the Holy Ghost shewing, that the business of Christ being to save his church by dying for them, was not therefore to take upon him an angelical, spiritual substance or nature, but the nature of man. 3. The same thing is elsewhere in like manner expressed: as where he is said to be made of the 'seed of David according to the flesh,' Rom. i. 3. and to 'come of the fathers as concerning the flesh;' Rom. ix. 5. 4. Believers are called Abraham's seed sometimes spiritually, in relation to the faith of Abraham, as Gal. iii. 29, where he is expressly spoken of, as father of the faithful,' by inheriting the promises: but take it absolutely, to be of the 'seed of Abraham,' is no more, but to be a man of his posterity; John viii. 37. I know that ye are Abraham's seed ;' Rom. ix. 7. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children,' ver. 8. that is, they are the children. of the flesh :' so Rom. xi. 1. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I; 2 Cor. xi. 22. 2. For the sense assigned; it is evident, that in these words the apostle treats not of the help given, but of the way whereby Christ came to help his Church, and the means thereof; his actual belping and relieving of them is mentioned in the next verse. 2. Here is no mention in this verse of believers being obnoxious to afflictions and death, so that these words of theirs may serve for an exposition of some other place of Scripture (as they of Gregory's comment on Job), but not of this. 3. By 'partaking of flesh and blood,' is not meant primarily, being obnoxious to death and afflictions; nor doth that expression in any place signify any such thing; though such a nature, as is so obnoxious, be intended. The argument then from hence stands still in its force: that Christ subsisting in his divine nature, did assume a human nature of the seed of Abraham, into personal union with himself.

say

Grotius is still at a perfect agreement with our catechists. Saith he, ́ kπiλaμßávɛolai apud Platonem, et alios, est solenniter vindicare, his autem et superioribus intelligendum est, vindicare, seu asserere in libertatem manu injecta.' This word in Plato and others, is to vindicate into liberty; here, as is to be understood from what went before, it is to assert into liberty by laying hold with the hand.' Of the first, because he gives no instances, we shall need take no farther notice. The second is denied; both the help

afforded, and the means of it by Christ, is mentioned before. The help is liberty; the means, partaking of flesh and blood to die. These words are not expressive of, nor do answer the latter, or the help afforded, but the means of the obtaining of it, as hath been declared. But he adds, the word signifies to lay hold of with the hand, as Mark viii. 23,' &c. Be it granted that it doth so, 'to lay hold with the hand, and to take to one's self.' This is not to assert into liberty, but by the help of a metaphor: and when the word is used metaphorically, it is to be interpreted pro subjecta materia,' according to the subject matter: which here is Christ's taking a nature upon him, that was of Abraham, that was not angelical. The other expression he is singular in the interpretation of.

'He took the seed of Abraham,' id est, id agit, ut vos Hebræos liberet a peccatis et metu mortis; eventus enim nomen sæpe datur operæ, in id impensa.' That is, He doth that, that he may deliver you Hebrews from sin, and fear of death the name of the event, is often given to the work employed to that purpose.' But 1. Here I confess, he takes another way from our catechists; the 'seed of Abraham' is with them, believers; with him, only Jews; but the tails of their discourse are tied together with a firebrand between them, to devour the harvest of the church. 2. This taking the seed of Abraham, is opposed to his not taking the seed of angels; now the Jews are not universally opposed to angels in this thing, but human kind. 3. He took the seed of Abraham,' is it seems, he endeavoured to help the Jews. The whole discourse of the help afforded both before and after this verse, is extended to the whole church; how comes it here to be restrained to the Jews only? 4. The discourse of the apostle is about the undertaking of Christ by death, and his being fitted thereunto by partaking of flesh and blood; which is so far from being in any place restrained or accomodated only to the Jews, as that the contrary is every where asserted, as is known to all.

1 John iv. 3. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God;' he who comes into the world, or comes into flesh, or in the flesh, had a subsistence before he so came. It is very probable, that the intendment of the apostle was to discover the abomination

of them, who denied Christ to be a true man, but assigned him a fantastical body, which yet he so doth, as to express his coming in the flesh in such a manner, as evidences him to have another nature (as was said) besides that which is here synecdochically called flesh. Our catechists to this

say,

"That this is not to the purpose in hand: for that which some read, He came into the flesh, is not in the Greek, but He came in the flesh. Moreover, John doth not write, that spirit which confesseth Jesus Christ, which came in the flesh, is of God; but that that spirit which confesseth Jesus Christ, who is come in the flesh, is of God. The sense of which words is, that the spirit is of God, which confesseth that Jesus Christ, who performed his office in the earth, without any pomp or worldly ostentation, with great humility as to outward appearance, and great contempt; and lastly underwent a contumelious death, is Christ, and King of the people of God.'

I shall not contend with them about the translation of the words: ἐν σαρκί, seems to be put for εἰς σαρκά but the intendment is the same; for the word came is ¿λnλudóra, that is, that 'came,' or 'did come.' 2. It is not ròv ¿Àŋλvdóra,、 'who did come,' that thence any colour should be taken for the exposition given by them, of confessing that Christ, or him who is the Christ, the King of the people of God, or confessing him to be the Christ, the King of the people of God; but it is, that confesseth him who came in the flesh,' that is, as to his whole person and office, his coming, and what he came for. 3. They cannot give us any example, nor any one reason, to evince, that that should be the meaning of v σaρkì, which here they pretend. The meaning of it hath above been abundantly declared. So that there is no need that we should insist longer on this place; nor why we should trouble ourselves with Grotius's long discourse on

☛ Etiam in eo nihil prorsus de incarnatione (quam vocant) haberi. Etenim quod apud quosdam legitur, venit in carnem, in Græco habetur, in carne venit. Propterea non scribit Johannes, quod spiritus, qui confitetur Jesum Christum, qui in carne venit, ex Deo est; verum quod ille spiritus qui confitetur Jesum Christum in carne venisse ex Deo est. Quorum verborum sensus est, eum spiritum ex Deo esse, qui confitetur Jesum illum, qui munus suum in terris sine ulla pompa et ostentatione mundana, summa cum humilitate (quoad exteriorem speciem) summoque cum contemptu obiverit, mortem denique ignominiosam oppetierit, esse Christum, et populi Dei regem.

this place. The whole foundation of it is, that to 'come in the flesh,' signifies to come in a low, abject condition; a pretence without proof, without evidence. 'Flesh' may sometimes be taken so: but that to 'come in the flesh,' is to come in such a condition, we have not the least plea pretended.

The last place they mention to this purpose is, Heb. x. 5. 'Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.' He who had a body prepared for him, when he came into the world, he subsisted in another nature, before that coming of his into the world. To this they say,

'Neither is there here any mention made of the incarnation (as they call it), seeing that world, into which the author says Christ entered, is the world to come, as was above demonstrated, Whence to come into the world, doth not signify to be born into the world, but to enter into heaven. Lastly, in these words, a body hast thou prepared me, that word, a body (as appeared from what was said, where his entering this world was treated of), may be taken for an immortal body.

'Q. What is the sense of this place?

'A. That God fitted for Jesus such a body, after he entered heaven, as is fit and accommodate for the discharging of the duty of a high-priest.'

But doubtless, than this whole dream nothing can be more fond or absurd. 1. How many times is it said that Christ came into this world, where no other world but this can be understood? For this cause saith he, came I into the world, that I might bear witness of the truth;' John xviii. Was it into heaven that Christ came to bear witness to the truth? 'Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners;' 1 Tim. i. 15. was it into heaven? 2. These words, 'a body hast thou prepared me,' are a full expression of what is synecdochically spoken of in the Psalms in these words, 'mine ears hast thou

Ne hic quidem de incarnatione (ut vocant) ullam mentionem factam, cum is mundus, in quem ingressum Jesum is autor ait, sit ille mundus futurus, ut superius demonstratum est. Unde etiam ingredi in illum mundum, non nasci in mundum, sed in cœlum ingredi significat. Deinde, illis verbis, Corpus aptasti mihi, corporis vox (ut ex eo apparuit, ubi de ingressu hoc in mundum actum est) pro corpore immortali accipi potest.

Quae sententia ejus est?-Deum Jesu tale corpus aptasse, postquam in cœlum est ingressus, quod ad obeundum munus Pontificis summi aptum et accommodatum foret.

opened;' expressing the end also why Christ had a body prepared him, namely, that he might yield obedience to God therein, which he did signally in this world, when he was 'obedient to death, the death of the cross.' 3. As I have before manifested the groundlessness of interpreting the word 'world,' put absolutely, of the world to come, and so taken off all, that here they relate unto, so in that demonstration, which God assisting I shall give, of Christ's being a priest, and offering sacrifice in this world, before he entered into heaven, I shall remove what farther here they pretend unto. In the meantime, such expressions as this, that have no light nor colour given them from the text they pretend to unfold, had need of good strength of analogy given them from elsewhere, which here is not pretended. 'When he comes into the world,' that is, when he enters heaven; he says, 'a body hast thou prepared me,' that is, an immortal body, thou hast given me, and that by this immortal body they intend indeed no body, I shall afterward declare.

Grotius turns these words quite another way, not agreeing with our catechists; yet doing still the same work with them which, because he gives no proof of his exposition, it shall suffice so to have intimated: in sum, ver. 4. he tells us, how the blood of Christ takes away sin; viz. 'because it begets faith in us, and gives right to Christ for the obtaining of all necessary helps for us,' in pursuit of his former interpretation of chap. 9. where he wholly excludes the satisfaction of Christ. His coming into the world, is, he says, 'his shewing himself to the world, after he had led a private life therein for awhile;' contrary to the perpetual use of that expression of the New Testament; and so the whole design of the place is eluded; the exposition whereof I shall defer to the place of the satisfaction of Christ.

And these are the texts of Scripture our catechists thought good to endeavour a delivery of themselves from, as to that head or argument of our plea, for his subsistence in a divine nature, antecedently to his being born of the Virgin, namely, because he is said to be incarnate, or made flesh.