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« nce of the agent . That the action of a being possessed of liberty of choiqe , or a power of choosing differently , the previous circumstances remain ing the . same , could
be certainly foreknown by any other being , is a contradiction in t ^ rms ; because the event is in , itself uncertain till it actually takes place . For example , the fall of
Adam could not have been the object of certain foreknowledge , if it had been possible for Adam , ceteris manentibus ^ to have chosen otherwise . Because the event
not being ^ absolutely certain , could not have been foreseen as certain , or , in other words , it could -not be known to be the contrary to what it actually was . To affirm that it could , is to affirm a contradiction ; and with such an opponent it would be in vain to
reason . The case is quite different with respect to the prescience of the Supreme Being , in regard ^ to the objects * of his own choice . If he selects one out of a number of
objects which are perfectly equal ; - for example ^ if he chooses to form the actually existing system of things in preference to innumerable others equally good , and equally in his view , and in his power , he makes the choice from
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ail eternity ^ and this decision being immutable , it lays a just foundation for the divine prescience of his own acts , and of all
events depending upon them . To ascribe to God , therefore , that liberty of choice which consists in the power of selecting one out of a number of equal objects , does not militate against the divine
prescience . This hypothesis does , indeed , stand in direct opposition to a principle assumed by many , perhaps the majority of Necessarian Philosophers , that liberty of indifference involves a
contradiction . But as for reasons which I have stated in the work , to which your correspondents have referred r 1 am not perfectly satisfied as to the truth of this assumption , I
must , till I am better informed , continue to believe , that a power of choosing out of -equal things , though not a moral principle , is in certain circumstances a natural
excellence of the highest importance , and as such , I ascribe it to that Great Being , who possesses every possible excellence in the highest possible degree . I am , Sir , , Your ' s , &c . T . BELSHAM .
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other inquiries highly useful to the cause , of Unitarjanism . Last Christmas , being at . a friend ' s house , I learned with surprise , that ,. although that friend
had ever been a * rigid Trinitarian , she was rather staggered m her religious sentiments , since she heard that the . Bi * brop was of my sentiments , viz . Unitarian . The
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Bishop Ported an Unitarian * 663
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Bridport Housq ^ Edmoirfun , Nov . 6 , 1809 . Mr . Editor , Having seen a sketch of * the life
of the late Dr . Porteus , Bishop of London , in your valuable Repository of last month , I am induced to transmit to you an anecdote or two of the same Bishop , which may perhaps lead to
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BISHOP FORTEUS AN UNITARIAN .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1809, page 663, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1743/page/13/
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