On this page
-
Text (1)
-
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
away ( fee teaput mortumn , which is comirndrily mistaken for the essehcel T ?* at the ¥ rtbe 1 i < eVer fias hitherto been unable to iristitoie ^ fais firo ce s ^ < & the materials Aviife which his wanderings hate furiifeted tihb , fe at'&ifce' d jirbtif and a consequence of his having fallen into the sattieP error ^ ^ ith'tKe ^ pr ^ aidfie ^ who tiavemily taught him what Christiaiiity is ndt . Nbw Whis '^ ttme to rectify his deficiencies . If he will act upon tHe religious s % gfe ^ tibps § f ^ ;^ e preacher as readily as the preacher reasons from the principia of ink phijdsophy , ne may at length obtain an answer to his question ^ " What is
Christianity - }" This answer he must obtain from his own mind ; for it is one which no man can advance for another . The preacher himself can only detenhme for himself . He tnay teach tTie principles on which the investigation is to be pursued ; he may remove obstructions , clear up obscurities , declare his own convictions , and , above all , describe the invariable effects , the inseparable attributes of Christianity , and thus lead his flock to the apprehension
of the truth ; but he cannot apprehend it for them . He may strip the essential facta of the gospel frotn their accessory circtitnstahces , iso lhat the reasoning faculty way be undisturbed in its operation , and the result be predicted with moral certainty ; but ovetf the act of assent he has no c 6 ntrouli The power of drawing an inference is not transferable . If the Unbeliever , startled by finding his philosophic principles act ^ d upfbn , should set abbuV examining the facts of the revelation , arid drawing the necessary inferences , it is well . If not , at least it is wellto have leatnedth ^ t all
Christian teachers do not believe that the vitality of the gospel resides in . the apparel with which it is clothed , or even in the body Which it temporarily inhabits . The duty of the Christian teacher is to declare what he apprehends to be " the whole counsel of God ; ' * not bit by bit , at random ;—^ now a portion of doctrine , and now a piece of practical instruction , separated froni
the" fundamental principles on which all sound doctrine and good practice are founded ; but in the first place to ascertain those principles , then to announce them , and afterwards to assist his hearers in applying them to the rectification of their errors , to the reformation of their souls , to the guidance of their external , and the invigoration of their internal life * Let no man say that this is philosophizing too much on sacred matters , and mixing human wisdom too presumptuously with divine * Let him observe how divine
wisdom stands forth bright and clear when developed by these means . Let him estimate the difference of profit derived from the public reading of the Scriptures according to the different methods pursued . One preacher reads regularly a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New . They must be such as will stand alone ; and they must be , on the face of them * practical . His choice is necessarily very limited . His flock hear what they have heard a hundred times before , in the same manner , and with a view to
no ulterior purpose ; and the familiar words pass over the ear and are forgoftej ) . A teacher with different views , does not confine himself to chapters , or to one or two portions . He brings together passages from various departmfijQts of the sacred volume : passages whose connexion has never before perhaps been apparent to his hearers . New relations are discovered between various facts : many minor truths are combined in the support of a great one : light breaks in on the mind of the intelligent heairer , and a glimpse is' obtained of the grand principle which , it is the object of the subsequent discourse to set forth in completeness and beauty . That , by this
Untitled Article
530 Taylefs Setmon .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1830, page 530, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2587/page/26/
-