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sort of question as that you have been discussing . ' This practical disposition Had become a principle in him . ' The religion which comes from above , ' he wrote , < though founded on doctrines , is not so much a system of opinions bound tog-ether under the form " which we call a system , as the renewal of the heart and newness of life . '
f Kits Eelhou-ght . thait the only true way of judging of our knowledge is to consider its effects , and to see what experimental and efficacious fruit it-has produced . Though bent on occupying himself chiefly with the religion of the heart , he did not confine his religion to emotion and contemplative ecstasies . He wished that faith should show itself outwardly by its fruits ,, and then only did it appear to him perfect . Far from resembling those who * in order to frequent religious meetings , suspend their occupations , or dispense with the fulfilment of certain duties , he considered belief as a powerful motive for the faithful discharge of the whole moral lavy . - ¦ ' A Christian never ought to riiake his own spirituality an excuse for neglecting the smallest duties ; if he be only a > poor shoe-black , he ' ought to be the best in the parish . '
It may be supposed from this that Newton cared little about making- war against those _ flogmas "which h § did-not adopt . He was too much occupied With the care of his own spirit , and too great a friend to practice to pay much attention to theological quarrels . Though attached to a very rigid system , and though iri his eyes the Unitarian could not be safe , he finds great fault with polemics .
Although truly devout , Newton ' s character is too elevated for the iniitation of those rigid and passionate spirits which are not content unless others , travel exactly the same path with themselves , and- shut -their eyes to the Faults ~ of their own people , while / uiey are ever open to those of other men . He seems to see with-¦ qut partiality the actual state of things , and dealsrrwith it simply ? 'as -if frankness and ' impartiality were with him matters of course . He believes that we may all arrive at truth by different paths ; that some are suddenly called , while others remain long on the road ; he allows that in this , as in all other matters , there are degrees , and that the experienced Christian does not see things exactly in the same light with him who but yesterday turned to the gospel ; he belie > ie ^ . thll . t .-aelfalave ~ , o-ften- enacts the part of . meritorious zeal for the cause of God . * Self-righteousness , says he , ' may find food in doctrines as well as works ; a man may have the heart of a Pharisee , while his head is full of orthodox notions of the worthlessness of the creature and th& riches of free grace /* * There are those who are perpetually seeking uppoHunitieS ) who , Without attending to what they have to do in the
* Omicmt , vol . i , pp . 216 . 217 *
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ME LATE REV . JOHN NEWTON . 291
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 291, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/3/
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