On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
sible , while Christianity is encumbered with doctrines which are irreconcileable to reason , to argue successfully with tlie unbeli e ver . Prove to him that on the ground of its external evidence the Christian faith cannot rationally be rejected , his answer is at hand . He will reply , that , perplexing as
the case may be , it cannot be more irrational to reject than to admit a faith which appears to contradict the clear and certain conclusions of the human mind . The advocate of mystery , indeed , will say that the doctrines for which he contends are neither self-contradictory nor absurd . But of this the unbeliever will not allow him to be the judge .
But I ask , with what justice this doctrine can be called a fundamental doctrine of Christianity ? Does it enforce a single moral obligation ? Does the disbelief of it withdraw any motive to virtuous conduct ? Is it by an Bppeal to this doctrine that we are urged to live soberly , righteously , and godly in the world ? Or is not the grand consideration to us , what we shall suffer for sin if not repented of and forsaken , rather than by what medium it will be pardoned , when forgiven ? I do not , however , say that
the doctrine is not capable of any application . It is often applied to the injury if not to the subversion of practical religion . Men who have lived the most irreligious and immoral lives are exhorted in their dying moments to By to the atoning blood of Christ for a passport to the joys of heaven . But this , it may be said , is an abuse of the doctrine . Be it so . I should be glad to be told what are its uses . It shews in an awful manner the evil of sin . And in a manner equally awful it distorts the character of God , and
Represents the Father of mercies as a being whom it is impossible to love * It is not , however , matter of admiration that they who verily believe this doctrine should consider it as a fundamental principle of their religion . If the understanding does not feel its absurdity , the imagination will be strongly impressed with its mysterious grandeur . The stern justice of the First person ^ of the Trinity , contrasted with the benignity of the Second , who condescends to do that without which myriads of helpless beings must have been doomed
to everlasting torments , presents a subject of contemplation which he who can unsuspectingly admit the doctrine , will not fail to regard with wonder and with awe . And to such a man , Christianity , when stripped of this stupendous machinery , will appear to have lost its essence and its interest . Thus , doubtless , the pious Catholic considers the Protestant as having robbed Christianity of its chief excellence and glory , while professing to reform the
errors of the Church of Rome . But some zealot may now ask , If the atonement is not a vital doctrine of the gospel , what is ? I answer , the solemn assurance that " all who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the son of man and shall come forth , they who have done good , to the resurrection of life , and they who have done evil , to the resurrection of condemnation . " * This is indeed a doctrine of revelation , a doctrine in which
• ** Had Jesus Christ delivered no other declaration than the following : ' The hour is comiug in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice , and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life , and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation / he had pronounced a message of inestimable importance , and well worthy of that splendid apparatus of prophecy and
miracles with which his mission was introduced and attested ; a nifoottgc in which the wisest of , mankind would rejoke to find an answer to their doubts and rest to their inquiries . It is idle to say that a future state had been discovered already ; it had J ^ eeu discovered as the Copei nican system was ; it was one guess among many . He alone discovers who proves , and . no man can prove this point , but the teacher who . testifies by miracles that his doctrine comes from God . "—Paley .
Untitled Article
160 Mr . CogaH on the Atonement .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1828, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2558/page/16/
-