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serve me, [a mere man !] let him follow me.-Yet a little while, (verse 35,) is the light [viz. a mere man !] with you;-while you have the light believe in the light-Verse 45, He that seeth me, seeth him that sent me.' That is, on the Doctor's principles, He that seeth a mere man, seeth the Eternal God! '1 [a mere man!] am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me, should not abide in darkness. Chap. xiii. 3. Jesus, [that is, a mere man,] knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he [though a mere man, who had no existence till born in Bethlehem !] was come from God, and went to God,' &c.

But more especially the discourses recorded in the three following chapters are worthy of our attention in this view. According to the Socinian doctrine, the Lord Jesus addresses his disciples, in the following and such like language, just before his departure from them: Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe in God, [the Supreme Being,] believe also in me, [a mere man!] (Verse 6,) I [a mere man] am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also; [that is, if ye had known a mere man, ye would have known the supreme and everlasting God!] and from henceforth, ye know him, and have seen him.-Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me [a mere man,] Philip? He that hath seen me, [that hath seen a mere man !] hath seen the Father! Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?—(Verse 15,) If ye love me, keep my commandments, [the commandments of a mere man!] I will not leave you comfortless, I [a mere man!] will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but you see me; because I [a mere man] live, ye shall live also!-He that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: And I [a mere man] will love him, and will manifest myself to him. If a

mar love me, he will keep my words, [the words of a mere man!] and my Father will love him, and we, [that is, both the omnipresent God, and I, a mere man, N. B.] will come unto him, and make our abode with him!'-Will Dr. Priestley inform us how a mere man can come to, and make his abode with thousands and myriads at the same time?-Verse 28, If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I,' that is, on the Socinian hypothesis, the eternal God is greater than a mere man! A wonderful discovery truly.

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He proceeds, chap. xv, 'I [a mere man] am the true vine, [into which all believers, in all parts of the world, of every nation and age, are ingrafted,] my Father is the husbandmen. Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.-Abide in me [that is, abide in a mere man] and I [the same mere man !] in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, [from which it derives its very being, and to which it is wholly indebted for all its life, growth, and fruitfulness,] no more can ye, except ye abide in me, a mere man, whose offspring ye are, and on whom ye are dependant, not only for grace, but for life, and breath, and all things!' (Col. i. 16, 17.) 'He that abideth in me [a mere man!] and I [the same mere man] in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me, [that is, without a mere man!] ye can do nothing.' Strange doctrine, indeed! What can we do nothing with the help of God, without the help of this mere man? If any man,' proceeds he, abide not in me, [the same mere man, even though he may suppose that he abides in the Father] he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. If ye abide in me [a mere man!] aud my words [the words of a mere man !] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done for you.'-Verse 23, 'He that hateth me, [a mere man,] hateth my Father also,' the supreme and eternal God.

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Pass we on to chap. xvi. 6.-If I [a mere man] go not away, the Comforter will not come: But if I depart

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[though I am a mere man !] I will send him unto you, -He shall glorify me, [shall glorify a mere man!] for he shall receive of mine [that is, of the things of a mere man !] and shall shew unto you. All things that the Father [the infinite and supreme God] hath, are mine; [they all belong to me, though I am a mere man!] therefore said I, He shall take of mine, and shew it unto you. (Verse 27,) The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me [a mere man] and have believed that I came forth from God.'-N. B. 'I [a mere man, shall we say? Surely, if we say so, we must give the lie to the faithful and true Witness.] I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.' That the Lord Jesus spoke, and meant to be understood literally, is certain, from what follows: His disciples said unto him, Lo now speakest thou plainly: Now are we sure that thou knowest all things: By this we believe that thou camest forth from God!' That is, according to Dr. Priestley's system, we believe a lie!

How extraordinary is this whole discourse of our Lord, according to the Socinian doctrine! How remote from every principle of reason and religion, that we are acquainted with! But, what is worst of all, this doctrine makes the Sou of God utter this nonsense, nay, I may say, this impiety and blasphemy to his Father, in the most solemn exercise of devotion. Thus, (chap. xvii. 1,) Father, glorify thy Son, [that is, glorify a mere man !] that thy Son may glorify thee. 0 Father, glorify me with thine own self, with the glory I [a mere man, born but about 30 years ago] had with thee before the world was! They [my disciples] have known assuredly, that I came out from thee, [though I had no existence till I was born in Bethle hein,] and have believed that thou didst send me.Verse 10, All mine are thine, and [though I am a mere man !] thine are mine, and I [the same mere man !] am glorified in them.-And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. --Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me

be with me, where I am: 'That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me :-For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world,' me, who, being a mere man!, had no existence till a few years ago!

Such is the testimony, which, according to St. John, the Son of God bore of himself, while upon earth, in his most solemn discourses to the Jews, whom he laboured to bring to repentance, over whom he wept, and whom he died to redeem ; and to his own disciples, whom he was thus preparing to go forth and instruct all nations, and whom, in this way, he was arming for persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom; and in his most devout and fervent prayers addressed to his Father, just before his crucifixion: A testimony which, I will venture to say, neither Dr. Priestley, nor any of the Socinians upon earth, will ever be able to reconcile, with the doctrine of our Lord's mere humanity, on the principles of common sense. As little will they be able to reconcile therewith, the testimony which the other Evangelists record him to have borne. Two or three passages only, I shall produce, as a specimen of the rest. Thus, (Matt. xi. 27, 28,) All things are delivered unto me, [that is, if we believe the Socinians, unto a mere man,] of my Father: And no man knoweth the Son [that is, knoweth a mere man!] but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, [the same mere man!] and he, to whomsoever the Son shall reveal him.-Come unto me [that is, come unto a mere man !] all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I [a mere man!] will give you rest! Take my yoke upon you [the yoke of a mere man!] and learn of me. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Upon this rock will I [a mere man!] build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.-For where two or three are met together in my name, I [a mere man !] am there in the midst of them.-[For, though a mere man, I am omnipresent!]-All power is given unto me [that is, given unto a mere man!] in heaven and on earth: Go

ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, [the true, living and eternal God,] and of the Son, [a mere man !] and of the Holy Ghost, [the power of God !]-teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I [a mere man!] have commanded you: And lo! I [a mere man !] am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' For, I say again, though a mere man, I am omnipresent, and can and will be with you, be you ever so many thousands and myriads, at all times and in all places! An extraordinary promise indeed, to proceed from the lips of a mere man !

Once more, and I have done. We have reviewed the testimony borne by Christ, while upon earth, in the days of his humiliation, and have found it inconsistent with common sense, ou the principles of Unitarianism. Let us now attend to the testimony borne by him, since his ascension into heaven. This, I am persuaded, we shall find equally, if not more irreconcilable therewith, on the same principles.

-Rev. ii. 1, 'These things, saith he, [the mere man !] that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, and walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: [Being always present with and among his people, though a mere man!] I [a mere man !] know thy works, and thy labour and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear those that are evil:-Nevertheless, I [a mere man!] have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent :-Or else I [a mere man! coufined in heaven, till the restitution of all things!] will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place. To him that overcometh, will I [though a mere man !] give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God '-(Ver.8,) Unto the angel of the church of Smyrna, write, These things, saith the first and the last, [that is, says Dr. Priestley, a mere man !] who was dead, and is alive. I know thy works, and thy tribulation, and thy poverty. -Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.

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