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138 Mr . Belsham ' s Strictures on Carpenter ' s Lectures .
Untitled Article
rny good friend assumes too much when he asserts that the questions which are now agitated , have been controverted b y Christians in all ages . It is ,, for example , a fact upon'historical record , that Arianism itself , the very system wtrich he advocates , had no existence till the fourth century , and therefore couldnot have been before that period the subject of controversy . I would also advise a serious inquirer before he
makes up his mind to inquire no further ^ to take great-heed that his persuasion , that nothing new can be advanced on either side / ' is formed upon good grounds , because indolent and superficial minds are very apt to persuade themselves that they understand a subject , when in fact they are very ignorant of it ; and it is much wiser and safer to keep the mind opejn to conviction , than from a self-sufficient conceit of superior knowledge , to shut the eyes against the light of truth . I know very few persons who have a right to say , concerning any important topic of discussion , that nothing new to them can be advanced on either side .
I agree wilh my friend , that Cf a person is to live under the influence of ihose principles which he has embraced / ' And surely one of the first duties of a well-informed Christian is to impart to others the knowledge with which he has himself been favoured . Christianity will not allow that when a man has lighted a candle he should put it under a bushel ; and as we would escape the doom of the wicked and the slothful servant , we must not bury our talent , however mean , in the earth . Christians are the light of the world : they are the salt of the earth : and under the Christian law , no man liveth to himself or dieth to himself . Impressed by these momentous considerations , the serious and enlightened Christian will feel
it to be an imperious duty to contribute his utmost efforts to instruct and benefit his fellow-creatures ; and to enter his grave and solemn protest against those errors which disfigure and disgrace the Christian religion . In this honourable testimony to revealed truth he will persevere , whatever his success may foe , conscious of acting under a commanding sense of duty j if is a light thing with him that by his misjudging brethren ., Bis motives are misapprehended , his zeal is condemned , and ft is character traduced . His chief ambition is to approve himself to conscience and to God , and his only solicitude is to be found of his judge in peace . lam , Sir , your humble servant , Hackneyy March 12 ¦ , 18 O 7 . X- Belsha ^ .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1807, page 138, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2378/page/26/
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