On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
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
the will of the Lord . ' "— " To a neighbour he said , ' I have not embraced a cunningly-devised fable ; my religion is a pleasing reality . I have preached the truth iu the integrity of my heart , and feel peace of conscience . * — ' Remember
( continued he ) it is not opinions that will save you or me , but holiness of heart and life . On impressions and raptures I place but little confidence , compared with that solid peace my mind feels from the word of God . This forms with me the sunshine of the day ; whilst
rapture , like the comet , blazes for a moment , ture , like the comet , blazes for a moment , and then disappears . *"— Having commended his soul to God in fervent prayer , this blessed man serenely breathed his happy spirit into the hands of Him who gave it . "
Untitled Article
change same of their knowledge for a larger portion of zeal . A change is , we know , going forward , and forward it must and will go—a change in the exertions of ministers , and what we deem of paramount importance , a change in
among the laity . Let them once come to esteem those ministers most who labour most as ministers—who seek every opportunity of conveying the gospel to their fellx > w-men , and foster every promising effort to extend the dominion of truth and piety ; and then we shall see ministers no longer limiting their ministrations to some century or two of people , perhaps to a few scanty scores .
the requirements of the people . It is a fact , an unfortunate , a dishonourable fact , that too frequently those follow who ought to lead public opinion , and thus ministers are in many cases found to need urging rather than to urge . Before all things , then , we thiuk it important to raise the tone of requirement
The controversy at Devon port has waxed somewhat warm . Mr . Gibbs and his friends ( and rejoiced are we to find those friends in the working-class ) have conducted it on the Unitarian side with admirable effect . In this case , as in many others , our opponents prefer to
shift the argument from the evidence of Scripture to the merits of individuals . The stale misrepresentations made by Magee and Pye Smith of the views of Priestley and Belsham , &c , are served up to the people of Devon port as new and unheard-of monstrosities . But Mr .
Gibbs is too well read to allow such pretences to pass current . The following are given as the sentiments of Belsham , and labour is spent to shew how disgraceful they are to Unitarianism : " Jesus might imagine what never existed , aud might not be able to dietin
guish whether what he saw and heard was visionary or real . " Now hear Mr . Gibbs : " The passage from which the above words are culled , is as follows : * Mr . John Palmer supposes that our Lord , while he was in the wilderness , was favoured with divine
communications , during which he was completely secluded from all connexion with the external world , aud , like St . Paul , ( 2 Cor . xii . y ) he might imagine himself transported into heaven , and not be able to distinguish whether what he saw aud heard was visionary or real . And Mr . Palmer thought that when Jesus spoke of himself as having been in heaveu , and as coming down from heaven , it wu * iti allusion to this divine vision . ' Now , what will the candid reader say , when
Untitled Article
Critical Notices . —Theological . 119
Untitled Article
Art . III . —A Fifth and Sixth Letter to the Youngs People of £ > evon port , being a Vindication of Unitarians and Unitarianism . By Sylvamis Gibbs . We heartily wish that , not Sylvanus Gibbs himself , but his spirit , was in eveiy town of the United Kingdom . In every town ? Yes . What ! where
Unitarian societies already exist ? Yes ; Scarcely is there one in which Sylvanus Gibbs might not find a sphere for the employment of his talents ; a sphere in which a man of his spirit is needed ; a sphere among those whom the ministrations of our ministers , partly through necessity , partly through custom , partly through neglect , leave unapproached ;
we mean the people—the working classes . If the wish above expressed was realized , results , in most towns , would , in all probability , display themselves similar to those which have taken place at Devouport . There , " during the last ten years , " ** upwards of two hundred persons have united themselves in
Unitarian Christian worship , and many more are now desirous of taking sittings in the chapel , who cannot be accommodated . " We have both heard and read something designed to discountenance the preaching of ministers who have not received a collegiate education . Let those who have ho said or written look at
Devonport . For ourselves we are not scrupulous who does good so that good be done , and we measure a man's merits rather by the ardour of his beneficence than the colour of his coat . We know too well the value of learning to say one word against it > hut there are things better even than learning , and willingly would we see some of our ministers ex-
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1831, page 119, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2594/page/47/
-