Page images
PDF
EPUB

66

reason

tinues his narrative through the intermediate stages of his life and ministry; he ends with his resurrection from the tomb. He seems to have taken particular pains to make his narrative as full and minute as possible; yet, wondrous to relate! the one circumstance, which, if true, formed the most astonishing and wonderful of all the wonders connected with our Saviour's character-the miracle of miracles, which, if true, eclipsed all other miracles that ever were wrought the doctrine of doctrines, which, if true, threw all other facts and doctrines completely into the shade-the transcendant fact, at which, as a modern believer in its reality has declared, stands aghast, and faith itself is half confounded,"-THIS TREMENDOUS DOCTRINE, which, had it been true, and had it been known to the Apostle MATTHEW, would have engrossed all his thoughts, concentrated all his feelings in itself, and its own mysterious awfulness, and put all his faculties into requisition, in order to express, in a worthy manner, the overwhelming truth,-this all-engrossing, allconcentrating, and all-mysterious fact, is passed over by MATThew, without being once mentioned by him in his history! He had lived in habits of intimacy and familiarity with Almighty God. He writes, for the instruction of his countrymen, the history of his incarnation; and, strange to say! not one word does the historian drop, as from himself, on the subject of the real nature of that being whose history be records. Read over the Gospel of MATTHEW from beginning to end; you will find many facts recorded which are, to say the least, very hard to reconcile with the hypothesis of the "Proper Deity of the Word." But of the "Proper Deity of the Word" itself, the historian says not a single syllable; nay, the term Word-which we are now told is the accurate and descriptive phrase to denote the Divine Being who thus lived, laboured, and died among men-is not found in this sense in the whole Gospel of MATTHEW. And the only two passages in the book which are supposed to have any reference to the doctrine, are the name EMMANUEL" applied to Christ in the same sense as it was given to a child born in the lifetime of Isaiah; not by the historian, but by an angel: and a clause in the baptismal commission, which no more proves the "Proper Deity of Christ," than a precisely similar phrase in the Epistles of St. PAUL proves that Moses had also a Supreme and Proper Deity of his own. I have looked into the writings of several Trinitarian divines and expositors, both before the present discussion was talked of and since; and I have not found, that any other passage in the Gospel of MATTHEW that is supposed to contain any thing like a direct assertion of the "Proper Deity of Christ." We have seen that neither of these assertions, or supposed assertions, is direct; and neither of them is given in the words of the historian himself. How are we to account for this wonderful silence of the holy Apostle? Are we to suppose with ATHANASIUS,-that renowned champion of orthodoxy, that the venerable Evangelist wilfully concealed the truth, lest it might offend the prejudices of his countrymen, as well as of the Gentiles? If so, we give to his discretion what we take from his veracity and historical credit.

[ocr errors]

But our astonishment is increased, when we find that MARK—

who made MATTHEW'S Gospel the foundation of an independent narrative observes an equal silence; that LUKE, who evidently had the works of his predecessors before his eye, when composing his narrative, is equally reserved; and that JOHN only mentions, or is supposed to mention, the doctrine in his own words, in one passage of his Gospel, the commencement of it,-to which Mr. Bagot's second Proposition obviously refers, and to which I shall probably address myself in some remark, before this discussion closes.

Now, my Christian friends and brethren, I ask you is this probable? Is this the way you would have conveyed a knowledge of this unspeakably important and interesting truth, had you been in the situation of the evangelists? Put yourselves for a moment in the place of these illustrious disciples. Assume to yourselves the feelings of warm, affectionate, and grateful attachment to your Saviour, with which his personal friends must have been animated. Add to their veneration for his character, and their respect for his authority, and their regret for his sorrows, their exultation and transport at witnessing his resurrection and ascension. Add to all these the sentiments which they must have cherished for their Lord and Master, if they knew the statement in Mr. Bagot's proposition to be true. Suppose all these feelings yours; and that, with all these feelings strong upon you, you sat down to write his history. Would you, I ask, would you have passed over this wonderful and awful event as they have done? I fearlessly pronounce, that you would not, and could not have done so. It is not in human nature. The doctrine, therefore, unless it be supported by testimonies far more numerous in quantity and far more explicit in kind than those usually adduced out of the evangelical records, cannot be true. If it had been true, it would not have been left to be gathered, or inferred, or collected, from hints, innuendoes, allusions, from minute criticism, and the doctrine of the Greek article. If it had been true, it would have shone forth in every page; it would have adorned every paragraph; it would have illuminated every line. But so far is this from being the case, that I am willing to rest the whole cause on an examination of any one of the Evangelists. Let us begin with the beginning, -go through every passage from the commencement to the close; let us consider seriatim the different statements made respecting our Saviour in the order in which they occur; and it will then be speedily seen, on which side the weight of scriptural testimony lies. I venture to affirm, that Mr. Bagot will not have adduced three hints or allusions to the doctrine of the Supreme Deity and Perfect Manhood of Christ as united in one person, until I shall have quoted three hundred direct proofs to the contrary. On such a regular and orderly examination of any one Evangelist throughout, I am willing to rest the cause.

The arguments which it will be my duty to bring forward, will be very different from those which have hitherto been adduced on the other side. In place of the hints, allusions, and forged texts which are so often paraded as proofs of the Trinity, I will bring forward a class of texts, plain, direct, and unimpeachable, directly affirming the doctrine which I defend, and from which I take my

designation as a Unitarian-namely, the Divine Unity: affirming it not with exception and reservation of a threefold distinction of per sons, subsistences, or hypostases; but plainly, directly, absolutely, and unreservedly. And I shall, for this purpose, quote such texts

as

DEUT. vi. 4. Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is One LORD [i.e. JEHO VAH our God is One JEHOVAH].

ISA. xxxvii. 16. O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, thou art the God, even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth. [20.] Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thon art the LORD, even thou only.

ZECH. XIV. 9. JEHOVAH shall be king over all the earth. In that day there shall be ONE JEHOVAH, and his name ONE.

NEHEM. ix. 6. Thou, even thou, art JEHOVAH alone: thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host; *** and thou preservest them

all.

MARK Xii. 29. Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD! [30.] And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. **** [32.] And the scribe (with whom he had been conversing) said unto him, Well, Master! thou hast said the truth: for THERE IS ONE GOD, and there is none other but He. *** [34.] And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God!

GAL. iii, 20. *** GOD IS ONE!

I shall next bring forward plain, downright, and intelligible assertions, that the "FATHER" alone is the one Being, who is asserted to be God alone, to the entire exclusion of all others. I challenge Mr. Bagot to bring forward any similar declarations respecting God the Son, or God the Word, if the phrase pleases him better;-to say nothing of God the Holy Ghost;-whom, indeed, it is quite customary to pass over in silence, in the present argument: why this is the case I do not know; for if he be God as much as either of the other two, he has surely as good a right to be put prominently forward as they. Under this division of my subject, I shall adduce such au

thorities as

MATT. xxiii. 9. One is your Father who is in heaven.

1 COR. viii. 4-6. *** There is none other God but One: for though there be that are called Gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be Gods many and Lords many,) yet to us there is but One God, THE FATHER, of whom are all things, and we in him, &c.

EPH. iv. 6. There is ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

MATT. X. 29-31. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without YOUR FATHER!

LUKE X. 21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, () FATHER, LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. * * Even so, FATHER, &c.—See MATT. xi. 25.

I shall then advert to a number of passages in which our Lord Jesus Christ is expressly distinguished from the one God, in such a manner, as to prove that his alleged Deity is entirely excluded by those passages which assert the sole Supremacy of the Father. With this view I shall refer to such texts as

C

MARK X. 18. Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one; that is, GOD!

1 TIM. ii. 5. There is One God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

JOHN Xvii. 3. This is life eternal, that they may know THEE, THE ONLY TRUE GOD,-and-Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent!

MARK Xiii. 32. Of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son,-BUT THE FATHER!

MATT. xii. 50. Whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, &c.

I shall then advert to the passages which contain the doctrine of the New Testament, respecting religious worship; which show that, according to the example and precepts of Christ, and the practice of his disciples, the Father is the only being to whom it can be presented; and, accordingly, that he is the only true God, to whom all homage and veneration are due. The passages which I shall adduce under this head are such as the following:

MATT. vi. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to THY FATHER Who is in secret; and THY FATHER, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

MATT. vi. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye: OUR FATHER, who art in heaven, &c.

MATT. Xviii. 19. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of MY FATHER who is in heaven.

LUKE X. 21. At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O FATHER, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes; even so, FATHER, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

This verse not only marks a plain line of distinction between our Saviour and the Father, but proves that our Lord addressed his prayers only to the Father; which is confirmed, among other texts, by—

Matt.xxvi. 39. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O MY FATHER, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt!

After bringing forward these proofs in support-I might say in demonstration of the doctrine contained in my first proposition, I shall advert in support of my second, to the names, titles, and designations, commonly bestowed upon our Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture; and I shall be able to prove, that these are all such as we know, either from their own nature, or from the express assertions of the Sacred Writers, to be expressive of inferiority. Of these I may now enumerate the terms, "Word,”- -"Son of God,"—" Child of God,"-"the Son,"-"the Son of Man,"-"Man,"-" Christ," "Prophet," "Apostle," "the Sent,"-"the Mediator,"-" the Anointed."

I shall next bring forward a numerous array of passages, in which it is expressly declared, that Christ was created by the Father; and that he received from him existence, wisdom, power, authority, and dignity that he is in all things subordinate and inferior to the Father; and expressly disclaimed a participation of the divine attri

butes in that unlimited sense in which they belong to God. Now, you will observe, that for all these things I shall adduce, not hints, or innuendos, or inferences, but plain, direct, and explicit assertions: and I challenge Mr. Bagot to bring forward, either any assertions of the same kind, respecting God, the Father; or any assertions, equally plain and palpable, respecting the dignity which he assigns to our Lord Jesus Christ. On the contrary, I shall prove before you, by quotations of Scripture, that those expressions which are commonly brought forward as proofs on this side, are freely ascribed to other persons whose Supreme Deity nobody dreams of asserting; and that, when the Sacred Writers celebrate, in the highest strains, the glory and dignity of the Saviour, they do, at the same time, couple with their praises expressions which plainly intimate, that, whatever Christ is, how high so ever his titles, and how exalted so ever his rank, he is, and has all, of and from the Father; and whatever the respect and honour which is his due, it is to redound ultimately to the glory of the Father. Now, this is exactly the pure Unitarian doctrine; and if I prove these things, I prove my point.

MR. BAGOT.-I shall not occupy either your time or my own with a long introduction. I appear before you this day in consequence of what I consider a challenge from Mr. Porter, to discuss with him one of the most important doctrines of Christianity-the True Deity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

He

I enter upon this solemn undertaking with the most perfect persuasion, that the progress of the glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed God cannot be impeded, however it might be the Lord's pleasure, in some way, to advance it, by the result of this controversy. to whom the shields of the earth belong has infinite resources at command, and can easily overrule every circumstance to the promotion of his glory. Whatever may be the sentiments of individuals as to the propriety of such a discussion, I must take the liberty to insist, that, when the challenge had once appeared, I had but one course to follow, namely, to accept it; and I trust that, in so doing, I have been solely influenced by a sense of duty. There are, I am aware, two classes of persons in this assembly. To those who agree with me in sentiment, I would earnestly say, Let me have your fervent prayers, that he who was with Paul when no man stood beside him who said to him in the hour of trial, “ My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is perfected in weakness;" and who promised to his Apostles a mouth and a wisdom which none of their adversaries could gainsay or resist,-would grant me a spirit of humility, energy, and judgment, and enable me to speak the truth in love, so as to glorify his holy name. And to those who differ from me I would affectionately say, I do not come here as your enemy, but as your friend. I am influenced, I trust, neither by bigotry, prejudice, nor sectarian animosity; but simply by a desire to proclaim and enforce what I consider to be the very essence and vitality of the Christian religion. I would earnestly disclaim the entertainment of

« PreviousContinue »