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Untitled Article
fear , test * if'they shquM apjKiar ludefenSibte , the eauge of Christianity should suffer by the condemnation [ -of its early propagators . Those who accuse the Fathers of superstition , weakness , or falsehood , consider what iacteBWe dis- » grace they shall bring upon Popery by shewing the impurity of the sources from which all its distinguishing doctrines have taken their rise . But why , in searching after truth , should we give the least attention to any consequences whatsoever ? We know with certainty * beforehand , that error of every kind , if it is not an evil in itself , is always productive of evil in some degree or other ; and that to distinguish truth from falsehood , is the likeliest method we
can take to make our conduct acceptable to God and beneficial to man . Nothing can be more groundless than the fears which some men indulge ; lest the credit of Christianity should suffer along with the reputation of several of its professors ; or more weak than considering that a sufficient reason for defending the veracit y of the Fathers at all events . There are soin £ miracles recorded in ecclesiastical history which are too childish and ridiculous for any one to believe ; and thjere are some indisputable records of the vices of the Christians , and more particularly of the clergy : so that , if
Christianity can suffer b y such objections , ( for which there is no kind of foundation in reason , ) it has already suffered even in the estimation of those who think the objections of weight . All agree ( atieast all Protestants ) that there have been pious frauds and forged miracles , as well as that the sacred order have been in some ages extremely vicious . The only difference then is in the degree of this charge , or rather about the century with regard ta which it ought to take place ; but what difference can such a circumstance as that make in respect of the divine origin of Christianity ? We may , therefore , without fear or scruple , enter upon the discussion which I have been
preparing , and probe every apparent wound with resolution and accuracy . "—Pp . 163—165 . The pretended miracle of th $ thundering legion , and the proposal of Tiberius to the Senate , that Christ should be received among the Gods at Rome * both of which rest chiefly on the testimony of Tertullian , next come under the review of the Professor : the latter of these is denied ; and the former referred to the class of phenomena in the ordinary course of nature . An interesting sketch of the Apology , esteemed b Lardner as the " masterpiece" of Tertullian , and a vindication of the early apologists for Christianity ,
against Mr . Gibbon , succeed . —With the progress of Christianity m the three first centuries , the sufferings of its processors are closely connected . To the subject of martyrdom , two of Tetfuilian ' s treatises , one of them entitled , " Ad Martyres , ' * the other , *• Scorpiace , " expressly relate ; and many passages in his Apology , and in several other works , bear testimony to the number of those who suffered , to their fortitude , and to what , in some ca ^ es , hiust be deemed tfieir unwarrantable prodigality of life . The controversy which arose out of the attempt of the elder Dodwell to diminish the number of primitive martyrs , obtains from our author as much notice , perhaps , as it is entitled to receive , in the following passage ; which serves at the same time to repel the insidious remarks of Gibbon , grounded upon DodwelPs
statements : " It caqi scarcely be necessary to remark , that Hie original signification of the word martyr is ' a witness ; ' and though in later times the appellation lias been generally confined to those who proved the , sincerity of tlieir faith by the sacrifice of their lives , in the time of Tertullian it was used with greater latitude , and comprehended all whom the profession of Christianity had exposed to any severe hardship , such as imprisonment or loss of property --those who are now usually distinguished by the name of confessors . To this lax use of the term martyr must be chiefly ascribed the erroneous persuasion which , ha * beea sp cajefuBy ekeriftfeeel by tfiQ Churqh Of Itoaw WPWlfoMfc fh f
Untitled Article
ftetfat&Qr * K * y < # ? Ter&lfi < m . 271
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1827, page 271, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1795/page/39/
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