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of i is ©« t ^ hich > iviwild < ^ vilibtttl %% « tix ^ ch&I by thettrein ^ bi ^ Tie ^^ d ^ if ^ ctfftl ldf such oitiexampled paiivs' ajwl ^ ortoWsa ; t > H u That the ^ NewyTestft ? itentf % rtifcf ^ frequentl y * efer vythe sttfffeiibgs of ^ e&iBi both as connebted with saltation and by waiy of encourage&ient to his siiffMng followers , in bearing patiefltfy /^ V % U buiations , is nm qiie * stioned <; M « tfeef ? fti * stance ^ m which the * Amifrv an&bfetmt
of those sufferings' arS degctibed ; are vety few . The following'are the prhntfjtel : Matt . xxvi . 38 , 39 ; LukexxH . 44 ; j btm xii . 27 ; Heb . v . T . The strongest ! of these are the first two : the one ^ presents his soul as exceeding sbrrowftrt , and the other as being in sttch agony as
produced an extraordinary degree of sweat , inasmuch a * s tHe Evangelist describes the drops thereof as * resemolmg in magnitude ( and perhaps m turbidity ] great drops of blood ! He does not say , as many do for him , that Jestfs sweat blood , bat that " his sweat was , m it
were , or more properly like ? ( w < m ) drops of blood " ' —language which certainly intimates great mental commotion and anguish . But will it be said that these expressions convey an idea of the deepest possible pangs of horror ? Has there not occurred , and does there not occur many a case amongst the sons of misery and woe—the subjects of
sorrow , affliction , and despair , to which expressions conveying the ideas of ex ^ treme agony and sorrowfulness of soul are applicable ? I will refer to two only , which , if plaintive utterings are to govern our ideas of difference and degrees of suffering , exceed that of our Lord himself , namely , Job and David . The former , after employing the
strongest figures to express his misery and heart-troubles , complains of the madeqpacy of language to convey a true idea of them . See Job vi . I—4 , also chap , iii . Tne marginal reading opposite the 2 nd verse in the former chapter is ,. " I want words to express my grief . " But have the writers of the New
Testament intimated any such insufficiency of speech in recording the sorrows and anguish of Jesus ? With respect to the case of David , the following Psalms hiay be consulted : vi ., xxii ., lxix ., lxxxviii ., cii . From these I will quote a few passages : " I am poured out like water ; my heart is like wax , it is melted in the midst of my bowels . My strength is dried up like a * Parkhurst on the word ;
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potsh ^ a , ' { ujd > my toiigue ^ eaveth mj jaws . " Thy wratMltethf ^ hi * rd ^^ Ott ) f inej and thou hast afllteted me wit > h 'all thy waves . While I sarfrer ifoy tew&xis , I am distracted ; thy fierce wtfa&hgocfffh over nte * and thy terrors have ' mt nt&- off . For my days are eonsumed like ^ wiokej and my bones are burned & $ an hearth ; my heart is smittfen and withwed » tttee the
g ^ a ^ fe * By reason of - ^ oic ^ ® f my groaning my bones cleave to myt'skin /* That the above lariguagci is partly hy ^ - perbolicall admit ; but at the same time as the speaker Is considered to 'be iiu spked r it must be Jigumtteeiy Pme ; for metaphors' axe generally employed in scriptum' fov want of literal terMs suffi * -
ciendy strong : m tbeir meaiiiiug . I ant very well aware slso ^ that thes& l ai *< i all such like expressions have been * pressed into the service * of orthodoxyj i unde » 'the notion that Da ^ id was a type of © hriftt . But there are two considerations against that application' ia this way . The first m theNew-Tesfeanxent writers have not
adopted such a course ; while , if they had thought as modern Christians do , I see not any reason why- they should not . The second isy that as- David ascribes his swifecings principally to the wrath of the Almig-Mt / y theve id a great disparity ia- the ( two aasw : for we ) are no * where
to ^ the New Testament that Jesus W £ ^ ami ob jec * of Divine wrath ; but , on the contrary , we have abundant proof ifoat he was peoaliavly ^ privileged witli the enjoyment at his Fattierfs' ravotH- and complacency . Th « commeifcement of frig public ministry was even ushered in with a pmclamatlon to thia effect .
"This is my Welioved Son in whotn E am well pleased , " is certainty a « ' opposite declairation to < such as , ! This is the sinner ' s- subistUwte , with wtoomy as charged mth the sin of others , I an * exceedingly wroth , and whom I will make to feel my fierce angci i «) the vicariGtt& puuishmetit thereof . " The latter \» the >
sentiment of what i « called orthodoxy ; the former the assertion o $ Jehovah . Which is ttte trath ? jfVs to the bodily sufferings of Christ , on whifeb so much stress \» g&neraily laid , we have no account of it which etfixnb thos 4 > given os of many maityrs whe have been persecuted unto cteafh . Thedeathof the cros « was the commmi
punishment 0 t malefactors , onvtete * l as such , and , it is tme > , au > ignominlouts ontt ; Imt : 'have < -not the * f < p « it 6 etftt' 8 o ^ s of his disciples "resotftfed'to moiled of torttrre' and excruciating pai » ' more '' terrible than this ? Can it ! be compared to
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630 Ocetttietml' € fow ejp < meknc& .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1828, page 630, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2564/page/46/
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