respecting the fulness of the Deity dwelling in him; and of the power and authority which Christ received of God as Savior, Judge, and Lord of all. We have no occasion for any forced or unnatural construction of any of these numerous passages of Scripture; nor have we any occasion to frame and invent hypotheses which contradict the plain import of Scripture language, and finally involve us in contradiction and absurdity.

Is it not, sir, a truth, that the personal self-existence of the Son of God has been too hastily established as an article of Christian faith ?-established as an article of such unquestionable truth and infinite importance, that every opposing passage of Scripture must be made to bend to it, or break before it? And that too while the general tenor of Scripture language and Scripture representations are, according to the most natural import of words, directly opposed to the idea? Yea, with a view to glorify Christ with the attributes of personal self-existence and independence, have not hypotheses been formed which imply a sacrifice of the solemn realities of the covenant of redemption, and of the obedience and death of the SON OF GOD? And in attempting to support this one doctrine, have not the plainest and most simple representations of Scripture, and even the whole gospel scheme, been involved in mystery and obscurity? Surely, sir, before we allow any doctrine such a share of importance, we ought, at least, seriously to inquire whether it be founded in the word of God.

As the doctrine of the personal self-existence of the Son of God has long been a popular doctrine, have we not on that ground received it as true, and made it our business to support the doctrine before we exam

ined it by the light of God's word? And instead of making the Scriptures a STANDARD by which to measure the doctrine, have we not been in the habit of making the doctrine a STANDARD by which to measure the Scriptures?

ed.

st. ictly.

Will you, sir, still urge that Christ cannot be a Divine Person unless he be self-existent ? By what hat is authority, or by what analogy will you be able to support such an objection? Nothing more was necessary to constitute Seth a human person, than being the son of a human person. And if God be a Divine Person, his own Son must be a Divine Person. According to every analogy in nature, to affirm that Jesus Christ is God's own Son implies that he is a PERSON TRULY DIVINE.

LETTER VII.

DIVINE HONORS due to the SON OF GOD.

REV. SIR,

THAT the Son of God is to be regarded as an object of DIVINE HONORS, is so plain from the Scriptures, that it seems extraordinary that it should ever have been denied by any one who has admitted the Bible as a rule of faith and practice.-In support of the idea, we may note several things

1. We have express declarations of the will of God. "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should HONOR the SON even as they honor the Father." This is a sufficient warrant for men to give DIVINE HONORS to the Son of God. Angels have their warrant also; for

"When he bringeth in his ONLY BEGOTTEN into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God WORSHIP HIM." And we have another passage which amounts to a warrant both for men and angels: "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the NAME OF JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."

2. We have the example of saints on earth and saints in heaven. In respect to saints on earth, we not only have many individual instances recorded, but the great body of Christians in the apostolic age were characterized as "those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus." That both angels and saints in glory pay Divine honors to the Son of God, is represented by John in the account he gives of his visions: "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing: And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the LAMB, forever and ever."

To those who regard the Scriptures as of Divine authority, the things which have already been noted may be considered as sufficient to authorize us to pay Divine honors to the Son of God; even if we should be unable to investigate the grounds of the Divine directions, and of the examples of saints and angels.

It may, however, be desirable that we should obtain a clear view of the reasons why such honors are to be given to Jesus Christ.-We may therefore observe,

1. That Divine honors are due to the Son of God, on the principle of derived dignity. He is God's own Son, his First-begotten, his only begotten Son; and he hath, by inheritance, a more excellent name than the angels. On the same principle that an own and only son of a rightful king is to be regarde 1 and honored as a royal person, Divine honors are due to the Son of God.

2. The Son of God is worthy of Divine honors, on the ground of his Divine fulness; for it hath pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell. That fulness which Christ possesses by the pleasure of the Father, is really Christ's fulness; and it is as excellent considered as the fulness of Christ, as it is considered as the fulness of the Father. The self-existence of God does not imply that he was the cause of his own existence or his own fulness. And God is, in truth, no more the cause of his own fulness than Christ is the cause of the Divine fulness which dwells in him by the pleasure of God. If, therefore, the fulness there is in God be a proper ground on which to give HIM Divine honors, the fulness there is in Christ is a reason why we should honor the Son as we honor the Father that is, so far as Divine fulness is the ground of Divine honors.

3. The Son of God is worthy of Divine honors, on the ground of his Divine offices. It is a dictate of reason and revelation, that official character should be respected and honored. And the higher the office any person sustains by right, the greater are the honors which are due on the ground of official character.

The official character of a general demands higher honors than that of a corporal-the official character of the president of the United States demands higher honors than that of an ordinary civil magistrate. And on the same principle, Divine honors are due to the Son of God: for his offices are truly Divine. The offices of SAVIOR, JUDGE, and LORD OF ALL, are as truly Divine offices as any offices sustained by God the Father. And if there be any reason to give Divine honors to God in view of his Divine offices, there is the same reason to give Divine honors to the Son of God: for the Son has not obtained these offices by violence or usurpation, but by the pleasure of God, who had an unquestionable right to bestow them. And if he truly possess those offices by the gift of the Father, so far as official character may be a ground of DIVINE HONORS, Christ is as worthy of Divine honors as though he had possessed the same ôffices by self-existence. Therefore, on the ground of official character, we may honor the Son as we honor the Father.

4. The Son of God is worthy of DIVINE HONORS, on the ground of DIVINE WORKS. Creation is a Divine work; and by him were all things created. Upholding and governing the world is a Divine work ; and he upholdeth all things by the word of his power ;* and he is Lord of all. Salvation is a Divine

* Heb. i. 3. In his Family Expositor, Dr. Doddridge expresses the opinion, that the phrase "his power" intends the power of the Father; and the construction of the sentence is in favor of his opinion. But this is no objection to the idea, that the power, by which the world is upheld, is also truly Christ's power. It is the power of God, originally and independently, and the power of Christ by the pleasure of the Father: