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" Appeal . " A course of extracts from each of the publications wiU ^ -enable our readers to judge for themselves . " All those , " says the Christian Missionary , * ' who feel a concernment for the enlargement of the empire of truth and virtue , wiJl rejoice to see a collection of a part of the sayings of Christ , published by a respectable Hindoo , who , though he has uot thought fit publicly to profess himself the author , will yet easily be recognised as such , by all who have not been inattentive spectators of the face of the sky on the religious horizon of Bengal . The more generally the gracious words which proceeded out of the mouth of him who spake as ' never man spake , ' are divulged , the more men will be excited to inquire into the character of that great prophet , and the nature of that religion , of which he is both the author and the chief object . Although it was by no means the only , nor even the most important design of Christ ' s mission to instruct mankind : for he
himself has declared , that the design of his coming was * to give his life a ransom for many ; ' ( wherefore he has directed us to his apostles for fuller instruction in the way of salvation ;) yet there is no
fundamental truth of the gospel which is not either explicitly ^ taught by him , or which may not at least be easily deduced from his words . "— " Accordingly , if the respected author of the Compilation , which has given rise to these remarks , had confined himself to publishing the words of Christ , without depreciating the value of other parts of the inspired writings , he
would have been free from all blame , and my pleasure on seeing the publication in question would have been unalloyed by any sensations of an opposite nature . But I was sorry to find that this was far from being the case . The very titlepage , the Introduction , and the work itself , are evidently written under the supposition that only the moial precepts
contained \ n the New Testament are of real importance ; nay , the author ventures to intimate , in the Introduction , that the dogmatical and historical matter , though of this by far the greater part of the whole consists , so far fiom being necessary for the instruction , guidance and comfort of mankind , is rather calculated to do injury . "
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He here quotes part of the passage which we have already given from the Introduction , and observes , certainly with a great deal of justice , " I am utterly at a loss to conceive , hotfr a reasonable map can imagine that the silly nursery stories , which form the
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substance of the Hindoo religion and literature , can in ' any wise diminish ihe weight which the well-authenticated narratives of the benign and highly significant miracles of the holy Jesus cany with them . "
He next objects to the statement , that a belief in the existence of God ( in the genuine sense of the word ) is generally prevailing ; but even granting it to be so , " This / ' says he ,
" Is by no means sufficient to make us truly happy . For the correctest notions of the Divine attributes do not furnish us with an answer to these two most important questions , without a satisfactory solution of which no true peace of mind can exist : 1 . "How may I obtain the
forgiveness of my sins , and the favour of God ; and , 2 . How may I obtain strength to overcome my sinful passions and lusts , and to keep the commandments of him whom I am bound to obey ? Now , as the historical and dogmatical part of the Christian Scriptures gives the only
satisfactory information on these two points which is in existence , it is clear that this , so far from being comparatively useless , or even calculated by its association with the moral precepts to diminish the effect of the latter , is just that which makes them practicable and truly useful
/'—" The most distinguishing feature of Christianity , therefore , is not , that it contains the most complete and perfect exposition of the moral law , but , that it shews us how ' God may be just , and yet the justifier of the ungodly ; ' and it is no small recommendation of the teachers of
Christianity , with whom the author professes to have had inter A ) urse , that , keeping in view the peculiar glory of that religion whose ministers they are , they did not lead him to conclude that it was little more than a good system of morality . "
After some other remarks he proceeds thus : " ¦ For these reasons 1 cannot but greatly disapprove the plan upon which the author has acted , because it is founded on the radically false supposition , that the moral sayings of Jesus , even if re para ted
from the dogmas propounded by him , are able to * guide us to peace and happ iness . ' It is undoubtedly the ne phis ultra of arrogance to presume that we poor , weak , sinful mortals are better qualified to judge
what soi t of instruction is necessary or advantageous for the happiness of mankind than the Son of God himself , who never gave the least hint that he attributed less importance to those of his sayings which are of dogmatical , than to
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480 Review . —Ram Mohun Roy , and Indian Unitarian Controversy .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 480, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/40/
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