Chapter XXI: Part 21

1. Consider what we understand by worship in general, and by religious worship in particular. I am very sensible that the Anti-trinitarians understand the word in a sense very different from what we do, as taking it in a limited sense, for our expressing some degree of humility, or reverence, to a person, whom we acknowledge in some respect, to be our superior; but whatever external signs of reverence, or words, we use, as expressive of our regard to him who is the object thereof, this, when applied to our Saviour, is no more than what they suppose to be due to a person below the Father. Therefore, that we may not mistake the meaning of the word, let it be considered; that worship is either civil or religious; the former contains in it that honour and respect which is given to superiors, which is sometimes expressed by bowing, or falling down, before them, or some other marks of humility, which their advanced station in the world requires; Though this is seldom called worshipping them; and it is always distinguished from religious worship, even when the same gestures are used therein. It is true, there is one scripture, in which the same word is applied to both, in 1 Chron. xxix. 20. where it is said, _All the congregation bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord and the king_, that is, they paid civil respect, accompanied with those actions that are expressive of humility, and that honour that was due to David, but their worship given to God was divine or religious. This is the only sense in which we understand _worship_ in this argument, and it includes in it adoration and invocation. In the former, we ascribe infinite perfection unto God, either directly, or by consequence; an instance whereof we have in 1 Chron. xxix. 11, 12. _Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in heaven, and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as Head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all, and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all_; and, in Deut. xxxii. 3. in which we are said to _ascribe greatness_ unto him; and, in Rom. i. 21. to _glorify him as God_, or, _give unto him the glory due to his name_, Psal. xxix. 2.

Invocation is that wherein we glorify God, as the Fountain of blessedness, when we ask those things from him, which none but a God can give, which is sometimes called _seeking the Lord_, Psal. cv. 4. or _calling upon him_, Psal. l. 15. And this includes in it all those duties which we perform, in which we consider him as a God of infinite perfection, and ourselves dependent on him, and desirous to receive all those blessings from him, which we stand in need of; and particularly faith, in the various acts thereof, is a branch of religious worship, as connoting its object to be a divine Person; as also supreme love, and universal obedience; and, indeed, it contains in it the whole of religion, in which we have a due regard to that infinite distance that there is between him and the best of creatures; and religious worship is no where taken in a lower sense than this in scripture.

2. Religious worship, as thus described, is to be given to none but a divine Person, according to our Saviour’s words, in Matth. iv. 10. _Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve._ This is evident, from the idea we have of religion in general, which is a giving that glory, or ascribing those perfections to God, which belong to him, as being founded in his nature; and therefore it is the highest instance of blasphemy and profaneness to apply them to any creature, since it is in effect to say that he is equal with God.

3. It plainly appears, from Scripture, that Christ is the object of religious worship, and consequently that the argument we are maintaining is just, namely, that, for this reason, he must be concluded to be a divine Person. Now that he is the object of religious worship, is evident, from many examples in scripture of such worship being given to him, when, at the same time, they, who have given it, have not been reproved or restrained, but rather commended, for performing it. We have various instances of this nature in the Old Testament, of which I shall mention two or three, _viz._ in Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. _God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads._ When he speaks of Abraham and Isaac’s walking before him, it implies, that, in their whole conversation, they considered themselves as under his all-seeing eye; and Jacob acknowledges him as the God, who had sustained, preserved, and provided for him hitherto, the support of his life, and his Deliverer, or Redeemer, from all evil. This divine Person he addresses himself to, in a way of supplication, for a blessing on the posterity of Joseph; and that he intends our Saviour hereby, is evident, because he has a reference to his appearance in the form of an angel, and therefore describes him under that character. Now we cannot suppose that this holy patriarch is here represented as praying to a created angel, for that would be to charge him with idolatry. Moreover, this is the same description that is given of Christ elsewhere, in Isa. lxiii. 9. _In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them; in his love, and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old_; and in Mal. iii. 1. _The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; even the Messenger_, or Angel, _of the covenant, whom ye delight in_; which contains a very plain prediction of our Saviour’s incarnation, whose way is said to be prepared by John the Baptist, who is spoken of in the words immediately foregoing. Now it is certain, that God the Father is never called an angel in scripture, inasmuch as this is a peculiar description of the Mediator, who, as such, is never mentioned as the Person sending, but sent; in which he is considered as one that was to be incarnate, and, in our nature, to execute those offices, which he was therein obliged to perform. This is the Person then whom Jacob adored and prayed to.

We have another instance, not only of his being worshipped, but of his demanding this divine honour of him that performed it, in Josh. v. 14, 15. where he appeared as the _Captain of the host of the Lord_; upon which, _Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the Captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy; and Joshua did so_. It cannot be supposed that it was any other than a divine Person that appeared; not only because Joshua fell on his face and worshipped him, and expressed his willingness to fulfil his command, but because he bid him loose his shoe from his foot, since the place on which he stood was holy; which expression is no where used in any other text of scripture, except in Exod. iii. 5. in which our Saviour, as we before considered, appeared to Moses, with the majesty and glory of a divine Person, whose immediate presence made the place relatively holy, which the presence of a creature never did. Moreover, the character which he here gives of himself to Joshua, as the Captain of the Lord’s host, not only implies, that all his success was owing to his conduct and blessing, on his warlike enterprizes; but this is also agreeable to the description which is elsewhere given of our Saviour, in Isa. lv. 4. in which he is said to be _a Leader and Commander to the people_; and he is called in Heb. ii. 10. _The Captain of our salvation_; and elsewhere, _The Prince of life_; and, _The Prince of the kings of the earth_.

Moreover, there are various instances in the New Testament of worship given to Christ; in which, by several circumstances contained in it, it is evident, that it was divine or religious. Thus he had divine honour given him by the wise men from the East, in Matth. ii. 11. who _fell down and worshipped him_, &c. and, in Luke xxiv. 52. when he ascended up into heaven, his disciples _worshipped him_; where there is nothing in the mode of expression that distinguishes this from that worship that is due to God. Moreover, there is a very illustrious instance of his being thus worshipped by a numerous assembly, represented in that vision, in Rev. v. 11-13. _I beheld, and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing: And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever_; in which words there are such glories ascribed, that higher expressions cannot be used by any, who adore the divine Majesty; and it is plain, that our Saviour is intended hereby, because he is described as the _Lamb that was slain_; and he is also considered co-ordinately with the Father, when it is said, that this glory is given to him that _sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb_. Now if our Saviour be thus worshipped, he must have a right to it, or else his worshippers would have been reproved, as guilty of idolatry; thus Peter reproves Cornelius, or rather prevents his paying divine adoration to himself, who was no more than a man, in Acts x. 26. _Stand up, I myself also am a man_; and the angel, in Rev. xix. 10. when John at first, through mistake, thinking him to be a divine person, fell at his feet to worship him, expressly forbad him, saying, _See thou do it not; I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God._ But our Saviour never forbids any to worship him; therefore we must conclude that he is the object thereof, and consequently a divine Person.

We shall now proceed to consider the various branches of divine worship that are given to him, _viz._

1. Swearing by his name, whereby an appeal is made to him, as the Judge of truth, and the Avenger of falsehood. Some think that the apostle, in Rom. ix. 1. intends as much as this, when he says, _I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not_, that is, I appeal to Christ, as the heart-searching God, concerning the truth of what I say. But there is also another sense of swearing, namely, when in a solemn manner, we profess subjection to him, as our God and King; which agrees with, or is taken from the custom of subjects, who swear fealty or allegiance to their king: thus it is said, in Isa. xlv. 23. _Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear_; and, in doing this, they acknowledge him to be the object of faith, and to have a right to universal obedience, as well as the Fountain of blessedness. This religious worship, as the prophet foretels, was to be given to the Person here spoken of, who is particularly said to be our Saviour by the apostle, referring to it in Rom. xiv. 11.

2. This leads us to consider another act of religious worship, which has some affinity with the former, contained in the baptismal vow; in which there is a consecration, or dedication, of the person baptized, to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the command given, in Matt. xxviii. 19. or a public profession, that it is our indispensable duty to exercise an entire subjection to them, in a religious manner. This is one of the most solemn acts of worship that can be performed, wherein there is an explicit mention of the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And here we may consider, in general, that the Son is put co-ordinately with the Father, which no creature ever is: and it will be also necessary for us to enquire what is meant by being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that so it may farther appear to be an act of religious worship.

Some hereby understand nothing else but our being baptized by the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or by a warrant received from them to do it: but though this be sometimes the meaning of our acting in the name of God, yet more is intended by this expression, used in the administration of this ordinance, otherwise it is not sufficiently distinguished from all other acts of religious worship; which cannot be rightly performed without a divine warrant. According to this sense of the word, ministers may as well be said to preach the gospel, and the church to attend on their ministration, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; for this cannot he done without a divine warrant, upon which account it may be deemed an ordinance.

Moreover, to suppose that this instituted form of administering baptism, conveys no other idea, but that of a divine warrant to do it, is to conclude that there is no determinate meaning of the action performed, contained in it; but the administrator is to intend nothing else by it, but only that he has a warrant from God to baptize; whereas its being performed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, seems plainly to intimate the principal thing signified thereby, as a direction for our faith, when engaging in it: which is, that they who are baptized are consecrated, or devoted to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, devoted to God professedly, and called by his name, in the sense in which the phrase is elsewhere used in scripture; his right to them is hereby signified, and their indispensable obligation to be entirely his; and that with a peculiar acknowledgment of the distinct personal glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the concern that each of them have in our salvation. The apostle speaking of our being baptized in the name of Christ, calls it, in Gal. iii. 27. _a putting on Christ_; which seems to imply a consecration, or dedication, to him. Persons as well as things, before this ordinance was instituted, were consecrated to God by divers washings, as well as other rites, used under the ceremonial law; and this seems to be the sense in which the apostle himself explains this _putting on Christ_, in ver. 29. when he infers, from this action, that they who had so done _were Christ’s_, not only by that right, which he has to them as their Creator and Redeemer, but by another, which is the immediate result of their professed dedication to him; therefore this is such a comprehensive act of worship, that it includes in it the whole of that subjection, which is due to the Father, Son, and Spirit; and since, in particular, the Son is considered as the object thereof, together with the Father, it follows that he is God, equal with the Father.

I might here consider, that it would be not only an unwarrantable action, but an instance of the greatest profaneness, for us to be baptized in the name of any one who is not a divine Person, which farther argues that it is an act of divine worship; upon which occasion, the apostle Paul, speaking concerning some of the church of Corinth, as being disposed to pay too great a veneration to those ministers who had been instrumental in their conversion, as though, for this reason, they were to be accounted the lords of their faith; and, in particular, that some said they were of Paul, and, being apprehensive that they thought the minister, who baptized them, had a right to be thus esteemed, he not only reproves this ungrounded and pernicious mistake; but takes occasion _to thank God, that he baptized none of them, but Crispus and Gaius, together with the household of Stephanas, lest any should say he baptized in his own name_; so that while he testifies his abhorrence of his giving any just occasion to any, to conclude that he was the object of this branch of divine worship, he takes a great deal of pleasure in this reflection, that the providence of God had not led them through the ignorance and superstition that prevailed among them, to draw this false conclusion from his exercising this branch of the ministerial work, which properly they would not have inferred from any other’s having baptized them, who had not so great an interest in their affections as he had. This I apprehend to be the meaning of what the apostle says, in 1 Cor. i. 12-16. which I take occasion to refer to, as a farther proof of baptism’s being an act of religious worship, unalienable from the Father, Son, and Spirit, in whose name alone we are to be baptized; and I cannot but conclude, that if the Son were not a divine Person, we might as well be baptized in the name of Paul, or any other of the apostles, as in his name, which is a just consequence from its being an act of religious worship; and therefore he would never have joined his own name with the Father’s when he gave forth his commission to baptize, if he had not had a right to it, as well as the Father.

Again, divine worship is due to Christ, as he is the object of faith; and that not only as we are to depend upon whatever he has revealed, as a matter of infallible verity, otherwise the faith of the church especially under the New Testament dispensation, would be built on an uncertain foundation; but, since I am sensible it would be objected to this, that whatever is transmitted to us by divine inspiration, is infallibly true, though the instruments made use of herein were not divine persons; and when we assert that what Christ delivered was infallible, in a higher sense than this, we rather suppose than prove his Deity; the Anti-trinitarians will not deny, that what he imparted was infallibly true, and therefore the object of faith; but they suppose at the same time, that whatever was imparted to the world by the apostles and prophets, was equally true and infallible; therefore they were the objects of faith, in the same sense that our Saviour himself was.

In answer to this I would not compare what was delivered immediately by our Saviour with what was transmitted by those who spake and wrote by divine inspiration, or suppose that one was more infallibly true than the other; and therefore that which I would principally insist on, when I speak of Christ, as the object of faith, whereby he appears to be a divine Person, is not only that we are obliged to yield an assent to what he has imparted to us, but this is to be attended with a firm reliance on him, or trusting him with all we have, or for all we expect, to make us completely happy: in this sense we are to understand the apostle’s words, when he says, in 2 Tim. i. 12. _I know whom I have believed_, or trusted, _and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day_; this is such a faith, as no creature is the object of. Trust in man is prohibited, and called a departure from God, in Jer. xvii. 5. _Cursed be the man that trusteth in man_, or, by a parity of reason in any other creature, _and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart herein departeth from the Lord_. Trust is such an act of faith, as is appropriated to a divine Person; and I cannot but observe, that there is something peculiar in the mode of speaking, when Christ is represented as the object thereof, that is never applied to any creature; as his worshippers are said to believe _in him_; thus, in John xiv. 1. _Ye believe in God, believe also in me_,[159] where he commands his people to believe in him, in such a way; as that this act of faith is accompanied with other graces, which argue him a divine Person.

This leads us to consider him as the object of supreme love and universal obedience, which are also acts of religious worship; the former respects him, as our chief good and happiness; the latter as our undoubted sovereign and proprietor: we do not say, that a person’s having a right to be obeyed, or loved, or trusted, in a limited degree, argues him to be a divine Person; but when these graces are to be exercised in the highest degree, without any possibility of our exceeding therein; and when the exercise thereof is inseparably connected with salvation, as it often is in scripture, and our not exercising them, is said to exclude from it, I cannot but from hence conclude, that, being thus circumstanced, is an act of religious worship; and it is certain, that our saviour is often represented, in scripture, as the object thereof.

The last thing that we shall consider, under this head, is, that he is the object of prayer and praise; and that these are parts of religious worship, needs no proof. Some think, and the conjecture is not altogether improbable, that this is intended by the Psalmist, Psal. lxxii. 15. _Prayer also shall be made for him continually_; since it might as well be rendered, continually made _to him_, which agrees with what follows, _And daily shall he be praised_; and that this Psalm respects the Messiah, who had a right to more glory than Solomon, appears from several things, which are said concerning him therein; but I will not insist on this, since we have more evident proofs thereof in other scriptures. It is also foretold concerning him in Isa. xi. 10. that _to him_, for so the words ought to be rendered, _shall the Gentiles seek_; which mode of speaking is frequently used, to signify our addressing ourselves to a divine Person with prayer and supplication, for the supplying of our wants. But we have yet more evident proofs hereof in the New Testament; the Syrophenician woman’s prayer, which was directed to him, was indeed short, but very comprehensive, Matt. xv. 22. _Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David_; and, in ver. 25. _She came and worshipped him, saying, Lord help me_; and this act of religious worship was commended by our Saviour, and her prayer answered. And can we suppose any other than an act of religious worship, contained in that petition of the man who came to him to cast the devil out of his son, in Mark ix. 24? _Who said, with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief_; by which we are not to understand that he desired that his unbelief should be removed in an objective way, by our Saviour’s giving him more convincing arguments to confirm his faith, but by a powerful access to his heart, as the Author and Finisher of faith, which is the peculiar gift of God; and accordingly he is considered as a divine Person, by those who thus address themselves to him.

We shall conclude this head, with giving a few instances of short prayers directed to Christ, together with doxologies, or ascriptions of praise, in which he is sometimes joined with the Father and Holy Ghost; and he is also argued, from the subject matter thereof, to be a divine Person: thus the apostle Paul concludes his epistles with, _The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen_; 1 Cor. xvi. 23. Phil. iv. 23. 1 Thess. v. 28. 2 Thess. iii. 18. and, _The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit_; Philem. ver. 25. and, _The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy Spirit_; 2 Tim. iv. 22. which is a short and comprehensive prayer directed to Christ, that he would bestow on them all those graces that are necessary to their salvation; and that this grace may so govern and influence their spirits, as to fit them for his service, which supposes him to be the God and Giver of all grace. And, in 2 Cor. x. iii. 14. he puts up a prayer to the three Persons in the Godhead expressly; _The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, Amen_; desiring, that they would communicate those blessings, which accompany salvation, by which the divine perfections, and in particular the Personal glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are demonstrated; and herein the Son is as much considered as the object of prayer as the Father, and consequently hereby proved to be a divine Person.

To this we may add those doxologies whereby praise is given to Christ; and so he is farther considered as the object of divine worship; thus, in 2 Pet. iii, 18. speaking of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, he says, _To him be glory, both now and for ever, Amen_; and, in Jude, ver. 24, 25. _Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now, and for ever, Amen_; where it is plain that he ascribes this divine glory to Jesus Christ; for he is spoken of in ver. 21. _Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal life_, that is, for that mercy which shall preserve us unto eternal life, and then confer it upon us; which is the sense of those words, _Keeping us from falling, and presenting us faultless before the presence of his glory_, with a small variation of the phrase; and the very same thing he is expressly said to do elsewhere, in Eph. v. 27. to _present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish_, that is, that he may present it to his own view, as taking a survey of his workmanship, when brought to perfection; as God is said _to have taken a view of all things that he had made at first_, when he pronounced _them good_ Gen. i. 31. and, when he has thus taken a survey of his church, or presented it to himself, then he presents it to the view of the whole world of angels and men, which, as it is said, is attended with exceeding joy; which plainly makes it appear that our Saviour is the Person here spoken of; which is agreeable to what follows, where he is called, as he is elsewhere, _God our Saviour_, Tit. ii. 10, 13. which character agrees with the name by which he was most known, to wit, _Jesus_.

Another doxology we have in Rev. i. 4, 5, 6. _Grace be unto you, and peace from Jesus Christ_, &c. _Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen._

There are also two places more, in which, to me, it seems more than probable, that doxologies are directed to Christ, namely, in 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. _Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto: whom no man hath seen, or can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting, Amen_: All allow that nothing greater can be said of God than is here spoken; therefore the only thing denied by the Arians is, that this is applied to any but the Father; but to me, it seems very obvious that it is spoken of Christ, because he is mentioned immediately before: thus, in ver. 13. it is said, _I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus[160]; who, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall shew; Who is the blessed and only Potentate, &c._ where by _his times_ is meant that season in which his glory shall shine most brightly, when, what he witnessed before Pontius Pilate, to wit, that he was the Son of God, he will demonstrate in the highest degree, and then will eminently appear to have a right to that glory, which the apostle ascribes to him.

Again, there is another scripture, in which a glorious doxology is ascribed to Christ, in 1 Tim. i. 17. _Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory, for ever and ever, Amen._ A late learned writer[161] puts this among those scriptures which he applies to the Father, without assigning any reason for it; which he ought to have done, inasmuch as the context seems to direct us to apply it to the Son, spoken of in the foregoing verses; thus, in ver. 12. _I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, who counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry_; and, ver. 14. _The Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant_, &c. and ver. 15. _Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners_; and ver. 16. _Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting._ Thus having mentioned the great things which Christ did for him, it is natural to suppose that he would take occasion, from hence, to ascribe glory to him, which he does in the words immediately following, _Now, unto the King, eternal, immortal_, &c.

Having considered the force of this argument, taken from divine worship being ascribed to Christ, to prove his deity, we shall now proceed to observe the methods used by the Anti-trinitarians to evade it. Some of the Socinians, as though there had been no scriptures that speak of him as the object of religious worship, have peremptorily denied that it is due to him, and thought very hardly of their brethren, as though they were involved in the common guilt of idolatry, which they suppose his worshippers to have been chargeable with. This occasioned warm debates in Transylvania and Poland, where Socinianism most prevailed towards the close of the 16 century[162]; and, indeed, the method of reasoning, made use of by those who denied that he was the object of worship, though it tended more to his dishonour, yet it carried in it a greater consistency with that scheme of doctrines, which both sides maintained, who denied his divinity.

As for the Arians, they do not expressly deny him to be the object of worship, but rather deviate from the true sense of the word, when they maintain his right to it: they speak of great honours that are to be ascribed to him, by which one would almost be ready to conclude that they reckoned him a divine Person; but when these honours are compared with those that are due to the Father, they very plainly discover that they mean nothing more hereby, but what in consistency with their own scheme may be applied to a creature. Thus a late writer[163], in his explication of that text, in John v. 23. _That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father_, plainly discovers his sense of divine worship, as due to our Saviour, to be very remote from that which is defended by those who maintain his proper deity. His explication of this text is, “That the meaning is not that the Son’s authority should, like that of the Father, be looked upon as underived, absolute, supreme, and independent; but that as the Jews already believed in God, so they should also believe in Christ: as they already honoured God the Father, so they should also for the future, honour the Son of God; honour him, as having all judgment committed unto him; honour him, to the honour of the Father, which sent him; acknowledge him to be God, to the glory of the Father.” Which is a very low idea of divine honour; for it is as much as to say, that as the Father is to be honoured as God, so there is a degree of honour, which he has conferred upon the Son, infinitely below that which is due to himself, but yet called divine, because it is given him by a divine warrant. Whether, in this sense, an angel might not have had a warrant to receive divine honour, I leave any one to judge; and, indeed, nothing is contained in this sense, but what rather tends to depreciate, than advance the glory of Christ. But that we may better understand how far they allow that religious worship may be given to our Saviour, as well as that we may take occasion to defend that right to divine worship, which we have proved to be due to him, we shall briefly consider, and endeavour to make some reply to the following objections.

_Object._ 1. To what has been said concerning a right to religious worship, being founded only in a person’s having the perfections of the divine nature; and accordingly that it is an argument that our Saviour is truly and properly God, equal with the Father, because as such, he has a right to it, it is objected, that if God commands us to worship a creature, we are bound to obey him; and accordingly, without considering any right that is founded in his nature, we are to give divine worship to Christ, by divine direction, or in obedience to a command given us to that purpose; and that such a command was given, upon which Christ’s right to receive divine worship is founded, appears from Heb. i. 6. _When he bringeth his first-begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him_; which supposes that they did not worship him before, nor would they have done it afterwards, without this divine intimation.

_Answ._ 1. As to our yielding obedience to a divine command, provided God should require us to give divine worship to a creature, it may be replied, that we do not deny but that all the divine commands are to be obeyed; but yet this supposition is groundless, inasmuch as God cannot command us to worship a creature, any more than he can discharge us from an obligation to worship himself. This, therefore, is, in effect, to suppose what can never be; therefore nothing can be inferred from such a supposition; we might as well say, that if God should cease to exist, he would cease to be the object of worship; or if a created being had divine perfection, he would have a right to equal honour with God; which is to suppose a thing that is in itself impossible; and it is no less absurd to suppose it warrantable for us to pay divine worship to a creature. This will farther appear, from what has been said in explaining the nature of religious worship. Adoration is a saying to a person, who is the object thereof, thou hast divine perfections, and to say this to a creature, is contrary to truth; and therefore, certainly the God of truth can never give us a warrant to say that which is false, as this certainly would be. And if we consider worship, as it is our addressing ourselves to him, whom we worship, in such a way, as becomes a God, he cannot give us a warrant so to do, for that would be for him to divest himself of his glory: and it would also disappoint our expectations, by putting us on trusting one that cannot save us; and such are justly reproved, in Isa. xlv. 20. as _having no knowledge, who pray unto a god that cannot save_. We must therefore conclude, that since God cannot give his glory to another, he cannot give any warrant to us to pay divine worship to a creature, as is supposed in the objection,

2. As for that scripture, referred to, in which God commanded the angels to worship our Saviour, when he brought him into the world, it is not to be supposed that he had no right to divine worship before his incarnation; for if he be a divine Person, as the scriptures assert him to be, the angels, doubtless adored him as such before; the only new discovery that was then made to them was, that the second Person in the Godhead was now God incarnate; and therefore this instance of infinite condescension was to be considered as a motive to excite their adoration, but not the formal reason of it: thus we are sometimes commanded to adore and magnify God for the visible displays of his divine perfections in his works; as the Psalmist says, Psal. cvii. 8. _Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!_ and, in many other scriptures, where the works of God are represented, as a means or motive to excite our worship or adoration; whereas the divine perfections, which are displayed or rendered visible therein, are the great foundation or reason thereof; we worship this God because he is infinitely perfect; though we take occasion, from the visible display of his perfections, to worship him. In this sense we understand the worship given to Christ by the angels, when brought into the world; they took occasion, from this amazing instance of his condescension, to adore those perfections, which induced the Son of God to take the human nature into union with his divine; not that they supposed his right to worship was founded therein.

_Object._ 2. Since our worshipping Christ includes in it ascribing all that glory to him that is his due; it is enough for us, when we worship him, to confess that he has an excellency above the angels, or that he is the best of all created beings, as well as the most honourable, and the greatest blessing to mankind, as he was sent of God to instruct us in the way of salvation as a Prophet, to intercede for us as a Priest, and to give laws to us as a King, and that he has done all this faithfully, and with great compassion to us. These things, and whatever else he does for the advantage of mankind, may, and ought to be acknowledged to his praise, as a debt due to him, in which respect he is to be considered as the object of worship; nevertheless, we are not to give him that glory which is due to the Father, as though he were a Person truly and properly divine, in the same sense as he is.

_Answ._ 1. It is agreed, on both sides, that that glory, which is due to him, is to be ascribed; but we humbly conceive, that the ascribing to a person that honour, which he has a right to, unless we suppose it to be divine, is not religious worship; or, to confess that those works which he has done, are wonderful, and of great advantage to mankind, is no instance of adoration, unless we suppose that these works are such, as none but a Person who has the divine nature can perform; whereas all those works, which they ascribe to him, may, according to them, be performed by a finite being, or else they must allow the arguments, which have been taken from thence, to prove his proper deity.

2. If the works that are ascribed to him be considered as properly divine, as they are represented to be in scripture, it must not be concluded, from hence, that he is to be adored, as performing them; but we are rather to take occasion from thence, as was observed in our last head, to adore those divine perfections, which are evinced hereby, which render him the object of worship; as the works of God are motives to induce us to worship him, and not the formal reason of that worship; as when, in the first commandment, God lays claim to divine honour, or obliges the Israelites _to have no other gods before him, because he had brought them out of the land of Egypt_, we are to consider their deliverance from thence, indeed, as a motive to worship; but it is the divine power that was exerted therein, that was properly the object thereof; so, in Psal. cxxxvi. 1. we are _to give thanks to the Lord, whose mercy endureth for ever_; and, in the following verses, there is a particular mention made of some glorious works which God had done, _who alone doth great wonders, who, in wisdom, made the heavens, stretched out the earth; made the sun to rule by day, and the moon by night_, &c. These, and several other works there mentioned are all considered as motives to excite our adoration; but his being _Jehovah, the God of gods, and Lord of lords_, as in the 1st, 2d, and 3d verses, is the great foundation of his right to worship, since that is infinite; whereas his works are only the effects of infinite power, and so a demonstration of his right to divine glory. Now to apply this to those works which are done by our Saviour, if we suppose them, as we ought, to be properly divine, they are to be considered only as evincing his right to divine honour, as they are a demonstration of his deity, which is the only thing that renders him the object of divine worship.

_Object._ 3. But some will proceed a little farther, when they speak of Christ as the object of worship, and so will allow, that honours, truly divine, may be given to him; yet that this does not prove him to be God equal with the Father, since he is herein only considered as the Father’s Representative, on whom the worship, that is immediately applied to him, must be supposed to terminate; as when an ambassador, who represents the prince that sent him, is considered as sustaining that character, and so receives some honour, which otherwise he would have no right to, or rather he is honoured as personating him whom he represents.

_Answ._ To this it may be replied, that whatever may be said to be done by an ambassador, as representing the prince that sent him, there is always something contained in the manner of his address, or in the honours ascribed to him, that denotes him to be more than a subject; and it would be ill represented, should he assume that honour to himself that is due to his master. Therefore our Saviour, were he not a divine Person, but only the Father’s Representative, could not have a right to claim that divine honour that is ascribed to him; neither have we any foundation, in scripture, to distinguish concerning a supreme and a subordinate worship, or a worship given to a person that does not terminate in him, but in another, whom he represents.

If there be any apparent foundation for this supposition, it must be taken from those expressions in which Christ is represented, as Mediator, as acting in the Father’s name, and not seeking his own glory, but the glory of him that sent him, or referring all the honour, that is given to him as such, to the Father. But to this it may be replied, that when our Saviour uses such a mode of speaking, he disclaims any right to divine honour due to him as Man, in which respect he received a commission from the Father, and acted in his name; but when the honour of a divine Person is given to him as God, though considered as Mediator, he is not to be looked upon as representing the Father, or transferring the divine glory that he receives, to the Father, but as having the same right to it as the Father has, inasmuch as he has the same divine nature, otherwise we cannot account for those modes of speaking, in which the glory of a divine Person is ascribed to him, without restriction or limitation, as it oftentimes is in scripture.

_Object._ 4. To what has been said in defence of Christ’s divinity, from our being baptized in his name, it is objected, that it does not follow, that because we are baptized in the name of the Son, as well as of the Father, that therefore he is God equal with the Father; for though this ordinance, as it respects the Father, contains, properly, an act of divine worship, in which we consider him as the great Lord of all things, to whom divine worship, in the highest sense is due; yet we consider the Son, as well as the Holy Ghost, only as having a right to an inferior kind of worship, in proportion to the respective parts which they sustain, by the will of the Father, in the work of our salvation; and, in particular, to be baptized in the name of Christ, implies in it nothing else but a declaration that we adhere to him, as the Father’s Minister, delegated by him to reveal his mind and will to us, and to erect that gospel-dispensation, which we, in this ordinance, professedly submit to; and accordingly to be baptized in the name of Christ, is to be taken in the same sense, as when, in 1 Cor. x. 2. the Israelites were said to _be baptized into Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea_; as they signified thereby their consent to be governed by those laws, which Moses was appointed, by God, to give them; upon which account, they were denominated a particular church, separated from the world, and obliged to worship God in such a way, as was prescribed in the ceremonial law: even so, by baptism, we own ourselves Christians, under an obligation to adhere to Christ, as our Leader and Commander, who has revealed to us the gospel, which, by subjecting ourselves to, we are denominated Christians; and to this they also add, especially the Socinians, that as baptism was first practised as an ordinance, to initiate persons into the Jewish church, and was afterwards applied by our Saviour, to signify the initiating the heathen into the Christian church; so it was designed to be no longer in use among them, than till Christianity was generally embraced; and consequently we being a Christian nation, are not obliged to submit to it, since we are supposed to adhere to the doctrines of Christianity, and therefore it is needless to signify the same by this ordinance. It was upon this account that Socinus, and some of his followers, not only denied the baptism of infants, but that of all others, who were supposed to be Christians.

_Answ._ 1. As to the first part of this objection, to wit, that baptism does not signify the same thing when it is administered in the name of Christ, as when administered in the name of the Father, this is founded on a supposition, that the Son has not a right to the same honour that is due to the Father, which ought to be proved, and not taken for granted; and it altogether sets aside the consideration of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost’s being herein co-ordinately represented, as the objects of this solemn dedication, which tends very much to derogate from the Father’s glory. As it supposes the Son and Spirit to have a right to that glory which belongs to him, while they deny them to be divine Persons; and according to this method of reasoning, God might as well have ordained, that we should have been baptized in his name, together with the name of any of his prophets and apostles, which were appointed to be his ministers, in revealing his will to us, as in the name of the Son and Spirit, unless they were accounted worthy of having an honour infinitely superior to that which is given to any creature given to them herein.

2. When it is supposed that our professed subjection to Christ in baptism, is nothing else but our consent to be governed by those laws, which he has given us in the gospel, and so is compared with that declaration of subjection to the law of Moses, which was contained in the baptism of the Israelites into Moses.

To this it may be replied; that this supposes Christ to be no other than a Lawgiver; and that to be a Christian, is nothing else but to be professedly a member of that society, which goes under that denomination; and that to put on Christ is not to consecrate or devote ourselves to him as a divine Person; which is a very low idea of Christianity; and consequently the character of a Christian does not imply in it so much, when assumed by an Anti-trinitarian, as when applied to those who suppose that they are hereby obliged to honour him, as they honour the Father, or to submit to his government, as truly and properly divine. A Christian is not barely one who is of Christ’s party, in the same sense as a Mahometan, who adheres to the laws of Mahomet, is of his; for Christianity contains in it an obligation to perform those religious duties, of trust, universal obedience, and love, that are due to Christ as a divine Person.

3. As to the supposition, that baptism being an ordinance of Proselytism to the Christian faith, therefore a Christian nation is no longer obliged to submit to it, this is directly contrary to what our Saviour says in the words immediately following the institution thereof, in Matt, xxviii. 20. _Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world_, that is, you may expect my presence with you in administering this ordinance, as well as preaching the gospel, not only during the first age of the church, till Christianity shall obtain in the world, but as long as there shall be a society of Christians in it. And, indeed, if Christianity were nothing more than a public declaration of our obligation, to adhere to the laws of Christ; it does not follow, that because we are born in a Christian nation, therefore such a profession is no longer necessary. But since more than this is contained therein, as hath been before observed, namely, our professed subjection to Christ, in a religious way, as a divine Person, this extends the baptismal obligation much farther than to our being called Christians, and argues the necessity of our engaging in this ordinance, as long as Christ is the object of faith, or to be acknowledged to be the Prophet, Priest, and King of his church, and, as such, the object of religious worship, namely, unto the end of the world.

_Object._ 5. There is another objection against the argument in general, relating to Christ’s being the object of divine worship, taken from his having refused to have one of the divine perfections ascribed to him, and directing the Person that gave it, to ascribe it to the Father, in Matt. xix. 17. _He said unto him, Why callest thou me good, there is none good but one, that is God_; _q. d._ there is but one Person who is good, as goodness is properly a divine attribute, and that is the Father: therefore he alone is the object of that worship, which consists in the ascribing the perfections of the divine nature to him, in which sense we have before supposed religious worship to be understood.