distinction between the soul and body; for he teaches that man has no soul, distinct from his body, and that even Jesus Christ had none. On his principles, therefore, the expression is doubly absurd. But what shall we say of the following clause, Who is over all, God blessed for ever?' How many absurdities, on the Doctor's hypothesis, are wrapped up in this half sentence? To say that a mere man is over all, to term him God, to affirm that he is blessed, and that for ever! Surely reason and common sense could no more have an hand in dictating this than the Spirit of inspiration.

And what, on the Doctor's principles, has common sense to do with the following passage, which we find in the next chapter? Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ from above? Or, Who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring him back from the dead?'-For if he be a mere man, who had no existence, till begotten by Joseph, and conceived in the womb of Mary, why does the apostle speak of bringing him down from above?'-Surely if the latter cause, who shall descend into the deep [that is, into the grave, or into the state of the dead] to bring him back from the dead,' would imply an absurd inquiry, if he never had been in the grave, or in the state of the dead: So the former clause proposes a question equally ridiculous, if Jesus Christ, before his appearing among us, never had been above.

6

The Apostle goes on, according to the Socinian principles, in the same strain of absurdity, (verse 11,) The scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him,' a mere man though he be, shall not be ashamed: For the same Lord over all,' though but a man !, 'is rich unto all that call upon him: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him,' the mere man!, of whom they have not heard? And how

shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent ?'*

6

There are suudry other passages in the remaining chapters of this epistle, which, I am persuaded, no person that believed the doctrine of Christ's mere humanity, and was possessed of common sense, could have dictated or written. The following are among the most remarkable. (Chap. xi. 26.) The Deliverer [a mere man] shall come out of Zion, and shall turn away iniquity from Jacob.'-(Chap. xiv. 6.) He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, [viz. unto a mere man !]—and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord [the same mere man] he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, [a mere man,] and he that eateth not, to the Lord [the same mere man] he eateth not. For none of us [real Christians] liveth to himself, aud no man dieth to himself; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, [that is, unto a mere man!] or whether we die, we die unto the Lord, [the same mere man ;] whether living or dying, therefore, we are the Lord's [that is, we are the property of a mere man !] For, to this end Christ both died, and rose, and liveth; that [though a mere man!] he might be Lord both of the dead and living!-For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, [the judgment-seat of a mere man !] For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue confess to God. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.-I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus [a mere man !] there is nothing unclean of itself.-For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. He that in these things erveth Christ, [that is, serveth a mere man !] is acEptable to God.'

Chap. xv. 7,

Receive ye one another, as Christ also a mere man !] hath received us to the glory of God.

In proof that this is to be understood of Christ, see Vindication,
VI. p. 441, and Vol. VII. p. 43.

(Verse 12,) Esaias saith there shall be a root of Jesse, [viz. a mere man, not born till many hundred years after Jesse, and yet the root from which Jesse sprung!] and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him [though a mere man, and though it be written, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man ;—yet in hịm I say] shall the Gentiles trust!—I will not dare, (verse 18,) to speak of those things which Christ, [a mere man,] hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,-through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.-Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, [that is, for the sake of a mere man !] and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me:'

Chapter xvi. 3, Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, [that is, in a mere man !]— Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ, [a mere man!] Salute Andronicus and Junius, my kinsmen and my fellow-prisoners, who were in Christ [the mere man] before me. Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, [who, you know, is a mere man !] The churches of Christ, [that is, the churches of a mere man !] salute you. Mark them that cause divisions, for they that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, [that is, serve not a mere man !] but their own belly. The grace of [this mere man!] our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you! Amen! [I say again, verse 24,] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the same mere man !] be with you all!'

These, Rev. Sir, are a few of the many passages in the epistle to the Romans, relating to Christ, which when opened with Dr. Priestley's key, and interpreted according to his doctrine, appear to be so absurd, that I think no person pretending to common sense would have written them. And as a proof, that the Doctor and his brethren consider them as absurd, or at least incompatible with their scheme, they are rarely ob

served to use such either from the pulpit or the press - Serving Christ, preaching Christ, being in Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the grace of Christ; Christ made of the seed of David according to the flesh; sent in the likeness of sinful flesh; Christ dying for us, reconciling us to God by his death,—giving us redemption in his blood,-being the end of the law for righteousness,' &c. &c. are expressions seldom, if ever, heard from their pulpit, or read in their books. And no wonder; for they are expressions which but ill agree with their doctrine of Christ's mere humanity. They are like the head of gold, and breast of silver, in Nebuchadnezzar's image, joined with feet and toes of iron and clay.

LETTER II.

REV. SIR,

IN the last letter we reviewed sundry passages quoted from the Epistle to the Romans, and found, I think, that on the supposition of the author's holding the doctrine of Christ's mere humanity, he paid little regard, I will not say to divine inspiration, or to conclusive reasoning, but even to common sense, in writing that Epistle. I now proceed to the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, the very inscription of which, and benediction pronounced immediately after, demonstrate, either that the Socinian doctrine is false, or that St. Paul wrote, to say the least, very absurdly.

'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,-[that is, an apostle of a mere man !]-unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, [viz. sanctified in a mere man!] called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's -[that is, call upon the name of a mere man !] Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ,'-who, though no more than a man, is able, conjointly with the self-existent Jehovah, to confer grace and peace upon all the churches.

'. I thank my God, [proceeds he, verse 4,] always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Christ Jesus, [that is, by a mere man !] that in every thing ye are enriched by him [a mere man though he be ] in all utterance, and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ [this mere man] was confirmed among you, so that ye came behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who [though he be a mere man] shall confirm you unto the end, that