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r worship , and our God , they have no business . We cannot belong' to the Church f Enffland , because , however mildly exercise ^ she recognizes this claim of man to tell with authority his fellow-man what he shall believe , and whom and how he shall ' adore . Her Articles and Liturgy j avc l > een rigf htly described , by one of
, Jier own prelates , < as a long * act of pama-\ nent ? a decree of the senate deciding what vve are to think of God , how we are to feel and speak in his presence , and by vhat to obtain his blessing ! Bid they
appear to us absolutely true , and supremely excellent , we have never delegated , nor can we ever acknowledge , the authority of others to decide for us that they were so , and compel us to their belief and use . Pp . 64—66 .
This is the unanswerable argument for Nonconformity with regard to political or national Churches . Of some of the more palpable reasons for dissent , the author says , perhaps with too much smartness ,
a have not patience to rake together the pettifogging absurdities , contradictions and superstitions about crosses , anil rings , and kneeling * , and bowing , and altars , nnd Easter , and such like things , which in rich abundance disfigure the practices of the Church , and to one educated a Dissenter make it a matter of some
toil and study to drill himself , so as to execute , correctly , the mnnceuvres and evolutions of divine worship . If men think they can please God by getting . up such exhibitions , let them try ; but not impose them on others for Christianity . "P . 71 .
Mr . Fox thus answers one of the popular arguments for a national establishment of religion : " But religious instruction for the bulk of the people should be provided . Let it hy all means . Who instruct them now ? Whose schools exclude half the population of the country—those of the Sectaries or of the Establishment ? Who raise the
character of tie poor by discourses which they fan understand and feel ? What soit of instructo rs will they generally he , who « "'e their office , not to the people , but to ptronage ? What is the fact ? Where ( j'ssent is tolerated , is not more knowledg-e H , i r i ^ vol u"tary exertion than by Published institutions ? We may read , «' broad characters , the importance of inerty to religious light , in those countries slav S euuine spirit and tendency of * £ » * l I" * ttffated by the corrective of i » tL ated dis 8 £ mt - H « w deplorable ^ r ;/ 1 ) tion ' There" the pop ^ ace
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ignorance and superstition . There priests and people , blind leaders of the blind , sink together into the very barbarism of ignorance . There is the grave of intellect and of knowledge , of morals and of freedom . " —Pp . 79 , 80 .
The Lecture concludes ( pp . 85—87 ) with a truly Christian plea for charity , towards such as may hold an intolerant system . Lect . IV . is " On Unitarianism . " In the introduction , the € * immense
importance' of the doctrine of the Divine Unity is illustrated by an assemblage of metaphors , which reminds us of the style of an age long gone by .
" It is the soul of Judaism , the foundation of Christianity , the noblest discovery of reason , the glory of revelation , the centre of religious truth , the antidote of infidelity , the death blow of idolatry , the spring" of Reformation , the guiding * star of
free inquiry , the companion of liberty , the parent of piety , the source of light in the mind and goodness in the heart , and the inheritor of supreme dominion over faith , to which it is directed by prophecy , and will be conducted by Providence , in all nations . ''—P . 88 .
Mr . Fox very judiciously separates the private opinions of Unitarians from Unitarianism . < c The discussion of Unitarianism has bee a much embarrassed , and its cause
injured , by its being" mixed up with the private opinions of its friends . There is gross mistake , or wilful injustice , in reckoning whatever is held by certain Unitarians essential to Unitarianism itself . The
humanity of Christ is not essential to Unitarianism . Although differing from most respectable authority , I have no hesitation in deeming such limitation most improper . It is inconsistent with the etymology and meaning of the term , and its historical use . Dr . Price was an Unitarian as well as Dr .
Priestley ; so is every worshipper of the Father only , whether he believe that Christ was created before all worlds , or first existed when born of Mary . Philosophical Necessity is no part of Unitarianism : to some Unitarians it seems the plain dictate of reason and Scripture , illustrative of the character of God and plans of Providence ,
a glory around the cross of faith , and a rock for the anchor of hope \ but others think it inconsistent with the threatening * and promises of God , and the responsibility of man ; and a simitar diversity obtains among" the speculative of other denominations * Materialism is no part of Unitarian Fsm . Some of us believe that mam is formed of one substance , others-
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Review . —Fox ' s Lectures . ' 755
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 755, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/39/
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