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fpr T which he ^ contends ^ is , that Jesus Christ is truly God v that in hia person there suhsistecl when he ^ was on earth and st ? i L | l subsists an pnion of the ) ivine and human natures ; and after observing that our onl y business is with the fact and not with the mode of the
f ^ LCt , he says , ' * This is a question with regard to which it is manifest our appeal must be made exclusively to the sacred volume . The sole inquiry is , What saith the Scripture ? " On reading this passage , we hoped that the direct and positive Scriptural evidence of the alleged fact , that in the person of Jesus Christ there subsisted , when
he was on earth , and still subsists an tijiioii of the Divine and human natures , was about to be adduced : that the intimate knowledge and constant use of the writers of the Nevv Testament of this wondrous key was about to be placed beyond all dispute bv / citations from their own writings .
But instead of this , Mr . Wardlaw rnerely produces in a string , the passages ? whjch are coinmonly quoted to prove the Divinity of Christ , together \ Ytfh several which ot most only favDur the doctrine * of his pre-existence , without troubling himself in the least to shew , how these texts establish the
grand' principle , that in his person tfeer ^ subsisted , when he was on qar ^ hV and still subsists , a union of 0 ie Divine and human natures ; or aVterjnp ^ irig to prove that the authors
oF those passages had this hypothesis iri their view when they wrote them : aji $ Y ^ t wi thout this , as we have already , shewn , Mr . Wardlaw would np ^ have advanced a sjngle step towajrcJs the establishment of his
doc-Ujnc , were these passages a hundred times more numerous and a hundred tipnes more clear and decisive than they really are . ' But the passages adduced arc totally inajjequa-te to establish the doctrine of tlie ' prdper Deity of Christ , and this
ifWoqr opinion Mr . Yates has compfeely shewn . We intended to have J ^ Qy ^ d tha , t this conviction is welltqundecj , by exhibiting an abstract of tae arguments adduced on eacjn side , % ut of this we find the limits which
xfp must prescribe tc > ourselves will by act rneans allow . We can therefore 6 rrf ) T j ^ hort t ^ osc of pur rea ders who feel a ^ n irit « teis ' in the sjubject ( and we -f ^ p e tpan ^ jr ojf them $ o feel an interest ^ Jtt i ^/^ r V ^ ^^ W W $ ipan-
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dour what these able disputants have advanceu pi > this , most important ± © pic . He who confines his attention to one side of the question ( provided he has not already made himself thoroughly acquainted with it , and in that case if he consult what is advanced on either
side , it will be on that which is opposed to his own ) , must be either too proud to be taught or too ignorant to be aware that he is ill-informed or too conscious of the instability of his own system to allow him to
contemplate an attack of it with steadiness and composure . Though we are firmly of opinion that the great doctrines that there is but One God , the Father , to whom alone religious adoration ought to be paid ; and one
Mediator between God and * nen , the man Christ Jesus * who , though honoured as no other being ever was , yet owes all his dignity and power te the favour of the Supreme and only Potentate , and holds it . for the advancement of the wise and sracious
purposes of his Providence , are truths of primary importance ; and are pjersuaded , that even the benevolent influences of the gospel will never be felt as they may and will ultimately he experienced , until these doctrines are generally and cordially embraced :
still we endeavour to remember , that this conviction , firm and undoubting as it is , may possibly be founded on inadequate or fallacious evidence ; and therefore sincerel y and . earnestly wish our fellow-Christians to examine for
themselves , with the utmost impartiality and diligence , both sides |> f this important controversy . If i | e know any thing of the feelings of our hearts , we are more desirous that converts should be made to the truth , than to our own peculiar opinions . ; and this appears to us to be a zeal of
proselytism which every enlightened Christian must be anxious to cherish ^ and it is the only one he can cherish-Let every one read , compare , reflect under the solemn impression ,, that vhe eye of Ged is on him ; and that he must give an account of the improvement he has made , of the means of
gaining religious information , , no le ^ s than of any other talent commuted , to his charge . Let him rise frona . his studies , if he tan , thoroughly peasuatted , in his own wind $ b | i * whether his couvictioa be u&t | i ^ it $ jttf * g aad iirv Kij or whether doubts and dnfieul-
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£ O $ . Review ^ JJnitaripn Cqntrpvcrsy in Scotland .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1817, page 298, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2464/page/42/
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