THE

FAMILY EXPOSITOR.

THE FORMER PART OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST, AS RECORDED
BY THE EVANGELISTS.

SECT. I.

St. Luke's preface to his history, dedicated to Theophilus, a Christian friend, for whose comfort and establishment he was particularly concerned. Luke I. ver. 1—4.

i

L. 1.

have taken in hand WHEREAS many have undertaken to com- SECT. to set forth in order pose the history of those important facts a declaration of those which have been confirmed among us Christians things which are most with the fullest and most satisfactory evidences, as the great foundation of our common faith; and since some of these historians have written, not on their own personal knowledge, but as they 2 Even as they de- (whether apostles or others) have transmitted

A

22

St. Luke's dedication of his history to Theophilus..

SECT. them to us, who were themselves from the begin- livered them unto us, i. ning of Christ's ministry eye-witnesses of what which from the beginning were eye-witLuke passed, and in proof of the sincerity of their testi- nesses, and ministers of I. 2. mony courageously became ministers of the the word:

word, that is, of the gospel, amidst the greatest

perfect understanding very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

3 opposition; I also having accurately traced all 3 It seemed good to
these things from their first rise, even from the me also, having had
very conception of John the Baptist, who was of all things from the
the forerunner of our Lord, have thought it pro-
per to write an orderly account of them: and I
chuse to inscribe it to thee, O most noble Theophi-
lus"; because, though thou art already, in the ge-
neral, acquainted with them, yet I cannot but be
4 concerned that thou mayest more fully and cir-
cumstantially know the exact and certain truth
of those things in which thou hast formerly been
instructed by those who were the happy instru- ed.
ments of initiating thee into the Christian faith;
and I am persuaded thou wilt be greatly con-
firmed in it by the attentive perusal of that
history with which I here present thee.

d Of the word.] Some have conjectured that hoyos, the word, here significs Christ, as in the beginning of St. John's gospel: perhaps it may; but I did not think it so evident as to venture fixing it to that sense.

e Having accurately traced all these things.] The original, wapnuod&nxori wa auffs, plainly signifies that accuracy of investigation on which the perfect understanding of his subject was built.

From their first rise.] Some very pious and learned writers have pleaded this text as an argument for the inspiration of St. Luke's gospel, and consequently of the rest, because the word avwv sometimes signifies from above, or from heaven; as it plainly doth, John iii. 51. Jam. i. 17. iii. 15, 17. But Luke so evidently uses it in the sense here given, Acts xxvi. 5. and that sense is so common elsewhere, and seems so absolutely necessary in this connection with Jпxt, that I cannot think this text at all to the purpose. The argument I mention is one of those which, like pieces of superfluous armour, encumber rather than defend; and the more I am concerned about the conclusion here or elsewhere, the more cautious shall I always be, that I may not draw it from such premises.

To write an orderly account of them, nadiens on peafar.] It is chiefly on the authority of this clause that M. Le Clerc, and many other modern harmonizers have thought (as Beza also did) that all the other gospels are to be reduced to the order of Luke, wherever they differ from it: a conclusion which I apprehend, for reasons that shall afterwards be given at large, to be an occasion of many errors, and particularly

IMPROVE

4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein

thou hast been instruct

injurious to the character of St. Matthew. I would only here observe that the foundation of it is very precarious; since it is evident this evangelist might, with great propriety, be said to have given an orderly account of the history of Christ, as the leading facts are in their due series, though some particulars are transposed.

hO most noble Theophilus.] That Theophilus is the name of a particular person eminent in the church in those early days, and not (as Salvian thought it) a general title applicable to every Christian as a lover of God, Dr. Whitby, after many others, hath abundantly proved. What his rauk in life was, we do not indeed certainly know; but it seems that it was pretty considerable; for Kari was then, as Excellency among us is, a title of honour and respect usual in addressing noble personages (see Acts xxiii. 26. xxiv. 3. xxvi. 25.) and it might with some peculiar propriety be applied here, as Theophilus was so worthy the name he bore, which signifies a true lover of God.

i Hast been instructed, wifi wv xalnyrus.] The word doth with great accuracy express the instructions given to those who were training up for an admission to the Christian church, whose name of catechumens was, as it is well known, derived from hence, and applied without any particular regard to the age of the persons concerned. Compare Acts xviii. 25. Rom. ii. 18. I endeavour to express this in the paraphrase; but it would be very improper to use the English word which most literally answers to the Greek, because that is now almost wholly appropriated to children.

a The

Reflections on St. Luke's dedication.

IMPROVEMENT.

SECT.

i.

LET us humbly adore the Divine Goodness, that facts of so great importance as these now to be laid before us were not left to the uncertainty of oral tradition, but delivered to the church in writing, by persons who had so many opportunities of learning the Ver. truth, and have given such full proof of their integrity in relating 2 it. Let us be thankful that we have not only one such history, but that several undertook this excellent and necessary work, by 1 whose united testimony the whole is confirmed; while it is also illustrated by the variety of their narrations, each inserting some considerable circumstance which the rest have omitted. Let us rejoice in that providential care which hath preserved this invaluable treasure through so many succeeding ages, and some of them periods of the grossest darkness and the hottest persecution.

While we study this orderly series of sacred story, let us be 4 concerned that our faith may be established by it, and our other graces proportionably advanced; maintaining a continual dependance on that blessed Spirit, by whose instruction it was written to lead us into wise and pious reflections upon it.

To conclude; from the care which this holy evangelist expresseth for the edification and comfort of his friend Theophilus, let us learn to regard it as one of the most important offices of friendship to labour for the spiritual advantage of each other; by endeavouring not only to awaken and instruct those that are entirely unacquainted or unaffected with divine things, but also, as we have opportunity, to confirm the faith and quicken the zeal of the most established Christians with whom we converse. Happy 5 the men whose tongues and whose pens are employed in so good a work: may they never, in the remotest ages, fail of some e.rcellent Theophilus to welcome and encourage their pious attempts!

SECT. II.

St. John begins his gospel with a very sublime and emphatical account of the deity and incarnation of Christ; and of those glorious and important purposes for which he condescended to appear among us in the human nature. John I. 1-14.

JOHN I. 1.

IN the beginning was the word, and the word

JOHN I. 1.

IN the beginning, before the foundation of the
world, or the first production of any created
being, a glorious person existed, who (on account
of the perfections of his nature and his being in
time the medium of divine manifestations to us)
may properly be called the word of God. And

a The word of God.] The Greek logos is now become so familiar to an English ear,

the

that I doubt not but most of my readers
would have understood me had I retained it

23

24

St. John asserts the Deity of Christ.

SECT. the word was originally with God the Father of word was with God, ii. all; so that to him the words of Solomon might and the word was God. John justly be applied, Prov. viii. 30." He was by 1. 1. him as one brought up with him, and was

2. The same was in

beginning with

daily his delight.' Nay, by a generation which none can declare, and an union which none can fully conceive, the word was himself God, that is, possessed of a nature truly and pro2 perly divine. I repeat it again, that the condescension of his incarnation may be more atten- the tively considered, this divine [word] was in the God. very beginning with God, and, by virtue of his most intimate union with him, was possessed of 3 infinite glory and felicity. And when it pleased God to begin his work of creation, all things in made by him; and

in my translation; which, on account of the
singularity of the idea here signified by it,
I should have done had I not feared it
might have been unintelligible to a few at
least, and so have impaired the pleasure
they might find in so excellent a passage.
I know that some of the fathers render
logos, reason, as M. Le Clerc doth; though
I apprehend they mean it in a very diffe-
rent sense from him, who seems to under-
stand it only as a strong eastern phrase, to
signify the consummate wisdom of the gos.
pet scheme. See his Harmony, p. 44. But
this will entirely enervate and destroy the
sense of ver. 14. as well as of those texts
which speak of Christ's coming out from God,
enjoying glory with him before the world was,

&c.

b The word was God.] I know how ea-
gerly many have contended that the word
GOD is used here in an inferior sense; the
necessary consequence of which is (as in-
deed some have expressly avowed it) that
this clause should be..dered - The word
was a god, that is, a kind of inferior deity, as
governors are called gods. See John x. 34,
and 1 Cor. viii. 5. But it is impossible Ire
should here be so called merely as a gover-
nor,
because he is spoken of as existing be-
fore the production of any creatures whom
he could govern: and it is to memost incre-
dible that, when the Jews were so exceed-
ing averse to idolatry, and the Gentiles so
unhappily prone to it, such a plain writer
as this apostle should lay so dangerous a
stumbling-block on the very threshold of his
work, and represent it as the Christian doc-
trine, that in the beginning of all things,
there were two gods, one supreme and the
other subordinate: a difficulty which,
if possible, would be yet farther increased
by recollecting what so many ancient wri-
ters assert, that this gospel was written
with a particular view of opposing the Ce-

the

3. All things were

without

rinthians and Ebionites (see Iren. 1. i. c. 26;
1. ii. c. 11 ; Euseb. Eccl. Hist. 1. vi. c. 14),
on which account a greater accuracy of ex-
pression must have been necessary. There
are so many instances in the writings of
this apostle, and even in this chapter (sce
ver. 6, 12, 13, 18,) where Os, without the
article, is used to signify Godin the highest
sense of the word, that it is something sur-
prising such a ŝtress should be laid on the
want of that article, as a proof that it is
used only in a subordinate sense.-On the
other hand, to conceive of Christ as a dis-
tinct and co-ordinate God, would be equally
inconsistent with the most express de-
clarations of scripture, and far more irrecon-
cileable with reason. Nothing I have said
above can, by any means, be justly inter-
preted in such a sense: and I here solemnly
disclaim the least intention of insinuating
one thought of that kind, by any thing I
have ever written, here or elsewhere.-
The order of the words in the original
(og my • Xoyo;), is such, that some have
thought the clause might more exactly be
translated, God was the word. But there
are almost every where so many instances
of such a construction as our version sup-
poses, that I chose rather to follow it than
to vary from it, unnecessarily, in this im-
portant passage.-I am deeply sensible of
the sublime and mysterious nature of the
doctrine of Christ's deity, as here declared;
but it would be quite foreign to my pur-
pose to enter into a large discussion of that
great foundation of our faith; it has often
been done by much abler hands. It was,
however, matter of conscience with me,
on the one hand, thus strongly to declare
my belief of it; and, on the other, to leave
it as far as I could in the simplicity of
scripture expressions. I shall only add in
the words, or at least in the sense of Bishop
Burnet, "That had not St. John and the

other