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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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uses thfc jphras ' e in C'oriforinity to ( h prevailinglidtiohs of his country mriu Fro ill a parable nothing can be conclusively inferred ^ , hut the doctrine or instruction which it is intended to inculcate ; thfc circumstances are to be over
looked , and every thing which is collateral is to be considered only as the ornament of the allegory .
In the present instance it was riot the design of Jesus tb cornet the unphilosophical notiorifc of the Jews concerning the origin or priiffciple of evil , but to repress the precipitate zeal of those , who wished immediately to separate the tares from the wheat ; and in
the explanation of the parable , it ' was not his intention to support a l ^ elief of the existence of an evil being , having access to the minds of Ttierij " opposing himself , and often successfully , to their virtuous desires and endeavours , and
leading them irresistibly into the paths of vice and misery ; but to teach his disciples , that the end ttf the age , or the period of final judgment , was ihe only proper
( irne of ' separating the produce of the good seed from that of the bad , and that , as the appointed judge , h 6 would then commission
proper instruments ro effect this
necessary work * Most probably indeed , the thoughts of Jesus wlto not extended beyond the awful peripd of his coming in the fulfilment of his prediction , relative
to the capture and destruction of Jerusalem . The only remaining passage in the gcspel of Matt , in which the word ftiafioXos occurs is ch . xxv . 41 . Jesus is speaking of the final judgment , and of the sentence which will be pronounced upon the wicked , Then shall tfip /«•?'//«•
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13 fc dt i ifo tM&httiie of mi B&c U .
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Bby to them on his l £ iVhafid , depart frbril me , y £ ctirsfed into ev £ r [ aVtirrg fire , pVe ^ ared fdr ihe devil arid Jite angels / ' It ' '& ' . Unquestionable ^ that the Jews believed in the existence of an evil
being , at the head of iriany others ^ who were supposed to have rebelled against the great Supreme , to have been excluded from his presence , from the happiness which th ey original ly possessed , and who were consigned with the
instigator of their rebellion to a . place of suffering and torment . But it is evident , * that this opiniort was held by them in common with many other nations , and probably was borrowed from the Egyptians , who adopted it to account for the existence of evil in the
world . .. It by no means follows from ' the use of ibis term iti the N . T . nor from any allusions to such an opinion , that it is better founded thim orher absurd arid unpbilosophical opinions , which the Jews derived from the
Hrntheris . Certain it is that this passage does not ascribe to the devil any agency over ihe human mind . It has already- been noticed that the word does not once occur in tlir gospel of Mark , our attention must therefore be
transferred to the gospel <¦{ Luke . Thfi term occurs Jive , times in ch . iv * v . 2 3 , 5 , 6 , 13 . but it is unnecessary to make any observations upon these passages , as they
correspond with Matthew ' s account of our ^ Lord ' s UjgiMatibri The word is u ^ ed only O $ pe more in fhe gospel of Luke ch , viii . 12 , In the exposition of the parable of the sower , the devil is said to take the word out of the hearts of those by the way-side , losi they should believe and be save 4 *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1809, page 138, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1734/page/18/
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