and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the

chief corner stone.' And what shall dismantle such an edifice? Will the breath of man blow it down? Shall it totter beneath the thunders of excommunication? Will it be fired by those flames of inquiry in which perish the wood, hay and stubble of human invention ? Will it fall in the storm, or moulder with age? No. It is immutable truth: a building of God; eternal as the heavens; like them bidding defiance to human hostility; and like them too, shedding benignant influences on the vain assailants.

This scriptural proof may receive confirmation from various considerations, which can be but briefly noticed.

Judaism was Unitarianism. It was instituted and supported by Divine direction and agency, to preserve in the world the knowledge of the One God. This object appears conspicuous in the origin, institutions, administration, and results, of that singular system.

The Jewish system may be considered as commencing with the call of Abraham. Idolatry was then rapidly becoming universal. The father of the faithful remained steady to the worship of the only God for this he was distinguished; for this separated; for this rewarded in his posterity; for this promised that his seed should inherit the land, and from him descend one in whom all nations should be blessed. The prayers of Abra

ham, and the communications of Deity to him, are detailed in many places. Those prayers are addressed to one person; those revelations made by, or in the name of, one person. To him was no Trinity revealed; by him was no Trinity adored. The language of Abraham is, "Lord God, what wilt thou give me?" "May Ishmael live before thee:" and that of the Deity is, "I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees; I will bless thee, and thy seed after thee.” Judaism, therefore, in its origin, is Unitarianism. It commences with the selection and reward of Abraham, for adoring one God amid general apostacy to Polytheism.

Judaism was Unitarian in its institutions. There was no revelation of a Trinity to the patriarchs who succeeded Abraham. Adoration is offered to, promises are made by, the same individual Jehovah. One after another is celebrated for treading in his steps. His posterity are enslaved in Egypt: the time of their deliverance arrives; Moses is commissioned to effect it. "Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." We are not then left to infer, from its not being recorded, that in the intermediate time no revelation of some other person or persons in the Godhead had been

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made it is here directly negatived, not only for the past, but for futurity. The laws afterwards given are such as from this we might expect. So far as they relate to worship, their great object is to inculcate that there is but one person to whom it is due. "I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt worship no other God, for the Lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." The worship instituted on Mount Sinai was, like that of the patriarchs, the worship of one God. It is not addressed to a Trinity; contains no recognition of a Trinity; but effectually and absolutely excludes that, and every other notion of a divine plurality.

Judaism was Unitarian in its administration. The laws of Moses were not designed, like Christianity, to work their way among other nations, and become universal. Their design was to preserve in Judea a certain degree of religious knowledge till the Messiah came. For this, the laws were aided by inspired men, raised up from time to time to restore and preserve their purity. Till within three hundred years, perhaps less, before Christ, there was a succession of prophets. The doctrines inculcated by these men are not unimportant in the present controversy. They were the guardians and expounders of the law of Moses. If that law was erroneously supposed to teach the

proper unity of God, they would have exposed the error. If the Trinity was there obscurely taught, and had been overlooked, they would have brought it to light. If the Jews, in Moses' time, were not fit for the reception of that mystery, and were to be gradually prepared for it, they would have made the revelation. Have they exposed such an error? Have they offered such an interprétation? Have they unfolded such a discovery? Nothing like it. Elijah by a miracle rescued the people from the worship of Baal; and they exclaimed, "The Lord, he is God!" Was this miracle wrought to turn them from idolatry, one fatal error, to Unitarianism, another fatal error? And was a prophet satisfied with such a triumph? The Psalmist interprets providential judgments to be for this purpose: "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth." Psalm lxxxiii. 18. Isaiah introduces the Deity asserting, "I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another." Isaiah xlii. 8. Zechariah, in the text, predicts the universal prevalence of this doctrine, and declares that The Lord, whose name is One, shall be king in all the earth.

Take Judaism in its origin, text or commentary; the patriarch with whom it commenced; the code in which it was embodied; the prophets by whom

it was administered; and it is clear that the doctrine of a plurality of divine persons was no part of it, was excluded from it, was inconsistent with it, and could only be established on its destruction.

The results of this system appear in the Jews, who conceive the reception of the doctrine of the Trinity to be equivalent to denying those of Moses. It is remarkable that the other descendants of Abraham, through Ishmael, are also adherents to this truth.

In vain is it argued that the unity designed was only one of nature or essence, and not of person, and that it was opposed to idolatrous Polytheism. The Jews were not metaphysicians; they made not, nor could comprehend so subtle a distinction, nor do the terms admit of it. Their being then opposed to one error, does not make them now less decisive against another error. Such strong assertions of proper unity, with the employment of singular pronouns, in declarations made in the name of God, and worship addressed to him, would effectually stamp any book but the Bible with the name of Unitarian, in the judgment of the objectors.

Whatever be the doctrine of Christianity, the proper Unity of God is essential to Judaism. It is interwoven in the various parts of that wondrous fabric; it is the very life and spirit of that body. This is enough to decide the question. That