(William Jay of Bath)
William Jay of Bath had the following notes of guidance prefixed to the Bible, which he generally used in the course of his study. They are guidelines which any of us who attempt to divine God's Word aright might keep before us in that same exercise:
In Reading this Book, let me guard against four things -
1. The contractedness of the systematic.
2. The mysticism of the Allegorizer.
3. The dogmatism of the Bigot.
4. The presumption of the Rationalist.
Let me tremble at God's Word, and let me, in reading it, keep three purposes in view -
1. To collect facts rather than form opinions.
2. To regulate practice rather than encourage speculation.
3. To aid devotion rather than dispute.