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Untitled Article
marks . We have heard something about revivals ^ and we are quite sure that eventually more good would be . effected if the intellectual , in preference to the animal , part of man were made the object to be influenced , and if withal , a purer taste were combined with a more scriptural creed , both speculative and practical . Our English brethren have been aroused to " the
work of revivals" by what has been done in this way in America ; but we most earnestly hope they will not be led to the shameful extravagances which have in some cases ensued in the United States from the ignorant and fiery zeal of religious agitators . We recommend to their attentive perusal an article in the " Christian Observer" on Superstition , which appears , we think , very opportunely at this moment . The principles on which this article is written are , in the author ' s words , the following :
" The cause of true religion always loses ground in proportion as it is associated with any system of irrational belief . " The cause of true religion always gains an accession of influence , and obtains an extension of its benefits , in proportion as the faith of its disciples is supported by knowledge , enlightened by the torch of scientific research , and chastened by the delicacy of true taste .
" The honour of God is vindicated , and the kingdom of Christ is enlarged ; the faith of the humble and sincere is confirmed ; the prejudices of such as are satisfied with this world's wisdom are subdued ; the fears of the ignorant are superseded ; and the hope and confidence of the just are supported , by being placed on a basis of scientific and rational explanation , rather than on the fears of ignorance , or on a measure of belief which never was designed for a revelation addressed to God ' s rational creatures . "
How refreshing is it to hear sentiments so truly liberal and Christian proceeding from a quarter possessed of great power and influence , ( the Established Church , ) both of which have been too much devoted to the inculcation of irrational doctrines , and to the hindrance of the progress of knowledge among the people ! Before quitting the subject of revivals , we wish to remark that " the work , " to use the technical term , has already made some progress in the
kingdom , especially in Wales . In the present revival , we are informed , " there has been considerably less of that violence of gesticulation or jumping , for which the poor Welsh have subjected themselves to the censure of their more quiet English brethren . Still the silence of devotion has frequently been broken by the loud sighs of such as were under conviction , and by the " psalrns and hymns and spiritual songs which would escape from
others , even while the preacher was delivering his message , when the Holy Spirit shewed them and made them feel that there was a way of salvation even to such sinful wretches as they now saw themselves to be . With all this there is much weeping and praising God with uplifted hands . " The aspect of the spiritual condition of the * ' poor Welsh" in their reviving state , as thus set forth , wears , we must confess , a very dubious character . It looks too much like the excesses of Ranterism , of which we have seen
something , and of the effects of which we know something . The sight of the spiritual extravagances to which the Ranters are addicted is pitiable , and the effects alarming and deplorable . Mere animal excitement is mistaken for pious emotion , and the most lusty brawler is deemed the best Christian ; the consequence is , that the great pbject of religion is forgotten ; impurities of heart and life are allowed to remain ; a morbid love , a necessity of physical excitement , is created ; an 4 spiritual intoxication ensues , which is sometimes the forerunner of the disgusting vice of drunkenness . Of the
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/34/
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