Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

plural, by one of the singular number. And hence we are tempted to conclude that the unity of God is an unity of person, instead of its being merely an unity of substance.

The necessity of sometimes appealing from the translation to the original, will appear to you from the following circumstance. One of Tom Paine's strongest arguments against the antiquity of the Hebrew scriptures, was this. He found certain modern names in the translation of the book of Job, such as, Pleiades, Orion, and Arcturus; and he supposed them to be in the original. Now had he been able to consult the Hebrew, he would not have made this blunder; since there he would have read, instead of Pleiades chimah,-instead of Orion chesil,-and instead of Arcturus aish.

So here in Genesis, the Deity is called Alehim. This word in the singular number, is Aleh. It occurs in the singular sometimes, as for instance in the 2d of Daniel at the 18th verse, "the God (that is, the Aleh) of heaven". Now the plural of masculine nouns in Hebrew, is formed by the addition of the syllable im to the singular; and thus we have the title Aleh-im. And further; the Jews make use of vowel points in their printed Hebrew Bibles; and by these they determine a word to be singular, dual, or plural. But Alehim, as it ends in im, so it has the chirik under the preceding letter, by which they distinguish the plural from the dual number. The dual is restricted to two, and is used generally for

things which are but two naturally; whereas Alehim being plural, intimates more than two, that is, not less than three.

66

The root of this title is the verb aleh, employed for taking an oath, or binding oneself by an oath. And you are aware, that as God is represented covenanting to bless us, so likewise as confirming his covenant by an oath. Thus in the 54th of Isaiah ; As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wrath with thee,-neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed." And in the 6th of the Hebrews Paul says, God confirmed the covenant by an oath. You see then the reason of this title of the Alehim, as adopted by the Father, Son, and Spirit; it denotes the pledge given to the church relative to the new covenant. 66 At the same time, saith Jehovah, will I be the Alchim of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."*

[ocr errors]

2. But we have a strong confirmation of the doctrine, in the 26th verse of the 1st of Genesis. And the Alehim said, we will make man, in our image, after our likeness." Here are four plurals; the Alehim,—the verb we will make, and the pronoun our, twice repeated. Persons, whether Jews or Gentiles, may amuse themselves with endless conjectures about the meaning of such language; but if we consent to borrow light from the new * Jeremiah xxxi. 1-3.

Testament, in order by its means to read the contents of the old correctly, we shall at once discover, in these Alehim, the three who bear record in Heaven.

[ocr errors]

3. The 3rd of Genesis is our next proof, a Satan says to Eve, For the Alehim doth. know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as the Alehim, knowing good and evil." Take notice, that the words are different in the English, the one being God, the other Gods; but in the Hebrew they are one and the same, both as to the letters and to the vowel points. : Keeping this in view, let us go on to the 22d verse; 66 And Jehovah the Alehim said, Behold the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil." It is utterly impossible to defend the propriety of such expressions, but upon the admission of the doctrine of the Trinity. Still, the divine Unity is preserved in the name of Jehovah; for this is in the singular number, nor has it any plural. It intimates God's self-existence; he is his own origin, and is the original of all other beings. So that in these two titles together, Jehovah the Alehim, you have the exact doctrine of the text; namely, that there are three divine persons bearing record, and these three are one God. And this is the precise form of truth in the law; "I am Jehovah thy Alehim; thou shalt have none other Alehim before me."* This then meets the grand objection to the * Deutero. v. 6, 7.

;

doctrine of the trinity; it secures the divine unity. People will contend, however, that it amounts to three Gods, which they pronounce perfectly in rational and absurd. But can any one prove that there is but one God? If the scriptures had revealed three Gods, not all the philosophers in the universe could have disproved the statement. But whilst men know, or ought to know, that they are unable to demonstrate that there is but one God, they go so much further in their pretensions as to assert their ability to expose the absurdity of a triple personality in the Godhead. All that philosophy teaches, is this that one divine being, possessed of unbounded perfections, is sufficient for the creation of the universe, and that therefore we cannot infer a necessity for more than one such divine being. But that more than one may not possibly exist, it is mere vanity and folly in any man to pretend to deny. What says Archdeacon Paley?" Certain it is, that the whole argument for the divine unity, goes no further than to an unity of counsel." This is the concession of a wise man; and to lay claim to anything more than this, is mere pride and arroYet this is the mighty boast of mygance. riads of Jews and Gentiles, and with it the christian world seems utterly confounded, that they can prove an unity of person, as well as of substance, in God, and can reduce to absurdity the contrary opinion.

Now with respect to an unity of counsel,

you are aware that upon any difficult topic, or in any emergency, a single person left to himself is often drawn hither and thither, and distracted by contrary thoughts, and is at an utter loss how to decide. Whereas, with the assistance of one or two advisers, he arrives at an unity of counsel, and easily resolves the point. The King's remark has therefore become a proverb; in the multitude of coun- . sellors is safety." If then the harmony pervading the universe only developes an unity of counsel, or a presiding power at unity in itself (and this is all that it ever can be made to prove), it is worse than ridiculous to attempt to make it determine also an unity of person in the Creator. If the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, be equally participant of the perfections of Godhead, it is impossible but that an unity of counsel must on all occasions be maintained amongst them. They must, from a necessity of nature, always act in the most entire concord, precisely as we find them doing in the creation of man, when the Alehim said, Let us, or we will make man in our image, after our likeness. Now that each of these persons is possessed of all the attributes of the divine nature, is clear from this, that they are one Jehovah. Hear, O Israel! Jehovah, our Alehim, is one Jehovah."*

66

4. In the 11th of Genesis, we have an account of the Tower of Babel; on which oc*Deutero, vi. 4.

« AnteriorContinuar »