III. — God, the Father, the only Person or Being who is Underived or - The One Supreme Person or Being, the Father, the Only Object 399 2. The Father entitled to Supreme Worship § 3. The Son rarely, the Holy Ghost (as a Person different from the Father) never, in the Bible, addressed in Prayer § 4. The Father, almost to the entire Exclusion of the Son and Holy § 1. As a Divine Being, Christ Inferior to the Father § 2. As a Pre-existent Being, or even as the Creator of the World, II.-Deficiency of Proof for Christ's Existence before his Appear- § 2. Christ's being "sent" or proceeding from God," and his coming down from Heaven," Phrases signifying that he had received the fullest Instruction and Authority from God 417 III. Christ's Sonship not implying an essentially Divine Nature, Christ not called " God," in the highest Sense of the Term Christ trained by Divine Providence to act as the Messiah VI. In his Offices and Qualifications, Christ Subordinate to God Section. As Head of the Church, and as Judge of Mankind, Christ derived his Power and Glory from God X.-Christ not to be worshipped with Supreme Veneration, but § 1. Civil, not Divine, Homage paid to Jesus while on Earth § 2. Secondary, not Supreme, Homage paid, or required to be paid, INTRODUCTION. Ir is well known, that for many ages the Christian church has been divided into two great classes, distinguished from each other by the names of UNITARIAN and TRINITARIAN. I. According to the former class, the Almighty and Infinite Being, to whom universal nature, both material and spiritual, owes its existence and preservation, is strictly One, one in a sense similar to that in which the word is employed when men speak of an individual belonging to any order or species of intelligent natures, one Mind, one Spirit, one Person, one Agent. This Being, and he alone, is self-existent, underived, independent; the only absolute Possessor of every perfection; the single and original Source of all existence, of all might, of all wisdom, of all goodness; the God and Father of all intelligences, whether celestial or terrestrial, human or divine; the God and Father even of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though immeasurably superior, in moral and spiritual grandeur, to all other beings of whom we have any knowledge, was and is dependent on the One Supreme and Universal Parent for his existence, his powers, and his offices, for his authority and qualifications as the Messiah; as the Representative or Vicegerent of God; as the Teacher, the Saviour, the King, and the Judge of men. Some Unitarians are of opinion, that Christ was, in his entire nature, a man, raised up by the Almighty, and endowed with an inspiration far surpassing that of any other Heaven-taught Prophet; others, that, before his appearance on the earth, he had existed in heaven as a created, superhuman, if not superangelic, being. Some have thought that the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, particularly as shown by Jesus and the apostles, had also a personal though derived existence; while others, the majority, have considered the divine spirit, flowing throughout the Sacred Records, to be either God himself, or his gifts, agency, and influence, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, - whether natural or supernatural. They all, however, believe in the strict or simple Unity and the unrivalled perfections of Him who is God and Father, and in the derivation of Christ's nature, power, and glory, and of the existence and attributes of all other persons or beings, from the one Creator, the one Parent, the one God. Whatever differences of opinion, then, may exist among Unitarians concerning the particular rank in the scale of creation to which our Lord or any other intelligence belongs, there is no difference whatever respecting the great doctrine which contradistinguishes them from their Trinitarian brethren. On this subject there is among them no contrariety of sentiment; and the doctrine, whether true or false, is so simple as to be incapable of being misunderstood. the II. According to the second of the above-mentioned classes, Trinitarian, the Deity is One, and yet Three; one God, but three hypostases, or Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; each of whom is the uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, and almighty God, though they do not by any means constitute three uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, and almighty Gods; each being different in some respect from the others, though they are one in essence, and equal in attributes. The second of these persons- - God the Son, the Son of God, the Logos, or the Word- assumed human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, and, after a lapse of thirty years from his birth, entered upon his office as the long-expected Messiah; uniting in his person two natures, one of which was truly human, and the other truly divine. In other words, the second person of the Trinity became God-man. |