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a » j *! tfee svgppjibr ability ' , with ivljf ch lie Kas executed thfc ta&k if& if ^ s undertaken :
/*« tfct ^ trtg / hekra Sir . Warcl ^ wV Dis-< T < iturs ^ With ' jr ^ e ' aJr interest , 411 a after waVcfs r ^ atf tbein w * ith gtedt care , I have found muck io ndjiiire , tiut nothing to change •* tt ^ CoTivi " ctfoifr df ' the strict Unity of God * &idtne subordination of Jesus Christ .
IliaVe no d 6 ufrt that the delivery of tlic ' m jttftjfcefcdeo' from laudable motives . It giVfcs * ine great pleasure to express the approbation due to the eloquence with ^ vl ^ fcli they are composed and the powers ^ f r ^ asoding which they display . I heartily join In the universal confession
tnatthe Trinitarian system could not have beeii more ably defended . "Mr . Wardlaw Has' shown pequiiaY judgment in confining ^ hiraseif to * those arguments whicti ^ have Usually 'been considered as clear and decisive , instead 6 f bringing forward all the passages of Scriptuve which have been conceived to bear remotely upon the
subjftfcjb , and by insisting upon which other ^ iuTvoc ? itfi . s hav e weakened the cause they intended to support . Whilst I have betvn JSleused with the ingenuity and alertness displayed in defending points of difficult atttf abstract speculation , I have been ediflfcd-by the useful observations of a
gractfdal nature which are scattered thrOi % b'the wlume , and which I would hope away ; redeem it from oblivion , when i » ei ?; have Earned to value plain truths $ ef % aiaing to \\ fe and godliness , above wbat is mysterious and inexplicable / 9
r ^ f- ^ i r Having Urns acknowledged his excellencies , Mr . Yates states , in language eq&allf unreserved , what appears to him to be liis opponents detects :. « ¦ ¦¦*« ' ! MK \ HTardlaw affirms solemnly ( p . f * 90 > that his only object is truth ; and
-doubtless tlft ? defence of the Calvimstic doctrines ijvhicli he beKeves to be true , wtt&b i * < oj ) ly object . But there is a wide diSeVtkic ^ between defending a particular system » previousJy assumed as true , and piirsufiij ^ truth independeatly of system- *—^^^ e-rence , v ^ ltich v . ij . 1 materially affect iher anartner \ u which a man states his Own doctrines and vievvs the arguments of rs law
< it ^ e « . s , style and } a | igija ^ e in this controversy sjiow , that he isas neve > put bis mind into that state of calm and impartial deliberatioii , which is "Tiace ^ sary to " ^ I Vect j ^ ikI " .. tirrange the prbofe or ) either sfdhe dud io 'jndge in tkv ^ ui * < Wf wlridi opinion t * he evidence pri ; -
^ Kittd ^ rirt ;^ -On the ^ cdntrary < bte tias set tffcitwitlr a-bold ) unaUcmtcHJ an ^ W ^ etuo < U 8 2 «^ L for a certain system ; and btoii evin tr
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t \ us system to be U # ( % and th . it > with its e ^ ta ^ lishraeat m > d progress ar « comjecttd t ; t \ e glory of God and £ hV salvatign of ratrn , ( Prt ^ ce , p . iii ^ ) j £ « exerts his utmost powers J to , impress Vt . vppn tb ^ mind , ^ nd labours XoibfUfy his argument by bniMnDsr
tmt all the images and strong expressions , ail the affecting and Solemn tones , ail the { acts and allusions ^ -a ] L the faults and erro r * of . ^ js opponents , by which be can strike his ti ^ ar ^ rs with astoti i ^ hiuent awd Jiorror at the folly , t \ je blindness , the perverseness of tiiose who refuse to be conver ^ tid hy such brilliant arid decisive
evidence . That an orthodox preacher should have recourse to those expedients , in order to rouse the languid conviction 6 f his own flock , may be perfectly . proper ; hut they are utterly subversive o / tbat temper of cool , patient and unbiassed investigation , which may be expected iu 9 fje , who mal * es it hi ? simple , and . exclusive ojbject to ascertain truths We find also iu Mr . Ward law ' s volume a JiUid ot
matiag-epient ^ a » 4 i ( l general s hip which a votary of truth would , . scorn . Haying very few propfs to adduce , he majies the best use of what ; , he lias , brings ^ them forward . many different tijn e * ,. dwelj ^ Hpon them at great length , turns them about and shews them in the most plea slug variety of lights . Yet , lest after all they should fail to make a sufficient
impression , he takes care to inform bis hearers , that these are only a specimen of what he might have brought forward ; the paasajg ^ es , which contain , his . doctrine are so numerous , that he would weary their patience and , exceed hi& own . strength , if he . were , to produce tht'm all , anjj , hence h « is oblige ^ to select a fe . w of the more
prominent ., ^ Phis * rpxHcirLE qr ^ SEhEC-3 TION , * a , s iVIr . > Vardlaw calls it , t fjp ar > I shall Tiave frequent occasion to expose , arid tb sfeew that wheVe he professes merely to brin ^ put a sample , he has nearly or entirely exhausted bis store . "
We cannot pass over the chapter on mysteries wrth which the introductory part of Mr . Yates ' s work concludes , without earnestly recommending it to the attejntion of all our readers whether learned or unlearned , orthodox or heterodox . No one who attends to it can afterwards be
perplexed . with the mysteries of the New Testament , or he for a moment c ^ - ceived by the'unmeaning declamation in which it is so common to indulge on this subject ; and the object of
which always is , to place a belief in contradictions and impossib . iiitie « on' they same ; foottng ^ as a bejieff in , mysteries . ' . '¦ - >
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29 i Review . — Unitarian Controversy in Scotland .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1817, page 294, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2464/page/38/
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