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REVIEW. i * • . .. ' ' " . - '. . ¦ : €i Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame^WPopE.
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Untitled Article
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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.
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( 613 >
Review. I * • . .. ' ' " . - '. . ¦ : €I Still Pleased To Praise, Yet Not Afraid To Blame^Wpope.
REVIEW . i * . .. ' ' " . - ' . . ¦ : € i Still pleased to praise , yet not afraid to blame ^ WPopE .
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Art . l .- ** Not Paul , but Jesus . By Gamaliel Smith * Esq . London ) 1823 . Printed for John Hunt . 8 vo& Pp . 403 . f ^ HERI ? are four propositions con-JL cerning Paul , to the proof of which we shall apply ourselves t — That lite conversion was miraculous
and real—that his divine commission was recognized by the rest of the apostles—that Ins vfews and conduct were perfectly disinterested—and that his writings authenticate themselves and the history of his labours . The eon version of Paul was the
effect not of a mere impulse upon his mind - — an impulse which ordinary circumstances might have occasioned —but of a miracle properly so styled : and it was a genuine or inward conversion , as distinguished from only an outward change of manners and deportment .
There was , we repeat , an actual miracle hi the case . The event did not occur in a " secret chamber , " and , therefore , did not resemble the alleged instances of Lord Herbert , of Cher bury , * and of Colonel Gardiner ; f from both of which it differed as in
other circumstances so in the fact of its having witnesses and spectators . We must carefully discriminate between the sincerity of a man ' s impression and its correctness . In the
two examples that we have adduced , and in some resembling them , we cannot justly doubt of the parties having been ingenuous : they felt what they reported , they believed what they declared ; yet testimony additional to
* Leland ' s View of the Deistical Writers , &c . ( 4 th ed ., ) Vol . I . pp . 24 , &c . Lord Orford's Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors , &c . A . D . 1648 . t * Do < ldridge ' s " Remarkable Passages iu the Life of the Honourable Colonel James Gardiner . "— " That the impression made upon his" [ Col . G . VJ " mind was in a dream , is sufficiently intimated to be the opinion of Dr . Doddridge . * * * As a dream it may very rationally be accounted for from the predisposing circumstauces . " Kippis ' s Lift of Doddridge , ciK , and Biog . Brit ., 2 d ed ,, V . 281 ) .
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their own is reqftisit ^ j | # > re ^ e ^ a » be satisfied of the miraoiiJousness <* £ the appear&nce . Does tlte ^ ac ^ l ^ ilt , however , of Paul ' s tson version depes 4 merely on the evidence of ijhe ? &ii * A * dual himself I Does it rest oft :- ' w& authority of his historian ? Our i ^ ply
must be in the negative * JWea ^ ejre not wanting who , on their persMifcJ knowledge , coui (|^ ttest the realfty < rf the transaction : it $ ook place on ^ public road , and in open day ; and the attendants * of the future apmtie would not have failed to contradict
him , had contradiction been practi * cable . , ; If we compare Lufee * £ narrative with Paul ' s statements of the facts , * we shall perceive the sure mark of truth— -
substantial agreement in the relation ^ accompanied by some variety ia the language . The candid and attentive reader will discern , that the immediate effect of the miracle was the utter
astonishment of Saul and his compainions ; that the articulate sounds of the voice were distinctly heard by himself ^ . lone , while his associates , nevertheless , both savv the light , and were , in some measure , sensible of a noise : and that these men were so
overpowered by the effulgence , as to remain silent , even after they had risen from the ground- The supposed contradiction of Acts ix . 7 , to Acts xxii . 9 , is well explained by Mn Biscoe / f * who pertinently cites John xii . 28 , 29 , where it is said , "Then
came there a voice from heaven , saying , I have both glorified it , and will glorify it again : the people therefore that stood by and heard it , said that it thundered , others said that an angel spake unto him . " Many of the bystanders heard only a noise like
thunder , but heard not the particular words spoken . So it was with St . Paul ' s companions . TJiey heard a sound , probably like that of thunder , but heard not the particular words spoken . It must also be observed , that the word ccKSBip signifies to understand as
* Acts ix ., xxn ., xxvi . * f- Sermoiib at lioyle's Lecture , &c . 6 *(> 5 , 666 .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1824, page 613, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2529/page/37/
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