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far : many churchmen , we apprehend , stop short of this point . To us it appears impossible to divest diocesan episcopacy of political patronage and secular intrigue , and these we cannot reconcile with a ' kingdom not of this
world ; " 'and the confessions of episcopal writers in the Church of England had always led us to regard Ijer discipline ns anomalous , arbitrary and inefficient . We may also be allowed , perhaps , to express our surprise at one of the arguments alleged by the Unitarians referred to in behalf of civil
establishments of religion ; namely , that they are ** the best means , under Divine Providence , of supporting Christianity in the world /* and that * without them the religion of Jesus
itself would , almost if not altogether , have perished in the dark ages . " It is matter of history that the Gospel prospered most , even after the withdrawment of miraculous powers , when all the civil establishments of the world
were arrayed against it , and that all the great corruptions of it were imposed upon the universal church by the secular arm . And we hazard little , in our own opinion , in saying , that civil establishments of
Christianity brought in and ~ confirmed the darkness of the middle ages , and that " the truth as it is in Jesus" has recovered its influence and prospered in latei * times in exact proportion as men have emancipated themselves from political churches .
But this is one of the subjects on which Unitarians will agree to differ , and on which we are persuaded they will set the edifying example of a diversity of opinion , unattended by any estrangement of heart .
To the Letters in reply to Dr . Moysey , Mr . Bel&ham has properly appended the Letter in Reply to Dean Magee , which appeared first on our pages , Vol . XIL pp . 81—86 and 145 —152 . The whole volume is highly creditable to the able and learned
Author , and has already served and will continue to serve the great and glorious cause of Unitarian Christianity , with which the name of Mr . Belsham , like that of Dr . Priestley , is and ever will be honourably associated .
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500 JReview .- ~ An Appeal to Scripture and Tradition .
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Art . II . —An Appeal to Scripture and Tradition , in Defence of the Unitarian Faith * fyc . ( Concluded from p . 435 . )
THE £ i > 4 Part of this valuable little volume consists of a "Dissertation on the Doctrine of the Pre * existence ** of Christ , and an " Examination of the supposed Scriptural Grounds' * for it .
The Arian scheme has been scfenetimes represented as presumptively true on account of its moderation ^ lying between two theological extremes ; but our author very justly
observes , ( p , 99 , ) W ha lever forms a middle point between two opposing schemes , may appear abstractedly to be the safest and most probable theory ; but if the two opposites be truth and error , the medium between them must
partake of error no ?* ss than of truth /* Arianisni , which for a time success * fully disputed with Triiiitarianisrn the empire of the church , is now matter of history only . Individuals may incline to the hypothesis , but the Ariana are no longer a distinct sect . The following remarks appear to us just and concfusive :
" Modern Arians are divided into High and Low Arians . The terms properly designate ( 1 . ) Those who believe the agency of Christ in the creation of the world ; ( 2 . ) Those who retain the simple pre-existence , and , regard Christ ' s executive office as
purely spiritual . Others , who hold a mysterious supremacy in the Father , and a derived and dependent deity and procession in the Son , are sometimes called JJig k Arians , but improperly : tHey may be better distinguished as Semi-Arians ; thoug-h they ,
in fact , merely re assert the Trinity of the early fathers . The only proper Arians are they who conceive of Christ as a created super-SLngetic spirit , Ihe first and most excellent of the works of God , and the link and limit between the Creator and his
creatures . u separate personality of tlie Holy Spirit , as a creature above angels , cooperating- with the Son , which was the notion of the ancient Arians , is generally abandoned by the modern , in favour of ft divine attribute or quality . Some , however , still retain it , as did certain of the old Socinians . The created Sub ^ Creator ,
and the created illuminating- Spirit , are equally destitute of the authority of ancient tradition and precedent , unless we seek for their parallels among the intelligences o * the Gnostics . cc High Arianum incurs the suspicion
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1819, page 500, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1775/page/40/
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