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n r. L 1 G IO N, OR T II r. O L O G Y. 53?
pr{lOrS; :\r!~1 ;;5 there are oot to be hacl, ci thcr for one fide
Uf ,hlo! odu.:r; it is bdt to leave lhe afTalf nndccnicd: not
tOt:\ny ft'j l.t ln~ 1he POtots. however¡ ¡¡S lhcy are 01 IIIlinlte
ufe in th;: tluuy nt lhe J Icurcw langu:lgc. 1'hl)' who Il/v\!
to il,ll uc!U¡;e novl'lllcs ioto rellgloo, (I~y the 1,.Hu(ans of
BU'\tor:r.) woulrl uoubtlefs be charmcJ tO Ice Ihe points 10 -
tOlll ly ah" llih~d, t-.ecilu!e lhe)' then coulJ Ill. kc whdtC\'er
th..: y plc:.trt'd of the h.crcd tlXt. l~lIe aJhll t nts 01 C.lrell
ma:nlain, on lhe contrary. that by Ihe Igrofd nce or inad–
vcrtcncc of copyitls. there pOl nts ma)' ha\(: DClO tranfpole..i
formerly. or may be e¡¡,lily confounded anJ wrong p(;lccd
hcreaftcr ; which moly occahon t.h~ mofl d",ogerous t'rron ;
may gl\lc nr~ tu COnt rAI Y Ilh..,¡ningF, .¡ nJ ", hllnfical expl:c..t–
lions l,f lh~ fcriplure; \\ h.:r~as, by nOI ftdmming Iht: pOIOi.S,
an ..bl.e theologian wiJl prelerve, alle,, (t, lhe: liben y of e:x–
pl dining a palTage accolJlng lO analogy, and Ihe rules úf
good f,nfe
V. The acun/¡ have given rife to full as many difputcs.
Btlt th:s qudlion is nOI decldable bUI by lhe: Carne method ...s
t~e prC'cedlng: fqr \Ve c1early fee, by all lhe aneient mil–
nufcnpls, Ihtll (Ven Ihe Gre!.ks aod Romans ha('e wrole
witlioul aceents, bUI Ihar bOlh one and lhe other make !.Jfe
of '·owels. In poetlCal WVI ks e:lpecially, il is almoH il1l–
poffible 10 omit them ; and lhat language being no\V dead,
without accents we can find no cadence, no mcaCure.
Fotther ~10ntfaucon aírerts. with great appe:arance of proba_
bilily, that acceotuation was DOI Inlroduced til1lhefe\'enth
century
VI. The language of the N ew T eOament is the Greek ;
for al! that is fald of Ihe gofpel of St M.tthew being IVrole
in Hebrew, and 01 that ot St M ilik being onginally !.ompo·
fed ;0 Latin, IS but weakly rupported The Oyle, as we
luve already remarked, is not pure, whatever fome zealots
may improperl y, and WlthOUI redrOn, alfert lO the contrary.
The I. nguage ofthe New T eO.menl abounds w..h hebrairms .
VII. T he Ihe truth. and corrl,.étion of the
text, is the refult of repealt'd and judicious comptlnfons of
the variations i of which therl! are, accordmg lo Or MilI,
more rh"n twent y t~ourand T here vAriations have plO_
ceeded, partly from Ihe n'gligence of the copy'¡Is, and parto
Iy rrom Ihe 19norance of (he rt!vilors and ClJrrt élors of the
"OCICOI manuf..npts, who h"ve frequendy added and inclo·
fed the comnJen", whll,.:h were wrore in the marein, with
the "'XI. T he I-eretics of the firll 'ges, and Ihe impoOors,
bHe ..Ifo mí&de dlvers a~[eralions in (he text ¡Irelf, in order
to rUppOrt their errors; and thde alterations have nld into
olher copies. It is lhe comOlon Tule 10 follow the mofl <H'.
cieOl m:¡nuCcripts; as it is fuppo(t d. wuh reafon. that lhey
are the mofl correa: and to Ihefe are allo added the mofl
ancieol verr.ons .
VF ¡ The fi rO of Ihere v"fions is Ih.. or Ihe Stptua–
linl, which has heen al dll times hi).thly e(leemed. as well
~Y Ihe J ew, " the eh"lliar,s. T he H ebrew language be·
10g 1.,lt by th,. Jc:ws during the Ctl.pllVlty In Bdbylon. Oi ná
,he Grek Qlaleét b\ comlng rhe common I.wguAt!e ofthe eaíl,
Ihat ve,(ion was m..de In E~ypt by public aOlhol íty, and for
the ure of Ihe common peorle T he recond is IIJ." c.l!ed
Ihe VulgQ/~, whll,;h wa5 forOled frum the IrannAlIon of Sl
J c:rome, and froOl anolher th at was called YaJio 0 11119 /10.
A fte r thefe two tranflations come ~ he G reek vcdlUns, among
which <¡r.e rcckoned, l . Thflt of A'luda . \Vho has Ifanflated
the Or'gl nal He:brew verhatim , by IUtt ing over ca ch word
of Ihe Ht brew lexl, iu corrtfponding Grcck term o 2.
VOL . rl!. '. ?I.
1'h .. , of S)'III.'"a, , \Vho ;¡pplitd himfdf to wrifC the
Gr~ck Wili! plJrICy d egance. 3 Th.H ol' Thrcd1//'Jn ,
who h~s very clu(\ Iy fr.llowcd Ihe lext, not w lt~ fb n~linr. th• .:
fine bnguage he ernpl(,)'s. ú,.~¡;cn publdh ed lhd~ \'t:rli01 S
in fix I..¡ngu,t ~es in his cJ ition of lhe Uld T dl ... mcnt, \\ hich
he c.. lls ff'·X Jfl.l. T o all there verfions nuy be! f!ddcd.
~ . ThoCe of Jtri,,~f) ;rnJ NicoPDli,. which are much cde: –
blalcct. \Ve hAve nOI now any one of thefe \'crfivns enllre.
The fr;tgments that remaill Of themllave beenco\l(·thd .nll
publilhed by Drujilll aud F. M ?m(.II(o.. L . llly, T h,
Syrillc voji?nr, of which one WélS métete on Ihe H..:brew
te"' t itnd Ihe OIh er on the Greek.
lX. Thl: fdcrl:d crilicdm 15 likcwiCc employcd in ;tcqui–
r¡ng a knowlcdge of lhe prtncip..1and mon cdebratcd manu–
fCllpE:::, a~ \Vd I oC Ihe lacred text ufcl f, as of lhe u ar,{11-
Hons; In learolng lO dif.:crn the hand-wflung. and Ihe ef–
fenllal cllcI.raélenHics which difl!nguifh the re,tI original from
lhe counterfelts : and laHly. it IS employed in knowing Ihe
beft moder n cdltions oC lhe Huly Blble; as for example,
Ehe PolyglolS, among which lhoft: of L ondon, of the ycars
t 653 and 1655, are Ihe beO. The inl ",duflion by W , I_
Ion , whl..:h 15 .t the beginning of theCe editioos, is a mode1
and a mdllcrpit'ce ot Cacred cflticifm.
0l MORAL THE O LO G Y.
l . 1F it were allowable to compare theSaviour of.t he world
10 a weak mortal, we would fay , that the cODduét 01' JerU $
CllI dt refembled thtl.t of Socrales, who has lefl us 0 0 p Irt
of his dolbine in writiog. but whure whole in(huélions (.l.S
wel! as Ihe particulars 01 his life) h"'e been .colleaed, di–
gdled, and publifhed, by bis di lciples. The Evangehn.
are the ooly hi(lorians of the Meffiah: it is lO Ihelr Jabours
that we owe lhe knowledge of his a8.ion5 upon ean h. anr!
hi, divlne doa rine . The four Ev,ngehOs, and Ihe Aa, of
lhe ApoOlt:s \\Irore by SI. L uke. contaio Eherefore alfJTU
the hillory of the life of J efns ehriO, and Ihe doarine Iha<
he tanglll . H .. ' poOles and d,fciples heg,n by p' ''plua–
(ing his doétrine, as well by their evangelic fermons, as in
the epiOles Ihey add reffed 10 the f,ithful of fever.1 ehrillian
Churches: they have glven explicativns. and luve added
polnora! infiruétion5, wl1lch are in effed admlr.lule : but
w)lIch.. nevenhelefs. form nOI tbe origin..1 lext of Ihe diC–
courres of our Savlour. The bilbops of lhe apoíloPtc cen–
(ury, the fathers of the church in all fucceeding C~n;UTleF.
lhe other bifllops and eccJe(ia(bcs. lhe counc!ls, . (he fynods .
lhe doélors of lheology. lhe popes. the conr.nories, lhe re–
formen; likewif., and an In; nilY of theologians, hdve drawa
frorn lhe G ofpel. and fomelinJC:s 011\0 from lhe Ic[t('rs of lhe
apoftles, and from olhcr corumel.taries on the~G oCpd. '·a·
rious lenets i which, unite.1, form al this day lhe genrr;tl
fyllem of Ihe eh riO..n R eligion. T he Iheologians ",ho
devote themrelves 10 lhe fervice or lhe altar, (ludy this fy–
(lem in dle dogmalit: the laily learn it by means of cate–
chifms j alld alter tbey have made confeffion of lht',r faull.
fol emnl y adopl it, when they are--recel v~d inlo rhe ooCom of
lhe cbu rch .
11. !t is not ti,. wilh regard 10 the mO"¡¡IY of Je.
rus ChriH, whicb every olle may read in the G of"pcl; anJ
10 know which, it is nOI necdfary to become learncJ. nor
lO Iludy a compficatcd Cy(tem . .If Ehe elnJ;n¡allc \&!ere not
arroed " thouCand arguments ro eUabldh the: O:viniEY
or J efus ehriO. yet \Vould the moralily or his (; olp"- l"u f.
ficiently prove il ; fceing tb.t it i. perfealy holy, e~"rely
6 U t hOl!,!e,