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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
terror ^ f ? every , kind is fatal ; but religious error the most fatal . Shall that minister thet *? wUo endeavours to give his hearers right ideas of God and hte government , and a just estimate of the nature , design , and office of Jesus Christy shall he be told tbat he is
leading his people into " curious spe * ^ ulations and - learned discussions ? " No , sir 3 he will rejoice in the contemplation that he has xc kept nothing back which was profitable to theia ; " that he has " not hesitated to declare unto
them the whole of the gospel of Jesus Christ . " J take the public duty of a preacher to be tyro . fold , and one brapch of it ought on no accpunt to supersede or displace the other * jn , the words of
Robingon , sC he has to inform the understanding , by opening and explaining the Holy Scriptures , " a-nd this ,, he emphatically adds , "is one chief branch of
instruction . " Biit how is this to be done without adverting , to thp $ e errors wjiich have so long deluded the world ? Are his people , if possible , to be kept in ignorance , thatr the doctrines of men have ever
superseded the commandments of God ; that the decreesof councils , synods , and assemblies , that the creed- of Athanashis and the dogmas of John Calvin have long been substituted for the . doctrines
of Jesus Christ , if ' ibis were possftrfcj I should be iglad to kiiow what useful end it-Would- aos \ #£ r , or what good purpose it would effect .- , Nb ^ rather let us adopt the advice of Ra ** l ahd let every orifc He 4 * ble to give a reason
for the hope ttmt is ft * him . " But white the pr ^ achGrr is Careful to " inform the understanding / ' tet him < m no account Bfegle ^ t . to A impress the heart . " This . part
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of his duty is not at all less ^ binding upon hinv than the other . Let the great niorat duties of the gospel be inculcated and enforced with all the earnestness aad soli
citude which they go eminently demand , and let all possible practical improvement be d . ic&wn from so abundant a -fountain of living water . Let the importance of feeling the influence of christianity on the heart , of entertaining those views and hopes with which it ^ enriches and elevates the
believing tnind , and of practising those labours of love which it enjoins , form frequent subjects of public exhortation . Let the sinner be warned of his danger with faith - fulness and a tender , affectionate concern , to save his ' . $ oui ' -from death . Let those who are
seeking the Lord be directed to find him . Let the trembling and disconsolate be guided I to those sources of divine f onsblation and pp ^ qe which the go s pel affords , and let the afflicted Christian be
cpipforteci with tho ^ e divine truths and promises which are calculated to soolh his heart in the day of trial and calamity , and to strengthen his fanh , patience , and confidence in Goti ,
Such , in ray humble opinion , are the duties of a riMiiister of the gospel ; so far from being incompatible or discordant , they are essential tt > the support and the existence of each tfllieri When
Presbyterian Congregations have discovered * ( his , - they will flourish ; but until they do * they will most asaurfedly deelmtt ; they will dwindle into insignificance ; and they wi 11 finally tall , as some of them have already fra ne ^ equally vintiotic ^ d find * iihlatnented . AJ $ U ^ ITARIAN ^
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On the ^ Decline of Presbyterian Congregations . 67
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1810, page 67, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2401/page/19/
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