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The reader will find some valuable observations in Dr . Carpenter ' s Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel , third edition , p . 133 . It is highly probable that the words , " these things said Isaiah , * ' refer to the passage quoted from Isa . liii . The dogmatism of Dr . Smith admits of no reply . The impartial inquirer will probably consider this as one of those passages , the just interpretation of which must be determined by our convictions as to the general tenor of Scripture , and which is too ambiguous to be safely
appealed to as a proof of any doctrine respecting our Lord ' s person . On Dr . S . ' s xixth section ( Isaiah vii . 14 ) we need make no remark , as he
himself maintains , that , most probably , the original Hebrew word does not necessarily denote virginity , but might be applied to a young woman lately married ; " that the definitive appellation , * the Virgin , ' was at the moment applied to a known individual , who , at the proper time afterwards , became the mother of a distinguished child ; " and that the name Emanuel is a commemorative and descriptive title . It does not appear to have been
intended as a proper name . " " In what I suppose , " he says , " to have been the primary and inferior reference , it would express no more than that ,
in the existing distresses of Judea and Jerusalem , God would be with them as their Almighty protector . " In this sense , no doubt , whether originally prophetic of him or not , it is applicable to the Messiah , and therefore , in denying any inference from it as to the divinity of his person , we are justified by Dr . S . himself . The argument in the xxth section ( on Isa . viii . 13 , 14 ) is most extraordinary :
" The evident design of this passage is to point out the True and Eternal God as the author of safety and deliverance from imminent danger ; that it is the duty of men to honour him and rely upon him in this capacity ; and that those who refuse to do so will be the objects of his awful displeasure ,
involved by their own unbelief and disobedience in the more terrible ruin . The middle clauses are introduced by the Apostles Peter and Paul , ( Rom . ix . 33 , 1 Pet . ii . 8 , ) with an explicit application to Christ . There is also a conformity of sentiment well worthy or being observed , with other declarations
of the New Testament , on the opposite effects of obedient dependence on Jesus as the only Saviour and rejection of him . "— . Vide Luke ii . 34 ; 1 Cor . i . 23 . Hence Dr . S . infers that Christ must have been the Jehovah who was to be the object of confidence and reverence to his people . Isa . viii . 13 , as he renders the words ,
" To Jehovah of hosts himself , pay holy homage , Even him your fear , and him your dread . " The fact is , that the passage in Rom . ix . 33 , is a mixed quotation , and merely in the way of accommodation , from this place and Isa . xxviii . 16 ; the form and chief substance being taken from the latter , but the expression
" stumbling-stone and rock of offence" derived from this . 1 Pet . n . 6 is a quotation of Isa . xxviii . 16 , and vers . 7 and 8 -contain an imperfect quotation of the words in this place mixed with Psa . cxviii . 22 , and evidently only accommodated . The other passages referred to merely contain similar figurative language , which may have been suggested by what is here said , but will not afford the slightest ground for supposing that the subjects must be the same . In Isa . xxviii . 16 , to which alone there is the appearance of appealing as an authority in the texts referred to , it is Jehovah who lays the stone 9 and consequently the person so designated must be distinct from , and inferior to , him .
Untitled Article
Dr . J . P . Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah . 241
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1831, page 241, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2596/page/25/
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