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exercise of Christian love ; and we observe that the writer of the Summary , &c , is evidently perplexed as to the time of the partition-treaty . From Paul ' s disagreement with Peter and Barnabas respectively , the natural and legitimate conclusion is not that
Paul was no apostle of Jesus Christ , but that these great teachers of the gospel were engaged in no combination to impose a fraud upon the world . We , probably , shall learn hereafter why Paul ' s fourth and last visit to Jerusalem is denominated by Mr .
< 7—I s—// " the invasion visit , " on what evidence he asserts that the purpose of it was concealed , and the opposition to it universal ; and on what pretence he speaks of a " plan of the apostles for ridding' themselves of Paul . " Perhaps , too , we shall be
informed how it happens that the author of the Summary , &c , confounds a Nazaritic vow with an exculpatory oath , and why he affirms that " perjurious was the purpose of the exculpatory ceremony commenced in the temple . " In the mean time , we shall be more than excused if we do not detain our readers by an examination of gratuitous statements or of arbitrary conjectures .
This gentleman attacks Paul ' s character for sincerit y * on the score of imagined " falsehood , as to the number of the witnesses of Jesus ' s resurrection , " and of ' * a false prediction that the world would end in the life-time
of persons then living . " The truth , however , is , that in 1 Cor . xv . 6—9 we meet with no " contradictoriness to the gospel accounts : " * and that Mr . G- —/ S—h and others misinterpret the prediction in 1 Thess . iv . 15 , &c , v . 2 , &c , has been proved by able and learned commentators , -f
In his explanation of " Paul ' s supposable miracles , " and in his review of the Acts of the Apostles , we shall not npw accompany him . Withholding his credence from the supernatural features of this history , he appears
* See John xx- 24 , and Bishop Pearce and ' Rosemriuller on 1 Cor . xv . 5 . f Benson and Hammond in loc . See also Nisbctt ' s " Coming of the Messiah , " p . 306 , &t \ , but , above all , Bishop Watscro ' s Apology for Christianity , [ ed . 6 J pp . 48 , Sec .
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still to think " it is not necessary , ( p . 5 , ) that any such imputation as that af downright and wilful falsehood should be cast upon the author of that narrative . " This is more than we can digest . For ourselves , we would stand clear of any such inconsistency . Did we reject the miracles described in the book of
Acts , &c , we must reject that narrative throughout . It is not like the case of " Livy ' or Tacitus ' s Roman History , " where occasionally we read of prodigies , which , however , have
little or no connexion with what precedes or follows . In the Acts of the Apostles the ordinary and the supernatural facts are mutually and indisso - lubly blended . And thus , as to the Epistles which almost universally are admitted to be Paul ' s , we must either
take or discard them without reserve . Indeed , their contents negative the idea of forgery . But a far more singular position of Mr . G—/ S—h ' s remains to be considered : "in part / 5 says he , ' * or in the whole , the doctrines delivered by Paul were declared by him to be exclusively
h ? s own ; and , so far as this is true , belong not to the religion of Jesus . " Paul will explain and vindicate himself : Gal . i . 11 , 12 : "I certify you , brethren , that the gospel which was preached by me , is not after man . For I neither received it of man , * neither
was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ . " In the opinion of the writer of the Summary , &c , Paul ' s inducements were purely worldly : from the love © f money , and " of money ' s-worth in various shapes , " and from a love of power , he preached the gospel not simply without any conviction of its truth , but in opposition to his persuasion of its falsehood . " Against the apostles was his competition directed ;" and ' this is a further proof of the worldliness of his inducements . " These
are indeed heavy allegations ; but they are only allegations . We wait for evidence : and until this be produced , of a quality and in a degree which we cannot expect to witness , we shall continue to believe that , with the exception of his Great Master , an individual more disinterested than Paul * See Moshehn de Rebus Christen . ante Const . Sa ? c . I . § iv . Note .
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234 Review . — " Not Paul , hut Jestes . "
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1821, page 234, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2499/page/42/
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