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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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\ -. " . . - . , 2-. i-rs - : a . ; .: : / ¦ - - ance of an ordin ^ iM ^ w hich ? in the estimation oi Christiana-of Ja «
ter ^ es ^ { fc& $ . been cQ » skle * ed as par ^ moiw ^ t ~ * p tte in&tit * fti&fc of Jestj ^ hii ^ s ^ tf I $ > s , my friends , thp 9 & wj ^ p fe ^ ye not Pushed ? to das * regard th ^ . r ^ fifectip ^ te request of tbaft Saviiou r ^ v ^ ho ^ p ired under * b& . ^ gQiiieS ; of the , I cross $ hav « fceefc the zealous advocates and
observers of . the tradition of men ;" ai ) d th $ very persqns who would accuse themselves of irreligion and of disaffection to their-pasteiy if they , dui Rotcei ^ bFate ; the
suppositiQU £ stimiyersary of Ms birth , are the . persons , wbp nemt ^ eat bread nor . drink wine in the : § ociety of their . fellow ^ christians , though
Je&ns ^ himself , hath requested * that ihgy . would-Jn this manner a fehew ^ forth his death ^ uiitil he co Bae . But such is the consequence iotf b ^ i ng wise above wh ^ t Ai $ ^ ritjten ^ ai ^ d -such is the-mischiey ous and
slavish inftueac ^ -Qf , >§ upei ^ titian , ev ^ en ^ ppn the rpsgnd ^ f tbo $ g ^ mho are - real ] y a ^ dj ^^ c ^ rety attached to vthat ^ eaven } y . ivstmoto ty vtha came to deKver ^ s ^ f foitt rtbe ignorance of the Gerrtile world , ^ that we might know ¦ tl |^ trulh ^ 0 rwl that the truth might oake ufc free * " ..-. .. ¦ > ,. -.,. . . •> . , ' r " : ;> d
3 . It may be ui ^ ed , ^ 9 a * furu ther argument , anid an argument of ao inconsiderable weight , that the c | oy 4 isualLy observed by professed Christians certai | iiy ^ i « m » t the ^ nniyersa ^ of 4 he Saviour ^ b ^ & . Jlf w « attend to the accoua p ; . which is / erroneously ascrib * - eA to the evangelist Luke , we sh ^ U
: fi | ij 4 thatjojv the night , when Jesue Wj ^ i bom ^ pther shepherds wt » re floe the
xvUtching ^ th ^ ir ke in fields , wliich , eveiv in the warm climates of Jtulea could w > t bav ^ be ^ n the caSe at the time of the ivinter sol-
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stice . Thisiidiscordance of time FurnieJies an dnilirect argument that the observance of the d ay was instituted in tbose dark ages . re .
mote ; from the itune of Christ ana his apostles , when the niinds of man nvere prepared to receive eve * ry kind of iiknpositio % when it could » ot be ? ascertaiaed on what
day the Saviour was born > and when those who institated the day were so ignorant as not to regard the absurdity of fixing upon a , day , which according to fthe ureceived though fabulous sccoants in the
mterpolatiort of / Luke * ^ gospel , could not be the day , whicli they meant to celebrate * ¦ But except in this spurious account , and in the equally incredible ouey "which is made the introduction to the
gospel of Matthew , we have no notice at all of the tirth of Jesus in the whole gospel history , nor in any part of the N « w Testament ; though the evangelist Luke , with a precision which marks his
character as 7 a a historian , 4 ia $ given us the exact time , when Jesus entered on his itiihistry ^ and bis age , when he was baptwed of John , and declared &y a voicfe from heaven to te /* the
welhbelovcd ^ Smi of -Godj ? ior ^ in other Mrords ^ t the appointed Messiah . The same accuracy has been ob . served with regard to the time of the Saviou ^ death i $ though
without any injunction upon Ghnstia »^ to observe and celebrate that day ; and therefore , if it had ^ appeared to Christ and his apostle ^ in ^ pcfftant and beriefi ^ cialy that the
anniversary of his birth should be a dayffaered m t ^ io Mieinory > df his
ft > ltowera no possible * easoncan ^ be assigned , why they should havefaiVrf ed ' GO gnre * ts a * p wcke and aatisfeo tory information upon th * subject .
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¦ ¦ 5 X 8 Objections against the Observance of Christmas Day .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1810, page 538, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2410/page/14/
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