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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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Untitled Article
¦ t j - ' , ' " n 3 S $ - Ii ^ e the BpteiiW ^ Mph ^ MoBKS . tp , a jaiftong u $ v TJEie _ pa . ssag ^ . wjucjj . Mr . WeliheloveE bas ^ o ^ eu ^ a bis tex t is 1 1 [ Sin . -JU ,-JT (> * " And * without € qqtrover ^ gre ^ t is the mystery of
godliness ; God was manifest in the flesh , justified in the spirit , seen of angels , preached unto the Gentiles , believed on in the world , received up into £ lory / ' His object is to prove that , although usually adduced with much confidence by the advocates of the popular faith in support of at least one essential article of their creed ,
these words neither countenance the commonly-received opinions concerning the divinity of our blessed Lord's nature , nor oppose that system which is founded on the principle avowed
by the author ot the Epistle to the Hebrews , ' that " both he that sanctifieth , and they who are sanctified , are all of one ; and that in all things it behoved Jesus to be made like unto
his brethren . ** The Sermon necessarily embraces a variety of important topics , and is characterized throughout by an evident desire to ascertain not what is rational or what is orthodox , but what is scriptural ; by eminent skill in sacred criticism ; and by an entire freedom from that virulent , dogmatizing spirit which is so common in the Christian world and which has kindled the fires of persecution ,
and brought theological controversy into unmerited disrepute . It bears on every page the impress of a pious and cultivated inind , ardent in the pursuit of divine truth and accustoaied to slake its thirst at the
fountain head . While we cordially recommend it to all who aspire after an acquaintance with the word of God , we cannot but be of opinion that even those who may not agree with the sentiments of the writer or
hold his reasonings to be conclusive , will acknowledge , if they possess any candour and ingenuousness , that his views are remarkably clear and distinct , and that his arguments , uniformly urged with kindness of thought atid fteling towards those who differ fro it ) him , have a powerful claim upon their taost serious attention .
After observing that the first clause of the text would be more accurately rendered , •/ Without controversy the mystery of godliness is a great thing- /'
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i . e ., aaimpoytant matter , ,, and * ser&ift cS ^ S #% i 6 | «^ i ^ i . B # ^ tehtfeiti ^ . fis ^ iir % ^ mMtxm ^ attH that : thS ^ erm ti ^ rpat elp ^ £ & liness / ' is used by Hie $ & tie * fSt the ^^ Ilisp ^ atibtl , ^/ Ivgffi )^ . loved enters at ^ co nsiderable i < eti | th into an examination of the scriptdral meaning" of the word " inysteJy ?* From an induction of passives , to which we apprehend a careful reader of the Sacred Volume will-find'it ' 'difficult to affix any other interpretation , he arrives at the conclusion that a
" mystery" in the writings of the New Testament signifies , not what is inconceivable , itiexpKcabte , or incapable of being fully known , but a secret , a hidden thing , a thing undiscovered and unrevealed .
" Every article of the Christian doctrine , which could not be known before the promulgation of the gospel , and particularly that part of it which reflated to the admission of the Gentiles to the same , and even greater pr ! nl %£ s than those which the Jews had hitherto
exclusively enjoyed , without being required to submit to the yoke of the Mosaic ordinances , is , in the writings of the New Testament , called a mystery ; and [ the whole of ] the Christian doctrines , collectively taken , are denoted by the same term . '—P . 10 .
The preacher proceeds to shew , m Dr . Lardner indeed has maintained in a valuable sermon upon the same subject , to which Mr . WeUbeloved refers , that granting the clause , " God was manifested in the flesh / ' to frave
come dovra to us precisely as it was written by the apostle , it may be-rationally and scripturally explained «without admitting th ^ t such a doctrine as the incarnation of one of the persons in a triune gpcjlxeacj * js
copveyed by it , sinqq it necessarily implies nothing jon ^ re th ^ a tli ^ t the power of God w ^ s in ^ ome ren ^ arka " ble maaner displayed in one of tlie human race . .
" If Paul has indeed said that c God was manifest in the flesh / he designed , by this expression , to assert nothing more than that God tvas w ? th Jesus , continually aiding him by hia wisdom hurt
and his power , communicating to those important truths which ware to be delivered by him to mankind , a ^ enabling him to perform those iiii ^ y works , which were a satisfactory erideuce of his divine mission . "— -P . !?•
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; 68 > Rem ^^ rem ^ m ^ ,- % ^?» 9 &H M&mM fJMimp *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1826, page 684, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2554/page/48/
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