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BIBLICAL CRITICISM.
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3 fr . Evan 4 on John iv . 23-Kihfforthy Mouse , near Tavistock . Sir , T SHA . LL submit for youT insertion 1 in the Repository some remarks on thetrueandspiritualworship , e >; pressed by Jesus Christ , in his interview with the Samaritan woman : John iv . < 2 3 *
Christ predicted the time in which the true worshipers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth . God , said he , is a spirit y therefore they that worship him ought to worship him , in spirit , and in truth
The Samaritan woman , perceiving that the person with whom she conversed , was a Jewish prophet , copsalted his judgment as to the comparative importance of the temple , on Mount Gerizim , and of the temple
at Jerusalem , Jesus replied , in the character of a prophet , that the hour was corning when they should worship the Father neither in that mountain nor at Jerusalem . From places of worship , he diverts her attention
to its essential properties ; or the qualifications of acceptable worshipers —• spirit and truth ; and it may lpe added , zeal and knowledge . Some interpreters of scripture think
tfrat Christ , in this sentence , declares tiiat the Father of our spirits is not to he served by any external form of devotion . His worship , they assert , toust be strictly intellectual , or spiritual , without ceremonies , sacrifices ,
° r symbols . Pious men pray in the silence of the soul . But this interpretation seems not sufficientl y warranted by the practices of our High Priest himself , and his < hvmel y-inspired apostles . They frequented the temple and synagogues . and
united in hymns of social thanksgiving . Christ taught his disciples to ¥ ?{\* ln t * plural number , saying , 1 Father : " although in his own Payers to God , he invariably ex-Pressed himself as an individual , with « e singular possessive- " My Father ";
* £ O Father - ! Other interpreters suppose , that our ^ ter' distinguishes the worship re ~ » ed under the gospel from the ritual ^ rvance * of the Mosaic dispensa-J / V Eusefyius remarks , in allusion taZ * Jf > " hy » y ™ l *> ls a » d w out , as ciur Saviour * aith , in
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spirit and truth . " The shadows , under the law , are now superseded by the realities of a substantial nature , which they had served to prefigure . The apostle intreats the disciples , at Rome , to present their bodies , living sacrifices—which he designates as
being the service of their reason . Oblations of prayer and praise were customarily presented , in synagogues , and oratories ; but the grand ceremony of sacrificing must needs have been performed in the temple only . Christians are directed to consecrate their
own persons , as temples , for the spirit of the living God , But finally , it is most probable that the true and spiritual worship , enjoined by our great Master in this scriptural sentence is that which is free from every intermixture of superstitious or idolatrous rites . The Sa *
maritans worshiped the Divinity under the emblem of a dove , in whose name their children were also circumcised : even as their predecessors , the Israelites , had worshiped Jehovah under the similitude of a calf . * Well
might the Messiah -insinuate , " Ye know not what ye worship /* Your worship of-the Divine Being is degenerate and unlawful , since God commanded , by Moses , that they should not make any image , or likeness of
Him , in figures either of birds , or beasts , or of men .. We are all his offspring , and bound by the most sacred ties to serve him in the temple of our living bodies , on the purest altar of our hearts .
Idolatry is stigmatized in scripture under the , reproachful appellation of a lie . But the worship that is free from idolatry , and that is directed to one sole object of spiritual adoration is , hy way of distinction , denominated
the truth . The Gentileshad , according to the apostle , changed the truth of God into a He ; or the spiritual into idolatrous worship ; and served the creature together with the Creator , who is blessed for ever .
Silent , and spiritual worship without any outward appearance , may serve for an individual in a solitary place : it may suit us in our internal meditations iu * See the 12 th discourse of thm admirable critic * Joseph Mede .
Biblical Criticism.
BIBLICAL CRITICISM .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1815, page 239, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1759/page/39/
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