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648 Dr . •/• Jones on the Proem of Johns Gospeh
occurred to a scholar wha was acquainted with only the English and Greek languages . The English reader Will not be surprised at this , when he considers a
fact of frequent occurrence in our own language . Our verb has not a future tense , and the want of it we supply by the two auxiliary verbs shall and will . Our northern writers find no
small difficulty in managing these verbs to their own satisfaction , and not un-Frequently afford occasions for mirth at their expense to those who , born in the south , are supposed to possess a purer style . A similar thing takes
place with the English who have learned French only in this country , and who seldom acquire the true use of the tenses of the verb etre , £ tois et fus . In the Hebrew , which has only two tenses , the future and the past , the Greeks and the Latins found no small
difficulty in accommodating these tenses to their idiom , and the later Hebrew writers have not unfrequently made their verb conform to the usage of the country in which they lived . And I fear , that if Ben David were to
write a composition in Greek , his use of the words vjy and eycvcTo would not exactly accord with their application an Justin Martyr . He will not be at a loss at my selecting this author on the present occasion .
I cannot conclude without expressing the very great pleasure and satisfaction I received from the paper of T . F . B . on the Crux Theologorum . The difficulties are acknowledged by ail . I am persuaded that they * are not insuperable . Being firmly
convinced myself , that ©< £ < * qv 6 \ oyc <; 9 and also that 6 Koyo " q < joc § ^ eyeysro , I may not perhaps find much countenance to my next position , that this Aoyo $ is at present in the world , is at present o-apt , and that it abides in all true Christians . We have the treasure
in earthern vessels . May it be widely diffused over all the earth , and produce fruits correspondent to its divine original ! W . FREND .
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Sir , 1 AM glad that the proem of John is brought under discussion in the Repositoi y . The letter of your correspondent ( p . 536 ) displays sound sense
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and skill in the Greek language j ^ n (] j subscribe to the justness of his strictures as far as they go . But , in truth " no scheme of interpreting the introl duction of this Gospel was ever
supgested which is not liable to serious objections , not excepting that of Lardner , which comes nearest to the truth . I will first state one or two of these objections .
" This" ( the Logos ) " was with God . " If this Word meant God himself , " Then , " says Dr . Clarke , " the Word was that same person whom he was with . And that is both a contradiction in terms , and also the ancient heresy of Sabellius . " Lardner , on the
Logosy quotes this , and adds , " I am of opinion that God here is the same God that was mentioned before . St . John useth a gradation . First , he says the Word was always , before all time . Then he adds , and was ivith God , and lastly , that he was God himself . " P .
96 . This wise and learned man felt the difficulty , but yet persisted in his opinion as the least of two difficulties : and in this he evinces that solidity of judgement which characterises all his
decisions , even where , through misconception or the want of some additional evidence , he happens to be wrong . But suppose him here to be right , where lies the propriety of the assertion made by the Evangelist ?
\\ as it necessary so formally and solemnly to assert that the Word , the Wisdom or Reason of God , was God himself ? Did any man or body of men deny this ? Is such an assertion at all natural - y and if so , does it form a rational and appropriate
introduction to the Gospel ? This exordium is remarkable for the plainness and simplicity of its language ; why should not the sentiments , the drift of the writer , be not equally clear , distinct and determined ? Only one reason can be given for this , and it is the
following : There were circumstances known to the Evangelist , and Jte . alj the world at the time , which rendered his language necessary . Time has withdrawn these circumstances from
the knowledge of mankind , and with them the purport of the historian . Bring these again to view , and you restore the proem to a sense that is at once clear , pertinent and momentous . To do this is the object of my
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1825, page 648, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2542/page/8/
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