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    we l&utoglze—( t * vtoriipti * rtft tvfayicu ; 8 * * ii § wy&fA £ V , alludin g' fa txfcayin , as a title of the sacrament )—** that cup of biasing whieh we bless , is it not a partaking-of tfie blood of Christ ? The loaf which we break , is it not a partaking * of the body of Christ V What

    was this idolatry , against which the apostle cautioned the Corinthian converts ? Did it not consist in regarding the cup and the loaf not as symbols of the blood and body , that is , symbols of Christ being a real human being , and having really died , but as symbols of his divine nature ? It would not be

    safe to ascribe any meaning to the words of the Apostle Paul in any place , if this be not implied in his words on this occasion . Though the impostors pretended to honour Christ as a God , they uniformly refused to acknowledge him as their

    Lordi a § e Kuptov auTov ovo / xa ^ etv 5 e \ e < ri > says Irenseus , p . 9 . The reason was , that if they acknowledged him as LfOrdy they must have acknowledged their obligation to obey his moral preceptsy and to imbibe his pure and holy example . If they looked to him

    as their lord , they stood to him in the relation of servants to a master , to whose authority they were obliged to submit , and whose work they were bound to do . This is the point upon which the following words of our apostle turn : " For such men are not servants of our Lord Jesus Christ ,

    but of their own belly /* In another place he says , " their belly was their God , " alluding , by both expressions , to the well-known fact that these deceivers pretended to honour Christ's divinity by the festivals which they frequented , but the object of which in

    reality was to pamper their appetites and to gratify their lusts . ' Irenseus , ( p . 31 , ) speaking of them , thus happily illustrates the language of Paul : * ' These men , serving the pleasures of the flesh , say that they ought to

    indulge the flesh with the works of the flesh ; and the women who have imbibed from thetn this doctrine , they debauch in secret . " Josephus himself has re * corded one signal instance of the abo * urinations which they practised . The crimes of which the Gnostics were

    guilty were imputed by their enemies to all the followers of Jesua without discrimination ; and it was in the practice of tUe nro ^ t aubtle and rancorous

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    foes , under the name <) f friends , that the imputations entirely ori ginated * , The impostors , ;•; I wave * observe called the divinity said miracul ous birth < of Christ , but Which Paul calls offensive doctrines , contrary to the

    doctrine which the eonverts had at first learned , % prj

    consequence of evading ^ by false representations , those unreasonable objections which the mistaken notions and the depraved principles of the world threw in the way of its progress . Now , it is observable , that if we pass over the words in the parenthesis , and

    consider the subsequent in connexion with the preceding part of the sentence , this will actually appear to be the pretence for their specious impostures . * ' And by their doctrine of Chrestus , and their e \ ilogy of him , " ( i . e . their festival in honour of his

    divinity , ) " they deceive the hearts of the simple—but the God of peace will quickly bruise Satan under your feet ;" as though he had said , " These men propagate their falsehoods under the pretext of deceiving Satan , but in reality they deceive only those who ,

    unlike themselves , possess innocent and guileless hearts . And as to Satan , the great adversary that retards the gospel , the Almighty , instead of im * posing on him by lies , or opposing him by violence and contention , will speedily bruise him under your feet -y and thi 3 he will do by means consistent with gentleness , peace and

    truth . " Our Lord wishing to prevent his apostles from adopting the conduct pursued by the Gnostic teachers in the propagation of their system , among many' other appropriate directions , delivered to them the following : —

    ** Be ye wise as the serpent , and harm * less as the dove / 1 This maxim , though dictated in opposition to them , the deceivers perverted to a justification of their falsehoods , interpreting rt thus , and omitting the last clause :- * ' * As Jthe serpent , or 8 aUn , employe " his wisdom to deceive 5 the tfioUiero * 1

    mankind ; so may you * ' after Ufotf *? * pie , employ t £ u * same : « flf ^> t ( M& ^** the serpent , m ^ tim Quto ^ tihUw ^

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    & % & * fhe Doctrines ofttfce &i&initp aftAtftiffottlrifa ^ BMh of * € fkr § $ f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1823, page 572, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1789/page/12/