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elevate and pujify his affections , or in whatever manner the fact be explained , the fact itself is certain , that , in proportion as those conceptions are just or otherwise , man ' s own character , both intellectual and moral , is exalted or degraded . It is not , therefore , merely as it respects the direct influence of the conceptions which are formed of the character and government of the Deity on human virtue and happiness , that religion appears
to be a matter of supreme importance for that importance is scarcely in any degree less , or less manifest , considered in relation to its indirect influence on the general faculties and attainments of man . Hence it is , that
the philosopher and the philanthropist , in endeavouring to promote the virtue and happiness of the human race , find religion at every step exerting an influence in favour of , or in opposition to , their projects , greater perhaps than the combined influences of all other
causes . Now , even the mere theist must allow , that of all the systems of religion which have been proposed for the exaltation of the human character , that of Christianity is beyond all measure the best . Indeed , this system is
so admirably adapted to the nature and the wants of man , that , were it universally received in its purity , and universally acted on , it would accomplish perfectly all that philosophy and religion ( and religion is nothing but
the purest and truest philosophy ) can accomplish in the present state : it would make man as enlightened , as virtuous and as happy as is compatible with his physical nature , and with the relations of that nature to the physical world .
But , unhappily , this beautiful system has been corrupted , and its influence perverted . New and pernicious opinions , if not artfully and successfully introduced into it , have been most artfully and successfully grounded upon it , and supported by its apparent authority . And from the very nature of the case , we who live in the
present age , must find many difficulties in separating the true from the false . The record itself of this relig ion was written at a distant period ; in a distant country ; in a foreign language ; by men whose minds were familiar with objects which we have
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never seen , and which excite no simi-i lar associations in ours , an ^ whose writings abound with allusions which we do not and cannot understand without the aid of learning . Connecting these causes of obscurity With others which are most obviously related to them , and with the natural obscurity of language , we cannot wonder , if ignorance and mistake generally , and diversity of opinion universally prevail . These difficulties may in a great measure be surmounted ; and he who
contributes any thin 2 ; to their removal , must be considered , not only by the Christian hut also by the philosopher and the philanthropist , as performing a signal service to the human race . A plan has been devised , and in some measure carried into effect , by
which these important objects might be accomplished with great certainty and to a vast extent ; by which an accurate and critical knowledge of the Scriptures , in the language in which they were originally written , might be acquired by any individual in almost
any station , without at all interfering with the business or the pleasures of life ; by which it would be possible at no distant period to communicate this knowledge to every human being , and by which all this mi g ht be effected without incurring the least expense .
If this be true , if there be a plan really possessed of such power , really capable of such important applications , it surely deserves attention . The principles on which this plan is founded are extremely simple , and are as follow :
1 . That that which a person is able to learn , if he be properly instructed , he will be able to teach . 2 . That when a person has made a certain progress in learning any thm # , it will be conducive to his improvement to begin to teach it .
3 . That , upon the proposed plan of of teaching , persons in a class of four will learn more easily and expeditiously than individually . 4 . That accordingly every student be gratuitously taught in a class of four
. 5 . That every student engage to instruct four other students upon the same terms on which he himself receives instruction . 6 , That the Institution be open Christians of every denom ination who
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420 . The Nonconformist . Nxr . XXV .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1822, page 420, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2514/page/28/
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