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they instigated " til * emperor lo propose to the senate the deificatidii of Jesus Christ , and to place t ^ m with Mercury and Apollo in the Pantheon of Rome . The Gnostics branded the
apostles as illiterate , and as men to whom Christ did not think fit to reveal the mysteries of his gospel , while they assumed to themselves lofty terms , expressive of their superior wisdom . It is to this pretension that the Apostle alludes : and he uses the titles for
no other reason than that they were arrogated by the wicked Jew and his associates . " Thou confidently pretendest to be a guide of the blind , a light to them that are in darkness , an instructor of the simple and a teacher of babes /'
A lady of rank , the wife of Saturninus , a bosom friend of the emperor , became a convert to the new faith . Her beauty kindled the admiration of a Roman knight , whose offers she rejected with scorn and indignation ; but the Jew and his Egyptian brethren were her masters , whose' ascendancy over her mind induced them , for a
large sum of money , to surrender her , under the most impious pretension , to the arms of Mandus , and to sacrifice her to his lust in the very Temple of Anubis . At the request of her
deceivers she gave a large present of gold and purple for the use of the Temple at Jerusalem . This present , when delivered to be forwarded , they kept for their own use , which , adds Josephus , was their object in making the request . It is in reference to
these facts , in which this impostor was a leading agent , that the Apostle puts the questions , " Thou who teachest another , teachest tliou not thyself ? Thou who preachest that a man should not steal , dost thoti steal ? Thou who forbiddest to commit aduHefy , dost
thou commit adultery ? Thou who abhorrest idols , dost thou profanely rob the Temple ? " The punishment of these crimes , when detected , instead of being- confined , as justice required , to the perpetrators , was extended by the animosity of the emperor and senate to the J ' ewa in Rome , all of them being involved in distress and ruin , as Josephus observes , fo ? the misconduct ot four men . These transactions became universally known , and caused great scandal to the friends of the
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gospel , JBbth among- the- Jews ifcnd Gentiles . Hence the Apostle adds , " Thbu who gloriest in the littw , dost thou , by the transgression bfibis laiv , dishonour God ? for through you the name of God is blasphemed amtimg the Gentiles "
JOHN JONES . ( To be continued . ) N . B . As my Lexicon is now before the public , I propose to subjoin to each paper a short article illustrative of some word in the New Testament . The following illustration of evXctBBia
Heb . v . 7 , though printed , I was earnestly requested to suppress , as sa ^ vouring too much of Unitarianism . This term supposes the foresight of danger , and prudence in the chpice of means to avoid it , or if unavoidable to bear up under it with honour and
success . Thus our Lord , when going to suffer , is said by the apostle , Heb . v . 7 , tl being heard from his precaution . " Christ foresaw in all its particulars , in all its horrors , the closing scene of his life : and though his prayer that
the cup should pass from him , could not be heard , the object of that prayer was virtually granted . He appears to have determined beforehand the plan of conducting himself throughout the awful crisis ; and a faithftil adherence to it insured him a happy and glorious result . His consciousness of
innocence ; a well-grounded confidence in the truth of his divine delegation ; the most complete resignation to the will of heaven ; and a due sense of the high commission he had to fulfil ( namely , the deliverance of mankind from sin and death ) : —these
considerations conspired in filling his soul with comfort , and arming him with fortitude , patience and meekness . Lest insult or cruelty should tempt him to say any thing unworthy of the noble cause pn which he had engaged , h&
resolves that not & syllable should escape his lips during his trial * aA < 4 sufferings—he resolves to suffer in silence , without complaining , without retorting the taunts , or refuting the calumnies and accusations of his
enemies . This virtuous resolution , this wise precaution , enabled him to exhibit uuexalmplext dignity in the mictet of ignominy and < Jfegradation ; to obtain a- ' skjff&i triumph 6 ver ' the pbwfeiis 6 f
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On Mr . Behham ' s Scheme of interpreting' Paul ' s Epistles . 409
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vol . xv iii . 3 g
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 409, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/41/
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