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620 Review . —Ben David ' s Reply to * Two D % istimh Works .
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places the wisdom of heaven in so cdnspicuous a light as the manner in which Paul was called to his high office as apostle of the Gentiles . The Anti-chfistian teachers endeavoured to undermine the gospel by maintaining , that the
Christ who appeared after death was not the same with him who had been put to death . If this position Were weli-fouttdi ed , the return of Jesus to raise the dead and judge the world , woftid fail to the ground . The divine power promised to ' the discroles was deferred till Jesus
had ascended to heaven , in order that its communication from thence might be considered as a cdnclusire proof of his actual ascension , and a pled ge of his return at some future period to confer a new life oh mankind . The conversion of Paul in the manner it was effected , had
hi view the more complete establish men t of the same great object . If Jesus some years after he had left the earth appeared to one that was an enemy—if , appearing amidst his celestial glory , he convinced that enemy that he was the very Jesus of Nazareth whom he was persecuting- —if he' next enlisted him within the same
service with those whom he had already chosen , imparting to him precisely the same doctrine ^ inspiring him with the same spirit of meekness , patience and devotion in the cause of his divine Master — -finally , if he endowed him with the same power of working miracles , and
that without any communication with the rest of the apostles , and even without their knowledge : —if Jesus did all these things , he gave to Paul , to all his followers , and to the whole world , an everlasting proof that the Saviour was still alive , dwelling in inaccessible light
withliis heavenly Father , and that one day , however distant , he would in the power of his Father descend to consummate the grand events promised in . the gospel . This scheme of Divine Providence required that Paul should hold no intercourse with the other apostles until
he was converted , until his credentials were fully ratified from above , independently of them . Iu pursuance of this purpose , Divine Wisdom made use of his misguided zeal to remove him from Jerusalem : and Jesus deferred appearing
to him , till he was too far on the road to return . Being near Damascus , he was led to that city , where he was to receive his commission , and to commence his arduous undertaking as an apostle of Christ . —Pp . 183—185 .
Gamaliel Smith has , ; seized with great acuteness some of ' the discrepancies between the several relations of the same circumstances in Paul \ s history in various parts of the Acts
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and the Epistles . 'These Ben David attempts to explain , sometimes auceessfuHy , > but at * rttifeir times rathe * ingeniously than satisfactorily : e . g . : €€ ' ' ' - - *> Y »»» l * t « A # ^ v « . B 4- < ail > k n ' M <\« i ^ a ? l » V » * ' * ••»• ! ,. Jt ^ i " ithe historian asserts thatwhile
— - , the companions of Saul ^ though t hey saw nd one , did hear the voice , Acts ix , 7 ; while Paul in his apology , xxii . 9 , represents them as having seen the light , without 'having heard the voice . Here it must be remembered that the mode in
which the apostle had stated the event , was afterwards penned by Luke , as well as his own : and it is utterly incredible that he should have recorded two statements apparently so inconsistent , and so likely id furnish objections against himself , unless he was perfectly satisfied of the correctness of both . And the case
stood thus : The commission in which Saul engaged , must have been occasioned by an information brought to the chief priests and authorities in Jerusalem , from the enemies of the gospel in Damascus . The delegates who had brought the information , of course returned with Saul :
and as they were Grfeeks or Hellenistic Jews , they might not understand ^ the Hebrew language . It is further reasonable to suppose , that persons , concurring with the object of his commission , attended Saul in his journey 7 : who as Jews , educated iri the seat of Hebrew learning , must have understood the
Hebrew tongue . When , therefore , Jesus appeared unto Saul , they heard , or , mote conformably to the original , understood or obeyed the voice , that is , they became converts and joined with their principal , the persecuted party . But thire was this difference in the vision : these
attendants saw no man , that is , though they heard the voice of Jesus , they did not see his form , as Saul had done . " The pre-eminent end to be answered by Saul ' s conversion , Jesus thus distinctly marked by shewing himself exclusively to him , as designed to bear his name before the
Gentiles . Divine Wisdom , in order to meet the exigencies of the case , appointed that the rest of the party should remain among the enemies of the gospel . Accordingly Jesus declined to appear to them also . They saw th ' fc light indeed , and though they must have heard the
sound of his voice , they did not comprehend it , nor of course did they , like the rest , become obedient to it . Now Lulie , writing for the use of the believers , and having in his mind that party only who
had joined them , writes , And the men who journeyed with him , stood speechless , hearing the voice , but seeing no man . ' On the other hand , common sense required that Paul , when defending himself before his accusers , shoukJ
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1824, page 620, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2529/page/44/
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