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184 Critical Notices .
it necessary , in order to ascertain Personal Identity , to inquire whether the mind be material or immaterial , or what is the nature of its constitution or connexion with body . "—Pp . 73 , 74 . The obvious objection to this is , that it limits personal identity to the present life , ' A resurrection may frad the same
soul , but not the same person . This conclusion necessarily follows from the definition , and the writer accordingly admits it ; but it is so contrary to the ordinary feelings and notions of mankind , that in a discussion which is acknowledged to be simply upon the true meaning of a familiar expression , it ap pears to furnish a decisive objection .
The author , however , contends , that personal identity , as he has defined it , is the basis of legal responsibility in the eyes of human judges , who cannot enter into the breast or take cognizance of motives and dispositions . The permanence of these , constitutes what he calls Moral Identity ; by this , and not by the continued existence of the same person .
or even of the same mind , the moral responsibility of his creatures in the eyes of an all-seeing Judge , ( that is , more properly speaking , the admission to celestial happiness of those ; who are capable of it , and the adaptation of future discipline to the correction of evil dispositions and habits , ) will doubtless be . directed .
. llie following passage , in which these distinctions are explained , is eloquent and impressive : " Not only revelation , but the wellunderstood dictates of natural religion alone , would teach us that the Supreme Intelligence will adjust and enforce the sanctions of hip laws by principles , different from those by which man , in his
ignorance and his incompetency to discover the * hidden things * which belong to the Almighty , must endeavour to secure the peace and well-being of society , by apportioning punishment or reward . Thus Personal Identity , without reference to secret motives , or the hidden thoughts of the heart , must regulate the punishment or rewards of man ; but
that Moral Identity , which is founded on the affections or dispositions of the mind , the sameness and continuance ,. or the diversity and changes of those sentiments , feelings , motives , or by whatever other name we may designate what gives moral character to the mind , and what the Scriptures call the inward man of the heart—it is THAT Identity which , we may humbly hope and believe , will
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regulate the punishments and the rewards dispensed by an All-seeing Deity ! « * This notion ; i of a moral identity seems to receive illustration and support from all those passages of Divine Revelation which relate to f regeneration * — to the * old man * — the ' outward man *
• r-the ' new man *—the 'being born again , ; &c . ; but , above all , from the doctrine which so distinctly and emphatically declares an 4 promises the forgiveness of sins , and the enjoyments o f heaven , to all who truly repent , and to none but those who do . The sinner , though he repents , is yet , in our sense of identity , the same person who sinned , and
therefore is liable to the punishment of his transgressions ; and him , undoubtedly ^ human laws must punish , however sincere may be his repentance , because no human tribunal can take cognizance ofy or ascertain , the sincerity or the degree of repentance : but the Almighty , ' from whom no secrets are hid , ' who sees the secret sorrows of the contrite
heart , and knows when , and how far contrition has produced a change in the motives , desires , and dispositions of the mind ; not merely sorrow produced by fear of punishment , but a conversion reaching the heart , and influencing the affections : he only it is who can ascertain when that total change of our moral being has taken place , to which he has promised not merely pardon , but happiness . "—Pp . 80—82 .
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Art . V . —On Missions to the Heathen z a Sermon . By the Rev , J . G . Palfrey , Boston , Massachusetts . Published in Sullivan's " Liberal Preacher / ' September , 1827-This is a very beautiful , though not a splendid piece of pulpit oratory ; the argument is strong , and . generally speaking *
sound , and ' the style possesses a simplicity which one is sorry to call rare . Mr . Palfrey either does not possess , or does not choose to display , the boldness of conception which characterizes the writings of Dr . Channing ; but his tone is invariably gentle , persuasive , and calculated to secure the attention which has
once been won . The aim of the preacher in this discourse is to combat twp common objections against the cause of missions . The first , " that propositions for a Christian Mission to the Heathen , come ill from those by whom they are now made , ( i . c \ Unitarians . ) because we profess our be-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1828, page 184, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2558/page/40/
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