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strange a suffering? Would the Son of God have "so emptied ('Eaurov Exévaσe. Phil. ii. 7) and debased "himself for nothing? Would he have endured such "pains and ignominies for a trifle? No, surely; if our

guilt had been slight, if our case had been tolerable, "the Divine wisdom whould have chosen a more "cheap and easy remedy for us.

"Is it not madness for us to be conceited of any "worth in ourselves, to confide in any merit of our "works, to glory in any thing belonging to us, to "fancy ourselves brave, fine, happy persons, worthy "of great respect and esteem; whereas our unworthi

ness, our demerit, our forlorn estate, did extort from "the most gracious God a displeasure needing such a "reconciliation, did impose upon the most glorious Son "of God a necessity to undergo such a punishment "in our behalf?

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:

"Yet, while this contemplation doth breed sober "humility, it also should preserve us from base abjectness of mind; for it doth evidently demonstrate “that, according to God's infallible judgment, we are ແ very considerable; that our souls are capable of high regard that it is a great pity we should be lost " and abandoned to ruin. For surely, had not God "much esteemed and respected us, he would not for ઠંડ our sakes have so debased himself, or deigned to "endure so much for our recovery; Divine justice "would not have exacted or accepted such a ransom "for our souls, had they been of little worth. We "should not therefore slight ourselves, nor demean "ourselves like sorry contemptible wretches, as if we

"deserved no consideration, no pity from ourselves; "as if we thought our souls not worth saving, which

yet our Lord thought good to purchase at so dear a "rate." (n)

To this language of the eloquent and philosophic Dr. Barrow, allow me to add the following powerful expostulation of our Reformers. "Canst thou think "of this, O sinful man, and not tremble within "thyself? Canst thou hear it quietly, without re66 morse of conscience and sorrow of heart? Did "Christ suffer his passion for thee, and wilt thou show 66 no compassion towards him? While Christ was yet "hanging on the cross, and yielding up the ghost, the 66 Scripture witnesseth that the veil of the temple did "rent in twain, and the earth did quake, that the "stones clave asunder, that the graves did open, and "the dead bodies rise; and shall the heart of man be nothing moved to remember how grievously and "cruelly he was handled of the Jews for our sins? "Shall man show himself to be more hard-hearted than 66 stones, to have less compassion than dead bodies? "Call to mind, O sinful creature, and set before thine

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eyes Christ crucified: think thou seest his body "stretched out in length upon the cross, his head "crowned with sharp thorns, and his hands and his "feet pierced with nails, his heart opened with a long

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spear, his flesh rent and torn with whips, his brows "sweating water and blood: think thou hearest him "now crying in an intolerable agony to his Father, "and saying, My God, My God, why hast thou for(n) Barrow's Sermon on the Passion.

"saken me? Couldst thou behold this woful sight, or "hear this mournful voice, without tears, consider"ing that he suffered all this not for any desert of his

own, but only for the grievousness of thy sins? "O that mankind should put the everlasting Son of "God to such pains! O that we should be the occa"sion of his death, and the only cause of his con"demnation! May we not justly cry, Woe worth the "time that ever we sinned? O, my brethren, let this "image of Christ crucified be always printed in our "hearts; let it stir us up to the hatred of sin, and "provoke our minds to the earnest love of Almighty "God. For why? is not sin, think you, a grievous "thing in his sight, seeing for the transgressing of "God's precept he condemned all the world unto per66 petual death, and would not be pacified, but only "with the blood of his own Son?" (0)

(0) Second Homily on the Passion, p. 359, Oxford edit. 1810. I beg leave to remark here, once for all, that the frequency of my quoting from the Homilies, and other discourses of great men amongst the Episcopalians, does not arise from my supposing they are of superior authority, or that they have clearer views of Scriptural truth, than Baxter, Howe, Watts, Doddridge, and some other eminent Dissenting authors; but from the circumstance that these Letters were originally written for the benefit of a professed member of the Church of England; and because a large portion of those who are adverse to the doctrines I am here defending, and which are so forcibly stated in the "Articles" and "Homilies," fancy themselves to be very "sound Churchmen 99 notwithstanding.

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LETTER XV.

On the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

"FOUR things," said the great and judicious Hooker, 66 concur to make complete the whole state of our Lord "Jesus Christ: his Deity, his manhood, the con

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'junction of both, and the distinction of the one from "the other, being joined in one. Four principal "heresies there are which have in those things withstood "the truth. Arians, by bending themselves against "the Deity of Christ; Apollinarians, by maiming "and misinterpreting that which belongeth to his "human nature; Nestorians, by rending Christ "asunder, and dividing him into two persons: the "followers of Eutiches, by confounding in his person "those natures which they should distinguish. Against "these there have been four ancient general councils: "the council of Nice, to define against Arians, A. D. "325; the council of Constantinople against Apolli

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narians, A. D. 381; that of Ephesus against Nesto"rians, A. D. 431; against Eutichians that of Chalce"don, A. D. 451: the decisions of which may

be com

prised in four words aλnows truly, TEXEWS perfectly, "adiapers indivisibly, and aσvyxvτws distinctly. The "first applied to his being God; and the second to his "being Man; the third to his being of both one; "and the fourth to his still continuing in that one

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"both. We may fully, by way of abridgment, comprise whatsoever antiquity hath at large handled, "either in declaration of Christian belief, or in refu"tation of the aforesaid heresies, within the compass "of these four heads." (0)

This view of the Messiah's person agrees with the opinion that has most universally prevailed, among Christians, from the first introduction of Christianity into the world down to the present period. Nor does the mere existence of other opinions by any means militate against the truth of this: for, since evidence, though it be clear, forcible, and satisfactory, does not necessarily convince, the human mind being free either to receive evidence with its due weight, or to reject it as defective; it follows that a doctrine, as well as a fact, may be disbelieved by minds of a peculiar structure, however preponderating and decisive may be the evidence in its favour. This is undoubted, and an apostle referring to matters of faith, accounts for it in language which I tremble while I quote:-"If our Gospel be "veiled, it is veiled to those that destroy themselves, "whose minds the god of this world hath blinded."

Many learned and ingenious men disbelieve the Divinity of Christ; but neither the process by which they have arrived at their disbelief, nor that by which they endeavour to prove that we are in error, seems calculated to operate strongly upon the minds of those who have been previously persuaded that the Scripture is the production of inspired writers, who were so inspired that they might teach doctrines infallibly true

(0) Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, book v. § 54.