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R E L 1 G ION, Oll T H E O L O G Y.
phure, the Greek veruün of tbe S:!ptOlgl0t, 2nd me an·
cicot L:ai" cdition. T'he fecood is tbat which is caBed
the n OJal ·JJibtc. prin,ed a' Antlverp in 1572. T ile ,hird.
, ha! of " JaJ. prinle<l a' P.ris In 1645. The fou ,th is
.he F..,gliJ¡' poljg(:I. printed at L onjori it 16'7. of 'Nhieh
W dlton is the editor. There are {hll (e'/erdl ruare lhat
have lJeen printt:d lince, but they are ne:irher fa compll!te
nar fa cel~)r;\ted as the farme(.
XVII. The Bíbles tha, are eaIled BiMia Clo(f.lla. are
alfo herc of very great ufe. The rilcred texl is lheTe evc.
ry whcre ~ccompanied with explanations and ob(ervatian5.
Thefe are of theCe in-each of rhe three princIpal cl)[)lmunion-s
of ;he e .riUian Religion. and in mort of lhe ñl0dera Jangua–
'ge, of Europe. Laflly. as Ihe in«rpremion of Ihe fa.
cred texl de-pcnds in a great me~.rure 00 lhe ltghts ;\nd rhe
proof. dra\Vn ~y eompariog .•~gether different p~ffages of
rcripture, there are (cveral Blbles where the edltors have
pl aeed . on theGde of eaeh verfe of ,he .ex,. whal they
caJl {he Con,,,,d,,,,ct, that ¡s. a citation of other paralld
" .ff'ges. wlu elt are found difperfed in the Old .od New
Ten.meo" Thef~ Coneordanees are o( daily aud iodlf
\>enrable ufe fO lhe divine, in compoGng his fermons, and
in many parts ofhis minifhy. 8ee BIBLE.
XVlll. Thefe paraIlelifms are ye, differen, from th..
whieh theol eaIl the "al para/feliflll; by whieh they
mean, /Iu rela fi, n thal ,h, I]picalor paraholic finj, of a
,al!ag. hOJ 'With'Who! Ih. ,xP"ffi01lJ lil<rolly imp!y. or¡ú",
1_ imp!y; Ih, "'jJlie ftnft 'Wilh Ih, "al ftnft; Ih, figura
"tInd JIu ¡mago thl.1/ Ih, fa cred aulhDrJ have ,mplDJed,
'lJJilh Ih, IhillgJ Qr Ih. ohj-rIJ Ihal lh" inlwd" lo d'fcrih,.
The grearen theoJogians have taken infinite palos in deter_
mining theCe points, ex plaining theOl, and producing tbeir
pro@fs : in many places they have fucceeded; and \Ve can.
nel but admire their Cagacity, their 2eal, and their fuccefs :
it muCl De acknowledged, bowever, tb'u t~ley bave oot yet
'C!eared up al1 the obfeurities ; tha, there are many dark p.r.
fages aill remaining in the prophets. in the Song of Songs.
in the book of Job. aod above aH in the Apoealypfe ; on
which have beeo hitherto thrown mere glimmerings, which
are very far from affording a futlieien, light. The explica.
tions t~at have been attempted of thefe palI"ages are fre–
quently fo unjun, fo unoataral. ano improbable. and al the
-fame time fo futile, that they rebel againll: common CeoCe,
and only give us oeeafion 10 deplore the imbeciHi,y of the
human underflanding.
XIX . Tite Jan labour of him who would become ae.
quainted with the Hermeneutic, is in what is c¡¡lIed L~{lio
.¡1eroomalieo; by means;of whieh. eaeh book of the Holy
Scripture is examined from one end to the mher, wirh rela–
tion tO eeography ancient an~ modern, geneaJogy, chrono–
logy, hiltory, and aotiquities; from whence a rational Cy–
Jlem is fo rmed, aecording to .he nies of found logie. This
work is attended with fo many difficuhies Olnd diHraélions,
that ir is almoCl imponible to accompliCh it, without the af–
/inanee of a guide, ao able profeffor. and a eomplele aeade.
mica! courfe.
XX. Furnilhed with ,hefe ideas. the .heologian may
venture to invenigate th< true fenfe of thofe paffages of Holy
Scripture that may appear to him obfcure, contradiétory,
or difficult, and tOinterpret them tOothers: but he will
be more wire, and le(s vain, than to attempt lOimpore his
decifions on mankind, at all times, as aUlhentic and ¡of¡¡l,
lible. The buman difeernment is ever confioed and impero
fea; .,~ God has no! 2ramed lO ar.y 0110 , ,"eologia••
or affc:.mblyof divine5, ;{n ('xdIJ~\'e power of interpretiog his
dh'inl: word : he h~s moreovcr J,col1nced bis anatl)ema a·
giliioll ¡¡JI thoCe ""ho fh¡: 1I a¿d, (Ir take away, a ringle \Vord
thereof. [O explore {he t I ue (enre of aoy pa(fage, and
to explAin il [U (,thers, C30m". c.::rtaicly be deimed elther ad–
ding or recrenching.
O[ S'CREO CRlTICISM.
1. As the au,hors and profcffors. who treat of the diffe·
rent pans of theology, make flequco t mention of lhe (acred
"Criliclfm, \Ve muH Dot omit tOfhew in what manner it is
cO:lne~)ed Wilh ... lhe Exegefis and the Hermeneutic, and in
what rdpcél: it for Ols a feparate doétrine or (cieoce. Criti·
cifm, iD geDer:!l. is in f.u~'t no tnore Ihan a fuperior part of
grammat; a klOd of rationd grarnmar ~ouDded on reftet:tion,
and ,he rules of language; bul whleh employs Ihe ..d of
dlvers other (cieoces, as hifiory. chrooology, anliquides.
6 c. io order lO fearch out aod dc:terDlÍne tbe,uue reofe olan.
obfeure or ambiguou. p.ffage. The faered eli,ieifm is only
dininguilhed by its objea; il .dopts the fame rules. bu, il
. adds others whlch take their rife and principies from [he pe–
culiar language of ,he New Tenamenl; and ha. regard to
the Bible in general. 3n accoanl of the natuce., e{feoce, and
qualities of its divine AUlhor. So far ,it has 3D intimate
conneétion Wilh the Exegefis.
n . But, ifIVe IVould eonGder i. as a feparate lludy. IVe
may fay, thar it is a fcience which is employed inexamining
th e exterior circumílances of the Holy Scnpture. for ex·
ample: in what time each book was wrote; who was ilS
author; (he .precifion and 6delity of the text; the dill:ioc·
tion between lhe canonical boaks and lhe apocryphal ; and
maoy other matters of Iike nature. In orderCl:ill Ihe bC'tter
to Chow in what manner, and with how much preCautiOA, the
facred critifm proceeds in its operations, we {haW here re·
cite fome 01' ,hofe fubjeéts tha! bcIoog to its provioee.
111. Itis commonly received, that il was Efaras who, af·
' er ,he retUrn from ,he eaplivity of Babylon. eoUeaed and
fixed ,he eaoon of Ihe faered book. of the Old Tellament.
This at leal! is the opioion of the J ews. who aU attribule
to him that glorious work ; and the alfenion appears fo much
the' more probable. as it \Vas ,he farne Efdras who renablilh·
ed their who brough' .he \Vhole Jewilh people in,o
one body as a nation, and (ormed the Judaic republie. whieh
Was fo ¡ntimately connelled with their religion. The col–
leaing of Ihe canon of the books of ,he New T ellament
is attnbmed; Wilh great appearance of probability, to St
]oho; although hiftoric and formal tellimonies of it canDot
be produeed. unlefs il be whal Euf.biu. rela.e. of the
four Evangeliíls. 10 procefs of time, each couDcil has
deeided what books Ihould thereafter be held by ,he Chri·
fiian church as caoonicdl ; and u'e commoDly find, at Ihe
end of the deerees of eaeh eouncil. a repertory or lin of
thofe books.
IV. T he Old T ell,ment \Vas IVrote in Hebrew. exeept
a fmaU number of paffages where the dialea is Chaldean.
The form of the Jetttrs or char~lters, as we now have Ihem,
are alfo properly Chaldean ; whereas. before the Babylonilh
cap:i\'ity, Ihe Sdmaritan charader was probably ufed. Bux·
,orlf .nd C.pell have had warm difpu,es upon the fubjea
of the vowel, poinrs: Ihe former would relain thefe:: poinrs, and
Ihe lalter rejeds lhem ; each of Ihem has had his adherenls.
A s 'i, is impofiible to d:cide in .bis difpule but by hinorie
proofs ;