Excerpt from The British Critic, Quarterly Theological Review, Vol. 9: And Ecclesiastical Record The Country Pastor informs us that, on several points treated of in this volume, various opinions, which he thinks unfounded, have been entertained by certain ancient divines, commonly called the Fathers, and also by more modern divines of high reputation. He professes, however, to have abstained from all reference to these, partly because few of his hearers were acquainted with their works, or able properly to estimate their authority; but, chiefly, because his design was to inquire, exclusively, what is to be learned from the records of inspiration, respecting a subject, on which uninspired men can know no more than what is revealed in Scripture, or what, by short and simple arguments, may be deduced from it. Notwithstanding this exposition of his reasons, we can hardly forbear to lament this abstinence. The parishioners of Halesworth would, probably, have derived but little instruction or edification from references to the ancient doctors of the Church, commonly called the Fathers; but the demand for a second edition of his book might have satisfied the author that its circulation was not confined to members of country congregations, and that he had many readers to whom a comparison of his own opinions with those of the earlier Christian Divines might have been a pleasing and instructive exercise, which the addition of a few short notes would have placed within their reach. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.