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Untitled Article
jfchat the -fjemawi ^ r wHl inevitably incur the , puiushnaent denounced against the disobedient . He will not allow , perhaps , that this distribution take * place in consequence of any arbitrary decree ctf the Almighty , but may contend that it arises frotn the necessary ope * ration of hi oral causes and effects .
And does not this , when traced to its source , amount to the same thing ? It was , doubtless , foreknowft to the Divine mind , " from the foundation of the world /* on which particular individuals among- the human race these causes wotrid-prod nee their
proper effect , and on which they wouki operate in vain . Nothing , according to the Necessarian scheme , could remain < 5 © ntingent upon future events , fiothing could be left liable to alteration from unexpected occurrences . And 13 not this equivalent to saying
that it was predetermined , in the -councils of the Most High , who should persevere to the end , and who should ultimately fail , —who , in short , to adept the phraseology of Calvinism , should be numbered with the elect
ox chosen few , and \ yh& with the reT prvbate or rejected majority ? It will scarcely be denied , if the Unitarian , I imagine , that thtm of the species who strictly conform to the conditions required in revelation , are placed in such favourable circumstances as to
lead them inevitably to rectitude of conduct ; and there cannot exist a doubt , that were the rest of mankind so situated as to come within the sphere of the same operative causes , their volitions would be influenced in the same manner , and we should find in the formation of their characters
ffa& 3 ame result - He then who ordaifis the circumstances by which ra ~ tionaji and moral beings are invariably influenced , does in effect ordain their ultimate condition : —for what Necea-$ ftria * i will dispute that these pre ~ efetafeliBhed Antecedents and consequents follow each other with unerring eertaiofety ?
As for , therefore , as the destiny of mankind , which is tofollow the termination of the' present state of ex * - iatence , is concerned in the argument , I acknowledge myself unable to discern any essential difference between avowed Calvhusts and those Uailariana vrUa comprehend in flieir creed lAe ( Joctriae of Necessky . There are ,
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iutlee < t , ma ^ v wha eatertaia no doubt respecting the final restitution of thtwhote human race to virtue and happiness , and wkh them the tepets of Calv | n would loss much of th ^ ir hideous deformity ; but it is difficult to of
say , how tko ^ e thp same party / who rest their views in the ultimate annihilation of the iniquitous , ( leaving the eternity of punishment out of the question , ) can be said materially to differ from the Reformer of Geneva ,
in some of the more prominent points of his system oi" faith . To every effectual purpose , they appear to me virtually to admit , though they may ostensibly disavow , the doctrines of absolute decree ^ oi election and rep robation , of irresistible grace and final
perseverance . lathe Calvinistic system , it is . true that good works are not allowed to constitute either the means or the condition of salvation , as the whole is resolved into the free and irrespective
grace of God and his sovereign power ; but , at the same time , it . must be remembered , tbat jthough the adherents of tlus sect utterly deny the saving efficacy of good works , they te ^ ard them as intimately connected
with a ^ genuine vital fait n , and that without them , the latter cannot properly be evidenced . On the subject of personal merit * I . coneeive that these two classes of Christians nearly accord . And to what other cause , let
me ask , can the Unitarians ascribe the different conditions and destinies of mankind , hut to the free bounty and sovereign will of the Supreme Arbiter of the ' universe *? It i $ his pleasure
that a choseu few should so shape their conduct , and so conform their volitions to the preeepts and model of the , Savio ur * &s with certainty to obtain 44 inheritance of the saints in
hght 3 " aad to the same uncontrouiable pleasure it is surely owing that the other ,, and far greater portion of his rational offspring , should fail in fulfilling the conditions required , and thus forfeit every hope of possessing * the : proffered prize .
., ft is impossible , in my opinion , to jreconciie the harsh arid revt ^ ltiiig tenets of Calvinism with the benevolence , and much more with the infinite benevalence of the ^ reat Paren t of Nuture , but I am « l in w ^ s to disco ver in what moaner those Unitariana , who reject
Untitled Article
7 ? f * 6 int& of Resemblance between UnharianUm and , C&lvw £ &ii
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1823, page 72, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1781/page/8/
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