The Osceola times., 1878-02-09

huQ OmHlpOttut tOu, WuO 10 tuc dutuci
of the universe and our being!"
ooh, yes"
"Yery we'll. Now with III =. for q
starting point you cannot philosophically
hold that the Incarnation 10 an impossi.
bility; that it could not beT"
A vcrv little talk ended in his admit.
ting the possibility of the Incarnation,
but denying the probability CT II. And
then he went on to say with the quick>
ness of thought, and the clearest percep-
tion Of the whole matter:
"But l think Jesus was himself
deceived. l grant that he may have, in
moments of enthusiasm, thought he was
the son OF God, and, that he did at times
make this claim, there Is no doubt; but,
at other times he certainly made such
statements a. forbid us, on his own testi.
mony, to believe that he was equal with
God indeed, he admits that he is an
inferior being. In fact, ChrIst's own
testimony concerning himself Is contra
dictory, and this leads me question the
truth Of the gospels, and no TO reject
Christ az the Son of God, and hence
Christianity itself; for Christianity is
nothing buta beautiful delusion If Christ
is not what He claims to be. Now, He
says in one place. l and my Father are
one : and again, He that hath seen Me,
hath seen the Father and as have
before said, when on trial before the
high priest, he still claimed, and that in
the face of certain death, that He was
the Son of God. But he said, on another
occasion, that His Father was greater
than He. Now He can't be one with
God, and at the same time inferior to
God. Again He says, All power is
given unto Me- Now that 10 au admis-
sion that he did not have power himself,
but it was given to him; and surely he
that receives power Is inferior to him
that gives it. Now, are not these con-
tradictions in His own testimony; and
do they not destroy the worth Of it
entirely ? II seems to me that whatever
of truth there may be in the historical
existence of Jesus Christ, He only
imagined that He was the Son of God,
and that in speaking of himself, He
spoke according to the mood He was in,
sometimes believing Himself to be the
Son of God"
Finally said, after turning to the
passages he had referred to, and reading
them aloud:
Now suppose that you had been on
earth when Jesus was here, and had
heard Him make these contradictory (?)
statements, and had asked Him, saying
Master, do not quite understand you.
A little while ago you said, and My
Father are one, and he that hath seen
Me hath seen the Father; aud again
You ray, My Father is greater than l,
and, All power is given Me. How can
You be one with the Father, and yet lees
than the Father, and how can You be
equal with the Father il Your power ID
given to You, and not Yours independ.
ently?' Aud suppose He had said in
reply, my child, what If, for the purpose
of your redemption from sin, and the
curse of the law, voluntarily
laid aside My eternal glory, and
suffered Myself to be made of a
woman, and made under the law, thus
limiting My being to the conditions Of
your nature, that l might, in that nature,
offer up to God such q sacrifice for sins
to the whole world? In such a case,
can you not conceive that there is no
contradiction in these sayings OF Mine ?
For indeed, am one with the Father
and he that hath seen Me hath seen the
Father, but for the purposes Of atone
ment, have voluntarily assumed an
inferior position that ! might thus take
your place and die, which / could not
have done unless had thus taken sub
ordinate place. THUS. sometimes speak
Of My eternal relation to God, and some
times Of Ny relation to Him, as the
deem.'"
He listened attentively to this, and
then said, M if speaking to himself:
Yes, that might be. l can zee how
that might be. But (speaking to me)
did Christ ever make such an explana-
tiop9 Is that the theory of Christ's
subordination to the Father? ?"
|, in answer, turned 10 the second
chapter of Philippians, and said, "Cer-
tainly this is the explanation Of il. For
see: Paul was trying to inculcate lessons
of humanity, by exhorting the Philip
plans TO voluntarily take a subordinate
place in relation to each other, though
they might, as matter of fact, and right,
stand on an equality, and enforced his
exhortation by this reference: Let
this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God (thought not his equality with
God something to be contended for, but
made himself of no reputation, and took
upon himself the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness OF men, and
being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the CT ,ss.'"
-(Phil. H. 81
He took my bible in his hand, and
read the passage over and over himself,
and said, Wonderful! wonderful!n n'
And still holding the book in his hand,
with quivering chin and moistened eyes
he said:
Yes. the Son of God made himself of
no reputation for me, and took my
nature, and died on the cross for me-"
And then, looking up in my face.
said, "What have | got to do about it %
To which ! replied, Accept him,
believe in him, and confess him as your
Saviour"
"Msy ?"
Ireplied. opening my bible to Rom. Z,
o: "If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thy heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved"
Let me see that"
| handed him the book, and read IL
aloud, and then said {:
81 do believe in my heart that God
raised him from the dead, and l do
acknowledge him as my Saviour"
We drained down toCether unon ouv