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Untitled Article
or the common hypothesis true , such , we imagine , would be the language of Scripture , but such is not the language of Scripture , and therefore it is not unfair to infer , that the common hypothesis is false . Let us now reverse the case . Let us suppose that sacrifices were appointed for the moral purposes before adverted to , as the means of promoting among such a people as the Jews the practice of righteousness , and
of keeping them steady to the worship and service of the one God . What , if they did not answer this purpose , and were therefore performed in vain , — what , in this instance , would probably be the manner in which God would reprove them ? Would it not be in language like this : " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? saith the Lord . Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me , " &c . Your sacrifices have not answered the intended purpose , they have not directed your attention to the great sacrifice of personal righteousness * The destruction of
sin and the practice of moral goodness have scarcely entered into your thoughts . " Wash ye then , make you clean , put away the evil of your tloings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil , learn to do well ; seek judgment , relieve the oppressed , judge the fatherless , plead for the widow . " This is the language which our interpretation requires , and this is precisely the language which the Scriptures adopt . From the perversion and abuse of sacrifices , our attention is turned to their real use and design , which by the unanimous voice of Scripture is declared to be , not the shadowing forth of a future and greater sacrifice , but the promotion of virtue and ri ghteousness , and obedience to the authority and laws of God .
Dr . Smith ' s theory , or the common notion , of sacrifices being types of the death of Christ , has yet another difficulty to contend with , viz . that under the Jewish law atonements were sometimes made without the sacrifice of animal life . By the law of Moses , a handful of fire flame was , under certain circumstances , the only offering required for a sacrifice ; and in these cases , the priest made atonement for the offender as touching the sin that he had sinned . * When it is said that without shedding of blood there is no remission , the proposition can only be understood generally ; universally ,
it was not so . At no time , indeed , was it possible for the blood of . bulls and of goats to take away sin ; but , commonly , animal sacrifices were the outward and prescribed signs and manifestations of that acknowledgment of the Divine government and of man ' s subjection to it , of that contrite sorrorf for sin and desire of the Divine forgiveness , which , in conjunction with the mercy of God , were the real and proper causes of obtaining pardon and remission * Sacrifice , accompanied with true repentance , would always produce this effect , whereas ten thousand sacrifices without repentance would never procure the remission of sins .
We . must postpone our remarks on Dr . Smith's view of the atonement , and the inferences that he has drawn from the application of sacrificial language to the death of Christ , to the next number .
• See Levit . v . 13 .
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4 # 0 . Review " , —Dr . J P . Smith ' s Discourses .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 480, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/48/
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