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    B ^ J ^ am be fly obnoxious in Dn W *' sieyes ^ we may shew 1 by . his oj ^ QiWpr / Jsitet be i § nc 4 fc ^ geable with making light of the authority of Paul : * As no believer in the ^ Christian religion can possibly deny ttie coHv £ r $ ib n and mission of the Apostle Paul , so it cannot reasonabl y be doubted that he was eminently Qualified for the important office to which he ivas appointed

    therefore , that his writings , if genuine , contain very important meaning . And the author of the following Exposition is greatly mistaken indeed if it should not appear that these masterly compositions , when studied with diligence and impartiality , and in the way that other ancient writings are , may , like them , generally speaking * , be well understood ; and if , when so understood , they should not be found to comprehend a mass of instruction of the ? nost useful and interestxng kind , which wiH amply reward the labours of the biblical student . "

    Not to mention the fact that Unitarian writers have proved themselves no contemptible advocates of the apostle against the attacks of Unbelievers , and in a recent instance , when an attempt was made under the cover of establishing the authority of Jesus to the detriment of Paul , to discredit and overthrow . the Christian religion , earned by the success of their labours no little honour , it should certainly quicken the charity of Dr . Whately towards the Unitarians , though they be , as he avers , delinquents , that his own writings in the volume now before us furnish abundant proofs that the neglect of the

    apostle in his . own Church is extensively prevalent . And in one respect we dare pronounce the practice of Unitarians better than that of the Church . The examination for deacon ' s orders , Dr . Whately undoubtedly knows , is confined to the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles , tp the utter exclusion of the Epistles ; yet , though there is no requirement that a man should be qualified for the office , he may expound St . Paul the very next Sunday

    after his ordination . In the beau ideal of the Established Church , provision , one might expect , would have been made to instruct adequately those who are appointed to instruct the people ; but no such thing . The candidate for the , pul p it is left , perhaps , to gain knowledge as he gains grace—from the imposition of hands . We can assure Dr . Whately that things are better ordered with us ; nor do we doubt that of our ministers , whether educated in a college or not , scarcely one would be found to undertake the exposition of Paul till he had studied his writings .

    Men mistaking the opposite of wrong for right , are ever prone to run from one extreme to another ; and Dr . Whitby , in order to vindicate the authority of Paul , is anxious to shew the inadequacy of the other writings of the New Testament for the full enlightenment of the mind as to the truths of Christianity . Paul , he contends , is the principal bulwark of the Christian religion ; in his writings we find the gospel complete and entire , and in his alone . Against such , a conclusion we vehemently demur . We are not disposed to

    set the Gospels above the Epistles , still less the Epistles above the Gospels , Comparisons of this sort are highly injurious to revelation . One advocate is for J ? aul and another for , Agojips , and | each , in endeavouring to establish the pre-eminence , of his favourite , disparages the author that is deemed inferior , and thus , by the means of injudicious friends , the authority both of Paul and Apoltosis undermined * Dr . JW " . would have done well to remember the insinuation that be has thrown oqt against the Unitarians—that the reason wh ^ they ^ neglect Paul is , because Paul is adverse to their system . Who does * nfyt see i&jenatural inference fron ^ this position in Dr . W . ' s owncase ? Witfy hftp ^ fye ( S ^ spels $ 9 ji pt contain tjie essential truths of Christianity ; by fair the most inipbrtarii ;^ pmit ^ So s , ays , our Essayist ; and we are

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    Rl ^ ichije 632 Mhqttetys Essays ok the Writing&wf St . Paul .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 532, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/12/