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    select preacher , of being the advocate of " forced and strained interpretations . " A charge niost indefinite and unsupported 1 By " forced and strained interpretations" an ecclesiastical

    disputant means interpretations widely differing from those which he himself embraces . Without attempting any general review or confutation of Mr . Belsham ' s work , Dr . Spry undertakes to examine his commentary upon the several texts adduced in the preceding

    sermons . Of these passages the first is Rom . i . 3 , 4 . For the just explanation of it , the select preacher refers again to Allix ' s visionary hypothesis , and gratuitous statements , and , moreover , avails himself of a long and irrelevant

    quotation from the writings of Bishop Bull . If Paul is permitted to be his own expositor , there will remain no doubt that a capital proof of the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth was his resurrection from the dead ; and that hence , as well as for other reasons , he is termed " the Son of God . " The

    Apostle ' s language , on this subject , in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans , must be compared with Acts xiii . 33 , and with ii . 24—37 ; from which portions of the New Testament it receives the clearest illustration . We have already submitted to our readers a translation of some of the

    introductory verses of the Epistle : we have shewn that the meaning of the words koltcx . crapKa is , 4 € by natural descent , " and of the phrase Tzvavjia , dyiacvyyj <; , " sacred inspiration . " In these points we fully agree with Mr . Belsham ; though we are friends to a

    translation more literal than his , and less paraphrastical . The matter has been treated in the happiest way by the incomparable Lardner . We shall give a reference below to his exposition of the text ; * as well as to an observation of Loeke ' s . f

    The select preacher censures Mr . Belshara for supposed injustice to the Apostle's statement in ^ Gal . iv . 4—7 . I > r . Spry has the luckless fate of being again confronted by an Archbishop .

    INewcome , one of the best theologians of any age or country , renders to ntypcciAcc T 8 xpovq , in his margin , by " the full time / ' So does Waketield : so does Mr . Belsham ; and , while to Works , Vol . XL ( 1788 ) , 116 , 117 , t On Ron . i . 4 .

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    our taste or perhaps to our habite , Dot to say our prepossessions , t&e words . " the fulness of the time / ' rather approve themselves , we perceive no solid difference in the meaning . It is with good reason that the author of the

    €€ Exposition , " &c , refers to ver . the second of the chapter , for an unquestionable comment on the phrase . The completion of the pupilage of the church , ( Acts vii . 38 , ) under the Taw * was the time determined in the Divine

    counsels , from eternity , as the aera of the Son of God ' s coming into the world * What does Dr . Spry intend by ** the opinion" Cp * 90 ) " of wiser men than , Wakefield , and more accurate tlieologians than Newconie" ? This sneer is indeed dishonourable ; and the dishonour is all his own . Gilbert Waie-f

    field , it shall be admitted , was not one " of that very foolish class of men , whom the world calls wise ia their generation . " He was no " tool of

    corruption , " no " spaniel slave of "power / ' But to great talents and attainments he added great virtues ; the virtues most characteristic of a

    genuine disciple of the blessed Jesus , though they were not altogether with- * out the alloy of human imperfection . As a scholar and a critic , nor least as a scriptural critic , his learning and his skill are far beyond our praise . In what respects Nevvcome was an inao curate theologian , we find it difficult

    to discern . His opinions , it may be , were not those of Dr . Spry : they were not precisely those which we ourselves entertain . Yet we do not therefore depreciate his labours as a translator and divine . To a most

    extensive acquaintance with books he joined unremitting diligence of personal investigation . His works are monuments of his piety , erudition , taste , judgment and Catholicism : his masterly Observations on our Lord ' s Conduct , " &c , would alone transmit

    his name with honour to posterity . This digression , if such it be , is imputable to the select preacher . In pursuing" our strictures on his appendix , we may observe , that there are

    passages id which the article is prefixed ( p . 92 ) to ttvsvjau , without giving it any other sense than that of a quality or disposition ; as 1 Cor . ii . 12 .

    Dr . Spry condemns Mr . Belsham ' s rendering and exposition of the word ccivv , in Heb . i . 3- Ci It is often used , " said that gentleman , " for age or dia-

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    B £ 6 kto * *~ 8 &tf * Tm Sermon * Iqfrre the UmversUtj of Oafordk 357

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1825, page 357, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2537/page/31/