On the other hand, those few divine epithets or titles which are used in
application to Jesus Christ, as Lord, God, Savior, Redeemer,
Intercessor, &c., it has been shown were all used prior to the birth of
Christ, in application to beings known and acknowledged to be men, and
some of them are found so applied in the bible itself; as, for example,
Moses is called a God in two instances, as we have shown, and cited the
proof (in Ex. iv. 16, vii. 1), while the title of Lord is applied to men
at this day, even in Christian countries. And instances have been cited
in the bible of the term Savior being applied to men, both in the
singular and plural numbers. (See 2 Kings xiii. 5, and Neh. ix. 27.)
Seeing, then, that the most important divine titles which the writers of
the New Testament have applied to Jesus were previously used in
application to men, known and admitted to be such, it is therefore at
once evident that those titles do nothing toward proving him to be the
Great Divine Being, as the modern Christian world assume him to be, even
if we base the argument wholly on scriptural grounds. While, on the
other hand, we have demonstrated it to be an absolute impossibility to
apply with any propriety or any sense to a divine infinite omnipotent
Being those finite human qualities which are so frequently used with
reference to Jesus throughout the New Testament. And hence, even if we
should suppose or concede that the writers of the New Testament did
really believe him to be the great Infinite Spirit, or the almighty,
omnipotent God,'we must conclude they were mistaken, from their own
language, from their own description of him, as well as his own virtual
denial and rejection of such a claim, when he applied to himself, as he
did in nine cases out of ten, strictly finite human qualities and human
titles (as we have shown), wholly incompatible with the character of an
infinite divine Being. We say, from the foregoing considerations, if the
primitive disciples of Jesus did really believe him to be the great
Infinite, both their descriptions of him and his description or
representation of himself, would amply and most conclusively prove that
they were mistaken. At least we are compelled to admit that there is
either an error in applying divine titles to Jesus, or often an error in
describing his qualities and powers, by himself and his original
followers, as there is no compatibility or agreement between the two.
Divine titles to such a being as they represent him to be, would be an
egregious misnomer. We say, then, that it must be clearly and
conclusively evident to every unbiased mind, from evidence furnished by
the bible itself, that if the divine titles applied to Jesus were
intended to have a divine significance, then they are misapplied. Yet we
would not here conclude an intentional misrepresentation in the case,
but simply a mistake growing out of a misconception, and the very
limited childish conception, of the nature, character, and attributes
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