their explanation of the 
 nature and the purpofes of his having come and fuffer- 
 ed in the flefh, in their fermons throughout the A<Sl:s^ 
 and in their epiftles ; and fourthly, by the teftimony of 
 Chrift himfelf, after his afcenfion and reafl"umption of 
 that glory wherewith he had been glorified before the 
 world was, delivered by his having fent the comforter 
 according to his frequent promifes that he, and that 
 ihe father (promifcuoufly named) would fend him, by 
 his compliance with the prayers of the apoftles, his ap- 
 pearance in divers circumftances, and by the vifion 
 fnewed to St. John in the revelation, in which he 
 Ipeaks of himfelf in the fame terms, as God, before 
 his incarnation, had fpoken to the prophets. 
 
 This is the order in which the evidence is placed be- 
 fore us, and in which I Ihall therefore produce it in 
 the following chapter. Were it to be ftated according 
 to the degree of its ftrength, it ought to be reverfed. 
 
 There is yet another fpecles of teftimony borne to 
 the divinity of our gracious Redeemer, refusing from 
 the reconcileablenefs of the whole of facred writ, upon 
 the adopting this propofition as a datum, namely,- that 
 Chrift is God. Were a fubje6i to be treated fo enig- 
 matically by a man of fenfe, as that it ftiould efcape the 
 u;iderftariding of all his readers, and yet leave them 
 
 con- 
 
[ 49 ] 
 
 CdnVihced upon the credit of the author, that the book 
 itfelf was worth ftudy and labour; were there fcarce an 
 intelligible fentence contained in the book, and yet a 
 certainty that it contained much matter; and were 
 there at length to arife a man v/hofe ready faculties 
 fhould alight upon one proportion by which that whole 
 book fhould be explained, to which every obfcure af- 
 fertion fhould be referred, and by the reference to which 
 they fhould become clear and perfpicuous ; and there- 
 fore it fhould appear, that this propofition was the ob- 
 jedl of every fentence, the darknefs of which it difpell- 
 ed ; could any man pretend that this was not the objedt 
 of the writer; or conceive that anyone point, thus 
 borne down upon by every argument, was not the point 
 intended to be illultrated and proved ? certainly not. 
 And if, on the other hand, the contradictory of that 
 proportion was a point to which the procefs of the ar- 
 gument fo little referred, as that it fhould flill continue 
 obfcure when referred to it; would any man fay that 
 this was the writer's object ? certainly not. Exa6tly' 
 fuch is the flate of the Bible ; every pofition falls into 
 fenfe, the tenour of it becomes a courfe of argument the 
 inflant that the divinity of our Saviour in union with 
 manhood is acknowledged to be its objeft; whereas, 
 upon a denial of this propofition, there is not on earth 
 a book fo fraught with contradictions and irreconcilable 
 abfurdities, as that which is acknowledged to be the 
 word of the God of truth. Partial quotations there- 
 fore, and pafTages taken from the whole confiftent word 
 of God, are to be confidered as of no value whatfoever 
 in argument; they cannot afford any proof of any thing: 
 and nothing contained in the facred writings is to be ex- 
 plained but as it ftands in context with the whole. No- 
 thing lefs therefore than the whole of the Bible is to be 
 confidered as the gofpel of Chrift ; and from the whole, 
 taken together, his almighty Godhead is to be deduced., 
 G CHAP. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 Tfye Evidence of our Saviour'' s Divinity afforded by the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 AS I have already faid that the Old Teftament af- 
 fords but a very fmall part of the teftimony of 
 the Godhead of Jefus Chrift, I (hall produce but few 
 feparate pafTages from it, under the head of prophecy ; 
 fuch as receive their explanation from the New Telta- 
 ment, being better brought under that head. It is not 
 to fhevv that the prophets have foretold our Lord and 
 Saviour that I am engaged, for that were an eafy office; 
 but to fhew that they have foretold his divinity; and 
 that the expelled Meffiah was, though ignorantly, by 
 them declared to be God himfelf. 
 
 From the prophecies of the Old Teftament I take 
 the following proofs of the Godhead of Jefus Chrift. 
 I. 
 
 *' Therefore the Lord himfelf fhall give you a fign, 
 behold a virgin ftiall conceive, and bear a Son, and 
 fhall call his name Immanuel," Ifaiah vii. 14. This 
 prophecy Is referred to by St. Matthew, declared to be 
 of our Saviour, and the name interpreted to be " God 
 with us." 
 
 IL 
 
 " For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is 
 given, and the government fhall be upon his fhoulder; 
 and his name fhall be called. Wonderful, Counfellor, 
 the mighty God, the Everlafting Father, the Prince of 
 Peace," Ifai. ix. 6. 
 
 in. 
 
 " Thus faith the Lord the King of Ifrael, and his 
 Redeemer the Lord of Hofts, I am the firft, and I am 
 
 the 
 
[ 51 ] 
 
 the laft, and befides me there is no God," Ifai. xllv. 6. 
 This aflertion is made by God to Ifaiah, and by Jefus 
 Chrill: (verbatim) to St. John, Rev. ii. 8. God, in the 
 fubfequent verfcs, declares his prerogatives to the pro- 
 phet; the fame are applicable to the fame firft and laft, 
 *' is there a God befides me ? yea there is no God, I 
 know not any." This God then is Jefus Chrift. 
 IV. 
 *' Awake, awake, put on ftrength, O arm of the 
 Lord ; awake, as in the anticnt dayj, in the genera- 
 tions of old. Art thou not it which hath dried the 
 fea, the waters of the great deep, that hath made the 
 depths of the fea a way for the ranfomed to pafs over r " 
 Ifai. li. 9. 10. The anfwer to this call has the foliov/- 
 ing words in it, " But I am the Lord thy God, that 
 divided the fea, whofe waves roared : the Lord of 
 flofts in his name," Ifai. li. 15. To this entire chap- 
 ter, and the two following, I refer for the explanation 
 of thefe texts which I have brought to evince the divi- 
 nity of Jefus Chrift, and which I take to be even of 
 themfelves fufficient for that purpofe. The arm of the 
 Lord is here invoked, and in making anfwer, the arm 
 of the Lord declares " I am the Lord thy God." The 
 arm of the Lord, and the Lord God, are then with 
 Ifaiah fynonimous terms; but he afterwards fays "the 
 Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all 
 the nations, and all the ends of the earth fhall fee the 
 falvation of our God," Ifai. lii. 10: and again, "Who 
 hath believed our report ? and to whom is the arm of 
 the Lord revealed?" Ifai. liii. i. To the former of 
 thefe two texts St. Luke refers, and declares exprefsly 
 that it is fpoken of Jefus Chrift, for he relates that 
 they were uttered by St. John the Baptift, whofe office 
 was to be the forerunner of our Saviour, Luke iii. 6. 
 To the latter St. John refers, chap. xii. verfe 38, where 
 he quotes the verfe at. large concerning the unbelief in 
 G 2 Chrift, 
 
[ 52 ] 
 Chrift, and fays, " thefe things I'aid Eraias, when he 
 faw his glory^ and fpake of him," John xii. 41. Here 
 then is the fame arm of the Lord, which is fynonimous 
 with God, declared to be Jefus Chrift, whofe name is, 
 therefore fynonimous with God, one with him who is 
 the " Lord thy God." St. Paul alfo intimates, that 
 Chrift was the leader of the Ifraelites through the wil- 
 dernefs, faying, " neither let us tempt Chrift, as feme 
 of them alfo tempted," i Cor. x. 9 ; to which I refer. 
 V. 
 The arm of the Lord is thus foretold ^ga^in, *' be- 
 hold, the Lord God will come with ftrong hand, and 
 his arm ftiall rule for him : behold, his reward is with 
 him, and his work before him. He fhall feed his flock 
 like a fhepherd," Ifa. xl. 10, li. In the Revelation, 
 our Saviour fays to St. John, *' behold, I come quick- 
 ly j and my reward is with me," Rev. xxii. 12. And 
 in the gofpel he fays, " I am the good Ihepherd," 
 John x. II. St. Paul fays of him, *' now the God 
 of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord 
 Jefus, that great fliepherd of the flieep, through the 
 blood of the everlafting covenant, make you perfect in 
 every good work to do his will, working in you that 
 which is well-pleafmg in his fight, through Jefus 
 Chrift; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 
 Heb. xiii. 20, 21. Here we find Ifaiah's words 
 concerning the arm of the Lord (the fame as God) 
 pronounced by our Saviour concerning himfelf, both 
 in earth and in heaven, and alfo teftified of him by St. 
 Paul, whofe doxologyaffifts us to pronounce of Jefus 
 Chrift, in the words of Ifaiah immediately precedmg; 
 the text before us, " behold your God." 
 VL 
 *' How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 
 him that bringeth good tidings, that publifheth peace, 
 tha.t bringeth good tidings of good, that publiftieth 
 
 falvationj 
 
[ 53 ] 
 
 falvation, that faith unto Zion, thy God reigneth!" 
 Ifai. lii. 7. St. Paul, fpeaking of the neceffity of a 
 preacher to inftrudl men in the belief on Chrift, that 
 they may call upon him and be faved, diredlly applies 
 thefe words of Ifaiah, as being prophetick of a preach- 
 er who fhould publilh falvation, and fay unto Zion, 
 " thy God reigneth," Rom. x. 15. If then the pro- 
 fnulgation of the gofpel of our bleficd Lord and Savi- 
 our be correfpondent to this prophecy, the preacher of 
 Chrift is furely he who fays " thy God reigneth." 
 
 vir. 
 
 " Out of the mouth of babes and fucklings haft 
 thou ordained ftrength," or " perfe^Led praife," (which 
 is the interpretation of the New Teftament) Pfa. viii. 
 2. Thefe words David directs to God, whofe name 
 he declares to be excellent. When children in the 
 temple cried " Hofanna to the Son of David," and the 
 Chief Priefts and Scribes were difpleafed at them for 
 it, our Saviour himfelf juftified the children by aflu- 
 ming the direction of thefe words to himfelf, and de- 
 claring them a prophecy of his praife, to be perfected 
 ty the mouths of babes and fucklings; fo that we find 
 a prophecy, that the praife of the Lord, " who had fet 
 his glory above the heavens," Pfa. viii. i. is declared to 
 be fulfilled by the direction of praife and hofannas to 
 the Son of David, who muft therefore be one with the 
 Father, God, Mat. xxi. 16. 
 VIIL 
 
 *' For thy fake are we killed all the day long; we 
 are counted as fheep for the flaughter," Pfa. xliv. 22. 
 Thefe words dire6tly addreffed to God, by David, are 
 by St. Paul declared to be a prophecy of the perfeve- 
 rance of the apoftles in the love of Chrifl-, of which he 
 fays, " Who fhall feparate us from the love of Chrift? 
 fhall tribulation, or diftrefs, or perfecution, or famine, 
 pr nakednefs, or peril, or fword?" As it is written, 
 
 "for 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 " for thy fake, ?cc." Rom. viii. 35. For whofe fake? 
 certainly Chrift's, one with the Father, God. 
 
 The prophecies afforded by the New Teftament, I 
 have already flated in the preceding chapter, and fliall 
 not trouble my reader v/ith a repetition of them. 
 
 The following proofs are taken from the teflimony 
 borne to our bleffed Lord's divinity in the writings of 
 the four evangel ifls. 
 
 IX. 
 
 *' Thy kingdom come," Matth. vi. 10. " Thine is 
 the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever 
 and ever. Amen." Matth. vi. 13. That our Saviour's 
 command to the difciples, is to addrefs thefe words, 
 and the prayer in which they occur, diredlly to God, 
 IS not only granted but contended for : but let us fee 
 now who is this God, who is this king of glory, 
 " Then (in the laft day) fhall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they fhall fee the Son of man coming 
 in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory! 
 And he fhall fend his angels, &c," Matth. xxiv. 30, 
 31. *^ When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, 
 and all the holy angels with him, then fliall he fit uporj 
 the throne of his glory. And before him fhall be ga- 
 thered all nations ; and he fhall feparate them one from 
 another, as a fhepherd divideth his fheep from the 
 goats; and he fhall fet the fheep on his right hand,' but 
 the goats on the left. Then fhall the King fay unto 
 them on his right hand, come, ye bleffed of my Fa- 
 ther, &c." Mat. XXV. 31, 32, 33, 34. Here we fee 
 the coming of the kingdom, and we fee alfo whofe is 
 the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Where- 
 fore then fhould we fay that Jefus Chrifl, in prefcrib- 
 ing this form of prayer, forbad worfhip and application 
 to be made to him, whom we find to be the very being 
 
 defcribcd 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 defcribed and pointed out as the proper objeft of our 
 adoration ? It is manifeftly his command that we fhould 
 worfhip him; and hence it follows, that he is one with 
 the Father, God Almighty, He fays in another place, 
 *' whofoever fhall be afhamed of me, and of my words, 
 in this adulterous and fmful generation, of him alfo 
 fliall the Son of man be afhamed, when he cometh in 
 the glory of his Father, v/ith the holy angels," Mark 
 viii. 38. On which I remark, that the glory of the 
 Father, and of the Son, is but one glory, one God- 
 head J for we fee our bleffed Lord coming in his own 
 glory, and in the parallel paffage, in the ^lory of his 
 Father. The following texts evince this, and alfo 
 afcribe the kingdom and the glory to Jefus Chrift. 
 " The Son of man fhall fend forth his angels, and 
 they fhall gather out of his kingdom all things that of- 
 fend, and them which do iniquity," Mat. xiii. 41. 
 *' The Son of man fhall come in the glory of his Fa- 
 ther, with his angels ; and then he fhall reward every 
 man according to his works," Mat. xvi. 27. " Who- 
 foever fhall be afliamed of me and of my words, of him 
 fhali the Son of man be afliamed, when he fhall come 
 in his own glory, and in his Father's, and all the holy 
 angels," Luke ix. 26. " No whoremonger, &c. hath 
 any inheritance in the kingdom of Chrifl, and of 
 God," Ephef. v. 5. " Jefus Chrifl, who fhall judge 
 the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his king- 
 <lom," 2 Tim. iv. i. *' The evelafling kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifl," 2 Peti. 11. Our Sa- 
 viour, in anfwer to the demand of the Pharifees, (Luke 
 xvii. 20 to 30) " when the kingdom of God fhould 
 come," tells them, '* the kingdom of God cometh 
 not with obfervation ;" or as it is tranflated in the mar- 
 gin of the Bible, *' with outward fhow;" and then, 
 addreffing himfelf to his difciples, continues to declare, 
 that no prognqfticks ihall forefhew his day; but that. 
 
t 56 ] 
 
 as the flood was not preceded by any figns that it waa 
 at hand, but found men eating and drinking, and al- 
 together unprepared, (o fhould it be " in the day when 
 the Son of man is revealed." From the continuance 
 of thedifcourfe, and applying ftill the coming without 
 obfervation, to the coming of the kingdom of. God, 
 and to his own day, which is often fpoken of as fyno- 
 nimous with the day in v/hich the Son of man fhall 
 come in power and glory, fitting on the throne of his 
 glory to judge the world, we may, without in the leaft 
 Sraining for an inference, fay, that the day of which 
 he fpeaks to the difciples as coming unobferved, and 
 the kingdom of God, of which he aflerts the fame 
 thing to the Pharifees in the fame converfation, are one 
 and the fame thing ; and if the day of Chrift be the 
 fame as the kingdom of Chrift, the kingdom of God 
 is here declared to be the kingdom of Chrift; therefore 
 one with the Father, on that day, on the coming of 
 that kingdom to be fully revealed to be God. 
 
 X. 
 
 The incomprehenfibility of the Father and the Son, 
 except to each other, is a mark of equality of God- 
 head, which alone can be the fubje£l of the following 
 words of our Saviour himfelf. " No man knoweth the 
 Son but the Father : neither knoweth any man the Fa- 
 ther, fave the Sonj and he to whomfoever the Son will 
 reveal him," Matth. xi. 27. Many a man had known 
 Jefus Chrift as Man; but as God, he was known then 
 to the Father only, with whom he was one God. The 
 parallel paflage fays, *' No man knoweth who the Son 
 is, but the Father, &c." Luke x. 22. Mr. Lindfey 
 fays he doe^•, but I cannot think it. How fhall he^ 
 who is known by all his difciples to be a man, fay he 
 is unknown to all but the Father, if he fpeak not of a 
 nature not human, and of fo liigh a rank as to be 
 comprehenfible to the Father only, even his Godhead ? 
 
 When 
 
[ SI ] 
 
 XL 
 
 Wiien our blcfled Lord, juft before he afcended into 
 heaven, was fending forth his difciples to baptize all 
 nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghoft, and to teach them to oSferVe 
 all things which he had commanded them, he gives 
 them a promife of his own affiftance in the performance 
 of their miffion, faying, " And, lo ! I am with you 
 alway even unto the end of the world," Matth. xxviii. 
 20. We accordingly find that, upon his afcent, " they 
 went forth, and preached every where, the Lord work- 
 ing with them, and confirming the word with figns. 
 following," Mark xvi. 20. " How then fliall we efcape 
 if we negle6l fo great falvation, which at the firft began 
 to be fpoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us 
 by them that heard him ; God alfo bearing them wit- 
 nefs, both with figns and wonders, and with divers mi- 
 racles, and gifts of the Holy Ghoft, according to his 
 own will ?" Heb. ii. 3, 4. Here we find that the tefti- 
 mony of figns and miracles wrought to confirm what is 
 preached by the apoftles, is borne by God, and by the 
 Lord Chrift, therefore one, with the Father, God. 
 XIL 
 
 It is evident what was the faith of the father of the 
 Tick child, who " cried out, and faid with tears, Lordj 
 I believe J help thou mine unbelief," Mark ix. ').\. So 
 flrong was his faith already, that he looked upon our 
 Lord as pofTefi^ed of power to afiifi: his fpirit, and fup- 
 ply whatfoever was defective in his belief. This appli- 
 cation was approved and confirmed to be right by our 
 MefTed Saviour himfelf, who granted the diftrefled fa- 
 ther's prayer, and healed his fick child. 
 
 XHL 
 Upon hearing Jefus Chrift fay to the fick of the pal- 
 fy, " Man, thy fins are forgiven thee," I cannot won- 
 der at the remark of the Scribes, who f.tid, "Who can 
 H forgive 
 
[ S8 ] 
 
 forgive fins biit God alone? For their law had fhevved 
 them that God had made an exclufive claim to the for- 
 givenefs of fins, faying, " I, even I am he that blot- 
 teth out thy tranfgreflions for mine own fake, and will 
 not remember thy fins," Ifai. xliii. 25. But our Savi- 
 our perceived their thoughts, and healed the fick man, 
 in order to fhew " that the Son of man hath power up- 
 on earth to forgive fms," Luke v. 20, 25. But God, 
 whom Nehemiah, ix. 17, beautifully, calls *' a God of 
 pardons," has an exclufive right in the forgivenefs of 
 fins ; the Son of man who exercifes that right, even Je- 
 fus Chrift, is therefore one with the Father j God. 
 XIV. 
 " Blefled are ye when men {hall hate you, and when 
 they fhall feparate you from their company, and (hall 
 reproach you, and caft out your name as evil, for the 
 Son of man's fake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap 
 for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven: for 
 in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets," 
 Luke vi. 22, 23. If the happinefs of the difciples, to 
 whom our Saviour addrefles the words above, be not 
 to proceed from the reproach, but from the caufe 
 wherefore they are to undergo it, there is no fimilitude 
 between their cafe and that of the prophets, unlefs the 
 prophets alfo fuffered for the fake of the Son of man, 
 and for the teftimony which they bore to him; and 
 that this was really the intention of our Lord's words, 
 the following text, fpoken by St. Stephen, will evince, 
 *< Which of the prophets have not your fathers perfe- 
 cuted? And they have flain them which fhewed before 
 of the coming of the juft one; of whom ye have now 
 been the betrayers and murderers," A6ts vii. 52. Ste- 
 phen was, at the time when he uttered thefe words, un- 
 der the pcrfecution which our Saviour had foretold to 
 his difciples that they Ihould fuftain for his fake; he 
 therefore refledted on the circumflance pointed out by 
 
 him. 
 
[ 59 ] 
 
 him, as a means of happinefs and blefling, in their. af-. 
 fli(5tions, and confidered that, with the prophets, he 
 was " a partaker of Chrift's fufferings ; that when his 
 glory fliall be revealed, he might be glad alfo with 
 exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of 
 Chrift, happy are yej for the Spirit of glory, and of 
 God refteth upon you : on their part he is evil fpoken 
 of, but on your part he is glorified," i Pet. iv. 13, 14. 
 Let us juft turn then to the relation of the fufferings of 
 this authentic martyr of Chrift, and fee whether, upon 
 the reproach incurred for his fake, the glory of God, 
 and of Jefus fitting at his right hand, was not revealed 
 to him; and whether the Spirit, which proceeds from 
 the one glory, the one Godhead of the Father and the 
 Son, did not reft upon him, even the Holy Ghoft, with 
 ■which he was comforted, and by which he cried, 
 *' Lord Jefus receive my fpirit," A6ls vii. 51 to 59. 
 XV, 
 " Jefus fent him away, faying. Return to thine own 
 houfe, and fhew how great things Gfod hath done unto 
 thee. And he went his way, and publiftied through- 
 out the whole city, how great things Jefus had done 
 unto him," Luke viii. 38, 39. According to a com- 
 mand, to (hew what God had done, the man who had 
 been healed teftified what Jefus had done. I do not 
 look upon the evidence of this man as of any great 
 weight in the argument; but there is certainly feme 
 teftimony borne to our Saviour's divinity, by the man- 
 ner in which the fa£t is related by an apoftle filled with 
 the Holy Ghoft, for the purpofe of preaching Chrift 
 with precifion, and v/ho has, neverthelefs, repeated the 
 fame vi^ords concerning the name of God and of Je- 
 fus Chrift. It is fomewhat remarkable alfo, that in 
 the relation of the fame faft made by St. Mark, the 
 (jommand to the man is faid to have been, " go home 
 H 2 to 
 
t 60 ] 
 
 to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord 
 hnth done for thee," Mark v. 19; and the man's pub- 
 lication is exactly as related by St. Luke, " hov/ great 
 things Jefus had done for him." The title of Lord is 
 fo very often, nay, fo almoft peculiarly afcribed to our 
 Saviour, throughout the New Teftament, that the ufe 
 of it here feems an argument for looking vpon ouf 
 bleflcd Redeemer to have been intended by it : if Jefus 
 Chrift then be the Lord intended here, and that the 
 title of Lord be of the fame import as the name of 
 " God," for which it is ufcd by St. Mark, then we 
 muft acknowledge, that Chrift is the Lord, and the 
 Lord he is God. There is a farther circumftance fa- 
 vouring the pofition that Jefus Chrift is the perfon 
 named here by the appellations of Lord and God, 
 which is, that the man whom he had healed is deflred 
 to add to a declaration of what the Lord had done for 
 him, " that he had compaflion on him," which cer- 
 tainly muft bear reference to that tendernefs with which 
 he felt our infirmities, that fympathy with which 
 *' Jefus wept," John xi. 35, for the afflidlions of thofe 
 who called upon him even at the moment that he was 
 in ail to wipe away the tears from their eyes. 
 
 xyL 
 
 I fhould not look upon the application of the dy- 
 ing thief to our Saviour, hanging alfo upon a crofs, 
 to be any proof that Jefus Chrift is the objeft of 
 prayer, but for the anfwer made by him, who im- 
 mediately granted that which was afked, and by ad- 
 miflion into paradife, in confequence of a petition pre- 
 ferred to him in an hour, when, of all others, he feem- 
 ed leaft able to aflift in the time of trouble, exalted 
 the laft words of this poor penitent into an incontro- 
 vertible teftimony that his is the kingdom, that *' by 
 fufFering he was about to enter into his glory," and 
 
 that 
 
[ 6, ] 
 
 that he is therefore the Lord, one with the Fathef-, 
 God, Luke xxiii. 42, 43, and xxiv. 26. 
 XVIL 
 *' Jefus anfw^ed and faid unto them, deftroy this 
 temple, and in three days I will raife it up," in fay- 
 ing which " he fpake of the temple of his body,'* 
 John ii. 19, 21. Here Jcfus Chrift declares that he 
 will himfelf raife his body from the grave ; but in the 
 grave that body lay truly dead and incapable of any 
 agency : but here he fays, that he will a6|, he muft 
 therefore fpeak of fome very extraordinary power re- 
 maining to him. But w'e are often told, that God 
 raifed the body of our Saviour from the grave. '* This 
 Jefus hath God raifed up," fays St. Peter, A61s ii. 32 ; 
 wherein it is obfervable, that the union of the two 
 natures being fufpended during the death of the body, 
 God is fpoken of as diftindt from Jefus, whofe body 
 only is intended by that name : this diftindion Peter 
 feems to have had in view throughout the A61:s. That 
 which Chrift engaged to do, moft afturcdly he did. 
 He engaged to raife his own body, therefore he did 
 raife his own body. But " this Jefus hath God 
 raifed up." Jefus Chrift is therefore one with th^ 
 leather, God. 
 
 xvin. 
 
 ** Jefus anfwered and faid unto her, If thou knew-. 
 fft the gift of God, and who it is that iaith to thee, 
 give me to drink j then wouldeft thou have afked of 
 him, and he would have given thee living water,". 
 John iv. 10. " Whofoever drinketh of the water 
 which I {hall give him, fhall never thirft," John iv. 14. 
 Ilere Jefus Chrift gives the gift of God, more pro- 
 perly the gift of Jefus Chrift, who gives it, and only 
 reconcilable to fenfe, by acknowledging him to be 
 one with the Father, God. " They have forfaken 
 the Lord, the fountain of living waters," Jer. xvii. 13. 
 
 « And 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 «* And he fhewed me a pure river*of water of life, clear 
 as chryftal, proceeding out of the throne of God, 
 and of the Lamb," Rev. xxii. i. " Let him that 
 is athirft, come : and whofoever will, let him take of 
 the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17. This invi- 
 tation fo mercifully made to all mankind, and in the 
 power of all to accept, is made by Jefus Chrift; he 
 therefore who gives fuch " water fpringing up into 
 everlafting life," John iv. 14, is afluredly the *' Lord, 
 the fountain of living waters ;" which Jeremiah de- 
 clares God to be. "Ho! every one that thirfteth, 
 come ye to the waters," Ifal. Iv. i ; " for I will" 
 pour water upon him that is thirfty, and floods upon 
 the dry ground : I will pour my fpirit upon thy (eea, 
 and my blefling upon thine offspring," Ifai. xliv. 3. 
 " Jefus flood and cried, faying. If any man thirft,^ let 
 him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on 
 me, as the fcripture hath faid, out of his belly fhall 
 flow rivers of living water. (But this he fpake of 
 the fpirit, which they that believe on him fhou Id re- 
 ceive,") John vii. 37, 38. This lafl: text clears up 
 and explains the figure, and {hews what is all along 
 meant by living waters. But " God fhall pour his 
 fpirit upon him that is thirfty ;" and according to this 
 prophecy, Jefus Chrift is to give t)iis water fpringing 
 up into life, which is the fpirit. But thefe waters are 
 faid to proceed from God ; Jefus Chrift therefore, from 
 whom they proceed, is one with the Father, God, 
 Let us then with gratitude come upon the invitation 
 to believe ; let us confefs that the blood which was 
 Ihed for us is the blood of God himfelf. Aits xx. 28, 
 Ihed for our redemption ; acknowledge " Chrift the 
 Saviour of the world," John iv. 42, and " with 
 joy draw water out of the wells of falvation," 
 Ifai. xii. 3. 
 
 "My 
 
[ 63 ] 
 
 XIX. 
 ** My Father worketh hitherto, and I v/ork. There- 
 fore the Jews fought the more to kill him, becaufe he 
 not only had broken the fabbath, but faid alfo that 
 God was his Father, making himrdf equal with God, 
 John V. 17, 18. As the Hebrew idiom of the fcrip- 
 ture language is urged as a reafon for doubting of our 
 common acceptation of the aflertions made in the New 
 Teftament, we muft certainly admit the Jews to be 
 the beft verbal interpreters of fuch phrafes as were pe- 
 culiar to themfelves, and here they have taught us to 
 underftand that whenfoever our Saviour, or any wit- 
 nefs of his gofpel, declares him to be the Son of God, 
 they intended thereby to convey an affurance that Jefus 
 Chrift is equal with the Father, and with him one 
 God. The fubfequent verfes fay that *' what thing 
 foever the Father doeth, thefe alfo doeth the Son 
 likewife." " As the Father hath life in himfelf : 
 fo hath he given to the Son to have life in him- 
 felf j and hath given him authority to execute judg- 
 ment alfo, becaufe he is the Son of man," John v* 
 26, 27. Here he fpeaks of himfelf both as God 
 and man ; he declares the felf-exifting life equal 
 with that of the Father ; declares the derivation of 
 that to his manhood, with which it was united by 
 the will of God and the Father ; and he declares 
 alfo the reafon wherefore the fecond perfon of the 
 Godhead is to have the execution of judgment to 
 be, *' becaufe he is the Son of man." And St. Paul 
 has explained the force of this reafon, *' for that 
 he himfelf hath fuffered, being tempted, he is able 
 to fuccour them that are tempted," Heb. ii. 18. 
 *' That he can be touched with a feeling of our 
 infirmities ; having been in all points tempted like 
 as we are," Heb. iv. 15 j and in the next veii'c we 
 
 are 
 
[ 64 ] 
 
 kfe called upon to approach the throne of grace 
 boldly, becaufe that Chrift is the Son of man, having 
 taken on him the feed of Abraham, and has called us 
 brethren, and cah have compaffion upon fuch infirmi- 
 ties as he was himfelf fubje(5l to in the fiefli : fo that 
 whenfoever we hear cur gracious Lord and Saviour call 
 himfelf the Son of man, we may look upon it as an 
 inftance of tendcrriefs, and that he ufes that name, in 
 order to infpire a tonfidence in mankind, his brethren, 
 to approach his throne without diftruft in his mercy. 
 Whenfoever he fpeaks of coming to judgment, he 
 qualifies the terrors of that dreadful day by faying, 
 that it is before the Son of man that all nations are to 
 \)e gathered ; and in the paflage before us, declares the 
 reafcn wherefore all judgment is committed to the Son 
 to be, becaufe he is the Son of hian; Our Saviour, 
 after having faid that " the Father quickeneth the 
 dead," John v. 21, proceeds to tell us^ that on that 
 day " the dead (hall hear the voice of the Son of God : 
 and they that hear fhall live," John v. 25. And far- 
 ther, that " the hour is coming, in the which all that 
 are in their graves fhall hear his (the Son of man's) 
 voice," John v. 28 : fo that here, they that are in 
 their graves, live, being called upon by the Son of 
 man, becaufe they have heard the voice of the Son of 
 God, the Father being he who quickeneth the dead. 
 Can this be reconciled to any fenfe, if it be not grant- 
 ed that Jefus Chrift, the Son of God, and alfo the 
 Son of man, is equal to, and one with the Father, 
 God ? And this once granted, is any pofition more 
 reconcilable to reafon ? Refift this who can, for my 
 part I am unable to ftand againft it ; but verily " be- 
 lieve, and am fure that thou art that Chrift, the 
 Son of the living God," John vi. 69; words, which 
 I arn bold to ufe, as expreflive of an equality be- 
 tween 
 
[ 65 ] 
 
 tween the Son and the Father : nay farther, of an 
 identity and unity of Godhead. As poflefled of this 
 Godhead *' I believe on him, and I worfhip him,'* 
 John ix. 38. 
 
 XX. 
 
 *' He that believeth on him that fent me, hath ever- 
 lafting life, and fliall not come into condemnation," 
 John Vi 24. "He that believeth on him, (the Son) is 
 not condemned ; but he that believeth not, is condemn- 
 ed already, becaufe he hath not believed in the name 
 of the only begotten Son of God," John iii. 18. If 
 there be no condemnation for thofe who believe in the 
 Father, how is it neceflary to believe in the Son in or- 
 der to indemnify ? It can only be fo^ becaufe that the 
 Son is one with the Father, God ; and the two pafla- 
 ges then convey the fame inftru6lion. In context with 
 the laft aflertion, our Saviour, fpeaking of himfelf, 
 ufes the following very remarkable words, " the Son 
 of man which is in heaven," John iii. 13. This is a 
 very exprefs declaration of his Godhead, the ubiquity 
 of which was by no means afFe£led by its union with 
 the Son of man ; for whilft he was fpeaking to Ni- 
 codemus he could be on earth only as a man, and as 
 God only filling immenfity could he at that moment 
 of time have been in heaven. He declares alfo, that 
 *' he came down from heaven," in the fame verfe; and 
 St. John Baptift, fpeaking of Jefus Chrift, teftifies, 
 that " he that cometh from above is above all," John 
 iii. 31. The pre-exiftence of our Lord in heaven is 
 exprefsly declared by himfelf in the following words 
 alfo, " Wh&t and if ye Ihall fee the Son of man afcend 
 up where he was before?" John vi. 62. This muft 
 refer to his Godhead, as it is no where afTerted that 
 his flefhly body had ever been in heaven before his final 
 afcent* But when he declares, " I came forth from 
 I the 
 
[ 66 ] 
 
 the leather, and am come into the world : again, I lea\c 
 the world, and go to the Father," " his difciples faid 
 unto him, lo, now fpeakeft thou plainly, and fpealc- 
 eft no proverb," John xvi. 28,- 29. 
 XXL 
 " Jefus faid iinto them, verily verily I fay unto you, 
 before Abraham was, I am," John viii. 58. There is 
 a vefy remarkable diftm^tion in this paiTage between 
 the words wai and a7n. By the former, the exiftence 
 of Abraham is marked to have had a commencement, 
 and to have been finite; whereas, by the latter, the 
 eternity of Jefus Chrift, as God, is ftrongly pointed 
 out. The word am bears reference to a life in every 
 moment extended to all eternity j which, as the pre- 
 fence of the Almighty fills infinite fpace, ftretches itfelf 
 at once through all duration, and is at all periods to be 
 fpoken of in the prefent tenfe, as all periods are pre- 
 fent to it at oncej a life " which is, and which was, 
 and which is to come," Rev. i. 4. Jefus Chrift here 
 tnakes ufe of the fame expreflion which God had de- 
 clared to be his name to Mofes, and given to him as 
 a token whereby he fhould make himfelf known to the 
 children of Ifrael, to have come from God, Exod. iii. 
 14 J and it can hardly be conceived that hfe does fo 
 without an intention of marking his divinity, and de- 
 claring hirpfelf to be that God, and that he it was who 
 led the forefathers of thofe with whom he fpoke, out 
 of the land of Egypt by the hand of Mofes. In fomc 
 pafiages, ending in a declaration, " I am " in the origi- 
 nal, the tranflation has fupplied the word he; becaufe 
 a relative pronoun, the expreiTioji of which the Greek 
 tongue can difpenfe with, is neceflarily to be expreiTed 
 in our5, in order to make good fenfe of the paflage in 
 Englifti, which is good fenfe in Greek without it^ 
 For inftance: the woman of Samaria tells our Saviour, 
 
 that 
 
[ 6/ ] 
 
 that " when Chrift comes, he will tell us all things:" 
 to which he anfwered, " I that fpeak imto thee, am," 
 John iv. 26 ; fo it ftands in the original, and requires 
 no more words to convey the idea that he was Chrift 
 of Y'^hom fhe fpake; whereas it is indifpenfibly requillte 
 that the tranfiator ihall add a pronoun referring to 
 what had been faid before, and turn the paffage, as 
 our Bible has it, " I that fpeak unto thee am he." 
 From this circumftance it is urged, that no inference, 
 favouring our Saviour's divinity, is to be drawn from 
 the paffage before us, becaufe (as is alledged) it is 
 only of the fame ftamp of the others. Without going 
 farther into grammatical difquifitions, let us try the ex- 
 periment upon it, and write it accordingly, " Jefus 
 faid unto them, verily verily I fay unto you, before 
 Abraham was, I am he." Who ? Abraham ? Will 
 any man infift on this ? The word a7n in this verfe 
 fignifies, I exift, in a neuter fenfe, and fo cannot re- 
 quire a relative pronoun to follow it. The context 
 alio requires the interpretation which I have put upon 
 thefe words ; qur Saviour declares to the Jews, " I 
 am," in anfwer to their objection to the poffibility of 
 }iis having feen Abraham, not being yet fifty years 
 old: Upon the whole, I look upon this to be a wcry 
 explicit declaration of his Godhead and pre-exiftence 
 to the time of his having come into the world, a tefti- 
 mony borne to it by the author of our lalvatlon him- 
 felf, and therefore I muft yield my afTent to his word, 
 that he is one with the Father, God. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 *' I and my Father are one," John x. 30. When 
 our Saviour made this very literal declaration, the 
 Jews ftoned him, and gave as a reafon, " becaufe 
 that thou, being a man, makefl; thyfelf God," John 
 X. 33. This Ihews how they underftood himj and 
 I 2 the 
 
[ 68 ] 
 
 the anfwer of our Saviour to their charge fliews alfo 
 that they were right, for, inftead of retracing, he 
 refers them to the teftimony of his works; " that ye 
 may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I 
 in him," John x. 38 : words, which, however they 
 might admit of a figurative interpretation in any 
 other pafTage, being here fpoke to confirm what he 
 had before declared, muft be interpreted by that de- 
 claration, and mark a mutual relation, refulting on- 
 ly from the pofTeflion of one Godhead with the Fa- 
 ther. 
 
 XXIII. 
 *' Philip faith unto him, Lord, fhew us the Father, 
 and it fufHceth us. Jefus faith unto him, have I 
 been fo long with you, and yet haft thou not known 
 me, Philip ? He that hath feen me, hath feen the 
 Father: and how fayefl thou then, fhew us the Fa- 
 ther? Believeft thou not, that I am in the Father, 
 and the Father in me ? The words that I fpeak 
 unto you, I fpeak not of myfelf: but the Father 
 that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe 
 me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: 
 or elfe believe me for the very works fake," John 
 xiv. 8, 9, 10, II. The interpretation of this paf- 
 fage may be drawn from the remark made upon the 
 texts lafl cited, for our Saviour teflifies, that he is 
 in the Father, and the Father in him, in order to 
 evince, that Philip, in having known him, had known 
 the Father. As our Lord could not mean that Phi- 
 lip's acquaintance v/ith the Father was the fame tis 
 his acquaintance with himfelf, in the flefh, he has 
 pointed out, that the means whereby he h^d known 
 the Father, in having known him, was by his know- 
 ledge of thofe words which he had fpoken, and thofe^ 
 works which he had done by the operation of his God- 
 head, 
 
[ 69 ] 
 
 iiead, one with that of the Father. Thefc had been 
 often cognizable by Philip; he therefore in having 
 known the Son, who had faid and done fuch things in 
 teftimony of what he was, might well be faid to have 
 known the Father, with whom our Lord and Saviour 
 was, in that refpe6l y/hich was pointed out, one and 
 the fame God. 
 
 XXIV. 
 " I go unto my Father. And whatfoever ye fhall ajfk 
 in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be 
 glorified in the Son. If ye fhall afk any thing in my 
 name, I will do it," John xiv. 12, 13, 14. I believe 
 no man will deny that a petition is to be made to him 
 who is to grant it. Jefus Chrift here declares to his 
 difciples, that he will fulfil their prayers, and do that 
 which they fhall z[k in his name ; who then can hefi- 
 tate to pronounce this doctrine of our Saviour a com- 
 mand to a(k of him, a declaration that he is the God 
 of our falvation, from whom cometh help ? *' With 
 Melan<51hon, (as quoted by Mr, Lindfey, but for what 
 purpofe I cannot comprehend) I take refuge in thofe 
 plain declarations of fcripture, which injoin prayer to 
 Chrift, which is to afcribe the proper honour of divi- 
 nity to him, and is full of confolation." And with 
 Mr. Lindfey himfelf I obferve, ift, that this eminent 
 perfon thought, and juftly as itfhould feem, that prayer 
 is the higheft z£t of worfhip, the proper honour of God, 
 and peculiar to him alone. And, 2dly, that the prin- 
 cipal argument for Chrift's divinity was to be fetched 
 from religious worftiip, and prayer being addreffed to 
 him." Apology, p. 135. Mr. Lindfey's candour is 
 fuch that I rely upon his not ftarting from this conclu- 
 fion, which he admits as neceffarily following from 
 Chrift's being proved the obje6l of prayer and religious 
 worfhip. I (hall therefor?, if the above texts aitord a 
 
 proof. 
 
[ 70 ] 
 
 proof, or many others, which I (hall call up in evidence 
 of this faft, leftify that Chrift is properly to be adored, 
 demand and peremptorily infift upon Mr. Lindfey's ac- 
 quiefc'jnce in this pofition, that Jefus Chrift is one 
 with the Father, God. It is a certain fa6l, even upon 
 a fuppofition that our Saviour was no more than man, 
 that he was " v/ithout fm," and, confequently, that he 
 did not in any inftance contradict himfelf, whereby he 
 muft have once fpoken that which was not true ; but 
 he fays to his difciples, " And in that day ye Ihall afk 
 me nothing : verily verily I fay unto you, whatfoever 
 ye fhall afk the Father in my name, he v/ill give it you ;" 
 John xvi. 23. As our blefled Redeemer cannot mean 
 here to fay that he had before fpoken an untruth, thefe 
 words muft have exr^itly the fame meaning as thofe 
 before us ; for, if not, they flatly contradict them. 
 That I will grant your prayers, and that the Father 
 will grant your prayers, muft therefore fignify that the 
 one Godhead of the Father and the Son will grant 
 them ; and therefore it follows, that the Father and the 
 Son arc one God. " If ye (hall afk any thing, in my 
 name, I will do it," fays our Saviour ; whence I have 
 inferred, that he it is of whom the demand is to be 
 made : But I forefee a pofTible objection to be made to 
 this inference, which I fhall endeavour to obviate. It 
 is, that in this cafe Jefus Chrift has commanded 
 prayer to be preferred to l;imfelf in his own name ; to 
 which I anfwer, that fo to have done is exadtly corre- 
 fpondent to the conduct of God, fo long as he had a fe- 
 leited nation his worfhippers, and dealt by them as a 
 peculiar people to call upon his name ; and that there- 
 fore, when they were to ceafe to be peculiar, and that 
 a whole world was to be adopted, there is no force in 
 the objection, which only fhews God governing his ad- 
 ditional adorers, as he had governed their predecefTors. 
 
 Before 
 
[ p ] 
 
 Befbre God was to be adored through Chrift, he wds 
 to be adored through thofe benefits which he had con- 
 ferred upon the cTiildren of Ifrael ; before the name of 
 Chrift was givenj through which he was to be invo- 
 ked, his innumerable mercies were commanded to be 
 held in remembrance, and in the nam.e of them he Avai 
 to be called upon ; and accordingly we find the He- 
 brews adored him as the God of Abraham, the God 
 of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of their 
 fathers, to whom he had promifed, and frequently re- 
 newed the promife of a bleffing tb proceed from them 
 to all nations of the earth. They adored him as the 
 God of their fathers, who had led them out of the houfe 
 cf bondage into a land flowing with milk and honey ; 
 and, as the God who had dealt thus gracioufly by 
 them, he prefcribed to them, and prefaced the deca- 
 logue with a claim to their obedience, and to their 
 Worfhipping him only, grounded, upon that debt of 
 gratitude, which they owed for the protedlion and deli- 
 verance that he had vouchfafed them ; and he has 
 exprefsly commanded them to Call upon him as the 
 God of their fathers, and made this *' his name for ever^ 
 and his memorial unto all generations," Exod. iii. 15. 
 But he has fince been pleafed to hold out a light to 
 lighten the Gentiles, and, remembering his mercies, 
 hath holpen his fervant Ifrael, according to his pro- 
 fnifes ; wherefore then fhall we refrain from offering up' 
 the facrlfice of praife and thankfgiving to God, in the 
 name of his mercies vouchfafed to us by his having 
 taken our nature upon him ? in the name of that mart 
 in whofe flefti he was manifefted*, and in which our 
 eyes have feen, and our hands have handled the word 
 of t life, even that word which is t God ? Wherefore, 
 in remembrance of fo great benefits, fhould we not 
 
 fay,- 
 
 * I Tim. iii. 16. f i John i. i. % John i. I. 
 
• [ 7« ] 
 
 fay, *' by thine agony and bloody fweat, by thy croft 
 and paffion, by thy precious death and burial, by thy 
 glorious refurrc6lion and afcenfion, good Lord deliver 
 us r" The fenfe, in which I underftand the words call- 
 ing upon God in the name of Chrift, is calling upon 
 God to aflift us, whom he had already thought worthy 
 of fo great benefits, in memory of thofe benefits which 
 he fuffered in the flefh, in order to confer. And fure- 
 ly in this fenfe, it is perfectly conformable to the courfe 
 of God's government, that our Saviour fhould defire us 
 to call upon his Godhead in memory of what he has 
 done for us as man, having already declared that he bad, 
 in remembrance of his former mercies, holpen us. 
 XXV. 
 " It is expedient for you that 1 go away : for i^ 
 I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; 
 but if I depart, I will fend him unto you," John Xvi. 7. 
 " The Comforter, which is the tloly Ghoft, whom 
 the Father will fend in my name, he ^all teach you 
 all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatfoever I have faid unto you," John xiv. 26. 
 Here Jefus Chrifl: fends the Holy Ghoft, and the Fa- 
 ther at the fame time fends the Holy Ghoft ; there- 
 fore the Father and the Son are one God, from whom 
 the fpirit is to proceed. He fays in another paflage, 
 *' but when the Comforter is come, whom I will 
 fend unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of 
 Troth, which proceedeth from the Father, he Ihall 
 tcflify of me,'^ John xv. 26. The Holy Ghoft here 
 proceedeth from the Father only ; we find that the 
 fame witnefs of Chrift preceded his coming, and tefti- 
 fied of him beforehand^ as well as after his afcent; 
 " For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
 will of man : but holy men of God fpake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghoft," 2 teeter i*. 21. But 
 we find the prophets themfclves^ who fpake as they 
 
 were 
 
[ 73 ] 
 
 Were moved by the Holy Ghoft, " fearching what, or 
 what manner of time the fpirit of Chrift which was in 
 them did fignify, when it teftified beforehand the fuffer- 
 ings of Chrift, and the glory that fhould follow," i Pet. i. 
 II; fo that the apoftles, filled with the Holy Ghoft, 
 have here exprefsly declared what glory that is which 
 Ihould be teftified after the fufFerings of Chrift, even 
 that the fpirit which proceedeth from the Father is the 
 fpirit of Chrift, therefore one with the Father, God. 
 But our Saviour himfelf, as if determined to put the 
 matter out of doubt, by preparing the ears of his au- 
 dience to hear the teftimony of the Holy Ghoft con- 
 cerning him, declares that " he fhall glorify me : for 
 he fliall receive of mine, and fhall fliew it unto you. 
 All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore 
 faid I, that he fhall take of mine, and fhew it unto 
 you," John xvi. 14, 15. 
 
 XXVI. 
 Our bk'fTed Lord and Saviour, having taken our na- 
 ture upon him, and having been in all points tempted 
 like as we are, on the approach of that hour in which 
 he was to be made perfecSl by fufFering death for all 
 men, and in which he was to finiih the great end of his 
 having come in the flefh, confoles himfelf by looking 
 beyond his grave, and contemplating the ^lory that 
 fliould follow; and as a man about to endure great 
 afflictions, and, furmounting them, to take our nature 
 " into heaven itfelf, now to appear in the prefence of 
 God for us," Heb. ix. 24. addrefTes himfelf to that Be- 
 ing to which, as Man, he was inferior, faying, " Fa- 
 ther, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son 
 alfo may glorify thee," John xvii. i. " And now, O 
 Father, glorify thou me with thine own felf, with the 
 glory which I had with thee before the world was," 
 John xvii. 5. " For thou lovcdft me before the foun- 
 dations of the world," John xvii. 24. The pre-exiftence 
 K of 
 
[ 74 ] 
 
 of our Saviour is exprefsly declared here, and the 
 identity of that Godhead with which he and the Fa- 
 ther are mutually to glorify each other j that glory 
 which the Son had in all refpe£ls equal with the Fa- 
 ther, before he had, for the fake of mankind, taken 
 upon him that nature whereby he was, upon earth, infe- 
 rior to him. 
 
 XXVII. 
 " Pilate therefore faid unto him, art thou a king 
 then? Jefus anfwered, thou fayeft that I am a king. 
 To this end was I born, and for this caufe came I into 
 the world, that I fhould bear witnefs unto the truth. 
 Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice," John 
 xviii. 37. Thefe words are preceded by a declaration 
 made by our Saviour, that, " my kingdom is not of 
 this world ;" and the whole together is faid by St. Paul 
 to be " a good confeffion witnefTed before Pilate," 
 I Tim. vi. 13. That Nathanael, an Ifraelite indeed, 
 in whom was no guile, underflood the prophecies of 
 our Saviour's kingdom in this fenfe is evident, for, 
 upon feeing him an unattended man, he pronounced 
 him *' the King of Ifrael," which he muft have ken 
 that he was not in any other acceptation of the terms 
 than as he was the '* Son of God," John i. 49. and 
 this interpretation he put upon the prophecies, upon 
 feeing our Saviour polTeired of an extraordinary know- 
 ledge. Greater things have been referved for us to fee 
 than Nathanael faw ; why then fhall we hefitate to 
 fay, according to the teftimony which this great witnefs 
 of the truth bore to himfelf, " thy kingdom is not of 
 this world," and with Nathanael, *' thou art the King 
 of Ifrael, the Son of God;" words which I have al- 
 ready fhewed, when fpoken by a Jew, to mean, thou 
 haft equality of Godhead with the Father. 
 
 And 
 
[ 75 ] 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 *' And Thomas anfwered and faid unto him, my 
 Lord, and my God. Jefus faith unto him, Thomas, 
 becaufe thou haft feen me, thou haft believed," John xx. 
 28, 29. To call this faying of Thomas an exclamation, 
 is a poor and difingenuous evafion of the Bifliop, quoted 
 by Mr. Lindfey ; for it is declared to be an anfiuer and 
 an addrefs to our Saviour, who had convinced him that 
 he was the fame Jefus who had been dead and was alive 
 again ; an argument which I fhould conceive fufficient 
 to evince the truth of do6lrines which Thomas had 
 heard before, but through a defective faith did not un- 
 derftand ; and to induce that confeflion which he now 
 makes, faying unto him, " my Lord and my God." 
 When Mary, ver. 16, faw and knew our Lord after 
 his refurreiflion, flie made no exclamation, but dirc£lly 
 addreifed herfelf to him, faying, " Mafter," acknow- 
 ledging him to whom fhe fpoke. Mary had not been 
 a witnefs of all the declarations of his own nature 
 which he had made to his apoftles, who were to be wit- 
 jnefTes unto him ; fhe acknowledges him as flie had 
 known him before ; but Thomas, who confidered a re- 
 furre6lion from the dead to be a concluRve proof of the 
 truth of what he had often heard, inftantly draws the 
 natural inference, and acknowledges him to be his Lord 
 and his God. If the works of this bifliop oi Mopfiiejliay 
 which have not reached us, be of the fame ftamp as the 
 fragment quoted by Mr. Lindfey, v/e have no great 
 reafon to regret the lofs, or condemn our anceftors for 
 having configned the reft of them to oblivion. The 
 poor biihop him.felf muft alfo be obliged to thofe who 
 have redeemed him from our cenfure. 
 
 Next in order follows the teftimony borne to the di- 
 vinity of Jefus Chrift by the apoftles, men appoint'-d 
 to be his witnefles, on whom " he breathed and faid," 
 K 2 *' receive 
 
[ 76 ] 
 
 " receive ye the Holy Ghoft," " the fplrlt of truth, he 
 '\TiIl guide you into all truth ;" " he Ihall teach you all 
 thino;s, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatfoever I have faid unto you ;" " he will fhew you 
 things to come ; he fhall glorify me." Men, " whofe 
 underftanding he opened that they might underftand 
 the fcriptures," " holy men of God who have made 
 known unto us the power and coming of our Lord 
 Jefus Chrift, for they were eye-witnefles of his Majef- 
 ty." To perfons thus qualified, fpeaking as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghoft, coming in due time to 
 fpeak of him who had given himfelf a ranfom for all, 
 *' underftanding the myftery of Chrift, which in other 
 ages was not made known unto men, as it is now re- 
 vealed unto his holy apoftles and prophets by the Spi- 
 rit;" taking the prophecies from a dark place to fpread 
 abroad their radiance, and render their fure word a 
 light to us ; to fuch men we fhall do well that we take 
 heed ; to their teftimony it is effential to our own eter- 
 nal happinefs that we give credit, and not that v/e look 
 upon all fuch things as occur in their writings, which 
 are " hard to be underftood, as given to our igno- 
 rance and inftability to wreft to our own deftru6tion j" 
 they have pointed out the way to a bleffed immortali- 
 ty J it is our duty co fearch into what they have faid, 
 and where we cannot underftand to confide. From the 
 apoftles we are to expert the manifeftation of fpiritual 
 things, and as fuch are certainly beyond the reach of 
 our farther enquiry, it is but reafonable to truft thofe 
 who vvere permitted to look into them, and to promul- 
 gate fo much as concerns us to know. 
 XXIX. 
 "And they prayed,- and faid, thou Lord, which 
 knoweft the hearts of all men, Ihew whether of thefe 
 two thou haft chofen, that he may take part of this 
 miniftry and apoftlefhip," Ads i. 24. This prayer 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 is preferred to the Lord who had fent forth his dif- 
 ciples, faying, " ye fhall bear witnefs, becaufe ye 
 have been with me from the beginning," John xv." 
 27. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
 gofpel to every creature," Mark xvi. 15; and by 
 whom, St. Paul fays, " we have received the apo- 
 ftlefhip," Rom. i. 5; to that Lord, who knew to 
 whom he fhould commit himfelf, " becaufe he knew 
 all men, and needed not that any fnould teftify of 
 man; tor he knew what was in man," John ii. 25* 
 And the petition is that out of two men, namely, 
 Juftus and Matthias, felefted from thofe " who had 
 been with our Saviour from the beginning," " which 
 have companied with us, all the time that the Lord 
 Jefus went in and out among us, beginning from the 
 baptifm of John, unto that fame day that he was 
 taken up from us," A6ls i. 21, 22; he fhould or- 
 dain one to be a witnefs of his refurrediion in the 
 place of Judas, who had fallen by tranfgrelTion. That 
 it is addreffed to Jefus Chrift, not only the context, 
 but the follov/Ing circumftance may thoroughly demon- 
 .flrate : The very fame call being to be made of another 
 apoftle, as the Lord is now defired to make, a light 
 fhorre from heaven round about Saul, and of the voice 
 which fpoke it is thus declared: "the Lord faid, I 
 am Jefus whom thou perfecuteft:" " and the Lord 
 faid, arife, and go into the city, and it fhall be told 
 thee what thou muft do," Acts ix. 5, 6. But when 
 Saul, according to this commandment, came into Da- 
 mafcus, " he is met and received by a certain difciple 
 pamed Ananias, to whom faid the Lord in a vifion, 
 Ananias. And he faid, behold I am here, Lord. I 
 have heard by many of this man, how much evil he 
 hath done to thy famts at Jerufalem : and here he hath 
 authority from the Chief Prirfts, to bind all that call 
 upon thy name. But the Lord faid unto him, go thy 
 
 way : 
 
{ 78 ] 
 
 way: for he is a chofm veflel unto me, to bear my 
 name before the Gentiles and Kings, and the children 
 of Ifrael," AQcs ix. 13, 14, 15. That the veflel which 
 was to bear the name of' Chrifl: before the Gentiles, 
 tec. was to be chofen by him is here evident; and St. 
 Paul himfelf farther fays, " Chrift fent me (not t£> 
 baptize, but) to preach the gofpel," i Cor. i. 17. ' To 
 him who was to choofe., it is therefore to be concluded 
 the petition was preferred that he would fhev/ whether 
 of thefe two he had chofen to preach his gofpel, and 
 take part of that miniftry to which " the wifdom of 
 God," Luke xi. 49, even "Chrift," Mat. xxiii. 34; 
 faid, " I will fend them prophets and apoftles:" fo 
 that here is an inftance of adoration incontrovertibly 
 offered up to Jefus Chrift; therefore one with the Fa- 
 ther, God, the proper obje61: of prayer and religious 
 worftiip. 
 
 But, throughout the relation, there is a farther tefti-. 
 mony to be found of the adoration of Jefus Chrift ; for 
 Ananias, himfelf a difciple, declares, that Saul was a 
 perfecutor of thofe who called upon the name of Chrijty 
 and " the dilciples of our Saviour were therefore afraid 
 of him when he aflayed to join himfelf unto them,'* 
 A6ts ix. 26 ; for " all that heard him preach Chrift 
 in the fynagogues were amazed, and faid, is not this 
 he that deftroyed them which called on this name in Je- 
 rufalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might 
 bring them bound to the Chief Priefts?" Ails ix. 20, 
 21. We have here dire<5l proof that the difciples of 
 Chrift called upon his name, both from thofe who did, 
 and thofe who did not call upon it. 
 
 I Ihall in this place take notice of Mr. Lindfey's 
 afiertion, (fupportcd by quotations from various authors) 
 that to call upon the name of Jefus is the fame as to, 
 
 be 
 
t 79 1 
 
 be called by the name of Jefus, or to have the name of 
 Jefus called upon the fubje(Sl fpoken of. This decla- 
 ration he has made in his very extraordinary comment 
 upon I Cor. i. 2. Apology, p. 132. And he farther 
 declares, that Stephen's calling upon the name of Jefus, 
 is the only palTage in which thefe words mean directly 
 the fame as invoking him. Notwithfending that the 
 name of that great critick in the Gieek language, Dr. 
 Clarke, is produced in evidence of this aflertion, I 
 own I am not convinced of its truth ; nor can I fee a 
 reafon why the identical word, fignifying an invocation 
 in one place, fhall be denied to have the f;me fignifi- 
 cation in another, where the context is exactly fimilar 
 to that in which it is allowed to have that meaning, 
 and indeed in which it requires to be fo interpreted, 
 in order to its bearing any meaning at all. But, with 
 refpecl to the paflage before us, it is a little remarkable 
 that the name of Chrift had not yet been called upon 
 his difciples, and that for want of a name to com- 
 prehend them all, the commiffion to Saul is couched 
 in the following aukward term.s : " that if he found 
 any of this way, he might bring them bound unto Je- 
 rufalem," A6ts ix. 2. In the execution of this war- 
 rant from the priefts it was, that Saul was chofen to 
 bear the tiarne of Jefus Chrift to the Gentiles j and this 
 happened exaclly two years after the afcenfion of our 
 Saviour, whereas it was not till ten years after that 
 event that the difciples were firft called chriflians at 
 Antioch. How difmgenuoufly then do men deal, not 
 only with the world, but with themfelves alfo, in 
 wrelHng words from their true meaning, to the fupport 
 of their own fuggeftions. If one man, filled with the 
 Holy Ghoft for the purpofe of " guiding him ;nto all 
 truth," has invoked Jefus Chrift, is not fuch an a<fi, 
 once fo performed, fufficient to evince the propriety 
 of the invocation, and to eftablifli the right of Je- 
 fus 
 
[ 8o ] 
 
 fus Ghrift to be invoked ? And if adoration then be the 
 due of Chrift, why fhoiild we deny a literal interpre- 
 tation to words by which it is afierted, that the difciples 
 of our Lord rendered him that praife and adoration to 
 which he is entitled ? Is it meant that the difciples con- 
 tradiiSt the teftimony of the Holy Ghoft by which Ste- 
 phen called upon the Lord Jefus ? They were themfelves 
 filled with the Holy Ghoft; and is the Spirit of Truth 
 divided againft himfelf ? If this be the aflertion, either 
 Stephen, or the difciples, or Dr. Clarke, or Mr. 
 Lindfey, are guilty of an impious and abfurd blafphe- 
 my, and I leave it to my reader to choofe the blafphe- 
 mer. " He is a chofen veffel unto me," fays Jefus 
 Chrift to Ananias, Aits ix. 15. " The God of our 
 Fathers hath chofen thee," fays Ananias to Saul, 
 A£ts xxii. 14. Who can now withhold the application 
 of the following addrefs to the Lord Jefus, or his con- 
 currence vvith me in faying to him, " Lord thou art 
 God." 
 
 There is yet another circumftance in the paflage be- 
 fore us, which proves that the prayer was addrefied to 
 Jefus Chrift. Peter, (who h?d, upon his own appoint- 
 ment to the miniftry, taken our Lord to witnefs that 
 he loved him, and would with fidelity difchargc the 
 truft of feeding his flieep committed to his keeping, 
 faying, ••' Lord, thou knoweft all things ; thou know- 
 eft that I love thee,'' John xxi. 17.) was certainly the 
 chief fpeaker, and the perfon who preferred the prayer 
 of this venerable aflembly. It is therefore highly pro- 
 bable, that he who had accepted of his own apoftlefliip 
 with fuch an acknowledgment of our Saviour's omni- 
 fcience, repeated the like acknowledgment when call- 
 ing upon him to choofe another to aflbciate with them, 
 who fhould alfo love him, and faithfully acquit himfelf 
 of a part in the fame apoftlefliip. When Peter fpoke 
 
 thofe 
 
t 8. ] 
 
 thofc words to Jefus Chrift in his own cafe, he Certain- 
 Jy alluded to his knowledge of the heart, for " he was 
 grieved ;" and well he might upon recollediion of the 
 event which induced the declaration, for he had an ach- 
 ing memory of our Lord's more intimate knowledge of 
 his own heart than he was himfelf poffeiTed of, when 
 upon his confidence of his own faith, faying, "I will 
 lay down my life for thy fakcj Jefus anfwered him, 
 wilt thou lay down thy life for my fake? verily verily 
 I fay unto the6, the cock fhall not crow, till thou haft 
 denied me thrice," John xiii. 37, 38. This he knew 
 to have been truly fpoken by his Mafter, and for him, 
 whofe own particular experience had taught him that 
 Jefus Chrift was acquainted with man, and needed not 
 that any fhould teftify of man, it is exceedingly natu- 
 ral that he ihould on fuch an occafion fay to him *' who 
 knew all things," " Lord which knov/eft the hearts of 
 all men, ^c." 
 
 XXX. 
 When Peter and John had, " in the name of Jefus 
 Chrift of Nazareth," healed the lame man at the gate 
 of the temple, the people who faw it ran together great- 
 ly wondering ; " and when Peter faw it, he anfwered 
 unto the people, ye men of Ifrael, why marvel ye at 
 this ? or why look ye fo earneftly on us, as though by 
 our own power or holinefs we had made this man 
 walk?" A6ls iii. 12. " Be it known unto you all, and 
 to all the people of Ifrael, that, by the name of Jefus 
 Chrift of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God 
 raifed from the dead, even by him doth this man ftand 
 here before you whole," AcSls iv. 10. Upon which, 
 the Rulers, having threatened Peter and John, were 
 obliged to let them go, " for all men glorified God for 
 that which was done," A6ts iv. 21. Peter, when he 
 reftored Eneas to health at Lydda, called him from his 
 L ^ed 
 
[ 82 ] 
 
 bed in the following remarkable terms : '* Eneas, Je- 
 fus Chrifc maketh thee whole: arife, and make thy; 
 bed," A6ls ix. 34. He arofe immediately, and the 
 confequence was, that " all that dwelt at Lydda, and 
 Saron, faw him, and turned to the Lord^'' ver. 35. 
 XXXI. 
 *' When they heard thele things, they were cut to 
 the heart, and they gnaihed on him (Stephen) with 
 their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Ghoft look- 
 ed up ftedfaftly into heaven, and faw the glory of God, 
 and Jefus ftanding on the right hand of God, and faid, 
 behold, I fee the heavens opened, and the Son of man 
 {landing on the right hand of God. Then they cried 
 cut with a loud voice, and flopped their ears, and ran 
 upon him with one accord, and caft him out of the 
 city, and ftoned him: And the witneffes laid down, 
 their clothes at a young man's feet, whofe name was 
 Saul. And they ftoned Stephen, calling upon God^ 
 and faying. Lord Jefus receive my fpirit. And he 
 kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay 
 jiot this fm to their charge," A6ts vii. 54, 55, 56, 57, 
 58, 59, 60. 
 
 Mr. Lindfey's remark upon this paffage is fo very 
 particular, that I will give it at large, and then pro- 
 ceed to Ihew its futility to the very fev/ of my readers, 
 who fhall not have found it out of themfclves. 
 " There is no doubt but Stephen made this re- 
 queft, addrefTed this prayer to the Lord Jefus. But 
 this can be no precedent for diredling prayer to him 
 tinfcen, or addreffing him as God, whom the bleffed 
 Martyr declares he faw with his eyes, and calls him 
 *' the Son of man {landing on the right hand of God." 
 Calls him the Son of man, in this his highc{l {late of 
 exaltation. Son of man, and God moji high : what a 
 
 fpacc 
 
[ 83 ] . , 
 
 fpace between?" Apology, p. 129. Docs this gentle- 
 man conceive that the actions of an almighty God are 
 circumfcribcd by the limits appointed to his compre- 
 henfion, that the fpace beyond which his imagination 
 cannot pafs, is equally an obflruction to the v/iil of 
 him to whom " all things are poffible," and that the 
 Omnipotent is to paufe in his progrefs, till Mr. Lind- 
 fey fliall have lelfure to come up with him and mark 
 his footfteps ? I hope I have already evinced the ab- 
 furdity of this appeal from the written word to natu- 
 ral religion, and fliewed that the fcriptures only arc 
 the fountain from whence the courfe of our argument 
 is to ilowj they are granted to be true, and to be ulti- 
 mate, and if from them I find that God has put his 
 own nature into union with that of man, I will be- 
 lieve that he has done fo; that he has formed us a 
 creature, with whom it was poffible for him who had 
 '* put all things into his own power" to come into 
 union, notv^'ithftanding that neither Mr. Lindfey nor 
 I know any thing of the manner. The fpace between 
 God and man may be utterly unfurmountable to our 
 conceptions, but fhall it therefore impede the Almighty ? 
 It is not reafon which ftands in the way of our belief, 
 but the impious pride of ignorance, " fpeaking evil of 
 that which it underftands not," " beguiling unliable 
 fouls," " withdrawing from the knowledge of the 
 Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrid, by which we had be- 
 fore efcaped the pollutions of the world," 2 Peter, ii. 
 Mr. Lindfey having allowed that " the principal argu- 
 ment for Chrift's divinity is to be fetched from reli- 
 gious worfhip and prayer being addrefied to him," 
 Apology, p. 135, is moft exceedingly diilrefled at the 
 paffage before us, and accordingly ufcs his utmoft dili- 
 gence to extricate himfelf from the melancholy necef- 
 Iky of yielding up his fpirit iqto the bauds of his Re- 
 deemer, his Mediator, and his Judge; and left it fli< ' '. 
 L 2 follo\-/ 
 
[ 84 ] 
 
 follow that he who " bought us with the price of his 
 own blood," " and fo loved us that he gave himfelf a 
 ranfom for all," has any right in his purchafe, or 
 fliould " in due time be teftified," by the invocation of 
 St. Stephen, to be one with the Father, God, recourfc 
 is had to an expedient, the moft fmgular perhaps that 
 ever was made ufe of to any purpofe whatfoever, and it 
 is afTerted that this firfl: Martyr of our Saviour having 
 feen the Lord Jefus zvith his eyes when he prayed, af- 
 fords no precedent for di'"e6ling prayer to him unfeen. 
 The very facl, as ftated by Mr. Lindfey, is difputable \ for 
 although it be faid that Stephen, while before the coun- 
 cil, and under their difpleafure, fo long as he looked up 
 ftedfaftly into heaven faw Jefus Chrift, it by no means 
 follows that the vifion continued, or that h'.- could con- 
 veniently keep his eyes fixed ftedfaftly upon it at the 
 time when they ran upon him, caft him out of the ci- 
 ty, and ftoned him ; that is, at the time when he called 
 upon the Lord Jefus. But I will, for argument's fake, 
 admit that Stephen ftill continued to have his eyes up^ 
 on him, and that, " being filled with the Holy Ghoft, 
 hey?/// faw the glory of God, and Jefus Chrift ftanding 
 at the right hand of God." Is not God himfelf here 
 equally before the eyes of the blefTed Martyr as the Son 
 of man ? why then ftiould his view of the one in- 
 duce prayer more than his view of the other ? Nay, 
 wherefore fhould he pafs down from God moft high 
 through that immenfe fpace which lay between him 
 and the Son of man, unlefs that, conduced by the 
 Holy Ghoft, fent " to guide him into all truth," 
 John xvi, 13. he faw that Father and Son were not 
 one and another, but one and the fame God, and that 
 there was no fpace between the Son of man and God 
 moft high? unlefs indeed he faw the Lord Jefus, into 
 whofe hands he commended his fpirit, to be the al- 
 mightjr God to whom David had faid " into thine 
 
 hand 
 
[ 85 ] 
 
 hand I commit my fpirit : thou haft redeemed me, O 
 Lord God of truth ?" Pfahn xxxi. 5. Will Mr. Lind- 
 fey perfift to fay that the Holy Ghoft had led him into 
 error ? and yet into an error he has led him, if Jefus 
 Chrift, even in this his higheft ftate of exaltation, be but 
 his fellow creature. But bccaufe Jefus was in fight he 
 was to be worfhipped ; and there is nothing wrong in 
 worfhipping a vifible creature. If the command be, and 
 if the duty of a chrifti: n therefore be to worlhip God 
 only, I own myfelf too blind to difcern how thL- vif bi- 
 lity of any Creature fhould fuperfede the commandment, 
 and alter the unalterable law of God. The Angel 
 was vifible to St. John, Rev. xxii. 9. yet reftrained 
 him from woifliip, which Chrift did not do by his 
 adorer ; but he, who was equally vifible to Stephen as 
 the Son of man, winked at the difrefpedt with which 
 he pafted by his own glory, and addrefied himfelf to 
 the Lord Jefus; and by a difplay of that glory teftified 
 in the higheft his approbation of that addrefs which 
 was preferred to the Son of man by this holy Aiartyr, 
 *' with the Spirit of Truth," as being confiftent v/ith 
 the command, as a direct obedience to his will declared 
 in thefe words, " Thou {halt wor'hip the Lord thy 
 God, and him only Ca^ili. thou worfhip," " Worfliip 
 God," faid the Angel to St. John ; our Saviour faid no 
 fuch thing to Stephen, nor referred him to that God 
 whofe glory was before his eyes. I therefore think it 
 evident, that God, and God only, Stephen did worfhip, 
 in the perfon of Jefus ChriH,. one with the Father, 
 God. I grant Mr. Lindfey's aflertion, that the word 
 " God" is fupplied in the 59th verfe, " calling upon 
 God, and faying Lord Jefus receive my fpirit." It is of 
 no confequence if it be omitted, for then the invoca- 
 tion is made direftly to Chrift, and remains a proof 
 that he is God, though he be not p.ddreffed by hat 
 name. The word " God" being inferted by thetranf- 
 
 lators. 
 
[ 86 ] 
 
 lators, (lievvs how they underflood the pafTage before us, 
 and though I do not choofe to make ufe of human au- 
 thority, I cannot help this once faying that I look up- 
 on this conclufion, drav.'n by men of great abilities, 
 and employed in the moit diligent perufal of the whole 
 Bible, as more than a balance to every quotation pro- 
 duced by Mr. Lindfey from men purfuing fyftems, and 
 wrefting half fcntences to their own particular purpofes. 
 Upon the whole, unlefs it be admitted that being vifible. 
 is a reafon for addrefling prayer to any thing we are 
 looking at, here is an inft-ance of adoration, a precedent 
 of religious worfliip preferred to our Lord and Saviour, 
 and, if " religious worfhip and prayer be a proof of 
 Godhead," I demand Mr. Lindfey's acquiefcence in 
 this conclufion, that Jefus Chrift is one Vv'ith the Fa- 
 ther, God ; who has faid, " am I a God at hand, and 
 not a God afar off?" Jcr. xxiii. 23. 
 
 I mean now to refume what for a time T admitted, 
 that Stephen had Jefus Chrift before his eyes v/hen he 
 was caft out of the city and ftoned. The fcriptures. 
 are feldom fo vague as to require our belief of that 
 which is not particularly revealed. The ftar which 
 appeared to the wife men is never withdrawn from before 
 their eyes till it ftood over the houfe where the young 
 child was. The evangelift has conftantly kept it in view, 
 Vi-'hereas there is no mention made that the heavens con- 
 tinued open to Stephen, from the time he was taken 
 from before the council ; and therefore we have no rea- 
 fon to affirm that they did. The very prayers which 
 our Lord and Saviour, fuffering in the flefh, preferred, 
 are preferred by Stephen, vi'ho therefore muft be aware 
 of the force of example ; or, if not fo acute himfelf, 
 muft have known by the Spirit of Truth that future 
 times would refer themfelves to the conduct of this 
 martyr J and that men, like him, in articulo mortis, 
 
 would 
 
[ 87 ] 
 
 would commend their fpirit to the Lord Jcfus. Did 
 the fpirit mean to deceive ? It furely has not guided to 
 all truth, if it did not, and that Mr. Lindfey's hypo- 
 thefis be true ; and therefore even the Holy Ghoft comes 
 under this gentleman's charge of incompetency to be a 
 witncfs to the great prcferver of all fpiriis. 
 
 Before I difmifs this fubje<3: I fhall add one more re- 
 marie, which, if it do not afford conclufive proof of 
 what has been advanced already, mult be allowed 
 greatly to corroborate the force of it. 
 
 *' Behold," fays Stephen, " I fee the heavens open- 
 ed, and the Son of man ftanding on the right hand o£ 
 God ; then they cried oul with a loud yoice, and flop- 
 ped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, &c." 
 Adls vii. 56, 57. " Hereafter," fays our Lord, " ihall 
 ye fee the Son of man fitting on the right hand of 
 power, and coming in the clouds of heaven : then the 
 high prieft rent his clothes, faying, he hath fpoken 
 blafphemy," " then did they fpit in his face, and buf- 
 feted him, &c." Matth. xxvi. 64, 65, 67. " Art 
 thou the Chrift, the Son of the bleffed ? and Jefus faid, 
 I am. And ye fhall fee the Son of man fitting on the 
 right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea- 
 ven. Then the high prieft rent his clothes, and faith. 
 What need we any farther witneffes, ye have heard the 
 blafphemy ? what think ye ? and they all condemned 
 him to be guilty of death, and fome began to fpit on 
 him. Sec." Matth. xiv. 61 to 65. When Jefus faid, 
 " before Abraham was, I am," " the Jev/s took up 
 ftones to caft at him ;" when he faid, " I and my Fa- 
 ther are one, they took up ftones again to ftone him," 
 faying, " becaufe that thou being a man m.akcft thy- 
 felf God." The Jews alfo fought to kill him, " be- 
 caufe he faid that God was his Father, making himfelf 
 
 equal 
 
r S8 ] 
 
 equal with God." Here the ground of the Jewiih re-- 
 fentment appears, they were Unitarians, and looked 
 upon an equality or unity of Godhead between the Fa- 
 ther and Son as the greateft indignity to the God of 
 their fathers. To the words for which our Saviour 
 was condemned by the high prieft and his council, we 
 may therefore afcribe the fame meaning, and conclude 
 that they were defigned to convey the fame idea of our 
 Lord's equal and one Godhead with the Father. The 
 Very fame thing which Jefus here fays they (hall here- 
 after fee, St. Stephen declares to the very fame tribu- 
 nal to be now before his eyes ; and the very fame con-* 
 fequehce attends his declaration j fo that we may confi- 
 der Stephen as having in this refpedt alfo borne his tefti- 
 mony to the one Godhead of the Father and of the Son 
 of man. 
 
 XXXII. 
 After Peter had healed Eneas at Lydda, faying, 
 ** Jefus Chrift maketh thee whole, arife," the friends 
 of Tabitha, who was fick, and had died at Joppa, in 
 the neighbourhood of the tov/n where he had wrought 
 this miracle, folicited his immediate attendance j upon 
 which he arofe and went with them, and coming 
 into the chamber where they had laid her body, and 
 having put forth all thofe who flood weeping by, 
 *' he kneeled down and prayed, and turning him to 
 the body, faid, Tabitha, arife. And fhe opened her 
 eyes : and when fhe faw Peter, flie fat up," A£ls ix. 
 40. " And it was known throughout all Joppa ; and 
 many believed in the Lord," verfe 42. The words 
 which Peter fpoke to Eneas were addrefled to him in 
 order to induce his faith, and that of thofe who faw 
 the work which he had done, in the Lord. But in 
 the cafe of Tabitha, where he had put forth thofe 
 whofe clamorous grief might interrupt the fervour of 
 his devotion, and remained alone with the dead body, 
 
 fuch 
 
[ 89 ] 
 
 fuch language being abfolutely unneceflary, it is very 
 probable that Peter did not ufe it on that account ; but 
 as there is no doubt that the hme Jefus Chrift, who 
 had made Eneas whole, now called Tabitha back to 
 life, it is furcly to be inferred that the prayer of Peter 
 was preferred to him; and this is the more probable, 
 when we fee that the confequence of her revival on the 
 call of Peter was, that " many believed on the Lord,'* 
 for many who faw what had been done to Eneas 
 " turned to the Lord." 
 
 XXXIIL 
 
 " When God had to the Gentiles alfo granted re- 
 pentance unto life," " fome of the difciples which 
 were come to Antioch, fpake unto the Grecians preach- 
 ing the Lord Jefus. And the hand of the Lord was 
 with them : and a great number believed, and turned 
 unto the Lord :" upon which, when the church at 
 Jerufalem heard it, " they fent forth Barnabas, that he 
 fliould go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, 
 and had feen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted 
 them all, that with purpofe of heart they would cleave 
 unto the Lord," Ads xi. i8, 20, 21, 22, 23. Upon 
 the hand of the Lord being with them, Barnabas is 
 glad to have feen the grace of God ; or, he was glad 
 upon having feen the " grace of God, who hath to 
 the Gentiles alfo granted repentance unto life;" *' but 
 we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, we fliall be faved even as they," A6i:s xv. 11. 
 Here the grace of the Lord Jefus, and of God, are one 
 and the fame, the fame alfo is the one Godhead of the 
 Father and of the Son. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 That our Saviour was not intended " to be a light 
 
 to lighten the Gentiles," and confequently, that the 
 
 full manifeftation of his Godhead was delayed till 
 
 M after 
 
[ 9° ] 
 
 after his afcenfion, as I have aheady fhewed, is evi- 
 dent from the follovt'ing words of St. Paul to the 
 Jews at Antioch, who were coiitradi6lIng and bhif- 
 pheming, becaufe he gratified the requeft of the Gen- 
 tiles, and on the fabbath day preached to them alfo 
 " the word of God." " It was neceflary," faid he 
 and Barnabas, " that the word of God fhould firft have 
 been fpoken to you: but feeing ye put it from you, 
 and judge yourfelves unworthy of everlafting life, lo ! 
 we turn to the Gentiles. For fo hath the Lord com- 
 manded us, faying, I have fet thee to be a light of the 
 Gentiles, that thou fliouldeft be for falvation unto the 
 ends of the earth," A6ls xiii. 45, 46, 47. Thefe 
 words were fpoken by the Lord to Ifaiah, when he afk- 
 ed him, was it a light thing that he appointed him to 
 be his fervant, and " for a light to the Gentiles, that 
 thou mayeft be my falvation unto the end of the earth ?" 
 Ifa. xlix. 6. Thefe words evidently fpoken by God 
 to Ifaiah, and as evidently alluded to by St. Paul, who 
 declares them a prophecy of the appointment made by 
 the Lord Jefus Chrift to his Apoftles, whom he had 
 commanded " to go forth and preach his name to all 
 nations, and to be his witncfTes unto the uttermoft 
 parts of the earth," to teach repentance and remiflion 
 of fins among all nations in his name, " and to bear 
 his name to the Gentiles," are an uncontrovertible evi- 
 dence that the Lord, who commanded the apofl:lc.s, 
 faying, " I have fet, &c." is the fame God who had 
 before fpoken by his holy prophet. It is farther re- 
 markable, that our Saviour then firft " opened their 
 undcrftanding that they might underftand the fcrip- 
 turcs, and fee the necefiity there was that Chrift fliould 
 fuftcr and rife from the dead the third day, when he 
 was about to commiftion them to go forth and preach 
 him to the Gentiles, which was not till after his refur- 
 ♦•ctSiion, not indeed till the moment preceding his afcen- 
 
 fion. 
 
[ 91 I 
 
 fion. " He was not fent but to the loft ftieep of the 
 houfe of Ifrael," Matth. xv. 24. " for it was necefTary 
 that the word of God fliould firft have been fpoken to 
 them ;" " but when they had put it from them," and 
 offered up this great facrifice for the fms of the whole 
 world, hanging upon a crofs ** the Lord of glory," we 
 find that, after he was made perfect by fufFering death, 
 and, by his fufFering, had atoned for and adopted all na- 
 tions, he was to be preached to the Gentiles, fo that 
 the whole which he came to do according to the fcrip- 
 tures, by which it was (een that it behoved him to die 
 and rife again from the dead, could not have preceded 
 his death, for fo the profit had been only to Ifrael ; to 
 them were his life and lefTons, but to the whole world 
 his falvation, which was to be promulgated after he 
 had died for it ; he therefore now fent out the apoftles 
 to hold forth this great light to lighten the Gentiles 
 alfo, according to the prophecy before, certifying to 
 them, " that they fliould be for falvation unto the ends 
 of the earth." Paul and Barnabas continued fome 
 time at Antioch, preaching the " word of God," " and 
 when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and 
 glorified the word of the Lord : and as many as were 
 ordained to eternal life, believed. And the word of 
 the Lord, was- publifhed throughout all the region," 
 Aits xiii. 48, 49.. The Jews having ftirred up the 
 honourable women, and raifed a perfecution againft 
 them, they proceeded to Iconium, wheie they " fo 
 fpake, that a great multitude, both of the Jews, and 
 alfo of the Greeks, believed," " long time therefore 
 abode they, fpeaking boldly in the Lord, which gave 
 teflimony unto the word of his Grace, and granted figns 
 and wonders to be done by their hands," Adlsxiv. 1,3. 
 What Paul and Barnabas preached is to be colle£led 
 from its being faid, that both Jews and Greeks belie- 
 ved. The God of the Jew and of the Ujjitarian is, 
 M z thej 
 
[ 92 ] 
 
 the fame ; it was not therefore the God of the Jews, 
 that the Jews were now firft induced to believe j the 
 Jews preached not their Jehovah, they fought not to 
 make profelytes, it was not therefore in the God of the 
 Jews that the Greeks believed ; but Paul was fent " to 
 bear the name of Chrift to the Gentiles, and to all na- 
 tions, beginning from Jerufalem ;" that the fecond per»- 
 fon of the Godhead was then the objeiSl of Paul's doc- 
 trine to thofe who needed not a teacher of the one God- 
 head, but knew nothing before of the three Perfons in 
 that Godhead, is evident hence ; and therefore we may, 
 with thofe believing Jews, lay afide the Unitarian fyl- 
 tems of Mr. Lindfey, and believe, that Jefus Chrift, 
 who, according to his promife that " he would be with 
 them alway, even unto the end of the world," Matth. 
 xxviii. 20. " continued working with them, and con- 
 firming the word with figns following," Mark xvi. 20. 
 '* and who now gave teftimony unto the word of his 
 grace, and granted figns and wonders to be done by 
 their hands," A(Sls xiv. 3. is one with the Father, 
 that " God who bore them witnefs, both with figns 
 and wonders, and with div<?rs miracles, and gifts of 
 the Holy Ghoft, according to his own will," Heb. ii. 4. 
 " that God who wrought fpecial miracles by the hands 
 of Paul" before thofe " who heard him preach the 
 word of the Lord Jefus, both Jews and Greeks,""- 
 A61:s xix. II, lOo- 
 
 XXXV. 
 When the fame Lord, who, juft before his afcen- 
 fion, had " opened the underflanding of his difciples, 
 that they might underftand the fcriptures," Luke xxiv. 
 45. had opened the heart of Lydia, a feller of purple, 
 ;vt Thyatira, that file attended unto the things which 
 were fpoken of Paul, and conflrained' him to abide 
 with her; a damfel, poffeflcd with a fpirit of divina- 
 tion, <' followed Paul, and us, and cried, faying, 
 
 thcfe 
 
[ 93 ] 
 
 thefe men are the fervants of the moft high God^ 
 which (hew unto us the way of falvation," A<3:g xvi. 
 14, 15, 16, 17. JefusChrift, when veiled in the flelh, 
 " fuffered not the devils to fpeak, becaufe they knew 
 him," Mark i. 34 ; even the teftimony of this fpirit 
 of divination then is to be admitted, and it has called 
 Paul, who declares himfelf to the Romans i. i. to be 
 *' a fervant of Jefus Chriil," " a fervant of the moft 
 high God." The fpace contrails itfelf exceedingly be- 
 tween Son of man and God moft high. Paul has him- 
 felf addreffed not the Romans only, but the Philippians, 
 under the title of the fervant of Jefus Chrift," Philip, i. 
 I. and to Titus he commences his epiftle by the name 
 of *' Paul, a fervant of God," Titus i. i. Thcfe 
 terms are therefore fynonimous. 
 XXXVI. 
 The do(5lrine of Paul and Silas to the Keeper of the 
 prifon at Philippi, and the confequence of it, are re- 
 markable. The keeper faid to Paul and Sila^, his pri- 
 foners, " Sirs, what muft I do to be faved ? and they 
 faid, believe on the Lord Jefus Chrift, and thou fiialt 
 be faved, and thy houfe. And they fpake unto him the 
 word of the Lord, and to all that were in his houfe. 
 And he took them the fam.e hour of the night, and 
 waflied their ftripes ; and was baptized, he, and all his, 
 ftraightway. And when he had brought them into his 
 houfe, he fet meat before them, and rejoiced, believing 
 in God with all his houfe," Ails xvi. 30 to 34. 
 Here is a very rapid tranfadion. Paul and Silas being 
 at prayer, and ftnging hymns at midnight, the founda- 
 tions of the prifon are fhaken, the doors fly open, and 
 the bands of the prifoners are loofed ; the keeper, terrifi- 
 ed at the probability of their efcape, falls into defpair ; 
 and, about to take away his own life, is reftrained by Paul, 
 who, to his aftoniftiment, fhewed himfelf and the reft 
 undifmayed, without chains, and yet not making ufe 
 
 of 
 
t 94 ] 
 
 of fo favourable an opportunity. Convinced that fome 
 power controlled the ordinary courfe of nature, and 
 had interfered in behalf of his prifoners, the man imr 
 mediately applies to them to know what he fhould do 
 to be faved : and here the apoftles preach to a heathen, 
 that his falvation is to be the confequence of his belief 
 in th€ Lord Jefus Chrift ; and accordingly we hnd him, 
 even at the fame hour of the night, rejoice, and indeed 
 believe in the Lord Jefus Chrift, one with the Father, 
 God. 
 
 XXXVIL 
 In the Ads, St. Luke fays, that " becaufe Paul 
 preached Jefus to the Athenians, they faid he feemcd to 
 be a fetter forth of ftrange gods," Acts xvii. i8. On 
 this they queftioned him, and his anfwer was, that ha- 
 ving feen among them an altar infcribed To the un- 
 known God, " whom therefore ye ignorantly wor- 
 fhip, him declare I unto you," ver. 23. Here, upon 
 a call to explain himfelf, and anfwer the charge of 
 fetting forth ftrange gods, in having preached Jefus, 
 he avows, that he whom he had preached was that God 
 whom they knew not, but worfliipped ignorantly : but 
 he had preached Jefus ; therefore Jefus Chrift was that 
 God hitherto unknov/n to them, and one with the Fa- 
 ther. The attributes with which the apoftle proceeds 
 to chara£lerize the God, to whofe worfliip he is pei"- 
 fuadlng the Athenians, are as follow, and, in appofition 
 to them, I v/ili put thofe attributes which are by the 
 fame preacher afcribed to Jefus Chrift ; and if upon 
 comparifon it be found that he has arrayed him with 
 the fame power and glory as he propofes to the Athe- 
 nians to invite their adoration to God, we may, we 
 muft fay, that he is that God, and that honour and 
 l-cligious worfhip are his due Vv'ho is pofleflcd of the 
 fame glory to excite them. 
 
[ 95 ] 
 
 .Of God whom he 
 preached at Athens, even 
 Jefus, he lays, 
 
 " God that made the 
 world, and all things 
 therein, feeing that he is 
 the Lord of heaven and 
 earth," ver. 24 ; " for in 
 him we live^ and move, 
 and have 
 ver. 28. 
 
 Of Jefus Chrift, ex- 
 prefsly fo named, he fays, 
 
 " By him were all 
 things created that are in 
 heaven, and that are in 
 earth, vifible and invi- 
 fible, whether they be 
 thrones, or dominions, 
 or principalities, or pow- 
 ers, all things were cre- 
 ated by him, and for him. 
 And he is befgre all 
 things, and by him all 
 things conflft," ColoiT. i; 
 16, 17. 
 
 If then the exclufive prerogatives of God be in 
 Jefus Chrift, and that we fee him clothed in that glory 
 of which God has fpoken, faying, " I am the Lord, 
 that is my name, and my glory will I not give to ano- 
 ther," Ifaiah xlii. 8. we muft furely fay of him who 
 wears it, that he is one with the Father God. That 
 which is but one, even the glory, and which the de- 
 claration of God had made incommunicable, muft be a 
 diftinguifhing mark of him who has declared that he 
 will not impart it. Jefus Chrift has this glory: the 
 declaration therefore came from that Godhead which is 
 his equally as the Father's. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 " And Crifpus, the chief ruler of the fynagogue, 
 believed on the Lord with all his houfe: and ma- 
 ny of the Corinthians, hearing,' believed, and were 
 baptized. Then fpake the Lord to Paul in the night 
 by a vifion, be not afraid, but fpeak, and hold not thy 
 peace : for I am with thee, and no man fhall fet on 
 
 thccj 
 
[ 96 ] 
 
 thee^ to hurt thee: for I have much people ift this 
 city. And he continued there a year and fix months, 
 teaching the word of God among them," A61:s xviii. 8, 
 9, 10, II. That they who were baptized believed 
 upon Jefus Chrift, on hearing him preached, is evident 
 from the neceffity of that belief to baptifm: that it was 
 Jefus Chrift whom Paul preached, is therefore evi- 
 dent alfo, for " how fliculd they believe without a 
 preacher," But Paul is in a vifion called upon by the 
 Lord to perfevere without apprehenfion of danger, and 
 accordingly we find him continue to teach the word of 
 God among them, the fame doctrine that he had before 
 held forth that they might believe and be baptized. 
 Left it fnould be doubted who the Lord was who fpake 
 to him, I will remind my reader of a fimilar vifion, 
 wherein " in the night." " the Lord ftood by him, 
 and faid, be of good chear, Paul: for as thou haft 
 teftified of me in Jerufalera, fo muft thou bear witnefs 
 alfo at Rome," A(3:s xxiii. 11. As we know well 
 whofe name Paul v/as chofen to bear before the Gen- 
 tiles, and that he was the Lord who fpake to him now, 
 we have no reafon to doubt that it was the fame Lord 
 Jefus Chrift who cheared him in the inftance before 
 us, and allayed the apprchenfions which a man, who 
 had undergone fuch perfecutions for the fake of Chrift, 
 might reafonably entertain, if he perfevered in the 
 maintenance of his teftimony. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 That the prophecies were in themfelves infufficient to 
 make a perfect revelation of Chrift, nay, that the bap- 
 tifm of John was not fufficient to make him known, 
 is evident from the cafe of Apollos, *' a man mighty 
 in the fcriptures, fervent in fpirit, who fpake and 
 taught diligently the things of the Lord, at Ephefus;" 
 but that thefc were a ftrong affiftant teftimony to the 
 manifeftation of his Godhead, afterwards by the fpirit 
 
 of 
 
[ 97 ] 
 
 of truth, is evident alfo from the doflrines of the fame 
 man, who, " knowing only the baptifm of John, was 
 infl:ru6ted by Aquila and PrifciHa, who expounded 
 unto him the way of God more perfed:]y," upon which 
 " he helped them much which had believed through 
 grace ; for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that 
 publickly, (hewing by the fcriptures, that Jefus was 
 Chrift," A<Sts xviii. 24 to 28. 
 XL. 
 
 Paul having continued, by the fpace of two years, 
 daily difputing in the fchool of one Tyrannus, *' all 
 they which dwelt in Afia, heard the word of the Lord 
 Jefus, both Jews and Greeks," A6ts xix. 10. And 
 having manifefted that God bore witnefs to that which 
 he teftified by fpecial miracles wrought by his hands, 
 " fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Je- 
 fus was magnified. Many alfo of them which ufed 
 Curious arts, brought their books together, and burned 
 them before all men : and they counted the price of 
 them, and found it fifty thoufand pieces of filver. So 
 mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed," Adts 
 xix. 17, 18, 19, 20. But it was the word of the Lord 
 Jefus which they had heard ; therefore it was his word 
 that grew and prevailed ; his name therefore is worthi- 
 ly magnified, being one with the Father, God. 
 XLL 
 
 When Agabus foretold to Paul, that he frouic' be 
 bound at Jerufalem, and delivered into the hancib^ of 
 the Gentiles, the difciples " befought him not to go 
 up to Jerufalem. Then Paul anfwered, what mean ye 
 to weep, and to breik mine heart? for I am rcRflv, not 
 to be bound only, but alfo to die at Jerufal m for the 
 name of the Lord Jefus. And when he weald not be 
 perfuaded, we ceafed, faying, the will of the Lord be 
 done," Acls xxi. 11, 12, 13, 14. The context hfre 
 (hews, that the Lord, to whofe will the apoftles '.> 
 N figiied 
 
[ 98 ] 
 
 figned themfelves, was the Lord Jefus, for whofe name 
 Paul was ready to refign himfelf, not to bonds only, 
 but to death. This example therefore authorifes us to 
 addrefs to the Lord Jefus that expreflion of our fub- 
 miflivenefs to his pleafure in the Lord's prayer, *' thy 
 will be done in earth," Matth. vi. lo. 
 
 XLIL 
 
 *' Arife, and be baptized, and wafh away thy fins, 
 calling on the name of the Lord," A6i:s xxii. i6. Be- 
 lief in the Lord Jefus Chrift is throughout the fcrip- 
 tures made neceflary to baptifm ; and the teftimony of 
 Saul's belief, which is required by Ananias here, in 
 order to his being baptized, is nothing lefs than invo- 
 cation itfelf. 
 
 XLIIL 
 
 " And it came to pafs, that when I was come again 
 to Jerufalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was 
 in a trance: and faw him faying unto me," A£ls xxii. 
 17, 18. Whom did Paul fee? the pronoun him has no 
 antecedent fubftantive to which it fliould be referred, 
 though it be made the fubjeft of a long fubfequent de- 
 tail ; the antecedent then muft be fought for from the 
 meaning of the fentence altogether; but it is therein 
 declared that Paul prayed. The obje6l of his adora- 
 tion then is the fubjccl of the propofition, and this fub- 
 je6l is then found to be the antecedent to this pronoun. 
 But of this objedt of Paul's religious worfhip, it is faid, 
 that he *' faw hhn faying unto him. Make hafte, and 
 get thee quickly out of Jerufalem: for they will not 
 receive thy teftimony concerning me. And I faid, 
 Lord, they know that I imprifoned, and beat in every 
 fynagcgue them that believed on thee. And when the 
 bloc d of thy martyr Stephen was fhed, I alfo was ftand- 
 ing by, and confenting unto his death, and kept the rai- 
 ment of them that flew him," A6ls xxii. 18, 19, 20. 
 That it was of Jefus Chrift Paul was to bear teftimo- 
 ny, 
 
[ 99 ] 
 
 oy, Is a well-eflabllflied faft; and that It was of Jefus 
 Chrift that the Jews would not receive Paul's teftimo- 
 ny, is clear from this, that they were very ready to re- 
 ceive an Unitarian do6lrine. That Stephen, at whofe 
 blood-fliedding Paul flood by, confenting to his death, 
 was the martyr of Chrift, is alfo certain ; for the word 
 martyr fignifies no more than witnefs, and it was for 
 the teftimony of Chrift that he died. That Jefus 
 Chrift, upon the whole, was the object of Paul's reli- 
 gious worfhip in the temple, is evident; and therefore 
 Mr. Lindfey himfelf muft conclude him, one with the 
 Father, God. 
 
 XLIV. 
 Paul charged before Felix with " having gone about 
 to profane the temple," and being " a ringleader of the 
 fe£t of the Nazarenes," A6ls xxiv. 5. declares himfelf 
 not guilty of any profanation of the temple; but to the 
 other part of the accufatlon he anfwers, " But this I 
 confefs unto thee, that, after the way v/hich they call 
 herefy, fo worfhip I the God of my Fathers, believing 
 all things that are written in the law and the prophets," 
 Adis xxlv. 14. The fcriptures, that is, the law and the 
 prophets, " are they which teftified of Chrift," John v. 
 39. according to that teftimony, which Paul's " under- 
 fla'nding was opened that he might underftand," this 
 bold apoftie of our Lord declares himfelf a worfiiipper 
 of the God of his Fathers; but this he acknowledges 
 he is, according to the charge before Felix, that he was 
 a ringleader of the fecSl of the Nazarenes. Jefus Chrift 
 of Nazareth is here therefore pronounced by Paul to be 
 the God of his Fathers, even one in Godhead with Je- 
 hovah, the Father. 
 
 XLV. 
 St. Paul commences his epiftle to the Romans thus, 
 " Paul, a fervant of Jefus Chrift, called to be an apo- 
 ftie, and feparated unto the gofpel of God," Rom. i. r. 
 N 2 and 
 
[ 100 ] 
 
 and then making a declaration of his great good-will 
 towards them, he fays, " For God is my witnefs, 
 whom I ferve with my fpirit in the gofpel of his Son, 
 that without ceafmg I make mention of you always in 
 my prayers," Romans i. 9. So that here, in the fame 
 breath, this great apoftle of our Lord and Saviour de- 
 clares himfelf the fervant of Jefus Chrift, the preacher 
 of the gofpel of God, and the fervant of God, the 
 preacher of the gofpel of Jefus Chrift. One only is 
 the Mafter whom Paul ferved, and he, whofe gofpel 
 Paul preached, but one, even Jefus Chrift one with 
 rhe Father, God. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 " Thinkeft thou that thou fhalt efcape the judgment 
 of God?" Rom. ii. 3; but" the Father judgeth no 
 man, but hath committed all judgment unto the 
 Son," John v. 22. who '* fhall reward every man ac- 
 cording to his works," Matth. xvi. 27. Who then is 
 that God whofe judgment is inevitable ? certainly Je- 
 fus Chrift one with the Father, that " God, who, 
 will render to every man according to his deeds," 
 Rom. ii. 6. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 " Or defpifeft thou the riches of his goodnefs, and 
 forbearance, and long-fuffering ; not knowing that the 
 goodnefs of God leadeth thee to repentance," Rom. ii. 
 4. to " repentance unto life," Ads xi. 18. " How- 
 teit," fays the fame apoftle, *' for this caufe I obtained 
 mercy, that in me firft Jefus Chrift might fhew forth 
 all long-fuffermg, for a pattern to them which fhould 
 hereafter believe on him to life everlafting," i Tim. i. 
 16. We muft then "account that the long-fuft'ering 
 of our Lord is falvation ; even as our beloved brother 
 Paul alfo, according to the wifdom given unto him, 
 hath written," 2 Pet. iii. 15. Who then is this Lord, 
 who, " is long-fufFering to us-ward ?" "not willing that 
 
 any 
 
any fhould psrifh, but that all fhould come to repen- 
 tance," 2 Pet. iii. 9. Certainly he is the fame Lord 
 Jefus Chrift who mercifully ftiewed all long-fufFering 
 to Paul, for a pattern to them who fliould hereafter 
 believe on him to everlafting life ; one, with the Fa- 
 ther, God, the riches of whofe goodnefs, and forbear- 
 ance, and long-fuffering, leadeth to repentance unto 
 life. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 The argument carried on through the latter part of 
 the third, and the whole of the fourth chapter of St. 
 Paul's epiille to the Romans, aflFords a ftrong proof of 
 the Godhead of Chrift. Abraham v.?as faithful in God, 
 his faith was imputed to him for righteoufnefs, and the 
 promife was therefore made to him ; he believed in 
 God, and was juftified by his belief; but God is de- 
 clared to be the '* juftifier of him that bslieveth in Je- 
 fus," Rom. iii. 26. The faith of Abraham, and the 
 fruits of it are fet forth as a pattern and perfuafive to 
 us to have faith in Jefus j but the faith of Abraham, 
 whereby he was juftified, was in God. Were Jefus 
 Chrift therefore other than God, he could not have 
 been held out to us by this eloquent preacher of his 
 gofpel, as an object of faith after the example of Abra- 
 ham. The fame mode of argument is carried through 
 the nth chapter of Hebrews, and in the 12th we are 
 told that Jefus Chrift is the object of faith. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 " Ye are not in the flefti, but in the fpirit, iT fo be 
 that the fpirit of God dwelleth in you. Now, if any 
 man have not the fpirit of Chrift, he is none of his," 
 Rom. viii. 9. Here the context, and the courfe of 
 St. Paul's argument, put it out of controverfy, that the 
 fpirit of God and the fpirit of Chrift are fynonimous. 
 terms; but of him, whofe this fpirit is, it is faid, that 
 "he raifed up Jefus from the dead," Rom. viii. 11. 
 
 which 
 
[ ^OZ ] 
 
 which affords an apoftolical expreflion of that which I 
 have already laid down, that the one Godhead of the 
 Father, and of the Son, was indeed the power which 
 raifed up the man Jefus from the dead ; for though I 
 aflert that Chrift is God, I never yet denied that he was 
 alfo a Man, and that his manhood was inferior to that 
 Godhead which was in the flefh, and upon which the 
 ftate of man is neceffarily dependent. 
 L. 
 
 «« Whofe are the Fathers, and of whom as concern- 
 ing the flefh Chrift came, who is over all, God blefTed 
 for ever. Amen," Rom. ix. 5. As it is not a very 
 common cafe for men to come of their fathers as con- 
 cerning any thing elfe than the flefli, St. Paul has 
 ufed an expreffion concerning Chrift, which implies, 
 that he had come of fome other origin than of the 
 Jews, and in fome other manner than as concerning 
 the flefti, and therefore has rendered an explanation ne- 
 cefTary, v/hich he accordingly proceeds to m.ake ; and 
 in order to fhew what that nature of Chrift was, from 
 which he had diftinguifhed his flefti, he direftly afl'erts 
 in fo many exprefs words, that " he is over all, God 
 bleflTed for ever. Amen." 
 
 LI. 
 
 *' For the fame Lord over all, is rich unto all that 
 call upon him. For whofoever ftiall call upon the name 
 of the Lord, ftiall be faved. How then ftiall they call 
 on him in whom they have not believed ? and how 
 fliall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? 
 and how ftiall they hear without a preacher ?" Rom. x. 
 12, 13. St. Paul is here preaching Jefus, of the con- 
 feflion of whom cometh falvation, and in whom, he 
 fays, whofoever believeth fliall not be aftiamed : and, as 
 a reafon for what he had faid, declares him rich to all 
 that call upon him, and that falvation is the fruit of 
 invoking him. Here Mr. Lindfey muft confefs him 
 
[ 103 ] 
 
 one with the Father, God. He is here preaching to the 
 Jew as well as the Greek ; and to the Jew a preacher 
 was furely not wanting to induce his belief in Jehovah, 
 the God of the Unitarians. 
 
 LII. 
 " He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth 
 God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he 
 eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us 
 iiveth to himfelf, and no man dieth to himfelf. For 
 whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and whether 
 •We die, we die unto the Lord : whether we live there- 
 fore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Chrifl 
 both died, and rofe, and revived, that he might be Lord 
 both of the dead and living," Rom. xiv. 6, 7, 8, 9.. 
 St. Paul here makes our eating *' to the Lord" depend 
 upon our giving God thanks, which are therefore a de- 
 dication of the a6l ; but this dedication of the act is 
 to God, whereas the adl itfelf is, in confequence of it, 
 ** to the Lord :" the Lord therefore to whom we find 
 it to be done muft be the fame God, to whom by 
 thankfgiving it had been addrefi'ed. But who that Lord 
 is to whom we eat or eat not, to whom we live or 
 die, and whofe we are, the following verfes render ve- 
 xy certain ; and he it is who died, and rofe, and re- 
 vived, even Jefus Chrift, over all, one with the Fa- 
 ther, God, blefled for ever, the proper objedl of our 
 gratitude and thankfgiving, " to whofe glory, whether 
 we eat, or drink, or whatfoever we do, we fhould do 
 all," I Cor. X. 31 : " for the earth is the Lord's, and 
 the fullnefs thereof," i Cor. x. 28. 
 
 LHL 
 " For we fhall all ftand before the judgment-feat of 
 Chrift. For it is written, As I live, fiuth the Lord, 
 •every knee fhall bow to me, and every tongue fhall con- 
 fefs to God. ^ So then every one of us fhall give account 
 ©f himfelf to God," Rom. xiv. id, ii, 12. Here, in 
 
 bowing 
 
[ 104 ] 
 
 bowing the knee to Jefus Chrift, wc fulfil the prophecy 
 that is exprelsly fpoken to Ifaiah, by God, of himfelf, 
 *' I have fworn by myfelf, the word is gone out of my 
 mouth in righteoufnefs, and fliall not return, that 
 unto me every knc^e fhall bow, every tongue (hall fwear," 
 Ifaiah xlv. 23. If this then be fulfilled by the bowing 
 the knee to Chrift, Chrift is that God who fpoke this 
 prophecy. I muft then refer to the whole chapter, 
 every declaration in which is made of him who has (a 
 fpoken, even Jefus Chrift : *' there is no God elfe be- 
 fide me, a juft God, and a Saviour, there is none be- 
 fide me. Look unto me, and be ye faved, all the ends 
 of the earth : for I am God, and there is none elfe," 
 Ifaiah xlv. 21, 22. Befides this circumftance, every 
 man is here confefting to God before the judgment- 
 feat of Chrift, therefore that God, (one with the Fa- 
 ther) before whom they are confefling, " for we muft 
 all appear before the judgment-feat of Chrift; that 
 every one may receive the things done in his body, ac- 
 cording to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
 bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we 
 perfuade men," 2 Cor. v. 10; and furely when arrayed 
 in all the terrors with which he will come to judgment, 
 ** it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
 God," Heb. X. 31. 
 
 LIV. 
 *' I know, and am perfuaded by the Lord Jefus, that 
 there is nothing unclean of itfelf," Rom. xiv. 14. We 
 do not find any particular revelation made to Paul that 
 there is nothing unclean : he muft then have had it from 
 Peter, to whom it was revealed, and who fays, " God 
 hath ftiewed me, that I ftiould not call any man com- 
 mon or unclean •" and this the Lord had fhewed him 
 by a vifion in which Peter is called upon to eat things 
 heretofore common and unclean, but now cleanfed by 
 God. If Paul therefore was perfuaded by Jefus Chrift, 
 
 through 
 
t JOS ] 
 
 through the relation made by Peter, we find him look 
 Upon our Lord to be the God which had fhewed the 
 vifion to him ; or, if Paul had a like vifion, it is very 
 probable that it was prefented to him and to Peter by 
 the fame agent : but as Paul is not faid to have had 
 fuch a revelation himfelf, the former fuppofition is moft 
 to be relied on. But if it be infifted on that Paul v/as 
 perfuaded by the Spirit, with which he was full, it muft 
 follow, that the Holy Ghoft, proceeding from the Fa- 
 ther, proceeds equally from the Son, by whom Paul 
 declares himfelf to be perfuaded* 
 LV. 
 *« That I ftiould be the minifter of Jefus Chrift to the 
 Gentiles, miniftering the gofpel of God," Rom. xv. i6. 
 He goes on to fay, that, according to this appointment, 
 <' from Jerufalem and round about unto lllyricum, I 
 have fully preached the gofpel of Chrift," Rom. xv. 19 ; 
 but he declines boafting of the mighty figns and won- 
 ders which he did in confirmation of this gofpel by 
 the power of the fpirit of God. The grace which was 
 given to him, that he fhould be a minifter of Chrift, 
 is that wherein he fays he may glory, and not in the 
 miracles he had wrought, which, however, he declares 
 to be the work of Chrift by the hands of thofe who 
 do them. The gofpel of God is here the gofpel of 
 Chrift, that which is God's is not another's : Jefus 
 Chrift is therefore one with the Father, God. 
 LVI. 
 *' The churches of Chrift faluteyou," Rom. xvi. 16. 
 *' Paul called to be an apoftle of Jefus Chrift, through 
 the will of God, and Softhenes our brother, unto the 
 church of God which is at Corinth," i Cor. i. i, 2. 
 It is remarkable that St. Paul wrote from Corinth to 
 Rome, and in his epiftle thence calls the churches there 
 the churches of Chrift ; and that when he is at an ther 
 time writing to the very fame churches which he h. d fo 
 O deno- 
 
[ io6 ] 
 
 denominated, he addrelTes himfelf " to the church of 
 God which is at Corinth," and defcribei; the members 
 of this church to be " fandlified in Chrift Jefus, called 
 to be faints, and calling upon the name of the Lord Je- 
 fus, both theirs and ours." There is but one church 
 of God, and that is of Chrift who is called upon in it : 
 Jefus Chrift is therefore one with the Father, God. 
 *« Grace be unto you," fays St. Paul, immediately af- 
 ter addrefling the church which called upon the Lord 
 Jefus, whom he profefles to be his Lord and theirs, 
 *' and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord 
 Jefus Chrift -," and then he proceeds, " I thank my 
 God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which 
 is given you by Jefus Chrift," i Cor. i. 3, 4. This is 
 a very extraordinary gift for our Saviour to make if it 
 was not his to give ; but he has given it. The grace 
 of God is therefore the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 with the Father, one God. 
 
 LVIL 
 " So that ye come behind in no gift ; waiting for 
 the coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift : who fhall alfo 
 confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blamelefs in 
 the day of our Lord Jefus Chrift," i Cor. i. 7, 8. 
 " He that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge no- 
 thing before the time, until the Lord come, who both 
 will bring to light the hidden things of darknefs, and 
 will make manifeft the counfels of the hearts . and then 
 ihall every man have praife of God," i Cor. iv. 4, 5. 
 That God, for whofe praife Paul is contented to wait, 
 rather than feek the praife of men, is certainly the Lord 
 who will come to judge, and to make manifeft the 
 counfels of the hearts. But that the Lord who '* judg- 
 eth Paul" is the Lord Jefus, whofe coming he defires 
 the Corinthians to wait for, that in his day they may 
 be found blamelefs, is alfo certain : the conclufion is, 
 that the Lord Jefus is the Lord, and that " the Lord 
 
 he 
 
[ '07 ] 
 
 he is God ;" and if this needed farther proof, it will 
 appear from the following texts to be the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift whofe praife he defireth : " we are come as 
 far as to you alfo, in preaching the gofpel of Chrift : 
 having hope, when your faith is cncreafed, that we 
 fliall be enlarged by you according to our rule abun- 
 dantly, to preach the gofpel in the regions beyond you, 
 and not to boaft in another man's line of things made 
 ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory 
 in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himfeif is 
 approved, but whom the Lord commendeth," 2 Cor. x. 
 1410 18. 
 
 LVIIL 
 '* For it hath been declared unto me, that there are 
 contentions among you. Now this I fay, that every 
 one of you faith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and 
 I of Cephas, and I of Chrift. Is Chrift divided ? 
 was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in the 
 name of Paul?" i Cor. i. n, 12, 13 From Chrift's 
 not being divided, he diflliades them from divifions, 
 ver. 10. " Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, 
 but minifters by whom ye believed, even as the Lord 
 gave to every man ? 1 have planted, Apollos watered : 
 but God gave the encreafe," i Cor. iii. 5, 6. So that 
 God who gave to every man the encreafe, that is, af- 
 fifted them in receiving the gofpel, which was planted 
 and watered by Paul and Apollos, is the Lord, ac- 
 cording to whofe gift they believed. Of Jefus Chrift 
 it is faid, that " he fhall confirm them unto the end," 
 I Cor. i. 8. That which was given to every m.an, 
 confirmation in faith, is then the gift of Jefus Chrift 
 the Lord j but God gave the encreafe : therefore Jefus 
 Chrift, the Lord who gave it, is one with the Father, 
 Cod. 
 
 O2 "I 
 
[ io8 ] 
 
 LIX. 
 " I thank God, that I baptized none of you, but 
 Crifpus and Gaius : left any fhould fay, that I had 
 baptized in my own name," i Cor. i. 14, 15. ^ Ab Je- 
 fus Chrift had given command to his difciples to bap- 
 tize " in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Hoiy 
 Ghoft," one God ; and as they, in obedience to this, 
 command, went forth into all nations, baptizing in the 
 name of Jefus Chrift, one with the Father and the Ho- 
 ly Ghoft, God, (for I dare not fuppofe them difobedient 
 to the voice of their afcending Lord) Paul, having re- 
 prehended the Corinthians for looking upon him, Apol-r 
 los, and Cephas, as equally objefts of their adherence 
 as Chrift, who alone was crucified for them, proceeds 
 to return thanks to God that he had not led fuch unfta-r 
 ble fouls into farther errour, and by the exercife of that 
 duty vv-hich was to be performed in the name of God, 
 brought them to transfer that divinity to himfelf which 
 belonged to Chrift only : for if their preaching Chrift 
 crucified could bring his hearers to conceive the preach- 
 ers as Chrift, he eafily faw that baptifm in his name 
 would have induced them to look upon them as bapti- 
 zing in their own name, and afluming to themfelves 
 that Godhead, to the belief in which baptifm was ad- 
 miniftered in the name of Chrift j an errour of fo great 
 magnitude, that the apoftle is very happy in not having 
 afforded occafion for it to men, whom he faw fo ready to. 
 mifinterpret the miniftry and apoftleftiip of the gofpel, 
 which he had preached among them. Mr. Lindfey 
 draws a very extraordinary conclufion from the paflage 
 before us, and fays, it affords a proof that >' baptizing 
 in the name of any one does not of itfelf imply any 
 divinity in the perfon inwhofe name baptifm is made." 
 I requeft that this chapter may be turned to, and refer 
 it to the meaneft reader, who fhall honour me with a 
 perufal, whether Mr. Lindfey has not fallen into the 
 
 very 
 
[ 109 ] 
 
 very errour which St. Paul is here cenfuring in the Co- 
 riirthians; for at the leaft it muft be admitted that Paul's 
 thankfgiving is made, either that they did not account 
 Jiim as Chrift, or Chrift as him. 
 LX. 
 As I have already proved that it w^as Jefus Chrift 
 who fent forth the apoftles to preach him, and who had 
 chofcn thofe veffels which fliould bear his name before 
 the Gentiles, I (hall not now repeat the arguments al- 
 ready made ufe of, but dt-fue my reader may compare 
 the paffages brought together to that purpofe, with the 
 following declaration of St. Paul, *' that not many wife 
 men after the flefti, not many mighty, not many noble 
 are called. But God hath chofen the foolifh things of 
 the world, to confound the wiiej and God hath chofenf 
 the weak things of the world, to confound the things 
 which are mighty; that no flefh fhould glory in his 
 prefence," i Cor. i, 26, 27, 28, 29- This he fpeaks 
 of the preachers of the gofpel who had been fent by 
 Jefus Chrift; for he fays, " it pleafed God by the fool- 
 ifhnefs of preaching to favc them that believe," i Cor. i. 
 21. Jefus Chrift therefore, who chofe them, and 
 *' whofe ftrength is perfetSled in weaknefs," is one with 
 the Kather, God ; who hath chofen the weak things to 
 ponfound the n^ighty. " He that glorieth, let him 
 glory in the Lord," j Cor. i. 31, and 2 Cor. x. 17; 
 in which latter place it is evidently fpoken of Jefus 
 Chrift. It is reafonably to be concluded then that he 
 is the Lord, in whom Paul defires us to glory; ^' as it 
 is written," by Jeremiah, to whom God fpeaks, *' let 
 him that glorieth, glory in this; that he underftandeth 
 and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercife 
 loving-kindnefs, judgement and righteoufnefs in the 
 earth: for in thefe things I delight, faith the Lord," 
 Jer. ix. 24. 
 
 "Had 
 
[ no] 
 
 LXI. 
 
 ** Had they known it, they would not have crucified 
 the Lord of glory," i Cor. ii. 8. " Ye killed the 
 Prince of Life," or, as it ftands in the margin of the 
 Bible, " the Author of Life." And now, brethren, 
 I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did alfo vour 
 rulers," Aits iii. 15, 17. " My brethren, have not 
 the faith of our Lord Jefus Chrift the Lord of glory, 
 with refpe6l of perfons," James ii. i. In this laft text 
 the tranflation has fupplied the words *' the Lord,* 
 but the following words " of glory," which exprefs the 
 whole meaning in the Greek, require them, or others 
 to the fame purpofe, to exprefs it in Englifh ; and St. 
 Paul's having ufed the whole phrafe is a fufficient war- 
 rant to the tranflators for preferring that which they 
 have ufed. And the Lord of glory is a title not very 
 applicable to a creature; for God has faid, " I am the 
 Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give 
 to another." " Who is this King of glory? the Lord 
 of Hofts, he is the King of glory," Pfa. xxiv. 10, 
 Who is this Prince and Author of life? *' The Lord 
 God who formed man of the duft of the ground, and 
 breathed into his noftrils the breath of life," Gen. ii. 7. 
 LXIL 
 
 «* We fpeak the wifdom of God in a myftery." 
 *' The things of God knoweth no man, but the fpirit 
 of God." " But God has revealed them unto us by 
 his fpirit:" " we have received, not the fpirit of the 
 world, but the fpirit which is of God :" " but the na- 
 tural man receiveth not the things of the fpirit of God j" 
 ^' for who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he 
 may inftrudl: him ? but we have the mind of Chrift," 
 I Cor. ii. 7, to the end. This needs no comment. 
 LXIIL 
 
 That Chrift himfelf fpoke by the apoftles, is evident 
 from what follows. Paul fays to the Corinthians, 
 
 " Now, 
 
[ I" ] 
 
 <« Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandrtieht 
 of the Lord : yet 1 give my judgement as one that hath 
 obtained mercy of the Lord to be f aithlul," i Cor. vii. 
 25. Here the preacher makes a diftindlion between 
 that eWedi which the immediate dictate of the fpirit 
 had on him, with the authority of fpeech derived from 
 thence, and the improvement of his natural judgement 
 by the means of habitual faith, through which indeed 
 he became a wifer and a better man, but not more au- 
 thorized to prefcribe. St. Paul often fpeaks of his ha* 
 ving obtained mercy of Jefus Chrift, whence it is evi- 
 dent that Chrift is the Lord meant here. " To the 
 Lord our God belong mercies, and forgivenefTes." 
 Dan. ix. 9. Let him then who extends them be ac- 
 knowledged to be the God of our falvation. 
 
 LXIV. 
 St. Paul fays to the Corinthians, *' We know that 
 an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none 
 other God but one," i Cor. viii. 4. This unity of 
 the God, of whom, and by whom he declares all 
 things to be, is oppofed to the multitude of idols to 
 which the Corinthians offered facrifice. Thefe he is 
 about to put down, and in their place to eflablifh the 
 worfhip of the true God ; and now, if ever accuracy 
 of expreflion be neceffary, it was incumbent upon St. 
 Paul to diflinguifh between the Father and the Son, in 
 terms never to be confounded, to afcribe fuch attributes 
 to each as muft perfeitly diffinguifh him from the other; 
 nay, perhaps he Ihould have gone farther, and have ab- 
 folutely omitted the name of him, who was not to be 
 confidered as a proper obje6f: of worfhip, left his idola- 
 trous hearers, to whom a multitude of gods would not 
 have been exceptionable, Ihould interpret his words 
 into an implication, that he, who was defcribed to them 
 with attributes the very fame as thofe beftowed upon 
 God, was pointed out as an obje6l of adoration, inftead 
 
 of 
 
[112] 
 
 of the idols which they heard him obje<5l to, and ifi- 
 ftead of which he was about to lubftitute a God for 
 them. Has this been the conduct of the apoftle ? has 
 he diligently withheld the name of Jefus Chrift, while 
 he recommends a new worihip? If not, I think it rea- 
 fonably to be concluded, that he did recommend the 
 worfhip of Jefus Chrift to them, to whom he fays, 
 *' though there be that are called Gods, whether in hea- 
 ven or in earth, (as there be Gods many, and Lords 
 many) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of 
 whom are all things^ and we in him ; and one Lord 
 Jefus Chrift, by whom are all things, and we by him," 
 I Cor. viii. 6. To me this text appears conclufive for 
 the one Godhead of the Father and of the Son. In the 
 fame manner Paul and Barnabas, after they had at Ly* 
 ftra " preached the gofpel," and, by a miracle of heal- 
 ing, confirmed the teftimony which they bore to the 
 truth of their doctrines, and had received divine ho- 
 nours from the idolaters of the country, difTuade them 
 from doing facrifice unto them, but " preached unto 
 them, that they (hould turn from thefe vanities unto the 
 living Gocj, which made heaven and earth, and the fea, 
 and all things that are therein," A^ts xiv. 7, 15. I 
 fhall here take occafion to obferve, upon a very parti- 
 cular mode of argument made ufe of by Mr. Lindfey, 
 in order to get rid of the conclufion, which naturally 
 follows from the application of the lame attributes to 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, fo frequently 
 made- by the difciples of our Lord. " The apoftles," 
 fays this gentleman. Apology, p. 132, *' were not fo 
 exa6l in the ufe of the words. Lord, Saviour, and the 
 like, which they indifferently give both to God and to 
 Chrift, never fuppofing that any would miftake their 
 Lord and Mafter fo lately born, and living amongft 
 men, to be the fupreme God and objedl: of worfhip." 
 If the apoftles, who, it is allowed, forefaw that men 
 
 would 
 
[ "3] 
 
 would in future time depart from the truth, and, a» 
 Mr. Lindfey fays, adopt a trinity from Plato, never 
 conceived the poffibility of fuch a miftake ; they were, 
 of all men, not only the moft carclefs and inattentive, 
 but the moft heinoufly fmful ; for they fmned againft 
 the Holy Ghoft, whofe infpiration had given them a 
 vkw into futurity, and that for the purpofe of ma- 
 king them inftrumental to the propagation and fupport 
 of truth only ; but they have moft wickedly neglected 
 this firft caufe of their appointment ; and mifreprefen- 
 tation, inftead of being the fault of our perverfe wills, 
 muft hereafter be afcribed to the infuffiiciency of reve- 
 lation, to the incompetency of thofe whom God's 
 choice had pronounced competent, or to their wilful 
 omiflion of that duty, to which God had been pleafed 
 to call them, and aflift them with a *' guide to all 
 truth", for our inftrucSlion. I refer it to reafon, whe- 
 ther common attributes do not imply, nay more, do 
 not demonftrate a common nature, and if to be our 
 Lord, and our Saviour, and the like, be equally the at- 
 tributes of God, and of the Son, whether the Son be 
 not therefore God ? 
 
 But thefe fame apoftles, according to Mr, Lindfey, 
 not endowed with a prophetick view, but not even 
 fuppofmg a miftake poffible, muft have been very ex- 
 traordinary reafoners, though they even derived their 
 confidence, that, from the circumftances of his having 
 been born, and fo lately living amongft men, we 
 fhould not conclude the Godhead of Chrift from 
 their application of the divine attributes to his name. 
 Will any man pretend that the birth and life of our 
 Saviour were fuch as fhould mark his nature to be 
 )^o more than that of the reft of mankind ? his death, 
 his rcfurreftion from the dead, and his afcenfion into 
 heaven, followed immediately by the gift of the Holy 
 P Ghoft, 
 
Ghoil, according to his promife, might alfo lead tne 
 apoftles to confider, and preach him as fomething more 
 than an ordinary man ; nay, that very birth which Mr. 
 Lindfey thinks a proof that he was a meer man, the 
 apoftles, who have related it to us, knew to have been, 
 qf a Virgin found with child of the Holy Ghoft, and 
 overfhadowed by the povv^er of the Higheft, and that 
 the Holy Thing, which was born of that Virgin, was 
 declared to be the Son of God. They alfo knew that 
 life, which he paft: amongft men, to have been fpent 
 in daily miracles, to have been fo interrupted, and fo 
 refumed, that it is aftonilhing to hear the birth and 
 life of our Saviour made ufe of as a reafon why we 
 fhould doubt the veracity of the apofl:les, when they 
 declare him to be God, and why they fhould not have: 
 conceived it neceffary to mark fuch a diftindlion a$ 
 fliould preclude the pofTibility of fo momentous an er- 
 rour, if an errour it be to afcribe divinity to him, inftead 
 of ufing an inaccurate exprelTioni whereby we fhould 
 be led into an opinion that he is God. From that very 
 birth and life, teftifying whence, and with what en- 
 dowments he came, I am led to interpret even ambi- 
 guous expreffions as atteftations of his Godhead, much 
 more to yield my afTent to fuch as are perfectly expli- 
 cit, and declare it without any ambiguity at all ; o( 
 the latter fort there are multitudes, from which the 
 former derive their explanation ; for if it be in one in- 
 ftance declared exprefsly, that " Chrift is over all, God 
 blefled for ever," it will be no difficulty to redeem 
 the names of the difciples of our Lord from the cruel 
 charge of having lied to the Holy Ghoft, or negledling- 
 ly rejected the condudt of this " guide to all truth ;" 
 and when they have ufed the words. Lord, and Savi- 
 our, at2d the like, and indifferently given them both to 
 God, and to Chrifl, to declare that they have inten- 
 tionally done it, in order to inculcate the dodrine of 
 
["Si 
 
 our blefled Redeemer's divinity, inftead of imputing to 
 thefe infpired men a criminal inaccuracy, the confe- 
 quence of which could not efcape the forefight of the 
 meaneft human underftanding. *' Ye know that ye 
 were Gsntiles carried away unto thefe dumb idols, even 
 as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to underftand, 
 that no man fpeaking by the fpirit of God, calleth Je- 
 fus accurfed, and that no man can fay that Jefus is the 
 Lord, but by the Holy Ghoft," i Cor. xii. 2, 3. 
 *' God is not the author of confufion," i Cor.-xiv. 3^. 
 I ftiall therefore I'ely upon the identity of exprcffion 
 ufed in fpeaking of God and of Chrift, as evidence of 
 the identity of the Godhead of the Father and of the 
 Son J and as the paflages occur, in v^hich fuch language 
 is ufed, I fhall quote them as teftimonies of it. 
 LXV. 
 Speaking of the facrifices of the Gentiles^ which he 
 fays were offered not to God but to devils, St. Paul 
 fays, *' Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the 
 cup of devils : ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's 
 table, and of the table of devils," i Cor. x. 20, 21. 
 Here is manifeftly a declaration made, that the takino- 
 the cup of bleffing, and the bread which we break, as 
 the communion of the blood and body of Chrift, is an 
 a<3: of worfhip to him, adequate to that of the Gen- 
 tiles' facrifices to their idols. He does not indeed call 
 it a facriiice, nor intimate that it is one, but fays, that 
 it is an afcribing of honour to him, inconfiftent with 
 honour being paid to devils. In the fame manner as 
 our Saviour himfelf has faid, *' Ye cannot ferve God 
 and mammon," St. Paul fnews, that they cannot, con- 
 fiftently with the worfhip of the true God, a /bribe 
 honour to Jdols. ** What concord hath ChrL'! with 
 Belial ? or what part hath be that believeth, v>kh an 
 infidel ? and what agreement hath the temple of God 
 P 2 with 
 
[ 1.6] 
 
 with idols ? for ye are the temple of the living God, 
 &c." 2 Cor. vi. 15, 16. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 " We preach not ourfelves, but Chrift Jefus the 
 Lord," 2 Cor. iv. 5. Thefe words I produce only to 
 fhew the object of the apoftle'§ preaching, a circum-^ 
 ftance to which I am frequently obliged to refer. Paul 
 has alfo defined the gofpel to be " the teftimony of our 
 Lord Jefus- Chrift," 2 Tim. i. 8. The preaching of 
 the gofpel is therefore the bearing teftimony to him, 
 which I wifh to have remembered and carried on in the 
 mind of my reader, 
 
 LXVIL 
 
 Were I to quote every paflage in the fecond epiftle 
 of St. Paul to the Corinthians that affords a proof 
 of our Saviour's Godhead, I fhould be under a ne-? 
 cefllty of tranfcribing the whole epifile, to which I 
 therefore choofe to refer my reader. One paffage how- 
 ever I muft fele61:, and fhew its weight in the argu- 
 ment, becaufe Mr. Lindfey has taken fome pains to, 
 extricate himfelf from the neceffity of bending under it. 
 It is indeed furprizing, that a man who has fhewed fo 
 evidently his attachment to what he believes the truth, 
 fhould not be more circumfpedl in the purfuit of her, 
 but allow himfelf to be deceived by every painted fal- 
 lacy that fhall appear ever fo little like the original, 
 I am at a lofs to conceive how the following daubed 
 mafk fhould be taken for the native and unadorned 
 fimplicity of truth, by one who profefTes himfelf ena- 
 moured of that fimplicity. But upon the 12th chap, 
 and 8, 9 ver. of 2 Cor. a Mr. Beaufobre has afforded 
 the following comment, to which Mr. Lindfey accedes 
 with the moft fupine facility. " For this thing I be- 
 fought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me," 
 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9. " Paul appears here to have directed 
 his prayer to God, the Father, and to have had in his 
 
 thoughts 
 
[i'7] 
 
 thoughts and to have imitated our Lord's prayer in the 
 garden, the night before his fuffering, when he praye4 
 to God, that, if it pleafed him, the cup of afflidtion 
 might pafs away from him without his drinking it." 
 Beaufobre on the place. Apology, p. 132. Let us 
 take the whole paffage together, and examine it with 
 the context, and then fee whether the apoftle had any 
 fuch ftufF in his thoughts as the dreams of Mr. Beau- 
 fobre are made of. St. Paul having faid, *' of myfelf 
 I will not glory, but in mine infirmities," proceeds to 
 give an account of thofe infirmities, and to aflign the 
 reafon why they are an objc6t of glory to him, faying, 
 *' left I fhould be exalted above meafure through the 
 abundance of the revelations, there was given to me 
 a thorn in the flefh, the meflenger of Satan to buffet 
 me, left I fhould be exalted above meafure. For this 
 thing I befought the Lord thrice, that it might depart 
 from me. And he faid unto me, my grace is fuificient 
 for thee: for my ftrength is made perfect in weaknefs, 
 Moft gladly therefore will I rather glory in mine infir- 
 mitivs, that the power of Chrift may reft upon me. 
 Therefore I take pleafure in infirmities, in reproaches, 
 in necefTities, in perfecutions, in diftrefTes for Chrift's 
 fake: for when I am weak, then am I ftrong," 
 2 Cor. xii. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. Wherefore does St. Paul, 
 glory? wherefore take pler.fure m his infirmities? that 
 the power of Chrift may reft upon him; for, by fuf- 
 fering iuch infirmities as contribute to perfedl the 
 ftrength of the Lord, (to whom he prayed) in weak- 
 nefs, he is then flrong when he is weak: but he glo- 
 ries in his infirmities for Chrift's fake; it is the ftrength 
 of Chrift then that is perfected in his weaknefs : but it 
 is the Lord who faid, my ftrength is made perfeft in' 
 weaknefs ; the Lord therefore who fo fpoke, is Chrift : 
 but of the Lord who fo fpoke, Paul thrice befought 
 4he departure of " this thing." The Lord then being 
 
 Chrift^ 
 
[ "8] 
 
 Chrift, and Paul having thrice preferred his fupplicst- 
 tions to him, it necefl'arily follows, that the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift is a proper object of prayer and religious wor- 
 {hip, and therefore that he is one with the Father, 
 God. Such is the conclufion from the context; 
 whereas a delufive afTertion is inferred by a Mr. Beau- 
 fobre, from a partial quotation of but one fmall part 
 of the pafTage, in itfelf proving nothing, but made the 
 fubjedl of the vveakeft comment that ever obtained the 
 acquiefcence of a man of virtue; a man, whofe errours 
 aiHi6l me, as I honour his worth. I cannot fee him 
 turn afide from the ftudy of the word of God itfelf, 
 to the ftudy of the manner in which partial vifionaries, 
 have interpreted it, without fenfible regret, I do not 
 defire that even my comment fhould fupplant a fingle 
 inference drawn by a fenfible and candid man, from a 
 perufal of the fcriptures themfelves; it cannot therefore 
 be expeded that I fhall indulge Mr. Lindfey in laying 
 afide the ufe of his own better underftanding, that he 
 may adopt the dodlrines of a multitude of defigning 
 or filly men and women upon whom he places fuch 
 implicit reliance. I only afk of him, and every other 
 reader, that they will take the uncorrupted word of 
 God itfelf into their own confideration, and with di- 
 ligence fearch the fcriptures only, and thence infer, 
 for their own ufe, fuch tenets as the Holy Spirit {hall 
 be found to have teftified. 
 
 LXVIII. 
 St. Paul, in his epiftle to the Galatians, commences 
 with a declaration that he is " an apoftle (not of men, 
 neither by man, but by Jefus Chrift, and God the Fa- 
 •ther,") Gal. i. i. Here the Father and the Son are put 
 into oppofition to man, and declared to be the Being 
 from whom the apoftle had his authority; and he de- 
 clares farther, that " the gofpel which was preached of 
 me, is not after man. For I neither received it of man, 
 
 neither 
 
['19] 
 
 neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jefus 
 Chrift," Gal. i. ii, 12. Who then is Jefus Chrift 
 who has thus revealed the gofpel to Paul, and whofe 
 authority is fo very high above that of men ? One with 
 the Father, God. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 *^ For do I now perfuada men, or God? or do f 
 feek to pleafe men? for if I yet pleafed men, I ftiould 
 not be the fervant of Chrift," Gal. i. 10. This is ia 
 context with the laft cited p'aflages, and the apoftle, 
 ftill preferving the difti nation between God and man, 
 Ihews the Galatians the authority with which he is 
 about to reprove them, and that they may not expefl: 
 too great lenity, he fhews that he does not feelc to pleafe 
 them, but Chrift, whofe fervant he fhould not be if he 
 negle<5ted to maintain that gofpel which fome amonw 
 them had perverted. He dirtinguifhes himfelf froni 
 thofe who " dtfire to make a fair fhew in the flefli, left 
 they fhould fufFer perfecution for the crofs of Chrift," 
 Gal. vi. 12; whereas he bore in his body the marks 
 of the Lord Jefus, ver. 17. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 ** God hath fent forth the fpirit of his Son into vour 
 hearts, crying, Abba, Father," Gal. iv. 6. There 
 is fomething very remarkable in the courfe of St. f aul's 
 argument here, and the manner in which he' has afcend- 
 ^d to the aflertion before us. He is firming that the 
 Jaw. was given as " a fchoolmafter to bM.ij us untQ 
 Chrift, that we might be juftified by f,.ith," that it was 
 given in the interval of time, between the promife and 
 the time of fulfilling it; but by no means with a view 
 of fupplying the place of that which was promifed, fof 
 it was impoiTible that a law could be given by which 
 righteoufnefs could come; he farther fays, that, being 
 juftified by faith, the tuition of the lav*^ became unne- 
 ceiTary, and that being therefore emancipated from the 
 
 bondage 
 
[ 120 ] 
 
 bondage of the law, *' we are made the children of 
 God, by faith in Chrift Jefus :" and now he fays, that 
 the fuHnefs of time being come, " God fent forth his 
 Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to re- 
 deem them that were under the law, that we might re- 
 ceive the adoption of fons»" Is not this affigning a rea- 
 fon wherefore Chrift took manhood, and particularly 
 why he was fent to the loft fheep of the houfe of Ifrael ? 
 But he has, according to " the gofpel, preached before 
 to Abraham," Gal. iii. 8, fuffered, and redeemed them, 
 whereby they have been juftified by faith, and by faith 
 to juftification become Children of God; and what is 
 -now the procefs ? After we have received the adoption 
 of fons, the fpirit is fent forth into our hearts to make 
 us acknowledge him to be God, whom, till he had fo 
 redeemed us to faith, we had only feen to be a man, 
 «' made of a woman, under the law." In the paflage 
 before us, we are told, that God fent forth the fpirit of 
 his Son; and by the fame preacher it is declared to the 
 Romans, that it is by " the fpirit of him that raifed 
 Jefus from the dead, that we are led, in order to be the 
 fons of God, and that by this fpirit of adoption we cry, 
 Abba, Father," Rom. viii. 11,14, 15. That fpirit, 
 which raifed Jefus from the dead, is therefore that 
 eternal, and invifible, and incomprehenfible God, who 
 was in union with him, while he was living, and who 
 again refumed our nature upon its refurredlion from the 
 grave. ** No man can fay that Jefus is the Lord but 
 by the Holy Ghoft," i Cor. xii. 3. Through faith 
 then, having received the adoption of fons, and by 
 the fpirit of our blefled Redeemer fent forth into our 
 hearts, let us, without hefitation, cry to him, "Abba, 
 Father," and addrefs the Lord's prayer to him, through 
 whom, and by whom only, we have been called fons, 
 and are enabled to fay, " that Jefus is the Lord," *' our 
 Father." I muft obferve here, that as St. Paul was 
 
 preach- 
 
[ i2' 1 
 
 preaching to men difpofed to Judaifm and the do£lrines 
 of the law, the fpirit of adoption, fent after juftification 
 by faith in Chrift Jefus, was by no means neceflary to 
 induce them to cry Abba, Father, to the God 9f the 
 Unitarians; for this they were difpofed to do before, 
 and not to recede from it. Somtwhat not acceded to by 
 the followers of Mofes was then the dodrine of the 
 apoftle of Jefus Chrift ; and he therefore teaches, that 
 by faith in him they are juftified, and thereby receive 
 the fpirit by which they cry to him Abba, Father. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 *' In whom we have redemption through his blood, 
 the forgivenefs of fins, according to the riches of his- 
 grace," Eph. i. 7. " Unto me who am lefs than the 
 leaft of all faints, is this grace given, that I fhould 
 preach among the (jentiles the unfearchable riches of 
 Chrift," Eph. iii. 8. " For this caufe I bow my kntes 
 unto the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, of whom 
 the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that 
 he would grant you according to the riches of his 
 glory," Eph iii. 14, 15, 16. " Or defpifeft thou the 
 riches of his goodnefs, and forbearance, and long-fuf- 
 fering ; not knowing that the goodnefs of God leadeth 
 thee to repentance?" Rom. ii. 4. " What if God, &c. 
 that he might make known the riches of his glory," 
 Rom. ix. 23. The riches of God and of Chrift are 
 here made fynonimous terms, and furely the riches of 
 grace, and of glory, and of long-fuffering, can only be 
 the attributes of God. But left it ftiould be doubted 
 what are the unfearchable riches of Chrift, St. Paul 
 fays, that he prays that his hearers " may be able to 
 comprehend with all faints, what is the breadth, and 
 length, and depth, and height; and to know the love 
 of Chrift, which pafteth knowledge, that ye may be 
 filled with all the fulnefs of God," Eph. iii. 18, 19; 
 fo that all the fulnefs of God, and the knowledge of 
 
[ 122 ] 
 
 the love of Chrlft, are again made fynonimcus terms. 
 But this fulnefs of God is attained to only by having 
 '* Chrift to dwell in our hearts by faith," Eph. iii. 17; 
 and then when we have attained to this, and " come in 
 the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the 
 Son of God," what is the confequence ? are we then 
 " filled with all the fulnefs of God ?" moft certainly 
 we are, for we come " unto a perfeft man, unto the 
 meafure of the ftature of the fulnefs of Chrift," Eph. iv. 
 13. Unto himfelf St. Paul fays this knowledge was 
 given, that he might preach the myftery of Chrift to 
 the Gentiles, that they fhould be partakers of the pro- 
 mife in Chrift by the gofpel, " whereof I was made a 
 minifter, according to the gift of the grace of God 
 given unto me," Eph. iii. 7. *' But unto everyone of 
 us is given grace according to the meafure of the gift 
 of 'Chrift," Eph. iv. 7. " O the depth of the riches 
 both of the wifdom and knowledge of God ! how un- 
 fearchable are his judgments, and his ways paft find- 
 ing out ! for who hath known the mind of the Lord, 
 or who hath been his counfellour ?" Rom. xi. 33, 34. 
 Thefe laft words afford at once an argument, and no 
 unufeful leflbn to a reader of the word of the God of 
 truth. 
 
 LXXII. 
 " When he afcended up on high, he led captivity 
 captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he a^ 
 cended, what is it but that he alfo defcended firft into 
 the lower parts of the earth ? He that defcended, is the 
 fame alfo that afcended up far above all heavens, that 
 he might fill all things,") Eph. iv. 8, 9, 10. St. Paul 
 feems here to enter into the argument, and by the man- 
 ner in which he puts the above aflertions, to have con- 
 fronted himfelf to Mr. Lindfey; from which I con- 
 clude that he had at leaft an equal forefight of the 
 Lindfeian, as of the Platonick fchifm. He forefaw 
 
 that 
 
[ 123 ] 
 
 that our Lord's pre-exiftence would be denied, and has 
 therefore made his afcent a proof that he had before 
 defcended to the earth, (for that is all that is meant by 
 the lower parts of the earth) and had again returned to 
 where he had been before, to heaven. (For that in the 
 fame manner is all that is meant by, far above all hea- 
 vens ; and the two terms are ufed in order ftrongly to 
 contraft his dignity and condefcenfion). He forel'aw 
 that his divinity would be denied, and has therefore 
 lifted him far above the heavens, and extended him 
 even that he might fill all things. Let us then 
 *' henceforth be no more children, tofled to and fro, 
 and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the 
 Height of men, and cunning craftinefs, whereby they 
 lie in wait to deceive. But fpeaking the truth in love, 
 grow up into hjm in all things, which is the Head, even 
 Chrift," Eph. iv. 14, 15. 
 
 LXXin. 
 " Servants, be obedient to them that are your mafters 
 according to the flefii, with fear and trembling, in 
 finglenefs of your heart, as unto Chrift : not with 
 eye-fervice, as men pleafers, but as the fervants of 
 Chrift, doing the will of God from the heart j with 
 good will doing fervice, as to the Lord, and not to 
 men : knowing that whatfoever good thing any man 
 doeth, the fame fhall he receive of the Lord, v/he- 
 ther he be bond or free," Eph. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8. If 
 words could be found more explicitly declaring that 
 the fervant of Chrift and of God is one, whilft " no 
 man can ferve two mafters ;" and alfo that the fervice 
 done as to the Lord, is diftindl from that which is 
 done to pleafe men, I fliould endeavour to paraphrafe 
 this paiTage. I ftiall only now remark, that, in a 
 parallel pr.fTage to the Coloffian fervants, he fays, 
 inftead of " with fear, and trembling, in finglenefs 
 of heart, as unto Chrift ;" " not with eye-fervice, 
 0,2 as 
 
[ 124 ] 
 
 as men pleafers, b ut in finglenefs of heart, fearing 
 God," Coloff. iii. 22. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 *' Who being in the form of God, thought it not 
 robbery to be equal with God : but made himfelf of no 
 reputation, and took upon him the form of a fervant, 
 and was made in the likenefs of men : and being found 
 in faihion as a man, he humbled himfelf, and became 
 obedient unto death, even the death of the crofs,'' 
 Philip, ii. 6, 7. 8. If Mr. Lindfey, who denies 
 not that Jefus Chrift was a man, will not deny that 
 he is here declared to be fuch, I think he cannot deny 
 that he is here declared to be God : for if the words 
 the form of a fervant^ the likenefs of ?nen, and the fajhion 
 of man^ be exaftly of the fame import as an afTertion 
 that he was actually a man, it neceflarily follows, that 
 the fimilar expreffion, "being in the form of God,'' 
 muft have a fimilar interpretation, and fignify that he 
 is adually God ; and from the whole pafTage our Sa- 
 viour's pre-exiftence (in a ftate of glory) to the time 
 of his being " made man" is fo neceflarily deducible, 
 that it cannot be avoided j the condefcenfion of Chrifl, 
 equal with God, in taking on him a nature fo inferior 
 as that of man, being the propofed example of humi- 
 lity, by which we are exhorted to be humble. If this 
 text Itood without another to fupport it, it is conrlu- 
 five for the Godhead of Jefus Chrift:. Being in the 
 form of God, having the fame meaning as the bring 
 actually God, we are thereby enabled to interpret St. 
 Paul's aflTertion that our Saviour " is the image of the 
 invifible God," Colofl". i. 15 ; and many other paflages 
 declaring him to be " in the form of God." 
 LXXV. 
 *' For our converfation is in heaven, from whence 
 alfo we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jefus Chrift:," 
 Philip, iii. 20. St. Paul having declared that his ex- 
 
 pe£lation 
 
[ >2S] 
 
 pe£tation of the Saviour is from heaven, pronounces the 
 Saviour to be Jefus Chrift ; but to Timothy he fays, 
 that he is " an apoftle of Jefus Chrift by the command- 
 ment of God our Saviour," i T im. i. i. That pray- 
 ers and fupplications, and giving of thanks for all men, 
 *' is good and acceptable in the fight of God our Savi- 
 our," I Tim. ii. 3. "We truft in the living God, who 
 is the Saviour of all men, fpecially of thofe that be^ 
 lieve," I Tim. iv. 10. And to Titus he fays, that 
 God " hath in due times manifefted his word through 
 preaching, which is committed unto me, according to 
 the commandment of God our Saviour," Titus i. 3: 
 fo that God our Saviour, is the Saviour whofe coming 
 from heaven Paul looked for, even Jefus Chrift, one 
 with the Father ; that God v/ho committed the preach- 
 ing of his word, and the manifeftation of himfelf to 
 be made in due time, faying, " I am Jefus whom thoii 
 perfecuteft," Acts ix. 5. 
 
 LXXVL 
 ** Who is the firft-born of every creature," Col. i. 
 
 15. Inftead of conceiving that thefe words in the leaft 
 degree derogate from the dignity of Chrift as God, or 
 in the leaft point him out to be even the firji and 
 pureji Creature of God, I believe them to have the 
 very reverfe tendency; for from the context we may 
 find St. Paul ufing the benefit of our redemption thro' 
 the blood of Chrift, which he declares to be forgive- 
 nefs of fins, deliverance from the power of darknefs, and 
 tranflation into the kingdom of the Son, by whom he 
 fays, " were all things created that are in heaven, and 
 that are in earth, vifible and invifible, whether they be 
 thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all 
 things were created by him, and for him, and he is be- 
 fOiC all things, and by him all things confift," Col. i. 
 
 16, 17. And this redemption, which is afforded to us, 
 the apoftle teftifies to be by the blood of the Son, who 
 
 is 
 
[ '26 ] 
 
 is the *' firft-born of every creature." By the facrifice 
 of Chrift, aftd by the fufficiency of hi.s body once of- 
 fered, we find the daily facrifice for the people taken 
 away, and a full atonement made at once : by his daily 
 prophecies, we find the deftrudlion of the Jewifii tem- 
 ple, and confequently of the Jewifh ritual at hand ; 
 and the event foon juftified the prophecy ; we find their 
 altars and offerings aboliihed, and their nation ccafe to 
 be a people peculiar to God : but we find alfo the 
 adpption of all mankind to be, as it were, the children 
 of the promife through faith. Now, as the entire hif- 
 tory of the Jewifh nation is a typical prophecy of our 
 blefled Saviour's incarnation, fufferings, and the adop- 
 tion of all mankind thro' him, and that their peculiar 
 fandlity was maintained by blood, and by facrifices; fo 
 we find, that this blood, and thefe facrifices were a 
 type of the facrifice to be made for all mankind in or- 
 der to their adoption ; for, as the facrifice was for an 
 atonement for the fins and errours of the people, fo is 
 the facrifice of Chrift, once offered, an atonement for 
 the fins of thofe who were thereby adopted. But we 
 find alfo, that the Jews were to be fan6fified by the 
 offering up of the firft-born to God ; and among other 
 parts of their ritual, this fan6lification now no longer 
 ferviceable, was to be fet afidc ; that event, of which 
 it was a type, having taken place, and our fanftification 
 to God, by the offering up of Jefus Chrifl to be " the 
 firil-born of every creature" being accomplifhed. But 
 it may be faid, that the offering of the firft-bor^ child 
 was long before fet afide, and a compenfation taken by 
 God, who accepted of the whole tribe of Levi to be 
 fervitors in the fervice of the ark, and afterwards of the 
 temple, inftead of the firft-born child through Ifrael. 
 But this very compenfation being no,vv to be fet afide, 
 the newly adopted world required a firft-born after the 
 type of Ifrael, ^nd found it accordingly in Chrift Jefus, 
 
 who 
 
[ 127 1 
 
 who not only gave himfelf for the whole of mankind, 
 to be " the firft-born of every creature," but alfo has, 
 inftead of the Levitical priefthood, flood forth himfelf 
 to be an High-prieft for us, whom he hath bought with 
 his blood. If this interpretation of the words before 
 us, which is altogether confonant to the dodlrine of St» 
 Paul to the Hebrews, by whofe rites he declares our 
 Savioui's facrifice forefliewed, be not accepted, let the 
 " firft-born of every creature" be referred to a declara- 
 tion in a few verfes aftei', that Jefus Chrift is ** the 
 firft-born from the dead," Col. i. i8. Words fpoken 
 with refpedl to his refurre^lion, whereby our refurredtion 
 to life eternal thro' him is obtained, as he has become 
 the Captain of our falvation, our Leader to a triumph 
 over death and the grave, the firft-born of a regenerate 
 world. No man who ever read the context, and faw 
 thefe words joined to a declaration, that by Jefus 
 Chrift all things were made, and that by him all things 
 confift, Sec. could conceive them intended to convey 
 an idea that *' the Creator of all things that are in hea- 
 ven, and that are in earth, vifible and invifible," was 
 no more than a meer Creature, and the work of his 
 own hands. Some other meaning correfponding to the 
 general fenfe of the apoftle muft be fought for, and I 
 fmcerely think that I have affixed the true one to the 
 words before us, and am certain that, if I have not, I 
 have not deviated farther from it than they who tranf- 
 late *' firft-born" into *' firft-made." Compaflion for 
 the unhappy Servetus feems altogether to have abforbed 
 Mr. Lindfey's attention; his death is made into a mar- 
 tyrdom, and his martyrdom into an argument fufficient. 
 to make any thing St. Paul fays on this fubje£l altoge- 
 ther unneceffary to be enquired into. The little paf- 
 fage is taken apart, and an interpretrnon faftened upon 
 it, v/hich, when it is reftored to its original connexion, 
 it altogether reje^lj, 
 
 Tha; 
 
[ 1^8] 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 The following is an explicit declaration that Jefu's 
 Chrift is both God and Man, " for in him dwcUeth 
 all the fulnefs of the Godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9. 
 tXXVIlt. 
 
 To forgive fins is the peculiar attribute of him to 
 whom belong mercies and forgivenefs; and accord- 
 ingly we are called upon by St. Paul to " put on (as the 
 ele6t of God, holy and beloved) bowels of mercy, 
 kindefs, humblenefs of mind, meeknefs, long-fuffer- 
 ing; forbearing one another, and forgiving one ano- 
 ther, if any rnan have a quarrel againft any: even as 
 Chrift forgave you, fo alfo do ye," Col. iii. 12, 13. 
 This paffage is imm.ediately preceded by a declaration, 
 that " Chrift is all in all." 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 " Of the Lord ye fliail receive the reward of the inhe- 
 ritance : for ye ferve the Lord Chrift. But he that doeth 
 wrong, fhall receive for the wrong which he hath done: 
 and there is no refpedl of perfons," Col. iii. 24, 25. 
 Before whom is there no refpe6l of perfons ? certainly 
 tefore him who is to deal out the reward impartially, 
 whom we ferve; but we are told tl\at " God will ren- 
 der to every man according to his deeds," " for there is 
 no refpedt of perfons with God," Rom. ii. 5, 11. And 
 in the Ephefians, St. Paul fays, having called us firft 
 fervants of Chrift," " your Mafter alfo is in heaven, 
 neither is there refpedl of perfons with him," Eph. vi. 
 6, 9. And accordingly we find St. James fay, " My 
 brethren, have not the faiih of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 the Lord of glory, with refpe6l of perfons," James ii. i. 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 To the Theflalonians, St. Paul fays, " We were 
 bold in our God, to fpeak unto you the gofpel of God, 
 with much contention," 1 Theft", ii. 2. *' We were 
 willing to have imparted unto you, iiot the gofpel of 
 
 God 
 
[ 129 ] 
 
 God only, but alfo our own fouls," " for labouring 
 night and day, becaufe we would not be chargeable 
 unto any of you, we preached unto you the gofpel of 
 God," I Theflf. ii. 8, 9. " and fent Timotheus our 
 brother and minifter of God, and our fellow labourer 
 in the gofpel of Chrift, to eftablifti you, and to comfort 
 you concerning your faith," i ThelT. iii. 2. If Chrift 
 be not God, is this the method of eftabliftiing their 
 faith ? no, but of fhaking it to its very foundation, 
 for the idea that he is God is fuggefted by it. Either 
 St. Paul intended to inculcate that doilrine, or he did 
 not ; if he did, we muft accede to it ; if he did not, 
 he has lied to the Holy Ghoft, given " to guide him 
 into all truth," John xvi. 13. or the fpirit of truth has, 
 by inaccuracy, deceived and dealt by our faith with 
 duplicity. But as Paul has declared his exhortation 
 to have been *' not of deceit, nor of uncleannefs, nor 
 in guile," I ThefT. ii. 3, I will believe that this 
 eloquent apoftle fpoke the didtate of the fpirit without 
 ambiguity ; and though Mr. I^indfey has charged the 
 appointed witnefTes of our blelTed Redeemer with equi- 
 vocation, I am confident he will not blafphemoufly 
 dare to impute falfehood to the Spirit of truth him- 
 felf. If Paul then fpeaking, with the Holy Ghoflr, 
 has fuggefted that Chrift is God, we muft neceflarily 
 believe that he meant to inculcate that do6lrine, and 
 therefore that Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, 
 God. 
 
 LXXXI. 
 Reminding the Theflalonians of his former leflbns, 
 St. Paul fays, *' For ye know what commandments we 
 gave you by the Lord Jefus. For this is the will of 
 God," I Theft", iv. 2, 3. He then proceeds to in- 
 ftru£l them in brotherly love, as the will of God, the 
 commandment of the Lord Jefus. 
 
 R "It 
 
[ ^30 ] 
 
 LXXXII. 
 '* It is a righteous thing with God to recompeace' 
 tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you who 
 are troubled, reft with us, when the Lord Jefus fhall 
 be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in 
 flaming fire, talcing vengeance on them that know not 
 God, and obey not the gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift : 
 who fhall be punifhed with everlafting deftrudtion from 
 the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
 power; when he fhall come to be glorified in his faints, 
 and to be admired in all them that believe (becaufe our 
 teftimony among you was believed) in that day^'* 
 2 ThefT. i. 6, 7, 8, 9, i©. Seeing then that Jefus 
 Chrift is revealed from heaven, taking vengeance, and 
 deftroying by everlafting expulfion from before the pre- 
 fence of the glory of his power ; is not he that God 
 with whom it is a righteous thing to recompence tribu- 
 lation to them that trouble, to them that know him not 
 to be God in obedience to the gofpel of our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, " that the name of our Lord Jefus Chrift may- 
 be glorified ?" See the entire chapter. The glorifica- 
 tion of the name of our blefTed Lord gives a fandtion to 
 our addreffing him in thefe words, " Hallowed be thy 
 name," Matth. vi. 9. " The Lord Jefus fhall be re- 
 vealed, taking vengeance on them that obey not the 
 gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift ;" and " what fhall 
 the end be of them that obey not the gofpel of God ?'* 
 I Pet. iv. 17. 
 
 LXXXIIL 
 " Now our Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf, and God 
 even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given 
 us everlafting confolation, and good hope thro' grace, 
 comfort your hearts, and eftablifh you in every good 
 word and work," 2 Theft*, ii. 16, 17. I am not yet 
 going to enquire into Mr. Lindfey's curious doctrine of 
 pious wifhes,. but, exclufive of the general fenfe of this 
 
t'3« 1 
 
 paflage, to make a remark on the great fingularity of 
 the expreflion. Either there are two nominatives join- 
 ed by the copulative " and," or there is but one prece- 
 <3ing the verb in the fentence before us, and in that 
 cafe, the copulative unites two fpecific terms put in 
 appofition to the one general nominative ; if the former 
 were the cafe, the verb muft neceflarily have been put 
 in the plural number, whereas, from its ftanding in the 
 fmgular, we mutt conceive it governed by one nomina- 
 tive only ; now, if there be found one term in the fen- 
 tence including the reft within its general import, that 
 is the nominative cafe governing the verb : But I have 
 all along aflerted, that the Father is God, and that the 
 Son is God, and therefore now fay that the word 
 " God," is here that general term comprehending 
 within itfelf, " our Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf, and 
 even our Father," one God, which hath loved us, and 
 hath given us everlafting confolation. St. Paul feems 
 to have been diligent to eftablifh this point by the ener- 
 getick addition of the word " himfelf" after the name 
 of our Lord ; for thus emphatically to dwell upon a 
 word to be difmiffed inftantly from being of any con- 
 fequence in the conftruftion of a fentence, is a practice 
 unknown to any writer in any language, and furely not 
 to be imputed to one of the moft accurate, concife, 
 3nd obtrufive fpeakers that ever forced the meaning of 
 words upon the underftanding of mankind ; a preacher 
 who gave words only to his ideas, and never fought an 
 expletive to grace, much lefs to difgrace his language, 
 and diftrad his argument. After he had thus given 
 them a blelfing from his warm and benevolent heart, 
 this excellent man calls upon his hearers for their pray- 
 ers, and, in confideration of the benedidion that he 
 has already beftowed on them, " that God ftiould efta- 
 blifti them in every good word and work," he fays, 
 "the Lord is faithful, who Ihall ftablifh you, and 
 keep you from evil," 2 ThefT. iii. 3, 
 
 R 2 ~ *' And 
 
[ I3H 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 " And the Lord direct your hearts Into the love of 
 God, and into the patient waiting for Chrift ;" or, as 
 it ftands in the margin of the Bible, " the patience of 
 Chrift," 2 Theft, iii. 5. Here is the Lord^ according 
 to Mr. Lindfey's manner of interpreting, quite neuter, 
 being neither God nor Chrift, for, apart from both, 
 he is to lead to the love of the one, and to the patience 
 of the other. But I believe this gentleman will hardly 
 infift upon it that he is not either in this paffage ; and 
 if not here, I refer it to the candour of every advocate 
 of the Unitarian fyftem, whether a diftinition between 
 the Father and Son, as God, is intended to be marked 
 in fuch paffages as the following : *' now thanks be to 
 God which always caufeth us to triumph in Chrift," 
 1 Cor, ii. 14. *' In the fight of God fpeak we in 
 Chrift," 2 Cor. ii. 173 and in a multitude of texts, 
 where the diftindtion is marked only as in that before 
 us, where the neuter word Lord is certainly both that 
 God and Chrift from whom he feems to be diftinguifhr 
 ed by the adion appointed to him, 
 LXXXV. 
 
 *' There is one God, and one mediator between God 
 and man, the man Chrift Jefus ; who gave himfelf a 
 ranfom for all, to be teftifted in due time," i Tim. ii. 
 5, 6. Having already commented on the former part 
 of this paffage, I fliall not now weary my reader by 
 repetition, but remark that, from a declaration that 
 Chrift had given himfelf a ranfom to be teftified in 
 due time, and that that time was now come, in which 
 God our Saviour will have all men come to the know- 
 ledge of the truth by the teftimony of the apoftolical 
 preaching, with the Holy Ghoft, Paul inftantly paffes 
 on to fay, that having been himfelf appointed a wit- 
 liefs of our Saviour, a preacher, and an apoftle, teach- 
 ing of the Gentiles in faith and verity, " I will there- 
 fore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, 
 
 without 
 
[ 133 ] 
 
 without wrath and doubting," i Tim. ii. 7, 8. Where- 
 fore ? becaufe he is a witnefs to teftify of Chrift who 
 gave himfelf a ranfom for all. And how does this au- 
 thorize him to will that all men fhould pray ? there can 
 be but one anfwer given to this, namely, that he, 
 whom he teftified, was the proper object of thac prayer 
 which he defired fhould be preferred, even Jefus Chrift, 
 one with the Father, God. 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 St. Paul,- about to fend Timothy to presch " found 
 do6lrine, according to the glorious gofpel of the blefied 
 God, which was committed to his truft," i Tim. i, 
 10, II. gives him the follow^ing epitome of what he 
 would have him promulgate and teitify; " Now, with- 
 out controverfy, great is the myftery of godlinefs : God 
 was manifeft m the flelh, juftitied in the Ipint, feen of 
 angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world, received up into glory," i Tim. 111. 16. What 
 can more demonftrate the Godhead of him who, ha-^ 
 ving been manifeit in the flelh, was witnelied by the 
 ^poftles to have afcended into heaven, and who, by 
 them, was now preached unto the Gentiles, than this 
 direct aflertion, that he, of whom it was alierted, was, 
 and is God. And fhall we now deny that the revela- 
 tion of godlinefs is a myltery ? 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 Forewarning Timothy of future defedion from, the 
 truth, and recommending perfeverance, St. Paul fays, 
 *' We both labour, and fufPcr reproach, becaufe we 
 truft in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, 
 I Tim. iv. 10. " This" he declares to be *' a faith- 
 ful faying, and worthy of all acceptation/' and in 
 (o many words he has afferted the fame thing of the 
 following fact, that " Jefus Chrift came into the world 
 to fave finners," i Tim. i. 15. To be the Saviour 
 then is the common attribute of God and of Chrift, 
 
 wh» 
 
[ 134] 
 
 who is therefore God ; for Jefus Chrift is not faid to 
 have been the means of falvation, which would have 
 better defcribed the inftrument of God in our redemp- 
 tion, but he is one and the fame Saviour with God, 
 Of the man Chrift Jefus of the feed of David, it is in- 
 deed faid that he was raifed from the dead, 2 Tim. ii. 
 8. But Jefus Chrift as God, clothed with eternal 
 glory, is he by whom we have obtained eternal falva- 
 tion, 2 Tim. li. 10. 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 *' I give thee charge in the fight of God, who quick- 
 eneth all things, and before Chrift Jefus, who before 
 Pontius Pilate witnefled a good confeflion; that thou 
 keep this commandment without fpot, unrebukeable, 
 until the appearing of our Lord Jefus Chrift : which 
 in his times he {hall fhew, who is the blefled and only 
 potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; who 
 only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no 
 man can approach unto, whom no man hath feen, nor 
 can fee: to whom be honour and power everlafting. 
 Amen," i Tim. vi. 13, 14, 15, 16. Here even the 
 glory of God, unapproachable by man, is afcribed to 
 Jefus Chrift; and this is only afcribable to his divi- 
 nity, as many men had feen the man Jefus ; and St, 
 Paul fays, *' yea, though we have known Chrift after 
 the fldh, yet now henceforth know we hirn no more," 
 •iCor. V. 16. That he is the King of kings, and 
 Lord of lords, is not only aflerted here, but is in fo 
 many terms declared to be the name of Jefus Chrift by 
 St. John, Rev. xix. 16. His Godhead is therefore 
 jncontrovertibly eftabliftied here. That St. Paul fhould 
 fpeak of the Son only, is an inference naturally re- 
 fulting from the confideration that he was making 
 put an appointment to Timothy to go and to preach 
 Jefus Chrift, of whom he fpeaks in fuch terms in the 
 iirft chapter of this cpiftle, that I choofe to refer to it, 
 
 rather 
 
[ J3Sl 
 
 rather than make a partial quotation, and the whole is 
 too long to inlert. The pious wifh, or rather let me 
 have liberty to call it the benediction of the apoftle, 
 is " grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, 
 and Jefus Chrift our Lord ;" a wilh, which 1 cannot 
 well imagine how he fhould expert to have gratified by 
 a mere creature ; nay, he fays more, that the grace of 
 our Lord was exceeding abundant, fets forth, that to 
 his truft was committed the glorious gofpel of God, 
 and inftantly thanks Jefus for putting him into the 
 miniftryj declares Jefus Chrift to have come into the 
 world (a phrafe extraordinary, if the commencement 
 of our Saviour's life was in the flefti) to fave finnersi 
 and having recounted the particular mercy and long- 
 fufFering of Jefus Chrift toward himfelf, his gratitude 
 breaks out into a doxology, the objeil: of which muft 
 evidently appear to be the fame as the Being from whom 
 he received the benefits that invite his praife. " And 
 now" he fays " unto the King eternal, immortal, in- 
 vifible, the only wife God, be honour and glory, for 
 ever and ever. Amen." He muft be a perverfe inter- 
 preter who can underftand thefe words in any other 
 fenfe than that of a declaration that the merciful and 
 long-fufFering Jefus, the abundance of whofe grace 
 had pardoned his multitudinous perfecutions and blaf- 
 phemies, for a pattern to all who ftiould hereafter be- 
 lieve to life everlafting, " is the King eternal, the only 
 wife God, to whom he afcribes honour and glory, in 
 confideration of the exceedingly great benefits which 
 he had received of him, and which were now fo ftron^- 
 ly imprefled upon his mind, as at once to call forth his 
 acknowledgments and his exulting praife." 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 St. Paul fays to Timothy, whom he is fending to 
 
 ** do the work of an Evangelift," " I charge thee 
 
 therefore before God and the Lord Jefus Chrift, v/ho 
 
 fhall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, 
 
 an4 
 
r 136] 
 
 thd his kingdom: preach the word, &c." 2 Tim. iv. id 
 And ** unto all them that love his appearing," he fays, 
 " the Lord the righteous Judge fhall give a crown of 
 righteoufncfs at that day," ver. 8. Here the king- 
 dom, the judgement-feat, and the appearing, are aflign- 
 cd to Jefus Chrift, and the Grown of righteoufnefs is 
 conferred on all thofe who love his appearing, accord- 
 ing to what he fays to Titus, to whom he is giving a 
 like charge : " looking for that blefled hope^ and the 
 glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour 
 Jefus Chrift," Titus ii. 13. That thefe then are all 
 fynonimous terms I fhall not affront the underftanding 
 of my reader by an attempt to make more evident than 
 it muft at once appear J and oUr Saviour Jefus Chrift 
 is therefore one with the Father, God, 
 
 XC. 
 
 In the charge to Titus laft cited, St; Paul holds out 
 " this bleiTed hope, and glorious appearing of the great 
 God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrift," to fuch as deny 
 worldly lufts, and who, by fo doing, " adorn the doc- 
 trine of God our Saviour," Titus ii. 10. Jefus Chrift 
 was the do6lrine committed to Titus, and more parti- 
 cularly *' how our falvation arofe from his having gi- 
 ven himfelf for us, that he might redeem us from all 
 iniquity;" " that having been difobedient, ferving lufts 
 and pleafures, not our merits, but his mercy flione 
 forth in faving us:" that therefore, *' Jefus Chrift ha- 
 ving loved us, and waftied us from our fins in his 
 blood," Rev. i. 5. *' the kindnefs and love of God our 
 Saviour appeared, by waftiing of regeneration, and re- 
 newing of the Holy Ghoft; which was fhed on us 
 abundantly, thro' Jefus Chrijt our Saviour " Titus iii. 
 4, 5, 6. Here, fpeaking to a man who was to a6l under 
 him, and whofe difcharge of the office conferred on 
 him, muft in a great meafure depend upon the accu- 
 »-acy of St. Paul's expreffion, this apoftle, preaching 
 that which was committed to him, according to the 
 
 com- 
 
[ 137] 
 
 commandment of God our Saviour," falls into a mode 
 of expreflion, which, if Jefus Chrift be not God, muft 
 perpetually miflerd Titus, keep him wandering in con- 
 tinual errour, and utterly incapacitate him to " exhort 
 and convince by found doctrine." That mankind had 
 obtained falvation, is the committed do6trine; that 
 God is our Saviour, and that Jefus Chrift is our Savi- 
 our, are fentences occurring every where through the 
 epiftle, nay, in contiguous verfesj for, after declaring 
 himfelf an apoftle by the commandment of God our Sa- 
 vioury St. Paul proceeds to fay, " To Titus mine own 
 Son after the common faith : grace, mercy, and peace 
 from God the Father, and the Lord Jefus Chriji cur 
 Saviour" Titus i. 3, 4. Did he mean to diftrad him ? 
 if not, he is very defedlive in his addrefs ; but if he 
 meant to inculcate the divinity of Chrift, and to fhew 
 that the Father and the Son are one God, our Saviour, 
 he has fpoken to the purpofe, and confiftently with the 
 coherent ftile that fo exceedingly diftinguifhes the wri- 
 tings of St. Paul. 
 
 XCI. 
 ** Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels; 
 but he took on him the feed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 
 .16. This is urged as a perfuafive to us to lay hold of 
 and embrace the great falvation, afforded to us by fo 
 wonderful an inftance of condefcenfion as that of our 
 Saviour's having taken cur nature upon him, which he 
 is declared to have done, that he might, as man, be- 
 come the Captain of our falvation, by fuffering death 
 for all men. But St. Paul fays, that be took not on him 
 the nature of angels, but defcended a little lower : What 
 is this but faying, that out of two things equally poffi- 
 ble to him, he has made a choice ? and to that which 
 is not yet ulhered into being, we know that there is 
 not any thing poflible ; therefore Jefus Chrift had pre- 
 exiftence to the time he came in the flefh : But he ve- 
 S rily 
 
[ >38] 
 
 jrily took not on him the nature of angels; therefore, in 
 his pre-exiflent flate, he was not an angel. But while 
 the power of making choice among all inferior natures 
 which he would take was his, he aflumed that in which 
 a purpofe beneficial to mankind was to be anfwered; 
 and we are accordingly invited to offer up the tribute 
 of our gratitude and confidence to him who had been 
 thus merciful. But who was he to whom fuch a choice 
 belonged ? Certainly God, to whom alone all things 
 are fubfervient, *' by whom and for whom all things 
 were created, that are in heaven, and that are in 
 earth," Col. i. i6. who can exalt, as well as debafe, 
 the works of his own hands, and take into himfelf 
 whatfoever nature it fhall pleafe him to honour. This 
 stupendous dignity he has conferred upon ours; and 
 for our advantage has become man, even the man Je- 
 fus Chrift. This adopted nature, this progeny of his 
 power and mercy he has declared his Son ; and for the 
 fake of this his " holy child Jefus," who, notwith- 
 ftanding that he was in all points tempted like as we 
 are, continued to the end doing the will of God, fpot- 
 lefs, without fin, became obedient to the death for our 
 redemption, and having fuftered, thereby to become 
 the Author and Captain of our falvation, accompanied 
 the * reafcending God into heaven, there for ever to. 
 remain our Mediator and Interceflbr; for his fake, I 
 fay, has God been pleafed to extend falvation to us; 
 " for this beloved Son, in whom he is well pleafed," 
 and whom therefore he has eternally united with him- 
 felf, has undertaken the caufe of our infirmities, and 
 has gracioufly condefcended to call us brethren ; he has 
 even called us fons; and having taken part in that 
 flefh and blood whereof we are partakers, pronounced 
 
 * *• Now, that he afcended, what is it but that he alfo de- 
 fcended firft into the lower parts of the earth ?" £ph. iv. 8. 
 
[ 139 ] 
 
 us his children; and with more than paternal kindnefs 
 bowed himfelf down to death for our fan6lification, 
 *' that he might thereby deftroy him that had the power 
 of death, that is the devil, and deliver them that, 
 through fear of death, were all their life time fubject 
 to bondage." See Heb. ii. throughout. Let us then, 
 in memory of that fellowfhip which God himfelf has 
 with us, having been " partaker of that flefti and 
 blood," through the mercies which he has thereby 
 vouchfafed us, approach the throne of his grace with 
 confidence, '* knowing that we have a new and living 
 way confecrated to us, through the vail, that is to fay, 
 his flefli," Heb. X. 20. "And having," therefore, "an 
 high prieft over the houfe of God, let us draw near 
 with a true heart, in full alTurance of faith," " without 
 wavering;" for if we fin wilfully, after that we have 
 received the knowledge of the truth, " of the offering 
 of the body of Jefus Chrift once," " there remaineth 
 no more facrifice for fin, but a fiery indignation fhall 
 devour the adverfary, who hath trodden under foot the 
 Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant 
 wherewith he was fanclified an unholy thing, and hath 
 done defpite unto the fpirit of grace; for we know 
 him that hath faid, vengeance belongeth unto me, I 
 will recompence, faith the Lord. And again the Lord 
 Ihall judge his people," Heb. x. throughout. 
 
 Where now is Mr. Lindfey's analogy between the 
 offering up of prayer and religious worfhip to Aaron 
 the high prieft of the Jews, and to our great high prieft 
 Jefus Chrift ? between the prieft " that ftandcth daily 
 miniftering and offering oftentimes the fame facrifices 
 which can never take avt^ay fin," and this Man, who, 
 after he had offered one facrifice for fins, for ever fat 
 down at the right hand of God; who, by one offering, 
 hath perfeded for ever them that are fandified ? " For 
 S 2 the 
 
[ HO ] 
 
 the law maketh men high priefts ; but the word of the 
 oath which was fmce the law, maketh the Son, who is 
 confecratcd for evermore ;" " who, having as a prieft, 
 once made facrifice, having offered up himfelf," is fet 
 on the right hand of the throne of the majefty in the 
 heavens, where he has become the mediator of the 
 new covenant; in which he has declared, *' I will 
 put my laws into their minds, and write them in their 
 hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they fhall be 
 to me a people," Heb. vii. and viii. chap. And he, 
 who has, by his flefh, broken down the partition wall 
 that divided God and man, and whofe human nature, 
 perfected by fufferings for an atonement to reconcile 
 man to God, is now in eternal union with the divine 
 nature, and clothed with the one glory, is furely a 
 mediator, a high prieft, of a dignity to which the 
 pofterity of Aaron never afpired ; ** he is a high prieft 
 in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation 
 for the ftns of the people;" and he is an objedl of 
 our adoration and religious worfliip; "for in that he 
 himfelf hath fuffered, being tempted, he is able to 
 fuccour them that are tempted," Heb. ii. 17, 18. To 
 this high honour the glorihed body of Chrift is called, 
 after it had been made perfect, and thence become the 
 author of our falvation: whereas of Aaron's priefthood 
 it is faid, that " the facrifices which were offered year 
 by year continually," under it, " could never make 
 the comers thereunto perfedl," Heb x. i. Are Aaron 
 and Jefus Chrift now equally objefts of oUr adoration? 
 OK are we equally to withhold our worfhip from both, 
 him who cannot, and him who can fuccour us? from 
 him who daily (bed the infufficient blood of bulls and 
 goats, for the errours of the people, and from him who 
 aboliflied the facrifice and offering by the one facrifice, 
 the one offering of his own " prepared body, which 
 came and bled for us, that we might be enabled to do 
 
 thy 
 
[ HI ) 
 
 thy will, O God," Heb. x. 5, 6. that we might be af, 
 party to the new covenant ? The do£lrine of the 
 apoille is therefore here manifeftly, that, inafmuch as 
 the flefh and blood of the man Jefus is now in union 
 with the eternal Godhead, and that in the world he 
 had fufFered fo much for us, and had called us bre- 
 thren, we may entertain great hope in the mercy of 
 him, whofe experience of human infirmities and temp- 
 tations, can caufe him to have companion on us ; and 
 therefore we are defued to call upon God through thefe 
 mercies, through Jefus Chrift, his name, as our ran- 
 fom from death, abolifhed by the death of his human 
 body. It is not to *' the unlearned reader" that I refer 
 what I have now written, for I do not expecSt it to 
 have any weight with fuch as have not read the law of 
 Mofes, and compared the types of the Jewifli ritual 
 with the great event of which it was the fhadow ; and 
 alfo attended to the courfe of the apoftle's argument 
 throughout his epiftle to the Hebrews. Before I con- 
 clude this comment I muft infift upon the circumftance 
 of the law having been no more than a {hadow of the 
 things to come, and not the exa£t portraiture ; and 
 therefore cannot refrain from expreiBng my furprize at 
 feeing Aaron and our blefi'ed Lord fo clofely brought 
 together and aflim.ilated by Mr. Lindfey, who will not 
 admit of even a fhadowy reprefentation, throughout 
 the law, of that which was to come, when it happens 
 to typify that which oppofes his own fyflem. But as I 
 have the word of God for it, I fhall venture to aflert, 
 that the government of the Jews, by God, was an epi- 
 tome of the government of the afterwards adopted world; 
 that the fele6tion of the Jews, for the faith of Abraham 
 their father, was an inftance of the value of faith in the 
 pure eyes of God, and an epitome of the adoption " of 
 many fons," to be elected thro' faith in Jefus Chrift; 
 that the purifications by blood, and the atonement, 
 
 hy 
 
[ "42 ] 
 
 fcy facrifices for the people, were a type of that great 
 facrifice of the body of our Lord, offered once for our 
 atonement, by which we arc reconciled and reftored to 
 that bleffed hope of everlafting life, which we had for- 
 feited as heirs to the tranrgreffion of Adam ; for as in 
 Adam all men died, and as the law was given that fin 
 might abound, fo by Jefus Chrift ate all men made 
 alive, and by the abundance of fin, his grace has the; 
 more abounded to us, by faith in our redemption, by 
 the blood of the new covenant, to which the old co- 
 venant was a guide, that new covenant, of which 
 the man Jefus perfected by death, and in eternal union 
 with God, is the mediator. Let us then, on our part^ 
 declare, that we will be to him a people, as he hasj 
 upon his^ promifed, that he will be to us a God; and 
 let us, when we hear the voice of " the Son of God" 
 from our graves, acknowledge " the God who quick- 
 eneth the dead," and " rejoice in the appearing of the 
 Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven;" when 
 we confider that for our fakes he took our nature upon 
 him, that he might have compaflion upon our infirmi- 
 ties; and that he is our appointed judge, " becaufe he 
 is the Son of man." 
 
 XCIL 
 As it is already laid down, and, I prefume, well re- 
 membered, that all are to be judged by our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, when he (hall come in his glory on his own day, 
 with the holy angels, bringing his reward with him, 
 and recompenfing every man according to his works, I 
 fhall not repeat the f)roofs of it. " Of the Lord then, 
 whofe coming draweth nigh," St. James fays, " be 
 ye patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the 
 Lord; the judge ftandeth before the door; we count 
 them happy which endure ; ye have heard of the pa- 
 tience of Job, and have feen the end of the Lord : that 
 tlie Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," James v, 
 
 8, 
 
[ 143 ] 
 
 8, 9» IC» I !• The patience of Job is here urged as an 
 example to them who were deiirous of haftening thp 
 day of the Lord; but the p:.tiencc of Job was in wait- 
 ing the end of God, whofe pity and tender mercy at 
 len-^-^th amply rewarded his refignation. The pitiful 
 and tenderly merciful Lord, who (hall recompenfc 
 them who, after the example of Job, and '* the pro- 
 phets, who fpoke in the name of the Lord," with pa- 
 tience wait for his own appointed day, is therefore the 
 fame God who rewarded Job, and for whofe coming 
 the prophets waited. But St, James goes on and fays, 
 that with refpe(5l to fick perfons the elders of the church 
 are to be called for, and to pray over them, *' and the 
 prayer of faith fhail fave the fick, and the Lord fhall 
 raife him up," James v. 14, 15. This is in context 
 with the preceding pafTage, which renders it manifelt 
 who the Lord is that {hall hear the prayer of faith, and 
 heal the fick; even the fame Lord of whom St. Peter 
 faid to Eneas, at Lydda, " Jefus Chrift maketh thee 
 whole, arife," A&s ix. 3/1.; who faid himfclf to her 
 that, with full afi'urance of his power, touched but his 
 garment, and had her ifiue of blood ftaunched, " daugh- 
 ter, be of good comfort : thy faith hath made thee 
 whole," Lukeviii. 48; and who, without the inter- 
 mediate ufe of any other name, faid to t^e leper who 
 befought him with a prayer of faith, * " I will ; be 
 thou clean," Luke v. 13: of Jqfus Chrift then we 
 are to afk and have. He therefore is one with the Fa- 
 ther, God. 
 
 XCIIL 
 In the commencement of his epifile, James calls 
 himfelf " a fervant of God, and of the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift," James i. i. As a reafon why wc ftiould "not 
 
 have 
 
 * Quere, How does this ftand in the French ? is \x.jefouhaite? 
 or if it be, what does it fignif y ^ See Jpchsy, note, p, 5. 
 
[ M-4 ] 
 
 have the faith of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Lord of 
 glory, with refpciSt of perfons," James ii. i, he fays, 
 ♦' hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chofen 
 the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the 
 kingdom which he hath promifed to them that love 
 him?" James ii. 5. " If ye have refpect to perfons, 
 ye commit fin," James ii. 9. " For he {hall have judge- 
 ment without mercy, that hath fhewed no mercy; and 
 mercy rejoiceth againft judgement," ii. 13, 
 
 xciv. ■ 
 
 In order to avoid repetition of arguments already 
 ufed, I fhall obferve upon but one paflage in St, Peter's 
 firft general epiftle in its courfe, 
 
 *' The eldrrs which are among you, I exhort, who 
 am alfo an elder, and a witnefs of the fuflerings of 
 Chrift, and alfo a partaker of the glory that fhall be 
 revealed: feed the flock of God which is among you," 
 ** neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being 
 enfamples to the flock. And when the chief fhepherd 
 Ihall appear, ye fhall receive a crown of glory that fa- 
 deth not away," I Pet. v. i, 2, 3, 4. If it be remem- 
 bered that this charge comes from St. Peter to men en- 
 gaged in the fame occupation as himfelf, it is but 
 reafonable to fuppofc that he had. in mind thofe words 
 of our blefll'd Lord when he conferred the charge of his 
 flock upon him, which were fo emphatically fpoken, and 
 fo affe6lingly received by him. After his rerurre6^ion 
 from the dead, Jefus having on the third time fhewed 
 himfelf to his difciples " when they had dined, faith to 
 Simon Peter, Simon fon of Jonas, lovefl thou me 
 more than thefe ? he faith unto him, yea. Lord; thou 
 knowefl that I love thee. He faith unto him, feed my 
 lambs. He faith to him again the fecond tim.e, Simon 
 fon of Jonas, lovefl thou me ? he fr.ith unto him, yea. 
 Lord; thou knowefl that I love thee. He faith unto 
 
 him. 
 
[ H5 ] 
 
 him, feed my Ihcep. He faith unto him the third 
 time, Simon fon of Jonas, loveft thou me ? Peter was 
 grieved, becaufe he faid unto him the third time, lo- 
 veft thou me? and he faid unto him. Lord, thou 
 knoweft all things ; thou knoweft that I love thee* 
 Jefus. faith unto himj feed my fheep," John xxi. 14, 
 15, 16, 17. A charge attended by fuch circumftances^ 
 and repeatedly conveyed in fuch terms, muft neceflarily 
 have been deeply impreffed on the memory of Peter^ 
 who was grieved that he who knew all things fhould 
 think it neceflary to renew it a third time. That Pe-^ 
 ter fhould therefore ever afterwards confider the office 
 conferred upon him as that of a (hepherd, and thofe to 
 whom he was fent as the flock of the chief fhepherd 
 who had committed them to him, is not to be wonder- 
 ed at; and accordingly we find him in another place 
 fay of him, who had declared himfelf *' no hireling, but 
 the ihepherd, whofe own the fheep are; the good ihcp- 
 herd, who giveth his life for the fheep," John x. 13, 
 14. *' Ye were as fheep going aftray; but are now re- 
 turned unto the fhepherd and bifhop of your fouls," 
 I Pet. ii. 25. So that here is that flock of Jefus Chrifl, 
 the good fhepherd, whofe own the fheep are, exprefsly 
 declared to be the flock of God. St. Paul too has 
 called " Jefus Chriftj that great fhepherd of the fheep, 
 Heb. xiii. 20 ; and fpeaking to the Ephefian Elders, 
 he defires them to " take heed to all the flock, over the 
 which the Holy Ghoft had made them overfeers, to feed 
 the church of God," Ads xx. 28. From the chief 
 Ihepherd alfo, when he fhall appear, we are to receive 
 a crown of glory which fadeth not away. " Blefied is 
 the man that endureth temptation ; for when he is tried, 
 he fhall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath 
 promifed to them that love him," James i. 12. This 
 promife is explained; " Hath not God chofen the poor 
 of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, 
 T which 
 
[ 146] 
 
 which he hath promifed to them that love him?" 
 James ii. 5. From whom now are we " * to obtain 
 an incorruptible crown," " a crown of righteoufnefs^ 
 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, fhall give at that 
 day, unto all them that love his appearing?!" Certain- 
 ly from that God who hath promifed the kingdom ; that 
 Lord who hath promifed the crown of life to them that 
 love him, fhall we receive a crown of glory which fa- 
 deth not away, when the chief fhepherd fhall appear as 
 a righteous judge to give an incorruptible crown of 
 righteoufnefs to all them that love his appearing. This 
 chief fhepherd is therefore that righteous Judge, that 
 Lord, that God who hath promifed, and will give a 
 crown of glory to all that love him, even Jefus Chriftj- 
 one with the Father, God; " to whom be praife and 
 dominion for ever and ever. Amen." i Pet. iv. il. 
 
 xcv. 
 
 The firfl verfe of the firfl chapter of St. Peter's fe- 
 cond epiflle general, has thefe remarkable words, as li- 
 terally tranflated in the margin of our Bible. " Simon 
 Peter, a fervant and apoftle of Jefus Chrift, to theitt 
 that have obtained like precious faith with us, through 
 the righteoufnefs of our God and Saviour Jefus Chrifl,'* 
 2 Pet. i. I. Paul to Timothy, alfo calls himfelf " an 
 apoflle by the commandment of God our Saviour, and 
 Lord Jefus Chr^fl:, which is our hope/' i Tim i. i. 
 
 XCVL 
 
 " An entrance fhall be miniftered unto you abun- 
 dantly, into the everlafling kingdom of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jefus Chrift," 2 Pet. i. 11. 
 XCVIL 
 *' The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
 night; in the which the heavens fhall pafs away with a 
 great noife, and the elements fhall melt with fervent 
 
 heat, 
 * I Cor. ix. 25, t a Tim. iy. 8. 
 
[ 147] 
 
 heat, the earth alfo and the works that are therein 
 (hall be burnt up. Seeing then that all thefe things 
 fliall be diflblved, what manner of perfons ought ye to 
 be in all holy converfation and godlincfs, looking for 
 and hafting unto the coming of the day of God, where- 
 in the heavens being on fire (hall be diflblved, and the 
 elements fhall melt with fervent heat ?" 2 Pet. iii. 10, 
 II, 12. As there is but one day mentioned in this 
 pafTage, it is evident that the Lord, whofe day it is 
 called in the firft, is the fame as the God, whofe day 
 it is faid to be in the laft verfe ; one and the fame God. 
 3ut, that the fpecified Lord, who is God, is our Lord 
 Jefus Chrift, the context, to which I refer, ihews be- 
 yond contradiction. Befides other circumftances evin- 
 cing this fa6t throughout the whole chapter, the apofHe 
 fays, ** the long-fuiFering of our Lord is to be account- 
 ed falvation j even as our beloved brother Paul alfo 
 hath written unto you," 2 Pet. iii. 15. Now the words 
 of Paul, to which St. Peter here refers, are, *' For this 
 caufe I obtained mercy, that in me firft Jefus Chrifl 
 might fhew forth all long-fuffering, for a pattern to 
 therri which fhould hereafter believe on him to life 
 everlafting," i Tim. i. 16. Here then, mercy and 
 life everlafting, which are falvation, are preached to all 
 thro' the long-fuffering of Jefus Chrift, after the pat- 
 tern of Paul, to which Peter has referred, calling him, 
 who is by Paul called Jefus Chrift, Lord ; and imme- 
 diately after calling him, whom he had himfelf named 
 Lord, God. Let us not therefore *' fall from our fted- 
 faftnefs, but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
 our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift : to him be glory 
 both now and for ever. Amen." 2 Pet. iii. 18, 
 XCVIIL 
 *^ He is Antichrift, that denieth the Father and the 
 Son," I John ii. 22. How is he who denieth the^Fa- 
 ther, Antichrift ? How is he who denieth Jefus to be 
 T 2 the 
 
t h8] 
 
 the Chrift, and " confeffeth not that he is come in the 
 flefh," to be confidered as denying the Father r For 
 this plain reafon, that the Son is one with the Father, 
 God ; and confequently the Father is denied upon the 
 denial of him who is with him, one. 
 XCIX. 
 " Every fpirit that confefleth not that Jefus Chrift 
 is come in the flefh, is not of God," i John iv. 3. 
 Though the apoftle's intention in this verfe be to fliew 
 that Jefus Chrift was truly man, yet it is no ftrained 
 inference to fay, that the Being, who came in the 
 flefh, had pre-exiftence to the time of taking it upon 
 him ; and this indeed follows the more naturally, when 
 we confider that this denial is made " by the fpirit of 
 Antichrift," which denieth the Father and the Son. 
 
 c. 
 
 As 1 do believe the yth verfe of the 5th chapter of 
 St. John's I ft epiftle to be at the beft a very dubious 
 text, I refign all advantage that might accrue to my 
 caufe, from its having come from his infpired pen. 
 But I fhall beg leave to exprefs myfelf in the words of 
 it, which very well comprize the conclufion following 
 from the whole of facred writ, and which I hope I 
 have rendered obvious by this time. In my own per- 
 fon fhen I fay that I believe in " the Father, the word, 
 and the Holy Ghoft, and thefe three are one.'-' 
 CI. 
 
 If words could be found more directly enjoining 
 prayer to Jefus Chrift than thofc which follow, I 
 Ihould endeavour to enlarge on the fubjeft ; but as the 
 beloved difciple of our Redeemer has given us the pre- 
 cept, I Ihall leave it to Mr. Lindfey to draw the con- 
 clufion, for which he ftands engaged, and to acknow- 
 ledge that Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, God. 
 *' Thefe things have I written unto you that believe on 
 the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know ye 
 
 have 
 
[ H9 ] 
 
 liave eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name 
 of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that 
 we have in him, that if vire afic any thing according tp 
 his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear 
 us, whatfocver we a(k, we know that we have the pe- 
 titions that we defired of him," i John v. 13, 14, 15. 
 f^ Beloved, if pur heart condemn us not, then have 
 we confidence towards God. And whatfoever we afk, 
 we receive of him, bccaufe we keep his command- 
 ments," I John iii. 21, 22. Here exadlly the fame 
 precept is repeated ; but the one Godhead is named in 
 the latter, inftead of the fecond perfon of the Trinity 
 fpecified in the former pafiage. 
 CII. 
 *' And we know that the Son of God is come, and 
 hath given us an underhand ing, that we may know 
 him that is true : and we are in him that is true, even 
 in his Son Jefus Chrifl:. This is the true Qod and 
 eternal life," i John v. 20. It is remarkable that th»5 
 declaration is follovv-ed by a defire to *' keep from idols," 
 to the overthrow of whofe worftiip he preaches ihe God- 
 head of Jefus Chrift, the Son. But left it fhould be 
 faid that the elder was inattentive to the confequencc 
 of fpeaking in ambiguous language to idolaters, con- 
 cerning the God whom he preached to them, I will 
 produce proofs from the context to teflify that Chrift is 
 here fpoken of, and pointed out for adoration. *' He 
 that hath the Son, hath life," and *' God hath given 
 us eternal life, and this life is in his Son," and '* thefe 
 things have I written unto you that believe on the name 
 of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have 
 eternal life," i John v. 11, 12, 13. Thefe words ex- 
 plain who is the true God in whom we have this eter- 
 nal life; befides, the gift of underftanding is an a£t of 
 Godhead, and is here made to us by the Son. Suppofe 
 for a moment with Mr. Lindfey that the prophetick 
 
 eyes 
 
t '50 ] 
 
 eyts of the apoftles were blinded to the opinion after- 
 wards to be entertained by mankind, who have fince 
 their day believed Jefus Chrift to be God, notwith- 
 ftanding that they had feen him a man born and living 
 amongft men, even this abfurd fuppofition would not 
 extend to St. John, nor indeed to Sc. Paul, who were 
 themfelves witnefTes of that early herefy by which the 
 manhood of Jefus Chrift was denied, and had heard 
 that body which he had come in, declared only to have 
 been an appearance ; fo that their own living experi- 
 ence might have given them a hint, that accuracy in 
 the application of the terms Lord, and Saviour, and 
 the lihy was heceflary, if they had not been the 
 moft ftupid as, well as wicked men that ever lived 
 on the earth. They were accurate men, they were 
 honeft men ; and by the application of thofe terms to 
 both the Father and the Son, they have left us an irre- 
 fragable proof that the Father and the Son are one 
 God. 
 
 The goodnefs of God, and that gracious indulgence 
 with which he has confulted the infirmities of our 
 ftate, is, in this refpe£l alfo, very ftrongly difplayed, 
 that he took manhood on him, in order to give a fen- 
 fible objedt of worftiip to mankind, incapable of form- 
 ing any adequate idea of the abil:ra6l God, whofe qua- 
 lities are of a nature incomprehenfible by our minds j 
 and not only our natural incapacity to conceive a God 
 purely fpiritual was confidered, but the world, merged 
 in idolatry at the time of his incarnation, was merci-. 
 fully indulged with an objedl; of fcnfe, to which men 
 could look according to habit alfo, and to whom, even 
 by the exertion of the fame faculties by which they had 
 adopted and adored idols, they could prefer worftiip 
 without the imputation of idolatry. A refting place is 
 her(^by given to the mind, inftead of its being conti- 
 nued 
 
[ 'S« ] 
 
 hued under the neceffity of launching out into vaft in- 
 finity and eternity, and vainly endeavouring to engage 
 itfelf in the contemplation of matters, of which it cajl 
 form no idea at all. 
 
 cm. 
 
 «* Whofoever tranfgrefleth, and abidcth not in the 
 doftrine of Chrift, hath not God : he that abideth 
 in the doctrine of Chrift, he hath both the Father and 
 the Son," 2 John 9, After having fhewed who had 
 not God, the elder goes oh to (hew of the direct con- 
 trary chara61:er, that he hath the Father and the Son, 
 who are therefore that God which abideth in him. 
 *< Whofoever dcnielh the Son, the fame hath not the 
 Father," i John ii. 2^i But " whofoever fhall con- 
 fefs that Jefus is the Son of God, Gad dwelleth iri 
 him, and he in God," i John iv. 15. *' If we love 
 one another, God dwelleth in us," i John iv. 12. 
 Who now is the Father and the Son, who dwelleth 
 in us if we abide in the doctrine of Chrift ? 
 CIV. 
 
 *' Jude, a fervant of Jefus Chrift, and brother of 
 Jaqies, to them that are fandilied by God the Father," 
 Jude I. Paul, who has frequently called himfelf both 
 the fervant of God and of Jefus Chrift, (fee Phi- 
 lip, i. I, and Titus i. i.) has in like manner addrefled 
 the Corinthians, " to them that are fandified in Chrift 
 Jefus,!' I Cor. i. i. 
 
 CV. 
 
 Speaking of the judgement that awaits *' ungodly 
 men, turning the grace of God into lafcivioufnefs, and 
 denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift," *' who fpeak evil of thofe things which they 
 know not," Jude fays, that " Enoch alfo, the feventh 
 from Adam, prophefied of thefe, faying, behold, the 
 Lord cometh with ten thoufands of his faints, to exe- 
 cute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are 
 
 un- 
 
Mnfodlvafnong them, of all their ungodr)' deeds, whicl> 
 they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard 
 fpeeches, which ungodly fmners have fpoken againft 
 him." Now we know very well that Jefus Chrift is to 
 come to judgement, with the holy angels j that to thofe • 
 who work iniquity he fhall give everlafting punifhment, 
 but unto the righteous, eternal life. We muft there- 
 fore coiiclude him to have been the object of Enoch's 
 prophecy ; and the more fo, as the apoftlc proceeds to 
 recommend the remembrance and obfervation of what 
 *' the apoftles of our Lord Jefus Chrift had fpoken,; 
 that in the latter times there fhould be mockers, fen- 
 fuali not having the fpirit," and to defire that they to 
 whom he writes, " building up themfelves in our moft 
 holy faith,' fhould pray in the Holy Ghoft, keep them- 
 felves in the' love of God, looking for the mercy of oui" 
 Lord Jefus Ghrift, unto eternal life. Now unto him 
 that is able to keep us from falling, to prefent us fault- 
 lefs before the preferice of his glory with exceeding joy, 
 to the only wife God, our Saviour, be glory and ma- 
 jefty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." 
 See Jude throughout. A comment muft be unneceflary 
 here. 
 
 As I prefcribed to myfe'lf the order in which the 
 books- of the fcripture are arranged, and had determi- 
 ned to enquire of the teftimony afforded by each in iEs 
 courfe ; and as I had but one conclufion in view, to 
 the evidence of which alone proofs were to be brought, 
 my intellgent reader will fee the impoffibility of ftep- 
 ing from proof to proof in a mathematical procefs, or 
 of producing an encreafmg teftimony commencing at a 
 partial, and, in the end, refulting in a full demonftra- 
 tion of the truth of that one propofition, which muft 
 be rendered equally manifeft by the firft, as by the laft 
 argument in its behalf. That the fcripture? have de^ 
 
 clared 
 
t '53 1 
 
 claied the divinity of our Lord, it is my office to fliowj 
 and that this declaration is true, if made, muft necef- 
 farily follow, upon the concf-ffion that the fcripturea 
 are the word of God, and therefore true ; and as this 
 conceflion is made, I am only to produce fuch declara- 
 tions as are contained in them : this muft be at once 
 feen to preclude progreflive enquiry. I have, however, 
 for the gratification of my reader, referved a very few 
 paflages, in which it is more dire£lly and literally af- 
 ferted that Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, God } 
 and with thefe I (hall clofe the evidence of the apoftles^ 
 the appointed witnefles of our bleffed Redeemer. 
 CVI. 
 
 *' Hereby perceive we the love of God, becaufe he 
 laid down his life for us," i John iii. i6. The name 
 of " Jefus Chrift" does hot once occur in the preceding 
 part of the chapter, of which this is the i6th vcrfe, 
 fo that it cannot poflibly be referred to by the pronoun 
 ** he;" our Lord and Saviour is therefore literally de- 
 clared to be God. The courfe of the argument alio 
 makes a literal interpretation abfolutely neceffary, for 
 the beloved difciple is perfuading us to love one anor 
 ther in confequence of our brotherhood, a motive 
 which God could not have, to love beings fo infinitely 
 inferior to him ; but that God loved us, is manifefted 
 by his having rendered himfelf fubjedl to death for our 
 fake ; we are therefore defired to love one anotherj 
 from the equality and fympathy of our nature : the love 
 of God is perceived, becaufe he laid down his life for 
 us J and therefore, *' we ought to lay down our lives 
 for the brethren," i John iii, 16. 
 CVII. 
 
 St. Paul preaches thus to the Ephefians, whom he 
 had called to Miletus, and whom he appointed elders 
 over the church to preach the gofpel. 
 
 U « Take 
 
[ 154 ] 
 
 " Take heed therefore unto yourfelves, and to all 
 the flock over the which the Holy Ghoft hath made 
 you overfeers, to feed the church of God, which he 
 hath purchafed with his own blood," A6ls xx. 28. 
 What can convince if this be unable ? Shall we fee the 
 blood of God himfelf ftreaming for our redemption, 
 and ftill deny that God and man are one Chrlft ? or 
 Ihall we not rather feek to be of the fold, " return to 
 the fhepherd of our fouls,'* to the " Lord God, who 
 fhall feed his flock like a fliepherd ? who fhall gather 
 the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bofom," 
 Ifaiah xl. ii. But St. Paul forefaw that men would 
 look upon this pofition, which he has laid down, as a 
 difficulty, which would turn afide fuch as yielded not 
 their faith, but fhould proceed to enquire of the hidden 
 myfl:ery, and withdraw from the acknowledgment of 
 fpiritual things, becaufe they were not in pofleflion of 
 fpiritual things to compare v/ith them, whereby they 
 fhould comprehend the things of God, into which the 
 natural man is unable to enquire; and therefore he has 
 faid even to thefe elders to whom he direfts his charge, 
 *' For I know this, that after my departing, fhall grie- 
 vous wolves enter in among you, not fparing the flock. 
 Alfo of yourfelves fhall men arife, fpeaking perverfe 
 things, to draw away difciples after them," Ads xx. 
 29, 30. I wifh that St. Paul may not have had our 
 prefent day in view when he fpoke thus. 
 CVIII. 
 
 To the Hebrews, St. Paul fays, that the addrefs 
 from the Majefly on high to him, *' by whom he made 
 the worlds," is, *' Thy throne, O God, is for ever and 
 ever ; a fceptre of righteoufnefs is the fceptre of thy 
 kingdom : And, thou Lord, in the beginning hafl laid 
 the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the 
 works of thy hands. They fhall perifh, but thou re- 
 maincfl ; and they all fhall wax old as doth a garment ; 
 
 an4 
 
[ ^55] 
 
 and as a vefture flialt thou fold them up, and they (hall, 
 be changed : but thou art the fame, and thy years fhall 
 not fail," Heb. i. 8, lo, ii, 12. That the attributes 
 here afcribed, are afcribable only to God, I believe 
 will not be denied ; but they are afcribed by God 
 himfelf, and to whom ? To Jcfus Chrift, after he had 
 laid afide the form of a fervant, and again taken up- 
 on him the form of God, the exprefs image of his per- 
 son ; when he had by himfelf purged our fins ; and, 
 being the brightnefs of his glory, fat down on the 
 right-hand of the Majefty on high. They arc afcri- 
 bed to Jefus Chrift, upon the reafTumption of that 
 glory which he had laid down, when he was made a 
 little lower than the angels, that, by the grace of God, 
 he might tafte death for every man ; that, by fufFering, 
 he might be made perfetSt, to lead mankind to falva- 
 tion ; to him who had called us brethren, and had now 
 taken up his anointed body, *' anointed with the oil of 
 gladnefs above his fellows ;" that body, by which he 
 became our fellow, our brother, and our Saviour ; and 
 by the afcent of which he has marflialled our way to 
 his eternal kingdom. To him, I fay, who had been 
 partaker of our flefh and blood, and who, having made 
 himfelf acquainted with our infirmities, has taken in- 
 to heaven that nature, by which he can 'be touched 
 with a compaflionate feeling of them ; and has there- 
 fore become our ** merciful high prieft and intercef- 
 for," are thefe attributes afcribed, this addrefs of ex- 
 ultation is made ; it is (if I may fo fay) the welcome of 
 God to the captain and leader of mankind to glory. 
 And, if I may dare to ufe the expreflion, we find, as 
 it were, a paflion of joy in the great God of our fal- 
 vation, at feeing the means of his grace take effV£t in 
 reftoring mankind to that foifeitcd happinefs, from 
 which by tranfgreflion he had fallen ; in reconciling 
 him to himfelf i in feeing that a paflage is now open- 
 
[ 156] 
 
 cd into his own eternal happlnefs to man, by the ta- 
 king the manhood into God, as the Godhead had be- 
 fore on earth rendered one man a worthy and fufficient 
 atonement for all men. His grace is now perfected ; 
 our nature is feated in heaven ; and the glory which 
 Chrift had with the Father before the foundations of 
 the world were laid, is now afcribed to him ; the Fa- 
 ther has glorified him with his own felf ; he is, by the 
 majefty moft high, declared to be one with him, de- 
 clared to be God, whofe throne endureth for ever, and 
 whofe years (hall never fail ; the man was feen to af- 
 cend ; but the God is acknowledged by him to whom 
 alone the God is comprehenfible, " who only knoweth 
 who the Son is." I do not fee how it is pofllble to 
 avoid, or evade, the ftrength of this proof, refulting 
 from the application of thefe words of David to the 
 Son, of whofe Godhead they are as exprefs a declara- 
 tion as words can convey. God himfelf acknowledges 
 and declares the fecond perfon in himfelf; and this in 
 exaft conformity with our Lord's own words, upon 
 feeing Judas go out with a r-'folution to betray him j 
 his hour he knew was now come, and, " therefore, 
 when he (Judas) was gone out, Jefus faid, now is the 
 Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If 
 God be glorified in him, God fhall alfo glorify him in 
 himfelf, and fhall ftraightway glorify him," John xiii. 
 31, ^2. And as fuch a doxologv, according to this 
 prediction, comes from God himfelf to Chrift, I own 
 that to me it appears an impious perverfenefs to withhold 
 prayer, an impious ingratitude to withhold our praife and 
 thankfgiving from him. When we fee our own falvation 
 the fource of fuch joy in heaven ; when we fee the in- 
 finitely great " maker of all things that are in heaven, 
 and that are in the earth," take fuch an intereft in the 
 happinefs of us his very little cVeatures, we have an ad- 
 ditional encouragement to approach the throne of his 
 
 mercy 
 
[ ^Sl ] 
 
 mercy with thanfgiving for our redemption ; for which 
 be not only fufFered, but rejoiced in his fufFerings, and 
 efleemed them glory for our fake. *' Of Jefus Chrift, 
 the fame yefterday, and to day, and for ever," Heb. xiii» 
 8. Let us then acknowledge, that " of the Jews, as 
 concerning the flefh, Chrift came, but that he is over 
 all, God blefl'ed for ever. Amen." Rom. ix. 5. 
 
 I now come to the fourth kind of teftimony borne to 
 the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, that 
 which he has afforded himfelf, by the revelation made 
 to St. John, after his afcenfion, and in which he has, 
 in his glorified ftate, declared his own nature. I do 
 not mean to difcufs the prophecy contained in the apo- 
 calypfe, but to produce fuch evidence as the book af-, 
 fords to my point only ; fuch other proofs as are refer- 
 able to this head, 1 have noted, as they have pccurred 
 in the former parts of this enquiry. 
 CIX. 
 
 Jefus Chrift reveals himfelf to St. John in the fol- 
 lowing words : *' thefe chings faith the firft and the laft, 
 which was dead, and is alive," Rev ii. 8. God fays to 
 Ifaiah, " I am the firft, and I am the laft, and befides 
 me. there is no God," If. xliv. 6. Hence we fee, that 
 befides the firft and the laft, there is no God : but Jefus 
 Chrift fays, " I am the firft, and I am the laft;" the 
 conclufion is, that befides Jefus Chrift, one with the 
 Father, there is no God, and he is the '-'• alpha and 
 omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and 
 which was, and which is to come, the Almighty," 
 Rev. i. 8, and xxii. 13. 
 
 ex. 
 
 Jefus Chrift fays, " I am he that fearcheth the reins 
 and hearts : and I will give unto every one of ypu ac- 
 cording to your wprks," Rev. ii. 23. God fays to Je- 
 remiah, 
 
[ IS8 ] 
 
 rcmlah, " I the Lord fearch the heart, I try the reins, 
 even to give every man according to his ways, and ac- 
 cording to the fruit of his doings," Jer, xvii. lo. Here 
 God has declared himfelf the fearcher of hearts. Is 
 there any other fearcher of hearts ? None. But Jefus 
 Chrift declares that he is he that fearcheth the hearts : 
 as there is none other that fearcheth, and that Jefus 
 Chrift has declared that he fearcheth, Jefus Chrift is 
 none other than God Almighty, one with the Father; 
 *' the Lord of hofts, that judgeth righteoufly, and tri- 
 eth the reins and the heart," Jer. xi. 20; " the Lord 
 of hofts, that trieth the righteous, and feeth the reins 
 and the heart," Jer. xx. 12. And the unity of the 
 Godhead of the Lord, the King of Ifrael, and his Re- 
 deemer the Lord of hofts, is thus aflerted by thie one 
 firft and laft; " Thus faith the Lord the King o"f If- 
 rael, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hofts, I am the 
 firft, and I am the laft, and befides me there is no 
 God," Ifa. xliv. 6. 
 
 CXI. 
 " I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end- 
 ing, faith the Lord, which is, and which was, and 
 which is to come, the Almighty," Rev. i. 8. To the 
 proof already given, that thefe words are fpoken by 
 Jefus Chrift, I will add this, that the declaration fol- 
 lows a dcfcription of the coming of the Lord, exactly 
 correfponding to that given by our Saviour of the co- 
 ming of the Son of man; *' then ftiall all the tribes of 
 the earth mourn, and they fliall fee the Son of man co- 
 ming ip the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
 glory, Matth. xxlv 30. " Behold, he cometh with 
 clouds; and every eye Ihall fee him, and they alfo 
 which pierced him : and all kindreds of the earth fhall 
 wail becaufe of him," Rev. i. 7. He then proceeds to 
 declare himfelf to be the Lord, which is, and which 
 
 was, 
 
[ 159] 
 
 was, and which is to come : to Jefus Chrift the Lord j 
 then, the four beafts *' reft not day and night, faying, 
 holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, 
 and is, and is to come," Rev. iv. 8. 
 CXIL 
 ** I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and behold, I 
 am alive for evermore. Amen." Rev. i. i8. That 
 thefe words are fpolcen by Jefus Chrift, cannot admit 
 ef a doubt. "• And when thofe beafts give glory, and 
 honour, and thanks to him who fat on tlie thione, who 
 liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall 
 dowH before him that fat on the throne, and worihip 
 him that liveth for ever and ever, and caft their crowns 
 before the throne, faying, thou art worthy, O Lord, 
 to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou 
 haft created all things, and for thy pieafure they are, 
 and were created," Kev. iv. 9, lo, 11. Such is the 
 honour afcnbed in heaven to him who is " alive for 
 evermore. Amen." And (hall we, who are a part of his 
 creation, " by whom are ail things, and we by him," 
 alone withdraw ourfelves from the worihip of the ** one 
 ifOrd, Jefus Chrift," *' by whom all thmgs confift?" 
 And iliall we not rather join our voice to the voices in 
 heaven, and fay, " hallowed be thy name. Thy will 
 be done in earth, as it is in heaven?" Matth. vi. o, lOj 
 fee alio i Cor. viii. 6, and Col. i. 17. 
 
 CXIIL 
 The following words of our Saviour to St. John, t« 
 be delivered by him to the church of Philadelphia, war- 
 rant our preferring that petition of the Lord's prayer to 
 him, *' lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
 from evil," Matth vi. 13. "I will alfo keep thee 
 from the hour of temptation, which fhall come upon 
 all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,'* 
 Rev. iii. 10. 
 
 « A? 
 
[ i6o] 
 
 CXIV. 
 
 **• As many as I love, I rebuke and chaflen," fays 
 Jefus Chrift to St. John, Rev. iii. 19. " Behold, hap- 
 by is the man whom God corredleth," Job v. 17. " For 
 \vhom the Lord loveth he chafteneth, and fcourgeth 
 every fon whom he receiveth. If ye endure chaftening, 
 God dealeth with you as with fons . for what fon is he 
 whom the Father chafteneth not?'^ Heb. xii. 6, 7. 
 
 cxv. 
 
 *' Grace be unto you, and peace from him which 
 is, and which was, and which is to come; and from 
 the feven fpirits which are before his throne ; and from 
 Jefus Chrift, who is the faithful witnefs, and the firft- 
 begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of 
 the earth : unto him that loved us, and wafhed us from 
 our fins in his own bloody and hath made us kings 
 and priefts unto God and his Father; to him be 
 glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." 
 Rev. i. 4, 5, 6. If it be allowed that there is an 
 errour in the manufcript whence our tranflation of the 
 firft chapter and fifth verfe of the apocalypfe was takeh^ 
 there is but very little loft by the conceflion ; for fubfti- 
 tuting the words lai ayxTrriauHoi x«; ^io■avTOJ inftead of the 
 accepted reading Iw uyx'7rr,aa,yrt Kot] >iacr«»T», and then adopt- 
 ing Mr. Lindfey's own tranflation, I do not fee that 
 the doxology contained in the paflage, is by any means 
 turned away from its proper obje6t, Jefus Chrift; for, 
 taking the whole together, it runs thus, " grace be 
 unto you, and peace from him which is, and which 
 Was, and which is to come ; and from the feven fpirits 
 Ivhich are before his throne; and from Jefus Chrift, 
 who is the faithful witnefs, and the firft-begotten of the 
 dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, tuba 
 bath loved us, and wafhed us from our fins, in his own 
 l)lood, and hath made us kings and priefts unto God 
 
 and 
 
[ .61 ] 
 
 and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for 
 fever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. It is difficult 
 to imagine how any man (hould conceive " him" to be 
 referable to any preceding term in the fintence, befides 
 that to u^hich the multitude of epithets is referred ; and 
 that this is Jefus Chrift, does not admit of a doubt* 
 This I fay even upon a fuppofition that Mr. Lindfey 
 has taken the text as it was adlually written ; but I 
 will now withdraw that conceflion, upon an afliirance 
 that the commonly accepted reading is fupported by at 
 leaft equal authority as that of Dr. Mill, and that the 
 tranflators of our Bible have thought it the preferable 
 one. But if I were altogether to relinquifh this text, 
 which will however admit of no other fenfe than that 
 I have afcribed to it, it would avail this gentleman but 
 Very little, for the 13th verfe of the 5th chapter affords 
 a doxology which T will not refign fo eafily as he may 
 expefl:. " Bleffing and honour, and glory, and power 
 be unto him that fitteth upon the throjie, and unto 
 the Larrb for ever and ever," Rev. v. 13. Is this 
 doubtful ? No, nor a doubt pretended : but Jefus Chrift 
 is in fight, and therefore^ fays Mr; Lindfey, an objedl 
 of worfhipi. God only, fays this gentleman in another 
 part of his book, is the proper objedl of worlhip ; but 
 here Jefus Chrift in fight is a proper objedt of worfhip; 
 I will draw the neceffary conclufion ; therefore Jefus 
 Chrift in fight is God. And, " am I a God at hand^ 
 fk'ith the Lord, and not a God afar off?" Jer. xxiii. 23. 
 Is this to be acceded to ? If Jefiis Chrift be a creature," 
 he is not an object of worlhip ; and my turning my eye 
 tipon him can never confer infinity and eternity on that 
 which was before local and temporary ; but Mr. Lind- 
 fey perfifting in it that he is a creature, has given the 
 beholders a power of looking him into the one Creator. 
 This is too abfurd to dwell on. I fliall only afk, if Je- 
 fus Chrift has- not any right to our adoration, how he is 
 X authorized 
 
[162] 
 
 authorized to demand it on fight ? and, if he be in any 
 cafe entitled to our adoration, " the incommunicable 
 hbnour and prerogative of God alone *," and that 
 therefore he be God, whether it be not the depth of 
 ftapidity, as well as impiety, to deny that our Lord 
 and Saviour Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, God ? 
 " Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord 
 and Saviour Jefus Chrift : to him be glory both now and 
 for ever. Amen." fays St. Peter ; and one fuch declara- 
 tion, that glory is his for ever and ever, is equal to a 
 thoufand ; and, were every other one to be given up^ 
 this would remain a fufficient ellablifhment of the eter- 
 nal glory of Jefus Chrift ; but, when we find glory once 
 fo afcribed, I do not fee any reafon for doubting fuch 
 doxologies as repeat the praifts of our Lord and Savi- 
 our ; for, one eftablifhing the right, it is but reafonable 
 to believe, that men, who faw with the fame enlight- 
 ened underftanding as Peter did, fhould equally afcribe 
 to him the glary which they muft have equally feen to 
 be his due; 
 
 CXVL 
 "The kings of the earth, kc. hid themfelves in the- 
 dens, and in the rocks of the mountains ; and faid to 
 the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from 
 the' face of him that fitteth on the throne, and from 
 the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of his 
 wrath is come ; and who fhall be able to ftand ?" 
 Rev. vi. 15, 16. This fpeaks for itfelf. There is 
 in context with it a remarkable paflage, by which 
 Jefus Chrift, coming to judgement, ads exactly in 
 correfpondence with thofe words which are addref- 
 fed to him by the Father upon his afcenfion into 
 heaven ; *' The heavens fhall perifti, and Vi'ax old 
 as doth a garment, and as a vefture flialt thou fold 
 them up," Heb. i. 12. *' And the flars of heaven fell 
 
 unto 
 * Apology, p. 137. 
 
[ i63 1 
 
 unto the earth, even as a fig-tree cafteth her untimely 
 figs when fhe is fhaken of a mighty wind : and the 
 heaven departed as a fcrowl when it is rolled together," 
 Rev. vi. 13, 14. 
 
 CXVII. 
 *' And I faw another angel fly in the midft of hea- 
 ven, having the everlafting gofpel to preach unto them 
 that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kin- 
 dred, and tongue, and people, faying with a loud 
 voice. Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour 
 of his judgement is come : and worfhip him that made 
 heaven and earth, and the fea, and the fountains of 
 waters," Rev. xiv. 6, 7. Paul, who had often term- 
 ed himfelf " a prifoner of Jefus Chrift," Philemon, g. 
 and who tells the Romans, *' I am not afliamed of the 
 gofpel of Chrift," Rom. i. 16. fays to Timothy, " Be 
 not thou therefore afliamed of the teftimony of our 
 Lord, nor of me his prifoner," 2 Tim. i. 8 ; and alfo 
 fays to the Phillppians, that though fome do preach 
 Chrift out of contention, and fome of love; yet, be- 
 ing *' fet for the defence of the gofpel ; v^^hat then ? 
 Notwithflanding every way, whether in pretence, or 
 in truth, Chrift is preached ; and I therein do rejoice ; 
 yea, and will rejoice," Phil i. 17,18. Thefe paffages 
 precifely afcertain the meaning of the words preaching 
 the gofpel^ and fhew them to be of the fame import as 
 preaching Chrtji., or bearing the. tejUniony of Chriji, Now, 
 in the text before us, we fee an angel flying in the 
 midft of heaven to preach th^ sverlafting gofpel. And, 
 as we well know that it is '* the Lord Jefus Chrift-^ 
 who fhall judge the quick an^ the dead at his appear- 
 ing, and his kingdom," 2 Tim, iy. I. what does this 
 cceleftial harbinger of our Judge proclaim ? *' Fear 
 God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judge-? 
 ment is come." " We have one Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 by whom are all things, and we by him," 1; Cor. viii. 6. 
 :?C 2 *'A11 
 
[ «64] 
 
 " AH things were created by him, and for him, and 
 he is before all things, and by him all things confift," 
 Col. L 1 6, 17. But the arigel proceeds, " worlhip 
 him that made heaven and earth, and the fea, and the 
 fountains of waters." A new and heavenly preacher 
 of the gofpel, that is, of Chrift, here directly afcribes 
 to our Judge the name and attributes of God : let us 
 then, upon the teftimony of this herald, " fear and 
 give glory to the Lord Jefus Chrift," the final preacher 
 of whofe gofpel has declared him to be one with the 
 Father, God. 
 
 CXVIII. 
 <' The lamb (hall overcome them : for he is the Lord 
 of Lords, and King of kings," Rev. xvii. 14. "The 
 King of kings, and Lofd of lords" appears again ni 
 the 19th chapter and i6th verfe, mounted upon a white 
 horfe, and followed by the armies in heaven ; he is 
 aflailed by the bcaft, and the kings of the earth, and 
 their armies ; but the beaft is taken, and his armies 
 are overcome ; and ** the remnant were {lain with the 
 fword of him that fat upon the horfe ; and all the fowls 
 were filled with their flefh," Rev. xix. 21. In the 17th 
 verfe of this chapter, before the war, in which the 
 King of kings and Lord of Lords overcame and flew 
 the beaft, and the armies, and the kipgs, " an angel 
 cried with a loud voipe, faying to all the fowls that fly 
 in the midft of heaven^ come and gather yourlelves to- 
 gether unto the fupper of t|ie great God ; that ye may 
 eat the flefti of kings, and the flefh of captains, an4 
 the flefh of mighty men, and the fleih of horfes, and 
 of them that fit on them, and the flefh of all men, both 
 free and bond, bo^h fmall and great," Rev. xix. 17, 
 18. The war immediately enfues j and he that fat up- 
 on the horfe, having overcome and flain thofe who 
 came againft him, " fiJlci ali fowls with their flefh ;'* 
 fo that we find that fupper given to them by the King 
 
 . of 
 
[ «65 ] 
 
 jof kings, and Lord of lords, to which they arc inyited 
 by an angel as to the fupper of the great God. Hini 
 then we muft believe to be the great God, who fuppli- 
 ed if: to them who were called to come to it : })ut Jci'u? 
 Chrift fupplied it to them ; Jefus Chrift is therefore 
 one with the Father, that great God. 
 
 CXIX. 
 
 " His name (that fat upon the horfe) is called the 
 Word of God," Rev. xix. 13. As there is not the leaft. 
 doubt that it is Jefus Chrift who fat upon the horfe, 
 we may venture to explain the beginning of the firft 
 ichapter of St. John's gofpel by this declaration, that 
 " his name is called the Word of God ;" and whatfo- 
 ever is there fpoken of the Word of God, muft be al- 
 lowed to have been faid of him who. fat upon the horfe, 
 pven Jefus Chrift, " the victorious Lamb, the King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords ;" and there it is exprefsly 
 ideclared that " the Word was God," John i. i ; that 
 ^' the Word was made fiefti, and dwelt among us, and 
 we beheld his glory," John i. 14; that *' the fame 
 (Word) was in the beginning with God, and that by 
 him, who was in the world, and who came unto his 
 pwn, the world was made," John i. 2, 10, ii, And 
 as " in the beginning God created the heaven and the 
 earth," Gen. i. i. " that all things were made by 
 him (the Word) ; and yvithout him was not any thino- 
 made that was made ;" that ^' in him was life^ and 
 the life was the light of men," John i. 3, 4. To 
 the fame purpofe are the following texts : " I am the 
 lightof the world," fays our Lord ; apd " he that fol- 
 loweth me, fhall not walk in darknefs, but ftiall have 
 the light of life," John viii. 12. " We declare unto 
 you, that God is light," fays the fame Evangelift, 
 I John i. 5. *' We have looked upon, and our hands 
 have handled of the Word of life ; (for the life was ma- 
 nifefted, and we have feen it, and bear witnefs, and 
 
 ihev/ 
 
[ i66 ] 
 
 fiiew unto you that eternal life which was with the 
 Father, and was manifefted unto us)"- i John i. i, 2. 
 " God was manifeft in the flefh," fays St. Paul, 
 I Tim. iii. 16 ; and that '^ the Word of God liveth 
 and abideth for ever," is the declaration of St. Peter, 
 i Pet. i. 23. " Through faith we underftand that the 
 worlds were framed by t^e Word of God," Hcb. xi. 3, 
 '•'•'By whom alfo he made the worlds," Heb. i. 2. 
 Here every attribute of God is afcribed to the Word of 
 God, to have been from the beginning ; to have been 
 the original and author of all created things ; or, to ufe 
 St. John's expreliion, " the beginning of the creatioix 
 of God," Rev. iii. 14-, to have life in him., and to be 
 the light. But it is farther added, that this Word came 
 in the flefh, in which it was manifefc, feen, and handr 
 led in the world ; this therefore is evidently fpoken of 
 Jcfus Chrift. But the Word of God (here feated on a 
 hoife, and declared to be Jcfus Chrift himfelf under 
 that appellation) is exprefsly (aid to be God : Jcfus 
 Chrift therefore being th?it Word manif ft in the flefh, 
 and that Word being God, Jefus Chrift is therefore one 
 with the Father, God. The gofoel is the teftimony of 
 Chrift, *' but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. 
 And this is the Word which by the gofpel is preached 
 unto you," i Pet. i. 25. John Baptift was certainly 
 the appointed forerunner of our Lord, and it was of 
 him therefore that John gave teftimony. '^ John bare 
 witnefs of him," Joh'i i. 15. It is very remarkable 
 that thefe words are not once p;-eceded, in St. John's 
 gofpel, by the name of Jcfus Chrift ; but that they im- 
 mediately follow a declaration, that '' the Word was 
 made flefh and dwelt among us ;" the Word therefore is 
 Jefus Chrift, and " the Word was God j" Jefus Chrift 
 (js therefpre one with the Father, God. 
 
 As 
 
[ »67] 
 
 As to Mr. Lindfey's laborious diflertation on thS 
 Chaldee Targums and the word Mimra, I have nothing 
 to fay to it, it does not properly come within my pro- 
 vince; one fhort remark, however, I will make on it. 
 If the word Mimra fignify both " word and felf," as 
 it is certain that Jefus Chrilt is " the word of God," 
 the word being the fame as the felf of God, Jefus Chrift 
 is therefore the '* felf of God ; or, to ufe a more com- 
 mon expreffion, Jefus Chrift is therefore God's own 
 felf*; This I infer from Mr. Lindfey's own premifes; 
 and fo obvious is the conclufion from the manner in 
 which he has fupplied them from half a dozen writers^ 
 that I wonder how it efcaped even his own obfervation, 
 I will take occafion here to fay, that I wave all advan- 
 tage that I might derive from the idiomatick plurals of 
 the Hebrew language (if only idiomatick they be) pre- 
 ceding verbs of thfe fmgular number. They may afford 
 argument to thofe who, with better knowledge than I 
 am poffefled of, fhall look for it amorig them : but I am 
 in purfuit of truth, and not of fyftem ; I am in purfuit 
 of truth too mom.entous to be trifled with, and, while 
 I call upon men to yield their aflent to a proportion 
 eflential to the happinefs of their immortal fouls, God 
 forbid that I fhould knowingly call one fophifm into 
 proof, or offer that as argument to my readers, which 
 did not carry conviction to my own breaft. At the 
 fame time that I relinquifh this argument, it is but for 
 myfelf I do, or can relinquifh it. 
 
 cxx. 
 
 When Mr. Lindfey has declared the ofRce of a prieft 
 to be " to offer up the prayers of other?," Apol. p. 127, 
 he fhould not therefore have precluded prayer to Chrift, 
 and the praftice of mailing him the objeft of religious 
 worfhip, unlefs he were very certain that no priefthood 
 had been appointed to him; but "they fliall be priefts 
 ©f God and of Chrift," Rev. xx. 6. I have brought 
 
 this 
 
 * Glorify thou me with thine own felf, John xyii. 5- 
 
[ '68 ] 
 
 Ms rcrfe t6 eftablifh the Divinity ot our blefled Re- 
 deemer, upon a foundation which negligence or blinded 
 prejudice ovef looked ; but upon which 1 now demand 
 the acquiefcence of the Unitarians in the Godhead of 
 Jefus Chrift; we fee it allowed an argument if it can 
 be brought, and here it is for them. It is remarkable 
 alfo that thefe priefts of Chrift are thofe who are par- 
 takers of the ftrft refurredion, of whom it is faid " that 
 they are bleffed and holy :" to thofe then who are blef- 
 fed and holy we have reafon to conclude, that this my- 
 ftery of the Godhead of Chrift; will be more manifcftly 
 difplayed than to usj who are yet to tafte of death. Surely 
 fhefe can be no more uncomfortable convidtion than 
 that all the ftores of God's wifdom are open to us here^ 
 and that in a future ftate there can be found nothing to 
 add to knowledge ; the very expectation of feeing far- 
 ther into the government of the univeffe, <lire6ted by 
 power aiJd wifdom that are infinite^ is a motive to obe- 
 dience; and a full infight into a myftery which is the 
 means of our own entrance into eternal happihefs, is a 
 hope fo delightful in itfelf, that it ftiouM make uS 
 thankful for fuch a revelation ss intimates it to us, yet 
 withholds the full manifeftation for a part of our reward 
 " who v/ait patitntly the coming of the Lord," " for 
 behold, we count them happy which endure," James vi 
 
 Jefus Chrift was indeed on earth a fyrieft, and accord- 
 ingly here difcharged his facerdotal office, by offering 
 up the one fufficient facrifice of himfelf for all man- 
 kind, and " by the blood of fprinkling, that fpeaketh 
 better things, than that of Abel," which cried from 
 the ground, he has made us a party to the covenant of 
 which he is himfelf the mediator; and by his blood 
 which does not cry againft us, but on the contrary 
 maketh interceflion for us, (that body from which it was 
 poured cut being our expiation) he has extended falva- 
 
[ i69 ] 
 
 tion to all that believe on him. The writer to the 
 Hebrews has fo clearly pointed out to them how their 
 own ritual was a type of Chrift's prepared body and 
 blood fhed as a facrifice for the fms of all men ; fo li- 
 terally pronounced him our atonement; and fo expli- 
 citly laid open the nature of his prielthood, and the 
 fubfequent mediation of his fuiTcvings in our behalf; 
 that I fhould afk my reader's forgivenefs for fo frequently 
 entering into that fubjecSt: but when the whole do<5lrine 
 of atonement by the death of our Saviour is denied, and 
 that he is declared to have died only as a proof that he 
 had lived, I cannot but think it neceflary to fpeak of 
 it, as the occafion offers, in the courfe of my enquiry; 
 and the rather, when I confider how vaftly more pro- 
 bable it is, that even my book (hall be read by the Uni- 
 tarians than the Bible. 
 
 CXXI. 
 " And I faw the dead, fmall and great, fland before 
 God ; and the books were opened : and another book 
 wasopened, which is the book of life: and the dead 
 were judged out of thofe things which were written in 
 the books, according to their works. And the fea gave 
 up the dead which were in it; and death and hell deli- 
 vered up the dead which were in them : and they were 
 judged every man according to their works. And death 
 and hell were caft into the lake of fire; this is the 
 fecond death. And whofoever was not found written 
 in the book of life, was caft into the lake of fire," 
 Rev. XX. 12, 13, 14, 15. I need not repeat the nume- 
 rous paflages in which it is fet forth, that " the Son of 
 man fliall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
 with him., then {hall he fit upon the throne of his glory. 
 And before him fhall be gathered all nations; and he 
 fhall feparate them one from another," Matth. xxv. 31, 
 32. " Then fhall he (the Son of man) reward every 
 man according to his works," Matth. xvi. 27 ; and 
 Y that 
 
that " things which offend, and them that do iniquity ; 
 he (the Son of man) Ihall caft into a furnace of fire; 
 there (hall be wailing and gnafhing of teeth," Mat. xiii. 
 41, 42. Here every adt of our Saviour's office as the 
 judge of the world, who has declared his own determi- 
 nation to call all flefh to account, is given to God, be- 
 fore whom St. John fees" the dead, fmall and great, 
 ftand, and all nations gathered to receive judgement, 
 " every man according to his works," and by whom 
 ** they that do iniquity" " are caft into a futnace of 
 fire." There can be no truth in fuch a vifion, if it be 
 not that the very fame thing is prefented to the view of 
 St. John, which is foretold by our Saviour; and that he 
 who declared that he would judge, even Jefus Chrift, 
 has, according to his declaration, proceeded to judge, 
 and to teftify himfelf to be one with the Father, God. 
 The book of life is faid, in another place, to be " the 
 Lamb's book of life," Rev. xxi. 27. It is declared 
 that, " the Father judgeth no man, but hath commit- 
 ted all judgement unto the Son," John v. 22. And a 
 reafon is given for this appointment, " (the Father) 
 hath given him (the Son) authority to execute judge- 
 ment alfo, becaufe he is the Son of man." As the Son 
 of man only he could receive an appointment, and to 
 him who, as a Son of man, has called us brethren, and 
 can have a feeling of our infirmities, it is moft merci- 
 fully made. All men are here aflembled to judgement 
 before the great God; but " the Father judgeth no 
 man;" before the Son then are they aflembled: but 
 they are before God; the Son therefore is one with the 
 Father, God. 
 
 CXXIL 
 " The Lamb which is in the midft of the throne, 
 fliall feed them, and (hall lead them unto living foun- 
 tains of waters," Rev. vii. 17. Jefus faid to John, 
 *« I am alpha and opiega, the beginning and the end, 
 
 the 
 
[ '7' ] 
 
 the firft and the laft," Rev. xxii. 13. " And he (that 
 fat upon the throne) faid unto me it is done. I am 
 alpha and omega, the beginning and the end : I will 
 give unto him that is athirft, of the fountain of the 
 water of life freely. He that overcometh, fhall inhe- 
 rit all things, and I will be his God, and he fhall be 
 my Son," Rev. xxi. 6, 7. Here every attribute of him 
 who has called us, if we fhall prove victorious, his fons, 
 is equally the Son's as the Father's; he is enthroned; 
 he leads to the living fountains of water, and he is the 
 one firft and laft ; therefore he is with the Father, one 
 God. What an invitation do the Unitarians decline ! 
 
 cxxni. 
 
 In the holy Jerufalem, " I faw no temple therein: 
 for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, are the tem- 
 ple of it. And the city had no need of the fun, neither 
 of the moon to fhine in it: for the glory of God did 
 lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Rev. xxi. 
 22, 23. " For the Lord God giveth them light," 
 Rev. xxii. 5. " The throne of God and of the Lamb 
 fhall be in it; and his fervants fhall ferve him, and 
 they fhall fee his face ; and his name fhall be in their 
 foreheads," Rev. xxii. 3, 4. Here God and the Lamb 
 are but one temple, fhed one light, which is the one 
 incommunicable glory of God, and pofTefs one throne, 
 prefent one face to the view of his fervants, and his 
 fervants ferve him^ that is God and the Lamb, fpoken 
 of in the fmgular number as but one God. To the tri- 
 nal unity of God, then I am not afraid to afcribe the 
 excellent doxology of Dr. Tucker, who, when he ufed 
 it, remembered that there is but one God, and that 
 there are three perfons; " to him therefore. Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghoft, let thefe miracles of divine mer- 
 cy be ever afcribed ; and to them be glory, praife, ma- 
 jefly, and dominion, both now and for evermore." 
 " The perfonal pronoun him" fays Mr. Lindfey, "evi- 
 Y 2 denly 
 
[ '7^ 
 
 dently points to one perfon, one individual intelligent 
 agent * ;" fo that as God and the Lamb are, in the 
 paffage before us, pointed to by this fame perfonal pro- 
 noun him, let God and the Lamb, even Jefus Chrift, 
 be acknowledged to be one individual intelligent agent, 
 one God bleffed for ever. " I will write upon him 
 my new name," fays our Saviour, Rev. iii. 12. "A 
 Lamb flood on the mount Sion, and with him an hun- 
 dred -forty and four thoufand, having his Father's name 
 written in their foreheads," Rev. xiv. i. Conformable 
 to the fuperfcripticn of the name of the Father, and 
 the new name of the Son, our Lord fays, " I will write 
 upon him the name of my God," Rev. iii. 12. 
 
 CXXIV. 
 The angel who fpoke to John, and fignified to him 
 thofe things which he was fent by Jefus Chrifi: to re- 
 veal to his fervant John, Rev. i. i. teftifies as follows, 
 *' the Lord God of the holy prophets fent his angel to 
 ihew unto his fervants the things which muft fliortly 
 be done," Rev. xxii. 6. And our Saviour immediately 
 after, fpeaking of this very angel, which has faid that 
 he was fent by, and has called himfelf the angel of the 
 Lord, declares, " I Jefus have fent mine angel to tcfti- 
 fy unto you, thefe things in the churches," Rev. xxii, 
 16. Jefus Chrift, wiio fent his angel, which was fent 
 by the Lord God, is therefore one with the Father, the 
 Lord God. 
 
 cxxv. 
 
 Such farther evidence as I mean to produce from the 
 holy fcriptures, to prove the Godhead of our gracious 
 Redeemer, I fliall referve till I come to confider and 
 confute the arguments by which Mr. Lindfcy has en- 
 deavoured to depofe him from the throne of- his glory: 
 and as I clofed the apoftolical 'eftimony of our Saviour's 
 divinity, bylhew;ing that the appointed witnefles of Je- 
 fus 
 * Apology, p. 199., 
 
[ ^73 I 
 
 fus Chrift had brought God himfelf to fpeak the fa£t, 
 and to pronounce that he who had been flain, and had 
 taken that body, by the blood of which we arc clean- 
 fed, into heaven, there for ever to remain, is one with 
 himfelf, " God Almighty, whofe throne endurcth for 
 ever and ever, and the fceptre of whofe kingdom is a 
 fceptre of righteoufnefsj" fo I fliall conclude this 
 chapter by bringing together thofe doxologies with 
 which all things both in heaven and in earth have glo- 
 rified the Son of man; and if by thefe alfo, the king- 
 dom, and the power, and the glory be afcribed to him, 
 who, of ranfomed mankind, admitted to fellowfliip with 
 him, can then refufe to " magnify the name of the Lord 
 Jefus," and to unite his voice with " ten thoufand 
 times ten thoufand, and thoufands of thoufands of an- 
 gels, who reft not day and night, faying, holy, holy, 
 holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and which is, 
 and which is to come," " worthy art thou, O Lord, to 
 receive glory, and honour, and power *," " worthy is 
 the Lamb that was flain to receive power, and riches, 
 and wifdom, and ftrength, and honour, and glory, and 
 bleiiing +," " and with every creature which is in hea-" 
 ven and in earth, and under the earth, and fuch as are 
 in the fea, and all that are in them, faying, Blefling, and 
 honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that fitteth 
 on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever^ 
 Amen J." " Salvation to our God which fittcth on 
 the throne, and unto the Lamb §," " which is in ths 
 midft of the throne j] ?" for fuch is the fong of angels, 
 and .of every creature " created by him, and for 
 him ** ; fuch are the grateful hymns of thofe who are 
 Nredeemed by the blood of the '.' flaughtered Lamb f f,'* 
 which have come out of great tribulation, and have 
 waflied their robes, and made them white in the blood 
 
 of 
 * Rev. iv. 8, II. t Rev. v. 12. % Rev. v. 13. 
 
 § Rev. vii. lo. || Rev. vli. 17. ** ColoiT. i. 16. f f If. liii. 7. 
 
[ 174] 
 
 of the Lamb," and who " therefore are before the 
 throne of God, and ferve him night and day in his 
 temple," " a great multitude, which no man could 
 number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
 tongues ftanding before the throne, and before tlie 
 Lamb clothed with white robes *". To thefe the glo- 
 rious company of the apoftles haye added their praife, 
 laying " to the King of kings, and Lord of lords f," 
 *' who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light 
 which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath 
 feen, nor can fee, be honour and power everlafting. 
 Amen J." '* To our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift be 
 glory both now and for ever. Amen § :" *' to whom be 
 praife and dominion both now and for ever. Amen [|." 
 " Wherefore feeing we alfo are compafled about with fo 
 great a cloud of witnefles, let us lay afide every weight, 
 and the fm which doth fo eafily befet us, and let us run 
 with patience the race that is fet before us, looking 
 unto Jefus, the author and finiflier of our faith, who, 
 for the joy that was fet before him, endured the crofs, 
 defpifmg the fhame **," which was undergone for our 
 redemption ; and let us " with every tongue confefs that 
 Jefus Chrift is Lord, with every knee, of things in 
 heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 
 earth, bow our knee alfo at the name of Jefus ff ;" 
 and knowing that the fame Lord over all is rich unto 
 all that call upon him, let us alfo call upon the name 
 of the Lord, and be faved; and to him that fitteth on 
 the throne, and the Lamb, one God, the Father and 
 the Son, with the whole hoft of heaven and earth, and 
 all created beings, join in afcribing " blefling and ho- 
 nour,, and glory, and power. Amen." 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 * Rev. vli. 9, 14, 15. f Rev. xvii. 14. J i Tim. vi. 15, 16. 
 
 § a Pet. iji. 18. II I Pet. Jv. n. *« Heb. xii. 1. ft P^'l- "• i'^. 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 Controverted Evidence of our Saviour's D'lv'mity ejiablljh- 
 ed. — ObjeSliom anjlvcred.- — The Divinity of the Holy 
 Ghojl proved from the Scriptures. 
 
 *' T^ Eligious worfhlp," fays Mr» Lindfey, '' is the 
 J[\_ incommunicable honour and prerogative of God 
 alone," Apology, p. 137. Among the multitudinous 
 proofs which I have already given of our Lord's divinity, 
 I have produced many inftances of prayer, of praife, and 
 thankfgiving, preferred to him both in earth and in hea- 
 ven ; by angels and thofe who have already become 
 partakers of the benefits of his paffion in heaven ; and in 
 earth, by men filled with the Comforter, the holy fpirit 
 of truth, to whom ** the teftimony of Jefus" * was gi- 
 ven. Thefe I look upon to be ads of religious worfhip ; 
 but this honour and prerogative of God alone is afcribed 
 to Jefus Chrift J it is incommunicable, and muft there- 
 fore perfectly and eiTentially diftinguifh the poflefiTour ; 
 but Jefus Chrift is the pofleffour ; Jefus Chrift is there- 
 fore one with the Father, that God alone whofe incom- 
 municable honour and prerogative it is to be the objecSh 
 of our religious worfhip and adoration. 
 
 Mr. Lindfey is fo exceedingly anxious to emancipate 
 himfelf from the fervice of Jefus Chrift, whofe fervant 
 and Prifoner Paul declares it is his joy and glory to be ; 
 he bends fo relu<£lantly under the eafy yoke, the light 
 burden of the gofpel ; he fo bolfteroufly dafhes about the 
 bo'hds of peace, and fo fretfully endeavours to caft the 
 cords from him ; and with fuch a foaming hydrophobia 
 flies from *' the fountains of living waters," that he has 
 really become a very melancholy fpeftacle, and there- 
 fore 
 
 * Rev. xix. 10. 
 
[ 176 ] 
 
 fore I feel it a duty incumbent upon me to force, as 
 ftrongly as I can, this convi£lion upon him, that if he 
 will drink of thefe waters, they will refrefli him, and he 
 fliall not thirft again ; that if he return to Chrifl, the 
 great fhepherd and bifliop of our fouls, however forrow- 
 ful and heavily laden he may be, he ihall find reft to his 
 foul ; that if he knock, Chrift (hall open ; and, that 
 *' if he afk any thing according to his will, the Son of 
 God will hear him, and he fhall have the petition that 
 he defired of him *," Let me therefore now, prefu- 
 ming that Chrift at hand is not different from Chrift 
 afar off j and that no merits can put any created being 
 into poffeffion of the incommunicable prerogatives of 
 God, or render inferior natures worthy of the honour 
 which belongs to God alone, recapitulate, and once 
 again prefent him with an inftance of each ; of prayer, 
 by that of Stephen, *' Lord Jefus receive my fpirit ;" 
 *' Lord, lay not this fm to their charge." Of praife, 
 by that in the Revelation, " Bleffing, and honour, and 
 glory, and power, be unto him that fitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever ;" *' falva- 
 tion to our God which fitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb ;" and of thankfgiving, by that of St. 
 Paul, " I thank Chrift Jefus our Lord, for that he 
 counted me faithful, putting me into the miniftry." 
 
 There is yet another fpecies of religious worfhip, 
 which I have intentionally omitted to take notice of in 
 its courfe ; it is Benediction ; and my reafon for defer- 
 ring to obferve upon it, is, that it demanded a feparate 
 confideration, on account of Mr. Lindfey's do6lrine 
 concerning it. He denies benedi6lion to be any evi- 
 dence at all ; and, till I had eftabliftied its competency, 
 it is therefore eafy to fee I ftiould have produced it out 
 of its place before. Mr. Lindfey's aflertion, Apology, 
 
 P- i3i» 
 * I John V. 14. 
 
[ ^n ] 
 
 p. 131, concerning fuch paflages as i Cor. i. 3. * is, 
 *' that they are only pious wifhes, not prayers." Ad- 
 mitting for a moment only this diftin£lion between 
 prayers and pious wifhes, and the conclufion thence in- 
 ferred, Ibelieve thefe fame pious wifhes will be found 
 to be very impious wifhes, and a wifh that God fhould 
 have an afliftant in conferring bleflings on mankind, be 
 acknowledged rather derogatory from the all-fufficiency 
 of his power : but I do not fee how any inference can 
 be drawn from a wifh different from that which follows 
 from a prayer, they both equally acknowledge the power 
 which they defire to have put into exertion ; and if the 
 power be acknowledged by a declaration of it to a third 
 perfon, entrufted with an affurance that I wifh it to be 
 exerted, I cannot imagine why the pofTeflbr of itlhould 
 not be addreffed and let into the fecret alfo, he may not 
 elfe know my mind, and the power may not therefore 
 be quite fo beneficially exerted as I could pioufly wifh. 
 Is it that a Being, whofe power is to be acknowledged 
 adequate to the gift of bleffings, is unintelligent and un- 
 able to hear our prayers ? or are we not to addrefs him, 
 becaufe he is unable to grant them? If the latter, we 
 rejeft our own conclufion, and vi^afte our wifhes ; and I 
 believe the inconfiflency of the former fuppofition is too 
 apparent to require a comment. The fame confequence 
 is inferred, I fay, by our wiflies as by our prayers, and 
 if the power of God is acknowledged by prayer to be 
 in Jefus Chrift, by our wifhes alfo that he would exert 
 that power, it is equally acknowledged ; fo that even 
 this (I think difmgenuous) evafion will not invalidate 
 the force of that teflimony which is afforded to this 
 dreaded pofition, that Jefus Chrifl is one with the Fa- 
 ther, God, by the benedidions of the apoftles, the ap- 
 pointed witneffes of our Lord. 
 
 Z Of 
 
 * •' Grace he unto you, and peace from God our Father, and 
 from the Lord Jefos Chrift." 
 
[ '78] 
 
 Of thefe benediftions I need only produce one from 
 St. Paul, becaufe it comprehends In it the fubftance of 
 all the reft, which he has beftowed upon his hearers, 
 " Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and 
 the Lord Jefus Chrift our Saviour," Titus i. 4. From 
 God alone can the blefTings of grace, mercy, and peace 
 proceed ; but I will fliew that they have all proceeded 
 from Jefus Chrift ; for St. Paul himfelf, who knew the 
 ability of him whom he thus invoked, and that " he 
 is able to fuccour," fays, " I thank Jefus Chrift our 
 Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me 
 faithful, putting me into the miniftry ; who was be- 
 fore a blafphemer, and a perfecutor, and injurious. 
 But I obtained mercy^ becaufe I did it ignorantly in un- 
 belief : and the grace of our Zor^ was exceeding abun- 
 dant," I Tim. i. 12, 13, 14. Here we find grace and 
 mercy beftowed by the fearcher of hearts, who, thro' 
 the veil of blafphcmy and perfecution, diftinguifticd 
 that faith which enabled Paul to be put into the mini- 
 ftry by the Lord Jefus Chrift. We do not find this ac- 
 curate apoftle ever fay grace, mercy, and peace from 
 Apollos or Cephas ; he knew that they, on whom he 
 beftowed his blefling, were not of Apollos nor of Ce- 
 phas, who were only fellovvr-labourers with himfelf; 
 and that, had he been to the end of time calling down 
 grace and mercy from them, they had it not to impart ; 
 from Chrift, that God who gave the encreafe, when 
 they watered what he himfelf planted, he called for 
 bleflings ; from God alone, to whom belong mercies, 
 it was fit that he fliould call them down, becaufe that 
 he alone could anfwer and confer them. " My peace 
 I give you," fays Jefus Chrift, " not as the world giveth 
 give I,"' John xiv. 27. If grace, mercy, and peace 
 then be in the power of our gracious and merciful Re- 
 deemer to beftow, every benedi61:ion of the apoftle of the 
 gofpel of peace is to be confidcred as a fhort prayer pre- 
 ferred 
 
[ ^79 ] 
 
 ferred to him ; and benedidions being thus confidered 
 as a part of religious worfhip, it is eafy to fsre the con- 
 clufion, that Jefus Chrift, to whom it is offered, is one 
 with the Father, that God, whofe incommunicable 
 prerogative and honour religious worfhip is. " Let us 
 therefore, beloved," " being called unto the grace of 
 Chrift," Gal i. 6. *' not feparate ourfelves, having not 
 the fpirit, but building up ourfelves on our moft holy 
 faith, praying in the Holy Ghoft, keep ourfelves in the 
 love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift unto eternal life," Jude ig, 20, 21 ; and " be- 
 lieve that through the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrill: 
 we fhall be fav^ed," Ads xv. ii. 
 
 But it has been faid that the interpofal of the con- 
 jundiive and, enumerates diftinft natures between the 
 Father and Son ; and that grace, mercy, and peace may 
 proceed from, or glory, honour, and dominion be afcri- 
 bed to one part of the fubjeif, without affecting the 
 other. Not to infifton the abfurdity of introducing a 
 name, to fay nothing about it, in any propofition ; on 
 other grounds alfo, the diftin6tion between God and 
 Lord, how we'll foever it may have been fupported by 
 an epigram *, feem.s to me not only weak but infmcere. 
 " From God the Father and our Lord Jefus Chrift," 
 are words that occur perpetually in St. Paul's epiftles ; 
 and I think that candour will allow that " the Father, 
 and our Lord Jefus Chrift," are, in fuch pafiages, put 
 in appofition to " God," and mark a diftindion of per- 
 fons indeed, but undoubtedly an unity, an identity of 
 Godhead ; for, were that copulative and to be taken 
 as a mark of any other diftinclion, and infifted on a-> 
 introductory of a fecond power, however fubordinate 
 it may be to the Father, and ading under him ; the 
 confequences of fuch a manner of underftanding '\% 
 might prove very fatal to the caufe it is brought to 
 fupport J for the fame copulative i? ufed by St. James, 
 Z 2 in 
 
 Apology, p. 6. 
 
[ i8o] 
 
 in. a manner that would dcftroy the Godhead [of the 
 Father himfelf; for by it the word "Father" is fet 
 apart from God. He fays, '* true religion, and unde- 
 filed before God and the " Father," where the copu- 
 lative is ufed exa6lly in the fame manner as by St. 
 Paul : If it be admitted then that the perfonal terms 
 ftand in appofition to the general name of " God," all 
 is at once accounted for ; whereas, on the other hand, 
 if it be infifted upon, that, in the one cafe, the con- 
 jundlive enumerates diftinil natures, a confequence 
 will neceflarily follow, which even an Unitarian would 
 ftart at drawing from it. St. James does not ftand 
 alone in this manner of diflinguifning between God 
 and the Father ; St. Paul has afforded many inftances 
 of a like nature, " giving thanks to God and the Fa- 
 ther," Col. iii. 17. " Now, God himfelf, and our 
 Father, and our Lord Jefus Chrift, direft our way un- 
 to you," I Their, iii. 11. "In the fight of God and 
 the Father," i ThefT. i. 3. How uncandidly then 
 does even this honeft and difmterefted man deal by 
 himfelf, in making ufe of, or yielding his affent to 
 fuch weak fophifms; but I am forry to fay that every 
 thing feems an argument in his eyes, that only appears 
 to make againft " the acknowledgment of the myftery 
 of God, and of the Father, and of Chrift," Col. ii. 2. 
 *' Now, unto God and our Father, be glory for ever 
 and ever. Amen." Phil. iv. 20 *. 
 
 In 
 
 * If It be infifted upon, that the following words, " Peace from God 
 our Father, and the Lord Jefus Chrift," have any other meaning than that 
 the Father and the Lord Jefus Chrift arc the one God, by which name the 
 three perfons of the Trinity is comprehended, I fliall infift upon the dif- 
 tindlion between " God and the Father" here, and maintain that they 
 have diftinft meanings alfo, and that the Father is therefore not intended by 
 the word God in this doxology. — But in that cafe the word God is with- 
 ^ out any meaning at all. To this I anfwer, that it has a meaning, and figni- 
 "Vies the Son, our Lord Jefus Chrift, to whom, as well as to the Father, glory 
 is afcribed. I give Mr. Lindfey his choice how he will interpret 5 for, let 
 Kirn take it either way, the divinity of our Lord follows, 
 
[ '8« ] 
 
 In the Jewlfli ritual, the neccfljty of repeating the 
 facrifice is made ufe of as a proof 9f the infufficiency of 
 any Tingle victim, to eflablifh thofe who came to the 
 altar: for, had any one offering been anfvvcrable to fo 
 great an end, the daily facrifice had been taken away, 
 that work for which it had been appointed being finifh- 
 cd. Jufl fuch is the cafe with Mr. Lindfey's argu- 
 ments ; the facrifice of to-day manifefled the weaknefs 
 of the facrifice of yeflerday ; and the ofi^ering now 
 made upon the altar of fophiflry, manifefls the infuf- 
 ficiency of that which has preceded it, to ellablifli the 
 votar)^, that do(3:rine, of which he irands the pricfl: ; it 
 acknowledges the weaknefs of the priefthood, and that 
 it is not faultlefs ; like that of the Jews, therefore, I 
 entertain a chearful hope that the v/hole fhall at length 
 vaniih away. This gentleman, accordingly, very juft- 
 ly confidering all that he has already urged as no argu- 
 ment at all, proceeds to infinuate, rather than fay, 
 (for he has not put it into fo many words) that the 
 juniStion of the name of Chriil, in doxologies and be- 
 nedidions, with the name of God, which is invoked 
 or glorified in them, does not aiFord any proof that Je- 
 fus Chrift is God, bccaufe that to their names fome- 
 times other names alfo are joined. Kad the fa<Sl been 
 as here ftated, I fhould have allowed it fome weight, 
 and therefore looking on it as material, I did literally 
 *' fearch the fcriptures," and throughout could find but 
 that one inftance in which Mr. Lindfey has exemplified 
 the rule. It is the benedidion of St. John in the firft 
 chapter and fourth verfe of the Revelation, " Grace be 
 unto you, and peace from him which was, and which 
 is, and which is to come, and from the foven fpirits, 
 which are before his throne ; and from Jefus Chrift," 
 Rev. i. 4, 5. And here it mufl: be granted, that unlefs 
 the kven fpirits be God alfo, the junction of the name 
 of Jefus Chrift is not a proof that he is God ; but I 
 
 may 
 
[ i82 ] 
 
 niay poflibly furprize Mr. Lindfey by an afTurance that 
 thefe fcven fpirits alfo are God ; and this is a pofi- 
 tion eafily explained to any man who remembers that 
 «' Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord*;" '* The 
 feven fpirits are the eyes of the Lamb f ;" and grace, 
 in the eyes of the Lamb, is furely a bleffing devoutly 
 to be implored, when we confider who that Lamb is, 
 even our Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf, " the Lord of 
 Lords ;" and when we refleil on the advantages that 
 accrued to Noah from his baving found favour in his 
 eyes before. According to Mr. Lindfey's mode of ar- 
 guing, we might as well declare that St. Paul meant to 
 diftinguifh between God and the hands of God, when 
 he fays, " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of 
 the living God," Heb. x. 31. For, if thefe terms be 
 not only different appellations of the fame Being, I wiH 
 then allow that to find grace from God, and from the 
 eyes of God, have likewife diftinft meanings. 
 
 This is the only benediction againft which this 
 charge isl^rought, and I hope I have fhewed its inabr- 
 lity to affect the Godhead of our blefled Lord ; had it 
 been proved I fhould have allowed it an argument, as 
 it is true that God alone is the fountain whence grace 
 and mercy can flow, and from which alone the apoftles, 
 with the fpirit of truth, could feek to draw them : but 
 furely if the names of other Beings be found joined 
 with that of God in the performance of acftions, of 
 which other Beings are capable, it can never be ad- 
 mitted an argument againft the divinity of Chrift, 
 whofe name is often found joined with God, and in- 
 voked to perform actions of which God alone is capa- 
 ble. To Timothy St. Paul fays, " I charge thee be- 
 fore God and the Lord Jefus Chrift, and the daSi an- 
 gels," I Tim. v. 21 ; and on this paffage Mr. Lind- 
 fey 
 * Gen. vi. 8. f Revj v. 6. 
 
[ i83] 
 
 fey makes the fame obfervation as that above, faying^ 
 *' the angels being here joined with God and Chrift, 
 fhews that when God is joined with other Beings in 
 the moft folemn manner, no equality can be inferred 
 from fuch a conjun6lioni" Apology, p. 107. Now I 
 deny that God is in this inllance joined with other Be- 
 ings in the moft folemn manner, the conferring of a 
 charge upon Timothy was an a6i of which every Be- 
 ing, upon whom God had bellowed the powers of dif- 
 cernment, was a proper and competent witnefs before 
 whom he fliould confer it, and therefore, had the apo- 
 flle joined man and every intelligent nature to the name 
 of God, and of Jefus Chrift, and the elcft angels, it 
 could not in the Icaft derogate from the dignity of God, 
 or ever be interpreted as conferring upon them a claim 
 to Godhead. That it fliould argue againft Chrift's di- 
 vinity, it is necelTary to fliew that it proves too much, 
 and therefore nothing, and that too-much, which it 
 is fuppofed to prove, is, that the angels are God alfo ; 
 but does any fuch confequence follow ? Certainly not j 
 and therefore this moft folemn conjuncStion cannot im- 
 peach the divinity of our Lord. I do not defire the aid 
 of this verfe in proof of our Saviour's Godhead, there 
 being no greater power called into exercife than that of 
 witnefiing a charge to which the w^itnefs of God will 
 add folemnity indeed, but which is an act that he has 
 oiven power to inferior natures to perform. " Ye arc 
 my witneftes, and God alfo," i Theft', ii. 10, fays St. 
 Paul : now which does this moft folemn conjunction 
 of God and the Theflalonians prove, the Theflalonian< 
 to be God, or God a Theflalonian ? Neither one nor 
 the other; for the conduft of Paul, which he called 
 upon God and them to teftify to be juft and holy, was 
 performed equally before God and them, and they be- 
 ing endowed with adequate faculties, were therefore 
 equally competent witneftes of it. But with refpeCl to 
 
 the 
 
[ i84] 
 
 the palTage before us, the apoftle, about to fend forth 
 a preacher of the gofpel of Jefus Chrift, and recom- 
 mending perfeverance and conflancy in " the teftimo- 
 ny of our Lord," has^ with peculiar accuracy, feleiled 
 the witneiTes to his charge to Timothy, remembering 
 that Jefus Chrill, coming to judgement, is to be attend- 
 ed by the holy angels, who are therefore on that day, 
 when all flcih jQiall be aflembled before God, to be 
 witnefles to the manifeflation of all the hidden things, 
 and the counfels of all hearts : before them there- 
 fore Paul has judicioufly chofen to give his charge, 
 as in their prefence Timothy well knew he fhould 
 in the end render an account of his apoftlefliip, and, 
 according to the difcharge of his holy function, 
 ** have praife of God," or *' be made a fpedtacle to 
 angels," i Cor. iv. 9 ; for Jefus Chrift has himfelf 
 faid, " whofoever fhall confefs me before men, hirrt 
 fhall the Son of man alfo confefs before the angels of 
 God," Luke xii. 8. &c. 
 
 I have now brought to an end, not indeed the whole 
 of the evidence of our Saviour's divinity afforded by 
 the fcriptures, but the whole of that which I intend 
 to produce; for, "if they fhould be written every 
 one, I fuppofe that even the world could not contain 
 the books that fliould be written," Somewhere how- 
 ever I muft paufe, and therefore confider myfelf as 
 well warranted to do fo now, as I fliould be after a 
 much more voluminous work : for, to my apprehenfion, 
 I have already exhibited proof amply fufficicnt to efta- 
 blifh my point, and therefore fmcerely hope for the 
 concurrence of my intelligent, and not " unlearned 
 reader," in this conclufion from the whole, namely, 
 that our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift is with the Fa- 
 ther the one " firft and laft, which was dead and is 
 
 alive 
 
[ i8s] 
 
 alive for evermore, the Almighty, befides whom there 
 is ho God," If. xliv. 6. Rev. i. 8, and ii. 8. 
 
 I by no means confider every one of the fcriptural 
 proofs which I have made ufe of, as equally able to 
 fuftain the argument by itfelf j for fome among them 
 hiay be of difputable interpretation, but at the fame 
 time, being united with fuch as are incontrovertible, 
 (for many fuch I am bold to declare there are) they 
 borrow light from them, and ftrength to fupport their 
 part of the burden : but let me carry this idea to 
 the utmoft, and fuppofe every aflertion that Chrift is 
 God, which I have brought from fcripture, confuted 
 and fhewed to be mifapplied, one only excepted, 
 that one to which no anfwer can be given mull remain 
 as compleat a proof of our Saviour's divinity as ten 
 thoufand repetitions of it could afford; for all fcrip- 
 tures being written by infpiration, there is no afiertion 
 for the truth of which God himfelf is not refponfible, 
 and that which God has once faid requires no farther 
 confirmation : but if it be found that he has once de- 
 clared the Godhead of Jefus Chrift, that fait is im- 
 mutably eftablifhed ; and being eftabliftied, may well 
 be allowed a matter of fufficient importance to be fre- 
 quently referred to, nay, (though not necefTarily for 
 the confirmation of God's truth, yet for the more ex- 
 tenfive information of mankind) to be frequently re- 
 peated. If then many texts in fcripture, upon incon- 
 teftible proof of Chrift's Godhead from any one, ad- 
 mit of an eafy interpretation by referring them to that 
 great truth, why fliould we hefitate to interpret them 
 by it, inftead of wrefting them to fenfes that they will 
 not endure; Procruftes-like, torturing them down to 
 the diminutivTs bulk of our own imaginations; and 
 thereby rendering the word of God, which alone is 
 true ^id wife, inexplicable and inconfiftent with itfelf ? 
 A a It 
 
[ i86 ] 
 
 It is only the fa^s which are revealed, and not the man- 
 ner of relating the fa(£ts contained in fcripture, that are 
 faid to be to the Greeks foolifhnefs; were the relation 
 inconfiftent with itfelf, it would be juftly chargeable 
 with folly before God himfelf, who cannot lye. That 
 folly which St. Paul apprehends the Greeks will lay to 
 the charge of his gofpel, is, that it did not coincide 
 with their doftrines. Inconfiftency with itfelf is incon- 
 fiftency with God, who fees things only as they really 
 are, and confequently not as they are not ; whereas in- 
 confiftency with my opinion may be wifdom, though to 
 me foolifhnefs; for I may have feen things as they are 
 not, or not have feen them as they really are. What 
 God relates cannot be but true ; he cannot relate con- 
 tradictions; our belief therefore is not required to con- 
 tradidllons. A God crucified in the flefh, in which he 
 had humbly taken the form of a fervant, and fubmitted 
 to feel the infirmities of man, was, to the philofophical 
 religion of the Greeks, foolifhnefs indeed; for, with it, 
 it was altogether inconfiftent ; but it was neverthelefs 
 the wifdom of God, and the power of God unto falva- 
 tion to every one that believeth. To the Jews, who 
 had long known the one true God, and who had expe- 
 rienced profperity or adverfity as his mighty arm was 
 ftretched out to lead or to chaftife them, the bleeding 
 body of our Lord fufFering death under their own hands, 
 was indeed a ftumbling-block; for it was altogether in- 
 confiftent with their idea of the Almighty Jehovah. A 
 plurality of perfons in the God who had declared his 
 name to be ** one," was to the Jews an unfurmountable 
 difficulty; it tranfcended their faculties, and, as they 
 conceived themfelves in pofiefllonof a full acquaintance 
 with the incomprehenfible nature of their Maker, it 
 was altogether inconfiftent with their vain prefump- 
 tions. To the Jew and to the Unitarian it is alike a 
 ftumbling-block, ** For uKqueftion.ibly the Trinity is 
 
[ "87 ] 
 
 one of thofe do£lrines that prejudice them moft againtt 
 chriftianity," Apology, p. 88. 
 
 If it be afked, as indeed it is, though not in direct 
 terms, why a fa<Sl: of fuch great importance to us to be- 
 lieve is not laid down in fo many words, by the wit- 
 neflcs of our Lord, in any of their epiftles ? it is not 
 difEcult to give an anfwer to fuch as will confider, that 
 the epiftles were written to men already in poffeffion of 
 it J not with a view of introducing them to a new ob- 
 je£l of faith, but of eftablifhing them in a faith already 
 imparted ; for, not to infift upon the circumftance of 
 Paul's having vifited all thofe people to whom he after- 
 wards addreffed his epiftles, the Romans and the Co- 
 loffians excepted ; nor to weary my lefs adtive reader 
 by taking him in purfuit of this vigilant apoftle through 
 all the dangers that he encountered for the fake of 
 propagating " the gofpel of God our Saviour" in every 
 region ; I can prove, from internal evidence, that he 
 only wrote to thofe who had already obtained grace to 
 be faithful, and who therefore nejfled not that he fhould 
 now inftrud: them in the object of their faith. From 
 Corinth, where he had firft known and taught Aquila 
 and Prifcilla, he wrote to the Romans; and when he 
 wrote his epiftle to them, Aquila and Prifcilla were at 
 Rome, for he falutes them there. To thefe fellow 
 labourers of Paul, Apollos was indebted for his know- 
 ledge of the gofpel: it is therefore highly probable 
 that fo faithful and diligent preachers of the word had 
 not been inactive in bearing the teftimony of our Lord 
 to the Romans alfo; for Paul direils h;s letter to them 
 in the following terms: '* To all that be at Rome, be- 
 loved of God, CiJled to be faints, and whofe faith is 
 fpoken of throughout the whole vvorld," Rom, i. 7, 8. 
 If fuch was their faith already, to what end fhould the 
 objedl of it be pointed out anew j but perfevtrance and 
 A a 2 coji- 
 
[ j88] 
 
 conftancy were indeed properly to be recommended, 
 and a ftedfaft adherence to that which they had known. 
 He had already planted j his objedt now was to w^tcr 
 only; to cultivate and aflift the growth of the infant 
 gofpel; to caufe it to extend its boughs; to gather th^ 
 faithful under its peaceful ihade; and to point out to 
 their obfervation the bleffed fruit with which the 
 branches of this tree of life were laden, faying, in the 
 day that thou eateft hereof thou fhalt furely live. To 
 the Corinthians he wrote from Philippi, and addreffes 
 himfelf ** to them that are fandlified in Chrift Jefus, 
 called to be faints with all that in every place call 
 upon the name of Jefus Chxift our Lord, both theirs 
 and ours," i Cor. i. 2. Is not this a dired: acknow- 
 Jedgment that they were already well informed, and 
 needed not now to be told that he, on whofe name 
 they called, the obje6l of their religious worfhip, even 
 Jefus Chrift, their Lord and ours, was one with the 
 Father, God ? This he had taught them before when 
 he was prefent, and had baptized Crifpus and Gaius 
 among them ; and to >hat end fhould he now renew 
 the fuperfluous information ? The Galatians he chides, 
 ,not indeed for having relinquifhed the gofpel which he 
 had before preached to them, but for having liftened to 
 fome who had endeavoured to introduce the ceremonies 
 of the law into the practice of chriftianity. To thefe 
 therefore he is more explicit, as they were perverted, 
 and that it was neceflary to bring them back; and 
 though he does not, in direft terms, declare the God- 
 head of our Saviour, he ufes words very nearly fynoni- 
 mous, words fully fufficient to recall former know- 
 ledge, and revive the memory of what he had before 
 communicated ; for he fays, that *' he was not taught the 
 gofpel of Chrift by man, but by the revelation of Jefus 
 Chrift; that he had himfelf once been as zealous of the 
 law, as they could now be, but that, notwithftanding 
 
 he 
 
[ i89 ] 
 
 he had, through Zeal for the traditions of the Jews, 
 perfecuted the church of God : being now called to be 
 a fervant of Jefus Chrift, he faw and preached that 
 juftification came by faith in Chrift, and not by fuch 
 works as are enjoined by the flefhly ordinances of the 
 law," Gal. i. In his epiftle to the Ephefians, to whom 
 he wrote from Rome, after he had been tranfmitted 
 thither by Feftus, and fome years after his laft vifit to 
 them, he fays, " I ceafe not to give thanks for you, 
 after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jefus," Eph i. 
 For the faith of the Philippians alfo he thanks God, 
 and diredls his epiftle *' to all the faints in Chrift Je- 
 fus, which are at Philippi," Philip, i. To them and 
 to the Coloflians he v/rote while a prifoner at Rome, 
 and to thefe latter he addreft'es himfelf " to the faints 
 and faithful brethren in Chrift, which are at Colofle," 
 " we give thanks to God fmce we heard of your faith 
 in Chrift Jefus," Colof. i. * At Thefialonica Paul was 
 feverely treated by the unbelieving Jews, who, after 
 his departure, not only purfued him to Bcrea, but con- 
 tinued to perfecute the few of their own countrymen 
 who had believed, and " conforted with Paul and Silas :" 
 to this little " church of the Theflalonians, which is in 
 God the Father, and in the Lord Jefus Chrift;" it is 
 that St. Paul writes, " remembering without ceafmg 
 their work of faith, as they had become followers of 
 the Lord, having received the word with much afflic- 
 tion, wherefore they were enfamplcs to all that believe," 
 I Theft', i. I. Now the word of God which Paul had 
 preached at Theflalonica, and for v/hich he was driven 
 out, was charged againft him by his perfecutors, to 
 have been his " faying, contrary to the decree of 
 C?efar, that there is another King, one Jefus j" fo that 
 we find, that, though to a faithful people, he did not 
 think it neceftary to tell what was the objedl of their 
 faith, which it is probable Paul was of opinion they 
 Ads xvil. knew 
 
[ ^90 ] 
 
 knew themfelves; he neverthelefs on hi's firft vifit let 
 them into an acquaintance with the one meaning of 
 the words God and Chriji^ and that Jefus Chrift is with 
 the Father, the one God, the Lord of hofts, the Kivg of 
 glory. Timothy and Titus he calls " his own fons after 
 the faith j" and we well know that they had accompani- 
 ed, and afliiled him in diftufmg the light of the gofpel ; 
 his epiftles to them contain a charge to '' bear the tefti- 
 mony of our Lord," and a rule for their demeanor as 
 men appointed to fo great a truft. His letter to Phile- 
 mon, *'^ his dearly beloved fellow labourer," feems little 
 more than of a private nature. The obje£t of this " Jew 
 of Tarfus," in writing to his own countrymen the 
 Hebrews, is to remove their adherence to the law of 
 Mofes, which was the grand obftru£tion to their be- 
 lief, and to fhew that^ it was not, as they conceived, 
 altogether profitable, and therefore not immutably 
 permanent, but that it might be done away; and this 
 even according to their own prophets, to which he 
 therefore refers them. It is not my purpofe here to 
 paraphrafe the epiilles of this great preacher of Jefus 
 Chrift; it anfwers my end to fhew that there is a fuf- 
 ficient reafon for his not having fummed the dodlrine, 
 which he conveys in them, into the one fhort propo- 
 rtion, that " Jefus Chrift is one with the Father, 
 God." It feems to be the intention of ** James, a 
 fervant of God, and of the Lord Jefus Chrift," to 
 comment on the epiftles of St. Paul, and to ftand up 
 againft the mifreprefentations of the unlearned and un- 
 ftable, who wrefted fuch things as were hard to be un- 
 derftood in them to their own deftru£tion. He did 
 not undertake to point out an obje<3: of faith, but to 
 fhew *' with what refpecl we fl^ould have the faith of 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Lord of glory;" he prefup- 
 pofes the faith of his hearers, and is grafting the mo- 
 rality of a Chriftian upon it; he oppofes himfelf to 
 
 fome- 
 
[ '9' ] 
 
 fomething very like modern methodifm, built upon an 
 erroneous acceptation of St. Paul's dotSlrine of juftifi- 
 cation by faith alone; fhews that the works which that 
 apoftle precludes are the ceremonies of the law, as in- 
 confiftent with the liberty of the gofpel, but that, by 
 works of " pure and undefiled religion, fpotlefs and 
 benevolent before God, the faith in our blefled Re- 
 deemer is made perfe(5l," he prefcribes, not what faith 
 we (hould entertain, but how we fhould entertain that 
 of which we were before poflefTed. Peter writes to the 
 '' ele6l, who, not having feen Chrift, yet love him ; 
 who believe, and therefore rejoice with unfpeakable 
 joy full of glory ;" and this " fervant of Jefus Chrift" 
 addrefles his fecond epiftle '* to them that have ob- 
 tained like precious faith with us, through the righte- 
 oufnefs of our God and Saviour Jefus Chrift,*' 2 Pet i* 
 I, For fo it ftands (not in the French perhaps, but) 
 in the Greek, as the margin of our Bible alfo acknow- 
 ledges. St. John writes his firft epiftle, ** not becaufe 
 ye know not the truth, but becaufe ye know it," 
 I John ii. 21; and then proceeds to eftablifli his hear- 
 ers againft thofe who feduce them, by docl:rines which 
 hardly differ from the dire£l propofition ; but of which 
 I have already taken notice. He rejoices greatly that 
 the " eledl lady," to whom he dire6ls his fecond 
 epiftle, and Gaius, to whom he addrefles his third, 
 "walk in the truth." "St. Jude, the fervant of Je- 
 fus Chrift," v> rites '* to them that are fandified by 
 God the Father, and preferved in Jefus Chrift, and 
 called," and declares the fufficiency of once deli- 
 vering the faith. To what end now ftiould any one 
 of the apoftles, in direct terms impart the divinity 
 of our blefled Lord, when every perfon, to whom 
 they wrote, was already apprized of the fa<5l ? But 
 it may be faid that they wrote for the information 
 of pofterity, as well as of thofe to whom they more 
 
[ 192 ] 
 
 immediately addrefled themfelves, and that therefore 
 they fhould have done it. And have they not fufficiently 
 done it? have they not fufficiently revealed it to fuch 
 as will, in obedience to the precept of our Lord him- 
 felf, "fearch the fcriptures"? When 1 hear that there is 
 but one God ; when 1 hear our Saviour, in the vail 
 of the fiefh, fay, " FatKer, if it be poffible let this 
 cup pafs away from me ;" and when knowing that 
 Jefus Chrift died for our rederhption, I hereby " per- 
 ceive the love of God, becaufe he laid down his life for 
 us," I John iii. i6: what need have I of a farther ex- 
 planation to enable me to form the proportion myfelf', 
 and fay that as the Father is God, and as the Son is 
 God, and yet as there is but one God, the Son, even 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift, is therefore one with the Fa- 
 ther, that one God. But it may ftill be objeded, that 
 we fee the apoftles frequently, on their firfl appearance 
 among the different people to whom they preached, and 
 that therefore we might expe£l to hear the fad related 
 exprefsly in their A(Ss5 and do we riot? has not Paul 
 charged the Ephefian elders at Miletus " to feed the 
 church of God, which he hath purchafed with his own 
 blood ?" A(5ts XX. 28. Was not every prefcript made 
 by the apoftles, made to all that would hear the word ? 
 and were not the doctrines delivered by them to any 
 one church, written for the profit of all ? and was not 
 that which was delivered to all of that generation, 
 written in one code, and tranfmitted through time for 
 our ufe and information ? That code is the Bible; and 
 from the whole of the Bible, this one propofition is to 
 be deduced j the whole Bible therefore, and nothing 
 lefs than the whole, is to be pronounced the gofpel or 
 teftimony of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, and thence it 
 is, that this propofition is as deducible as any conclu- 
 sion refulting from any premifes, even in the mathema- 
 tics 
 
t 193 ] 
 
 deal I^lements of Euclid, namely, that Jefus Chrift is 
 one with the Father, God, 
 
 I fhall, for the future, confider my point as proved j 
 and therefore admitted, and henceforward addrefs my- 
 felf more dire6lly to Mr. Lindfey's book, and weigh 
 the objecSlions which he has made to our Saviour's Divi- 
 nity; and as I have but little doubt that 1 (hall be able 
 to (hew thefe wanting in the balance, I fhall difmifs 
 them with what expedition I poffibly can. He tells us 
 that there were very early hercfie?; in the church ; and 
 in the next pailage fays, that " all Chrijiian people fot 
 tipivards of three hundred years after Chrijf^ till the coUrt' 
 cil of Nice^ were generally Unitarians *." I do not 
 mean to enter the lifts with this gentleman on the 
 ground of ecclcftaftical hiftory in general ; but in this 
 point I will dare to meet him, and I will not ufe " the 
 authorities of men, which are nothing. It is holy 
 fcripture alone which can decide this important point, 
 and to that we liiuft make our final appeal f." To 
 that I do appeal ', and thence I learn, and think that 
 even I have thence rendered it evident, that not one 
 of the apoftles of our Lord was an Unitarian. The 
 firft of thefe three centuries then I muft ufe the liberty 
 of taking away from Mr. Lindfey's bold and unfup- 
 ported aflertion ; for to the clofe of it was the life of the 
 beloved difciple of Jefus Chrift extended j and there- 
 fore a// Chriftian men were not Unitarians: but per- 
 haps the lefs extenfive word *' generally ' came into the 
 latter end of the fentence as a faving terrti, and with 
 intention to fubtra£l from ** all" in the commence- 
 ment of it, and fo to leave St. John the remainder j 
 a fmgle inftance of a retrograde character, who, not- 
 withftanding the weight of general example, very ob- 
 B b ftinately 
 
 « Apology, p. Z4' t Apology, p. 25. 
 
t 194 ] 
 
 iiinately perfilled in the belief of the fpifit of truth^ 
 from whom he had learned a contrary doiStrine. Holy 
 fcripture is filent with refi>eft to the two fucceedinc;' 
 centuries; I fhall therefore here decline the combat, 
 and fuppofe the fa£t to be as this gentleman has ftated 
 it, and, on that fuppofitiori, refer to what he has him- 
 felf faid, that, " at the firft planting of the gofpel a 
 crop of evil weeds, and wild opinions grew up, to- 
 gether Xvith the plant of heavenly truth" Apology, 
 p* 20 *. 
 
 *' DIftelief of the Trinity^ no blameable herefy," is 
 the marginal title of a fhort fetlion of Mr. Lindfey's 
 Apology. I fhall not enlarge on the merit or demerit 
 of belief in the doctrines of Chriftiamty, but muft fay, 
 that I look, upon a difbelief in the Trinity to be the 
 lame with a difbelief in Jefus Chrift, as revealed to us 
 in the holy fcriptures. 
 
 • 1 fhould be for'ry that any reader of my book fhould 
 Impute a fpirit of intolerance to me, becaufe I altogether 
 reject the teftimony of fire and faggot, undergone by fome 
 Unitarians in maintenance of their tenets. I have at leaft 
 equal compaflion for their fufFerings, with that which 
 Mr. Lindfey caft feel ; but as I cannot infer the truth 
 of their profeflion from their miferies, fo neither can I 
 admit the cruelty which in3i(£^ed them to be any argu- 
 ment of the falfehood of the religion emtraced, or ra- 
 ther profefled by their barbarous tormentors; for, if 
 this be infifted on to be of weight againft the profeflion 
 of faith in the Trinity, *' the tranfitory triumphs of the 
 Arians," notwkhftanding the brevity of their profpe- 
 
 rous 
 
 - - * I &ouId here aik Mr. Llndfey's pardon for the abridgment of his fecauti- 
 fu! metaphor, in which he has fowed light upon a bufy mind, and, inftead" 
 cf reaping a fine crop of young luminaries, has, on account of the rankne/s 
 of the foil, only been able to gather ia evil weeds and wild opinions of baie- 
 M /hade. 
 
[ 195 ] 
 
 ipus days, can furnifli me with means to make the op- 
 pofite fcale greatly preponderatt;. Were recrimination 
 my obje^i, or v/ere I to admit but for a moment, that 
 fufferings are of any value in evidence, good God I how 
 many witne/Tes might I call to prove the truth of the 
 dodtrines which 1 maintain! But why fhould I call? 
 from whom fhall I receive n:y anfwer? They are for 
 ever filent who £hou3d have rendered it; the poor dumb 
 mouths, which once eloquently poured fordi the doc- 
 trines of our Redeemer, now tongnielefs, can only 
 pour forth that blood which they have flied to leftiiy 
 their belief iji him. Yet even here I feek not a tefti- 
 raony of the truth of mj own tenets, nor of the falfe- 
 jbood of theirs, who, to fhun the confutation, pur 
 thofe to lilence u'ho could have uttered iL But as I 
 have treated of this inode of argument before, I ihall 
 now iinally difmifs it, with an aifurance to Mr, Lind- 
 fey, that I do, a* warmly as he can, compaffionate all 
 mea who have fuffered for their fnicerlty, and as ut- 
 terly abhor the execrable zeal of their infatuated pcrfe- 
 cutors as he caw polTibly do. 
 
 The immutable nature of truth can never be aff6<9:-- 
 ed, fhe remains equally fpotlefe, whether fhe be aflail- 
 cd by an ingenious opponent, or an abfurd advocate. 
 The ingenuity of lophifm is ia like manner unable to 
 alter the nature of f wifehood, neither can {he borrow 
 ilrength from the weakat-fs of her adverfary. To this 
 Ihort pcsfition I refer that great body of human autho- 
 rity cited by Mr. Lindfey^ and to which, however able 
 the men who fompofe it may be, I cannot pay any 
 r^peti whi3c they ibmd oppofed to the word of God. 
 To this head I alfo refer fuch abfurdities as that utter- 
 ed by Antelm, Archbifhop of Canterbury; the truth 
 rjsraaisicd unchanged, even tho' he abetted it with vio- 
 lence, i do not defire to have it cpplidexedthat every 
 B b 2 nian 
 
[ 196] 
 
 man who believes with me is therefore wife, and can 
 give a reafon for the faith that is in him. If I be found 
 a defedlive advocate myfelf, let not my deficiency be 
 transferred to my caufe. 
 
 Mr. Lindfey fays, " Authorities of men are nothing: 
 it is holy fcripture alone which can decide this impor- 
 tant point, and to that we muft make our final appeal," 
 Apology, p. 23. After this aflertion one might expedt 
 a candid enquiry into what the apoftles have faid upon 
 this important point. But here we are feverely difap- 
 pointed, and fcarce find a text quoted throughout his 
 book but at fecond hand ; nay, fcarce a page of origi- 
 nal writing through the whole work. Holy fcripture h 
 not once appealed toj and this fame Nothing, the au- 
 thorities of men, is the foundation of his fyftem ; and 
 fuch as the foundation is, fuch indeed is the fuperflruc- 
 ture. But all this is very foon accounted for, and a 
 perfectly new mode of argument is moft ingenioufly 
 devifed and introduced; and in the very next fentence 
 to that in which he makes the fcripture the final appeal, 
 he propofes that " the matter is to be put to the vote, 
 as it were." Now, though he never appeals to his final 
 appeal, he does not in the fame manner defert his own 
 darling invention ; but has inftant recourfe to as veiy 
 an eledtioneering trick as ever was played at Brent- 
 ford or Shoreham ; for he flatly aflures " the lefs learn- 
 ed" reader, that, upon enquiry, he fhall find that to be 
 undeniably true, which I have already (hewed to be un- 
 deniably fi^lfe ; namely, that *' all chriftian people for 
 upwards of three hundred years after Chrift, till the 
 council of Nice, were generally Unitarians." This is 
 a method of procuring votes with a witnefs; the whole 
 intereft of *' the lefs learned" is obtained at one bold 
 flroke; and in another pafiTage of his book he has foli- 
 cited the fufFrages of the abfolutely " unlearned j" and 
 
 having 
 
[ ^'il ] 
 
 having thus obtained the ear of the populace, he trum- 
 pets forth a multitude of names of men, and facrificei 
 every confideration of the authority of fcripture to the 
 eftablifhment of their authoriry with the unlearned 
 reader. To fome of thefe 1 will allow that he may 
 have done but juftice, and I will not difturb the afhes 
 of thoie on whom he has poured unmerited inccnfe. I 
 fear not his hoft of Unitarians, fo long as i am abetted 
 by the word of God, againft which he has arrayed 
 them. But in his diligent canvafs I am furprized that 
 he fhould think of the names of the Voltaires, the 
 Morgans, and the St. Johns ; does he mean to poll 
 thefe men too ? Are thefe the apoftles of the gofpel to 
 v^^hich Mr. Lindfey appeals ? But errour cannot, for- 
 footh, efcape their quick-fighted eyes ; I fmcerely be- 
 lieve it; they are a<5live in purfuing and embracing er- 
 rour, and I fhall therefore allow them well qualified to 
 vote with him on this occafion. But when did their 
 quick-fightcd eyes difcover or purfue truth ? In a few 
 pages after we are aftoniftied at feeing David Hume ad- 
 vance to give his fufFrage in the conteft ; his vote, 
 however, I muft admit to be unexceptionable; he is 
 excellently qualified to abet Mr. Lindfey's tenets, hav- 
 ing undertaken to fubvert the religion and liberties of 
 this country. Whenever the bonds of religion are 
 loofed, and the reftriiRiions of confcience taken away, a 
 fubftitute muit be found to con^roul mankind, and an 
 earthly tyrant be cftablifhed on the throne of a depofed 
 God, to bind in fetters thofe hands which have rejcdled 
 the eafy yoke of their Creator, and emancipated thcm- 
 felvcs from obedience to the mild fway of their merci- 
 ful Redeemer. Thus far the cunning, for I cannot 
 call it the manly underftanding, of Mr. Hume, has 
 been able to penetrate „ and accordingly, when with 
 talents exactly adequate to mifchief, propenfities to put 
 them into exercife, and a difpofition to enjoy the per- 
 petrated 
 
[ 198 ] 
 
 |>etFated crime, he has, by fhallow fophiftry, feduced 
 mankind into the paths of vice ; he rufhes on the vil- 
 lain he has mads, and, like Jonathan Wild, configns 
 to chains the wretch who has delcrved them from his 
 own pcrfuafion. When, as an effayeft, with jufl 
 enough of art to withhold a fraud from the eyes of an 
 indolent or willing reader, he has obliterated every 
 virtue by which we can deferve or enjoy freedom, and 
 has rendered the heart of an Englifhman no ftrenuous 
 foe to dlefpotifm, he becomes the voluminous pamphle- 
 teer of the Stuarts, and, with juft enough of plaufibili- 
 ty to conceal a falfehood from one who has no longer 
 an intereft in detecting it, to the confenting flave points 
 out the acceptable tyrant, and to the tyrant the hands 
 which he has fitted to his chains *. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 ^ I may fecm here to have flepped put of my way unneceflarily j I caur 
 not, however, admit that I have. The peace and tranquillit)- of mankind 
 are my objeft, and to the maintenance of them it is neceflary that I fhould 
 iirike at their enemies as they crofs me, and put my fcUow creatures oh 
 their guard againft the invader of their happinefs ; fuch I confider Mr. Hume 
 to be, and accordingly poii^t him 0141 as a Being that has waged etjtnal war 
 with the welfare of mankind, both here and hereafter ; who has untied, or, 
 rather like a rat, nibbied at, the bonds of religious dnty, that a neceflity 
 might thence arife of impofing the manacles of civil flavery ; who frees us 
 from our God that he may enthral us to man 5 infitch the hcavieft ills upon 
 us in this life, and with a mcrcilefs hand tears away that hope of a future 
 recompenfe, which was the only confolation that remained to the uTCtch he 
 had enflaved. — Let it rot be faid that, in what he has done to thefe ends, 
 he is himfelf alfo deceived. No man can ignorantly falfify in the relation of 
 iropoitant hiftoxical fa£U 5 he tiiercfore who has fo faifjfied amii have done 
 it knowingly, and he xyho is capable of irppofing known filfehpod upon the 
 public ear, is capable of broaching known fophifms; but this man has by 
 falfehood ftruck at our liberties, and, by premeditated fophiftry, at our religion. 
 The ncceflTity of their aid to the promotion of his delign, is no mean prool? 
 of our right to enjoy the invaluable bleffings of freedom and hope, and ar- 
 gues them to ftand upon the firm bafis of truth; and furety that he has had 
 reourfe to them for Aich a purpofe as that of fubvcrting all human felicity, 
 i^ a fufiicient reafon for us to defpife die wretch whofe treachery and malice 
 piepenfc has aimed a blov/ againfi: our religious and civil rights — When I 
 hjvc juft repeated thatl look upon our liberty to be fo intimately conne<fle4 
 »-fth oar virtue, and our virtue with the religion of the gofpcl, that, on the 
 
[ ^99 ] 
 
 Mr. Whifton may give his voice for Mr. Lindfeyi 
 he preferred the npojhltcal conititutions to the canoni- 
 cal books of the New Teftament, declared them mord 
 facred and quite divine, becaufe they favoured his Ari- 
 an fentiments *. This book was written in the fourth 
 century; and, as it teaches a do<Strine not found in the 
 fcripturesi has, from this apojhlic old man, obtained a 
 preference. But I Ihall ceafe to purfue this idea farther j 
 for, however deferving of ridicule Mr. Lindfey's argu- 
 ment may be, the fubjecl calls on me to be ferious, 
 
 Mr. Lindfey dwells upon the prejudices of mankind 
 taken in with their nurfes milk, upon doftrines darken- 
 ed and perplexed by early prepofleffions. It is true, 
 and I thank God and my pious parents for it, that, 
 with my nurfe's milk, I did imbibe the dodlrine which 
 I now maintain ; and at the fame time I embibed a 
 belief, that grafs was green, that fire was hot, that fnow 
 was cold, and that two and two make four. With 
 fuch various errours was my infancy turned afide from 
 truth, and fo radically have they been eftabliflied in 
 my mind by education, that I have never fince that 
 fatal time, when my inftru<Slors cruelly took advantage 
 of my fufceptible and tender years, been able to com- 
 prehend that clear evidence which is of force to fet 
 afide fuch abfurdities. This childifti and common- 
 place objedion to the truth, becaufe it was early 
 known, does not deferve a ferious refutation. If the 
 fcriptures afford a fufficient teftimony now, is it an 
 argument to the contrary of that which they teftify, 
 that our teachers have read and aflented to them, and 
 that they have thought the word of God fit to be 
 
 com- 
 
 <>verthrow of the latter, one ttndjftinguiflied ruin muft overwhelm them all 
 together, my indignation will prolwbly meet not the paiioo only, but th'^ 
 apfirobation of fome of my countrymen. 
 * Apology, p. 6?. 
 
[ 200 ] 
 
 comfnunicated to their children ? But I will now puf 
 a qucftion to Mr. Lindfey, to which, if he does not 
 find the anfwer on the furface of his heart, let him 
 fearch the inmofl: recciles of it, and thence inform me^ 
 whether even his difintereflsd condu£l, whether the 
 do6lrine of Unitarianifm, of which he is the ftrenu-' 
 ous advocate, are purfued by him without one preju- 
 dice ? I do not fpeak of thofe which are inftilled by 
 education, but others v/hich, perhaps, he has not 
 found fo conquerable. This, however, is a delicate 
 point, and muft not be purfued farther. I mean not 
 to wound nor diminifh the public regard of this worthy 
 gentleman, but choofmg to put my rule by an inftancc, 
 rather than in a general way, have fixed upon his name, 
 as afix)rding me an argument a fortiori in its behalf. 
 
 Such objetSlions as turn mcerly upon words I fhall 
 leave unanfwered, they merit contempt and not confix 
 deration ; but I muft ihow that, upon fuch a fuppo- 
 fition as the exiftence of the Trinity, that chain of 
 abfurdities and contradictions, which Mr. Lindfey 
 thinks would follow, are by no means the natural 
 confequence of the doilrine : there may be much that 
 Mr. Lindfey cannot look into, I grant it; but did 
 God take council of Mr. Lindfey ; or has he revealed 
 himfelf to him as he did to the apoftles and prophets ? 
 Biftiop Pcarfon's words keep the firft and fecond per- 
 fons in the Trinity diftindt ; the Father and the Son 
 are not faid in the fcriptures to be jointly one Father, 
 or one Son, but they are declared to be one God* 
 And as to the aflertion, that we who join in the foui* 
 invocations, at the beginning of the litany, can be 
 but ill defended againft the charge of holding four 
 Gods, to wit, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghoft, 
 and the Trinity, (declared by him to be a fourth intel- 
 ligent agejit) ; it is about as wifely put as if we fhould 
 
 fay. 
 
[ 201 J 
 
 fay, that the government of Rome was adminiftered, 
 tiot by three, but by four men, to wit, 06tavius, Le- 
 pidus, Anthony, and the Triumvirate, *' which is the 
 t^' '. oft confufion imaginable." Apology, p. 124. 
 
 To the cofifequences of offering up divine honour to 
 Jefus Chrift our Lord, which are brought together in 
 the 136th page of the Apology, I oppofe all that i have 
 already brought in proof of the one Godhead of the Fa- 
 ther and the Son ; for this one pofition being admitted, 
 Our Saviour has directed prayer to be made to himfelf. — ; 
 There is authority for fo doing in the writings of the 
 apoftles.— The objedl of our worfliip is not inferior to 
 the Father, with whom he is one God ; — and there- 
 fore there never can be a diftradion in the mind of the 
 fober worfliippcr, who, holding in fane memory the 
 unity of the Godhead of the Father, and of our Lord 
 Jefus Chrift, vvill never entertain '' a doubt, when he 
 is to pray to God, and when to Chrift, when it is 
 right, and when amifs to do it j" he will always find 
 one God the objcdl of his adoration, who, remember- 
 ing his mercies vouchfafed to man in the flefti, will 
 hear the prayer preferred to him, with gratitude and 
 reliance upon him, who has already fo gracioufly re- 
 deemed him by laying down his own life for him, 
 I John iii. 16. 
 
 Mr. Lindfey, having allowed that it is Jefus Chrift 
 who is to judge the world, by difallowing his God- 
 head, and confequently the diredlion of prayer to him, 
 has actually conferred upon God the Father, the office 
 of Mediator with Jefus Chrift, who is to judge us : for 
 if the Godhead be not in Chrift, our merits, of which 
 fio creature can have cognizance, are to be handed over 
 for his information ; and God the Father, to whom 
 alone they can be known, is to ftand forth before th« 
 C c feat 
 
[ 2^2 ] 
 
 feat of judgement, as our accufer or excufer : fo that 
 here we find a change of office between the Father and 
 the Son ; an abfurdity at leaft as great as any that ap- 
 pears to Mr. Lindfey's reafon, on the eftablilhment of 
 my tenets ; an ablurdity, in which no man can acqui- 
 efce, becaufe it contradicts the principles whence oiir 
 argument proceeds, and dire£lly oppofes itfelf to reve- 
 lation : whereas the difficulties arifmg from an acqui- 
 efcence in the do6lrine of our Saviour's divinity, are 
 only iti m.atters not fubmitted to reafon, and upon 
 which we never ftiould pronounce that the fa£ls are not 
 fo, becaufe we do not fee how they are fo with facul- 
 ties not equal to the intuition. 
 
 The argumenttrth ad abfurdum to which Mr. Lind- 
 fey's authors have frequent recourfe, is to be judged 
 of according to the nature of the abfurdity which it 
 would point out, as a confequence of admitting the 
 fa6t it is oppofed to ; and if that be only fuch, or faid 
 to be fuch, becaufe our reafon cannot folve it from its 
 incomprehcnfibility, it affords no confutation of the po- 
 fition it tries to confute : whereas, if the abfurdity re- 
 fult from inconfiftency with revelation, which mufl 
 fall upon its eflablifhment, it is a good argument ; no- 
 thing being to be admitted which can militate againil 
 the truth of God. This general rule, (a rule fo obvi- 
 ous, that nothing but having feen a book written with- 
 out any regard to it, could have induced me to fet it 
 down) the reader of Mr. Lindfey's Apology will do well 
 to hold conflantly in mind, for by referring what he 
 feads there to it, there is very little contained in the 
 book to which it does not afford a compleat anfwer. 
 
 Having believed the fcrlptures to be the revelation of 
 God, I have ever avoided the gloffes of commentators, 
 influenced by intcrefl or prejudice, and have made the 
 
 ' unperverte<^. 
 
[ 203 ] 
 
 uflperverted original my ftudy, in order thence to de- 
 rive a religion for myfelf, and I muft acknowledge that 
 I have often conceived, both from St. John's firffcepiftle, 
 and from feveral pafTages in the epilHes of St. Paul, 
 that they particularly oppofed themfelvcs to an opinion, 
 prevalent in their day, that Jefus Chrift had not come 
 in the flefh ; that he had not like infirmities arid temp- 
 tations as we have, but that the fenfes of mankind were 
 impofed upon by the appearance of a body only. But as 
 I have faid that the truth moft difficult to be conceived 
 by mankind is, not that God had defccnded to dwell on 
 earth, or that a man Jefus had lived on earth ; but that 
 an union of the two natures of God and of man had 
 fubfifted in Jefus Chrift, a man living among therrv, I 
 inferred the following conclufion, " that the apoftles 
 jhad preached him as God only, leaving it to their ovjii 
 knowledge of him, to prove that he was man ; that 
 having feen the power with which the teftimony of the 
 apoftles was attended, the hearers yielded credit to that 
 which they witneiTed, and forthwith acknowledged Je- 
 fus Chrift to be God : but that not being able to un- 
 derftand the compatibility of divine perfection and hu- 
 man imperfection, and therefore concluding that fuch 
 an union could not have fubfifted, they confidered their 
 fenfes impofed upon by an apparent body only, and re- 
 jeded their belief in the manhood of Chrift, not be- 
 lieving him to be man, whom they had acknowledged 
 to be God ; and that the apoftles, on feeing fuch a 
 dotStrine arife, found themfelves now under a neceftity 
 of preaching him as man, whom they had already 
 taught to be God, and obliged to make ufe of the tefti- 
 mony of the Holy Ghoft, to re-eftablifti a fad which 
 they had at firft left to the teftimony .of the fenfes ; a 
 teftimony which they had confidered as fufficient then, 
 but now faw fuperfeded by that of their preaching." 
 ^r. Lindfey has proved that I was not miftaken in this ; 
 C c 2 and 
 
[ 204 ] 
 
 and his account of thefe erroneous tenets is very coi- 
 refpondent to the idea which I had formed of them 
 from fcripture: for, of thofe who entertained them, 
 he fays, " They could not allow that a pure emana- 
 tion of deity, fuch as tjiey prefumed Chrift to be, 
 could have any connc6lion with fo impure a fubftance 
 as a human material body ; and fo they invented this 
 folution of the difficulty, that he was a man in appear- 
 ance only, and not in reality." Apology, p. 154. I 
 cannot, for my part, exceedingly wonder at the errour 
 into which thefe hearers fell ; for I frankly acknow- 
 ledge, that had I been a witnefs of the birth, life, 
 death, burial, refurreclion, and reafcenfion of Jefus 
 Chrift into heaven ; and had I afterwards heard him, 
 by the aflifted preaching of the apoftlps, declared to be 
 God ; the reality of that body, in which I had feen 
 him, and in which I had feen him a^L fuch a part, 
 would have come into fufpicion with me ; I fhould 
 have doubted of the reality of a body fo differently en- 
 dowed from the bodies of all other men : " metuiflcni 
 credere in carne natum, ne credere coa<5lus fuilfem ex 
 carne inquinatum," St. Auflin, quoted by Mr. Lind- 
 fey. Apology, p. 158, and I fhould have believed that 
 he was all God without manhood. But I fmcerely 
 Return thanks to the divine fpirit that has teflified 
 of the flefh of our blefTed atonement, and redeem- 
 ed me from an errour whereby my fpirit would have 
 been proved not to have been of God. I care not 
 to what Genus this Linnaeus of divinity, who has fo 
 fkilfully clafTed the opinions of mankind, will refer 
 me ; let him only remember that I do not now em- 
 brace fuch errours ; for that philofophy, by which I 
 ihould have faid that he who is God, is therefore not 
 man, is fuperfeded ; and I yield my faith obedient to 
 his word, whofe word alone is true ; and, by confe- 
 quence, I believe that Jefus Chrift is come " a maa 
 
 as 
 
[ 205 ] 
 
 ^3 Goncernlng the flcfh," and that he is alfo " ovfir all, 
 jGod blefled for ever." 
 
 The truth as fet forth in the fcriptures, I have z\\ 
 along acknowledged my reafon incapable to compre- 
 hend ; but Mr. Lindfey thinks it ought to be comprcr 
 henfible, and will not allow that God had a right 
 to retain a power greater than he has given us abili- 
 ties to fearch into; or wifdom, the exercife of which 
 he has not endowed us with a capacity to underftand ; 
 and therefore he thinks we had better reje£t all that 
 furpafles our faculties ; for, by fo doing, he is of opi- 
 nion that we fhould have a perfect union in the 
 church. Let us for a moment grant that we fhould 
 pbtain this union ; what is it ? An union in errour ; 
 and is fuch an union to be defired? is this the ob- 
 ject of his wifhes? does he look upon a concurrence 
 in falfehood as a compcnfation for rejected truth? 
 But the ruin of truth, he fays, and quotes Dr. Clay- 
 ton for it, is not likely to refult ; for the gates of hell 
 fhall never prevail againft the Chriftian religion. Thaj: 
 they never will is my fincere belief, and therefore 
 it is my fmcere belief, that Mr. Lindfey's propofed 
 union in errcur will nevpr take place; for, is the rejec- 
 tion of a point, on which nothing lefs than the eflence 
 of Chriftianity depends, is the denial of his divinity, 
 whom we worfhip, no fubverfion of his religion? I 
 think that the objedl of my worfhip, and of my reli- 
 gion is one ; and if my worfhip be deprived pf its ob- 
 jevSl, I know not where to find that of my religion ; 
 and fliould, on feeing " the King of kings" degraded 
 from the throne of his glory, the " God who purcha- 
 fed us with his own blood," torn from the fupplica- 
 tion of his adorers, then fay that the gates of hell had 
 prevailed againft his church; an event which I truft 
 that, of his infinite mercy, and according to his im- 
 
 iputable 
 
[ 206 ] 
 
 mutable promife, he will avert. But I fhall now re- 
 fume the conceflion I made, for a while, and oppofc 
 Mr. Lindfey's aflertion, that union would be the con- 
 fequence of a legal eftablifhment, or admiffion of his 
 tenets; for we of the church, as now eftablifhed, 
 might, in that cafe, think fit to be diffenters from his 
 doctrines, as he difTents now from ours. I know that, 
 for my part, I fhould oppofe them to the utmoft of my 
 power. But the true meaning of his words is eafily 
 pomprized in this fhort but profound propofition, That 
 if all mankind will agree with Mr. Lindfey, Mr. Lind- 
 fey will not difagree with all mankind : yet even this I 
 mufl: take the liberty to do^bt. 
 
 It is a very weak aflertion, that faith in the divinity 
 of Jefus Chrifl: leads to the admiffion of many objefts 
 of worfliip, and that the church of Rome has thence 
 taken occafion to adore the Virgin Mary, the apoflles, 
 and martyrs, and fuch other perfons as her own favour 
 has been pleafed to rank among her faints : for as the 
 ground of faith in Jefus Chrifl, as God, is by no 
 means pretended to be the ground for the adoration of 
 any befides him, it is not true that the faints are wor- 
 shipped, becaufe he is revealed to be God. Jefus Chrift 
 is revealed to be God ; the faints are not revealed to be 
 God : does it therefore follow that the faints are to be 
 worfhipped ? Certainly not. But very particular care 
 lias been taken to guard againft the adoration of the 
 Virgin Mary, and the aportles, and to prevent their 
 being confidered as proper obje£l:s of v^orfhip, though 
 fhe was declared blcfled among women, and they were 
 highly favoured above men, having been enrrufted with 
 the teflimony of Jefus Chrifl, who alfo wrought many 
 miracles by their hands in fupport of their witnefs. It 
 feems to have been with a view of preventing mankind 
 from looking upon fuch circurnJftanGes as a ground of 
 
 worfhip» 
 
[ ^o^ ] 
 
 ivorfhip, that our Saviour has, in more paflages than 
 one, fpoken with feeming difrefpedt (if I may dare to 
 ufe the expreflion of him who was without fm) to his 
 mother: *' woman, what have I to do with thee ?" 
 John ii. 4. " Who is my mother ?" Mark iii. 33. 
 Peter, when Cornelius met him and fell down at his 
 feet, and worfhipped him, " took him up, faying, 
 ftand up, I myfelf alfo am a man," A<3:s x. 25, 26. 
 And Paul and Barnabas, when they heard that the 
 prieft of Jupiter, with the people at Lyftra, would have 
 done facrifice unto them, " rent their deaths, and ran 
 in among the people, crying out, and faying, Sirsj 
 why do Y^ thefe things ? We alfo are men of like paf- 
 fions with you ; and yet with thefe fayings fcarce re- 
 ftrained they the people, that they had not done facri- 
 fice unto them," A<Sls xiv. 14, 15, 18. And even 
 the angel, than whom man is made a little lower, de- 
 clined the worftiip of St. John, faying, " I am thy 
 fellow fervant, and of thy brethren that have the tefti- 
 mony of Jefus, worlhip God," Rev. xix. 10. From 
 the exercife of miraculous power, from fupernatural 
 endowments, we find mankind eafily perfuaded to con- 
 clude divinity, or at leaft an adcable fuperiority in 
 thofe who are fo endowed. To guard againft this fa- 
 cility of fuperftition, and to (hew that from an abfolute 
 •revelation only we are to believe the divinity of any, 
 the feveral texts which I hat'e cited, feem to have been 
 written. It is true a revelation that Jefus Chiift is 
 God, one with the Father, conveys an idea different 
 from that of Mr. Lindfey, that the Father only is God, 
 and fo may afford an analogy, by which, faith, in a 
 multitude of perfons in the Godhead, might be facili- 
 tated, if revealed, but by no means a proof that there 
 are more perfons than are revealed : let us ftill remem- 
 ber the limits of reafon, and not perpetually fly beyond 
 her confines : fhe will conduit us very fafely, if we do 
 
 no5 
 
[ 2a8 ] 
 
 not obtrude premifes upon her which are not wlthiP" 
 her diftri«3:: with refptcSl to fcripture truths, the pe- 
 iciTiptory word of the God of truth, is the ultimate 
 boundary of her province. Our terms of falvation are 
 prefcribed, and God does not require our ingenuity 
 in finding more points 6f faith than he has offered 
 for our affent in order to fecure it; arid if he has 
 not revealed^ he does not need bur belief, how- 
 ever like we may conclude our own fuggeftions to 
 be to that which he has made known. Analogy 
 may indeed facilitate conception, and make us more 
 readily enter into a pofitien laid down ; yet it is but 
 a bad ground to argue upon, for no certain con- 
 clufion can ever follow from it. I (liall myfelf ufe it 
 now to illuftratej and as I have denied that it can, 
 from the divinity of Jefus Chrift, fliew the divinity of 
 any other not revealed to be divine, I only afk its af- 
 fiftance in procuring a more eafy aflent to the divinity 
 of that which is revealed to be divine; a.nd this will, I 
 prefume, not be withheld by thofe who have carried its 
 ufe. fo much higher than I dare to do. If then the 
 Holy Ghoft be revealed to be one with the Father, 
 and the Son, God, it may be fome eafe to the mind 
 in giving its aflent to the exiftence of a third perfon in. 
 the Godhead, to refleil that it has already acq-uiefced 
 in the admiflion of a fecond. It is not my intention tor 
 examine into the evidence of the divinity of the Holy 
 Spirit fo extenfively as I have already done into that 
 which is afforded to the Godhead of our blefled Re- 
 deemer; it is not fo ftrcnuoufly oppofcd; befides my 
 attentive reader has, in all probability, inferred it for 
 himfelf,' from feveral contexts which 1 have laid down 
 already, though I have not diredly pointed it out as a 
 Conclufion. I fhall th-ereforc now content myfelf with 
 a very few paflages proving the Holy Ghoft to be God 
 ;ilfo, rcm.inding my reader of what I have already, of- 
 fered 
 
1 209 ] 
 
 fefed concerning the fufficiency of any one aflertlonj 
 for the truth of which God himfelf is refponfible. 
 
 " He fha!l be great, and fhall be called the Son of 
 the Higheft." «' The Holy Ghoft fhall come upon 
 thee, and the power of the Higheft (hall overfhadow 
 fhee : therefore alfo that Holy Thing which (hall 
 be born of thee, fhall be called the Son of God," 
 Luke i. 3^1, 35. That which is conceived in her, is 
 of the Holy Ghoft," Matth. i. 20, That which is 
 conceived of the Holy Ghoft, is therefore called the 
 Son of God j the Holy Ghoft therefore, of whom the 
 Son of God is conceived, is one with the Father and 
 the Soil, " the Higheft." 
 
 *' I will pray the Father, and he {hall give you ano- 
 ther Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, 
 feven the Spirit of Truth." " I will not leave you com- 
 fortlefs : I will come to you." *' If a man love me, 
 he will keep my words:' and my Father will love him, 
 and we will come unto him, and make our abode 
 with him," John xiv. 16, 17, 18, 23. Here the Fa- 
 ther, Son, and Holy Ghoft, one God, arey or is, the 
 Comforter, the witnefs to the truth, which ftiall come 
 and abide, or make abode with hirh who loveth the 
 Son, and keepeth his words. The identity of the 
 Godhead of the Holy Spirit with that of the Father, 
 and of the Son, is here exprefsly declared; 
 
 ** Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the 
 Holy Ghoft ?" " thou haft not lied unto men but unto 
 God," A£ls v. 3, 4. Here alfo the Holy Ghoft is 
 diredly pronounced to be one^ with the Father and 
 the Son, God. 
 
 ** The things of tjO(i, kftoweth no man but the 
 
 Spirit of Godj" "which things alfo we fpeak, not in 
 
 D d the 
 
[ 2tio ] 
 
 the words whieh man's wifdom teachefh, but which 
 the Holy Ghoft teacheth^" i Cor. ii. ii^ 13. Here 
 the Holy Ghoft is one and the fame with the Spirit of 
 God ; and in the i6th verfe he is called *' the mind of 
 Ghrift}" he is therefore one in Godhead with the Fa- 
 ther and the Son, from both of whom, one God, he 
 equally proceeds. 
 
 *' What, know ye not that ye arc the temple of thd 
 Holy Ghoft which is in you, which ye have of God^ 
 and ye are not your own ? For ye are bought with a 
 price^" I Cor. vi. 19. What now is the price paid for 
 this pUrchafe wherewith we are bought ? are we not 
 " the ehurch of God which hfe hath purchafcd with his 
 own blood?" A6ls xx. 28. Being then redeemed by 
 the blood of Jefus Chrift fhed for our ranfom, we hive 
 therefore become the temple of the Holy Ghoft. But 
 " know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that 
 the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man defile 
 the temple of God, him (hall God deftroy; for the 
 temple of God is holy, which temple ye are," i Cor. iii. 
 16, 17. The Father is God, and the Son is " God, 
 who purchafed us with his own blood ;" and the Holy 
 Ghoft, whofe temple we arCj is here declared to be 
 God. But there is but one God; the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghoft are therefore that one God, that Tri- 
 nity in Unity which is to be worfliipped. This may 
 feem to ' the natural man', Mr. Lindfey, to be hay and 
 Jluhhh\ but let him lay afidc the vanity of thinking 
 himfelf in the leaft degree a judge of fpiritual things, 
 and believe that which God has witnefTed ; ** Let him 
 become a fool, that he may be wife, for the wifdom 
 of this world is foolifhnefs with God," i Cor. iii. i8,' 
 19; " Let him accomit of the apoftles as ftewards 
 of the myfteries of God," i Cor. iv. i. ** and not be 
 taken as wife in his own craftinefs." " We are 
 
 the 
 
[21. } 
 
 the houfe of Chrift, if we hold faft the confidence 
 and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," 
 Heb. iii. 6. " Know ye not your ownfelvesjthat Jefus 
 Chrift in you, except ye be reprobates ?" 2Cor. xiii, 
 5. ^? Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghoft which is 
 in you." ^' Ye are the temple of the living God; as 
 God hath faid, I will dwell in them, and walk in 
 them ; and I will be their God, and they (hall be my 
 people," 2 Cor. vi. ?6. Js this to be refifted ? 
 
 That it was God who fpoke by the prophets, is not 
 denied. But by the mouth of the prophet David God 
 has faid, " To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden 
 not your hearts as in the provocation, and as in the day 
 of temptation in the wildernefs: when your fathers 
 tempted me, proved rn^, and faw my work. Forty 
 years long was I grieved with this generation, apd faid, 
 it is a people that do err in their he^rt.^ and they have 
 not known my ways. Unto, whom I fware in my 
 wrath, that they fhould not enter into my reft," Pf. xcv. 
 7, 8, 9, 10, II. Of him who has thus fworn, and 
 who was thus, provoked for forty years in the wil- 
 dernefs, even that God who led the children of Ifrael 
 out of the land of Egypt, and out of the houfe of bond- 
 age, and faid, *' I am the Lord thy God," it is thus 
 declared by St. Paul, ** the Holy Ghoft faith, to-day 
 if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, &c." 
 Heb. iii. 7,8, 9, 10, ii, 
 
 Our Saviour himfelf fays, " The fpirit of truth, 
 which proceedeth from the Father, he (hall teftify of 
 mc," John xv. 26; and accordingly St. Paul having 
 declared to the Hebrews, that they who had heard the 
 Lord confirmed his great falvation unto us, " God 
 alfo bearing them witnefs," Heb. ii. 3. proceeds to 
 preach the fufficiency of the one facrifice of Chrift's 
 body once offered for fins, and the kingdom of heaven 
 D d 2 opened 
 
[ 2;2 }- 
 
 opened to all beliv.vcrs by his having overcome the 
 fliarpnefs of death, and " an entrance into the hor 
 lieft by the blood of Jefus, by a new and living way 
 which he hath confecrated for us," " whereof the Holy 
 Ghoft is a witnefs to us," Heb. x. 15. " It is the Spi- 
 rit thz;t beareth witnefs, becaufe the fpjrit is truth." 
 *' If we receive the yvitnefs of men, the witnefs of God- 
 is greater: for this is the witnefs of Gpd, which hq 
 hath teftified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son. 
 of God, hath the witnefs in himfelf: he that believeth 
 not God, hath made him a liar, becaufe he believeth 
 not the record that God gave of his Son," i John v. 
 9, 10. Thefe words amply explain the meaning of 
 St. Paul's diredlion to the ThefTalonians, '* Quench not 
 the Spirit," i Theff. v. 19 j and, upon the whole, we 
 fo frequently find the teftimony of Jefys Chrift borne 
 by God and by the Holy Ghoft, that we muft con- 
 clude the Holy Ghoft, ^yho ^' is a witnefs unto us," 
 to be one with the Father and with the Son, God, whq 
 hath given the record of his Son, " that witnefs who 
 is in him that believeth on the Son of God." This 
 may perhaps afford more provender for Mr. Lindfey. 
 I fhould hope however that he may, by this time at 
 Icaft, have begun tp doubt the tenets which he has pro- 
 fefled, and refledl on the very deftru£tiye confequences 
 of his errour, if he can be perfuaded to confider his 
 doflrine to be fuch. To this purpofe, and as the laft 
 argument which I (hall produce to the divinity of the 
 lioly Ghoft, and his unity with the Father and Son, 
 I fliall add the declaration of our Saviour himfelf, 
 who declared to the Scribes, who faid, " He hath 
 Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils cafteth he 
 out devils i" "all fins fhall be forgiven to the fons of 
 men, and blafphemies, wherewith foever they fhall 
 blafpheme: but he that fliall blafpheme againft the 
 Holy Ghoft hath jieyer forgivenefs, but is in danger 
 
 of 
 
[ 213 ] 
 
 pf eternal damnation : becaufe they faid, he hath aR 
 unclean Ipirit," Mark iii. 22 to 30. H^re the context 
 requires the following interpretation, * Ye have faid that 
 I have a devil; it fhall neverthelefs be forgiven you :• 
 but if ye ihall hereafter i^fe like blafphemy, ye fliajl 
 never -have forgiyenefs: I came not to bear record pf 
 myfelf, and therefore difpenfe with your unbelief; 
 whereas, when the Holy Ghoft fliall in due time bear 
 witnefs, that ultimate telMmony uport which the faith 
 pf mankind is to be required ; when the whole of that 
 evidence fhall be afforded to the world, upon which- 
 <God has thought right to demand the faith pf men,- 
 and to which he will not add ; then, if ye blafpheme, 
 pr lay fuch a charge againft the Son pf man, de- 
 clared by the Holy Ghoft to be God, ye refift the 
 united Trinity, apd fir> againft God, who ftiall bear 
 me witnefs -, and whofe witnefs is greater than that 
 pf man, which as yet ye are pardonable for con- 
 ceiving the only to be,' The mannef in which St. 
 Luke has related the fame event, greatly corroborates 
 this manner of underftanding the declaration of our 
 Lord, " He that denieth me before men, (hall be de- 
 nied before the angels pf God. And whofoever fliali 
 fpeak a word againft the Son of man, it (hall be for- 
 given him : but unto him that blafphemeth againft the 
 Holy Ghoft, it Ihall not be forgiyen ;" for our Savi- 
 pur is in cpntext with the declaration appointing the 
 apoftles to be witnefles unto hirn ; and for the purpofe 
 of rendering them competent and irrefiftible without 
 fm, he goes on to fay, " Take ye no thought how or 
 what thing ye fhall anfwer, or what ye ftiall fay : for 
 the Holy Ghoft fhall teach you in the fame hour what 
 ye ought to fay," Lukexii. 9, 10, il, 12. On this 
 place it is to be remarked, that our Lord has declared 
 pf him who Ihall fpeak againft the Spn pf man, that 
 jje fliaU b^ forgiven; ind alfp, that he who denieth 
 
 him, 
 
C*»4] 
 
 him, fliall be denied alfo. Here are two contradidory 
 aflertions made, and confequently two diftinft cir- 
 cumftances are to be underftood for the fake of recon- 
 ciling them to truth, and to fcnfe, which eafily re- 
 fults, upon admitting that two diftindt times are in- 
 tended ; and that " he who now denies me is pardon-r 
 able; but that he who fhall hereafter deny me, fhall 
 himfelf alfo be denied. Ye have not now the manifeft 
 teftimony of Godj but hereafter the Holy Ghoft {hall 
 bear me witnefs : and in the hour when the Holy 
 Ghoft fliall teach my appointed witnefTes what they 
 ought to fay : ye Ihall not be forgiven if ye withhold 
 belief." I defire my reader will refer this argument to 
 the dodrine of my fecond chapter. 
 
 I have now proved to my own, and I hope aJfo 
 to my reader's, entire fatisfadlion, that the Son is 
 God, and that the Holy Ghoft is God: that the 
 Father is God, and that there is but one God, are 
 conceded points; and, having been admitted, I have 
 been exempted from the neceftity of proving them. 
 But as there is but one God, and that each of the 
 three perfons is God, does not a Trinity in unity ne-, 
 ceffarily follow? But Mr. Lindfey does, not find this 
 conclufion drawn in fo many words, and fo will not 
 believe that it refults. Had Mr. Lindfey told me how 
 many miles it meafured from Richmond to Catterickj, 
 I apprehend he would charge me with great ftupidity 
 if I could not conclude for myfelf how many miles 
 from Catterick. to Richmond ; and yet even this obvi- 
 ous inference does not offer itfelf more perfpicuoufly to 
 the undcrftanding than that with which he quarrels. 
 The premifes are all fairly ftated ; and which ani I to 
 charge it to, the account of obftinacy, want of difcern- 
 ment, or a compofition of both, that he will not look 
 y,poa the necefiary conclufion, which is, that the pbje£^ 
 
 of 
 
tif oiir reJigibus worfhip is a holy, blefled, and glorious 
 Trinity, three perfons and one God ? 
 
 That each of the three perfons is God, feems to me 
 a fully fufEcient reafori why I fhould prefer to each my 
 prayer, my praife, and my thankfgiving; that the three 
 perfons are one Gbd, is in like manner a reafon why I 
 fhould addrefs tny adoration to this trinal unity. That 
 this is a ftumbling- block to the Unitarians and to the 
 Jews, I graht; that to the Greeks it is foolifhriefs, I 
 grant alfo; that it altogether furpafles my own facul- 
 tieSi I as freely acknowledge ; but that it is revealed by 
 the God of truth I know, and therefore I yield my 
 faifh to what he has declared concerning his own in- 
 fcrutable nature. 
 
 And where i can*!- unriddle learn to trust. 
 
 PARNELL. 
 I can clearly fee that the infolence of reafon^ or 
 rather of pride under her abufed name, meets in 
 this point the object of its contempt ; but ** behold 
 ye defpifers, and wonder and perifti; for I work a 
 work in your days, a work which ye fhall in no- 
 wife believe, though a maji declare it unto you," 
 A£ls xii. 41. I do not apply thefe words uncharitably, 
 I ufe-them to fliew that God had beforehand ordained 
 a difficulty to the conceptions of mankind, that they 
 \vho withftand his teftimony, becaufe they have not been 
 admitted of his council, are impeached of contempt, 
 and threatened with eternal deftrutStion. " Knowing 
 therefore the terrour of the Lord," I would perfuade 
 men to humility^ to obedience^ to faith unto falvation, 
 that they may efcape the *' vengeance taken upon them 
 that obey not the gofpel of Jefus Chrift," 
 
 It is not my office to ftand forth the panegyrift of 
 the liturgy of the eftablifhed church, and therefore 
 ! refrain from entering into a fcriptural vindication of 
 
k: if it ijideed remain neceflary now, I hii/e taketi i 
 great deal of pains to very little purpbfe ; for I Ihould 
 conceive an intelligent reader of the arguments I have 
 already cited in proof of the divinity of Jefus Chrifl: and 
 6f the Holy Glloft, muft, vi'Jthout any more particular 
 difcuffidh of the point, be very well able to vindicate it 
 bimfelf, and to fet forth the propriety of offering, up his 
 adoration to them with the Father, one God. Were i 
 difpofed (6 to do, I could draW together alfo the opini- 
 ons of fome of the wifeft fneii tliat have ever adorned 
 ©ur rflands; who have conceived our book of common 
 prayer one of the fineft compofitions that has flowed 
 from the pen of inan : but even this fiuman compcfi- 
 tion I fhall fiot maintain by human authority, though^ 
 I could bring ftronger hands to fupport the fabric of 
 our church, than thbfe bf either Dr. Clarke or Mr. 
 Lindfey, which have been defperatelj employed in di- 
 lapidating; or, to ufe Mr. Lindfey's lefs-confufed me- 
 taphor, in /mothering the fabric. 
 
 Tte geiitlernan, after he had deprecated all humart 
 autWif^ AS a ground of faith, we have already feen 
 making ufe of it, and nothing elfe, in fupport of hi* 
 dodrints. Bct't he has attacked human authority in 
 another fenfe of the words alfo ; and, to the great 
 confternation of eVery Sfitort, who (hall meet it in his 
 way, has emphatically and cohclufively pronounced 
 it A Monster. But the terrified reader 6f his book 
 may calm his breaft when he comti to know that this 
 fame monfter is nothing worfe than "a legal eftablifh- 
 ment of the church of England." Art eftablifhment, 
 the neceffitv of which, I am forry to fay, grows every 
 day more and more obvious ; and to whofe good pur- 
 pofes, Mr. Lindfey's own conduct bears art incontro- 
 vertible teftimony. A farther vindication of this alfo 
 exceeds the limits of my defign ; but methinks a gen- 
 tleman, wbo- has experienced fuCh lenity from our efta- 
 
 ))li{hment. 
 
[ 217 ] 
 
 blifliment, fhould at leaft acknowledge, from the tole* 
 rated altar of his new fynagogue, that the church of 
 England is not a very fierce monfter. 
 
 As the limits are^ however, of my own appointment^ 
 I will take the liberty of tranfgrefling them a little 
 here. The articles of religion, when firft prefcribed, 
 were chiefly intended as a barrier to divide our new re- 
 formation from Popery, which it had juft efcaped, ma- 
 ny of the particular tenets of which are formally abju- 
 red in them. Though aecefs to the fcriptures were 
 now permitted to all men, it was thought neceflary to 
 aflift the weak, in forming their conclufions upon the 
 whole, and to fum up in brief thofe dodlrines which 
 lie difFufed in the facred writings. Moderation appears 
 alfo to have been a principal obje6l in forming them; 
 for as abhorrence muft naturally fucceed the detedlion 
 of the felf-interefted frauds of the church of Rome, it 
 feems a reafonable apprehenfion, that every tenet which 
 k had held, would fall into contempt, if not confpi- 
 cuoufly held forth, as retained by the leaders of re- 
 formation; hence the Trinity is formally avowed, in 
 which we continued our agreement. I am far from 
 maintaining that the body of the people fhould be obli- 
 ged to fubfcribe to any articles of faith ; but it appears 
 to me abfolutely neceflary that certain articles of faith 
 fhould be fubfcribed by the paflors in our church, 
 otherwife we mufl ceafe to be a church ; and, iroT- -^d 
 of a general amity amongft men, the gofpel will be 
 converted into a fource of univerfal difcord, and brino- 
 indeed, not peace, but a fword; we fhall, inflead of a 
 church of England, have as many churches as parifli 
 miniflers ; every parifh, zealous to maintain thf. doc- 
 trines of its polemic paftor, will war on its neighbour, 
 and think they do God fervice by reducing thofe, who 
 diflent from them, to opinions which they have been in- 
 E e ftructed 
 
[218 ] 
 
 ftru6led to efteem neceflary to be entertained. Sub- 
 fcription to thefe do<9:rineSi as a fecurity for the main- 
 tenance of the impofed faith, will be required, and 
 that which is now eftabliflied in peace, will be, if relin- 
 quifhed, again exacted by the very confequences of ha- 
 ving relinquiflied it ; for, however exceptionable thofe 
 articles which are now fubfcribed may be thought, I 
 greatly doubt whether they who complain would agree 
 t«gether in forming a fet that would be lefs liable to 
 objedlion ; and that fubfcription would again be re- 
 quired and fubmitted tOj as the purchafe of tranquillity, 
 I do not entertain the fmalleft doubt. Articles, fum- 
 ming up in few words the eflential doftrines difFufed in 
 the fcriptures, ought to be prefcribed to thofe who are 
 authorized to teach; and thefe alone fhould they be 
 permitted to promulgate, whatever they might privately 
 think. It is true the confcientious man who does not 
 acquiefce in their truth, and therefore cannot fubfcribe 
 to them, is excluded from the office of a teacher, and 
 withheld ^ but from what ? from an opportunity of 
 propagating opinions contrary to thofe which the wifeft 
 men have conceived deducible from fcripture, for by 
 fuch I conceive thefe articles to be formed. It is to be 
 hoped that many a weak man has a tender confcience ; 
 by this then he is reftrained from uttering his trifling 
 fuggeftions ; while he who has lefs fcrupuloufly ac- 
 quiefced in what he doubted, has, by his fubfcription, 
 o-iven fecurity to mankind that he will not propagate 
 pernicious or filly tenets. I do not wifh to confine the 
 private fcntiments of the heart, but I do to reftrain the 
 liberty of teaching and imparting fuch notions as ^ 
 weak man may inftill into a credulous or unthinking 
 congregation. Anabaptifm itfelf pretended to the 
 fanftion of fcripture, and may again, to the utter fub- 
 verfion of all religion and virtue. The church of Cat- 
 t^rick may fet up againft that of Northallerton, and 
 
 whe 
 
[ 219 J 
 
 who fhall decide which is right, if there be no pre- 
 fcript ? The more extenfive diocefan churches may dif- 
 agree, and when the church of Carlifle fliall make in- 
 roads into the neighbouring churches of Durham and 
 Chefter, who fhall reftrain the arm that declares itfelf 
 raifcd for the propagation of truth ? Inteftine wars and 
 univerfal confufion may at length leave the decifion in 
 the hands of victory, and vanquifhed truth (hall then 
 fubfcribe to articles dictated by its erroneous conque- 
 rour. Such would be the procefs : and let not thofe 
 who now complain of the neceffity of fubfcribing the 
 aiticles of the church of England, flatter themfelves 
 that matters would be rendered more agreeable even to 
 themfelves, if they (hould be indulged in their defires. 
 Perhaps, when every fpecies of difturbance and purita- 
 nical abfurdity had raged through the nation, and rob- 
 bed them of their tranquillity, they would then begii^ 
 to acknowledge the happinefs they enjoyed when pro- 
 teded by that barrier which they had themfelves broken 
 down, and become the firft to replace it; the want 
 would teach the value of that which they now over- 
 look, becaufe they poflefs it. But the fubfcription of 
 articles of faith is no fuch mighty grievance as fome 
 would intimate ; it may be a feverity to a few who are 
 not admitted into the pulpit, becaufe they cannot ac- 
 cede to them: but furely it is a great happinefs to the 
 body of the people that they are under the guardian^ 
 fliip of an eftablifhment that protects them from the 
 neceffity of liftening to the whimfical interpretation of 
 weak teachers. It is therefore neceflary, fo long as there 
 is no compulfion on the laity to learn and give their 
 faith to the doftrines of the clergy, that the conclufions 
 which are to be drawn from holy writ {hould be pre- 
 fcribed to thofe who are appointed to teach : if they 
 pannot fubfcribe, let them let it alone, a church with 
 "which they cannot concur, is even better without 
 E e 2 them. 
 
[ 220 ] 
 
 them. Is it for the admiflron of a few individuals that* 
 a door is to be opened, by which every fpecies of abuf« 
 may enter ? 
 
 I honour and concur with Mr. Lindfey's patriot wifh, 
 that England fhould ever fet the example of improve- 
 ment; but it is very weakly urged, that religion fhould 
 keep pace with fcience in improvement, and that a fub- 
 fcription to articles muft always impede its progrefs; for 
 nothing can be more abfurd than the idea of a progref- 
 five religion, which, being founded upon the declared, 
 not the imagined will of God, muft, if it attempt to 
 proceed, relinquifti that revelation which is its bafis, 
 and fo ceafe to be a religion founded upon God's word. 
 God has revealed himfelf, and all that he has fpoken, 
 and confequently all that is demanded of us to accede 
 to, is declared in one book, from which nothing is to 
 be retrenched, and to which nothing can be added. 
 All that it contains was as perfpicuous to thofe who 
 firft perufed it, after the rejedion of the Papal yoke, 
 as it can be to us now, or as it can be to our pofterity 
 in the fiftieth generation. If we look for any thing 
 new, it is not in the fcriptures that it is to be found ; 
 and if we add, it is not religion that has improved, for 
 truth will never defert her own foundations, nor follow 
 our fantaftic imaginations. The progrefs of every fci- 
 ence has been to the difcovery of fomething new, deri- 
 ved from new combinations of principles within our 
 comprehenfion, and confequently capable of being 
 compared for the fake of additional knowledge. Is fuch 
 a progrefs to be defired in religon ? What novelty do 
 we feek for, or what advantage do we propofe from 
 the introduftion of novelty into religion? Such an idea 
 feems to intimate 
 
 As if religion were intended 
 
 For nothing elfe but to be mended. Hudibras. 
 
 CHAP 
 
CHAP. V*. 
 Ta^N HEPr 'EATTO^r. 
 
 MY name appearing prefixed to this edition will 
 put it out of doubt that I am in truth, as I 
 formerly ftated myfelf, a Layman, and I conceive that 
 my book has rendered it unnecefl'ary for me to fay that 
 I am altogether unread in theological difputations ; of 
 thefe two circumftances, however, I am now about to 
 make my advantage, for I ftill defire to have the end. 
 kept in view, and to convert even myfelf into fome fort 
 of argument in behalf of it. 
 
 On the publication of Mr. Lindfey's Apology, as I 
 have already faid, I was drawn by curiofity to look into 
 it ; but finding it to contain a dodrine which I had not. 
 in the Icaft fufpe£ied, (as I really had never known any- 
 thing of the gentleman before) I placed the Bible by 
 my fide, happy in finding tfie beft, the only evidence 
 in this cafe offered to the examination of every man. 
 With perfe£l freedom from prejudice, nay, I am almoft 
 afhamed to confefs it, with the firft ferious confideration 
 of fo important a point that I had ever entered into f, I 
 fat down to read Mr. Lindfey's book, and, for the truth 
 of every pofition contained in it, appealed to the word 
 of God himfelf, that I might thence learn how truly it 
 was advanced j when, to my utter aftonifhment, I foon 
 found that this was the only book upon the fubje£l, 
 which the diligent Apologill had not critically read, 
 and that in every particular it diredly oppofed itfelf to 
 Ijim, and to his frequent quotations. It grew into a 
 
 matter 
 
 * This chapter is for the moft part a parody of Mr. Lindfey's concluding 
 cjiapter, and title is the fame with his. 
 
 f I would not have it underftood that I had never read the Bible before^ 
 but that I never read it to this point, or in a like inquifitive miyiner as now, 
 
[ 222 ] 
 
 matter of wonder with me, what could influence a mai^ 
 to furrender his worldly competence in defence of a 
 contradiction to the only witnefs that bears any teflimo- 
 ny concerning the fa<3: which he contradicts. As I ha4 
 received an education among men not unlettered, I was 
 not altogether unacquainted with the laws of argument, 
 and foon perceived his errour to proceed from his hav- 
 ing drawn from a wrong fource, from his having laid 
 afide the Bible, and faid, " my reafon does not acqui- 
 efce in a Trinity of Perfons in the one God, and my 
 reafon is competent; this is a matter fubmitted to my 
 IkcultieSs and I am llcilled to affirm or deny concern- 
 ing a comprehenfible God," As I found difficulties 
 in lifting up my own faculties to God, I conceived Mr, 
 Lindfey's no better able to foar to fuch unfurmountable 
 heights; and having found that my Maker had fyoken^ 
 looked upon his word as the fountain from which all 
 argument concerning him (hould flow, and accord- 
 ingly I hive ftated iny own idea pf the manner of pur- 
 suing this enquiry in my firft chapter. Under this 
 pen'u /ion I noted my Bible, and to what purpofe my 
 i'e;.rder is empowered to judge from my third and fourth 
 chapters: but, as I went along, the degrees or different 
 fpecies of teftimony afforded to the divinity of our Lord 
 aad Saviour Jefus Chrift, offered themfelves to my ob- 
 fervation ; aiid this alfo I have in my fecond chapter 
 fubmitted to public cenfure. Such was the procefs of 
 an enquiry entered into by a man who fet about it 
 for his own information only; but the fubftance of 
 v/hich, as it has afforded perfect convi£tion to him- 
 fclf, he has at length decided to be due to mankind j 
 at length decided, I fay, becaufe that many fcruples 
 delayed my determination. Firfl it occurred to me 
 that, being a Layman, it was, properly fpeaking, np 
 feufinefs of mine; that an eftablifhed ckrgy was ap- 
 pointed for the defence of religion; that at the head of 
 t^iis G^rgy there wa§ a refpedable and venerable body of 
 
 learned 
 
[ 223 ] 
 
 ieartied BHhops, who were daily acquiring more weight 
 by the acceffion of a numerous Nobility to their bench ; 
 by which acceffion, if the body ftiould lofe (as in all hu- 
 man probability they will) on the fide of learning, they 
 were fure of obtaining confequence on the fide of falhionj 
 and therefore that it was not to be fuppofed that the con- 
 dudl of one country clergyman could long continue of 
 any national importance. But when, on the other hand, 
 I confidered how ready the world was to impute partiality 
 to any body of men who fhould write on a fubje6i in 
 which their private intereft was fo deeply concerned, and 
 that their own filence fhewed they Were themfelves aware 
 ©f this, I thought that a Layman writing upon the fub- 
 jeil, a man totally unconnefted with their profeifion^ 
 would probably be more attended to. Another objec- 
 tion which occurred to me, was my entire ignorance 
 of controverfial theology, and particularly my having 
 hever looked into any controverfy upon the Trinity, 
 except what I have feen in Mr. Lindfey's boolc; but 
 being by Mr. Lindfey's book convinced that the Bible 
 Was the only guide to be depended upon, I then thouo-ht 
 that the reading that with attention would be a fuffici- 
 ent preparative for writing; that my very ignorance in 
 controverfy would turn to account, and that it might be 
 confidered as a corroborating proof of the truth of what I 
 ihould write, that the Bible alone had been found fuffici- 
 tnt to convince one young man; and accordingly, thro* 
 the whole courfe of my enquiry, the Bible alone have I 
 confulted, and this (notwithftanding that I have ac- 
 knowledged myfelf educated in thefe dcxElrines) with- 
 out a Tingle prejudice, either my own, or borrowed 
 from any other. Perhaps I have been too nicely fcru- 
 pulous in this refpetSl; for, through the fear of imbibing 
 one prejudice on fo important a queftion, I have worked 
 only on my own ideas derived from fcripture, fhunned 
 the fuperior fuggeftions of wifer men, and diligently 
 withheld myfelf from an acquaintance with any thing 
 
 that? 
 
[ 224 ] 
 
 that had ever been faid upon the fubje<ft before. I knev^ 
 not thro' what foul or crooked channels the courfe of the 
 ftrcam had been turned, but was very certain that the. 
 well-head was pure, and thence only I therefore determi-; 
 ned to draw. From this circumilance I alfo entertained 
 fome hope, that, being totally unbiaffed, I might pof- 
 iibly ftrike out fome new lights; or, where I {hould ac- 
 cidentally agree with any former writers, put an old 
 argument in fo different a manner, that it fhould convey 
 a new impreflion, and convince fuch of my readers as 
 affect novelty; for of novelty, if that be a recommen- 
 dation, they have undoubtedly a chance, as all contain- 
 ed in my work is my own, whether any of it may have 
 been ftated before or not. 
 
 May I liave leave to fay, without blame, that having 
 been born a gejitleman, a farther difficulty oppofed my 
 refolution to publifti; the inconfiftency of fuch do^lrines 
 as I was about to maintain, with the modifh pradlices 
 and eafy principles of the polite world fuggefted itfelf to 
 me ; why then, it often occurred to me, why muff I be 
 fo Angularly nice and fcrupulous as not to comply with 
 what men of fafliion accommodate themfelves to? why 
 difturb others, and not give way to a more chearful way 
 of thinking ; why promulgate that veneration for a 
 Deity which a free communication with the world may 
 difperfe or remove ? and why render myfelf obnoxious 
 to men who muft detefl the doftrines which reftrain 
 their will, and not rather wait patiently for a change 
 in the morals of the age ? Thefe confiderations altogether 
 were of weight to divert me for a while from the thought 
 of publication ; not that I now juftify myfelf therein : 
 yea rather I condemn myfelf, and have at length de- 
 cided to offer to mankind thofe arguments which have 
 already afforded convidtion to myfelf*. 
 
 I 
 * Set Apology, p. 210, of which this paragraph is only a parody. 
 
[ 225 ] 
 
 i am very confcious that my ftyle would admit of 
 great improvement ; but if it be confidered that I did 
 not fee Mr. Lindfey's book till * late in the month of 
 January, I {hall readily be forgiven by the ingenuous 
 and candid reader, who will fee that I have employed 
 that time in the purfuit of matter, which, had I lefs 
 regard to an argument of fo high importance to him 
 and myfelf, I might have beftowed in polifhing a lefs 
 convincing work. But why then fhould I not have 
 withheld it longer from the world, and rendered it better 
 able to fuftain their criticifm P For this fhort reafon : a 
 deadly poifon has been adminiftcred to the publick, I 
 have hafted to prepare the antidote, and have not paufed 
 to fugar over the brim of the vefiel in which I offer it 
 to their lips. He muft love the poifon who rejects the 
 antidote that is not feafoned to his palate, I am as 
 fenfible of the charms of language as my faftidious rea- 
 der may be, and could perhaps, even without bis aflift- 
 ance, have rendered my own ftyle more agreeable to his 
 ear, and greatly flioftened what I have been forced, 
 thro' hafte, to exprefs in unfeledled terms. If, how- 
 ever, he be fuch a man as cannot pardon me, I do not 
 afk his pardon. 
 
 I fhall here take occafion to explain what I have 
 written with refpedl to Mr.' Lindfey himfelf. i have 
 heretofore confidered him in the character of a Se6tary 
 and Writer only, and confequently have been under a 
 neceflity of fpeaking concerning him in terms, which I 
 have always uttered with regret. I am not, however, 
 going to retradl a fmgle fyllable which can only aft'edt 
 him in his public character ; but, on the contrary, 
 more fummarily to avow the fubftance of what i have 
 already laid down. As a SecStary then, I thmk he 
 would be a dangerous man, had he not himfelf dimi- 
 F f nilhed 
 
 * I did not fee it till the aift of Januan'; and the former edition of this 
 Tolumc was finiflied from the prefs May 5, I774« 
 
[ 226 ] 
 
 nifhed his importance by becoming the advocate of" 
 his own tenets ; for as a Writer, I confider him to be 
 perfedlly harmlefs ; yet ftill from that charadler, in 
 which I fhall henceforward addrefs him, I dread the 
 Schifmatick, and have therefore oppofed myfclf to a 
 book, which, had it not come from the felf-denying 
 hand of this gentleman, might, for me, have gradually 
 fubfided in its congenial oblivion. His conduct, how- 
 ever, might fupport it for a time ; my effort therefore 
 is more expeditioufly to difmlfs it from exiftence. 
 
 It may look a little quarrelfome, that I cannot let 
 even fo much of his book, as correfponds with the title 
 page, pafs v/ithout a cenfure. But this gentleman has 
 thought it neceffary to make an apology for the moft un- 
 exceptionable condu6l that he could pofTibly have pur- 
 fued; for a fmcere obedience to the dictates of his 
 confcience; for having made a facrifice to what he 
 efteemed the truth, however miftaken; for having 
 looked upon pardon as inconfiftent with the retained 
 offence ; and for having convinced mankind that *' he 
 had efcaped the pollutions of the world by his former 
 knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift," 
 2 Pet. ii. 20. Had he indeed purfued a contrary courfe, 
 and continued to profefs when he had ceafed to be- 
 lieve, then would an apology have been truly necef- 
 fary, and we fhould not perhaps have admitted it to be 
 fatisfa^lrory, though he had even yielded to the impor- 
 tunity of (Ironger motives than thofe which he has re- 
 fitted. Had his power of doing good been far more ex- 
 tenfive, and had the fubfcription of a dodlrine, which 
 he did not believe, afforded his benevolent propenfitics 
 an opportunity of propagating the oppofite tenet which 
 he did believe, and think neceffary to be received by 
 all men, not even fo good an end fhould exempt the 
 means from the charge of falfehood, nor the perpetrator 
 
 from 
 
[ 22f ] 
 
 from the imputation of holding " the damnable doc- 
 trine of doing evil that good may come of it." Had a 
 dignified character extended his influence ftill wider ; 
 had the paftoral office been committed to his hand ; and 
 had the emblem of the defcending fpirit fat upon trim, 
 he could but ill defend himfelf from the juftice of uni- 
 verfal condemnation, though thus, meditating, he 
 fhould addrefs his mitre, the fymbol of a cloven tongue, 
 *' thou art the fymbol of a double tongue, and thou 
 flialt fandtify duplicity ; thou (halt be my w^arrant for 
 hypocrify and prevarication ; for thee will / keep up all 
 thefe fonm of fubfcribing what I do not believe, //// 
 relieved by proper authority, and vefted with dignities 
 without the neceffity of falfifying, in order to obtain 
 them ; for thee 1 will minijlerially comply with what I 
 am not able to re?nove, and patiently remain in my pojlj 
 however invidioujly mifreprefented ; for thee, and under 
 thy fandlion, I will utter two languages , I will teJl a 
 lye for the fake of telling truth ; enter into terms for 
 the purpofe of infringing them ; and comply with fuch 
 propofed conditions as fhail afford me an occafion of 
 (hewing that they ought not to be complied with. 
 At the door of the vineyard I will fay that the wild 
 branches are but the fine luxuriance of nature, and that 
 their growth ought to be encouraged, fo (hail I obtain 
 the power oi pruning them away ; I (hall create to myfelf 
 an opportunity of rooting cut fome of what I take to be 
 the rankeji weeds, by telling the owner of the vineyard 
 that I think them the moft beautiful plants, and enga- 
 ging that I will diligently cultivate them : thus ihall I 
 trick him into his own advantage, and prove, by having 
 difpenfed with truth in order to get admiilion, that his 
 fervice, and not my profit, was the only motive to the 
 fraud, the pious fraud by which I induced him to admit 
 me f. Had Mr. Lindfey, I fay, thus pondering, lulled 
 
 himfelf 
 -j- See confiderations on the propriety of rec^umng a fubrcription to aiti- 
 xUs of faith. 
 
[228 ] 
 
 himfelf into a hope that none would fufpe 61 him ofhypo-_ 
 crify and prevarication, he {hould have found it vain ; 
 every whifper would be interpreted \xito cenl'ure, and 
 every breeze of opinion, prove a ftorm fufficient tq 
 difturb the tranquillity of his foul. Is there any man 
 who can have thus dealt by himfelf? To him I call to 
 defcend from his throne, to feek for happinefs in felf- 
 approbation, and for public applaufe, by confpicuous 
 and exemplary virtue j let him place the mitre upon 
 other brows, and put upon his own *' the helmet of 
 falvation." There are men in England who can pro- 
 fefs with fincerity, and maintain what they have pro- 
 feffed J who do not need the picklock of equivocation, 
 nor the burglary of more open falfehood, to obtain an 
 entrance into the miniftry, from which I thus boldly 
 call, in the name of each man's confcience, upon every 
 perfon, whether he be Archbifhop, Bifliop, Prieft, or Dea-r 
 con, who has fubfcribed with infmcerity, or who cannot 
 now overcome his fcruples, to retire, and follow the wor- 
 thy example which is afforded them by Mr. Lindfey. 
 
 As a good man, I honour Mr. Lindfey ; as a maq 
 ftrenuous in the maintenance of his faith, though I be- 
 lieve it erroneous, I refpeil him ; and if his under- 
 ftanding were but nearly commenfurate with his ho- 
 nefty, I believe that the church which he has deferted, 
 would have found iji him, who is now her weak oppo- 
 nent, an advocatetruly able to maintain her caufe ; for 
 I do not remember in my life to have met with a man, 
 in whom the excellencies of head and heart had united, 
 who did not fubmit his own underftanding to the word 
 of his Maker, and believe, becaufe that his immutable 
 truth is a fully fufficient ground of faith. 
 
 As I am now about to conclude, I muft call back 
 the mind of my re^er, and having brought my argu- 
 ment 
 
[ 229 ] 
 
 ment to an end, refer to him the iflue upon which he ii 
 to determine. 
 
 Either Jefys Chrift is one with the Father, God, or 
 he is not ; either the Holy Ghoft is one with the Father 
 and the Son, God, or he is not. — On fuppofmg that 
 the negative fide of this dilemma can be afTumed, (and 
 for argument's fake it muft be fuppofed, however irk- 
 fome) a confequence enfues, horrible to thought. The 
 God of peace becomes a firebrand of contention ; ten- 
 fold confufion proceeds from God, " who is not the 
 author of confufion ;" the Spirit of truth is a lyar ; the 
 fimple and guilejefs zeal of the apoftles, is crafty and 
 defigning duplicity ; the wifdom of God, folly, be- 
 neath the foolifhnefs of men; and the revelation of the 
 God of truth, from end to end, fcarce the word of de^ 
 figning falfehood, it muft have proceeded from a duf^ 
 to his own artifices. I fhudder while I write : but it is 
 acknowledged that the fcriptures are the word of God, 
 and the application of this defcription to them I will 
 leave with men who can perfift in the denial of this great 
 myftery : Whereas, on the other hand, three perfons 
 and one God being acknowledged, a fact is eftablifhed 
 concerning the things of God, incomprehenfible to us, 
 who have not fpiritual things to compare with fpiritual, 
 and which therefore, though it may tranfcend, can 
 never contradift our reafon. Our belief, which is all 
 that is required, may be yielded to the evidence of the 
 fa£t without any violence offered to our underftanding j 
 and therefore, however incom^prehenfible the object of 
 the teftimony may be, there can be no difficulty in 
 making the affirmative, which does not equally attend 
 upon pronouncing the negative of the propofition, and 
 one of the two w^ are under an abfolute neceffity of 
 adopting. 
 
[ 23^ ] 
 
 In whatfoever God a<Sts, he muft condefcend. The 
 whole extent of created nature bears to him but a like 
 proportion as an atom ; he is equally the God of a 
 fraction as of the univerfe ; and a fraction is as com- 
 menfurate to his infinity as the univerfe. But his love 
 is infinite, and we have been the objedl of it, an ob- 
 je<5t as obfervable by him as all worlds; for, little as 
 we are, we bear the fame proportion to him. Let us 
 then lay afide that pride, which, in the pretence of 
 humility, withdraws mankind from the eye of his Ma- 
 ker ; from that microfcopick eye, by which even the 
 hairs of our head are numbered ; that equal and all-per- 
 vading eye, which as accurately fees and marks the fall 
 of a fparrow, as the crufh of worlds. When we thus 
 confider him, doubts will vanifh ; we (hall fee that we 
 may pofiibly be within his contemplation, the objects of 
 fiis favour ; we fhall acquiefce in a revelation of the be- 
 nefits he has conferred upon us, and acknowledge that 
 we have been the obje6ls of his favour; our ignorance 
 fhall be difTipated, our pride depofed ; and reafon (rightly 
 fo called) affuming her proper dignity, conduct us with 
 certainty fo far as her own prefcribed boundaries extend j 
 inftruil us where to paufe; teach us the limits of our 
 own faculties, and the illimitable extent of our Maker's ; 
 put an end to idle fpeculation ; point out God as ouy 
 revealed Benefactor, not the fubjecl of our inquifitivQ 
 curiofity ; diftate confidence and hope in him ; and mak^ 
 ps, becaufe he has revealed it, *' to acknowledge the 
 myftery of God, and of the Father, and of Chrift." 
 
 F I N I S. 
 
N D E X 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Texts (t/* Scripture quoted in the third Chapter^ ac- 
 cording to the Order in which they Jiand compared. 
 
 
 
 Ch 
 
 V. Page 
 14. 50 
 
 
 Vll. 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 11. 
 
 ix. 
 
 6. 50 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 Revelation 
 
 III. 
 
 xliv. 
 ii. 
 
 si 50 
 
 Ifaiah 
 
 Ifaiah 
 
 Luke ■ 
 John — — 
 
 1 Corinthians — 
 
 li. 9^ 
 10 I 
 
 r "A 
 
 III. 10 I 
 
 liii. 1 > S» 
 
 iii. 6 
 
 xii. 38 
 
 X. 9J 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 Revelation 
 John 
 
 xl. lo-j 
 
 .. "I 
 xxu. \i 
 
 \\>^^ 
 
 
 
 
 ..J 
 
 Isaiah 
 Romans 
 
 VI. 
 
 Iii. 
 
 X. 
 
 .n- 
 
 
 
 Psalm 
 Matthew 
 
 VII. 
 
 viii. 
 xxi 
 
 i}" 
 
 Psalm 
 Romans 
 
 VIII. 
 
 xliv. 
 viii. 
 
 "1" 
 
 KIatthew 
 Matthew 
 
 IX. 
 
 — vi. 10 ■> 
 
 > — ■- XXIV. 30 f 
 
 31 3 
 
 Matthew 
 
 Ch 
 
 V. 
 
 Pas^ 
 
 XXV 
 
 3i'l 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 Vlli 
 
 3« 
 
 
 XIII. 
 
 xvi. 
 
 ?;>5. 
 
 IX. 
 
 z6 
 
 
 Mark ^ ' ■ 
 Matthew — 
 
 Matthew 
 
 Luke 
 
 Ephefians — — 
 
 2 Timothy 
 
 3 Peter 
 
 Luke xvii. 20 to 30J 
 
 Matthew 
 Luke — 
 
 X. 
 
 — xi. 27 
 
 Is. 
 
 Matthe\ 
 
 Mark 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 — xxviiJ. 20 "J 
 — xvi. io f 
 
 xn. 
 
 IX. 24 57 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Luke — 
 
 Ifaiah 
 Nehemiah 
 
 V. 20 to 251 
 
 xliii. 25 > 57 
 — IX. 173 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Luke 
 Aas 
 I Peter 
 
 vi. 22*1 
 vn. 5Z "^ ^j 
 
 14J 
 
 Luke 
 
 Mark 
 John 
 
 viii. 38^ 
 39 I 
 V. 19 > 55 
 20 I 
 
 «'• 35J 
 
 XVI. 
 
232 
 
 Luke 
 
 Luke 
 
 I N 
 
 D 
 
 X. 
 
 CIi. V. Page 
 
 40 
 
 26^ 
 
 4?> 60 
 
 xvn. 
 
 John 
 
 11. '^zy 
 
 John — 
 
 Jeremiah 
 Kevelatiaii 
 
 John — 
 
 Ifaiah — 
 
 Ifaiah — 
 
 John — 
 
 AGs — 
 lohja — 
 ifaiah — 
 
 .V. io^ 
 
 XVI!. 13 j 
 
 xxii.. I 
 17 
 hr. 14 
 Iv. I > 61 
 
 Xliv. 3 : 
 
 vii. 37 
 
 38 
 
 XX. 28 
 
 . . iv. 4Z 
 xii. 3J 
 
 XIX. 
 
 John 
 
 John. 
 
 Hebrews 
 Hebrews 
 John 
 
 Jolui 
 John 
 
 V. 171 
 
 5i. 18 I 
 
 iv. 15 > 63 
 
 vL £9 i 
 ix. 3SJ 
 
 XX. 
 
 John 
 John 
 Jotin 
 John 
 John 
 John 
 
 John — 
 Revelation 
 Exodus - 
 John 
 
 V. 241 
 iii. 18 I 
 ill. 13 j 
 in. 31 )> 65 
 vi. 62 
 xvi. 28 I 
 ^9J 
 
 XXL 
 
 j6 ) 
 
 John 
 
 X. 33 V 67 
 
 X. 38^ 
 
 XXIIL 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 
 John 
 
 ■=s 
 
 6S 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 XKVIL 
 
 JOH N 
 
 I Timothy 
 John 
 
 xviii. 271 
 
 — '^'- 13 > 74 
 
 i- 49 J 
 
 John 
 
 John 
 
 29 (• 75 
 
 Acts 
 
 |ohu — — 
 
 Mark 
 
 Ro;Tiaas — 
 
 John 
 
 Ads — — 
 
 Ads — — 
 
 1 Corinthians 
 Luke — 
 Mattthew 
 Adls 
 
 i. 
 
 H1 
 
 XV. 
 
 27.. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 IS 
 
 1. 
 
 S 
 
 11. 
 
 ^S 
 
 1. 
 
 ai 
 
 
 22 
 
 IX. 
 
 <; 
 
 
 6) 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 IS 
 
 i. 
 
 17 
 
 X!. 
 
 49 
 
 XXIU- 
 
 -4 
 
 IX. 
 
 20 
 
 Aflf 
 
N D E X, 
 
 Afts 
 
 Ads 
 John 
 John 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 ix. 2"] 
 
 •• ^5 I 
 xxi. ij C ' 
 xiii. 37 1 
 
 xfxx. 
 
 Ac IS 
 Ads 
 
 Afts 
 
 !. lO 
 ^ 10 I 
 
 21 > Si 
 «. 34 I 
 
 35J 
 
 Acts 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 vi!. 54^ 
 55 
 56 
 
 57 
 58 
 59 
 60 
 
 John 
 Pfalm 
 
 
 
 xvl. 
 xxxi. 
 
 13 
 5 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 
 XXll. 
 
 9> S2 
 
 Jeremiah 
 
 
 
 xxni. 
 
 2-^ 
 
 
 Adis 
 
 
 vii. 
 
 5<-' 
 
 
 Matthew 
 
 
 
 xxvi. 
 
 64 
 
 61 
 
 
 Matthew 
 
 
 xiv. 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 xi. 18-) 
 
 Ads 
 
 Ifaiah 
 
 Matthew 
 
 Ads 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 xiii. 4:; 
 
 46 
 47 
 
 xlix. 6 
 
 — XV. 24 )>■ 89 
 
 — xiii. 48 
 
 49 
 
 — xiv. I 
 
 '' C 
 
 ■33 
 
 Ch. 
 Matthew — — xxviii. 
 
 Mark xvi. 
 
 Hebrews — ii. 
 
 Arts xix 
 
 4 > 
 
 XXXV. 
 xvi. 14I 
 
 Luke 
 
 Mark 
 
 Romans 
 
 Philippians 
 
 Titus 
 
 16 
 17 I 
 
 45 > r- 
 
 34 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 Acts 
 
 30I 
 3H 
 
 32 > 93 
 
 33 I 
 34J 
 
 XXXVll. 
 
 Acts xvii. 
 
 A<ft3 ■ xvii. 
 
 Coloffians 
 Ifaiah 
 
 xiii. 
 
 i8^ 
 231 
 
 24 I 
 28 > 94 
 
 8 J 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 Acts xviii. 
 
 9l 
 
 10 > 95 
 
 Adls . 
 
 
 •"J 
 
 
 Acts 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 ■5? 
 
 
 
 95 
 
 XL. 
 
 Acts 
 Afts 
 
 10^ 
 
 17 I 
 
 18 ;- 97 
 
 19 I 
 -o 1 
 
 Acts 
 ^Tatthew 
 
 '4 C 
 
 Acts 
 
234 
 
 Acts 
 Ads 
 
 N D 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 
 E X* 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 20 J 
 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 TnVin 
 
 14 >■ 99 
 
 
 
 Romans 
 
 XLV. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 Romans 
 John 
 
 Matthew 
 Romans 
 
 ii. 3-, 
 
 V. 22 ( 
 
 :vi. 27 ( ■ 
 
 i;. 6 5 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Romans ii. 4"^ • 
 
 Ads xi. 18 I 
 
 1 Timothy i. 16 >ioo 
 
 z Peter — 1 — iii. 15 | 
 
 9J 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Romans 
 
 Romans 
 Hebrews 
 
 CU. J 
 
 The whole of each chapter referred to. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 iMANS • viii. 9? 
 
 Romans 
 
 L. 
 
 ix. 
 
 5 
 
 102 
 
 Romans 
 
 LI. 
 
 X. 
 
 13 i 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 - 102 
 
 Romans 
 
 xiv. 6^) 
 
 9 >I03 
 
 I Corinthians x. 31 | 
 
 28 I 
 
 Lin. 
 
 Romans - ' xiv. 10^ 
 
 "I 
 
 Ifalah . — — xlv. 21 I 
 
 ,10^ 
 
 2 Cornthians — v. 10 I 
 Hebrews, — — ^- 3^J 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 LIV. 
 Romans xiv. 14 104 
 
 Romans 
 
 x67 
 
 19 i 
 
 10; 
 
 LVI. 
 
 Romans xvi. i6") 
 
 I Corinthians — — i. i ( 
 
 2 > 105 
 
 3l 
 
 4J 
 
 LVII. 
 Corinthians — i. j^ 
 
 Corinthians — — iv. 5 
 
 I 
 10 ) 
 
 18 I 
 
 2 Corinthians x. 14 , 
 
 LVIII. 
 I Corinthians — i. ii"^ 
 
 I Corinthians i. 10 >■ 107 
 
 I Corinthians — — . iii. ^ [ 
 
 1 Corinthians i. 8 J 
 
 LIX. 
 
 I Corinthians — i. 14? 
 i5i 
 
 foS 
 
 Corinthians — i. 26") 
 
 Corinthians 
 
 7^ > -9 
 
 2 Corinthians — r- *. 17 j 
 Jeremiah ix. 24 J 
 
 LXI. 
 
 I Corinthians ii. 8") 
 
 Afts ■ iii. 15 ■ 
 
 James - ii. i 
 
 Pfalm xxiv, 10 
 
 Genefis ii. 7 
 
 LXII. 
 I Corinthians ii. 7? ^j^ 
 
 to the end. 5 
 
 LXIII. 
 I Corinthians vii. 25? ^^^ 
 
 Daniel ix. 9 5 
 
 LXIV 
 
N D 
 
 235 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 LXIV. 
 I Corinthians \iii. 4) 
 1 Corinthians — viii- 6 I 
 Afts •— xlv. 7 I 
 
 i5>iii 
 I Corinthians — xii. z 1 
 
 1 Corinthians — 
 
 3 
 
 XIV. 33 
 
 LXV 
 
 1 CoRINTHIAKS 
 
 2. Corinthians 
 
 .s X. 20 -J 
 
 16 ) 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 2 CoRINT) 
 
 z Timot'iy 
 
 LXVII. 
 2 Corinthians ] 
 
 8 \ 
 
 9 1 
 
 10 .1 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 Galatians 
 
 Galatians 
 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 G A L A T r A N S 
 
 Galatians 
 
 i. :o7 
 
 VI. 12 > : 
 
 Galati 
 Galatians 
 Romans 
 
 I Corinthians 
 
 LXX. 
 
 ANs iv. 6~) 
 
 iii. 8 I 
 
 viii. II ' 
 
 XII. -5 J 
 
 LXXII. 
 Ephesians 
 
 Ch. 
 iv. 
 
 iv. 
 
 V. Page 
 
 '1 
 
 10 > 122 
 14 1 
 
 Lxxni. 
 
 Ephesians 
 
 Coloflinns 
 
 \i. 
 iii. 
 
 
 
 7 > 125 
 
 LXXIV. 
 Philippians 
 
 Coloffians 
 
 li. 
 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 Philippians — 
 I Timothy 
 
 I Timothy 
 
 Titus 
 
 \£l, 
 
 iii. 
 
 ii. 
 
 iv. 
 
 i. 
 
 20' 
 
 I?>^^4 
 
 3 I 
 
 
 3 
 
 LXXVl 
 
 ' ' 
 
 15 1 
 
 If? ^ 
 
 119 
 
 Ephesians 
 Ephefians 
 
 Romans 
 Romans 
 Ephefians 
 
 Ephefians 
 Ephefians 
 Ephefians 
 Romans 
 
 14 
 15 
 16 
 
 ii. 4 
 
 ix. 23 
 
 iii. iS >I2l 
 
 in 
 
 iv. 15 I 
 iii. 7t 
 iv. 7 1 
 xi. 33 i 
 34J 
 
 LXXV II. 
 Colossi AKS II. 9 
 
 LXXVlli. 
 
 COLOSSIANS — — i 
 
 ii. IT "7 
 
 12 S. 
 
 12S 
 
 Colossia: 
 Romans 
 Ephefians 
 James 
 
 > liS 
 
 LXXX. 
 1 Thessalonians ii. 2~j 
 1 Thedalonians — ii. S 1 
 
 9 ^ i^S 
 
 1 Thefialonians 
 John 
 
 XV 
 
 Theffalonians — 
 
 
 LXXX I. 
 
 Thessalgnians iv. 
 
 G g 2 
 
 LXX XI. 
 
236 
 
 N D 
 
 X. 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 LXXXII. 
 a Thessalonians i, 6") 
 
 9 >i3o 
 
 17 : 
 
 Matthew ■ vi. 
 
 1 Peter iv 
 
 LXXXiii. 
 
 Thessalonians ii. 
 
 2 Theflalonians — iii. 
 
 •'i 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 a Thessalonians iii, 
 2 Corinthians • ii. 
 
 45.3. 
 
 17. i 
 
 Timothy 
 
 il 
 
 J T;mothy 
 I Timothy 
 
 LXXXVI 
 
 3' 
 
 LXXXVII, 
 
 J Timothy — — iv. 
 
 10 3 
 
 LXXXVlil. 
 I Timothy — vi. 
 
 a Corinthians — v. 
 
 i" 
 
 2 Timothy 
 Titus — 
 
 &•' 
 
 '31 
 
 Revelation 
 Titus 
 
 Titus 
 
 4j 
 
 Ch. V. Page 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 Coloflians 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 . , 
 
 ii. 
 i. 
 
 X, 
 
 vii. 
 
 16^ 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 J35 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 
 vm. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 
 11. 
 
 ) 
 
 
 XCJl. 
 
 James 
 
 James 
 
 Afts 
 Luke 
 Luke 
 
 M 
 
 "I 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 34 
 
 48 
 
 13J 
 
 James 
 James 
 
 l'1 
 
 5 > 143 
 9l 
 ^3J 
 
 I Peter 
 
 n 
 
 John 
 
 John • 
 
 I Peicr >— 
 Hebrews 
 
 Adts 
 
 lames — 
 
 Jair.e. _ - 
 
 1 Corinthians 
 
 2 'i'lmolhy 
 
 > 144 
 
 I Peter 
 
 
 
 iv. 11 
 
 J . 
 
 7. Peter 
 I Timothy 
 
 XLV. 
 
 i. 1 
 i 1 
 
 \ 146 
 
 2 Peter 
 
 XCVL 
 
 i 1 
 
 i46 
 
 2 Peter 
 
 XCVll. 
 
 2 Peter 
 
 iii. 
 
 IS 
 
 • Timothy 
 
 
 16 
 
 2 Peter ' 
 
 111. 
 
 18 
 
 146 
 
 XCVIII. 
 
I N D 
 
 X. 
 
 XCVIII. 
 
 JOHX ii. 22 J48 
 
 XCiX. 
 I John iv. 3 
 
 1 JOHN 
 
 1 John 
 
 John 
 
 V. 13-) 
 
 lU 2J I 
 
 2^ I 
 
 148 
 
 I John 
 I John 
 
 
 149 
 
 cm. 
 
 2 John 
 I John 
 I John 
 
 E ■:!( 
 
 CIV. 
 
 JuDE 
 
 Phili;ipian's 
 Titus — :— 
 I Corinthians 
 
 ;1 
 
 
 cv. 
 
 
 
 
 J.U D E 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 151 
 
 
 CVl. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ul. 
 
 16 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 Acts 
 
 Ifaiah 
 Afts 
 
 xl. 
 
 XX. 
 
 
 CVJil. 
 
 Hebrews 
 Romans 
 Hebrews 
 
 CIX, 
 Revelation — ii. 
 
 Ifaiah ■ - xliy. 
 John xiii. 
 
 Revelation — — - 
 Revelation ^— xxii, 
 
 Ch. 
 
 ex. 
 
 Revelation — ii. 
 
 Jeremiah xvii. 
 
 Jeremiah xi. 
 
 Jeremiah xx. 
 
 Ifai.ih xliv. 
 
 V. Page 
 20 V. 157 
 
 CXI. 
 
 Revelation — i, 
 MuUhevv — — xxiv 
 
 Revelation i. 
 
 ReveKuion iv. 
 
 8 ) 
 
 CXII. 
 
 Revelation 
 Revelation 
 
 Matthew 
 
 I Corinthians — 
 Coloirians 
 
 > ^59 
 
 6| 
 '7J 
 
 Revelatioi 
 Matthew 
 
 CXiV. 
 Revelation — 
 
 Job _ 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 1( 
 
 i6o> 
 
 Revel AT ion 
 Revelation 
 
 Jeremiah 
 
 il 
 
 CXVj. 
 Revelation — vi. 
 
 Hebrews 
 Revelation 
 
 < — VI. I!; ■) 
 
 - -4 
 
 VI. 13 I 
 
 14 J 
 
 CXVll. 
 Revelation — xiv. 
 
 I — xiv. 6"^ 
 
 - ^1 
 
 Philemon 
 Romans 
 2 Timothy 
 
 Philippians 
 
 2 Timothy — — iv. 
 1 Corinthians — viii. 
 Coloffians i. 
 
 17 > i63 
 
 17 i 
 CXVIII. 
 
238 
 
 I N D 
 
 X. 
 
 
 Ch. 
 
 V. 
 
 Page 
 
 
 
 Ch. 
 
 V, 
 
 Page 
 
 CXVIII 
 
 
 
 
 
 CXXII 
 
 
 
 Revelation — 
 
 <vi). 
 
 :tl 
 
 
 Revelati 
 
 ON > 
 
 xii. 
 
 13 1 
 
 Revelation 
 
 xix. 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 vii. 
 
 7 ( ^70 
 
 
 
 i6 V164 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 xxi. 
 
 
 
 17 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 ) 
 
 
 
 t8J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CXIX. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Revelation — 
 
 xix. 
 
 131 
 
 
 
 CXXIII 
 
 
 
 TnV,n .^^__^-_^ 
 
 
 
 
 Revelati*^*^ "^ 
 
 
 22" 
 
 jonn ' 
 
 ■ 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 
 xxii. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 3> 171 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 
 
 4] 
 
 
 ;. 
 
 I 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 
 iii. 
 
 "1 
 
 John — 
 
 i. 
 
 viii. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 12 
 
 M65 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 xiv. 
 
 
 
 John — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i- 
 
 5 
 
 
 CXXIV. 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 Revelat 
 
 ON 
 
 xxii. 
 
 ^7 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 i. 
 
 4 ^7^ 
 
 
 iii 
 
 16 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 
 xxii. 
 
 leS 
 
 I Peter — 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 Revelation 
 
 - i. 
 
 2^3 
 3 
 a 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 iii. 
 
 
 
 cxxv 
 
 
 n 
 
 I Peter — 
 
 i. 
 
 25 
 
 
 Revelati 
 
 ON — 
 
 iv. 
 
 John 
 
 i. 
 
 '5. 
 
 
 
 Revelatioa 
 
 
 V. 
 
 1 1 
 12 
 
 cxx 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 Revelation — 
 
 XX 
 
 6 
 
 1167 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 vii. 
 
 
 
 
 Coloflians 
 
 
 i. 
 
 17 
 
 CXXl 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 
 Revelation — 
 
 XX, 
 
 12? 
 
 
 Ifaiah 
 
 
 Hii. 
 
 
 
 ^3 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 
 vii. 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 ^5 
 
 
 
 
 
 »5 
 
 
 Matthew 
 
 XXV 
 
 31 
 
 
 Revelation 
 
 . 
 
 xvii. 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 ^169 
 
 1 Timcthy 
 
 — — 
 
 vi 
 
 ^5 
 
 
 Matthew 
 
 xvi 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 Matihew — — 
 
 xiii 
 
 41 
 
 
 2 Peter - 
 
 
 iii. 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 1 
 
 I Peter 
 
 
 iv. 
 
 " 
 
 
 Revelation — 
 
 xxi 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 
 Hebrews 
 
 
 xii. 
 
 I 
 
 
 John -- — 
 
 V 
 
 a2_ 
 
 J 
 
 Philippians 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 loj 
 
 
N D E X 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Texts of Scripture quoted in the third Chapter accord- 
 ing to the Order in vohich they Jl and in the Bible. 
 
 Genesis i. i — 
 
 165 
 
 IJO 
 
 
 .."• 7 
 
 
 Exodus iii. 14 — 
 
 66 
 
 
 iii. 15 _ 
 
 71 
 
 
 Ne HEM I AH ix. 17 
 
 5S 
 
 
 Job v. 17 — 
 Psalms viii. i — 
 
 160 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 110 
 
 
 
 85 
 
 
 xliv. 22 
 
 53 
 
 
 Isaiah vii. 14 — 
 
 50 
 
 
 ix. 6 — 
 
 50 
 
 
 xii. 3 — 
 
 62 
 
 
 — "-wi 
 
 5* 
 
 
 . xlii. S 
 
 95 
 
 
 xliii. 25 
 
 58 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 
 ^ xlv. 217 
 
 5o» 
 
 '57, 158 
 
 "r 
 
 104 
 
 
 23i 
 
 
 
 xlix. 6 — 
 
 90 
 
 
 li. 97 
 
 
 
 3oC 
 
 SI 
 
 
 153 
 
 -"■•4 
 
 51 
 
 
 lill. I — 
 
 51 
 
 
 7 — 
 Iv. I — 
 
 '73 
 62 
 
 
 Jeremiah ix. 24 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 158 
 
 
 
 ,58 
 
 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 
 XX. 12 
 
 158 
 
 
 ....::: - . 
 
 S6, 
 III 
 
 161 
 
 Daniel ix. 9 — 
 
 Matthew vi, 9 
 
 130, 
 
 159 
 
 
 54, 9S. 159 
 
 
 vi. 13 
 
 ^1' 
 
 '59 
 
 ^ XI. 27 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 55, 
 
 170 
 
 ■ — ■ xiii. 42 
 
 170 
 
 
 1 . Page 
 
 Matthew xiv. 617 
 
 to y 82 
 
 65^ 
 
 — XV. 24 91 
 
 • 27 55, 'CO, 
 
 • 16 53 
 11. 34 78 
 /. 30 15S 
 
 31 54 
 XXV. 31 ") 
 
 S «' 
 
 34 3 
 
 xxvi. ^47 
 
 65^87 
 
 xxviii, 20, 57, 92 
 
 .69 
 
 169 
 
 Mark i. 34 
 
 V. 19 
 
 — — — viii. 38 
 
 ix. 24 
 
 xvi. 15 
 
 LuK^ iii. 6 
 
 3 
 
 V. 207 
 
 39: 
 
 viii. 48 
 
 ix. 26 
 
 X. 22 
 
 49 
 
 tvii. 207 
 303 
 
 xxni. 42 , 
 43: 
 
 John i. 
 
 XXIV. 45 — 
 
 93 
 59 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 
 77 
 
 57, 9= 
 
 51 
 
 143 
 
 5S 
 
 5S 
 
 59 
 143 
 55 
 56 
 
 78 
 
 JO-^N 
 
N D 
 
 — IX. 
 
 64 
 
 - 69 
 
 John xvi, 7 
 
 i5i 
 
 28 
 
 .. ^9 
 
 xvii, 5 
 
 ^4 
 xviii. 37 
 16 
 
 (- 
 
 Page 
 
 72 
 
 Acts i. 21 
 
 24; 
 
 lu 32 
 
 i6T 
 
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 17 J 
 
 111. 12 
 
 145 
 
 
 vii. 51 
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 58, 59 
 
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I N D 
 
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 s XI. 23 
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 XV. li 
 
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 xva. 18 
 
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 iviii. 8 
 
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 ' XIX. 10 
 
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 • xxi. 11 
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 — xxiv. 5 
 
 .'* 
 Romans 1, i 
 
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 iii. 26 
 
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 ■ XV. 16 
 
 19 — 
 
 ■ xvi. 16 •— 
 
 I Corinthians i. 
 
 26 ~ 
 
 29 
 
D 
 
 X. 
 
 Xll. 2 — 
 
 . 3 — 
 2 Corinthians ii. 
 
 Gaiatians 1. 
 
 Ephesians 
 
 109 
 
 9 — 
 
 JO — l^^ 
 
 Ephesians vi. 
 
 Philippians i. 
 
 
 Page 
 
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 . 20 
 
 124 
 
 COLOSSIANS i. 15 134, 125 
 
 j6 95, 125, 138, 163, 173 
 
 17 95, 125, 159, 163 
 
 18 127 
 
 12S 
 128 
 iz 128 
 
 128 
 
 "3 
 
 128 
 128 
 
 I Thessaionians ii. 2 
 
 3 
 
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 — — — ^— — ^— — IV. 2 
 
 2 Thessalonians i. 6 
 
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 Timothy i. 
 
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 ui. 3 
 
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 13^ 
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 IV. 10 125, 133 
 vi. »3 74, 134 
 
 134 
 
 134. 174 
 134, 174 
 I Timothy 
 
I N D E 
 
 H3 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 
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 »TlMOTHY i. 8 
 
 ii S 
 
 116, 163 
 
 134 
 
 '^* 
 
 55. I35» »63 
 
 jAMKsii. 13 
 
 — 
 
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 Q 
 
 
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 136, 146 
 
 9 
 
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 15 
 
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 73 
 
 iii. 4 - 
 
 136 
 
 23 
 
 
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 5 ~ 
 
 136 
 
 .. =^5 
 
 
 166 
 
 6 — 
 
 136 
 
 
 
 J4S 
 
 Philemon 9 — 
 
 163 
 
 — — iv. 11 
 
 
 146, 174 
 
 Hebrews i. 2 
 
 166 
 
 13 
 
 
 59 
 
 8 
 
 155 
 
 H 
 
 
 59 
 
 9 
 
 155 
 
 17 
 
 
 131 
 
 10 
 
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 3 
 
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 146 
 
 3 
 
 57 
 
 II 
 
 
 55. M6 
 
 4 
 
 57, 9i 
 
 21 
 
 
 72 
 
 16 
 
 137 
 
 — ■ iii, 9 
 
 
 lOI 
 
 17 
 
 140 
 
 10 
 
 
 146 
 
 18 
 
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 II 
 
 
 147 
 
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 63 
 
 12 
 
 
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 140 
 :ferred to. 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 I John i; i 
 2 
 
 
 100, 147 
 147, 174 
 
 The whole r 
 
 
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 71, 165 
 165 
 
 The whole referred to. 
 
 _ 
 
 ix. 24 
 
 73 
 
 5 
 
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 16s 
 
 
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 li. 22 
 
 — 
 
 147 
 
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 .. ^3 
 
 — 
 
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 I 
 
 140 
 
 iii. 16 
 
 — 
 
 »S3 
 
 5 
 
 140 
 
 21 
 
 — 
 
 149 
 
 6 
 
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 20 
 
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 148 
 
 31 
 
 104 
 
 12 
 
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 148 
 
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 V. 7 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 166 
 
 II 
 
 — 
 
 149 
 
 
 T/-,T 
 
 12 
 
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 149 
 149 
 
 The whole referred to. 
 
 '3 
 
 _ 
 
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 174 
 
 14 
 
 — 
 
 149 
 
 6 
 
 160 
 
 15 
 
 — 
 
 149 
 
 7 
 
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 20 
 
 — 
 
 149 
 
 
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 2 John 9 
 
 — 
 
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 5*, 145 
 
 Jude, the whole, 
 
 i5» 
 
 21 
 
 5» 
 
 M3 
 
 H5 
 
 Revelation 
 
 i. 
 
 1 17* 
 
 James i. i — 
 12 — 
 
 
 
 4 66, 160 
 
 5 13*^. 160 
 
 
 no, 128, 144 
 
 
 
 6 157,160 
 
 5 — 
 
 144, 146 
 
 
 
 I "'^ . 
 
 9 — 
 
 144 
 
 
 
 8 ,57, ,s8 
 
 Reve 
 
444 
 
 N D 
 
 X. 
 
 Page 
 Revelation i. 18 159 
 
 ii. 8 
 
 23 
 
 5'» IS7 
 
 1 57 
 
 111. 10 159 
 
 12 17Z 
 
 14 J66 
 
 19 160 
 
 m 5J 159, 173 
 
 9 159 
 
 10 159 
 
 11 159, 173 
 — V, 12 173 
 
 13 161, 173 
 ■. . VI. 13 163 
 
 14 163 
 
 15 162 
 
 16 i6z 
 I viii 9 174 
 
 JO 173 
 
 14 174 
 
 15 174 
 
 II xiv. I 172 
 
 6 163 
 
 7 163 
 •— — — — xvii. 14 164, 174 
 
 Revelation xix. 
 
 Page 
 '3 1^5 
 
 [34, 164 
 164 
 
 i3 164 
 r64 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 13 169 
 
 14 169 
 
 167 
 .69 
 
 69 
 
 xxi. 6 171 
 
 7 171 
 
 22 171 
 
 23 17! 
 27 169 
 
 xxii. I 6z 
 
 171 
 
 171 
 
 171 
 
 172 
 
 8S 
 
 5* 
 
 157, I7or 
 
 172 
 
 62 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page. 
 
 line. 
 
 /.r. 
 
 read. 
 
 IQ 
 
 17 
 
 the infcrutable 
 
 his infcrutable 
 
 :^s 
 
 n 
 
 the Lord fhall 
 
 the Lord God {hall 
 
 101 
 
 32 
 
 fynonimous. 
 
 dele the full point 
 
 160 
 
 SI 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 164 
 
 12 
 
 the Lord 
 
 dele the 
 
 There are, befides, a few typographical errours of 
 lefs importance, which are therefore left unnoticed. 
 The reader is requefted to pardon thefe, and the omif- 
 fion or mifplacing (if any there be) of the inverted 
 commas, by which quotations are, marked. 
 
Pace 40^ — Pliny's Epiftle to Trajan, giving him an 
 account of the profeflburs of Chriftianity, is alluded to; 
 in which he fays of them, " Carmenque Chrifto quafi 
 ** Deo dicere fecum invicem." 
 
 Page 195 — The horrid perfecution carried on in 
 Africa, againft the Believers in the Godhead of our 
 Saviour, by the Arian tyrant Huneric, in the fifth 
 century, is alluded to — See Mofheim's Ecdefiaftical 
 Hiftory, Vol.1, p. 401, 06lavo, 1768. 
 
 Page 198 — In fupport of what I have faid concern- 
 ing Mr. Hume, fee his works pajfim. Or rather fave 
 yourfelf the difagreeable labour, and attentively read 
 Dr. Seattle's manly and convincing EJfay on the Nature 
 and Immutability of Truths in oppofition to Sophijiry and 
 Scepticif?n ; in which you will find Mr. Hume already 
 dete<Sled. — See alfo Harris's well-authenticated Hi/^o- 
 rical and Critical Account of Charles I. p. 264, Octavo, 
 1758, where the Infidelity of the Hiftorian is pointed 
 9Ut. 
 
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