cognizance of our senses. Nay more, we have a separate account of the formation of the soul or animal part' God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul.'' And as to the spiritual or divine part, it does not appear that there is any formal or distinct account, when or how it was infused, unless something in reference to it may be gathered from that order of God to man, to have dominion over the creatures, &c. Perhaps the dominion here spoken of, may signify precedence, preference, superiority of dignity, or something of that kind, which principally belongs to man as a reasonable creature, and endued with a heavenly spirit. For, as to any other sort of dominion, such as power, property, superior strength, or the like, it is not said that man exercised it in that sense, even in a state of innocence; and since the fall, it is well known, that over the greatest part of the brute creation, this latter sort of dominion is entirely lost, though in the first respect it be still preserved.

But whether this be so or not, it does not seem that the likeness or 'image of God' can properly be referred to the spirit of man. That however we may, in some measure, acquire a competent knowledge of this expression of revealed truth, we must consider, that the words, ' our image, our likeness, 'image of God',' &c. are of the same import as the words, ' my bow, the Lord's day, the Lord's ' house,' &c. so frequent in scripture; that is to say, a likeness set up or instituted by God, as the Bow, the Sabbath, &c. were. For, to call it a likeness, by which God can be resembled, or to which he may be compared, or according to which any being may resemble him as God, will not I presume be affirmed. From what I have already said, and what has been more fully said by others, concerning the cherubic exhibition, it is plain that there was such an exhibition before the creation: and if the opinion of at least a majority of theological writers be admitted, viz. that the sin of the fallen angels was pride against Christ, and envy against the future happiness of man, it would seem that the cherubic exhibition, as representing the incarnation of one of the Aleim, or divine persons, and the redemption of man thereby, had been known to these angels. There is an expression made use of by St Peter, of which this seems to be the tendency, ' things,' meaning the economy of our salvation, 'the angels desire to look into.' And what St Paul says of this mystery of godliness 3, 'seen of angels, may no doubt bear such an interpretation. St Paul says also, that 'this mystery,' i. e. the mystery of godliness, was hid in God απο των αιωνων from all ' ages,' and he calls the purpose of our salvation

6

Which

'the purpose of ages,' των αιώνων, ' the eternal pur

pose: In which sense is to be taken what our Saviour says of the kingdom prepared for his saints from the foundation of the world, i. e. before the foundations of the world were laid'. From these, and many other places, it is to be believed that the method of our redemption was concerted, and exhibitions of it instituted, before the world was made. And as this method was to be by one of the ALEIM or divine persons becoming man, some representation of this mystery (as it is justly called by St Paul) would be concerted too. This we have seen was the design of the cherubim, which consisted not only of the four cherubic faces, but which, according to all the inspired descriptions of it, had likewise, to use the words of Ezekiel, a likeness as the appearance of a man above the faces; or, as Nebuchadnezzar saw, a form like the Son of God.

This then is the likeness of the ALEIM, (that is, the likeness set up by the ALEIM, by GOD), in which man was made, 'the likeness above the cherubim, or, in Nebuchadnezzar's words, the form of the Son of • God. 'God.' This is the only image of God of which we can have any, notion; but having this notion or conception of it, we shall be enabled to comprehend the meaning of several expressions made use of by St Paul, otherwise in a great measure unintelligible; as where he calls Jesus Christ, the 'image of the invisible God, the first-born of every 'creature'; which is certainly spoken of his humanity, as we cannot call his divinity the 'first-born of

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every creature;' especially as the apostle seeins in the same chapter to explain himself by mentioning his blood, the blood of his cross. To the same purpose, he calls the Son not only

the

brightness of God's glory,' but the express image ' of his person 3.' If Jesus Christ, then, be the image of God, who cannot be seen, if the first man was formed after this image and likeness of God, does it not follow, that Jesus Christ is the pattern after which the first man was formed-formed after the pattern of Christ's humanity, since his divinity was invisible, and could neither be represented nor seen? In another place, St Paul calls man 'the ' image and glory of God: 4' And we have seen before what is to be understood by the glory of God; so that the apostle might well bestow on man this description, as being at first made after the pattern of him who was the כבר-יהוה the GLORY OF JEHOVAH, or JEHOVAH THE GLORY: and accordingly, the wo

VOL. II.

man

man is, in that same verse, called the glory of the 'man,' as having been formed after man's likeness; by which latter addition the apostle plainly restricts the meaning of the former to the body of man, which, from what has been said, appears to have been formed after the pattern of Christ the 'glory the likeness above the cherubim,' who, we have seen, is called the image of the invisible 'God, and likewise the glory of the Lord.

From this belief no doubt it is, that the old patriarchs had such a care about the burying of their bodies after death; and even after idolatry had gained ground, to the destruction of some, and the corruption of all ancient traditions, yet still we find, among the more civilized heathens, an universal regard to decency in their funeral rites, which, one should think, must have proceeded from some notion of the honourable original, as

■ Perhaps this may enable us also to guess at the reason why the apostle forbids the man to' cover his head, because, by his formation, having the likeness of the glory of God stamped upon him, and particularly, as the description of the cherubim insinuates, about his face or head, he ought not in his prayers to bring any covering upon it, lest thereby he dishonour Christ, who, the apostle had said, ver. 3. is 'the ' head of every man,' and from whom every man derives that covering of glory given at the creation: Whereas he saith, a woman praying ' with an uncovered head dishonoureth the man who is her head, in as far as she seems thereby to deny her being formed out of the man, and to claim an original formation, as well as man, after the likeness of Christ the glory. But whatever may be in this, it is certainly remarkable, that the apostle calls man the image and glory of God; and in the same sense, the woman the glory of the man.'