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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.
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ing to Luke ' s Gospel , whea separated from its interpolations . It seems as if it was a prevailing opinion ( because the New Testament is thus made up ) that a number of books were necessary to record the history of the new
covenant . Now , on the contrary , had there been no other books extant than Luke ' s Gospel and the Acts qf the Jpostlesy we should have had in them everything we could want : and even in these books , though they contain a
most interesting history of the life , ministry , death and resurrection of our Lord , it is in one chapter only , and even a few passages of that chapter , that the terms and conditions of the
new covenant are clearly and distinctly laid down , in language so plain as to he level to the capacity of a child . ( Luke x . 25 . ) A certain Jewish lawyer stood up , saying to Jesus , " Master , what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? He said unto him , What is written in the law ? How
readest thou ? He answered , Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and with all thy soul , and with all thy strength , and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself . And he said unto him , Thou hast
answered right : this do , and thou shalt live I" Our Lord makes no other conditions necessary to obtain eternal life ; and notwithstanding all the nostrums for salvation invented by the
orthodox church , and their unintelligible doctrine of a saving , mystical faith , the only faith required of us is , to betieve that Jesus is the Christ , the Messen ger of the new covenant , Acts xvi . 30 , 31 and Rom . x . 9 . In this
pure and excellent religion , we plainly discover both the wisdom and goodness of God : its whole tendency is to make us virtuous , that we may be happy , by formmg \ n us a character ° * mind that will give us the best support under the discipline he has appointed , while training us up to be members of a future state of endless
existence in the society of good men made perfect . This religion is the very reverse of the unintelligible doctrines of the antichristian orthodox cnurch , whose predicted mark U wvs-£ RY
r , engraven in deep and legible ^ aaracters on her forehead . The pure ^ gion of Jesus is , on the contrary , fi 3 , <* easy to be understood , and hereby fitted for universal reception 5
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it is level to the capacities of all mankind ; as intelligible to the poor and illiterate as to the priest ; to the peasant as to the philosopher $ and therefore bears internal evidence of being from God .
Having now shewn the enlightened Theist that pure Christianity is comformable to the Divine character and perfections , his first objection no longer remains ; and his second , I trust I have fairly answered and removed by the evidence of completed prophecy . I would in concluding , address a
reflection or two to his serious consideration . On his own system , when he surveys the works of creation , so vast and sublime , he cannot help contemplating the power and wisdom of the Creator ; and if contrasted with this view , he should turn his thoughts inwardly on himself , and consider his own limited
faculties and comprehension of mind , it can hardly fail to produce the most profound humility . I honour him for not receiving any revelation , said to be
from God , that is not agreeable to his divine perfections , but represents him as a merciless and partial Judge , such as he is represented under the corrupt doctrines of orthodox Christianity ; but the humility which such views
must impress upon his mind , should make him anxious to obtain , and gratefully thankful for receiving , any revelation from God , containing such internal evidence of its truth , and confirmed by the irresistible testimony of prophecy ! Such is the Christian
revelation in its original purity ! From the light of nature , he can obtain no satisfactory evidence of the destination of man—whether he shall live again after he is dead . Christianity solves this most interesting problem , assuring him that if he cultivates in his mind
habitual devotion to God , * and a kind and benevolent disposition to all his fellow-creatures ; accepting and believing in the mission of Jesus as the messenger of this revelation , he shall inherit eternal life . ^ to a rejection of these plain conditions of reward , is
* I would have made a few observations upon the vital importance of not confounding habitual devotion with verbal prayer , and substituting the one for the other ; but I fear I have already trespassed upon your limits .
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Attempt to distinguish between Genuine and Spurious Christianity . 529
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1820, page 529, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2492/page/29/
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