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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.
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Untitled Article
wr iter who signs himself C , ( pp . 550 —552 , ) I beg to offer a few words in explanation of its design and intent . It was not called an ( t Ordination Service ' by any person engaged in it , nor was it announced as such in any
way , either publicly or privately . The objection to the title , therefore , muat cease . But the Norwich congregation chose to have a service on a particular day and on a particular occasion . Perfectly true : and I suppose any congregation is at liberty to do so
when they think proper , without asking the permission of any person or persons whomsoever . In this case , the Society in question ventured to think , that the entrance of a young minister upon his connexion with them
was a fit occasion for reminding each of their respective duties . They were also of opinion , that in a service of this kind , it was desirable to invite those who took a friendly interest in
the welfare of both parties to unite : and that it was not very inexpedient that & young man entering upon the discharge of his ministerial duties in a place in which he was a stranger , should see assembled around him those
neighbouring ministers with whom he must be called upon more or less to co-operate . This may appear to C . very unnecessary , very absurd , and very superstitious . I must be allowed to be of a different opinion , and if he will trouble himself to read the
service at Norwich , ( which will shortly be published , ) he will there see more fully stated the reasons for its adoption . I think he will find it difficult to shew that such a service may not be useful , and equally so that it could lead to any improper notions on the part of those who heard it .
But he has " read the New Testament with no small attention , " without being able to discover ( " eagleeyed , " as he says he is ) " any authority for a modern Ordination . " Prodigious !—and it would have been more
so if he had . How many customs and practices are there in common use among Christians of all denominations , for which no positive command can be found in the New Testament ; or rather , how few arc the laws relating to such observances which it contains What authority is there for the formation of our various Associations , or
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for the services which form so proper and useful a part of their yearly meetings ? What authority is there for the manner in which , public worship is conducted , and the Lard ' s Supper
administered ? Nay , what express command have we for the observance of the Lord ' s-day ? There is no authority for wearing a gown , and pray what authority is there for wearing a coat ? Just the same for the one as
the other . I would advise your correspondent , Sir , notwithstanding the acuteness of his vision , once more to " read the New Testament with no small attention , " and he may possibly acquire a few more correct ideas of what Christianity was intended , as well as what it was not intended , to teach .
One thing he evidently has to learn —namely , in what the reward of a Christian minister ought to consist . And he has also to learn that in order to form an opinion of a composition , it is necessary either to hear it or to read it . Now he has never either
heard or read Mr . Fox ' s Sermon : all he knows is , that a sermon was preached on such a subject by such a person . But assuming the mode 5 n which the subject must be treated , taking for granted that , in speaking of " the reward of the labourer , " the preacher
could only mean money , he proceeds to criticise the Sermon , to say what effect it ought to produce , and to predict that such effect will not be produced . Truly , Sir , your correspondent is a most " eagle-eyed" person .
An individual so gifted , who can discern the meaning and intent of a sermon 100 miles off , who can sit in judgment upon its contents , and foretell what effects it will produce , may justly claim to be of that privileged class of auditors who " po to hear
sermons , pour passer le temps , " who " make up their minds" before they hear what is addressed to them . But he should remember , that the multitude are not so gifted , that they are obliged to hear before they can understand or decide , and that there
still remain some old-fashioned persons who listen to a preacher in the hope of deriving some * ' permanent good" from his instructions . No doubt this will appear very foolish in the eyes of your correspondent C . ;
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604 On the late Inaugural Service at Norwich ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1825, page 604, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2541/page/28/
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