tongue should confefs that Jefus Chrift is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To the fame purpose also, 1 Pet. i. 20, 21. Who (Chrift) verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifeft in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith' and hope might be in God. I fhould think it hardly' poffible to read this fingle paffage with attention, and not fee that the writer of it confidered Chrift as a being distinct from God, and fubordinate to him; that all his glory was fubfequent to his refurrection; and alfo, that, though he was foreordained before the foundation of the world, he was not manifefted, or brought into being, 'till these last times, or those of the gospel.

There are fome other paffages in the New Teftament, which are fimilar to those which I have quoted above, and may serve to illuftrate them, John xvi. 15. All things that the Father hath are mine, xvii. 10. All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. 1 Cor. viii. 6. To us there is but· one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord, Jefus Chrift, by whom are all things, and we by him.

That there is nothing, in any of the paffages which I have now quoted, that implies any proper divinity in Chrift, is fufficiently evident, even without the addition of fuch expreffions as directly N 3

aflert

affert the contrary; as when the apostle Paul says, that to us there is one God, even the Father; and our Saviour calls his Father the only true God. To fignify that the authority of Chrift is not underived, like that of God; and at the fame time to inform us from whence it does proceed, the apostle says, that it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell. In the very fame language our Saviour speaks of his disciples, Fear not, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

V. OF THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT.

THE death of Chrift being an event of the greatest consequence to the end of his coming into the world, and being, at the fame time, the great Atumbling-block both to the jews and the gentiles, who could not eafily reconcile themselves to the notion of a suffering faviour, it is no wonder that the writers of the New Teftament speak much of it, and represent it in a great variety of lights, and especially fuch as would appear the most favourable to the chriftian converts. In this cafe we naturally expect bold comparisons and allufions, efpecially confidering how much more figurative is the ftyle of the books of fcripture, and indeed of all oriental writings, than ours.. But in whatever lights the facred writers reprefent the death of

Chrift, there is refemblance enough fufficiently to justify the representation, at the fame time that this event being compared to fo many things, and things of fuch different natures, proves that the resemblance in all of them is only in certain reSpects, and that they differ confiderably in others.

For example, the death of Chrift is compared to a facrifice in general, because he gave up his life in the cause of virtue and of God, and more especially a facrifice for fin, because his death and resurrection were neceffary to the confirmation of that gofpel, by which finners are brought to repentance, and thereby reconciled to God. It is called a curse, because he died in a state of sus penfion, which was by the jews appropriated to those perfons who were confidered as reprobated by God; and it is called a paffover, because it may be. confidered as a fign of our deliverance from the power of fin, as the paffover among the jews was. a fign of their deliverance from the egyptian. bondage. It is also called a ransom, because we are delivered by the gospel from fin and misery.. On the fame account, he is faid by his death to. bear, or take away, our fins, fince his gofpel delivers. us from the power of fin, and consequently from, the punishment due to it..

These are all bold, but fignificant figures of speech, the death of Chrift really correfponding to them all to a certain degree, but they differ fo very

widely from one another, that no one thing can correfpond to any of them throughout; for then it muft exclude all, or at least moft of the reft. The fame thing, for inftance, could not be a curfe, and a facrifice; becaufe every thing accurfed was confidered as an abomination in the fight of God, and`could never be brought to the altar; and the killing of the pafchal lamb was a thing effentially different from a facrifice for fin.

These observations appear to me to be a fufficient guide to the interpretation of all the language of the New Teftament refpecting the death of Chrift, without fuppofing that it had any proper influence upon God, so as to render him propitious to his offending creatures, or that it made it con-fiftent with the divine justice to forgive the sins of mankind; which is contrary to a thousand plain: and express declarations of fcripture, which reprefent God as being effentially, and of himself, merciful and gracious, without the leaft refer-ence] to any other being or agent whatever, and. as forgiving freely, and gratuitously, upon our repentance and amendment, without any other. atonement or fatisfaction. I fhall therefore con-tent myself with reciting a few of the paffages in which the death of Chrift is reprefented in thefe: feveral lights.

Eph. v. 2. Chrift also has loved us, and given himSelf for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, of a

sweet

fweet-fmelling favour, Heb. vii. 27. Who needed not daily to offer facrifice, first for his own fins, and then for the people. For this he did once, when he offered up himself. With the fame idea he says, ix. 22. And without hedding blood there is no remiffion. This view of the death of Chrift occurs pretty frequently in this epiftle to the Hebrews, but not more than about half a dozen times in all the other books of the New Teftament; the principal of which is 1 John ii. 1. And he is the propitiation for our fins. But if the great object of the death of Chrift was the establishment of that religion by which the world is reformed, in confequence of which the divine being is rendered propitious to them, how natural is it to represent his death as a facrifice to God, for that great purpofe? Befides, facrifices for fin under the law of Mofes are never confidered as ftanding in the place of the finner but as the people were never to approach the divine prefence, upon any occafion, without fome offering, agreeably to the standing and univerfal custom of the Eaft, with refpect to all fovereigns and great men, so no perfon after being unclean (which not only moral guilt, but a number of things abfolutely indifferent to morality were fupposed to render a man) could be introduced to the tabernacle or temple fervice, without an offering proper to the occafion.