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
possible not to suppose , them to be the » vr ) rds of the evangelist . ¦ Secondly , in the 16 th verse Jesus Christ is styled , the only begotten son of' God . " A phrase peculiar to the writings of this
evangelist : it occurs frequently in his gospel , and once in his lirst epistle , where the speaker cannot be Jesus Christ ; nor is there I believe a siogle passage in the New Testament where he makes use of such a phrase resneering himself .
Thirdly , in the same verse it is said , " that he ( i . e . God , ) gave his only begotten son . " . The mission ot Jesus Christ is generally expressed by God ' s sending , not by his giving his sou ; this therefore must refer to his death , which is generally expressed by
giving or delivering him up , ( compare Rom . iv . 35 . viii . 32 . Acts ii . 23 . ) : and that the word gave refers here to the death of Jesus as a fact that had already taken place , is evident from the connexion of this verse with the two preceding ones , cc even so jnust the son of man hate been
lifted up , that whosoever believ . eth in him should not perish , but have eternal life ; for God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting Jife . " Where we may observe that his being lifted up , and God ' s giving him , refer to the same thing , and
are both represented as necessary to the same end . Now the death of Jesus Christ being subsequent to his conference with Nicodemus it is unnatural to suppose that Jesus Christ should , on that occasion , tell him that God had given his only begotten , when
Untitled Article
VOL . III . 3 H
Untitled Article
the event to which the expression refers had not taken place : I con * , elude therefore that these must be the words of the evangelist .
Fourthly , I observe ^ that in the 18 th verse it is said , 4 * he that believeth not is condemned alread y , because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God . * This appellation does not appear to have been given to Jesub Christ before his resurrection , and it is probable that he is so denominated only
\ n reference to that event ; he was declared to be the son of Gody by the resurrection ; * he is the first born , " or first begotten , and we may add , the only begotten , " from the dead , " to a life of immortality and incorruption . On this account also he is said to be ct
the first born among many brethren , '' cc the first born of every creature /* If then this appellation is given to Jesus on account of his resurrection , these words cannot make . a part of his address to Nicodemus , but must be the words of the evangelist *
These observations I conceive contain such a weight of evidence as naturally leads to the conclusion that the words under consideration are the words of the evangelist and not of Jesus Christ , that they are to be understood literally , and that they do contain a plain and clear proof of the doctrine of his pre-existence .
But should this evidence , after all , be thought inconclusive , yet still 1 contend that the passage ( if the rendering of it given by two of our mo $ t learned and able critics , Mr . Wakeficld and Dr . Campbell * ' be the true one , ) will admit of a literal interpretation * ahd establish the doctiine con-
Untitled Article
Mr . Mar sums Defence of ' the PVv-existence of Christ . Let . II : 47 S
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1808, page 473, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2396/page/17/
-