Review of Dr. Brown on the Law of Christ Respecting Civil Obedience (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: passage been opposed to the wisdom of tins world, there never could hare been a question about it. But by the help of the rules of his art, this learned interpreter brings out a meaning the very reverse of that of the Holy Spirit; and instead of obedience, he inculcates, in certain circumstances, the right and duty of rebellion,?instead of urging tlio duty of paying taxes without exception, he teaches us to withstand the payment of some taxes even at the hazard of life. As the Pharisees made void the word of God by their traditions, so he makes it void by his canons of interpretations. In reviewing this work, then, I shall first attend to his assumptions and principles of exposition. I shall afterwards make some remarks on his criticism and reasoning. I. His very title, as applied to his work, contains a false assumption. His work is entitled, " On the Law of Christ respecting Civil Obedience, especially in the Payment of Tribute." Now, where has he found the right to resist civil authority ? Where has he found his limitation of the duty of paying tribute ? Where has he found the distinction between general and specific tuxes ? "Is it in the passage expounded ? Is it any where in the Scriptures ? No such thing. These are the doctrines of erring mortals, founded not even on the pretence of an exposition of Scripture words, but on maxims of their own wisdom. They arrogantly assume to limit what the word of God teaches without limitation. Is it the Thirteenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans that teaches us, that in certain circumstances we ought to rebel against the government of our country ? Is it the precept enjoining to pay tri- chapter{Section 4bute, that forbids us to pay certain taxes ? No. It is Milton and Locke, and Hoadly and Paley, who have taught the law of res...