Who, without the most palpable idolatry, could address such language to a fellow-creature?-Carlile. To know all things is to know the thoughts of men, as well as their actions. That Christ possessed this knowledge they were assured, from his having discovered what they were inquiring about among themselves; and hence they infer, that it was unnecessary to ask him questions, since he knew beforehand what it was about which they wished to be satisfied.-Kenrick. 7. Col. ii. 2, 3: The mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. mystery in which are hid, &c.-Marg. Trans. Hammond, A. Clarke, Imp. Ver, in quo mysterio.-Piscator, Brenius. mystery of God, both the Father and Christ. Hammond. of God, even of the Father, and of mystery of God even the Father, and of Christ. Bible 1607, 1613; Whitby (Com.). of God the Father, and of Christ Jesus.-Rhemes Ver. mystery of God the Father, concerning Christ.— Wakefield. of God.-Griesbach, Eds. of Imp. Ver. who, on the authority of manuscripts and versions, omit the words "and of the Father, and of Christ." INTERPRETATIONS OF THE COMMON TEXT. In whom are all the perfections of the divine wisdom.-Pyle. In the mystery of God and Christ are all the treasures, &c.; but that mystery is the evangelical doctrine, chap. i. 25, 26, 27.—Crellius. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. r John xvi. 30: Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. (Comp. chap. vii. 28, 29; viii. 42; i. 6.) s See page 184, references b and c. t 2 Sam. xiv. 20: My lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all [things] that [are] in the earth. See ver. 17. v John vii. 16: My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. Chap. viii. 26: I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him [the Father]. Ver. 28: As my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. Ver. 40: Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. Chap. xii. 49,50: I have not spoken of myself; but the Father, who sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak; and I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.-See chap. v. 30; xiv. 10, 24. w John xv. 15: I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I HAVE MADE KNOWN UNTO YOU. See chap. xvii. 8. a Ver. 12: The word of [God] is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. y Ver. 13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. z Mark xiii. 32: But of that day or [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, NEITHER THE SON, but the Father. (G.) Acts i. 7: It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power.- See page 59, No. 36. OBSERVATIONS. 6. The disciples, who used the words "Lord, thou knowest all things," inferred, from the knowledge which their Master possessed, not that he was the omniscient God, but a person who came forth from God-who had received from God a divine commission." This plainly shows, that the phrase all things, in the text, does not signify every thing contained in the universe. But who would take an argument for the Deity of Christ from the use of an expression which so frequently occurs in the Bible in a restricted signification?s from an expression too, which would be equally valid in proving the omniscience of angels, of king David, and of righteous persons in general," as of Jesus Christ himself? Such, however, are the absurd consequences of orthodox inferences! 7. Whether the words, "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" be applied by the apostle to the person or the doctrine of Christ—to the knowledge and wisdom that he possessed-or exclusively to God, the Father, is a question the solution of which is by no means necessary, in order to settle the controversy respecting the attribute of omniscience supposed to be ascribed to our Lord. Taking for granted—what we very much doubt that the words under consideration are predicated of Christ's person, the question would be, Were these treasures bestowed on him, or were they his property by inherent right? We answer, They were bestowed on him; and for this answer we assign the highest of all authorities, the Son of God himself." If the phrase, "treasures of wisdom and knowledge," were to imply that the wisdom of Jesus Christ is unoriginated and absolutely perfect, then, according to the Trinitarian principle of interpretation, all those persons to whom this wisdom is imparted-who become possessed of these valuable treasures, must be gifted with the divine perfection of omniscience! w 8. Commentators differ respecting the import of the phrase, word of God, as used in this passage. Some of them consider it here, as in some other places, a title of Jesus Christ; but the majority explain it in reference to the doctrines of his religion. The expressions contained in the twelfth verse are undoubtedly of a figurative nature; and if some of these appear more suitable to be said of the person of our Lord, others have a better application to the doctrines which he revealed. It is not improbable, however, that the passage, especially the latter part, refers to God, the Father." Whatever may be the true exposition, the adducing of a text so obscure as this confessedly is seems to indicate the extreme weakness of the Trinitarian cause. Such passages cannot invalidate the clear and express language of Jesus himself, that he was ignorant of the time of a particular transaction, and that the Father has reserved to himself the knowledge of certain events.* SECT. X.-EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR MORAL CHARACTER OF CHRIST WAS THE OPINION, THAT THE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. ALLEGED PROOFS. 1. John viii. 46: Which of you convinceth me of sin? convinceth.-Com.Ver. arguit.-Tremellius, Beza. can rebuke.- Bible 1613, convicteth.-Camp bell, Parkhurst, Eds. of Imp. Ver. sin.-Com. Ver. falsehood.-Campbell, Parkhurst, A. Clarke, Eds. of Imp. Ver. 2. Acts vii. 52: They have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One, &c. that (or, the) Righteous One.-Doddridge, Imp. Ver. that righteous [man].-Wakefield. that (or, the) just man.-Lindsey, Kenrick. He suffered, but not on account of any evil he had either done or said. In deed and word he was immaculate, and yet he was exposed to suffering.-A. Clarke. 4. Rev. iii. 7: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, &c. he that is Holy and True.-Bible 1613. the Holy, the True.-Hammond, Smith. the holy One [and] the true One.-Doddridge. the holy [one], the true.-Wakefield. REMARK. This is so peculiarly the prerogative of God, that I have sometimes wondered no greater stress should have been laid upon it, in proof of the Deity of our blessed Redeemer, by many writers who have pressed other texts, of a much more dubious nature, to serve in the cause.Doddridge. 5. See John viii. 29. Acts ii. 27; iii. 14; iv. 27, 30; xxii. 14. 2 Cor. v. 21. Heb. vii. 26. James v. 1 Pet. iii. 18. 1 John ii. 1; iii. 5. et al. 6. Remarks on our Lord's character in p. 220. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS, a James i. 13: Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. b Matt. iv. 1-11: Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. .... Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding bigh mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me, &c. Par. Pas. Mark i. 12, 13. Luke iv. 1—13. c John xi. 33-38: When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. d Matt. xxiii. 37, 38: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings! and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.-Par. Pas. Luke xiii. 34, 35. See chap. xxiii. 27-31. e Luke xxii. 42-44: Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.-Par. Pas. Matt. xxvi. 39—44. Mark xiv. 35-39. SECT. X.-EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR THE OPINION, THAT THE MORAL CHARACTER OF CHRIST WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. OBSERVATIONS. 1-5. All Christians agree in ascribing to their Lord great excellence of character, but differ considerably respecting its true nature and extent: some believing, that, though sinless, he was liable to err; others, that he was both immaculate and infallible; others, again, that he was infinitely holy, and therefore incapable of doing wrong. Trinitarians, finding Jesus characterised in the Scriptures as perfect in the moral virtues, and conceiving it impossible that this can be predicated of any peccable being, infer that he is the all-good and infinitely blessed God. We cheerfully admit, that in the New Testament Christ is set forth as a perfect example of moral excellence: but he is never represented as a person naturally incapable of being tempted, or of committing sin; and in this light the apostles must have viewed him, if he were absolutely good and holy." On the contrary, they exhibit him placed in circumstances of a peculiarly trying kind; some of which put to the severest test all the virtue and piety that so eminently adorned his character. They treat of him, indeed, as having, on many occasions, displayed the true greatness of his mind, the generous warmth of his affections, the disinterestedness of his philanthropy, and his resignation and devotedness to the will of his heavenly Father. But in all the beautiful and the noble traits of his character-in all that sublimity of goodness which appeared so conspicuously in his conduct towards friend and foe, and which has never been equalled by the greatest or the best of men, we perceive, not the incommunicable attributes of Divinity, but that moral perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining. Thus, when all the glories of an earthly empire were painted before his eyes with the glowing colours of imagination,—when he was tempted to exercise, for his own selfish gratification, that voluntary power of working miracles which was entrusted to him by his Father in order to be employed in the service of mankind,—he repulsed the great enemy of holiness and happiness with the tone of authority borrowed from his reliance on the providential care of the Almighty. When, with unfeigned sorrow of heart, he wept over the grave of Lazarus, he seemed unconscious, at the moment, of his having received from the Father the power of restoring his friend to all the blessings of animation. When he poured out his soul in grief over the desolations of the holy city, he combined, in his pathetic exclamations, the spirit of the seer with the feelings of the patriot. When in the garden of Gethsemane, where he evinced the deepest and the most unbounded resignation to the will of God, he felt within his bosom humanity making her most eloquent appeals, and, for one short moment, he wished b e d REMARKS ON OUR LORD'S MORAL CHARACTER. That the character of Jesus should have been gradually formed to that high degree of dignity and excellence which is exhibited in his history, by the practice of virtue and by the discipline of his sufferings, is far more probable in itself, more agreeable to the language of the Scriptures, more honourable to Christ, and more useful as an example to his followers, than if he were by nature and necessity a perfectly holy and impeccable being, incapable of being influenced by temptation of any kind, and consequently in no respect similar to his followers, or capable of exhibiting to them a proper example of virtue in a state of probation.-Belsham. .... That our Lord was liable to sin, I consider as necessarily following from the representations of the New Testament. Unless he were so, he could not have been tempted; for if, by any necessity of his nature, or by the superiority of his nature, he could not sin, no inducement to sin could be felt; in other words, temptation would be but a name. That profound submissive resignation to the will of God, which constitutes the commanding excellence of our Lord's character, seems to me a mere name, if he were by nature above the reach of sufferings, or of temptations to escape the painful duties assigned him. His ardent piety, his constant devotedness to the purposes of his Father, must indeed, taken even in the abstract, ever animate and delight the heart in which there is one spark of devotional feeling; but if he were truly and properly God, what becomes of the influence of his example in this important point of view? The moment the thought presented itself, that we were contemplating the piety of GOD, the resignation of GOD, the devotion of GOD, it must surely annihilate such influence, or at least involve the mind in more than Egyptian darkness.... That almost undefinable influence which arises from the perhaps indistinct consciousness that the example which we copy was an example of feelings, of affections, like our own in their purest forms, that the distresses of Jesus were such as we also should have felt in such circumstances, and his resignation, too, such as in our best moments has spread tranquillity over our own souls,this can have place only where the supposed divinity of our Lord's nature is unthought of, and the heart surrenders itself up to the contemplation of the MAN of Nazareth, as his character is so inimitably portrayed in the simple narratives of the evangelists.-Carpenter. See Appendix, Sect. X. page 274. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. f Matt. xxvii. 46: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me ?—Par. Pas. Mark xv. 34. g John xix. 26, 27: When Jesus.. saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! &c. h Luke xxiii. 34: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. i Gen. vi. 9: Noah was a just man, [and] perfect in his generations; [and] Noah walked with God. j Job i. 8; ii. 3: And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, &c.—See chap. i. 1. Luke k 2 Kings xx. 3. Isa. xxxviii. 3: I beseech thee, O Jehovah, remember me now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. xxiii. 50: A man named Joseph, a counsellor; a good man, and a just. See Ps. xxxvii. 37. Mark vi. 20. Luke i. 5, 6. 1 Cor. ii. 6. Eph. iv. 13. Phil. iii. 15. et al. 1 Ps. lxxxix. 19, 20: Thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. m See John i. 47 (comp. Ps. xxxii. 2). n 1 John v. 18: We know that whosoever is born of God, sinneth not, &c.— See chap. iii. 6, 9. o Gen. xvii. 1: Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect. Matt. v. 48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.-See Deut. xviii. 13. Matt. xix. 21. 2 Cor. xiii. 11. 2 Tim. iii. 17. Heb. vi. 1. James i. 4. et al. p Luke xviii. 18, 19: A certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None [is] good, save one, [that is] God. Par. Pas. Mark x. 17, 18. |