THE JOURNAL OF SACRED LITERATURE AND BIBLICAL RECORD. EDITED BY THE REV. HENRY BURGESS, LL.D., PH.D., MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. ALEXANDER HEYLIN, PATERNOSTER ROW. EDINBURGH: W. OLIPHANT AND SON. DUBLIN: S. B. OLDHAM. 1857. THE JOURNAL OF SACRED LITERATURE AND BIBLICAL RECORD. No. VII.—OCTOBER, 1856. THE REPRODUCTION OF BIBLICAL LIFE IN ITS BEARING ON BIBLICAL EXPOSITION.a Ir has always been a rule of biblical interpretation, that the commentator should endeavour to forget himself, and, as much as possible, place his own subjectivity in subordination to his author. This proceeds on the obvious fact that every man has his own prejudices and peculiar modes of thinking, which, unless placed in abeyance, must necessarily mould and fashion his views of the mental productions of others. It has been observed as a matter of history, that if two men of diverse sentiments come to consider a document at all bearing upon their opinions, they make its statements bend to their own advantage; a fact clearly proving that the subject colours the object as much, at least, as the object affects the subject. Truth cannot be gained in this manner, and therefore there arises the necessity of a "selfdenying ordinance," to exclude preconceptions, and let the object tell its own tale. If there is a general truth in the observation now made, it a 1. The Life and Epistles of St. Paul. By the Rev. W. J. Conybeare, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and the Rev. J. S. Howson, M.A., Principal of the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool. In Two Volumes. Second Edition, carefully revised and corrected. London: Longmans. 1856. 2. Sinai and Palestine, in connexion with their history. By Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, M.A., Canon of Canterbury. London: Murray. 1856. VOL. IV.NO. VII. B |