Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-02-02

very agreeably but they must hot be strain cd that is, all that can be said On them mus net be said
 5th. Reasoning must not be carried t,o far
 l hls may be done many ways sithcrby lon trans tf reasons, composed of number ( Pfopos'ticns chained together, or prime. pie ana C; nsequonces which way of reas0nn IS embarrassing and painful to the auditor
 1 he mind of man loves t. be conducted in smooth and easy way.
 ~ CohnerioH. Tie c'nreXion is the re lstion ofy nr text to the foregoing CT followin. verses. 'To find this, consider the scope c tse oiscrursc. Let the spirit eff Sod and tn, context be your cptors--calnmcntator oy the way. When the coherence will fur hlsh any agreeable consideration fer the illus tration q the text, they must be put in tn, dlscnsslon, and they will very often happen sometimes, also, you may draw thence aI eXcrdum in such a case the exordum ant ccnnexion will be C Inf undcA together.
 v Dtpf8ion Div an, in general, ough to t,,, be restrained to d sm III number of parts lhey should never exceed ftur or five at the most. The most admired sermcns have only two CT three parts
 1htrcare two sorts of divisions which WIG | 'N' l'i PNitl litaAS. ! JIG HGSt, VII Gil IS the nrst common, is the divisicn of the text into its parts; the ether, is of the dis. course, oi sermon itself, which is made CT the text.
 lst. This method is proper when prophe- cy ff the Old Testament is handled for ee. | nert1iv the nn'ierAtanang or rnese ln.rl,nt1t depsnls cn many general considerations, winch, by exp es'ng and refutng false senses, open the way to the true application. 2d. This method is. also, praper, on a text taken from q spute, the understanding of which must depend cn the state of the question, the hypothesis of adversaries, and the principles of the inspired writers. All these lights are previously necessary, and hey can only be given by general e nsidera- tifns; for example, Rom iii. 28, "We c h. clnde. that man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" Some general consi- iteration must prectde, which clears up the matter between St. Paul and the Jews, touch ing justification which marks the hypothesis of the Jews upon that subject, and which dis covers the true principle which St. Paul would establish so that, in the end, the text may be clearly understood. asri ' Sd. This method, also, is proper in con clusicn drawn from lcng preceding discourse as, for example, Rom. V. 1, "Thcrefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through cur Lord Jesus Christi" The discourse must be divided into two parts the first c insisting of some general cois;de- raticns m the doctrine of justification, which St. Paul establishes in the preceding chapter; and the second of his conclusion, that being thus justified, we have peace with Gcd, &c, Tine same may be said of the first verse of the 9th of Romans. "There is theref. re now no ccndemnatit h." Slc. Fer t is a conse- quence drawn from what he had been esta- blishing befre.
 4th. The same method is proper fer texts which are quoted in the New Testament from the Old. Y'u must prove, by general consi- derations, that the te xt is properly produced, and then ycu may ceme clearly to it's expli- caticn. Of this kind are Heb i. 5, 6; i 6 iii. 7. The,c are, also, many passages d this k'nd in the New Testament
 5th In this class must be placed dvisicn, into different regards or views. These, tt speak properly, are not divisions of text. | into their parts, but rather different applca- | tions which are made of the same texts tt diverse subjects,
 Typical texts should be divided thus and a great number of passages in the Psalms, which relate not only to David, but also to Jesus Christ. Such should be considered li- terally, as they relate to David and then in the mystical sense, as they refer to the Lord Jesus.
 There are also typical passages which, be- side their literal senses, have also figuratve meanings, relating not only to Jesus Christ, but also to the Church in general, and to every believer in particular. For example, Daniel ix. 7, 70 Lertl, righteousness bel ngeth to thee, but unto us confusion tf face, as at this day ;" must mt be divided into parts, but C nsidtrtd in d fFerent views first, in regard to all nitn in general :; s, c nd, in regard ts the Jewish Church in Daniels time and third, m regard to ourselves at this present day. SD again, Heb. iii z. 8, CT ,-day if ve will hear h voice." wh ch Is taken from Psalm 95, cannot be Letter divided than by referring it, first. to David's time secand, to St. Paul's; and lastly, to our own. As to the division of the text itself, sometimes the | order of the words is so clear and natural that no divisicn is necessary. Ycu need cnlv fellow simply the order of the words as, for example, Eph. i. 3, C Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blesse us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ" It is not neces- | sary to divide this text, because the words divide themselves; and to explain tliem, we need cnly fllnw them. He,'e is a grateful acknowledgment, 'f Blessed be God" The tile under which the apostle blesses God, the Father ,cf cur Lcrd Jesns Christ The req son for which he blesses him, because he hath blessed us. The plenitude of this blessing, with all blessings. The nature, or kind, sig nifed by the term spiritual" The place where he hath blessed us, " in heavenly places" In whom he hath blessed us, in Christ. Most texts, however, ought to be formally divided; for which purpose ycu must principally have regard to the order of nature, and put that division which naturally precedes in the first place, and the rest must follow each in it's proper order. 'f
 There are two natural orders the one in regard to subjects themselves, the other in regard to us. And though, in general, you