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Attemp t to distinguish between Genuine and Spurious Christianity . ( Concluded from p . 452 . ) TfTTOR the better satisfaction of the J ; Unbeliever it may be proper to state how those corruptions have arisen and been established , and t shall endeavour to shew , that many of the books of the New Testament are
spurious , and that it is chiefly from those books that the corruptions have been drawn and established ; for it is scarcely possible that the clergy oi the apostate church could have so grossly imposed upon the credulity of mankind , as to have brought them to believe the fables , falsehoods , and lying wonders of the
orthodox church , if they had not had texts in those spurious books to support and prove those doctrines . Let not the candid Theist feel any obstacle to his belief of Christianity , from the introduction of those corruptions : there is no greater difficulty in this , than , upon his own system , in the introduction of natural and moral evil into the Divine government . But it may here be asked , How are we to separate the chaff from the pure grain ? To this I reply , that the work is not without
* In a copy of it now before me , Paley introduces his notice of a defect in his patron ' s habits of mind with characteristic delicacy and great beauty : " His fault , " says he , ( for we are not writing a panegyric , ) was the general fajilt of retired and studious characters , too great
a degree of inaction and facility in his public station . " This parenthesis , the Bishop of Chester has thought proper to omit . The body of the work is printed from the author ' s " last verbal
corrections . " It would seem , however , that the index has not been remodelled . ( See the « various notes" of which mention has been already made . ) The Bishop ' s own advertisemen t is somewhat enlarged from that of the Carlisle edition . We
learn from the conclusion of it , that his translation of Archbishop King ' s Essay on the Origin of Evil , " was translated inte * merman by the celebrated Michaelis , " who used it , as Dr . Law was informed , ^ r his Lecture 4 * ook .
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difficulty , but so important and glorious is the end that it will well repay all the diligence , labour and learning that can be employed in accomplishing it * and not require so much as has been be-, stowed for the last century in collating
manuscripts and correcting texts . For , though these are very useful and laudable objects when bestowed on books that are authentic , ( and all are at pre * - sent taken as suqh , ) of what use can it be when apff £$ d to books that are spurious ? Besfties , it appears there is a
method more satisfactory , and i > ot requiring so much critical learning . As I observed before , the New Testament is well known to be a volume of books , selected and brought together , being the work of various and different wri *
ters ; these are so distinct and independent of each other , that though some of them be found forgeries , others can be proved authentic . Those books must therefore be examined separately , and stand or fall by their own separate and independent evidence ; for so dis * . cord ant are they , that all cannot be true : and the various sects into which
Christianity is at present split , evidently shew that , from the present state of the New Testament , it may be made to prove any thing that the interpreter chooses , according to his previous opinions or fancy .
I will now proceed to shew , whether by the external , internal and prophetic evidence taken to our aid , we cannot make the separation and set up a standard by which to prove the truth or fabrication of the other books : if
we can find in either of the Gospels a plain account of the revelation of the will of God to man in the New Covenant , as offered to him through Jesus Christ , and the evidence for the
authenticity of that Gospel be esta * blished , we have then all that we want or can reasonably ask for ; which are the facts contained in the history of the life , ministry , death and resurrection of our Lord . Now in the New
Testament we find four Gospels , each said to contain , correctly , the history of these important events ; these books differ so much from each other in many facts and important circumstances , that they all cannot be true , and from some of them have sprung some of the greatest corruptions of Christianity . If , therefore , we can find either of
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. t unimportant instances , the republican tion of the Memoir * deviates from the original .
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Attempt tb distinguish between Genuine and Spurious' Christianity & 2 S
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y ol . xv . s 3 v
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1820, page 525, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2492/page/25/
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