fore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the saviour of all men." "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." "The creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." "In the seed of Abraham shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." * This is Unitarianism. Can it be false? Then what becomes of Scripture, for in its very terms, without perversion, are all the doctrines of Unitatarianism expressed, and those denied to which they are opposed! Where this is the case, to those who admit the authority of the New Testament, controversy is at an end. Statement is proof; declaration is demonstration; and Unitarianism becomes identical with Christianity. Its refutation is that of Scripture and of reason. is "built upon the foundation of the apostles It * Isaiah xliv. 6; 1 John iv. 8; John iv. 23; 1 John iv. 14; Titus ii. 11; according to the marginal reading of the received translation; 1 Tim. iv. 10; 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22; 2 Cor. v. 10; Romans viii. 21; Acts iii, 25. and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." And what shall dismantle such an edifice? Will the breath of man blow it down? Shall it totter beneath the thunders of excommunication? Will it be fired by those flames of inquiry in which perish the wood, hay and stubble of human invention? Will it fall in the storm, or moulder with age? No. It is immutable truth: a building of God; eternal as the heavens like them bidding defiance to human hostility; and like them too, shedding benignant influences on the vain assailants. : This scriptural proof may receive confirmation from various considerations, which can be but briefly noticed. Judaism was Unitarianism. It was instituted and supported by divine direction and agency, to preserve in the world the knowledge of the One' God. This object appears conspicuous in the origin, institutions, administration and results of that singular system. The Jewish system may be considered as commencing with the call of Abraham. Idolatry was then rapidly becoming universal. The father of the faithful remained steady to the worship of the only God: for this he was distinguished; for this separated; for this rewarded in his posterity; for this promised that his seed should inherit the land, and from him descend one in whom all nations should be blessed. The prayers of Abra ham, and the communications of Deity to him, are detailed in many places. Those prayers are addressed to one person; those revelations made by, or in the name of, one person. To him was no Trinity revealed; by him was no Trinity adored. The language of Abraham is, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me?" "May Ishmael live before thee:" and that of the Deity is, " I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees; I will bless thee, and thy seed after thee." Judaism, therefore, in its origin, is Unitarianism. It commences with the selection and reward of Abraham, for adoring one God amid general apostacy to Polytheism. Judaism was Unitarian in its institutions. There was no revelation of a Trinity to the patriarchs who succeeded Abraham. Adoration is offered to, promises are made by, the same individual Jehovah. One after another is celebrated for treading in his steps. His posterity are enslaved in Egypt: the time of their deliverance arrives; Moses is commissioned to effect it. "Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." We are not then left to infer, from its not being recorded, that in the intermediate time no revelation of some other person or persons in the Godhead had been made: it is here directly negatived, not only for the past, but for futurity. The laws afterwards given are such as from this we might expect. So far as they relate to worship, their great object is to inculcate that there is but one person to whom it is due. "I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt worship no other God, for the Lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." The worship instituted on Mount Sinai was, like that of the patriarchs, the worship of one God. It is not addressed to a Trinity; contains no recognition of a Trinity; but effectually and absolutely excludes that, and every other notion of a divine plurality. Judaism was Unitarian in its administration. The laws of Moses were not designed, like Christianity, to work their way among other nations, and become universal. Their design was to preserve in Judea a certain degree of religious knowledge till the Messiah came. For this, the laws were aided by inspired men, raised up from time to time to restore and preserve their purity. Till within three hundred years, perhaps less, before Christ, there was a succession of prophets. The doctrines inculcated by these men are not unimportant in the present controversy. They were the guardians and expounders of the law of Moses. If that law was erroneously supposed to teach the proper unity of God, they would have exposed the error. If the Trinity was there obscurely taught, and had been overlooked, they would have brought it to light. If the Jews, in Moses' time, were not fit for the reception of that mystery, and were to be gradually prepared for it, they would have made the revelation. Have they exposed such an error? Have they offered such an interpretation? Have they unfolded such a discovery? Nothing like it. Elijah by a miracle rescued the people from the worship of Baal; and they exclaimed, "The Lord, he is God!" Was this miracle wrought to turn them from idolatry, one fatal error, to Unitarianism, another fatal error? And was a prophet satisfied with such a triumph? The Psalmist interprets providential judgments to be for this purpose: "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth." Psalm 1xxxiii. 18. Isaiah introduces the Deity asserting, "I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another." Isaiah xlii. 8. Zechariah, in the text, predicts the universal prevalence of this doctrine, and declares that The Lord, whose name is one, shall be king in all the earth. Take Judaism in its origin, text or commentary; the patriarch with whom it commenced; the code in which it was embodied; the prophets by whom it was administered; and it is clear |
