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I am not duped by the mere shew and appearance of the members of the different sects; all the good I see in them, my Creed, and my principles of Religion lead me to imitate. Let the worthy member of the Church make this useful and instructive observation, and he will learn a most useful lesson. The general character of the Quakers is praise-worthy; they are much indebted to the smallness of their sect for this advantage, which is by no means more necessarily derived from Quakerism than from that Church which has all the supreme excellency of Religion within itself, under whose fostering care and protection such striking characters of the greatest goodness have been sent into the world, like shining lights in a land of darkness; men who have proved beyond a power of contradiction that there can be no necessity of secession from the established Church to be all that religion teaches us. Let the Quaker deny himself the pleasure arising from the amusements of the stage, the ball-room, and other places of public resort. The times certainly are corrupt; the theatres certainly are grossly defiled: but the entire relinquishment of such scenes of amusement has a tendency to make negative characters; characters who fear temptation, lest they should be tempted and fall: and much may be argued for such conduct. But a truly religious man, whose principles are firmly fixed, can walk uncontaminated in the midst of corruption, can walk blameless in the midst of a sinful world. But grant, that the attendance upon public places under existing circumstances, from the horrid state of depravity which mankind is fallen into, leads to vice; I say, grant, a really conscientious man feels he is in danger from frequenting the theatres, what ought he to do? Why, feeling as he feels, he ought decidedly to forego the gratification of pleasure when attended with bad consequences. But let him not fancy he cannot be a good man according to the most scrupulous points of conscience, and remain a worthy Church-man. His peculiar disposition may demand peculiar treatment; but how. truly absurd and preposterous for a man thus seriously disposed to think he must turn Quaker, or some gloomy sectarian! it is mere folly and madness. Let him enter what sect he will, let him bear in mind, he will find himself grievously deceived if he expect to find any stronger incitement to a religious life and conversation, than he found, or might have found, in the CHURCH. What shall

we

We say then? What can we think of such conduct? There is but one fold and one shepherd, the Lord Jesus.

Sobriety of action and conduct denotes the new and sincere disciple of Christ. Stedfastness in his faith and doctrine is the test, the surest test of the sincere hearted. Those who are ready at every new wind of doctrine to cry, σε Lo, here is Christ," or, "Lo, there," we may be assured are tottering and wavering in their sentiments, and that their religious principles are built upon a sandy foundation. The road to Heaven is straight and narrow, and not that ready-made path which too many are planning and making for themselves.

Let the worthy member of the CHURCH follow the path his duty leads him into, and I need not say he will want no other guide to lead him, nor any other name to be called by. The doctrine of the Church is pure, holy, rational, devoid of enthusiasm, and of all those plagues which infect different sects. I take my leave for the present,

And am most sincerely your's,

London,

November, 1806.

SCRUTATOR.

UPON THE PROPER MANNER OF RECONCILING APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE.

By the Rev. THOMAS LUDLAM. A. M.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S
MAGAZINE.

SIR,

WHE

HEN two texts of Scripture seem to contradict each other, the proper way of removing such dif ficulty is, not by attempting to explain such texts, which at best is but a mere human exposition of divine

revelation;

revelation; but to produce some other text, which clearly reconciles the seemingly inconsistent passages. Thus :

TITUS, iii. 4, 5.

If the Apostle had intended to exclude all human agency from a claim to any efficacy in the work of our Salvation, could he have expressed himself more clearly, or more fully? OTE de xensoins, when the benevolence, not only the general principle of benevolence, but the more particular one of pinálgaria, philanthropy, the love of men as men, because in this, God peculiarly manifested his love towards us, arising not εξ έργων των εν δικαιοσυνη (the casual preposition), ων εποιησαμεν ἡμεις, i. e. works originating in rectitude, the great principle of holiness, αλλα κατα τον αυτό έλεον, but in consequence of his own innate pity and compassion alone, soos nuas. And to make εσωσεν ήμας. this matter still plainer, the Apostle rehearses the particular means made use of for this purpose. He (God) did it δια λεξεις παλιγγενεσίας (not της παλιγγενεσίας) because it was a matter discoverable only by revelation, njavanasowσεως Πνεύμαλος άγιε, being far beyond the reach of human reason, and the bounds of human imagination; SixaderTes, that, though sinners, being treated as righteous persons T Exe8 xapITI, we might be made heirs of eter nal life, al' λida, scilicet as λnows aula, Eph. i. 18.

On the other hand, had this same Apostle intended to show the efficacy of human conduct in the work of our salvation, could he have manifested it more clearly, or more fully than by his exhortation, Phil. ii. 12. zalep yageodai Thy earluv owlpiar, i. e. to labour hard at working out (xalepyageo dai) their own salvation?

Now, it has been thought sufficient to remove this apparent inconsistency in the two passages, to allege, that the design of human salvation originated in the Divine Mind, without respect to any part of the conduct of mankind. But though the purpose of bestowing salvation upon fallen men certainly originated with the Father κατα την ευδοκιανθηληματος. aule, yet, if the possession of this gift depends upon human, conduct, can this gift be said to be WHOLLY Owing to the commiseration of the Supreme Being? When benefits are granted upon conditions, compliance with the conditions changes the nature of the favour into that of a contract. It is to speak with the civilians, a beneficial covenant, and withdrawing the benefit becomes an act of injustice. But

if, instead of this imperfect view of the matter, imperfect, because the two disputable texts alone are attended to, information had been sought from some other text, that is, in this instance, from the Apostle's question, Heb. ii. 3. Πως ημεις εφευξόμεθα τηλικαύλης αμηλοσανίες σωτηρίας, the nature of this salvation, as respecting both the anthor and the receiver of it, would have plainly appeared. For, though we may neglect, that is, forbear to attend to, or to perform, many matters, which relate to our duty, or our interest, we cannot properly be said to neglect that which" it is not in our power either to attend to, or to perform.

CORRECTION OF SUPPOSED MISTRANSLATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

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are not rightly translated. It is possible, that the mistranslation of them has been noticed, by some commentator or other, but I do not recollect to have seen it noticed. Some, too, may think, that the mistakes are not of sufficient importance to deserve notice. I am of opinion, however, that no pains are misemployed, which contribute to bring any part of Scripture, whether in the original, or in translations, to the greatest possible degree of purity in the one, and accuracy in the other.

The first passage is Luke i. 54, 55, which, in Buck's edition of the Greek Testament, is thus pointed, All Ισραηλ παιδος αυτέ, μνησθηναι ελεος (καθώς ελάλησε προς τις πατέρας ἡμῶν, τῶ Αβρααμ, καὶ τῶ σπέρματι αυτε) εις τον αιώνα. In our version of the New Testament, this passage is thus translated:

'He

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"He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever."

In the Magnificat, a hymn used in the daily service, it stands thus, He, remembering his mercy, hath holpen his servant Israel; as he promised to our forefather Abraham, and his seed for ever." Now, it is evident, that in these translations, "Abraham and his seed for ever," are put in apposition with "our fathers, or forefathers," as signifying the same persons. But it is not very good sense to say, that Abraham and his seed for ever, were the forefathers of those in whose name Zecharias made this declaration. In the original, this is not said; for res walepas is not put in the same case, nor in apposition, with τῷ Αβρααμ, καὶ τὰ σπερμαίι αυτό, εις τον αιώνα. The words καθώς ελάλησε προς τις πατέρας ήμων, ought, I think, to be considered as a parenthesis, and the passage to be translated thus: "He hath holpen his servant Israel, remembering the mercy, of which he spake to our fathers, towards Abraham and his seed for ever."

The other passage is Mark vi. 32, 33. Kα απõldov aç ἔρημον τοπον τῷ πλοιῳ καὶ ἰδίαν. Και είδον αυτός υπαγονίας δι οχλοι κα επέγνωσαν αυτόν πολλοι και πεζη απο πασῶν τῶν πόλεων συνεδραμον εκεί, και Agañador aules, yourñador #gos autor, which is thus translated,

And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him." Now, it is not very natural for the Evangelist, nor does it make much for his purpose, to inform us here, that "many knew Jesus." It is pretty evident, therefore, that the word in the 33d verse, as also in the 34th, refers, not to Jesus, but to the word roos, which had been used in the 31st verse, and that the passage should be rendered thus: "And they departed into a desert place by ship pri vately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew the place, and ran afoot thither out of all the cities, and outwent them, and were gathered together there."

αυτον

This interpretation is confirmed, and in a manner which leaves no room for doubt, by the parallel passages in St. Matthew and St. Luke. In the first of these, Matt. xiv. 13. the original is, Και άκεσας ὁ Ιησές ανεχώρησεν εκείθεν ἐν πλοίω εις ερήμνο τοπον κατ' ιδίαν. Και ακεσαίες οι όχλοι ηκολούθησαν αὐλῶ πεζή ATO TWY WXEW; and the translation, "When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place

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