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Untitled Article
ble . It is however a dogma generally held by the party , that vice is less dangerous than error ; and the -history . of their churches furnishes some shocking examples of the practical use of this antimoral , unchristian tenet .
Regeneration or the new birth is an essential topic in Evangtiical discourse , and our Lord ' s conversation with Nicodemus is perpetually adduced \ vith triumph , as a scriptural proof and explanation of the theory . The error of
the orthodox ( so called ) lies in their applying to themselves language addressed by Christ to a Jew , who was about to see miracles and possibly to be empowered to perform them . To be born of
the spirit was to be converted to Christianity by preternatural signs . Of this , which is in our opinion the true and the plain exposition of the passage the Barrister seems not to be informed , for he interprets a spiritual birth of a conversion to a spiritual or holy life . — We who venture to write on this
subject are regarded we know by Evangelical dreamers as unregeiierate , but we have fathomed their depths and know their delu * sions . We do not consider them as deceivers , but we are satisfied
that they deceive themselves . We have their pity and prayers , and they have our ' s . —A story is told by the Barrister , from the Methodist Magazine for 1758 , p . 273 , of one Sarah Roberts , whom the Lord astonished with
his mercy , by netting her at liberty , at the wash tub ; and many stories equally gross and prophane might be collected from uhat are called , in the dialect of the Evangelical , the " experiences" of eminent Christians .
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€€ Experiences" are required to be delivered in most of their churches preparatory to baptism and the Lord ' s supper , and of such
trash as the above are many of them made up . Is it matter of wonder that the sober part of the public cry shame upon these extravagances and fooleries ?
The Barrister argues with much ability against the Eva / tgelic tenet of atonement by the blood of Christ ; with the more ability because he brings many plain passages from our Lord ' s discourses to bear against it . The orthodox
hypothesis on this subject is one of the grossest fictions eve * in-Vented ; it is the worst pflrt of the Vvry worst system of paganism-It represents God as merciless and unjust . The Father of mnn * kind would have tortured his own
rational offspring with the arm of Omnipotence , throughout the endless ages of his own existence , it' he had not been propitiated by an human sacrifice !
«• Wifh respect to the phrase of ' the blood of Christ , ' a phrase sacred in the mouth of all rational Christians , and -which ought never to be used on slight occasions , the > e fanatics repeat it with a frequency that is surfeiting ^ and associate it with a familiarity that is
ludicrous . I will present the reader wifcl * one example among an endless variety , from the Evangelical JMaga % . ine for December last . They were among the last words of a reverend methodist , whose life , character and behaviour is ( are ) duly recorded in that marvellous chronicle
of saints . —Sunday the 24 , on a friend saying " , * take a drop of wine into your dear mouth * ' he replied , * it is a dear mouth , for it was purchased with precious blood . * Surely , such language comes much nearer to the irony of an infidel , than the piety of a drvine . " P . 63 .
III . The Evangelical party ( the most numerous association q £ men for a . particular object in the kingdom ) have been of late
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Review . —Hints on Evangelical Preaching * 503
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1808, page 503, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2396/page/47/
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