On this page

• Text (1)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• 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

    special but inexplicable sense ; if we substitute any other word , we must equally remember that it is the sign of an idea , never possessed by any human mind , and is to us an unmeaning sound , or only reminds us at most of the existence of a mystery which we can never hope to penetrate . All this of a doctrine of revelation , a doctrine revealed , i . e . made known . What made known ? Is it the necessity of using a certain form of words ? Even

    thus the principal orthodox terms are not Scriptural—but no ! prescription of words is not revelation . There must be something for the understanding to embrace , and by meditation on which the practical benefits of truth or knowledge may be obtained . It is senseless to talk of that being revealed , which does not even remain unintelligible , but in respect to which we are obliged to substitute language which excites inconsistent and utterly irreconcilable ideas for the confession of ignorance . It is vain to refer us to

    the mysteries of Nature and Providence , and the incomprehensibility of all the Divine perfections . We are , indeed , blind and feeble-minded , and it would be stfange if finite beings could fully comprehend the attributes or works of Him who is infinite ; but on all these subjects what we think that we know is intelligible and practically useful , what remains mysterious is so confessedly , and does not mock us with the pretence of being revealed in language which is either unmeaning or contradictory . It cannot then be thousrht unreasonable to insist that there is a strong

    antecedent improbability attending the doctrine of the Trinity . For our own parts , so completely are we convinced of the sufficiency of the evidence for the Jewish and Christian revelations , and so deeply are we impressed with a sense of the importance of these dispensations to mankind , that whatever is proved from the records to be a genuine part of them we will submissively receive , and if we cannot understand it , we will believe that our profession of it is to do some good ; but we neither can nor ought to resist the feeling that peculiarly strong and clear evidence is necessary to support a doctrine

    such as this : nor , if persons who were fully satisfied that no trace of it is to be found in the records of the Divine communications have spoken of its absurdity and utter impossibility , can such' language with any appearance of justice be attributed to impiety or contempt of revelation . We do not , however , justify such language ; what we have said has been merely in reply to Dr . Smith's attempt to set aside all antecedent improbability . We

    are persuaded that Unitarian Christians act most wisely in meeting the question simply as a Scriptural question . Other views of the subject may appear to them very striking , but they acknowledge the Sacred Records as the guides of their faith , and , firmly convinced that the Trinity is not taught or implied in them , they are anxious , in the first place , fairly and candidly to discuss that point with those who maintain the contrary position .

    ihe next passage upon which we feel ourselves compelled to remark , and which is an example of the treatment Mr . Belsham uniformly receives from Dr . Smith , is the note ( A ) to Chapter III . which we must quote at length ; " No writer can be more prompt to appeal to the original text than the author of the Calm Inquiry ; and for this , when reason and truth warrant the appeal , let him be commended . But a case happens in which the error of the

    Authorized Version affords a semblance of support to the Unitarian cause : and then he can argue from the very inaccuracy of the translation , with as comfortable a confidence as could be felt by the most illiterate of those laypreachers , upon whom , on another occasion , he has poured unsparing contempt . ( See a Letter to JLord Sidmoiith , by the Rev . 1 koama Bclaliam , J 811 . ) This case is one in which , with' a view to neutralize the passage , * In him divelJeth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily / ( Col . ii . 9 , ) he brings an

    Untitled Article

    Dr . J . P . Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah . 5

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1831, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2593/page/5/