It cannot be faid that John the Baptist preached any fuch doctrine; and when the apostles first attached themselves to Jefus, it is evident they only confidered him as being fuch a Meffiah as the rest of the

Jews expected, viz. a man, and a king. When Nathanael was introduced to him it was evidently in that light, John i. 45. Philip findeth Nathanael and faith unto him, we have found him of whom Mofes in the law and the prophets did write, Jefus of Nazareth, the Son of Jofeph. He had then, we may suppose, no knowledge of the miraculous conception.

That Jefus was even the Meffiah, was divulged with the greatest caution, both to the apoftles and to the body of the Jews. For a long time our Lord faid nothing explicit on this fubject, but left his difciples, as well as the Jews at large, to judge of him from what they faw. In this manner only, he replied to the meffengers that John the Baptift fent to him.

If the high-prieft expreffed his horror, by rending his cloaths, on Jefus avowing himself to be the Meffiah, what would he

have done if he had heard or fufpected, that he had made any higher pretenfions? And if he had made them, they must have transpired. When the people in general faw his miraculous works, they only wondered that God fhould have given fuch power unto a man. Matt. ix. 8. When the multitude faw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, who had given fuch power unto men; and yet this was on the occafion of his pronouncing the cure of a paralytic perfon, by saying, Thy fins be forgiven thee, which the Pharifees thought to be a blafphemous prefumption.

At the time that Herod heard of him, it was conjectured by fome that he was Elias, by others, that he was the prophet, and by fome that he was John rifen from the dead; but none of them imagined that he was either the most high God himself, or the maker of the world under God. It was not so much as fuppofed by any perfon that Jefus performed his mighty works by any power of his own; fo far were they from fufpecting that he was the God who had spoken to them by Mofes, as many now fuppofe him to have been.

If he was known to be a God at all before his death, it could only have been revealed to his difciples, perhaps the apostles, or only his chief confidents among them, Peter, James, and John, fuppofe on the mount of transfiguration, though nothing is faid concerning it in the history of that tranfaction. Certainly what they faw in the garden of Gethsemane could not have led them to fufpect any fuch thing. But if it had ever been known to Peter, can we fuppofe that he could have denied him as he did? Befides, as our Lord told the apostles that there were many things which he could not inform them of before his death, and that they should know afterwards; this was a thing fo very wonderful and unfufpected, that if any articles of informa tion were kept from them at that time, this muft certainly have been one of them.

If it be fuppofed that Thomas was acquainted with this most extraordinary part of his master's character, which led him to cry, My Lord and my God, when he was convinced of his refurrection, as he was not one of the three who had been entrusted

with any fecrets, it must have been known
to all the twelve, and to Judas Iscariot
among the rest. And fuppofe him to have
known, and to have believed, that Jefus
was his God and maker, was it poffible
for him, or for any man, to have formed a
deliberate purpose to betray him (Peter, it
may be faid, was taken by furprize, and was
in perfonal danger) or if he had only heard
of the pretenfion, and had not believed it,
would he not have made fome advantage
of that impofition, and have made the dif-
covery
of this, as well as of every thing elfe
that he knew to his prejudice?

If it be fuppofed that the divinity of Christ was unknown to the apoftles till. the day of Pentecoft; befides lofing the benefit of feveral arguments for this great doctrine, which are now carefully collected from the four evangelifts, we have no account of any fuch discovery having been made at that time, or at any subsequent one. And of all other articles of illumination, of much less confequence than this, we have distinct information, and alfo of the manner in which they were impreffed by them. This is particularly

particularly the case with respect to the extension of the bleflings of the gospel to uncircumcised Gentiles.

But what was this article to the knowledge of their master, being the most high God, or the maker of the world under God?

It might have been expected, also, that the information that a person whom the apostles first conversed with as a man, was either God himself, or the maker of the world under God, should have been received with some degree of doubt and bestation, by some or other of them ; especially as they had been so very hard to be persuaded of the truth of his resurrection, though they had been so fully apprized of it before hand. And yet, in all the history of the apostles, there is the same profound filence concerning this circumstance, and every other depending on the whole scheme, as if no such thing had ever had any existence. .

If the doctrine of the divinity of Christ had been actually preached by the apostles, and the Jewish converts in general had adopted it, it could not but have been well known to the unbelieving Jews. And would

they,