01 - Chapter 1
THE MANUAL.
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WHILE contemplating the character of the Infinite, Uncreated, Invisible) Immortal, Incomprehensible, BEING; we are at once filled with feelings of deep solemnity and reverential delight.
While we view, is awful majesty his jealousy for his own holiness his utter abhorrence of all sin his dreadful wrath, we can but be solemnly impressed.;, -: But while we consider his love in giving his Son the condescension of the Son in suffering, bleeding, groaning- and dying to redeem us from sin; who, can but feel his heart melt with emotions of tenderness and delight? While we reflect on the vast, consequences involved in the subject before us, we trust that the Holy Spirit will grant us aid to arrive at the truth in all our conclusions.
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CHAPTER I.
Evidences of the real humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. His body was human He had a human soul.
IT is an evident fact that Christ our blessed Savior must have possessed two natures, or he did not.
He was human, that is, he possessed a human body and soul, or he did not.
Now, if Unitarianism be correct when it declares that Christ possessed but one nature, then it follows that that nature must have been a created nature in every sense of the term considered, or it was not.
I. Christ our Savior possessed inhuman body.
1. This is evident from the following passage.
Php 2:7-8.,”But made himself of no reputetion, and took upon him r the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
.From this, it is quite evident that he who was eternally with the Father look the forinof a man.
2. This form or body was one in all respects man.Hebrews 2:14-17. “ For as much then as thechildren are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God.” If he was not possessed of a human, body and soul, he was not in all things like his brethren. He participated in the same nature with the rest of mankind, and in this respect He was as truly human as were the, children who were also partakers of flesh and blood, for he partook, or took, part of the same nature which they inherently possessed.,.
He tells his disciples plainly after his resurrection what his body was. Luke 24:39. “Behold my hands and my feet, that it
It seems to be almost trifling to attempt to prove that that flesh and those bones he mentioned were human! But such is the pertinacity with which many cling to errors, that it is almost indispensable to prove, that our Lord possessed human flesh, bloody and bones. [1]
[1] We wish the reader to bear in mind, in the outset, that Unitarians maintain the, idea that Christ possessed bat one nature, and that was all divine. This is the, doctrine of that sect, who call themselves,” The Christian Church,” or we will say, it is the doctrine of the leading ministers’ and’ members of that’ sect. Thus one of their writers has it:
“But to believe we do incline, That Jesus Christ was all divine.” The reader will see in perusing this work, that we have cited some of their authors to prove this to be their leading sentiment. How completely this idea accords with one John speaks of, when he says;” Many deceivers are entered into, the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-christ.”2 John 1:7. He who believes in’ a Savior that possesses “ Divine flesh” must entertain strange notions of Divinity. The common acceptation of the term divinity, is, “deity, divine nature,” and we cannot possibly conceive that this nature could suffer and die. As we have stated in another place, so we would say here; angelic nature might have suffered, but could not have ’died. But if Christ possessed but one nature, and that was divine, or angelic, or if it was human, how could he say, “ I have power to lay down my life, and- 1 have power to take it again.” If he possessed but one nature, and that was now dead, and incarcerate in the tomb, had it power of itself to rise and burst the bands of death?
Suppose an angel could die, and be buried in the grave; has that angel power to take his life again? Assuredly not. Nor has any mere creature that power.
3. He was subject to the same laws that all his brethren were subject to.Luke 8:51. We find him subject to his parents. Galatians 4:4-5. “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” As a human being, it became him to be subject to the laws which recognize government and control human actions.
4. He had the susceptibilities of man.
(1.) Tempted by the devil.Matthew 4:1.
(2) Fasted arid was hungry.Mark 11:12. “And on the morrow, when they were come from ’Bethany, he was hungry.”
(3.) He was thirsty.John 4:7. ’’Jesus saith unto her give me to drink.” John 19:28. “Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, saith I thirst.”
(4.) He was fatigued by his labors.John 4:6 “Jesus therefore being weary with his journey sat thus on the well.”
(5.) He slept as a man.Matthew 8:24. While the sea was roaring, its waves dashing, and the: tempest howling, he slept. But as soon as he was awakened by his disciples, he rose, and at once, and with the voice of Omnipotence, hushed the headlong waves, and calmed the roaring winds; So there was a great calm.
(6.) He grieved, felt, and wept as a man.John 11:35. And was subject to pain and death. His body was not a spiritual body. Spirits cannot die. The spirit-of man is immortal, and only the body is subject to mortality. His body was not of the nature of angels, for angelic nature cannot die.
They have fallen and are still in being, wretched being indeed, but death is forever removed from them. But the body of Jesus died.
“Well might the sun in darkness hide And shut his glories in, When Christ the mighty Savior died, For man the creature’s sin.”.
(7.) The angel, by the appointment of God, gave the most significant title to the Savior before his birth. He was to be called JESUS, because he was to save his people from their sins. But he was also to be called IM-MANU-EL, God with us. Of this being; it was said by Isaiah, that “ Butter and honey he should eat,” intimating that he should receive the same kind of nutriment that other men, or human beings, partook of, that he should be one WITH US, and at the same time GOD. Of him it is said, “He was made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,” and the first promise that alludes to him as the Savior, speaks of him as “ The seed of the woman.” Genesis 3:15. He was God, made known, or manifested, in the flesh. From his name, Immanuel, from the fact that he was the seed of the woman, of the seed of Abraham,” what other rational conclusion can be drawn, than that he possessed the nature of human beings.’’ In this nature, God -was manifested to us, and this we term the incarnation of the Deity. How Divinity was united with humanity we do not pretend to know} but we do know that the Bible teaches this doctrine, and on the veracity and validity of inspiration we most heartily believe it. [1] Some have supposed his body was not human, because it is said that “ God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” But observe, “ in the likeness of sinful flesh.” His nature was perfectly pure, but it had the likeness of ours, which is wholly corrupt. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. Now the man who reads the evidences of the human nature of our Savior, which are so abundant in the volume of Life, and yet cannot see that the doctrine we are here advocating is
[1]The union of matter and mind in man is usually believed, but the manner of that union we cannot define. We know this connection exists, and if we acknowledge it to be incomprehensible, yet it is indisputably true. Nothing can be known of mind as a separate entity, and the body without the mind is perfectly insensible, yet the only medium through which the operations of the mind are known to us is the body. We ask the man who rejects the idea that Christ possessed human and divine natures united, because be cannot completely comprehend it, if he is not bound by the same principle to reject the union of matter and mind in man? Certainly so. But this is rejecting his senses and consciousness! and denying what he knows to be true. scriptural, must dwell in rare darkness. What proof could be possibly sufficient to establish this point, if it is yet unproved? Though Unitarians may reject or ridicule the idea of an incarnation of the Divine Being, yet we can ’scarcely see how inspiration can make the proof more pointed, or more conclusive. But where arid what is the evidence that Christ possessed but one nature? This is asserted over and over and again by Unitarians, but where is the proof? It is objected by Unitarians, that “the Bible does no where assert that Christ possesses two natures.” The Bible no where asserts that one and one are two, yet we believe it. But the Bible asserts that Christ is Got?, and that he is man, and we know, the nature of God is one nature, and the nature of man is another nature, and we call these, two natures; and as we find them both manifest in one person, as plainly as that the sun illuminates and warms the earth, we do believe that person has these two natures. The reader will-see that the’ above objection is a mere- prevarication.
Another objection is this. “Did a very man come down from heaven? Surely not. Then Christ was not a very man.” “I am sure no one will say Abraham’s seed came down from heaven.” [1] The writer here is either at war with himself, or with inspiration, and we should think with both, for certainly this objection cannot touch Trinitarianism. We do not say that the human body pf the Savior came [1] Elder O. Barr’s “ Truth Triumphant,” page 33. down from heaven, but we believe it was he who said, “ A body hast thou prepared me,” that came down from heaven. In this he seems to be at variance with himself. But When tie asserts that Christ was not of the seed of Abraham, he is at war with inspiration. “ Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David t according to the flesh.” Horn. 1:8. “ Remember that Jesus Christ, of the ’seed of” David, was raised from the dead, according to my Gospel.” 2 Timothy 2:8. “ He took oh him the seed of Abraham.” Hebrews 2:16.. So we see that the writer was not opposing Trinitarian is my but Unitarianism, or the Bible, or both. For the Bible asserts that he was of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh) and that in some sense, he came down from heaven. His humanity only died. And while-this August Person suffered, nature seemed to be convulsed to its centre, light left the livid sun audited up to the throne of “God.; The mountains and valleys shook; the adamantine rocks clave in sunder, as Jesus bowed his majestic head and ’commended his soul to God his Father.
“But soon he’ll break death’s envious chain, And in full glory shine, O Lamb of God was ever pain Was ever love like thine?”
(8.) He is called the Son of Man. Son of David y and it is said he sprang from the tribe, of Judah, He is called a little child (paidioh). eight times in the second chapter of the gospel by. St. Matthew.
(9.) As he was equal with God in his divine nature, so he makes himself equal with man in his human nature, and consequently declares his inferiority to him.John 14:28. “ If you loved me, ye would rejoice because I said I go to my Father; for my Father is greater than I.” On the hypothesis that Jesus Christ possessed but one nature, it is impossible to reconcile this passage with those where he says, “‘T and; my Father are one.” “He that hath seen me, hath; seen the father.” John 14:9.
Again he says, Revelation 20:10. – “l am the ROOT and OFFSPRING of David.” This declaration is unequivocal, He is, according to his own words, not only the author of the very existence of David, but he is truly his descendant. Now, if he possessed but one nature, as Unitarians so confidently assert, how could this be true? Or, to use the blessed Savior’s own words to the Pharisees,” who denied that he possessed the, nature of God and man* and- often accused him of being but a man and yet making himself God:” If David then called him Lord, how is he his son?” Matthew 22:45.: They could not answer him a word. Nor can Unitarians of these days, who affirm that he possesses but one nature, make any better answer than the Pharisees did. So we are brought fairly to the Conclusion, that as Christ was David’s offspring and David’s ion, he possessed his nature; that is, human nature. And, as he was, the Lord and Root of David, he possessed divine nature also. We also conclude, that no solution of these passages can be made, that has any claim to propriety, or merits any degree of regard from intelligent Christians, and careful readers: of the sacred volume, in accordance with the doctrine of any sect of Unitarians on earth. As far as our knowledge extends, it is a fundamental principle with them that Jesus Christ possessed hut one nature. If, therefore, that one nature was “ all divine,” how could he be the Son and offspring of David, according to the flesh? And if that one nature was all human, how could he be his Lord, and the author of his existence, or, as he styles himself, “the Root of David?” But with these remarks concerning the humanity of the body of our Savior we shall leave the candid inquirer after truth to make up his mind on this point. We hope this one thought may revolve in the mind of the reader, that is, ‘The body of our Savior must have been human, or it was not, and if it was not human, it must have been angelic or divine, and consequently he was not the person of whom Isaiah spake when he said, “He was a MAN of sorrow and acquainted with grief,” nor was the apostle correct who testified, “He was made like unto his brethren in all things,” and that the Israelites were the people “whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over ALL, God blessed forever. Amen.”
II. Christ possessed a human soul.
1. It is as evident, as the Scriptures of divine truth can make any thing evident, that Jesus Christ created all things which are in heaven, and on earth, whether visible, or invisible, and that without him was nothing made that was made. The blessed Volume also asserts that Jesus Christ is before all things, and by him all things consist. Let these passages be kept in view constantly, while we proceed to prove, that he had a human soul. This will enable the reader to see whether the proof is sufficient to sustain the proposition.
2. It is a peculiar characteristic of the human soul, or mind, that it constantly expands while it is cultivated. Let is also be remembered, that the angels are created intellectual beings. Now we are expressly informed, Luke 2:52, That “Jesus increased in wisdom,” as well as in stature. “Nuera kai osta eisi aloga.” Nerves and bones are without wisdom, or reason. His body could not have increased in wisdom, but it did increase in stature. “The body without the soul is dead.” Thus it was with the body of the Lord Jesus, when he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46. Where is the individual, who would be guilty of the hardihood to assert that that intellect, which created the tallest angel that dazzles before the throne of God, should in the space of a few transient days here on earth be said to “increase in wisdom?” Can it be said that that mind which planned the path of Herschel, that spread the belts across the disk of Jupiter, that set the might rings around the planet Saturn, that taught the Comets their elliptic orbits, increased in wisdom in a few revolving days? Certainly we think no believer in revelation would assert this! It is not proved by indubitable Scripture testimony, That JESUS CHRIST created all these planets, and reared the mighty fabric of the universe? It is so. Then was that mind that increased in wisdom, the identical mind that at the first drafted the plan of the universe? Most certainly not. Then as candid and rational men we must come to the conclusion that our Lord Jesus possessed a human mind, and that he was in all respects truly man in regard to his body and mind.
3. It is evident that our Savior possessed a human soul, from the fact that he was tempted in all points like as we are. We are aware that satan tempts the Christian, by throwing his vile insinuations into the mind. If he possessed no human soul, and all the soul he had was his divine nature, then he could not have been tempted, “for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” In order that he could be our example, and fulfill the law for us, and in so doing make it honorable, he must have inherited the capacity of being tempted, and of course he possessed a human mind, endowed with all the faculties that the mind of our first parents possessed in their primitive state. There could have been no propriety in his suffering temptation, as our example, if by his nature, (being destitute of a human soul, ) he was infinitely above the power of temptation. Now this must have been the case, if he had no soul, except the indwelling of the Godhead, for, as we said before, “God cannot be tempted.”
4. Jesus Christ testified that he had a soul. At one time he: was heard to say, “ My soul (psuche) is exceedingly sorrowful.” Mark 14:34. Again “ my soul (psuche) is troubled, and what shall I say.’? John 12:27. But ^perhaps a Unitarian friend! may object, “that this soul Jesus spake of was not human, or like, the souls of the rest of mankind, but it was that derived intelligence, whom God authorized and delegated to create the universe, and that it was angelic or super angelic.” But it should be understood that the angels are spoken of &s spirits, and not as souls. Says ail apostle, speaking of angels, “ Are not they all ministering spirits?” (pneumata.) Here they are called spirits. Hebrews 1:14, also Hebrews 1:7. We frankly acknowledge that the human soul is sometimes termed (pne’uma) or the spirit of man. But we have no recollection of angels being described as souls, or of their being known by the appellation, PSUCHE.
David, while personating the Savior, says, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades” nor suffer thy- holy one, (that is, his body,)to see corruption.” Psalms 16:10. Here we have his soul and body brought to ^view very clearly again. But certainly Christians will not dispute what the Lord Jesus said with his expiring breath, “ Father,” said he, “ into thy hands I, commit my spirit.” Gr “ Pater eis cheiras sou parathesomai to pneuma mou.” Even with his latest breath, he wishes to commend his soul into the hands of God h^s Father, thus following the example of many of the illustrious dead who had left the world, saying, “ In marnu tuas Domine commendo 2 spiritum meum.” Thus he lived as a man and died as a man, commending his soul to God...
Finally: There is the same evidence that Jesus our Savior possessed a human body, that there is that Peter, John or Paul did; and there is equal evidence that he possessed a human sour that there is that he possessed a human body.