3. "The sense is excellent; for 'Before Abraham be made' is as much as before he be Abraham, or the father of many nations, which he was when the gospel was preached to the conversion of the Gen- tiles. 'I am,' that is, 'I am the light of the world,' which you should do well to walk in and attend unto.'"
(1.) That this interpretation in general is altogether alien and strange from the scope of the place, the Christian reader, upon the bare view of it, will be able to judge. (2.) It is false : — [] .] Because Abraham was the father of many nations, Jews and proselytes, be- fore the preaching of the gospel, as Gen. xv. 5. [2.] It is false that Abram was not Abraham until after the ascension of Christ and preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. He was made Abraham from his first enjoyment of his name and seed in Isaac, and is con- stantly so called. [3.] It is frivolous ; for if Christ was before Abram was made Abraham, we obtain what we plead for, for he was made so when God gave him that name. But it should be, " Before Abram be wiacZe Abraham," or there is no sense in the words; nor then neither, unless Abraham be taken as a common appellative for "the father of
DEITY OF CHRIST PROVED, ETC. 23-5
many nations/' and not as a proper name, whereof in Scripture there is not any example. [4.] It is horribly wrested, — \st. In making the words '" I am" elHptical, whereas there is neither need of nor colour for such a pretence. '2dly. In suj^plying the feigned ellipsis with a word at such a distance as from verse 12 to verse 58. odly. In mak- ing Christ to say he is the light of the world before the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, when the " world" is everywhere in the gospel taken quite in another sense, for the Jews and Gentiles, and not for the Jews only, which according to this interpretation it must be. Mhly. It leaves no reason of the following attempt of the Jews to stone him, upon the particular provocation of this assertion, he hav- ing before affirmed himself to be the light of the world, which they were not moved at. There is indeed no end of the falsities, follies, and corruptions of this perverting and corrupting of the word of God.
For the grammatical vindication of the words, and the translation of the word yiisc&ai in a sense of that which is past, there is no occa- sion administered by our catechists; and therefore I shall not trouble the reader therewith.
And of the first sort of testimonies which they except against, and their exceptions, thus far.
A little animadversion upon the catechists' good friend Grotius shuts up this discourse and chapter. In the end he agrees with them, but fixes on a new medium for the accomplishment of it, not daring to espouse an interpretation so absurd in itself, and so ab- horrent from the common sense of all men that ever professed the name of Christ. He takes, then, another course, yet no less aiming than they to disappoint this evidence of the pre-existence of Christ before his nativity. " Uph ACpaa,a ys/sadat, antequam esset," saith he^ " before he was ; " and he gives many instances to prove the propriety of so translating that expression: "'Eyu e/fii, praesens pro imper- fecto, eram, Syrus; 'Eyw tIXov, Nonnus. Sic in Grseco: Ps. xc. 2, Tiph Tou opri ysvTjdrivui Gu eJ." Yery good : before Abraham was, or was born, Christ was; as in that of the psalm, "Before the mountains were made, thou art." And, a little to help a friend at so good a work, it is no new thing for this evangelist to use the present for the preterimperfect tense ; as chap. xiv. 9, Toffourov ■/j'^wv /as^' u/awc i//x;, xa\ ovx. syvojxdg /uui' — " I am SO long," for " I was," or " I have been so long with you," etc. And chap. xv. 27, "On an: apyyiz ij.it J/aoD Uti' — " Because ye have been with me from the beginning." Thus far, then, we are agreed. But how should this be, that Christ thus was before Abraham was ? " Fuerat," saith he, " autem ante Abra- hamum Jesus divina constitutione;" — "In God's appointment Jesus was before Abraham was born." Yea, and so was Grotius, and Socinus, and every man in the world ; for " known unto God are all his works
236 VINDICI^ EVANGELINE.
from tlie beginning of the world/' And this is that great privilege, it seems, that our Saviour vindicates to himself, \Yithout any occasion, to no purpose, insisting on that which is common to him with all the elect of God in the best sense of the words! Of that other text of Scripture, John xvii. 5, which together with this he labours to cor- rupt, I shall speak afterward. I shall only add, that our great doc- tors do not in this business agree. Grotius here makes no mention of Socinus' gloss, and Socinus beforehand rejects this of Grotius as absurd and fond ; and as such let it pass, as having no occasion given from the words foregoing, nor colour from the matter or phrase of words, nor significancy to the business in hand.