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    testimony here referred to , but who can readily account for the enmity which has existed against the apostle , without at all recurring to it ^ have a double objection to Dr . S . ' s statement , as being neither trice , nor even apparently required for the explanation of the facts , which are detailed and commented upon in a declamatory style , fitted to excite or foster prejudices , and most unlike that of a calm inquirer after truth . A large portion of

    what Dr . S . has been pleased to call the testimony of this apostle •* concerning the Person of the Redeemer and Saviour of men , " does not really relate to his person at all , but to the blessings of his religion , and , in a controversial point of view , can be nothing to our author ' purpose , inasmuch as it presents no difficulty whatever on the Unitarian scheme ;—thus the first article states , that " The Lord Jesus Christ is constantly celebrated , either by the mention of him alone , or in conjunction with the JDivine Father , as the author and bestower of the greatest possible blessings , the supreme good of everlasting possession and enjoyment . " What is here said is in the main true , and is acknowledged and felt to be so as much by Unitarians as by any other class of professing Christians .

    Of the blessings of the gospel we cannot think too highly , and Jesus Christ is constantly celebrated as the communicator , in a very proper sense of the term 9 the bestower of these blessings . Taking , indeed , the word author strictly as meaning the original source , it cannot be applied to Christ ; but every reader surely must observe that not one of the tests quoted justifies such an application , whilst the words of the same Apostle afford the strongest and clearest evidence against it : " Christ Jesus , who of God is made unto us wisdom , righteousness , sanctification , and redemption , " 1 Cor . i . 30 . " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus , " Eph . i . 3 . " God , who is rich in mercy , for his great love wherewith he loved us , even when we were dead in sins , hath quickened us together with Christ , ( by grace ye are saved , ) and hath raised us up together and made us to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus : that in the ages to come HE might shew the exceeding riches of his grace , in His kindness towards us , through Christ Jesus . " Who will pretend to reconcile these plain and positive declarations with the doctrine that Jesus was the author of gospel blessings ? Let Dr . S . ' s testimonies to " parity of power and influence with the Almighty Father" ( which are no more than the conjunction of the name of Jesus with that of God in respect to the

    communication of those spiritual blessings which are elsewhere said to be given through him ) be compared with these , and what doubt can there . as to the result ? It is , indeed , strange that the following passages could be thought to afford proof of parity of power , even if that doctrine were not excluded by express declarations to the contrary—yet they are all which it has been thought expedient to produce : " Grace and peace be unto you , from God our Father , and the Lord Jesus Christ ! " Rom . i . 7 .

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    Dr . J . P . Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah . 817

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1831, page 817, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2604/page/21/