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it had been mixed ; and to conceive themselves , and represent to others , a system of faith so rational and scriptural , that all the labours of modern times have done little to improve it . These bold innovators , however , placed themselves on a ground so far removed
frqm the old establishment , and even from the commonly received system of the reformed church , that they gained few followers , and only brought upon themselves , and those who had penetration and fortitude enough to become their adherents , the censures and
anathemas of those churches which claimed to themselves the merit of orthodoxy . By appearing at the head of a small and despised sect , they only furnished the multitude
wi £ h . appellations of obloquy and contempt for free inquirers in succeeding ages /' Two , causes are next specified as , hindering " the progress of free inquiry , and of its natural
offspring , rational ideas on religious stfMects * " in later times ; viz . subscription to articles of faith , and the propensity of the vulgar to mysticism and enthusiasm . Notwithstanding these obstructions
however * the preacher represents the cause of truth as surely , though gradually , advancing , and expatiate ^ , with an unusual spirit of eloquenqe , upon the happy signs of | h f limes . He prophecies of the Methodists , that . «? when % he rage
of r ^ oyelty is over , and the heat of pas 3 } P £ is abated , many who now desj #$ e 4 tj | ft name of reason , will Yistgf } tq Jtar * stj-U > smal 1 voice ; » th % k j&pir > present blind attachment to thnir , leaders Will give way to thc ^ di&im Qf kn owledge and love of J $ a ^ i < that their zeal will fee d'iWtliLllft judgment * and tejn-
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pered with moderation ; and that they will settle into the respectable character of rational Christians . "—The pages of this work attest the preacher ' s sagacity . Other obstacles to the spread of
true religion are particularizedin the spirit of indifference ; in slothfulness , timidity and selfishness . The following observation , found in this part of the sermon , is admirable : u In accomplishing schemes of reformation * discretion should be employed to
regulate , not to restrain ^ the operations of courage " The reader ' s heart will kliicHe into delight at the preacher ' s vivid picture of Christian ministers sustaining the character of reformers .
u It is only from those who have established their principles on the firm basis of free inquiry , who are duly sensible of the importance of knowledge , particularly moral and religious , to the happiness of mankind—and who at the same
time possess inflexible integrity , a bold and enterprising temper , * and an invincible independence of spirit , from whom great attempts in the work of reformation are £ o he expected . Such men , instead of
timidly keeping out of the way of danger by insisting wholly in general truths , or on a nearer fijjv proach to the ground of contro- * retreat u inamn retreat
versy , making a cowardly versy , g a cowaraiy behind a tiet of phrases Wtfoboffiul meaning , vWll avbw and $ uppfc > r > , , ' with all plainness and frai ^ tte , ' whatever thev i uH ^ e t £ he rSi ^ nr-
tant and sbafeoVUible tnVthi . ' f / i ^ will not fUttk it sufficienl tm ' tfoy * barely teacH ^ o 'W ^ feM '^ lfi " esteem ir their du ^ Yb &W # W .- * he «^ rs in SeWi ^ hihp ^ &m ffi ? ^ and estabHshinf { fattonalTO «|>}^ * Of teliaviffm Wiifie * WMrfcg
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£$ 4 Enfield ' s Sermon on the Progress of Religious Knowledge
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1812, page 294, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1748/page/14/
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