142        The Deity of Jeſus Chriſt        Sect. III.

the power of God, and enriched with his
gifts and graces.

Paul ſpeaks of the fooliſhneſs of preach-
ing, by which God ſaves them that be-
' lieve.' The goſpel is called fooliſhneſs, be-
cauſe it contains ſuch things as appear in-
credible, and really are incomprehenſible.
But what is there of this kind, in the goſ-
pel, if the ſyſtem of our oppoſers be ſcrip-
tural ? For they remove, or pretend to re-
move, all the principal difficulties out of
the way. Is not this a ſtrong preſump-
tion that their goſpel, and their chriſtianity,
are very different from thoſe which Paul
preached and profeſſed ?—Common ſenſe
and a moderate ſhare of impartiality muſt,
ſurely, allow, that there are more difficul-
ties and greater obſcurity in thoſe objects
which the goſpel reveals, than in thoſe pre-
ſented to us in the works of creation. And
yet, if the hypotheſis which we oppoſe be
admitted, there are more myſteries in the
ſmalleſt inſect, in a ſpire of graſs, or in a
grain of ſand, than in all the Chriſtian reli-
gion.---There were many things under the
ancient Jewiſh œconomy that were grand,
ſublime, and myſterious; yet they are not
denominated myſteries, by the Holy Spirit,
as thoſe under the goſpel-diſpenſation are.
Nor were the objects of the law ever ſaid to
be fooliſhneſs, on account of their being
                                                        contrary