abrogated institutions of the Jewish law; at
least, I am sure you will not find one which permitted a convert to say
he chose to belong to the congregation of Paul or Apollos, or Cephas.
Such licence of choice St. Paul strictly prohibits, ever labouring, as
his Master had done before him, to build up a church in perfect unity
of faith and worship. The other hint which I would suggest to you is,
that the example of the Devil shews us that texts of Scripture may be
wrested so as to recommend presumption and other enormous offences.
Most assuredly, human governments have no power to inhibit man from
interpreting the Word of God as his conscience dictates, but it is
much to be wished, for the repose of Christendom, for the comfort of
individuals, and the general increase of Christian graces, that "the
unlearned and unstable" would exercise that lowliness and sacred awe
which, operating as a moral restraint, would prevent them from giving
their crude conceptions as faithful interpretations of the secret things
of the Most High. This evil began to work in the Apostles' days, and
every heresy and error that has since arisen in the Catholic church,
claims for its foundation some misapplied text, which the perverse
subtlety, or presumptuous ignorance of its founder wrested from its
true significance. The usurpations of Popery, the daring impieties
of Socinus, the mystical reveries of pietism, and the turbulent
licentiousness of the fifth-monarchy-men, all assail the champions of
orthodoxy with weapons stolen from the divine armoury. Nay, I have
heard that the doctrine of metempsychosis has been supported by
Scripture-proof, and many texts brought to prove the re-appearance
of one human soul in a variety of bodies[6]. Though therefore I
sincerely deprecate all legal restraints on the free use of the Word
of God, I must commend those divines who enforce the moral restraints
I have mentioned, instead of encouraging a boundless latitude of
interpretation.

"Shall I weary you if I point out whence arise these discrepancies of
opinion? We look into Scripture to confirm our preconceived notions, not
with a reverent desire of learning the truth. Each sect prefers some
portion of Christian doctrine to the whole, and urges its favourite
tenet to an undue extreme. Unskilful interpreters separate texts from
their contexts, or they found doctrines on obscure passages, explaining
away those plain ones by which the more difficult should be exp