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    from the aulhofr of revealed religion * Who is the CWator of the world , ) is as much needed for the purpose of judging what is the true meaning and purport of the Scriptures , as it was for admitting their general authenticity , as compared with pretended

    revelation . It is not enough for a man to tell me that the Bible says so and so , in order to justify me in accepting what he offers as scripture truth * Twenty different men shall tell me as many different things ; I mean things contradictory or inconsistent with each

    other ; and they shall all appeal to the Bible , and assure me that they have the spirit . We must then , at last , be satisfied in our own minds * Another man ' s conviction will not profit me ; I must be wise for myself , or be content to be blown about with ^ very * wind of doctrine , and believe

    at the bidding of another . Do I then mean to deny that there is such a thing as certainty I > By no means . Nor do I mean to say that he who is persuaded that ; he possesses a valuable truth , should be backward in communicating it . Only let him > bear in mind that the wrath of man worketh

    not , the righteousness of God * Let him strive to , commend himself to the consciences of men , by speaking the truth in love » Let him inake it manifest that he offers something which has done him good , and which qualifies him to do good . Let him shew

    his com mission as a teacher , by bringing forth the fruits of the spirit . To all eternity these will be love , joy and peace , gentleness and kindness . And so long as sin endures , it will be evidenced by the evil tempers which

    spring from a bitter root . Religion is calculated to make us happy , to rejoice evermore in the hope of the glory of God . We may be sorrowful though our faces are Z ion ward ; but while \ Mfiire thus affected , we are not

    in a fit state to help others in the way ; it is well if we can keep our own footing . This persuasion has closed my lips . I may , indeed , safely say , that I know enough of religion to be certain that it is the only thing worth

    seeking ; and ivjhile thus employed , I may warn those who are straying from the path , but still I do not feel that I am likely to do much for others . A man cannot teach what he does not understand . Oh , how

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    intelligible is the language of the heart ! Shall we need an interpreter to explain to us the difference between the language of a whole and of a too * ken spirit ? I trow not- The one is

    vociferous * the other requires a listening ear to catch its whispers . If it i * e ^ er loud , it is in its praises of divine mercy : then , indeed , it exults and shouts for joy .

    You have given me some traits of your experience . There is such a thing as going backwards ; and I will freely confess that it appears tome * that in some respects you have lost ground since the year 178 ST ; but as the Israelites were led by a circuitous route to the Promised Land , so , I

    doubt not that your pleasure and profit will be incalculably augmented by that very process , which appears to have turned you back from an object which once appeared to be within your grasp . Although you have abandoned a glorious conviction which has

    cheered and comforted me for thirty-five years , it is not the less true and wor * thy of all acceptation . I , too , have had my experience , and have had to traverse some very dark and dismal paths . It has required a very strong faith in the truth of God ' s promises to keep me from sinking in despair

    Even now I am in a low path of the valley of humiliation , but I know this is good for us , and that in due time we shall reap if we faint not . As for the love of God , be sure that neither you nor I have yet comprehended its heights and depths . W < e may plunge and soar as much as we will without

    any danger of striking the vault or touching the . bottom . You say that when you was first impressed with a lively sense of the love of God , the atonement of Jesus Christ appeared to be quite unnecessary . In this

    respect my experience comports not with yours , for to me this doctrine ( as it is explained in Scripture ) appears to be the grandest possible display of Divine wisdom and love . Christ is God ' s unspeakable gift , and such a demonstration of his love to

    the world , as is well calculated to reconcile the world unto God . We are no where told in the Bible , whatever human creeds may teach , that God required the death of Christ in order to reconcile him to the world . What stronger proof could Divine

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    A Frlenmy Correspondence betweemgn Unitarian and u Calmnist * 35

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1824, page 35, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2520/page/35/