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Untitled Article
—employing here that vague and inaccurate language which arises from the want of clear and con . sfstent ideas upon the matter in question . Much of the note
before us , is occupied in some curious intelligence respecting the sentiments , &c . of the Weslei ' an Methodists ,, against whom our Illustrator inveighs with
considerable bitterness , and whom he describes as 6 < agreeing most ex . actly with the follower of Priestley in that vain self-complacency which exults in the reflexion that they are not as other men are !"
Although this writer dilates in No . XIII . " on the misrepresen . tation of the doctrine of atonernent by Unitarians , " yet neither Dr . Priestley nor Mr . Bclsham has made an exaggerated statement of the manner in which it is oene .
rally illustrated and defended . Whether the Dean of Cork will adopt or not the mode of reasoning by which u the orthodox ' connect the tenet of the atonement
with that of the divinity of Christ , the fact of such reasoning being used remains the same . The great body of persons who embrace the popular faith believe that no being who is not essentiall y divine could oflcr a full satisfaction for
the sins of men to the offended majesty of God . It has been the uniform practice of such polemics as Dr . Magee to charge their opponents with 44 disrespect of scripture , " This is the burden of his complaint ( No . XIVO in regard to " Unitarian writers . "
Men who will not read and inter , pret the Bible under the influence of creeds subscribed previousl y to examination—men who act upon the princi ples of Protestantism , and who understand and apply the
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rules which have been exemplified by the best critics , both sacred and profane—naturally fall under the heavy censures of those to whose
prepossessions this course-of stud y would be fatal . From judges thus partial and inflamed , Unitarians are not afraid of appealing to persons whose decisions are not likely to be dictated by self-interest and prejudice .
Writers of the Unitarian school are further accused ( No . XV . ) of entertaining 44 heathen notions of merit / ' They were classed before with Deists and Mahometans : they are now to be ranked ( so it pleases Dr . Magee ) among the Stoics ! The philosophy of the Porch was not the worst of the Pagan systems ; though we shall
acknowledge ourselves not moTe enamoured than the Dean of Cork with its boastful spirit and language . But , after all , what is the apparent support of so extraordinary an accusation ? The solitary , ambiguous example of Mrs . BaTbauld , in the following sentence : " When a man like Dr . Price is about to resign his soul into the hands of his Maker , he ought to do it not only with a reliance on his mercv but his i ustice . " Now
if our readers will turn to the valuable publication of Mrs . Barbauld ' s , * from which these words are extracted , they will discover , what our Illustrator has thought fit to pass in silence , that she is
here contrasting the case of a good man drawing near to the close ot CQ a life , not free indeed from faults , but pure from crime , " with " the indecent confidence of a Dodd , and the debasing terrors of ? Thoughts ou Public Worship , to . 71 , &c .
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€ 96 Review . — Magee on Atonement .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1814, page 696, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2446/page/36/
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