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thy : " They thu « t will be rich fall into temptation and a snare , and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition . For the love of money is the root of all
evil ; which , while some coveted after , they have erred from the faith , and pierced them selves through with many sorrows . " * Artd the Epistle of James , the brother of our Lord , contains some
strong * declarations or his sentiments respecting wealth and rank : Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted ; but the rich in that he is made low . " f Again , " My brethren , have not the faith of our Lord with respect of persons ; for if there corne into your assembly a man with
a gold ring , in goodly apparel , and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment , and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing , and say unto him , Sit thou here in a good place , and sav to the poor , Stand thou there ,
or sit here under my footstool ; are ye not then partial in yourselves , and are become judges of evil thoughts ? Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith , and heirs of the kingdom vyhich he hath promised ?—But ye have despised the poor . —Do not rich men
oppress you , and draw you before the judgment scats ? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called ? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself , ye
do well ; but if ye have respect to persons , ye commit sin . " J And in another chapter he utters these severe denunciations against the rich : " Go to now , ye rich men , weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you . Your riches § are corrupted , and
that it is present provision , and not future portions , that the apostle * speaketh of , " &c . : " You are bound to do the best you can to educate your children , & . c , but not to leave them rich . "—Gifdas Salviauus , p . 238 . * 1 Tun . vi . 9 , 10 . t Jumea i . < J , 10 . J Ibid . ii . 1—9 . § — root of all disquietnesse ; First p ; ot with guile , and then preserv ed with dread , And after spent with pride and lavishnes . se , Leaving behind them griefe and hea-. vinesse : Infinite ini . schicfcs of them do arize ;
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your garments are moth-eaten . Your gold and silver is cankered , and the rust of them shall be a witness against you , and shall eat your flesh as it were fire . Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days . Behold , the hire of the labourers who have reaped
down your fields , which is of you kept back by fraud , crieth : ye have lived in pleasure on the earth , and been wanton ^ ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter ; ye have condemned and killed the just , and he doth not resist you . " *
huch were the notions with respect to riches in the Christian Church at its first commencement . The acquisition and possession of property , which it is now the practice to speak of as alone
entitling a man to consideration or to the enjoyment of political rights , was then considered as almost a disqualification for the kingdom of righteousness and peace .
The apostolic institution of a Community of Goods appears to be related in a manner so distinct and marked that it seems almost impossible to avoid the conclusion , that it was either itself a divine suggestion , or at least considered by the apostles and the first converts as a necessary consequence of the doctrines that had been revealed to
them . Immediately after the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles , and the conversion of the 3000 on the day of Pentecost , we read that " they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship : —and many wonders and signs were done by
the apostles . And all that believed were together , and had all things common , and sold their possessions and goods , and parted them to ail men as every man had need . " + Again , in the 4 th chapter , an allusion to this rejection of the system of private property
in the infant church , forms a part of one of the most important passages of its history : " And when they had prayed , the place was shaken where they were assembled together : and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost , and they spake the word of
Strife and debate , bloodshed and biternesse ; Outrageous wrong and hellish covetize . Faerie Queene , B , ii . Ch . 7 . *¦ James v . 1—6 . t Acts ii . 42—45 .
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30 f / ie Nonconformist . No . XX .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1821, page 90, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2497/page/26/
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