The Christ, was, as to his flesh, sprung of the seed of David, ver. 3.—But as to his divine nature, he was, with the greatest power of evidence, declared to be the Son of God, by his resurrection, ver. 4.-And because Paul was personally unknown to most of the Christians in Rome, he assured them that he was made an apostle by Christ himself, for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, ver. 5.;-of which class of men most of the inhabitants of Rome were, ver. 6.-He was therefore authorized to write this letter to the whole inhabitants of Rome. So many particulars crowded into the inscription hath made it uncommonly long. But they are placed with great judgment in the very entrance, because they are the foundations on which the whole scheme of doctrine contained in the epistle is built.

Because it might seem strange that Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, had not hitherto visited Rome, the most noted Gentile city in the world, he assured the Romans he had often purposed to come to them, but had hitherto been hindered, ver. 13, 14.-However, he was still will ing to preach the gospel in Rome, ver. 15.; being neither afraid nor ashamed to preach it in that great and learned city; because it reveals the powerful method which God hath devised for bestowing salvation on every one who believeth; on the Jew first, to whom it was to be first preached, and also on the Greek, ver. 16.—In this account of the gospel the apostle insinuated that no Jew could be saved by the law of Moses, nor any Gentile by the law of nature. For, if the Jews could have been saved by the one law, and the Greeks by the other, the gospel, instead of being the power of God for salvation to every one who believeth,' would have been a needless dispensation; and the apostle ought to have been ashamed of it, as altogether superfluous.

To prove that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to every one who believeth,' the apostle first of all observes, that therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed;'-in the gospel, the righteousness which God will accept and reward is revealed to be a righteousness not of works, but of faith. And this being the only righteousness of which sinners are capable, the gospel which discovers its acceptableness to God and the method in which it may be attained, is, without doubt, the power of God for salvation to all who believe, ver. 17. Here an essential defect, both in the law of Moses and in the law of nature, is tacitly insinuated. Neither the one law nor the other reveals God's intention of accepting and rewarding any righteousness but that of a perfect obedience.-Secondly, To prove that the gospel alone is 'the power of God for salvation,' the apostle observes, that both in the law of nature and the law of Moses, 'the wrath of God is revealed from heaven,' &c. That is, these laws, instead of granting pardon to sinners, subject them to punishment, however penitent they may be; consequently, these laws are not the power of God for salvation to any one: But the gospel, which promises pardon and eternal life, is the effectual means of saving sinners. In short, any hope of mercy sinners entertain must be derived from revelation alone, ver. 18. And in regard the apostle wrote this epistle to the Romans for the purpose of explaining and proving these important truths, the declaration of them, contained in verses 16, 17, 18. may be considered as the proposition of the subjects to be handled in this epistle.

Accordingly, to show that no person, living under the law of nature, has any hope of salvation given him by that law, the apostle begins with proving, that, instead of possessing that perfect holiness which is required by the law of nature in order to salvation, all are guilty before God, and doomed by that law to punishment. To illus trate this proposition, St. Paul took the Greeks for an example; because, having carried the powers of reason

to the highest pitch, their philosophy might be considered as the perfection both of the light and of the law of nature; consequently, among them, if anywhere, all the knowledge of God, and of the method of salvation, discoverable by the light of nature, and all the purity of manners which men can attain by their own powers, ought to have been found. Nevertheless, that people, so intelligent in other matters, were in religion foolish to the last degree, and in morals debauched beyond belief. For, notwithstanding the knowledge of the being and perfections of the one true God subsisted among them in the most early ages, ver. 19.-being understood by the works of creation, ver. 20.—their legislators, philosophers, and priests unrighteously holding the truth concerning God in confinement, did not glorify him as God, by discovering him to the common people, and making him the object of their worship; but, through their own foolish reasonings, fancying polytheism and idolatry more proper for the vulgar than the worship of the one true God, they themselves at length lost the knowledge of God to such a degree that their own heart was darkened, ver. 21.Thus the wise men among the Greeks became fools in matters of religion, and were guilty of the greatest injustice, both towards God and men, ver. 22.-For, by their public institutions, they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image of corruptible man, and of birds, &c. which they held up to the people as objects of worship. And by their own example, as well as by the laws which they enacted, they led the people to worship these idols with the most impure and detestable rites, ver. 23.-Fof which crime God permitted those pretended wise men, who had so exceedingly dishonoured him, to dishonour themselves with the most brutish carnality; of which the apostle gives a particular description, ver. 24– 26.; and observes, that those proud legislators and philosophers, who thought they had discovered the highest wisdom in their religious and political institutions, thus received in themselves the recompense of their error that was meet, ver. 27.-So that the abominable uncleanness, which was avowedly practised by the Greeks, and which was authorized by their public institutions, as well as by the example of their great men, was both the natural ef fect, and the just punishment, of that idolatry which, in every state, was established as the national religion.Farther, because the Grecian legislators did not approvę of the true knowledge of God as fit for the people, the great men, as well as the vulgar, whom they deceived, lost all sense of right and wrong, in their behaviour towards one another, ver. 28.-most of them being filled with all manner of injustice, fornication, wickedness, &c. ver. 2931. Nay, although by the law of God written on their hearts, they knew that those who commit such crimes are worthy of death, to such a degree did they carry their profligacy, that they not only committed these sins themselves, but encouraged the common people to commit them, by the pleasure with which they beheld their debaucheries in the temples, and their revellings on the festivals of their gods, ver. 32.

Such is the apostle Paul's account of the manners of the Greeks; from which it appears that their boasted philosophy, notwithstanding it enabled them to form excellent plans of civil government, whereby the people were inspired with the love of their country, and good laws for maintaining the peace of society, it proved utterly ineffectual for giving the legislators the knowledge of salvation, and for leading them to establish a right public religion: defects which entirely destroyed any influence which their political institutions might otherwise have had, in aiding the people to maintain a proper moral conduct. In short, the vicious characters of the false gods, whom the legislators held up to the people as objects of their worship, and the impure rites with which they ap

pointed them to be worshipped, corrupted the morals of the people to such a degree, that the Greeks became the most debauched of mankind, and thereby lost all claim to the favour of God. But if this was the case with the most intelligent, most civilized, and most accomplished heathen nations, under the tuition of their boasted philosophy, it will easily be admitted, that the light of nature, among the barbarous nations, could have no greater efficacy in leading them to the worship of the true God, and in giving them the knowledge of the method of salvation. The most civilized heathen nations, therefore, equally with the most barbarous, having, under the guidance of the light of nature, lost the knowledge of God, and become utterly corrupted in their morals, it is evident, that none of them could have any hope of a future life from the law of nature, which condemns all to death without mercy, who do not give a sinless obedience to its precepts. Wherefore, both for the knowledge of the method of salvation, and for salvation itself, the Greeks were obliged to have recourse to the gospel, which teaches, that because all have sinned, and are incapable of perfect obedience, God hath appointed for their salvation a righteousness without law;' that is a righteousness which does not consist in perfect obedience to any law whatever, even the righteousness of faith,' that being the only righteousness attainable by sinners; and at the same time declares, that God will accept and reward that kind of righteousness through Christ, as if it were a perfect righteousness.-These inferences, indeed, the apostle hath not drawn in this part of his letter, because he intended to produce them (chap. iii. 20. 23. 28) as general conclusions concerning all mankind, after having proved the insufficiency of the law of Moses for justifying the Jews. Yet it was fit to mention them here, that the reader might have a complete view of the apostle's argument.

I shall finish this illustration with the following remarks.

1. The picture which the apostle hath drawn of the manners of the Greeks, is by no means aggravated. The intercourse which he had with the philosophers, and more especially with his own disciple, Dionysius the Areopagite, enabled him to form a just judgment of the learning and religion of that celebrated people; as his long residence in Athens, Corinth, and other Greek cities, made him perfectly acquainted with their manners. But though his description is not exaggerated, we must remember that it does not extend to every individual. It is an image of the manners of the Greek nations in general, or rather of such of them as were in the higher ranks of life. I call the reader's attention to this remark, because the apostle himself supposes, in the second chapter, that the Gentiles, who have not the benefit of revelation, may attain that faith and holiness which is necessary to justification: in which case he assures us, that they shall be rewarded with glory and peace. Besides, it is well known, that in every Gentile nation there were always many who believed in the one true God, and who, in the persuasion that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them who diligently seek him, were anxious to know and do his will; and who, being instructed and strength

ened by God, behaved in such a manner as to be acceptable to him.

2. My second remark is, That although the revelation of the wrath of God from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, mentioned by the apostle, Rom. i. 18. certainly implies that no sinner can have any hope of salvation from the law of nature, it does not follow, that the pious heathens had no hope of salvation. The heathens in general believed their deities placable, and, in that persuasion offered to them propitiatory sacrifices, and expected to be pardoned and blessed by them even in a future state, (See Guardian, No. 27.); nay, many of them believed they were to reanimate their bodies. But these hopes they did not derive from the law or light of nature, but from the promise which God made to the first parents of mankind. For that promise being handed down by tradition to Noah and his sons, they communicated the knowledge thereof, together with the use of sacrifice, to all their descendants. So that the hope of pardon and immortality which the pious heathens entertained, was the very hope which the gospel hath more clearly brought to light, and was derived from the same source, namely, from divine revelation. Withal, being agreeable to the natural wishes of mankind, and the only remedy for their greatest fears, these circumstances contributed to preserve it in the world.-Since, then, the hope of pardon and of a future state, which the heathens entertained, was derived, not from the light of nature, but from the primitive revelations, the apostle's reasoning in this chapter is perfectly just, and his conclusion stands firm; namely, that the light and law of nature hold out no method in which a sinner can be saved, and that it is the gospel alone which hath brought the important secret to light, by explaining and enlarging the primitive revelations, and by teaching, in the clearest manner, that God will accept men's faith for righteousness and, at the judgment, reward it as if it were a perfect righteousness, on account of the obedience of Jesus Christ.

3. My third remark is, That the description which the apostle hath given of the national manners of the Greeks, however disgraceful to human nature, being perfectly true, merits attention; because it is a complete confutation of those who contend, that natural reason hath always been sufficient to lead mankind to just notions in religion, and to a proper moral conduct. For after the weakness of human reason, in matters of religion and morality, hath been so clearly demonstrated by experience in the case of the Greeks, who, of all mankind, were the most distinguished for their intellectual endowments, the futile pretence of the sufficiency of the light of nature, set up by modern infidels, for the purpose of rendering revela tion needless, should be rejected with the contempt due to so gross a falsehood. And all who are acquainted with the actual state of the world under the guidance of the light of nature, ought thankfully to embrace the instruction contained in the gospel, as the most effectual means of training ignorant sinful creatures to virtue ; and should humbly submit to the method of salvation by Christ, therein revealed, as of divine appointment, and as the only method in which sinners can be saved.

SOME perhaps may be of opinion, that to have done justice to the following translation of the Apostolical Epistles, the author, as often as it differs from the common version, should have shown the import and propriety of these differences, with the reasons on which they are founded, especially when they are of the minute kind; because negligent readers, fancying differences of that

sort of little moment, and not attending to those which are of greater magnitude, are apt to conclude, that the translation now submitted to the public differs so little from the one in common use, that it might have been spared. But nothing can be worse founded than such a conclusion. Persons who are judges of language, know that the alteration of a single word in a sentence, and

The Christ, was, as to his flesh, sprung of the seed of David, ver. 3.-But as to his divine nature, he was, with the greatest power of evidence, declared to be the Son of God, by his resurrection, ver. 4.-And because Paul was personally unknown to most of the Christians in Rome, he assured them that he was made an apostle by Christ himself, for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, ver. 5.;-of which class of men most of the inhabitants of Rome were, ver. 6.-He was therefore authorized to write this letter to the whole inhabitants of Rome. So many particulars crowded into the inscription hath made it uncommonly long. But they are placed with great judgment in the very entrance, because they are the foundations on which the whole scheme of doctrine contained in the epistle is built.

to the highest pitch, their philosophy might be as the perfection both of the light and of the ture; consequently, among them, if any knowledge of God, and of the method of coverable by the light of nature, and al manners which men can attain by t ought to have been found. Neverthe intelligent in other matters, were in r last degree, and in morals debauch notwithstanding the knowledge of tions of the one true God subsi most early ages, ver. 19.-bein of creation, ver. 20.-their 1 priests unrighteously hold! in confinement, did not ing him to the common ject of their worship: sonings, fancying p for the vulgar than themselves at leng a degree that th Thus the wise matters of reli tice, both to public in ruptibles birds, & worsh laws the

To prove that the gospel is the power of God for vation to every one who believeth,' the apostle first observes, that therein the righteousness of God h is revealed;'-in the gospel, the righteousness wh will accept and reward is revealed to be a righ not of works, but of faith. And this bein righteousness of which sinners are capable which discovers its acceptableness to God thod in which it may be attained, is, with power of God for salvation to all who Here an essential defect, both in the in the law of nature, is tacitly insin one law nor the other reveals God' ing and rewarding any righteous fect obedience. Secondly, To pr is the power of God for salvar that both in the law of nature wrath of God is revealed these laws, instead of gran them to punishment, he consequently, these law salvation to any one: pardon and eternal lif sinners. In short,

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law of nature, has any hope of salvation give that law, the apostle begins with proving, that, inste possessing that perfect holiness which is required by the law of nature in order to salvation, all are guilty before God, and doomed by that law to punishment. To illustrate this proposition, St. Paul took the Greeks for an example; because, having carried the powers of reason

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even a different pointing, will change its meaning entirely; as was shown by some examples, p. 11. Gen. Pref. But to have illustrated in the same manner all the alterations and corrections which the author hath introduced into his translation, would have swelled the work to an enormous size. And therefore, to show in what particulars this differs from the common version of the epistles, the author hath contented himself, as was observed p. 10. with printing what is different in italic characters, and hath left it for the most part to the reader's own sagacity, not only to judge of the propriety of his corrections, but to investigate the reasons by which they are supported. Yet, to prevent cursory readers from disregarding this translation of the epistles, merely because a number of the corrections which it offers are of the minute kind, the author will here compare one of its chapters only with the common English version of the same chapter, and will show, that even by the slightest alterations, when made agreeably to the original, such a change in the sense is sometimes produced, as throws great light on the sentiments and reasonings of the inspired writers. The chapter chosen for comparing the two translations, shall be the first of the epistle to the Romans; not because the alterations introduced into the new translation of that chapter, are either of greater magnitude, or more in number, or of higher importance than those in the other chapters of the epistle, (for in reality they are fewer, more minute, and of less importance), but because the reader will naturally fix his eye on that chapter first, from its presenting itself first to his view.

Rom. i. 3. Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. This leads the reader to think of the formation of our Lord's body: Whereas the apostle's meaning is, that with respect to his flesh he was descended from David, and that by a female. In the new translation, these ideas are suggested by substituting the word born (which is one of the literal significations of eros) in place of the word made, in this manner: Who was born of the seed of David, with respect to the flesh.

Ver. 4. Was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. This implies that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God, by his raising other persons from the dead. But as Jesus himself often appealed to his own resurrection in proof of his being the Son of God, the phrase avalos vegar is undoubtedly an ellipsis, in which two words are omitted. One of them is supplied by our translators, namely, the word from; the other word his is supplied in the new translation, which runs thus: Declared the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. The meaning is, that Jesus was declared the Son of God by his own resurrection, and not by raising others from the dead.

Ver. 5. By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name. This rendering, besides being inelegant, is faulty in two particulars. For, first, Paul did not receive his apostleship by Christ-that is, from God by the intervention of Christ-but from Christ himself, as holding the right originally of making an apostle. Secondly, ina Konv The TISKS does not signify obedience to the faith, but the obedience of faith. In the new translation these faults are thus corrected: From whom we have received grace and apostleship, in order to the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, on account of his name. The apostle received his office from Christ himself, that by preaching him every where as the Son of God and Saviour of the world, he might produce the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, on account of his dignity and authority as the Son of God.

Ver. 9. Without ceasing making mention of you always in my prayers, is a tautology, which in the new translation is avoided, by joining the clause, always in my pray

ers, with the word requesting in the beginning of ver. 10 with which it stands connected in the Greek.

Ver. 12. Taro de 151,-that is to say. According to this translation, ver. 12. is an explication of ver. 11. But every reader must be sensible, that the things contained in the two verses are entirely different. Wherefore T&TO

should not be translated that is to say, as in our Bible, where de is neglected as an expletive, and the words to say are supplied, but the verse should be supplied and translated in the following manner: And this is proposed, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you and me.

Ver. 15. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. The new translation of this verse is more perspicuous and emphatical: Therefore (namely, because I am a debtor, &c.) İ am willing, according to my ability, to preach the gospel even to you who are in Rome. For, to hinder the Romans from suspecting that the apostle had hitherto avoided coming to Rome, because he was afraid to preach the gospel to such a learned and intelligent people, he told them, that notwithstanding their great learning, he was willing to preach the gospel even to them. And to show that this is his meaning, he added, ver. 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, &c.

Ver. 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.-The righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, is an assemblage of words to which no distinct meaning can be affixed. But the original, rightly construed, gives the following clear literal sense: The righteousness of God by faith is revealed in it, in order to faith. The apostle was not ashamed of the gospel, because a righteousness of God's appointment, to be obtained by faith, is revealed in it, in order to produce faith in them to whom it is preached. The latter clause, as it is written, The just shall live by faith, were better translated, The just by faith shall live. For although in the Hebrew it is, The just shall live by his faith, the copy of Habakkuk's prophecy, from which the LXX. took their translation, and the apostle his quotation, certainly wanted the pronoun his. Besides, as the apostle's design in making this quotation was to prove that Habakkuk wrote concerning a righteousness by faith, either the most ancient and best copies of his prophecy wanted the pronoun, or the passage must be construed and translated thus: The just by his faith, the man who is just by his faith, shall live. For otherwise translated, this quotation is no proof of the apostle's assertion, that Habakkuk hath written of a righteousness by faith.

Ver. 19. That which may be known of God is manifest in them. According to this translation, the apostle's meaning is, That the knowledge of God, attainable by the light of nature, was manifest in the minds of the Grecian philosophers. But to say, that knowledge is manifest in any one's mind, merely because it exists there, is very improper. Knowledge in the mind cannot be manifest, except it be shown either by words or by actions. That the heathen philosophers did not manifest the existence of the knowledge of God in their minds by their actions, is plain from their public institutions of religion, in which they showed the grossest ignorance of God. As little did they manifest that knowledge, in their discourses to the common people. They rather unrighteously concealed it from them, as the apostle af firms, ver. 18. By their writings only, they manifested their knowledge of God to the few who could read them. This, therefore, being the apostle's meaning to express it, the word w, instead of being translated in, as in our Bible, ought to have been translated among, as in the new translation. That which may be known of God, is manifest among them, for God hath manifested it to them.