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Untitled Article
laudable ; because these tilings are both voluntary , and they are indications of that temper and disposition which God expects , approves and will rewarfd in his rational creatures . If all this be allowed us , let us next inquire in what cases these virtuous and laudable dispositions of a love of truth and of diligence , fairness , and impartiality in inquiring after it , may best operate and manifest themselves .
Certainly not in those cases where facts or doctrines are presented to our minds with such a fulness of evidence as anticipates inquiry , as precludes all doubt or hesitation . Such are the clear and undeniable testimony of our senses for matters of fact , strict demonstrations in matters of science , and express declarations from God himself or his authenticated messengers , ( attended with circumstances which prevent in us any doubt of the genuineness of these declarations , ) concerning matters of faith or religion . In such
cases the mind is under a necessity of yielding an immediate assent , and , consequently , there is no room for a love of truth and fairness to manifest themselves . They can only be exerted in what is to follow - , namely , in drawing the proper consequences from assenting to such facts , and from embracing and complying with such doctrines . It seems rather that those cases afford the best opportunities for the exercise and manifestation of a
love of truth and of candour and impartiality of spirit , in which , though there be a sufficiency of evidence or proof to be had , yet the evidence requires considerable diligence to discover it , and attentive examination to apprehend its true nature , its connexion with the subject in question , and its sufficiency as a rational proof of it ; and when , after we are convinced
that the fact or doctrine is true , still further diligence and inquiry are necessary , in order to trace out the reasonable consequences of it , as well as resolution and firmness to embrace and adhere to these consequences . It is those cases where we have many doubts and difficulties to struggle with , much obscurity to clear up , and many inconveniences both from within and from without to encounter in the search after truth and adherence to it , that
call forth the most vigorous exertions of a love of truth , and most eminently display a candid and impartial disposition . In short , it is not the greater or less degree of evidence given for any fact or doctrine , but the greater or less degree of diligence , sincerity , and steadiness , which we have employed in tracing out this evidence , that constitutes our faith in a greater or less degree virtuous and laudable . Let us now go on to apply these observations to the different cases of those who believed in Christ on different kinds of evidence and under
different circumstances . Now they who were eye-witnesses of his life and actions had the full and overpowering evidence of their own senses often repeated to attest their reality , which rendered it absolutely impossible for them to doubt of their truth . The most wicked and malicious of his opposers could not deny them , and therefore his followers could not exercise much of a virtuous love of truth in assenting to them under such circumstances . Again , when they were once convinced that these facts were true ,
it required no great degree of attention or depth of reflection to discover from them the natural consequences , or any uncommon exercise of candour to admit this consequence , namely , that he was certainly sent from God . And when this persuasion concerning him was once entertained , what great stretch of a love of truth , of fairness and integrity of spirit , did it require to embrace his doctrines and profess to follow him ? The case of those who were eye-witnesses of the Lord Jesus , seems rather to have given room for
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 457, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/25/
