On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
horse , ( for I give him credit for sincerity / &nd accounts for it on this principle , that * God can Jheal by any uidaiis or without any * " This is true .
He certainly £ «« by his own lmmedijte - -agency support human life with cut the use of food . But does he therefore do it ? Do we not find it necessary to prepare and use that
mean which he graciously affords us in the course of his providence , for the preservation of our frail bodies ? He can by his own immediate energy stop in a moment the progress of disease , and arrest the stroke of death . Instead of this , however , he has
communicated a healing virtue to medicine , and enables the physician to acquire skill in order to administer it . He can by his own immediate energy cause a barren field to produce a plentiful crop of corn . But the husbandman who should trust to such a
miraculous operation , on the maxim of Mr , Wesley , that Gpd can work with any means or without any , and on this presumption neglect to prepare the ground and sow the precious seed , would be justly deemed bereft of his senses . Is there not an analogy between the works of nature , and the
dispensations of grace ? In both the Almighty operates by general laws , from which he does not deviate , but for important reasons founded in infinite wisdom and goodness . As Mr . Wesle y advanced in life and his
enthusiasm abated , I believe it will be found that miraculous operations declined in an exact proportion . His present followers in general * moreover , by no means run into the extravagancies of some of their predecessors . Greater attention , I am told , is paid to the qualifications of their
preachers , and their inqde of preaching is mqre sober and practical . There' is indeed , I think , ground to hope , that many of them will eventually became ad vocates for the pure , rational religion of the gospel ,. without losing their zeal for the instruction and salvation of the lower classes of the community .
A consummation this devoutly to be wished . " Enthusiasts make religion consist , ¦ tot ia a rational , practical , yttal prin-Cl ple in the a «* ul , displaying its reality ***** power at all times and in all circ Wtost % nQes , by disposing men to an
Untitled Article
uniform , consistent course of Christian obedience , but in certain internal impressions and feelings which they ascribe to supernatural influence .
These feelings however are known to be as much affected by the state of the animal spirits , and " the false creations proceeding from the heatoppressed brain / 7 as is the barometer by the changes of the atmosphere * >
My attention has been particularly directed to the subject of religious enthusiarn , by a letter lately written to a respectable friend of mine , and sent to * me with a request to make such observations as the perusal of it might suggest . The writer is a
zealous advocate for the divine mission of Joanna Southcott . After the very interesting account you gave of this pretended prophetess in your Repository of January last , ( p . 58 ) conducting her
to her death-bed and the silent grave , one would naturally conceive , that all the ^ anguine expectations of her deluded disciples were buried with her to be revived no more . It appear * however that this is not the case * On
the best information 1 have been able to acquire respecting this woman , I arn satisfied , she was rather an en * thusiast than an impostor * that she was herself deceived by the delusions
of her own fancy , and did not attempt wilfully to deceive others . Her sanguine followers , however , implicitly received her heavenlv mission , without any proofs to -justify her pretensions . She claimed to be the woman
described in the 13 th chapter of the Revelation of John . This appears to be a symbolical representation of the Christian church in great dignity and honour . That Joanna should mistake
this symbolical figure for a real woman , and fancy herself to be the person hereby meant , is a matter of no surprise . Enthusiasm is a species of insanity , and many of the residents in St . Luke ' s and Bedlam have fancied
themselves kings , emperors , queens and princesses , yea , Jesus Christ , and some even the Almighty himself . The subject of wonder and regret is , that there should be others who took Joanna ' s word for the character she
assumed ,, who eagerly embraced the ravings of a religious lunatic for divine inspiration , and who being thus deluded * , contributed to humour her delusions . What was there however in her appearance , by which they
Untitled Article
Mr . Howes Observations on Modern Religious Enthusiasm . 5 SQ
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 539, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/7/
-