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On the alleged Svffefing^ Truth. 40?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Jm ^Hterin^ Against Tne Twb Wh8 Bate Gdi...
by thp conditions of its existence ^ transient , partial , and far apart , like f Angel visits . " * We are thus incapable of be-1
lieving , that tfiofcethings which constitute existence ( pain not bfeing one ) can be absent throughout the existent
universe . A parti a l knowledge of Truth is all then that belongs to a part of existence ; to know more would involve the necessity to be more . We have only to recognise that fact , and to make the most of what we
possess . We are told , that until Galileo found that the earth went round the sun , the priests who pinched his limbs for promulgating a better judgment werp right . This is
confounding Truth in part with Truth entire . The priests founded their opinion on certain appearances wh i ch remained undenied ; therefore it is said that tlieir opinions were true , or Truth , ^ JiKough imperfect . But it was hot . It was false ,
because they assumed that part 01 the argument which wa 3 complementary to their imperfect data . The opinion was compounded of true appearances' arid a false assumption , to ? coipplete thfe path to their deduction . It was therefore
false , although it involved the consideration ot some truths . And , tere lies the gi $ t of what ¦ Mi ^ et $ > £ means by the view bviflg " ei er ' fhe false one , i . e . partial * Bui ; the mischief is
Jm ^Hterin^ Against Tne Twb Wh8 Bate Gdi...
not in its being so , but in our supposing it entire * jjfeciifig ouVthe remainder of 6 ur ; 4 bul ) with assumptions . Mr LewsS defines the Truth to be thai
opinion which involves tfi £ fewest assumptions . But it % obvious that if tltose '^ sumptions are false , they must vitiate the siim of the truth of the OTinioh . The conclusion that Truth and opinion are identical , naturally lead to this errot , and
to the further one , of Truth being only relative and not absolute . If it were said oif our knowledge of Triith it would hardly be correct ^ especially in regard to the instincts ; partial woxild be the better phrase . But it is unfortunately applied to Truth itself , wKicli , for the want pointed put by Mr Webbe , of a better
vocabulary , we call by the same
name . Nevertheless , just as we can see more around us than is included in our identity , so we can perceive more thai ! we can see . We find all oiir lessons
from Truth teach the paramoiitti activity and might of Good . And we leiarn from a sincere contemplation of the cOAsilstency of Nature in her opeirations , to believe in the capacity
for Good even beyond tfcfe sphere of our undefstanding . The result is an unyielding Faith in Nature , in Good , 6 t ' fa * K ' " xt Truth , by whatever ri ^ me we call it ; and it is tliis Faith which has been the strength *
? The angelic offices of pain are not few . Th <* most flbyjous are , p ^ rh ^ pp , jU mpr } itory po ^ er , % o warn us froyi those things which are jjjiij ^ i p ^ tp exist ^ jnqp ^ % n $ its wholesome efifec ? tff as fin exercise of 8 trength . " * * . "••»•
On The Alleged Svffefing^ Truth. 40?
On the alleged Svffefing ^ Truth . 40 ?
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 1, 1837, page 407, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01121837/page/39/
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