Scriptures, to see if they could gain any information; and
providentially they turned to the fifth chapter of Paul's Epistle
to the Romans. There they read the following verses with deep
interest:--"For when we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.... God commendeth his love towards us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.... For 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."
"Here we find," said Mr. Macfarlane, "the apostle speaking of the
salvation of _the ungodly_, of _sinners_, and of _enemies_." They
proceeded in their examination, and perceived, from many passages
which they met with in other epistles, that the current language of
the Scripture plainly and unequivocally proves, that the revelation
of mercy was intended to benefit the guilty and depraved as well as
the virtuous.
One passage particularly arrested their attention in the second
chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians--"And you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience." On reading these verses, Mr.
Macfarlane remarked:--"We are to remember, that at the period when
Christianity was first promulgated by the apostles, the whole of
the Gentile world was sunk into a state of the grossest ignorance,
superstition, and vice; and though some of its most celebrated
philosophers and statesmen were distinguished for their love of
virtue, yet the immense majority of the people were addicted to
almost every species of gross immorality. If, then, a state of
future felicity is reserved only for the virtuous, and no provision
is made for the salvation of the wicked, the labours of the apostles
must have been restricted to the few who had kept themselves from
the moral corruptions of the age in which they lived. But such an
opinion receives no sanction from this passage, which speaks of the
salvation of those who had their conversation in times past in the
lusts of their flesh, 'fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.'"
On turning their attention to the brief delineation which the
apostle has given of his own character before his conversion to the
faith in Christ, they were struck with his declaration respecting
the design of our Lord's mission. "This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I
obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all
long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe
on him to life everlasting." "You perceive," said Mr. Macfarlane to
his sister, "the apostle says, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners; and saved the chief of them, as a pattern for the
encouragement of others who may deem themselves equally guilty, to
hope in the mercy of God."
"We thus see," said Mr. Macfarlane, "that the epistles prove that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners from a state of
future misery, and to fit them for heaven; but then comes the
question, What degree of dependence ought we to place on their
testimony? May they not have become corrupted in the course of time?
or may not the writers of them have committed some mistake?"
"So, brother, we have been taught to believe, but it is possible
that we may be mistaken. However, as we cannot now, by any process
of inquiry, decide on the genuineness of the passages which we have
been examining, let us turn our attention to the gospels, and see if
they exhibit the same views on this subject as the epistles. Because
we may fairly infer, that if the whole of the Bible is written
by the inspiration of the Almighty, we shall find a continuity
and harmony of thought running through the various parts of it,
and especially on that paramount question which now engages our
attention."
"As it is now getting very late," Mr. Macfarlane observed, "we will
not go into that question to-night; but I will contrive to get
home to-morrow rather earlier than usual, when we will pursue our
inquiries."
"My mind, dear brother, is painfully excited by the discoveries we
have already made, as they have convinced me that our theory of
belief is in direct opposition to that of the apostles, who were
initiated into the Christian faith by the oral instructions of Jesus
Christ."
"Yes, this I feel. But still the discovery should not distress us;
it should rather excite our gratitude; for if we find, on more
careful inquiry, that we have been holding false opinions, we can
renounce them, and adopt the true system of belief."
They continued their investigations of Scripture from evening
to evening, sometimes together, sometimes apart, and made rapid
progress in the knowledge of Divine truth.
"I have hitherto thought," said Mr. Macfarlane, as he sat with
his sister one evening, "that Jesus Christ came as a teacher, to
instruct us how to attain to a state of future happiness, and to
inculcate on us, by the purity of his example, the cultivation of
the social virtues. However, on a careful examination of the New
Testament, I feel very much struck with the express reason which He
gave to his apostles, for his coming into the world--'Even as the
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give his life a ransom for many' (Matt. xx. 28). He certainly knew
what he came to do--and he says he came to die--to die voluntarily,
by giving his life, not giving it as an act of martyrdom, but as
a ransom to redeem many. Now this must refer to the _many_, in
some condition of danger; not to any select few of the amiable and
virtuous, in no danger."
"I also," remarked his sister, "feel very forcibly impressed with
the reason which Jesus Christ assigns for his going to visit
Zaccheus, who appears to have been before his conversion a great
sinner. 'For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost' (Luke xix. 10). There is nothing about teaching,
as the direct import of his mission, but seeking after sinners to
rescue them from the danger of perishing. This harmonizes with
the statement of the apostle Paul, which has already engaged our
attention."
"Very true. And if we take for our guidance the undisputed axiom,
that facts determine and explain theory, we may, by a careful
examination of the narratives which are reported by the evangelists,
make some safe progress in the inquiry we are now pursuing as to
the design of the mission of Jesus Christ. You have been turning
your attention to the conversion of Zaccheus, and I have been
turning mine to that of the thief on the cross, both ranked among
the chief of sinners; but both were converted and saved by faith
in Christ. The malefactor, when dying, made his appeal to Jesus,
saying, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom' (Luke
xxiii. 42). How prompt and benign is the answer, 'Verily I say unto
thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise!' What a solace this
promise must have been to the poor sufferer--a bright and soothing
prospect in the midst of his agonies! And with what authority Jesus
speaks--assuming the right of fixing the final destiny of this dying
criminal, and of advancing him to the honour of associating with him
in the celestial paradise! He must have been something more than
man to speak thus, and to assume such a prerogative, on such an
occasion."
"Such a conviction," observed Miss Macfarlane, "forced itself very
strongly on my mind, when reading the Gospel of John, particularly
the following passages, which never attracted my attention before:
'For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and
giveth life unto the world.... And Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst.... And this is the will of him
that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on
him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last
day.... I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any
man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world'
(John vi. 33, 35, 40, 51). 'As the Father knoweth me, even so know I
the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.... I and my Father
are one' (John x. 15, 30). We here see that he claims an equality
with his Father, which would have been an act of blasphemy to have
done if he were only a man; he lays down his life of his own accord,
for the benefit of man; asserts that the possession of everlasting
life is made dependent on our believing on Him; and says, that if we
do so, He will raise us from the grave at the last day."
"You have compressed within a very narrow compass, a series of
truths which now appear novel to us both, though we must often have
seen them when reading the New Testament; and which most certainly
are of immense importance, demanding our most serious attention.
Hitherto we have regarded Jesus Christ as a mere man, though one
of a superior order--surpassing all other men in intelligence and
personal excellencies; but I begin to regard him as God in the form
of man, as on such an hypothesis, all his sayings and doings, I
believe, will be found to harmonize. On coming home this evening, I
stepped into a bookseller's shop, and asked for the best work on the
divinity of Jesus Christ. I bought the one recommended, and here it
is--_The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah_, by the Rev. Dr. J. P.
Smith. Let us then postpone all further discussion on the subjects
of our present inquiry, till we have carefully read Dr. Pye Smith's
book. When we have done this, we shall be better qualified to pursue
our inquiries, and arrive at some satisfactory conclusion. There
are three leading questions we have to attend to--_First_, What is
the testimony of the sacred writers as it relates to the person of
Jesus Christ?--is he a mere man, or does he unite in his person the
Divine with the human nature? _Second_, What is the express purpose
for which he came into the world?--was it to teach the lessons of
wisdom and of virtue, enforcing his instructions by the purity of
his example? or was it for the purpose of redeeming sinners from
some fatal danger? And, _third_, Are his sufferings expiatory--the
meritorious cause of human salvation? or must we look upon them as a
contingent evil, inseparably connected with his mysterious history?"
"Yes," said Miss Macfarlane, "these three questions will include
everything we want definitively settled; and I hope the Spirit of
wisdom from above will guide us in our researches, to understand
what is revealed to us in the Bible. I will take, if you please,
the Doctor's second volume, which I see is an examination of the
narratives given to us by the evangelists."
"And I will go through his third volume, which gives us the
testimony of the apostles; and when we have done this, we will
examine together his first volume, which is a record of what the
prophets predicted concerning him."
The absence of Mr. Macfarlane, Senr., for a few weeks, on his
annual visit to a brother who resided in Yorkshire, gave them an
opportunity of devoting their attention more uninterruptedly to the
important inquiry in which they were now engaged. As they advanced,
they felt the evidence in confirmation of the divinity of Jesus
Christ, and his vicarious death, gradually increasing in clearness
and force, till they arrived at the full conviction that he was the
Son of God, on an equality with his Father, though appearing on
earth as the Son of man, and giving his life as a ransom to redeem
the guilty and worthless.
They now began to feel anxious in behalf of their father, who was
living in the rejection of the essential truths of the Scriptures,
under the delusive spell of Unitarian error. They, however, deemed
it advisable to proceed with caution, lest he should peremptorily
refuse to have any discussion whatever on the subject. On the
Sabbath after his return, they excused themselves from going with
him to chapel, which astounded him; but he had too much respect for
the right of private judgment to attempt to impose any restraint. In
the evening, as they were conversing together, he said, "Why did you
leave the intelligent preaching of our learned minister, to hear the
mysterious doctrines of Calvinism enforced? Have you been as much
pleased as you were with the excellent discourse we heard the Sunday
before I left home?"
"The discourse which we then heard," replied his son, "we thought
very excellent; but we were so much struck with the remark of Dr.
R----, that the felicities of heaven are reserved only for the
virtuous, that, on reflection, we could not agree with him; because
on such an hypothesis the vast majority in every age, and in every
country, would be consigned over to a state of hopeless misery."
"And do you now think that any other but virtuous people will ever
be received into heaven?"
"On searching the Scripture, which we have done with
diligence during your absence, we find that the ungodly--that
transgressors--that those who are enemies to God by wicked
works--that the children of disobedience--and that the chief of
sinners, may be saved. This new view of the revelation of mercy,
which is sanctioned by the current language of the Bible, appears to
us more consistent with the benevolence of the Supreme Being, and
much better adapted to the real character and condition of the great
mass of mankind, than the statement of Dr. R----."
"By your permission, Papa," said Miss Macfarlane, "I will read Dr.
Doddridge's 'Paraphrase and Improvement of one of our Saviour's
Parables,' which I think is so excellent, and so much in point, that
it will afford you as much pleasure as it has given me."
"I have no objection to your reading a quotation from Dr. Doddridge,
because I have always considered him a moderate, as well as a very
learned man. I think he is mistaken in his views of some of the
speculative truths of revelation; but I like him as a practical
writer."
The parable is contained in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel
by Luke, and the paraphrase runs thus:--"But [Jesus] for the
encouragement of these few penitents, as well as to rebuke the
censorious and uncharitable Pharisees, spake to them this parable,
and said, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine, that were feeding
together in the pastures of the wilderness, and go from place
to place in search after it, and having at length found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders, greatly rejoicing, as a man in such
circumstances naturally would? And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbours, and says unto them with great
pleasure, My friends, you may now rejoice with me; for my labour
and search have not been in vain, but I have found my sheep which
was lost. And as he thus is more delighted with the recovery of the
sheep which he had lost, than with the safety of the rest, which
had not wandered, so I say unto you that greater and more sensible
joy will be in heaven among the blessed and benevolent spirits that
dwell there, over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and
nine just persons which need no repentance, or such a universal
change of mind and character.
"How graceful and lovely does our Lord appear, while thus opening
his compassionate arms and heart to those wretched outcasts, for
whose souls no man cared! Who can choose but rejoice at this jubilee
which he proclaimed among them, and at the cheerful attention which
they gave to these glad tidings of great joy? May we who are his
followers never despise the meanest, or the worst of men, when
they seem disposed to receive religious instruction, but rather
exert ourselves with a distinguished zeal, as knowing that the joy
of the heavenly world, in their recovery, will be in some measure
proportionable to the extremity of their former danger.
"Let us often recollect the charity and goodness of these perfected
spirits, who look down from their own glory with compassion on
mortals wandering in the paths of the destroyer, and who sing
anthems of thankfulness and joy, when by Divine grace they are
reclaimed from them. Let every sinner be touched by a generous
desire that he who has been in so many instances the offender and
burden of the earth, may become the joy of heaven by his sincere
conversion."
"You know, my children," said old Mr. Macfarlane, "that I have
endeavoured to train you up in the paths of virtue, and to give you
what I conceive correct views of religion; but if you on examination
feel dissatisfied with any opinions which I have inculcated, you
ought most certainly to renounce them. You have the same right to
think, and judge, and decide for yourselves, as I have; and I feel
too much affection for you to throw on the path of your inquiry
the slightest shadow of opposition. I know you are virtuous; and
if I see you happy, I shall be satisfied. You will proceed in your
inquiries after truth with caution--weigh with the greatest nicety
the evidence which may be submitted to you; as many opinions, when
they first strike our attention, appear very specious and plausible,
which will not endure the ordeal of a critical investigation. I
cannot give you better advice than that which the apostle gave to
the believers of Thessalonica, 'Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good.'"
"To be candid, my dear father," said his son, "the result of the
investigation which we have been pursuing with close, and I may say
prayerful, attention, is a firm belief in the supreme divinity of
Jesus Christ; and also in the reality and efficacy of the atonement
he made in behalf of sinners by his vicarious death."
"I certainly regret that you should adopt such a belief, which, I
have always told you, is a corruption of Christianity."
"No, father, it is a belief which owes its origin to the concurrent
testimony of the sacred writers. If the sacred writers, and if Jesus
Christ himself had made no statements on this subject, the question
of his divinity would never have been agitated, neither would the
question of his atonement for the sins of the world. If, then, it
be an error, it is one for which they are responsible; they assert
the fact of his divinity so clearly, that I feel compelled to do
one of two things--either impeach their integrity, or admit his
divinity. To give you a specimen. The prophet Isaiah says, 'His name
shall be called Wonderful, the MIGHTY GOD;' the apostle Paul says,
'He was GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH;' and Jesus Christ himself, who
knew who and what he was, asserts his EQUALITY with his Father,
in _power_, in _knowledge_, and in his claims on the homage and
love of his disciples. Would the prophets and apostles have used
these expressions if they had been Unitarians believing in Christ's
exclusive humanity?"
"You must not form your judgment from a few isolated passages of the
Bible, which are susceptible of a different interpretation."
"I admit this; but, in the first place, Dr. Pye Smith, and other
men of learning, have proved, that the most correct interpretation
of the passages I have now quoted, is the orthodox interpretation;
however, waiving that debateable point, would any Unitarian, if left
to express his own opinion of the person of Jesus Christ, employ
terms which should allow any one fairly to infer that he is a Divine
Incarnation?"
"Why, no, I should think not."
"Then, why have the sacred writers done it? But to proceed: in the
next place--these isolated passages, dear father, are in exact
harmony with the general statement of all the sacred writers. Surely
we cannot suppose that the very men who were employed as the agents
of a Divine revelation, would be allowed to entrap us into the
double crime of idolatry and blasphemy, by compelling any one who
admits their integrity, to bow down and do homage to Jesus Christ
as to God. There is one fact in the history of our Saviour, which,
in my opinion, may set at defiance the most ingenious and subtle
casuist that ever made an effort to subvert or mystify human belief.
In addressing his opponents, he adopted a style of speech which
stirred up their wrath, and made them accuse him of blasphemy for
making himself God, that is, by trying to make them believe he was
God. Now, father, I put this plain, common-sense question, Would
any good man, especially one so good as Jesus Christ, when speaking
of himself, employ expressions which should convey to others the
idea that he was God in the form of man, to whom all men are to
pay homage, and on whom all who hope to be saved are to depend for
salvation and eternal life?"
"There is a great deal of ambiguity in the language of the
Scripture, which, as the apostle Paul says, is hard to be
understood."
"That I admit; but such an admission does not affect the question
before us; which is this--Would any man of intelligence and virtue,
when speaking of himself, use any expressions which should induce
people to believe that he was God? In fact, would not such an
attempt, if made, as has happened occasionally in modern times, be
considered a proof of insanity? The rejection of the divinity of
Jesus Christ would indeed reduce me to a very serious dilemma. In
the first place, I must impeach the integrity of the sacred writers,
which would compel me to reject the entire system of revelation,
as a gross imposition on human credulity; and, in the next place,
I must look on Jesus Christ as an insane person, or a blasphemer.
I see no alternative between universal scepticism and the devout
reception of the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and his
atonement."
"I certainly should prefer what is called orthodoxy to universal
scepticism; but I shall never be able to bring my mind to receive
what I cannot comprehend; and this a believer in Christ's divinity
and atonement is compelled to do."
"This, my dear father, is one of the delusive objections to the
orthodox faith, under which we have too long taken refuge. Why, is
not a Unitarian compelled to believe what he cannot comprehend?
For example, do you not believe in the eternal existence of God--a
glorious self-existing Being, who lives by the power of his own
volition, with whom there is no variableness neither shadow of
turning?"
"True; though I must confess it never struck me before. This
staggers me. Well, my dear children, our difference on points of
speculative belief will make no alteration in our mutual attachment;
you will remain, I have no doubt, pure and virtuous, as you always
have been; and I trust we shall together participate in the
felicities of heaven, when our earthly course is finished, even if
we should never, as we once did, believe exactly alike."
In the course of the following week, Miss Macfarlane received a
visit from Miss Reynolds, her pious friend already referred to, who
was not more astonished than delighted by seeing her at the chapel
in ---- Street, on the preceding Sabbath. After a little desultory
conversation, Miss Reynolds said, "We were rather surprised to see
you and your brother at our chapel on Sabbath; but I hope we shall
have the pleasure of seeing you there again."
"Your surprise," replied Miss Macfarlane, "is very natural. Yes, you
will see us again, as we have both decided to attend Mr. ---- in
future. The system of Unitarianism, in which we have been educated,
we have discovered is delusive--a fatal perversion of the theory of
revealed truth; and though it may suit the virtuous part of society,
who have no perceptions of the evil of sin, yet, as it makes no
provision for the salvation of sinners, it cannot afford peace to a
wounded conscience."
"And has my dear Eliza at length discovered that she is a sinner!"
"I have not only discovered it, but I have felt it; and I still feel
it. You know how I have repelled such a charge in time past; but I
can repel it no longer. My conscience bears testimony to its truth.
I cannot accuse myself of having violated any of the laws of social
life, but I perceive that I have broken the law of God, and stand
guilty in his sight."
"As this is a new discovery, will you tell me how you made it?"