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power which rules the world , was re-awakened in his heart—terror struck at the thought of shipwreck , he exclaimed suddenly , and almost without a thought , * Lord have mer ^ y upon us ! ' The storm subsided , and he remained convinced that he owed his deliverance to Heaven . Then the wish to believe came into his heart , and he took up a New Testament . One passage struck ifimTnucH- ^ Tl ; waTTn"is"T ^ "lT'ye 7 ~ l > e 1 ng evll 7 inloir ~ lTbw To give good gifts to your children , how much more shall your heavenly
Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him , ' Luke xi . 13 . Upon this passage he reasoned thus : * If this book be true , this promise is so too , and I shall receive the spirit of God , if I ask for it . ' Further on he remarked these words ^ ' If any man will do his will , he shall know of the doctrine , whether it be of God , or whether I speak of myself . ' From this he concluded , that though he could not say in his heart that he believed the gospel , he ought nevertheless , for the moment , to regard it as" true , and that if it were really so , he should receive more and more confirmatien of thafrtruth in studying it under this point of view *
Such was his course—it was a rational one . Christianity is given as a moral remedy , adapted to save our souls from sin . What shall be done in order to convince ourselves of this fact ? Reflection shows tljat-. its qualities are competent to produce these effects , and _ authorizes us to conclude that it can and ought to work the cure of the soul ; but-this speculative result is not faith : reasoning will not confer the reality . Since the question relates to a fact mainly dependent on ourselves , we ourselves may
verify it . We have only to submit to the influence of Christianity , in order to have experience of what it can do for us . Now , in order to do this , it is necessary to receive it as communicated by its author , and consequently to seek it in the Scriptures themselves ; in the discourses of our Saviour , in his life , and in the teachings and writings of the Apostles , As we want to know the effect of this religion on the heart , we must not read the ( jrospel in that spirit of discussion which generally ... hinders us fmm feeling its truths . We ought to listen to Jesus , as docile disciples , as men
who give themselves up to the impression of what they hear . We open our hearts to his words , we are touched by his promises as by realities , we judge ourselves by his rules . We must get above the influence of the senses and the understanding , and all secondary sources of knowledge : we must also surmount our prejudices , even those . we most dearly prize . We imust -elevate our thoughts to the world of spirits , address the supreme God and listen to his voice . He speaks to our souls , transmitting the primary truths of reason and conscience ; he makes them outweigh the limited notions derived from sense and calculation ! It is in
mysterious communion that the will makes its appeal to the imperishable things of the spirit , and consults its God ; and here it is that man receives his answer on the subject of the truth of the
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296 REMARKS ON THE RELIGIOUS WRITINGS OF
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 296, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/8/
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