Defense of the Report, Part 2 · Section 1 – Section 2
I. An Expunging that Paragraph, which in the firſt Paper did Aſſert the Neceſſity of a Change of Perſons between Chriſt and Us, in order to a Due Explaining and Defending the Doctrine of Chriſt's Satisfaction, and our Juſtification.
That a Change of Perſons between Chriſt and Us is neceſſary to a due Explication and Defence of Chriſt's S…tion and our Juſtification, is ſo very manifeſt, that were nor but ſurprize us, to Hear from a Brother who pre… to Believe both, that it is not ſo.
What more Evident, than that if the Lord Chriſt hath not made Satisfaction to God's Juſtice for us, there is nothing Left for the Relief of a Convinced Sinner, or for Healing a Wounded Spirit: for there is no Room, no Place for our being Juſtified in the Court of Heaven. If no Satisfaction, there can be no Juſtifying Righteouſneſs found for us, to appear before the Bar of God in. 'Tis Chriſt's Righteouſneſs alone, that can paſs the Examen in the Great Day of the Lord; and without that no Soul Living can be Juſtified.
But, if Chriſt Endured not the Puniſhment due to us for ſin, by Anſwering for us the Obligations of the Violated Law of Works, there can be no Proper Satisfaction made to the Juſtice of God for Us, for Satisfaction taken ſtrictly and in a proper ſenſe is ſolutio Debiti, a Suffering the Puniſhment due for our Sin. That the Puniſhment of our Sins could not be born by the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, unleſs there were a Commutation of Perſons between Chriſt and Us, whereby the Lord Jeſus came under the Bonds and Engagements of the Violated Law of Works, that we might be Delivered, is as Evident.
Theſe things are ſo plain, that whoever throughly Underſtands this Doctrine, whether the Orthodox, Socinian, or Arminian, they make no doubt of it, and therefore ſuch as oppoſe the Doctrine of a Proper Satisfaction, deny a Change of Perſons between Chriſt and Us, and thereby turn Chriſt's Sufferings from being Properly a Puniſhment to be only vicarious, that is, vice poenae, Grievous, and Painful Afflictions inſtead of a proper Puniſhment.
Whether what I here Aſſert be not the Truth Revealed to u… in the Holy Scriptures, I appeal to all ſound Divines, whether in the Church of England, Scotland, or the Reformed abroad.
However, if we may Believe my Brother, the Aſſertion of the Neceſſity of a Commutation of Perſons between Chriſt, and Us, in order to a due Explaining and Defending Chriſt's Satisfaction and our Juſtification cannot bear a Sound ſenſe, but is liable to be Interpreted to a ſenſe of Malignity to the whole of the Goſpel.
If this be not matter of Juſt Grief to the Godly Learned amongſt us, what can be ſo? Here is an Expoſing to the uttermoſt Contempt a Truth of very great Importance.
II. The Phraſe of Chriſt's ſuſtaining the Perſon of Sinners is Rejected.
That they Reject this Phraſe, of Chriſt's Suſtaining the Perſon of Sinners, is ſo manifeſt, that my Brother doth not only prove the Charge to be true, but Expreſſeth himſelf againſt the Vſe of this Phraſe, with Vehemence and Heat. Take his own words.
Faithful Rebuke.
For Chriſt to take upon him the Perſon of ſinners, as the phraſe is New and Uncouth, ſo it is to me Unintelligible, till they who have invented it ſhall Interpret it, p. 10. — This New phraſe, Chriſt took upon him the Perſon of ſinners, is a phraſe to Puzzle and Confound mens Underſtandings, p. 11. — Now ſucceeds the Coining Age, and they have ſtamped, and Counterfeited ſome New Phraſes, Terms, and Expreſſions, ſuch as Chriſt's taking on him the Perſon of Sinners. p. 32.
Reply.
1. This is no new Phraſe, but Uſed and Contended for by the Orthodox againſt the Arminians many years ago. If you conſult the Learned Peter du Monlin, his Anatomy of Arminianiſm, you'l find, that near fourſcore years ago, he charged the Arminians with denying, that Chriſt ſuſtained the Perſon of the Elect when on the Croſs. cap. 27. § 6. And, in the following chapter, § 30. he thus expreſſeth himſelf, When theſe Sectaries deny, that Chriſt did, when on the Croſs, ſuſtain the Perſon of the Elect, they do plainly contradict what is Affirm'd by Chriſt in Joh. 10.11. The good Shepherd lays down his Life for his Sheep, and thoſe other places in Joh. 15.13. Epheſ. 5.25.
Joannes Arnoldus Corvinus in his Cenſure on the Anatomy, freely declares in the Name of the Arminians they do deny, that Chriſt ſuſtained the Perſon of the Elect, when on the Croſs. cap. 27. §. 6.
2. The Learned Du Moulin was not ſingular in his Opinion, for what he aſſerted on this Occaſion was the Faith of the Reformed, which I will evince, beginning with the mention of ſome Learned Divines amongſt our ſelves in this Iſland. And it's worthy Remark, that the Reverend Dr. Bates, who is known to be no Antinomian, doth affirm in his Harmony, p 240. That, as in Civil caſes, where one becomes Surety for another, He is Obliged to pay the Debt, for in the Eſtimate of the Law, they are but One Perſon, Heb. 7.22. So the Lord Jeſus entring into this Relation, ſuſtained the Perſon of ſinners, and became Iudicially One with them; and according to the Order of Juſtice was liable to their Puniſhment.
What the Doctor hath here obſerved, gives Light touching the Genuine Import of the Phraſe of Chriſt's taking on him the Perſon of ſinners, as it is included in Chriſt's Sure…iſhip. For, when it's ſaid, Chriſt is our Surety, if it be meant of his Paying our Debts to the Law, and Juſtice of God, as it is by the Orthodox, the Term Surety muſt neceſſarily imply Chriſt's ſuſtaining …r Perſon, it being the part of a Surety to …ake on him the Perſon of a Debtor, to Repreſent him, and ſtand ſo in his Place and ſtead as to come into the ſame Bond, and under the ſame Obligations the Debtor ſtood.
Thus much is the Import of the Term, Surety, and ſignification of Chriſt's ſuſtaining the Perſon of ſinners, that is, The Lord Chriſt came into the Bond, we Forfeited, lies under the Obligations of the Violated Law of Works, and in our Perſon, Repreſenting Us, He Paid the Debt we Contracted, by ſuffering the Puniſhment we Deſerved.
Tho' Chriſt had not any Demerit of his own upon him, yet as the learned Biſhop Reynolds has it, He had the Guilt of Sin ſo far upon him, as it Notes the Obligation and Subjection unto Puniſhment, as he was our Surety, and ſo in ſenſu forenſi, in the ſight of Gods Court of Juſtice, One with us, who had deſerved the Puniſhment imputed to him, on Pſal. 110. p. 439.
Chriſt, as our Surety, ſuffered in our Perſon, Repreſenting us, and as the great Placeus, in the Salmurian Theſes de Juſtificat. ſect. 29. Obſerves, what Chriſt as our Surety, in our Perſon or Name ſuffered may be very truly imputed unto us. Who can, ſaith he, deny the Imputation of that Satisfaction unto us, which was made by our Surety, in our Name?
To the ſame purpoſe the learned Mr. Rutherford, who was not only an Enemy to Antinomian Hereſies, but One, who did Unanſwerably Confute them, this worthy Perſon, ſo juſtly celebrated, not only throughout Scotland, but by the learned in this Kingdom, and abroad for his Excelling Learning, Piety, and ſound Judgment, makes it his Province to prove againſt the Arminians, and Socinians, that Chriſt in ſuffering ſuſtained the Perſon of the Elect, and that the Orthodox ſignification of the phraſe in our Place and Stead is, in our Name or Perſon; of which more hereafter in due ſeaſon, but in this place I will only Remark, how he preſſeth, that Chriſt's Suretiſhip can import no leſs than his ſuſtaining the Perſon of them for whom he ſuffered. His words are, He, who being under the Law, paid that … Debt of Satisfaction, which the Elect in their … ſons ſhould have paid, He ſuſtained the Perſon of the Elect, in his ſuffering. But Chriſt being made … der the Law, paid that Law-Debt of Satisfaction which the Elect in their Perſons ſhould have paid, Ergo. The Propoſition is out of doubt. … He, who ſaith expreſly, that what is here affirmed by my Rebuking Brother to be Ʋnintelligible, fit to Puzzle and Confound mens Underſtandings, is ſo eaſie to be Underſtood, that there is no place left for doubt, for, as He adds in the next page. None who Dyeth as a Surety, or pays as a Surety, but He bears the Perſon of ſuch as He Pays for. Theſe things are Aſſerted by him, in his Treatiſe of the Covenant of Grace. Part 2. p. 252, &c.
I will add one Teſtimony more, and that is what I find in the Catechiſm of Mr. Nowell, received with the greateſt Honour, above theſe Hundred years, in the Church of England, where you have theſe words; Chriſt for us ſuffered, and went through Horrible Fears, and moſt bitter Griefs of mind, to ſatisfie God's Juſt Judgment in all things, and to Appeaſe his Wrath. For to Sinners, whoſe Perſon Chriſt did here Bear, not only the Sorrows and Pains of preſent Death are due, but alſo Death to Come and Everlaſting.
But theſe Authorities being only in the Engliſh Tongue, can only prove, that the Phraſe of Chriſt's bearing the Perſon of ſinners is not ſo New, as my Brother affirms, I will go on to enquire, whether this odd Phraſe (to uſe my Brothers own words) durſt ſhew its Face in Latin? For my Brother ſaith it durſt not.
Faithful Rebuke.
Seeing the great Struggle hath been, not about the ſatisfaction of Chriſt, as the Report Miſrepreſents it, but about ſome odd Phraſes, and Expreſſions, in which 'tis cloathed, eſpecially theſe of Chriſt's ſuffering in the Perſon of ſinners — whether if this be a ſound, and ſafe way of Expreſſing that great Doctrine, it will not endure to ſhew its Naked Face in ſome other of the learned Languages? And if you pleaſe make an Experiment, how well it will look in Latin? — Now what is ſuſtinere Perſonam alterius? — Whatever Excuſe they can have for the Engliſh phraſe, I know not, it's pretty hard to Damn all the World for an Angliciſm, p. 53.
Reply.
1. What my good Brother means by theſe Reflections on the phraſes of Chriſt's ſuſtaining and ſuffering in the Perſon of ſinners, leſs than that, in his Opinion, they were never uſed by any Author, who wrote in Latin, and that this learned Language wants apt words to expreſs them by, I cannot comprehend. But,
2. This being the manifeſt ſenſe of my reverend Brother, I ſhall be neceſſitated to Try his Skill, or Integrity, or both; For, nothing more Obvious than that they, who have wrote in Latin, on this Subject, have Uſed theſe phraſes, and that Cicero himſelf hath found out apt words to render the Bearing the Perſon of another into good Latin.
3. The Authorities I deſign to preſs ſhall be of ſuch Great Men, as are moſt diſtant in their Judgment, from Antinomian Notions, and paſſing by the Lutherans, viz. Calovius, Dorſheus, Scherzerus, Quenſtedius, and many other ſuch, who are in this Article very ſound, I will Confine my ſelf to the Reformed. Eſſenius, in his Defence of Grotius de Satisfactione, lib. 1. ſect▪ 4. cap. 5. part 1. p. 128. hath it thus, That Chriſtus Perſonam noſtram ſuſtinens, &c. Chriſt ſuſtaining our Perſon, there was a Commutation of his Death for ours, that we might attain unto Life.
Hoornbeck, who underſtood this Controverſie as well as any one, lays it down as a General Rule, by which we are to guide our ſelves, in the management of it, That Chriſtus eorum Perſonam ſuſtinuit, Chriſt ſuſtained the Perſon of them, for whom he made Satisfaction by his death, was in their Place, and State, and took on him to bear their Guilt on himſelf. Miſcel. Sac. lib. 3. p. 396.
Nor can there be any thing more Remarkable upon this Occaſion than what Rivet Replies to Bellarmine's Anſwer to the Common Argument of Proteſtants, for our being Juſtified by the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt; in which place, after he had urged a great deal in detecting Bellarmine's Sophiſtications, he adds, That Chriſt is to be conſidered, firſt as in himſelf, and then with reſpect to us, whoſe Perſon he ſuſtains; that Chriſt conſidered in himſelf is Just, Holy, without Spot, and ſeparate from Sinners, but in reſpect to us, he is ſaid to be made ſin: He is our Surety, and ſo a Debtor. Rivet. Cathol. Orthod. Tom. 2. Tract. 8. Querſt. 2. num. 35.
Cloppenburch is as poſitive; for, in his Enarrat. in 53. Iſa. ſaith he, When it's affirmed, that our ſins are imputed unto Chriſt, we muſt underſtand it, that he is truly made ſin, tho' not in himſelf, yet in our Perſon he may be reckoned and eſteemed as the Debtor: for, by reaſon of his Suretiſhip, he is Judicially eſteemed One Perſon with us. pag. 79.
Witſius, to whom Dr. Chauncey and Mr. Williams have appealed in this Controverſie, declares it as his Judgment, That Chriſt was ſo ſubſtituted for the Elect, and ſo ſuſtained their Perſon, that there is a Permutation or Change of Perſons. Animad. Iren. Cap. 2. § 8. and elſewhere, Christ did not Ʋndertake, or make Satisfaction for any, but them, whoſe Perſon he ſustained. De Oecon. Faed. lib. 2. cap. 9. § 1.
To theſe I will only add Voetius, who having Aſſerted, That Chriſt, as our Surety, ſustained the Perſon of all them that ſhall be ſaved by him, and ſo fulfilled all that Righteouſneſs of the Law, which they could not do, tells us, 'That the Remonstrants, who are juſtly ſuſpected for Leaning too much towards the Socinians, do hold no other Satisfaction, and Merit, than ſuch an appeaſing God, the offended Party, as that, by which he is ſo far ſatisfied as to be willing to Receive Offenders into favour; and by which Chriſt has acquir'd for the Father, a Right of Entring into a New Covenant with Men, from whence (adds he) it follows, That Chriſt was not truly our Surety, that he ſuffered not in our Place and Stead; that he did not in a proper Senſe Purchaſe and Procure any thing for us; nor did he, when on the Croſs, ſustain the Perſon of the Elect. Select. Diſput. Theol. p. 2. de Merito Chriſti; pag. 133, 134. Calvin alſo uſes it on Gal. 3.13.
Theſe few Inſtances are enough to convince an Unbyaſſed Mind, that the Phraſe of Christs ſuſtaining our Perſon, hath been commonly uſed, both by the Reformed at Home and Abroad; that it hath been inſiſted on as neceſſary to ſecure the Doctrine of Chriſts Satisfaction from Arminian and Socinian Incroachments, and that it has dared to ſhow its Face in Latin. But my Brother's further Enquiry is, Doth it appear in good Latin? To which I anſwer.
5. This Phraſe, ſustinere Perſonam alterius, is Cicero all over, for (ſaith he de Orat.) Tres Perſonas unus ſustineo, meam, Adverſarij & Judicis.
This Matter is ſo very plain, that how excuſable ſoever my Brothers Inſtructor may be in making ſuch Miſtakes, my Brother himſelf, who is ſo good a Latiniſt, diſcovering ſo much Unacquaintedneſs, not only with Divinity, but with that Learned Language, in which, if in any thing, excepting Wit, he muſt be eſteemed to excel, cannot be entirely excuſed. For what more evident, than that, if Cicero may be Regarded as a Competent Judge in this Caſe, ſuſtinere Perſonam alterius, is ſuch good Latin, that it need not be afraid to Look my Brother in the face. However,
6. This Brother will have it, that the Phraſe of Chriſts Sustaining our Perſon, is Ʋnintelligible, fit to Puzzle and Confound Mens Ʋnderſtanding, uncapable of a ſound Senſe, and liable to be interpreted to a Senſe and Sound of Malignity to the whole of the Goſpel, as if all that have uſed it, ſuch as Dr. Bates, Rutherford, Calvin, and the Generation of the Orthodox had deſigned to confound the World by the Uſe of barbarous and pernicious Phraſes, and had been guilty of the unrighteous Charge, with which the Engliſh Ʋnitarians have burdened them, when they Reproach them for amuſing Mankind with the Jargon of Ʋnintelligible Terms and Phraſes. And as if ſuch an Accuſation had been too mean, my Brother runs higher. For
7. He expoſes the Phraſe of Chriſts ſuſtaining the Perſon of Sinners, to the greateſt Contempt and Scorn, as if it Repreſented the bleſſed Redeemer in the moſt glorious undertaking of falen Mans Recovery, to be Hiſtrionical. His Words are,
Faithful Rebuke.
We are told of Chriſts ſuſtaining the Perſon of Sinners: — What can this Expreſſion ſignifie, but that Chriſt wore the Mask, the Vizer, the Diſguiſe of Sinners? That he was Perſonatus Hiſtrio? Like a S…ge Player, that puts on the Perſon of a King, wh… indeed he is but ſome Sorry Fellow.— pag. 53.
Reply.
1. That the Phraſe of Chriſts ſuſtaining the Perſon of Sinners, ſhould be ſo vilely miſ-repreſented by any one of them, who meet at Little St. Hellens, is equal Matter of Aſtoniſhment and Humiliation. And to be Juſt unto Truth, I muſt turn unto the Reverend Brethren, who ordinarily Aſſemble at that Place for their Judgment in this caſe, whether the Phraſe of Chriſts ſuſtaining the Perſon of ſinners, can ſignifie nothing but his wearing the Mask, the Vizer, the Diſguiſe of Sinners, as if he had been a ſorry Stage Player? This is the Caſe that deſerves, yea, that calls for your determination; for my Brothers words are, What can theſe Expreſſions ſignifie, but that Chriſt wore the Mask, &c. Sirs, the Eyes of a whole Nation are upon you, and the Eyes of the Reformed Churches Abroad, will be upon you, to ſee whether you will give Countenance to ſuch an Abuſe of Truth, and its Renowned Defenders. But to Return to my Brother.
2. Why, cannot this Phraſe ſignifie nothing elſe? If he had but gained a little ſmattering in the Civil Law, he would have ſeen that it could have born another meaning. There he might have Learned, That there is a Moral Perſon diſtinct both from a Phyſical, and Ficta Perſona; That a Moral Perſon is one placed in the State and Office of them, whoſe Perſon he ſuſtains; That One ſingle Man being put into the different States and Conditions of many, puts on their Perſon; That a peculiar Species of Political Perſons may be called Repreſentative, becauſe they repreſent the Perſons they bear; for inſtance, Ambaſſadors, Vice-Roys, Syntdicks, and the like. And in the more inferior Station, the Tutor ſuſtains the Perſon of the Pupil, the Guardian of the Minor, and yet none of theſe are Stage-Players; for to a Repreſentative Perſon, ſomewhat more belongs than meer Repreſentation, they are ſuch as do ſomewhat for the Advantage of them, whoſe Perſon they ſuſtain; That theſe True Moral Perſons are diſtinct from them, who are but Fictae as Stage-Players are: That the Fictae Perſonae, or Stage Players, are but the Ʋmbrae, or Shadows of the True. That the Eſſence of theſe Fictae Perſonae, conſiſts only in Repreſentation of the Habit, the Geſture, and the like of another. And as Pufendorf further declares, Veras Perſonas morales, quas producit Impoſitio, haudquidquam ita eſt Libera, quin ejuſmodi Qualitates debeat praeſupponere, quae aptae ſint, ut ſolidus aliquis effectus in vitâ humanâ inde Eveniat. Et illas, qui circa Conſtituendas Perſonas negle xerint per vecordem Petulantiam mortalibus inſultare eſt Cenſendus. Pufend. de Jure Nat. & Gent. Lib. 1. Cap. 1. Edit. 3. pag. 15.
That this good Brother therefore, whilſt ſo Unacquainted with what is ſo much known to every body, who underſtands this Controverſie about Chriſts Satisfaction, and his Suretyſhip, ſhould ſo far forget himſelf as to write after the rate he hath done, may very well be a Caution to others to take heed, how they go beyond their laſt, or, how they ſuffer themſelves to be hurryed on a Controverſie before their Heats are over, and they have got time to deliberate, and digeſt what they write about. Had my Reverend Brother been more cool, had he got more time to conſider, and weigh well what he did, he could never have been thus impoſed upon to wound his own Reputation as he hath done, in the uſe he hath made of Milton: Milton, tho' he ſaith, Salmaſium riſum pene Legentibus Multiplici Barbariſmo concitaſſe, could not charge Salmaſius, with more Inſtances of Barbariſm, than my Brother is fallen into miſtakes in the uſe he makes of Milton. For,
1. Salmaſius Writes not of a Moral Repreſentative Perſon, but of the Natural Perſon of the King; there was, ſaith he, a Paricide Committed on the Perſon of the King, that is, on his Natural, his own proper Perſon.
2. When Milton Banters Salmaſius with a Pſeudo-Philip, he mentions not a word of a Moral Perſon nei…her; but ſpeaks only of a meer Ficta Perſona, as if Salmaſius, by Perſona, had meant a Tyrant, under the Vizer, or Mask of a King.
3. The Reaſon, why Milton was ſo ſevere upon Salmaſius, was not ſo much becauſe Salmaſius uſed the Word Perſona, as becauſe he miſlook the Ablative for the Accuſative Caſe, and wrote in Perſona, when it ſhould have been in Perſonam Regis.
But, tho' Salmaſius gave a full Anſwer to every thing, that Milton, on this occaſion, Played upon him for, Inſtancing in ſeveral Roman Writers, who have taken the word Perſona in a proper Senſe, and have uſed the Ablative Caſe, as he has done; yet, it not being to my preſent Purpoſe, I ſhall only deſire to know of my Brother. What Alliance Christs ſuſtaining the Perſon of Sinners has, either with the Natural Perſon of a King; or of any other Man; or with a meer Ficta Perſona? For both theſe are very diſtinct from a Moral, or Legal Perſon; and, it is in this Moral or Legal Senſe, that the word [Perſon] is taken, when it's affirm'd, that Chriſt ſuſtained the Perſon of Sinners, and it ſignifieth the ſame with Chriſts being their Publick Repreſentative. He was Publica Perſona moralis Repreſentativa.
We will therefore, before we diſmiſs this Phraſe, conſult the Reverend Mr. Alſop, for I know my Brother hath a great conceit of him; who, in his Antiſozzo, p. 689. ſaith, That Chriſt is the Repreſentative of all his Spiritual Seed; and in p. 693. All the Spiritual Seed and Poſterity of Chriſt, are by Vertue of a New Law-conſtitution, made Righteous by the Righteouſneſs of their Spiritual Head, and Repreſentative: To whom I'le add what the Reverend Dr. Bates ſaith of it, which is, that Chriſt was to be our Repreſentative, and therefore ſuch a Conjunction between him, and us, muſt be, that God might eſteem all his People to ſuffer in him; which is no more than what is affirmed in the Cloſe of the firſt Homily of Juſtification, when it's ſaid, That Chriſt is now the Righteouſneſs of all them that truly do believe in him. He for them paid their Ranſom by his death; He, for them, fulfilled the Law in his Life: So that now in him, and by him, every True Chriſtian may be called a Fulfiller of the Law:
But if Chriſt Repreſented Sinners in his Death, he muſt be found in their Quality, ſuffering as a Sinner; that is, as Mr. Alſop has it, in his Anti-Sozzo, p. 184. That Chriſts Soul was made an Offering for ſin, Iſa. 53.10. Nay, he was made Sin for us, tho' he know no ſin, that we might be made the Righteouſneſs of God in him, 2 Cor. 21. And Appearing in this Quality; Death, the Officer of Gods Violated Law, might Juſtly Arreſt him, and the Father be pleaſed to bruiſe him. For as elſewhere, the ſame Author, he was a Sinner, that is, by Imputation, pag. 574. Chriſt could no otherwiſe be a Sinner, but by imputation, nor we otherwiſe Righteous than by Imputation.
Thus, the Lord Chriſt Suffering and Obeying in the Perſon of Sinners, as their Publick Repreſentative, it is to all intents and purpoſes as effectual, as if they had done it themſelves Perſonae morales Repreſentativae, quae Perſonam ali…um Reſerant—hujus vice negotia expediunt, eodom cum effectu, acſi ab illo ipſo eſſent Confectae. Puſend. ubi. ſup. II.
What hath been urged on this Head, makes it Apparent, that the Phraſe of Chriſts ſustaining the Perſon of Sinners, in his Death and Obedience, is very Intelligible and Aptly uſed by the Orthodox; ſuch as Dr. Bates, Rutherford, Scherzerus, Quenstedius, Nowel, Eſſenius, Voetius, Rivetus, and many others; ay, the very ſame thing is uſed by the Reverend Mr. Alſop, … inſiſting ſo very much on Chriſts being a Re…ntative, who is one that ſuſtain the Perſon of them … Repreſents: However, it's rejected and expoſed to ſcorn and contempt, by this Brother, who thereby doth, in this inſtance, prove the Reports to be True; For, it being affirmed in the Report, that this Phraſe of Chriſts ſustaining our Perſon, is Rejected by them; you ſee it to be ſo, and the Reaſon aſſigned is, becauſe it could not bear a ſound ſenſe, but is lyable to be Interpreted to a ſenſe of Malignity to the whole of the Goſpel.