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Untitled Article
of which are found by reflection in the heart of man , has been named the religion of reason ; but it is reason instructed with the truths with which the knowledge of man has been enriched by Jesus Christ : and he who , in doing homage to the religion of reason , should hold Christianity superfluous , would neglect the living tree which stands rich in blossom and fruit , to satisfy himself with what has been plucked from it , and lies separated and withered ; he would turn his back upon the clear and deep fountain , to draw out of a
derived , troubled , and thirsty stream . Mankind were first made fit to receive the heavenly influence in higher measure through Jesus Christ ; by him they were first assured of the great end of human existence ; and through the light and love issuing from him , they must advance to their perfection in the kingdom of God , when the earthly shall be dignified , the sensual purified , even the visible invested with increased beauty ; and the . whole life of man shall rise into full harmony with what is divine *
" When the faith of reason and the faith of revelation are opposed to one another , arguments of weight are produced on both sides . It may be shewn , according to these views , that they meet and coalesce into one , and thus a way is laid to put an end to the controversy . Since God makes himself known in our hearts , all religion is revealed , and since we receive his inspirations only in our reason , ( in that extended use of the word which includes the heart , and comprehends the powers of feeling and thought , ) all religion is derived from our reason . True religious belief is then at once the faith of revelation and the faith of reason ; the former when we consider its
source , the latter when we look at the instrument of its construction . Hence the believers in reason are wrong when they regard the soul as the creatrix of religious knowledge , and disown a divine revelation out of which the knowledge has grown ; and the believers in revelation are not less wrong when they impugn our reason as a teacher of errors , since what it teaches has been imparted to the heart of man by God , and in the dictates of reason we must recognize an interior revelation . But if it be said , that since we
have these already in ourselves , the revelation through Christ is superseded , it appears , on the contrary , that our reason has been matured to its present stature only through the aid of revelation , and that it is only by continuing in community with Christ that we attain to a divine life . The more intimately the rational advocates of religion maintain their connexion with this divine teacher , the more they will resolve all differences of opinion into
harmony , and collect on the truly Christian ground of love . It is the object of this treatise to assist the reconciliation and union , and it is the earnest wish of the writer , that his essay may receive the suffrage of the Christian reader only in proportion as it corresponds with the doctrine and spirit of Christianity . "
After perusing the preceding tract , it is difficult to deny that there are men who revere the authority of Christ as a divine instructor , without receiving that part of the gospel history which establishes its claim to be considered a divine revelation ; w ho , in the absence of a historical faith , retain much of practical and vital Christianity ; who acknowledge the proof of a
divine light solely in the light itself ; and who even believe as they profess , that they serve the cause of religion in general , and of Christianity in particular , by endeavouring to place its authority on ground independent of the supernatural facts which constitute a history of a revealed religion . ¦ ' J IT 1 »
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298 Letters from Germany .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1831, page 298, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2597/page/10/
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