VII. Christ may be supposed to have pre-existed, or

to have had a being before he was born of the virgin Mary, without supposing him to be the eternal God : but it appears to me that the apostles considered Christ as being, with respect to his nature, truly and properly a man, consisting of the same constituent parts, and of the same rank with ourselves, in all things like unto his brethren ; and the texts which are thought to speak of him as having existed before he came into this world, appear to me to bear other in- terpretations very mail.' Some of them have been ex- plained in a different sense already, and I shall now endeavour to explain the rest.
Joba vii'u 56, Sec. " Your father Abraham rejoiced
to
illustrated. 61
to set my day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou* seen Abraham ? Jesus said unto them, Verily verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was I am. 1 ' The meaning of this passage clearly is, that Abraham foresaw the day of Christ, and that Christ was the subject of prophecy before the times of Abraham. This saying of our Lord is also illus- trated by what the author of the epistle to the He- brews says concerning all the ancient worthies, viz. that "they all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar oft" In this manner, therefore, Abraham also saw the day Christ. Agreeably to this it is easy to explain Johri xvii. 5. "Glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was," of the glory which was intended for him in the councils of God before all time. Nay, this must necessarily be our Lord's mean- ing in this place ; since in many other passages the power and glory which were conferred upon Christ are expressly said to be the reward of his obedience, and to be subsequent lo his resurrection from the dead. It is with peculiar propriety, therefore, that this re- quest of our Lord follows his declaration that he had done the work for which he was to receive the reward*; ver. 4. " I have glorified thee on the earth, I haite finished the work which thou gavest me to do $ and ftow^Q Father, glorify thou me," &c. As the connec- tion of this prayer shows that, whatever it was that our Lord requested, it depended upon the part which he ; had
§0 Passages of Scripture
had to act in the world, it is plain that it could not be any thing which he bad enjoyed antecedently to his coining into it.
In the same manner we may explain the following
prophecy of Micah concerning Christ, v. 9. " Thou
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth
.unto me that is to be a ruler in Israel, .whose goings
.forth have baen from of old, from everlasting." For
this may be understood concerning the promises of
.God, in which the coming of Christ was signified to
mankind from the beginning of the wotld. The 6hal-
dee paraphrase renders it, " whose name was foretold
of old."
As to those who think that our Lord meant to inti- .mate that he was truly and properly God because, he uses that expression I am, by which the true God an* .nounced himself to Moses, they will perhaps be sen- sible how little stress is to be laid upon it, when they are informed, that, though the same phrase occurs very often in the history of Christ, our translators themselves, in every place excepting this, fender it by .lam he> that is, I am the Christ. It is used in this sense in the 24th verse of this chapter, " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die iityour sins." And again iti the 28th verse, t( When ye shall lift up the son of man, then shall ye know that I am he/' That the words I am in this place do not mean the eternal .God, is manifest from the words which are immediately connected with these; " then shall ye know that 1 am
he,
illustrated* $&
he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father hath taught me I speak these things."
John xvi. 28. " I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world ; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father." In order to understand this text, it should be observed, that by the world is not always .meant the material world, and least of all in the dis- courses of our Saviour; hut the world considered as a state of trial, exercise and discipline, and especially the unbelieving and ungodly part of the world. "The world shall hate you," John xv. 10. "I pray not for the world," xvii. Q, &c. Our Saviour also speaks of sending his disciples into the world ; though, consi- dered as a part of the material system, they had been in it long before. John xvii. 18. " As thou hast sent jne into the work), even so also send 1 them into the world." Since, therefore, the mission of Christ, and that of the apostles, are spoken of in the very same words, and represented as commencing in the same manner/ there can be no more reason to suppose that Christ had a being before he came into the world, than there is to suppose that thte apostles had pre-existed* Also "when our Lord says, John xvii. 1 1 . "Now I am no more in the world," he could not mean the mate- rifcl world : for, after his resurrection, he was seen by many, and even after his ascension he was seen by Paul, if not by Stephen; and he is probably in this world at present, attending to the affairs of his church ; and therefore may even be literally with his disciples, upon important occasions, even to the end of the world;
and
64 Passages of Scripture
and the notion of a local heaven, above the clouds, fs attogether fanciful.
John v. 13. " No man hath ascended up to heaven,. but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man, who is in heaven.** This language is evidently figurative; but if Christ could be in heaven at the same time that he was on earth, conversing with Ni» codemus, it is plain that his being said to have come down from heaven, cannot necessarily imply that he- had ever been any where but on the earth. In fact, the phrases being in heaven, being with God, or in the losom of God, &c. express a state of very intimate com- Xnunication with God, such as qualified Christ to* speak of heavenly things, as he expresses himself to Nicodemus, and to make his Father known to us. John i. 8. " No mm hath seen God at any time : the only- begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,, be hath declared him."
The omnipresence, and consequently the proper divinity of Christ, could not be meant by his being said to be in heaven at the same time that he was visible on earth, because he* is, on this occasion, called' the son of man, which is always allowed to denote his humanity , and which certainly could not be present in two places at the same time.
John vi. 51. '.'I am the living bread, which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily. verily I say unto you* Except ye eat the flesh of the
son
illustrated. 63
ion of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." By these and other expressions of a similar na- ture, our Lord staggered not only those who followed him for the sake of the loaves with which he had fed them, but even many of his other disciples ; and per* ceivihg this, he says unto them, ver. 61. "Doth this offend you, what and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before ? It is the spirit that quickeneih, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life/' In this our Lord seems to be reproving the stu- pidity of his disciples, in not understanding that by himself $ and his flesh and blood, he meant his doctrine, which came down from heaven. For if it was his body that was to be of such benefit to mankind, what would they say if they should see it taken from them, as* oending into heaven, from whence he had spoken of its descending to be the life of the world ? They must then be satisfied that his flesh could profit them no- thing, and therefore must conclude that his doctrine must have been the spirit, and the life, of which he spake. Or we may, perhaps, understand our Saviour, in this place, as referring to his ascension, which was an ocular proof of his having had that intimate com- munication with God, and having been sent of God, concerning which he had been speaking. Besides, if this passage be interpreted literally, it will imply that the body of Christ came from heaven ; which is., not pretended. Col. i. 15,
the
(W Passages of Scripture
the first-born of every creature. For by btin were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are iiv earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist : and he is the bead of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead ; that in all thing3 he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwelL"
In this passage we have a view given us of the great
dignity and dominion to which Christ is exalted by
his Father, and of the great and happy change that
was made in this world by his gospel ; ^for by creation
» -we are to understand the new creation, or renovation,
in which sense the same word is used by the apostle
when he says, "We are his workmanship created in?
. Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph.ii. 10. So great
a change is produced in the world, in the tempers and
conduct of men, by the gospel, that both the terms*
creation and regeneration are made use of to express
it. " Verily verily I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," John
iii. 3. 5 so that by regeneration, or new creation, we are
tp understand a new modelling or new constituting.
We shall see less harshness in this figure, when we
consider, that what is called the Mosaic creation was
probably. similar to this ; since, for any thing we know,
it was only the re-making or re- constituting of the
world out of a former chaos.
There
illustrated^ 67
There are several passages in which the words which we generally render to create, or creation > signify only a renewal ,or restoration. Eph. ii. 10. " To- make iii himself, of twain, one new man, so making peace." 2 Cor. v. 17* " If any man he in Christ, he is anew creature/' In 1 Pet. ii. 13. the same word is render- ed ordinance. "Be ye subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." The places in which the influence of the gospel is termed a new creatiou, are 'il- lustrated by the following prophecy of Isaiah, in which it is described in the same language, Isaiah lxv. 17, &c. " Behold I create new heavens aud a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad, and rejoice for ever in that which I create j for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy."
The word all must necessarily respect the subject concerning which the affirmation is made, and be limited by it. Thus, when all the world is said to he taxed, Luke ii. 1. it is plain that nothing but the Ro- man empire could be understood. In like manner, when all things are said to he created by Christ, or for
. him, and also when all things are said to be subject to him, or put under his feet, nothing can be meant but such things as can properly come under his government as the Messiah, and be subservient to him in the con- duct of it, including probably the visible powers and kingdoms of this world, and the invisible administration of angels; and therefore the apostle, with great pro*
..priety , concludes and sums up the whole of Christ's au- thority,
08 Passages of Scripture
thority, by saying that he is the head of the body the thurch.
Before often signifies before in point of rank and pre-eminence, and not in point of time; so that when Christ is said to be before all things, the meaning id, that he is the chief, or most excellent of ail. And when. it is said that in him all things consist, we are to under- stand that in him all things are completed and com- pacted ; since the Christian dispensation is the last and most perfect of all, completing one great and regular scheme of revelation, continually advancing from the more imperfect to the more perfect. I wouW further observe, that the things here said to be created by Christ are not material things, as the heaven, and the earthy but things in heaven and earth, as throne*, principalities, &c.andthereforearenaturally interpreted, of that power and dignity to which be is advanced, and which is de-» noted by God's giving him all power in heaven and oft earth, after his resurrection*
We shall have a clearer understanding of this passage in the epistle to the Colossians, if we compare it with a parallel passage in the epistle of the same apostle to the Ephesians, i. >7. " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom, that ye may know the exceeding great- ness of his power,— which he wrought in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand, in the heavenly places, fat fcbove all principality, and power, and might, and do- minion, and every name that is named, not only in this,
world,
illustrated. ' 70
world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the bead over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in, all." In this pas- sage we see most clearly that all the power and autho- rity to which Christ is advanced is subsequent to his resurrection.
The origin and extent of the power of Christ are also most distinctly expressed, Phil, ii. 8,- — \ 1. " He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ; wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things ia ea^rth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
To the same purpose also, l Peter i. 20, 21 . t€ Who (Christ) verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times, for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in Grid." I should think it- hardly possible to read this single passage with atten- tion, and not see that the writer of it considered^ Christ as a being distinct from God, and subordinate to him : that all his glory was subsequent to his resurrection ; apd also that, though he was foreordained before the foundation of the wo> ld> he was not manifested, or brought into being, tdl these last times, or those of the gospel.
There
7D Passages of Saipture
There are some other passages in the New Testa* ment, which are similar to those which I have quoted above, and may serve to illustrate them. John xvi. 15. " All things that the Father hath are mine/ 9 xvii. 10* u All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them." 1 Cor. viii. 6. " To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."
That there is nothing in any of the passages which T have now quoted, that implies any proper divinity in Christ, is sufficiently evident, even without the addition of such expressions as directly assert the contrary ; as when the apostle Paul says, that " to us there is one God, even the Father ;" and our Saviour calls his Fa- ther tlie only true God. To signify that the authority of Christ is not underived, like that of God ; and at the same time to inform us from whence it does pro- ceed, the apostle says, that " it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell." In the very same language our Saviour speaks of his disciples, " Fear not, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom/'
V* OV THE DOCTRINE OP ATOKBMBNT.
Th« death of Christ being an event of the greatest
consequence to the end of his coming into the world,
and being, at the same time, the great stumbling-block
both to the Jews and the Gentiles, who could not
easily reconcile themselves to the notion of a suffering
Saviour,
illustrated. 7i
Saviour, it is no wonder that the writers of the New Testament speak much of it, and represent it in a great variety of lights, and especialiy such as would appear the most favourable to the Christian converts. In this case we naturally expect bold comparisons and allu- sions, especially considering how much more figurative is the style of the books of scripture, and indeed of all oriental writings, than ours. But in whatever lights the sacred writers represent the death of Christ, there is resemblance enough sufficiently to justify the repre- sentation, at the same time that this event being com- pared to so many things, and things of such different natures, proves that the resemblance in all of them is only in certain respects, and that they differ consider- ably in others.
For example, the death of Christ is compared to a sacrifice in general, because he gave up his life in the eau&e of virtue and of God, and more especially a sa- crifice for sin, because his death and resurrection were necessary to the confirmation of that gospel by which aimers are brought to repentance, and thereby recon- ciled to God. It is called a curse, because he died in a . state of suspension, which was by the Jews appropri- ated to those persons who were considered as reprobated by God ; and it is called a passover, because it may be considered as a sign of our deliverance from the power
*
of sin, as the passover among the Jews was a sign of their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. It is also called a ransom, because we are delivered by the gospel from sin and iaisery . On the tame account, he
7 9 Passages of Scripture
is said by his death, to bear, or take away, ottr sins, since his gospel delivers us from the power of sin, and consequently from the punishment due to it.
These are all bold but significant figures of speech, the death of Christ really corresponding to them all to a certain degree ; but they differ so very widely from one another, that no one thing can correspond to any of them throughout ; for then it must exclude all, or at least most of the rest. The same thing, for instance, could not be a curse and a sacrifice ; because every thing accursed was considered as an abomination in the sight of God, and could never be brought to the altar; and the killing of the paschal lamb was a thing essentially different from a sacrifice for sins
These observations appear to me to be a sufficient guide to the interpretation of all the language of the New Testament respecting the death of Christ, with- out supposing that it had any proper influence upon I God, so as to render him propitious to his offending creatures, or that it made it consistent with the divine justice to forgive the sins of mankind; which is con- trary to a thousand plain and express declarations of scripture, which represent God as being essentially, and of himself, merciful and gracious, without the least reference to any other being or agent whatever, and as forgiving freely, and gratuitously, upon our i repentance and amendment, without any other atone- \ ment or satisfaction. 1 shall therefore content rmself with reciting a fcw of the passages in which the death of Christ is represented in these several. fights. /
Eph.
illustrated. 73
Eph. v, 2. " Christ also has loveil us, and give* himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, of a sweet-smelling savour." Heb. vii. 27. " Who needed not daily to offer sacrifice, *first for his own sins, and then for .the people. For this he did once, when he offered up himself." With the same idea he says, ix. 22. "And without shedding blood there id no remission." This view of the death of Christ occurs pretty frequently in this epistle to the Hebrews, but not more than about half a dozen times in all the other boo^s of the New Testament ; the principal of which is 1 John ii. I. " And he is the propitiation for our sins." But if the great object of the death of Christ was the establishment of that religion by which the world is reformed, in consequence of which the Divine Being is rendered propitious to them, how natural is it to represent his death as a sacrifice to God, for that great purpose ! Besides, sacrifices for sin under the law of Moses are never considered as standing in the place of the sinuer ; but as the people were never to approach the divine presence, upon any occasion, without some offering, agreeable to the standing and universal custom of the East, with respect to all so- vereigns and great men, so no person after being un- clean (which not only moral guilt, but a number of things absolutely indifferent to morality were supposed to render a man) cduld be introduced to the tabernacle or temple service, without an offering proper to the occasion. This idea may explain 2 Cor. v. 21* " Be made
d him
7* Passages of Scripture
«
him sin for as who knew no sin, that we might "be Blade the righteousness of God in him ;" because by sin, in this place, may perhaps he understood a sin- offering. Or it' may correspond to Romans 'viti. 3, 4i What the law could not do, in that it was weak, through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful fiesh, and for sin" (on account of sin, or on the business of sin, i. e. to destroy and take it tway) "condemned sin in the flesh." In this case, the sen&e of the passage will be, that Christ was made, not sin, but in the likeness of sinful flesh, that is, he was made a man for our sake*.
Many persons are carried away by the sound of die word redemption, as if it necessarily implied that, rotm- kind being in a state of bondage, a price must be'paid for their freedom, and that the. death of Christ was that pjloe. But the word which we render redemption sig- nifies only deliverance in general], in whatever rmamrer it*be effected, and it h frequently so rendered by our translators. Belonging to tfhis class ©f texts are th* following, Matt. *x. 98. Mark x. 4b.. "The son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many " 1 Tvtn. n. 8. #l Who gave himself a ransom for all.*'
In order to judge of the meaning of thitt expression, let the preceding passages be compared wrth the fol- lowing, in which the same G*eek word is used : Luke «ir . 21. " We trusted fhat it had been he whto tfbould have delivered (or, as it might have been translated, redeemed) Israel." In this case, the discipfes certainly
meant
illustrated* 7 b
meant a deliverance, or redemption, from a state of subjection to the Romans, which they could not sup- pose was to be effected by purchase, but by the exer- tion of wisdom and power. Luke i. 68. "He has vi- sited and redeemed his people;" which is explained in ver. 7 I • by " a deliverance from out enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us." In Acts vii. 35. Stephen styles Moses a ruler and deliverer, or redeemer, but what price did he pay for their redemption? In the Old Testament also Gotl is frequently said to have re* deemed Israel from the hand of the Egyptians ; but he certainly did not redeem them by paying any price for their redemption, and mueh less by becoming a bondman in their place : but, as it is often expressed, he redeemed, or delivered them, with an high hand and en out-stretched arm. So also mav Christ be said to redeem, or deliver from sin, viz. by his precepts, by his example, and by the precious promises of his gospel ; by the consideration of which we are induced to forsake sin. *
Stress has been laid upon the word for in the above- mentioned passages, as if Christ dying a ransoms/or all necessarily implied that he died in the steady or in the place, of all; but the same word has other signifi- cations, as because of, and so it is rendered Luke i. 20. "Because thou hast not believed mv word." Heb. xii. 2. " Who for (or because of) the joy that was set before him." , It also signifies on the behalf, or on the account of, as Matt. xvii. 27. "That take, and give them for thee and me," that is, on the account of, not
d 2 instead
7 6 Passages of Scripture
insteadof, me and thee. So Christ died, and gave his life a ransom, not instead of many, but on the behalf of many, or for their benefit*
Much stress has also been laid on Christ being said to bear the sins of mankind ; as if they had been ascribed or imputed to him, and he had taken them upon him* self, and suffered the wrath of God for them. Is. Hii. 11. " He shall bear their iniquities." 1 Pet. ii. 24. " Who his own self bare our sins in his own body, on the tree." Heb. ix. 28. " So Christ once suffered,, to bear the sins of many."
These, I think, are all the places in which this par* ticular view of the death of Christ occurs. But, beside the manifest injustice, and indeed absurdity, of an in- nocent person being punished for one that is guilty, the word does not signify to bear or takevpon another , but to bear away, or to remove, by whatever means ; so that the texts above mentioned correspond to 1 John i'u\ 5, 6. " And ye kuow that he was manifest to take away sin, and in him was no sin."
The phrase bearing sin is never applied in the Old Testament but to the scape-goat, which was not sacri- ficed, but turned loose into the wilderness, to signify the removal of the sins of the people, which God had freely forgiven, to a place where they should never more be heard of. The goat itself, which was em- blematically said to bear their sins, suffered nothing in consequence of it; but, as its name imports, was suf- fered to escqps, or was let loose. Perhaps the sending away of the scape-goat was intended for a monitory
«ign
illustrated. 77
sign to the people, that they should cease to commit those sins which had been so solemnly confessed over him, and which he was said to " bear away into a land of separation." See Levit. xvi. 22. in the margin.
The evangelist Matthew had, most evidently, this idea of the meaning of the passage in Isaiah, when he applied it upon the occasion of Christ's healing tbe bodily diseases of men, viii. 17. For he says that he performed t,hese cures, which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses/ 1 Now how did Christ tear the bodily diseases which he cured ? Not, surely, by taking them upon himself, and becom- ing diseased, as the poor wretches themselves had been \ but by removing them by his miraculous power. In like manner, Christ bears or takes away sin in general ; not by suffering himself to be treated as a sinner, but removing it by tbe doctrines and motives of his gospel. Agreeably to this, when Peter had said, " Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree," he explains hist meaning in the words next following ; " that we, being dead to sin, might live unto righteousness./ 1
Christ is said to die a curse for us, in Gal. iii. 10. " Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us ; as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Now it is proper enough to say, that Christ died a curse ; because the manner of his deaih was similar to that by which those who were deemed cursed under the law wer£ put to death* But if by accursed we mean lying under the
displeasure
78 Passages of Scripture
displeasure of God, this was so far from being the case with respect to Christ and his death, that in this very circumstance he was the object of the divine ap- probation and complacency in tbe highest degree ; as he himself say*, " for this reason does my Father love me, because I lay down my life :" and it is a general observation in the scriptures, that " precious in the sight of God is the death of his saints.''
Christ is called apassover, in 1 Cor. v. 7. "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us :" and this view is also alluded to when it is said, " a bone of htm shall not be broken/ 1 The reason of this view of the death of Christ was sufficiently intimated before*
As a proof that Christ took our si as upon hira, and that we, on the other hand, are justified by the impu- tation of Ids righteousness to us, some allege*. Jer. xxiii. 56. " And this is the name whereby he Stball be caikd* The Lord our Righteousness." But* according to the method of interpreting scripture names* explain- ed above, all that we can infer from this text is, that God will be our Righteousness* or receive us into his grace and favour by means of Christ, or by the gospel of Christ. That we must understand this text in some such sense as this, is evident from the same name be- ing afterward^ applied to Jerusalem, Jer. xxxiii. 16. €t This is the name wherewith she shall be called, T»e Lord O0r Righteousness :" for certainly it cannot be thought thafHfae merits of Jerusalem are imputed to mankind.
Many divines, finding themselves obliged to give up the notion of Christ's suffering in our stead, a»d
our
t r
' illustrated. 70
eur Wing justified by his righteousness, as contrary to the genuine sense of the scriptures, allege, how- ever, that God forgives the sins of mankind on account of the merit of Christ, and his intercession for us ; and this opinion, like the former, is favoured by the literal sense of a few passages of scripture ; but it is contrary to the general and plain tenor of it, which represents all acts of mercy as proceeding from the essential pla- cability and goodness, of God the Father only. Besides, there are many passages in the Old Testamen tin which God: is represented as forgiving the Israelites, and re- ceiving them into his. favour, on the account of Abra* barn, Isaac, and Jbcoh; aod' their posterity plead the merit of these their religious ancestors hi their prayers. God is alto, represented as ready to forgive the people of Sodom at the intercession of Abraham* Adrwil- Hngt therefore, that God may grant favours to naau- kind at the intercession of Christ, this is not a pri- vilege peculiar to Christ, but is conunon to biro and other good men who went before him; so thai tjie general system, of the forgiveness of sin, can by no .jneans depend upon the merit and intercession of Christ only.
The following passages seem to represent the Divine Being as dispensing mercy to mankind on the account of Christ, 1 John ii. 12. " Because your sins are for- given you for his name's sake/' Roitt* viii. 34. alsomaketh intercession for us."/ iCer. vi. 11. "Bufcye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus*" H«b. vii. 25. " He ever liveth to make intercession feu, them;."
But,
10 Passages of Scripture
But lei these passages be compared with the follow- ing from the Old Testament, Gen. xxvii. 84. " Fear not, I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed, for my servant Abraham's sake." Moses, pleading in behalf of the Israelites, says, ExocT. xxxii. 13. " Remember Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, thy servants." Deut. xix. 27- " Remember thy servants, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Look not to the stub-* bornness of this people, nor to their sin." There are many other passages to the same purpose with these.
It must also be observed, that in the name of Christ, which occurs in some of the above-mentioned passages, means as Christ , or in the place of Christ. Thus our Lord says, Many shall come in my name 9 that is, pre* lending to be what I am, the Messiah; and again, the Comforter, whom the Father shall send in my name, that is, in my place, as it were, to succeed me in his kind offices to you. Praying, therefore, in the name of Christ may mean, in allusion to this sense of it, praying with the temper and disposition of Christ, or as becomes christians, those who follow the direc- tions of Chtist, both with respect to prayer and every other duty of the christian life. So also beingjWi- jied in the name of Christ may signify our being jus- tified, or approved of God, in consequence of our be- ing christians, in deed and in truth, having the same •mind that was also in Christ Jesus. Agreeably to this, the apostle Paul exhorts us to put on Christ, as if it were to appear like him, the very same person. .
If the pardon of sin had universally depended upon . .the
illustrated, 81
the advocateship of Christ only, it can hardly be sup- posed that the Spirit would have had * hat name given to him, and especially by way of eminence and di- stinction; for the word wh ch we render comforter is the same that is rendered advocate in 1 John ii. 1. " We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous/' The spirit is also said to intercede for us, Rom. vii'u 26. "The spirit itself maketh interces- sion for us."
Besides, the passages in which any regard is sup- posed to be had to the merit or intercession of Christ, in dispensing mercy to sinners, are exceedingly few^ in comparison with those which represent thisffee gift as proceeding from God only; and in some of them we are misled by our translation, as in Eph. iv. 33. **;And be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, for- giving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has freely forgiven you." It ought to have been ren* dered as God in Christ, that is, in the gospel of Christy has forgiven you. Besides, the word which is here ren- dered forgive signifies conferring favours in general, and not the forgiveness of siii in particular; and the wJmle passage was intended to inculcate a benevolent disposition, in imitation of God, who had conferred the most valuable favours upon mankind, in the go* spel of Christ.
Many passages in which 1 we are said to be justified fa/ faith, and not by the works of t he law, were intended to oppose the doctrine of the Jews,- who maintained thai the observance of the law of Moses was absolutely
. t> 5 . necessary.
M Passages of Scripture
necessary to salvation. Writing upon this subject, the apostle Paul expresses himself in the following manner, Rom.iii. 21, &c. "Butpow the righteousness ofGod, without the law, is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; whom God has set forth JO'be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remission of skis that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of works ? Nay ; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law."
If we consider the whole of this passage, and the connection in which it stands, we shall be satisfied, that the apostle is here asserting that, in the gospel of Christ, which was confirmed by his death and resur- rection, the Divine Being, as from a mercy seat, (which the word ought to be rendered, and not propitiation,) declares his gopdness and mercy to mankind; and since the patriarchs, who believed and obeyed before the law, were justified without the works of the Jaw, so God, acting still upon the same maxim*, is just^ and the Jews hive no reason to complain, of il, what
he
illustrated. afc
he justifies, sinners who believe and obey, freely, . and without the work* of the law of Moses, under the
N. .B. I do not pretend that this pamphlet contains an illustration of all the texts that have been urged m favour of the doctrines which are controverted in the jtppeal; for then I must have written a commentary upon the whole Bible, as there is hardly a text in which' some persons do not imagine that they see their own* peculiar, sentiments; but T think I have taken notice of all that can well be said to be of much consequence* If any considerable omission be poinded out to me, it? shall be supplied in future editions*
A PRAYER,
RESPECTING THE PRESENT STATE OF CHRISTIANITY*
Almighty God, the giver of all good, and espe- cially the Father of lights, and the fountain of all • wisdom and knowledge; we thank thee that thou hast' put a spirit in man, and that thine inspiration grvetk us understanding ; that, being formed after thine own image, we find ourselves possessed of a nature superior' to that of brute creatures ; . and, being endowed with the faculty of reason, are capable of investigating im- portant truth, and of governing our conduct so as to attain to very distinguished degrees of excellence and happiness.
We thank thee that, in aid of this light of nature,
thou
84 A Prayer.
thou hast superadded the gift of revelation ; having, from time to time! communicated to mankind, by thy servants the prophets, the most useful information con- cerning thy nature, perfections and government, con- cerning our duty here, and our expectations hereafter. And we more especially rejoice that, upon every oc- casion of thy gracious intercourse with mankind, thou hast represented thyself to us as the proper object of our reverence, .love, and confidence ; as a being of boundless goodness, and the greatest compassion to those frailties ami infirmities to which it has seemed good to thy infinite wisdom to subject us ; as one who expeetest no more of us than thou hast enabled us to perform ; and who, upon our sincere return, to our duty, art ever ready to extend the freest mercy and forgiveness towards us, even after our most aggravated and repeated offences.
We thank tbee, more especially, for the last and most perfect revelation of thy will to mankind, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in whom it hath pleased thee that all fulness should dwelt; who has established upon the surest foundations, the great and important doc- trines of the proper unity and merctfidness of thy na- ture/ and thy unrivalled supremacy with respect to himself, as welt as to all other beings, and aH other things; and' who has likewise given to us the most sa- tisfactory assurance of a resurrection from the dead, confirmed to us by his own death and resurrection ; whereby we are encouraged to expect, that, because he lives, we shall live also,.
It
A Prayfr. . 63
It has seemed good to thy unsearchable wisdom, (which permits the rise and continuance of evil, in order, we doubt not, to bring about the greatest good,) that this most excellent religion, so honourable to tbee and so beneficial to mankind, should, by means of the base artifices of some, and the general ignorance whicl} lately overspread the world, become grossly corrupted; whereby such opinions have prevailed among the pro* feasors of Christianity, as greatly dishonour thy nature^ imply the most unjust reflections on thy righteous mo* ral government, and are highly injurious to the virtue and happiness of men. How has the gold become dim, how is the most fine gold changed ! ;
The great and important doctrine of thy divine unity has been generally • abandoned, and objects of supreme worship multiplied. Thy messenger and ser* vant, the meek and humble Jesus, who upon- all oc- casions referred his wisdom and mighty works t» thee, his God and Father, speaking and acting by biro* has been advanced to proper equality with thyself j and even his mother Mary, and innumerable saints and angels, have likewise been addressed as if they were, omnipresent beings. By thus dividing thy being, robbing thee of thy essential attributes and peer fee lions, and distributing them amonga multiplicity of inferior beings, depraved and unworthy notions of thy - moral character have consequently prevailed, and many of the evils of idolatry have been- introduced ?unQng the, professors of that religion, which acknotft ledges but one living and true God, evfcn t&eeour Eathfcr i^jbeaifflDj^ad om p^4i^or, ^HM^Cku^t Jeeui. .,..,.1 Having
8§ A Prayer.
Having divested thee, in their imaginations, of the most amiable of ail thy attributes, evea the essential placability of thy nature, they haws represented thy free mescy to penitept sinoers a* purchased by the blood of thy innocent son. Forgetting thai thou art good to all, and that tby tender mercies- are over all tby works, and also that thou, the righteous Lord*, loves! righteousness, they hare ascribed to thee an ar* biteary and unreasonable partiality in favour of some of the human race, and a most cruel and unjust sere* sity towards ethers, as condemning them to everlast- ing torments for crimes of which tbey could not bar guilty, and expecting of them that which thou hadst* M>t enabled them to do. And having bat the idea •f the purity of. thy nature, and tby regard to* moral righteousness as the only just ground of acceptance and favour with thee, tbey have had recourse to un* meaning and even base and mischievous superstitions*. a* compensations for their non-observance of thy holy commandments.
To eonfirm all these, and innumerable other eoiw. toptions of tby holy religion, supreme authority baa • been openly usurped, by men, over that church in which thou, hast given all power to our- Lord and' Master Jesus Christ f and those *f thy faithful ser- vants who have j*wtty refused to submit to their usurpa* tions, have by them been- subjected to the greatest iardsbips, and even persecuted unto death ; so that these temporal anti- christian powers are drunk w*vfc the blood of thy holy martyw.- • , -t
We deeply lame** this atmeei uAivefrtddeperrtife
from
A Prayw. 8?
from the true faith of thy son's gospel, the stop that has by this means been to long put to the propaga- tion of Christianity among Jews, Mahomedans, and Heathens $ and the prevalence which it has. occasioned of infidelity and profaneness in christian countries. . j
But we thank thee, who, in thine own due time, wilt, we doubt not, bring light out of all darkness, ai*d order out of aH confusion, that, in several christian countries, many of these corruptions, and abuses ba^e beet* reformed, and that aotochristian tyranny is every where giving place to the power of truth, and the jest liberties of mankind in thinking and acting for then*- stives in all matters of religion.
For tkesaigrart and in valuable blessings we.are, utr- derthee, indebted to the strenuous labours of tfcy faithful servants, who have not accounted even their fives dear unto them ? but, for the love of thy truth, have renounced at) worldly advantages, boldly assert- ing their christian liberty, and holding themselves ac- countable to none but thee, the sole and immediate lord of conscience, and to the great shepherd and bishop of souls, acting by commission from thee, Jesus Christ*
We adore the wisdom of thy providence in bring- ing about the restoration of useful learning, and mak- ing it subservient to the reformation of thy church; so that thy servants, haying recovered the genuine but long forgotten sense of the scriptures, were able to discover the false grounds of the reigning supersti- tion, and of tfaacadasiaatieal tyranny of their times.
Grant
Eft A Praye*.
Grant that, by a continued and diligent 6tudy of the same word of thy truth, we may, in due time, be led to the full discovery of every remaining corruption of our holy religion, and be brought to receive the whole truth in the love thereof.
Hasten, we entreat thee, the approach of that glo- rious time, when, according to the faithful and true writings of thy servants the prophets, our holy reli- gion shall recover its primitive purity and efficacy; when thou alone, as the only true God, a being of perfect rectitude, spotless purity, and essential good*- nestf and mercy, shah be the object of supreme wor- ship ; when thy creatures of mankind shall have recourse to no method of rendering themselves acceptable to tiiee, but unfeigned repentance for their transgressions of thy Jaws, and a sincere endeavour to conform to them for the future, in a course of upright intent ions and worthy actions through the whole of their lives ; and when no apprehension of arbitrary decrees shall alarm the fears of the humble, or encourage the pre- sumption of the confident.
Dispose all who profess the christian Jiame to stud J the scriptures of truth with unprejudiced minds ; and inspire all those who attain to the truth with a just 3U*l for the propagation of it, as far as thy providence shall give them ability, and opportunity to da it. May neither the love of popular applause, of filthy kicre, or any worldly advantage ; may neither the fetfr «f man, of reproach, or of death, be: a snare to them, th^m m this work of love ; aad may ihey
daily
A Prayer* •$
daily rejoice in the testimony of their consciences* and in the happy fruits of their pious and assiduous labours !
May all those powers of this world which have usurped any authority belonging to our only rightful lord and king in his church become disposed to re* linquish their unjust claims ; and may those kings and princes who will not acknowledge the sovereignty of Jesus in his church, and especially those who obsti- nately oppcse the reformation of it, be utterly con- founded, and, by his power, be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel ! Take to thyself, O Lord God Almighty, thy great power, and reign; and may the gospel of Jesus Christ go forth conquering and to conquer ! May the everlasting gospel, in its primi- tive purity* fee preached to all* that dwell on the earth* to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and peo~ pie ! By the brightness of our Lord's appearance may the man of sin be utterly consumed, that all the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and may he reign for ever and ever !
In the mean time, may we thy faithful servants, in the patient waiting for this coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, be fearless and unwearied in asserting thy truth, be ready to lay hold of every favourable op- portunity to promote it, and, more especially, be careful to recommend it by a suitable life and con- versation ! May we distinguish ourselves by having the same mind that was also in Christ Jesus, by ge- nuine
0* Tke Conclusion.
muo& huoHluy, iqeekaesft, forbearaace* bqotherlf lave* he&venly-mioflediiees, and habitual cheerful de- votion ! that when our Lord shall return, and take ac- Wippt of hiaaervanJiS, we may be fou$d without spot- and bhtneles*, and net he a&hawed before him at his c New U> thee who alon* art eternal* k&topttal, and invisible* the only wise, £vii*g,9nd tiweGod, be gk>ry, through Je*u* CbrUt, fox e$er and e?e* Ames.
THB
CONCLUSION.
Tuxa puhlicaiied compktaft the scheme which wtf begim in. tin Jppeai, and continued in the Triumph Tndk$ beiag intended la be a plain tndeairoesta&keif to the common people^ and especially to those of the* i«bo have but little money to- spare foo the purchase of books* or time for the veading them*
I an* not so little acquainted with fauna* nature, at to expect any great success in this attempt to werturo long established errors; and least of all can: I hope to comriftce those who refuse to read, or to hear,, (which is the case with too many,) oa whom even miraetea could produce no effect ; but the restoration of chrisr tianrty to its primitive purity and efficacy, after so hmg atvd so radical a corruption, (which was foreseea and lamented by the inspired writers of the New Testa- inent>) is so great and so worthy an object, that every
man
The Conclusion. 9 1
man who has the interest of re)«gk>n at heart will re- joice in every opportunity- that Divine PnwujsBee affords him for promoting it, with respeet to ever so few, or even a single individual, of bis £eUow
A zeal for the truth, and even ton contend ewmsity for it, does, certainty, well become a, eh rial iau» Since, however, the inspiring of a dirMm spirit is the gfl*flt purpose to which purity of christian faitk is subset:?!* ent, 1 hope that, with respect to myself, I have been careful not to lose the end, whike I have been con- tending for the means. Of this my reader may he a pretty good judge ; since that aeal whieh arises from the love of truth, and of mankind-, will easily be di- stinguished frocn that spirit whieh actuates those whom Paul calk the dispnters of fikis* world? a spirit which savours strongly of pride, hatred, and mtdme, and whieh often induces* them to have rceomeeto unfair and unworthy artifice* \\\ owJer to. gain a victory.
Some persons think tha4 k> these publications I hare attacked too many long established errors, and that it would have been more prudent to have attempted one thing at once, and to have proceeded gradually and gently. But it should be considered, that there are in the world persons in every possible state of mind with respect to these things ; so that what will stagger some, is calculated to make the strongest and best impression* upon others. Since, therefore, every thing that i* published from the pres9 must be distributed promis- cuously, we can only take care that what we write be
* calculated
93 The Conclusion.
calculated to do good in general ; and since a nice calculation of this kind is exceedingly difficult, it ap- pears to roe to be the best, upon the whole, for every person to endeavour to establish what appears to him- self to be the whole truth, and not to trouble himself about any consequences. The gospel sower must cast his seed promiscuously on all kinds of ground, hoping that in some it may yield a good increase, though he must lay . his account with its being lost, and even worse than lost, upon others.
I also think it an objection to the slow and cautious proceeding which some persons recommend, that the evidence of any truth is exhibited to the most advan- tage in connection with the whole system to which it belongs. Nor would I conclude that, because the minds of many are staggered by bold and undisguised representations of truth, this mode of proceeding is, upon the whole, less effectual. In many cases it may be the only method of gaining a sufficient degree of attention to a subject ; and wjhen this only is done, a great point is gained. The horror with which an offensive sentiment is viewed at first, may wear off by degrees, and a cool examination succeed. What could give more offence even to good minds than the matiner in which Luther, and other reformers, at- tacked the church of Rome ? Any person won hi have imagined, d priori, that it could only offend and irritate. We must wait a considerable time before we can form a judgement of the number of converts that any person makes.
I cannot
The Conclusion. 93
I cannot help expressing my surprise that so many persons, and especially of the clergy of the established >
" church, should profess themselves Ar minium 9 reject- ing the Calvinistic doctrines of election and reproba- tion, and yet entertain such a horror of Arianism or Socinianism, contending with the greatest earnestness for the divinity of Christ, and atonement for sin by his death ; when it appears to me, that the literal in- terpretation of the language of scripture (which is almost all that can be pleaded in favour of any of those, opinions) is even more favourable to the former than to the latter, as, 1 should think, must appear to any person who will attend to those which I have quoted in this treatise. 1 know that I have found much more.
~ difficulty in my attempts to explain them* T consider it, however, as an undoubted sign of the progress of. just thinking in matters of religion, that the 'standard of orthodoxy is so much lower at present than it has been in former times.
Time was, and though I am not old T well re- member the time, when Arminians would have
. been reckoned no better than Socinians by those who were reputed the orthodox of their day 5 and* yet with . what rage have some of these orthodox writers at- . tacked a brother heretic! How would the manes of those old champions smile to see \x%faU out by the way, when ihey were confident that we must all come to
/ the saihe place of torment at lastl And the furious, seal of (hose veterans was far more plausible, and re- .
spectable,
y4 Tke Omchcsivn.
selectable, than thai of the modern pretenders lo orthodoxy.
There is something striking and consistent in the ge- nuine Shipralapsarian system, of the eternally destined fktl of man, an infinite penalty incurred by one, and; by the imputation of his sin, affecting all, and an in- finite atonement adequate to it, made by an infinite being; by Which means a snail remnant of the hu- man race are necessarily saved; while all the rest of mankind, including new-born children, unbelieving Jews, Mahometans, and Heathens* Armintens and Baxterians, Arians and Socinians, without distinction, (as destitute either' of faith, or the right faith,) are consigned to everlasting torments with the Devil and his angels; from whence restiks glory to a God, who, in all this dreadful scheme, is supposed to have sought nothing else.
These are the tremendous doctrines which have over-, awed mankind for so many centuries ; and, compared with this, all the modem qatatified, intermediate sy- stems are, crude, incoherent, and contemptible things. My antagonists may cavil at election and reprobation, or any other single article in the well compacted ay-* stem : but every past is necessary to the whole; and if one stone be pushed out of its pfooc, the whole build- ing tumbles to the ground. And when, in conse- quence of their ill-judged attempts to alter, patch, and repair, they have brought things to this cata- strophe, there will be nothing left but the simple be*
Hef,
The diffusion. $5
lief, rtiat tht merciful parent of the universe, who never meant any thing but the happiness of his crea- tures, sent his well-beloved son, the man, Christ Jesus, to reclaim men from their wickedness, and to teach them the way of righteousness; assuring them, for their encouragement, of the free and uuboitght par- don of their sins, and promising a life of endless happiness to all that receive and obey the gospel, by repenting of their sins, and bringing forth fruits meet for rej>entatice.
This is the essence of what is called Socinianism ; and though this simple doctrine may, on account of it* excellence and simplicity, be a stumbling-block to some, and foolishness to others, I believe it to be the sum and substance of the gospel of Jesns Christ, and the wisdom and power of God.
Formidable as the greatest adversary of the truth rriay be, I make no doubt but that, by the help of reason, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word iff God, it will be -finally overcome. And whenever the holy apostles and prophets shall rejoice at the fell of this last part of mystical Babylon, Rev. xvrii. 30., happy will they be who may join the chorus, as hav- ing employed their efforts, however feeble, with those who, in this great cause, fight under the banners of the lamb, and who are called, and chosen, and faithful* Hev. xvii. 14.
THE END.