CHAPTER II. THE DEITY OF CHRIST. BY PROF. BENJAMIN B. WARFIELD, D. D., LL. D., PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
A recent writer has remarked that our assured conviction of the deity of Christ rests, not upon “proof-texts or passages, nor upon old arguments drawn from these, but upon the general fact of the whole manifestation of Jesus Christ, and of the whole impression left by Him upon the world.” The antithesis is too absolute, and possibly betrays an unwarranted distrust of the evidence of Scripture. To make it just, we should read the statement rather thus : Our conviction of the deity of Christ rests not alone on the scriptural passages which assert it, but also on His entire impression on the world ; or perhaps thus: 1Our conviction rests not more on the scriptural asser tions than upon His entire manifestation. Both lines of evi dence are valid ; and when twisted together form an unbreak able cord. The proof-texts and passages do prove that Jesus Was esteemed divine by those who companied with Him ; that He esteemed Himself divine ; that He was recognized as divine by those who were taught by the Spirit; that, in fine, He was divine. But over and above this Biblical evidence the impres sion Jesus has left upon the world bears independent testimony to His deity, and it may Well be' that to many minds this will seem the most conclusive of all its evidences. I t certainly is very cogent and impressive. EXPERIENCE AS PROOF. The justification which the author we have just quoted gives of his neglecting the scriptural evidence in favor of that borne by Jesus’ impression on the world is also open to criti cism. “Jesus Christ,” he tells us, “is one of those essential 21
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