Page images
PDF
EPUB

HUMANITARIAN PARAPHRASES OF JOHN i. 1-14.

1. In the beginning of this new age, this grand era of the moral world, Jesus was appointed to be the Revealer of the divine will: he was favoured by his heavenly Father with peculiar intercourse with Him; and he was the Representative of the Most High. 2. He was from the first instructed by God, receiving all his high powers and his inspired knowledge directly from him. 3. All things relative to the Christian dispensation were executed through him. Aided by divine power,

he accomplished the gracious purposes for which he came: he gave the apostles their commission, and illuminated their minds; he communicated to them the miraculous powers by which they were to diffuse and establish the Gospel; he continually directed them in their great work; and it was through his agency that the world was anew created, and Gentiles as well as Jews placed in a state of spiritual privilege, and made heirs of eternal salvation. 10. He dwelt among men while engaged in executing his important commission; and the world was introduced by him into a new state, a state of blessed and sanctifying privilege; and yet he was despised and rejected of men. 14. This illustrious Revealer of the divine will, though highly exalted by the Father's love and favour, was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;"... subject to infirmity, distress, and mortality, and exposed to want and suffering; and at last experienced the shame and agony of the cross.- -Carpenter.

1. From the commencement of his public life, Jesus was a teacher of righteousness, and a publisher of glad tidings. To this preacher, the Most High imparted extraordinary wisdom and power, and the privilege of speaking and acting in his name. As it was on account of similar divine communications that the Supreme Being himself called Moses a god; that Jewish writers called those men gods, to whom the word of God came; that Christ himself countenanced this meaning of the term; and that Isaiah predicted the Messiah by the names Jehovah and God; so, in the same sense, Jesus was a god. 3. All that regeneration of mankind which the Gospel produced was effected by his instrumentality; and without this not any reformation was accomplished by it. 10. He was publicly conversant with men; many were reformed by him; and he imparted the best means of renovating the human race; yet mankind in general did not believe in him. 14. This teacher was a human being, &c.—Simpson.

ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS, ETC.

sense; and sometimes, in the New Testament, denotes every thing relative to the Christian dispensation. John xiv. 26: "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you," &c.. See John xv. 15; xvi. 13. 2 Cor. v. 17, 18. Eph. i. 3. 2 Pet. i, 3, 4. 1 John ii, 20, 27.

Rev. xxi. 5. et al.

All things were made by him, &c.] were done by him.-Eds. of Imp. Ver. were done through him.-Belsham, Carpenter. were formed by him.-Simpson.

were by him.-Cappe.

With respect to the Greek word translated made in the Received Version, Dr. Carpenter says, that "there is no clear instance in which it is used in the sense of creation, in other parts of the New Testament, though the word occurs in it about seven hundred times."—"It signifies to come in the following instances [of St. John's Gospel]: Chap. i. 17; vi. 16, 19, 25; x. 35; xiii. 2; xxi. 4. It signifies to be done in at least the following instances: Chap. xv. 7; xix, 36,”

Ver. 10: The world was made by him.] was made for him.-Cappe.

was formed by him.-Simpson.

was made or formed anew through him.-Carpenter, was [enlightened] by him.-Belsham, Drummond, Eds. of Imp. Ver.

The world here, as understood by Cappe, signifies the Jewish dispensation. According to Dr. Carpenter, it denotes “the world of mankind.”. Κοσμος (the world) occurs in the Gospel of John about seventy-eight times, and about twenty-four times in his Epistles, which is ofteper than any other writer in the New Testament uses it; yet, in all these, there are only two instances in which it is applied to the original creation, both of which occur in the same chapter, John xvii. 5, 24. It is used in this sense also, Rev. xiii. 8; xvii. 8."-Simpson.

Ver. 14: And the Word was made flesh.] the Word became, or was flesh.-Carpenter. the Word became incarnate.-Campbell. the Word became flesh.-Newcome, Smith, Hincks. the Word was flesh.-Emlyn, Priestley, Cappe, Belsham, Drummond, Eds. of Imp. Ver. the Word was a man.-Simpson. See page 124.

INTERPRETATIONS OF JOHN I. 1, RESULTING FROM

TRINITARIAN PRINCIPLES.

9. From all eternity Christ existed, and Christ was with the Supreme God, and Christ was the Supreme God; but neither was he the Supreme God with whom he was, nor was he another Supreme God, but in some respect different from him with whom he was.

The Father is not in all respects the same as the Son.-Stuart.

TRINITARIAN PRINCIPLES OPPOSED TO REASON
AND SCRIPTURE.

9. According to this absurd and contradictory interpretation, Jesus was the Supreme God, and he was not the Supreme God. What was he, then, in reality?—We answer, in the language of divine inspiration, "A man approved of God," and "appointed" by him;-"the well-beloved Son of God."

The interpretations here given of the first verse of St. John's Gospel -revolting as they must be to the enlightened mind—do, as we think, necessarily result from the Trinitarian hypothesis, that the apostle mentions more than one person truly and essentially divine. If, however, the inquirer be disposed to prefer any other explanation, he would do well to consider whether, on the supposition of its being consonant to reputed orthodoxy, it be not as irrational as any of those which he rejects, and be not also repugnant to the nature of the Deity as revealed in the Sacred Writings.

Several of the proper Unitarian explanations of the proem referred to have been already given at some length; and, though differing widely from each other, there is perhaps not one, of which it can be justly affirmed, that it is altogether unsupported by reason and revelation. Those interpretations which consider the term Logos to denote the Lord Jesus Christ seem to coincide more exactly with the phraseology of the New Testament, particularly with that of the writer himself; while that which supposes the Logos to signify an attribute of the Deity, as manifested in the creation of the universe, and embodied in Jesus of Nazareth, appears to accord better with the general tenor of the Old Testament. The latter interpretation derives considerable support from the fact, that the Gnostics, and some other sects who flourished in the days of St. John, conceived the Logos to be a being altogether distinct from God; and it is therefore probable that the venerable apostle meant to correct this erroneous notion, by declaring the Logos to be nothing else than God himself. Whichsoever of these corresponds best with the intention of the beloved disciple, there do not appear any grounds for asserting that he wrote his Gospel, or the Introduction to it, for the purpose of establishing the Divinity of his Master's person. In fact, he himself, near the close of his narrative, declared his object merely to be -the persuading of men to believe in the Messiahship, or divine mission, of Jesus. "These are written," says he, "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, believing, ye might have life through his name."-John xx. 31.

[blocks in formation]

REMARKS.

Both titles, I believe, were applied by Thomas to Jesus. But the name God was employed by him, not as the proper name of the Deity, but as an appellative, according to a common use of it in his day; or perhaps in a figurative sense, as it sometimes occurs in modern writers. Norton.

Thomas made the exclamation, according to the invariable habits of the Jews, Arabs, and other Asiatic nations, who, when struck with wonder, often make exclamations in the name of the Deity.-Rammohun Roy.

By the first exclamation, Thomas recognizes the identity of Christ; and in the second, he reverences the power of God, who had raised him from the dead. ...The coupling together of two exclamations, addressed to different persons, without noticing that circumstance, the terms being supposed to explain themselves, is analogous to the quotation of expressions from different passages, united in a similar way. Thus, Acts i. 20: It is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another take." The first is from Ps. lxix.; the latter, from Ps. xix.-Fox.

ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS.

p See ver. 24, 25, 29-32.

q John ix. 16: This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath-day. -See Luke xiii. 14. John v. 18; vii. 23.

r John viii. 48-52: Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? &c.-See chap. vii. 20; x. 20.

s Chap. x. 34-36: Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?

t Ver. 24, 25: But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with

them when Jesus came. The other disciples, therefore, said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

u Ver. 26, 27: And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. [Then] came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust [it] into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.

v Judges vi. 22: Gideon said, Alas! O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face. 1 Sam. xx. 12, 13: And Jonathan said unto David, O Jehovah God of Israel, when 1 have sounded my father about tomorrow any time, [or] the third [day], and, behold, [if there be] good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee; Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan, &c.

w John xx. 17: Jesus saith unto her,.. Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; [to] my God, and your God.

x Acts iii.15: [Ye] killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead.

OBSERVATIONS.

4. The argument here for the Deity of Christ rests either on the allegation of the Jews, or on the words and conduct of our Saviour. Whether his enemies meant to accuse him of having professed to be the Supreme Being, or, what is more probable, of having arrogated godlike authority," is a question which does not, with regard to the point at issue, appear to be of any moment. For the language and behaviour of men who were determined, on all occasions, to find fault with the holy Jesus, cannot be considered just grounds for the foundation of the Christian's faith. We might as well argue, from the opposition of the Jews, that Christ broke the Sabbath,7-that he was a Samaritan, and had a demon," as to infer, from the same impure source, that he was Almighty God. If, however, the enemies of the Saviour had preferred this charge against him, his own dignified, but modest reply would manifestly show its injustice.

5. It does not appear that there was any thing in the conduct or the language of Thomas, from which it can justly be inferred, that he considered Jesus Christ in any other light than as the Messenger of the Most High. A few days previously to his conversation with Jesus, he was informed by his fellow-apostles that their Lord and Master had risen from the grave. But the incredulous disciple would not rely upon their testimony; and therefore Christ graciously afforded him the most satisfactory evidence of his restoration to life." Thomas beheld his Master-was struck with astonishment at his unexpected appearance, and cried out in transport, "My Lord! and my God!"-language which, considered merely as an exclamation, was, under the circumstances, agreeable to the practice of eastern nations, and to the principles of human nature." Perhaps, however, the expression My Lord was applied to Jesus himself, as a declaration of Thomas's belief in the identity of his person; and the words My God, to their common God and Father," as a devout acknowledgment of His merciful interference in raising his Son from the dead; or both names were attributed to Christ, to indicate the fullest conviction of Thomas, that he was his Master and divine Teacher. This is probably the true sense of the passage; partaking, as it seems to do, of the nature both of a confession and of an exclamation: the former proved by the interlocutory style of the evangelist" Thomas said unto him;" and the latter evinced by the abruptness of the expression-My lord and my god! Whatever may be the meaning of the words we are considering, it is to us quite inconceivable that a Jew could, without hesitation, have acknowledged that person to be the omnipresent and immortal Jehovah whom he had just believed to be an inanimate clod; whose crucifixion and consequent death were rendered palpable by the marks of the nails in his hands; and with whom he had often eaten and drunk, and been in habits of friendship and intimacy.

ALLEGED PROOF.

6. Acts xx. 28: To feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

To feed the church of the Lord, &c.-Griesbach.
To tend the church of God, which he gained for
himself by his own Son-literally, his own blood.
-Wakefield, from the Ethiopic Version.

REMARKS.

Of God.] That is, of Christ, the onlybegotten Son of God, who, together with the Father and Holy Spirit, is the one and only true God. The name common to the three persons is here especially understood of the second person.-Piscator.

With his own blood.] That is, with his own Son, as it is elsewhere expressed; for God, properly speaking, has no blood; and no usage is more common than the substitution of the figurative term blood for offspring.-Milton.

To talk of the blood of God, as if the spiritual and omnipresent Deity could bleed and die, is such horrid impiety as could never for a moment be supposed to enter the thoughts of this illustrious preacher of the gospel.-Kenrick.

From the collections of Wetstein and Griesbach, it appears that but few MSS. and none of them very ancient, have the word ou, of God: with these only the Vulgate, and the later Syriac in the text, agree. Kugiou, of the Lord, is the reading of ACDE, several others, the Sahedic, Coptic, later Syriac in the margin, Armenian, Æthiopic, and some of the Fathers. Κυριου και Θεου, of the Lord and of God, is the reading of the great majority; though the most ancient are for Kugiou, of the Lord.-A. Clarke.

Mr. Mill, who had access to judge of all the manuscripts, versions, and quotations in favour of each of the three readings, has no difficulty in preferring God as the best supported.-Hill.

The received text reads "God" upon the authority of no manuscript of note or value, nor of any version but the modern copies of the Vulgate. The Ethiopic uses an ambiguous expression; but this version is avowedly corrupted from the Vulgate, and particularly in this book. The word "Lord" is supported by all the most ancient and valuable manuscripts, whether of the Alexandrian or the Western edition, by the Coptic, Syriac, and other ancient versions, and by citations from the early ecclesiastical writers.-Eds. of Imp. Ver.; note in loc. See Appendix, No. I. page 267.

ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS.

y Exod. xxiv. 10: And they saw the God of Israel, and [there was] under his feet, &c. Numb. xiv. 14: Thou, Jehovah, art seen face to face. Ps. xxxiii. 6: By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Prov. xv. 3: The eyes of Jehovah [are] in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Isa. i. 14: Your new-moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth, &c. Chap. lix. 1: Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that, &c. Luke xi. 20: If I with the finger of God cast out devils, &c.

z Rom. v. 10: If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Chap. viii. 29: Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Ver. 32: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Col. i, 12-14: Giving thanks to the Father, ... who hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son.

the Son of his love.-Marg. Trans.

a John iv. 24: God [is] a spirit, &c. Luke xxiv. 39: A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Rom. i. 23: Changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man. 1 Thess. i. 9, 10: How ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, &c. 1 Tim. i. 17: Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, &c. Chap. vi. 15, 16: The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see, &c. Col. i. 15: Who is the image of the invisible God. Heb. xi. 27: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible. James i. 17: The Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.-See Ps. cii. 27; cxxxix. 7—10.

« PreviousContinue »