thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know, that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."* Here our Saviour prays, not only, that he and his disciples may be one, but that they also may be one, in the same sense, as he and his Father are one. From what has been said, it is plain, that it might just as well be inferred that Christ and his disciples were one and the same being, as that he and the Father were one and the same. His language is precisely the same in one case, as it is in the other. The disciples of Christ were one with him in acting according to his counsels, purposes, and directions; and in this sense was Christ one with the Father.t

Moreover, if this be not the true meaning of the text first mentioned, it will be impossible to reconcile it with others. Christ says, "the Father is greater than I,” and declares that he does all his works by the power and aid of the Father. But this would be impossible, if they were one being. How can a being be greater, than himself? If it be allowed, that Christ was one with the Father in promoting his designs, and conforming to his will, there will be harmony and consistency in all the texts, which allude to the character of Christ; but any

John xvii. 11. 21. 22.

+ Critics have observed, that in the original of the text first quoted, the word translated one, is έv, one thing, and not is, one person, or being. It may also be remarked of all the other texts quoted above, in which the word one is used. In the original it is iv, which is never used to denote a person. There is a parallel passage in 1 Cor. iii. 8. "He that planteth, and he that watereth are one," (v one thing,) Yet no one will suppose, that Paul and Apollos were one being. They were one in will, consent, and purpose.

other explanation will involve contradictions, which cannot be reconciled,

Rev. Dr. Ware's Ordination Sermon.

We have read with much interest a sermon lately delivered by Professor Ware, at the Ordination of the REV. WILLIAM B. O. PEABODY, to the Pastoral Charge of the Third Congregational Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. This discourse is marked by the spirit of christian love and fellowship, which is eminently characteristic of its author; and illustrates in an interesting manner, the principles of religious faith and doctrines, which he has in other places explained and defended with so much ability. The subject of the discourse is the imperfection of our religious knowledge. Although, from the condition of our nature, our knowledge of divine things is necessarily limited, yet the author shows, with much ingenuity, how this very circumstance conduces to our well-being, both as it constitutes a salutary discipline in the present life, and as it brings into exercise many good affections, and calls forth many virtues, which could otherwise have no existence. The following remarks, on the mode of producing uniformity of opinion, are peculiarly just.

"Those, again, who are led to right conclusions, and who make a right use of this circumstance in our make and condition, perceive what little ground there is to hope for success in any attempts to produce uniformity of opinion among christians by any other means, than by giving them clearer light, and teaching them how to use it. Uniformity of profession may indeed be effected by coercive measures. So it may also by the skil

ful applicatiou of almost any of those powerful motives, by which human conduct is influenced in other cases. Interest, passion, the love of power may be addressed with success. Either of them may be so applied, as to go far toward destroying the freedom of the mind, and bringing it to acquiesce in authority. But to accomplish this end fully, to bring about an entire uniformity of religious opinion, as well as of profession, would require a degree of coercion impossible to be exerted in the present state of the christian world, especially in protestant countries. It was the privilege, if you will call it a privilege, of a darker period than that, in which it is our lot to live, to approach nearer to a uniformity of faith, than it is in our power to do. And it was effected by the same means, of which we have been speaking; by demanding submission to authority, precluding all inquiry, and preventing the accession of light, which might lead to new views, and awaken doubts, which were not felt before. Now the deeper the darkness, that at any period was spread over the christian world, and the nearer christians approached to absolute and total ignorance, the more practicable was the scheme of effecting the desired uniformity by such means. In the darkness of midnight all men see alike; but if you let in the light, they will see differently; and no coercion, and no authority will make those see alike, to whom God has given organs, which introduce the light in different proportions, and whose situation is such, as to have objects presented to them in different positions.

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"Nor is it only that all such attempts to produce uniformity of faith are vain and ineffectual. They are something worse, and deserve a higher censure. We regard with abhorrence every act of tyranny over the

persons of men. But of all tyranny, that most deserves our reprobation, which is attempted to be exercised over the mind. To fetter and enslave the mind is audaciously to rob men of that liberty, with which the Creator, when he gave them reason, and the Saviour, when he enlightened that reason by revelation, made them free.

"Instead of all such endeavours to bring about a state of things, which it appears never to have been the design of heaven should take place in this imperfect and disciplinary state; in the first place by the variety there is in our faculties and in our condition, and still further by no express provision having been made for it, nor the requisite power delegated to carry into effect such a purpose; instead of this, he who has just views of the imperfection of human knowledge and the human faculties, and wishes only to conduct answerably to the situation in which divine providence has thus placed him, will feel the obligation of bearing patiently with error, of listening respectfully to reasons offered in support of offensive opinions, and of repelling them only by better reasons offered in the gentle spirit of christianity. He will endeavour to bring over to his faith those, who dissent from what he believes to be important truth, only by enlightening the understanding and convincing the judgment. As ready to receive as to communicate light, he will do nothing to check its progress, or to limit the advancement of knowledge.

"With him, who thus thinks and feels, no article of faith is thought too sacred, nor any doctrine too true, to be the subject of inquiry; convinced that inquiry and examination can do no harm to the truth. It is not truth, he believes, but error and imposture, that are endangered by being thoroughly investigated, by having

their foundations examined, and their whole evidence exposed to the most critical scrutiny.

"It was the abuses and corruptions of our religion only, that would not bear the refining process of the reformation, but were consumed in the fiery trial. All that was true, all that was pure and valuable survived, and came out of the furnace the more beautiful and excellent for having parted with its dross. And it will always be so. Truth will always appear the brighter for its collision with doubt or error; and it will stand the firmer for having had its foundations attempted to be shaken; like the oak, that gathers strength and stability by the buffeting of the tempest. It is error only, which wants a solid foundation, that can be eventually overthrown and destroyed.

"Nor is this true only, when the contest lies between our holy religion itself and infidelity, or any other rival system. It is equally true, when it lies between different and inconsistent doctrines of the same religion, and between different and opposite interpretations of the same scripture. The doctrine that shrinks from examination, that calls for the support of authority, that requires to be received without evidence or without being understood, if it be true, exposes itself, or is rather exposed by its friends to suspicion. It incurs a reproach, which can only be wiped away by taking away the fences, with which it is thus officiously and presumptuously surrounded. I say officiously and presumptuously surrounded; for the author of reason and God of truth has neither appointed nor authorized, as he has not needed any such means to secure and to maintain his truth in the world."

If all christians would act upon these principles, the time would not be long, before the barriers, which now