grace, which your notion of atonement tends to subvert. I grant that it has been my aim to shake that sandy foundation, on which I fear too many are building, i. e. the notion that sinners become righ teous by being wrapped up in the personal righteousness of another, in direct opposition to the words of Christ, (Matt. vii. 24.) that none but those who do what he hath said, build upon a good foundation; and of his beloved disciple, (1 John iii. 7.) that he who doeth righteousness is righteous. I remain, Sir, with sincere good will, Yours, &c. R. W. CHAPTER THIRD. A brief view of the opinions of the writers of the Old Testament concerning the death of Christ: including remarks on the Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah. THE hypothesis of our opponents is, that the death of Christ was vicarious, that sinners never could, consistently with divine justice, be accepted with God, but on the ground of his having died, or engaged to die, in their place and stead, and that his death, as a vicarious sacrifice, is the only possible ground of hope. If this hypothesis be true, we may expect to find that, from the foundation of the world, by Moses and all the Prophets, the vicarious sacrifice of Christ has been pointed out, and placed before sinners as the only ground of their hope; for how otherwise could they have any hope, or enjoy acceptance with God? If, however, we find Moses and all the Prophets silent on these points, this will go far towards setting aside the notion of satisfaction for sins. Our first enquiry is: at what period of the world was it revealed that Christ should die? for before it was made known that he should die it cannot be pretended that his death could be viewed by men as a sacrifice for sins. Men could have no idea of Christ or his death until something was revealed on the subject, nor could their knowledge extend beyond what was revealed. The death of Christ could not be to them a ground of hope while they remained ignorant of it. His death is not mentioned, nor even. hinted at, in the writings of Moses. The following are the only passăges in the Pentateuch which make any mention of Christ, either directly or indirectly.' 1. What is commonly called the first promise; Gen. iii. 15. but this, at most, can be considered as referring to Christ only in an indirect and very obscure way, and certainly could teach nothing concerning his death. If understood to refer literally to him, it could only suggest that he would sustain some slight injury, such as a bruise on the heel, something far short of the loss of his life. It is most probable that the Serpent in the Mosaic account of the fall is used as an emblem of the deceivableness of the human heart, or of man's desires by which he is led away and enticed to sin: James i. 14. and the bruising of his head may intend the victory which the descendants of Eve, her seed at large, shall ultimately obtain over their irregular desires, which have subjected them to suffering for a time. Viewed in this light Christ may be said to bruise the head of the Serpent for us, as by the teaching and influence of his gospel the dominion of our lusts and passions is destroyed. 瘫 2. The promise to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 13. afterwards renewed to Isaac and Jacob: However clearly this promise might be understood, it conveyed not the least idea of the sufferings and death of Christ.it 3. What Jacob mentioned, Gen. xlix. 10. concerning the coming of Shiloh. It is immaterial to our present enquiry whether Jacob by Shiloh meant Christ; for it is evident the passage contains not the most distant hint of the death of the person called Shiloh. 4. Balaam's prophecy, Num. xxiv. 17. which some may be disposed to refer to Christ, seems to have no such meaning, at any rate no one can pretend to find in it the least intimation of his death. 5. The prophecy of Moses, Deut. xviii. 15-19. This is the most direct and explicit notice of Christ in the Pentateuch; but this holds him forth merely as a Prophet and Teacher, without giving the slightest hint that he would suffer and die. The foregoing being the only passages in the writings of Moses in which our opponents can pretend to find any mention of Christ, and in them no hint of his sufferings and death being found, how can they help admitting that, so far as we can discover, his death was an event concerning which nothing was revealed so early as the days of Moses? If they say his death was typified by the jewish sacrifices, this is what neither Moses nor the Prophets ever mentioned, and, consequently, the Jews could have no such idea. If it be said Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that therefore his death must have been pointed out in all ages. To this I answer, that, if he be called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it can only mean in the view and designation of God, who seeth the end from the beginning, and calleth things that are not as though they were: the expression, from the foundation of the world, in Rev. xiii. S. may be connected with the writing of the names in the book of life, not with the slaying of the Lamb:* as the same thing is expressed, chap. xvii. 8. If there could be no ground of hope for sinners. no way of acceptance with God, but the death of Christ, it must follow that Moses left the people of Israel without any knowledge of the way of acceptance, in a hopeless state: yet he said he had set life before them, and that they might obtain it by a practical regard to what God had revealed. After the death of Moses, we read of no further revelation, or discovery, either by promise or prophecy, concerning Christ, before the times of David. Thus it appears that for, at least, half the time which has elapsed since sin entered into the world mankind, even those to whom God made himself known by immediate revelation, remained unavoidably in total ignorance that ever such an event as The last words, from the foundation of the world, are not to be connected with the preceding words, the Lamb slain, but with the more remote words, thus, whose names are not written from the foundation of the world, in the book of life of the Lamb slain.' CURCEL LAUS, and Du VEIL. See also DAUBUZ in loc. Not to say натабол that Coins xoops may mean the foundation of the new world, i. e. the establishment of the gospel age of dispensation. |