Yet his lot was poverty, contempt, and sorrow. Besides all outward distress, he was evidently the victim of some mysterious and inward cause of grief, the most agonizing and unparalleled. For these his sufferings there were reasons and motives founded in consummate wisdom and the most generous philanthropy; and there were designs which reached forth to all the nations of mankind, to all times, and to the vast comprehension of the eternal world. The effects of his life and actions, and of his sufferings and death, can be measured only by the extent and the duration of the supreme good. Of that good, he is the Teacher, Possessor, and Giver. Having triumphed over all the malignity of sin, and all the power of pain, he holds the empire of life and happiness, and is the Author of Eternal salvation to all that obey him.*

With the declaration of these high powers and prerogatives, we find incidental intimations and

to adduce all the places which treat on the particular subjects. The candid reader's own attention, and the aid of the Indices, will supply what may be wanting.

The following remarkable citation should have been subjoined to p. 337. The writer has been affirming that Jesus Christ could not have been exempted from all the moral infirmities of human nature; and on the contrary supposition, that is, that Christ was actually sinless, or possessed of "absolute perfection," he goes on to say, "If he was so perfect, it is impossible not to conclude that, notwithstanding his appearance in the fashion of a man,' he was, in reality, something more than man." Dr. Priestley in the Theol. Repository, vol. iv. p. 449. * Page 336, 356, 444, 527, 551, 608, 670-672.

direct assertions of his possessing another condition of being, superior to that in which he appeared among mortals, pre-existent, heavenly, and divine.*

In a sense peculiar to himself he is the Son of God. His nature is perfectly known only to God his Father. He existed, and acted, before his human birth, before his earthly ancestors, before the world was brought into existence.†

Intrinsic worth and personal dignity are attributed to him, of such kind and in such a degree as are not compatible with the idea of dependent nature. He possesses the peculiar excellencies of nature and attributes, which constitute the specific glory of the Deity. He is One with the Father, in will, design, operation, and even existence.‡

To him are attributed those powers and properties which are most distinctive of the Divine Essence, and of which a created nature is necessarily incapable. A knowledge of the counsels and will of the Deity, not derived by communication, but original, natural, and intuitive: the possession of necessary and essential life: the possession of the whole assemblage of holy beings as his own peculiar property: absolute and infinite power: supremacy over the created

* Page 115, 120, 131, 136, 165, 170, 509, 516, 526, 534, 543.

† Page 49-57, 141, 163–192, 533.

Page 534, 325, 509, 534, 610, 614, 572, 565, 605, 510, 516, 84, 620.

universe providential dominion and agency: unsearchableness: omnipresence: omniscience: parity in power with the Almighty Father: unchangeableness: eternity: absolute perfection : existence as one Being with the Deity.*

To him Divine Works are ascribed. The creation of all dependent nature generally; and particularly the being and well-being of the intelligent and holy universe: the bestowment of life, and the resuscitation from the state of death the pardoning of sin: the recovery of men from the extreme of moral ruin the conferring of all spiritual and eternal blessings, the greatest possible enjoyment, the supreme good: the veiling of his own proper glory, and the resuming of its manifestation: the relinquishment and resumption of his human life: the bestowment of divine influences, both ordinary and miraculous: the inspiration of the ancient prophets the qualifications, mission, miracles, and success of the apostles: the diffusion and efficacy of the gospel the conduct of providential dispensations, in all the events of the present state, with regard to both the church and individuals: the irresistible destruction of the antichristian power: the protection and deliverance of his servants, in all their duties and difficulties, and from every possible danger and evil: a perfect intuition, controul, and dominion over the minds

* Page 306, 537, 583, 620, 509, 572, 620, 621, 610, 652,

661'.

and passions, the secret springs of action, and the whole conduct of men: the conservation of the universe: the resurrection of the whole human race the adjudication of the eternal awards of happiness to the righteous, and just perdition to the ungodly and the immediate communication of the pure and never-fading happiness of the heavenly state.*

To him are attributed the honours which are compatible with the Divine Being necessarily and exclusively. Legislative authority in matters of moral obedience: to be the Object of the unmeasured exercise of the devotional affections, of the most reverential homage, of religious obedience, and proper religious worship: and the same dignity is ascribed to his name, as in the usual style of scripture to that of the Infinite Jehovah.t

He is not only designated by appellations which are peculiar to himself, and which convey the most exalted ideas of dignity. Such as Son of God in a sense peculiar to himself, Image of God, Brightness of the divine glory, Express Image of the divine essence, and Sovereign of the whole creation: but he is also denominated by those names and titles which are the most distinctive of the Divine Nature. The MOST

*Page 525, 653, 655, 527, 529, 307, 444, 608, 611, 670, 526, 614, 445, 597, 461, 614, 572, 580, 616, 667, 573, 575, 578, 212, 221, 665, 74, 668, 445, 574, 581, 669, 584.

+ Page 302, 446, 463, 465, 542, 567, 590, 598, 617, 623, 639, 637, 561, 641, 646, 147.

HIGH the LORD, in the absolute and pre-eminent style: God: the LORD GOD: the LORD and GOD: the True GOD: the only SOVEREIGN and LORD our GOD and SAVIOUR: the Great GOD and our SAVIOUR: the GOD who is over all, blessed for ever.*

Interspersed with these declarations, descriptions perpetually occur of a peculiar divine constitution, in which, by the gracious will and commission of the Father, Christ is invested with a spiritual, universal, and sovereign dominion; which, while given to him in his delegated and assumed capacity of Mediator, implies divine qualities for the exercise of its functions.+

Thus we find an assemblage of characters of dependence and subordination, and other characters which, by no fair use of language, can be understood as implying less than the independency, supremacy, and infinity of the One All-Perfect Nature.

This astonishing attribution of opposite qualities to the Founder and Head of the Christian faith, is not made in a few expressions, rarely occurring and of dubious meaning: but it meets us with the most impressive constancy, and in every variety of form and phrase, whether the plain and positive affirmation, or the indirect, incidental, circumstantial, and accumulative mention. It is but disadvantageously apprehended

* Page 49-78, 674—680, 672, 551, 572, 604, 680, 33, 282, 602, 604, 459, 698, 690, &c.

† Page 70, 194, 484, 625, 631, 634.