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xxiii. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, "One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren."

The KINGS mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 31-43, and copied from that book into the 1st book of Chronicles, as having "reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel," were evidently mere heads of families, or of tribes; and the language by no means implies, that the writer of this book must have lived after there had been kings in Israel; for any one may now, in writing a history of Belgium, for instance, and alluding to the names of the kings of England, say, "these reigned in England before any kings reigned in Belgium:" that is taking for granted, that as the surrounding nations had kings, so in all probability the time would come when Belgium or Israel would be ruled by Kings. Gibbon called the first Christian church a Republic!

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LANGUAGE, is composed of words; and words are the mere representation of ideas; and ideas constitute our knowledge of things. In proportion to the poverty of a language, that is, to its having but few words, must each word have a number of meanings. That this was particularly the case with the ancient languages, no one will be surprised, when he recollects, that each word even in the English language, which is so rich, has a vast variety of significations. For instance, the word "flesh," signifies either the softer parts of animals; or the body; or men; or human nature; or carnality, or corrupt nature; or the present life; or legal righteousness; or kindred; stock; family; or the soft pulpy substance of

fruit, &c. (See Webster's American Dictionary.) Again, the word "digest," signifies 1, to distribute into classes; 2. to arrange in the mind; 3. to separate or dissolve in the stomach; 4. to concoct; 5. to soften; 6. to bear with patience; 7. to dispose an ulcer, to suppurate, &c. (See Idem.) Lastly, the word "give,"-1. to bestow; 2. to impart; 3. to communicate; 4. to pay; 5. to yield. 6. to lend; 7. to quit; 8. to grant. 9. to expose; 10. to yield to the power of; 11. to empower; 12. to produce, &c. When an infidel meets in the Bible any of these, or any other words, he invariably annexes to them that meaning and that only, (although they might have a dozen other significations,) which will tend to impeach the holiness, the justice, or the veracity of the Almighty! To such lengths of injustice and dishonesty, are infidels driven, to support their awful rebellion against the authority of the Most High God. Another circumstance of importance deserving particular attention, is, that many expressions which may appear in these our times, objectionable, or even indecent, were in ancient times, most innocent, proper and pure. It is nothing but the increased corruption of the human mind, like the increased predisposition of the human body to disease, that gives to many expressions in the Bible, a filthy and impure interpretation. Even in our times, many words which in one country signify nothing improper or indelicate, have quite a different meaning in another coun. try. Thus, in Ireland, to say such a person is a woman of fashion, nothing more is meant than that she dresses and entertains fashionably; but the same term in England is applied to an improper female. In America we say such a person is a smart man, that is, an intellectual person: in England, such a term implies that he could run quick, or dance well! These few instances

may suffice to expose the fallacy of nine tenths of the arguments of infidels, and demonstrate the low sophistry and ignorance upon which their arguments are founded. See Gave. All.

LANGUAGE. Infidels are very apt to find fault with the Sacred Scriptures, because there is any figurative language therein. But such objectors are generally those who do not really know what is the nature of the plainest language. What is language itself, except, strictly speaking, a mass of figures! What is a figure but the representation of an object; and what are words, but, in this sense, the representation of ideas. Therefore, as all languages are composed of words, and all words the representations of objects; and representations nothing but figures; language itself is nothing more nor less than pure figures. Most infidels raise objections about that of which they know little or nothing.

LAW OF GOD. If God had written his laws in the heavens, as some weak men think he ought to have done, he must have first taught all men to read!-Then he must have written it in all the languages of the earth! Next he must have written it on every part of the heavens! Moreover there should be no shortsightedness nor diseases of the eyes-and lastly, no men ought to be born blind, nor suffered to become blind, before they had read this law. To gratify such vain objectors, the whole course of nature must be changed, and such a mass of writing placed in the skies, that the light and heat, produced by the sun, must have been materially excluded, and animal and vegetable life radically impeded! Thus, the very objections raised against the way in which it has pleased the Omnipotent One to reveal himself to

mankind, may be, with much more propriety, advanced against any other way, that man could devise. It is true, God might have made man incapable of rejecting His revelation, and incapable of committing sin; but then, be it observed, this could not have been done without making man a mere machine, and thus depriving him of all liberty! This is what the infidel blames God for not having done! See Nature, Laws of. Devil. Evil.

LAZARUS. No one can read the account of the raising of this man from the grave by the Lord Jesus, as recorded in John, xi., but must be struck with many incidents in it; which are so natural, so simple, yet so unpremeditatedly mentioned, that they stamp the -whole transaction with the infallible, and irresistible signet of truth. Moreover, this very miracle-the very name of the person on whom it was wrought, Lazarus-and the actual raising him from the dead, are all mentioned in the Babylonish Talmud-the Jewish record of those times. See Talmud.

A few of those incidental circumstances, in this case, may be worth noticing. It appears, Jesus was well acquainted with both Lazarus and his sisters; this was not the case with Jairus, (which see;) but here it is candidly mentioned. When Christ first hears of the sickness of Lazarus, he pronounces that it is not unto death; that is, implying, while comforting his afflicted sisters, that he should not now be permanently removed from them, by death. (ver. 1. 4.) A most unlikely declaration for an impostor to make! After two days delay, (verse 6,) he says to his disciples, "our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." A second most unlikely declaration for an impostor! His disciples replied, "if he sleep he shall dó

well," supposing that Christ had meant, he was taking rest in sleep. (vers. 11, 12, 13.) A most natural conversation between Christ and one of Lazarus's sisters is related from verse 20 to 27; in which, while she professes her unshaken confidence in Christ, as the son of God, yet exhibits great doubts as to her brother ever rising again till the last day. Again, at the grave, she exhibits the same unbelief, on Jesus's desiring the stone to be taken away from the grave, "Lord," (says she,) "by this time he stinketh!" "For he had been dead four days." (vers. 39.) Long enough, it is presumed, in a hot country for decomposition to have far advanced. Jesus then lifts up his voice to His Heavenly Father, (for the sake of those who stood by,) thanks HIM as the Great Omnipotent One, and then commands Lazarus to "come forth.” "And he that was dead came forth!" &c. (verses 43, 44.) This was enough to rouse up the resentment of the chief men. They immediately held a council, and said, "what shall we do? For this man doeth many miracles; if we let him thus alone, all will believe on him, and the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation;" 47, 48. See Miracles.

LIES. To insinuate that God ever sanctioned, or even countenanced, lies or lying, is as unfounded a calumny as the mouth of man could utter. Jehovah is emphatically called "THE TRUTH." (John, xviii. 37.) While Satan is called "a LIAR, and the father of lies." (See Devil.) And to adduce instances of any of his people, "lying," in order to prove that the Deity sanctions lies, is as unjust as it is unwise; for, by the same rule it may be said, God sanctions all other crimes, because his people have committed them, although while so doing they were

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