places where they stand, but must be taken in connexion with the whole discourse.

From disregard to this rule, the temporary direction of the apostle James (v. 14, 15.) has been perverted by the church of Rome, and rendered a permanent institution, (by her miscalled a sacrament, for it was never instituted by Jesus Christ,) from a mean of recovery, to a charm, when recovery is desperate, for the salvation of the soul.

3. The WHOLE system of revelation must be explained, so as to be consistent with itself. When two passages APPEAR to be contradictory, if the sense of the one can be clearly ascertained, in such case that must regulate our interpretation of the other.

4. An obscure, doubtful, ambiguous, or figurative text must never be interpreted in such a sense as to make it contradict a plain one.

In explaining the Scriptures, consistency of sense and principles ought to be supported in all their several parts; and if any one part be so interpreted as to clash with another, such interpretation cannot be justified. Nor can it be otherwise corrected than by considering every doubtful or difficult text, first by itself, then with its context, and then by comparing it with other passages of Scripture; and thus bringing what may seem obscure into a consistency with what is plain and evident.

The doctrine of transubstantiation, inculcated by the church of Rome, is founded on a strictly literal interpretation of figurative expressions, "This is my body," &c. (Matt. xxvi. 26, &c.) and (which has no relation to the supper), "Eat my flesh, drink my blood." (John vi. 51—58.) But independently of this, we may further conclude that the sense put upon the words "This is my body" by the church of Rome, cannot be the true one, being contrary to the express declaration of the New Testament history, from which it is evident that our Lord is ascended into heaven, where he is to continue "till the time of the restitution of all things;" (Acts iii. 21.) that is, till his second coming to judgment. How then can his body be in ten thousand several places on earth at one and the same time? We may further add, that, if the doctrine of transubstantiation be true, it will follow that our Saviour, when he instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, did actually eat his own flesh, and drink his own blood: a conclusion this, so obviously contradictory both to reason and to Scripture, that it is astonishing how any sensible and religious man can credit such a tenet.

5. Such passages as are expressed with BREVITY are to be expounded by those where the same doctrines or duties are expressed MORE LARGELY and fully.

i. The doctrine of justification, for instance, is briefly stated in Phil. iii.; but that momentous doctrine is professedly discussed in the Epistle to the Galatians, and especially in that to the Romans; and according to the tenour of these, particularly Rom. iii., all the other passages of Scripture that treat of justification, should be explained.

ii. Even slight variations will frequently serve for the purpose of reciprocal illustration. Thus, the beatitudes, related in Luke vi. though delivered at another time and in a different place, are the same with those delivered by Jesus Christ in his sermon on the mount, and recorded in Matt. v. Being, however, epitomised by the former evangelist, they may be explained by the latter.

6. "Where several doctrines of equal importance are proposed, and revealed with great clearness, we must be careful to give to each its full and equal weight."

"Thus that we are saved by the free grace of God, and through faith in Christ, is a doctrine too plainly affirmed by the sacred writers to be set aside by any contravening position. (Eph. ii. 8.) But so, on the other hand, are the doctrines of repentance unto life, and of obedience unto salvation. (Acts iii. 19. Matt. xix. 17.) To set either of these truths at variance with the others, would be to frustrate the declared purpose of the Gospel, and to make it of none effect. Points thus clearly established, and from their very nature indispensable, must be made to correspond with each other: and the exposition, which best preserves them unimpaired and undiminished, will in any case be a safe interpretation, and most probably the true one. The analogy of faith will thus be kept entire, and will approve itself, in every respect, as becoming its Divine Author, and worthy of all acceptation.” (Bp. Vanmildert's Bampton Lectures, p. 294.)

It must, however, be ever borne in mind, that, valuable as this aid is, it is to be used only in concurrence with those which have been discussed and illustrated in the preceding sections. But, by a due attention to these principles, accompanied with humility and sincerity, with a desire to know and obey the revealed will of God, and above all, with fervent supplication to the throne of Grace for a blessing on his labours, the diligent inquirer after Scripture truth may confidently hope for success, and will be enabled to perceive the design of every portion of holy writ, its harmony with the rest, and the divine perfection of the whole.

§ 6. —On the Assistance to be derived from Jewish Writings in the Interpretation of the Scriptures.

Besides the various aids mentioned in the preceding sections, much important assistance is to be obtained in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, from consulting the Apocryphal writings, and also the works of other Jewish authors, especially those of Josephus and Philo.

Of the writings of the Jews, the Targums or Chaldee Paraphrases, which have been noticed in pp. 91, 92. suprà, are, perhaps, the most important; and next to them are the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament, and the Talmud.

I. The APOCRYPHAL Books, (of which an account will be found in Part IV. Chap. VIII. infrà,) are the productions of the Alexandrian Jews and their descendants. They are all curious, and some of them extremely valuable; not only as containing documents of history and lessons of prudence as well as of piety, but also as materially elucidating the phraseology of the New Testament.

II. The TALMUD (a term which literally signifies doctrine) is a body of Jewish Laws, containing a digest of doctrines and precepts relative to religion and morality. The Talmud consists of two general parts, viz. The Misna or text, and the Gemara or commentary.

1. The MISNA (or repetition, as it literally signifies) is a collection of various traditions of the Jews, and of expositions of Scripture texts; which, they pretend, were delivered to Moses during his abode on the Mount, and transmitted from him, through Aaron, Eleazar, and Joshua, to the prophets, and by those to the men of the Great Sanhedrin, from whom they passed in succession to Simeon (who took our Saviour in his arms), Gamaliel, and ultimately to Rabbi Jehuda, surnamed Hakkadosh or the Holy. By him this digest of oral law and traditions was completed, towards the close of the second century, after the labour of forty years. From this time it has been carefully handed down among the Jews, from

generation to generation; and in many cases has been esteemed beyond the written law itself.

2. The GEMARAS, or commentaries on the Misna, are twofold, viz. 1. The Gemara of Jerusalem, compiled between the second and sixth centuries: it is but little esteemed by the Jews; and, 2. The Gemara of Babylon, which was compiled in the sixth century, and is filled with the most absurd fables. The Jews value it very highly. These commentaries are by them termed Gemara or perfection, because they consider them as an explanation of the whole law, to which no further additions can be made, and after which nothing more can be desired. When the Misna or text, and the commentary compiled at Jerusalem, accompany each other, the whole is called the Jerusalem Talmud; and when the commentary which was made at Babylon is subjoined, it is denominated the Babylonish Talmud.

The Misna, being compiled towards the close of the second century, may, for the most part, be regarded as a digest of the traditions received and practised by the Pharisees in the time of our Lord. Accordingly, different commentators have made considerable use of it in illustrating the narratives and allusions of the New Testament, as well as in explaining various passages of the Old Testament: particularly Ainsworth on the Pentateuch, Drs. Gill and Clarke in their entire comments on the Scriptures, and Wetstein in his critical edition of the New Testament, who in his notes has abridged the works of all former writers on this topic.

III. More valuable in every respect than the Talmudical and Rabbinical Writings, are the works of the two learned Jews, Philo and Josephus.

1. PHILO, surnamed Judæus, in order to distinguish him from several other persons of the same name, was a Jew of Alexandria, descended from a noble and sacerdotal family, and pre-eminent among his contemporaries for his talents, eloquence, and wisdom. He was of the

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sect of the Pharisees, and was profoundly conversant in the Scriptures of the Old Testament: he is supposed to have been born between twenty and thirty years before the advent of Christ, and he is known to have lived some time after his ascension. In the works of Philo we meet with accounts of the customs, opinions, and actual state of the Jews, under the Roman Emperors, which are calculated to throw great light on many passages of the sacred writings.

2. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, also a Pharisee, was of sacerdotal extraction and royal descent, and was liberally educated. He was born A. D. 37, and was alive A. D. 96; but it is not known when he died. His writings contain accounts of many Jewish customs and opinions, and of the different sects which existed among his countrymen about the time of Christ; which being supposed, alluded to, or mentioned in various passages of the New Testament, enable us fully to enter into the meaning of those passages. His accurate and minute detail of many of the events of his own time, and, above all, of the Jewish war, and the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, affords us the means of perceiving the accomplishment of many of our Saviour's predictions, especially of his circumstantial prophecy respecting the utter subversion of the Jewish polity, nation, and religion. The testimony of Josephus is the more valuable, as it is an undesigned testimony, which cannot be suspected of fraud or partiality.

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- On the Assistance to be derived from the Writings of the Greek Fathers, in the Interpretation of Scripture.

The fathers of the Christian church are those doctors who flourished before the sixth century. Not to enter into the controversy which has been agitated respecting the degree of authority to be conceded to their works, it may suffice to state, in this place, that the primitive