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Gofpels, which can afford a rational ground of hope of afcertaining, with precifion, their genuine meaning.

The prefent deplorable ftate of Scripture Criticifm, as delineated by Bishop Newton, in his Differtation on the difficulties of Scripture, will demonftrate the abfolute neceffity of recurring to a folid foundation, which, like the polar ftar to the Mariner, may be a director, in the courfe of a critical and minute enquiry into the true meaning of the Evangelifts. "The labours of Expofitors and Commentators," fays this learned Prelate," which were defigned for a remedy, are now "become a part of the difeafe. The cafe is the fame with the "laws of God as with the laws of the land. Read a ftatute "and you will think you fufficiently underftand it, but "afterwards hear the opinions of council upon it, and their "explanations, and they will explain the meaning quite away: "In like manner many a text of Scripture feemeth plain enough "to a man upon his reading it by himfelf and comparing it "with the context; but upon confulting the tribe of "Paraphrafts and Annotators, he fcarce knoweth what to "think; and instead of that one genuin fense which he "conceived, he hath ten or twenty fenfes offered to him, or "rather, no sense at all. Commentators are a kind of neceffary ❝evils, there is no doing well without them or with them. "The truth is, men interpret Scripture according to their "opinions, and frame not their opinions according to fcripture. "They quote the Scripture, and one would think they "understood at least what they quote; but alas, in their quotations they manifeftly regard the bare words more "than the meaning, and fo that there is but fomething appofit in the found, no matter how remote it is in the fignification.

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The little advantage which has been gained by the labours of Paraphrafts and Commentators-of a Grotius-a Medea Whitby a Locke-and a Macknight, of Men, in fhort, whose abilities are not to be queftioned, muft neceffarily lead to the conclufion, either that the Scriptures are unintelligible; or that no method has hitherto been adopted of doing them full juftice. The real fact is, that the natural and the only true method of ftudying the Scriptures have been moft deplorably

See Bishop Newton's Differtation on the Difficulties of Scripture, Vol. VI. pages 220, 221..

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neglected,

neglected. They have been tranfmitted down to us under the character of Hiftories, and the primary defign of those Histories, beyond all reasonable doubt, is to prove that Jefus was the Meffiah. This defign is manifeft through every page of the Golpels, and yet how little attention has been paid to them as Hiftories, and to this one primary Object of them, the Objections of the Hiftorian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, founded upon the conceffions of the ableft Divines, will very fully demonftrate; for when they are confidered in this light, they will be found to exhibit internal Characters of truth equal to those of any other History, either in ancient or modern times; and, what is more to the purpose, they will afford, to the judicious and attentive Reader, criteria fufficient to determine the precife meaning of the language of our Lord, upon the fubject of his coming;-fufficient to vindicate both his character and that of his Apostles, from the very fufpicion of fraud or falfehood;-fufficient, in a word, to prove, to the fatisfaction of every candid and impartial enquirer, that his prediction was not figuratively and metaphoricallybut fairly and literally accomplished, and that, confequently, the Objection of the Hiftorian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is founded upon a misapprehenfion of the nature of his coming, as reprefented in thofe paffages upon which his Objection is founded.

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"To judge of the facred Writings," fays Mr. Richards, "by the habits and fentiments which now prevail, is the most "dangerous error into which the ftudent in facred literature ❝can fall. The Enemies of Chriftianity, fenfible of the "advantages which result from such an uncandid trial of them, "have artfully spoken of them with a reference to the customs, "the learning, and the spirit of thefe latter times. It may, "with confidence, be maintained, that their indecent ridicule "and authoritative affertions will gradually lofe their effect, in proportion as our attention is directed to the age and fituation "of things when our Lord appeared. We must permit ❝ ourselves to be carried back into ancient times. We must imagine ourselves to be placed in the fituation of (Christ and "his Apoftles). We muft, as it were, convey ourselves among their countrymen,-adopt their manners,-glow with "their fentiments, and even imbibe their prejudices. That "we may fully enjoy the fplendid productions of Genius, "with which Greece and Rome were enriched, we "explore,

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"explore, with laborious accuracy, the minuteft traits of "Character which distinguish those illustrious nations. Let "the most important circumstances relating to the coming of "Christ be examined with equal industry and zeal, and the "Champion of Infidelity will foon be compelled to relinquish "his prefumptuous hopes of triumph."

The coming of Chrift, it is evident from the most cursory attention to the facred Writings, was the subject of prophesy, from the earliest Ages of the World. "It was," fays the very able Writer juft quoted, "the principal end and defign "of divine Inspiration to bear teftimony to the truth of "Christianity. The bleffed Jefus and his divine Religion "were the conftant fubjects of the predictions of the Prophets. "Secondary circumftances were incidentally mentioned, but 66 our holy Redeemer was the favourite theme of all, from "the opening of the Revelation, at the fall of Man, to the "clofe of Jewish prophecy with Malachi. If we should expunge from the Old Teftament all the paffages which "relate to his Advent and Religion; the remaining part would "abound with a profufion of predictions, which, though fingularly ftriking in themselves, would be deprived of "their bond of connection, and would not conduce to any "end of general and tranfcendent importance."

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Of all the Prophecies with which the Hiftory of the Old Teftament abounds, that of Daniel is the moft remarkable, and is moft particularly worthy of Notice, upon this fubject, as it is the foundation of that language which Jefus, and his illuftrious Harbinger John the Baptift, afterwards adopted. Having afferted that Nebuchadnezzar's dream had particular reference to various revolutions which, in the order of divine Providence, were to arise in the different states and empires of the world; that kingdoms of great power and extent were to give way to others, and that these again fhould be swallowed up in fubfequent revolutions; the Prophet foretells the rife of a new kingdom which should not, like those which he had before been defcribing, be fubject to change or decay ;-but that, on the contrary, it should laft for ever. Dan. ii. 44. In the days of these Kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom

See Mr. Richards's Bampton Lectures, pages 169, 170. The Reader is requested to observe a flight deviation from Mr. Richards's language, to accommodate it to the design of this work.

that

that shall never be destroyed, and the Kingdom shall not be Left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume (in its progrefs) all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. So again Ch. vii. 13, 14, he says, I saw in the night Visions; and behold one like the or a Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.*

With

There are many other paffages which might here very properly be adduced, predicting the coming of the Messiah, but there is one which must, not be omitted, as it will afford an opportunity of presenting the Reader with some excellent Observations upon it, by Mr. Richards, in his admirable Bamptonian Lectures.

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"The great leader of Israel, when he had deliverd the law to his countrymen, and finished the labours which he was especially appointed to accomplish, predicted that, in a future age, their God would raise up " among their brethren a Prophet like unto himself, who would be charged "to communicate his Almighty Will, and would be entitled to their implicit belief and obedience, on pain of his moft severe displeasure. The Prophecy, according to the application even of an inspired Apoftle, referred immediately to the Messiah; at whose appearance the Authority of Moses was superseded, the obligation of his law ceased, and all the "inhabitants of the Globe were admitted to an equal participation of divine' "favour, with the chosen descendants of Abraham. Now let it be supposed "that Moses was unconscious of the full extent of the prediction, and let us "attend only to the literal sense of his words which they muft neceffarily have borne, at the moment of their delivery, we fhall surely be obliged to confess, that though admirably chosen, upon the suppofition of a divine “inspiration, as an effectual preservation against the rejection of any future Mellenger, or new covenant, in consequence of the prejudices of the "people, yet, confidered solely in an human point of view, they were molt "unfavourable to the cause to which the Prophet had been entirely devoted; "and directly opposite to every known dictate of natural policy.

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"It has been the great object of all founders of states and empires, to give "stability to their institutions, by guarding them against the rafhness of future innovators, For this end, they have generally advanced their own authority, as far as it has been poffible, above that of their ambitious descendants, "When the Spartan Law-giver had completely formed his Republic, he bound the Citizens, by an oath, to maintain its constitution inviolate till his return. He departed, and never more was seen. The pretended "Prophet of Arabia declared himself, the final Messenger of the Almighty, " and thus endeavoured effectually to secure his Religion from the dangerous "pretenfions of succeeding Impostors. So powerful, in general, is this "ambitious wish among Legislators, that it has prevailed over the fascinating "allurements

With an evident view to these predictions of the Prophet Daniel, and to the language which he adopted, John the Baptift foretold the near approach of this kingdom. In those days, fays the Evangelical Hiftorian, came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent, for

allurements of dominion, and sometimes even over the love of Life. "Lycurgus, as I have just observed, retired to voluntary banishment and "solitude; and, in conformity with the same principle, the celebrated "founder of the Northern kingdoms is represented, in their fabulous "Histories, as having plunged the sword into his own breast.

"From this general principle, the prediction of Moses can alone, perhaps, "be excepted. The great object of his exertions had been attained. He had "conducted the Israelites to the borders of the promised land. From the

Mountains of Pisgah, he had fhewn them the fruitful vales of Palestine, in "which they were to repose after their long and painful wanderings. He "was venerated by his countrymen, as their Deliverer from servitude,-as "the Founder of their Kingdom, and as the Messenger of their God. His "character had been sanctioned by the most awful manifestations of Omnipotent Power; and his laws had been solemnly received as the Will of "Heaven. The moment of his death approached, and he was about to bequeath his establishment, as a sacred depofit, to the care of future generations. Yet, far from hallowing that establishment, by imputing an "unrivalled sanctity to his own character, or commending himself to "posterity, as the sole favourite of the Almighty, he predicted the coming

of a Prophet whose authority fhould resemble his own. Far from “pronouncing a curse upon those who fhould 'transfer their obedience to "another, he even forefhewed to them a future chief, whose mandates they "would be bound to obey. In consequence of this prediction, his own "preeminence was diminished, by the expectation of the future Prophet, "and an opportunity was offered to Impostors, who might hereafter found "their impious pretenfions, even upon the perverted authority of his own "prophetic evidence. In every other instance he had carefully provided for the security of the laws which he had delivered, and had branded with "the infamy of imposture all those who fhould presume to violate that "sacred frame of civil and religious polity which, with such visible and "awful proofs of divine aporobation, he had firmly constituted among his countrymen.

"In this prediction alone, his conduct was in direct oppofition, as well "to his own general principles of action, as to the uniform tenor of example. "I am aware that this prediction has been confidered by some Interpreters as "expreffive of the succeffion of Prophets in Israel. But though it may be

satisfactorily proved that such a meaning was, at least, neither the sole nor "the primary one intended by Moses; yet even to those who adopt such a "confined interpretation, the argument which has been urged will be scarcely "less forcible. Under such circumstances, it would have been the policy of "a deceiver to represent the succeeding Prophets as subservient to himself, "and as inferior agents employed in support of his institution. He would "neither have admitted them to a complete equality, nor denounced "tremendous threats against those who should not implicitly hearken to their "voice. See Richards's Sermons, pages 172-177

THE

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