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Untitled Article
the instruction and improvement of the body of the people * should , nevertheless , be a period when crime abounds , when the arm of justice seizes and punishes an uiiusual number of offenders . * Either the means are sadly disproportioned to the designed end , or opposing causes ate , thus far , insurmountable .
It may be that a great deal of what passes for religion is not religious principle , is not religious obligation . Many individuals vthom we cannot accuse of direct hypocrisy , many who do not assume the garb of sanctity as the cover of wilful and conscious guilt , impose \ fpon themselves , without either meaning or being able to impose upon others . As the effect , in
part , of a neglected or faulty education , and , in part , of corrupt examples and maxims , aided by the magic power of habit , they fancy that their implicit reception of current doctrines , their stated and decent observance of religious ordinances , will give them aii indisputable claim to the character of religious men .
The great variety of religious communions existing in this kingdom , unavoidable as it is , and , in many points of view , not a little advantageous , has still its evils . Among these we must reckon its tendency to impress superficial and careless minds with the belief that religion is placed in creeds and forms , rather than in love to God and man , and in purity of spirit and of conduct . Such an impression , too , becomes the stronger , when
theological controversies are carried on with acrimony , and even with any thing like excessive zeal . The season , certainly , has not yet arrived , when the discussion of matters of faith and discipline can justly be considered as superfluous : its utility depends , however , on the portion of judgment and benevolence with which it is prosecuted ; and if all Christians would be more in earnest than they are for the best objects , the benefit to public morals would be incalculably extensive , rich , and permanent .
We do not undervalue accurate and scriptural opinions in religion . How is it possible that we should censure those who seriously inquire , how God is to be worshiped , what constitutes a Christian church , and what are the positive institutions of the gospel ? We have the means of engaging in the inquiry : to employ them , is our duty and our privilege ; and after we have
satisfied ourselves on these topics , we shall not act a consistent part unless we firmly profess our sentiments . Still truth is the means to an end far more important than itself : and our national morals would * be purer , nor would the progress of crime be so gigantic , were Christian ministers and Christian people more intent on proving that they do not rest in creeds , and rites , and ceremonies .
If a disproportionate stress be laid on religious feeling , there is danger of the grand design of religion—its moral influence—being forgotten or perverted . Far be it from us to depreciate the exercise of the feelings on subjects the best calculated to awaken , refine , and elevate them . But then mere emotion is not every thing : it is not even the chief thing in religion .
The passions may be strongly affected , where the man is unreformed , where the character is even desperately wicked . It is , beyond question , of considerable moment that we statedly renew and cherish religious im p ressions by acts suited to this purpose . These impressions , nevertheless , it should be our further aim to exalt and strengthen into habits of devotion , justice , temperance , and kindness .
* Mon . Repos ., &c , Vol . XV . pp . 416 , &c .
Untitled Article
78 Bishop of Lichfieltfs Charge .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 78, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/6/
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