OBSERVATIONS ON THE SIX PRECEDING PAGES.

Did the apostle Paul, and his coadjutors in the Christian ministry, pay religious service to any being, save the one God, the Father? Did they bless and adore other two coequal and co-eternal persons? Did they express the warm and grateful emotions of their hearts to a Trinity in Unity -a Unity in Trinity? No: they had not thus learned Christ. They had not thus regarded the uniform example and the express language of their Lord and Master. His holy example they did imitate; his authoritative commands they did obey. They worshipped, as he did, the same one Jehovah―the same Almighty Creator and Ruler-the same universal Parent. The first Christians "lifted up their voice with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, who hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus." Paul fearlessly proclaimed, in the presence of the Roman Felix, "I worship the God of my fathers;"-that God whom he had represented to the Athenians as the Proprietor of heaven and earth, the Preserver of the human race, and their future Judge through the man Christ that he had appointed. And with this apostle did Peter, and James, and John, and Jude agree; for they also adored the one "only God, through Christ;" they also "bowed the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus," and of "the whole family" of mankind; they also confessed Jesus as their "Lord, to the glory of God, the Father."

The apostles were not, indeed, unmindful of the obligations under which they lay to their beloved Master; and their gratitude they evinced equally by the warmth of their expressions towards him, and by the ardour of their zeal in

the cause of his most holy religion. But the thanks and the glory which they gave to Jesus of Nazareth ought never to be confounded with the solemn gratitude which they offered up to the Almighty: for they frequently spoke of Christ as the Appointed or Commissioned of the Father; and of God as the Source or Fountain of all the blessings of the gospel-the Bestower of "eternal life, through" the agency or instrumentality of "Jesus Christ our Lord."

In fine, to sum up the evidence presented in this section. The angelic host, and the shepherds, who were attendants on the birth of Jesus-the devout Simeon-the witnesses and intelligent subjects of Christ's miracles-the pious Jews -the apostles and the early disciples of the Saviour-the Saviour himself, both by precept and example-all concurred in preferring their religious services to One Being or Person-all supported the great Unitarian doctrine, that THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS ALONE

ENTITLED TO THE SUPREME LOVE AND VENERATION OF HIS RATIONAL OFFSPRING.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE INCONSISTENCIES OF TRINITARIAN WORSHIP.

It is a curious circumstance, and one which strikingly exhibits the force of truth, even when encountered by the strongest prejudices, that though Trinitarians, particularly in their controversial writings, are much disposed to consider the appellation Father in the Sacred Writings as sometimes denoting altogether the three persons of the Trinity, they almost invariably employ the word, at other times, to represent the first person; and many of them, in their acts of devotion, address this being as if he was the only object of religious homage, and Christ merely some inferior but great intelligence, whom the Father sent into the world to redeem mankind. This undoubtedly betokens a species of Unitarianism: but its beauty is dimmed by the

mists of error; for the very prayers which contain the worship of the Father, as the only Source of reason and revelation, are often closed with an antiscriptural doxology to "the ever-blessed Trinity-God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost."

We do not mean to assert, that all Trinitarians are, in this respect, inconsistent with their professed principles; for, instead of ascribing the whole honour to the Father, and of worshipping him as the only Being entitled to supreme adoration, many single out the Son as the great object of their religious affections, and neglect the Father and the Holy Ghost—the former as if he performed little or no service in the work of redemption, and the latter as if he was merely an agent in the hands of the Saviour.

The truth of these observations may be readily evinced by any one who will take the trouble of examining the Prayers and Hymns that are made use of by the members of different churches. The adherent to English episcopacy, who, in the Litany, presents his prayers to a suffering and crucified God, and who not unfrequently employs a short ascription of praise to the Trinity, unwarranted by any portion of Scripture, is yet so inconsistent with his own profession of the co-equality of "the three divine persons," as to offer up to the one Being, the Father, a vast majority of his petitions; unlike, in this respect, to his Roman Catholic brother, who mostly adores Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. It is worthy of remark, that the Wesleyan Methodist, who has communion with the established church of England, almost uniformly, in his spiritual songs, presents his prayers and ascriptions of praise to "God the Son;" generally omitting any address to the Father or the Holy Ghost, as such, except in a few doxologies to the "Blessed Trinity;"-an observation which may be applied with equal justice to the Moravian Brethren. While, on the

other hand, the generality of "orthodox" Presbyterians and Independents or Congregationalists, who are all more or less opposed to the profession of Unitarianism, seem to address the God and Father of all as one person or being, in the name of the Mediator Jesus Christ.*

SECT. XII. OBSERVATIONS ON THE DEFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE FOR THE DOCTRINE OF A TRINITY OF PERSONS IN THE GODHEAD.

In the preceding sections we have shown, that the absolute or unrivalled Supremacy of One Divine Person is clearly, explicitly, and repeatedly taught in the Sacred Writings; and hence, like all the other important truths of the Bible, it may justly be deemed a doctrine, not of mere inference or allusion, but of express revelation. Now, if the doctrine of the Trinity, as is generally received, were equal in importance to that of the Unity of God-if, as is confidently asserted, man's salvation depends in a great measure on its belief-if, according to the language of reputed orthodoxy, the great saving truths of the gospel are built on it, and cannot subsist without it,-that doctrine must be stated, with the utmost clearness, in the volume which professes to contain a disclosure of God's will. It is, however, unnecessary to argue this point; for if any opinion be not plainly stated in the Holy Scriptures, it cannot be a doctrine of revelation; this term being expressive only of those truths which are clearly made known.

Is the doctrine of a triune God thus manifested in the Bible? Is it derived from the express and unequivocal

See "Concessions of Trinitarians," Introduction, chap. vi. sect 4, 5; pp. 63-67.

teachings of divine relation? Was it announced by Moses? -was it declared by the prophets?-was it taught by Christ? -was it preached by the apostles, or inculcated in their writings? We emphatically answer, No. And the answer is not our own merely it is that of eminent Roman Catholics, echoed by Protestant Reformers and Divines. Some of the most celebrated advocates of the popular belief have admitted, that the Trinity is a doctrine of mere inference; and that the words employed to express it are barbarous, insipid,-profane,—of human invention,—not found in Scripture,-pernicious to the interests of true religion; while others, who warmly and learnedly contend for the Deity of Christ, do not profess to adduce a text from the Bible to prove that there are three persons in one God. Many acknowledge, that the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to the ancient Jews, and that nothing can be urged for it from the Old Testament but mere umbrages and shadows. The BISHOP OF RIPON and Dr. JOHN PYE SMITH do not hesitate to say, that the doctrines of the Trinity, and of the Deity of Christ, were not fully revealed till the period subsequent to his death and resurrection. Dr. LONGLEY again expresses his opinion, which accords with that of some of the fathers, that Christ's divine nature was but little dwelt on by the apostles in their preaching, as recorded by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles; and that St. Paul reserved the doctrine of the Trinity for the future instruction of the Gentiles. Dr. TOWNSEND and Dr. HAMPDEN contend, that no truths additional to those previously revealed by Jesus himself were propounded by the apostles in their epistolary communications. Many writers of the Catholic church freely and honestly admit, that Trinitarianism cannot be proved from the Holy Scriptures; and even the acute and erudite doctors at Oxford, who, equally with the Romanist, would bend the necks of the laity to the yoke