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    alleged instance Qf the application of similar language to Christians generally : 'In the Epistle to the Ephesians , chap , iii . 19 , the Apostle prays that they tnay be filled with all the fulness of God , i . e . with knowledge of the Divine wifl , and conformity to the Divine image / P . 252 . —But the Apostle ' s expression is , ' that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God ; ' suggesting the sublime conception of an approximation to the Supreme perfection , which is begun by religion now , and shall be ever growing in the holiness

    and bliss of the future state ; while the infinity of distance must for ever remain between Deity and the creature . This palpable error is retained in the text of the * Improved Version , ' and the true rendering is barely mentioned in a note with this vapid and silly interpretation—i . e . ' that ye may be admitted into the Christian Church . ' As if the community of Ephesian Christians , which had flourished so many years in full organization ( Acts xx . ) and eminent stability ( Ephes . i , 13—15 ) , was not yet to be regarded as a part if the Christian Church \»

    Now it happens , notwithstanding what we must call the bitterness of invective in this note , that the common version of Ephes . iii . 19 , is not a palpable error , and was manifestly adhered to by Mr . Belsham , whether rightly or not , from conviction after examination . It will be sufficient for us to quote Dr . BloomfiekTs note : c < In the interpretation of these words , the commentators , as on many other occasions , exceedingly differ . But , as often , the most natural , simple , and extensive application will be found the best . Now , as the Apostle had been

    speaking of the immense and inconceivable love of Gotl and Christ , so here ( I assent to Grotius , Whitby , Crellius , and Macknight ) he means to say that by thus attaining the Holy Spirit , and having suitable conceptions of the great mystery of Redeeming love , they may be filled with all the spiritual gifts and blessings , both ordinary and J extraordinary , that God can and will impart to his faithful worshipers . E * $ is put for ev j than which nothing- is more frequent in Scripture . Compare infra iv . 10 , and Col . i . 9 . "—Bl . Recensio Synoptica , Vol . VII . p . 581 .

    This distinguished scholar , and the eminent critics whom he here follows , will , in the estimation of most persons , at least protect Mr . Belsham from the charges of retaining a palpable error , and ignorantly or unfaithfully arguing from the inaccuracy of a translation . In the Improved Version , it seems , Dr . Smith ' s true rendering is barely mentioned in a note , ( two different translations , however doubtful the case , can hardly be both

    introduced into the text—one must be placed in a note , or else neglected , ) with a vapid and silly interpretation . We will only say this interpretation is that of Schleusner , ( in verb . vKvjpa / Aa , No . 7 , ) to whom Mr . Belsham refers ; and no competent judge—no one who examines his references and reflects on what he says—will treat it with contempt , even if he should be induced ultimately to reject it .

    We must now quote a paragraph from the fourth chapter , " On tbe Errors and Faults , in relation to this Controversy , attributable to Unitarian Writers , " which , for its uncandid and illiberal spirit , we have hardly seen surpassed , even in the course of our attention to the Unitarian controversy : " It has appeard to me , " says Dr . S , that one of the distinguishing failings of the Unitarian theology is a propensity to generalize too soon , and to

    conclude too hastily , both iu criticism and in argumentation . It seems the habit of its advocates to assume a few of the broadest facts in the scheme of Christianity , which are obvious to the most rapid glance : and , with a sweeping , hand , they either crush down all the rest , and leave them unregarded , or they force them into an unnatural and disfiguring subordination to the favourite assumptions / Unlike the cautious and patient spirit of true phUoso-

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    6 . 1 ?? . J . Pm Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1831, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2593/page/6/