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    writer came , not the constitution of bis nature : but tile phrase , the " word wes flesh , " describes the nature of the hoyo $ d However , after all that may be said on either side , there is a better jbdge , at least as far as regards every raanV own satisfaction , than all the and

    cit ^ ttops reasons can possibly be ^^ jduced . After we have obtained ai ^^^^^ ainiiiaritjr with a language , w ^| li % e bf the meaning of its expressiotis « £ once by that sense of their itiaport which experience has given us . According to this criterion , I , for my

    < ftfr || part , feel it impossible to think thai the words

    began , that I am happy to see discussion of this subject excited , and solicit from Mr . Cogan ' s candour that fair appreciation of ray arguments which his critical acuteness is so able to bestow . T . F . B .

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    discussion on this subject , which has been so well begun iii "' yefctfc Reposi tory , is brought $ 0 a cpncTusioh . There is a remarkable event in our Saviour ' s life , " Which appears to me to deserve particular attention . John was one of the apostles present on the Mount when the three greatest eKaracters 7 that have ever met in this

    world wete surrounded with the effulgence of the Divine glory—Moses , Elijah and our Saviour . A voice at the same time proclaimed , This is my beloved Son ; hear ye him . In these words the superiority of our Saviour to either of the other two great characters is evident . But in what does

    this superiority consist ? To me it appears traceable in the beginning of John's Gospel , and in the ^ difference of the manifestation of the word , with respect to the head of the law , the head of the prophets , and the head of the gospel dispensation .

    The difference in the style of John ' s Gospel , from that of the three other historians , cannot have escaped the notice of any attentive reader . The latter have given us a detail of events , written in a clear , plain and impartial manner . John was the

    beloved disciple of Jesus , and the affection was , I doubt not , reciprocal . John had witnessed the glory of his beloved Master on the Mount ; he was present with him in public and in private ; he had treasured up in his mind , more than any other , the

    discourses of his Lord . It was impossible , with such impressions on his mind , that John could write like the other Evangelists . They detail events ; be enters fully into the sentiments of his Master , introduces us to all the

    excellencies of his character ; he felt more , and therefore he makes us feel the more . The beginning of his Gospel corresponds with the conceptions I have of his character , and be appears to me to have acted strictly under the Horatian precept ,

    Servetur ad imum , Qualis ab incepto processerit , et sibi constet .

    There are three epochs of time in the preface to John's Gospel . The first denoted by the words , ** In the beginning . ? The second , when it came to pass , that " there was a man sent fro ^| Ald > whose name was John . " The i ^ HSld . when f € the word became

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    25 Mr . Freti&titiHfre Pw&n -eftUtofofi * Gospel .

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    * MMHflfl ^^^^ kMBW Sir , f I ^ HE preface to John ' s Gospel JL ffjfcfesents difficulties to our Tri-Uiiit&rian and many of our Unitarian brethren . To the former , from their preconceived opinion , that Christ is one of the three persons of their Trinity ; to the latter , from the low and

    inadequate ideas they entertain of our Saviour ' s character . I cannot agree with Dr . Jones , that we are to enter into the labyrinth of the Gnctetic controversy for the solution of these difficulties . A due attention to the language of Scripture , and some important facts related in it , will , I am convinced , b # sufficient to render the

    whole satisfactory to the commonest reader , John , indeed , has given us a clue to the explanation ; for at the close of his memoir he explicitly informs us of his intention in writing it , namely , to convince us that Jesus is the Son of God ; and it would be very extraordinary that a writer , with such an end in view , should commence his

    history with a preface declaratory , ttot of his being the Son of God , but of his being God himself . It must be shewn , that the beginning and the end are in . conformity with each ^| fc ^ r ; and this I think will appear , wttea the

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1826, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2544/page/22/