SERMON III.

OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AS HELD BY UNINITARIANS AND SOCINIANS.

I TIM. i. 11.

The glorious Gospel of the blessed God.

N discoursing to you from these words

IN

I have proposed to give you an account of that Gospel here called by St. Paul the

a

By Unitarians I mean thofe Chriftians who believe there is but one God and one object of religious worship; and that this one God is the Father only, and not a Trinity confifting of Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft. An Unitarian, therefore, may or may not be a believer in Chrift's pre-existence; and it

will

glorious Gospel of the blessed God. In doing this I have proposed to shew you,

Firft, What thofe Articles of the Chriftian faith are about which all Chriftians are agreed. This was the fubject of my first discourse; and, in speaking to you upon it, I endeavoured to fhew you, that all Christians are agreed with respect to what is most important in the information given us by the Gofpel.-That the differences among them are chiefly different modes of explaining those fundamental facts which all equally believe. -And that, confequently, these differences afford no just reason for any alarm to thofe Chriftians who may be unacquainted with the difputes which ́have taken place in the Christian church. We all believe, I obferved, that the glad tidings

will appear in the fequel, that those who deny this doctrine have, on this account, no more right to this appellation than those antient Heathens had, who, though they might believe in one Supreme Divinity, yet worshipped deified human fpirits. See Appendix Note A.

tidings which the Gospel brings are, Peace on earth and good will towards men, by the promife it makes of pardon and favour and a refurrection from death to an endless life, through that great Meffiah who died and rose again. And this is all that can be interefting to us as guilty and mortal creatures.

I proceeded from hence to give you an account of the different fchemes of the Gospel which have been adopted by Chriftians, after which I have proposed to give you an account of that scheme which, I think, the true fcheme; and to endeavour to fupport it by some arguments.

I have divided the different schemes of Christianity into three; namely, the Calviniftic, the Socinian, and a middle scheme between these two. I have already given a fufficient account of the first of these schemes; and I shall now give you a brief account of the Socinian fcheme. These fchemes form (as I obferved in my former difcourfe) the two extremes into which F 4 Chrif

Christians have gone in their opinions of the Gospel. One carries our notions very high on the narrow fide; and the other finks them as low on the contrary fide. Against this last scheme there are strong prejudices among many good Chriftians, and you will find that in two leading points I think it wrong: But that it maintains all that we need be anxious about in Christianity, and that confequently the prejudices against it have no juft foundation, will probably appear from the following recital of its principal doctrines.

In order to go along with me here you fhould carry in your minds the FOUR heads under which I have ranged the fubjects of difference in the opinions of Christians. First, the nature of the Deity -Secondly, the nature and dignity of Chrift-Thirdly, the fall of man and its confequences-And, Fourthly, the nature and effect of Chrift's interpofition.

First;