does not prove that we existed then, so neither does it prove that Christ existed then. So when Christ says, "Before Abraham was, I am," he does not assert that he existed before Abraham in any other way than in the counsels of God. It was only by a strong figure, that Abraham could have been said to have seen Christ's day, which did not really exist for almost two thousand years after, and it was scarcely a stronger figure for him to say that he was the Messiah before Abraham. I am aware, that this sentence of Christ's conversation with the Jews, is thought, even by scholars, to assert that Jesus existed before he came into the world. I believe that it has no such meaning, and from the following considerations. The main subject of this conversation of Christ with the Jews, was his claims to the Messiahship. Those he strenuously asserts. "It is written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father, that sent me, beareth witness of me." They cavil at this argument, and he subjoins, "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he." His words are literally" that I am." The word "he" is added by the translators, as is indicated by its being printed in italics in our Bibles. The form of expression is precisely the same that it is in the sentence, "Before Abraham was, I am." Now if our translators had supplied the word he, in this case likewise, as they ought to have done, the true meaning would have been given, and a false inference. have been prevented, by which so many millions have been misled. The second consideration, that puts the

meaning of this passage beyond a doubt, is, that it can be shown, that at that period, the phrase "I am," utterred by one claiming to be the Messiah, was an ellipsis, there being understood after it the words, "the Christ." This can be conclusively proved in the following way. Matthew tells us that Jesus said, on a certain occasion, "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall deceive many.” Mark reports him to have said: "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am, and shall deceive many.” So it is reported by Luke. That the words "the Christ" are left out in both these cases in the original, you may ascertain by referring to your Bibles, where you will find, in both Mark and Luke, the word "Christ" printed in italics. It appears by this that when Jesus did not use the words, "the Christ," in connection with "I am," they were understood by his hearers, and would be understood and supplied by the readers of the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Much more would they be supplied in the minds of those Jews whom he was then addressing, as he had used the same words in the same sense twice in the same conversation. "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am." In the twentyfourth verse of the same eighth chapter of John, he had said, "If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins." We cannot suppose, for a moment, that this is a mere affirmation of existence. They could not doubt of his existence, and belief in his simple existence could do them no good. It is the affirmation of a certain character, or office, that he meant,

not mere existence. He meant to say, therefore, "If ye believe not that I am the Christ, ye shall die in your sins." Nor would the affirmation of mere existence suit the general object of the conversation, where it occurs in the sentence," Before Abraham was, I am." The object of the whole conversation is to prove his claim to the Messiahship. To affirm that he existed before Abraham, would have been nothing to the purpose. He might have existed ages before Abraham, and still have had no mission to mankind. But to say, "Before Abraham was, I am the Christ," has a meaning in coincidence with the purpose of the whole conversation. "Not only am I the Christ, but I was so in the eternal purpose of God before Abraham.'

There is an associated idea of his superiority to Abraham, which does not at once strike the reader of this conversation. The introduction of Abraham into this discussion, was altogether accidental, and it came from the Jews, and not from Jesus. He had said to them, "Verily, Verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death." The Jews thought this the assertion of extravagant claims, and asked him if he pretended to be greater than Abraham, the founder of their nation, and, in their estimation, the greatest man of all time, except the promised Messiah. He is dead, said they, would you make yourself? honor myself, my honor is that honoreth me, of whom ye say that he is your God." I assume only that rank which God has given me in the arrangement of the world, that God, whom

and the prophets; whom "Jesus answered, If I nothing; it is my Father

He has made me

you claim as your national God. greater than Abraham. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad." He looked forward prophetically to my times, and rejoiced in the prospect, as of something greatly superior to his own. The Jews began again to cavil, and to take him in a sense which he did not intend. "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?" Jesus annihilates their cavil with a single word, and at the same time asserts with a stronger emphasis his claims. "What I say, has nothing to do with my personal existence, or with seeing Abraham. I mean to say, that I am the Messiah, the purposes of whose existence are so vast and important, that they overleap Abraham and his times, and go back in the Divine plan to the very foundation of the world."

There is another class of passages which are thought to have a strong bearing on the doctrine of incarnation, in which Christ is said to have descended from heaven," "to be in heaven," &c. The most explicit, perhaps, is found in the sixth chapter of John: "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before." This is thought most conclusive. For if the Son of man ascended up where he was before, he must have existed in heaven before he descended

upon earth and became incarnate. But a little examination, I believe, will convince the candid inquirer that he meant no such thing. Trace the conversation from the commencement, and you will find that he identifies his person with his doctrine, which was from

heaven, and he speaks of himself as taken away from the worldly expectations of the Jews, and leaving nothing but his doctrine behind, which he affirms will still be equally powerful, in his personal absence, as his personal presence.

The conversation was introduced by the miracle of the feeding of five thousand with a few loaves and fishes. This bore so strong a resemblance to the miracle of Moses, of feeding the Israelites in the wilderness with manna, that those who saw and ate were reminded of the prophecy of Moses, and induced to think that Jesus answered the description of that prophet which Moses promised, when he said, "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto me." This prophecy they thought fulfilled in Jesus, who had just fed them miraculously in a desert place. "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that Prophet that should come into the world." This miracle confirmed their earthly notions of the Messiah, and many of them followed him, with no purpose of being benefitted by his teaching, but of obtaining a support without labor, and perhaps of sharing the wordly advantages of his kingdom. He reproves their gross ideas, and admonishes them : "Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give you." They attempt to stimulate him to work another similar miracle, by the example of Moses. "Our fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat." Jesus seizes on the phrase, "bread from