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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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of the text . Of his canons or rules for estimating the value of various readings , it is no mean praise to say that such a man as Griesbach , with the light of another century around him , has done little more than
remodel what he laid down ; and it is no small token of his liberality and freedom of investigation , that he should first have ventured to affirm , that , in adjusting the balance between two readings , the most orthodox ought to bear the character of suspicion .
Of his merits as an expounder of Scripture , and his religious opinions , ( subjects which seem considerably connected , ) something may be said . Treading in the footsteps of Locke , Newton and Le Clerc , of whom he
always speaks with the highest veneration and applause , he was well aware * that there was a much sounder system of exposition and illustration of the sacred Writings * than that which had been till their and his time the
acme of theological criticism , and consisted in heaping up classical illustrations , and retailing the comments of grammarians and sophists : he knew that to throw light upon the meaning of tlje Scripture , he must go to those authors ' from whom information could
he derived as to the manners , ideas and language of the persons by whom they were written , and for whose instrUetion they were intended ; and accordingly , though , to accommodate the mere scholar , he has collected an
immense quantity of parallels for every word and expression , from Greek and Latin authors , sacred and profane , yet the peculiar merit of his annotations is the industry and judgment with which the best and earliest sources of
information in every department , are sought for and brought to bear . Those who have read his notes cannot fail to have remarked and admired the character of solidity , candour and impartiality which they bear , although on some points they may wonder that he stopt short on the threshold of truth .
That "Wetstein always disavowed the charge of Socialism , and , indeed , all acquaintance with the works of its supporters ; that several of his notes have an orthodox tendency cannot be disputed ; and the independency and fearless honesty of his character , for-
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bid us to suppose that he could have followed the dastardly counsels of bis tutor and persecutor Frey , * and concealed his sentiments , if , after being excited to a direct examination info the question , ( which hardly appears to have been the case , ) he had been convinced of the truth of the heretical
tenets which were laid to his charge . At the same time , it is quite evident that Ms Trinitariani&in , if it existed at all , was of a very different sort from that of the Basle ministers . It seems to approach much nearer ( if , indeed , it was any thing but ) Ariaiiism ; f& £ When the interpretations which he has not
scrupled to put upon many passages , mainly relied upon for the support of the doctrine of the Trinity , are considered , it is difficult to conceive that he or any one else could , if they had set themselves deliberately to the t&sk , have made out that doctrine from what was left .
With the Socinians * Wetstein and his Remonstrant friends had no immediate connexion ; they were in no way brought together in the defence of the same cause ; in many respects they differed , and an- ' uncalled-for profession of co-operation , would at that time have only prejudiced that cause
which was gradually , but securely making its way . They avowed themselves the followers of no peculiar theological system , contenting themselves with encouraging in all a free and liberal spirit of inquiry , unshackled by the fetters of bigotry and dogmatism , not doubting that the result would be honourable to
themselves , and advantageous to the interests of true religion . Whatever the peculiar opinions of Wetstein were , no one can help admiring the candid , gentle and liberal spirit of his writings , though treated with the harshest epithets and the bitterest animosities . He is ever
* Alio vero tempo re de eadem qiiestione l-6 quen . $ dicdbafy se non videre , quid imped iat quo liunris ijuis , et privatim et pnblice , k SenteMia . Synodi © ordrafcehteft discedttt ; eauthis tameii et pvud ^ ftthf ^ facturum , si tsfclto Arrrtiniairoi imt , - fiptacopii , Curcelloei et Limborehii nomine , se cum 11- Grotio , at * t tarn pr&stantissimis Ecclcsioe Anglicana ? theolog-is in hue re seutire profiteatur . —Prolegom . 192 .
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The Nonconformist . No . IX , £ 55
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1819, page 255, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1771/page/43/
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