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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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Violation of the Principle of the Bible Society . bg the Calcutta Bible As * [ From i 6 VEbe Unitarian Repository an £ Christian JVtisceJlajay / ' for April , 1824 , No . VIL-r- " Calcutta ; pruiteri at the Unitarian Press , price One Rupee . ' ]
WE have seen it remarked somewhere , that a good thing ih liable to be abused just in proportion to its goodness ; that the rnoreJrnpor * tant any truth , it is the more liable to he obscured by error ; the purer any system , it is the more likely to be
corrupted by foreigri admixtures ; and themdre excellent any institution , the greater is the probability that it will be turned from its original design . What trat )* , for instance , can be more important than the being of a God ? And yet , as WVburton has remarked in his Divine legation of Moses , it
has been productive *> f all the mischiefs of superstition . What system can be purer than that which was taught and established by Christ ami his apostles ? And yet some of the corruptions to which it has given occasion , ^ tinost sink below the very dregs of Heathenism . What institu ^ tion can fee more excellent than the
Bible Society ? And yet we fear that proofs might be adduced that its primary object Jias sometimes been lost sight of , and the catholic spirit which , it professes , frequently violated .
Our attention l \ a £ been forcibly drawn to tjiis subject by the perusal of . the Second Report of the Calcutta Bible Association just published . Thfe Report ha $ afforded us much pleasure
mixed with some pain . We are gratified to . observe tli 0 growing'interest taken by the Christian inhabitants of Calcutta in the object of the Bible Society ; but we are grieved to notice those indications of a sectarian spirit
in its conductors , of which tUis Report presents Condemning evidence . We are aware that in thus publicly expressing our sentiments on so tender a subject , our motives will probably be misunderstood , and perhaps our object misrepresented : the task we
impose on ourselves will certainly be thankless , and must appear ungracious . These considerations , however , will not deter us from performing what we conceive to be our duty ft ^ the Christian public by xreing our \ iU
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most endeavours Her i £ & » a& | pl&-ciety from being made the toolg ^ l ^ a vmw > 91 * 9 $ b * & ^^ 1 fm& more "the puulki in its > irue ^ hara ^ t ^ r . >^ Mr-B ^ rke htra sa , td , I likti a clamour \ vh © ofev « r ther « is aa abuse . 'PBe
fiMfoell at midnight disturbs your sleep , but is keeps you from being burned in your bed . The hue and cry alarms the coiinty , but it preserves all the property of the province . " It Is not
our intention to raise a clainour , to ring the fire-bell , or to send forth a hue and cry ; but we do mean most solemnly to protest against the perversion of an Institution whicfc shou 4 d
be as catholic and comprehensive ih its spirit , as it is generous and philanthropic in its design . Before proceeding * farther , we will briefly explain what we conceive to be the peculiar excellency of the Bible Society . The primary object of aU Bible Societies is no doubt the same
as that stated in the Rules and Regulations of the Calcutta Association , viz . * ' the circulation of tlie Holy Scriptures , without note or comxnent . " "The circulation of the Holy Scriptures" is an object which must recommend itself to the heart and
understanding of every philanthropist . Even if placed , in point of authority , merely on a level with human compositions ; the Scriptures constantly exhibit views so important , so just , and so salutary , of our relations to
Ood and to each other , that they cannot but be considered a powerful means of rnoral and religious improvement . But when we regard them , as they deserve to be regarded , as the only genuine and authentic records of those successive revelations of his will
which God has granted to mankind for their guidance and comfort—to direct their steps on earth and to raise their hopes to heaven—in this case , they acquire so great a value ,
and must exercise so mighty and beneficial an influence , that it becomes the imperious duty of every sineere Christian to extend the knowledge of them to the utmost of his power .
Bible Societies have not only declared that the circulation of theWoly Scriptures shall be the chief object of their institution , but al 3 o that t % ef &hnll be circulated " without note or comment . " The mere circulation of
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e ^ dutH ^ BUM ^ hhmM . ^ 7
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VOL . XXI . O
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1826, page 97, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2545/page/33/
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