istence. Wherefore, since all Christians, after having been taught the doctrine delivered by Christ concerning God the Father, Himself as the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit, are commanded by Christ to be baptized unto the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; it follows, if we submit to the authority of scripture, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are persons, or agents numerically distinct."*

Here I cannot but remark how arbitrary, and inconsistent with the fair use of language, is Dr. Lardner's paraphrase of this important passage: "Go ye, therefore, into all the world, and teach, or disciple, all nations, baptizing them into the profession of faith in, and an obligation to obey, the doctrine taught by Christ, with authority from God, the Father, and confirmed by the Holy Ghost." Thus, also, besides the unreasonable force put upon the construction of the words, we are presented with the incongruous combination of the name of the Deity, the name of a doctrine, and the name of certain historical facts.

Obj. 5. The passage is by some suspected, and by others positively asserted, to be a spurious addition to the genuine gospel of Matthew.

* Instit. ad Doctr. Christ, liberaliter discendam; pag. 319. + First Postscript to the Letter on the Logos, p. 119. Dr. Clarke's Paraphrase was nearly the same. Dr. Lardner adds, "By the Holy Ghost as I apprehend, we are here to understand the miracles of our Saviour's ministry, and all the miraculous attestations of the truth and divine original of the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ."

Reply (1) This insinuation, or assertion, is in contradiction to all fair evidence, and in despite of all legitimate criticism. All the evidence by which the text of ancient authors is settled, is incontrovertibly in favour of the genuineness of the passage.

(2) The arguments adduced against it are drawn from these supposed internal difficulties:

[1] There is no reference to the use of the words, in the accounts of baptism which occur in the subsequent parts of the New Testament. This objection has been already answered.

[2] Had this command been given by Christ, the apostles would not have so long hesitated to preach the gospel to the gentiles. To this the answer is, that the apostles, till they were more fully acquainted with the genius and design of Christianity, understood our Lord's commission as extending only to their own countrymen dispersed among various nations, and to those from the heathen who had been proselyted to Judaism.

(3) The anxiety and the efforts to expunge this text, even by means unworthy of liberal learning, indicate a strong feeling that it cannot, by fair interpretation, be made consonant with Unitarian views.

We proceed in our notice of passages from the Acts, which refer to Christ as the Head and Object of religious institutions.

ii. Christ is designated as the Great Subject of the gospel, so that the system of truth taught by the apostles is denominated from him. In this

apostolic history, the gospel is frequently called "the word of God:"* but it is also called "the word of the Lord,+ the doctrine of the Lord,‡ the word of the Lord Jesus,§ preaching the Lord Jesus," and "the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ." These descriptions do not necessarily import more than a relative greatness, as the chief topic of the course of doctrines: but, when other evidence is adduced of a personal superiority, they may very properly be considered as referring to and confirming that idea.

VII. The term Lord (Kúpios) is well known to be of extensive and various application. It is given to any person in whom is vested property, authority, or right of any kind: thus denoting, for example, a master of a family, a husband, a parent, a master of servants, a teacher, a magistrate, a proprietor of any possession. But it is to be remarked that, when this appellative is used in any of these inferior significations, it is accompanied by some adjunct, qualifying and defining the relation. When, however, it is put without any such limiting term, in the scriptural Greek, it ordinarily denotes the Supreme Being: and it is the word regularly employed by the Septuagint to translate the names ADONAI and JEHOVAH. This usage of the Septuagint has been followed by the writers of the New Testament;

as must be obvious to every reader of the original text. Now this word we find, thus put in the form of an unqualified pre-eminence, throughout this book of Acts and the New Testament generally; when the circumstances of the connexion require us to understand it of the Lord Jesus Christ. The following are instances. In the larger number of them the application of the term, THE LORD, to the Messiah, is undeniable: in the others it appears to be justly inferrible either from the connexion, or from the similarity of phraseology to other passages.

The memory of the reflecting reader will compare the expressions with the ordinary phraseology of the Old Testament.

"The Lord added daily to the church those who were saved. Believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. Barnabas exhorted them to cleave to the Lord with fixed purpose of heart;-and a great multitude was added to the Lord. They continued a long time, preaching openly concerning the Lord, who bore witness to his word of grace, granting signs and miracles to be done by their hands. Thus mightily did the word of the Lord grow and prevail."*

"He said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou art persecuting. There was a disciple in Damascus,—and to him the Lord said in a vision, Ananias! And he said,

* Chap. ii. 47. v. 14. xi. 24. xiv. 3. xix. 20.

Behold me, Lord! And the Lord said to him, Arise and go,-and seek Saul-of Tarsus: for behold, he is praying. Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many concerning this man. —— But the Lord said to him, Go; for this man is a chosen instrument for me, to bear my Ananias went-and said, Saul, my brother, the Lord hath sent me, even Jesus who hath appeared to thee on the way."*

name.

"Preaching the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all. They turned to the Lord. Many believed upon the Lord. I was reminded of the word of the Lord. Arriving at Antioch they spoke to the Greeks, preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus: and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. They were attending on their ministry to the Lord. Elymas endeavouring to pervert the proconsul from the faith, -Paul said,-Wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee!-The proconsul believed, struck with awe at the doctrine of the Lord.t

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'Praying with fastings they commended them to the Lord upon whom they had believed. They endeavoured to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. Immediately we set

* Chap. ix. 5, 10, 13, 15, 17.

+ Chap. x. 36. ix. 34, 35, 42. xi. 16, 20, 21. xiii. 2, 8, 10, 11, 12.