DISCOURSE IIL g4 and it once maintain the sacred idea of Christ our Mediator as the great Theanthropos or God-man. Objection VII. " Some may imagine, and have been ready to Object, That this notion paves the way to lead us into the Arian camp, since it agrees in so many parts with their sentiments of their Logos, which they call the divine nature of Christ." Answer. This objection has been answered in part already; nor is there any such danger while we maintain the necessity of the union of the divine nature to this pre- existent spirit in order to make it capable of several names, titles, honours and preroga- tives that are ascribed to it in scripture, which are incommuniéa- bly divine. But on the other hand, why may not the charity of a reader give it another turn, and say, "It paves the way for the Arians to come into the sentiments of the orthodox, and believe the divi- nityof Christ," since it removes some of their greatest bars and objections against our common faith ? It transplants their strongest allurements and fairest colours of argument into our own doc- trine, and thereby renders their pretences to support their own scheme more feeble, ineffectual and needless. It enjoys the ad- vantages which their scheme pretends to, without any of those diffi- culties and inconvenienceswith which their opinion is incumbered. And I cannot but hope that if ever the modern refiners of the Arian error are allured and drawn to receive the truth, it must be by the means of this doctrine and the happy consequences which attend it. Perhaps if this doctrine had been set in its fairest light, and publishedto the world in the days ofthe Nicene council, it might have prevented the fatal and bloody contests that succeeded in the following ages ; it might have been a hap- py medium in the providence of God to have reconciled the ancient Arians to the catholic faith. This is the sentiment of the late reverend and learned writer Mr. Robert Fleming in his discourseon this subject, in his third volume of" Christology." Objection VIII. " Could such a doctrine as this be true, and yet the disciples of Christ know nothing of it in our Savi- eur's life-time, nor the apostles express it in plainer language in their writings, nor the primitive Fathers declare it as the senti- ment of the church, nor even our own divines in these enligh- tened days since the reformation proclaim it to the world ?" Answer. As for the disciples during the life of Christ, they May be supposed to have the same opinions concerning the soul of the Messiah which many of the Jews had in and before their times ; and that was, that the Messiah's soul was formed from the beginning of the world*: and if they thought all hulnait souls s: Bishop Fowler cites this passage hone an ancient book of the Jews called Pesikta, w After God had created the world, he put his hand upon the throne of his glory, and brought out the soul of the Messiah, with all his'atteudants, and said to him, Wilt thou heal and redeem my sons after six thousand year,: ? He answered,. lam willing as tó do. Again therefore God saidonto him, And art s s 2
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