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    attributed to them , only from previous conduct and disposition ; and therefore how it is possible that each may , in certain supposable cases , become the subject of praise or dispraise ; and certain it is , that if some men have rejected Christianity under the

    influence of degrading passions , others have received it under the influence of passions as degrading . There have been not only infidels , but converts , from the bias of worldly-mindedness , base servility , and the hope of impunity after death , for a life of vicious indulgence ,

    • According to these views , opinions cannot be laid down as unerring and immutable signs of virtue and vice . The very same opinion may be virtuous in one man and vicious in another , supposing it , as is very possible , to have originated in different states of mind . For example , if through envy and malignity I should rashly seize on the slightest proofs of guilt in my neighbour , my judgment of his

    criminality would he morally wrong . Let another man arrive at the same conclusion , in consequence of impartial inquiry and love of truth , and his decision would be morally right . Still more , according to these views , it is possible for the belief of Christianity to be as criminal as unbelief . Undoubtedly the reception of a system , so pure in spirit and tendency as the gospel , is to be regarded in general as a favourable sign . But let a man adopt this religion , because it will

    serve his interest and popularity ; let him shut his mind against objections to it , lest they should shake his faith in a gainful system ; let him tamper with his intellect , and for base and selfish ends exhaust its strength in defence of the prevalent faith , and he is just as criminal in believing , as another would be in rejecting Christianity under the

    same bad impulses . Our religion is at this moment adopted and passionately defended by vast multitudes , on the ground of the very same pride , worldliness , love of popularity , and blind devotion to hereditary prejudices , which led the Jews and heathens to reject it in the primitive age ; and the faith of the first is as wanting in virtue as was the infidelity of the last .

    * To judge of the character of faith and unbelief , we must examine the times and the circumstances in which they exist . At the first preaching of the Gospel , to believe in Christ was a strong proof of an upright mind ; to enlist among his followers , was to forsake ease , honour , and worldly success ; to confess him was an act of signal loyalty to truth , virtue , and God . To believe in Christ at the present moment has no such significance . To confess him argues no moral

    courage . It may even betray a servility and worldliness of mind . These remarks apply in their spirit to unbelief . At different periods , and in different conditions of society , unbelief may express very different states of mind . Before we pronounce it a crime , and doom it to perdition , we ought to know the circumstances under which it

    ha 8 sprung up , and to inquire with candour whether they afford no palliation or defence . When Jesus Christ was on earth , when his miracles were wrought "before men ' eyes , when his voice sounded in their ears , when not a shade of doubt could be thrown over the reality of his supernatural works , and not a human corruption had mingled with his doctrine , there was the strongest presumption

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    Ckanning ' s Sermons * 133

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1833, page 133, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2608/page/65/