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form of expression here used—ό ουρανος και η γη δια του Θεού EYEVOVTO, the heaven and the earth were made through* God. If, therefore, it could be proved that λoyos word, is a personal title of Christ, it would not follow from this passage, that he was in the proper sense the Creator of the world. The farthest to which the inference can be carried is, that he was the agent or instrument of God in the creation. These remarks, indeed, may be said to be inconsistent. For if 20yos here mean God himself, and yet all things are said to have been made through him, [παντα δι' αυτού εγενετο] it may be urged that we deny the act of creation in the proper sense even to God-di aurou not having that import. But in answer to this, it is sufficient to observe, that λoyos, as a personification, is spoken of as the agent or instrument of the Creator, to which view of the case the expression must of course be adapted. For though the operation, which by a peculiar phraseology is ascribed to the word of God, is in reality the operation of God himself; yet the consistency of the phraseology or form of expression must be preserved, as if the word were only an agent. The instrumentality in truth lies only in the form of the expression.t

It has been thought by some, that "all things" in

* I use in English the preposition through and not by, because the latter is ambiguous, as it may be used to express to, the efficient cause, as well as dia, the instrumental cause. The English reader is often grievously misled by this ambiguity.

+ Cum fruges Cererem, vinum Liberum dicimus, genere nos quidem sermonis utimur usitato. Cic. Nat. Deor. iii. 16. But the rest of the phraseology must be adapted to the expression chosen respectively.

this clause mean, not the material world, but all things pertaining to the gospel dispensation. I think, however, that the clause relates to the creation of the world; and that "the life," that is, eternal life, in the fourth verse, is the first express reference to Christianity.* For it appears to me, that it was the design of the evangelist to assert the divine origin of Christianity, by ascribing it to the same word of God, by or through which the heaven and the earth were made. It is well known, that the gospel is represented as a creation through Jesus Christ. Eph. ii. 10. "For we are his [God's] workmanship, created by Jesus Christ, [εv Xgory InGov.] Eph. iii. 9. "Which [mystery] from the Χριστῳ Ιησού.] beginning of the world had been hid in God, who created all things by [did, through] Jesus Christ."+ Also, in Col. i. 16-18, we have the following magnificent description of the institution of the new dispensation, and of the pre-eminence of its glorious head or chief: "For by him [ε aury, that is, Christ] were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by [dia, through] him, and for [15, unto] him. And he is before all things, and by him [EV aur] all things con

εν

εν

"eternal life,"

* I am of opinion that the term life, meaning refers here to the Christian doctrine; but it must be granted, that the doctrine of eternal life cannot be considered as exclusively Christian. For our Saviour meant the sacred writings of the old covenant, when he said, (John v. 39.) "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life.'

✦ “Through Jesus Christ" is omitted in Griesbach's text.

sist; and he is the head of the body, the church." But the exact value of the phraseology, in every case, must be ascertained both from the strict import of every expression according to the usage of the sacred writers, and from the connection and bearing of each passage, and the main drift and design of the writer.

In regard to the passages quoted in the last paragraph, the two former from the epistle to the Ephesians relate to the introduction and establishment of the gospel dispensation, in which among other things was disclosed the great mystery hid from ages, the equal spiritual privileges of Jews and Gentiles through faith. Whilst this is evidently the main scope of the writer, can it be imagined that those are right who seize on an occasional insulated expression-" who created all things by Jesus Christ" take it out of its connection, and strain it beyond its legitimate literal meaning,* overlooking the qualification so obviously implied in the very nature of the subject, that the apostle thought it unnecessary to express it? But even this does not answer the purpose; for Christ is not asserted to be the primary cause, but the instrument of the creation. In like manner, the passage in Colossians, and we may add that in the introduction to the Hebrews, (i. 2,) has no relation to the creation of the material world, but to the new moral and spiritual

* For εv aury, and di' avrov, by or in him, and through him, are expressions never used concerning the supreme Creator, personally, though they are used in speaking, instrumentally, of his perfections, in the creation of the world. See Jer. xxviii. 15. Пov

ισχύι αυτού, "He who maketh the earth by his power." See also ch. xxxix. 17. Septuagint.

creation through Jesus Christ. "We are God's workmanship created in Jesus Christ”—the kind of creation is manifest, for it is "unto good works." Jesus Christ is not said (Heb. i. 2.) to have made the worlds, but God through him.*

If in truth the sacred writers had believed Jesus Christ to be the creator of the material world, of "the heaven and the earth," they would have stated their belief expressly and unambiguously, with the main and leading view of setting it forth; and they would have assigned the act of proper creation to him not less frequently or definitely than to the one essential God, even the Father. And if, as is most assuredly often affirmed, the Father was the SOLE "Creator of heaven and earth," how could they have another creator in the second personal God, and another in the third? And have we not the express authority of the scriptures for maintaining SOME difference (whatever it may be) between "one God the Father, of [] whom are all things, and we for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through [da] whom are all things, and we through him?" See 1 Cor. viii. 6. If the apostle did not mean here to set forth the supremacy of the Father, of whom [as originator] are all things, and the subordinate character of Jesus Christ, THROUGH whom, instrumentally, are all things, by what rule or art shall we attempt to investigate the import of his language?

* The expression here is, δι ὁν και τους αιώνας εποίησεν, through whom he also made the ages, or dispensations. He uses ages in the plural number, to signify, by way of pre-eminence, the Christian dispensation. It was, therefore, the intention of the apostle to assert, that God through Christ estaolished the Christian dispensation.

"And without him not one thing was done, which has been done." This is another instance of repetition, expressing negatively what had been before asserted in the affirmative.

VERSE THE FOURTH,

In him was life ; and the life | was the light of men.h

By the word of God that eternal life, which was with the Father, was manifested;

h By the manifestation of life eternal, the state of religious knowledge among men was very greatly improved.

COMMENTARY.

"In him was life.”—Life here means eternal life— a spiritual and intellectual life here, and everlasting life hereafter a life which is begotten and cherished, by the knowledge and influence of evangelical truth. John v. 24. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath life everlasting, &c." vi. 63. "The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." viii. 31, 32. "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free;" that is, from sin, as is evident from the 34th verse. The original giver of life is the Father, and his Son was his instrument in manifesting it-the medium through which the knowledge of the truth was communicated. 1 John v. 11. “God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in [or by] his Son." Rom. vi. 23. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Father is the sole underived source of life, the Son has

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