These passages make it certain that the Apostle contemplated the person of Jesus Christ as the objective revelation of the Godhead. On this point he lays down the following

propositions:

1. That the fulness of the divine perfections abides in the Incarnate person of Jesus Christ our Lord.

2. That He in His incarnate person is the image (tikov) of the invisible God.

3. That all creation has been constituted in Him, not only this world, but the entire Universe of Being.

4. That He is the instrumental agent (di avrov) through whom the creative work has been effected: that it has been formed in reference to Him; and that He had a prior existence to it.

5. That the same person who has been the source of creation, the instrument through whom it has been effected, and the purpose towards which it tends, is He through whom the revelations of the Father have been communicated, and who has carried out the great work of Redemption.

6. That through the work of Redemption it is the divine purpose to reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things on earth, or things in heaven.

This last assertion proves that according to the views of the Apostle the effects of the Incarnation were not limited to the human race, but would be consummated by uniting to God all things in heaven and earth.

These propositions if accepted as the genuine utterances of the Apostle Paul, fully prove that according to the views entertained by him, the person of Jesus Christ our Lord constitutes the great objective revelation of God, which has manifested forth the divine character during the past and the present, and is destined still further to unfold it in the ages of the future. It is true that the genuineness of the two Epistles which contain the most definite affirmations on this point has been disputed by a number of unbelieving critics, for which one of the chief reasons is their advanced Christology. But although the statements in the

other Epistles are somewhat less definite in form, the occasion and purpose of writing them not having called them forth with the same definiteness, yet there are statements, both in the Epistle to the Romans and those to the Corinthians, and even to the Galatians, which prove that the Apostle regarded the Christian revelation as centred in the person of our Lord. The reference which I have above made to these Epistles is far more than sufficient to prove that their author entertained the same views as are more formally enunciated in these latter writings. Whether Paul or any one else was the author of the Epistles to Timothy, these likewise contain a strong affirmation of the same truth. Great," says he, "is the mystery of godliness, God (or who) was manifested in the flesh." If we suppose these Epistles to have been the work of another writer, this would prove the wide acceptance of this view of the essence of Christianity in the Church.

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I have not yet referred to the opinions of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, on account of the doubts as to its authorship. It is however important, because, if not written by the Apostle, it proves that the Pauline and Johannine views on this subject were accepted by other sections of the Christian Church; for whoever may have been its author, its early date is unquestionable. For this purpose it will be sufficient to cite the opening of the first chapter: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners (πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως, implying the imperfections of former revelations) spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir (kλnpovóμos) of all things, by whom (Si ov) also he made the worlds (roùs alŵvaç iπoínσev, constituted the ages), who being the brightness of his glory (ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης, the outshining of his glory), and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, having by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." This passage is a direct affirmation of the

Pauline positions. It declares, first, as distinct from the partial manifestations which God made of Himself in former ages in the prophets, that in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son; secondly, that the manifestation in the Son differs from that made in the prophets as the divine differs from the human, He being the inheritor of all things in whom God has constituted the ages; and thirdly, that the Son, in whom God has made this last revelation, is "the shining forth of the divine glories," the precise resemblance of the divine subsistence, the inheritor of all things, through whom the divine activities in the former ages. have been manifested, and that He is the person through whom God has effected His work of providence and redemption. The whole passage therefore affirms, in the most unmistakable language, that the divine person of Jesus Christ constitutes the objective revelation of God, a view which is consistently carried out through the entire Epistle.

It will be superfluous for me to cite passages from the Apocalypse in proof that similar views were entertained by its author, because it is the idea which underlies the entire book, and forms the groundwork of all its visions. Throughout them Jesus Christ is depicted as the only Revealer of the Father. A single instance will be sufficient. A book containing the divine decrees is represented as seen in the right hand of the Creator of all things. A proclamation is made to every creature in heaven and earth to come forward and establish such a claim of worthiness as would entitle him to take possession of the book, and unfold the divine decrees. All creation fails to establish such a claim. But no sooner does the incarnate Lamb appear than a universal chorus of acclamation from all God's creatures pronounces Him worthy; and from henceforth He assumes throughout the whole book, which is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the office of the Revealer of the Father.

The remaining writings of the New Testament, with the exception of the Synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the

Apostles, are very brief. One of them however, the first Epistle of St. Peter, contains an unquestionable reference to the same truth :

"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into." (i. 11. 12.)

This passage makes the definite affirmation that the angels desire to look into the things "which were reported by those who have preached the Gospel unto you." From this two inferences follow. First, that the Christian revelation forms a matter of interest to other beings than men. Secondly, that it consists of a number of objective facts in connection with our Lord's divine person, viz., "The things reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you, which things the angels desire to look into."

This last point is in strict agreement with the remaining contents of the Chapter. The Epistle of James, which contains not a single statement which can be viewed as theoretical, is without any allusion to the subject.

We now come to the Acts of the Apostles. Its subjectmatter, which is to record the chief incidents in the planting of Christianity, would naturally afford to the writer little opportunity of making definite statements on the point before us. One idea however, which is closely connected with it, runs through the entire book. The writer affirms that the one great subject of the Apostles preaching was, that Jesus was the Christ. Such an affirmation proves that certain historic facts connected with the life of Jesus must have been regarded by them as forming the essence of Christianity. This idea is by the writer identified with Christianity itself. Thus he says of the Apostles

that they daily, and from house to house, ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus the Christ.

The only portions of the New Testament requiring any further observations are the Synoptic Gospels. It will be objected that this idea is wanting in them and in the Epistle of James; and consequently that it is not an original, but a subsequent development of Christianity, due to the Johannine and Pauline parties in the Church. To which I reply,

First: that although there is only one statement on this subject in the Synoptics equally formal with that in the fourth Gospel, it is inaccurate to assert that the idea does not underlie them. Both Matthew and Luke record an utterance of our Lord respecting Himself, which approaches very closely to the strongest affirmations of the fourth Gospel, "At that time Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son; and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." (Luke x. 21, 22.) Into the doctrinal statements of this passage I need not at present enter. It is sufficient for my present purpose that it distinctly affirms that the Son is the one Revealer of the Father; and that in terms quite as plain as any which we read in the fourth Gospel, or in the Johannine and Pauline Epistles, or in the book of the Revelation.

Secondly with this express statement another trait which underlies the whole of these Gospels is in strict agreement, and is only explicable on the supposition of the truth of the assertion in question. I allude to the habitual self-assertion of our Lord, and to the fact that He is uniformly depicted as deriving the whole of His teaching from the sole source of His own self-consciousness. When we consider the mildness, unobtrusiveness, and humility,