ests of an undying soul to one who had, perhaps, only wisdom sufficient to manage his own con

cerns?

It is the obvious deduction from each, and all the foregoing statements, that Jesus Christ is viewed by modern Unitarians as a mere creature, in all respects a finite being, the production of creative power-that his worshipers are not true worshipers that his worship is idolatry-that he is incompetent to be our Mediator-and unworthy of our worship or our praise; and when compared to the Eternal Being, he appears as a mere ephemera. The very moment he is robbed of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, he is reduced to à creature. What reasoning this. May God deliver his children from this snare, this stratagem of Satan. Soon the writers of the above statements will know whether Jesus Christ is omniscient or not-whether he is possessed of the wisdom of the immutable God, or not, and whether he is all good or otherwise. The coming day will reveal the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XVII.

Some of the most Prominent Objections to the doctrine of the Trinity, considered.

1. Says Mr. Morgridge, "The doctrine of the Trinity is to be rejected, because the belief of it is impossible." If this objection is correct, if it can be shown to be impossible for a man to believe the doctrine of the Trinity, in the sense and light in which Trinitarians hold it, then the consequences are these:-First, Unitarians are under no obligation to believe it. Second, it is not true. Third, Trinitarians do not believe it. Fourth, those who pretend to believe it, are all false witnesses, and liars. Fifth, Trinitarians are all hypocrites, or they would abandon it. Sixth, no man on earth does, or ever did, believe it. But where is this impossibility? It might be impossible for us to believe as Unitarians represent the doctrine of the Trinity. But as we hold it, there is no difficulty in believing it. Jesus Christ says, "I and my Father are one." "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." Unitarians admit the Father and Holy Ghost to be one, and all they lack is to believe what Christ says, and then the matter is at rest. So the item that they esteem impossible to believe, lies between them and the Savior, and he says, <<

except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins."

2. Says the same writer, "There is no passage

of Scripture, that asserts that God is three."

We

think there are a number. Not that say, however, that there are three Gods, but that bring to view in the character of God three distinctions, which we denominate persons. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, (one,) the love of God, (two,) and the communion of the Holy Ghost, (three,) be with you." "In the name of the Father, (one,) and of the Son, (two,) and of the Holy Ghost," (three.) "Come ye near, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was, there am I, (one,) and now the Lord God, (two,) and his Spirit, (three,) hath sent me." Isa. 48:16.

3. "Trinitarians," says Mr. Morgridge, "professedly worship two other objects beside the Father." He thinks the Son is not to be worshiped as God. "Ye cannot serve (Gr. Douleuein) God and mammon." Mat. 6:24. "Ye serve (Gr. douleuete,) the Lord Christ." Col. 3:24. Here the same word denoting service is applied to God and to Christ. Christ informed satan that it was written that God alone should be served, and his followers served the LORD Christ. They were either idolaters, or they considered Christ Lord of all.

Again. "Thou shalt worship (proskuneseis) the Lord thy God." "And they worshiped him," (Christ) proskunesantes, &c. Luke 24:56. Here the same word, and one that conveys the idea of the same kind of worship, is applied to the Father, and also to the Son. Now are we to be considered idolaters because we also worship the LORD

CHRIST? Where Christ speaks of the "true worshipers," he says they shall worship (Gr. proskunesousi,) the Father in Spirit. It was the manner of the worship he here speaks of. It was to be spiritual worship. He did not teach, that true worshipers should not worship the Son too in Spirit, but he taught men to "Honor the Son, even as they honor the Father."

4. "Jesus denies being God, he denies calling himself God, and repels the accusation of blasphemy, even on the supposition he had called himself God."*

The same author on this point goes on to state, that Jesus did convince the Jews that they were wrong in charging him with blasphemy, and thus satisfied their minds. Now these statements are

utterly incorrect. He did not deny making himself God. The Jews did not ask him if he was God, but they asked him if he was the Christ. John 10:24. He calls himself the Son of God, and testifies that he and his Father are one. We repeat it. He did not deny making himself God, after he was accused by the Jews, but repeated his former statement. John 10:38. The writer then states that the Jews were satisfied that he did not intend to be understood, as making himself God. They were not satisfied, and as they went to take him, he made his escape. John 10:39. It was for this very sentiment, that he was condemned at the

* See True Believer's Defence, page 44.

judgment seat of Caiaphas. Here he was accused of professing to be the Christ, and Caiaphas said to him, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Then, under the solemnities of an oath, Jesus answers him affirmatively, and says, "thou hast said.” "Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Mat. 26:63-64.

Does this look as though he "repelled the accusation?" Not at all; for on this acknowledgement he was condemned.

We have already stated in chapter ix. that the Jews understood the Savior correctly. This is evident from the fact that they considered him guilty of blasphemy. Had they understood him, (as Unitarians do,) as only professing unity of sentiment and design, with the Father, they would not have accused him of blasphemy, for Moses, Elijah, and David, professed as much as that. He did not say he and his Father" were one in the business of watching the sheep," as Mr. Morgridge says he intended: But he professed an unity of nature with his Father.

* When we read these statements of Mr. Morgridge, a professed minister of Christ, we were shocked. When he states that "Christ satisfied the Jews that He did not pretend to make himself God," we could but suspect not only the piety, but the veracity of the man. The reader will find these quotations on page 44, and the following pages, of his work.