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brief and concise languag-e , the sense in which it ought to be understood . " — P . 79 . Now such a correction of popular errors seems to us to have a very remote connexion with the account of our Saviour ' s ministry , from which all such speculations were completely removed ; and we cannot well conceive
how an Evangelist could have been more unsuccessful than he has been , if his express object was to shew that the Logos had not a distinct , personal and substantive existence . He has , at any rate , used the language of personification , if , as we believe , he speaks of that which was in itself impersonal , and his language has been made the occasion ofwhat we conceive to be erroneous doctrine concerning the pre-existence and divine nature of the Logos regarded as the spiritual part of our Lord ' s person .
Letter V . begins with the author ' s objections to the interpretation of Lo ~ gos in the sense of the wisdom or reason of God . " This interpretation , although infinitely more satisfactory than that proposed by Trinitarians , has never appeared to me , " he says , " altogether sufficient or acceptable . " 1 . "It has by far too much of a philosophic aspect , and amounts in fact and precisely , either to the second or the first principle of Plato , according to the attribute it is supposed to mean .
2 . " It is as contrary to the true idea of God to suppose any of his attributes personified in a particular object , or confined to a particular spot , as it is to suppose God himself personified in any object or form , which is idolatry ; or confined within given limits , which is error equally gross and absurd . 3 . < c It is not settled which of the attributes of God is personified by Logos . Some suppose it to be his reason , some his wisdom , and his mercy , or good ness , miffht be equally well supposed .
4 , " There are passages in which Logos is used , to the explanation of which this interpretation can in no manner be applied . " Other instances of what he calls the technical sense * the author conceives to be 2 Thess . iii . 1 ; 2 Tim . iu 9 ; 1 John i . L 5 . The author ' s last objection to this mode of interpretation is , what he believes to be a more satisfactory explanation and exposition of the meaning of the Logos , as used by John and the other Scripture writers . Of this interpretation we shall present an outline . It has been asserted , that at a certain period it was the current practice of
the Jews to speak of all manifestations , communications , and revelations from G od * as made not by God or the tord , but by his Logos or Word * It has also been attempted to bet shewn in what maiwiei ; the heathens , who became acquainted with this * expression , and at last many of the Jews themselves , were gradually fed- ta consider that another ancfc a different being from tYte supreme ori g inal Jehovat * wa » uudetstoodby the phrase , " The Word of the Lord . " This last opinion is , however , rejected by our author , who , following in the steps of Lowraaj * ,, comes to the conclusion , that "ft was the great Jehovah , the one true , (¦ jod y who appeared to the Jews in the Shekinah , or who was concerned in those miraculous communications which
were made to them . " P . 107 . " The Shekinah , however , was merely an instrument in the hands of God , a medium by which he promoted certain enda , such as awakening attention , producing impression , or conveying knowledge . "—P . 189 . " We shall be able to understand more fttUy the' nature of the Shekinah ,
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Pamphlets on the Logos . 691
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 691, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/35/
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