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sen ^ rs ^ J ^ tul ? i ^ o - the object ? tioa /' wilj , I ^ U 3 t issqe iii ^ stfcttaini&g this point . I snarl < then liate doae some little good c as an ad ? 6-
cate of error and absurdity ; " arid your correspondent will doubtless rejoke that I am , like himself , an instrument under that great system of necessity which equally compels me to produce absurdities and him to expose them . r 1 NL JONES .
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Manchester , Sir , Mai / 8 , 1826 . THINK all your readers , as well I as myself , must have felt gratified by , the candid spirit of W . J . ' s letter hi your last number , and must have wished that he mav be renlied to in
the same temper . With his admirable reasoning in defence and illustration of natural religion , I entirely agree , and I consider It an additional argument in favour of our views of Christianity , that they accord so well with the truths , proofs of which maybe traced in the works of nature by a
highly enlightened understanding . But I imagine that W . J . will admit , that to the instruction derived from the Bible , he is himself in a great measure indebted for the clear knowledge of the truths of natural religion ; as
he must be well aware how very imperfect an acquaintance with those truths was possessed by the wisest men who were unacquainted with the Bible , even by Socrates and Oicero . Now , I would ask him , Whence
is it that the writers of the Scriptures have derived upon this important subject of religion , and upon this alone , such a prodigious superiority to the wisest men of Greece and Rome ? It appears to me impossible to give a
rational account of this fact upon any other supposition than this , that they derived their information upon this sub ject , as they themselves assert they did , from God . W . J . says , "I honour Jesus as a moralist and
reformer , beyond any other name which history has transmitted to us , not excepting- Socrates himself ; and I think it possible to account for the supernatural parts of his history without supposing that he either performed or Pretended to perform the miracles ascnbed to him , and without even im-
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peaching , in any considerable degree , thei& 8 t * me £ y £ * Kbfrfiz& pt $ mvAffl&Qm > of < 5 htiMm ^ y ^ - I oean ^^ l ^ p , yy $ fi thatlV . J . w 0 uM 4 ^ y timfc |^ faccqj ^_ for tlie thijra <* le& of ' jJesusp * na % by ^ 1 fr , guing in a general ami indefinite manner upcm all , but by taking each , separately ; arid I think he would fiuct the difficulties which attend his
theory unsurmourttable . I would particularly call his attention to the resurrection of Jesus , that of Lazarus , and , the cure of the blind man recorded in the ninth chapter of John , Admitting ' , as I suppose be does , the genuineness of the gospels , I would wish him tp endeavour to point out how it is possible to Maintain that these were not
actual miracles , without accusing the writers of the gospels of direct and wilful falsehood , an accusation which the circumstances attending the first promulgation of Christianity render utterly incredible . While I agree vyith W . J . in his belief of natural religion ,
and would willingly jom with him , or with persons with ihe same views and feelings that he has > , as fellow-worshipers of our comnaon God and Father , I rejoice that I have , what appears to me , the still stranger and clearer evidence , and the still more
explicit testimony of revelation to the certainty of these invaluable principles ; and 1 have no do ub £ that the effect of discussing the eviideace ^ qE Christianity ,- especially with , £ o j # jn and candid a reasoiter-aa ^^ J ., will be to place their str $ i ^ Ux > - in ? tU $ clearest possiblelight * ? ? ¦¦ ¦;<¦ > : ' .
A Noneotiforrni&t ^ aske , wbat is n * jr reason for believing that there is only one place in which Unbeliever * , $ akp an active part in the management df the internal concerns of our churches . My reason was , that 1 knew only of one , and that I also knew that Mr .
Jones ' s letter was written with a particular reference to that one ; that in general , when 1 have known any persons of sentiments similar to those of W . J . in any of our congregations , they
have not taken any active pan in the management of the internal concerns of the congregation , but have contented themselves with joining in our public worship , as that in which they could unite , because it is addressed to
the one God and Father of all . T . C . HOLLAND ,
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Unbelievers in Unitarian Churches , 28 s *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1826, page 289, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2548/page/37/
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