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Untitled Article
him is evidently to require an impossibility . Such a judgment , then , as you pass in this case , is , as I have stated , clearly a judgment devoid of all sense ; and worse than this , since it is plainly as mischievous as it is senseless : such blind and self-sufficient judgments uproot Christianity , hurling it as a fire-brand upon society , in place of tendering it as a bond of love and union . Whilst such unmeasured language nnd harsh judgments are indulged in upon such grounds , it is obvious to the calm understanding of every one whose mind is not darkened by prejudices , that the great ohjects of Christianity , charity , peace , and good-will , never can exist amongst mankind . I do , therefore , earnestly recommend to you as strict and persevering an examination into the arguments against your particular opinions as you have given to the considerations upon which they are founded ; for then , and then only , can you be properly qualified to form any thing like a rational decision ; and the more competent you may become by this means , the more and more will you become impressed with the indispensable necessity of genuine charity . Proceeding now more particularly to a review of your religious faith , the result will appear no less extraordinary than the one we have just arrived at . Your religious tenets lead you to deny the possibility of your rendering yourself entitled to the least merit ; you hold that the most faithful and scrupulous observance of the Christian precepts , that the highest acts of moral goodness , cannot entitle you to the smallest desert : by these opinions you therefore evidently think it necessary to put yourself to the test of the
deepest humility ; in lowliness of mind you assume the lowest grade . But how , I ask , is the contemplation of such deep humility reconcileable with a stern condemnation of others to everlasting punishment ? How can it be reconcileable with a charge of damning heresy for not reading scripture with your understanding , with the accusation of a wilful blindness to the plain sense of scripture , a rejection of their title to the name of Christian , an expressed fear of contamination by intercourse , and the affirmation that the gates of heaven are shut against them ? And all this , because they cannot
see with your eyes and comprehend with your understanding ! Surely this is all very astonishing , and due consideration will , I cannot doubt , suffice to shew that such sentiments do , in contradiction to the deepest humility , bespeak the highest spiritual pride and presumption . In the first place , to imagine that others are in a state of condemnation , must arise from the consideration that you are yourself in a state of acceptance , or , to say the least , less in dangeT of condemnation than they are . It must be thus , or you could never think of making the accusation : but let it originate as it may , such a
conclusion has nothing to do with humility , nothing in unison with the conduct of the humble publican , but quite the reverse , being directly in the face of scripture , which commands to judge not , that ye be not judged . It follows , also , from this presumed advantage , ( as I conclude you will not unreservedly avow that a less degree of practical piety or moral virtue can give you a superior or even equal claim to Divine favour with those who may be
superior to you in these respects , ) that you not only must in reality consider yourself as at least equal in piety , virtue , and desert , to the very best of those who differ from you , but also , that you are capable of taking a more wise and accurate view of scripture than the wisest of them , great and learned as they may have universally been acknowledged to be . This , indeed , you did not scruple to signify ; and surely it may be said , neither in all this is there any lowliness of mind to be found . As , therefore , a reference either to scripture or reason , for the justification of your sentiments , seems
Untitled Article
164 Letter from a Unitarian Layman to an Evangelical Friend .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 164, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/12/
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