the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, but inferior to the Father as touching his manhood: " "who," says St. Paul," in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." And why was it that he took upon him this flesh, and became Son of God, of God; and Son of Man, of woman; and was made subject to these sufferings, and to this death? Because it was originally foretold, and first promised, that the seed of the WOMAN should bruise the serpent's head. Observe, Gentlemen," the seed of the Woman: no mention is made of the Man: so that this birth of the Saviour was to be effected, not after the ordinary and natural manner; for then, how could Christ have been the Son of God (properly so called), as the angel Gabriel had declared? No: this birth was to be accompanied with superhuman circumstances; so that, when Isaiah said, "A Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son," the Jews did not, nor could they then, comprehend how that were possible to happen. But afterwards the difficulty was

1 Heb. v. 7, 8.

removed, and we have seen how Christ was both God and Man, God, as generated by his preexisting Divinity, which overshadowed the Virgin; and Man, as born of Woman, of the Virgin herself.

The last argument I shall adduce in proof of Christ's being "very God of very God," is that furnished by the Jews themselves, when, upon several occasions, they charged our Lord with blasphemy for his assumption of divinity, and for his putting himself upon an equality with the One God whom they worshipped. On one of these occasions he declared to the Jews that fact openly and unambiguously, "I and the Father are one: upon which they immediately took up stones to put him to that death which the law sanctioned against blasphemers; and when he remonstrated with them against the act, and reminded them of the many good works which he had done amongst them, what was their reply?— "For a good work we stone thee not, but because thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Here it is evident that his claim to divinity brought this charge against him; for it had not been blasphemy if his claim had been merely to the title of a god by virtue of his office. Again, when, upon another occasion, he told the Jews, "Before Abraham was,

Levit. xxiv. 14. 16. John, x. 33.

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I am; "the assumption, not only of a pre-existing state, but of the title of Jehovah (I AM), again brought upon him their indignation, at what they conceived his abhorrent blasphemy, and once more they would have stoned him to death, had he not exerted his own inherent heavenly power, and vanished from their sight, by the exercise of that miraculous power which he only rarely exerted for his own personal security during his ministry. Again, when he healed the man sick of the palsy, by saying, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee," the Scribes and Pharisees declared that he had spoken blasphemy by assuming the attribute and prerogative of God, and of God only, in his pardon of sin 2—Jesus, instead of clearing himself by disclaiming the intention, persisted in his right to it; and further, to show that, though the Son of Man, the power of forgiving sins was his own attribute, he added, "I say unto thee, arise, take up thy couch, and go unto thine home. And immediately the sick man rose up before them, took up that whereon he lay, and departed, glorifying God." Then followed all that surprise, and

When Christ asked those who came to capture him, "Whom seek ye?" and they answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth;" he said to them, 'Eyú ɛiμı, I AM! and such was the effect of his utterance of these words, that they were struck to the ground, and fell backward. — John, xviii. 6. Compare Isaiah, xliii. 25. and Luke, iv. 21.

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awe, and wonder, which the Defendants say should have followed, had he been known to be one with God; for the people "were all amazed, and glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day." They were not seized with an uncommon amazement at the miracle itself, for he had before cured a man of leprosy under ordinary symptoms of wonder; but because the manner of effecting the miracle suddenly proved his divinity, by the discovery of his own attribute of pardoning sin. In the last place, when Christ stood arraigned before the High Priest, and the members of the Jewish Council; and the High Priest adjured him to declare whether he were Christ, the Son of God, he gave them at once to understand that he laid claim to that honour, and that he was very God. The High Priest immediately rent his clothes, in token of his abhorrence at the assertion, and cried out, "What further need have we of witnesses? behold now ye have heard his blasphemy!" and he was instantly condemned to death.2 And, indeed, it seems pretty evident, by all that has been brought before us, that if the Unitarians had been present upon these occasions, they also would so far have taken part with the Jews, as to have declared him guilty of blasphemy. But I trust that you, Gentlemen,

1 Luke, v. 26.

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2 Matt. xxvi. 65.

will have no hesitation in repelling such a charge from the blessed Jesus, and of turning it against those who deny him to be their God, and look upon us as credulous fools and madmen for believing him to be ours. And when we have shown you to demonstration, that the Defendants, by their self-made, rational, scheme and system of religion, contend,

That Christ is not the Son of the Most High, nor born of a Virgin.

That he was a mere man, a man of ignorance, prejudices, and frailties, and not without sin.

That he was only a Teacher and Prophet more highly endowed than any other, and inferior to any heavenly being.

That he came into the world only to teach morality, and suffered only as a martyr to the truth, and died only to prove a resurrection from the grave.

That he did not die for the sins of mankind, and therefore is not our Redeemer.

That he was not the Lamb of God, offered as a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice or oblation and satisfaction to the justice of God, for his fallen and sinful creatures.

That he did not ascend up into heaven, and therefore is neither our Advocate, nor Intercessor, nor Mediator.

That he will only be constituted a Judge of the