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tile funds of the former are employed , partly on Bibles , partly on Prayer-Books , and partly on Religious Tracts , which are in unison with the doctrine and discipline of the Established Church .
From this short statement it appears , that the former , or the ancient Society ; is not only a Bible Society x but likewise ( what the other is not ) , a Church -ofi * England Society . With the former it is an invariable rule , in promoting Christian knowledge , to keep in View the doctrines , which the members erf the Society believe and maintain . Especially where the Church of England is established , they consider it as their duty to promote Christianity , not under any
form , but under that particular form , which , ahoye eyery other they are pledge ed to snppqrt , "which alone is the tenure of ecclesiastical and even of civil preferment . In conformity with that rule , the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ( the ancient Bible Society ) distributes in its home circulation , as
welltjie Liturgy as the Bible : for though in the spirit of true Protestantism , it acknowledges the Bible as the only fountain of religious . { ruth , yct ,. it knows from the experience of all ages , that the waters of that fountain will be clear or turbid , according to the channel into which they are drawn . And as the members
of the . Society believe , ( though without reproach to , those whose belief is different ) tn ^ t t ^ e doctrines , of the Liturgy are . , correctly derived from the Bible , thfjjy consider ijt as their indispensable
dujy » tp unxte the * one with the other * In ^ ee ^ uni | brmity of doc trine , can never be jP ^ ppucWd ,. without an adherenee . > Vo this rule : iQfi every , Christian , party either finely ' q x Mgtftoses that , it finds , its peculiar , 4 oAr * ne 3 Yn the Bible- —4 But this to
salut | fv ^ ruje , ; ap neces ^ a / y promote unif p 5 rml r ty ^ > o ^ csircable . thjereiore by every trueChurchman , cannat be observed by the ^ pder ^ , Bible Society , for JUQii a rule wq ^ d not only be confctary to itsjjresentj ay o ^ c 4 bj ect , but absolutely inaa ^ issibje frojn ttc yery constitution of thc ^ m > piety . Ijqr it not , only consists of JJ ^ ssci ^ ra as lively aj of , Churctwncn : but jjjfc tyWUfy ^ f power . aj » d . in terpt betwef n ^ thc ^ i ^^ pajrtws ^ ft . the s ^ ypwed lasts 01 ^ jV ^ iCRvv t ^ ls mp , < lcr . n Society is built ., .. * « , . ] t 4 . ..... It i § t / uc that those members of it , who Txvft attache ^ £ 0 the Cfouxek , mvy # a f * ^ M *** f *« ml * that , wlpnp they ave obtained Bibles for distribution from
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this Society , they may of themselves add Prayer-Books , and Religious Tracts iri unison with the established faith , atid that this correction will be rendered easy , if ( as Frequently happens ) they arc members also of the other Society . But , to say nothing of the question , whether it is not more adviseable for
Churchmen to adhere wholly to a Societv , which , in proportion as its numbers increase , will supply their wants without the ne * cessity of correction , the LMssen ting members have th& same resource with their brethren of the establishment , it being equally in their power to distribute
Bibles in company with such Religious Tracts , ' as faVotiT their own opinions , and are always at hand , whenever they are wanted . The principle of equality therefore , on which the modern Bible Society is formed , and which places
Christians of every denomination on ti * fc same level , is upon the whole preserved : and in this constitutional equality there it evident danger , that the pre-eminence of the established ^ religion should be gradually forgotten and finally lost .
It is far from my intention * to be unfriendly ot disrespectful toward those , whose religious opinions ' are different from my own - Thbugli sincerely attached to the Established Chuircb , * nd desirous of promoting its wdlfare by all fair and honourable * means , I fully
recognize the natural , and in this country , legal right of private judgment in matters of religibri ; and I should be eVer readjjr both to deplore and to oppose evety effort to abridge the freedom of religious opinion , or religious worship , which is exercised in this cbuntry'by Dissenters of
every description . But though I respect religious opinions in general , however different from my own , and respect them because they are r « li jj iotis Opinions , y et I deeply lament that such diversity exists , ' not ojniy because th 6 greater the diversity the more abundant is Che error , but ; because religious dissension , in
consequence of our mixed constitution , is closely connected with political dissension . Religious dissension therefore in this country becomes < a political evil ; and as such should -not he tticouraged ) though Dissenter * of every description should for conscience sake be tolerated . This is the true line of disdnttiori ;
'which every Churchman * * should ihV * - riably observe ; and I ana convinced tkat every candid Dissenter , go far from , rescnting this open and honest avowal ,
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1 $ 6 Intelligence . —Dr . Marsh's Address , on the Bible Society .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1812, page 126, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1745/page/62/
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