VII.-FIRST-BEGOTTEN, OR FIRST-BORN. 12. Rom. viii. 29: Whom he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. IMPORT OF THE PHRASE FIRST-BORN. primus et præcipuus.-Brenius. the chief.Locke, Whitby, Cappe, Bagot. the first-born in holiness and glory.-Parkhurst. the eldest son in the Christian brotherhood.-Haynes. 13. Col. i. 15: Who is the first-born of every creature. TRANSLATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS. the first-born of the whole creation.-Hammond, Tillotson, Parkhurst, Macknight, Doddridge, &c.; Belsham, Carpenter, Drummond, &c. the first Creator of every creature.-Fleming apud Doddridge. born before every creature; or, Parent and Maker of every creature.-Burgess. begotten before the whole creation.-Waterland, Hill. brought forth by the Father before all ages, before the whole creation.-A. Clarke. the Head of all creation.-Stuart. the Lord or Proprietor of every creature.-Carlile. the Proprietor or Ruler of every creature.-Bagot. primus in nova creatione.-Grotius. the chief, the most excellent of the whole creation.-Lardner. former and head of the new creation.-Belsham. 14. Col. i. 18: The beginning, the first-born from the dead, &c. TRANSLATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS. the Efficient, the first Raiser of the dead.-Fleming apud Doddridge. the principle and efficient Cause of the resurrection of the dead.-Tillotson. the first-fruits [asagxn, the reading of five MSS.], the first-born from the dead; i.e. the first-fruit of the glorious harvest, the first human being who is raised to immortal life.-Belsham. the first-born, or first-begotten among the dead, i.e. the most excellent, the chiefinstrument of God in the Gospel dispensation, the head of it, after his death, or his resurrection from the dead.-Cappe. 15. Heb. i. 6: And again when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, &c. i. e. after his resurrection.-Belsham. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. b 1 Cor. xv. 20-23: But now is Christ risen from the dead, the first-fruits of them that slept. (G.) .. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. c Exod. iv. 22: Thus saith Jehovah, Israel [is] my son, [even] my first-born.— See Jer. xxxi, 9. d Ps. lxxxix. 20-27: David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: ... I will make him [my] first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. first-born, i. e. the most beloved.-Gesenius. e 2 Cor. v. 17, 18: If any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things [are] or GOD, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, &c. Gal. vi. 15: In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Comp. chap. v. 6 and 1 Cor. vii. 19.) Eph. ii. 10—14: We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. See Eph. iv. 24. Col. iii. 10. James i. 18. ƒ Mark xvi, 15: Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Comp. Matt. xxviii. 19.)— Col. i. 23: The Gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. g Rom. viii. 29: Whom he did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. h Heb. xii. 23: The church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, i Acts ii. 36: Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that GOD HATH MADE that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Rom. xiv. 9: To this end, Christ both died and lived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. (G.) Heb. i.2: [His] Son, whom HE HATH APPOINTED heir of all things. Phil. ii. 11: Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, TO THE GLORY OF GOD, THE Father. See 2 Cor. v. 17, 18 (quoted in reference e). OBSERVATION S. 12-16. So far from establishing the Deity of Christ, or his eternal generation from God, the phrase first-begotten, or first-born, involves ideas totally repugnant to such a notion: for, literally understood, it has reference to time, generation, and birth; and consequently cannot prove, that the person to whom it is applied is an eternal or a self-existent spirit. At the utmost, the title can signify only that Christ existed before the universe was called into being. A due attention, however, to Scriptural phraseology will show, that the term first-born has no allusion whatever to the nature of our Lord; but merely denotes either that he is the greatest of all the prophets-the head of the church under God, and "the author and finisher of our faith;" or that he is the first man who, in the new creation, was brought forth from the tomb to the immediate enjoyment of eternal life." с Among the Hebrews, the phrase first-born, connected with the name of God, intimated, not priority in time, but high privilege, or superlative excellence of character and office. Thus the Almighty addressed the Jews as his first-born; and the same endearing title he bestowed on his servant king David. The great moral change produced by the religion of Jesus on the hearts of mankind is, in Scripture, termed a new creation; and the true disciples of Christ are distinguished by the phrase, new men, or new creatures; hence the apostle's observation, that Christ is "the first-born of every creature," that is, "the head or chief of the new creation." Accordingly we find, in the New Testament, the words 'every creature" sometimes used, not to signify every living being in the universe, but believing Jews and Gentiles, or those who were called on to partake the privileges and blessings of the gospel; and who are therefore characterised as born or begotten of God, being "Christ's brethren," and conformed to his image." Believers are styled also the first-born, either because they are considered as the heirs of an eternal inheritance, or on account of the great dignity to which they will be advanced in the kingdom of heaven. h Whatever may be the precise import of the term we have been examining, it is certain, from its application to king David, to the Jews, and to distinguished members of the Christian church, that it cannot indicate that Jesus Christ either is the original cause of the creation and of the resurrection, or that he was begotten from the Father in a mysterious and inconceivable manner from all eternity. The most recent and enlightened Trinitarians, indeed, seldom adduce the term first-born as expressive of any other meaning than that Christ is the Lord of the creation. And in this doctrine, if interpreted by the general strain of Holy Writ, no Unitarian would refuse his acquiescence; since it is the explicit language of the New Testament, that the crucified Jesus was 66 MADE Lord and Christ," and APPOINTED to be "the Master of the dead and living."i SECT. V.-EXAMINATION OF OTHER SCRIPTURAL NAMES AND TITLES ALLEGED FOR THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 1. EVERLASTING FATHER, ETC. 1. Isa. ix. 6: His name ... Wonderful, Counsellor, ... The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Father for ever.-Seiler. The Eternal.-Dathé. Immortal, or Possessor of eternity.-Rosenmüller: all quoted by Smith. Everlasting.-Smith. Everlasting Father.-Luther, Gesenius. The Father of eternity.-Usher, Sherlock, A. Clarke; Priestley, Racov. Catech. of perpetuity.-Cocof the age.ceius, Vogel, Hensler: ap. Smith. Dodson, Tyrrnhitt. of the everlasting age.of the future age. - Simpson. Christie. age to come.-S. Clarke, Lindsey, Hincks. the world to come.-Douay Ver. (See p. 270.) EXPLANATIONS. of the of Justly is his name called WONDERFUL; for wonderful is his person, and all his acts and offices. He is the Counsellor, the Mediator or Adminstrator of the gospel-covenant; the Paternal Head, Protector, and Guide of all who trust in Him to life everlasting, &c.-Smith. His name shall be called Wonderful, for in him and by him the wonderful power and decrees of God will be displayed; Counsellor of God, for he will be fully acquainted with the mind and will of God respecting the duty and expectations of mankind; Father of the age to come, the head and introducer of a new and everlasting dispensation; Prince of peace, the peaceful ruler, under whose laws and influence peace will be diffused on earth, &c.-Carpenter. ... II. PRINCE OF LIFE, ETC. 2. Acts iii. 15: The Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead. See chap. v. 31. the Lorde of life.-Bible 1596. the author of life. -Margin; Wakefield. of this life.-A. Clarke. the chief guide, or director of life.-Haynes. leader of life.-Kenrick. conductor to life.-Eds. of Imp.Ver. principalem ducem vitae.-Wolzogenius. 3. Heb. xii. 2: Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, &c.—See chap. ii. 10. beginner and finisher of our faith.-Marg. Tran. captain and perfect exemplar of faith.-Lardner. guide and complete pattern of this faith.- Wakefield. leader on to faith and its perfecter.-Imp. Ver. princeps et perfector fidei nostræ.-Tremellius. fidei ducem et consummatorem.-Beza, Limborch. c 1 Chron. xxvii. 32, 33: Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counsellor, a wise and a scribe.-See 2 Sam. xv. 12. man, 1 Chron. xxvi. 14. Micah iv. 9. et al. d Mal. ii. 10: Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? &c. Matt. xxiii. 9: Call no [man] your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. - See 1 Cor. viii. 6. e Isa. ix. 7: Of the increase of [his] government [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, &c. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this. f Gen. xxiii. 6: Hear us, my lord: thou [art] a mighty Prince among us. Princeps Dei.-Calvin. a Prince of God.-Marginal Trans. and Douay Version. g See Luke xxiii. 27, 28, 34. et al. h Luke ii. 14: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. John xviii, 36, 37: My kingdom is not of this world, &c. i John vi. 57: I live by the Father. j Acts v. 30, 31: The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree. HIM HATH GOD EXALTED with his right hand [to be] a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance, &c. k John xi. 25: Jesus said, .. I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Chap. xiv. 6: I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 John vii. 16: Jesus said, MY DOCTRINE IS NOT MINE, but His that sent me. Rom. vi. 23: THE GIFT OF GOD [is] eternal life, THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord. See 2 Cor. v. 18, 1 John iv. 14. SECT. V. -EXAMINATION OF OTHER SCRIPTURAL NAMES AND TITLES ALLEGED FOR THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST. OBSERVATIONS. 1. A few remarks having elsewhere been made with respect to the phrase mighty God," which occurs in Isa. ix. 6, we have now only to observe, 1st, That the titles, Wonderful, Counsellor, cannot reasonably be understood to denote the Supreme Divinity of the person to whom they are applied; for these expressions are often used in the Old Testament in relation to men or things. Thus, the temple which Solomon erected for the worship of the one true God is called great and wonderful. But it would be irrational to infer, that either this edifice, or the best and wisest of counsellors, are literally in possession of a divine nature.-2d, That the title everlasting Father would, very absurdly, imply that there were two Fathers in the Godhead, or that the Son of God was his own Father. Hence Biblical writers of all denominations generally prefer the rendering, Father of the everlasting, or future age; an appellation which may be considered as denoting that Jesus Christ was appointed by God to be the instructor of future generations.-3d, That Abraham, who certainly was inferior to Christ, is termed in Scripture a mighty Prince, or, according to the original, a prince of God; an expression which, in sound and signification, seems to imply as much of Deity as the beautiful title, Peaceful Prince, or Prince of Peace. If, however, any of God's messengers have been worthy of this pre-eminent distinction, it is undoubtedly the Messiah, not only because there was "more of heaven than of earth" in the benevolence of his disposition, but because the great design of his coming into the world was to establish a kingdom for promoting the glory of God, and the happiness of the human race." k e 2, 3. The title Prince of life cannot denote that Jesus Christ was the primary author of existence: for he himself was supported by the Father; he was "raised from the dead" and "exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour."j As the Greek word signifies a captain or leader, Jesus may thus have been styled because he is the conductor to eternal life—the Way, the Truth, and the Life; or because he was the first who rose from the dead to an immortal existence. This interpretation seems to be favoured by the last clause of the verse. "the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead." With respect to the titles, "Author and Finisher of our faith," attributed to Jesus in Heb. xii. 2, it is to be remarked, that they do not by any means imply that he was the underived Origin and Perfecter of Christianity, as this would be in direct opposition to his own language, and to that of the apostles, who expressly and unequivocally represent God, the Father, as the primary Bestower of our most holy Faith.' IV. ALPHA AND OMEGA, ETC. 5. Rev.i.8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. I am Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord God.-Griesb. 6. Rev. i. 11: I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. 7. Rev. i. 17; ii. 8. (Quoted in ref. z.) 8. Rev. xxii. 13: I [am] Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (G.) REMARKS. These.. declare his absolute perfection, his perpetual presence and protection; and that he is the Author, the effective Agent, and the End of the scheme of providential government with relation to the church.-Smith on Rev. i.17; ii. 8; xxii. 13. The terms" Alpha and Omega, beginning and end," are, in a finite sense, justly applicable to Jesus as the first of all created existences, and the last of those who will be required to resign the authority with which he was invested by the Father.-Rammohun Roy. *Jesus Christ is contemporary with the earliest and the latest events in that dispensation over which he has been ordained by the Almighty to preside.-Yates. That the Son of God is absolutely the first, none will venture to assert, who maintain that the Father is the first person of the Trinity.-B. Wissowatius. Remarks by Calmet and Erasmus, see p. 270. ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS. m Ezravii.12: Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, &c. n Dan. ii. 37: Thou, O king [Nebuchadnezzar], [art] a king of kings, &c. o Ezek. xxvi. 7: Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, &c. Р Luke xxii. 29: I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me. - See Acts v. 31. q 1 Cor. xv. 24: Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, &c. r See Acts ii. 36. s Ver. 4, 5: Grace ... from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, .. and from Jesus Christ, &c.—See chap. iv. 8; xi. 17; xv. 3; xvi. 5, 7, 14; xviii. 8; xix. 6, 15; xxi. 22; xxii. 5, 6. 2 Cor. vi. 18. t Ver. 12, 13 (comp. ver. 17, 18). u Heb. xii. 2: Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. v Matt. iii. 11: He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. (Comp. Luke vii. 28.) Matt. iii. 17: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. w See John iii. 34. x 1 Cor. xv. 28: When all things shall be subdued unto him, THEN SHALL THE SON ALSO HIMSELF BE SUBJECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIM, that God may be all and all. y Rev. i. 4, 5: Grace ... from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first-begotten of the dead, &c. z Rev. i. 17, 18: Fear not: I am the first and the last: [I am] HE THAT LIVETH, AND WAS DEAD; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Chap. ii. 8: These things saith the first and the last, WHO WAS DEAD, AND IS ALIVE. TwTos, the highest in dignity, John i. 15; soxαTos, the most despised of men.-Grotius. a Rev. i. 1: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, &c. |