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Untitled Article
o dup licity when , in disseminating our common version of the Bible , they preten d that they circulate the Scriptures " ivithout note or comment . " "Puplioity" * strong term , Sir , and when I call to mind the conduct of one with whose name , I will ven'
ture to say , the charge of " duplicity" was never for an instant coupled ; one who , excellent in many ways , vvas perhaps most conspicuous in abhorrence of every thing like
deceit ; ( need I name the late venerated Dr . Lindsay ?) I cannot suppress a rising emotion of keen regret at the rashness of the judgment which would affix the stigma of "duplicity" on those who tread where he has trod ,
and fearlessly avowing in all companies , and on every proper occasion , the grounds of the difference between themselves and their Trinitarian brethren , esteem it their duty to join them in the circulation of a version of
the Scriptures , imperfect it is true , and liable to many objections , but fully competent , according to the confession of the most eminent among Unitarian writers , to lead the * diligent inquirer to the knowledge of the true God , and Jesus Christ whom he has
sent . Instead of " duplicity , " your correspondent will have no objection , I trust , to read " forgetfulness ; " for if a Unitarian has been betrayed into a momentary assent to the notion that he is employed in circulating the Scriptures entirely without note or
comment , he will , I should think , be tf lad to correct himself the first opportunity , and let his orthodox friends know that such is not his deliberate opinion . Having made this point t'lear , he will next be led to inquire , whether he is therefore bound to
Withhold his support from the Bible Society . And here , I should think , a difficulty will occur . If our inquirer he a zealous Christian , he must feel a longing desire to dispense the word ° f lite as far as lies in his power , l ooking abroad , he sees but two
versions of the Scriptures which he can disseminate in his own country . These are the received text and the Improved Version . To both of these , probably , " sees objections . He thinks there In ay be interpolations in the first ; he aspects there may be suppressions , ° r alterations , which have nearly the * lfea of suppressions , in the ' last .
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He thinks it highly probable that the latter may have corrected some erro neous passages , but he dislikes the strained and unnatural phraseology 6 f some of its texts . They appear to him to act as a * note and comment "
upon the sacred penman , rather than to flow easily from the nature of tfee subject . Encompassed with difficulties , he finds no better refuge than in the belief that the Scriptures , however varied in the hands of different
translators , are yet < c profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , for instruction in righteousness , " and therefore , in the assurance that all who willy may be by them " made wise
unto salvation , " he embraces every opportunity for promoting their circulation among his fellow-creatures ; believing , that were he to wait till he had secured a translation in which
there should not be an unsuspected chapter , verse or word , he might tarry till the day were far spent indeed . To advert for a moment to the letter of your former correspondent , " A Berean : " it strikes me that both
himself and the writer of the letter in your last Number , would do real service to the cause of truth , if at public meetings of the kind described , they would take occasion to declare their dissent from the opinions expressed on controverted points , and endeavour to impress on the minds of those with
whom they associate , the duty and policy of keeping these subjects out of sight on such occasions . I am far from surprised that Trinitarians who certainly began upon this plan , have now learned free language . No objection , as far as I have heard , has ever been made to it . Unitarians have
silently withdrawn from these meetings ; but have they ever taken occasion publicly to testify the reasons of their dissent ? These reasons may have been stated in print ; but Unitarian books are not very saleable among Trinitarians , and 1 should be glad to feel assured that those Unitarians who
are connected with the Bible Society , were taking the better course of calm and immediate remonstrance whenever the original rules of that Society appear to them infringed . If such be not their conduct , no wonder that the
most active party considers itself as free from the obligation to respect the private ami unexpressed opinions of
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Remarks on Objdctims to BiMe ^ S&cwty Meetings . " 5 &H
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1822, page 293, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2512/page/37/
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