DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9552#0474
130
FINAL APPEAL
though in different senses, of establishing the throne of
the house of David. In the same manner, the apostles
referred to Hosea xi. i, in ch. ii. 15 of his Gospel, and
in many other instances." Nevertheless, the Rev.
Editor charges me with having blasphemed against the
word of God, by attempting to persuade him and others,
in my explanation of the above verse, " that the
evangelist Matthew ought not to be credited." I,,
indeed, never expected such an accusation from the
Editor. To acquit myself of the charge, I entreat my
readers to refer, to the translation of the four Gospels by
Dr. Campbell, a celebrated Trinitarian writer, in whose
notes (page 9) that learned divine says, "Thus ch. ii.
15, a declaration from the prophet Hosea xi. 1, which
God made in relation to the people of Israel, Avhom he
had long before called from Egypt, is applied by the
historian allusively to Jesus Christ, where all that is
meant is, that with equal truth, or rather, with much
greater energy of signification, God might now say, I
have recalled my son out oj Egypt. Indeed, the import
of the Greek phrase, as commonly used by the sacred
writers, is no more, as Le Clerc has justly observed,
than that such words of any of the prophets may be
applied with truth to such an event."
Did these orthodox writers also attempt to persuade
people to discredit the evangelical writings by applying
Hosea xi. 1, originally to Israel, and allusively to Jesus
Christ ? The Editor will not, I presume, get the sanc-
tion of the public to accuse those learned divines of
blasphemy. I did no more than adopt their mode of
expression in examining Isaiah vii. 14, compared with
Matt. i. 22, 23, and Hosea xi. 1, with Matt. ii. ,15 ; yet
FINAL APPEAL
though in different senses, of establishing the throne of
the house of David. In the same manner, the apostles
referred to Hosea xi. i, in ch. ii. 15 of his Gospel, and
in many other instances." Nevertheless, the Rev.
Editor charges me with having blasphemed against the
word of God, by attempting to persuade him and others,
in my explanation of the above verse, " that the
evangelist Matthew ought not to be credited." I,,
indeed, never expected such an accusation from the
Editor. To acquit myself of the charge, I entreat my
readers to refer, to the translation of the four Gospels by
Dr. Campbell, a celebrated Trinitarian writer, in whose
notes (page 9) that learned divine says, "Thus ch. ii.
15, a declaration from the prophet Hosea xi. 1, which
God made in relation to the people of Israel, Avhom he
had long before called from Egypt, is applied by the
historian allusively to Jesus Christ, where all that is
meant is, that with equal truth, or rather, with much
greater energy of signification, God might now say, I
have recalled my son out oj Egypt. Indeed, the import
of the Greek phrase, as commonly used by the sacred
writers, is no more, as Le Clerc has justly observed,
than that such words of any of the prophets may be
applied with truth to such an event."
Did these orthodox writers also attempt to persuade
people to discredit the evangelical writings by applying
Hosea xi. 1, originally to Israel, and allusively to Jesus
Christ ? The Editor will not, I presume, get the sanc-
tion of the public to accuse those learned divines of
blasphemy. I did no more than adopt their mode of
expression in examining Isaiah vii. 14, compared with
Matt. i. 22, 23, and Hosea xi. 1, with Matt. ii. ,15 ; yet