Ephes. ii. 20. Ως ουν απεκαλύφθη τοις άγιος απότολοις αύλες και προφή Ταις εν Πνευματι. Ephes iii. 5.

I firmly believe the doctrine of the Trinity, as it is received by our church; but I do not wish to see it supported by any arguments, but such as will bear the test of the severest scrutiny. I am for beating down, not only all error, but all erroneous supports of truth.

I am persuaded, that Mr. G. Sharp, for whom I entertain a high respect, is impressed with the same sentiments, and actuated by the same motives. I would not willingly give up Mr. Sharp's Rule, until the merits of it have been fairly and fully examined; but I must confess, that I feel rather fearful of resting much of the proof of so important a doctrine, as that of the divinity of Christ, on so slender a foundation as the omission or insertion of a Greek article.

OUR

2 KINGS V. 17, 18, 19.

UR translators in common with many others have occasioned a perplexity to serious persons, by their version of part of the interesting and highly instructive narrative of Naaman.

After the Assyrian general had been healed in the ri ver Jordan and was returned to the prophet, he is made as it were to solicit permission, not only to continue to attend his master in the house of idols, but even to worship there and what is worse, as the passage stands, Elisha appears to give his sanction to the idolatrous practice.

But surely, as it is acknowleged on all hands, that the words in the original may be taken without any violence in the past tense, why was not the whole thus rendered?

"In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant; that when my master went into the house of Rimmon to worship there and he leaned on my hand, I bowed myself in the house of Rimmon: the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing, that I bowed myself in the house of Rimmon. And he [Elisha] said unto him, go in peace."

Istit credible, that a prophet of such zeal and piety as Elisha was, would encourage in a convert, that which was diametrically opposite to the law of God; and which always occasioned the most heavy denunciations of the divine displeasure against the Israelites? We read just preceding, that Naaman entreated to have two mules' lading of the earth of the country, declaring," that from henceforward he would offer sacrifice to no God, but the God of Israel." This piece of devotion is very antient among the Jews, and even among the Christians. Benjamin of Tudela says, that the Jews of Persia built their synagogue with earth and stones procured at Jerusalem. And we find, that the empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, caused a quantity to be brought to Rome, which she put into the church of the Holy Cross. Is it then to be supposed that Naaman, after making this becoming request, would immediately follow it up by asking leave to "bow down," that is, shew "external worship at least" in the house of Rimmon? An address of such a nature instead of drawing from the holy propheta benediction, would have roused his indignation; and instead of dismissing him affectionately with an answer of peace, which implied a full approbation of his words and his sentiments, he would undoubtedly have treated him as a hollow-hearted hypocrite, and one who "halted between God and Rimmon.”

An anecdote in this place may not be quite inappropriate. When James II. went in great state to his chapel, wherein mass was performed, he was accompanied by one of his principal noblemen, who stopped short at the door, on which the King said to him, "Your Lordship's father, my Lord, would have gone farther."-The conscientious courtier immediately replied, "May it please your Majesty, your Majesty's father would not have gone so far." ECCLESIASTES xi. 1.

Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after · many days.

There is hardly a passage in holy writ more obscure than this. It is generally considered as an encourage

ment

ment to the exercise of alms-giving; though how this can be compared to "casting bread upon the waters," we are left to find out. Bread, however made, is not likely to be preserved, or found again after being thrown into a river.

The word on here translated bread, signifies also the grain in general of which bread is made, and rendered waters, is often used for marshy or moist ground which lies near or on the sides of rivers. Let the text then be read thus, and the difficulty will be removed." Cast thy grain [or seed] into moist ground, and after many days [or in due time] thou shall find it again." Instead then of taking it as an incentive to acts of charity, it seems rather to be a monition for the whole economy of life; and to be a ge neral precept to husband well the gifts of Providence.

The propriety of this translation will appear stronger, if it is considered that the fertility of the ground in the East, depends on its being well watered and therefore, extraordinary pains and labour are exercised for the irri gation of lands. Dr. Shaw, after describing a machine used for this purpose in Egypt, says, "When therefore their pulse, safranon (or carthamus) melons, sugar-canes &c. (all which are commonly planted in rills) require to be refreshed, they strike out a plug, that is fixed in the bottom of one of these cisterns; and then the water gushing out, is conducted from one rill to another, by the gar dener; who is always ready, as occasion requires, to stop and divert the torrent, by turning the earth against it with his foot, and opening at the same time, with his mattock, a new trench to receive it. This method of conveying moisture and nourishment to a land that is rarely refreshed with rain, is often alluded to in the Holy Scriptures; where also it is made the distinguishing quality betwixt Egypt and the land of Canaan. For the land (says Moses to the children of Israel, Deut. xi. 10, 11.). whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, like as a garden of herbs; but the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys; and drinketh water of the rain of heaven."

The advice of Solomon, therefore, is rather a prudential maxim to be careful of making the best use of our talents and time: and to apply them in such a manner, and exercise them on such objects, as will in the end produce an adequate return of comfort and profit.

(To be continued.)

J, W.

ON

ON THE MERIT OF CHRIST.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S

SIR,

TH

MAGAZINE.

HE inquiry of your correspondent Sincerus, in your Number for March last, p. 185, respecting the manner in which the death of Christ operates to the salvation of Mankind, seems to deserve some notice. He approves, and in my opinion justly, of what Mr. (Not Dr.) Balguy, in his Essay on Redemption*, has written on this subject, as perfectly scriptural, and very rational;" i. e. of considering the redemption of mankind as conferred upon Christ in the way of a reward for his obedience: yet he thinks, that a difficulty still remains in conceiving how, considering who Christ was, there could be any merit in his obedience. In answer to • this, it may be sufficient to say, that the merit of our Saviour did not so much consist in that obedience, which he performed in our nature, as in his condescending to take our nature upon him; in his voluntarily undertaking the office of our redemption, with the foresight of all its consequences. It is to be considered, that Christ was the "brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his Person;" so in the form of God, as to think it not robbery (agayμs) to be equal with God+;" rich in that " glory, which he had with the Father before the world was;" and that, for the sole purpose of effecting our redemption, he was content to empty himself (avro exetwσs, Phil. ii. 7.) of that glory, and greatness, and happiness, and to take upon him the nature, not of angels, but of men (pogon done hßar), together with all the humiliations and sufferings attending it. Our Saviour's obedience in the flesh, after he had assumed it, is of ines

*The Essay on Redemption was first published in 1741, ly the author, John Balguy, M. A. Vicar of North-Aller.on, and afterwards (i. e. in 1785) republished by his son, the celebrated Thomas Balguy, D. D. Archdeacon of Winchester.

If the Socinian construction of these words be admitted, the force of the argument, which is here intended to be urged, will not be materially diminished.

Vol. X. Churchm. Mag. May 1806.

Z z

timable

timable use to us, as the example of what we ought to be, and it is very properly insisted on, by the sacred writers, as the object of our humble and earnest imitation; but, as he was both God and Man, his obedience, as your correspondent justly observes, was "wrought in him er necessitate," and no merit can, in strict propriety, be ascribed to it. Our gratitude to Christ, however, may very properly be excited by the consideration of his actual obedience and his consequent sufferings, as well as by the consideration of his voluntarily putting himself into à situation, in which, as he foresaw, that obedience would necessarily be called for and exercised, and those sufferings necessarily endured.

Why the particular mode of effecting our redemption, which it pleased God to employ, was chosen in preference to all other possible ones, is a different inquiry from the above; and it is an enquiry, into which, if we enter at all, we should enter with the greatest diffidence, and should lay but little stress on our conclusions; much less should we, as is the case with too many, make them conditions of communion and fellowship, or consider them as necessary articles of faith. By the help of revelation, if not without it, we may see many reasons, which will have a great effect on every considerate mind, why God should not grant the pardon of sin at the mere solicitation of the sinner, or on the mere condition of his repentance; and though we may not be able to discover all the reasons, which render the particular mode of our redemption the best possible, we may discover (all, perhaps, that was intended for our discovery) reasons enough to convince us of its wisdom, and abun dantly enough, one would think, to convince us of its mercy, and to dispose us to contemplate it with admiration and gratitude. Among these reasons, it is not to be esteemed the least, that an example of unsinning obedience was thus exhibited in our nature. In order to bring mankind to that degree of moral goodness, of which they are capable, this seems to have been necessary; and if any other Being than our Saviour had been placed in the same situation, and exposed to the same temptations, we do not know whether he would have been able to preserve his integrity, and to answer the intended gracious purpose of his mission.

To enter into a particular consideration of the disadvantages, under which Socinians or Unitarians must