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to an object vyWch we are desirous of obtaining ? Why form a regular system of living , and shape our course by an established ruje , but because we have duly weighed the value of the offers which have been proposed to us , and have made our choice of that
which we prefer ? There is not an -intellectual being , in whom the mental powers are in activity , that is not moved in what he does by a faith of some sort : but it must not be supposed that faith or belief is an unique principle which admits of no different shadings .
" Belief or faith , strictly defined , is the assent of the understanding to a stated and intelligible proposition . But this assent may be given to error as well as to truth ; and it may be rendered when it ought to be withheld ,, and withheld when it ought to be rendered : for the decisions of the
understanding are not infallible . " We have only to examine the different classes of mankind in order to be convinced that the determinations of the human mind , even those which arise from and depend upon belief , are as various , and assume as . many
colours , as the rainbow 3 that they also incline towards and merge into one another , and , like itself , depend upon the peculiar circumstances which gave them birth . Man can believe only as circumstances arise to afford him information ; and as these
circumstances are indefinitely various in the different walks of life , and in the different climates of our earth , so man believes upon very different grounds , and forms an infinite variety of creeds and systems of acting . Leaving all other varieties of faith for the present , we will consider that there are two
strong points of difference in the faith of men ; for there is a faith which rests altogether on feeling , and there is a faith of which the heart cordiallv participates . Mere thinking may suffice to form a creed , and to make a firm and stubborn believer ; but it is with the heart that man believeth unto
righteousness . Now , the object of religion , it will surely be admitted , is to form the soul to righteousness ; therefore it becomes a matter of absolute necessity , that , in forming that faith which n to be the foundation of a religious life , we believe not with the understanding alone , but also with
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the heart , with the consent of all the power ^ and sym p athies of the man , with the full approbation of his intellectual faculties , and of those tender a ; nd amiable feelings which have their seat in the heart .
€ t By the faith of the heart is to be understood , in the first place , a faith which does not terminate in speculation . ' We are quite sure there are many professors of religion whose faith terminates where it begins , in a simple assent to certain principles which have been offered under the sanction of
some powerful authority . Mankind at large , as well in Pagan and Mahometan countries as in those that are Christian , receive their faith in this way . It is with them a mere matter of social feeling , a habit which begins to be formed in early life , grows up
with their growth and strengthens with their strength . The intellect is little called on to judge whether their system be right or wrong ; they have never called in question the correctness of their fathers' faith : the very thought of a different profession wounds them : they wonder , they
know not why , that any of their neighbours can avow another faith . Ask them whence this wonder arises , they can give no other answer but that they are going with the stream of public opinion , and not a doubt can be entertained that public opinion is correct . Little has occurred in
their lives to induce a thought of the comparative excellence of systems ; and they are capable of no other sentiment except that of astonishment , accompanied by a painful apprehension as to the situation in which a
dissenter from their system is placed . These men can assign no legitimate reason of the faith that is in thetn : I say no legitimate reason , because men of contrary faiths , in kingdoms that patronize contrary opinions , are all in the same condition ; but contrary things cannot be true .
" But the religion of the heart is a vital religion ; a religion which lives and breathes and moves and acts , which prompts the virtues and regulates the conduct : a religion which tells the heart to beat whenever the
blessed names and offices of integrity , purity and justice , are recited : which commands the affections to fly wher-
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The *« " Faith of the lieart * 69
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1825, page 69, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2533/page/5/
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