overlooked their plain and obvious meaning. And it may be safely affirmed, that scarcely any practice has proved more injurious to the interests of true religion than this wild licence of interpretation. It is not necessary, in order to confirm this representation, that the doctrines which the practice in question is employed to inculcate should be heretical: let it be admitted that they are perfectly orthodox: we shall still, even on that favourable supposition, see sufficient cause to conclude, that such a mode of interpretation is pregnant with incalculable mischief. It is a dangerous departure from the simplicity of the Gospel. It sanctions a principle liable to great abuse, and which may be employed with equal advantage in the propagation of truth and error. It converts one of the ordinances of religion, from a mean of spiritual edification into a mere amusement. It vitiates the religious taste, producing a disrelish for " the pure milk of the word,” and exciting a morbid longing for ingenious explications, mystical meanings, and forced and far-fetched inferences and resemblances, It compromises the truth of Scripture, and inharmoniously mixes up what is fallible, at least, and often doubtful, with what is perfectly pure, and essentially infallible. How many high and important truths of Scripture are rendered questionable and ridiculous by the practice which is here denounced! Thus, the doctrine which maintains the necessity of the Redeemer's righteousness, as the ground of our acceptance with God, is sought to be proved from the crafty device of Jacob's clothing himself with the garment of "the profane Esau," in order to deceive his father. The doctrine of the Trinity is sought to be established from the circumstance of Abraham having been visited by three persons, as he sat at his tent door, in the plain of Mamre. But the mode of interpretation here objected to is particularly injurious in cases, where, while the fancy is amused, the moral, which the passages were intended to convey, is thrown into the shade or wholly forgotten. When our Lord directed Peter to cast his hook into the sea, and told him that in the mouth of the fish first caught he should find a piece of money, with which he might discharge the demand of the tax-gatherers, he evidently intended to inculcate the duty of cheerfully and readily paying

"tribute to whom tribute is due." But what becomes of this practical lesson in the hands of one who is racking his invention to discover a hidden, and what he would call a spiritual sense in the plainest narrations? In his hands the fish taken by Peter is made to represent carnal man, who, when caught by the Gospel hook, becomes dead to the world; and as the fish opens its mouth and drops a piece of money

into Peter's hand, so he opens his heart to more generous views, parts with his former selfish and covetous principles, and devotes his money to the service of God, to the support of Missionaries, and the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. Equally contrary to every rule of sound interpretation are the explanations of the parable of the good Samaritan, which have been attempted by some; but who, in their eager pursuit of a mystical sense, have too much lost sight of the grand duty which it was the manifest design of that parable to recommend. When a minister gravely tells us, that the good Samaritan means our blessed Lord himself; the half dead and wounded traveller, Adam and his sinful race; the priest and the Levite, the moral and ceremonial law; the oil and the wine, pardon of sin and sanctification; the two pence, the two ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; the inn, the Church; and the landlord, a pious minister of the Gospel; or whatever. other device, equally ingenious, may be substituted for these; we may admit the evangelical soundness of his creed, but we shall see great reason to regret the costly price at which that admission is obtained-no less than the violation of the common, but invaluable rules of sound interpretation, and the sacrifice of obvious usefulness, in omitting a favourable opportunity of enforcing that very duty which our Lord intended to teach.

Let it not be supposed, however, that we intend to censure that fair and sober accommodation of the historical and parabolical parts of Scripture to present times and circumstances, or to the elucidation of either the doctrines or precepts of Christianity, which is sanctioned by the word of God. Such an accommodation is perfectly allowable, and may be highly useful. Let every truly pious man, however, be aware of the danger of extending this principle beyond its natural and obvious application; lest he should himself wander, and lead others also astray, from that clearly traced and well-beaten path in which we are assured that even a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err." Let no temptations which vanity, a desire of popularity, or the more specious, but equally fallacious, plea of usefulness, may present, seduce him from this tried way. On the contrary, let him adhere with jealous care to the plain and unforced dictates of the word of God; lest, by departing from the simplicity of the Gospel, he should inadvertently contribute to the adulteration of Christianity, and to the consequent injury which must thence arise to the spiritual interests of his fellow-creatures.*

See the Christian Observer, Vol. iv. p. 130, &c.

2. In deducing inferences or conclusions from the sacred text, care must be had that they flow by legitimate consequence from the text, and that they are in perfect harmony with the plainly declared will of God.

This must be carefully attended to; lest, while we are anxious to receive the doctrines of Scripture, not as mere matters of speculation, but as active principles influencing our heart and conduct, and leading us cheerfully to obey the practical precepts which the sacred writers derive from them, we should attempt to deduce from them, by the mere force of reason, practical conclusions not warranted by the word of God. An erroneous inference, thus rashly drawn from the doctrines of grace, is reprobated by St. Paul. After laying it down," that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin had reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. v. 20, 21); he immediately asks, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" "The objection," as if he had said, "is built in ignorance of that grace which is to reign, through righteousness. The grace of which I speak, consists in the renewal of the heart unto holiness, as well as in the pardon of sin: and he who is a partaker of this grace is dead unto sin; he has lost his taste for it, as a dead man has for the pleasures of sense; he has no longer any enjoyment in it; he hates it, abhors it, dreads it, avoids it as the greatest of evils; he no longer lives in it." An equally erroneous inference has been deduced from the Apostle's exhortation"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;" adding, by way of encouragement (lest we should sink under the difficulties of the undertaking), "for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure," Phil. ii. 12, 13. While the self-righteous seek, and seek in vain, to work out their own salvation, without depending on the grace of God, working in them; others seem to give their whole attention to the encouragement conveyed in the latter part of the passage. Because God worketh in us, they seem to infer, in direct opposition to the Apostle, that we need not work, and to forget that we are exhorted to "watch and be sober," to "watch and pray," to "strive to enter in at the straight gate."* These examples will tend to guard us against rashness in this part of our reading.

3. We must not rest in external precepts, but solicitously

* Christian Observer, Vol. xi. p. 14.

search out their foundation in Scripture; we should then lay the foundation in our own heart, before we proceed to build any practice upon it.

Thus we are required to pray for our enemies, the foundation of which precept is sincere and unaffected love for them. We should, therefore, consider, before we offer up such a prayer, whether we really do possess this charity; because, to pray for them, when we have it not, is mere hypocrisy.

4. In all practical application, we must keep our eye steadily fixed upon Christ; first, as he is to be received by faith for salvation; secondly, as he is to be imitated in our lives, as an exemplar.

He is "the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by him." We are to adopt other examples only so far as they are conformable to that of Christ (1 Cor. xi. 1); but his example is to be uniformly copied by us, for "he suffered, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps," 1 Pet. ii. 21. This, of course, will not be understood as embracing those things which he did in virtue of his mediatorial office and his divine character: but every thing which regarded his obedience and submission to God, and his intercourse with men, is proposed for our uniform imitation.

5. We must not suppose that those rules which have been regarded as indispensable at the commencement of our Biblical studies may be disregarded as no longer needed, when we have obtained some acquaintance with the letter of Scripture.

The Scriptures are an inexhaustible mine of wealth, and the most diligent student will always find amply sufficient before him to excite his diligence and prayer. The continuation of practical application, especially, should occupy our lives. It is assisted partly by our own industry, which would, however, be inefficient without grace; and, partly, by the help of Divine grace, which is poured out in larger measures in their hearts, who receive the seed of the word as into good ground. We are bound, on our parts, to use diligent prayer and constant meditation;-to institute perpetual collations of Scripture ;--to be instant in our attention to what passes in ourselves and others; and to exercise a vigilant observation of mind. Equally essential with these important particulars, are-conversation with those who have made greater advances in spiritual knowledge; and—the cultivation of inward peace; of which, the more we possess, the more we shall enter into the true meaning of Scripture.

* Franck's Guide to the Study of the Scriptures, p. ii. ch. 4.

45

PART II.

HELPS TOWARDS A RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE.

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS ON THE NATURE AND SOURCES OF THESE HELPS.

NOTWITHSTANDING the progress which may be made towards a right understanding of Holy Scripture, by a careful attention to the rules laid down in the former part of this work, there yet remains much demanding consideration before we can attain to that correct and comprehensive acquaintance with these invaluable writings, which must appear so desirable to every Christian mind, and which will so amply repay the labour and application which may be expended in its pursuit, by the delightful satisfaction which it affords.

We have already remarked, that though a knowledge of the letter of Scripture is the first thing that claims attention-for without it there can be no understanding of Scripture at all— yet it is not the only nor yet the chief thing which we are to propose in our studies. It is for the purpose of duly impressing this truth on the mind of the reader that it is again adverted to, and especially as the directions which have been given, with those that will follow, may seem to some persons to manifest too great an anxiety about that species of knowledge which may be derived from Scripture, while the heart remains uninfluenced by the spirit of the Divine word. Nothing, however, can be further from our intention, convinced as we are, that each branch of Scripture knowledge is only valuable in proportion as it leads to a spiritual perception of the truths of Revelation. There is, therefore, the greatest necessity for the exercise of caution, lest a knowledge of external points render us less ardent and lively in reading the Bible, with a view to personal edification and spiritual improvement. How many there are who err in this respect, and contentedly