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consciences . The far greater part of this kind of sacrifices was appointed for sins of ignorance , though it is doubtful whether all of them " were ; and it ought to be known , that some of these sin-offerings were not slain animals , but an ephah of meal , about a gallon , an handful of which was to he thrown on . the fire of the altar ,
and the rest was for the priest . -See Levit . v . 11 , and two following verses . In fact , we may describe these sacrifices as so many acts of homage to God by his subjects , and as fines to the theocratic government , paid
by transgressors for the support of the national worship ; at the same time that sin-offerings were expressive of the penitence and devotion of the worshippers , bat by no means expiatory in the sight of God or in their own nature . It is evident
that the holocausts always , and the other voluntary thank-offerings commonly , were slain animals , while in the case of the poor , the sin-offering , that is , the sacrifice of atonement , was nothing more than a handful of
meal scattered upon the altar , the residue being the perquisite of the priest . If , then , the burnt-offerings were typical * and known to be so by the believing Israelites , which of them was typical of the death of Christ ? Was it the handful of meal
or the whole burnt-offering ? If any one of thein was typical , then what was its value to the worshipper , if he did not understand the application of the type ? Flow is it that Moses or
Aaron never explained the meaning of prophetic sacrifices to the people , when they are directed to be so particular , and even minute in other , and we should think minor
circumstances ? We can prove that the best and wisest of the Israelites laic ! no > sort of stress on the mere offering , whatever might be its nature , to recommend them to God ; and it cannot be proved from any thing said on the subject in the Jewish scriptures , that the Mosaic ceremonial taught the doctrine of a future state . That weak :
and wicked man Saul , the King of Israel , like many other weak and wicked people in all ages , misunderstood or wilfully perverted the meaning of sacrifice , and Samuel reproves him accordingly . See 1 Samuel , xv . 22 , Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices , as in
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obeying the voice of the Lotd : be hold to obey is better than s acrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams ! ' The acceptance , therefore , of the offering , as in the first age of the world depended upon the spirit and character of the worshipper ; read that fine
Psami , 1 ., see also , Psalm li ,, vers . ] 0 and 17 , " For thou desirest not sacrifice , else would I give it thee ; thou deiightest not in burnt Offering , the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit . " Read the first , and beginning of the last , chapters of Isaiah .
We are now , I hope , prepared to hear what the New Testament says concerning the atonement for the soul , that is , the life : " The blood ( the life ) is the atonement for the soul ; " the appointed and accepted sacrifice was the mean and sign of reconciliation ; the ilasterion , or mercy seat in the tabernacle was . the
reconciliation residence , and this seat , like the altar , &c . was atoned , * that is , at-one-ed with the people by the blood pf the atonement , or covenant of reconciliati 6 n combination , or fellowship , so Rom . v . ; " we being
reconciled ( to God ) shall be saved by Christ ' s life , by whom we have now ( at length ) received the atonement . " The Gentile believes , the sinner re perits ; they etiter into covenant with their God and he receives and
forgives them , 1 John i . 1 , S > " That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you , that ye also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ , ' * that is , we arc
in covenant With God and invite you to enjoy the same privilege . I cha * lenge biblical critics to shew a sing le passage in all the New Testament , m which the Greek word rendered atonement is used in any other sense than that of reconciliation , or where God is ever said to be reconciled to
man by the death of Christ ; or any one instance in all the scriptures , in wmen an atonement is represented as an ex piatory sacrifice , by the tranfer guilt from the sinner ' s conscience i the devoted creature or person . 1 » ( V are two passages particularly *
* The word « one" was fo rmerly p nounced " own , ' and is so still in some p of the west of England . P ersons in naat with God are his own people , " propriates them to himself .
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156 The Doctririe of Common Sense toiih regard to Sacrifices . Letter IT
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1815, page 156, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1758/page/28/
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