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    to a word by the persons in general by whom the language either is now , or formerly was spoken , and especially in the particular connexion ill which such notion is affixed .

    2 diy . The meaning of a word or phrase used by any writer , is the meaning affixed to it by those for whom he immediately wrote . For there is a kind of natural compact between those who write and those

    who read , by which they are mutually bound to use words in a certain sense ; he , therefore , who uses such words in a different signification , in a manner violates that compact , and is

    in danger of leading men into error , contrary to the design of God , " who will have all men to be saved , and to come unto the knowledge of the truth . ' *

    3 dly . The words of an author must not be so explained as to make them inconsistent with his known character , his known sentiments , his known situation , and the known circu instances under which he wrote .

    4 thly . We must not give to words or phrases an interpretation which clashes with any doctrine clearly revealed in scripture . The sense of words and phrases ought , therefore , to be ascertained from those texts in

    which it is clear and undoubted , from the connexion , or from the nature of the subject to which they are applied . These and other rules of a like nature are applied by your people to the interpretation of the Sacred Writings . Neither they nor you will allow

    a person to found an important doctrine upon a single text broken off from the context , and construed without a due regard to the general tenor of scripture . Thus , when I maintain on the authority of 1 Tim . ii . 4 , that <* God will have all men

    to be saved , and come to the knowledge of the truth / ' you search the Bible and produce me texts which declare that only those who believe shall be saved ; and thence you conclude that since it is certain that

    many , not to say the great majority of men , die in unbelief , they cannot be saved ; and , consequently , that the text above quoted must be so interpreted as to accord with the doctrine of everlasting damnation 9 and that the " will of God" there spoken of , signifies a disposition of mind subject

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    to be changed by circumstances , and not a fixed and determined purpose formed upon a deliberate review of all the circumstances that c&n arise . I am not now arguing th £ poiiit in

    dispute between us , but only insisting upon the right to avail myself of the very rules which you and your people apply to the interpretation of the sacred text .

    The words of our Saviour , as re * corded by Mark iii . 28 , are , " Verily I say unto you , ail sins shall be for * given unto the sons of men , and blasphemies wherewith they blaspheme : but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never

    forgiveness , but is in danger of eternal damnation . " Matt . xii . 31 , records the sentence thus : " Wherefore , all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men > but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men . And whosoever

    speaketh a word against the Son of man , it shall be forgiven him t but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost , it shall not be forgiven kirrr , neither in this world , neither in the world to come / ' Luke reports a

    similar declaration , xii . 10 : " And whosoever shall speak a word agakist the Son of man , it shall be forgiven him : but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost , it shall not be forgiven . "

    Declarations like these are , indeed , of an awful import , and it behoves us to be careful that we do not trifle with them ; they are , moreover , corroborated by a solemn passage ira the Epistle to the Hebrews , vi ., which speaks of the impossibility of renewing to repentance those who

    apostatize after having been once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift , and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost , and have tasted the good word of God , and the powers of the world to come . But even you must be under the necessity of supplying some additional words to those of our

    Saviour , in order to reconcile their meaning with that of other passages of scripture ; for , as the sentence is given by Mark , Jesus Christ is made to say positively that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men , with the sole exception of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost . Now I am pretty sure that you will not admit

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    A Friendly Correspondence between an Unitarian and < i ? € ahim $ ti 397

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1824, page 397, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2526/page/13/