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Untitled Article
which- is to dh-ect say conduct , and to hallow roy h&rtt' F © feii * smic « ioti ; if I be in errory J would 1 4 > ef jgtfatetfut $ with courteous aijnsoait&N ) ^ I < ' would' « ofc 7 be oflfemted' $ > but to authoritative oVdsidfts 1 uev ^ r sliallsubmit ^ for I should tliere-V y s renouwte the unalterable ? * altegifctntie which < 1 owe to the sole King and'Head of the Church ;
It has been said > * ' that Arums hold that there is nothing essential in Christianity . " If this assertion has been made in ignorance , I piiy the persons that have used it ; if in wickedness , aud with a deliberate purpose of misrepresentation , I hope that I can forgive them . I am bound , however , to say , that it has
not a shadow of foundation in truth . So far from alleging that there is nothing essential in Christianity * We distinctly hold every thing to be essential which God has been pleaded to reveal . But I shall tell you what we do say , —that those doctriues , concerning which there have been interminable and bitter controversies amongst Christians , cannot be
the Fundamentals of Religion . We rest this opinion upon the most profound veneration for the all-perfect and adorable character of the Supreme Being . We believe , that , in all things , he can adapt the means which he employs to the ends which he desires to promote : we feel satisfied that he could have no
difficulty in suiting the language of his Revelation to the capacities of those for whose benefit it was communicated : aud we necessarily infer , that no principle can be fundamental which is not explicitly revealed . 1 would put it to my opponents to say , what conception they must form of the justice and benignity of God , who aver that he has left matters essential to the salvation of his
creatures in such a woful state of uncertainty , that scarcely two men can agree in their explanation of them . Would not this be to impeach both the wisdom and goodness of the Deity , and to render him accessary to the destruction of his people ? And that the
doctrine of the Trinity is one of a very doubtful character , I can easily prove from the variety of opinions entertained upon the subject , even by the orthodox themselves . The copious extracts read by my friend Mr . Blakcley , from the works of the most eminent divines of
the Established Church , amply testify , that amongst them there is no unity of sentiment : and in a volume lately published by one of the most intelligent members of ( his Synod , the doctrine of the Trinity is freely admitted " to be a
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doctrine of inference , ftod not of explicit reteiation . * ' Mwvkdifcte ' ^ as' < tb& iugenuous to contendfor tfiumpt * ' atfstead of truth ; and he has candidly admitted , what a determined conrrov € rtfia 4 istf would have kept out of view . 'Whilst we hear on all sides , in > this ttottse , that the Triuity is the fundamental doctrine of Christianity , he freely admits , ' * that he
would not place a doctrine of inference upon an equality with one of explicit revelation . " With him , therefore , there must be other doctrines of superior importance ; for , certainly , there are many expressly revealed . But in the conduct of the orthodox members of this Synod , last year , at Strabane , we have an irresistible proof , that they were not agreed amongst themselves regarding their
assumed fundamental principle . After disputing for hours about substance , and essence , and person , they were at length compelled to adopt a sentence from the Shorter Catechism , about the terms of which no two of them agreed : and when the whole affair was over , one of them very gravely said to another , " Your orthodoxy is not my orthodoxy . " Yet , in the face of all these facts Mr . Eller had
yesterday the hardihood to assert , " that no man could read a chapter in the Bible without seeing the doctrine of the Trinity clearly revealed . " If the matter be so very clear , is it not strange that he did not point out to his brethren the mode of expressing the doctrine in the language of Scripture ? Such a ^ step would have been courteous to them , and charitable to us : for , in that case , we would have cordially joined in their declaration .
That the doctrine of the Trinity may be one which , as Mr . John Brown asserts , the most ignorant persons can most easily embrace , I do not pretend to deny . Presumption is a natural consequence of ignorance . Vanity of heart , unchastened by accuracy of judgment , has led to the most arrogant assumptions . It is not when men are
illuminated by the spirit of Divine truth , that they presumptuously dictate creeds to their brethren , but when they are blinded by their own prejudices and passions . The wise and the enlightened are always distrustful of their own judgments ; whilst the weak and the uninstructed are almost universally positive < and dogmatical .
The fact is , it wae % ) M ignorant ; vamty of snap , which , flrst ledb to * humim interference in mfytewi &f $ fch , # hwiimA 4 he lustre of Divine ( truth , audi p&v < id the way for all subsequent corruptions ., , in
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644 Intelligence . —Synod of Ulster .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1828, page 644, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2564/page/60/
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