ONE GOD THE FATHER;

OR THE

STRICT AND PROPER

MONOTHEISM OF THE GOSPEL

VINDICATED.

BY

THOMAS FOSTER BARHAM, M.B. CANTAB.,

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS

IN LONDON.

"To us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ."

PAUL.

Η θαύματα πολλά· καὶ που τι καὶ βροτῶν φρένας,

ὑπὲρ τὸν αλαθῆ λόγον,

Δεδαιδαλμένοι ψέυδεσι ποικίλοις,

εξαπατῶντι μῦθοι.

PINDAR.

A New Edition, Rebised and Enlarged.

LONDON:

WHITFIELD, GREEN & SON, 178, STRAND.

I THINK it probable, that many of those by whom the theology advocated in the following pages will be cordially approved, may still incline to deem their publication, at this time, superfluous, on the ground that, in the present day, the interest of textuary controversy has very much passed away. They will allege, that the attention of the advanced and scholarly inquirers is now directed, not so much to the threadbare question of what doctrines the Scriptures teach, on which little new can be said, as to the more stirring one which regards the origin, inspiration and authority of the Scriptures themselves.

Admitting the truth of this statement, and hailing with entire approval the progress of critical inquiry in every branch, I yet conceive that it still is, and ever will be, a most desirable object, that just views should be

entertained as to what are the real doctrines of the New Testament. This is a point of simple justice toward that great religious movement, which has exercised so vast and beneficent an influence on human affairs. None can deny that Christianity has been a great fact, which in all its parts and bearings deserves to be thoroughly understood. But a consideration of more practical importance is this. So long as the Scriptures shall hold that high authority among us, as a standard of religious belief and duty, which they now do, and, I believe, will after all researches continue to do, it will depend on their being well or ill understood, whether they will tend to diffuse religious truth or religious error.

No doubt, so cardinal and catholic a doctrine as that of the Divine Unity would not fail to approve itself to men of enlightened minds, even though it were manifest that the Scriptures contradicted it. But with the people at large it would not be so; and nothing seems likely to rescue Christendom from a virtual polytheism, but a generally-spread conviction, that the teaching of the Bible plainly establishes the sole Deity of the Father. For my own part, however, I think it right frankly to state, that the opinion maintained by many, that

spiritual manifestations transcending the ordinary course of nature are incapable of proof from human testimony, appears to me rash and unphilosophical; and thus to prejudice the examination of the historical evidence in favour of such occurrences, I deem plainly unjust. And I further avow my belief, that, in the main, the events recorded in the Gospel history, including the signs and wonders, and the resurrection of Christ, have successfully passed through this ordeal, and are still entitled to credit as historical facts, and as divine attestations to the truth and importance of the Christian religion.

This little work, originally published in the year 1824, is now reprinted in a fourth and enlarged edition, from a belief that, amid many larger and more learned volumes on the same subject, there is yet room for a small one, of a simple and popular kind, like the present. It is hoped, that it will now be found considerably improved, by an entire revisal, a better arrangement, important additions, and a division into chapters. It is believed, that few important texts, bearing on the questions treated, will have been left unnoticed; and for the sake of easy reference to these texts, an index of them all is subjoined.