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OF THE ?QB(Dli(DQI)(3ail SSKMQSm PRINCETON, N. J. SAMUEL AONEW, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. Phstv/iX g£riC,f§5fc G4t>. Case, SZ( Shelf, /M" ection._. Book, I DISSERTATIONS ON THE UNITY OF GOD IN THE PERSON OF THE FATHER. AND ON THE MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS THE SON OE GOD AND OF MARY; "WITH PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE AND ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITY. BY WILLIAM CHRISTIE, A BELIEVER IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRIMITIVE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF CHRIST, AS DELIVERED IN THE APOSTLES CREED. Jmd 1 smc another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; fur the hour of his judgment h come: and worship him tliat made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of -waters. REV. xiv. 6, 7. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the lata, &c. GAL. iv. 4. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of Davidj and the bright and morning star. REY. xxii. 16. ^Itabelpbta: PRINTED BY ABEL DICKINSON-WHITEHALL. FOR THE AUTHOR. M.DCCC.VIII. : ' DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit: •*«•***** Be it remembered, That on the fifteenth day of J t October, in the thirty-third Year of the Independence * L. S. * of the United States of America, A. D. 1808, William' * J Christie, of the said District, hath deposited in this ********* Office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author in the words following, to wit " Dissertations on the Unity of God in the Person of the Father, " and on the Messiahship of Jesus the Son of God and of Mary; with *' Proofs and Illustrations from Holy Scripture and Ecclesiastical An- " tiquity. By William Christie, a Believer in the Doctrine of " the primitive Catholic Church of Christ, as delivered in the Apos- " ties Creed." " And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel t» preach "• unto them that d;vell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, " Saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him; fur the hour if his judgment is " come : and worship him t/iat made heaven, and eartlu, and the sea, and the fountains of " waters. Rev xiv. 6, 7." " But when the fulness of the time -was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, " made under the taw, ire. Gal. iv. 4. " / jcsus have sent »iw: angel to testify unto you these things in t/ie churches. I am the root ' : and t/te offspring of David, and live bright and morning star. Rev. xxii. 16." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, inti- tuled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the Times therein mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts,^ and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the Times therein mentioned," and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other Prints." D.CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Fennsyhania. : THE PREFACE. IT is now twenty-four years since I published the first Edition of my Discourses on the Divine Unity , &c. (a work very different from the present) at Montrose in Scotland, in the year r/K*.* Though this Edi- tion had the misfortune to be very badly printed, yet it was very well received in England, and all the copies I sent to London were disposed of in a short space of time. This Treatise not only gave satisfaction to all my Unitarian friends in South Britain from the Capital to Kendal in Westmoreland ;f but several persons, * The Title of this work at full length in the first Edition was, Discourses on the Divine Unity: or, A Scriptural Proof and Demonstration of the One Supreme Deity of the God and Father of all and of the subordinate Character and inferior Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ ; with a Confutation of the Doctrine of a Co-equal and Consubstan- tial Trinity in Unity ; and a full reply to the objections of Trinitarians. By William Christie, Junior, Merchant in Montrose. Having retired from business when the second edition was printed, and living then in the country at a place called Woodston, about six miles from Montrose, the word Merchant in the Title was changed into the words, A member of the Society of Unitarian Christians at Mon- trose. The reason for mentioning this seemingly unimportant cir- cumstance will be afterwards discovered. f This alludes to the late Rev. Caleb Rotheram then Dissenting Minister at Kendal, an amiable and deserving person, and a nephew of the late learned Dr. Benson; who visited me at Montrose on parti- cular business in August 1781, about the time that the Society of Uni- tarian Christians was formed there, whom I afterwards saw at Kendal; on my return from London and Birmingham in the year 1783, and who was pleased to approve of the Discourses on the Divine Unity, when they made their appearance. IV THE PREFACE. personally unknown to me, were pleased to express their approbation of it in strong terms ; and I have as many letters by me from them alone as would fill a considerable pamphlet. Among those strangers to me, who wrote me on this occasion, the most remarkable were, the late learned Dr. Harwood, the late venerable and excel- lent Mr. Mort of Chowbent near Wigan, Lancashire, and a Clergyman of the Church of England. Sometime before I heard from Dr. Harivood, my late ingenious nephew, Thomas Christie, who after- wards wrote on the French Revolution and on other Topics, had written him on the subject of his View of the various Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, which circumstance occasioned the confusion of persons which appears in Dr. Harwood's letter to me, and also was the cause that his letter came first to my nephew, as my nephew's letter to me on the occasion, inserted below, will explain.* My chief reason for publishing Dr. Harwood's letter, is, for the sake of the sentiment contained in that part of it which I have distinguished by Italics, which, coming from an eminent Greek Scholar, and one formerly attached to Arianism, I think deserves to be record- * " Dear Uncle," » " A long time ago hearing that Dr. Harwood was to publish a " new edition of his book on the Classics, and willing to contribute " any thing in my power towards the perfection of a work so valuable " to every Student, I took the liberty to write a letter to him contain- " ing a list of errors, omissions, &c. which I had observed in consult- ** ing it, and suggesting some additions. I also reminded him of his " promise to the public of writing a third volume to his Introduction to '* the New Testament, which should contain an explication of all the " sacred phraseologies from passages of the Greek Classics." ** As lie was taken ill about the time, he never gave me any answer, ** and I never minded it more. To day Anderson & Co. have sent me " a letter from him, which by mistake was directed to you in place of " me. Inclosed is a sight of it. He confounds you and me together, " and tile letter is a curious medley of answers to me, and observa- " tions which can onlv apply to you." " Yours," "T. C." THE PREFACE. V ed. As my nephew wished to correspond farther with Dr. Harivood on the subject of the Classics, I returned the letter to him but took an exact copy of it beforehand, as follows. " London, Dec. 30, 1784." " Worthy Mr. Christie," " Sometime ago I had the honour of receiving " from you a letter concerning some Editions of the " Classics, which letter I mislaid, and having been " long confined by a dreadful paralytic stroke, I la- " ment that I have not been able to recover. Little " did I then imagine, that the learned Gentleman, " who appeared to have given so much attention to " the best editions of the ancient writers, would " have manifested in the world such a signal and " striking proof of religious integrity, in displaying " to a region which for so many centuries has been " the valley and shadow of death, the glorious ef- " fulgence of the divine Unity. I write to thank " you for your learned and excellent discourses, " which I have read with great satisfaction and im- " provement. The Divine Unity stands on an im- " moveable basis, whatever our trivial differences " may be with regard to the nature of Christ. / am " inclined to think that Socinianism, when the diction " and phraseology of the New Testament are better " understood, will be found to be the Doctrine of " Scripture. I have written in favour of Arianism " these twenty years, but I hesitate, and I have given " a proof of my Candour and Diffidence in my little " Tract " Of the Socinian Scheme.'* You are great- " ly to be commended not only for your own illus- " trious probity, but for the exemplary diiigence " you have employed in planting and watering a lit- VI THE PREFACE.

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