On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
43 . * It may be added , that Heb . xiii . S , 4 < Jesus Christ , the same yesterday , to-day , and for ever , " has been very improperly brought forward as a proof
of the generally-received doctrine of our Lord ' s eternity : sucli language is never used throughout the Scriptures in relation to Him who is really ' * from everlasting to everlasting , " and " who , " in the strictest and highest signification , " only hath immortality . " John xviii . 34 . if Jesvs answered
him , Sayest thou , " Sec . Matthew , Mark and Luke agree in relating that Jesus , when he vvas brought before the Roman governor , answered not a word : John , on the contrary , informs us that our Saviour was not altogether silent on the occasion : he even
records the inquiries and replies that passed between them . How is the variation to be explained ? Pilate had two interviews with Jesus . Now , Matthew , Mark and Luke speak only of the former of these interviews , which was public , and in the presence of the Jewish rulers ; whereas John limits himself to the
latter interview , which was private , and within the judgment-hall . When the chief priests and elders of the people had bound our Lord ,, they delivered him to Pilate : and then , on his being
accused by these men , he answered nothing . This scene happened without the Proetorium , which , as John tells us , ( xviii . 28 , ) the Jews Mould not enter , lest they should be defiled , and prevented from eating the approaching passover . \ The governor ,
nevertheless , for a reason that will hereafter be assigned , went into the judgment-hall again , and called Jesus thither . Here they were alone : and here they engaged together in conversation . John often coincides with the other
Kvangelists undesignedly , and thus confirms their narratives . We collect , for example , from what he says in the 28 tli down to the . 'J . 'Jd verse of this chapter , that something like a public examination of our Saviour was
insti-* Bishop Law ' s Considerations , &v . A pp . Ohj . xiv . ; and . see 1 Sarn . xv . 27 , 28 . f Le Clerc ' s Harmony , [ Knglish J y in . loc ; Carpenter ' s Geog . &c . ( 3 d vd . ) 49 ; and Seeker ' s Sermons , Vol . IV . No . ix .
Untitled Article
tuted by Pilate : but the fact is im plied rather than declared in his history ; while he represents at large the dialogue between the governor and his prisoner in private . The deportment of Jesus Christ , in his present as in every situation , was
marked by consummate wisdom and propriety , by meekness united with fortitude , by dignity yet gentleness of soul . When his calumniators stood together with him before Pilate , he answered nothing * : he was conscious *¦
or ms innocence ; ne Knew their falsehood and their malice , and was perfectly sensible that it became them to produce credible witnesses against him , but that this was beyond their power . With such persons he could not , and would not , enter into any altercation , in the presence of the governor . On the other hand , when he
was admitted to a private audience with Pilate , an audience too sought for by the judge himself ; the respect which he always shewed and inculcated for the office of the civil magistrate would not suffer him to be silent
the less so , as the purpose which the Roman procurator now had in view , evidently was to ascertain , if possible , the nature of the accusation , the ground on which it rested , and the pretensions of the individual accused . Jesus , accordingly , unfolded his claims with his characteristic firmness and
wisdom . By this conduct he strengthened the favourable impression which had already been left on Pilate ' s mind . The difficulty , therefore , that has occurred to some individuals -f in respect
of thi 3 part of the gospel history , is only apparent . Indeed , Paul , when , in one of his letters to Timothy , X h ? refers to our Saviour ' s confession at the bar of Pilate , attests the truth of John ' s account : nor did the early
Christians or their adversaries , those who were most capable of deciding on the point , and particularly interested in the decision , see any dissonance , certainly no fatal dissonance , in th « narratives of the last scenes of the lifr of Jesus . Acts i . 26 . " they gave
* Origen , cont . Cels . L . i * f Kvanson ' s Dissonance , &c . 2 d eu 286 . t 1 Tim . vi . 13 .
Untitled Article
2 . 90 Contributions to Scriptural Criticism
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1822, page 290, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2512/page/34/
-