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as I * and other friends of true religion , could wish . "— -Pref . pp . iii . iv * These reasons he dssigh 3 to be , want of leisure in many , disgust felt by some at injurious insinuations and personalities , and the disheartening *
distracting effect of a multiplicity of arguments and various interpxetations of passages of Scripture . To obviate these inconveniences , he makes the following judicious and laudable pro- * poeal :
" As Christianity is happily not a subject resting on vague metaphysical speculations , but is founded upon the authority of books written in languages which are understood and explained according to known and standing rules * I therefore propose , with a view to the more speedy and certain attainment of religious truth ,
to establish a monthly periodical publication , commencing from the month of April next , to be devoted to Biblical criticism , and to subject Unitarian as well as Trinitarian doctrines to the test of fail- argument , if those of the latter persuasion will consent thus to submit the scriptural grounds on which their tenets concerning the Trinity are built .
" For the sake of method and conve * nience , I propose that , beginning with the book of Genesis , and taking ail the passages in that portion of Scripture which are thought to countenance the
doctrine of the Trinity , we should examine them one by one , and publish our observations upon them ; and that next month we proceed in the same manner with the book of Exodus , and so oh with all the books of the Old and New
Testaments , in their regular order . ** If any one of the Missionary gentle ^ men , for himself and in behalf of his fellow-labourers , choose to profit by the opportunity thus afforded them of defending and diffusing the doctrines tftey have undertaken to preach , I request that
an essay on the book of Genesis , of the kind above intimated , may be sent me by the middle of the month , and if confined within reasonable limits , not exceeding a dozen or sixteen pages , I hereby engage to cause it to be printed and circulated at my own charge , should the Missionary gentlemen refiise to bestow
any part of the funds , intended for the Spread of Christianity , towards this object ; and also that a Teply ( not exceeding the same number of pages ) to the arguments adduced , shall be published along with it by the beginning of thie ensuing month , That this new mode of controversy , by stron monthly publfcmtOTO , may be attended with afll the ad vantages which
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I , in cotamon %# ith other searchers aftfey truth , expect , and o * f which it is capable * . H will bp absolutely necessary that Dothing be introduced of a personal ijatiue or calculated to hurt tlje feelings of individuals- ^—that we avoid all offensive
expressions , and duch arguments as have no immediate connexion with the subject , and can only serve to re&rd the progress * of discovery ; and that We nfever afibfr ourselves for a mottient to forget that We are engaged in a solemn religious disputation . "—Pref . pp . v . —vli .
This is evidently th £ proposal of & sincere inquirer after truth , who believes that the object which he seeks will be promoted by free discussion . It is , we hope , by this time carried into effect . The energy of Rammohun Roy ' s mind , his zeal on behalf of pure Christianity , and the means with which Providence has blessed him , are
pledges that no measure which he conceives to be serviceable to his coun . trymen and fellow-creatures will be neglected by him or lightly abandoned . The Missionaries mil , we apprehend , excuse themselves from any
contribution , literary or pecuniary , to such a work . Rarbmohun Roy and his associates are not the persons td whom they look for converts . Without them ; however , such a periodical publication may be carried on in British India , where , we are informed * there is a
large proportion of persons , in both the military and civil service , and amongst the merchants and traders , who are disposed to lend an ear to sound reasoning on behalf of the gospel , and the more so fro in their conviction that the system of orthodoxy" imported from Europe is not
the religion that will make its way with either Mahometans or Hindoos . Heartily do we wish success to the projected wtfrk , from tvhfch We stall probably borrow hereafter for the gratification of oHi" reridefs .
In fconie remarks introductory to the « Knal Ajf > r > eal /> ttaMmohuh Roy complains with great i ^ agon of the treatment lie has experienced from the Missionary Magaziae . He published the " Precepts of Jesus , " h « says , to exhibit the | rtire afcd elevated morality of the gospel to his cotrntrymett ahd mher » mmtompe&ied vy
those mysterious and contradictory doctrines wWh vrfiich feheVaritf&s teachers of Christianity have assdcfA te «>
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476 Review . — Unitarian CSntvotoerfy &t Cateutlh .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 476, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/44/
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