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OCCASIONAL NOTICES OF AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.
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ticm necessary ; go long as the public ministration of the gospel is calculated for the good and salvation of the world , and to promote the comfort and spiritual edification of those who believe ; and so long as the solemn worship of Almighty God , conducted m an acceptable manner ,
is felt by Christians to be an invaluable blessing ; , ttoe Christian ministry must be necessary , anfd will be encouraged and supported by all serious , candid , pious and benevolent persons . On this ground , viz . its suitableness to tbe moral and spiritrial wants of mankind , its tendency to
promote the knowledge , virtue , piety and happiness of those who enjoy it , and the little probability of preserving , much less of promoting and diffusing pure and undented religion in the world without it , we may rest the weight of the question respecting the importance and value of the
Christian ministry ; without seeking for what we are not likely to find , the proof of its being an immediate divine institution , -ft is enough that it naturally emanated from Christianity in its first best days , grew up under the patronage of the apostles , and , notwithstanding its gross
corruption , perversion aud abuse , has done much towards enlightening and regenerating the world . While we set our faces against its abuses aud corruptions , and protest against priests and priestcraft , let us cherish the Christian ministry wherever we find it existing in simplicity and purity . "—Pp . 13 , 14 .
Mr . Wright denounces the ordination of ministers to be * ' priestcraft /' if it be considered as giving them authority to teach or administer ordinances , or as conferring upon them
any character or right which they had ^ not previously acquired from the choice of the people ; but * he allows that a public service on the settlement of a minister may be useful , and is ,
Occasional Notices Of American Publications.
OCCASIONAL NOTICES OF AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS .
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WE apprehend that the writings of our brethren in America are but little known among the English Unitarians ; and we are desirous to contribute to their greater acquaintance with each other . Some of the
smaller tracts published in New England , ( among which we must rank , a » of eminent utility and merit , Dr . v ^ hannmg ' s Ordination Sermon for the Rev . Jaked SpARK 8 , and his invaluable Discourse on the Evidences of Chris-
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witli proper guards , expedient . ( T ? p , 25 , 2 * 5 . ) lie maintains that a minister may be learned in theology who fyas no pretensions to learning , as it is commonly reckoned : he allows , however , with good sense , the value of all learning * , and the necessit y of establishments for" ministerial education . ( Up . 33—35 . )
He distinguishes between a scriptural and a political church . The former is au assembly of Christians , the latter an ecclesiastical corporation . ( P . 57 . ) The phrase , Church and State 9 he says , p . 62 , is an absurdity ; putting the Church first is putting the creature before the Creator .
Referring to penal laws , and statutes for the protection of the Church , he says , " All such laws and statutes for the defence of religion maybe regarded as the offensive weapons of priestcraft . They are not necessary to guard true religion ; that
is not to be defended by any such carnal weapons ; but to guard the absurd notions , and superstitious practicesy the usurpations , honours , power and emoluments , of what is called the Christian priesthood .
If things were called by their names , prosecutions for heresy and blasphemy would be called , prosecutions for securing to the priests the uninterrupted practice of their craft , and the advantage of their subserviency for political purposes . "—P . 63 .
Our readers will by this time have perceived , that the author of these tracts is learned in if the law of liberty / ' his ^ rtudy of which has , in apostolic phrase , ( 1 Tim . iii . 13 , ) * ' purchased to himself a good degree , and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus , "
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- # tianity , ) have been reprinted in England : * but with the exception of these , * We do not recollect that more have ~ been reprinted in England than the following : Dr . Cnanning ' s Ordination Sermon for the Rev . Jared Sparks , at
Baltimore , reprinted twice in Liverpool . Dr » C . ' s Discourse on ' the Evidences of Christianity * reprinted twice in Bristol . Dn C . ' s Ordination Sermon for the Rev . JE . S . Gannett , lately reprinted in Liverpool . Professor Ware ' s Ordination Sermon for
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Occasional Notices of American Publicctfi&ns . 103
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1825, page 103, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2533/page/39/
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