Imatges de pàgina
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"the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the holy promises; of whom were the fathers." And after stating these high privileges of the Jews, he comes to the climax, and says, "From whom came (or descended) Christ," who is superior to all of them, to the fathers, and all the inspired Prophets, even David, and Moses, and all the illustrious Israelites. The advent of such a superior person as Christ, from Jewish ancestry, Paul seems to consider as the highest privilege and honor, that was ever bestowed upon his nation, and for which, it is natural to suppose, that his patriotism and his piety induced him to breathe forth his grateful emotions, "Blessed be God forevermore. Amen." From a close examination of the original of the text and context, I cannot doubt but such was Paul's meaning. The literal meaning of the Greek preposition eni is, superior to, or before; and navτõv (all) must be limited to what preceded; to the fathers and the distinguished Israelites. And it is perfectly natural that Paul should here have prayed - God blessed, or blessed be God forevermore. Amen!. as is the natural translation of the original words, εὐλογητὸς Θεός. For I find, the substantive verb "be" is generally omitted in the Greek, as in 2 Cor. i. 3, Eloyчtos ó Osos, "Blessed be God," &c.; and in other places. sides, if Paul had intended to inform the Romans, that Christ is the self-existent God, he would have said so, in unequivocal, plain terms; he would have written thus, "Christ, who is the Supreme God."

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If such were the fact, he would have expressed it plainly, and not have involved it in a cloud of thick darkness. I cannot, therefore, but conclude, that there is no proof of the supreme Divinity of Christ; while there is satisfactory evidence, that he is a Divine Being, transcendantly above men and angels, but less than God Almighty. The latter position is well supported by all the Gospels, and the declaration of Christ himself; and the voice of God repeatedly proclaimed it from heaven. See the quotations from Scripture, in the 2d Chapter of this work.

CHAPTER V.

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

ALTHOUGH We have found and noticed abundant evidence to prove that Christ is an extraordinary, a divine person, we have not yet discovered that he is supremely divine; that the Son of God is truly God himself. We will look further; for we are seriously desirous to find the evidence, if it can be found in any divine revelation.

In the 1st Epistle to Tim. iii. 16, Paul says, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." And manifestly, this text, as in our translation, is incorrect in some respects. Many of the most learned critics, who have examined all the manuscripts extant, are of opinion, that the reading of Otos (God) in this verse, is spurious; that it never was so written by Paul. But I will here remark, that it is not pretended that there are in existence any original manuscripts of Paul, or any of the Apostles, or that there has been any since the first or second centuries, or that any of the versions or translations of the Scriptures, that have been made, were so made from the original manuscripts; but from a copy, or a copy of a copy, perhaps the thousandth

copy of nine hundred and ninety-nine successive copies; and these all done by uninspired, imperfect men. Therefore it would not have been unreasonable to suppose, what we now know to be the fact, that there have crept in some unintentional errors; especially when we find that almost every word in the ancient Greek writings is abbreviated; that the vowels are seldom written or inserted; as for Otos (God) is written s (God), from which 'os (who) differs only in the omission of the small dash in the first Greek letter. Besides we are informed from good authority, that copyists, from good motives, made frequently some verbal alterations, not for the purpose of changing, but explaining the meaning of the passage. As for instance, a copyist comes to the adjective 'os-and finding no antecedent substantive, with which it can agree, or to which it can refer, he concludes that there is a mistake, that there should have been a dash in the first letter which would make it Oos (God); -he therefore corrects it, as he supposes, and writes it Os; thus making a great change by a mere dash of the pen. And we are assured from good authority, that in one of the most ancient manuscripts of this epistle, the dash in the in this text appears to be written in different ink from the rest of the epistle, and therefore could not have been originally so written. Another fact worthy of notice is, that this text was never quoted as a proof text of the Deity of Christ, in the time of the Arian controversy, or by any of the Greek fathers, before the last of the fourth cen

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tury, as it must have been, if the manuscripts had beens (God); for it is now considered by Trinitarians (as our translation is) a strong proof text.

Those, who reject the reading of òs as spurious, are not agreed what the true reading, instead of it, is. Some are for reading ́os (who, or he who,) and others for 'o (which). Now Griesbach and others are in favor of os. I cannot see how that can be correct, as there is no antecedent expressed, or necessarily understood, with which it can agree— uvorov (mystery) being of the neuter, and evoßeia (godliness) of the feminine gender, and 'os of the masculine. But 'o (which) will agree with uvotýQLOV (mystery), both being neuter. And I am inclined to believe, from examination of all the authorities, that o is the true reading, and that the whole verse should be translated and read, as hereafter interpreted. I object more to the translation of some other words in the text. I will give the original, and what I consider a correct translation, for consideration.

Ομολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· “Θεος ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, εδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ.

And manifestly, great is the mystery of piety, which (mystery) was made known by the flesh (that is, by Christ in the flesh,) justified by the Spirit, perceived by angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed in the world, received with glory. But, with either reading or translation, I cannot perceive that it affords any proof concerning the Supreme Divinity of Christ. The text, if taken strictly lit

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