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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.
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It has been commonly remarked , how very much our judgment , as to any particular action , depends upon our preconceived opinion with regard to the character of the actor * Thus , when we observe in a man that general benevolence which leads him ever to aim at promoting the Welfare of other *; when we find that all his works have been good works ; and that in all his actions , so far as we are thoroughly acquainted with them , the principle spring , and motive to performance has been an excellent disposition and a kind heart ; when we perceive in his countenance the radiant smile of charity emanating from the warmth of his affections , —how tardy will be out belief in any report which shall throw a stigma upon a character so worthy' ! From our past experience of his goodness arises confidence in his future
excellence , and it will never be without the most incontrovertible proof , and attended by the sincerest sorrow and pity , that we shall give credit to the history of his fall ; and in proportion as the character which is at stake has been the object of our admiration , we shall require more abundant and undoubted evidence of any facts which may be adduced to destroy our esteem and attachment .
In accordance with these reflections , if it be not presumptuous to institute any degree of comparison between the all-perfect Kuler of the universe and the imperfect creature who owes being and happiness to his goodness , it may be thought that ( independently of the arguments drawn from the attributes of the Almighty ) we are bound to acquiesce in the slow progress which true and pure Christianity has made in the world , in the full confidence that this is for the ultimate benefit of mankind , and that the delay arises from some wise provision of Providence . In analogy to the above supposititious
case of a benevolent man , it may be argued that , as in every instance in those proceedings of our Creator which are not impervious to the human sight , he appears to us in all the energy of divine goodness , it is but just to infer , in relation to those particulars where the conduct of our God is inscrutable to our limited understandings , that there really exist the same wisdom and goodness , the same kind attention to our wants , the same desire for our happiness . As far as our perception is able to inform us , we are astonished to behold such a vast extent of benevolent attention to the wants
and circumstances of frail humanity . How devoid of all the noble inspirations of gratitude , then , and how insensible to the claims of justice , must we be to consider as unwise or unkind any part of the workings of Providence which we are not able fully to comprehend ! And yet we are obliged to confess , that they have existed , and do still exist , who are guilty of this presumptuous crime . There live men who say , that if Christianity were really of God , he would have given it early perfection and speedy and irresistible
sway , and that we should not , after the lapse of ei g hteen centuries , be only just emerging from the gloom and error of superstition ; that we should not at this advanced period behold one half of the world in absolute ignorance of its divine precepts , and the other half , though knowing or having the power to become acquainted with them , yet perverting their meaning and neglecting their doctrines . It were a sufficient reply to such reasoners to say , that though we may not be able satisfactorily to account for these events , yet by all the experience we have had of the Divine goodness , by all the benefits bestowed upon mortal man by his Creator , we are bound to entertain a firm
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AN ENDEAVOUR TO ACCOUNT FOR ~ THE SLOW 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 223, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/7/
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