9. d. I am a sucker or plant from the root of David. That root, of which it was foretold that it should grow out of the house of David. Isa. xi. 1, "There shall come forth a root from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." Ver. 10, "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse." Isa. liii. 2. Hos. xiv. 6. Rom. xv. 12. See Grotius in loc.

From the review which has been taken of the texts contained in this Section, we may conclude, that, though if the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ had been an undoubted fact, established upon independent evidence, some of these passages might be understood as containing an allusion to it, yet that no one of them can be admitted as a direct proof of the popular doctrine. All of them may be well explained upon the supposition of the proper humanity of Jesus Christ, and the majority of them are in fact interpreted by the most learned and judicious of the Arian and Trinitarian expositors as having no bearing upon the doctrine of the pre-existence.

to

Priestley's History of Corrupt. vol. i. p. 8.-" Coming in the flesh' is a very awkward and unnatural phrase," says bishop Horsley, express no more than his being truly man: it naturally leads to the notion of one who had his choice of different ways of comning." Horsley's Charge, p. 15-18.-But the controversy with the Docete made that expression proper, which would otherwise have been harsh. And this sufficiently accounts for the apostle's using it, without having recourse to the unfounded and unscriptural supposition of our Lord's having a choice of different ways of coming into the world

SECTION

SECTION V.

ATTRIBUTES SUPPOSED TO BE ASCRIBED TO CHRIST, WHICH INFER HIS PRE-EXISTENCE AND DIVINITY.

I. Eternity.

1. John i. 1. “In the beginning was the Word.” Answer. The beginning of the Gospel dispensation is here intended. See Sect. III. 1.

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2. Col. i. 15. "The first-born of every creature.' Answer. Compare ver. 18. The first who was raised from the dead to immortal life. Sect. III. 18.

3. Heb. vii. 3. "Having neither beginning of days nor end of life."

Answer. This being predicated of Melchisedec, and not proving his eternity, it cannot prove the eternity of Christ. Sect. IV. 12.

4. Heb. xiii. 8. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

Answer. That is, the doctrine of Christ, as the context requires, and Calvin himself allows. Sect. IV. 15.

II. Immutability.

Heb. i. 10-12. "And thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thy hands: they will perish, but thou wilt remain," &c.

Answer. These words are a quotation from Ps. cii. 25, and are certainly addressed to the eternal God. The writer of this epistle having cited the promise, Ps. xlv. 6, that God would support the throne of the Messiah, in an

eloquent

eloquent apostrophe he addresses the Supreme Being in the language of the Psalmist, acknowledging and adoring that immutability of the divine nature, and of his wise and benevolent purposes, which constitute the surest pledge of the stability of the Messiah's kingdom'.

III. Power to lay down his Life, and to resume it at pleasure.

1. John ii. 19-21. "Jesus answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up :"-" he spake of the temple of his body." Matt. xxvi. 61.

Our

Answer. The resurrection of Jesus is uniformly ascribed in the Sacred Writings to the power of God. Acts ii. 32; x. 40; xvii. 31. Rom. vi. 4; viii. 11. Lord's expression therefore is to be understood figuratively; not that he would raise himself, but that he would be raised by God. Thus, when it is said "the dead shall rise," 1 Thess. iv. 16. all that is intended is, that they shall be raised by a divine power. Mark v. 41. John xi, 44; v. 28, 29.

2. John x. 17, 18. "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take (habe, to receive)2 it again. This command

ment have I received (λabov) of my Father."

I See Emlyn's Works, vol. ii. p. 340. Also Lindsey's Sequel, p. 488 and the Impr. Vers. in loc. Dr. Clarke, though he prefers the application of the words to the Son, as being the delegate of the Father in the creation of the world, admits the possibility that they may 'be intended as a description of the immutability of the Father, for a confirmation and assurance of what he had declared." Ver. 8, 9. Script. Doct. p. 81. No. 552.

"aubarw, manu aliquid capio, Matt. xiv. 19: alia quacunque ratione accipio, Matt. vii. 3: rursum accipio, recupero, Matt. xix. 29. Joh. xiii. 12." Schleusner.-The word is by no means necessarily taken in an active sense.

If

If this text is to be understood of the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is to be explained upon the same principles as the preceding: and though active verbs are used, they are to be taken in a passive sense. "I have authority to receive it again.” q. d. If I voluntarily expose myself to suffering and death, I am assured by my Father that the life so sacrificed shall be speedily restored. I shall receive again the deposit which I resign.

Grotius explains the text differently. q. d. I have power to expose myself to imminent peril, and I have power to rescue myself at pleasure: so that no person can deprive me of life till I voluntarily resign it, and wave the power with which I am intrusted, of rescuing myself from all violence.

Our Lord, to whom the spirit was given without measure, John iii. 34, possessed a voluntary power of working miracles but his mind was so disciplined by his temptation, and by other circumstances, as to exercise these powers only upon proper occasions. It is evident in particular, that it was optional with him, whether he would submit to a violent death in order to fulfil the purposes of his mission. When the officers came to arrest him, he struck them to the ground with terror. -Had he thought fit to desire it, would have been sent for his rescue.

John xviii. 6. legions of angels Matt. xxvi. 53.

Before the appointed time was arrived, he repeatedly delivered himself from danger by miracle. Luke iv. 29. John viii. 59. And the apostle Paul, Philipp. ii. 8, represents our Lord's submission to crucifixion as a voluntary act, in which he spontaneously suspended the exercise of his miraculous powers.

"Ostendit Christus aliquid in se eximium. Alii etsi periculo se offerre poterant, non tamen quoties volunt se periculo possunt eximere, quod ipse poterat. Aabe, x. T. A. i. e. vitam periculo jam præsenti eripere." Grotius.

It may perhaps be objected, that if our Lord had refused to submit to a violent death, the design of the Gospel dispensation would have been frustrated. But this is a

case which could not have occurred under the divine government; events which result from the election of voluntary agents being equally certain with those which are effected by mechanical causes. And it is more honourable to our Lord's character to conceive of him as intrusted with voluntary powers, which the habitual rectitude of his mind would prevent him from abusing to improper purposes, than to suppose that he was never capable of performing a miracle, but when prompted by an immediate divine suggestion: in which case there would be no room for the exercise either of discretion or benevolence. And the language of the New Testament evidently favours the supposition that the miracles of Christ were voluntary acts, while the apostles possessed miraculous powers in a very inferior and limited degree.

IV. Irresistible Power.

1. Matt. xxviii. 18. "All power" (ia, authority,) "is given to me in heaven and on earth."

This text does not refer to power as an attribute of Christ, but to his authority and universal dominion; which is a different question, and will be considered elsewhere. Sect. X.

2. Philip. iii. 21. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working (energy) whereby he is able even to subdue (subject) all things to himself."

Answer. That Christ will be invested with authority to raise the dead, is a doctrine generally received by christians;—and that there is a sense in which all things will be made subject to him, is admitted by Unitarians equally with other christians. That this power, whatever it be,