THIS tract originally appeared as the Preface to Locke's Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St Paul to the Galatians, Corinthians, Romans and Ephesians.' It is a matter alike of surprise and regret, that the volume has never been republished in this country. The preface has been twice reprinted here; once in a little book, containing besides this, Le Clerc's treatise on Inspiration; and again in the last number of the excellent Collection of Essays and Tracts in Theology,' edited by Mr Sparks. As the circulation of the latter work was confined to a comparatively small number of subscribers, and as the other reprint of this Essay is now seldom to be found, the Exec. Comm. of the AMER. UNIT. Assoc. have thought that they should render a service to the community by placing it among their tracts. Some passages, not essential to the purpose or connexion of the Essay have been omitted, to bring the whole within the most convenient number of pages.

PRINTED BY I. R. BUTTS, BOSTON.

FOR THE

AN ESSAY

UNDERSTANDING

OF

ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

THOUGH I had been conversant in St Paul's Epistles, as well as in other parts of sacred Scripture, yet I found that I understood them not; I mean, the doctrinal and discursive parts of them; though the practical directions, which are usually dropped in the latter part of each Epistle, appeared to me very plain, intelligible, and in

structive.

The

I did not, when I reflected on it, very much wonder that this part of sacred Scripture had difficulties in it; many causes of obscurity did really occur to me. nature of epistolary writings, in general, disposes the writer to pass by the mentioning of many things, as well known to him to whom his letter is addressed, which are necessary to be laid open to a stranger to make him comprehend what is said; and it not seldom falls out, that a well penned letter, which is very easy and intelligible to the receiver, is very obscure to a stranger, who hardly knows what to make of it. The

matters that St Paul wrote about, were certainly things well known to those he wrote to, and which they had some peculiar concern in ; which made them easily apprehend his meaning, and see the tendency and force of his discourse. But we having now, at this distance, no information of the occasion of his writing, little or no knowledge of the temper and circumstances those he wrote to were in, but what is to be gathered out of the Epistles themselves, it is not strange that many things in them lie concealed to us, which, no doubt, they who were concerned in the letter understood at first sight. Add to this, that in many places it is manifest, he answers letters sent, and questions proposed to him; which, if we had, would much better clear those passages that relate to them, than all the learned notes of critics and commentators, who in after times fill us with their conjectures; for very often, as to the matter in hand, they are nothing else.

The language wherein these Epistles are written, is another, and that no small occasion of their obscurity to us now. The words are Greek, a language dead many ages since; a language of a very witty, volatile people, seekers after novelty and abounding with a variety of notions and sects, to which they applied the terms of their conimon tongue with great liberty and variety; and yet this makes but one small part of the difficulty in the language of these Epistles; there is a peculiarity in it, that much more obscures and perplexes the meaning of these writings, than what can be occasioned by the looseness and variety of the Greek tongue. The terms are Greek, but the idiom or turn of the phrases may be truly said to be Hebrew, or

Syriac; the custom and familiarity of which tongues do sometimes so far influence the expressions in these Epistles, that one may observe the force of the Hebrew conjugations, particularly that of Hiphil, given to Greek verbs, in a way unknown to the Grecians themselves. Nor is this all; the subject treated of in these Epistles is so wholly new, and the doctrines contained in them so perfectly remote from the notions that mankind were acquainted with, that most of the important terms in it have quite another signification from what they have in other discourses; so that putting all together, we may truly say, that the New Testament is a book written in a language peculiar to itself.

To these causes of obscurity, common to St Paul with most of the other penmen of the several books of the New Testament, we may add those that are peculiarly his, and owing to his style and temper. He was, as it is visible, a man of quick thought, warm temper, mighty well versed in the writings of the Old Testament, and full of the doctrine of the New. All this put together suggested matter to him in abundance on those subjects which came in his way; so that one may consider him, when he was writing, as beset with a crowd of thoughts, all striving for utterance. In this posture of mind it was almost impossible for him to keep that slow pace, and observe minutely that order and method of arranging all he said, from which results an easy and obvious perspicuity. To this plenty and vehemence of his may be imputed those many large parentheses, which a careful reader may observe in his Epistles. Upon this account also it is, that he often. breaks off in the middle of an argument, to let in some 1*

VOL. IV. NO. VII.

new thought suggested by his own words; which having pursued and explained, as far as conduced to his present purpose, he reassumes again the thread of his discourse, and goes on with it, without taking any notice that he returns again to what he had been before saying; though sometimes it be so far off, that it may well have slipped out of his mind, and requires a very attentive reader to observe, and so bring the disjointed members together, as to make up the connexion, and see how the scattered parts of the discourse hang together in a coherent, well agreeing sense, that makes it all of a piece.

Besides the disturbance in perusing St Paul's Epistles from the plenty and vivacity of his thoughts, which may obscure his method and often hide his sense from an unwary or over hasty reader, the frequent changing of the personage he speaks in renders the sense very uncertain, and is apt to mislead one that has not some clue to guide him sometimes by the pronoun I, he means himself; sometimes any Christian; sometimes a Jew, and sometimes any man, &c. If speaking of himself, in the first person singular, has so various meanings, his use of the first person plural is with a far greater latitude; sometimes designing himself alone; sometimes those with himself whom he makes partners to the Epistle; sometimes with himself comprehending the other Apostles, or preachers of the Gospel, or Christians; nay, sometimes he in that way speaks of the converted Jews, other times of the converted Gentiles, and sometimes of others, in a more or less extended sense; every one of which varies the meaning of the place, and makes it to be differently understood.