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iSXt.

SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY

MESSIAH.

B. BENSLEY,
Bolt Court, Fleet street.

SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY

MESSIAH :
AN
INQUIRY
WITH A VIEW TO A SATISFACTORY DETERMINATION OP THE
DOCTRINK TAUGHT IN THB HOLY SCRIPTURES
CONCERNING THE
PERSON OF CHRIST ;
INCLUDING
A CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF THE REV, THOMAS BELSHAM'S
CALM INQUIRY, AND OF OTHER UNITARIAN WORKS
ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

By JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. n. PART I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR B. J. HOLDSWORTH,
South Side of St. Paul's Church Yard.
AND SOLD BY
HATCHARD & SON, PICCADILLY ; J, PARKER, OXFORD ; DEIGHTON & SONS,
CAMBRIDGE ; WAUGH & INNES, EDINBURGH ; WARDLAW & CUNNINGHAME,
AND CHALMERS & COLLINS, GLASGOW ; AND R, M. TIMMS, DVBLIN,
182 1

PREFACE
TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

In submitting the sequel of this treatise to the
judgftient of the public, th« author has to regret
that the causes stated in the preface to the
first volume have deferred the publication much
longer than he had expected.
He has wished and sedulously laboured to be
concise : but he fears that he may not have
escaped from that kind of tediousness which is
likely to accompany the continued use of the
two chief instruments by which he has prose
cuted this inquiry ; the patient investigating of
the meaning of terms, and the elucidating of the
connexion and scope of controverted passages.
Whatever conviction he entertains of the truth
Qf his own sentiments, he wishes for their adop-

vi PREFACE.
tion by others, only so far as the strength of
evidence shall warrant. His anxious and con
stant endeavour has, therefore, been to lay down
that evidence with impartiality and fulness;
and thus to place before his readers the proper
materials for the forming of their own con
clusions. He has occasionally, in the notes, indulged
in brief digressions ; but these have been either
to subjects closely connected with the great
topic under consideration, or to principles of
criticism and interpretation, the familiarizing of
which to young persons, and especially to theo
logical students, is an object, in his opinion, too
important to need an apology.
The reasons of his departing from the autho
rized version of the Bible, have been stated in
the preface to the former volume. It is, how
ever, his earnest hope that this circumstance,
having been resorted to for the purpose of
superseding or abridging such critical remarks
as would have -been otherwise indispensable.

PREFACE. vii
will not be understood to imply any counte
nancing of certain extraordinary pretences to a
new translation of the Scriptures, by which
learning, taste, and religion, have been equally
offended. A judicious and temperate revision
of the established version, he cannot but think
to be a most desirable work : but, were this
object realized, he is far from supposing that
it would be proper to use the explicatory and
sometimes paraphrastic mode of expression,
which has appeared to him necessary for the
purposes of a theological discussion.
The pi-ice of these volumes has been a sub
ject of sincere concern to both the author and
the publisher. It was occasioned by the heavy
amount of the extra charges of printing, for so
large a body of notes and the numerous Latin
and Greek citations. But this dearness, in com
parison with -books printed on a uniform type
and plain page, is rather in appearance than in
reality ; especially with respect to the second
volume, which is executed in so compressed and
economical a mode of printing, as to contain a

Vlii PREFACE.
quantity of matter at least double to that of thd
firstj, while the price is proportionably much
lower. Should any person think proper to honour
this work by any animadversions, the author
does not anticipate the obligation of a yeply.
His endeavour has been to give a dispassionate
statement of reasons and arguments. . The com
parison of these with what may be advanced on
the contrary part, will be the province of serious
and impartial readers, whose judgqient wjll not
require aid from him. He is also bound to bear
in mind that his immediate duties allow him no
disposable leisure ; and that, to , retrieve the de
triment which they may have sustained, by being
imperfectly discharged during the composition of
this work, will require an absolute appropriation
of his future time and exertions.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.

BOOK III, Page
On the information to be obtained concerning the Person
of THE Christ, from the Narratives of the Evangelical
History, and from our Lord's own Assertions and In
timations  ;  > . . . 1
Chap, I. On the. Narrative of the Miraculous Conception. 5
Supplementary Notes. Charnock and Hartley
on this subject. — Leclerc on the discrimination
of genuine and spurious writings,— Kuinoel on
the " fulfilment" of passages from the O, T.
-^On the star, the visit of the Magi, and the
massacre at Bethlehem  6
Chap. II. On the Evidence relative to the Person of the
Christ, which may be derived from the office
and the testimony of John the Baptist  31
Supplementary Notes. On the translation of
John i. 15, 27.— On that of Luke i. 17,—
Rosenmiiller on the knowledge and power of
Christ  37
Chap. III. Declarations, Intimations, and Admissions of
Jesus Christ concerning himself  42
Capit. I. Declarations made, or acquiesced in, by Jesus
Christ, elucidating the import of the appella
tion Son of God  44
Sect. I. Son of the Most High ; Luke i, 32  46
II. Son of God ; Luke i, 35  47
III. S6n of God j Mark 1. 1, &c  49
IV. His Person, equaUy with that of the Father,
surpassing human knowledge  58
VOL. II. b '

X CONTENTS, Page
Sect. V. Son of God, claiming a parity in power and
honour with the Father  64
Supplementary Notes. Scholten on the pro
priety of a man being the Judge of men. —
Passages of Nonnus  79
VI, Son of God, One with the Father j John
X, 24—38  84
Capit, II. Passages elucidating our Lord's use of the
appellation, the Son of man  96
Sect; I. On Christ's descending from heaven ; John
iii, 13  102
II. On his coming from above, and from heaven ;
John iii. 31  118
Supplementary Notes. On 1 Cor. xv. 47. —
Nonnus : Semler  122
III. On Christ's descending from heaven, as the
Bread of Life ; John vi  124
IV. On His coming from above, and from God -,
John viii. 14, &c  135
V. On His glory possessed with the Father, before
the world j John xvii. 5  141
Supplementary Note. Calvin cited, and re
marks on him  161
Capit. III. On our Lord's declaration of an existence
before Abraham ; John viii. 58  163
Capit. IV, On the perpetual presence of Christ promised
to his disciples; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20  193
Supplementary Notes. Critical character of
Bishop Pearce, M. Rubnkenius, and Mr.
Wakefield.— On the intercession of Christ. —
Hegesippus on the descendants of Jude . . 227
Capit. V. On the perpetual presence of Christ promised
to worshipping assemblies ) Matt, xviii. 20. 232
Capit. VI. On our Lord's declarations of his personal
agency in the resurrection of the dead, and
the final judgment  249
Supplementary Note. Citation from the Calm
Inquiry  268

CONTENTS. xi
Page
Capit. VII. On the Homage which Christ permitted to
' be paid to himself  270
Capit. Vin. Miscellaneous declarations of Christ, intimat
ing the existence and action of a Superior
Nature in himself  302
Capit. IX. Review of the Evidence collected in this
Chapter  327

Chap. IV. On the Real Humanity of Jesus Christ, its.
characters and affections :
Sect. I. The Human Nature, with all its innocent
properties, affirmed of Jesus Christ  333
Supplementary Note. Chrysostom, Cameron,
Ernesti, &c. on Heb. ii. 16  358
II. Scriptural descriptions of the Messiah's Hu
manity involving the recognition of a Su
perior Nature  360
Supplementary Note. On Phil. ii. 6  413

Chap. V. On the state of Mind, and Knowledge concern
ing the Person of Christ, which the Apos
tles possessed during the period of their
attendance upoii him  417
Supplementary Note. Citation from the Calm
Inquiry  432

BOOK IV.
On the Doctrine taught by the Apostles in their inspired
ministry, concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ 435
Chap. I. On the Examples of the Apostolic Instruction
contained in the Book of Acts  438
Supplementary Notes. On Acts iv. 12. xx. 28. 490

xii CONTENTS. Page
Chap. II. The Testimony of the Apostle John :
Sect. I. The Introduction to the Gospel of John .... 495
II. Information from the Epistles of John  542
III. Evidence from the Book of the Revelation. . 552
Supplementary Notes. On the Occasion of
the Gospel of John. Dr. Dwight on the
Apocalyptic representation of Jesus Christ 586
Chap. III. Testimonies of the Apostles Peter and Jude 589
Chap. IV. The Testimony of .the Apostle Paul  608
Supplementary Notes. On the Antisuper-
naturalists.— On the references of the Chris
tian Fathers to Rom. ix. 5 — On Jude 4. . . 710
Review and Conclusion  ;  716
Appendix I. On the Sup.posed Unitarianism of the Majority of
the Early Christians  731
II. On the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit  ^. 742
III. On the Doctrine of the Trinity  749
IV. Observations referring to Dr. Carpenter and the
Rev. W. J. Fox  , . 755
V, List of the most Important Manuscripts, and of the
Ancient Versions, of the New Testament  769
Index I. Hebrew Words and Phrases  772
II. Greek Words and Phrases  774
I III. Passages of Scripture  776
IV. Principal Subjects, occasional Topics, and Authors
referred to  788

THE
SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY
TO THE
MESSIAH.

BOOK III.
ON THE INFORMATION TO BE OBTAINED CONCERNING THE
PERSON OF THE CHRIST, FROM THE NARRATIVES OF THB
EVANGELICAL HISTORY, AND FROM OUR LORD'S OWN ASSER
TIONS AND INTIMATIONS.

Jesus the Messiah, — To him, therefore all the attributes, of the Messiah
must attach. — ^The testimony of the Christiau Scriptures must coincide
with that of the Jewish. — ^The real humanity of Jesus no objection to
the existence of a superior uature.^Proposed method of the Inquiry.
In the preceding part of this inquiry we have
endeavoured, with caution and scrupulosity, to
collect the characters of the Messiah from the
descriptions of ancient prophecy. We have
carefully analysed these descriptions, through
the series of the Patriarchal and the Israelitish
revelations ; and the result is before the Reader.
Whomsoever we may find to be the Messiah, to
him we are assured that all those characters
must belong ; and that, in some way to us
unknown and mysterious, he is at once a man
VOL. II. B

2 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
of sorrows, the descendant of Adam and Abra
ham, and David, and yet possessed of the high
attributes of the Lord God, the Eternal and
Unchangeable Jehovah.
All Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is the One and Only Messiah ; and that to him,
arid to no other, all the characters of the Mes
siah belong, in their absolute reality and their
broadest extent. Here, then, we might not
unfairly close our case, and rise from the search
satisfied that the Author of our Religion is the
Root as well as the Offspring of David, the
Mighty God as well as the Son given to us.
But we have Christian Scriptures, the sequel
and completion of the Jewish ; the writings of
the attendants and disciples of the Messiah, in
addition to those of the Prophets who before
testified of his sufferings and glories. If our
conclusions are justly drawn from the Old
Testament, they will certainly be confirmed by
the declarations of the New. To the doctrine
of the New Testament, therefore, we direct our
attention as a new, but not an independent,
branch of evidence.
That Jesus Christ was and is really and pro
perly a man, is maintained by the orthodox as
strenuously as by the Unitarians. To bring evi
dence in proof of this point is, on either side, un
necessary ; unless it were conceded that proper
humanity implies necessarily a mere humanity ;
or, in other words, that it is impossible for the
Deity to assume the human nature into an indis-

JESUS THIS MESSIAH. g
soluble union with himself. Such an union, let
it be carefully remembered, is not a transmuta^
tion of either nature into the other; nor a
destruction of the essential properties of either ;
nor a confusion of the one with the other. The
question of such an union is a question of fact :
and its proper, its only evidence, is Divine
Revelation. Though, for the reason just inti
mated it might not be strictly requisite to insti
tute a detailed examination of any other parts of
the Christian Scriptures, than those which are
apprehended to contain evidence of the existence
of a superior nature in the Person of Christ ; yet
it will conduce to the completeness of the argu
ment and the increase of satisfaction, to examine,
with equal care, the leading testimonies to our
Lord's humanity, particularly those which are
supposed by Unitarians to involve the idea of a
sole and exclusive humanity.
We are now arrived at what might be called
a position parallel to the commencement of Mr.
Belsham's Calm Inquiry into the Scripture Doc
trine concerning the Person of Christ. It would
be the easiest plan for me to follow that writer,
page by page, in the arrangement of passages
which he has adopted ; and, if an exposure of
his criticisms and interpretations, and a refuta
tion of his arguments, had been the principal
objects of this work, such a method would pro
bably have been preferred. But I presume to
aim at a more independent and permanent order
of usefulness, the exhibition of a complete state-
B 2

4 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
ment of the Scripture Evidence on this great
question : and, for this purpose, the inductive
process, which has been carried on through the
former volume, is the most impartial, and appears
the most likely to lead us to safe and satisfactory
conclusions. We shall, therefore, pursue the
lines of evidence as they are presented to us by
the opening and the gradual progress of the
New Testament dispensation ; and shall consider
the interpretations and reasonings of the Calm
Inquiry as they, will severally find their places
in the course of the work.

CHAP. I.

ON THE NARRATIVE OF THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.

At the head of his enumeration of supposed
arguments in favour of the doctrines which he
opposes, the Author of the Calm Inquiry has
placed the weakest that could well be conceived ;
that " the miraculous birth of Christ is regarded
by many as a considerable presumptive evidence
of his pre-existence.*
-It is quite sufficient to set aside this alleged
argument, to remind those, if such there be, who
are disposed to advance it, that Unitarians gene
rally, till Dr. Priestley, accorded with the uni
versal belief of Christians on this head. Dr.
Lardner, a professed Socinian, has largely vindi
cated the authenticity of the disputed portions
of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, against
exceptions and difficulties :t and, in the days of
modern Unitarians, Mr. Gilbert Wakefield, em
phatically and designedly, describes the Gospel
of Matthew as " delivering the history of a
Covenant between God and the human race,
* Page 12. t Credibility of the Gosp. Hist. Part I. Book II.

6 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
promulgated and ratified by a man horn out of the
common course qf generation.^'*
On the other hand, if a much greater force
belonged to the arguments by which the Calm
Inquirer and others are endeavouring to esta
blish the spuriousness of the initial portions of
Matthew and Luke, and if the evidence were
satisfactory to the rejection of those portions, I
¦ do not see that the doctrine of the Divine Nature
in the Person of Christ would be affected by it ;
any farther than as a few passages, which have
furnished some arguments in favour of the doc
trine, would be no longer proper to be adduced.
Had it pleased God so to ordain, the sinless
purity of our Lord's humanity might have been as
certainly provided for hy a miraculous interven
tion, on the supposition of its being produced in
the ordinary way of nature, as on the generally
received, and, in my opinion, true and scriptural
view of this subject. But, besides the divine
ordination, other reasons are not wanting to
shew the siqterior propriety and condignity of
this mode of miraculous formation. f
It cannot be denied that the portions of the
two Gospels in question are pressed with seem
ing difficulties, more than any other part of the
Evangelical history. These difficulties are al
leged to lie in the citations which occur in them
from the Qld Testament, in the facts related,

* Wakefield's New Transl. and Notes on Matthew, p. 416. 1782.
f See Note [A] at the end of this Chapter.

C«AP. I.] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 7
and in the want of any clear reference to those
facts in the subsequent parts of the New Testa
ment. But it is contrary to the pfinciples of
sound criticism to reject, as spurious, parts of
the works attributed to ancient authors, which
stand upon the same ground of external evidence
that is found by rigorous examination to be suf
ficient for the rest ;* unless there are discre
pancies and contradictions which can be removed
by no fair methods of interpretation ; " such
traces and marks of ignorance in language, un-
skilfulness in history and antiquity, want of
accuracy in reasoning, or in short, mistakes of
one kind or other, as that we might safely and
without suspicion of prejudice pronounce it im
possible to be the work off — the author to
whom it is attributed.
In the case before us, the internal difficulties
are Capable of being disposed of, to a candid
and reasonable satisfaction. The citations from
the Old Testament are rather . of the nature of
classical passages, capable of a descriptive ap
plication to the events, than direct prophecies.
Such applications have been always common, not
only among the Jews, but with every other
nation possessing any literature. So we every
day apply to observable events, striking sen-

* See Note [B] at the end of this Chapter.
f Markland's Remarks on the Epistles ascribed to Cicero and
Brutus, &c. p. 4. 'I745. See also Tunstalli Epist. ad Conyers
Middlelon, p, 194, 1741,

8 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
tences . of our own poets.* The facts related
have been solidly vindicated, and the objections
to their credibility answered.f We shall see,
also, that the chronological difficulties have
been obviated ; and that some solution may be
given to the difficulty which arises from the want
of reference to these facts in the succeeding
parts of the Christian Scriptures.
The positive evidence for the authenticity
of the passages is complete. All manuscript
authority that exists is in their favour : and
equally so is that of the ancient versions. Chris
tian writers who lived within a hundred years
of the events, mention the facts as of undoubted
certainty, and quote the passages as parts of
accredited scripture. Celsus the able and acute
adversary of Christianity, who flourished in the
second century ; and Origen in his reply to him ;
both consider the history of the miraculous con-
.ception as an unquestionable part of the Chris
tiau records. So also does the Jewish slanderer
who wrote the Toldoth Jesu.X In modern times,
the most distinguished scripture-critics, who
with all the aids of every kind of learning that
could bear upon such inquiries, have devoted
their time and talents to these researches ; and
who have been the most remote from any sus
picion of what some would call orthodox predi-
* See Note [C] at the end of this Chapter.
f See Note [D] at the end of this Chapter.
t Edited by Wagenseil ; Altdorf, 1G81.

CHAP. I.] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION, 9
lections; have given their most decided suffrage
in favour of the disputed portions of Matthew
and Luke.*
The Calm Inquirer lays much stress on the
allegation that " the Ebionite gospel of Matthew
and the Marcionite gospel of Luke, did not con
tain these accounts :" and in the Notes to the

* Lardner, Griesbach, Eichhorn, Paulus, Ammon, Kuinoel,
&c. I subjoin the concluding paragraph of Dr. Griesbach's
Epimelron, on the authenticity of the portion in Matthew's
Gospel which the Editor of the Improved Version has presumed
to brand with the note of probable spuriousness, and the Calm
Inquirer has, with the same presumption, pronounced to be
" of very doubtful authority." Griesbach's opinion was also
equally strong with respect to the portion of Luke, chap. i. 5.
— ii, 52. '
" If now the reader will attentively review all that I have
advanced, in detailed discussion, or where no more was neces
sary by brief mention, he will readily, I trust, giye his assent
to the following positions.
" 1. That it is put beyond aU possibility of reasonable doubt,
that the Greek text of Matthew's Gospel never existed without
the two chapters in dispute,
" 2. That there are no solid arguments in support of the
hypothesis that there ever existed another Gospel, from whence
the present Greek copy was derived, and which was destitute
of those chapters.
" 3. That it is very probable that Matthew himself was the
author of those chapters, [i, e. in distinction from their being
one of those documents of the most unquestionable authority,
though insulated fragments, which we have reason to believe
were often introduced by the first three Evangelists into their
respective compositions :] except the genealogy, which, having
been communicated to him by others, he thought proper to
prefix to his work," Griesbachii Comment. Critic, in Textum
Grcecum N. Test. vol. ii. p. 64. Jena, 1811.

10 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
Improved Version, which Lmay allowably quote
as the productions of the same writer, he tells us
concerning the chapters in Matthew, that, " from
the testimonies of Epiphanius and Jerome, we
are assured that they were wanting in the copies
used by the Nazarenes and Ebionites." On these
assertions we offer two or three remarks.
1. All reasoning from these apocryphal gos
pels must be extremely uncertain, since our
knowledge of them is very scanty and imper
fect. 2. Epiphanius says of the Nazarenes : " They
possess the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew, in
the fullest form ; for that Gospel is manifestly
preserved to the present time among them, as it
was at first written in the Hebrew language."
He adds, that he knows not whether they re
tained the genealogies.* He, therefore, had
not seen, or had not examined, the Nazarene
Gospel. The present Bishop of Llandaff has
satisfactorily proved from Jerome, that the Gos
pel of the Nazarenes contained the matter of
at least the second chapter of Matthew, if not
that of the first.f
3. Whatever information we have, concerning
* ' E%ot)(ri Se TO tiara Mar6a7oii EuayycXiov iikijfiirTaTnv 'EjSpaiij-ri' itaf
aiiroTi; yaf <ra<j>S(; toSto, Kafla? e| apxi)? iypd^fj, 'E^palKoTi; ypd.fA.y.aa-iv,
in ira^Tai, 'Ovv. oiha Se h xal tos; yeviaXoylai; Ta; am ToS 'A^paajA
axpi Xiia-Tov mpietXov. Epiphan. Hcer. xxi,x. sect. 9. Op. ed. Pelav.
tom. i.p. 124,
f Marsh on Michaelis' s Inlrod. vol. iii. part ii. Note 10 and
11, on chap, iv, sect, 9.

11

GHAP, 1,] oN THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.
the Gospel of the Ebionites, shews that it was a
work extremely corrupted, both by mutilations
and by fabulous insertions. Epiphanius calls it
" the Gospel in use among them, bearing the
name' of Matthew, but which is not the whole in
the fullest form, but on the contrary is charac
terized by spurious additions and curtailments."*
It did, indeed, want the matter of the first and
second chapters of Matthew, beginning accord
ing to the quotations in Epiphanius, with these
words, " It came to pass in the days of Herod
the king of Judsea, [that] John came baptizing
the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan ;
who was said to be of the race of Aaron the
priest, a son of Zacharias and Elizabeth : and all
went out to him."t Thus clumsy is this forgery ;
making John's mature age to coincide with the
reign of the first Herod ! Yet the fastidious In
quirer and Annotator can represent this paltry
production of some grossly ignorant person, as
a worthy witness against the accredited text of
the Evangelist ! Such pleadings betray a great
*  'Ev T^ yoZv 'xaf 'avroTf EiayyeXi'^, v.ara, MaTBcuoii 'ovofAa-
tflfjiiva, ou% oXa Se isXiipeinaTa, 'aXKa vevoBevjjiiva staJ '¦/iv.parfipiaa-fievip,
'¦E^palniv he-Tolka naXoiJcrw. Ib. Hcer. xxx. sect. 13. p. 137.
"(• 'EyeffTO 'ev toii; 'tijAipoiiq 'HpaSou rov ^pKTikia^ t?; 'lovtatai, 'fjXBea
'laaw/ij; ^ancrtt/uv ^an:ricrj/.a, jAeravoiai; 'et Tff 'lopbdvri itorafA,^, 'h,; 'eXeyera
' eiyai 'e-/. yevov^ 'Aapav rov 'tepzoi^, na^q Tttzxapiov y.ai ''EXtcrd^er' yioii
'e^-rjpxovro iipoq 'avrlv icdaireq. Ib. p, 138, That the reader who may
not have Epiphanius at hand, may have a further specimen of
the style and character df this spurious Gospel, the passages
preserved by him will be inserted at length in the Supple
mentary Note [E].

12 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
want of sagacity, or a more deplorable want of
candour.* 4. To the hasty assertion of the Annotator in
the Improved Version, a complete reply had
been already furnished by one of the first-rate
authors in this department of criticism, and whom
one cannot but be surprized that this Anno
tator did not, consult before he committed him
self. " The Nazarene Gospel, which, according
to Jerome, was St. Matthew's original, must
have been very different from the Ebionite
Gospel. For it is hardly credible, if the Naza
rene Gospel had differed from the Greek text
of St. Matthew, as much as the Ebionite Gospel,
that Jerome, who transcribed and translated it,
could have taken it, even after deducting the
interpolations, for the original of St.. Matthew's
Gospel. It is true that Jerome makes no dis
tinction between the Nazarene and Ebionite
Gospel : for he says in his note to Matt. xii. 13,
' In Evangelio quo utuntur Nazarfeni et EbionitEe
 quod vocatur a plerisque Matthaei authen-
ticum.' But we must recollect that Jerome
* A fragment of Hegesippus, a Jewish Christian of the second
century, " contains a reference to the history in the second
chapter of St, Matthew, and shews plainly that this part of St.
Matthew's gospel was owned by this Hebrew Christian. It is
plain — that Hegesippus, received the history in the second
chapter of St, Matthew ; so that he used our Greek gospel :
or, if he used .only the Hebrew edition of St, Matthew's
gospel, this history must have been in it in his time.'' Lard-
ner's Credib. vol. i. p. 318. The fragment referred to will be
found at length in a following part of this volume.

CHAP. I.] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEFflON. 13
never saw the Hebrew Gospel which was used
by the Ebionites ; he was acquainted only with
that which was used by the Nazarenes, and
therefore had no opportunity of comparing the
one with the other. Through want of know
ledge, then, he might suppose that they were
the same, though they were really different."*
5. The Gospel used by Marcion, who lived in
the second century, certainly did not contain the
first two chapters of Luke : but neither did it
contain the third chapter, nor more than one
half of the fourth ; and in the subsequent parts,
as we are informed by Dr. Lardner, who had
examined this subject with his usual minuteness
and accuracy, it was " mutilated and altered,
and even interpolated in a great variety of
places. He would not allow it to be called the
Gospel of St. Luke, erasing the name of that
Evangelist from the beginning of his copy."-|-
His alterations were not made on any critical
principles, but in the most arbitrary manner, in
order to suit his extravagant theology. Indeed
the opinion that he used Luke's Gospel at all
rests upon no sufficient foundation. So different
were the two works, that the most distinguished
Biblical scholar's of modern times, particularly
Semler, Eichhorn, Griesbach, LceflSler, and Marsh,
have rejected that opinion aHogether. Gries-
* Michaelis' s Introd. to N. T. by Marsh, vol. iii, part i, p. 180,
181. f Lardner' s Hist, of Heretics, Book X. Sect. 36. Works,
Kippis's ed. vol. ix. p. 393 — 401.

14 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK HI .
bach maintained that Marcion compiled a work
of his own, for the service of his system and the
use of his followers, from the writings of the
Evangelists and particularly of Luke.* " That
Marcion used St. Luke's Gospel at all," says
Bishop Marsh, " is a position which has been
taken for granted without the least proof. Mar
cion himself never pretended that it was the
Gospel of St. Luke ; as Tertullian acknowledges,
saying, ' Marcion Evangelio suo nullum adscribit
autorem.' (Adv. Marcion. lib. iv. cap. 2.) It is
probable, therefore, that he used some apocry
phal Gospel, which had much matter in common
with that of St. Luke, but yet was not the
same."t
* Griesbachii Hist. Text. Gr. Epist. Paul, p. 92,
f Marsh's Michaelis , vol, iii, part ii, p, 159, Dr, Loeffler has
very fully examined the question in his dissertation, entitled,
Marcionem Paulli Epistolas et LuctB Evangelium adulterasse du-^
bitatur; Franckfort on the Oder, 1788, The conclusions of
his minute investigation are, that, (1,) The Gospel used by
Marcion was 9.nonymous : (2,) Marcion rejected all our four
Gospels, and maintained the authenticity gf his own in opposir
tion to them : (3.) His followers afterwards maintained that
Christ himself and Paul were the authors of it : (4.) Irenaeus,
Tertullian, and Epiphanius had no reason for regarding Mar-
cion's Gospel as an altered edition of Luke's ; and their assertion
is a mere conjecture resting upon none but frivolous and abr
surd allegations : (5.) The differefl.ce of Marcion's Gospel from
Luke's is inconsistent with the supposition : (6,) There are no
just grounds for believing that Marcion had any pressing
motives to induce him to adopt a garbled copy of Luke ; and
the njptives assigned by the fathers are inconsjst,en.t and self-
destructive.

CHAP. I.] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. j^
Thus it appears that the Calm Inquirer and
Annotator has not in this instance preserved due
accuracy in his statements.
He goes on to say, " From Luke iii. 1, com
pared with verse 23, it appears that Jesus was
born fifteen years before the death of Augustus!,
that is at least two years after the death of
Herod: a fact which completely falsifies th^
whole narrative contained in the preliminary
chapters of Matthew and Luke," Thus precipi
tately, not to say profanely, does this writer
rush to conclusions, on a topic which has exer
cised the laborious industry, not only of orthodox
critics and commentators, but of writers as un
believing as himself, yet more learned and more
calm. " It is wonderful," says the judicious and
elegant Ernesti, " that more reverence is ofteii
paid to the books of men, than to the book of
God. In the former, if difficulties and seeming
discrepancies occur, correction or conciliation is
sought for, as if the writers were incapable of
error : but if such are discovered in the latter,
the opportunity, is seized for cavilling either at
the writers or at their matter itself"*
Every one, who has attended to the subject of
ancient chronology, is awafe that there is no
* Admirandum est plus reverentiae tribui libris humanis
qukm divinis. Nam in illis, de antiquis loquimur, cum aliquid
ejusmodi incidit, correctio aut conciliatio quseritur, veluf
' avctftapr'/lToi fuerint ; in his occasio arripitur carpendi vel scrip-
tores vel doctrinam ipsam. J. A. Ernesti Instit. Jnterp. N. T.
p. 13.

16 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU-
point in relation to which so great difficulties
occur, as the adjusting of the notes of time
which are found in the Greek and Latin historical
writers. They had no conception of that perfect
accuracy in dates which the close researches of
modern times cause us to feel the want of : and,
had they perceived the necessity, they had
scarcely the means, from the defect of established
epochs, and from many other causes, of answer
ing the purpose. Many difficulties from this
cause occur which have appeared to the most
patient critics absolutely insuperable except by
cutting the knot. It requires exquisite caution
to construct any positive argument upon such
grounds. Lardner has treated this subject in his usual
minute and circumstantial manner, and has shewn
that it may be maintained on just grounds ; that,
by " the fifteenth year of the government* of
Tiberius Caesar," Luke might intend the fifteenth
from his being associated with Augustus as col
league in the empire ;t and that the phraseology,
" Jesus was about thirty years old when begin
ning [his ministry,]" may be properly applied
to an age two or three years over, or under,
the round sum mentioned.! Campbell pro
poses to understand 'ocq^ofjisvog in the sense of
* 'Hyefjiovia is a more general term than reign, and is applica
ble to any kind of rule or presidency.
f Filius, coLLEGA imperii, censors tribunitiee potestatis ad-
sumitur. Taciti Annal. i. 3.
+ Credih. Part I. Book II. ch. iii.

CHAP. 1.3 ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 17
'u7roTa(ra-oiJ.evos in chap. ii. 51. but, I apprehend,
without any sufficient authority. " In this pas
sage, , however," says a learned and laborious
modern critic, " the use of the adverb (u<re) clearly
shews that nothing can be with certainty deter
mined with respect to the year of Christ's age,
at the time of his baptism and his entrance on
his public ministry."*
" If the relation given of the miraculous con
ception were true, it is utterly unaccountable
that these extraordinary events should have
been wholly omitted by Mark and John, and that
there should not be a single allusion to them in
the New Testament, and particularly that in
John's history, Jesus should be so frequently
spoken of as the son of Joseph and Mary, with
out any comment, oi- the least hint that this
statement was erroneous."t This objection car
ries a plausible front : but we ask a fair attention
to the following considerations.
The fact in question was of the most private
and delicate nature possible, and, as to human
attestation, it rested solely on the word of Mary
herself, the person most deeply interested,
Joseph's mind was satisfied with regard to her
honour and veracity, by a divine vision, which,
* " Hic verb ipse usus adverbii dire) luculenter docej;, nihil
certi definiri posse de aetatis Christi anno quo baptizari se siverit,
quove doctoris public! partes agere coeperit." Kuinoel {Prof.
Theol. in Acad. Gisensi, i. e. Giessen in Hesse Darmstadt.)
Comm. in Libras Histor. N. T. Lips. 1817; vol. ii, p. 357.
¦}• Calm laq. p. IS.
VOL. II. e

IS ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
in whatever way it was evinced to him to be no
delusion, was still a private and personal affair.
But this was ndt the kind of facts to which the
first teachers of Christianity were in the habit
of appealing. The miracles on which they rested
their claims were such as had multiplied wit
nesses to attest them, and generally enemies not
less than friends. Here then, we see a reason
why Jesus and his disciples did not refer to this
circumstance, so peculiar and necessarily pri
vate. The account in Matthew had probably
been transmitted through the family of Joseph
and Mary, and that in Luke through the family
or intimates of Zacharias and Elizabeth ; a sup
position which furnishes a reason why the two
narratives contain so little matter in common.
The same reason will account for the absence of
reference to this miracle in the epistolary writ
ings of the New Testament, if that absence be
admitted to the fullest extent : for there is, at
least, one passage which appears to carry an im
plication of the fact. The writer of the Epistle
to the Hebrews, in explaining the symbolical re
presentations by which it pleased the Holy Spirit,
under the former dispensation, to prefigure the
blessitigs of Christianity, seems to put the in
terior sanctuary, or "' holy of holies," as the
sign of the heavenly state ; and the outer taber
nacle as that of " the flesh," or human nature
of the Messiah. As the Aaronical high-priest, on
the great anniversary of expiation, was first to
officiate in the tabernacle, offering the sacrifices

CHAP. I.] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 19
and sprinkling the blood of symbolical pardon
and purification, and then was to advance, through
that tabernacle, into the most holy place, the re
presentation of the divine presence ; so Christ,
our " Great High-Priest," and " Minister of the
sanctuary and of the true tabernacle," — " en
tered into the sanctuary, — through the greater
and more perfect tabernacle, — his own blood."*
Now, of this tabernacle it is declared that " the
Lord pitched it, and not man ;" that it was " not
made with hands, that is not of this creation."t
The expression in Scripture " not made with
hands," denotes that which is effected by the
immediate power of God, without the interven
tion of any inferior agency. It, therefore, in the
case before us, intimates that the fleshly taber
nacle of our Lor.d's humanity was formed, not in
the ordinary way of nature, but by the imme
diate exercise of Omnipotence.
In the passage from the Calm Inquiry under
consideration, we meet with an observable speci
men of the subserviency to hypothesis which
marks the Inquirer's principles of interpretation.
He never scruples to expatiate on ihe fewness of
the texts which (according to him) can with any
plausibility be alleged as favouring the doctrines
of the pre-existence and deity of Christ; and
yet, few as he would have us believe them to be,
those passages occupy many pages of his own
* Heb. iv. 14.— viii. 2.— ix.- 11, 12, See Note [F] at the
end of this Chapter, t Heb. viii. 2.— ix. 11.
c 2

20 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [BOOK III.
enumeration and rapid criticism. But, when
another turn is to be served, it is roundly as
sumed that there is a remarkable frequency of
instances in which Jesus is spoken of, in John's
history, as the son of Joseph and Mary. Was
the Inquirer aware that his " so frequently," dif
fered little from a so seldom ? The instances
of this frequency are only two !* The one is the
language of a stranger, just now convinced of
the divine mission of Jesus ; the other, that of
virulent enemies ; and both would of course
speak according to the common opinion. A
parallel instance occurs in Luke,t and two still
stronger : J but they are reasonably interpreted
as the style of common parlance, on the ground
previously laid by the same Evangelist of Jesus
being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph."^
The doctrine of the miraculous conception
has no necessary influence on the determination
of the great point in the controversy concerning

* John i, 46, — vi. 42. Paulus, celebrated as one of the most
free-thinking of the German Scripture-critics, remarks on the
latter passage, that " it cannot be inferred from the silence of
the Evangelist, that Jesus admitted himself to be really the
son of Joseph ; for, to the matter in question. Whether he had
come down from heaven ? it had no relation to determine in
what sense he was called the son of Joseph : neither was it
Jesus's object to prove his descent from heaven by the circum
stance of his birth having been out of the ordinary course of
nature ; but by this, that before his birth, he was a celestial
being, enjoying supreme happiness with God." Paulus, apud
Kuincel, vol. iii. p. 339.
t Chap. iv. 22. t Chap. ii. 41—48. § Chap. iii. 23,

CHAP. I,] ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION, 21
the person of Christ. The preceding observa
tions, therefore, are made principally with a
view to shew how much it concerns a sincere
inquirer after truth to be jealous of the positive
assertions and the style of criticism employed by
the Calm Inquirer. The proof, however, of the
authenticity of the disputed passages is of the
more importance, as they include some texts,
which we shall hereafter have occasion to con
sider. In this part of the Gospel-history a passage
occurs which has been by many regarded as of
importance in the great question before us. " All
this took place, in order that the declaration
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Lord through the Prophet : Behold, the Virgin
shall become pregnant, and shall beari a son ; and
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which ex
plained, is, God with us."*- This passage has
been already considered as it stands in the
Prophecies of Isaiah.t The friendly censure
of a respectable journal % has called upon me
to reconsider the sentiments which I had ex
pressed : I have carefully done so ; and have
examined the authors to whom the reviewer
refers, mentioned below ; but am obliged to ac
knowledge that I can discover no grounds for

* Matt. i. 23. t Vol, I, p, 266—281.
X Congregational Magazine, March 1819. Spanhemii Dub.
Evang. Par. I. cap. xxxiv. Vitringa Obs. Sacr. Lib. V. cap, i.

22 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
chariging my opinion. It still appears to me
that the passage can be proved to be a prophecy
of the Messiah, in no other than a remote and
typical sense, and that no argument can be
drawn, from the words or context, capable of
determining whether Emmanuel was designed to
be a descriptive title, and therefore declaratory
of the union of the Divine nature with the human,
or a commemorative name, to express and cele
brate the fact of the Divine interposition for the
salvation of mankind. Of the latter class of
names, there are many in Scripture, such as
Joshua, which signifies Jehovah the Saviour ;
Elijah, my God Jehovah ; Abijah, m,y Father Jah ;
Eliah, my God Jah ; Eliatha, thou my God. On
the position that the fact of a Divine nature in
the constitution of the person of the Messiah is
already established by other evidence, we are
undoubtedly at liberty to apply the word Em
manuel to our Lord and Redeemer as a title
directly descriptive of himself: but I confess
myself utterly unable to perceive that it can, by
any process of fair criticism or conclusive rea
soning, be made an independent argument.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

CHAP. I,

Note [A] page 6.
" Supposing that Almighty God, by his divine power, had
so ordered the matter, and so perfectly sanctified an earthly
father and mother from all original spot, that the human
nature might have been transmitted immaculate to him, as well
as the Holy Ghost did purge that part of the flesh of the virgin
of which the body of Christ was made ; yet it was not con
venient that that person, that was God blessed for ever, as well
as man, partaking of our nature, should have a conception in
the same manner as ours ; but different, and in some measure
conformable to the infinite dignity of his person ; which could
not haye been, had not a supernatural power and a divine.
person been concerned as an active principle in it. Besides,
such a birth had not been agreeable to the first promise, which
calls him the seed of the woman, not of the man ; and so the
veracity of God had suffered some detriment ; the seed of the
woman. Gen. 1. 15, qnly, is set in opposition to the seed of the
serpent. By this manner of conception, the holiness of his na
ture is secured, and his fitness for his office is assured to us.
It is now a pure and unpolluted humanity that is the temple
and tabernacle of the Pivinity." Charnock, on the Power of
God ; Works, 8vo, vol. ii, p. 414:
An author whom Unitarians commonly profess to hold in
high esteem, and very deservedly, glances at an argument in
favour of the propriety of " the miraculous conception of
Christ," which he considers as of great weight ; namely, that
the present order of nature for perpetuating the human species
is " to be considered as one of the marks of our present fallen,
degenerate state. The mortality of the present body, intno-

24 NOTES.
duced by Adam's sin, would of course require some such
method of propagation as now subsists, though nothing of this
kind had taken place before the Fall ; and therefore it may be,
that nothing did, or something greatly different from the pre
sent method." Hartley on Man, 8vo. ed, vol. ii. p. 233,
Note [B] page 7.
If the reader will try the disputed portions of Matthew and
Luke, by Le Clerc's diagnostic " Aphorisms" on the characters
of genuine and spurious books, he will find the result to be
most satisfactorily affirmative. I subjoin those Aphorisms
(from the Ars Critica, P, III. sect, ii, cap. 2 — 6.) somewhat
abridged, " 1. If, in the oldest manuscripts, a book is attributed to a
different author from the one whose name has been affixed by
later editors ; or if, in the oldest copies, it is anonymous ; and
if no other reason can be alleged in favour of the more modern
and common attribution-^in the first case the modem name
is supposititious, in the latter it is an interpolation.
"2. If citations from any book occur in ancient writers,
which are wanting in the present copies professed to be of the
same work ; the workj as now existing, is either a different
work, or is mutilated. If the citations materially differ, there
is ground to suspect the present copy. If the whole be found
with no variations, or trivial ones, the book is genuine, unless
other grounds of suspicion exist.
" 3. Works not mentioned by any writer of the two or three
centuries immediately following, are spurious, or at least liable to
suspicion. " 4. Books which the more ancient writers rejected, or held
to be doubtful, can scarcely ever be received on later authority.
" 5. A work containing opinions contrary to what the alleged
Writer is known to have constantly defended, especially if they
are opinions of any importance, are most probably spurious ;
or, at least, they are interpolated.
" 6. A book gravely asserting impossibilities, fables, or ab
surdities, or containing marks of ignorance on the subject in
hand, cannot be received as written by a serious, competent,
and upright author.

notes. 25
" 7. A book in which allusions exist to opinions, contro
versies, facts, or persons, certainly subsequent to the time of
the alleged writer ; or which has any manifest imitation of a
later writer ; is spurious, or at least interpolated.
" 8. If the style be manifestly different from the known
style of the age, or of the writer j or if there occur words of
a lower age, it is wrongly attributed to him. If it is found,
by competent examination, to be the same as the style of ano
ther writer, it ought to be attributed tb that writer, other con
siderations being equal.
" —— I trust," subjoins M, le Clerc, " that these Aphorisms
will be found to be so true and just, that a diligent observance
of them will scarcely ever fail to conduct to a true result. But,
clear as they are in themselves, it must be confessed that it will
require something more than a mediocrity of learning to make
a safe and correct use of them ; and that no little time and
practice wiU be needful, to acquire the art of applying them
with promptitude and success. In this respect, however, they
resemble all preceptive institutes: of which, though the pro
priety and obligation may be very speedily made intelligible,
yet men not inured to their observance can only be brought by
time and reflection to an intelligent and cordial submission to
them. But here lies the difference ; that, while all men are
bound to be virtuous and observant qf moral precepts, no man
is obliged to be a critic. Whoever then does attempt the
study of this difficult art, should well understand what a task
he undertakes, and by what laws he must be governed : or
else he wiU be a most infelicitous critic; and, instead of
reaping that high honour which men of real erudition have
obtained from this art, he wiH become contemptible and ridi
culous. "¦ I, think I hear my reader asking me. Whether I myself
look for any portion of this honour ? — This is really an invidious
question ; and whatever reply I give may be turned against
me. I will only venture to say, that I do not pkopess this
arduous and hazardous study, though I highly honour those
who do profess it, and have, long read their vn-itings with great
pleasure, from which perhaps some tinge of criticism may
have adhered to me,"

26 notes.
Note [C] page 8.
" It was a very favourite custom with the Jews to employ
terms and phrases taken from the Old Testament ; especially
when some striking points of resemblance really existed between
the circumstances of the passage and the new fact to which it
was adapted. Hence in the Rabbinical writings the verbs nbo
and rr^S, and in the New Testament vXijpaBrjvai and reXea-Brjyai,
occur in different acceptations. The oracles and declarations of
the Prophets were thus said to be fulfilled and accomplished,
not only when the very event occurred which was in the design
of the prediction, but when any thing took place which was
like the prophetic descriptions which brought them to recollection,
or which was in any way a confirmation or illustration of them."
Kuinosl, tom. i. p. 41. Note [D] page 8.
The Calm Inquirer speaks in a strain of unwarrantable posi-
liveness when he asserts that " if the facts related in the ac
count of our Lord's nativity were true— «!z. the appearances of
Angels, the star in the East, the visit of the Magi, the massacre
pf Bethlehem, &c. they must have excited great public attention
and expectation, ,and could not have failed to have been noticed
by contemporary writers, who nevertheless observe a total
silence on the subject." p. 13.
The history of Jesus and his first followers presents many
instances of " .appearances of angels," as well as other facts
out of the course of nature, whjch were npt less remarkable
than those recorded of Zacharias and EU.zabeth, Mary, Joseph,
and a company of probably not more than four or five pious
shepherds, obscure and poor men. Yet will even the scepticism
of this author deem them unworthy of credit, because theyai-e
recorded only by Matthew or Luke, and " contemporary his-
orianshave observed a total silence" upon them ?
The star was, in all probability, a meteoric flame, visible at
no great distance, otherwise it could not have " stood over" a
particular house; and becoming extinct when its purpose was
answered. The visit of the Magi, probably Persians (see Hyde de Rel.

NOTES, 27
Fet. Pers. Ox. I700, cap. 31.) was certainly a most remarkable
fact: but, among the numerous bodies of foreign Jews who
were frequently visiting Jerusalem, and especiaUy in the per
turbed state of the country towards the latter part of Herod's
reign, such an occurrence might meet with less attention and
be sooner forgotten, than it deserved. A fact of much more
astonishing magnitude and importance is related by Matthew in
the most brief and imimpassioned manner ; a fact which, so far
as it was known, not only " could not have failed" to excite
great attention, but must have produced impressions the most
overpowering and alarming ; yet a fact which no " contem^-
porary writer has noticed," and which the Annotator on the
Improved Version passes over without any mark of doubt, dif
ficulty, or explication, " Thei sepulchres were opened, and
many bodies of holy persons who had slept were raised ; and
coming out of the sepulchres, after His resurrection, they
entered into the holy city, and were made visible to many."
{Matt, xxvii. 53.)
" Josephus makes no mention of the murder of the infants :
— — ^but he also consigns to silence many other facts, the truth
of which is indubitable, and which could not be unknown to
him. — ^Reasons may be assigned for this omission. Bethlehem
was a small town, and of little consideration : the population,
including the nejgbbowhood, scarcely reached a thousand ; so
that the number of male infants within the prescribed age could
scarcely exceed ten or twelve.— >^And this was ijot the only
act of extreme cruelty that Herod perpetrated.— = — Hence it is
very properiy observicd by Fossius in his Chronologia, Sacra,
p. X59, that, " After so many instances of cruelty exercised by
Herod in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea ; after his having
piurdered so ioany of his own children, of his wives. Jus nearest
relatives, and his friends, it would not appear a very great
joaatter to ,ord^ the execiition pf the children of one town or
Tillage and its adjacent country ; ,a massacre which in a very
email place could not be extensive, sine? not all the children^
but the males alone, a,nd pf th?m such only as were under two
years old were cut off." Kuincel, vol, i. p. 62, 63.
It .shpuld, also, be considered that, e^Lpepting Josephus, there
are no contemporary writers extant, nor do we even know that

28 NOTES.
any ever existed, from whom a reference to these facts could
be expected. Note [E] p. 11.
" In the Gospel which is in use among them (bearing the
name of Matthew, but which is not the whole in the fullest
form, but on the contrary is characterized by spurious additions
and curtailments, and they call it the Hebrew Gospel,) it is de
clared ; ' There was a man whose name was Jesus, and he
was about thirty years of age, who chose us. And he came into
Capernaum, and entered into the house of Simon who wassur-
named Peter ; and he opened his mouth and said. As I was
coming by the lake of Tiberias, I chose John and James the
sons of Zebedee, and Simon, and Andrew, and Thaddaeus, and
Simon Zelotes, and Judas Iscariot ; and thee, Matthew, I called
sitting at the receipt of custom, and thou followedst me. You
therefore, I appoint to be twelve Apostles, for a testimony
unto Israel. And John was baptizing, and the Pharisees and
all Jerusalem came out unto him, and were baptized. And John
had his clothing of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his
loins ; and his food was wild honey, of which the taste was
that of manna, as a swe:et cake in oil.' "
After the passage cited before as the commencement of the
Ebionite Gospel, and " after much matter besides," Epipha
nius says, " it proceeds thus :"
" When the people were baptized, Jesus also came and was
baptized by John. And as he came up from the water, the
heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit of God, in
the form of a dove, descending and coming upon him. And a
voice came from heaven, saying. Thou art my beloved Son ; in
thee I am well pleased. And again. This day have I begotten
thee. And immediately a great light shone around the place.
John, beholding him, said to him. Who art thou. Lord ? And
again a voice came to him from heaven. This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am weU pleased. And then John, falling
down before him, said, I beseech thee. Lord, baptize thou me.
But he forbad liim, saying. Let alone, for thus it is proper
that all things should be fulfilled," Epiphanius, tom. i. p. 137,
133,

N0T£s. 39
Note [F] page 19,
Many modern interpreters understand " the tabernacle" in
these passages as signifying the heavenly state. Yet these
writers make " the sanctuary" also to signify the same object;
thus confounding two very distinct images. The propriety of
the figures, the argument of the connection, and the frequent
use of mt^i/o? and (rKpufut, to denote the human body, (2 Cor.
v, 1 — 4. 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. and this use of at least otc^ko? is
common in Greek writers: see Wetstein on 2 Cor. v. 1. and
Schleusneri Lex.) satisfy me of the justness of the interpretation
of Calvin, Grptius, James Cappel, Dr. Owen, &c. It is no
objection that in Heb. x. 20. " the veil" is the symbol of the
Messiah's human nature : for the veil, as one of the boundaries
of the tabernacle, in a natural sense belonged to it ; and the
passage relates to our Lord's death, so that the veil is very fitly
introduced, marking the transition out of life into another state.
The text was partially quoted above, for the sake of presentr
ing alone the clauses on which the argument rests. It is proper
here to insert it at length. The reader will observe the apposi
tion of " the tabernacle" and the " blood."
" But Christ, having presented himself, a High-Priest of
the blessings to come, through the greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands (that is, not of this creation,)
and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through
his own blood, entered once \i. e. once for ever, never to be
repeated,] into the sanctuary, having acquired eternal re
demption." Grotius's note is so judicious and satisfactory that it deserves
to be inserted.
" The tlesign of the writer is to declare that Christ entered
the highest heavens through his sufferings and death. To
keep up the comparison with the high-priest under the law,
his object is to declare that Christ entered through his body and
blood ; for the body is very properly put by metonymy for bodily
sufferings; and it is common in aU languages to use the term
blood to denote death, as death follows upon any very copious
effusion of blood. Yet he does not express the body by its
proper word, but uses a symbolical description suitable for
carrying on the comparison, as I have observed above, - The

30 NOTES.
Hebrews were accustomed to call the body a tabernacle:
and from them the disciples of Pythagoras deduced the ex
pression, as I have said on the Wisdom of Sol. ix. 15. and
2 Cor. V. 1 — 4. In particular the body of Christ is called a
temple, on account of the indwelling divine energy : Joh. ii. 21.
Here this body is said to be " not made with bands," and the
writer explains his meaning by adding, " that is, not of this
creation," understanding by creation the usual order of nature;
as the Jews apply the Talmudical term Beriah [creation, any
thing created] : for the body of Christ was conceived in a
supernatural manner. In this sense he properly employs the
term not made with hands, because in the Hebrew idiom any
thing is said to be made with hands which is brought to pass
in the ordinary course of nature. See v, 34. and Mark xiv. 58.
Acts vii, 48. xvii. 24. Eph. ii, 11, The Prophets frequently
give to idols the appellation made with hands, as the opposite
to any thing divine." Grotii Annot. in Heb. ix. 11.

CHAP. H.

ON THE EVIDENCE RELATIVE TO THE PERSON OP THE CHRIST,
WHICH MAY BE DERIVED FROM THE OFFICE AND THE TESTI
MONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

A forerunner peculiar to the dignity of the Messiah. — ^Terms in which the
office of John was described. — His testimony. — His resemblance to
Elijah. Luke i, 15 — 17. " For he shall be great in the presence of
the Lord : and many of the children of Israel Shall he turn
unto the Lord their God : and he shall go before his presence
in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers
to children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righte
ous, and to make ready for the Lord a prepared people,"
V. 76. " And thou, child, shalt be called. Prophet of the
Most High; for thou shalt go before the presence of the
Lord, to prepare his ways."
Matt. iii. 3. " This is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the
Prophet, saying, A voice of one, proclaiming in the wilderness.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord ! Make ye straight his paths !"
V. 11, 12. " I indeed baptize you with water, unto repent
ance : but He who is coming after me is more mighty than I,
whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you
vrith the Holy Spirit and fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and
he vrill thoroughly cleanse his corn-floor; and he will gather
his wheat into the granary, but the straw he vrill burn with
unquenchable fire."
John i. 29, 30—34. " Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh
away the sin of the world ! This is he concerning whom I
said. After me cometh a man who has become before me ; for
he was prior to me.*  And I have seen, and have testified,
that this is the Son of God."
Among the peculiarities which distinguish the
most perfect dispensation of revealed religion,
was the fact that its Author and Finisher was
* See Note [A] at the end of the Chapter.

32 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
introduced to his work of mercy to man, by a
special harbinger. No such preparation had
Divine wisdom judged necessary to any preced
ing declaration of its will. This honour was
reserved to the season when God was to " bring
the First-Begotten into the world."
Unquestionably this is a circumstance fitted to
awaken expectation. It marks importance in
the event, and dignity in the Person for whose
approach such preparation is made. This im
pression is strengthened when we observe that
this arrangement was a particular topic of pro
phecy : and that not the Sovereign only, but his
servant and herald likewise, was expressly pre
dicted. When the serious and sincere inquirer has
duly reflected upon this, let him take up the
, terms of the declaration ; let him examine the
form of the proclamation ; but let him conceal
for a moment the style of the person announced.
" He shall go before his presence. Thou shalt
be called. Prophet of  . Thou shall go
before the presence of  . A voice of one
proclaiming. Prepare ye the way of  ^-!" Let
it be imagined that these were lacunae in every
existing copy : and that, in the remediless ab
sence of all critical authority, we were reduced
to fill them up by conjecture. Would it not, in
such case, be deemed one of the most safe and
certain of conjectural readings, to supply " the
Messiah," or some equivalent term 1 Would not
all consent in this supplement 1 Would not the

CHAP. II.] TESTIMONY OF JOHN, 33
most scrupulous acquiesce in it, as indisput
ably justified, and even required, by the sense
and the connection ^
But there is no chasm. We have the words
complete, and no one disputes their authenticity.
The Sovereign thus announced and introduced,
is THE Lord God of Israel, the Most High, the
Lord Jehovah of the Prophets. Honesty of in
terpretation requires no more :* and the obe
dience of faith which is the characteristic of
every real Christian is satisfied that the Christ,
whom John proclaimed in the wilderness, is God,
Jehovah, the Most High.
This faithful servant proclaimed the dignity
of his Lord and Master, not only by declaring
that he was greater and mightier than himself,
but by specifying instances of the exertion of
his power. John had baptized by the symbolical
use of water : the Messiah was actually to confer
the blessing thus signified, that divine influence
which would produce and nourish all piety and
religion ; " He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit." According to the lowest hypothesis
which aditiits of divine influences at all upon the
human mind, the power to confer those influences
can belong to no merely human being. How
ever, the generality of Unitarians, denying any
such influences, understand the phrase as de
noting only the communicating of . divine know
ledge by instruction ; and to them this argument
* See Note-[B] at the end of this Chapter,
VOL. II. D

34 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [POPK HI.
will be of no weight. But it will not be equally
easy to elude the other parts of the declaration,
attributing to Christ the scrutiny and unerring
decision of human character, the purgation of
the church, the protection of the upright, and
the infliction of judgments upon the impenitent.
The baptism with fire, and the rest of the de
scription, correspond with one of the usual
scripture metaphors for expressing the inflic
tion of divine judgments for the sins of men.*
Both the right and the power to inflict such
punishments, are according to the uniform testi
mony of the sacred word, among the exclusive
prerogatives of the Supreme Being.f
The resemblance between John and Elijah was
to be so great, that he was described as coming
*' in the spirit and power" of that great Israelitish
'prophet, and was predicted as eyen another
Elijah. The stern integrity, the eremitical life,
the simple and austere manners, and the bold
reproving of royal criminals, which distingnished
Elijah, we^e also conspicuous in John. But the
capital circumstance in Elijah's character was
his testimony against polytheism; and his recall^
ing his countrymen to the acknowledgment and
worship of the One and Only God- What sl\aU
we find corresponding with this, inthe character
and mjinistry of Jphn 1 His great, and strictly
*, See especially Ex. XV. 7. Job xxi, 18. Ps, i, 4, Is,v. 24 —
Ixvi. 16, 24.
j- See Note [C] at the end of this Chaj)ter,

CHAP. II,] TESTIMONY OF JOHN. 3^
Speaking, his single, object was to bear testimony
that Jesus was the Messiah, and invite his coun
trymen to receive him: and this ofiice is ex
plicitly described thus : " Many of the children
of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God."
Now, if that Messiah were also God, the corres
pondence is made complete M the chief parti'-
cular : but if not, it fails where we should most
expect it to hold. As a collateral and indirect
evidence this appears to me to have great weight.
It may be asked, whether John himself under
stood that such was the nature of his office, and
the amount of his testimony. I answer that there
does not appear to be any reason for supposing
him to have been, in that respect^ in different
circumstances from those of preceding prophets.
Though " the Spirit of Christ was in them testify -^
ing before" concerning him, it is evident that
they did not, and that by the nature of the case
they could not, enterta.in other than indistinct
apprehensions of the subjects on which they
delivered the oracles of God. It was essential
to the scheme of prophecy, that it should not be
*' oi self -solution; t"* that is, that it could not be
explained from itself, by any scrutiny of its own
terms, till light should be cast upon it by the
event. The testimony of John, clear as it is
rendered to us by the subsequent developements
of the gospel, might be to him clouded with
much obscurity ; for he,, like the other prophets,

>-iri.- iril,-| ipr,r^ riiA

* 2 Pet, i. 20.
p 2

36 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI,
uttered not the dictates of his own judgment,
genius, or conjecture ; but spake what he had
in charge from God to deliver. Neither can the
subsequent hesitation of John* be admitted as
any bar to our interpretation of the testimony
which he was inspired to bear. We have no
reason to think that he was raised above the
current opinion of his countrymen, that the
reign of the Messiah would be established with
temporal authority and power, exercised for the
vindication of the injured and the deliverance
of the oppressed. That he should have been
so long the victim of unprincipled cruelty ; and
apparently neglected, and even abandoned, by
the very person to whom he had borne witness,
and his fideility to whom had been the occasion
of his present sufferings ; were circumstances to
put the strongest faith to the severest trial.
Those must know little of human nature who
think it impossible for doubts to arise under
such pressing difficulties. But the message of
John to Jesus may be justly regarded as the
utterance of complaint and remonstrance, rather
than of serious doubt: " If thou art indeed the
Hope and Deliverer of Israel, why dost thou
permit thine enemies to triumph 1 Why dost thou
forsake thy faithful messenger and leave him to
pine in chains and misery V'f

* See Matt. xi. 3.
+ " 2i;' ei 0 epxojAevoi;, ij erepov w/kktSokSjuci' ; i. e. Tu ita agis quasi
non sis Messias, quasi alius exspectandus sit !" Borger de Con'
stanti Jesu Christi Indole, p. 137. Leyden, 1816^

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

TO
CHAP. II.

Note [A] page 31.
Great difiiculty hangs upon the translation and interpretation
of this sentence repeated from verse 15 and 27. The common
version and some other high authorities give an easy sense
(q. d. " he is before me in dignity, for he was before me in
time ;") but it cannot be sustained, because ejMtpoa-Bev never, in
the LXX, the Apocrypha or the New Testament, or in clas
sical usage, is applied to rank, but only to local situation and to
time. Newcome renders *« efmpotrBev /mv ycyovey, " who goetH
before me :" but this construction cannot be put upon the
words. The Calm Inquirer adopts " has got before me, for he
was my principal :" and he approves the interpretation of the
late Rev. Newcome Cappe, of York : " He who set out after
me, whose harbinger I was, 'e/iTtpoaSa fuiv yiyonev, has overtaken
and passed me in the career. The idea is taken from the re
lation of the harbinger to the prince whom he precedes," Calm
Inq. p, 39. The precise meaning of ykyova is, I have become,
i. e. I have come into a state in which I was not before ; which
certainly may be well rendered by the colloquial phrase, / home
got into the state or relation in question, A single instance
occurs in the LXX, 2 Chron, xiii. 13. " Jeroboam tumed the
ambuscade to come upon him from behind, and he got before
Judah, {eykvero ejmpoirSev 'loiJSa,)" On the other hand the phrase
usually refers to time. It is the ordinary expression when the
kings of Judah and Israel are characterized as better or worse
than, those who had " been before them, (w yevoiuvoi 'e/Awpoa-Ser
avrov") 3 Kings xvi, 25, &c. See also Ecclesiastes i, 10, 16, —
ii, 7, — iv. 16. But the phrase more exactly occurs in
3-kings iii. 12, " No one like thee has been before thee, (wj a-i ou

38 NOTES.
/yi'yovei/ ejMpoirBiv mv')" and in V, 13, " A man like thee has no*.
been, ' {Iv ykyovet ci,in\p 'oiMiii; troi,)" Thus it would appear that the
general current of example and analogy obliges us to under
stand the phrase in the passage under .consideration as referring
to time past. :
Undoubtedly, wfSroj is of common occurrence in the sense
of chief or principal; but that is always when eminence in a
class or specified denomination is intended. So it is twice used
in the LXX, to signify the chief priest, (4 Kings xxiv. 38,
2 Chron, xxvi, 20,) and so we have, the chief of the captains,
(1 Chron, xi, 11,) the king's principal friend, (ib, xxvii. 33,)
the chief commandment, (Matt, xxii. 38.) the best robe, (Luke
XV, 22,) the chief city of a district, (Acts xvi. 12,) the chief
person of the island, (ib, xXviii, 7-) and a chief of sinners, (1 Tim,
i, 15.)  But our instance is not on a par with any of these :
and indeed examples of the same construction are extremely
rare in Greek writers. There are, so far as I can discover,
none in the LXX. or the Apocrypha ; and the only one in the
New Testament is in this same book, John xv. 18, " If the
world hate you, k'now that it hath hated me before you, (e/te irpS-
rov ifMiv)." Another instance occurs in Athenaeus, (ed. Schweig-
hauser. vol. v. p, 284,) HPnTH ieevprjrat ^ «ep) rovi votaf yJviiirii;
THS Siai rav xetpZv. " The movement with the feet was invented
before that with the hands." Another is in Chariton, {ed. d'Orville,
Amst, i750, p. 85.) Ae? ^e HPOTON TON AOrON awavra; rTrapeTmi
ToB? oivayy,a!ovi; ey T^ Siktj- " It is requisite that, bejhre the pleadings,
all the relations should be present at the trial." The learned
editor, in his note on this passage, refers to John i. 15, as an
instance of the same construction : and he cites a passage from
tha Fragment of Manetho (lib. i. 330, dollected by James Gro-
novius, Leyden, 1698,) in which occurs yemiropa ¦spurov /xijTefo;,
" the father before the mother."  Hoogeveen refers Joh,
i. 15. and xv, 18. to the use of the superlative for a compara
tive, in which case it also governs a genitive. (Not, in
Viger. de Idiotism. Cap, III, Sect, ii, Reg, 11.) Bos and
Sehwebelius maintain that in these constructions there is an
ellipsis of the preposition npi to govern the genitive : " XlpiSroi
ftoti pro w/jSto; vel itphept; irpi /mv." {Ellipses Grcecee, sub praep.
itpo).

NOTES. 39
Another bbjection to Mr. Cappe's interpretation of vpZro^
lies in the teiise of the vei'b, which, upon this hypothesis, could
iiof have been |)/, but must have been in the present, " he is
my principal,"
It appears, then, that the fair construction of the words, in
both clauses, will not bend to any other idea than that of tirne.
Kuinoel takes on in the serise of certainly, truly, assuredly, as it
is occasionally used by the LXX. to render the Hebrew par
ticles "IK and pj^, " Simplicior," he says, "omnino, et ora-
tionis seriei coriveniehtiorj hsec est : Qui post me munus suum
auspicaturus est, ante me fuit, certi prior me fuit : repetitur aliis
verbis eadem' sententia quse praecessit, quo fortius iuculcetur,"
" The more siMple interpretation, and the more agreeable to
the connection, is this. He Mo shall enter on his office aftet rh^,
existed before md ; assuredly he was befo'i'e tne. The sentiment is
repeated in other words, to jjroduce a Stronger impressibii,"
{Corhmeril. iri Libras Hist. N. T", vol, iii. p, 120',) Wetstein'S in
terpretation is ndt dissimilar. He considers the final clause as
a clearer and explanatory declaration of the preceding,
A diiBciilty, however, of another kitad exists on this ihter-
pretatidh. The assertion of priority of time Cannot be under
stood as if Jesus ivetei older than John ; for he was yoUiiger,
and had it been otherwise, the thirlg was altogether trivial.
It must then be referred, as Kuinoel observes (p, 119,) to the
pre-existence of the Messiah. But the text is expressly, " After
me epmeth a' jja'n," We are tfhen in a dilemma. Either we
must undieritand the predicate in a sense contrary to the rules
of language, or we must suppose that Christ is called a mdh
(though the reference is to his superior and pre-existerit na-
tiii'e), by catachresis, a figure extremely frequent in common
speeth. Thus, on' both sides difficulties press, and on this account,
no conclusion is drawn from this part of John's testimotiy,
in the observations ahoVe subihitted to' the reader's judgm'enl^.
Note [B] p. 33.
Luke i, 17. Kirtii; itpoeXivtrerai hamioil dvtov. It iS difficult t6
believe that any principle but a liishdnest subserviency to hypo
thesis, could haVfe dictated tJid following translations of this

40 NOTES,
most plain and unambiguous clause ; " ' He will lead the way
in the sight of God.' Wakefield, with whom Arctbishop New-
come agrees," Calm Inq. p, 218, " He shall go before [Christ]
in the sight [of the Lord God]," Impr. Vers.  Upon men
who can thus set at defiance all critical integrity> reasoning
and remonstrating would be thrown away.
To evade the argument from this passage, the Calm In
quirer adopts two measures.
1. He reiterates his opinion of " the doubtful authenticity
of this story." To refute this opinion we have adduced evi
dence in the preceding Chapter.
2. He adds, " Though strictness of construction warrants
the application of the pronoun him to the antecedent God, yet
as the phrase ' Lord our God,' is never applied to Christ in the
New Testament, no Jew would ever think of such an applica
tion of the words. John was the forerunner of the Lord their
God by being the forerunner of Jesus, the great messenger
of God to mankind," Page 217, 218. To these gratuitous
assertions we reply :
(1,) That strictness and even fairness of construction not
only " warrants," as he is forced to allow, but necessitates, the
reference of the pronoun to the antecedent, God.
(2.) That the assumption which follows, is a gross begging
of the question. The sequel of this inquiry wiU perhaps en
able us to determine whether, if not verbally the same, yet
equivalent phrases are not applied to Christ in the New Testa
ment, For the moment however, let the reader compare two
clauses in the solemn and beautiful passage which concludes
the book of Revelation, chap, xxii. 6 — 20. " The Lord, the
God of the spirits of the Prophets, hath sent his angel to shew
unto his servants the things which must come to pass shortly."
" I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these
things," V, 6, 16.
(3,) That no Jew, if he knew how to construe grammatically
the words before him, could avoid perceiving, that such an
application of them was the intention of the writer, whether it
might comport or not with his own previous opinions. But we
have before found sufficient evidence, that the application of
these and other designations of the Deity, to the Messiah, was

NOTES. 41
not unknown or unauthorized among the Jews contemporary
with the Apostles.
(4.) That the closing sentence of the Calm Inquirer is a
gratuitous assertion, destitute of proof, and contrary to the fair
and legitimate use of language. Note [C] page 34.
"¦ If we compare the expressions in v. 10 and 12, we can
scarcely have a doubt that the baptism with fire signifies the
awful punishments which the Messiah will inflict upon the
wicked. John shews why he describes the Messiah as much
greater than Iiimself. He (says the Baptist) who will enter
upon his office after me, will not only bestow excellent gifts on
men, but, as their Lord, wiU chastise the disobedient ; while I,
his unworthy subject and servant, can only bind men to re
formation by the solemn rite of baptism, and thus prepare the
way for him as the Messiah.  V. 12. The sense is. He ac
curately discriminates the good and the wicked, for he sees
through the inmost recesses of the mind." Bosenmuller in
Matt. iii. 11, 12.

CHAP. HI.

DECLARATIONS, INTIMATIONS, AND ADMISSIONS OF JESUS CHRI«T
CONCERNING HIMSELF,

It entered into the scheme of divine wisdom
that, when the Messiah was actually sojourning
among men, and was pursuing the objects of his
mission, his person, his offices, his doctrines, and
all the characteristics of his dispensation, should
be unfolded gradually and slowly. He himself
lay in deep obscurity during all but a very
short period of his life. After he had begun his
public labours, it was long before he unreserv
edly and openly declared himself to be the Mes
siah. Till towards the end of his course he
rarely made this avowal but in private, and to
those who were his friends and tried adherents :
and, on several occasions, he prohibited them
from publishing the fact to the world. Such a
plan of studied reserve and slow developement
would not have been chosen or approved by
human wisdom : but, whether we can penetrate

CHAP. 111.] DECLARATIONS OF JEStfS. 43
the reasons for it or not, the fact itself is indis
putable, that this was the course adopted by the
Founder of our faith. He seems to have deemed
this the proper course to be taken ;-^to awaken
the attention of men, to stimulate their expecta
tions, to present them with circumstances, hints,
and implications, and thus to furnish a growing
body of data, from which they for themselves
might draw the most important conclusions with
increasing light and certainty.
Besides this, it is to be observed, that the Lord
Jesus professedly withheld the full manifestation
of his doctrines till the period subsequent to his
death and resurrection* when the instruments of
communication were to be his inspired messen
gers. The evangelists repeatedly observe that
our Lord's most" intimate disciples " understood
hot those things, and the word was hidden from
them, and they knew not thfr things spoken," by
him.* He assured them that, though they were
not then competent to receive many important
things concerning himself, they should subse
quently become so, and should be led by an un
erring Guide into a perfect knowledge of those
truths.t Duly considering these features of the early
Christian economy, we shall not expect to find a
full declaration of the dt)ctrine respecting our
Lord's person, in the narratives of the Evange-'

* See Luke is, 45— xviii. 34. John xii. 1€. &e.
t Se&Jolaixvi. 12— 15. '

. 44 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
lists, or in his own discourses ; but we shall
rather look for intimations, for principles implied
in facts and assertions, and for conclusions from
such facts and assertions deduced by minute
attention and close examination on our own part.
Such attention and examination are a part of
that " obedience of faith," which is the indis
pensable duty of every man who has, or can
obtain, a knowledge of the inspired volume.

CJPITULE I.
DECLARATIONS MADE, OK ACQUIESCED IN, BY JESUS CHRIST,
ELUCIDATING THE IMPORT OF THE APPELLATION SON OF GOD.

All mankind, and, on the same principle, all
other intelligent creatures, are justly called
children or sons of God, as they are the offspring
of his power and beneficence,* In a more re
stricted, and of course a higher sense, the
scriptures give this title to persons who are dig
nified with any special kind of resemblance, or
any constituted relation to God, Thus magis-

* " Have we not all one Father ? Hath not one God created
US ?" Mai. ii, 10, " We are the offspring of God." Acts
xvii. 29. " When the morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy." Job xxxviii. 7. and.i. 6.

CHAP. HI,] ON THE TITLE, SON OF GOD. 45
trates, who bear some shadow of supremacy
and government,* the worshippers of the true
God, in distinction from debased idolaters,! and
especially the faithful and obedient saints of
God,t who are " conformed to the image" of
his moral excellency, are on these respective
accounts, styled sons qf God.
The Messiah is called the Son of God, once
at least in the Old Testament : in the New, as
all know, the epithet is of frequent occurrence.
It is evident, however, that the application of
this name to Christ will prove no superiority of
nature, nor any dignity but such as we have
just mentioned ; unless it should be accompanied
with other circumstances of description point
ing out a diff'erent ground of application. This
ground and reason, therefore, requires our prin
cipal attention.
* Psalm Ixxxii. 6. " I said, Gods are ye ! And sons of the
Most High, all of you! "^ The Psalmist appears to use the
language of an ironical concession, in order to give the greater
force to the humiliating contrast which instantly follows, — So
the heathen styled their heroes hojeve"^, Swr/ie^EK, and diis geniti :
but it is to be recollected that they believed those fabulous per
sons to have been actuaUy the physical offspring of the gods,
-}¦ Gen. vi. 4, Deut. xxxii. 19,
% In numerous passages.

46 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HL

SECT, I.

Son of the most high.

" He shall be great, and he shall be called the Son op the
IklosT High ; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of David his father; and he shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end,"
Luke i, 32.
This is the first instance of the occurrence of
this term in the history of Jesus Christ, and a
reason of the appellation is assigned, plainly
referring it to his dignity as a sovereign. If he
had literally occupied the throne of Israel, if
his reign had been of this world, we should
have been authorized to understand the title as
merely answering to the instance before men
tioned, in which magistrates and chieftains are
called sons of the Most High. But this was not
the fact. The case turns out immensely different.
The dominion of the Messiah, in its nature, pur
poses, subjects, authority, power, extent, and
duration is infinitely above comparison with the
empires of men. Therefore,*T3efore we can en
safe principles of interpretation determine the
sense of the title as here applied to him, we
must obtain a satisfactory knowledge of the
peculiar nature of his regal office and dominion.
That inquiry will be pursued in a subsequent
part of this volume.

chap. III.] ON THE TITLE, SON OF GOD. 47

SECT. II.

son of god.

" The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee ; and the power of
the Most High shall overshadow thee : on which account the
Holy Offspring shall be called the son op god." Luke i. 35,*
Here the miraculous production of the Mes.-
slab's human nature is manifestly given as the
reason of the appellation. The words of the
passage are evidently selected with a view to
convey the idea of such a miraculous produc
tion. Whatever may he our opinion on the
general meaning of the terra Holy Spirit, it
cannot be doubted that, here, the design of the
whole expression is to represent a peculiar
exercise of almighty power, for the production
of an extraordinary effect. This act of the Holy
Spirit is put in parallelism with " the power of
the Most High." It is said to " come upon her,''
and to " overshadow" her : expressions which,
agreeably to the* scriptural usage, mark the
* In this and the last citpd passage, though there is no
article before Tft;, it must be translated with the definite article,
since the noun is the predicate of a verb of designation or
appellation. See Middleton on the Greek Article, p, 62. where
also is quoted the decisive authority of the ancient Greek gram
marian Appollonius,

48 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
exercise of a peculiar, extraordinary, and di
vine energy.* The uncommon expression also,
" the holy offspring," seems to be especially
adapted to denote that the child would be pro
duced in a way different from the generation of
the rest of mankind. On the appellation. Son of
the Most High, Kuincel, a very cool and cautious
critic, observes " that it seems to be used to
signify that Christ was procreated by an imme
diate divine intervention : in which sense Adam
also is called " the Son of God."t
* See in the LXX, Psalm xc. (xci.) 4. — cxxxix. (cxl.) 7. "The
verb evuTvui^eiv answers to eVgu'eo-eau, which the writers of the Old
Testament use in passages when the Spirit of God is said to
take men, to come upon them, or to rest upon them ; and thus to
exert his power upon them. The expression therefore intimates
that Mary should bear a son, by the interposition of divine
power." — Rosenm. in loc.
t Comment, inLibros. Hist. N, T. vol. ii. p, 271.

tiHAf. UI.] ON THE TITLE, SON OF GOD 49

SfeCT, HI.

sov OP act).

The title Son of Goo, a known designation of the Messiah, — Not i
synonym — Understeod to imply a superior a'nd even Divine nature.
*' The beginning of the glad tidings concerning Jesus the
Christ the Son of God." Mark i. 1, " This is my Beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased," Matt, iii, 17. " I have seen arid
fcdrne witness, that this is "the Son of God. JoA»i,-34, "Thou
•art the Christ, thfe Son of the livin<J Gop ?" ib. xvi, 16, " Art
thou the Christ the Son of God?" ii^. xxvi. 63. "  the
Son of the Blessed?" Mark xiv. 61.
These passages, and some others parallel or
'similar in the four Gospels, furnish the following
results : —
1, The title. Son of God, was recognized by
Jesus himself, by his friends and followers, by
his enemiei, and by the Jewish nation at large,
as a designation of the Messiah. This accepta
tion seems to have been universally known and
indisputably held. It must, therefore, have had
a satisfactory and authoritative origin; or it
could not have been so received and established.
Such an origin is most naturally to be sought iil
the Prophetic Scriptures. No where else could
an authority be found to which the whole JeWish
VOL. ir. E

, ^Q ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 1^1.
nation would bow, and to which it would, at
the same time, be congruous for the Divine
Majesty itself to conform. This title we have
already found among the prophetic descriptions
of the Messiah, and we have seen that it was
recognized in the Jewish theology of the period
intermediate between the Old and the New
Testament.* 2. Though it be undoubtedly an appropriated
appellation of the Messiah, it is not a mere syno
nym of that word. Many respecta:ble writers t
have fallen into this inaccuracy. Two or more
terms may be generally, or even with an exclu
sive uniformity, applied to the same object, and
yet be respectively of very different import,
Christ is called Lord, Mediator, Saviour, Prince
of Life, Captain of Salvation, King of Kings:
but it would betray great ignorance or rashness
;t,o say, jthat these vrere synonymous expressions.
-The term Messiah jdesignates a person divinely
appointed and consecrated to one or more of the
offices, of a king, a priest, or a prophet. The
©the;- term, unless it be taken in a sense wholly
figurative, is manifestly expressive of the nature
of the being to whom it is applied, and of a
natural ^relationship to another.
3.. It becomes, therefore, important for us to
* Voi. i. p. 213, 439, 464.
, f The author of the Calm Inquiry, p, 261. Also J. D. Mi-
' chaelis, RosenmiiUer, sen. &c, Grotius says with more discrimi-
'riatiorl, "Appai-et hoc cognomen vulgb Messiae datum," Armot.
'in Mail, xiv, 33,

thAP. I>I.] ON THE TITLE, SON OF gOd. 51
a,scertain whether this epithet be given to
Christ, in one of its figurative meanings stated
above, or in a strict and proper sense. Now, if,
the former were the fact, if the Messiah were
styled the Son of God merely as an expression
of his royal dignity, or pre-eminent sanctity, or
prophetic mission, how could we conceive that
his claiming this appellation, or his admitting,
on the interrogation of an enemy, that it be
longed to him, could be made the ground of a
charge of blasphemy ? A proof so broad atid
palpable, in the opinion of the Jewish lawyers,
as to render further inquiry needless, and to be
decisive of the alleged guilt i* The law of Israel
against blasphemy was expressed with the. utmost
precision. "Whosoever curseth his God shall
bear his sin : and he who blasphemeth the nanie
of Jehovah shall surely be put to death ; all the
congregation shall surely stone him : as well the
foreigner as the native ; for his blaspheming
THE NAME he shall be put to death."t The
cases of real or imputed blasphemy which occur
in the Old Testament, and in the Apocrypha, a;ll
* " The high-priest said to him, I adjure thee by the living
God, that ithou tell us whether thou art the Christ the Son of
the living God ! Jesus saith to ,him. Thou hast said," [the
Hebrew idiom for, I am; as it is giv^n in Mark xiv. 62.] —
" Then the high-priest rent his garments, saying. He has
blasphemed ! What further need have we of witnesses ? Behold,
you have now heard his blasphemy !" Matt. xxvi. 63, 65,
" We have a law, and according to that law he ought to dip
because he hath made himself the Son of God." John xix. ,7i
f. Lev. xxiv. 15, 16.
E 2

S? ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK n».
wear this distinctive character ;* they are a re
proaching, a contempt, a designed insult, upon
the name and attributes of the living God, or
of some supposed deity. He would be guilty of
^ blaspheming the name," who should apply
" that fearful and glorious name" to an idol,
inanimate or animate : and, most evidently, he
would not be less ehargeable with the same
crime, who could have the boldness to apply it
unwarrantably to himself ! Of this latter form of
blasphemy Sennacherib was guilty, in ascribing
to himself powers and a command over success
^nd victory, such as can belong to none but
an omnipotent being.f The Mishna enumerates
blasphemy among the crimes to be punished with
the highest kind of capital punishment, that of
being stoned to death ; and adds, " No one is to
be esteemed a blasphemer unless he has ex
pressly uttered the name ;'% that is, the revered
* In the instances of Naboth, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib, An-
tiochus, Nicanor, &c. See 1 Kings xxi, 10. 2 Kings xix, 22.
Isaiah Ui. 5, Dan, iii. 29 in LXX, Bel and the dragon, v, 10.
2 Maccab. ix. 28. — xv, 3, 5, 24. f See 2 Kings xls. 22 — ^24.
:j: Tract, de Sanhedrin, in Mischna Surenhusii, vol. iv, p. 238 
242. The Mishna is a body of Rabbinical interpretations of
the written law, piretended to have been revealed to Moses on
Mount Sinai, and to have been handed down by tradition to the
Prophets, the Great Sanhedrim, &.c. and finally to have been
committed to writing by Rabbi Judah the holy, Dr, Lardner
»ssigns A, D, 180 or 190 as the probable period of its com-
•'pilition. Jewish Testim. chap. v. The work contains internal
(Evidence of being a coUection of traditions reaUy very ancient,
far beyond the time of the compiler. See Prideawc's Connee-
tiont'i. 336, &9-

chap. III.J on the TITLE, SON OF GOD. «S
word Jehovah. Blasphemy, therefore, in the
Jewish sense, is justly defined by Schleusner to
be, "the saying or doing anything by which
the majesty of God is insulted, uttering curses
or reproaches against God, speaking impiously,
arrogating- and taking to one's self that which
belongs to God.' * In this latter sense the Jews
manifestly understood it, when they said, " We
stone thee for blasphemy, and that thou, being
a man, makest thyself God."t
This was the crime, which Caiaphas and the
Sanhedrim affirmed that Jesus had in very fact
committed in their presence, and for which, they
instantly passed judgment of death. Let it be
observed that, according to the hypothesis of
the Unitarians, Jesus in admitting that he was.
the Messiah, claimed nothing above the rank
and functions of a human being, nothing beyond
an office^ august indeed and venerable, but
which every Jew believed would be executed
by a mere man. To those who rejected his*
claim, he might have appeared chargeable with
fanaticism, imposture, or even constructive trea
son ; but where was the colourable pretext for.
the charge of blasphemy, a crime so closely de-^
fined by the original law, and the limits of
which were so anxiously fixed by the tradition
which had all the force of law ? Let it also be

* Dicere et facere q,uibus majestas Dei violatur, maledicum
in Deum esse, impife loqui, arrogare sibi et sumere qua& Sunt
Dei, Schleusn. Lex. voce fiXa<r<f»ifain f John x 35-

m ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
observed that the apparent reason of the charge
was so clear as to admit of no demur or hesita
tion. Had the High-priest and the Sanhedrim
been proceeding upon grounds which they were
conscious were notoriously false ; had they ap
plied the law of blasphemy to a case in which it
was manifest that not the semblance of that
offence had been committed ; it is credible that
they would have adopted some- circuitous course
for the accomplishment of their purpose. But
they did no such thing : they found their way
plain before them. If, however, we were to
concede to Dr. Campbell,* that the Sanhedrim
imputed this crime to Jesus dishonestly upon
thieir own principles, it will only follow that
they gave a wrong name to their charge. The
allegation was, that he had, by claiming to be
the Son of God, arrogated to himself divine
honours ; and this as a fact, remains the same,
whether it was designated rightly or not by the
term blasphemy.
It is not unworthy of remark, that Josephus
mentions various instances of impostors who rose
up about the time of the siege of Jerusalem,!
calling themselves prophets, announcing to their
adherents a speedy deliverance by divine inter
position from their calamities, and " promising
to shew signs and prasternatural appearances"
for that purpose.f From comparing our Lord's
* On the Four Gospels, Dissert, ix. part ii.
' t Joseph, de Bella Jud. lib, VI. cap. v. secti 3. Lib. VII,
cap. xi.' sect. 1,

CHAP, iii.] ON THE TITLE, SON OF 60}i. 55-.
prediction* with these facts, it appears probable
that some of those persons gave out themselves
to be the Messiah. But, though the historian
paints in strong colours their falsehood and their
other atrocities, he never, so far as I can dis
cover, charges them with blasphemy.
It seems, therefore, impossible for us to escape
the conclusion, that the avowal of Jesus to be
THE Son OF God was understood, by the highest
legal and ecclesiastical authorities of his coun
try, to involve the assertion of something be
longing to his person, super-human, and divine;
or to be a constructive assumption of such dig
nity as belongs only to God.
That such ideas of dignity and powers, above
what belong to the rank of man, were attached
to this epithet by the Jewish people at large, is
at least a probable inference from the taunting
language which they held to our Lord in his last
sufl^erings : " If thou art the Son of God, come
down from the cross."f
This conclusion is corroborated by another of
the passages cited at the beginning of this Sec
tion. " Who, do men say, that I, the Son of
Man, ami — Who say ye that I am'?— Thou art
the Christ the Son of the living God."j^ The
position of the terms seems to intimate that the
appellation Son qf the living God was conceived
by Peter to be of higher dignity than the other.
Son qf Man, which was the designation most
* Mark xiii, 6, f Matt, x.x.vii, 40^ J Matt, xvi. 13—19.

^ ON THE PERSON QF CHRIST, [BOOK UK,
commonly assumed by our Lord himself, evi
dently as the least offensive profession of being
the Messiah, Neither is it probable that the two
terms, the Christ and the SonofGody would have
been used, if they were tautological. Our Lord
further declares that the fact declared by Peter
was not properly apprehended but by divine
instruction ; " Happy art thou, Simon son of
Jonas, for flesh and blood," (a well known Jewish
idiom, denoting the unassisted principles and
powers of human nature,), " hath not revealed
[it] unto thee ; but my Father who is in the hea-.
yens." But, sprely it required no such divine
influence to enable a man, who had so copiously
witnessed the evidences of the claims advanced
by Jesus, to perceive the rational conclusion
from those evidences. Peter needed but the
common understanding of men, to receive the
proof of the Messiahship of Jesus. ' The fact thuss
g,sserted by the Saviour^ of a special divine in
fluence enabling Peter to make this good con-:
fession, suggests to us also the strong probability
that the apostle did not at present comprehend
the full import of the declaration which he made.
The subsequent teachings of the Holy Spirit
would bring it to his. remembrance with a much
higher measure of knowledge and understanding.
It is further worthy of being observed, that Christ
immediately connects his being the Son of God
with the exercise of sovereign authority and
power, in relation to the salvation of men and
to matters of moral obligation : yet this, is the

CHAP. 111.] ON THE "yiTLE, SON OF GOft. r,^
sole province of Deity. " I will build my church :
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it : I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of
l;ieaven," Let a man seriously reflect on the
magnitude of this work, the power requisite to
accomplish it, and the nature of the ground of
certainty here assumed that it should be accom
plished ; and can he refuse to exclaim, " From,
Jehovah is this 1 It is marvellous in our eyes !"*
* Ps. cxviii, S3,

gg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.

SECT. IV.
HIS PERSOil, EQUAtLY WITH THAT OF THE FATHER, SURPASSING
I HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

Intimate and accurate knowledge expressed in tbe tenns.^^Such know.^
ledge communicated by divine influence.— This communication the.
province of Christ,— The inherent knowledge of the Father, and of^
" Christ, reciprocal. — Both expressed in convertible terms.
" All things have been committed to n'le by my Father ; and
no one knoweth perfectly the Son, except the Father ; neither
doth any one know perfectly the Father, except the Son, and
he to whom the Son may be pleased to unveil [this know
ledge,]" Matt. xi. «r.
" As the Father knoweth mfe, even so I know the Father.''
John X. 15.
The passage in the Gospel of Luke parallel
to the preceding one in that of Matthew, has
this diflTerence : " No one knoweth who the Son
is, except the Father ; and who the Father is,
except the Son." In such cases it appears a
reasonable maxim to consider the actual phrase
ology of the speaker, as it was uttered in the
vernacular language of Judaea, to have been
susceptible of both the modes of the Greek ex
pression ; so that the one may be taken as an
assistance of the highest authority, for the ex
plication of the other. On this principle, the
seeming discrepancy in the present instance
vanishes ; for eiriyivuxs-Keiv used by Matthew, sig
nifying such knowledge as is peculiarly intimate

GtiAP. III,]! stJRPASSING HUMAN IC"NOWLEt)GE. ^^
and ac^urOtei flit and j^'er/eeif,* wiir well dom-
port with Luke's phrase ytvwa-xetv rig hrnv. If
this obsei'vation be just,: it nullifies the Calm In
quirer's interpretation of the words,t and shews
that the knowledge refers primarily to the nature
AuA. person of the Father and of the Son ; "who
he is.'' This'writer triumphs in what he regards
to be a key to the passage ; that what a man
may learn of God, by the revelation of the Son,
is nothing but his revealed will, But it is not
the wiU of God, strictly speaking, either decre
tive or preceptive^ that is the sole object of re-'
velation. A manifestation of the excellent and
glorious perfections of God, as the Supi'eme and
Infinite Possessor of all natural and moral good,
is no small part of the design of revealed truth :
* The force of im, in composition, appears to be ctosettess,
in situation or in succession. See Dunbar on Gr. Prep. If the'
reader will examine the diversities of meaning laid down by
Schleusner, and study aU his and many more exampleSj he will,
find them in general, if not universally, if ediicible' to this as
their circumstance of distinction from yivad^vtew. ' Among other'
renderings he has, " sensu cognosco, Satis cognitum habeo, idoned
scientid imbpor ; passive, accipio plenioreni etpeifectiorem cogni
tionem." Under ''E:itiyi/tt&i4 he says, "¦ speciatimi major, perfeclior,
et exactior cognitio et scientia ; nam em in compositis haud rarb
auget significationem.
' f " It is plain that he trt wh6m the Son reveals the i'ather,
knows the Father. Rut what can a man thus learh of 'G6d ?
Nothing surely but his revealed wiU. In the same serisei pre
cisely, the Son kno:ws the Father, i. e. he knows his wUl, his
thoughts, and purposes of inercy to mankind. And the Father
lalone knows the Soh, knoWs the nature, -the object, and the
extent of his missipn." Calm, Inq. p. 187.

60 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.,
and this is a species of knowledge in the highest
degree necessary to piety and happiness It is,
such knowledge as is not merely intellectual,
but is associated with a sense of beauty, sweet
ness, and worth, exciting the affections of love
and delight, and every grateful sensation of the-
mind. This mental sense of moral loveliness, in
our conceptions of the Divine Being, forms the
great distinction between the true and the nominal
believer. I am aware that this doctrine will meet
only the scorn of the Calm Inquirer and those
who hold his system : but I must not, for that
reason, shrink from avowing it. To this moment
ous and interesting truth, I conceive, our blessed
Lord refers in the instance of Peter, which may
be taken as a special case under the general
fact stated in the passage before us, " Happy
art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
this to thee, but my Father who is in heaven."
This is a glory to which they are blind who-
" will not behold the majesty of the Lord :" but
of all genuine Christians it is true, that " God,
who commanded the light to shine out of dark-^
ness, hath shined in their hearts, to their illu
mination with the knowledge of the glory of
God, in the face, of Jesus Christ,"
The passages under consideration on due exa
mination are found to include these statements:
of truth :
1. That the communication to mankind of the
doctrines which refer to their highest interest
in knowledge, holiness, and happiness, is, by at

tHKV. in.} SI/RPASSING HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. ^j[
constitution of Divine wisdom, made the pro
vince of the Messiah, as the mediator between
God and man. The " all things committed* to
him by the Father," are evidently the important
and humbling truths of the gospel, which he had
just before mentioned as " hid from the wise and
prudent." Now the knowledge of God, in all
the ways which have appeared good to infinite
wisdom and rectitude, forms, as we have before
observed, an essential part of the blessings com
municated by the Christian revelation, when
known and received according to its proper
design. 2. That this knowledge of the Father and
-knowledge of Christ, are expressed in the way
of a perfect reciprocity. The description and
-properties of the one, are the description and
properties 'of the other; without limitation on
the one side, or extension on the other. Is it
conceivable that a wise and good teacher, con
scious of no dignity above that which was strictly
and merely human, would select, for the purpose
of conveying what might have been expressed in
plain words ; language vvrhich unquestionably
describes himself and the Eternal Being in equi
valent and convertible terms %
3. That, m relation to both the Father and the
Son, this knowledge is not attainable by the

* Tlapiiodri, SO used in Luke i. 3. 1 Cor. xv. 3, and there
fore doctrines are called vape^Ueit in S Thess. ii, 15, 1
Cor. xi. 2. &c.

gg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK Hb
joi'dinary means of human investigation. Now thi«
cannot be said of the gracious vvill and purpose
of God in shewing mercy to mankind ; nor of the
nature, object, and extent of the mission of Je^us;
&,s the instructor and reformer of the world. ;0h
both these; topics, a considerable degree of in
formation was not only accessible, but was ac
tually possessed by many persons. But such a
knowledge of tlje unspeakable glory of the Di
vine perfections as appears to be here intended,
is a^far more sublime attainment: it is funda
mental to a saving and practical knowledge of
true religion ; it has its seat in the affections as
well as" in the intellect ; and it is here affii-med
Tto be a special communication pf Divine in
fluence, 1 . . ' ,..
4. That this knowl-edge, as existing in the
state of communication from Christ to any of
mankind "to; whom the Son may be pleased to
unveil " it, though the same in kind, cannot be
ima,gined to be the same in degree or extent ¦,
unless it be assumed that the capacity and at
tainment of the instructed, mustj as a -matter of
course, be equal to those of the Instructor. -
. 5. Had the member of the sentence which in^
troduces the Son as the object of knowledge,
been wanting, I think that the obvious, and. pro
bably the generally admitted, interpretation of
the remaining part of the passage, would have
been that it referred to the peculiar glories of the
Divine Being, or that which distinctively con
stitutes him God. Had it stood thus ; "No one

ieHAP..IIl.] ^RPASSINP human KNOWtEDGfi. 63
knoweth God, or who God is, except Jesus of
Nazareth, and those to whom Jesus may commu
nicate the knowledge :" — would it not have un
questionably, conveyed this position, that the
Infinite Majesty and Perfection of the Adorable
Supreme, as distinguished from the imaginary
deities of the heathen world, were revealed and
demonstrated by the Christian religion alone 1
Would any one have controverted the propriety
of this paraphrase ^—Restore, then, the clause
which has been withdrawn ; and will not fairness
of interpretation require us to accept it as
equally attributing to the Son the same Infinite
Majesty and Perfection I

84 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK tlU

SECT. V.
SON OF SOD, CLAIMING A PAKITY IN POWER AND HONOUR
WITH THE FATHER.

State of the question between Jesus and his opponents. — Characters bf
¦ubordination belonging to Christ.— Mission, — ^Reception of a func-
li6n,— Accurate knowledge, — Judicial commission. — Characters of su
premacy : — Parity of power, — Ability to confer physical life, — Deter
mining the final state of men,— Claim of supreme homage, — Observa
tions on Mr. Lindsey'sand the Calm Inquirer's interpretation.
Jesus answered them, " My Father worketh until now : I
also work." On this account, therefore, the Jews were the
more eager to put him to death, that he not only broke the
sabbath, but even called God his own Father j making himself
equal to. God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, " "Ve
rily, verily, I say to you ; the Son can do nothing from him*
self ; [he doeth] only what he seeth the Father doing : for
whatever things he doeth, those things the Son also doeth
in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth
to him all things which he himself doeth : and he will shew to
him greater works than these, that ye may admire. Because>
as the Father raiseth and giveth life to the dead, so the Son also
giveth life to whom he will. And neither doth the Father pass
judgment upon any one : but the whole [exercise of] judgment
he hath given to the Son, that all may honour the Son as they
honour the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth
not the Father who hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say to you •
that he who heareth my word and confideth in him that Jiath
sent me, hath eternal life, and into [condemnatory] judgnlient
he cometh not, but is passed over from death to life. "Verily,
verily, I say to you ; that the hour is coming, and now it is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, And
hearing they shall live. For, as the Father hath life in himself*

CHAP. III.I PARITY WITH THE FATHER. 65
so he hath" given to the Son also to have life in himself : and
he hath given to him authority also to exercise judgment,
because he is the Son of man. Be not astonished at this : for
the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall
hear his voice and shall come forth ; those who have done
good actions to the resurrection of life, but those who have
done base actions to tlie resurrection of [condemnatory] judg
ment. Not that I can do any thing from myself. As I hear,
[i. e. am instructed,] I judge ; and my judgment is righteous,
for I seek not mine own will, but the will of him who sent
me "  " The works, which the Father assigned to me
in order that I might finish them, those very works which I
do, testify concerning me that the Father sent me." John v. 17
—30, 36.*
To collect satisfactorily the information con
tained in this important passage, it is, in the
first place, necessary to have a clear view of the
state of the cause between the Lord Jesus and
the Jews who opposed him. The question was
upon the right to perform works on the day ap
propriated by divine command to cessation from
labour. For an act performed on the Sabbathy
Jesus was charged vvith the immorality of break
ing the fourth commandment. This charge he
had to repel. The most obvious course and
which on other occasions of the like kind he
tookit was to plead the character of the work,
that it was an act of mercy and beneficence ;

* The different rendering of yap in v. 20, 21, 22, appears
necessary to convey the sense in our own language, as it is not
only a causal particle but frequently its only force is connexive
and continuative. The sense given to mova in v. 30, is sup
ported by chap, iii, 32. — viii, 26. — xv, 15,
t See Matt, xii, 12. Luke xiii. 14,— xiv. 3.
VOL. II. F

sg ON THE FEIUON OF CHRIST. (BOOK IU.
and that the performing of such acts, however
laborious and troublesome, was known to be
strictly consistent with the law. But he took a
course entirely different. He advanced a claim
of superiority to the law. He adduced the ex
ample of God his Father, who carries on the
operations of nature and providence without a
Sabbatic rest or any intermission whatsoever;
and he asserted his own right to do the same :
" My Father worketh until now ; I also work,"*
Let the serious reader impartially reflect upon
the fair meaning and the implications of these
words. The subject is works of power. The
speaker puts his own work of power, in the
miraculous cure which he had effected, on the
same footing of consideration, as the works of the
Deity in the conservation and government of the
universe : and upon this parity, he grounds his
right thus to work on the Sabbath-day. If we
suppose that Jesus was conscious of no relation
to the Deity except such as belonged to a mere
human being, or to any other mere creature, can
we free his assertion and his argument from ex
treme absurdity and arrogant impiety 1
* Thus paraphrased by Semler. " Deus, Pater meus, nuUi
sabbati religione impeditus, nunquam non digna ipso opera per
omnem mundum corporeum efficit ; itaque similia licet et me
pari jure efficere," — " God, my Father, under no restriction
from the law of the sabbath, never desists from the performance
of works worthy of himself, throughout the whole material
World : and 1 therefore claim an equal right to do the like."
Jo, Sal. Semleri Paraphr, Evang, Joann. vol. i. p, 166,

CHAP, m.] PARITY WITH THE FATHER. flf
His opponents understood him as adhering to
his crime and aggravating it. They conceived
him to be " making himself eqlial to God." He
did not deny their inference. He did not protest
against their construction of his words. He
proceeded to use language plainly confirmatory
of what he had before said, and which was under
stood to be so by those who heard him. In this
second speech we find that remarkable mixture
of characters of subordination with chizracters e^
supremacy, which has before been presented ts
us in the descriptions of the Messiah, when he
was the object of inspired expectation.*
The following characters of subordination are
clearly to be collected from this passage :
1. A mission from the Divine Father: v. 36,
This is among the most usual declarations both
of Jesus himself and of his apostles. For in-^
stance ; '^ God so loved the world, that he gave
his Only-begotten Son ; — ^he sent his Son into the
world." " Jesus, the Christ whom thou hast
sent." *' The Father sent the Son to be the
Saviour of the world." " The apostle [i. e, mes
senger, person sewt,] of our profession. 'f We
have seen also, that under the same character,
the prophecies of the Old Testament represented
the Messiah, apd the ancient Jews looked i§r
him as such.j
* See Vol. I. p. 216, 386,
f John Ui. 16, 17, — ^xvii, 3. I John iy. 14, ..IJeb. iii. 3..
% See Vol. I. p. 331—337, 383, 439, 463,
f 2

68 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, CBOOK IIL
2. A giving, appointing, or assigning of special
functions to be discharged : v, 36. This also is
the frequent language of Jesus Christ concern-
himself " My food is, that I may do the will
of him that sent me, and may complete his
work," " I must work the works of him that
sent me."* ,
The same declaration of a mission and a spe
cific purpose is made in the negative form : — " I
can do nothing from myself: — I seek not mine
own will :" v. 19, 30, This also is in our Lord's
accustomed style ;t and it merely denotes that
he had no disposition, or inclination, in the
slightest degree, discordant with the purposes
of that infinite wisdom which formed and di
rected his mediatorial mission. To " act from
one's-self," in the scriptural sense of the ex
pression, is to act from one's own mind, assump
tion, or authority; and is opposed to the acting
from a divine commission.! The form of expres
sion is that of the known Hebraized idiom, which
conveys a comparative idea by an absolute
term,§ but which it would be absurd to under-
* John iv, 14. — ix, 3. f See John vi. 38, 40. — vii, 16.
:j: This use of the phrase is confirmed by the LXX. version
of Numbers xvi, 28, " By this ye shall know, that the Lord
hath sent me to do all these works, that [I have done them]
not from myself," See also John xvi, 13.
§ Thus our Lord says, " Whosoever receiveth me, receiveth
not me but him who sent me," Mark ix. 37. " My doctrine is
not mine, but his who sent me." John vii. 16. " He who
believeth on me, believeth not on me but on him who sent me."
J6.xii.44.

HAP. Ill] PARITY WITH TH» FATHER, 69
stand in literal sti:ictness. The inability of the
Blessed Jesus to " do any thing from himself,"
was not physical incapacity, but was a neces
sary part of his moral perfection. In the same
sense, it is a part of his glory that " he cannot
deny himself:"* and, in the same sense, the
Great Promisor of eternal life is called "God
who cannot lie."t "'
° 3. An exact knowledge of the will and purposes
of the Father. " The Son doeth — only what he
seeth the Father doing. — As I hear, I judge."
V. 19, 30. By a well known scriptural idiom,
common indeed to the early state of all lan
guages, the organic senses are put for mental
actions. t Christ declares himself to have a most
intimate and perfect knowledge of all the powers
and operations of the Almighty and Eternal God;
such a knowledge as may be justly compared to
the most acute vision, — an intuitive kaoyv\edg:e:
and that, in the exercise of judgment, he is sus
ceptible of no bias, he is incapable of that im
perfect information which would lead to partial
decisions, he judges according to a perfect per
ception of the dictates of the Divine Mind.
4. The possession, by communication from the
Father, of that y ex j life which is peculiar to the
Divine Nature, which depends upon nothing
extrinsic, which is essential and self-active, and

* 2 Tim, ii. 13. f 'O ^,^v^<; @eii. Tit. i, 2.
{ See Ps, xxxiv. 8. 1 Pet. ii. 3, Heb, vi. 4. Matt, v. 8.
Eom, vii. 23, Acts xvii. 27-

70 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [POOK IU-
which is the cause of all dependent existence :
V. £6. The terms are plain, that the same spon
taneous and independent life, which belongs to
the Living God, the Father of spirits, belongs
also to the Messiah. But the circumstance of
this being " given to the Son," and the connexion
with the succeeding particular, lead to the be
lief that the reference is to our Lord's official
prerogative, as Mediator and Saviour, of be
stowing those spiritual blessings which consti
tute " everlasting life." The constitution of the
Son of God to be the Messiah is repeatedly
expressed by the term giving.* As, however,
according to the scholastic maxim, whatsoever
is given must be given according to the capacity
of the receiver, it is manifest that the Being who
is Competent to such a function as " the giving of
everlasting life" to the " multitude which no
man can number," must have original powers of
the highest kind. It is the Fathers will to con
stitute him the Fountain of divine life to man
kind, because he is, in himself adequate to such
a function. It betrays a gross want of argumen
tative equity to say of this doctrine, " It ap
pears after all, that nothing was given to Christ
which he did not already possess.'f Surely no
sagacity is required beyond what a child of
ordinary intellect possesses, to observe the dis
tinction, between an original ground of suitable
ness in the capacity and qualifications of an
* For example Isaiah Iv, 4, John iii, 16. f Calmlnij. p, 318.

CHAP, in.3 PARITY WITH THE FATHER; yi
agent for a given pui'pose, and a consequent in
vestment of that agent with a particular function
appropriated to that purpose.
5. A commission to execute a supreme, judi^
cial authority in deciding upon the moral cha
racter and the future condition of mankind : v. 27.
This authority is given to him "because he is
the Son of man ,'" the distinctive appellation of
the Messiah which our Lord chose to employ
more than any Other, and which has a marked
and evident reference to his state of humiliatioft.
The Calm Inquirer observes, and very truly,
that " it is even implied, John v. 27, that the
proper humanity of Christ is an essential qualifi
cation for the office."* Certainly it is ; as, with
out a participation of a real and proper huma
nity, the Son of God could not have been the
Messiah. But is it necessary to be perpetually
repeating to the Unitarians, that their opponents
believe " the proper humanity of Christ" no less
than themselves? — It is, moreover, peculiarly
congruous with the nature and requisites of the
case, in the estinlation of Divine Wisdom, that
the Judge of men should be himself a real, but
spotless and perfect, man.f Some understand
by this Authority to execute judgment, our Lord's
presiding, as the Founder of Christianity, over
the moral resurrection, or the reformation of
mankind by the efficacy of his doctrine. But it
is manifest that, without the most unreasonable

* Calm Inq. p. 341. f See Note [A] at the end of this Section.

72 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, t^OOK III.
violence of construction, the terms of v. 28 and
29 cannot be applied to any other than the literal
and universal resurrection of the dead, and to the
final judgment which will be connected with it.
Now all these circumstances of delegation,
instruction, commission, and a perfect union of
will, motive, and purpose with the Divine Fa
ther, were the necessary attributives of a Media
tor and Saviour ; who by the nature and condi
tions of his office was to be the " servant of God,
his chosen, the delight of his soul," whom "the
Father set apart and sent into the world," and
who was " faithful to him that constituted him,
—as a Son over his own house."* They are all
characters of official subordination.
The other parts of the description present
characters of supremacy.
1, A. parity oi operative power : v,17. It may
be objected that the words do not necessarily
imply more than a resemblance, in some respects
only. But this construction is resisted by two
circumstances. (1.) The' turn of the argument. Upon the
principle of the objection, Jesus is made to say,
" Because the divine agency is incessantly ex
erted in the machinery of the universe, there
fore I may do any thing, though it violate the
sabbatic law." If such reasoning could be ad
mitted, it would be equally allowable to argue
that, as God in his infinite dominion deprives

* Is, xiii. 1. John x, 36. Heb.|(f- % 6-

CHAP. HI.] PARITY WITH THE FATHER. 73
men of their enjoyments, health, and lives, so a
creature might rightfully take away the pro
perty or the life of his fellow. The implication
in our Lord's words evidently is a right to work
on the sabbath, because providential agency is
not intermitted on that day : thus putting both
his will and his power on a par with those of his
Father. (2.) The nature of the work from which the
discussion originated. It was a miracle. Now,
on the supposition of the mere humanity of the
Christ, the work was wrought by God; Jesus
was but the organ, or rather the declarer, of
the divine agency. His reply to his adversaries
.would then have been, " This work was wrought
by the immediate interposition of God himself,
to whom the law of the sabbatic rest cannot be
applied." On the other hand, as Jesus so ma
nifestly makes himself, in distinction from the
Father, the agent of the miracle, he asserts for
himself a power to control the laws of nature,
a power undeniably the same with that which
fixed them and which actuates the universe ac
cording to them. — Thus, on this ground, also,
we are inevitably led to understand the words
of an equality both of power and of right: " My
Father worketh until now ; I also work."
This interpretation is strengthened by another
assertion with which our Lord follows up the
former : " Whatsoever things the Father doeth,
those things the Son also doeth, in like manner."
There is nothing in the connexion to restrict

74 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. JBOOR III.
the universal terms to any specific objects*
They plainly affirm a proper universality of
operations, and an identity in the mode of per
forming those operations : that is, that the works
of the Father, as to both their nature and
manner, are equally the works of the Son,
2. The sovereign power to confer animal life:
V. 21. " The Son also giveth life to whom he
will." The occasion of the discourse was the
restoration of vital action to paralytic limbs,
which, in a popular sense, might be called dead.
This shews that physical life was the object in
tended : and the same thing is proved by the
connexion of the topic with the actual resur
rection of the dead.
3. The effecting of that mysterious and asto
nishing work, the future restoration to life of the
whole human race: v. 25. It is not " incredible
that God should raise the dead," but it is abso
lutely so that any other being should. To hear
the voice of any one is, in scriptural phraseology,
to acknowledge and obey the authority of the
person.* When it is declared that " the dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God," the
plain implication is that such power is possessed
by him, as can and will effect that most stupend
ous work, the universal resurrection,
4. The exercise of judicial authority in deter
mining the final condition of all the individuals
of mankind : v. 27, 29. Such a work as this could
* Deut. iv. 30,— viii, 20. Ps. xcvii. 5, &c. &c.

CHAP, IIL] PARITY WITH THE FATHER, 75
no more be delegated to an inferior intelligence,
than could the government of the universe. It
requires the highest attributes of deity for its
performance.* 5. A claim of homage to the Son> the same in
kind and equal in degree, with the homage
which is due to the Almighty Father: v. 23.
" That all may honour the Son as they honour
the Father." It has been pleaded that not an
identity or an equality of honour is here in
tended, but only such a resemblance as would
still reserve the infinite distance between the
objects : as, because it was the eastern custom
to pay repect to kings with the same bodily
gestures that were used in divine worship, the
convention of Israel " bowed down their heads,
and prostrated themselves to Jehovah and to the
king."t But there is a total want of similarity
in the cases. The circumstances of the occasion
put the expression used by Jesus quite out of
the range of comparison with the Hebrew phrase.
* See the further examination of this subject in Capitule VI.
of this Chapter.
f 1 Chron. xxix. 20. Three words of which tbe first and
last are used in this passage, " have this difference of meaning :
(1.) np is <« incline, the head and sho-ulders, which sometimes
preceded a more profound gesture of respect, (2.) yTO signi
fies the bowing of the upper parts of the body down to the knees, as
in 2 Chron. vii. 3. (3.) iDniltyn denotes to fail down on the
knees, and put the forehead on the ground or floor, fo prostrate
one's-self; which was practised in the civil homage of the
oriental nations, not only to superiors, but to equals also," Si
monis et Eichhorn,' Lex. p. 1617-

76 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. JTBOOK III,
The thing in question was, not civil homage, but
religious supremacy and honour. The point of
the case lay in his having used language which
the Jews construed into an assumption of equa
lity with God. Upon Unitarian principles, our
Lord must have been among the most unfortunate
of apologists : for he ought to have said, " It is
true that I claim an honour, but I arrogate not
that which belongs to God : it is, indeed, his
will that all should honour the Son ; but be not
mistaken, this honour is essentially different from
that which is due to the Father, and is alto
gether inferior to it." But, so far from this, the
Lord Jesus re-asserts his claim in language more
striking, and less capable of being misunder
stood ; language which, if it were indeed not
meant to affirm an identity of nature and dignity,
cannot be freed from the charge of being the
most ill-timed, offensive, and dangerous that can
be imagined, not to say absolutely impious.
Whenever in scripture the phrase to honour God
occurs, or any equivalent expression, it always
denotes religious homage ; the making God our
end and object in all our actions, the celebration
of his. praises, obedience to him, and confidence
in him : and this " his glory, he will not give
to another."* To honour, then, the Son as we
honour the Father, must be to have our thoughts,
affections, and actions, directeci to him, and our
* See 1 Sam, ii, 30. Ps. xxix. 2. Prov. iii. 9. Is, xiii, 8,
— xxix. 13.— Iviii, 13. 1 Tim. i. 17. Rev. xix. 7.

CHAP. III.] PARITY WITH THE FATHER. 77
hope and confidence reposed on him, in the same
manner. It is a paltry evasion to say, with Mr.
Lindsey, that this text. " does not relate to wor
ship at all ;"* for though the formal act of prayer
or any other explicit mode of adoration be not
mentioned, all and every act or mode of worship
is included, as the species under a genus. A
very liberal divine, and a scholar and critic far
superior to Mr. Lindsey, Professor Dcederlein of
Jena, says of this passage, "These words of
Jesus possess such perspicuity, that nothing can
be desired more decisive. "f
The Calm Inquirer disposes of this argument
in his usual mode of summary assertion. t Ac
cording to his interpretation, Moses, John, or
Paul, might have used the same language ; for
each of them was the bearer of a message from
God, a message to vvhich "the very same regard
is due as to an oracle delivered by God himself;"
and each might, with the greatest propriety,
have said, as one of them actually did say, "He
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, 'who
hath also given unto' us his Holy Spirit." But

* Lindsey' s Sequel to his Apol. p. 1 10.
f Instilulio Theologi Chrisliani, nostris Temporibus aecOilf mo-
data s Norimb. 1784. vol, i, p, 333. The author died in 1792.
+ " The obvious meaning is, that Christ, being the mes
senger of God,, the very same regard is due to his message -
which would be due to an oracle delivered by God himself;
and that to disregard Christ under Ibis character is the same
affront to the Supreme Being, as it would be to disregard the
voice of God Wmself." Calm Inq. p. 363.

ya ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST; EBOOK III.
can any person think it compatible with their
character and spirit, to have declared, " In con
sequence of the message with which we are
charged, it is the will of the Eternal God that all
men should honour us, as they honour him : he
that honoureth not us, honoureth not the Great
Being who commissioned usl" — Is any senti
ment analogous to this to be found in their
speeches or writings'? Is not every turn of
thought and expression invariably of the con
trary description, and marked with the most
scrupulous jealousy, to " give unto the Lord the
glory due unto his name 1" Can the implication
be imagined, without shocking every pious feel
ing j— -And can we suppose that Jesus, the pure
and lowly in heart, " the wisest and best of
teachers," had less sensibility to the approaches
of pride, or less horror at the semblance of blas
phemy, than his inferior followers 1
The Inqqirer is also mistaken in that which he
assumes as the ground of our Lord's claim. That
ground is not his quality as a messenger from
God, but it is expressly declared to be his exer
cise of universal judgment ; a work which the
Father hath, indeed, committed to him, it being
a part of his official functions as the Messiah, but
which plainly implies pre-requisites not lower
than divine perfections.*
* See Note [B] at the end of this Section.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

SECT. m.

Note [A] page 71-
t " It can scarcely be deemed a difficulty that Jesus is de
clared to be the judge of men "¦ because he is a son of man,"
that is a man, and so far like the rest of mankind. For, in this
very debate with the Jews, he also declared himself to be the
Son of God, entitled to the same honours as the Father, and
possessed of those divine perfections by which he is competent
to this work of judgment, as being possessed of infinite know
ledge, holiness, and righteousness : and, through the whole of
his discourse, he so urges this point that the reader cannot los^
sight of it. But, in this paragraph, he assigns as the reason
why God had given to his Son the authority of judgment over
mankind, that he was o man, a partaker of the human nature.
In this we admire the arrangement of divine benignity, that
God has given to mankind a Saviour and Sovereign, who pos
sesses our own nature united with his Divine INJajesty, and is,
in all respects, sin excepted, like unto us, ( — The same senti
ment is advanced in 1 Tim, ii, .'5, Phil, ii. 7, 9, Heb.ii. 5, 18,
— iv. 15, 16. — V. 1,2,) On this account, the apostle, preach
ing to the Athenians that Christ was ordained by God to be
the Judge of the world, with express purpose denominates
him a man, avip. But what appears to me as perhaps the
most remarkable circumstance in our Lord's design, is his
intending a reference to tbe sublime vision of Daniel, in
which the Messiah is described as " like to a son of man ;"
to convey the idea that his character and government would
not be like those of the worldly monarchies which are re
presented by savage animals, but that his conduct would be

80 NOTES.
gentle and humane, as that of a man with men,'' SchoUeni
Specim. Herm. Theol. de Appell. toS TioS rou 'Av6p. p. IS, 19.
Utrecht, 1809.
These remarks are just and important; but Mr, Scholten is
mistaken in his supposition that the absence of the article in
this passage distinguishes the phrase from o 'Tisj rov avBpilmov, and
brings it under the anarthrous form which signifies, in the
Hebrew and Syriac idiom, merely a human being. The form of
the clause here, on 'Tw; avBpamm ea-rl, is in consequence of a rule
of the Greek idiom, established by the most satisfactory evi
dence, that the predicate of a proposition, whetlier the sub
stantive verb be expressed or not, should be without the article.
See Middleton on the Greek Article, p. 71 — 76.
Note [B] page 78.
If we possessed any unexceptionable method of ascertaining
in what manner the terms and phrases of ancient writers which
have become matter of controversy in later tiines, were under
stood by those who lived in or near the age of the authors, and
who spoke the same language, we are apt to think that we
should enjoy a signal assistance for interpretation. In some
respects this circumstance, could it be realised, might be found
advantageous; yet by no means to a great extent. If passions
and prepossessing opinions could be laid aside, the difficulty of
interpreting the writings of antiquity would not be so great as
it is often represented to be. This difficulty is little complained
of with regard to the didactic Greek and Roman writers ; and,
with respect to the historians and poets, still less. The great
stream of that traditional communication of grammar and in
terpretation, which has been transmitted, by a livipg and
really uninterrupted succession, in schools aud colleges, from
tlie purest classic times to the present day ; — the ancient
scholia, glossaries, lexicons, and grammatical treatises, which
are extant; — ^the study of the context ; — tlie comparison of
passages : — and an acquired familiarity with the language,
style, and manner of- authors ; — have been found sufficient to
establish in the minds of rational men a prevailing acquiescence
in the generally received understanding of the Greek and
Latin languages, The chief toil of -criticism has been the

NOTES. .m
emendation of corrupt passages, and the explanation of technical
terms and uncommon phrases.
It might be thought that an advantage of this kind is to be
derived to the study of the New Testament, from the writings of
the earliest Greek fathers. But such an expectation would be
disappointed. Those authors had little knowledge of rational
and impartial principles of interpretation ; and they appear to
have adopted, with unsuspecting acquiescence, any arbitrary
and fanciful gloss on the words of scripture, which promised to
answer a present purpose. Though a better judgment is mani
fested in the comments of Basil, Chrysostom, and some others
of the fourth century, yet the controversies which had been
so warmly agitated, and the active part taken by them, prevent
our adducing them as witnesses, except when a reasonable
ground can be assigned for regarding their judgment, in any
particular case, as unbiassed.
If, however, we had a writer who was merely a man of
letters, and who had transfused into any kind of explicatory
composition those passages of the New Testament which affect
our inquiry, upon other principles and with other views than
what might be presumed to actuate a professed theologian :
such a writer would, in all men's estimation, be entitled to con
siderable regard.
An author approaching to this idea is Nonnus of Panopolis in
Egypt, Unfortunately his age is rather late, he having flou
rished at the end of the fourth, or the beginning of the fifth
century : yet this was many centuries before the ancient Greek
ceased to be a living language, , Nothing is known of the life
or character of Nonnus, Two poems of his are . extant ; the
Dlonysiaca, a long epic composition on the life and actions
of Bacchus, but so loaded with digressions and episodes as to
include a chaos of heathen fables, prodigal in mythological
learning, and with much extravagance exhibiting marks of
genius ; and a Paraphrase of the Gospel of John, in Homeric
versification. The style and manner of this latter composition
shews that the author's design was to display his poetical talent
rather than to produce a theological work. All things consi
dered,, I think it may be taken as a fair specimen of the manner
in which a man whose vernacular language was Greek, under-
voii. II, , e

<3 NOTES.
stood the phraseology 6f the evangelist, at the distance of' three
hundred years from the publication of his gospel. It iS adduced
as an illustration ratheir than as an evidence ; and the judicious
reader will form his own Opinion upon the degree of tegafd to
which it is entitled. I shall copy this metaphrase on the pribcipd
passages which are quoted in Sections V. and VI,
EJffeTi yvv yeyervif ipyaC,erai iiBd^i Kocr/ij>
'HBeinii ayrirvTiOii, Kal iya iiatf 'epyoii iijieiiva.
" The Father worketh until now in modes corresponding
with the constant order of the universe, and I tte Son ddl-
fully execute the work." John v. 17.
Kaj @emi avroyeveBXav eov XBcXojOTte rox^a,
'Jira^uv eoy eup^o; tmvpayif Paa-iX^t,
"  and called the self-existent God his own FathMr,
equalling his own glory to the celestial king." T, 18.
'OuSev ejf (oT»)T( tvwjiTirai vio( ayvrrai
"El jMi i(ra9p^(reiey tov rtXioyra Tox^a'
Epya yap elv evt icavra liarijp e^; inmra pe^ei
'tour a ©Eo» yevkrtfi ^u\uii[ks/0i iioj avivaii.
" The Son can never perform anything by his own deter
mination, only what he beholds his own Father accomplivhing :.
for all the works whatsoever my Father doeth, those in one
[i. e, in unison or together,] the Son perfonneth, iatitating God
the Father." v, 19. 'AfS^eijv 8«
O^iprt u?ri' 8S)te» oXift itpha, o^pd xe •x&irti
'tlea rijuriiTaeiv iirofyyov ^ ye/tnipi,
old re yaiialvova-i Ka) itfjinilovra rmoja.
El Se Ti{ aXXjmpivbXXim cx" ''°"'» "^ ^ tmojoj
H-vialvei Aiyov via, Yoi oi yaitr^pa yepaipei.
" The whole final judgment of mankmd he hath given to the
Son, in order that all may honour the Son as equal in rank to
his Father, and in the manner in which they glorify the Father
who reigns on high. But if any one has' a versatile mind, and
does not glorify the Word the Son of the Father, he does not
pay homage to_^the Father.;^ t. 93.

NOTES. SS
OSffOTe wo/^j/ij;
Owore icuea ravra hoXXvrai, tiVoW [iifny/i
Avro/idrai; a-i\i!iny eXt^i KwtXo^iJaevo; aim.
Oi^k Ttf dpvd^eiev e/Miv lumrodtpova vol/iy^y
Xetpof mfi ii/ierip^t, yeykriit e/Mf ofrt, yoft^ieiy
Of /Ml icuea hSxev, imiprepof eirXfTO icdvruv.
AuTii{ eya, fAeMay re Tlariip cijuu;, Iv yiyo; eiTy.h,
EjMpvroy, dvroficepejaiov , o6ey <pvrd [ijpta Kotr/Aov.
" Never, never shall these sheep of my flock perish, while
the world remains revolviiig iri spirals on its self-moving arches.
Nor can any snatch my timid flock from our hand ; for my
Father who gave me the sheep to feed, is superior to all. I
myself and my sovereign Father, are one genuS, of mutual
nature, self-originatedi and from which are derived the innu
merable gfi^ring of the universe," Chap. x. v. 28, ??.
Aoyoy avro) oy vrpijjik^uy icope vjuTf).^
Km KoBa/nii itaXd(uij^ dyl^ r<bpiiylir<raro Sea-fA^,
'TfM~; Sxfifma, fiZBoy i-af<(iBiy^aa-Be jjiaylyrei;,
Otti ©«ti ^cSoirro; lyu itatf ;
" The Word whom the Sovereign Rule*" sgnt ipts thg Woyld,
and sealed by the holy decree of his pure hand^ dP you in your
fiiry charge with a foolish speech [for saying] that, I am {h$
Son pf the living Qpd ?" v. 36,
El jSuSfoTe^i fJiiBoi
'Hiur'pov yeyer^poq artp/jioyoi a^ta, 'pi%a
E^o({ iiiMripou; rdmep tZpavx futprvi mumj,
'Oipfd Ke yiyuiTYjone Beovytva-rtf riy) iJiiB^
'0{ iv IjMi reXiBei yeykriii; IjAoq, otti xai dvrof
'ATjji^av^;, aj^furroi;, hjui^vyoi; eljAi tok^oj.
" If, by my lifergiving word, I do things worthy of my JR-
finite Father, by my works which your eyes have witnessed,
that ye may know, by a divinely-inspired declaration, that my
F^tber exists In ipe, that I also am manifested as ngar to my
F^itber^ indivisible from bifti, equal to bim. v. 3B.

& 2

84 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST, [BOOK III.

SECT. VI.

SON OF COD, 0N« WITH THS FATHEE,

Sum of the assertions here made by .Tesus Christ,— Investigation of the
scriptural phrase, to be one.-rA characteristic of our Lord's manner of
tes^chioj;. — Peculiarity of the oneness of Christ with the Father,
The Jews surrounded him and said to him, " How long
dost thou hold us in suspense ? If thou art the Christ, tell us
plainly." Jesus answered them ; " I did tell you, and ye do not
believe. The works which I do in the name of my Father,
these testify concerning me. But ye believe not • for ye are
not of my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me ; and I give unto them
eternal life, and they, shall never perish, and no one shall snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who gave [them] to me, is
greater than all : and no one is able to snatch [them] out of
the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one,"
Then again the Jews took up stones, with a view to stone
him. Jesus answered them; "Many good works I have
shewn to you from my Father : for which of those works do
ye stone me:"
The Jews answered him ; " For a good work we stone thee
not, but for blasphemy, and because thou, who art a man,
makest thyself God,"
Jesus answered them j " Is it not written in your law, ' I said,
ye are gods V If he called gods those to whom the word of
God was [addressed], (and the scripture cannot be annulled,)
do ye say to him whom the Father hath set apart and sent into
the world. Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of

CHAP. 111.] ONE WITH THE FATHER. 85
God ? If I do not the works of my Father, give me not credit :
but, if I do [them], though ye give not credit to me, give
credit to the works ; that ye may know and be assured that in
me is the Father, and I in him." John x. 24 — 38.
In this portion of the doctrine of Jesus, we
find these particulars : —
1. The avowal, so often made on other occa
sions, of his official subordination to the Father ;
in having been designated, commissioned, sent,
and endowed with a peculiar property in his
people ; and in exercising miraculous powers by
the authority of the Father.
2. The assertion of his own power to confer S^e
blessings of salvation; namely holy character,
immortal happiness, deliverance from moral dan
ger, and security against all possible hostility.
Let it be observed that, in the evident nature of
the case, and according to the uniform tenor of
scripture, the bestowment of such gifts implies
the attribute of All-sufficiency in the Donor.
3. This assurance of security is repeated, with
a confirmatory declaration that the Omnipotence
of the Almighty Father is pledged to the same
object. 4. These two assurances are consolidated into
the proposition, " I and my Father are one."
To obtain a satisfactory conclusion as to the
meaning of the expression, "tobe.one," (li/ £?va<;)
it is necessary to review the few passages of the
New Testament in which it occurs.
In John xvii. 11, 21, 22, 23,* the connexion
"WJU'ii ¦- I ¦ tm .. . f II I I. ¦ II . M ¦ ¦- ¦¦  ,11.. . ^ I - — I I -¦• ¦ imH. ¦¦ ¦
* Cited at length in p. 90,

gg ON THE PERSON Of CHRIST. pSOOK fli.
shews that the bdhg reciprdcallt/ one which is
predicated of Christ, his Divine Father, and his
disciples, is the union of cordial and generous
love in the present life, and of celestial happiness
in the future state.
1 Cor. iii. 8. " He that planteth, and he that
Watereth, are one." Here the union of design
and co-operation is plainly intended.
Thefe arc no other instances, except the one
flow tinder consideration, llie phrase occurs,
ihdeed, in a passage which is regarded, upon
strong evidence, as spurious, 1 John v. 7, and,
if We were to argue from that passage, we should
say that the connex:ion shews the reference to
b6 to consent, or the union of testimony. Hie
Septuagint furnishes only two or three examples :
and their manifest signification is the closest
union oi resemblance, or of conjunction.*
It is, therefore, manifest, that the grammatical
sense of the phrase will not, of itself, determine
its exact import ; and that the meaning must
be ascertained, in every instance, by an atten
tion to the natwre and circumstances of the given
case. What, then, is the kind of union which the
nature and circumstances of the case before us
point out '?• It is an union for the bestowment of
the most irrlportant blessings, for the averting of
the greatest evils, for a sovereign and effectual
preservation from spiritual danger and eternal

They ar« Oen. HHi, 2S, %f, Ewd, xxvi. H.

CHA*. VL] ONE WITH THE FATHER. gf
ruin. These are the plain facts of the case. It
is, therefore, an union of power. — " No one shall
snatch them out of my hand ,— no one can snatch
them out of my Father's hand:— I and the
Father are one,"
The argumentative connexion of the clause
requires also to be attended to. Jesus had
affirmed the adequacy of his own power for the
certain salvation of his sincere followers • as
well as that of God his Father. Therefore, to
shew that he had not exceeded the botmds of
truth in the assertion, and to furnish a sufficient
ground of reason for it, he adds, " I and the
Father are one." The union of power is thus
shewn to be a real identity of power.*
The bearers of, Jesus instantly accused him of
assu ¦ ing divine honours, and were proceeding
to a summary execution of their capital law
against blasphemy. Whether their alarm was
* " Not £»? {unus) one and the same person, but ey {unum")
one and the same thing. The Father has communicated h.'s
power to the Son," Calm Inq. p. 535. But what is this to the
purpose? No Trinitarian interpreter eyer contended for the
fornaer representation, which would be as inconsistent with his
doctrine as it is with the words of the passage. The neuter
form is necessary to the idiomatical expression: and it has
been often insisted on by divines, from TertulUah downwards,
as indicating the unity, not of person, but of essence. As for
the writer's assertion of the " communicated power," lie seems
to have little reflected on the kind, degree, and ej^tent of tiie
power which the case requires ; a power which could be neither
communicated to, nor exercised |)y, any being merely a crea-
tnre,

S8 PN THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK HI.
sincere or affected, it is clear that there must
have been an apparent ground for it.
The Lord Jesus might have answered; " I
accept yoiir construction, but I deny your charge.
I have uttered no impiety, for I have claimed no
more than I have a right to claim. I am the
Messiah, whose goings forth have been from of
old, even from the days of eternity. I am not
only a man like yourselves, but I existed and
acted before my, taking flesh, as the Shepherd of
Israel, the Lord of David, the King whose throne
is for ever and eyer."
And if this were true, why did he not, so
answer"? -We reply, that, admitting the truth of
the assertion supposed, there are good reasons
to account for his having declined to :make it.
It would have been inconsistent with the present
stage of the advancement of his dispensation; it
would have been a departure from that rule of
reserve which we have ample evidence that he
most c refuUy adhered to ; and he had before
him another mode o*" proceeding which we shall
presently see was in accordance with his usual
practice as a teacher.
But,' upon the Unitarian hypothesis, no motive
can be imagined why he should not meet the
accusation with the clearest and most pointed
denial. Though he saw it not to be proper as
yet to avow himself publicly to be the Messiah,
there could be no reason why he should omit to
protest that he was merely a man, such as other
meu; and every consideration of piety, duty, and

CHAP. HI.] ONE WJTH THE FATHER. 89
all good principleSj -demanded the most positive
declaration agaiiist the blasphemy with which he
was charged. This course, however, he did not
take. The Calm Inquirer, indeed, says that " he
peremptorily denies the conclusion which the
Jews drew from his language."* Such denial I
acknowledge myself unable to discover, either
in a " peremptory" or in an implied form. The
serious and attentive ,reader must decide for him
self, on a careful scrutiny of the language held
by Jesus in his reply.
It was so frequently practised, that we may
pronounce it to have been one of the character
istic maxims of our Lord's style of teaching, to
reason with men upon their own real, or pretended,
principles ; sindi to conduct them to a point in
which their own minds could not escape from draw
ing the very conclusion which they had been, at
the outset, anxious to avoid.f
In this way, therefore, he proceeds. He re
minds his accusers that, in their own scriptural
phrase, even wicked rulers were denominated
gods. He infers that no prejudice could be justly
entertained against him, for having used lan
guage implying that God was his Father in a
special and unique sense : while he had not called
himself God, but only, by the shewing of his
opponents, had claimed to be the Son of God.
He evidently assumes that his own title to the

* Page 218.
t For example Matt. xii. 1—12. xix. 3—9, 16—22.
xxi, 23— 2r, xxii, 16—22.

90 ON THE PERSON Of CHRIST. tBdOK IIL
disputed honour was greater than that of the
Jewish magistrates. He then appeals to his
unquestionable miracles, as the attestation of his
truth iff again affirming the very thing which had
created the offence ; in terms different, indeed,
but clearly of the same import, and most strongly
expressive, not of an union of power merely,
though that involved a claim of omnipotence, but
of an union in the very nature and manner of ex
istence : — " IN ME is the Father, and I in him."
But this interpretation is contested, because
the " phrase is applicable to believers in gene
ral."* The passages in which such application
occurs are these : —
" In that day ye shall know, that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you :" John xiv.
20. " Holy Father ! keep in thine own name
those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one, as we. — ^That they all may be one, as
thou, Father, in me and I in thee, that also they
in us may be one ; that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me : and the glory which thou
hast given to me, I have given to them, that they
may be one as we are one. I in them, and thou
in me ; that they may be completed into one, and
that the world may know that thou hast sent me
and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. That
the love with which thou hast loved me may be in
them, and I in them." chap. xvii. 11,21 — 23,26, "If
¦I  ill
* Calm Inq. p. 235. The same line of argument ii followed
by Arian, Socinian, and Unitarian writers in generals.

CHAP. lit,] ONE Wltri tHE FATHER. 91
we love one another, God abideth in us, and his
love is completed in us. By this we know that we
abide in him, and he in us, that he hath given us
of his Spirit. — Whosoever confesseth that Jesus
is the Soil of God, God abideth in him and he in
God: and we know and are confident of the love
which God hath towards us. God is love ; and
he who abideth in love abideth in God, and God
in him." 1 John iv. 12, 13, 15, 16.
From these passages, no one can doubt that
the phrase of a reciprocal in-dwelling, or in-
being, is scripturally pred'icable of the rela
tions which subsist between God and sincere
Christiaiis in general. The passages evidently
express an intiifaate union of holy love between
the Father of spirits and his faithful servants, in
the present state; the communion oi gracious in
fluence on his part, and of devotional affections
on their 's ; and that perfection of both which will
subsist in the heavenly state. This use of the
expression may be rationally accounted for by
referring it to the principle, which is more or less
conspicuous in the structure of all languages,
that terms and phrases are occasionally used in
senses greatly below their native strength and
significaflcy ; the nature of the subject and the
circumstances of its association pointing out, in
all such cases, the restrictions which are under
stood.* So Christians are directed to aim at
being " partakers of a divine disposition," to be
* Se« Lord Kaims'a Elements of Critici^, chap. xx. sect, S,

93 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
" perfect as God is perfect," to be " holy as he
is holy :"* and so, by a different direction of the
same figure, Christ is represented as " being
made sin for us," and disbelievers of the divine
testimony are said to " make God a liar."+
Why, then, may not this phrase, when applied
to Christ and the Father, be regarded as con
veying no more than a metaphorical in-dwelling,
an union of affection and moral principles'? We
reply that the rule just mentioned, a regard to
the nature and circumstances of the application,
will not pertpit us to do so. The case in ques
tion refers not to any moral quality, but to a
oneness of power for the performance of works
which imply omnipotence. Our Lord adduces
the in-dwelling of the Father and himself as a
synonymous expression of that identity of power;
or, more exactly speaking, as a superior and
more extensive declaration, confirming, and in
cluding the other. The peculiarity of the case,
therefore, lying in its relation to the exertion of
omnipotence, excludes a metaphorical or merely
moral signification, and obliges us to understand
it in a strict, proper, and physical sense : it is
an identity of power, such power as can belong
to Deity alone, implying and resting upon an
identity o/" nature. It clearly follows that the
title Son of God, as belonging to Christ, and as
* 2 Pet, i. 4-, *rf<ri?, " origo,— ipsa rei natura et essentia,
proprieias , insita indoles, mores." — Schleusner. Matt. v. 48.
1 Pet, i, 16.
f 2 Cor. V. 21. Uphnv. 10.

CHAP. HI.] ONE WITH THE FATHER. 93
vindicated by him in this passage, denotes one
who has the sa.me essential nature as that of the
Father: or, in the words which our Lord, so
far from refusing, fixed upon himself, one who
" maketh>" or representeth " himself to be God."
This conclusion is strengthened by observing
the ground which our Lord lays to confirm his
declaration: " If I do not the works of my
Father, give me not credit; but, if I do, though
ye give not credit to me, give credit to the
works." The term, " works of my Father,"
may denote either actions done by the command
and authority of God,* or such as are wrought
by the immediate power of God. To take it
hei-e in the former sense, is evidently inappli
cable to the occasion, and would make the rea
soning nugatory. In the other sense, it suits the
argument. " By the miracles, and wonders, and
sighs, which God wrought through him, — Jesus
of Nazareth was a man demonstrated by God"t
to be all that he himself claimed, whether by
assertion or implication. So far he differs not
from other inspired messengers, God confirmed
the mission of, prophets and apostles by exhi
biting miraculous powers through them,I Jesus
had all this honour as a man and a prophet.
But : the divine testimony does not permit us to
rest at this point, Jesus Christ constantly speaks

* As in John vi. 28, and Rev. ii 26. f Acts ii. 32.
I " God wrought very extraordinary [ou toj •n'x«i/V«;] miracles
through the hands of Paul." Acts xix. 11,

94 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. pOOK iU.
of himself as beiiig, not '^n instrument only', but
the Agent, in works of miraculous power: and
it is remarkable that^ while the apostles mani
fested a studious anxiety to avoid using lan
guage that could be construed intp a,ny repre
sentation of themselves above that of a power
less instrumentality, they ascribed the final
agency to Christ as readily as to God the Fathep.
The " signs and wonders" which sanctioned the
ministry of Paul, and of which the number and
variety was so great, that his modesty refused
to speak of them, beyond a slight and necessary
allusion, he definitely attributes to Christ as
their Author : " Christ wrought them through
me."* Here, therefore, are reasons for under
standing pur Lord's words as asserting for him
self a power of divine agency, and consequently
the possession of divine perfections, " I do the
works of ray Father, ^that ye may know and be
assured that in me is the Father, and I in him,"
Let the experiment in imagination be made of
putting these words into the mouth of an apostle.
Let Peter, John, or Paul say, " I and God are
one : I do the works of God : God is in me, and
I in him." Every one feels that the supposition
is, not monstrous only,^ but intolerable. Yet, on
Unitarian priuciples, (which affirm that these
phrases are " applicable to believers in general,"
without any investigation of the grounds and the
diversity of application,) we ought to feel no
* Rom. XV. 18,

CHAP, 111.] ONE WITH THE FATHER, 95
difficulty in making the supposition. The as
sumption of such language by any inspired man,
must be, not barely allowable, not merely ca
pable of being palliated, but strictly and une
quivocally in character with piety, humility,
meekness, and lowliness of heart. — Unitarianism
requires me to believe this !

CJPITULE II.

FAS8AOE8 XLCCIDATING OUR LOSd's USE OF TBB APFEI.LA.TION,
THE SON OF MAN.

In the discourses of our Lord, whether private
or public, whether in the bosom of his friends or
under the jealous observation of his enemies, the
style which he was pleased most frequently to
use for describing himself was that of the Son qf
man, 6 vtog tou av^panTrou,* with the article to de
note particularity. On an examination of all the
passages in which it occurs, it appears that,
when this appellation is used, it is always with
* Some have afRrmed that we ought to translate the phrase,
the son of the man, and that the allusion is to David as the
ancestor of Jesus. But this assertion proceeds on ignorance of
the Greek idiom, or inattention to it. A noun governed by
another noun which has the article, must itself also take the
article; and vice versa. See Middleton on ihe Greek article,
p. 69 — 71- On this particular phrase, that distinguished
scholar observes, " He [Christ] was to be designated as i wo?>
for otherwise he would not have been distinguished from any
other individual of the human race ; and if o vi« then TOT
SiyBpiicov, {or 0 ill; avSpamovwonld offend against Beginien. Hence
it is plain that the article before ayBpamov is not, if I may say
SO, naturally and essentially necessary, but is so only accident
ally ; and consequently it will not be admitted unless where
Reifimen requires it, i. e. where o iio( precedes." P. 354.

CHAP. III.] SON OF MAN. 97
a reference to some acknowledged character,
function, or work of the Messiah : so that, in
nearly every instance, the sentence is an apoph
thegm of the doctrine concerning the Messiah,
and might stand as such, quite independently of
any particular individual who claimed to be
that Messiah. While it was the title which
Jesus evidently preferred to every other, and
which he was most in the habit of employing, it
is observable that it was never applied to him
by any other person, except in the single in
stance of the martyr Stephen ; that Jesus him
self never returned to the use of it after his
resuiTcction ; and that the apostles on no occa
sion employed it, either in their preaching or in
their writings.*
To rehearse the numerous and different opinions
which have been given of this appellation, and
the reason on which it has been supposed to rest,
would be tedious and of little profit. That which
* Rev. L 13, and xiv, 14, are not exceptions to this remark,
for in them the phrase is iif ayOpuvov without the articles, cor
responding with the Hebrew and Syriac idiom, which occurs
very frequently in the Old Testament (e, g. Num. xxiii, 19.
Job xvi, 21, — XXV, 6. Ps, viii, 5. Is. Iii. 14. — Ivi, 2.) and is
universally known to be merely a periphrasis for a human being.
In both those passages this is evidently the sense; but they
are improperly rendered in the common version, the, instead of
a son of man. In the Peshito Syriac the phrase, barnosh and
bar-nosho, is used in many places for avBptfmoi, especially, though
not only, when the word is a general term, as in Matt, xii, 12.
John ii. 25. Rom, i, 23. It is even used in Rom, vii. 92. and
in the two instances in 1 Cor. xv. 47,
VOL. II. H

gg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIBT. POOK UI.
appears to me the best supported by evidence,
has been mentioned in a former part of this
worfc>* It is the interpretation which has been
advanced by scholars and divines of the first
erudition and of very different theological senti
ments : Beza, Episcopius, the Dutch Annotators
of the Synod of Dort, Leigh, Venema, Wetstein,
Bengelius, Abresch, Semler, Eichhorn, and many
others, for the enumeration of whose names I am
indebted to the ample and exact dissertation of
Mr. ' Scholten,t a divine of the University of
Utrecht, whose learning, diligence, and acuteness
have anticipated almost every thing that could
be advanced on the question. This opinion is,
that the term was used with a designed allusion
to the prophecy of Daniel : " I looked in visions
of the night, and, behold! with the clouds of
heaven, came one like a son of man."j This is
* See Vol. I, p. 314—318.
f Specimen Hermeneutico-Theologicum de Appellatione rot
T'uv rou 'AiiBpuitov, auctore Wesselio Scholten. Utrecht, 1809. Dr.
Kuincel accedes to this interpretation j see his Comment, in
Libros N. T. Hist. vol. i, p. 259. Leipzig, 1816,
J Dan, ix. 13, The Calm Inquirer remarks that " the ex
pression may possibly signify nothing more than a person in
human form; and  this symbol of a human figure is
explained, not of an individual, but of the kingdom of the
saints of the Most High.' P. 392, But these objections are, I
thmk, removed by these considerations : (1,) In other instances
of prophetic description the Messiah is exhibited in his own
person, though associated with allegorical personages and
scenery. See Rev. i, 13—20, xix. 11—16. (2.) The expres
sions of " the saints possessing the kingdom," &c. v. 18, 22, 27,
are fairly interpreted, in conformity with various passages of

WiAP. UI.3 SON OF MAN, j^
among the clearest prophetic descriptions of the
Messiah : and though in its original connexion
it is combined with lofty characters of majesty
and honour, the expression in itself is such that
nothing can be conceived more simple and unas
suming. It was, therefore, admirably calculated
to answer the purposes of our Lord's habitual
testimony concerning himself, during that period
in which his wisdom saw it right to suspend the
universal declaration of his claim to be the
Messiah. It could hurt no feelings, rouse no
prejudices, offend no pride. It could minister no
fuel to the rage of the violent, nor furnish any
occasion to the captiousness of the artful; nor
be wrested into a pretext for exciting civil dis
cord, nor awaken the jealous fears of the Roman
government. But, while thus humble and in
offensive, it was intelligible, clear, and definite,
to those who " searched the scriptures :" and it
went the full length of a claim to the Messiah-
ship. This view of the origin and design of the phrase
leads to the conclusion, that, though it literally
expresses only a human nature, it is applied, on
the generalizing principle of language, to desig
nate THE Messiah, in the whole comprehension oi
his person and character, though with an especial

the New Testament, of the deliverance from sin, persecution, and
all evil, and of the final triumph and perfect happiness, which
the servants of Christ shall receive from him as their Head and
Saviour,
H 2

jQQ ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
view to his state of humiliation.* The circum
stances of glory, power, and relation to the
Divine Father, which in the original passage are
attributed to him who bore the likeness of a Son
of man, excite and seem to warrant this notion ;
especially if the interpretation be admitted,
which was proposed in the former volume, of a
clause in that passage as declaring a close and
intimate conjunction, by the greatest of all mira
cles, of the frail and lowly nature of a child of
man with that of the Ancient of days, so as to
form one person. Thus we are also furnished with
a guide to the interpretation of several passages
of the New Testament, which on any other
hypothesis, Trinitarian or Unitarian, present
great difficulties.! The principal of these pas
sages we have now to examine.
* " I have indeed, observed, that in a majority of the places
in which our Saviour calls himself the Son of man (and he is
never in the N. T, so called by others before his ascension) the
allusion is either to his present humiliation or to his future
glory : and if this remark be true, we have though an indirect,
yet a strong and perpetual declaration that the human nature
did not originally belong to Him, and was not properly his
own. He who shall examine the passages throughout, with a
view to this observation, will be able duly to estimate its value."
Bishop Middleton on the Greek Article, page 354.
f " When we want to open a lock, and after having tried,
to no purpose, a nutnber of keys, we hit upon one which opens
it with facility, we conclude that we have met with the right
key. In like manner when any phsenomenon in nature is to be
explained, such for instance, as the aberration of the fixed stars;
and we find that the hypothesis of the progressive motion of
light, combined with that of the annual motion of the earth in

CHAP. Ill,] SON OF MAN. IqI
its orbit, wiU completely solve that wonderful appearance, we
rightly conclude that light is progressive : or, when we find
that the colours, figure, position and all the other appearances
of the primary and secondary rainbows, can be solved from the
different refrangibility of the rays of light passing through
globular drops of rain, we rightly conclude that the rays of light
are differently refrangible, and the drops of rain globular : why
may we not argue in the same manner on other subjects?"
Bishop Watson's Anecdotes of his own Life. 8vo. ed. vol. ii.
p. 222.

j(^ ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK ill.

SECT. I.

Unitarian interpretation stated and examined,— Idea of a local heaven, —
Hebrew phrase, to ascend into heaven. — Its Rabbinical use, — Its true
meaning, — ^The correlate phrase, to descend from heaven, — Applied to
the Divine Being, — and to signal blessings from him. — Applied to per
sons only when a real presence is signified.— The leading idea,— Its
application to tbe passage under consideration.
" No one hath ascended into heaven, except he who
descended from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven."
John iii, 13,
Those believers in the Deity of the Messiah
who understand the phrase under consideration
as denoting him in his human nature restrictively,
have no plausible method, as appears to me, of
interpreting this passage, unless they coincide
with the usual gloss of the Unitarians.
Socinus and some of his immediate followers
believed in an actual translation of Jesus to some
celestial region, in the interval between his bap
tism and his entrance on his public ministiy ; and
that he there received instructions and qualifica
tions for his mission.*
The opinion preferred by the Calm Inquirer,
and by the generality of modern Unitarians, may
be thus represented:
* Socini Opera, tom. ii. p, 511, 610, Enjedini Explic. Loco-
rum, p. 217. Calm Inq. p, 40.

OHAP. III.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN, loj
The Jewish notion of a local heaven is an
absurd and puerile hypothesis. God is at aU
times equally and every where present ; and
heaven is a state, not a place. To be perfectly
virtuous and to be perfectly happy, is to be in
heaven. But to ascend into heaven is a Hebrew
form of expression to denote the acquisition of
such knowledge ap lies remote from common ap
prehension, or is unattainable by the ordinary
faculties of men: for example, Deut. xxx. 11.
Prov. XXX. 4. Baruch iii. 29. Rom. x. 26. The
phrase, therefore, here denotes, " No one is in
structed in the divine counsels." The next clause
is to be understood in the same figurative manner,
and is perfectly correlative with the first:, sig
nifying, " Excepting the Son of man, who had
a commission from God to reveal his will to man
kind." This form of expression also is used in
Scripture, ta signify what is of di^rine origin or
authority ; as when our Lord asks, " the bap
tism of John was it from heaven or of men V
Matt. xxi. 26. The last clause in John iii. 13. is
a continuation of the same figure, so that the true
sense of the whole text may be expressed thus :
" No one has ever been admitted to a participa
tion of the divine counsels, except the son of
man, Jesus of Nazareth, who has been commis
sioned to reveal the will of God to men, and
who is perfectly instructed and qualified for this
office."* * Abridged from the Calm Inq. p. 46 — .S5,

104 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK Hi.
Upon this scheme I submit some remarks :.
1. The idea of a local heaven runs through the
whole tenor of the Old and New Testament, and
may be held without involving any absurd or
puerile conceptions, without at all derogating
from the most exalted belief of the Divine im
mensity, and without any inconsistency with the
facts of just science. That there are orders of
intelligent creatures distinct from man, and in
habiting other parts of the universe than our
planet, is rendered to the highest degree pro
bable by " modern discoveries in astronomy,"*
and is, in a variety of ways, asserted and implied
in the volume of revelation. There is nothing
incongruous with the most rigid philosophy in
the supposition, that the very locality of per
fectly holy and happy beings should be distin
guished by peculiar, and even external, mani
festations of that favour of the Deity which is rich
and diversified in its resources above all human
conception. All known analogies countenance
such a supposition. Neither is there improba
bility in the idea that some part of the incon
ceivably extended universe may have been pre
pared by the wisdom of God, as a region above
all others proper for the most sublime manifesta
tions of that glorious favour. To such an idea
the language of the scriptures is not merely
favourable, but decidedly and constantly pro-
* Yet the Calm Inquirer assures us that " modern discoveries
in astronomy amply refute this puerile hypothesis," P. 55.

CHAP, in.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN. 103
ceeds on its admission. To affirm that the omni
presence of the Divine Nature renders impossible
any such peculiar manifestation, is a gj'atuitous
assertion, and could not be maintained without
virtually denying the attribute of omnipotence.
2. The statement of the Calm Inquirer is not
correct, when he says, " to ascend to heaven' is a
Hebrew form of expression to denote the know
ledge of things mysterious and remote from com
mon apprehension." The four passages referred
to by him and other writers, evidently signify a
real and local ascent, with a view to obtain the
knowledge, or other, blessing, adverted to in the
connexion of each. Let the reader impartially
examine them. That the sacred writers believed
in the possibility of such a corporal ascent, no
more derogates from their inspiration, than does
their being ignorant of the true construction of
the solar system. It was no part of the design
of revelation to teach men natural philosophy.
In their using the phrase, ascending into heaven,
the writers evidently conceived of a real pene
tration into the regions of celestial light and
happiness, in order to the acquisition of the know
ledge which is peculiar to the Divine Being.
When Jesus, in the case before us, employs the
expression, he neither affirms nor denies the
hypothetical possibility of such ascending into
heaven ; but he states the fact to be that no
human being ever had actually so ascended.
Other examples which occur in scripture of
this phrase, clearly refer to a real ascent. The

106 t»N THE PERSON OF CHRIST. fBOOK III,
following are all that I have been able to dis
cover, which can affect the present inquiry.
" It is not in the heavens, that [ye should
have] to say, Who will ascend for us, into the
heavens, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear
if? And [then] we will do it." Deut. xxx. 12.'
That is, as Le Clerc paraphrases it, " God hath
not expressed in an obscure and perplexing
manner the rites of worship and practice of re
ligion, by which ye may obtain his favour, so
that it should be in your power to say that it is
concealed from you, as if it were known only in
heaven." The succeeding sentence, which in
the same manner affirms that the Israelites needed
not to make long journies or perilousj voyages,
to acquire the knowledge of the Divine will,
proves that the words of the former question
intend an actual ascent to some celestial
region. " Who hath ascended into the heavens, and
hath descended '? Who hath gathered the wind
in his fists 1 Who hath tied up the waters in a
garment '? What is his name 1 And what the name
of his Son 1 For knowest thou T' Prov. xxx. 4.
That the ascending and descending are here as
sumed to be the undoubted properties of the Most
High, is manifest from the succeeding questions :
and as they respect his supreme power as the
Lord of nature, this clause may probably refer
to his universal presence and agency. I would
here, in passing, observe that the concluding
clauses of this energetic passage are rationally

GHAP, HI.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN. 107
and easily interpreted, if we admit that the
ancient Jews had some obscure ideas of a plu
rality in the Divine nature.* This was the
opinion of the late J. D. Michaelis. Dcederlein
and Dath^ conceive the expression to be merely
theHebraism for a pupil, as Elijah was a father
to Elisha and other sons of the prophets.t But
this seems totally foreign to the design of the
passage. " If I ascend to the heavens, there art Thou !"
Ps. cxxxix. 7. " Thou hast said in thy heart, I
will ascend into the heavens, above the stars of
God I will exalt my throne ;  I will be like
the Most High." Isaiah xiv. 13. "David hath
not ascended into the heavens." Acts ii. 34.
These instances need no comment. They plainly
'Shew that the expression was commonly under
stood among the Jews to signify a real transla
tion to heaven as to a place. This is not con
tradicted but confirmed by the hyperboles and
metaphors, which are derived from this phrase,
and applied to lofty towers, the waves in a
storm, splendid prosperity, exalted privileges,
a!nd prodigious sins.j
' The Calm Inquirer, on the authority of Dr.
Whitby, affirms that " the Jews in the Targum
say, in honour of Moses, that " he ascended into
the high heavens," by which they could mean no

* See Vol. I. p. 367. t Hathi Vers, et Not. in Prov. p. 346.
t SeeDput. ix; 2. Ps. cvii. 26. Job xx. 6, Matt, xi,.23.
ReVi xviii, 5,

108 ON THE PERSCWy OF CHRIST, [BOOK HI.
more than his admission to the divine counsels."*
Whitby, perhaps copying from some other author,
has not understood the passage, nor referred to
it rightly. It is evident that neither he nor the
Calm Inquirer who copies from him, took the
pains to consult the Targum. The place is in
the paraphrase on Canticles iii. 3. and it very
plainly refers to Moses's going up to the top of
Mount Sinai to intercede for the people on their
having made the golden calf. Some antecedent
passages will give light to it. " The righteous
of that generation said. Lord of the whole world,
— ^bring us near to the acclivity of Mount Sinai,
and give us thy law from the house of thy trea
sury, which is in the firmament. — Moses their
leader ascended to the firmament, and made
peace between them and their king. — Then was
it said to Moses, ascend to the firmament, andl
will give to thee the two tables of stone cai-ved
from the sapphire of the throne of my precious
ness. — And, while Moses their leader was in the
firmament to receive the two tables of stone, and
the law and the commandments, the wicked of
that generation arose and made a golden Calf.
Then Moses came down, and the two tables of
stone in his hands : and on account of the offences
of Israel his hands became heavy ; and they fell,
and were broken.  And he ascended the second"
* P. 47, Whitby's words are, " The Jews say, for the honour
of their JDrophet Moses that he ascended nDTlQ ''Ofilh into the
high heavens : Targ. in Cant, i, 5,11, 12," Paraph, and Notes,
John iii. 13,

CHAP. III.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN.

109

time to the firmament and prayed before Jah,
and propitiated for the children of Israel. 
Moses the chief scribe of Israel answered and
spoke thus, / will ascend to the , heavens on high,
-and I will pray before Jah, if perhaps he may be
propitiated on account of your offences.'* Ac
cording to the frequent acceptation of the He
brew word for heaven or the heavens, to denote a
moderate elevation in the atmosphere,! it is easy
to conceive that the summits of lofty mountains
might be said to be on high and in the heavens.
The expression would appear still more appro
priate in application to Sinai at the giving of
the law, on account of the awful darkness, the
thick clouds, the lightnings, and the miraculous
phaenomena. But all doubt is set at rest by the
occurrence of the very phrase in the writings of
Moses. " Jehovah said to Moses, thus thou shalt
say to the children of Israel, Ye are beholders
that from the heavens I have spoken with you. "J
However, better authorities § than Whitby
have maintained that to ascend into heaven is a
Hebrew metaphorical idiom to denote the diligent
application of ¦ the mind to the investigation and
attainment of abstruse knowledge, especially that
* Targum in Cant. Salom. i. 4, 5, 11, 12, — iii, 3. ap, Waltoni
Polygl. tom, iii, p. 428, 430, 434. -
f See Gen, i. 20, Ps,.civ, 12, &c, J Exod. xx, 22,
§ Vatablus, Cameron, Grotius, &c. as cited by the younger
Raphelius in his Preface to his father's Annotationes in SS. ed.
1747, tom. i. The Calm Inquirer refers to this Preface, and
has jnade considerable use of it.

IIQ ON THL PERSON OF CHIUST. i^^JOK IU.
of God and sacred things.* Of these critics
Schcettgenius may be, without injustice, reckoned
the chief, for the extent of his acquaintance
with the Hebrdized idioms and the Talmudical
writings. His annotation on John iii. 13. is as
follows : " No mortal knows the will of my
heavenly Father, so as to be able to advance any
thing from his own knowledge on this doctrine
of regeneration. That this is the sense of our
Lord's words appears from Deut. xxx. 12. and
Rom. X. 6. It is a Jewish expression : for the
Rabbinical writers often say of Moses that he
ascended into heaven, and there received a re
velation on the institutions of divine worship.
' At the time when Moses ascended into heaven,
h6 heard the voice of the holy and blessed God.'
(Bammidhar Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 238, 1. and
Tanchuma, fol. 70, 1.) 'It is not in heaven, that
thou shouldst say, O that we had one like Moses
the servant of the Lord, to ascend into heaven
and bring it down to us !' (Jerusalem Targum on
Deut. xxx. 12.) So also the Commentators on
Psalm Ixviii. 19. generally explain the words
Thou hast ascended on high, as referring to
Moses when he received the revelation of the
divine law.'f
The passages before cited from the Targum or
Canticles render it highly probable, at least, that
these Rabbinical writers intended nothing more
* Mera^opotS; verb et improprife denotat scrulationem atque per-
veHtigaiionem rerum ubsconditarum. Raphel. prcsf. p. 5.
f Schoetf.gen. Horn Hebr. tom. i. p. S30,

©HAP; in,] DESCENDING FROM HEAVBN. m
than the ascent to the top of Sinai. But, what
ever was ; their meaning as to the nature and
manner of . this ascent to heaven, it is very evi
dent from their phraseology, that they under
stood it to have been a literal fact.
It is still more remarkable that Schcettgenius
and the other learned persons should not have
perceived that they were putting the result for
the operation, the consequent for the, antecedent,
the end for the means to which that end was
attributed. This seems to me to have been the
point of their error. The Jews used a phrase, not
improbably derived from the history of Moses,
to express what they considered as a way or
means of obtaining the highest divine know
ledge ; and these authors have transferred it to
signify the acquisition itself.
3. The correlate expression, to descend from
heaven, is repeatedly used in scripture in refer
ence to the Divine Being.* Yet it cannot be
supposed that a local motion of the Infinite
Spirit is intended. The design of such passages
undoubtedly is to describe any remarkable mani
festation to men of the power, intelligence, mercy,
or other attributes of Him, " who inhabiteth
eternity." 4. By a natural and easy figure, arising from
* For instance Gen. xlvi, 4, Exod, iii, 8, Ps, xviii. 10. —
cxliv, 5, Is. Ixiv, 1, Nehem, ix. 13, Micah, i, 2,3, "Ex
sensu omnino humano, ma.ximeque poetico, SBspissime Deus in
libris V, T. dicitur descendisse de coelo,'- Jo. Benj. Koppi in
Eph. iv. 8. Goettingen, 1791.

112 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [DOOK IH,
the phraseology just mentioned, any revealed
doctrine, precept, or prediction, or any signal
interposition of the divine government, is in
scripture said to be, or to come, from heaven.
So it was predicted that, in the constitution of
the gospel, " righteousness should -look down
from heaven :" " the baptism of John was from
heaven :" " every good and perfect gift is from
above :" "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men;"* and, in the Apocalyptic visions, special
acts of the divine dispensations, respecting either
the present state or the retributions of the future,
are described as " coming down from heaven ;''
but, in these passages, it is evident that the
imagery requires the idea to be maintained of a
real and local -descent.! It is also observable
that, in every instance in which a. person is said
to be, or to come, from heaven, a real and literal
presence oi the person is manifestly iu the design
of the sacred writer ; and that the improper or
figurative use is applied to things, such as doc
trines and messages, promises, threatenings, and
providential dispensations.!
5. Though this figurative use of the expression
in application to signal benefits conferred by
God, is of frequent occurrence in scripture, and
it would have been scarcely less natural to have
* Ps, Ixxxv. 11. Mat, xxi.25, James i, 17, Rom. i. 18,
f Rev, iii. 12. xviii. 1. xxi. 2,
J The re.idcr can judge of this by the use of a Concordance,

CHAP, III,]^ DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN. 118
employed the same in relation to eminent persons
raised up by providence for peculiar services to
mankind, yet no instance of such application
exists, excepting to the Saviour of the world.
Upon the notion of the Unitarians that the ex
pression is synonymous with bearing a divine
commission, we might well expect to find it
often used in such a sense. Yet we find not this
phrase, or any one like it, ever applied to any
illustrious deliverer of the Hebrew nation, though
commissioned and miraculously supported by
God, such as Moses the greatest of political
benefactors, or any of the Israelitish judges, or
David, or Cyrus, or Zerubbabel ; nor to any
prophet though divinely inspired to bring glad
tidings from the Fountain of mercy, as Elijah,
Isaiah, or Malachi ; nor to any of the inspired
teachers, who " received not their doctrine from
man, nor were taught it"* by any human means,
as Peter, John, or Paul.t On the contrary, in
the sequel of the passage before us, this is made
the very ground of distinction between John the
Baptist and Christ. " He who cometh from
* Gal. i. 12.
-f- Yet such a figure was very likely to occur, in dravdng the
character of a singularly beneficent person in some high station
of authority. Cicero uses it to his brother. " Grseci quidem
sic te ita viventem intuebuntur, ut quendam ex annalium me
moria, aut etiam de coelo divinum hominem esse in provinciam
delapsum, putent. — ^Thus the Greeks will see you acting in such
a manner as to fancy that one of their ancient heroes, or even a
son of some deity, has descended from heaven to govern the
province." Ep. ad Quint.fratr. lib. i. ep. i. sect, 2.
VOL. II. 1

114 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III,
above is over all : he who is from the earth, is
from the earth, and from the earth he speaketh :
he who cometh from heaven is over all."*
6. From a careful examination of the Scrip
tural use of the expressions, jfrow heaven, and
being, coming, or descending from heaven, it ap
pears to me that the idea intended is a divine
ORIGIN, which is, of course, applied variously
according to the nature of the subject. Now, if
we compare the passages in which such language
is employed,, in relation to Christ, with those
which are acknowledged to refer simply to the
peculiar manifestation or energy of God, we
shall find ,that the former are fully as express
and definite as the latter, for denoting an actual
and PERSONAL presence in distinction from any
merely figurative idea.
Of the one class we have such passages as
these. " I am God, the God of thy father ; I
will go down with thee. — I know their sorrows,
and I am come down to deliver them. — I will
come to thee, and; I will bless thee. — I will come
down, and speak with thee there.-'— Upon mount
Sinai thou didst descend, and speak with them
from heaven !  Arouse thy strength and come
for our salvation ! — O that thou wouldest bow
the heavens, that thou wouldest come down! —
The Lord Jehovah will be a witness against you,
the Lord from the temple of his holiness: for,
behold ! Jehovah will come forth from his owh
* Verse 31,

CHAP. III.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN. 115
place and will descend, and tread upon the lofty
places of the earth."*
On the other hand we have the passage under
consideration, and similar declarations concern
ing the Messiah made by himself or by his in
spired servants. We shall proceed to the dis
tinct examination of the latter. In the mean
time the weight of philological and scriptural
evidence appears to me to determine the passage
at present before us to this signification :—
" If ye are so averse from apprehending and
embracing my testimony with respect to those
subjects of religion which refer to your own
reason and conscience in the present state, how
will ye be capable of understanding those more
sublime truths the knowledge of which is entirely
dependent on a revelation from the Deity him
self? Yet doubt not my ability to give you cor
rect information, even on those exalted themes.
No human being, indeed, has ever been, or
could be, admitted to that most immediate and
perfect manifestation of the Divine Presence
which would communicate to him that know
ledge. But the Messiah, whose superior nature
is Eternal, Omniscient, and in every respect
Divine, has assumed thie nature of man for the
express purpose of bringing this knowledge and
all other divine blessings to your enjoyment."t
* Gen. xlvi, 4, Exod, iii, 7, 8,— xx. 24, Num. xi, 17.
Nehem, ix, 13. Ps. Lsxx, 2, Is, btiv, 1. Micah i, 2, 3.
f Kai, the first word in this passage may be rendered for,
because. See Schleusner in vocem, signif 8, Borger de Con-
' I 2

116 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
Perhaps it will be objected that Nicodemus
was not likely to understand our Lord's words
as including all this. I reply, that it is not so
supposed. It is sufficient if we have evidence,
from the subsequent lights of the New Testament
doctrine, to assist our understanding the com
prehensive meaning of the Divine Teacher. The
general purport, however, Nicodemus might
easily comprehend, notwithstanding his preju
dices ; and subsequent events and information
would gradually enlighten his mind. It is also
to be observed, and it is of great importance to
stanti Jesu Christi Indole, p. 179. Dr, Semler paraphrases
V, 12 and 13, thus. " But if ye refuse to give me credit, though
I have as yet spoken only of things which are beginning to be
transacted now upon earth among men j how will ye believe if
I set before you those greater and more divine subjects on which
ye have formed the most erroneous prejudices. For example,
no one before me hath ascended into heaven, Eind taught you
heavenly things ; however ye are wont to boast of Moses and
others. He alone knows heavenly things, who hath come
down from heaven, that Son of man who was in heaven before,
with God. My abode on this earth will not be permanent, nor
will any place be found in my kingdom for those sensual plea
sures of which the Jews are forming their imaginations." In
his Annotations he says, " this passage intimates that Jesus
was that Only-begotten, the Existing One {i &y) who was
before with God, and who knows all things. He descended,
when he lived a man among men ; and only he could teach us
heavenly things. 'O &y is put for %( ?v, both here and in chap.
i. 18." Paraphr. et Notes in Johann. vol. i. p, 97 — 100. The
last remark cannot be absolutely disproved, as the participle is
of both tenses ; but I see no evidence to determine it to the
imperfect, and without some such evidence the proper con
struction must be in the present.

CHAP. HI.] DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN, 117
be always kept in mind, that it was an essential
feature in the plan of our Lord's personal mi
nistry, to deliver some of the chief truths of his
dispensation in terms of designed obscurity and
reserve. This method of procedure was neces
sary till after his death and resurrection. Then
" he opened the understandings of his disciples ;"
he " shewed them plainly of the Father," and
he gave to them his Holy Spirit " to lead them
into all truth." A great part of our Lord's per
sonal teachings was the sowing of seed which,
though to all appearance buried in the earth,
was destined to spring up at a future day, and
bear an abundant harvest of knowledge and
holiness.

118 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST; [BOOK Ml.

SECT, II.

The Calm Inquirer's interpretations stated and examined. — SignificatiOB
of the terms, — Connexion and desi^,
" He who COMETH PROM ABOVE IS OVER ALL : he who is from
the earth, is from the earth, and from the earth he speaketh :
he who COMETH feom heaven is ovEB ALL," John iii. 31.
In these words the forerunner of Christ draws
an express contrast between his own origin, as
merely human, and the entrance of his Lord
among men. Bengelius, Wetstein, Kuincel, and
others, suppose that this sentence and those fol
lowing to the end of v. 36, are the reflections of
the Evangelist. But, the absence of any intima
tion, even the slightest, of a change of speaker ;
the violence of such a transition ; the want of
any apparent reason for interposing a comment
of the historian ; the incongruity of such inter
positions with the ordinary manner of the evan
gelical historians ; and the suitableness of the
whole passage to the obvious design of John the
Baptist, which was to repress the exaggerated
sentiments of his own adherents ; are strong
reasons against such an opinion.
The Calm Inquirer proposes two interpreta
tions. The first, and which he seems to prefer,

CHAP III.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. ug
is also that of Semler. It supposes that the con
trast is not between Christ and John, but between
Christ and the pretenders to religious knowledge
and authority, " the priests and Levites who in
structed, the people and expounded the law."
This appears to me to be not only a forced con
struction, and altogether destitute of any counte
nance from any terms or allusions in the context,
but to be at manifest variance with the continuity
of the argument and the design of the whole
passage. His other comment, agreeing with those of
Grotius * and Mr. Lindsey, is, that the Baptist
" may mean to speak modestly and disparagingly
of his own authority and commission from God,
in comparison with that of Jesus, which was
indeed far more illustrious and divine, "f
This interpretation is not destitute of plausi- ,
bility : for it suits the design of the connexion,
and it is not unusual with the sacred writers to
express in absolute terms what is to be under
stood comparatively. But it is at variance with
the undeniable use of scripture phraseology : as
we have before observed that no deliverer,
* Grotius, though his predilections lay that way, cannot be
adduced as consistently supporting this interpretation : for he
explains the being from the earth, as referring to the human
origin of Jphn, in opposition to that of which he speaks indeed
ambiguously, as his words may apply eithef to the miractilous
conception of Jesus, or to an linion-with the, Divine indwelling
energy,, " "O av ev. t?; 7^?' natus secundilm Adami legem j in
quo non est ilia verfe Divina potestas."
t P. 57. So also the Impr. Vers, on the passage.

120 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III,
benefactor, or prophet, however attended by the
most striking evidences of a divine mission, is
ever said to have come from heaven, or from
above. To no persm are these attributives given,
except to the Messiah. It is also to be observed
that the passage before us treats the persons and
the doctrine oi the parties compared as distinct
objects of consideration. With regard to the
doctrine, it says that the one teacher " speaketh
from the earth," but the other " witnesseth what
he hath seen and heard." The remaining clauses,
therefore, rationally fall under the former head
of consideration, with which the fair and literal
meaning of the terms more justly agrees. John
was " a man sent from God"* as well as Jesus :
and the simple fact of a divine mission admits
not of degrees : it must either be or be not. One
divine mission may from its circumstances be
" more illustrious" than another ; but it cannot,
without absurdity, be called " more! divine." It
is, further, a circumstance of some weight in the
determining of this question, that the expres
sions, being from above, being from heaven, and
being over all, coincide with other instances of
phraseology in the Gospel of John : as, when the
Messiah is declared to have been " with God,
and upon the bosom of the Father ;" and in other
passages which will be particularly considered
in the following pages. The first of these phrases
is also illustrated by Col. iii. 1. " Seek the
* John i. 6.

CHAP. IH.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. 121
things above (ra awo) where Christ is, seated at
the right hand of God ;" clearly denoting a
region, or, which is for the present purpose
equivalent, a state, of supreme blessedness and
dignity. The Messiah, in parallel with Adam,
and considered as a new head of mercy and
happiness to mankind, is called " the Second
Man, from heaven,"* in opposition to the origia
of " the first man," who was " of the earth,
earthly.^" So, likewise the apostle says that
Christ " descended into the lower parts of the
earth," and afterwards " ascended above all the
heavens."t From the whole, it appears to me clearly esta
blished that, in this passage, the forerunner of
Christ expressly puts his own personal origin in
contrast with that of his Lord ; the one earthly
and human, the other heavenly and divine. J
* See Note [A] at the end of this Section.
t Eph. iv. 9. The phrase, "the lower parts of the earth," is
probably put for the earth merely, by a Hebraism, as opposed
to the skies, " the height of heaven." Job xxii. 12, See Prov,
XXV. 3. Isaiah xliv. 23. Joshua ii. 11. "The expression to
descend into Jhe lower parts of the earth, applied to Christ,
signifies that he came down to this world, i. e. that he became
man, lived on earth, died, was buried, and rose from the dead.
John xii. 46. xvi. 28. Kfcr'Jirepa has the sense of the positive,
not of the superlative." Rosenmiiller in Eph. iv. 9,
{ See Note [B] at the end of this Section.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
TO
SECT. II.

Note [A] page 121.
* 1 Cor. XV. 47 The words i Ku/wo?, the Lord, are wanting in
so many of the best authorities, that I cannot with satisfaction
retain them. On this passage the Calm Inquirer says, " The
Vulgate renders the text, ' The first man was of the earth,
earthy. The second man wiU be from heaven, heavenly." —
This is not improbably the true reading; and the sense is,
' The first man, taken from the earth, was frail and mortal ;
the second man will descend from heaven in a heavenly form,
and with immortal radiance and vigour.' " P. 121. Upon this
I submit these remarks :
1, The addition, ccelestis, o oipdyioi;, the heavenly One, is found
in other gpod authorities besides the Vulgate (see Wetstein and
Griesbach), but I doubt whether the evidence in its favour is
sufficient to warrant its reception. It is wanting in the most
ancient and the best manuscripts, and in all the ancient ver
sions except the Vulgate and the ^Ethiopic, and the margin of
some copies of the Armenian, which is known to have been
retouched after the Vulgate. The addition w£is probably
made from an idea that it was necessary to complete the
antithesis. It is, however, of no importance to the sense,
either way.
2, It is unfaithful in the Inquirer to insert was and will be,
without notice to his unlearned readers that those words are not
in the Vulgate, The Latin idiom, and the structure of vv. 46
and 48, plainly shew that is is the proper supplement in both
clauses : " Primus homo de tetvk, terrenus : secundus homo

NOTES. 123
de ccelo, ccelestis.'' These unwarrantable insertions give a turn
to the passage in favour of the writer's doctrines.
3. Is not his paraphrase of the second clause, " the second
man will descend from heaven," exposed to his own con
temptuous censure " of the Jewish notion of a local heaven ?"
Note [B] page 121.
" He who cometh from above, i. e. the Son of God; chap i. 39.
This expression of the Baptist, and the declaration of Christ
himself, v. 13. that the Son of man, before his coming into the
world as actually a man, was in heaven, i.e. with God, is
parallel to the expressions in chap, i, 1, 18." Semler.
The paraphrase of Nqn^us shews, iu a striking manner, how
ancient and native Greeks understood the .words :
OSirwre he fiperrof aXXo^, v7n)ye/JUoy icoia iidi'.Xuy,
Oipeu/iuy eirdviia'ev dvein^arov avrvya, -xmXiiiy,
El fui\ ,®eir«.eXoi ajrof, o; aiaydrriy eo /Mtpilriiy
OipavoBey xari^aiyey d-^Bea irapKi irvydmruy'
-'AsiBpumiv jMvoi iiioq, o(, darepoeyrt fueXdBpm
Xldrpum ovSa; eyfini, aiiuvio; alBipa yalei.
" Never did mortal, walking swifter than the winds, tread
the inaccessible summit of the heavenly orbs, except that
Divine Person who descended from heaven, to unite^ in un
wonted manner, his own immortal form to flesh ; that only Son
of man who, possessing his paternal dwelling in the starry
palace, immortal inhabits the sky.'' ¦

124 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.

SECT, III.

Occasion of this discourse. — Its design. — Manner of pursuing that design.
Involving a prediction of our Lord's expiatory death. — The reference
not to the doctrine of Christ, but to his Person,— Meaning and applica
tion of the discourse.
" My Father giveth you the real bread, that from heaven.
The bread of God is that which descendeth from heaven, and
giveth life to the world. — I am that bread 'of life. — I have
descended from heaven, that I might perform, not mine own
will, but the will of him who sent me." The Jews then mur
mured concerning him, because he had said, " I am the bread
which descended from heaven." And they said. Is not this '
Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ?
How then doth he say, " I descended from heaven ?" — Jesus
answered, " Murmur not among each other. — Every one who
hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.
Not that any one hath beheld the Father ; excepting he who is
from God : he hath beheld the Father, — This is the bread which
desbendeth from heaven, — I am that living bread which de
scendeth from heaven. If any one eat of this bread, he shall
live for ever ; and this bread, which I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world. — As the Father who
liveth hath sent me, and I live by means of the Father ; so he
who feedeth on me, he also shall live by means of me. This is
the bread which hath descended from heaven." — Jesus, know
ing in himself that his disciples murmured about this, said to
them, " Is this revolting to you ? If, then, ye should see the
Son of man ascending where he was at the first ! The spirit is
that which giveth life ; the flesh availeth nothing. The words
which I speak unto you are spirit, and are life," John vi, 33,
35, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 50, 51, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63,
It must be allowed by all, that the discourse
of our Lord, from which the preceding extracts

CHAP. HI.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. 125
are taken, presents great difficulties to any one
who desires to be an unbiassed and faithful in
terpreter. I cannot, however, persuade myself
that it was intended for the mere and temporary
purpose, as the Calm Inquirer represents, of
getting rid of some pretended disciples of
Jesus, " who had followed him from mercenary
and political motives only." Had this been
the object, it was a very transient one, it
was immediately answered, and the discourse
was not necessary or even proper to be pre
served. I trust it is^ not irreverent to say this :
for upon the hypothesis of the discourse being
contrived to be obscure, incomprehensible, and
repulsive, only to answer a purpose of momentary
exigency ; it cannot but appear unfit for general
use, more likely to perplex than to instruct
future generations who would have neither the
prejudices nor the vices of our Lord's immediate
hearers, and upon the whole calculated to lead
into serious error. Yet it is recorded at great
length, and with extraordinary minuteness.
Surely, then, it is but reasonable to assume that,
besides whatever immediate effect it was in
tended to produce, it contains instructions inte
resting and momentous to men of all times and
countries. The Occasion of the discourse yvas furnished by
the mercenary professions and pertinacious ad
herence of a multitude who were moved by the
hope of his gratifying their national ambition,
and still more by the expectation of being fed.

126 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
without their own care or toil, by his]nitraculoUs
power. They sought Jesus, only " because they
hadeateu of the loaves and were filled:" and
they shewed what was principal in their hearts
by artfully insinuating that the most eligible
kind of iniracle would be one to give them plenty
of food. V, 31, 34. The inore politic of them
pTobably^ exteiided their designs much farther^
aud conttemplated his being able to support
armies for the establishment of their expected
dominion over all other nations. From the ap
petite of hunger, therefore, Jesus, who could
with - dignity employ any object or any circum
stance as a vehicle of divine instruction, derived
the occasion of this address; and taught them
that they were labouring under a much deepeif
necessity, and that God had graciously provided a
suitable relief : "Work not [only] for the food
which perisheth, but for the food which endureth
to e'ternkl life, vfhich the Son of man will give to
your for hiin hath the Father, even God, sealed;"
i. e, hath sanctione'd and set him apart for this
great purpose of heavenly mercy.
Hence arose the discourse which, notwithstand
ing repeated interruptions, our Divine Teacher
continued to a clear and perfect close, so as to
afford the idea of having embraced all the parts
of his design. That Design, as a careful atten
tion will perceive, was to break the charm of
destructive ambition, to wean his hearers from
theii- low voluptuousnfess, to produce a convic
tion in their minds of that all-important, but

CHAP. III.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. 127
neglected, spiritual necessity under which they
laboured, and to excite them to seek the supplies
of divine grace by humble and earnest supplica
tion: *' I am the bread of life; he who cometh
to me shall not hunger : him who cometh to me I
will in no wise cast out : I will give my flesh for
the life of the world." v. 35, 37, 51. Such a
design of kindness to the most unworthy was in
harmony with the whole conduct of the meek
and patient Saviour, who " bore the contradic
tion of sinners against himself," and always
shewed the tenderest compassion for his most
malignant enemies. The Calm Inquirer appears
to have paid but a superficial attention to the
spirit of this discourse and the affections which it
indicates, when he says that its " design was to
shock their prejudices, to disgust their feelings,
and to alienate them from his society." *
The Manner of pursuing this design is by de
claring, that his own death ^ must intervene as the
* Page 57.
f The Annotator to the Impr. Vers, whom it will be no
breach of good manners to consider to be the same person as
the Calm Inquirer, admits it to be "not improbahle that our
Lord here has an aUuSiori to his own death." Impi-.V. in loc.
But critics of the greatest- name, and those who were far from
being favourable ' to the doctrines usually called evangelical,
have thought the allusion to be certain. -" Not only my doc
trine is food uiito eternal life, but also my death will so be. —
He uses the separate' terms, flesh and blood, to intimate, not
death in any way, but a violent and bloody death." Grot, in
V. 51, 53. " Unless I die for yOu (meaning a violent- death, by
which the blood is separated from the body,) and unless , ye

128 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
means of procuring for men those blessings which
they so needed; that a participation of those
benefits, analogous in its effects on the mind to
the use of nutriment for corporal sustenance, was
necessary to the desired deliverance from evil
and possession of immortal happiness ; and that
a preparatory discipline, by a gracious and divine
influence, was requisite for the understanding of
his doctrine and the enjoyment of his benefits.
" Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat
the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood,
ye have not life in yourselves. — For my flesh is
truly food, and my blood is truly drink. He who
feedeth on me shall live by means of me : he
abideth in me and I in him. — ^No one can come to
me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw
believe my words and consequently in me : for by faith we derive
to ourselves the power and efficacy of the death of Christ."
Schlicting. in v. 53. " The blood is mentioned in distinction
from the flesh to denote the suffering by a violent death. My
death is equally useful and necessary to the obtaining of eternal
life, as food and drink are to the sustenance of the present."
Wetst. in v. 53. " My death, which I shall suffer for the salva
tion of mankind, is bread : i. e, it wiU furnish your minds with
motives to virtue, and with the glad hope and consolation of
eternal life. It is evident that Christ speaks of his body, in re
ference to his intention of yielding it to be slain. Any one is
said to give his body, who yields it to be tortured and put to
death : See 1 Cor. xiii. 3. To eat the flesh and drink the blood
of Christ, denotes to receive and appropriate the blessings re
sulting from his bloody death, pardon of sin, and peace of mind."
RosenmiUer in v. 51, 53. In the Hebrew idiom, blood is ap
plied to denote death by violence : see Vorstius de Hebraismis
N. T. ed. Fischeri, p, 413, Leipz. 1778.

CHAP, III,] DESCENT FROM HE.\VEN. 129
him. — Every one who hath heard from the
Father, and learneth, cometh unto me." v. 53, 55,
57, 44, 45.
The declaration which is the basis of the dis
course, is, therefore, a Prediction ; and may be
expected to partake of the essential characters
of scripture-prophecy. Now we find these two
characters, in particular, belonging to it.
(1) The mixture of literal and figurative
diction, which every studious reader must have
noticed to be so observable a feature in the
style of the Old Testament prophets. Thus,
when Christ says that he came down from
heaven, that he was from God, that he per
formed the will of God, that he would give him
self to a violent and bloody death for the salva
tion of mankind, that he would then return to
his previous state of dignity (v. 62) and that
divine teaching w^as necessary to a right and
efficient compliance with his will, I conceive
that he uses language in its plain and ordinary
sense, and in which his hearers would readily
understand him : but, when he calls himself the
bread of life, and his flesh and blood food and
drink, and declares that men must accordingly
feed upon them, he uses figurative, but not unin
telligible or very obscure language, to express
that the fact of his dying for the salvation of
men was necessary to be cordially believed,, and
to be acted upon as a principle of religious
obedience, in order to the acquisition of true
happiness. VOL. II. K

130 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. ppOK 111
(2) The envelope of obscurity, which was neces
sary to guard the public prediction of any future
event, and which was to continue till it should
be taken off by the event itself. That event, in
this case, was the extreme sufferings and cruel
death of the Saviour. Of this catastrophe it was
his manner to speak " obscurely and darkly,"*
as Archbishop Newcome observes, to his public
and promiscuous auditories ;t and it was only to
his disciples in private that he, greatly to their
surprize, foretold it in plain terms. J
From thus considering the Occasion, the Dct
sign, the Tenor, and the Manner, of this important
discourse, we may obtain some light for the
satisfactory interpreting of its terms and clauses.
But that which alone concerns our present in
vestigation is to determine what that is which
is repeatedly said " to have descended from
heaven." Dr Priestley, and others before him, conceive
that our Lord " means, by his flesh and blood,
his doctrine, which may be called the food of the
soul :"§ and the Calm Inquirer adopts the same
hypothesis. Of the doctrine of Christ it may, indeed, be
truly said, that it came down from heaven, as
* Newcome on our Lord's Conduct as a Divine Instructor,
p. 179.
f For example, John ii. 20, 21. iii. 14. viii. 28. Matt.
xxi. 33—40.
+ Matt. xvii. 12, 22. Mark viii, 31. &c.
§ Priestley's Notes on Script, vol. iii. p. 232.

CHAP, flr.] JSESCENt FROM HEAVEN. 131
being the l-e^dation of Gad, and that, as tfre
instrument, " it giveth life to the world."
fiut the subject desctibed by our Lord is
something which could '^^ give itself for* the life
of the world," and. which, in so doing, was to
suffer a violent and crUel death, as the' text
e:spfesses in the Hebraized idiom. Could this be
said of a doctrine, or a system of doctrines f
K was something which had intelligence, capa
city of design, and voluntary action. " I have
descended from heaven, that I might perform,
not mine own will, but the wUf Of him who sent
me." Can this be a doctrine T
It was something which " the Fattier" who
lifveth had Sent, and which lived by means of the
Father ;" evidently signifying the same kind of
rear and active (hot figurative) life whi:eh belongs
to the Parent and Fountain of existence. Was'
this a doctrine ?
Further : if we maintain that, in all these ex
plicit declarations, of personal acts perfoFmeid
by the speaker himself, nothing was intended
but to describe a doctrine given by reyefatioW
ta Jesus and by him communicated to the rest
of mankind, I do not see that we can atoid to

* '^irep with the. genitive, denoting substitution or acting on
the fetoZf of another. So we read, "¦ Christ died for tfie un
godly," Kom. V. 6. "My body, given' ^br you j-^my fefood'
poured out /or you:" Luke xxii. 19, 21. " Christ Jesus gaii«#
himself a ransom /or all." 1 Tim. ii. 6. " Who gava himself/a
us." Titus ii. 14. " If God be /or us." Rom. viii, SI, "The
Spirit maketh intercession for us." ib. v. %Q. &c,
k9

132 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
deem our Lord's discourse not merely (as the
Calm Inquirer admits) " extravagant, offensive,
and disgusting," and calculated to " confound and
perplex the understanding."* but as absolutely
irreconcilable with any just ideas of wisdom,
benevolence, and integrity in the Teacher himself.
These appear to me solid and decisive reasons
for concluding that it was, not of his doctrine,
but of HIS Person, that our Lord, in this me
morable passage, says that " it came down from
heaven," and was given to a violent and cruel
death " for the life of the world."
But it will be said that this argument over
throws itself by proving too much. If the con
clusion be that " the flesh and blood," which
suffered on the cross had a pre-existent and
celestial dignity, and " descended from heaven ;"
it is palpably erroneous : on no hypothesis is
this supposed ; therefore the premises must be
false, or the illation incorrect, and the argument
is reduced to an absurdity.
I reply, that this conclusion is neither asserted
nor implied ; that the description Son qf man, is
a, formula equivalent to the term Messiah, and is
to be construed according to its conventional,
not its etymological, signification ; and that the
premises do not contain what the objection im
putes to them, but only this, that the Pre-exist
ent and Divine Nature which " descended from
heaven," and, when its object was accomplished,
ii^wiiiM I  I ¦ I ¦¦>r-ti*i^- ¦ —.¦¦11 ¦¦¦¦ ., ., .nam m ¦miM  *¦ ii '
* P. 59^ 62, &c.

CHAP. Ill,] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN, 133
" ascended where it was before," (in the sense
of those phrases as they occur in the Old
Testament) united itself to human flesh and
blood for the most wise and gracious purposes ;
among which purposes it was, that suffering
and death should be endured for the redemp
tion of sinful mankind. This method of conceiv
ing the case is both authorised and exemplified
by the declaration, " The Word became flesh :"
Chap, i, 14.
The pretended admirers of Jesus were now
convinced that he would never countenance their
views, nor promote their ambitious and worldly
objects, and were especially displeased at the
prediction of his sufferings and death, so re
pugnant to their prepossessions on the nature
and enjoyments of the Messiah's reign, and
their expectations of grandeur and voluptuous
pleasures from his conquests. They, therefore,
manifested strong feelings of disappointment and
irritation. But, " Jesus said to them. Is this
revolting to you 1 If, then, ye should see the Son
of man ascending where he was at the first ! The
spirit is that which giveth life ; the flesh avail
eth nothing. The words which I speak unto you
are spirit and are life."
The last sentence is regarded by the Calm In
quirer as a " key to the whole preceding dis
course."* I have no objection to accept it as
* He thus paraphrases v, 63, " It is the hidden meaning of
my enigmatical discourse which alone is useful. If you could
actually eat my flesh, it would do you no good. The doctrine

J84 ON THE PERSOfC QF CHRIST, [BOOK HI,
^uch ; and Jt seems to me to substantiate the
view above given of the design and meaning of
the vvhole. I propose the following as a fair
paraphrase of our Lord's words : " If your pre^
jti4ices are so shocked by my assurance that the
Messiah must pass through the lowest degrada^
tion ai}d an excruciating death, how will your
disappointment be increased when you find that,
on his reassuming his pristine dignity, an4
ascending to the throne of his glory, in the
exercise of jail power in heaven and on earth, he
Yfi\\ cppfer on his disciples no such happiness as
you flesire. He will give no provinces nor estates,
no titles, riphes, nor carnal gratifications. The
blessings of his reign are not those of sense, but
are pf an intellectual and holy kind, "The divine
energy ^yhich accompanies the truth taught by
me is the only cause of the enjoyment of those
immortal blessings : while every profession, ob-?
servance, or privilege, that is merely external,
can be of i;io avail to your real and eternal
happiness ; nor cpuld even the actual feeding on
my flesh ^^ud blood, if so horrid an attempt were
ma<le, My doctrine teaches, and when sincerely
believed communicates, that divine energy and
that real happiness."
which I teach is that heavenly bread, that flesh and blood,
which if received, digested, and reduced to a living principle
ol ^ction, >yill lead to everlasting life," p. 69.  " What would
my flesh avail you to eternal life, even if ye were carnally to eat
si?" Sshlicting. " Eating my flesh, in the gross and literal sense,
would be of no manner of advantage to the life of souls.'' Guyse.

CHAP. HI.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN, ijg

SECT. IV.

Scope and terms of the passagft. — Pre-existenee implied. — Our Lord's
argument resting on the fact of his superior nature.
" I know whence I came and whither I go ; but ye know
not whence 1 come, or whither I go. — Ye are of the things
below, I am of those above : ye are of this world, I am not of
this tvprld. — ^If ye believe not that I am [that wMch I have
now been declaring], ye shall die in your sins.— I proceeded
forth from God, and I am come : for I h^ve not come of
myself, but he hath sent me." John viii. 14, ^3, 24, 42.
This passage is attended with considerable
difiiculty. On the one hand, the address of our
Lord to, the Jews, " Ye are of the things below,
ye are of this world," undoubtedly describes
moral qualities : q. d. " Your principles and
motives are selfish, base and worldly." Of
course, the opposed clauses must be understood
of moral qualities also ; and are an avowal of the
pure, holy, and elevated character of the Blessed
Jesus, in contradiction to the calumnies of his
adversaries. But, on the other hand, philological- justice is
not done to the expressions of Christ, unless we
take them in a more extended sense. Tbe
phrases uvax and ra S.vm, in the New Testament
, and in the Septuagint, are scarcely, if ever, used

136 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
in relation to sacred things, except when there
is a manifest reference to the heavenly state :
and in their common use they always relate to
local elevation. I am, therefore, disposed to
think that an impartial regard to the fair mean
ing of the words would lead to some such para
phrase as the following :
" As ye are earthly in your origin, so are ye
low, mean, and carnal in your sentiments and
desires. This lower world gave you birth, and ye
accordingly shew yourselves to have no taste for
any enjoyments but the pleasures and pursuits
of this transitory and degenerate state. But I
am of a higher nature and character. I have
come into this humbled condition from the im
mediate manifestation of the presence and glory
of God. My principles, doctrines, and objects are,
therefore, pure and holy, spiritual and heavenly."
But the other parts of the passage are less
capable of being bent from their plain and
obvious meaning. " I know whence I came ;
ye know not whence I come : I proceeded forth
from God, and I am come," or, as would be per
haps a more exact rendering, " I am arrived."
Let the reader examine, by the help of Trom-
mius's and Schmidt's Concordances, the very
numerous instances, in which these common
words occur : and he will not, I think, find an
instance in which a real transition of place or of
* See Gal, iv. 26, Col, iii, 1. 2, Philipp. iii. 14. and in the
LXX. Exod. XX, 4, 3 Kings viii, 35. Ps. xlix. (1.) 5, and other
places*

CHAP. UI.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. J 37
state is not manifestly intended. These " ex
pressions," says, the Calm Inquirer, "very na
turally indicate that Jesus was the chosen mes
senger of God to the human race :"* Of this
there is no question : but do they not as naturally,
and even necessarily, bear the indication of a
pre-existent state, in relation to a change from
which the Divine Messiah could say, " Behold
I am come to do thy will, O God ! I proceeded
forth from the Father, and I have come into the
world T't A similar objection lies against the
Inquirer s gloss on the 14th verse, t and on the
third verse of chap. xiii. as, in each case not an
swering to the grammatical and honest construc
tion of the words.
An important consideration arises from the
* Page 70,
t Heb, X, 7j ^lua, the last of the verbs used in our text,
John xvi, 28 : This passage Mr, Belsham considers to denote
only that Jesus " appeared in public as a messenger from
God," (P, 104.) But this interpretation is plainly inconsistent
with the meaning of the words, and can be sustained only on
the principle of quidlibet ex quolibet. The reply of the dis
ciples, v, 30, " By this we believe that thou hast proceeded
forth from God ;" — is connected with a declaration of the
omniscience of Christ: and we have seen evidence (Vol.,!.
p, 410, 445, 452 — 455, 464.) that the ancient Jews had notions,
however obscure and imperfect, of the superior nature and pre
existence of the Messiah, As for the mere construction of the
words, on all the principles of grammar and usage, it is in
capable of being questioned. We have the phrase in John
iv. 30, " They came out from the city, and came to him."
J " I know from whom I received my authority, and to
whom I am accountable; but you are wilfully ignorant of
both." P. 153.

138 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH,
very remarkable kind of argument contained in
this verse. The words cited above contain the
premises of our Lord's conclusion that his own
testimony in his own favour had a claim of right
to be admitted as valid. The Mosaic law re
quired two witnesses, at the least, for the esta
blishment of a litigated matter.* To this law
Jesus refers in v. 17, and in allusion to it he had
said on a previous occasion that his own testi'^
mony could not be admitted on his own behalf :
- If I were to bear witness concerning myself,
my testimony would not be worthy of credit."!
But now he declares what is apparently a con-
trkdiction in terms ! " If I even bear witness
concerning myself my testimony is worthy of
credit. In your law it is written, that the
testimony of two persons is worthy of credit.
I am he that beareth witness concerning my
self; and the Father who hath sent me beareth
witness concerning me."j Was it ever known, .
under any system of law, in any court of
judicature, that when the written law had pre
scribed two witnesses as the lowest number
admissible, a party in a cause § should step
* Delit. xix. 15, and other places,
f Chap, v, 31, a?ivj&))V vim juris habens; — quod in dubium
vocari non potest ; — fidem habens publicam, Schleusn. Certm
fidei ; — fide dignissimum, Kuinoel.
t V. 14, 17, 18.
§ The Jewish Rabbinical law says, "¦ A person is not a cre
dible witness on his own account," Mischna, Surenhusii, tom.
iii. p, 63, " More majorum comparatum est, ut in minimis

CHAP, ill] DEBCENT FROM HEAVEN. 139
forward and demand, upon the footing of that
very law, to be accepted as himself the second
witness in his own favour 1 Would such a com
position of " two witnesses " be for a moment
listened to 1 It is useless to say, as commentators
have generally done, to solve the difficulty, that
the blamelessness of our Lord's life and manners
entitled him to have his veracity unquestioned :
for it is of the very essence of juridical testimony
that it should be from other persons than the
parties to a suit, and the very design of ad
mitting witnesses is to take the facts of a case
out of the hands of parties.
I must confess that I can discover no mode of
freeing the Blessed Jesus from the charge of
employing a low and disingenuous sophistry,
(horresco reputans !) — exceptithe supposition that
his mind referred to that Heavenly and Divine
Nature which, upon our hypothesis, he was con
scious dwelt within him. If this be admitted, we
have a ground on which to rest the truth and
honour of our Lord's assertions, and the justness
of his argument : we have the distinct testimony
of the Father, at the baptism and transfigura
tion of Jesus and on other occasions ; and we
have that of the Son, the Eternal Word, in the
miracles which he performed ; two witnesses
rebus homines amplissimi testimonium de su^ re non dicerent.
It has been established by the practice of our ancestors, that
men, even of the highest respectability, should never be wit
nesses in their own cause, even on the most trivial occasions,"
Ciceron. Or. pro Roscio Am. sect, 36,

140 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
above all exception, bearing distinct yet united
testimony to the words of the man of Nazareth.
Thus, also, the argument oi our Lord is put, in
an intelligible position. " If I even bear witness
concerning myself, my testimony is worthy of
credit:" — Why'? — "Because I know whence I
came and whither I go ;" q. d. " My conscious
ness of that Superior and Divine Nature, which
has manifested itself in this real and proper
human existence, and which will shine forth in
that glorified state to which this humanity will
shortly be advanced, is the ground of my al
leging that this second testimony, additional to
that of my Father, is independent and certain."

CHAP. III.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. ui

SECT, V,

Im]iorl6fthe Glory belonging to Chri6t,-^RcriprocaI to the Father and
the Son. — Its progression,— How conferred upon the Apostles and other
Christians. — How possessed by the Messiah before the existence of the
created universe, — How given in his mediatorial exaltation. — Unitarian
interpretation stated and examined, — Classification of passages ap
pealed to, and investigation of their sense, — The Calra Ii.quirer's
criticism examined,— Rabbinical phraseology not applicable to this case.
" And now. Thou 0 Father, glorify me, with thyself, by
the glory which I had before the world was, with thee !"
John xvii, 5.
The Calm Inquirer concludes from his investi
gation of this passage, " that the true inter
pretation of this celebrated clause in our Lord's
valedictory prayer, — that which best suits the
connexion, and which is most consistent with the
dignity and disiiuterestedness of his character, —
contains no proof of his pre-existence, but is
perfectly com patible with his proper humanity.
viz. ' And no w, O Father, glorify thou me with
thy own self ;' q, d. allow me to participate
in that which is thy own greatest glory, ' with
the glory whi ich I had with thee before the world
was ;' the gl ory of recovering lost mankind to
virtue and haj ^piness, a glory which was intended

148 ON THB PERSON OP CHRIST. [BOOK III,
and reserved for me in the eternal immutable
counsels of infinite wisdom and benevolence."*
The principal grounds on which he rests
this interpretation are, the position, which, he
says, few, if any, before Mr. Lindsey had per
ceived, that the glory of Christ consisted in the
success of his doctrine as the means of recover
ing mankind from sin and death to virtue and
happiness ; and that this glory, " having been
the object of the divine^ eternal, and immutable
purpose, and the subject of the divine promise,
is represented by our Lord as what he possessed
with the Father before the world was."
We must, therefore, endeavour to ascertain
the real import of the glory spoken of by our
Lord, and to determine whether his language
can be rationally understood as merely antici-
pative. (1) I agree with Mr. Lindsey and the Inquirer
that the glory desired by Jesus Christ was not
any "personal benefit," or "high distinction"
or any other " selfish" object ; and that the " ful
filling the purposes of his divine mission" was
associated with that object, or, more properhr
speaking, included in it : but I do not think that
they have discovered the just idea of the term.
The words in question are in continuity with
others which clearly refer to the same object
"I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have
completed the woi'k which thou hast given me
* Pag« U4,

CHAP, HI.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. US
to perform :— I have manifested Thy Name to
the men whom thou hast given me," Thus the
MANIFESTATION of the DiviNE Name, to thc Selected
objects of divine grace, is " the glorifying the
Father," which the Lord Jesus has perfectly
accomplished. The scripture uses the Name of God as a
compendious formula to denote His Infinite and
Absolute Perfection, His Fulness of all possible
Excellencies, the Total of Jehovah's Awful and
Lovely Attributes,- — so far as they can be known
by finite intelligences, The presenting of this
great object to the accountable universe, in
order to excite and direct the love and admira
tion, homage and obedience, of every rational
creature to Him whom this name represents, is
declared to be the supreme purpose of the Most
High in the creation and government of the
world : and this display, or emanation of thd
Divine Excellency, is called in scripture the
Glory of God. Passages to this effect, of which
the following is a selection, are extremely nu
merous. — " And what wilt thou do for thy great
name I Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth !-^— He led them by the right
hand of Moses,-— to make to himself an everlast
ing name. And in very deed for this purpose I
have raised thee up, to display in thee my power,
and to declare my name in all the earth, I
wrought for the sake of my name, that it might
not be profaned in the eyes of the nations. For
the sake of my name, — for mine own sake, for

144 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
mine own sake, I will work ; for how shall it be
profaned^ And my glory to another I will not
give. As truly as I live, the whole earth shall
be filled with the glory of Jehovah."*
To make known this Name and Glory to
mortals, in all the efficacious methods which
eternal wisdom has deemed fit, was a chief ob
ject of our Lord's labours and instructions. We
have "the illumination of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ : No
one hath beheld God at any time: the Only-
begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him." Hence the Lord Jesus
Christ is " the Image of the Invisible God," and
" the Effulgence of his glory ."+ This is the
display of moraZ and spiritual Excellency, "the
manifestation of the Name of God, the glorifying
of the Father," which the Lord Jesus declares
himself to have accomplished.
Now, it is manifest that our Lord represents
the glorifying of himself by the Father as ?'e~
ciprocal to that which he had rendered to the
Father. This idea of reciprocity is clearly and
strongly expressed in his words : " Glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. — I have
glorified thee ;; — and now do thou, O Father,
glorify me !"
It therefore follows that the " glorifying of
Christ," or the " giving to him of glory," by the
* Josh, vii. 9. Ps, viii. 1, Is, Lsiii. 12, Ex, ix, 16, Ezek,
XX. 9. Is, xlviii. 9, 11. Num. xiv, 21.
t 2 Cor. iv. 6. Joh. i, 18. Col, i, 15, Heb. 1. 3.

CHAP, III.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN, 14S
Divine Father, is the manifestation of His Name,
the unveiling of the same moral and spiritual
Excellence, the same Absolute and Infinite Per
fection, in the perSon and character of the Son
of God. This was to be effected, so far as the
present imperfect state will admit, by the ex
tension and success of the Christian religion,
according to the suggestion of Mr. Lindsey, but
with a purity and power to which I fear his
ideas did not extend. Of this interpretation,
however, he was not the discoverer. Greater
and better divines maintained it before him.
President Edwards has considered the subject
at length, and places it in a clear and strong
light.* — ^Yet this is not all, "The whole earth must
indeed be filled with the glory" of the Messiah ;
and " all people, nations, and languages, shall
serve him." His glory, by the eventual triumphs
of knowledge, holiness, and happiness in the
present state of mankind, will be divinely great :
but all that earth can enjoy will be no more than
the dawn of a celestial and immortal day. The
communication of all that constitutes supreme
felicity, will for ever flow to the occupants of
* Dissert, on the Chief End nf God in the Creation of the
World; in his Works, vol, i. p. 515, &c. " It appears," says
that penetrating writer, " that the expressions of' divine grace,
in the sanctification and happiness of the redeemed, are espe
cially that GLORY of Christ, and of his Father, which was " the
joy that was set before him," for which he " endured the cross
and despised the shame ;" and, that this glory was especially
the end of " the travail of his soulj" in obtaining which end he
was " satisfied," P. 532.
VOL. II. L

146 t)N THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
the heavenly state, from the unspeakable fulness
of the Redeemer. They, partakers of his holiness
and his joy, " shall be with him where he is,
and shall behold his glory," his unrivalled and
infinite perfection of all natural and moral ex
cellence. They " shall see Him as He is." 
" They sing a new song, saying. Thou art
worthy to take the book and to open its seals,
for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God
by thy blood, from every tribe and tongue and
people and nation : and hast made us unto our
God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon
the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and the
living beings, and the elders : and their number
was ten thousand times ten thousand and thou
sands of thousands, saying with a loud voice.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive
power and riches and wisdom and strength and
honour and glory and blessing ! And eveiy crea
ture which is in the heaven and upon the earth,
and under the earth and in the sea, and all things
in them, I heard saying. To Him who sitteth upon
the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and ho
nour and glory and power, for ever and ever !"*
It is in accordance with this truth that the
New Testament attributes the same importance
and dignity to the Name of Christ, which the
current style of the Old Testament does to the
Name of Jehovah. To " bear the Name" of
* I John iii. 2. Rev. v. 9—12.

chap, hi.] descent from heaven. 147-
Christ was the great honour of the Apostolic
ministry.* " In his Name" the miracles were
wrought.f " Believing in his Name" is uniformly
represented as of absolute necessity to salva-
tion.J " In his Name the nations shall hope."§
" In his Name," religious instruction, baptism,
ecclesiastical discipline, and other divine institu
tions were to be administered. || Christian obe
dience to moral precepts is to be rendered
" all in his Name."^ It was the very designation
of his primitive disciples, that " they called
Upon his Name."** Pardon of sin, and all the
blessings of salvation and eternal life, are con
ferred upon mankind " in his Name" alone.ff In
fine, his Name is inscrutable : " no one knoweth
it, except Himselp.''|J
Under the Old Testament, God had declared
" I am Jehovah, that is my Name, and my Glory
I will not give to an6ther."§§ But in this ex
alted and diversified manner does the New
Testament give glory to the Name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Thus " is the Son of man glorified,
and God is glorified in him." The sublime sub
ject is, therefore, but one, though viewed in dif-
* Acts ix. 15, f Ib. iii, 16,
X John iii. 18, § Matt. xii. 21.
II Acts ix, 27. xix. 5. 1 Cor, v. 4.3 ep, John 7- f Col. iii, 17.
** Acts ix, 13, 14, 1 Cor. i, 3, This branch of our subject
will be more fully considered in a following chapter. It may be
sufficient here to observe that the just construction of cwma-
Xeia-Bai with the accusative case, is active, and denotes address,
intreaty, or invocation, ft Acts x, 43. iv, 12, 1 John v, 13.
+ J Rev, xix, 12. §§ Is, xiii. 8.
L 2

148 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
ferent aspects. As the glory, the manifestation
of the name of the Eternal Father, is the unveil
ing to created minds of His All-Perfect Majesty;
so is the glory of the Son the manifestation of
HIS Name, his Divine Nature and Perfections, to
all holy and happy beings, for ever and ever.
The consummation of this manifested glory will
be in the blessed discoveries of the heavenly
state : but its commencement and progress are
by the efficacy of the gospel now. It is the doc
trine of Christ, as " revealed to his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit," that makes known
to men his Name, his true character and glory,
in relation to his person, his holy obedience, his
sufferings and death, his exaltation and dominion,
his benevolence and the blessings which he con
fers, his final exercise of judgment and its ever
lasting consequences. This doctrine presents to
our view " the unsearchable riches of Christ,
the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, the
fulness of Christ whence all true believers re
ceive grace for grace, the great mystery of
godliness, the mystery of Christ ; — that the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified, upon
whose head are many crowns, and whose name is
above every name."
Thus is apparent the propriety of our Lord's
further declaration : " The glory, which thou
hast given to me, I have given to them." The
apostles were his instruments and agents in
making known " the riches of his glory." They
published his inspired truth, and conveyed

CHAP. -HI,] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. I49
through the earth the declaration of his Name :
he manifested to them his glory, and by their
faithful and unemng promulgation of it " he was
glorified in them:" and they, with all who have
believed their testimony, and trod in the steps of
their obedience, shall be sharers in the glory
of their Saviour's divine happiness. " They
shall be with him where He is, and shall behold
His glory."*
This then appears to have been the precise
object of our Lord's prayer ; that, as he had, by
his mediation and doctrine, manifested the Name
and Glory of his Divine Father, so his own Name
and Glory might be manifested, by his word and
his Spirit, in the ministry of his servants, in the
knowledge, faith, and holiness of his people
universally, in the triumphs of his truth on
earth, and in the cloudless brightness of that
state in which his faithful followers " shall see
him AS HE is."f Now this is no other than that
his Original and Divine Excellency, which by
his assumption of the human nature had been
obscured, as the sun behind a dense cloud, might
be unveiled, and might shine forth in its proper
and unchangeable character.
2. If this view be correct, on the real import
of the peculiar glory predicated of Christ, it
shews at once the propriety of the remaining
clause : — " the glory which I had, with Thee,
before the world was." It is the primeval perfec-
* V. 24. f 1 John ifi, 2.

jgjj ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK Hi.
tion oi the Messiah, the Son of God, to whom,
as we .have before found satisfactory evidence,
names, characters, and attributes were assigned
in the prophetic writings, declaring him to be
the Eternal and Immutable Being, the Creator,
God, the Mighty God, Adonai, Elohim, Jehovah ;
and whose comings forth are from eternity, from
the days of the everlasting period :* a perfec
tion which had not been lost or diminished, but
which was now to shine forth with a lustre never
before beheld by created beings.f
This interpretation, also, shews the irrelevancy
of Dr. Priestley's question : " What propriety
could there be in Christ praying, as the reward
of his sufferings, for the same state of glory
which he had enjoyed before them '? This would
be to make it no reward at all."t The answer
to this query is that, though the glory, in itself
considered, is the same, yet the object sought
was a new and more advantageous manner of its
manifestation. Exactly upon the same principle,
the essential glory of Jehovah, which is infinite
and immutable, and therefore ,can admit of no
accession, is spoken of in scripture as receiving
great additions as to the modes of its various and
higher display : — " It shall be unto me for a
name of joy, for praise, and for honour, to all
nations of the earth. By those that approach
* Vol, I.p, 385,319, &c.
f See Note [A] at the end of the Section.
, I Notes on SS. vol, iii, p, 476.

CHAP. III.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. 151
unto me I will be sanctified, and in the presence
of all the people I will be glorified. Jehovah
hath redeemed Jacob, and in Israel he will honour
himself. Unto the praise of the glory of his
grace. The branch of my planting, the work of
my hands, that I may be honoured."*
Dr. Priestley, Mr. Lindsey, Mr. Belsham, and
Unitarian writers in general, from Socinus down
wards, understand the words of Christ, (" the
glory which I had, before the world was, with
thee,") as referring only to " the counsels and
decrees" of God. Grotius, Le Clerc, and Wet
stein adopted this interpretation. Their reasons
are the following :
1. Admitting the doctrine of the divine and
pre-existent nature in Christ, the glory of that
nature could not be recovered, because it could
never have been lost.
2. The same glory is said to be given to the
disciples of Christ. — To both these arguments
we have already replied.
3. " In the language of the sacred writers, a
being, or a state of things is said to exist, when
it is the eternal immutable purpose qf God that it
shall exist, at the time and in the circumstances
which his infinite wisdom hath chosen and or-
dained."t That this anticipation of future events, by de
scribing them in words of past or present time,
is often found in scripture, I readily admit : but
* Jer, xxx iii, 9, Lev, x, S. Is, xliv, 23. Eph.i, 6. Is. Ix. 21.
f Calm Inq. page 88,

JS2 OS THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
it appears to me that a Careful examination of
the instances of this figure will shew that it does
not admit of an application to the present pur
pose. The passages which Faustus Socinus, and
those who follow him in this opinion, have ad
duced in its support, are, so far as I have been
able to collect them, reducible to the following
classes : —
Class 1. Passages describing actions of which
the very nature consists in a purpose or intention.
Matt. XXV. 34. " The kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world." Eph. i.4.
"He hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world." 2. Tim. i. 9. " His own purpose
and grace, given to us in Christ Jesus before the
ancient times." Titus i. 2. " Eternal life, which
God, who cannot lie, hath promised before the
ancient times."
These are manifestly irrelevant to the occa
sion. The actions which they designate are per
fectly intelligible without any prolepsis. The
very terms denote a mere design, or a prepara
tory arrangement, or an assurance of the design.
Nothing is more common among men than gifts
and devises to future posterity.
Class 2. Passages which point out an action
begun, and in continuance, but not completed :
V. 4. ^' I have finished the work which thou
hast given me to do." Our Lord's labours and
sufferings were arrived nearly to their close :
the objects of his teaching, his humiliation, and
his example, were on the very point of being

CHAP. Hi.] DESCENT FRQM HEAVEN. 153
attained. V. II. " I am no more in the world :
— I am coming to thee." His departure out of
life might be considered as already begun : he
had set out on the journey of death. — V. 22. '
" The glory which thou hast given to me, I have
given to them." Christ had already begun to
instruct and qualify his apostles. — ^V. 12. " Not
one of them has perished except the son of
perdition." Judas was lost, or had perished, al
ready, as to his religious profession. Wicked
men in general, those who reject the gospel, are
described by the same word, evidently signifying
their actually present state, in 1 Cor. i. 18.
2 Cor. iv. 3.  1 Sam. xv. 28. " Jehovah hath
cut off the kingdom of Israel from thee this day ;
and he hath given it to thy companion, who is
better than thou." The act of excision was past,
and it was beginning to be put in execution : for
the very next step in the history is the anoint
ing of David by Samuel. The same solution ap
plies to chap, xxviii. 1 7, 18. — Gen. xvii.- 5. " I
have given thee to be a father of a crowd of
nations :" or, as it is expressed by the apostle,
Rom. iv. 17. " I have constituted \_or appointed,
Ts'flsjxa,] thee a father of many nations." Rom.
viii- 30, 31. " Whom he fore-ordained, them he
also called, and whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also
glorified :" that is, in purpose glorified, says
Archbishop Newcome and the Inquirer. But
there is no reason to have recourse to this solu
tion. The verbs are all apristic ; which form,

154 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
says Fischer, denotes uncertain, indefinite, and
continuous time, and ought to be translated in
Latin by either the present indicative, or by an
infinitive with soleo prefixed.* Thus the text
denotes that this is the plan and established order
of divine grace ; whom God " fore-ordains he
. calls, whom he calls he justifies, and whom he
justifies he glorifies:" ita solet, such is his con
stant course of proceeding. 2 Cor. v. 1. " Wlien
[virhich is sometimes the sense of lav,] our earthly
house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal, in the heavens." There is no prolepsis
here, any more than in the case of a person's
being called the proprietor of an estate, who is
embarking for a foreign country to take pos
session of it : he is not the less the actual owner,
though he has not yet seen his domain. The
same obvious remark applies to passages ia
which believers are said to have eternal life, to
have treasure in heaven, to have for themselves
in heaven a better and enduring substance.f
In all these cases, persons are said to have that
which is destined for them to possess, and of
which they actually have the assurance, evi
dence, or commencement : but where is an in
stance to be found of a person being said to
have a thing, when neither the person nor the
possession are in existence '?
All passages of this kincj, therefore, make
* Animadv. ad Welleri Gramm. Gr. vol, ii, p. 260.
f John iii, 16. Matt, xix, 21. Heb. x. 34,

CHAP. ID.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. 155
nothing to the purpose for which they are ad
duced. Class 3. Passages in the descriptive style of
prophecy. The Calm Inquirer justly observes
that " in the Old Testament nothing is more
common than to express prophecy in the lan
guage of history, and to state future events as
present Or even past."* But, it is remarkable
that those who apply this principle to the pas
sage under consideration have overlooked a
material point. They may find instances without
end of events remotely future, described as being,
at the time of the speaker's utterance, in actual
existence: but they bring forwards no instance
of an event present, or so near that, in the ordi
nary use of language, it may be fairly spoken of
as present, being described as having taken place
ages before.f Yet till this is satisfactorily done,
it appears to me that they have not brought the
passage before us within the range of that pecu
liarity in the prophetic style to which they would
refer it.
One instance, indeed, they have adduced which
seems to promise them the aid desired. Christ's
* P. 88. The examples which he adduces, and every student
knows, that they might be increased indefinitely, are Is. xiv. 1.
ix. 6, xiii, 1. xlix, 5 — 10, liii. Ld. 1 — ^3. Exod. xv. 14—17.
(1 Sam. XV. 28. xxviii. 17, 18, noticed under Class ii.)
f Excepting Rev. xiii, 8. which will shortly be considered.
Such passages as Matt. xxv. 54. John xvii. 24. 1 Pet. i. 20,
Acts ii, 23. iv. 28. 1 John v. 11, need no observation. That
the greatest Unitarian writers have adduced them seems to be a
symptom of anxiety and weakness.

jgg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III,
" violent death constituting an essential part of
the divine plan, he is represented. Rev. xiii. 8.
as "the lamb, slain from the foundation of the
world."* How seducing a thing is an hypo
thesis! Do these acute critics need to be re
minded that the clause, " from the foundation of
the world," ought to be construed with the pre
ceding, " whose names were not written T Is it
possible that, above all persons, the Editor of
the Improved Version can have forgotten t,he
just translation published under his own hand :
— " whose name was not written from the founda
tion of the world, in the book of life of the lamb
that was slain '?"f
4. The Inquirer further labours to strengthen
his scheme from the clauses, with thyself, — with
thee (irapa. <rsaoT<S, irapa. a-oi.^ " That is, in thy
immutable purpose and decree. — It is not true
that the preposition Trapa with a dative case al
ways has a local signification. When applied
personally it sometimes signifies ' in that person's
estimation or account ;' viz. 2 Pet. iii. 8. " One
day is with the Lord (Trapa, Kop'no, ' in the ac
count or estimation of the Lord,') as a thousand
years."t If we were to grant the justness of this criti
cism, I doubt whether it would greatly serve the
purpose of its patronizer. " The glory which I
had in thy account or estimation," would rather
* Calm Inq. p. 94.
f Impr, Vers, in loc. following 2y to ovofca, the reading pre
ferred by Griesbach. X Calm Inq.p. 10^, 113.

CHAP. Ill,] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. I57
comport with the idea of a supposition, conjecture,
or opinion, than with that of an " immutable pur
pose and decree." But the writer overlooks
the distinction between a paraphrase of a clause
derived from the context, and the genuine and
inherent meaning of a single word. If his ex
plication of 2 Pet. iii. 8. be admitted, it is as a
gloss upon the phrase, and not as the proper
sense of the preposition. He is also mistaken in
his grammatical assertion. The radical meaning
of irapa. is contiguity, and all its applications re
tain the idea: they all refer to some mode of
closeness, intimate connexion, or union.* With
* " Hapa, beside, may justly be set down as a noun signifying
side or flank ; and from the different aspects under which an
object may be viewed, as occupying the side of Another, the
different applications of tiapa. take their rise, — Ylapci then com
monly signifies, (1,) With the genitive, /rom 6eside ; — (2.) With
the dative, close beside; — (3.) With the accusative, motion <o
beside." Dunbar on the Greek Prepositions, 2d ed, p. 266. "llapa,,
with a dative, denotes communion." Hermann, de Emend. Ratione
Gracce Gramm. Lips. 1801, p. 162. " Praepositionem ntapa,
cum dativo personae Graeci fere ita conjunxerunt, ut indicaretur
locus in quo versaretur is cujus nomen additum esset, — The
Greeks usually used itapa joined to a dative of the person, to
signify the place of abode of the person whose name is so
governed : as Mschin. Dial. 3, 7- wapa YiaXXl^, hi the house of
Callias; Eurip. Ale. 542, itapa. KXalova-i, in the habitation of
mourners; Lysias, p. 34, of Taylor's 8vo, ed. itap e/Mi, at home
with me ; Actsx, 6. icapa rm "^ifMyi, with one Simon." Welleri
Gramm. Grceca, cum Animadv, Fischeri et Kuincel, vol, v. p. 267.
Lips. 1781 — 1791' Many examples might be added, as 1 Cor.
xvi. 2, waj3 eavrS, at his own honfc. John xiv. 23. we will make
our abode (wa^ avrS) with him. 2 Pet. ii. 11. they bring not a
railing accusation {itapa Kvpl^) in the presence of the Lord.

158 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
the dative case applied to a person, it signifies,
in the presence, society, or abode, oi that person.
In the passage under consideration, it is mani
festly put in opposition to the state of being on
the earth : " I have glorified thee on the earth ;
— now glorify me with thyself!"
In studying the speeches of Jesus Christ it is
often an assistance to a correct apprehension of
their import, if we can represent them to our
selves in the language of Judea, in which he
undoubtedly delivered his divine discourses. Our
best aid, in making such attempts, is the Peshito
Syriac version of the New Testament ; whose
language differs but little from that which was
the vernacular tongue of our Lord and his dis
ciples, and whose antiquity approaches, if it
does not actually belong to, the apostolic age.
Now the preposition in question, is rendered, in
that venerable translation, by one whose radical
idea is, conjunction or close and intimate associa
tion.*
Some of the advocates for the interpretation
Matt, xix, 26. va^ dv8pdtcoiq,—%apa &eS, with men, with God. i, e.
in their presence ; in close contact, so to speak, with their
power to effect the object. 2 Pet, iii. 8, one day is {vapa Kvplx)
in the presence of the Lord as a thousand years, &c. 2 Tim, iv.
13. %apa Ka/jw^j, in the house, or under the care of Carpus.
* The verse is given in an almost literal translation from the
Greek. As closely as I can represent it in English, it stands
thus: " And -now glorify-me, thou Father, with-thee ; by-that
glory which-was-itself to-me with-thee, from before the-being
of-the-world." Thus no distinction is made between iiapa ireavrf
and iteipa trot.

CHAP, ni.] DESCENT FROM HEAVEN. ' 159
contended for by Unitarian writers endeavour
further to sustain it, by affirming that, in the
Rabbinical phraseology, certain things of great
importance are said to have existed before the
creation, meaning of course in the divine pur
pose. Thus the Bereshith Rabba,. an ancient
commentary on the book of Genesis, says : " Six
things preceded the creation of the world. The
Law, the Throne of glory, the Fathers, Israel,
the House of holiness, and the Name of the Mes
siah, came up into the thought of God before
the creation of the world." On this I remark :
1. There is no evidence without begging the
question, that a phraseology of this character
was made use of by Jesus Christ. His style is
always the most simple and modest and at the
greatest distance from any semblance of exag
geration : and he would be the least likely to use
any such expressions in a prayer to his Heavenly
Father. When the Unitarian paraphrasts subjoin
the clsmse, in' thy purpose and decree, they are not
only making their own arbitrary addition to our
Lord's words, but they are imposing upon him
a style of speaking altogether different fro,m his
characteristic manner.
2. Tbe Rabbinical example does not apply to
the case. It is universally admitted that the
glory of the Messiah in the present and in the
future state, and all other beings and events
that have existed, or that shall exist, were " in
the thought" of the First Cause, from eternity :
so that, upon the hypothesis, Christ was praying

160 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
for that which, in this respect, was no distinc
tion to him above others. But what the case
requires is proof that the plain, unadorned, defi
nite, expression, " which I had with thee," was
likely or proper to be used, by such a speaker and
on such an occasion, when he meant nothing more
than " that which was destined for me to have."*
I have thus endeavoured to examine, I trust
with a candid disposition, all the pleadings of
the Calm Inquirer and of other writers on the
same side, with respect to this important text.
It appears to me that their criticisms are desti
tute pf grammatical truth, and their arguments
of logical conclusiveness. The impartial and
serious reader will form his own judgment.
* " Jlapa a-eavrS, with thyself, is opposed to the earth, on which
there was no more need of Christ's being present : he was,
therefore, to return to heaven, as to his former residence. Tj
So'lji ? elxov, with the glory which I had, &c. This glory, his
peculiar property, was now beginning to be manifested, and to
be more clearly laid open to mankind. Those who explain this
clause by, I had in purpose or destination, put force, not upon
this passage only, but upon others which are neither few nor
obscure, both in this book and the other scriptures. The verb
elxoy cannot, without violence, be explained in any other way
than as in the frequent declarations of Chap, I. " he was with
God : he was God ; we beheld his glory," which he had ag
"¦ the Only-begotten," before he took a human life. If it be
understood of destination, that is equally true of all men, —
Christ clearly intimates, that this his glory had been hitherto un
known to men ; and therefore he prays that it may now break
forth into manifestation. This is very clear from what follows :
I have manifested thy glory, therefore do thou now manifest my
glory to men. All this is very evident, unless a man have sur
rendered himself to other opinions." Semler in loc.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE

SECT. V.

Note [A] page 150.
" Christ declare qu'il ne desire rien de nouveau, mais seul«-
ment qu'il apparoisse tel en chair qu'il etoit devant la creation
du mondcj ou, pour parler plus clairement, que la Majesty
Divine qu'il avoit toujours eue, rfluise en la personne du M^dia-
teur, et en la chair humaine qu'il avoit v6tue," — "Christ declares
that he desires nothing new, but only that he may appear in
the flesh such as he was before the creation of the world j or,
to speak more clearly, that the Divine Majesty which he had
always possessed, might shine forth in the person of the
Mediator and in the human flesh which he had assumed," Cal
vin in loc.
Having quoted this from the illustrious author's own French
edition of his Commentary, an extremely rare book, rather
than from his Latin copy, it wiU not be unwelcome to the
candid reader to see a testimony to the literary character 'of
John Calvin, from a quarter which was far indeed from being
prejudiced in his favour, — " Calvin, qui jouissait avec justice
d'une grande reputation, homme de lettres du premier ordre,
^crivant en Latin aussi bien qu'on le pent faire dans une langue
morte, et en Fran^ais avec une puret6 singulifere pour son tems ;
cette purete, que nos habiles grammairiens admirent encore
aujourd'hui, rend ses Merits bien sup6rieurs k presque tons ceux
du m&me siecle ; comme les ouvrages de MM. de Port-Royal
se distinguent encore aujourd'hui par la mfime raison, des rapso-
dies barbares de leurs adversaires et de leurs contemporains,
Calvin, jurisconsulte habile, et th^ologien aussi dclair6 qu'un
h^r^tique le pent 6tre, dressa de concert avec les magistrate un
r^cueil des lois, — " &c. " Calvin, who with justice enjoyed a
VOL. II. M

162 NOTES.
high reputation, was a scholar of the first order. He wrote in
Latin as well as is possible in a dead language, and in French
with a purity which was extraordinary for his time. This
purity, whicL is to the present day admired by our skilful
critics, renders his writings greatly superior to almost all of the
same age ; as the works of Messieurs de Port Royal are still
distinguished on the same account, from the barbarous rhapso
dies of their opponents and contemporaries. Calvin, being a
skilful lawyer, and as enlightened a divine as a heretic can be,
drew up in concert with the magistrates a code of laws," &c. —
Encyclopedic de Diderot et d'Alembert ; Art. Geneve. The
author of this article was d'Alembert,
Apart from the dire and indelible stain on Calvin's memory,
the persecution to death of Servetus, (with respect to which
however, it is but just to recollect the universal ignorance, and
the deep yet criminal prejudices, of that age, on the religious
rights of mankind, and in which not only Calvin and Beza, but
Melancthon, Cranmer, and Socinus vrere partakers,) history
scarcely furnishes a more illustrious character for piety, in
tegrity, and labours almost incredible. Such was the man, that
to traduce his name has been found by many a short road to
celebrity : according to the epigram, which I read I know not
where many years ago :
" Sis fur, sis nebulo, sycophanta, et turpis adulter ;
Calvinum ferias fulmine, magnus eris."

CJPITULE HI.

on our lobd s declaration op an existence before
Abraham.

The occasion of the assertion made by our Lord. — ^The question directly
refers to co-ewstence. — The signification of the terms. — ^Their just con
struction will admit no other sense than that of pre-existence. — Objec
tions of Mr. Lindsey and the Calm Inquirer examined and answered. —
The Unitarian interpretation examined ; — and shewn to be destitute of
satisfactory proof; — contrary to the reason of the occasion, — ^to the
circumstances of the narrative, — and to our Lord's ordinary course of
proceeding ; — attended with other difficulties ;— ^inconsistent with thfe
scripture idiom ;— inefficient for its purpose ; — not supported, but 'con
tradicted, by the pliraseology of the prophets ; — ^productive of a nugatory
sense. — ^Observations on other assertions of the Calm Inquirer. — ^The
interpretation invented by Lslius Socinus, and represented by his
nephew as probably given by a special revelation. — Reasons against it.
" Jesus said to them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham existed, I am." John viii. 58.
The general body of Christians have under
stood this passage as plainly declaring the pre
existence of Christ, in a nature of course
superior to the human, two thousand years
before he was born of Mary.
Unitarians interpret it as affirming that Jesus
might be said to have existed as the Messiah in
the purpose and decree of God ; that is, " that
M 2

164 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
he was designated to his office, before Abraham
was born."*
To judge between these opposite interpreta
tions we must attend to the occasion of our
Lord's assertion, and to the fair meaning of the
terms in which he expresses it.
The opponents of Jesus, in their virulent cavils
against him, had mentioned Abraham their na
tional ancestor, a man so signally favoured of
God, that his name served as a proverbial ex
ample of dignity and honour. They understood
our Lord's declarations as involving such as
sumptions of superiority, that they demanded,
" Art thou greater than our father Abraham 1
— ^Whom makest thou thyself T' With his cha
racteristic calmness he assured them that Abra
ham had indeed regarded Him as a superior ;
that, guided by supernatural revelation, the
patriarch had really enjoyed such a mental pros
pect of the time when the Messiah should ap
pear, and of the blessings of his reign, as filled
him with pleasure and exultation ! " Your father
Abraham earnestly desired that he might see my
day ; and he did see it and rejoiced." This turned
the conversation. The Jews, not understanding,
* Impr, Ver. Note on the place. More fully expressed in the
Calm Inquirer's paraphrase : " Before that eminent patriarch
was brought into being, my existence and appearance under the
character of the Messiah at this period, and in these circum
stances, was so completely arranged, and so irrevocably fixed in
the immutable counsels and purposes of God, that in this sense
I maybe said even then to have existed." P, 85,

CHAP. III.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 165
or affecting not to understand, that Jesus spoke of
an anticipative vision, exclaimed, "Thou art not
yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham T'
Now, therefore, the question was brought to the
single point of co-existence. It was necessary for
Jesus either to deny the assumption, or to admit
and confirm it. He did not do the former : but
he gave an answer which his opponents viewed
as being either directly or constructively im
pious and blasphemous, that is, as admitting their,
imputation.* He " said to them, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, before Abraham existed, I was."
— Is it not manifest that he did the latter, that
he admitted himself to have been actually con-
temporary with Abraham : — and that he went far
ther, and affirmed that he had a real existence
before Abraham 1
Such is the bearing of the argument, as deduced
from the occasion : but neither will the honest
construction of the words permit us to draw any
different conclusion. The precise meaning of
* " Hoc enim postulat series orationis. In objectione Judseo-
rum sermo erat de existential ; ergo etiam in responsione de
existentia sermo esse debet. Objectio erat, ' Non potes vidisse
Abrahamum, quia nondum es quinquagenarius, nee tum natus
eras,' Respondet Jesus, ' Ego fui, antequam ille fuit,' Sic sensu
pari respondetur objectioni." — " This interpretation is required
by the tenor of the discussion. The objection turned upon ex
istence ; therefore the reply must refer to existence also. The
objection was, 'Thou canst not have seen Abraham, for thou
art not yet fifty years old; thou wast not then born,' Jesus
answered, ' I was before he was.' Thus the reply corresponds
to the objection," Rosenmuller in loc.

1Q6 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK III.
yiusa-Qai and its synonymous form ysvsa-Bui is to be
brought into (Existence. Whether, therefore, we
prefer the received translation, " before Abra
ham was :" or that here proposed, " before
Abraham existed ;" or, that of many translators,
both ancient and modem,* " before Abraham was
born ;" the effect is the. Same.
The remaining clause is however attended
with some difficulty.
1 . Some suppose that, in using the expression
" I am," our Lord intended a reference to the
divine appellation announced to Moses, " I am
that which I am." But it is to be remarked
that the words of that passage are in the future
tense, " I will be that which I will be ;"t and
most probably it was not intended as a name,
but as a declaration of the certain fulfilment o
all the promises of God, especially those which
* Erasmus, Vatablus, Diodati, Doddridge, Campbell, Rosen
miiUer, the Improved Version.
t Exod. iii. 14. ^^'^^} ItyX iT'^T^« " By which words God
signifies that what he from eternity had been, he for ever would
be J the same in deed and effect as in his promises." Rosenm.
The LXX. renders it, 'Eyai eif/.i o «», I am the existing one. I do
not see why the suppressed predicate might not be supplied from
this passage, and the tacit allusion rationally maintained, if all
other reasons concurred : but they do not. To shew, however,
the fallaciousness of arguing from the mere identity of words,
let us observe that, in both the Greek and the Latin idiom, the
answer to such questions as. Who has done that ? Who is there ?
(which we make in our language by the third person, 'tis I, c'est
moi ,•) is by this very phrase, I am, iyi, el/At, ego sum. For ex
amples in the N. T. see Matt. xiv. 27. xxvi. 22, 25. Mark vi. 50.
xiv. 62. Luke xxiv, 39, John vi, 29. ix. 9.

CHAP. Ui.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 167
related to the deliverance Of the Israelites.
There does not appear, , therefore sufficient
ground to sustain the idea of this allusion.
2. It may be supposed that, in this instance
and several others of the same form, our Lord
purposely suppressed the predicate Of his pro
position, leaving it to be supplied by the minds
of his hearers under the impression of that evi
dence by which they might all have been con
vinced of the justness of his claims, had their
dispositions been candid and upright. So, in
this very discussion with his opponents, Jesus
says, " Except ye believe that I am ; — ^Ye shall
know that I am." — and to his disciples, " that ye
may believe that I am." In his prediction of false
Messiahs, as given by the Evangelist Mark, the
same use of the phrase occurs ; " Many will
come in my name, saying, I am ;" the parallel
place to which in Matthew supplies the omitted
predicate, " the Christ/'*
According to this interpretation, the passage
is read, " Before Abraham existed, I am [the
Messiah."] But every one must perceive that,
if the notion of the present tense be rigorously
insisted on, a solcecism is inyolved : a present
event cannot be prior to one past.
3. The present, / am, may be taken in the
sense of the past, I was. This is not unusual in
the Greek idiom, especially when the action or
state of the verb is understood as continued to the
* John viii, 24, 38. xiii. 19. Mark xiii, 6, Matt, xsiy. 5.

168 <3N THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [^BOOK Ilfc
present time.* This renders the construction
plain and the sense evident : " Verily, verily ,^ I
say unto you, before Abraham was brought into
existence, I was."t
* " This tense is often put for the praeterperfect : especially
when it is signified that the action is continued." Joh. Frid.
Fischeri Animadv. ad Velleri Gramm. Greec. vol. ii, p. 256, Lips,
1798 ; who has adduced many examples from Xenophon and
other authors, " The present tense is very often put so as to
have the force of the imperfect ; especially when the thing'
which is said to have been at any past time, continues still to
be — E. g. Luke xv. 31. John i, 9. and in the LXX. Ps,
Ixxxix (xc.) 2 Prov. viii. 25. Jerem, i, 5." Kuincel in Libros
N. T. Hist. vol. iii. p, 437. Tittmann adds these rather feeble
instances from the Gospel of John ; i, 19. ix, 8, xiv, 9 , xv. 27.
Meletemata Sacra, p, 353, "•The use of the verb in the present
tense denotes continuation, as Chap, xiv, 3. ' Am I so long
with you,' i. e. have been and still am, which could not have
been both expressed by a past tense. Thus in Latin we say,
jam quatuor dies aBgrotat," Castalio in loc. " 'Eya «/« may in
deed be rendered, 1 was. The present for the imperfect, or
even for the preterperfect, is no unusual figure with this vrriter.
However, as an uninterrupted duration from the time spoken
of to the time then present, seems to have been suggested, I
thought it better to follow the common method [I am,]"
Campbell. The excellent French Version of Mons, and the
revised Genevese of 1805, have I was.
f " Praeterhanc corpoream naturam, est mihi ipva-ii; antiquior,''
Semler in loc. " Etenim verbum utrumque, et yevea-Bai et eJyai, in
promptu est denotare esse, existere. — Jam Judaei, quando quae-
runt quomodo Abrahamum videre potuerit nondum quinquage
narius, intelligere aliud quid non poterant, nisi hoc, quomodo
esse potuerit tempore Abrahami. Ut verb objiciunt illi, ita re
spondet Dominus. Illi negant eum esse potuisse Abrahami tem
pore : Dominus affirmat ; neque tantum afl[irmat, sed addit etiam
aliquid amplius, scilicet, se fuisse non tanthm tempore Abrahami,
sedadebctlamanteAbrahamum." Titimanni Mclet. Sacra,p. 362.

chap hi.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAH. igg
But there seems to be little reason for debate
about the tense of the verb, when it is considered
that Jesus, speaking inthe dialect of his country,
most probably used no verb at all. The idiom
of the Hebraic languages would have required,
I HE, as it occurs in several passages of the Old
Testament ;* or, as the clause before us is trans
lated in the venerable Syriac version, whose
antiquity is nearly apostolic, and whose language
differs by very slight shades from that which was
spoken by Jesus and his countrymen, I, I my
self.! From these considerations I am satisfied that
an unexceptionable translation of the clause
would be this, " Before Abraham existed, I my
self existed."
* Kin ''JK Deut xxxii. 39. Is. xii, 4. xliii. 10, 13, xlvi, 4,
xlviii, 12. In- these passages the translation of the LXX. is
the very phrase under consideration, eya elj^i, I am.
t ^Aj] \i\ exactly the same as the Chaldee \'1*J< KiX
The indeclinable word joined to the sufiixed pronoun is the
same, differing only in dialect with the Hebrew IJf'' " It is a
noun, whose root remains in the Arabic aasa (for ayasa) — and
its radical meaning is s<re«g-<fe, ability, firmness, efficiency , exist
ence." Koerberi Lexicon Nominum et Verborum Hebr, vulgb pro
Particulis Habitorum, p, 21. subjoined to Tymp^'s ed. of Noldii
Partic. Hebr. Jenae, 1734. " Solidum et reale quid ; res con-
sistens et subsistens. Proprife nomen est, sed pro verbo sub-
stantivo adhiberi solet." Simonis et Eichhorn. Lex. p, 755. The
same is maintained in Schrosderi Instit. Ling. Hebr. Ulm. 1792,
p. 272, Yet the Calm Inquirer complacently quotes Grotius for the
affirmation that the Syriac Version uses a verb in the imperfect
tense, P, 96.

l^-O ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
If the remarks hitherto advanced be not fal
lacious, we are inevitably led, both by the facts
of the case and by the phraseology, to the con
clusion that our Lord certainly affirmed himself
to have a superior and pre-existent nature.
To this interpretation the Calm Inquirer makes
the following objections :*
(I) " That the word !*]«,«, even when used
absolutely, very rarely, if ever, expresses simple
existence." Reply. The Inquirer and his guide the late
Mr. Simpson, of Bath, are greatly mistaken. In
a note on the preceding page several passages
are referred to, in which the Septuagint used the
phrase in question to denote the " simple exist
ence " of the Deity : " I, even I, am : ' and other
instances are not wanting. 'O wv " the Existing
One." Exod. iii. 14. 'O Jiv 'K(>pis, " O Lord, the
Existing One," where it stands as the translation
of Jehovah. Jerem. xiv. 13. 'ISoo oux t^v, " Be
hold, he was not." Ps. xxxvi. (xxxvii.) 36. Oux
ST* s]}/.),' " I am no more in being." Job vii. 8.
Also in the New Testament : " He that cometh
unto God must believe that he existeth," on ia-rl
Heb. xi. 6. And the very memorable description
pf the Deity which is repeated five times in the
Apocalypse ; o m, xa.) 6 ^v, xa« 6 ep^6[i.evog, "He
who is, and who was, and who is to come."
Examples of the same use of the verb might
be collected from Plato, Philo, Plutarch, and
* Calm Inq. p. 79.

CHAP. III.] ©CISTENOE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 171
other Greek writers : but the foregoing passages
are more to our purpose, and I conceive they
are sufficient to shew that the application to
simple existence is not very unusual in the New
Testament and the Hellenistic Version of the
Old. (2) " That it is not probable that our Lord
would have been so very open and explicit upon
this high and mysterious subject to his enemies,
when he was so reserved to his friends, and
does not appear to have hinted it even to his
disciples." Reply. Whatever might have been the mean
ing of our Lord's declarations on this and other
occasions, it is altogether an unwarrantable as
sumption that Jesus communicated any informa
tion to his enemies which he withheld frOm his
friends. It is, to say the least, highly probable
that some of his disciples were present at all the
public discourses and conversations which he
held. If this, in any rare instance, were not the
case, we cannot reasonably doubt that he would
say similar things to his intimate followers, on
suitable occasions. It is recorded that " he ex
pounded all things to his disciples when they
were alone :"* and with respect to the doctrine
which he taught, or the intimations which he
gave, with any supposed reference to a superior
and pre-existent nature, we have already exa
mined other passages which it cannot be pre-
* Mark iv. 34.

172 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK Ill-
tended were unknown to our Lord's familiar
attendants. But every one must perceive how
extremely fallacious are objections of this kind,
who considers how very small a portion of the
discourses of Jesus Christ are preserved to us
in the evangelical records. Had Mr. Lindsey
possessed a little more of the moderation and
candour for which it has been the fashion to
laud him, he would have spared his scornful sur
prize " that any could ever suppose our Lord to
be so very open and familiar with — ^his most
bitter enemies, as to tell them such a wonderful
secret concerning himself — at the same time that
he kept his disciples quite in the dark about
things so prodigious and extraordinary."* This
attempt at wit, on a question so serious, is not
the offspring of either reason or piety.
(3) " That, if he had intended in this instance
to announce his own pre-existence so very ex
plicitly as many believe, he would have taught
this extraordinary doctrine more frequently, in a
greater variety of phrase, and would have laid
greater stress upon it."
Reply. [I] This objection is, in a great mea
sure, begging the question ; for we conceive,
and the grounds of our opinion are before the
reader, that Christ did teach this doctrine, not
infrequently, and in a considerable " variety of
phrase." [2] As to the explicitness of the declaration,

* Quoted in the Calm Inq. p, 79.

CHAP, HI.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 173
let a calidid Unitarian say whether he would
have discerned any want of explicitness, had the
same phraseology occurred with respect to any
point now undisputed. Let it be imagined, for
instance, that a question had been raised, and
that some results of consequence depended upon
it, whether Jesus or the son of Germanicus were
the elder person ; and that the former had said,
" I most assuredly declare to you, before Cali
gula existed, I was." Let the terms have been
the very same as in the case before us :* and
would any one have said that the assertion was
not "explicit'?" Or will he find any want of
explicitness in the language of Moses, "Before
the mountains were brought into existence — thou
art r't
[3] To demand that this doctrine, supposing
it to ^be true, should have been taught by our
Lord himself in the most clear and decisive
manner, is not reasonable : for it was of the
* The useful industry of Wetstein has furnished us witli
several instances of this expression, from which I select the fol
lowing : 'Et5 TO o/Milui elyai rrfi re i/^xV hf^" '"("' y^v^trBat rjfA,a(.
" Even to this point, that our souls likewise existed before we
were born." Plato, Phced. sect. 22. ed. Forsler, Ox, 1745, p.
206. and repeatedly in that dialogue. To yap xapiny roiro itepimo-
iofiijo-ey 0 itariip jmv, /jUKpov he7y, icph e/Ae yeyesBai. " My father walled
this field round within a little, before I was born.". Demosth.
Or. adv. CalUcl. ed. Wolf. Franc, 1604, p. 1116, "EXeyey
iiyieiyov t< xai voirepov, iiph 'liiiiOKparti yeyeaBai. " He described the
symptoms of health and disease, before Hippocrates was born,"
Arrian in Epict. lib, ii, ckp. 17.
f Psalm Ixxxix, (xc.) 2, LXX. Upo toS opij yevifft\yai — o-v ft.

1^4, ON THE PERSO>} OF CHRIST. [BOOK Ul.
very genius and character of his ministry, that
by it the peculiar doctrines of the Christian dis
pensation should not be fully unfolded. That
complete manifestation was reserved for the
ministration of the Spirit, who was to take of
the things of Christ, and shew them to the apos
tles, and to glorify Him by leading them into all
truth. Jesus himself appears to have plainly
insisted, in his own teachings, upon no doctrines
but those which were generally admitted by his
countrymen as resting on the authority of Moses
and the prophets. Other truths, though deducible
from the ^Old Testament by consequences less
obvious or less generally recognized, he taught
by allusions, assumptions, parables, and implica
tions ; or sometimes by a direct, but abrupt aiid
insulated assertion, the import of which would
become the more apparent by being afterwards
reflected upon. Of the last kind the instance
before us seems to have been.
(4) " And finally that this fact, so solemnly
declared, would have been more attended to,
and would have made a more permanent and
vivid impression. It would have been a subject
of general conversation and scrutiny, of admira
tion, or offence. Whereas the idea of such a
claim on the part of our Lord vanished immedi
ately. The disciples did not notice it. The Jews
did not repeat it. And it is not alleged as a
charge against our Saviour that he arrogated
this extraordinary attribute."
Reply. I acknowledge that this is a great dif-

CHAP. III.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 175
ficulty, but that it is not of the decisive nature
which the Inquirer apprehends, and tbat, on a
close examination, it is considerably diminished,
if not entirely removed, I submit these reasons :
[1] It is contrary to sound principles of rea
soning to make hypothetical objections oUtwieigh
positive evidence. Every studious person knows,
often to his disappointment and pain, that, in
relation to many objects of human knowledge,
the most perplexing difficulties occur, on a theo
retical view of the case, but which the command
ing evidence Of facts obliges us to subdue : and
we do not charge ourselves with acting an irra
tional part in so disposing of those difficulties,
because we are aware of the imperfection of all
human knowledge, and because we are assured
that indubitable experiments, ; or facts clearly
ascertained, are entitled to a decisive weight as
affirmative evidence in opposition to a thousand
objections invented by reasoning on our own sup
positions. In the present case, we have direct
evidence from the plain meaning and construc
tion of the words, and from the tenor of the
occasion, that an actual pre-existence is affirmed :
we are bound, then, to regard abstract difficulties
as superseded.
[2] We are, in fact, but incompetent judges
of the manner in which such a declaration would
have operated on the minds of our Lord's coun
trymen and contemporaries ; but we may be
assured that it would have made an impression,
very different from that which we should receive

176 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HJ,
under our circumstances of education and life.
Their habits of thinking and feeling were ex
tremely remote from ours. They generally be
lieved (whether rightly or wrongly, is immaterial
to our argument,) in the existence and frequent
occurrence among themselves of supernatural
influence, both from the Divine Being and from
inferior, but spiritual and powerful, agents. The
doctrines and history of their scriptures were
understood by them so as to keep alive the con
stant expectation of miraculous intercourse with
the Deity : and there is reason to suppose that a
belief in the pre-existence of souls had been
derived by them from the Persian or from the
Judfeo-Alexandrian theology, and prevailed
among them to a considerable extent.* The in
fluence of such opinions could not but operate
powerfully to prevent those strong impressions
of surprise, " admiration, or offence," which the
Inquirer too readily assumes to have been ne
cessary. [3] I venture to think that some evidence has
been adduced that, amidst the perplexity and
discordance of opinions which existed among the
Jews at this degenerate period, there were many
persons vvho held the superior nature and pre
existence of the Messiah. Consequently this
declaration of our Lord might be received as
simply equivalent to an avowal of his being
the Messiah. As to the allegation that " the
* See Lightfoot's Hone Hebr. et Talm. on John ix. 3,

<S1AP. Ill] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM, 177
disciples did not notice it, and the Jews did not
repeat it;" we have already observed how ex
tremely uncertain and fallacious such negative
arguments must be.
[4] " It is not alleged as a charge against
our Saviour that he arrogated this extraordinary
attribute." I conceive that it was included in
the general charge of having claimed to be the
Messiah : and it is remarkable that this charge
itself, though the most obvious and the most
subservient to the purpose of our Lord's prose
cutors, w'as not brought forwards by them at all.
They seem to have been afraid to touch it, and
to have contented themselves with some frivo
lous accusations, till the high-priest proposed'
the interrogatory which Jesus met by a direct
declaration; a declaration which was instantly
seized as the ground of a charge of blasphemy,
the same charge which the conduct of the Jews
shews that they attached to the words of Christ,
now under consideration : " they took up stones
to cast at him."
The impartial and judicious reader will now
review what has been- advanced, and will con
sider whether our interpretation be sufficiently
supported by proper and direct evidence ; and
whether the objections to, it are candidly met
and satisfactorily answered.
We proceed to consider the arguments by
which the Calm Inquirer endeavours to establish
the usual Unitarian interpretation, applying to
VOL. II. N

178 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III,
the words the meaning, " not of real existence,
but of existence in the divine purpose!"
(1) " This interpretation welj accords with
the connexion and context, " Our Lord declares,
v. 56, ' Your father Abraham longed to see my
day and he did see it.' The; . Jews, foolishly or
perversely misrepresenting his language, ask,
'Hast thou seen Abraham T Our Lord never
pretended that he had seen him : and, not deign
ing to rectify this silly mistake, he goes onto
establish the reasonableness of his assertion : q. d.
Abraham did foresee my appearance, and the
blessings of . my kingdom. And this was possible :
because though I was not then born, yet my
appearance under the character of the Messiah,
and all the happy consequences which flow from
it, had been, determined in the divine counsels
long before that eminent patriarch was in ex
istence." Reply. [1] The whole of this allegation rests
upon the assumption that our Lord's words were
merely a continuation of his discourse, " not
deigning" to notice the question or " silly mis
take" of the Jews, bu,t going on with his subject
as if he had not been at all interrupted. But
to this assumption we demur as destitute of
proof, and as contrary to the reason of the casfr,
to the order of the narrative, and to our Lord's
ordinary practice.
It is destitute of proof None is even attempted
to be shewn. The recommendation of it can be

CHAP. III.g EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 179
only that of its suiting the hypothesis v^hiCh it is
brought to help.
It is contrary to the reason of the case. If the
interjected query of the Jews were of that
" silly'; and irrelevant kind which the Inquirer
pronounces it, there seems no rational motive
for its' having been preserved in the recital ;
unless the writer had gone upon the principle of
introducing every thing that was said on the
occasions narrated, pertinent or impertinent.
But it is certain that neither John nor any other
of the Evangelical, historians adopted such a
principle : their plan is professedly that of selec
tion. Besides, upon the assumption, the interlo
cution is not only impertinent and useless, but it
is pernicious : it perplexes and misleads the
reader, without answering any good purpose to
compensate for the disadvantage.
It is contrary to the order of the narrative. The
objection of the Jews is introduced by the usual
formula, " Then said the Jews unto him:" and
our Lord's rejoinder is also brought in with the
con'espondent phrase, " Jesus said to them." It
is impossible without doing violence to the com
mon use of language and the common sense of
mankind, not to regard the latter as a designed
and direct answer to the former.
It is contrary to our Lord's ordinary practice.
We never find him, except on one occasion when
his very silence was eloquent,* refusing to answer

* Matt, xxvi, 63, xxvii, 14.
n2

180 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, X^OOK IU.
with the meekness of wisdom, the questions, ob
jections, and even cavils of his enemies. Neither
was it his manner to evade the point of difficult
and severe remarks made against himself. Often
indeed, he spoke to the motives and concealed
intentions of those who accosted him, as well as
to their outward professions; but his replies and
defences were always sincere and pertinent.
[2] If we were to grant the assumption, we
should not be relieved from difficulty. Let it be
supposed that the Inquirer's paraphrase truly
represents the meaning of our Lord : and we are
compelled to ask. Why did he convey it in so
strange a style '? Why did he not speak intel
ligibly 1 Why did he use language of which
the genuine and direct signification was calcu
lated to convey, not the thing which he intended
to say, but another thing, widely different from
it 1 — There was no want of language, proper for
his purpose, and in current use among his coun
trymen and by himself. He could have employed
one of the expressions which he has used on
other occasions, or which afterwards his fol
lowers used. He could have said for example,
" Before Abraham existed, I was fore-ordained ;
my day was appointed : my kingdom was pre
pared in the determinate counsel and foreknow
ledge of God : and God shewed it, by his Spirit,
unto Abraham." Such as this is the language of
the New Testament ; and I cannot but think it
most reasonable to believe that our Lord would
have used one of these phrases, or some other

CHAP. HI.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 181
analogous to them, had his meaning been what
is imputed to him.
(2) " The words I am (syw siju.*) must be under
stood to mean, and should be translated I was."
(3) " The ellipsis must be supplied by the
word he, V. e. ' he who cometh,' or ' the Christ."
— (See vv. 24 and 28.) — The same phrase in this
instance also " ought to have been translated in
the same form: ' Before Abraham was born, I
was he, i. e. the prophet who was to come, the
Messiah." We have before observed that arguments about
the tense of the verb are nugatory, for we have
reason to believe that our Lord used no verb at
all, but said, in his native language, I he, the
emphatic formula which most usually denotes
simple existence, in whatever relation to time the
nature of the case may suggest. For example :
" Behold now, that I; I he, and no god with me !
— I Jehovah, the beginning, and with the last
things, I HE. — That ye may know, and believe me,
and understand that I he. — Before, me no god is
formed, nor after me shall be. — ^Even before the
day, I he! — Even to old age, I he. — I he, I the
beginning, also I the ending !"* Whether there
fore, we supply the verb or not, the proper and
emphatic meaning of the formula is actual ex
istence at the time spoken of, whenever that
might be.
But if the Inquirer, neglecting the proper
* Referred to jn a note on page 169.

Ig2 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK Jll
point of attention, the Hebraic idiom,.. should
insist on the Greek usage, he will be met by ano
ther difficulty. The examples in which I am is
to be supplied by the predicate, the Christ, are
all of the present tense. Such examples will not
warrant the supposition of the same ellipsis when
the present tense is put for the past : because
the very ground and reason of the enallage of
time lies in the action or state expressed by the verb,
which precludes any other predicate from being
understood, than the concrete idea derived from
that action or state.' This rule will, I thjnk,
bear tbe closest examination. But, if we decline
to press it, we have still a right to demand clear
instances of the enallage of the time combined
with the ellipsis of the predicate: and till this
be done, the Calm Inquirer has nothing to rest
upon but gratuitous assertion.
Yet, should we, in the face of these objections,
grant him his desire and consent to his rendering,
" Before Abraham was born, I was the Messiah :"
what does he gain'? Could any reader or hearer,
not pre-occupied by hypothesis, imagine other
wise than that the person speaking thus certainly
existed when Abraham was born'? And do not the
words as thus amplified, plainly express that he
had such existence % — Conscious of this, the Calm
Inquirer brings out his last and palmary argument.
(4) " In the language of the sacred writers, a
being, or a state of things, is said to exist, when
it is the eternal immutable purpose of God
THAT IT SHALL EXIST, at the time and in the cir-

CHAP. III.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 183
cumstances which his infinite vrisdom bath chosen
and ordained."
This notion, therefore, is the sheet-anchor of
the Unitarian interpretation. We have in a pre
ceding Section,* examined it and the pleadings
in its favour ; and, I trust, have satisfactorily
shewn that it is weak and incompetent, pro
ceeding upon a mistaken view of scripture-
language, and -quite inapplicable to the pur
pose of those who use it. By an egregious
kind of blunder, they gravely bring forward the
jaro^epm.of the prophetic Style, as if it made, for
their case : whereas that' which they want; is a
figure of the opposite effect, a nietaltpsis. Be
cause, in the language of prophecy, future T^ev-
sons and events are described as if they were
present, or had actually taken place ; it is sa
gaciously inferred that a present person or event
may, by the same figure, be said to have existed
in long j?a«t time !
Flushed with this captivating logic, the Caltti
Inquirer proceeds to argue : " If the prophets
describe the Messiah as contemporaFy with them,
Christ might with propriety speak of himself
under that character, as their contemporary. If
Isaiah writes as having seen the Messiah, having
heard his complaints, and having been witness
to his labours, his miracles, and his sufferings ;
our Lord might with equal propriety represent
himself under his, official, character, as having

* Of this volume, page 151 — 15G.

184 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI,
existed in the- days of Isaiah. If Abraham saw
his day ; he, as the Messiah must have co-existed
with the patriarch, and by parity of reason,
before Abraham's birth. But all allow that the
prophetic representations of the Messiah's exist
ence are figurative ; they only express what
existed in the divine purpose, and imply nothing
more than certainty of event. Let it then be
granted, that when our Lord speaks of himself
as the Messiah before Abraham was born, he
means the same thing : that his language only
implies that he was the Messiah in the divine
purpose. No reasoning, I think, can be more
conclusive." Reply. [1] The prophets did not " describe
the Messiah as contemporary with" themselves.
In their most vivid descriptions, though to in
crease the poetic force and beauty of the repre
sentation the present or perfect tense be em
ployed, enough exists of marked circumstances
to have prevented any from imagining that the
prophets designed to exhibit any mortal contem
porary as the Sovereign and Saviour to whom
they bore testimony. There is no evidence that
any of the Jews ever understood their prophets
as representing the Messiah to be their own con
temporary : but there is all the proof which the
nature of the case admits of, that both the pro
phets themselves, and their countrymen through
successive generations, looked forwards to one
who was yet to come, as the ultimate object of
those sublime and picturesque representations.

CHAP. HI.] existence BEFORE ABRAHAM. 185
Let the reader examine the instances selected
by the Inquirer as the basis of his theory,* or
any other prophetic descriptions of the Messiah ;
and he will find either in the very phraseology
of the context or in the association of the parts
of the description, sufficient to designate that
the persons introduced and the events depicted
were as yet in the womb of futurity.
[2] The frequent use of the hypotyposis com
bined with enallage oi the tense (rather than, as
the Calm Inquirer calls it, prolepsis,f) in the
works of the ancient prophets, was not the result
of a sacred or theological principle, but of the
character of their composition. It was not as
prophets, but as poets, that they employed this
figure of speech, so suitable to their energetic
conceptions, and which is indeed all but essential
to the very soul of poetry. But the style which
was eminently proper for poetry, or for sublime
description in oratory, would have been out of
place, ridiculous, and even pernicious, in a plain,
calm, grave conversation. Cyrus, John the Bap
tist, and probably other individuals, were gra
phically pointed out in the prophecies of Isaiah,
long before they were born ; and that by ex
pressions in the past or present tense. Would it,
then, have been proper for either of them, to
have said, " I was contemporary with the pro
phet : I co-existed with him, for he in prophetic

* Recited in a note at p. 155 of this volume.
t See Quintil. Inst. Lib. IX, cap. ii, par. 16, 40, 41, ed. Gesn.

186 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
vision saw my day, and described me, my actions,
my character, my office, as if I were then actually
existing and executing my commission: yea, by
parity of reason, I may say that I existed before
the prophet's birth: before Isaiah was, I was:
1 was the deliverer of the captives, I was the
messengerof.heaven."— Yet such low trifling,
such absolute folly, is, by these interpreters
to help their . theory out of a fatal difficulty,
calmly attributed to the Lowly, Wise, and Holy
Jesus !
[3] If it were conceded that the existence
which our Lord attributes to himself, was an
existence only in the divine purpose, justness of
criticism would require us likewise to take the
existence ascribed to Abraham in the same ac
ceptation : " Before Abraham existed in the pur
pose of God, I was the Messiah in the same pur
pose and decree," The use of the two verbs
ysi/so-Qa* and slvat does not destroy the ground of
this observation : for the difference between them
is, that the one denotes to be brought into exist
ence, and the other io be in existence ; a difference'
not at all affecting the argument. Thus it ap
pears that, to concede the principle of the Unita
rian interpretation, would convert the passage
into a puerile absurdity.
On the Calm Inquirer's closing remark, "No
reasoning, I think, can be more conclusive :" I
hope it will not be deemed a want of courtesyin
me to ask the candid and attentive reader, whe
ther justice does not require that it should be

CHAP. HI,] existence BEFORE ABRA«AM. 187
read by a certain figure called antiphrasisj " No
reasoning can be more inconclusive."
The Inquirer has bestowed great labour upon
his disquisition on this text, " because," he ob
serves, " it is in a great measure decisive of the
whole controversy : for, if this declaration does
not establish the pre-existence of Christ, no other
passage can."* It niay, then, be taken as ad
mitted that, if the interpretation for which he so
earnestly pleads cannot be maintained on grounds
of fair and sound criticism, the pre-existenceof
Christ is established, and the Unitarian scheme is
exploded. The serious and candid reader will
bring to the examination his closest attention,
his critical attainments, his strict impartiality,
and his solemn devotion. Thus let him judge
for himself in the sight of God : and may that
Gracious Being direct his decision !
But if the .assertion be taken conversely, to
intimate that, if this text were given up to the
Unitarian interpretation, the controversy would
be decided, I must protest against it, as uncandid
and untrue ; as one of those bold, but gratuitous
and unfounded dicta which too frequently appear
in the pages of the Calm Inquiry. Admit the
supposition, and what would be the effect 1 This
particular passage would be taken out of the
field; it would make nothing in favour ^of the
pre-existence of Christ: but it would make
nothing against it. The principle of the inter-
;* Page 102.

188 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
pretation might also go to the neutralizing of
some other declarations of our Lord; but this
would be all. The general body of argument,
from many particular passages and from the
uniyersal tenor of revelation, in favour of the pre
existence and the Deity of Christ would remain
untouched, and standing in its full independence.
Yet unfair, both logically and morally, as the
Inquirer's observation is, it will not be without its
effect. Such dogmatical assertions often pass
without examination, and are apt to sink deeply
into weak and half-thinking minds.
In one sense, however, I will not contest that
there may be truth in the assertion : " if this
declaration does not establish the pre-existence
of Christ, no other passage can." If the assertor
thereby mean that,, upon the principles of inter
pretation which he adopts, no language within the
compass of the characteristic style and manner
of the New Testament could declare that doc
trine so as not to be set aside by some of those
manceuvrings ; let him keep possession of his
opinion. It is, I fear, too well founded. But
let us consider whether, on the admission of
those principles, we should not be obliged to
abandon ourselves to a hopeless incapacity of
ever acquiring satisfaction, upon any contro
verted point whatever of revealed theology, or
of any other knowledge depending on the use of
words. There is another interpretation of this cele
brated passage which though it is rejected by

CHAP. III.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 189
the Calm Inquirer, it will not be improper to
notice ; for not only was it enthusiastically
admired by Faustus Socinus and some of his im
mediate followers, but it is preferred by some
Unitarians of the present day.
This interpretation rests upon the supposition
that our Lord did not intend to answer the ques
tion proposed to him, or to speak in a way that
could at the time be understood by the Jews :
that his object was to denounce the divine dis
pleasure against them, and to foretel their re
jection and the admission of the gentile world to
the blessings of the gospel state ; and that he
clothed this meaning in a species of aenigma
derived from the signification of the name Abra
ham, denoting father of a numerous , multitude,
which was given to Abram as a prediction of
the calling of the gentiles. Upon this founda
tion the passage is paraphrased to the following
purport. " Ye boast of being the posterity of Abraham :
but ye know neither what Abraham is, nor what
are his posterity. Ye are not Abraham's seed :
for by your deeds ye prove that ye are of your
father the devil, and God is able from these
stones (the gentiles) to raise up a posterity to
Abraham. Neither do ye know who is Abraham.
He who can truly claim that prophetic title, must
<be the father, not of one nation only, but of many.
But your great ancestor is as yet only yours, not
the father of many nations as his name imports.
He is not yet, in this eminent and final sense.

190 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [800* IU.
Abraham; though he will soon become so, if ye
continue to act as ye have hitherto done, proving
yourselves unworthy of the kingdom of God;
For your privilege shall be taken from yOu, and
given to nations who will act more worthily of it.
Of them Abraham will be truly the father : then
will he answer to his name, and be in reality
what he has been hitherto only in promise. But
I now am, the promised Messiah, ; plainly before
your eyes. Therefore, verily, verily, I say unto
you, at this very moment, before Abraham becomes
what his name imports, and what he is on the
point of becoming, that I am the Messiah whom
Abraham desired to see and in whom all nations
-shall be blessed."*
With this view of the passage Faustus Socinus
was so delighted that he goes near to declare his
persuasion of its having been communicated to
his uncle Laelius by a special revelation, and in
answer to many prayers offered to Christ himself f
* Abridged irova Enjedini Explic. Loc. p. 227.
f " Erasm. Joh. Fateor me per omnem vitam meam non
magis contortani scripturee isterpretationem audivisse ; ideoque
earn penitus improbo. Faust. Socin. Ciim primilm fatendi
verbum in tuis verbis animadvert!, sperabam te potius fassurum
nullam in vitS, tui scripture interpretationem te audivisse, quse
hkc sit aut acutior aut verier, quseve magis divinum quid sapiat,
et k Deo ipso patefactam fuisse prse se ferat. Ego quidem
cert^non leves fconjecturas habeo, ilium, qui primus aetate nos
tri cam in lucem protulit (hic autem is fuit qui primus quoque
sententiam de Christi origine quam ego constanter defendo, hSc
setate renovavit,) precibus multis ab ipso Christo impetravit,"
F. Socini Opera, vol,, ii. p. 505,
" Fjiasmus Johannis. 1 confess that in all my. life 1 never

CHAP. 111.] EXISTENCE BEFORE ABRAHAM. 191
This interpretation may claim the praise of
ingenuity: and it would not be a sufficient rer
futation of it to say that such a meaning could
never be penetrated by those to whom it was
addressed, and that it was quite foreign to the
purpose of the immediate conversatioih between
them and our Lord : for its supporters readily
acknowledge both these circumstances. But our
objections to it are, that it represents Jesus
Christ as condescending to a kind of childish
punning, totally unworthy of his serious and
elevated character : that on no other occasion
do we find him making use of such a method
of expression; that (borrowing Mr. Belsham's
words) " if the proposed interpretation is just,
the text ought to have stood thus; 'before
Abram shall become Abraham :' the present el
lipsis is too harsh, and the mode of supplying it
quite arbitrary;" that "the word Abraham always
in the New Testament occurs as a proper name,
and is never used in a mystical sense ;" and that
heard a more forced interpretation of scripture, I absolutely
disapprove it.
" Faustus Socinus. When I heard you begin to talk of con
fessing, I hoped that you were about to confess that you had
never in your life heard an interpretation of scripture more
signalized by acumen and truth, or which has more of a kind
of divine savour, and actually carries the marks of having
been communicated by God himself. Indeed I have no slight
grounds for thinking, that the person who first in our time
advanced it, (the same who first in the present age revived the
doctrine which I constantly maintain on the person of Christ,)
obtained it by many prayers from Christ himself.'"

192 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
it is a trifling proposition, and unworthy of the
solemnity with which it is introduced, that Christ
existed as the Messiah before an event which it
was known was not to happen till many years
or ages afterwards."* * Calm Inq. p. 83, 84.

CAPITULE IV.

THE PERPETUAL PKESENOK OP CHRIST PROMISED TO HIS
DISCIPLES.

The kind of power here spoken of. — How given to Christ. — ^The phrase.
End of the World. — Instances of its occurrence. — Examination of Bishop
Pearce's interpretation, and Mr, Wakefield's arguments in defence of it.
— Matt. xiii. 37 — 43, 47 — 50, — Those learned writers mistaken in their
application nf the terms. — Hebrew and Rabbinical acceptations of Olam,
— Mr, Wakefield's hasty, inaccurate, and inconsistent assertions.— In
terpretations of theniost eminent critics adverse to the hypothesis.—
Sense of the parable. — Dr. Priestley's testimony. — Matt. xxiv. 3, — Evi
dence against the Calm Inquirer's assertions, — Scope of the passage
under consideration, — Tlie age, in Jewish usage, would be synonymous
with the period of the Messiah's reign, — It cannot be shewn that our
Lord did not intend the material universe, — Ruhnkenius's opinion of
Bishop Pearce's critical talents ; — Dr, Parr's and Dr. Burney's, of Mr.
Wakefield, — ^The purpose of our Lord's declaration, and the necessary
direction and extent which it gives to the terms, — Mr. Wakefield's gra
tuitous assertions. — Mr. Lindsey's observations, and replies to them. —
Daring language of the Calm Inquirer, and remarks upon it. — Mr.
Wakefield's candid, but incorrect, acknowledgment. — ^Testimonies of
Origen aud Hegesippus.
" .Tesus came forwards-and spake to them, saying. Go, make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them to the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit j teaching them
to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you : and
behold ! I am with you always, tOl the end of the world."
Jlfa«. xxviii. 19,20.
It is the last clause only of this passage which
at present is the object of consideration.
1. Heaven and earth was an ordinary Jewish
VOL. II. o

194 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU.
phrase to denote the universe. " All power* in
heaven and upon earth" is an expression evi
dently of the largest extent : but, if we regard
it only in relation to the object with which it
stands here connected, the removal of obstruc
tions to the progress of the gospel and its even
tual diffusion among mankind, we see a field of
operation opening before us which evidently re
quires divine qualifications to occupy it.
That this power must be possessed necessarily
and unchangeably by the Divine Nature of the
Messiah, admitting such a nature, is evident :
how then is it " given" to him '? And that it is so
given, he repeatedly declares.f
The reply is obvious. The mediatorial func
tion, and the assuming of human nature in order
to discharge that function, constitute a new office,
a new character, new manifestations of the un
created glory to intelligent beings, a new set of
relations to those beings. In the contemplation
of these, nothing can be more proper than to say
that the dominion and glory of Christ are the
GIFT to him of his Divine Father, " of whom are
all things :" while the essential excellencies of
his superior nature remain necessarily unchange-
abiCj because they are infinite. Unquestionably
it is difficult for us to form precise conceptions
* 'Efouo-i'a, not authority merely, but efficient energy, Schleus-
ner's first signification is, "¦ Vis et potestas eificiendi aliquid,
facultas," But he understands the word in this passage of
dominion ; " omnia sunt imperio meo subjecta."
f Matt, xi. 37. John xiii. 3. xvii. 2.

6hAp. Hi,} iisi'M'ijAt pJiESENci, i^s
on the harmonizing of these distinct doctiities :
arid, as we have repeatedly had occasion to ob
serve, the nature of the subject requires us to
expect that it should be so. Philosophy and
piety equally dictate the expectation. Our
business is to ascertain the facts of the caie,
by the examination of their proper evidence.
If vve find it to be the voice of revelation that
those separate facts really are as has been here
statedj our incompetency to discover the links of
the chain which connects them, ought indeed to
teach us some humbling lessons, but ought not to
give us any anxiety. Heaven is for thee too hSgh
To know what passes there. Be loverly wise :
Contented that thus far hath been reveal'd.
2. Unitarian writers object to the common in
terpretation of the phrase^ 13 o-civTeXsia too a'lwvtis,
and contend that it denotes only " the conclusion
of this age,"* that is " the termination of the
Jewish dispensation by the destruction of Jeru
salem and the temple."f
The phrase is found no where in the New
Testament,:]: but in the Gospel of Matthew, and,
exclusive of the present passage, in that Gospel
only four times.
* Calm, inq, p. 323. f lb. p. 179.
X 'EwJ OTuntXetf tSv atavuv, Heb. ix. 26, is not the same phrase,
though it has been added to the enumeration by Mr. Wakefield
(on Matthew, p. 198, 414.) and the Caltti Inqidrer. There can
be no question that it signifies, "at the completion of the
ages," the various dispensations of reli^on which preceded that
ofthe^Messiah.
o2

196 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
The first two instances are in our Lord's im
pressive exposition of his parable of the tares..
" He who soweth the good seed is the Son of
man : the field is the world : the sons of the
kingdom, they are the good seed : but the tares
are the sons of the wicked one : the enemy
who sowed them is the devil : the harvest is
(o-oVTsXe/a TOU aldovos) the end qf the world: and
the reapers are the angels. As then the tares
are gathered together and bumed with fire, so it
will be (ev TY) (njVTe7\.sia. tow alduvog toutou) in the
end of this world The Son of man will send
forth his angelsj and they will gather together
out of his kingdom all seducers to sin and those
who work wickedness, and will cast them into
the furnace of fire ; there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine
forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.
He that hath ears to hear let him hear."*
The phrase occurs again in a parable delivered
on the same occasion, and evidently with the
same design. " Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering
of every kind ; which, when it is filled, they draw
up to the shore, and sit down and choose out the
good to put into their vessels, but the worthless
they throw away. So it will be (ev rfi a-fjvrsXsla.
TdS aldivog) in the end qf the world. The angels
* Matt. xiii. 37 — *3. J,wi,vtaXa' " Omnes impii, qui aliis er-
randi et peccandi occasionem prsebent.'' Schleusn. " Abstrac-
tum pro concreto ; exitii auctores, seductores, doctrinS. et ex
emplo alios in errorem inducentes." Kuincel,

CHAP. III.] PEKPETUAL PRESENCE., jgy
will come, and will separate the wicked out of
the midst of the righteous and cast them into
the furnace of fire : there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth."*
The Calm Inquirer inclines not obscurely to
the opinion of Bishop Pearce and Mr. Wake
field, who " interpret the parables of the tares
and of the. fish, of the events which took place
at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Chris
tians, warned by divine admonition, retired from
Judaea before the desolation of the country by
the Ilomans."t
In support of this interpretation, Mr. Wake
field refers to Heb. ix. 26, and adds, " They,
therefore, who will determine to interpret truv-
ri7\.s,ta. too anJovog, by the end qf the world, or the
consummation qf all things, at the day of final
judgment, will do so without any authority, and
in direct opposition to the idiom of the Hebrew
language, and the sense of a plain text of scrip
ture ; to subserve some favourite hypothesis, or
commonly received doctrine."!
The arguments to be examined, therefore, are
the following :
1. The allegation that the prediction in v. 41.
was fulfilled in the providential deliverance of
the Jewish Christians by their timely withdraw-
ment from their country and chief city. But let
the unbiassed reader turn to the verse. He will
find that it expresses, definitely and solely, a
^ lb, V. 47—50, f C(tlm Inq, p, 324, :f On Matt. p. 198,

Ig^ ON THE PBRSOJS OjF iqi^RIST. [BOOK IU,
selectiqn of the \vicke4 from among the righ>;e7
ous, i^if the purpose o^ exemplary punishment }
"Ttie impioVfS are the persons pipkeii out and
taken away ; the good are the mass whiph re-
ipainp behind. — Did l^he leari^gd bishop and his
followers fail tp perceive this mpst obvious cirr
cui:flst?|,nce/? 0r could tjiey liave qmittetj to give
it due effect, had they not been labouring " tq
subserve son;e favourite hypothesis 1"
2. " The idiom of the Hebrew language.''
The word D^1J> whicli the writers qf tlie Ifew
Testament commonly represent by a.\wv is ccft
tc^iflly of various signification. It properly de
notes any period qf very long dwf^tion, ; and it is
applied tp (|iffevent, but always great and ol^-:
servable portions of finite time, to a future im-'
n^ortality, an(l to a prpper eternity. By the
;p.abbii^ical J[ews it is alsp put pccasipnally to
signify tiiat whicl^ exists in time, or thp wtole
system of dependent ^lature :* in which sense,
according to some distinguished philologists, it
is found in the New Testam^nt.f The aiipient
* " In the Jewish Liturgy God is frequently called
D''Q^iyn m Lord of the worlds ¦ for they make a tlireefold
D?1^ or world. The first is the lower world, this elementary
I'egion : the second is the middle world, the heavenly bodies,
which they also call Obib^ wheels, or orbs : the third is the
upper world ; what the apostle calls the third heaven, 2 Cor.
xii, 9." Camera in Heb. i, 2, " The Jfews used their p!?iy in
both senses ; fo^- though it literally denotes seciilum, yet th?y
frequently applied it in the sense of mundus." J, D, Michaejiis's
IntrOd, N, T. by Marsh, vol. iv. p, 235,
f See Schleusn, Lex. in alay, signif 7. who enumerates Heb.
i. 2. xi. 3. I Tipa. i- 17. 1 Cor. ^i. 7. Bfett. xxiv, 3. 1 por. i. %0.

I I

CHAPi HI.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 199
Jews denominated the period before the Messiah,
this age or world; and that which commences at
his advent, the age or world to come. The latter
period they considered in a threefold aspect, the
reign of the Messiah in the present life, the state
of souls after death, and the state which will take
place immediately upon the resurrection of the
dead : and to each of these they applied the ap
pellation the world to come.*
It is, therefore, evident that from the mere use
of amv, no certain conclusion can be drawn. In
every case its acceptation can be determined
only by the scope and connexion, or by a com
bination with some other word producing a known
idiomatical phrase. To the former of these
modes we shall presently attend. With respect
to the latter, it would be a very welcome assist
ance to us, if a Hebrew or Chaldee or Rabbinical
phrase could be found, answering to this in the
Greek of the Evangelist, " the end of the world,"
or " the completion of the age." Neither Bishop
1 "fim. vi. 17. " This word also in the New Testament has
the peculiar signification of the world, the great system of created
things, which is otherwise denominated in Greek, Koo-p;. — So the
Rabbis use QTtJf -¦  and the Latin Fathers seculum." Vors
tius de Hebraismis N. Test. ed. Fischeri, 1778. p. 39 — 43.
* See Buxtorfi Lex, Chald. Rabbin, et Talm. col. 1620. Dru
sius on Matt. xii. 32. Witsii Dissert, de Seculo hoc et fut. in
Miscell. Sacr, vol. i. Schcettgen. Hor. Hebr. vol. ii. p. 23 — 27.
By these indefatigable scholars a multitude of Rabbinical au
thorities are adduced. Koppi has an Excursus on this topic
annexed to his Annot. Perpet. in Ep. ad Ephes. Gotting. 1791,
but which does not add much information to what is furnished
by the preceding authors.

200 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
Pearce nor Mr. Wakefield has done us this ser
vice : and from all the research at present in my
power to make, I have reaped only disappoint
ment. But Mr. Wakefield was not a man to be*
deterred by what some would have deemed in
superable difficulties. He could not find a pre
cedent, and therefore, maugre all the canons of
criticism, he has made one .'"* — ^Unfortunately his
Hebrew composition has failed. Though it con
sisted of only two words, it is such as a person
moderately skilled in the language will see to
be inadmissible.
3; Mr. Wakefield further urges Heb. ix. 26. as
" a plain text of scripture," for detei-mining the
sense of the examples in Matthew. " There,"
he says, " the author observes that Christ was
m,anife.sted once for all, for the purpose of putting
away sin, hri a-uvTsT^sla. rdSv ouaivcov at, or upon the
COMPLETION of the AGES, or age, for the LXX.
use otTT aimvos and onr a'laivoov, indiscriminately."
On this passage I remark : —
(1) It is not true that the authors of the Sep
tuagint Version " use ax aiwvos and mtt' aiiovcuv
indiscriminately. The former of these phrases,
and the form aTrb too aloovos, occur often, denoting
* " It appears to me a Jewish phrase, corresponding to
D^iy 2ip-" Wakef. p. 198. This ingeniously invented clause
could signify, in just construction, nothing but an everlasting
end. The proper form would have been D^Tyn ifp ; or (as
given by'Hutter, and in the Hebrew Version of the New Tes,ta'.
ment published in London, 1813,) D'PlPn iT'^J/l j or, in thg
CJ^aldaic idiom, ND'^yi HD'pW.

CHAP. HI.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 201
from a remote finite period and ^om eternity :
but, neither in the Septuagint nor in the Apo-
crapha can, I believe, a single instance be found
of OUTT altOVCOV or OiTTO TWV aicovwv.
(2) In the New Testament, the phrase ax
alcSvos occurs only three times.* and those in the
writings of the same person, twice in the sense
oi from the beginning of time, or from the remotest
antiquity ; and once to denote yrom eternity.
Mr. Wakefield wrote without examination, and
perhaps from the floating recollection of the two
parallel places in the New Testament, in which
otTTo Twv oCioovuiv Is fouud.f lu both those places it
gives no sense that will support his hypothesis.
Granting that the two forms of one expression
signify the same thing, it by no means follows
that two forms of another expression are syno
nymous likewise. In one combination of ideas,
the use of the plural number varies not, or
scarcely at all, the effect produced : " from
eternity," or " from eternal ages." But with
another modification of thought and a difference
both in the related terms and in the purpose in
tended, the change of the number may be of the
* Luke i, 70. Acts iii, 21, xv. 18.
t Eph. iii. 9. and Col, i, 26, Comparing these with Eph.
iii. 11. Luke i. 50. Rom. xvi. 11, and 2 Tim. i. 9. it w;iU
probably appear to the studious inquirer that these varieties of
phrase all denote the same thing, b^Q^Tyia /''<"» eternity. See
Koppi anil RosenmiiUer, Or if they be, rendered /row before the
ancient dispensations, the sense will be the same : as that which
was-befijre any of tJie divisions of time must Jiave been fronj
pternitj',

202 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. (BOOK HI.
greatest importance. " The completion of the
age,*' and " the completion of the ages," cannot
be the same thing. The one describes the closing
of a certain great period : the other that of a
series of such periods, or, according to a pecu
liar use of <roj/TeXs»a, the boundary which closes
one period and begins another.*
(3) The construction which Mr. Wakefield and
the Calm Inquirer would put upon the phrase,
in the one passage, is inconsistent with their
application of it to the other : for the period
which terminated with the sufferings and death
of Christ, could not be the same period to the
end of which he, after he had risen from the
dead, promised his presence to his disciples ; the
one was past and completed, the other future
and then only commencing.
* Spe Job xxvi. 10. L!^X. — i>-e%pi a-mreXelai ^aroj jitera mivtovi :
" iiiitp the boundary which divides tfae light from darkness."
The observations of the distinguished Biblical Hebraist,
Schcettgenius, are deserving of attention :
" Here is to be observed 1 Cbr, x, 11. Upon whom the ends
of the «ge« are come. Paul describes the men of his time as
tl^Qse ou whom the boundaries, ra, reXn, of two worlds or ages,
had met ; of this world and that to come, of the old covenant
and the new. So, in Hebr. ix. 26. Christ is said to have been
revealed at the confines of the ages, where the end of this age or
world, and the beginning of that to come, as it were, touch each
Other.— tA phrase which most exactly describes the time of
the coming of tbe Messiah, — The apostle uses the plural,
ages, an^ not the singular, to express these two periods j and
avyreXeia, and not Te'Xo?, to mark the junction of the two reXii,
the extnemitiesi of the periods." Schcettgen. Lex. N, T. aim et
wyriXxia,, Ejusd, Hor. Hebr. tom, ii. p. 27.

CHAP, JII.] PHRPIETUAI, PRESENCE. 2QS
4. If any respect be due tp the opinions of the
mpst eminent Biblipal Crjtips, it must fee re-
i%i,)'ke(i that all, so far as I have been able to
disppver, fropi Tertullian, Prigep, aud Jerome
downwards, till Dr. ^aehary Pearce proposed
his new interpretatipn, have agjee^ tp UUfierr
stand the parables of the tares and the net pa§t
intp the ?ea, pf the infinitely splemn events
Ty^lich vvill t^^^ place, " at the day of final judg
ment." The venerable and almost apostolic Sy
riac Version npt obscurely intimates the sense of
c(.l(ov ^nd the scope pf the former pf the two
parables, by its rendering xoV/aoj, ^^ the worl4)''
in V. ?8, tiy Olmo, the ^ame, flifforing pi^ly in
dialect, as the IJebrevf wprd sp often cited in
the preceding paragraphs, and ysfhich is repre
sented by oum in the scriptural Greek. Of mo-,
dera commentators I sjiall instance only those
v^hpse ^ystem^ and charaeteristic habits pf inters
pyetation, Wight np|; unreasonably be supposed
tp give them a propensity tp glpsses re^^nihling
that tp whiph we have here obj^epted- Grotius,*
Hammond, Whitby, Father Simw, Dr. Samuel
Clarke, Macknight, Wetstein, Rosenmiiller, and
EJr. Priestley, apcprd with the common and ahr.
yiou^ acceptation; and to tl\ese I must add a
name isfhich i^iH, in the present instance, cpm-
* grotius has suggested a iflinpr, ^rgun^ent,, whic^ appeaijs tp
xne o| no inconsiderable weight in determining the design of the
fiirst parahle ; observing on v. 38. " the field is the would,"
that Ihe reference of the discourse cannot be. to the. Jewish uac
tion only.

304 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. IBOOK III.
mand some attention, as an example of the power
of reason and evidence forcing itself through an
unguarded avenue. This is no other than the
name of Mr. Wakefield himself, who, in his Notes
on this very parable of the tares, says, " Our
Saviour here points out to the future day of
universal judgment, as the season for a complete
rectification of these disorders : and [see v. 29,
30<] alludes to the many inconveniences that
would inevitably attend the extirpation and
punishment of the wicked in this present life."*
The interpretation of language, especially on
topics not of a common and palpable kind, is a
matter of only moral evidence, and can scarcely
ever be freed from the possibility of objection
and cavil : but, in most cases, an attentive and
unbiassed understanding will find no great diffi
culty in determining the plain and reasonable
construction. To any man who will read these
parables with such an unprepossessed under-"
standing, with a competent acquaintance with
scripture language, and with a due attention to
our Lord's characteristic manner as a teacher,
may the appeal be made, whether the next to
unanimous interpretation of critics and commen
tators, of all times, sects, and sentiments, be not
the just one. The answer to this appeal may be
given iuthe words of Dr. Priestley : " According
to this parable, we are not to expect a complete
separation of gpod and bad men, till the end of
* 0» ilfa«. p. 196,

CHAP. III.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 205
the world, the day of judgment, or the ilast re
surrection. — We are here told that^Ae harvest
is the END OP THE WORLD, aud that the Son of man
at his second coming will send forth his angels to
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,
and them that do iniquity ; and that then, and not
before, he will order them to be cast into the fur
nace of fire ; and that then, and not before, the
righteous will shine forth as the sun inthe hing^
dom of their Father, All our hopes and fears,
therefore, should respect that great day, em
phatically called THAT day."*
We now proceed to the consideration of the
fourth instance, in which the phrase, whose im
port is to be determined, occurs in the New
Testament. " The disciples came to him apart,
saying, Tell us, when will these things be, and
what the sign of thy coming and (rr^g a-pvrsTielag too
aiduvog) oi the end, of the world ?"\ This example
the Calm Inquirer considers as decisive of the
question.! But he appears to overlook a very
* Notes on Scripture, vol. iii. p. 179, ISO. | Matt. xxiv. 3.
X " What will be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of
this world, or age ?' Here the phrase unquestionably means the
Jewish dispensation, or rathisr polity. For, in reply to the
question proposed by his disciples, our Lord immediately pro
ceeds to foretel the calamities which should precede the destruc
tion of Jerusalem. And v. 34. he declares, ' This generation
shall not pass till all these things are fulfilled.'.' Calm Inq. p, 323.
The error in the Inquirer's citation of the passage, this tor the,
was undoubtedly unintentional : but it requires to be noticed,
as to cursory readers it appears to carry some weight in favour
of the Tmter's hypothesis.

206 ON THfi PERSON OP CHRIST. [BOOK III.
©bvious cii^cumstance, namely, that this is the
language of the four disciples, and not of Jesus :
and that it must thereforej be interpreted in con
sonance with what we have reason to believe
was the then present state of their knowledge.
The dispiples viewed the coming of Christ and
the end of th6 world or age, as events nearly
related, and whiph would indisputably take plaee
together : but no one can suppose that they had
any idea of the dissolution of the Jewish polity,
with the attendant miseries, as really signified,
or included in, either of those events. They con
ceived of the event concerning which they in
quired, as something inexpressibly great and
awful, a total change, perhaps, in the physical
constitution of the universe ; and they probably
expected its occurrence within the term of their
own lives : but they could have no conception
of what was really meant by the expression
virhich they employed^ the coming of Christ.
The occasion upon which they proposed their
question was our Lord's assuring them of the
i-uiii of the magnificent building which they
were admiring, one of their principal subjects of
national pride and boasting. " From their very
childhood," says a judicious and penetrating
commentator, "they imagined that the temple
would stand to thfe end of time : and this notion
was so deeply fixed in tbeir minds, that they
regarded it as impossible for the temple to be
overthrown, while the structure of the universe
remained. As soon therefore as Christ told

CHAP. IU.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 207
them that the temple would be destroyed, their
thoughts instantly ran to the consummation of
all things. Thus they connect with the destruc
tion of the temple, as things inseparable, the
coming of Christ and the end of the world. — A
fond hope, which they had conceived without
any authority, that the final perfection of the
i-eign of Christ was very near, and actually pre
sent, led them to indulge the extravagant ex
pectation of springing all at once to perfect
happiness."* — A modern scripture-critic of a very
different order likewise observes on this pas
sage ; " it is certain that the phrase is i^ a-uvri'heia
too aicuvog is understood in the New Testament
(Matt. xiii. 39, 40. 49. xxviii. 20.) of the end of
the world. The disciples spoke according to
the opinions of their countrymen. They believed
* Calvin, Commentaire sur la Concordance^ ou Harmonic, com-
possie des III, Evangelistes ; Gen. 1563, p, 457. That the illus
trious reformer had a foundation of facts for his observations,
and was not drawing a picture from his own conceptions of
probability, is evinced by the Rabbinical citations adduced in
Lightfoot's Hora Hebr, et Talm, in loc. Works, vol. ii. p. 240,
241. and Wetstein, N. T. in loc.
" Since the Hebrews, by the formula this world or age, de
noted the time before the coming of the Messiah, and by the
world or age to come, the time under the Messiah's reign : and
since the Jews believed that, vrith the destruction of their city
and temple, would be joined the coming of the Messiah to
judgment and the dissolution of the world : (see Koppe's Ex-
curs, i, in Ep, ad Eph, and Lightfoot's Hor, Hebr. in loc.) I
assent to those interpreters who understand the formula [^
avyrix. &c.] of the end of the present system of things, and the
coming of Christ as miiversal Judge." Kuinoel iii loc.

208 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU.
that the end of this world, and the beginning of
a new one would follow immediately upon the
destruction of the temple."*
Thus, I conceive, we have as satisfactory evi
dence as the nature of the case admits, that the
Calm Inquirer was " certainly mistaken" when
he wrote, " Here the phrase unquestionably
means the Jewish dispensation, or rather polity ;"
and that, on the other hand, the present instance
does not differ from the preceding ones, and is
most rationally to be understood as denoting no
other than that signal termination of the existing
order of the divine government which the scrip
tures teach us to expect, the great epoch of the
universe. This discussion of the examples upon which
the interpretation of Bishop Pearce and others
is attempted to be supported, has, I trust, shewn
that they Tender it no aid : and that they abun
dantly confirm the old and common interpreta
tion of the phrase in question. We, therefore,
return to the passage under consideration, " Be
hold, I am with you always, even to the end of
the world," or " of the age," which will extend
to the awful scenes of expiring time.
3. If we were to lay out of our minds all re
spect to the other examples of this phrase, our
only means of ascertaining its import in addition
* Rosennviller in loc. So Schleusner also understands the
phrase, in all the passages : " finis hujus mundi, — interitus
mundi," Lck. vol. ii, p, 1019.

CHAP. III.] PERPETUAL PRESENCES 20»
to the grammatical construction,* would be the
apparent scope and design of the whole passage.
To this we shall now attend.
The use of the term ouwv, age or world, will not
of itself, as was before observed, determine what
particular system, dispensation, or period is de
signed ; we must search for some characters of
specification. * The evidence of the Ancient Versions, if it does not put
the question out of controversy, inclines strongly in favour of
the usual interpretation.
To the Syriac, the remarts before made on the Hebrew term
are applicable. But it is an important fact that Olam, or in the
emphatic state Olmo, by which alay is rendered here (and in
every other . instance in the N. T. so far as I have discovered,
and I have examined many passages,) is also the word uni
formly employed when Koa-fioq occurs in the original. At least I
have compared every instance in the Gospels and Acts, and
many in the Epistles, without finding a single deviation, except
in John xviii. 20. where, instead of rS Koa-juf the Syriac trans
lator evidently had rS Xa^, a reading which is not noticed by
Walton, Mill, Wetstein or Griesbach.
The Arabic of Rome, 1591, has to the dissolution of the age,
Alam, the same word as in the Hebrew and Syriac.
The Arabic in Walton's Polyglott, has to the completion of
ages. The latter word daharon, of which the version uses the
plural, is thus explained by Golius : " Tempus, peculiariter
Iqhgum ; seculum ; mille anni ; quin perpetuitas; finis ; ex
tremum," Lex. Arab, col. 874.
' • The Vulgate has ad consummationeni seculi ; and of the Latin
versions before Jerome, some read mundi and others seculi ; but
the comments, and reasonings of the Latin fathers shew that
they understood by seculum the period to the end of time.
With regard to the following, I am obliged to trust to the Latin
translations. For the .3Sthiopic the editors give ad finem mundi;
the Persic, in teternitatem eeternitalis : the Coptic, by Wilkin»,
ad finem seculorum.
VOL. II. P

2^ ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK i
1. pur Lord does not say ; to the end qf this
age, as the Calm Inquirer has twice cited the
clause.* It is true that this is not a very mate
rial difference, but it has some effect 5 and that
effect, so far as it can go, is not of the nature of
just argument. Jesus Christ, said, " I am with
with you— ^to the end of the age :" for here the
use and intent of the Greek and of the English
article are the same. What must the period qf
time have been which would naturally and neces
sarily present itself to the minds of our Lord's
hearers 1 — Ignorant though they, even now, re
mained of the nature and extent of his kingdom,
but convinced as they most surely were of his
being the True Messiah, could they entertain any
other notion of the age by him so emphatically
designated, than that it was the destined period
of the Messiah's reign, the duration in the pre
sent state of his official pre-eminence and domi
nion as the Redeemer of Israel '? — Their idea of
the age could not, we conceive, be any other than
coincident with those Days of the Messiah, with
the expectation of which their Rabbinical doc
trines and their popular opinions were so strongly
imbued. They could not think of the small and
languishing remsiins oi . the Levitical age, for at
this time they knew nothing of the divine plan
for its abolition. They could not think of the
end qf the Jewish polity, as an event detached
from the conclusion of all temporal things, for
their deeply rooted opinions would infallibly
* Page 323, 325.

CHAP. III.] PERPETUAL PRESSNCE. ' gu
prevent such an expectation ; and, had it been
presented to them, they would have shrunk from
it with alarm and horror. They could not think
of the period commonly called the apostolic age,
for both the term and the idea are comparatively
modern. It is morally impossible that they could
associate with our Lard's words any other con
ception than that of the long desired period on
which their minds had been previously so accus
tomed to dwell, and in which they had the
strongest feelings of interest and hope, — " the
world to come, the exaltation of Israel, in the
days of the Messiah."*
It should also be recollected that we have not
incontrovertible proof of our Lord's words being
intended or understood to denote dwration only*
The Hebrew word which, in the dialect then ver
nacular, our Lord probably, or we almost might '
say certainly, employed, was used also, as we
have before observed, to signify the visible sys'
tern of the universe as associated with the flow
of time. That acceptation is equally pe^lnent
to the connexion and design of the present
passage, and of the four other instances : nor i§
it possible, I conceive, to shew by any pertain
argument that it was not the sense designed
by Jesus Christ and unc^erstood by his apostles.
Such was the opinion of the authors of some Of
the most esteemed modern yersions,t and of
-.,--, II .III I III - . . I ¦ I I J "*
* Lightfoot, Works, vol. ii. p. 240,
t To our established translation, and the excellent one by
the British refugees at Geneva, may be added the German of
P 2

gift ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
critics,* whose erudition and skill will, by all, be
admitted to have been at least not inferior to
those qualifications in the worthy and learned
Dr. Pearce,t or in that eminent, but often pre
cipitate scholar, Mr. Wakefield.j
2. It is evidently reasonable to consider the
extent of our Lord's promise, as commensurate
with the purpose for the advancement and suc
cess of which it was given. That purpose was
" to make all nations disciples" to the doctrine
and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ : " preach
ing repentance and remission of sins in his
name," and " teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever he had commanded." To encourage
his servants in their efforts for the effectuating
of this design, the Saviour assures them of his
OWN PRESENCE, as the king possessed of all power
in heaven and upon earth :" for their aid and
protection, their deliverance from all dangers,
their surmounting all difficulties, and their even
tual triumph in the full accomplishment of the
great and benevolent purpose. But that purpose
is not yet accomplished. If any should pretend
Luther, the Dutch, whose reputation among modern versions is
very great ; the Protestant French of different revisions from the
Reformation to the celebrated edition by the Pastors and Pro
fessors of Geneva, 1805 ; the Catholic French of Mons, and other
Catholic Versions, and the Italian of Diodati.
* Schleusner, voce ^vyrcXeia. " — ad mundi finem,— ad finem
usque rerum humanarum." S. F. N. Mori Comm. Exeg. Histor,
in Theol, Christ, vol. ii. p. 189, Halae Sax. 1798.
f See Note [A] at the end of this Capitule.
I See Note [B] at the end of this Capitule.

chap. III.] perpetual PRESENCE. SIS
that it was actually carried " into effect, to such
an extent as might be construed into a comple
tion of our Lord's intention, by the apostles and
their coadjutors ; as the apostle Paul says that
" the gospel was come into all the world :"* I
beseech them to consider what is involved in
their hypothesis. They have, first, to construe
the words of the apostle in a sense manifestly
I'epugnant to reason and truth, and to the com
mon use of language.! To affirm that the " touch
ing and glancing" of the gospel on the regions
of the earth in the apostolic age, and joined to
it all the subsequent diffusion of Christianity to
the present hour, has amounted to an equivalent
to the " making all nations disciples," sincerely
and practically such (for Christ would so call no
other) ; is not idle and absurd only : it is pro
fane, contemptuous, and wicked. They have,
further, to admit that the preaching and propa
gation of Christian truth ceased to be a duty,
when the last of the primitive disciples expired :
for to them only, according to the hypothesis,
was the command given; to them only was the
promise made.
* Col, i, 6. '¦ ~
t This and similar phrases are common in both ancient and
modern languages, to denote a considerable extent of magnitude
or number. We say, every where, every body, tout le monde. The
evident meaning of Paul is, that Christianity was now made
known in all the principal provinces and cities of the empire,
and in some places probably beyond its boundaries. So he had
written, some years before, that the faith and piety of the
Roman church w^ ^' published in the whole world ;" Rom. i. 8,

814 ON THE PERSON 0!* CSftlST. fBOOlC III.
To me, I confess, it appea^rs as manifest as the
reason of the case can make it, that the promise
of oflf Gracious Redeemer's presence is correla"
tive with the obligation and worit of teaching
the Christian religion, aUd practising its duties.
Hence the proniise is not to be restricted to the
apostles, or to the primitive evangelists, but is
to be extended, by the reason of an equal, or
even a stronger, necessity, through all subse
quent tiliie, till all nations shall become true dis
ciples of the Messiah, " shall serve him, and
shasll call him blessed."* I have said, by a
stronger necessity, and this rests upon two rea
sons : first, the cessation of miracles; and se
condly, the Undeniable fact that, after all the
'glorious success of the apostles and their fellow
lab'oiirers, hy fdr the larger proportion of the
Work to be ddne remained undone when the last
of that generation Were gathered to their fathers ;
—yea, with sorrow and shame should the Chris
tian church acknowledge, that larger proportion
of the mOst solemn and interesting of public
duties remains to this hour not performed !-—
" Arise, O God ! Judge the earth ; for thou shalt
inherit all nations. Take to thyself thy great
power and reign ! Take the heathen for thine in
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession !"t
Attention is also due to the import and irapli-
* See Psalm Ixxii. 11, 17. Dan. vii. 14.
f Psalm Ixxxii. 8. ii,[8. Rev. xi. 17.

chap. IU.1 PERPETUAL PKESENCl^. 215
Cations of the terms in which the promise is
couched " Behold" (JSou) is not merely a note
of attention and of solemn asseveration, but it
generaUy introduces something new and unex
ampled, and of high importance.—" I am with
you." This is a form of speech of kiiown and
very expressive use in the style of scripture.
" It is observable," says Grotius (whose anti-
evangelical predilections render such a remark
peculiarly important, as what we may well
believe that nothing but mighty evidence would
have dtawn from him,) " that to be with gi,ny one,
is peculiarly spoken of God."* The expression
standing thus free from any adjunct, usually^
and perhaps constantly, denotes a manifestation
of the wisdom, power, and grace of God, in an
especial manner, for the protection of his ser
vants, their guidance in the ways of obedience,
and the communication to them of all blessings.
Here are some examples of this sacred phrase.
" Behold, I am with thee, and I will keep thee
in all places whither thou goest. — As I was with
Moses, I will be witK thee ; I will not leave thee,
nor forsake thee, — O my Lord, if Jehovah be
with us, why have we met with all this 1 — And
Jehovah said to him. Surely I will be with thee.
-'— Fear not, for I am with thee : be not dismayed
for I am thy God."t Passages of this kind might
be accumulated. If the reader chooses to search
out a greater number of them, I think he will be
* Annot, in loc. .
t Gen. »xvii. 15. Josh. i. 5. Jud. vi. 13, 16. Isaiah xlj. 10.

2 IS ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU. )
convinced that I do not lay an extravagant
stress upon the use of this expression, as what
was to Jesus and his countrymen a wellrknown
idiom, designating the exercise of divine per
fections. — Ila<rag rag rifj-spag (literally all the
days,) we can render in English only by always
or perpetually. The French language has the
very idiom, tous les jours. The phrase put thus
absolutely, without a following noun inthe geni
tive, is of rare occurrence. It is found in the
New Testament no where but here, and in the
Septuagint a few times :* and it always signifies'
an uninterrupted perpetuity, as complete as the
nature of the subject will admit.
Mr. Wakefield, however, asserted that the
sense of the promise that " Christ would be with
them to the end of the age, and how long that
period was, will be best understood from the
parallel passage of St. Mark : — chap. xvi. 17 — 19.
So then our Lord would continue with them in
working miracles to the end of the age."t
I reply that it is altogether a gratuitous as
sumption that the passage in the Gospel of Mark
is " the parallel" to that in Matthew. It is not
proved to be so, either by the series of events in
the narration, or by the correspondence of the
terms. But, if we were to admit that the two
passages occurred in the same address of Jesus
to his disciples, they must have been distinct
* See LXX. Gen. xUii, 9. 3 Kings xii, J, 4 Kings viii. 19.
xiii. 3. xvii. 37.
I On Matthm, p, 415,

chap. III.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 217
parts of the discourse, and ought by no means to
be confounded with each other. The narration
in Matthew stands alone, having no immediate
connexion with any previous circumstance ; for
the facts of which the statement is closed in the
antecedent sentence, are completely detached,
and had taken place at some distance of time
before those now introduced : and the scene of
this narration is a mountain in Galilee, whither
the eleven apostles (and, as many harmonists
suppose, the great body of our Lord's followers,
in number more than five hundred,*) had re
paired, in consequence of an appointment made
by our Lord on the evening before his death.
On the other hand, the passage of Mark is appa
rently so connected with the preceding verse as
to render it highly probable, at least, that the
occurrence took place in a private house, in or
near Jerusalem, on the very evening of our Lord's
resurrection, and was that of which we have
other relations in John xx. 19 — 23. and Luke
xxiv. 36—49.
How far a correspondence can be traced in the
terms of the passages, will the more conveniently
be shewn by placing them together : —
Matthew xxviii 16—20, Mark xvi. 14 — 18.
' " But the eleven disciples "¦ Afterwards, he was mani-
went into Galilee, to a moun- fested to the eleven disciples as
tain where Jesus had appointed they were sitting at table : and
them : and when they saw he reproved them for their
him, they worshipped him j disbelief and obstinacy, that
* See I Cor, xv. 6.

218

ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

[BOOK I

but some were in suspense.
And Jesus came forwards and
spoke to them, saying,
" All power is given unto
me in heaven and upon earth.
Gq, inake disciples of all na
tions, baptizing them to the
name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit :
teaching them to observe all
things, whatsoever! have com
manded you J and, behold ! I
am with you always, tiU the
end of the world."

they had not credited those
who saw him risen : and he
said to them,
" Go into the whole world,
and proclaim the glad tidings
to all the [human] race. He
who believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he who
disbelieveth shall be condemn
ed. And miracles shaU. fol
low those who believe. In
my name they shall cast out
daemons J they shall speak in
new tongues ; they shall take
up serpents : and if they drink
any deadly poison, it shall not
hurt them ; and they shall lay
, , hands on diseased [persons]
and they shall become well."
The candid reader will now judge whether
Mr. Wakefield's argument deserves any better
name than that of an empty assertion, destitute
of any rational proof.
The Calm Inquirer presents us with a passage
from Mr. Lindsey, and blazons it as " highly
judicious and important."
"Our Lord says, ' I am with you,' that is, as
Mr. Lindsey observes, Seq. p. 75, ' with you
who are' now present with me, — you may be as
sured of extraordinary assistance and support.
But he does not promise the same to succeeding
Christians : the miraculous aid and gifts of which
he obviously speaks, were confined to the age of
the apostles.' "*

* Colm Inq, p, 325.

CHAl*. ni.l PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 319
On this paragraph I submit two observations :
1. It is not " obvious" that our Lord is speak
ing of " miraculous aid and gifts :" but it is, on
the contrary, abundantly manifest that he is
speaking of no such thing, but altogether on
subjects which are the common duty and privi
lege of the Christian church in all ages ; his own
supremacy, the diffusion of his truth, and the
universal obligation of mankind tO yield him
full obedience.
2. We have already shewn, by evidence to
which a truly serious inquirer will give its just
weight, that the nature, ground, and reason of
the promise, so far from " Confining it to the age
of the apostles," oblige us, by all the rules of
fair interpretation, to regard it as intended by
its Blessed Author to reach through every period
of time, till " all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God."
" It may nevertheless be conceded that our
Lord is, or may be pei^sonally present in this
World, atid actively engaged at all times in some
unknown manner for the benefit of hi^ church.
 The truth is, that the Scriptures have left us
totally in the dark virith regard to the present
condition, employment^ and attributes of Christ,
and therefore it is in vaitt to speculate upon the
subject."* So says this writer : and, alas ! there is igno
rance, and carelessness^ and credulity enough in
* Calm Inqifi 3^4,

320 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
the world to receive such assertions with easy
faith. " It may be conceded" that Christ is doing
something for the good of his cause among
men : but no one can tell what !  Certainly
we know little of the state and operations of the
invisible world ; and, above all, of the Great God
himself our best conceptions are feeble and low :
but does it follow from thence that we are
" totally in the dark" on such subjects % — Con
cerning the circumstances and the proceedings
of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his glorified state,
undoubtedly we are incompetent to form just
conceptions of specific objects ; but must rest in
certain general notions, derived from our purest
and most exalted conceptions of dignity, merit,
power, activity, usefulness and happiness : yet
the scriptures have not left us in the state of
total ignorance affirmed by this daring writer,
with regard to the Saviour's " present condition,
employment, and attributes." And, though a
considerable part of the scriptural declarations
on this head is veiled in the language of figure
and allusion to human affairs, and the sei-vices of
the Hebrew sanctuary, still enough of knowledge
is permitted us to elevate our hopes, and excite
our love, gratitude, and confidence. We read
that " God hath highly exalted him, and hath
granted to him a name above every name," to
which homage is to be done by all created
beings, " heavenly, earthly, and infernal :" and
that " he sitteth at the right hand of God the

CHAP. III.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 231
Father," " all his enemies," and " all things" be
sides, being " put beneath his feet :"* and thus,
using the figurative representations as the indices
of spiritual and sublime conceptions, we believe
that Jesus Christ possesses a station of greatness,
HAPPINESS, and active energy, infinitely superior
to the state of any created being, so as to pro
duce in us the idea, which is inculcated in the
scriptures by a great variety of phrase, of Uni
versal Dominion. We read that " he fills all
things ;" that believers are " filled by him, receiv
ing out of his fulness grace for grace :"t and
therefore we believe that he exercises an actual
influence, both physical and moral upon the
whole conduct of mundane affairs, and all the
motives and actions of men. We read that " he
searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins, and will
give to every man according to his works :" J and
we therefore conclude that he possesses the most
PERFECT, accurate, and universal knowledge,
and that he is constantly applying that know
ledge to purposes of the greatest importance,
purposes in which we ourselves have the most
solemn concern. We read that "he appeareth
in the presence of God, acting for us :"§ and we
derive from this often-repeated assurance, the
belief that he exercises, for the benefit of his
obedient servants, all the powers and preroga
tives of his supremely blessed state, effecting
* Phil. ii. 9, 10. 1 Cor, xv. 25. Eph, i. 21, 22,
t Eph, iv, 10, Col, ii. 10. { Rev, ii. 23.
5 See Note [C] at the en4 of this Capitule.

^33 QN THE PERSON OP CHRIBT; [BOQK IU.
OUR GOOD IN EVERY POSSIBLE FORM AND MODE, and
of which we frame some humble conception by
combining the ideas of a friend ever constant
and faithful, a patron, an intercessor, an a4vo-
cate : in fine, that his state of transcendent hap
piness has not removed him to an inaccessible
distance from us, and has neither dissolved nor
impaired his gracious connexion with us : but
that he maintains, without any detraction from
his own perfect bliss, the most generous sym
pathy in our sorrows, afflictions, and difficulties ;*
that he is the Giver of our consolation, hope,
and stability;! and that he is the Author op
ETERNAL SALVATION to all that obcy him.t
Such is a very brief sketch of the information
which the scriptures afford concerning the " pre
sent condition, employment, and attributes of
Christ." Yet the author of a professed Inquiry
into the Scripture Doctrine concerning Him,
deliberately tells us, that, " upon this subject
they leave us totally in the dark!" — May the
mercy of that Blessed One whose name is thus
dishonoured, forgive the bold impiety or igno
rant unbelief!
Before we quit this topic, a few words more
are due to Mr. Wakefield.
That gentleman candidly acknowledged " that
early Christian writers used this phrase in a
more extensive signification, for the consummation
of all things at the end of the world ; aud the
word amv for world. But their authority is of
• Heb, iv. 6, f 3 Thess, ii. 16, 17. % Heb, v, 9.

CHAP. III.J PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 223
little weight, as they seem to have been in
general very slender proficients in the Hebrew
language. See Ignat. Epist. interp. ad Smyrn,
sect. 3. Polycarp. Ep. ad Phil, sect 5. Orig,
cont. Cels. lib. II. p. 85. and 140. &e. Ed. Cant.
Euseb. Ec. Hist. III. 20. Lactant. lib. VII. sect. 9.
and others."*
I am no advocate for submission to the autho
rity of the fathers, either as divines or as inter
preters of Scripture. With some honourable
exceptions, they were in the one capacity, in
judicious and inconsistent ; in the other, arbitrary
and irrational. But one of the most useful pur
poses to which we can put them, is to get their
testimony in questions of fact : and the meaning
of a word or phrase in their vernacular language,
or some other with which they were acquainted,
is a matter of fact. It is also true that they
were, in general, ignorant of the Hebrew and its
cognate languages. But, in relation to the pas-
Sage which we have had so long under con
sideration, there appears to me to be very fair
grounds for making an exception in favour of the
first three fathers referred to by Mr. Wakefield.
Though Ignatius and Polycarp were not Jews,
and perhaps had little acquaintance with the
Hebrew or the Syriac languages, they possessed
advantages for knowing the meaning of apostolic
phraseology which were more than an equivalent.
It is a matter of very credible history, that both
!¦ II ¦— — Wii*— i^— " ¦' I '¦¦¦¦—¦¦, ^. ¦ ¦¦ , III .jMi.iii  ¦¦11,1111.  ¦ I llUBlMii II I
* On Matthew, p. 414.

424 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
of them had been acquainted with some of the
apostles, and those the principal writers of the
New Testament;* and, in their respective
churches at Antioch and Smyrna, it is undoubted
that they spent a very large part of their lives
in the intimacy of many who had been the
hearers and friends of Peter, John, Paul, and
their contemporaries and colleagues. Ignatius
declares that he saw the Lord Jesus in the flesh,
after his resurrection :t most probably, therefore,
he lived in Judaea at that time, and was a child
or inmate in some family of our Lord's own dis
ciples. But Mr. Wakefield has, I fear, shewn more
candour than exactness in making his remark :
for not only is there no reference to Matt, xxviii.
20. in the places of Ignatius and Polycarp
to which he has referred, but, after a diligent
inspection, I can find no citation of the passage,
or the remotest allusion to it, in either the
genuine or the interpolated epistles of the
former, or in the single epistle of the latter, or
in the epistle of the Church at Smyrna, giving
an account of his martyrdom.
Of Origen we have good reason to believe
that he was well acquainted with the scriptural
Hebrew ; and his long residence in Palestine was
likely to excite his active and indefatigable mind
to a familiarity with the idioms vernacular in
* See Lardner's Credibility, v«l, i. p. 145, 189.
I Ep, ad Smyrn, gect. 3.

CHAP. Ill,] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 225
that country : so that probably not one of the
Greek or Latin fathers was more competent
than he to interpret the phraseology of the New
Testament. Besides the instances incorrectly
referred to by Mr. Wakefield, there are many
of the clearest and strongest kind.* They all
take alcov, not in the sense of the physical world
as Mr. Wakefield hastily affirmed, but in the
sense of duration; and they most expressly un
derstand that duration as extending to the con
summation of all things. In several of those pas
sages, Origen combines the text under consi
deration with Matt, xviii. 20. " Where two or
three are gathered together unto my name, there
I am in the midst of them." And, in an animated
strain of piety and eloquence, he frequently ex
patiates on the security and happiness of the
church, and of individual believers, in the as
surance of an ever-present Saviour, in all their
conflicts and distresses, and through all the
periods of time. Nothing can be more decisive
than Origen's testimony to the meaning of the
phrase, as the conclusion qf the present state.
The reference to Eusebius is worthy of par
ticular attention. Mr. Wakefield ought to have
informed his readers that the passage is not of
Eusebius himself, but is a direct citation from
Hegesippus, a Jewish Christian, who flourished
* More than twenty instances of this description may readily
be found by the help of the Tables of Scripture Passages at the
end of each volume of the Paris edition of Origen's Works, by
C. and C. V. Delarue, 4 vols, folio, 1733—1759.
VOL. II. Q

22S ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [DOOit tfx.
in the second century, and probably used the
Hebrew or Syro-Chaldaic Gospel. This frag
ment is so interesting that I subjoin it.* It fur
nishes the most complete information, and from a
very satisfactory quarter, how Jewish Christians,
in the veiy apostolic age itself. Understood the
words of Jesus,
It would be easy to carry on this argument,
by bringing instances of similar interpretation
from others of the early Christian writers, but it
is unnecessary : for, if the evidence adduced
from Hegesippus and Origen be not sufficient to
determine the question, no accumulation of pas
sages from other, which must be inferior, autho
rities could be of the smallest Weight.
An apology may seem due for the extension to
so great a length, of these remarks on a single
passage. But, I trust, the impartial reader will
see that it has been rendered necessary by the
erroneous though confident assertions, the incor
rect philology, and the inconclusive reasonings
of the writers on whom we have been compelled
to animadvert. * See Note [D] at the end of this Capitule.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

TO

CAPITULE IV.
Note [A] page 212.
The critical reputation of Bishop Pearce is not high. In
relation to his edition of Longinus, which was his literary chef
d'asuvre and a fair field for the trial of his talents, David Ruhn-
kenius (whom none will dispute to have been qualified to pro
nounce with authority on questions of Greels criticism,*) interr
-sperses such remarks as these " Pearcius, pro su9, .Gr2ecae lin
guae intelligentii, poTtmly exponit humile ; — Grsecfe doctis novum
* " The temper or at least the language of verbal tritics hals been in
our da.ys much improved by the examples of Marklan!j,'Wes6eling', Hem-
sterhusius, Valckenaer, Ruhnien, Heyne, and other iUu^(tiQus. ¦scholars."
— " The warmest of Mr. Wakefield's admirers must acknowledge that, ifi
taste, erudition, and ingenuity, the celebrated Ruhnken was superior te
him. But they will recollect, with satisfaction, that one praise which
Wyttsnhach bat bestowed upon Rufanken, may be justly claimed by
Wakefield : ' He always spoke as he ttiouglit, and be could not endure
those whojlid otherwise.* " Dr. PARft ia the Id/i of Gilbert Wakefield by
Messrt. .Butt and ffmnewright ; vol. ii, p. 438, 440.
" The intelligence of his [Ruhnkenivjs'?] death reached us very lately,
— This melancholy event has carried off the last of the school of Hem-
sterhusius ! The limits of a Review are by no meai.s calculated to admit
a description of his virtues as -a man, nor of his learning as a scholar.
Halt a century has laiearly elapsed since the publication of his fiTStEjnstola,
Critica on Homer's Hymns and on Hesiod, addressed to bis eminent
friend, Ludovic Caspar Valckenaer. This long period has &caccely pro
duced any critic who has equalled him inelegance of taste, 4a depth of
research, or in soundness of erudition ; and, during all future ages, if the
writers of observations and the editors of ancient authors be desirous of
awiviug at the style eX a genuine commentator, pure in bis Latinity, clear
mhh expressions, concise in his phraseology, temperate in his censures,
calm in his decisions, sound in bis judgment, acute iu tiis conjectures,
secure in his quotations, disdainful of imaginary witticisms, aud superior
to petty cavils, they will ' devote their days aud nights' to those fitieut
models of critical composition, the works of David Ruhnkenius." Dr,
Charus BuRNEY, in the Monthly Review, 14. S. wl. xsviii. p. 98. 1
<J2

2^8 NOTES.
et inauditum, — Male quse recta et plana sunt pervertit Pearcius,
— Pearcius, cum quid Xoyoj significarent non videret, sententiam
interpungendo corrupit. — Quid sit ema&alpeiy rectius quam Pear
cius intellexerunt, — Errorem errore defendit," — " Pearce, such
was his knowledge of .Greek, translates poin-Aoq by low ; — a thing
new and strange to every Greek scholar. — ^Passages -vyhich are
right and easy he lamentably perverts. — ^Not perceiving the
sense of Xoyoi, he has spoiled the sentence by improper punctua
tion, — They understood the meaning of eY.'/iaBaipeiv better than
Bishop Pearce, — He defends one blunder by making another."
Ruhnkenii Emendationes in Longinum, passim.
Mr. Toup, who was too much inclined to asperity in his re
marks upon others, takes frequent occasion to speak as respect
fully as possible of Bishop Pearce, perhaps from the influence of
an affinity in theological predilections. But even he lays his
rebukes upon the learned prelate. "¦ Viri doctissimi k/j/o-^ minus
satisfacit. — Non recte accepit, — Non animadvertit. — Non intel-
lexit, — Non s(:opum tetigit. — Frustra defendit, — Nihil minus. —
Perperam soUicitavit, — Quae miror viro doctissimo placere po
tuisse," — " The learned writer's criticism is unsatisfactory, — He
has misunderstood. — He has not perceived, — He has not
comprehended. — He has totally failed. — Jn vain has he at
tempted to defend, — Nothing could be farther from the truth. —
He has wretchedly bungled. — I am surprised that the learned
doctor could satisfy himself with such things," Toupii Notce et
Animadv. in Longinum, passim.
Note [B] page 212. -
"¦ 1 suspect that his [Mr. Wakefield's] mind was embar
rassed and confused by the multiplicity of his reading : that it
was not sufficiently stored with those principles which a man of
his industry and sagacity might have easily coUected  j that
he had read much, observed much, ai^d remembered much :
that he was eager to produce the multifarious matter which he
had accumulated ; and that he wanted time or patience for that
discrimination which would have made his conjectures fewer,
indeed, but more probable; and his principles in forming or
illustrating them more exact." Dr, Pakr ii\ Life of Gilbert
Wakefield, vol, ii. page 445.

KOTES. 229
Another of the unrivalled three (Parr, Person, and Burney)
who in our times have adorned and exalted ancient learning,
inflicted on Mr, Wakefield his powerfdl castigation, in the fol
lowing exquisit'e passage : —
" The genuine Critic, when he undertakes the examina
tion of any work, deliberates with coolness, and investigates
with caution. His objections are stated with civility, unalloyed
by sarcasm ; and his opinions are delivered with firmness, un
mixed with petulance. His judgment is not obscured by an
overweening confidence in his own acquirements. His taste is
not vitiated by a perpetual search after novelty. His ardour in
the cause of learning is superior to petty considerations ; and
the sportive obtrusions of a playful fancy never diminish the
force of his arguments. He proposes his own emendations
with diffidence ; while he does not rashly infer that the sileuce
of his contemporaries has its source in malevolence; nor does
he attribute their objections to a desire of degrading him from
that post, to which, he is entitled in the ranks; of literature,"
Dr, Charles Burisiby, in Monthly Review, January, 1799, N. S.
vol, xxviii, p, 86, Note [C] page 221.
* Rom. viii, 27, 34, Heb, vii, 25, The true meaning of
hrvyxayeiy seems to be more closely expressed by this term than
by the word usually employed, interceding, which in its English
acceptation has too restricted a signification. The proper mean
ing of hrvyyjSiMa is, I apply to a person upon the concerns of a third
¦party, whether favourably or the reverse. We have an example
of the unfavourable application in Acts xxv, 24, " All the multi
tude of the Jews have been applying to me, both at Jerusalem
and here, exclaiming that he ought no longer to live," In the
favourable and more usual sense, it denotes the using one's in
terest with a person on behalf of another, whether by recom
mendation, supplication, entering into an engagement, adjust
ing an account, or in any other way, '^ The phrase irrvyxdyeiy
{iifip rivoi; signiGes either, in a legal sense to be the agent, at
torney, or advocate in a cause for any one ; or in any transaction
of common life, to interpose on another's behalf, to do any thing
for another's benefit, to assist, to aic!.^— Rom. viii. 37- The Holy

NQTBS.
Spirit hdps Ghristians in their prayers) and teaches thetn hqw
to pray agreeably to the will of God, In the same chap, v, 34,
-and Heb. vii, ^5. Christ is said tyrvyxdiiem imp ayBpohtay, which
expression, I have not a doubt, signifies the perpetual and
ift^rnul efficacy of the merits of Christ, maintained by him on our
behalf iff his glorified stale. The expression seems to have been
(leriy^ frpna $ha Je.wish high-priest, on the great annual day of
atonement, 0$mS tP *^od an expiatory sacrifice in the name of
^e whpte nation, spd thas interceding with God for the people.
In thp foriper .«f (hesie tws passages, therefore, the meaning is,
' WhQ now sjttetjj at tbp right hand of God, and maintains for us
the eSjc*ey flf hfe !ie.*th:' in the latter place, ^ He ever liveth
to be, and always remain, {}je c^Juse of their salvation.' " Schleus
ner. jB» vocem.
I canpot ib-v* rje!3()ark OB thie extogme unfairness of the author
of theilalnji Inquiry, in quoting ii detached claiise out of the
pFeeejdJSg p^s,^ge, in s^tch ?, manner as to lead the unwary
reader tp sufjpose thst Sphle»sner supports the sentiments of
the Infijirer. Jt stands thu^ in page 3^7. " hmiyxdveiy iicep
rmi;, pro commodo alicujus facere aliquid. Schleusner." i. e, to
do any thing for another's benefit.
The late eminently learned and judicious Dr. Morns of Leip
zig, aftsr a minute examination, concludes that the proper
«fgHi6ea.jtjoii and extent of the word is this, that Christ is, and
«yer ^ntipues, the Author and Bestpwer of eternal salvation, so
that thfise whp seek it may be assured that they shall obtain itj
for his sak« and by his gift. S. p. N. Mpri Dissert.de Notionibus
IlniaipFsism Thpolftg'^; ap. Dissert. Theol. et Philol. Lips. 1798.
ypl. I, p. 2{)3^306, Note [D] page 226.
«' There w«re stiil suFviving some of^the family of the Lord,
two grsmdsens of Jude, who is called his brother according to
the fl^h. Against them an information was laid, as being of
the famjly qf David : and Evpcatus brought them before the
]^{QP«'OF Dpmitian ; who, like Herod^ dreaded the coming of
Christ. He asked them if tJiey were descendants of David, and
tbey acknowledged that they were. Then he asked them what
prpperty they ha(i> ^^d how much money they could command ?
Tb^y ^tb replied thut they possessed no tnore tkaa niae thpn-

NOTES. 8S1
sand denarii," [equal to about rf283.] " the half of which sum
was the property of each ; and they said that they had not this
in money, but that it was the valuation of thirty-nine plethra
of land, [one plethron is supposed to have been about the
fourth part of an English acre ;] from the produce of which
they paid their taxes, and gained their livelihood by their own
labour. And then they shewed their hands ; presenting aS a
proof that they lived by their own labour, the hardness of their
skin, and the callous parts on their hands from continual toil.
Being further questioned about Christ and his^kingdom, of what
description it was, and when and where it should be manifested,
they gave this account ; that it is not worldly nor earthly, but
heavenly and angelical, and that [enl avyreXetf toS aiSw; yevijo-oiMciflj]
it vriU take place at the end of the world, when he will come in
glory and judge the living and the dead, and vdU render to
every one according to his [imrtileJiMira] pursuits. Upon this
Dpmitian did nothing against them ; and, though he carried
the ?ur of despising tbem, as beneath his notice, he set them
at liberty, and issued a decree to put an end to the persecution
against the church. After they were released, they were called
to preside over churches, as being both witnesses for the Lord
and his relatives. A peaceful season was enjoyed, and they
lived till the reign pf Trsjan." Hegesippus in Euseb. Hist.
Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 20.
" There is nothing at all incredible," says Mosheim, " in
this narrative, which has all the appearance of simplicity and
ingenuousness. It is probable that some enemy of both Jews
and Christians stated to the Emperor, that the Jews looked for
a king of the posterity of David, who should become the sove
reign of the whole earth 5 that the Christians likewise believed
that Christ would return and set up an illustrious kingdom ; and
that therefore turbulence and dangers were to be apprehended
from both these classes ; and hence it is very likely that the
tyrannical Domitian was so alarmed and enraged, that he or
dered aU the descendants of David to be sought out and put to
death ; and to prevent any attempt on the part of the Christians,
directed that they also should be put under severe restrauit, and
some of them capitally punished." De Rebus Christ, ante Con-
$tcmt. p. 111. Helmstad. 1733.

CAPITULE V,

THE PERPETUAL PRESEWCK OF CHRIST.

Tiie Name of Christ, — ^I'he regard here implied to that Name, — The phraSe,
to the Name ; — its defined and important use, — Bein^ gathered together
' to the name of Christ, an expression implying religiouo worship to him,
— In what sense Christ is present in religious assemblies, — Allegations of
the Annotator in the Unitarian Version of the New Testament, and of the
Calm Inquirer, — ^The promise not restricted to the apostolic age. — Jewish
use of the phrases, to hind and to hose. — Hypothesis of an occeisional
presence of Christ with his apostles. — Examination of cases alleged. —
None of them give evidence of a corporal presence, — Other declarations
of the New Testament contradict it,— Further objections to the hypo
thesis. — ^The hypothesis of an ideal presence ; — inapplicable to the case.
, — The hypothesis of a virtual presence ; — replied to, — Intent of the
phrase, to be with any one, — The fair meaning inferred to be a real and
Divine Oinnipresenee.
" Where there are two or three gathered together unto my
name, there I am in the midst of them. Matt, xviii, 20.
We have before adverted to the distinguished
regard which the New Testament represents as
due to the name of Christ, a term by which in the
scriptural idiom supremacy and power are de
noted. It is not, however, the mere ascription
of supremacy and power, constituting authority,
which will prove any thing in his nature and
condition above the rank of a human being.

eHAP. in.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE.' 233
The question turns on the kind and degree of
the qualities attributed : and this question has
already met us, and wi,ll again meet us, in a
¦variety of forms. The text just cited presents
two remarkable points to our attention.
1. The respect which it assumes as due to the
name of Christ. Critics and interpreters appear
not to have sufficiently observed the difference
between the two scriptural forms of expression
(Diyi sv Tw ovoj^ari,^ in or by the name, and (oth
< slg. TO ovo/Aa,) to the name. The former is of much
the more frequent occurrence, and always denotes
the originating impulse of a specified action, such
as a binding authority, or a voluntary attachment :
the latter occurs but seldom, and it serves to
point out the object ov final cause of the action.
Examples of the former phrase are numerous.
-Two specimens maybe sufficient. " In the name
of our God we will setup our banner.* I have
come in the name of my Father, and ye receive
me not : if another come in his own name, him
ye will receive. "t
To illustrate the other, I shall first adduce the
only passages which I have met with, that do
not designate the object of some direct act of
religious homage. " It shall be to Jehovah to a
name, to an everlasting sign : it shall not be cut
ofF.t It shall be to me to a name of joy,.fo
praise, and to honour. "§ It is manifest that, in
. - r  .. w. , m^ n. ¦ ||-*M,«I— I  I ¦¦  ¦ I I IPII -T Wli — — » I HI. li.lB w. — I M II IWl ¦¦'¦¦J I
* Ps. XX. 6. t John V. 43.
X Is. Iv, 13, I Jer, xxxiii, 9.

254 ON THE PEESOIif QF CHRIST. [BOOK HI;
these instances, the phrase escpregses the ulti-
jq^at^ 4esign of those acts of the divine benignity.
TllP Qther instance is in the New Testament, but
it ig still a pure Hebrew idiona. The uncouth-
ness which it wears at first sight has probably
been thp occasion that translators have generally
assumed it to be an arbitrary Vjariation, but not
at all differing in sense, from (Iv rtp evs/xarj,) m
the name, This easy and hasty mode of slurring
oyer a difl^fiulty, by saying that one mode of ex-
prggsipn is put for another, is not agreeable to
any just principles of language, and cannot be
jsatisfnetory to tho§e who desire evidence for
their belief. If the reader will consider the
clauses in the ensuing text as designating the
object of the action, I think he will perceive a
beauty and expressiveness in them well suited
to the scope of the passage : whereas the ordi
nary mode of making the translation gives
scarcely an intelligible sense. '• He that enter-
taineth a prophet to the name of a prophet," (i, e,
making his character the object oi this respect,)
'* shall receive the reward of a prophet : and he
that entertaineth a righteous man to the name
ei a righteous man," (making the fact of his
being such the object to be thus honoured,)
*' shall receive the reward of a righteous man :
and whosoever shall give to drink to one of these
little ones a cup only of cold water, to the name
ei a diseiple," (making this his object,') " verily
I say unto you he shall not lose his reward."*
* IVfett. X. 41, 42.

C«AF, lit.] PBRPETUAL KtBSENCE. SS5
The following are at least the principa;! places
besides, of the Old Testament, in which this for-
muU occurs. The reader will perceive that
they all refer to some act of religious homage, of
which the Deity, as revealed by his glorious and
venerable name, is the object : —
*' To thy name, and to the remembranqe of
theej is the desire of the soul. In every place
incense shall be presented to my name, and a
pure offering. To give glory to my name. They
built to thee there a sanctuary to thy name.
|>fot unto us, O Jehpvah, not unto us, but to thy
name, give glpry. It is good to give thanks to
Jehovah, and to sing praises to thy name, O
thou Most High ! To give thanks to the name of
Jehovah. Sing praises to bis name, for it is
delightful."* The instances of the occurrence of the phrase,
in the New Testament, besides those lately quoted
and the passage under consideration, are thes^ f —
*' Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them to the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, He gave them a right to
become children of God, even those who give
credit to his name. He is already condemned,
because he hath not given credit to the name of
the Only-begotten Son of God. They were bap«-
tized to the name of the Lord Jesus. Were ye
baptized to the name of Paull Lest any one
* Is. xvf'i. 8. jMal. i. 11, ii, 2. % Chron. x», 8. Fs, pxv. 1.
xcii. 1, cxxii, 4. cxxxv, 3.

236 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. , [BOOK III.
should say that I have baptized to my own

name.

The, candid inquirer will now, I think, per
ceive that, in the sacred use of the Old Testa
ment, the phrase under consideration was a for
mula, to express the direction and object of a
religious act ; and that all the acts with which
it is combined, are such as express mental or
external adoration. He will also perceive the
same idea strongly marked in the examples from
the New Testament.
What, then, is to be "gathered together to
the name of Christ V' — The connexion plainly
shews that it is the union of Christians for the
preservation of good order and purity among
themselves, with social prayer for the divine
direction and blessing. — " Again, verily I say
unto you, that if two of you consent upon earth,
concerning any matter about which they may
supplicate, it shall be done for them by- my
Father who is in heaven : for where there are
two or three gathered together unto my name,
there I am in the midst of them."
It appears, therefore, that the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ (his perfections and glories
manifested in his word,) is the object, to do
honour to which the social worship of Christians
is to be conducted ; and that the language espe
cially selected by him for conveying this decla
ration, is in exact conformity with that which in
* Matt, xxviii. 19, John i. 12, iii. 18, Acts xix, 5,
1 Cor. 1. 13, 15.

CHAP. III.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE.. 237
the Old Testament is appropriated to the Eternal
Deity. Is it imaginable that the wisest, meekest,
and best of teachers would have selected such
language as this, which is by no means of
frequent occurrence ; if he were conscious to
himself of nothing in nature and condition above
the rank of a human prophet 1 Upon the hypo
thesis of denying any such superior and truly
Divine nature, would not this language be a most
unwarrantable, unnecessary, and dangerous de
viation from plain modes of speech ; seeming, at
least, to intrench upon the prerogatives of the
Divine Majesty, and likely to be an occasion of
serious error and actual idolatry '?
2. Christ promises a peculiar presence of him
self : " there I am in the midst of them."
To be in the midst is a Jewish phrase, very
common in the Old Testament, applied to every
variety of subject, and simply denoting presence:
sometimes with the accessary idea of presiding,
as in the prophecy of Zephaniah ; " The righte
ous Jehovah in the midst of her; — ^the King of
Israel, Jehovah, in the midst of thee ; — Jehovoh,
thy God, in the midst of thee, mighty."*
The question is, in what sense is this presence
attributed to Christ.
1. Some may apprehend it to be in the sense
-of a legal fiction, as the king of England is sup
posed to be present in all his courts. It is suf
ficient to reply that this is an idea unknown to
the scriptures.
' ' * Zeph. iii, 5, 15, 17-

eisS ON THE PERS6M OrcHRlSTi [BOOK ill,
2, The Uttitarian Annotator writes "This pro'
raise, and those in the two preceding verses, are
to be understood as limited to the apostolic age,
and, perhaps^ to the apostles themselves. To be
gathered together in the name of Christ, is to
assemble as his disciples, and as acting under
his authority. And he was in the midst of them,
either by his personal presence, agreeably to his
promise ; Matt, xxviii. 20. or by a spiritual pre
sence, similar to the gift occasionally conferred
upon the apostlos, of knowing things which passed
in places where they were not actually present ;
1 Cor. V. 3, 4, or lastly, by that authority which
he had delegated, and by the powers which he
had communicated to them to perform miracles
in his name."* These allegations must be con
sidered separately.
(1) I do not see auy evidence that " the con
text limits the promise to the apostles only,"t
or to the apostolifc age. The connexion refers
fo contingent offences or injuries which one
member, not of the apostolic body, but of any
Christian community, may commit against ano
ther. Few vfill deny that the Christian interest
originally subsisted in such separate associations,
and that believers were in the habit of constantly
meeting together for instruction, worship, and
maintaining mutual harmony. The case put by
our Lord is one which the sins and infirmities of
mankind have rendered of too ordinary occur-
* Impr. Vers, Annot* ia loc. f Calm Inq. p. 178,

CHAP. III.3 PERPETUAL PRESENCE.
rence in every age. The declaration in Verse 18,
refers to nothing miraculous or peculiar to the
age of the apostles. Its difficulty to moderii
readers arises from unacquaintedness with the
established Hebrew phrases, to bind and to loose ;
of which, says the profound Rabbinist, Dr. Light
foot, " one might produce thousands of examples
out of their writings."* The obvious meaning is
that the decisions of a Christian community^
formed on a faithful adherence to the rules here
prescribed, will be approved by the righteous
authority of Christ himself, the Head of his
church. Neither does the second promise, in
Verse 19, demand a restriction to the apostles or
to any miraculous circumstances. It coincides
with other declarations in the New Testament,
on the duty and benefit of prayer ; and these the
reason of every particular case, and the whole
analogy of religion, direct us to understand of
spiritual blessings, and in a subordination to the
wisdom and will of God, which every genuine
Christian regards in all his prayers as higher
and dearer than all other objects of his desire.
Here the meaning appears to be, that the
solemn prayers of any Christian society, even
the smallest and least regarded by men, in re*
ference to such occasions as the text treats of,
and in conformity with the rule of conduct laid
down, shall ba favourably and fully answered.
* See his admirable Note, Hor, Hebr, et Taint, in Matt-
xvl. 18, Works, vol, ii. p, 305— 207i

,340 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. £B00K UI.
(2) The Annotator's next sentence is irrelcr
vant ; as it confounds two different phrases^ af
firming of the one what belongs only to the other.
(3) The next resort is to the modern Unitarian
hypothesis, of a corporal presence of Christ,
which they conceive to have been occasionally
afforded to the apostles, in circumstances of
emergency, through the interval of time from his
ascension '¦ to the termination of the Jewish dis
pensation by the destruction of Jerusalem and
the temple."* To judge of the validity of this
hypothesis, we must review the cases to account
for which it has been assumed.
Stephen " being full of the Holy Spirit, looked
steadfastly to heaven, and saw a glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."
Acts vii. 55.
" Suddenly there shone around him a light
from heaven : and he fell upon the ground, and
heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me *? And he said. Who art
thou. Lord'? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest." ib. ix. 3 — 5. xxii. 3—6.
xxvi. 13—15.
Christ spoke to Ananias " in a vision." ib.
ix. 10— 16.
" The Lord said, by a vision in the night, to
Paul, Fear not, but speak and be not silent;
for I am with thee, and no one shall lay hands
on thee to injure thee : for I have many people
in this city." ib. xviii. 9, 10.
* Calm Inq, p; 179.

CHAP, ni,] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 241
" Having returned to Jerusalem, and while I
was praying in the temple, I was brought [lylvsro
[xoi ysvia-Qoii] into a trance : and I saw him, saying
to me, Hasten, and depart quickly out of Jeru
salem." ib. xxii. 17, 18,
" In the following night, the Lord stood
before him, and said. Take courage." ib, xxiii. 11.
" On account of this, I besought the Lord three
times, that it might depart from me : and he said
to me. Sufficient for thee is my grace, for my
power is perfected in weakness." 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.
" At my first defence no one appeared with
me, but all deserted me. May it not be laid to
their charge ! But the Lord stood with me, and
strengthened me." 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17.
After a careful examination of these cases, I
can discover no evidence of a real and corporal
presence. In the case of Stephen, there was, in
all probability, a miraculous impression made on
the perceptive faculties : for had Jesus been cor
porally present he must have been seen by the
surrounding crowd, or, at least, by some of the
spectators, of whom Saul of Tarsus was one ;
but the history plainly shews that they perceived
nothing preternatural. The miracle at the con
version of Paul, in which he " saw the Righte
ous One, and heard a voice from his mouth,"* is
expressly called by him, " a heavenly vision ;"t
and the four following instances are clearly ex
pressed to be of a similar nature. They were
* Acts xxii. 14. f Ib xxvi. 19.
VOL. II. R

342 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
effected by miraculous visions, described in terms
the same as those which designate the usual
method in which Jehovah communicated the
messages of inspiration to the Hebrew prophets.
Of the nature of such visions, trances, or exta-'
cies, or the manner of their affecting the subjects
of them, we are necessarily and totally ignorant.
But there is not the smallest reason to suppose
that there was, in the cases before us, or in any
of those related in the Old Testament, a real and
tangible substance presented to the individual, as
the Unitarian hypothesis supposes. As for the
last two instances, not the least intimation is
given of any corporal presence^ any visible form,
or any miraculous intervention whatever, except
that of communication to the mind of the apostle;
which it is most reasonable to think was in the
accustomed way of inspiration. His prayer and
dependence in his seasons of distress, and the
promise and protection of the Lord Jesus afforded
to him, are expressed altogether in the style of
that religious confidence which can rightly be
reposed only in God, and that gracious help
which God only can give.
Thus the notion of a real and corporal pre
sence of Christ on earth, after his ascension, with
Paul or other apostolic men, appears to be an
assumption, resting on no grounds of scripture
evidence. It is also contradicted by plain declarations of
the New Testament. Our Lord had said, in re--
ference to his final departure from his disciples ;

CHAP, JHJ PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 243
'* It is advantageous fer you that I go away : I
leave the world, and go to the Father : I am no
more in the world ; but these are in the world,
and I come to thee."* These expressions plainly
teach that Christ, as a human being, was no
longer to be an inhabitant of this our earthly
state ; and that, whatever scom the Calm In*
quirer presumes to cast on the idea of a local
heaven, the man Jesus occupies some itctual
regions of perfect purity and joy, from whence
he shall at the appointed season, " be manifested
in glory, and shall come to judge the living and
the dead, at his appearing and his kingdom."f
In the mean time, we are solemnly assured that
" heaven must receive him till the times of the
restitution of all things."! Such bodily visits of
Christ as the hypothesis supposes might, not
irrationally, be included in that " knowing Christ,
according to the flesb," of which the apostle Paul
Says, " but now we know him no more.''|
The Calm Inquirer has, on a former occasion^
affirmed that Jesus " was no doubt genially
present with hinti, though invisibly, and we fchOw
that he occasionally appeared to him during the
course of his ministry : and, surely, it roust haVe
been an exquisite gratification to the apostle to
reflect that he lived, and laboured, and suffered
und&r his masters ey6i to w'hom he might at d,ny
time have recourse in a season of difficulty, And
* John xvi. 7, 28, xvii. 11, t Col. iii. 4. 2 Tim. iv. J.
} Acts iii. 21. § 2 Cor. v. 16.
r2

244 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III
of whose protection he was secure."* Upon this
passage some questions were proposed : which,
as they still appear to me to be relevant, I ven
ture to insert : —
" If Jesus was ' generally present with ' Paul,
as the hypothesis supposes, what was the situa
tion of the other apostles'? When Paul thus
prayed to Christ he was in Macedonia ; what
then became of the church at Jerusalem 1 Had
James and the company of our Lord's first dis
ciples, no ' seasons of difficulty, nor any need of
their master's protection 1 Would it have been
no ' exquisite gratification' to John, the disciple
whom Jesus had honoured with the distinction of
eminent personal friendship, ' to reflect that he
lived, and laboured, and suffered under his
master's eye V When Paul was at Rome, Peter
was probably at Babylon ; had Peter no weak
nesses, no infinnities, no difficulties and suffer
ings '? Had he no need of ' the power of Christ
to rest upon him,' and ' His grace to be suf
ficient for him T "t
(4) The Annotator calls in the notion of " a
spiritual presence, similar to the gift occasion
ally conferred upon the apostles, of knowing
things which passed in places where they were
not actually present : 1 Cor. v. 3, 4."
But Christ does not speak of an occasional and
extraordinary action. His words convey the idea
* Mr. Belsham's Discourse on the Death of Dr. Priestley,
p. 11, 12.
t Smith's Letters to Mr. Be'Unam, p. 92.

CHAP. UI.] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 245
of a constant benefit to his disciples : " Where,"
in any place or at any time whatever, " two or
three are gathered together unto my name, there
I am. — I am with you always," all the days of
your mortal course.
In the example of the apostle Paul's being
" present in spirit" with the religious assem-,
bly of the Corinthians, I perceive no evidence
of any thing more than that exercise of the ima
gination, in cases strongly interesting to us,
which it is no uncommon form of speech in all
languages to denote by an ideal presence.* So
the apostle wrote to the Colossians : " Though
I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the
* So Plutarch says, that a sincere, judicious and attentive
friend of his city, his nation, and mankind, though he be not an
official statesman, ¦v/ill yet confer extensive benefits on his coun
try, in various ways, — — in vchich (k^v jmj vapayeyrirai Tp trifJiari,
itapoyra r% yyiiiiri,) even when not present in body, he is present
in thought, giving his approbation to some, and his disapproba
tion to others, of the measures which he learns have been
adopted. Plutarchi Moral, ed. Xyland, p. 797. Wyttenbach,
8vo. Oxon. 1797, vol. iv. p. 197. Livy describes the influence
of Carvilius on the military operations of the other consul, by
saying (" absentis collegae consilia omnibus gerendis intererant
rebus,") the counsels of the absent colleague were present in the
management of every affair. Liv, lib. x. sect. 39.
Rupe sedens aliqu^ specto tua littora tristis,
Et qub non possum corpore, mente feror.
Ov, Ep, Leand. Her, 39.
I gaze upon that much-lov'd shore.
Here, mournful on a rock reclin'd ;
And, though my body cannot soar,
I fly in mind.

246 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
Spirit, rejoicing and beholding your order, and
the steadfastness of your faith on Christ."*
(5) The Afinotator finally has recourse to the
authority and miraculous powers communicated
by Christ to his apostles, as if the exercise of
these were all that is intended in the promise of
his presence. The Calm Inquirer seems to adopt
this interpretation in giving the following as a
paraphrase of the passage : " Such requests dic
tated by my authority, and prompted by the
spirit which I will communicate, will be as effi
cacious as if I myself were personally present."f
The reply is obvious ; that this interpretation
does not appear to be the fair construction of
our Lord's words : but, if it be admitted that
such a reference is included, it will carry the
implication that he who is acknowledged to be
the author of the miracles, and whose power vyas
immediately exercised on every such occasion,
was actually present; and this presence could
only be either by the occasional and corporal
action which has been considered, or by the
manifestation of attributes properly divine,
The Inquirer strongly urges the absence of
" any marks of astonishment] at so extraordinary
a declaration," as appears from the immediate
course of the conversation. But, as this im-
* Col, ii, 5, The case of Elisha, 2 Kings v. 26. was clearly
different ; for there a revelation was made to him of a fact
which had been studiously concealed, but which the divine in
fluence seems to have exhibited, as in a vivid picture to his mind.
t Calm Inquiry, p, 178,

CHAP. IH,] PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 347
portant branch of the argument extends much
farther than to the passage now under consi
deration, we shall reserve it for a separate dis
cussion. 3. Much attention is due to the fact mentioned
before, that, in the scriptural style, the phrase to
he with any one, put absolutely, is usually and
peculiarly applied to God.* As a further proof
that this was the ordinary acceptation of the
phrase, there are Rabbinical passages cited by
Lightfoot, Schcettgenius, and Wetstein ; such as
these : " If two or three sit in judgment, the
Divine Majesty (Shechinah) is with them. When
two sit together and study the law, the Divine
Majesty is with them. When two sit at table
and converse about the law, the Divinity rests
upon them. If ten pray together, the Divine
Majesty is with them. Where ten children of
men come together to a synagogue, the Divine
Majesty is with them ; or even three or two or
one. t
The inference from our Lord's thus using the
expression is strengthened, by comparing this
his gracious promise with one Of similar import
in the Old Testament, to which it is highly pro
bable that he might have a mental reference :
" In every place where I record my. name, I will
come unto thee, and I will bless thee."t
It remains for me to express my conviction,
founded on the preceding reasons, that the only
* Page 215 of this Volume. f See those authors in loc.
t Exod. XX. 24.

248 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST- [BOOK III.
fair and jtist interpretation of this important pas
sage is that which regards it as a declaration of
such a spiritual and efficient presence as implies
Divine perfections : such a special exercise of
power and mercy as, in the use of this phrase,
the scriptures habitually ascribe to the Deity ;
and such as involves the attribute of omni
presence.

CAPITULE VI,
ON ouB lord's declabations of his febsonal agency in
THE KESUBKECTION OF THE DEAD AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT.

The testimony of Christ concerning himself as the Author of the future
resurrection of the dead, and the universal Judge. — ^The conclusion from
these facts, that he has a really Divine nature. — Considerations pro
posed by the Calm Inquirer to escape that conclusion : — Tke humaa
nature affirmed in scripture to be necessary to the person of the Judge
of mankmd. — ^The wisdom and kindness of this appniatment.— Its per
fect consistency with the position that the Divine nature is not less
necessary. — ^This office ascribed to Christ in connexion with other
Divine attributives, as necessary qualifications. — ^Reasons why our Lord
did not use an impassioned style in expressing this fact. — ^Whether any
astonishment was felt by his hearers. — No improvement of a finite
intellect adequate to this work. — ^The case essentially different from the
judgments attributed to saints and apostles. — ^The case incapable of
being rationally solved by referring to the use of figurative language.
It is the unequivocal language of scripture
that " God, who raised up the Lord, will raise
up us also by his own power :"* and certainly a
due consideration . of this stupendous miracle,
which we are assured will be wrought at the
appointed season, must impress the complete
conviction that Omnipotence alone can effect
the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. But JeSUS
Christ, in the most deliberate and solemn manner,
* iCor.vi. 14.

250 0N|THE person OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
affirmed Himself to be the future Author of this
work and the Arbiter of those awful destinies
which will immediately succeed it. " The hour
is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall
hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they who
have done good actions, to the resurrection of
life, and they who have done base actions, to
the resurrection of condemnation."* We have
before offered some considerations on the inter
pretation of this passage and its connexion.!
To those we now add, that Jesus taught the same
doctrine on other occasions, and in various other
forms of expression. With respect to every
believer on himself, he uttered the gracious as
surance, " I will raise him up at the last day :"
and he comforted the mourners by saying, " I am
the resurrection and the life,"+the abstract effects
being put as the strongest expression of their
Cause and Author. The same doctrine is a pro
minent object in the several parables in which
he represents himself as the Lord of a house
hold, the King of a sovereignty, returning after
a season of absence, at a day and hour when he
}s not looked for* taking an account of the com
missions and conduct of his servants, honour
ing the faithful, and condemning the wicked and
slothful to the " outer darkness where is wailing
and gnashing of teeth." It is, with inimitable
beauty and solemnity, brought forth in the para-
—  ¦ "<.!.-  r-  .  L 
* John V. 28, 29. f Page 70, 74, of this volume.
X John vi. 39, 40. xi. 25.

CHAP, m.] AGENCV IK FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. 261
ble, which depicts that day, '^ when the Son of
man shall come in his own glory, and all the
angels with him :" when, " be will sit upon his
own throne of glory, and before him shall be
gathered together all the nations." There we
learn that it is he that will discriminate their
moral state, amidst the complicated varieties of
human character: it is he that will estimate
their actions by an infinitely penetrating and ac
curate developement of their motives : »e it is
that will infallibly, completely, and for evet
separate them one from another: and it is hk
that will perform the very highest of judicial
aots, when '* he will say to those on his right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the founda^-
tion of the world : -^•^-— and to those on his left
hand he will say, Depart from me, accursed, into
the fii^ the everlasting, the £fire] prepared for
the devil and his angels."*
Such is the testimony of Christ concerning
himself. If we believe that testimony., is it pos^
sible to resist the conclusion, that hb is Omnis^
cient, the Just One of essential and infinite
righteousness, Almighty, and Eternal ; and, since
these cannot be the properties of a human or of
any other created being, that in his person ano*
ther nature must exist, even that which is '¦'¦ over
all, blessed for ever T
With a laudable candour, tht Calm Inquirer

* Matt.xs.v.il-m^6.

252 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
observes on this subject, " That this is a great
difficulty cannot be denied :" and therefore him
self, and other labourers in the same field, have
put forth their utmost strength to surmount it.
" Possibly," he adds, in a tone of moderation
which deserves respectful notice, — " Possibly it
may be alleviated by attention to the following
considerations."* To these we shall endeavour
to pay the most serious and candid regard.
1. It should be always kept in mind that our
sole object is to obtain, by careful induction from
the scriptures, the entire amount of their testi
mony on our interesting question. If different
parts of that testimony should, in any respect,
wear the appearance of opposition, it is not for
us, imperfect and limited as our best efforts of
intellect on such subjects must be, to reject
either of those portions of evidence ; or readily
to believe that there is in reality any discordance
whatever- between them. Some intermediate
links of the chain of truth may be wanting, which,
if we possessed them, would produce a demon
strative agreement : and yet these may be im
possible to be attained, in our present state of
knowledge and capacity. — Therefore the full ad
mission of all that the Inquirer has advanced as
. his first consideration,! does not draw after it
* Page 341.
f " The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ is appointed to
judge the world. The same Scriptures, in connexion with this
very appointment, expressly represent Jesus as a Man delegated
to this high office: Acts xvii. 31. Whatever, therefore, our

GHAP. m.] AGENCV IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. 253
the least necessity to relinquish our preceding
conclusions from the unequivocal declarations of
the Lord Jesus himself. We believe the humanity
of Jesus, his '•'¦proper humanity" (meaning by
the epithet real or true,) as well as the Unita
rians: and we do not feel this article of our
belief to be any impediment to our holding, with
equal firmness, that to constitute the person of
the Christ, Deity was necessary no less than
humanity. That such is the fact, we believe,
because the scriptures appear to us to affirm it ;
and could we go no farther, this would be enough
for the satisfaction of reason and the acquiescence
of faith. When we read, then, that the Christ is
the Judge of the world, we understand the pro
position of him as the Christ, that is, in his whole
person ; conceiving that the nature of the case,
and the all-wise constitution of the Eternal
Father, render the attributes of Deity , and the
properties of humanity, both to be necessary for
this unspeakably momentous function.
Accordingly, it appears to us strictly proper in
itself, and entirely in accordance with the full
prejudices may suggest to the contrary, it is in fact not incon
sistent with divine wisd,om nor with the reason and order of
things, that a human heing should be appointed to the office of
universal judge. It is even implied, John v. 27, that the proper
humanity of Christ is an essential qualification for the office.
And it is certain that wherever Jesus is mentioned under the
character of a judge, he is never in that connexion represented
as a being of an order different from, and superior to mankind.
Nor is this qualification ever hinted at as necessary for executing
this solemn office." Page Ml.

254 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK I«.
doctrine concerning our Lord's person, that,
when the scriptures . speak of his relation in his
human nature to the final judgment, they should
use the mode of representation that he is " the
man whom God hath ord3,ined"* for that purpose ;
and that " Gfod will judge the hidden things of
men, through Jesus Christ."t We also think that
we can perceive a wise and gracious propriety
ip i}fie frequency with which the New Testament
brings into view this mode of representation ;
since the fact is pregnant with consolation to the
sincere and upright, that our Judge is he who
died for our sins^ the partaker of our own flesh,
and perfectly alive to all the tenderest sym«
pathies of our nature : vrhilst, on the other hand^
the rising of a presumptuous thought is solemnly
forbidden by the knowledge, that our Savixror
now and Judge hereafter is " He that is holy,
He that is true,— whose eyes are as a flame of
fire,— who is over all, God blessed for ever."j:
To the latter part of the Inquirer's First Cott«
SJderation I demur :
(1) Because, in the following passage, J6sus
Christ is ** mentioned under the character of a
Judge," and immediately in the same connexion
is represented, as to both his person and his
' office, by the names and characters of Deity,
" We shall all appear before the judgment-seat
of Christ, for it is written. As I live, saith the

* Actsx. 42. xvii. 31. -j- Rom. ii. 16*
{ Rev. iii. 7. ii. 18. Rom. ijwa.

CHAP. III.] AGENCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS.' ^5^
Lord, unto me every knee shall bow, and every
tongue shall confess to God : therefore, eacl^ one
of us shall give account of himself to God,"*
(2) Because there is, not a " hint" indeed, but
an explicit affirmation of qualifications infinitely
superior to those which the most exalted crea
ture could possess, in the following passage : —
Whether it refers immediately to partial retribu
tions in the present state, or to the ultimate
judgment of the world to come, the argument
will proceed with equal validity, for in each case
* Rom. xiv. 10 — 12. The reader is requested to turn to
Vol. I. p. 300 — 305. Many respectable authorities, for Xpiavm,
Christ, y. 10. have ®eov, God. Griesbach considers tJie latter
as [" non sperr^enda quidem et ulteriore examine digna, at re- ;
ceptae tamen inferior,"] " worthy of regard and deserving further
exa,mination, but yet inferior to the received reading." Origen
(de Oratione, ap Opera ed, Delarue, tom. i. p. 254.) where we
have his own Greek text, has the common reading : but in his
Commentary on this Epistk, of which we have only Ruffin^s'g
Latin version, Dei, God, is found and is made the subject of
express disquisition in the Commentary. To my humble [ap
prehension, the weight of nearly all the Ancient Versions, with
the venerable Syriac at their head, joined to the other evidence>
is sufficient to establish the common reading. A late learned
German, the extolled friend of Heyn6, and whose illustrations of
the parts of the New Testament on which he wrote are directed
to the one point of settUng, by plain grammatical criticism, what
the apostle meaned, John Benjamin Kopp^, has this scholium :
" That what Isaiah says of Jehovah should by the apostle be
applied to Christ (if the reading be genuine) is not a matter of
surprise ; since the doctrine of a most intimate union of Christ
and Jehovah [hunc iUi arctissime conjunctum cogitandjim esse,}
was the constant doctrine', both of the Jews in their discussions
on the Messiah, and especially of Paul and John." Annot, in
loc. Gottingen, 1806.

256 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 111.
Christ is the Judge, and he exercises his judg
ment upon that knowledge of the minds and
motives of men which Jehovah claims as his
peculiar act.* " All the churches shall know
that I am He who searcheth reins and hearts :
and I will give you each one according to your
works."t Upon this emphatical and striking passage the
Inquirer pronounces the summary decision, that
it " would prove nothing more than that Christ,
in his exalted state, is acquainted with the cir
cumstances of his churches, and with the cha
racter of individual members."!
To me, I acknowledge, the passage proves
much more than is here admitted. There are in
it two remarkable circumstances. The one is,
that Christ asserts of himself that particular
kind and extent of knowledge of men which the
scriptures formally lay down as an exercise of
omniscience and the sole prerogative of Deity. §
The other, that the words are selected, evidently
on purpose, from the sublime passage of the
prophet, in which Jehovah declares this know
ledge to be his own unrivalled possession.
2. lilt is assuming too much, that, on the
* Jerem. xvii. 10. f Rev. ii. 13.
X Page 183. The Inquirer also insinuates a doubt of the
authenticity of the Apocalypse, or of this portion of it : a sub
ject which will be considered hereafter.
§ See 1 Kings viii. 39. Ps. vii. 9.
II 2. " Jesus and his apostles do not appear to have felt any
difficulty in the appointment of a human being to the office of
universal judge. They simply state the fact in the clearest and

CiiAP. Iil.] AGl^NCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. 26t
position of our interpretation, it must follow that
Our Lord himself might be expected to have
" felt difficulty "j in the annunciation of his own
doctrine. On the supposition of its truth, it
could be no matter of surprize either to Christ
in his superior nature, or to Jesus as a man in
structed and inspired with the unmeasured ful
ness of divine influence. It is one of the well-
known characters of our Lord's teaching, that
he treats upon the most sublime and heavenly
things, without astonishment, without effort,
without any of that sort of sinking and prostra
tion of mind which sometimes befel the ancient
prophets,* when they received the communica
tions of the Most High. His discourses have a
calmness, an ease, a sublime simplicity, a sen
tentious dignity, which indicated a mind per
fectly familiar with the most profound truths of
God and eternity.
As to the apostles, it is to be considered, that
in proportion to their faith in the Messiahship of
Jesus, must have been their readiness to admit
concerning him all that they had previously con
ceived as characterizing the Messiah ;t — ^that
most unequivocal manner, that God will judge the world by the
Man whom he hath ordained. They give no explanation ; they
make no comment ; they obviate no objections. This is a strong
presumption that, according to their ideas, the office required
no qualifications which a man appointed and assisted by God
might not possess.'-' Calm' Inq, -p. 341.
* Moses, Exod, iii. 6. — Habakkuk, iii. 16. — Isaiah, vi. 5.
t That the Jews, 'in then- generally received doctrine of the
Messiah, believed that he would be the Author of the future
VOL. II. S

258 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK UJ.
their minds evidently laboured under extreme
deficiencies of knowledge and remarkable incon
sistencies : that the Evangelists, who recite the
discourses of Jesus to which these observations
refer, give no information whatever as to the
actual effect produced on any class of hearers,
whether disciples^ strangers, or enemies, and
that consequently we are not entitled to assume
that no impressions of astonishment and awe
were produced on any of them: and that we
have information of the utmost surprize and
horror being felt or affected when Jesus asserted
this truth, though less pointedly, before the most
learned assembly in the Jewish nation : " Here
after ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the
rig;ht hand of Power [i. e. the Deity, by a
Hebraism] and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Then the high-priest rent his garment, saying,
He hath blasphemed!"*
3. t That the faculties and enjoyments of the
resurrection, appears at least probable from Mary's answer to
our Lord's declaration ; — " I am the Resurrection and the
Life :  believcst thou this J  She saith unto 'him. Yea,
Lord, I am persuaded that thou art the Christ, the Son of -God,
that was to come into the world." — John xi. 27. Mary evi
dently considered this reply as an assent to our Lord's assertion
concerning himself.
* Matt. xxvi. 64, 65.
t " 3. If to judge the world be an office which Jesus is to
execute in person, and if it requires powers and qualifications
superior to those which he possessed on earth, these may be
attained either by the regular and progressive improvement of
his powers, in the long interval between his ascension and the

CHAP. III.] AGENCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. sg®
man J^sus Christ, though raised to an u&gpeak-
able degree at the moment of his glorification,
have yet proceeded from that moment along an
indefinite range of the most glorious and happy
improvement, and will so proceed to immor-
tality^ is by no means denied. Such a progres
sion must be the necessary effect of circum
stances the most advantageous that could pos
sibly exist, operating upon a perfectly holy and
undlouded intellect : for those circumstances
comprehend ftot only the results of observation
and reflectionj but the stupendous advantage
of the intimate, uniqUe, and mysterious tJnion
with the Divine Nature^ But we conceive, that,
in no other way than by such dn union could a
man, an attgel, or a created Logos on the Arian
hypothesis, be qualified for this immense work.
This conclusion we draw, from the obvious nature
of this " grand occasion," artd the qualities of
intellect and power which common reason teaches
that it cannot but require ; and which no con
ceivable improvement of any finite intellect, by
experience or any other advantageous circum
stances, could possibly reach ; and from the
various and independent evidence that by such
an union the Person of the Christ has been in fact
constituted. day of judgment, or they may be imparted to him for the
occasion by God huoaself, whose organ and delegate he will
be on that grand occasion : and who could as easily qualify a
man, as an angel, or a Logos, lor this importaat purppee."
Page 343.
s2

260 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK Ut
4. * That the distinction mentioned by the In
quirer is not " gratuitous and unauthorized," we
apprehend is fairly de'ducible from this considera
tion : that the ascription of supreme and final
judgment to Christ is made in the New Testa
ment so copiously, expressly, and particularly,
as to furnish a rational ground for conceiving an
essential difference between the two cases. Not
only by our Lord himself, but by his inspired
apostles (in various passages which fall under
a subsequent head of our examination) is this
right and power of " eternal judgment" claimed
for him ; and, according to our conceptions, it
comports with every other part of the scripture
testimony to his person, qualifications and offices.
This superiority in the clearness and abundance
of the evidence prevents us from feeling our
conclusion shaken by the two passages adduced
by the Inquirer, whether those passages refer to
* " 4., Whatever may be intended by the expression 'judging
"the world,' the apostles of Christ, and believers in general, are
to share in that honour and office with their Master. — ^Matt. xis.
28, ' Wlien the Son of Man shaU sit on the throne of his
glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.' — 1 Cor, vi. 2. ' Do ye not know that the
saints shall judge the world ?' — Ver. 3. ' Know ye not that we
shall judge angels?' It is indeed alleged that christians are
said to judge the world only in a figurative and improper sense j
but that this office is attributed to Christ really, properly, and
without a figure. But this distinction is quite gratuitous and
unauthorised. For any thing that appears to the contrary, the
apostles and other christians wiU be constituted judges of the
world in the very same sense with Christ, though probably in
an inferior degree. For he, in this, as in all other things, must
have the pre-eminence." Page 343.

eHAP, m.l AGENCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS^ J6l
the triumphs of the gospel in the present state,
or as appears to me the more satisfactory in
terpretation, to some extraordinary dignity that
will be conferred, in the day of judgment, on the
holy apostles, and on other singularly eminent
and active servants of Christ.
5. * The Calm Inquirer urges his final consider
ations with great acuteness and ability, and they
are certainly entitled to very serious attention.
It is true that writers on the biblical idioms
have laid down the rule, that verbs denoting
simple being or action are sometimes used, when
only a declaration is intended, or even a mere ex
pectation or supposition, that the act is done or
will be done.f But it is manifest that such a
* See Note [A] at the end of this Capitule,
f It may not be an unsuitable digression to annex some of
the most important instances. Gen. xxvii. 37. " Behold, I have
fixed him a sovereign to thee, and all his brethren I have
given to him for servants, and with corn and rich wine I have
sustained him." — Levit. xiii. 3. " When the priest shall see
him, he shall make him unclean," i. e. pronounce him so.
V. 13. " he shall cleanse him j" i. e. shall pronounce him clean.
Is, vi. 10. " Make gross the heart of this people, and mak«
heavy their ears, and cover their eyes ;" i. e. declare that they
are so. — Job. x. 2. "Do not make me wicked j" t. e. do not
treat me as such.— Matt. x. 39. " He that findeth his life,"
i. e. expects -to secure himself. — John v. 31. " My testimony
is not true," i. e. would not be considered so. — ^Rom. iv. 15.
'.' The law worketh wrath," i. e. denounces that wrath is
wrought by disobedience : — vii. 9. " I was alive," i. e. I deemed
myself so. — 2 Cor. iii. 6. " The letter killeth," i. e, declares
death as the consequence of sin. — Rom. v. 20. "That the
offence might abound," i. e, might be shewn to abound.—
Phil. iii. 7, " What things, were gain," i, e, had been so esteemed.

xysa THE f EBSON OF CHBJBT. jBOOfc III.
yule as thiSj if it bti not held under a very clear
and strong line of restriction;; would go far
tp'frards destroying the use of language, and
rendering any declaration of Scripture, or Of bfty
other bookj absolutely uncertain. It therefol^ej
I submit with deferertee to the serious eonsidera-
tiofe of eoimpeterit judges, can be reasonably and
»afely held In those passages only Which pal*
pably and undeniably require it, and tvhidh admit
of no rational interpretation withotit it ; at leAst,
if it be resorted to in any other cases, thogg
eases must be proportionately liable to be
doubted. Now the passages in whicih Jefeus
Christ is declared to be the future Judge of
jnaiikind and the Arbiter of their state ih ihe
eternal worid, are so numeroKS, so plain, and
expressed in such an impressiATe variety of
manner, as in my apprehension, to place themj
immeasurably beyond the legitimate range cff
thei t-ule adduced.
The Strong langUage ahd avs^ful Sceneiy by
which our Ldrd represents the destruction of
Jerusalem and the miseries of the people, cer*
tainly have a remarkable conformity with some
parts of the dfescriptioiis of the uhiversal judg
ment, fiut before vre cart accede to the conclu
sions to which tlie Calm Inquirer evidently in
clines, there are s«Jme circumstances important
te be donsiderfed.
(l) Those ^hb hold the propfei- Deity of Christ
not only have no difficulty in believing that he
P§poaally iailicted those |judgm@nte on tfaa

CHAP. m.J AGENCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. 263
Jewish nation, but their system actually requires
it. They believe that, in his essential and un
alterable nature as the Son of God, he is the,
Lord of all providential government ; that " all
things which the Father doeth, the same doeth
the Son in like manner ;" that the " Father
worketh hitherto, and he worketh," They also
believe that the peculiar, delegated, and official
dominion which the scriptures attribute to Christ
in his Mediatoral capacity, extends to all things
that have any relation to the progress and vari
ous fortunes of his spiritual empire among men.
Now the visible retributions of divine righteous
ness upon the people whose acme of crime lay
in their aggravated rejection of Christ and their
utmost malignity of effort to crush his gospel,
were with peculiar propriety to be expected
personally and immediately, from Christ himself,
the Lord of glory, and the Prince of the kings of
the earth. " They murdered the Lord Jesus and
the prophets, and persecuted us," says the holy
and injured apostle, " and were nol^ pleasing to
God, and were contrary to all men, forbidding
us to preach to the nations that they might be
saved: unto the filling up constantly of their
own sins : and the wrath came upon them tp the
uttermost."* This is confirmed by those passages
which describe the Messiah as personally exe
cuting judgments on his impenitent enemies :t

* 1 Thess. ii; 15, 16,
t See Vol, I. p. 193, 197, 212, 232,257, 290.— Matt, xxi. 4 it

164 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BdOK III.
and by those which speak of the destruction of
the Jewish polity as "the coming (Trapood-la) oi
the Lord, and the day of Christ, and the shaking
of the heavens and the earth " by Him '' who
speaketh from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ :"*
(2) That there is a conformity in the descrip-r
tions of the two events, with regard to the cir
cumstances of visible scenery, ought not to
create difficulty : for there appears sufficient
reason to regard those descriptions as' figurative
in reference to both the events. We know not
what will be the manner, any more than the day
and hour, of that " coming of the Son of man,"
which will be " to judge the living and the
dead." As, in regard to the judgments on the
Jewish nation, the circumstances of "the sun
being darkened and the moon not giving her
light, the stars falling from heaven, the mighty
sound of a trumpet, and the Son of man coming
in the clouds," — were sensible images borrowed
from the ideas current among the men of that
age : so, I apprehend, we may justly regard the
introduction of similar imagery in the descrip
tions of that infinitely more awful event which is
yet to come. The great circumstances of that
event, — the raising of the bodies of all human
beings to an imperishable state of existence, — the
scrutiny and perfect developement of all minds,
motives, and characters, — the adjudication of
rewards and punishments, — the presidency and
* James v. 8. 2 Thess. ii. 1, 2. Heb. xii. 25.

CHAP. 1II.1 AGENCY iN tiNAL RETRIBUTIONS. ^sS
action of our Lord Jesus Christ, — and the com
plete publicity of the whole procedure : — will
assuredly take place, and in such manner and
attended by such circumstances, as will be
worthy of Infinite Wisdom, Holiness, and Mercy,
and most consummately adapted to answer all
the purposes of a public and universal judg
ment : but WHAT that manner, what those circum
stances, will be, and how far any physical con
vulsions of nature may be employed as the 'very
least and lowest appendages to the majesty and
GLORY and terror of that awful day,  I pre
sume not to conjecture. Such circumstances,
conceive of them as we may, will be beneath
notice in comparison with our great concern in
the awful transactions. That concern will be
,MORAL and SPIRITUAL ; and it will be personal. —
May the Lord our Saviour and Judge grant, that
the writer and the readers of this page, may find
mercy of the Lord, in that day !
(3) In the passage cited by the Inquirer, John
xii. 47, 48, our Lord is manifestly speaking of
the design of his then present coming into the
world, which was " not to judge, but to save."
But to draw from this declaration a conclusion
clearly contradictory to so many other parts of
the Saviour's doctrine ; and, because he repre
sents his " word," the gospel of grace and
authority, as what will be the rule of judgment,
to infer that therefore he will not personally
preside in the acts of that judgment ; — appears
to me very inconclusive arguing.

ggg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK UL
(4) The mode of interpreting to which the In;
qUirer seenis favourably disposed would require,
if acted upon consistently, to be followed into
an application to the whole system of revealed
truth : and then I question whether every posi-
tionr beyond the rules of natural ethics would
not be exterminated. By the dextrous use of
fiigure, and analogy, and accommodation to Jewish
modes of thinking and phraseology, (which modes
of thinking and expression, it must always be
taken for granted, have no claim on our adop
tion,) the New Testament might, with little
trouble and in a very plausible way, be stripped
of every thing supernatural : and even the doc*
trine of a future state might be got rid of. All
" the terrors of the Lord " might be resolved
into the calamities of Judaea, and the ordinary
consequences of vice in the present state : the
benefits of the gospel might be reduced to th^
liberation of the human mind from popular super'
gtitions, the giving a new spring to our energies,
and the possession of an admirable engine for
managing the lower orders of the community :
and the magnificent promise of eternal life, might
be coldly affirmed to have originated in the
benevolent policy, or the opinion, or perhaps
the sanguine expectation, of Jesus and his fol
lowers. This is not a fanciful representation.
The Unitarians of this country have not indeed
proceeded to these lengths ; and I sincerely
trust that they will not, but that notwithstand
ing individual instances of a propensity this way,

CHAP III.] AGENCY IN FINAL RETRIBUTIONS. 267
they will, as a body, return nearer to the truth,
rather than recede farther from it. But these
are the principles which have been for several
years promulgated in the theses, dissertations,
lectures, and annotations of some of the men
who hold forth themselves, and compliment each
other, as the enlightened and liberal scripture
critics of Germany.
In the mean time, the caution administered by
the early Christian writers may prove to be the
wisest and best ; let those who rfegard the Lord
JeshS Christ as a figurative priest, a figurative
lavFglver, king» and judge, beware lest, in the
day of their extremity* they find only a figurative
salvatidn.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE

TO
CAPITULE VI.

Note [A] page 261.
" 5. The sense in which a prophecy is fulfilled is often very
different from that which the literal interpretation would lead us
to expect. It is therefore highly probable that the mode in
which Christ will eventually execute 'the office of judging .the
world "will bear little or no reseinblance to that which the ex
pressions naturally suggest; and in their true sense they may
mean nothing more than what a human being, exalted and
endowed, as Jesus is, may be qualified to perform. God de
clares to the prophet Jeremiah chap. i. 10, ' See, I have set
thee this day over all nations, to root out, and to puU down,
and to destroy, and to build, and to plant;' when nothing
more was intended than to authorise the prophet to declare
the divine purpose. And the promise to Peter, Matt. xvi. 19,
that whatsoever he bound or loosed on earth, should be bound
or loosed in heaven, is usually understood in a similar sense.
The prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem is ex
pressed in language as strong, and in figures as awful, as those
which relate to the last judgment : and the personal appear
ance of Christ himself, with his angels, is as expressly asserted;
see Matt. xxiv. 29. Luke xxi. 25, &c. yet, for any thing that
appears, these calamitous events were brought to pass by natural
means, and probably without any personal, certainly without any
visible, interference of Christ. He was only so far concerned in
it, as, in the symbolical language of prophecy, to declare au
thoritatively that the event would happen.
" 6. May we not then be permitted to conjecture, that when
Christ is represented as appointed by God to judge the world.

NOTES. 389
nothing more may be intended by this language, but that the
final states of all and every individual of mankind shall be
awarded agreeably to the declaration of the Gospel ? This sup
position is perfectly analogous to those cases which are cited
under the preceding head, especially to the strong expressions
which are used concerning our Lord's advent for the destruc
tion of Jerusalem ; the accomplishment of which in a figurative,
and not a litera,l sense, seems intended to direct our minds to
the interpretati6n' of those symbols which typify, and of that
language which announces, the personal agency of Christ and
his disciples in the awful solemnities of the final judgment.
This explanation affords a very easy solution of the language
of Paul concerning the saints judging the world. The apostles
and christians in general may fitly be represented as assessors
with Christ on the tribunal of judgment, as by the very pro
fession of Christianity they bear their solemn testimony, to the
unbelieving world, of the divine declaration by Jesus Christ,
that there is a life to come, in which men shall be rewarded
according to their works.
" In perfect analogy to this interpretation Christ is figura
tively represented as a lawgiver, because the precepts of his
, gospel are laws to govern the conduct of his disciples; — he is
figuratively a priest, because he voluntarily delivered himself
up as. a victim ; and sacrificed his life in the cause of truth, and
in obedience to the will of God. — He is figuratively a con
queror and a king, and universal dominion is ascribed to him,
because his gospel and religion will gradually prevail through
the world, and all nations will eventually submit to its autho
rity. — In like manner, Christ is figuratively a judge, because the
final states of all mankind wiU be awarded in a 'future life
agreeably to the solemn, repeated, and explicit declarations of
his gospel.
" Our Lord himself appears to give some countenance to this
interpretation, by the language which he uses, John xii. 47, 48,
. " If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not,
for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He
that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that
judgeth him. The wokd that I have spoken, the same
SHALL JUpGE HIM AT THE MST PAV." Calm Inq. p. 343—347.

CAPtfULE VtJ.

ON THE HOMAGE WHICH CHRIST PERMITTED TO BE PAID TO
HIMSELF.

Cases enumerated and examined, of peculiar homage paid to biir Lord
atinii^his ihinisti^.— Th«S Vdfds irff homas, Johnii. 2S.— SheWn iiottb
h^ebeeii an etelamatifffi of surprise :— nor an address to the Almighty
Father:— but an address to Christ, and approved by him.— Evidence of
this construction.— The term Ged not used in all inferior sense. — Objec
tions from tiie apostle's probable state of knowledge ; — apd from tbe im
plied reasoning : — answered.— The other instances not all of the same
ciiairactgr.— Christ vf otild not dtcept civil honour.— Nor, on tbe hypothe
sis of his mere humanity, would be have aceepted religious homage.-*
Pn Carpenter's arguments stated, cAd answered. — Investigation of
the sense of John xviL 3. — and of passages in| which JJesns calls the
Father his God, and prays to him.
It is recorded that our blessed Lord, on several
occasions, accepted with approbation from his
disciples afld others, expressions of homage,
vvhich carry some appearance of religious ado
ration. But the word generally made use of on these
occasions does not necessarily signify the exter
nal act of religious worship. It properly denotes
tbat bending down, or sometimes prostration,
which was the modoi among the oriental nations,
of expressing civil respect to persons of superior
rank. The cases, therefore, in which it is to be
understood of religious adoration, and those in

CHAP;. III.] :aCCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 271
which it denotes nothing but civil homage* can
be discriminated only by attending to the cir
cumstances of each.
This word (irpoa-xuvslv) occurs sixty times in
the New Testament. Of these th,ere are twoy
which, without controversy, denote the custom
ary act of civil homage,* fifteen refer to idola
trous rites,t three are used of mistaken and
disapproved homage to creatures,| about twen
ty-five clearly and undeniably respect the wor
ship due to the Most High God, and the remain
ing number relate to acts of homage paid to Jesus
Christ. The last class require to be individually
examined. 1. Matt. ii. 2. 11. " We are come to.worsbij)
him. — ^They fell down and worshipped him.*' As
we cannot know the precise opinions and expec
tations of thes6 eastern philosophers, and as they
sought Jesus under the character of " the King
of the Jews ;" we cannot with safety attribute to
them any farther intention than that of treating
him with the obeisance which they were accus
tomed to pay to the sovereign of their own country,
probably Persia.
2. Ib. V. 8. " That I also may come and wor
ship him." This hypocritical profession of Merod
must be taken, as the foreign inquirers could not

* Matt, xviii. 26. Rev. iii, 9.
t Jphn iv. 22. Acts vii. 43 Rev. ii 10. xiii. 4, 8y 13, !&/
xiv. 9, 11. xvi. 2. xix. 20. xx. 4.
X Acts X. %S. Rev. xj*. 10. xxii. 8.

S^iff OK THE PERSON OF CHRIST. J:;B00K HI.
but understand it, in the same sense as in the
preceding instance.
3. Matt. viii. 2. " A leper cometh andworship-
peth him, saying. Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst
make me clean." In Mark, it is " kneeling to
him," in Luke, " falling upon his face." This
person, had undoubtedly formed high, though
vague, conceptions of the character and powers
of Jesus ; but, in this early stage of our Lord's
ministry, it is not probable that the man knew
him to be the Messiah. There is no evidence,
therefore, to regard the action as any other than
an expression of reverential obeisance. A similar
opinion it appears to me proper to form on the-
case of the lunatic and demoniac who ran to Jesus
" and worshipped him."*
4. Ib. ix. 18. " A ruler [of the synagogue]
came and worshipped him." In the correspond
ing passages of Mark and Luke, the expression
is that "he fell at the feet" of Jesus : the attitude
of reverence,'submission and earnest supplication.
5. Ib. xiv. 33. The disciples " came and wor
shipped him, saying. Truly thou art the Son of
God!" The miracles which excited this excla
mation were understood by our Lord's attendants
as a demonstration of his Messiahship ; but how
far they at this time comprehended the meaning
and extent of the title Son qf God, is probably not
in our power to ascertain. We have before seen
some evidence f that this appellation was under-
* Mark v. 6 f Page 55, of this Volume.

CHAP. UI.1 ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGB^ 2f3
stood by the Jewish people generally, to belong
to the Messiah,' and that it was not a mere syno
nym of that word, but had a respect rather to
the person than to the office of the expected
Saviour. But it is very credible that individuals
differed greatly from each other in their notions
and expectations on this head, and that the views
of even the most enlightened were extremely
vague and obscure. It seems impossible that, in
their circumstances, it should have been other
wise. It would follow, therefore, that they
would regard the wondrous Person with whom
they were conversant, and whose command over
the powers of nature filled them with such over
whelming astonishment,* as an object of un
known and mysterious greatness ; and that the
motive of their homage to him would partake of
this indefinite and awful character. Such ap
pears to have been the state of Peter's mind,
when, on another occasion of the miraculous
power of Christ, "befell at the feet of Jesus,
and said. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,
O Lordf't
6. Ib. XV. 25. The Syrophcenician woman
" came and worshipped him, saying. Lord, help
me !" The same relation in Mark says, " she fell
at his feet, — and entreated him." This suppliant
either was a proselyte to the Mosaic religion, or
* In the parallel place of Mark vi. 51, 52, it is said that
they were " exceedingly beyond measure amazed," and that
" their heart [a Hebraism for the entire powers of the intei-
ieet] Was stupifif d." X Luke v, 8.
VOL. IL T

274 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOKTU;
she had received some fragments of information
froiti the neighbouring Jews, upon their expecta
tion of the Messiah : for she addressed Jesus as
tlie " Son of David." But we have no evidence,
to aiithorise the belief that she had any exten
sive acquaintance with his proper character and
office. We cannot, therefore, infer any thing
with respect to her views and intention, beyond
a most reverential and humble importunity,
united with some, perhaps indistinct, apprehen
sions of our Lord's greatness, and a just con
fidence in his power.
7. Ib. XX. 20. " The mother of the sons of
Zebedee came to him, with her sons, worshipping,
and asking something from him." As this was
altogether an ambitious project of Salome and
her sons, and referred to their expectation of
Christ's setting up a worldly monarchy, to which
they probably applied his promise recently made
to them,* it is reasonable to understand her
obeisance as intended to be the homage cus
tomarily paid to a temporal sovereign.
8. Ib. xxviii. 9. The female disciples who had
visited the tomb of Jesus,—" came to him, clung
to his feet, and worshipped him." Here the
prostrate posture, which denoted the highest
revereniee and respect is manifestly described :
but the expression does not necessarily import
more than the most exalted kind of civil homage.
9. Ib. V. 17. The disciples, " when they be-
* See Chap. xix. 28.

CHAP. UT.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE; 875
held him, worshipped him ; but some doubted?'
The kind of homage intended by the disciples
on this occasion, eould only be determined by
means of a precise knowledge of their state of
mind and sentiments at the time. That this state
was one of great agitation and confusion, is
beyond a doubt ; and some of them, it is added,
(IS/o-Tao-av) were held in such perplexity as not
to know whether what they saw was a reality
or a dream. They certainly knew and believed
that Jesus was the Messiah ; but their acquaint
ance with the real character, qualifications and
functions implied in that term, could not but be
extremely imperfect and obscure. It is reason
able to believe that their views, as to the cha
racter and intention of the homage which they
paid, were in like manner indistinct.
10. John XX. 28. " Thomas answered and said
unto him. My Lord and my God !'•'>
Of these remarkable words different inter
pretations have been proposed. -
(1) That it was a sudden, and almost involun
tary, exclamation of conviction and astonish
ment.* To this it is replied, that to use the
Divine Name as an exclamation of surprise,
however piractised by the ancient heathens, and,
to their shaine, by many called Christians in
later times, was not the custom among the Jews.
* Enjedin. E:fpl. Locorum, p. 249. He adduces as similar
instances, the heathen exclamations, Hereules ! Jupiter ! Great
Gods I Good Gods ! and the modern ones (he says, " Christiano
more,") Jesu ! Maria I Good God !
T 2

276 . ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.,
Not the semblance of such a form of speaking
appears in any part of the Old or New Testament.
The outward reverence of the Jews for the
names of Deity was maintained to extreme punc
tiliousness. And, if it were supposed that the
language of Thomas- had this character, it would
be incredible that our Lord should instantly
commend his faith and not rebuke his bordering,
at least, upon profaneness ; not to say, also, that
the deliberate recording of an imprudent and
irreligious outcry is little consonant with the
judgment of an apostle, and still less with the
wisdom of inspiration.
(2) That it was an ejaculation of admiration
and gratitude, addressed directly to God the Al
mighty Father. This opinion is said to have
been first jpromulgated by Theodore of Mop-
suestia, who flourished about the close of the
fourth century.*
Samuel Crellius supposed that the first member
of the sentence, " My Lord," was addressed to
Jesus Christ ; and the next, " my God," to the
Father: and he further conjectured that some
interval of time passed between the two. But
this is so artificial and unnatural a resort, so re
gardless of the very words, which are joined by
the copulative, so evidently made to serve a
purpose, and so destitute of any rational evi
dence, that it does not call for further refutation.
The Calm Inquirer, with Uriitarians in general,
* Lardner's Cred. vol. ix. p. 410.

CHAP. Hi.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 277
refers the whole sentence to the Father : " This
is a sudden exclamation of astonishment and
joy : q. d. My Lord ! and my God ! How great
is thy power ! Or, My Lord and my God has
done this !"*
By a remarkable inattention, the Annotator on
the Improved Version has subjoined, as a note, a
posthumous passage of Whitby, taken at second
band from Archbishop Newcome ;.|. of which the
apparent design, and certainly the effect on the,
uninformed reader, is to represent Theodore
Beza as patronizing this interpretation. The.
fact is, however, the reverse. As Beza's anno
tation is not long, it is here inserted : " From the
pronoun to him, it appears that the words which
follow are not merely the expression of the
apostle's admiration, as the Nestorians used to
evade this passage ; but the words represent him
addressing Jesus himself as the true God and
his Lord. The Vulgkte therefore is mistaken in
translating the passage in the nominative case :
and there is not a more express instance in the
gospels, of the invocation of Christ as the true
God. It is an exclamation, the nominative being
put for the vocative, as in chap. xix. 3."j
* Calm Inq., p. 219.
f " These words are usually understood as a confession. Beza
says that they are an exclamation : q. d. My Lord and my God !
how great is thy power ! Eph. i. 19, 20. Whitby's Last
Thoughts, 2d ed. p. 78. Newcome." Impr. Vers.
X " Ei, avr^' Haec igitur verba quae sequuntur non sunt tan-
thm admirantis Thomae, ut hunc locum eludebant Nestoriani,
sed ipsum ilium Jesum ut verum Deum ac Dominum guum.

378 -ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
To this interpretation, usually received among
the Unitarians two objections lie.
[1] Had such been the intention of the words,
it is very extraordinary that they should have
been left in a state of defect so objectionable'
and dangerous. Two additional words would
have filled up the sentence, and have precluded
all mistake.
[2] The connecting clauses, "Thomas answered,
and said to him ;" do not agree with this inter
pretation, but, in their proper and manifest con
struction limit the succeeding words as an ad
dress to Jesus Christ.
It has been, indeed, attempted to support
this application by adducing a passage in the
Old Testament as a parallel instance. " And
Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel,
when I have sounded my father, — if there be
good towards David, and I then send not unto
thee and shew it thee, the Lord do so and much
more to Jonathan !"* But this is an irrelevant
case. That the clause, " Jehovah, God of Israel,"
is not the language of invocation, is manifest
from the whole structure of the paragraph;
especially from the immediate sequence of the
particle "id that, because, for, when, and the verb
compeUantis. Malfe igitur Vulgata interpretatur hunc locum
recto casu, ' Dominus meus et Deus meus.' Nee alius est locus
in his libris expressior, de Christo ut vero Deo invocando. Domine,
i Kifpio?" exclamatio est, rectis vocativi voce positis, ut supra,
xix. 3." Bezte Annot. in loc.
* 1 Sam. XX. 12. Monthly Repos, Vol, xiv. p. 414. July 1819.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 279
in the future tense. A verb must, therefore,
either be understood by ellipsis, or more pro
bably, has been left out by the oversight of an
early copyist. • In a manuscript, No. 560 of Dr.
Kennieott's enumeration, and which he assigns
to the thirteenth century, Tf liveth is found in the
text immediately before mrT" Jehovah ; and the
same word is added in the margin of his No. 224,
a still earlier copy, which the learned Theodore
Christian Lilienthal considered of extraordinary
value, and as a transcript from a manuscript of a
very high antiquity and free from the Masoretic
revision.* Thus the construction is filled up and
the sentence is in the form of a solemn oath.
" The Lord the God of Israel liveth! For I will
sound my father :" or, as our translators hav6
usually rendered this idiom in other places, " As
the Lord God of Israel liveth, I will sound my
father." This mode of supplying the passage is
rendered probable, as the omission would thus
appear to have occurred from the similarity of
contiguous letters ; a very frequent cause of
various readings. That some word is wanting
is also evinced by the ancient versions, though
they supply it differently. The Septuagint fills
the chasm, thus, " The Lord the God of Israel,
knoweth :" the Syriac, and the Arabic in Walton's
Polyglott; " The Lord, the God of Israel, is
witness :"
The two objections therefore, are, I appre-

* Kennicott. Dissert. Gen, p. 105, 89.

S80 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH,
bend, left in full force ; and are sufficient to pre
vent our acquiescence in this interpretation.
(3) The remaining one is, that the apostle in
tended his words as an address directly to the Lord
Jesus, and that they were so accepted by Jesus.
This is the just and regular meaning of the
sentence, and any deviation from it is contrary
to the ordinary use of language. Though harsh
and unusual constructions must be sometimes
admitted, every candid critic will allow that we
should resort to them never but in cases of
necessity, inextricable by other means.
No objection can be brought from the words
not being, in the vocative case ; for the use of
the nominative for the vocative is so common in
the Greek writers, profane as well as sacred,*
that it cannot be called a peculiarity of the
scriptural style. In the Septuagint, the frequent
invocation, " O God," is almost invariably in the
nominative form.t Indeed a distinguished scrip-
* See Luke xviii. 11, 13. Eph. vi. 1, 4, 5, 9. The ancient
Greek grammarians, Johannes Grammaticus and Gregory the
author of a treatise on the Dialects, both adduce it as an Atti
cism. J. F. Fischer has brought many classical examples in his
Animadversiones in Welleri Gramm. Gr. vol. i. p. 352, 412.
vol. iii. p. 320, and he remarks, " Graeci veteres, atque adeo
Attici, hoc quoque in genere sequuti esse videntur Hebraeos.''
" In this kind of expression the ancient Greeks, and of course
the Attics, seem to have imitated the Hebrews ;"— for the
Hebrew and other languages of the same femily have no de
clension by cases.
f See Vol. I. p. 236, 245, where, to the examples of &ei, 1
request the reader to add Deut. iii. 24. Judges xvi. 28. 2 Kings
(Sam.) Vii. ^5.

CHAP. III.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. gsi
ture critic goes so far as to lay it down in the
form of an aphorism, that " in the New Testa
ment the nominative is put for the vocative in
addresses, but not in exclamations ; — for which
latter purpose the vocative is used, either alone
or with the interjection il."*
This also the earliest writers extant that ad
vert to the passage, and whose native language
was Greek, evidently regarded as the just con
struction. So Origen quotes it ;t and so it
stands in Nonnus, whose poetry is in this pas
sage, scarcely a paraphrase but rather a niere
version. J
The Calm Inquirer, feeling perhaps that the
weight of evidence lay in this scale, has prepared
himself with a paraphrase, framed to conciliate
this view of the passage with his own principles. §
* Chr. Stockii Interpfes Gracus N. Test. p. 31. Jena, 172?.
f Excerpla Procopiana ex Origene, apud Opera, ed. Delarue,
vol. iii. p. 98.
X ®aiMi; S" v(TrepojA,ifrii oifMi^aZa prj^aro <pim)y,
Koipayu; rj/^erepoi kosj e/Mi ©eo?. 
" Thomas, thus at last informed, uttered the reply. Our Sove
reign and my God !"
§ " If, then, the words are not to be taken as a mere ex
clamation, but as an address to Christ, the apostle's meaning
seems to be, q. d. Convinced of the truth of thy resurrection,
I acknowledge thee as my master, and submit to thee as my
god, as a prophet coming with divine credentials, and supported
hy divine authority. See John x. 34, 35." Calm Inq. p. 220.
Upon the same principle and referring to John x. 35. Dr.
Carpenter paraphrases the address pf Thomas : " I again own
thee as my Master, I again acknowledge that thou speakest the
words of God, and under his authority.", Proof that tke Fath«r
is ihe Only Proper Object of Religious Worship, p. 17-

2g3 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
The scripture instances of the inferior appli
cations of the term God, have been before col
lected, and some observations offered upon
them.* I would intreat the reader to compare
any of those instances with the passage before
us ; and to consider whether he does not per
ceive in each, and even the strongest of them, a
vei*y palpable line of demarcation, broad enough
to remove the subject far from the possibility of
misapprehension, — from the possibility that any
person possessed of ordinaiy faculties, and read-t
ing with honest intention, could from this phrase
ology impute to Moses or to any of the parties
figuratively called God, a really divine nature
and perfections : while, in this address of the
apostle, he finds a weighty brevity, an unhesi
tating comprehension, an unchecked emphasis,
which he cannot, on any principle of rational in
terpretation or of common sense, identify with the
paraphrases just given, and which irresistibly
direct his judgment to take the terms in their
propriety and full measure of signification ; — —
My Lord and my God !  Let the serious in
quirer further observe, that the combination of
the two sacred names forms the strongest repre
sentation of Divine Majesty of which the lan
guage is capable. Let him also reflect on the
word of appropriation, My Lord, My God ; and
duly ponder, whether it does not imply the sub
mission of soul, the dedication of religious feeling,
* See Vol. Vp. 387— S89.

CHAP. IH.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 283
which amount to a real homage of adoration. Let
him consider, whether he can think it probable, or
rationally possible, that any Egyptian or Israelite
could have been "led, by the scripture declara
tions adverted to, ever to accost Moses or one
of the princes of the people, in any circum
stances, with the solemn address, " My Lord
and my God !"
On the other hand, it is very properly asked.
Could this be the actual meaning of the apostle,
however convinced and gratified'? His doubts
had been whether Jesus, the man of Galilee, was
indeed retumed to life from the state of the
dead: those doubts had now been removed by
the evidence of sight, hearing, and touch ; and
he was fully satisfied that the same man Jesus
was standing alive before him. This sensible
evidence proved the resurrection of the man
who had been unquestioniably dead : but could it
prove any thing more '? Could it be a demon
stration of so very remote and stupendous a
proposition, as that this man is an unique being,
possessed of a superior and invisible nature, a
nature no less than that of the Immortal Deity I
— This objection the Calm Inquirer has not failed
to place in a strong light.* Wishing to meet it,
* " But who can believe that this sceptical apostle, who im
mediately before had been doubting whether his Master was a
living man, would, from the sensible and satisfactory evidence
he had now obtained of his resurrection, directly infer that he
was the living and eternal God } What an infinite distance
between the premises and the conclusion !" Calm Inq. p. 219.

284 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IIL
and every other difficulty, with fairness, I sub
mit the following observations to the serious
judgment of the reader.
1. It is universally admitted that the discourses
and conversations of Jesus Christ are not given
by the evangelists at full length. Of his own
Sayings, and those of his interlocutors, great
points are preserved, but very often the inter
mediate parts are withheld. Thus a want of
connexion among the sentences and paragraphs
of such discourses and conversations must occa
sionally appear. It is not for us to complain of
this circumstance. For the facts and truths ac
tually communicated by the Christian revelation
we are infinitely indebted : they are altogether
a boon of undeserved kindness : and we may be
assured that they are sufficient for all the pur
poses of filial obedience, though not for the
allaying of all curiosity, or the extermination of
all difficulties. With respect to the case before
us, there might be something, either in the dis
courses held, or more probably in the mind and
feelings of Thomas, which, if we knew it, would
shew that the confession of that apostle, under
stood as to us it appears necessary to understand
it upon the fair principles of the interpretation of
language, was not insulated or irrelevant.
2. It cannot be deemed improbable, that
Thomas had been present on those occasions
when the Jews charged our Lord with making
himself equal to God, and claiming to be the Son
of God, in a manner which they understood, and

CHAP, ill,] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 285
which it appears to us that he confirmed, to be
representing himself as God.* Those assertions
and claims of his Lord, though at the time very
imperfectly understood, might have been laid
up by.Thpmas in his heart with peculiar ob
servation, and often reflected upon with strong
feelings of, interest. He was probably, also, well
acquainted with the charge of blasphemy upon
which Jesus had been condemned, and with the
lofty declaration by which he had met the ac
cusation, asserting his own dignity as the Son
of 'the living God, and predicting his exaltation
to " the right hand of power," and his " coming
in the clouds of heaven ;" that is, his exercise
of supreme dominion and his administration of
mercy and justice to mankind. Our Lord's re
surrection from the state of death was the first
step towards that glorified state, and was the
pledge of all that should follow. When satisfied
of that fact, Thomas could look forward to all
the glorious things which his imagination had
delighted to picture under the reign of the
Messiah : and, if his mind was tinctured- with
those sentiments upon the person and characters
of the Messiah which we have before shewn
were cherished, though, shrouded with much
obscurity and imperfection, by the most pious
of the Jewish nation, his exclamation of ac
knowledgement and confidence was congruous,
with the peculiar combination of sentiments,
* See of this Chapter, Capitule I. Sfe^t, V. and VI,

286 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST* [BOOK HI.
feelings, and expectations which now agitated
his mind.
3. There* is another cause of still greater im
portance than these, a cause which we are en
titled to assume as really existing, which is
abundantly sufficient to produce the effect^ and
which furnishes a complete solution of the dif
ficulty ; the DIRECTION and INSPIRATION OF THE
Holy Spirit. At the mention of this, I am aware
that there are persons called Christians who will
put on the affectation of conteriipt: — ^but on
themselves the impiety and inconsistency must
fearfully rest ! — The smallest portion of true
candour would have taught them, that not only
our assuming this is perfectly logical, as being
an independent fact according to our own views
of Christian truth, but that the assumption is one
to which no Unitarian ought, on his own princi
ples, to object ; for the occasional inspiration
of the apostles is a doctrine which none of their
respectable writers in England have as yet fol
lowed the Neologists of the continent in denying.
It is true that the time was not yet coiue, in
which they were to be " invested with power
from on high, and led into all truth :"* but it by
no means follows from this admission, that the
suggestions of inspiration were given on no pre
vious occasions : and no occasion can be con
ceived more suitable than that of bearing a
solemn testimony for Christ. It was by the re
velation of the Holy Spirit, that Simeon acknow-
¦ * Luke jfxiv. 49. John xvi. 13.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 287
ledged Jesus when an infant to be "the Lord's
Messiah," and foretold the effects of his dis
pensation.* It was in consequence of a revela
tion from heaven, that Peter had confessed Jesus
to be "the Messiah the Son of God."t It was
by a divine impulse that even Caiaphas " pro
phesied that Jesus should die, — to gather toge
ther into one the scattered children of God."j So
"the Spirit of Christ" inthe ancient prophets
" testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ,
and the glories that should be after them."§ Can
it, then, be thought incredible that a similar in
fluence should, in the present instance, have
enabled the apostle Thomas clearly to declare
a truth which, at the time, he could not know in
its full comprehension "?
To the judicious reader it is now submitted,
whether our examination of this important case
has been complete, our arguments just, and our
interpretation valid.
We now return to the subject, of which the
case of Thomas was the concluding instance ; the
homage paid to our Lord Jesus Christ in the
days of his abode among men.
Some of the instances appear plainly to have
implied nothing in the intention of the parties
presenting their homage, beyond the recognition
of superior rank as a teacher, or a sovereign,
or a miraculous benefactor. In others it appears
*-Luke u. 25^ 26, 27, 34, 35. f Matt. xvi. 17.
t John xi. 51, 52. . § 1 Pet. i. U.

288 ON THE PERSbN OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI,
probable that there was an indefinite sentiment
of such greatness in the object, as imported a
superiority of nature, and bore the character of
religious adoration. But the obscurity which
lies upon the sentiments and intention of those
who offered this homage to the Redeemer, may
perhaps be diminished by attending to the manner
in which he received it. A review of our Lord's
conduct in this respect furnisjies the following
remarks. It was a point which- the Lord Jesus evidently
held very important and sacred, never to coun
tenance aUy claims of worldly sovereignty, either
acknowledged to himself, or made by others on
his behalf. He strongly disavowed the ^' receiv
ing of honour from men."* He refused to inter
fere, when solicited, in the matter of a contested
inheritance. t Attempts were made to invest him
with the regal dignity ; but he constantly and
inflexibly disclaimed them.t When an epithet
was applied to him to which he had the clearest
right, and which he mighty have accepted very
inoffensively, he rebuked the person who gave
it, because it was the language of compliment :
" Why callest thou me good ?"
It is, therefore, reasonable to expect that he
would have equally refused those tokens of
homage which were the known signs of regal
dignity, or at least denoted some kind of secular
honour. But he did not refuse them. He always
* John V. 41. t Lwkexii, 14. X Jo^" ^'^ ^^-

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF REUGIOUS HOMAGE. g89
accepted them with approbation. They must,
therefore, have been regarded by him as the due
acknowledgments of a spiritual and sacred supre
macy, a supremacy which he openly claimed as
the Lord and Master and King of his church.
Yet, it may be said that this was no more than
the supremacy of a religious leader, the most
illustrious of the prophets of God ;* and that
under such a character, every expression of
homage was due by a right far better than that
which could result from worldly empire.
Undoubtedly so: but it is also to be considered
that Jesus was the most lowly of mankind, the
most tender of his Father's lionour, and endowed
with the most sagacious discernment of the ten
dencies and effects of moral actions. Upon the
hypothesis, then, of this allegation, he must have
regarded the homage paid to him as what car
ried no implication, or hazard of seeming impli
cation, of accepting the honour which belongeth
to God only. We have, however, evidence that'
the same action, when offered to other persons
whose moral worth and divine cornmission enti
tled them to every token of human respect, was
apprehended to imply a more than created dig
nity, and was tjierefore rejected in the strongest
' * " The' homage paid to Jesus, and accepted by him, might
be paid to him as a most distinguished Messenger of the Most
High, as the beloved Son of God. The honour due to him
whom God sent, Jesus claimed ; he of course accepted of such
honour." Dr. Carpenter on the Only Proper Object of Religiom
Worship; p. 42.
VOL. II. C\

ngo ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [UOOK.lH.
manner. When Peter, in his character of an in
spired messenger, entered the house of Corne
lius, the pions but imperfectly instructed Roman
" fell down at his feet and worshipped him."*
If this act of homage, the very same that had
been accepted without scruple by Jesus Christ,
had implied nothing above respectful honour to
an inspired religious teacher, it was, though in
a less degree, due to Peter as well as to Jesus :
and, if his humility disposed him to decline it,
the reason of such declining would have been
laid in that becoming modesty, and not in any
apprehension of committing an act of idolatry,
of which (upon the hypothesis of the objection)
there could be no danger. But the apostle as
signed the latter as the express and sole reason
oi his disclaiming the respect offered by the
centurion : " Peter raised him up, saying, Ai'ise,
I myself also am a man ;" thus undeniably im
plying not only that this act of homage was
" prompted by feelings wrong in kind and in
degree,"^ but that the acceptance of it would
have been an arrogating of a dignity superior to
that of man.
A similar example occurs in the apostle John's
description of his own feelings, when he saw the
apocalyptic visions. Dazzled by the displays of
glory which he beheld, and not improbably mis
taking the celestial attendant for his Lord, at
whose feet he had before fallen as dead,t "he
• Acts X. 25, 26. f Dr. Carpenter, p. 43. } Rev. i. \7.

CHAP. ffl.j ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS 1iOMAGE> ^91
fell down to worship before the feet of the angel
who shewed him those things."* But he was in
stantly prevented by the sudden and as it were
alarmed admonition, — " See that thou do it not !t
I am thy fellow servant." Here, likewise, is the
manifest implication that this act of homage
could ndt have been innocently performed to a
fellow creature.
Thus tender and jealous have the inspired
messengers of Jehovah shewed themselves, 4o
avoid, in action or in connivance, the smallest
appearance of infringing upon those honours
which are due to the Eternal Majesty alone.
And could Jesus be deficient in this holy cir
cumspection, this solicitude to preclude the oc
casion and avoid the appearance of evil*? Was
^his meek and lowly prophet, the most drcum?-
spect of teadhers, the wisest and the 'best of men,
less moved with jealousy for his Father's honour,
less carefdl to guard his fellow-creatures against
the crime of idolatry, or less modest, less humble,
less cautious, than his servants were 1 — ^If he
were not conscious of possessing a nature enti
tled to receive divine -honours, can -he be ac
quitted of arrogance and presumption, or even
of ^agi-arit impiety^ -To ray 'be^t judgment it
appears that our =Lord^s conduct in this respect
¦ I . i I II I I II 11  HI II ' - . ]P|U-. . "¦
* Rev. xix. lO. xxii.19.
•{• "Oparfn-i an I exclamation wWch^ scarcely admits pf .Jbeing
literally trandated : but it conveys the iftea of ,*nxiety and
alarm, ^d of the eager rapidity of an effort to prevent a great
u2

292 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH,
can be accounted for, only on the supposition of
his having "that consciousness.
The Unitarian objections to this conclusion have
been urged with great ability and earnestness
by an amiable man, and most respectable writer.
Dr. Lant Carpenter : and, as I presume to think
that a better advocate on that side of the ques
tion cannot readily be pointed out, I shall
briefly state his argument, and respectfully offer
some observations in reply.
Dr. Carpenter lays down, what is universally
admitted, that " the grand doctrine of the law
and the prophets is, that Jehovah is the Only
God, unrivalled in all his great and glorious per
fections ;" and that this one Jehovah is the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom
he worshipped as " the Only True God," and
taught us to " worship and pay religious service
(XarpeCetv) to HiM ONLY." He assumes that the
sentiment which he disapproves, is the introduc
tion of another being as an object of religious
worship. The conclusion, therefore, is easily
and promptly drawn, that religious worship paid
to the Messiah is not the worship of the Only
God, and is consequently idolatrous and impious.
That this objection presents a great and seri
ous difficulty, it would be disingenuous not to
admit; It is, in fact, the point of convergence
of all the Unitarian arguments in this part of the
controversy: and it presents, in the most con
centrated forni, the chief difficulty that lies on
the Trinitarian doctrine, it is capable of being

CHAP. III.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 29s
modified in different ways, but its essential prin
ciple is the same : namely, that to attribute the
characters of divinity to the Messiah and to the
Holy Spirit, is to set up other ieings as Divine
besides " the Living and True God." To this
objection we have already paid distinct atten
tion,* and probably shall again do so in the
course of this essay. The following remarks are
offered with reference to the present case.
1. Whatever our opponents may think of the
credibility and rationality of our sentiments, they
ought to do us the justice of recollecting that
we constantly and strenuously deny the assumption,
by them made. Our doctrine is that, whatever
may be the kind of distinction which we conceive
to subsist in the Divine Nature, that Nature is
One. The Deity of' the Son, and the Deity of
the Holy Spirit, we believe to be One and the
SAME with the Deity of the Father. Let this doc
trine stand or fall, according to the evidence :
but let it not be forgotten or overlooked that
this is our doctrine. In honouring the Redeemer
and the Sanctifier, we believe that we are ho
nouring the Father and Fountain of all being
and blessedness, and that, in each case, th*
Object of our honour is the One and Only God.
It is not, therefore, correct in argument to re
present us as introducing other beings than the
Father into the honours of Deity.
2. The formal ground of that religious homage
* See Vol. I. p, 4—7, 390, 391.

«94 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. {BOOK lU.
which we cohceive the scriptures represent as
due to the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Divine Na
ture which the same authority appears to us to
attribute to him^ and which we regard as essen
tial to the value and efficacy of his mediatorial
office. 3. Dr. Carpenter and other Unitarians lay great
stress on this very important passage : " This is
the eternal life, that they may know Thee, the
Only True God, and him whom thou hast sent,
Jesus the Christ."* Certainly a most emphatical
passage ; but to the opinion that it unequivocally
asserts the sole Deity of the Father to the ex
clusion of the Son, I think there are reasons of
demur. (1) If this text contained all the information
¦which the scriptures, directly or indirectly, fur
nish on the subject, we should probably coincide
in the Unitarian interpretation : but the case is
widely different. To the reader of these volumes
I trust I may, without arrogance, appeal, whe
ther ample proofs have not been brought that
the prophets and apostles and Jesus Christ him
self taught his pre-existence and Deity, in no
little variety of modes, both implied and express.
Believing, therefore, in the consistency of in
spired scripture, we cannot attribute a sense to
one passage without listening to' the voice of
others ; iu other words, without collecting the
general testimony of the sacred books on the
* John xvii. S.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 2i>§
topic. We wish to hear all the evidence before
we give the verdict.
(2) It must be clear to every reader of our
Lord's prayer, from which the present passage
is detached, that it proceeds throughout upon the,
ground of his mediatorial state and office. Now,
we have had repeated occasion to observe the
language of entire subordination in which it was
his practice ito speak of himself under this cha
racter, referring his commission, doctrine, mira
cles, obedience, and sufferings, to the grace and
sovereignty of the Father ; and yet that he fre
quently united with it certain attributives which
appear incompatible with any other than the
supreme nature. In this prayer, according tp
our best endeavour to ascertain the sense of the
expressions, we have found some such attri
butives.* (3) According to our views of scriptural truth,
it is peculiarly the official character of the Father
to sustain the legislative and rectoral honours
of the Deity, and to be the primary Author of
all the acts of authority, power, and grace by
which the Deity is made known to mankind.
Now, with this sentiment, the terms of the pas
sage under consideration, and of other passages
in the New Testament, are strictly coincident.
The wise and gracious arrangement of the parts
and methods of Jehovah's moral government and
his covenant of salvation, is properly expressed,
I
^  ' ¦ ' ¦ I —
* See Cap. II, Sect, V. of this Chapter.

296 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
thus ; " There is One God, and One Mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
To us there is One God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we unto him : and One Lord,
Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and
we through him."* It is reasonable, that in this
mediatorial prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
same ceconomy of the divine operations should be
intimated. The nature of the occasion plainly
requires that he should speak of himself in his
official and delegated capacity.
(4) In pursuance of these ideas, it appears
strictly proper, and natural to the occasion, that
this form of expression should be used, to declare
the sole Deity of the living and true God, in
opposition to the fictitious gods of the nations to
whom the gospel was soon to be promulgated ;
and the Messiahship of Jesus, for the restoration
and eternal salvation of the human race, accord
ing to the Jewish scriptures. This reference to
the two classes of men, the gentiles and the Jews,
accords with the immediately preceding sen
tence ; " As thou hast given to him power over
all flesh, that to whomsoever thou hast given
him, he may give eternal life."
(5) Exclusive, as well as universal, terms in
scripture are not to be regarded as necessarily
and without farther examination signifying abso
lutely ; but they must be understood frequently
with a limitation suggested by the nature and
* 1 Tim. ii. 6. t Cor. viii. 6.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. 397
circumstances of the case.* One instance will
serve, both to the illustration of this remark, and
to confirm the application of it to the passage
under consideration. The Almighty Father is sub
limely called, " The Blessed and Only Potentate,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only
hath immortality."f But of the Saviour it is also,
* Instances of this use of /*o»o;" Mark vi. 47. Job. viii. 9.
1 Cor. ix. 6. " Ctun quidam observarent Deum Patrem, ubi etiam
k Filio distinguitur, vocari solum potentem, solum verum, solum
sapientem Deum, et hic et Rom. xv. 27. 1 Thess. i. 9, 10.
1 Tim. vi. 14, 15. inde Christum nee Deum esse, nee verfe
Deum dici posse, coUegerunt. Quae interpretatio et ipsius
Johannis disertis verbis (Joann. i. 1.) initio Evangelii positis
contradicit, et usui loquendi. Nam nee verum semper oppo
nitur /aZio; vid. Joann. i. 9. vi. 32. XV. 1. Heb. viii. 1. 1 Jo
ann. ii. 8. ctim et lux solis, et manna, et vitis, et tabernaculum
vera utique omnia fuerint : nee solus, unicus, singularis, simpli
citer et ex omni parte pluribus opponitur, sed pro eximio, egregio,
et excellenti dicitur." — " Some, having observed that God the
Father, even when mentioned in distinction from the Son, is
called the only powerful, the only true, the only wise God, both
in this place and in Rom. xv. 27- 1 Thess. i. 9, 10. 1 Tim.
vi. 14, 15. have inferred that Christ neither is God nor can with
propriety be called God. But their interpretation is contrary
both to the express words of this apostle in the beginning of
his Gospel, and to the use of language. For the adjective true,
is not always put in opposition to false; see John i. 9. vi. 32.
XV. 1. Heb. viii. 1. 1 John ii. 8. as, in reference to those
passages, the ordinary light of the sun, the manna in the wil
derness, the natural vine, and the ancient tabernacle, were nil
true ; nor are such terms as sole, only, singular, opposed to the
idea of plurality in the most absolute and exclusive manner, but
they frequently denote that which is most eminent, distinguished,
and excellent." Wetstein in loc,
¦f 1 Tim. vi. 15.

ggg ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
with equal clearness, asserted tbat he is King of
kings and Lord of lords ;"* that " all power hath
been given unto him in heaven and upon earth ;"
and that he is the First and the Last, the Living
One, the Life, the Eternal Life,"t terms which,
in scripture language, designate the possession
of life in a superlative degree, and, when the
nature of the subject admits of it, may justly be
construed to express an absolute immortality.}
(Syit ought not to be passed by that the
knowing oi God and the Messiah, which this
passage lays down as the necessary means of
spiritual and immortal happiness, must refer
principally to an acq^intance with all the es
sential parts of the revealed testinfony on those
points. The eternal life cannot he the effect of
a mere persuasion, or rational certainty, that
there is one God, the Creator and Ruler of all
things, and that Jesus was his messenger to the
human race : for many have this knowledge to
thedegree of entire conviction, without deriving
any moral effect from it, or applying it at all to
the great and holy purpose here specified. The
knowledge which is intended must embrace the
designs and the tendency of God's moral govern-
* Rev. xix. 16. xvii. 14. The use of the participles can
make no difference in the argument.
+ Matt, xxviii. 19. Rev. i. 17, 18. Joh. xi. 25. 1 Joh. i. 2.
X " The abstract being put for the concrete, to denote a
peculiar emphasis and energy in the quality.'' See Glassn
Philol, Sacra, lib. iii. tr. i. can. vii. Titmanni Meletemata Sacra,
p. 37, 38. Wetstein in Joh. i. 4.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELlGIOtre HOMAGE. 399
ment and his revealed grace, so far as they refer
to this practical purpose : or those particulars
which our Lord in the very connexion expressly
brings forward, the glory which he had with the
Father before the world existed, his being sent
into the world, his setting himself apart for the
sake of his people, his being glorified in them,
and his possessing all things which the Father
hath.* No knowledge short of this could he
connected with the unspeakable blessing of ever
lasting life. In scriptural use, the verb to know
is sometimes taken for acknowledging, revering,
highly regarding, and loving :t and this sense it
is reasonable to apply to the present case.
There is another passage, in which, according
to the opinion of many critics and divines, Christ
is styled, in express words, " The true God and
the eternal life :" but, as the examination of that
passage will come more properly in another part
of this inquiry, I decline to adduce it here.
4. Dr. Carpenter reminds us, that Jesus Christ
called the Father " his God," and that the apos
tles frequently use the title " the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ ;" that also he constantly
prayed to the Father, and " it is obviously absurd
to say that God prayed to <jrod, — ^for if really and
truly God, he could not at any time be otherwise
than God, even if in some incomprehensible way,
.* Verses 6, 8, 18, 19, 10.
t Schleusn. Lex. " Sign, 4. Agnosco. 17. Magnifacio, re-
vereor, amo."

300 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. ' [BOOK III
he were man at the same time."* To these re
marks I submit the following reply.
(1) If for the sake of the argument, this esti
mable author would for a moment admit the Tri
nitarian hypothesis, he would advert to this part
of it; that though the Son be God, truly and
properly so, yet he is not the Father, neither is
the Father the Son : the unity of the Godhead
being conceived to be not discrepant with an
UNKNOWN but REAL and NECESSARY modc of dif
ference. (2) The act of the Son of God, in becoming a
Mediator and Saviour to mankind, is considered
as that which involved a temporary cessation or
diminution of the developements, or manifesta
tions ad extra, oi the essential divine glories. It
is therefore, according to our apprehension. of the
meaning of those phrases, described as coming
forth from the Father, coming down from heaven,
being sent into the world, . becoming flesh and
making his tabernacle among men, being sent in
the likeness of sinful flesh, divesting himself,
taking the form of a servant, and humbling him
self. It cannot but be immensely difficult, and
probably to mortal powers impossible, to form
perfect conceptions of all that is included in the
fact which these expressions designate : yet it
seems undeniable that they all contain the idea of
degradation, humiliation, and submission to a
subordinate capacity. Such a state we may, with
* Dr. Carpenter, p. 2.

CHAP. HI.] ACCEPTANCE OF RELIGIOUS HOMAGE. soi
re.verence and sacred modesty, conceive to be
congruous with the supposition that the habitual
consciousness and feelings of the man Christ
Jesus were not those of unspeakable delight, in
the enjoyment of intimate communications from
the inexistent Deity ; but that, on the contrary,
they were the feelings of a mental depression
which no words could describe, no imagination
represent.

CAPITULE nil.

MISCKLLANEOUS DECLARATIONS OF CHAIST, INTIMATING THE
EXISTEifCE A'ND ACTION OP A SUFSRIOR NATURE IN HIMSELF.

Jesus Christ exercises a legislative authority in matters of morality, and
claims obedience in his own right. — His supremacy in the gospel ceco
nomy ; — and the prerogatives, acts, and qualifications which it implies.
— Christ the author of the forgiveness of sins, in a sovereign and
efficient sense. — He attributes to himself the power of relinquishing and
resuming his human life, at his own pleasure ; and that he was the
author of the resurrection of his human body. — ^With characters of
perfect subordination to the will and appointments of the Father, he
unites various and remarkable dej;larations of absolute equality and
... union with the Father.
On various occasions, Jesus Christ attributes
to himself, usually in the way of implication,
different powers and prerogatives which deserve
a close attention.
I. He recites several particulars of the divine
law, each of which he introduces with the for
mula, " Ye have heard that it was said to those
of old time ;"* and to each he then subjoins his
* Matt. V. 21, &c. Impr. Vers. Some translate " by those of
old time," and understand it of the Jewish teachers who cor
rupted the original law. But it is manifest that the passages
are all taken from the Pentateuch, except that in two instances
only, V. 21, and 43, a gloss from the traditionary teachers is
introduced. The old Syriac Version, which, in a verbal question
of this kind, is our best authority, renders the words in the
dative form.

CHAP, in.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. 303
own ^jolnmandment in ttoe full tone of legislative
authority, prefixing the words, " But I say unto
you." Does he not, by this style and expression,
represent that his own authority is equivalent to
that which gave the law to the Israelites under
Moses ; — which will involve, that ihe authority
of Jesus and the authority of Jehovah are equal;
that is, that they are the same ? It was not with
out reason that the historian remarks, that Jesus
" taught as one having authority, and not as the
scribes." Their best and highest appeal was to
the law and to the prophets : he claimed reli
gious obedience in his own right.
It may be replied, that Jesus spoke in the name
and by the authority of the Father alone. I an
swer, he does not say so ; but, on the contrary,
he uses the language of his own personal au
thority, repeating it constantly, and introducing
no corrective or modifying clause whatever. So
did not Moses : so did not the apostles. Moses
uses the expression, " Keep all the command^-
ments which I command you this day ;" but he
anxiously subjoins, " Thou shalt obeiy the voice
of the Lord thy God, and do His coiUmandments
which I command thee."* The apostles also
gave commandments ; but they took care to
State, so that it could never be mistaken, that
they were acting in their delegated capacity as
"the messengers of the Lord and Saviour."t
" Ye knoAV," says Paul, "what commandments
* Deut. xxvii. 1. 10. f 2 Pet, iii. 2.

304 ON. THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
we gave you by the Lord Jesus : what I write
unto you are the commandments of the Lord."*
Thus they were not merely careful to remove
the appearance of assuming any degree of a
personal authority, but they clearly defined the
proper source of moral jurisdiction to be in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
II. " Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he
may send forth labourers into his harvest."t It
is true that, in this passage itself, nothing occurs
to mark definitively that Christ is designated
under the appellation Lord of the harvest : but,
in other places of the New Testament, he is so
clearly exhibited in the same character; as the
Chief in the legislation and authority of the
Christian church, that a doubt can scarcely be
entertained of a reference to him here. His
" fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse
his corn-floor ; and he will gather his wheat into
the granary. He that soweth the good seed is
the Son of man. The Son of man will send forth
his angels, and they will gather out of his king
dom all seducers and workers of iniquity. Be
hold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and
scripture-teachers."t Accordingly, the whole
dispensation of the gospel is His kingdom, and
all the agents and instruments in it receive
their appointment, guidance, and success from
him. The miracles by which it was established

* 1 Thess. iv. 2. 1 Cor. xiv. 37- f Matt. ix. 48.
I Matt. iii. 12. xiii. 37, 41. xxiiL 34.

CHAP. HI.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. 305
were likewise wrought "in his name;" which all
admit to signify, by his authority : now an au
thority to control the established constitution of
nature implies a power to do so, and such a
power cannot be conceived as an attribute of
any other being than the One Supreme.
The body of revealed truth is called not only
" the word of God,"' but " the word of the Lord,
the word of Christ."* To his messengers he said,
" As my Father sent me, even so send I you :"
and they constantly averred that all their offices,
whether those of apostles, or prophets, or evan
gelists, or pastors and teachers," were " the
GIFT of Christ ;" and that they " received it not
of man but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."t
All their labours were " the work of Christ,"
and were performed " for His name's sake."t
He is clearly declared to be " the Master of the
house," of the whole gospel economy ; to whom
it belongs to judge of the qualifications of its
subjects, and to admit or reject them by his own
sovereign authority.§ Its institutions and ser
vices are his : its discipline is by his command
ments : its day of ordinances is his day, as he
was Lord of the Jewish sabbath: its chief
sacrament is his supper : in all things he tath
the pre-eminence. II Its privileges arid all its
*Act3xi. 1. xiii. 48. Col. iii. 16, , . ,,
f-Johnxx. 21, Eph. iv. 7— 11. Gal. i. 11, l2.
+ Phil. ii. 30. 3 John, 7. § Luke xiii. 25—27.
II 1 Cor. xiv. 37. Matt. xii. 8. Rev. i. 10. 1 Cor. xi, SO.
Col. i. 18. .; .
VOL. II. X

308 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
happiness t<rere bestdwed in his name** Tb his
effectual power and grace its success is attri-
buted.f As its agents derive their commission
from him^ so they own their responsibility tohim4
And all those who receive its blessings form an
universal body^ which he claims as his own
especial property. In language analogous to
that which is appropriated to the Deity in the
Old Testament, they are called hi^ people, his
sheep, his church, his elect. In this view* very
remarkable is his authoritative declaration con
cerning the calling of his church among the gen
tiles : " Other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold; them also I must bring, and they shall
bear MV VOICE: and there shall be one foldj one
Shepherd."§ This is the Unequivocal language
of Almighty and Efficient Power.
Thus, the entire constitution and administration
of the system of mercy revealed to the children
of men, proceeds upon the principle of a supre
macy in Christ. Let the serious inquirer con
sider the extent and the implications of this
supremacy: what objects it resprects, what
powers it requires, and what qualifications it
implies in the person who exercises it. Let him
reflect on the myriads of true Christians, " the
redeemed from among men," in all the ages t>i
time, in all the states and varieties of nature,
grace, and glory, in all their mental principles

* See Acts iv. 7—12. x. 43. f John Jkv. l-^. Roni. xv, 18.
t Gal. i. 10. I Tim, vi. 14. 3 Tim. ii, 3, 4. § Joto X. IS.

CHAP, UI.] MISCIJULAMEOUS DSCUfiATIONS. sof
and acts« their constitutions, tempers, and cha
racters, their outward conduct, t.heir delations
to other beings, the instruments of their in
struction and edificatiojij their trials, their dan
gers, their difficulties^ their deliverances, and
tlieir preservation, so that " none of tibem shdl
perish, nor shall any pluck them out ©f His
hand." Of all these, the supremacy which the
scriptures thus attribute to Christ implies a per
fect iJJtuition, a systematical dependence, ahd
a perpetual agency in their management. Gaii
these exist, without the properties of wisdom
and power in a degree which surpasses all that
our reason can possibly ascribe to any creature ?
In the view of these irelations to the labours and
success of the Christian ministry, our Lord after
words said, " All power is given unto me in
heaven and upon eai-th : go, make disciples of
all nations : — and behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world." Of this passage
a friore detailed consideration has already been
given. III. Beason and set^iptiire teach that to pardon
sin, in the prdper and complete sense, is an act
to which no being is competent besides the
SujJreme Moral Governor of the universe. For-
givetteSs implies a change in the ordeiP Sind rela
tions of some part of the accountable world, with
respect to the Being to whom it is accountable ;
who alone can, and assuredly will, '* judge the
world in righteousness." This implied change is
such as the criwinal cannot make oa bis oyrn
x3

308 ON THB PEPcSON OP CHRIST. (BOOK HL
account, and no ot'ner can make for him, except
the Being who r,resides over the judicial arrange
ments of thr- moral universe ; and this Being
can be no other than " the God of judgment by
whom actions are weighed, and to whom belong
eth vengeance and recompence." It implies a
removal of the Divine displeasure itself, and of
that tremendous sense and conviction of the
Divine displeasure which justice requires to be
produced in the consciousness of the offender :
and it further implies a reinstatement in the ap
probation of " the righteous Lord, who loveth
righteousness." It is, therefore, an article in
the inspired enumeration of the peculiar prero
gatives of Jehovah, that " he pardoneth iniquity,
transgression, and sin."
But it is recorded that Jesus " said to the
paralytic man, ' Son, take courage, thy sins are
forgiven thee.' And, behold, some of the scribes
said in themselves, ' Why doth he thus speak
blasphemies'? Who can forgive sins but God
alone T' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,
' Why do ye think evil in your hearts 1 For which
is the easier, to say. Thy sins are forgiven ; or
to say. Arise and walk 1 But, that ye may know
that the Son, of man, upon earth, hath a right to
forgive sins,' (he saith to the paralytic) ' Arise,
take up thy couch, and go to thy house."*
Three different interpretations have been put
* Matt. Ix. 2—7. Mark ii. 3—12. See another instance in
Luke vii. 47, 48.

CHAP HI.] M1SCELL.\NE0US DECLARATIONS. S09
Upon the conduct and words of our Lord on this
occasion. 1. It is maintained th.at he did not assume to
himself the actual rij^nt to give a judicial for
giveness of sin, bu.^c intended only to declare to
the person whom he saw to be penitent, that his
sins were forgiven by God : in the same manner
as Christ gave to his apostles authority to " re
mit sins."* To this interpretation it may justly
be objected:
(1) That this sense of the expression would
have furnished no colour for the charge of blas
phemy, which the Jews so promptly advanced.
That charge unquestionably supposed that Jesus
was invading the divine prerogative : and his
own reply accepted the sense of a proper for
giveness of sin, thus admitting the construction
of his adversaries to be the fair and just meaning
of his words.
(2) Whether we take the remitting of sins
predicated of the apostles, in a declarative or a
metaphorical sense, it is manifest that it was
understood by themselves in a sense essentially
different from that in whicli they attributed to
Jesus Christ the blessing of forgiveness. In no
.part of their discourses or writings do they pro
fess to forgive sins. They never employed lan-
* Matt, xviii. 18. John xx. 23. " He seemed to intimate —
that God had invested him with a power of discerning the real
¦ characters of men, and consequently of pronouncing whether
, they were entitled to the divine forgiveness or not." Dr. Priest
ley's Notes on Scripture, vol. iii. page 149.

glljr ON THl PEEJK5N OP CHRIST. {BOOK HI.
guage approaching to that of our Lord on this
occasion. They always taught that, "by faith
in HIM, we receive the remission of sins," that
" in him we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins*," and that *- by the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we are saved.''*
But, with respect to themselves ;aad their office,
they advanced no higher claims than that they
were messengers and ambassadors of Christ,
announcing the pardon of human guilt and all
the blessings of eternal life, as his gift. A
very observable instance occurs of the decla
rative remission of offences, upon the proofs of
penitence in the offender ; as a branch of the
ecclesiastical discipline enjoined in the New
Testament. The apostle Paul directs the church
at Corinth " to grant forgiveness and restore to
consolation ;" and he adds his own approval and
ratification of their act, on the ground of his
apostolic commission : but he is especially care
ful to mark that he does this with an explicit
reference to Christ as the Possessor of the au
thority and efficiency to forgive. " To whom ye
grant this forgiveness, I also : for whatever for
giveness I grant, I grant it for your sake, in the
presence of Christ."t In another passage, the
apostle enjoins the mutual forgiveness of Chris-
* Acts xxvi. 18. XV. 11. Eph. i. 7.
f 2 Cor. ii. 7, 10. Though the word here is ypiphairiai and not
a^Kvai, the sense is the same, but with an emphatical reference to
the/ree and gracious bestovranent of the blessing. See Col. ii. 13.
•El/ •s^&s^ 'Kfivtvi, " %n jhe presme oJ Christ, j^^ore Christ ;

CHA1^ IIL] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS, $H
tians, to each other, from this express motive,
" even as Christ hath granted, forgiveness to
you."* 2. It is affirmed by the Calm Inquirer and
other Unitarian writers, that our Lord's words
were framed to conform with a Jewish opinion,
that not only was sin the immediate cause of
bodily disorders and human sufferings in general,
but that each disease and calamity was the spe
cific punishment of some particular crime ; and
that, therefore, Jesus meaned no more than if he
had said, "May thy disorder be removed l"t
Upon this opinion I remark :
(1) The general principle, that all the afflic
tions and sorrows of men are the effect of the
sinful state into which we have fallen, is by no
means to be represented as a Jewish prejudice,
or to be spoken of with contempt. Nothing can
be more certain, on every ground of rational
consideration, than that physical evil could not
take place, under the government of Infinite
n - - 1 I [I I I II Illi mimmmm^.m I ¦ ^
or Christ being the inspector and approver of the transaction,
as Theodoret understands the expression. Luther and others
translate it, in the person, i. e, in the place and stead of Christ.
Tbe sense is nearly the same, in either version," Semler i« loc.
*' With a religious regard to Christ, having the mind directed
to him, as the ever present and observant Lord of the church,
and seriously conBidering vrhat wUl be agreeable to his vnll."
Rosenmiiller. Wetstein accor4s with the common iaterpreta-
tioiij la the name and place of Christ. Schleusnet- considers it
as a solemn attestation, of the nature of an oath, calling Christ
to witness : " Christum testor, per Christum juro."
* Col. iii. 13. t ^^' Priestley, ubi supra, fialm Inq. p. 339.

Sia &N the person of CHRISt. . [BOOli Hi.
Righteousness, unless as the judicial effect of
sin against God.
(2) Admitting our Lord to have alluded to this
principle, which is not improbable though we
cannot regard it as proved, it by no means fol
lows that the expression, " Thy sins are for
given thee," was synonymous with the other,
" May thy disease be removed !" On the con-
traiy, it is much more consonant with reason and
probability, to siippose that Jesus designed a
reference to moral offence, as the actual cause,
under the divine administration, of this indivi
dual's distressing malady . It may, be reasonably
conceived that our Lord, who " knew what was
in man," saw the mind of this afflicted person to
be overwhelmed with compunction and peniten
tial sorrow, on account of his own sinful con
dition : and that he intended, therefore, first
to speak the words of healing mercy to the
wounded spirit, and then, as the inferior blessing,
to restore soundness to the helpless body.
(3) There is no evidence, excluding the pas
sages under dispute, that the expression used by
our Lord, or its cognate term, " the forgiveness
of sins," was ever used by a New Testament
writer to denote any other than a proper remis
sion of moral transgression. On the contrary all
the passages in which it occurs, appear to require
this as their necessary construction.* Even in
* See Matt. vi. 12, 14. xii. 31^ 32. Mark iii. 28., iv. 12.
xi. 25, 26. Luke xii. 10. James v. 15 : where the disease and
the sin are clearly distinguished. 1 John i. 9. ii. 12. And

CHAP. IH.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. 313
one of the places in dispute, the connexion most
clearly proves that a moral forgiveness is the
only thing intended : for ^Fesus said, " her sins,
which are many, are- forgiven, for she loveth
much ; but he to whom little is forgiven, loveth
little."* (4) If such was the meaning of our Lord's
words, and if it thus coincided with current
opinion, the design must have been sufficiently
intelligible, and there would have existed still
less reason than upon the former interpretation
for the accusation of blasphemy.
These appear decisive reasons for the rejec
tion of each of the interpretations proposed.
There remains only another : '
3. That Jesus Christ spake under the consci
ousness, and by the authority, of a superior
nature : which, from the clear tenor of scripture
as to the right and power of bestowing this par
ticular blessing, could be no other than that of
" Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious,
who forgiveth iniquity and transgression and sin."
This conclusion is strengthened by the desig-,
nating expression, " the Son of man upon earth :"
which is the fair position of the clauses, and
seems intended to point out our Lord's humbled
' condition, as distinguished from his pre-existent
state, and from his subsequent glory. " The Son
of man, upon earth," that is, the Messiah in his
for ^ o^eo-i; rav ajiapritiy. Matt. xxvi. 28. Luke i. 77. Acts
ii. 38. V. 31. X, 43. xiii. 38. xxvi. 18. Eph. i. 7. Heb.
ix. 32. X. 18. * Luke vii. 47.

gi@ ON THE PERSOII OF CHRIST. pOOK IU.
assumed state and his veiled glory, is not less
Divine in the exercises of his power and grace,
than under the brightest manifestation of his
eternal attributes.
IV. It is the constant declaration of the Chris
tian scriptures, that the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus from the dead was effected by " the glory
of the Father," by " the exceeding greatness of
his mighty power: — God raised him from the
djead." But we fi,nd Christ attributing this same
work to HipsELF, " Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it again,— He spake con-
eeraimg the temple pf his body,"* The Calm
Inquirer contends that, because " the resurrec
tion of Jesus is uniformly ascribed in the gacred
writings tQGoA,-^therefoP0 our Lord's expression
is t§ be uuderstood figuratively ; not that hg would
raise himself, but that he would be raised by
God "t To this remark we reply, first, that itgives
the contradiction direct to our Lord's own words,
which ^ffirna that he wiould raise himself: and
ije3tf , that we do not admit any force in the argu
ment employed ; for the belief, that the Divine
Nature of the Son raised from the state of death
the human body which he had assumed, is not in
any opposition with the truth that God did so
raise him. Those who hold the former hold
also the latter, and they regard them as two
modes of expression of the same fact. They
conceive that all acts of the divine perfections,
'  i[iii»  ;t. i,w — —  .^¦t — -I...— ¦¦¦¦¦^ ¦¦_¦¦ 1. I •> .- .,1 —
* John ii. 19, 21. f Page 173.

CHAP, III.) MISGBIX&NBOns DBCiiA^^lONS. £15
considered in themselves as distinguished from
the ceconomical arrangement of the nsethod ©f
redemption, are properly predjcable of the
Divine Nature absolutely ; or respeetively and
equally of the Father, or the Son, or the {loly
Spirit, Thus, from the same premises as the In
quirer's, they draw the contrary conclusion, and
believe that '^ what things the Father doeth, the
same doeth the Son in like manner ;" and that
HE "¦ and the Father are Onp" in nature!, perfec
tions, and divine opera^tigns.
" On this account the Father Ipye^th me, that I
lay down my life, yet so that I may take it
again. No one forceth it from me, but I lay it
down of myself ; I have power to lay it down,
andl have power to take it again. This com
mission I have received from my Father."*
It is immaterial whether e^ovtria. here be ren
dered power or authority : for the authority to
do an act implies a sufficient ability either inhe
rent or communicated, in the agent, for the per
formance of it.t It it also obvious that the com
mission or commandment of the Father refers,
1. - - '  =!  ' I ¦ ^ . . , J' - . I , ...11
* John X. 17. 18. The reason for adhering to the Common
Version, in rendering XM^eiv differently in the two parts pf the
paragraph, wiU appear from the remarks. — '* Hoc tm non est
tcfXmoy, sed, ut sspe, eitj3»T«oy." GxoiiMi.-^^^'EiiroX^, commiS'
sion, as the word sometimes signifies : answering, says i^osen-
miiUer, to the German, Auftrag.
-)¦ See p. 194 of this voluUje, Schleusper puts this passage
under his second signification of the word : "¦ Libertas agendi,
quze et Latinis potestas dicitur," Grotius gives the preference
t.o potentia.

.316 • ^IM 'i'Hfi PERSON tSS" CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
not only to the resuming of lif«, but to the
whole transaction, the laying down and the re
ceiving again: ahd this is a repetition of the
fundamental doctrine of Christianity, that '' all
things are op the Father, and through " the
Son: — ^that "God so loved the world, that he
g-ave his Only-begotten Son, — and sent him into
the world, 'that the world through him might be
¦saved."* The manifest point of our Lord's argument is
the spontaneity oi the act which he performs in
obedience to the Father's will, and for which the
Father loves him. This spontaneity cannot but
imply ability ; and both are applied, by the terms
of the passage, equally to the two parts of the
entire transaction. If our Lord's laying down
his human life was his own act; it is impossible,
without the most unfair and arbitrary resistance
¦to the meaning of words and the scope of argu
ment, riot to admit that the resumption of that
life was his own act likewise.
The Calm Inquirer supposes that a different
construction is' made out from the use of the
verb, (jva. Xa^co, e^outriav T^a^siv,) which he con
siders as signifying a merely passive reception :
as if our Lord had said, I have authority to lay
down my life, and I have the same authority to
receive it, when it shall be again given to me by
my Heavenly Father.
But is not this sacrificing sense to system 1
and one part of a system to the exigencies of
* 1 Cor. viii. 6. John iii. 16, 17.

CHAP. III.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. 317
another part '? — ^The Inquirer holds that consci
ousness, and even intellectual existence, ceases
with animal life. What idea then can we form
oi authority, in a passive and unconscious mass
of matter, to receive an act of Omnipotence %
Authority can reside only where there is- intelli
gence and volition. But, if the Inquirer's princi
ples of interpretation be just, we must say that
the universe had authority to be created ; and
that the bodies of all mankind, after the pro
cesses of dissolution and decomposition have
gone on for ages, will have authority to be
raised from the dead !
He also says, " The word is by no means
necessarily taken in an active sense ;" and
quotes Schleusner most partially, omitting much
that would have discountenanced his interpreta
tion. The truth is, : and Schleusner's whole ar
ticle is in perfect accordance with it, that the
word properly signifies such, taking or laying
hold of as implies active power in the subject :
and that instances in which it denotes a merely
passive reception belong to the remoter and less
proper applications.* Such expressions as the
following are exemplifications of the native
meaning of the word : " We have taken nothing :
he took the seed : she took the leaven: he took
the loaves : to take thy coat : they who take
the sword : he who taketh not his cross : that no
* E. g. Aafn^dvety or 'ka^t'iy iip^v, — X^fiiji/, — imjiy^criv, — a'&u, to
begin, to forget, to be reminded, to be ashamed.

318 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU.
one take thy fcf own : receive him not into your
house :"* and many such phrases, familiar to
every one who is but inoderately skilled in the
language^ either generally or according to the
Hellenistic u^age.
The Inquirer seems, however, to incline most
to a wayward notibh of Grotius, that the pas
sage does not refer at all to the death and resur'
i-ectioh of Jesus Christj but to his frequently
exposing his life to danger from the fury of his
enemies, and his miraculously preserving him
self. Of this gloss it seems quite sufficient to
say, that it is plainly confuted by the scope and
design of the passage ; which so evidently is the
salvation of mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, by
Christ's " laying down his life for them:" That
Grotius proposed snob an interpretatiGn^ is one
out of many proofs of that leariied^ but sometimes
light ahd ihoorisiderate, writer's injudicious pro*
pehsity to desert an old path for some novelty
of his own, especially if that novelty appeared
in an anti-evangelical garb. The cruel usage
which he received from the dominant party in
his native country, and his unmeasured hatred
of Calvinism, together with a politic suppleness
which seems to have deeply infected his cha-
racter^ betrayed him into an extravagance of
homage to alinost every things whether Popish
or Socinian, which opposed the great principles
of the Reformation.
* Luke V. 5. Matt. xiii. 81, 33. xiv. 19. v. 40. xxvi. 52.
s. 39. Rev. iii, U, % John lo.

CHAP. HI.] MISCELLANEOUS BEeLARAfKJNS. Sl«
For the reasons which have been pr«>p6sedf
the only fail* and just interpretation of this pas^
sage appears to me, to be that which attributes
to the Lord the Messiah, an inherent power of
relinquishing and resuming at pleasure his human
life ; a power which, of plain necessity, includes
the existence in him of a superior nature, and
that nature not less than diVinb.
V. The Lord Jesus uniformly represented him*
self as performing all his acts for the instructioii
and salvation of meuj in the most perfect sub^er-*
viency to the Will of his Father and dependence
upon him ; and this fact he stated, in §. variety
of expression and on different occasions, so as
to manifest an ahxiety to impress it deeply on
his followers. "I have n6t spoken of myself J
but the Father who sent me, he gave me cdm*
mission, what I should speak, and What I should
teacb.^ — The word which ye hear is not mine^
but the Father's who sent me^— My doctrine is
not mine, but his who sent me. — I do nothing
from myselfj biit as my Father hath instructed
me, I say these things.-^That which I have seen
with my Father, I say. — I can do nothing from
myself : as I am instructed I judge.— The Words
which I say to you, I say not from myself : and
the Father who abideth in me^ he doeth the
works/'* In these and similar passages^ out
* John xii. 49. AaXeTy is used in the sense of teaching orally,.
(s(ee SchleUsneri Lex. signif. 8.) and this rendering is" peculiarly
proper when it is joined with another verb of speaking. 
xiv»24. viL10< Viiir 39^38. v. 30. xiv. 10.

320 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
Lord declares that, in his plans, his will, his pur
suits, in the whole of his conduct as the Messiah,
there was nothing in any kind or respect sepa
rate, independent, or insulated from the autho
rity and purpose of the Father ; but that every
thing, of doctrine or action, already perfonned
or hereafter to be done, has been and will ever
be in the most exact conformity to the commis
sion which he had received from God : so that
his own words and acts were, in a sense, ab
sorbed in the will and authority of Him con
cerning whom he says, " My Father is greater
than I."*
Yet these declarations of functionary suborr
dination are combined with others which bring
to light such characters as appear inconsistent
with any idea of a total and essential disparity.
This association of characters of supremacy with
characters of subordination, has been before
considered.t We add a passage which connects
both :—
" I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one cometh to the Father, but through me.
If ye had known me, ye would also have known
my Father : and from this time ye know him,
and have beheld him. Philip saith to him. Lord,
shew us the Father; and that will be the sum of
happiness to us. Jesus saith to him. So long a
time am I among you, and dost thou not under
stand me, O Philip! He who beholdeth me,
* John xiv. 28. f See p. CS^-TS, of this Volume.

CHAP. HI.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. 321
beholdeth the Father : how then sayest thou.
Shew us the Father ? Believest thou not that I
am in the Father, and the Father is in me 1 The
words which I say to you, I say not from myself ;
and the Father who abideth in me, he doeth the
works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and
the Father ih me : but if^not, believe me on ac
count of the works themselves. Verily, verily,
I say to you, he who believeth on me, the works
which Ido, he also shall do; and greater than
these shall he do ; because I go to my Father :
and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I
will do ; that the Father may be glorified in the
Son."*—" He (the Spirit of truth) will glorify
me ; for he will take of that which is mine and will
declare it to you. All things which the Father
hath are mine : for this reason I said. He. will
take of that which is mine, and will declare it
to ybu."t
In these words of our Lord, several important
particulai-s are' to be observed,
1, He lays it down, or assumes it as known,
that the highest dignity and happiness of man
consists in a holy communion with God, This
he represents by the sensible ideas of approach
ing to the Father, having with him a social inti
macy, and seeing him. Such expressions were
established in the Hebraized idiom, to denote
clear and convincing knowledge, especially when
united with high intellectual enjoyment.
* John xiv." ,6-— 14. f lb, chtfp. xvi. 14, 15,
VOL. II. Y

3Sg ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [BOOK I
2. Of such intercourse with the source of all
goodness and happiness, Jesus represents Him
self to be the only medium : yet not a passive
and merely instrumental medium, but a living,
designing, efficient Agent ; " the Way, the
Truth, and the Life ;" not only the medium, but
the Mediator ; not only the path, but the Guide :
not only the announcer of holy and immortal life,
but the Giver of that blessing by bringing men
to reconciliation and moral union with its Hea
venly Fountain.
3. He proceeds to represent that the know
ledge o/^ himself, which had already been in part
communicated to his disciples and should shortly
be so more fully, was in effect the very knowledge
oi the Father of which he had been speaking :
" He who hath seen me, hath seen the Father."
Our Lord could not intend natural vision : for,
in that sense, " no man hath seen or can see the
King eternal, immortal, invisible ;" and many
had enjoyed an ocular, frequent, and intimate
sight of Jesus Christ, who remained totally insen
sible to his glory and the glory of God in him.
He must, therefore, have meaned such a mental
perception of his moral excellency and worth as
would lead to correspondent affections towards
him : and his words imply that those affections
exercised towards himself were, as really and
by the very act, exercised towards God. Thus
our Lord bears testimony to the same truth which
was afterwards expressed by his inspired ser
vant, as " the enlightening of tbe knowledge

CHAP. III.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. SM
of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ,"
who is "the refulgence of his glory, and the
exact impression of his manner of existence."*
4. He then asserts the same fact in another
form, a form which he had used on preceding
occasions and which was peculiarly striking and
sublime, — a mutual inhabitation of the Father
and the Son : " I am in the Father, and the
Father is in me." The reader is requested to
turn to the observations made in a former Section
ottthe meaning and application of this .phrase.f
The reference, in the present instance, evidently
is to THAT in Christ which was an exhibition of
the Father, and an exhibition so perfect, that " he
who had seen him, had seen the Father." But
our Lord does not stop at this point : he goes on
to apply the idea to his works of power, and
appeals to those works as a demonstration bf this
union and mutual inhabitation. Thus the oneness
assumed is shewn to be both that of moral excel-
* 2 Cor. iv. 6. Heb. i. 3. "t'Koarainu manner of existence,
this term, though paraphrastic, appears to me to be the nearest
approach to the exact meaning of the word in this passage. " It
denotes God himself The fon is called the absolutely per
fect Image of the Father, because he is like him in power, wis
dom, goodness, &c. since, by a Son, we understand one of the
same nature as the Father." Rosenmiiller in toe. " "titU^aa-K;
est ipsa rei substantia, Wesen, Realifdt : — the very substance of
the thing. Essence, Reality." Heinrichs in loc. Gottingen, 1792.
" Imago expressa esseutize, seu naturae divinae ej Usque majes-
tatis immutabilis.— The express resemblance of the essence, or
nature, of God, and of his unchangeable majesty." Schleusner,
t Fage 85«-94, of this volume.

324 &N THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
lencies and that of efficient operation: in each
respect, whosoever had seen or known the Son
had so seen or known the Father ; the doctrine
taught, the miracles performed, the spiritual ex
cellence and glory displayed, by the Son, are
identically those of the Father; they are the
doctrines, the works, the glory, of Gov.
5. Hence light is cast upon our Lord's expres
sions before adduced : " I speak not from my
self; my doctrine is not mine : I do nothing from
myself :" as if he had said, " I do not proceed
upon any authority or power distinct from that
of my Father : my plans and actions are insepa
rable from his : my doctrine and works and glory
are his, and his are mine : the union between the
Father and the Son is intimate, perfect, and in
capable of dissolution : I and the Father are
ONE, in mind and counsel, and in efficiency of
operation." — It seems a reasonable inference,
from such a singular and perfect, oneness of at- ¦
tributes, that there is a oneness also of nature in
the Father and the Son.
6. With these declaration 5 the Saviour con
nects language which seems to put himself on a
level with his disciples, "or even on an inferior
degree : but a closer examination will correct
this surmise. " He who believeth on me shall do
the works which I do, — and greater." It cannot
be questioned that the designation, " he who be
lieveth on me," must be taken in a very limited
sense ; as referring only to that confidence in the
power of Christ with which his apostles, and

CHAP. HI.] MISCELLANEOUS DECLARATIONS. S3S
some others of his immediate followers, were
endowed, and by which they wrought miracles
in his name. The equality, or superiority, of
the miracles wrought by the apostles and their
coadjutors, cannot refer to their number or to
their kind; for, probably in the former resfpect,
and beyond all doubt in the latter, the miracles
of the Lord Jesus were far transcendent. The
reference must have been to the effects produced
by the ministry and miracles of the inspired
teachers of Christianity, in the extensive conver
sion of men to truth and holiness; effects which
far exceeded the actual and present success of
our Lord's own ministry. Now be it observed
what our Lord assigns as the cause which would
insure those wondrous effects. It is His own
POWER exercised in his glorified state : " Be
cause I go to my Father ; and whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that I will do : that the
Father may be glorified in the Son." ¦ Thus it
proves in the issue, that He who had withheld,
and as it were confined, the manifestations of his
power and glory, with regard to the success of
his own labours, was the Cause and Author of
those more splendid effects which followed the
gospel in the hands of powerless and sinful men.
At the same time all this honour and majesty is
laid at the feet of the Eternal Father " of
WHOM and to whom are all things." The Father
is glorified in the Son.
7. In reference to this glcrry, Jesus further
declares the equal possession and honour of both

336 ON THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [BOCfK Hi.
•the Father and the Son. "the Spirit of truth
shall glorify me : He shall take of that which is
mine and shall declare it unto you ; All things
that the Father hath are mine. " Universal terais
must be understood according to the nature of
the things spoken of. The " all things," there-
i fore, here mentioned, must be those objects which,
on, being made known to intelligent and virtuous
minds, will excite the emotions which the scrip-
itures imply in the frequent phrase, giving glory
to God. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by the
manifestation of that in the person^ character,
and work of Christ which is, in a moral sense,
lovely and worthy of being honoured by holy
beings. What is that in the All-perfect God
which is thus excellent and honourable 1 — It is
•his WHOLE MORAL GREATNESS, the sum of his wise
..and holy, righteous and benignant attributes,
what the scriptures call his great name. This
it is which makes him the infinitely worthy Ob
ject of admiration, love, and all possible homage :
— and of this, our Blessed Lord says, " All
THINGS which the Father hath are mine."

^ CAPITULE IX.

REVIEW OF THB BVIPENCE COLLECTED IN THIS CHAPTER.

In the survey which we have taken of the doc
trines which Jesus, in his personal ministry,
taught concerning himself, either directly or in
a remote and implied manner ; or which, though
proceeding from others, he admitted and ac
quiesced in ; we have found the following parti
culars : —
He was described by the voice of inspiration
as being the Son of God,/ the Son of the Most
High ; in reference to his miraculous birth, and
to his royal dignity and power, as the Sovereign
of a new, spiritual, heavenly, and everlasting
dispensation.* He admitted, on- the charge
of his enemies, that he was the Son of God,
in a sense which the highest judicial autho
rities of his country considered to be a blas
phemous arrogating of attributes which were
not compatible with the rank of a human being.f
He declared that a perfect knowledge of his
Person was possessed by God his Father only,
that he himself had the same perfect and exclu
sive knowledge of the Father, that this know
ledge was reciprocal and equal, and that it was
* Capitule I. Sect. I. II. f Sect. III.

328 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
above the powers of human comprehension.* He
affirmed himself to be the Son of God in such
a sense as included an equality, or rather an
identity, of power with that of the Father ; the
same dominion in the arrangements of provi
dence ; the same superiority to the laws which
were given to regulate the seasons of human
labour ; and the same right of religious homage
and obedience.f In like manner he asserted that
he was the Son of God so as to be One with the
Father; by a unity of power, which he justified
and confirmed by declaring a unity of essence,
or of nature and distinguishing properties.!
Our Lord, with a remarkable frequency, styled
himself the Son of man, an appellation equiva
lent to that of Messiah, but the least capable of
any injurious construction. This designation he
often combined with the assertion of a pre-ex
istent arid heavenly nature : the condescension
of which, in forming a new and interesting rela
tion with mankind, is represented by the same
expression that is used in the Old Testament to
denote peculiar acts or manifestations of the
Divine personal interposition. To this superior
nature Jesus appears to refer as a Witness to
the truth of his doctrines, in accession to the
testimony of the Almighty Father.§
Our Lord further adverted to the pristine con
dition of his superior nature, as a glory which
he had with the Father before the existence of
the created universe ; and which was to be
* Sect. IV. fSect. V. } Sect. VI. § Capitule II. Sect. I— IV.

CHAP, 111.] REVIEW OF EVIDENCE, 329
displayed to the contemplation of holy intelli
gences, in the most exalted manner, wheii the
purposes of his humiliation to sufferings and
death should be accomplished, and that assumed
state of humiliation should cease. He shewed
that this glory consisted in the manifestation
of those moral excellencies which form the un
rivalled perfection of the Divine Nature, and
this manifestation he affirmed of the Father, and
of himself reciprocally.* He solemnly averred
that he had existed ages before his human birth,
and before the birth of .Abraham.t
Christ affirmed that a power was given to him,
in his mediatorial capacity, which involves the
absolute controul of the minds, passions, and
actions of mankind,, and the management, of pro
vidential, agency ; qualities clearly incongruous
with any nature or capacities merely created :
and he declared the exercise of this power to be
coeva.1 with the duration of the present dispen
sation of the divine government. +
He spoke of the holding of religious assem
blies as a usage which would be characteristic of
his followers, and as an act of religious homage
to himself: and he assured his disciples that,
on all such occasions, which must of course in
clude all times and places, he would be with
them, in such a manner as admits of no rational
interpretation except on the admission of his
possessing the attributes of omnipresence and
the exercise of special grace. §
He described himself, with remarkable strength
* Sect, v., t Capit- IH. $ Caj^it. ly. § Capit. V.

S30 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. tBOOK HI.
and particularity of expression, as the Being who
will effect the stupendous miracle of the uni
versal resurrection, and will determine the ever
lasting retributions of all human beings ; works
for which infinite power, knowledge, wisdom,
and righteousness are indubitably necessary.*
During the period of his debasement and humi
liation, he accepted of religious homage, and
that of such a kind and under such circum
stances, as cannot be reconciled with the in
tegrity, humility, and piety of his character,
upon the hypothesis of his simple humanity.f
He also assumed a sovereign jurisdiction in
matters of moral obedience, thus claiming that
authority over the hearts and consciences of
mankind which can belong only to the Supreme
Lord, and which involves both a right and power
of taking cognizance of the secret sentiments,
principles, and feelings of men's souls. He re
presented himself as the Sovereign Head of the
gospel dispensation, and was uniformly so con
sidered by his apostles. Its miraculous establish
ment was attributed to his personal and peculiar
power, a power to modify and controul the laws
of nature : and, in all its arrangements, offices,
ordinances, diffusion, and success, he is con
stantly declared to be the real and ever-present
Agent. The exercise of this power manifestly
implies an universal dominion over the whole
course of natural and moral events ; the causes
and occasions of human action ; the understand
ings, passions, and motives of men, in every
~ * Capit. VI. 4. raT«'t VTT

CHAP. Iil.] REVIEW OF IVIDENCfi. 831
state and of every character ; and the efficient
determination of the issue to all the purposes
and actions of all mankind. In a perfect ana
logy with these high prerogatives and powers,
the Lord Jesus ascribed to himself a spontane
ous power to relinquish his own human life,
and to resume it ; and the resurrection of his
body from the state bf death, is expressly im
puted to his own will and agency.*
With all this, Jesus Uniformly maintained his
entire subordination to the will of God his
Father; that all which he performed and suf
fered, taught and commanded, in the great work
of his mission to mankind, he did, for no private
or separate purpose, but solely in pursuance of
the appointment, and for the accomplishment of
the gracious designs, of Him who sent him. Not
only did he reject the idea of having any de
tached interests or objects, but he even affirmed
that he had not a detached existence from the
existence of the Father. The will and work and
glory of the Father, are repeatedly stated to
have been identically the will and work and
glory of the Son. It is declared that the Father
is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and
that He arid the Father are ONB.f
Such is the purport of the testimbuy which
6Ur Lord Jesus Christ bore concerning Himself.
Whether these particulars have been fairly de
duced from their premises, by legitimate criti
cism and honest interpretation, has throughout
« Capit, VIII. * Capit. n. III. VI. vm.

332 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST, [BOOK 111:
the preceding disquisitions, been carefully sub
mitted to the judgment of the learned and intel
ligent reader : and he is again requested to
exercise that judgment upon this recapitulation
of the results. It has been, also, my honest en
deavour to present the grounds of the evidence,
at every step, in a manner so detailed and per
spicuous, that I flatter myself, any attentive
and serious reader, though not possessed of the
assistances to be derived from an acquaintance
with the original languages of scripture, will
find it no difficult task to follow each argument
with a clear perception of every thing on which
its validity can depend.
Let me intreat him, then, to meditate anew
upon the character, both mental and moral, of
the Person by whom all these attributives have
been avowed as his own, or plainly assumed, or
more or less indirectly implied, or permitted to
be ascribed to him by others : and let him con
sider whether it is possible, to believe the sound
ness and sobriety of mind of that Person, and
still more his perfect holiness, humility, and
piety, on the supposition of his knowing himself
to be nothing more than a mere human creature,
however, singularly wise and virtuous ; a fallible
and peccable man : — and whether on the other
hand, it is not necessary, in order to support the
integrity of his character and the truth of his
teachings, to believe that he possessed, not the
nature of man only, but another Nature, superior
and pre-existent, celestial and really Divine.

CHAP. IV.

ON THE REAL HUMANITY OF JESUS CHRIST, ITS CHARACTERS
AND AFFECTIONS.

SECT. I.

THE HUMAN NATURE WITH ALL ITS INNOCENT PROPERTIES,
AFFIRMED OF JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus Christ really and properly a man. — The progress of his intellectual
and moral excellence. — His passions and, susceptibilities. — His conduct
under sufferings. — His moral qualities. — Tlie causes, means, and extent
of his intellectual acquirements. — Tlie limitation of his knowledge. —
Inquiry into the meaning of Mark xiii. 32. — Remarks on Emlyn and
the Calm Inquirer. — ^The perfection bf our Lord's moral character vindi
cated, against the insinuations of the Calm Inquirer and the direct
assertions of an anonymous Unitarian. — Investigation of the causes and
peculiar nature of the Redeemer's sufferings. — I. Designs of those suf
ferings. — 1. To succour the human race. — 2. To deliver from the terror
¦ of death ; — ^not physical dissolution, — ^but spiritual and eternal ruin. —
3. To propitiate for sin. — 4. Sympathy with suffering Christians. — 5. The
efficiency of salvation. — II. Reasons of those sufferings. — III. Their un-
, paralleled kind. — Our Lord's agonies and prayers consistent with his
moral perfection and his union with the Divine Nature.
A BEING who acts and speaks and is addressed
as a man, and who exhibits all the properties
which distinguish man from other beings, must be
a real man. To such a being, possessing the

334 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
nature and the essential attributes of a man, it
is correct to ascribe a proper humanity ; even if
it should be the fact that, by the possession of a
different class of properties which are known to
be the attributes of another nature, this other
nature should appear to be preternaturally con
joined with that being.
Therefore a believer in the proper Deity of
the Messiah has no obstruction, on that account,
to an equal assurance of the Messiah's proper
humanity. He regards it as a case absolutely of
its own kind, having no known analogy to any
other fact or existence in the universe, and which
is to be judged of solely from its own evidence,
competent testimony.
By himself, by his friends and disciples, by his
enemies and persecutors, Jesus Christ was spoken
of as a proper human being.
His childhood was adorned with filial affec
tions and the discharge of filial duty. " He went
down with his parents, and was subject to them."*
And on his cross he shewed the same dutiful
tenderness. His intellectual powers, like those of other
children, were progressive : and so was the de
velopement of his moral excellencies. " The
child grew and was strengthened in spirit, being
filled with wisdom ; and the favour of God was
upon him :¦ — he advanced in wisdom, and in sta
ture, and in favour with God and men,"t
* Luke ii. 51. f Luke ii. 40, 58.

CHAP. HI.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 335
In his earliest years, he embraced with eager
ness the means of improvement. " They foun^
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the
teachers, both listening to them and inquiring
of them : and all who heard him were astonished
at his understanding and his replies."* It cannot
with reason, be doubted that he availed himself
of whatever opportunities besides were placed
within his reach, in his obscure and lowly station.
He had large experience of human suffering.
His lot was one of severe labour, poverty, weari
ness, hunger, and thirst. He affected no austerity
of manners, nor did he enjoin it upon his fol
lowers. While he mingled in the common socia
bility and the innocent festivities of life, he
sustained a weight of inward anguish which no
mortal could know : he was a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. He experienced dis
appointment of expectation, the pain of ungrate
ful and injurious requital, the attachments and
the griefs of friendship, sorrow for the miseries
and still more for the sins of men, a virtuous in
dignation at unprincipled and hardened impiety,
and the most generous pity towards his malignant
enemies.t He looked forwards to, the accumulation of
sufferings which he knew would attend his last
hours, with feelings on the rack of agony, with a
, * Luke V. 46, 47.
fJoliniv. 6. Matt. viii. 6. xi. 19. Jolin ii. 1 — 10. Isaiali
liii. 3. Matt. xxi. 18, 19. xi. 20. Jolin xi. 35, 36. Marii iii; 5.
Matt, xxiii. 37. Luke xix. 41. xxiii. 34.

336 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
heart " exceedingly sorrowful even unto death ;"
but with a meek and resigned resolution, a tender
and trembling constancy, unspeakably superior
in moral grandeur to the stern bravery of the
proudest hero. " I have a baptism to be baptized
with : and how am I held in anguish till it be
accomplished ! — Now is my soul distressed : and
what shall I say*? — Father, save me from this
hour ! — But for this cause came I to this hour. —
Father glorify thy name !"* Through his whole
life he was devoted to prayer: and when his
awful hour was come, " he was in an agony and
prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as
drops of blood falling upon the ground."t He
was " sorrowful, and overwhelmed with anguish,
and distressed to the utmost."! " He fell upon
his face, and prayed, and said. My Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me ! Never
theless, not as I will but as thou willest."§ In
his last hours, with a bitterness of soul more
excruciating than any bodily sufferings, he felt
as if deserted by his God and Father ; while yet
he promised heaven to a penitent fellow-sufferer,
and died in an act of devotional confidence,
triumphing that his work was finished. Thus
he died : but he rose again, that he might be
Lord of both the dead and the living ; and he

* Luke xii. 50. 2ui'^«/*si, vehemetiter angor j Schleusn, John
xii. 27. t Luke xxii. 44.
X —hii(eMtti,'-i>t6ai*,^t1»9ai, — a^/MyeTy- Matt. xxvi. 3!^. Mark
Xiv. 33. § Matt. xxvi. 39.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. S3f
ascended to his Father and our Father, his God
and our God.
This was " the man Christ Jesus ; a man de
monstrated from God by miracles and prodigies
and signs which God did by him : — a man ordained
by God to be the Judge of the living and the
dead."* It is delightful to dwell on the character of
this unrivalled man : not only because in no
other, since the foundation of the world, has the
intellectual and moral perfection of our nature
been exhibited, but because the contemplation
of such excellence refreshes and elevates the
mind, and encourages to the beneficial effort of
imitation. He " always did the things which pleased" his
Heavenly Father. Love, zeal, purity, a perfect
acquiescence in the divine will on every occa
sion, and the most exalted habits of devotion,
had their full place and exercise in his mind.
The most refined generosity, but without affecta
tion or display ; mildness, lowliness, tenderness,
fidelity, candour, a delicate respect for the feel
ings as well as the rights and interests of others,
prudence, discriminating sagacity, the soundest
wisdom, and the noblest fortitude, shone from
this Sun of righteousness with a lustre that never
was impaired.
His intellectual attainments were partly ac
quired, as we have before remarked, by diligence

* 'AyBpumoi, I Tim. i. 6. 'Aj^/i, Acts ii. 32, xvii. 31. x. 43.
vol. II. z

3^8 ON THE PERSON OF CHRJST. [RQQK: III.
in the use of proper means ; but principaUy hy
that transcendent communication of spiritual in-
fluenees which the Father conferred upon him :
for " God gave the Spirit, not by measure," unto
him. " On him rested the Spirit of the Lord,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit
of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge*
arid of the fear of the Lord ; and, made him of
quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,"*
But, however extensive, profound, and exact
his knowledge was, we cannot regard it as
unlimited : for no infinite attribute can be pos
sessed' by a finite nature. The union of the Divine
nature and the human, in the person of the Mes
siah, does not involve the communication of om
niscience to his human mind, any more than
of omnipresence, unchangeableness, or eternity.
All the knowledge which his offices required, or
to the use of which his commission extended, be
tjnquestionably enjoyed ; but, beyond this sphere,
there is an indefinite field for the acquisition of
new knowledge, as well as of higher felicity,
even in his glorified state. It seems to me a
most reasonable opinion, that the communication
of supernatural knowledge ' to the human mind
of Jesus Christ, was made aS; circumstances aud
occasions were seeff by Divine wisdom to re
quire. Upon this principle, I cannot but regard
as rational and satisfactory the common inter
pretation of our Lord's deqlar^tion, that he didmt
* Joto jii, 3^. Isaiah xi, 2^ ?,

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS^ 339
know the precise time when his prediction of the
final ruin of the Jewish polity would be fulfilled.
" Concerning that day, or hour, no one knoweth;
neither the angels who are in heaven, nor the
Son ;. but only the Father."* As, in various
passages which have been before considered, we
have found predicates affirmed of the Messiah
under the title of the Son of man, which can
belong only to his superior nature : can it be
deemed extraordinary if here we find that as
serted of him as " the Son," whether we under
stand the appellation to be Son of man or Son of
God, which can attach only t,o his dependent
and limited capacity 1
This interpretation, however, has been often
treated by Unitarians with high scorn, as paltry
and evasive ; and as imputing to the Blessed
Jesus a " gross and criminal equivocation."t
Against such a charge we can reply only by
declaring that we do not perceive it to be ap
plicable, and by appealing to the good sense and
argumentative justice of the considerate reader.
Mr. Emlyn has been lauded for his invention
of a case, which those who have adopted or gone
beyond his sentiments have thought a happy
contrivance for the exposure of this disliked in-
terpretation.j But it seems a little surprising
— M^g^M^I— ¦I—I.— - I ¦¦¦!¦ ' I Ml,  , I.  ¦ .1 "II I
* Mark xiii. 32. f Calm Inq. p 201.
X "With mucli good sense Mr. Emlyn remarks ' tliat to
suppose Clirist knows the day of judgment with his divine
nature while he is ignorant of it in liis human nature, is charg
ing JiBH-witti aa eqtdVocation similar to that of a person who,
Z 2

340 ON the person OF CHRIST. poOK HI.
that so many penetrating men and acute rea-
soners should have been pleased with this piece
of flippancy, and should not have stopped to in
quire whether there is any justness in the repre
sentation. To my apprehension, I must confess,
there appears an entire want of such analogy as
would justify the argument. To make it hold, it
must be supposed that the doctrine of the Deity
of the Messiah involves a belief that the pro
perties of the Divine Nature are necessarily and
of course communicated to the human nature ; a
belief which, though it has been contended for
in the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran com
munions, few in the Reformed Churches will, I
apprehend, feel themselves at all disposed to
vindicate. We readily avow that we pretend
not to know in what manner the Divine and
human natures, which we attribute to the Mes
siah, are united in his sacred person. We
believe that, in this respect especially " his
name is Wonderful," and that " no one knoweth
the Son, except the Father." The scriptures
appear to us, on the one hand, to teach the exist
ence of such an union as produces a personal
oneness ; and, on the other, to exclude the notion
of transmutation or confusion of the essential

conversing with another with one eye shut and tlie other open,
and being asked whether he saw him, should answer, that he
saw him not ; meaning, with the eye that was shut ; though
he still saw him well enough Mtith the eye that was open. A
miserable evasion, which would not save liim from the reproach
of beiaga liar and deceiver. Emlyn's Tracts, p. 18." Calm Inq, ib.

CHAP. III.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 341
properties of either nature with respect to the
other. It follows that, whatever communication
of supernatural qualities, powers, or enjoyments,
was made by the indwelling Divinity* to " the
man Christ Jesus," it was made iu various degrees
and on successive occasions, as the Divine wis
dom judged fit : and this necessary limitation
would apply to " times or seasons which the
Father has put in his own power,"t as much as
to any other conceivable class of objects.
Where, then, is the analogy between this re
presentation, and Mr. Emlyn's case of a man
, denying the impression of his senses and the use
of his voluntary powers 1
Another important particular in the human
character of our Lord is his Moral Perfection.
To this fact the scriptures bear an unequivocal
testimony. " The holy offspring shall be called
the Son of God. I do always the things which
please him. The prince of the world cometh,
and in me he hath nothing. He was manifested
that he might take away our sins, and sin is not
in him. He did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth. He was holy, harmless, unde-
filed, separated from sinners : the Holy and
Righteous."! The Calm Inquirer remarks that " the moral
character of Christ, through the whole course of
his public ministry, as recorded by the evange-
* Col. ii. 9. t Acts i. 7-
J Luke ii. 35. John viii. 29. xiv. 30. iJohniii. 5. 1 Pet.
ii. 22. Heb. vii. 26. Acts iii. 14.

342 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
lists, is pure and unimpeachable in every parti
cular;" and that our Lord's conduct was distin
guished by " uniform and consummate wisdom,
propriety, and rectitude." But with these enco
miums he has thought proper to connect a most
extraordinary and offensive passage.* What
could move this writer to so gratuitous a display
of his suspicious scepticism 1 On what ground of
probability and justice does he rest his insinua
tion "? Does he wish us to surmise that the private
life of Jesus was "less pure and unimpeachable"
than, his "pM&/^c conduct T' Or does he choose
to shew how cheap he holds the testimony of
prophets and apostles 1 Or is this the affectation
of virtue, so jealous that it is apprehensive of
finding "errors and failings" in him who is "^the
Wisdom and the Power of God"?" — Or is it only
the waiAonness of unbelief, " sporting itself with
its own deceivings V' —
From whatever perversion of mind or feeling
this unhappy paragraph has flowed, I will borrow
the martyr's prayer, " Lord lay not tHis sin to
HIS CHARGE !"
An anonymous Unitarian writer has advanced
farther, and has endeavoured to fix on the Blessed ¦ ¦
* " Whether this perfection of character in public life, com
bined with the general declarations of his freedom from sin,
establish, or were intended to establish, the fart, that JesUs
through the whole course of his private life was completely
exempt from all the errors and failings of human nature, is.
a question of no great intrinsic moment, and concerning wliich
we have no sufficient data to lead to a satisfactory cohelusion.^
Calm Inq. 190.

CHAP. iV.j mJMANlTY ANt» ITS CHAftACTERS. 343
Jesus the charge of, at least, moral feebkHm^ in
relation to the two remarkable seasons of his
extreme suffering.*
In this daring attemptj our Lord is not only
represented as making a mistaken assumption,"
* "My God, my God ! Why hast thou forsaken me ? Matt.
xxvii. 46. — Was it quite consistent  in the mouth of Jesus ?
He possessed a knowledge of his impending fate, and evert
declared that to the fulfilment of his mission sufch a consumnia-
tion Was indispensable j which therefore could be no indication
that his God and Father, had forsaken him. Whatever incon
sistency, hovKever, may be imputed to this invocation, it is a
slight, and if the expression be allowable, a venial oht, Upott
the hypothesis of the simple humanity of the sufferer. That
he- Was not Unappalled by the suflerings he contemplated, is
evident from his prayer thatj if possible, the cup might pass
from him. Though prepared to suffer and to die, it is no
violent presumption that his actual sufferings might be more
acute than he had anticipated : aqd in a J)aroxysm of dgoiiy,
this perhaps convulsive expostulation might break from hiiii
without any definite meaning. ' ¦ ¦ He had submitted to all
that it behoved hira to endure, but did not sustain the ex
tremity of suffering without the expression of such a sense of
it as was natural to a simply human being j and, iri words
neither weighed nor resembling any language that he had ever
used, or was eapable of using, in a state of mental composiire.
There is nothing, therefore, staggering in thg inconsisteflcy
which has been suggested; But another far more important
consideration is behind :— What will the orthodox say to it ? Will
they contend it to be possible that " God made man," or that
a man in any profoundly mystical identity with God could have
Maculated such a sentence ? That Jesus, in his blended character
eould thus have expostulated with himself? That such a pre
posterous interrogation could have passed the lips of a being
conscious of the Divinity within him, and that God had neither
forsaketi, nor eould forsake him V'^— Monthly Bepes, Aiigusti
1819, page 473.

344 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
and uttering words without any definite meaning,
but is taxed with inconsistency, impatience, and
sin; for, though the accuser is pleased to' allow
that it was a slight and venial inconsistency, it
must, from the very term, have needed forgive
ness from God.
Fain would I hope that the Inquirer and his
audacious supporter would have refrained from
taking upon their souls the awful responsibility
of these charges, had they considered, or been
disposed to admit, the scripture testimony con
cerning the CAUSES and the nature of the Re
deemer's sufferings.
" Even the Son of God," says Mr. Locke,
" whilst clothed in flesh, was subject to all the
frailties and inconveniences of human nature, sin
excepted."* The chief passages of the New
Testament which refer to this subject, are the
following : — " God, having sent his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh," that is, "of the
nature which has fallen into sin."t — " Since,
* Ess, Hum. Und. B. III. Chap. ix. sect. 23.
f Rom. viii. 3. This paraphrase of the concluding words.
appears to me to be no more than the just and simple meaning
of the Hebraized and elliptical expression, ey of/Maftari a-apmi
dfjiaprtai;. Grotius's annotation on the clause is, " That is, that
he might be treated as sinners [nocentesl are : Isaiah liii. 12.
Mark xv. 28. Phil. ii. 8." Kopp6 considers it as an abbreviated
form for what would run thus at length ; ey a-d/Miri oimku rS rav
XoiWv ayBpiitm dj/iapra^uy cujAari, " in a body like to the body of
the rest of men who are sinners." Rosenmiiller adopts the
same in substance. The late Dr. Morus of Leipzig, to whom
the German critics pay the highest honour for his erudition,
sagacity, and judgment, makes this remark : — " This expression

CHAP. IV.] humanity AND ITS CHARACTERS. 345
then, infants are partakers in common [xsxoivmvr^xe]
of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner
partook of the same, that through means of death
he might depose him who holdeth the dominion
of death, that is the devil ; and might deliver
those who in fear of death were, through the
whole of life, subjects of bondage. For truly it
is not the angels whom he succoureth, but he
succoureth the posterity of Abraham. Whence
it was necessary that he should be made like to
his brethren in all respects, that he might become
a merciful and faithful high-priest, in the things
which relate to God, in order to propitiate for
the sins of the people. For in that he hath suf
fered being himself tempted, he is able to relieve
those who are tempted."* " For we have not a
high-priest who is incapable of sympathizing
with our weaknesses, but one who has been
is, I confess, somewhat difficult \^paulB durius'], and we should
not have understood it, did we not possess the history of "Jesus
Christ and other passages of the New Testament, which inform
us that the Son of God was sent, clothed in a human body, and
therefore so far like the rest of men, having a body such as
ours ahd which we make the instrument of sin." Prcelect. in
Ep. ad Rom. p. 28. Lips. 1794.
Among the figurative acceptations of the term flesh in the
New Testament, and particularly in the use of the apo.stle Paul,
these are the principal : — Human nature, e. g. I Tim. iii. 16.
1 John iv. 2. (Rom. viii. 3. ey if a-apiii, an einer menschen-natur :
Kopp6.)-r-HuMare nature as frail and mortal; Col. i. ?2. 1 Cor.
XV; 50.  and, which is almost peculiar to St. Paul, Human
nature as depraved and sinful ; Rom. vii. 18, &c. Vid. Koppi,
Excursus de Sensu vocis SafKo; in N. T. ad calcem Ep. ad Gal.
Gotting. 1791. * Heb.ii. 14— 18.

34^ OM THE PERSON OP CHRIST. [6OOK 111.
temptedi in such a manner as we are, in all re
spects except sin."* " Who, in the days of his
own flesh [i. e. his mortal and suffering nature,]
having offered prayers and supplications, with
streng crying and tears, to Him who was able to
save him from death, and being delivered froffl
his distress (for indeed though he was the Son,
he learned, from the sufferings that he endured,
what was the obedience) [which he had Under
taken,] and being completed [i. e. having finished
his immense undertaking for the redemption of
sinners,] he became to all who obey him the
Author of eternal saIvation."t
These passages supply most important in
formation concerning the Objects or Ends of the
Redeemer's sufferings, an attention to which may
perhaps enable us to deduce some precise con
clusions concerning their reasons, their peculiar
character, and their consistency with the doc
trine of a superior, impassible, and divine Nature
in the constitution of his Person,
I. The following appear to be clearly stated
as the designed Ends of the Redeemer's suf
ferings : —
i. To succour, or to bring help and deliver-
ance,J to the human race expressly, as distin-
* Heb. iv. 16.
f Heb. v. 7 — 9. " Eitrayioveiv is used to signify a-uiety in
2 Chron. xviii. 31. Ps. xxii. 24. LXX. 'Am for hi." Rosenm.
in loc. See also Schleusner on 'EiKd^eia and Ela-aKova. To hear
is frequently in the Old Testament used to denote the granting
of deliverance in answer to prayer.
X See Note [A] at tlie end of this Section,

CHAP. iV.j HUMANiry AND K* CHARACTERS. 347
guished from any superior order of cteature^.
I'hfe reason of the apostle's specifying only " the
posterity of Abraham," was, in all' probability,
because he was addressing Hebrews, to whom
the promises and advent of the Messiah primarily
belonged 3 btit the jtrgument plainly intends man
kind generally.
ii. To deliver Ms faithful followers from k state
which is described as a most painful and terrific
bondage. It i^ necessary to ascertain what the
sacred writer means by the death to which this
subjection refers. For this purpose the follow
ing considerations are proposed to the reader's
serious attentiotr.
1. The most pure and holy Christians are, no
more than the rest of mankind, exempted from
subjection to corporal death ; nor from any of
the distressing and often excruciating circum
stances which frequently precede and accompany
the awful article of dying. Neither does the
existence and even the powerful influence of
giennine piety, always and as a matter of neces
sary consequence, free its possessors from the
natural and innocent dread of death which is
common to all animated nature. The different
degrees in which this principle operates in par
ticular persons is found to depend upon the
various susceptibility of the nervous system.
Upon education and habits, and upon other con
stitutional and accessory causes: more than on
the presence or the absence, the strength or the
weakness, of the religious principle. The dread

348 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
of dying has been sometimes very conspicuous
in persons who were conscious, on the most just
grounds, of no distressful apprehensions of what
would come after death : and many very wicked
men, have shewn, through their whole lives, and
down to the last moment, an astonishing fearless
ness and even a strong contempt of death.
2. The death which the apostle speaks of is
by him aflSrmed to be a state which lies under
the dominion, force, or power (xparog) of the
fallen spirit, the seducer of men, and the cruel
exulter over their moral ruin. To this wicked
and wretched creature I can see no grounds for
attributing any dominion, power, or agency in
the causation of natural death ; but, on the con
trary, every ground of reason and scripture sup
ports the belief, that the cessation of animal life,
takes place, under the sovereign appointment of
the Most High, as the immediate and necessary
consequence of certain changes in the mechanism
of the body, which cannot but be produced sooner
or later. It is true that this law of dissolution
" entered into the world by sin," and that " the
serpent who beguiled Eve through his subtlety,"
was the successful tempter to the first human sin :
but it by no means follows in the reason of the
case, nor is the idea supported by any doctrine
of revelation, that the worst enemy of God
should thenceforth be invested with " the domi
nion of death," a prerogative of the most mighty
interference with the whole natural and moral,
government of Him who is the Blessed and Only

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 349
Potentate, and who " has the keys of death, and
of the unseen world."*
For these reasons, and confirmed also by the
scope and connexion of the passage, I am in
duced to think that the apostle here applies the
term death to the state of misery in the world to
come ; the privation of life in its best sense, a
sense often occurring in scripture, that of a holy
and happy existence; a condition to which the
awful term may well be applied in its most
aggravated and terrible capacity of signification.
This acceptation of the word was in use among
the ancient Jews,t and it is exemplified in the
New Testament.! On the admission of this in
terpretation, it is easy to perceive the propriety
of the expression which attributes to the apostate
and malignant spirit a dominion over the state
of final perdition. It plainly imports his insatia
ble desire of the ruin of souls ; his hunting for
victims " as a roaring lion seeking whom he may
devour," tempting to sin in order to drag them
down to the eternal death ; his pre-eminence in
guilt, and in the misery which grows from guilt ;
his superior title to that unutterable and ever
lasting punishment which is " prepared for the
devil and his angels." This view also gives a
rational conception oiihefear and bondage which
cannot but press upon the minds of those who
* Rev. i. 18. • t See Wetstein, in Rev. ii. 11.
X John viii. 51. xi. 26. Rom. vi. 23. Rev. ii. H. xx. 6, 14.
xxi. 8.

350 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. pjOOK^IU,
entertain serious reflections on the evil and de
merit of sin, but who have no adequate know
ledge of the way of pardon and deliverance.
And it furnishes an intelligible and most con
solatory understanding of this great end of the
All'^gracious Redeemer's sufferings and death,
namely, to depose the usurper and deliver his
despairing captives.
It may be objected that, in the former part of
the sentence, our Lord is said to effect this deli'
verance " by means of death," his own proper
dying for the redemption of men; and that,
therefore, it is requisite to preserve the same
sense of the term in the subsequent clauses. To
this I reply : —
(I) That it is not unusual in composition, for
the same word, after it has been introduced in
a proper or ordinary signification, to be resumed
in a more extended sense, or in a sense entirely
figurative,* But, (2) that the figurative acceptation is
suitable and applicable to this instance of the
word also. The manifest design of the passage
appears to me to require that the death which is
- ' M I I I 11 III ^ J LJ t I . . . I I I I . I -'
* See these instances in our Lord's own discourses. Matt.
viii. 22. X. 39. wvi. 29. John iv. 13, 14. vi. 2?. " Vixit,
dum vixit, bene." Ter, Hecyra, HI, v. " Dura vidimus viv?mus."
Prov, " Ista culpa Brutorum ? Minimfe illorum quidem, sed
aliorum brutorum, qui se cautos ac sapientes putant ; quibus
satis fuit laetari, nonnullis etiam gratulari, nullis permanere."
Ciceron. Ep, ad, Alt, Lib. xiv. ep. 14. This figure was called by
the technical rhetoricians, Antanaclasis.

CHAP. IV,] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 3$^.
here stated to have been the means of accom
plishing the stupendous purposes of eternal
mercy, should be understood, not of the mere
physical death of the Lord Jesus, but of the whoh
comprehension of his sufferings for the redemp
tion of the world. The fact of natural death,
the mere ceasing to live, was the smallest part
of those sufferings. It was their termination and
relief. The sorrow which he endured, ineffably
transcended all corporal agony, It was death
IN th]e soul. Our moral feelings sin has made
slow and torpid : so that we can form none but
very faint conceptions of the load of distress
and horror which pressed on that soul, whose
unsullied innocence and perfection of sensibility
were without an equal in all human nature. He
suffered all that a perfectly holy man could
suffer : but the highest intensity of his sufferings
was mental, As " the Prince of salvation he
was made perfect through sufferings :" and the
total of those sufferings it seems proper to com
prehend in THE death, by which he spoiled the
destroyer and delivered the captives.
3, I would reverentially submit, that the death
of Christ, considered merely as an instance . of
dying, seems not calculated to answer the pur
pose here attributed to it, that of delivering our
minds from the fear of death. Many of the chil
dren of men, sincere, though weak and sinful ser
vants of Jesus, have met death in outward forms
more appalling than the death of the cross, with
triumphant joy. Such de^thsmight be appealed

S52 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
to, as examples to take away the fear of dying.
But the death of our Lord Jesus Christ was
not of this kind. It was an example, not of a
happy state of mind in the appoaches of dissolu
tion, but of one mysteriously and awfully the
reverse. It was, therefore, much more calcu
lated to inspire the hearts of guilty mortals with
dismay, than, considered as an example, to eman
cipate them from the terrors of death. Our
Lord's own reasoning would bear a most alarm
ing application, to aggravate our fears : " If
they do these things in the green tree, what
shall take place in the dry f*
For these reasons, I conceive that this part
of the design, laid down in the passages under
consideration, is evinced to have been a deli
verance, not from the apprehensions of physi
cal death, but from the sad forebodings of con
science, the condemnation of God's righteous
tribunal, the inevitable retribution of sin, " the
second death."
iii. The next of the great Ends stated in these
passages, is the offering of a sacrifice to propitiate
for the sins of men. On this momentous object
of the mission of Christ, I shall only recite a
very few other testimonies of the divihe word,
as a specimen of its general doctrine. " Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the Jaw,
being made a curse for us. Who himself bore
our sins in his own body on the cross. He hath
suffered for, us, the just for the unjust. Him
* Luke xxiii. 31.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 355
hath God set forth, a propitiation, through faith,
by his blood. He, through the Eternal Spirit,
offered himself without spot to God."* Thus is
it declared that this great propitiation was to
be effected by suffering. This was " the obedi
ence" which he learned by the bitter experience
of such sorrows : and thus was he " completed"
as the All-sufficient Saviour.
iv. That he might possess a caT^acity oi sympa
thizing with his servants in their afflictions, trials,
and difficulties : especially in those mental dis
tresses which are peculiar to tenderness of con
science and fidelity of obedience, under the
innumerable oppositions and temptations of the
present state. In the eye of Infinite Wisdom, it
was needful that the Saviour of men should be
one who has the fellow-feeling which no being
but a fellow-creature could possibly have : and
therefore it was necessary that he should have
an actual experience of all the effects of sin that
could be separated from its actual guilt. " God
sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh."
v. That, as the merited reward of his humilia
tion and agonies, his expiatory sacrifice, and his
gracious sympathies, he might be the Author
(A'lriog,) Cause, or Efficient Producer, of eternal
salvation to all who obey him. This immensely
comprehensive blessing is, in another place, by
the same writer, called the GREAT salvation.
— Let the serious mind reflect on the nature,
* Gal, iii. 13. 1 Pet. ii. 24. iii. 18. Rom. iii. 25. Heb. ix, 14.
VOL. n. 2 A

364 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK II
malignity, and inveteracy of the evils from
which it is a deliverance ; and on the unutterable
felicity to which it is the introduction ; and then
let him say what must be the greatness of Him
who is its Cause and Bestower!
" Thus it is written, and thus it was neces
sary that the Christ should suffer."*
II. The review of these designs supplies a
corresponding series of moral Reasons why the
Saviour of the world should be, and could not
but be, " the man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief; stricken, smitten of God, and afflict
ed :" and as the result of the whole, it appears
to the closest attention and the best judgment
that I am able to exercise, that a proposition
is brought out to this effect :
That, for the purposes of the Saviour's great
work, it was necessary, and by the wise and
holy decree of the Almighty it was determined,
that he should have no relief or consolation
from the fact of his proximity to God, or from
his consciousness of that fact ; and that, in so
far as that consideration had place, it should not
prevent the full tide of misery from overwhelm
ing his soul,^ nor be the means of any alleviation
of suffering, or any sense of support under it.
III. From this scripture evidence it is further
inferrible, that the sufferings of our Blessed Lord
were strictly unparalleled and peculiar, not in
their degree Only, but in their very nature or
* Luke xxiv. 46.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 355
hind. He felt the horrors of guilt, though with
out the slightest tinge of its criminality. He
sustained the punishment pf sin, though npt the
shadow of its defilement had ever touched his
spotless mind. The most vivid and piercing sense
of our apostacy, in all its enormity, malignity,
and contrariety to God, was omnipotently pressed
into the very heart of a sensibility incomparable,
and a holiness the most exalted that ever dignified
a dependent nature. " The Lord laid upon him
the iniquities of us all."*
I am well aware that these statements will by
many be disposed of in a summary manner, with
* , " He suffered in such a manner as a being perfectly holy
could suffer. Though, animated by the joy that was set before
him, he endured the cross and despised the shame ; yet there
appear to have been seasons in the hour of his deepest ex
tremity, in which he endured the entire absence of divine joy
and every kind of comfort or sensible support. What, but a
total eclipse of the sun of consolation, could have wrung from
him that exceedingly bitter and piercing cry, " My God ! my
God ! why hast tliou forsalten me ?" — The fire of heaven con
sumed the sacrifice. The tremendous effects of God's mani
fested displeasure against sin he endured, though in him wa.s no
sin : and these he endured in a manner of which even those
unhappy spirits who shall drink the fierceness of the wrath of
Almighty Gpd, will never be able to form an adequate idea !
They know not the holy and exquisite sensibility which
belonged to this immaculate sacrifice. That clear sight of tlie
transgressions of his people in all their heinousness and atrocity;
.and tliat acute sense of the infinite vileness of sin, its base,-
^ess, ingratitude,, and evil, in every lespect, whi<ih he pos
sessed j — must hav^ produced, in him, a feefing of extreme =dia-
tress, of a kind and to a degree whieh no ereatuye, whose moral
sense is impaired by personal sin, can justly conceive. A» sueh
2a2

•356 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 111.
the easy answer of indifference or derision : but
I confidently look for a different attention to
them, from those who reverence, and " tremble
at, the words of God." To such the appeal is
now made, whether in his exclamations in the
garden and on the cross, the Lord Jesus was
guilty of any " inconsistency," any dereliction
of character, any moral impropriety however
" venial :" — whether those bitter outcries were
not the innocent and holy indications of the
reality of his human feelings, and the extremity
of his sufferings : — whether the agitation and
agony from which they evidently flowed, was
the smallest deviation from the purity and per
fection of his character 1
It was as a man that he suffered : and as
a man he felt his sufferings, and prayed for
their alleviation or for deliverance from them.
" Save me from this hour ! If it be possible, let
this cup pass from me !" The desire of relief
sprung from the very necessity of human feel
ings, feelings which proved him to be not an
enthusiast, nor a deranged person : and the
prayer for relief implied that limitation of know
ledge which is inseparable from the condition of
a created nature, and which as has been ob
served above, belonged necessarily to the man
a feeling would accrue from the purity and ardour of his love
to God and holiness, acting in his perfectly peculiar circum
stances ; so it would be increased by the pity and tenderness
which he ever felt towards the objects of his redeeming love."
Disc, on the Sacrifice of Christ, 1813. page 34, 35.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. . 357
Christ Jesus. Yet that this natural desire of
deliverance from unutterable pain made no in
fringement on the perfection of his creature-
holiness, is manifest from its being combined with
the most absolute deference to the will of God.
The exclamation on the cross requires in fairness
to be understood, as connected with the sequel
and the general design of the Psalm of which it
is the commencement, and which could not but
be familiar to our Lord's involuntary and instan
taneous recollection ; a Psalm prophetic of the
Messiah's sufferings, and of his glory likewise.
It is therefore, I conceive, not warranted by any
just reason, to consider this exclamation as im
plying " that God had forsaken him, or could
forsake him," in such a sense as the anonymous
writer insinuates, as implying an actual abandon
ment, or as inconsistent with the peculiar fact of
our Lord's personal union with the Deity. The
only just construction, as it appears to me, is
that it expresses the extinction of all present and
sensible comfort, and yet a «onfidence that light
would succeed to the dreadful darkness.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE

CHAP. IV.

Note [A] page 346.
" When some more recent translators first introduced this
version of emXan^dyerai, an outcry of novelty and even of a dis
position to heterodoxy was raised against them. Yet it is in
dubitably clear, on an examination of the Greek fathers who
have written comments on this passage, [viz. Chrysostom, to
whose homilies on the Epistles of Paul, this exquisite scholar,
J. Aug. Ernesti, affirms that all antiquity has nothing equal ;
Theodoret, Theophylact and CEcumenius :] that in this serise
alone the expression was understood by the whole Greek
church, and that the mode of translating which has been
generally adopted by our commentators and common-place
writers, is a modern innovation derived from the Latins, who
finding in the Vulg9,te this school-boy rendering of the Greek
verb blindly formed by imitating its composition, assumit, of
course applied it to the incarnation ; arid indeed could do no
otherwise, while they depended on their own Latin version.
And this is only one instance out of many, in which the same
source of error has infected our modem versions : it therefore
demands the particular observation of every one who desires to
be a faithful interpreter." Ernesti Inst, Interp. N. T. Part II.
Cap. ix. Sect. 46. See also Schleusner, in eiciXaiA.^dyofjtai. — ^But it
is very remarkable that both these distinguished authors are
mistaken in imputing assumit to the Vulgate, which has appre-
hendit : and though the Latin fathers, and Roman Catholic
writers in general regard the latter word as synonymous with

NOTES. S6S>
the former, I cannot discover that the reading assumit ever
belonged to that venerable version. Ernesti probably wrote
from memory, and attributed to the Vulgate what was the im
pression of some modern Latin version, for Calvin, Beza, and .
Castalio each adopted assumere: and Schleusner, without sus
picion, followed Ernesti.
I have reason to think that the first divine since the Re."
formation who pointed out the true meaning of eiriKaiJifidye<r6ai in
this passage, was John Cameron, a native of Scotland, but
chiefly known by his intimate and honourable connexion with
the Protestants in France, among whom he was successively
Professor of Greek (which language he wrote and spoke as if
it were his native tongue,) Philosophy, and Divinity. He died
at Montauban, in 1 625, at the age of 46 ; in consequence of a
personal assault cruelly made upon him by some Popish fanatics.
See his valuable Annotations on the N. T. intitled Myrothecium
Evangelicum.

SECT. U.

SCRIPTURAL DESCRIPTIONS OP THE MESSIAH'S HUMANIiy,
INVOLVING THE RECOGNITION OP A SUPEBIOK NATURE.

I. Examination of John i. 14.— The meaning of ylmfiai.—ETTov of Mr.
Cappe and the Calm Inquirer. — True sense of the passage. — II. On
Heb. V. 7,— III. On' Rom. viii. 3.— IV. On Gal. iv. 4.— V. On 2 Cor,
viii. 9.— The Calm Inquirer's Interpretation considered. — Signification of
TTdix^i/fti.— Its use by the LXX. — Construction of the clause. — Mr. Pick-
bourn's canon on the construction of the aorist ; — examined. — ^Fischer
and Hermann. — Antithesis with irhovreTv. — Authority of Greek writers. —
Opinions of eminent scholars. — VI. On Philip ii. 6-8. — Question on the
structure of the sentence. — Meaning of a[mayii6s. — Deficiency of critical
materials.!:— Best to be deduced from the context — Citations of early
Christian writers. — The phrase Tcra ©e^ investigated. — In what respect
it is applied to Christ. — Opinions of Enjedin, Mr. Cappe, and the Calm
Inquirer; — examined. — " Form of God." — " Form of a servant." 
General inference from the comparison of the phrases. — Evidence of the
Ancient Versions, and of early Christian writers. — The " self-emptying"
of Christ. — Unitarian interpretation ; — examined. — Investigation of the
true sense. — The " servitude'' referred to the penal effects of sin. —
The " likeness" and " condition of man," and " obedience to death.'*
It is now proper to direct attention to a class
of passages which speak of the human condition
and circumstances of the Saviour, in such terms
as involve a recognition of another nature, and
that superior, pre-existent, and Divine.
I. " The Word became flesh."* The late in
genious Mr. Cappe, the Annotator on the Im-
* John i. 14.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHAR,4CTERS. agi
proved Version, and th'e Calm Inquirer, translate
kysvBTo as if it were the simple substantive verb,
" The Word was flesh :" and they affirm one
after the other, that the most common and usual
meaning of ylvofjiat is to be," referring to verse 6,
and Luke xxiv. 19.* To this assertion I reply : —
1. That the proper sense of y/foju,a* (or its other
forms, yiyvo[jMt,yivo[uii, yslvofjMi,) is to be brought
into existence, or into a new state or mode qf
existence. It is the passive of the ancient verb
yivw and ysivco, to beget, bring forth, produce.
This radical idea runs through all its derivative
applications : whatever form or mode of exist
ence they refer to, it is always with the idea, and
in general obviously, of an extraneous cause pro
ducing the efFect.t
2. That not only are Mr. Cappie and the An
notator and Inquirer, egregiously in the wrong
when they assert that " the most usual meaning
of ytvopLai is to be ;" but that; correctly speaking,
this is never the meaning of that word, except
when modified as above stated, by the accessory
idea of passiveness to a previous cause. The
instances which they allege appear to me insuf
ficient for their purpose : —
* Critical Remarks and Dissertations, by the late Rev. New-
come Cappe, of York; vol. i. page 86. Impr. Vers, in loc. Calm
Inq. page 38.
+ See Dammii Lex, Hom, et Find, in yda, yea, yetya, pag. 319.
Fischeri Animadv, ad Gramm, GrtBC, pars i. spec. iii. pag. 58.
Lennepii Etym, Ling, Grcec, tom. i. p. 209. Godofr, Hermann.
de Emendand& Ratione Greecee Gramm, pag. 273..

3<52 QN THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
(1) Ver. 6. 'EysvsTo iSivSpaiTcog, dirsirra'kii.ivog irapb.
©sou- " a man was sent, not was made sent, or
became sent," says the Calm Inquirer. But how
ever burlesque may appear the renderings which
he adduces to reject, it is very clear that the
leading idea of yivo^i, as distinct from elju-J, has
place here : " a man was produced, was brought
forwards, was raised up, as a messenger from
God." This use of eyivsro is similar to the formula
which sometimes occurs, xo^) syivsro, and it came
to pass. (2) Luke xxiv. 19. " Jesus of Nazareth (og
eyevsTo avrjp 'irpafP'^Tir]g) who was, not who became,
a prophet." But why should not the proper
idea of the verb be admitted here also : — " who
was made a prophet 1"
It may be difficult to find a neat phrase in
modern idiom, which will aceurately convey the
original force of the word; and perhaps the
simple verb to bp mjiy sojnetimes answer better
than any other, to avoid running Into peri-
phriasis : but safe argument can be built only on
the strict signification of terms. In both these
instances, the common renderiing, .was, is pro
bably the most eligible ; yet it is unquestionably
the intention of the writers to express that the
subjects of the propositions .were brought into the
state expressed by the respective predicates.
Schleusner, in his large and excelleflt article
upon this word (which furnishes aljundant con
firmation of the remarks above advanced,) has
indeed given for his eighteenth signification, " /

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND IT8 CHARACTERS. s^s
am, the same as slju,), for in different passages the
Septuagint uses it for the Hebrew HTf as Nehem.
vi. 6." But a reference to those passages will
prove that they without exception fall under the
observations which we have made.*
On these grounds, it appears to me that the
translation, " The Word was flesh," is erroneous
by being defective; and that any fair transla
tion must express this idea, that the word was
brought into that state or mode qf existence which
is known by the term fiesh, that is, the human
nature. Our language cannot probably approach
nearer than the plain form, " The Word became
flesh."t I conceive, therefore, that we may regard as
sufficiently proved that the just construction of
this passage indubitably represents the human
existence of our Lord as assumed by a pre-ex
istent Intelligence.
II. " The days of his flesh."t This phraseology
plainly implies that he had other days, another
manner or state of existence, which might be

* There are only three instances of HNT ""iz- Jos. ix. 12.
Ruth i. 12. Dan. ii. 1. four have mil Gen. xxvii. 29. Nehem.
vi. 6. Job xxxvii. 6. Eccl. ii. 22. and there are two passages
in which the LXX. have read nTT where the present Hebrew
text has the interjection MPT Jer. xxx. 7. Micah ii. 1.
f " Aoyi; ille factus est homo, pertinet e5 ut indicet Aoyoy
ilium ad humilem conditionem se demisisse." Mori Recitationes
f
in Joann. p. 9.
X Heb. V. 7. " Die t£^e seines miihevollen lebens auf erden."
Mori Goinm. Exeg. Hist, in Theol. 'Christ, vol, ii. p. 7.

^4 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
contrasted with his debased and aflGiicted state on,
earth. III. " God sent his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh :"* thus paraphrased, by Semler ; .
" That which the law could not effisct God hath
accomplished in the best manner, by sending his
own Son, who, besides his invisible nature, had
flesh resembling this flesh of ours which is often
overcome by sin."t
IV. " God sent forth his own Son made
[ysv6[jt.svov, brought into the state of being] from a
woman."j On this passage, the celebrated critic
just quoted has this annotation : " God sent
forth, that is from himself, the Son who was
before described as being with the Father, and in
the bosom qf the Father ; and who himself therefore
frequently said that he should retum to the Father
from whom he came forth. This does not involve
any necessary idea of a local change; though
we know not what precise conceptions the men
of that age might form. The fa,ct itself is abun
dantly plain, that such expressions as this are
irreconcilable with the opinion that Christ had
no existence before he was, as here stated, bom
of a woman."§
* Rom. viii. 3. See the Note in page 344 of this Volume.
f " Earn rem Deus feliciter ipse procuravit, misso suo Filio,
qui, praeter istam invisibilem naturam, simillimam carnem nos-
trse, cui peccatum solebat dominari, habuit.'" Paraphr. et Nota
in Ep, ad Rom, 1769, pag. 91.
} GaLiv, 4.
§ " "E,lami(TreiK(v, emisit Deus, scilicet & se, ilium Filium qui
antea dicebatur esse apud Patrem, in sinu Patris; qui ideo

CHAP. IV.] 'HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 365
V. " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that on account of you he became poor,
though he was rich ; in order that ye, by his
poverty might be enriched."*
The Calm Inquirer expresses contempt for
those who infer the pre-existence of Christ from
this text ; while he admits that " if the fact were
antecedently established, this passage might in
deed be admitted as a graceful allusion to it."f
If, however, his interpretation of the terms be
just, it would scarcely be warrantable, admitting
the concession, to suppose such an allusion ; but,
if a fair examination should show that his inter
pretation is erroneous, the passage will remain,
not as an allusion merely, but as a positive and
strong implication. The sense according to him,
is, " that Christ was rich, and, at the same time,
that he lived in poverty : — rich in miraculous
powers, which it was at his option to employ
for his own benefit ;" — but he submitted to the
severest privations ; " he made no use of his
miraculous powers for his own advantage." Un
doubtedly this, so far as it goes, is true, and is
suited to the design of the connexion, as a
saepius ipse dicit redeundum jam ipsi esse ad Patrem & quo exiit :
Joh. viii. 42. Non opus est ut loci quasi mutatiohem cogite-
mus, licet ignoremus ecquid homines ejus temporis cogitarint.
Res ipsa sufficit: talibus sententiis reprimi omnes iUos qui
exsistendi initium repetunt ab hac nativitate, Ik yvyamoi, quae hic
commemoratur." Paraphr, et Notce in Ep. ad Gal, 1779, pag.
337. '
* 2 Cor. viii. 9. t Page 122.

$,

3(56 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 111.
motive to compassion and liberality : but that it
is not the entire sense, nor that which was speci
ally intended by the apostle, may, I submit, be
maintained on solid grounds. The Inquirer's
reasons for his interpretation are two.
1. " The verb vTco^sCm does not properly sig
nify to become poor but to he poor ;" and he
quotes Stephens's Thesa,urus and Constantine's
Lexicon in support of the assertion. But the
significations given by those eminent scholars
express the classical use of the word. It is
unnecessary to say that Homer, Theognis, and
Aristotle, are not the sources from which to
derive authority, for the sense of words and
phrases in the Greek of the New Testament.
Stephens has, indeed, introduced this text as
falling under the general signification which he
assigns,* and which is unquestionably correct in
reference to the pure Greek usage. He has
closely followed Constantine. But they both ap
pear to have overlooked the proper authority for
understanding the diction of the New Testament ;
namely the Septuagint and the Apocrypha, C9m-
pared with the Hebrew text. In them this over
sight was excusable ; as the fact of the Hebraized
diction of the apostles and evangelists was, in
their day, scarcely recognized.
The word is not very common in Greek authors

* '' Mendicus sum, mendicus vivo, . mendicando vivo, men-
dico :  egeo, indigeo :  mendicus oberro, mendicans
peto." Hen. Steph.

CHAP. IVJ HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. s67
after Homer, and in the New Testament it occurs
only in this place : but we find it several times
in the Septuagint ; and, in each instance, if I am
not greatly mistaken, the signification is, not
simply to be poor, nor, as in the classical use,
to lead the life of a beggar ; but it is to become
POOR from a previous better condition. The
passages will speak for themselves.
" When the children of Israel sowed corn,
the Midianites  came upon them, and de
stroyed their produce,  and left no suste
nance for life in the land of Israel, nor ox nor
ass in the folds:  and Israel (sTrTtoxsuas
<r<f)6Bpa) became exceedingly poor," Judges vi. 6.
" Have you invited us with a view (TTToj^suirai)
to reduce us to poverty ? ib. xiv. 15. Ed, Alexandr.
" The rich have become poor : (ttTvooo-jo; stttu)-
Xeoa-av.y Psalm xxxiii. (xxxiv.) 10.
" We are exceedingly impoverished : (sirTw-
j(_si>(ra[x.sv <r<poS^a.)" Psalm Ixxviii. (Ixxix.) 8.
" Every drunkard and whoremonger (tttw-
;^so<r£j shall come to poverty." Prov. xxiii. 21.
" Fear not, my son, because (l'7rrcoy(s(i<rait.ev)
we have become poor." Tobit iv. 2L*
These are the authorities, as I cannot doubt
that the Calm Inquirer would himself admit,
which ought to direct our interpretation of the,
word in question ; unless some very weighty
* Symmachus, who made another Greek version of the O. T.
about the end of the second century, used the word in Prov.
xiii. 7. "¦ There are who affect to be poor (itruxevoiAeyoi) but have
abundant riches." Drusii Fragm. Vet. Interp. Gr. pag. 1132.

368 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
reason could be shewn for taking it out of the
proper range. But certainly there is no such
reason. The reader will observe the resemblance of
the language of the text under consideration,
(eTTTw^socre ir'^oua-tog wv,) to the third of the pas
sages above enumerated. It is not impossible
that the passage might have suggested the phrase
to the apostle's mind.
Thus the whole evidence that applies to the
case appears to me most clearly to entitle us to
•reverse the Inquirer's proposition, and to say
that, in the Hellenistic and scriptural Greek, this
verb INVARIABLY denotes to become poor from a
previous condition of competency or opulence.
In this sense, therefore, unless we would dis
regard one of the most certain rules of honest
interpretation, we are bound to understand it in
the passage before us : " our Lord Jesus Christ
became, or was made, poor."
2. " The construction requires that the two
states should be simultaneous. The aorist ex
presses a perfect action, in past definite time ;
which time is ascertained by the connexion.
Christ sTTTw^sixre was poor. Whenl IIXouo-jos cov,
at the time when he was rich."*
We will try this canon by two or three exam
ples in the writings of the same apostle. Sove-
^woTToi-^cre, he hath madff us alive with Christ.

*

Calm Inq. page 124. For thi,s grammatical observation
the Inquirer acknowledges himself indebted to " a learned and
ingenious friend ;" the late Mr. James Pickbourn.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 369
When 1 At the time when, ovrag i^pt.ag, we were
dead in trespasses and sins.* The two states
must be simultaneous : the Christian converts
were dead in sin, and alive through Christ at
the same time. So likewise must we reason on
the recurrence of the same phraseology in the
Epistle to the Colossians. t  Karr^T^T^dyrjixev,
we have been reconciled to God. When"? At the
time when, ej(6po] ovrsg, we were enemies.t The two
states are simultaneous : we are enemies to God
and in a state of reconciliation with him at the
same time.  Such would be the theology,
such the sense, of this rule, applied after the
manner of the Calm Inquirer.
Let it be admitted that the first aorist active
and middle, and the two in the passive voice,
(for the observation can apply to these only,)
" express a perfect action in past definite time."
Then the translation of sTrTwp^eoo-e would not so
properly be, he lived a life of poverty, which ex
presses a continued action, and would require
the imperfect tense, or the second aorist, if the
verb had one : but the proper rendering, accord
ing to the common Greek signification of the
word, would be, he begged ; or, according to the
scriptural acceptation, he became poor.
This conclusion is supported also by another
doctrine of the aorists, which is maintained by
Fischer and Herjnann, critics, whom all will ac
knowledge to be among the few who have

* Eph. ii. 1, 5. t Col. ii. 13.- X Rom. v. 10.
VOL. II, 2 B

Syo ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
occupied the first rank in this department of
literature ; whether we consider the prodigious
extent and accuracy of their acquaintance with
Greek authors, or their surprizing acuteness in
penetrating, and sagacity in explaining the
rationale of the language. The former of these
authors says, that " the second aorist denotes a
perfect action, in a past and continued time, but
uncertain and undefined ; and the first aorist ex
presses the same affections of time, but without
the idea of continuity."* The latter makes three
cases of the aorist : the first, the notation of an
action completed within some portion of time
which is not only now past, but has been past a
certain space of time ago, which space of elapsed
time is left undefined : the second, the intimating
of repetition, frequency, or habit : the third, the
idea of possible or probable action.t It is only
the first of these that can apply to the text under
consideration ; and according to it, iTrTtop^soo-e will
admit of being rendered either, he became poor, or
he lived a life of poverty ; but it gives no evi
dence of the assumed community of time with
¦7r^o6(nog cov.
The Inquirer appears to think that, when the
participle wv is used in reference to past time,
some adverb is requisite to mark the transition
to another time : as in John ix. 25. " Being
(that is, having been) blind, now 1 see : TtxpXo^
* Fischeri Animadv. in Gramm. Greec. Specim. ii. pag. 260.
f Hermann, de Emend. Ratione Grtsc, Gramm. p. 186 — 189.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 371
WV, afift ^XsTfto;" But any scholar, in his ordinary
Greek reading, may observe the frequent in**
stances of this participle occurring in the sense
of past time without any adverbial intimation :*
and every school-boy knows that the present
participle is also the participle of the imperfect
tense. A sentence closely resembling that under con
sideration, occurs in the former Epistle to the
same church : " Though I was free from all, I
subjected myself as a servant to all."t Will it
be pretended that these two states were simul
taneous 1 The meaning evidently is, that the
apostle abdicated his liberty, and entered into
a new and opposite state.
Some light is also gained to the sense of stttw-
^soa-e from its position with ffXooT'i^o-TjTe* for, if the
latter express a change of state, a becoming rich
from the previous condition of spiritual poverty,
it is reasonable to regard the former as corres
pondent. It is worthy of observation that this
is the construction of those whose native lan
guage was Greek, and who of course would have
an instantaneous perception of their own idioms.
Gregory of Nazianzum, evidently alluding to this
passage, and to Philippians ii. 7. says: "The
author of riches becomes poor ; for he becomes
poor [with regard to] my flesh, that I may be
* As in Luke xxiii. 12. Acts ix. 39. xxiv. 10. John i. 49.
2 Pet. i. 18.
¦f 1 Cor. ix. 19, iXeiSlepoi; uy—iio-iXwaai.
2 B 2

SfZ ON THB PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
enriched [with regard to] his Deity. He who
is full is emptied; for he is emptied of his own
glory for a little time, that I may partake of his
fulness."* In the expository collections of Photius we
find the following annotation : " He became poor
[by taking] our flesh : — we are made rich [by
receiving] forgiveness of sins, holiness, adoption,
and the kingdom of heaven. 't The comments
'O irXouTi^B)/ wTaj^ewr irriii)(fvei yap t^v c/t^y adpua, ?y' eya icXovrtjiru
r\v cCvrov ®entfta' Kat o wX^fijj Y.eviivrai' Keyovrai yap t^; eavrov So'lijs
'w< /AriKpoy, fv" eya r^( iyieiyov /ieraXapis iiXtiputreuq. Opera, ed. Bill.
Par. 1630. vol. i. page 620.
f The candid scholar wiU admit that, as the chasms in this
quotation, and in that from Gregory, occasioned by the common
ellipsis of Kara, must be supplied in any translation, the modes
of supplying them here adopted are fair and consonant with the
design of the writers. I copy the entire passage, ^;hat it may be
read in its connexion.- — "Emraxeva-e yap r)fii rij^ripay a-dptia. ^iraaare-
Smacrfiij xal lirravpuBii, v.ai toiJto Si' iiji.a,q rot? dya^iovf' otj hi rijidi; 'eirra-
%evaev. Ei ovy Ixeiyo;, ij>'ij<T)y, eiiraxeva-e ha ire, <rv ovhe y^nijAara S/Sa? Si'
avroy j mKov<Tio^ uv' Kado ecri v.aX yoeTrai &eoi;, oiov dviiuppaaro^, direpi..
yoijToj, doparoq, aKardXviisro^, So'fav e^^sjv amppiproy, tpiS^ ayeKXaXifroy,
IMyaXua-jSw/jy dyetKairroy. "iva vfie"^ r^ e^eiyov irrux^^'^ iiXovrijo-'/jre* Ei
yap fxri iKeii/n;, <j»j<rh, liiraxevaey,- oim. dv ^ii.ti% cTrXoun^cra/xev. 'EirXoiTij-
(ra^ev Se aipea-ty d[/.aprtuy, dyiutruv/iy , vioBeirlav, avrr(y t^v ^atrikelav ray
ovpavm. " He became poor [by taking] our ilesh. He was
moreover condemned and crucified, and that for us unworthy ;
since /or our sake he became poor. If then, says the apostle, he
became poor for thy sake, wilt not thou give alms for his sake ?
 Being rich : inasmuch as he is, and is proved to be, God,
namely the unutterable, whom no created mind can grasp, in
visible, incomprehensible, possessing the glory which cannot be
declared, the unspeakable light, the incomparable majesty. 
That ye, by his poverty may be made rich : for, says the apostle.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANJITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 373
of Chrysostom shew that he understood the terms
in the same sense. " He emptied himself of his
glory, that ye, not by his riches, but by his
poverty, might be made rich. If he had not been
made poor, thou wouldst not have been made
rich. All these blessings have come to us through
his poverty : and what kind of poverty *? His
taking flesh, and becoming a man, and suffering
what he did suffer."*
Thus then, I humbly conceive, there is a pre
ponderance of reason for taking ir'Kooa-tog wv in
reference to an antecedent state : " being rich,
for your sake he became poor."
The Inquirer adduces, as a corroboration of
his views, that " the most accurate critics and
commentators translate and expound the words
as expressing simultaneous and not successive
states :"t and he refers to Grotius, Schlictingius,
and Brennius, as these authorities. But the
latter two are party writers, and Grotius can
scarcely be considered as free from a similar
bias. If, however, authority is to be called in,
unless he had become poor we should not have become rich.
But we are made rich [by receiving] forgiveness of sins, holi
ness, adoption, and the kingdom of heaven itself." CEcumen.
in Act. et Epist. Verona, 1532, pag. 542.
* 'E!C6~Ki; So'Jav iKevairev, ovx """' ^f*^~5 '^'f """Xovrif avrov, dXKa ry
Tcraxei^, irXoDT^o-ijTE.  Ei fMj EKeiVo? iyevero itraxoc,, ovk ay lyevov <tv
irXouo-io;.  tavra a/Kavra ha rr^ ntrifxelai yeyovey ijiMv' iro/aj ; Aioi
¦tov a-dpKa dvaXa^eXv, Kai yeveadai avbpmiay, x»i itaSeTv cvjiep eitaat'
Homil. xvii^ in 2 Epist. ad Cor,
t Page 124. -

374 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. ^ [BOOK III.
(and undoubtedly, on questions of philological
difficulty, much respect is due to competent
authority,) I conceive that the appeal should be
made to those critics who are distinguished for
their purely grammatical investigations, and who
treat the text of the New Testament precisely
as they have done, or would do, any Greek
classic whom they had undertaken to edite and
illustrate. These are called in Germany the
historical interpreters. Of this description are
the following.
Semler; than whom no man indulged in a
greater latitude of thinking, or more heartily
spurned at being a follower of venerable names
or popular doctrines, thus paraphrases and com
ments upon the clause. " Our Lord Jesus Christ,
though possessed of supreme riches as Lord of
all things, yet for you gentiles submitted to that
poverty. — ^The concise phrase, being rich, respects
the doctrines concerning the state of Christ
before his human existence, and with the Father,
which the apostle had more largely delivered in
his personal teachings ; and which he thus recalls
to the recollection of those whom he addresses.
The participle wv has the same signification as
u7ra.px,(ov in Phil. ii. 6. and can by no means be
applied only to the human life of Christ, the
relation of both fact and time being diff^erent.
The expression he became poor, likewise answers
to that in the passage just referred to, he emptied
himself; and it denotes another condition and

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. §75
^tate of the person of whom this new condition
of humanity is affirmed."*
Morus, a liberal but not extravagant theolo
gian, the editor of Xenophon's historical works
and of other Greek classics, and on whom as an
exquisite scholar, the encomium of Wyttenbach
was pronounced ;t explains the words thus :
"Christ being rich, that is possessed of the
highest happiness, was made poor, that men
might be enriched with blessings.''^
Rosenmiiller, after copying at length from
Morus, but without acknowledgment, adds :
" Christ was possessed of the highest happiness
before his advent and appearance on earth."§
* " Cognoscitis iUam beneficentiam Domini nostri Jesu
Christi, qu5d ciim esset rerum omnium dominus ditissimus,
tamen propter vos genteS illam paupertatem subiit. — Res eadem
describitur ac Phil. ii. etiam simillimfe : idem participium, ly
fAopipy &eov vndpxay. Ideas de Statu Christi ante vitam humanam,
apud Patrem, — plures, quas Paulus sermonibus suis exposuerat,
eas hic in animum revocat : yivua-Y.ere, scil. me vobis exposuisse.
— Illud (bV (Phil. ii. imdp'/fiiv) minimfe potest, alio rei et temporis
ordine, rejici tantiim in vitam humanam.  ''Emraxevtre, hievas-ev
eavrov, occupat jam alium ordinem et statum hujus subject!, ad
quem hic novus ordo humanus refertur. Paraphr. et Not, in
Ep. ad Cor, Hal. Magd. 1776, vol. ii. p. 222.
f " Haud minoris in judicando diligentiae ac doctrinee, qukm
modestise." Wyttenbachii. Adnot. ad XepopK. locos illustres,
pag. 391. Saxii Onomast, Liter, vol. viii. pag. 200.
X " Christum divitem factum esse pauperem, ut homines
locupletarentur. — Non potest simpliciter ita verti, sed cum addi-
tamento, beatitate abundantissimws ; bonis locupletati sumus." Dis
sert, de Discrimine Sensis et Significationis in Interpretando, p. 30.
§ " Fuit autem beatitate abundantissimus prijisquam in has
terras adspectabilis venit." In loc. The. passage which he has
copied from Morus is not that cited above.

876 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III,
Schleusner refers the expression, being rich,
to a previous state of perfect happiness ; and he
adds, " The reference is to the glory which
Christ is explicitly declared in the New Testa
ment to have had from eternity with God."*
From all that has been adduced it appears to
me no more than a reasonable and necessary
conclusion, that, in this passage, there is a defi
nite recognition of a pre-existent and glorious
state of the Messiah.
VI. " Let this disposition be in you which was
even in Christ Jesus who [though] existing in
the form of God, did not esteem it an object to
be caught at to be on a parity with God: but
emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
becoming in the likeness of men : and, being
found in condition as a man, he humbled himself,
becoming obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross."t
It has not been without long, careful, and
anxious consideration, that I have given the pre
ceding version of this important passage. That,
in the particulars in which it diff'ers from the
commonly received version, and which many ex
cellent writers have preferred, it does no. more
than truly and faithfully represent the sense of
the original, appears to me established by the
following considerations.
* " Intelligitur autem ibi Sofa ilia quam Christus ab Beterno
habuisse apud Deum disertfe in N. T. traditur." In voce
icXoivtof, f Philippians ii. 6—8.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 377
i. The first question is. How far, in the con
struction of the sentence, does that part extend
which was called by the ancient rhetoricians the
protasis; that is, the proposal of the terms or
considerations, which prepare the way for the
rest of the sentence, called the apodosis, and from
which it is to flow, as a deduction, or appli
cation to the matter in handt* The common
version supposes this point to be at the close of
the third member, which, therefore, would run
thus: "who, existing in the form of God, and
esteeming it no usurpation to be as God :" and
then the apodosis would follow, " yet emptied
himself," &c. But this so far as I can perceive,
would have required a difference in the words.t
On the other hand, I must own that the most
exact and impartial study of the passage which
I can exercise, leads me to regard the just con-
* An apology may seem due for using these technical forms
of expression ; but they appeared necessary to help the per-
spicuousness of the explication. Perhaps these distinctions,
and the denominations of them, are too much neglected now,
as formerly they were too severely observed. A judicious atten
tion to them would greatly aid the study of the sacred and other
books. The reader who is conversant with Baxter's and Ges-
ner's Notes on Horace, must have observed tlie excellent use
which they make of these distinctions. A similar benefit may
be obtained by the same mode of studying the Epistles of the
apostle Paul : he often leaves the apodosis to be supplied by the
intelligence of his reader. See Vossii Rhet. lib. iii. cap. iv.
Theoph. Ernesti Lex. Technol. Greec. Rhet. Leijizig, 1795. pag.
36, 297.
f Viz. to have stood thus, '^O;, Iv fiopcp^ @eov vT!dpxo>v, Vai ovx
dpvar^lMV ^'y»)(r»|i*£V05 to eiveu ura &e^, eavrov '¦f.evsixre, &C.

378 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. |iB00K III.
struction as terminating the protasis with the
clause, " existing in the form of God ;" and that
the subsequent members all belong to the apo
dosis and point to one object, the declaration of
our Lord's unspeakable condescension.*
ii. Another important consideration is the
meaning of kp^a.y\t.ig. Every one knows that
the verb from which it is immediately derived,
signifies, to seize, to catch at, suddenly to lay
hold qf, to take by force ; and it is used with
respect to the prey of a wild animal, the booty
captured by a warrior, the instantaneous snatch
ing of a weapon out of the hand of another, the
prompt imitation of the manners of others, and
many objects of a similar kind. With regard to
the noun, the question is, whether it denotes the
act of seizing, or the thing seized. According
to the strict rule of derivation, it might be
pleaded that it must be the former :t but we are
prevented from resting in this conclusion by the
abundant evidence that the best Greek authors
* At the same time, it must be confessed that the common
construction is still maintained by respectable scholars, among
whom are my excellent friend Dr. Wardlaw, and the late Mr.
Cappe. The latter, a zealous Unitarian, and one who pushed
his views to a wider extreme than many of his class, has an
elaborate Dissertation, vvritten with his usual ability, which
was not small, in vindication of that construction, and to shew
that it is perfectly consistent with Unitarian views. Critical
Remarks on Scripture, Sfc. Vol. i. page 232, 269 — 313.
f That verbal nouns derived from the perfect passive, in
//lis denote actively, in //.a passively. Thus dpT:aC,a, ^pnayfAai, would
give dpnayjMi the act of seizing, a,nd apvay/Mz the object seized.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 379
either did not know, or practically disregarded,
this rule of the grammarians.* The word occurs
no where besides, in the New Testament, the
Septuagint, or the Apocrypha ; nor, it is believed
in any Greek classic except once in Plutarch,t
who uses it actively, to signify a peculiar kind
of forcible abduction, an infamous action which
Strabo, in largely describing it as one of the
customs of the licentious Cretans, calls apTrctyij,
rapine. Another instance, also, the laborious
industry of Wetstein has discovered among the
volumes of the Greek fathers, in one of the works
of Cyril of Alexandria, who flourished in the
fifth century ; where it is manifestly taken in
the passive sense, to denote that which occurs
unexpectedly and is gladly caught at,§ Thus the
* "fl? Se ^ea-jMi, ieffjAa' ovru Setr/io;, Sco-jwa. — 'Vuxj^i Se via) piyiJm,
ravra ktrriv' aq kcu ^pexfMf via) ^pexfia, vMi wXejj/M? ««» iiXixf*".
Eustathius in Hom. pag. 1386, 1425 : apud Wakefield Silv.
Critic, par. iii. p. 112.
f De Liberorum Instit, sect. 15. Opera Mor, ed.' Wyttenbachiij
vol. i. p. 41. in ed. Tho. Edwards, Cant. 1791, p. 49. The im
mensely laborious and voluminous Wyttenbach has only a brief
annotation on the passage, and does not indulge us with a
single remark on afwayfto;. See his Animadv. in Plutarchi Mor.
vol. i. par. i. pag. 134.
X Strabo ; lib. x. ed. Falconer, pag. 704, 705, tom. ii.
§ This author is discoursing on the modest declining of the
divine messengers (Gen. xis. 2) to accept of Lot's invitation ;
which he considers as a trial of the patriarch's sincerity, and as
a motive for more strongly urging the invitation. He then
says, "O Sjj vlou irweiq o S/itaio? jAeCCfivai; yunre^id^ero, Kai ovx dpntayfAov
r\v isapcdrt^aiy ai il dhpaivovf xai vlapearipaq litoieiTo ^pevk. " Wliich
the righteous man understanding, pressed them the morej and

3S0 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU.
only actual authorities that exist are opposed to
each other : and it would appear impossible for
any man now to determine, whether the writer
who was born fifteen years before the apostle
died, but who was a heathen ; or the other who
was a Christian, but lived almost four centuries
after ; were the more likely to employ the rare
word in the exact sense in which the apostle
himself had used it.* We seem, therefore obliged
to acquiesce in the doctrine of Eustathius, which
might also be confirmed by many other examples
from Greek authors ; and to regard the connec
tion of the passage as our only criterion.
The construction here adopted is that in which
the Greek fathers, from the earliest example of
a quotation of this passage to the fourth century
and downwards, have generally understood it.
Without attributing to those authors any autho
rity in the decision of thieological doctrines, or
deferring to their opinions and arguments in the
general interpretation of scVipture ; it is reason
able to consider them as intitled to great regard
in mere verbal questions, which refer to the
signification of the terms and idioms of their
native language ; provided that due judgment
be exercised, in applying our conclusions to the
interpretation of the New Testament, not to con
found the genuine Greek with the Hebraized
did not, like a man acting from a versatile and insincere mind,
make their declining his invitation a thing to be caught at."
CyrilUAlex. Opera, vol. i. pars ii. pag. 25. ed. Par. 1638.
* See Note [A] at the end of this Section.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 33!
diction of the sacred writers. But the phrase
before us does not fall under the head of that
Hebraized diction : nothing like it is to be found
in the Old Testament or the Apocrypha.*
' Tq adduce numerous instances of the manner
in which the text is cited and applied by the
fathers, would be tedious. The reader may find
many in Wetstein and Lardner, and he may in
crease the number by the help of the Tables of
Texts, in good editions of the authors themselves.
Two or three passages, however, I shall copy ;
and they shall be the earliest.
The first occurs in the Epistle of the perse
cuted churches at Vienne and Lyons, to the
Christians in Asia and Phrygia, written about the
year 177 : which all admit to be one of the most
interesting monuments of Christian antiquity.
" To such a degree were they the zealous fol
lowers and imitators of Christ, who, being in the
ferm of God, did not esteem it a thing to be caught
at to be as God; that, though being in such glory,
and having, not once or twice, but many times,
borne the testimony of martyrdom, and been
taken back again from the wild beasts, and
having the marks of the fire and stripes and
wounds on almost every part of their bodies,
* Grotius, indeed, afiirms that " it is a Syriac expression :"
{Annot. in loc.) but he has no ground for the assertion except
the occurrence of a similar phrase in a Syriac liturgy, which
can scarcely be placed higher than the fourth or fifth century,
and in which the phrase is, at all events, much more reasonably
to be deduced from the passage of the apostle.

382 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
they did not represent themselves as martyrs,
nor would on any account permit us to address
them by that appellation."*
Clemens of Alexandria, who flourished at the
close of the second and the beginning of the
third century, cites the text thus: — "To thee
the Lord himself will speak, who, being in ihe
form of God, esteemed it not a thing to be caught
at to be as God; but the compassionate God
emptied himself, longing for the salvation of
man."t Origen, the pupil of Clemens, has this observ
able passage : — " I might even venture to say
that the goodness of Christ appeared more
* Oi Kal lift roirovrov ^iXarai xaf fufuiirai Xpurrov lyivovro, o; h
yu>p(j)y ©eou vitdpxav, ovx dpicayfiai rfy^raro to eivai iira @eS' Sore iv
rotavTri ^o^ri VTtdpxovreq, y.ai ovx °^^l ov^e Si^, dXka izoXXdniq /jLaprvp-fi-
iravreq, xai ex Sijpiav avBiq dyaX^^Bivre;, xai Ta yiavr^pia Ka) rdw;
uuXuicaq xai Ta rpaijuvia exovrei; itepmeifAeva, ovr avroi /Aaprvpai; lav-
rov<; dveKfipvrrov, ovre /a^v r^yAv literpeitov rovra ra ovofA-art irpoTayopeveiv
airroiq. — Eusebii Hist. Eccl. lib. v. cap. 2. On this passage tlie
learned Dr. Routh, the present venerable President of Magdalen
College, Oxford, observes, that the vsTiter or writers of this
Epistle certainly understood the clause which we are consider
ing as referring to the humiliation of Christ ; and that this was
also the interpretation of many of the Christian fathers. " Quo-
modocunque interpretanda verba sint, oix dp^ayfiov v}y^a-aro to
eiyai To-a &ea, hoc quidcm constat, Lugduncnses ex illis argu
mentum duxisse tiJ; raneivo^potrvvijq Christi. Neque verb hi soli
id fecerunt, sed et alii multi veteres scriptores." ,Mart. Jos.
Routh Reliq. Sacr. vol. i. pag. 32S. Oxon. 1814. *
j" ASto; o-oi XaXri<rei o Kvpioi;, o; iy [Ji.opip^ @eov vndpxay, oix dprnayfioy
ijrpi'raro to eiVai iVa ©ejJ' ixivaae Se lauToc o tjttXoiKripfnay 0eo;, trao-ai
TOV avBpomov yXix^i^voi Admon. ad Gentes; inter Opera, ed. Par.
1629, pag. 7.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 383
abundant and more divine and truly after the
image of the Father, when he humbled himself,
becoming obedient unto deaths even the death of
the cross, than if he had esteemed it an object to '
be caught at to be as God, and had not chosen to
become a servant for the salvation of the world."*
The other instances in which this father cites the.
passage before us, are indeed very numerous ;
but while some of them concur in the sense and
application of the preceding, in the larger
number no light is affbrded to the manner in
which he understood the difficult clause. A
remarkable fact however, presents itself in the
examination of these passages, and which seems
to shew that perplexity in the interpretation of
the clause was felt even then. This is, that, in
two instances, so far as I have discovered, Origen
has taken apTray^Mg actively, and has understood
the clause in the sense of our common version
and many modern interpreters.!
¦* ToXiMireoy yap elite'tv isXeiova nat Betorepav xai dXyjOa^ Kar e'lyiova
TOU HaTfo; t^k dyoBorijra ij)a'ive(rSai rov Xpia-rov, OTe eauTov e'TOTreii/OKre,
yevouevoi;^ iiTr^KOO^ ftixP^ Bavdrov, Bavdrov Se trravpov, ^ ei dp^tayf/ziv Tjyrja-aro
TO eivaj To"a 0ej), xal fM) |SouXi;fleis e'lri Tjf tou KoiTjAjni a-ariipi^ yeviaBat
SoSXo?. Origenis Opera, de ia Rue ; tom. iv. pag. 37. This
passage is referred to by the Calm Inquirer, p. 137-
¦|" Kai yap airoi;, iv f«of^ @eov viicapxav, oix dp^ayfiov ^yijtrstjKevo?
TO elvai lira &eS, yiymie iiai^iov. " Even he himself, being in the
form of God, not esteeming it an act of usurpation to be as
God, became a child." Vol. iii, pag. 661. 'Exi»iy — i^aipera
irctpa TO. XeXaXfifAiva iri^ore iv r^ xoo'ju^ vj yeypai/.[/£va, af7coyiaXvcl)B'rjvai
0*0 TOU oix dpmffyfKJiv viyfitrafAevov to elvat lo'a @e^, dXX' eavrov v-evStrayro^
xai y.op^y SotJXou eiAij^oTof. " Things excellent, beyond all that

384 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK UI.
The difficulty of the case must be admitted to
be considerable : ^nd perhaps neither of the con
structions can be adopted without some remain
ing hesitation. The preponderance, however,
appears to me to be in favour of that which has
been already Stated, and which I believe to have
been approved by many, at least, of the most
learned, judicious, and moderate interpreters.
Cameron, who was well intitled to this cTiaractei
conceived that "the phrase was derived from
a custom of that age, that conquerors erected
trophies of the spoils stripped or taken from
their enemies ; and that the clause might with
strict propriety be translated, He made not a
triumph, or trophy, of his being equal with God ;
that is, he did not ostentatiously shew it, he did
not seem to glory and boast of it."* Grotius,
Meric Casaubon, Calovius, and others have em
braced this interpretation. But whether this

had ever been spoken or written in the world, were to be
revealed from him who esteemed it not an act of usurpation to
be as God, but emptied himself and took the form of a servant."
Vol. iv. page 260.
* " Optimfe sic Gallic^ vertas, II ne fit point de iriomphe, ou
trophic, de ce qu'il itait igal a Dieu ; h. e. -non jactavit, non
visus est gloriari et insolescere." Myrothec. Evang. pag. 214.
" Etsi Dei similis erat, tamen non rapiendam judicavit simih-
tudinem cum Deo.'' Morus, in Append, ad Preel. in Ep. Rom,^
pag. 243. " Quamvis esset conditionis divinae et Deo aequalis
ratione naturae et attributorum, tamen non raptum ivit, non
cupide et ubivis usurpavit, hanc cum Deo aequalitatem ; immo
ver6 ab e^ re abstinuit.  " Tittmanni Meletemata Sacra.
pag. 542.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 385
allusion be admitted or not, is of little import
ance : as, in any case, the idea is plainly indi
cated that the object intended would not have
been, to Jesus Christ, an act of seizure, an
usurpation, a thing to which he had no right ;
but, on the contrary, that to which he had a just
claim, a claim to waive which is laid down by
the terms of. the passage, as an act of the most
gracious condescension and humiliation.*
iii. " On a parity with God." It has not been
without much perplexity and hesitation that I
have at length adopted this, as the most just
rendering that I can devise of To-a &sS, The
expressions like God and as God, appear most
evidently to be below the proper signification :
and the mode used in the common version and
many others, equal with God, has the objection
* So Chrysostom, whose ability to construe his native lan
guage none will dispute, understood the implication ; and he
argues difiiisely upon it, in his Seventh Homily on this Epistle.
TouTO TO eivai lira &eS oix "i dpicayfMV ei%ev, aXXa (j>v(riv.oy' Sio eK.ivatrey
eavrov. " This being equal to God, he did not hold as a thing
to be caught at, but his own natural right." Hom. vn. in. Ep,
Phil, apud Op. ed. Francof. 1698, vol. vi. pag. 64.
Dr. Routh, whose extensive learning is adorned by an emi
nently candid and amiable spirit, declares, " Imb verb id susci
pere velim, nullum ecclesiasticum auctorem ad Nicaenorum
usque tempus adduci posse, qui significari to non alienum i se
esse arbitratus est verbis oix dpitayjjay ifpia-aro, clarfe atque apertfe
indicaverit." — " I would even pledge myself to the fact that no
Christian writer can be adduced, down to the time of- the
Council of Nice, who does not clearly and openly shew that he
understood the words he esteemed it not a thing to be caught at,
as implying that the object was not foreign to Jesus Christ, but
was his own." Reliq. Sacr, vol. i. p. 328.
VOL. II. 2 c

386 fi^ TIIE PERSON OF CHAiST. [BOoK Iii;
of riot pt-eservihg the adverbial form of the
phrase, arid therefore of assufflirig a inore defined
sense than it can be at once Said that the ^eduliar
fbrm justifies. Schleusner explaitiS ihe ,phraie
as denoting " to sustain the person of God; or to
be eqiial to God ih nature and ttiajegty :" and
He mairitains that To-a is liot put adverhially; bdt
that, by a kind of enallageSI it stands for the
singular masculine adjective.'* He assigns no
reSSoii for this opinion ; and I niUst own that I
Can discovei- noile. Such an enalla,ge seems un
supported by any priiicipile oi- alithoriiy of the
language, while the Use of adjectives in the
neuter plural as ddverfcs, though to be supplied
as an ellipsis,t is extreiliely coinai<)ri.t A very
eminent scholar, and who was familiarly ac
quainted with the niceties of the Greek idiomv
Erasmus Schmidt, observes that the verbs ymfmi
and s'i[u give to their conjoined adverb the force
df a noun ; and that the gramiriatical construc
tion of this clause is precisely the same as if the
adjective had been put in the accusative sin
gular: " to be equal with God."§-
* Lex. in voce.
f Schleusner follows Bos in supposing that the full phrase
would be war 1<ra jAipif but a most distiQguishe^ (jrraecian, Schaefer,
maintains, " lo-a, additive praepositiope 'ipi la-a, M^ra 'q-a, ad-
verbialiter dicuntur, nihilque subaudiendum est." Adnot. in
Bosii Ellips. Gr. pag. 171.
I As f^o-Ta most easily, x^irra excellently, l&Mrjva si(dderil^j
deXitrd unexpectedly, d^pa elegantly, isdvra wholly, itoXXa abun
dantly , y^miva with, impunity . Si,e. kc. .V,.
§ " Esse aequaliter Deo, i. e, esse sequaieis Deo. Lutherua,

eH/a>'. W,\ HUMANlTy AND ITS CHARlctERS. Sjjy
m« iriterpi-etatioh bf ihis phrase is of so ^real
iin|)6rtaiice; that I trust to the indulgence of the
reader foi" siibjoiiiih^ a considerable iiiiriiber
of instanced ; which will, I think enable eveii
those who have riot ^luclied Gr^ek literature, to
form a satisfactory opinion on the propriety of'
the iriode of translation which I have adopted.*
The |)r6per signification of T<ro| has respect to
qUanii^ as that of oitoio^ Has to quality.^ The
&ri6er word was applied, in the propriety of
Greek usage, to cases of e4uivalence in number;
lilies and figures, motion, time; distance; weight;
community of shares, equality of political rights,
Q^tte ^leicb. seyn. Npa verba substantiva, ytvo/*^ et « (f >, cjfisa
^^verbio idoneo^ ^.^F^ j^dverbii significationem .faciunt nomi-
nalem : ut, Odyss. B. 82.IIa'jTe{ axV fo"**' omnes erant^tacitfe, i. e,
taeiti. Iliad, r. 95. dmiv e'ye'voyTo' fiebant taciti, i. e. taciti. Sie
bop.loeo, <roL,£!>uu To-a iSe^, pro t^ elvat tiroy ®^," Adnot, in if, T,
N«f«,]i»b. 1658, pag. 1189. . ^ »,,, „ ,.j ,.,, ;.,.,»;,..
The Jate illustrious Heyn^, m> his remarks on Erasmui;
".' ..^ r r ll?'"'. , * I \ '.'¦ (. '.*• 'I- ' i-i . ' '-¦' '.* V '. ^' .li, -J*
Schmidt's edition of Pindar, while he blames him for want, of
Isejte and for his invention of an erroneous, metrical system,
speaks in rather strong terms of his learning and sagaeity as
to, , what regarded the mere laii^age. , " Saltem dootus et
sequus quisque Jude:^ fatebitur, Schmidii acumine et diligentil
iiifinitis locis -emiend^iorem nos habere poetam; turn in iis
({uoque. ia quibus hallucinMur, ingenios^ taiben et sagaciter
hariolarijidcum doctissimiim.  Ejus — doctrina f)raeclara. 
Magai Graecarum .literarum copi^ instructus.  " Bepni,
ia Prof, ad Find. vol. i. pag. 29, 80. ed. Oxon. 1807".
* See Note [B] at the end of this Section.
f Dammii LeXi Hom. et Find. pag. 561, 1705. Euripides, in
a single verse, has marked the, distinction. Nify ^ otS" ta.oioy
<i^fi>, ^ tcov Pfimii " But nothing now. is fair, n^lBf^ e^udll
among men." Phmnissa, ver. 511, ed. Parson,
2 c 2

388 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
and other objects in which the leading idea is
that of commensurate quantities;* and the latter
term was used to designate resemblance in quali
ties : the former attributive was the answer to
a-oVof, how much; the latter to -jroiog, qf what
kind.i From the whole, it appears to me a just con
clusion, that the word underi consideration, de
notes, in every instance of its occurrence, an
equality or parity between two subjects, in such
respect as is pointed out in each case by the
nature of the subjects and the connexion of the
passage. Applying this rule to the instance before us,
Mte have first to inquire if there is any thing
ascertained in the nature of the case, which will
define the respect in which Christ is " on a parity
with God." Here we must appeal to the reader's
serious and impartial judgment, whether abun
dant and weighty evidence has not been adduced,
* This is exemplified by the use of To-o< in the works of the
Greek mathematicians. Let the reader also consider such
words as la-oxpovia, i<ro8fOft£B, ia-o^povia, lo-ojMoipes)" and lO-ojSaf^;, ioo^vyrii,
ivotrrdvuf, io-oxXiv^?, iiroraxhi, ta-oirBeyrii;, ia-hifMi;, i<roTeX^{, and the
phrase ifa-oy lo-p. See Budcei Comment. Ling. Gr. Bas. 1557, col.
1221 — 1223. Atheneeus, lib. x. cap. 8. vol', iv. pag. 79, ed.
Schweigheeus. et Casauboni Animadv. col. 726, Lugd. 1621.
¦f Hesychius does, indeed, say Itrov, t/Mioy' and Suidas lira, ra
i/uia' but that writers of a lower age should have occasionally
faUen into a lax use of terms, and have become inattentive to
the propriety of the language, is no argument against the usage
of better times. Besides, many of the verbal explications given
by the Greek lexicographers are npt synonyms, but only ap
proximations.

CHAP. IV.] i HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. S89
in establishment of the fact, that the Saviour of
mankind possesses a superior nature and mode
of existence, which are truly and properly divine.
If this be admitted, we have, in the known kind
and properties of the subject, a principle ena
bling us safely and with intelligence to apply
the declaration, the Messiah is on a parity
WITH Gop. This remark is not a begging the
question, but a fair reference, to what, in the
best exercise of my reason, I am conscientiously
persuaded is a body of impregnable proof.
We are next, therefore, to inquire whether the
terms of the connexion will furnish any assistance
to tlie interpretation of this particular clause.
The circumstance is stated by the inspired
writer, as one of the articles bf the Saviour's
humiliation. It was something which he did not
catch up, take hold of, or with eagerness and
promptitude avail himself of the opportunity to
seize : it therefore lay before him, and was at his
option. His waiving the presented enjoyment
is assigned as a part, and a proof, of his conde
scending and gracious abasement : it was there
fore something which was his own by riglit,
which he rtiight justly have claimed, and which,
had he been so pleased, he had both the power
and the authority to have taken. These are
the attributes of the state, or manner of being,
here predicated of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
which is denominated ¦fo sJvat To-a 0£(3, " the
being on a parity with God." — ^What, then, was
that state, or manner of being 1

Sgp ON "EHE PERSON OF CHRIST. [l^CJOK IH.
l.tll; wrasthe assumption of the regal power and
dignity, says Enjedin,* over tJie Jewish nation,
to 'vy^liich phrist ^lad an unquestionable rig|it,
by his royal descent and by divine appointment,
and which he had l|)oth ^he opportunity an(| the
power to have seized and securec|. So ^he
IJeljrew magistrates were stytec^ gods : and so
t\ie father of classic poetry frequently deno
minates his ^leroes Qsos/xsXo*, gqdlijce, an^ \ero$jEOi,
equal tft tfye gods.
We reply, that on ^he case of t^ Ifebrew
magistrat^es, we beg to refer the reader to a
former passage of tjiis work ;^ that t|ie epithets
from Homer are foundecl on the mythology which,
having made gods like , the vilest of men, easily
eleyate(^ men to the rank of gods ; t|iat suc^
language is totally ab^iorrent from the style and
sen|,inient^ 9^ the ^e>;v^ Testament ; an4 that, |o
^i^ppose To-a Qsw \o signify ncj^^ing more than
rOyai state and power, is quite incongruous witfi
all sobriety of interpretation.
. ^. An eminent modern Unitarian answers the
q,ues^ion tlius : '^ In the authority with which he
spake to jiis apostles ; in the appellation of Lord
an(| 14*^*?^' T^hjc^i he assumed ; in his requisition
that they should keep his commandments, an^ ^e
faithful in' that wliich |ie cojoamittecl \o them an^
enjoined upon |hem ; in ^lie terms in whjch he
^pake of Iiimself, (according to t|ie i(|eas of the
4^ws) ¦when |ie called himseljf tke S9n of (^od ;
* Explic, Locorum, pag. 324. + Vol. I. page 388.

CHAP. 1^.3 Hpjii^rry A^p it? cjf araqters. 331.
ip ^Iff terui^ in ^IiiqIi h^ ^^^^p, of liis dp^trip^, as
l^eing tlie yford of Go(J.''* ^ ^^^
jp|iat this is a pa^|, of t|ie trutli, none will he dis
poned to question ; but "vyh^ther a just interpreta
tion of t^^ pg,yticular p?i§sages referred to, SLjid
of otli^r language ^j^ipli our Lor^ u^eq of him
self qr permitted tq b^ p.d(|re§sed to him, i^ Qoni-
p§tib|e >yith any rational notions of the state apd
condition qf g, inere |ium^n being, is a gre^t P^ft
of the question at issue, and upon which it has
begn a|;tempte4, in t|ie p^'eceding pages, to sub
mit the SQriptura,l evidence to the reader's serious
and candid iudg-ment. If the writer's endea-
vours haye not been very unsuccessful, a con-
si^erahle body of evidence hp-s been presented,
t|iat our Lord gave frequent intimations of his
possessing a pre-existent and cejestial natvfm
t|iat lie perinilted and f^^^ clfiinied |iqno|^[rs un-
sijitab|e to ^ny b}it the Divine ^eing, t|iat li§
g,l|owe(| |iimself tq be addressed a^ Lord ^.pd Gqol,
t|i|t he maintained himself to be One with the
^afhei*, ap(i ^liat,hg admitted ^nd fiqi^firnied tli<^
imputation of " rnaking himself equal to God."
3. The Calm Inquirer's opinion is, that the ex
pression designates qur Lqrd's possession of a
divine commission, and a voluntary power of
working miracles, which it was at his Option to
^mpiqy for his qw'n heneflt.| '^'
Tfee " possession qf a divine commission," cer-
* Cappe's Crit, Rem,, vol. i. p. 240, 241.
t Pa^fes 144,326,126.

392 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
tainly furnishes some ground for appropriating
the expression : as, on that account, Moses is
called "God," and "for God" to Pharaoh.*
But it is manifest that this idea is totally inap
plicable to the present case ; for the very obvious
reason that our Lord's divine commission was, at
no time and in no sense, an object which he laid
aside, or declined to use. On the contrary he
always professed it, and was constantly acting
upon it.
The supposition that Christ, viewed merely
as a man and a prophet, had an inherent and
optional power of working miracles, does not
appear tenable. We know that, on one occa
sion, he referred to express prayer as having
preceded the miracle :t and he ascribed, in the
most direct terms, his miraculous works, equally
with his heavenly doctrine, to the indwelling
energy of the Father. It is true that, on most
occasions of this kind, our Blessed Lord spake
and acted in the style of absolute authority and
independence :§ but this, the advocates of the
* Exod. vii. 1. iv. 16. t John xi. 41.
{ John V. 19. xiv. 10.
§ For example : " He rebuked the wind, and said unto the
sea. Peace ! Be still I" Mark iv. 39. "¦ Go thy way; thy son
liveth." John iv. 50. " I will : be thou clean." Matt. viii. 3.
"Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." Mark v. 41. and a similar
instance : Luke vii. 14. " Lazarus, come forth." John xi. 43.
Such language, associated with no modification or corrective,
seems UI befitting a man of common piety. How can we ima
gine it to have belonged to the most perfect of human charac
ters? The doctrine of the Divine Nature of Christ affords a
satisfactory solution of the difficulty : but it seems to me to

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 393
doctrine of his deity look upon as an intimation,
not very obscure, of his possessing a nature with
which alone that style of dignity could comport,
even the Eternal and Almighty Nature which
could " speak and it was done ;" which could
" command and it stood fast." Upon this supposi
tion of the Calm Inquirer, Mr. Cappe has these
animadversions : the possession of miraculous
powers by Jesus Christ " could neither be laid
down, nor declined, nor suspended. It could not
be laid down; because it was not an inherent
quality that depended upon his will : it could not
be declined; because it was not offered to his
acceptance or refusal, neither originally nor oc
casionally. It could not be suspended ; because,
whenever the power of God was present with
him to perform a miracle, it was accompanied
with an impulse on his mind to employ it, or
rather to predict its operation."*
4. It appears evident that the most probable
method for ascertaining the intention of the
phrase is to determine the meaning of that
which is laid as the ground and reason of our
press insupportably on the opposite hypothesis. Mr. Cappe, in
the quotation given above, expressly excludes our Lord's will
from having any concern in the business : his office was, ac
curately speaking, nothing more than to predict the operation.
Upon this statement, was not Jesus very criminal, when he
received, with evident complacency, the address which, accord
ing to Mr. Cappe, was absolutely false ; " Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean !" and confirmed it by his reply,
" I WILL : be thou clean !"
* Criluud Remarks, vol. ii. page 274.

gg4 • ON iJip PERSON OF CM^is'T. |[i?qo|e ^I.
^qrjl's righ|; tq that which the claiise assmne?.
J^his ground is the " being* in the form qf j3o4."
Ifhe word rased by the apostle, an(| very pro-
p(^rjy translate4 form, signifies tho external
shape or figure of a material objecj. pf cqurje
it can be understood of the Pivine Being, pnly
in the way of an imperfect analogy, .^s th^
visible ^n(| tangible figure of a sensible q^eict
is, in qr(|inary cases, the chief property, andyery
frequently the on|y one, by which we know thi^
object an(| 4i^tingiiish it from others ; so, thaj
part of " wha|; may be known of God"+ which
to ojLir rational conceptions dis'tingijishes m^i
frqm all other' o|)jects of apprehension, may thus
^l|usiyely be called tf^eform oi Gqd. Therefore,
drqpping the figure, the no|;iqn is evidently that
of specific difference, or essential and distinguish
ing properties. ^ it might, I conceive be unexcep-
tionabiy expressed by the phrase the chorqc-
teristics of Qod.t Schleusner, accordingly, gives
* See ^Qte [C] at the end of the Section.
+ To yyaa-rav tou ©«?" cognoscibile Dej. Rom. i. 19.
X MofK^ occurs once besides in the N. "T. Mark xvi. 12. and
several times in the Septuagint, e. g. Job iv. 16. Dan. v. 6, 9,
iO. Wisd. Sol. xviii. 1. ' Every where in the proper sense. The
trreeks ofteii applied it to their carnal conceptions of divinities.
But' Wetstein arid Schleusner have referrecl to examples of the
hietoriymic application in' 'Josephus and Plato. 'O ®eoi epyoii;
juev xai %afitnv evafy^?, Kai ouTo/oo-ouv ^avefarcpo;, {/.opip^y re xai jneyfSo;
^jjuv'a^d'yedrrdroi'. ''Gfod is msplayed m liis works and his graci-
iiiis Ijfe'^lowmeiits, and [^ihus] is more clearly manifested than
ariy o^^er lieihg"; biit, as to his nature [literally /orwij and
majesty, he is tous invisible." Joseph, contra ApiQn, W. »..

«IB4P' fy-- «^$f^?n AN» ITS Cj^^^AC^ERS. 3§^
thjs as ^he secondary sense of tlie wqrd : " tjii?
very nature an^ essence of any subject, the same
as <^if{g and ow<r(a.''*
We may receive further assistance bv consi-
fering t|ie antithesis of the sentence. This ap
pears to be formed, not "vvith any one partkular,
hut with all in fhe enumeration ; " the form of a
servant, the likeness of men, the condition as a
man. t Phrisj: ha(| thejfom, |;|ie c^rf^cteristics,
of the depaseji and qppressed situation of a bopd-
servant : the subjection of the human race to
pain and sorrow, '^ t|ie bojijdage of cqrruptio|:},",
secT. 2§. The cbiin^xioh of fiis passage shews that Josephus
li^fes tlie teim* to express a spiHtual {ferfectiSii aiid noi a'fi^
sensible quality. Tb^ ' following jiassage^rora Plato js lese
clear, as his conceptions were probably influence^ fjy heathen
prepossessions. 'ASwaTOi' a^a, eifnjv, xai flcg eBiXeiv airov aXXpicvy'
aXX, ui; erne, xaAA.i<rTo; xa* apitrro^ ay ci; to owaTov cxao-To^ cv>rav,
fievei de) a/iriai; eii ¦if'ditoU fiop^' ^' It is'ihcn i&possible,' f replied,
fdfr'e^feti St God to bd "williHg to Undergo dny change : Mt; '4s
seeihs probable, each of them £thfe gods] being in the highest
possible degree o^ |)eauty and moral excellence, always rema|ifs
simply in the same form." De Republ. lib. ii. Opera, pag. 606,
edi'ltaiifeof: l^b^r •' "''¦'^'" '•' '^•¦'' ''¦-• ""'
*''Th^'6feek Fathers miderstood jim/k^ in the sense of oitrla' but
WhetherthisfiS to be Wgafded sis a fair grammatical interpreta
tion, or as U tjieological explication, may be difficult todetef-
mine. — E. g. "H lAopipii rov %eav ravroy tj ovir'i^ vdyra^ eirriy' ' T.he ,
forni bf God is the very same as his essence." Gregor. Nyss. apud
i^aiceri T*hksdur. Eccl. vol.' ii. pag. 'S7^7.'''H /*of^ to5 ^em ipia-il
neirai &eov' " The form of God ^gWfiWs th^ sam^ as &e%feM of
God." Theodorefi [if he was thie author) "Dialog: i.'apud Suicer"ih.
* In voce. See the same remark'ir^ Suicerus, ubi sUprd.
+ Moodm SouAou, compared with Rom. vii. 25. viji. 21. Qd.
Lv ' .¦'>V" '-,¦>:¦ r'"' '^\ ft. ''.-'J a''- ' "
iv, 24. — — oJMWita avBpima)/' '. v^fia. to{ ayBpavoe.

396 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III:
the universal' curse, the consequence of our com
mon depravity : he resembled the rest of men,
in every thing requisite to a proper humanity ;
and be it reniembered that this resemblance was
in fact an identity : his condition was that of a
man, in all the accidents and attendant circum
stances of our common nature, such as growth
from infancy to manhood, developement of phy
sical and of mental powers, liableness and acute
sensibility to all the kinds of natural suffering,
and every other external circumstance which was
proper to demonstrate him a child of man.
Now let the terms of the contrast be weighed
against each other. If the characteristics of
human nature, as subjected to the penal sorrows
of its fallen state ; if the reality of the same
nature, appearing in its properties and adjuncts ;
if all the appropriate circumstances of external
condition ; — if these marked the Saviour to be
incontrovertibly a real and proper man : what
are we required, in equitable construction, to
understand by his " existing in the form," the dis
tinguishing characteristics, " of God," and his
" being on a parity with God f Are we not
clearly obliged to understand these predicates as
denoting that which is peculiar and distinctive
to the Divine Being; the very nature and
essential attributes of God '?
Thus guided by the context and the argument,
we find the sense of the passage to be to this
effect : " Although he possessed the essential
characteristics of the Divine Nature, he declined

chap. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 397
the display of himself as on a parity with God :
but, quite otherwise than that,* he deprived him
self of the manifestation to men of those glories
and enjoyments of which he had the rightful
possession ; and he assumed the servile, degraded,
distressful state of fallen humanity, submitting
to the deepest sorrows in life and to the ex
tremity of suffering in death. For it is obvious
that, in order thus to suffer, he must have a
nature capable of pain and grief; he therefore
was ' made in the likeness of men, and evincedt
to be in his outward condition reallyt a man.'
In this nature he suffered, and in this nature he
received his reward. On this meritorious ac
count, God his Father, whose gracious purposes
of mercy to mankind he hath so divinely accom
plished, has conferred upon him in this same
assumed and official capacity, the highest honour

, * The proper meaning of dXXd, See Dr. John Jones's Greek
Grammar, 3d ed. p. 280, and his Greek and English Lexicori, (in
lucem, ut spe's est, cit^ proditurum,) on the word.
f EipeBeU' See Schleusner in evp'una, signif. 3. " experio, com-
perior, cognosco, intelligo, sentio." Tertullian confirms this in
terpretation. " Nam et inventum ratione posuit, id est certissim^
homiuem : quod enim invenitur, constat esse." Adv. Marcion.
lib. V. ed. Par. 1664. pag. 486.
X See Schleusner in »;, signif. 15. " revera, vere, utpote, et re
spondet Hebraico 3 veritatis :  et "^K utique, profecii."
'O;' — dXtiBui. Hesych. ed., Alberti, col. 1597- " 'H; et aire), quo
modo D veritatis, uti vocarit Hebraei, ad quam respondent, non
semper designant nudam similitudinem, sed et Bertv.a) saepe fiunt,
veritatis notae ^e^atariKai,'' Sir Richard Ellys, Fortuita Sacra,
pag. 327.

S§§ em iiiE pMistii^ o? (gfiM^;
and ha|)f|ihegs I by th§ diffusioii of holiness arid
its atteiidant blessedness, hy the homage of all
hiiirikii find celestial intelligences^ ahd hy his
uiiiversal dominion as (he Messiahj to the ever
lasting and riiost glorioiis maiiifestatiori of the
holiriessi the righteous gdvernmerit, the free
behevolerice,' arid tlie wisdoiri of God the Father."
It aj)pears, therefore, lo my own apprehension
to be clearly established, by the signification of
the words stnd by the sense of the connexibni
that " being in the form of fefod," wSs designed
to denote the possession oi ihe Divine Nature and
Perfections ; arid that " bei% (^&a 0s ") a:s fefod,
or ori a parity witU God," expresses th^ mani
festation of those perfections^
The oiily remaining kiiid of evidence is what
Hiay be (lerived frorii the Aricient Versions aiid
Ihe citatiotis oi early Christian writers.
The translator of the Peshito Syriac has evi
dently laboured to maintain .an anxious closeness
to the Greek ; and, tvhei-e he eduld riot find a
term in his own language strictly eq[uipollent, he
has preserved the Greek word itself. " Who,
though he was in the likeness * of God, did not

* The same word is used in the three places.' It denotes an
image, a likeness, a model, a resemblance. It Is put for eiit»» in
1 Cor. XI. 7'. xV. 49, twice. 2 Cor. iii. 18. iv. 4. Col. i. 15.
iii. io. i^pf)}, Mark xvi. 12. ^V/*o(j</.o;, Phil. iii. 21. Rom.
Vlii. 29. iif^ayia, liom. 1. 23. v. 14. vi. 5. viii. 3. t/uiuirtt:,
James iii. 9. V""?' ^^^- '^- ^- ^^- 7- ^a/Mtai^'m Heb. vii. 3.
tlAoiui, Rev. it. is. viii. iZ, Kara tov ^m rpoicoy, Jude 7. vni-
SeiyjiMt, Heb iv. 11. viii. 5. ix. 33. James v. 10. ir«;iowrXij<riBf,

dtiAP. IV.l HUlWiNiT^ AND ItS JSHAIlACiTERS. S§^
este6m this att usurpation, t that he was bii a
liarityt wjth God ; biit he emptied hirii^elf and
toqk the likeness* of a servant^ and was, in the
likeness * of the children of meri^ and iri cqfidi-
tion § was found as a child of man."
The Vulgate : " Wlio, heing in the forin, of
fjrod, esteemed it not i rapine that hiinself fehoUld
be equal to God; but emptied himself, taking
the forin of a servant, made into the likeness of
men, and fbiind inconditiori as. a mari."||
Of the earliest Latin versions we can have no
better information than the citations of Tertul
lian, the most ancierit of the Latin Fathers.
T  ri — ~  z — ¦_ _ ¦ — TT — '  ;  ;  ~ — ~^  'J ..'.
Heb^ ii. 1^. Ti!m;, 4cts vii. <43, 44- Rom., v. 14.. vi, 1^„ Phil.
iii. 17. 1 Thess. {. 7. 1 Tim. iv. 12. "Tit. ii. 7. 1 ^ei. v. 3,
dvrirvwoi, Heb. ix. 24. Tlie case deserves Ihe reader's studioiiS
attention to all these passages : they will furnish the best coiii-
ment on the venerable Syrian's understanding of /apifaj..
f Plundering, rapine. See the Hebrew original of the Syriac
word in Judees xxi. 21. . Ps. x. 9.. Prov. xxiii. 28. It is„used
for a^aep\ in the threp. places in which that word occurs. Matt.
xxiii- 25. Luke xi. 3^. Heb. x. 34.
% The word occurs only this once. Its proper idea- is halan-
<Ang or comparing together. See its verb .in Psalm Ixxxix. 6.
Luke.ii. 19. 1 Cor. ii. 13. 2 Cor. x. 12, L3. ,,„ ^ , ,,^
§ The very word (r™/«» is preserved, as in the only place
Besides of its occurrencej i Cor. vii. il. "The word was
adopted into the Syriac language. We find it for jMpiputrii;, 2 Tim.
iii. 5, rtjj.^, 1 Cor xii. 23. .varaaroXi, 1 Tim. ii 9. .xaTa<rTiijKa,
Tit. ii. 3. With the prefix, for wirxi/wva? Rom. xiii. 13. 1 Cor.
xiVi 40. 1 Thess. iv. 12.
tl " Qui, ciim in formS, Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est
esse se ae^ualem Deo ; sed semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi
aceifiehS} in similitudinem hominum factus, et habitu inventus
ut homo."

400 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IM.
" Being constituted in the likeness of God, he
esteemed it not a rapine to be on a parity with
God : but emptied himself, taking the likeness of
a servant, and made in the likeness of man, and
found in figure a man."*
The Arabic of Walton's Polyglott : " Who
ceased not to be in the likeness of God, [yet]
did not embrace his being equal with God, as an
allurement to be caught at for himself; but
depressed himself, then took the likeness of a
servant, was made in the likeness of men, and
was found in conformation as a man."
The .Ethiopic Version I can cite only as re
presented in the Latin translation of Loftus and
Castell : " Who though he was the likeness
[countenance] of God, usurped not from him who
was God ; subjecting himself, and transformed so
as to become a servant, as a man becoming obe
dient." In the same manner I borrow from Wilkins's
transl atiori of the Coptic : " Who, existing in
the form of God, believed it not to be a prey that
he should become equal to God; but debased
himself, assumed the form of a servant, being
made in the likeness of man, found in condition
as a man."
To the earlier Christian writers, as was before
* " Qui in effigie Dei constitutus, non rapinam existimavifc
pariari [in other places, esse se aequalem] Deo; sed exhausit
semetipsum, accept^ effigie servi, et in similitudine hominis
factus, et figurll inventus homo." Tertull. Op, pag. 328, 486,
504, &c.

GHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS.' 401
said, we refer only as aids and evidences to afford
light to the grammatical construction, and by
no means as do'ctrinal authorities. The passages
which have already been adduced, sufficiently
prove that the best and earliest of the Greek
fathers understood our Lord's " being in the
form of God," to signify his existing in the cha
racteristic properties qf the Divine Nature ; and
his " being as God," to express the manifesting
qf that glory and dignity which was rightfully his
own. The learned reader can, if he pleases, add
to the number, particularly from the works of
Basil and the two Gregorys. I shall, therefqre,
add only two passages more ; which, though they
do not belong to a veiy early period, are inte
resting and little known.
In an Epistle of Six Bishops to Paul of Samo-
sata, written about A. D. 269, we read : " Jesus
Christ, himself God and man, was prophesied of
in the law and the prophets ; and, throughout the
whole church under heaven, he has been believed
to be both God, who emptied himself from being
on a parity with God, and man, being of the seed
qf David according to the flesh."*
Peter of Alexandria, the few fragments of
whose writings indicate great simplicity and -
piety, and every where an unequivocal defer-
* 'O avT«{ 0604 w* avBpaicoi 'Ii)iro?{ Xpiirro; •iipoe^revero ev vofUf
xai itpoiriftaii, xai ev tj e'xxXijo-ijt tJ tiro tov oipaMV vdni iceitirrevrai
0£o; fiev Kevairai eavrov, duo tou eivat 117a ®ef' avBpaicof Se, xat ck crvep-
/taTo; Ab^iS to KaTa trapxa. Routh Reliq. Sacr. vol. ii, pag. 475,
h Condi. Labb. et Cossart. tom. i. pag. 843.
VOL. II. 2 D

402 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI.
ence to scripture authority, and who suffered
martyrdom at the beginning of the fourth cen
tury, has the passage : " Since most certainly
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, therefore
we are saved by grace, according to the apostolic
declaration ; and this, he says, not of ourselves ;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one
should boast. By the will of God the Word be
coming flesh, and being found in condition as a
man, did not relinquish his Deity. Neither when
he, being rich, became poor, was it so done that
he might desert his power or perfect glory ; but
that he might undergo death for us sinners, the
just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
heing put to death in the flesh, hut restored to life
by the Spirit."*
Thus the evidence of the Ancient Versions,
and the early citations, is clearly in accordance
with that which we have before deduced from
the meaning of the words and from the con
nexion and scope of the passage.
iv. The next clause is euurov sxivwas, " he
emptied himself." This is the literal significa-
* 'ETreiSyj Kal dXviBa^ r} X^P^'> ^°^* ^ dXyiBeta ^la 'Iijcrou \pt(rrov
'yevero' o6ev v.at %a^tTi e<7[/.ev tre<ra(rf/.€vot, Kara to~ diioa-roXiKOy pvjroy*
Kai rovro, rinjtriv, ouk 65 7j[/.av, 0fou to ^upov, ouk €^ epyuv Tva jW!^ Ti^
Kat;%^iTt)Tai. ©cX^juaTi • @eov 0 Ao'yo; <rdp^ yevojixvo^, xai (TX^jMiri evpe-
Beii w? dvBpaitoi;, 'oiy. dveXeiipBri t!;; SeoT))To;. 'Ovie yap "va t^; Suva/*e«?
cf,vrov 1} So'lij? reXeia^ ditotrr^, iiraxeva-a^ TrXoutriog av, rovro e'-ycvero' dXX
I'va Kai TOV Bavarov vnep i]fiay rav djJiapraXSv avaSe|)jTai, SiKaio; vTcep
dhiyiav, wrw? ^jwaj itpotraydyri r^ 0e§), BavaraBeti; {/.ev irapy), ^aowoHjSeij
8e nvei5/*aTi. Routh, vol. iii, pag. 344. Labb, et Cossart, torn, iii.
pag. 508. .

GHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARAGTEjRS. 40a
tion of the verb : and, in all its applications, it
carries the idea oi reduction from a previous state
of fulness, in respect of strength, efficiency, or
some other mode of possession or excellency.
Where it occurs in other places of the New
Testament,* it has reference not to persons, but
to things, as the -predicate ; and the signification
just given will be found to suit them all. The
idea, when applied to persons, is metaphorical,
and plainly imports a privation of external pos
sessions or internal qualities, and a consequent
diminution of condition or enjoyment.. In the
Septuagint it occurs twice,t and serves to de
scribe the extreme distress of national calamities.
The same is the meaning of the word by which
it is represented in the old Syriac Version.]: The
fonns in which the other Ancient Ver-sions have
conveyed the expression, have just been de
tailed. Few modern translators have preserved
the original expression ; but, perhaps from con
ceiving the metaphor to be somewhat harsh they
have generally given what they conceived to be
its intention in another way.§ But it would be
* Fiz. Rom. iv. 14. 1 Cor. i. 17. ix. 15. 2 Cor. ix. 3.
f For the conj. pual of .^OX Jerem. xiv. 2. xv. 9.
+ See Schaafii Lexicon, pag. 396.
§ He made himself of no reputation : the Common Version,
which, in this rendering, has followed Cranmer's or rather
Tyndale's 1539 : the Geneva English hy Coverdale, Knox, Sfc.
1560 (which adds this explanation ; " He brought himself £rom
all things, as it were, to nothing :") and Parker's or the Bishops'
Bible, 1568. Made himself of none account: Abp. Newcome.
2 d2

404 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IU,
wasting words to shew, that all the forms, in
which the expression may be varied or explained,
unavoidably carry with them the same principal
idea, that of descending from a state of dignity
to one of inferiority.
This, indeed, is universally admitted. But the
Unitarians maintain that the state of dignity from
which Christ descended, is to be referred wholly
to certain circumstances in his condition as the
messenger of God among men. In his celebrity
and popularity, the authority with which he
spake in the name of God, and his miracles, they
place this superior state ; and the self-emptying
they apply to his submitting to the meanest rank
in life, to poverty and want, to indignity, cruel
treatment, and a violent and unjust death.*
It appears to me a solid objection to this in
terpretation, that it is extremely remote from the
just signification of the terms; that it is evi-
Divested himself : Impr. Vers. Semetipsum inanivit : Leo Juda,
Calvin, Beza, Piscator. Seipsum eousque ad nihilum redegit :
Castalio. Seipsum ad statum tenuem depressit : Dcederlein.
Voluit tenuis esse ; se vacuum, se inanem, reddidit : Morus.
Extenuavit, depressit se ad humilitatem : RosenniuUer . Acus-
serste sich selbst : (i. e. put himself to the last extremity:)
Luther. Hecft liem selven vernietight : (i. e. reduced himself
to nothing :) Dutch authorized Version. Agotdse k si mismo :
(i. e. exhausted himself to the very utmost :) Cassiodoro del
Reyna. Annichilb se stesso : (i. e. reduced himself to nothing :)
Diodati. II s'est aneanti lui-mSme : the Catholic Version of
Mons, afld the French Protestant Versions, from those of Olivetan
and Calvin down to that of Geneva, 1805.
* Enjedin. Expl. Loc. pag. 326, Cappe's Crit. Rem. vol. i.
p. 230 — 235. Impr, Vers, note Calm Inq. p.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 4o5
dently forced to help the exigency of a system;
and that it scarcely comports with fact. Let the
studious and candid reader examine what has
been advanced on the meaning of the terms, and
the scope and sense of the connexion ; and im
partially consider whether this interpretation is
at all in congruity with them. As to the facts of
the case, there does not appear to have been any
such contrast between the prior and the latter
parts of our Lord's public life, as the interpreta
tion supposes. The history shews that he was
always " a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief." It is recorded of a very early period of
his ministry, that he " had not where to lay his
head."* Reproach and calumny were heaped
upon him through its general course :t and his
stupendous miracles, his engaging address, his
admired wisdom, his occasional and fugitive
popularity, only gave a keener edge to the blas
phemies of his adversaries, and to the pangs of
his own soul, while " he beheld the transgressors
and was grieved, and reproach broke his heart."
With respect, also, to the closing scenes of his
life, whieh these writers conceive to have con
stituted this humiliation and emptying himself;
it is proper to observe, that the evidences of
power and majesty were really not suppressed
during that period, in the manner that their
hypothesis supposes. On the contrary, his pecu
liar glory was displayed, in various ways, and
* Matt, viii, 20. Luke viii. 3. f Matt. x. 25.

406 ON THE PERSON OF CHR[ST. [BOOK III.
those more calculated to impress the beholders
with awe and terror, as well as with admiration
and gratitude, than anyprevious demonstration of
our Lord's superiority had been. Such were his
striking to the ground the band of armed men
with a glance of his eye, his healing the high-
priest's servant, his shewing mercy and promising
heaven to the penitent robber, the preternatural
darkness, the rending of the veil of the temple,
the terrific earthquake, and the still more asto
nishing miracle, that " the tombs were opened,
and many bodies of holy persons were raised."*
These events possessed a grandeur till then un
equalled ; and they turn the argument of the
writers referred to, completely back upon them
selves. According to their own manner of inter
pretation, these circumstances, more than any
that can be adduced in the previous life of Jesus,
amounted to a being in the form, of God (" teach
ing and working miracles in God's name, exer
cising authority, judging mankind,"+) and a
being like God, Thus is their interpretation in
consistent and self-destructive.
Some good writers have advanced that xevoa»
is to be considered as representing the Hebrew
verb p^ITi, and that the signification is to be
sought from that of p''T and apn, in the Septua
gint xsvog, and applied to persons in poverty and
destitution. So that the meaning is, he brought
himself into a state of extreme want, destitute of
* Matt, xxvii. 53. f Cappe, vol. i. p. 232,

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 407
the ordinary necessaries of life. This makes no
difference in the ultimate sense of the whole
passage ; for it leaves untouched the question of
the state out of which his descent to poverty
took place. On this criticism, however, the fol
lowing remarks are submitted : —
(1) The Septuagint never translates the He-*
brew verb by this Greek one ; and, if it did,
the proper meaning of the Hebrew word is also
to empty: It is true that the adjectives are some
times rendered by xsvlg, in the acceptation above
stated: but this does not seem to be a sufficient
ground for the criticism, in a case when the word
in question requires no departure from its esta
blished meaning.
(2) The only place in the Old Testament in
which either of the adjectives is used, and which
carries a sense at all appoaching to that Of the
apostolic passage, is Nehemiah, v. 13. "Thus
will God shake out every man who shall not
confirm this declaration, from his house and
from his property : even thus shall he be
shaken out and empty (p1 xsvof.)" Here the
word manifestly denotes the privation of former
possessions. (3) For reasons before intimated,*, considering
the circumstances in which the apostle wrote and
the people to whom he was writing, inhabitants
of a Macedonian town, it is more probable, that
he would use the verb in its ordinary sense, the

* See page 382 of this Volume.

40S ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI,
sense which would be obvious to native Greeks,
rather than in an acceptation deduced somewhat
circuitously from the Hebrew idiom. The Jewish
sense of words and phrases would be more ready
to occur in those expressions which were of
frequent and habitual occurrence ; while, in such
as were very rarely used, the common usage
would naturally be taken.
(4) The sense pleaded for is unexampled in
the New Testament. In the other instances of
its occurrence in the writings of the apostle
Paul, the word always signifies the taking away
of some properties or circumstances which the
subject before possessed, or was supposed to
possess.* (5) This interpretation makes the clause alto
gether redundant and tautological : for a follow
ing clause, " he humbled himself," contains the
meaning which is thus unnecessarily anticipated.
It appears, therefore, that a faithful ad
herence to the rules of fair construction and
interpretation obliges us to understand this
clause as referring to a pre-existent «state of
dignity and glory, and declaring that the Mes
siah divested himself of the attributes belonging
to this state.
It is objected that, upon the admission that the
superior and pre-existent nature of the Messiah
* Rom. iv. 14. 1 Cor. i. 17. ix. 15. 2 Cor. ix. 3. Except
!n the passage uncier consideration, the word occurs no where
else in the New Testament-.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 409
was properly Divine, this self-emptying, divest
ment, or reduction to a lower point of existence,
was plainly impossible ; for the necessary un
changeableness of the Divine Nature forbids any
idea of degradation from its glory or laying aside
of its attributes.
To this objection we have replied before, in
considering those passages which represent the
Messiah to have come down from heaven. It is
scarcely necessary to repeat that we understand
such declarations, in all the different forms in
which they occur, as implying nothing incon
sistent with the essential and immutable perfec
tions of the Divine Nature ; but as referring to
MANIFESTATIONS and outward exercises of the
Divine perfections. Such language is derived
from comparison with human actions, and is
abundantly exemplified in the Old Testament.
Indeed without such analogical language, it
would be impossible for human beings to reason
and discourse on subjects purely spiritual. Ap
plying this principle to the expression before us,
its intention is easily perceived to be, that the
assumption of human nature, by Him who is the
True and Unchangeable God, into a close and
ineffable union with himself, was an act of in
finite condescension ;  that this condescension
extended, not only to the assumption of the
human nature, but to the circumstances of ex
treme debasement and suffering, which in the
scheme of Divine Wisdom, were requisite ; — —
and that a material part of that debasement and

410 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
suffering consisted in a suspension of those inward
joys which the union with the Divine Nature
must otherwise have produced to the human
mind of Je^us, and in a withholding of external
acts which would have manifested the peculiar
presence and perfections of God: a suspension
and withholding, the aggregate of which has
been very fitly called by divines, an occultation
of the Divine Glory. This, we conceive, is with
the greatest propriety called an emptying of him
self ; a veiling, a suspending, a ceasing from
manifestation, of the uncreated and unchange
able Majesty of Him who has the characteristics
of God, and is on a parity with God.
The remaining clauses of the passage will
require only a shorter consideration.
V. " Taking the form of a servant." Though
in him was no sin, yet he came in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He wore the marks and manacles of
the curse entailed by the apostacy of man ; the
characteristics (as we have before shews that the
word is justly to be interpreted), of that servi
tude and dishonour which sin has inflicted upon
our nature, and upon all our circumstances in the
present state ; that which is called in scripture
(ij AOTAEIA T% <p9opaff) "the bondage, servi
tude, or slavery, of corruption."*
vi. " Becoming," or being made, " in the like
ness of men." This likeness, as all admit, was
the reality, of human nature. In all respects,
except such as would have involved what was
* Rom. viii. 31.

CHAP. IV.] HUMANITY AND ITS CHARACTERS. 411
sinful, he was like the rest of the human ra<5e.
" Since infants are partakers in common of flesh
and blood, he himself also in like manner partook
of the same.*
vii. " And, being found in condition as a man ;"
 in mental powers and susceptibilities, in
natural wants, appetites, and passions, in the
necessity of labour, care, and anxiety, in the
relationships and connexions of life, and in all
outward state and circumstances, he was really
a man, and like other men.f
viii. "  he humbled himself, becoming
obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross." The clause " he humbled himself," is
most probably to be understood in the sense of
an expression repeatedly occurring in the Old
Testament, and rendered in our common version
by the phrase to afflict the souLx That expres
sion was applied to persons who underwent
voluntary sufferings from religious motives. It
well expresses the Saviour's generous self-devo
tion for the highest benefit of the world, his
" bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows."
This he did in the most perfect compliance with
the will of his Divine Father, through all the
varieties and degrees of pain and woe, down to
his last and most excruciating agonies : " obe
dient unto death, even the death of the cross."
• Heb. ii. 14. t See page 397 of this Volume.
X ti^i rfSl"^ rendered in the LXX. by raiceivovv t^v i/'i'x^v. The
Hebrew verb signifies both to afflict and to humble. See Levit.
xvi. 29, 31 . Isaiah Iviii. 3, 5. and other instances.

412 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 111.
The importance of this passage will, I trust,
be a sufficient apology for the discussion which
has been employed upon it : and it may be a
further extenuation of the length to which it has
been carried, that other points of the controversy
have thus presented themselves to examination,
and that principles of interpretation have been
elucidated which will, I trust, be of more general
use. The reader will recollect that this passage was
brought under consideration, in addition to others
from the New Testament, for the purpose of
shewing that the human nature of Jesus Christ is
described by such terms, and in such connexion
of argument, as imply a superior, pre-existent,
and Divine Nature, equally belonging to him.
It is now for his serious judgment to say, whether
the passages which have been produced, and
the reasonings founded upon them, amount to
satisfactory proof that such is the fact.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

SECT. II.

Note [A] page 380.
Heliodorus, who wrote at the close of the fourth century,
but who was well acquainted with the proprieties and elegances
of his language, has often been referred to for exemplifying
the sense of aptcar/fka. We find the word several times in his
romance of Theagenes and Cliariclea, and in one instance con
nected with the same verb that is used by the apostle. Tt t\ to ;
— imra—dntaBehai ; yuai ov% aptiayjAa, oiie ep/jiaiiv, i/yeTrai to itpSr/jJia ;
" How is this ? — Does he thus reject such a tempting oppor
tunity } and not esteem the occurrence a thing to be caught at,
or a capital piece of luck ?" Lib. vii. sect. 20, vol. i. ed, Coray,
Par. 1804, pag. 290. "H Sf KvPeXri tijv ^wrvx'iay apvaryfjun, Kai
africep aypaq dpx^v, itoiria-ajieyvi, eifn) — j' " Cybele, making the fortu
nate circumstance a thing to be caught at ; and as it were the
beginning of her game, said," — &c. ib. sect. 1 1, pag. 274. Oix
a^ayjjun to itpSryfjia, ou8e evavoy, Kai ray Iv /Mffp t^ ^ovXapiiv^ TCpoKeifdvay'
" This matter is not a thing to be caught at : it is not a cheap
affair, or what any body that likes may take up." Lib. iv. sect.
6, pag. 143. "Ap^ar/na to prfieii enoiiiadro ^ 'A/ktokij. " Arsace took
advantage of this saying, as a thing to be caught at." Lib. viii.
sect. 7- pag. 321.
This distinguished editor, M. Coray, is a native Greek, who
has devoted his hfe to promote among his countrymen the
revival of their ancient literature. It may be presumed that no
scholar trained in our schools and colleges, not even such men aa

414 NOTES.
Porson, Parr, and Burney, or Heyn^, Hermann, and Wytten
bach, could rival M. Coray in the accurate perceptions of the
idioms which are, in fact, vernacular to him. To the following
note, therefore, written in his own language, and annexed to the
first of the preceding passages, the highest deference must be
due': — " It is probable that Heliodorus, who in every other place
says aptiayf/.a vaieTa-Bai, here has Tryeta-Bai' either for the sake of
varying the expression, or, which is the more likely supposition,
from an involuntary association with the Christian idea in
Philippians ii. 6." Vol. ii. pag. 244. Thus it appears that, in
the correct Greek usage, the two forms of expressions are
equivalent. Note [B] page 387.
To ie fueirrjii^ptvoy ^prjXa^a-aKrav i<ra vkxti' " Let them grope at
noon-day equally as in the night." Job v. 14. "Eripaa-df fjx lira
rvpa' " Thou hast coagulated me like cheese." ib. x. 10. nivav
aSiKia; lo-a woT^' "Drinking iniquity as his beverage." ib. xv. 16.
*0 waXaiouTai Tea davM' " Which grows old like a skin-bottle."
ib. xiii. 28. Iwrpi^e'iii wa; aSiKO; lo-a l,iXa dvidrif' " Let every
unjust man be like a tree irrecoverably withered." ib. xxiv. 20.
Xo'prov lo-a ^oviAv laBiovaiy- " They eat grass like oxen." ib. xl. 15.
In all these instances, "iaa is put for the Hebrew prefix J.
'Airo^))a-6Tai le v/juSv to yavp'iafi.a la-a. irwiS' " Your glorying shall
turn out like dust." ib. xiii. Here it is put for >'?tf a resem
blances, proverbial examples. Bporo<; yew^ro^ ywaiKoq lo-a ovm e^ij/iiTrj'
" Mortal man, born of woman, is like the wild ass of the
desert." ib. xi. 12. In this instance, there is nothing in the
Hebrew to correspond with To-a. npurijv ^av^v tijv ofcoiav irSo-iv
To-a yCXaiav' " Crying equally as the first sound that I uttered,
like all other infants." Wisd. SOl. vii. 3. These are, I suppose,
for Trommius and Biel do not give complete satisfaction, the
principal instances in the LXX.^-The dying exclamation of
Antiochus furnishes an example, not exactly similar, but liighly
illustrative of the passage under consideration ; Awaiov imrdir-
irecrBai too @ef, Kal /aij Bv^rov ovra XaoBea <ppoveui imepviipdyai' " It is
just to be subject to God, and that a mortal should not proudly
imagine himself equal to God." 2 Maccab. ix. 12.
This is one of the cases in which classical usage may with

NOTES. 415
propriety be resorted to for the explication of N. T. language :
for, in this phrase, there is no shadow of any Hebraism ; and
the apostle, writing this Epistle at the close of a two years'
residence in Rome, might have adopted, from the habits of
daily conversation, more pure Greek expressions than he had
before been in the practice of using.
Erpetpe hia &eaya la-a (piXoiffi rsKecra-i' " The princess Theano
brought him up on an equality with' her own children." Iliad,
E. 70. 'lo-a ^iXaia-t TOKeuo-iv erio/uy' " We honoured him equally
with our own parents." O, 439. Ti/*))v 81 XeXiyxaa-' lira BeoTa-r
" They have obtained honour equal to the gods." Odyss. A, 303.
le ?Mov eriojAev lira Beoiiriv' " We honoured thee during thy life,
equally with the Gods." ib. 483. Tov vuv To-a fltj) "Iflax^o-ioi iia-opoain-
To him now the Ithacans look up, the same as to a god."
O, 519.
'Ia, yeveat jSjjotSv, a; v/jiai 'ira Ka) to /^ijSev ^i^ira? iyapiBjxS' " Alas,
generations of mortals, how justly may I reckon you on a level
with the dead !" Sophocl. GEdip. Tyr. v. 1210.
"lo-a Kai iKETai iiriJiev' " We are here in the same situation as
supplicants." Thucyd, lib. iii. sect. 14. TlvBar^opai — To-a. BeoTq
itapd «;¦; K/)oT!»viaTai; irijuaro' " Pythagoras was honoured by the
people of Crotona equally with the gods." Diod, Sic, fragm.
lib. X. Tloiova-i fMv la-a roTf dyavrirav tekcwv a-repovjji'ivoi( " They act
like those who are bereaved of their dearest children ;" i, e. the
Eg}'ptians perform the same funeral ceremonies for their sacred
bull Apis. ib. lib. i. sect. 84. 'H HvBia xp? a-ipta-iv, dvevpavrai to
SIvSpov cKEivo, To-a ra 6e$ a-e^eu/' " The Delphic priestess delivered
to them this oracle, that, when they had found that tree, they
should honour it as on an equality with the god." Pausanias, ed,
Sylburgii, Hanov. 1613, psg. 89.
Note [C] page 394.
I do not press any argument from the use of vitapxav rather
than av, because I do not conceive that it would be capable of
being placed beyond exception. At the same time it is prqper
to remark, what every one conversant with the Greek language
must have observed, that iiidpxeiv, where it is used as a verb of
existence (and not in its proper and classical sense, to begin, to
excite to be the first mover in a course of action,) cannot be

416 NOTES!.
regarded as absolutely synonymous with eTvai, but as generally
if not always carrying the additional idea of something peculiar,
or emphatical, in the mode of the existence in any particular
case. If the reader will examine aU the passages, about fifty,
in which the word occurs in the New Testament, he will find
this to hold with regard to almost every one. I think also that
he will perceive the accessory idea, in nearly half the instances,
to be a mode of existence already established, conspicuous, and
dating from a prior point of time. This signification of an
antecedent existence is expressly recognized by Suidas, or some
ancient author or scholiast, from whom he may have copied the
passage. He says, 'THAPXON, 'Kpmnardpxmr '0{ oux vicdpxav, dXXd
riyiupoBHeyoi;. Kai to vitdpxeiv oix dnXui to eivai 0Ti/*aivei, d}J\a to
iidXai elvai Kai •xpoelvai, ipSldveiv' Mivavhpoi, — " 'Tiidpxay, taking the
lead ; as used by the tragic poet Aristarchus, [see Athenteus,
lib. xiii, ad finem; in ed. SchweightBuseri, vol. v. p. 219.] ' I am
not the beginner, but I will resent the affront.* Also vitdpxew
does not signify simply eTvai to be, but to be previously, to pre
exist, to get beforehand: so it is used by Menander. — '' He then
introduces the citation, but it is in so mutilated and corrupted
a state as to be, in Kuster's opinion, unintelligible. See Suidas,
ed. Kust. vol. iii. p. 532. Mr. Toup thought that he could
restore the passage in part. He observes, " the former portion
of this fragment I give up as hopeless j the other may be easily
restored ; thus, Ae7 ydp ijuv oi my eivoeiy, (or, Aer yap v/uv oi yvy
elvai,) dXXd vvdpxeiv touto" which latter appears the truest, and
perfectly answers to the meaning of Suidas : [i. e. This must
relate to you, not by being so now, but by being before.]"
Toup. Emend, in Suidctm, Hesych. &c. vol. ii. pag. 298, ed.
Oxon. 1790.

CHAP. V.

ON THE STATE OF MIND, AND KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING THE
PERSON OF CUBIST, WHICH THE APOSTLES POSSESSED DURING
THE PKRIOb OF THEIK ATTENDANCE UPON HIM.

The alleged ignoAmce of the Agostles concerning a superior nature
in the person of their Lord. — Statements of the Calm Inquirer, not
equitable. — ^The claims of Jesus constantly referred to the Old Testa
ment descriptions of the Messiah. — Evangelical Instruction communi
cated graduaUy to the apostles themselves. — ^The whole Christian
revelation constructed upon this principle of an advancing process, —
How the reception of revealed truth is necessary to salvation. — Our
Lord's mode of instruction directed to excite the intelligence and direct
the ulterior conclusions of his disciples. — Peculiar state of belief and
feeling in the Jewish nation. — The most surprizing facts related by the
Evangelists without any impassioned expressions. — Instances of extra
ordinary impressions upon the minds of our Lord's disciples.
Dr. Priestley has introduced an argument in
bar of all our interpretations and deductions,
which it would be unjust not to acknowledge
to be of very serious weight. It is grounded
upon the alleged silence of Jesus himself, and of
the majority of the writers of the New Testa
ment, and especially of the first three evangelists,
concerning the doctrine of a superior nature in
the person of Christ, upon the apparent igno
rance of our Lord's own disciples and constant
attendants, of any such extraordinary and stu-
VOL. II. 2 e

418 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
pendous fact ; and upon our inability to assign
the time when this fact, supposing its reality,
was made known to them.
Evidence has, I think, been adduced in the
preceding pages, abundantly sufficient to re
fute Dr. Priestley's oft-repeated assertion, that
"Christ did not teach his own divinity." The
other parts of this argument are stated by the
Calm Inquirer in his usual strength of asser
tion. From his work I subjoin some extracts,
which will do ample justice to the case :* and
upon them I submit the following observations
to the reader's serious and impartial judgment : —
i. The Inquirer overstates the case, and takes
more than is equitable to his own side of the
argument. We do not admit that the evidence
in favour of the pre-existence and Deity of
Christ " depends wholly upon the testimony of
John and Paul." We have already adduced
passages from the writings of Matthew and Luke,
which, though few, cannot with justice be deemed
" faint and obscure," in favour of the doctrine
in question : and it will, perhaps, be seen in the
following parts of this Volume, that the apostles
Peter and Jude furnish also some important
materials which have a direct reference to the
subject. The same want of argumentative justice ap
pears in the representation, that the evidence,
adduced from the writings of Paul, in favour of
* See Note [A] at the end of this Chapter.

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 419
the controverted sentiments, is derived princi
pally or wholly from only two of his epistles,
besides that to the Hebrews : and those such as
the Inquirer is pleased to denominate the most
figurative and obscure. We shall see, in the
following parts of this work, how far this is from
being a correct representation.
ii. It is necessary to a just apprehension of
the case, to recollect that the claims of Jesus,
as represented by himself, and as first urged by
the apostles and the three earlier evangelists,
were addressed to Jews, who admitted the
authority of the Old Testament, and looked for
such a Messiah as it described. Their ignorance,
indeed, and prejudices were very great. It ap
pears from the Gospels that both the higher
orders of the Jews and the mass of the nation
had very obscure, and probably inconsistent,
notions concerning the Messiah, who was the
object of their eager, but generally canial and
worldly, expectation. Yet this expectation
rested upon the Holy Scriptures; and it was
proper to remit them to those Scriptures for the
rectifying of their errors. It is plain that the
immediate object, in the writings of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke,, was to produce a conviction
that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah an
nounced and described in the prophetic writings :
and they evidently left the scrutinizing and ap
plication of details, to the duty and diligence of
their readers. A similar course was followed by
the apostles and their fellow-labourers, inpr<i^ach-
2 e 2

.420 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
ing Christianity, as they regularly communicated
to the Jews, in the first instance, the word of
life. The converts were directed to " search
the scriptures daily ;" they were assured that
those scriptures testified of Christ ; and it would
follow of course, that all which they could dis
cover concerjiing the characters, office, and
dignity of the Messiah, would be transferred to
the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But this would
not be a rapid process : and, in proportion as
tl^ey made progress in this study would their
knowledge of the truth in this respect and in all
its other branches and relations, become ex
tensive and accurate.
This method of proceeding was analogous to
the whole system of means, which God has ap
pointed for the information and improvement of
the human mind ; and we find it continually
applied, by Jesus and his apostles, as an instru
ment for leading teachable and sincere persons
into a " knowledge of the Divine will, in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding." It ap-
;pears, therefore, congruous and probable that
this method of institution should have had place
here, and that men should have been stimulated
to the exercise of their proper faculties, with
the interesting materials which they had before
them, in order to their making constantly higher
attainments in the knowledge of true Christianity.
Every attentive reader must have observed how
frequently and strongly this " going on unto
perfection" is urged, in the epistolary parts of

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 431
the New Testament ; and that, in some places,
this coui-se of duty is expressly directed to the
yery subject of the characters and dignity of
our Lord Jesus Christ.*
iii. This principle in the ceconomy of revela
tion appears, also, to have been acted upon by
Divine Wisdom in relation to the apostles them
selves. They manifestly laboured, during the
whole period of our Lord's personal ministry,
under the prejudices and obscurity of conception
which prevailed in the Jewish nation at large
on all religious subjects; and particularly on
such as respected the character and office of
the Messiah. These erroneous opinions Jesus
did not think fit to correct, till after his resur
rection and ascension ; and then he did it by the
ministration of the Spirit, which he had before
promised. Now it is evident that their inspira
tion, which was the result of this ministration of
the Spirit, did not supersede the exercise of their
ordinary faculties, but rather acted in the way
of directing the operations and confirming the
issue of those faculties, so far as their com
petency could extend. Thus, for example, they
employed their own memories for the recollec-
* For instance : " That the God of our Lord j'esus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, in tlie acknowledgment of him." Eph. i! 17.
" Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ."- 2 Pet. iii. IS. ''"Till we all come into the unity
of the faith, and of the acknowledgment of the Son of God."
Eph. iv. 13.

422 ON THE PERSON OlF CHRIST. [BOOK IH.
tion and recital of their Master's actions and dis
courses; and the Spirit of truth corroborated
their recollection and gave it certainty, by
" bringing to their remembrance all things, what
soever he had said unto them." In lik^ manner,
they, like other men, lived under a conscious
obligation to employ meditation, prayer, and all
the discursive means in their power, for the
attainment of divine knowledge ; and they were
animated to this duty, by the assurance, that
" the Holy Spirit would lead them into all
truth." Among these means, the study of the
Jewish sacred books, which so largely contained
" the testimony of Jesus," must have held a
principal rank. Hence, the whole revelation of
the Christian system was given by an advancing
process. It cannot, therefore, be a matter of
surprize that the doctrine concerning the person
of the Messiah was developed gradually, and
that its clearest manifestation is to be found in
I
the latest written books of the New Testament.
This plan of gradual revelation, and of gradual
preparation of the mind to understand and re
ceive, it, with an especial regard to the applica
tion qf scripture prophecy, appears to me to fur
nish a rational solution, from causes real and
sufficient, of a great part of the difficulty on
which the argument of Dr. Priestley and the
Calm Inquirer rests.
iv. I submit to such of my readers as may
be competent to the minute examination of
the question, whether this plan of a gradual

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 433
developement, connected with the study and ap
plication of the Old Testament, was not, though
imperfectly understood and ill expressed, the
object really intended by those Christian Fathers
who maintained that the apostles, in their earlier
ministry, refrained from divulging the pre-ex
istence and divinity of Christ, and that John was
the first who advanced this docti'ine. Though
some of the citations made by Dr. Priestky are
by him misconstrued, and others by being de
tached from their connexion appear stronger
than they really are, it is undeniable that this
opinion was held by Origen, Athanasius, Chry
sostom, and others. But, when we consider the
little judgment which those writers manifested
in both the materials and the conduct of their
arguments, and the extravagant kind of rhetoric
in which they indulged, the solution here pro
posed may appear not unreasonable. This single
sentence of Chrysostom appears to me to supply
the key to his meaning in other passages on this
subject: " Neither John, though elevating him
self to his more lofty subject, has neglected the
assumption of humanity ; nor have they [the
three earlier evangelists,] so applied to the
narrative of that assumption, as to have been
wholly silent concerning his eternal pre-exist-

ence. *

* OuTE oStoj, icpoi TOV inpriXorepov efuvrlv Xoryov dipieii;, t^j oijeovo/yciaj
^fclXijo-e/ oiJre eKeivoi rijii nepi ravriji; ta-icovdaKorei Siij^ijo-iy, Tij;' vpoauivit^
ialytiaav vvap^iv. Chrysost, in Evang, Johann. Hom. iii. ed. Franc-.
fort, 1697, ^T)!. viii. par. ii. p. 34.

424 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK HI
V. The Calm Inquirer represents the doctrine
which he so strongly disapproves, as implying that
the evangelists had " their minds fraught with.
the idea  that the belief of this great mystery
was necessary to the salvation of their readers."
No exercise of candour can prevent our perceiv
ing, that this is designed to keep up the strain of
broad contempt, which characterizes the whole
paragraph. It is not, however, deserving of
notice on this account; but because it manifestly
tends to convey to the unwary reader an injurious
impression of the doctrine itself. I conceive it,
therefore, proper to remark, that no intelligent
believer in that doctrine holds the reception of
it to be essential to salvation, where it has not
been sufficiently made known; and that the re
ception neither of this nor of any other truth is
necessary to salvation in itself, or as a matter of
theoretical belief, or in any other way than by
its practical influence on the affections and the
whole moral character as they are seen by the
Unerring Judge. The victims of their own delu
sions are represented in the oracles of God as
condemned, not for their want of a merely intel
lectual and professional belief in any doctrine,
even the most vital and important ; but " because
they receive not the love of the truth, that they
may be saved."*
vi. It was one of the characteristics of our
Lord's teaching, that he very seldom made direct
* 2 Thess. ii. 10.

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 425
claims, or formally laid down express doctrines
concerning himself. His more usual manner was
to propose questions, to introduce acknowledged
principles which would be the seeds of others,
and to deliver such assertions as carried with
them the implication of remoter truths. ' These
he delivered, so as to fix them strongly in the
minds, both of his general hearers and of his
more constant and intimate attendants; and then
he left these impressions to produce the effect by
the exercise of their own thought and meditation,
in drawing proper inferences ; and by the eluci
dations that might arise from subsequent com
munications on his part.
That this was actually the case will, I con
ceive, appear to any person who will attentively
study our Lord's dialogues and discourses. It
may be difficult, or even impossible, for us to
discover the reasons of this peculiar method:
but, if it appear to have been really practised by
the wisest and most perfect of teachers, we are
bound to acquiesce in the ascertained fact, and
to make the best use of it that we can. One use
unquestionably is, that we should study the doc
trines and discourses of Jesus Christ, by the aid
of a constant comparison with the apostolic
writings ; which were intended to be " the mi
nistration of the Spirit" in the full and final
developement of the Christian system.*
vii. A very considerable attention is due to
* See page 42 — 44 of this Volume.

426 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK 111.
the state of mind, and the habits of feeling,
which must have belonged to the Jewish people
in general, at the time of Christ's personal mi
nistry : and it is not a ready and easy thing for
us, to form a sufficient estimate of the nature and
influence of circumstances so greatly different
from our own. , Their national history, the visions
and writings of their prophets, their persuasion
of their own exalted station in the divine favour,
and their glowing expectancy of the grandeur
which they believed to be destined for; them above
the whole human race besides ; could not but
produce in them a body of opinions and feelings
such as would in a great measure preclude that
awful and overwhelming surprize, which the
Inquirer assumes as inevitable on the annuncia
tion of a Divine Nature in the Person of the
Messiah. They also believed in the frequent
intervention of superior intelligences, and of the
Deity himself ; and this belief gave a colour to
their ideas and their language on every occasion
that had a relation to it.* Hence, it appears
probable, or even necessary, that, as to the kind
and degree of surprize, with relation to the
doctrine of a Divine Nature in the Messiah, their
impressions would be very different from those
which, in our widely different habits of thought
* As exemplifications of this, see Matt. xii. 24. xiv. 2.
Luke i. 27. xxiv. 23, 37. Acts xxii. 7. The Jewish belief
concerning the Demoniacs is, also, a striking proof ; whether
we adhere to the common sentiment on that subject, or adopt
the hypothesis of Medc, Lardner, Farmer, Semler, &c.

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 427
and feeling, we should entertain upon the sup
position of similar circumstances.
viii. Occurrences of the most surprizing kind,
and which could not have been witnessed by
men of any intelligence without great astonish
ment, are very often related by the evangelists,
without the smallest expression of admiration on
their own part, or the statement of such feeling
in those who were spectators of the events.
Such, for instance, is the recital, that, imme
diately after our Lord's baptism, " the heavens
were opened, and John saw the Spirit of God
descending, as a dove, and coming upon Jesus :
and behold, a voice from the heavens saying.
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased !"* Such is the case in the two several
* Matt. iii. 16. To exterminate, if possible, any ideas of
miracle from this passage, some of the German critics aflSrm
that, our Lord having prayed on coming up from the water,
his countenance was, as it were, brightened with resolution and
dignity, cheerfulness and pleasure; that at this moment, a
cloud discharged a flash of lightning, or several flashes in Suc
cession ; that of course, it thundered ; and that John and the
bystanders put their own interpretation upon these natural
phaenomena. In a similar way they interpret the narrative of
the transfiguration.
It can scarcely be necessary to observe, that such interpreta
tions as these cannot be sustained, unless we give up, not merely
the inspiration, but either the intelligence or the veracity, of the
evangelists ; and unless we admit that Jesus himself was charge
able with a want of integrity, since he availed himself of these
as divine attestations.
Such was the spirit of absurd and impious licentiousness
which has prevailed, within the last forty years among the

428 ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOK III.
instances of his " driving the buyers and sellers
out of the temple ;" an action which if we reflect
on its very remarkable circumstances, cannot but
appear among the most astonishing. These com
mercial transactions in the courts of the temple
were sanctioned by long-established custom ;
they were connected with most extensive ad
vantages, to numerous and powerful bodies of
people ; the priests, in particular, enjoyed a
large profit for their connivance at this abuse ;
and there was a body of soldiers always at hand
to watch, and quell any tumult, on the great an
nual festival ; whose officers would undoubtedly
have taken the part of supporting the allowed
authorities, and defending the established usages.
It would, therefore, appear incredible, on the
ordinary principles of human conduct, that all
the interested parties should have submitted,
without resistance, to their ejection by an in^
dividual ; a man unarmed, destitute of secular
clergy, and in the universities, of Saxony, Hanover, and Prussia,
that, not only has all supernatural revelation been by some
publicly denied, but even atheism is said to have been preached
from the pulpit, with hardly the affectation of disguise. " It was
maintained, that God was nothing else than the moral order of
the universe."- (Supplem. to the Encyclop. Britann. 1819, vol. iv.
page 246.) Happily this extravagance of mental wickedness
has produced a revulsion ; and the voice of reason and' piety
begins to regain the ascendancy. Dr. Tittmann, of Dresden, has
some excellent observations on the unreasonableness and false
hood of these principles of interpretation, or rather of mis
interpretation and perversion, in the Preface lo his Meletemata
Sacra, Leipzig, 1816.

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 429
authority, poor, persecuted, and hated by the
generality of the great and powerful. Yet these
transactions are related in the most brief and
simple manner, without any comment, and with
out any expressions of amazement. A similar
remark might be made on the relation, by the
evangelists, of many of our Lord's most stupend
ous miracles.
ix. We have before observed that it was- one
of the characters of our Lord's manner of teach
ing, not so much to make direct avowals, espe
cially on the doctrine of his own Person, as to
furnish data from which correct conclusions
might afterwards be drawn. In consonance with
this fact, and with the artless and unimpassioned
method of narration, by which, as we have just
remarked, the first three evangelists are distin
guished, it. might be expected that they would
state the incidents as they appeared ; acting in
the quality of simple relators of that only which
met the eye and ear, and leaving the further
elucidations and the interior doctrines of the
Christian institution to their proper season of
developement. X. It is, however, observable that there were
occasions in the life of Jesus Christ, when some
peculiar manifestation of his power and glory is
recorded to have produced very solemn, and
even overwhelming, impressions, on the minds of
his disciples and of others. Of this nature were
the two instances, lately adverted to, in which
our Lord exercised an irresistible and triumphant

430 OJ THE PERSON OF CHRIST. [BOOS ill.
authority in the temple, under circumstances
which would have rendered such an act plainly
impossible to be achieved by any man. Such
appears to have been the impression on the mind
of Peter, when, after witnessing a signal display
of Christ's miraculous power, " he fell down at
the knees of Jesus, saying. Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man, O Lord !"* Such, also, when,
at the word of Christ, a storm was turned into a
calm ; and " they that were in the ship came,
and did homage to him, saying. Truly thou art
the Son of God !"t And such we cannot but
conceive to have been the case with the apostle
Thomas, when " he said unto Jesus, My Lord,
and my God !"t Other such instances may have
existed, which are not recorded in the history.
As a reason that they were not more frequent, I
would submit to the candid and judicious, the
supposition, that there might be a special and
divine influence exercised upon the minds of the
disciples ; so as to counteract the tendencies of
human fe,eling, and to administer a praeternatural
support in their intercourse with the Saviour.'
That this is not a gratuitous supposition, may be
argued from the reasonable presumption that
some such influence must have been exercised on
the minds of Abraham, Moses, and others, under
the Old Testament; sustaining their faculties
* Luke V. S.
f Matthew xiv. 33. See pages 273, 275, 284, 285, of this
Volume. + John XX. 28.

CHAP, v.] KNOWLEDGE OF THE APOSTLES. 431
and their self-possession, in their miraculous and
awful communion with God.
I now request the serious reader to review the
preceding considerations, and to subject them to
the most careful scrutiny. Let him then say,
whether they do not so far account for the facts
on which the Unitarian advocates rest their argu
ment, as to reduce them within the limit of those
difficulties which are admissible, and which in
deed experience teaches us to expect, in almost
every department of natural and moral science :
difficulties which are not, in the scale of reason,
of sufficient weight to counterbalance- a well-
ascertained body of affirmative evidence.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE

CHAP. V.

Note [A] page 418.
"¦ The writers of the New Testament are commonly reckoned
eight : — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and
Jude. Of these writers, six, viz. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
James, Peter, and Jude, are generally allowed to have advanced
nothing upon the subject of the pre-existence, and superior
nature and dignity of Jesus Christ. At least it will be admitted
• that, if there be any allusions in these writers to this extra
ordinary fact, they are so faint and obscure that, independently
of the rest of the New Testament, they would not of themselves
have proved, perhaps not even suggested the idea of the pre
existence and divinity of Christ. Tbe credit of these facts de
pends wholly upon the testimony of John and Paul.
" Of the six writers who make no mention of the pre-exist
ence and divinity of Jesus Christ three are professed historians
of the life, the miracles, and the doctrine of Christ; and. one
continues his history to upwards of thirty years after our Lord's
ascension ; and relates many interesting particulars of the lives,
the sufferings, and the doctrine of the apostles, the subjects of
their preaching, the miracles which they performed, and the
success of their inission. But neither the history nor the dis
courses of Christ, nor those of his apostles for thirty years after
his ascension, contain the least hint of liis pre-existent state
and dignity.
But how can this total silence be explained and accounted for,
if the popular doctrine concerning the pre-existence and divinity

Notes. 43S
of Christ is true? Is it credible, or even possible, that three
persons, in different places and at different times, should under
take to write the history of Christ, each meaning to communi
cate all that was necessary to be known, with their minds
fraught with the overwhelming idea tliat the person whose
history they were about to write was a superior Being, a great
angel, the Creator of the world, or the Almighty God himself
in human shape, and that the belief of this great mystery was
necessary to the salvation of their readers ; and yet through the
whole of their narrative should abstain from mentioning or
even glancing at this stupendous fact ? How would a modern
Arian or Trinitarian have acted in similar circumstances ? Would
he have left his readers under the impression which necessarily
-results from the perusal of the three first evangelical histories
and that of the Acts, viz. that the founder of the Christian faith
was a man like to his brethren, and only distinguished from
them as the greatest of the prophets of God, who had been
raised from the dead and exalted to the right-hand of the Most
High ? — That six of the writers of the New Testament should
have observed such a profound silence upon a subject of which
their hearts must have been so fiiU, and with which their
imagination must have been so overpowered, may well induce a
considerate mind to pause, and to reflect whether this could
have happened if Jesus of Nazareth were in truth a being of
high, perhaps the highest order in the universe ?
" Athanasius, Chrysostom, and others accounted for this extra
ordinary silence from the great prudence of the evangelists, and
their unwillingness to give offence to the new converts ; but
this is a supposition which will not now satisfy an inquisitive
mind. " The style of these two writers [John and Paul] is in many
instances highly figurative. In the gospel of John our Lord
sometimes uses metaphors of the most obscure and offensive
kind, such as • eating his flesh' and ' drinking his blood,' to
express the reception of his doctrine. Chap. vi. 66. And Paul
in his epistles introduces many harsh and uncommon figures, viz.
' We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,'
to express the union of true believers under Christ as their head,
Eph. v. 30. It is therefore reasonable to expect that such writers
VOL. 11. 2 F

434 NOTES.
will use figurative language concerning Christ ; and it is pecu
liarly necessary, in reading their writings, to distinguish care
fully between what is literal and what is figurative.
" With regard to the apostle Paul, it is worthy of remark
that little or no evidence is pretended to be produced from his
larger epistles, in favour of the popular doctrine concerning the
person of Christ. Few proofs are alleged from the epistle to
the Romans, the two to the Corinthians, that to the Galatians,
the two to the Thessalonians, or those to Timothy, Titus, or
Philemon. The principal, appeal isto the epistles to the Plii-
lippians and Colossians, which are figurative throughout beyond
all others ; and to the epistle to the Hebrews, the author of
which is doubtfiil, and in which the ¦ftrriter indulges himself in
an ingenious, but forced and fanciful Ui^alogy between the
Mosaic institute and the Christian dispencation.
" Is it possible to believe that this stupendous doctrine, if it
were true, would be found clearly expressed in no other part of
the sacred writings, but in the mystical discourses of the evan
gelist John : in two of the obscurest epistles of Paul ; and in
the epistle of another unknown writer ? Surely, if it were fact
that Jesus of Nazareth was truly God, . or the Maker of the
world in a human shape, it is a fact that would have blazed in
every page of the New Testament : and would never have been
mentioned by the sacred writers but with the most evident
marks of astonishment and awe." Calm Inquiry, pages 15 — ^SO.

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