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Untitled Article
his eulogium upon the idolatries of Greece and Rome * " No inconsiderable pains /* says he ,, pv 79 . " have been taken to lessen the author of our religion ,, not only by his avowed enemies ., but by his professed friends . I do not here refer to his personal dignity , but to his moral excellencies , and to his qualifications as a teacher sent from God . " To
this unjust and groundless accusation I give a peremptory and unqualified denial ,, and defy my friend to substan- ' tiate this invidious charge by the shadow of a proof . Neither Dr , Priestley 5 the person particularly alluded - to ^ nor any who think with him , ever did attempt , in the least degree , to " lessen the author of our velis : ion / or to depreciate his
character and claims .- Of such a conduct they would have abhorred the thought , as much as their severe accuser him-, self , or any of his most orthodox friends . None can think more highly , or express themselves more earnestly than they do of the excellence of the character of their exalted Master , or of the validity of his divine credentials- What they have taken pains ,, and they trust not unsuccessfully , to lessen , is ,
the vain and superstitious fancies of their mistaken brethren , who under pretence of honouring Christ , ascribe to him attributes to which he lays no claim , and some of which infringe upon the prerogatives of God himself . In these labours they glory , and are resolved to persevere ; and however their character may be traduced , and their exertions calumniated , they are under no apprehension of being disowned by him , in whose service they are enlisted , and whose cause they advocate . As a man he was subject to the frailties and infirmities of human nature , and his exalted character was formed by a gradual process of moral discipline . We are expressly taught , " that he learned obedience
by the things which he suffered . " Heb . v . 8 . And as the greatest of the prophets of the most High , the spirit was given to him without measure , and he was inspired to the utmost extent which his commission required . If any maintain that his inspiration extended further than this ., it would be more becoming in them to produce proof of the fact , than to pass harsh censures upon those who are not able to discover the evidence of it *
In a note , ( p . 80 , ) my friend relates , that m his presence Dr . Price once retorted upon J >\ Priestley , with a look and manner which he should never forget ; that there were no Unitarians in the earliest age of the church , such as there are ip the present nge . But I : an assure mv friend that
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308 Mr \ Belshawfs . Strictures on Carpenter s Lecitues .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1807, page 308, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2381/page/20/
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