knowledge and the one rule of his conduct. The authority of his master and the authority of his master's letter would be one and the same. The reasons for knowing it to be his master's letter, his ability to read it, and his power to act upon it, are quite distinct considerations, which do not at all enter into the present question, which simply concerns the relation of the scriptures to those who do acknowledge them as that which they profess to be-"the testimony of the Holy Spirit."

In the latter part of this paragraph we are taught these things:-

First-That the writings and sayings of men are to be brought, not to the holy scriptures as a test, but to the eternal word—i. e. to the light within. This would be untrue even if the Holy Spirit as dwelling in believers were intended; but when we remember that Barclay understands by "this word of God and grace wherewith we say every one is enlightened, a spiritual principle in which God as Father, Son, and Spirit, dwells," we must instantly see that he teaches not only the regenerate, but the unregenerate--those dead in trespasses and sins, to take the light of their own carnal minds for God. Is not this practical Deism? (See quotations from Elias Hicks and Lord Herbert, at page 76 of Crewdson's Beacon, 2nd Ed.)

Secondly-It is manifest from the whole context, that Barclay includes the holy scriptures themselves among those writings and sayings of men which are to be tried by the universal light within, "If they agree thereunto we stand there."*

I do not find, amoug the extracts from Hicks, any principle more destruc

CHAPTER XIX.

ASSERTION THAT THE SCRIPTURES ARE CORRUPTED.

The following Extracts are taken from the Index of Fisher's works :

"The fallibility of the bare naked letter of the scriptures, and "of its liableness to corruption, and of its being corrupted and "falsified by mistranscriptions, so as to have various lections in "the most original copies of it that are extant in Greek and He'brew to this day."

"Letter of scriptures if lost, the Light, and Spirit, and Word "of God cannot."

"Letter, but the broken cisterns that hold not the water of life." "Letter, a corrupt, corruptible, corrupted stream, since viti"ated and interpolated, can be no judge, or fit means to judge "the fountain by, viz. the light word and Spirit, which the Letter came from, and is the true original." (See Index, word Letter.) The Light and Spirit, Truth Living Word, and holy doctrine is "uualterable, firm, fixt, sure, stable, inflexible, infallible, which the

tive than this cardinal principle of Barclay, and I have observe its practical operation in destroying souls. Last year, for example, whilst travelling in Ireland, I met a Physician, who had been educated as a Friend and professed entire concurrence with the doctrines of Barclay, though he believed not in the Lamb slain for sin. When the concluding verses of the of 9th of Hebrews were quoted (without shedding of blood is no remission,) he refused to receive it as scripture, because it did not meet the witness of the Spirit in his own mind, and he then instanced other passages which he rejected on the same principle. Thus an unregenerate man, taught by Barclay to believe that God dwelt in him, was determining what he would, and what he would not receive as scripture, and using the very principle of Barclay in defending his rejection of the blood of the Covenant.

scripture is not, therefore the Light, Spirit, Truth, &c. and not "the scripture is the Rule." (Idem.)

As similar attempts are made by Penn and other writers to shake our confidence in that book which the Church of Christ rejoices in as the book of God, it may tend to the satisfaction of some minds to read the following statements, on the truth of which they may implicitly depend :

"When the unlearned hear of 30,000 various readings, as "collected by Dr. Milis, and 150,000 which Griesbach's critical "edition of the New Testament is said to contain, it is natural "that they should feel an alarm. It ought therefore to be made "as generally known that the result is the very reverse of what "they apprehended; and that this minute examination of "manuscripts, versions, and quotations from the fathers, has "established the substantial integrity of the christian scriptures. "Of this mass of readings which at first sight appears so formi"dable, not one hundreth part makes any material alteration in "the sense; they consist almost entirely of palpable errors in 'transcribing, and grammatical and verbal differences, most of "which cannot be represented in any translation, and even in the original are only felt by those who are conversant in style." (p. 6, Dr. Macbride's Diatessaron.)

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"Infidels have endeavoured to shake the faith of less informed "christians by raising objections against the number of various

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readings. The unlettered Christian however need not be under "any misapprehension that they will diminish the certainty of his “faith. Of all the many thousand various readings that have "been discovered, none have been found that affect our faith, or "destroy a single moral precept of the gospel.-They are mostly "of a minute and trifling nature, and by far the greatest number "make no alteration whatever in the sense, such are

καγω

"Δαβιδ (DaBid) for Δαυιδ (DaVid) Σολομωντα (SolomonTa) for Zoλouwva (SolomoNa) Solomon; Kayw (kago) for кaɩ ɛyw (kai ego; & for and I) Nakaper (NazareT) for Nagape (NazareTH) which with many others may be used indifferently."

(Horne's Compendious Introduction to the Study of the Bible, p. 125. fourth edition.)

CHAPTER XX.

RESPECTING THE SPIRITUAL FLESH AND BLOOD OF

CHRIST.

"This body and spiritual flesh and blood of Christ is to be "understood of that divine and heavenly seed before spoken of (Barclay, p. 448.)

"Christ understands the same thing here by his body, flesh, "and blood, which is understood Johni, by the light enlightening

It appears to have been the special office of the beloved disciple to write respecting the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"-" dwelling, therefore, in light which no man could approach unto." (1 Tim. vi, 16.)

And when the prophets, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, had a distant view of His glory, so far were they from

finding it a vision of peace, that they either fell down in terror at the sight, or cried, "Woe is me! for I am undone," (Is. vi. Ez. i, 28.) until the live coal from the altar of burnt sacrifice, where the lambs were daily offered, "put away the iniquity, and purged the sin."

:

Such was the glory of the Eternal Word, as distantly beheld by those holy men who lived previous to the time when He became Immanuel, born of a woman, made under the law and it is respecting Him-respecting Jesus of Nazareth-respecting the "Word made flesh," that the Apostle John testifies."That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN with our eyes, which we have LOOKED upon, and our hands have HANDLED, of the Word of life for the life was MANIFESTED and we have SEEN it and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you."

And why was he so earnest in this testimony respecting what he had SEEN, and HEARD, and HANDLED? Because there had arisen in the Church false teachers, who spoke of the Light and Life as a principle or power separable and se parate from Jesus of Nazareth, and who did not receive the saying that the Man Jesus was the true Light in virtue of His being "the Word made flesh."

The Life which was with the Father, became, in Jesus of Nazareth, manifested Life-evinced in this, that there was one man upon the earth, who fully and entirely lived unto God with every power of body, soul, and spirit. His meat and His drink was to do the will of Him that sent Him,

E