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to the labyrinths of infidelity quicker than the books . To hear those who are looked up to fur their wit , learning or eloquence , perpetually directing their sarcasms at relig ion through the medium of its abused aild burlesquing many things ,
which we have been accustomed to hold sacred , bjut which are in fact real absurdities , injuriously amalgamated with Christianity , has a strong tendency to shake the faith of a person who has only received his notions of religion through the distorted medium of Calvinistic or fanatical
preaching-This , Sir , was my peculiar situation , and under the idea of thinking for myself and searching after truth , I continued bewildered in . the aberrations of scepticism for a considerable time , till having pursued my speculations to the boldest extremes , I
began " to be alarmed at the consequences such principles might produce if they became prevalent in society . I could not help reflecting that opinions which would destroy the belief of a future consciousness , and with
it , that of an ultimate accountability , must from their dangerous effects be unfounded in truth . These circumstances induced me to peruse some works on the genuineness and authenticity of the scriptures , among which I was forcibl y struck with " Priestley ' s Institutes , ** a manuscript copy of Aspland ' s Lectures , and a "
Sum-Wary View of the Evidences and Practical Importance of the Christian Revelation , " by Thos . Belsham : a class of writers I had totally negrected during my progress through the French and English authors of an
opposite description \ found the last Mentioned worfo to be th ' n productions of men who were not only sincere Christians but accomplished 8 < jMars and enlightened philosophers , whose laudable ambition it haH
oeen to divest the religion of Jesus of " > e various appebdag ^ s with which craft , ignorance and superstition had obsc ured its beauties and sullied its Pristine purity . In tact , I became conv iheed th ^ t the " objections and ca v * ls of modern infidelity are gene-* % leveled , jmorq af the prevailing corruptions than at the essential
doc-J , "H » or sub stantial evidences of re-^ led religion . ^ i felt conscipuathat
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if I had been educated ip liberal and rational views of Christianity I should have been much better protected against the errors of scepticism , than by reputed orthodoxy or blind fanaticism , and am confident that nothing is better calculated to stop the career of infidelity on the one hand and to tame the fierceness of sectarian
rancour , and infuriated bigotry on the other , than a more extensive diffusion of Unitarian principles . 1 shall not content myself with being a speculative or professed Chistian , but shall earnestly strive to become a real arid practical one , and as 1 am indebted
to the Unitarians for the hew and agreeable views t have of religion , shall endeavour to atone for my past errors , by devoting the remainder of my life to assist them , iu enlightening and liberalizing their fellow-c ^ ristians . Yours , &c . PHILARIO .
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Christian Polytheism . 617
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? 0 * " X * 4 *
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Sir , Aug . 30 , 1815-X TNITARIANS respect the singer-\_ J ity , though they regret the inconsistency , of their Trinitarian brethren who worship a God tjie Son , and a God the Holy G 7 wst 9 while they
profess to receive the apostolic doctrine of one Godihe Father and one Lord Jesus Christy who , himself , has declared , on ' a very interesting occasion , that the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth . It is remarkable how the use of
unscriptura ! phraseology has prepared Trinitarian Christians , especially , if they have been s $ 7 iolar * s , easily to . adopt the expressions of a Pagan-polytheism . Thus Johannes Sapid us , a scholar of the fifteenth century , in an epitaph on Sixtus IVth ., whom he intends to ^ describe as , an Atheist , under a Christian profession , has thesp
expressions , J&iserat ut viyens Ceele 0 £ ia J ^ uminu Sixtuf Sic moriens nullos credidit esse Deos , ftfhich ihay be fairly trstpslated , Sixtus , who scornM through l ife tfy heavenly pow e . No Gods acknowledg ed in his life ' s lasrt hours . f
The author of " The History of Popejry , 1736 , " from whom I have quoted this couplet , ( ii . 29 S ) as if aware 6 f its Pagan complexion , thu $ qualifies the original :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1815, page 617, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1765/page/17/
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