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beautiful'harnkony that ^ ub sists J > etween the works ¦ '¦ , &nd : ' , ' $ * e ? wpri . of God " ; and to apply the pure spirit of tVe ifilpipelvinI the ^^^ f ^ - ' ^^ J- ^ re of truth , liberty , ^ and ^ righteousness , to Ui ^ improVettiLent-o £ ^^ lyrduais ^ t ^ e guidance of-puhXic | p ^ iaion , and the reformation of social usages and institutions . " —Pp . 20—^ 24 * , ¦ -.. ¦ : ... ¦ •> * . ' » t f - ; n e > , ^ ., _ , ,-. .-. .. ¦ , •'•» ' ' ¦ , +--, -i / -. -f ,. r .. ¦ .- ' . * t ' — - . ' ' " . of
, , . A cjistir ^ et concepti on w hat Christianity reattly i $ , ^ the first Requisite for ttfcevyorfe of developing its two pre-eiqineint proojjs j . yiz . the one dejriVed from its iniraculows -dngi % and the other frc ^ in ite . a ^ pl ^ tion to ' oiir moral wants , and its striking coincidence with aJl the moT § prpn ( ijpent indications and analogies of oar moral being . . In order to obtain this conception , the and analogies of oar moral being . , In order to obtain this conception , the
freest investigation of the historical sources of the revelation , and the fullest partici p ation in . 'its " spirit-, are ne ^ essaty . { . The labburs of the ^^ bibjicja ) : critic , which are too often made to supersede those of the preacher , ought always to be considered subsidiary to them . The second oE , the grand proofs or the truth of Christianity resides in the
heart of every sman , and needs Done of the resources of biblical learning to bring it to light , though such aid may confirm and extend the evidence in a very important degree . The office of-the student is to uncover the springs . of truth , it is for the relig ious , teacher to open the sluices arid shed abroad the streams of living waters . Let them but be pure , and no thirsty soul will long refuse to drink . . "When we charge indivaduals with an alienation from religion , we should ask ourselves , " whe ' tlier " it be not ; , in some cases , only an alienation from the
manner and the spirit in which religion is too often inculcated . They feel estranged from discussions which seem to terminate in nothing conclusive , and in w ^ ticli the very terms most frequently in use have never been clearly defined . Their understandings are bewildered , and their hearts are not soothec * and satisfied . They feel the want of that moral grandeur and pathos , at which the soul of . man relents ;—they find not in their teachers that illumination of the heart which intuitively discerns the wants , the weaknesses , and the woes
of a fellow-being" , and imparts its consolations with a tenderness and a discrimination which no pride or sophistry can resist . Instead of acquiescing in the great general principles of the Christian dispensation , and practically applying them to the actual condition of mankind , Christians have been unprqfitabjy busy in framing out of the Scriptures a minute and accurately denned system of faith , to which every one ' s conscience was to be compelled to coiiform , and to which every text in the Bible , every incident , illustration , and allusioti in the Evangelical history , must be maae to Contribute a direct
and positive testimony . Hence the hardness , the artificial precision , and ' generally unsatisfactory character , of all theological systems . ' As no form of Christianity has vet appeared , against which some passages might not be adduced from the Scriptures , which it would be difficult , in our present state of knowledge , to reconcile satisfactorily with the distinguishing articles * of its creed , the obvious inference Ls , that we should cultivate a spiriVujot , indeed of indifference , but of caution and charity ; and , following honestly what is plain and clear in the instructions of the New Testament , should leave iu ( the j
obscurity in which we find' them those texts , and there are mdn ye ueh » winch history aih'd criticism have not yet furnished the means of * -completely ?« lticidating . * ' ¦ < ( ' - ' -11 - : * - * ¦ »/ r > i >» ' /^ -fV-.-: - "Happily the vital spirit of Christianity is affected by none of these difficulties . The light of Go > dV truth , having once been kittdled'inftl > e > world , cannot be extinguished by the partial obscurities of books . ; TOheigreafr doctrines of a merciful Creator , a paternal providence , the universal brotberhood of the human race , the necessity of holiness to divine acceptance and heavenly
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Tnyler * s Sermon * 533
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1830, page 533, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2587/page/29/
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