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r ^ g : ; others ^ for more cwseqjuqace to preserve uninsured that noble and wfee toleration for wh ^ ch oi * j ancestors seceded fro m a corrimt ^ uurch ,, &hd which they pur * chased with tine sacrifice of thek
comforts and ^ tUeir lives ,, than for the shadow of $ n $ tne to give uj > the substantial blessings of independence and personal freedom in our spiritual concerns ? J 8 ut it will not be ; and all such attempts , from a well-intended but mistaken zeal will only serve to ascertain more clearly the value of
those privileges , and to place in a stronger and more interesting point of view the noble and Christian nature of th $ t unlimited extension of the bles * sings we ourselves possess , which always has been , and we fervently trust ahvays will be , our distinguishing ' characteristic . An Unxtarian Christian . ^ m
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16 Q On the Proposal to cooolude Unbelwvm'sj ^ r ^ m Chrigtiyw Churches
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me ; Let ine not burst in ignorance . Shakespeare . City . Roady SiH , March 20 , 1826 , PTT 1 HE liberal and enlightened Dis-JL senters , the friends of free inquiry aad general liberty , must feei some concern , so far as relates to the individual writer , at the curious and
On the Proposal to exclude Unbelievers from Christian Churches . Tlibu comest in such a questionable ^ feape TH&t t \ ViHspeak to thee . Oh ! answer
singular communication from Mr . No&h Jones in your Repository for February last , ( p . 72 , ) on the ' subjeet of Unbelievers subscribing to and being members . oi Unitarian congregations * The sentiments it contains may render it deserving of notice , not
less fr « oin the pharisaical self-coin piaceqey it displays , than from the dog * matkaland illiberal spirit which pervades the styJe of it throughout . Perhaps the correctness of his statements may be allowed to be doubtful , but he admits the fact to be ; " notorious ?'
— " considers it as a very great evil " - —as a want of " modesty in the sight of meu "—and therefore ia earnestly desirous for " the adoption of some adequate remedy for " removing tfafej tjtigtna "—fur the v ^ ry cogieiufc
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reason -r- lm */ £ $ m : ^ P ^ flPPPn ent ^ ' sbQu ¥ " qi ^ s tiq ^ w sinperrty of our faith , and contfcma us as imbued with the spirit o £ infidelity" !* Is not the measjure which Mr . J , would seem to suggest , a kia < j of p ^ rsecutioa for opinion ? And dees ** the genuine spirit of Christianity" either dictate or sanction such conduct in its
teachers ? I should wish to avoid arguing unfairly , but does not the tenor of Mr . J . ' s observations seem to indicate , that he attaches great merit to
mere opinion or belief ? On what grounds does he associate moral depravity with an assent of the mind , which must be the necessary result of evidence ? He confesses that he has
" not always been an Unitarian / ' and has he ever noticed carefully the pro ^ cess by which he has been led to change or to form his own opinion ? What appeared to him to be the truth
at one time , has he-not believed to be not such afterwards ? Why then presume to make his present opinions the standard by which must toe measured the correctness as well as the
moral purity of others ? Had he acquainted himself with that kind of philosophy so ably and successfully taught by Hobbes , Locke *; Hartley , Priestley , Stewart , and recently vvitk singular perspicuity by the author of " Essays on the Formation , &c ., of
Opinion / ' he might have learned to express himself with " more modesty in the sight of men . " These philosophers teach us , that our , opinions originate in sensations which are , impressed upon the mind by external objects , though variously modified by association and other circumstances
afterwards ; and it * opinions be the necessary result of such impressions , by what process of ratiocination will Mr . J . attempt tov prove the immorality of entertaining them ? Every day ' s observation must convince ua that the nature of things is such , that it was not the intention of
* Why do modern controversialists use the terms Infidel and Iniidelify instead of Unbeliever and Unneftef ? Would it not be moi ^ catidid ro adopt tWlatter * , inasmuch a 4 they do not towrefi&t \ Atk of a * ijr thkig > odidus or r ^ ptf ^ Hfe tfSi bte *? Dtf . Aikin had very accurately discritriii - nated the difference ini iiis Easaysr
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1826, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2546/page/32/
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