cond person of the adorable Trinity, the eternal, infinite JEHOVAH. One more argument, in favor of the Deity of Christ, and we shall dismiss the subject. X. THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST FOLLOWS FROM THE

FACT THAT HE FORGIVES SINS.

1. No being but God can forgive sins. When Christ said to the sick of the palsy, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," the Scribes said, "Who can forgive sins but God only ?" Christ does not deny the correctness of their position; but proceeds to convince them, that "the Son of man had power on earth to forgive sins," as if desirous from their own premises to lead them to the acknowledgment of his proper Divinity. To escape this conclusion is impossible. No being but God can forgive sins; but Jesus Christ forgave sins; therefore, Jesus Christ is God.

That Christ forgave sins, is too plain to be denied, even by Arians themselves. The only alternative left them, is, to deny that God only can pardon the sinner; and resort to the modern invention of agency and delegation. It is therefore asserted that Christ forgave sins merely as the agent or representative of the Almighty. The falsity and absurdity of this doctrine have already been shown; but in respect to the point in hand, we further remark,

(1.) That such is the nature of pardon, that no being can forgive offences for another. If a man injure us, we can forgive him, it is true; but no man can forgive him in our stead; neither can we forgive him so as to prevent the adjudication of the case by the Judge of all. So in respect to God. It is not possible, in the nature of things, that a creature should be authorized to forgive sins.

(2.) This notion of pardon by proxy, is another "mark of the Beast" a favorite dogma of "Baby

lon." Papists tell us, that God can appoint a vicegerent, or representative, to forgive sins, and that the world has such a delegate in the person of the Pope. They also allow this power to the priesthood generally. Arianism responds to the first of these sentiments, but tells us that this agent is Jesus Christ instead of the Pope, a creature, in their opin- ion, a little above his Holiness in some respects. Now, if the Arian position be correct, we see no reason why the Catholics should not be correct also. If God could delegate the right to forgive sins to an exalted creature, that creature could appoint Peter as his agent, and Peter could appoint his successor; and it may be true, after all, that the Pope, and all his Cardinals and Priests, even to Bishop Hughes, have power on earth to forgive

sins.

We must then either abandon the notion of forgiveness by proxy altogether, or all turn Papists at once, and go over to the church of Rome. We therefore reject the Arian hypothesis of pardon by proxy as an unscriptural and blasphemous assumption-the very quintessence of Popery.

We will now dismiss this important point in the doctrine of the Trinity, and bring this Chapter to a close. Though we have extended these remarks beyond the limits proposed, we have adduced but a few of the arguments that might be urged in support of our position. Neither do we pretend that those selected are better than those that are omitted. Having determined not to swell this volume to an immoderate size; and, knowing that many unanswerable sermons on the Divinity of Christ were already before the public, we shall rest satisfied with the specimen of Scripture and argument already adduced upon this point. We have shown

that Christ is the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal Being, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. We have proved his Divinity from the fact, that he is the only proper object of religious worship, and from Scriptures that necessarily imply his Godhead. We have also identi

fied him as "God over all," from his titles of "SON OF GOD;" "LORD;" "GOD;" and "JEHOVAH ;" and have proved him to be the sin-pardoning God, the only God revealed in the Bible. On these arguments we are willing to rest our cause, with all who believe the Scriptures, and are willing to know the truth. We see no rational middle-ground between rejecting the Divinity of Christ and denying the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. If he, whom the Scriptures reveal to us as the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal Being-the JEHOVAH Worshipped by men and angels-the God who upholds all things, forgives sins, and is to judge the world in the last day, is nothing but a mere finite creature of yesterday, a being infinitely below the Deity; who can have any confidence in the Bible, or receive it for a moment as an infallible revelation of God's will to man? No wonder therefore, that Arianism is the highway to Deism; for we must impeach the Bible to be an Arian. But, when we fall in with its plain and obvious meaning, all is clear. The Old and New Testaments agree with each other; a key is furnished to unlock the Book of Life; a thousand ridiculous notions and absurdities are avoided; the credit of the Holy Scriptures is preserved; and angels and men are justified in honoring the Son, even as they honor the Father. May that Eternal "WORD," who became incarnate to redeem us, shine on our hearts,

and open our eyes; that we may behold "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

CHAPTER VII.

DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

In the preceding chapters we have shown that there is but one living and true God; and that Jesus Christ has two natures, being in one nature verily and really man; and in the other truly and properly GOD. That the "WORD" or Son of God is a distinct person from the Father, is not denied by Arians. They not only admit his personality, but push the distinction so far as to make him a distinct being from God; whereas we maintain that he is distinct only as a person in the Godhead, and is consequently possessed of absolute Divinity. This we think we have already proved to the satisfaction of every candid reader. We shall now proceed to establish the third leading point in the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, that the Holy Ghost also is really Divine; and that he is a distinct person from the Father and the Son. On this point there is great confusion among Arian teachers and writers. Some say the Holy Ghost is one thing and some another. One says "he is a power, attribute, or emanation from God." Another says he is literally the breath of God, while a third informs us that he is God's soul that occupies his body as human souls occupy their bodies. Kinkade "God's Spirit, bears the same relation to God, that the spirit of man does to man." This is the prevailing doctrine

says,

on this point, among Arians. They hold that God has a body like a man, and that the Holy Spirit is the soul of that body; so that God is not a pure spirit without body or parts, but a material being like man, having both soul and body. In this they have departed a little from the footsteps of their father Arius, and on this account they deny that they are Arians. But they have only exchanged one particular error for another, having, as it respects the Spirit, abandoned Arianism for Sabellianism. Both Arians and Sabellians deny the doctrine of the Trinity; the former by making the Son a distinct being from God, and a creature, and the Spirit the soul of God; the latter by making the Father, Son, and Spirit one person, with different titles under different dispensations. "Sabellians taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are only denominations [or names] of one hypostasis; [or person;] in other words, that there is but one person in the Godhead :-that under the Old Testament, God delivered the law as Father; under the New, dwelt among men, or was incarnate, as the Son; and descended on the Apostles as the Spirit." So far as the Spirit is concerned, most modern Arians adopt this theory; and tell us that the Holy Ghost and the Father are one, without any distinction of persons. But while this sentiment is the more popular one among Arians, it is by no means universal. While some admit the Deity of the Spirit and deny his personality; others deny both. It will be necessary, therefore, in considering this subject, not only to show that the Holy Ghost is God, but that he is a distinct person from the Father and the Son. To the first of these points we now invite attention.

I. Our Lord says, "God is a Spirit ;" and one of