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hardly any solid argument in the whole epistle, though generally considered as the most clear, argumentative, and convincing of all St. Paul's epistles, on the supposition that Jesus Christ, the grand subject of it, is no more than a man, weak and peccable like others. On this principle, what shall we make of his doctrine respecting the priesthood of Christ, as displayed at large in the ninth and tenth chapters? Here, methinks, he especially answers the character Doctor Priestley gives him, and stands forth as an inconclusive reasoner. If the doctor be right, he reasons

as follows:

"Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood," namely, the blood of a mere man, "he entered in once into the holy place, having," by that mean, "obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ," the blood of one mere man, "who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God?" Heb. ix. 11-14.

"It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. Wherefore when he," a mere man, who had no prior existence, "cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Then said I," before I existed, "Lo, I come to " enter that body and "do thy will, O God. By the which will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ," the body of one nere man, once for all;"-body, I say; but I do not mean by this, that he had any soul, any more than a superior or divine nature: no; like other mere men, he was all body, wholly made of matter, without spirit. "But he," (or autos, "this person," ) "after he had offered one

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sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies," whether evil men, or evil angels, "be made his footstool," namely,

the footstool of a mere man.

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he," a mere man, the same mere

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"For by one offering he," a mere man, “ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, Having therefore, brethren, boldness," or liberty, "to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," the blood of a mere man, "by a new and living way, which "hath consecrated for us; and having " man an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin" but that which we reject. that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot" one mere man, whom I term "the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Heb. x. 4, 5, 7, 10, 12-14, 19-22, 26, 28, 29.

"He

I think no one will wonder that they who reject the whole doctrine of the divinity and atonement of Christ, together with the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, should consider the author of this epistle as writing without inspiration, and as reasoning very inconclusively. But what will they say to that passage where the apostle informs us, that Moses "esteemed the reproach of Christ," that is, the reproach of a mere man, who had no existence till about two thousand years after that time,—that he esteemed this reproach, I say, "greater riches than the treasures of Egypt?' Hebrews xi. 26. The apostle exhorts us to "look to this" mere man Jesus;" and terms him, though a mere man, "the author and finisher of our faith;" and tells us, "he is set down on the right hand of the throne of God;" Hebrews xii. 2; and bids us see that we refuse him not. For," adds he, "if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth," the mere man Moses," much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him who," though he "speaketh from heaven," is, however, but another mere man : "whose voice then,"

"

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namely, two thousand years before he had any being, "shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but heaven also." Verses 25, 26. This mere man, "Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" for, though a mere man, he is immutable; Hebrews xiii. 8; and, "that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, he suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach; and by him," mere man as he is, "let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus," who, though but a mere man, is, however, "the great Shepherd of the sheep," omniscient to know, and omnipresent to oversee and protect, them all, "through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ," the same mere man, “to whom," mere man as he is, "be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Verses 12, 13, 15, 20, 21. I hope, rev. sir, if Dr. Priestley deem this to be good sense and sound doctrine, he will have no objection to join with the apostle in this doxology, and add his hearty " Amen " to St. Paul's ascribing glory to this mere man for ever and ever.

LETTER VIII.

I am, rev. sir,

Yours, &c.

REV. SIR,

HOWEVER difficult a task Dr. Priestley may find it, to reconcile the epistles of St. Paul with common sense, on the supposition of that apostle's holding the doctrine of Christ's mere humanity, I am persuaded he will find it equally difficult to reconcile there with the epistles of the other apostles, supposing them also to have been of the

same opinion. In proof of this, I shall lay before you a few passages, extracted from their writings also, referring you to the original epistles for further satisfaction. St. James, it is true, speaks but little of Christ; but, nevertheless, what he does speak, shows, either that he was not an unitarian in the doctor's sense of the word, or that he had little regard to common sense in writing his epistle. He not only styles himself “ a servant of God,” but also of the "Lord Jesus Christ," that is, as the doctor will have it, of a mere man. And the next time he mentions his name, which is in the beginning of the second chapter, he assures us he is "the Lord of glory;" that is, on the doctor's hypothesis, a mere man is the Lord of glory. "Be patient, brethren," says he, "unto the coming of the Lord," that is, the coming of a mere man; "stablish your hearts: the coming of the Lord," the same mere man, “draweth nigh. And grudge not one against another, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge,” a mere man, "standeth at the door." James V. 7-9.

2.

St. Peter furnishes us with many more examples than St. James, either of the erroneousness of the Socinian doctrine, or of his own absurdity. "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ," that is, says Dr. Priestley, an apostle of a mere man; "to the strangers, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus," that is, the blood of a mere man. 1 Peter i. 1, Here St. Peter speaks like a trinitarian. He both names the three that bear record in heaven, and attributes unto each his proper office and work in the economy of our redemption. He ascribes our election to God the Father, who, in his divine foreknowledge, marks from the beginning who will accept of salvation in the only way in which it can be accepted, the way of repentance and faith, and elects or chooses such for his children. He imputes our redemption to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whose body offered up upon the cross as a sacrifice for sin, makes atonement, and the sprinkling of whose blood gives at once peace with God, and peace of conscience, to the truly penitent and believing soul. And he attributes our sancti

fication to the Holy Spirit, whose heavenly influence upon the mind both breaks the power and purges away the defilement of sin, at the same time that he inspires us with love, joy, and peace, with holiness and happiness, and gives us to know that his genuine fruit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

The second of these persons, against whom Dr. Priestley seems to have a peculiar enmity, and who, he thinks, is far too much exalted, when "advanced to the high rank of the first and principal emanation of the Deity, the νους or λογος of the Platonists, and the δημιουργος, under God, in making the world," as being, he believes, a mere man; this person, I say, even Jesus, the Son of God, is represented by St. Peter, a few verses after, as the great object of the faith and love of the saints, and the source of unspeakable joy to them. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter i. 8, 9. And is he a mere man whom they thus love, though they have not seen him, and in whom they "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory?" Is he a mere man, whose "Spirit," as the apostle observes in the following verses, 66 was in the ancient prophets," and spoke by them, and who hath "redeemed us, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with his own precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for us?" Surely, if he be, St. Peter must have mistaken his character, and have viewed him in a very different light.

This appears still more manifest from the next chapter. "As new-born babes," says he, "desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be that ye have tasted that the Lord," (a mere man, shall I say?) "is gracious." That he means Christ, is plain from the following words: "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,

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