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Untitled Article
SOent of the universe he ha 6 formed ; stares to usurp his throne 5 wield his sceptre , with the puny arm of flesh ; a rrogate his power and his other attributes , to flatter the vanity and feed the fancied importance of the insects
pf a day . I scarcely know whether to call this tendency Polytheistical , Atheistical , or Pantheistical , but one 9 f these it certainly is ; since freeagency necessarily supposes the existence of many beings , possessed of perfectly independent power , sufficient
to controul the causes which give rise to their motives and actions , independently of any other being- or cause in existence , which necessaril y constitutes them nothing short of the Deity itself : and here , rank Polytheism is the inevitable result . Or , in another
and still more applicable point of view , to suppose a variety of beings possessing this uncontrolled power , must necessarily be , as far as it goes , an infringement upon , and an exclusion and denial of , that all-pervading' and universal power which is essential to
the existence of one Almighty and universally controlling Agent , who is supposed to be the Author of all causes , without the smallest exception , and who is described as being * a jealous God , who will not give or share his glory with another ; ' and therefore in supposing a variety of beings , with limited attributes , possessed of this uncontrolled power , and sharing this gloryy horrible Atheism is the unavoidable inference ; because the possession of such a power in a
variety of beings , with limited attributes , utterly denies , or at least circumscribes , and is therefore absolutely incompatible with , the power , agency and existence of that Being who if he exist at all , must necessarily possess unlimited attributes , and be the universal Ruler and Agent , and have all other beings subject to his absolute controul ; and whose unlimited and allpervading power and agency must be utterly incompatible with the free-agency
or independency of any other being or beings . ProVe then the reality of finite free-agency , and the non-existence of a being with infinite attributes will become certain . Or if we take another view of the subject , the possession of such an independently controlling faculty , in a variety of
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beings of limited attributes , eonstU tutes an essential par $ of ^ the Deity ; and thus confounding and identifying the supposed first great Intelli gent Mover with the second causes and countless motions of that universal
machine , which is supposed to be but the mere effect of his infinitely energetic agency , we are here presented with a perfect system of Pantheism ; but the difference between this and Atheism must , I should think , be regarded as merely nominal . "
2 ndly . I beg to assure Mr . J ., that if he had so thoroughly understood the nature and basfe of my hypothesis as he might have done , it would not hare appeared , in his estimation , such a frightful monster as he , through mistake , supposes it to be : many of
his observations , for instance , are grounded on the assumption , that the hypothesis denies or lessens the ultimate felicity of the righteous , whereas it in fact proposes to constitute that felicity . Such expressions as the following can be grounded only upon
this assumption , and which I should think a perusal of the foregoing willconvince him to be utterly fallacious , [ L e . the . hypothesis * ' denies the power of progressive improvement of the human soul , destroys the efficacy and lessens the motives to repentance , annihilates the value of the Saviour ' s
admonition to strive after perfection , and damps the fondly cherished aspirations of the sainted pilgrim , by inducing the fearful and chilling apprehension , that there is no ultimate haven of repose , no security from ill , no not even when enjoying the presence and smile of his Creator in his
promised heaven . " * ' An arm allpowerful must secure , without possibility of failure , the ultimate felicity of the whole intelligent offspring of God /* Had Mr . J . rightly understood the hypothesis , he would not have suffered his rhapsodical feelings , and poetical style , to have made such
manifestly groundless charges against it , and brought positions and arguments in opposition to it Which are ia fact in perfect unison with it . 3 dly . Mr . J . says . " Upon what ground we must conclude that because the knowledge of created beings fa not infinite , they must bei subject to natural and moral ill * 1 . 1 am at a loss
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yjd Mr \ Hirtion on his Hypothesis of the inevitabfe Existence of ? Et > it n
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1823, page 710, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1791/page/30/
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