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and fertile valleys , destined for the abode of man , rose last to view . The gloomy raven was the first to quit the ark , and was not long in finding a resting place : but the
peaceful dove hovered over the Scene of desolation , returned and lingered , till it brought the olive branch * to give the assurance of safetv to mankind . The sun itself
could not , at first , penetrate the misty atmosphere , purify the air , and restore the unclouded face of the heavens . ' P , 7 . Evrry one versed in theology must have observed how much the
advocaus of reputed orthodoxy have , of late years , lowered their tone of speech : upon the altered character of modern controversy , Mr . Perry remarks , —
* ' A reader of modern controversy , after he has perused a defence of some doctrine , has frequently to ^ Commence again to inquire what hms been proved . The svstems and
definitions of early writers , from their variety and inconsistency , gave satisfaction to no party , and coustautlv exposed their authors to refutation . Modern writers of the
^ atne denomination have been taught by the fate of others to be so guarded , as to render it almost impossible either to understand or refute them . This mode of conducting controversy has some advantages . To contend against
modern doctrines , is like fighting with aerial forms ; when you imagine that the &word passes through their very vitals , they close again . The phantoms sustain no injury : they elude all pursuit , and mock at all force When their real nature is
understood , they will cease to cre ^ atte any alarm . 1 am struck with the difference between the doctrine of the i linity as it appears in the
writings of real 1 rjnitarian £ , and the divinity of Crist as asserted in later publicatious . The more ancient doctrine had something ventfiabte in its appcarance > to a mind pre-
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pared to view it with respect aihd approach it with timidity . Ancisajt orthodoxy presented to the imagi * nation the illusion of a vast and gloomy castle , situated on the inaccessible rock of mystery ,, enveloped in the shades of superstition , and rendered more awful by the
thunders of persecution . Modern orthodoxy is . an edifice of contracted dimensions , and of inferior workmanship , placed in a lower site - and when the fogs which generally surround it are a little dispersed , it appears to be in a state of dilapidation . Could some of the old
champions of the faith held sacred by our forefathers arise from their tombs , I know not whether they would prefer modern Orthodoxy to modern Unitarianism . " Pp . 28 , 29 . 4 What does Unitananism leave
in Christianity' ? is a question often tauntingly put by Calvinists and Trinitarians . Our author anticipates it and supplies the follo w * ing satisfactory answer , at the conclusion of a series of criticisms : —
" Be not alarmed , Sir , lest we should leave only a small portion of reality in the Bible . VVfe leave therea God of boundless perfection ; a providence that extends overfall , that watches even over'thef fall of a
sparrow ; the imtnortahty of man ; the promise of forgiveness to the peniteut : the pure and perfect precepts of Jesus ; hisloVely example ; his resurrection from the dead , ' and a heaven as spacious a ^ the heaven of Calvin ; and We have never * threatened our opponents with etfttftision
from the general assembly of the just and good . We give all the honour to Jesus which is consi s tent with his own declarations , and ? witn the unity , supremacy , a * $ d infinite perfection of his Father . We attribute tio less to one God ) than others to three persons . " Pp . 73 , 7 4 . -W ^ .-iWUst ^^ J ^ w o ujrbe ^ s to make only one mojee extract ; ana
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S € S Review . —Perry ' s Letieri to Kinghorn .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1814, page 568, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2444/page/44/
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