UPON THE REV. MR. TAYLOR'S DISCOURSE, ENTITLED, THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT EXAMINED. IN A LETTER TO MR. TAYLOR. BY GEO. HAMPTON, M. A. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY FARRAND, MALLORY, & CO. .... 1809. CANDID REMARKS, &c. REVEREND SIR, I HAVE perused with some care and attention, and, I would hope, with a mind open to conviction, your Scripture Doctrine of Atonement examined: but, though I have no objection to make to several things it contains, yet I cannot say that I am satisfied with the whole; or indeed convinced, by what you have advanced, even in support (if I mistake it not) of your main point and as this is the case, I persuade myself, as well from your general character, as from what you have said in your preface, that you will not be offended, if I endeavour to discover, with as much clearness, and to correct, with as much candour, as I can, the errors your treatise seems to me to contain. I am not insensible of the rights of private judgment; as I am satisfied, you, sir, are not and therefore, as I do not at all doubt, but that you will allow me, without offence, to differ from you; so I readily own, that I should act against my own. sense of things, should I be displeased with you, or with any other persons, merely for differing from me, or taking that liberty, which I myself take, and you and they may with equal reason expect, I should give which declaration I therefore think proper to make, that it may appear, that, though I am contending for doctrines, which are commonly received, and which are sometimes, perhaps, defended (as well as attacked) with too much eagerness; it yet may be done with charity for those who see reason to reject them and I would hope, sir, you will meet with nothing in what follows, but what will be, both as to the matter and manner of it, consistent with this declaration. : I have said already, that there are several things in your treatise, to which I have nothing to object: these therefore I shall have no occasion to take notice of. And as to those parts of it, which seem to me to be liable to objection; I shall generally consider, or make my remarks upon them, in the same order in which I find them: for I freely own, that I know not that I can consider them in a better: and if it should appear, either that I mistake your meaning in any place, or give not good reasons for differing from you; I trust, you will find me very ready, both to acknowledge the one, and to give up the other. As the scriptures seem to me (and I presume they do to you, No. 148,) to lead us to consider, in general, the death of Christ, as a sacrifice for sin, in the same light, in which we are led to consider the expiatory sacrifices under the law; I shall very readily join with you, in the previous examina tion of what the scriptures say concerning them; that, forming right sentiments of them, we may be led to do the same with relation to the sacrifice of Christ. Only it will be proper, first of all, to take notice of some things you say with regard to sacrifices in general. Having then proved, 'that the sacrifices '(spoken of) were of a religious and moral 'nature; and had their effects with God 'to whom, and with the persons by whom, |