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boldness in them , which appeared like temerity , and which was only calculated for those who themselves sometimes soared towards the Sun . They afford indeed
materials for thinking ; and many they have set to think : but he sometimes relinquished them himself ; and they served to throw an odium on himself and his opinions , which did not belong to either .
" His learning was much more solid and extensive than the Academic chooses or perhaps knows how to admit . His time had not been spent on the trifles of literature ; and what was devoted to classical pursuits , enabled him to enter on the field of scriptural investigation with eminent success . Still , it must be admitted that minute verbal criticism
was not his forte ; and it must also be remembered , that less was known in his days than at present , of the principles and facts which respect the integrity of the sacred text . " His attachment to Christianity , and indeed to Revelation in general , was earnest and cordial . It influenced all his
theological and moral writings . The principles of his venerated Lord guided his life in ordinary circumstances , as well as in great and trying exigencies . And as his faith was not a mere speculative principle , it purified , and elevated , and expanded , and warmed , his heart . It made him love God , and it made him
love his brother also . It preserved him constantly in the path of Christian sobriety . It kept out every feeling of envy and jealousy , and every unjust and malignant disposition * In short , it made his life a practical comment on the great maxim of the Apostle , No man liveth TO HIMSELF .
y The grand views which he entertained of the Divine character and dispensations , gave a dignity to all his religious conduct , and made devotion the habit of his life . Those who cannot appreciate the piety of the heart , unless it is expressed in the language of modern Orthodoxy , will not believe this : but those who have formed their devotional
taste and style on the language of Scripture , and especially on the Christian ' s model , will perceive that the devotion of Priestley was genuine ; and that in the offering of stated prayer , as well as in the devotion of his life , he worshipped God in spirit and in truth . "—Pp . 132—136
With some severity , but neither unprovoked nor disproportionate , Dr . Carpenter proceeds to contrast the character of the Bishop as an author with that of Dr . Priestley . Unlike
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they certainly are , and it is only necessary to " look now at this picture , and now at that , " in order to discover who is the greater lover of truth and the more consistent follower of Him
who came not to condemn but to save . Dr . Priestley having quoted Philo to shew that the notions of the Jews did not correspond with the modern
doctrine of Atonement , the Bishop takes great pains to extract a different testimony from that mystical writer . This leads Dr . Carpenter to discuss the character of the Hebrew philosopher :
" The philosophy and the religion of Philo , both conspired to produce devotion of soul ; and Iris writings do vastly more credit to his principles and affections , than to his understanding . Even the mysticism of his master , Plato , had in it something singularly elevating and
refining ; and it was the spirit of the religion which Philo professed , to trace all to God . There was between them a general harmony and correspondence ; and , rising in spiritual refinement far beyond those for whom the Mosaic ritual was originally instituted , he sought , and , with the aid of a lively imagination , he found , in the
sacred books of his nation , ideas which they were never intended to convey , where the ordinary exercises of the understanding would have presented nothing hut plain facts , or , at the most , significant services designed to lead a carnal people from objects of sense to those which are unseen and spiritual .
" The speculations of Plato , and still more those of his followers , had almost represented the Logos , or system of ideas in the Divine Mind , as a distinct being from Him in whom it existed ; and it is not wonderful , therefore , ( since so many instances occur in which sensible local
manifestations were made to the people of Israel , of Him who is invisible and omnipresent , ) that Philo , impressed with all the sublime but undefinable notions of his philosophy , should trace them in the Mosaic records . This he did : and
sometimes employing the appellation Logos in the mystical sense of his philosophy , and sometimes for the personal medium of divine communications to his forefathers , he assigns to the latter , characteristics which his philosophy alone had taught
him ; and without , I am persuaded , any intentional reference to the Messiah , he gives to the supposed personal and constant Representative of God and Mediator of his will , qualities which the Christian ( coining to Philo with preconceived ideas , as Philo came to the Jewish Scriptures )
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Review . —Dr . Carpenter's Examination of Bishop Magee . 301
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1821, page 301, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2500/page/45/
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