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Untitled Article
With respect to our difference of sentiment regarding the use of the term •« True Worshipers , " we are , perhaps , not so widely separated as he may imagine ; my chief objection being to the outward parade of the title , not to the inward conviction of its right application in the minds of those who assume
it . He who does not value , and with proper confidence appreciate , the justice of his own opinions , can scarcely be said to deserve the fruits which await their cultivation in sincerity . Neither could I respect the character of any Christian who did not consider that he followed , to the best of his belief , the worship of his God in truth *
Believing , as 1 firmly do , that our worship is due to Almighty God alone , I of course embrace a similar persuasion with E . K , and after many years of patient inquiry and attentive perusal of the Scriptures , am more and more convinced the longer I live , that the religion of the Unitarian approaches nearer to the ** truth , " as promulgated by our blessed
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , than any other in existence . It is equally my conviction , that the religion of the Unitarians is gaining ground—if not rapidly , yet by a sure aud steady progress . That the oftener our tenets are examined , and the more narrowly compared with the writings of the New Testament , the nearer they will be found to approach the religion of our Saviour and his immediate followers , and the better
entitled to the designation of ' * true worship . " But though steadfastly , and to soy own inexpressible comfort , impressed with these solemn convictions , I cannot bring myself to the conclusion that we are ourselves authorized to assume the title outwardly or publicly ; but that it will better become us , as humble followers of Christ , to wait patiently for the coming of that day when it will be awarded to them who have deserved it .
Neither can 1 think that we have any right to doubt of their worship being true and equally accepted with our own , who , reared in different sentiments of the Deity , yet have His image in their hearts , and the pure lessons of his Son conspicuously impressed upon their actions : or that it is consistent with the
character of our body , to imitate , even remotely , the tendency of almost all other creeds and sects , to pronounce their own opinions * ' Infallible . " I should say , rather let us prove a liberal and happy ex&eption to a practice which haa so ofteu dimmed the light of the
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gospel , and , while asserting our own opinions with courage , abstain from everj expression which shall give umbrage to our other Christian brethren . If we are , indeed , the " true worshipers , " let us strive to deserve the title by the purity of our lives and conversations , not by taking to ourselves an appellation which , in the great courts above , may be adjudged to others as their equal property .
What title that class of individuals may possess to it , in whose favour E . K , would make his only exception , men , ' * who , although their creed may be uo ~ minally Triuitarian , yet practically sink the adoration of two of the persons of the Trinity , " it is not far me to determine . But with respect to " Pagan idolaters , " he will not find in my letter any allusion to them ; for although I
may have thoughts of my own upon the subject , and many lively hopes that the illustrious philosophers and great and good men of the ancients , may , with the living philosophers of the desert Mkewise , meet the great and good of the Christian world in heaven , there is a line of distinction between true and false worship , which I should be as little disposed to break through as E . K . himself .
Yet is there a something to my mind of awful hazard , if not presumption , In the thought , that a very diminutive band , a speck of people , hardly perceptible amidst tbe countless multitudes which , in their various turns , have inhabited this world in their progress to eternitycyphers , amidst the millions who now
inhale the breath of Heaven , partake of th * bounty and solicitude of their Gad , and adore in their various ways the great Creator and Lord of the universe , —I must repeat it , there is somethiug awful in the attempt of any of our small sect to affirm with open voice , that we only are " the true worshipers /'
Let us rather use our earnest endeavours to cement a sweet union with others ; to point to a resting-place which shall inclose the whole family of Christ ; and live in the blessed hope , that our Great Shepherd will seek even those that may have strayed upon the journey , and carry in his bosom such as have had the will , but failed in their strength , to reach the goal !
To my nameless friend who has so happily supplied the beautiful illustrations you have inserted , I beg to return my acknowledgments , and think 1 cannot better repuy his kindness than by calling to his remembrance the following lines :
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126 Miscellaneous Correspondence .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 126, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/54/
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