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
serve with satisfaction the spirit in which it has been rejected by the Committee of the Hibernian Bible Society . '
He observed , that ' when the Bible Society was first formed , all Christianminded people , especially those of the Protestant denomination , hailed it with-emotions- . oLdeligkt _^ jrhey __ said that the Word of God would now have
free course , unimpeded by sectarian prejudice , and that a mode had at last been discovered of uniting with harmony the discordant elements of which the Protestant world is composed . As all Protestants agree that the Bible contains the sum and
substance of their religion , it was naturally supposed that the profession of belief in its sacred contents should form a sufficiently strong bond of union among those whom conflicting ' opinions on doctrinal subjects had kept too long separated . The only principle on which it is probable that Christians should ever be induced to
"^ agree is this , viz . ' that the Bible , the whole Bible , and nothing -but the Bible , " isfthe source -of true religion and sufficient to make men wise unto salvation , without being connected with the peculiar doctrines of any particular church . The Bible Societywas founded on this principle , and had for its specific objects the distribution of the Bible without note or comment .
The scheme was happily devised and successfully carried into execution . It received liberal support from the intelligence , the Wealth , and the influence of almost the whole Protestant
community . For a time the world began to assume a new aspect , a more Christian aspect than it had exhibited since its earliest and most flourishing times . Primitive Christianity seemed to have again visited the earth ; and some were almost promptedto exclaim , " Behold these Bible men , how they love one another ! " A spot of neutral territory had been discovered , where the belligerent powers of church militant might congregate in peace—a green oasis in the wide desert of
Untitled Article
polemics , where shepherds from difc ierent regions might give to each other the right hand of fellowshipj and whither they might lead their flocks as to pastures of tender grass and fountains of living water . ' The scheme wrought well , for it was framed and conducted on principles truly Christian : it fulfilled , it
surpassed tKe most sanguine hopes Of its founders ;—the press , the great instrument of man's liberties and rights , was set actively to work ; the Bible was translated into more languages than had been written ; it was multiplied like the leaves of the forest , * the
good seed of the word was scattered abroad to the four winds of Heaven , and though some of it may have fallen on a stony soil , —though some of it may have been choked by weeds or devoured by ill-omened birdsj and some trodden down and crushed tinder
the iron hoof of bigotry and superstition , it cannot be doubted that much of it fell on a good and fertile soil *—that it has brought forth fruit to perfection , —that it has produced , and is now producing , some thirty , some sixty , and some a hundred-fold . Protestants of all denominations were
invited to unite their efforts in the holy cause , and numbers of them all ) or almost all , were admitted to take a part in the proceedings of the society . For a time the distinctions of what are called orthodoxy and heterodoxy were laid aside , and all seemed willing to
be actuated only by princi p les of Christian philanthropy ; —» the dark cloud of sectarianism and bigotry began to be expelled from the religious atmosphere , and the genius of Christianity came forth beautiful and brilliant as a star in the firmament that has " bathed its glittering forehead in the ocean and new trickedits beams , " and was seen for a time , by the rapt eye of faith and hope , radiating a cheerful light and shedding a benignant influence on the heads and hearts of men . But this happy state was not ordained to last ; the glorious Vision paiBsedawav , —it melted into the
Untitled Article
7 & UNITARIAN CftB ' OKICLfi .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 1, 1832, page 74, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1813/page/10/
-