destroyed of serpents: 1 Cor. x. 9. Which shews the apostle believed that Jehovah leader of Israel through the wilderness, was the very Logos, who sustained openly the office of Messiah when he was at length manifested in human flesh.

And as the scriptures shew, that these transient manifestations of Jehovah, are in general to be understood of Christ, in his divine nature, or in his "form of God," see Phil. ii. 6, your own reason, sir, prejudiced as it is, must see the propriety of this doctrine. For, if there be, in union with the Father's Godhead, a Word, a Son, "whose goings out are from everlasting," who "was in the beginning with God," the Father, " and was God," insomuch that he can say, as "the only begotten Son of the Father, I and my Father are one," in a sense which can be true only with respect to him who is the proper Son, and the express image of the Father, see Rom. viii. 32, in the original, and Heb. i. 3.-If there is, I say, such a being, whom St. John calls the Logos, and whom the Father names his "well beloved Son ;" and if the scriptures testify, that the Father sent this Son to redeem mankind, and to bless all nations; is it not more reasonable to believe, that the Father occasionally sent him first to redeem the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity, and to bless that favoured people, than to believe that the Father, who never personally appeared, no not for the redemption of all mankind, appeared nevertheless sometimes as a man, and sometimes as an angel for the redemption of the children of Israel from their house of bondage?

A Son, even the proper Son of God, may, with the greatest propriety, be sent by his Father, to do works worthy of omnipotence, such as the re

demption of a world, ar the deliverance of a favorite people. But to suppose the Father personally to appear as a partial Saviour in a cloud, or in a flame, on a mountain, or in a temple, to suppose him to shew himself sometimes as an angel, and sometimes as a man, is contrary both to the analogy of faith, and to the dictates of reason.

Besides, the scriptures inform us, that " by faith Moses endured as seeing Him, who is invisible," because "he dwells in the light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen or can see:" Heb. xi. 27, and 1 Tim. vi. 16: And they declare, that if the Father is visible, it is in his Son, John xiv. 9. From these rational and scriptural premises, I conclude, that Jehovah, who appeared to Moses, and to the seventy-two elders, and who said to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the house of bondage," is that "express image of the Father," that "Prince of Life," who said, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father: I and the Father are one. ""

The Reviewers have proved to you, sir, that this was the opinion of Justin, one of the most ancient and respectable fathers, who had the honor of sealing the truth of the Gospel with his blood, one hundred and thirty years after our Lord.— And bishop Bull confirms the proofs brought against you, where he writes, that the Son of God,

Monthly Review for January 1784, p. 61. "To prove," say these gentlemen, "beyond the possibility of dispute or evasion, that by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Justin meant Christ, we refer the reader to his celebrated Apology to the emperor Antonius Pius, p. 93, 94, in which this express ion is not only applied to Christ, but even vindicated as his own appropriate and distinct character."

was he, who "appeared to Moses in the the bush, and said, 'I am the existent Being.' Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho, eagerly contends. The case is this. That description of God, in Moses, I am, equally agrees to the Father, and the Son, as to one God; always saving the distinction of persons: Which is excellently explained by Justin, after this manner: God the Father is the existent, as always existing of himself; God the Son is the existent, as existing with the Father, and eternally begotten of him." Bull by Grabe, vol. i. p. 347.

Meaning to resume the important subject the first opportunity, I now release you, and subscribe myself,

Your sincere friend,

And obedient servant, in the
Word made flesh,

JOHN FLETCHER.

LETTER III.

The Subject of the former Letter continued.

REV. SIR,

SHOULD you deny that Jehovah, who appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre accompanied by two angels, was the Logos, we prove our assertion thus. The scriptures no where speak of any transient incarnation of the Father; it is therefore unscriptural to suppose, that the person who did eat of the butter, milk, and cakes which Abraham did set before him, and who kindly inquired after Sarah was the Father. Nevertheless that he was God is evident, for he is called eight times Jehovah in the context. And therefore, the analogy of faith requires us to believe that it was Jehovah the Son, who already condescended to quit "his form of God," and to appear in the "form of a servant," that he might "receive sinners and eat with them:" compare Gen. xviii. 8. with Luke xv. 2, and John xxi. 12.

The same reasons prove that the divine person, who stood above the mysterious ladder which Jacob saw in Bethel, was Jehovah the Son. "Behold," saith the historian, "Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Jehovah the God of Abraham thy Father, and the God of Isaac, behold I am with thee in all places whither thou goest, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And Jacob waking out of

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his sleep said, surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not; It is none other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven," Gen xxviii. 13, 17. Now the God who appeared to Abraham, Gen xxii. 1, to Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 24, to Jacob, Gen.xxviii. 13, and to Moses, Exodus iii. 6, is again and again called the angel of Jehovah, or rather Jehovah the angel, as appears from Gen. xxii. 11, 12, 18, Exodus iii. 2, and Mal. iii. 1. Now that this Jehovah, angel both of the Jewish and of the christian covenant, is the Son, appears from these three reasons. 1. The Father never sustained the part of an angel, a messenger or an envoy. Who should send him? 2. The Son, who can with propriety be sent by the Father, is frequently said to have been delegated on errands worthy of redeeming love. And 3. The scriptures expressly declare, that Jehovah angel of the covenant, is our Lord Jesus Christcompare Mal. iii. 1. &c. with Mark, i. 1,&c.

Nor will it avail to say that the Jews, not having the New-Testament, could not find out the truth I assert, for as has been observed, in the former part, the Old Testament, clearly indicates, that in the deity, there is a mysterious distinction of interlocutors and agents, though without any division. The Jews who (as we have seen) had this key given them at the very beginning of their revelation could not but take notice that although each of these interlocutors is called Jehovah yet one of them is Jehovah the envoy, the ambassador or the angel. And they might as well deny the veracity of Moses as deny that Jehovah who appeared to Jacob in Bethel is Jehovah the envoy. For Jacob said to Rachel and Leah, “the angel of God appeared to me in a