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Critical Notice of Duncans' Edition of Griesbach . 391
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lection , arid to be a confused mixture of the received text of Griesbach , and of other readings adopted in part from both . In short , instead of the title which it has assumed , its character would have been appropriately expressed thus : ' An Edition of the Greek Testament in which Griesbach
is followed in all readings of no importance , and disdainfully rejected where his alterations might be supposed to diminish the evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity , the Deity of Christ , or the Incarnation . ' * Upon the supposition that these doctrines are a part of the Christiau system , it
might indeed be granted to be a politic thing to introduce , by degrees , to the world those alterations in the common text which might perhaps weaken the evidence for revealed truth in the mind . If this then were the motive of the present editors , why have they not in some way communicated it to the learned world >
And is it consistent with common honesty in the present state of religious opinion , or with common justice to the labours of Professor Griesbach , to publish a mangled edition of such a book , or to attempt to deprive , by an unworthy artifice , the Unitarian cause of the proofs which an unbiassed and thoroughly competent
judge had deliberately bestowed upon it ? The language which I have used may be thought strong , Mr . Editor , but I apprehend it is called for by the circumstances of the case , in order not merely to preserve your readers from imposition—this would
be an inferior concern—but to preserve the sacred cause of Christian truth , as it is served by the Unitarian controversy , from suffering from this ill-judged and unmanly behaviour . — I shall notice then in the first place , as being of the most importance , the three passages—Acts . xx . 28 , I Tim .
iii . 16 , and 1 John v . 7 , which are , as all your readers well know , materially affected by Griesbach ' s edition , and , from speaking a language consistent perhaps with orthodox Christianity , are deprived of every iota inconsistent with Unitafianism . All your readers will be able to
understand the quality of this edition of Griesbach , when they are informed that * these three passages are in it , precisely as they are found in the
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received text . Matt . vi . 13 , the doxology to the Lord ' s Prayer is retained as Scripture , contrary to Griesbach's judgment . . Luke xi . 2 . 4 , the petitions in this evangelist ' s copy of the Lord ' s Prayer , which Griesbach has proved to be interpolated , are here in opposition to every principle of correctness retained . John vi . 69 , is a bungling : mixture of the received
text with Griesbach ' s : thus , * , < ri > si * & < xyio $ rov Qsov rov Zovvrog . Acts xxiii . 9 , W Qs opocxjuopev is retained , in opposition to Griesbach . Rom . viii . 1 , the latter part of the verse is retained : xiii . 9 , ou $ / av 5 o [ JLOCgrv pr ^ < rsig is retained . The change of the verses at the end of the . 16 th chapter
of this epistle to the end of the 14 th chapter is adopted ; but neglecting the prudent plan of Griesbach , that of retaining the old numbering of the verses , the present edition has given them a running order where they now stand , so as to furnish occasion for the most inconvenient mistakes . Phil . iv . 13 , is a singular
proof of theological prejudice : Kpircv " is retained after the words ey tcq £ vSvvau , ovvT'i fj , s . Col . ii . 2 , is a glorious proof of a determination to uphold the falling cause of orthodoxy , by retaining the clause upon which a pitifully slender argument has been founded for the distinct divinity of
the Holy Spirit , so that it reads with the received text , i ' qv ® eov , nan Ilarpog ~ 7 tai rov yLpirov . I produce these as a few specimens only , and let it be repeated , the edition which differs from Griesbach in these particulars agrees with him in almost all readings of no importance . It is of
the more consequence to take this public notice of Messrs . Duncans * " Griesbach , " from the local circumstances in which the work issues from the press . With all the advantages of a small and beautiful type , a moderate expense , and a portable size , and with the high
sounding phrase ex prelo Academico it may be conceived that * the students of the Glasgow University might be very likely to make a purchase of this edition of Griesbach's Greek Testament , to * which > so much atten ^ tion has of late years been paid in the learned world , and which no liberal critic is found to disregard .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1817, page 391, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2466/page/15/
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