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trine , injurious to the moral character of the greatest and beat of Brings .,: jp > r . pride says ' , * that . Christ not only-declared but obtained the . availableness of repentance to . pardon . I do not understand the atonement in this ssriae * . 1 look upon Christ upon the cross , as the iXas-yPM or mercy-seat , Jn 9 by * and
through which God dispensed to mankind , the forgiveness of sips ; that is , the death and sufferings of Christ were the appointed means foj * conveying to mankind the pardon of sin . I do not know whether you will be able fully to comprehend niy meaning on this subject , which I consider as . one of the most
important doctrines of the Christian revelation * I have given you my thoughts in a very hasty and cursory manner , but shall be happy to discuss this subject with you more at large when time per ^ raits . That the God of truth may lead you and all of us into the truth as it is in Jesus , is the sincere prayer of Your very faithful servant , J . HAMMONIX
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On Dr . Wkately's Thoughts on the Subbath . To the Editor . Sir , As an advocate of human enlightenment and unsophisticated truth , addressing advocates of the same glorious principles , I beg to call the attention of yourself and your readers to a little tract which may well claim attentive perusal from all religionists , and from none more than from Unitarians . I allude to
Dr . Whately ' s ¦ " Thoughts on the Sabbath . " This little pamphlet does so much more clearly than even himself notices , place the subject of Sabbatical observances in its proper light , that I deeply regret to find Unitarians thus anticipated in so important a discussion . However , let no man , particularly let no lover of truth , forget the noble maxim , Fas eat et ab haste doceri : let no
professor of religion , at least among Unitarians , cease to drink deeply into the spirit of those emphatic words of your Watchman , " Let creeds be purified ; let liberty prevail 5 let the gospel be preached in purity and in power ; and we thank him heartily who is the minister of God's goodness , by whatever name he is known to men . "
Dr . Whately is a man who , as a logician as well as a theologian , and indeed as a man of no ordinary acumen and versatility of talent , may insure attention to his publications . I by no means wish
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to imply that any great name whatever should . affect the balance of truth ; but merely that the clearer a man ' s head has been proved to be , the clearer it must be that he is likely to repay attention . Excuse the triteness of the remark , that we are apt to } ud # e of others' minds by our own . On this , the best ground
of presumption that I possess , I build my persuasion that no unprejudiced reader can rise from the perusal of the above tract , without a conviction , not only that the hebdomadal observance , by disciples of Jesus , of a Sabbath , has never yet been ¦ " placed on its true foundation j" but that , by that touchstone to which all pretensions on religious topics
must be brought , it is proved to have no foundation at all . Or . W . asserts and proves that in the whole Bible no believer in Jesus can find any ground to maintain the pre-eminent sanctity of one day . of the seven . He rests the authority for Sabbatical observances solely upon the power of the church to frame for itself any new institutions which it
may at any time deem expedient . Of course he takes for granted that the true church , that church on which the power was " bestowed by Christ himself , " is ( proh pudor !) the Church of England . But though it were granted that he or any man can decide which is the True Church , he quite fails to demonstrate the bequeath meat of this boasted power * He boldly asserts , ( p . 21 , ) but without a shadow of proof , that the church
eujoys unlimited power to set apart Christmas-days and a mass of other massdays ; and , in the next page , he so amusingly qualifies his assertion with ** He mttst surelyy" &c ., and so forci ^ bly modifies it by " provided nothing be done contrary to God ' s word , " that , to adopt his own words , " he is not merely making an unnecessary and useless addition , but he is nullifying the very obligation which he seeks to enhance . "
In his concluding paragraph he says most appositely , " As for the authorities of able and learned , but uninspired divine s ^ I am myself inclined to attach the less weight to them in the present case from tl > e character of the question itself . " Must not every Protestant Dissenter most
cordially sympathize in this sentiment ? The fundamental principle of Nonconformity is , that human authority is valueless , is worse than valueless , is by all means to be disregarded and resisted in matters of religion . In my opinion every honest Dissenter must be led by arguments so lucid as those of , this
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Miscellaneous Correspondence , 7 &J
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1831, page 787, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2603/page/63/
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