On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
religion , is the devotion of every faculty of body and mind to the performance of those duties we consider essential to the approhation of heaven — -with the hope that future happiness will be the reward . But if all free
agency is a mere delusion ; if we are invariably the passive and helpless agents of appointed purposes , what then becomes of accountability ? Are not the terms merit and demerit
absolutely merged and confounded—and is it not upon this footing alone " that all supplications to the Deity are absurd" ? If petitions are meant to influence the Divine mind either to
perpetuate or to change his eternal purposes ; how more than useless , how presumptuous must they appear ! and for what other purpose can they be presented ?
In the eternal and immutable designs of Providence , as connected with the human race , it is utterly in vain for us to attempt to fathom his counsels , so as to explain the origin of evil ,
or why its continuance should be permitted . I like the reasoning upon that subject of your correspondent Mr . Hinton , in your Number for July . All inferiority implies imperfection ; and as all creation , material and
intellectual , must necessaril y be inferior to its great and original Creator ; it must , consequently , partake of some qualities , both physical and moral , which our limited views lead us to express by the term evil . That convulsions in the natural world produce many beneficial consequences , the most casual observation cannot overlook . What
we can trace is sufficient to prove unity of design , and general benevolence of purpose ; and we have no possible reason to doubt that the intellectual government of all sentient beings is under the same wise and immutable
appointment . The natural impulse of the human heart appears to be gratitude for the blessings with which we are surrounded , and confidence in the protection of the benevolence which has brought us into being , with the capacity to enjoy its bounties , and to anticipate and trust in its future provision . The light of nature teaches US that the best expression of ^ ratitildfe h obedience , and that we are accountable for our * conduct to the power which gave us our existence . This feeling , if indul ged , will influence
Untitled Article
every action of our Iive 3 and every principle of our minds , and is equally intelligible to the understanding of all mankind . What then is gained , or rather what an immense power , over the conduct of the human race is not
surrendered , by the belief that we are all mere machines in the dark round of fixed and irretrievable fate ; and that we are forced by external impulses to blunder through the bewildering perplexities of life , with no more responsibility than the
unconscious and unreflecting brutes I Are not these the only rational conclusions that can be drawn from the opinions ] am attempting to controvert ; and if so , do they not fatally undermine all belief in revelation ? For , to what purpose can revelation be applied , hut to teach mankind their duties and
obligations ? And what is duty detached from honourable and voluntary service ; or what merit is there in the mechanical performance of an automaton ? As well may we talk of the duties of a steam-engine or of a mousetrap . I do not wish to speak irreverently or with derision on the subject ; but if it will not bear even this severe
and extreme test , it must surely be defective . Who tlieu is chargeable as " a fallible mortal in presuming to explain away the express words of our Lord , and set limits to the Divine Omniscience / ' ? For is there a page iii the whole of the New Testament
but what contains a forcible appeal to the understanding and feelings of the reader ; that he has the liberty of making his own choice between good and evil ; and that he will be rewarded or punished for the proper or improper use of the privilege ?
The popular acceptation of the word providential , is in exact accordance with what I have understood to be Mrs . C . ' s opinion , that is , a merciful interposition ; but how partial and unsuitable is the term , and even how upbraiding is its application , if we are to presume to make these invidious
distinctions 1 We thank Providence for those events that gratify our seii-4 ove , and withhold our general ascriptions of praise for his universal beaelicence . " Wlia at sic a time <* praiae the Lord ? " is an exclamation which a favourite modem author was put into the mouth of a h ^ lf idiot , » j the midst of a treiiiendoiiMtorm ^ ftDfl
Untitled Article
522 Mr . LuckCocVs Defence of his Remarks on Providence .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 522, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/26/
-