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terns * prevailing amongst us are erroueous , and the numerous professors of them blind and superstitious idolaters , in paying supreme adoration to a creature as well as the Creator . " i The preacher very strongly expresses iiis judgment against indifference to the truth , p . 7 : * ' What is more common than to hear
it maintained , that all religions are good — -that all proceed from the same benigu author—that the shades of difference are but trifling ; and that if we are honest and just in our dealings , it matters not to which of the various forms we attach ourselves ? And will it be contended , that those forms of religion , of which God is not the author , are to be held in comparison with the one that he revealed , and that it matters not which we choose ? And are we to be told that the
shades of difference are but slight between truth and falsehood , betweeu the revelation of the God of Truth , and the wild speculations of the human mind , or the i id pious suggestions of the Father of lies ? And that , whether we
believe the one or the other , it matters not , provided we are honest among ourselves ? May Heaven , in its mercy , forbid , my brethren , that we should ever utter such atrocious blasphemy , or ever yield assent to it when thoughtlessly uttered by others . "
" The important point which yet remains to be examined is , whether the Catholic church cart give sufficient evidence to inspire a reasonable man with moral certainty of the truth that she delivers . "—P . 14 . The preacher thus proceeds to cor rect certain errors which commonly prevail among Protestants with regard to this article of Catholic faith .
* It is generally imagined that we hold the Pope to be individually infallible ; it is often thought that the bishops even , and the priests also , claim this special prerogative , and arrogate to themselves the right of enforcing among their flocks whatever doctrines they please . "
These , the more vulgar errors , he does not attribute to enlightened persons ; but the rest it seems , according to this Catholic advocate , are in error ; and perhaps some of our readers may be a little sceptical as to the universal reception among Catholics of the following representation of the tenets of the Komi si j church-, p . 15 :
" We do not believe the Pope to be individually infallible ; we do not believe that the bishops arc infallible , and
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much less do we imagine that any of the inferior clergy are so . We do not believe that in decreeing points of mere discipline the church itself ev § en is infallible ; they are points that must always vary according to times and circumstances ; and such decrees enacted by one council may , according to times and circumstances , of course be abrogated by
another . We do not moreover admit that the church itself , in any circumstances whatever , has the power to enact uew articles of doctrine , or such as have not been uniformly taught and believed from time immemorial throughout the Christian world . The province of the church 9 in ^ the solemn exercise of its infallible prerogative , is merely
declaratory ; it is not to invent new articles of doctriiie , it is not to propound any new revelation ; it is merely to determine , with morally infallible certainty , what has been the constant and universal belief of the Christian world , in all preceding ages ,, back to the time of the apostles ; and the means that are adopted foivthat purpose , my brethren , are competent to secure the end . "
We apprehend it can be distinctly made out , with as infallible a certainty as the Catholic church can possibly possess , that the belief of the Christian world , from the time of the apostles , has not been constant and invariable ,
but that almost every successive age hasbeen characterized by some peculiarity of discipline or some addition of doctrinal sentiment ; while it is true that a few principles have indeed been recognized in every age and by every denomination . If it be contended that this is
Christianity , we do not demur , for this is Unitarianism . The preacher contends that his doctrine of the Infallibility of Christ ' s Church is most powerfully confirmed by not fewer than thirty distinct passages of Scripture .
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Aut . VI . —Inquiry what is the One Time Faith , and whether it is professed by all Christian Sects ; with an Exposition of the whole Scheme of the Christian Covenant , in a Scriptural Examination of the most important of their several Doctrines . London , 1829 .
The writer of this work , which shews indications of some learning and very considerable diligence and research , although the form in which the results arc presented is not one , we fear , which is particularly fitted to attract the atten-
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628 Critical Notices . — Theological
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1830, page 628, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2588/page/44/
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