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would employ gentle and rational means to accomplish our holy object . We are confident of the sure , though silent , diffusion of our sentiments . We fearlessly trust our cause to the growing intelligence of the public mind—* to the light of God's revelation—and to the aid of his powerful spirit . Hon . Jonathan Phillips , of Boston , next addressed the meeting .
He observed , that laymen will unavoidably regard religion in a somewhat different aspect from their clerical brethren . To the latter , it is the almost exclusive means by which they develop and improve their intellectual faculties ; it is their occupation ; the greater or less influence which it gives them over others-, decides their relative ability , in the commuuity or the age in which they live .
The minds of laymen , on the contrary , are expanded and strengthened by other sciences than that of religion ; their occupations are , apparently , less intimately connected with morals ; and their rank in society arises either from the superior industry which has widened their knowledge and increased their good sense , or from their positive power from political elevation * or from other grosser modes of operating on society .
From , clergymen we expect a more clear , accurate , and comprehensive view of the principles of religion as addressed to the reasoning faculty of man . In their characters we look for a more evident , impressive , and elevated exemplification of its moral influence ; a love of God , supreme in its power , and bringing every thought into subjection to the
religion of Christ ; a love of others , as strong and as sincere as their love of themselves , eradicating pride , excessive resentment , harshness of censure , and binding them in the bonds of a disinterested affection to every human being , however low or degraded , to promote his improvement and welfare ; a divine ambition for excellence , engrossing the
attention , quickening the faculties , exalting the imagination , sanctifying the affections , giving to the individual an heroic ability to trample under foot every obstacle to his religious advancement , and a capacity of exciting in others the strongest sympathy in his expression of the most admirable qualities , of which our nature is susceptible—yet unalloyed by the agitation of individual or party selfishness ; while , losing himself in the endeavour to perfect himself , he beats down his party-spirit by a continually growing attachment to our common hu-
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manity . This is the moral standard which Christianity presents for the attainment of every Christian ; this excellence laymen expect to see laboured for by every clergyman—v ? hile they forget its equal claims on themselves ; so easy is it to censure others , and to forget our own faults . *
Clergymen are liable to view with partiality those who are fond of abstract speculation , or whose opinions coincide with their own on controversial theology ; laymen view every mau as the child of a Father of infinite excellence , as a brother , as capable of indefinite improvement in knowledge , and of increasing power , enabling him to be more
and more a being wisely efficient in promoting his own happiness and that of others . Clerical men love to dwell on the principles of religion as objects of contemplation to a mind trained , by long habit , to observe , them ; laymen demand that primary truths be put , as speedily as possible , to the test , and be strengthened by meeting and overcoming the moral difficulties of active life .
Clergymen are habituated to the use of authority , and to see others influenced by their judgments to an indolent repose on the conclusions of other minds , rather than arriving at satisfactory decisions by a patient , wise , and independent action of their own faculties . Laymen consequently feel more strongly that
unquestionable fact in the moral creation , that each individual stands alone , that nothing is so difficult , from the constitution of our nature , as that one man should positively benefit another ; voluntary choice , decided and long-continued action of each wan , being the only process by which' any man can be improved and advanced .
This is the fundamental truth intended to be brought home to every bosom by nature , by revelation ,, and by the experience and observation of ourselves and others . This harsh and severe discipline of the passions is , ultimately , intended to increase our conviction of our greatest power as individuals—our moral power , and thus enforcer the justice and mercy
of that responsibility enforced on each one by the conscious action of his own nature , and make him , in that nature , the creator of good or evil , of honour or dishonour , of weakness or efficiency . This talent of individual moral power is the free , spontaneous , unmerited gift of God 5 its increase , or its diminution , depends on ourselves . In our opinion , said Mr . P ., no man
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Intelligence—American Unitarian AssQciatioft . 731
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 731, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/59/
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