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    same expression in the first clause to men in general , would render such an interpretation absurd . 4 . Heb . ii . 14 , " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood , he also himself likewise took part of the same . " Here , no doubt , the expression * ' flesh and blood * ' means human nature ; but the passage will not do for the advocates of two natures in Christ . The Common Versionindeed He also took of the " miht be understood

    , , " part same , g that he voluntarily added to his divine a human nature ; this , however , the ori g inal will not admit—insi iv to . itaiViot , K £ xoiVG » v ) K , e < rapvtb <; kcci oii [ A , ctTQ ^ kcu avrbg maparnKfialooq jtx £ T £ < r % e tSv avrav * Tlccpairtyalas , " * the very same manner , " ^ 6 Te < r %£ , " partook" not voluntarily but naturally , just as "the children are partakers * " The force of the words is , that as those Jesus was appointed to save were human beings , he also was a human being , and would not otherwise have been fit for his office .

    After this examination we may affirm , with the utmost confidence , that none of the passages appealed to , affords any pretence for explaining the expression / card crd ^ a ,, " according to the flesh , " of the human as opposed to the alleged divine nature of Christ . Dr . Bloomfield lays down this as the true sense in Rom . i . 3 , because it suits best his preconceived notions ; he quotes in defence of it , besides the opinions of certain fathers of a

    corrupt age , a few pretended instances of a similar use of the phrase collected by another writer , and which ( as appears from his copying the misprint from Schleusner ) he did not take the trouble to refer to himself , and on such grounds he talks of this text 6 i effectually excluding the Socinian fancy of Jesus being a mere man . " Yet he cannot pretend to deny that elsewhere , whatever becomes of the instances we have been considering , the phrase kocto , oraovu * . " " signifies as to descent ; he cannot deny that it may

    have this sense—of course we may adopt it here if it suit the connexion . Assume it then with Dr . B . ' s own interpretation of the 4 th verse , " Jesus Christ our Lord , who was born of the lineage of David as to descent , and who was declared in the strongest and clearest manner to be the Son of God , by the Holy Spirit , in his ( its ) miraculous operations after his resurrection from tlie dead" Does this not make a good sense ? And if it does , what becomes of the effectual exclusion of what our author arrogantly and impertinently terms " the Socinian fartoy" of Christ being a man , as to nature like unto his brethren ?

    When the Unitarian Christian produces the clearest testimonies of Scripture that his revered Lord was a man , and must have been a man to accomplish the purposes of his mission , he is answered , that these testimonies are not to his purpose , only recognizing the human nature of Christ , which is not denied . He demands direct proof of this most mysterious and extraordinary doctrine of a perfect union of human and divine natures in one person . He can only be referred to such passages as have now engaged

    our attention , and what is their value for such a purpose ? absolutely nothing- ; yet if he refuse to accept them as sufficient , he is met by sneers at the ignorance and presumption of Socinians ; he is degraded , so far as the influence of a powerful party can effect such an object , from the rank he is entitled to hold as a scholar , and a competent inquirer on these important

    and most interesting subjects ; and if he is not convinced , others have their scruples overpowered , and their dispositions in favour of inquiry stifled by the treatment he experiences . We should be sorry to return reviling for reviling , but the language occasionally employed by Dr . Bloomfield , though he is mild compared with many of his brethren , is * such as can be noticed no otherwise than with indignant reprehension .

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    664 Bloomfield s Recemio Synoptica .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1830, page 664, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2589/page/8/