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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.
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Untitled Article
# f unpopular opiniett $ U Mr . Kf begins with observing that bo n ^ istake jpquld b ? H ^^ re ad verse to our Lord ' s pwpos ^ of mh lightening and reforming the world than «« the appreheusioa ( th $ notion ) that errors are harmless , that correct views of $ e- *
ligion are of no value . " Accordingly , the position here ujideiv % afcen to \> e illustrated is , that a well informed judgment is of tin * highest value ; and [ the illustration is , drawn from . " the nature of tb £ human judgrnent , and from examples , both in ancient antf modern times , of the evil effects of a judgment that n
erroneous . Coixscipu § ness teaches the influence of the determinations of the mind upon the conduct : however the effect be produced * the fact is undeniable . Errors in judgment , therefore * ] ead to errors in conduct , with as much certainty and uniformity as a bad tree bears bad fruit . Among various causes of error in re- ; gard to matters of religious ^ faith , the authority of age , rank , la ^ tents , character i $ not the least considerable * Accustomed to
receive truth from a pareut ' or religious instructor , or some great master in Israel * men fall into the dangerous habit pf &n- * nexing its sacred ^ eal tQ every thing which they deliver , and of ^ ejecting all doctrines which are not thus sanctioned . JErrpc has aJsQ a , n indirect and equally pernicious influence ^ ' One mistake gives birth to another : the Jews supposing that theip Messiah was to be a terrmojal prince , placed an undue value oii the
^ military cou rage : simple admission of the Roman Pontiff ' s infallibility opened a door to . all the absurdities of , Popery * ] V £ en are farther jnisled by false analogies * Having obtained wh&t we erroneously deem to be the truth by one traii > of reasoij - ing ^ we are Qpriducted i # to otjier mistakes by a similar course of reasoning . with
The connection of e ^ rpr error , and of truth with truth , is the reason why certain periods of time are denominated dark or enlightened ages of the world . Error is transmitted to suor cessiye generations , no less than to successive individuals . The loss of a small portion of intellectual light often issues in total
darkness ; and the evils arising from such a condition of the human mind may bereadl in the history of the Jews at the season of Christ ' s piinistry , and for forty years afterwards ; in that of the corruptions of the gospel ; and especially in the annals of the Rornisji church . Nor is ^ it true that concerning ths essentials of religion , there i ? no error among Protestants , tliajt
among them therc ^ i ^ scarcely a , shade of difference in sentitnent , and not a shade qf difference in character . Thist opinion im * poses on us by the appearance of caudor and comciliatioja ^ hut is unfounded and pernicious .
Untitled Article
KewkK * SermmS f l # 3
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1806, page 143, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1722/page/31/
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