vi Extract from the Rev. John Bampton's Will.

66

"Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lecture "Sermons shall be preached upon either of the following "Subjects-to confirm and establish the Christian Faith, and "to confute all heretics and schismatics-upon the divine authority of the holy Scriptures-upon the authority of the "writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice "of the primitive Church-upon the Divinity of our Lord and "Saviour Jesus Christ-upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost"upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in "the Apostles' and Nicene Creed.

"Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lec"ture Sermons shall be always printed, within two months after "they are preached; and one copy shall be given to the Chan"cellor of the University, and one copy to the Head of every "College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall be paid out of the revenue of "the Land or Estates given for establishing the Divinity Lecture "Sermons; and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled "to the revenue, before they are printed.

"Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qualified "to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken "the degree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Uni"versities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person "shall never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice."

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

PERHAPS an apology may be due to the University for the delay which has occurred in the appearance of this volume. If so, the writer would venture to plead that he undertook the duties of the Bampton Lecturer at a very short notice, and, it may be, without sufficiently considering what they involved. When, however, the accomplished Clergyman whom the University had chosen to lecture in the year 1866 was obliged by a serious illness to seek a release from his engagement, the vacant post was offered to the present writer with a kindness and generosity which, as he thought, obliged him, although entirely unprepared, to accept it and to meet its requirements as well as he could.

Under such circumstances, the materials which were made ready in some haste for use in the pulpit seemed to require a close revision before publication. In making this revisionwhich has been somewhat seriously interrupted by other duties -the writer has not felt at liberty to introduce alterations except in the way of phrase and illustration. He has, however, availed himself of the customary licence to print at length some considerable paragraphs, the sense of which, in order to save time, was only summarily given when the lectures were delivered. And he has subjoined the Greek text of the more important passages of the New Testament to which he has had

viii

Preface to the First Edition.

readers do not verify quotations from Holy Scripture for themselves, or at least that they content themselves with examining the few which are generally thought to be of most importance. Whereas, the force of the argument for our Lord's Divinity, as indeed is the case with other truths of the New Testament, is eminently cumulative. Such an argument is to be appreciated, not by studying the comparatively few texts which expressly assert the doctrine, but that large number of passages which indirectly, but most vividly, imply it.

It is perhaps superfluous to observe that eight lectures can deal with little beyond the outskirts of a vast, or to speak more accurately, of an exhaustless subject. The present volume attempts only to notice, more or less directly, some of those assaults upon the doctrine of our Lord's Divinity which have been prominent or popular of late years, and which have, unhappily, had a certain weight among persons with whom the writer is acquainted.

Whatever disturbing influence the modern destructive criticism may have exerted upon the form of the old argument for the Divinity of Christ, the main features of that argument remain substantially unchanged. The writer will have deep reason for thankfulness, if any of those whose inclination or duty leads them to pursue the subject, should be guided by his references to the pages of those great theologians whose names, whether in our own country or in the wider field of Catholic Christendom, are for ever associated with the vindication of this most fundamental truth of the Faith.

In passing the sheets of this work through the press, the writer has been more largely indebted than he can well say to the invigorating sympathy and varied learning of the Rev. W. Bright, Fellow of University College; while the Index is due to the friendly interest of another Fellow of that College, the Rev. P. G. Medd.

That in so wide and so mysterious a subject all errors have been avoided, is much more than the writer dares to hope.

Preface to the First Edition.

ix

But at least he has not intentionally contravened the clear sense of Holy Scripture, or any formal decision whether of the Undivided Church or of the Church of England. May He to the honour of Whose Person this volume is devoted, vouchsafe to pardon in it all that is not calculated to promote His truth and His glory! And for the rest, 'quisquis hæc legit, ubi pariter certus est, pergat mecum; ubi pariter hæsitat, quærat mecum; ubi errorem suum cognoscit, redeat ad me; ubi meum, revocet Ita ingrediamur simul charitatis viam, tendentes ad Eum de Quo dictum est, Quærite Faciem Ejus semper a

me.

CHRIST CHURCH,

Ascension Day, 1867.

a S. Aug. de Trin. i. 5.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE kindly welcome given to this volume, both at home and in America, has led to a demand for another edition, which has taken the writer somewhat by surprise. He has, however, availed himself of the opportunity to make what use he could of the criticisms which have come, from whatever quarter, under his notice. Some textual errors have been corrected. Some ill-considered or misunderstood expressions have been modified. References to authorities and sources of information, which were accidentally omitted, have been supplied. To a few of the notes there has been added fresh matter, of an explanatory or justificatory character. The index, too, has been remodelled and enlarged. But the book remains, it is needless to say, substantially unchanged. And if it is now offered to the public in a somewhat altered guise, this has been done in order to meet the views of friends, who have urged, not perhaps altogether without reason, that 'in the Church of England, books on Divinity are so largely adapted to the taste and means of the wealthier classes, as to imply that the most interesting of all subjects can possess no attractions for the intelligence and heart of persons who enjoy only a moderate income.'

Of the topics discussed in this book, there is one which has invited a larger share of attention than others, both from those who share and from those who reject the Faith of the Church. It is that central argument for our Saviour's Deity, which is based on His persistent self-assertion, taken in conjunction with