of a despotic priesthood, allow that the dogmas under consideration have never been learned merely from Scripture, and that the Sacred Volume was not intended, or even adapted, to teach the Trinitarian creed.*

With great justice have all these concessions been made; and it is no wonder that the more clear-sighted supporters of the dogma of a Triune Deity should prop up their opinion by mere inferences from a collection of texts, some of which are obscure, and others corrupted or mistranslated; and that they should shrink from the vain attempt to prove it by means of clear, express, and undoubted passages of Scripture. For never has there existed a Trinitarian, who, whatever might be his learning and ingenuity, could quote a passage from the sacred writers, declaring the only true God to consist of "three persons,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; the same in substance, and equal in power and glory."

In many and various forms have the reputedly orthodox made statements of their belief in the doctrine of the Trinity. It is to be found in the Mass-book of the Roman Catholic—in the Liturgy and Articles of the English Episcopalian-in the Confession and Catechisms of the Scottish Presbyterian-in the Hymns and Doxologies of the Methodist-in thousands and tens of thousands of tracts, and sermons, and ponderous tomes. Now, we affirm that nothing which at all approaches in explicitness to the declarations of such writings can be found in the pages of the Bible. Never did Moses, or Job, or David, or Isaiah, or any other of the Jewish prophets-never did a greater than they-the Lord Jesus Christ, or any of the inspired apostles of Christianity, even once declare that there are three persons in

* A corroboration of these remarks, and references to the authorities from which they are drawn, may be had in "Concessions of Trinitarians," Introduction, chap. v. pp. 40-55,

the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. How is this great omission to be accounted for? Are Trinitarians more able to express their ideas of the nature of the Almighty, than Moses and the prophets, Christ and the apostles? Can Athanasius and his followers explain any doctrine better than God himself, through the agency of his inspired messengers? Is the infinite Source of human intelligence and human language not qualified to communicate, in terms direct and unambiguous, a doctrine which has been expressed by uninspired man himself in all the forms perhaps of which such a dogma is susceptible? To these questions every rational mind must answer in the negative. Why, then, exists this discrepancy between the Sacred Records, and the decisions of councils, of synods, and of churches ?—For this simple reason: The messengers of the Deity, and the writers of the Holy Scriptures, were totally unacquainted with the doctrine of a "Trinity in Unity;"-a doctrine which was introduced in after times by the vain speculations of falsely philosophizing Christians.

In these observations, it has been proved that Trinitarianism, to be made known, requires the united assistance of fallible men, unsupported by the clear, decisive voice of Divine Revelation. Not so with Unitarianism, which "has God for its author " and revealer. It was proclaimed by the Hebrew legislator-reiterated by the inspired poets of Palestine-sanctioned by the teachings, and recommended by the example of Him of Nazareth—and beautifully expressed by the great apostle of the Gentiles. To have just and honourable conceptions of the nature and character of the Deity, it is unnecessary to inquire of a Price or a Priestley, of a Channing or a Ware, great and good as were these men, and much as they have done for the cause of Unitarian Christianity: we need only peruse our Bibles

with sufficient attention to such direct and explicit declarations as the following, which are scattered with a liberal hand throughout many portions of the Sacred Volume: Hear, O Israel! Jehovah our God is ONE Jehovah.—I, even I, am HE, and there is NO GOD WITH ME.-Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be ONE JEHOVAH, and HIS NAME ONE.-Jesus answered, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is ONE LORD.-FATHER, this is life eternal, that they might know THEE, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom THOU hast sent.-When ye pray, say, OUR FATHER.-To us there is but one God, the Father.”

Such is a specimen of the scriptural evidence which has been presented, in the preceding sections, for general Unitarianism; a mass of evidence so strong and complete as to stand unshaken by all the arts of sophistry-all the verbalities of criticism-all the ambiguities and mysteries of orthodoxy; a mass of evidence that presents its mighty front against all the puny assaults of Trinitarianism-that, with trumpet-tongue, proclaims the God of nature and of revelation to be UNEQUALLED BY ANY BEING IN THE UNIVERSEABSOLUTELY SUPREME-STRICTLY ONE.

CHAPTER II.-OF CHRIST.

SECT. I.-PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE EVINCING THAT JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT POSSESS THE ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES OF DEITY.

(1) Christ not Self-Existent or Eternal.

1. For he was born of a woman;

Luke ii. 33:

"Joseph and his mother (or, according to Griesbach, "his father and mother ") marvelled at those things which were spoken of him."-See Matt. i. 18-25; ii. 11—21; xii. 46-47; xiii. 55. Mark iii. 31, 32; vi. 3. Luke i. 26-38, 42, 43; ii. 4-20, 41, 51; viii. 19, 20. John ii. 1-5: vi. 42; xviii. 37; xix. 25-27. Acts i. 14. Gal. iv. 4.

2. And was descended from David and Abraham.-See Matt. i. 1; ix. 27; xii. 23; xv. 22; xx. 30, 31; xxi. 9, 15; xxii. 42, 45. Mark x. 47, 48; xii. 35, 37. Luke i. 32; iii. 23—34; xviii. 38, 39; xx. 41, 44. John vii. 42. Acts xiii. 22, 23. Rom. i. 3. 2 Tim. ii. 8.* Rev. v. 5; xxii. 16.†

Also, Rom. xv. 12.

[See "Concessions of Trinitarians," under Rom, xv. 12. Rev. v. 5.; xxii. 16. Isa. xi. 10.]