5 PREFACE. THE following Letters were commenced without any expectation that they would pass beyond the inspection of private friendship. But in the course of the investigation of which they exhibit the results, the writer was more and more impressed with a conviction of the truth and importance of the theory contained in them. So deep and strong did this conviction at last become, that he was led to reflect seriously upon the expediency and propriety of presenting his views to the religious public in a more grave and systematical form, than is appropriate to private epistolary communications. Upon mature consideration, however, it appeared to him that the novelty and peculiarity of the opinions to which he had been brought, called for the most natural and easy manner of presenting them. And as these Letters accurately exhibit the process by which they were reached, and the mode in which they are held, their original form has been preserved. They are now offered to the public, as they were addressed to the learned divine to whom they are inscribed. It is surely unnecessary to say anything to awaken attention to the dignity and magnitude of the subject to which they relate. It is a matter of the highest concernment to every Christian to secure to himself an accurate conception of the office and character of Jesus Christ. It is well known to all who watch the progress of theological controversy, and can discern the condition of religious opinion, that the decision of the great question, between Unitarian and Trinitarian believers, is protracted, more than by any other cause, by the obscurity which has ever rested over 'The Word,' as it is used in the Preface of John's Gospel, and in some other places of scripture. The removal of this obscurity would, it is probable, determine effectually and forever, the opinions of all, who, in simplicity and sincerity of spirit, seek only the truth, and love it supremely. If it should be clearly made out that the evangelist, in applying 'The Word' to Jesus Christ, meant to assert the absolute, underived, and independent divinity of his nature, then the Trinitarian will have secured one passage in scripture on which to stand, as upon a foundation. If, on the contrary, it can be shown that the use of this phrase, in application to our Saviour, demonstrates his inferiority to the Father, and declares the exaltation, not of his nature, but of his office only, then the most important, or, as some apprehend, the only important argument, drawn from scripture, in support of the Trinitarian hypothesis, will be turned against it. It must appear to an observing mind, that for some time past, the Trinitarian and Unitarian forces have been gradually retiring from every other position, and concentrating upon this very ground. The question which at the present day engages attention, is this; What was the meaning of John, when he said, 'The Word was in the beginning;' 'It was with God;' 'It was God;' It created all things;' and 'It became flesh?' A satisfactory answer to this question would impart relief and joy to innumerable minds. It is in waiting for this answer, that christian truth delays her progress of triumph, not only in this country and Great Britain, but even in the remote vales and mountainous glens of the Vaudois; in every region, indeed, in which the privilege of freely prosecuting religious knowledge is enjoyed. It is not because the writer of these Letters flatters himself that in them he has given this answer, that he presents them to the public; but because he indulges a strong persuasion, and an ardent hope, that the views contained in them may start the minds of more learned and experienced men, in a course of inquiry which will lead to such results as will settle the question. It will be perceived that the nature of the subject rendered it impossible to give to this investigation a more popular form. With such views, and under such circumstances, the following papers are communicated to the public. They are presented solely from a sense of duty, as an offering to all who are willing to investigate, and anxious to ascertain, the truth respecting the great objects of religious feeling and faith. Trusting that the literary execution, the style and manner, of these Letters will be regarded as comparatively too unimportant to attract the severe scrutiny of critics, the writer most earnestly invokes that scrutiny to the arguments, the evidence, and the doctrine, which they exhibit. So long as it aims to detect his errors, or to guide him to the truth, no matter how stern and severe it may be, he will not shrink before it. Such a scrutiny is all that he asks or desires. If his views are founded in error, the developement of that error will be regarded as a favor. For nothing is more certain, than that he, who rescues a mind from a single opinion which is false, is a benefactor, surpassed only by him, who conducts it to the acquisition of a truth. Salem, May 15, 1828. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The tendency of party controversy in religion to check the general progress of theological learning-Scriptural theory of the office and character of Jesus Christ not yet fully expounded-The present inquiry, in what manner suggested-Its general object-Is not affected by the mode of our Saviour's birth-The text, 1 John v. 7.— Proem of John's Gospel-In what manner it serves the purposes of the Trinitarian—Its force lies in Logos, or Word-Particular point Proem of John's Gospel controversial-False meanings attached to Logos-Sources of information-Fundamental principles of the Jewish religion--The tendency of the Jews to idolatry accounted for— Our idea of a spirit-Difficulty in preserving it clear and correct-The Jews did not utter the name Jehovah-The considerations which governed them in this observance-Words associated with images- Exposure of the Jews to the danger of regarding God as a local The first promoters of the spirit of philosophizing-The probable |