They receive, they say, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the inspired record of Divine revelation; but, if they acted consistently with their confession, they would not hesitate to "cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." That such should be their spirit, in the examination of the sacred volume, is not more in accordance with its own requisitions than those of reason itself, which declares that, if men are permitted to receive or to reject whatever the Divine record contains, according as it may be agreeable, or opposed to their own views of what is rational, the revelation might have been withheld altogether; for there is not any one of its statements, however certain or essential, which may not be set aside by such capricious mandates ;-even the whole light of the Gospel may be extinguished, by being subjected to such a mode of interpretation. Indeed, so far as these unhappy men are concerned, they are already left in nearly total darkness as to the most important truths in which, as sinful, accountable, and immortal beings, we can be interested. My obvious duty, I repeat, is, upon conviction of the reality of a revelation from God, to seek, with a submissive and a prayerful mind, the knowledge of its truths, assured that whatever may be my opposition to any of them, they are all consonant to the Divine wisdom, goodness, and justice, and “ profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righeousness."

Eternity! What an awful scene does this word set before us-thousands, and thousands, and thousands of years, ceaselessly revolving, and never, even by one point, bringing our existence nearer to a close. With what solemn, earnest, prayerful, and upright minds, should we engage in any inquiry in which our welfare throughout that eternity is involved. And yet, unspeakably solicitous as we should be in such an investigation, we may here pause, and survey the ground we have passed over, assured that hitherto all is safe. We have renounced reason as our instructor in the knowledge of religious truth. We have done it the highest honour, when we sought, as it commands us, after a more authoritative and a surer guide,-and when, after the discovery of it in the Christian revelation, we commence an impar

tial inquiry into the import of its truths,-and when, having ascertained, we implicitly receive and obey them as the voice of the eternal God. And now, like a child, I sit at the feet of my heavenly Father, and humbly hearken to the declarations of his blessed Word.

It does certainly reveal a fearful change in the character and condition of the human race. It does speak of them as destitute of love to God, as habitual transgressors of his holy, just, and immutable law. It does describe them as guilty in his sight, and under a sentence of righteous condemnation. These truths are set before us in language, the meaning and the force of which it is impossible, unless wilfully, to withstand. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, in that all have sinned."—" We know, that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world become guilty before God." The whole spirit of the Word of God is to this effect. It describes us as upon the brink of a fearful precipice, down which we will be cast at the hour of death, into a place where there shall be weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." And we are called upon, in every form of entreaty, to flee from the danger, to Him who "came into the world, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life."

This description it does not give as applicable to the character and condition of a few, or even many, but of all men, without exception." All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God."-" Judgment hath passed upon all men to condemnation."

The utter worthlessness of all that men can do, to avert our impending doom, is also clearly pointed out. "By the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified in the sight of God." Men may doubt, and rail, and abuse such statements; but they are derived from the Word of God: and I shall only express, with regard to them, a most earnest prayer, that God would enable me and all others more to feel what is therein so unequivocally set forth.

It also makes known a person called Christ, Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Son of God, the Son of Man. Language very different

from that which we have been accustomed to apply to this person has of late been used; and those employing it seem to consider themselves as the only rational people: others, who entertain altogether opposite views, being represented under a very different character. It is not my purpose, I again declare, to attack others, or even to defend myself, so much as to produce, for my own support, and for the strength and consolation of others, what the Word of God makes known.

For this purpose I had prepared a vast number of Scriptural evidences to the truth of the Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ -evidences as varied in kind as they were numerous―astonishingly numerous and varied-being presented constantly, and in all the different forms in which we might expect a truth so important, interesting, and practical, to be set before us-evidences too, not confined to the New Testament, but drawn largely from the Old. But I consider it unnecessary to introduce them in the Preface to the following Work, in which this great and glorious truth is so satisfactorily established. I refer the reader therefore to it, only stating my belief of the impossibility of any man reading that Work, with an honest desire to become acquainted with the Revelation of God on this subject, without rising from the perusal with the same conviction as the author of it. If there be meaning in words, and the words of the Bible are to be interpreted as words ordinarily are, there can be no doubt as to the truth which it conveys, respecting the person of Christ," in whom," to quote but one passage from it, "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Indeed, the remarkable thing is, that men should profess, as so many do, their belief in the Bible, as conveying a revelation from God, and acknowledge, as by such admission they must also do, their duty humbly to receive what it makes known, and yet maintain that it represents the Lord Jesus Christ as a man in all respects like themselves. The only possible way that Christians have of accounting for such an opinion is, that however these men may acknowledge the Scriptures to be given by inspiration, they yet act as if determined to subject even the inspiration of God to the judgment of their own reason, and to reject whatever in the sacred volume they may thus be led to disapprove. In this light

I have always been disposed to consider Socinianism as farther in advance than the half-way house to infidelity, as I think Wilberforce calls it; and the result, in many avowed instances, and, if we knew all, in many more, would be seen to fulfil this conjecture, as to the proximity of the two systems.

The truth of the Godhead of Christ being established, we are immediately brought to the conclusion of his humiliation, sufferings, and his death, as endured for the benefit of sinners,—as of a mediatorial, but especially of a propitiatory character. Why such a glorious Being should appear in such a form, and undergo such a death, we are able to explain only on this ground. In short, the foundation being replaced, we see the building of gosgel truth again rising in all its strength, and harmony, and beauty, just as when taken away by the Socinians, every other truth falls along with it-the guilt and condemnation of men, the atonement of Christ, the pardon of God, and eternal life vouchsafed in respect of it, and the quickening, regenerating, and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. But, though thus led to it, the Scripture also directly and most evidently makes known this truth of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.Whether we regard the institution of sacrifices, or the whole Jewish economy, of which sacrifices formed so large a part, or the very numerous, varied, and striking intimations of the truth given us in words such as we find in the fifty-third of Isaiah, we shall be satisfied with the evidence from the Old Testament

concerning it. The “ testimony of Jesus," in this view, "is indeed the spirit of prophecy."-" The prophets inquired what the Spirit of God within them did signify, when it testified before-hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." It would make another volume, were we to produce evidences from the New Testament of the Lord Jesus having suffered and died in the room of the guilty who believe in him. From the beginning of it, where John the Baptist says,— -"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the word," to the close, where the saints sing a new song, saying,—“ Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood;" and where they ascribe "blessing, and honour, and glory, and

power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever," we find constant, uninterrupted, accumulating evidence to the truth that" He suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God."

That God is now willing, in consequence of this propitiation, to pardon sinners, and bestow upon those who repent and believe, eternal life, is also made known so frequently and plainly, as to render numerous evidences of this truth unnecessary. The concluding part of the 5th chapter of 2d Corinthians is the constant doctrine of the Bible on this subject.

That we are unable of ourselves to arrive at the state of repentance which is declared absolutely indispensable to an entrance into the kingdom of heaven; that we are so depraved and insensible as to continue in sin, notwithstanding the revelation of a Saviour, is another doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures. And that God, since ❝ all are dead in trespasses and sins," and therefore in danger (even after the Divine mercy manifested in the Redeemer) of perishing, has chosen some, and brings them by his own power, even by the power of the Holy Spirit, to repentance and faith-" that he saves and calls them with a holy calling, not according to their works, but according to his purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began," is also very plainly a truth of Revelation. It is rejected and despised by the world, it is true, even by the world of professing Christians,-nay, by those who are members of that Church which declares it to be the truth of the Bible, and with whose interpretation in this, as in other respects, they have publicly declared themselves to coincide. The doctrine of election, and of effectual calling, by the Holy Spirit, is ridiculed by such men. But who would care for the opposition of any set of men to the doctrines of the Word of God,-especially of men who with one breath declare their belief in them, and the very next moment represent them as fanatical!

Discovering these doctrines in the Holy Scriptures, which I have before ascertained to be the Word of the eternal God, why should I be ashamed to maintain them? Am I not acting as a reasonable being, in giving credence to the statements of a revelation from the Lord of heaven and earth? Is not this the