Excerpt from Letters on the Trinity, and on the Divinity of Christ: Addressed to the Rev. William E. Channing, in Answer to His Sermon "on the Doctrines of Christianity;" Preached and Published at Baltimore It will not do, therefore, first to acknowledge the Scrip tures as containing a revelation of the Divine Will, and then to sit in judgment upon the individual parts or subjects of that revelation. If so, we are justly chargeable with the in consistency Of at the same time admitting and rejecting it of admitting it in part, and of rejecting it in part. If -it be in deed and in truth an emanation from God, we must re ceive it as. A whole and believe it as a whole If it be not a divine revelation, then let its claims he disproved, and its authority at once and for ever set aside. Were we required to furnish an exemplification Of the principle against which our Observations have been directed, we might select the account given by the Apostle John of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he says, The Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us.' Now, that portion of Scripture which bears the name of John as its author, after having been subjected to the most rigid examination, has been admitted into the sacred canon, and has invariably been received byprofessing Christians as part of the Holy Scriptures.. But many who admit its authority in the abstract, and acknowledge John to be an inspired wri ter, nevertheless take exception against the passage in ques tion, because it is at variance with their preconceived opi nions, or inexplicable to their limited faculties Now, if John's gospel be indeed part of divine revelation, we are bound to yield our assent to its statements: We, must re ceive the declaration regarding Christ's incarnation (for to him the passage quoted undoubtedly refers) as true, because it forms part of John's gospel; and that gospel has been. Found to be true. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The following dissertation concerning the Trinity, as the reader ought to be informed, has been written in order to guard against the sophistries of those who disdain to begin with faith, and are deceived by a crude and perverse love of reason. Now one class of such men endeavor to transfer to things incorporeal and spiritual the ideas they have formed, whether through experience of the bodily senses, or by natural human wit and diligent quickness, or by the aid of art, from things corporeal; so as to seek to measure and conceive of the former by the latter. Aeterna Press

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1844. Excerpt: ... and men. In like manner, the two great parties on earth, Jews and Gentiles, are united together. But why Christ should be called "the image of the invisible God," and the "head (Tpwroroicoc the first born) of all creation," because he is merely the instrument of bringing Jews and Gentiles together, is not apparent to me. Yet, to be such an instrument, is all that the passage in question ascribes to him, if we are to construe it in the manner above related. But when you understand the words of the apostle as describing the creation of the worlds celestial and terrestrial (61 ovpavoi Kcu y yij, compare Heb. i. 10--12, ) and ascribing it to Christ, then you find sufficient reason for designating him by the exalted appellations in question. It has also been affirmed that a moral creation only is here ascribed to Christ. But words like these, in such a connexion, and with such adjuncts, are nowhere else used in this sense. Moreover, in what sense has the moral creation by Christ affected the angels? The good ones needed not repentance or pardon; the bad ones have never sought or obtained either. " Verily, he did not assist the angels (ov yap Sr)irov ayyewv tTrCKafxavtrat, ) but the seed of Abraham." (Heb. ii. 16.) Until I see different light, therefore, shed over the passage in question, I must regard it as very clearly ascribing the creation of the universe to Christ. But you will say, perhaps, that in John i. 3, " All things are said to be made by Christ" cW Xptarov, as the instrumental, not the principal cause, --the preposition Sia denoting such cause. In Col. i. 16, it is also said that all tilings were created by Christ (St avrov); and in Heb. i. 2, God is said to have created the worlds by his Son, --At' ov (sc. vlov) Kat Tovq cuwvag tirotraev. The allegati...