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sure can ever again be felt by tlte soul , but through endless ages it must continue inconceivably miserable , without the intermission of a single instant , and without any hope of It , and this for the crimes of eighty , Iwerity , ten years ! All this , and more to boot , has been actually written and printed by an eminent Calvinistic Divine . Could he have
written it , had he really believed it ? No , no , no . He no more believed it , in the true sense of the word , than those triflers do who roar out the doctrine to a gaping audience , or those more refined doctors who lisp it to a polite congregation .
Heavenly Father ! is it thus that thy character is drawn by those who profess to love thee , and who exhort their fellow-mortals to love thee with all their hearts , and souls and mindswho tell us that we must sing praises unto thee with understanding ! I ask vou or anv man whether von would
feel much at your ease , if you were invited to the court of a despot , who had immured in dungeons the greater part of his subjects , and there subjected them to incessant tortures ? You would not , I am quite sure , accept the highest office which such a wretch could confer . But what is his cruelty in comparison with that of the Calvinisms God ? He is benevolence itself . He is not the Father , still less the maker of the people
whom he thus punishes ; and besides , he cannot prolong their lives beyond a few years . But the great Creator , whose power no creature is able to resist , lives for ever . He is omniscient as well as omnipotent . He saw the end from the beginning , and , knowing
all the dreadful consequences of the act , brought millions of men into being , who were to be rendered miserable throughout the countless ages of eternity . Such in all its horrid nakedness is this accursed doctrine , which , melancholy to say , finds abettors in the nineteenth century of the
Christian era ! Aye , among good men , humble men , tender-hearted men , and women too , who would shed plenteous tears over a scene of mere temporary woe . Oh ! David , ( If you believed such things as these , ) could you say , " Praise the Lord , for he is good , for his mercy endureth for ever" !— " Oh that men would
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praise the Lord for his goodness , an < I for his wonderful works to the children of men" ! Oh thou blessed Saviour of men , thou second Adam , whose birth was announced by the angelic host as tidings of great joy to all people , how couldst thou trifle with thy disciples by telling- them , that m forgiving * injuries and returning- good for evil they would imitate their Father who is in heaven ? Oh Paul , whv didyou exhort believers to put on , as the elect of God , bowels of mercy , gentleness , meekness ? Why did you not rather forewarn them to prepare for heaven by steeling their hearts against misery , since they were doomed to witness such torments as eye had not seen , nor ear heard , and which had not entered into the heart of man to
conceive ?—Why , you all reply , Because the doctrine to which you allude is a lie , a gross libel upon Christianity . When I supposed ( I speak now for myself ) that the doctrine of endless misery was scriptural , and began to think seriously of religion , I was
haunted day and night with the most gloomy thoughts . When I met people in the streets I said to myself , alas ! how many of those who have passed me are in all probability doomed to endless pain , and yet how cheerful they appear ! I wondered that the Bible was not filled with the dismal
tidings ; that the apostles could preach a single sermon without enlarging upon the misery which awaited the bulk of the human race ; that the heavens were not constantly obscured by black clouds ; that the fields contained a single flower ; that the birds could
sing , and animals play ; and most o ( all \ va 8 I surprised to think that then could be any joy at the birth of a child into the world . It pleased God of his infinite goodness to remove the veil from mine eyes . Never shall I forget the joyful change which took
place in my feelings , when , after a diligent and most earnest examination of the sacred Scriptures , I became thoroughly convinced that what had been taught as a doctrine of the glorious gospel of Christ , was utterly
false . From that day to this 1 have had no doubt of the love and goodness of my Maker ; and while I have breath and retain my faculties , I will , with his assistance , whenever a lit opportunity otters , bear rnv solemn testi-
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280 A Friendly Correspondence between an Unitarian and a Calmmst
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1824, page 280, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2524/page/24/
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