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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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adlmifiastratioiw It is a fact , that the lower classes of mankind , who have not leisure and ability to inquire into tbe evidence of imp ortaat truth , depend for information upon these superior classes who possess the opportunities which are denied to them . And
whatever had been the evidence of the Christian religion , multitudes in the lowest station of society must have still remained incompetent judges of its truth , unless a perpetual miracle had been wrought to remedy the inconvenience . But it mav be further
observed , that the most ignorant , as well as the best informed of men , are capable of feeling" the practical influence of Christianity , which is far more important than deciding upon its evidence .
But we are now to encounter an objection apparently more formidable and alarming , that Christianity has been the cause of great and public evils , and that it is altogether problematical whether it has done more good or harm to the cause which it professes
to promote—that of virtue and happiness . Admitting the objection for a moment in all its force , it may be replied , that the evil which has resulted from Christianity has been purely
adventitious , and that it is some argument of its excellence if it has done any good at all , amidst the general perversion of its principles , and the enormous load of absurdity with which it has been encumbered . And it wall be allowed
by judicious inquirers , that Christianity is now better understood than it has been for many ages , and that by the aid of learning and criticism its genuine principles have been unfolded , and their unadulterated excellence
displayed ; so that it mu&t be admitted to be probable , that the evil complained of will be gradually diminished ; and should the time arrive when Christianity shall be professed in its primitive purity , consisting simply of the doctrines of a perfect Deity , an overruling Providence , a * future retribution , and the immortality of man , * it is
* On the doctrine of a future life , which is the great discover ) - of the gospel , 1 have one or two queries to propose : Does the evidence of nature disprove the doctrine ? This will not , I think , be pretended . Does nature clearly reveal
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difficult to see What evil cottlrf arfse , direcdy or i&tfirectly , from such a religion * . Indeed , if this is not religion , there is no such thing . And if these doctrines are adntfttecT at all , it is difficult to conceive that their influence
should be moreinjariousin consequence of their being received upon the evidence of fact , It may farther . be remarked in reply to the objection before us ,
this doctrine ? This has been affirmed ( frut I must be excused if I add th&t it has been ardy affirmed ) by men whose talents and character demand respect . Did nature fully disclose this doctrine to the wise men of anitiquity ? Let the learned Valckenaer answer the question : Quidquid optirni philosophorumy Socrates et Cicero , de immortalitate animce lo * qmintur , meres tantitm sunt fluctaationes .
Christiitni demum de hoc dogmate certo fuerunt persitasi . Hinc cestimari poterit , adds this great man , qnam eociguam vim hahuerint e . vimta Gent ilium prcccepta et / iiva , quippe hane ferme intam tantitm speclantia . Does nature by the constitution of the human mind , and the
phenomena of the moral world , suggest the hope of a life to come ? This hope Christianity is designed and admirably calculated to confirm . And , after having reflected upon the subject much and seriously through the greater part of my life , I venture to give my decided opinion ,
that , unless the doctrine of future existence can be proved to he false or incredible , the Christian religion , supported as it is by the strongest direct and presumptive evidence , cannot rationally be rejected . That the subject is not without its difficulties , I do not wish to dissemble .
It seems , indeed , to be the general fate of moral truths , that when they appear to be satisfactorily established , some difficulty should remain which may f oiin the ground of objection . This observation applies ( as , I think , Bishop Watson has also remarked ) even to that trulh which of all truths seems to rest on the *
surest foundation , the being of a God . And it will sometimes happen , that sui objection which has but little weight when cpntrasted with the evidence to which it is opposed , will be more intelligible to general apprehension than the answer , and will supply a topic of plausible declamation to those who nnd it
easier to declaim than to reason . But in all cases the preponderance of evidence ought to be allowed to turn the scale . Have unbeliever ** , in general , appeared solicitous to hold the balance with an impartial hand ?
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8 * Mr * Cogatf * Summary of the TSviderwes of ChrUtzanity .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1821, page 86, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2497/page/22/
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