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proceed to the following leo tures . The second is " of the Christian System ; " shewing that •* the scriptures ought to be the first stud y / 5 with a concession that € i
alter wards systems and commentaries may be occasionally consulted " and exhibiting the " bad consequences of beginning the study oi" theology with systems and commentaries . " The third inquires 4 i how a student ought to set about the examination of
the scriptures ; " and offers direelions for forming an abstract of the doctrine ot boiy writ . The fourth furnishes directions for forming a system of Christian morality ; " and points out the ad . jvantages of the method recom - mended / ' In the fifth , "the subject is continued . " And the author shews that " the
knowledge of the scriptures is the most essential part of the study / ' while he inquires , " How far the study of controversy demands our attention / ' The sixth and last Lecture lays down the ic method of our prosecuting our inquiries in polemic divinity . The use to be made of scholia , paraphrases and commentaries : " and the danger of retying orj human guidance in matters of religion . " Paraphrase
is a species of . exposition which , particularly incurs the censure of our author . " There is in the JParaphrast , " he observes , " an appearance of presumption , both in giving what he seems to imagine a more proper styles to the inspired writer , and in his manner of in * ter weaving bis own aentirnents iadiscrinvinately with those deli-. / vfted by unerring wisdom , with which * neither the commentator , p © jr the fcdu > lia » t is chargeable ;
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for in these the text and com * mentary are irever confounded by being blended . " He considers verbosity as the proper character of this kind of compositions " but by a -multiplicity of words
the sentiment is not set off and accommodated , but like David equipt in Saul's armour , it is encumbered and . opprest . Yet , " as he adds , " this is not : the on . ly , nor perhaps the worst consequence resulting frqro this manner of treating sacred writ . In the very best compositions of this kind , that " can be expected , the gospel may be compared to a rich wine of high f ! avour , diluted in sucha
quantity of water , as renders it extreme ** ly vapid . This would be the < fase # if the paraphrase ( which is indeed hardly possible , ) took nd tincture from the opinions of the paraphrast , but exhibited faithfully , though insipidly , the sentiment of the text . Whereas in all those
paraphrases we have seen , the gospel may more justly be- compared to such a wttie as hath been mentioned , so much adulterated with a liquor of a very different taste and quality , that little or nothing of its original relish and properties can be discovered * Accordingly in one paraphrase , Jesus Christ appears ixx the cha * ractcr . of a bigoted Papist , in another of *' . a flaming Protestant ; in one . he argues with all the
sophistry of the Jesuit , in another he declaims . with all the fanaticism of the Jansenist ; in one you trace the metaphysical ratiocinations of Arminius , in another you recognize the bold- conclusions of Gpmarus ; and you hear the language of a man who has thoroughly imbibed the system o £ pne or other' of our Christian
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284 Review .- ^ ClampbelFs Lectures on Systemat ic Theology .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1809, page 284, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1736/page/38/
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