Page images
PDF
EPUB

a beautifully figurative sense: and the phrase "privily entered" answers well to the subintravit of the vulgate; not according to Locke's version of the word, entered a little, which the usage of the Latin language will by no means warrant, but conveying the sense of secrecy and stealth. The law, when first its requisitions and its penalties began to unfold, silently convinced man of the abundance of his guilt, and made known the abundance of that grace which removed the stain. But I am willing, for the sake of argument, to allow, that the reference in this place, if applied to the Mosaick law, is to its actual promulgation upon Sinai: yet in this case, I know not that we are obliged of necessity to attach the peculiar force above given, to the prepositions with which the verb is compounded. Пag, according to a very common Greek usage, and particularly frequent in the new testament writers, may easily enough be accounted as the same with exo, in its simple and original state; and the whole signification be nothing more, than a mere delivery, or enactment.

The second objection to the definite rendering of νόμος in this passage is oἱ a more general nature, and is thus stated by Macknight. "Can any one with Locke imagine, that no offence abounded in the world, which could be punished with death, till the law of Moses was promulgated? And that grace did not superabound, till the offence against that law abounded?" (Macknight, in loco.) As Locke is most directly impugned, I shall

1. Permit him in his own judicious words to answer for himself, "The rest of mankind were in a state of death only for one sin of one man. This the apostle is express in, not only in the foregoing verses, but elsewhere. But those who were under the law, (which made each transgression they were guilty of mortal,) were under the condemnation of death, not only for that one sin of another, but also for

every one of their own sins. Now to make any one righteous to life from many, and those his own sins, besides that one that lay on him before, is greater grace, than to bestow on him justification to life only from one sin, and that of another man. To forgive the penalty of many sins, is a greater grace than to remit the penalty of one." But

2. We may meet the opponent's question in another way; though perhaps the solution will amount to nearly the same with that just stated. Before the introduction of the Mosaick dispen, sation, offence did indeed prevail, and grace was exerted in its pardon. But it was not till the entrance of that divine code, that the enormity and multiplied number of man's sins were clearly and distinctly seen. He then knew precisely the accumulation of his guilt; perceived the impossibility of a complete obedience to the requisitions of the law; and discerned the plenitude of heavenly grace as if written before him in characters of light. St. Paul might therefore affirm with peculiar force, Νόμος δὲ παρεισήλθεν, ἵνα πλεονάσῃ τὸ παράπτωμα· οἱ δὲ ἐπλεὄνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις.

IV. The occurrence of vos in vii. 1, must certainly be allowed to favour either a general or a definite rendering. It has, therefore, nothing opposed to the theory of Middleton; and perhaps his conception of the passage is, above every other, probable and ingenious.

v. In ver. 23, of the same chapter, vous, though anarthrous, throws no light upon the subject in dispute. Βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου, &c. For the word here takes on a sense entirely new and unusual: though the same translation with that of our

version is given it, in all the others to which I have had access. Schleusner, however, copying from Bengel, has very aptly rendered it dictamen ; which might be properly termed in our own language, an impelling principle of action. I proceed,

VI. To the last place for considera- which rests purely upon individual opinion: at any rate, we may comfort ourselves with this reflection, that the general truth of bishop Middleton's doctrine, as built upon accurate examination, and the reality of sound learning, is too firm to be moved from its foundation. And with respect to the language of the new testament writers, contradictory cases will show a want of uniformity in their mode of expression, but will not, as was before hinted, invalidate those examples, which nothing, but principles like Middleton's, can explain. The learned author might well have looked with self-gratulation upon the successive labours of his glorious task: and cried, in Lucan's words, when it was over,

tion, in xiii. 8. yag úyañây tòv étegov, νόμον πεπλήρωκε. Upon this passage Middleton remarks, "tható here appears to be used in the same sense as above, ii. 5." I take the reference to be a typographical errour for ii. 25; as vous does not occur in any shape in the passage cited. The author would then here adopt the term moral obedience or virtue it is certainly needless, and not drawn from the plain letter of the proposition. At the commencement of chap. xii. the dogmatick part of the epistle ends, and the exhortatory begins: and the present portion in particular has a reference to the rebellious risings of the Jewish inhabitants of Rome, against the constituted authorities of the empire; in opposition to which he urges the general duty of love, forbearance, and the evangelical spirit of peace. This, moreover, he affirms to be in effect the fulfilment of their whole law of social duties, as enjoined in the Mosaick commandments: and immediately, in ver. 9, he proceeds to the illustration of his rule, by allusions to separate and well known maxims in the decalogue; τὸ γὰς, “ Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, &c. referring expressly to the preceding in the assertion of ver. 8. The signification is too palpable to be mistaken.

"

The passages first proposed for discussion having thus been examined in their regular series, the amount of the whole stands thus: three of the citations adduced were claimed as examples of vous in the anarthrous form, yet with a definite sense; one was supported by evidence, producing not certainty, but extreme probability: one was left evenly balanced; and the remaining instance had no connexion with the inquiry.

If one exception on this point be established, however desirable in itself an infallible criterion might be, the system in its application here undoubtedly must fall. How far the present observations have attained the end for which they were first begun, is a matter

Sit pietas aliis, miracula tanta silere:
Ast ego cœlicolis gratum reor, ire per omnes
Hoc opus, et sacras populis innotescere leges.

PHARSALIA, L. X. v. 15.

New Haven, Oct. 13, 1821.

For the Gospel Advocate.
THE CREED.

M. E.

AMONG the numerous weapons which the opponents of the church have caught up in their rage against her, she has been assailed with the imputation of prescribing a creed which is not founded on scripture. The apostles' creed, it is said, is of this character. The best refutation of the charge is the collation of passages of scripture with the creed itself, showing at one view how ignorantly or uncandidly the church is aspersed; and how truly and exactly every word of this admirable suminary of Christian faith is founded on the words of our Saviour and the inspired writers of the bible.

I believe in God: Be ye sure that the Lord he is God, Psalm c. 2. The Father: The God and Father of all, Eph. iv. 6.: Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. i. 3. Almighty: the Almighty God, Gen. xvii. 1.: Trust ye

:

in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, Isaiah xxvi. 4: Great is the Lord and great is his power; yea, and his wisdom is infinite, Psalm cxii. 5. Maker of heaven and earth: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, Gen. i. 1. And in Jesus Christ: Jesus said, ye believe in God, believe also in me, John xiv. 1.: I am Jesus of Nazareth, John xviii. 7. 8.: I am the Messiab, John iv. 26. His only Son: I am the Son of God, Mark xiv. 62: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John iii. 16. Our Lord: Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am, John xiii. 13. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 Peter i. 11. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost: The angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, Matt. i. 20. Born of the virgin Mary: The virgin's name was Mary, and she brought forth her first born son, and his name was called Jesus, Luke i. 27. ii. 7, 21. Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified, Mark xv. 15. Was crucifi. ed: And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, Luke xxiii. 33. Dead and buried: And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost, Mark xv. 37: And Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus and laid it in a sepulchre, Luke xxiii. 53. He descended into hell: this day shalt thou be with me in paradise, Luke xxiii. 43: His soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption, Acts ii. 31. The third day he rose, from the dead: Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, Acts x. 40: Whereof we all are witnesses, Acts ii. 32. He ascended into 3 ADVOCATE, VOL. II.

heaven: And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven, Luke xxiv. 51. And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty: And sat on the right hand of God, Mark xvi. 19. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, Philip. iii. 20.: He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead, Acts x. 42. I believe in the Holy Ghost: Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Matthew xxviii. 19. The holy catholick church: Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish, Eph. v. 25, 27. The communion of saints: Ye are fellow citizens with the saints, Eph. ii. 19. Our conversation (the city and society to which we belong) is in heaven, Philip. iii. 20. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me, John xvii. 21.: That ye may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ, 1 John i. 3.: If a man love me he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him, John xiv. 23. The forgiveness of sins: In Christ we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, Col. i. 14. The resurrection of the body: So is the resurrection of the dead-it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, 1 Cor. xv. 42, 44.: Jesus Christ will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, Philip. iii. 21. And the life everlasting: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and

everlasting contempt, Daniel xii. 2.: And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day, John vi. 40.

This collation, originally made by bishop Burgess, of St. Davids, in England, claims no merit but its intrinsick force and plainness. The passages are carefully given from the bible; and unless the authority of this book is rejected, the words of this creed must be received as a true and adequate expression of every Christian's faith and belief. For here is no question touching the import of the words; but whether the words themselves are found in the scriptures. And all that the church calls on her members to believe when they repeat this creed are the truths which these words express in the bible itself. That the words are warranted by scripture, cannot, it is believed, be honestly denied. That the meaning of them in the creed is the same as in the bible, cannot, with candour, be even questioned. How then the charge against the church, that she prescribes a creed not founded in scripture, is sustained on authority, let candid and serious minds decide. It is enough for us that we have repelled the imputation. The motives and the temper with which episcopacy is thus assailed, we forbear to exhibit in their true light. The church is peaceable and unoffending. Reviling not when she is reviled; forbearing when traduced, she calmly refutes, with reasonings and authorities, unjust or unfounded accusations.

SERMON.-No. X.

cause their function is of more importance to the happiness of the world than any other; and the success of their labours must inevitably depend, in a great degree, upon the reputation they preserve.

If we inquire in what estimation they have been held, since the church of Christ was first instituted, we shall find that it has been very different in three great periods, which I shall call the primitive, the middle, and the present, period.

During the first of these, the clergy appear to have lived on terms of the utmost love and cordiality with their people, like fathers with their children, labouring night and day, in publick, and from house to house, for their spiritual improvement, willing to spend and to be spent, often, very often, laying down their lives, (which they might have saved by flight,) rather than des ert their beloved flocks.

Those flocks, on the other hand, held their pastors in the greatest respect, as the stewards of the mysteries of God, and ambassadors to them for Christ. They loved them, as they saw daily proofs that they were loved by them; and they were grateful for the benefits which they daily received.

But this happy state of things did not continue. After a few centuries, ignorance overspread the Christian world; religion itself was corrupted; and neither clergy nor people were any longer what they had been, or what they ought to be. The former indeed preserved their influence, or rather it was excessively increased, just in proportion as they deserved it less. The people held them in great reverence ; but it was not now a rational respect,

DELIVERED AT THE ADMISSION OF THREE founded on the real dignity of the office,

GENTLEMEN TO THE ORDER OF PRIEST-
HOOD.

1 TIM. iv. 12. Let no man despise thy youth.

THE character of the clergy is of more importauce than that of other men, be

or on the worth of the officer, but a superstitious awe, the offspring of ignorance, and a slavish fear of the power of the keys, whereby it was conceived the clergy could lock out from heaven, or admit, whomsoever they pleased.

The light of learning, at last, broke

in upon this long and dismal night, and introduced our third, or modern period. And as the character of the clergy had been too much exalted in the former, so perhaps it has been held in too little esteem since the present has commenced.

I own I am not the fittest person to decide upon that question, but I think it is not difficult to assign a reason why the case is so. For, besides that men are ever prone to run from one extreme to another; besides that the liberty of canvassing the character of their teachers, being new, would be apt to be exercised a little intemperately; besides those every day jests of common wits upon our profession, which are made with impunity, because the profession is too grave to answer or retort them; besides these minor causes, and others of the same sort, there was one of a deeper and more designing na ture. So long as Christianity was on that footing, that men might contrive to profess it, and yet keep their sins, no body quarrelled with it; but when it came to be preached, as it is in Christ Jesus, and universal holiness was laid down as its fundamental law, and the indispensable condition of acceptance with God; then it found (as its author had) many enemies; and to bring religion into disrepute, they knew there was no better way than to bring its ministers into contempt; and we may appeal to persons acquainted with the literature of the last century, how industriously the infidel writers laboured that point, and how fatally, in some countries, they succeeded.

Yet, notwithstanding all that such men have done, or ever can do, it is utterly impossible that an office, derived from the authority of heaven, and instituted for the greatest good of men; exercised for their consolation here, and their eternal happiness hereafter; an office ever employed about the highest things, and, to its right execution, requiring the greatest talents, and greatest cultivation of the human mind;

I say, it is quite impossible that such an office can be generally despised, except through the fault of those who bear it.

We have indeed a treasure committed to us. But we have it in earthen vessels. Our office never can bring contempt on us; but we may bring undeserved contempt upon it. We may be despised for our follies or vices; for intemperance, levity, ignorance, vanity, indolence, covetousness. All of us, therefore, old and young, should take great care not to let men despise us for any of these things.

But as the admonition, in the text, has particular reference to youth, and I now see before me certain younger brethren, to whom I once stood in a very interesting relation,* and who are about to be admitted to the sacred office of priesthood, I hope it will be excused, if I address the remainder of this discourse to them, and employ it in offering two or three points for their consideration, on which young men have, perhaps, more need to be guarded than those more advanced in years.

First, then, my young brethren, if it be asked why does the world bestow more respect upon an old man than' a young one, the chief reason must be, because the former has acquired (or is supposed to have acquired) more knowledge and experience than the other; and therefore to be better able to serve the interests of the society in which he lives.

If then you wish to procure respect for your youth, what is more obvious than that you should anticipate this state of things as much as you can. Strive to be old in useful knowledge, even whilst you are young in years.

Your seniors will not be jealous of such an emulation; but will even rejoice to see you overtake and surpass them, hoping that you will do good in your generation, and be the blessing

*They had been the author's pupils; were in deacons' orders; and were now to be admitted to the order of priesthood.

« PreviousContinue »