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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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Sir , 1 AM so little accustomed to the language of praise , that I feel an awkwardness little consonant with the con sciousness that I-merit it . I must not , however , dissemble that I am truly grateful to your American Correspondent ( p . 324 ) for his remarks oa roy Illustrations ; and the more so as the critic is far beyond ordinary writers
. The parable of the Unjust Steward is very difficult , and was but impertectly comprehended by me when I wrote my ill-fated book , the Illustrations of the Four Gospels . I will * ° w give a more adequate view of that Parable , referring the reader to it in
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Luke xvL 1 —10 . It was usual with rich proprietors of lands to divide their domains inlo distinct parcels , and assign each to a tenant , who recompensed the owner , not by a stated
sum of money , as in modern tiin . es , but by a certain proportion of the produce . The term debtor , therefore , corresponds with what we call a tenant , and his debt to an annual renU These tenants had their farms secured
to them by leases , and a person was appointed , whose office it was to grant them , and to collect the rents or debts when due . This officer , from his concern in his master ' s affairs , received the name of oikovq [ aq < 9 a domestic manager or steward . The measure of oil was probably a . bath
which consisted of seven or eight of our gallons ; the measure of wheat , an homer , which comprehends seven or eight bushels .. ISuch was the custom which supplied what may be called the machinery of the parable . Its design , which is obscure , is best learnt from the context . Oar Lord
at this time was in the house of a Pharisee , where he was invited to aa entertainment . The publicans £ nd sinners , most of whom probably were Gentiles , pressed around to hear his discourse , and the Scribes and Pharisees expressed their displeasure at the
kind attention which he paid those despised but well-disposed persons . This led him to predict the conversion of the Gentile 3 , under the figure of a sheep for a time lost , but after a diligent search , recovered , Luke xv . 3 . The same idea he pursues and delineates , with still more tenderness and
beauty , in the parable of the Prodigal Son . The transition from the recovery of the Heathens to the apostacy of the Jews , was natural . Accordingly in this parable , which is the third on the occasion , he describes under the similitude of a faithless steward the conduct of the Jewish teachers in
regard to the people . In this point of light , the parable is just and beautiful . It is then levelled against the Scribes and Pharisees , or the established priesthood of Judea , who , as
teachers of religion , were managers of the temple , and stewards between God and his chosen people . The propriety of the parable rests on two points : the first is , its fitness to the character and conduct of the
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Dr . J . Jones on the Parable of the Unjust Steward . 401
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made a Felix tremble ; or such words of truth and soberness as almost persuaded Agrippa to become a Christian ; or such appeals to the common , sense and consciences of men , as when Jesus demanded of his hearers , why they did not of themselves judge what
Fixt fate , free-will , foreknowledge absolute , And found no end , in . wandering mazes lost / ' < But serious sermons are such reasonings concerning righteousness , temperance , and judgment to come , as
was right ; or such illustrations of the great principles of human duty , drawn from the relations of life , as are giv ^ en in the story of the Good , Samaritan ; or such lessons of humility as we find m the parab ( le of the Pharisee and Publican : or such melting appeals to
the best feelings of our nature , and such affecting exhibitions of the tenderness and mercy of God , as are displayed in that most beautiful , touching , and instructive of all parables , the Prodigal Son ; or such plain and practical rules of duty as are inculcated in the Sermon on the Mount .
Serious sermons , in fine , are those simple , perspicuous , direct addresses to the understandings , and consciences of men , which make them forgets the preacher and think of themselves ;
which shew them what is obligatory , and what is practicable 3 which press the authority and motives of the gospel upon them in all their force ; which lead men to extend their views
and live for God and for eternity , and which compel men to ask themselves often and most seriously , ' What shall 1 do that I may inherit eternal life ? ' "
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/17/
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