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Those who with me are decidedly of opinion that the divine character and decrees have been grossly slandered by the doctrine in question , have ao eordingly exercised this right ; and their arguments for God remain unrefuted- —they are masters of the field . I will not allow you to say , uncontradicted , that it is a matter of no concern to tis , what the bible teaches respecting- the dead generally . You might just as well tell me that it is nothing to me what it teaches respect * ing * the resurrection * In truth , the __ _ _ _ _ ___ __
*^ dealings of the Almighty with his creatures of every rank and degree , have always occupied the thoughts of pious men fr 6 m Abraham downward . Should not , said he , " the Judge of all the earth do right ? " " Righteous art thou , O Lord I when I plead with thee ; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgment / ' These arfc the words of
Jeremiah . After searching profoundly into the counsels of God respecting the destiny of the Jews , the apostle breaks out Into this exclamation- — - •* O , the depth of the riches and
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments , and his ways past Ending out 1 "—He had , by diligent examination , arrived at a conclusion which would not have been reached
by the purblind eyes of common Christians , namely , that the very act of shutting up the Jews in unbelief , would prove the means of their universal salvation . If by any accident he had been prevented from finishing the sentence which begins with , " JFor God hath concluded them all in
unbelief , " and any of your people had set to conjecture what he designed to add , they would in all probability have filled up the vacancy by the words , ' * that they all might be
damned . " Paul , however , had a better system . 'Tis true * lie admits that even he could not search out the judgments , or find out the ways of God : but this was because they were so much richer in love and wisdom than
lie could imagine . The difficulty was not to find as much goodness and wisdom in God as should rise up to his standard ; but that , with ail his efforts , he found that the height and breadth of the love of God surpassed and exceeded to infinity the utmost reach of liis thoughts . How can we
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exclaim , "Just and true are all thy ways-, © thou King * of saints /* while we hold an opinion in direct contradiction to all our ideas of justice and truth ? When your people tell me that God will not to all eternity shew mercy to thousands of iniUions of souls , which he has made , how can . I say Amen 1 to the prayer which ascribes infinite goodness and mercy to such a dreadful Being * ? I cannot do it , and you might as well attempt to erase every notion of truth from my mind , as to persuade me to believe in such a palpable contradiction . If you have such a faculty , it is yours , and you are welcome to keep it .
In another query , —you ask me , < c Which of the two sects experiences most of the blessed change described by the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles ? not meaning a false CaU vinist as one of them /*
I profess myself totally disqualified for returning a decided answer to this question , because I am not sufficiently acquainted with the parties between whom I am required to make a com * parison . Our blessed Saviour , the author and finisher of our faith , has
told us that the tree is to be known by its fruits , and his apostle has given us a description of the fruits which are produced by good and by bad trees . The first are—love , joy , peace , longsuffering , gentleness , goodness , faith , ( fidelity , ) from which they all spring ,
meekness , temperance . The second are , adultery , fornication , uncleanness , lasciviousness , idolatry , witchcraft , hatred , variance , emulations , wrath , strife , seditions , heresies , envyings , murders , drunkenness , revellings aad such like , God alone can see the
naked heart . We can only judge of men by what comes out of their mouths and by their actions . I will whisper a word in your ear—it is , that taking ; the above list in my hand , I shall Had very many of the good fruits , where
there is little pretension ; and that among those who claim for themselves the possession of the Spirit , I shall miss the fruits of gentleness and meekness , and chance to discover wrath and strife
-Do not , however , I pray you , suppose that I am going to question the existence of true piety and philfca-Ihropy among the Calviaists . Th&t
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A Friendly Correspondence ietween un Unitarian und a Calvmkt . 335
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1824, page 335, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2525/page/15/
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