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mentioning or alluding to this form ; but actually describing the form made use of by themselves , and by those whom they appointed to baptize , which never , in any one instance , appears to have been the form prescribed by this supposed commandment ; but , on the contrary ,
Instead of being a baptism into the name of the Father , of the Son , and of the Holy Spirit , appears to have been a baptism into the name of our Lord only ! How is this to be accounted for ? Is it not much easier to believe that these words were interpolated at some
subsequent period , aftejr the death not only of St . Matthew , but of all the rest of the apostles , than to adopt the absolutely incredible opinion , that our Lord ' s own disciples and companions should have wholly disregarded one of his last , and most authoritative and weighty injunctions ? that seven of the New Testament
writers out of eight , —six of whom were his apostles , knowing it well , —should Atave utterly neglected to make the least mention of it , as if it had been a thing of no consequence whatever ; and should , in all the instances of baptism , which
they have recorded as having been concerned in or acquainted with , have entirely disobeyed it themselves , or have related its disobedience by others , without a single remark in disapprobation of their conduct ?"—Pp . 244—247 .
But while the Barrister holds the passage to be of doubtful authority , he maintains , in our judgment , very satisfactorily , that it does not by any means prove the point for which it is adduced :
" Taking it for granted , then , for the sake of the argument , to have been a real and genuine commandment of our Lord , —to baptize into the name of the Father , and of the Son , ( who are
unquestionably persons , ) and of the Holy Spirit , ( whatever it may be , whether a person , property or influence , )—is it said that each of them is God ; or that the Son , or the Holy Spirit , is God ? No . That all three are one God ? No . That
all three are equal ? No . Or , that they all subsist in the same being or substance ? No :- * -nothing like it . Does then the naming of two or more persons to- * gether , or at the same time , or the joining of them in the same form or ceremony , prove that they are one , or that
they are equal ; or that , if one of them happens to be God , the others must also be God ? Does the baptizing ( etf ) into , or ( ckto ovofAcc ) into the name of , any person ( which is the same thing ) , prove that person to be God ? If not , how can the passage prove the doctrine of the Trinity ? "WPp ; 253 , » 54 ,
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And again , " The next subject for our inquiry will be , whether the naming of two or more persons together , or at the same time , or the joining of them in the same form or ceremony , proves that they are one , or that they are equal , or that if one of the , m is God , the others also must be God .
That none of these things furnish the least proof of any of these positions , will be manifest from the following texts : Exod . xiv . 31 : * And the people feared the Lord , and believed the Lord and his servant Moses . ' Here we have Jehovah and Moses joined in the same sentence , as the objects of the belief of the Israelites . 1 Sam . xii . 18 : « And all the
people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel / In this text the Lord and Samuel are named together , as objects of the fear of the people of Israel . 1 Chron . xxix . 20 : ' And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers , and bowed down their heads , and
worshiped the Lord and the king . ' In this place David is joined in the same solemn form or ceremony with Jehovah , and the whole congregation of Israel are represented as bowing down their heads and worshiping both ; aye , and what is more , as worshiping both at the same time and in the same manner , as being both objects
of joint and solemn worship . Yet all this does not prove , nor was it ever supposed , that King David was God or equal to God ; which obviously shews that the naming two or more persons together , or joining them in the same form or ceremony , proves nothing whatever as to their unity or equality .
" If any other text was requisite m this respect , a more remarkable one could not present itself than 1 Tim . v . 21 , where St . Paul , in a solemn adjuration , or charge , to Timothy , says , * I charge
thee before God , and the Lord Jesus Christ , and the elect angels , that tnou observe these things , * Here the elect angels are joined in the same religious form of adjuration , or charge , with God and the Lord Jesus Christ : and it is so
like what Trinitarians have been accustomed to consider as a Trinitarian form , that if the words « Holy Spirit * had been substituted for ' elect angels ,, ' it would have been considered as furpishing Jrrefragable evideotee of the truth of the doctrine of the Trinity , and of eacVof the three being God , and jbeing equal to
each other . Yet , as the elect angels have not had the good fortune tp fee declared to be God , or to be equ ^ l ejther tP the Father or to the San / fcy any general council or synod , no one has been hardy enough to deduce either their egttality or their godhead , from their haviiog bepn thus united in this solemn fbtm . If t !> U
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i 424 Review . —A Barrister ' s Letters in Defense of Unitarianum .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1820, page 424, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2490/page/44/
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