the ninth and following verses. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and those in earth and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

One of the most important books in the New Testament, in a doctrinal point of view, is the Acts of the Apostles. It contains their first preaching after they had been fully instructed in their work. Whatever they knew of Jesus or believed concerning him will undoubtedly be found there. They were impelled at the same time by strong affection for their master, by a deep sense of their former unfaithfulness to him, and by the direct command of God, to declare the whole truth. Now what is the substance of their preaching? Read the first ten chapters of that book and determine. I think that you will agree with me that it is a series of Unitarian discourses. There is not an expression, not a single word that I cannot use, or that I am not accustomed to use as a Unitarian believer. They indeed declare that Christ is a Prince and a Saviour, that he is both Lord and Christ; but how is it that he obtained this authority? Let them answer in their own words: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." Acts ii. 36. "Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his own right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." Acts v. 29. This is the utmost of their preaching; further than this they never go; and thus far we as Unitarians go with them.

These Scriptures all of them speak of Christ in his highest nature. You hear them quoted every day to prove his absolute deity. Yet you perceive that all of them, by showing his dependence on God the Father, prove the exact contrary, and teach that though so highly exalted, even above our perfect comprehension, he is not the Supreme God nor equal to God the Father. In further explanation of this view I will quote the following passage from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, xv. 24-28; which is a distinct and full declaration of the Unitarian doctrine : "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted who did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

I cannot express my faith as a Unitarian in plainer words than these. They are a brief statement, in the most unequivocal terms, of the general, pervading doctrine of the Bible. Such is the testimony of Christ concerning himself, and such the testimony of the Apostles concerning him as their Lord and Master. It is all consistent with the Saviour's own prayer to the Father, "That they might know Thee, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent"; and with the words of Paul, “To us there is but one God, even the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ."

There are, however, a few texts which, taken by themselves, are thought to teach a different doctrine. Among

these the introduction to the Gospel of John is the most important. I wish to examine them fairly and carefully, and must therefore defer them to another evening. In the mean time, and in conclusion, let me again say that, with the plain words of Christ and his Apostles to guide us, we ought not to be troubled or shaken in our faith by a few comparatively obscure and difficult passages. In so large a subject we ought to expect some remaining difficulties, and we have reason to thank God that the general doctrine of the Bible is so plainly taught, that he who runs may read.

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY. - Isaiah viii. 20.

I HAVE promised this evening to explain the principal texts in the Bible, which are supposed to militate against the Unitarian doctrine. The task is by no means easy; not because there is inherent difficulty in any of such texts, or in all of them put together, but because the work, to be thoroughly done, would be very tedious. A single passage, if at all obscure, may require a great many words in its critical exposition. Nor is the hearer always able to decide whether the explanation is satisfactory or not; he must take a great part of the critical statements upon authority, and he is very apt to be suspicious of unfair dealing, when an interpretation is given to familiar words different from. that to which he is accustomed. He is apt to think that the language, instead of being explained, is explained away. For this reason, I am accustomed, in explaining a disputed passage, to give "Orthodox" Trinitarian authority for the explanation which I adopt. It is not because I think that such testimony is more respectable than that of our own writers, but because I would put the explanations giver beyond the suspicion of unfairness. For if, with reference

to any particular text, we can show that eminent scholars in the Trinitarian ranks have given the same explanation, although they have thereby weakened their own argument, it will follow that the words are fairly susceptible of such a meaning. In adopting a Unitarian explanation, upon Trinitarian authority, we need have no fear that the words are distorted, or the meaning perverted, merely to suit our end.

Now it is a very singular fact, and it is one which greatly confirms me in my Unitarian belief, that there is not a single text in the Bible with regard to which we cannot bring good Trinitarian authority for its Unitarian meaning; or in other words, there is not a single text which is not abandoned by one or more of the most celebrated Trinitarian theologians. I repeat that this gives me great confidence in our interpretations of the Bible. We might otherwise fear that our interpretations were made to suit ourselves,— we might suspect ourselves of unfairness.

After all, however, the explanation which we adopt of particular disputed passages should be to a great extent determined by the general view which we take of the Scripture doctrine. When a text is ambiguous, that is, when it may be explained in accordance either with the Trinitarian or Unitarian belief, we should be guided in our choice of the two explanations by the general meaning of the whole Bible. It would not be right to set aside a doctrine which is acknowledged to be that of a whole book, because there are a few sentences which will bear a different construction. Before proceeding, therefore, to the examination of the texts in question, let me again remind you of the great strength of argument by which the Unitarian doctrine concerning God and our Lord Jesus Christ has been proved to be the general and prevailing doctrine of the Bible. Let me re