fulness of a mere man!] have all we received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, [a mere man] bnt grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,' a mere man also!

I need proceed no further with the testimony of St. John. This remarkable passage, placed in the front of his Gospel, like the preamble to an Act of Parliamens, manifestly shews the design of the whole book, and is a key to all those discourses of our Lord, and of John the Baptist, recorded by this Apostle, in which Jesus is represented as the Son, and the only begotten Son of God,' and is declared to have pre-existed, and to have come down from heaven. It proves to a demonstration, that St. Johu considered Christ as being the Son of God, in a sense in which no other being, man or angel, is his son; and that he looked upon him as pre-existing, not as a creature, but as the creating Logos or Word of the Father, who, in union with the Father, is the Creator and Lord of all creatures, visible and invisible. And as he produces the testimony of John the Baptist, and of Christ, in coufirmation of his own testimony, it cannot be doubted but he understood them in the same light: Aud methinks, in the same light every one must understand them, who believes them to have been possessed of common sense, and impartially considers their testimony. Only let the following passages be attended to without prejudice, and while the absurdity of applying them to a mere man is noticed, let it be observed also how clearly they describe, and how exactly they characterize that proper aud only begotten Son of the Father, who is his Wisdom and Word incarnate, and the Creator and Lord of men and angels.

John bare witness of him and cried, 'This [mere man, shall we say ?] was he, of whom I spake, He that cometh after me, is preferred before me; for he [though a mere man, and born after me,] was before me! This is the record of John :- I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way VOL. VII.

I

of the Lord, [that is, the way of a mere man!] as said the Prophet Esaias,-I baptize you with water; but there standeth one [mere man] among you, whom ye know not-He it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoes' latchet I am not worthy to unloose. The next day John seeth Jesus coming, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, [that is, behold a mere man!] who taketh away the sins of the world. -[For, though a mere man, he taketh away, or makes atonement for the sins of all men!] This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man who is preferred before me, for [though a mere man!] he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he [a mere man] should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am come baptizing with water. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he [viz. the mere man that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost: And I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of God' That is, says Dr. Priestley, a mere man !

Again, (chap. iii. 28 :) I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him. He [the mere man] that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly, because of the bridegroom's voice: This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He [the mere man!] that cometh from above, [though a mere man,] is above all. He that is of the earth, is earthly, and speaketh of the earth. He [the same mere mau] that cometh from heaven is above all.' Will Dr. Priestley tell us how it could be said Christ came from heaven, any more than John the Baptist, on his principles ? The Father (addeth he) loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. He that believeth on the Sou [that is, on a mere man!] hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son [viz. this inere man] shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The other Evangelists agree with St. John, respecting the testimony of the Baptist. Thus (Matt. iii. 11:) -'I indeed baptize you with water, unto repentance; but he [a mere man, as say the disciples of Sociuus] that cometh after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he [though a mere man !] shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'

Such is the testimony, which, according to the Evangelists, John the Baptist bore of Christ: A testimony which they must have judged to be of deep importance, and therefore have recorded it with great care, as being a full and perfect confirmation of the views they entertained themselves, and laboured to give others, of Jesus of Nazareth. But, methinks, every reasonable and unprejudiced man must allow, that it is a testimony which, if supposed to be borne of a mere man, is most ridiculous; nay, and absolutely false. For if Jesus Christ be a mere man, of no higher origin than John, inasmuch as he was born some months after him, it is not true that he was before him ; much less is it true, that whereas John was from beueath, he was from above; and that whereas John was of the earth, he was from heaven. According to Dr. Priestley's hypothesis, they were equally from beneath, equally from the earth; and however Christ might be preferred before John, yet the reason of that preference could not be that which John assigns, viz. that Christ was before him, for in reality he was before Christ. As to the rest of his testimony, I make no remark upon it. It is obvious to the most inattentive observer, that it is impossible it should agree with a mere man, who, how much soever he might be honoured or exalted, could never, with any propriety, be said to be ABOVE ALL, to have ALL THINGS DELIVERED INTO HIS HANDS, or to be the bridegroom of the church, the owner and possessor of the bride, by believing in whom, she obtained everlasting

life; and much less could he be able to baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, to separate, with infinite discernment, between the precious and the vile, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'

I should now proceed to the testimony borne by Christ himself; but having already drawn this Letter out to a sufficient length, I break off here, and subscribe myself,

Rev. Sir,

Your's, &c.

LETTER XI.

REV. SIR,

ACCORDING to the testimony of the Evangelists, when Jesus was transfigured on the holy mount, there came a voice from the excellent glory, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.' In obedience to the divine command, let us now attend, while this beloved Son of the Father bears record of himself, that we may learn from his own lips to form a right judgment of his person, made the subject of so much dispute and altercation. Dr. Priestley is fully persuaded that he is a mere man. In order that we may be able to determine whether the Doctor's opinion be according to truth, let us bring it to the surest of all tests, the test of the doctrine taught by Christ himself. The Doctor, (I think,) will not deny that he is the AMEN, THE FAITHFUL AND True WITNESS. Of consequence an opinion which cannot bear the test of his doctrine is not of God. Let us see, therefore, whether the testimony which he bears of himself be consistent with common sense, on the Socinian principles.

'Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of

him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered, and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art [a mere men?-No! Thou art] the Son of God! Thou art the King of Israel! Jesus answered, and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.-Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake of the temple of his body.' And, is he who spake this a mere man ? Can a mere man raise his own body from death? especially if, according to Dr. Priestley, he have no soul, but the whole of him be dead and insensible ?

Again, (chap. iii.) No man hath ascended up into heaven, but he [the mere man! says Dr. Priestley] that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, who [though a mere man and now upon earth] is in heaven-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, [that is, if we believe the Socinians, a mere man, of no higher origin than others,] that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son, [a mere man,] into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, [that is, through one mere man] might be saved. He that believeth on him [a mere man] is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.' I make no reflections on these solemn declarations of our Lord. Every reader must consider them as being both false and absurd, on the supposition of his being a mere man. Again, (chap. iv,) If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him [that is, according to Dr. Priestley, thou wouldst have prayed to a mere man !] and he, [a mere man though he be,] would have given thee living water.' And who that reads these words, can doubt whether