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Mr . Noah Jones ' s proposal is an unwise one . Certainly , if Mr . Jones proposed " to introduce tests and subscriptions to articles of faith , " such as you insinuate , it v / ould be an unwise proposal ; but after attentively
reading the letter of Mr . J . which has given such offence to you and your friends , it seems clear to me that you have misunderstood the purport of that gentleman ' s remarks . If to urge upon those who wish to become members of a Christian community , a real belief in the divine mission of Jesus
Christ , in the reality of the miracles be performed , and in the truth and fitness of the doctrines and precepts which be taught , be an unwise proposal , then Mr . Jones is guilty . But your assertion , in this respect , is no
proof of impropriety . Your opponent , on the other hand , is borne out by the declarations of Jesus Christ and his apostles , and by the practice of the primitive church . Those only were disciples or members who believed in the divine mission of Jesus ,
and in the truth of that gospel which he brought to the human race . You say that Mr . Jones's proposal " remains unseconded j" that it " has met with that reception from Unitarians themselves which I confidently
anticipated from their known liberality ; " and that " calm reason and glowing eloquence ** from the pens of persons equally sincere and zealous with himself in their profession of Christianity , have been called forth in
opposition to it , and in vindication of those whom he attacks . " All this sounds very fine , but a great part of it is untrue . The Unitarians as a hod y are certainly liberal , and I
sincereJy hope that they will ever continue to cherish and manifest a feeling so noble . There is , however , a spurious as well as a real liberality—a loose , careless indifference ; and 1 fear that some of those whom you eulogize are characters of this stamp . Be M aS lt rna y * ' ean assure you lha £ Mr . Jones ' s proposal has been seconded , and trill be supported . No doubt , there are individuals in the
bod y who would have no objections t 0 incl ude Deists , or even Atheists T 1 P < W the same principle , or rather | / uit of it ; but the great body of 1 nitariim Christians in Great Britain Jave too great a regard for Christ and
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his laws ' knowingly to admit either for their ministers or even as members , men who deny the truth of Christianity and treat Jesus as an impostor . Neither the < c calm
reason" nor the " glowing eloquence " of your friends can overturn this fact ; but if you have still any doubts , Sir , make the experiment fairly , and you will soon find that you have been labouring under a gross delusion .
The questions which you put relative to creation affording evidence of the existence of an all-powerful Creator , and of man being able to find out God from these magnificent displays alone , have excited my risible faculties . Creation , Sir , was the same when Athens and Rome were in their
glory , as it is at present . The sun then shone , and the clouds dropped fatness - , the planets then revolved in harmoniou ^ grandeur , and the seasons succeeded each other in regular
succession ; the Greeks and the Romans were as polished as the present Europeans , and had obtained a high degree of perfection in sculpture , painting , poetry , history , architecture , and various branches of the
mathematics . How comes it , then , that nations so polished and civilized could not read nature as accurately as the moderns , and that amidst the multiplicity of their gods and goddesses they were without God in the world ? It was because the sages of these nations had no revelation , and reason
was insufficient of itself to find out the Almighty . As for the ideas which you and modern Deists have of nature teaching the existence of an all-powerful Creator , you have derived them , Sir , from the Bible ; yes , from that very book which you
despise , and at which you affect to sneer . You are not , then , a competent judge of the indications of nature , neither of the capabilities nor incapabilities of reason in finding out the existence and perfections oi une great First Cause . In reply you may refer me to Socrates . 1 honour that
great man as the wisest and the best of the Greeks , but I question whether his views of one all-glorious God were as luminous and just as have been commonly represented . The man who so often talked of gods ., who asserted that a demon attended him , and who in his lu ^ t moments oultred
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On Unbelievers joining Unitarian Congregation * . 343
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1826, page 343, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2549/page/27/
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