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workings of the secondary causes , humanity prevailed ; and that the pure tenets of Christ should receive some alloy from the gross and popular belief of Polytheism , appears to be in fact what might be expected . The vulgar imagination felt a void when its worship of many and visible objects was to
be extirpated , and to be replaced by the worship of the Invisible , how great soever his attributes , and how pleasing soever his character . Such sublime qualities as constitute his nature are more peculiarly adapted to the contemplation of an enlarged and refined mind , and the common mass of mankind , especially in a dark age , are barely susceptible of the emotions of pure religion .
But it is asked , Why has God permitted his own authorized religion to be obscured ? To this question one of several answers may in all humility be given in the views now under consideration . The whole state of the world was on the eve of regeneration . All the civilized powers in our hemisphere were to be overthrown . Through destruction and confusion , through ignojance , darkness , and barbarism , the rays of a superior state of society were to emerge ; and the northern nations were to wield the sceptre of dominion ,
. before enjoyed by the luxurious inhabitants of the enervating south . Some considerations might be mentioned to shew that this transmigration of power from the south to the north was requisite even for the further social and political improvement of mankind ; but this is not the place to urge them . All that is required for our argument i& the fact , that " gross darkness was to cover the people , " and , all learning and refinement being extinguished , nations were to pass through the ordeal of confusion , to be fitted for an im >
proved system of social order and an improved moral nature . In such a state of degradation , can we reasonably expect that a pure , mental , refined devotion could maintain its sway over the popular mind ; that when darkness prevailed around , one beam of light should always play upon an insulated point ? When the soul of man was so clouded , can we require that it should
clearly distinguish the invisible attributes of our God , or pay homage to a Deity whose worship possessed no tie upon his senses ? Christianity was * indeed , grossly perverted , and the interval between the pure and the perverted religion was the more readily passed through the latent effects of the ancient Polytheism . Indeed , the precepts of Jesus were very much debased by error before the overthrow of the Roman empire * Then , truly , our faith
dwindled into all the petty tricks of superstition , and maddened with the rage of bigotry . Yet , undoubtedly , this mixture of Christianity with superstition and error had , for its time , a beneficial effect upon its worshipers . It pre + vented the people from returning into a state of absolute barbarism ; it was one great aid to the restoration of the nations to peace and order ; nay , per * haps it was the means of preventing the doctrine of the gospel from disappearing entirely from the wee of the earth .
We have endeavoured to trace the various links of the chain which con * nects the idolatry of the ancients with the worship of the only true God , thence again leading to the period of our own enlightened times . We have to commence with universal Polytheism and as universal a toleration : to uproot these , we see a faith appearing which ordained the reign of one only God ,
and aimed at the subversion of all other systems . What wonder if the half- * subdued prejudices of the former should pervert the purity of the latter religion , or that it should be still more corrupted in the dark ages ? It was , however , in that period , and notwithstanding its degradation , the only beacon which lighted to happier days . How wonderful to behold the effect of natural causes ultimately producing happiness , and to see what we deem evil , yet
Untitled Article
226 Slotd Progress of Christian Truth .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1828, page 226, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/10/
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