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emblem of locusts; a very appropriate emblem of the enemies and persecutors of the primitive Christians, for it is a most destructive insect; hence, the leader has the name of Abaddon, or Apollyon, given him, for they both mean a destroyer; indeed, the one is merely a translation of the other. In Judges, chap. vi. 3, we read, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other eastern nations,' i. e. the various Arab tribes, came against the Israelites, encamping on their territory, ravaging the whole produce of the ground, as far as Gaza, leaving them neither provisions, flocks nor herds. They came with their cattle and their tents,

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like a multitude of locusts without num

ber, laying waste the land.' The prophet Joel (ii. 3-5) speaks of the locusts, and describes the devastation they make in the following expressive language: Before them the land is as the garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wil deruess.' He compares them to the appearance of horses, and like horsemen they run; their leap is like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, and like the sound of a flame of fire, which devoureth stubble.' After giving a further account of them, which, in many respects, resembles those mentioned

by John, and of their rapid, irregular, destructive and overwhelming march, he says, Before them the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. These locusts are used figuratively to denote the misery, distress and ruin, occasioned by an irresistible attack of a numerous host of enemies. This king of the locusts and his subjects were not, however, utterly to destroy Christianity, nor to consign those who embraced it to the eternity of hell torments, which, as the king of hell, he would have done had he been the Devil; but to harass and persecute the Christians for a limited time-five months; upon

the earth, and not in hell. This period

answers to the time that locusts generally make their appearance and commit their depredations from the beginning of April to the end of August. To whatever, therefore, John referred by this deep pit, this abyss, he could not intend to designate by it the future abode of the wicked, nor the residence of the Devil, as must appear from the nature of the inhabitants of this pit; who were, probably, from the description of the locusts, military men, employed in the work of persecu

tion and death.

"Smoke, in the language of Scripture, does not necessarily imply the presence of fire, as its cause, (see Deut. xxix. 30; Psalm xviii. 7, 8, lxxiv. 1, eiv. 32, cxliv. 5): nor does John intimate that the smoke arose from a fur

nace; but that it resembled a smoke from a great furnace. The vision contained in the twelve first verses of this chapter appears to me to refer only to some severe, though not a long persecution of the Christians, since John concludes it by saying, the first woe was over, and it had continued only five months; Behold! two more are yet to come.' No such superhuman, malevolent spirit, as the advocates of the Devil believe him to be, is described in this, or in any other of the visions of Johu.' Pp. 193–196.

Scott examines five passages of this In concluding this Lecture, Mr. book in which the term Diabolos or Devil occurs, and contends that in all of them none but a human adversary upon earth is meant; a position which will scarcely be disputed by any who have inquired into the sense of the Apocalypse and endeavoured to find a clue to guide the mind through this labyrinth of oriental vision and Jewish allegory.

[To be continued.]

ART. II.-The Mutual Relation of the Unity of God and the Humanity of Christ, as Doctrines of the Gospel: a Sermon, preached July 9, 1823, at Bristol, before the Society of Unitarian Christians, established in the West of England, for promoting Christian Knowledge and the Practice of Virtue, by the Distribution of Books. By John Kentish. 12mo. pp. 68. Birmingham, printed and sold by J. Belcher and Son; sold also by R. Hunter, London.

MR. KENTISH has been long

distinguished as a learned, able, judicious and candid advocate of Unitarian Christianity, and the present discourse lays the denomination in which he occupies an important station under new obligations to him. The Unity of God and the Humanity of Christ have been often well asserted and satisfactorily proved from the Scriptures; but we know of no sermon or treatise in which "the mutual relation" of these principles as "doctrines of the gospel" is so concisely stated and argued, and so clearly established as in the present discourse. It adds to the merit of the Sermon that the whole argument is deduced from and supported by

the text. On this account, as well as from its temperate language and charitable spirit, and from the practical use made of the argument, this discourse may be recommended to young preachers as a model of controversial sermons.

The text, already referred to, is 1 Tim. ii. 5, which lays down in the plainest terms the two doctrines maintained by the preacher; the Unity of God and the humanity of Christ. The union of these truths, in the original system of Christianity, Mr. Kentish shews, 1. presented a barrier against Heathen idolatry. 2. It was opposed to a species of grossly erroneous worship, of which Christians were even at that time in danger, and which prevailed afterwards in the apostate church. And, 3, it was requisite for the developement of the extensive plan of redemption by Christ, as well as, 4, for the promulgation, stability and moral triumphs of the doctrine of the Cross.

Under the first head are the following judicious and instructive reInarks:

"Heathen idolatry begun in assigning to the one God' subordinate agents, who first shared in the worship presented to him, and afterwards engrossed it. Such were the deified men of antiquity, or its dæmons: I employ the term by which Paul characterizes them, in his speech at Athens, and with which the title lords' is synonymous. For these, astonishing to relate! altars blazed and temples were erected. To the notions, whether right or wrong, entertained of dæmons by the later Gentiles the statement there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus' very pointedly applies. The dæmons of our Saviour's age, were human beings, exalted, on some account, after their decease, to a sort of middle rank between earth and heaven, between mankind and the primary divinities, of whom they were regarded as the mediators, or instruments, in transacting mortal affairs. It was a sentiment fruitful iu error, and even in crime; being often productive of the most vicious and debasing homage-as in much later times it has been of many a superstitious practice and fancy. Since it could only be checked by means of sensible miracles, it demanded the coutroul of revealed religion. Much had been done under the Jewish dispensation to weaken its power: far more was effected by the progress of the spiritual worship and holy doctrine inculcated in the gospel, which subverted

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and destroyed the reigning polytheism,
by disclosing not only one' eternal
God,' the sole Lord of nature and Ob-
ject of prayer, but one mediator, the
man Christ Jesus;' his rank being strictly
human, while his mission was divine and
his endowments were supernatural. Here
you discover a key to the apostolic state-
ment, upon which I am discoursing.
Timothy, you will recollect, was now at
Ephesus, the metropolis of idolatry for a
large tract of Asia in writing to him,
his venerable friend virtually addressed
the inhabitants of that city. To the
Ephesians he represents the unity of the
Creator. Yet, seasonable and important
as was the lesson, there is one God,
something more was requisite as a remedy
and antidote of dæmon worship, and,
therefore, it is added, and one mediator
between God and men.' But who was
this mediator? Not a deified human
being, a demigod, or a hero; not, to
borrow the language of the same import,
yet proceeding from a much later school,
an incarnate divinity, or a god man, but
simply the man Christ Jesus.'
Paul contented himself with asserting
the unity of the Supreme Being, the case
of dæmons, and of the religious services
paid to them, would have been left un-
touched. If, again, he had only affirmed,

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there is one mediator,' this assertion, however pertinent and momentous, had, in like manner, been insufficient; since he would have passed in silence the doctrine of one God, nor even intimated an opinion with regard to the superior deities of the Pagan world. As it is, he aims a deadly blow at the Gentile superstition, by stating what was directly and completely to his purpose. He combines tenets, which, in reason, cannot be disjoined, and the mutual union of which is everlasting. To the enlightened Christian it must always be a subject of the most gratifying reflection, that, delivered from the darkness of Heathen idolatry, he adores a single and a spiritual Being; and this in the name of the one mediator,' the Great Revealer of his will, to whom the Universal Father has entrusted commissions and powers unspeakably surpassing in dignity those bestowed on any other individual of our race, and, as far as we are informed, of any creature, of any order.”—Pp. 11—15.

The preacher makes a happy use of his text, in reference to his argument, under the second head :

"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. The accumulation and the establishment of gigantic errors, are the work

Acts xix. 26, 31.

of Time. If a capital article of Revelation be in any degree corrupted, we may justly fear, that the corruption will extend, in the same measure, to some other revealed tenets; especially should the two propositions relate severally to God and Christ. I entreat you to read again Paul's memorable statement. How devoid is it of obscurity; how entire a coutrast with merely human creeds, terms and phrases! We, my brethren, I speak without hesitation, we, and they whose adoration is directed as ours is, are the only persons in the Christian world, who can employ this language, as the apostle employed it, literally and verbally, with out the smallest mental addition or reserve. The distinction made between the Beings whose deeply interesting names are introduced, is the clearest which can be conceived. They are distinguished, in respect of the nature of each, as God and man they are distinguished, with regard to their characters under the gospel, as the fountain and the channel of all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Add to these clauses, or take any thing from them, and you are instantly lost in a labyrinth of error: you exchange apostolic simplicity for the dialect of the schools. Receive the words without a

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gloss adhere to them strictly, in your speculations and your practice, and you will neither exhibit nor countenance any approach to idolatrous devotion. If there be one God,' and the Messiah be discriminated from him as the man Christ Jesus,' it is evident that Deity belongs not to the Lord of Christians in any of the modifications or qualifications with which some hold that he is of divine rauk: it is equally certain that he cannot be the just object of religious homage. From the declaration that he is a human being, it, again, follows undeniably, that he is not a pre-existent spirit; and thus the unity of the Great Supreme is still further guarded. Were Jesus a superhuman or angelic spirit; were he, under God, the Creator of the world; were he, though inferior to the Father, yet, in some way, uudefined and inexplicable, of identical glory with him, how easily and insensibly would men hence be led to ascribe to our Saviour essential Deity, the very nature that he disclaimed, the very honours that he prohibited! The mind that duly reflects on the instructions of Scripture, and on the analogy and course of Providence, finds no restingplace, it its meditations upon the Author of the blessings of the Gospel, and the instrument of communicating them, from the one God' to the man Christ Jesus' and Paul writes, as though he beheld with a prophetic eye the sad effect of mutually separating those doctrines,

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"Let us pause, my brethren, and look back, for a moment, on the train of his thoughts and reasoning. Christianity is designed to be the religion of men of every tongue and kindred. Our common Maker and Father will have all of them to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. To illustrate and establish this proposition, Paul alleges the Unity of God and the Humanity of our Lord. The force then of the writer's argument, depends on the literal, unreserved acceptation of his words, on God's being strictly ONE, on the mediator's being absolutely MAN. His language, again, must be interpreted by facts, not by an arbitrary bypothesis; by its coutext, not by the creeds of later agesand it is conclusive no less against every theological system, which destroys or impairs the paternal character of the Deity, than against the doctrines of a conjunction of natures in Jesus Christ and a plurality of persons in the Godhead. If the Gospel be glad tidings of great joy for all people, it is because there is,' without any qualification, 'one God, and one Mediator-the man Christ Jesus.' Thus, the argument for the Divine Unity, from the Scriptures, and, I humbly think, that from creation, goes further than to an unity of counsel:' it establishes an unity of PERSON." Pp. 35, 36.

·

The mutual relation of the tenets here asserted is shewn, in the last head, to be proved by the instruction, comfort and hope, which they jointly impart to the sons of men. They represent God as a Father, and the Mediator as a brother. Christ's sameness of nature to man in general is the ground of his compassion for mankind; it makes him a fit pattern of duty and reward; it constitutes his resurrection a pledge of the general resurrection; and it qualifies him to be the Judge of quick and dead.

In applying his discourse to the occasion of the meeting, Mr. Kentish takes a brief review of the history of the Western Unitarian Society, and presents an animated picture of the triumphs of Christian truth, at home and abroad. He then proceeds and concludes,

"Why, my brethren, do I remind you

of these things? Not that boasting may be indulged. Let that for ever be excluded: Deep humility we should always cultivate; and to God let our praise unreservedly be rendered. In glancing at such facts, I am desirous of suggesting encouragement to your exertions. Where so much has been done, beyond our expectations, though certainly not beyond our wishes, unrelaxed and augmented zeal will naturally produce effects of far greater magnitude; just as additional impulses given to a body already in motion cause it to advance with accelerated rapidity and a surer aim.

Let us

"Christian zeal is the spirit of love and of a sound mind,' as well as of energy: let benevolence and knowledge therefore, not less than perseverance, be eminently the property of ours. watchfully guard against the temptations arising from our situation in the religious world, from the controversies of which, at present, we unavoidably are the objects, and in which some of us may be parties. Nothing like railing must be returned for railing: we must reply in meekness to those who oppose themselves; we must inform them, plainly and mildly, that what they object to us, has been objected, and with the same injustice, to Christians of the earliest ages and in the temper of those Christians our vindication must be made. If some individuals, who follow not with us, shew a disposition to employ unhallowed weapons, of attack, or of de fence, let us, with united fortitude and gentleness, protest against the principle and condemn the act. Let every measure to which we have recourse, be worthy of our high and sacred cause, be the effect of a happy conjunction of wisdom, zeal and kindness. With that cause let us not intermix any foreign topics: let us not attempt to support it by any other means than those which accord with its spiritual and heavenly origin. Let us refuse to make our individual efforts, our favourite plans of usefulness, the test of the benevolence and judgment and piety of our brethren. In one word, let us adorn our doctrine by the cultivation of knowledge, but especially of religious virtue; cementing our union by social acts of worship, and exercising that devout and moral vigilance, which our circumstances particularly demand. For solid worth of character recommends truth more powerfully, and subdues prejudice and opposition more completely, than even the strongest reasoning."-Pp. 55-58.

ART. III.-An Introductory Address, delivered on Sunday, Feb. 2, 1823, in the Unitarian Chapel of Dundee; to which is added, a Summary Statement of the Principles and Defence of the Dissent of the Unitarians in that Town. By David Logan. 8vo. pp. 32. Dundee, printed by James Chalmers.

THE

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HE peculiarities of Scottish eloquence are felt by all readers, though they cannot be easily described. This Address" abounds in them, and we wholly mistake it, if it does not mark out its author as destined to great usefulness in the Christian church. He speaks "to the Reader" of himself in the following truly interesting manner :

"The author of the following Discourse, and defence of Unitarianism, is not a hereditary Unitarian. He is a convert. The renouncement of the doc

trine of the Trinity cost him many pangs. It was the faith of his fathersthe faith which he cherished-the faith

which men hoped he would defend—and glad would he have been, when he began to suspect its erroneousness, if he could have excused himself from an im

partial inquiry into the evidences of the opposite doctrine. But this he could not do. A strong suspicion that all was not right in his creed having been excited in his mind, by a cause from which one would not have anticipated such an effect-excited by an orthodox sermonhe could not stifle it as some can do, by calling it a temptation of Satan, or by felt himself bound to inquire. He did some other convenient expedieut. He inquire, and the result was, what some call heresy, and what I call truth.

"But, besides the duty of inquiry, he felt that he had another duty to perform that of avowing his belief. This duty also he performed; and though poverty was before him-though obloquy was before him-though it grieved him to thwart a father's wishes, who, having conducted him through eight sessions of education in the University of Glasgow, was now so near the close of the long preparation, to be so painfully disappointed, he nevertheless became an Unitarian preacher; and now, as a defender of Unitarianism, he calls upon his Trinitarian countrymen, as Christians, to 'search the Scriptures;' as Protestants, to scorn subjection to human authority, to be manly in the exercise of their own understandings-to be unprejudiced, that if his be the truth they may embrace it,

and that if theirs be the truth, they may with some reason reject his error."P. 5.

The "Address" appears to have been delivered by Mr. Logan, though the occasion is not explained in the title-page or preface, on his taking the pastoral charge of the Unitarian Church at Dundee, which has been kept together, and we believe partly raised, by the unostentatious but useful ministry of Mr. Robert Miller. The young minister adopts a text, which as applied to himself is rather quaint, but perhaps not ill-chosen for a Scottish auditory: it is Acts iii. 6, Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee. Appropriating these words, Mr. Logan tells his flock that he gives them 1. his prayers: 2. his diligence; 3. an honest independence of sentiment; and 4. the cordiality of the brother. His language on this last topic is worthy of a disciple of him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister:"

"Receive from me all the cordiality of the brother. I am your brother; and I trust that you shall (will) never find me unworthy of the name of brother. I have no desire to play the priest. I hope to be at all times amongst you as a brother amidst his brethren-cordial and unaffected. I would (should) wrong you did I think that I would (should) expose myself to your rudeness, by unbosoming to you my cordiality. No, surely, while 1 ensure your respect by diligence, by sobriety, by integrity, by decorum, and by piety, I cannot forfeit it by an unas. suming intercourse with you. Let me, then, never keep any rail around me, to debar from friendly converse with me, the poorest of my hearers. Let my home be open to all as a brother's house, and let my heart be open to all, impartially and tenderly. Come, my brethren, to me in your doubts, that I may help you to solve them; come to me in your troubles, that I may be helping to console you;-come to me in your joy, that I may divide it with you. O come, and though silver and gold I may have none to give you, yet if I increase your faith and your spiritual happiness, it will nevertheless be mine to rejoice in being a benefactor."-P. 11.

With equal frankness and true Christian simplicity, the preacher next reminds his people that he expects

ther;

from them, 1. Independency both in thinking and acting for themselves; 2. the defence of their principles; 3. the assembling of themselves toge4. the adorning of their doctrine by their conduct; 5. brotherly love towards one another; and, 6. indulgence to their minister's labours. He then addresses the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, and the children of his people, and implores for them all the Divine benediction.

This whole "Address" is singu. larly different from certain inaugural sermons of Protestant Dissenting ministers on this side of the Tweed, which betray a hankering after the Established Church. The author is a devoted champion of religious liberty. He is ardent and courageous in the maintenance of unpopular truth. His spirit is moved at the contemplation of that cowardice which would betray the best of causes; and the most eloquent passage of the "Address" is that in which he calls upon his new flock to stand forward in defence of their Christian principles. We cannot forbear quoting it.

"But farther, my friends, there is expected from you likewise a serious attention to the precept, Hold fast that which is good.' I wish you, in understanding, to be men. I wish you, in zeal, to be the good soldiers of Jesus Christ. You are exhorted, not only to be inquirers, but also to be defenders, and defenders firm and unwavering. How easy comparatively now your compliance with the exhortation! If there was a time, my brethren, when to avow the truth was to incur the spoiling of your goods, and the loss of life itself; if there was a time when the struggle was no less a struggle than one between conscience and the fear of the dungeon, the gibbet, or the stake, what will those say for themselves, who, ou account of the comparatively little inconveniences to which they might now expose themselves in the cause of truth, skulk from her standard, and seek a hiding-place amongst the crowd? The blood of the martyrs cries out against them. Those men, who braved all the terrors of sanguinary persecution, who counted not their very lives dear for the truth-who fought the good fight of faith, in spite of sword, of fire, of rack-how must they shame the cowardice of him who, only because of the annoyance of a relation, or the sneer of the bigot, or the fear of

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