VAN VRANKEN 
 
 ON 
 
i See eae Pee remo Som ere esemen 
 
 i Wento LOGICAL SEMINARY y 
 { Princeton, Nw j | 
 
 4 he SSeS Ss See eoreee oes | 
 
 SSeS oa ‘ 
 BT 1480 ewe h Ba pei 
 Van Vranken Samuel] 
 
 Mexenaees IV 92AT867- | 
 Socinianism, 
 Christianity 
 
 Subversive of | 
 
Page 5, line 
 & 1B 
 
 ? 
 
 21 
 50, 
 
 ae! 
 
 Pena 
 4 
 
 “> 
 
 rs 
 
 z— See 
 . 
 
 ERRATA, 
 
 - 
 13, insert “ him” between from and that. 
 16, for “preparation »” read preparative, 
 9, for “‘ sacrifice? read Sacrifices, — 
 1, erase “the Son of.” 
 15, for “path” read faith, 
 4, for “denials” read deniers, 
 6, for “ question” read religion, 
 10, for ‘‘ case” read ease. 
 6, for “‘ motion” read motive, 
 1], for “reasons” read reason. 
 
 ins tes ae oe 
 
 en et Np act te 
 
 a 
 
 ¥ ro See 
 
 4 
 
 la OR accede 
 
SOCGINIANISM 
 
 SUBVERSIVE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 A SERMON. 
 
 By SAMUEL A. VAN VRANKEN, 
 
 Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of the R. D. Churchin Broome-st. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST 
 OF THE 
 
 CONSISTORY OF SAID CHURCH. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET. 
 
 eel 
 
 1841. 
 
4 
 
 i 
 
 \ ¥ 
 * ‘\ 
 ; é 
 eh 
 er s ‘ 
 ré 4 * 
 © 
 ’ 3 
 ws 
 bal 
 . “ 
 En 
 re od 
 
 Printed by W. B. & ¥. Smith, 89 Nassaw, and 128 Fultén-sts- | 
 
2s; 
 is? 
 
 - SOCINIANISM 
 
 SUBVERSIVE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 I Joun i. 23. 
 Whosbever denieth the Son, the same hath 
 
 not the Father. 
 
 Our object from these words is 
 not so much to show directly, that 
 they who deny the Son, have not the 
 
 #F ather, and consequently are without 
 
 God, ‘and without hope in the world ; 
 as to do the same thing zadirectly, by 
 
 _ showing that denying the proper 
 
 deity of Christ, necessarily involves 
 the denial of all the great peculiarities 
 of the revealed system; denies scope 
 
 to its prophecies; significancy to its 
 
4 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 appointments; definiteness to its lan- 
 guage ; meaning to the convictions 
 
 and hopes which it inspires ; solidity . 
 
 to its arguments; and in a word, to 
 show that the denial of Christ’s di- 
 vinity, is the denial of that, which is 
 interwoven with the whole texture of 
 revealed truth, and imparts to it its 
 highest glory, strength, and efficacy. 
 To believe that Christ is the Son 
 of the Living God, in the sense which 
 
 implies his participation of a common 
 
 nature with the Father, is the leading 
 act of evangelical faith, and naturally. 
 
 associates with it, the belief of that 
 entire system of doctrine which 
 
 makes the gospel what it is. 
 
 It is not necessary to prove that 
 the system which rejects the divinity 
 of Christ, necessarily rejects the doc- 
 trine of representation, atonement 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. ; a 
 for sin, regeneration by the spirit of 
 God, justification by faith, and other 
 __ kindred doctrines; since the rejec- 
 tion of these is avowed and gloried 
 in, as evidencing the superior claims 
 of the system to reasonableness and 
 liberality. Keeping these things in 
 sight, it will be easy to evince, that 
 unless a man be willing to renounce 
 all the blessings which are wrapped 
 up in these doctrines, he is bound, as 
 he values the everlasting interests of 
 his soul, not to spurn away from that 
 mystery of godliness, “God manifest 
 -in the flesh.” | 
 _ In preparing the argument which 
 ~ Lam about to offer, I have not hesi-. 
 - tated to avail myself to some extent 
 of the reasonings and illustrations of 
 one, who has most nobly vindicated 
 the honor of our Exalted Lord. I 
 
 ‘ 1# 
 
6 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 refer you to Massillon on the Divinity 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In support of the position that the 
 doctrine of Christ’s supreme deity 
 purvades the whole system of revela- 
 tion, we adduce. 
 
 I. In the first place, the character 
 which is given of the Messiah, in the 
 prophecies and appointments in 
 which his advent is announced, to- 
 gether with the expectations which 
 were thereby created. Nothing is 
 more evident than that the divine 
 communications made to man, and 
 the whole religious economy as estab- 
 lished by authority previous to the 
 advent of Christ, were designed, as 
 they were adapted, to direct the faith 
 of the Church to the Messiah, as a 
 being exalted in his claims upon: the 
 
>: OF, CHRISTIANITY. — (i 
 
 confidence and reverence of man, far 
 above any thing that could be due to 
 a mere creature. ie 
 
 Although the first promise an- 
 nounces the Messiah as the “seed of 
 the woman ;” yet so much meaning, 
 and so much dignity must be attached 
 even to that designation, as to adapt 
 it to the exigencies of that tremen- 
 dous occasion, in which every circum- 
 stance was a sign that all was lost. 
 That God who apportions his con- 
 solations to the anguish he would 7 
 assuage, spoke to our guilty parents 
 of one, the contemplation of whose 
 character and might would afford 
 relief, and administer comfort under 
 the burden of those woes, which they 
 had brought upon themselves and 
 upon the world. If he did not speak 
 to them of one who could restore the 
 
* 
 i 
 
 8 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 tremendous ruin which sin had made; 
 ene mighty to save beyond all 
 created power, to what purpose did 
 ‘he speak at all? since less than this, 
 would have been far enough from 
 meeting the exigencies of the oc- 
 casion. 
 In that succession of prophecies by 
 which, through a series of ages, God 
 was pleased to communicate his pur- 
 poses to man, we see the same pre- 
 eminence given to the character of 
 him who was to come. To this the 
 prophetic spirit hastens, on ¢his: it 
 glows, and expatiates, till the rapt 
 seer is lost amidst the glories of the 
 Messiah. He is indeed represented 
 as partaking of a nature like our own ; 
 but he is called a Star, a Sun, the 
 Glory of Israel, the Light of the Gen- 
 tiles, Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
 
“tes 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 9 
 
 Mighty God, the Father afc Wictompiitep 
 the Prince of Peace, Jehovah, our 
 Righteousness. He is represented as 
 one who was set up from everlasting; 
 who when there was no depths was 
 brought forth; who when God pre- 
 pared the heavens was there, when 
 he appointed the foundations of the 
 earth was by him, as one brought 
 up with him; was daily his delight 
 rejoicing always before him. 
 
 The organization of the church in 
 the family of Abraham seems to have 
 been little more than a measure pre- 
 paratory to the coming of the Messiah. 
 Allits sacrifices and appointments di- 
 rected the faith of believers to him, 
 as toa God: and in the almost endless 
 revolutions which the church under- 
 went, nothing appears to have been 
 regarded as of importance, compared 
 
10° SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 with the preservation of the promise 
 of the Messiah, of which the church 
 was the appointed depository. She 
 might exult in her glory, or sigh over 
 the wreck of her greatness, it appears 
 to have been enough that the promise. 
 was preserved ; and the great object 
 of that promise was kept constantly 
 before the mind, by every ‘rite, by 
 every victim, by every drop of sacri- 
 ficial blood required by the Mosaic 
 ritual to be shed. 
 
 From the first promise made to 
 Adam, down to the revelation of the 
 Holy Ghost to the venerable Simeon, 
 for four thousand years - the most 
 encouraging promises, the most mag- 
 nificent predictions, the most signifi- 
 cant ritual appointments, produced 
 and preserved amidst all revolutions 
 the loftiest expectations of the Comming, 
 
‘OF CHRISTIANITY. | ie > 
 
 of the Messiah. From the promises 
 the pious looked to him; from the 
 ritual they looked to him; from Je- 
 rusalem they looked to him; from 
 Babylon they looked to him; he was 
 the Star of their night and the Sun 
 of their day ; hope clung to him; 
 children were pointed to him; and 
 age was supported in infirmity and 
 death by the faith of his advent. He 
 was represented as the desire of all 
 nations, and the very shaking of the 
 nations was only to prepare for his 
 coming. 
 
 But who is he for whose coming 
 such mighty preparations are made, 
 and such ardent desires are cherish- 
 ed? The opposer of our doctrine 
 “answers “ @ mere man.” Amere man. 
 Was it for this that the world was 
 _ kept in a process of preparation, 
 
. 
 
 12 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 and ina state of expectation for so 
 many ages! Was the ocean rocked 
 into a tempest and kept heaving so 
 long, only to waft this feather? ‘This 
 “seed of the woman,’ the promise of 
 whom to our first parents, was the 
 antidote of God for the horrors of 
 conviction that they had sunk a 
 world in death; this Wonderful ; 
 this Counsellor; this Mighty God; 
 this Father of eternity ; this Prince 
 of Peace; this Jehovah our righteous- 
 ness, whose goings forth have been of 
 old, from everlasting, who was with 
 God when he prepared the heavens, 
 and laid the foundations of the earth, 
 as one brought up with him; a mere 
 man! How is it, that none of those 
 terms which had hitherto been em- 
 ployed to express the highest hon-_ 
 ors to which prophet, priest or king, 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY, f 13 
 
 had ever yet been exalted among 
 men, were deemed adequate to re- 
 present Messiah’s glory? Or these 
 failing, were there none in the vocab- 
 ulary of the thrones and dominions, 
 the principalities and the powers of 
 heaven, that were sufficient for the 
 due expression of his majesty? Must 
 God lavish upon him all the glory of 
 his own incommunicable titles and 
 attributes? Or having done so, could 
 he have designed less, than that the 
 Church should receive him in the | 
 character, which those titles and at- 
 tributes imply? If mortals bow the 
 knee, and worship as Jehovah him, 
 whom the Father calls by that incom- 
 municable and gracious name, and _ 
 whom he commands the angels of his | 
 “presence to worship, shall they be 
 Judged guilty of idolatry? as they. 
 2 
 
14 —— SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 surely are, if the Messiah be not God. 
 If guilty, to whose charge must the 
 sin be laid? Certainly not to theirs ; 
 and if not to theirs, let his enemies 
 declare the necessary conclusion; our 
 tongue refuses to pronounce the blas- 
 
 phemy. But it was designed that | 
 the Messiah should be received and 
 honored by the church as God, for 
 the very reason. that he is so called 
 —“‘he was God.” So Simeon re- 
 ceived him—so all that waited for 
 the consolation of Israel received 
 him; or they were behind the impi- 
 ous in their expectations from the 
 majesty of the oracle. For even the 
 unbelieving Jews, who regarded only 
 the humanity of Christ, treated his 
 claims to the Messiahship with scorn. 
 They saw nothing in him that was 
 answerable to the descriptions given 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. | | 15 
 
 by the prophets of God’s Messiah. 
 They could never believe that it was 
 he, whom David by the spirit called 
 Lord and God. And had they been 
 right in regarding him as a mere 
 man, they would have been right in 
 rejecting him as the Messiah. Onthe 
 other hand, the acknowledgement of 
 his Messiahship and divinity, always 
 in point of fact, went together; 
 because they mutually inplied each 
 other. Whoever acknowledged him 
 to be the Christ, acknowledged him 
 to be the Son of God. What a 
 wretched commentary is the Soci- 
 nian doctrine upon the preparation ; 
 announcements and appointments of 
 God for the advent of his beloved 
 Son. And mark how it strips lan- 
 guage of meaning, covers the expect- 
 ations of the ancient pious with scorn, 
 
16 -SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 and justifies the demand of the Jews 
 _ for the execution of Christ, as a blas- 
 _ phemer against God! 
 
 II. In the second place, take into 
 view the specific objects of Messiah’s 
 coming into the world, in connection 
 with the hopes which the contem- 
 plation of these objects inspired. 
 We shall say nothing in this place of 
 what he was to accomplish in the 
 discharge of the duties of his pro- 
 phetic office. ‘That he was to appear 
 in the character of a Priest, it were 
 no better than a piece of rank infi- 
 delity to deny. “Thou art a Priest 
 forever after the order of Melchiza- 
 dec,” says God to him by the mouth 
 of David; and Zechariah says he 
 shall be a Priest, as well as a king 
 upon his throne. In this character, 
 from the very nature of the appoint- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY, 17 
 
 ment, as well as from the reasoning 
 of the apostle, “it was necessary that _ 
 he should have somewhat to offer.” 
 The victim, according to Isaiah, 
 was to be himself; his soul was to be 
 made an offering for sin. It was a 
 prominent doctrine of the Mosaic 
 law, that a transfer was to be made 
 of the sins of God’s Israel to the 
 victim appointed to be _ offered. 
 Isaiah thus applies this doctrine to 
 Christ. “ All we like sheep have gone 
 astray, we have turned every one to 
 his own way, and the Lord hath laid 
 on him the iniquity of us all.” Our 
 sins being imputed to him, he was 
 to be wounded for our transgres- 
 sions; he was to be bruised for ou7 
 iniquities; the chastisement of our 
 peace was to be laid upon him, and 
 by his stripes we were to be healed. 
 Q* . 
 
18 _—s SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE - 
 
 According to Daniel he was tofinish 
 transgressions, and make an end of _ 
 sin, and make reconciliation for 
 
 iniquity, and bring in everlasting 
 righteousness. 
 As King he was to reign from sea to 
 
 sea, and from the river to the ends of 
 
 the earth. His kingdom was to be an 
 everlasting kingdom. “Thy throne 
 ~ O God is forever and ever.’ And he 
 was to reignin “such a manner, that 
 
 the whole earth with its strength of 
 
 iron and brass, its splendor of gold 
 and silver, smitten by the rod of his 
 mouth, should be broken in pieces 
 like a potter’s vessel;” “for thus,” 
 says Calvin, “do the prophets fore- 
 
 _ tell the magnificence of his king- 
 
 dom.” He was to reign in the hearts 
 and over the affectidale of his subjects, 
 
 making them willing to submit to him 
 
 ce 
 
 _——— 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 19 
 
 in the day of his power in the beauty 
 of holiness. As Prince of Peace, he 
 
 : | was to hush the tumult of the world 
 and so to subdue the spirit of violence, 
 
 that there should be nothing to hurt 
 nor destroy in all God’s holy moun- 
 tain. 
 
 Here are objects worthy of the — 
 
 divine councils, and worthy of the 
 
 divine hand ; calculated to raise ex- 
 
 ‘pectations and hopes lofty and ardent 
 
 as ever animated the bosoms of the 
 most pious sons of Abraham. Ad-— 
 monished by daily sacrifices of sins, 
 which those sacrifices could not take 
 
 away; knowing and feeling that 
 
 2 those which they offered year by 
 
 year continually, could not make the 
 comers there unto perfect, or satisfy 
 as pertaining to the conscience; why 
 should they not look for, and hasten 
 
20 te SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 unto the coming of his day, who by 
 
 the sacrifice of himself should forever 
 take away all their sins?) And why 
 
 when wearied and discouraged by 
 
 any thing they could do to fulfil the 
 
 righteousness of the law, should they . 
 
 not glory in his advent, who was to 
 come not only to make an end of 
 sin, but to bring in an everlasting 
 righteousness ! | 
 
 In contemplating the limited extent 
 of the church, and the oppressions 
 which it endured; in contemplating 
 the idolatrous abominations of the 
 heathen world, and the almost uni- 
 versal prevalence of the most shame- 
 ful moral impurities; why should not 
 
 the believing Israelite rejoice in anti- 
 
 cipating the establishment of Messiah’s 
 throne! Why should he not dwell 
 with holy pleasure on those promises, 
 
 SS 
 
m4 
 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. : 21 
 
 which contemplated the overthrow 
 of idolatry, a reign of righteousness, 
 and the universal prevalence of holi- 
 ness and peace? 
 
 But mark the blasting effects of 
 _the doctrine which denies the divinity 
 of Christ upon all the joyous antici- 
 pations of the believing Jew. It tells 
 him that the sacrifice of his dispensa- 
 tion, have no relation to any sacrifice 
 to be made by the Messiah; that the 
 Messiah’s priesthood means nothing ; 
 that the declaration, that his soul was 
 to be made an offering for sin means 
 nothing; that the doctrine of the 
 atonement is a mere fancy; that the 
 Messiah is indeed to be cut off, but 
 his death is to be only the death of a 
 martyr. As for an everlasting righ- 
 teousness, whatever the expression 
 may mean, he must go about to es- 
 
22 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 tablish a righteousness of his own. 
 Before such doctrine as this, how 
 would hope languish, and expectation | 
 die. The burden of unatoned for 
 sin, would be left to press with crush- | 
 ing weight upon the conscience, and 
 arouse the fearful anticipations of 
 coming judgment, and condemnation. 
 
 As for that kingdom of righteous- 
 ness and peace, that everlasting 
 kingdom, whose blessings are to 
 extend around the world, it is some- 
 thing says this doctrine, very different 
 from what might be supposed to be 
 implied in the expression, “thy 
 throne, O God, is forever and ever,” 
 as of divine honors were to be paid 
 to the Messiah. The kingdom will 
 be found to consist, not of those who 
 worship him, but of those who refuse 
 to worship him. The many ten 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 23 
 
 thousands who may suffer martyr- 
 dom for owning him as God will be, 
 (as the Roman Pliny has represented 
 
 “them to be,) the victims of a misera- 
 ble superstition. They only will be — 
 ~ true subjects who refuse to honor the 
 Son as they honor the Father. And. 
 when these shall have succeeded to 
 supplant the principles of those who 
 worship Christ, and pray and labor 
 to advance his honor, and spread 
 his gospel through the world, will 
 the kingdom appear in the full de- 
 velopment of its glory. 
 
 Contemplate the prophets of God 
 putting the power of language to its 
 utmost task to describe the Media- 
 tor’s kingdom, and the blessings of — 
 his reign; contemplate the believing 
 Hebrew elevated with. the loftiest 
 expectations, and rejoicing as Abra- 
 
24 SOCINIANISM sieves : 
 
 ham did to see the day of Christ ; 
 then look at the interpretations of the 
 doctrine we oppose, and their neces- 
 
 sary results; and say whether asick- 
 
 ly sadness does not pervade your 
 
 spirits, and whether strange and un- 
 welcome thoughts do not crowd into 
 your troubled minds. Admit these. 
 interpretations—deny the divinity of 
 Christ, and what is left in the sacri- 
 
 fices of the Old Testament Church, 
 
 but rivers of blood, which while they — 
 could not take away sin, had no re- 
 
 ference to any thatcould? Whatin 
 
 her numerous types but a succession 
 of gloomy shadows having no relation 
 to any substance? What in all that 
 her prophets have written concern- 
 ing the Mediator’s work, but the mad- 
 ness of poetry, without the inspira- 
 tion of prophecy? What in the 
 
 is 
 
ve 
 ony. 
 
 li OF CHRISTIANITY. 25 
 
 blessings thet! ware to succeed his 
 advent, but the world plunged into a 
 despicable idolatry? What in that 
 magnificent kingdom over which he 
 
 ‘was to reign, but an inconsiderable 
 
 sect—the fullowers, to use the lan- 
 guage of another, of a miserable So- 
 
 - einus 2 
 
 These are some of the triumphs of 
 boasted reason over the simplicity of 
 
 . faith. Others worthy to be associated 
 
 with them will appear in the pro- 
 gress of this discourse. 
 
 III. In the third place, if we ex- 
 amine the doctrine of Jesus Christ 
 concerning himself, we shall quickly 
 be reduced to the necessity of ador-: 
 ing him as God, or denouncing him 
 as aman. If the prophets had spoken 
 of him i In terms of extravagance, cal- 
 
 38 
 
% 
 
 ~~ 
 
 26 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 culated to raise him to honors that 
 were not his own, we look to him to 
 remove every false impression, and 
 to make known the truth concerning 
 his person and work. But what 
 does he do? Does he tell us that 
 David who called him Lord and God 
 was mad? or that Isaiah who called 
 him the Mighty God and the Father of 
 eternity, dealtin rapsody? Nothing 
 like it. He gives his sanction to all 
 that the prophets had written con- 
 cerning himself, his kingdom and his 
 work. With the deniers of his di- 
 vinity, he is but another Plato, or 
 ‘another Saccas, a teacher of a new 
 philosophy. But hear his own ac- 
 count of this matter. I came forth 
 from God. All things must be ful- 
 filled, which were written in the law 
 
»* 
 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 23 
 
 of Moses, in the prophets, and in the 
 Psalms concerning me. 
 
 After considering what he says of 
 himself, say what good man woyld 
 ever dare to use the language which 
 he constantly employs? Before 
 Abraham was, says he, “Iam.” (God’s 
 incommunicable name.) Addressing 
 the Father, he says, “ glorify me with 
 the glory which I had with thee be- 
 fore the world was: Ihave power 
 to lay down my life, and I have 
 power to take it up again. All 
 power is given to me in heaven and 
 on earth.” He not only performs 
 miracles in his own name, but he 
 professes to communicate this power 
 to others. Behold, I give you power 
 to tread on serpents and over all the 
 power of the enemy; heal the sick, 
 cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, 
 
28 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 cast out devils, freely ye have re- 
 ceived, freely give. He professes to 
 have power to forgive sins. - He suf- 
 fered himself to be worshipped. He 
 claims that all men should honor him, 
 as they honor the Father. He 
 promises to be with his disciples 
 always, even unto the end of the 
 world. He declares himself to be 
 Lord of the Sabbath: claims to be 
 the Judge of quick and dead; and 
 gives assurance that See he 
 should be seen coming in the clouds 
 of heaven with power and great 
 glory. He announces himself as the 
 only way to the Father. He came 
 to establish a holy and a universal 
 kingdom: a kingdom not of | this 
 world, the jaenainmaas of which, 
 requires the exercise of all power 
 in heaven and on earth; and all the 
 
 % 
 
sd 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 29 
 
 subjects of which must be born again. 
 He came to be brought as a lamb to 
 the slaughter. He came not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister and 
 to pive his life a ransom for many. 
 He came as the good shepherd to 
 lay down his life for his sheep. He 
 came in one word, to be the author 
 of eternal salvation to his people, “I 
 give unto them eternal life, and none 
 shall be able to pluck them out of my 
 hand.” 
 
 Compare all this, with the language 
 and conduct of the most distinguished 
 servants of God, with whose presence 
 and ministry the world has ever been 
 blessed. Did Abraham the friend of. 
 God speak in this way? Did Moses 
 his servant, favored above all mén in 
 the intimacy of his communion with 
 heaven, speak in “this way! Did 
 
 at) : 
 
ae: SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 Elijah that man of miracles take such 
 freedoms with God? Did ever pro- 
 phet claim a power of his own to 
 work miracles; or presume to dele- 
 gate such a power to others? Did 
 any affect to forgive sins? Did any 
 claim worship in conjunction with 
 God! Would any have submitted 
 to be worshipped? Paul and Bar- 
 nabas rent their clothes and cried 
 out to arrest such sin and folly from 
 being practised on themselves; and 
 so would every other man of God 
 have done. Who besides Christ ever 
 claimed to have had glory with the 
 Father before the world was? That 
 he was one with him? or that he 
 would preside in the universal judg- 
 ment? What martyr ever regarded 
 his own death as a ransom for the 
 sins of the world! -Or who. ever 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 31 7, 
 
 professed to bestow the gift of eternal — 
 life and to secure the enjoyment of 
 the boon by the defences of a power 
 paramount in heaven and earth, and 
 all his own? If holy men would 
 have trembled at the bare thought of 
 these assumptions; where was the 
 humility of Christ; or where was 
 his zeal for his Father’s glory, when 
 he assumed these high prerogatives. 
 Compare further the language and 
 conduct of Christ, with what the 
 deniers of his divinity admit concern- 
 ing the objects of his ministry ; and 
 in which so far as they go, we agree 
 with them. We agree that he came 
 to confirm the doctrine of the unity 
 of the divine essence, and yet he de- 
 clares that he and his Father are one. 
 He came to rescue the world from 
 the worship of demons and men; and 
 
® 
 
 ‘go SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 yet he says that all men should honor 
 
 him, as they honor the Father. He 
 came to vindicate the undivided 
 
 _. sovereignty of God over the universe 
 
 of matter and of spirit; and yet he 
 commissions his disciples to perform 
 the most stupendous miracles, in both _ 
 departments in his own name. | He - 
 came to maintain the divine preroga- 
 tive in the moral kingdom; and yet. 
 he claims for himself the power of 
 forgiving sins. He came to detach all 
 hearts from undue affection for creat- 
 tedobjects, and to unite them to God; 
 and yet he so attaches them to him- 
 self, that his disciples must forsake 
 all to follow him, and be ready to 
 lay down their lives for his sake. 
 He came to teach all men to recog- 
 nize their accountability to God alone, 
 as judge of all; and yet he declares 
 
- OF CHRISTIANITY. 33 
 
 that before himself the universe shall 
 be arraigned in judgment. Hecame 
 to direct intelligent beings to God as 
 
 the only source of divine blessings ; “4 
 
 and yet he assumes to give unto them 
 eternal life. Admit his divinity, and 
 _ his instructions are worthy of him- 
 , a self, and of the fidelity which he 
 owed to the Father who sent him. 
 Deny it, and what are we to say of 
 the mere man, the good man, the meek, 
 the self-denying man of the Socinian 
 theology? Had he come to con- 
 found all truth; to distract all minds: 
 to alienate all hearts from God, and 
 to divide with him the glory of 
 universal empire, what could he have 
 done that he did not do? By what 
 means could he have pushed his 
 pretensions further; or made greater 
 inroads upon the monarchy of God ? 
 
a 
 
 34 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 Were we to admit for a moment 
 that the language of Jesus Christ 
 could, by the help of a large share of 
 ingenuity, be made to convey the 
 meaning, which the enemies of: his 
 divinity ascribe to it; the admission 
 would be at the expense of all that 1s 
 valuable in the character of a mes- 
 senger of God. The multitude for 
 whose use it was intended, never 
 have, and never can so understand it. 
 And it were disingenuous to employ 
 language in one sense, which will 
 invariably be understood in another. 
 Jesus knew how he would be under- 
 stood by his hearers. He knew 
 what interpretation was put upon 
 his declaration that he was the Son 
 of God; for he was charged with 
 blasphemy, and his life was sought 
 on that very account;, because by it, 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. oa (35. 
 
 he was judged to have made himself 
 equal with God. And yet he goes 
 on, and perpetuates in the church 
 the occasion of perpetual error. 
 Why was he not admonished by the 
 prophetic spirit of what would be 
 the result to the world of his method 
 of speaking of himself? Or why, 
 even without the help of a prophetic 
 spirit; did not his human sagacity 
 perceive, and his goodness provide 
 against results, so humiliating and 
 destructive to man? 
 
 VI. In the fourth place, let us exa- 
 mine the doctrine of the apostles con- 
 cerning the character of Jesus Christ, 
 and the nature of his mediatorial work. 
 To them it was given to know the 
 mysteries of the kingdom of God, 
 and they were the authorised ex- 
 
36 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 pounders of the doctrines of their 
 master. If they regarded him as a 
 mere man; what manner of man 
 could they have conceived him to 
 
 be? 
 
 They call him the “image of the 
 
 invisible God;’ “the brightness of 
 the Father's glory, and the express 
 image of his person.” John says, “he 
 was God.” Paul calls him, “God 
 our Savior; and God over all.” 
 Of his pre-existence they allege that 
 “he was in the beginning with God,” 
 “that he is before all things.” They 
 represent him as “knowing all 
 things ;’? as “head over all things ;” 
 as “filling all things.” They ascribe 
 
 to him immutability. “Jesus Christ _ 
 the same yesterday, to day, and for- 
 
 ever.” And the attributes of inde- 
 
 pendence, eternity and omnipotence | 
 
 ~ 
 
 | 
 
 ji 
 ey 
 “wt 
 | 
 
 » | 
 aah 
 » = 4) 
 : it 
 p 
 
 it 
 
 yu 
 
a 
 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 37 
 
 are clearly implied in the expression 
 —‘“which was and is to come, the 
 Almighty.” | John ascribes to him the 
 work of creation; and Paul says 
 that “by him were all things created 
 that are in heaven and that are in 
 earth, visible and invisible, whether 
 they be thrones, or dominions, or 
 ’ principalities, or powers, and that by 
 him all things consist.” To his spirit 
 they ascribe the mspiration of the 
 prophets. To his voice the resur- 
 rection of thedead. To his bar they 
 refer the universe for judgment. 
 And to him they declare that every 
 knee shall bow, and every tongue 
 i confess, of things in heaven, and © 
 4 _ things in earth, and things under the. 
 ie earth, what manner of man is this? 
 _ Ifthey speak of the throne of God, 
 es Jesus Christ is upon it—if of the glory 
 m a ; . ‘ 
 
 a 
 
| 
 38 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 of heaven, it is the glory of the Son of 
 the Lord God and of the Lamb ; if of 
 
 the hallelujah of the redeemed, their 
 
 language is, “ unto him that loved us 
 and washed us from our sins in his 
 own blood, and made us Kings and 
 Priests unto God and his Father, to 
 him be glory and dominion forever 
 and ever.” If the apostles burn with 
 zeal, it is to serve Christ. If they 
 desire to depart, it is that they may 
 be with Christ. “David exclaimed, 
 “ whom have I in heaven but thee ?” 
 Was Paul so unlike him, that instead 
 of associating his happiness in heaven 
 with the idea of the presence of God, 
 he anticipated it only from the pre~ 
 sence of a man? Is it around the 
 throne of such an one, that the rain- 
 bow of the covenant bends! Or 
 was it the vision of a man, that 
 
 - 
 
a 
 
 ‘OF CHRISTIANITY. , 39 
 
 ministered tothe triumph of the dying 
 
 Stephen? The apostles honer the 
 -. Son as they honor the Father, in 
 
 their prayers—so they honor him in 
 their baptisms—so they honor him 
 in their benedictions—and so they 
 
 honor him in theirargument. Mark 
 
 an instance of the latter in Heb. 2d 
 ehap. “If the word spoken by angels 
 was steadfast, and every transgression 
 and disobedience received a just 
 recompense of reward, how shall we 
 escape if we neglect so great salva- 
 tion, which at first began to be spo- 
 ken by the Lord?” ‘The argument 
 
 is from the less to the greater, and in 
 
 this lies its force. Ifthey who con- 
 temned the ministration of angels 
 who are the less, received the just 
 reward of their disobedience, how 
 shall we escape if we neglect the 
 
40 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 ministrations of Christ the greater; 
 the Lord whom the angels are com- 
 manded to worship! Here is an 
 argument worthy of the spirit of wis- 
 dom by which the apostle wrote. 
 Admit the doctrine we oppose, and 
 what have we? If the ministration 
 of angels, those high intelligences of 
 heaven, was honored by the just 
 judgments of God upon every trans- 
 gressor, how shall we escape, if we 
 neglect the ministrations of a man, 
 who is greatly their inferior! So 
 the men who will not bow their rea- 
 son to the path of Christ would have 
 Paul to argue; and that too, in the 
 pause of a most lofty celebration of 
 the divine honors of the Son of God ! 
 What is this but to make an idiot of 
 the apostle, and to burlesque the in- 
 spirations of the Holy One? 
 
* OF CHRISTIANITY. 41 
 
 Of the superiority of Christ over 
 mere men, as a principle of argu- 
 ment, we hazard nothing by the 
 remark, that if he be not infinitely 
 greater than Moses, greater than 
 Aaron, greater than all priests and 
 all prophets, if he be not God, then is 
 a large portion of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews a tissue of absurdities; and 
 he who wrote it, while he under- 
 took to teach others, had need 
 himself to be taught the first princi- 
 ples of reason and argument. 
 
 As with the arguments of the 
 apostles, so with their scheme of 
 salvation; it requires that in the. 
 Savior should “dwell all the ful- 
 ness of the Godhead bodily.” Its 
 weight would crush every support, 
 less powerful than this. The blood 
 of atonement which it demands, 
 
 4* 
 
- v i 
 ao 
 
 4 « 
 “ 
 “ft 
 
 42 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 ‘must be as Paul calls it, the blood of 
 God. He on whom help is laid, 
 must be mighty to vindicate the 
 honor of the divine law - to contend 
 successfully with principalities and 
 powers; to effect a resurrection from 
 the death of sin, quickening whom | 
 _ he will. He must be able to hold 
 the subjects of his renewing grace 
 with a hand, from which no power 
 
 ean pluck them. He must attend to — 
 
 their interest in heaven; he must be 
 with them on earth. He must know 
 all their sorrows, that he may com- 
 fort them; all their weaknesses, that 
 he may strengthen them; all their 
 temptations, that he may succor 
 them. He must know all the wiles 
 of their enemies; and he must be 
 able to defeat them. He must con- 
 quer death and the grave, to secure 
 
A ee PE op, CHRISTIANITY. 43, 
 the joyful resurrection of such as 
 sleep in him. He must be head over 
 allthings; to subordinate them to 
 the safety and ultimate triumph of 
 his church. 
 
 - But who of all created beings is 
 sufficient for these things? They 
 who deny the proper deity of Christ 
 should call upon the apostles, not 
 only to change their language con- 
 cerning his personal glory; but also 
 to tear down the whole frame work 
 of salvation, which they have reared 
 up; and in the place of it talk of 
 some moral reform, which requires 
 none of the might of him, in whom 
 has been rolled the burden of a 
 world’s redemption. If amere man 
 can be the author of salvation ; it is 
 not the eternal salvation of the gospel, 
 which the apostles preached, and in 
 
44 . SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 which is placed the hope of a ruined 
 world. ° 
 
 It is manifest that the writers of 
 _ the New Testament attest the supe- 
  rlority of Christ over all creatures, 
 not merely by individual expressions, 
 which if they imply any thing, imply 
 his essential divinity ; but it consti- 
 tutes the great pervading spirit of 
 their writings; mixes up with all 
 their doctrines, and gives character 
 to all their statements. It is the 
 source of their blessings, the direc- 
 tory of their worship, the postulate 
 of their arguments, the glory of their 
 heaven, the alpha and the omega of 
 their system of salvation. Could 
 unbelievers in the supreme deity of 
 Christ have written of him, as they 
 have written? Could they have 
 ascribed to a mere piece of humanity, 
 
OF +CHRISTIANITY.. a 45 
 
 all the titles, all the attributes, all the 
 works, and all the worship of the 
 Almighty God? Could they have . 
 
 gone nowhere without finding him ? 
 
 As if. “he filled immensity with his _ : 
 
 presence !” Could they have found » 
 him nowhere, without bowing to him ~ 
 as if he were “ God over all blessed... 
 forever?’ Could they not have 
 crowned their message of gladness 
 to the world with a richer benedic- 
 tion than that which closes the sacred 
 cannon, “the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with you all,” as if 
 his blessing secured the consumma- 
 tion of immortal glory? Believe it 
 who will, I trust you never can. 
 
 V. Lastly, let us examine the 
 spirit of the Gospel ministry, in con- 
 nection with the divinity of Christ ; 
 
46 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 and compare it with the spirit which 
 always, and necessarily attends the 
 opposite doctrine. ‘That system 
 which represents the condition of 
 _ man to be such, that nothing short of 
 the interposition of an Almighty arm 
 ean effect his deliverance—which 
 represents the ruin total, and an 
 interest in the merits of Christ as 
 revealed in the gospel indispensible 
 to salvation, demands from all who 
 are engaged in furthering the mercl- 
 ful designs of God, a spirit in which 
 . compassion, benevolence, self-denial, 
 and earnestness to do good to others, 
 are exhibited in their most amiable 
 forms, and in their most efficient 
 ~ combination. 
 The most perfect illustrations of 
 this spirit is furnished by Christ him- 
 self.. He comes as if he felt and 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 47 
 
 -sorrowed for the lost. He comes as 
 one who from heaven had heard the | 
 _ groaning of the prisoners, and had it 
 "in heart to loose those that were ap-. 
 pointed to death ; to proclaim hberty 
 
 to the captive, and the opening of | fs 
 
 the prison to them that were bound. 
 He comes administering consolation 
 to the wretched ; and he announces 
 it as among the most distinguished 
 proofs of his Messiahship, that he 
 _ preached the gospel to the poor.” 
 
 From the master, the disciples 
 
 catch the spint by which they are 
 
 animated, and they proceed in their 
 ministry, as if they felt for the guilt, 
 and wretchedness, and danger of 
 those to whom they aresent. Every 
 where in the midst of persecutions 
 they warn men to fly from the wrath 
 to come—they persuade them by the 
 
48 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 terrors of the Lord—they beseech 
 them to be reconciled to God. 
 _ They travail with them in birth till 
 Christ be formed in them the hope of 
 -glory—they urge their doctrines 
 “home to the conscience, with a di- 
 rectness and pungency of appeal, 
 that forces from the trembling spirit 
 the cry “what must I do to be 
 saved?” Here we have the spirit 
 of martyrdom, and of missions. The 
 spirit which made Paul exclaim in 
 view of bonds and imprisonments, 
 “none of these things move me, 
 neither count I my life dear unto 
 myself, so that I might finish my 
 course with joy and the ministry 
 which I have received of the Lord 
 Jesus, to testify the gospel of the 
 grace of God.” The spirit, which 
 in the desire to save the lost, en- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY, 49 
 
 counters perils on the deep, in the 
 wilderness, and among the heathen, 
 The spirit which carries the lamp of 
 life to the benighted, and sacrifices 
 life itself in the effort to promote 
 their salvation. hy 
 
 If on the other hand, the members 
 of the human family be regarded as 
 by no means dead in trespasses and 
 sins, but only not quite such as they 
 ought to be, and might be without a 
 divine deliverer ; we have little right 
 to look for more than the stateliness 
 of philosophical teaching—efforts to 
 influence the influential, court to 
 the great and contempt for the poor 
 —a ministry that may command com- 
 pliments, but not a ministry for our 
 world; for its guilt and pollution, and 
 wretchedness, and poverty, and de- 
 gradation; a ministry not adapted 
 
 a) 
 
50 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 to avert the doom that rests upon 
 it. : 
 
 What we have a right to look for 
 from the denials of the divinity of 
 Christ and its attendant doctrines, 
 we may see, and no more. What 
 history informs us that they have 
 ever acted as if they considered 
 their system as of any great conse- 
 quence themselves? Particularly, 
 with what evidence are we furnished 
 that they have been intent upon the 
 spiritual welfare of such as were the 
 special objects of Christ’s ministry ! 
 In what hovels have they been found, 
 instructing and consoling the wretch- 
 ed inmates? On what pagan coast 
 are they seen, bearing in their hands 
 the standard of the cross!’ In what 
 dark interior do you hear of them, 
 enduring hardness in their zeal to 
 
 “s 
 
| OF CHRISTIANITY. 51 
 promote the salvation of the heathen? 
 These questionsare not asked with a 
 view to insult. over them, as if they 
 were recreant to their principles. 
 No. It is the fault’ of the doctrine. 
 Their question is one from which the 
 spirit that sighs over the wretched- 
 ness of the guilty, is utterly foreign ; 
 and they act as much in consistency 
 with their theology, as their case, in 
 leaving the missionary field to per- 
 petual desolation. 
 
 If however anything be attempted 
 in the way of missions it must inevi- 
 tably fail of success. The following 
 extract from history is worthy of 
 consideration in this connection. 
 “They,” says Mosheim, speaking of 
 those who denied the divinity of 
 Christ, “also sent Missionaries to 
 several places towards the conclusion 
 
52 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 of this (16) century in order to make 
 proselytes, and erect new congrega + 
 tions. These Missionaries seemed 
 every way qualified to gain credit to 
 the cause in which they had em- 
 barked; as some of them were 
 distinguished by the lustre of their 
 birth, and others by the extent of 
 their learning and the power of their 
 eloquence ; and yet notwithstanding 
 their uncommon advantages, they 
 failed almost every where in their 
 attempts.” And why should they 
 not fail? While they denied the 
 omnipotence of the Savior, they 
 could carry with them no pledge of 
 forgiveness in the blood of atonement: 
 with them there was no spirit to 
 quicken the dead in trespasses and 
 sins: they had no balm for the 
 wounds of the conscience: the dying 
 
aa 
 
 “pa. 
 aed op CHRISTIANITY. — 63 
 they could not point to the resur- 
 rection and the life: their system 
 having no adaptation to the wr etched- 
 ness of a ruined world, finds no 
 place for sympathy ; it furnishes no 
 motion to zeal; it is without an 
 object, worthy of the spirit of the 
 ministry of Jesus Christ. It may 
 enlist birth, and learning, and elo- 
 quence; but is cold, academical, 
 philosophical. It greets the wise, 
 the mighty and the noble ; and while : 
 it is over anxious for an introduction ae 
 into the courts of the great, and into 
 the halls of the learned; it regards 
 not the abodes of the ignorant, nor 
 the lamentable cries of the broken 
 hearted penitent. It passes by on 
 the other side. OQ how unlike is the 
 
 spirit of all this, to that of him, who 
 " was anointed to preach good tidings 
 
 F, 
 o* 
 
 - 
 7 
 
54 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 to the meek, to bind up the broken 
 hearted, to comfort all that mourn; 
 and who said the poor have the 
 gospel preached unto them. The 
 spirit of this ministry comes home to 
 the heart, whose religious sensibili- 
 ties have been awakened to a just 
 sense of its guilt and wretchedness ; 
 and it is felt to be the offspring of 
 the bosom of one, who while he was 
 in the form of God, and thought it 
 no robbery to be equal with God, 
 made himself of no reputation and 
 took upon him the form of a servant 
 and became obedient unto death, for 
 the salvation of the lost. The bare 
 consideration of this ministry might 
 melt a frozen heart. The other 
 comes over it like a winter's blast, 
 freezing the circling blood of sym- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY, 55 
 
 pathy and compassion, and blighting 
 the sweet fruits of love. 
 
 Here we rest our argument. 
 And we ask you brethren, whether 
 Jesus Christ be not God? Let no 
 one object his acknowledged infe- 
 riority to the Father. He is inferior 
 in his human nature—he is inferior 
 in his official relations as Mediator. 
 But all this is explained by the single 
 text just quoted. “He who was in 
 the form of God, and thought it no 
 robbery to be equal with God,. . , 
 took on him the form of a servant, 
 and was made in the likeness of 
 men.” 
 
 But the doctrine is too mysterious 
 to be comprehended, and therefore 
 cannot be believed. Indeed! who 
 by. searching can find out God? 
 And who can find out the Almighty 
 
56 —s SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 to perfection 2 And because this 
 cannot be done; God is to be made 
 a liar, by the rejection of the testi- 
 mony which he has given of his Son. 
 It were infinitely better to helieve 
 the divine attestation to any thing, 
 however surpassing our comprehen- 
 sion, than to subscribe to the. doc- 
 
 trine, which requires that language 
 
 should be understood after this man- 
 ner—“ the mighty God” signifies a 
 feeble man ; the Father of Eternity ; 
 the child of a day—which renders 
 it necessary to account for the 
 ascription of the creation of all things 
 to a being, that had no existence till 
 long after the universe was made— 
 which requires that he should be 
 regarded as a meek and holy man, 
 who claims for himself all the attri- 
 butes and prerogatives of God— 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. ok 6Fp 
 
 which represents that in all that God 
 promised to the patriarchs of a 
 deliverer; in all he announced by 
 the prophets to set forth his glory 
 and to exalt the conceptions of his 
 kingdom and blessings; in all that - 
 he did in the government of the 
 
 _ church, and of the world to prepare 
 
 for his coming, till expectation was 
 raised on earth to intensity, and in 
 heaven to wonder; nothing more 
 was designed, than that a man should 
 be born, whose ministry was to 
 result.in the establishment of an 
 inconsiderable sect which should 
 deny all the prerogatives that are 
 ascribed to him; and in the transfer 
 of the worship of the rest of the 
 world from the deities they adored, 
 to himself as the object of their 
 idolatries. The belief of the first, 
 
58 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 is a reasonable homage to the in- 
 finitude of God; the belief of the 
 doctrine which implies the rest, is 
 an eternal reproach upon reason it- 
 self. And yet these things, with 
 many others equally monstrous must 
 be received before the doctrine of 
 the divinity of Christ can be re- 
 jected by any, who acknowledge a 
 revelation from God. But if these 
 things put all reasons, as well as all 
 revelation at defiance; there is the 
 divinity of Christ incontestibly es- 
 tablished ; and the eternal hostility 
 between Socinianism and Christiani- 
 ty is manifested. Abide together, 
 they cannot. The triumphs of 
 either in any soul, is the necessary 
 destruction of the other. 
 
 In casting about with a view to 
 discover who are liable to be carried 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY, 59 
 
 away by the doctrine we oppose; 
 it is pleasant to be assured that none 
 who have been quickened together 
 with Christ, can ever deny him who 
 is their life, complete in him who is 
 the head of all principality and 
 power, they are already in the pro- 
 fession of eternal life: and we are 
 persuaded that neither death nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
 powers, nor things present, nor things 
 to come shall ever be able to separ- 
 ate them from the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus their Lord. 
 Neither are we much afraid that 
 any who are earnestly seeking the 
 way of life, under the anguish of a ~ 
 heart broken for sin, will repose for 
 consolation on that, which denies the 
 consolation of Israel. As there can 
 be no preaching in which the divinity 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
60 SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 of Christ is not recognised, suffi- 
 ciently pungent to force the cry, 
 “what must I do to be saved ;” so it 
 is utterly without power to heal the 
 wounds which the truth of God has 
 inflicted. The troubled conscience 
 knows not its voice, nor will it heed : 
 the softest message which it sends. 
 Its consolations are for those only 
 who have no trouble. It fortifies. 
 no minds but such as are oppressed 
 with no fears. Its pardons are for 
 those who have no sense of guilt. 
 Its purifications are for those who 
 feel no need of cleansing. It affords 
 “no remedy for the sickness of the 
 soul. : ' 
 On the other hand they are in 
 danger who will not believe that the 
 wisdom of this world is foolishness 
 with God—who are not willing to 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 61 
 
 deny themselves, to take up the cross 
 and follow Christ—the disputers of 
 this world who debate about religion 
 as they debate about politics, are in 
 danger—all who regard the services 
 of the sanctuary, as a mere source of 
 intellectual entertainment—all who 
 consider religion as the mere regula- 
 tor of the moral forms of the social 
 state, all are in danger; because by 
 none of them is religion contemplated 
 in the sacredness of its character, in 
 the overwhelming importance of its 
 ‘issues. Our youth are in danger, not 
 only because they are liable to be 
 captivated by the acts with which | 
 the fatal tendencies of denying the. 
 Lord Jesus are attempted to be 
 concealed ; but also because while 
 they are flattered for their supposed 
 virtues, and but feebly rebuked for 
 OG. 
 
 = 
 
62: SOCINIANISM SUBVERSIVE 
 
 their real sins, they are encouraged | 
 to believe that all is well though | 
 they be not born again. 
 
 Religion should be investigated not 
 with a view to the trial of ingenuity, 
 or the gratification of taste, but under 
 a sense of the manifest and tre- 
 mendous evils which deform and 
 plague the world, and with a desire 
 to understand. the nature of .the 
 remedies which God has provided 
 against the diseases of the soul. The 
 investigation should be made, with 
 an humble, and teachable spirit; with 
 a willingness to know the truth, 
 though the discovery should mortify 
 pride, and cover the soul with shame. 
 Following this humility is honor; and 
 they who are engaged in this humble 
 patient. search, will fly the enemy 
 that would cut off the right arm of 
 
_ OF CHRISTIANITY. 63. 
 
 - their deliverer, and leave them de- 
 
 fenceless in the day of wrath. 
 
 The doctrine of the divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, O how precious it is. 
 It stays the thunderbolt of God, and 
 disipates the cloud from the believers 
 heaven. ‘There isnodepth of misery 
 from which it cannot deliver; no— 
 height of glory to which it cannot 
 exalt. Say Christian whether the 
 name Emmanuel, God with us, does 
 not convey a sound of joy that is 
 heard above the roar of deep calling 
 unto deep, in the ocean of your 
 sorrows! Does it not convey an 
 assurance that all is well, so long as 
 you rest upon him on whom the whole 
 weight of heaven is hung? What 
 else could sustain the spirit? To 
 whom blessed Jesus can we go? 
 
64 - BOCINIANISM sUBUERAIYE 
 
 Thou bast the vaskde qs atin life, 
 and we believe and are sure that 
 thou art that Christ, the Son of the 
 Living God. Amen. ; 
 
BOOKS PUBLISHED 
 . : AND h 
 OFFERED TO THE TRADE, 
 BY . 
 ROBERT CARTER, 
 No, 58 CANAL STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 February, 1841. 
 
 The Person and Glory of Christ. By John Owen, D. 
 D. 8vo. . 
 
 Watson's Body of Divinity. 8vo. 
 
 Jay’s Evening Exercises. 12mo. Sheep. ..¢ 
 
 The Inquirer Directed to an Experimental and Practical 
 View of the Holy Spirit. By Rev. Octavius Winslow. 
 12mo. 
 
 The Dew of Israel, and the Lilly of God. By Dr. F. 
 W. Krnmmacher, Author of “ Elijah the Tishbite,”’ . 
 &e. 12mo. ; 
 
 ee on the Atonement. 12mo. 
 
 Do on the Dominion of Christ. 12mo. 
 
 Hill and Valley. By Miss Sinclair. 12mo. 
 
9. 
 
 Willison’s Communicant’s Catechism. 18mo. 
 
 Romaine on Faith. 12mo. 
 
 Anecdotes, Illustrative of the Shorter Catechism. By 
 John Whitecross. 15mo. *., 
 The Key to the Shorter Catechism. Containing 
 Catechetical Exercises, a Paraphrase, and a New 
 Series of Proofs on each Question. New Edition. 
 
 18mo. 
 
 Sorrowing, Yet Rejoicing. 18mo. 
 
 The Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life. By Profess 
 sor Wilson. 12mo. 
 
 The Life and Letters of the Rev. Joseph Alleine, A. 
 B., Author of “An Alarm to the Unconverted.”' 
 12mo. 
 
 Watson's Apology for the Bible. 18mo. 
 
 Bishop Beveridge’s Private Thoughts. With Plates. 
 12mo. 
 
 The Grace of God, Exemplified in the case of William 
 Mills. , 
 The Works of Thomas Chalmers, D. D. &c. 7 Vols. 
 
 12mo. 
 
 ConteNnts.—Vols. 1 and 2, on Natural Theology ; 
 3 and 5, on the Miraculous and Internal Eviderices of 
 Christianity ; 5, Moral and Menta! Philosophy,—this 
 volume has never before been published; 6, Com- 
 
 ' mercial Discourses,—one half of which is entirely 
 new; 7, Astronomical Discourses,—the one half of 
 which has never before been published. 
 
 The Westminster Assembly's Catechism Explained. 
 By Fisher and Erskine. 12mo. Sheep. 
 
4 ar 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 Batter's Call, and Other Essays. _12mo. 
 
 The Extent of the Atonement. By Howard Malcom, _ 
 A.M. 12mo. 
 
 The Life of Rev. Dr. Nisbet of Carlisle, Pa. By Rev. 
 Samuel Miller, D. D. Princeton, N. J. 12mo. 
 
 Memoir of Hannah Sinclair. By Leigh Richmond, 
 Author of “ Dairyman’s Daughter,’ &c. 18mo. 
 
 Our Protestant Forefathers. By W. S. Gilly, D. D. 
 
 18mo. 
 
 Discourses on the Millennium. By Rey. M. T. Adam. 
 12mo. 
 
 Stevenson on the Offices of Christ. 12mo. 
 
 Bostwick on Baptism. Second Edition. 
 
 Christian Father At Home. By Rev. Dr. Brownlee. 
 18mo. 
 
 The Christian Youth’s Book. Do. 12mo 
 
 Interesting Narratives. By Rev. Joseph Belcher. 
 12mo. 
 
 Brown’s Shorter Catechism for Children. 18mo. 
 Do do do do 32mo. 
 
 Feed My Lambs. 
 
 Crook in the Lot. 
 
 Calvin on Secret Providence. Translated by Rev. 
 
 James Lillie. 18mo. 
 
 Taylor’s Life of Hannah More. With Portrait. 1 
 Vol. 12mo. 
 
 Mill's Blair's Rhetoric. 1 Vol. 12mo. 
 
 Old Humphrey’s Observations. 1 Vol. 12mo. 
 
4 
 IN PRESS. 
 
 _ Pike's True Happiness. 1 Vol. 18mo. 
 Krummacher’s Martyr Lamb. 1 Vol. 12mo. 
 Jay’s Evening Exercises. 2 Vols. 12mo. 
 
 NOTICES OF DR. CHALMERS’ WORKS. 
 
 “The writings of Chalmers are so well known and 
 appreciated in this country that it is needless for us to 
 appland their merits. The distinguished place at present 
 
 occupied by the author in the Church of Scotland, in re-. 
 
 sisting the interference of the State with the ecclesiasti- 
 cal rights of the people, imparts an additional freshness to 
 his fame. Mr. Carter of New-York, one of the most 
 enterprising publishers in our country, particularly in 
 the department of theology, has laid the public under. ob- 
 
 ligations by this neat and we may say, beautiful edition 
 
 of the works of such aman. The edition, it should be 
 noticed, is mot a reprint of the author’s works already 
 known in this country. His Astronomical and Com- 
 
 mercial discourses have not only been carefully revised | 
 
 but nearly doubled in number by the addition of ney 
 
 ones; his Moral Philosophy is entirely new here; his 
 Christian Revelation and Natural Theology may be said 
 to be almost new as they are rewritten and enlarged; so 
 
 that the whole series is offered as having peculiar claims 
 
 on the literary and religious public.” —Presbyterian. 
 Chalmers has attained a reputation enjoyed by no 
 other living theologian, Itis an easy thing at the present 
 
 ~~ 
 
=e 
 
 SE Se 
 
 tema 
 
 eam 
 
 5 
 
 day, to write; it is comparatively easy to write well; but 
 to write so well upon any subject, however unique, as 
 to elevate oneself above the immense crowd of com- 
 petitors for popular approbation, and to stand pre-emi- 
 nent, and conspicuous, is a privilege granted to few. 
 What renders more special and remarkable, the distine- 
 tion in the case of the great Scotch divine, is, that he 
 belongs to a profession and writes upon subjects not 
 confined to a small and select number. Every minister 
 
 _of the gospel professes to be somewhat of a theologian ; 
 
 and theology in modern times is more or less intermixed 
 with moral philosophy; and both philosophers and 
 theologians are all disposed to give their views to the 
 public whenever by so doing, they have a reasonable 
 prospect of acquiring reputation. On this common 
 ground, and surrounded by so many, stripped and pre- 
 pared for the course, the doctor has distanced rivalry in 
 his own generation, and placed himself along side of the 
 
 Owens, the Baxters, and the Edwards, of the past.—Bap- 
 
 tist Advocate. . 
 
 _“ An elegantedition of Dr. Chalmers’ Works in seven 
 volumes has just been issued from the press of Robert 
 Carter of this city, and will doubtless be rapidly bought 
 by the thousands of admirers of that distinguished man 
 in this country. His powersas a writer are well known 
 and appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic. Few 
 men have filled a larger space, in the attention of the 
 religious world, and few exert a greater influence at this 
 moment in the church of Scotland during its present 
 struggle against the encroachments of the civil courts. 
 
 2 
 
* 
 
 6 
 
 We are glad that Mr. Carter is giving the public, works 
 of such sterling value, and we doubt not that he will find 
 in the encouragement he receives arich reward.”— New- 
 York Observer.: ii 
 
 ¥4Dr. Cuatmers’ Worxs.—A beautiful edition of the 
 works of this celebrated divine, in seven thick duodecimo 
 volumes, has just been brought out by Robert Carter 
 * publisher, Canal-Street, New-York. The boldness of 
 conception, extensive research, vigor of thought, ex- 
 uberance of fancy, and affluence of language displayed 
 
 in the writings of Dr. Chalmers, entitle him to a place’ 
 
 among the first writers of the age. His catholicity of 
 feeling, and liberality of views with respect to other 
 denominations, are also well known: it was he who said 
 of Methodism, ‘ It is Christianity in earnest.’ Hereafter 
 we hope to give a more extended notice of these works,” 
 —Christian Advocate and Journal. 
 
 eS ee