On this page
-
Text (1)
-
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 Dissenter relinquishes no portion of his power over the church so long as the church remains the creature of the state , and its Prayer-book is only a long Act of Parliament . The condition may be a degrading one ; but it is the church ' s choice . American Episcopacy may reform itself ,
and has reformed itself . That is a free church . The example of a manly Nonconformity is the most likely way to lead others to the enjoyment of spiritual liberty . Let all those in the church who demur to the doctrine of the Trinity , dissent from the church , and the articles and liturgy would not long remain as they are . It is only because practical conformity mitigates the evils and varnishes the character of an exclusive creed , that the age of
liberality , simplicity , and comprehension is postponed . It is evidently from no want of conscientiousness or firmness that Joanna Baillie puts forth this apology . We regret , but are not surprised , at the view she takes of this subject . We trust that it will yet undergo reconsideration in her enlightened and pious mind . Meanwhile we rejoice in
the fresh illustration she has afforded of the affinity between the pure gospel of Christ , and the workings of an intellectual and poetical nature . We bid her welcome to the family which had Milton among its sons , and Barbauld among its daughters . To our ears their voices seem to invite her out of that ecclesiastical pale within which they could not exist :
" Hark ! they whisper ; angels say , Sister spirit , come away !" But she must interpret for herself . And whatever diversity may continue to exist between bur own views and hers , we would apply to it those just and beautiful remarks of her own , in which we most unreservedly and heartily coincide .
" Above all , I hope that a serious perusal of the preceding extracts will incline the reader , what conclusion soever he may draw from them , to feel charitably towards all who differ from him in opinion ; knowing that piety to Almighty God , and gratitude to his Messiah , with the generous impulses and virtuous actions naturally flowing from such sentiments , belong
exclusively to no sect . Had unity of faith been necessary , we must suppose that God , by the operation of his holy spirit , would have bestowed such unity on sincere Christians . It will be the good intention and sincerity with which we examine Scripture , not the result of that examination , for which we shall be -called to account . "
Untitled Article
516 Joanna Baillie on the Nature and Dignity of Christ .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1831, page 516, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2600/page/12/
-