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CHAPTER VII.

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MR. YATES's strictures on "the passages in which the “PECULIAR WORKS OF GOD are supposed to be ascribed to "Jesus Christ," come next in order.

The strong presumptive argument which, in introducing the discussion of this part of my subject, I had drawn from the peculiar manner in which Jesus performed some of his miracles, I should wish the reader to re-peruse, as I have given it myself, Discourses, pages 100-103; Mr. Yates's condensed "statement" of it being far from calculated to make a fair impression of its nature and force. Supposing the reader to have thus refreshed his memory, let him now listen to Mr. Yates." The arguments which I have here presented in a " condensed form, appear to me the most ingenious and elo"quent pieces of reasoning in Mr. Wardlaw's volume. But "deplorable is the condition of that tottering system, whose "advocates, instead of relying on plain and positive declara"tions of Scripture, are obliged to prop it up by far-fetched "inferences, and by imaginary hints and allusions: and it is "cúrious and entertaining to observe how Reason, which is "discarded and turned out of doors, whenever her evidence " is unfavourable to the popular system, is called up again to "the tribunal, and treated with all possible respect, when "it is conceived that she can serve the cause of orthodoxy, " even by suggesting the most faint and distant analogies.” (Pages 215, 216.)

On this most singular paragraph, I offer the following brief

remarks:

1st. If the argument here ridiculed has nothing more to recommend it than mere ingenuity and eloquence, let it be at once rejected.

2dly. But, if Mr. Yates means to impress the reader with the conviction, that these " pieces of reasoning" are really, on the whole, the best, the most forcible, on the point in support of which they are adduced,—I again say, Timeo Danaos. Although I think the argument possesses force, and considerable force too, yet, in the scale of comparative importance and conclusiveness, I am far from giving it this pre-eminence. I feel jealous of all such compliments. They glitter on the hilt of a sword. The commendation bestowed on an argument of this nature, seems intended to operate, in the reader's mind, as a deduction from the value of all the rest.

3dly. The insinuation that we do "not rely on plain and "positive declarations of Scripture," is contrary to truth; and Mr. Yates's language here, when he talks of the "deplora❝ble condition of our system," and of our being "obliged to

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prop it up by far-fetched inferences, and imaginary hints and "allusions," is quite of a piece with that of Mr. Belsham, when he speaks of the controversy on our side being "reduced" to the argument from the use of the definite article; and it merits the same reprehension.-As to the argument itself in question, the reader must be left to form his own judgment whether it deserves to be ranked amongst "far-fetched inferences, and imaginary hints and allusions."

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4thly. The sarcasm about "Reason," which was intended no doubt to bite, is a very harmless one. I shall leave the reader to feel for its fangs; merely remarking, that the only occasion on which we feel disposed to turn Reason out of doors is when, in the plenitude of her pride and presumption, she attempts, with the aid of her Unitarian adherents, to do the

same by Revelation: and then we are of opinion that she well deserves this summary justice.

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I must transcribe another paragraph from Mr. Yates, on account of the sentence with which it concludes:-"I might "bid adieu to this argument without any farther observations. "But the charge of presumptuous impiety' has been brought against the holy and humble Jesus: he is said to have claimed · “for himself, as his original possession, an unlimited control "over the material and moral world. Let the reader call to "mind those solemn, explicit, and often repeated declara❝tions, which were formerly brought forward, (Part II. ch. ❝7. §. 2.) and by which our Lord absolutely disclaimed the ❝possession of inherent power, saying, that of himself he "could do nothing, and that the Father, dwelling in him, did "the works. I confess, that his express assertions, when "put into the balance with the eloquent and ingenious plead"ings of one whose talents and virtues I highly esteem, weigh "more in my mind than the waters of the ocean, when "placed in comparison with the drop that hangs upon the "bucket." (Page 219.)

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And so unquestionably they should. The only fault of the comparison is, that it is not sufficiently strong. All the pleadings" of man, however" ingenious and eloquent," when opposed to a single "express assertion" of the "faithful -❝ witness" must be infinitely less than nothing. But the charge which is here implied, of my framing eloquent and ingenious pleadings, in opposition to the "solemn, explicit, and fre"quently repeated declarations" of my Lord and master, is a very serious one indeed. Accursed be the pleading,-avadeua

-with all its ingenuity and eloquence, that would contradict his words, or impute to him the impiety of claiming an equality with God, which he did not possess! But if, on the

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other hand, his inferiority was the official inferiority of a relation to the Father which he had voluntarily assumed, and was thus perfectly consistent, as we believe it to have been, with his possessing, at the same time, the power and majesty of underived Godhead, then equally accursed be the reasonings that would rob him of his essential dignity and glory! When we come to examine a little the part of Mr. Yates's book to which he here so confidently refers, we shall have occasion to touch particularly on this important general ques

tion.

The proofs of THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS being ascribed to Jesus Christ, Mr. Yates meets by a reference to a former part of his work, in which, he says, he had shown that " in every passage which can possibly be interpreted as at"tributing the work of creation to Jesus, the idea is express"ed of his executing this work as a subordinate agent, a " mere instrument, inferior to Jehovah." (P. 217.)-Having made this confident reference, he dismisses the whole in the following strain of happy irony. "Three of these passages, "(John i. 3, 10: Col. i. 16, 17.) together with the words

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quoted in Hebrews i. 10. as referring to the government "of Christ, though addressed to Jehovah, form the ground"work of such severe and triumphant criticism, extending

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through ten pages, as will make the hapless Unitarians "smart so long as Mr. Wardlaw's critical celebrity shall en"dure." (Page 217.)-May I request of my reader to re-peruse those ten pages (104-112.) which are thus so briefly and so wittily despatched? I fear not the comparison of the reasoning which they contain with that of Mr. Yates in the pages of his volume referred to (82-88) by any reader, lettered or unlettered.

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When Mr. Yates states my affirmation that the Scriptures

"give no countenance to the idea of his executing this work "as a subordinate agent, a mere instrument, inferior to Jeho "vah," he takes no notice of the grounds on which it is made. I must therefore repeat them:

"I have only to add, on this part of the subject, that while "creation is thus repeatedly, and in the plainest terms, ascrib"ed to Jesus Christ, the Scriptures give no countenance to the "idea of his executing this work, as a subordinate agent, a ❝ mere instrument, inferior to Jehovah. The very terms, in"deed, in some of the passages already quoted, themselves pre"clude every such supposition. They are universal. The cre"ator of all things, of all created beings, cannot be himself a "creature;-cannot, therefore, be, in any sense, or in any re"spect, an inferior agent to the Supreme God. He who is "not a creature must be GOD: and God is ONE. This idea is "strongly confirmed by such expressions as the following in "the prophecies of Isaiah:- Hearken unto me, O Jacob "and Israel, my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am "the last. My hand also hath laid the foundations of the "earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens;"— "Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee "from the womb; I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; "that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth "abroad the earth by myself."

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It is somewhat curious, that, in the former part of his work, after having finished his critical strictures on the different passages, Mr. Yates expresses himself in these terms: "The Greek words employed in these passages, cannot bear "to be interpreted so as to ascribe to our Lord the creation ❝ of the material world by his own uncommunicated omni"potence. They directly contradict the notion, that Christ "stretched out the heavens alone, and made the world by him

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