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should be f&ise < l ^ Voro the corruptions of the gpave with . all their human infirmitim about them , is no . less contrary to Scripture than to the evidence which oiir senses afford « s . Some , indeed , have supposed that there are certain stamina of the material frame
which are preserved amidst the decay of the re 9 t , and form the link which connects the present mortal with the future incorruptihle man . But , generally speaking , materialists themselves are contented with believing that we shall hereafter be to all
moral purposes the same , by retaining the conscious ness of our past in the new attire of our immortal being . Thfcy , as well as other Christians , believe we shall rise again to a new an 4 » a glorious life , and are willing to Irast the Divine goodness and wisdom respecting its mode , of which we , * can here form no adequate
conceptions . But , thirdly , supposing there were ajry class of men who believed in the resurrection of the bodies of all , in a literal sense , it is utterly unjust to
confound them with Unitarians . In-4 eed , the system of materialism , in ^ a / iy form , has no connexion with a single distinguishing doctrine of the Unitarian creed . It does not affect
t | ie oneness of God or even the mere humanity of Christ . It may , indeed , be " verified from the writings of Mr . Bel&hatn "— though , even there , you
will sea . reh in vain for the absurdities you have imputed to us . But , highly as we esteem Mr . B . we do nqtt acknowledge all his sentiments us our own . lie is our instructor , but
wot our oracle . We look higher for our leader than any living writer however excellent , or even any dignitary fciowever ^ irevested with spiritual powers or adorned with external grandeur . We subscribe to no veed but the 'Scriptures ; we acknowledge no master butChrist .
Fourthl y * Supposing that the Unitarians at large held that " all the l ^ pdi es that had bee n , men will arise , " it would be untrue that * ' in this they differ from , ot , her churches . " In fygt 0 ) c very reverse of ] the proposition id true . They do not hold the
resurrection of the bo ^ y as . a par t of . their & % j °£ i > ^ v < J # < ^ P ^ V ° ErjgtaTid thus inculcates . it . Wfyat , $ ir , have , you forgotten " the A ^ ostlrsVCreed ? " Do you not recol-
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lect that , in the plainest language , it asserts the doctrine against iwliieh your indignation is directed ? Are you so little acquainted with the formularies of the churcji you revere , as not to know that all her members ,
on almost every occasion of divine service , solemnly assert that they believe in ** THE RESURRECTION OF the body ? " And vet it is , in the supposed belief of this absurdity , that yoAi represent us as , " ' differing from other churches I "
The fifth " article" of our faith relates to the future condition of man . To the substance of this statement I have no material objection to offer . True it is that some Unitarians believe in the destruction of the wicked ,
and that others hope for the restoration of all men to the blessings of holiness and peace , while all admit the peculiar rewards of the righteous . If it be a crime to regard the Almighty as a Universal Father , in all time&ana to all beings , we plead guilty to the charge . We are perfectly willing you should be left to the full exultation
in your own brighter and , happier creed which ihis concession may afford you . The sixth " article" is utterly false . It assumes that we 4 i hold only an intellectual and physical , and not a moral difference in the actions of men ,
they not being free agents , and therefore , they not being more responsible beings than the brute beasts . " This is little more than the repetition of a charge 1 have already refuted . For the benefit ., however , of " the
unwary , " it may be proper to repeat two facts which sufficiently prove it to be a groundless slander . 1 st , the doctrine of necessity is not an article in the Unitarian creed ; 2 dly , pot only has no Unitarian writer who has
incidentally received it denied the moral difference of human actions and the proper responsibility of man , but it has been contended by all Christians who have embraced it , that it is an the supposition of necessity alone that men become accountable
to God , that the distinctions of virtue and vice can be maintained , or tha £ rewards and punishments , can be spoiled to effect any heneiicial purposes . This is 4 matter pf fiwrfc not of rea ^ q ^ ing . Dr . Priestley an ^ those irebo * bw * fe > W * h bin * in ^ D ^ ve d i ^ vvn , fat s * conclusions from the premise ^ they .
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57 O On Coleridge ' s Attack on the Unitarians contained itt his Second Lay Sermon .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1817, page 270, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2464/page/14/
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