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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The authority of this boGk Is certainly not suck ais alone to establish a doctrine , but it is assuredly great enough to afford ho mean confirmation to that interpretation of other parts which it favours .
Your co-respondent comes to a conclusion from which I feel myself obliged very seriously to dissent . « What then / ' he asks , becomes of the Scripture doctrine of redemption by the blood of Christ ? " He confesses that , according to his views , it conies to nothing , which is just
what I have been endeavouring to shew : he says , " that it cannot be justly said that there is any such doctrine in the Scripture / ' As we have already been engaged in reviewing the testimony of the Scripture to this point , I shall not revert to it now ; but if Mr . Acton be correct in this
assertion , I know not how any doctrine is to be found in Scripture , for it seems insufficient that it be repeatedly stated in its very terms , and still more frequently in words of parallel import ; in short , that it occurs in almost every book of the New
Testament . But let us now turn to your correspondent ' s own view of the subject . He states it thus : " The doctrine of the Scripture is this , that if mer ^ repent of their sins , and turn unto
God in contrition of heart , and bring forth fruits meet for repentance , he is always mercifully disposed to forgive their past transgressions , and to restore them to his favour ; and that Jesus is the mediator between God
and men , by whom this joyful assurance has been proclaimed and confirmed to the world / ' Now , undoubtedly , all this is the doctrine of Scripture ; I deem every syllable of it true , in the most unqualified and absolute sense . But where is there any
inconsistency , if I add another clause , and say , that the Divine Wisdom required that Jesus should previously submit to deat h , as the most proper way of his dispensing- this great forgiveness ? I do
not , therefore , regard such views as your correspondent's as false , but as inadequate ; as too limited and red uced , as incommensurate with the rcal ends aad reasons of the death of Christ , as unfolded in the Scriptures .
It is hardly necessary for me to observe , tftiat through the whole of the foregoing orgumen }; , I have reasoned
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on the simple Unitarian hypothesis of Christ's befog * by nature a mtm ., and not a pre-existent spiritual being . I consider this view of his person as the doctrine of the gospel , and perfectly
consistent with that of the propitiation or atonement for sins , as explained above . To conclude , may the Father of Light so guide us all , that we may do nothing against the truth 9 but for the truth i T . F . B .
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Essay on Truth . ( Concluded from p , 219 . ) 5 th . ^\ F mora l truths . As all mo-V _^ ral truths have their origin in the relations which subsist between
man and man , it is evident that it will be necessary , in the first place , to ascertain what those relations are before we can determine what are , and what are not , moral truths . But , to enable us to accomplish this , much previous observation and investigation is required . It will be necessary not only to examine ourselves in a most careful
manner , to mark all our various desires and propensities , and how these desires and propensities manifest themselves in our actions , but we must likewise observe the actions of others , and mark all their various
modifications in every possible situation . This being done , the next step is to compare our own with the observed actions of others , and on finding from this comparison that other men act in the same manner as we ourselves
would do in similar circumstances , we necessarily infer that other men are similar to ourselves , and are actuated b y the same desires and propensities . This being established , by considering how we would act , or how we would wish that others should act by us , lti
any given situation , we know how others would act , or how they would desire us to act , in the same situation . By thus pursuing our inquiries , by considering what objects are desired by others as well as ourselves , and by observing the present constitution of
things , we cannot fail to' discover that no man can enjoy the advantages arising from the society of others wifcliout sometimes sacrificing- his own inclinations to their wishes ; that mankind are inclined to retaliate upon him who injures them ; th&t we are
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vol . xvm . 2 m
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l £ smy on Trutfi * && £
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1823, page 265, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1784/page/9/
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