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plained , or rather bewildered , by theological verbiage and metaphysical figments , to restore the influence of polytheism ; it was the doctrine of creeds and confessions , which often usurped the reverence due to Holy Writ , but were at
variance with its spirit , and devoid of its authority . In the resolution which he held in his hand , it was stated that Unitarians were called ou to unite by the exigencies of the times . In order to judu , e of those exigencies , let his hearers look to the N 7 > rth of Ireland : well did a
Calvimstic minister describe the spirit of his party , when he said that he had rather see twenty Arian ministers deprived of house aud home , than have one soul left iu fatal darkness . And glorious were the achievements which this spiritual benevolence had recently effected
;this love of souls , —the thin disguise of malignity and hypocrisy . Secret whisperings and barefaced calumny , —pulpit influence and the arm of secular power , — any weapons and all weapons , were employed in the holy warfare against ( not heterodoxy , but ) the heterodox . Dr . Drummoud then described the late transaction
at Greyabbey with an energy which must have awakened a kiudred indignation in every generous hearer : and after reading , to the evident satisfaction of the meeting , the assurance contained in the Postscript to the last number of the Monthly Repository , of the sympathy of the English Unitarians with their persecuted brethren , he concluded by moving the following resolution :
" That this Meeting , conscientiously believing Unitarianisrn to be the doctrine of the Gospel , regards the formation of a bond of union among its professors in this country as important to the iuterests of pure Christianity , and required by the religious exigencies of the times . "
A . Carmichahl , Esq ., seconded the resolution . There were , he said , two volumes of religious truth open before mankind , both equally clear in their intiinatiou . sand in perfecf harmony with each other , —the book of life and the book of nature . Let them be studied together ,
and they would prove reciprocal interpreters . Let the absurd notion be relinquished , that the creation can teach us little , and revelation nothing but mystery ; let the treasures of each be fairly searched , and from each would come forth the sublime truth of the Divine
Unity . Nor would those who should restore this doctrine to its supremacy confer a light blessing on mankind . It is a tenet which the Divine favour has ever followed , and to the worth of which
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even its enemies have borne a silent testimony . What are all their attempts to explain the Trinitarian theory , what their hypo static unions and metaphysical subtleties , but struggles to grope out of the darkness of their contradictory system , aud approximate to that luminous truth
whose light we are this day assembled to diffuse ? Convinced that nothing short of this truth , no modification of it , however ingenious , was supported by the sanction of Scripture or suited to the wants of man , Mr . C . cordiaily seconded the resolution .
Rev . James Armstrong said , that if the Society which was contemplated were to confine its efforts to the mere support of a speculative tenet , the good to be effected would be a poor return for the requisite expenditure of labour . Were it not that the doctrines which
Unitarians rejected seemed to be as pernicious in their influence as they are defective in their evidence , the moral world might offer a better sphere for exertion than the thorny fields of controversy . Rut the prevailing tenets of the day were iu his opinion subversive of the moral influence of the Gospel , by disconnecting the conduct of this life and the rewards
of another . He held in his hand a recognized standard of orthodoxy , which should be allowed to speak for itself . Mr . A . then read the delectable portion of the Westminster Confession of Faith in which the doctrine of Election and
Reprobation is uufolded , and quoted from the name high authority the assurance that the sins of the saints rather promote than endanger their final salvation . Was it possible to deny that here was a direct encouragement to breaches of the moral law of God ? Was this the Christian
doctrine according to godliness ? But perhaps he might be asked , had the fruits of this system corresponded with it » promise ? He thought they had . While Scotland was under the iufluence of a rational ministry , no people was more distinguished thau the Scotch for uniform
moral principle . Since the revival of rigid Calvinistic preaching amongst them , they had , he understood , fallen from their noble eminence ; and the records of crime in their country , once almost empty , now furnished much stern work to the hands of justice . And what had been the effect on the members and
general prosperity of the Christian church ? The better minds , who drank most deeply of the intellectual spirit of the age , were driven ( to use the words of the Prospectus ) from an unintelligible faith to a cheerless infidelity . History
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Intelligence . —Frisk Unitarian Christian Society . 349
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1830, page 349, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2584/page/61/
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