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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.
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more strictly , " the whole was made through it' *—namely , the whole took its origin in the Word , and was carried on through its influence . It is not necessary to point out to the Greek scholar that what is rendered in the Common Version
by , ought to have been through , and that the term was made is not a proper rendering of the Greek , as the same term occurs in a few verses below , where it is translated was . But these points are of inferior importance .
The subject of John ' s preface is what he calls the Word , and without discussing at present the meaning of the term , I shall consider merely the epithets applied to it . First , the Word was God ; afterwards , the Word was flesh . First , the Word was with God ; afterwards , it was with men . It its first state , therefore , it has an epithet marking grandeur , glory , power j in its second- state it is marked by weakness and humiliation .
lu the first state , its residence , i f we may so term it , was not with men ; iu the second , it was . We are now then brought to a question of historical facts , and without entering into minor points , I shall go at once to the delivery of the law from mount Sinai ; and to the accounts of it , as given by Moses , I refer tlie reader . The majesty and the glory with which the word was uttered need not my feeble comments . The formation of this
world is attributed to the woid of God" by the word of God were the heavens made ; " and the expression is frequent , "The word of God came to the prophets . The Old Testament is full of passages indicating the communication of God with man by means of the Word , but in all these cases it is to be observed , that
God speaks the word , the prophets are only the communicators of it to us , and they 8 peak only partially , as on particular subjects the word is communicated to them . From the time of the formation of man to a few years after the return of the Jews from their Babylonish captivity , the word of God was communicated to
niau ou various occasions . A long interval then took place , and uo such communications are heard of , and a new sera arises , which forms a striking difference between the latter and the preceding manifestations of the word . A man appears in J odea , by no outward
appearances distinguished from his fellow-countrymen ; his circumstances are well expressed by himself , that he had not of his qwu even where to lay his head ; his garb could not be of any brilliant appearance , as it was woven by bin mother ,
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whosie situation in life , and still more probably the wi » h of the wearer , forbad atiy display of ornament . He spake to his countrymen with authority ; lie never says the word of the Lord came to him on this or that occasion ; but he speaks from . himself to the winds , and they obey him ; 10 the * ick , the maimed , the blind , and their disorders and infirmities are removed . All the powers that he manifests he attributes indeed to God who gave them to him , bat in the nse of these powers he differs from all that preceded him , he exerts them when and where he pleases . In his person the word of God was manifested ; but h $ w different from the glory of former times ! He was called a deceiver , a madman , and at last
suffered the most severe punishments and a disgraceful death . If I am right iu the meaning I have given to the word flesh in bis case , it was completely manifest ; that word of God which had so gloriously exhibited itself in former times , was now clothed in weakness , humiliation , and disgrace .
As the word was thus manifested in our Saviour , so was it in his apostles . And this is clearly expressed iu Johu ' s words , " it dwelt in us ; " and the word , heaven be praised , is not extinguished in our days . It dwells in every true Christian , who indeed possesses the treasure , as Paul says , in an earthy vessel , but notwithstanding the infirmities of the flesh , its glory cannot be entirely obscured . As the Saviour was treated with the
highest indignities , it is not to be wondered at that his followers should , in various degrees , partake of them . This they were warned of by our holy Master , and if their opponents glory in their numbers aud their power , they have the consolation , " It is my Father ' s good pleasure to give to my small flock the kingdom . "
In my view of the subject , then , it appears clear that the Word spoken of by John refers to the communication of his will uuder the old and the new dispensations ; that it resided in Jesus in a manner totally different from its state uuder Moses and the prophets . The queatiou is , when this residence took place ? My correspondent says , wheu Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother .
To this I object , that the very term , the Word , is an insuperable objection to this opiuion , for 1 canuot conceive that the term , implying a communication by speech , can possibly be attributed to an embryo , whose organs are at that time imperfectly formed . But of this I leave your readers to judge , and those who are
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Miscellaneous Correspondence . 409
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VOL . V . 2 G
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 409, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/49/
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