The Sonship of Christ by Dudley Marvin Canright

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · May 30, 1878

The Sonship of Christ.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Continued.)

JESUS CHRIST IS CALLED GOD.

If our position be correct, that Christ is truly the Son of God, begotten of the Father's own substance, then of course it would be proper for him to take the name of his Father, that is God. Hence we find that he is called God in the Bible. "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. 1:8, 9. Notice the fact that while the Son is here explicitly called "God," yet he is at the same time carefully distinguished from God his Father. "Unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God," &c. "Therefore, God, even thy God, hath anointed," &c. Because Christ is called God, we must not therefore confound him with God the Father, because the above scriptures plainly show the distinction. Again, in John 1:1, 2, he is plainly called God: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."

The apostle Thomas directly addresses him as Lord and God, and Jesus did not correct him for it. "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God." John 20:28. Again, "They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us." Matt. 1:23. In the following scripture Jesus is manifestly called God. "Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28. Other scriptures might be given to the same purpose, though these are probably the plainest. Why should anybody object to calling the Son by his Father's name.

JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD IS NOW TO BE HONORED THE SAME AS THE FATHER.

Christ himself explicitly declares this. "That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him." John 5:23. God forbid, then, that we with the unitarians should regard Jesus as merely a man, and forbid to worship him. No he is our Lord and our God, and we will honor him even as we honor his Father.

JESUS CHRIST IS TO BE PRAYED TO AND WORSHIPED.

As strange as it may appear, some have denied this, and called it idolatry to worship Jesus Christ. They claim that it is not lawful to pray to any except the Father. But the Scriptures are against them. Let us read a few texts. In the first place, God has commanded the angels to worship him; and if they worship him, why should not we? "And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." Heb. 1:6. Peter makes a similar statement. "Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." 1 Pet. 3:22. Shall we not worship him whom angels serve?

The wise men of the East worshiped him with myrrh, frankincense and offerings. "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Matt. 2:11. The man to whom Christ gave sight worshiped him. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him." John 9:35-38. Christ did not reprove him for this. The apostles worshiped him immediately after his ascension to heaven. "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Luke 24:51, 52.

It was a distinguished mark of all the first Christians that they called upon the name of Jesus. This is shown by the following testimony: "And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name." "But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem." Acts 9:14, 21. The apostle directs his letter to "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Cor. 1:2. In Rev. 5:8-13 John beholds the angels and the living creatures around the throne bowing before the Lamb that was slain, singing praises unto him and ascribing glory and praise to him with the Father, saying, "Blessing, and honor, and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever." These scriptures, it seems to us, are too plain, even to need comment. They do certainly show that Jesus is worshiped, both by men on earth and angels in heaven. Listen to the words of Mr. Liddon, a staunch trinitarian:—

"The apostolic worship of Jesus Christ embraced his humanity no less than it embraced his godhead. According to St. Paul his human name of Jesus, i. e., his human nature, is worshiped on earth, in heaven and among the dead. It is not the unincarnate logos, but the sainted humanity of Jesus, which is enthroned and adored in the vision of the Apocalypse. To adore Christ's deity while carefully refusing to adore his humanity, would be to forget that his humanity is forever joined to his divine and eternal person, which is the real object of our adoration. Since he had taken the humanity into God it is an inseparable attribute of his personal godhead. Every knee must bend before it. Henceforth the angels themselves around the throne must adore not his divinity only, the unincarnate deity of the Son, but the Lamb as it had been slain."—Bampton Lectures. Lecture 7, p 379

Christ never reproved any one for worship offered to himself. But says one, If Jesus Christ is a person distinct from the Father, it must be idolatry, a violation of the commandment to worship him. The law says you shall not worship a false God, an image, or an idol; but Jesus is neither one nor the other. He is not a false God; he is not an image; he is not an idol. Christ is the Son of the living God, and hence it is not at all derogatory to the honor of God to associate his own Son with him in his glory, honor, and worship.

D. M. CANRIGHT.