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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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614 Review . —Not Paul * but Jesus .
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well as to hear , and that almost as frequently . St . Paul's companions heard a voice , but did not hear it so perfectly as to understand what was said . Thus , too , " when Daniel saw a vision / ' ( Dan . x . 7 , ) "the men that were with him * saw nothing . "f
Should it be asked , Was Paul's CQnvfei * sio # thorough ? Did it extend to his understanding , his feelings and his Character 1 Or was it simply apparent and external ? We ask , in reply , What better proof of its being sincere and inward than the course in
which he afterwards persevered ? If we are desirous of bringing the honesty of a man ' s change of opinion to the test , we shall mark whether his behaviour be uniform a ^ id consistent with itself :- we shall observe what he
does , what he foregoes , what he hazards , what he suffers ; and this not for an inconsiderable time , but through his whole life , not on one spot , but in every place which he visits or where he dwells . Tried by this standard , the conversion of Saul the persecutor into Paul the servant of Jesus Christ , is
complete and real . Imposture could not have worn a mask so long : the enthusiasm of a heated fancy would much sooner have subsided . Let us attend next to the nature of his claims . He styles himself % ' * an
apostle , not of men , " i . e . not employed on a human errand , " neither by men , " i . e . not receiving his commission and embassy from any uninspired human being , " but by Jesus Christ . " Words less ambiguous thaa
these we cannot discover or imagine . They import thus much , and no more , that Paul was authorized immediately by our Saviour to teach his doctrine . The question to be considered then is , Did the other apostles receive him as being so authorized ? We affirm that they did ; and we make our appeal to the vouchers of the following
statement : * Of these , the number , in the apostle s case , it is probable , was much smaller than , has generally been supposed . We can with difficulty believe that any Roman guards accompanied Paul . Painters and engravers , almost without exception , give very incorrect representations of the
scene . f Ken rick ' s Expos , in loc . t Gal . i ? I .
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After Paul , as was natural , proper and useful , had resided , for some time , * in Syria and Arabia , he went up to Jerusalem , where he continued during fifteen days , aad saw James f and Peter . Oh a very solemn and urgent occasion , he again visited this city , after a considerable lapse of
time , and , together with Barnabas , received from Peter , James and John the right hand of fellowship ; that we , " says he , . - " should- go unto the Heathen , and they to the circumcision . " This is his own language , in the beginning of his Epistle to the Galatians ; and with this fully agrees that of the historian . In the circular
letter of the Council at Jerusalem , which Luke has preserved , the apostles and elders thus address the Gentile Christians residing in different
parts of Asia : ' * It seemed good unto us , being assembled with one accord , to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul , men that have hazarded their lives for the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ . ' * Can there now be a clearer , stronger recognition of Paul , in what we may style his official capacity , than these passages afford ? Do such passages furnish even the shadow of a pretence for denying that his doctrine was the doctrine of our Lord and of the
eleven apostles ? Let us look at another part of the letter to the Galatians : € S I certify you , brethren , that the gospel which was preached by me is not after man ; for I neither received it from man , nor was I taught it otherwise than bv the
revelation of Jesus Christ . " J Is not this declaration altogether consistent with what he says before and subsequently , and with what Luke says respecting him ? Paul tells us , what the narrative likewise tells us , and what facts indisputably prove , that Jes ^ is Christ was his sole instructor
in the Christian religion . This passage , we might well suppose , is the last , which , by possibility , can be ad - * duced as testifying that the apostle taught a religion of his own : if usage has established any alliance between ideas and words , this passage bears quite the opposite meaning , and alleges
* Morse Pauliuae , Galat . Ch > v . No . xh f Acts xv ., and xii . 17 * X Gal . i . 11 , &e .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1824, page 614, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2529/page/38/
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