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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
da ££ fM ° conceive the gregrt idea of reformation , they will dare to
attempt the execution . Fortified in the consciousness of their upright and benevolent intentions , they are prepared to receive with equal indifference , the cautious advice of
the timid , the ridicule of the licentious , the scorn of the vulgar , the incjignation of bigots , and the persecution of tyrants . If they should have the misfortune to be anathe . inatized as heretics , for the very virtues for which many an
orthodox martyr has been canonized , they will console themselves with the reflexion , that the censures of men cannot destroy the merit of their character , and with the hope that the good seed which they have sown with so much labour and
hazard , will not perish in the ground . " This animating representation of the duty of ministers , is followed by a forcible appeal to the laity : — While ministers of religion thus strenuously exert themselves tot the propagation of truth
and religion in the world , let wise and good men of every class unite to afford them their hearty countenance and steady support . Shaking off that lethargic spirit of indifference to the progress of t ^ ^ " ^
. it a knowledge , virtue and happiness , whifrb ip the natural offspring of an uncultiyarted understanding and a selfish temper ; alike disdaining , tamely to submit their judgment to th £ authority of ecclesiastic guides , or * Mindly ; % q follpw the track inarkel out by tb ^ ir ancestors ; ^ HP ^^^^ 4 wf ?*> " mdW the di - reMon pf reason , to advance , even f ySfaWsi M ' wfc ' * m * ° j the J P ^ l ^^ ^ n tc ^ fi ^ draw ms ^ e ^^ veil bf mystical sanctity + k ffl 0 £ li ^^ to spread owr
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lovg established errors ; let them pursue their researches after truth with an ardent , liberal and courageous spirit . On doubtful questions let them suspend their judgment , till they have passed , by the slow gradations of patient thinking , from uncertainty to rational conviction : and let them
submit without hesitation to the authority of reason , wherever her decisions can be clearly ascertained , even though they should be obliged to surrender some of their favourite opinions , and to suffer
the odium of opprobrious appellations . Let not any timid appre - hension of the danger of innovation- —let not a spiritof indifference under the specious disguise of moderation - induce them to nrac . moderationinduce them to
-, prac tise themselves , or to expect from their ministers , a quiet acquiescence in prevailing prejudices and errors , which they judge to be injurious to the interests of virtue
and religion . In full confidence that truth and happiness can never be at variance , let them be always ready to allow , as well as to take ^ an unlimited latitude in argument $
and give every possible encouragement to free inquiry /* ¦ s ¦ The exhortation is then applied particularly to Protestant dis ^ jti ng congregations ; ahd tfefe ^!^ course thus concludes , niftitnaining to thefla $ t it * title to be ^ &fc-r nounced one of the best sermc ) w&
in the English tonguet—* FjWflJ ^ let both ministers arid people heitirtily unite their endeavours t 6 rfe * store the original ptrfity * d& . igtyfe plicity of Christiah xroctr * no and to rescue Chfifetiaii ^ wor ^ hip 1 ^ 6 ncr
every ; incumbr ^ tl Ce oH-tfisgraee , which priesto ^^^ ifef ) arrcft ^ h % s broughs upom it : ^ twfty ^ reiii ^ mw berin ^ that it ^ to . ^^ tv a ^ htint
Untitled Article
Enfietd ' s Sermon on the Progress of Religious Knowledge . 290
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1812, page 295, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1748/page/15/
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