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ed t \ m fpfe ^ hetid * ti < V dfcSorcttfcytxf i&jla * tryCa&l st ^ e&sfltfCHH S »* is * fo& ki e f& * & Jesus Vras the Messiah , tltet he Was employed by God to reveal his will to men , and to make known to them the orrly true religion . He observed the internal and historical evidence of Christianity to be such as demonstrated its truth .
Blessed with the light of Christianity , he dedicatees his time and his money not only to release his countrymen from the state of degradation in which they exist , but also to dhTuse among the European masters of his country , the sole true religion— -as it was prbmulgated by Christ , his apostles and his disciples .
" A FIRM BELIEVER IN CHRIST . " Calcutta , July 12 , 1821 . " Extracts referred to , € t c i have now noticed all the argu-Ttfents founded on Scripture that 1 hare freard of as advanced in support of the doctrine of the Trinity , except such as
appeared to me so futile as to be unworthy of remark ; and rn the course of my examination have plainly stated the grounds on which I conceive them to be inadmissible . Perhaps my opinions may aabject me t& the severe censure of those
tvtro dissent from me , and some will be ready to discover particular motives for my presuming to differ from the great majority of Christian teachers of the present day , in my view Of Christianity , with the doctrines of which I have become but
recently acquainted . Personal interest c&n hardly be alleged as likely to have actuated me , and therefore the love of distinction or notoriety may perhaps be resorts *! to , to account for conduct which they wish it ta be believed honest conviction could never direct . In reply to
such an accusation , I can only protest in the most solemn manner , that even in the belief that 1 have been successful in combating the doctrine of Trinitarians , I cannot assume to myself the smallest merit : for what credit can be gamed in proving that one is not thrfee , and that
the same being cannot be at once man and God ; or m opposing those who maintain-, that all who do not admit doctrines so ittcotnprehensible must be therefore subjected by the All-merciful to eternal punishment ? It is too true to be denied , that we ! are led by the force of
the Senses to believe many things that tte cannot fully understand . But where the evidence of sense does not compel up , hbvt can We believe what Is not only beyond our cotnprreherwion , but contrary to it , -Atixl to the common course of nature , and directly against revelation ; Tvfofch
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declare * ycteifcrtfeiy the « u * ty 3 $ God , as well ate Ilk * faeQufyrehemihUHy ; but no where aseribefr to him any number o ¥ per-8 OB 8 , or any portion of magnitude ? j oi xxxvf . 26 : " Behold God i& g * eat , and we know him not . " xxxvii . 23 : Touch - ing the Almighty , wer cannot find him
out . " Psalm- cxlv . 3 : " His greatness is unsearchable / ' Neither are my attempts owing to a strong hope of removing early impressions from the breasts of those whose education instilled certain ideas into their minds from the moment they became capable of receiving them ; fop notwithstanding great and long-continued
exertions on my part to do away Hindoo polytheism , though palpably gross and absurd , my success has been very partial . This experience , therefore , it may be suggested , ought to have been sufficient to discourage me from any other attempt of the kind ; but it is my reverence for
Christianity , and for the Author of this religion , that has induced me to endeavour to vindicate it from the charge of polytheism , as far as my limited capacity and knowledge extend . It is indeed
mortifying to my feelings to find a religion , that , from its sublime doctrines and pure morality , should be respected above all other systems , reduced almost to a level with Hihdoa theology , merely by human creeds and prejudices ; and from this
cause brought to a comparison with the Paganism of ancient Greece ; which while it included a plurality of gods , yet maintained that @ « o $ so-ti lx $ , or " God is One , ' * and that their numerous divine persons were all comprehended in that one Deity .
u * Having derived ray own opinions on this subject entirely from the Scriptures themselves , I may perhaps be excused for the confidence with which I maintain them against those of so great a majority , ^ who appeal to the same authority for theirs ; inasmuch as 1 attribute the
different views , riot to any inferiorit y of judgment compared wkh my own limited ability , but to the powerful effects of early religious impressions ; for when these are deep , reason is seldom allowed its natural scope in examining them to the bottom . Were it a practice among Christians to study first the Books of the
Old Testament , as found arranged in order , and to acquire & knowledge of the true force of scriptural phrases and expressionS , without attending to Interpretations gixen by any sect ; and then to stody the New Te * tamenr , comparitig the one with the other ; Christianity wottld not any longer be liable to tre encroached upon by human tfpinionH . I have often <* b « erved that Ei * gte" "
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394 Unitarian Con&bti&sy at Calcutta
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1822, page 394, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2514/page/2/
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