may easily be accounted for, since, as Jesus was endowed with the power of knowing things connected with his divine commission, so Peter had the knowledge of secret events concerning his apostolic duty. From the language which the blind man and others used, and from his knowledge of their thoughts, the Saviour, like other ancient prophets, gave a tacit consent to the worship (or, properly speaking, civil reverence) offered by them; while Peter rejected the worship offered him by Cornelius, knowing that he meant it as an external mark of religious reverence, which was due to God alone, as is evident from the language of Peter, "I myself am a man.' Having already noticed the exclamation of Thomas in page 594, and Heb. i. 10, in page 452, I shall not recur to the subject in this place.

The Editor says, "Was Stephen (ignorant) when he committed to him his departing soul in language similar to that in which Christ on the cross had committed his spirit to the Father?"

The language of Stephen alluded to by the Editor, and that of Christ, bears little resemblance. Among the many expressions attributed to Jesus on the cross, none of them resemble the invocation of Stephen, except that given Luke xxiii. 46, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit;" which is natural for every human being having any idea of God, or feelings of devotion on the approach of death. Stephen's exclamation (Acts vii. 59, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit") was merely an application

to Jesus in preference to the angels of death, whom he expected to receive his soul, and convey it to the bosom of the Divinity. The notion of angels of death receiving and conveying away the spirit at the time of dissolution, is familiar to the Jews, in common with other Eastern nations, as appears from their traditions, and from Prov. xvi. 14, "The wrath of a king is as messengers" (in the Hebrew, properly angels”) “ of death"-i. e. in a despotic country, the displeasure of the tyrant is equivalent to death. From Stephen's saying, that he saw "the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God," we may easily perceive the notion which he had formed of the nature of Jesus Christ.

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As to Christ's offering prayers and worship to the Father, and directing his apostles to do so, the Editor attributes them to the " state of humiliation in which his infinite love to sinners had placed him." If Jesus deemed it necessary, in his human capacity, to offer up prayers, thanksgiving, and worship, to God the Father alone, notwithstanding he was filled bodily with God the Son, (according to the Editor,) and [to] direct his apostles to follow his example, is it not incumbent upon us also, in following his pattern, to thank, pray to, and worship the Father alone, as long as we are human? But the truth is, that the assertion of the Editor, attributing Christ's devotion towards God to his human nature, is entirely unsupported by scriptural authority.

The Editor further says, that if Jesus were not

God, the apostles, the primitive saints, and the angels in heaven, would be guilty of idolatry, and the Eternal Father of encouraging it.

To quit the Father and Jesus Christ of the charge of encouraging idolatry, and the apostles, and the saints, and the angels, of the sin of idol worship, it suffices to quote Matt. iv. 10, Αυτῳ μονῳ λατρεύσεις, "Him only shalt thou serve." This commandment of the Father of the universe, to be found in Deut. vi. [13], repeated and communicated to Christians by the most exalted among the prophets, (who enjoins religious adoration to be offered to the Father alone,) sufficiently vindicates God and his Christ from the above charge. The apostles so strictly observed this divine communication through their Master, under the Christian dispensation, that, throughout the whole New Testament, they applied exclusively to God alone this verb, λargauw, (rendered in the English version "to serve,") and not once to Jesus, or to any other being in any book of the New Testament; while, on similar occasions, they used for him or others the verbs δουλευω or διακινεω, rendered also in the English version "to serve," which tends no less to vindicate them. They further pronounce those who serve (from the verb λargeʊw) any one except God, to be rebels and idolators,-Rom. i. 25; Acts vii .42. I now entreat the Editor to examine the subject, and, by following the example of the apostles and primitive saints, glorify a religion intended to be raised far above the debasement of idolatry.

THE SEVENTH AND LAST POSITION.

The Editor having attempted to prove the deity of the Son, and the personality of the Holy Ghost, from the circumstance of their names being associated with that of the Father of the universe, I observed in my Second Appeal, that "a profession of belief in God is unquestionably common to all religions supposed to have been founded upon the authority of the Old Testament; but each is distinguished from the other by a public profession of faith in their respective founders, expressing such profession in a language that may clearly exhibit the inferior nature of those founders to the Divine Being, of whom they declare themselves the messengers." "The Jews claim that they have revelation rendering a belief not in God alone, but in Moses also, incumbent upon them. Exod. xiv. 31: The people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses' (to which Jesus also refers in John v. 45, There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust'). If baptism were administered to one embracing Christianity, in the name of the Father and Holy Spirit, he would thereby no more become enrolled as a Christian than as a Jew or a Mohummudan; for both of them, in common with Christians, would readily submit to be baptized in the name of God, or his prevailing influence over the universe." I afterwards added, in the discussion re

specting the Holy Spirit, that " God is invariably represented in revelation as the main object of belief, receiving worship and prayers that proceed from the heart through the first-born of every creature, the Messiah, (No man cometh unto the Father but by me,') and leading such as worship him in spirit, to righteous conduct, and ultimately to salvation, through his guiding influence, which is called the Holy Spirit (When he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you unto all truth'). There is, therefore, a moral obligation on those who avow the truth of such revelation, to profess their belief in God as the sole object of worship; and in the Son, through whom they, as Christians, should offer divine homage; and also in the holy influence of God, from which they should expect direction in the paths of righteousness, as the consequence of their sincere prayer and supplication. For the same reason also, in publicly adopting this religion, it is proper that those who receive it should be baptized in the name of the Father, who is the object of worship; of the Son, who is the mediator; and of that influence by which spiritual blessings are conveyed to mankind, designated in scripture as the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, or Holy Spirit." And to prove the error of the idea that the association of names of individuals with that of God, in a religious profession or belief, which is more essential than any external mark of profession, could identify or equalize those individuals with God, I quoted Exod. xiv. 31, which I have just repeated, and 2 Chron. xx.