On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Mr . Marsom ' s Defence of the Pfe ~ existtnce of Christ . * Let * II . ' 471
Untitled Article
4
Untitled Article
ing a complete solution of eyery text which represents Jesus Christ as having descended from heaven /* That argument ought surely to be very clear and decisive which merits such an appellation ; but so confident is Mr . B . that the
interpretation which he has given of ' that clause is the certain meaning of the evangelist , that he introduces it in the following manner * , " Let this then be considered as an established fuxit , and in reading the writings of John let it be constantly . bw > ne in mind that this evangelist by the phrase coming down from heaven , meaps
nothing more than a divine commission to communicate the counsels and will of God . " But before we admit this to be an " . established fact / ' let us pause , and consider the evidence by which Mr . Be endeavours to prove that his interpretation of that phrase is the meaning which the evangelist , in making use of it , intended to convey . > t
Having cited the words , " No man hath ascended into heaven , but lie that came down from houven / ' Air . B . affirms respecting the first clause thatf , ** the son of man had not at that time *' ( that is at the time he held the conference with Nicodemus ) " locally ascended thither , consequently this expression must be understood figuratively , q . d . no man is acquainted with the
counsels of God to man , but /* &c . This affirmation with the consequence drawn from it rests entirely upon the supposition that the words are the . words of our Lord , ( whether they axe or are fiot his words we ( Shall inquire
Untitled Article
presently ;) but supposing them to . be so and to be figurative , will it necessarily follow that Mr . B / s interpretation of this figurative expression is tbe true one ? In support of its being so , Mr . B . alleges % that , " it is the
approved exposition of the orthodox Beza , the learned Raphelius , and the Evangelical D odd ridge . ' - * How many orthodox , learned and evangelical writers might be referred to , who approve of a very op * , posite interpretation I But the a p >*
probation of neither the one nor the other of these opposite expositors can / be of * any weight in deter * mining the meaning of a » passage of scripture , unless that meaning can be proved by an appeal to the sacred . writings themselves .
This is the whole of tbe argument ( if it can be sq called ) advanced by Mr . B . to set aside the pre-existeuce of Jesus Christ as taught in this text , from which he draws this conclusion , 44 If the first clause is to betaken figu * ratively , as all allow ; it is surely most natural to understand nth * second figuratively likewise .
But supposing it can be shewn ( as I shall endeavour to shew , ) that the words under consideration are not the words of Jesus Christ , but of the historian written many years after the ascension uf our Lord into heaven , and that in that view of the pas ^
sage it will admit of a plain literal interpretation , it will then follow ; , that to have recourse to * a figurative one is both unfair and unnecessary . Or $ if it can be slicwii thiit even gupppsing tlie words to bo the words of our Lord , tbey will still admit of a literal . inter-
Untitled Article
? M . Repos . vol . ii . p . 346 + f Ib . j > ,. 545 . $ Ib .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1808, page 471, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2396/page/15/
-