"God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, _by whom
also he made the worlds_; who, being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person, and _upholding all things by the word
of his power_, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they," (Heb. i. 1-4.)
Could Paul, I ask, have written in such language as this, or anything
approaching to this, unless he _believed_ Christ to have been divine,
in the fullest sense of that word? But believing this with all his
heart, his whole life and preaching were consistent with such a
belief. He preached Jesus as the Person whom all men were to love and
obey as God, confide and rejoice in as in God, and to whom they were
to commit themselves, both soul and body, for time and for eternity,
as to God. What he wished others to do, he himself did. For what was
the source and strength of his life? "The life I live in the flesh, I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me." "I live; yet not I, Christ lives in me." "I can do all things
through Christ that strengtheneth me." What was the one object of his
holy ambition? "That I may win Christ." What was his heaven? "To be
with Christ." And after thirty years passed in His service, and after
having endured such sufferings as never fell to the lot of one man, so
far from uttering the language of disappointment or regret, as of one
whose early convictions had not stood the test of experience, but had
failed to sustain him when most needed, he thus writes, with calm
confidence and perfect peace, in his old age, and from a prison, to
his dear friend and follower Timothy:--
"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."
"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach
others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ." "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do
the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am
now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." "At
my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray
God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord
stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be
fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every
evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom
be glory for ever and ever. Amen," (2 Tim. i. 12, ii. 1-3, iv. 5-8,
16-18.)
Was that man an idolater and blasphemer,--the dupe of his own
fancy,--deceived in his faith and hopes,--or was he the ignorant
deceiver of others?
Moreover, let it be remembered that with this mighty truth, as with a
hammer, Paul went forth to destroy the idolatries of the world, and
gave them such blows, that in Europe they finally tottered and fell.
But did he then only substitute one idolatry for another?--did he
preach to Greece and Rome love and obedience to a man, a better man,
possibly, than any of the persons whom they worshipped, but still a
mere creature like themselves? Hear Paul's memorable and glorious
words to the Athenians, and believe this if you can;--
"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye men of
Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For
as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this
inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship,
him declare I unto you. God, that made the world, and all things
therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in
temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as
though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath,
and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should
seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him,
though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and
move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said,
For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring
of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or
silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of
this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to
repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead," (Acts xvii. 22-31.)
If from Paul we turn to the other apostles, we shall recognise in them
the same convictions regarding the person of Jesus. Let us hear, for
example, some of the declarations of the apostle John:--
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
_Word was God_. The same was in the beginning with God. _All things
were made by him_; and without him was not anything made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a
witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might
believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that
Light. That was the true Light, _which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world_. He was in the world, _and the world was made by
him_, and the world knew him not. _He came unto his own_, and his own
received him not. But as many as received him, to them _gave he power
to become the sons of God_, even to them that believe on his name:
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God. And _the Word was made flesh_, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth," (John i. 1-14.)
"But these are written, 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.)
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and
eternal life," (1 John v. 20.)
"Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the first-begotten
of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." "I was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a
trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." "And I
turned to see the voice that spake with me. And, being turned, I saw
seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs
were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame
of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a
furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his
right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand
upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; _I am the first and the last_: I am
he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
Amen; and _have the keys of hell and of death_," (Rev. i. 5-8, 10,
12-18.)
Could John have written such things of a mere man? Could a pious Jew
have done so without conscious blasphemy? It is in vain to reply that
I have quoted much of this from a vision. But would he have dared to
record such a vision, unless he believed Jesus to have been Divine?
I am compelled, therefore, to admit that the apostles _believed_ Jesus
of Nazareth to have been a Divine Person. I am not asserting, at
present, that what they believed was true in fact, but only that they
in fact believed this to be true.
And here I might inquire, whether there was anything in their personal
knowledge of Christ which could have suggested such a thought to those
men. We have seen that the grand lesson of their education as Jews
was, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with _all_ thine heart, with all thy soul, and
with all thy might." Whatever other faith or worship did not harmonise
with this was deadly idolatry. It is true that, with the exception of
Paul, all the apostles had seen Jesus in the flesh, and John specially
pleads for His humanity, and presses it home with every form of
expression. "That," says he, "which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,
of the Word of life." But if we lay aside all supernatural and
miraculous evidences of our Lord's person, what was there in His life
which could have produced this impression, or awakened this strange
conviction of His divinity? Not surely His lowly birth, nor the long
years in which He was known only as the carpenter's son; not the
sorrow and grief with which He was familiar, or the real though
sinless infirmities to which He was subject; not the reception He met
with from His countrymen, or the death by which His short earthly
career was ended! What was there in an earthly life so intensely
human, to convince such true, thoughtful, godly men as the apostles
that this man was one with the Holy One of Israel, the Almighty
Creator of the heavens and the earth? Yet such _was_ the conviction
of John, who leant upon His bosom at the Last Supper, watched Him in
Gethsemane, beheld Him in the judgment-hall, and stood by Him at the
cross! Such _was_ the faith of Paul also who never saw Him in the
flesh, or ever heard His voice while He tabernacled among men.
If, however, the alleged supernatural facts in the Bible are
true,--including the gift of the Spirit who was to "glorify"
Jesus,--we can easily account for those convictions, but not
otherwise.
And let me here notice in passing, how beautifully harmonious the
facts of this Person's life were as a man, yet also as "Emmanuel, God
with us!" These, when "called to remembrance," were such as must have
confirmed and established the faith of the apostles. If there were
evidences of a humility belonging to Him as the Son of man, there were
equal evidences of a dignity which belonged to Him as the Son of God.
He was born of the Virgin Mary, yet by Divine power. "The Holy Ghost,"
said the angel Gabriel to His mother, "shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." He
was brought forth in a stable, and laid in a manger, but wise men from
the East, guided by a star, came to worship Him, and to present Him
with kingly offerings, while the hosts of heaven announced His birth
with songs of rejoicing. He was baptized of John, yet a voice from
heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
During His life, while He submitted to every trial and temptation to
which, humanity was liable, "that in all things He might be like His
brethren," yet never was evidence wanting of a dignity and glory which
were divine. He was hungry, but fed thousands; wearied and asleep
amidst the storm, but He rebuked the winds and waves, so that there
was a great calm; He was tempted of the devil for forty days, but
Satan did homage to His dignity, by offering Him as a bribe the
kingdoms of the world, while His grandeur was revealed in the
command, "Get thee behind me, Satan." He was so poor that pious women
ministered to Him of their substance, and so sorrowful that He often
wept; yet He dried the tears of thousands, healed all who came to Him
of every disease, and by a word of power raised the dead, from their
bed, from their bier, and even when corruption had begun to do its
loathsome work. He had His days of darkness, when He could say, "Now
is my soul troubled;" yet a voice from heaven even then witnessed to
His glory. He washed the feet of His disciples, yet it was at the very
moment when, "knowing that God had given all things into his hands,
that he came from God, and went to God." He died and was buried,
but though, during all the hours which marked that saddest of all
tragedies, there were signs of human woe and weakness, as if "Himself
He could not save," yet what signs of dignity and superhuman majesty!
For He was addressed on the cross as a King by a dying criminal, and
as a King He promised to save him; while the darkened sky, the
rending rocks, and all the august circumstances which attended His
humiliation, proclaimed, with the centurion, "Truly this was the Son
of God!" He lay in the grave, and His body received the tears and
affectionate ministrations of attached friends; but an angel descended
and rolled away the stone; the Roman guard became as dead men; "the
Lord was risen indeed!" and He appeared to His disciples, and so
overcame the unbelief of Thomas by His very presence, bearing the
marks of His human sufferings, that the doubter fell down and
"worshipped Him," saying, "My Lord, and my God!" Jesus remained on
earth for forty days, and we still "behold _the man_." He conversed
familiarly with His apostles, ate and drank with them, and instructed
them in the things pertaining to His kingdom: but He ascended to
heaven before their eyes, while angels announced His second coming;
and soon the descent of the Holy Ghost, with the great ingathering to
the Church which followed, testified to the truth of the apostolic
preaching, that Jesus was the _Son of God_, and that all power was
given to Him in heaven and on earth!
Now, in all this eventful history, there was that very combination
of earth and heaven, of the human and superhuman, which received an
interpretation from the fact only of Christ's divine and human nature,
and which, along with Christ's own words, and the teaching of His
Spirit, made the apostles accept the doctrine with profound conviction
and deep joy; although, without some such overwhelming evidence, the
very thought must have been to them a blasphemous idolatry. They
believed, because they had sufficient grounds, from facts, for their
belief. We cannot, therefore, think that those who rejected the claims
of Jesus, and executed Him as a blasphemer, were right, and that the
apostles, who acknowledged Him as one with God, were wrong, or that
their faith will ever be put to shame!
We have thus considered the Person of Jesus in the light of His own
teaching, as that too was understood at the time, both by enemies
and friends, and also in the light of the faith and teaching of His
apostles.
4. But there is yet another aspect in which we may view this
question--viz., _the faith and views of the Christian Church_.
As to the _faith_ of the Church, using that word as expressing its
_creed_, it is historically certain that since the days of the
apostles till the present time, this doctrine has formed a _sine
qua non_ of the creed of the whole Church, whether called Popish,
Protestant, Greek, Armenian, Nestorian, &c.--of every branch, in
short, with the exception of the Unitarians. Amidst all differences,
the millions of professing Christians have agreed from age to age in
this article. No theological strifes or angry passions, no dissents or
reformations, have disturbed this truth as the foundation-stone of the
Temple. Now, if Christ is _not_ a divine person, it follows that the
Christian Church is one huge institution of idolatry. We do not,
observe, attempt as Christians to conceal our faith in Christ's
divinity, or to modify it so as to escape, if possible, such an
imputation. We necessarily accept this conclusion, unless our faith
is grounded on _fact_. We boldly declare that we believe in Jesus of
Nazareth; love Him, trust Him, obey Him, _as we do God Almighty_, and
with the same degree of faith and reverence. In the one name of the
Father, Son, and Spirit, we have been baptized, and that name we
honour as One, ascribing equal glory to each Person in the Godhead.
Such a creed as this may startle some and offend others, but it is
nevertheless the creed which is and has been the faith of universal
Christendom, which millions with ourselves believe unhesitatingly, and
confess as boldly as they do their faith in the being of God. Now what
we assert is, that if Jesus was a mere man, or was not "God manifest
in the flesh," we and all Christians so believing are _idolaters_ in
the strictest sense of that word. Our churches are idol temples where
a dead man is worshipped; our ministers idol priests, who ever preach
and commemorate this man, pray to him, sing praises to him, and
consecrate generation after generation to his service; our people
commit their souls and bodies to the keeping of this man for time and
eternity, and all their hopes are inseparably connected with him as
their Lord;--while amidst this universal defection of the human race,
this wide-spread idolatry which has taken possession of the most
cultivated and intellectual nations, and threatens to overrun the
world and absorb all other idolatries into itself, there appears but
a trifling number who maintain the pure light of theism, and preserve
the truth of God unsullied for the coming, and it is to be hoped,
therefore, for better, ages of the world. And who are these? Jews,
Deists, and Unitarians. On these depend the world's hopes of its ever
becoming regenerated by a theology of truth regarding God. Now, does
it seem probable, we ask, under the government of God, that these have
discovered the truth on such a fundamental fact in religion, while
universal Christendom for eighteen centuries has believed a lie?--and
such a lie! As a question of probability, what weight can we attach to
this testimony, balanced not against numbers merely, but numbers along
with the intellect, culture, and character of those who have believed
in, derived their soul's good from, and perilled their soul's
existence upon, Christ's divinity?[A]
[Footnote A: Mr Greg in his Essays, which at first appeared in the
_Edinburgh Review_, admits this alternative. His language is, "To
a philosophic inquirer there will appeal little doubt that
Trinitarianism and idolatry--the _worship of Christ as God_, the
worship of saints, the worship of the golden calf, have one common
origin, the weakness of human imagination and the unspirituality of
human intellect."--Vol. i., p. 61. Mr Greg also says, in a note to
the above--"To accept the orthodox view of the Christian Revelation,"
(i.e., Christ's divinity,) "is to our apprehension to deny the divine
origin of the Jewish religion." But was not "the view" of Jesus
himself and His apostles the "orthodox" one? And did _they_ deny the
divine origin of the Jewish religion? Who is right--Mr Greg or----?]
Consider also, as I have suggested, the _effect_ produced by such a
faith when real upon the religious ideas _regarding God_ of all who
really hold it. On the supposition, for example, that the Christian's
faith in Jesus is vain--that he is worshipping, loving, serving a
creature, or a mere creation of his own mind, instead of the _only_
living and _true God_,--how can we account for the actual results of a
faith so false and blasphemous upon his ideas regarding God?
It is not denied that a vast body of men and women in every age have
had sincere faith in Jesus as God, and loved Him with their whole
soul. Now, what effect has such faith upon their views of God, and
their feelings towards the Supreme Creator and Upholder of all things
whom "pure Theists" profess alone to worship? Has this faith in Jesus
as divine had the effect of producing false impressions of God on the
Christian's heart; of exciting low and degrading views of His being
and attributes, lowering as it were the Majesty of the heavens from
His throne, bringing Him to the level of our every-day humanity, and
presenting Him to the mind and imagination in an aspect which inspires
no reverence? Or has it not had the very opposite effect, and that,
too, just in proportion as the worshipper has apprehended the oneness,
in His divine nature, of the Son with the Father? Has not God, then,
appeared more glorious and majestic than ever; His throne more
elevated above every other throne; His glory more visible in heaven
and earth? Can any Jew, we ask, however devout, appreciate more fully
than a Christian the Old Testament descriptions of the unity and
perfections of Jehovah, or prostrate himself with a more simple,
undivided, and confiding heart before the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? Can the synagogue sing David's psalms with more truth than the
church? or does Unitarianism withdraw any veil which conceals the
perfections of God as Creator, Ruler, or Father, from the eyes of him
who has intense and undying faith in Jesus as the Eternal Son? Oh!
where on earth can we find more exalted and pure thoughts of the one
living and true God, as revealed in nature and in the Old Testament,
profounder admiration of His character, or deeper reverence for His
will, than among Christians who love and honour the Son even as they
love and honour the Father? But how is this to be accounted for if
they believe a lie? How has an idolatry, a baseless and profane
hero-worship, had this remarkable moral power of producing such true
and spiritual views of God, as all men must admit to be most worthy?
and producing, too, we dare to add, such strong faith and affectionate
reverence towards this God, as exist in no other human bosoms? Is it
possible that the true God can be thus apprehended and loved through
a medium so false as idolatry? On the supposition, however, but on no
other, that Jesus is really one with God, the knowledge and love of
the Son must necessarily lead to this very knowledge and love of the
Father. "He that seeth me, seeth the Father also." "If ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also." "Ye believe in God, believe
also in me."
5. Consider, again, the Person of Christ, not only in the light of
Christian character generally, but with the addition of _Christian
knowledge as to its cause_. It will surely be admitted that, to
whatever extent the term Christian has been misapplied as indicating
character, and in however many cases it has been unworthily or only
formally assumed, yet it includes within its widest embrace the best
men and women this earth possesses, or has ever possessed. There is
a certain _kind_ of character which all men whose moral sense is not
blunted recognise as the culminating point and perfection of humanity.
They may not themselves attempt to realise it, or they may deem it
unattainable, but nevertheless the idea of what constitutes a good
or perfect man is no sooner presented to their minds than conscience
accepts it as that which _ought_ to be. Now, it is admitted even by
the atheist that such an idea is embodied in the historical character
of Jesus Christ, and in the life, consequently, of every man just in
proportion as he possesses His Spirit, obeys His precepts, and walks
in His steps. But there are, and have been in every age, persons who
have done this, if not in a perfect, yet in a more perfect degree than
by any others among mankind. Or supposing it were admitted, for the
sake of argument, that, so far as we had the means of judging, there
has occasionally appeared, without faith in Christ, a certain product
of character, apparently as pure, lofty, self-denying, loving, and
devoted to God as any which ever professed to owe its origin to Jesus
Christ; yet, where has there been on earth such a _body_ of living
persons as those Christians who, within the bosom of the universal
Church, during eighteen centuries, have manifested that kind of
character which all men profess to admire and reverence? In vain one
tries to conceive the flowers of moral beauty and glory that have
sprung up within the garden of Christendom! Being rooted in the earth,
they may have been soiled, indeed, by its dust, but they yet expanded
in loveliness to the sky, and sent forth a fragrance to the air,
peculiar to the plants raised by the Great Husbandman. Number, if you
can, the saints of the Christian Church; the young and old, the poor
and rich, who in every age and clime have been truthful, simple,
sincere, patient, forgiving, and compassionate; who have enjoyed an
inward life of peace with God, maintained an outward conduct, and
possessed a reality of abiding love to their Father in heaven and to
their brethren on earth peculiar to themselves. Their lives have been
a blessing to the world, and a happiness to their own hearts;
their deathbed has been freed from the fears of a dark future, and
brightened by the pure prospect of continued life and joy. The
Christian Church, and the Christian Church _alone_, contains such
characters; and these are the lights of our homes, the salt of the
earth, and the only security of the world's progress.
Now, to what is this great result owing? How is this product of
character, which is affecting the world's history, and gradually
leavening the whole lump of humanity, to be accounted for? What power
has originated it, or by what has it been sustained? Who are more
entitled to give a reply to such questions than Christians themselves?
They alone can know by what motives, they have been actuated, by what
strength supported, and by what hopes animated. Ask them, then, and
what will be their reply? Each and all will but echo the words of
Paul, as expressing the secret of their life: "I live, yet not I,
but _Christ liveth in me_; and the life I live in the flesh I live
_through faith in the Son of God_, who loved me, and gave himself for
me." "The _love of Christ_ constraineth us," "I thank _Christ Jesus,
our Lord_, who hath enabled me." "The _Lord_ stood with me, and
strengthened me." "_The Lord_ shall deliver me from every evil work,
and preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, _to whom be glory_ for ever
and ever!" "I can do all things _through Christ_, which strengtheneth
me." This is the experience of the living Church of Christ, of all
lands, and of all time,--the creed of each genuine believer; of the
early martyr and mediaeval saint; of the pious Protestant and Papist;
of the cultivated Christian philosopher and the half-taught Christian
negro; of the young man who has overcome the wicked one, and of
the old patriarch who departs in peace, because his eyes have seen
salvation; of the Christian Greenlander who died yesterday, and of the
sweet Christian girl who died to-day, leaving the bosom of her mother
for the bosom of her God; of each and all the ten thousand times ten
thousand who have so lived and died, with one conviction of truth the
strongest in their minds; that whatever strength, peace, or good they
possess as true _life_, they owe all to the One source of life,--_the
Lord Jesus Christ_! What are we to conclude from these unparalleled
facts, which can no more be denied than the realities of human history
or of human experience? Have all Christians been deceived? Have they
been believing a lie, and has this great life of life in them been
sustained by a delusion? Is there no such person as Jesus Christ, the
Lord of life, the living Saviour of sinners? Is this not a fact but a
fiction? Can it be that the moral government of God exists, and yet
that it admits of such a moral anomaly as this,--the regeneration of
human character by a falsehood! Impossible! I say it with deepest
reverence,--as sure as there is a God of truth, _impossible!_ The
Christian Church has _not_ been deceived. Unbelievers in Jesus have
_not_ had the light of truth given them, while those who have loved
and served Him have been permitted to walk in the darkness of
intellectual untruth and in the vain belief of an idol! Jesus is
Divine as well as human. "He was, and is, and liveth for evermore!"