On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
to shew that the first preaching , or early deception , of the gospel is intended , with which may be compared John xv . 27 , xvi . 4 ;—another passage , 1 John iii . 8 , ( with which maybe compared John viii . 44 , ) clearly refers to an early part of the
world ' s existence , a sense which is corroborated by Paul's use of the word , 2 Thess . ii . 13 . Perhaps 2 Pet . iii . 4 renders the remoter sense probable . These instances , combined with Gen . i . 1 , make , I think , the balance of probability go down in favour of apx *! ' the sense of the beginning of the world .
4 . The phrase , was with the Father , is , I apprehend , sufficiently obvious , from a comparison of it with those passages of St . Paul which speak of the mystery of , or doctrine according to , godliness , which was hidden from ages , and generations , laid up with God , but subsequently manifested . Having proceeded thus far , we can scarcely doubt that we are in possession of the true meaning of the Apostle . He and his fellow-labourers announced to the believers the fulfilment of that
gracious intention which had been formed by the Divine Being at the beginning of time , which had been promised by him , speaking through the prophets , but which was bestowed through Jesus Christ . This promise is eternal life , the assurance of a state of eternal happiness to all the
obedient , and the most distinct information concerning the mode of obtaining it . Of the fulfilment of this promise they , the apostles , had received the most palpable evidence ; for they had heard the Father ' s testimony at the baptism and the transfiguration ; they had seen the miracles which declared him to be the Son of
God ; they had beheld with their eyes , and their hands had handled , the risen Jesus—all these being evidences in relation to the doctrine of eternal life which " God , that cannot lie , had promised " What can be more reasonable , then , than that , with this interpretation
impressed on the mind , I should proceed to explain a passage , written by the same author , bearing so many marks of similarity , assigning to the words and phrases occurring there also the ideas which we have gleaned from the first paragraph of the Epistle , viz .
1 . Eternal life , ( which is the distinguishing part of that word which was communicated to the world by Jesus Christ , ) existed in the beginning . 2 It had been laid up with the Father . 3 . It was at length manifested to the world by a human being , Jesus , the Christ . Now , these will be found prominent
Untitled Article
ideas in the proem to St . John ' s Gospel , agreeably to the following succinct exposition . Ver . 1—5 , " In the beginning " i . e . from the foundation of the worldy ( Gen . i . 1 , Prov . viii . 23 , ) existed the Word , or scheme of religious truth , in agreement with the scriptural expression , ( Eph . i ,
4 , ) •« God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world , " and this fp ' ord was laid up with God , intended to be made known , but as yet tmcommunicated . And this TVord was divine , * divine in its nature , divine in its origin . All things were , or came to pass , through it . All the succeeding dispensations of religion proceeded from this source , and were formed after that prototype
existing in the Divine mind . In tt was contained the principle of life , eternal life , ( 1 John i . 2 , ) the sum and substance of Divine Revelation , and this life teas designed to be the spiritual illumination of mankind . The light shone amid the darkness of surrounding idolatry and heathen superstition , and the darkness did not wholly eclipse it . Several of the holy men of old discerned the promises afar off , and discovered their hope of the glory which should be revealed .
Ver . 6—9 . A man received a commission from the Supreme Being , whose name was John . The design of his mission was to bear testimony to the approach of that light which should enlighten the Gentiles , as well as consti-Inte the glory of Israel . He was not
himself the medium of diffusing that light , but was to act only as the morning star which ushers in the bright luminary of day . The true light was that which , when introduced , irradiated with its rays the whole world of mankind , consisting of Geutiles aud Jews , and not one nation only .
Ver . 10—14 . ( God ) f wag in the world , the world was made by his almighty power , all nations of men on the face of the earth were by hiua constituted , yet the world , generally , knew him not . He came to his own , to that port&ou of the world
* I do not conjecture any other reading here , but 1 suppose % eq $ without the article to be here used adjectively , and to be equivalent to & £ * ct . i * The Greek scholar knows that no nominative is expressed in the Original . It caunot be the last-mentioned , viz . the light , because tpco s is neuter . Dr . Priestley ( Harm . ) inserts God at the beginning of the 11 th verse . It Is better , I think , to do this at the beginning of the 10 th .
Untitled Article
V 22 Miscellaneous Correspondence .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 122, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/50/
-