ii. We come now to consider the passages in which the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of Himself as the Son of God. Many of the verses already quoted distinctly imply this; for example, those in which He calls Himself 'the Son' and calls God His Father.¹ But there are others in which He clearly uses of Himself the title 'Son of God', or accepts it when uttered by others. These we now proceed to quote.

(1) In St. Matthew's Gospel it is written that the Lord Jesus Christ walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee to come to the boat in which His disciples were being tossed about in a storm. When He went on board, the wind ceased. 'And ² they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.' In the same Gospel it is stated that on another occasion the Lord Jesus, wishing to ascertain whether they had recognized His true rank and dignity, asked them, 'Who ³ do men say that the Son of man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah: and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood

hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.' In the first of these passages the Lord Jesus Christ admitted the truth of what His disciples said when they called Him the Son of God. In the second passage He not only admits that the title is really His, but adds that the fact has been directly revealed to Peter by God Himself. Nay more, He declares that the doctrine ¹ of His own divine sonship is the very foundation upon which His Church (and the whole Christian faith consequently) is to be built, and that, because built on that foundation, it will never be destroyed. Our Muslim brothers will see, therefore, that this doctrine is not a heresy which crept into the Christian Church in after ages, but that it is absolutely fundamental. Nor is it possible to imagine any method in which Christ could have taught His divine sonship more clearly and emphatically than He did on that occasion. In St. John's Gospel also we find Him accepting with approval the same lofty title. Thus when by His answer to Nathanael's question ² Christ had shown him that He knew what was in his heart when Nathanael had been praying under the fig-tree, 'Nathanael ³ answered