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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.
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tended for . Mr . Wakefiold ren * ders the first clause , * now no one goetk up into heaven , but he &C . " Dr . Cainpbell renders the
pas&age ^ cc For none asceitdctk into heaven , but he who descend * ed from heaven ; the son of man , whose abide is heaven * . " On the last clause he has the following note '' O cuv bis tov koXttov r& ftoclcof , ch ? i . 18 f is a similar expression . Both are intended to denote , rather what is habitual
and characteristic of the person , than what obtains at a particular instant . By o cuv sv rod s ^ avou ^ is meant , " wh © se abode , whose residence , whose home is th-ere . This is agreeable , in import , to the interpretation given by Nonr bus . " If then , I say , the fen
eenng of these learned critics be the true one , it is not necessary to understand , either the first clause , as Mr . B . affirms t , or the last figuratively ; and consequentl y , as he admits § , it wiN be " natural to interpret the
second <> f a local descent , " which is all that is necessary to support the doctrine for which we contend . But let us further inquire , supposing the phrase " he that came down from heaven , " be jfigiuative , whether it be possible
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J P- 545- § p - 54 ^ . I ! P . 5 4 < 5 - H Ver . 30 , 3 * . of this chapter .
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4 ^ 4 * Mr . Marsom * * T > efen $ e of the pre-exhtenct of Christ . Let . II .
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that Mr , B / s explanation of it Gan be the true one . He says || w thjs evangelist by the phrase coming down from heaven , means nothing more than a divine commission to communicate the
counsels and will of God . " The phrase c he that came down from heaven / ' is manifestly a periphrasis of Jesus Christ , and is as peculu arly characteristic of him , and as
much designed to distinguish him from all others , as the phrase ' he who liveth forever and ever " is so of the divine Being ; which it could not be if it means a no * thing more than having a divine commission ; ^ because in that case
it would be equally applicable to Moses , to any of the prophets , or to John the Baptist . But what I consider as decisively fatal to Mr , B / s interpretation of the phrase is , what John says of Jesus Christ 5 T when contrasting himself with him— " He
must increase , but I must decrease ; he that cometh from above , " that is , according to Mr . B . he who hath nothing more than a divine commission ,
u is above all . " On the contrary , 4 < he who is of the earth , " that is , he who hath no such divine commission ^ ^ is earthly ,
* Bishop Pcarce on the passage makes the following observations , " no man hath ascended up to heaven , rarher ascendeth pp to heaven , i . e . i ? to go up thither . The perfect tense here having the : ignifipation . of the present . " In his note he say \ s , the perfect ten .-e in the original ought to be rendered by the present in the English translation , as it is often used in this gospel , and is accordingly rendered in English translation , in ch . vi . 69 . and xi . 27 . and xx . 29 . and Acts , iv . 10 . So in this chapter ^ E ^ yewjce , ver . 18 . seems used for wireyei ; in ch . i . 26 efrjxe for t ^ y \< n ; in ch . v . 24 . /* e 7 a £ e € ?) xe , for ^ E ^ a&xivgi , and in ch , XX * 1 7 * a . va € i £ r ) Kcc for ocvaLQatvw . " ' On the words , " who is in heaven , ' he says , " rather who ivas in heaven , ch . vi . 6 % . for he came down froni thence , as is here said . See on ch . i . 18 . + That passage cannot by any construction of language be supposed to be jtKe words of Jesus Christ , they are most certainly tha words of the evangelist , and * are naturally expre- ^ sive of the honour which was conferred upon Jesus when He ascended into heaven and sat down on the right hand of God .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1808, page 474, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2396/page/18/
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