Now they must impose strangely upon their own Understandings that can unrequired by the Gospel believe him to be truly God even Infinite in all Perfection of whom 't is said so plainly that whatever Power and Dignity he has is given him by another Christ not God because God and He are plainly distinguished This Consideration alone of it self is a very strong Argument to prove our Lord Christ not to be really and truly God since he is every where spoken of as a Person that differs as much from God as a noble Subject differs from his Prince or King Thus 't is said of him that God anointed him Acts 10. 38. That he offered himself up to God Heb. 9. 14. That God raised him from the Dead Acts 2. 24. That he was exalted by God Acts 2. 33. That he ascended to God Joh. 20. 17. That he sits at God's right Hand Acts 7. 56. That God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us Eph. 4. 32. That he hath redeemed us unto God by his Blood Rev. 5. 9. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ hath put all things under his Feet Eph. 1. 22. I might collect a very great Number of other Places that speak to the very same purpose all which do evidently demonstrate that the true God is not Jesus Christ for if Jesus were sent of God and raised up from the Dead by God and sits now at God's right Hand c. then 't is plain that there is as great a Difference between the true God and him as there is between a Prince and him whom he is said to honour or imploy 'T would be strangely absurd for a Man to affirm that God can be sent of God that God can pray to God that God can ascend to God that God can sit at God's right Hand and that God shall deliver up the Kingdom to God that God may be all in all He that can believe this possible is fitted for the Reception of the most ridiculous and absurd Errors that were ever found in the World Of that Account which the Scriptures give of the Person of Christ As from what has been said before it appears very plainly what kind of Person Christ our Lord is not so 't will be likewise necessary to shew what the Scriptures do declare concerning him as to what he is Now if we consider well the general Scope and Tendency of those sacred Writings we shall perceive very plainly that Christ or the Messiah according to the Promises was really to be of the same Nature with them which he came to redeem that as by Man came Death so by Man might come also the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Cor. 15. 'T was by the Seed of the Woman that the Serpent's Head was bruised Gen. 3. 15. To Abraham the Promise was made that in him and in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed Gen. 28. 14. Moses tells the Children of Israel that the Lord their God should raise up unto them a Prophet like unto him Deut. 8. 15. Of this Man's Seed namely David 's saith St. Paul hath God raised up unto Israel a Saviour Jesus Acts 13. 23. In the Fulness of time God sent forth his Son made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. From all which Places 't is manifest that as to the personal Nature of Christ he is the same as were those humane Ancestors from whom he did lineally descend In all things he was like unto his Brethren except in being a Sinner Heb. 2. 17. Heb. 4. 15. And accordingly we find him almost every where mentioned by that plain Denomination and Term of A MAN Ye seek saith he himself to kill me A MAN who hath told you the Truth which I have heard of God Joh. 8. 40. After me cometh A MAN that is preferred before me Joh. 1. 30. Jesus of Nazareth A MAN approved of God by Wonders and Signs which God did by him Acts 13. 38. He hath appointed a Day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by THAT MAN whom he hath ordained Acts 17. 31. There is one God and one Mediator between God and Men THE MAN Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2. 5. But THIS MAN because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood Heb. 2. 7. But THIS MAN after he had once offered one Sacrifice for Sins for ever sat down at the right Hand of God Heb. 10. 12. I could name a Multitude of others but I think it is needless Now to me 't is strange that any should so much as imagine that the believing and asserting of Christ to be truly an humane Person should derogate from his true Honour and Dignity when the Gospel does so frequently assert him to be such whereas on the contrary 't is not said so much as once that he is God most high or that he is one of that sacred Three which do constitute or make up the true Godhead These Unscriptural Titles are derived only from the meer Opinions and Traditions of either deceived or deceiving Men whose Eyes the God of this World hath blinded so that they cannot see or discern the Truth The Primitive Confessions concerning Christ were Not that Jesus our Lord was God equal to the Father in all kind of Divine Perfections nor that he was God of the Substance of his Father as he was Man of the Substance of his Mother as some have taught in after-times All that those first Confessions do contain was this that he was the Christ the Son of God and the Saviour of the World This was the Faith of Martha She said unto him Yea Lord I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of God that should come into the World John 11. 27. This was St. Peter 's Faith Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Mat. 16. 16. This was the Eunuch's Faith I believe that Christ is the Son of God Acts 8. 37. This was the Faith of the Mariners Of a Truth thou art the Son of God Mat. 14. 33. And the Faith of Nicodemus was We know thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou dost except God be with him John 3. 2. St. Paul is also said to preach Christ in the Synagogues that he was the Son of God Acts 9. 20. He is said also to testify to the Jews not that Jesus was God but that Jesus was the Christ Acts 18. 5. We have seen and do testify saith St. John that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World 1 Joh. 4. 14. Here 's no Trinity in Unity nor God-man nor Hypostatical Union so much as mentioned nor any other of those hard and cramping Names with which the Church of God has been since perplex'd The undoubted Faith on which the Salvation of all Christians does depend Is no other than this These things saith St. John are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing ye might
24 25 28. Answers to the principal Objections made against the Vnitarian Doctrine AND now tho from what has been already said no Man whose Understanding is not inslaved by the Tyranny either of Self-conceit Interest or Education can doubt of so great a Truth as this is namely that no personal Being whatever besides the Father of Christ is God most High as also that other Branch thereof that Jesus our Lord as to his Nature is the same with them whom he came to redeem Yet since there have been many Objections raised against it I will endeavour as briefly as I can to give them such reasonable Answers as shall make these Truths beyond Exception Of the Names of God given to Christ Some object that Christ of necessity must be God since in several Places of Scripture he is expresly called by the Name of God I answer a God he undoubtedly is and a mighty God too according to the way of Expression used in those antient times in which those were called Gods who either represented God's Person or acted in his Name and by his Authority but he is not God Almighty When the Jews did accuse him for making himself God he thus vindicates his Innocence If saith he they are called Gods to whom the Word of God came Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God John 10. 35 36. Christ had as good a Right to this Title as any of the rest if not a better and therefore it could be no Blasphemy to appropriate the same to himself had he done so but they lied for he did not do it he only said that he was the Son of God calling God his Father Of the Mediation of Jesus Christ Others object that if Christ were not God as well as Man he could not have been a fit Mediator between God and Man since in such a Case say they he ought no way to be exactly the Person concern'd A fit Mediator between God and Man must neither be only God nor only Man but one who by Nature is between these two even God as well as Man I answer 'T is not necessary that a Mediator should be of such a middle Nature nor does the Scripture any where assert it There is always supposed in the Work of Reconciliation one offended another offending and a third not concern'd in the Quarrel interposing to make Peace between them Now in this Sense Christ though but a Man was a very fit and proper Mediator Had he been God he had been the Party offended had he been a sinful Man he had been one of that Party that gave the Offence but being a Man perfectly righteous he therefore was fit to intercede between God and Sinners That Christ is our Mediator is plain and evident and 't is as plain that he is only a Man and not both God and Man as some assert There is saith the Scripture one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 2. 5. And 't is most wonderful that in a Matter so manifestly evident Men should dare to impose upon the World another Faith or be induc'd to believe contrary to so plain and evident a part of God's Word Of the Oneness of God and Christ Others object that Christ Jesus must needs be God because 't is said I and my Father are one John 10. 30. And again There be three that bear Record and these three are one 1 Joh. 5. 7. To these I answer that though 't is said they are one yet 't is not said what one they are 't is not said they are one God This is only the ungrounded Assertion either of some easy-minded or else of some heedlesly bold and daring Men. Doubtless by that Passage 1 John 5. 7. is meant that these three are one as to the Record which they are there said to bear they perfectly agree in that Witness which they give concerning Jesus his being truly the Christ as the foregoing Verses do plainly intimate As for that other Passage John 10. 30. 't is plain that the Oneness there meant is a Mystical or Moral and not a Natural Oneness And 't is doubtless explained by John 17. 11. where our Saviour prays that his Disciples might be one as he and his Father were one that they saith he may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they may be one in us v. 21. which denotes an Oneness only in the same mutual Affection for Believers can be one in no other Sense but this and look what Oneness there ought to be between one true Believer and another the same Oneness there is between Christ and God an inward Intimacy like that between real Friends of whom 't is usual to say they are all one one in Heart and one in Mind as those in Acts 4. 32. are said to be Of the Equality of God and Christ Some object that Christ must be God as well as his Father because 't is said that he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God Phil. 2. 6. To this I answer that Christ himself hath told us that his Father is greater than he John 14. 28. Hence 't is plain that if the Son be any ways equal to the Father yet 't is really but in some Particulars for were the Son equal to the Father in every Respect then 't were impossible for the Father to be greater than he Whence 't is clear that the Son cannot be equal to the Father in all things though in some things he may For instance as God can save Believers so this also Christ can do but this Power of Christ is not an essential but a derived Power Thou hast given him Power over all Flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him John 17. 2. These are our Saviour's own Words and 't is plain that he from whom he receives the Power must in Power be superiour unto him he is not therefore Almighty and so by Consequence not God most High as the Objection would suppose Of Christ's being the Maker of the World Some object that Christ is said to be the Maker of the Worlds Heb. 1. 2. and that all things were made by him Joh. 1. 3. and therefore say they he of necessity must be God Eternal I answer many things are spoken of Christ figuratively as he is called a Way a Door a Vine and the Bread in the Sacrament is said to be his Body Now these as those likewise which affirm him to be the Maker of the World are Figurative or Mystical Expressions in which one thing is said to signify another as the Old Creation to set forth the New There are in the Scripture many dark and difficult Passages hard to be understood as St. Peter expresses it 2 Epist 3. 16. which are doubtless true in some Sense or other could we be so
have Life through his Name Joh. 20. 31. If we confess with our Mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our Heart that God raised him from the Dead we shall be saved Rom. 10. 9. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God 1 Joh. 4. 15. Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God 1 Joh. 5. 5. These are a plain Account of that Faith which now is indispensably required of every Christian in relation to Christ The Scripture no where injoins us to believe on pain of Damnation either that Jesus is God most High or that he is indeed both God and Man or that he was Eternally begotten of the Father It only teaches us thus much concerning him that the Man Christ Jesus is the Mediator between God and Men 2 Tim. 2. 5. That he is the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World 1 Joh. 2. 2. That it pleased the Father by him to reconcile all things to himself Col. 1. 20. That there is no Salvation in any other Acts 4. 12. That he appears now in the Presence of God for us Heb. 9. 24. And that he shall judg both Quick and Dead at the latter Day Acts 10. 42. These are Fundamentals so plain and so undoubted that all Christians do universally agree in the Profession of them as they likewise would do in all other Truths were nothing but what is really such imposed on the Faith of Believers Of the transcendent Dignity of Jesus Christ And now although from what has been said hitherto it be plainly evident that the Godhead does consist but of one Divine Person only even the Father of Christ and that Jesus called otherways in Scripture the Son of God is no other than an humane Person yet 't is plain also that he is not a common Man but the chief and most transcendently Excellent of all humane Beings yea in Dignity above even the Angels For as his Conception in the Womb of a Virgin was miraculous so were his Life and Actions a Wonder He made a perfect Conquest both of Death and the Devil and in that great Instance of Magnanimity has out-done all the renowned Heroes both of Greece and Rome And unto which of the Angels said God at any time Sit thou on my right hand but to this Dignity is Jesus exalted Heb. 1. 13. God has crowned him with Glory and Honour Heb. 2. 9. And anointed him with the Oil of Gladness above his Fellows Heb. 1. 9. Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him 1 Pet. 3. 22. He is ascended into Heaven in a triumphant manner and as he now sits there at God's right Hand in Glory so at the last Day shall he come down from thence to judg Mankind with such a surprizing Majesty as shall amaze and confound the World 'T is doubtless impossible for any humane Understanding to conceive or Tongue to express this most excellent Man's transcendent Dignity his Greatness must needs be very extraordinary who is thus set even above the Angels is the Head of every Man and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth 1 Pet. 3. 22. 1 Cor. 11. 3. Rev. 1. 5. And now if to those foregoing Considerations we add that of his most admired Love to us sinful Mortals in making Peace for us by the Blood of his Cross Col. 1. 20. and in undergoing with invincible Patience all those Indignities and Miseries which did befal him in this the Course of that glorious Work of his the opening for Men a new and living way to the Regions of Bliss The Consideration of this I say added to that other of his most transcendent Glory and Power ought evermore to raise up in us that Veneration which is sutable to such most wonderful Instances of unconceivable Majesty and Heroick Affection Yet it is not any way justifiable to honour Christ falsly As the Glory of God is not to be advanc'd by Falshood so neither can we truly honour Christ by Lies he desires no such thing at our Hands neither at the last Day will he reward us for affirming him to be that which indeed he is not they only give true Honour to Christ who own him for the undoubted Messiah or the Son of God and do stedfastly both believe and obey his Gospel As for the other vain and ungrounded Opinions of Men concerning him they no ways conduce to the Glory of our Blessed Redeemer 'T is said indeed that we should honour the Son as we honour the Father Joh. 5. 23. But that word AS does not import an equal Honour no more than it does import an equal Holiness and Purity when we are commanded to purify our selves AS he is pure 1 John 3. 3. And AS he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. Besides the word Honour is of a doubtful Import and doth often-times signify only Obedience as is evident from Ephes 6. 1 2. where by honour thy Father and Mother is clearly signified obey your Parents And accordingly Dr. Clagget in his Paraphrase on the Place makes it to be an honouring the Son with the same Faith and Obedience implying that we are as much bound to believe and obey the Gospel of Christ in the New Testament as we are the Law of God recorded in the Old that since he is made Judg of the World to be certain he will not suffer the Breach of his own Laws to go unpunished Doubtless we ought to be as careful of ascribing to Christ those Glories which are his as we are to give to God Almighty that Honour which essentially belongs to himself and no Man can think or speak too honourably of his Redeemer so long as he no ways does thereby rob God the Father of that truly Divine Honour which is his indispensible Due Our Lord who sought not his own Glory John 8. 50. will give us no Thanks for such Honours as do naturally derogate from his Father's Dignity but such is their Honour who make the Son to be God for then since but one Person can be truly God they do assert by Consequence that the Father is not so God has indeed highly exalted Jesus his beloved Son and has given him a Name above every Name and has put all things under his Feet But when all things are said to be thus put under him 't is manifest that he himself is excepted that did put all things under him 1 Cor. 15. 27. So that notwithstanding the great and mighty Dignities to which God hath exalted Christ yet he has still reserv'd to himself this most supreme Royalty of being the God and Head of Christ God hath given him indeed a Kingdom but when the Intent of this Government of his is accomplish'd he shall again resign it back that so God in that after-state of Eternity may be all in all 1 Cor. 15.
A DESIGNED END TO THE Socinian Controversy Or a Rational and Plain DISCOURSE To Prove That no other Person but the Father of Christ is God most High By JOHN SMITH Father This is Life Eternal to know thee the only true God John 17. 3. LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCV AN ADVERTISEMENT THE Reader is desired to take notice that these Papers were written at different times as Matter did offer it self to the Author's Mind and for that Reason some Particulars are therein touch'd upon more than once for which 't is hoped however that there will need little Excuse since in relation to the whole Design it may be pertinent enough The Method also for that Reason is somewhat unusual but I have ventur'd however to let it pass as it is since not Method but Matter in such Cases is chiefly to be minded and I doubt not but that in one Part or other thereof every Part of the Controversy will be found to be both fully and fairly discuss'd And I wish none that read it may be of that evil Temper as to forbear the Acknowledgment of that Truth which yet in Conscience they dare not deny like those Jews of old who though they believed in Christ yet did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue Joh. 12. 42. A DESIGNED END TO THE Socinian Controversy That there is a God THAT there is such a Being as God by which is meant one Eternal Mind Essence or spiritual Power who is the Original and first Cause of all other Beings besides is manifest for 't is not possible that any other Being whatsoever could give a Being to it self Certainly nothing can be more absurd than to imagine that a thing can act any ways towards its own Production before it is Hence it follows that every one of these Beings is but the real Effect of this first Cause that had a Being before it and this first Cause of necessity must have been Eternal and without Beginning since had there been once no kind of Being at all there then could never have been such a Being as God no nor any other Being besides for doubtless of nothing nothing can be produc'd That this God is but one in Nature or Essence And as 't is thus plain that there is a God so 't is utterly impossible that there can be any more than one God for whoever is truly God must be absolutely Infinite or Immense that is His Divine Essence must be boundless and fill all that endless and inconceivable Space that is without or beyond the Limits of this World as well as this World For 't is impossible that any Being whatever can in any respect be greater than God is or contain him for then he himself could not be truly Infinite nor excel in all Perfections The Nature or Essence therefore of God is Infinite and in Extent is without Bounds and 't is self-evidently impossible for two or more infinitely extended Beings to subsist together which demonstrates by Consequence that God can be but one as to his Divine Essence or Nature And as right Reason does plainly teach this Truth so do the Scriptures as evidently declare the same to instance in a few The Lord he is God there is none else besides him Deut. 4. 35. See now that I even I am he and there is no God with me Deut. 32. 39. There is none like thee neither is there any God besides thee 1 Chron. 17. 20. I am the first and I am the last and besides methere is no God Isa 44. 6. We know that an Idol is nothing in the World and that there is none other God but one 1 Cor. 8. 4. To us there is but one God 1 Cor. 8. 6. I might add a great Number of other Texts that speak to the very same purpose but I think 't is needless in a Case so plain That this one true God is but one in Person Now as 't is thus plain that God is but one as to his Nature or Essence so 't is evident likewise that he can in no Sense be any more than one in Person for if as some affirm the Divine Nature did contain in it several Persons as does the humane Nature then each of those must be truly Immense truly Almighty and truly most Wise else they could not each of them be truly God as some have unwarily asserted and the Trinitarian Notion supposes for whoever is truly God must be every way thus qualified in all Respects For if that Person that is supposed to be God be not truly immense then some other Being of necessity must be greater than he for whoever is not Infinite must be bounded by some other Being which in that respect does truly surpass that bounded Being in Greatness But as I said before nothing can in any kind or respect whatsoever be greater than God is or contain him and by Consequence he alone is truly Immense The Person that is truly God must be also Almighty that is he must be able to do more than any or than all other Beings together can do for doubtless none is the most High but he that in Might and Strength does transcend all others Touching the Almighty says Job he excels in Power ch 37. 28. The Person also that is truly God must be most wise and knowing 'T is doubtless a Property essential to the true God to know more than any other Being besides can know Of that Day and Hour saith our Saviour knoweth no Man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son but the Father only Matth. 24. 36. Mar. 13. 32. Now if that Person who is truly God must be thus Immense in his Person Almighty in his Power and most Wise in his Knowledg then it follows by direct Consequence that 't is impossible for more than one Person to be truly God for nothing can be more absurd than to believe or affirm that two or three distinct Beings such as all personal Beings are can be each of them unlimited as to the extent of their personal Beings can be each of them able to do more than the rest can do or that each of them can know more than the others know Suppose for Instance two such Beings as A and B Now if the Person of A can do more than the Person of B then the Person of B cannot do more than the Person of A for if he could then would not A be able to do more than B and by Consequence he could not be Almighty Again if the Person of A be most wise and knows more than the Person of B then B cannot know more than A for if he did then would not A know more than B and so by Consequence would not be most wise which evidently demonstrates that no more than one Person can be truly God since no more than one can be truly Infinite in all these afore-mentioned Divine Perfections That this one Person who
is truly God is him only who is the Father of Jesus Christ 'T is undeniably evident from the Old Testament that the God of Israel or the Lord of Hosts is the only true God for thus it is written Thou art God and thou alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth 2 Kings 19. 15. There is none like thee neither is there any God besides thee 2 Chron. 17. 20. Thou art God alone Psal 86. 10. Besides me there is no God Isa 44. 6. I am God and there is none else Isa 46. 9. Thou shalt know no other God but me Hos 13. 4. Now as this is plain beyond Contradiction so do all Christians generally acknowledg that the God here mentioned was him only who afterwards was called the Father of Jesus Christ And in the New Testament no Truth is more fully and plainly express'd than this is thus says our Lord himself Father This is Life Eternal to know thee the only true God Joh. 17. 1 3. The same do his Apostles affirm Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 1. 3. With one Mind and one Mouth glorify God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 15. 6. We give Thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Col. 1. 3. He shall deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father 1 Cor. 15. 24. Therewith bless we God even the Father Jam. 3. 9. To us there is but one God the Father 1 Cor. 8. 6. Now it is impossible that any one Article of the Christian Faith can be more fully and plainly express'd in Scripture than this is the Words can be understood in no other Sense than what at the first sight they do plainly signify and they give the most satisfying Answer that can be given to any one that shall ask who God is namely that he is only that most Divine Person who is the Father of Jesus Christ And if in this case plain Scripture is not to be relied on I see not of what great Use our Bibles can be to us Yet this so plain and evident Truth is commonly denied For a very great Number of professed Christians do notwithstanding believe that in the Godhead there be indeed more Persons than only one and that Jesus Christ the Son of God is God also as well as his Father But of this Error the former Arguments are sufficient to convince them for if none be God but the Father of Christ then cannot the Son be truly God also since he in no Sense whatever can be said to be the Father of Christ that is of himself And certainly if Men would resolve faithfully to make use but of common Sense and common Honesty they could not but be convinced of the Absurdity of this Opinion by only reading so often as they do in the New Testament of Jesus Christ his being the Son of God for how can he be God himself who truly is no other than the Son of God If he be the Son only then 't is plain that he is not the Father also who alone is God for 't is impossible according to the Notion we have of Sons for any Being whatever to be the Son of himself No understanding Man when at any time he hears mention made of the Son of a King is so idle in his Imagination as to believe that thereby is meant the King who is his Father he certainly then must be very sensless who can think that by the Son of God is any ways meant God that is God most high Christ not the true God because he himself has a God above him 'T is also evident beyond Contradiction that our blessed Lord cannot be truly God since both he himself and his Apostles do very plainly acknowledg that he has a God above him for instance My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Mat. 27. 46. I ascend to my God and to your God Joh. 20. 17. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God Rev. 3. 12. The Head of every Man is Christ and the Head of Christ is God 1 Cor. 11. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 1. 3. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows I lie not 2 Cor. 11. 31. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the Spirit Eph. 1. 17. Therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness above thy Fellows Heb. 1. 8 9. These Texts are very plain and need no Interpretation to make them be understood Now if our Lord Christ have thus a God above him then 't is evident if any thing in the World be so that he himself is not God most high Christ not God because what he does is by a Power received from God This Truth Christ himself does plainly declare I can saith he of my own self do nothing Joh. 5. 30. All Power is given unto me both in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28. 18. When the Multitude saw his Miracles they marvelled and glorified God who had given such Power unto Men Mat. 9. 8. Now these things can in no tolerable Sense be said of him that is truly God for he that is God most High hath essentially in himself all kind of Divine Dignity and Excellency and cannot without the highest of Blasphemies be in any Sense said to receive them of another But of our Lord it is recorded that he neither said nor did any thing especially in the Work of our Redemption but what he was commanded to say and do by his Father I have not spoken of my self saith he but the Father which sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak Joh. 12. 49. Is he able to save the World To this Power he was raised by God Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour Acts 5. 31. Can he give Power to Believers to become the Sons of God This Power he also has received Thou hast given him Power over all Flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him Joh. 17. 2. Has he Power to raise from the dead Even this Power also he did receive As the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself Joh. 5. 26. Has he Power to judg the World 'T is God that does enable him to do this This is he that was ordained of God to be Judg of Quick and Dead Acts 10. 42. I can do nothing of my self as I hear I judg Joh. 5. 30. Moreover 't is thus said The Glory which thou hast given me I have given them Joh. 17. 22. I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me Luke 22. 29. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ hath put all things under his Feet Eph. 1. 17.
happy as to hit upon the right But in the mean time till this can be done 't is certain that that can never be the right Sense which contradicts the clearest and the plainest parts of the Bible as well as the greatest and most certain Evidences of humane Understanding The general Current of the Scripture declares plainly that Christ or the Messiah was derived from the Seed of Abraham that he was the Son of David that he was made of a Woman Wherefore 't is self-evident that in a literal Sense he could never be the Maker of the World whose true Ancestors were humane Persons and who was born or whose Being did first begin to be some thousands of Years after the World was made All Scriptures therefore that affirm Christ to be the Maker of the World and to be the Maker of all things must be supposed to speak figuratively and are no ways to be understood in their literal Sense and Meaning In all such Cases as this is 't is safer to say that we cannot understand truly in what Sense these Scriptures are to be taken than it is to conclude that they mean that which other more numerous and plain Places of Scripture as well as Reason do make to be impossible Of the two Natures of Jesus Christ When we urge those Scriptures which say that Christ has a God above him that he could do nothing of himself that he knew not of the Day of Judgment that he died to redeem Mankind The Opposers reply that this is meant only as to his Manhood or humane Nature but not as to his Divine Nature for as he was God none was his Superiour he had all Power essentially in himself knew all things and was truly immortal I answer If Christ had really two Natures in him so that thereby he had been truly God as well as Man the Person thus constituted or made up of two such Natures could never have died according to his humane Nature if by his Divine Nature he had been truly God too for how could he in Person have been mortal in one Capacity if he had been on the contrary immortal in another He also could not possibly have been ignorant in one Capacity of what he knew in another nor could he have wanted any kind of Power if in any of his Capacities he had had all Power essentially in himself one Capacity must needs have supplied the Defects of the other especially the stronger of the weaker Of Christ his being the Son of God 'T is objected that as Christ Jesus our Lord was begotten by God on the Body of the Virgin so he must necessarily be God of the Substance of his Father as he was Man of the Substance of his Mother In Answer to this I say that when the Angel saluted the Virgin with the Glad-tidings of her being designed to be the Mother not of God but of the promised Messiah he told her that the Holy Ghost should come upon her and the Power of the Highest should overshadow her and that therefore that holy thing which should be born of her should be called the Son of God Luke 1. 31 35. Now in the Relation of this Message these following Particulars are remarkable First That Jesus our Lord is the Son of God's Power only and not of his Person the Power of the Highest shall over shadow thee 'T was of the Woman only that he was made Gal. 4. 4. He was not generated as some think out of his Father's Substance and so by Consequence was the Son only of his miraculous and Almighty Power Secondly It is not said that therefore he shall be the natural Son of God in that Sense as one Man is the natural Son of another but therefore he shall be called the Son of God or he shall so be and be so reputed because in this one particular Instance God was to him instead of a Father not a Father in the way that Men are Fathers to their Children but a Father in respect of the Virgin 's receiving a Power from God thus in an uncommon manner to conceive in her self a Son of Joseph and David Ver. 31 32. From what has been said I think it appears plainly that Christ his being God of the Substance of his Father is an ungrounded Conceit The Generation of our Lord Jesus may be better accounted for another way for God the Almighty Architect and most-wise Contriver of the Creation has reserv'd to himself a Power to alter the Course of Nature whensoever he pleases and as of a Rib taken out from the side of Adam he made a Woman so by the same omnipotent Power he did enable a Virgin Woman to conceive a Son If God had Power out of mere Stones to raise up Children unto Abraham Mat. 3. 9. we ought not to think it incredible that in this miraculous manner he should out of the Posterity of Abraham raise up this Seed so wonderfully to be the World's Redeemer Of the Power by which Christ did Miracles Some I find are strongly perswaded that none but a Person truly God could do those wonderful Works that Christ did To such I answer that a Man who is no God can do things that are miraculous when God gives him a Power to perform them This is evident in those which Moses did and in those also which were wrought by the Apostles The Works of Christ indeed were extraordinary yet not done by a Power inherent in himself but by a Power derived from God for himself tells us that all Power was given unto him both in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28. 18. He was a Man approved of God saith the Apostle by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him Acts 2. 22. This Power God did bestow on Christ to be only an Evidence of his being the true Messiah Rabbi saith Nicodemus We know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these things that thou dost except God be with him Joh. 3. 2. The Works saith Christ which the Father hath given me to finish the same Works that I do bear witness of me Joh. 5. 36. His Works were an evident Proof that he was no Impostor but a true and most wonderful Prophet yet still he is said to be but a Man a Man whom God was with a Man by whom God did Wonders Of the Incomprehensibleness of God's Nature Some object that we must not think to comprehend the infinite Nature of God nor understand fully every Particular that does relate to his Divine Perfections for God is Incomprehensible and may for ought we know be that which yet we cannot plainly understand him to be namely three in Person though but one in Essence I answer Some of God's Divine Perfections are self-evident and 't is impossible that we can be mistaken therein We are infallibly certain that he must be Immense in Person Almighty in Power and most Wise in Knowledg And although we cannot know what
God is in every Respect yet at the same time we may know certainly what indeed he is not we know certainly that he is not a Man or that he was made of a Woman as Christ was We know certainly that he is not mortal or that he cannot die as Christ did and we know certainly that he has not a God above him as Christ had and we know certainly that he has not received any kind of Power from another as Christ Jesus is said to do And as one Truth naturally infers another so we do from hence assuredly conclude that the Person of Jesus our Lord is not truly God for he was made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. He died to redeem us 2 Cor. 5. 14. He had a God above him 1 Cor. 11. 3. And he did receive all the Power he had of another Joh. 5. 30. Mat. 28. 18. We also know certainly that if the Divine Godhead did consist of three Persons that then neither of the three Persons singly can be God If all three be but that one God together as the Trinitarians assert then no one of them can be the true God by himself for the same Denomination cannot properly fit each Person singly as does fit them when conjoined in one mutual Relation for then they might be said to be indeed three supreme Godheads which is utterly impossible We also know certainly that if any of the three Persons said to be in the Godhead be God by himself as we have proved God the Father undoubtedly is then all the rest are but superfluous and unnecessary as to the Constitution of a Godhead for one Infinite Almighty and most Wise Person is as sufficient to all the Purposes of a Godhead as ten thousand Deities but if three be but the one true God together then no one of them can be that one true God by himself alone Lastly we may be infallibly certain that if Doctrines grounded on so many numerous and great Evidences both of Scripture and self-evident Reason as these are That God is but one in Person That the Person who is truly God is no other than the Father of Jesus Christ and that the most excellent of Men even Jesus Christ was only a Man be false Then we cannot be certain of the Truth of any other Principle in Religion If the Evidences here collected do deceive us 't is in vain to hope by any other Methods to find the Truth Of the Coming down of Christ from Heaven Some as a Proof of our Saviour's Godhead urge those Texts of Scripture where 't is said He came down from Heaven came forth from the Father and ascended up where he was before To which I answer that these prove not that for which they are intended since 't is plainly inferred from other Scriptures that Christ some time before he was sent to declare the Glad-tidings of the Gospel was assumed or taken up from the Earth into his Father's more immediate Presence as St. Paul was some time after into the third Heaven there to be instructed in the Mind and Will of God and to be invested with that great Dignity and Power of being a Prince and a Saviour To this the Prophet Daniel's Vision plainly alludes I saw saith he in the Night Visions and behold one like the Son of Man came to the Antient of Days and they brought him before him and there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People and Nations and Languages should serve him Dan. 7. 13. And from the Words of our Saviour himself 't is plain that he ascended up into Heaven before he came down to declare his Father's Will to Men No Man saith he hath ascended into Heaven but he that came down from Heaven Joh. 3. 13. But no Man but Christ ever came down from thence which he never could have done had he not first ascended up thither And that he was taken up to be instructed in the Doctrine he was to publish to the World is plain also The Father saith he that sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak Joh. 12. 49. The Redemption or Restoration of Mankind was a Work of prodigious Difficulty and God who had fore-ordained our Saviour for the Performance thereof did for his greater Incouragement present to his View the Glories which before the World was Joh. 17. 5. he had designed as a Reward for his Son the Messiah and 't was doubtless this Fore-taste of the Divine and Heavenly Happiness that animated him with Courage and Fortitude to encounter all the Difficulties that stood in his way Hence 't is said that he for the Joy that was set before him did endure the Cross and despise the Shame Heb. 12. 2. Of the Eternity of Christ Some object that Christ is said to be before Abraham before all things and that he had Glory with God before the World was This say they proves him to be Eternal and by Consequence God I answer 't is impossible that Christ can be the true and living God since 't is plain from what has been said in the former part of this Work that no Person is truly God but the Father of Christ and that Christ has a God above him 'T is impossible for Christ to be Eternal for if God be his Father as all acknowledg then there was a time when the Son had not a Being for to be a Son and to be equal in Duration with his Eternal Father that begot him is undoubtedly impossible Besides we are told plainly that the Son was first fore-ordained before he came to have a Being in these latter times 1. Pet. 1. 20. Now no fore-ordained Being can possibly be Eternal since he that did ordain his Being must be before him of Necessity and none but the very first of all Beings can be truly Eternal How could he have a Being before Abraham since 't is declared he was of the Seed of Abraham How could he be before David when 't was out of David's Posterity that God raised up Jesus according to his Promise And since Jesus the Son of God was made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. he could not be more antient in time than his Mother that bare him If follows then that these Scriptures on which the Objection depends are purely figurative and are not to be understood in their literal Sense and Meaning They declare indeed that Christ in some Sense or other was before all things before Abraham and had Glory before the World was but not in that Sense which the Objectors suppose For 't is not reasonable they should be understood in such a Sense as contradicts both common Understanding and the greatest and plainest part of all the Bible they are Places of the same Nature with those which St. Peter affirms are hard to be understood 2 Pet. 3. 16. and for that Reason must by Interpretation be brought to such a Sense as is agreeable to the
own Practice was according to his Doctrine I bow my Knee saith he to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 3. 14. and in many other Places God or the Father not Christ is mentioned as the alone Object of Divine Adoration and Petition And 't is worth nothing that Christ himself whose Example and Footsteps we should follow prayed always to his Father and never did so much as once petition any other Person of the supposed Trinity And as to Thanksgiving 't is plainly said to be the Will of God that we should do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving Thanks to God and the Father by him Col. 3. 17. And in another Place we are commanded to give Thanks always unto God and the Father in the Name of Jesus Christ Eph. 5. 20. And accordingly we read in a great number of Places in the New Testament how the Apostles gave God Thanks through Jesus Christ Jesus our Lord is said in Scripture to appear in the Presence of God for us Heb. 9. 24. to be an Advocate for Sinners 1 Joh. 2. 1. To make Intercession for the Saints Rom. 3. 34. To be the Mediator between God and Men 1 Tim. 2. 5. The Minister of the new Covenant Heb. 8. 6. All which proves him to be the Person that pleads our Cause that solicites our Acceptance the great Transactor and Manager of all Affairs between God and us but it no ways intimates any Divine Worship due to himself And indeed should we put Christ instead of the true God and make him the alone Object of Divine Prayer and Thanksgiving in whose Name then shall we approach the Throne of Grace and by whom shall we render Thanks to God who shall be our Intercessor our Advocate our Mediator For my part I know but of one Mediator and that 's the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2. 5. and he only is the Mediator between us Men and the one true God whom I before have proved to be only the Father of Jesus Christ To make our Lord Christ therefore the Object of our Divine Addresses is as much as in us lies to deprive him of his Mediatory Office which also by Consequence is to deny him to be the Son of God even the Beloved in whom alone we are accepted Eph. 1. 6. Yea and by this we deny also the Godhead of the Father in whose stead we do by this Means place Christ than which there can be nothing in this World that is more truly Antichristian See 1 John 2. 22. Now from the aforegoing Arguments 't is evident that whatever the Sense of the objected Places are yet they cannot mean that which the Objector intends since in vastly more numerous and plain Places the Scriptures make God and not Christ to be the alone Object of our Divine Addresses Of the Novelty of the Vnitarian Doctrine Some object against the Doctrine of God's being but one in Person the Novelty thereof that 't is but of Yesterday in comparison to that which asserts a Trinity which is they say of at least 1600 and odd Years standing I answer that the Objector is greatly mistaken for can that be a new Doctrine which has the greatest and the most plain part of the Scripture for its Foundation The Doctrine of God's being but one in Person is in the former part of this Work proved to be expresly and plainly contain'd both in the Old and New Testament and by Consequence must needs be as antient as the Scriptures are The long Continuance of the contrary Doctrine if it were as antient as the Objectors affirm is yet no Argument of its real Truth We read that soon after the good Wheat was sown the Enemy began to sprinkle Tares in the Field Mat. 13. 25. And the Mystery of Iniquity began to work even in St. Paul's time 2 Thess 2. 7. So that 't is no wonder that some Errors as suppose this of the Trinity be almost of equal standing to the greatest Truths for where God has a Church the Devil always has a Chappel 'T is not the long or short Continuance of any Doctrine as to its Profession that makes it authentick but that Foundation of Reason and Scripture on which it is built A Tenet is not therefore true because of its long or general Belief if at the same time it contradicts Self-evidence and the general Current of the sacred Scriptures Of Scripture-Mysteries Some object that much of the Scripture is mere Mystery and therefore since all Scripture is the Object of our Faith we must sometimes believe things which we cannot comprehend I answer if we are to believe Mysteries when clearly revealed yet it does not from thence follow that therefore we must believe Impossibilities and Contradictions A just God can never lay on us a necessity of submitting to those Terms and Conditions of Salvation which we cannot possibly understand Hence it follows that such obscure Mysteries as evidently do contradict other plain Truths do no ways concern us so long as we are in the dark as to their true Sense and Meaning When a Mystery is plainly express'd in Scripture as when 't is said a Virgin did conceive a Son or that all Men shall rise again or that Christ shall judg the World and no other plain Scripture contradicts it neither is it contrary to humane Reason we are then to believe it tho it may be above our Understanding to conceive which way the Power of God should enable a Virgin to conceive or in what manner our scattered Dust shall be recollected and revived or how our blessed Saviour can be made fit for so great a Work as an Universal Judg. But if some Places in Scripture had said these things but others more numerous and plain had affirmed the contrary or had it contradicted any self-evident Principle of Reason we might then have rejected the Belief thereof as safely and with as good Authority as we now do that of the Popish Transubstantiation which by the way is as expresly contain'd in Scripture as is that of the Trinity But for Mysteries of a more doubtful Nature such as want the Qualifications before express'd they can no ways oblige our Faith so long as their true Meaning lies hid in Obscurity of Expression There will be a time when all secret things shall be revealed and all hidden things shall be brought to light for which we must wait with Patience and not pretend as some do to explain even what is most hard and difficult by such Notions as are purely unintelligible for this is but the more to confound their Minds which were at a loss before 'T is true if any Man can rationally explain a Mystery he then does good Service both to God and Man but this we are infallibly certain is never done when the Sense that is given of a doubtful Place of Scripture is contrary not only to the general Current of the rest of the Word of God but is also a