X. An objection answered, which may be drawn from the ill conduct of unholy Christians, to prove the inutility of the doctrines of the Gospel, 218 XII. Other reasons given for the little influence which the foregoing doc. trines are observed to have on Christians in general, XIII. The doctrines of Christianity have an obscure side. Reasons of this obscurity. Errors of some philosophers in this respect, XIV. The advantages of redemption are extended in different degrees to all V. APPEAL TO MATTER OF FACT AND COMMON SENSE. CHAPTER I. A general view of the catholic faith, concerning the Father, Son, II. The sources of the popular arguments against the catholic faith, IV. Our Lord claimed the Divine honour of being the proper Son of God the INTRODUCTION, Showing the occasion of the work, and addressing the reader, 387 EXPOSTULATORY letter to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, in four parts, . 391 VII. SOCINIANISM UNSCRIPTURAL; OR, THE SECOND PART OF A LETTER II. To Dr. Priestley, proving that our first parents expected a Divine Messiah, and that the Divine person who appeared to the patriarchs, . 507 IV. The three original promises concerning the Messiah, the foundation of V. All the prophets exhibit Christ as the bruiser of the serpent, and the VI. The testimony borne by the prophets to the Godhead of Christ, VIII. SOCINIANISM UNSCRIPTURAL CONTINUED, IN LETTERS TO LETTER I. The Epistle to the Romans reviewed, and sundry passages of it II. The two Epistles to the Corinthians considered, and many passages of a III. The Epistle to the Galatians, and that to the Ephesians, proved to con- V. The Epistle to the Thessalonians equally inconsistent with common sense VII. The Epistle to the Hebrews affords abundant proof of the absurdity of XI. It represents Christ himself as uttering declarations absurd, and even blasphemous, and that, as well after his ascension into heaven, as during INTRODUCTION. THE following work was begun and nearly completed in the course of Mr. Fletcher's last residence at Nyon, where it formed a valuable part of his private labours, during a long and painful confinement from public duty. On his return to England he suffered the manuscript to lie by him in a very loose and disordered state, intending, at his leisure, to translate and prepare it for the press. In the meantime he entered upon the arduous task of revising and enlarging a French poem, which he had lately published at Geneva under the title of "La Louange," and which was reprinted at London in the year 1785, under the title of "La Grace et la Nature." The second appearance of this poem was speedily followed by the dissolution of the author. Soon after this melancholy event had taken place, Mrs. Fletcher, in looking over the papers of the deceased, discovered the first part of the Portrait of St. Paul, with the perusal of which she favoured the translator, who finding it a work of no common importance, was readily induced to render it into English. From time to time different parts of the work were discovered, and though the manuscript was so incorrect and confused, as frequently to stagger the resolution of the translator, yet a strong persuasion that the work was calculated to produce the most desirable effects, encouraged him to persevere till he had completed his under. taking. It is scarcely necessary to inform the intelligent reader that the Portrait of St. Paul was originally intended for publication in the author's native country, to which its arguments and quotations apply with pecu. liar propriety. It may be more necessary to observe, that had the life of Mr. Fletcher been prolonged, the traits of St. Paul's moral character would have been rendered abundantly more copious and complete. THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. A MANY celebrated writers have offered excellent treatises to the public, some on the character of a true Christian, and others on the duties of a good pastor. It were to be wished that these two objects might be so closely united as to fall under the same point of view: and to effect such a union is the design of this work, in which may be seen, at one view, what were the primitive Christians and the apostolic pastors; and what they are required to be, who are called to follow them in the progress of piety. As example is more powerful than precept, it was necessary that some person should be singled out, who was both an excellent Christian, and an eminent minister of Jesus Christ. The person we fix upon is St. Paul, in whom these two characters were remarkably united, and a sketch of whose wondrous portrait we endeavour to exhibit in the following pages. When this apostle is considered as a Christian, his diligence in filling up the duties of his vocation, his patience in times of trial, his courage in the midst of dangers, his perseverance in well doing, his faith, his humility, his charity, all sweetly blended together, constitute him an admirable model for every Christian. And when we regard him as a dispenser of the mysteries of God, his inviolable attachment to truth, and his unconquerable zeal, equally distant from fanaticism and indifference, deserve the imitation of every minister of the Gospel. The Holy Scriptures furnish materials in abundance for the present work; the Acts of the Apostles, from chapter viii, containing little else than a narration of the labours of St. Paul, or an abridgment of his sermons and apologies. The New Testament, beside the Acts, contains twenty-two different books, fourteen of which were composed by this apostle himself, with all the frankness suited to the epistolary style, and all the personal detail into which he was obliged to enter when writing in an uncommon variety of circumstances, to his friends, his brethren, and his spiritual children. It is on such occasions that a man is most likely to discover what he really is; and it is on such occasions that the moral painter may take an author in the most interesting positions, in order to delineate, with accuracy, his sentiments, his circumstances, and his conduct. Let it not be said that, in proposing this apostle as a model to Christians, we do but cast discouragements in the way of those who are at an immense distance behind him, with respect both to grace and diligence. The masterly skill that Raphael and Rubens have discovered in their pieces, serves not to discourage modern painters, who rather labour to form themselves by such grand models. Poets and orators are not disheartened by those chef d'œuvres of poetry and eloquence which Homer and Virgil, Demosthenes and Cicero, have transmitted to posterity; why then should we be discouraged by considering the eminent virtues and unwearied labours of this great apostle? The greater the excellence of the pattern proposed, the less likely is the laboured copy to be incomplete. It is granted that all the faithful are not called to be ministers, and that all ministers are not appointed, like St. Paul, to establish new Churches but it is maintained, that all Christians, in their different states, are to be filled with the piety of that apostle. If the most inconsiderable trader among us is not allowed to say, "I deal only in trifling articles, and therefore should be indulged with a false balance,”—if such a trader is required to be as just in his shop, as a judge on his tribunal; and if the lowest volunteer in an army is called to show as much valour in his humble post, as a general officer in his more exalted station; the same kind of reasoning may be applied to the Christian Church: so that her youngest communicant is not permitted to say, "My youth, or the weakness of my sex, excuses me from exercising the charity, the humility, the diligence, and the zeal which the Scriptures prescribe." It should be laid down as an incontrovertible truth, that the same zeal which was manifested by St. Paul for the glory of God, and the same charity that he displayed, as an apostle, in the very extensive scene of his labours, a minister is called to exercise, as a pastor, in his parish, and a private person, as father of a family, in his own house. Nay, even every woman, in proportion to her capacity, and as the other duties of her station permit, should feel the same ardour to promote the salvation of her children and domestics, as St. Paul once discovered to promote that of the ancient Jews and Gentiles. Observe, in the harvest field, how it fares with the labourers, when they are threatened with an impetuous shower. All do not bind and bear the weighty sheaves. Every one is occupied according to their rank, their strength, their age, |