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Long as t \ m quotation is , we qfinnqt forbear making another which we think also valuable : " To the Corinthians * the apostle gives directions on the subject , which prove
Indisputably that prayer was not confined to the closet , but that Christians were then in the habit of using it in their assemblies for religious purposes : the matt whilst praying was to have his head uncovered , the woman to wear the usual coveiing on the head .
" There is one passage , however , which can leave no doubt on the mind of any person who has not previously received the strongest bias on the subject , that social prayer in the manner now in use , that is , of one individual delivering the prayer in the name of all , and the
congregation signifying their participation and concurrence by the response , Amen , was the habitual practice of Christians in general in the apostolic age .-f * Let him that speaketh in an unknown language , X pray that he may interpret . For if I pray in an unknown language , my spirit prayeth , but my meaning is unprofitable
What is it then ? I will pray with the spirit , ' that is , with my spirit , as in the preceding verse , understanding myself , * and with the understanding also , * or with meaning , so as to be understood by others . ' I will sing with the spirit , and I will sing with the understanding also . Otherwise when thou shalt bless God
with the spirit , ' with thy mind , understanding thyself , but not understood by others , ^ ' how shall he that filieth the " 1 Cor . xi . 4 <" t " 1 Cor . xiv , 13 , &c . " X " This does not necessarily refer to the gift of speaking different languages , given on the day of Pentecost , and which
was so essential to the apostles in preaching to different nations : a foreigner might speak in a language unknown to the rest of the assembly , and it seems strange , if an individual possessed the miraculous power of speaking an unknown language , that he should not at the same time be enabled to interpret that language . "
^ " See Locke on the passage . This sagacious and skilful commentator , however , understands by my spirit in the 14 th verse , the mind of the worshiper ; but by spirit in the next verse supernatural
assistance to pray in an unknown language . Hut what sufficient reason can there be for changing the meaning of ; the same word so suddenly in the same passage ? i'he repetition of the pronoun my was "ot necessary . The signincation seems to be the same here as in our Lord ' s ex-
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place of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving t ) f thanks , since be knoweth not wfiat ibou sayest ? For thou indeed giv ^ est thanks well ; but the other is not edified / * Were there no other text on the subject in the New Testament , this would be sufficient .
" It is not eatsy to imagine a more puerile attempt to evade the proof afforded by this passage , that social prayer was the common practice of Christians in their assemblies at this time , than that which has been made by some observations on the use of the word amen , as if
it were not intended to express a participation in the prayer at the conclusion of which it was uttered . Every one knows that amen is a Hebrew word , signifying truth , and that it is properly translated verily at the beginning of many of our Lord's solemn affirmations recorded in
the Gospels . But every one knows also that , by common consent , when it is used by those who hear , at the end of a prayer delivered in their presence , this use of it implies , not their approbation only , but their concurrence , their participation in what the speaker has uttered . That this was the ancient as well as modern sense
in which it was so used , is unquestionable . The common response , says Vitringa , in the Jewish synagogue , was amen ; by which the whole congregation replied to the minister ' s prayers and
benedictions ; and thereby signified their concurrence with him ( suum eo consensura testatus cum precante' ) . He has a distinct section on this use of the word , in which he enumerates the several
circumstances insisted upon by the Talmudic writers as requisite to render it acceptable to God , among which one at least was proper , namely , that it should be accompanied by a firm persuasion that God heareth prayer . " + —Pp . 119—122 . In the conclusion of this Chapter , and of the " Inquiry , " the author
pression addressed to the woman of Samaria , of worshiping God in spirit and in truth , that is , with the mind and sincerely . " * " Vitringa quotes this text , among others , in order to shew that the worship
of the synagogue and of Christian assemblies was essentially the same , both including prayers , thanksgivings and benedictions , with the responses of the people , by saying , Amen . The chief difference appears to have been , that the Christians did not use forms of prayer , or read the law . Vitringa de Syn . Vet . Lib . iii . Pars ii . Cap . xix . p . 1100 . " f " Vitringa , p . 1092 . "
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Review . - * Moore on Social Worship . *• 565 i
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 565, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/45/
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