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Untitled Article
shall belieye on its own authority what it says , but it will not be our personal experience . Let us take another example—the subject is worth the trouble . When we behold our Saviour in the gospel history , acting , speaking , dying , displaying every where a goodness , power , and holiness above alt our conceptions , we are struck with this perfect
~ uTTi ^~ 6 T " WpeTlruT ^ recognise the Son of God , the express image of his Father—so far we feel . But supposing we want further light , suppose we wish to learn who is meant by that Logos whom our translators call the Word , and its connexion with the Deity before the terrestrial existence of Christ , we must then take leave of our human experience , and enter upon inquiries to which the gospel will reply only when subjected to the examination of criticism .
Thus there are two things which we are not to confound : the impression which religious objects produce on our souls , the result of our personal experience , what we find in our own hearts on one hand ; on the other , the analysis of religious objects , their precise definition , that which is exterior—learning and theology . The experimental mode-leads to religion-and faith , but it cannot properly do any thing for theology . Take the critical road , reason ,
exa rri ine extern at facts , you will h a ve pro BabiJ ities an d a ¦ rgiiEfre-nts to induce you to believe ; but you will not have belief . Follow the practical path wholly , you will attain to faith , but it will be a faith without a precise form , vague and made up of sentiment . What it involves of theory you will have received from your imagination , your books , your friends , the remembrances of your childhood , or the tendency of your faculties , or the circumstances
of your life ; it will be an imperfectly wrought and erroneous work . Jn order to proceed safely , knowledge must go hand in hand with practice . The former opens the way , shows you the Bible , what it is , and what its authenticity , gives you the key of languages , and settles tfeetext . The results , however , are . barren and cold . You call in experience , and soon the elements are
breathed on by the breath of heaven , the seed germinates and brings forth fruit . Newton followed the contrary method : he thought of knowledge too la ^ e ; he regarded it always as a thing of trifling consequence ; for when writing to a theological student , for whom he traces out a plan of studies in which logic is not ornittedv he says not a word of exegetical and critical study .- Such an omission explains sufficiently what was defective in his theology . F . FoNTANJilS .
Untitled Article
298 . REMARKS ON . THE RELIGIOUS WRITINGS , &C .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 298, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/10/
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