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the Messiah's kingdom : and in that interval it is probable , that the priests and the Pharisees were congratulating themsekes on the triumph they had gained over him whom they
stigmatized as an impostor ; and they were struck with dismay , when they found thflt the death of the chief , so far from destroying the new heresy , had called forth his diseiples to greater energies and unexampled success .
In the interval between the ascension and the day of Pentecost the disciples had frequent meetings of communion and prayer . At one of them , Peter proposes the filling up of the number of apostles on the ground of expediency . They were originally twelve in
number , all chosen by our Saviour . One had fallen away from his duty ; and , according to the opinion of Peter , a vacancy had taken place in the body of sposties . That a vacancy had taken place is certain 5 but , that the remaining apostles , or the collected body of
the brethren , had the power of filling up this vacancy , is a point to be decided not by their act of thus filling it up , but by a fair examination of their right to do so . When our Saviour appointed the
twelve , he gives no intimation of a right being conferred trpon them to fill up their number on a vacancy ; and it seems almost certain , by the subsequent history , that such a right was never meant to be conferred on them .
For , after this appointment , we find our Saviour himself naming an apostle , and one in no ways inferior to the chief of the apostles in his glorious exertions for the spreading of the
gospel . This appointment of Paul appears to me to be decisive on the question , and to destroy entirely the pretensions of Matthias to be reckoned in the
number of the twelve apostles . He cannot be said to be an apostle of our Saviour ' s making , for he was admitted into the body of the apostles by a very different and very extraordinary process , by the choice of two out of the disciples present , and fixing on one by lot .
Of Matthias we hear nothing after this transaction . Of Paul we hear much : and it is not improbable , that there was some degree of jealousy , when Paul appeared at Jerusalem and announced in what manner he was appointed to his sacred office . Thue
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the number twelve , originally fixed on by our Saviour , was completed ; and when we read in the Revelation of the sacred edifice raised on the twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles , I cannot think that Paul was excluded from that
number ; and if he is included in the number , Matthias must necessarily be excluded . Whence comes it then , that this action of the apostles should never he noticed in any part of their future history ? If wrong , why was it not censured ? To censure an action as
wrong is one thing , to declare it right another . The plain history is before us , and the matter of fact is simply declared . The comments upon it are open to every reader ; and it is a proof of the credibility of the historian , who represents facts as they are , without
considering whether they tend to the praise or censure of the actors . This is not the only place where Peter ' s conduct is liable to be called in question ; and if this took place before inspiration , we have a notable instance of reprehension , after he had received
in the amplest manner the gift of the Hol y Spirit . The history , however , is of important use , and when rightly understood will appear , like many other incidents in scripture , to have been inserted with a view almost to put us upon our guard in similar transactions .
Ecclesiastical writers are accustomed , I believe , to rank this assembly of the faithful as the first council , and the records of future councils fill many a folio . To call in question the authority of these councils has been deemed a heinous sin ; and tfre faith of many persons , calling themselves Christians ,
is built more on the opinions of synods , assemblies of divines and councils , than on the words and precepts of our Saviour . If the acts of the apostles themselves , assembled in council , are liable to error , how can we depend on the authority of men who assuredly have less pretensions ?
Away then with all the mass of learning contained in the endless controversies to which these councils , or synods , or assemblies of divines have given rise . The faith of a Christian is built on the unerring words of our Saviour . He did not give even to the apostles themselves the authority of a rabbi , expressly commanding them not
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148 Mr . Frend on the Election of Matthias , us Apostle .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1821, page 148, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2498/page/20/
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