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    ing all days , even to the end of the world ; whether the Holy Ghost has , or has not , taught our fathers all truth ;—whether we be placed by him to rule the church of God;—whether this church he , or be not , the pillar and ground of truth ;—whether those whom we leave bound on earth be

    bound in heaven , or whether the gates of hell have , or can prevaiL against the church ; whether , again , this church has been buried in idolatry for eight hundred years ; whether , in fine , those who refuse to hear her , and who thereby despise Christ and the Father who

    sent him , are , or are not , as heathens and publieans before God . The truths , Rev . Brethren , which would be thus subjected , as it were , to trial , are clear and incontestible ; you yourselves have enforced them by much

    argument and eloquence ; and it is because they are immovable , and because your arguments in support of them are able , convincing and unanswerable , that the members of the

    Bible Society wish , by inviting you to a renewed discussion , to turn public attention from the palpable folly of their proceedings—from the unspeakable evils which the principles they

    advocate have entailed upon society ; from the frauds and impositions practised by persons connected with them ; but , above all , from the contemplation of that worst of all evils , the

    introduction and justification of Socinianism or infidelity ; evils which flow immediately and necessarily from the recognition of an unlimited right in all persons to discard authority , and to abide in religious matters by the single opinion of their own mind . No Brethren , you have supplied to society

    at large , ample materials for serious and deep reflection ; suffer men to digest them , to reflect upon them , and should error or heresy approach again to our borders , you will know how , and where , and when to repel it , lest it should creep like a cancer among our people .

    Sixthly , you should not dispute with these men in the manner proposed , because there is no tribunal on the earth competent to try the issue between you . The errors maintained by the members of the Bible Society r ^ gard either the primary articles of the Christian faith or truths already defined by the Church . Both these

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    classes of truths are immovably and definitively settled ; God or his church , or rather both , have spoken ; and as St . Augustine said to the Pelagians ,

    " The cause is concluded , I wish the error would at length cease , " causa finita est , utinam aliquando finiretur error . There can be no new hearing , no new trial . The Church at Trent

    invited the heretics of the 16 th century ( those who broached or renewed the errors which are now revived ) to plead their own cause before the Council ; these blind and obstinate men refused to do so , but their cause was examined fully and dispassionatelysentence at length was passed , and the matter set at rest for ever . Causa

    finita esi . It can never be revived : it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to our fathers so to determine : there can be no rehearing of the case ; there is no higher tribunaL constituted by God , no one or many to whom a new issue could be directed

    for trial ; Whosoever does not hear the Church , let him be as an heathen and a publican / ' Those who are cut off on account of their obstinacy maycomplain , but there is no remedy for them but in submission ; the Church may soothe , may explain ; she may relax or alter her discipline to favour their weakness or to assist them to

    return ; but the one faith she cannot alter ; it is as simple , as immutable , as God himself 1 You , Rev , Brethren , have often and well proved these truths ; one argument alone is sufficient , " Going / ' says the Redeemer

    to his Apostles , and , in their persons , to those who lawfully succeed to them , " Going , teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father , and of : the Son , and of the Holy Ghost , commanding them to observe whathave eriven in command 1 in command

    soever I vou . soever nave given you , and lo ! I am with you till the end of the world . " It is the worst of heresy , and a virtual apostacy from the Christian religion , to assert that there ever was , or will be wanting , a body of men assisted immediately by Christ , and

    employed without interruption or intermission in administering the Sacraments of God , teaching his commandments , and ruling throughout the world his one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church . It is the worst of heresy , and a virtual apostacy from the Christian religion , to assert that

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    Pastoral Letter of Dr . Doyle * s on Public Bible Discussions . 543

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1825, page 543, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2540/page/29/