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of the Heathen Oracles , in order to rem&re fo , bfrdferrmg the fLeetrrtetlon of the demons to cmse& unconnected with Christisenitjr . la this work , the author artfully introdncc « a story circulated at Rome , goon after the death of Christ , that the great P&n teas dead . This story , if tru £ , and the truth of which Plutarch was anxious
to establish , proved that Jesus , beingone of the demons , and that the greatest of them , so far from being the cause of destroying the demons * was himself destroyed . " When Tiberfa ® Caesar heard of Hhe death of ihis god * he collected the astrologers and magicians in Ronfre to know what god he was : and they determined that he
was Pany the so ® of Mercury and Penelope / ' In the number of these impostors , weffe doubtless the wicked Jew aftd his Egyptian associates branded by Joseph&s : and as they imposed on the emperor the belief that Jesus was a Heathen god , it was natural that they shouM advise him to propose his deification , or his consecration in the Pantheon . Tertullian . well
knew all this : but though he thought the conduct of the emperor honour able to Christ , and , therefore , mentions the proposal for his deification , he leaves his base advisers in the shade- *
I shall just notice a few inferences worthy of consideration , which are warranted by the aboro statement . 1 . Theopiiiion held in Rome , that Jesus was some supernatural being , illustrates , in a remarkable manner , the miraculous power with which he was invested by the Almighty . Allow the truth of the miracles ascribed to him
in the New Testament , and the cooduct of the emperor in proposing his deification , and of the magicians in pronouncing him to be one of the Pagan god » , was perfectly * natural .
But deny these miracles , L e * suppose them to be impostures * then the conduct of the emperor and the magicians around him , in ascribing a superior nature to an obscure individual in
humble life , in a remote province , an individual * too , who had . been eondetnned to ton ignomin&aus death , and ' ' , ¦ " - - ¦¦ : « . ' ¦ 7-lr ' t V \ ¦ ? m& aSehW ^ f Triiiftmafrt fttcife'A *" inon » irating rite ^ rUth of the < Gh # i < 3 *! &a rfottgtoi ^ t ^ Jv Jonts i Gnap , xii .
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beionrfng : withal ton tdeeof tnettin &e highest de ^ re ^ ctespi ^ e d aadhated ^ will be altogether inexplicable ^ wifttocl at variance with all hurtmm exp ^ rieacey with all that we know of the laws of the moral world .
2 . The conduct of Patil at Athens shews that the apostles * in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles , did not , in theft first address , dwell upon , or render prominent , the miracles of their Divine Master , because of the improper inference which their heavers * uncfer the influence of Heathenism .
would draw respecting his nature . They , therefore , confined tliernselves to his resurrection , as the proof and pledge of the refsurreetron of mankind , and to the necessity of repentance and reformation as a qualification for a fiiture state of retribution grounded on that proof . When the persons addressed were thus far informed and
enli g htened , then the rairadtknis-works of « Ifestfs , as proofs of his delegation to reveal and certify the wiU of Grod * became proper subjects of diseussiois and testimony . 3 . Every convert to * Christianity from among the Heathens , carried with him into the Christian CSmroh a
strong predilection in fawur of the divinity of Christ ; and the advocated of this opinion ^ down % o the present day , argue as the Heathens * did namely , that the works of Christ are proofs Of his divine nat&re * Consequently , we may conclude with cfet ? - tahity that Heathenism is the ^ ource > and the Only source of that doctrine .
4 . We may further conclude , that , wherever a Christian Church-was established by Paul , or any other of the apostles , the divinity of Christ became one of the first topics of discussion and dispute qmong the members * We might > therefore , expect In their Epistlesy references to that c ^ dftro ^ rsyi and also words calc \ ilut <> d and intended tc
set aside the siippos ^ superhuman nature of our Sf ^ four as altogether felse and pernicious . ' 5 . Tlie notion entertained by Lard ~ nev , Prie » tley , and otfa ^ r Unitarian dtmtoet& i that the divinitv of Chf 5 » t originated in the personification of the Logos , derived principally from Philo , and flirouffh him fr ^ m Flmo , is very wiirfeof the truth . This opitiion givea the advocates of the Trmitarism faith the advantage of ' wmabating error ^
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dictated by Heathenhmy hi fp ^ Her M ^ um hh Miracles . $ f
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1823, page 37, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1780/page/37/
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