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/>* % J . Jom * in iteoq ? ofi JSe . Eiuke being a Cvinpanitm of our fiord . , Si ^ j , . . . . ..- » . . THE liistory ^ f our Lord ' s resurrection * as i giv ^ n % y the four Evangdfets , is attended ivith difficulties o £ which tih ^ « M i * ries ; © f Christianity ba ^ e a raited themselves , in order to i « i ? alids »(; fe ^ it * i divine origin * Thfe
author , of ; n pmnpfclet , entitled " The New T ^ Ml 0 B tfo ^ Witnesses ; " published some time since , has occupied this gromdi ; md Jfeptjrpose * frbm the data he assuco € 8 > and the positi 6 ns he advances , to ehew how incampetent he and men like hitn are to question the truth of the Christian religion .
The writer says , p . iifi , " MiaWc and Luke are not to be considered in the light of diseiples or efe * witnesses . Michaelis observes , and with him Lardner > Watson and Ealey , that St . Luke , being a Heathen by birth , was neither one of the seventy disciples ,
nor an eye-witness of Christ ' s works . Thus it appears / ' he adds > " that Mark and Luke were not present at the ascension * nor on any of those important occasions to which their history refers . Now , with respect to the competency of these writers , let us hear Mr . Locke : * I think it will
not be amiss , says he , to take notice of a rule observed in the law of England , which is , that though the attested copy of a record be good proof , yet the copy of a copy , ever so well
attested , and by ever so credible witnesses , will not be admitted as a proof in judicature ; this is so generally approved as reasonable , and suited to the wisdom and caution to be used in
our inquiry after material truths , that I never yet heard of any one that blamed it . This practice , if it be allowable in decisions of right and wrong , carries this observation along with it , namely , that any testimony , the further off it is from the original truth , th « lees force and proof it has ;
a credible man , vouching his knowledge of it , is a good proof ; but if another , equally credible , do witness it from his report , the testimony is weaker ; and a third that attests the hearsay of a hearsay , is yet considerably less y ' so that in traditional truths , each remove weakens the force of the proof , and the more hands the tradi-
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tion hag passed tlrfOtig * , ' * ke fes strength aftd eviritoc # # 065 4 l r ^ Ce ? ve frmn $ &M $ J' ^ 46 J *^ w ^< nq- . ** Wr Thai ? ¦ fruke % a «* 4 iW * ttft * - eye ^ ititeSs of the tirantocttons vHfciHt ^* # ^ ds tkcOTderf > i # an asserfiM first bA&&e by Irenaeus % i the see ^ atl > ffirito ^ j u nti&
received from him by m ^ deiia ^ Witic ^ , though directly contradicted ' by fculce himself . < This is a matter of liigii importance , and cannot be totf often brought forward , as well calculated to humble the triumphs of ® eiatical writers , and to illustrate the folly of
implicitly trusting to learned men ; who in succession adopt , without due examination , the opinions handed down to them by their forefathers ^ The fol - lowing arc the introductory verses of
Luke : " Inasmuch as many have set forth a perverted narrative of 'those things which have been accomplished among-us;—2 . As ttey who"ft&tttte beginning were ^ e-Witi ! ess € is diid nif inisters of the word deKVci ^ d tHeih to
us $ —3 . It ; eeemed gdw " ttf me also , ad having , from the very firstj scif ^ pulously investigated evefy fact , to write to thee , most excellent Tllebjphilus ; —4 . That tltou mighHest know the certainty of those things in # hich thou hast been instructed ; "
Luke , there will appear reason to believe , published his Gbtfpel in Egypt . There certain impostors composed false Gospels , in opposition tb the account of Christ given by the apostles . These were the men to whom Luke
alludes , when he says , fhafT * trmny undertook to sfet forth a ^ etverted narrative of tHe ^ fctSuga which have been fulfitte * teito ^ g ji& ** ? Pfe K ^ rb he uses H'Mara ^ pM ^ ivhMl inetfti s to iieto ? iht > det % r 01 * tirrati ¥£ afresh , and
whieh , whein applied tbthfe history of Christ already giv ^ ti to th 6 JiubKc by competent vOucUei * s , witli the Strictest regard to truth , must signify to / bfge , feign or pervert . That their object was to deceive by false narratives is
evident ; for the Evangelist intimates that , because incompetent « nd faithless writers had attempted to frtiislead Theophilus and others , he w&s induced to publish his Oospel , to giv ^ 6 iic h as were misled , or ddubtfttL iK fiiil
Assurance of the triithi ' ^ ' The pseiMo ^ varigefists t ^ iight that Jesus spent his e £ riy liflp , ahd was educated , in Egypt 3 and hence they
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586 Dr . J . Janes in Proof of $ t . Luke being a Companion of our Lord .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1825, page 586, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2541/page/10/
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