MY FATHER AND YOUR FATHER

The above-mentioned use of language appears even in a sentence wherein our Lord contrasts his own Sonship with that of other human beings. We read in St. John's Gospel that immediately after his resurrection he said to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." In this message Christ speaks of himself as in a preeminent sense God's Son, but at the same time the elder brother of his disciples and a fellow-worshiper of God with them.

STATEMENTS BY THE APOSTLE PAUL

This conception of the human Jesus as the Son of God gives a definiteness of meaning to some Scriptures which they otherwise would not have. Paul wrote to the Galatians:

When the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of

sons.

Evidently the Apostle has directly in mind not an eternal Son of God but Jesus who was born of Mary.

Again, in the opening words of the Epistle to

the Romans Paul uses the phrase Son of God in a peculiar way, yet in agreement with the conception of the Sonship of Christ as a human being. He says that the gospel of God is:

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

The expression "spirit of holiness" in this passage has caused much perplexity. Some refer it to a divine nature in Christ, distinct from his humanity. Others suppose that the Holy Ghost, who was the author of our Lord's spiritual nature, is intended. We are of opinion that the Apostle meant not the Holy Spirit of God but that holy spirit which came into existence when the virgin's son was conceived, and by reason of which Christ was "that holy thing" of which the angel spake to Mary.

Possibly Paul employed the phrase "spirit of holiness" so as to avoid the expression "holy spirit"; which in this case would have been ambiguous. He seems to teach that Jesus was as to his body the son of David and as to his spirit the son of God.

But, while he appears to have had the humanity of our Lord immediately in mind it is to be

granted that his thought may have comprehended more than the humanity.

THE DEITY OF CHRIST MUST CONSIST WITH HIS HUMANITY

We now conclude our contemplation of the names of our Savior, viz., Jesus (of Nazareth), the Lord, the Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God. We are led to the opinion that no one of these names of itself indicates that he has another nature in addition to that of man. Each and all of these titles may be employed on the supposition that our Lord is the most exalted of human beings. At the same time our studies have not shown that our Lord has no other nature than his humanity. As was remarked in a preceding essay, not only any proper name but also any "singular noun" may gain enlarged significance if our knowledge of its object become more comprehensive. This may be the case with any of the names of our Savior. In particular, the title Son of God is certainly fitted to indicate the existence of a superhuman nature. But, of course, any new aspect of our Lord under this title may be expected to consist with every other aspect of him presented in the Gospel. We believe that the supreme deity of the Lord

Jesus is a teaching of the Scriptures, that it is supported by good evidence, and that it occupies a fundamental place in the system of Christian truth. But we also think that this doctrine should be understood in such a way as to leave unimpaired our faith in the humanity of Christ.

VIII

THE DEITY OF CHRIST

A CRITICAL reader of the four Gospels can satisfy himself that each of them has a character of its own, while all of them set forth Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the World.

THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

Matthew wrote for the Jews. According to tradition his work was composed in the Aramean language and afterwards translated into Greek. Whether that be so or not, the Greek version has been received from the earliest times as authentic, and is the only version extant. Matthew quotes frequently from the Old Testament, referring to ancient prophecies and promises. He gives the genealogy of Christ as a descendant of King David, and tells of our Lord's miraculous birth.

Mark wrote for the Gentiles, especially for the Romans. He speaks of Jesus more as God's Son and the Redeemer of Mankind than as the Christ