either making the death of Chrift his perfect obedience and goodness, or of conceiving of his perfect obedience and goodness as the things from which his blood or death. derived its value in the fight of God. The truth is, the blood or death of Chrift was pleafing and acceptable to God, neither in itself, nor on account of his perfect obedience and goodness; but because it was a fit and proper mean for promoting, upon the whole, the happiness of the rational fyftem, particularly, the happiness of penitent finners, and that in a confiftency with their own moral character, the end and rectitude of divine government, and the happiness both of their own fpecies, and of all other rational creatures. The Dr's Scripture-evidence of this point. §. 11. III. THE Dr. goes on with his proof of this point, in the following words, "But his (Chrift's) blood implies a cha "racter; and it is his blood, as he is a "lamb without fpot and blemish, (1 Pet. i. 19.) that is, as he is perfectly holy, "which is of fo great value in the fight of "God. His blood is the fame as his offer"ing himself without spot to God, Heb. ix. " 14. 14." And to the fame purpose, "The "blood of Chrift, by which he hath re"deemed us, is precious (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.) or of great worth, as it is the blood of "the lamb of God without fpot and blemish; or fpotlefs and unblameable in all duty "and obedience to God, and in love and "goodness to men, through the whole "courfe of his life, but principally at his "death. This was the facrifice which he "offered to God, (Heb. ix. 14.) and "which made atonement for the fin of the "world"." ANSWER. §. 12. Death is no conftituent part of a moral character; and, therefore, it doth not imply a moral character. Death is the common lot of all men, virtuous or vitious. The moral characters of men, therefore, are no way affected by it. Nor doth blood fhed upon, or the violent and painful death of the cross, which was the death that Chrift fuffered, imply any moral character in the fufferer: for though it was a punishment appointed for certain crimes by the Roman-law; yet it might be, and, through the iniquity of the times, fometimes actually was, the lot of the innocent and righteous: and, therefore, in itself, it implied no moral character. Confidered, indeed, as 1 See Scripturé-doctrine of Atonement examined, Chap. X. §. 161. as a punishment appointed for crimes by the law, it would be generally thought to imply a very immoral character among the Romans, though it did not, in all cafes, imply such a character, even among them. But I know of no perfon, in any age, who ever thought that the death of the crofs did imply a character of perfect obedience and goodness, before the Dr. took it into his head to think fo. 2dly. The Dr. affirms that," It is the "blood of Christ, as he is a lamb without Spot and blemish, that is, as he is perfectly holy, which is of fo great value in the "fight of God."-This is a most abfurd affertion; for the blood of Christ, or his painful and ignominious death, or the violent death of any other righteous perfon, abstracted from all other confiderations but that of the innocency or righteoufnefs of the fufferers, is fo far from being of any value in the fight of God, that it is the object of his high displeasure and abhorrence. Instead of having its worth, in his estimation, raised or heightened by the holiness and goodness of the fufferers, it has its odioufness increased and greatly aggravated by them. This, in a clear, demonftrative manner, fhews us, that the blood or death of Chrift could not take its value in God's fight, from the holiness and goodness of the fufferer.-Befides, had his death really taken K 3 its its value from his perfect holiness and goodnefs, yet this would not prove, that his death and his holiness are one and the fame thing: but it would be a clear proof of the contrary; because his death, if it did derive its value from his holinefs, must have been a different thing from his holiness; for if it had been the fame thing with his holiness, it could not have derived its value from it. So that whether the thing, which the Dr. affirms, be true or falfe, it makes nothing for his purpose. 3dly. The next thing the Dr. affirms, is, that his (Chrift's) blood is the fame as his offering himself to God, Heb. ix. 14."-This propofition is manifeftly false; because it fuppofeth an abfurdity, viz. that the thing offered, and the oblation of it, are the fame thing.-Befides, in the place here referred to, the oblation which Chrift offered to God, and the moral quality of that oblation, are mentioned as two diftinct things. The oblation which he offered to God is defcribed as being himself, that is, his own perfon, or life: and the being without fpot is only mentioned as a defcription of the moral quality of this oblation; and not as being the oblation itself. And in all this I fee nothing that makes for the Dr's purpose. The Jews, in order to make atonement for their fins, offered, in facrifice, lambs without fpot or blemish, or. lambs lambs which had no natural defect or imperfection of body. But fhould any person take it into his head, to infer from this circumftance, that the blood of these animals, or the oblation of them to God, was the natural perfection of their bodys, he would reafon just after the fame manner as the Dr. must be supposed to do here: but every body must fee, that his reasoning would be very abfurd and ridiculous. Laftly. The Dr. fays, "The blood of "Chrift, by which he hath redeemed us, is precious, or of great worth, as it is the "blood of the lamb of God without Spot " and blemish, or spotlefs and unblameable "in all duty and obedience to God, and in "love and goodness to men, through the "whole courfe of his life, but principally, "at his death. This was the facrifice " which he offered to God, and which "made atonement for the fin of the world." -The only argument, fubfervient to the Dr's purpose, that can be formed out of thefe words, is this: Chrift hath redeemed us by his own K 4 This |