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tions were intended to extirpate ; or to that of the Papists who corrupted and deformed the purity of the apostolic age . The holy scriptures uniformly represent the supreme Being as proclaiming by the mouths of his patriarchs and
prophets , that he was , in this respect , a jealous God , and that the worship of his creatures , due alone to him , he would not give , nor allow to be given to another .
lo adduce therefore the practice of Pagans or of Papists , is only to . bring forward so many instances of human ignorance and folly , but can never reconcile the Unitarian
Church to angel-worship . In Chariclo ' s plea foi * polytheism , there appears to be a confusion of ideas respecting image-worship and the adoration of angels ; in the same manner as he has classed
together the invocation of saints and the worship of Christ , against which he doubts whether the * Protestant champions have cvvr argued well . The fact appears tr * be , that there is no want of Pro
testant writers who have most ably argued against both saint and image worship ; but they have at the same time given their sanction ' to the worship of Jesus Christ as the second ? person in the godhead . Chariclo assumes it for a fact that
the * primitive Christians tounded saint-worship upon scriptural intimations ; but where does this writer find these intimations ? If hcwill turn to Dr . Priestley ' s Hist ,
of Opinions relating to Saints and Angels , ( Vol . I . of the Corruption of Christianity , ) he will find a very different origin giveji to this superstition . i 4 At length , " says the
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doctor , iC not onl y were those persons whom they termed saints , the objects of their worship , but also their relics and images : and neither with respect to the external forms , nor , as far as we can perceive * , their internal sentiments , were Christians to be at all
distinguished from those who bowed down to wood and stone in the times of paganism . ' ' - ^ He continues , " that this is a most horrid corruption of
genuine Christianity I shall take for granted , there being no trace of any such practice , 01 * of any principle that could lead to it iu the scriptures . " Chariclo is of a contrary opinion , and in support of it he first carries us to the scene of Christ ' s transfiguration , and expounds Peter ' s proposal to make three tabernacles , to mean the erection of so many temples , ( of which he favours us witii the plan
and elevation , ) in which Jesus and his two illustrious visitants might be worshipped ; but such an opinion cannot find support in the text . Priestley says , * the idea of making three tents would
naturally occur to Peter after passing the whole night on the top of a mountain ;' ' but nothing conclusive can be inferred from Peter ' s words , since the scriptures tell us , that u he knew not what lie said ,
being much afraid ;' ' overpowered by the divine spectacle . A voice from Heaven indeed , proclaimed Jesus to be ' the beloved son of God /' and the same honourable distinction was conferred on Christ at
his baprism ; but the charge which followed it was not worship yehim , but hear ye him ; this therefore cannot be considered as a
scrip-* Images were rarely seen in churches till the 5 th century . At the council of Constafltine ; , 7 ° 7 > pictures of Christ weie fire ordered to pe drawn in the form of men ,
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314 Polytheism not known to Christianity .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1809, page 314, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1737/page/12/
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