before the rest: Christ, therefore, must be of the same nature with us, in order to be the first-fruits from the dead, and that his resurrection may be a proper encouragement to us to expect the like. Had he been of a nature considerably different from ours, especially much superior to us, as he must have been if he had been the Creator of the world and of man, his rising again would be no proper specimen of a resurrection in which we might hope to partake; for there might be very good reasons why so great a Being as he was, could not be holden of death, whieh would not at all extend to us."

Priestley.

1 CORINTHIANS XV. 21.

"For since by man came death," &c.

(UNITARIANISM.)

"Adam was the father of all mankind; and he, by his fall, was the means of entailing death upon his offspring. Adam was a man like ourselves; and it is the pleasure of God that a resurrection to life should also be introduced by another man, a man like ourselves, one who was as truly and properly a man as Adam himself: even of Jesus of Nazareth, who authoritatively taught, and in his own person ́exemplified, a resurrection to life, honour, and immortality.

"We may here remark, that the Apostle assumes as the foundation of his analogy, the foundation of the fall of man, as recorded in the book of Genesis,

and argues upon it as literally true. Whether literal or figurative, whether history or fable, whether he

did or did not admit it in the strict literal sense, it equally well serves the purpose of his argument. The Mosaic history teaches, that the fall of one man introduced death, and the resurrection of another man introduces life.

"Observe likewise, the pointed manner in which the Apostle here asserts the proper humanity of Christ. If Christ was not a man, a mere man, a man in the very same sense as Adam, then the Apostle's assertion is untrue. If Jesus be, as many Christians believe, a superior being, the true state of the case would be, that although by man came death, the resurrection from the dead came by one who is greater than man. But the Apostle's doctrine is the direct contrary of this: As by man came death, so by man will also come a resurrection of the dead. It is impossible for language to express, in a more explicit manner, that Jesus of Nazareth is a man, a human being in all respects constituted like other men."

Belsham.

The Puritans* objected particularly to those words used in our burial service, "In sure and cer

* When the Puritans were in power, and the directory had been substituted in place of the liturgy, it was ordered that burials were to be without any religious ceremony, such usages having been abused to superstition, being no way beneficial to the dead, and many ways hurtful to the living. Nevertheless, it was judged very

tain hope of the resurrection to eternal life," which, they said, were frequently pronounced over the worst of men.

See Neal's Hist. of the Puritans.

No. 1.

1 CORINTHIANS XV. 22.

"As in Adam all die.”

(PELAGIUS AND CŒLESTIUS.)

In opposition to this passage, the Pelagians quote Deut. xxiv. 16. "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers," &c.

One of the tenets of Pelagius and Coelestius, and for which Cœlestius was cited before the council assembled at Carthage, was "that Adam had been -created mortal, and would have died, though he had not sinned."

See Dictionn. des Hérésies.

No. 2.

(SUBLAPSARIANS AND SUPRALAPSARIANS.)

1

The order in which they understand the divine decrees, has produced two distinctions of Calvinists, viz. Sublapsarians, and Supralapsarians: the former term derived from two Latin words, Sub, below or

convenient, that the Christian friends who accompanied the dead to the place appointed for public burial, should apply themselves to meditation and conferences suitable to the occasion; and the minister, if he were present, might put them in remembrance of their duty there, as upon any other opportunity. They did not intend to deny any civil respects at the burial, suitable to the rank and constitution of the deceased-Southey's Book of the Church., d eyew yaen

after, and Lapsus, the fall; and the latter from Supra, above, and Lapsus, the fall.

The Sublapsarians assert, that God had only permitted the first man to fall; their system of decrees, concerning election and reprobation, being, as it were, subsequent to that event; whereas the Supralapsarians maintain, that God had from all eternity decreed the transgression of Adam, in such a manner, that our first parents could not possibly avoid that fatal event, and this as a foundation of his justice and mercy.

No. 3.

Adam's Religious World.

(UNITARIANISM.)

"The Apostle suggests a remarkable analogy between the two dispensations of death and life, with respect to the nature of the persons by whom they were introduced. The fact which this analogy supposes, and upon which it is built, seems to be no other than this, that Christ, as to his nature, was in no respect different from Adam. For the proof that 'as by man came death, by man also came the resurrection from the dead,' is this: that as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. He was a man in the same sense of the word in which it was applied by St. Paul to Adam. We We may reasonably presume, that the Apostle, in speaking of Adam and Christ, with respect to their natures, if he had known of any material distinction between them, would have been no less attentive to the circumstances of opposition, than to those of resemblance. That instead of saying, as by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead;' he would have said, although by man came death, the

resurrection of the dead came by a person of a nature superior to that of man: and since no oppo sition of this sort appears, are we not at liberty to believe, nay, are we not obliged to acknowledge, that God has magnified his power by making him who sanctifies, and them who are sanctified, of one nature; by raising up the author of life and salvation from among the descendants of him who brought death into the world."

Tyrwhit. ap. Comment. and Essays on S. S. vol. ii. p. 15. et seq. "And it is also very plain, that the resurrection of which the Apostle treats in this celebrated chapter, is the resurrection, not of a chosen few, of a select number, whether greater or less, but that of the whole human race. The Apostle's language is so clear and full, with respect to the final happiness of those who are thus raised, and that their resurrection to life will be ultimately a blessing, that the generality of Christians have supposed that he is here treating of the resurrection of the virtuous only. But that is not the fact: he evidently speaks of the restoration of the whole human race. All who die by Adam shall be raised by Christ: otherwise the Apostle's assertion would be untrue. The case then would have been this, as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall a select number, a small proportion, be made alive. But this is not the Apostle's doctrine. His expressions are equally universal in each clause: All die in Adam. The same all, without any exception, without any restriction, shall by Christ be restored to life, and ultimately to holiness and everlasting happiness. And to guard against the abuse of this doctrine, he proceeds to declare, that all will not be admitted at the same time to the participation of final happiness; for,