with all thy heart," &c. We must therefore love him as we love any creature from whom we have received benefit; and our love must be constantly guarded and restrained, lest it should become excessive, and wean our thoughts from God. But surely it is not under such views that love to Christ is represented in the Scriptures; and against its excesses, as against "worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator," we have certainly no admonitions no cautions. Supreme love to Christ, is an infallible characteristic of a true Christian; and so essential is it, in genuine Christian expe. rience, that the curse of God is pronounced on all who love him not. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha."

To lower the character of Christ, then, is to lessen our love to him, and to run the fearful hazard of incurring the curse of God and the "wrath of the Lamb."

VIII. The general and habitual exercise of the affections of TRUST, HOPE, JOY, &c., towards Christ, are all interfered with by the Arian doctrine. If the Redeemer were not omnipotent and omniscient, could we be certain that he always hears our prayers, and knows the source and remedy of all our miseries? If he were not all-merciful, could we be certain he must always be willing to pardon and relieve us? If he were not all-powerful, could we be sure that he must always be able to support and strengthen, to enlighten and direct us? Of any being less than God, we might suspect that his purposes might waver, his promise fail, his existence itself, perhaps, terminate; for, of every created being, the existence must be dependent and terminable.

IX. The language, too, we say not of the

Church of Christ in all ages, for that has been formed upon her faith, but of the Scriptures themselves, must be altered and brought down to these inferior views. No dying saint could say, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit," if Christ were a mere man like ourselves, and the redeemed, neither in heaven nor in earth, would so dare to associate a creature with God in divine honors and solemn worship, as to unite in the chorus, " Blessing and honor, and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever !"

While we consider the doctrine of the Trinity as interwoven with the very frame and texture of the Christian religion, it appears natural to conceive that the whole scheme and economy of man's redemption was laid with a principal view to it, in order to bring mankind gradually into an acquaintance with the Three Divine Persons, one God blessed for ever. We would speak with all due modesty, caution, and reverence, as becomes us, always in what concerns the unsearchable councils of heaven; but we say, there appears to us none so probable an account of the Divine Dispensations, from first to last, as what we have just mentioned, namely, that such a redemption was provided, such an expiation for sins required, such a method of sanctification appointed, and then revealed, that so men might know that there are Three Divine Persons,-might be apprized how infinitely the world is indebted to them, and might accordingly be better instructed and inclined to love, honor, and adore them here, because that must be a considerable part of their employment and happiness hereafter.

The subject before us, then, is not one of mere

curiosity and speculation, but one in which every man has an interest, precious as the happiness of the soul, and deep as eternity itself. Let us resolve, therefore, to know the truth, and fully to settle this great question. Let us open before us that storehouse of knowledge, the BIBLE; and, with a patience and candor becoming an inquiry so important, and a determination not to be biased by prejudices or prepossessions, let us pursue our investigations in the fear of God. Above all, let us invoke that influence from above which alone can reveal to us "the things of the Spirit," and guide us safely by the truth unto eternal life.

CHAPTER II.

STATEMENT OF DOCTRINES-DEFINITION OF TERMS.

In order to a clear understanding of the subject to be considered, it may be necessary briefly to state both the Arian and Trinitarian doctrines, and also to define certain terms that will be used in the progress of the discussion.

Trinitarians believe that there is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible; but that in unity of this Godhead there are three persons-the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They hold that the Son, who is eternal, and truly and properly Divine, took upon himself humanity, in order to make an atonement for sin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, humanity and Divinity, were united in the person of Christ.

They also regard the Holy Ghost as a distinct person in the Godhead, and one in substance, power, and eternity, with the Father and the Son. Not that the Father, Son, and Spirit, are each God, separately and independently considered, (for we never contemplate their Divinity in this light,) but that these three, in unity, constitute the one allperfect, incomprehensible, and eternal Being.

On the other hand modern Arians affirm that there is no distinction of persons in the Godhead -that Christ has but one nature, that though higher than angels, he is, nevertheless, a created being, neither human or Divine; and that the Holy Ghost is merely an attribute, or emanation from the Father. Some, however, regard the Spirit as the mind or soul of the Father, in connection with a Divine body, which is seated upon the throne of heaven.

The above is an epitome of the respective creeds, as near as they can be stated in few words.

As the terms son, person, trinity, and incarnation, are frequently used in the course of this work, and the sense in which we use them may be misunderstood, it may be necessary to show, at this point, in what sense they are employed.

I. The term son always points out a relation; but those relations differ very much in their nature, as will be seen by the following examples:1. It primarily signifies the relation of a male child to his natural father, as "David the son of Jesse." 2. That of the Christian to God, as "to them gave He power to become the sons of God." "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Beloved, now are we the sons of God." 3. That of the angels to God, as "when the sons of God came to present themselves

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before the Lord." 4. That of a pupil to his instructor, as Eli said to Samuel, "I called not, my son ;" and Paul calls Timothy and Titus his " in the faith." 5. That of a creature to the Creator, as "Adam was the son of God." 6. Judas was the "son of perdition." 7. The relations of the persons in the Godhead, as, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Here we have seven different relations, expressed by the term son; and only one of them is that of a son to his natural father. Now, we may declare Christ to be "the Son of God," and yet be very indefinite in our meaning, unless we show in what sense we use the term son. Mr. Millard, and most other Arians, say, he is a son in the first sense"a natural Son of God, as Solomon was the son of David." Hence the stress laid upon the term son, by Arians generally, in preaching and prayer. But Kinkade says he is the Son of God by creation

"in the sense that Adam was the Son of God." So these great reformers are as far apart in their views of Christ, as a created being is from the Uncreated. Perhaps others would say he is a son by regeneration, or as the angels are sons of God, &c.

Trinitarians understand the term in a different sense when applied to Christ. The humanity of Christ is the Son of God, because supernaturally begotten by the Holy Ghost. Hence, in view of her conception by the Spirit, the angel said to Mary, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." But that spiritual nature that existed before the world began, cannot be a son in this sense, because it was never thus begotten. Neither is He the Son of God as Solomon was the son of David; for son, in its primary sense, implies a father and mother, as well as a natural birth; and to make Christ the Son of