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1 Cor . viii . 5 , the sole Creator , Supporter and Governor of the universe : << In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth , " Gen . i . 1 . < f I am the Lord that maketh all things ; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone , that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself , " Isa . xliv . 24 .
That this God , this great Creator of all things , is the only proper object of religious worship : " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God , and him only shalt thou serve , " Matt . iv . 10 . " The true worshipers shall worship the Father in . spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship him " , " John iv . 23 .
That it pleased God , m his great mercy and loving-kindness , to send Jesus Christ into the world to instruct us in our duty , in the most extensive sense of the word , and to reveal the doctrine of a future life . That for his ( Jesus Christ ' s ) obedience unto death , God raised him from the dead , made
him Lord over all , and hath appointed nim to be our final Judge , as is expressly declared in various parts of the New Testament . It cannot be denied , that the foregoing are fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion ; neither can it be denied , that they are the fundamental doctrines of Christian Unitarians ; from
which , it necessarily follows , 1 st , that Unitarianism is ( so far as it goes ) the doctrine of the gospel ; and , 2 nd , that every person holding these doctrines is ( so far ) an Unitarian 5 and of this class is my correspondent , as I will further shew by a few observations on the
texts he has selected , as " " scrintural texts he has selected , as scriptural illustrations" of his opinions , which , though not intended to illustrate these doctrines , for the most part really support them . They are numbered in * , the order in which he sent them : and if
this communication be thought worthy a place in the Monthly Repository , I hope my young friend will also be indulged with a corner in a subsequent Number , wherein he may not only animadvert on these observations , but
inay shew us more at large on what particular points his own religious society diners from Unitarians . Illustration 1 st . Rev . iv . 11 : " Thou hast created all things , and for thy pleasure A ^ they are and were created . " s this text is intended to prove that God is the creator of all things ,
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and I adniit the fact , this view of the subject taiay be dismissed by observing , that if God created " all things /* he necessarily created Jesus Christ—and as every created being is inferior to its Creator , so Jesus Christ must be inferior to God .
Illustration 2 nd . Acts xvii . 28 : " In him we live , and move , and have our being . " ( C In whom do we live and move ? In C God that made the world and all things therein , * ' and will judge it by that man whom he hath appointed and raised from the dead , and not in any inferior or subordinate agent .
" I Illustration 3 rd . Mai . iii . 6 : I am the Lord , and change not . " Here God , the creator of all things , is evidently the person spoken of by the prophet , who , nearly all through his book , speaks of the wickedness of his countrymen the Jews , and in the preceding chapter , ver . 10 , appeals to them thus— " Have we not all one
Father ? Hath not one God created us ? " This gives us another opportunity of illustrating the superiority of God to Jesus Christ ; for we are assured above , that God changeth notbut Jesus Christ ehangeth ! He was subject to the common changes and vicissitudes of human life ; he was a
child , a man , he hungered , he thirsted ; he underwent many tribulations in this life , and died a peculiarly painful and ignominious death ; he was afterwards raised from the dead , and ordained to judge the world in righteousness . Can Jesus then say , " I ' am the Lord , and change not" ?
Illustration 4 th . Rom . xv . 4 : " Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning , that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope /'
This scripture appears inapplicable to the subject under discussion ; but the verses immediately following it strongly illustrate the doctrine that Jesus Christ is not God . Vers . 5 and 6 :
" Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another , according to Christ Jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God , even the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" And again , ver . 30 : * ' Now I beseech you , brethren , for the Lord Jesus' Christ ' s sake , and for the love of the Spirit , that ye strive together with me ih your
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Agreement of Quakers and Unitarians . 469
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 469, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/29/
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