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Untitled Article
suade myself , with more than suf-Jitient ; not with zeal and bold . ness beyond what the case requires and Christianity approves . If these tenets be corruptions of the gospel ,
and whether they are , we must severally judge for ourselves , it becomes our duty to expose them with as much firmness of purpose as calmness and candour of
disposition . But the author of the Inquiry , Src . complains that when the individualsandsocieties alluded'to attack these doctrines , it is '' only to set up other tenets respecting them in
their stead . " That is , in different and perhaps correcter language , error is combated , in order that truth may be established : it is attempted to remove the additions
to the building , for the sake of exhibiting the fabric itself in its native strength and beauty . What is there unnatural in this process , or censurable in these efforts ? In
the mouths of many persons , it is a complaint against those who are said to subvert the belief of others , that they have none of their own
to offer in its room . Mr . Burns is , justly enough , of the contrary sentiment : and you will wonder , Sir , that admitting the fact , he makes it the ground of an accusation ; the
rather as the simplicity of the creed of those to whom he refers , is discerned the moment that certain tenets by which it has been obscured , are seen to be unauthorized appendages to the Christian doctrine .
I agree wirh him , that the temper , the conduct , the character of the gospel are every thing : and I own with- gratitude and pleasure that these do not belong exclusively to any one denomination of the professors of Christianity *
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Nay , I even grant that they arc much more dependent on our common faith than many may be able to discover or willing to'concede- However , what Mr . Burns
himself has said , and truly said , concerning the moral feelings and views and attainments of some on whom he animadverts , might have satisfied him that the nature of religious practice is not unrelated to systems of opinions . Surely , for example , our * esteem for- the moral character of God" must be
affected by the light in which we behold his government and attributes . And it should be considered that those Christians whose sentiments are most remote from
established and prevailing creeds , are not the least disposed , on principle , to recognize all as their fellow believers who acknowledge the Messiahship of Jesus ,
While , therefore , the first object of zeal should be the diffusion of those u fundamental' * truths , whence u a godly , righteous and sober life' * immediately arises ,
I see not , Sir , why the enlightened Christian should be called to oppose the zeal of different classes of believers for what some may take to be merely matters of speculation . For the fact that those
principles influence the minds and the conduct of men , I appeal once more to this very pamphlet of Mn Burns * . Without dispute , however , it was particularly needless for the author to enter his caveat
against what he regards as the illdirected zeal of the Sotinian ; as I question whether there be a single Socinian within his majesty ' s dominions . I am , Sir , . Your constant reader , && . N .
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gO The Zeal of Unitarians not ill directed *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1812, page 90, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1745/page/26/
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