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    ociiuiri , as an enemy to the rights and privileges of the people , or a subverted of the sacred , obligations of the law of Moses , and thereby

    effectually ruin that credit and influence which his doctrines , mira - cles , and unblemished life , had procured over the generality * In such cases , his usiaal method was to

    manifest rus own superior wisdom by returning such answers to the questions proposed , 3 s kept perfectly clear of t , he snare laid / fox him : and then to silence his

    adversaries effectuall y by retviroing some other question ' upon them , which they either could not or durst not aaswer , lest they should have involved themselves in the

    Very dilemma they had intended for him . For examples of this , see 21 st and 22 d chapters , of Matthew , and 20 th chapter of Luke .

    Oh the pmer hand , a great part of the common people who » attended him , though they har * . boured no malicious intention against him , yet were a thoughtless , inconsiderate , and sensual ^

    race j strongly possessed with prejudices concerning the rights and ' privileges of the Jewish nation , as the seed of Abraham and God ' s peculiar people , and hence were full of contempt and aversion against all the rest of mankind . They were zealous for the law of Moses , as

    of sacred and pcrpetiial obligation , and reverenced the rites and ceremonies of th 6 law as the perfection of it , and of all human excellence , and the traditio ^ of the elders as the infallible

    interpretation of the law . . They \ fcere ^ it this time , full of expectations of the immediate appearance of the Messiah ; but only under the no * - lion of a deliverer of their nation

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    from foreign oppression , a restorer of their polity , a conqueror 0 / the gentile nations , and a prince who should rule over them for ever in

    great worldly power and grandeur , and subject the nations to them . But they had no conception of him as a divine instructor , who was to establish the moral kinsdom of God over mankind , in the universal obedience of his laws of

    righteousness , purity , and goodness , or thought that he should abolish the ceremonial part of Moses ' s institution , and * reform and perfect the moral ; much less , that he should be the common

    saviour of mankmd from idolatry and wickedness , and their instructor in true piety and universal virtue . In short , the whole of their religion consisted in a zealous attachment to certain

    prejudices and erroneous opinions , and in the punctual observance of rites , ceremoniqs , and traditions , whilst they had little r ^ ard to the genuine and substantial duties of religion ; such as reverence ,

    love , gratitude , submission , and obedience to God , with a conscientious care to know and keep his commandments ; little acquaintance with the nature ,

    extent , and , obligations , of moral duties , and less attention to practise them ; but in fact allowed themselves , without scruple , in many acts of injustice and inliu * . inanity , and indulged in rnafry shameful sensualities .

    " Now , in what manner roust he , who came to seek and to save lost sinners , deal with persons of this temper and character ? An opcri and djrect ' . atlack upon their prejudices and errors would but have roused their passions , exasperated them against him as an enemy , and

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    Observations oh JoTin vl . 37 V % ^ e e Rev- W . Tvrfter . 35

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1808, page 35, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2388/page/35/