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Untitled Article
iipcai ^ f or prqi u ^ ice ) , in ^ Uejiccv - - , \ Y . i \ V , regard to . the first portion ,, I i Q ^ t , p ^ scp ; e . tita't in my " Discourse ' I . have ^ shewn-plainly that Moses was . m > t tlie : '• • first author of sacrifices : that
Sacrifices , were' practised by the patriarchs previous to Moses , as far back as the creation ; that their sacrifices wprenot absolutely by the shedding of animal blood , but they were various ,
viz , of vegetables , libations and of animals y that their offerings were * iot by ajiy particular divine command , but merely voluntary donations ; that their offering * had not in any shape
references to atonement for sin , but were fQfls of mere gratitude and acknowletj ^ uients of submission to that grea t lacing -r— the Universal Benefactor . Every one who is versed in Scripture in ay examine himself the texts relative t ^ the patriarchal offerings , and he will find them to have been congenial
to £ he . principles , described , lint obsexve the . Insolence , of-my ambiguous autagpnist . Passing by in silence all ti * e . authorities I have brought from Scripture regarding the patriarchal saevinces * he tiatly makes this assertion : ' , In support of the Jirst position , Mr . B , offers nothing hu , t bis own confident
assertion , which he seems to think will be kindly admittcd as , iirrefragable pjoof . " \\ ho will not observe the malicious principle of this critic ? Heing unable to turn the text to his favourite hypothesis , he \ hought proper to . jjass by those authorities in silence , u ^ jxendmg on the ignorance of his adherents for their submission to him .
x In the second position , I have plainly s ^ ewn in my " Discourse , ** from Lev ^ icus , that the regulations of sacrifices it . ^ con rains were also various , viz . of ve ~ g Ctuhlcs 9 animals and Illations ; that they were regulated also according to the circumstances of the different classes
of the people , a regulation equally observed in all kinds of offerings , in particular in those of sin and trespass offerings of the poor class , in which a o ^ iaplity of flour was a ppointed and accepted for their salvation . ( £ iee Lev , vl . l-r-4 . 4 . ) From the diversity of sacrirtlcescpuiaiped in Leviticus . yve ; behold
t \) q simple and incoptcstublv co ^ j c 1 usi on , viz .. that the shedding of anim . a } blpp 4 \ yasi iimes&entiaj and not absolute in the systejun p f sajprinccs , either in voluntary Qf . sja . oflferirig ? , publiq or iiidjyidual
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3 a *^ i % e $ ;; tha t libattfifts aod ^^ aificrake * Av ^ re al 3 O ;;» cl >© jj ^* iJebbBuftefiefii < icr 8 sew tUs . fccujenisss andvJngeiinity of : in » yi opponent ^ wh ^ s , ; ix > diil e . m . » sho ^ n of h 4 « lcarnuig by estaWt ^ hing hisu ^ avJoucitc ijypetbe ^ i& . Otf * an unaccoijintable ' prin * Qt ^ . r . Til us : he- en presses hi ituscd C > c '' We ^ i now n ? o instance whrich fiu ^ re
strongly , ex , emplifiesr the niaxitn , e . r + cejfJio firmajt , i-rgtdanx , the exception , c&n * Jinns the rule , livery attentive reader of the Pentateuch must perceive it tt > have been a general and r <« lioal prin * .
ciple of legal econot » y > thnt without the shedding q ) r animal blood there caidd be no remission ; for that it was ih * blood which made atonement Jbr the souL" Let us now examine his hypothesis . We know of no code either of dtvkue au *
thority , or civil and political teguiaw tions , and reason itself dictates , that a man is not bound to that law which . it is impossible for him to fulfil , and therefore no law is enacted for such a one as to make him free froin it , and no laws are enacted- for minutiae . But
our learned critic strangely telk his readers that the poor class of the people ( though they form a great part in any nation ) are a mere exception , and ac « cordingly establishes his hypothesis ^ ** exceptio Jh ; mat rcaulam . " A straiage doctrine indeed ! 1 could with mom
propriety conclude ihe reverse > viz : that vegetables and libations , were- the chief . olyects in tlie . system of sacrifices , but these pf animal sacrifices are the excentipn , Qod adapted only for richpeople , who form the minor jxart of any cninmuv \ ityr aa , aft additional punishment for their cpttducL However
1 shall not decide , with preference to either of diem which is ihe absolute object :, the laws rcgardmg Jthediversity of offerii xgs were ; equally U'gal ; -wehave no need therefore to be too sanguine on this account . ¦ > ,
Another inference- he makes thus ; " Nor could it witli any plausibility iie pretended tliat even m this case of partial epception ^ the remission of the offence was wholly irrespective of animal sacrifice ; while the sacrifices appointed tor the day of annual expiation were expressly declared * to niake an atonement for the children of Israel for
all their sins once a year * . " ( Levuxvi . 34 . ) Jlcre Jiea ihe deficiency of a coinpc . tviit stud y of the Hebrew liturgy among the Christian doctors , who possess only a mere suucwficial and ascantjr
Untitled Article
22 ^ M ' fr-l ^ iMti 4 ^ fa& < ££ ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1817, page 220, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2463/page/28/
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