that the cup of misery might if possible pass from him. And in the last stage of his sufferings, when stretched on the cross, though supported by the conviction of the immense services he was rendering to the cause of man's regeneration and happiness; yet he rested not on the strength of his own perfections-he cried out, in the agony of suffering nature, for the assistance of his heavenly Father; but, at the same time, forgot not to commit his afflicted mother to the care of the beloved disciple, and to breathe the prayer of forgiveness for his relentless persecutors. In these qualities of our Saviour's character, we cannot discern the absolute perfections of the all-good and infinite Spirit; but we do discern, not unmixed with that frailty to which all created intelligences are liable, the lovely and extraordinary virtues of the greatest Messenger of God's love to mankind. In Calvinistic works man is exhibited as a monster, incapable, by nature, of having any real love for virtue and piety. But, not to mention the many good individuals that have lived in modern times,—such as MILTON, HOWARD, and DODDRIDGE, -we find in the Sacred Writings evidence sufficient to warrant us in believing, that man is gifted with faculties by the use of which he is enabled to attain great perfection in moral excellence. NOAH, JOB, and others, are, in Scripture language, termed just and perfect; King DAVID is even styled holy one;' NATHA→ NIEL, an Israelite, in whom was no guile;m true Christians are said to sin not; and both Jews and Gentiles are, in many places of the Bible, invited to imitate the moral perfections of the universal Parent.o

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Now granting, what we think no one can reasonably deny, that the moral qualities of the Saviour were of an order far superior to those ascribed to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; yet this moral superiority cannot prove that, in respect to essence, he was different from his fellow-messengers; any more than the exalted virtues of NOAH and JOB, of MILTON, HOWARD, and many others, will evince the nature of these individuals to have been superior to that of ordinary men. And until Trinitarians

establish the point, that the virtues of Christ's character are naturally unattainable by any created intelligence, we conceive it unjustifiable to assert the existence of these virtues to be a proof of our Lord's Supreme Divinity. On this subject, however, the language of Jesus himself is decisive. With that humility and modesty of deportment which formed so essential and so beautiful a feature in his character, but which cannot be conceived to exist with a consciousness of absolute perfection, he expressly disavowed the title of "Good Master," and affirmed that no being, except the ONE GOD, was good-infinitely good."

Whatever excellence, then, belonged to the moral character of Christ, —and he was undoubtedly perfect as far as perfection could be attained by a person of his nature, and placed in his circumstances, -that excellence was not underived; it was not absolute; it was not infinite.

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SECT. XI.-EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE

FOR THE OPINION, THAT CHRIST POSSESSES ALL THE PERFECTIONS PECULIAR TO DEITY.

SECT. XI.—EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR THE OPINION, THAT CHRIST POSSESSES ALL THE PERFECTIONS PECULIAR TO DEITY.

OBSERVATIONS.

1. Like a few other texts of Scripture, the appearance and sound of this passage are favourable to the doctrine of Christ's Deity; and if mere appearance and sound were a just criterion of the truth of any opinion, there would be no lack of evidence for the reputedly orthodox tenet respecting the person of our Lord. But every babe in reasoning knows, that such a mode of argumentation is most absurd, particularly in ascertaining the meaning of the Word of God; and would, if adopted, render that blessed book a mass of inconsistency and nonsense." Yet, strange to say! this very mode of interpreting Scripture is employed by men who, in other respects, are acute and judicious. These words" In Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily"-seeming to harmonise with their preconceived opinion, that the Saviour is Almighty God, they adduce the passage with undoubted confidence of its perfect suitableness. Now, it may be remarked, that, were the Supreme Divinity of Christ previously established on a solid foundation, the words cited above might reasonably be thought to imply this doctrine; but, even then, would not necessarily allude to it. In the same manner, if the Deity of Christians were an established doctrine, then those passages which treat of the primitive disciples being "filled with all the fulness of God," and of "God dwelling in them," might with justice be considered as referring to a participation of the essence of the Deity; but no one would attempt to prove, simply from such expressions, that the disciples of Jesus were of the same substance as God, and equal to him in power and glory.

Christians were filled with "all the fulness of God," by participating in the benefits of the Gospel, and the gifts of the holy spirit; and our Lord was filled with the Deity bodily or substantially, inasmuch as he possessed the largest supply of divine inspiration. He was, indeed, 66 FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH." e The great Being who sent him was with him, and in him. God was with him, because Jesus "did always those things that pleased the Father;"ƒ and because the words of grace and truth which he communicated to his disciples were not his own, but those which he had heard from the Father, and had seen with him." God was in him; for it was not by his own inherent power that Christ performed his benevolent and wonderful miracles, but "the Father that dwelt in him, he did the works." It was, therefore, only by the good pleasure of the Father, that "all fulness" resided in his chosen Messenger-his well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

OBSERVATIONS.

2, 3. The supporters of our Lord's Deity lay the utmost stress on the frequent declarations of Scripture, that Christ will judge the world; and they attempt to prove, that a being capable of performing such a work must possess the attributes of the Deity, particularly omnipotence, omniscience, and independence. Christ is, they say, almighty-he can perform every thing which can possibly be done by an all-wise and gracious God. Now, what is the reason adduced for this opinion? Because he will have the power, at the last day, of assigning to every human being his respective reward or punishment. And is this sufficient evidence for believing that he is omnipotent? Because he will, at a stated time, and for a particular purpose, possess very great authority, does it necessarily follow, that he has, and ever had, and ever will have UNLIMITED power? Or shall we dare to circumscribe omnipotence itself, by boldly asserting that the Almighty cannot impart to one of his creatures a great, but still a finite portion of his own power? No: we dare not thus limit the energies of omnipotence.

Christ, it is affirmed, is omniscient; that is, he sees every secret thought of every intelligent mind, and every particle of matter contained not only in this world, but in the whole universe-in the millions and tens of millions of suns and systems which gem the boundless fields of space. And why is it supposed that Christ sees all this? Because he knows all the dispositions and actions of a vast, but still limited number of men. But have we not formerly proved, that God did actually bestow on prophets and apostles an acquaintance with the secret dispositions of particular persons? And because Jesus will possess a knowledge of the human heart to a more enlarged extent-because it will embrace an acquaintance with the thoughts and actions of every human being, must it follow, as a matter of course, that this species or degree of knowledge cannot be communicated? Must it follow, that he who will have this knowledge will know every thing that is known, and can be known, by the Deity? Surely not. It is contended, too, that Christ is independent-that none but an independent being can be the Judge of the human The fallacy of such a statement we shall immediately show.

race.

To the Christian Scriptures we appeal in support of the opinion, that, in whatever manner the world will be judged, and whatever power and knowledge it will be requisite for the Judge to possess, this mighty work will not be beyond the ability of a finite being, employed by God, to perform. In the primary sense of the word, indeed, God alone will be our Judge; but the Scriptures expressly assert, that God will judge the world by Jesus Christ' the son of man, to whom he hath committed all judgment—a man whom he hath ordained to act, on that occasion, as his representative." These, and other similar declarations, are in direct repugnance to that scheme which supposes the act of judgment to