know all its evil? For it is already known to be wicked. Ego dominus, &c.—vii. 14. Faciam domui huic, &c.—Trust in external sacrifices—vii. 22. Quia non sum locutus, &c. Outward sacrifice is not the essential point—xi. 13. Secundum numerum, &c. A multitude of doctrines.
Is. xliv. 20-24; liv. 8; lxiii. 12-17; lxvi. 17. Jer. ii.. 35; iv. 22-24; v. 4, 29-31; vi. 16; xxiii. 15-17.
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Types.—The letter kills. All happened in types. Here is the cipher which Saint Paul gives us. Christ must suffer. An humiliated God. Circumcision of the heart, true fasting, true sacrifice, a true temple. The prophets have shown that all these must be spiritual.
Not the meat which perishes, but that which does not perish.
“Ye shall be free indeed.” Then the other freedom was only a type of freedom.
“I am the true bread from Heaven.”
Contradiction.—We can only describe a good character by reconciling all contrary qualities, and it is not enough to keep up a series of harmonious qualities without reconciling contradictory ones. To understand the meaning of an author, we must make all the contrary passages agree.
Thus, to understand Scripture, we must have a meaning in which all the contrary passages are reconciled. It is not enough to have one which suits many concurring passages; but it is necessary to have one which reconciles even contradictory passages.
Every author has a meaning in which all the contradictory passages agree, or he has no meaning at all. We cannot affirm the latter of Scripture and the prophets; they undoubtedly are full of good sense. We must then seek for a meaning which reconciles all discrepancies.
The true meaning then is not that of the Jews; but in Jesus Christ all the contradictions are reconciled.
