nature.

me? John xx. 17. Go to my brethren, and Jay unto them, I afcend to my Father and your Father, to MY GOD and your God. Rev. iii. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of MY GOD, and he fhall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of MY GOD, and the name of the city of MY GOD, which is the new Jerufalem, which cometh down from heaven from MY GOD. From thefe paffages it follows, if Jefus be God, either that he is his own father, or that there are two different Gods, one of whom is the God of the other. Trinitarians attempt to obviate the difficulty, by saying that in these inftances our Lord spake only of his human But to this it may be anfwered; 1. That the New Teftament gives us not the leaft reason to fuppofe that the perfon of our Lord confifted of two natures, but afferts the contrary. 2. Our Lord, in thefe declarations, makes ufe of the perfonal pronouns, and therefore muft refer to his whole perfon. If he meant that God was the God of his human nature only, he would not have faid, I afcend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God; for in that case, God would not have been His God, but the God only of part of him. He would rather have faid, Go to the brethren of my human nature, and Jay unto them, IT afcends to ITS Father and your Father, to ITS God and your God. But allowing that the perfon of Chrift did confift

X

confift of two natures, and that in thefe inftances he referred only to his human nature, it will even then follow, that Jesus was his own God, that he confifted of two parts, one of which was the God of the other, and that one part of a perfon afcended up to heaven to his other part.

The following are the paffages in which the apostles call the Father, the GOD of Jefus Chrift. II Cor. xi. 31. The GOD of our Lord Jefus Chrift, who is bleed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. Eph. i. 3. Bleed be the GOD and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. See alfo Rom. xv. 6, II Cor. 1. 3. Rev. 1. 6; which may be fo rendered. Eph. i. 16. 17. I ceafe not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the GOD of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom. I Peter, i. 3. Bleffed be the GOD and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. See also Heb. i. 9. Trinitarians attempt to explain thefe paffages in the fame manner that they explain the preceding ones, by faying that the apostles fpeak only of our Lord's human nature. This fuppofition, however, does not appear at all to help them. The apoftles expressly affert, that God is the GOD of Jefus Chrift; but if he be the God of his human nature only, he is not the God of Jefus Chrift, but the God only of

part

of

him.

him. That Jefus Chrift is mentioned in all these places as a person, is as evident as that Abraham is mentioned as a person, in thofe places where God is called the God of Abraham. God therefore must be the God of his whole perfon.

5. Our Lord himself, and alfo his apoftles, refer his existence, his miracles, his doctrine, and all his powers to God, as their author. John vi. 57. As the living Father hath fent me, and I LIVE BY THE FATHER. II Cor. xiii. 4.

For though he weakness, HE

(Jesus Christ) was crucified through LIVETH BY THE POWER OF GOD. Matt. xxviii. 18. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. John iii. 35. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hands. One would imagine that if our Lord were really poffeffed of two natures, and that he ever fpake in his divine nature only, it would be in thofe paffages where he is emphatically ftiled THE SON; and yet as THE SON all things are here faid to be GIVEN into his hands. John v. 30. I can of mine own felf do nothing. John xi. 22, Martha fays to Jefus, I know that even now whatfoever thou wilt afk of God, God will give it thee. John xii. 49. For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which fent me, he gave me a commandment what I fhould Jay and what I should peak. John xvii. 7. Now they have known that all things whatfoever thou haft given me

are

of

are of thee. Acts x. 38. God anointed Jefus Nazareth with the holy ghoft and with power. Eph. i. 22. And (God) hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be church. Heb. i. 2. ed heir of all things. Jefus Chrift which God gave unto him.

the head over all things to the Whom he (God) hath appointRev. i. 1. The revelation of

These are

a few only of the paffages in which our Lord is declared to be dependent upon God his Father, for his existence and all his powers. It is, I think, impoffible for any man, who pays a proper attention to them, to avoid the conclusion that Jesus Chrift is not God; for if he be, he himself and also his apoftles, would not, as is uniformly the cafe, have referred every thing he taught, and did, and poffeffed, to God the Father, as its author; but to his own divine nature, which Trinitarians call God the Son, a' phrafe, however, which is not once to be met with in the fcrip

tures,

6. Jefus Chrift is ftiled the fervant of God, is declared to be fent by him, and is called his gift. Ifai. xlii. 1. Behold my fervant whom I uphold; which prophecy is applied by Matthew to Jefus Chrift. See Matt. xii. 18. Ifai. lii. 13. Behold

my fervant shall deal prudently. Ifai. liii. 11. By his knowledge fhall my righteous fervant juftify many.

Sec

παις

v. 23.

See alfo Acts iii. 13. &c; where the greek word mais may be rendered /ervant, inftead of child or fon. John iii. 16. God gave his only begotten Son, &c. John iv. 10. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it was that faid unto thee give me to drink. John He that honoure/h not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath fent him. I John iv. 14. And we have feen, and do teftify, that the Father fent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. It may here be afked was God the fervant of himself? Did God fend himself? Was God the gift of himself? And yet it feems impoffible to avoid these conclufions, if we fay that Jefus Chrift is God.

7. Jefus Chrift, and also his apoftles declare, in the most express terms, that his Father is fuperior to him. John x. 29. My Father which gave them me is greater than all. John xiv. 28." If ye loved me, ye would rejoice because I faid I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I. (s) I Cor.

iii.

(s) Mr. Hawker profeffes to be of opinion, that in this paffage, " our bleffed Lord meant exactly as the words exprefs; and that there is a precedence in the Father, such as the priority earthly parents may be supposed to poffefs, tho' at the fame time the most perfect equality of nature remains."* But then it will neceffarily follow, that there are two distinct Gods, one of whom had the precedence of the other. That these two Gods fhould make but one God, is fomething more than