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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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Jtls acknowledged by all Christi-^^' 'ijiat the 5 lst Psalm is a peniteniiial one , and that it was cornpdSed by David to express his
guilt and sorrow for the great iniduity he had committed . Is it then to b , e thought , that , if truly penitent , he would make use of language calculated to excuse himself , or at least extenuate his
crimes ? The thing is impossible . If his words be construed literally , jie charges his depravity upon his mother , and upon God , and shifts the fylan ^ e of it from hunself ; for he could have no hand in his own
conception , and elsewhere he says jh ^ t God fia sh iqned him in the wpmb . Job xxxi . 18 . From my jlQUta 9 ( he [ the fatherless ] was
brought up with me an with a faiktry grid I have guided her [ the widow ! from my mothers womb leemp tQ he a passage of similar jcpnstructior * . This latter passage ,
evea the advocates for original sip will acknowledge to be figurative , to contai n \ vh \ at is called an hyperbple , and that it auly means th&t Jpb h ^ d bee n , very benevolent , of that he had habituated himself
to benevolence , from the earliest part of his life . How , then , can they refuse to admit , that the fowner is also figurative , and contMns a !) hyperbole , th ^ t David only j&e ^ nt to co nfess the great * pess of his sin , or h , is having early i « lifp formed evil habits ? If Datl ^ e
vidwa ^ hA ^ cle sinfu l in womb , ho ^ dlid hp kiiow it ? \ vho informed total that was the case ? David simpl y speaks of himself , / : and by wfrftt authority do men make his frord'tf an universal proposition , ^ esWptivt of the state ofa 11 mankiM ? ft is cilear , in the Psalm , ^ ^ WH ^ r ^ ^> p erson but him . « elfy ^ bfxfe ^ es no inquity but his
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own : hence commorj sense d& cides , thg . t however his words tie construed , they cannot fairly b ^ applied to any one but himself , and of course , teach nothing re ,. spec ting the universal depravity oi mankind . It would be just a ?
proper to apply the words of JoJ > to all men , and to prove from , them that 3 JI are born good an < J benevolent . In Psalm lviii . 31 the wicked are said to go astray as soon as thev are born : but as it
is evident , the wicked could not go asU ^ y before they were c $ pa » - ble of walking or acting , alj agree that the words are figurative ; but why not admit that the passage in Psaim li . 5 . is equally ti gura ^ tive ? It is also to be observed ,
that in the l&tter Psalm , there is not one word about Adam or his sin ; henpe , it is absurd to suppose , the Psalmist had any such thing in view .
Job xiv . 4 ? . Who can bring a clean thing out of an miclean f That this passage has nothing to dp with original sin , common sense Concedes from tt ^ e co ntext , not at all referring to sin , or moral depravity , but solely tQ the frailty of human nature , the shortness of life , and the troubles incident
to it . Besides , however cqn strued , these words can be i > q proper foundation of any doctrijae , as Job sometimes reasoned ui ^ justly , and darkened counsel , for which God reproved him * Chap , xxxviii . 2 .
John iii . 6 . That which is born of the Jitskj is flesh . Common sense enn perceive nothing rnpr ^ in this passage , than that wlial ; is descended from man , is simjiit f human ; tqat wh . '^ c is spiritiiafcannot be derive ^ by nattinii genemt ^ a : ? m 4 Concludes th ^
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Decisions of Common Sen $ e .- ± —Letter 3 . 0 O 9
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1809, page 609, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1742/page/23/
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