be dead; MUCH MORE the Grace of God, by Jefus Chrift, bath abounded unto many. The Judgment was by one to Condemnation; but the free Gift is of many Offences into Juftification, ver. 15, 16.

II. Chrift raifes his People to a much happier Life than that which Adam enjoyed in his earthly Paradife, and more firmly fecures the Continuance of it to them. MUCH MORE they which receive Abundance of Grace, and of the Gift of Righteousness, shall reign in Life, by one fefus Chrift, ver. 17.

Thus we have gone through this difficult Place of Scripture, as Mr. T. calls it; and I perfuade myself, if we may be allowed to take the Words and Phrafes, which the Apostle here uses, in the most obvious and natural Senfe, we can have no great Difficulty to understand it, even without the Help of our Author's Paraphrafe. And here I would afk, Suppofing the Apostle, or, rather, the Spirit of God, did really intend to teach us the Doctrine of the Imputation of the Guilt of Adam's first Sin to all his Pofterity, and of both the first and fecond Adam's fœderal Relations and Tranfactions, what plainer, ftronger, and more expreffive Words and Phrafes could he have used to convey those Ideas to us, than those which are made use of in this Chapter? As it is, to be fure a very wrong and fallacious

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Way of proving Things from Scripture, to argue merely from the Sound of Words, which may feem to mean one Thing, but when taken with what goes before and after, have quite a different Signification; fo it is no lefs wrong and fallacious, to depart from the moft obvious and natural Meaning of Words and Phrases, unless there be an apparent Neceffity. But fuch it seems our Author thinks there is, in interpreting this Paffage of Scripture. Some Errors of the Tranflation must be amended; and fome Phrases must needs be conftrued into a lefs common and obvious Meaning. I will prefent the Reader with a few Specimens of each Sort; by which he will be very well able to form a Judgment of our Author's admirable Abilities for writing a Paraphrafe upon the whole Epistle to the Romans, which he has as good as promised us.

As for Words and Phrafes, which this Writer would, by no means, have taken in the most obvious and natural Senfe. One is, Many were made Sinners, which he affures us means, neither more nor less, than, all Mankind were made fubject to Death, p. 30. and this, he is pleafed to tell us afterwards, he has demonftrated, p. 53. By the Way, I cannot help fufpecting that, notwithstanding our Author is fo great an Admirer of Sir Ifaac Newton, and judges him

to

to have been fo much wifer a Man than ever Adam was, (p. 228.) he is not much acquainted with Sir Ifaac's Demonstrations; or he never would have talked of having demonftrated, what in reality he has not produced any common Evidence for. Again, to receive Abundance of Grace, ver. 17. is, with our Author, to improve the Abounding of Grace, p. 47. and by the Judgment which came upon all Men to Condemnation, he will have nothing more to be meant, than merely Mortality and natural Death; befides which, he tells us, we find no other Judgment to Condemnation, which came upon all Men, in the whole Bible, p. 29. It is poffible he may have found no other; but, whoever will read Rom. iii. 19. without a Biafs to any favourite Scheme, will certainly find there, fome other and further Judgment to Condemnation, which came upon all the World, ινα υποδικός γενηται πας ὁ κοσμα τῷ Θεῷ, that all the World may become guilty before God, or, as the Margin tranflates it better, that all the World may become fubject to the Judgment of God. And does this Judgment mean nothing but Mortality, and natural Death? Read the Account of the Bleffings which are opposed to this Judgment in the following Verfes, and let any unprejudiced Perfon judge. Thefe are Righteousness, Juftification, Redemption, and Remiffion

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of Sins, ver. 22, 24, 25. The Righteoufnefs of God which is, by Faith of Jefus Chrift, unto all, and upon all, them that believe; being juftified freely by his Grace, through the Redemption that is in Jefus Chrift, whom God hath fet forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood, to declare his Righteouf nefs for the Remiffion of Sins that are paft, through the Forbearance of God. And does all this mean no more than barely a Refurrection to Life, in oppofition to that Death and Mortality which is common to all Mankind? Does all this mean nothing but such a Refurrection, and fo far only confidered, as will be common to the godly and the ungodly. If that be all the Apostle's Meaning, he had the worst Knack at expreffing his Meaning of any Writer I ever met with. Again, according to our Author's arguing, p. 47. by Juftification of Life, ver. 18. and by being made righteous, ver. 19. we are to understand nothing but the Refurrection. But can we believe that the learned, the infpired St Paul does really use fo many dif ferent Words and Phrafes, only to exprefs, what he might have expreffed fo much more clearly, by one fingle Word, viz. Refurrection; and that he ufes Words and Phrafes for the Refurrection, which had always been used to fignify quite another Thing; fo that if it had not been for our Author's

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uncommon Sagacity, in clearing up the Apostle's Senfe, we fhould never have been able to come at his Meaning.

I suppose I have given Instances enough of this Writer's Talent, at conftruing the Scripture Words and Phrases into any Meaning that will fuit his own Scheme. At this rate one might make any Thing of any Thing; and by the help of this Art he might have built his Scheme on the Alcoran, as well as the Bible.

An Inftance or two of this Author's critical Skill, which he has most learnedly difplay'd, in correcting the common Translation, in order to clear up this obfcure Place of Scripture, fhall finish our Remarks upon it.

The first that he prefents us with is to prove that Many fignifies All, p. 26. For this he feems to think it fufficient, merely to fet the Greek Words before our Eyes, dλ, which he renders, but without rendering any Reason for it, The many, or, all Mankind. If he really meant any thing 'more than to impose his own Senfe, for Scripture, on fuch of his Readers as do not understand Greek, I guess he must imagine, that the Article or does fo very much enlarge and extend the Senfe of λ, as to make it fignify All instead of Many. But this will never pafs with fuch as have any toler

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