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Sir , PTPHE discussion on the term Uni-JL tariain arose from an assertion in a defence of the Christians of this denomination , addressed by our good friend Mr . . Belsham to the Lord Bishop of London . In this assertion he
did not appear to me to do the Unitarians justice ; and in consequence 1 submitted through the medium of your valuable Repository my sentiments on this subject , for the use
chiefly of our Unitarian brethren . Had our worthy friend MY . Belsham set ouli with a definition of his term , including in it the articles of disbelief contained in his assertion respecting them , he would not have found in me
any opposition to his right of defining just as he pleases . I should have been content with saying , such and such being- a class of Unitarians according to Mr . Belsham ' s account of them , I desire not to be confounded with them ,
for I belong to a different class . Our good friend seems to have overlooked the distinction between assertion and definition . When he asserted , that Unitarians do not believe this , that and the other , he spoke of a class of men , equally known to the Bishop and himself , and who existed long before the birth of either . The term
Unitarian was applied to them in reference to unity , not on account of certain opinions , in which they might agree or disagree with Christians in general . As to the grave authorities appealed to upon this occasion , I cannot but smile at our good friend ' s bringing forward such a prop to his opinion ; as he knows full well that , if the
gravity of human authority is to be the test of truth , we Unitarians must quit the field to our falsely-called orthodox brethren . But on this subject sat super que * With respect to Arianism I must still differ with our excellent friend , though I am very glad to find that his " desire is to enlighten not to inflame . " He has been unfo rtunate ,
however , for it has been communicated to me by more than one person , that several of our Arian Diethren have been very much j * o * the injurious expressions used by good friend , though they were nn * n surprised , that a gentleman oi >» discriminating talents should consu l persons together of very ™* ° * L principle The language usea
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638 Professor Zimmerman . —Mr * Frend on the Term Unitarian .
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own r . ioble and rich tongue ; and I trust every man of true taste will discourage the introduction of such barbarisms . May 1 venture to express a hope that the Lectures which have been
carried on for the two last winters at St . Thomas ' s Chapel , in the Borough , will be again renewed , as I have every reason to believe they have been of great service , as well in inducing many to become inquirers as to build up and establish others in the principles of rational Christianity . Z .
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Sib , Sept . 13 , 1815 . PERCEIVE , in your Obituary , I p . 526 , that you have been misled by an unaccountable error in the public prints , A Professor Zimmerman tnay have lately deceased * but the author of Solitude died at Hanover " the 7 th of October , 1795 , aged 67 , " as 1 learn from p . 147 , of the interesting Life of Zimmerman , written by his friend Dr . Tissot .
The letter of your correspondent Mr . Yates ( p . £ 70 ) appears upon the whole quite satisfactory . But are the inferences in the last paragraph but one correct ? ci We call our orthodox brethren Calvinists" without imputing to them the spirit of Calvin
or a desire to imitate his conduct as a persecutor , while they receive his system arranged , as it appears in the Assembly ' s Catechism , with logical accuracy , horribly consistent , and wanting nothing but truth . But do " the terms Arian and Socinian" especially " as they have been in
common use during the last two hundred years , " as correctly describe those Unitarians who now believe or deny the pre-existence of Christ ? The former , such as Dr . Price , profess not to enter into the views of Arius , respecting the rank or office of Christ in creation , while the latter oppose as inconsistent and unscriptural that
worship of Christ wliich was so essential to the system of Socinus , that for the rejection of such worship he reviled , and as there is too much reason to fear , assisted to destroy , Davides . We certainly yet require some comprehensive terms to distinguish the species of the genus Unitarian , CORRECTOR-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1815, page 638, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1765/page/38/
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