of earth and heaven, of the human and superhuman, which received an
interpretation from the fact only of Christ's divine and human nature,
and which, along with Christ's own words, and the teaching of His
Spirit, made the apostles accept the doctrine with profound conviction
and deep joy; although, without some such overwhelming evidence, the
very thought must have been to them a blasphemous idolatry. They
believed, because they had sufficient grounds, from facts, for their
belief. We cannot, therefore, think that those who rejected the claims
of Jesus, and executed Him as a blasphemer, were right, and that the
apostles, who acknowledged Him as one with God, were wrong, or that
their faith will ever be put to shame!

We have thus considered the Person of Jesus in the light of His own
teaching, as that too was understood at the time, both by enemies
and friends, and also in the light of the faith and teaching of His
apostles.

4. But there is yet another aspect in which we may view this
question--viz., _the faith and views of the Christian Church_.

As to the _faith_ of the Church, using that word as expressing its
_creed_, it is historically certain that since the days of the
apostles till the present time, this doctrine has formed a _sine
qua non_ of the creed of the whole Church, whether called Popish,
Protestant, Greek, Armenian, Nestorian, &c.--of every branch, in
short, with the exception of the Unitarians. Amidst all differences,
the millions of professing Christians have agreed from age to age in
this article. No theological strifes or angry passions, no dissents or
reformations, have disturbed this truth as the foundation-stone of the
Temple. Now, if Christ is _not_ a divine person, it follows that the