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truth ; that the knowledge which such engagements bring is essential to the happiness of life , and congenial with the nature of rnanv Success in mental pursuits is pleasant and honourable , but failure is a disgrace and an evil . " In a similar spirit Plutarch asserts , that «• the human race have no possession more valuable or more venerable thafcitruth . " And if we are to speak of the exertions and sacrifices made in behalf of truth , some names from
the annals of Heathenism might be adduced that would not suffer in comparison with the best of Christians , while they would cause us to blush for the degeneracy of many a professed follower of Christ . After successfully enlarging upon the position that our Lord points out Truth as in an especial manner the characteristic of his religion , the writer asks , " But how , it may be said , do these considerations affect us Christians of the present day ? We , it is hoped , are not chargeable with that culpable
carelessness about truth , especially in religious matters , which characterized the ancients . " There are some peccadillos , Dr . Whately , of which even Christians—aye , and Churchmen—are guilty . Articles , and creeds , and confessions , we deem as so many sins against " the tTuth , " though they may prove effective defenders of sects and churches . But passing this by , we have heard of such a thing as signing thirty-nine long , mysterious articles , though the subscriber knew not whether they were true or false—testifying
to their truth before inquiry , and deeming himself thereby exonerated from all inquiry afterwards . We have heard of those who signed these articles as articles of peace , which appears to us something like the Heathen maxim of supporting a religion because it is an institution of the country ; and , to mention a yet worse case , we have heard of those who remained in communion with a certain church , though by so doing they were declaring their assent to dogmas which , either wholly or in part , they disbelieved . Nor are these
the pious frauds of by-gone and ignorant ages exclusively . Dr . Whately himself , if his mind were to advert to the view now given of Christian delinquencies , could supply , we doubt not , more instances than it lies in our power to adduce . An essay on Truth is not , then , a work of supererogation , and we wish it had occurred to a person so influential as Dr . W . to make the application of his general positions to which we have now alluded . The Papists and their pious frauds do , it is true , receive a portion of blame , but other persons ( and in the present day , perhaps , as much as Papists ) need
castigation . We are much pleased with the high and pure tone of moral feeling by which the essay on Truth is pervaded . After remarking that though the old is also a just maxim , that " honesty is the best policy , " the writer adds with great propriety , " But he whose practice is governed by that maxim is not an honest man ; for we ought to cultivate and establish , as a habit , a sincere love of truth for its own sake , and a steady , thorough-going adherence to it in all philosophical , and especially in religious inquiries . "
But the love of truth may not always lead to the truth , for there is a great danger of our thinking that our previous conclusions are unquestionably true , and of loving them , instead of pursuing the truth . We ought , therefore , to make it not the second , but the first question in each case , •* Is this true ?" It makes all the difference whether we begin or end with the inquiry as to the truth of our doctrines , and it is one thing to wish to have the truth on our , side , and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth . But a determination , to " obey the truth , " and to follow , truth wherever she may
Untitled Article
Wkatetys Essays m the 1 Vritiihg * \ f St . Paul . 629
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 529, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/9/
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