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the existence of vice and misery ? How are they to be reconciled with the Divine attributes ? If God be the only Creator and Author of all things , which must unquestionably- be allowed , and therefore the Creator and Author
of rice and misery , how can these evils be reconciled with the infinite goodness and wisdom of that Almighty Being , who is supposed ( though erroneously ) to have full power utterly to abolish these evils from existence , or else to have created the universe
without them ? These questions have often been satisfactorily and plausibly answered , by affirming that by the introduction and existence of evil , the Almighty best promotes his wise and benevolent designs upon the whole ; and therefore uses" evil as an
instrument in the production of general good . But this answer is only plausible , and by no means conclusive , and rests entirely upon that faith in infinite goodness and wisdom , which those attributes are calculated to inspire ; but the original difficulty still remains ,
and is alike common to all systems of faith , i . e . Why could not an infinitely wise , powerful and benevolent Being , have dispensed with the existence of evil , and have produced the same happy effects from happier
causes ? The reply to this question has commonly been , " The Almighty could doubtless have dispensed with evil , but it is evident from its actual existence , that he judged its existence best calculated , upon the whole , to produce his benevolent designs . " But this
reply still rests solely upon an appeal to faith in the Divine attributes , and the difficulty of the question remains the same ; but the answer to be drawn from the foregoing hypothesis appears to be of itself absolutely conclusive , i . e . because the Almighty cannot
do impossibilities—because he cannot make an infinite being or an equal , ( which every being not subject to evil must necessarily be , ) and therefore because , without the existence of evil , there could not have been any created intelligences whatever * he could not have been a Creator at atl .
2 . It affords a demonstrable refutation of the reputed orthodox doctrine of the absolute primeval perfection of man , without being subject at creation , either to moral or natural evil \ since the foregoing hypo thesis proves ,
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that evil is the necessary and consequent attendant of every created being " 3 . It presents a complete refutation of the old Heathenish and reputed Orthodox notion of inherent immortality ; since as there can be but one Being possessed of unlimited or infi * nite attributes , he alone can be
caDable of infinite duration : and hence without entering into the intricate inquiry concerning the materiality or immateriality of the human soul , a subject in which the loftiest geniuses have " found no end in wande ring mazes lost , " a conclusion must be drawn , that in order to render the
existence of any created intelligence infinite in duration , that existence must necessarily be revived , prolonged and continued on to infinity , by repeated renewals and changes from time to time , by the sovereign power of the
one sole infinite Being ; since no created existence is , or can be , of itself , i . e . of its own constituent parts or properties , capable of enduring everlastingly , for want of the attribute of infinity .
There are some other inferences of minor importance , drawn from the foregoing hypothesis , which I have not thought necessary at present to set forth , and wishing to see this important subject thoroughly investigated in your valuable work , I am , &c . G . P . HINTON .
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380 On requiring Students for the MmUtry to pray extempore .
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Coli / ton , Sir , May 10 , 1823 . f ~ jn < HIS reply was given to an appeal _ JL made to me , and I suppose to many others . The appeal , as a
portion of academical history , may not be unworthy of preservation , whatever may be thought of the reply . A copy of my letter being taken and not dated , I cannot recollect the year when this dispute happened , but am pretty sure the worthy Mr . Horsey was the principal tutor at the time .
JOSEPH CORNISH . Gentlemen , I have given serious attention to your printed letter , and am clearly of opinion ,
that Mr . Coward ' s Trustees are by no means chargeable with persecution , or acting in any degree inconsistent with the most generous principles of liberty , because they prohibit students the use of written forms in Che devotions of the family .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 380, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/12/
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