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any thing triat opposes or condemns them . By this means they are converted into prejudices , those pernicious weeds of the mind , that choak every fair plant of reason and truth ; and as religious prejudices are of all others the most inveterate and incurable , men are disposed to regard religious m-atters as in themselves so sacred ,
that , whenever attempts are made to Temove any mistake that bears this hallowed stamp , they instantly lake the alarm , as if" their clearest and most valuable interests were in danger ot being torn fiom them . They cannot patiently hear any of their religious tenets treated as erroneous , much less
calmly attend to or consider maturely and impartially what may be advanced against them . This was remarkably the case when Christianity was at first published , though attended with the most striking proofs of a Divine Power interposing in its favour . By the strength of prepossession , it became to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness . Nay , where
the gospel has been long received and professed , there have been and still may be prejudices earl y imbibed , very unfavourable to that improvement in the knowledge of God and religion , which we have reason to hope for , from the improvement of the capacities of human nature , from the
advancing state of society , and from the spirit of wisdom speaking in the mouths of all the prophets . It is generally allowed that the power of prejudice is very conspicuous in the professed members of the Roman church , and that it has been in all
ages the grand obstruction to a more thorough and perfect reformation . But , if we examine how matters stand among the reformed , it will be found that each of the parties into which they are unhappily divided , hath ( in )
its own prepossessions , more or less unfriendly to that growth in grace , and in trie knowledge of their common . Lord , to promote which is the great design of the gospel . As no sect of Protestants will have the confidence
to pretend , that all its partisans are either infallible or impeccable , Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile , it is surely incumbept on all carefully to examine the system of their religious belief , that they may discover whatever it contains that may disqualify them for higher im-
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provements ; to guard against every bias , that may give them advice for or pleasure in one side of the question more than another , and to keep the mind like a just balance , ever ready to be weighed down by the appearance of truth , and to allow the clearest
and strongest evidence from time to time to preponderate , as any addition may be made to either side . In proportion as this temper prevails , we shall be ready to hear and to receive instruction , to examine , alter , or lay aside our opinions , and allow due force to every thing that can be
proposed ; and thus shall we , as the nappy consequence of enjoying the gospel , be filled with wisdom and spiritual understanding , become fruitful in every work , and daily increase in the knowledge of God , and of our Lord Jesus Christ .
The author goes on , 2 dly , to shew , the obstruction to the increase of religious knowledge , arising from impurity of heart and life , the prevalence of those sinful lusts that war against the soul 3 3 dly , to the growth of religious knowledge , from the
injudicious and unfair representations that have been frequently made of religion and especially of Christianity - y and , lastly , the exercise of that power claimed by Christians of almost every class , of prescribing in the most sacred matters to all within the
reach of their influence , and of reducing thejn to an uniformity of sentiments with their respective leaders , whether civil or ecclesiastical . I have not room to introduce either of these articles , though they are well worthy of our notice . W . H .
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Thoughts on Missionary Societies . Nov . 25 , 18 JG , JE SUS CHRIST is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours only , but also , for those ; oXs rs Y . ' ocfjbx , of the whole world . * 1 John ii . 2 . That is , the benefits arising from the life and death of Christ , to those who are duly disposed
and qualified to receive them ( however we may differ as to their mode of operation in the gospel schcifie ) , are not confined to those places where he is preached , but extend to all the generations of Adam , past , present , and to come . Richard Baxter , in his treatise on * ' Universal Redemption /'
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Thoughts on Missionary Societies . $ j £
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1817, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2460/page/23/
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