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ode place ( Tracts , vol 1 . p . 286 ) he « -x pressly says , " The Unitarians are some of them Arians , and some Sociuians , in their judgment concerning Jesus Christ /' 7 . Lastly , Mr . Cardale , though he maintains the simple humanity of
Christ , includes under the appellation in question even those who doubted or denied that our Saviour was a creature , if only they admitted the supremacy of -the Father . Arguing ( True Doctrine , p . 110 ) that , if Christ was uncreated , he must have-been
selfexistent . " It appears , * says he , « very strange to me , that so many learned men among the Unitarians should give into an opinion so inconsistent with their own avowed principles , and which does in effect entirely subvert the doctrine of the unity . But this indeed is the best and only resource
they have , or can have , so long as they hold with the notion of pre-exist ence . " The first author who used the term Unitarian in its restricted sense , was , I believe , Dr . Lardner . In a few instances we find him employing ' it in contradistinction not only to the Trinitarian , but also to the Arian faith ;
a misapplication which we should not have expected from a man of his caution arid accuracv . In this innovation lie was followed by Dr . Priestley and other eminent writers , who have called their system the proper Unitarian
doctnne , and who have given currency to the limited application of the name , but , so far atf I can judge , with considerable detriment to the progress of truth . The word has however happily returned to its original acceptation ; for ,
H . As a second reason , it may be stated , that the designation we are considering is now generally understood to apply to all Christians who , mi oppositi 6 n to the commonly received doctrine of the Trinity , assert that the father is the Only True God .
All the present Arians lay claim to the appellation of Unitarians . I wish ' . could add , that all the present So-^ njana admit their claim . I conceive , £ w e # r , the exceptions are but few . * ne great bjajotity of those C&ristjaiifr
Jw believe the simple Jmmapity of yrtxi td h 4 the dottrihe or : the Scrip . 2 * $ *> Wi $ K to include their Arian bre-^? ™** the satme dehpminatipn w JUiih ^ aelreB . So far a $ 1 caii learn *< nxi private c 6 nyer ) Bati 6 n with the
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Unitarians of my acquaintance , either in England or Scotland , they generally agree in understanding the term under consideration as equally
applicable to all who worship the Father as the Only True God , and bear their testimony against the established doctrine of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead .
The same definition of the term is given by nearly all those who have lately been called upon in the course of Providence to appear before the public as the advocates of the Divine Unity . It is given by Dr . Carpenter , in his controversy with the Devonshire
clergy ; by Nlr . Aspland , in his Plea fpr Unitarianism in answer to Norris 5 by Mr . Grmidj / y in his Sermon at the Opening of a Unitarian Chapel in Liverpool ; and by the venerable Dr , Toulmin , in his Sermon before the Western Unitarian Societv .
Perhaps a still more decisive indication of the sense in which the , term is understood by the great body of Unitarians now living , is the constitution of the various Societies established by them for the propagation of their principles . One of the fundamental
objects of the Scotch Unitarian Association , as expressed in the Rules , is * ' to promote and keep up an intercourse and correspondence between the different societies , which are united upon
the common principles of the strict unity of God , and o ' his imivwsal love to his creatures . " Although the London Unitarian Society is avowedly opposed not only to the Athanasian , but also to the Arian doctrine , the other
institutions in this kingdom of a similar nature are , I believe , framed upon the supposition , that all Christians are Unitarians , who hold the Unity of God as one Person .
III . A third reason for the general application of the title Unffariaii is , that such an application is required by the plain meaning and known derivation of the term .
As the Christians of one class art * called 7 r , rinipariar { isf because they believe that tfopre are three Persons iu the Godhead , thpse of the other class are pjqoperjy called Unitarians , because at
tfaey pehey ^ tji there ; is only < ytie ~ UVctenstamlirig the terms in these acceptations , we perceive a contrast and a qorre , spo , pdene . e between ; themy answering T ^ ot : the iptymolpgy of each - UliS uana . Unitarian , thus applied , is
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Mr . J . Yntes on the Term Unitarian . 477
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1815, page 477, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1763/page/13/
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