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c of the same substance' with tbe Father ; but it was finally adjusted , and carried to its present height , by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzmn ; in whose writings also we first meet with tbe unscriptural use of the term mystery ^ not in the original and proper sense of something * above human knowledge , or unknown till re * vealed ; but in that of something- contra dictory to human reason . Hence we hear of the mystery of the sacrament ; the mystery of baptism , in the Popish magical sense of instant spiritual regeneration ; the mystery of the Trinity . The Trinity of Basil and Gregory received the sanction of the Council . of Constantinople , A . C . 381 , which decreed that the Father , Son and Spirit were co equal in power , glory and eternity .
" The full equality of the Father , Son and Spirit did not bound the discoveries of the Catholic Church . Nestorius had asserted that the Virgin was * the Mother of Christ . * The zeal of those who worshipped Christ as God , was alarmed for the honour of Mary . The Council of Ephe-SU 8 , A . C , 431 , condemned Nestorius as a heretic , and confirmed the title of the Virgin as the * Mother of God . * When once a departure was made from the worship of ' God , even the Father , * the progress was easy to the deified virgin , the deified bread , the deified sepulchre , the deified souls , and bones , and images of men . "—Pp . 16 , 17 .
The " Examination of Passages " displays much . solid learning , acute criticism and sound logic . A few extracts will shew that the Author is entitled to a place amongst the most judicious and successful expositors of the sacred text * The following are his remarks upon Rom . ix . 5 , which the English Version represents as an ascription of deity and worship to Christ :
< c As the ancient copies o ^ the Gospels were not pointed , the pauses must be regulated by the sense . Tlie charge of altering the punctuation , in order to make the text conform with a system , is therefore absurd . The received pointing is suspicious , because , notwithstanding * the obstinacy of Trinitarian writers in defending " it , the most obvious grammatical construction is at variance with it . u In the English Version the position of the original words is changed , in order to bring Christ into closer apparent connexion with the latter clause of the sentence . The literal version would run thus : * Whose are the Fathers and of wliom was the Christ according to the flesh . * u The words rendered who is are in the original o tov ^ The Greek article q is
often used as a relative , especiall y by Homer y but as the apostle had used the proper relative o $ , three times before this . passage , in reference to the Israelites , he might have been expected to wrjfe $ q € g-ly and noj d cov , in case he intended Christ as the antecedent ; and this relative he actually does use in reference to Christ ia Col i . 15 : o <; zcrw eiVLtcv t& Gck , toko is the image of the God , or God . But further , when the article a * is connected with a participle , it does not mean tcko ^ but he who ; as d ( pihoop—he who loves , or the person loving ; $ ccv is therefore * % e who is , ' or the person being j c he who is over all , ' i the one that i $ » over all . * easily connects with the following substantive . God ; and that such is the proper conuexion , independently of grammatical reasons , appears from corroborative scripture evidence , that this is the peculiar distinctive title of the most High God , the Father . Ephes . iv . 5 , 6 : ; One Lord , one faith , one baptism , one God and Father of all , to ho is above all . Or the one that is above all : o stu Ttavruvm 1
i 4 * The blessed , and blessed for ever , ' is also the distinctive character , or title of the most High God 5 Christ being distinguished only ( as in Mark xiv 61 ) by the appellation , ' Son of the Blessed . * " Romans i . 25 : 4 Who changed the truth of God into a lie , and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator , who is blessed for ever . Amen . ' Or if this be questioned as inconclusive , from the erroneous confounding of Christ , the Gospel creator , with the Creator of heaven and earth , we may refer to 2 Cor . xi . 31 : 4 The God and Fathpr of our Lord Jesus Christ , which is blessed for evermore , knoweth that I lie not : '—where the same words , 0 e » y , the one that is 9 are used . The English reader is not aware that the inflexion of cases in the original makes it impossible that there should be any ambiguity in the application of this title to the God and Father ; though , as much in the Trinitarian scheme depends on the placing of words , this title would be vindicated to Christ instead of to God , if there were sufficient grammatical authority to favour the attempt . A literal version as to position will obviate all ambiguity .
" ' The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knoweth , he who is blessed for ever , that I Jic not . ' " The same title occurs in doxologies , or ascriptions of g"lory , to the Father , God . It is indeed made an objection to the considering the passage in question as a do ^ ology , thought it has the characteristic annexation of Amen , that it is necessary to supply the ellipsis of the verb stibstantive . Yet the same apostle , using the
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432 Review . —An Appeal to Scripture and Tradition .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1819, page 432, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1774/page/32/
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