indulging them with the most beneficial intercourse:* and, if it does not necessarily carry the implication, it goes very far towards doing so, of a pre-existent state in him who thus condescends to dwell with men. The similarity of phrase suggests a similarity of idea to the passages of the same apostle : "He who sitteth upon the throne will fix his tabernacle over them: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will fix his tabernacle with them !"

The appellation "Only-begotten" (Movoyevs) is used three times in the Septuagint ;+ and in each place it is put for the word (TT) which is expressed in our version by darling or only one, denoting an object of the highest and unique affection, such as an only son usually is. In the Apocryphal books, it is used three times to denote only children,‡ and once in a metaphorical sense to designate the unrivalled excellence of wisdom.§ In the Gospel of Luke, it occurs three times as a designation of only children ;|| in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is an epithet of Isaac ;¶ and four times in the Gospel of John, and once in his first Epistle, it is an appellation of Jesus Christ.** It is found in no other part of the sacred writings.

*See Rev. vii. 15. xii. 12. xiii. 6. xxi. 3. These are the only places of the N. T. in which the word occurs: but onŋvów,

in 2 Cor. xii. 9. has the same signification.

Wisd. Sol. vii. 22. Heb. xi. 17.

Luke vii. 12. viii. 42. ix. 38.

** John i. 14, 18. iii. 16, 18. 1 ep. iv. 9.

These examples, applied to elucidate the sense of the term in reference to the Saviour of mankind, furnish the ideas, that he possesses unrivalled excellence, that he is the object of a peculiar and unparalled divine love, and that he is the SON OF GOD in a sense absolutely his own, and which no other being can share with him.

This conclusion is strengthened by observing the connexion of this declaration with the preceding sentence. Those who receive Christ are "children of God," not by natural right, or upon any merely human principle, but by a divine operation for they are "born of God." But Christ, the Heavenly Word, is not a Son in that way He is the ONLY-BEGOTTEN, the Son of God in a sense absolutely peculiar to himself, supreme in dignity and unique in nature.

Let the attentive reader now put this interpretation to the test of applying it to the four remaining places, in which the epithet is given to the Messiah; and with the closest observance of the connexion, design, and bearing of each passage. With this view, I recite those passages:

"No one hath ever beheld God: the ONLYBEGOTTEN Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath fully explained [the divine doctrine.]

God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY-BEGOTTEN Son, that whosoever believeth upon him may not perish, but may have eternal life. He who believeth on him is not condemned but he who believeth not is already

condemned, because he hath not believed on the name of the ONLY-BEGOTTEN Son of God. In this has been manifested the love of God unto us, that he hath sent his Son, the ONLY-BEGotten, into the world; that we may live through him. In this is that love; not that we have loved God, but that he hath loved us, and hath sent his Son, a propitiation for our sins.'

Can an unprejudiced mind duly consider these divine declarations, and not perceive that they imply pre-existence in the Son of God, or he could not have been sent or given; that they assert him to be possessed of the highest dignity and worth, so that his being given as a Redeemer to the world was an act of love so great as to be beyond all power of language adequately to express, it; (and could this be said of the appointment of a mere human creature to that office?)

that he exists in a state of the most intimate and perfect conjunction of knowledge, happiness, and nature, with the Eternal Father: ——— and that thus He is the Son of God in a mode absolutely unique, and therefore of necessity infinitely above the reach of our faculties to comprehend?

Again I beg leave to urge my request for the reader's serious and impartial meditation on these scripture declarations, and his most fervent prayers for heavenly light and guidance in the understanding of them.

The "GLORY of the Only-begotten" is spoken of in the tone of devout admiration. We have before shewn, I trust, by abundant evidence, that

this is the moral beauty and excellency of Christ, as unveiled in his gospel; and that it is identical with the peculiar glory of the Divine Name.*

Comprized in this glory is the "fulness" from which the most copious supply of divine benevolence and beneficence is, with infinite liberality, communicated to men. The expressions are peculiarly strong to denote the largeness of possession and the profuseness of communication. Their signification evidently coincides with that of the language used by the apostle Paul: "The unsearchable riches of Christ :-to apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which surpasseth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God." Let any candid and upright mind weigh well the import of these expressions; let him compare them with similar language in other parts of scripture; and let him

* Of this Volume, p. 144. &c.

† Eph. iii. 8, 18, 19. Koppe's version of the last verse of this passage is so striking, that I shall hope to be excused for transcribing it: "Dass ihr-fühlem möget die alles denken übersteigende liebe Christi, dass ihr aufgenommen seyd in das unermessliche reich Gottes :-That ye may experience the love of Christ mounting over all thought, that ye may be carried up to the immeasurable riches of God."

‡ "Shalt thou find the searching out of God? Shalt thou to perfection find the Most Mighty? It is the height of the heavens: what shalt thou do? It is deep beneath the state of the dead what shalt thou know? Longer than the earth is its measure, and its breadth beyond the sea." Job xi. 7-9. “O the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways not to be traced out?" Rom. xi. 33.

then seriously consider whether John and Paul could have been men of sound mind, if they applied such language to any mere creature!

X. "No one hath ever beheld God. The Onlybegotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath fully explained [the divine doctrine.]"

By a form of speech very common in the scriptures, words signifying the bodily senses are put to denote the mental powers. This is above all the case, in the metaphorical use of words referring to the sense of sight.* Hence, the phrase to see or behold God, as used here, signifies to have a perfect, intimate, and intellectually intuitive knowledge of the nature, perfections, and rectoral dominion of the Divine Being. If such an absolutely perfect perception were not intended, the assertion in this passage would not be true: for it is among the assurances of felicity made to good men that "they shall see God," and even the religious knowledge and holiness which they attain in the present life, is represented by the same figure. Therefore the manifest intention of the declaration before us, is to attribute to the Messiah such a kind or degree of this spiritual perception as can be a property of no other being. He has it, not by a revelation, but by a peculiar and original knowledge.

But, lest we should suppose that this descrip

E. g. Ps. xxxiv. 8. Jer. ii. 31. Luke ii. 26. John ix. 39. Rom. vii. 23. 1 Cor. xiii. 12, &c.

+ Matt. v.

8.

John xiv. 7. John iii. 6. 3 Ep. 11.