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observable , that in the Epistles of Polycarp and Ignatius , which contain passages found in Matthew ' and John ' s Gospels , no clear quotations are discoverable from that of Luke , as appears from Lardner ' s Credibility . ( Vol . II . 71—73 and 92 , 93 . ) Under these circumstances , a considerable
time might elapse before either this Gospel itself , or the story now attached to it , came into very general notice among Christians ; and there might be many churches in which they were at length brought forward in their present connexion , without its being known that they originally formed separate documents .
€€ The principal objection to the story , * observes Dr . Priestley , €€ is , that it does not appear to have gained any credit in the age of Christ ; for it is certain that it was not believed by the great body > and probably by the whole number of the Jewish Christians , in
the age subsequent to that of the apostles , so that they either had not been taught any such doctrine by them , or if they had heard of it they did not think the account sufficiently authenticated . " * The following particulars may be mentioned in confirmation of the fact on which the remark is
founded : " Theodoret says that Cerinthus , as the Jews generally do , maintained that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary , but that he excelled all other
men in wisdom , temperance , righteousness , and all virtues . " Epiphanius says , " Cerinthus and Ebion argue from our Lord ' s being descended from David and Abraham , that lie was a mere
man , as do also Merinthus and Cleobulis and Claudius and Demas and Hermogenes / ' The same writer also says , " It is allowed by all that Cerinthus made use of the beginning of Matthew ' Gospel , and from thence endeavoured to prove that Jesus descended in a natural way from Joseph
and Mary . "f He therefore did not acknowledge the account of the miraculous conception which immediately follows in our present copies of Matthew . " Symmaclms was anEbionite ; and the ' ?; Ebion } te heresy is that of those whb say Christ was born of Jofieph and Mary , supposing him to be
*• Thaol . Repos . Vol . IV . p . 272 . f L ^ dnev's Wofka , by Kippis , Vol . IX f ; $ V 9 \ ' ¦ ••¦ ¦ • • ¦ ; . '
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a mere man . There are now commentaries of this Symmachus , m which it is said , that eagerly disputing about the Gospel of Matthew , he defends that heresy . " Eusebiufe , L . vi . C . xvii . * " Jerom says , that the
gospel used by the Nazarenes and Ebionites , is by most called the authentic Gospel of Matthew . ' * f This general opinion of the authenticity of the Ebionite Gospel , as distinguished from other copies , must Purely have great weight in deciding this
controversy , since their heresy consisted in rejecting the miraculous conception , and , consequently , that part of Matthew ' s Gospel in which it is related * ' That very many of the Jewish Christians , who were generally called Ebionites . did not believe the miraculous
conception , has the unanimous testimony of all who speak of them , even in the latest periods . It may , therefore , be presumed that this disbelief was general , or even universal , in an earlier age . Justin Martyr , who is the first Christian writer that
mentions them at all , gives no hint of there being any amongst them who did believe it ; nor does Irenaeus : he speaks in general of the Ebionites as * persevering in the old leaven of generation , and not understanding that
the spirit came upon Mary , and the power of the Highest overshadowed her . '" Priestley , Theol . Repos . Vol . IV . p . 274 . Irenseus here quotes
from the story in Luke , and we may observe , that he selects the very passage in it , as aptly expressive of the miraculous conception , which Dr . Carpenter supposes to have no such signification .
Again Dr . Priestley observes , " That all the more early Gnostics did believe that Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary , is asserted by all wlio make any mention of their opinions . " Theodoret mentions Simon , Menander , Cerdon , and Marcion , as **
denying the incarnation , and calling the miraculous conception a fable . " ^ Basilides , who flourished about A . D-120 , Clement informs us , that " his followers celebrated the day of the baptism of Jesus as a festival $ they placed it on the 15 th day of the , Egyptian month Tubi , in the fifteenth year
* Theol . Repos . Vol . IV . p . 278 . < t Ibid . 277 .
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400 On the Passages ascribed to Matthew and Luke .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1826, page 400, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2550/page/20/
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