rary." The apostles, who were deeply conversant with the writings of the Old Testament, repeatedly described their Master as having been ordained before the foundation of the world," and represented gospel blessings as having been promised or imparted to mankind before the creation of the universe, or " the ancient dispensations." That this kind of language was not unusual amongst the Jews is evinced by the Targum of Jonathan on Gen. iii. 24; in which it is written, that " 'before the world was created, the Lord Jehovah created the Law, he prepared the garden of Eve for the just; "- a statement which doubtless signified nothing more than the excellence or importance of the things described, and the unchangeable purpose of God respecting their existence. t 8. By perusing the 102d Psalm, it will be found, that the words quoted by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews constitute an address to Jehovah. But, having learned, from the highest of authorities, that Jehovah is One, and that there is no God besides him, we dare not apply the passage under consideration to Jesus Christ, unless it were first clearly proved that Jesus himself is that one being. This doctrine, however, has not been proved; and, indeed, no language can be more explicit than that of the New Testament respecting the existence of God and Christ as distinct agents;" the very first chapter of this Epistle bearing the most powerful testimony to the truth of Unitarianism." As, then, the Son of God is a different being from his God and Father, who "anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows," and who undoubtedly is Jehovah, the eternal and immutable Spirit, the Creator of the heavens and the earth," it evidently follows that our Lord is not eternal and immutable. Surely no intelligent Christian or Theist will contend for the existence of more than One Supreme Cause. 9. The words Christ, Jesus, and Jesus Christ, are severally used by the apostles, in many instances, to signify the Christian dispensation, or the doctrines or spirit of Christianity. That it has a similar signification in this passage is evident; as the aim of the writer is to caution his Hebrew converts from being tossed about by opinions contrary to the pure and unchangeable truths of the Gospel. This observation will be recognised as just, by attending to the context." Jesus Christ was not immutable. He underwent all those changes to which human nature is subject. His feelings, his sentiments, and his actions-his poverty and his sufferings—his birth, his death, and his resurrection, and the glorious reward which he obtained from his heavenly Father for his unremitted labours in the great cause of human happiness -all of which form the mighty and animating theme of the New Testament-evince, to a moral certainty, that he was not unchangeable. IV. INCOMPREHENSIBILITY. 10. Matt. xi. 27: All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [him].-Par. Pas. Luke x. 22. PARAPHRASE. All things relating to the purpose of my mission are revealed to me; and no one knoweth the design and extent of this revelation, but my Father and myself, and those to whom I choose to discover it.-Eds. of Imp. Ver.; note on Luke x. 22. REMARKS. These words-" No man knoweth the Son but the Father"-evidently declare that there is something inexplicably mysterious in the nature and person of Christ. - Doddridge. Here the Father and the Son are held both as alike incomprehensible to mortals.-Hill. It appears evident, that a knowledge of the real nature even of a common leaf, or a visible star, surpasses human comprehension: how, then, can a simple assertion, setting forth the incomprehensibility of an object, be considered as establishing its identity with God?Rammohun Roy. See Appendix, page 271, second column. V.ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY. 11. John iii. 31: He that cometh from above IS ABOVE ALL: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth, &c.- See ver. 30. EXPLANATIONS. 'He that cometh from above' or 'from heaven,' is he who cometh with a divine commission and authority. He that is of the earth' is a teacher who has no pretensions to such authority, the priests and Levites who instructed the people, and expounded the law. Their instructions were fallible and imperfect: those of Jesus, the prophet of the Most High, were infallible and divine.-Belsham. So much inferior was John to Christ, in respect to divine knowledge, that the one might be considered as speaking earthly things; the other, heavenly things.-Ken rick. See notes by Grotius and A. Clarke, p. 271. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. z Job xi. 7-9: Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? [It is] as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof [is] longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. Chap. xxvi. 14: Lo, these [are] parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him? But the thunder of his power who can understand?-See chap. xxxvi. 26; xxxvii. 23. Psalm cxlv. 3; cxlvii. 5. Isa. xl. 28. Rom. xi. 33, 34. a See Matt. v. 44, 45, 48; vii. 11; xviii. 35; xxv. 31-46. Mark x. 18; xii. 29-33. Luke xii. 24-32, 48; xviii. 14. John v. 28-30; xv. 14, 17. Acts iii. 26; x. 34, 35, 42, 43. 1 John iv. 7, 8. et al. b John x. 14, 15: I am the good shepherd; and know my [sheep], and am known of mine, as the Father knoweth me, and [ know the Father, &c. (G.) c John vi. 15: When Jesus perceived that they would ... take him by force, to make him a king, he departed, &c. Matt. xx. 21: Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. d See John xvii. 1-3. Also ver. 25, 26. 2 Pet. i, 2, 3. 1 John ii. 13; iv. 7. e John xvii. 18: As thou hast sent me into the world, EVEN SO HAVE I ALSO SENT THEM INTO THE WORLD. f John i. 6: There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John. Matt. xxi. 23-27: By what AUTHORITY doest thou these things?.. And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell you by what AUTHORITY I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not, then, believe him? But if we shall say, of men, we fear the people; FOR ALL HOLD JOHN AS A PROPHET. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what AUTHORITY I do these things? OBSERVATIONS. 10. This passage is adduced to prove, that the nature of Christ is incomprehensible, and therefore divine; but we conceive it to be totally opposed to such an hypothesis, and to such an inference. Jesus says that no one knew the Father, but the Son, and those to whom he would reveal him; but he cannot mean, that his disciples would comprehend the essence of the Father, for this kind of knowledge is in all probability unattainable by the human mind: the knowledge, then, of the Father which Jesus possessed, and which he was commissioned to reveal, must have been an acquaintance with the moral attributes of the Deity, with his holy will, and with his beneficent designs towards his creatures." In like manner, the knowledge of the Son, possessed by the Father only, was not an acquaintance with the essence of the Son, but a perfect understanding of the nature, importance, and extent of that commission which he was pleased to bestow on Jesus of Nazareth. These words "No one knoweth the Son but the Father"-correctly describe the profound ignorance which existed in the world, during the period of our Lord's ministry, in respect to the nature and extent of his kingdom. But that a knowledge of the Son, as well as of the Father, was communicable, and therefore that the subject of this knowledge is not "inexplicably mysterious," is evident from the design of the Gospel dispensation, which was to confer on mankind a knowledge of God, and of their duty and interests, by making them practically acquainted with the religion of the blessed Jesus. To use his own beautiful and sublime language: "This is life eternal to KNOW the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent."d e 11. To come down from heaven, and to come from above, are expressions which, when used of a divine messenger, are evidently of the same import as to be sent from God; a phrase which signifies, not that the agent of God's will ever existed in the locality of heaven, but that he had received a commission from that Being whose peculiar presence is supposed to be manifested in heaven. Thus John the Baptist is said to have been sent from "God,"ƒ but no one would hence infer the pre-existence of that prophet. Our Lord asked the Jews, whether the baptism of John was from heaven or of men; but he cannot be understood as having alluded to any local descent of his forerunner, but merely to the authority by which he acted. So when Christ is said to have come from above, the meaning is undoubtedly nothing else than that he had received a commission from his heavenly Father. This explanation will enable us to understand the import of the phrase, "He is above all." As a prophet he was sent from heaven, or commissioned from above; as a prophet, therefore, and not as God, was he above all-superior to every other teacher, in the purity of his character, and the extent of his authority. SECT. VII. -EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR THE OPINION, THAT UNDERIVED AND INDEPENDENT POWER BELONGS TO JESUS CHRIST. I. POWER IN GENERAL. 1. Matt. xxviii. 18: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. See John xvii. 2. REMARKS AND PARAPHRASE. Does he not, in the fullest manner, assert his Godhead, and his equality with the Father, by claiming and possessing all the authority in heaven and earth?-i.e. all the power and authority by which both empires are governed.-A. Clarke. It is probable, from several of our Lord's parables, that the power which he says here was given to him in heaven and in earth is not to be fully exercised, till his second coming with power and great glory, at the day of judgment; he being now, to use his own language, "going to receive his kingdom," or to be invested with it.- Priestley. All authority is given me over Jews and Gentiles; that is, All men, without distinction, will be invited to become the subjects, and to participate in the privileges, of my kingdom.-Belsham. See page 64, No. 43, note; and page 272. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. a See pages 64-66. b 1 Cor. vi. 12: All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient, &c. Phil. iv. 13: I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me. (G.) 1 Tim. vi. 17: .... the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. 1 Tit. i. 15: Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure, &c. See Isa. xl. 5; lxvi. 16. Jer. xxvi. 8, 9, 12, 16. Matt. iii. 5; xvii. 11; xix. 27. Luke xxi. 32. John iii. 26; iv. 25, 29, 39. Acts i. 1; x. 43. 1 Cor. vi. 12. Phil. iv. 18. 1 Thess. v. 21. et al. c John xv. 15: All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 2 Cor. v. 17: If any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.- See John xiv. 26; xvi. 13. Eph. i. 3. 2 Pet. i. 3. d John v. 19: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (Comp. ver. 20: For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth; and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.) e See pages 58, 59, 64. f See passages in page 146, ref. k and l. g 2 Pet. 2-4: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of GOD, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that bath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. SECT. VII.-EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR THE OPINION, THAT UNDERIVED AND INDEPENDENT POWER BELONGS TO JESUS CHRIST. OBSERVATIONS. 1. In these passages, Jesus Christ declares that the power or authority which he possessed was given to him. But this power is not almighty; for omnipotence cannot be conferred: it is not independent, because it was derived from another. It was, therefore, the gift of a Superior Being. Instead of affording any support to the doctrine of Christ's unlimited power or supreme government, the words, "All power is given unto me,” are decisively favourable to the Unitarian opinion, that the authority, with which Jesus was invested proceeded from God, the Father, the only Source of being and of power." But the precise nature and extent of that power which he received from the Almighty, it is perhaps impossible to determine. If, under God, he was the Creator and Governor of the universe, the requisite power must be superior to any thing of which we can form a conception; but if one of the human race, appointed by the Deity to be the medium of communicating the most important truths to mankind, his dominion is very probably limited to the great objects of his mission. It is certain, that the word all, here used in connection with power or authority, is often used in Scripture in a limited sense, and is not unfrequently restricted to the Christian dispensation.c b 2. By perusing the context, it will be found, that, so far from having claimed the attribute of omnipotence, Jesus unreservedly acknowledged his inferiority to God, by disavowing the exercise of independent power or authority, and by affirming that he performed those things which he saw the Father do, or which were shown him by the Father; in other words, that he acted in conformity with the instructions which he had received from the Father." 3. No one who believes in the mission of Jesus Christ will attempt to deny, that the power which he on various occasions displayed during the course of his ministry, and after his resurrection and ascension, was really divine. The question is, Was that power independent or derived? We unhesitatingly answer, It was derived; for Jesus repeatedly acknowledged his entire subordination to the Father; and, from several portions of the New Testament, there is the most convincing evidence that the Apostle Peter deviated not from the statements of his Lord and Master.ƒ In this very passage he distinguishes Jesus from God; and declares that, by the promises of the Gospel, Christians are made "partakers of the divine nature;" language evidently as strong as that which is here supposed to be used of Christ, and equally implying the Deity of their persons! Ал |