Editor to the following assertions of Mohummud, known to almost all Moossulmans who have the least knowledge of their own religion: Truly the great and glorious God raised me as mercy and guidance to worlds.' I was the first of all Prophets in creation, and the last in appearance. I was a Prophet when

Adam was in earth and water.' 'I am the Lord of those that were sent by God. This is no boast to me.' My shadow is on the head only of my followers.' He who has seen me has seen God.' He who has obeyed me, has obeyed God: and he who has sinned against me, has sinned against God.'

"It is, however, fortunate for Moossulmans, that from want of familiarity and intimate connexion between the pri

mitive Mohummuddans and their con

temporary Heathens, the doctrines of Monotheism taught by Mohummud, and entertained by his followers, have not been corrupted by polytheistical notions of Pagans, nor have heathen modes of worship or festivals been introduced among Moossulmans of Arabia and Turkey as a part of their religion. Besides, metaphorical expressions having been very common among Oriental nations, Mohummuddans could not fail to understand them in their proper sense, although these expressions may throw great difficulty in the way of an European Commentator even of profound learning."-Ibid. pp. 199, 200.

The following observations on the success of Trinitarianism are sensible, and appear to us perfectly just :

"With respect to the final success of the Trinitarian party, it appears to me the event naturally to have been expected. For, to the people of those ages, doctrines that resembled the polytheistical belief that till then prevailed, must have been more acceptable than those which were diametrically opposed to such notions. The idea of a God in human form was easy and familiar: Emperors and Empresses had altars raised to them even during their lives, and after death were enrolled as divinities. Perhaps too, something may justly be attributed to a certain degree of pride and satisfaction in the idea, that the religion they had begun to profess was dictated immediately by the Deity himself, rather than by any subordinate agency. There had not been among the Heathens any class of mankind to whom they were accustomed to look up with that devotion familiarly entertained by the Jews towards Moses and their Prophets, and they were consequently ready to elevate

to a God any being who rose in their estimation above the level of mankind."Ibid. p. 218.

Rammohun Roy finds a reason for the prevailing belief of the Deity of Christ in the application of the term "God," though figuratively, to Christ; but, he says, and the remark is worthy of the serious consideration of Trinitarians, whose whole system falls to the ground if each of the three persons in the Trinity cannot be proved to be truly and by himself perfect God, "with respect to the Holy Ghost, I must confess my inability to find a single passage in the whole Scriptures, in which the Spirit is addressed as God, or as a person of God, so as to afford to believers of the Trinity an excuse for their profession of the Godhead of the Holy Ghost."-Ibid. p. 239.

Of the Atonement, Rammohun Roy writes with peculiar clearness and force. He contends that the sacrifice of Christ was not literal but spiritual, and uses the following argument, ad hominem:

"Moreover in explaining such phrases as I am the living bread, If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever,'The bread that I will give is my flesh,' Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,' and Unless ye eat his flesh and drink his blood, ye have no life in you,'—

is drink indeed,'-Protestant commentaMy flesh is meat indeed, and my blood tors take upon themselves to interpret that these phrases are in allusion to the manner of sacrifice, and that the eating of the flesh of Jesus and drinking his blood must be understood in a spiritual, not in a carnal sense. If these writers make so direct an encroachment upon the literal sense of those phrases in order to avoid the idea of cannibalism being a tenet of Christianity, why should I not be justified upon the same principles and on the authority of the apostle in understanding by sacrifice in the language of the apostle a virtual oblation; that Christianity may not be represented as a religion founded upon the horrible system of human victims ?"-Final Appeal, (Calcutta Edition,) pp. 44, 45.

The obvious absurdity of pressing the case of the " scape-goat" into an argument for the common doctrine of atonement, is well exposed by the

Hindoo Reformer:

"The Editor relates, (page 524,) that the priest used to lay his hands on

the head of a living goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, putting them on the head of the goat, and by the hand of a fit person to send it away into the wilderness as an atonement for all their sins in every year.' He then infers from this circumstance that, commandments like these did more than merely foretel the atonement of Christ.' Were we to consider at all the annual scape-goat as an indication of some other atonement for sin, we must esteem it as a sign of Aaron's bearing the iniquities of Israel; both the scape-goat and Aaron having alike borne the sins of others without sacrificing their lives but by no means can it be supposed a sign of the atonement of Christ, who, according to the author, bore the sins of men by the sacrifice of his own life, and had therefore no resemblance to the scape-goat or Aaron. Exodus xxviii. 38: And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord.' I wonder that the Rev. Editor himself notices here that

the iniquities of Israel were forgiven by confession over the scape-goat, without animal or human victims, and yet represents the circumstance of the scape-goat as a prediction of the sacrificial death of Christ, and insists upon the forgiveness of sins being founded upon the effusion of blood."-Ibid. pp. 50, 51.

The Indian convert shews continually that he has weighed orthodox epithets and exclamations, and that he will not accept them for arguments. The following is a case in point:

་

"The Rev. Editor expresses his indignation at the mode of reasoning adopted by me in the passages above quoted; saying, Should not a creature, a worm of the dust who cannot fully comprehend the mysteries of his own being, pause before he arraign his Maker of gross injustice, and charge him with having founded all religion on an act of palpable iniquity?' (P. 529.)

"There appears here a most strange mistake on the part of the Editor. It is he who seems to me to be labouring to prove the absurdity that God, the Almighty and all-merciful, is capable of a palpable iniquity-determined to have punishment, though he leave quite unpunished; inflicting the marks of his wrath on the innocent for the purpose of sparing those who justly deserve the weight of its terrors. If he mean to object to the rashness of applying the

limited capacity of the human understanding to judge the unsearchable things of the wisdom of God, and therefore denies my right, as a worm of the dust, to deduce any thing from human ideas inimical to his view of the Divine will, I can only say that I have for my example, that of a fellow-worm in his own argument to shew the necessity that the Almighty laboured under to have his justice satisfied."-Ibid. pp. 60, 61.

The accomplished Hindoo has been too long accustomed to look through sophistry in the writings of Heathens, to be imposed upon by it in those of Christians. By a single remark he levels the whole fabric of Missionary theology:

"To this assertion of the Editor, the blood of no mere creature could take away sin,' I add the assertion also maintained by the Editor, that the Creator is not composed of blood and flesh,' and leave to him to say, if the blood of Jesus it was. It is evident from the circumwas not that of a creature, whose blood stance of the blood of a creature being unable to take away sin and the Creator having no blood, that the taking away of sin can have no connexion with blood or a bloody sacrifice."-Ibid. p. 85.

Rammohun Roy can retort smartly without ill-nature, e. g.

"In answer to one of the many insinuations made by the Editor in the course of his arguments, to wit, If this be Christ, what must become of the precepts of Jesus?' (Page 576.) I most reluctantly put the following query in reply. If a slain lamb be God Almighty or his true emblem, what must be his worship, and what must become of his worshipers ?"-Ibid. p. 209.

The Indian Unitarian well exposes the inconsistency of the system of "Satisfaction" in imputing contrary attributes to the Father and the Son, the same being: whom it yet supposes to be one and

"The Editor in common with other Trinitarians conceives that God the Son equally with God the Father (according to their mode of expression) is possessed of the attributes of perfection, such as mercy, justice, righteousness, truth, &c., yet he represents them so differently as to ascribe to the Father strict justice or rather vengeance, and to the Son unlimited mercy and forgiveness, that is, the Father, the first person of the Godhead, having been in wrath at the sinful

others. Citing the " Improved Version," he says, (Final Appeal, p. 297,) "for which the Christian world is indebted to its eminently learned authors." And having occasion to refer to Locke, he characterizes him as one of the greatest men that ever lived."-Ibid. p. 80.

Mr. Adam, the author of the Sermon which stands third on our list, is a native of North Britain, who was sent out to India by the Baptist Missionary Society. Having become an Unitarian through the instrumentality of Rammohun Roy, whom he had hoped to bring over to Trinitarianism, he has seceded from his former connexion, and become the minister of the first Unitarian congregation in Bengal. His abandonment of the system of his former patrons has exposed him to bitter reproach, but we are authorized to say that his old, no less than his new, religious associates hold his moral character and talents in high respect.

Some incidental expressions in Rammohun Roy's works lead us to conclude that he at first adopted, if he does not still hold, the Arian hypothesis of this hypothesis the "Claims of Jesus" is an avowed defence. The argument of the sermon is summed up in the following observations on the nature of Christ, as the Son of God:

already established from Scripture, in a preceding part of this discourse. From this we must at once perceive the inconsistency of maintaining his supreme, underived and independent Deity, as well as the propriety of those numerous scriptural expressions which describe him as the only-begotten Son of God, the firstborn of every creature, the beginning of the creation of God; and the just ground of that superiority to every other order of beings which is uniformly claimed for him in the New Testament. He is as far below the unoriginate Jehovah as the derivation of his nature can place him— and he is as far above every other exist ence as the immediateness of that derivation can raise him. Such, then, is Jesus:-the first and only being created originally by the immediate power of God-the first and only being begotten in the womb of a virgin by the immediate power of God-and the first and only being raised from death to life by the immediate power of God."—Pp. 22, 23.

The reader of this passage will judge of the propriety of Mr. Ivimey's denunciation of Mr. Adam in a newspaper as a Socinian, and his vindication of the term as applied to this gentleman on the ground of his declaring "that Jesus Christ was a mere man, and that he had no existence before he was born of the virgin."

We do not agree with Mr. Adam in his Arianism, but we revere his love of truth, admire his ingenuousness, respect his talents, and hope for much good to India from his enlightened zeal.

Since we began this article we have received the copy of a letter from Rammohun Roy to a friend at Liverpool, lately come to hand. The interesting writer expresses great satisfaction in the marks of regard which have been shewn him by the English Unitarians, whom he assures of his warmest esteem. He sends copies of the Final Appeal to several of the Unitarian ministers in this country. He acknowledges with gratitude the receipt of several of our publications, and especially of the "Improved Version," the advantages that he has derived from these, he says, it is impossible for him fully to estimate; and he expresses the hope of being benefited by future favours of the

Sec Mon. Repos. XVII. 685.

same kind. He informs his correspondent that the Unitarian brethren at Calcutta have not yet succeeded in getting an eligible piece of ground for the erection of a chapel, but look confidently forward to this object. And he concludes with saying, that he feels a strong wish to visit Europe and the other quarters of the globe in the ensuing year; with a view, amongst other satisfactions, to a personal acquaintance with the Unitarians of Europe.

ART. IV.-Two Sermons: the First, on the Love of Truth, including a Summary of the Lectures delivered at Essex Street Chapel; the Second, on the Benefits arising from Theological Controversy: preached in Essex Street Chapel, November, 1822. Introductory to the Course of Lectures for the Season. By the Rev. Thomas Belsham. Svo. pp. 52. Hunter. 1823.

MR

R. BELSHAM gives in the first of these Sermons a "Summary of his Lectures," of the subjects of which the following is a list: Evidences of the Jewish and Christian Revelation. Inquiry into Inspiration. State of the text of New Testament. Doctrines of Divine Revelation: Person of Christ: Holy Spirit: Atonement: Original Sin: Election: Grace: Perseverance. Constitution of a Christian Church, under which head is discussed the question of the support of the Christian Religion by the Civil Power. Positive Institutions. Nature and Foundation of Virtue and Moral Obligation. Phenomena of the Human Mind. Natural Arguments in favour of a Future Life. On all these interesting topics the preacher states the arguments in his usual perspicuous manner, and delivers his last thoughts. The summary is a syllabus of theology, and will be useful to the inquirer, and particularly to the lecturer. In conclusion, some reflections are made upon the subject of truth, which are both instructive and encouraging. We extract one passage:

*

the knowledge which he has hitherto attained is as nothing in comparison with the vast unknown. It is said of one of the early reformers, that when he lay upon his death-bed, if any present were discoursing upon some of those imporagitated the Christian world, he would tant theological questions which then raise himself up in his bed, and would call to them to speak out, for that he should die with more comfort if he could learn some new truth before his departure. And a late venerable and learned prelate, who was an inquirer after truth all his days, did not distinctly discern the complete evidence of the simple humanity of Jesus Christ till he had passed his seventieth year."-P. 20.

The second Sermon is an inquiry into the useful purposes answered by error and controversy, and into the duties which the present unsettled state of things imposes upon the sincere professors of the Christian doctrine. Under the former branch of the inquiry, Mr. Belsham shews that controversies have confirmed the evidence of Christianity, that they present a just criterion for the discovery of truth, that they give birth to many of the sublimest virtues, that they are some of the most powerful stimulants and guards to personal and social virtue, and that they will eventually terminate in the discovery of truth, and in the prevalence of general unanimity and universal peace. The duties of the Christian in these circumstances are pointed out, viz. Submission to the will and wisdom of God, acquiescence in the divided state of the church, steadiness at the post of duty, and triumph in the prospect of the ultimate reign of truth and goodness. With great discrimination the preacher indulges much fervour of spirit. The most marked feature of this discourse is confidence in divine truth. The glowing descriptions and animated appeals which abound in it, cannot fail of interesting the reader's best affections.

On the benefits resulting from Persecution Mr. Belsham says,

"The advocate for truth is sometimes

required to endure persecution of various kinds, and in various shapes. And time

VOL. XVIII.

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