laid his right hand upon me, faying, unto me, Fear not, I (a mere man!) am the first and the laft! I am he that liveth and was dead, and 'behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen! and

have the keys of death, and of Hell!'-I do not wonder that Dr. Prieftley doubts the Authenticity of the Apocalypfe.

Proceed we to Chap. v. 5. One of the Elders faid unto me, Weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the ROOT OF DAVID,' (who, however, is but a mere man, and did not exift till many hundred years after David's death!) hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seven feals thereof. And, I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living • Creatures, and in the midft of the Elders, flood a Lamb, as it had been flain, having seven eyes and feven horns, which are the feven Spirits of God, fent forth into all the earth: (for, though a mere man, to him belong the feven Spirits of God!) And he came, and took the book out of right hand of him that fat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living Creatures and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb,-laying, thou art worthy to take the book, and open the feals thereof for theu waft flain, and haft redeemed us unto God, by thy blood, (the blood of a mere 'man!) out of every kindred and tongue, and 'people and nation: And haft made us unto our God, kings and priests. And I heard the voice of many Angels, round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thoufands, faying, 'with a loud voice, Worthy is (the mere man!) the lamb that was flain, to receive power and riches, and wifdom and ftrength, and honour

' and

and glory and bleffing: And every creature ⚫ which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and fuch as are in the fea, and all that are in them, heard I, faying, Bleffing, and 'honour and glory and power, be unto him that fitteth upon the throne, (viz. to the eternal God) and to the Lamb, (a mere man!) for ever, and ever! And the four living creatures faid Amen! And the four and twenty elders fell down, and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever!' What will the difciples of Socinus fay to this? Surely, if Christ be a mere man, Idolatry is com. mitted, even in heaven!

And, as the Father and the Son are affociated in claiming and receiving divine worship from the faints, whether men or Angels, fo alfo, in taking vengeance on finners. Thus, chap. vi. 16. They faid to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that fitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, (that is the wrath of a mere man !) For the great day of his wrath is come, and who fhall be able to ftand?' Who fhall be able to bear the wrath of a mere man !

Equally remarkable is the following paflage :After this, I beheld, (chap. vii. 9.) and lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, ftood before the throne, (viz. of Jehovah) and before the Lamb, (that is, before a mere man) clothed with white robes, and palms in their ' their hands, and cried, with a loud voice, faying, • Salvation to our God, who fitteth upon the 'throne, and unto the Lamb,' (a mere man!) Here again, according to Dr. Priefly, a mere man is worshipped, and falvation is afcribed to him, as well as to the infinite Jehovah! And, ver. 13. the faints that have come out of great tribulation,

are

are faid to have washed their robes, and made them white in his blood! Therefore, (it is added) are they before the throne of God, and ferve him day and night in his temple: And he that fitteth on the throne, fhall dwell among them, They fhall hunger no more, neither thirst any 'more neither fhall the Sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, (a mere man, fays the 'Doctor!) who is IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE, 'fhall feed them, and fhall lead them to foun "tains of living water; and God fhall wipe away

all tears from their eyes.' So that, if the Doctor be right, a mere man, in conjunction with the fupreme God, is the Author of their everlasting felicity: And Chap. xi. 15. the kingdoms of this world are reprefented as become his kingdoms, and he is faid to reign for ever and ever, being (Chap. xvii. 14.) LORD OF LORDS, AND KING OF KINGS!

Chapter xix. 11, we meet with a defcription of this reigning King, a description, which but ill agrees with the character of a mere man. * His name, we are affured, is called faithful * and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and 'make war. His eyes are as a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns: and he hath a name written, that no man knoweth but himself. And he is clothed with a vesture dipt in blood: ' and his name is called THE WORD OF GOD!And out of his mouth goth a fharp fword, that with it he fhould fmite the nations: And 'he fhall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-prefs of the fierceness and wrath ef Almighty God. And he hath on his vefture, and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'

6

In the 20th Chapter is difplayed, a great white throne, and he (à mere man, shall we fay ?) that fits on it, from whofe face the earth and the

'heaven

heaven flee away, and there is found no place for them: and the dead fmall and great stand ♦ before God, (Dr. Priestley fays, before a mere man!) and the books are opened, and the dead are judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their work-Here the mere man appears to be the univerfal Judge, and they that stand before him, are faid to ftand before Goo! And in the next Chapter, the fame perfon is reprefented as the bridegroom of the Church, which has its maker, that is, on the Socinian hypothefis, a mere man for its husband! • And he ♦ carried me away in the fpirit, to a great, high • mountain,--and fhewed me that great city, the holy Jerufalem, defcending out of heaven from "God, having the glory of God. And I faw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty, and (a mere man !) the Lamb, are the Temple of it, and the city had no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to fhine in it: for the glory of God, (the infinite Jehovah) did lighten it, and the Lamb, (a mere man!) is the light thereof. As if one were to fay, the Sun and a Candle are the light of the world! And the • nations of them, that are faved, fhall walk in the light of it,' viz. in the light iffuing from Jehovah, and a mere man! And there fhall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, but they who are written in the Lamb's book of life, (that is, the book of life of a mere man !)

And as Jehovah, and a mere man, are the joint fources of light, so of life, and confolation allo.For, Chap. xxii. 1. He fhewed me a pure river of water of Life, clear as chrystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb, * (that is, the throne of Jehovah, and a mere man !) -And, ver. 3. there fhall be no more curse: but the throne of God (the fupreme Being) and

of

of the Lamb (a mere man !) fhall be in it; and his fervants fhall ferve him, and they fhall fee his face, and his name shall be on their fore heads.- -The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift (that is, the grace of a mere man) be with you 'all! Amen!'

Such is the doctrine of St. John, in the Apocalypfe doctrine, which, on the Socinian principles, can never be reconciled with common fenfe. As little will any one be able to reconcile therewith the doctrine concerning Chrift, taught in his Gofpel. This book, according to Jerom, (lib. de fcriptoribus Ecclef.) was written after the Epiftles, and the Apocalypfe, at the request of the Bifhops of Afa, "againit Cerinthus, and other "Hereticks, and chiefly against the then fpread"ing doctrine of the Ebionites, who afferted that "Chrift had no existence before Mary: for "which reason (he tells us) he was constrained to "fpeak plainly of his divine generation."That this account is true, we have every reafon to believe, not only from the known veracity of Jerom, but also from the nature of the teftimony, borne throughout this Gospel concerning Christ, a teftimony which, if fuppofed to be meant of a mere man, is certainly, to fay the leaft, not intelligible. The following quotations, make this manifeft. In the beginning was the Word, (viz. a mere man!) and the Word, (this mere man!) was with God, and the Word, (the fame mere man) was God! All things were made by him, (even the whole creation, though it had been made at least 4000 years before he exifted!) and without him, (the fame mere man!) was not any thing made, that was made! In him, (viz. • in this mere man! was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light fhineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.-John, (a mere man) was not that light, but came to

• bear