impart to them all needful aid, without laying claim to that Omnipresence, which is an attribute of the Supreme Deity alone.

Christ may still be said to be virtually present in every assembly congregated for Christian devotion. In sooth, he is present by his ministers, says Calvin: revera adest per suos ministros. But he is present only on the condition that they assemble in his name, with motives, objects, hopes, and wishes all in unison with the spirit of Christianity. For "if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.—Rom. viii. 9. With him Christ is not present, Nor can any one who does not participate in the same exalted views of the Father of all, and the same philanthropic affections, which appeared in the thoughts, and wrought in the actions of our blessed Lord, be a true disciple, though his professions be eloquent as if they flowed from the tongue of an angel, and his faith so ardent that it would lead him "to give his body to be burned."

When Abraham replied to the rich man, Luke, xvi. 29. "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." Did he mean to affirm that they were omnipresent?

Or did the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews intend any similar intimation of Abel, when he wrote that by faith, he, "being dead, yet speaketh ?"-Heb. xi. 4.

Would Paul have us to understand that he was possessed of ubiquity, when he wrote to the Corinthians? I, v. 3, “ I, verily, as absent in body, but present in Spirit, have judged already, as though I were present." Or when he wrote to the Colossians? ii. 5. "Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ."

How do the Scriptures speak of the omnipresence of the Deity? Do they impart a knowledge of it in a few doubtful expressions? are we obliged to take one or two clauses of a text, and stretch them on a theological rack, to extort from them a confession, false as it is reluctant? No. But they announce to us the truth which they have to impart, voluntarily, and with a clearness, a copiousness, and a decision worthy of a revelation from the Most High. They speak with a sublimity that surpasses the conception of the uninspired, and, at the same time, with a simplicity that is understood by children. Hear SoLOMON,

"Will God, indeed, dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thec." 1 Kings, viii, 27.

Or JEREMIAH, xxiii. 23, 24.

Am I a God at hand, saith JEHOVAH,

And not a God afar off?

Can any one hide him self in secret places

So that I shall not see him? saith JEHOVAH.

I

The heavens and the earth
Do not I fill? saith JEHOVAH,*

Or Amos, ix. 2:

If they dig down to the grave,
Thence shall mine hand take them:
If they climb up to heaven,
Thence will I bring them down.f

Or DAVID, Ps. exxxix. 7, 12:

Whither can I go from thy spirit,

Or whither can I flee from thy presence?

If I climb the heavens thou art there;

If I make a bed of the abyss, behold thou art there also
If I lift my wings towards the morning,
Or dwell beyond the bounds of the sea,
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, surely darkness will cover me;
Even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee,
But the night shineth as the day;

As is the darkness, so is the light."

Such is the lofty and glowing style in which the Scriptares speak of the Omnipresence of Jehovah. The truths here revealed are readily admitted by the mind of man, for they cor respond with all that reason, in her most sublime investigations, teaches. If affirmed of any other being whatsoever, we should expect them to be taught not only with equal, but with superior force and perspicuity. But where is our Lord spoken of in a style which has any parallel to the passages quoted? Instead of receiving the evidence required of a doctrine so stupendous, we are referred to the fragment of a text, which not only admits, but demands, an interpretation that affords no support to the doctrine.

As to the question of our Lord's OMNISCIENCE, it has been already settled by himself with all the clearness which any reasonable enquirer can wish. He informed the disciples after his resurrection, that "the times and the seasons, the Father hath put in his own power."-Acts, i. 7. Meaning by the times and seasons, as the context shews, a knowledge of futurity. On another occasion, as we have already seen, (p. 20-note,) he declared that he knew not when the day of judgment would arrive; and this single declaration furnishes an unanswerable argument, which every suckling in the knowledge of Divine truth, may wield to the utter confusion of all the sophistry that would invest the Saviour with omniscience. And here we cannot refrain from once more expressing our wonder at the

Blayney's translation.

Newcome's translation.

Dr. Young's translation.

disrespect with which the disciples of Athanasius treat the language and the character of the Saviour, by their irreverent contradiction of his words, and their unrighteous attempts, abortive as they are unscriptural, to rob Jehovah of his glory, by ascribing to another, those attributes which belong to himself alone. To prove their contradiction of the Saviour wellfounded, in the present instance, they quote Jeremiah, xvii. 9, 10, where Jehovah is represented as saying, "The heart is de ceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?* 1, Jehovah, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Then they find in the Apocalypse, ii. 23, Christ represented as saying, "all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." These passages, they affirm, directly identify the Saviour with the heart-searching God.

Such is another striking instance of the summary mode in which orthodoxy rushes to her conclusions. It is quite enough that the same thing be affirmed of two beings to constitute their identity, though their characters and offices are perfectly distinct. God searches the heart, and Christ searches the heart, therefore, they are the same! But every examinator, in a judicial capacity, searches the heart of the accused; and though no eye, but the eye of God supreme, can perfectly see the secret workings of the human heart, there are many to whom he has given such faculties of discernment that they can detect the springs of action, through the thickest veil of hypocrisy. Some of the prophets were thus remarkably endowed. Alijah knew the thoughts of Jeroboam's wife.-1 Kings, xiv. 5, 6. Went not the heart of Elisha with Gehazi to detect his falsehood and avarice? and did he not tell the king of Israel the words spoken in the bed-chamber of the king of Assyria?—2 Kings, v. 25, 26, vi. 12. When the prophet fixed his countenance stedfastly on Hazael, he read not only what was passing in his soul, but the long catalogue of crimes which he was about to commit, viii. 11, 12. Daniel knew, by experience, that there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, when he told the thoughts that came into the mind of Nebuchadnezzar on his bed.-Dan. ii. 28, 29. Peter also knew the thoughts of Ananias and Sapphira, when he convicted them of lying not unto men, but unto God.-Acts, v. 4. The knowledge of men's thoughts possessed by the Prophets and

*The heart is wily above all things;

It is even past all hope; who can know it?-BLAYNEY.

This is a favourite text with the Calvinists, by whom it is grossly misunderstood and misapplied to support their infernal doctrine of man's total and innate depravity.

Apostles, was communicated to them by the Almighty; and so was that possessed by Christ as guardian of the churches, and the judge of mankind. It is expressly declared, at the beginning of the book of Revelation, that it is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God GAVE unto him," and this is quite sufficient to overturn all the arguments that are found in any part of it, in support of the grand orthodox fiction. It is added that it was given him "to shew his servants things which must shortly come to pass." This, therefore, as Lindsey observes, "limits his knowledge to the particular subjects specified in the book. When he says that he searches the hearts, he alludes particuJarly to the faculty he had received of detecting, in the church of Thyatira, the concealed principles and misdeeds of certain false teachers, whom he designates by the appellation of Jezebel, who corrupted Israel by her lewd and idolatrous practices." ."*—The same person who says, "I am he that searcheth," says also in the first chapter, 18 v. "I am he that liveth and was DEAD." But who dares to affirm this of the living God, though this is the conclusion which those who identify him who searches the heart, in Rev. ii. 23, with Jehovah, can by no possibility evade?

Again, we are told that Christ must be omniscient, for Peter "said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things." But the evangelist who records this, applies the very same expression to all faithful disciples, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”—I Ep. ii. 20. Are all faithful disciples therefore, omniscient? Did the woman of Tekoah believe, or mean to affirm, that David was omniscient, when admiring his penetration, she said, "my Lord is wise according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth."-2 Sam. xiv. 20. The Jews were not so extravagant as to take in a literal sense, the hyperbolical language of surprise and admiration. They thought their prophets might possess a high degree of supernatural knowledge without ceasing to be men, or being invested with the attributes of Jehovah. Thus when the woman who was a sinner, washed the Saviour's feet with her tears, the Pharisee said, within himself, "this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him.”—Luke, vii. 39. When our Lord told the Samaritan woman, some incidents of her life, she said, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." She afterwards said to the men of the city, "come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? A very important question, which, coupled with the first part of her speech, shews clearly what opinions were then entertained of the Christ with respect to his nature. Neither Samaritan

Lindsey's examination of Robinson's "Plea."

nor Jew harboured an idea that he was to be essentially one with the Father. They believed, and they believed truly, that omniscience is an attribute of none but God Supreme.* 66 Thou, even thou ONLY," says Solomon, "knowest the hearts of all the children of men."-1 Kings, viii. 39. When the Scriptures speak of the wisdom and knowledge of Jehovah, it is not in the way of allusion and inference. They do not put us off with two or three ambiguous or mysterious phrases, the meaning of which can be extracted only by adepts in occult theology. But they tell us plumply, in such terms as carry instantaneous conviction to the heart and mind, that he is "perfect in knowledge and infinite in understanding." The Psalmist, in a noble appeal to the natural reason of man, asks, "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall be not see? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know ?"-Psalm, xciv. 9. “O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising: Thou understandest my thoughts afar off. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether."-Ps. cxxxix. 2, 4.

Such is the copious and perspicuous style in which the Scriptures speak of the omniscience of Jehovah. They take care also to inform us that his knowledge is not given nor derived. "Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor, hath taught him. With whom took HE counsel, and who instructed HIM and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?"-Is. xl. 13, 14.

SECTION ELEVENTH.

Christ not the Creator of the Universe-not Omnipotent.

The attribute of OMNIPOTENCE, like that of omniscience, was disclaimed by the Saviour. As there were certain events of which he declared that he knew not when they were to happen, so were there certain acts which he confessed his inability to perform. Notwithstanding, they who admire what they are pleased to call a “ triplicity in the Godhead,' are fond of ascribing to him omnipotence, but with no more success than they ascribe to him omniscience and omnipresence. To prove this point, they allege that Christ was the Creator of the physical system of the universe, and thence infer that he must be Almighty.

* See "Omniscience an attribute of the Father only"-an excellent discourse by the Rev. Dr. Hutton of Leeds: and " Christ's knowledge of all things," by the Rev. Edw. Higginson, Jun. of Hull,