SERMON IV.

TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE EXPLAINED.

JOHN x. 30.

I and my Father are one.

IN the last discourse, I introduced a number of passages from the New Testament, in which our Saviour, in the plainest language, declares that he is a being distinct from God, and dependent on him for all the power he exercises. In the sacred writings there is no contradiction. My present purpose is to review and explain the principal texts which are adduced to support the Trinitarian doctrine.

Every one who is in any measure acquainted with this subject, must be apprized of its difficulty.Biblical criticism is often the result of laborious research into the idioms of the languages in which the scriptures were originally written; into the systems of philosophy, the national customs and private manners prevalent at the respective ages of the sacred writers; and into the meaning of particular words and phrases found in scripture, as these were commonly used by profane authors. Such researches greatly aid in elucidating the oracles of

truth. But usefully to interweave learned criticisms into a sermon designed for a mixed audience, requires nice discrimination and sound judgment; and at last much must depend on authority. I labour under some apprehension that I shall not be able to make myself clearly understood by those who are not conversant with these studies. But I rest on the interest we all have in this subject, to ensure a serious and candid attention to the observations which may be made.

Language is necessarily ambiguous. Particular words, and often whole sentences, will bear different meanings, Sometimes, after the closest attention to the main design of an author, it may be impossible to determine the sense of peculiar phrases. In all such instances, the consistent method is, to put a meaning on passages which are obscure that will accord with the undoubted sense of plain passages, and which at the same time will comport with the apparent purpose of the writer. In respect to that class of texts which are adduced as divine authority for the doctrine of the Supreme Divinity of our Saviour, the real question is not, whether these will bear, in accordance with the general principles of language, the construction Trinitarians put on them; but whether they will not bear the construction of Unitarians? This, as we believe, agrees with the evident sense of passages the most plain, and is in harmony with the general language of the inspired writers respecting the Unity of God, and the character of Jesus Christ, Bearing in mind the obvious sense of plain passages, and attending to the subject on which the writer treats,

will generally enable us to discover the meaning of the bold metaphors and figurative expressions in which eastern languages abound. Thus our Saviour declares, "Whosoever liveth and believes in me shall never die." Of the sacramental bread he says, "This is my body," and of the wine, "This is my blood." The apostle John observes respecting Christian converts, "Ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and know all things."— With these and similar texts we find no difficulty. The subject on which the declarations are made, and the evident design of those who made them, enable us to give them their proper limitation, and fully to understand their import.

Before we proceed to the proposed review of particular passages, I will make a few more general observations. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there is not a single text, I believe, on which, by itself, a discerning mind would rely as an authority for the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ. The only passage produced from the three first gospels, as direct proof of the doctrine, by a learned professor of our country, in a late defence of the Trinitarian doctrine, is from Matt. xi. 27-" All things are delivered to 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." The comment on this text, by this Trinitarian writer, is-" If in this passage, the same omniscience be not ascribed to the Son as to the Father, I am unable to make out satisfactorily what the meaning of it is. At the same time I concede, that the knowl

edge here spoken of, may possibly be merely that which is intended to be revealed in the gospel."— A text more in point cannot be found in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. If Christ proclaimed himself, i very God," is it possible that three evangelists, two of them the immediate disciples of Jesus, and commissioned to be the apostles of Christianity, in recording the publick instructions of their Master, should not have clearly and repeatedly stated this fundamental truth of revelation? A number of passages are found in John's gospel, which are thought to prove the Supreme Divinity of our Saviour. But if I were to select a book from the New Testament, containing more full proof than any other, that Christ Jesus is not "very God," it would be the gospel of John. The other gospels are destitute of such proof, and the general language of their authors are not, I think, consistent with the truth of the Trinitarian doctrine; but in the gospel of John, Jesus speaks more particularly of himself, and absolutely disclaims the attributes of Deity.

From the desponding language of the apostles, it is evident, that at the crucifixion of Jesus, they did not suppose that he possessed the perfections of Deity. When were their minds opened to the light of this new doctrine? It must have filled them with astonishment. They no where manifest the surprise which they must have felt at its discovery; nor does it any where appear in their preaching. Peter, in his first sermon, thus addressed his countrymen-" Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs,

which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." The apostle adds"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Is the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ here published, as we must suppose it would be, by an apostle whose mind had recently been opened to a view of this most wonderful doctrine? It does not appear. that Peter, when he delivered this sermon, was a Trinitarian.

- St. Paul did not personally attend the ministry of Jesus Christ; nor was he instructed in the Christian system by those, who on earth were conversant with him; but he was taught the truths pertaining to life eternal by a particular revelation. Let us attend to the manner in which he described the being and attributes of God to a Gentile audience. At Athens, which for science and literature was the most celebrated city of the Pagan world, and on an occasion which led him particularly to this subject, he addressed the most enlightened men among this distinguished people. He had before preached Jesus and the resurrection.

The philosophers arraigned him before their highest tribunal, and demanded an explanation of his doctrine. How favourable was the opportunity to unfold to these inquisitive men the complex na