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Untitled Article
tjbfo time his own reflection on a re-consi deration dt thd subject , has supplied the featnew-But your correspondent proceeds to revive a question which I had supposed ' to be for ever set at rest among consistent
Nonconformists ; he says , " When men act by a divine commission they are completely exonerated from all responsibility of this kind ; but will any plea of zeal For the promotion o £ truth be sufficient to justify uncommissioned teachers ? Or can Unitarians
vindicate themselves by any arguments that will not equally justify any sectarian whatever for disturbing the peace of a neig hbourhood , under pretence of improving the minds of the people ?** lie goes on to offer the following as his third query .
" . Is it enough to allege that a preacher is fnlly convinced of the truth of his opinions in order to exculpate him in his officious zeal to convert his fellow Christians to his own sentiments ? Cannot independent and Methodist preachers vindicate themselves ? upon the same grounds , whatever strife or confusion they may occasion ?**
I quite agree With the " Querist " that Unitarian missionaries have no justification but what is common to " Independent or Methodist preachers , " u any sectarian whatever" nor do they require any other . I hope that very few among us would be backward to
vindicate Christians of a creed the furthest from our o \ Vn in any well-designed attempts to propagate what they , and not what we , may esteem to be the trutjh . If such propagandists forget the maxim u be wise as serpents , and
harmless as doves " they are certainly to be blamed * Yet , aftet all , " disturbirig the peace of a nei ghbourhood , '' and b ^ akfoning " strife and CohftisJdri" may leatlly wean nothing mo ^ than an interru ption of that calm state of reli gious indifference which , who-
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ever ventures to disturb * ftmfc * expect to be ^ e&arged with * &B& cious zeal ' at rtfe least . - : Ctitifc ~ plaints against such intruders are almost as old as Christianity : these men who hu * QG turned t % e world upside dopn 4 r& come fyir } ther also . : & As to men acting * ' by a divino commission . " the Querist well knows that no such a case . c ^ ija now occur . Whether rn ^ Dt tench , the divine law , as Moses recom-i
mended to his pieoj > le sitting m the house , or walking by the % v < ty 9 whether , from the pulpit or tbjei press , all are equally u uhcom ^ missioned teachers /^ acting , each under the guidance of his 6 \ yn
conscience , which he should en- . deavour to preserve as pure and enlightened as possible . Were I discussing this subject with a inember of the established church , I should be disposed to
refer him to the famous Jeremy Taylor to be taught " the liberty of prophesying . " But it would be awkward to send on such a mission to a favourite prelate of Charles I . a modern Nonconformist , ahd
especially one , as I must suppose your correspondent to be , who is protected , not ' even by tolerating laws , but ohl y by a general acquiescence in the propriety of any . man ' s becoming a teacher of religion , who can find another man willing to be
taught . I will however retnittd him of a well-known story , respecting another prolate , and hifc own good sense , will make the . application .
In jthe reigo ojf . Gbarfes If . when the nation jjistly apprehended jtfce re-establish me ht 6 f Popfery , Tjllotson yisiH unexpectedly called jto pyea < rh before the kiag ^ i ^ larm *
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Oft PopularPreaching ; * i&SAnmev tea Mode ^ ' Qu ^ sty t&f
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1808, page 147, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2390/page/27/
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