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of the Gospels of Matthew- and Luke : and the : genuinfeniess of- these is either suspected or , denied . Dr . Carpenter , in his ^ Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel / while he rejects the first two chapters of Matthew as an interpolation , is disposed to retain those of Luke ; and
suggests an ingenious explanation of the passage relating' to the point under our consideration , to shew that the language of the original does not necessarily suppose that there was any thing miraculous in the circumstance of the conception of Jesus . "—Pp . 5 ^ : 54 .
The contraction invoked in the notion of tHe generation of the Son out of the Father ' s essence is wellstated in the Catechism : « For if Christ had been generated out of the essence of the Father , he must have taken either a part of it , or the whole . He could not have taken apart of it , because the divine , essence is
indivisible . Neither could he have taken the whole ; for in this case the Father would have ceased to be the Father , and would have become the Son : and again , since the divine essence is numerically one , and therefore incommunicable , this could by no means have happened . " P . 70 .
On the phrase " everlasting Father /* in Isa . ix . 6 , usually and by the compilers of the Catechism applied to Christ , it is observed , " That-a divine nature cannot be hence proved , unless it be shewn that the
writer speaks here of that Eternity whicli is without beginning ; which can by no means be done ; otherwise we should have two Fathers existing from all eternity . Besides , it is obvious that the author writes of a Son who was born in
times past and given to us , whotould uot have existed ffonfall eternity . The Greek translators [ the Septuagint ] , and also the Latin [ the Vulgate ] who followed them , perceiving this , have rendered the words , Pater futuri seculi , " the Father ° f a future age . " But Christ may be
thus designated , although he possessed not the divine nature which is claimed for him ; and for this reason , because he * s constituted by the Father the prince a » d author of the eternal life Conferred u Pon believers . It may / be &dded , that the prophet speaks of this child as of' a kl
» g given bv . 0 o 4 ^ r aijidr good Jjrng ^ sjuch as a is p ^ ea 1 ct ^ | ie Would be , a ? e wont to be eaUed t ^ FAteiis o ^ the people . But lest ajW oiie M o 1 ild * think that tKis si g » arbles » % W&tM '* be of mf Wtiker ^ ntinuan ^ e tiifen Th fie case of otbier Kings , eveu the most excellent , on account
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of the fra $ ty of their , lives , the prophet asserts that this king would be the Father of Eternity * that is , according \ to the Hebrew idiom , eternal , which , through the great kindness of God , is actually accomplished in Christ . "—Pp . 138 , 139 .
The Sociriians , as is well knowu A maintained the hypothesis of the ascent of Jesus into heaven , previous to the commencement of his ministry , and as a preparation for it . On this curious point , it is just to let them speak foi ^ themselves :
" But by what means did the Lord Jesus himself acquire his knowledge of the Divine Will ? < c By ascending into heaven , wher £ he beheld his Father , and that life and happiness which he was to announce t& us ; where also he heard from the Father
all those things which it would behove him to teach . Being afterwards sent by him from heaven to the earth , he was most largely endowed with the H 6 ly Spirit , through whose inspiration he proclaimed what he had learnt from the Father .
" By what testimonies of Scripture da you prove these things ? " That Christ ascended into heaven * he himself testifies , John iii . 13 , where he thus speaks : * No man hath ascended up to heaven , but he that came down from heaven , even the Son of Man which
is m heaven . ' And that he saw tds Father he testifies in the 3 ame Gospel ,, chap . vi . 46 , where he states , < Not that any man hath seen the Father , save he which is of God , he hath seen the Father . * That he beheld the life and happiness which he announced to us , is evident
both from what he himself declares , ( John iii . 11 , ) that he testified what he had seen ; and also from what John the Baptist asserts concerning him in the same chapter , ( ver . 31 , 32 , ) where he observes , * He that cometh from above
is above all / * What he hath seen and heard , that he testifieth / ' That he heard and learnt from the Father what he was to teach to others , appears partly from the passage * j . t * st < $ ted ^ and partly froin what Chrifct declares , John vilu 269 ^ I speak to the world those things which I hjave heard of him : ' and , ( ver . 28 TA f ^ As
my Father hath taught me , I speak these things / With which agrees ve $ " $ & : * I speak ! that which I have , seen with my Father : and also , whit he states chap , xii . 49 , 50 : M have not spoken of myself *; but the Father which sent me , he gave me commandmenty what I should say , and what I should jspeak / * Whatsoever I speak , therefore , even as the
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Jteview . ~ jDr . T . Reesfs Rucovian Catechism . 17 . 1
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1820, page 171, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2486/page/43/
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