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on this occasion , and he could not bring forward that which he would in all respects approve . He did not like the public agitation of such a subject , lest it should put a stop to the operations of an amending and purifying principle which had for some time been abroad in the body . He would not have gone so far as those resolutions , but he must ;
concede a good deal to the views of others ; and as all that could be substantially required was found in them , others , as well as he , should concede something . He liked the proposed plan , because it did not go to amend the state of the body by any specific act , for he could not conceive a regulation by which a body could make itself pure . Should a division of the Synod take place , he
could not pretend to say which side would be the purer—those who retired or those who stayed . Like , he would not say an able , but a wise tactician , he had been preparing a retreat from the difficulties with which the body was threatened—a mode of keeping up the house before it came tumbling about his ears . He liked a gradual reformation , and he would leave the actual
reformation in the hands of the Spirit of the Great God . The proposed resolutions went no farther than an appeal to the innate power of truth , and there they left the matter . But he also approved of them , because they were impartial They did not affix a stigma on any particular body ; but acknowledged generally that there are evils in the Synod
arising from past laxity . Though Arians may suppose that they are particularly referred to , yet , for himself , he did not specifically refer to them . There was more to lament on the side of the orthodox themselves , and he more deeply deplored the corruptions on that side , than those on the side of the Arians . So far as he was concerned , he
understood them to contemplate corruptions in general , though others might attach to them a more specific application * They seemed simply to recognize what wad an incumbent duty , independently of any code of discipline , viz . that in our public and private capacity , we should endeavour to ascertain the
Christian character of every man who offers himself as a candidate for the ministry , and to resist the introduction of every one whose character and principles are doubtful . The first inquiry is , whether the individual he a Christian > and , secondly , whether . he is qualified for the ministerial office . The SynpcJ were bound to thi » , both by the ward of God
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and the reason of the thing . The rea ? son Why he c $ n sit in the same church court with Arians is , that by ihe constitution of the body he can freely bear testimony to the truth . Were it an , understood thing that he should acquiesce in measures merely because they had been voted by a majority , he could not for a moment longer be connected with
it ; but because he had the privilege of withstanding error , on that ground he could sit and deliberate in ecclesiastical affairs with any body . The scriptural phrases about withdrawing from heretics , and " coming out from among them , " had been often brought forward , and as regularly misunderstood . He comes out from Arians when he testifies
against them , as he comes out from the world when he testifies against its practices , though he may be living in the midst of it . It was not by changing his locality that this command of God was obeyed . Conscientious Arians might regard themselves as bound to bring into the Synod men of their principles , as well as we . This he would not
expect an Arian to give up . Observe thea how the plan will work . A person appears before a Presbytery , an 4 both parties are bound to act upon the same general principle . On examination , the orthodox party come to the conclusion that he is not a Christian , or that fri ? v | ews do not coincide with , those which they can sanction . Of course , they
endeavour to keep him out , while others are equally anxious to keep him in , Suppose that he is licensed to preach , the orthodox are bound to protest , and , If necessary , to report tbe matter to the 3 ynod . In case of an orthodox candidate , the Arians are bound to do the same . Hence , young men wowld take their certificates either from one side or
Otper of the Presbytery , and , conse-r quently , it would be known at once what were tbe views of the licentiate . For his own part , he would not , in the present state of the Synod , give any thing for the recommendation of a Pres ~ by ] tery . VJe Ijad rather take a single letter from a judicious friend , jn attestation of a minister ' s character , so long
as Arians and Trinitarians are playing into eacji others' hands . Those congregations w } ip wish for an Arian minister , will look to one side of the certificate , while those who think differently will regard the other . It might be otyjeetcfl that tfijs would produce a warfare aU ovpr the country , but tfrere mupt of necgsfsity be a warfare—a perpetual struggle between light and darkness Hq
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580 Intelligence . —Synod of Ulster ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1828, page 580, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2563/page/68/
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