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    out violating their consciences , because each could give a construction to suit himself ! < " €€ Speaking of believing unto justification , the Creed says , ' By the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ without us , we , truly repenting and believing ,

    are , through the mercy of God , justified from the imputation of sins and transgressions that are past , as though they had never been committed . And ty the mighty power of Christ within us , the power , nature and habits of sin are destroyedVi that as sin once

    reigned unto death , even so now grace reigneth , through righteousness , unto eternal life , through Jesus Christ our Lord . ' The meaning , if it have any , is ; above our comprehension . To our understanding-, faith is produced by

    evidence , not by obedience , and obedience may be the fruit of faith . What is meant by the € common sacrifice ?? And what was effected by it ? What is meant by ' the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ without us' ? And what connexion hath that with

    tlie mighty work of Christ within us ? What is this mighty work ? What sins have been imputed to us , more than what we have personally committed ? What proportion of the

    mighty work here spoken ot belongs to our * truly repenting and believing ' \ What to the sacrifice of Christ without us ? And what to the mercy of God ? For it seems that , according * to the above Creed , all have

    something to do in the case ; and how is any one to know or understand what is to be performed by himself , what has been done for him by Christ , or for what must he depend wholly , on the mercy of God ? , "Is-it at all to be wondered at that

    the ydunger part of the Society , whose minds are yet open and free to judge for themselves what is rational , were almost to an individual disposed to reject this creed ? But it has taught them a good lesson , and we hope that old and young will profit by it . It will teach those whose minds are not

    fully established , not to place such implicit confidence in the supposed guidance of the Spirit in their spiritual leaders , as they have hitherto done : for if they hav ^ the Spirit of God to direct them , th $ y certainly stood in *' the most need of it when they were framing a Creed which was

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    designed to give a proper direction to the minds of all the Society , ' particularly to the young . But will'aiiy < p ** e believe that the above Cteed w&s ever dictated by the Spirit of God ? 'If so , the medium of communication was

    certainly an unfortunate one , for much of it either has no meaning fit all , or else its meaning cannot be understood from the words used to express it . Let Friends ( a dozen of them or so , to try the experiment ) undertake to answer the questions we

    have proposed , and let them all agree to answer them according to their understanding of the Creed , and see how many or how few will answer them alike . And if they cannot agree among themselves what it means , how could it have been any guide to others ? It is doubted whether the framers of this

    Creed themselves ( for it is supposed there must have been more than one ) would agree in all points relative to the questions we have proposed . ' We congratulate the young Friends on their success in checking in the bud an attempt ( as we consider it to

    be ) to lord it over their faith , so ¦ as not to let them Jud ge for themselves in matters of religion , or at least not to be permitted to express their judgment , unless their opinion should coincide with that of their spiritual

    guides . It is manifest to all who are acquainted with the circumstances and facts , that this Creed was designed to have a particular bearing on an individual [ Ellas Hicks ] whose boldness and independence of mind has occasioned of late some considerable

    excitement among the Friends . But the veil was too thin , and the more liberalminded discovered the fetters which were to bind down the mind and prevent free inquiry , before the rivets were wholly fastened upon them . We sincerely hope that this will be a good lesson to all Creed-makers in future .

    ' * We can assure the Friends that we mean them no harm , nor even disrespect , but verily a kindness , by the liberty we have taken . We shall n 6 t name the person who lent us the copy , but presume that he was not aware that we should make extracts

    from it , much less publish them . If , therefore , we have committed an error in this respect , it is all our own , and no - fault of his . " .

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    IS Strictures on American Quaker * Cr&ed .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1825, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2532/page/16/