thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." To be with God, nós Oɛóv, and to be from God, παρὰ Θεῷ, to be God, and to be in the bosom of God the Father, - to be God, and to be from God, -to be the one invisible God, and to be the only begotten and visible, — are things so different that they cannot be predicated of one and the same essence. Besides, the fact that the glory which he had even in his divine nature before the foundation of the world was not selfderived, but given by the love of the Father, plainly demonstrates him to be inferior to the Father.

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Hence it becomes evident on what principle the attributes of the Father are said to pertain to the Son. John xvi. 15, "All things that the Father hath are mine.' xvii. 6, 7, "Thine they were and thou gavest them me ; now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." It is therefore said, ver. 10, "All mine are thine, and thine are mine,' namely, in the same sense in which he had called the kingdom his, Luke xxii. 30; for he had said in the preceding verse, "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me."

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Lastly, his coming to judgment. til the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his time he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.”

Christ, therefore, having received all these things from the Father, and "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," Philipp. ii. 5, namely,

because he had obtained them by gift, not by robbery. For if this passage imply his coequality with the Father, it rather refutes than proves his unity of essence; since equality cannot exist but between two or more essences. Further, the phrases "he did not think it," "he made himself of no reputation" (literally, "he emptied himself"), appear inapplicable to the supreme God. For to think is nothing else than to entertain an opinion, which cannot be properly said of God. Nor can the infinite God be said to empty himself, any more than to contradict himself; for infinity and emptiness are opposite terms.

Again, the Son himself acknowledges and declares openly, that the Father is greater than the Son; which was the last proposition I undertook to prove. John x. 29, "My Father is greater than all." xiv. 28, "My Father is greater than I." It will be answered, that Christ is speaking of his human nature. But did his disciples understand him as speaking merely of his human nature? Was this the belief in himself which Christ required? Such an opinion will scarcely be maintained. If therefore he said this, not of his human nature only (for that the Father was greater than he in his human nature could not admit of a doubt), but in the sense in which he himself wished his followers to conceive of him both as God and man, it ought undoubtedly to be understood as if he had said, My Father is greater than I, whatsoever I am, both in my human and divine nature; otherwise the speaker would not have been he in whom they believed, and instead of teaching them, he would only have been imposing upon them with an equivocation. He must therefore have intended to

compare the nature with the person, not the nature of God the Father with the nature of the Son in his human form. So ver. 31, "As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." John v. 18, 19, being accused by the Jews of having made himself equal with God, he expressly denies it: "The Son can do nothing of himself." ver. 30, "As I hear I judge, and my judgment is just ; because I seek not my own will, but the will of my Father which sent me." vi. 38, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Now he that was sent was the only begotten Son; therefore the will of the Father is other and greater than the will of the only begotten Son. vii. 28, "Jesus cried in the temple, saying, . . . . . I am not come of myself." viii. 29, "He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." If he says this as God, how could he be left by the Father, with whom he was essentially one? if as man, what is meant by his being "left alone," who was sustained by a Godhead of equal power? And why "did not the Father leave him alone"? not because he was essentially one with him, but because he "did always those things that pleased him," that is, as the less conforms himself to the will of the greater. ver. 42, "Neither came I of myself," not therefore of his own Godhead, "but he sent me "" ; he that sent him was therefore another and greater than himself. ver. 49, 'I honor my Father." ver. 50, "I seek not mine own glory." ver. 54," If I honor myself, my glory is nothing"; it is therefore less than the Father's glory. x. 24, 25, "If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. . . . . . The works

that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." xv. 10, "As I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." xvi. 25, "The time cometh when I shall no more speak to you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father." xx. 17, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Compare also Rev. i. 11, "I am Alpha and Omega," and ver. 17, "I am the first and the, last." See also ii. 8, iii. 12, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God," which is repeated three times successively. Here he who had just before styled himself "the first and the last " acknowledges that the Father was his God. Matt. xi. 25, 26, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth; because thou hast hid these things," &c. "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."

Thus far we have considered the testimony of the Son respecting the Father; let us now inquire what is the testimony of the Father respecting the Son; for it is written, Matt xi. 27, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." 1 John v. 9, "This is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." Here the Father, when about to testify of the Son, is called God absolutely; and his witness is most explicit. Matt. iii. 17, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Isai. xlii. 1, compared with Matt. xii. 18, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him"; see also Matt. xvii. 5. 2 Pet. i. 17, "For he received from God the Father honor and

glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Mal. iii. 1, “Even the messenger of the covenant, behold he shall come, saith Jehovah of hosts"; and still more clearly Psal. ii., where God the Father is introduced in his own person as explicitly declaring the nature and offices of his Son; ver. 7, 8, 11, 12, “I will declare the decree; Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son. Ask of me and I shall give. Serve Jehovah. . . . . . Kiss the Son." Heb. i. 8, 9, "Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. . . . Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." the above may also be added the testimony of the angel Gabriel, Luke i. 32, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." If, then, he be the Son of the Most High, he is not himself the Most High.

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The apostles everywhere teach the same doctrine; as the Baptist had done before them. John i. 29, "Behold the Lamb of God." ver. 33, 34, "I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me," &c. "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." "What he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth," &c., not he alone that was "earthly," nor did he speak only of "earthly things," but he that is "above all," and that "cometh from heaven," ver. 31, lest it should be still contended that this and similar texts refer to the human nature of Christ. 2 Cor. iv.