Edward Scribner Ames

The Divinity Of Christ Edward Scribner Ames

PREFACE The following lecture on the Divinity of Christ was delivered by the author, as the third of the second series of Westminster Lectures, in March 1906. The treatment of the subject is, as will be seen, theological rather than purely philosophical: for no attempt is made to discuss the rational aspects of the union of natures in, or the Divine personality of, Jesus Christ. Such and kindred questions, interesting as they are, hardly lend themselves to a popular discussion: and, had an attempt Been made to touch upon them in connection with the main contention of the lecture, it would not only have been necessarily superficial, but would also have tended to obscure the central subject. While recognizing that there are other methods of dealing with the question than that adopted, it seemed best to limit the range of the discussion to a definite issue, and to present as complete and full an aspect of the theological witness-which after all is the most direct and the most striking-as was possible within the limits of a lecture. The very striking fact of the concrete existence in the world of a witness giving testimony at all times and in all places to the truth of the Divinity of Christ, is highly significant and noteworthy; and it is with regard to this perennially concordant testimony that the early documents, whether scriptural or patristic, are examined in the following pages.