13th, Of the eight apostles and evangelists whose writings are contained in the New Testament, five, (viz. Matthew, Mark, Luke, James, and Jude,) have said nothing which presents any difficulty against the opinion, that Jesus was, as to nature, simply a man; though Matthew, Mark, and Luke, have given an account of his ministry, and Luke of the first preaching of the apostles.

14th, Though, if Jesus were a great pre-existent being, the fact could be known only by express revelation, and the whole importance of the fact must depend upon its being known, yet we no where meet with any express declaration of it.

15th, On various occasions where there was a suitable opportunity for the declaration of the doctrine of pre-existence, either by Jesus himself or by his apostles, we meet with nothing of the kind; but on the contrary, we find the most complete silence as to a superior nature, where our Lord spoke of his own claims, and where the apostles were replying to his enquiries, whom they thought him to be.

16th, The apostle Paul and 'the writer to the Hebrews, reason from our Lord's being man; and in 1 Cor. xv. 'the apostle's reasonings are entirely founded upon his being, as to nature, in all things like his brethren, and they have force upon that supposition only.

17th, The language of our Saviour himself leads to the same conclusion. Carpenter's Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel.

SIXTH SERIES.

1st, The total silence of the evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, concerning our Lord's pre-existence and divinity, is utterly unaccountable, if these stupendous facts are true and were known to those writers.

2nd, The pre-existence and divinity of Christ are no where taught as doctrines of revelation, but are left to be inferred from indirect arguments, obscure phraseology, and ambiguous hints.

3d. The apostles either did or did not know of the pre-existent state and dignity of Christ, during his personal ministry,

and while they were personally conversant with him. If they were informed of these facts, no marks of astonishment appear at the time of discovery. If they were not, it must be acknowledged that every expression used by Jesus was understood by them as applying to him as a

man.

4th, The Jews in the apostolic age never charged the Christians with polytheism or idolatry.

5th, Christ is repeatedly and emphatically called a man even after his resurrection and ascension.

6th, Jesus calls himself the Son of man ; which was a common periphrasis for a man himself.

7th, Christ appeared as a man, with all the attributes and feelings of a human being; and he was universally regarded as such by those who saw and conversed with him. He was born into the world as other men; had a mean education; felt, conversed, and acted as a human being; sustained the infirmities of human nature, and suffered and died like other

men; was regarded and, treated as a human being by those who associated and conversed with him.

8th, The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews directly asserts, and from the necessity of the case argues, that Christ, in order to accomplish the purposes of his mission, should be a man, and not a being of an order superior to the human race. Heb. ii. 5, 18.

9th, The great body of primitive Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, for the two first centuries and upwards, were Unitarians, and believers in the simple humanity of Jesus Christ.

Belsham's Calm Inquiry.

Here I close our Series of Arguments. If none of those adduced in the course of these three Lectures appear to you sa tisfactory, it would be vain and useless in me to attempt to bring forwards others. One thing, I am sure, you will, in your candour allow, that we do not take our opinions entirely upon trust; that we have some feeble arguments upon which to found our creed. Nay, I think you will go a little further, and acknowledge that

the arguments are plausible, if not forcible.

1st, It is objected against Unitarians that they depreciate the person of Christ. Great stress is laid upon this by many amongst you. You urge it again, and again," You are guilty of insulting the Messiah. You degrade, you blaspheme, the Son of God." By such expressions, and by talking of" the awful tendency of the daring liberties men take with divine things," by reasoning upon them, you absolutely frighten men from enquiring or thinking upon the subject.

But my Trinitarian friends, suppose you are wrong, is there nothing awful in your conduct? Take the alternative. You charge us with making God a man; we charge you with making a man God. You charge us with insulting God, by degrading his nature; we charge you with insulting God, by making a man his equal. Is not ours as solemn and awful a consideration as yours? If you are right, we give not the homage which is due to Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost; if we are right, you give not the praise