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The strife firM began with tta Neonoinian ccmtrovfersy , . which had scarcely subsided , « vhfci * they found them * selves involved hi disputes concerning the Trinity . , The Synod at Salters ' Hull , in 1719 , still farther widened the brje ^ cb , creating unjust suspicions
and angry feeling's between brethren who should have united in support of the common cause . Those who are not acquainted with the history of that event , can have no conception of the animosity \ yhich it : occasioned , nor of the unfavourable aspect , which it had
upon the cause of Dissenters-- Several of their ministers immediately quitted their stations and their profession ; the laity went off in numbers to the church and to tlje world ; whilst too many of those who continued stedfast in their principles , converted the
pulpit into & forum for inflaming the bad passions of their auditors . After this , other questions arose both in divinity and in philosophy , and occasioned disputes among the learned ; some of . which
interfering with the generally-received opinions , added t 6 the unpopularity of the propagators , and caused the meeting-houses to be deserted . But next to ' the disputes concerning the Trinity , perhaps the most fruitful source of contention has been the
controversy relating to grace and salvation . The speculations of many upon these subjects , led them to entertain notions of the Divine government that were apparently inconsistent with morals . Antinomianism in its v . arious grades took root in many congregations , corrupted the members , and carried desolation in its train . The
blighting effects of this noxioua weed have been manifested in the endless divisions and sub-divisions which it has occasioned , owing to disputes between the minister , and his people , and the people with each other , upon subtle distinctions , the meaning of
which must he unintelligible to the many , and when v comprehended , of doubtful utility . Such proceedings have contributed greatly to bring the cause of Dissent into disrepute , and
have occasioned . many persons to doubt the / eligibility or a scheme of church -government with which so much discord is compatible . ( To be cdh £ lud&& in t&enext'Number ;] ^^^^^^^^^^^ K ^^^^^^^^ r l '
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LeUeXfrotft : Cumberlandp Rhode Island . M *
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, Homerton * :, ^ SijRi June 18 , 1 & 2 & . RECEIVED a few day * since q , I letter from America ^ Avfeich , should you deem it worthy of being recorded in the Monthly Repository , is at your service . The contents afforded me
much greater satisfaction than I could have anticipated . For , although the General Baptists may indisputably be said to have had the honour and happiness of contributing tneir full share to the recent spread of Unitarian Jam , as they have supplied nearly the whole
of the Missionaries employed by the Unitarian Fund Society , yet I did not expect to find that , in the new world , so large a body , of their brethren were avowedly Anti-Trinitarians . To me it has long appeared , that the leading principle of the Baptists , viz . that religion is altogether a personal
concern—parents not being able to do any thing for their children , as such , which can place them in a more salvable state than they are by nature , or which can entitle them-to tlxe appellation of Christians , till they become so from conviction—has a tendency to the ultimate adoption of rational views of Christian truth and honourable
conceptions of the character and attributes of the Father Almighty . In apparent proof of this tendency , I migh ^ t refer to numerous instances in which ministers and others of the Particular Baptist . denomination , have abandoned the doctrine , of unconditional
election , and have . found satisfaction alone in the persuasion that tKe Ma kkr of all is the equal and impartial Father of the whole human race , the only proper object of their ^ devout adoration and supreme affection . T ^ o omit , for the present , other names , permit
to instance those of Messrs . * Jr right , Vidler , Marsom and Lyons . And your readers will find from the following letter , that amohg the Particular Baptists in America , some of their most popular preachers , with their respective churches , have been excomn ^ uiiU
cated expressly on the ground of their attempts to subvert the doctrine qf the Tripity . Of tjhq impisters of . tjhe Sabbatarian Baptists also , some are * it appears , ^ strenuous Unitarians /* . It may ; perhaps , strike your readers as being retm ^ rk ^ W ^ , that it is id c ^ nj ^ xion > v | th these last mejntipned mimeters alone * / th $ tterm Unitarian
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1823, page 347, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1785/page/35/
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