claim to call God His Father. Not long before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ said: 'Now ¹ is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'

Some one will perhaps say: 'Since in the holy Scriptures it is said that true believers may be united with God and Christ, and the worship of respect and exaltation may be fittingly offered to great men, and the title "God" is sometimes in the Old Testament used of rulers (because they derive their authority from God and are thus His representatives), hence in the verses which have been quoted perhaps Christ is called God with some of these meanings. And, when mention of honour and worship to be offered to Him occurs, possibly only proper respect is meant, such as may be fittingly accorded to a great prophet. Even when Christ says, "I and the Father are one," perhaps He refers only to such love and harmony as may exist between God and truly pious believers.' But any careful student of the Gospel will see that no such explanation will accord with the passages which we have adduced. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of Himself as possessing divine attributes, as we have pointed out above. Hence it is clearly evident that the inner union which exists between Christ and His heavenly

Father is not merely that of harmony, love and purpose, but rather is unity of nature and essence. For it is clear that, if Christ's inner nature were different in any respect from God's, He could not truthfully speak of Himself as possessing God's attributes, and being able to give life eternal, to forgive sin, to raise the dead, and do other things which belong to God alone. Therefore it is evident that the honour also which Christ claimed for Himself from men, saying that the Father had committed to Him authority ¹ to be the Judge of all men, in order that all men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father, was real and genuine honour and adoration; not such respect as is due to a great man or even to a great prophet. He claims the same adoration that all admit to be due to God alone. Accordingly, when Thomas called Him his Lord and his God,² Christ accepted these titles as truly His due, and not as merely terms of respect and deference. He did not reprove Thomas for using such words as these, because Christ possessed the divine nature and attributes. Otherwise they would have been wholly unsuitable, in fact blasphemous. Instead of reproving Thomas for calling Him Lord and God, Jesus showed His approval of the faith which prompted this confession by saying 'Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed'.