6

though he indisputably speaks of him as one who, under God, is the chief agent in the Gospel scheme of salvation.-One passage is usually considered as referring to the glory supposed to have been actually possessed by our Lord in a pre-existent state; and if the doctrine of the pre-existence could be proved, the passage would admit a convenient (though not literal) interpretation by it: but as it indisputably is capable of a just and perspicuous rendering without any reference to that doctrine, it can in no way be considered as proving it.-That Paul estimated most highly the value of the glorious Gospel,' and the dignity of Jesus Christ as the medium of reconciliation, and the excellence of his character, is obvious from various parts of this and his other Epistles; that he estimated them most justly, I cordially and fully believe; but that the Apostle believed that he through whom 'God reconciled the world to himself,' is himself the very and eternal God in a mysterious way united with the Father and the Holy Spirit so as to be one God with them, or that he is the highest of all created beings,-or even that he existed before his human birth in a state of great glory and happiness,-I see no where

* 2 Cor. viii. 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.' The literal rendering is, For ye know the gracious goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he was poor, though he was rich, that you, through his poverty, might be rich;'-or, that being rich, for your sakes he was poor, that you, through his poverty, might be rich.'-See the remarks on this passage in Chap. VI. § 5.

stated and I cannot suppose that, if the Apostle had known any one of them to be the fact, he would have hesitated in expressly asserting it in unambiguous language; or that he would have even written a single Epistle in reference to Jesus and his Gospel, which should leave it doubtful whether the Man Christ Jesus were indeed a being of so exalted a nature.

XII. The Epistle to the Romans was written A.D. 58. The Apostle had never been at Rome, nor does it appear that the church in that city had been visited by any other Apostle. Here then we may reasonably expect to find the whole counsel of God declared, as it respects that Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believeth. "This Epistle," says the Bishop of Lincoln, "is very valuable on account of arguments and truths which it contains relative to the necessity, excellence, and universality of the Gospel dispensation ;" and to prove these things was obviously the purpose of the Apostle. He enters largely into the subject of God's method of justification by faith in Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all who believe,'* and he shews, in a striking manner, the great superiority of the Christian over the Mosaic dispensation. If the former required for the work of reconciliation, a being who possessed a nature superior to that of man, here assuredly the necessity of it would be stated. This would at

* Rom. iii. 22.

once have proved the superiority of the new dispensation; and would almost have made farther argument needless. How different is the plan pursued by the Apostle. So far from stating any such necessity, he says in the most unqualified manner,' For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one MAN Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.'* Is it conceivable that the Apostle should have written thus, if he knew that Jesus Christ was in reality a being of superior nature? At any rate I think it clear, that it is the Man Jesus Christ by whom we have received the reconciliation, and that it is as man, (and as man only, whatever other nature were united with his human nature,) that he was our Saviour. It was the Man Jesus Christ who was the mercy-seat sprinkled with his own blood;' it was the Man Jesus Christ who was delivered up for our offences and was raised again for our justification;' it was the Man Jesus Christ by whose obedience many will be made just.t-But notwithstanding the complete silence of the Apostle where the explicit statement of our Saviour's superiority in nature might justly be expected, and his unqualified use of language in the plain and obvious sense inconsistent with it, yet in two passages in this very Epistle he is considered as intimating that our Saviour possessed a superior nature;‡ and in another pas

* Rom. iii. 22.

+ Ch. v. 19.

Ch. i. 3. viii. 3. ix. 5.

sage as asserting that he is God over all blessed for ever.' I admit that the last passage is capable of the common rendering; and that if it could be shown that Paul regarded Jesus Christ as the very and eternal God,' that rendering might be to be preferred: but as the passage is also equally capable of another rendering,* perfectly consistent (while the other is inconsistent) with the express assertions of the Apostle, that there is one God, whom he also styles the only God, and in this very Epistle the only wise God,t the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I can feel no hesitation to which of the two to give the preference. As to the other passages, they can prove so little, that I imagine few lay a stress upon them however, I shall notice them in Chap. VII.

My examination of the books of the New Testament thus separately from each other, is extending beyond my expectations; however it may assist to show, that Unitarians do not take up their opinions lightly, and that they are not afraid of scriptural evidence, but wish to form their faith upon it; and as I consider it as attended with some other more important advantages, I shall proceed.

XIII. In the first chapter of the Epistle to the

* 'God who is over all be blessed for ever.' See Chap. V. + Ch. xvi. 27, to the ONLY WISE GOD be glory through Jesus Christ, for ever, Amen.' May we not justly say, that, if words have any force, Jesus Christ, through whom glory is ascribed, cannot be the only wise God, to whom glory is ascribed? and if he cannot, what becomes of the doctrine of the Trinity?

Ch. xv. 6.

Ephesians (A.D. 61,) the Apostle describes, in elevated language, the state of exaltation in which 'the GOD of our Lord Jesus Christ'* hath, by His mighty power, placed him, after having thereby raised him from the deadt. That the passage has no reference to a pre-existent state, is perfectly clear; and to me equally so, that it has no reference to any superiority in nature supposed to be possessed by Jesus Christ. The Apostle had now nearly finished his course; he had seen the most important changes take place in the prospects, and in the character, of vast numbers of those who once were dead in trespasses and sins, and lived without God in the world; he had seen them created, through Christ Jesus, to good works, and blessed with every spiritual blessing through Christ: and having thus witnessed the glory and sovereignty of his exalted Lord, he speaks of them in animated and impressive language. As his expressions are somewhat figurative, many, through inattention to that circumstance, have inferred that our Saviour was a being of superior nature: for myself, I cannot discover one expression in the Epistle which is in any way inconsistent with the belief, that he who was thus exalted was the Man Christ Jesus: and it seems to me self-evident that the opinion that he was the very and eternal God, of like substance, power, and eternity with the Father, is completely inconsistent with the declaration of the Apostle‡, that the God of our

* Eph. i. 17.

+ Ch. i. 19-23

Ch. i. 17. 22.