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 the 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: in heaven, &c. OUR FATHER, who art 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! 1 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,". Anointed." "the 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 over-rule 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 any personal antipathy towards those who differ from me in religious opinion; and am at all times ready to concede to others that full credit for disinterested sincerity which I claim for myself; though I should be sorry to compromise for one moment the importance which I believe the Word of God attaches to the sentiments I hold, by not plainly declaring my impression, that those who reject them are in a state of dangerous error. I do, then, expect that we shall both be heard with candour and indulgence by those who differ from our respective views; and I shall be much disappointed if this discussion will not excite a greater spirit of religious inquiry, and a greater disposition to search the Scriptures with studious and prayerful investigation, and circulate a greater feeling of courtesy and social kindness amongst persons of opposite religious opinions, than, I am sorry to say, has hitherto prevailed. I shall proceed, without any further introduction, to demonstrate the truth of the propositions I have proposed to defend, according to Scripture. My FIRST proposition asserts, that there is but one God, Jehovah, who is God only, to the entire exclusion of the alleged godhead of every creature. For this I advance the following proofs: DEUT. vi. 4. Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord. JOHN xvii. 3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only, true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 1 COR. viii. 4-6. As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one: for though there be that are called Gods, whether in heaven or earth, (as there be Gods many and Lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. EPH. iv. 6. One God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all. To these I might add many more passages; but these are amply sufficient to prove, that there is but One God, to the entire exclusion of the alleged godhead of every real or fictitious creature. I would here request every one to draw a clear distinction between the exclusion of all independent beings from the Godhead, and the inclusion of three Divine Persons in that One Godhead. Whilst I not only admit, but maintain, that the texts above quoted, and others of a similar form, are quite satisfactory in proving the exclusion of every created being from Deity, I maintain that they do not contradict the doctrine which teaches the inclusion of Three Persons in the One Deity of the Bible. This leads me to state and prove my SECOND proposition, viz. : The Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator, is the Word made flesh, perfect God and perfect man; possessing, as the Word, the same eternity, knowledge, power, authority, prerogatives, and Godhead, with the Father, and one with him in all attributes. This proposition refers to the Lord Jesus Christ in three points of view; as being the Mediator; as being perfect man; and as being perfect God, one God with the Father. 1. That he is Mediator is asserted in the following, amongst other passages: 1. TIM. ii. 5. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. HEB. viii. 6. By how much also he is the Mediator of a better covenant. I would here remark, that a mediator is one who assumes the office of interposition between two parties who are at variance, in order to effect a reconciliation. This defination will not, at least in a general point of view, be questioned. What I wish principally to remark, in reference to it, is, that a mediator must necessarily be, as long as he sustains the office, subordinate to one of the parties : therefore the Lord Jesus Christ, as Mediator, is, in that capacity, subordinate to God the Father; and, consequently, wherever he is spoken of in Scripture in that capacity, we naturally expect to find clear evidences of his subordination; and as the New Testament professes to be a history of his mediatorial work, we naturally find it full of evidences of his mediatorial subordination. Upon this principle, therefore, it is quite natural to find the Mediator asserting that his doctrine is not his own, but his that sent him (JOHN vii. 16); that the Father had sanctified him and sent him into the world (JOHN X. 36); that he came to do his Father's will (JOHN v. 30); that, during the period of his continuing on earth, as Mediator, his "Father was greater than he" (JOHN xiv. 28); and that as his mediatorial kingdom had a beginning, so when the purposes for which it was instituted shall be accomplished, it shall have a termination when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father (1 COR. xv. 24 to 28). 2. The proposition asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect man; by which I mean that he possessed a true human soul and body. Of this I submit the following proofs: (1.) He is called a man in several passages of Scripture, and without any qualifying expression which would lead us to attach to the word any other than the ordinary signification; as in ACTs ii. 22. "A man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him;" and 1 TIM. ii. 5. "There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (2.) He displayed, during his continuance on earth, every characteristic of a complete, but sinless humanity. (3.) His mind, as man, possessed the same characteristics as a proper human mind should possess. It was capable of acquiring knowledge progressively, as his human body was only capable of increasing in stature progressively (LUKE ii. 52); and after all its acquisitions, it was capable only of a limited knowledge; for there were some things which the man Christ Jesus was ignorant of (as of the hour of judgment, MARK Xiii. 32). An omniscient human mind is a contradiction in terms. But on the subject of our Saviour's humanity, it will be sufficient to refer to two comprehensive passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews: the former in HEB. ii. 14. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage:"--the latter is in HEB. ii. 17, 18. "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful highpriest in things pertaining to God." From these passages it appears that Christ's human nature was assumed, in order that he might become capable of dying, so as thereby to effect our deliverance; and also in order that, by a personal experience in our infirmities, he might feel such a sympathy with us, as would give us a confidence in his faithfulness and mercy. And when we consider how much of our sinfulness and misery results from our ignorance, it is manifest that in order to lay the foundation for a perfect sympathy, he must have assumed the ignorance of human nature. He was, in fact, "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." HEB. iv. 15. I would here remark, that in his human nature the Lord Jesus Christ was dependent upon, and inferior to Deity. Hence, as the four Gospels profess to be a history of the "days of his flesh," we naturally find them containing copious proofs of his dependence and inferiority. But such proofs have nothing to do with the distinct and independent question of his Deity. 3. The proposition asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect God; possessing the same eternity, knowledge, power, authority, prerogatives, and godhead with the Father, and one with him in all attributes. I shall simply rest this doctrine upon the testimony of our mutually acknowledged standard, the word of God. And, as the Bible professes to be a revelation of facts, and not of the explanations of facts or of mysteries,-I shall, throughout the entire discussion, consider this doctrine entirely as a question of fact, to be affirmed or denied by testimony, and shall not enter into any metaphysical disquisitions which would involve any inquiry into its possibility. The simple argument by which it appears to me that this doctrine is to be proved, may be thus stated: The only way by which we can ascertain the God of the Bible, is, by allowing our minds to be guided by that revelation of the peculiar attributes and prerogatives of Deity, which the Bible presents, so as to admit and recognize the Deity of whatever person these attributes and prerogatives of Deity are associated with. Now upon this principle, if I found that the attributes and prerogatives of Deity were ascribed to a person, whom, at the same time, I found to be designated by the name of ISAIAH or PETER, I would, of course, argue for the Deity of ISAIAH or PETER, and maintain that they were manifestations of the Godhead in human nature. But this I do not find to be the case. I find, however, that the peculiar attributes and prerogatives of true and perfect Godhead are in Scripture associated with him who is, at the same time, designated |