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fiable rendering, imposed upon another text of Isaiah'-"The angel of his presence saved them;" which they translate “ 8 πρεσβυς, 8δε αγγελώ, αλλ' autos-not a legate, nor an angel, but HE HIMSELF;" thus plainly indicating inferiority, unsupported by the original. Indeed Dr Bull builds as much upon the ' μεγαλης βέλης αγγελο” of the Septuagint, as if it were the canonical language of Scripture, nor ever so much as hints at its being an interpolation. With more candour, Dr Waterland thinks, that it might have been a corruption of the Jews after our Saviour's time; and then adds, "it is "the less to be wondered at, if we meet with this "text but seldom cited, in proof of Christ's divinity, "since the LXX, which the primitive Fathers chiefly followed, and quoted from, exhibited an"other sense of the passage "."

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2 Serm. vi. p. 219.

↑ Isaiah lxiii. 9.

R 2

LET

LETTER XIII.

IT cannot, I think, be well denied, but that the Septuagint translation, as Dr Waterland has acknowledged, having been chiefly followed by the primitive Fathers, was the cause of the mistake into which they have fallen, on the subject of angelic appearances. And it is inatter of strong probability, that their mistake, on this head, was greatly fortified by the doctrines of the Jew Philo, respecting the Logos' and the 'angel.' For, let the Doctors Bull and Allix, with the other admirers of Philo, say what they will, his notions respecting Logos, must be regarded as different from the notions of Scripture; being of a piece with the notions of his predecessor, if I may not call him his master, Plato. And, although Plato does confessedly speak much of a Logos, yet does he carefully place him at a great distance from the supreme God. The two Doctors above-named have quoted from the works of Philo, on this interesting subject. But even the passages, which they have quoted, are found to require the mollifying hand of the translator. Thus Dr Bull informs his readers, that Philo terms the Logos, "pio BUTαTOV, HAI EVIMITATCY TWY coα yeyove-the

"oldest

The harshness

"oldest and noblest of all creatures," however of these superlative epithets, the good Doctor is at no small pains to polish down, by rendering them, in the comparative degree, vetustiorem, &c. older and nobler than the creatures'. This, I am sorry to say, is no uncommon practice with Dr Bull. But, having used the same freedom with the same superlative term, when quoting from Origen, Mr Whiston, the advocate of Arianism, takes the Doctor roundly to task for it, and that upon grammatical grounds.

This BUTαTλoy,' Philo calls, in one part of his works, opyavov 8,' the organ, or instrument of God in another part he terms him the "arch"angel;" and introduces him, saying of himself ουκ αγεννητο ως Θεο ων, ούτε γενητα ως ύμεις αλλα με

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σου των

σOY TWY angw-I am not unbegotten as God is, nor "made as you are, but a middle between these ex"tremes." Now, there is in Alexander of Alexandria's first letter against Arius, as recorded by Theodoret, a passage, which, if it is not borrowed from the above description, is similar, alas! too similar to it. The passage is as follows-" a77087τες οι ανασκητοι ως μακρον αν ειη μεταξύ πατρον αγεννητο, και των κτισθέντων υπ 'αυτ8 εξ εκ οντων, λογικών, και αλογων των μεσιτευεσα φυσις μονογενης, δι ης τα ολα εξ ουκ οντων 66 εποίησεν ο πατήρ, τ8 Θεε λογο, η εξ αυτό το οντος πατρον γεγεννηται " On this passage Whiston greedily lays

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I Def. S. 1. c. 1. § 17.

2 Theodoret. Eccles. Hist. lib. I. c. 4.

hold;

hold; and translates it, but in such an ungrammatical manner, as a critic, of his skill, has cause to be ashamed of. The unskilful are ignorant, how mighty a distance is between the unbegotten Father, and these rational and irrational crea"tures which were made by him out of nothing; between whom the only begotten is a middle nature, whereby the Father of God the Word made all 'things out of nothing, and which itself was begot'ten of the Father'." The passage is quoted, and rendered thus into French by the Abbé Fleury

Ne voyant pas la distance, qu'il y a entre le Pere ' non engendrè, et les creatures qu'il a fait de rien, au milieu de ces deux extremes est le fils unique le Dieu verbe (i. e. in the middle of these two extremes is the only Son, the God word) par qui le Pere a tout ⚫ fait de rien, que le Pere a engendrè de lui meme". It is also quoted, and translated thus into Latin, by Dr Bull" Multum interesse inter patrem ingenitum, et res ab illo creatas ex nihilo, tam rationales quam rationis expertes: Inter quæ duo, me⚫ dia interveniens unigenita natura Dei verbi (i. e. between which two there intervenes in the middle, the only begotten nature of the God word) per quam Pater universa condidit ex nihilo, ex ipso vero patre progenita est"."

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Although none of these translations is quite literal, the points in which they differ may easily be

I Prim. Christ. vol. IV. p. 194.

per

ceived.

2 Hist. Eccles. liv. x. s. 30.

3 Def. Sect. III. c. 9. § 11.

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ceived. Dr Bull attempts to soften the Arian aspect of the terms " μεσιτευδσα Φυσις—the middle na"ture," by a marginal note. But this very note affords matter of controversy;-" Naturam sumit pro persona; intelligit enim Quy EV vñosare, ut paulo "ante locutus est Valesius in locum." Strange that neither Dr Bull, nor Valesius could have fallen upon some expression more consonant to the Scriptural use of the term ',' than the simple μεσιτευεσα,” word middle. Might it not have been rendered • mediatorial? This rendering would have been equally applicable to the description given in the passage at large, and would certainly have had a better effect in vindicating the orthodoxy of its original author. From the quotation however, as viewed by the controversialists of either party, it is sufficiently clear, that the Alexandrian Christians of those days, had their minds somewhat engrossed by the Platonic philosophy, as it had been adopted, and rendered more fit for their purpose, by their Jewish countryman Philo; who, as he early obtained, so does he still retain no mean credit in the Christian world. Of this credit, besides the instances already adduced, we have sundry others equally well authenticated. Such is the introduction of the "cherubim and seraphim-angels "and archangels," into the worship of the true God'. And such is the arrogant conceit of the pseudo-Ignatius, who contends, that he was able to under

1 Constitutions Lit. B. 8. 13,

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