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this and of all worlds, of all their inhabitants, and of all things which the universe contains.

3. Had it been the intention of the sacred writers to have communicated the extraordinary and momentous fact, that Jesus Christ was the Maker and Supporter of the universe, it would have been very easy for them to express this doctrine in plain language, which could not have been misunderstood, as all now do who hold this opinion; and as they have themselves done, in ascribing the formation of all things to God. See Acts iv. 24. 27; xix, 24, and innumerable other places in holy writ,

4. If the fact were true, that the person who appeared under the form of a man, who had been an infant in a cradle, who had gradually grown up to maturity, subject to hunger and thirst, and all the infirmities of human nature, who had afterwards suffered upon a cross, and been confined to a tomb; if it were true that this feeble, suffering, dying man was no less a person than the Creator and Lord of nature himself in the disguise of a human being, the communication of this amazing fact, to those who had no antecedent suspicion or expectation of it, must have filled their minds with astonishment; it must have been always present to their thoughts, and could not but have made the most prominent figure in their discourses and writings. They must have recurred to it again and again, and have expressed themselves upon the subject in every form and variety of language which would indicate the unusual warmth and agitation of their feelings.

5. Notwithstanding all these grave considerations, three out of four of the evangelists take not the least notice of this extraordinary event:-the fourth, if he mentions it at all, mentions it in language which upon no other occasion carries the same sense; and having barely

hinted it at the beginning of his history, he drops the subject, and never recurs to it again.-The historian of the doctrine and mission of the apostles for upwards of thirty years after the resurrection of Jesus, is totally silent upon this subject.-The apostle Peter, who speaks in raptures of the glory of his Master upon the mount of transfiguration, (2 Pet. i. 17,) makes no mention of his being the Creator of all things.-James and Jude are both silent, -In twelve out of thirteen undoubted epistles of the apo stle Paul, some of them of great length, in which he takes pleasure in expatiating upon the blessings of the Gospel, and the glories of its great Founder, to whom he was himself under peculiar personal obligation, that apostle suggests not the least hint that his admired and beloved Master was the Creator and Lord of the external world. In one short epistle only, and in one passage of that epistle, is he supposed to assert this amazing fact: and this he does in language so unusual, so mystical, and symbo lical, that, comparing what is difficult with what is plain, it may well be admitted that the writer's true meaning may be widely different from what is commonly believed. -The unknown writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, if he meant to declare this wonderful fact, uses language which, in all other cases, conveys a very different sense; -and the single expression in the Book of Revelation, if authentic, is at least equivocal.

6. The obvious and necessary consequence is, either that THE SACRED WRITERS KNEW NOTHING OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY FACT, or, what would be still more extraordinary, that, knowing it, THEY DID

NOT THINK IT OF SUFFICIENT IMPORTANCE TO INSIST UPON IT.

SECTION

SECTION IX.

THE QUESTION CONSIDERED, WHETHER JESUS CHRIST WAS THE MEDIUM OF THE DIVINE DISPENSATIONS TO THE PATRIARCHS AND TO THE HEBREW NATION: AND WHETHER HE EVER APPEARED UNDER THE

NAME AND CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH1.

Ir is maintained by many that two beings are mentioned

in the Old Testament under the name and character of Jehovah; the one Supreme, the other subordinate, the angel or minister of the Supreme, the medium of divine operations and dispensations; and that the subordinate Jehovah was the spirit who animated the body of Christ.

First This doctrine of two Jehovahs appears to be plainly contradictory to the Jewish Scriptures, which expressly and solemnly teach, that "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah," or rather, "Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one." Deut. vi. 4. A declaration cited with the highest

! This extraordinary doctrine, that a subordinate being should assume the name and the character of the Supreme; a doctrine which to all Unitarians appears diametrically contrary to the letter and to the spirit of the Scriptures, and directly subversive of the fundamental doctrine both of the Jewish and Christian revelations, has been supported by many able and learned advocates, ancient and modern, since the time of Justin Martyr, who probably first invented it, and who imagined that this great secret was communicated to him by express revelation. See Just. Mart. Dialog. edit. Thirlby, p. 258, and Mr. Lindsey's Second Address, chap. ii, sect. 3. The last and ablest advocate of this strange hypothesis was the late Mr. Henry Taylor, in a book entitled The Apology of Benjamin Ben Mordecai to Elisha Levi, Lett. ii. and iii. The arguments of this learned writer have been so thoroughly discussed, and so completely refuted, by Mr. Lindsey, in the Sequel to his Apology, chap. vi. that, if such an issue could be hoped for in a theological discussion, it might be presumed that the question was now set finally, and for ever, at rest. This Section contains a brief abstract of the argument on both sides.

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approbation by our Saviour, Mark ix. 29. 32. See likewise Neh. ix. 6. Nor is it pretended that this doctrine was ever received by the Hebrew nation. In support of this extraordinary position it is alleged,

I. That one Jehovah is represented as the object of the senses,-He walked in the garden, and his voice was heard by Adam, Gen. iii. 8;-he descended to see the tower of Babel, chap. xi. 5;-the God of Israel was seen by the seventy elders, Exod. xxiv. 9;-He talked with Moses from the mercy-seat, chap. xxvi. 21, 22,— and exhibited his glory to Moses in the mount, chap. xxxiii. 18; xxxiv. 5. But the supreme Jehovah could never be the object of sense: he can neither be seen or heard.

Answer. If the supposed subordinate Jehovah is a pure spirit, he could no more be the object of the senses than the Supreme-but if the subordinate Jehovah could manifest his presence by sensible symbols, so likewise might the Supreme.

II. The existence of two Jehovahs is expressly mentioned in some passages of Scripture, and in others it is evidently implied.

1. It is expressly mentioned, Gen. xix. 24, “Jehovah rained fire and brimstone from Jehovah out of heaven."-Hos. i. 7, "Jehovah saith, I will save them by Jehovah their God."

Answer. This is nothing more than an idiom of the Hebrew language, in which the noun is repeated for the pronoun. The same argument would prove the existence of two Solomons. 1 Kings viii. 1, "Then Solomon assembled the elders to king Solomon ;"-and of two Rehoboams: 1 Kings xii. 21, "Rehoboam assembled the people to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam." See also Dan. ix. 17. 1 Tim. i. 18.

Zech.

Zech. ii. 9. "Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will shake my hand over thee, &c. and ye shall know that Je hovah of hosts hath sent me." See ver. 11.

Answer. The prophet here makes an abrupt transition from the person of Jehovah to his own: q. d. You shall know that I am a true prophet 2. See Acts i. 4.

2. As a proof that where two Jehovahs are not expressed, they are sometimes plainly alluded to, appeal is made,

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1.) To the word Elohim, which is commonly translated God,' which in the original is in a plural form, and is thought by some to imply a plurality of persons in the divine essence3.

Answer. This is a trifling argument. In all languages it is a common anomaly for words of a plural form to have a singular signification. The word Elohim is almost uniformly used in apposition with singular verbs. It is not limited, like Jehovah, to express the Supreme Being alone: and though in a plural form, it commonly expresses one object only. It stands for one angel, Judges xiii. 22 ;— for one golden calf, Exod. xxxii. 31;-for one idol, Judges xvi. 17;-for Moses, Exod. iv. 16; vii. 1;—and for Samuel, 1 Sam. xxviii. 13.

2.) The plural number is sometimes used when God is introduced as speaking. Gen. i. 26, "God said, Let us

"The fulfilling of these words, saith the prophet, shall be an undeniable evidence of the truth of my mission." Mr. Lowth in loc.This is a text upon which great stress is laid to prove the existence of two Jehovahs, one the sender, the other the sent.

The word Elohim is commonly derived from a word which signi❤ fies power. But the Hutchinsonians, a sect which rose in the last century, and which was of considerable use in reviving attention to the Hebrew language, derive this word from juravit: they read it Aleim, and translate it the covenanters,' q. juratores: and they suppose an allusion to the three persons entering into covenant for the redemption of man. Such reasoning needs no refutation.

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