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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
¦ ? v , \ - ¦ - ? thfe Majesty of fceayeti . When this is the basS , it is irt t ^ rly vain to expect that any * iibpressicni can'be made upon a mirid thus 61 a ; d in the armoui * of infallibility , and > therefore , to attempt it is wtirse than useless ^ Thi s leaven
of uncharitableness unhappily' works very widely jji $ 9 - Christian world , and is by ntf ineians confined to the Church of Rome , or indeed to any seen * \ ¦ > .- ¦ ¦ .- '" . . , ¦ " * ' •* ¦ - ' " * ¦ ' ¦ ¦ : * There are * ityinust beyadipitted ,
convictions so deep as to be ^ incapable of being rembviiq or weakened by human reasonings . We all have some such convictions . You have youre—I liave mine . But no ip ^ s&ii&l % x-P ^ rience / whatever ft tn&y tfeadh as to our own Istftte and ^ conditioiu can
be urged lipoii : € wu > tKer as conclusive in respkt v tci the : de £ r £ es' of the Almighty with reg ard to the final state < rf mankind . Tttese decides can only be ascertained by ^ a comparison ctf spiritual things with spiritual , by reading ; marking , ' le&riiing' ; aird
inwardly digestiiig the revealed will of God , id' 4 temper of mind corresponding with that of the JBereans ; who wiere commended by a * holy apatite , ehdowed with the gift of working miracles , for" not * receiving on trust , the truths which he declared to them .
If such men as he disclaimed the right of lording it over the minds and consciences of God ' s heritage ; let not such pigmies as ourselves presume to claim it . But to recur to the inquiry pointed at in the commencement ; or this paper > I ask , what is your precise object ? Is it to convince me of error
in matters of faith , pr is it to awaken me to the importance of personal holiness ? If it be the former , you miist proceed vejry differently from what you have hitlierfco done , in order to gain your ' end . If it be the latter , I hope your endoaVoiirs will n 6 t be altogether thrown away . But I must s ^ ty that , howeVel ^ unfashioilable it
may have become , I like veiy much to use thie very \^ ords of scripture in fredti % of spiritual things ; and if you will take th ^ trouble to select such texts as contain the truths which v 6
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answef the good purpose of exercising our mmds in researches which may render us " more familiar witlji th 6 Sacred Writings , I jalsb engage , to keep clear of tlie particular do ^ ttine which ;' we have ; been discussing , and to confine myself 'to experimental
religion . If ^ howe ver , / Wlrfth I deem most proba ^ feVydUate iittcpjptteed to Irecfeive even the wor ^ of spiip > tqre tfitoiifflt a medium so contaminated a 3 you Consider iaine to be , I shall : lake What you give me , and keep my meditations to nivselfc
' I do not se ^ e wfiy per ^ bnal intercourse should be suspended ;'* for altiMWgli T cafctoi ^ s ^ niit mf faith to the dictation b ^ mi y htim ' an authority , I am fi ^ ioiCteSf fn ^ ts ^ in ^ bffettcfe
at thfe ein ^ eaydjjrtrs 6 f atiy ipari to correct or ipstri&f ttie V | Mid I am v ^ Mli n ^ to suppose that this , arid not a prurient disposition to in | ei"ine ^ ll ^ , is this mdtive by wJuch you ar ^ actiiajted . '
We li ^ e w ^ 0 ^ points in regard to Vvhich our opinions differ : ^ t ni ^ y , perliaps , b ^ useful to ascertain wherein w £ coiiibide . I firmly , bjEitteve in the truth of the Sacred ScApt ' ures . I esteem ^ Jesu $ Christ as the unof
speakable ^ ift God , atta hold myself bound to submit to his Au thority . I believe that tri ^ haj ^ piiiess to this life an 4 ^ eternal feficity result from a knowledge of the 6 n \ f tiu& God , attd of Jesus Ciiri ^ t whom he has seht , Who di 6 d for piir sins ; and was raised from the dead fdr our justificatioiU f
I adWit that Withoiit h 61 aiiies 8 of heart no xrfdn can see 6 rod | that otit of tlie heart are the issued of life ; that true faith wof-keth by lpVe , arid tyiitifies the heart ; ihdt the heart is
deceitful above all things ; and that few , very few of us , are acquainted with the actual state of 6 Ht owfr li ^ arta . I regard sin to be the prbc ^ rihg cause of all th ^ evi l " and misery which .
have hitherto Existed or iriaiy ; hereafter exist , although I cannot say that it' is eittie ^ infinite or uticotlquerable by divine power , tt reaches oot to God , who al 6 rte is ihfiiiite ; if it did , it never could be blotted otiL do
I admit that the Sctffature ^ attribute to the < of Adam ( t&e first ¦ 1 ¦ > ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ « ' M 1 ¦ ¦ 1 ' ¦< 1 ' " . ¦ ' " - " ' ~~ "" 1 * * ¦ ¦ ^ * ¦ * T |?! ^ ppV ^ ° wtex toa request to that effect made By the other party .
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602 A PVieftitt y Corre&ptMdfertce between an Utitttiridn dnd a Caltfinht .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1824, page 602, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2529/page/26/
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