ordinary language and conduct of the disciples towards our Saviour, indirectly, but very clearly proves, that they did not hold the Trinitarian view of his person. They manifestly entertained affection, wonder, veneration, for his lofty character and for his supernatural endowments; but I cannot discover any where a trace of that overwhelming astonishment and awe which must have occupied their whole minds, had they believed him to be really and properly the great "I AM"- the Creator of the heavens and the earth. On the contrary, I find very many facts which are plainly inconsistent with any such opinion.

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For instance, in a moment of danger they addressed him in terms expressive of impatience and reproach; "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" Mark iv. 38. They questioned the prudence of his conduct; “The Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?" John xi. 8. When he expressed his intention to awaken Lazarus out of his sleep, they thought the proposal unnecessary, if not injurious; "Lord, if he sleep, he will do well!" John xi. 12. When he foretold his own approaching passion, Simon Peter took him aside and "began to rebuke him: saying, Be it far from thee! This shall not be unto thee!" Matt. xvi. 22. See also Mark viii. 32. The three disciples who witnessed his transfiguration proposed, as an act of respect to their Master, to erect upon the mount three tabernacles, one for him, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. Would any Trinitarian think of doing honor to the Saviour by placing him in the same rank with two of the ancient prophets, however eminent and illustrious? The mother of the sons of Zebedee brought her two sons to Jesus,

desiring a certain thing of him" (Matt. xx. 20), manifestly hoping, that by assenting to her petition before the object of it was stated, our Lord would bind himself by a promise to do what he might otherwise refuse. She, therefore, and her sons, who were the Apostles John and James, evidently had no idea that our Lord possessed the attribute of omniscience. It is unnecessary to multiply illustrations and proofs of this point; for I am convinced that every candid man, of every denomination, will agree with me, that there is not any solid argument which can be advanced to prove that the disciples of our Lord believed in, or had ever heard of his Deity, before the time of his ascension; and that there are many and weighty arguments to show that they disbelieved it. I should consider it but a waste of time to dwell at greater length on this part of the subject.

Let us therefore proceed to the second branch of this Lecture, which relates to the doctrines held and taught by the Apostles of our Lord, subsequently to the time when they were endowed with miraculous gifts by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And as this is by far the more important branch of the subject, I shall bring forward a more copious selection of passages.

I commence with the views propounded by the Apostle Peter, respecting the Unity of God, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the subordinate office of the Holy Spirit, in the first discourse of his which is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, being the very first sermon that was preached after the effusion of the Holy Ghost. In this most important discourse, which is set forth at full length in the second chapter of Acts, the Father, and he

alone, is spoken of as God, and he alone is represented as Supreme. Our Lord is also mentioned, but he is uniformly distinguished from God, and represented as subordinate to him, and as deriving all his power and dignity from God; while the Holy Ghost is made dependent on both the Father and the Son. I allude to such expressions as the following: — "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up," &c. Acts ii. 22-24. And again "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, (that is the manifestation of the Spirit) which ye now hear and see," Verse 32, 33. And again"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ," Verse 36. Words could not express more accurately the doctrines held by Unitarian Christians. In my last lecture 1 showed that our blessed Saviour commenced his public ministry with a purely Unitarian sermon; I now call on you to observe that the same was the case with his Apostles for this was their first public discourse.

There is another discourse of the Apostle Peter recorded in the next chapter, from which I shall only take two sentences, but these will suffice to show, that there is a consistency in the doctrine delivered on both occasions. "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and

the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up and denied," Acts iii. 13. "Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities," Acts iii. 26. There are many other testimonies to the same effect contained in the discourses recorded in the book of Acts, they are truly valuable; but so plain, that it is unnecessary to quote them here: they will carry their own force to the mind of every attentive reader. I cannot, however, omit one which is most important, because it is to be regarded as the united testimony of the whole band of the Apostles, when brought to answer for their faith before the tribunal of the senate of the children of Israel, and, therefore, in the very circumstances in which our Lord had given them the promise of a peculiar guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit. Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged upon a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour; for to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Ghost, which God hath given to them that obey him," Acts v. 29, &c. Now I put it to my Christian brethren of every denomination who hear me, if they can discover, in this solemn and public confession of the whole band of the Apostles, any ideas, except those which are professed and believed by Unitarian Christians. "The God of the fathers," that is, THE ONE JEHOVAH, is still set forth as the God of the Christians. Christ is not described as God, but as one whom "God had raised up, and exalted, to be

a Prince and a Saviour." The Apostles represent themselves as the witnesses of Jesus; and they place the Holy Spirit in no higher rank." We are his witnesses, and so is the Holy Ghost." Whatever, therefore, may be said of the Unitarian's creed, it cannot be denied, that it agrees, to the letter, with the only creed that ever was sanctioned by the twelve Apostles; and I venture to affirm, this is more than can be said of the creed or confession of any other Church in the world.

I pass on to some extracts, showing the doctrine preached by the Apostle Paul, who was subsequently converted by a miracle, and appointed to be a herald of the faith. And here also we are able to refer to the subject of his first discourse, as set forth by the sacred historian. It is also distinctively Unitarian. We are told (Acts ix. 19, 20) that, after his conversion, he was certain days with the disciples at Damascus, "and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God." Observe, he did not preach the Trinity, nor the Supreme Deity of Christ, nor that Christ is God, nor that he is God-man, but "that he is the Son of God." And we read in the next verse but one, that he "confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ," or the true Messiah, of old promised to their nation. This is our belief.

Throughout the whole of his ministry, this eminent servant of God adhered to these simple principles of religious faith. In evidence, I might appeal to his other discourses contained in the book of Acts, especially those which he delivered at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts xiii.) and at Athens (Acts xvii.) But I rather take what farther extracts I shall lay before you, from those Epistles which