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Ihe reading adopted by Griesbach , in tbe 3 d , dma-tiXhei for dvoa-rekay sesem to us to have arisen from a desire to bring Matthew into better harmony with the other evangelists . We should therefore adhere throughout to the common reading , but should be disposed to give ourselves little trouble in explaining . the circumstance of there being two animals , on which we cannot implicitly depend . Our author has some good remarks on this passage , but
seems , from his note on ver . 5 , and the pains he takes about ouutSSv , ver . 7 , to have been a good deal embarrassed by the mention of the two animals . The note on Matt , xxviii . 19 , is remarkable for passing in silence the argument for the Trinity , probably as being , in our author ' s opinion , too plain to need illustration . It does , however , after a dissertation on infant baptism , on which we shall not now dwell , introduce a very important
question , which has an immediate bearing oa the doctrinal application of the text , whether the words of our Lord contain a formula of baptism prescribed by him , or whether they indicate the end and purpose of baptism—~ we should rather say , the subjects of the instruction to which baptism was the introduction . Our readers will perceive that the argument of Trinitarians is founded on the first supposition . It is acknowledged that the mention , m one place , of Father , Son , and Holy Spirit , cannot establish their united and
equal deity , nor even the personality of each ; but it is contended that the baptismal formula implies a dedication to all three , or a joint invocation of them . Supposing a formula , we should bs content with the explanations of it which Mr . B ., after Wetstein , has given from the Apostolical Constitutions and Canons ( supposititious works , probably of the fourth century ) : " The Father is mentioned as the cause , the Son as the messenger , the Spirit as . the
witness . We make known to you that there is one only God , the ruler of all tHngs , with whom is no other , and that you should pay religious homage and worship to him only through Jesus Christ our Lord , in the Holy Spirit , " &c . These passages clearly recognize the supremacy of the Father , and leave us to form our opinions from other places of the nature of Christ and the personality of the Spirit .
Mr . B . decides in favour of the formula ; we must confess that our judgment greatly inclines against it . Our authors is the more common opinion ; ours is that of " Piscator and Gataker , and , in our own day , of many German theologians , especially Kuinoel . " A statement of the arguments on both sides is given from Kuinoel , which will shew many who had before no conception of it , the great uncertainty , to say the least , of any formula being given ; it does
not , however , entirely express our views . We should say that the leading object of the passage is to direct the apostles as to the subjects of their teaching , and that baptizing is but incidentally named as the ordinary method of receiving disciples for instraction in the doctrines of the master whose authority , by submitting to that ceremony , they acknowledged * With Schleusner we take wopa to be redundant . Such expressions as " baptizing into Christ" and " into Moses , ' * " into the name of the Lord Jesus , " " into the name of Paul /*
folly justif y us . Being baptized into the name of , or into , any messenger of God , ia acknowledging the authority of that person to teach , and being introduced into instruction concerning him and his * doctrine—to be baptiued intcrany thing , doctrine , or subject , or into the name of it—is to be admitted to instruction by those who baptized upon that subject . The Samaritans circumcised into the name of Mount Geririm , i , e . they used the rke of
circumcision as an admission to . a religion distinguished by the doctrine that \ km mountain was the place to worship God . So we may understand what the Apostle Paul says ^ ( Bonu vi . 3 , } that " as many of us as were j ? aptk «<
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210 Review . S —BlobmfteUV a Recensio ynoptica AnmUitiems Siterat .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1827, page 210, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1794/page/50/
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