man; v. 20. worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him,' and v. 21. grant that they may sit.' Christ also answers with reference to his whole nature' it is not mine to give ;' and lest for some reason, they might still fancy the gift belonged to him, he declares that it was altogether out of his province, and the exclusive privilege of the Father. If his reply was meant solely to refer to his mediatorial capacity, it would have bordered on sophistry, which God forbid that we should attribute to him; as if he were capable of evading the request of Salome and her sons by the quibble which the logicians call expositio prava or æquivoca, when the respondent answers in a sense or with a mental intention different from the meaning of the questioner. The same must be said of other passages of the same kind, where Christ speaks of himself; for after the hypostatical union of two natures in one person, it follows that whatever Christ says of himself, he says not as the possessor of either nature separately, but with reference to the whole of his character, and in his entire person, except where he himself makes a distinction. Those who divide this hypostatical union at their own discretion, strip the discourses and answers of Christ of all their sincerity; they represent every thing as ambiguous and uncertain, as true and false at the same time; it is not Christ that speaks, but some unknown substitute, sometimes one, and sometimes another; so that the words of Horace may be justly applied to such disputants :

Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo ?*

* 1 Ep. i. 90. He employs the same allusion in Paradise Lost: .... call up unbound

In various shapes old Proteus from the sea. III. 6Q3.

Luke xxiii. 34. Father forgive them,' &c. John xiv. 2. in my Father's house." So also Christ himself says, Matt. xxvi. 39. O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.' Now it is manifest that those who have not the same will cannot have the same essence. It appears however from many passages, that the Father and Son have not, in a numerical sense, the same intelligence or will. Matt. xxiv. 36. no man knoweth.....but my Father only.' Mark xiii. 32. neither the Son, but the Father.' John vi. 38. I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.' Those therefore whose understanding and will are not numerically the same, cannot have the same essence. Nor is there any mode of evading this conclusion, inasmuch as the Son himself has thus expressed himself even with regard to his own divine nature. See also Matt. xxvi. 42. and v. 53. thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?' Mark xiv. 36. Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me,' &c. Luke xxii. 29. 'I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.' xxiii. 46. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.' John xii. 27. Father, save me from this hour.' If these prayers be uttered only in his human capacity, which is the common solution, why does he petition these things from the Father alone, instead of from himself, if he were God? Or rather, supposing him to be at once man and the supreme God, why does he ask at all for what was in

his own power * What need was there for the union of the divine and human nature in one person, if he himself, being equal to the Father, gave back again into his hands every thing that he had received from him?

With regard to his supreme goodness. Matt. xix. 17. why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.' We need not be surprised that Christ should refuse to accept the adulatory titles which were wont to be given to the Pharisees, and on this account should receive the young man with less kindness than usual; but when he says, 'there is none good but one, that is God,' it is evident that he did not choose to be considered essentially the same with that one God; for otherwise this would only have been disclaiming the credit of goodness in one character, for the purpose of assuming it in another. John vi. 32. my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.' v. 65. 'no man can come unto me'that is, to me, both God and man-'except it were given unto him of my Father.'

Nay, it is to those who

With regard to his supreme glory. Matt. xviii. 10. their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.' John xvii. 4. I have glorified thee on the earth.' obey the Father that the promise of true wisdom is made even with regard to the knowing Christ himself, which is the very point now in question. John vii. 17, 18. if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself: he that speaketh of him

What he brings what needs he elsewhere seek?
Paradise Regained, IV. 325.

herein is my Father glofruit; so shall ye be my

self seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.' xv. 8. rified, that ye bear much disciples.' Matt. vii. 21. 'not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father that is in heaven.' xii. 50.whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'

Thus Christ assigns every attribute of the Deity to the Father alone. The apostles uniformly speak in a similar manner. Rom. xv. 5, 6. the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus.' xvi. 25-27. 'to him that is of power to stablish you.....according to the commandment of the everlasting God.....to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ-our Lord,' as the Vetus Interpres and some of the Greek manuscripts read it. 1 Tim. vi. 13-16. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who witnessed a good confession.....until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords: who alone hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to-whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.'

With regard to his works. See Rom. xvi. 25-27. 1 Tim. vi. 13—16. as quoted above. 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed

us.' Now the God which stablisheth us, is one God. 1 Pet. i. 2. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.' Even those works which regard the Son himself, or which were done in him. Acts v. 30-33. 'the God of our fathers raised up Jesus.....him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.' Gal. i. 1. by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.' Rom. x. 9. if thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' 1 Cor. vi. 14. God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his own power.' 1 Thess. i. 10. 'to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.' Heb. x. 5. sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.' 1 Pet. i. 21. who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead.' from the dead.' So many are the texts wherein the Son is said to be raised up by the Father alone, which ought to have greater weight than the single passage in St. John, ii. 19. destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'-where he spake briefly and enigmatically, without explaining his meaning to enemies who were unworthy of a fuller answer, on which account he thought it unnecessary to mention the power of the Father.

With regard to divine honours. For as the Son uniformly pays worship and reverence to the Father alone, so he teaches us to follow the same practice. Matt. vi. 6. pray to thy Father.' v. 9. after this manner therefore pray ye; Our Father, which art