resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. How, then, can it be assumed, that in the 33d verse the raising up there spoken of has no reference to the resurrection from the dead? There is nothing in the immediate connection which forbids it to be so used: on the contrary, there is much that favours our view respecting its meaning. The apostle, having mentioned that God had raised up Jesus, and having shown that this was in accordance with what was promised in the 2d Psalm, proceeds to show from another Psalm, that the resurrection was a final one: that he was not again to descend to the grave, as others had done, who had been raised from the dead, instances of which are given both in the Old and New Testaments. See the case of Lazarus, John xi., and also the case of the man mentioned in 2 Kings xiii. 20.

This idea is not distinctly and in so many words set forth in the 33d verse: and therefore the renewed declaration in verse 35th, that God had raised up Jesus from the dead, no more to die. This idea, too, is one repeatedly met with in the epistles of the apostle Paul. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him," Romans vi. 7. See also Hebrews vii. 23-28; ix. 14, 25-28; x. 10, 12. See also 1 Peter iii. 18.

In the view here presented, the statement in the 35th verse is not a mere repetition of the thought expressed in the 33d, but contains an important addition, which was made a matter of special promise, over and above the one in the 2d Psalm.

3d. This explanation of the meaning of the phrase "raised up," in the 33d verse, agrees well with other portions of Scripture, in which the resurrection of Christ is spoken of.

When Peter and John, after being commanded by the Jewish counsel not to speak again in the name of Jesus, returned to their company, they all with one accord addressed their prayer unto God; and in doing so, they apply the words in the 1st and 2d verses of the 2d Psalm to a combination of Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, to do that which God had before determined should be done, viz: to put the Saviour to death. See Acts iv. 2328. That the latter part of the Psalm has respect to his subsequent exaltation will be questioned, we presume, by no one. What more natural, then, than to suppose, that when the apostle speaks of the raising up of Christ, and cites from the same Psalm as prophetic of it, the words "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," he intended to speak of the resurrection of our Lord from the dead; or at least to include this in the idea of his being raised up. The heathen had raged, and the people vainly imagined, that by putting Christ to death they had cast his cords from them. But he that sat in the heavens laughed at their rage, and raised up him whom they had crucified, as he had foretold he would do; acknowledged him as his Son, gave him absolute authority over all nations, and their rulers, and called upon the kings and judges of the earth to serve him. Now if this 2d Psalm has reference to his condemnation and death, and to his subsequent exercise of sovereign power, would it not be strange if it should contain no direct allusion to his resurrection? And yet, if the words "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," have no reference to his resurrection, the Psalm contains none.

Furthermore, we are told, in Acts iv. 31-33, that when the apostles had offered the prayer of which we have just spoken, "the place was shaken where they were assembled, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost.... and with great power, gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus."

A comparison of these different passages makes it more than probable, that when the apostle cited the words, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," as fulfilled by the raising up of Jesus, he spoke of his being raised from the dead.

The chief objection to this view of the matter is this, that when Paul spoke of the promise unto the fathers, and added, "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he raised up Jesus," the words from the dead are not used in this connection. By those who make the objection it is held, that the original word translated "raised up" does not imply a resurrection from the dead, unless the words ix Expv, from the dead, be added, or unless the context requires VOL. III.-No. 3

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it. Now we have already shown, to our own satisfaction at least, that the context does require us to understand the words "raised up," used in Acts xiii. 33, as significant of a resurrection from the dead; and if there be any defect in our argument on this head, it would not follow that the meaning which we have assigned to the words "raised up" is an erroneous one, for it is undeniable that the verb avionu, both with and without the words in ve«pov, signifies in certain tenses "to rise from the dead," and in others "to raise up from the dead." Instances exactly to the point, and perfectly analogous to the use of this verb in the passage under consideration, occur in Mark xii. 23 and 25. "In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise" (ivaorŵoi). For when they shall rise from the dead” (avaorwσi èk vexp). If it be said that the meaning of the term avaoro, shall rise, in the 23d verse, is indicated by the context, the remark would be just as true of it in the 25th as in the 23d verse, and yet in the second passage it is accompanied with the words i vepov, from the dead, and in the first it is not. Just so in Acts xiii. 33 and 34, in the first of which two verses, dvaorńoas, raised up, is used without the words in vεRpv, from the dead, and in the other dvornoe is used with them. In the first passage it is used more particularly to show, that by raising up Jesus, God had fulfilled his promise unto the fathers; and in the second, to show that when he raised him from the dead, it was with the purpose that he should not again die and descend to the grave-"the seat of corruption."

Did the term aviarnut, in no other passage, ever signify to raise up from the dead, unless accompanied by the words ix Expo, it might be maintained with much plausibility, that it could not have that meaning in the passage in ques tion; but the fact, that it is by itself elsewhere used to denote a resurrection from the dead, is conclusive as to the point that its meaning in this passage is to be determined, not by the, absence of the words in vexpar, but by the connection in which it occurs, and by a comparison of that passage with other parts of Scripture. Should the context not absolutely require that we should understand it of the resurrection from the dead, we are not therefore to conclude that this is not its meaning. If the context admits of this meaning, and if the probabilities drawn from other sources favour it, we may surely receive it as the more probable meaning, if not the certainly true one. The verb iysipw, to raise up, is used in verses 30 and 37 of this same 13th chapter of Acts, and in both cases to denote a resurrection from the dead; though in one verse the words i Rpòv, from the dead, are used with it, and in the other they are not. "But God raised him from the dead." v. 30th. "But he whom God raised up saw no corruption." v. 37th. Though the use of the words &K VEкp would be conclusive as to the import of the verb used with them, be it iycipw or avionu, the absence of these words does not determine the question whether the verbs themselves imply a resurrection from the dead. This must be ascertained and decided upon other grounds.

Our inference from all this is, that the objection we are combatting is not a valid one.

In his note on Acts xiii. 33, Pearce understands the apostle as asserting of the Saviour, "that the day of his resurrection was the day of his being begotten or raised to sovereign authority." He differs from the exposition given above in this, that he regards the word "begotten" as denoting that, at the resurrection, Christ was invested with regal power; and we, as signifying that his resurrection declared and proved him to be the Son of God and Zion's King.

In favour of the meaning assigned by him to the word "begotten," he cites from a collection made by Wetstein several passages, in which the days of accession to royal power are spoken of as birth-days.

Grotius takes the same view of the word rendered "begotten," maintaining, however, that the raising up does not refer to the resurrection of Christ, but to the exhibiting of him as prophet and king. He also says, that the day spoken of is the day when all power was given to Christ in heaven and in earth, as mentioned in Matthew xxviii. 18.

In his discussion of the doctrine of the eternal generation, Turrettin observes, that the generation mentioned in the 2d Psalm, and in Acts xiii., did not consist in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, but was of the nature of a manifes

tation or declaration; and so far he confirms our exposition. He then adds, Because the resurrection is an irrefragable proof of the divinity of our Lord, and of his eternal filiation, the Holy Spirit, through the Psalmist, might unite both, and have respect to his eternal generation as well as to his manifestation. He further says, Paul well observes that the Scripture was fulfilled, since its truth was made known, when, through the resurrection of Christ, God most fully declared him to be truly and peculiarly his own Son. With respect to the words to-day, Turrettin remarks, that as with God there is no yesterday nor to-morrow, but always to-day, so the filiation, since it is eternal, may be well designated by the to-day of eternity.

While we receive the doctrine of the eternal generation as truthfully and distinetly set forth in various passages of holy writ, and believe that our Lord was not only the first-born or begotten from the dead, but that he is truly, and in the highest sense of the words, the first-born or begotten of all creation, Col. i. 15. Heir and Lord of all things, we are not prepared to rest our belief of this important truth on the use of the term "begotten," in the 2d Psalm, nor to assign to the word to-day a meaning that destroys its distinct significance. Turrettin admits the tropical sense of the word "begotten," as expressive of the manifestation of Christ as the Son of God; and then assigns to it another and a literal meaning, indicative of his eternal filiation. We believe, indeed, that the idea of the eternal generation is included in the words "my Son," as used in the 2d Psalm, for the simple reason, that the power and authority ascribed in this Psalm to the Son is such that none but a divine person can wield. The term "Son," from whatever source its use may have sprung, is here suggestive of an eternal relation subsisting between the first and second persons in the Godhead; and this relation may be very properly expressed by the phrase "eternal generation," not implying succession, but a most perfect union, and a union analogous to that subsisting between a father and a son, and founded in identity of nature, and in the strongest and purest mutual love.

Others maintain, that the raising up in question is to be understood of the raising up of Jesus as a man, as a prophet like unto Moses, as a King to sit upon the throne of David; and that in the words cited by the apostle from the 24 Psalm, the author of the Psalm speaks of the eternal sonship of Christ-the two passages according to this view having no other connection than this, that they both refer to the same person, not to the same event; and they have not even the double sense assigned to them by Turrettin. But how could the eternal generation be made the subject of promise to the fathers? It may be said, indeed, that in the use of the words "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," God indicated the kind of King he had set upon his holy hill of Zion, viz. an eternal and absolute King, his own eternal Son. But this explanation, if true, would only serve to show that a previous passage in that same Psalm, "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill," would have been more apposite to the apostle's design, which was to show that God, in raising up Christ, had fulfilled his promise unto the fathers. As to those who hold that this Psalm in all its parts is yet to receive its fulfilment, we beg leave to remind them, that so far as the 7th verse is concerned, the apostle tells us that the promise therein contained has been fulfilled.

The different views taken by Pearce, Grotius, Turrettin, and other eminently learned divines, must show that we have undertaken no easy task in discussing the meaning of the words, "this day have I begotten thee"-and if the reader will free us from the charge of presumption, in handling such a topic, he shall be heartily welcome to the result of our labour.

J. M

Bousehold Choughts.

DEATH'S RAVAGES.

[An Extract from a New Year's Sermon.]

BRETHREN, let us come home to our own firesides, and call back the forms, and smiles, and sorrows, of those loved ones who passed from our midst to the world of spirits during the year which has just ended. Let us read the death-list, and learn who are missing.

Ere ten days of last year had passed away, a wife and mother sunk in death. Her husband had watched with solicitude for some months the pale face, the hectic flush, the cough; and her only child, a little daughter, had learned to step lightly over the floor where her sick mother lay. But her peace was made with God, and she feared not to go down to the valley. Her grave was made near that of her father, who had departed three months previous. Thus died Mrs. J W–

Three days later an infant of three months old closed his eyes on the world. Fond parents had doted on their little son, full of health and promise; and when God took EF, on the 13th of January, while the Christian parents bowed in submission, their silent tears revealed how early the infant takes a deep hold on parental affection.

Another wife and mother had for many years been deeply afflicted. Disease had attacked the very seat of life-the heart. And time after time, when that heart palpitated and grew faint, it seemed as though the spirit was departing. One such occasion do we well remember. It was on the holy Sabbath eve. Tidings went forth that the sufferer was dying. Friends collected around; and every face in that upper room was sorrowful. Every foot trod softly. Prayer went up to heaven as for a dying one. And over the sufferer herself came the visions of death. Nay, visions of bliss were there, for she saw her risen Saviour, and his bright abode, prepared for her reception. He gave her such pledges of his love, that she could not doubt of her final safety. And yet, those who stood around were unconscious of the rapture that filled her heart to overflowing, for she lay speechless, and apparently unconscious. But the cup of her earthly sorrow was not yet full, for she partially recovered. And it was not till the beautiful third of May, nearly four months after, that Mrs. Jane W fell asleep in Jesus. Whether her Lord met her again, and filled her cup with joy while departing, she did not

return to tell us as at first. But we learn from her experience, that the dying, speechless believer may have visions of glory, when to the view of beholders wholly insensible,

In the same month, a youth of 16 years was taken ill with a sudden internal malady, the cause of which seemed difficult to ascertain. He was the oldest son, and a youth of great promise; thoughtful too, at times, on the subject of religion. He had little opportunity for calm reflection after the malady set in, and lived but a few days. On the 30th of May, W- J yielded up his young spirit to

Him who gave it.

A young man, but little known to us, having but recently moved into our bounds, but attached to our congregation, was the next to give up his spirit to God. On our National jubilee, (the 4th of July,) HP MP M died of consumption.

For three months the voice of mourning was not heard in our habitations. But a sudden and crushing calamity awaited one of our families. On election day, while all were busy in electing a chief magistrate for the commonwealth, a team was seen coming at full speed without a driver. A young man, 21 years of age, about to deposit his first vote, had fallen from that wagon, and lay dying, the wheels having run over him. JC had only time to utter, "I am killed," and expired.

But as though his agonizing father had not drunk enough of the bitter cup of sorrow, another son, next younger, was lying sick at the time in P, of which the father had no knowledge. After tidings of his illness came, before the parent could stand at his bedside, he too had expired, two days after his brother. They lie side by side in the grave-yard.

Before leaving the grave of the first of these brothers, while the earth was falling with hollow sound upon the coffin, a messenger informed the speaker that another of his people had departed, an aged disciple of 93 years. Having served his Redeemer for more than half a century, Mr. W———— B- — was gathered as a shock of corn ripe for the harvest, after being supported by divine grace through a long period of bodily infirmities and severe sufferings. Such has been the chapter of death's ravages for the past year. Are you prepared to be his next victim?

L.

DOMESTIC ENDEARMENTS.-I hold it indeed to be a sure sign of a mind not poised as it ought to be, if it be insensible to the pleasures of home, to the little joys and endearments of a family, to the affection of relations, to the fidelity of domestics. Next to being well with his own conscience, the friendship and attachment of a man's family and dependent seems to me one of the most comfortable circumstances of his lot.