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Untitled Article
the propriety of styling the doctrine of repentance which he preached , r a popular doctrine . ' His character , in connexion with expectations founded on ancient prophecy , ' gained him reverence , ' and * he preached his doctrine powerfully : ' perhaps
it is unnecessary further to make out a popular doctrine to account for the attention which he did gain when he denounced the wickedness of all classes , and exhorted all to repentance * Nor shall I examine his account of Christ ' s temptation , farther than to suggest , that if the scene itself be accounted for ( as some Christians think it ought to be ) by the natural operations of the mind in such circumstances , —the circumstances imply a previous conviction on the mind of Jesus of his divine mission , and this
conviction our author does not account for ,- —while the substance of the visionary or mental scene exhibits a conflict between national prejudices and the convictions of duty derived from his supposed divine mission ., which would have been quite unnatural if his notion of Messiahship had fallen in with that which was current among his countrymen . The writer cites largely from the
histories of Wesley and Walsh , the latter of whom he intimates that he supposes to have resembled Jesus in temperament in many respects . Southey ' s * Life of Wesley' is his key to the whole history of New Testament enthusiasm and pious fraud , and he would fain apply it to that of miracles ; but of this more hereafter .
The author goes on to state in the main correctly , — 4 That no great length " of time elapsed after Jesus lef t the wilderness , before his name was pretty widely spread throughout the country ; he had not , however , yet selected any personal followers , and , up to this time , there is no word of any miracle having been performed by him : indeed , the public reverence can be otherwise accounted for * * * * *• * * Have we not sufficient reason to conclude , that the
sanctity of his life , his fervidl y religious tone of mind , and his preaching an already popular doctrine (?) , in a lofty and eloquent strain of sincere feeling , are enough of themselves , without the aid of miracles , to account for the veneration in which he was generally held , and for the influence which enabled him to make choice of personal followers : accordingly , St . Matthew , in his narrative of this selection , does not
give a hint of any previous display of supernatural power . —( p . lxxxi . ) It is true that no miracle had been hitherto performed by him , but miraculous influence is asserted by Matthew , by Mark , and by Luke , to have been openly displayed immediately after our \ Lord * s baptism ^ pointing him out as the * beloved son of God / and causing John the Bantist to understand that he was the
Messiah , and to announce nina as such to his own disciples , ( see John i . 34 . ) That our Saviour evinced supernatural knowledge to Nathaniel ( Jbhni . 48 , ) , or to any other discipte , on calling him , may seem to the author unimportant , as nQt having tended to fix pubfic attention on him ; but the testimon y of John the Baptist , in the first place , that he was come to prepare the way
Untitled Article
782 Orthodoxy and Unbelief .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1832, page 782, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1824/page/62/
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