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obliged tofpu for the first article of your numlif for Augusty the subject , * ' Uditarianism ia the United States of America . " Many , I am sure , would read with as much delight as myself , the following passage $ and I trust , with equal admiration of the spirit of the writer , ( a Calvinistic Trinitarian , ) and the excellence of their Unitarian
brethren at Boston : " Boston is the head-quarters of Unitarianism ; and many-of the Unitarians there are so amiable and so intelligent ; possess so much practical kindness , and so many
social virtues , as to exert a powerful influence in favour of their opinions , and'to shame many a narrow-minded , indolent professor of a purer faith ; a faith which too many of us are apt to forget it is our dutv to illustrate , as
well as to maintain , " &c . I would , Sir , that we ever made it our aim to present to our fellow-christians an amiable character and manners , as well as an amiable creed ; and if we must think prosclytism a bounden duty . upon us , and are convinced we could * make the conscientious
Calvinist more zealous and more devout ; more earnest in religion , purer in his morals and more active in benevolent usefulness : more amiable and more
happy by making him a Unitarian ; let us do it by shewing him the superior excellence , in theory an , d practice , of our faith , rather than by pressing upon him consequences of his own system , which he very properly denies because he finds none of them in himself . CHRISTIANUS . I I I ^^ HM ^ M
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South P ether ton , Sir , October 1 , 1822 . HAVE lately perused Dr . J . P I Smith ' s " Scripture Testimony to the Messiah" with considerable attention , and with a sincere desire to
be informed on the important subject which it attempts to elucidate . Whilst I admire the learning , and reverence the serious piety , and amiable temper which are displayed in this laborious work , I must confess that I
have risen from its examination with a strengthened conviction that the author ' s views are altogether untenable . On the result of one of his critical arguments only , it is my intention , at present , to trouble you with a
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few observations , but the consequences arising from it appear to me * »© remarkable , and to involve io much inconsistency and contradiction , that I should really be glad to learn how the difficulty is to be explained . The Doctor maintains , that the word D * n ^** , when applied to God , indicates the Deitv in a threefold mode of
existence , or , in fact , the Irinity ; that Ev ap % 7 ? , in the first chapter of John , refers to the same period before time , as IV limn a in the first chapter of Genesis , or its translation , Ev doxy , in the Septuagint . He asserts also , in
reference to John i . 3 , and other passages in the New Testament , that Christ , or the second person of the Trinity , is the creator of the whole visible universe . Whatever signification the word D ^ nVtt may bear , it is
evident that the Being thus designated , was , according to the Old Testament , the sole operative creator . If , then , D » nf ? fc * mean the Trinity , it follows , that the Trinity is or are represented in the Old Testament as the Creator
of the heavens and the earth , and all things therein . But , admitting this to be a faithful witness , how then can it be true that , according to the New Testament , only the second person of the Trinity was the Creator ? The only rational conclusion appears to be , that the Doctor must be mistaken
in attributing the natural creation to Christ , unless he can prove that D ^ n ?** , in the beginning of Genesis , refers exclusively to the second person of the Trinity , and then I cannot conceive how he is to avoid the consequence , that this word is not indicative of a plurality in the Deitv .
I cannot conclude this letter withput expressing my regret and astonishment , that a person of Dr . Smith ' s high character , and the general tcnour of whose writings is so upright and amiable , should condescend to introduce his Scripture Testimony , by
giving the Unitarians a bad name , and endeavouring to excite a prejudice against them as members ' of Christian society . He represents that they are generally persons of gaiety , addicted to
the pursuit of frivolous and worldly gratifications , and destitute of religious seriousness . I hope and believe that his charges are unfounded . But before the Searcher of hearts they must individually stand or fell $ and what-
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69 ® fykcomi&tenfy in Dr . P . Smith ' s Scripiune Testimony . "
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1822, page 590, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2517/page/6/
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