On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
them of a relative nature apd peculiar t <> those offices , same > yoi : d ig necessary to denote these characters , aud the wo $ -d Person , though , fxojn the imperfection of our ideas and of human
language , it does not convey a distinct idea , seems to be the best . It cannot pretend to point out w $ manner of the . Divine existence ,.. since , that has i * Qt been revealed , a ^ d therefore all the volumes which have been written
tp prove the absurdity of the doctrine of the Trinity , toiich jxot the Scripture doctrine , but the explications of men , and only shew , that the advocates of truth itself have sometimes overstepped
the legitimate province of reason , and have been guilty of a degree of folly and presumption in attempting to explore what Infinite Wisdom had seen , fit to hide from man .
With regard to the Atonement of Christ , the turning point seems to be , is sin an infinite evil or not ? Which may be answered by another inquiry , Is God worthy of the supreme love
of his intelligent creatures ? which no friend of reason will attempt to deny . If God , then , was infinitely worthy to be loved by us , to fail in that love was an infinite - fault , which deserved an
infinite punishment , and an infinite punishment could only be removed by an atonement of infinite value , which could only be offered by a mediator of infinite dignity . Almost all the reasoning which I have met with against the doctrine of the Atonement , is levelled at excrescences of human
inventions , not against what I conceive to b § the gospel of Christ . I do not consider God the Father as an implacable , wrathful being , or that the Son jprvade a literal satisfaction and appeased his anger , or that either guilt pr righteousness can be transferred from
one moral agent to another . All this I give up as the corruptions of man , a $ wood ! , hay and , stubble . — -I long thought that this ' w qpr ,.- the essence of orthodoxy , and that \ $ |< p / yve brought tfyeae to the fire of examination , ortEo-4 Q&y wpuJcl |> e consumed , bijt I jiow see that all these false doctrines may
perah , and yet some gpjd $ » 4 silver wd 4 pjreciQua stones remi | h | uutQuched . . The essential nature pf tttp Divine M $# g > love * I cpna ^ fas , t : o bevt % 8 ° l $ } Wg . ; lus pjlaq ^ li ty , yf&flft qfe of tyi % Spa as the highest expression of Jiis f disposition to sfyew iwcy . . Put
Untitled Article
consider him as seated pn the throne of the uniyerse / the heac ^ Of ; an empire of infinite extent , and s $ y is it refi&onable / to , suppose thaijt t ^ is great ; and glorious ^ Moral Governor wouXd pardon rebels without making some public manifestation of his displeasure , , and of his ability to pumsh offenders I X ) q not the wisest and best of human
institutions recognize the principle , of satisfaction being due to public justice for infraiCtions of public law , ^ id is not repentance considered an insufficient vindication of the honour of the law ? And would any system of polity bear the stamp of wisdom or possess any
efficiency , whose stipulations did not possess the sanction of a penalty , the remission of which was generally hopeless ? Thus was God , as the Sovereign of universal nature , bound
to consult the general welfare , and to maintain the purity , justice and honour of his government , necessitated to provide some substitute for personal punishment before he could pardon mankind . This was the will of God
which his Son so willingly came to do : a human body was prepared for him , by which he was constituted the Second Adam , or Representative of mankind ; and in this human nature , infinitely and in this human natureinfinitely
, dignified by its union with the Deity , he sustained ( I do not say the exact quantum of suffering due to all who shall be saved , but ) such a degree of public punishment as the aLUwise and righteous Judge deemed sufficient to enable him to justify the penitent believer in this Saviour , without his
ceasing to be just . ( Rom . iii . 26 . ) This . Mediator between God and man thus exhibited , in the view of all intelligent beings , such a display of the
Sovereign Ruler ' s hatred of sin , of his inflexible justice and veracity , and of hia 1 power and determination to punish hjs rebellious subjects , as fully viiKlk ; tUed the equity and stability of his gpvernmeAt ^ while it left room for
the exercise of ; , i #$ rcy . Yet I do not conceive , tha , t na ^ rcjy is Jience a matter of cfcbk . but of . giracft . / Could guilt or merit , be trapsfierrpcj , or did the Redeemer sustain ttyf character qf the representative of individuals oply , I do not see bij , t , that i % must t > e $ debt ; but it , was fy pubjiiq character h ? ^ ore ; he acted as tl * e yolijnj ^ ry delegate of his . racft ; he magnified , th $ < jR y in £ law , and made Jt hQnou ^ bl ^ fey his pbed ^
Untitled Article
3 iM ) D * HarwoodU Reasons for returning to Trinitarlanhm
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1820, page 390, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2490/page/10/
-