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piness of . mankind . We have examined and fornied our judgment , — -we have risked our salvation on our decision , and how should not our opinions be dear and precious to us ? We do love and ralue them , and where is our philanthropy or pur charity if we do not desire and endeavour to diffuse them ?
" We are taught that to spread the knowledge of the truth , and all the blessings which follow it , throughout the world , is worthy to be the especial care of Divine Providence ; and shall it not then interest us , whose sublimest and most ennobling contemplations are upon the
purposes and ways of the Almightywhose most honourable and delightful employment is acting as the instruments of his plans and the messengers of his grace ? Yes , we must hold religious truth in the highest estimation , and be ardently
devoted to its service , if we are m any degree worthy of the blessings we enjoy , for from it they are derived—if we really love God , for in the knowledge of him , whom to know is to love , it consists— -if we sincerely love our fellow-creatures , for it is the source of what we find most
estimable in them at present , ' and the grand means of improving their moral and social condition , increasing their present happiness , and advancing their preparation for that which is to come . And shall every hope which can cheer the heart of philanthropy , give vigour to our
struggles against the evils which surround us , and relieve our present disappointments with bright vistas of future good ; shall every warm and enthusiastic feeling , every generous and manly exertion which is awakened by a charity that looks
beyond and above mere bodily wants and interests , be sacrificed to the fear of disturbing that hollow and worthless peace , which consigns all differences to silence , and is broken by the most candid discussion , or the mildest remonstrance against error ? Not unless the stillness of the
stagnant pool which exhales corruption , be preferable to the healthful swell and dashing of the ocean waves—not unless it be true charity to afford to all the smile and the benediction , but to pass on iu pursuit of our own objects , without offering to bestow or attempting } o relieve . "—Pp . 25—29 .
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616 Review . —Wright ' s Essay on the Doctrine of Atonement .
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Art . VII . —An Essay on the Doctrine of Atonement ; or , the Reconciliation of the World to God by Je&us Christ . By Richard Wright , Unitarian Missionary . 12 mo . pp . . 60 . Liverpool , printed ; sold by s ^ D . Eaton , London . ! . <• • Jtk
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POPULAR Traet on this vital A subject has been long a desideratum , and Mr . Wright' bas ably and satisfactorily supplieu the want . The common doctrine of Atonement is of greater moral consequence than that
of the Trinity : it takes deeper hold of men s feelings , and exercises a greater influence upon their characters . To this , therefore , Unitarians are called , in the present stage of their controversy with the self-named " Orthodox , '' to direct their attention , and for the mass of readers no one can desire a more complete exposure of error or vindication of truth , than is found in this Essay by the much-respected Unitarian Missionary .
In a short compass Mr . Wright discusses the whole argument . His replies to objections are masterly . From these we shall extract two or three passages . In answer to the common
charge against those that deny the satisfaction to Divine Justice for Sin , of giving up the doctrine of salvation by the free grace of God , the Essayist says smartly ,
" Whatever the advocates of the reputed orthodox doctrine of Atonement may say about the free grace of God , on their system , properly speaking , there is no free grace of God ; salvation was brought and paid for ; all the blessings of the gospel were purchased ; God was bought off from the infliction of his
vengeance ; what the gospel exhibits is not his free pardon , but a purchased indemnity for sinners ; he had value received for all his blessings before he bestowed them . "—P . 49 .
"A powerful argument , with us , against the popular notion of Atonement , is , that it is subversive of the free grace of God , and , in fact , builds salvation on the ground of human merit ; for as the death
of Jesus was the death of a man , ( and who will say now that as God he died ?) if the merit of his death be the ground of our salvation , it must have human merit for its foundation . "—P . 50 .
Great acuteness is shewn in exposing the difficulties of the generally received doctrine . " If Christ who is supposed to have made the satisfaction or atonement , be an infinite person , truly God , to whom did Ire ma , ke it ? By all Christians it is ao Mmtutaed that there is and can be but mm ' chrisi be " - * '
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1821, page 616, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2505/page/48/
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