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Untitled Article
bably , refuse to read a brief statement of the doctrines really believed by those whom they have heard spoken against as unbelievers , and of the scriptural authority claimed for such doctrines by those whom they had been taught to consider as gainsayers and despisers of the Scriptures . Again , such statements will be found useful when you meet with persons who have been alienated from the very name of Christianity by the strange
and fearful representations of God and man contained in religious systems pretending to that name . You may prove to them that not all who have searched the Scriptures for their faith , have found the gloomy and repulsive doctrines on which they ground their objections—that not all have found their reason contradicted , and their feelings of humanity shocked , by what they received as revelation ; but that , on the contrary , there are many who have so learned Christ as to feel his gospel to be indeed glad tidings of great joy to all nations , and who " in the face of Christ , " have seen revealed a
milder and more attractive glory of God , than in even the most beautiful and benignant aspect of nature is ever displayed . You may put into their hands the writings of men and the histories of men whose minds have been filled with heavenly light , and hearts with holy and unconquerable love , and lives with the most amiable graces and virtues , by the wisdom which came to them from above through the pages of Scripture . And thus they may be brought to the conviction that true Christianity is a religion of hope and cheerfulness , of brotherly charity towards man , and inexhaustible peace and joy with respect to God .
In this way the members of the Book and Tract Society may derive from its stores the means of promoting the cause of genuine Christianity , so far as its evidences and doctrines are concerned . And from the same stores they may be supplied with means of promoting the practice of virtue , in the form of short treatises on the principal duties of religion , or exhortations breathing its persuasive spirit , or narratives exhibiting its great benefits and comforts . There are many who might be
urged in vain to read the Scriptures , but who will read with interest a story which enforces some scriptural truth . There are many too who would be offended by a direct remonstrance on their evil conduct , but who may be made their own reprovers by having their attention drawn to the history of others . It is only necessary for you to look through the catalogue of the Society , especially that part of it which contains the subjects of the Christian Tracts , to see bow much provision has been made for exhibiting the practical
value and power of religion . You may there find warnings for the thoughtless , advice and examples for the young , alarms for the sinner , encouragement for the penitent , comfort for the sick and dying . In short , on most , if not all , the subjects on which you would wish to awaken the serious thoughts of your fellow-men , you may there find words provided to which you have only to call their attention by the simple process of giving or lending them a tract .
Let me not omit to notice another class of works provided by the Societythe collections of prayers and religious meditations both for individuals and for families . Suppose , for instance , that one of the tracts , such as " Family Dialogues , or Sunday well spent , " or another entitled " The Happy Consequences of Family Religion , " should have awakened any where the
desire of practising private or domestic worship , but that an objection should be raised against commencing the practice on the mere difficulty of expressing the thoughts in words . You may meet this difficulty by offering at once a collection of prayers such as you may think best suited to the circumstances of the individual or family , advising , at the same time , that it be not
Untitled Article
392 Lancashire and Cheshire Booh and Tract Society ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 392, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/32/
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