On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
between an Unitarian and a Cdlmiiisto 71 ^
Untitled Article
raeter : this $$ > as the old divines say , ( € riot a doctrine , but a use . " ** Atestimonyfor its proper season " ( lTira . ii . 6 . ) Oar translation by no means gives the true sense of this im-The
portant passage . Apostle enjoins that supplications and thanksgivings should be made for all men , because they are the creatures of God , ** Who will have /* ( 0 eXe * , ) i * e . deswes that " all should be saved , and come to the
knowledge of the truth . ' N&w , taking this in the lowest possible sense , it must signify the impartiality and sincerity of the Deity in his offers of salvation , and consequently overthrows at once the doctrine of unconditional
reprobation . But it implies , as it should seem , much more . The Scriptures plMWy dfetinguiiilt between the declarative and th& secret and ultimate Witt of God r the former is contradicted and opposed by imperfect being's ; the latter is stable and
irrevocable . If , therefore * he originally intended the virtue and happiness of all men 5 and for what other purpose could they have been created ? that etid must finally be Seedrnpltehed . Then follows ( vers . 4 / 5 ) a sublime
aftd beautiful ep % tomb of fat gospel : first , the great and sote Gbjedt of worship , " For thereyfaoft&God $ then his Delegate , Messenger and Represents tive oh earth , the One Mediator between God and men . the Man Christ
Jesus . " Next , the glorious effects of his meritorious undertakings terminating-in his devoting himself as "a ransom for ail / 7 which can mean nothing less than a great and signal deliverance , * and this , absolutely "for all . " What then , is there to be no future !
punishment ? Yes , certainly ; for the doctrine of future punishment stands upon the same foundation as that of reward . Nevertheless , the " ransom " is " for all" ! If you further ask , how or when is this to be accomplished ? the answer immediately follows ;
it will be accomplished , testified or proved , ( yuzt gw tfttotq , the words are plural and peculiarly emphatic , ) Cf in the proper reasons" ** Seasons ' not confined to the present short and
passing scene ; but issuing in the depths of eternity , in the great ** house" of the Universal Parent , where are many mansions , " both of punishment and of reward . Indeed , N . seems hereto va-<^ llate , and cautions us against bring-
Untitled Article
ing forward our notions prematurely ; but this comes with an ill grace # ttiii the Calvinists , who not only Tjrhig forward their own notions on this head , but insist upon them as the truths of
God . We must be allowed , therefore * " also to shew our opinion / ' However , it is generally right to atf&id such discussions in mixed company , as parlour controversies scarcely ever turn to much account . v *
No . 1 . "The duration of future ; punishment and of future blessedness set forth in the same terms . " Tjftie but there is this distinction , as we conceive , that there is all the reason
in the world in one case , and none that can be regarded &s solid m thd other . It is only stating a simple truism , that atav and its derivations are used
m a variety of senses m the Sacred Writings , which must be understood according to the subject to which they are applied . Eternity is applied td the Deity in a peculiar and absolute sense ; to angels attd " the just mad £ perfect ; " it Is the eternity a pane post , or in a future sense : to the
Mosaic ( zcoriomy , now superseded by the gospel ; to slavery , terminated by emancipation ; to the world , as " abiding- for ever , " which is hereafter to 4 * be burnt up I" The Prophet
Habakkuk includes a partial and an absolute eternity in one verse ; ** The everlasting mountains were scattered , the perpetual hills did bow ; his ways are everlasting . " Many passages mteht also be quoted from ancient ana modern authors in a similar view .
The argument , therefore , is of no force , unless it can be shewn that there are equal reasons in the one case as in the other . It is p lain that the Deity may reward his faithful servants as much beyond their deserts
as he pleases . They shall ** live for ever" because they are not now in a state of trial , but of recompence and of progressive virtue ; and our Saviour hath declared this b y such a variety of expressions , as admit of no other
possible sense . So true it is , that " words are but imperfect signs of things , " and that €€ men may understand a thousand languages without being the wiser , unless they attfendi to the things to which they relate /** * Baker ' s Reflections oh Learning *
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1824, page 719, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2531/page/15/
-