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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.
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land there was only one bishop to one , two , or three hundred churches . The Rev . Gentleman then / proceeded to argue that the word bishop in the New Testament only meant elder , and that it had been translated * bishop' by priests of the Church of flng-land . who were _ anxiQ , us-J ; o . ~ cQn ^ ceal that bishops and elders were the same in the primitive ages of the
church . The Chairman said he loved Unitarian Christianity , not only on account of the convictions to which ifc led in freeing men from the trammels of orthodoxy ; but also because
it was the spirit of liberty , giving full scope to the exertions of the human intellect . He called upon them to extend the fight hand of fellowsnip to a stranger then present , who had exercised this inalienable
Christian privilege , and performed this Christian duty . Mr . M'Kee , who had been educated at the Belfast College * and who } in consequence of the discussions which had . taken place , had been led to inquire into the / doc trines of what was deemed
orthodoxy , and in consequence to come to convictions which he was prepared to avow , convictions which he ( the Chairman ) believed were not very dissimilar to Unitarianism . Mr . M'Kee said that in this novel and interesting scene , novel to him who had never seen any thing like it
before , interesting as bringing together so many gratuitous labourers to cheer each other in the good work of imparting useful instruction to their poorer brethren , he breathed as it were a purer air than when , with a mind tinctured with the gloomy views of religion promulgated byCalvin , he had found himself on various
occasions surrounded by those who could only give the right hand of fellowship to men whose religious views accorded witji their ^ own . Those only could feel the pleasure he did who had been accustomed , like him , in the early part of life , not to contemplate the Almighty as a
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being of infinite mercy and love , but to look upon him * as a cruel , angry tyrant , ready to unsheathe the sword of his vengeance against the whole human race . Emancipated as was his mind from the trammels of an hereditary creed , to examine the ^ Gor-Fectness-of-which ^ was ^ COTrsideTM by many as an act of profanity , he hoped he should always be able , by
his character and conduct , to repel the charge which was too frequently brought against young men in his situation , that the change in his sentiments had arisen , not from due conviction and purity of motive , but from a desire of being thought singular , combined with laxity of morals and depravity "of heart . Were not the evening so far spent , he would have -entered more at large on the
reasons why he was no longer connected with the body called the Synod of Ulster . Mr . M * Kee concluded by an able argument in advocacy ojTthe right of free inquiry and individual private judgment in matters-of religion ; and expressed his hope that , however men might differ in opinion , they would be ever ready to extend to each other the right hand of fellowship .
The Chairman said there was a gentleman present with whom he felt more than an ordinary sympathy , because they were engaged in a similar work , He was a labourer , and so far a very succe ^ furon ' eV ' inthe arduous yet most delightful task of raising an independent Unitarian congregation . He ( the Chairman )
was desirous that those present should take this opportunity of expressing their sympathy towards the Rev . Noah Jones , not only on account of the late affliction which he had suffered , and in which many had taken a deep interest , but also on account of that work in which he was so laudably and usefully engaged . He would therefore propose their good wishes to the cause of Unitarian Christianity at Northampton . The Rev . Noah Jongs . — . Mr .
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CORRESPONDENCE . 313
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 313, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/25/
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