On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
• w [ This article , the conclusion of which will appear in the succeeding number , forms the chief part of a discourse delivered on the first Anniversary of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association . The Preacher was requested by the Committee to print it , for the purpose of extending an acquaintance with the objects of the Association , and of showing the motives which , he thought , should influence Unitarian Congregations in general to unite with it , and individuals to afford it their pecuniary aid . The state of his health at the time , and for a long period afterwards ,
operated to prevent his compliance ; but the views he then stated may not be deemed unseasonable now ; and he submits them to the readers of the Monthly Repository , with the desire that they may contribute to promote that spirit of union and mutual aid , which he trusts is increasing among us , and which , united with the exemplification of the practical influence of our great principles , must extend effectually the knowledge and reception of them . ]
Though various errors , which once deformed the sacred system of Christianity , have yielded to the gradual progress of the human mind ; and others have become extinct , or have lost much of their influence , through increasing knowledge of the Scriptures ; still , the present period of the Christian church is not characterized by " the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God . " We may , however , reasonably look forwards , with full conviction , to a time , when all men shall possess that knowledge which our
Saviour pronounced to be life eternal , in the faith and obedience of the " only true God ; " when in the name of Christ every knee shall bow , and every tongue confess him to be Lord , to the glory of God even the Father . To this issue the language of prophecy points ; and so also does our best knowledge respecting the perfections of God . However much , in his unsearchable dispensations , error , and evil the offspring of error , may be made to bring about great and good ends , those means cannot in themselves be good ; and under the all-perfect and all-powerful government of infinite wisdom and love , they must ultimately cease .
Whenever that period arrives , in which , on the great points of Christian doctrine , there will be unity of faith , then will there exist that union of spirit which unity of faith should ever cherish . —It is indeed a cheering and a just persuasion , that such union of spirit is more extensive than unity of opinion . The Church of Christ includes members of every denomination . Wherever there is the spirit of Christ—the spirit of love and piety and righteousness , — and it brings forth ( as if genuine it must do ) the fruits of a Christian life and conversation , there is a member of that holy community whose names are enrolled in heaven , and who will hereafter be found there , even if , through
the narrow creeds of men , excluded from the " communion of saints" earth . It is no slight recommendation of those views which Unitarians regard as the teachings of gospel truth , that they enable us to offer such a disciple ( whether or not he can receive it ) the right hand of Christian fellowship ; and that they are hostile to that narrow-bigotry which confines the affections , which warps the judgment , and which cramps the exertions of charity .
While we check in our own hearts , and if need be among each other , all approaches to that baneful disposition , have we no sufficient motives to strive earnestly to promote the progress of what we believe " the faith once de-
Untitled Article
( 255 )
Untitled Article
REASONS FOR MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT AND CO-OPERATION , IN PROMOTING THE KNOWLEDGE AND DIFFUSION OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLES OF UNITARIAN ISM ; WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1829, page 255, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2571/page/31/
-