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It is said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, "and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;" also, "She was found with child of the Holy Ghost;"u and again,-"That which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost." It is much more natural to refer these expressions to the third person of the Godhead, than to the Son according to the Divine nature. But with regard to the manner of the Spirit's operation on the Blessed Virgin, it is far more consistent with prudence and chastity, to cover it, after the example of God himself, with a veil of sacred silence, than to determine with audacious mind, or to presume to explain it with the tongue or the pen. Let it suffice to know, that the work of the Holy Spirit was distinguished by a double miracle, 1st, The fructifying of the virgin's womb; 2dly, The sanctification of the fruit of the womb, which the virgin conceived and brought forth.

XVI. This conception, however, although attributed in a special manner to the Holy Ghost, doth not make him the Father of Christ; for there is an obvious difference betwixt forming any thing of matter derived from another quarter, and generating from one's own substance. We do not deny, that God is metaphorically called the Parent of all men, because he creates and preserves them; and that, in a similar sense, the Holy Spirit might be termed in some respect the Father of the human nature of Christ. Yet since generation does not properly terminate on a nature but on a person, since the person of Christ is not begotten by the Holy Spirit, and since the Holy Spirit is no where called the Father of Christ in sacred writ, we, too, ought scrupulously to avoid that expression.

t Luke i. 35.

u Mat. i. 18.

▾ Mat. i. 20.

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XVII. This event took place according to an agreement between the Father and the Son, or, as it is expressed by Zechariah," according to "the counsel of peace," which was between "the LORD of Hosts," the Father, and "the man," the Son, who was to become man, "whose name is the BRANCH," being raised up by God, and being the new root of a new family, or of the sons of God according to the Spirit. This Branch "shall grow up out of his place; that is, as Aben Ezra understands it, of himself,† by his own proper power, without sowing, without human agency; since he was to be born of a virgin. "And he shall build the temple "of the LORD, even he shall build the temple of the "LORD." Here the repetition of the same words directs our thoughts to more than one temple. He builds the temple of his natural body, " in which dwelleth "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." This he built, in the first instance, when by his own will he became man, and, afterwards, when he rose again from the dead; and by means of both he became "a Sanctuary" to his people. He builds also the temple of his mystical body, that is, the Church.b 3

XVIII. But whilst we are considering the Causes of the incarnation, MARY must not be entirely overlooked. Three things chiefly respecting her, are worthy of notice. 1st, Her pedigree, being of the seed of Abraham, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Judah, of the house of David. 2dly, Her condition, as in a state

of spotless virginity. 3dly, Her relation to Christ, as his true mother.

XIX. It was necessary, according to the prophecies, that the Messiah should be " the seed of Abraham :"c_ of the posterity of Israel, who is represented as the heir of the promise made to his grandfather;d—of the tribe of Judah, to which the same inheritance was restricted ;e -and of the house of David,f from whom indeed he was to spring when the posterity of Jesse were to be as a decayed trunk,* without blossom, leaf, branch, or ornament.4 All these circumstances were united in Mary. She was of the tribe of Judah, for " it is evi"dent that our Lord sprang out of Judah ;"s-and of the house of David; for the expression" of the house of "David," in the gospel of Luke,h must be referred to Mary no less than to Joseph. And in how depressed and degraded a state that family then was, appears from the circumstance, that in Joseph, to whom Mary was betrothed, it was reduced to the axe and the hatchet of the carpenter. It is accordingly affirmed in ecclesiastical history, that Domitian derided the near relations of Christ for their poverty, and for having hands brawny with labour.

xx. It is not inconsistent with this genealogy, that Elizabeth is said to have been "the cousin" of Mary, and at the same time one of the daughters of Aaron.' There is nothing to hinder Mary's mother from hav

ing been of the tribe of Levi, and of the family of Aaron; and some of the ancients affirm, that she was sister to Elizabeth. It was also possible for the mother or grandmother of Elizabeth to have been of the tribe of Judah, and thus very nearly related by blood to the father of Mary, while her father or grandfather was of the tribe of Levi. But according to the rule of genealogy most commonly observed amongst the Jews, a family is reckoned, not from the mother, but from the father. The objection brought forward by some, that it was unlawful for the Israelites to take a wife, or to marry, without the limits of their own particular tribe, is assumed gratuitously. Such marriages were, at least, not universally unlawful. In the sacred records, we find no prohibition, but, on the contrary, several examples, of such connexions. Aaron, a Levite, married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, who was "prince of the children of Judah." If it is objected that that marriage took place before the law, behold another example after the giving of the law. Jehoiada, a priest, consequently a Levite, and a descendant of Aaron, took to wife a daughter of king Jehoram, of the tribe of Judah, of the house of David.m If you insist, that greater liberty was allowed the priests and Levites than other tribes, I shall not at present demand evidence, as I justly might of their possessing this privilege. I only remark, that the instance now produced is sufficient for removing the difficulty under our consideration; for according to your own hypothesis, it was possible for the father of Elizabeth, being a descendant of Aaron, to take to himself a wife of the

family of David, and thus related by her parents to Mary. But we see the same liberty taken by other tribes. David, at least, who belonged to the tribe of Judah, had a daughter of Saul, a Benjamitess, for his wife. Nor do we find any law to the contrary; for in Numbers xxxvi. 6. we have the determination of a special case relating to young women that are heiresses,* on whom the whole inheritance devolves, all the male issue being dead, whose marriages were limited to men, not merely of their own tribe, but also of their own family. A special determination of that sort, however, serves rather to confirm, than to destroy, the liberty which was generally enjoyed. Besides, it is really not improbable that Mary was one of those young women to whom that determination referred, and therefore espoused to Joseph, as her nearest kinsman. It is not our intention to involve ourselves at present in other genealogical difficulties, which are sufficiently perplexing. Learned men have given very satisfactory replies to the cavils of impious mockers of the Scriptures.

XXI. That the Messiah should be born of a VIRGIN, was foretold in Isaiah vii. 14. On this passage the blind and infatuated Jews contend to no purpose about the signification of the word y, than which none stronger is furnished by the Hebrew language to denote a female of unspotted virginity. Mary professes before the Angel, that she was a female of this description; nor does the Angel accuse her of falsehood. Joseph, too, was informed by an Angel, that the woman whom he had espoused, was found with child, not from