God; neither are they to be considered as perfect, but rather as very distant and incomplete analogies, for we can have no perfect resemblance to the Godhead; they may, however, serve to help our laboring minds to form the justest notions of that adorable mystery which it is possible for us to form in the present state of our existence; and they seem to rescue the doctrine sufficiently from the charge of contradiction, which has been so often urged against it by Socinian writers. To the last analogy we are aware it has often been objected, that the soul may be said to consist of ten or twenty faculties, as of three, since the passions are equally essential to it with the understanding, the memory, and the will, and are as different from one another as these three faculties are. This, however, is probably a mistake; for the best philosophy seems to teach us that the passions are not innate; that a man may exist through a long life, a stranger to them; and that there are probably no two minds in which are generated all the passions; but understanding, memory, and will, are absolutely and equally necessary to every rational being." (Imp. Ency.)

It is needless to multiply illustrations, if illustrations they might be called, else we might speak of the sun as an instance. That glorious luminary is the necessary cause of what we call solar light and heat, either by emitting the rays from his own substance, or by exciting the agency of a fluid diffused for that purpose throughout the system. Light and heat, therefore, must be as old as the

sun.

In the sun

there is substance, light, and heat; and these three are one sun. We can easily conceive of a sub

stance without light or heat, as a piece of charcoal. We can easily conceive of the same piece of charcoal ignited, and then there will be substance, light, and heat. The substance we know occupies only so much space, the heat we know fills a greater, and the light a greater still. We can easily conceive of the light of three lamps, as separate and distinct from each other, but let the three lamps be brought into one room, and then, though there be three lamps there will be but one light. Let any one give us a correct and definite idea of space without bounds, duration without beginning,-and of the properties of attraction, repulsion, elasticity, and motion; let him tell us by what law the particles of gold adhere, and the particles of air keep at a distance from each other, and we will endeavor to give him a more correct view of the doctrine of the Trinity;-till then, we will refer him to the following works,-Watson's Theological Institutes; Kidd's Essay; Luckey's Defence; Horæ Solitaræ; Clarke's Notes, and Wesley's Sermon on this subject; and conclude by saying, in the words of the venerable Liturgy of our Mother Church, " Glory be to the Father; and to the Son; and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end. Amen."

LECTURE XIII.

ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

"To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days." Acts i. 3.

THE doctrine of Christ's resurrection from the dead, if true, is the key stone of the arch of that bridge that spans the river death, over which the true believers pass exultingly from earth to heaven, "fearing no evil" as they go.

The resurrection of our Lord is the proof of his Messiahship; and on the truth or 'falsehood of this alleged fact, Christianity must either stand or fall; it is therefore of the utmost importance that we ascertain the truth of the doctrine in question.

For as St. Paul declares, in his epistle to the Corinthians, "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins; they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished; and we (the persecuted followers of Christ,) are of all men most miserable."

How any one who believes in the personal existence of Christ, in his birth, life, ministry, sufferings, and death, as recorded by the evangelists, can deny his resurrection, is truly surprising; yet so it is, such is the inconsistency of modern unbelievers, they will believe just so much concerning Christ as accords with their reason, and no more, although they have no more authority for believing thus much than we have for believing the rest.

Nothing is more certain than that the sufferings and death of the Messiah were foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer," are the very words that the risen Saviour addressed to his disciples. Now let us see if the predictions and the events agree. If they do, two things, at least, will be gained thereby the divine inspiration of the prophets, and the triumphs of Christianity over some of the cavils of infidelity.

It was predicted by Zechariah that the shepherd should be smitten, and the sheep scattered; and this we know was fulfilled, for when Jesus was taken, "they all forsook him and fled." (Zech. xiii. 7; Matt. xxvi. 31, 56; Mark xiv. 50.)

Isaiah foretold his silence before his accusers: "He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth." (Isa. liii. 7.) “And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. And when Pilate said unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee, he answered him never a word, so that the governor marvelled greatly."-(Matthew xxvii. 12 -14.)

Zechariah prophesied concerning the price for which Christ was sold, and foretold how the money should be disposed of. His words are, "So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." (Zech. xi. 12, 13.) The evangelist Matthew informs us that Judas betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver; and when he saw that he was condemned, he returned the money to the priests in the temple, and they refused to put it into the treasury, because it was the price of blood; and after taking counsel on the subject, resolved to buy the potter's field to bury strangers in. (Matt. xxviii. 2—10.)

Isaiah predicted the rejection of Christ, in these words: "He is despised and rejected of men ;" and we all know how fully and circumstantially this was fulfilled. "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just," says Peter, "and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. And killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are all witnesses." (Acts iii. 14, 15.) Isaiah adds, "He was numbered with the transgressors ;" and the Evangelist says, "He was crucified between two thieves, one on the right hand and the other on the left." (Matt. xxvii. 38.)

David, in the 22d Psalm, very particularly describes his sufferings upon the cross, and the insults cast upon him in the midst of his sufferings. The words of the Psalmist are, "All they that see me laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, he trusted in the Lord that