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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.
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Untitled Article
weak or wicket , % ingot or a calumniator * who wovMxiow venture ijefbre GrQjd and man , to deny us the Christian name . It is . rather for our fellpw-Ghristians , if they would do
us justice , to yield their testimony , that we have never heen wanting , as XBMy ^ irTTfc'hT'liBeral support of religious institutions—that our societies and ministers are numerous arid respectable- ^ that the cause of good morals has never been deserted nor . betrayed by us—that we have formed
no alliance , political or personal , with the opponents , or to the prejudice , of religion— -that we have neither discarded nor failed to rely upon the Bible as our rule of faith and practice—and that we are and ever have beerr ready "to rnake exertions aiid ^ sacrifices for tKe common cause of religious knowledge , liberty and
chanty . It is more th an we can as yet _ expect of our fellow-Christians , to concede _ -the ^ soundness of 4 > ur opinions ; but for a favourable iaterpretation of our motives and objects we do nofc fear to rely upon their sense
of justice . There are , perhaps , even yet , those in the community who are slow to believe that the odious accusations heretofore preferred against pur faith and its professors * are wholly unsustaiued . And if fron * a sense of justice , charity , or shame * other charges are no longer-persisted in ,. there is one which still niMtfiuiis-in every shape of censure ari $ reproof , and
demands , from its importance , serious consideration . It is the charge of indifference , lukewarmness , and coldness in religious concerns . It is the charge that U ^^ and asa bociy , are more negligent than their fellow-Christians of religious duties ^ -that they are ^ more lax" and " less scrupulous" in
religious observances—and that in their deportment they exhibit less evidence than others , of a decidedly relig ious character . Now , however much there may be of exaggeration and injustice , if t&eie
be any truth in this charge , let it incline us ; first ? of all , to serious expostulation . Are these things so ? Not to compare ourselves with our fellow-Christians , but to compare our
own practice with our own faith , we ^ ayjidmitjjmd _ wg _ Qught to confess " ^ with sorrow and remorse , that there is much truth in the charge . That we have failed to reflect seriously upon our destiny and duties—that
concerns of the day and hour have engrossed our thoughts and affections —that in the employment of our time and talents we have sadly mis * - taken our true interests—that in much of our conduct our principles and motives have not been those of
Christian morality- ^ th at for ou rselves , our friends arid children , we have not eschewed temptations , into which it was our duty not to suffer ourselves or them to be led— -that , in short , we have done far less than we
= ought 40 have done * 4 > y-bur—privateand public influence and exertions , _ for the cause of strict virtue and personal religion , who amongst us shall not acknowledge ?
But let the censure fall not upon our faith , but upon ourselves . We put it to our fellow-Christians , we put it to the world—what is there in our faith , which does not absolutely require the strictest conformity of our characters to the principles , the precepts , the example of Jesus ? What is there in our views of Christianity that robs a single duty of its
obligation , or a single virtue of its attractiveness ? What is there in Unitarianism to encourage or permit the slightest misdemeanour , or the mo ^ t venial foiMe ? ! V ^ aiLisJ& £ rje .. that falls short of requiring the entire devotion of heart and life to the service of man and the known will
of God ? What is there in Unitarianism that does not frown upon thoughtlessness , heartlessness and inaction ? They charge us justly who allege that we place no reliance upon * imputed righteousness' ( technically so called ) , and that we attach < i
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vrfWkmAn CH& 6 NI 0 LE , . S& 5 '
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1832, page 225, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1823/page/17/
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