615 / 868
R E L 1 G ION,
OR
T H E O L O G Y
t r>
prove the exincncc and the atuibutes of (he Supreme
n eing; (he neceOi,y
o(
the erea.tiao of the univerfe
by
Al ·
tnighty G
ld ,'
in oppofition
tO
every other poOible m"anner
of
liS
bt:ing produced;:,
it
furnifh.e!l,
nloreOVer,
pJ.lufible
c_)njeaur~s
concef.lling
the
¡ntenrion of
tbe Almlghty
in crea–
ting this world; it proves the necefIity of
<lo
perpelU:d power
fa
preferve
it
j
it
fuppofcs,
that, as God could not produce
;¡J:ny
thing that \Vas
not perfeét in its kind, he cOllld oot have
t~e<lTcd
man as
he
DOW is;
jt
vinJicates the' condul..C):
of
the
Supreme Being, in"-ppointingchaftifements for tratifgrdI1ons.
by
(h~wing
lh
tl
moral evil was nor introduced ioto the
world by abrolu,e oeceffi,y, bu, by ,he . bure of liberty, ,he
mu/l noble
prr.ro~ative
of the human
foul : it determines the
neceffiTY or
a
tv'rediator; it furniChe, arguments
rol'
the
be
a
J
ef or {he i.mmortality of rhe ruul,
and
of
a
rUlare nate
th~t
~ f\S
a reLuion
te
the moral a(tions of this Jife; and
1~H1 y,
h
¡nrpires a love of God as a Being of (overeign perfetlion
t
a gratitude towuds hiOl as ou r creatar and preferver, 'and
f.
fubmiftio~
to his will as
OUf
fupreme
rule~
and direétor,
motives of aH others
lbe
mofl: powerCully conducive lO
a
'Yirtuous conduH.
X lt,is 11¡is ufe which tbeology m.k.. of philorophy,
lhat has given occarion lo divide the (hefes
of
,he dQgmatic
:010
pure and mixed; that
¡s,
into thefes lhat are founded
~'I)lirely
upon revelatíon; and, fu ch as arife from aD union of
T('a(on with revelation . Of the
firfi
fort are,
l .
The ar·
ticJe of the H vly Scripture itfelf; which treats of ¡ts divine
origin, ¡ts authority, ,,and its efficacy.
'2.
The
dogma of
the Trinity.
3,
That of the origin of eval, ""Or of original
lio . 4. The whole .• rticle of Jefus ehrill . .5. T he dogo
ma of ,he efficacy and opera,ioos of ,he Holy G holl. 6.
That of ,he fac,.meo" . 7. That of repen..oce.
8.
That
cf the belldin Jorus ehrill. 9. Tha! of good aod bad ao·
gel, .
10.
That of ,he eñd of ,he world, aod ,he lalljudge·
m,·ot.
11.
That of ,he chúrch, &c. The mll<ed dogm.s
ur
,h('f~s
are,
l .
The
doétrine of
a
Supreme
Being. in ge
a
D!ral ; his being, his ¡Htributes,
and
his works.
2 ,
That
of· the creatjon .
3.
That of providence,
Of
tbe .conferva·
.ioo of the world.
4'
Of fio, as a traofgreffioo of thdaws
uf G od. 5. Of. rewards aDd punif'hments afcer deatk,
6c.
H e that
attentively
{ludies,
thoroughly comprehends-,
and
\Vd l eligell, all ,hefe thefes, will have redfoo to reCl con,eot
wi,h his knowledge of ,he dogma,ic.
Of lEe
EXECESIS
and
f"~
HE RMENEUTJC .
1.
TH '
' erOl
Exego/l'
is derived from ,h.e G:reek verb
'EX·t'¿O NST~t,
which fignifies to
re/ale
or
explain
j
and
thaL
of
Hum~neutic
from
ERME'NEU E IN ,
which means tO
¡rareó inlo,
and, in a fig,urative feo fe,
IhQroughly lo
~xamine,
and
i'11t~,.pr(I ,
T he
learned, but
efpecially
the
theologians,
make
ufe
of
thefe ",Iords. fometimes as rynonym¡,
tO
ex·
pre:s
[he
fame
1hin.g. and
fomelimes
(as
there are (carce any
terms ,b...re perfe81y fyoooymous) ' o deno,e a fmall dif·
feTence between t\Vo pans of learning
of
lhe
Carne
nature.
H'y
,he
~vord
Exegefis chey mean ,
,halfticnce whifh leaphcJ
c1iarly
16
i"v'fligof' fh, frr" fonje o/ fh, original fexf
of
the
h9/y
fcripturu;~
and by
¡he
H ermeneutic,
th( art
t[
inferpreling
and
ex,olrlinillg
tlH ho!y
fcrip/uru lo o·
IherJ ..
This diflinétion
is
fo fubtle, that it becomes al–
fTlo(l frivolous.
T hey
are, in
faél, the
fame fcience
j
the
ODe
is only an explication of ·the other, and f.o r that
reafoD
we think we are authoriCed to treat of them together
iD
thiCl pl..
ce.
II. In
order to
the
true
undedh .cding of lhe
facred text
of all the boo'" cootaioed in the J-Ioly Bible, whether of
the
O ld or
New T d lameor,
it
is abfolurely " eceHa ry lhat
the
theologi.n.be,horoughly acquain,ed.
00'
ooly \\11th the
laoguages
in
which thefe books were origi nif.lly
\Orote,
but
likewife w¡lh the hillory
and
a" tiquities of thofe re–
mOle times
\O
which their authors lived . \Vith regard
tO
reCearches iota the hinory
oC
tbe J ewiCh nal ion, lheir aoti.
quiries,
th.irmorals, and
rheir
cuHoms,
it
\VIII
be found
ad.
vantageous to purfue
i[
as
f.r as the "ature of the fl1bjeét
\ViII
admit, without,
ho""ever,
engaging in critical
fubtle.
lies, that lead
to a
labyrinth to which (here is no end,
ami have fpread more clouds over theC'logy thao even
[he
fcholaflic controverfies hu'e Cormerl)' done.
JIL He who ..,ould fucc¿r,f.lly iOlerpret aoy work what'o
ever,
fuoold
firfi
confirler the [pirit in which
ic is
wrote : he
fnould atteo,ively refit tl on ,he general defi gn of ,hat work,
and the ptl.rticular motives that indl1ced che author to un)
dert¡¡,ke it ; his!genll1s, his paffions, his .aUe ; che time,
lhe
place, and lhe people for whom ie
Wa!
wntten. 'Thefe
confiderations are, above all, necelfary) when we would un–
derrake the explication of (he Holy Scríp!ures. l ridependent
of,hore .refletlioos which ,he ,heologian will of himrelf na'
turally make
0 0
the fobjefl, the excellent commentaries
which we have on (he Bible, in which lhe greatefl men of
every age have exerclfed their genius, may ferve
him
as
a
guide in
~his
courfe. The CrltiCill hiClones wiIJ Ilkewife
afford great aid, and throw admirable lights on thls manero
Clear ideas,
3D
acure di(cernment. and
a
folid j udgmeot,
will
completethe work .
IV. W " h regard t<> ,he laogu.g« necerr"y for uoder·
llaoaiog ,hefacred ..xt, the Hebrew language hold ,he fir(\
place. The Hodent Chollld have earJy recourfe
lO
the
1Han ·
ner o/ .ccwfing,
aod ,he
frlajfor.'
of ,he J ews : to .hefo
he may add, wlth advantagé, the reading of the J ewifh
io–
terprelers or
Rabbinr.
There are lhe grammars and dic–
tionaries, Rabbinic and T almudic, of Buxtorff, CeHariu$-,
aod o,he". ""hich gready f1Ícilitate his [\udy. The T al–
mud,
it
is
[rue
is nuffed
with
a
thoufand fables ana ridicu
a
lou9 Hories ;
it
coOlains, o·otwithnaDding.
fOI1)~:things
ufeful
and curio·us. which lhe learaed theologian fi1.S\1ld
not
entire_
ly pafs overo F or ,he well underfl-:1odiog of ,he explica.
tioos aod applica,ions of ,he
be~
R. bbios, he fho uld l,kewife
have recourfe to their
Cabbala,
whicll¡ they divide· into
real
and
liber.l.
V .
T he
M{1fforel
is
a
kind
ofcriric on rhe H ebrewl-ext,
that the aDcieOl J t'wi(h. doéters invented, in order
lO
prevent
any
~Jtera[ion,
Tbey [·here counr (he verfes, [·he words, and
the letters of the cext, and have marked
aH
their Glverfities.
T he text of t·he f'ácred books
wa~
formerly wrote in cIofe
continuarion, withou.t any diftintlion
of
chapters, verfes,
or
even words. after (he manner ofthe anciems,
,as
we fii lLfee
in many manufcripts. As the facred books bave under–
gane an infifliry of changes, which form various read irlgs;
and
as·
[he (rue original has been either lofl: or altered;
th~
J ews have had recaude la
."lIS
rule which
th:oy
have j udged
iof. llible, . od whidr ,hey caH ,he Marrora, ,o.6x the read.
diog pf .he H ebrew ' ex ' .
V1. The aocieo, Rabbios, or D otlors of,.he Jewifh. la
w,
havo
• TLe E,.'(cgcfis is a kind of rational grlmmar. Thc H c!
rme:leutic.isthe art or intcrpreting eptire..paffages.