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lime déclaration, in which he personifies death and life, and principalities and powers, and height and depth, and things present, and things to come? Rom. viii. 38, 39. No one, we presume, could be preposterons as to answer the former. Wherefore then be so preposterous as to infer from similar expressions elsewhere, that Christ was the Creator, in contradiction to the Scriptures, which affirm that this appellation belongs only to Jehovah ? How would it sink our ideas of the grandeur and majesty of the Omnipotent, to suppose he could have any partner or coadjutor in the work of creation! We challenge our adversaries to produce a single text to justify such supposition. We defy them to shew any one instance, in which it is, asserted of Christ, as of Jehovah, in the commencement of the Bible, that in the beginning he created (72, soin Sept.) the heavens and the earth, Or in which any inspired Apostle has applied to him such language as Paul applied to that God whom he revealed, on Mars' hill, to the men of Athens; the God that made (i wonras) the world and all things therein the Lord of heaven and earth, who hath made som ́s) of one blood all nations of men, Acts xyii. 26-26; or addressed him in such terms as the primitive disciples addressed Jehovah, when they said, "Lord, thou art God, which hast made ( woman;) heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is." Acts iv. 24. Until such Scriptural proof be placed before us, to convict us of error, we beg to be. excused for adhering to the original faith, and believing with Moses and the prophets, with the Apostles and primitive disciples, and the framers of the creed called the Apostles', that God the Father Almighty is the maker of heaven and earth.

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It may be here objected, that in Heb. i. 2, it is stated that God by him made the worlds rovs αINYAS ETOINTED:-true, the worlds. The word, however, which we demand is not worlds, but heaven, earth, and sea. The Jews knew nothing of any world but one; and the word here rendered world, as we have had occasion to remark before, p. 57, does not mean the globe of earth, or the visible frame of nature, but the age, or dispensation, in the plural, ages, which, according to the Hebrew idiom, is used as the singular for the sake of emphasis and particularity. It means here the new dispensation, which was communicated through Christ; and it is perfectly accordant with the context, that the author should speak of the new dispensation, which it was his object to magnify and recommend, and not of the material creation with which his subject has no manner of connexion.

In a subsequent part of the Epistle, (iii. 2,) it is expressly affirmed, that God made Christ* w wolnavi MUTOV. This, in our

• Whiston informs us, on the authority of Philastrius, De Hæret. c. 41. That in the fourth century, this doctrine was reckoned so heterodox, that, in some places, the Epistle was seldom read in public, partly out of the dread of such an expression—a striking proof how it was understood.

common version, is rendered appointed; but every one knows that the literal rendering is made; and the same verb is so rendered in Acts ii. 36, "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made, somos, that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." But whether the word be translated appointed or made, it is, in either case, conclusive in favour of the Unitarian. The appointer and the maker are the same; and he who appointed or made Jesus to be Lord and Christ, must be his superior and Creator.

Every reader who will take the least pains to examine and reffect, will perceive, that the style of the Apostle, in speaking of the new creation, is very different from that employed by Moses and the Prophets, and by himself, in speaking of the physical creation. They say nothing about principalities and powers, thrones and dominions; nor does the Apostle speak of Christ as the prophets speak of Jehovah. He does not say as David says of the Father Almighty, that "the heavens were made by his word, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth:"nor as Job, that "he hangeth the earth upon nothing—that he maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and that the pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof:"-nor as Isaiah, that "he has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance :"-nor as Jeremiah, that "he has made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground by his great power; that he giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night:" -nor as Nahum, that "he hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet:". nor as Paul, that "he made the world and all things therein that he is Lord of heaven and earth, and giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men; and that in him we live, and move, and have our being." The Apostle makes no such declaration of Christ. But even granting, which we do not, that, in the physical sense, and in the greatest latitude in which the words can be understood, the all things in Col. i. 16, were made by him, and not in him, it would not follow that by him were created the heavens and the earth themselves, unless it were previously proved that the things contained are the same as the container-that the furniture is the house, the cargo is the vessel, and the jewel the casket; for the words are not the heavens and the earth, but all things that are in heaven, and that are in earth. With small attention has he read the Scriptures, who has not learned that the words all things are of very frequent occurrence, and that their meaning must be limited by their connexion. The Psalmist, in his beautiful eulogy on man, says, "God hath put all things under his feet." Is man therefore omnipotent? No. The meaning is, that God has given

him extensive power over both animate and inanimate nature. Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Is Paul therefore omnipotent? No. The meaning is, that he can bear all afflictions and reverses of fortune with patience. Again, he informs us, that God has given Christ to be head over all things to the church; and that he upholds all things by the word of his power. Is Christ therefore omnipotent? No. The Apostle affirms no more, than that Christ orders or conducts the whole of the Gospel dispensation, by virtue of the authority imparted to him by the Almighty. He acts in subordination to the Father. "He that built all things (in the widest sense) is God."

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Even granting that Christ was the Creator of the material frame of nature, which we confidently deny, as contradictory to the most unequivocal declarations of Scripture, he was only the agent of omnipotence. The verse preceding the passage quoted to prove him possessed of that attribute, demonstrates the contrary. It denominates him "the image of the invisible God-the first born of every creature." The image, therefore not the reality-born, therefore not self-existent a creature, therefore not the Creator, consequently dependent, therefore not omnipotent.

In support of the doctrine here impugned, Phil. iii. 21, has been also quoted :

"The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

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A common reader who has no system to support, would suppose that the ascription of a body, though a glorious body, to Christ; and the declaration that the bodies of the righteous shall be fashioned like his, should effectually preclude all ideas of confounding him with Jehovah, who is a Spirit, and to whom there can be no corporeal similitude. More sublime was the idea of God in him who wrote,

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole
Whose body nature is, and God the soul."

But the words, subdue all things, sound like an ascription, of omnipotence, and to some writers, that is enough both for premises and conclusion! The power attributed to Christ, however, is not infinite nor underived, but limited to a particular object, and delegated to him by the Father Almighty, till the final consummation, when death shall be destroyed, and all the just shall be raised incorruptible and immortal. A parallel passage occurs in the xv. 27 of 1st Cor. "He (viz. God) hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest, that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, (even) then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." Can the subordination and subjection of Christ, in his highest state of future glorified existence, be expressed in terms

more strong and distinct? It would almost seem that the Apostle had some inspired anticipation of the attempts that would be made, in a future corrupt state of the church, to identify the Son with the Father; and that he had taken particular pains to express the supreme dominion of God alone, in such a manner as to prevent the possibility of their succeeding for a moment. "The head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God." 1st Cor. xi. 3.

Some orthodox writers think the miracles wrought by our Saviour an ample proof of his omnipotence; and they dwell on them with peculiar energy, as if they were fully demonstrative of his being the Almighty himself, though it is evident from our Lord's own words, that his wonderful works were only the tests of bis divine mission.* They also discover in the style of his language, a similarity to that which is ascribed to Jehovah. Thus, God said, "let there be light, and there was light." Christ touched a leper and said, "I will; be thou clean; and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Mat. viii. 3. Hence they argue, that the Creator of light, and the healer of the leper, must have been the same individual being. But here again, they only afford evidence of their bad reasoning. The people who saw our Lord's miracles performed, never reasoned thus. The same chapter which records the cure of the leper, tells us of another miracle still more calculated to excite astonishment. Being asleep, on board of a vessel, he was roused by the cry of the disciples, “Lord, save us-we perish! And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." This was one of the most stupendous miracles wrought by our Lord; and it may well be supposed that if any thing could create, in those who beheld it, the belief of a present Almighty power, it would be an act like this. But how did they reason upon it? Was it in the style of modern orthodoxy? They were not so stultified. They only "marvelled, saying, what manner of MAN is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" As to the mere exertion of physical power, so far as its display may seem calculated to produce a belief of high supernatural agency, our Lord did not stand alone among the prophets of God. If he commanded the stormy winds and waves to be still, Moses cleft the billows of the red sea, and Jed the Israelites in triumph through the heart of the deep, before

"Though our modern writers do endeavour to prove from the miracles our Saviour did, that he was the same supreme God with the Father, yet Christ himself doth only use them to prove, that he was sent by the Father. and had commission from him to deliver this message to the world; as is evident from these words, John v. 36; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."-WHITBY's Last Thoughts.

the pursuing host of Pharaoh. If he raised the dead, so did Elisha, so did Peter, and so did Paul. If Christ said to the fig tree," Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward, for ever:" Joshua said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.". Our Lord declared to the Apostles, "verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my father." John xiv. 12. If with seven loaves and a few little fishes, Christ fed four thousand men, besides women and children; Elisha caused the widow's barrel of meal not to waste, and her cruise of oil not to fail. If Christ mounted the skies in serene majesty till a cloud received him out of the sight of the disciples; Elijah, with the chariot of Israel and the horses of fire, went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Our Lord, therefore, did not prove himself to be the Omnipotent by the miracles which he wrought, nor was it in the exercise of physical power that his superiority to other prophets consisted; but in what was infinitely more important, the moral beauty, dignity, and sinless perfection of his character. In this respect he stood above them all, unrivalled and alone. In this respect he bore the untarnished image of the Invisible God. But he gave frequent sufficient indications that he was not God Supreme. He was tempted by Satan-he hungered-he wept-he prayed. But Jehovah cannot be tempted by Satan, since he could annihilate him by a breath; he cannot hunger, for he has no corporeal appetite; he cannot weep, for though most compassionate and merciful, he is far superior to those sensibilities which characterise human nature;-neither can he pray since he has no superior, but reigns the Sovereign, undisputed Lord of all. The beloved Disciple tells us, that Jesus being wearied with his journey, sat by Jacob's well, John iv. 6. But “hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" Is. xl. 28.

SECTION TWELFTH.

No Proof in Scripture that Christ was worshipped as the Supreme God.

The advocates of "The Triplicity" affirm, that divine honours were paid to Christ, and thence they infer once more, that Christ was the supreme Deity.

Negatur. We deny that divine honours were ever paid to Christ by any of his contemporaries upon earth; nor have all those who affirm it been able to establish it by any satisfactory proof; though there is no position in divinity, which they have so strongly arrayed their forces to maintain. To a mere English reader who does not take pains to ascertain the exact meaning of

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