any thing to lead to it; incapable of being understood by those, to whom it was addressed, and a species of conduct which, so far as I can see, would have been irreconcileable with common sense.

2dly. This interpretation is refuted, so far as the objection is concerned, by the discourse, of which it is a part.

The whole drift of this discourse is to show the extent of that authority, which Christ possessed, as the Mediator. In displaying this authority, He also displays, necessarily, the power which he possesses. In Chapter v. 19, from which the first of the objected declarations is taken, is this remarkable assertion: What things soever He, that is, the Father, doeth; these, also, doeth the Son likewise. It is presumed, that not even a Unitarian will imagine, that in a verse, in which this declaration is contained, Christ could intend, by any phraseology whatever, to exhibit a limitation of his own power.

With this complete refutation of the meaning, now in question, in our hands, it can scarce be necessary to observe, that, in many subsequent parts of this discourse of Christ, it is also overthrown in the same complete manner.

This interpretation being thus shown to be false; the other, the only remaining one, might be fairly assumed as the true interpretation. At the same time, it may be easily evinced to be the true one, by other considerations.

1st. It is perfectly applicable to the case specified.

That the proposition, containing it, expresses what is true, viz. that Christ, as the Mediator, could do nothing of himself; that is, that while acting under a commission from his Father, he could do nothing of his own authority, but must do all things by the authority, and agreeably to the commission, which he had received; will, I suppose, be admitted by every man. But this proposition is not more clearly true, than it is applicable to the case in hand. If Christ in those things, of which he was accused by the Jews, acted by the authority, and agreeably to the commission, which he had received from the Father; then, plainly, that which he did was right. Of course the objections, and the animosities of the Jews, were without cause, and wholly reprehensible. In this sense, the answer of Christ was perfectly pertinent, and the only valid answer, which could be given.

2dly. That this is the true meaning is evident from John viii. 28, (the last of the passages quoted above.) Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself; but, as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. In this passage Christ informs the Jews, that, after they had lifted him up, on the cross, they should know, that he was the MESSIAH; and that he did nothing of himself: not that he did nothing by his own power: but nothing by his own authority. The former having nothing to do with the subject: the latter being perfectly applicable to it

He also declares, John v. 20, that the Father sheweth Him all things, that Himself doeth; that He searcheth the reins and the heart, Rev. ii. 23; and that He is with his disciples alway, to the end of the world, and, therefore, omnipresent, Matthew xxviii. 20. Peter also says to him, John xxi. 17, Lord, thou knowest all things: an ascription, which, if not true, Christ could not have received without the grossest impiety; and which he yet did receive, because he did not reject, nor reprove, it.

But He, of whom these things are said, certainly foreknew the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. If, then, the objected text denotes, that Christ did not know that time, the declaration cannot be true, except by being made concerning Christ considered in a totally different character, and sense, from those, in which the same book teaches us that He knows the Father, and knows all things. It is, therefore, not a shift, nor fetch, nor evasion, in the the Trinitarians, to assert, that this passage, if thus understood, is spoken of Christ in his human nature only, and not in the nature exhibited in the passages, with which it has been compared. On the contrary, it is a deduction from the Scriptures, irresistibly flowing from what they say; and the only means, by which they can be either consistent, or true.

3dly. It is objected by the Unitarians, that Christ has denied himself to be originally and supremely Good.

The passage, chosen to support this objection, is the answer of Christ to the Young Ruler, Matt. xix. 17, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One: that is God. Here Christ is supposed to disclaim original and supreme goodness, as belonging to himself; and to distinguish between his own goodness and that of God.

What the real reason was, for which Christ gave this answer, I shall not here examine. If Christ is not God; then he certainly would disclaim, and ought to disclaim, this character. If he is; then this assertion does not at all declare, that he is not possessed of this goodness. The decision of this question will, therefore, determine the true application of this answer.

It has heretofore been proved in these discourses, that Christ was the person, who proclaimed on Mount Sinai his own Name to Moses. This Name he declared to be, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth. It will not be contested, that the Person, who made this proclamation, was good in the original or absolute Until this Person is proved not to have been Christ, the objection, founded on this text, is a mere begging of the question. But it is further to be remembered, that Christ was also a man. According to the doctrine of the Trinitarians, therefore, as entire ly as to that of their opposers, Christ used this declaration, in the very sense in which they allege it, with the most perfect propriety. VOL. II.

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rant, is a subject, which demanded no greater extent of knowledge; or rather, which demanded knowledge in a less extent, than many subjects, disclosed by him, in the same prophecy. The subject is the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. In this very prophecy, as well as in various others, he had uttered many things, which appear to demand as great a measure of prescience, as this can be supposed to have done. Such were the arising of false Prophets; the preaching of the Gospel through the world; the earthquakes, famines, and pestilences; the fearful sights, and great signs, which should precede the destruction of Jerusalem; the hatred and treachery of parents and others to his Disciples, and the protraction of the ruinous state of Jerusalem until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. The foreknowledge of the particular period of its destruction was, certainly, no very material addition to the foreknowledge of these things; and would imply no very material enlargement of the mind, by which they were foreknown. Several of the Prophets, it is to be remembered, were furnished with a foreknowledge of dates, not differing from this in their importance: thus Isaiah foreknew the date of the destruction of Ephraim; Jeremiah, that of the Babylonish captivity; and Daniel, that of the Death of Christ; and no reason can be imagined why the foreknowledge of this particular date should be withholden from Christ, even, if we admit, that He was a mere man; when so many other things, relating to the same event, of so much more importance, were revealed to him.

There is, therefore, no small reason to believe, that the Greek word, de, has here the signification of yvwgw, according to the comment of Dr. Macknight; and denotes, not to know; but, to cause to know; a signification, which it sometimes has, as he has sufficiently shown: particularly in 1 Cor. ii. 2, For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified: that is, I determined TO MAKE KNOWN nothing among you, &c. If this sense of the word be admitted, the meaning of the passage will be, of that day no one causeth men to know, but the Father: that is, when, in his providence, He shall bring the event to pass. other words; the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, shall not be disclosed by prophecy; but shall be made known only by the providence of God, bringing it to pass. I need not say that was Literally the fact.

2dly. Christ himself informs us, that no one knows the Son but the Father, and that no one knows the Father, but the Son, and he, to whomsoever the Son shall reveal him.*

In this declaration Christ asserts, that he possesses an exclusive knowledge of the Father, in which no being whatever shares with him a knowledge, totally distinct from that, which is acquired by revelation; and therefore immediate, and underived.

*Matthew xi. 27.

He also declares, John v. 20, that the Father sheweth Him all things, that Himself doeth; that He searcheth the reins and the heart, Rev. ii. 23; and that He is with his disciples alway, to the end of the world, and, therefore, omnipresent, Matthew xxviii. 20. Peter also says to him, John xxi. 17, Lord, thou knowest all things: an ascription, which, if not true, Christ could not have received without the grossest impiety; and which he yet did receive, because he did not reject, nor reprove, it.

But He, of whom these things are said, certainly foreknew the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. If, then, the objected text denotes, that Christ did not know that time, the declaration cannot be true, except by being made concerning Christ considered in a totally different character, and sense, from those, in which the same book teaches us that He knows the Father, and knows all things. It is, therefore, not a shift, nor fetch, nor evasion, in the the Trinitarians, to assert, that this passage, if thus understood, is spoken of Christ in his human nature only, and not in the nature exhibited in the passages, with which it has been compared. On the contrary, it is a deduction from the Scriptures, irresistibly flowing from what they say; and the only means, by which they can be either consistent, or true.

3dly. It is objected by the Unitarians, that Christ has denied himself to be originally and supremely Good.

The passage, chosen to support this objection, is the answer of Christ to the Young Ruler, Matt. xix. 17, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One: that is God. Here Christ is supposed to disclaim original and supreme goodness, as belonging to himself; and to distinguish between his own goodness and that of God.

What the real reason was, for which Christ gave this answer, I shall not here examine. If Christ is not God; then he certainly would disclaim, and ought to disclaim, this character. If he is; then this assertion does not at all declare, that he is not possessed of this goodness. The decision of this question will, therefore, determine the true application of this answer.

It has heretofore been proved in these discourses, that Christ was the person, who proclaimed on Mount Sinai his own Name to Moses. This Name he declared to be, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth. It will not be contested, that the Person, who made this proclamation, was good in the original or absolute Until this Person is proved not to have been Christ, the objection, founded on this text, is a mere begging of the question. But it is further to be remembered, that Christ was also a man. According to the doctrine of the Trinitarians, therefore, as entirely as to that of their opposers, Christ used this declaration, in the very sense in which they allege it, with the most perfect propriety. VOL. II.

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4thly. Christ, as the Unitarians allege, exhibits his inferiority to the Father by praying to him.

How, if it be admitted, as Trinitarians universally admit, that he was a man, could he with propriety do otherwise? He was placed under the same law, and required, generally, to perform the same duties demanded of other men.

5thly. Christ declares himself to be inferior to the Father, in express terms: My Father is greater than I; and my Father is greater than all.

These declarations are perfectly consistent with the doctrine of the Trinity, in two ways. First, as Christ was a man; secondly, as in the character of Mediator he acted under a commission from the Father. He, who acts under a commission from another, is, while thus acting, inferior to him, from whom he received the commission.

But it is further objected, that Christ is exhibited as inferior to the Father by the Prophets and Apostles.

It will be unnecessary, under this head, to mention more than a single instance. I shall select that instance, which seems to be the favourite one among Unitarians. It is contained in the following words, taken from the 24th and 28th verses of 1 Cor. xv: Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom, to God, even the Father: and When all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

To comprehend the Apostle's meaning in these declarations, it is necessary to remember, that Christ, as sustaining the office of Mediator, received from the Father a kingdom, according to the Scriptures; and that when his Mediatorial office ceases, because the purposes of it are accomplished, that kingdom, as we should naturally expect, is exhibited in the Scriptures as ceasing also; there being no end, for which it should be any longer retained. Christ will, therefore, deliver it up to the Father, when, at the Consummation of all things, He presents to Him the Church, as a glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; and makes his final, triumphant entry into the Heavens.

Concerning the latter article, here objected; That the Son shall then be subject to the Father, it can scarcely be proper, that I should attempt to determine the exact import. It is perfectly evident, however, that this must be true of the human nature of Christ. It is also evident, that the act of rendering up the Kingdom which he had received, is an act of subjection to the Father; nor does the passage demand any other interpretation.

That these declarations do not intend what the objectors allege, we certainly know. For unto the Son the Father saith, (Heb. i. 8) Thy throne, O God! is for ever and ever. His dominion, (says Daniel) is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that, which shall not be destroyed. He shall reign