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character and history of such a man as the Apostle Paul ! He is not raised so far above us as to prevent our taking him for an example . He was subject to error , exposed to the influence of strong passions , during the earlier part of his life , and he had not the privilege , enjoyed by the other
apostles , of personal intercourse with our Saviour . We may , without reservation , take him for an example ; and if , with this desire , we peruse the enlarged history of him , here presented to us , we may reap great advantage , for , to induce us to do this , was it
written . Mrs . More has in this work paid her usual attention to perspicuity and accuracy . She has divided her Essay into chapters , in each of which some characteristic quality of the apostle ' s mind is expatiated on . By this
arrangement , his various and , as some think , incompatible virtues cause no confusion , but are each suffered to make a separate impression on the mind of the reader . One chapter is on his heavenly-mindedness , another on his attention to inferior concerns :
one on his inflexible integrity , another on his respect for constituted authorities ; thus shewing us that
those qualities which are often deemed contradictory , may be beautifully blended in the Christian character without losing any of their original force . Our Authoress has done wisely in not laying so much stress on the
doctrines of St . Paul as on his practical religion , the effects of which were exemplified in himself . He was obliged by his office , and by the
circumstances which gave rise to his writings , to explain and to reason upon points of doctrine , but he invariably ended with a practical application of them . It is a great mistake to denominate him the writer on Faith , in distinction from James and others who are called
writers on Good Works . What did 1 ' aul mean by the " faith" on which he wrote so much ? Surely , not only the simple assent of the understanding to the doctrines and facts contained in
the sacred records : he meant also the effect of this belief upon the heart , and its practical application as a rule of life ; and , therefore , these two points , which are so often preached u i > ia opposition to each other , have
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an inseparable connexion , and should always be considered as depending on . each other . Let us hear what Mrs . More says on this subject . " Let us close our frequent reference to St . Paul as a pattern for general imitation ,
by repeating one question illustrative of those opposite qualities which ought to meet in every Christian . If the most zealous advocate for spiritual influences w ere to select , from all the writers of sacred antiquity , the most distinguished champion of his great cause , on whom would he fix his choice ? And if the most strenuous
assertor of the duty of personal activity in moral virtue , were to choose from all mankind the man who most completely exemplified this character in himself , where must he search ? Would not the two antagonists , whea they met in the field of controversy ,
each in defence of his favourite tenet , find that they had fixed on the same man , —Paul , the Apostle of the Gentiles ? If , then , we propose him as our model , let us not rest till something of the same combination be formed in ourselves . "—II . 344 .
Many of the reflections presented to us in this work on the different characteristics of the Apostle ' s mind , in all probability occur to all who read his writings with attention and interest ; but they are , notwithstanding ,
highly useful ; for instead of our impressions being weak and transitory , as they sometimes would be , they are made permanent and tangible by the manner in which they are connected together , and one virtue made to lead on to the consideration of others .
* ' I he most interesting part of his very diversified character , " his tenderness of heart , is thus beautifully treated of : " Among the peculiarities of Christianity , it is one of the most striking , that they who , in scripture language , love not the world , nor the things of the world , are yet the persons in it who are farthest from
misanthropy . They love the beings of whom the worla is composed , better than he who courts and flatters it . They seek not its honours nor its favour , but they give a more substantial proof of affection , —they seek its improvement , its peace , its happiness , its salvation St . Paul ' s zeal for the spiritual welfare of whole com-
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Female Writer * on Practical Divinity . 747
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1822, page 747, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2519/page/27/
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