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    nt $ person was the living bread /' Arc then the doctrine and person of Jesus Christ the same thing ?—Mr . Belsham then finds out another meaning of the figurative expression under consideration , not at all consistent with that he had

    before given ; his words are * , •* Does this offend you ? What if you should see the son of man ascend up where he was before : q . d . What if I should disclose to tjou truths still more remote from your apprekensiony and more offensive to your prejudices f 1 f He } iad before said that the phrase

    signifies , C 4 To be instructed in the mind and will of God , to search into divine truths * These ex * pjanations are very different in their meaning ; both therefore cannot be true ; which of them

    then does Mr . Belsham mean to abide by ? " It is too much , ( to use his own language f 5 ) for him to insist upon having both strings to his bow , " It would be natural to ask , what analogy is there between the

    supposed figurative language of the fcext , and the explanation given of it by Mr . Belsham ? Can the words , . " Ascend up where he was before , " by any fair con * struction , by any sound criticism be made to mean , " Instructed

    • in the mind and will of God , " or * ' tc search into divine truth ? " ' T > o they naturally or necessarijy suggest any such idea ? Is such tjin interpretation of them warranted by any thing contained in the sacred writings ? Certainl y ' not . From whence then could

    such an interpretation . have arisen , but from a strong prejudice in favour of a system , to the support p { which it was necessary , first ? M . Repos . Vol . ji , p . 547-

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    to suppose the w 6 rds to he figuj rativ 6 , and then to affix a mean , ing to them which should be fa * vourable" to that syst 6 in ? A very able critic , and I believe , equally an opposer of the pre-existence of Jestrs Christ with Mr . Belsham , the Rev . Mr .

    Sirhpson , of Bath , gives this passage a very different meaning from that which I have been examining . He supposes an ellipsis at the end of the 62 nd verse , and gives the following rendering of the words t ,

    " Doth this offend you ? Nevertheless , when ye shall see the soil of man rise up where he was beforej ye will know that he is the spirit that giveth life . The flesh

    profitcth nothing , &c . " And he understands the words , not with Mr . Belsham as meaning an ascension up into heaven in a figurative sense , but literally of a rising up from the dead .

    But much as I approve of the translation of Mr . Simpson ii > general , and of the manner in which he has filled up the ellipsis in the end of the 6 $ nd verse , yet 1 think that he has not given the

    true rendering of the word ai / otScuvw , which cannot properly be rendered < 6 to rise up / ' and that the phrase here made use of is extremely unnatural as applied to a resurrection from the dead ,

    in reference to which the word avctSoLiyw i I believe is never used , and especially as connected with the words , " Where } ie was be * fore / ' The word properly sig

    nifios tq ascend , or go up . I his 1 believe will hardly be disputed ? nor will any one of the authorities referred to by Mr . Simpson justify his rendering . f p . 548 . I Eieayt , p . 439-

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    554 Mr . Marsom ' s Defence of the Pre-existence of Christ . Let . III .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1808, page 554, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2397/page/30/