"God, and kindness to the poor, are figu"ratively called facrifices, pleafing and ac

ceptable to God;", and that they are fo called, as being attended with " a pious and "well-difpofed mind." He fays, likewife,

Proper facrifices were understood to be "pleafing and acceptable to God in the "fame manner, viz. viz. as being attended " with a pious and well-difpofed mind." These are the Dr's premises, and his only premifes. And I know of no conclufions that can be rightly drawn from them, relating to the cafe in hand, but the two following, viz. ft. That expences, labours, pains, fufferings for God, kindness to the poor, and, likewife, Jewish facrifices, were all pleafing and acceptable to God, only as they were attended with a pious and welldifpofed mind. 2dly. That because expences, labours, pains, fufferings for God, kindness to the poor, are acceptable and pleafing to God on the fame account that Jewish facrifices were pleafing and acceptable to him, the former are, for this particular reafon, called facrifices. Now, as to the first of these two conclufions, every body, I think, muft fee, that it makes nothing for the Dr's purpose. And as to the fecond, it is directly against him; because it makes the fameness of the ground of acceptance, to be the reafon why expences, labours, pains, fufferings for God, and

kind

kindness to the poor, are figuratively called facrifices; and fo leaves neither room nor reafon for thinking that they are fo called, becaufe facrifices were fymbols of them. In order to draw any fuch conclufion as the last mentioned, from the Dr's premises, an uncommon stretch of fophiftry will be neceffary: and till it is both drawn, and fhewn to follow, from them, the texts here quoted by the Dr. will be of no manner of fervice to him in this affair. But to proceed.

Scripture-evidence produced by Dr. Taylor, continued.

§. 28. THE Dr. fays, "This leads us to conceive, that probably the pouring out "the blood of every facrifice at the bottom of the altar, denoted the readiness and "refolution, or, however, the duty of the

perfon who offered the facrifice, to lay "down his life in adherence to God. "And whereas our Lord, who was both "facrifice and facrificer, (Heb. ix. 14.

Eph. v. 2. He gave, or offered himself a facrifice to God,) is ftiled a lamb without Spot and blemish, to denote his perfect purity and holinefs; this fuggefts, that "the facrifices being without spot and blemish "denotes, that the facrificer ought to per"form the fervice, or to lead his whole

life, with the utmoft fincerity and fanctity of heart. Other ritual actions, as washing the inwards and feet, &c. Í doubt not, had their fpiritual meaning; which "would not be difficult to be understood

by a people that were fo much verfed "in moral figures and emblems. But as "I am confined to fcripture-evidence, I "muft infift upon nothing but what is "there particularly explained. And what "we have found there, is fufficient to my prefent purpose."

EXAMINATION.

§. 29. IN the conclufion of the foregoing paragraph, the Dr. fays, "The fouls "of them who were flain for the word "of God, are reprefented to be under the "altar, Rev. vi. 9, 10. the very place "where the blood, or foul of the facrifice was poured out, Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25, 30." To which he fubjoins in the beginning of this paragraph, This leads us to conceive, "that probably the pouring out the blood "of every facrifice at the bottom of the "altar, denoted the readiness and refolu

tion, or, however, the duty of the per"fon who offered the facrifice, to lay down "his life in adherence to God."-The

e See Scripture-doctrine of Atonement examined, Chap. II. §. 23.

fol

following obfervations will fhew the weaknefs of this reasoning.

§. 30. THE blood of all facrifices was ordered to be poured out at the bottom of the altar; and no other blood was poured out there. When, therefore, any blood was feen at the bottom of the altar, it was natural, and even neceffary, to conclude, that that blood was the blood of fuch animals as had been flain, and loft their lives, on

a

religious account. Wherefore, when St. John faw, in a vifion, the fouls, or blood, of men, under the altar in heaven; this representation gave him ground to conclude, that the blood, which he faw, was the blood, or fouls, of martyrs, or of fuch perfons as had been flain for the word of God, or on a religious account. The representation itself was a fufficient ground for this conclufion. But I cannot conceive, what could give any ground to the Dr, for imagining, that this vifionary reprefentation, or the conclufion which St. John might have drawn from it, fhould "lead us to con"ceive, that probably the pouring out the "blood of every facrifice at the bottom of "the altar, denoted the readiness and refolution, or, however, the duty, of the

perfon who offered the facrifice, to lay "down his life in adherence to God."The fouls, or blood, of the martyrs, under the altar in heaven, was a lively reprefen

tation of what they had already done; of the refolution, and courage, and readiness with which they had acted on earth, in laying down their lives in adherence to God; and not, as the Dr's way of reasoning intimates, of the refolution and readiness with which they were to act, or obliged to act, for the future, in laying down their lives again in adherence to God. As far, there

fore, as I can fee, the only conclufion, relating, to the meaning of the rite of pouring out the blood of the Jewish facrifices at the bottom of the altar, that can be drawn from this vifionary representation, is, that the blood there poured out, was the blood of fuch animals as had been flain and offered in facrifice, or loft their lives on a religious account. Upon the whole, it appears, that the Dr's opinion about the meaning of that rite is a mere fancy of his own, destitute of all fupport from that paffage in the Revelation of St. John, upon which he grounds it.

§. 31. THE Dr. fubjoins, "And whereas "our Lord, who was himself both a facrifice, and facrificer, (He gave, or offered bimfelf a facrifice to God, Eph. v. 2. "Heb. ix. 14.) is ftiled a lamb without Spot and blemish, to denote his perfect

purity and holiness; this fuggefts, that "the facrifices being without fpot or ble"mish, denotes that the facrificer ought