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Untitled Article
managers of the Unitarian Fund , will frequently employ missionaries , who , as Ben Jonssoi * said of Shakespeare , have " small Latin and less Greek . ' * 1 . wiH go fur * iher , ana admit that thtfse bold
innovators , as c ' the height of their offending , " though by no means destitute- ' of featned assistance , will not refifse the services of a missionary » bs < y } u'tely unlearned * ' ihaschofastlcsehseyvvhile
they satisfy themselves , as It . Robinson described the tint learner ! preachers iii his connexion , that though illiterate , he is hot ignorant , especially not ci ignorant of religion , that only science which they elect him to teach /* ( Claude Voi K Adv . )
Such a preacher , however , in the opinion of ** a Modest- Querist /* would be likely to fail in his attempt to " disprove by fftir and just arguments ' , the * erroneous notions that are generally maintained / ' Is you ** correspondent aware to how small a number
among an inconsiderable minority of Christians , his objection , fairly pursued , would reduce the Unita-. rians , qualified to controvert the popular creed ? His learned
preacher should hatfe attained , not merely to an ability of translation , which may be acquired at a grammar school , but to such an acquaintance with idioms , dialects , and the powers of language from researches into profane literature , together with such a knowledge of ancient versions and various reading ^ as raia y enable him to decide on the * authenticity
or sense of a disputed passage , as the result of - bis ; own . critical and studious iraqjuii-yi . I say ^ of Ibis own inquiry , , fheciauso if h < rely on critics and -domtat-ntacoro , the unlearned may do the sam , e
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not , I grant , with- equal gratification to himself , yet with r ^ o sifc aJf satisfaction and becoming c © n $ - dence , * if ,. as- in the case supposed * he be a man of thought and reflection . To furriis ^ h s ^ ueh a $ nafi
with " armour of . proof / ' in W'hjcf he may * contend for tfoe faith OT 3 CC delivered tti t \ vc saints , " ap * pears to '^ be a noble obj ec t , worthy to occupy the laborious life of
the most learned Christian , an 4 far above that of merely gratifying the faste and securing thg ' &p * plause of a scholar like himself , I might offer the Querist * a shorter and , perhaps , a mor ^ sutisfactory solution of his difftcalty *
The strength' of the Unitarian cause he will probably allow to consist in the agreement ' of 6 Wr doctrine with the general tettofctf of the-scriptures , rather than in
the solution of difficult 'passages * Facts support this opinion , Thef ^ have been , * md srill sre ^ ntvlostrnej-Cbristians ^ who hard attained t <^ the knowledge of Qnt (? odf the Father of mcrcits ^ and ot * te
mediator , the mart Chits f j £ Siis before they had any access to tM writings or convetsation of Uni u tarians . They were led -tt > these coMclusions from a serious and dilioent examination of the New
Testament , in the coTftm ^ ve r * sion , affected as that certainly is by the orthodox prejudices of the translators . If persons under fcuch disadvantages , found u arguments" suflfifctent to < 6 disprove . " did wors of the popular creerd ^ s « My an Uhit&ri ^ misaionitryj with # ueh helps k ^ hh
may now command ,, @ a 4 iriot % o at aJoss , even though ctestitorfe * 6 $ that ; learning which , I am persuttded ^ such a man woi ^ ld b&vfc no wiiK to undervalue . I Should bb ashan ^ ed to ar ^ uc bo plai ^ a < a $ c »
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On Popular PrteacJiing ; iff Answer-to- a Modest ^ werut * 321
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1808, page 321, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2393/page/29/
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