Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

Later Uniiarians in Christianity 205

In referring to 1 Timothy 3: 16, Newton says: 'In all the times of
the hot and lasting Arian controversy it never came into play ...
they that now read, "God manifested in the flesh," think it one of
the most obvious and pertinent texts for the business.' 45
Newton was opposed to the allegorical or double interpreta­
tion of the Old Testament. He did not regard all the books of the
Scriptures as having the same authority. According to Whiston,
Newton also wrote a dissertation upon two other texts which Atha­
nasius had attempted to corrupt, but there is no trace of it today.
Finally, Newton also had this to say:

The word 'Deity' imports exercise of dominion over

subordinatebeings and the word 'God' most frequently

signifies Lord. Every lord is not God. The exercise of

dominion in a spiritual being constitutes a God. If that

dominion be real that being is the real God; if it be ficti­

tious, a false God; if it be supreme, a supreme God. 46

Thomas Emlyn (1663-1741)

Thomas Emlyn was born on the 27th of May 1663.He went to Cam­
bridge in 1678 and, having concluded his studies there, retumed
to Dublin, where he soon became a very popular preacher. This
Presbyterian Minister preached his first sermon in 1682, and for
the next ten years his reputation as a good preacher grew.
In about 1702, a member of his congregation observed that
Emlyn avoided certain well-known pulpit expressions and the ar­
guments usually employed in support of the dogma ofTrinity. This
lead to his being questioned as to what he thought about the con­
cept of the Trinity. Since he was asked so pointedly, Emlyn found
himself bound to express ms views openly and without reserve:
He admitted that he believed in One God. He declared that God
was Alone the Supreme Being and that Jesus derived all authority
and power from Him alone. He added that if the congregation
found his views obnoxious, he was quite willing to resign to en­
able them to choose a minister who supported their own opinions.
The majority of the congregation did not want this, but the situa­
tion was such that he resigned, much to their sorrow. He was ad­
vised to go to England for a short while to let things calm down.
This he did.