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M is impmsi&He that n being ta whom such pomsrs hefong , can be perishable In tli < e course of his attempt to run down and bring into contempt the religion oi nature , Mr . Cogan , ' the- ' last - -nan in the world to be
suspected of &ivy disingenuous intention , -seems to me to have been betrayed by the warmth of his zeal , into an ' error , not uncommon with disputants , especially those who have the misfortune
to be engaged in supportinga bad ciause ; I mean that of misstating and caricaturing the opinions of those from wliam feediflfers . He says , " If we are to believe what we are
sometimes told concerning it , [ the religion of nature , } its truths are emblazoned ia the heavens in characters whicj * nil ean read and which none € tin misunderstand . ' * Will Mr . C . be so good as to inform us by vvhorn we are told any thing so strange and absurd . For
myself , I can say , that though I have read with great attention , and in many instances with great pleasure , the writings of Christian philosophers , who were believers in the religion of nature , and fcave also occasionall y looked into tfye writings of a few
Deists , and conversed with others \ it has never happened to nae to meet with tliis extravagant position . 1 have always wdearstpod , that whatever valua&Jts tTOtlis t&e book of nature may oantain , ftkotigii it jnay be written in characters which are indelible and
unchangeable , though if may be unineurfrbered with various readings and interpolated texts ; yet that it is so far like the New Testament that it cannot bie read to advantage , except Tby those who have taken some pains to learo the language m which it is
written . Indeedi , if it were otherwise , it wo ^ ild haw gre at ly the advantage «* f the Bible , whijch is universally adknitted to contain numerous passages which set at naught all human power of interpretation . Mr , Cogan will , therefore , I am sure , oblige many of your readers by informing them who
they are that have given this extraordinary character of the religion of nature * I * m sorry to be obliged to Q&U upon hirn to do this , because I suxi inclined to think h& will find it a task of bq « m 3 difficulty . In the comineneeHieat of hia letter , tlie woarfehiy writer states the question which arose m his mind to be ^ whcs-
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ther there is reaton to think thatt ttt ' tlfc out a divine ihterpositidii , these superstitions [ of Pagan I&dlatr ^} e <^ td have
been banished from the ivorMi and a purer religion substituted in their place / ' Now from th& language , would it not be perfectly natural to conclude , that with a divine
interposition , this happy state of thing's hus beeii effected , that superstition has actually been banished from the world , and a pure religion established in its stead ? Yet strange to tell , he soon after assures us , that " tittle of tie knowledge that enlightens the
more intelligent members of & community e # er makes its way to the vulgar / ' t and speaks of ' the pertJnacity ' with which the most gross conniptions of Christianity have hten retained for ages , and are still retained ,
by the great majority of ifs professors" ! He might have added , with great truth , though , to be sure , it would not have quite suited the object of his letter , that many of these gross corruptions have been so gross , as never to hay e been exceeded in
absurdity and folly by the popular Actions of ancient Greece or Rome . It maybe replied that these abominable corruptions are not ' to'be qharged on the Christina religion , of which they are in reality no part , but the dreams of ignorant , or the inventions of designing men . This I most readily grant ,
because it is most certainly true : But , on the other hand , I expect it to l > e granted to me , because ft is eqnalljr true , that the popular superstitions tif ancient Greece arid Rome wqre ni > part of the religion of qature ^ because they were contrary to reason * an $ were accordingly disapprove ^ of , by tlie wis ^^ it and best ip . e a of tke tim es
in wfeicji they prevailed , In a ttote , Mr . Cog ^ an admits witlvout h ^ skation as true , what Ire imagines may be offered in the shape of an objection by an unbeliever , namely , that c * the great majority of mankind ,, bqing altogether incompetent tp jacl ^ e of the evidences of rev ^ lutipri ,
must admit a future life upoa autlio rity alo-ne . ; ' * au 4 Ue asdds , * It ia not the emdehce of a ^ ctrine , but the ( relief o $ it that ia practically n ^ e-¦ fill /* This language from the pen of a liberal Dissetoting minister , is surely % nery sittgul&r alid ex ? traord $ n % i ! y . Por a « iy maa to receive ia dofcfcrinej us m ^ -
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Mr . Sturchy on tfo Religion of ltfatttre i ifrjftepli / to Mr * Cogan . 111
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1824, page 111, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2521/page/47/
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