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a in order to guard others against pernicious and dangerous opinions . cc I cannot be very solicitous , " says my worthy friend , 4 Cto make proselytes to nay own system / ' * I should be glad to know how long it has been considered by Christians and
Protestants ^ as a reprehensible thing to be solicitous to makoproselytes to Christian truth ; for such I presume that my friend believes " his own system" to be . It is happjr for mankind that this all-embracing and torporific spirit was not in fashion three centuries ago : but that the Luthers and Oalvins * the Socinuses and the iiwingliuses , th ^ Cranmers , and Eidleys of that age , did feel that earnest solicitude to make proselytes to their systems , which induced them to exert their utmost energies to burst the bonds of popish superstition , and to kindle a glorious light in the Christian world ^ which , by the blessing of God , shall never be extinguished .
Venerable confessors ! Immortal champions of Christian truth May I never presume to rob you , even in thought , of a particle of that well-earned glory which adorns your brows . May it be my highest ambition to imitate your great example , and to contribute , in my humble measure , to accelerate and to complete the work which you have so nobly be <* un .
Amidst all these professions of Christian candour , and this very modern clamour against the spirit of proselytistn , It may become us to recollect that there is such a duty as Christian % eol ^ a zeal for truth , and that the disciples of Jesus are exhorted to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints . Of this the apostle Pa ul was
an eminent example , so likewise was the apostle John . Their epistles are chiefly controversial . They express great indigo nation against the errors and pernicious principles with which the Christian doctrine in that early age began to be corrupted . But are there not corruptions of the Christian religion in the present day more flagrant , and more dangerous than those of the Docetse or of the bigots to the ceremonial
law ? And are not Christians equally bound at all times by the law of their profession to oppose anti-christian errors , and to purify the doctrine of their great master from those pollutions which disfigure and disgrace it ^ which retard its progress and hinder its success ? But " all Christians believe what is sufficient for their
salvation / ' True : and if they rested in the plain simple doctrine of Christ it would be well . The bulk of Christians however are not satisfied with the simplicity of truth , but upon the foundation of Christ they must needs erect
Untitled Article
136 JMr . ¦ Belsham ' s Strictures on Carpenter ' s -Lectures .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1807, page 136, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2378/page/24/
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