IV.

The answer given by the Christadelphians (Continued from p. 17.)

Christadelphian means Christ's brother, and in itself shows the estimate the followers of this system put upon Christ. According to them He is a man like ourselves, though divinely generated. Materialists of the grossest type, they are utterly without any true sense of His Godhead glory. I had occasion some years ago, to take up this question with the editor of "THE MIRROR," a Christadelphian publication now happily discontinued. In doing so I took no notice of his peculiar renderings of divine Names but simply submitted a list of scriptures, beseeching him to weigh them carefully, for a mistake here would have eternal consequences. I here reproduce this list, which to my mind leaves no room for doubt as to the full proper Deity and Divinity of the Son of God.* *It is a joy to me to be able to state that this Editor has long since been delivered from his former position and has been for years in fellowship with believers who adore Christ as God over all, blessed for evermore.*

1. He is called God in Isa. 9:6:"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder:and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

2. He is directly addressed as God by the Father. Heb. 1:8:"Unto the Son He saith:Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever," etc.

3. In the same chapter He is addressed as Jehovah. "And Thou, lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed:but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail" (Heb. 1:10-12).

4. He takes the divine title, "I AM," and declares His existence prior to Abraham. John 8:58:"Before Abraham was, I am."

5. The eternal personal Word is declared to be Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word," declares His eternity of Being. "And the Word was with God"-His distinct personality. "And the Word was God"-His absolute deity. "The same was in the beginning with God"-His eternal existence as a person of the Trinity. "All things were made by Him"-His Creatorship. "And without Him was not anything made that was made"- His absolute equality with the Father in creatorial work. "In Him was life"-the eternal Source of life. "And the life was the light of men"- the Communicator of life. "And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness apprehended it not" -as all those who deny His Deity and Divinity.

6. He claims the same honor as the Father:"That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father" (John 5:23). The Father is honored as God. So must the Son be.

7. He declares His oneness with the Father:"I and My Father are one" (John 10:30).
8. He was understood by this to claim Godhead, and He did not correct the thought nor deny the claim (John 10:33). "Thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

9. Isaiah is said to have seen His glory (in chap. 6) when he describes the worship of Jehovah by the seraphim. John 12:40-41:"These things (found in Isa. 6:9,10) said Esaias when he saw His glory, and spake of Him."

10. He is declared to be God over all, in Rom. 9:5:"Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever."

11. Before His humiliation He existed in the form of God:Phil. 2:6:"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," etc.

12. He was the Creator of all things. Col. 1:16, 17:"By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."

13. He was "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16).

14. He is affirmed to be "the true God." 1 John 5:20:"We are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."

15. He was prophesied of as the everlasting One. Micah 5:2:"Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting."

16. Worship is only to be rendered to God, and He is worshiped by all the host of heaven (Rev. 5, et al.).

In the light of these scriptures how dreadfully solemn it is to deny His glory as the eternal God. All scriptures which seem to give Him a lesser place are clear and simple, and in no wise conflict with this, when it is remembered that "He took upon Himself the form of a servant." He was Man as well as God. In this sense He can speak of being the Sent One, etc. Multitudes of other scriptures might be added to the above, proving His Divine attributes of omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence; but if these be not heard, it is needless to quote others. May the Spirit of truth use the Word of truth. H. A. I.

(To be continued, D. V.)

Christ in the Psalms is omitted this month for lack of space and will (D. V.) be continued in the March number.