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Untitled Article
sect ( in the sense of Humanitarian ) , but they have worn out . Unitarianism is becoming as opposed to Sectarianism as it is to Tynitarianism . To worship , lov * r , and serve the one God the Father , through Jesus Christ , is increasingly found to be sufficient for the union of intelligent and good men , for tneir edification by social prayer in the church , and for their usefulness by hearty co-operation in the world *
The larger part of this book consists of a collection of all the passages from the New Testament , ( with the exception of the Apocalypse , ) which , in the judgment of the writer , bear upon the question concerning the nature of Christ . They are placed in the order in which they occur , and unaccompanied by any commentary . The introduction and the conclusion ,
consisting together of about forty pages , contain all the remarks which are deemed necessary . They are so generally excellent , that we could willingly transcribe the whole , did our limits allow . The right of individual appeal to the Scriptures , and the plan on which that appeal is made in the present case , are thus vindicated : .
" But no Christian—no Protestant Christian , regulates , or at least ought to regulate , his faith by any thipg but what appears to him to be really taught in Scripture . To human reason , the noblest gift of our heavenly Father , are submitted the proofs of our Scripture ' s authenticity—its claim to being received as the word of God ; and to human reason also must be submitted the interpretation of its meaning . The deepest scholar , when he
has examined the original words of any passage of Scripture , and clothed it in corresponding words of his own native tongue , is a better judge of its meaning than a man of natural good sense , who knows no language but his own , only in as far as he may have compared that passage with others in the original versions , relating * to a similar subject . Put a translation of the passage in question , and translations of those related to it , under the consideration of the unlearned man of sense , and he becomes as competent a judge
of ita meaning as the scholar . There is no honest way of establishing any religious doctrine but setting before the mind those passages of Holy Writ in which they are taught , or have been supposed to be taught . Now , the
most liberal and judicious clergyman , in preaching upon such subjects , can only support the doctrine which he advocates by a partial production of scripture evidence , and can scarcely be supposed to offer to his audience the opinions of an unbiassed mind . In proportion to the importance of a doctrine , it is required that the whole scriptural passages regarding it should be given to the consideration of the sincere Christian ; and if he be really sincere , the tediousness and monotony of the task will not deter him from undertaking it , and going through it thoroughly . Indeed , there is no other way of coming to clear and satisfactory conclusions . To farm decided opinions on particular insulated portions of any work , without regarding their agreement ; with the plain general tenour of the whole , would be unwise and unfair $ but jnore especially so , should that work , like our Sacred Writ , abound in metaphorical expressions . "—Pp , 2—4 .
Untitled Article
506 Joanna Baillie on the Nature and Dignity of Christ .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1831, page 506, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2600/page/2/
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