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missioned . " Is this true ? Is it a fair inference from any thing I advar ^ ed ? Paul himself shall be the judge between us . The apostle , finding the
Corinthians inclined to be diverted by other teachers from those doctrines and precepts he had delivered to them , tells them that he was their father in Christ , and then exhorts them ( i Cor . iv . 16 ) to be followers of him in adhering to the truth in which he had instructed
them . Not a word about Bar-Jesus Not a syllable about his having enjoined the civil magistrate , " under the limitation of Christian benevolence , to exercise that power with which he is entrusted in defence of the dearest
interests of men . " In the 11 th chapter of this Epistle , the apostle i 3 arguing against eating things offered to idols , and concludes with the words , " Be ye followers of me , even as I also am of Christ . " But on what occasion
does Christ employ the civil power in defence of his religion ? Or when did he enjoin his disciples to punish others for unbelief ? His whole conduct is the very reverse of any such practice , if we are to depend on his historians . In the 3 rd chapter of his Epistle to the
Phihppians , we find the apostle opposing the Jewish zealots , who were desirous to prevail on the Gentile converts to be circumcised : Brethren , " ( ver . 17 , ) " be follqwers together of me , and mark them which walk so , as ye have us for an en $ arnple . " I cannot
see any connexion between circumcision and the civil magistrate ' s " exercising that power with which he is entrusted , " not by Christ certainly , nor by his apostles , ' ' in defence of the dearest interests of men . " The
Thessalonian converts had , we are informed , become the followers of Paul , but it was in remaining firm in their belief of the gospel in the insist of trials , difficulties and persecutions :
they had become followers of Paul in bearing punishments with Christian fortitude , not in inflicting them " under the limitation of Christian benevolence . "
It appears that there is anpther " fatal result" arising from the view taken of the conduct of Paul towards Bar-Jesus h \ this Sermon : " it tends to raise a "barrier between us and that perfect Example an whom the spirit was ppured wi ^ hquj measure , and to remove it from our imitation . "—P . 14 .
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Who ever thought of going to Bedlam or St . Luke ' s , and there imitate our Lord by rebuking the unclean spirits and commanding the devils to come out of its unfortunate inhabitants ? If the exertion of miraculous power in Paul is to be imitated , " under the limitation of Christian benevolence , " so must the exertion of miraculous
power in the Master of Paul , so far as they possessed it in common , since the apostle says expressly , " Be ye followers of me , even as I also am of Christ . " " He who declared that he came not to send peace on earthy but a
sword , had a divine commission : if we , who have no such commission , knowingly , and without an object of adequate magnitude , do what has in the smallest degree the same tendency , shall we not be found deficient in one
of the essential requisites of the Christian character ? " * " Paul , " says the Inquirer , p . 14 , " peculiarly the apostle of the Gentiles , and to whom we naturally look
for a precedent in the treatment of Unbelievers—this very Paul has left the striking case of Elymas , a case that in after ages was likely to be of frequent occurrence , unguarded by word
or hint that his conduct on thi 3 memorable occasion was not to be imitated by future Christians / ' It also happens that this very Paul has left this striking case without a word or hint that his conduct on this memorable occasion was to be imitated by future Christians . But then he has done better , by not leaving the matter in any degree of doubt or uncertainty . He has openly and plainly told us in his writings in
what way we are to deal with Unbelievers . Rom . xvi . 17 , 18 : " Now I beseech you , brethren , mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned 5 and avoid them . For they that are such , sejrve not our Lord Jesus
Christ , but their , own bellies ; and , by good words and fair speeches , deceive the hearts , of . the simple . " 1 Cor . xvi . 22 : "If any man love not the Lord Jesus , " and not to love was then to hate and disbelieve , " let him be anathema maranatha , " separated from you - y f or .
* . Letter frojn a Southern Unitarian , &c ., p . 11 . Chichepter , 1805 . t Wakefield and I . V .
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106 Mr . Scott in Reply to Remarks on his Sermon *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1821, page 106, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2497/page/42/
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