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    I expressed Bay great satisfaction in the result of the late discussion . 2 . What is an Unitarian ? Answer , 1 . One Who believes in the simple humanity of Jesus Christ . 2 . One who believes in his simple pre-existence . 3 . One who believes that the Logos which animated the body of Christ was the Maker of the world , but not the object of worship . 4 . One

    who believes that , being the Maker of the world , he is the object of worship . 5 . One who , whatever be his opinion concerning the person of Christ , worships the Father only . 6 . All Antitrinitarians . 7- AH who profess their

    belief in the unity of God , whether they do or do not believe that in the unity of the Divine essence there are three subsistences or persons , and whether they are Realists , like Waterland and Sherlock , who denounce

    Nominalists as heretics , or Nominalists , like Wallis and South , who accuse their Realist brethren of blasphemy and nonsense . 8 . I have lately seen another definition of an Unitarian , viz . one who believes that " this is life

    eternal , to know thee the only true God , and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent . " This , if not the most perspicuous , is , at least , the most Catholic definition of Unitarianism that ever was given : for in its ample range it includes not only the holy apostolic Roman Church , and all the various denominations of Protestants which

    secede from it , but it also comprehends the Greek , the Nestorian and the Sjriac churches in the East , and likewise the Copts and the Abyssinians in

    Africa ; all of whom would be ready to subscribe this simple creed , and to form one grand Unitarian Society throughout the world . 3 . Of these various definitions I have

    myself selected the first ; and being a plain man , who write to be understood in all my publications , I invariably adhere to that definition , so that no person can read what I have published without knowing precisely the sense in which the word is used .

    My reason for making this selection is , historically , because I believe the term was first applied to the Polish Unitarians who denied the pre-existence of Christ , and ett / mofogically > because I conceive that , in strict propriety , the terra can only be applied to the two first definitions : for whoever

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    ascribes the formation of the world to Jesus Christ , deifies him , for he attributes to him a work appropriate to God , and infringes the great doctrine of the Divine Unity . Finally , I adopt

    this sense of the term upon the authority of Dr . Lardner , the great reviver of genuine Unitarianism in modern times , and my two venerated friends Mr . Lindsey and Dr . Priestley , the ablest and the most celebrated

    luminaries of the Unitarian Church . And here I trust I shall not be arraigned of presumption and arrogance in claiming these eminent confessors as my particular friends , even though no kind notice was taken of me in their wills .

    While living , they constantly communicated with me upon every theological topic without reserve , and dying , they bequeathed a legacy more precious than rubies : the bright example of a disinterested love of truth , and of

    firmness , fortitude and perseverance in the profession of it , in the face of opposition , calumny and reproach , and under the loss of all things . These venerable men uniformly used the word Unitarian in the sense which I have

    adopted from them : and if this use of it is censurable , I am very willing to take my share of the reproach . I have too much regard for the rights of others to presume to censure any for using the term with greater latitude than myself . I only lament

    that it is used in so many senses as to occasion great ambiguity of language , and that to such a degree that , in reading what is published by many who call themselves Unitarians , I declare that I am utterly at a loss to understand their meaning .

    4 . I regret to differ from my worthy friend concerning the importance of the doctrine of the simple humanity of Jesus Christ , which to me appears an article of primary importance , and one upon which the greatest stress is deservedly laid by those who desire to see Christianity restored to its

    primitive purity . My reason is this : Errors concerning the person of Christ were among the first which were introduced into the church even in the apostolic age , and were zealously opposed by the apostles themselves , and particularly b y Paul and John . And upon this primary error , as the chief foundation , almost all , and certainly all the principal corruptions of the Christian

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    34 Mr . Belsham on Unitarian Society Preamble .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1820, page 34, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2484/page/34/