On this page

• 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

    Jesus CJiristj the only person appointed t 6 exercise authority over the consciences of men . Whenever civil magistrates , assuraa dominion over the , faith of others , and punish them for their supposed heretical opinions , they arc guilty of a vile usurpation . To invest civil governors with authority to interfere with the con *

    science ^ and punish men for their religious sentiments , is to constitute them odious tyrants , and lias a tendency to destroy all liberty . ** Mr . W . goes . an , in th § foliovving sections , to show that

    persecution is irrational ^ anti-Christi an , highly injurious to the church , and baneful to Christia - nity ; that it has been disapprove c $ by wise and moderate men , in all ages , and that persecutors are the real heretics , and schismatics . This division of the work is

    written with the spirit of Milton , the Strength of Locktv , and the ingenuity of Robinson , Chap . . 5 . Contains an account of the writings of Servetus , the chief of which were against the Trinity and other reputed orthodox notions . His Preface to the

    { 3 ib ! e and specimens of his Notes are here inserted . What he wrote relative to the circulation of the blood is given at length * The passage in jus edition of Ptolemy ' s Geography , which Calvin quoted as the ground of a criminal charge

    against him , is fully considered ; and a letter to one of the ministers at , Geneva inserted as aspecjrn&n of his epistolary writings-Fromihesu ^ iTiary of the j 5 r > \ opinions , contained in chap . 6 . it appears he was a Unitarian

    Baptist * clrnuxl the- popular n-pti'ori o ? original s $ n differed m " 4-ti'rially' from the reputed orthodox reformers m his yiinvs offchq

    Untitled Article

    law ^ nd gospel , an < J of J 4 istificai ttpn was singular in his ideas of the Jewish prophecies ^ and show ^ ed himself a ; zealous friend to Christiaiv liberty , In chap . 7 . Mr . W . vindicates Servetus , on the ground of natural right , of reason and

    scripture of antiquity ; by the example of Calvin and his associates , by the effects produced by his writings and sufferiog-s , by the countenance his leading doctrine ^ have received from some of the

    greatest men since that time ; and shows that his failings did not arise from a vicious principle . < The eighth and last i chapvi& an oration on Servetus , in which ths leading Gircumstances in the preceding hisfory are recapitulated , and placed before the reader in a light that must excite an ahtior-r rence of bigotry , and , -lead-him to cherish the principles of Chris * tian liberty . »

    A variety of notes aiee added , in which the cause of religious liberty is pleaded with firmness and zealj and many important subjects are brought forward , ' and briefly considered . Mr . YWs de « sign in ( he notes seein g to be to give his work a more " direct bearing against bigotry and intolerance | ni ' all the forms they assume : consequently he pleads for Catholic emancipation , t \\ h abolition of th # of

    test laws ^ spiritual courts ^ &c . and gives the due meed of praise to those n ho have distinguished thejnsvlves as the frjei | d $ of Christian libeialityy amotig whot ? i Mr Wright disJhrgniches th ^ -ce-tebratr ed W- Pen * i- / / ,

    JlavjUig n <* w gi ^ en H fa , ittrfu ^ anal ysis of this'iu ^ resting jyvoek , \ ife sl \ ix \\ bog le « nre to recommeiid it to Uu \ noti € e of p . ur , i : e ^ rters * y ? It is the only complete life—that vv $

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1807, page 38, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2376/page/38/