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- Dr . Bruce congratulates his people on their religious liberty in terms becoming * a Protestant Dissenter . He avows , that as a preacher he has been accustomed to put himself under some
restraint , " afraid of singularity . Yet he alleges that " this volume is not composed on the plan of any prior system—it is consistent only with itself and the gospel , "—diiid adds , with questionable consistency >
" The doctrines recommended in these sermons are the same that were formerly inculcated by those eminent ministers , Haliday and my Grandfather , Drennan and Brown , Mackay and Crombie ; and lastly , by myself and my son , with such variations as must be expected in men
neither shackled by subscriptions nor guided by formularies . Of the principles of older ministers , Kirkpatrick , M'Bride * and Adair , all distinguished men in their day , and their predecessors , I am not competent to speak with precision . With similar allowance , they have been
maintained by the Presbytery of Antrim for the same period ; and have long prevailed in the Synod of Munster , and among the Presbyterians of England , though , in that country , lately mingled with Socinianism . They are making extensive though silent progress through the General Synod of Ulster . They have
been gaining ground in Geneva , the birthplace of Calvinism , since the commencement of the last century , and have now ohtained the ascendency . They are widely diffused among the academies and congregations of the French Protestants , the Dutch churches , and the United States of America . "—Era . Ded . pp . ii . iii .
We cannot pass over the term " Soeinianism" here used by Dr . Bruce . He surely knows that is not at all applicable to the system which he means to designate . The Arians of the present day might with less impropriety be called after the Polish Reformer
than the majority of the English Unitarians . A name , it may he suid , is of no consequence ; but take siway names , and what becomes of theological distinctions ? The use of words is vain , if they be not used correctly ; and we shall not appeal in vain to a
person ot so Catholic a spirit as Dr . Bruce , in asking him whether some words do not encourage an unkind feeling , and whether in Ireland the word in question be not of this description ? Our readers may recollect that in
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the minutes of the Synod of Ulster for the last year , ( Mon . Repos . XIX . 635 , ) there is a formal contradiction of Dr . Bruce ' s statement of the progress of Arianism in that ecclesiastical district . ' We have not heard whether our author has published any justification of his assertion . It is , perhaps , so notorious as to need no confirmation . A Synod may , according to the most approved recipes , make declarations which any honourable individual of the number would not hazard on
his own responsibility . The author further reminds his hearers , that as they have in these sermons his opinions on Christian doctrine , so they have his sentiments
on natural religion in his treatise on the being and attributes of God , published at Belfast in 1818 , and his thoughts on Church Government in the Appendix to Towgood ' s Dissenting Gentleman ' s Letters , printed at Newry , in 1816 , which was made use of in the history that we gave in our last volume ( pp . 641 , 705 ) of the Irish Presbyterians . *
The Sermons are on the following subjects : I . On the Study of the Bible . II . On the most profitable mode of Reading the Bible . III . On the Interpretation of the Bible . IV . On Mysteries . V . On our Saviour ' s Doctrine concerning God . VI . On our Saviour ' Doctrine concerning himself and the Holy Spirit . VII . On the Pre-existence and Example of Christ .
VIII . On the Intercession of Christ . IX . On Predestination , Election and Reprobation . X . On Original Sin . XI . On Atonement . XII . The same Subject continued . XIII . On Universal Redemption and Future Punishmen . XIV . On the Necessity of Redemption . The Appendix consists of notes chiefly extracts from the writings of Divines . We are much pleased with the
Ser-* In a list of the author ' s publications at the end of the volume , the only work of his not introduced above , is Literary Essays on the Influence of Political Revolutions on the Progress of Religion and Learning ; and on the Advantages of Classical Kducation , " Belfast , 1818 . A second list consists of works that he has edited , or at least recommends , and amongst these are , Dr . Vricv ' s Sermons on the Christian Doctrine , and Mr . Palmer's Protestant Dissenters * Catechism .
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vol . xx . z
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Review . —Bruce s Sermons on the Study of the Bible . 169
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1825, page 169, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2534/page/41/
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