and in all knowledge, of being confirmed by him to the end,' and called into his fellowship,' of preaching him, the wisdom and power of God:'-' The wis dom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption' of his followers; of being determined to know nothing but him '-To call him the Lord of glory,' even that Lord by whom are all things,' and represent him as the only foundation' of his church, that is or can be laid ;-as the Lord that shall come,' and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart :-To speak of the power of this person being with them that are gathered together delivering an offender to Satan:-To hold him forth as our Passover crucified for us, and dying for our sins,' according to the scriptures :-To teach that believers are washed, justified, and sanctified in his name;'-are his members joined to him, in one spirit, and not their own but his, bought with a price :-To term him the Lord almost in every breath, and that eminently and absolutely without any, the least, restriction or limitation; and represent himself and all the Apostles, nay, and all Christians and ministers through all the world, as his servants :-To speak of his ordaining laws for his church; and of his followers being under the law' to him :-To talk of 'sinning against him, tempting him, and provoking him to jealousy,' and to pronounce those accursed that do not love him :-Surely this is not only absurd, but even pernicious doctrine, if he be no more than a man.

Equally pernicious as well as absurd, are sundry passages of his second Epistle to the same people. He begins it, as he had done the former, by styling himself an Apostle of Jesus Christ,' and asking grace and peace of him, as well as of his supreme and everlasting Father!-Verse 5th, he mentions his consolations as abounding through him,' and (chap. ii. 14,) speaks of their triumphing in him,' and being 'unto God a sweet savour in him,' in them that are saved, and in them that perish.-(Chap. i. 19.) He calls him

that Son of God,' whom he, Sylvanus, and Timotheus had preached, and declares that he was not yea and nay, but that all the promises of God in him are Year' and in him' Amen.' And (chap. iv. 5,) he assures us, they preached not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord :-That is, according to this doctrine, they preached not mere men, but a mere man!, and themselves the servants of the churches for Jesus's sake,' viz. for the sake of a mere man! And (verse 11,) 'Always delivered unto death for his sake, [viz. for the sake of a mere man !] that the life also of Jesus,' adds he, might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.'→ The reason of this their entire devotedness to Christ, we learn, chap. v. 14, 15—The love of Christ constrained them :' That is, according to Dr. Priestley, the love of a mere man! while they thus judgedj'

thus believed and reflected, that if one [mere man] died for all, then are all dead: And that he died for all, that they who live, should not live henceforth unto themselves, but unto him [the mere man!] that died for them, and rose again.' All mankind, therefore, being redeemed by his death, are, according to this doctrine, under an indispensable obligation of living in obedience to the will, and of being devoted to the glory of one mere man! Nay, and the Apostles themselves were but ambassadors for Christ, (that is, ambassadors for a mere man,)-as though God, adds he, did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, [the stead of a mere man !] be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him [though but one mere man] a sin-offering for us [many millions of mere men] that we might be the righteousness of God [might be justifed and made righteous by God] in him.' How all true believers should be justified and made righteous through one mere man, is surely, to say the least, not easy to conceive.

Proceed we to the 8th chapter, Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that, though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich.' Will Doctor Priestley

or any Socinian inform us, when and how Christ was rich, on their hypothesis, and when, and in what sense he became poor? And will he tell us how, on the supposition of his being a mere man, he can act the part of a spiritual husband, to all the faithful in every nation and age, guiding, protecting, and comforting them, nay, and supplying all their wants? 'I have espoused you, [many millions as ye are,] to one husband, (say the Apostle, chap. xi. 2,) that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ,' The Apostle goes on. 'But I fear lest your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preach another Jesus [another mere man] whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another Spirit [from that mere man] which ye have not received, ye might well bear with him.'

Above all I would recommend the paragraph that follows, to the consideration of those who view Christ as a mere man, and therefore judge that it would be idolatry to worship him. Chap. xii. 7, speaking of his thorn in the flesh, he says, For this thing. I besought the Lord [that is, I besought a mere man! see verse 9th,] thrice, that it might depart from me, and he said unto me, My grace [though I am but a mere mau!] is sufficient for thee, for my strength [mere man as I am!] is made perfect [is perfectly displayed] in weakness ! Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ [the power of a mere man !] may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, &c. for Christ's sake, [that is, for the sake of a mere man !] for when I am weak, then [through the help of this mere man] I am strong!' This surely is ridiculous in the extreme. And the 3d, 5th, and 13th verses of chap. xiii. are little better. 3. Ye seek a proof of Christ [a mere man !] speaking in me.-5. Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith-Know ye not, that Christ [a mere man !] is in you, except you be reprobates!-Verse 13, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, [that is, the grace of a mere man!] and the love of God, [the Supreme

Being,] and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, [that is, the fellowship of a power or property of God!] be with you all! Amen.'

Leaving you to wonder, Rev. Sir, how any man of sense can patronize and attempt to reconcile with the Scriptures, a doctrine, which, when brought to that touchstone, appears to be so absurd and ridiculous, I subscribe myself,

LETTER III.

Yours, &c.

REV. SIR,

IN the two former Letters we reviewed a variety of passages occurring in the Epistle to the Romans, and the two Epistles to the Corinthians, which, on the supposition that the Author of those Epistles held the doctrine of Christ's mere humanity, manifestly appear to have been written without regard to common sense, I proceed now to lay before you a few texts, of a similar nature, from the lesser Epistles of the same Apostle : And several, not a little remarkable in this view, occur in the very beginning of the first of these Epistles. According to Dr. Priestley's hypothesis, they must be read as follows:-Gal. i. 1. Paul, an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, [a mere man!] and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. Grace to you, and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, [from the eternal God and a mere man!] who [though no more than a man] gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver as [many myriads as we are!] from this present evil world. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, [the grace of a mere man !] unto another gospel, which is

not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ [the gospel of a mere man !]-Do I now persuade [or solicit the favour of] man? or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not [please or] be the servant of Christ [a mere mau !]-But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me, is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ,' a

mere man !

Now, Sir, is not all this very extraordinary? An Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but, by a mere man-If I pleased, or were the servant of, men, I should not be the servant of a mere man! The gospel which I preached is not after man, but after a mere man! Is not this excellent sense? worthy of the learning of the disciple of Gamaliel, and of the inspiration of the apostle of God? The apostle proceeds, (verse 15,) When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,-to reveal his Son [that is, to reveal a mere man !] in me, that I might preach him [the same mere man] among the Heathen,' as the grand foundation of their confidence and hope, (1 Cor. iii. 11, Eph. i. 12, 13,) the object of their love, (1 Cor. xvi.) and spring of their obedience, (2 Cor. v. 14,)—' immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood!'

I shall take no notice of what the apostle has delivered with great clearness in the next chapter, respecting justification by faith in this mere man, as the Socinians think him, though absolutely irreconcileable with their doctrine; but what he has occasionally remarked, respecting the union which he had with Christ, and which indeed all that are justified have with him, must not be passed over, as being perfectly unintelligible on heir hypothesis Verse 20, We read, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not 1, but Christ [a mere man, says Dr. Priestley,] liveth in me; and the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, [that is, by faith in a mere man,] who hath