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expressed himself happy to { hid that he had mistaken Mr . Johnston , and that there remained no difference whatever between them . So that you see , Sir , my learned friend has no foundation for his surmises respecting division in the Committee of Examination ; and , of course , this part of his speech falls wholly to the ground , with the exception , of its eloquence . Mr . Montgomery , however , argues that there must be
division of religious opinions among Christians , because there is variety in the human countenance , and beauty is said to consist in variety . I believe the definition of beauty to which my friend refers , is , that it consists in uniformity amidst variety : ; and I assert , that whilst there are various shades of difference in the expression and complexion of the countenances which we see around us , there is a striking uniformity in the number and character of the human
features , by which the countenance of man is distinguished from all the inferior , and probably from all superior creatures . Now I adopt my learned friend ' s simile , and I allege that there ran be no real religious communioti , wljen , at the same time that there are shades of variety of opinion in minor matters , there is not a uniformity in the just foundation of
religion . I do not say that Arians deny the Lord that bought them , because they do not deny what they believe him to be ; but I say , that they deny what I believe to be the Lord that bought sinners when they deuy the essential Deity of the Sou of God . I do not say that they cannot be saved , for it is not my prerogative ; but I say , that I cannot see how I could be saved did I hold their
views . 1 will not call them Infidels , but they are unbelievers in what I believe the foundation of all religious truth . My learned friend would represent the difference between Trinitarians and Arians as only like the varieties in the human countenance . I wish I could agree with jiini in this .: but , in iny opinion , the difference between them is an important and fundamental difference . They do not , in my miudt , worship the same God .
trust in the same Saviour , or look for sauctincation to the same Holy Spirit . The Evangelist , John i . 18 , states , that ' ¦ 5 no map , ha £ b ^ ee « God aA , any time ; the only Begotten Son , who is in the bo * Bom of the Father , he hath declared him " —whatever the God of the Scriptures is * , that is the God worshiped by the Orthodox . > Haviug ascertained byithqir reason what is God ' s word , they aurreuder , upon the sublime subject of the nature
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of him whom " no man hath seen at any time , " to that word their under * standings , apd believe that the one God exists—Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . The God of the Arian , on the contrary , is the production of his own reason . He is a " monad , " a unit , a phrase which seems to me to imply that Arians have circumscribed the Deitv iu their
minds—that they have separated htm on every side from ail other things , and are able to comprehend the manner of his existence . The Saviour also of the Arian is different from the Saviour on whom the Orthodox depend . The Arians * Saviour is a superior , created
intelligence ; the Saviour of the Orthodox is , * i < 3 g& qyer all , blessed for ever . " I believe that my Redeemer is every where present ; that he is in my going out am coming in , lying down and rising up ; that he is acquainted with all my ways , and surrouuds me with his eternal arms ;
1 have comfort and confidence in his salvation , because he is a present help , ready to succour me in the hour of temp ? tation . The Arian believes that the Sa * viour is at the right hand of their "
monad . " They pray through h im * but they will not pray to him ; they honour him as the highest of created beings , but they deny him omniscience and omnipresence , and do not consider him worthy to re * ceive divine worship . The same differ ^ ence exists between the Arian and Trim *
tarian views respecting the Holy Ghost . In the mind of the Arian he is a subor * din ate spirit ; in that of the orthodox , whosoever if lies unto the Holy Ghost 9 lies unto God , " Acts v . 3 . The differ * ence , therefore , between the Arian and orthodox is truly a fundamental differ * ence ; it respects the object of i worship —the Saviour , through whom worship
is offered up , and the Spirit by which we are enabled to worship acceptably Where men are agreed upon these im portant points , all other shades or varieties of opinion I consider , with my friend , like the varieties of the human countenance . Christians belong to the
same family when they agree on these points , although there may be shades of variety in the complexion of their less important opinions ; but where they differ upon these , the difference is like that between the inhabitants of different portions of the globe—4 t points them out as almost of distinct and different
species . In my mind , therefore , there can be no real religious communion be-4 ween Arians and Trinitarians : they may pray for each other , but they can * not be said to join together in prayer .
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Jntettigenne . ~* Synod of UUter . 723
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 723, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/67/
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