sins?" Did he encourage them to

that their

"spirit" would ascend from the believe? If

gallows to

so, where is his authority for thus diving into the hidden counsels of the Almighty? And if the notoriously abancounsels of doned can thus, by one mighty act of faith in life's last hour, be translated from wickedness to bliss, where is the difference between Dr. Smyth's opinions, and those maintained by the Rev. J. M. Campbell of the Row, or the Rev. R. Story of Roseneath? They are all equally at war with common sense and Scripture testimony, equally destructive of virtuous effort, and renders useless a life of holiness. Such doctrines are delusion all, such scenes a mockery of religion, such representations of Chris tianity fatally deceptive. It is a life of virtue which will alone ensure the salvation of man, it is a constant continuance in well-doing which alone will end in blessedness eternal, it is not the profession of a particular creed, but the practice of the commandments, which will call down God's blessing. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."; Hiw gright al 195 kup bar batomedi 7 Lot 9783 University of Glasgow: ai enmobooil 1st May, 1830. THE following Students, on Dr. Williams's Foundation, have obtained the undermentioned Prizes and Aca demical honours, during the Session, which has just closed.

Moral Philosophy Class. For general eminence in the examinations and exercises, * awal, su ot drze od o Geowed to Mr. William Rowe, Bristola o naveod ron si e e. Mr. Charles Wicksteed, B. A. Shrewsbury.10 Logic Class. For general eminence in the examinations and exercises, Mr. J. M. Mackenzie, St. Neots. 0905 35 Mr. G. H. Wells, Warrington. 169 Of A Mr. David Lloyd, Cardiganshire. od leda doide Senior Greek Class. For general eminencej availed bas 7° Mr. J. M. Mackenzie, St. Neots. bobeab doidy The best Essay On Experience as a source of Moral Exi dence," proposed by the Professor of

the Vacation,-Mr. William Rowe, Bristol AID

during

The best Essay on Pathos, as discussed by Longinus. Proposed by the Professor of Greek, dyno awcad ed bloo

Mr. Robert Cotton Mather, Sheffield XXX 7074 The degree of Bachelor of Arts, after the usual examination was conferred on

Mr. David Evans, Cardiganshire, win And the same degree, after undergoing the examination which entitles the Student to the highest distinction, was gained by ** ****** Mr. Charles Wicksteed, Shrewsbury.⠀ #urke n

CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

No. 47.

JULY, 1830.

Vol. IV.

The Unitarian.-No. 6.

(Concluded from page 343.)

LET us now proceed to examine the supposed Scripture evidence of the existence of Christ, in a super-angelic state or nature, before his appearance on this earth. I shall first explain those passages which speak of Christ as coming from heaven, &c. John iii. 13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven;" that is, no one has ever been admitted to a participation of the secret counsels of Jehovah, but he who has been commissioned by Him to reveal to mankind His counsel and will; even the Son of man Jesus Christ, who is perfectly instructed and qualified for the office. Jesus saith to Nicodemus, in the preceding verse, "If I have told you earthly things (things relating to the concerns of this life), and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?" that is, things referring to that better and more glorious state which it is the object of my coming to make known. So he saith to the Jews, "The baptism of John, is it from heaven or of men?" Is it of divine or of human authority? So he saith, John vi. 35 and 38, "I am the bread of life, which came down from heaven;" the person who am sent by the Father, to make known that doctrine which shall be as the bread of eternal life, to all who hear it and believe. And again, ver. 50, "This is the bread which descended from heaven, that whosoever eateth thereof may not die." "Coming from heaven" is a phrase very common among the Jews, to denote coming with divine authority, or a knowledge of those things which could be known only by revelation; see, for instance, Prov. xxx. 4 Baruch iii. 29-John viii. 23-Rom. x. 6 James i. 17; ii. 15 to 17. Another example of nearly the same construction, occurs John vi. 62: "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" We may remark, that the whole chapter in which this passage is found, is very highly figurative;

Jesus makes use of metaphors which the Jews most grossly misunderstood; he speaks of their eating his flesh and drinking his blood, evidently meaning that his doctrines must be received, and thoroughly digested; and when many of his disciples left him, saying, "It is a hard doctrine, who can understand it?" Jesus says, in the passage under consideration, "Does this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up o where he was before?" If ascending to heaven denotes the receiving a communication of God's secret counsels, ascending where he was before, will mean the receiving and showing to mankind a still further communication. The meaning of the passage is, as if he had said, "Are you offended at what I have already taught you? What would you say if I were to reveal to you truths still more foreign to your conceptions, and more offensive to your prejudices?" For a full and more particular examination of all these passages, see Belsham, p. 40 to 69, and Carpenter's Unitarianism, &c. p. 296 to 306.

The next text which we will examine, shall be, John viii. 58, "Before Abraham was, I am." The word "he” should be added after "I am" in this passage; it is found in every place else, where the same construction occurs in the original, particularly in this very discourse of our Lord, ver. 24 and 28; in the next chapter, ver. 9; in Luke xxi. 8; and in John iv. 26; and there seems no reason whatever, why the translators did not insert it here. The addition of this little word will remove all the reliance of Trinitarians upon the text, as far as it regards the attempt to prove (for drowning people will catch at straws) that Jesus asserted in these words, that he is the God who appeared unto Moses under the name, “I am that I am;" and it only remains to show, that Christ did not mean to affirm that he personally existed before Abraham. In the 56th verse, our Lord says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." The Jews, cavilling at his words, said "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” Jesus answered, and said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am he." Now, it is very evident that his meaning is, that Abraham foresaw his day-foresaw it by faith in the oft-repeated promise of God, that in him "all the families of the earth should be blessed." If, therefore, he saw the day of Christ only

tled

+

in the counsels and the promise of the Almighty, why should we not also understand that Jesus existed before Abraham, only in the counsels and the immutable decree of Him, in whose sight a thousand years are but as one days and one day as a thousand years-who, as the Apostle informs us (Rom. iv. 17)," calleth those things which be not as though they were"? In Rev. xiii. 8, Christ is called "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world;" evidently meaning, fore-ordained to be slain; see also xvii. 8. Christians are also said to be chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world," Ephes. i. 4, 5, 11; and the opinion, that the law was before the foundation of the world, is very common among the Jews. See examples of the same construction, 2 Tim. i. 9; Rom. i. 2-viii. 29, 30; Mat. xxv. 34; 1 Cor. ii. 7; Ephes. iii. 9; 1 Pet, i. 20; John xyii. 24v. 24-vi. 47. These texts cited at length, are to be found, with an elaborate e examination of the passage, in Belsham's Calm Inquiry, p. 70–103.

s in the thee

The next, and the last passage which I shall all examine, is John xvii. 5, " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had before the world was.". This passage occurs solemn and beautiful prayer which Jesus addressed to his heavenly Father, the night preceding his crucifixion. The glory for which he here prays, cannot be any selfish glory-a glory which would have a tendency to raise him as an object for our admiration only, and not for our love and reverence; but it must have been that glory which had been promised as a reward for the fulfilment of the task assigned him, and for his perfect obedience even unto death; it was the glory of redeeming mankind from the bondage of sin and misery, and the fear of death; of being the renovator of the moral creation, the pattern and pledge of immortality; of being head over all things to the Church, and the only lawgiver in it, to whom his disciples are bound to pay implicit and unreserved obedience. It may be observed, that he prays to be glorified then-at that time, which he assuredly would not have done, had his glory been, as the advocates for his pre-existence conceive, simply a restoration to his former exalted state, which he could not have again enjoyed until after his ascension; but in the spiritual sense, his glory was then commencing, he had accomplished the great work he was commissioned to perform, he had finished his course, and arrived

2

1

the

ewel To conclude, then, my argument for the perfect and simple humanity of Christ. If any one of the present day, a believer in his deity or pre-existence, had sat down to write a history of the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ, his mind, of course, full of his Saviour's dignity, and of these great and important doctrines, would he have been silent as Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and Peter (and John and Paul, if I have been successful in the attempt to prove, that the passages usually cited from these authors, ought to be interpreted in conformity with the rest of Scripture, and especially of their own writings) are, concerning these great and glorious, and essential doctrines? And would not all these writers, if they had been commissioned to make these doctrines known, have laid them down as clearly and emphatically as the Messiahship of Christ, and