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Untitled Article
Most High , is manifest from the succeeding question . " So says Dr . S ., but we think a proper consideration of the passage will shew that the majority of commentators who have taken it differently are right . The intention qf the writer seems to be to represent the knowledge of God as unattainable by human faculties , and to recommend humility from the consideration of his inconceivable majesty . " Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended ? " What mortal hath immediately contemplated the
glories of God , and attained to the knowledge of divine things , or hath brought forth such knowledge and communicated it to others ? You know that there is none . " Who hath gathered the wind in his fists ? Who hath bound the waters in a garment ? Who hath established all the ends of the earth ? " Is there any man that hath done these things ? Or is it not known to all that they are such as the Almighty himself alone can
accomplish ? If there be man who can perform such wonders , " what is his name , and what is his son's name ? " that they may obtain the admiration and celebrity which they deserve ( vide Job xxxviii . 4 , &c . ; Isa . xl . 12-7-14 ) . This passage , then , is exactly to the purpose , ascending up to heaven and descending being figurative expressions for acquiring and communicating divine knowledge . 3 . Rom . x . 6 : " But the justification by
faith speaketh thus : Say not in thy heart , Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is , to bring Christ down . " The meaning is : Do not entertain any doubt concerning the divine authority of Christ ; do not say , Who shall go to heaven to fetch the Christ down ? as if he had not yet been manifested to the world . Do not ask , Who shall obtain for us the blessings of divine knowledge ? which you already possess . Lastly , Baruch iii . 29 : " Who hath gone up into heaven and taken her , i . e . wisdom , and brought her
down from the clouds ? " Here the form of expression and the sense are exactly similar to the passage in Exodus . Dr , S . produces other instances of ascent into heaven being spoken of in Scripture , where a real translation to heaven as a place seems to be intended , but these are not to the purpose , as it is not denied that such is the original and proper meaning of the words ; it is only contended that they may also bear the figurative meaning assigned , which Mr . B . ' s examples appear sufficient to prove . But Dr . S . continues :
" The Calm Inquirer , on the authority of Dr . Whitby , affirms that ' the Jews in the Targum say in honour of Moses , that he ascended into the high heavens , by which they could mean no more than his admission to the divine counsels / Whitby , perhaps copying- from some other author , has not
understood the passage , nor even referred to it rightly . It is evident that neither he nor the Calm Inquirer , who borrows it from him , took the pains to consult the Targum . The place is in the paraphrase on Cant . iii . 3 , and it very plainly refers to Moses ' s going up to the top of Mount Sinai to intercede for the people on their having made the golden calf . "
Untitled Article
598 Dr . J . P . Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1831, page 598, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2601/page/22/
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