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that ever was Jmblishfed amongst men . I « hi persMR&ed , that tfet > se who writ it were very svell informed of all tke £ relate * aftd that they had not the least intention to deceive us ; i&sbmuch that
it was impossible they should fa ; li into any considerable error ; as neither can we do 9 in believing what they have s ai ^ L Andj that there may be nd equivocation , by a matter of importance I mean ail the commandments that the sacred
historians assure us were given to the Jews by God ; all the miracles that are found in the history of the Scripture ; all the principal events in that history , and , generall y * all the matters of fact on which our faith is grounded . " In the third pi « tce , I believe * with all Christians ^ that all the doctrin&s
proposed by the authors of the Scriptures ^ to Jews and Christians to ftt believed , are really and truly divi » e doctrines , although it may be su |) poseid that they did not inatovsdiately itearft th ^ em froift heaven : I am as much
persu&ded- as any man , thut thei * e is nt 6 sort of re&soiiing made u&& of in the dogmatical places of tbfe Holy Scrip * - ture , ( where ttoe prophets and apo 3 tles instruct Us eOac&rning the promises or the will of God , ) that can lead us into error , or into the belief of any thing that is false , or contrary to piety *
" I believe , in the fourth place , that Jesus Christ Was absolutely infallible as well as free from all sin , becausfe of the Godhead that was always united to him , and which perpetually inspired him : insomuch , that all that he ta / ught is as certain as if God himself had pronounced it .
" In the last place , I believe that God has often dictated to the prophets and to the apostles the very words which they should use . Of this I have also given some examples * , " In these things I agree with all Christian divines \ and I belteve , far- ^
ther , as well as they , that these fird heads of our belief may be undeniably proved against libertines and atheists , b y tiie authority of Jesus Christ and his apostles ; to whom God has born £ testimony by an infinite number of
miracles , Which are more clearly dfc < - nataistrable to have been really donfcv than any fact whatsoever of foil andfcrlt history . For example , it may bfc p * roy $ * jj * by ^ oeitive testimonies of tn afc-|* W of Act * that Jesus Christ did fctaliy " » « feig&ln ftolB the « tea * L aatttlmt the
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apostles had thfeigrfts of mn ? afctes , more Clearly tliah it can bfe peeved th « ft tevfeir there was a Roman Emperor calied Trajan . " The authority df 1 ^ e Boly Sdip > - tUre being thtis settled , I will iieW shew you wfaerein it seems to lae that the generality of divines are deceived and in what I am not of their opinion .
" Thefy affirm , that tall that fe in tbe sacred books , histories , prophecies , &c . has been immediately inspired , both sas to the ^ natter and the words : tho * « H the books m ^ the Jews' catalogue ought to be reckoned amongst the inspired
books : that when the apostles pfe&ched the gospel , they were so inspired that they eould not be deceived , not even in a thing of no consequence at alij and tkat they knew at the very first , without any exercise either of reason or of memory , what they were to say .
" On the contrary , my opinion is , 4 hat it is only in prophecies and sbitt ^ other places , as in the sermons of Jestffe Christ , and where God him self is introduced as speaking , that the matter dfc things have been immediately revealed to tnofee who spoke them : that the style * for the most part , was left to the liberty of those who spoke or writ : that there are some books that are not
inspired , neither as to the matter / nor the wofds , as Job > Ecclesiastes , 8 tc .: that there are some passageB whfch passion dictated to those that writ them , as many curses in the Psalms : that the sacred historians might
commit , as they have actually committed , some light faults , which are of no moment : that the apostles , in preach ing their gospel or in writing thsilworks , were not ordinarily inspired , neither as to the matter nor the words :
but tha ^ t they had recourse to their memory or their judgment ^ in declaiifig what Jesus Christ had taiight them , Olr framing arguments , or drawing
consequences froiti thence : that the aposttes , while they lived , were only looked upon as faithful witnesses of what they hftd seen &ftd heard , and as pel-sons well instructed in the Christian tfeliifion , whereof no t > art wtcs Unknown tb thein > th
or conteealed by th ^ m fro m eil- oi ^ i * - ples ; but hot as men that p ? 6 &eh&& and taught by perpetual inspifttticih . I beltev © 4 in < iefed 5 that they vraffc &m d ^ celv ^ d in any poin t of dootrine , m& t ? hat it was Very Unlikely ttofef t ikbiitA K&W 3 tecadse the ChrifetTian ^ llgi ^ fe
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L * e Cierb wiikte Impiruikrt of the ScripHtres . 46 § T
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 467, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/27/
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