attest the truth of his mission, and by appointing him to be the Pattern and Guide of his followers, and the Judge of the human race. They delighted to dwell on the resurrection and exaltation of their Master: but they did not neglect to mention that he was restored to life by the power of the Omnipotent; and that he sat on the right hand of God, in consequence of his having faithfully accomplished the task which had been assigned him by his Father. Nay, St. Paul declared God to be the Head of Christ; and expressly affirmed, that, at the consummation of all things, the Son of God will resign his authority to that Being from whom he had derived it.

And can language be more plain-more explicit than this? Does not the New Testament teem with proofs of this kind? And are they not of the most satisfactory and convincing nature? Had Jesus and the apostles preached and written with the single aim of opposing the doctrine of the Trinity and the Supreme Deity of Christ, could they have employed words more expressive of the distinguishing doctrines of Unitarianism than they did employ? Can the most eloquent defender of Unitarianism represent the subordination of Christ to the Almighty, in stronger terms than Christ himself, when he told his disciples, “Mr FATHER IS GREATER THAN I?"—or than the apostle Paul, when he prophesied, "Then shall the Son also himself be SUBJECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIM, THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL?" But we need not reiterate the proofs. Let the inquirer, without prejudice, and with all that attention demanded by the importance of the subject, peruse the copious texts which we have quoted or referred to in these Sections, and ask himself whether it be in the least probable that the person concerning whom, and by whom such language has been employed, is the Almighty One—the great Spirit that pervades the universe—the eternal, unchangeable, ever-blessed God.

The Trinitarian, however, will reply, that he himself admits the inferiority of Jesus Christ, considered as a human being; but believes also that the Saviour was God, as well as man-"God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever." But, with the utmost respect, we would ask the believer in this doctrine, Who has told you this? Did Moses, or Isaiah, or any of the prophets-did Jesus Christ, or the beloved John, or the fearless Peter, or the energetic Paul, or any of the apostles, ever publish this strange doctrine? Did the primitive disciples make any profession of it? Did they ever say a single word respecting it?—No: not one. It was reserved for other teachers to promulgate this mystery, and for other disciples to believe it.

But it will be affirmed, that the doctrine of two natures in Christ -essentially dissimilar, and diametrically opposed to each other-is absolutely necessary in order to harmonize the apparently different descriptions of Jesus contained in the Sacred Writings. Surely, however, such

a doctrine-which, to say the least of it, seems to contradict the plainest dictates of common sense-would, if true, have been stated in the volume of revelation with the utmost force and perspicuity. But Jesus was silent respecting this doctrine: so were his apostles. On reading the memoirs of our Lord, as reported by the four evangelists, we do not find that contradiction, or apparent contradiction, in his language and actions, which might naturally be expected if his person were composed of two natures so essentially different as those of humanity and divinity. The unsophisticated writers of the Gospel, in the narratives of their Master, give us an account of the labours and sufferings of one being—the operations of one mind. They represent JESUS CHRIST—not an infinitely small portion of him only—as an infant, a boy, and a man; as the Messenger, the Prophet, and the Servant of God; as God's only-begotten or wellbeloved Son; expressions, all of which indicate his inferiority to the omnipotent Father. In fact, Jesus never led his disciples to think, that he spoke sometimes in his capacity as man, and sometimes in his capacity as God. In his highest characters as the Messiah, the Son of God, and Judge of mankind-he always mentioned himself as dependent on God, and inferior to him. And shall Christians be wiser than their Lord and Master? Shall they discover, in his words and actions, a doctrine that is not revealed?-a doctrine, too, that would belie the candour, the divine simplicity, and the unblemished integrity of their Saviour's character?

We deny that the doctrine of a twofold nature is necessary to the proper understanding of Sacred Scripture. Far otherwise. It falsifies the sublime descriptions of the Deity which are contained in the writings of the Prophets. It renders the clearest portions of the New Testament dark, ambiguous, or incomprehensible. It obscures the lustre of God's perfections, and destroys the identity of his nature. It represents Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, leaving the glories of the universe, becoming confined for a time to the womb of a woman, and immured "for ever" within the body of a man. It discovers to us that Being who is the original Source of happiness and life, who only hath immortality, and with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning, “taking upon him man's nature;"† and, in that nature, becoming subject to the changes, the weaknesses, the wants, and the sufferings of mortalityrepairing to the lonely desert to offer up his petitions to Almighty God -bending in grief over the tomb of a departed friend-deploring with patriotic heart the anticipated destruction of Jerusalem-yielding up his own will, and submitting himself to the will of his heavenly Father

* See Larger Catechism, Q. 36; or Shorter Catechism, Q. 21.- + See Confession of Faith, chap. VIII. articles II, III, IV.

strengthened and encouraged by an angel, who, according to the system we oppose, was a creature of his own formation-looking from the cross at his disconsolate mother with all the tenderness of filial piety-and finishing his varied course of human suffering by an agonizing and a shameful death. This doctrine also mars the moral beauty of the Saviour's conduct, and deadens the force of his example. It bestows on him a character totally inimical to the highest conceptions which we can form of a person speaking and acting in accordance with the principles of strict integrity. It places before us one giving utterance to many sentiments in direct contradiction to the convictions of his own mind, and which must have been calculated to bewilder and mislead, rather than to instruct auditors, entirely ignorant of his twofold nature;—one who, conscious of possessing infinite power, underived wisdom, and absolute goodness, had not the slightest hesitation to affirm, that he could do nothing of himself—that he could grant distinctions in his kingdom only to those for whom they were prepared by his Father-that he did not know the time of a particular event-that he was not good, compared with the infinitely Holy One, though he challenged his enemies to convince him of sin-and that the doctrines which he revealed to mankind were not his own, but His who sent him.

We would ask, Can such a compound of contradictions be found in the whole extent of universal nature? Can such a being-if we may use the word-be the infinitely wise and blessed, the eternal, almighty, and omnipresent God; or the meek and lowly, the upright, and the consistent Prophet of Nazareth? Is it not at variance with the dictates of common sense to conceive of the same individual person as a being both created and uncreated, finite and infinite; as immutable, yet subject to change; as impassible, yet liable to, and experiencing suffering and death; omnipotent, and yet having limits set to his power; omniscient, and yet unacquainted with some subjects; omnipresent, and yet limited in his presence to a particular spot? Can one mind be conscious of such infinitely opposite qualities? or can two minds, having totally different perceptions, different consciousnesses, different wills, possibly belong, at one and the same time, to one individual person? Must not these contrary attributes existing in two different minds constitute two distinct existences, beings, or persons?-The rational and the scriptural reply to all these questions is, that the doctrine of "two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the Manhood," in the one person of Jesus Christ, is a doctrine which is not-which cannot be true. It wages war with every principle of our nature. It is opposed to the whole. tenor of the Bible-to the announcements of prophets-to the teachings and the life of Christ-to the discourses and the writings of apostles. It is undoubtedly a fiction of the human brain-the product of false philosophy-the remnant of barbarous ages.

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CHAPTER III-OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

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SECT. I.-PASSAGES OF HOLY WRIT SHOWING THE VARIOUS SCRIPTURAL MEANINGS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE WORDS SPIRIT, HOLY SPIRIT, SPIRIT OF GOD."

(1), Vevμa, spiritus, 'spirit, ghost, wind,' &c.

1. Wind, air in motion.- -Gen. viii. 1: "God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.”—See Exod. x. 13, 19. Job i. 19. Ps. i. 4; civ. 3, 4. Dan. vii. 2. Jonah i. 4. John iii. 8. In this sense the original word occurs upwards of a hundred times.

2. Used, metaphorically, for the severity of God's judgments.-Isa. xi. 15: "With his mighty wind shall he (Jehovah) shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams."

3. A supernatural wind.—2 Kings ii. 16: "Lest the spirit of Jehovah hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley."-1 Kings xvii. 12. Acts viii. 39. et al. probably.

4. Used for vanity.--Eccles. v. 16: "What profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?"-See Job xv. 2; xvi. 3. See original.

5. Space, or distance.—Gen. xxxii. 16. Enlargement.—Esther iv. 14. Quarters.-1 Chron. ix. 24. See original of these and similar passages.

6. An exhalation or breathing, a breath.- -2 Thess. ii. 8: "Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the spirit of his mouth."-See Job iv. 9. Lam. iii. 56. et al.

7. Respite.Job ix. 18: "He will not suffer me to take my breath."See Exod. viii. 15. 1 Sam. xvi. 23.

8. The vital and animal breath; the animal soul, or principle of life.-Gen. ii. 7: "Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”—See Gen. xxv. 17. Judges xv. 19. Job xii. 10. Ps. civ. 29; cxlvi. 4. Eccles. iii. 21; xii. 7. Isa. xlii. 5. Ezek. xxxvii. 5, 10. Luke viii. 55. John xix. 30. James ii. 26. and many other texts.

9. The rational soul, the mind, intellect, the principle of thought.— Job xxxii. 8:"[There is] a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding."-See Gen. xli. 8. Ezra i. 1, 5. Ps. lxxvii. 6. Prov. xxix. 1.1. Isa. xxvi. 9. Ezek. xx. 32. Dan. ii. 3. Luke ii. 40. Rom. viii. 16. 1 Cor. ii. 11. 1 Thess. v. 23. et al.

10. Used pleonastically to denote the mind.--Mark ii. 8: "Jesus perceived in his spirit" (comp. Luke v. 22). Mark viii. 12. Luke x. 21. John xi. 33; xiii. 21. Acts xix. 21. 2 Cor. ii. 13.

11. A temper or disposition of mind, inclination.1 Cor. iv. 21: "Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and [in] the spirit of meekness?"-See Numb. v. 14; xiv. 24. Deut. ii. 30. Josh. ii. 11; v. 1. Judges ix. 23. 1 Sam. i. 15. Ps. 1. 10, 17; lxxvi. 12. Prov. xiv. 29; xvi. 18, 19. Eccles. vii. 8, 9. Hos. iv. 12. Mal. ii. 15, 16. Luke ix. 55. John iv. 23, 24. Rom. i. 9; ii. 29. 2 Cor. xii. 18. Eph. iv. 3. Phil. i. 27. 2 Tim. i. 7. 1 Pet. iii. 4.

In this sense the word here translated spirit and courage is very frequently used in Sacred Scripture.

12. The predominant and essential quality of a person or thing Luke i. 17: "He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias." 2 Cor. iv. 13: "Having the same spirit of faith.” et al. 13. "My spirit, your spirit," &c. Myself, yourself, &c.-Gal. vi. 18: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with your spirit” (comp. 1 Cor. xvi. 23).—See 1 Kings xxi. 5. Job x. 12; xv. 13; xxi. 4. Ps. xxxi. 5; cvi. 33. Luke i. 46, 47. John xi. 33 (comp.

ver. 38). 1 Cor. xvi. 18. 2 Tim. iv. 22. Philem. ver. 25. et al. 14. A person divinely inspired, or professing to have received divine

inspiration.1 John iv. 1-6: "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. ... Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. ... Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."-See 2 Tim. iv. 1 ("seducing spirits;" i. e. false prophets).

15. An incorporeal substance or being.—Luke xxiv. 39: "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." -See ver. 37. Acts xxiii. 8. Job iv. 15.

16. A demon.-Matt. viii. 16: "They brought unto him many that were possessed with devils (demons); and he cast out the spirits with [his] word," &c.-See Matt. x. 1; xii. 43, 45. et al.

Demons were absurdly supposed by the Jews to be the ghosts or spirits of wicked persons, who took possession of the bodies of living men, in order to torment them.-See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book vii, chap. 6.

17. An angel or divine messenger, animate or inanimate.—Heb. i. 14: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation" (comp. preceding verses).See ver 7 and Ps. civ. 4. Zech. vi. 5. et al.

18. Jesus Christ.--Rev. ii. 7 : “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches."-See ver. 11, 17, 29; iii. 6, 13, 22; xiv. 13; xxii. 17.