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and universal Intelligence , whom . they termed *• the best and the greatest , the Father of gods and men- " and to whom they ascribed the possession of endless life , and of an ineffible felicity . This St . Paul , Rdm . i . 20 , asserts all the Heathen should have done ;
and , by analogy , we may conclude that , all wise and good men among them , though neither writers nor disputers , actually embraced these doctrines , together with a belief in the moral certainty of a future state of rewards and punishments ; of which
Virgil hath given us a far more rational illustration , though mingled with absurdities and poetical embel-Jishments , than is to be found in many modern expositors- Under the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations , the Deity was revealed as the Father of all the families of the earth ; and
though puuishing the impenitent , as * ' forgiving iniquity , transgression and sin / ' this was to be " His name for ever , aad his memorial unto all generations : * ' and * that they had , or might have had , the knowledge of a future state , oar Lord tells us , " Even Moses 1
shewed at the bush . ' If then , indolent and ignorant Jews , as indolent and ignorant Romanists do now , regarded the Almighty only as a local Deity , confining his favours within the pale of their own church , and consigning the rest of mankind to destruction—this was not the fault of their
religion , but of their own stupidity and blindness ; an honest attention " to the law and to the testimony , ' to the history of their nation , and to the instructions of their prophets , would have delivered them from these
mischievous errors : and , no doubt , many were so delivered : we read bet of one sect among them , who " said there was no resurrection , neither migel nor spirit : " these > were sceptics of their times , whose doctrines were 4 .
^ — . _ •*¦ ' .. <¦* contested by the wise , and their society avoided : and , under the superior light of the gospel , though error , prejudice , superstition and bigotry , were early displayed , and are still too prevalent ; yet , in all ages , great
numbers have received it in its genuine simplicity and beauty , unadulterated with the dross and dregs of human mixtures . May we not suppose that , in the present day , a vast majority of fcctisiblCf . pious and inquiring persons , both in thfc Rdufrish and Protestant
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Churches , ( I do cot ui «« m to compare them ) see many things imperfect at least , in their respective es tablishments , and earnestly long for the times of reformation ; when , by the co-operation of wise and good men of all denominations , under the blessbg
of Providence , the gates of the Chris . tian Church shall be opened wide to every sincere believer , and " every plant" in his spiritual vineyard , " vihi ^ he hath not plan ted , shall be rooted up . " There is a wide distinction to be made between doctrines and opinions as laid
down in creeds and articles , and as they exist in the human intellect , or are impressed " upon the table of the heart ; ' and we should certainly learn men ' s religious sentiments from themselves , and not from their opponents . Ask a candid Romanist wliat
he thinks of the doctrine of exclusive salvation , and he will say that it is an obsolete dogma of his church , aad that be does not believe it Ask a low churchman what he thinks of the Athanasian Creed ; he will tell
you , that though he may consider the creed itself as intended to explain the doctrine of a complex unity in the Godhead , he is not himself bound by it ; and that he abhors the damnatory
clauses , as horridly , papistical . Ask a pious Arminian what are his notions , of perfection ; he will r ^ p ly , the perfection of a human being , the perfection of sincerity , not " idle * but active honestv . Ask a zealous
Calvinist , who is not alarmed at the names of reason or charity , or fret inquiry , respecting some of his peculiar tenets , and he will waver on the doctrine of absolute predestination , and perhaps renounce unconditiona l reprobation altogether : he will allow the
the necessity of a distinction m measure of future punishment , and leave the duration to the wisdom of the Deity . Erea Calvin himself guards iis against settiug the atonement of Christ in opposition to m mercies of God , which he aokn < j * - Ieapes to be the original cause ol lw
mau redemption . . But not with s tanding these reniai * we must allow , that ancient trulfl may be proposed in new li ^ s , auu the steward of divine mysteries , u * scribe instructed in the king dom ™ God , may bi ^ jr >^ ** ° * » Z out of hfe ' ereaaurf ^ f ^ *^ ^ old ^ a - ptafagt wliicft a » over ***
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28 ^ Knowledge and Opinions similar in all Ages .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1815, page 282, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1760/page/18/
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