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himself , however , that he had discovered , a principle by which at oruSe to vindicate his own church and condemn others , when he alleged , that its founders desired no innovation in religion , but only a return-to the doctrines professed by those who lived " at the outset of the Christian systentf , " that is , the fathers of the first three centuries . His acute antagonist thus controverts the assumption that the Fathers are the best expositors of Scripture :
He who can speak thus , can certainly never have cast a look upon the writings of tlie Fathers of the three first centuries : for the author comes down as low as the council of Chalcedon . As to the apostolical Fathers as they are called , Hennas , Barnabas , Ignatius , Clemens Romanus , they contain , with the exception of the Recognitions , no developement of Christian doctrine , of which we can make any use whatever ; they refer , as every one knows , very rarely to the words of Jesus and his apostles , and occupy themselves chiefly with the Old Testament , which they expound allegorically , and which their ignorance of Hebrew prevented them from understanding . As to the
Recognitions and Clementine Homilies , the author cannot possibly have read them , if he thinks they contain a genuine testimony to the meaning of Divine Revelation . Will he , on ? the authority of the Clementines , admit that the Old Testament has been corrupted in a multitude of places , and contains many false and dangerous positions ; or will he agree with Barnabas , who fables in the fifth chapter of his Epistle , that Jesus chose the most sinful of all men for his apostles , ( tov $ ftfovg airouruXous l&XafaTO oWa $ vvep ic »< ra , v dfAapriav dvofAaripovs , ) or will he ,. i # it \ k ( the same author ( ch . xii . ) believe , that the fourth book of Esdras contains j < Bi ? ine prophecies or * Christ , and that the allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament is theliigher wisdom of
Christians ? Or will he , with Heirinas , $ ay , < J ? ast . 1 , 3 , ify ) * Fast , and thou shalt receive divinerevelation&j ' : or * with JfoS same , author , ( ibid i . 4 , 2 , ) * The Lordsent Ms angel w&o j ^ e $ i 4 e& < aver tl * e wild beasts and is called Hegriti f * or that the apostles , va £ tec ^ deajb ^ baptized in the invisible world ? ( Ibu iiit h&Jf H we advance beyond 4 he ^ apostoUc Fathers , we find things still more strange , and which it is impossible to receive as a true exposition of divine * revelation . § o * Justin Martyr savs * (^ Cohort , ad gent . p . 19 , ) that the devil in Paradise persuaded Adam and Eve that thay were gods , and this was
the origin of idolatry ; that demons communicated magical books to men , ( AptLd . 'p . 44 ; , ) and that the divination of the pagans was accomplished by means of Ithib souls of dead men , over whom they obtained i > ower by incantationg ; and that the Logos or Son is the second power after God . ( Ib . p . 59 . ) { ** I kr tk > riot , however , going to write a history of doctrines ; it may suffice to £ ay , * hat the result *) f the perusal of th& Fathers , down to the year 325 , is bo Other than this ;¦ > they had not the doctrine of the Trinity , of hereditary sin ,
of fcheinability Of man to perform any thing good , or of the satisfaction of Christ ; they had no clear conception of the atoning virtues of the death of Christ , and they held a variety of opinions respecting the origin of evil , and had many superstitious notions respecting angels , daemons , the millennium , and other things . Such are the witnesses whom Mr . Rose would have us receive as the most credible interpreters of divine revelation , as the best
expositor * ' ttf Scripture !"—Pp . 32—35 . ¦¦ i ^ qur ^ v ^ wot Mr . Rose we noticed briefly the injustice of which he fyad beeia * gujjjty , i # classing together , and condemning under the common name tfMrtioniM&te , all who had departed in any degree from the antiquated doctrines < rf the Augsburg Confession . Dr . Bretscbneider animadverts very severely on tjijis : W TW iniotopetence of Mr . Rose is ojivioua in his very defective knowledge iof Gtonwan theology , jan <) tji ^ . iforro ^ hipii it has assumed since 1750 . In or ^ r ij ditly to midw ^^ a j * nd fairly to ja ^ ge ,, of it , it is necessary to at-
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Meview . —State of Reli g ion in Germany . 833
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1827, page 833, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1802/page/49/
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