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Discoveries in Divinity, pretending to
Importance, are offered to the Pub-
lick, the fuperior Clergy, as Overseers
of the Church, have a Right to ex-
amine whether they be fuch as de-
ferve a Settlement or not ; and fo
admit or refuse, after proper Enquiry
is made: But then they are entitled
to a Hearing, and ought not to be
condemned till after a fair Trial..
That the Discoveries our Author has
made are important, no one can deny.
They concern the very Effence of
Christianity; make the Scriptures one
confiftent Scheme from Genefis to
Revelations, and fhew us the Steps
of that Ladder, which God, in his
infinite Mercy to fallen Man, let down
from Heaven to Earth, as the Means
of Communication between both;
and we do once more, with all Hu-
mility, appeal to the Judgment of
the Guardians of Divine Truth, and

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beg leave to call upon them to approve or disapprove of what is here laid before the Publick. But we beg Pardon for the Liberty we take in addreffing ourselves to fuch great Perfons at all, it being almost impoffible to avoid giving fome Offence in Addreffes of this Nature; but hope we fhall not be deemed to have paffed the Bounds of that Reverence, which is due to, and we fincerely profess towards, their facred Characters and Authority, as Proteftant Bishops.

The Edition we now present the Reader with differs from the former, in fome Particulars it is proper to give Notice of. We have tranflated the Texts of Scripture, which our Author ufually gave from the Latin interlineary Verfion by Pagninus and Montanus into English; and by fuch Words as we thought more fuitable to the Defign of the facred Writers, and more ex

actly

actly to correfpond with their Meaning; in doing of which we have had no Regard to the Rules of Grammar and Conftructions of the Text, or Comments on it, given by those Apostates we call Jews (tho' they are no more fo, than Mahometans are Chriftians), unless where fuch Rule and Comment can be fupported by Authorities from the Text itself: And tho' all is not abfolutely false which they have given us, yet what is true, is fo mixed up and disguised with what is falfe, that it is lefs Trouble to begin quite again, and utterly difregard all they have done. The Hebrew Language is ideal, that is, the Word is fixed to the Idea, ! the Quality, Action, Creature, and fo forth, gives to the Senses; e.g. the Hawk is eminent for seeing; fo Hawk and Seeing is the fame Word; and the fame Idea may be in two Things in other respects quite different ; e. g. the Atoms

of Light move in a Line, like Marbles in a Groove ; fo do the ftorkened Maffes of Air, which are Darkness : They are continuous in a Line; the first impels the fecond, and fo on, that the Motion of the firft Mass or Grain puts the whole Line into Motion; and this Motion gives the same Idea, when you confider the coagulated Grains of Air thus following each other, as when the Atoms of Light follow and drive forward each other; And fo a Word may be tranflated, as is often the Cafe, to fignify direct Contraries, as irradiate is made to do in Hebrew. We must get the natural, plain Idea to which a Word refers, before we can fee the Propriety of the Rules, or how they hold; e. g. Pfal. i. 1. 8 8. Afk a Scholar to conftrue this: He fays, Blessed is the Man-Why is es plural? Then it is, The Bleffings of the Man;

would

would not the Senfe be as compleat, had it been, The Bleffing of the Man? No doubt. Why is it plural then ? But what is meant by the Word Blef fing? Under what Idea is it described? For if you have no diftinct Idea, you can't be faid to understand the Word.

s we find fignifies to proceed, to go forward, to walk on: Now Progress, Succefs, is what we understand; we go forward by making Steps; fo the above is literally, as we call it, Steps Shall be to the Perfon who, &c. and we have full Authority from the Genius of the Tongue and Idea prefented to us in the above Word, to tranflate it, Successful fhall be the Man, and comment upon it: "He "shall make a conftant Progress, " continued Advances on to Per"fection, who goes not into the "Council of the Wicked, but delights in the Law of Jehovah."

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