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unbelievers , the . Inquirer says , ( p . 14 , ) « ' Were we fully impressed with these considerations we should feel too solicitous about advancing our own work .
to desire to assume the task of converting others . We should cease from the vain inquiry of * What shall this man do ?* in anxious solicitude to obey the imperative injunction , What is that to thee ? Follow thou me / "
I cannot , I will not , believe that the most obvious sense of this passage , standing as it does in immediate connexion with one recommending , on apostolic authority , separation from
unbelievers , can be that in which the author designed it to be taken . He cannot mean that the conversion of unbelievers is not to be the object of our endeavours , of our anxious solicitude . He cannot mean that the
interference of power , and ox power alone , i 3 to be employed to silence their scruples . He cannot so far pervert the apostle ' s language as to make his words at utter variance with his deeds .
He could not , purely , advocate the forcible suppression of infidel productions , yet coldly doubt the propriety of winning over the infidel by the power of earnest argument ;—in short , by conversion . No , I will not believe that
this was " in his heart . " But then the passage I have quoted is so completely irrelevant to the matter in debate , that I am obliged to consider it as one of those by-blows of which I
complain - it is not to the purpose . It is a reflection upon the conduct of Christians to each other , not as opposed to unbelievers . In either sense , however , unless the matter of controversy really be of no practical consequence , it is objectionable . It
supposes that an ardent interest in the concerns of others will necessarily beget indifference to our own . This , I am convinced from long acquaintance with persons who habitually take the most active part in propagating the
knowledge of religion , is not the case . It has repeatedly fallen to my lot to observe upon the scrupulousness , the rigid self-examination practised by persons whose habits were mostly of the most active kind , whose hearts
were most zealously bent upon the conversion of others . It is not to my purpose , any more than to that of « c The Inquirer , " to determine what those points are which
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may be considered of sufficient practical consequence to make it worth our while to spend our time in bringing others into the same faith with ourselves . In my own opinion , they are few and simple ; but such as they are , they appear to me of the greatest importance , and , therefore , I totally
dissent from the principle laid down in the sentence I have quoted . In another passage , quoted by your Reviewer , there is the same idea , and it is beautifully illustrated ; yet a moment ' s consideration will surely suffice to shew , that the full application of " The Inquirer ' s" metaphor cannot be made without danger to our own usefulness . True it is , that the dwellers in the mountains , to whose eyes the morning sun has shewn his first beams , who enjoy their moments of brightness
before the inhabitants of the valley have obtained theirs , may exult in their favoured lot , and proceed on their way rejoicing : —but are they endowed with the power of illuminating their brethren of the valley ? Has the Deity enabled them to communicate the
radiance of that enlightening orb whose splendour they are enjoying ? No , he has not . But the same cannot properly be said with regard to the diffusion of light and knowledge . We allow that the Power whose energy alone renders the energy of his creatures available , is in fact the source of
all those blessings whereof we consider ourselves the dispensers . But , in the mean time , we are the agents of his bounty . " When thou art converted T
strengthen thy brethren , "— " Go ye and teach all nations "—these injunctions surely pre-suppose a power to obey them , and it is not for us to dispute , but to follow them . Q IN THE CORNER . ^ mm
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Mr . S . KingsfordU Fiftieth-Year Sermon . 159
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Sir , TAKE the liberty of sending you I the outline of a sermon recently delivered at Canterbury , on a singular occasion : and I consider this notice of
it the more proper , as the venerable preacher has long been regarded as the father of the Unitarian General Baptist Churches in Kent . If it should meet your approbation , the insertion of it in your next Number will oblige , amongst many others , B . M . On December 1 , 1820 , Mr . Sampson
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1821, page 159, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2498/page/31/
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