The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller. Volume 7 Apologetic Works 3: Socinianism 9783110420500, 9783110414356

Citation preview

Apologetic Works 3

The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller

Edited by Michael Haykin In Cooperation with John Coffey, Crawford Gribben, Nathan Finn, Doug Sweeney

Volume 7

Apologetic Works 3

Socinianism Edited by Tom Nettles, Michael Haykin, Baiyu Andrew Song

ISBN 978-3-11-041435-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-042050-0 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-042059-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2021938987 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover illustration: Oil painting of Andrew Fuller, undated, in the private possession of Norman Hopkins. Used by kind permission. Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com

This book is dedicated to: Thomas Ascol, like Andrew Fuller— a faithful preacher, pastor-theologian, evangelical polemicist, rope-holder for gospel witness TJN John Wilsey, colleague, dear friend, gifted historian MAGH & Alexander Chow, for his friendship and scholarly example BAS

Acknowledgements I would like to express my personal appreciation to my colleague and friend Michael Haykin for his far-reaching vision on the ageless value of Andrew Fuller’s thought, and for seeking to preserve it in critical form for future generations. Adam Winters, chief archivist at the J. P. Boyce Memorial Library at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and his knowledgeable and industrious assistant, Chris Fenner, helped me to locate some rarefied information about the people Fuller mentioned and to find an elusive 1802 edition of this work. Also my wife, Margaret, sat with me one afternoon and followed along word for word in the 1802 edition as I read a long chapter in the 1810 edition to detect any changes. It was a fruitful collaboration. Thomas J. Nettles

A few months after the first edition of Andrew Fuller’s The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency appeared in 1793, the Anglican evangelical John Newton read it and told a Scottish correspondent, “I think it the most complete unanswerable refutation of the Socinian scheme and the best book of controversy I ever saw. The great learned doctors dodged Dr. Priestley about in Greek and Latin to little purpose: it was reserved to Mr. Fuller to cut off this great Goliath’s head. I think there is none of the party hard enough to attempt to answer it.” Having had the privilege of being involved in the editing of this remarkable work, I agree with this very early estimation of its value and impact. In fact, I now consider this defence of classical Trinitarianism Fuller’s magnum opus. I am deeply indebted to my co-editor, Prof. Thomas J. Nettles, for his rich and valuable introduction to this volume. The editing of the text has taken the combined skills of all of the editors, and I am extremely grateful to have worked alongside Prof. Nettles and Mr. Song in this regard. I wish to also thank Alissa Jones Nelson for her tremendous work in copy editing and proofing this book. And finally, I wish to extend my gratitude to the editorial team at De Gruyter, especially Aaron Sanborn-Overby, who has been invaluable in publishing this volume. Michael A.G. Haykin Dundas, Ontario April 23, 2021

It was quite a surprise for me to receive a call from Prof. Michael A.G. Haykin asking me to help with the production of this volume of Andrew Fuller’s works. For a while, Socinianism has been a topic closely related to my research, and I have waited for this volume’s publication. It is almost surreal for me to participate in the editorship.

VIII

Acknowledgements

Looking back to its production, I find editing this volume was both frustrating and satisfying at the same time. When I was asked to compare Fuller’s texts, Ontario was still in Covid-19 lockdown, and I was in the transition of changing jobs. Though I have been warned about its difficulty, I experienced the feeling of being squeezed out after sometimes more than 15 hours of editing. From dawn to dusk, I would stare at the computer monitor to compare words, sentences, and paragraphs in the five editions published during Fuller’s lifetime. Though there were moments of grumbling, I was rescued by Fuller’s humour, genius, and sincere piety. Furthermore, it has been such a privilege to participate in this historical project—not only producing the critical edition of Fuller’s work but also diving into Fuller’s first-hand response to the minacious and surging Socinianism of his day. I wish to express my gratitude to my co-editors, Profs. Drs. Tom Nettles and Haykin, and also to Profs. Drs. Alexander Chow of Edinburgh University, Kevin Flatt of Redeemer University, and J. Stephen Yuille of Heritage College and Seminary, for their example, encouragement, and help. I also wish to thank my friend Hallam J. Willis of Oxford University for his precious friendship. I can hardly imagine that I could finish my assigned job without Hal’s encouragement during our weekly walk on the campus of University of Toronto or along the Ontario lakeshore. I and my co-editors are also extremely grateful to the editorial team at De Gruyter, especially Aaron Sanborn-Overby, who has been so helpful in the publishing of this volume of the Fuller Works Project. Baiyu Andrew Song Etobicoke, Ontario April 21, 2021 The occasion of her Majesty QEII’s 95th birthday

General editor’s foreword The writings of Andrew Fuller (1754– 1815) are increasingly recognized as key documents in both the Baptist story and the wider history of Evangelical Christianity. “Fullerism” brought about a lasting revolution in Baptist circles that enabled British Baptists to be vitally involved in the globalization of Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The impact of Fuller’s thought stretched far beyond his own denominational circles, for he became one of the main purveyors of the theological legacy of Jonathan Edwards in the British Isles. Currently Fuller’s writings exist in three states: those published during his lifetime, those issued posthumously, and those still in manuscript form, which include his vast correspondence, a few sermons, an incomplete commentary on Isaiah, and a diary. Until now, scholars and students of Fuller’s thought have had to rely on a number of inadequate mid-nineteenth-century editions, which lack critical annotation, adequate indices, and substantial historical introductions to help orient the reader to Fuller’s historical context and the shape of his theological reasoning and biblical exegesis. Moreover, without his massive correspondence, which reveals the enormous influence Fuller had in both Baptist circles and other realms of eighteenth-century Evangelicalism, an adequate evaluation of Fuller’s achievement in his own day and his enduring legacy is impossible. The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller is a modern critical edition of the entire corpus of Andrew Fuller’s published and unpublished works. It seeks to advance the current understanding of the life and thinking of this highly influential pastortheologian as well as providing a comprehensive foundation for investigating the impact of his life and work in the two centuries since his death. The volumes in this series reproduce Fuller’s texts as he wrote them in manuscript form or as they were printed in the final edition to which he would have had access during his lifetime. The annotations that accompany each text present textual problems and variant readings. In the introductory essays, annotations, and headnotes, the editors will delineate Fuller’s historical context and intellectual influences. The publication of these volumes coincides with a significant renaissance in Fuller studies over the last few decades, demonstrated by a growing body of monographs and dissertations as well as scholarly conferences focusing on this important English thinker. Michael A.G. Haykin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY, March 2015.

Contents 1 General editor’s introduction  A turning point: The clash between Fuller and Priestley  Fuller’s preparation for the conflict 3  Motivations for the confrontation 5 11  Fuller’s polemical method 14  Fuller’s method of argument  Fuller reflects on the rules of engagement 16 20  The argument in action . The conversion of profligates 20 25 . Love of Christ 30 . Veneration for the Scriptures  Examples of other conclusions 33 35  Responses to Fuller . Socinian responses 35 39 . Friendly responses 39  Conclusion  Notes on the text and acknowledgements 44

1

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency: In a Series of Letters, Addressed to the Friends of Vital and Practical Religion. To Which is Added a Postscript, Establishing the Principle of the Work 47 Against the Exceptions of Dr. Toulmin, Mr. Belsham, etc. 47 Preface 53 Letter I: Introduction and general remarks Letter II: The systems compared as to their tendency to convert profligates to 58 a life of holiness Letter III: The systems compared as to their tendency to convert professed unbelievers 74 Letter IV: The argument from the number of converts to Socinianism examined 86 Letter V: On the standard of morality 97 Letter VI: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote morality in general 106 Letter VII: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote love to 127 God Letter VIII: On candour and benevolence to men 141 Letter IX: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote humility 159 Letter X: On charity, in which is considered the charge of bigotry 168

XII

Contents

Letter XI: The systems compared as to their influence in promoting the love of 191 Christ Letter XII: On veneration for the scriptures 203 Letter XIII: On the tendency of the different systems to promote happiness or cheerfulness of mind 221 Letter XIV: A comparison of motives, exhibited by the two systems, to gratitude, obedience, and heavenly-mindedness 235 Letter XV: On the resemblance between Socinianism and infidelity, and the 246 tendency of the one to the other 268 Postscript Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency: Containing A Reply to Two Late Publications; The One by Dr. Toulmin, Entitled The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; The Other by Mr. Kentish, Entitled 281 The Moral Tendency of The Genuine Christian Doctrine (1797) Introduction 281 283 Reply to Dr. Toulmin Section I: On the ground of argument used in this controversy, and the at283 tempts of our opponents to shift it Section II: Containing further remarks on Dr. Toulmin, with replies to various of his animadversions 289 Appendix: Containing a few remarks on Dr. Toulmin’s review of the Acts of the Apostles 304 A reply to Mr. Kentish’s sermon, on the moral tendency of the genuine chri311 stian doctrine, Etc. Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise on Christianity (Written in 1798) 347 Index of Persons Subject Index Scripture Index

353 356 369

General editor’s introduction 1 A turning point: The clash between Fuller and Priestley They were on a collision course. While Andrew Fuller (1754– 1815) filled his diary with lamentation, repentance, deepening sorrow over his innate sinfulness, and growing admiration for the atoning work of Christ, Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804) coolly congratulated humanity on its rational powers and moral goodness, and the deity for his benign placability towards sin and his generally benevolent considerations of the moral efforts of humanity.¹

 Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804) rejected both the Calvinist heritage of his Lincolnshire family and the established church, and served as a Unitarian minister in Leeds and Birmingham in Dissenting congregations. He excelled in several academic and research disciplines, taught classics at a Dissenting academy, and was granted a doctor of law degree from the University of Edinburgh on the strength of some of his publications. In his scientific studies, he invented soda water by infusing carbon dioxide into water, and in 1774, he discovered oxygen. He wrote political essays, theological treatises, polemical tracts, and apologetic works. In one of his apologetic works, addressed to atheists of the French Revolution, he argued for belief in God as fundamental to a stable and virtuous society. His support for the French Revolution earned him opposition and even hostility among some of the citizens of Birmingham. In 1791, riots aimed at him destroyed his church building, his house, and most of his literary treasures and scientific apparatus. His friendship with Benjamin Franklin earned an invitation to reside in America. He lived the last decade of his life in Pennsylvania. See Edgar F. Smith, Priestley in America: 1794 – 1804 (Philadelphia, PA: P. Blakiston’s Son & Co., 1920); Robert Schofield, The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Work from 1733 to 1773 (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Ann Holt, A Life of Joseph Priestley (1931; repr., Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1970). In his Letters to Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to his, On the infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), when Burn suggested that the plain meaning of Scripture seemed to affirm the deity of Christ, Priestley replied, “So I own the case did appear to myself formerly. But as I read them now, the Scriptures do not seem to teach any such doctrine, but, in the plainest of all language, such as the most unlettered Christian must understand, they uniformly and emphatically teach the contrary doctrine, viz. that the Father is the only true God, and Christ the creature, the messenger, and the servant of God” (Letters to Rev. Edward Burn, 7). Edward Burn (1762– 1837) was a Calvinistic Methodist preacher and Priestley’s correspondent. He wrote Letters to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1790), to which Priestley responded with his Letters to Rev. Edward Burn. Priestley never seemed to mind being linked with Fausto Sozzini (1539 – 1604), a.k.a. Socinus, and viewed him as having rediscovered in modern times the original New Testament view of Christ, sin, and salvation. Subsequent Unitarians disavowed the epithet “Socinianism,” but Fuller was loathe to grant them their longing, with the exception of one of his last pieces in the controversy. In 1812, David Bogue and James Bennett credited Priestley with being “the champion of Socinianism” who “provoked a contest which is not yet terminated” (History of Dissenters, From the Revolution in 1688, to the Year 1808 [London, 1812], 4:248). Bogue and Bennett believed that Priestley’s early conviction that the “sacred writers sometimes reason in a false and inconclusive https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-001

2

General editor’s introduction

“Oh horridly deceitful and desperately wicked heart!” Fuller groaned as he meditated on an apparent spiritual duplicity. “Surely I have little else in my religious exercises, but these workings,” he continued. “I am afraid of being deceived at last. If I am saved, what must the Son of God have endured!!!” These musings of June and July of 1780 continued with oppressive intensity and increasing transparency of introspection: “O what an ocean of impurity have I still in me. What vain desires lodge in my sinful heart.” And if so, forgiveness can come at no small price: “Rich must be the blood that can atone, infinitely efficacious the grace that can purify, and inconceivable the love that can remain without the shadow of turning, amidst all this vileness.” What confidence can such a being have of persevering in God’s will by native strength? None. Am not I a fool and slow of heart to believe? Notwithstanding all the Scripture says of my impotency, all the experience I have had of it, and all my settled and avowed principles, how hard is it for me to believe that I am nothing! Ah! Can I live near to God, set or keep the springs of godliness a-going in my soul, or investigate the things of God, to any purpose? No, I cannot.²

Priestley, on the other hand, believed such views of human sin and ability to be derogatory of the goodness of God, destructive of any sincere efforts at virtue, and fallacious as a perspective on human nature. After discarding any connection between doctrines of the atonement and the forgiveness of sins, Priestley admires the simplicity of the resulting conclusion: It is certainly a great satisfaction to entertain such an idea of the author of the universe, and of his moral government, as is consonant to the dictates of reason and the tenor of revelation in general, and also to leave as little obscurity in the principles of it as is possible; that the articles of our creed on this great subject may be few, clear, and simple. Now it is certainly the doctrine of reason, as well as of the Old Testament, that God is merciful to the penitent, and that nothing is requisite to make men, in all situations, the objects of his favor, but such moral conduct as he has made them capable of. This is a simple and a pleasing view of God and his moral government, and the consideration of it cannot but have the best effect on the temper of our minds and conduct in life.³

manner” served as the foundation for “all his subsequent aberrations from evangelical principles” (History of Dissenters, 4:249).  Cited in John Ryland, The Work of Faith, the Labour of Love, and the Patience of Hope Illustrated; in the Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: Button & Son, 1816), 114, 120 – 121.  Joseph Priestley, A History of the Corruptions of Christianity (Keene, NH: J. and W. Prentiss, 1838), 154– 155. The original publication was dedicated to Theophilus Lindsey (see below, p. 4 n. 8) and Priestley finished the dedication in November 1782. Concerning this work, David Bogue (1750 – 1825) and James Bennett (1774– 1862) remark: “Viewed as a historical defence of Socinianism, or rather as a death stroke to the deity and atonement of Christ, which had been promised with some parade, it must strike every intelligent reader as the ridiculous birth of a mountain in labour. […] He must have had a monstrous faith in the credulity of his adherents, if he thought that such a work would be taken for a proof that their principles prevailed in the earliest ages; and if he sup-

2 Fuller’s preparation for the conflict

3

Priestley contended that those doctrines most dear to Fuller’s heart and most reflective of Fuller’s intimate knowledge of himself were, after all, merely corruptions of pure Christianity. Putrid and gangrenous excrescences adhered to Christianity as a result of centuries of alien growths on the pure and simple message of the man Jesus. As Fuller grew in his awareness of the content and tendencies of this self-proclaimed primitivist view of the faith, he found he had no option but to challenge it on the very point which Priestley argued was its chief strength—its claim to reproduce the simple, unadulterated, moral vision of Jesus.⁴

2 Fuller’s preparation for the conflict In 1775, the first year of Fuller’s pastoral ministry, a question was posed to him as to whether Christ is called the Son of God with reference to his eternal divinity, or whether the title only refers to his having assumed human nature through a miraculous birth. He looked for Scriptures in which the title must refer to the eternal relation of Christ to the Father, and to his satisfaction, he found several that he felt could be interpreted in no other way. Among the passages that seemed to demand this understanding was John 5:18, in which the Jews understood Jesus as making himself equal to God by calling God his own Father. Galatians 4:4 also teaches that “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” He was the Son antecedent to his being born of a woman. He possessed sonship prior to his taking human nature in the womb of the woman and becoming subject to the Law. Other scriptures Fuller found helpful were Hebrews 1:8; 5:8 – 9; and 1 John 3:8. These Scriptures plus others formed the basis of an essay Fuller wrote later, entitled “On the Sonship of Christ.”⁵ “Had I not been initiated into these principles at an early period,” Fuller recalled, “I should not have been able to write the treatise against Socinianism, which I have no cause to regret having written.”⁶ Fuller moved from the church in Soham to Kettering in October of 1782. One year later, his installation as pastor at Kettering was formalized by a day of preaching, exhortation, prayer, testimony, and the reading of a confession of faith by Fuller, written expressly for his installation as pastor. By this time, it was clear that he had enposed that such an attack would induce his opponents to abandon their faith, he must have imagined that they held it by a hair” (History of Dissenters, 4:249, 250).  The conflict, considered from the standpoint of both its antagonists and the theological issues at stake, is reminiscent of other theological turning points in the history of Christian thought. Augustine and Pelagius, harbouring parallel views on sin and self-confidence to those of Fuller and Priestley, discussed many of these same issues. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) and Desiderius Erasmus (1466 – 1536) entered into similar pools of conflict, as did John Calvin (1509 – 1564) and Albert Pighius (ca. 1490 – 1542). However, these earlier struggles did not involve an attack on the deity of Christ, as did Priestley’s against Fuller.  Andrew Fuller, “On the Sonship of Christ,” in Complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, 3:704– 707.  Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 54.

4

General editor’s introduction

gaged the issues raised by the intrusion of Socinianism into English Dissent. Articles 5 – 7 of the confession treat the fall and sinfulness of man. After speaking of the intrinsic, wicked aversion that fallen human hearts have to God, Fuller noted certain implications of this view of depravity. These are subjects which seem to me of very great importance. I conceive that the whole Arminian, Socinian, and Antinomian systems, so far as I understand them, rest upon the supposition of these principles being false. So that if it should be found at last that God is an infinitely excellent being, worthy of being loved with all that love that his law requires; that as such, his law is entirely fair and equitable, and that for God to have required less would have been denying himself to be what he is; and if it should appear at last that man is utterly lost, and lies absolutely at the discretion of God; then the whole of these systems I think it is easy to prove must fall to the ground. If men on account of sin lie at the discretion of God, the equity and even necessity of predestination cannot be denied; and so the Arminian system falls. If the law of God is right and good, and arises from the very nature of God, Antinomianism cannot stand. And if we are such great sinners, we need a great Saviour, infinitely greater than the Socinian Saviour!⁷

The relation between the equity of the divine law and the Socinian concept of forgiveness gave focus to one of Fuller’s major points in his theological and moral critique of Socinianism. God would never institute a law that was unjust, unduly harsh, or unworthy of enforcement. A refusal to enforce it or to require the punishment requisite upon its infraction would be equal to a confession that it had originally lacked justice or wisdom—or both. In Fuller’s biblical synthesis, God’s forgiveness and mercy never operate so as to exclude the execution of justice. When Fuller began his formal interaction with literature for the purpose of writing against Socinianism, he recorded in his diary in 1791: “I have lately been employed in reading several Socinian writers, Lindsey,⁸ Priestley, Belsham,⁹ etc. and

 Cited in Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 102– 103, emphasis original.  Theophilus Lindsey (1723 – 1808) was an English Unitarian whose position became public in 1773, during the farewell sermon he preached when he resigned his vicarage at Catterick, Yorkshire. He published his reasons in a book entitled The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick (1774), which was followed soon after by A Sequel to the Apology on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick (1776). In 1778, he began preaching at a permanent chapel erected for him, where he remained for fifteen years. In The Catechist, Lindsey argued that Jesus “could be none other but a creature who was thus under the continual guidance of God” (The Catechist: Or, An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Scriptures, Concerning the Only True God and Object of Religious Worship [London: J. Johnson, 1781], iv). He asserted that the doctrine of the Trinity is the reason that “Jews, Mahometans, and serious Deists have been rendered averse to the gospel” (Catechist, v). He also argued: “This little book proposeth to remove this unjust aspersion thrown upon the gospel; and to shew, by plain and easy deductions from the scriptures, that Jesus and his apostles knew no other God, but the Father; and also, that they never taught that there was any other Being or Person, to whom we were to offer up our prayers, but this heavenly Father of Jesus, and of us all” (Catechist, vi).  Thomas Belsham (1750 – 1829) began teaching at an Independent academy in Daventry at twenty years of age, after having completed his studies there. In 1778 he served an Independent chapel in Worcester, but he returned to Daventry in 1781, teaching and preaching there until 1789, when his theology became Unitarian. He resigned from Daventry and became a professor of divinity at Hackney, a

3 Motivations for the confrontation

5

have employed myself in penning down thoughts on the moral tendency of their system. While thus engaged, I found an increasing aversion to their views of things, and I feel the ground on which my hopes are built more solid than ever.”¹⁰ Fuller’s engagement with the “moral tendency of their system” arose from his visceral revulsion at the self-congratulatory implications of the Socinian enthralment with rationality and rewardable virtue. Nothing could be further from Fuller’s own contemplations on the glory and power of Christian salvation. As he reviewed and meditated upon the eternal Son of God taking on human nature, obeying the Law, dying under its curse for the sins of his elect, rising again, commissioning the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, interceding for and providentially ruling the world for the welfare of his own people, Fuller was overcome: “I cannot reflect upon this glorious procedure, with it’s [sic] all-glorious Author, without emotions of wonder and gratitude.” Fuller basked in the glory of such a wise, loving, and powerful display of grace. “As a workman,” Fuller spoke of Christ, “he might be truly said to have ‘his work before him’! At once he glorified the injured character of God, and confounded the devil, destroyed sin, and saved the sinner!”¹¹

3 Motivations for the confrontation Fuller’s motivation to engage in controversy with Priestley sprang from several sources. The occasion that lent urgency to Fuller’s polemic concerned an issue of civil rights in English society. In the late 1780s, the Particular Baptists had worked with other Dissenters without respect to their doctrinal principles to form a united front in their application for the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts.¹² Though this arose purely as a plea for a civil right, Joseph Priestley and others used the common meetings as an advantageous setting for the propagation of their Socinian principles. Orthodox Dissenters were quiet so as not to disrupt the harmony of the various meet-

position he held until the school closed in 1796. In 1794, he had already begun a ministry as a successor of Joseph Priestley at Gravel Pit Unitarian Chapel, where he stayed until 1805, when he moved to Essex Street Chapel in London. In addition to works on moral philosophy, he published several works on New Testament translation and critical notes on the text as well as a memoir of Theophilus Lindsey (Memoirs of the late Reverend Theophilus Lindsey, M. A. [London: R. Hunter, 1820]). Belsham also wrote about the historical progress of Unitarianism and was always quick to respond to criticism of his chosen theological position. The Memoirs of Thomas Belsham, by John Williams, was published in London in 1833. Fuller began his investigation of Belsham’s writings soon after the latter announced his conversion to Unitarianism.  Cited in Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 214.  Cited in Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 104.  The Corporation Act became law in 1661, and the Test Act in 1673. The effect of these two acts, combined with the Schism Bill in 1711, was to prohibit all Dissenters from holding any political office, elected or appointed, in any incorporated political entity. The Schism Bill was repealed in 1718, but the Corporation and Test Acts prevailed until their repeal in 1828.

6

General editor’s introduction

ings. In public statements and various pamphlets, Socinians painted with a broad brush when they spoke as if the Dissenters, like the early Christians, all “worshipped one God” and “knew nothing of the Nicene or Athanasian creeds.” They also spoke of Dissenters as “coming under the anathema of the orthodox.”¹³ Fuller resented this misrepresentation of the numerical dominance of Socinianism, but he recoiled even more from the impression that their theology had a grip on all Dissent, or that the issue was between Socinians who worshipped one God as opposed to Trinitarians who worshipped three Gods. “It is natural,” observed Fuller, “from such representations as these, for those who know but little of us, to consider the Socinians as constituting the main body of the Dissenters, and the Calvinists,” with whom Fuller was quite happy to be identified, “as only a few stragglers, who follow these leading men at a distance in all their measures.”¹⁴ Such certainly was not the case, and any theological advantage Priestley sought in this common civil contest should not be given over easily.¹⁵ Fuller’s concern to maintain the integrity of the theological identity of orthodoxy in the midst of Dissent conformed readily to Baptist precedent on this issue. When seventeenth-century English Particular Baptists found that their advocacy of believ-

 See below, p. 49.  See below, p. 50.  While Andrew Fuller dealt with this issue by confronting the principles of Socinianism and comparing them to orthodoxy, Robert Hall, Jr. (1764– 1831) took the approach of defending political freedom from the standpoint of orthodox Christianity. In the preface to his address Christianity Consistent with a Love of Freedom, Hall remarked, “I have taken up more time in showing that there is no proper connection between the Unitarian doctrine and the principles of liberty than the subject may seem to require; but this will not be thought superfluous by those who recollect that that idea seems to be the great hinge of Mr. C[layton]’s discourse, and that it appears among the orthodox part of the Dissenters to have been productive already of unhappy effects.” Earlier in his discussion, Hall had remarked: “If Mr. C[layton] had glanced only towards the history of England, he must have remembered, that in the reigns of Charles the First and Second, the chief friends of freedom were the Puritans. […] It is to the distinguished exertions of this party, we are in a great measure indebted for the preservation of our free and happy constitution. In those distracted and turbulent times which preceded the restoration of Charles the Second, the Puritans, who to a devotion the most fervent, united an eager attachment to the doctrines of grace, as they are commonly called, displayed on every occasion a love of freedom, pushed almost to excess; whilst the cavaliers, their opponents, who ridiculed all that was serious, and if they had any religion at all, held sentiments directly repugnant to the tenets of Calvin, were the firm supporters of arbitrary power. If the Unitarians, then, are at present distinguished for their zeal in the cause of freedom, it cannot be imputed to any alliance between their religious and political opinions, but to the conduct natural to a minority, who […] are sensible they can only shelter themselves from persecution and reproach, and gain an impartial hearing from the public, by throwing down the barriers of prejudice, and claiming unlimited freedom of thought” (Robert Hall, Christianity Consistent With a Love of Freedom, in The Works of the Rev. Robert Hall [New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1830], 2:385, 393). “Mr. Clayton” was John Clayton (1754– 1843), a Congregationalist who had been converted under William Romaine (1714– 1795). During the Priestley Riots in Birmingham, his sermon The Duty of Christians to Magistrates (London, 1791) led to controversy and to the writing of Hall’s Christianity Consistent With a Love of Freedom.

3 Motivations for the confrontation

7

ers’ baptism brought with it false charges of erroneous and radical positions held by some continental Anabaptists, they acted immediately to counter the charges. Seven churches produced a confession of faith that refuted the report of “holding Free-will, Falling away from grace, denying Originall sinne [sic], disclaiming of Magistracy, denying to assist them either in person or purse in any of their lawfull [sic] Commands, doing acts unseemly in the dispensing the Ordinance of Baptism, not to be named amongst Christians.” They unequivocally stated that all of these charges were untrue and presented a confession that admirably established their Calvinistic orthodoxy.¹⁶ Thus Fuller had both reason and precedent for his desire to distance himself and his churches from the doctrinal reductionism of the Socinians, though both the Baptists and the non-Trinitarians bore the common label of Dissent from the established church. More than personal identity was at stake. I have already briefly alluded to Fuller’s theological reasons for entering into controversy with Priestley. He found the Socinian system so spiritually and theologically repulsive that he simply could not let his witness remain silent on such an issue. Theology and experience could not be separated in Fuller’s mind or in his ministry. The nature of God, the Law, sin, depravity, the person of Christ, the atonement, justification, divine sovereignty—all of these were tied to each other, and the integrity of each individual part depended on a true apprehension of the whole.¹⁷ Not only did this hold true for the cognitive aspect of Christian truth, but Christian experience depended on a proper grasp of these issues. Spiritual affections could be high or low, pure or corrupt, in direct relation to one’s sincere embrace of these truths. Fuller was well aware that a person’s opinions might sometimes contradict his or her real principles, and thus an individual’s conduct might be better than his or her opinions would warrant. But ideas so pervasively antagonistic to the leading principles of orthodox Christianity cannot support either Christian profession or deportment. “Socinianism is slippery ground,” Fuller believed, and “few will be able to stand upon it.” His image of the danger was vivid. “A precipice indeed it is, or rather the declivity of a rock, bulging into the sea, and covered with ice; a few wary individuals may frame to themselves a kind of artificial footing, and so retain their situation; but the greater part must either climb the summit, or fall into the deep.”¹⁸

 This confession of faith, written in 1644, can be found in William L. Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith, rev. ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1969), 153– 171. The material quoted here comes from the preface on page 155.  Albert H. Newman notes the theological atmosphere of Fuller’s response to Socinianism with the observation, “His moderate, sane, Evangelical Calvinism was embodied in effective form in The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency” (“Fuller, Andrew,” The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge [New York/London: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1909], 4:409).  See below, p. 297.

8

General editor’s introduction

The specific theological issues and Fuller’s argument about their tendency to cause Christian decline will emerge in the subsequent discussion. According to Fuller, one of these steps in the wrong direction could be found in the principles of Arminianism. On several occasions in this vigorous interaction with the high priests of Socinianism, Fuller noted that errors in any of these important connections and “corresponding doctrines” were a step towards infidelity and away from true Christianity: “The smallest departure from the one, is a step towards the other.” Certainly not all steps are of the same length or concern the most vital areas, but “all move on in the same direction.”¹⁹ When Joseph Priestley boasted that Robert Robinson (1735 – 1790), the famous Baptist who wrote the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” had been rescued from the road to Deism by Priestley’s teachings, Fuller, who knew Robinson and lamented his deviation, responded that this only proved “that the region of Socinianism is so near to that of Deism, that, now and then, an individual, who was on the high road to the one, has stopped short, and taken up with the other.”²⁰ Fuller wanted to warn against taking even one step on the pathway to infidelity. This point provided another caution against Arminianism in Fuller’s mind. He identified Arminianism as one step on the lamentable journey from robust Christianity towards eventual infidelity. He did not present Arminianism as a species of infidelity, but he did point to several positions that constituted common ground on that ill-fated path. The Arminian view of the basis or foundation of human responsibility is the same as that of the Socinians. As Fuller presented the case, the Socinians held that punishment for the violation of a law whose demands were beyond human powers is unjust, unreasonable, and cruel. If these demands were beyond natural powers, Fuller agreed, then the objection would be warranted, but inability as a manifestation of moral corruption is a different matter entirely. In responding to the inconsistency of this objection, Fuller observed the agreement between the Socinian and Arminian systems on this subject. By their exclamations on the injustice of God as represented by the Calvinistic system, they both render that a debt, which God in the whole tenor of his Word declares to be of grace. Neither of them will admit the equity of the divine law, and that man is thereby righteously condemned to eternal punishment, antecedently to the grace of the Gospel; or, if they admit it in words, they will be ever contradicting it by the tenor of their reasonings.²¹

In other words, if God does not grant grace, then man does not owe obedience. If human sin can be overcome only by the omnipotent manifestation of grace, then human sin is excusable. On this point the Arminians and the Socinians agreed.

 See below, p. 246.  See below, p. 246, n. 1578.  See below, p. 103 n. 333.

3 Motivations for the confrontation

9

Calvinism is the antithesis of Socinianism on this theological point. As he synthesized several pivotal passages on salvation by grace and not by works, Fuller noted that the “doctrines inculcated by Christ and his apostles, in order to lay men low in the dust before God, were those of human depravity, and salvation by free and sovereign grace, through Jesus Christ.”²² Socinians, who strangely ignored the apostolic arguments and substituted their celebration of human goodness as a fair presentation of biblical teachings, looked upon Calvinism as “designed in perfect opposition to the apostolic doctrine.” Consequently, they were “constantly exclaiming against the Calvinistic system, because it maintains the insufficiency of a good moral life, to recommend us to the favour of God.”²³ According to Fuller, the “Calvinistic system” humbles Christians, leading them to “feel their entire dependence upon God for virtue,” whereas the Socinian system, “in professed opposition to Calvinism, maintains”—in the words of Joseph Priestley—“that it depends entirely upon a man’s self, whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable.”²⁴ In Fuller’s observation on Priestley’s sentiment here, he makes the point that if Priestley simply means that one’s conduct depends on one’s choices, then the Calvinist believes this as clearly as does the Socinian. But “if he means that a virtuous choice originates in ourselves, and that we are the proper cause of it, this can agree to nothing but the Arminian notion of a self-determining power in the will.”²⁵ When Fuller examined Dan Taylor (1738 – 1816), the founder of the New Connexion of General Baptists, on this same issue, he surmised that Taylor’s assumption that moral inability would render a person guiltless in his disobedience meant that the more evil a person is, the less likely it is that he can commit sin. Fuller responded with incredulity, asserting that Taylor “will not, he cannot, abide by its just and necessary consequences.”²⁶ Then, after outlining the consequences of the Arminian idea of reduced responsibility commensurate with one’s degree of moral inability, Fuller affirmed: “These consequences, however anti-scriptural and absurd, are no more than must inevitably follow from the position of Philanthropos”—which was the pseudonym adopted by Dan Taylor in his critique of Fuller, Observations on the Rev. Andrew Fuller’s Late Pamphlet, entitled, “The Gospel of Christ Worthy of All Acceptation” (1786).²⁷ Again, Fuller viewed the Arminian concept of a general or universal atonement, absent any effectual element within it to guarantee its fruitfulness for the salvation of sinners, as destructive to the stated purpose and infallibly conceived outcome of Christ’s work—an error fatal to Christianity. Taylor’s view that Christ’s death would

 See below, p. 162.  See below, p. 163.  See below, p. 165.  See below, p. 165 – 166, n. 810. This quotation is taken from a footnote in Letter IX.  Andrew Fuller, A Defence of a Treatise entitled The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation: Containing A Reply to Mr. Button’s remarks and The Observations of Philanthropos (WAF, 2:477).  Fuller, Defence of a Treatise entitled The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (WAF, 2:477).

10

General editor’s introduction

be a greater grace if it were for all than if it were for a certain, limited number of people elicited the following extrapolation from Fuller: It is true, if Christ had made effectual provision for the salvation of all, it would have been a greater display of grace than making such a provision for only a part; but God has other perfections to display, as well as his grace; and the reader will perceive, by what has been said, that to make provision for all, in the sense in which P[hilanthropos] contends for it, is so far from magnifying the grace of God, that it enervates, if not annihilates it.²⁸

The Arminian view of a general atonement with no provision for its effectuality differed little from the Socinian rejection of Christ’s death as an atoning sacrifice. Fuller believed the most consistent biblical view of Christ’s death was that in which “an effectual provision is made in the great plan of redemption, that he shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.”²⁹ Though Taylor remonstrated against the Socinian view that rejected any element of punitive satisfaction in the atonement, his perspective contained no element that honoured Christ’s death as a truly substitutionary, propitiatory sacrifice, for its efficacy was not in itself, but in something extrinsic to it. On the basis of these doctrinal connections, Fuller made an observation about the phenomenon of progressive apostasy: “It is very common for those who go over to infidelity, to pass through Socinianism, in their way.” Not only that, but he also noted that it is not common for “persons who go over to Socinianism, to go directly from Calvinism, but through one or other of the different stages of Arminianism, or Arianism, or both.”³⁰ Furthermore, Fuller had seen some people fall down that precipice, and he wanted to do what he could to provide protection. The most celebrated case of conversion from orthodoxy to Socinianism seems to have been that of the Cambridge Particular Baptist pastor Robert Robinson.³¹ Fuller had no fear that a true child of God would be ultimately destroyed, nor that the church was susceptible to any ultimate danger.

 Fuller, Defence of a Treatise entitled The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (WAF, 2:507 n. *).  See below, p. 227.  See below, p. 265.  See below, p. 68, n. 107. See the discussion of this phenomenon and the danger it presented to Samuel Pearce (1766 – 1799), the pastor of Cannon Street Baptist in Birmingham, as well as its success in converting James Lyons (1768 – 1824), the pastor of the Particular Baptist Church in what is now Kingston Upon Hull, in Michael A. G. Haykin, “A Socinian and Calvinist Compared: Joseph Priestley and Andrew Fuller on the Propriety of Prayer to Christ,” Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/ Dutch Review of Church History 73 (1993): 196 – 198. Thomas Belsham, one of Fuller’s Socinian antagonists, had begun his ministry as a Calvinist and lectured on the person of Christ with the hope of ending the threat of Unitarianism among his students. Some of his students were converted to Socinian views in the process, and eventually Belsham himself capitulated. See Michael Watts, The Dissenters: From the Reformation to the French Revolution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 1:466 – 467.

4 Fuller’s polemical method

11

However, he was fully committed to the idea that one should not consider the end to the exclusion of the ordained means. ³²

4 Fuller’s polemical method Fuller knew others who had engaged the Socinians at different points in their arguments. Generally speaking, volumes from both sides of the controversy had covered this ground from two standpoints. First, the various scriptural passages in dispute were investigated with all the available linguistic and critical tools, until the writers had “exhausted their genius, in reasoning upon the scope of the sacred writers, and in criticising upon the original language.”³³ When the contest seemed to go against them, however, the Socinians cashiered passages and sometimes whole chapters as spurious, or deemed their meaning dubious or obscure. They often argued that the biblical writers were not equipped to deal conclusively with certain controverted questions of religion and morality. If the plain meaning of a text seemed repugnant to the plain dictates of Socinian rationality, then the interpretation of that text must wait until a later date. As an example of this tendency, Priestley’s discussion of the biblical material on the atonement provides an excellent case in point: For they must either be interpreted literally, according to the plain and obvious sense of the words, which will enforce the belief of proper vicarious punishments, or they must be interpreted figuratively; and then they will not oblige us to believe the doctrine of atonement in any sense, or that Christ died a sacrifice in any other manner, than as any person might be said to be a sacrifice to the cause in which he dies. It is now, certainly, time to lay less stress on the interpretation of particular texts, and to allow more weight to general considerations derived from the whole tenor of scripture, and the dictates of reason; and if there should be found any difficulty in accommodating the one to the other (and I think there is even less of this than might have been expected) the former, and not the latter, should remain unaccounted for.³⁴

Fuller reserved special criticism for this disingenuous attitude towards Scripture, to which he would later turn, but at this juncture, it served to drive him towards a different approach. The Socinians’ boldness in overturning Evangelical Christian doctrine through a flippancy in regard to apostolic argument, as if they “designed to affront the Apostle” in making “use of his own words in order to contradict him,”³⁵ amazed and frightened Fuller (that is, he was frightened for their souls and the souls of those who heard their preaching). With the Socinians’ penchant for slipperiness with regard to biblical interpretation and such a dubious position on biblical

   

See Andrew Fuller, Letters on Systematic Divinity (WAF, 1:686). See below, p. 283. Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 154. See below, p. 63.

12

General editor’s introduction

authority, Fuller sought the grounds on which they themselves proclaimed both clarity and superiority—the virtue of those committed to their principles. A second sphere of controversy concerned doctrinal development in the church. Of particular interest was the early church, for Socinian reasoning held that the immediate post-apostolic age would have the purest grasp of what was seen as essential in Jesus’s own generation. Words and concepts introduced since that time could not claim to be elements of true Christianity. Fuller did not feel qualified to enter into the details of this discussion, nor did he think it particularly profitable for his purposes, since a man might err theologically in the second century as easily as in the eighteenth century. Fuller chose to examine the issue by proposing the following question: “What is that doctrine in the present day which is productive of the best moral effects?”³⁶ He pointed to six reasons for settling on this particular approach. First, Fuller argued, an answer to this question was better suited than either of the other two approaches to settle the question of whether Calvinism or Socinianism more nearly approximated apostolic doctrine. The one which produces the same fruit would of course be the same kind of tree. Second, this question allows one to test the truthfulness and godliness of the doctrine. If the fruit of Calvinism commends itself to the conscience, then the Socinians, however aloof from scriptural reasoning they may be, dare not set themselves against morality. Third, this seemed to be an approach commended by Scripture itself, where it says, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). Fourth, he believed that this approach might be more intriguing as a test in the public eye, since none other had taken such reasoning as grounds for an argument. Fifth, common Christians might be more judiciously involved in this investigation. The line of historical reasoning or the construction of a scriptural text often left pious people in the churches a bit confused about the importance of certain aspects of an argument. However, they could well understand the relation of doctrine to the enhancement or circumscription of true piety. Finally, Fuller recognized that the Socinians had already introduced this line of reasoning in their attack on Calvinism as “gloomy,” “bigoted,” “licentious,” “averse to the love of both God and man,” and “an axe at the root of all virtue.”³⁷ This final reason apparently gave Fuller the initial clue as to the type of argument he should use. The first five reasons seemed to provide support as he progressed through the argument. Priestley invited the comparison, and Fuller unhesitatingly obliged. Priestley spoke of Christianity’s “dreadful corruptions,” which “debased its spirit” and virtually “annihilated all the happy effects which it was eminently calculated to produce.” The leading principles of Calvinism, including the “Trinity of persons in the Godhead, original sin, arbitrary predestination, atonement by the death of Christ, and the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures,” would have the inevi-

 See below, p. 283.  See below, p. 284– 285.

4 Fuller’s polemical method

13

table tendency “to relax the obligations of virtue.” Going over the same theological ground in another work, Priestley concluded: “If any system of speculative principles can operate as an axe at the root of all virtue and goodness, it is this.” However, according to Priestley, the number of those who profess true Christianity grows regularly, so that for those “whose lives are the greatest ornament to it, and who hold it in so much purity, that, if it was fairly exhibited, and universally understood, it could hardly fail to recommend itself to the acceptance of the whole world, of Jews and Gentiles.”³⁸ From the conclusions Priestley drew using this argument from moral tendency, it seems that he considered Calvinism and atheism to be of equal value. Applying this argument to atheism, Priestley pointed to the a priori effects such a system had on the outlook of such a sadly beguiled person. An atheist cannot have that sense of personal dignity and importance that a theist has. For he who believes that he was introduced into life without any design, and is soon to be for ever excluded from life, cannot suppose that he has any very important part to act in life; and, therefore, he can have no motive to give much attention to his conduct in it. The past and the future being of less consequence to him, he will naturally endeavour to think about them as little as possible, and make the most of what is before him. But the necessary consequence of this is the debasement of his nature, or a foregoing of the advantages that he might have derived from that power of comprehension, which will have full scope in the theist; the man who considers himself as a link in an immensely connected chain of being, as acting a part in a drama which commenced from eternity, and extends to eternity; who considers that every gratification, and every action, contributes to form a character, the importance of which to him is, literally speaking, infinite […] A man who really believes this, and who gives that attention to it which its great importance to him manifestly requires, must be another kind of being than an atheist, and certainly a being of unspeakably greater dignity and value. His feelings and his conduct cannot but be greatly superior.³⁹

 Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, ix. Priestley introduced one of his analyses of Calvinism and its moral tendencies with the statement: “I do not see what motive a Calvinist can have to give any attention to his moral conduct” (see below, p. 107, quoting from Priestley’s The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated [London: J. Johnson, 1777], 154). Fuller questioned Priestley as to why he should have any doubt about the consistency between responsible morality on the one hand and the certainty of events on the other. When Fuller said, “Upon the whole, let those who are inured to close thinking judge whether Dr. Priestley’s own views of philosophical necessity do not include the leading principle of Calvinism” (see below, p. 115), he was not aligning himself with any kind of impersonal determinism or any Necessarian philosophy that runs along mechanically, outside the moral texture of human conduct. He simply showed that Priestley’s argument for the reality of morality in his own system may just as easily demonstrate the defensibility of responsible moral conduct in a Calvinist system. It does so while still attributing more to God than to man, and so, by Priestley’s own admission, it generates a higher degree of piety than a system that places more weight on human than on divine activity.  Joseph Priestley, “The Preface to Part I,” in his Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), vii–viii.

14

General editor’s introduction

Fuller gladly took up the task of ascertaining which of the systems, when “fairly exhibited,” would have the happiest effects in terms of the believer’s purity of life and the unbeliever’s conversion. In his opening letter, Fuller made allowance for the reality of hypocrisy in both systems, the restraining and apparently virtuous effects of certain vices, and the zeal a person may have for a bad system simply because it is “more consonant to the bias of their hearts than that was which they formerly professed.” In spite of these difficulties, which seem to establish a lack of certainty, Fuller believed that the right method of discussing these particular issues could yield success in discerning the “general spirit and conduct of men, by which to judge of the tendency of their principles.”⁴⁰

5 Fuller’s method of argument Fuller first had to settle on a number of categories that all Christians would agree should be proper effects of true Christianity. Obviously he did not exhaust the possible categories that could be investigated, but his sampling is sufficiently broad to make accurate observations concerning the tendencies of these two systems. He distributed his remarks across 15 chapters, which he called “Letters.” The following subjects seemed sufficiently diverse and comprehensive to constitute a fair test of the respective systems: their tendency to convert profligates; their tendency to convert professed unbelievers; an examination of the number of converts to Socinianism; their standard of morality; the promotion of morality in general; love of God; candour and benevolence to men; humility, charity, and the supposed charge of bigotry laid at the Calvinists’ door; love to Christ; veneration for the Scriptures; happiness or

 See below, p. 57. Priestley evoked a wide range of responses to both his religion and his politics during the last decade of the eighteenth century. Robert Hall, writing in 1791, prior to the publication of Fuller’s work, shows great admiration for Priestley’s political principles and his overall genius, while disavowing his theology. He defends Priestley against a particularly unjust characterization and attack in a sermon against the Socinian leader: “The reader can be at no loss to determine, whom the author intends […] The occasion of the sermon and complexion of its sentiments concur in directing us to Dr. Priestley, a person whom the author seems to regard with a more than odium theologicum, with a rancour exceeding the measure even of his profession. The religious tenets of Dr. Priestley appear to me erroneous in the extreme, but I should be sorry to suffer any difference of sentiment to diminish my sensibility to virtue, or my admiration of genius. From him the poisoned arrow will fall pointless. His enlightened and active mind, his unwearied assiduity, the extent of his researches, the light he has poured into almost every department of science, will be the admiration of that period, when the greater part of those who have favored, or those who have opposed him, will be alike forgotten. […] Dr. Priestley has not in any instance displayed that dissatisfaction to government, with which he is charged so wantonly. […] Dr. Priestley has, moreover, defended with great ability and success the principles of our dissent, exposing, as the very nature of the undertaking demands, the folly and injustice of all clerical usurpations; and on this account, if on no other, he is entitled to the gratitude of his brethren” (Hall, Christianity Consistent With a Love of Freedom [Works of the Rev. Robert Hall, 2:399, 400]).

5 Fuller’s method of argument

15

cheerfulness of mind; motives to gratitude, obedience and heavenly-mindedness; and the tendency to religious infidelity. Once the categories for investigation were established, Fuller had to consider which method would yield the greatest likelihood of an accurate appraisal. He proposed a two-fold trial: There are two methods of reasoning which may be used in ascertaining the moral tendency of principles. The first is, comparing the nature of the principles themselves with the nature of true holiness, and the agreement or disagreement of the one with the other. The second is, referring to plain and acknowledged facts, and judging of the nature of causes by their effects. Both these methods of reasoning, which are usually expressed by the terms a priori and a posteriori, will be used in this and the following Letters, as the nature of the subject may admit.⁴¹

Fuller was confident that the overall principles of the two systems differed from each other so much that conclusions reached on the basis of close reasoning would reveal the truth. Therefore, the first part of each discussion employs the respective theological expositions, with closely connected inferences drawn from each system. This a priori method of reasoning should create at least an expectation as to the kind of practical effect each system would have on its adherents. Fuller then looked at the “facts,” as they were well known in the public sphere. These are gathered from the testimonies of devotees, statements made by leaders, and observations that anyone could have made. This a posteriori method, Fuller expected, should elucidate a general pattern of consistency between theory and practice. In this way, the trial of the apparent truthfulness of the two systems might be fairly consummated. Since Priestley so vigorously denounced the moral tendency of Calvinism, Fuller embraced the assumption behind such a denunciation as revealing a test by which his antagonist would be willing to abide. As Fuller put it: There is one thing, however, in the above passage, wherein we all unite; and this is—that the value or importance of religious principles is to be estimated by their influence on the morals of men. By this rule let the fore-mentioned doctrines, with their opposites, be tried. If either those or these will not abide the trial, they ought to be rejected.⁴²

The strength of this method is that Fuller gained the advantage of being able to describe the theological principles of the debate in detail. These principles were not compared to texts that were in dispute, but to Christian virtues, attitudes, and goals that were not in dispute. He could remove caricatures, correct false impressions, and describe biblical ideas without making them grounds for controversy. He would seemingly grant the legitimacy of the Socinian emphasis on Christianity primarily as a system of virtue and would demonstrate its inferiority in accomplishing its own end.

 See below, p. 58.  See below, p. 55.

16

General editor’s introduction

Other methodological issues emerged in the flow of the conflict, however, and led Fuller to reflect on the principles of engagement in theological conflict throughout his argument.

6 Fuller reflects on the rules of engagement In The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, when Andrew Fuller entered the controversy with both hyper-Calvinists and Arminians on the issue of human inability and responsibility, he made a statement about controversy in general, which arose from prior conflicts in which he felt his own conduct had been unworthy of the issue. He wanted to avoid “the spirit into which we are apt to be betrayed, when engaged in controversy—that of magnifying the importance of the subject beyond its proper bounds.”⁴³ His diary for July 19, 1780, recorded a pivotal discovery: “I have this day had a proof of my weakness. Being engaged in a controversy, I found my spirit too much stirred. O how unfit am I for controversy!” He followed through on the next day with further contemplation: “O peace, thou inestimable jewel! The Lord grant I may never enter the polemical lists.”⁴⁴ Throughout his ministry, Fuller had abundant opportunity to check himself on this principle, as well as to examine the details of argumentative method. In light of the necessity of arguing within fraternal—or sometimes not so fraternal—bounds, he had to develop a manner of engagement that would be vigorous but not unfair, relentless in affirmation of the truth without misrepresenting the opponent, and confident of the cogency of the intended outcome but not oblivious to the opponent’s reasoning. As his Baptist and evangelical contemporaries considered him a master controversialist, it would be profitable to distill some of the principles that guided his engagement with Socinianism. First, one must be convinced that doctrinal content is important. One of the ideas against which Fuller argued in dealing with Socinianism was “the non-importance of principle itself, in order to the enjoyment of the divine favour.”⁴⁵ Socinians, as well as Deists, disliked all the doctrinal points that Calvinists considered constituent of saving faith: “Nothing is more common,” Fuller observed, “than for professed infidels to exclaim against Christianity, on account of its rendering the belief of the Gos-

 Andrew Fuller, The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, or The Duty of Sinners to Believe in Jesus Christ (WAF, 2:330).  Cited in Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 119. Ryland comments in a note: “As little also did he imagine how much of this sort of work he must do for God; who intended to make him valiant for truth on the earth, and to render him one of the most able, temperate, cautious, and useful controversial writers of his time; a strenuous defender of evangelical truth, against false Calvinism and Antinomianism, and likewise against the Arminians, Socinians, Deists, Universalists, and Sandemanians” (Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 119 n. *).  See below, p. 253.

6 Fuller reflects on the rules of engagement

17

pel necessary to salvation.”⁴⁶ Those who objected to the doctrinal content of Christianity substituted morality and sincerity as the means of acceptance before God. In so doing, they really substituted another doctrinal basis for eternal life. Their enlightened rationality and genteel manners rendered obnoxious such teachings as vindictive justice, the necessity of atonement for forgiveness, divine sovereignty in salvation, the deity of Christ, and the final, infallible authority of Scripture on the basis of its divine inspiration. These ideas, they felt, were so clouded in obscurities and caused such confusion and division among Christians that such uncertainty was purposeful on God’s part, “to whet human industry, and the spirit of inquiry into the things of God, to give scope for the exercise of men’s charity and mutual forbearance of one another, and to be one great means of cultivating the moral dispositions” as opposed to grasping perfect knowledge, “which so few can attain.”⁴⁷ In Fuller’s opinion, they rejected the inspiration and clarity of Scripture because the doctrines built on such a view ran counter to their rational assumptions. “One thing, however, is sufficiently evident,” Fuller noted, “while they vent their antipathy against the Holy Scriptures in such indecent language, they betray a consciousness that the contents of that sacred volume are against them.”⁴⁸ On the one hand, therefore, the idea that doctrinal principles are unimportant to faith simply cannot be maintained in true Christianity. The belief in the revealed truths of Scripture is necessary to faith, not only for the sake of the truth, but to cultivate the frame of mind

 See below, p. 253.  See below, p. 213 – 214. Fuller quoted from The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M. A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 49. Lindsey’s argument comes in the context of his survey of how Protestants had to learn the “unalienable rights of conscience,” “the common equality of all men in the things of God,” and “the innocence of error from which none can plead exemption” (ibid., 48). His statements of principle arise largely from a historical survey of the sufferings of Anti-trinitarians at the hands of both Roman Catholics and Protestants. “The greater part of our protestant predecessors, unhappily for us, seem to have had a superstitious awe and dread of looking into a subject [the Trinity] involved, as this was, in learned mystery and darkness” (ibid., 37). In a similar vein, Lindsey viewed not only the supposedly intentional obscurities which God left in Scripture, but also the corruption and weakness of men as leading to the same conclusion: “But we should consider, that although God is perfect, and all that comes from him is originally so: yet man is a creature full of prejudice, which he takes in with his nurse’s milk, and overwhelmed with various errors; and that, as there is scarce any evidence so clear which passions and corrupt interest will not incline him to set aside, there is no doctrine so plainly laid down, which early prepossession and wrong habits will not darken and perplex. Unless then Almighty God had new moulded the race of men, when he gave them a revelation of his will, the pure doctrine of the gospel would unavoidably take a tincture from the manners, dispositions, and habits of those who received it, as water from the beds of minerals through which it passes. The truth of God therefore was necessarily left to take its chance in the world, if we may so speak, and to be more or less corrupted in different times and places” (ibid., 91– 92). In spite of this, God will, in his own way, use such corrupt and prejudicial tendencies to sustain moral improvement and the triumph of truth and virtue over the spirit of error and wickedness. The idea that such an original tendency to prejudice and error is present in all men does not fit well into the anthropological optimism of Socinianism.  See below, p. 255.

18

General editor’s introduction

necessary for full belief in the revealed truths about human sin, about human acceptance before God only through the righteousness of another, and about God’s prerogative in granting this righteousness to whom he will. “Are the doctrines which Socinians disown (supposing them to be true),” Fuller asked, “of such importance, that a rejection of them would endanger their salvation?”⁴⁹ He believed so and stated as much. The resistance to principle, Fuller believed, was simply a façade for the positive presentation of a different doctrinal system. In theological controversy, the cause of truth is not aided by minimizing the importance of any doctrine that constitutes a part of the faith. The polemicist’s intent must be to work towards further clarification and eventually full unity and acceptance, even of controverted points and hard doctrines. Any temptation to declare a moratorium on doctrinal engagement must be resisted, for this leads to the minimization of the importance of truth in the Christian faith. As a second principle, Fuller pointed out that nothing substantial is gained when argument proceeds on the basis of insult; rather, in such cases, true weakness comes to the fore. Argument by insult seeks to discredit a position by bringing in impertinent data. Being judgmental about the emotional state or the mental abilities of an antagonist does nothing to discredit the argument. When a Socinian observed orthodox Christians’ determination to defend the deity of Christ, he concluded that “there is no reasoning with them” and felt that they were “to be pitied, and considered as being under a debility of mind, in this respect, however sensible and rational in others.”⁵⁰ Socinians felt that they were the true thinkers of the day, and that soon their viewpoint would win over the vulgar—that is, the non-thinking, non-innovative part of the population who simply accepted the rational convictions of the few. This is how Trinitarian orthodoxy had won the day, or so Priestley contended. Leading intellects formulated the creeds, and the vulgar people simply followed them. But so it is with science in any period. People believe what has always been believed until the more enlightened set a new standard or, as it were, create a paradigm shift. Fuller recognized this to be the case in matters of scientific research, in which knowledge is dependent on human investigation, which only yields to certain specialist skills. But in matters of divine revelation, in grasping truths for the eternal well-being of the soul—those things which God has revealed, but which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard—Fuller argued, “We have a standard; and one, too, that is adapted to the understanding of the simple.” The Socinians considered ordinary persons to be “incapable of forming religious sentiments for themselves; as if the Bible were to them a sealed book, and they had only to believe the system that happened to be in fashion, or rather, to have been in fashion some years before they

 See below, p. 175.  See below, p. 153. For the quotation, see Lindsey, Catechist, 28.

6 Fuller reflects on the rules of engagement

19

were born, and to dance after the pipe of learned men.”⁵¹ But if the Scriptures are indeed so obscure and intended only to create genial moral dispositions, then “why this abusive and insulting language?” The Socinians defended their rejection of orthodoxy on the basis of the supposed indecipherability of the standards of belief, combined with the naïveté and mental debility of the orthodox. Such a presentation does not amount to an argument and reveals the uncertain ground on which the Socinian claim to rational Christianity rests. Third, although controversy creates an atmosphere in which the temptation to insult one’s opponent is great, one must not be too quick to take offense. Fuller looked closely at his antagonist’s position and took care not to identify an argument as an insult. If an argument aimed at discrediting his doctrine took a discernible position and drew pertinent inferences from it, then even if such inferences were severe with regard to his own belief, he did not consider such a strategy or argument insulting. If Socinians were confident that belief in the deity of Christ constituted a vital error, and that consequently worship of him is forbidden by scriptural commands against idolatry, and that orthodox Christians are therefore idolaters, then this is simply a necessary conclusion, drawn from a premise which they think is clear. It is certainly open to candid investigation by their opponents. Fuller took all this in stride and wrote, “If Socinians have a right to think Trinitarians idolaters, they have, doubtless, a right to call them so; and, if they be able, to make it appear so: nor ought we to consider ourselves as insulted by it. I have no idea of being offended with any man, in affairs of this kind, for speaking what he believes to be the truth.”⁵² Courting compliments from one another did no good in such disagreements; instead, antagonists should “encourage an unreservedness of expression, provided it be accompanied with sobriety and benevolence.”⁵³ The charge of bigotry which the Socinians brought against orthodox Christians, however, would be true, rather than an ad hominem insult, only under certain circumstances, which Fuller delineated. But the conviction that certain beliefs are necessary to salvation, and an attachment to those doctrines “on account of their appearing to us to be revealed in the Scriptures,”⁵⁴ does not lend itself to the charge of bigotry; rather, it is a manifestation of fair, honest, benevolent, and rational forthrightness. Concerning the several, highly pertinent points of controversy, Fuller thus wrote: It must be allowed, that these doctrines may be what we consider them, not only true, but essential to Christianity. Christianity, like every other system of truth, must have some principles which are essential to it; and, if those in question be such, it cannot justly be imputed to pride or bigotry, it cannot be uncharitable, or uncandid, or indicate any want of benevolence, to think so. Neither can it be wrong to draw a natural and necessary conclusion, that those persons who reject these principles are not Christians. To think justly of persons is, in no respect, inconsistent

   

See See See See

below, below, below, below,

p. 257. p. 182– 183. p. 183. p. 182.

20

General editor’s introduction

with an universal good will towards them. It is not, in the least, contrary to charity, to consider unbelievers in the light in which the Scriptures represent them; nor those who reject what is essential to the Gospel, as rejecting the Gospel itself.⁵⁵

Denying the importance of principle is a path to infidelity. Arguing by insulting one’s opponent corrects no one and sheds no light on the point of disagreement. Taking something as an insult when it is intended as a salutary, truth-clarifying, gospelmanifesting, God-glorifying proposition of biblical doctrine does nothing to reconcile divergent positions and may be dangerous to the soul.

7 The argument in action This section examines Fuller’s approach to three key issues in which he employed both the test of theory and the test of fact. I will then point out several summaries and concluding points which Fuller distilled from his arguments on other issues. The three issues to be more extensively discussed are: (1) the conversion of profligates; (2) love of Christ; and (3) veneration for the Scriptures.

7.1 The conversion of profligates Fuller argued that the Calvinist system had a greater tendency to convert profligate sinners that the Socinian system. He began with the foundational issue of conversion, for it is the commencement of a holy life. For Fuller, the proposition that “the system which affords the most enlarged views of the evil of sin must needs have the greatest tendency to promote repentance for it” was self-evident.⁵⁶ Having established this principle and given biblical examples of the depth of repentance described as characteristic of saints in Scripture, he detailed the views of sin at the heart of each system. We may also observe how Fuller used the comparison for a full yet succinct description of the theology of his two parties. Calvinism affirms that though man was originally created holy and happy, he disobeyed God of his own accord and became vile. God is infinitely amiable, the moral centre of all intelligence, and rebellion against him, if allowed to operate according to its tendencies, would exclude God and righteousness from the universe, destroy universal good, and create anarchy and endless mischief. In itself, rebellion against the biblical God is an infinite evil deserving eternal punishment. Whenever God exercises forgiveness, it is not without “that public expression of his displeasure against it which was uttered in

 See below, p. 175 – 176.  See below, p. 59.

7 The argument in action

21

the death of his Son.” In Fuller’s words, these incentives to self-abhorrence have led multitudes to repent in dust and ashes.⁵⁷ On the other hand, Socinianism “entertains diminutive notions of the evil of sin.” Its adherents viewed it as virtually intrinsic to finitude, a frailty to be pitied, rather than an evil to strike horror into the conscience. Its main detraction was not from the glory of God, but from the happiness of man. That which was threatened against sin was regarded as so trifling as to be no object of dread. “Since God has created us for happiness,” Priestley reasoned, “what misery can we fear?” Since human beings are intended for ultimate, unlimited happiness, “it is no matter to a truly resigned person, when, or where, or how.”⁵⁸ Fuller did not press the question of which of these views is true, but rather which one has the greatest tendency to promote repentance. “If repentance be promoted by a view of the evil of sin, this question, it is presumed, may be considered as decided.”⁵⁹ After further discussion on the powerful motivations inherent in the propitiatory death of Christ, Fuller issued another inference based on a priori reasoning—not as regards demonstrable truth or falsehood, but as regards the tendency of the Socinian devaluation of Christ to incentivize conviction and conversion: “Brethren, examine these matters to the bottom, and judge for yourselves, whether you might not as well expect grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles, as to see repentance towards God, or faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, proceeding from Socinian principles.”⁶⁰ Moreover, total depravity, monergistic regeneration, election and predestination, and the doctrine of perseverance also had special applications that clearly distinguished Calvinism, which Fuller considered the most consistent presentation of Christianity, from Socinianism. “If we believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration,” he argued, “or that a sinner must be renewed in the spirit of his mind, or never enter the kingdom of God,” then how do we regard those who deny the “doctrine of a supernatural divine influence, by which a new heart is given us, and a new spirit is put within us?” ⁶¹ Fuller then described the views of the Socinians in their rational coolness, how they derived satisfaction from the serenity with which they could contemplate philosophy and look upon all the avocations of life with composure. Such is the “summit of their happiness,” and anyone who wishes to escape the Socinian censure of enthusiasm should conduct themselves in like manner. How dull and cold this is when compared to the view of joy and delight contained in the Calvinistic system.

 See below, p. 59.  See below, p. 60. Fuller is quoting from Joseph Priestley, Philosophical Necessity, 128 – 129.  See below, p. 60.  See below, p. 63. Cf. Andrew Fuller, The Gospel Its Own Witness; or, The Holy Nature and Divine Harmony of the Christian Religion contrasted with the Immorality and Absurdity of Deism (WAF, 2:23): “The love of Christ constraineth us: But what have they to constrain them? Will self-love, or the beauty or utility of virtue, answer the purpose? Let history and observation determine.”  See below, p. 181.

22

General editor’s introduction

It is affecting to think that man, originally pure, should have fallen from the height of righteousness and honour, to the depth of apostasy and infamy; that he is now an enemy to God, and actually lies under his awful and just displeasure, exposed to everlasting misery; that, notwithstanding all this, a ransom is found, to deliver him from going down to the pit; that God so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son, to become a sacrifice for sin, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life; that the issue of Christ’s death is not left at an uncertainty, nor the invitations of his Gospel subject to universal rejection, but an effectual provision is made in the great plan of redemption, that he shall see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied; that the Holy Spirit is given to renew and sanctify a people for himself; that they who were under condemnation and wrath, being justified by faith in the righteousness of Jesus, have peace with God; that aliens and outcasts are become the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty; that everlasting arms are now beneath them, and everlasting glory is before them. These sentiments, I say, supposing them to be true, are undoubtedly, affecting. The Socinian system, supposing it were true, compared with this, is cold, uninteresting, and insipid.⁶²

After a thorough examination of the corrupting tendencies of Socinianism at every vital point of its distinctiveness, Fuller concluded that “it is not the Gospel of Christ, but another Gospel,” and “those who preach it preach another Jesus whom the apostles did not preach.”⁶³ However, for Fuller, the tendency of Socinianism to foster shallow repentance through shallow views of sin did not constitute the sum of its problems in prompting a truly repentant heart. Much more serious was the fact that Socinians actually questioned whether every transgression would be punished, or even whether obedience to every commandment should receive a just recompense. Their difficulty came with “the equity and goodness of the Divine law” in inflicting punishment for every transgression. Only a “merciless tyrant” would do so, and according to Thomas Belsham, we must then “be tempted to wish that the reins of universal government were in better hands.”⁶⁴ Fuller contemplated the implications of this and tested it against his idea of the promotion of virtue: It seems, then, that God has given us a law by the terms of which he cannot abide; that justice itself requires him, if not to abate the precept, yet to remit the penalty, and connive at smaller instances of transgression. I need not inquire how much this reflects upon the moral character and government of God. Suffice it at present to say, that such views must of necessity preclude repentance. If the law which forbids, “every instance” of human folly be unreasonably strict, and the penalty which threatens the curse of the Almighty on every one that continueth not in all things therein written be indeed cruel, then it must so far be unreasonable for any sinner to be required to repent for the breach of it. On the contrary, God himself should rather repent for making such a law than the sinner for breaking it!⁶⁵

 See below, p. 227.  See below, p. 267.  See below, p. 61. Fuller is quoting from Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of making an open Profession of it (London: J. Johnson, 1790), 34.  See below, p. 61. In his Catechism for Children and Young Persons, Joseph Priestley follows up his section on the Ten Commandments with some points of application and includes the following ex-

7 The argument in action

23

Fuller also invoked a third aspect of conversion—namely, its relationship to faith in Christ. New Testament language does indeed indicate that conversion manifests itself by faith in Christ as the one through whose blood sinners receive forgiveness, and that there is no other name through which this aspect of conversion can come. The language of the New Testament constantly pushes the sinner towards faith in Christ. Socinian writers, however, denude such language of all its force to push the sinner towards Christ and substitute instead a “good moral life” as the ground of our hope.⁶⁶ This is dangerous reductionism, even contradiction of the biblical language, and it deserves a warning, which Fuller soberly provided. If it is finally shown that a propitiatory death provides the only avenue to acceptance before God, then those who reject this will find themselves fighting against God. “Meanwhile,” Fuller concluded, “it requires but little penetration to discover that whatever takes away the only foundation of a sinner’s confidence cannot be adapted to promote it.”⁶⁷ The a priori arguments, therefore, indicate that Calvinistic doctrine has a greater tendency to effect profound conversion and leave no person with a just excuse for his disobedience or any reason why he should not be punished eternally if God’s righteous anger were not satisfied. Socinianism tends to minimize the need for conversion on the basis of its diminished view of the severity of sin and its confidence that God himself will not exact full punishment for disobedience. Why should any sinner be terribly concerned about conversion under such a system? After this, Fuller pushed forward to an inquiry into “matters of fact”—that is, the a posteriori arguments. In the first place, Fuller pointed out that Priestley acknowledged a distinct difference between the results of his preaching and that of the apostles, or even the Methodists of his day. Priestley explained the great conversions evident in the case of the apostles and the current Methodists in terms of novelty and the shock effect this has on ignorant listeners. Priestley did not expect that his

changes: “35. Qu. Is any man able to fulfil all the commands of God so as to live entirely without sin? An. No. Our merciful God and father knows that we are not able to do this, and therefore does not expect it of us. He only requires that we repent of the sins we commit, and endeavor to live better lives for the future. 36. Qu. What should a sense of our frailty and proneness to sin teach us? An. It should teach us humility and watchfulness, make us earnest in our prayers to God, to enable us to resist temptation, and to strengthen and confirm our good dispositions. 37. Qu. In what manner will God reward our faithful, though imperfect obedience to his will? An. He will so order all the events of this life, prosperous and adverse, as that they shall be the best for us, whether we can see them to be so or not; and he will make us completely happy in another and a better world” (Joseph Priestley, Catechism for Children and Young Persons, 6th ed. [London: J. Johnson, 1791], 25 – 26).  In his Catechism for Children and Young Persons, Priestley posed the questions: “15. Qu. Who hath told us that God will forgive us, if we repent of our sins, and endeavor to sin no more? An. Many persons by whom God spake; and particularly Jesus Christ. 16. Qu. Who was Jesus Christ? An. Jesus Christ was a person whom God sent to teach men their duty, and to persuade and encourage them to practice it” (Priestley, Catechism for Children and Young Persons, 15).  See below, p. 63.

24

General editor’s introduction

preaching would have a similar effect. Theoretically, Priestley admitted he was “less solicitous about the conversion of unbelievers who are much advanced in life than of younger persons, and that because he [i. e., Priestley] despairs of the principles of Christianity having much effect upon the lives of those whose dispositions and habits are already formed.”⁶⁸ As a matter of personal observation, Priestley remarked, “Our people having in general been brought up in habits of virtue, such great changes in character and conduct are less necessary in their case.”⁶⁹ What could make Priestley so dubious about the expectation of the radical, immediate, profound conversion of profligate sinners? Fuller surmised that the natural and candid conclusion is that Priestley did not see “any such effects arise from his ministry, or the ministry of those of his sentiments.”⁷⁰ However, the experience of those who emphasized the “doctrines of human depravity, the deity and atonement of Christ, justification by faith, and sanctification by the influence of the Holy Spirit” was quite different. In both the past and in the present, they regularly saw the radical conversion of such people as were described in the New Testament as “fornicators, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10). Both the Reformation and the Evangelical Awakening in England and North America in the mid-eighteenth century preached these doctrines and saw this species of conversion regularly. Fuller noted that “a considerable degree of the same kind of success has attended the Calvinistic churches in North America, within the last ten years; especially in the states of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.” When grand and holy effects attended the labours of pastors and other preachers who insisted on the teachings that Priestley included among the “corruptions of Christianity,” they must be forgiven—and justifiably believed—when they ascribed such effects to the “name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Spirit of our God.”⁷¹ Before letting this issue rest, Fuller gave six reasons why the success of Calvinistic preaching cannot be attributed to the power of novelty. Many of its most powerful effects in terms of radical conversion took place in congregations where those converted had heard these principles for decades. The message was not novel, but the conversion—as in the case of Jonathan Edwards’s (1703 – 1758) preaching in

 See below, p. 64– 65. Fuller is partly quoting from and partly paraphrasing Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), viii–ix. In this work, Priestley mainly addressed the views and system of David Hume (1711– 1776). In a subsequent continuation of Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, Priestley addressed the Deist Thomas Paine (1737– 1809) and his Age of Reason. Priestley noted, “How exceedingly superficial and frivolous are the hacknied [sic] objections to Christianity, and how entirely they arise from the grossest ignorance of the subject, will appear from my animadversions on Mr. Paine’s boasted work” (Joseph Priestley, An Answer to Mr. Paine’s Age of Reason, being a Continuation of Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion; and of the Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever [Northumberland, PA, 1794; repr., London: J. Johnson, 1794], v).  See below, p. 69.  See below, p. 65.  See below, p. 66 – 69.

7 The argument in action

25

Northampton—still proved radical. In addition, even with a novel teaching, its effects in general and over time will not be distinct from its principles. An excessive degree of heat will still produce the effects of heat. The apostles and their doctrinal successors did not see fit to pass along Priestley’s insight. They did not attribute any of the lasting moral effects of their message to its novelty, but to the working of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. On top of this, those most disposed to embrace novelty, such as those at Athens, benefitted the least from Paul’s doctrine. Finally, Fuller issued a two-fold challenge to Priestley and his intellectual and spiritual comrades. First, since Belsham had admitted that rational Christians appear indifferent to practical religion, there might be a need for the kind of conversion Priestley resisted. “We may conclude,” Fuller insisted, “that the generality of ‘rational Christians’ are not so righteous as to need no repentance; and that the reason why their preaching does not turn sinners to righteousness is not owing to their want of an equal proportion of sinners to be turned.”⁷² Second, Fuller challenged Priestley to go into the highways and hedges, since his doctrines were admittedly just then newly rediscovered, and woo the profligate population—in “the love of God and holiness”— with these new doctrines. If the errors of the enthusiastic Methodists had been so powerful as to civilize and Christianize large parts of the land, what wonders might be expected from Mr. Priestley’s truth? Given his views of the workings of the principles of virtue, however, he would have to preach in such a way as to call the righteous, not sinners, to repentance. He could hold out no hope for those whose habits on the path of vice are so strong that they cannot be amended. “Happy for many a poor wretch of that description,” Fuller wrote to clinch his argument, “happy especially for the poor thief upon the cross, that Jesus Christ acted on a different principle!”⁷³

7.2 Love of Christ Fuller considered the unadorned language of the New Testament conclusive proof that Christianity consists largely of love of Christ. Conformity to morality itself, if defined by the moral law of God, cannot exist apart from love of Christ. “He that loveth me will be loved of my Father,” Jesus said. Peter wrote to those to whom he brought the Gospel about their attitude towards Christ, “Whom having not seen, ye love.” Paul concluded, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.”⁷⁴ The question to be answered by Fuller’s two-fold test, then, is which view tends more towards the love of Christ—that is, the kind of love manifest in the apostolic testimony.

 See below, p. 72.  See below, p. 73.  John 14:21; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 Corinthians 16:22.

26

General editor’s introduction

Three questions serve to clarify the a priori aspect of the problem: which system tends most to exalt Christ’s character, which one places his mediatorial work in the most important light, and “which represents us as most indebted to his undertaking.”⁷⁵ Fuller’s answer to the first employed Jonathan Edwards’s reasoning in The Nature of True Virtue. As Fuller summarized it: “God, possessing infinitely more existence than all the creatures taken together, and being as good as he is great, is to be loved and revered without bounds, except those which arise from the limitations of our powers; that is, ‘with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.’”⁷⁶ Given this reality, does a system which reveres Christ as God or one that views him as a mere man excite more genuine love and truly virtuous feeling in connection with thoughts about him? The language and devotion of the biblical writers seems to be consistent with that of the Calvinists. They engage in the most exalted encomiums on the name of Christ, which would be embarrassingly ludicrous should he prove after all to be merely human, and nothing more.⁷⁷ In the face of this biblical atmosphere, Priestley retorted, “In no sense whatever, not even in the lowest of all, is Christ so much as called God in all the New Testament.”⁷⁸ In response to this position Fuller, posed the dilemma of “whether such love as the prophets and apostles expressed towards Christ could consist with his being merely a fellow creature, and their considering him as such.” Again, given the principles of the Socinians, could the manner in which they expressed their love to Christ have been considered anything other than “the height of extravagance, and the essence of idolatry”?⁷⁹ Fuller asked his reader to judge the moral tendency of the respective views.

 See below, p. 192.  See below, p. 192. Edwards had argued: “Further, if Being, simply considered, be the first object of a truly virtuous benevolence, then that Being who has most of being, or has the greatest share of existence, other things being equal, so far as such a being is exhibited to our faculties, will have the greatest share of the propensity and benevolent affections of the heart. […] When anyone under the influence of general benevolence sees another being possessed of the like general benevolence, this attaches his heart to him, and draws forth greater love to him, than merely his having existence […] Therefore he that has true virtue, consisting in benevolence to Being in general, and in that complacence in virtue, or moral beauty, and benevolence to virtuous being, must necessarily have a supreme love to God, both of benevolence and complacence” (Jonathan Edwards, The Nature of True Virtue, in Jonathan Edwards: Ethical Writings, vol. 8 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards, ed. Paul Ramsey [New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1989], 545 – 546, 551). Love of God in both Fuller and Edwards implied love of Christ, particularly in that supreme act of benevolence: his death for sinners.  See below, p. 192– 195. Fuller did not intend to engage in lengthy and technical exegesis on the passages he mentioned, but merely to show that the apostles’ devotion, as well as that of the prophets in prospect, was remarkably like worship. They engage in so much God-talk that the Socinians are left with a formidable task in explaining all of this away, either by interpretive sophistry or by denigrating the philosophical sophistication of the biblical writers.  See below, p. 195.  See below, p. 195.

7 The argument in action

27

Judge also for yourselves, brethren, which of the systems in question has the greatest tendency to promote such a spirit of love to Christ as is here exemplified. That which leads us to admire these representations, and, on various occasions, to adopt the same expressions; or that which employs us in coldly criticising away their meaning. That which leads us, without fear, to give them their full scope; or that which while we are honouring the Son, would excite apprehensions, lest we should, in so doing, dishonour the Father.⁸⁰

The second question in Fuller’s investigation concerns the importance of the mediation of Christ. That system which places him in the most important role as mediator would have the tendency to excite the greatest love for him. The Socinian system has little use for Christ, in worship or as an atoning sacrifice. This doctrine, according to Priestley, is one of the major corruptions of Christianity.⁸¹ His rediscovery of the pristine purity of Christianity in its reflection of a moral government ruled by the benevolence of God would once more become dominant in Christian thinking. Virtue is the necessary means of the happiness God wishes for all of his creatures, and “his displeasure at sin is sufficiently shown by the methods which he takes to promote the reformation of sinners.” These considerations should eradicate, in time, “whatever remains of the doctrine of atonement; a doctrine which has no foundation in reason, or in the scriptures, and is indeed a modern thing.” Christ’s death should be considered a sacrifice in no other manner “than any person might be said to be a sacrifice to the cause in which he dies.”⁸² Priestley’s conviction on this matter never altered, and what Fuller considered orthodox and vital to the very being of Christianity, Priestley opposed with increasing hostility. In 1794, after Fuller’s engagement had been published, Priestley responded: “But the more I attend to this subject, the more sensible I am that no defence of Christianity can be of any avail till it be freed from the many corruptions and abuses which have hitherto incumbered it.” Calling this exposure of corruptions “the most essential preliminary” of a meaningful defence of pure Christianity, he promised, “I shall omit no fair opportunity of reprobating in the strongest terms, such doctrines as those of transubstantiation, the Trinity, atonement, etc. etc. etc. to whatever odium I may expose myself with such Christians as, from the best motives, but from ignorance, consider them as essential to the scheme” of Christianity.⁸³ Fuller saw no concordance between this view and the passionate New Testament devotion to Christ on account of his crucifixion and his being the mediator of all heavenly blessings. All the redeemed will say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was

 See below, p. 195 – 196. The major passages which Fuller quoted and to which he referred in this call to judgment are John 1:1– 3, 10, 14; John 20:24– 28; Hebrews 1 and other references from Hebrews; and various passages from the Pauline corpus, including Romans 9:4– 5 and Colossians 1:13 – 17.  Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 90 – 155.  Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 154.  Joseph Priestley, A Continuation of the Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France on the Subject of Religion; and of The Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever; in Answer to Mr. Paine’s Age of Reason (Northumberland, PA: Andrew Kennedy, 1794), v–vi.

28

General editor’s introduction

slain,” and Paul knew nothing but “Christ crucified.”⁸⁴ For the knowledge of Christ Jesus and for the righteousness that comes by faith in him, Paul suffered the loss of all things and gladly counted them as dung. In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul represents Christ as the medium through which all the blessings of God are bestowed. The primitive Gospel was full of Christ; he was its life and its centre. None of the Gospel blessings reached their target without making their journey through Christ. Fuller laid out the options once again: “Which of the systems in question is it which resembles that of the apostles in this particular,” he asks, “and consequently has the greatest tendency to promote love to Christ?” Is it the Calvinistic system, in which “Christ is the all in all,” or the Socinian system of Joseph Priestley and Thomas Belsham, in which “he is scarcely ever introduced, except for the purpose of representing him as a ‘mere fellow creature, a fallible and peccable man?’”⁸⁵ The third question Fuller used to test whether one has the same kind of regard for Christ as the primitive Christians had is: “Which of the two systems represents us as most indebted to Christ’s undertaking?” Fuller investigated the maxim that those for whom much has been forgiven will love much, while those for whom little is forgiven will love little. The Socinian system saw sin as hardly more than external irregularities. Each person has much more of virtue than he does of sin, and humanity in general has more of virtue than it does of sin. On the other hand, Fuller’s system asserted that we “are utterly depraved, our very nature totally corrupted; and consequently, that all our supposed virtues, while our hearts were at enmity with God, were not virtue in reality but destitute of its very essence.” Calvinists proposed a view of human depravity that caused them to see themselves as utterly destitute of merit and virtue, lost and ready to perish, “so that if we are saved at all, it must be by rich grace, and by a great Saviour.”⁸⁶

 Revelation 5:12; 1 Corinthians 2:2.  See below, p. 199. Priestley summarized the relation of Jesus to the Christian religion in his Catechism for Children and Young Persons in the following terms: Jesus Christ “brought the most compleat [sic] and extensive revelation of the will of God to man,” as he came “to make men happy in turning them from their iniquities, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” He was superior to the prophets before him “in the perfection of his example, the purity of his precepts, and the importance of the motives by which he enforced them; more especially, as he gave us more distinct information concerning a future state of rewards and punishments. He also sent his disciples to teach all nations the knowledge of God” (Catechism for Children and Young Persons, 29, 30).  See below, p. 200. The Socinian system seems congenial to Paul’s pre-conversion understanding of righteousness, as Fuller evaluated it. Paul thought highly of his conformity to the Law as long as he viewed it merely in terms of external deportment. When its true spirituality came into view, however— that is, when the commandment rose up in all its glory and splendour—sin revived. Sin then became a “mighty ocean, that swelled and swept off all his legal hopes” (see below, p. 200). The Socinians thus saw sin as a mere spray which tickles the face, while ignoring the roaring ocean, of which the spray is a mere effusion. Consequently, their thought on forgiveness corresponded to their thought on sin in its weightlessness, and they viewed forgiveness as virtually an obligation which the deity owes his creatures if they are to do him the favour of considering him benevolent.

7 The argument in action

29

The height of one’s regard for Christ also takes into account the penalty of sin from which Christ has saved one. Socinians saw all punishment as remedial and restorative, rather than punitive. Therefore, none will be punished eternally. The Socinian believed that God’s benevolence naturally moves him to forgive without exacting retributive justice, and that humanity’s just measure of remedial punishment has in no sense been laid on Christ. According to Priestley, this is “a simple and a pleasing view of God and his moral government, and the consideration of it cannot but have the best effect on the temper of our minds and conduct in life.”⁸⁷ The Calvinist, to the contrary, saw sin as infinite in its evil and therefore worthy of an exquisitely unbearable, endless punishment. While maintaining both his integrity and the most striking complement of attributes, the Father could well refuse to forgive anyone. He has, however, out of undeserved love and for reasons of his own pleasure and glory, given his beloved Son, Jesus the Christ, as an atoning sacrifice and has thus achieved a gracious forgiveness fully consistent with his eternal justice. This incapacity to forgive apart from a real demonstration of justice allows mercy to triumph without coming at the expense of law, justice, and the general good, and therefore, it does diminish the Father’s loveliness and benevolence. “Such an incapacity rather infers a perfection than an imperfection in his nature,” Fuller contended, “and instead of diminishing our regard for his character, must have a powerful tendency to increase it.”⁸⁸ Given the earlier maxim, which of these systems tends to greater love of Christ, and thus more nearly reflects the biblical example of regard for Christ? As for matters of fact, a posteriori evidence exists in addition to statements of Socinian principles in their writings and arguments against the deity and the atoning work of Christ in their sermons. Their derogation of prayer to Christ, their reduction of his status from redeemer to martyr, and their accusations of idolatry against those whose opinion of him moves them to worship—all of these serve as factual evidence of their unapostolic minimization of Christ’s importance. How could a Socinian pronounce an anathema on anyone who did not love the Lord Jesus Christ? How could a Socinian ever say, “For to me to live is Christ,” with any sense of the passion and reverence Paul poured into that exclamation?⁸⁹ Can any Pauline, Johannine, or Petrine fervour for Christ’s preciousness be deduced from Priestley’s coolness in the following criticism of the Arian position as too high for Christ’s work on earth? Besides, if we once give up the idea of Christ having been the maker of the world, and content ourselves with supposing him to have been a being of a much more limited capacity, why may we not be satisfied with supposing him to have been a mere man? The purposes of his mission

 Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 155.  See below, p. 202.  1 Corinthians 16:22; Philippians 1:21.

30

General editor’s introduction

certainly could not require more. For it cannot be said that anything is ascribed to him, that a mere man (aided, as he himself says he was, by the power of God, his Father) was not equal to.⁹⁰

This kind of judgment can only be possible if one has omitted the force of many specific scriptural teachings, ignored Scripture’s spirit and focus, beclouded its clarity, and reshaped it in accordance with a dictatorial spirit. Fuller called for a test of this dismissive spirit with reference to plain scriptural testimony alongside the kind of veneration for Scripture manifested by Jesus himself and his apostles.

7.3 Veneration for the Scriptures Fuller established the premise of this letter in his first sentence: “If we may judge of the nature of true piety by the examples of the prophets and holy men of old, we may conclude with certainty that an affectionate attachment to the Holy Scriptures, as the rule of faith and practice, enters deeply into the spirit of it.”⁹¹ Fuller demonstrated briefly—but sufficiently—that such love for Scripture animated the biblical writers, and then he showed that Priestley himself considered a high regard for “proper Scripture authority” as a mark of true piety. What, then, might a Christian consider “proper regard” for the writings of the Bible? If the writers of the Bible were good and honest men, should we receive their writings in the spirit in which they presented them to the world? If their view of piety included submission to Scripture in all matters of faith and practice, can one be said to be pious who sets himself above Scripture? If a person venerates the authority of Scripture, he must receive it for what it professes to be and for all the purposes conceived in its composition. Fuller was certain that a candid investigation of all the pertinent facts would show that the whole body of Socinian divinity breathed “a language unfriendly to the sacred writings,” while encouraging a mental posture “hostile to every thought being subdued to the obedience of Christ.”⁹² The Old Testament prophets claimed to speak and write by the Spirit of God. The New Testament writers claimed that the Old Testament had been inspired by God and, in addition, saw themselves as inspired by and in continuity with that prophetic revelation. The language these writers used against those who do not receive their words as originating with God was severely denunciatory, and such language would have been unworthy of goodness and piety unless these claims were true. Fuller concluded, therefore, that biblical piety involves receiving the Bible itself as an “infallible standard of faith and practice.”⁹³  Priestley, History of the Corruptions of Christianity, 86.  See below, p. 203.  See below, p. 204.  See below, p. 204. Fuller began his discussion by presenting this proposition as a possibility; it is clear that his intent was to demonstrate the certainty of the proposed possibility.

7 The argument in action

31

Working with several of Priestley’s, Belsham’s, and Lindsey’s writings, Fuller systematically and relentlessly demonstrated that Socinian practice, arising from their implicit theory, involved placing their own rationality and conscience above the plain teaching of Scripture. On several occasions, Priestley specifically treated the biblical writers as fallible men susceptible to all the mistakes of other historians and witnesses of events.⁹⁴ They were also subject to biases and were “liable to make mistakes with respect to things of small moment, because they might not give sufficient attention to them.” He felt fully qualified to question and challenge these writers’ reasoning with “due consideration of the propositions they advance, and the arguments they allege.” Priestley claimed that the assertion of biblical inspiration “is a thing to which the writers themselves make no pretensions. It is a notion destitute of all proof, and that has done great injury to the evidence of Christianity.”⁹⁵ What Priestley means by “proper scriptural authority,” then, includes the fallibility of the biblical writers. His claim that their fallibility arises from the fact of their being men presumes, according to Fuller, “that it is impossible for God himself so to inspire a man as to preserve him from error without destroying his nature.”⁹⁶ This view obviously extended to Christ himself, since Priestley considered him “fallible and peccable.”⁹⁷ This fallibility infected not merely what they did in their everyday activities as men, but also what they reported as true in their writings. This is due to their lack of attention to details and their lack of rational sophistication. Priestley thought they were infallible in their views of Christ not because they were inspired, but because they had adequate opportunity to observe, reason, and draw their own conclusions. This proves only that any person may be infallible in certain things if he has adequate opportunity to observe and draw conclusions. Based on this premise, it is just as rational to assert Joseph Priestley’s infallibility as the infallibility of the biblical writers. Furthermore, we may just as easily accept Priestley’s materialistic philosophy regarding the non-existence of the soul as the New Testament testimony to the deity of Christ: “One is as much an object of the senses as the other.”⁹⁸ According to Priestley, apostolic thought concluded that Jesus was a “man approved of God” and nothing more. With this observation, Fuller begins to point out how the Socinian writers decided which Scriptures could be honoured as author-

 In his Catechism for Children and Young Persons, Priestley defined the Bible as “a collection of books written by good men, containing an account of what God has done for mankind, what he requires of them, and what they have to expect from him” (Catechism for Children and Young Persons, 16 – 17).  See below, p. 206 – 207. See Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II, 36; and idem, Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion (London: J. Johnson, 1793), 38.  See below, p. 208.  See below, p. 208.  See below, p. 209.

32

General editor’s introduction

itative and which not. Their principles of interpretation and their judgments of textual authenticity were guided by principles of human rationality that made individual reason the sole umpire in matters of faith. It turns out that “proper scriptural authority” is not real authority at all. Everything in Scripture must finally be subject to the Socinian canons of criticism. “If this be true,” Fuller asks, “to what purpose are all appeals to the Scriptures on controverted subjects?” Certainly Socinians should not appeal to the Scriptures and should honestly acknowledge “that they do not learn their religion thence, and therefore refuse to have it tried at that bar!”⁹⁹ After further detailed engagement with Lindsey, Belsham, and various continental Socinians—men such as the Hungarian György Enyedi (1555 – 1597)¹⁰⁰—who inclined even further towards infidelity, Fuller envisioned a striking scenario in the art of theological controversy. If we must quote particular passages of Scripture after the manner in which our adversaries translate them, we must also avoid quoting all those which they object to as interpolations. Nor shall we stop here: we must, on certain occasions, leave out whole chapters, if not whole books. We must never refer to the reasonings of the apostles, but consider that they were subject to be misled by Jewish prejudices; nor even to historical facts, unless we can satisfy ourselves that the historians, independently of their being divinely inspired, were possessed of sufficient means of information. In short, if we must never quote Scripture except according to the rules imposed upon us by Socinian writers, we must not quote it at all; not, at least, till they shall have indulged us with a Bible of their own, that shall leave out everything on which we are to place no dependence. A publication of this sort would, doubtless, be an acceptable present to the Christian world, would be comprised in a very small compass, and be of infinite service in cutting short a great deal of unnecessary controversy, into which for want of such a criterion, we shall always be in danger of wandering.¹⁰¹

As Fuller closed this discussion, he did not return to the question of which system inculcates proper veneration for Scripture, both in theory and in practice. He established this as an issue of piety at the beginning of the letter, and he spent the entire content of the letter in a vigorous polemical investigation of the blatant Socinian defects on this issue. Also, one must assume that Fuller and his Calvinist compatriots accepted Scripture as an infallible, sufficient, divinely inspired, clear, revelatory authority in all of its propositions. Though he does not revisit the initial question or prompt the reader to a conclusion, he expected that the nature of the discussion would make the answer undeniable.

 See below, p. 215.  See below, p. 217.  See below, p. 219.

8 Examples of other conclusions

33

8 Examples of other conclusions When it came to the conversion of “professed unbelievers” such as Jews, “Mahometans,” and skeptics, Priestley argued that maintaining the deity of Christ—with its concomitant, the Trinity—was a great stumbling block. Fuller observed, “We may so model the gospel as almost to accommodate it to their taste,” but in so doing Christians would be “more converted to them, than they to us.”¹⁰² Rather than being ineffective, however, the history of missions shows that poor benighted Trinitarians have not only been zealous, but employed effectually in conversion work. Finally, given the whole emphasis of the Socinian system, Fuller believed that it tends to “render men indifferent to this great object” on the one hand, and to render “conversion” virtually devoid of any change at all on the other. “The result is this,” concluded Fuller: “Socinianism so far from being friendly to the conversion of unbelievers [previously established as a goal of genuine piety] is neither adapted to the end nor favourable to the means—to those means, at least, by which it has pleased God to save them that believe.”¹⁰³ Concerning a standard of morality, Fuller found Socinian principles decidedly inferior and their practice self-professedly more worldly. Though Socinians expressed concern that Calvinism gave false impressions of God’s moral government and tended to relax the obligations of virtue, Fuller countered with a full investigation of the real tendencies of both systems under discussion. In reality, Socinianism relaxed the obligation to virtue in several ways. God never intended to invoke the full rigour of the law, but always intended to make allowance for human error and imperfection and to accept simple repentance and sincere obedience in place of strict conformity. With such a relaxed law, no satisfaction is necessary, and thus no mediator. Fuller analyzed this amended law with rigorous logic. If repentance and sincere obedience be all that ought to be required of men in their present state, then the law ought to be so framed, and allowance to be made by it for error and imperfection. But then it would follow, that where men do repent, and are sincere, there are no errors and imperfections to be allowed for. Errors and imperfections imply a law from which they are deviations; but if we be under no law, except one that allows for deviations, then we are as holy as we ought to be, and need no forgiveness.¹⁰⁴

This doctrine, touted as promoting a life of holiness, came from those who branded the Calvinistic system as Antinomian. But if the divine law is holy, just, and good, as Scripture proclaims, then relaxing it, either in precept or penalty, “without some expedient to secure its honor,” certainly subverts good order and constitutes enmity to holiness, justice, and goodness.¹⁰⁵    

See See See See

below, below, below, below,

p. 76. p. 85. p. 102– 103. p. 104– 105.

34

General editor’s introduction

Fuller looked on the Socinian system’s assertion that “repentance and a good life are of themselves sufficient to recommend us to the divine favour” as a prescription for unbounded pride. Such an evaluation of the acceptability of one’s good works before a holy God has no tendency to promote humility, which is clearly a trait that the gospel is designed to promote. Fuller noted, “If a set of writers united together, and studied to form an hypothesis in perfect contradiction to the holy scriptures, and the declared humbling tendency of the gospel, they could not have hit upon a point more directly to their purpose.”¹⁰⁶ Does Calvinism or Socinianism more consistently promote love of God, the foundation of all true piety? Priestley and other Socinians viewed the Calvinist doctrine of the atonement as rendering God naturally implacable and vindictive, and thus unlovely. The Calvinist assumption that God does everything for the sake of his own glory presents God as a megalomaniac whose selfish disposition runs roughshod over the happiness of his creatures. The Calvinist veneration of Christ detracts from the worship due to the Father alone. Fuller conceded that the Calvinist view of God might indeed render God unlovable from the perspective of one who shares Priestley’s disposition, but that does not mean that this view is incorrect. The Calvinist doctrine of the atonement does not show God to be implacable. Rather, it stretches our vision of his placability to its highest possible degree. God does not allow mercy to triumph over truth, righteousness, and equitable judgment. Thus he does not forsake his intrinsic goodness for the sake of human sin. Moreover, his forgiveness of sinners comes in the form of giving of his beloved Son as an atonement. “Now judge, brethren,” Fuller pleads, “whether this view of things represents the Divine Being as naturally implacable, whether the gift of Christ to die for us be not the strongest expression of the contrary.”¹⁰⁷ Is God vindictive? Jonathan Edwards contended, and Fuller agreed, that the vindictive justice of God is a glorious attribute. Scripture represents God as one who takes vengeance, and the “nature and fitness of things” shows that vindictive justice is necessary for order and benevolent government in society. As a Father, God is imitable in this, in that he teaches us to fear and obey, both for our own and for the greater good. This promotes love of God, unless we can convince ourselves that one who allows disorder, theft, and homicide with impunity; who permits general lawlessness; and who shows partiality to the rebellious and the seditious is a more lovely being than one who works for order, truth, and the good of the whole. Is it right and lovely for God to determine that all things shall be done for his own glory? Again employing Edwards’s The Nature of True Virtue, Fuller shows that this is exactly what should be expected of one who has the most and the best of all existence. His glory is preeminent. In addition, Scripture unremittingly sets the true goal of all rational beings as lifting minds, hearts, and voices in praise

 See below, p. 164– 165.  See below, p. 130.

9 Responses to Fuller

35

of God’s worthiness and glory. Sin itself is falling short of the glory of God. This view of God assigns him the supreme place in being and thus, necessarily, in our affections. To require less would be to fail to require that we love God supremely. “How such a view of things can tend to promote the love of God,” Fuller wondered, “unless a subordinate place in our affections be higher than the supreme, it is difficult to conceive.”¹⁰⁸ Does an affirmation of Christ’s deity detract from love of God? Only if Christ is set up as a rival to the Father and as a separate deity. Christ is worshipped by the orthodox, however, precisely for those attributes and perfections which he has in common with the Father. Scriptural declarations of Father’s love for the Son and warnings to those who do not honour the Son as they honour the Father show that one cannot truly love the Father if one excepts the Son from that same love.¹⁰⁹ On all the counts which Socinians identify as unfavorable to the love of God and proper reverence for him, Fuller shows that precisely the opposite tendency is the case. In fact, the Socinian system tends to diminish love for God by diminishing one’s awe and respect for his holiness and the seriousness with which one approaches this. On the other hand, Calvinist doctrine promotes love of God, for on these principles “we have more to love him for than upon the other. On this system, we have much to be forgiven; and therefore, love much. The expense at which our salvation has been obtained, as we believe, furnishes us with a motive of love to which nothing can be compared.”¹¹⁰

9 Responses to Fuller 9.1 Socinian responses Priestley never saw fit to respond to Fuller’s letters of comparison. Perhaps the riots that destroyed his laboratory and his meeting-house and the subsequent plans and preparations to move to America made such a response seem either impossible or unimportant.¹¹¹ Two others did respond, however: Joshua Toulmin (1740 – 1815) and John Kentish (1768 – 1853).¹¹²  See below, p. 138.  See below, p. 137– 140.  See below, p. 140.  Fuller found the riots against Priestley outrageous but not worthy of such sympathy that he would refuse to engage his religious principles with all the severity that honesty and candor would allow. “Detestable, however, as were the riots at Birmingham, no one can plead that they render the religious principles of Dr. Priestley less erroneous, or less pernicious; or an opposition to them, upon the fair ground of argument, less necessary” (see below, p. 51– 52). For a brief discussion of the riots, see Watts, Dissenters, 1:486 – 487.  Alan P. F. Sell has documented the details of both of these antagonists’ responses to Fuller in “Andrew Fuller and the Socinians,” Enlightenment and Dissent 19 (2000): 91– 115. His discussion

36

General editor’s introduction

The content of these responses falls into four categories. First, both sought to demonstrate the truth of “Socinian” doctrine (nomenclature which they disdained) by showing that great moral and spiritual changes accompanied the apostles’ preaching. This preaching, as distilled by Toulmin and Kentish, did not contain any of the doctrinal distinctions in which Calvinists differ from Unitarians (as they preferred to be called). Second, they mounted a defence of Socinian doctrine. They preferred, at least in some instances, to express their doctrine in specifically scriptural language. They affirmed the unity of God and his merciful forgiveness without the necessity of appeasing his anger. Conversely, from their perspective, the Calvinist, “orthodox” view of the Trinity could not escape the just accusation of idolatry, thus intruding on the singular love Christians should have for the Father. Nor could their doctrine of atonement fail to diminish the Father’s lovability. The idea that the Father’s love must be won by such brutality cannot but leave the impression that he is a merciless tyrant. Third, they felt that Fuller’s investigation of the morality of the Socinians (or Unitarians) was unfair and was based on “tales” told of private characters. They believed that the morality of leading Unitarian thinkers could well stand with that of the best of the orthodox, and that seeking to secure an argument by judging the morality of one’s opponents is not a fair or manly way of arguing. Finally, they resented and disputed Fuller’s argument that Socinianism tended towards Deism. The leading principles of Socinianism, such as devotion to Christ, distinguished Socinians from the Deists. Fuller engaged these rejoinders with vigour.¹¹³ First, he points out that these defences of Unitarian doctrine’s practical efficacy begged the question. They only prove

lays out the details of their contra-Fuller expositions and Fuller’s responses. Toulmin’s work was entitled The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796), while Kentish wrote The moral tendency of the genuine Christian Doctrine: A Discourse written with reference to Mr. A. Fuller’s Examination of the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems (London: J. Johnson, 1796). Both Toulmin and Kentish published second editions of their works. Kentish also wrote a second response to Fuller, entitled Strictures Upon the Reply of Mr. A. Fuller, to Mr. Kentish’s Discourse (London: J. Johnson, 1798). Fuller made no reply to Kentish’s second work, since he was “well satisfied that the public should judge from the evidence that was before them” (see below, p. 268), but he did engage Toulmin and Thomas Belsham again. For Toulmin’s and Kentish’s biographical details, see “Andrew Fuller and the Socinians,” 100 and 102– 103, respectively. See also “Toulmin (Joshua)” in Hugh James Rose, arranged, A New General Biographical Dictionary (London: T. Fellowes et al., 1857), 12:267; Alexander Gordon, “Kentish, John,” The Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), 1:1125; idem, “Toulmin, Joshua,” The Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), 2:2100.  Andrew Fuller, Socinianism Indefensible on the Ground of its Moral Tendency: Containing a Reply to Two Late Publications; The One by Dr. Toulmin, entitled The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; The Other by Mr. Kentish, entitled The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. This rejoinder immediately follows the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems (see below). Fuller had covered so much ground in his initial work that he had little of substance to add to his criticism, but

9 Responses to Fuller

37

what no one disputes—namely, “that the preaching of the apostles was productive of great moral effects.”¹¹⁴ The task to which Fuller invites them is to demonstrate that apostolic doctrine in its full exposition is identical to Socinian doctrine. Merely assuming that New Testament language and the apostles’ preaching proves that Unitarian doctrine has powerful effects fails to engage the controversy. Fuller was quite amazed that so many pages were used in this way. “If Dr. Toulmin could fairly allege the same things in behalf of the body of modern Unitarians,” Fuller chided, “he need not ‘call upon the churches of Christ in Judea and Samaria’ to bear witness to the holy efficacy of his doctrine.”¹¹⁵ The problem of begging the question continued, Fuller believed, in their defence of their doctrine. When Toulmin asserted that the truth of the “great doctrines of the unity of God and the humanity of Christ remain” unaffected by Fuller’s argument, Fuller pointed out that the Socinian author should not be surprised that he would not attack doctrines with which he fully agreed. Nor would he attack the words of Scripture, when his opponents expressed their views in the plain, unadorned text of the Bible. That approach, however, did nothing to defend the peculiarities of Socinianism. “You ought not to expect that we should attack the words of Scripture; for it is not Scripture, but your glosses upon it, that we oppose,” Fuller reminded his antagonist. “It is mean in you to beg the question,” Fuller continued, “by taking it for granted that your sense of these passages is the true one.” Not yet done with his animated resistance to Toulmin’s method, Fuller capped off his answer: “It is no other than shrouding your obnoxious glosses under the sacred phraseology of Scripture, and it betrays an inclination in you to impose upon us the one under the form of the other.”¹¹⁶ The Socinians, however, were not short on full, clear affirmations of their body of doctrine as distinct from that of the Calvinists. Though Priestley, Toulmin, Kentish, Belsham, and others appreciated the unadorned language of discreetly selected passages of Scripture as expressive of their belief, none could remain unaware of their clear rejection of Christ’s deity, his atoning work, and the Holy Spirit’s personhood. Kentish clearly felt that any temporizing on these differences was not right, and he admonished young ministers not to “leave the world in ignorance concerning the object of worship, the rank of Christ, the terms of salvation, and the final destiny of man.” Any union with Trinitarians would be impossible, for they pray “avowedly to one God, but in effect to three: for they pray not only to God the Father, but to

much to say with regard to the methods of interaction on the part of Toulmin and Kentish. Fuller essentially restates the nature and ground of his argument, shows how he has addressed questions of doctrinal content within that framework, and demonstrates that Toulmin and Kentish severely beg the question at issue, shift the ground of discussion, and complain about Fuller’s method, which he adopted to accommodate that which Socinians considered their chief advantage over Calvinism.  See below, p. 286.  See below, p. 298.  See below, p. 291.

38

General editor’s introduction

God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. This worship is in our opinion, antichristian and unscriptural.” Any union on such a basis would make them guilty of idolatry.¹¹⁷ Fuller sought to have them engage the full range of Scripture. He believed that they denied the principal ideas contained in the biblical confession: “Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh,” and “Jesus is the Son of God.” The orthodox worshipped Christ not for those attributes of the incarnation in which he differs essentially from the Father, but for those attributes in which he shares the Father’s essence—a worship and reverence that fills the pages of the New Testament and the hearts of the apostles. Not only do Socinian principles of interpretation and views of the origin of Scripture give them permission to criticize and reject portions which do not align with their rationalistic theism, but their theology places them outside the parameters of Christianity. “Charity does not require us to acknowledge and treat that as Christianity, which, in our judgment, is not so,” Fuller reasoned. “We think it our duty, in love, and with a view to their conviction, both by our words and actions, to declare our decided disapprobation of their principles.”¹¹⁸ When he was criticized for taking the approach of examining moral tendencies, Fuller simply responded that he took up the challenge as it was issued. Pure and simple Christianity, according to the Socinian (or Unitarian) idea, prior to the excrescences of orthodoxy, would be most advantageous to morality, just as simple apostolic doctrine was. Thus Fuller assumed that those same principles would have the same effect in his day. A simple examination of the a priori tendencies of both sets of doctrines, along with an examination of the available data, should determine which was nearest to apostolic doctrine. Fuller spent the majority of his time discussing the tendencies of Calvinism and Socinianism, and he resorted to factual discussion only where such was made available to him through the writings and admissions of Socinians themselves. A judgment rendered on Priestley’s description of the kinds of persons attracted to Socinianism led Fuller to remark: “That doctrine, be it what it may, to which an indifference to religion is friendly, cannot be the gospel, or anything pertaining to it, but something very near akin to infidelity.”¹¹⁹ To complain about this method seemed to Fuller like throwing down the gauntlet and then leaving the field of battle. He remarked that their complaint against his “mode of arguing”

 John Kentish, The Nature and Duties of the Christian Ministry: and the Co-operation of a Christian Society with the Labours of its Minister (Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1803), 13, 26.  See below, p. 304.  See below, p. 90. Fuller’s argument employed Priestley’s straightforward admission that conversions to Socinianism happen when one has attained “that cool unbiassed [sic] temper of mind in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it” (see below, p. 90). People who are indifferent may certainly be converted, Fuller argued, but they are not converted as a consequence of their indifference. Conversion assaults their indifference and implants a holy cast of mind, as a consequence of which they place their faith in Christ and his righteousness. It seems that Socinianism is not friendly to deep affection in matters of religious importance and consequently is incapable of inculcating the deepest longings for holiness and piety.

10 Conclusion

39

was akin to the Philistines complaining “of the unfairness of the weapon by which Goliath lost his head.”¹²⁰ When accused of tending towards infidelity, Toulmin and Belsham asserted points on which Socinians differed from Deists. They also spoke of the great contributions Socinians had made to the critical study of the Bible. Fuller pointed out that the controversy was not about the points in which they differed from Deism, but the points in which they agreed with Deists against Calvinists. Though they still professed to obtain their doctrine from the Bible, they had so mutilated it, forsaken its inspiration, and rendered its plain teachings obscure that their advocacy of divine revelation rang hollow. Their similarity to Deism and other forms of infidelity had so many common points in such vital areas, and it was founded on the same practice with regard to the sufficiency of human reason.

9.2 Friendly responses In 1794, Fuller noted that his Calvinistic and Socinian Systems had received “an unusual tide of respect and applause.” This he considered a great trial of a different sort than when he was reproached for his stance against false Calvinism. He felt that his “heart might be too much elated,”¹²¹ and that God would visit a trial upon him as punishment for this self-congratulating spirit. John Pye Smith (1774– 1851) examined the controversy as a prelude to his engagement with Thomas Belsham on the same issues. Smith wrote: I should say, that the address and ability of the Unitarian advocates had succeeded in detecting several single instances in which Mr. Fuller was uninformed, or incautious, or otherwise culpable; but that they had left the vitals of his reasoning absolutely unimpaired. Were that acute and ingenious writer to avail himself of some of their remarks, especially several just and important biblical criticisms, he would render future editions of both his publications more impregnable and complete.¹²²

10 Conclusion Fuller’s intense engagement on an issue of such distinctive christological and soteriological importance points to the breadth of his perception of Baptist identity. First, while Fuller granted that a broadly conceived ideal of civil freedom was immensely important in the Baptist witness to the world, he was not content to allow that con See below, p. 298.  Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 214.  John Pye Smith, Letters to the Rev. Thomas Belsham, on Some Important Subjects of Theological Discussion, Referred to in his Discourse on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Joseph Priestley (London, 1805), 55 – 56.

40

General editor’s introduction

cern to crowd out more fundamental Christian doctrine. The honour of Christ, the inspiration of Scripture, and the power of the Gospel were more important for Baptist witness, especially Baptist Calvinists, than contention for the cause of civil liberty. The latter, certainly important and directly related to the Baptist view of the church, concerned a temporal right and was good for all men in general; the former concerned the glory of the triune God and the eternal welfare of sinners. Fuller, though an earnest advocate of the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts and as fully committed to constitutional freedom as his friend Robert Hall, nevertheless coveted a clear presentation of the true nature of Christian doctrine and experience. He could be a Baptist without freedom, but he could not be a Baptist without Christ. Second, Fuller clearly outlined the necessary connection between true belief and true piety. Alan Sell has asserted that Fuller’s “chosen ground of argument is shaky indeed.”¹²³ One must recognize that the issue is precarious, that it can tend towards judgmentalism, can generate hurt feelings, and can get bogged down in name-calling in an effort to discover who is most virtuous. In this way, the theological issues under investigation might be overwhelmed. Sell seems to agree with Fuller’s opponents when he concedes that an effort to “judge the moral tendency of an entire denomination is a hazardous epistemological undertaking.”¹²⁴ But when the Socinians accused Fuller of improper judgmentalism, he turned their own methods into an objective criterion for comparison. His intent—as well as its execution—was to judge the moral tendency of their theological principles, not the “entire denomination.” In fact, Fuller showed a dogged tenacity in bringing each discussion into the framework of a closely reasoned argument. Each point overflowed with comparative theology and the relation of respective doctrinal points to the kind of spiritual perceptions and experiential outworkings which each would naturally generate. A person who believes that lying is permissible if it helps one achieves one’s goal in terms of temporal advantage could hardly be induced to repent for succeeding in this enterprise. A person who believes we will not be judged for every violation of divine law will not see the urgency of maintaining purity of heart, will see no cause for consistent confession, and cannot be induced to rely on Christ alone to ensure his right standing before God. Toulmin complained of Fuller’s “mode of arguing.” This moved Fuller to make a lengthy, reasoned defence of the theological foundations of his mode. He did the same in response to a complaint from Mr. Kentish.¹²⁵ Even though the method generated such objections, Fuller defended it and seemed to think that he had hit exactly the right spot in the discussion. Fuller had not initiated the moral tendency test as evidence of truth. The Socinians themselves claimed superiority on precisely this basis, and Fuller engaged them on the ground they had introduced. He pressed it into a more detailed, more thor-

 Sell, “Andrew Fuller and the Socinians,” 111.  Sell, “Andrew Fuller and the Socinians,” 111.  See below, p. 311 ff.

10 Conclusion

41

ough examination, looking carefully at the intrinsic tendencies of comparable doctrines and insisting that ideas have consequences. Moreover, this test was not merely arbitrary, but followed a scriptural pattern. He hazarded the wrath of his opponents in order to follow Jesus’s views and Paul’s instruction to Timothy. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20), Jesus said, clearly indicating that belief affects conduct. Paul wrote of “doctrine conforming to godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3) and discussed the connection at length in both of his letters to Timothy. Not only did he remind Timothy that his teaching led to his “conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings,” but he warned that men like Jannes and Jambres, who had opposed Moses, opposed the truth, and as a result, their folly would eventually be obvious to all (2 Timothy 3:8 – 11). Fuller contended that true holiness comes from the internal operations of the Holy Spirit in his striving against the corrupting influence of the sinful nature. He had learned well the lesson, however, that divine purpose was always exhibited through appropriate means. Thus the cognitive aspect of the doctrine itself is the means, congruent with the work of the Spirit, by which former affections are expulsed and new affections are introduced and nurtured all the way to glory. Moral tendency does not arise in a vacuum, but constitutes the practical expression of one’s perception of truth. The third observation flows from the second. Fuller reminded Christians of how irreducibly connected Christ is to all distinctively Christian belief, worship, and piety. While Priestley laboured to show that Christ was not an object of worship and should not be prayed to, Fuller gave full scope to the scriptural witness to the sinner’s utter dependence on Christ for all of his blessings. His gratitude to God for forgiveness is impossible to understand without Christ’s deity and substitutionary death at its centre. Michael Haykin has pointed out that Fuller took this issue so seriously that he “refused to recognize them [Socinians] as Christian brothers and sisters.”¹²⁶ Christian theology, Fuller insisted, cannot survive apart from Christ. Christ-centered trinitarianism constitutes the biblical revelation of God. Christian faith involves a mental congruity with the great facts about the person and work of Christ. Neither forgiveness nor righteousness comes into human experience apart from Christ’s work. Knowledge of God is a chimera if it is not grounded in Christ as the Son of God, eternally generated out of the essence of the Father and bound in the union of reciprocal knowledge, love, and communion by the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. Priestley viewed the case in a strikingly different way. “This strange doctrine,” he opined, “of three persons in one God,” is “as absurd in itself, and in every possible explanation of it, as it is abhorrent to the whole tenor of revelation.”¹²⁷ On the other hand, Fuller persisted, “We find so

 Haykin, “Socinian and Calvinist Compared,” 195.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 21.

42

General editor’s introduction

much use for Christ, if I may so speak, that he appears as the soul which animates the whole body of our divinity.” He continued by asserting that Christ is the centre of the system, diffusing light and life to every part of it. Take away Christ; nay take away the deity and atonement of Christ; and the whole ceremonial of the Old Testament appears to us little more than a dead mass of uninteresting matter: prophecy loses all that is interesting and endearing; the gospel is annihilated, or ceases to be that good news to lost sinners which it professes to be; practical religion is divested of its most powerful motives, the evangelical dispensation of its peculiar glory, and heaven itself of its most transporting joys.¹²⁸

Fourth, the controversy with Socinianism revealed Fuller’s tenacity with regard to the fullness of biblical interpretation. When the Socinians boasted that their faith could be expressed in the plain words of Scripture, Fuller countered that the orthodox faith could assert the same. He demonstrated as much on several occasions. The question, however, is not whether a plausible meaning can be imposed on isolated passages of Scripture—such as (assuming the Socinian doctrine to be true) because Scripture says, “There is one God,” and also says that Jesus was “a man approved of God.” The seriousness with which the Socinians approached Scripture could be seen, they pointed out, in the many detailed, critical works they had published on scriptural texts. Fuller countered that such work served as a façade to justify their rejection of passages, chapters, and entire books that proved troublesome to their rationalistic assumptions. He not only rejected the Socinians’ cavalier dismissal of texts that did not suit their rationally contrived system, but he called on them to develop a more responsible system of interpretation, taking into account a synthesis of relevant texts from the entire corpus of Scripture.¹²⁹ Near the end of his life, at the request of John Ryland, Jr., Fuller commenced writing a systematic theology, which has come down to us under the title Letters of Systematic Divinity. Regrettably, he was unable to finish this project, but the first nine installments were published. The initial emphasis points to the necessity of the systematic arrangement of divinity. Within this systematic arrangement, Fuller demonstrates the centrality of Christ, as well as the organization of biblical thought. “Systematic divinity,” Fuller reflected, has come to be viewed as “the mark of a contracted mind, and the grand obstruction to free inquiry.” To the contrary, he contended that one “whose belief consists of a number of positions arranged in such a connexion as to constitute a consistent whole […] is in a far more advantageous track for the attainment of truth, and a real enlargement of mind, than he who thinks with-

 See below, p. 196.  While some justification for Sell’s reference to a “‘fundamentalist’ proof-texting approach to the words of the Bible” (“Andrew Fuller and the Socinians,” 112) exists, Fuller’s overall argument depends much more on the development of an interpretation based on a wide range of texts. Throughout this work, and indeed virtually all of his writings, Fuller demonstrates great skill in theological reasoning as an element of his hermeneutics.

10 Conclusion

43

out a system.” Having no system is virtually the same as having no principles.¹³⁰ As Fuller pointed out, Every divine truth bears a relation to him [that is, Christ]: hence the doctrine of the gospel is called “the truth as it is in Jesus.” In the face of Jesus Christ we see the glory of the divine character in such a manner as we see it nowhere else. The evil nature of sin is manifested in his cross, and the lost condition of sinners in the price at which our redemption was obtained. Grace, mercy, and peace are in him. The resurrection to eternal life is through his death. In him every precept finds its most powerful motive, and every promise its most perfect fulfilment.¹³¹

For this reason, Fuller felt it most salutary to introduce a confession of faith as the guideline according to which he would preach and minister at Kettering¹³² and to practice subscription as a means of achieving consistent witness and discipline in a local congregation.¹³³ Finally, Fuller’s richly developed doctrinal commitments formed the method according to which he admitted members to his church. His practice regarding church membership points to at least three issues that were important to consider. First, one’s cognitive belief, so far as it goes, must be consistent with the biblical witness and should not be reduced beyond affirming Jesus’s deity and its necessity for the effectuality of the atonement. Second, true knowledge of these cognitive aspects results in a certain state of mind which people have about themselves. Do they, as a result of their knowledge of Christ’s deity and atoning work, lament their sin, cling to Christ as their only hope, and desire to honour and love him wholeheartedly? Third, does such testimony of this belief and self-consciousness result in practical action? Is their deportment discernibly consistent with the truth as it is in Jesus and subservient in principle to the lordship of Christ, who said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)? Largely on the basis of this simply-stated requirement, Fuller felt compelled to enter the fray against Socinianism as derogatory to the glory of Christ and dangerous to the souls of men.

 This quote is originally from a sermon entitled The Nature and Importance of an Intimate Knowledge of Divine Truth (WAF, 1:164– 165), which Fuller used as the bulk of the first chapter of this systematic theology, which he titled “Importance of Systematic Divinity” (WAF, 1:684).  Fuller, Letters of Systematic Divinity (WAF, 1:704).  Ryland, Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller, 97– 109.  Andrew Fuller, “Creeds and Subscriptions” (WAF, 3:449 – 451). In this article, Fuller recognized several points at which legitimate objections might be raised against the requirement to subscribe to a creed. Overall, however, creeds are necessary, and no serious objection can be raised against their usefulness. “If the articles of faith be opposed to the authority of Scripture, or substituted in the place of such authority, they become objectionable and injurious; but if they simply express the united judgment of those who voluntarily subscribe them, they are incapable of any such kind of imputation” (WAF, 3:451).

44

General editor’s introduction

11 Notes on the text and acknowledgements The text for this edition of The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency was finalized in 1810. It is called the “sixth edition.” The first edition appeared in 1793,¹³⁴ followed by a second edition in 1794.¹³⁵ This 1794 edition contains the largest number of changes and the most substantial changes that were made to the text. Letter IV, for instance, now includes a lengthy footnote responding to an objection raised by Joseph Priestley. Changes were also introduced in Letter XV. In 1796, a third edition appeared, in which minor changes in syntax and vocabulary were made.¹³⁶ These three editions have been digitized and are available online at Eighteenth Century Collections Online. ¹³⁷ After the third edition, Joseph Toulmin and John Kentish entered into a defence of Sociniansm, seeking to clear it of the representations Fuller made. Toulmin wrote The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered. Kentish entered the discussion with The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. Fuller responded in 1797 with Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of its Moral Tendency: Containing a Reply to Two Late Publications. ¹³⁸ He included on the title page the names of the works by Toulmin and Kentish. Both of those men responded with a second line of defence, to which Fuller felt no keen obligation to respond in detail, for he concluded that neither had added anything substantial or relevant to their original attempt at refutation. However, he did give a general response to both in a “Postscript” added to the fourth edition of the work in 1802.¹³⁹ In addition, further small changes were made, with some additions in terms of content.

 Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency (Market Harborough, Leicestershire: W. Harrod, 1793). At the end of this first edition was an advertisement for William Carey’s An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen, which had been “lately published,” the profits of which were “appropriated to a mission in which Mr. Carey is since embarked” (see the “Errata” page). William Harrod, who published this first edition, was a local historian.  Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency, 2nd ed. (London, 1794). No publisher or printer is noted on the title page.  Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency, 3rd ed. (London: T. Gardiner, W. Button, and J. Mathews, 1796). For a brief review of this edition, see The Evangelical Magazine 5 (1797): 38. This review described Fuller’s work as “a perfect model of controversial writing.”  Available online at: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/.  Andrew Fuller, Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of its Moral Tendency: Containing a Reply to Two Late Publications (London, 1797). Again, no printer or publisher is noted, only various booksellers where the book may be purchased.  Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency, 4th ed. (London: T. Gardiner, 1802). The “Postscript” runs from pages 363 – 388. John Webster Morris printed this edition at his print shop in Clipstone.

11 Notes on the text and acknowledgements

45

An 1810 edition, enumerated as the “sixth edition,” includes some minor changes to the 1802 edition.¹⁴⁰ There appears to be no extant copy of the fifth edition.¹⁴¹ Some changes were made subsequent to 1810 by the editors of different editions of Fuller’s Works. These few instances are identified in the footnotes. The critical work on the text, therefore, has made use of the five editions to which I had access. I have sought to create a consistent pattern in the footnotes, which already existed in the texts from 1793 through 1810. Footnotes were added or slightly changed in some of these editions, but such changes are rare. Thus I have changed the abbreviations in the footnotes to include the full titles of cited works. Scripture references noted in the original are numbered in this edition rather than marked with other symbols. Scripture references in the Fuller editions often abbreviate the names of the biblical books and use small Roman numerals for chapter numbers. I have spelled these out in full and have also employed modern citation practices for biblical books. Where I have footnoted Scripture references unidentified in the Fuller editions, the titles of the biblical books are spelled out in full, and chapters are identified by Arabic rather than Roman numerals. Footnotes original to Fuller are indicated by [AF] at the end of the footnote. Where Fuller has added a word, phrase, or larger section of text not in the 1793 edition, this is footnoted with an indication of when it was added to one of the subsequent editions. If a word is changed or a sentence is reconstructed, a footnote will indicate the nature of the alteration and will include the original wording of the 1793 edition, or any variant wording that appeared in editions prior to its final form. Capitalization and italicization have been modernized, as has some punctuation. All the names of the individuals whom Fuller mentions have been identified with birth and death dates. Where these could not be identified, the chronological proximity of their labours has been noted. On occasions where the context of the argument makes lengthy explanatory footnotes appropriate, I have sought to cite pertinent points from the original writings of the authors whom Fuller engages, either positively or negatively.

 Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency, 6th ed. (London: T[homas] Gardiner, T[homas] Hamilton, R[obert] Ogle, J[ohn] Ogle, M[aurice] Ogle, 1810). John Ogle, a leading Edinburgh bookseller and printer, was also listed on the title page of Fuller’s Memoirs Of the late Rev. Samuel Pearce, A.M. (Clipstone: J.W. Morris, 1800) as one of the booksellers who stocked this work. Robert Ogle was his brother. The Scotsman Thomas Hamilton (1783 – 1873) served as an apprentice to Robert Ogle and became an eminent London publisher, publishing works by such Evangelical authors as Robert Hall, Jr., William Jay (1769 – 1853) of Bath, and John Angell James (1785 – 1859). It was said that “collectors were always sure of finding any evangelical book they required” at his shop at 33 Paternoster Row in London. See “Obituary [for Thomas Hamilton],” The Bookseller 242 (January 4, 1878): 7– 8. The printer of this edition was John Webster Morris in Clipstone.  In his multi-volume A Baptist Bibliography ([Rochester, NY: American Baptist Historical Society, 1962], 114), Edward C. Starr does not list a fifth edition.

46

General editor’s introduction

In an issue of The Baptist Magazine, Robert Hall is quoted as characterizing Fuller’s polemical acumen in the following manner: “The predominant feature in the intellectual character of Mr. Fuller was the power of discrimination, by which he detected the minutest shades of difference among objects which most minds would confound. […] Mr. Fuller never appeared to so much advantage as when occupied in detecting sophistry, repelling objections, and ascertaining, with microscopic accuracy, the exact boundaries of truth and error.”¹⁴² I believe that those who read this volume will find themselves agreeing with Robert Hall’s assessment. Fuller vowed never to imitate other men, but to do his own thinking, plow his own furrow, and engage in the cause of God and truth according to his own judgment. He defended the “Calvinistic system” not because he was a slave to any other man’s system, but because he found—for the most part, with some obvious exceptions—that the biblical system itself was reflected in the systematic synthesis of scriptural doctrine found in the Genevan Reformer’s work.

 “The Late Rev. Messrs. Fuller and Toller, of Kettering,” The Baptist Magazine 23 (1831): 540.

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency: In a Series of Letters, Addressed to the Friends of Vital and Practical Religion. To Which is Added a Postscript, Establishing the Principle of the Work Against the Exceptions of Dr. Toulmin, Mr. Belsham, etc. “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity”¹

Preface The following Letters are addressed to the friends of vital and practical religion, because the author is persuaded that the very essence of true piety is concerned in this controversy, and that godly men are the only proper judges of divine truth, being the only humble, upright, and earnest inquirers after it. So far from thinking, with Dr. Priestley, that “an unbiassed temper of mind is attained in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it,” he is satisfied that persons of that description have a most powerful bias against the truth. Though it were admitted that false principles, accompanied with a bigoted attachment to them, are worse than none; yet he cannot admit that irreligious men are destitute of principles.² He has no notion of human minds being unoccupied or indifferent: he that is not a friend to religion in any mode is an enemy to it in all modes; he is a libertine; he “doeth evil,” and therefore “hateth the light.”³ And shall we compliment such a character, by acknowledging him to be in “a favourable situation for distinguishing between truth and falsehood”?⁴ God forbid! It is “he that doeth his will that shall know of his doctrine.”⁵ The humble, the candid, the upright inquirers after truth are the persons who are likely to find it; and to them the author takes the liberty to appeal.

 This verse, Ephesians 6:24, appeared on the title page of every edition from that of 1793 to that of 1810.  truth. He has no notion 1793] truth. Though it were admitted that false principles, accompanied with a bigoted attachment to them, are worse than none; yet he cannot admit that irreligious men are destitute of principles. He has no notion 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 3:20.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 95. [AF].  See John 7:17. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-002

48

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

The principal occasion of these Letters was the late union among Protestant Dissenters, in reference to civil affairs, having been the source of various misconceptions, and, as the writer apprehends, improved as a means of disseminating Socinian principles.⁶ In the late application to Parliament, for the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, the Dissenters have united, without any respect to their doctrinal principles. They considered that they were applying merely for a civil right; and that, in such an application, difference in theological sentiments had no more concern than it has in the union of a nation under one civil head, or form of government. This union, however, has become an occasion of many reflections. Serious men of the Established Church have expressed their surprise that some Dissenters could unite with others, so opposite in their religious principles; and had the union been of a religious nature, it must indeed have been surprising. Others have supposed that the main body of Dissenters had either imbibed the Socinian system or were hastily approaching towards it. Whether the suggestion of Dr. Horsley that “the genuine Calvinists, among our modern Dissenters, are very few” has contributed to this opinion, or whatever be its origin, it is far from being just.⁷ Everyone who knows the Dissenters knows that the body of them are what is commonly called orthodox. Dr. Priestley, who is well known to be sufficiently sanguine in estimating the numbers of his party —so sanguine that, when speaking of the common people of this country, he reckons “nine out of ten of them would prefer a Unitarian to a Trinitarian liturgy”⁸—yet acknowledges, in regard to the Dissenters, that Unitarians are by far the minority. In Birmingham, where the proportion of their number to the rest of the Dissenters is greater than in any other town in the kingdom, it appears, from Dr. Priestley’s account of the matter, that those called orthodox are nearly three to one; and throughout England and Wales they have been supposed to be as two, if not as three to one, to the Socinians and Arians inclusive.⁹  The reason why he addresses himself to Protestant Dissenters in particular, is owing to the late union amongst them in civil matters having been an occasion of various misconceptions, and as he apprehends, of attempts to disseminate Socinian principles. 1793] The principal occasion of these letters was the late union among Protestant Dissenters, in reference to civil affairs, having been the source of various misconceptions, and, as the writer apprehends, improved as a means of disseminating Socinian principles. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Samuel Horsley (1733 – 1806) was the main Anglican opponent of Priestley and his Socinianism. He was successively the bishop of St. David’s, Rochester, and St. Asaph. For a brief biographical sketch, see “Horsley, Samuel” in The National Cyclopædia of Useful Knowledge (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Co., 1853), 7:307.  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, Containing Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 61. [AF]. Priestley actually wrote, “nine in ten, I am pretty confident, would be better pleased with an Unitarian than a Trinitarian liturgy.”  See Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 18, 98. Also see William Parry, Remarks on the Resolutions Passed at a Meeting of the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Clergy of the County of Warwick, Held on Feb. 2, 1790 (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790). [AF].

Preface

49

If Dr. Horsley found it necessary, in support of his cause, to overturn Dr. Priestley’s assertion, that “great bodies of men do not change their opinions in a small space of time,”¹⁰ some think he might have found an example, more to his purpose than that of the body of Dissenters having deserted their former principles, in the well-known change of the major part of the Church of England, who, about the time of Archbishop Laud, went off from Calvinism to Arminianism. Had this example been adduced, his antagonist might have found some difficulty in maintaining his ground against him, as it is an undoubted fact, and a fact which he himself acknowledges, with several others of the kind.¹¹ The supposition, however, of the Dissenters being generally gone, or going off, to Socinianism, though far from just, has not been without its apparent grounds. The consequence which Socinians have assumed, in papers and pamphlets which have been circulated about the country, has afforded room for such a supposition. It has not been very uncommon for them to speak of themselves as the Dissenters, the Modern Dissenters, etc. It was said, in a paper that was published more than once, “The ancient, like the modern Dissenters, worshipped one God; they knew nothing of the Nicene or Athanasian creeds.” The celebrated authoress of The Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts is not clear in this matter. That otherwise admirable performance is tinged with the pride of party consequence. “We thank you, gentlemen,” she says, “for the compliment paid the Dissenters, when you suppose that, the moment they are eligible to places of power and profit, all such places will at once be filled with them. … We had not the presumption to imagine that, inconsiderable as we are in numbers, compared to the Established Church; inferior, too, in fortune and influence; labouring, as we do, under the frowns of the court and the anathema of the orthodox; we should make our way so readily into the recesses of royal favour.”¹² Even the Monthly Reviewers, though they have borne testimony against mingling doctrinal disputes with those of the repeal of the Test laws,¹³ yet have sometimes spoken of Dissenters and Socinians as if they were terms of the same meaning and extent. “It appears to us as absurd,” they say, “to charge the religious principles of the Dissenters with republicanism, as it would be to advance the same accusation against the Newtonian philosophy. The doctrine of gravitation may as well be deemed dangerous to the state as Socinianism.”¹⁴

 See Priestley, Familiar Letters, 98. [AF].  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 16. [AF].  [Anna Letitia Barbauld], An Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts (London: J. Johnson, 1790), 6 – 7. [AF]. Fuller has slightly changed the wording of the original.  The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 1 (January–April 1790): 233. [AF]. Fuller appears to be referring to the following statement on this page: “Why must the debate on the Test Act be swelled by the Trinity, original sin, and the descent into hell?”  The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 2 (May–August 1790): 247. [AF].

50

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Is it unnatural, from such representations as these, for those who know but little of us to consider the Socinians as constituting the main body of the Dissenters, and the Calvinists as only a few stragglers, who follow these leading men at a distance in all their measures; but whose numbers and consequence are so small, that even the mention of their names, among Protestant Dissenters, may very well be omitted? This, however, as it only affects our reputation, or, at most, can only impede the repeal of the Test laws by strengthening a prejudice, too strong already, against the whole body of Dissenters, might be overlooked. But this is not all; it is pretty evident that the union among us, in civil matters, has been improved for the purpose of disseminating religious principles. At one of the most public meetings for the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, as the author was credibly informed, Socinian peculiarities were advanced, which passed unnoticed, because those of contrary principles did not choose to interrupt the harmony of the meeting by turning the attention of gentlemen from the immediate object for which they were assembled.¹⁵ What end could Dr. Priestley have in introducing so much about the Test Act in his controversy with Mr. Burn,¹⁶ on the person of Christ, except it were to gild the pill and make it go down the easier with Calvinistic Dissenters? The writer of these Letters does not blame the Dissenters of his own persuasion for uniting with the Socinians. In civil matters,¹⁷ he thinks it lawful to unite with men, be their religious principles what they may; but he, and many others, would be very sorry if a union of this kind should prove an occasion of abating our zeal for those religious principles which we consider as being of the very essence of the gospel. The term Socinians is preferred in the following Letters to that of Unitarians, not for the mean purpose of reproach, but because the latter name is not a fair one. The term, as constantly explained by themselves, signifies those professors of Christianity who worship but one God; but this is not that wherein they can be allowed to be distinguished from others. For what professors of Christianity are there who profess to worship a plurality of Gods? Trinitarians profess also to be Unitarians. They, as well as their opponents, believe there is but one God. To give Socinians this name, therefore, exclusively, would be granting them the very point which they seem so desirous to take for granted; that is to say, the point in debate.

 principles. Not only has religion been confounded with the test laws, but the test laws with religion. 1793] At one of the most public meetings for the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, as the author was credibly informed, Socinian peculiarities were advanced, which passed unnoticed, because those of contrary principles did not choose to interrupt the harmony of the meeting by turning the attention of gentlemen from the immediate object for which they were assembled. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  On Edward Burn, see above, p. 1– 2, n. 1.  He thinks it lawful to unite with men, be their religious principles what they may, in civil matters; 1793] In civil matters, he thinks it lawful to unite with men, be their religious principles what they may; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Preface

51

Names, it may be said, signify little; and this signifies no more on one side than the term orthodox does on the other. The writer owns that, when he first conceived the idea of publishing these Letters, he thought so, and intended, all along, to use the term Unitarians. What made him alter his mind was his observing that the principal writers in that scheme have frequently availed themselves of the above name and appear to wish to have it thought, by their readers, that the point in dispute between them and the Trinitarians is, whether there be three Gods or only one. If he had thought the use of the term Unitarians consistent with justice to his own argument, he would have preferred it to that of Socinians, and would also have been glad of a term to express the system which he has defended, instead of calling it after the name of Calvin, as he is aware that calling ourselves after the names of men (though it be merely to avoid circumlocution) is liable to be understood as giving them an authority which is inconsistent with a conformity to our Lord’s command, “Call no man master upon earth; for one is your Master, even Christ.”¹⁸ He may add,¹⁹ that the substance of the following Letters was written before the riots at Birmingham. His regard to justice and humanity made him feel much on that occasion for Dr. Priestley, and others who suffered with him; but his regard to what he esteems important truth made him feel more. The injury which a doctrine receives from those who would support it by the unhallowed hands of plunder and persecution is far greater, in the esteem of many, than it can receive from the efforts of its avowed adversaries. For his own part, he has generally supposed that both the contrivers and executors of that iniquitous business, call themselves what they will, were men of no principle. If, however, those of the High Church party, who, instead of disavowing the spirit and conduct of the misguided populace, have manifestly exulted in it, must be reckoned among the Trinitarians, he has only to say they are such Trinitarians as he utterly disapproves, and concerning whom he cannot so well express his sentiments and feelings as in the words of the patriarch: “Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel.”²⁰ Detestable, however, as were the riots at Birmingham, no one can plead that they render the religious principles of Dr. Priestley less erroneous, or less pernicious; or an opposition to them, upon the fair ground of argument, less necessary. On the contrary, the mere circumstance of his being a persecuted man will have its influence on some people, and incline them not only to feel for the man, the gentleman, and the philosopher, all of which is right; but to think favourably of his religious opinions.

 Cf. Matthew 23:10.  He has only to add 1793] He may add 1794, 1810.  Genesis 49:5b–7a.

52

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

On this consideration, if the following Letters would, previous to that event, have been in any degree proper and seasonable, they are not, by anything that hath since occurred, become improper, or unseasonable.²¹ Since the first edition,²² the author has attempted, in some places, to strengthen his argument, and to remove such objections as have hitherto occurred.²³ The principal additions will be found in Letters IV and XV. The note, towards the latter end of the former, was occasioned by a report that Dr. Priestley complained of being misrepresented by the quotation in the first page of the Preface. This note contains a vindication, not only of the fairness of the quotation from Dr. Priestley, but of another, to the same purpose, from Mr. Belsham; and an answer to what is advanced on its behalf in the Monthly Review. ²⁴

 The “Preface” to the 1793 edition ended at this point.  In this Edition 1794] Since the first Edition 1796] Since the first edition 1810.  In the 1794 edition, Fuller inserted a comma after “hitherto occurred” and completed the sentence in a way relevant only to the 1794 edition, a sentence which was somewhat confusing due to its ambiguous identification of page numbers: “particularly in pages 59 – 106, 107– 110 – 115, 116 – 149, 150, 151, 152– 212– 275 – 278 – 296 – 306, 307– 311.”  Following this sentence in the 1794 edition, there is this sentence: “For the accommodation of the purchasers of the first edition, the above mentioned principal additions are printed separately, in form of an Appendix, price 3d. which may be bound with it.”

Letter I

53

Letter I: Introduction and general remarks Christian brethren, Much has been written of late years on the Socinian controversy; so much, that the attention of the Christian world has, to a considerable degree, been drawn towards it. There is no reason, however, for considering this circumstance as a matter of wonder, or of regret. Not of wonder, for supposing the deity and atonement of Christ to be divine truths, they are of such importance in the Christian scheme as to induce the adversaries of the gospel to bend their main force against them, as against the rock on which Christ hath built his church. Not of regret, for whatever partial evils may arise from a full discussion of a subject, the interests of truth will, doubtless, in the end prevail; and the prevalence of truth is a good that will outweigh all the ills that may have attended its discovery. Controversy engages a number of persons of different talents and turns of mind; and by this means the subject is likely to be considered in every view in which it is capable of being exhibited to advantage. The point of light in which the subject will be considered in these Letters, namely, as influencing the heart and life, has been frequently glanced at on both sides. I do not recollect, however, to have seen this view of it professedly and separately handled. In the great controversy in the time of Elijah recourse was had to an expedient by which the question was decided. Each party built an altar, cut in pieces a bullock, and laid the victim upon the wood, but put no fire under; and the God that should answer by fire was to be acknowledged as the true God.²⁵ We cannot bring our controversies to such a criterion as this: we may bring them to one, however, which, though not so suddenly, is not much less sensibly evident. The tempers and lives of men are books for common people to read; and they will read them, even though they should read nothing else. They are indeed warranted by the Scriptures themselves to judge of the nature of doctrines, by their holy or unholy tendency. The true gospel is to be known by its being a “doctrine according to godliness,” teaching those who embrace it “to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world.” Those, on the other hand, “who believe not the truth,” are said to “have pleasure in unrighteousness.” “Profane and vain babblings,” as the ministrations of false teachers are called, “will increase unto more ungodliness,” and their word “will eat as doth a canker.”²⁶ To this may be added, that the parties themselves, engaged in this controversy, have virtually acknowledged the justice and importance of the above criterion, in that both sides have incidentally endeavoured to avail themselves of it. A criterion, then, by which the common people will judge, by which the Scripture authorizes them to

 See 1 Kings 18:20 – 40.  1 Timothy 6:3; Titus 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Timothy 2:16, 17.

54

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

judge, and by which both sides in effect agree to be judged, cannot but be worthy of particular attention. I feel, for my own part, satisfied, not only of the truth and importance of the doctrines in question, but also of their holy tendency. I am aware, however, that others think differently, and that a considerable part of what I have to advance must be on the defensive. “Admitting the truth,” says Dr. Priestley, “of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, original sin, arbitrary predestination, atonement by the death of Christ, and the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, their value, estimated by their influence on the morals of men, cannot be supposed, even by the admirers of them, to be of any moment, compared to the doctrine of the resurrection of the human race to a life of retribution; and in the opinion of those who reject them, they have a very unfavourable tendency, giving wrong impressions concerning the character and moral government of God, and such as might tend, if they have any effect, to relax the obligations of virtue.”²⁷ In many instances Dr. Priestley deserves applause for his frankness and fairness as a disputant; in this passage, however, as well as in some others, the admirers of the doctrines he mentions are unfairly represented. They who embrace the other doctrines are supposed to hold that of arbitrary predestination; but this supposition is not true. The term arbitrary conveys the idea of caprice, and, in this connexion, denotes that in predestination, according to the Calvinistic notion of it, God resolves upon the fates of men, and appoints them to this or that, without any reason for so doing. But there is no justice in this representation. There is no decree in the divine mind that we consider as void of reason. Predestination to death is on account of sin; and as to predestination to life, though it be not on account of any works of righteousness which we have done, yet it does not follow that God has no reason whatever for what he does. The sovereignty of God is a wise, and not a capricious sovereignty. If he hide the glory of the gospel from the wise and prudent, and reveal it unto babes, it is because it seemeth good in his sight. But if it seem good in the sight of God, it must, all things considered, be good; for “the judgment of God is according to truth.”²⁸ It is asserted also²⁹ that the admirers of the forementioned doctrines cannot, and do not, consider them as of equal importance with that of the resurrection of the

 Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 33, 35. Here Fuller has combined a couple of passages from these two pages in Priestley’s work. The latter dedicated this work to William Tayleur (d. 1796) of Shrewsbury and commended him by saying, “Your attachment to the cause of genuine Christianity was conspicuous in your relinquishing a Trinitarian form of worship, and adopting an Unitarian one, in your own family, till you had procured it a more public and permanent establishment” (Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, Part I [Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787], ix–x).  Romans 2:2.  It is supposed also 1793, 1794, 1796] It is asserted also 1802.

Letter I

55

human race to a life of retribution. But this, I am satisfied, is not the case; for whatever Dr. Priestley may think, they consider them, or at least some of them, as essential to true holiness, and of such consequence, even to the doctrine of the resurrection of the human race to a life of retribution, that, without them, such a resurrection would be a curse to mankind, rather than a blessing. There is one thing, however, in the above passage, wherein we all unite; and this is that the value or importance of religious principles is to be estimated by their influence on the morals of men. By this rule let the forementioned doctrines, with their opposites, be tried. If either those or these will not abide the trial, they ought to be rejected. Before we enter upon a particular examination of the subject, however, I would make three or four general observations. First, whatever Dr. Priestley or any others have said of the immoral tendency of our principles, I am persuaded that I may take it for granted they do not mean to suggest that we are not good members of civil society, or worthy of the most perfect toleration in the state; nor have I any such meaning in what may be suggested concerning theirs. I do not know any religious denomination of men who are unworthy of civil protection. So long as their practices do not disturb the peace of society, and there be nothing in their avowed principles inconsistent with their giving security for their good behaviour, they, doubtless, ought to be protected in the enjoyment of every civil right to which their fellow-citizens at large are entitled. Secondly, it is not the bad conduct of a few individuals, in any denomination of Christians, that proves anything on either side, even though they may be zealous advocates for the peculiar tenets of the party which they espouse. It is the conduct of the general body from which we ought to form our estimate. That there are men of bad character who attend on our preaching is not denied; perhaps some of the worst: but if it be so, it proves nothing to the dishonour of our principles. Those who, in the first ages of Christianity, were not humbled by the gospel, were generally hardened by it. Nay, were it allowed that we have a greater number of hypocrites than the Socinians (as it has been insinuated that the hypocrisy and preciseness of some people afford matter of just disgust to speculative Unitarians), I do not think this supposition, any more than the other, dishonourable to our principles. The defect of hypocrites lies not so much in the thing professed, as in the sincerity of their profession. The thing professed may be excellent, and, perhaps, is the more likely to be so from its being counterfeited; for it is not usual to counterfeit things of no value. Those persons who entertain low and diminutive ideas of the evil of sin and the dignity of Christ must, in order to be thought religious by us, counterfeit the contrary; but, among Socinians, the same persons may avow those ideas, and be caressed for it. That temper of mind which we suppose common to men, as being that which they possess by nature, needs not to be disguised among them, in order to be well thought of; they have, therefore, no great temptations to hypocrisy. The question in hand, however, is not, “What influence either our principles or theirs have upon persons

56

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

who do not in reality adopt³⁰ them?” but, “What influence they have upon those who do?”³¹ Thirdly, it is not the good conduct of a few individuals, on either side, that will prove anything. Some have adopted a false creed, and retain it in words, who yet never enter into the spirit of it, and consequently do not act upon it. But merely³² dormant opinions can hardly be called principles; those rather seem to be a man’s principles, which lie at the foundation of his spirit and conduct. Further, good men are found in denominations whose principles are very bad; and good men, by whatever names they are called, are more nearly of a sentiment than they are frequently aware of. Take two of them, who differ the most in words, and bring them upon their knees in prayer, and they will be nearly agreed. Besides, a great deal of that which passes for virtue amongst men is not so in the sight of God, who sees things as they are. It is no more than may be accounted for without bringing religion or virtue into the question. There are motives and considerations which will commonly influence men, living in society, to behave with decorum. Various occupations and pursuits, especially those of a mental and religious kind, are inconsistent with profligacy of manners. “False apostles,” the very “ministers of Satan,” are said to “transform themselves into the apostles of Christ,” and to appear as the “ministers of righteousness;” even as “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”³³ There are certain vices, which, being inconsistent with others, may be the means of restraining them. Covetousness may be the cause of sobriety; and pride restrains thousands from base and ignoble gratifications, in which, nevertheless, their hearts take secret and supreme delight. A decent conduct has been found in Pharisees, in infidels, nay, even in atheists. Dr. Priestley acknowledges that “an atheist may be temperate, good-natured, honest, and, in the less-extended sense of the word, a virtuous man.”³⁴ Yet Dr. Priestley would not hence infer anything in favour of the moral tendency of atheism.

 imbibe 1793] adopt 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Fuller frequently changed his use of the word “imbibe” to something else.  Though the Socinians be allowed, in what is said above, to have but few hypocrites among them, yet this is to be understood as relating merely to one species of hypocrisy. Dr. Priestley, speaking of Unitarians who continued in the Church of England, said, “From a just aversion to everything that looks like hypocrisy and preciseness, they rather lean to the extreme of fashionable dissipation.” Yet he represents the same persons, and that in the same page, as “continuing to countenance a mode of worship which, if they were questioned about it, they could not deny to be, according to their own principles, idolatrous and blasphemous” (Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions [Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787], 96). The hypocrisy, then, to which these gentlemen have so just an aversion seems to be only of one kind. [AF].  mere 1793] merely 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  2 Corinthians 11:13 – 15.  Joseph Priestley, “The Preface to Part I,” in Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, vi. [AF]. In this quotation, Fuller omitted the words “in the common” before “less extended.”

Letter I

57

Lastly, neither zeal in defence of principles, nor every kind of devotion springing from them, will prove those principles to be true or worthy of God. Several gentlemen, who have gone over from the Calvinistic to the Socinian system, are said to possess greater zeal for the propagation of the latter than they had used to discover for that of the former. As this, however, makes nothing to the disadvantage of their system, neither does it make anything to its advantage. This may be owing, for anything that can be proved to the contrary, to their having found a system more consonant to the bias of their hearts than that was which they formerly professed. And as to devotion, a species of this may exist in persons, and that to a high degree, consistently enough with the worst of principles. We know that the gospel had no worse enemies than the “devout and honourable” amongst the Jews.³⁵ Saul, while an enemy to Jesus Christ, was as sincere, as zealous, and as devout in his way, as any of those persons whose sincerity, zeal, and devotion are frequently held up by their admirers in favour of their cause. These observations may be thought by some, instead of clearing the subject, to involve it in greater difficulties, and to render it almost impossible to judge of the tendency of principles by anything that is seen in the lives of men. The subject, it is allowed, has its difficulties, and the foregoing observations are a proof of it; but I hope to make it appear, whatever³⁶ difficulties may, on these accounts, attend the subject, that there is still enough, in the general spirit and conduct of men, by which to judge of the tendency of their principles.

 Acts 13:50.  I hope, brethren, yet to make it appear to your satisfaction, that whatever difficulties 1793] I hope to make it appear, whatever difficulties 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

58

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter II: The systems compared as to their tendency to convert profligates to a life of holiness Christian brethren, You need not be told that being born again—created in Christ Jesus—converted— becoming as a little child, etc., are phrases expressive of a change of heart, which the Scriptures make necessary to a life of holiness here and to eternal life hereafter. It is on this account that I begin with conversion, considering it as the commencement of a holy life. A change of this sort was as really necessary for Nicodemus, whose outward character, for aught appears, was respectable, as for Zaccheus, whose life had been devoted to the sordid pursuits of avarice. Few, I suppose, will deny this to be the doctrine taught in the New Testament. But, should this be questioned, should the necessity of a change of heart in some characters be denied, still it will be allowed necessary in others. Now, as a change is more conspicuous, and consequently more convincing, in such persons as have walked in an abandoned course, than in those of a more sober life, I have fixed upon the conversion of profligates as a suitable topic for the present discussion. There are two methods of reasoning which may be used in ascertaining the moral tendency of principles. The first is by comparing the nature of the principles themselves with the nature of true holiness and the agreement or disagreement of the one with the other. The second is by referring to plain and acknowledged facts, judging of the nature of causes by their effects. Both these methods of reasoning, which are usually expressed by the terms a priori and a posteriori,³⁷ will be used in this and the following Letters, as the nature of the subject may admit. True conversion is comprehended in those two grand topics on which the apostles insisted in the course of their ministry: “Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.”³⁸ Let us then fix upon these great outlines of the apostolic testimony, and examine which of the systems in question has the greatest tendency to produce them. Repentance is a change of mind. It arises from a conviction that we have been in the wrong, and consists in holy shame, grief, and self-loathing, accompanied with a determination to forsake every evil way. Each of these ideas is included in the account we have of the repentance of Job. “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.” “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”³⁹ It is essential to such a change as this that the sinner should realize the evil nature of sin. No man ever yet repented of a fault without a conviction of its

 à priori and à posteriori 1793, 1794, 1796] a priori and a posteriori 1802, 1810.  Acts 20:21.  Job 40:4– 5, 42:6. [AF]

Letter II

59

evil nature.⁴⁰ Sin must appear exceeding sinful before we can, in the nature of things, abhor it and ourselves on account of it. Those sentiments which wrought upon the heart of David, and brought him to repentance, were of this sort. Throughout⁴¹ the fifty-first psalm we find him deeply impressed with the evil of sin, and that considered as an offence against God. He had injured Uriah and Bathsheba, and, strictly speaking, had not injured God, the essential honour and happiness of the divine nature being infinitely beyond his reach: yet, as all sin strikes at the divine glory, and actually degrades it in the esteem of creatures, all sin is to be considered, in one view, as committed against God; and this view of the subject lay so near his heart as to swallow up every other.⁴² “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight!”⁴³ It follows, then, that the system which affords the most enlarged views of the evil of sin must needs have the greatest tendency to promote repentance for it. Those who embrace the Calvinistic system believe that man was originally created holy and happy; that of his own accord he departed from God and became vile; that God, being in himself infinitely amiable, deserves to be, and is, the moral centre of the intelligent system;⁴⁴ that rebellion against him is opposition to the general good;⁴⁵ that, if suffered to operate according to its tendency, it would destroy the well-being of the universe, by excluding God, and righteousness, and peace, from the whole system; that seeing it aims destruction at universal good,⁴⁶ and tends to universal anarchy and mischief, it is in those respects an infinite evil, and deserving of endless punishment; and that, in whatever instance God exercises forgiveness, it is not without respect to that public⁴⁷ expression of his displeasure against it, which was uttered in the death of his Son. These, brethren, are sentiments which furnish us with motives for self-abhorrence; under their influence millions have repented in dust and ashes. But those, on the other hand, who embrace the Socinian system, entertain diminutive notions of the evil of sin. They consider all evil propensities in men (except those which are accidentally contracted by education or example) as being in

 of the evil nature of it 1793, 1794, 1796] of its evil nature 1802, 1810.  All through 1793] Throughout 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  had not injured God; yet his sin as committed against God lay so near his heart as to swallow up every other consideration 1793, 1794] had not injured God, the essential honour and happiness of the divine nature being infinitely beyond his reach; yet as all sin strikes at the divine glory, and actually degrades it in the esteem of creatures, all sin is to be considered in one view, as committed against God; and this view of the subject lay so near his heart as to swallow up every other. 1796, 1802, 1810.  Psalm 51:4a.  intelligent universe 1793] intelligent system 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that every degree of revolt from him is rebellion against the general good 1793] that rebellion against him is opposition to the general good 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  infinite good 1793] universal good 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

60

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

every sense natural to them, supposing that they were⁴⁸ originally created with them. They cannot, therefore, be offensive to God, unless he could be offended with the work of his own hands for being what he made it. Hence, it may be,⁴⁹ Socinian writers, when speaking of the sins of men, describe them in the language of palliation, language tending to convey an idea of pity, but not of blame. Mr. Belsham, speaking of sin, calls it “human frailty,” and the subjects of it “the frail and erring children of men.”⁵⁰ The following positions are for substance maintained by Dr. Priestley, in his treatise on Necessity: “That for anything we know, it might have been as impossible for God to make all men sinless and happy, as to have made them infinite.”⁵¹ That all the evil there is in sin arises from its tendency to injure the creature.⁵² That if God punish sin, it is not because he is so displeased with it as in any case to “take vengeance” on the sinner, sacrificing his happiness to the good of the whole, but, knowing that it tends to do the sinner harm, he puts him to temporary pain, not only for the warning of others, but for his own good, with a view to correct the bad disposition in him.⁵³ That what is threatened against sin is of such a trifling account, that it needs not be an object of dread. “No Necessarian,” says he, “supposes that any of the human race will suffer eternally; but that future punishments will answer the same purpose as temporal ones are found to do, all of which tend to good, and are evidently admitted for that purpose; so that God, the author of all, is as much to be adored and loved for what we suffer as for what we enjoy, his intention being equally kind in both. And since God has created us for happiness, what misery can we fear? If we be really intended for ultimate, unlimited happiness, it is no matter, to a truly resigned person, when, or where, or how.”⁵⁴ Sin is so trifling an affair, it seems, and the punishment threatened against it of so little consequence, that we may be quite resigned, and indifferent whether we go immediately to heaven, or whether we first pass through the depths of hell! The question at present is not, “Which of these representations is true, or consonant to Scripture?” but, “Which has the greatest tendency to promote repentance?” If repentance be promoted by a view of the evil of sin, this question, it is presumed, may be considered as decided. Another sentiment intimately connected with that of the evil of sin, and equally necessary to promote repentance,⁵⁵ is the equity and goodness of the divine law. No  them,—that they were 1793] them, supposing that they were 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  it is that 1793] it may be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 34, 35. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 118. [AF] Fuller’s quotation is not exact.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 122. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 65. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 149, 128. [AF] Fuller has run together a number of Priestley’s ideas as well as exact clauses taken from his work.  to the promotion of repentance 1793] to promote repentance 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter II

61

man ever truly repented for the breach of a law, the precepts of which he considered as too strict, or the penalties as too severe. In proportion as such an opinion prevails, it is impossible but that repentance must be precluded. Now the precept of the divine law requires us to love God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves. It allows not of any deviation or relaxation during the whole of our existence. The penalty by which⁵⁶ this holy law is enforced is nothing less than the curse of Almighty God. But, according to Mr. Belsham, if God “mark and punish every instance of transgression,” he must be a “merciless tyrant”; and we must be “tempted to wish that the reins of universal government were in better hands.”⁵⁷ Mr. Belsham, perhaps, would not deny that perfect obedience is required by the law, according to the plain meaning of the words by which it is expressed, or that the curse of God is threatened against every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; but then this rule is so strict that to “mark and punish every instance” of deviation from it would be severe and cruel. It seems, then, that God has given us a law by the terms of which he cannot abide; that justice itself requires him, if not to abate the precept, yet to remit the penalty and connive at smaller instances of transgression. I need not enquire⁵⁸ how much this reflects upon the moral character and government of God. Suffice it at present to say, that such views must of necessity⁵⁹ preclude repentance. If the law which forbids “every instance” of human folly⁶⁰ be unreasonably strict, and the penalty which threatens the curse of the Almighty on every one that continueth not in all things therein written be indeed cruel, then it must so far be unreasonable for any sinner to be required to repent for the breach of it. On the contrary, God himself should rather repent for making such a law than the sinner for breaking it! Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ is another essential part of true conversion. Faith is credence, or belief. Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ is belief of the gospel of salvation through his name. A real belief of the gospel is necessarily accompanied with a trust or confidence in him for the salvation of our souls. The term “believe” itself sometimes expresses this idea, particularly in 2 Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”⁶¹ This belief or trust, can never be fairly understood of a mere confidence in his veracity, as to the truth of his doctrine; for if that were all, the ability of Christ would stand for nothing and we might as well be said to trust in Peter, or John, or Paul, as in Christ, seeing we believe their testimony to be valid as

 on which 1793] by which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 34. [AF] Again, Fuller’s quotation is only partially an exact quote of Belsham’s words. The phrase “mark and punish every instance of transgression” does not appear in this sermon of Belsham’s.  I think I need not enquire 1793] I need not inquire 1794, 1796] I need not enquire 1802, 1810.  must needs 1793, 1794, 1796] must of necessity 1802, 1810.  “every instance of human folly” 1793] “every instance” of human folly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  2 Timothy 1:12.

62

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

well as his. Believing, it is granted, does not necessarily, and in all cases,⁶² involve the idea of trust, for which I here contend,⁶³ this matter being determined by the nature of the testimony. Neither Peter nor any of the apostles ever pretended that their blood, though it might be shed in martyrdom, would be the price of the salvation of sinners. We may, therefore, credit their testimony, without trusting in them, or committing anything, as Paul expresses it, into their hands. But Christ’s blood is testified of as the way, and the only way, of salvation. He is said to be “the propitiation for our sins” and “by himself to have purged our sins.”⁶⁴ “Through his blood we have forgiveness.”⁶⁵ “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”⁶⁶ “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”⁶⁷ Hence it follows that, to believe his testimony, must of necessity involve in it a trusting in him for the salvation of our souls. If this be a just representation of faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot be at a loss to decide which of the systems in question has the greatest tendency to promote it; and as faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ is essential to true conversion, we cannot hesitate in concluding which has the greatest tendency to turn a sinner from the evil of his ways. Not to mention, at present, how Socinian writers disown an “implicit belief” in the testimony of the sacred writers,⁶⁸ and how they lean to their own understanding as the criterion by which Scripture is to be tried; that which I would here insist upon is that, upon their principles, all trust or confidence in Christ for salvation is utterly excluded. Not only are those principles unadapted to induce us to trust in Christ, but directly tend to turn off our attention and affection from him. Dr. Priestley does not appear to consider him as “the way of a sinner’s salvation” in any sense whatever, but goes about to explain the words of Peter, Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other,” etc., not of salvation to eternal life, but “of salvation, or deliverance, from bodily diseases.”⁶⁹ And another writer (Dr. Harwood) of the same cast, in a volume of sermons lately published, treats the sacred writers with still

 and in cases 1793] and in all cases 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The omission of “all” in the 1793 edition is clearly a typographical error.  which is here contended for 1793] for which I here contend 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 John 4:10; Hebrews 1:3. [AF]  Ephesians 1:7. [AF]  Acts 4:12. [AF]  1 Corinthians 3:11. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787 (Birmingham: Pearson & Rollason, 1788), 66. [AF] Priestley’s exact words, taken from a letter to Richard Price (1723 – 1791), to which Fuller alludes here, are: “No man can pay a higher regard to proper scriptural authority than I do; but neither I, nor I presume yourself, believe implicitly everything that is advanced by any writer in the Old or New Testament.”  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 114. [AF]

Letter II

63

less ceremony.⁷⁰ Paul had said, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”⁷¹ But this writer, as if he designed to affront the apostle, makes use of his own words in order to contradict him. “Other foundation than this can no man lay,” says he, “other expectations are visionary and groundless, and all hopes founded upon anything else than a good moral life are merely imaginary, and contrary to the whole tenor of the gospel.”⁷² Whether these things be not aimed to raze the foundation on which the church is built; and whether this be any other than stumbling at the stumbling-stone and a setting him at nought in the great affair for which he came into the world,⁷³ let every Christian judge. It particularly deserves the serious consideration, not only of the above writers, but of those who are any way inclined to their mode of thinking; for if it should be so that the death of Christ, as a propitiatory sacrifice, is the only medium through which sinners can be accepted of God, and if they should be found fighting against God, and rejecting the only way of escape, the consequence may be such as to cause the ears of every one that heareth it to tingle. Meanwhile, it requires but little penetration to discover that whatever takes away the only foundation of a sinner’s confidence cannot be adapted to promote it. Brethren!⁷⁴ examine these matters to the bottom, and judge for yourselves, whether you might not as well expect grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles, as to see repentance towards God, or faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, proceeding from Socinian principles. The foregoing observations serve to show⁷⁵ what may be expected from the Socinian doctrine, according to the nature of things: let us next make some inquiry⁷⁶ into matters of fact. We may judge, from the nature of the seed sown, what will be the harvest; but a view of what the harvest actually is may afford still greater satisfaction. First, then, let it be considered whether Socinian congregations have ever abounded in conversions of the profane to a life of holiness and devotedness to God. Dr. Priestley acknowledges that the gospel, when it was first preached by the apostles, “produced a wonderful change in the lives and manners of persons of all

 Fuller here refers to Edward Harwood (1729 – 1794), Discourses on St. Paul’s Description of Death and Its Consequences (London, 1790). Harwood (1729 – 1794) was a prolific author who was favourable to Socinianism in his later years. More than twenty years earlier, Harwood had written a biting critique of Fuller’s friend and fellow Particular Baptist Caleb Evans (1737– 1791), calling him “an uncharitable Baptist” and criticizing his “sanguinary zeal for Calvinism” (A Letter, To the Rev. Mr. Caleb Evans, Occasioned by his Curious Confession of Faith [Bristol: S. Farley, 1767], title page and p. 6)).  1 Corinthians 3:11.  Harwood, Discourses on St. Paul’s Description of Death, 193. [AF]  Cf. 1 Peter 2:8.  Christian brethren, 1793] Brethren! 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  shew 1793] show 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  enquiry 1793] inquiry 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

64

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ages.”⁷⁷ Now, if the doctrine which he and others preach be the same, for substance, as that which they preached, one might expect to see some considerable degree of similarity in the effects. But is anything like this to be seen in Socinian congregations? Has that kind of preaching which leaves out the doctrines of man’s lost condition by nature, and salvation by grace only through the atonement of Christ, and substitutes, in their place, the doctrine of mercy without an atonement, the simple humanity of Christ, the efficacy of repentance and obedience, etc.; … has this kind of preaching,⁷⁸ I say, ever been known to lay much hold on the hearts and consciences of men? The way in which that “wonderful change” was effected in the lives and manners of people which attended the first preaching of the gospel,⁷⁹ was by the word preached laying hold on⁸⁰ their hearts. It was a distinguishing mark of primitive preaching, that it “commended itself to every man’s conscience.”⁸¹ People could not in general sit unconcerned under it. We are told of some who were “cut to the heart,” and took counsel to slay the preachers; and of others who were “pricked in the heart,” and said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”⁸² But, in both cases, the heart was the mark at which the preacher aimed, and which his doctrine actually reached. Has the preaching of the Socinians any such effect as this? Do they so much as expect it should? Were any of their hearers, by any means, to feel pricked in their hearts, and come to them with the question, “What shall we do?” would they not pity them as enthusiasts, and be ready to suspect that they had been among the Calvinists? If any counsel were given would it not be such as must tend to impede their repentance, rather than promote it; and, instead of directing them to Jesus Christ, as was the practice of the primitive preachers, would they not endeavour to lead them into another course? Socinian writers cannot so much as pretend that their doctrine has been used to convert profligate sinners to the love of God and holiness. Dr. Priestley’s scheme will not enable him to account for such changes, where Christianity has ceased to be a novelty. The absolute novelty of the gospel, when first preached, he represents as the cause of its wonderful efficacy; but in the present age, among⁸³ persons who have long heard it, and have contracted vicious habits notwithstanding, he looks for no such effects. He confesses himself “less solicitous about the conversion of unbelievers who are much advanced in life” than of younger persons, and that because

 Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), ix. [AF]  etc. has 1793, 1794, 1796] etc. … has 1802, 1810.  “wonderful change” in the lives and manners of people which attended the first preaching of the gospel was effected, 1793, 1794, 1796] “wonderful change” was effected in the lives and manners of people which attended the first preaching of the gospel, was 1802, 1810.  hold of 1793] hold on 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:2.  Acts 7:54, 2:37.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter II

65

he despairs of the principles of Christianity having much effect upon the lives of those whose dispositions and habits are already formed.⁸⁴ Sometimes he reckons that the great body of primitive Christians must have been “well-disposed with respect to moral virtue, even before their conversion to Christianity; else,” he thinks, “they could not have been so ready to have abandoned their vices, and to embrace a doctrine which required the strictest purity and rectitude of conduct, and even to sacrifice their lives in the cause of truth.”⁸⁵ In his treatise on Philosophical Necessity, he declares that, “upon the principles of the Necessarian, all late repentance, and especially after long and confirmed habits of vice, is altogether and necessarily ineffectual; there not being sufficient time left to produce a change of disposition and character, which can only be done by a change of conduct, and of proportionably long continuance.”⁸⁶ I confess I do not perceive the consistency of these passages with each other. By the power of novelty a wonderful change was produced in the lives and manners of men; and yet the body of them must have been well-disposed with respect to moral virtue—that is, they must have been in such a state as not to need any wonderful change—else they could not have been so ready to abandon their vices. A wonderful change was produced in the lives and manners of men of all ages; and yet there is a certain age in which repentance is “altogether and necessarily ineffectual.”⁸⁷ Inconsistent, however, as these positions may be, one thing is sufficiently evident, viz. that the author considers the conversion of profligates, of the present age, as an object of despair. Whatever the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John may affirm, that according to Dr. Priestley affords but very little, if any, hope to those who in Scripture are distinguished by the name of “sinners,” “chief of sinners,” and “lost.” He does “not expect such conversion of profligate and habitually wicked men as shall make any remarkable change in their lives and characters. Their dispositions and habits are already formed, so that it can hardly be supposed to be in the power of new and better principles to change them.”⁸⁸ It cannot be unnatural, or uncandid, to suppose that these observations were made from experience; or that Dr. Priestley writes in this manner on account of his not being used to see any such effects arise from his ministry, or the ministry of those of his sentiments.

 Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, viii–ix. It is true Dr. Priestley is not here speaking of the profligates among nominal Christians, but of those among avowed infidels. This, however, makes nothing to the argument. The dispositions and habits of profane nominal Christians are as much formed as those of avowed infidels; and their conversion to a holy life is as much an object of despair as the other. Yea, Dr. Priestley in the same place acknowledges that “to be mere nominal Christians is worse than to be no Christians at all” (Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, viii). [AF]  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 167– 168. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156.  Cf. Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 238 – 239.

66

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

There is a sort of preaching, however, even since the days of inspiration, and where Christianity has ceased to be a novelty, which has been attended in a good degree with similar effects to that of the apostles. Whatever was the cause, or however it is to be accounted for, there have been those whose labours have turned many, yea, many profligates, to righteousness; and that by preaching the very doctrines which Dr. Priestley charges with being the “corruptions of Christianity,” and which a once humble admirer of his attempted to ridicule.⁸⁹ It is well known what sort of preaching it was that produced such⁹⁰ great effects in many nations of Europe about the time of the Reformation. Whatever different sentiments were professed by the Reformers,⁹¹ I suppose they were so far agreed, that⁹² the doctrines of human depravity, the deity and atonement of Christ, justification by faith, and sanctification by the influence of the Holy Spirit, were the great topics of their ministry. Since the Reformation there have been special seasons in the churches in which a religious concern has greatly prevailed and multitudes were turned from their evil ways;⁹³ some from an open course of profaneness, and others from the mere form of godliness to the power of it. Much of this sort of success attended the labours of Perkins, Bolton, Taylor, Herbert, Hildersham, Blackerby, Gouge, Whitaker,⁹⁴ Bunyan,⁹⁵ great numbers of the ejected ministers, and many since their time, in England; of Livingstone, Bruce, Rutherford, M’Cullock, M’Laurin, Robe, Balfour, Sutherland, and

 See Priestley, Familiar Letters, Letter XXII, “Postscript.” [AF] In this “Postscript,” Priestley reproduced a letter, dated December 23, 1774, that he had received from Samuel Badcock (1747– 1788), who was at that time a Presbyterian minister in Barnstaple. In this letter Badcock informed Priestley that members of his church had attempted to remove him for his heterodoxy. They asked him to teach on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. He refused to do so and told these members that he “had not only objections to many of its principles, but thought it absurd to teach children a system of religion that contains in it many points of abstruse, speculative, and disputable theology” (Familiar Letters, 191‒ 192).  that was productive of such 1793] that produced such 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Whatever different sentiments obtained amongst the Reformers 1793] Whatever different sentiments were professed by the Reformers 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as that 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  in which there has been great religious concern, and multitudes have been turned 1793, 1794] in which their [sic] has been great religious concern, and multitudes have been turned 1796] in which a religious concern has greatly prevailed, and multitudes were turned 1802, 1810.  Whitaker 1793] Witaker 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Here the editors have followed the first edition’s rendering of William Whitaker’s (1548‒1595) name, as this is the way it is normally spelt.  William Perkins (1558‒1602), Samuel Bolton (1606‒1654), William Taylor (1616‒1661), George Herbert (1593‒1653), Arthur Hildersham (1563‒1631) Richard Blackerby (1574‒1648), William Gouge (1575‒ 1653), William Whitaker, and John Bunyan (1628‒1688) were all known for their profoundly spiritual ministries and deep personal piety. The list is interesting ecclesiologically, for it contains George Herbert, who loved the established Anglican church; Arthur Hildersham, who suffered much for his nonconformity; and John Bunyan, the open-membership Baptist whose education was vastly inferior to all of these others, but whose gifts, preaching, suffering, and literary art were the equal of any.

Letter II

67

others, in Scotland;⁹⁶ of Franck and his fellow labourers in Germany;⁹⁷ and of Stoddard, Edwards, Tennant, Buel,⁹⁸ and many others, in America.⁹⁹ And what Dr. Watts and Dr. Guyse said of the success of Mr. Edwards, and some others, in America, might with equal truth have been said of the rest, “That it was the common plain Protestant doctrine of the Reformation, without stretching towards the Antinomians on the one side, or the Arminians on the other, that the Spirit of God had been pleased to honour with such illustrious success.”¹⁰⁰ Nor are such effects peculiar to past ages. A considerable degree of the same kind of success has attended the Calvinistic churches in North America, within the last ten years, especially in the states of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.¹⁰¹ Nor is it peculiar to the Western world, though they have been greatly favoured. I believe there are hundreds of ministers now in this kingdom, some in the Established Church and some out of it, who could truly say to a considerable number of their auditors, as Paul said to the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistle, … known and read of all men … ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy

 John Livingstone (1603‒1672), Robert Bruce (ca.1554‒1631), Samuel Rutherford (1600‒1661), William McCulloch (1691‒1771), John McLaurin (1693‒1754), James Robe (1698‒1753), John Balfour (d. 1752), and John Sutherland (fl. 1731– 1754). The first three—Livingstone, Bruce, and Rutherford—all strongly advocated an established Presbyterianism for Scotland and suffered significantly in resisting the attempts to establish episcopacy. The others were participants in the Great Awakening in Scotland and testified to powerful movements of the Spirit of God in conversion work.  August Hermann Francke (1663‒1727) was an early leader of German Pietism. He was an astute philologist, taught both oriental languages and theology at the University of Halle, and pressed his students to get involved in a variety of benevolent endeavours as missionary outreach.  Solomon Stoddard (1643‒1729), Jonathan Edwards (1703‒1758), either William Tennent (1673‒ 1746) or Gilbert Tennent (1703‒1761), and Samuel Buell (1716‒1798). Solomon Stoddard was the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards, served as pastor at Northampton for sixty years, and was involved in five local church revivals. Edwards, Tennent (father and son), and Buell were all effective preachers of the First Great Awakening in New England and strongly advocated the necessity of conversion, even though many of their contemporaries believed that this emphasis constituted unmeasured enthusiasm.  See John Gillies, Historical Collections Relating to Remarkable Periods of the Success of the Gospel, and Eminent Instruments Employed in Promoting It, 2 vols. (Glasgow:Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1754). Gillies added an appendix in 1761: Appendix to the Historical collections, Relating to the Success of the Gospel (Glasgow: John Orr, 1761). A supplement was published in 1786, containing a biographical sketch of Gillies written by John Erskine, another author whom Fuller admired. See John Gillies, A Supplement to Two Volumes (Published in 1754) of Historical Collections. Chiefly containing late Remarkable Instances of Faith Working by Love (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, 1796).  Isaac Watts and John Guyse, “The Preface” to Jonathan Edwards, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprizing Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (London: John Oswald, 1737), vii. [AF]  See John Rippon, The Baptist Annual Register, for 1790, 1791, 1792, and Part of 1793. Including Sketches of the State of Religion among Different Denominations of Good men at Home and Abroad (London, 1793), 72– 117. [AF]

68

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

tables of the heart.”¹⁰² There are likewise hundreds of congregations, which might¹⁰³ with propriety be addressed in the language of the same apostle to the same people, “And such were some of you (namely, fornicators, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners); but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.”¹⁰⁴ And those ministers by whose instrumentality these effects were produced, like their predecessors before mentioned, have dwelt principally on the Protestant doctrines of man’s lost condition by nature, and salvation by grace only,¹⁰⁵ through the atoning blood of Christ, together with the necessity of the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit. When, therefore, they see such effects attend their labours, they think themselves warranted to ascribe them, as the apostle did, to “the name of the Lord Jesus, and to the Spirit of our God.”¹⁰⁶ The solid and valuable effects produced by this kind of preaching are attested by the late Mr. Robinson of Cambridge,¹⁰⁷ as well as by Dr. Watts and Dr. Guyse. “Presumption and despair,” said that ingenious writer, “are the two dangerous extremes to which mankind are prone in religious concerns. Charging home sin precludes the first, proclaiming redemption prevents the last. This has been the method which the Holy Spirit has thought fit to seal and succeed in the hands of his ministers. Wickliffe, Luther, Knox, Latimer, Gilpin, Bunyan, Livingstone, Franck, Blair, Elliot, Ed-

 2 Corinthians 3:2‒3.  who might 1793] which might 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:11, 9‒10.  alone by grace 1793] by grace only 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 6:11b.  Robert Robinson (1735‒1790) was a Particular Baptist pastor in Cambridge. After a short career as a Methodist preacher, Robinson went on to build a thriving ministry at St. Andrew’s Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, where he became known as one of the finest preachers in England. Towards the end of his life, however, Robinson appears to have become increasingly critical of his denomination’s Calvinism and orthodox Trinitarianism. In a letter written in 1788, he stated that he considered “a trinity of persons” in the Godhead “the most absurd of all absurdities,” though in a letter written the following year he asserted that he was “neither a Socinian [i. e. Unitarian] nor an Arian” (Two Original Letters by the Late Mr. Robert Robinson [London: J. Marsom, 1802], 5; Robert Robinson, Letter to S. Lucas, September 16, 1789, in William Robinson, ed., Select Works of the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge [London: J. Heaton & Son, 1861], 286). Further evidence of Robinson’s shift in theological sentiments comes from his two final sermons. They were preached at Priestley’s request in two Socinian meeting houses in Birmingham on June 6, 1790. According to Priestley, one of these sermons was a direct attack on Trinitarianism. Robinson was found dead the following Wednesday. It was thus widely believed that he had died a convinced Socinian. In his funeral sermon for Robinson, Priestley fuelled this belief when he triumphantly declared that Robinson had become “one of the most zealous unitarians” prior to his death (Reflections on Death. A Sermon, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Robert Robinson of Cambridge [Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1790], 21). On Robinson’s life and thought, see especially Graham W. Hughes, With Freedom Fired. The Story of Robert Robinson, Cambridge Nonconformist (London: Carey Kingsgate Press, 1955); L. G. Champion, “Robert Robinson: A Pastor in Cambridge,” The Baptist Quarterly 31 (1985 – 1986): 241‒246; Len Addicott, “Introduction” to idem, L. G. Champion, and K. A. C. Parsons, Church Book: St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church, Cambridge 1720‒ 1832 (London: Baptist Historical Society, 1991), viii‒xviii.

Letter II

69

wards, Whitefield, Tennant, and all who have been eminently blessed to the revival of practical godliness, have constantly availed themselves of this method; and, prejudice apart, it is impossible to deny that great and excellent moral effects have followed.”¹⁰⁸ Should it be alleged that Mr. Robinson, before he died, changed his opinions in these matters, and reckoned all such things as these enthusiasm, it might be answered: a change of opinion in Mr. Robinson can make no change in the “facts,” as he justly calls them, which he did himself the honour to record. Besides, the effects of this kind of preaching are not only recorded by Mr. Robinson, but by those who triumph in his conversion to their principles. Dr. Priestley professes to think highly of the Methodists, and acknowledges that they¹⁰⁹ have “civilized and Christianized a great part of the uncivilized and unchristianized part of this country.”¹¹⁰ Also in¹¹¹ his Discourses on Various Subjects he allows their preaching to produce “more striking effects” than that of Socinians, and goes about to account for it.¹¹² A matter of fact so notorious as this and of so much consequence in the controversy requires to be well accounted for. Dr. Priestley seems to have felt the force of the objection that might be made to his principles on this ground; and therefore attempts to obviate it. But by what medium is this attempted? The same principle by which he tries to account for the wonderful success of the gospel in the primitive ages is to account for the effects produced by such preaching as that of the Methodists: the ignorance of their auditors giving what they say to them the force of novelty. The Doctor is pleased to add, “Our people having in general been brought up in habits of virtue, such great changes in character and conduct are less necessary in their case.”¹¹³ A few remarks in reply to the above shall close this Letter. First, if novelty be indeed that efficacious principle¹¹⁴ which Dr. Priestley makes it to be, one should think

 Jean Claude, An Essay on the Composition of a Sermon, trans. Robert Robinson (Cambridge: Francis Hodson, 1769), 2:364. [AF] The third sentence of this quotation actually read thus: “I affirmed, the Holy Spirit had succeeded this method to the conversion of souls.” The names of John Wycliffe (1329‒ 1384), Martin Luther (1483‒1546), John Knox (ca. 1514‒1572), Hugh Latimer (ca. 1485‒1555), Bernard Gilpin (1517‒1583), Samuel Blair (1712‒1751), John Eliot (1604‒1690), and George Whitefield (1714‒ 1770), plus those already identified above, represent a broad spectrum of evangelical preaching from the immediate pre-Reformation years and the Reformation period, as well as settled pastors, itinerant preachers, and missionaries.  acknowledges they 1793, 1794, 1796] acknowledges that they 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 63. [AF]  and in 1793] Also in 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 375. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 376. [AF]  efficacious thing 1793, 1794, 1796] efficacious principle 1802, 1810.

70

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

it were desirable, every century or two, at least, to have a new dispensation of religion. Secondly, if the great success of the primitive preachers was owing to this curious cause, is it not extraordinary that they themselves should never be acquainted with it or communicate a secret of such importance to their successors? They are not only silent about it, but, in some cases, appear to act upon a contrary principle. Paul, when avowing¹¹⁵ the subject-matter of his ministry before Agrippa, seemed to disclaim everything novel, declaring that he had said “none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.”¹¹⁶ And as to the cause of their success, they seem never to have thought of anything but “the hand of the Lord that was with them,”¹¹⁷ “the working of his mighty power,”¹¹⁸ “Who caused them to triumph in Christ, making manifest the savour of his knowledge by them in every place.”¹¹⁹ Thirdly, if novelty be what Dr. Priestley makes it to be, the plea of Dives had much more of truth in it than the answer of Abraham. He pleaded that “if one rose from the dead, men would repent”; the novelty of the thing, he supposed, must strike them. But Abraham answered as if he had no notion of the power of mere novelty, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”¹²⁰ Fourthly, if the success of the apostles was owing to the novelty of their mission, it might have been expected that at Athens, where a taste for hearing and telling of new things occupied the whole attention of the people, their success would have been the greatest. Everybody knows that a congeniality of mind in an audience to the things proposed wonderfully facilitates the reception of them. Now, as the gospel was as much of a novelty to them as to the most barbarous nations, and as they¹²¹ were possessed of a peculiar turn of mind which delighted in everything of that nature, it might have been expected, on the above hypothesis, that a harvest of souls would there have been gathered in. But instead of this, the gospel is well known to have been less successful in this famous city than in many other places. Fifthly, some of the most striking effects, both in early and later ages, were not accompanied with the circumstance of novelty. The sermon of Peter to the inhabitants of Jerusalem contained no new doctrine.¹²² It only pressed upon them the same things, for substance, which they had heard and rejected from the lips of Christ himself; and, on a prejudgment of the issue by the usual course of things, they would

       

confessing 1793] avowing 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Acts 26:22. Acts 11:21 1793, 1794] Acts 12:21 1796, 1802, 1810. The correct reference is Acts 11:21. Ephesians 1:19. [AF] 2 Corinthians 2:14. [AF] Luke 16:31. and they 1793] and as they 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Acts 2. [AF]

Letter II

71

probably have been considered as more likely¹²³ to reject Peter’s doctrine than that of Christ, because, when once people have set their hands to a business, they are generally more loth to relinquish it, and own themselves in the wrong, than at first to forbear to engage in it. And as to later times, the effects produced by the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, and others, were many of them upon people not remarkably ignorant, but who had attended such kind of preaching all their lives¹²⁴ without any such effect. The former, it is well known, preached the same doctrines in Scotland and America as the people were used to hear every Lord’s day, and that with great effect among¹²⁵ persons of a lukewarm and careless description. The latter, in his Narrative of the Work of God in and about Northampton, represents the inhabitants as having been “a rational and understanding people.”¹²⁶ Indeed, they must have been such, or they could not have understood the compass of argument contained in Mr. Edwards’s Sermons on Justification, which were delivered about that time, and are said to have been the means of great religious concern among the hearers.¹²⁷ Nor were these effects produced by airs and gestures, or any of those extraordinary things in the manner of the preacher which give a kind of novelty to a sermon, and sometimes tend to move the affections of the hearers. Mr. Prince, who, it seems,¹²⁸ had often heard Mr. Edwards preach, and observed the remarkable conviction which attended his ministry, describes, in his Christian History, his manner of preaching.¹²⁹ “He was a preacher,” says he, “of a low and moderate voice,¹³⁰ a natural de-

 and if we might have pre-judged the issue by the usual train of things, they were more likely 1793] they would probably have been considered as more likely 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  all their life 1793] all their lives 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The original title of this work by Jonathan Edwards was A Faithful Narrative of the Suprizing Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (London: John Oswald, 1737). It was published in an abridged version by John Wesley and entitled A Narrative of the Late Work of God At and Near Northampton in New England, 2nd ed. (London: Henry Cook, 1755). Given Fuller’s rendition of the title, there is a strong possibility that the version he read was Wesley’s abridged edition. This is intriguing, since Fuller did not regard Wesley favourably. The phrase Fuller quotes here is probably from page 31 in this abridged edition, where Edwards is speaking about Abigail Hutchinson, one of those converted in the revival, and he states that she came from “a rational, understanding family.”  Jonathan Edwards’s sermon on justification can be found in Jonathan Edwards, Sermons on Various Important Subjects (Edinburgh: M. Gray, 1785), 7‒146. This volume was part of Fuller’s library. See The Diary of Andrew Fuller, 1780‒1801, WAF, 1:221.  Mr. Prince, in his Christian History, who, it seems 1793] Mr. Prince, who, it seems 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Thomas Prince (1687‒1758) served as pastor of the Old South Church in Boston from 1718 until his death. As a conscientious historian and a sincere supporter of the First Great Awakening, Prince published Christian History, perhaps the first Christian periodical, to report the events of the revival. He began the magazine in 1743. In spite of its short two-year life, it spread knowledge of the New England revival to many who would have had very little or no access to this material and had a positive formative influence on the perceptions of that remarkable phenomenon.  thus describes his manner of preaching 1793] describes, in his Christian History, his manner of preaching 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

72

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

livery, and without any agitation of body, or anything else in the manner to excite attention, except his habitual and great solemnity, looking and speaking as in the presence of God, and with a weighty sense of the matter delivered.”¹³¹ Sixthly, Suppose the circumstance of novelty to have great efficacy, the question is, with respect to such preaching as that of the Methodists, whether it has efficacy enough to render the truth of the doctrine of no account. It is well known that the main doctrines which¹³² the Methodists have taught are man’s lost condition by nature, and salvation by the atonement of Christ; but these, according to Dr. Priestley, are false doctrines; no part of Christianity, but the “corruptions” of it; and “such as must tend, if they have any effect, to relax the obligations to virtue.”¹³³ But if so, how came it to pass that the preaching of them should “civilize and Christianize mankind?” Novelty may do wonders, it is granted; but still the nature of those wonders will correspond with the nature of the principles taught. All that it can be supposed to do is to give additional energy to the principles which it accompanies. The heating of a furnace seven times hotter than usual would not endue it with the properties of water; and water,¹³⁴ put into the most powerful motion, would not be capable of producing the effects of fire. One would think it were equally evident that falsehood, though accompanied with novelty, could never have the effect of truth. Once more, it may be questioned whether the generality of people who make up Socinian congregations stand in less need of a change of character and conduct than others. Mr. Belsham says that “rational Christians are often represented as indifferent to practical religion” and admits, though with apparent reluctance, that “there¹³⁵ has been some plausible ground for the accusation.”¹³⁶ Dr. Priestley admits the same thing, and they both go about to account for it in the same way.¹³⁷ Now, whether their method of accounting for it be just or not, they admit the fact; and hence we may conclude that the generality of “rational Christians” are not so righteous as to need no repentance; and that the reason why their preaching does not turn sinners to righteousness is not owing to their want of an equal proportion of sinners to be turned. But supposing the Socinian congregations were generally so virtuous as to need no great change of character; or, if they did, so well informed that nothing could strike them as a novelty; that is not the case with the bulk of mankind amongst

 “He was a preacher of a low and moderate voice 1793] “He was a preacher,” says he, “of a low and moderate voice 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:169. [AF]  The main doctrines, it is well known, that 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802] It is well known that the main doctrines which 1810.  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 35.  waters 1793] water 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  admits “there 1793] admits, though with apparent reluctance, that “there 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95. [AF]

Letter II

73

whom they live. Now if ¹³⁸ a great change of character may be produced by the mere power of novelty, why do not Dr. Priestley and those of his sentiments go forth, like some others, to the highways and hedges? Why does not he surprize the benighted populace into the love of God and holiness with his new doctrines? (New he must acknowledge they are to them.) If false¹³⁹ doctrine, such as that which the Methodists have taught, may, through the power of novelty, do such wonders, what might not be¹⁴⁰ expected from the true? I have been told that Dr. Priestley has expressed a wish to go into the streets and preach to the common people. Let him, or those of his sentiments, make the trial. Though the people of Birmingham have treated him so uncivilly, I hope both he and they¹⁴¹ would meet with better treatment in other parts of the country; and if, by the power of novelty, they can turn but a few sinners from the error of their ways, and save their souls from death, it will be an object worthy of their attention. But should Dr. Priestley, or any others of his sentiments, go forth on such an errand, and still retain their principles, they must reverse the declaration of our Lord, and say, “We come not to call sinners, but the righteous to repentance.”¹⁴² All their hope must be in the uncontaminated youth, or the better sort of people, whose habits in the path of vice are not so strong but that they may be overcome. Should they, in the course of their labours, behold¹⁴³ a malefactor approaching the hour of his execution, what must they do?¹⁴⁴ Alas! like the priest and the Levite, they must pass by on the other side. They could not so much as admonish him to repentance with any degree of hope, because they consider “all late repentance, and especially after long and confirmed habits of vice, as absolutely and necessarily ineffectual.”¹⁴⁵ Happy for many a poor wretch of that description, happy especially for the poor thief upon the cross,¹⁴⁶ that Jesus Christ acted on a different principle! These, brethren, are matters that come within the knowledge of every man of observation;¹⁴⁷ and it behoves you, in such cases, to know “not the speech of them that are puffed up, but the power.”¹⁴⁸ I am, etc.

 And if 1793] Now if 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  a false 1793] false 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  might be 1793] might not be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  hope they 1793, 1794, 1796] hope both he and they 1802, 1810.  Cf. Luke 5:32.  espy 1793] behold 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  he do 1793] they do 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156. Also Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 238 – 239. [AF]  See Luke 23:39 – 43.  observation and reflection 1793] observation 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 4:19.

74

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter III: The systems compared as to their tendency to convert professed unbelievers Christian brethren, Socinian writers are very sanguine on the tendency of their views of things to convert infidels, namely, Jews, heathens, and Mahometans. They reckon that our notions of the Trinity form the grand obstacle to their conversion. Dr. Priestley often suggests that so long as we maintain the deity of Jesus Christ, there is no hope of converting the Jews, because this doctrine contradicts the first principle¹⁴⁹ of their religion, the unity of God. Things, not altogether but nearly similar, are said concerning the conversion of the heathens and Mahometans, especially the latter. On this subject, the following observations are submitted to your consideration. With respect to the Jews, they know very well that those who believe in the deity of Christ profess to believe in the unity of God, and if they will not admit this to be consistent, they must depart from what is plainly implied in the language of their ancestors. If the Jews in the time of Christ had thought it impossible, or, which is the same thing,¹⁵⁰ inconsistent with the unity of God, that God the Father should have a Son equal to himself, how came they to attach the idea of equality to that of sonship? Jesus asserted that God was his “own Father,” which they understood as¹⁵¹ making himself “equal with God,” and therefore sought to kill him as a blasphemer.¹⁵² Had the Jews affixed those ideas to sonship which are entertained by our opponents, namely, as implying nothing more than simple humanity, why did they accuse Jesus of blasphemy for assuming it? They did not deny that, to be God’s own Son was to be equal with the Father; nor did they allege that such an equality would destroy the divine unity, a thought of this kind seems never to have occurred to their minds. The idea to which they objected was that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, and hence, it is probable, the profession of this great article was considered in the apostolic age as the criterion of Christianity.¹⁵³ Were this article admitted by the modern Jews, they must reason differently from their ancestors, if they scrupled to admit that Christ is equal with the Father. The Jews were greatly offended at our Lord’s words; and his not explaining them so as to remove the stumbling-block out of the way may serve to teach us how we ought to proceed in removing stumbling-blocks out of the way of their posterity. For this cause they sought to kill him because he had said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one. Then they took

 Jews, because this will always be a stumbling block in their way, as clashing with the first principle 1793] Jews, because this doctrine contradicts the first principle 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  which is same thing 1793] which is the same thing 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and they understood him as 1793] which they understood as 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 5:17‒18. [AF]  Acts 8:37. [AF]

Letter III

75

up stones to stone him.” When¹⁵⁴ he told them of “many good works that he had shown them,” and asked, “For which of those works do ye stone me?,” they replied, “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”¹⁵⁵ From hence it is evident that¹⁵⁶ whether Jesus Christ be truly God or not, they understood him as asserting that so he was; that is, they understood his claiming the relation of God’s own Son and declaring that he and his Father were one, as implying so much. This was their stumbling-block. Nor does it appear that Jesus did anything towards removing it out of their way. It is certain he did not so remove it as to afford them the least satisfaction; for they continued to think him guilty of the same blasphemy to the last, and for that adjudged him worthy of death.¹⁵⁷ If Jesus never thought of being equal with God, it is a pity there should have been such a misunderstanding between them; a misunderstanding that proved the occasion of putting him to death! Such an hypothesis, to be sure, may answer one end: it may give us a more favourable idea of the conduct of the Jews than we have been wont to entertain. If it does not entirely justify their procedure, it greatly extenuates it. They erred, it seems, in imagining that Jesus, in declaring himself the Son of God, made himself equal with God; and thus, through mistaking his meaning, put him to death as a blasphemer. But then it might be pleaded on their behalf that Jesus never suggested that they were in an error in that matter; that, instead of informing them that the name Son of God implied nothing more than simple humanity, he went on to say, among¹⁵⁸ other things, “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.”¹⁵⁹ And instead of disowning with abhorrence the idea of making himself God, he seemed to justify it, by arguing from the less to the greater, from the image of the thing to the thing itself.¹⁶⁰ Now, these things considered, should an impartial jury sit in judgment upon their conduct, one would think they could not, with Stephen, bring it in murder; to make the most of it, it could be nothing worse than manslaughter. All this may tend to conciliate the Jews, as it tends to roll away the reproach which,¹⁶¹ in the esteem of Christians, lies upon their ancestors for crucifying the Lord of glory; but whether it will have any influence towards their conversion is another question. It is possible that, in proportion as it confirms their good opinion of their forefathers, it may confirm their ill opinion of Jesus, for having, by his obscure and ambiguous language, given occasion for such a misunderstanding between

 and when 1793] When 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 10:30‒33.  From hence it is as plain as words can make it, that 1793] From hence it is evident, that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Matthew 23:63, 66. [AF]  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 5:23. [AF]  John 10:34‒36. [AF]  that 1793, 1794, 1796] which 1802, 1810.

76

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

them.¹⁶² Could the Jews but once be brought to feel that temper of mind which it is predicted in their own prophets they shall feel—could they but “look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born”¹⁶³—I should be under no apprehensions respecting their acknowledging his proper Divinity, or embracing him as the great atonement, to the “fountain” of whose blood they would joyfully repair, that they might be cleansed from their sin and their uncleanness.¹⁶⁴ Nearly the same things might be observed respecting heathens and Mahometans. We may so model the gospel as almost to accommodate it to their taste, and by this means we may come nearer together.¹⁶⁵ But whether, in so doing, we shall not be rather converted to them, than they to us, deserves to be considered. Christianity may be so heathenized that¹⁶⁶ a man may believe in it, and yet be no Christian. Were it true, therefore, that Socinianism had a tendency to induce professed infidels, by meeting them, as it were, half way, to take upon them the Christian name, still it would not follow that it was of any real use. The popish missionaries of the last century in China, acted upon the principle of accommodation. They gave up the main things in which Christians and heathens had been used to differ, and allowed the Chinese every favourite species of idolatry. The consequence was, they had a great many converts, such as they were; but thinking people looked upon the missionaries as more¹⁶⁷ converted to heathenism, than the Chinese heathens to Christianity.¹⁶⁸ But even this effect is more than may be expected from Socinian doctrine among¹⁶⁹ the heathen. The popish missionaries had engines to work with, which Socinians have not. They were sent by an authority which, at that time, had weight in the world; and their religion was accompanied with pomp and superstition. These were matters which, though far from recommending their mission to the approbation of serious Christians, yet would be sure to recommend it to the Chinese. They strip-

 This paragraph concluded at this point in the 1793 edition. The remainder of the paragraph first appears in the 1794 edition.  Zechariah 12:10. [AF]  Zechariah 12:10‒14, 13:1. [AF]  and so we may come nearer together 1793] and by this means we may come nearer together 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as that 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as being more 1793] as more 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Robert Millar, The History of the Propagation of Christianity and the Overthrow of Paganism, 2nd ed. (London: A. Millar, 1726), 2:388, 438. [AF] A large section of chapter 8 in this volume deals with missions in China. This volume was part of Fuller’s library. See The Diary of Andrew Fuller, 1780‒1801, WAF, 1:228. Here Fuller is particularly referring to the Jesuit principle of cultural accommodation, first invented by Matteo Ricci (1552– 1610). Such a principle was later challenged by the Dominican missionaries, and eventually led to the Rites Controversy in the early eighteenth century. See Gustav Voss, “Missionary Accommodation and Ancestral Rites in the Far East,” Theological Studies 4, no. 4 (1943): 525 – 560.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter III

77

ped the gospel of all its real glory, and, in its place, substituted a false glory.¹⁷⁰ But Socinianism, while it divests the gospel of all that is interesting and affecting to the souls of men, substitutes nothing in its place. If it be Christianity at all, it is, as the ingenious Mrs. Barbauld is said in time past to have expressed it, “Christianity in the frigid zone.”¹⁷¹ It may be expected, therefore, that no considerable number of professed infidels will ever think it worthy of their attention. Like the Jew, they will pronounce every attempt to convert them by these accommodating principles nugatory, and be ready to ask, with him, “What they shall do more, by embracing Christianity, than they already do.”¹⁷²

 but then they substituted a false glory in it’s [sic] place 1793] and, in its place, substituted a false glory 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Anna Letitia Barbauld (1743 – 1845), a celebrated poet of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, John Aikin. In 1774 she married Rochemont Barbauld, a Unitarian minister. Her poetry and literary works were widely published, and she edited a fifty-volume set of British Novelists. She published hymns, literature for children, devotions on the Psalms, and political essays. Her Works were published in 1825. For a study of her life and thought, see William McCarthy, Anne Letitia Barbauld: Voice of the Enlightenment (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008). Fuller’s quotation of her statement about Unitarianism appears to be drawn from oral tradition. When it is cited in the secondary literature, Fuller’s reference here is usually given as the source. See, for example, Daniel E. White, Early Romanticism and Religious Dissent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 39, 202 n.18.  attention. They will be ready to say, ‘If this be all that is meant by christianity [sic], there is no vast difference between us; let us therefore go on as we are.” 1793] attention. Like the Jew, they will pronounce every attempt to convert them by these accommodating principles nugatory; and be ready to ask, with him, “What they shall do more, by embracing Christianity, than they already do.” 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. At this point, Fuller cites David Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, in Answer to Those He Addressed to the Jews; Inviting them to an Amicable Discussion of the Evidences of Christianity, 3rd ed. (London: D. Levi, 1787), 76‒77. In the place Fuller refers to, Levi (1742‒1801) wrote, “Am I not now justified in calling your attempt preposterous? But perhaps you will tell me that what you profess is right and that ‘you believe in the perpetual obligation of all the laws which Moses prescribed to our nation.’ […] If so, I at once pronounce your attempt to be nugatory. For can we do more by embracing Christianity than adhere to the Law of Moses, even according to your hypothesis? Surely not.” Levi set the stage for further interaction in a prefatory “Advertisement”: “The author of the following sheets sincerely hopes that the reader will view the undertaking with a candid eye; and not construe any part thereof as reflecting upon what may be called true Christianity. What he has advanced is in support of a religion given by God himself (although some Christians think that it is no longer acceptable to him) and that, not till after a solemn invitation from an eminent divine and philosopher to the whole nation, as a preliminary step towards their conversion. The author (who is a sincere inquirer after truth) has, in consequence thereof, accepted the invitation, in order to convince, or be convinced, if permitted to proceed in the inquiry.” In “An Introductory Letter,” Levi gave a further reason for his personal response: “most of our learned men (as I am informed) have declined the invitation.” They did not want to disturb the peace of the nation, or theirs either, and they did not have a sufficient grasp of the English idiom to “enter the lists against so spirited and elegant a writer” (Letters to Dr. Priestley, 4‒5).

78

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Dr. Priestley, however, is for coming to action. “Let a free intercourse be opened,” says he, “between Mahometans and rational, that is, Unitarian Christians,¹⁷³ and I shall have no doubt with respect to the consequence.”¹⁷⁴ And, again, “Let the Hindoos, as well as the Mahometans, become acquainted with our literature, and have free intercourse with Unitarian Christians, and I have no doubt but the result will be in favour of Christianity.”¹⁷⁵ So, then, when heathens and Mahometans are to be converted, Trinitarians, like those of Gideon’s army that bowed down their knees to drink, must sit at home; and the whole of the expedition, it seems, must be conducted by Unitarians, as by the three hundred men that lapped.¹⁷⁶ Poor Trinitarians, deemed unworthy of an intercourse with heathens! Well, if you must be denied, as by a kind of Test Act,¹⁷⁷ the privilege of bearing arms in this divine war, surely you have a right to expect that those who shall be possessed of it should act valiantly and do exploits. But what ground have you on which to rest your expectations? None, except Dr. Priestley’s good conceit of his opinions. When was it known that any considerable number of heathens or Mahometans were converted by the Socinian doctrine? Sanguine as the Doctor is on this subject, where are the facts on which his expectations are founded? Trinitarians, however, whether Dr. Priestley think¹⁷⁸ them worthy or not, have gone among¹⁷⁹ the heathens, and that not many years ago, and preached what they thought the gospel of Christ; and I may add, from facts that cannot be disputed, with considerable success. The Dutch, the Danes, and the English have each made some attempts in the East, and, I hope, not without some good effects. If we were to call that conversion which many professors of Christianity would call so without any scruple, we might boast of the conversion of a great many thousands in those

 “Rational, that is, Unitarian Christians.” Why need Dr. Priestley be so particular in informing his reader that a rational Christian signifies a Unitarian Christian? To be sure, all the world knew, long enough ago, that rationality was confined to the Unitarians! Doubtless, they are the people, and wisdom will die with them! When Dr. Priestley speaks of persons of his own sentiments, he calls them “rational Christians”; when, in the same page, he speaks of such as differ from him, he calls them “those who assume to themselves the distinguishing title of orthodox” [Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians, Originally prefixed to the Reply to Mr. Venn in Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 262]. Query: Is the latter of these names assumed any more than the former; and is Dr. Priestley a fit person to reprove a body of people for assuming a name which implies what their adversaries do not admit? [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 116. [AF]  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 121. [AF]  See Judges 7:6‒8.  This is a reference to the Test Act of 1673, which was enacted in the wake of the Restoration and was designed to exclude Dissenters from serving as commissioned officers in the armed forces, among other things.  thinks 1793] think 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter III

79

parts. But it is acknowledged that many of the conversions in the East were little, if anything, more than a change of denomination.¹⁸⁰ The greatest and best work, and the most worthy of the name of conversion, of which I have read, is that which has taken place by the labours of the Anglo-Americans among¹⁸¹ the natives. They have, indeed, wrought wonders. Mr. Elliot, the first minister who engaged in this work, went over to New England in 1632; and being warmed with a holy zeal for converting the natives, learned their language, and preached to them in it. He also, with great labour, translated the Bible, and some English treatises, into the same language. God made him eminently useful for the turning of these poor heathens to himself. He settled a number of Christian churches,¹⁸² and ordained elders over them from among¹⁸³ themselves. After a life of unremitted labour in this important undertaking, he died in a good old age, and has ever since been known, both among¹⁸⁴ the English and the natives, by the name of “The Apostle of the American Indians.” Nor were these converts like many of those in the East, who professed they knew not what, and, in a little time, went off again as fast as they came: the generality¹⁸⁵ of them understood and felt what they professed, and persevered to¹⁸⁶ the end of their lives. Mr. Elliot’s example stimulated many others: some in his lifetime, and others after his death, laboured much, and were blessed to the conversion of thousands among¹⁸⁷ the Indians. The names and labours of Bourn, Fitch, Mahew, Pierson, Gookin, Thatcher, Rawson, Treat, Tupper, Cotton,¹⁸⁸ Walter,¹⁸⁹ Sargeant,¹⁹⁰ Davenport,¹⁹¹

 a change in name 1793] a change of denomination 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  churches amongst them 1793] churches 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  no, the generality 1793] the generality 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and held out to 1793] and persevered to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Fuller received these names and reports of evangelistic success from John Gillies, Historical Collections Relating to Remarkable Periods of the Success of the Gospel, and Eminent Instruments Employed in Promoting It (Glasgow: Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1754). Gillies emphasized Eliot’s extensive influence in his work with the American Indians: “The same spirit which acted Mr. Eliot, quickly inspired others elsewhere, to prosecute the work of rescuing the poor Indians out of their worse than Egyptian-darkness, in which evil angels had been so long preying upon them. One of these was the godly and gracious Richard Bourn, who soon saw a great effect of his labours. […] At Martha’s Vineyard, old Mr. Mayhew, and several of his sons, or grandsons, have done very worthily for the souls of the Indians […] In Connecticut, Mr. Fitch, has made noble essays towards the conversion of the Indians […] And godly Mr. Pierson has in that colony deserved well, if I mistake not, upon the same account. In Massachusetts we see at this day Mr. Daniel Gookin, Mr. Peter Thatcher, Mr. Grindel Rawson, all of them hard at work to turn these poor creatures from darkness unto light, and from Satan unto God. In Plymouth we have the most active Mr. Samuel Treat, laying out himself to save this generation; and there is one Mr. Tupper, who uses his laudable endeavours for the instruction of them. ’Tis my relation to him that causes me to defer to the last place, the mention of Mr. John Cotton, who addresses the Indians in their own language with an admirable dexterity, and has done great service to them” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 1:343‒345, passim).

80

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Park,¹⁹² Horton,¹⁹³ Brainerd,¹⁹⁴ and Edwards, are remembered with joy and gratitude in those benighted regions of the earth. Query: Were ever any such effects as these wrought by preaching Socinian doctrines? Great things have been done among¹⁹⁵ the heathens, of late years, by the Moravians. About¹⁹⁶ the year 1733, they sent missionaries to Greenland, a most inhospit-

 Gillies included a section of George Whitefield’s Journal in which he mentioned Nehemiah Walter, calling him a “good old Puritan” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:124). Walter (1663‒1750) served as pastor at Roxbury, Massachusetts, succeeding John Eliot. At that time (1740), their successive pastorates had covered 105 years. Walter remained for another 10 years.  John Sergeant (1710‒1749), preceded Jonathan Edwards at Stockbridge. A letter he wrote to Christian History in 1743 stated, “May Almighty power effect the merciful purposes of sovereign grace among them [i. e., the Indians]” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:404).  James Davenport (1716‒1757) served as a pastor in Southold, Long Island and was an itinerant evangelist in the First Great Awakening. George Whitefield’s Journal mentions him on several occasions, always in a positive light. His extravagance in preaching, his pretensions to special revelations, and his assumption of infallible knowledge of the spiritual condition of other ministers of the gospel led to great opposition, an eventual recantation (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:180‒182), and a discredited ministry. Jonathan Parsons (1705‒1776), however, noted the following with regard to Davenport: “And tho’ he did, I believe, […] greatly prejudice persons against religion, yet it must be acknowledged that he was made a great blessing to many souls; but especially to the Mohegans and Nahauntuc tribes of Indians. Tho’ much pains had been taken to win them to embrace the gospel before, yet nothing seemed to have any considerable effect until Mr. Davenport came among them” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:250).  Joseph Park (1705‒1777), a graduate of Harvard College, wrote a letter to Christian History in 1744 describing a great movement of God among the Narragansets in Rhode Island (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:404‒407). Park, as well as several others, described the doctrine they preached. Fuller would have been particularly interested in this because of the point he was making against Socinianism. “But when it pleased God to bless means for their clearer understanding of the Christian religion, which I endeavoured publicly and privately to open up to them, and teach them; that if they knew the power and love of God upon their hearts; had been shewn from whence they were fallen, their utter inability to recover themselves, the freeness and all-sufficiency of Christ to save them, and bring them back to God and the Father; had their hearts wrought upon by the grace of God, sincerely to submit themselves to God in Jesus Christ, to be pardoned taught and governed; that they should in this way of the gospel wait upon God” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:405).  Azariah Horton (1715‒1777) was the first missionary sent by the Scottish Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge to minister to the American Indians. He enjoyed encouraging success in his labours, though he lamented the apparent carelessness in some of the people’s religious deportment. The success of his work prompted the society to convince David Brainerd to pursue the same course of ministry. See Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:408‒409.  David Brainerd’s (1718‒1747) life became a byword for self-sacrificing missionary zeal by virtue of Jonathan Edwards’s publication of An Account of the Life Of the late Reverend David Brainerd (Boston: D. Henchman, 1749). Upon the conversion of his interpreter and his interpreter’s wife, Brainerd commented, “His pleased heart echoes to the soul-humbling doctrines of grace, and he never appears better pleased than when he hears of the absolute sovereignty of God, and the salvation of sinners in the way of free grace” (Gillies, Historical Collections, 2:422).  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  In about 1793] About 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter III

81

able country indeed, but containing about ten thousand inhabitants, all inveloped in pagan darkness. After the labour of several years, apparently in vain, success attended their efforts; and in the course of twenty or thirty years, about seven hundred heathens¹⁹⁷ are said to have been baptized, and to have lived the life of Christians.¹⁹⁸ They have done great good also in the most northern parts of North America, among¹⁹⁹ the Eskimeaux; and still more among²⁰⁰ the Negroes in the West India islands, where, at the close of 1788, upwards of thirteen thousand of those poor, injured, and degraded people were formed into Christian societies. The views of Moravians, it is true, are different from ours in several particulars, especially in matters relating to church government and discipline; but they appear to possess a great deal of godly simplicity;²⁰¹ and as to the doctrines which they inculcate, they are, mostly, what we esteem evangelical.²⁰² The doctrine of atonement by the death of Christ, in particular, forms the great subject of their ministry. The first person in Greenland who appeared willing to receive the gospel was an old man who came to the missionaries for instruction. “We told him,” say they, “as well as we could, of the creation of man, and the intent thereof, of the fall and corruption of nature, of the redemption effected by Christ, of the resurrection of all men, and eternal happiness or damnation.” They inform us afterwards that the doctrine of the cross, or “the Creator’s taking upon him human nature, and dying for our sins,” was the

 seven hundred heathens, or thereabout, 1793] about seven hundred heathens 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See David Cranz, The History of Greenland, 2 vols. (London: [Moravian] Brethren’s Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen, 1767). [AF] The Moravians had sent David Cranz or Crantz (1723‒1777) to Greenland in 1759 so that he might write up a history of the Moravian mission to that country, as well as a detailed description of the land and its inhabitants. Cranz’s original work, described as that of “a writer of genuine merit,” was judged to contain “many minute details of trivial circumstances,” as well as a “fatiguing mass of heavy narrative” that would “tend to exhaust the attention of the reader, and obscure the real excellencies of the work.” David Cranz, The History of Greenland Including and Account of the Mission Carried on by the United Brethren in that Country … with a continuation to the Present Time, 2 vols. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820), 1:iii. The preface to this 1820 translation also stated: “The former, almost verbal translation of 1767 retained all the defects of method, along with a style far inferior to that of the original in comparative excellence” (1:iv). For a study of this work’s significance, see Felicity Jensz, “The Publication and Reception of David Cranz’s 1767 History of Greenland,” The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society 13, no. 4 (December 2012): 457‒472.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The Moravians, it is allowed, have, in our opinion, many things amongst them exceptionable; yet with all these there appears to be a great deal of godly simplicity: 1793, 1794, 1796] The views of Moravians, it is true, are different from ours in several particulars, especially in matters relating to church government and discipline; but they appear to possess a great deal of godly simplicity: 1802, 1810.  they are what we esteem most evangelical 1793] they are, mostly, what we esteem evangelical 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

82

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

most powerful means of impressing the minds of the heathen, and of turning their hearts to God. “On this account,” they add, “we determined (like Paul) to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”²⁰³ Now consider, brethren,²⁰⁴ were there ever any such effects as the above wrought by the Socinian doctrine? If there were, let them be brought to light. Nay, let a single instance be produced of a Socinian teacher having so much virtue or benevolence in him as to make the attempt; so much virtue or benevolence as to venture among²⁰⁵ a race of barbarians, merely with a view to their conversion. But we have unbelievers at home;²⁰⁶ and Dr. Priestley, persuaded of the tendency of his principles to convert, has lately made some experiments upon them, as being within his reach. He has done well. There is nothing like experiment in religion as well as in philosophy. As to what tendency²⁰⁷ his sentiments would have upon heathens and Mahometans, provided a free intercourse could be obtained, it is all conjecture. The best way to know their efficacy is by trial; and trial has been made. Dr. Priestley has addressed Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever and Letters to the Jews. Whether this seed will spring up, it is true, we must not yet decide. Some little time after he had published, however, he himself acknowledged, “I do not know that my book has converted a single unbeliever.”²⁰⁸ Perhaps he might say the same still; and that, not only of his Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, but of those to the Jews.²⁰⁹ If the opinion of the Jews may in any degree be collected from the answer of their champion, Mr. David Levi, so far are they from being convinced of the truth of Christianity by Dr. Priestley’s writings, that they suspect whether he himself be a Christian. “Your doctrine,” says Mr. Levi, “is so opposite to what I always understood to be the principles of Christianity, that I must ingenuously confess I am greatly puzzled to reconcile your principles to the attempt. What! a writer that asserts that the miraculous conception of Jesus does not appear to him to be sufficiently authenticated, and that the original Gospel of St. Matthew did not contain it, set up for a defender of Christianity against the Jews, is such an inconsistency as I did not expect to meet with in a philosopher, whose sole pursuit hath been in search of truth. You are pleased to declare, in plain terms, that you do not believe in the miraculous conception of Jesus, and that you are of opinion that he was the legitimate son of Joseph.

 See Crantz, History of Greenland, 1:369; 2:1‒2.  Christian brethren 1793] brethren 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  But need we go to the heathen nations, it may be asked, in quest of professed unbelievers? Are there not enow in christian [sic] countries? There are; 1793] But we have unbelievers at home; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  As to talking what 1793] As to what 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Additional Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, In Answer to Mr. William Hammon (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1782), 16. [AF]  The next two paragraphs were transposed to this point in 1794, but were the closing paragraphs of this letter in 1793. In the 1793 edition, the text went immediately to: “Is it not a fact,” etc., which now appears two paragraphs below.

Letter III

83

After such assertions as these, how you can be entitled to the appellation of ‘a Christian,’ in the strict sense of the word, is to me really incomprehensible. … If I am not greatly mistaken, I verily believe that the honour of Jesus, and the propagation of Christianity, are things of little moment in your serious thoughts, notwithstanding all your boasted sincerity.”²¹⁰ To say nothing of the opinion of the Jews concerning what²¹¹ is Christianity, having all the weight that is usually attributed to the judgment of impartial bystanders, the above quotations afford but little reason to hope for their conversion to Christianity by Socinian doctrines. But still, it may be said, “We know not what is to come.” True; but this we know, that if any considerable fruit arise from the addresses above referred to, it is yet to come; and not from these addresses only, but, I am inclined to think, from anything that has been attempted by Socinians for the conversion of unbelievers. Is it not a fact that Socinian principles render men indifferent to this great object, and even induce them to treat it with contempt? The Monthly Reviewers, in reviewing Mr. Carey’s late publication on this subject, infer from his acknowledgments of the  Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, 8‒9, 30. Prior to the final sentence of this quotation, Levi had referred to the disagreement between the Socinians and the orthodox on the deity of Christ, and observed: “For do but figure to yourself, dear Sir, how ridiculous it must appear for you to invite the Jews to embrace what you yourselves do not rightly understand. This is such an absurdity, that I am surprised and astonished when I reflect, how it is possible that a divine and a philosopher of your distinguished rank, in the republic of letters, should overlook” (Letters to Dr. Priestley, 29‒30). When Priestley answered him, Levi responded again in Letters to Dr. Priestley, In Answer to his Letters to the Jews, Part. II. Occasioned by Mr. David Levi’s Reply to the Former Part (London: D. Levi, 1789). Levi explained that his first response was merely defensive in stating the reasons why the Jews “could not accept your offers to forsake Judaism, and embrace what you are pleased to call Christianity” (p. 4). Priestley was greatly offended by the charge of his not being a Christian and accused Levi of a lack of “candour.” Levi explained that he could not see anything distinctively Christian in Priestley’s explanations, in that he denied the authority of the Gospels in their account of Jesus’s birth and their claims to the absolute authority, honour, and redemptive work of Christ: “If Christ’s divinity is false I say,” Levi insisted, “and he did not come to suffer for the redemption of mankind, as Christians hold (whether that redemption was necessary is not now before us), he came for nothing.” He went on to reassert that “it must appear clear to every impartial person that, by the steps you have taken to prove the spuriousness of part of the Gospel, which teaches the divine mission of Christ, you have forfeited all claim to the appellation of a Christian, i. e. a true believer in the religion of Christ” (p. 12, 13). Brief biographical information on Levi is found in James Picciotto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History (London: Trubner & Co., 1875), 228. Picciotto said that Levi “wielded the vernacular with vigour if not with elegance” and that he “taught the Jews to appreciate the beautiful prayers they too often addressed parrot-like to the Deity.” Levi was a shoemaker and milliner who devoted himself to studying Hebrew and Scripture, and produced a Hebrew–English dictionary. About his confrontation with Priestley, Picciotto wrote: “He then defended his faith against the attacks of ardent sectarian, albeit modified, Christianity on the one side and against the attacks of pure atheism on the other. Dr. Priestley, the well-known natural philosopher and dissenting minister, the extraordinary man who dived into the mysterious nature, who followed by turns the doctrines of Arius and Socinus, and who discovered new gases, desired to convert the Jews to a religion the divine nature of which he entirely repudiated” (Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, 228).  as to what 1793] concerning what 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

84

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

baneful influence of wicked Europeans in their intercourse with heathens, and the great corruptions among²¹² the various denominations of professing Christians, that if so, “far better is the light of nature, as communicated by their Creator, than any light that our officiousness disposes us to carry to them.”²¹³ By Europeans who have communicated their vices to heathens, Mr. Carey undoubtedly²¹⁴ meant, not those ministers of the gospel, or those serious Christians, who have gone among²¹⁵ them for their good; but navigators, merchants, and adventurers, whose sole object was to enrich themselves. And though he acknowledges a great deal of degeneracy and corruption to have infected the Christian world, yet the qualifications which he requires in a missionary might have secured his proposal from censure, and doubtless would have done so, had not the Reviewers²¹⁶ been disposed to throw cold water upon every such undertaking. If, indeed, there be none to be found among²¹⁷ professing Christians, except such who,²¹⁸ by their intercourse with heathens, would²¹⁹ only render their state worse than it was before, let the design be given up; but if otherwise, the objection is of no force. The Reviewers will acknowledge that great corruptions have attended the civil government²²⁰ of Europe, not excepting that of our own country, and that we are constantly engaged in dissensions on the subject.²²¹ Yet I have no doubt but they could find certain individuals, who, if they were placed in the midst of an uncivilized people, would be capable of affording them substantial assistance, would teach them to establish good laws, good order, and equal liberty. Nor would they think of concluding, because European conquerors and courtiers, knowing no higher motive than self-interest, instead of meliorating the condition of uncivilized nations, have injured it, that therefore it was vain for any European to think of doing otherwise. Neither would they regard the sneers of the enemies of civil liberty and equity, who might

 amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. 72. An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. … By William Carey,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 9 (1792): 474‒476. The quotation is found on page 475. Carey’s book had been published in 1792 in Leicester, and the review appeared in December of that year. The impact of Carey’s book far outlasted the review, which was cynical and condescending, and which closed with the words: “This is a specimen of the plans formed by recluse and well-meaning men, in rural retreats; and they are well employed: they amuse themselves; and if one good hint can be picked out of a thousand such schemes, society will be so far benefited by their lucubrations” (“Art. 72. An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians,” 476).  doubtless 1793] undoubtedly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Reviewer 1793] Reviewers 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but such who 1793] except such, who 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  will 1793] would 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  governments 1793] government 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  these subjects 1793, 1794] the subject 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter III

85

deride them as “a little flock” of conceited politicians,²²² or, at best, of inexperienced philanthropists, whose plans might amuse in the closet, but would not bear in real life. Why is it that we are to be sceptical and inactive in nothing but religion? Had Mr. Carey, after the example of Dr. Priestley, proposed that his own denomination only should open an intercourse with heathens, the Reviewers would have accused him of illiberality; and now, when he proposes that “other denominations should engage separately in promoting missions,” this, it is said, would be “spreading our religious dissensions over the globe.”²²³ How, then, are these gentlemen to be pleased? By sitting still, it should seem, and persuading ourselves that it is impossible to find out what is true religion; or if not, that it is but of little importance to disseminate it. But why is it, I again ask, that we are to be sceptical and inactive in nothing but religion? The result is this: Socinianism, so far from being friendly to the conversion of unbelievers, is neither adapted to the end nor favourable to the means—to those means, however, by which it has pleased God to save them that believe.²²⁴ I am, etc.

 In the review of Carey’s book, the reviewer noted Carey’s critique of nominal Christianity and then cynically asked, “Who then are the Christians required to undertake the conversion of the heathens, when the several denominations of Christians are so depraved as to want conversion themselves? There is yet a little flock, and here they are.” He then cited Carey’s appeal to his own denomination, the Particular Baptists, to engage in such a mission (“Art. 72. An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians,” 475). The reviewer’s quotation in this regard is taken from William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (Leicester: Ann Ireland, 1792), 84.  “Art. 72. An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians,” 475.  Due to the transposition mentioned above (n. 61), Fuller added this final sentence in 1794 to give a summary and conclusion to the letter.

86

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter IV: The argument from the number of converts to Socinianism examined Christian brethren, If facts be admitted as evidence, perhaps it will appear that²²⁵ Socinianism is not so much adapted to make converts of Jews, heathens, Mahometans, or philosophical unbelievers, as of a speculating sort of people among²²⁶ professing Christians. These in our civil country are found, some in the Established Church, and others among²²⁷ the Dissenters. Among people of this description, I suppose, Socinianism has gained considerable ground. Of this, Dr. Priestley, and others of his party, are frequently making their boast.²²⁸ But whether they have any cause for boasting, even in this case, may be justly doubted. In the first place, let it be considered that, though Socinianism may gain ground among²²⁹ speculating individuals, yet the congregations where that system, or what bears a near resemblance to it, is taught, are greatly upon the decline. There are, at this time, a great many places of worship in this kingdom, especially among the Presbyterians and the General Baptists, where the Socinian and Arian doctrines have been taught till the congregations are gradually dwindled away, and there are scarcely enow left to keep up the form of worship. There is nothing in either of these systems, comparatively speaking, that alarms the conscience, or interests the heart; and therefore the congregations where they are taught, unless kept up by the accidental popularity of a preacher, or some other circumstance distinct from the doctrine delivered, generally fall into decay. But, further,²³⁰ let us examine a little more particularly what sort of people they, in general, are who are converted to Socinianism. It is an object worthy of inquiry,²³¹ whether they appear to be modest, humble, serious Christians; such as have known the plague of their own hearts; such in whom tribulation hath wrought patience, and patience experience;²³² such who know whom they have believed, and have learned to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord;²³³ such who, in their investigation of sentiments, have been used to mingle earnest and humble prayer with patient and impartial enquiry; such, in fine, who have

 If we judge of things by facts, perhaps it will be found that 1793] If facts be admitted as evidence, perhaps it will appear that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 93‒94. [AF]  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  further 1793] farther 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  enquiry 1793] inquiry 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Romans 5:3 – 4.  Philippians 3:8.

Letter IV

87

become as little children in their own eyes? If they be,²³⁴ it is a circumstance of consequence, not sufficient indeed to justify their change of sentiments, but to render that change an object of attention. When persons of this description embrace a set of new principles,²³⁵ it becomes a matter of serious consideration what could induce them to do so. But if they be not,²³⁶ their case deserves but little regard. When the body of converts to a system are mere speculatists in religion, men of little or no seriousness, and who pay no manner of attention to vital and practical religion, it reflects neither honour on the cause they have espoused, nor dishonour on that which they have rejected. When we see persons of this stamp go over to the Socinian standard, it does not at all surprise us;²³⁷ on the contrary, we are ready to say, as the apostle said of the defection of some of the professors of Christianity in his day, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.”²³⁸ That many of the Socinian converts were previously men of no serious religion, needs no other proof than the acknowledgment of Dr. Priestley and of Mr. Belsham. “It cannot be denied,” says the former, “that many of those who judge so truly, concerning particular tenets in religion, have attained to that cool and unbiassed temper of mind in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it.”²³⁹ And this indifference to all religion is considered by Dr. Priestley as “favourable to a distinguishing between truth and falsehood.”²⁴⁰ Much to the same purpose is what Mr. Belsham alleges, as quoted before, that “men who are most indifferent to the practice of religion, and whose minds, therefore, are least attached to any set of principles, will ever be the first to see the absurdity of a popular superstition, and to embrace a rational system of faith.”²⁴¹ It is easy to see, one should think, from hence, what sort of characters those are which compose the body of Socinian converts. Dr. Priestlev, however, considers this circumstance as reflecting no dishonour upon his principles. He thinks he has fully accounted for it. So thinks Mr. Belsham; and so think the Monthly Reviewers, in their review of Mr. Belsham’s sermon.²⁴²

 If they are, 1793] If they be, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  When characters of this description embrace a set of principles 1793] When persons of this description embrace a set of new principles 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  But if they are not, 1793, 1794, 1796] But if they be not, 1802, 1810.  surprize us 1793] surprise us 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 John 2:19.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95. [AF]  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 32. [AF]  “Art. 65. The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It … By Thomas Belsham,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 2 (1790): 476‒479. The reviewer observed: “In stating the importance of religious truth, Mr. Belsham takes an opportunity of vindicating those who are called rational Christians, from the charge sometimes brought against them, of being indifferent to practical religion; and, in our opinion, he very judiciously explains the cause and circum-

88

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Surely Socinians must be wretchedly driven, or they would not have recourse to such a refuge as that of acknowledging that they hold a gospel, the best preparative for which is a being destitute of all religion! “What a reflection,” says Dr. Williams, in his answer to this sermon, “is here implied on the most eminent reformers of every age, who were ‘the first to see the absurdities of a popular superstition’ and the falsity of reigning principles! What a poor compliment to the religious character of Unitarian reformers! According to this account, one might be tempted to ask, was it by being ‘indifferent to the practice of religion’ that Mr. Belsham was qualified to see and pronounce Calvinism to be ‘gloomy and erroneous, an unamiable and melancholy system’? Charity forbids us to think he was thus qualified; and if so, by his own rule he is no very competent judge; except he is pleased to adopt the alternative, that he is only the humble follower of more sagacious but irreligious guides.”²⁴³

stance that have given rise to it” (“Art. 65. The Importance of Truth,” 479). Fuller’s footnote at this juncture follows: I have not scrupled to class the Monthly Reviewers among Socinians. Although in a work of that kind there be frequently, no doubt, a change of hands; yet it is easy to see that of late years (a very short interval excepted), it has been principally, if not entirely, under Socinian direction; and, so far as religion is concerned, has been used as an instrument for the propagation of that system. Impartiality towards Calvinistic writers is not, therefore, to be expected from that quarter. It is true, they sometimes affect to stand aloof from all parties: but it is mere affectation. Nothing can be more absurd, than to expect them to judge impartially in a cause wherein they themselves are parties: absurd however as it is, some persons are weak enough to be imposed upon by their pretences. Perhaps, of late years, the Monthly Review has more contributed to the spreading of Socinianism than all other writings put together. The plan of that work does not admit of argumentation; a sudden flash of wit is generally reckoned sufficient to discredit a Calvinistic performance; and this just suits the turn of those who are destitute of all religion. A laborious investigation of matters would not suit their temper of mind; they had rather subscribe to the well-known maxim that “Ridicule is the test of truth”; and then, whenever the Reviewers hold up a doctrine as ridiculous, they have nothing to do but to join the laugh, and conclude it to be a “vulgar error, or a popular superstition.” [AF]  Edward Williams, A Discourse on the Influence of Religious Practice upon our Inquiries after Truth. With an Appendix Addressed to the Rev. Mr. Belsham’s Sermon (Shrewsbury: J. and W. Eddowes, 1791), 5‒6, note *. [AF] Edward Williams (1750‒1813) was a leading Congregationalist theologian and pastor who, like Fuller, was deeply indebted to Jonathan Edwards’s thought. On his life and ministry, see W. T. Owen, Edward Williams, D.D., 1750‒1813: His Life, Thought, and Influence (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1963). The Monthly Review responded to Williams in a review of his work and included this explanation: “It is a well-written discourse: but the arguments, proceeding on a misconception, are not immediately to the purpose. Mr. Belsham, we apprehend, does not mean to assert, nor even to intimate, that indifference to religious practice prepared the mind for the admission of that religious truth which prompts virtuous conduct, but that the absurdities of popular superstitions are more apt to strike the minds of those who are even indifferent to religion, than of those who are bigoted in their attachment to particular creeds and rites; and therefore that the former will be more inclined to allow reason to mould their faith (he does not say their practice) than the latter—and in this we think Mr. Belsham in justified” (“Art. 71. On the Influence of Religious Practice upon our Inquiries after Truth. … By Edward Williams,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 7 [1792]: 117). Fuller responded to this as indicated by his own footnote below; see n. 276 below.

Letter IV

89

We read of different kinds of preparatives in the Scriptures, but I do not recollect that they contain anything like the above.²⁴⁴ Zeal and attention, a disposition to search and pray, according to Solomon, is a preparative for the discovery of truth.²⁴⁵ The piety of Cornelius, which he exercised according to the opportunities he possessed of obtaining light, was a preparative for his reception of the gospel as soon as he heard it.²⁴⁶ And this accords with our Lord’s declaration, “He that will do his will shall know of his doctrine.”²⁴⁷ On the other hand, the cold indifference of some in the apostolic age, “who received not the love of the truth,”²⁴⁸ but, as it should seem, held it with a loose hand, even while they professed it, was equally a preparative for apostasy. We also read of some in Isaiah’s time, who leaned very much to a life of dissipation, they “erred through wine.”²⁴⁹ “All tables are full of vomit and filthiness,” saith the prophet, describing one of their assemblies, “so that there is no place.”²⁵⁰ He adds, “Whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?”²⁵¹ And what is the answer? Were the men who leaned to a life of dissipation, who loved to suck at the breasts of sensual indulgence, the proper subjects? No: “those that were weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”²⁵² But now, it seems, the case is altered, and, in order to find out the truth, the most likely way is to be divested of all religion! It is true these things are spoken of what are called “speculative Unitarians,” whom Dr. Priestley calls “men of the world,” and distinguishes from “serious Christians.” He endeavours also to guard his cause by observing that the bulk of professing Christians, or of those who should have ranked as Christians, in every age, had been of this description.²⁵³ It must be acknowledged that there²⁵⁴ have been lukewarm, dissipated, and merely nominal Christians in all ages of the church, and in every denomination. I suspect, however, that Dr. Priestley, in order to reduce the state of the church in general to that of the Unitarians, has rather magnified this matter. But, be that as it may, there are two circumstances which render it improper for him to reason from this case to the other: First, whatever bad characters have ranked with other denominations, at least with ours, as to their religious creed, we do not own, or consider them as “converts”; much less do we glory²⁵⁵ in the spread of

 I never recollect reading anything like the above 1793] I do not recollect that they contain anything like the above 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Proverbs 2:1‒9. [AF]  Acts 10. [AF]  Cf. John 7:17.  2 Thessalonians 2:10. [AF]  Isaiah 28:7. [AF]  Isaiah 28:8. [AF]  Isaiah 28:9. [AF]  Isaiah 28:9, 13. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 98 – 100. [AF]  It is very true there 1793] It must be acknowledged that there 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and much less glory 1793] much less do we glory 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

90

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

our principles, when men of that character profess to embrace them, as this writer does.²⁵⁶ If we speak of converts to our principles, we disown such people, and leave them out of the account, as persons whose walk and conversation, whatever be their speculative opinions, discover them to be “enemies to the cross of Christ.”²⁵⁷ But were the Socinians to do so, it is more than probable that the number of converts of whom²⁵⁸ they boast would be greatly diminished. Secondly, whenever irreligious characters profess²⁵⁹ to imbibe our principles, we do not consider their state of mind as friendly to them.²⁶⁰ That which we account truth is a system of holiness; a system, therefore, which men of “no religion” will never cordially embrace. Persons may, indeed, embrace a notion about the certainty of the divine decrees,²⁶¹ and of the necessity of things being as they are to be, whether the proper means be used or not;²⁶² and they²⁶³ may live in the neglect of all means, and of all practical religion, and may reckon themselves, and be reckoned by some others, among²⁶⁴ the Calvinists. To such a creed as this, it is allowed, the want of all religion is the best preparative; but then it must be observed that the creed itself is as false as the practice attending it is impure, and as opposite to Calvinism as it is to Scripture and common sense.²⁶⁵ Our opponents, on the contrary, ascribe many of their conversions to the absence of religion, as their proper cause, granting that “many of those who judge so truly, concerning particular tenets in religion, have attained to that cool, unbiassed temper of mind in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it.” Could this acknowledgment be considered as the mistake of an unguarded moment, it might be overlooked: but it is a fact; a fact which, as Dr. Priestley himself expresses it, “cannot be denied,”²⁶⁶ a fact, therefore, which must needs prove a millstone about the neck of his system. That doctrine, be it what it may, to which an indifference to religion in general is friendly, cannot be the gospel, or anything pertaining to it, but something very near akin to infidelity.

 which is what our opponents do 1793] as this writer does 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 96‒100. [AF]  Philippians 3:18.  which 1793] whom 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  may profess 1793] profess 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  consider the state of mind which such people possess as friendly to them 1793] consider their state of mind as friendly to them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  of divine decrees 1793, 1794] of the divine decrees 1796, 1802, 1810.  are used or not 1793] be used or not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and accordingly they 1793] and they 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The next two sentences, down to the sentence that begins, “That doctrine,” were absent in the 1793 edition and were added in 1794.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95. [AF]

Letter IV

91

If it be objected, that the immoral character of persons, previous to²⁶⁷ their embracing a set of principles, ought not to be alleged against the moral tendency of those principles, because,²⁶⁸ if it were, Christianity itself would be dishonoured by the previous character of many of the primitive Christians, it is replied, there are two circumstances necessary to render this objection of any force. First, the previous character of the convert, however wicked it may have been, must have no influence on his conversion. Secondly,²⁶⁹ this conversion must have such an influence on him that,²⁷⁰ whatever may have²⁷¹ been his past character, his future life shall be devoted to God. Both these circumstances existed in the case of the primitive Christians; and if the same could be said of the converts to Socinianism, it is acknowledged that all objections from this quarter ought to give way. But this is not the case. Socinian converts are not only allowed, many of them, to be²⁷² men of no religion; but the want of religion, as we have seen already, is allowed to have influenced their conversion. Nor is this all: it is allowed that their conversion to these principles has no such influence upon them as to make any material change in their character for the better. This is a fact tacitly admitted by Mr. Belsham, in that he goes about to account for it, by alleging what was their character previous to their conversion. It is true he talks of this being the case “only for a time,” and, at length,²⁷³ these converts are to “have their eyes opened; are to feel²⁷⁴ the benign influence of their principles, and demonstrate the excellency of their faith by the superior dignity and worth of their character.”²⁷⁵ But these, it seems, like “the annihilation of death” and the conversion of Jews and Mahometans by the Socinian doctrine, are things yet to come.²⁷⁶

 the character or persons, whether it be previous to 1793] the immoral character of persons, previous to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  for 1793] because 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Second 1793] Secondly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  whatever has 1793, 1794] whatever may have 1796, 1802, 1810.  to have been 1793, 1794] to be 1796, 1802, 1810.  and that at length 1793, 1794] and at length 1796, 1802, 1810.  converts are to “feel 1793] converts are to “have their eyes opened; are to feel 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 33.  The following lengthy footnote, written by Fuller, first appears in the 1794 edition: Since the publication of the first edition of these Letters, a report has been circulated that Dr. Priestley has been misrepresented by the quotation on page [87 above], which also was referred to at the commencement of the “Preface.” Dr. P., it has been said, in the place from which the passage is taken, “was not commending a total indifference to religion, but the contrary; and his meaning was, not that such a disregard to all religion is a better qualification for discerning truth than a serious temper of mind, but that it is preferable to that bigoted attachment to a system which some people discover.” That Dr. P.’s leading design was to commend a total indifference to religion was never suggested. I suppose this, on the contrary, was to commend good discipline among the Unitarians, for the purpose of promoting religious zeal. His words are (accounting for the want of zeal among them): “It

92

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

cannot be denied that many of those who judge so truly, concerning particular tenets in religion, have attained to that cool, unbiassed temper of mind in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it. Though, therefore, they are in a more favourable situation for distinguishing between truth and falsehood, they are not likely to acquire a zeal for what they conceive to be the truth” (Discourses on Various Subjects, 95). The leading design of Dr. P. in this passage, it is allowed, was to recommend good discipline, as friendly to zeal; and, as a previous indifference to religion in general was unfavourable to that temper of mind which he wished to inspire, in this view he is to be understood as blaming it. Yet, in an incidental manner, he as plainly acknowledges it to have been favourable for distinguishing between truth and falsehood; and, in this view, he must be understood as commending it. That he does commend it, though in an incidental way, is manifest from his attributing their judging so truly concerning particular tenets in religion to it; and that not merely as an occasion, but as an adequate cause, producing a good effect; rendering the mind more cool and unbiassed than it was before. To suppose that Dr. P. does not mean to recommend indifference to religion in general as friendly to truth (though unfriendly to zeal) is supposing him not to mean what he says. As to the question, whether Dr. P. means to compare an indifference to religion in general with a serious temper of mind, or with a spirit of bigotry? It cannot be the latter, unless he considers the characters of whom he speaks as having been formerly bigoted in their attachment to modes and forms. For he is not comparing them with other people, but with themselves at a former period. So long as they regarded religion in general, according to his account, they were in a less favourable situation for distinguishing between truth and falsehood than when they came to disregard it. Dr. P.’s own account of these characters seems to agree with mere men of the world, rather than with religious bigots. They were persons, he says, who troubled themselves very little about religion, but who had been led to turn their attention to the dispute concerning the person of Christ, and, by their natural good sense, had decided upon it. To this effect he writes in pages 96‒97 of his Discourses on Various Subjects. Now this is far from answering to the character of religious bigots, or of those who at any time have sustained that character. But, waiving this, let us suppose that the regard which those characters bore towards religion in general was the regard of bigots. In this case they were a kind of Pharisees, attached to modes and forms, which blinded their minds from discovering the truth. Afterwards they approached nearer to the Sadducees, became more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it. The amount of Dr. P.’s position would then be that the spirit of a Sadducee is preferable, with respect to discerning truth, to that of a Pharisee, possessing more of a cool, unbiassed temper of mind. The reply that I should make to this is that neither Pharisees nor Sadducees possess that temper of mind of which Dr. P. speaks, but are both “a generation of vipers” [Matthew 3:7], different in some respects, but equally malignant towards the true gospel of Christ; and that the humble, the candid, the serious, and the upright inquirers after truth are the only persons likely to find it. And this is the substance of what I advanced in the first page of the “Preface,” which has been charged as a misrepresentation. I never suggested that Dr. P. was comparing the characters in question with the serious or the candid; but rather that let the comparison respect whom it might, his attributing an unbiassed temper of mind to men, in consequence of their becoming indifferent to religion in general, was erroneous; for that he who is not a friend to religion in any mode is an enemy to it in all modes, and ought not to be complimented as being in a favourable situation for distinguishing between truth and falsehood. A writer in The Monthly Review has laboured to bring Mr. Belsham off in the same manner; but instead of affording him any relief, he has betrayed the cause he has espoused, and made Mr. B. reason in a manner unworthy of his abilities. “We apprehend,” says this writer, “that Mr. B. does not

Letter IV

93

But, it will be pleaded, though many who go over to Socinianism are men of no religion, and continue to lean to a life of dissipation, yet that is not the case with all; there are some who are exemplary in their lives, men of eminent piety and virtue,

mean to assert, nor even to intimate, that indifference to religious practice prepared the mind for the admission of that religious truth which prompts virtuous conduct” [“Art. 71. On the Influence of Religious Practice upon our Inquiries after Truth,” 117]. Mr. B., however, does intimate, and even assert, that “the men who are the most indifferent to the practice of religion will ever be the first not only to see the absurdity of a popular superstition, but to embrace a rational system of faith” [Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32]. Does the reviewer mean, then, to acknowledge that the rational system does not include that kind of truth which prompts virtuous conduct? There is no truth in his expressions but upon this supposition. But this writer not only informs us what Mr. B. did not mean, but what he did mean. (One would think the reviewer of Dr. Williams must have been very intimate with Mr. B.) Mr. Belsham meant, it seems, “that the absurdities of a popular superstition are more apt to strike the mind of those who are even indifferent to religion than of those who are bigoted in their attachment to particular creeds and rites; and, therefore, that the former will be more inclined to allow reason to mould their faith than the latter” (“Art. 71. On the Influence of Religious Practice upon our Inquiries after Truth,” 117). To be sure, if a reviewer may be allowed to add a few such words as “more,” and “than,” and “even” to Mr. B.’s language, he may smooth its rough edges, and render it less exceptionable; but is it true that this was Mr. B.’s meaning, or that such a meaning would ever have been invented, but to serve a turn? If there be any way of coming at an author’s meaning, it is by his words, and by the scope of his reasoning; but neither the one nor the other will warrant this construction. Mr. B.’s words are these: “The men who are the most indifferent to the practice of religion will ever be the first to embrace a rational system of faith.” If he intended merely to assert that immoral characters will embrace the truth before bigots, his words are abundantly too strong for his meaning; for though the latter were allowed to be the last in embracing truth, it will not follow that the former will be the first. If the rational system were on the side of truth, surely it might be expected that the serious and the upright would be the first to embrace it. But this is not pretended. Serious Christians, by the acknowledgment of Mrs. Barbauld, are the last that come fully into it. The scope of Mr. Belsham’s reasoning is equally unfavourable to such a construction as his words are. There is nothing in the objection which he encounters that admits of such an answer. It was not alleged that there was a greater proportion of immoral characters than of bigots among the Unitarians; had this been the charge, the answer put into Mr. B.’s lips might have been in point. But the charge, as he himself expresses it, was simply this, “Rational Christians are often represented as indifferent to practical religion.” To suppose that Mr. B. would account for this by alleging that immoral characters are more likely to embrace the truth than bigots (unless he denominate all bigots who are not Unitarians), is supposing him to have left the objection unanswered. How is it that there should be so great a proportion of immoral characters, rather than of humble, serious, and godly men, or of what Mr. Belsham calls “practical believers?” This was the spirit of the objection; and if the above construction of Mr. B.’s words be admitted, it remains unanswered. Let Dr. Priestley, or Mr. Belsham, or any of their advocates, who have charged the above quotations with misrepresentation, come forward, and, if they be able, make good the charge. Till this is done, I shall consider them as fair and just, and as including concessions, which, though possibly made in an unguarded moment, contain a truth which must prove a millstone about the neck of the Socinian system. [AF, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810]

94

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

and who are distinguished by Dr. Priestley by the name of “serious Christians.”²⁷⁷ To this it is replied. First, whatever piety or virtue there may be among²⁷⁸ Socinian converts, it may be doubted whether piety or virtue led them to embrace that scheme, or was much in exercise in their researches after it. It has been observed by some who have been most conversant with them, that as they have discovered a predilection for those views of things, it has been very common for them to discover at the same time a light-minded temper, speaking of sacred things and disputing about them with the most unbecoming levity and indecent freedom; avoiding all conversation on experimental and devotional subjects, and directing their whole discourse to matters of mere speculation. Indeed, piety and virtue are, in effect, acknowledged to be unfavourable to the embracing of the Socinian scheme; for if “an indifference to religion in general be favourable to the distinguishing between truth and falsehood,”²⁷⁹ and if “those men who are the most indifferent to the practice of religion will ever be the first to embrace the rational system,”²⁸⁰ it must follow, by the rule of contraries, that piety, virtue, and zeal for religion, are things unfavourable to that system, and that pious and virtuous persons will ever be the last to embrace it; nay, some may think it very doubtful whether they ever embrace it at all. Serious Christians, according to the account of Mrs. Barbauld, are the most difficult sort of people that Socinian writers and preachers have to deal with, for though they are sometimes brought to renounce the Calvinistic doctrines in theory, yet there is a sort of leaning towards them in their hearts, which their teachers know not how to eradicate. “These doctrines,” she says, “it is true, among thinking people, are losing ground; but there is still apparent, in that class called serious Christians, a tenderness in exposing them; a sort of leaning towards them, as in walking over a precipice one should lean to the safest side; an idea that they are, if not true, at least good to be believed, and that a salutary error is better than a dangerous truth.”²⁸¹ Secondly, whatever virtue there may be among²⁸² Socinian converts, it may be questioned whether the distinguishing principles of Socinianism have any tendency towards promoting it. The principles which they hold in common with us, namely, the resurrection of the dead and a future life, and not those in which they are distinguished from us, are confessedly the springs²⁸³ of their virtue. As to the simple humanity of Christ, which is one of the distinguishing principles of Socinianism, Dr. Priestley acknowledges that “the connexion between this simple truth and a regular

 Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 98. [AF]  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32.  Anna Letitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency and Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London: J. Johnson, 1792), 69‒70. [AF]  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the great springs 1793, 1794] the springs 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter IV

95

Christian life is very slight.”²⁸⁴ “That,” says the same author, “which is most favourable to virtue in Christianity is the expectation of a future state of retribution, grounded on a firm belief of the historical facts recorded in the Scriptures; especially the miracles, the death, and resurrection of Christ. The man who believes these things only, … and who, together with this, acknowledges a universal providence, ordering all events, who is persuaded that our very hearts are constantly open to divine inspection, so that no iniquity, or purpose of it, can escape his observation, will not be a bad man, or a dangerous member of society.”²⁸⁵ Now these are things in which we are all agreed; whatever virtue, therefore, is ascribed to them, it is not,²⁸⁶ strictly speaking, the result of Socinian principles. If, in addition to this, we were to impute a considerable degree of the virtue of Socinian converts to “the principles in which they were educated, and the influence to which they were exposed in the former part of their lives,” we should only say of them what Dr. Priestley says of the virtuous lives of some atheists; and perhaps we should have as good grounds²⁸⁷ for such an imputation in the one case as he had in the other.²⁸⁸ Among²⁸⁹ the various Socinian converts, have we ever been used to hear of any remarkable change of life or behaviour which a conversion to their peculiar principles effected? I hope there are few Calvinistic congregations in the kingdom, but what could point out examples of persons among them,²⁹⁰ who, at the time of their coming over to their doctrinal principles, came over also from the course of this world, and have ever since lived in newness of life. Can this be said of the generality of Socinian congregations? Those who have had the greatest opportunity of observing them say the contrary. Yea, they add that the conversion of sinners to a life of holiness does not appear to be their aim; that their concern seems to be to persuade those who, in their account, have²⁹¹ too much religion, that less will suffice, rather than address themselves to the irreligious to convince them of their defect. A great part of Dr. Priestley’s sermon on the death of Mr. Robinson is of this tendency. Instead of concurring with the mind of God, as expressed in his word, “Oh that my people were wise, that they would consider their latter end!” the preacher goes about to dissuade his hearers from thinking too much upon that unwelcome subject.²⁹²

 Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 97. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 31. [AF]  is not 1793] it is not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  good ground 1793, 1794] good grounds 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, “The Preface to Part I,” in his Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), vi.  Amongst 1793] Among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst them 1793] among them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  who have 1793, 1794] who, in their account, have 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Reflections on Death. A Sermon on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Robert Robinson of Cambridge (Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1790). The verse Fuller quotes is from Deuteronomy 32:29.

96

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

You will judge, from these things, brethren, whether there be any cause for boasting, on the part of the Socinians, in the number of “converts” which they tell us “are continually making to their principles”;²⁹³ or for discouragement on the side of the Calvinists, as if what they account the cause of God and truth were going fast to decline. I am, etc.

 Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 93‒94.

Letter V

97

Letter V: On the standard of morality Christian brethren, You have observed that Dr. Priestley charges the Calvinistic system with being unfriendly to morality, “as giving wrong impressions concerning the character and moral government of God, and as relaxing the obligations of virtue.”²⁹⁴ That you may judge of the propriety of this heavy charge, and whether our system, or his own, tend most²⁹⁵ to “relax the obligations of virtue,” it seems proper to enquire which of them affords the most licentious notions of virtue itself. To suppose that the scheme which pleads for relaxation, both in the precept and in the penalty²⁹⁶ of the great rule of divine government, should, after all, relax the least, is highly paradoxical. The system, be it which it may, that teaches us to lower the standard of obedience, or to make light of the nature of disobedience, must surely be the system which relaxes the obligations of virtue and, consequently, is of an immoral tendency. The eternal standard of right and wrong is the moral law, summed up in love to God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to our neighbour as ourselves.²⁹⁷ This law is holy, just, and good:²⁹⁸ holy, as requiring perfect conformity to God; just, as being founded in the strictest equity; and good, as being equally adapted to promote the happiness of the creature, as the glory of the Creator.²⁹⁹ Nor have we any notion of the precept of the law being abated, or a jot or tittle of it being given up,³⁰⁰ in order to suit the inclinations of depraved creatures. We do not conceive the law to be more strict than it ought to be,³⁰¹ even considering our present circumstances, because we consider the evil propensity of the heart, which alone renders us incapable of perfect obedience, as no excuse. Neither do we plead for the relaxation of the penalty of the law upon the footing of equity; but insist that, though God, through the mediation of his Son, doth not mark iniquity in those that wait on him, yet he might do so consistently with justice; and that his not doing so is of mere grace. I hope these sentiments do not tend to “relax the obligations of virtue.” Let us enquire whether the same may be said of the scheme of our opponents. It may be thought that in these matters, in some of them at least, we are agreed. And indeed, I suppose few will care to deny in express terms that the moral law, con Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II. Containing A State of the Evidence of revealed Religion, with Animadversions on the two last Chapters of the first Volume of Mr. Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (London: J. Johnson, 1787), 35.  tends most 1793] tend most 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and the penalty 1793, 1794] and in the penalty 1796, 1802, 1810.  Here Fuller has condensed the meaning of Luke 10:27.  holy just, and good; 1793] holy, just, and good; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  creature, and the glory of the Creator. 1793] creature, as the glory of the Creator. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or of a jot 1793, 1794] or a jot 1796, 1802, 1810.  law is more 1793, 1794] law to be more 1796, 1802, 1810.

98

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

sisting of a requisition to love God with all the heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, is an eternal standard of right and wrong. But let it be considered whether the Socinians in their descriptions of virtue and vice do not greatly overlook the former branch of it, and almost confine themselves to those duties which belong to the latter. It has been long observed of writers of that stamp that they exalt what are called the social virtues, or those virtues which respect society, to the neglect, and often at the expense,³⁰² of others which more immediately respect the God that made us. It is a very common thing for Socinians to make light of religious principle, and to represent it as of little importance to our future well-being.³⁰³ Under the specious name of liberality of sentiment, they dispense with that part of the will of God which requires every thought to be in subjection to the obedience of Christ; and, under the disguise of candour and charity,³⁰⁴ excuse those who fall under the divine censure. The Scripture speaks of those “who deny the Lord that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” and “of those who receive not the love of the truth, being given up to believe a lie.”³⁰⁵ But the minds of Socinian writers appear to revolt at ideas of this kind. The tenor of their writings is to persuade mankind that sentiments may be accepted,³⁰⁶ or rejected, without endangering their salvation. Infidels have sometimes complained of Christianity as a kind of insult to their dignity, on account of its dealing in threatenings; but Dr. Priestley, in his Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France,³⁰⁷ has quite removed this stumbling-block out of their way. He accounts for

 expense 1793, 1794, 1810] expence 1796, 1802.  of but little account 1793] of little importance 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and under those of candor and charity excuse 1793, 1794] and, under the disguise of candour and charity, excuse 1796, 1802, 1810.  2 Peter 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:11.  tenor 1793, 1796, 1802, 1810] tenour 1794.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion (London: J. Johnson, 1793). Priestley recommended the Christian religion to his addressees, depending largely on arguments from the evidence of intelligent design in creation and the beneficent intention of providence. It is impossible, Priestley argued, that a being with such unfathomable intelligence and benevolent teleology in the design of creation should not have a like plan for the flow of history. “And as the law of nature must be intimately known to the Author of them, he must foresee everything that can come to pass, and must have planned everything that comes to pass from the beginning, so that nothing can ever oppose his design” (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 11‒12). Thus the adaptation of all things and all events to the benevolence of the being who planned it all is sublime and calls us to look to him as the object of our gratitude and confidence (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 10‒13). Priestley was convinced that his views made him happier than the atheists’ views made them (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 13). This was especially the case because Christ, “the great object of whose mission was the revelation of a future state of rewards and punishments” (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 17), had exemplified through his own resurrection “that resurrection which he was authorized to promise to all” (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 19). Priestley focused strongly on the historical evidence for the establishment of both Judaism and Christianity, demonstrating that disbelief of their recorded historical origins calls for greater credulity than belief. The invention of a figure with Jesus’s character as a mere fiction would be more incredible than the real existence of a

Letter V

99

their infidelity in such a way as to acquit them of blame, and enforces Christianity upon them by the most inoffensive motives.³⁰⁸ Not one word is intimated as if there was any danger as to futurity, though they should continue infidels, or even atheists, till death. The only string upon which he harps, as I remember, is that could they but embrace Christianity, they would be much happier than they are! If I entertain degrading notions of the person of Christ, and if I err from the truth in so doing, my error, according to Mr. Lindsey, is innocent,³⁰⁹ and no one ought to think the worse of me on that account. But if I happen to be of opinion that he who rejects the deity and atonement of Christ is not a Christian, I give great offence. But wherefore? Suppose it an error, why should it not be as innocent as the former?³¹⁰ And why ought I to be reproached as an illiberal, uncharitable bigot for this, while no one ought to think the worse of me for the other? Can this be any otherwise accounted for than by supposing that those who reason in this manner are more concerned for their own honour than for that of Christ? Dr. Priestley, it may be noted, makes much lighter of error when speaking on the supposition of its being found in himself, than when he supposes it to be found in his opponents. He charges Mr. Venn,³¹¹ and others, with “striving to render those who

true historical figure behind this historical presentation. As in all of his writings, however, Priestley makes free to question the credibility of much that is recorded in the Bible and completely dismisses any notion of divine inspiration in the composition of Scripture, calling it “a notion destitute of all proof, and that has done great injury to the evidence of Christianity; as also have other absurd opinions, and various superstitious practices, adopted by Christians of later ages” (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 38). He recommended his History of the Corruptions of Christianity as a sensible path to “the termination of those monstrous corruptions of Christianity which justly shock you so much” (Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, 39).  by very inoffensive 1793] by the most inoffensive 1794, 1798, 1802, 1810.  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 48. [AF]  former; 1793, 1794, 1796] former? 1802, 1810.  complains heavily of Mr. Venn 1793] charges Mr. Venn 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Henry Venn (1724– 1797), son of the High Church divine Richard Venn, was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1749, Venn was elected a fellow of Queen’s College, Cambridge and ordained a priest. Due to the influence of William Law’s (1686 – 1761) A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729), Venn practiced strict spiritual disciplines. In 1754, Venn became the curate of Clapham Parish Church, near London. At Clapham, Venn experienced conversion and became intimate with leaders of the Evangelical Revival. In 1759, Venn became the vicar of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, where his preaching became evangelically robust. Venn also discovered Calvinism, which led him to write The Complete Duty of Man (1763). Due to poor health, Venn moved to Yelling in Cambridgeshire, where, as the rector, he preached evangelical sentiments and mentored future evangelical leaders such as Charles Simeon (1759 – 1836). Venn’s grandson, also Henry (1796 – 1873), later served as the honorary secretary of the Church Mission Society. On Venn, see W. J. Clyde Ervine, “Venn, Henry” in Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1730 – 1860, ed. Donald M. Lewis (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004), 2:1137– 1138; Henry Venn, ed., The Life and A Selection from the Letters of the Late Rev. Henry Venn, M.A., 4th ed. (London: John Hatchard and Son, 1836); John Venn, Annals of a Clerical Family: Being Some Account of the Family and Descendants of William Venn, Vicar of Otterton, Devon, 1600 – 1621 (London: Macmillan, 1904); John

100

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

differ from them in some speculative points odious to their fellow Christians”; and elsewhere suggests that “we shall not be judged at the last day according to our opinions, but our works; not according to what we have thought of Christ, but as we have obeyed his commands,”³¹² as if it were no distinguishing property of a good work that it originate in a good principle; and as if the meanest opinion, and the most degrading thoughts of Jesus Christ, were consistent with obedience to him. But when he himself becomes the accuser, the case is altered,³¹³ and instead of reckoning the supposed errors of the Trinitarians to be merely speculative points and harmless opinions, they are said to be “idolatrous and blasphemous.”³¹⁴ But idolatry and blasphemy will not only be brought into account at the day of judgment, but be very offensive in the eyes of God.³¹⁵ For my part, I am not offended with Dr. Priestley,³¹⁶ or any other Socinian, for calling³¹⁷ the worship that I pay to Christ idolatry and blasphemy; because, if he be only a man, what they say is just. If they can acquit themselves of sin in thinking meanly of Christ, they certainly can do the same in speaking

Dixon Walsh, “Yorkshire Evangelicals in the Eighteenth Century: With Especial Reference to Methodism” (PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge, 1956). In 1768, Priestley published A Free Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson, 1768), in which Priestley argued that the Lord’s Supper was a human custom. In response, Venn published A Free and Full Examination Of the Rev. Dr. Priestley’s Free Address on the Lord’s Supper; with some Strictures on the Treatise itself. To which is added, a Proof of the Incomparable Excellency of the Orthodox System, considered in a Practical View. In a Letter to that Gentleman (London: E. and C. Dilly, 1769). This exchange became Priestley’s first explicit religious controversy. Priestley then wrote Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769). This controversy gave Priestley the confidence to engage in a controversial attack on the major elements of Calvinism. See Robert E. Schofield, The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1733 to 1773 (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), 182– 183.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 1; idem, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, containing Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; to the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; to the Rev. Dr. Price; and to the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 59; idem, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, Containing Letters to the Rev. Dr. Geddes, to the Rev. Dr. Price, Part II. And to the Candidates for Orders in the Two Universities. Part II. Relating to Mr. Howes’s Appendix to his fourth Volume of Observation on Books, a Letter by an Under-Graduate of Oxford, Dr. Croft’s Bampton Lectures, and several other Publications (Birmingham: Pearson & Rollason, 1788), 68.  accuser, instead of the accused, the case is altered 1793, 1794] accuser, the case is altered 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 96. [AF]  1 Corinthians 6:9‒10. [AF]  at Dr. Priestley 1793] with Dr. Priestley 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Socinian, calling 1793] Socinian, for calling 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter V

101

meanly of him; and words ought to correspond with thoughts.³¹⁸ I only think they should not trifle in such a manner as they do with error, when it is supposed to have place in themselves, any more than when they charge it upon their opponents.³¹⁹ If Dr. Priestley had formed his estimate of human virtue by that great standard which requires love to God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to our neighbour as ourselves, instead of representing men by nature as having “more virtue than vice,”³²⁰ he must have acknowledged, with the Scriptures, that “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” that “every thought and imagination of their heart is only evil continually,” and that “there is none of them that doeth good, no, not one.”³²¹ If Mr. Belsham, in the midst of that “marvellous light” which he professes lately to have received, had only seen the extent and goodness of that law which requires us to love God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves, in the light in which revelation places it, he could not have trifled, in the manner he has, with the nature of sin,³²² calling it “human frailty,” and the subjects of it “the frail and erring children of men.”³²³ Nor could he have represented God, in “marking and punishing every instance of it, as acting the part of a merciless tyrant.”³²⁴ Mr. Belsham talks of Unitarians being “led to form just sentiments of the reasonableness of the divine law, and the equity of the divine government,” but of what divine law does he speak? Not of that, surely, which requires love to God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves; nor of that government which threatens the curse of God on every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; for this allows not of a single transgression, and punishes every instance of human folly, which Mr. Belsham considers as “merciless tyranny.”³²⁵ He means to insinuate, I suppose, that for the law to take cognizance of the very thoughts and intents of the heart,³²⁶ at least of every instance  They consider him as no other than a man, and have an undoubted to speak what they think of my principles, and my worship, as well as I have of their’s [sic]. 1793] They consider him as no other than a man, and have an undoubted to speak what they think of my principles, and my worship, as well as I have of theirs. 1794, 1796] If they can acquit themselves of sin in thinking meanly of Christ, they certainly can do the same in speaking meanly of him; and words ought to correspond with thoughts. 1802, 1810.  any more than in their opponents. 1793] any more than when they charge it upon their opponents. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 80. [AF]  1 John 5:19; Genesis 6:5; Psalm 53:3; Romans 3:12.  he could not have made so light of the nature of sin, 1793] he could not have trifled, in the manner he has, in the manner he has, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London, 1790), 34, 35.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 33 – 35. [AF] Here Fuller has summarized Belsham’s statement.  Belsham, The Importance of Truth, 33‒35, passim. [AF]  heart, and especially of every 1793] heart, at least of every 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

102

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

that occurs, is unreasonable, and that to inflict punishment accordingly is inequitable. He conceives, therefore, of a law, it seems, that is more accommodated to the propensities, or, as he would call them, frailties, of the erring children of men; a law that may not cut off all hopes of a sinner’s acceptance with God by the deeds of it, so as to render an atoning Mediator absolutely necessary, and this he calls reasonable; and of a government that will not bring every secret thing into judgment, nor make men accountable for every idle word, and this he calls equitable. And this is the “marvellous light” of Socinianism; this is the doctrine that is to promote a holy life; this is the scheme of those who are continually branding the Calvinistic system with Antinomianism!³²⁷ If the moral law require love to God with all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and to our neighbour as ourselves, it cannot allow the least degree of alienation of the heart from God, or the smallest instance of malevolence to man. And if it be what the Scripture says it is, holy, just, and good, then, though it require all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, it cannot be too strict; and if it be not too strict, it cannot be unworthy of God, nor can it be “merciless tyranny” to abide by it. On the contrary, it must be worthy of God to say of a just law, “Not a jot or tittle of it shall fail.”³²⁸ Dr. M’Gill, in his Practical Essay on the Death of Jesus Christ, maintains that “the Supreme Lawgiver determined from the beginning to mitigate the rigour of the law, to make allowances for human error and imperfection, and to accept of repentance and sincere obedience, instead of sinless perfection.”³²⁹ But if this were the determination of the Lawgiver, it was either considered as a matter of right or of undeserved favour. If the former, why was not the law so framed as to correspond with the determination of the Lawgiver? How was it, especially, that a new edition of it should be published from Mount Sinai, and that without any such allowances? Or, if this could be accounted for, how was it that Jesus Christ should declare that “not a jot or tittle of it should fail,” and make it his business to condemn the conduct of the Scribes and Pharisees, who had lowered its demands and softened its penalties, with a view to “make allowance for human error and imperfection”? It could answer no good end, one should think, to load the divine precepts with threatenings of cruelty. A law so loaded would not bear to be put in execution; and we have been taught by Dr. Priestley, in what he has written on the Test Act, to consider “the continuance of a law which will not bear to be put in execution as needless and oppressive, and as what ought to be abrogated.”³³⁰ If repentance and sincere obedience be all that

 Antinomianism! 1793] Antinomianism. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Cf. Matthew 5:18.  William McGill, A Practical Essay on the Death of Jesus Christ (Edinburgh: Mundell and Wilson, 1786), 251‒252. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 43‒50. [AF] The quotation is Fuller’s summation of Priestley’s argument.

Letter V

103

ought to be required of men in their present state, then the law ought to be so framed, and allowance to be made by it for error and imperfection. But then it would follow, that where men do repent, and are sincere, there are no errors and imperfections to be allowed for.³³¹ Errors and imperfections imply a law from which they are deviations; but if we be under no law, except one that allows for deviations, then we are as holy as we ought to be, and need no forgiveness. If, on the other hand, it be allowed that the relaxation of the law of innocence is not what we have any right to expect, but that God has granted us this indulgence out of pure grace, I would then ask the reason why these gentlemen³³² are continually exclaiming against our principles as making the Almighty a tyrant, and his law unreasonable and cruel? Is it tyrannical, unreasonable, or cruel for God to withhold what we have no right to expect?³³³ Dr. Priestley defines justice as being “such a degree of severity, or pains and penalties so inflicted, as will produce the best effect with respect both to those who are exposed to them, and to others who are under the same government; or, in other words, that degree of evil which is calculated to produce the greatest degree of good; and if the punishment exceed this measure—if, in any instance, it be an unnecessary or useless suffering, it is always censured as cruelty, and is not even called justice, but real injustice.” To this he adds, “If, in any particular case, the strict execution of the law would do more harm than good, it is universally agreed that the punishment ought to be remitted.”³³⁴ With an observation or two on the above passage, I shall close this Letter. First, that all punishments are designed for the good of the whole, and less, or corrective, punishments for the good of the offender is admitted. Every instance of

 errors or imperfections 1793, 1794, 1796] errors and imperfections 1802, 1810.  reason, why those gentlemen 1793, 1794, 1796] reason, why these gentlemen 1802, 1810.  The intelligent reader, who is acquainted with the different sentiments that are embraced in the religious world, will easily perceive the agreement between the Socinian and Arminian systems on this subject. By their exclamations on the justice of God as represented by the Calvinistic system, they both render that a debt which God in the whole tenor of his Word declares to be of grace. Neither of them will admit the equity of the divine law, and that man is thereby righteously condemned to eternal punishment, antecedently to the grace of the gospel; or if they admit it in words, they will be ever contradicting it by the tenor of their reasonings. [AF] In the 1793 edition, the following sentences are added to this footnote: This remark is abundantly exemplified by Mr. Dan Taylor in his late controversy with the author of these Letters. It is true, his system differs from that of Socinians, in that he maintains the doctrine of the atonement; but then he pleads for it upon such principles as must entirely overthrow it, and the whole grace of the gospel with it. See this fully proved in Agnostos’s Reply to Mr. Taylor. Lett. IV‒ VII. Sold by Lepard, No. 91, Newgate-Street, price One Shilling. [AF] Fuller had been debating the New Connexion Baptist leader Daniel Taylor since the latter critiqued Fuller’s The Gospel of Christ Worthy of All Acceptation in 1786. One of Fuller’s rejoinders to Taylor was The Reality and Efficacy of Divine Grace, with the Certain Success of Christ’s Kingdom, considered in a Series of Letters (1790), which he published under the pseudonym “Agnostos.”  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, I, 100‒101.

104

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

divine punishment will be not only proportioned to the laws of equity, but adapted to promote the good of the universe at large. God never inflicts punishment for the sake of punishing. He has no such pleasure in the death of a sinner as to put him to pain, whatever may be his desert, without some great and good end to be answered by it; but that, in the case of the finally impenitent, this end should necessarily include the good of the offender, is as contrary to reason as it is to Scripture. It does not appear, from anything we know of governments, either human or divine, that the good of the offender is necessarily, and in all cases, the end of punishment. When a murderer is executed, it is necessary for the good of the community, but it would sound very strange to say it was necessary for his own good; and that, unless his good were promoted by it, as well as that of the community, it must be an act of cruelty! Secondly, that there are cases in human governments in which it is right and necessary to relax in the execution of the sentence of the law is also admitted. But this arises from the imperfection of human laws. Laws are general rules for the conduct of a community, with suitable punishments annexed to the breach of them. But no general rules can be made by men that will apply to every particular case. If legislators were wise and good men, and could foresee every particular case that would arise in the different stages of society, they would so frame their laws as that they need not be relaxed when those cases should occur. But God is wise and good; and previous to his giving us the law which requires us to love him with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves, knew every change that could possibly arise, and every case that could occur. The question therefore is not “if in any particular case the strict execution of the law would do more harm than good, whether it ought not to be remitted,” but whether an omniscient, wise, and good Lawgiver can be supposed to have made a law, the penalty of which, if put in execution, would do more harm than good? Would a being of such a character make a law, the penalty of which,³³⁵ according to strict equity, requires to be remitted,³³⁶ a law which he could not in justice abide by, and that not only in a few singular cases, but in the case of every individual, in every age, to whom it is given? It is possible these considerations may suffice to show that the divine law is not relaxed;³³⁷ but, be that as it may, the question at issue is,³³⁸ what is the moral tendency of supposing that it is? To relax a bad law would indeed have a good effect, and to abrogate it would have a better; but not so respecting a good one. If the divine law be what the Scripture says it is, holy, just, and good, to relax it in the precept, or even to mitigate the penalty, without some expedient to secure its honours, must be subver-

 which should, 1793] which, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  require 1793, 1794] requires to be remitted 1796, 1802, 1810.  It is possible these considerations may induce you, Brethren, to think the divine law is not relaxed; 1793] It is possible these considerations may suffice to show that the divine law is not relaxed; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the question in hand 1793, 1794, 1796] the question at issue 1802, 1810.

Letter V

105

sive of good order; and the scheme which pleads for such relaxation must be unfavourable to holiness, justice, and goodness. I am, etc.

106

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter VI: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote morality in general Christian brethren, What has been advanced in the last Letter on the standard of morality may serve to fix the meaning of the term in this. The term “morality,” you know, is sometimes used to express those duties which subsist between men and men, and in this acceptation stands distinguished from religion; but I mean to include under it the whole of what is contained in the moral law. Nothing is more common than for the adversaries of the Calvinistic system to charge it with immorality; nay, as if this were self-evident, they seem to think themselves excused from advancing anything like sober evidence to support the charge. Virulence, rant, and extravagance are the weapons with which we are not unfrequently combated in this warfare. “I challenge the whole body and being of moral evil itself,” says a writer of the present day, “to invent, or inspire, or whisper anything blacker or more wicked; yea, if sin itself had all the wit, the tongues and pens of all men and angels to all eternity, I defy the whole to say anything of God worse than this. O sin, thou hast spent and emptied thyself in the doctrine of John Calvin! And here I rejoice that I have heard the utmost that malevolence itself shall ever be able to say against infinite benignity! I was myself brought up and tutored in it, and being delivered, and brought to see the evil and danger, am bound by my obligations to God, angels, and men, to warn my fellow sinners; I therefore here, before God and the whole universe, recall and condemn every word I have spoken in favour of it. I thus renounce the doctrine as the rancour of devils; a doctrine the preaching of which is babbling and mocking, its prayers blasphemy, and whose praises are the horrible yellings of sin and hell. And this I do, because I know and believe that God is love; and therefore his decrees, works, and ways are also love, and cannot be otherwise.”³³⁹ It were ill-spent time to attempt an answer to such unfounded calumny as this, which certainly partakes much more of the ravings of insanity than of the words of truth and soberness; yet this, according to The Monthly Review, is “the true colour-

 William Lewelyn, Tracts on different Subjects (Leominster, 1791), 2:292. [AF] This entire extract that Fuller quotes here can be found in “Art. VII. Tracts on different Subjects, in Four Volumes. By William Lewelyn,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 7 (1792): 266‒267. Fuller has changed one word of the quote: the original in The Monthly Review has “its prayers blasphemies.” William Lewelyn (1735‒1803), a Presbyterian minister, was also the author A Treatise on the Sabbath (Leominster: P. Davis, 1783) and An Appeal to Men against Paine’s Rights of Man (Leominster: F. Harris, 1793). Lewelyn was quite eccentric in some of his views, maintaining, for instance, that “God is literally a man, the Eternal Man,” and arguing against the Baptists of Leominster, where he pastored, that the only true mode of baptism was sprinkling. For Lewelyn, “he, who is immersed, is not baptized!” (“Art. VII. Tracts on different Subjects,” 267). See Robert Thomas Jenkins, “Llewelyn, William,” The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940 (London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1959), 569. Copies of his works are extremely rare.

Letter VI

107

ing of the doctrine of Calvinism.”³⁴⁰ Had anything like this been written by a Calvinist against Socinianism, the Reviewers would have been the first to have exclaimed against Calvinistic illiberality. This gentleman professes to have been a Calvinist, and so does Dr. Priestley. The Calvinism of the latter, however, seems to have left an impression upon his mind very different from the above. “Whether it be owing to my Calvinistic education,” says he, “or my considering the principles of Calvinism as generally favourable to that leading virtue, devotion, or to their being something akin to the doctrine of necessity, I cannot but acknowledge that, notwithstanding what I have occasionally written against that system, and which I am far from wishing to retract, I feel myself disposed to look upon Calvinists with a kind of respect, and could never join in the contempt and insult with which I have often heard them treated in conversation.”³⁴¹ But Dr. Priestley, I may be told, whatever good opinion he may have³⁴² of the piety and virtue of Calvinists, has a very ill opinion of Calvinism; and this, in a certain degree, is true. Dr. Priestley, however, would not say that “the preaching of that system was babbling³⁴³ and mocking, its prayers blasphemy, or its praises the horrible yellings of sin and hell.” On the contrary, he acknowledges “its principles to be generally favourable to that leading virtue, devotion.” I confess Dr. Priestley has advanced some heavy accusations on the immoral tendency of Calvinism, accusations which seem scarcely consistent with the candid concessions just now quoted; and these I shall now proceed to examine. “I do not see,” says he, “what motive a Calvinist can have to give any attention to his moral conduct. So long as he is unregenerate, all his thoughts, words, and actions are necessarily sinful, and in the act of regeneration he is altogether passive. On this account, the most consistent Calvinists never address any exhortations to sinners, considering them as dead in trespasses and sins, and therefore, that there would be as much sense and propriety in speaking to the dead as to them. On the other hand, if a man be in the happy number of the elect, he is sure that God will, some time or

 is but “the true colouring of the doctrine of Calvinism.” 1793, 1794, 1796] is “the true colouring of the doctrine of Calvinism.” 1802, 1810. “Art. VII. Tracts on different Subjects,” 266. [AF] Fuller is paraphrasing the review article. Just prior to the above quotation of Lewelyn’s intense criticism, the actual text of the review runs thus: “Though we do not always accord with Mr. Lewelyn is his explication, and though we think he sometimes fails as an expositor through want of a due examination of his subject, we cannot but approve of the fervor with which he pleads for the rectitude of the divine government: in doing which, he finds that the Calvinistical scheme of theology stands much in his way: this, therefore, he freely censures, and he exposes it with irony and severity, as irrational and unchristian. After representing the doctrine in its horrid, and, we think, its true colours (for all attempts to modify it appear to have been of a deceitful kind), he thus exclaims,” and here follows the quote in Fuller’s text.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 163.  he has 1793] he may have 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  babling 1793] babbling 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

108

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

other, and at the most proper time (for which the last moment of his life is not too late), work upon him his miraculous work of saving and sanctifying grace. Though he should be ever so wicked immediately before this divine and effectual calling, it makes nothing against him. Nay, some think that this being a more signal display of the wonders of divine grace, it is rather the more probable that God will take this opportunity to display it. If any system of speculative principles can operate as an axe at the root of all virtue and goodness, it is this.”³⁴⁴ On this unfavourable account of Calvinism I will offer the following observations. First, if Calvinism be an axe at the root of virtue and goodness, it is only so with respect to those of the “unregenerate,” which certainly do not include all the virtue and goodness in the world. As to others, Dr. Priestley acknowledges, as we have seen already, that our principles are “generally favourable to devotion,” and devotion, if it be what he denominates it, “a leading virtue,” will doubtless be followed with other virtues correspondent with it. He acknowledges also, “there are many (among the Calvinists) whose hearts and lives are, in all respects, truly Christian, and whose Christian tempers are really promoted by their own views of their system.”³⁴⁵ How is it, then, that Dr. Priestley cannot “see what motive a Calvinist can have to give any attention to his moral conduct,” and why does he represent Calvinism as “an axe at the root of all virtue and goodness?” By all virtue and goodness he can only mean the virtue and goodness of wicked men. Indeed, this appears plainly to have been his meaning; for after acknowledging that Calvinism has something in it favourable to “an habitual and animated devotion,” he adds, “but where a disposition to vice has preoccupied the mind, I am very well satisfied, and but too many facts might be alleged³⁴⁶ in proof of it, that the doctrines of Calvinism have been actually fatal to the remains of virtue, and have driven men into the most desperate and abandoned course of wickedness; whereas the doctrine of necessity, properly understood, cannot possibly have any such effect, but the contrary.”³⁴⁷ Now, suppose all this were true, it can never justify Dr. Priestley in the use of such unlimited terms as those before mentioned. Nor is it any disgrace to the Calvinistic system that men whose minds are preoccupied with vice should misunderstand and abuse it. The purest liquor, if put into a musty cask, will become unpalatable. It is no more than is said of some who professed to embrace Christianity in the times of the apostles, that they turned the grace of God into lasciviousness.³⁴⁸ Is it any wonder that the wicked will do wickedly; or that they will extract poison from that which, rightly understood, is the food of the righteous? It is enough if our sentiments, like God’s words, do good to the upright.³⁴⁹ Wisdom does not expect to be justified but of

     

Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 154‒155. [AF] Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 163‒164. [AF] alleged 1793, 1794] alledged 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 162. [AF] See Jude 4. See Psalm 125:4.

Letter VI

109

her children.³⁵⁰ The Scriptures themselves make no pretence of having been useful to those who have still lived in sin, but allow the gospel to be “a savour of death unto death in them that perish.”³⁵¹ The doctrine of necessity is as liable to produce this effect as any of the doctrines of Calvinism. It is true, as Dr. Priestley observes, “it cannot do so, if it be properly understood”; but this is allowing that it may do so if it be misunderstood. And we have as good reason³⁵² for ascribing the want of a proper understanding of the subject to those who abuse predestination, and other Calvinistic doctrines, as he has for ascribing it to those who abuse the doctrine of necessity. Dr. Priestley speaks³⁵³ of the remains of virtue, where a disposition to vice has preoccupied the mind; and of the Calvinistic system being as an axe at the root of these remains. But some people will question whether virtue of such a description have any root belonging to it, so as to require an axe to cut it up; and whether it be not owing to this circumstance that such characters, like the stony-ground hearers, in time of temptation fall away.³⁵⁴ Secondly, the Calvinistic system is misrepresented by Dr. Priestley, even as to its influence on the unregenerate. In the passage before quoted, he represents those persons “who are of the happy number of the elect as being sure that God will, some time or other, work upon them this work of sanctifying grace.”³⁵⁵ But how are they to come at this assurance? Not by anything contained in the Calvinistic system. All the writers in that scheme have constantly insisted that no man has any warrant to conclude himself of the happy number of the elect, till the work of sanctifying grace is actually wrought. With what colour of truth or ingenuousness, then, could Dr. Priestley represent our system as affording a ground of assurance previous to that event? This is not a matter of small account in the present controversy; it³⁵⁶ is the point on which the immoral tendency of the doctrine wholly depends. As to the certainty of any man’s being sanctified and saved at some future time, this can have no ill influence upon him, while it exists merely in the divine mind. If it have any such influence, it must be owing to his knowledge of it at a time when, his heart being set on evil, he would be disposed to abuse it; but this, as we have seen, upon the Calvinistic system, is utterly impossible, because nothing short of a sanctified temper of mind affords any just grounds to draw the favourable conclusion. Dr. Priestley has also represented it as a part of the Calvinistic system, or, however, “as the opinion of some,” that the more wicked a man is previously to God’s work of sanctifying grace upon him, the more probable it is that he will, some

 Matthew 11:19.  savor 1793] savour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The quotation is from 2 Corinthians 2:15‒16.  reasons 1793, 1794, 1796] reason 1802, 1810.  talks 1793] speaks 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Matthew 13:5; Mark 4:5, 16.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 155. Once again, Fuller has not quoted Priestley exactly, but has given the gist of his statement.  because it 1793, 1794] it 1796, 1802, 1810.

110

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

time, be sanctified and saved. But though it be allowed that God frequently takes occasion from the degree of human wickedness to magnify his grace in delivering from it, yet it is no part of the Calvinistic system that the former affords any grounds³⁵⁷ of probability to expect the latter; and whoever they be that Dr. Priestley alludes to as entertaining such an opinion,³⁵⁸ I am inclined to think they are not among the respectable writers of the party, and probably not among those who have written at all. Thirdly, let it be considered whether Dr. Priestley’s own views of philosophical necessity do not amount to the same thing as those which he alleges to the discredit of Calvinism;³⁵⁹ or, if he will insist upon the contrary, whether he must not contradict himself, and maintain a system which, by his own confession, is less friendly to piety and humility than that which he opposes. A state of unregeneracy is considered by Calvinists as being the same thing which Dr. Priestley describes as “the state of a person who sins with a full consent of will, and who, disposed as he is, is under an impossibility of acting otherwise; but who,” as he justly maintains, “is nevertheless accountable, even though that consent be produced by the efficacy and unconquerable influence of motives. It is only,” continues he, “where the necessity of sinning arises from some other cause than a man’s own disposition of mind that we ever say, there is an impropriety in punishing a man for his conduct. If the impossibility of acting well has arisen from a bad disposition or habit, its having been impossible, with that disposition or habit, to act virtuously, is never any reason for our forbearing punishment, because we know that punishment is proper to correct that disposition and that habit.”³⁶⁰ Now if it be consistent to punish a man for necessary evil, as Dr. Priestley abundantly maintains, why should it be inconsistent to exhort, persuade, reason, or expostulate with him; and why does he call those Calvinists “the most consistent” who avoid such addresses to their auditors? If “the thoughts, words, and actions of unregenerate men, being necessarily sinful,” be a just reason why they should not have exhortations addressed to them, the whole doctrine of necessity must be inconsistent with the use of means, than which nothing can be more contrary to truth, and to Dr. Priestley’s own views of things. As to our being passive in regeneration, if Dr. Priestley would only admit that any one character could be found that is so depraved as to be destitute of all true virtue, the same thing would follow from his own Necessarian principles. According to those principles, every man who³⁶¹ is under the dominion of a vicious habit of mind will continue to choose³⁶² vice, till such time as that habit be changed,³⁶³

 ground 1793, 1794] grounds 1796, 1802, 1810.  and whoever they are 1793] and whoever they be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the same things as those which he alleges 1793, 1794] the same thing as those which he alleges 1796] the same thing as those which he alledges 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 63‒65. [AF]  man that 1793, 1794, 1796] man who 1802, 1810.  chuse 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  is changed 1793, 1794, 1796] be changed 1802, 1810.

Letter VI

111

and that by some influence without himself. “If,” says he, “I make any particular choice today, I should have done the same yesterday, and should do the same tomorrow, provided there be no change in the state of my mind respecting the object of the choice.”³⁶⁴ Now³⁶⁵ can any person in such a state of mind be supposed to be active in the changing of it; for such activity must imply an inclination to have it changed; which is a contradiction, as it supposes him at the same time under the dominion of evil and inclined to goodness?³⁶⁶ But possibly Dr. Priestley will not admit that any one character can be found who is utterly destitute of true virtue. Be it so. He must admit that, in some characters, vice has an habitual ascendency; but the habitual ascendency of vice as certainly determines the choice as even a total depravity. A decided majority in Parliament carry³⁶⁷ every measure with as much certainty as if there were no minority. Wherever vice is predominant³⁶⁸ (and in no other case is regeneration needed³⁶⁹), the party must necessarily be passive in the first change of his mind in favour of virtue. But there are seasons in the life of the most vicious men, in which their evil propensities are at a lower ebb than usual, in which conscience is alive, and thoughts of a serious nature arrest their attention. At these favourable moments, it may be thought that virtue has the advantage of its opposite, and that this is the time for a person to become active in effecting a change upon his own mind. Without enquiring whether there be any real virtue in all this, it is sufficient to observe that, if we allow the whole of what is pleaded for, the objection destroys itself. For it supposes that in order [for there to be] a voluntary activity in favour of virtue, the mind must first be virtuously disposed, and that by something in which it was passive, which is giving up the point in dispute.³⁷⁰ Dr. Priestley often represents “a change of disposition and character as being effected only by a change of conduct, and that of long continuance.”³⁷¹ But whatever influence a course of virtuous actions may have upon the disposition, and however it may tend to establish us in the habit of doing good, all goodness of disposition cannot arise from this quarter. There must have been a disposition to good, and one too that was sufficiently strong to outweigh its opposite, ere a course of virtuous actions could be commenced; for virtuous action is nothing but the effect, or expression, of

 Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 7. [AF]  Nor 1793, 1794] Now 1796, 1802, 1810.  and yet inclined to goodness. 1793] and inclined to goodness. 1794, 1796, 1802] and inclined to goodness? 1810.  carries 1793] carry 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  In all characters therefore where vice is predominant 1793] Wherever vice is predominant 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  (and these must be the only characters who need to be regenerated) 1793] (and in no other case is regeneration needed) 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but this is giving up the very point in dispute. 1793] which is giving up the point in dispute. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156. [AF]

112

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

virtuous disposition. To say that this previous disposition was also produced by other previous actions is only carrying the matter a little further out of sight; for unless it can be proved that virtuous action may exist prior to and without all virtuous disposition, let the one be carried back as far as it may, it must still have been preceded by the other, and, in obtaining the preceding disposition,³⁷² the soul must necessarily have been passive.³⁷³ Dr. Priestley labours hard to overthrow the doctrine of immediate divine agency, and contends that all divine influence upon the human mind is through the medium of second causes, or according to the established laws of nature. “If moral impressions were made upon men’s minds by an immediate divine agency, to what end,” he asks, “has been the whole apparatus of revealed religion?”³⁷⁴ This, in effect, is saying that if there be laws for such an operation on the human mind,³⁷⁵ every kind of influence upon it³⁷⁶ must be through the medium of those laws; and that if it be otherwise, there is no need of the use of means. But might he not as well allege³⁷⁷ that if there be laws by which the planets move, every kind of influence upon them must have been through the medium of those laws; and deny that the Divine Being immediately, and prior to the operation of the laws of nature, put them all in motion? Might he not as well ask, if an immediate influence could be exercised in setting the material system in motion, of what use are all the laws of nature, by which it is kept in motion?³⁷⁸ Whatever laws attend the movements of the material system, the first creation of it is allowed to have been by an immediate exertion of divine power. God said, “Let there be light, and there was light”;³⁷⁹ and why should not the second creation be the same? I say the second creation, for the change upon the sinner’s heart is represented as nothing less in the divine Word; and the very

 in the obtaining of this preceding disposition 1793] in the obtaining of the preceding disposition 1794, 1796] in obtaining the preceding disposition, 1802, 1810.  Fuller added the following footnote in 1796: Since the publication of the second edition of these Letters, it has been suggested by a friend, that there is no necessity for confining these observations to the case of a man totally depraved, or of one under the habitual ascendency of vice; for that, according to Dr. Priestley’s Necessarian principles, all volitions are the effects of motives; therefore every man, in every volition, as he is the subject of the influence of motive operating as a cause, is passive; equally so, as according to the Calvinistic system, he is supposed to be in regeneration.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 221. [AF]  the operation 1793, 1794, 1796] such an operation 1802, 1810.  upon them 1793, 1794] upon it 1796, 1802, 1810.  allege 1793, 1794, 1796] alledge 1802, 1810.  After “kept in motion?” all of the editions from 1794 onward omit this sentence from the 1793 edition: “kept in motion; as to ask, ‘If moral impressions were made upon men’s minds by an immediate divine agency, to what end has been the whole apparatus of revealed religion?’” (Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Divine Influence on the Human Mind, Considered in a Sermon, Published at the Request of many Persons who have occasionally heard it [Bath; London, 1779], 10).  Genesis 1:3.

Letter VI

113

manner of its being effected is expressed in language which evidently alludes to the first creation: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”³⁸⁰ Not only Scripture, but reason itself, teaches the necessity for such an immediate divine interposition in the changing of a sinner’s heart. If a piece of machinery (suppose the whole material system) were once in a state of disorder, the mere exercise of those laws by which it was ordained to move would never bring it into order again; but, on the contrary, would drive it on farther and farther to everlasting confusion. As to election, Dr. Priestley cannot consistently maintain his scheme of Necessity without admitting it. If, as he abundantly maintains, God is the author of every good disposition in the human heart,³⁸¹ and if, as he also in the same section maintains, God, in all that he does, pursues one plan or system previously concerted, it must follow that wherever good dispositions are produced, and men are finally saved, it is altogether in consequence of the appointment of God, which, as to the present argument, is the same thing as the Calvinistic doctrine of election. So plain a consequence is this from Dr. Priestley’s Necessarian principles that he himself, when writing his treatise on that subject, could not forbear to draw it. “Our Saviour,” he says, “seems to have considered the rejection of the gospel by those who boasted of their wisdom,³⁸² and the reception of it by the more despised part of mankind, as being the consequence of the express appointment of God: ‘At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight’.”³⁸³ To the same purpose, in the next page but one, he observes that God is considered as “the sovereign disposer both of gospel privileges here, and future happiness hereafter, as appears in such passages as 2 Thessalonians 2:13: ‘God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth’.”³⁸⁴ If there be any difference between that election which is involved in Dr. Priestley’s own scheme and that of the Calvinists, it must consist, not in the original appointment, or in the certainty of the event, but in the intermediate causes or reasons which induced the Deity to fix things in the manner that he has done, and it is doubtful whether even this can be admitted. It is true Dr. Priestley, by his exclamations against unconditional election,³⁸⁵ would seem to maintain that where God hath ap-

 2 Corinthians 4:6.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, Section XI: “How far the Scriptures are favourbale to the Doctrine of Necessity,” pp. 129‒148. [AF]  Query, Were not these the rational religionists of that age? [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 140, quoting Matthew 11:25. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 142.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on

114

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

pointed a sinner to obtain salvation,³⁸⁶ it is on account of his foreseen virtue; and he may plead that such an election is favourable to virtue, as making it the ground or procuring cause of eternal felicity, while an election that is altogether unconditional must be directly the reverse. But let it be considered, in the first place, whether such a view of election as this does not clash with the whole tenor of Scripture, which teaches us that we are “saved and called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to the divine purpose and grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”—“Not of works, lest any man should boast.”—“At this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”³⁸⁷ Secondly, let it be considered whether such an election will consist with Dr. Priestley’s own scheme of necessity.³⁸⁸ This scheme supposes that all virtue, as well as everything else, is necessary. Now whence arose the necessity of it? It was not self-originated, nor accidental; it must have been established by the deity. And then it will follow that, if God elect any man on account of his foreseen virtue, he must have elected him on account of that which he had determined to give him; but this, as to the origin of things, amounts to the same thing as unconditional election. As to men’s taking liberty to sin from the consideration of their being among the number of the elect,³⁸⁹ that, as we have seen already, is what no man can do with safety or consistency, seeing he can have no evidence on that subject but what

the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 28. In the 1802 and 1810 editions, the title of this work is given wrongly as Consequences on Diff[erences] in Rel[igious] Opin[ion]. This is probably due to the fact that in the 1796 edition, this work is cited as Cons[iderations] on Diff[erences] in Rel[igious] Opin[ion].  has done. He may, it is true, consistent with his Necessarian scheme, maintain, that where God hath appointed a sinner to obtain salvation, 1793, 1794] has done; and it is doubtful whether even this can be admitted. It is true Dr. Priestley, by his exclamations against unconditional election, would seem to maintain that where God hath appointed a sinner to obtain salvation, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See also those Scriptures which represent election as the cause of faith and holiness, particularly Ephesians 1:3 – 4; John 6:37; Romans 8:22, 30; Acts 13:48; 1 Peter 1:1; Romans 9:15 – 16. But if it be the cause, it cannot be the effect of them. [AF] The texts actually quoted in the body of this treatise, which Fuller does not reference, are: 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 2:9; Romans 11:5 – 6. In the 1793 edition, the final sentence is placed earlier, as follows: “See also those Scriptures which represent election as the cause of faith and holiness, which sufficiently proves that it cannot be the effect of them—Ephesians 1:3 – 4; John 6:37; Romans 8:22, 30; Acts 13:48; 1 Peter 1:1; Romans 9:15 – 16.” The change to the wording that obtains in the 1810 edition was first made in the 1794 edition.  After “Secondly,” the remainder of the paragraph is new in the 1796 edition, replacing the following sentence in the editions of 1793 and 1794: “Secondly, if the unconditionality of election render it unfriendly to virtue, it must be upon the supposition of that view of things ‘which ascribes more to God, and less to man,’ having such a tendency; which is the very reverse of what Dr. Priestley elsewhere teaches, and that in the same performance.” In the 1794 edition, the sentence also had this footnote: “[Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity,] 107‒108.”  amongst the elect 1793] among the elect 1794] among the number of the elect 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VI

115

must arise from a contrary spirit and conduct. But suppose it were otherwise, an objection of this sort would come with an ill grace from Dr. Priestley, who encourages all mankind not to fear, since³⁹⁰ God has made them all for unlimited ultimate happiness, and (whatever be their conduct in the present life) to ultimate unlimited happiness they will all doubtless come.³⁹¹ Upon the whole, let those who are inured to close thinking judge whether Dr. Priestley’s own views of philosophical necessity do not include the leading principles of Calvinism? But should he insist upon the contrary, then let it be considered whether he must not contradict himself, and maintain a system which, by his own confession, is less friendly to piety and humility than that which he opposes. “The essential difference,” he says, “between the two schemes is this: the Necessarian believes his own dispositions and actions are the necessary and sole means of his present and future happiness; so that, in the most proper sense of the words, it depends entirely on himself whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable. […] The Calvinist maintains, on the other hand, that so long as a man is unregenerate, all his thoughts, words, and actions are necessarily sinful, and in the act of regeneration he is altogether passive.”³⁹² We have seen already that on the scheme of Dr. Priestley, as well as that of the Calvinists, men in the first turning of the bias of their hearts must be passive.³⁹³ But allow it to be otherwise, allow what the Doctor elsewhere teaches, that “a change of disposition is the effect, and not the cause, of a change of conduct,”³⁹⁴ and that it depends entirely on ourselves whether we will thus change our conduct, and by these means our dispositions, and so be happy for ever: all this, if others of his observations be just, instead of promoting piety and virtue, will have a contrary tendency. In the same performance, Dr. Priestley acknowledges that “those who, from a principle of religion, ascribe more to God and less to man than other persons, are men of the greatest elevation of piety.”³⁹⁵ But if so, it will follow that the essential difference between the Necessarianism of Socinians and that of Calvinists (seeing it consists in this,³⁹⁶ that the one makes it depend entirely upon a man’s self, whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable, and the other upon God) is in favour of the latter. Those who consider men as depending entirely upon God for virtue and happiness ascribe more to God and less to man than the other, and so,

 for that 1793] since 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 128‒129. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 153‒154. [AF]  that the scheme of Dr. Priestly, as well as that of the Calvinists, supposes men in the first turning of the bias of their hearts, to be passive; 1793] that on the scheme of Dr. Priestley, as well as that of the Calvinists, men in the first turning of the bias of their hearts, must be passive. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156. [AF] This is more a summary of Priestley’s view than an exact quotation.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 107. [AF]  Calvinists, consisting in this, 1793, 1794, 1796] Calvinists (seeing that it consists in this, 1802, 1810.

116

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

according to Dr. Priestley, are “men of the greatest elevation of piety.” They,³⁹⁷ on the other hand, who suppose men to be³⁹⁸ dependent entirely upon themselves for these things, must consequently have less of piety, and more of “heathen stoicism,” which, as the same writer in the same treatise observes, “allows men to pray for external things, but admonishes them that, as for virtue, it is our own, and must arise from within ourselves, if we have it at all.”³⁹⁹ But let us come to facts.⁴⁰⁰ If, as Dr. Priestley says, there be “something in our system which, if carried to its just consequences, would lead us to the most abandoned wickedness,”⁴⁰¹ it might be expected, one should think, that a loose, dissipated, and abandoned life would be a more general thing among the Calvinists than among their opponents. This seems to be a consequence of which he feels the force, and therefore discovers an inclination to make it good. In answer to the question, “Why those persons who hold these opinions are not abandoned to all wickedness, when they evidently lay them under so little restraint?” he answers, “This is often the case of those who pursue these principles to their just and fatal consequences,” adding, “for it is easy to prove that the Antinomian is the only consistent absolute predestinarian.”⁴⁰² That there are persons who profess the doctrine of absolute predestination, and who, from that consideration, may indulge themselves in the greatest enormities, is admitted. Dr. Priestley, however, allows that these are “only such persons whose minds are previously depraved,”⁴⁰³ that is, wicked men, who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. Nor are such examples “often” to be seen among us;⁴⁰⁴ and, where they are, it is commonly in such people who make no serious pretence to personal religion, but who have just so much of predestination⁴⁰⁵ in their heads as to suppose that all things will be as they are appointed to be, and therefore that it is in vain to strive, just so much as to look at the end, and overlook the means, which is⁴⁰⁶ as wide of Calvinism as it is of Socinianism. This may be the absolute predestination which Dr. Priestley means, namely, a predestination to eternal life, let our conduct be ever so impure, and a predestination to eternal death, let it be ever so holy; and if so, it is granted that the Antinomian is the only consistent believer in it; but then it might, with equal truth, be added,

 Those 1793] They 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  men are 1793] men to be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 69. [AF]  This sentence was added to this paragraph in the 1796, 1802, and 1810 editions.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 21‒22.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 22.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 22.  amongst us 1793] among us 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  personal religion, who have got just so much of predestination 1793] personal religion, but who have got just so much of predestination 1794, 1796] personal religion, who have just so much of predestination 1802, 1810.  but this is 1793] which is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VI

117

that he⁴⁰⁷ is the only person who believes in it at all. The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination supposes that holiness of heart and life are as much the object⁴⁰⁸ of divine appointment as future happiness, and that this connexion⁴⁰⁹ can never be broken. To prove that the Antinomian is the only consistent believer in such a predestination as this may not be so easy a task as barely to assert it. I cannot imagine it would be very easy, especially for Dr. Priestley, seeing he acknowledges that “the idea of everything being predestinated from all eternity is no objection to prayer, because all means are appointed as well as ends; and therefore, if prayer be in itself a proper means, the end to be obtained by it, we may be assured, will not be had without this, any more than without any other means, or necessary previous circumstances.”⁴¹⁰ Dr. Priestley may allege that this is not absolute predestination; but it is as absolute as ours, which makes equal provision for faith and holiness, and for every means of salvation, as this does for prayer. Will Dr. Priestley undertake to prove that a loose, dissipated, and abandoned life is a more general thing among the Calvinists than among⁴¹¹ their opponents? I am persuaded he will not. He knows that the Calvinists, in general, are far from being a dissipated or an abandoned people, and goes about to account for it, and that in a way that shall reflect no honour upon their principles. “Our moral conduct,” he observes, “is not left at the mercy of our opinions; and the regard to virtue that is kept up by those who maintain the doctrines above mentioned is owing to the influence of other principles implanted in our nature.”⁴¹² Admitting this to be true, yet one would think the worst principles will, upon the whole, be productive of the worst practices. They whose innate principles of virtue are all employed in counteracting the influence of a pernicious system, cannot be expected to form such amiable characters as where those principles are not only left at liberty to operate, but are aided by a good system. It might therefore be expected, I say again, if our principles be what our opponents say they are, that a loose, dissipated, and abandoned life would be a more general thing among us than among them. I may be told that the same thing, if put to us, would be found equally difficult; or that, notwithstanding we contend for the superior influence of the Calvinistic system to that of Socinus, yet we should find it difficult to prove that a loose, dissipated, and abandoned life is a more general thing among Socinians than it is among Cal-

 he 1793, 1794, 1796] that he 1802, 1810.  objects 1793, 1794] object 1796, 1802, 1810.  the connection of these things 1793] the connexion of these things 1794, 1796] this connexion 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 111.  amongst the Calvinists than amongst 1793] among the Calvinists than among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 22.

118

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

vinists.⁴¹³ And I allow that I am not sufficiently acquainted with the bulk of the people of that denomination to hazard an assertion of this nature. But if what is allowed by their own writers (who ought to know them) may be admitted as evidence, such an assertion might, nevertheless, be supported. “Rational Christians are often represented,” says Mr. Belsham, “as indifferent to practical religion.”⁴¹⁴ Nor does he deny the justice of this representation, but admits, though with apparent reluctance, that⁴¹⁵ “there has been some plausible ground for the accusation” and goes about to account for it, as we have seen in Letter IV,⁴¹⁶ in such a way, however, as may reflect no dishonour upon their principles.⁴¹⁷ The same thing is acknowledged by Dr. Priestley, who allows that “a great number of the Unitarians of the present age are only men of good sense, and without much practical religion,” and that “there is a greater apparent conformity to the world in them than is observable in others.”⁴¹⁸ Yet he also goes about to account for these things as Mr. Belsham does, in such a way as may reflect no dishonour on their principles. It is rather extraordinary that, when facts are introduced in favour of the virtue of the general body of the Calvinists, they are not denied, but accounted for in such a way that their principles must share none of the honour; and when facts of an opposite kind are introduced in proof of the want of virtue in Unitarians, they also are not denied, but accounted for in such a way that their principles shall have none of the dishonour. Calvinism, it seems, must be immoral, though Calvinists be virtuous; and Socinianism must be amiable, though Socinians be vicious. I shall not enquire whether these very opposite methods of accounting for facts be fair or candid. On this the reader will form his own judgment;⁴¹⁹ it is enough for me that the facts themselves are allowed. If we look back to past ages (to say nothing of those who lived in the earliest periods of Christianity, because I would refer to none but such as are allowed to have believed the doctrine in question), I think it cannot be fairly denied that the great body of holy men, who have maintained the true worship of God (if there was any true worship of God maintained) during the Romish apostasy,⁴²⁰ and who, many of them, sacrificed their earthly all for his name, have lived and died in the belief of the deity and atonement of Christ. Our opponents often speak of these doctrines being embraced by the apostate Church of Rome; but they say little of those who,

 amongst Calvinists. 1793] among Calvinists 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 32.  but admits that, 1793] but admits, though with apparent reluctance, that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See above, p. 86 – 96.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100. [AF]  fair or candid; you yourselves, Christian brethren, may judge of that. 1793] fair or candid. The reader will form his own judgment on this: 1794, 1796] fair or candid. On this the reader will form his own judgment: 1802, 1810.  apostacy 1793, 1794, 1796] apostasy 1802, 1810.

Letter VI

119

during the long period of her usurpation, bore testimony for God.⁴²¹ The Waldenses, who inhabited the valleys of Piedmont, and the Albigenses, who were afterwards scattered almost all over Europe,⁴²² are allowed, I believe, on all hands, to have preserved the true religion in those darkest of times; and it is thought, by some expositors, that these are the people who are spoken of in the twelfth chapter of the Revelation,⁴²³ under the representation of a woman, to whom were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness and there be nourished for a time, from the face of the serpent.⁴²⁴ It was here that true religion was maintained and sealed by the blood of thousands from age to age, when all the rest of the Christian world were wondering after the beast.⁴²⁵ And as to the doctrines which they held, they were much the same as ours. Among the adversaries to the church of Rome, it is true, there might be men of different opinions. Arius, and others, may be supposed to have had their followers in those ages. But the body of the people called Waldenses are not to be reckoned as such; on the contrary, the principles which they professed were for substance⁴²⁶ the same with those embraced afterwards by  God against them. 1793] God. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The chief source to which Fuller had access for his knowledge of the Waldensians and the Albigensians was the two-volume church history of Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693‒1733)—An Ecclesiastical History, Antient and Modern, from the Birth of Christ, to the Beginning of the Present Century, trans. Archibald Maclaine (London: A. Millar, 1765)—and also possibly the first volume of Thomas Crosby, The History of the English Baptists (London, 1737). Fuller’s first reading of Mosheim was probably in 1780 and 1781 (The Diary of Andrew Fuller, 1780‒1801, WAF, 1:18, 31‒32). According to Mosheim, the teaching of the thirteenth-century Albigensian sect derived from the Cathari, who clearly held to a dualistic worldview (Ecclesiastical History, 1:611). On the other hand, Mosheim regarded Pierre Vaudès (ca. 1140‒ca. 1205) and the Waldensian movement he is said to have founded with a deep measure of respect. Mosheim considered the growth of the Waldensian movement to be due to “the spotless innocence” of its adherents and their “noble contempt of riches and honours,” which were deeply attractive to “all such as had any sense of true piety” (Ecclesiastical History, 1:616). Due to what Fuller regarded as Mosheim’s misunderstanding of the Anabaptist movement, Fuller recorded in his Diary that this gave him “a better opinion of various sects, who have been deemed heretics” (entry for July 3, 1781 [Diary of Andrew Fuller, 1780‒1801, ed. McMullen and Whelan, 32]). This seems to have led Fuller to adopt Thomas Crosby’s view that both the Albigensians and the Waldensians were orthodox (see, for example, History of the English Baptists, 1:xxiv, xxvi). Crosby regarded the Albigensians and the Waldensians as being part of the same movement and stated that they were the “first who dared positively to declare against infant-baptism” (History of the English Baptists, 1:xxxiii). On the Waldensian movement, see Euan Cameron, Waldenses: Rejection of Holy Church in Medieval Europe (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000); and Peter Biller, The Waldensians, 1170 – 1530: Between a Religious Order and a Church (New York: Routledge, 2001). On the Albigensians, see Bernard Hamilton, Crusaders, Cathars and the Holy Places (1999, repr. Abingdon,Oxfordshire/ New York, NY: Routledge, 2018); and Michael Costen, The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997).  XII Chapter of the Revelation, 1793] twelfth chapter of the Revelation, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Revelation 12:14.  Revelation 13:3.  And as to the doctrines which they held, they were for substance 1793] And as to the doctrines which they held, they were much the same as ours. Among the adversaries to the church of Rome, it

120

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

the Reformed churches, as is abundantly manifest by several of their catechisms and confessions of faith, which have been transmitted to our times. Mr. Lindsey, in his Apology, has given a kind of history of those who have opposed the doctrine of the Trinity; but they make a poor figure during the above long and dark period, in which, if ever, a testimony for God was needed. He speaks of “churches and sects, as well as individuals, of that description, in the XIIth century”; and there might be such.⁴²⁷ But can he produce any evidence of their having so much virtue as to make any considerable sacrifices for God? Whatever were their number, according to Mr. Lindsey’s own account, from that time till the Reformation (a period of three or four hundred years, and during which the Waldenses and the Wicklifites were sacrificing everything for the preservation of a good conscience),⁴²⁸ they “were driven into corners and silence,”⁴²⁹ that is, there is no testimony upon record which they bore, or any account of their having so much virtue in them as to

is true, there might be men of different opinions. Arius, and others, may be supposed to have had their followers in those ages. But the body of the people called Waldenses, are not to be reckoned as such; on the contrary, the principles which they professed were, for substance 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  it might be so. 1793] and there might be such. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John Wycliffe (ca. 1330 – 1384) was born in the north riding of Yorkshire and went up to Oxford to study theology. Wycliffe had probably graduated with an MA by 1356, when he briefly became a probationer fellow of Merton College. In 1360, Wycliffe was elected as the master of Balliol College, Oxford, and a year later, he was made the rector of Fillingham, Lincolnshire. After his ordination as a priest, Wycliffe received incomes from several churches, which he treated as sinecures. From the early 1370s onward, Wycliffe began to gain fame as a theologian, and in 1371, Pope Gregory XI (ca. 1329 – 1378) made him a canon of Lincoln, while he lectured at Oxford and wrote his Summa de Ente. In 1372, Wycliffe received a DDiv, after which he turned from scholastic philosophy to the nature and structure of the church. Wycliffe debated with John Kenningham (d. 1399), a Carmelite, over the authority of Scripture and the Eucharist, as well as with William Woodford (fl. 1351–ca. 1400), a Franciscan friar, on political theology. With a series of twelve publications (1375 – 1382), Wycliffe distinguished the true church as invisible and pure. By returning to the supreme authority of the infallible scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, Wycliffe argued against the Pope, who, in his view, was usurping God’s power. Wycliffe then began to translate the Bible into English. Though little is known about Wycliffe’s life after 1378, the “Earthquake Synod” (1382) condemned his teachings as heretical and erroneous. Soon his writings were banned at Oxford. The same year, Wycliffe was partly paralyzed by a stroke, and he died after another stroke in 1384. Wycliffe’s legacy was preserved by the “Lollards” and the Bohemian theologian Jan Hus (ca. 1372– 1415). See the essays in Reginald Stackhouse, Alan L. Hayes, and Maurice P. Wilkinson, eds., A New Introduction to John Wycliffe (Toronto, ON: Wycliffe College, 1994); Ian Christopher Levy, ed., A Companion to John Wyclif: Late Medieval Theologian (Leiden/Boston, MA: Brill, 2006); John Wyclif, On Simony, trans. Terrence A. McVeigh (New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1992); Ian Christopher Levy, trans. and ed., John Wyclif: On the Truth of Holy Scripture (Kalamazzo, MI: Western Michigan University, 2001); Stephen E. Lahey, trans., Wyclif: Trialogus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013); G. R. Evans, John Wyclif: Myth & Reality (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005).  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 34. [AF]

Letter VI

121

oppose, at the expense either of life, liberty, or property, the prevailing religion of the times. Mr. Lindsey speaks of the piety of “the famous Abelard,”⁴³⁰ but surely he must have been wretchedly driven for want of that important article, or he would not have ascribed it to a man who, as a late writer observes, “could with equal facility explain Ezekiel’s prophecies and compose amorous sonnets for Heloise; and was equally free to unfold the doctrine of the Trinity, and ruin the peace of a family by debauching his patron’s niece.”⁴³¹ The same writer, in the Appendix to his Farewell Sermon to the Congregation in Essex Street, lately published, holds up the piety of Servetus, by giving us one of his prayers addressed to Jesus Christ; in which he expresses his full persuasion that he was under a divine impulse to write against his proper divinity.⁴³² Surely if Socinian piety had not been very scarce, Mr. Lindsey would not have been under the necessity of exhibiting the effusions of idolatry and enthusiasm as examples of it. Religion will be allowed to have some influence in the forming of a national character, especially that of the common people, among whom, if anywhere, it generally prevails. Now if we look at those nations where Calvinism has been most prevalent, it will be found, I believe, that they have not been distinguished by their immorality, but the reverse. Geneva, the Seven United States, Scotland, and North

 Lindsey, Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, 32. Peter Abelard (ca. 1079 – 1142) was born in Le Pallet to a minor noble French family, as his father Berenger was a knight. Instead of joining the military service, Peter went for academic training and studied under Guillaume de Champeaux (ca. 1070 – 1121) at the cathedral school of Notre Dame de Paris. Due to his quarrels with his teacher, Abelard began his own school, first at Melun, and then at Corbeil. Turning his attention to theology and biblical exegesis, Abelard began to lecture on the book of Ezekiel, and around 1115, he became the master of the cathedral school of Notre Dame, and a canon of Sens. Among Abelard’s philosophical and theological works, his Theologia Summi Boni was the most controversial, as critics charged him with having a rationalistic view of the Trinity. Later, in 1136, Abelard disagreed theologically with Bernard of Clairvaux (ca. 1090 – 1153), which ended with Pope Innocent II (d. 1143) excommunicating Peter, though the two later reconciled and Peter’s excommunication was lifted. Being a scholastic, Abelard focused on rationality and sought “understanding through reason.” See John Marenbon and Giovanni Orlandi, ed. and trans., Peter Abelard Collationes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001); John Marendon, Philosophy of Peter Abelard (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Eileen C. Sweeney, Logic, Theology, and Poetry in Boethius, Abelard, and Alain of Lille: Words in the Absence of Things (New York, NY/Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 63 – 126; Babette S. Hellemans, ed., Rethinking Abelard: A Collection of Critical Essays (Leiden/Boston, MA: Brill, 2014).  Robert Robinson, A Plea for the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In a Pastoral Letter Addressed to a Congregation of Protestant Dissenters, at Cambridge (Cambridge: Fletcher and Hodson, 1776), 48. [AF] This sermon was occasioned by Theophilus Lindsey’s resignation from the established church on account of his having adopted Unitarianism. At the time, it earned Robinson the offer of a preferment in the Church of England, which he refused. The rest of this paragraph, and the next two paragraphs, were added from the 1794 edition onward.  Theophilus Lindsey, “Appendix,” in A Discourse Addressed to the Congregation at the Chapel in Essex Street, Strand, on Resigning the Pastoral Office among Them (London: J. Johnson, 1793), 44– 52.

122

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

America (with the two last of which we may be rather better acquainted than with the rest) might be alleged as instances of this assertion. With respect to Scotland, though other sentiments are said to have lately gained ground with many of the clergy, yet Calvinism is known to be generally prevalent among the serious part of the people. And as to their national character, you seldom know an intelligent Englishman to have visited that country without being struck with the peculiar sobriety and religious behaviour of the inhabitants. As to America, though, strictly speaking, they may be said to have no national religion (a happy circumstance in their favour), yet, perhaps, there is no one nation in the world where Calvinism has more generally prevailed. The great body of the first settlers were Calvinists; and the far greater part of religious people among them, though of different denominations as to other matters, continue such to this day. And as to the moral effects which their religious principles have produced, they are granted, on all hands, to be considerable. They are a people, as the Monthly Reviewers have acknowledged, “whose love of liberty is attempered⁴³³ with that of order and decency, and accompanied with the virtues of integrity, moderation, and sobriety. They know the necessity of regard to religion and virtue, both in principle and practice.”⁴³⁴ In each of these countries, it is true, as in all others, there are great numbers of irreligious individuals, perhaps a majority; but they have a greater proportion of religious characters than most other nations can boast, and the influence which these characters have upon the rest is as that of a portion of leaven, which leaveneth the whole lump.⁴³⁵ The members of the Church of England, it may be taken for granted, were generally Calvinists, as to their doctrinal sentiments, at and for some time after the Reformation. Since that time, those sentiments have been growing out of repute; and Socinianism is supposed, among other principles, to have prevailed considerably among the members of that community. Dr. Priestley, however, is often very sanguine in estimating the great numbers of Unitarians among them.⁴³⁶ Now let it be considered whether this change of principle has, in any degree, been serviceable to the interests of piety or virtue. On the contrary, did not a serious walking with God and a rigid attention to morals begin to die away from the time that the doctrines contained in the Thirty-Nine Articles began to be disregarded?⁴³⁷ And now, when Socinianism is

 I.e., qualified, moderated, or modified.  “De oude en Nieuwe Constitutie, etc. i. e. A View of the Old and New Constitution of the United of America, By Gerhard Dumbar, Vol. I … Amsterdam, 1793,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal 11 (May–August, 1793): 502. [AF] The final sentence actually ran thus: “they […] knew the necessity of obedience to laws, and of a regard to religion and virtue, both in principle and practice.”  Galatians 5:9.  amongst them. 1793] among them. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The same sort of people who held Calvinistic doctrines were at the same time so severe in their morals, that Laud found it necessary, it seems, to publish “The Book of Sports,” in order to counteract their influence on the nation at large. [AF]

Letter VI

123

supposed to have made a greater progress than ever it did before, is there not a greater degree of perjury, and more dissipation of manners, than at almost any period since the Reformation? I am not insensible that it is the opinion of Dr. Priestley, and of some others, that men grow better—that the world advances considerably in moral improvement; nay,⁴³⁸ Mr. Belsham seems to favour an idea that⁴³⁹ “in process of time, the earth may revert to its original paradisiacal state […] and death itself be annihilated.”⁴⁴⁰ This, however, will hardly be thought to prove anything, except that enthusiasm is not confined to Calvinists. And as to men growing better, whatever may be the moral improvement of the world in general, Dr. Priestley somewhere acknowledges that this is far from being the case with the Church of England, especially since the times of Bishop Burnet.⁴⁴¹ With respect to the Dissenters, were there ever men of holier lives than the generality of the Puritans and Nonconformists of the last two centuries? Can anything equal to their piety and devotedness to God be found among the generality of the Socinians⁴⁴² of their time or of any time? In sufferings, in fastings, in prayers, in a firm adherence to their principles, in a close walk with God in their families, and in a series of unremitted labours for the good of mankind, they spent their lives. But fastings and prayers, perhaps, may not be admitted as excellencies in their character; it is possible they may be treated with ridicule. Nothing less than this is attempted by Dr. Priestley, in his Fifth Letter to Mr. Burn.⁴⁴³ “I could wish,” says  yea 1793] nay, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  expresses a hope that, 1793] seems to favour an idea, that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 13, 14.  Gilbert Burnet (1643 – 1715) was born in Edinburgh and was first educated by his father Robert Burnet, Lord Crimond (1592– 1661), a Scottish Royalist lawyer. Burnet went to study at the University of Aberdeen, where he earned an MA in philosophy. After briefly studying law, Burnet turned to theology. Instead of studying theology, however, Burnet toured Oxford, Cambridge, London, the United Provinces, and France. In 1665, Burnet was ordained in the Church of Scotland, and in 1669, he was elected the chair of divinity at the University of Glasgow. From 1674 to 1685, Burnet lived in London, where he was actively involved in political and religious matters. It was also during this time that Burnet finished and published the first two volumes of his three-volume History of the Reformation of the Church of England. After a brief period of exile during James II’s reign, Burnet returned home and preached the coronation sermon for William III. At Easter 1689, Burnet was consecrated bishop of Salisbury. Theologically, Burnet was one of the most prominent Latitudinarians. During the Trinitarian controversy in the 1690s, due to Burnet’s “supernatural rationalism,” the Latitudinarians were linked to Socinianism. See Martin Greig, “The Reasonableness of Christianity? Gilbert Burnet and the Trinitarian Controversy of the 1690s,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 44 (1993): 631– 651; Martin Greig, “Heresy Hunt: Gilbert Burnet and the Convocation Controversy of 1701,” The Historical Journal 37 (1994): 569 – 592.  amongst the generality of the Socinians 1793] among the generality of the Socinians 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Edward Burn (1762– 1837) was a Calvinistic Methodist minister. Soon after his training at Trevecca College, Burn became the minister of St. Mary’s Chapel in Birmingham. By means of a series of letters to Joseph Priestley in 1789, Burn expressed his disagreement with Priestley over the person

124

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

he, “to quiet your fears, on your account. For the many sleepless nights which your apprehensions must necessarily have caused you, accompanied, of course, with much earnest prayer and fasting, must, in time, affect your health.”⁴⁴⁴ Candour out of the question, is this piety?⁴⁴⁵ It is said to be no uncommon thing for persons who have been used to pray extempore, when they have turned Socinians, to leave off that practice, and betake themselves to a written form of their own composition.⁴⁴⁶ This is formal enough, and will be thought by many to afford but slender evidence of their devotional spirit; but yet one would have supposed they would not have dared to ridicule it in others, however destitute of it they might be themselves.⁴⁴⁷ Dr. Priestley allows that Unitarians are peculiarly wanting in zeal for religion.⁴⁴⁸ That this concession is just appears not only from the indifference of great numbers of them in private life, but from the conduct of many of their preachers. It has been observed that when young ministers have become Socinians, they have frequently given up the ministry and become schoolmasters or anything they could. Some, who have been possessed of fortunes, have become mere private gentlemen. Several such instances have occurred, both among Dissenters and Churchmen. If they had true zeal for God and religion, why is it that they are so indifferent about preaching what they account the truth? Dr. Priestley further allows⁴⁴⁹ that Calvinists have “less apparent conformity to the world, and that they seem to have more of a real principle of religion than Socinians.”⁴⁵⁰ But then he thinks the other have the most candour⁴⁵¹ and benevolence, “so as, upon the whole, to approach nearest to the proper temper of Christianity.”⁴⁵² He “hopes, also, they have more of a real principle of religion than they seem to have.”⁴⁵³ As to candour⁴⁵⁴ and benevolence, these will be considered in another Let-

of Christ, and Priestley later published his response in 1790. On the controversy, see Robert E. Schofield, The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773 to 1804 (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004), 272– 273.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 30.  In the 1793 edition, a new paragraph begins after the question mark, whereas in the other four editions there is no paragraph break.  At this point in the 1793 edition, the following sentence appeared: “This, if I remember right, is what Dr. Watts used to call ‘Writing a Letter to Almighty God, and then reading it to him.’” None of the other four editions have this sentence.  The next paragraph was added in the 1794 and subsequent editions.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 94– 95. [AF]  allows 1793] farther allows 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100 – 101. [AF]  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100. [AF]  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 101. [AF]  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VI

125

ter. At present it is sufficient to observe that Dr. Priestley, like Mr. Belsham, on a change of character in his converts, is obliged to have recourse to hope and to judge of things contrary to what they appear in the lives of men in order to support the religious character of his party. That a large proportion of serious people are to be found among Calvinists, Dr. Priestley will not deny; but Mrs. Barbauld goes further.⁴⁵⁵ She acknowledges, in effect, that the seriousness which is to be found among Socinians themselves is accompanied by a kind of secret attachment to our principles,⁴⁵⁶ an attachment which their preachers and writers, it seems, have hitherto laboured in vain to eradicate. “These doctrines,” she says, “it is true, among thinking people, are losing ground; but there is still apparent, in that class called serious Christians, a tenderness in exposing them; a sort of leaning towards them, as, in walking over a precipice, one should lean to the safest side: an idea that they are, if not true, at least good to be believed; and that a salutary error is better than a dangerous truth.”⁴⁵⁷ By the “class called serious Christians,” Mrs. Barbauld cannot mean professed Calvinists; for they have no notion of leaning towards any system as a system of salutary error, but consider that to which they are attached as being the truth. She must, therefore, intend to describe the serious part of the people of her own profession. We are much obliged to Mrs. Barbauld for this important piece of information. We might not so readily have known without it,⁴⁵⁸ that the hearts and consciences of the serious part of Socinians revolt at their own principles; and that, though they have rejected what we esteem the great doctrines of the Gospel in theory, yet they have an inward leaning towards them, as the only safe ground on which to rest their hopes. According to this account, it should seem that serious Christians are known by their predilection for Calvinistic doctrines; and that those “thinking people among whom these doctrines are

 Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743 – 1825) was born in Kibworth Harcourt, Leicester, the eldest child of John Aikin (1713 – 1780), a Unitarian scholar. Barbauld demanded that her father teach her the classics and four languages (Greek, Latin, Italian, and French). In 1758, the Aikin family moved to Warrington, where John Aikin became a tutor. A few years later, Joseph Priestley began to teach modern languages and rhetoric at the Warrington Academy (1761– 1767). While at Warrington, Priestley became friends with Barbauld, her brother John Aikin, Jr. (1747– 1822), and the potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730 – 1795). Encouraged by Priestley, Barbauld began to write, and in 1773, she published her first book of poems, as well as Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose with her brother. In May 1774, Barbauld married Rochemont Barbauld (1749 – 1808), a descendent of French Huguenots. The Barbaulds then moved to Suffolk, where Anna taught at Palgrave Academy with her husband for eleven years. In addition to her literary achievements, she also supported the abolition movement. See Julia Saunders, “‘The Mouse’s Petition’: Anna Laetitia Barbauld and the Scientific Revolution,” The Review of English Studies 53 (2002): 500 – 516; Rachel Hetty Trethewey, “The Progressive Ideas of Anna Letitia Barbauld” (PhD dissertation, University of Exeter, 2013).  that is to be found amongst Socinians 1793] which is to be found among Socinians 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Anna Letitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency of Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London: J. Johnson, 1792), 69 – 70.  but for this, 1793] without it, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

126

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

losing ground” are not of that class or description, being distinguished from them.⁴⁵⁹ Well, it does not surprise us to hear that “those men who are the most indifferent to practical religion are the first, and serious Christians the last, to embrace the rational system,” because it is no more than might be expected.⁴⁶⁰ If there be anything surprising in the affair, it is that those who make these acknowledgments should yet boast of their principles on account of their moral tendency. I am, etc.

 Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry, 69 – 70.  See Letter 4, n. 23.

Letter VII

127

Letter VII: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote love to God Christian brethren, Our opponents, as you have doubtless observed, are as bold in their assertions as they are liberal in their accusations. Dr. Priestley not only asserts that the Calvinistic system is “unfavourable to genuine piety, but to every branch of vital practical religion.”⁴⁶¹ We have considered, in the foregoing Letter, what relates to morality and piety in general; in the following Letters, we shall descend to particulars and enquire, under the several specific virtues of Christianity, which of the systems in question is the most unfavourable to them. I begin with love.⁴⁶² The love of God and our neighbour not only contains the sum of the moral law, but the spirit of true religion. It must therefore afford a strong presumption for or against a system as it is found to promote or diminish these cardinal virtues of the Christian character. On both these topics we are principally engaged on the defensive, as our views of things stand charged with being unfavourable to the love of both God and man. “There is something in your system of Christianity,” says Dr. Priestley in his letters to Mr. Burn, “that debases the pure spirit of it, and does not consist with either the perfect veneration of the divine character, which is the foundation of true devotion to God, or perfect candour⁴⁶³ and benevolence to man.”⁴⁶⁴ A very serious charge, and which,⁴⁶⁵ could it be substantiated, would doubtless⁴⁶⁶ afford a strong presumption, if not more than a presumption, against us. But let the subject be examined. This Letter will be devoted to the first part of this heavy charge, and the following one to the last. As to the question whether we feel a veneration for the divine character, I should think we ourselves must be the best judges. All that Dr. Priestley can know of the matter is that he could not feel a perfect veneration for a Being of such a character as we suppose the Almighty to sustain. That, however, may be true and yet nothing result from it unfavourable to our principles. It is not impossible that Dr. Priestley should be of such a temper of mind as incapacitates him for admiring, venerating,

 Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 21. [AF]  I begin with the subject of love. 1793] I begin with love. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 32. Priestley continued, “I mean those corruptions of Christianity which your Church retains, and which it is my great object to explode, from the full persuasion I have of their bad tendency.” Again, this judgment of the moral tendency of doctrinal systems satisfied Fuller as to the fitness of this method of argument.  and, 1793] and which, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  it would doubtless 1793] would doubtless 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

128

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

or loving God in his true character; and, hence, he may be led to think that all who entertain such and such ideas of God must be void of that perfect veneration for him which he supposes himself to feel. The true character of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, must be taken into the account in determining whether our love to God be genuine or not. We may clothe the Divine Being with such attributes and such only, as will suit our depraved taste, and then it will be no difficult thing to fall down and worship him; but this is not the love of God, but of an idol of our own creating. The principal objections to the Calvinistic system under this head are⁴⁶⁷ taken from the four following topics: the atonement; the vindictive character of God; the glory of God, rather than the happiness of creatures, being his last end in creation; and the worship paid to Jesus Christ. First, the doctrine of atonement as held by the Calvinists is often represented by Dr. Priestley as detracting from the goodness of God and as inconsistent with his natural placability. He seems always to consider this doctrine as originating in the want of love, or, at least, of a sufficient degree of love, as though God could not find in his heart to show⁴⁶⁸ mercy without a price being paid for it. “Even the elect,” says he, “according to their system, cannot be saved, till the utmost effects of the divine wrath have been suffered for them by an innocent person.”⁴⁶⁹ Mr. Jardine also, by the title which he has given to his late publication, calling it The Unpurchased Love of God, in the Redemption of the World by Jesus Christ, suggests the same idea.⁴⁷⁰ When our opponents wish to make good the charge of our ascribing a natural

 system as tending to promote the love of God, are 1793] system under this head are 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  shew 1793] show 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 18. [AF] The rest of this paragraph was added in 1794 and retained in the next three editions.  David B. Jardine, The unpurchased Love of God in the Redemption of the World by Jesus Christ, a great Argument for Christian Benevolence, Illustrated in Three Discourses (Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1792). David B. Jardine (1766 – 1797) was a Welsh Unitarian minister and a close friend to Joseph Priestley. Both of his parents were Welsh Dissenters. His father, David Jardine (1732– 1766), was a minister and tutor at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and his mother was the daughter of the Welsh minister Lewis Jones (ca.1702– 1772) of Bridgend, Glamorganshire. David was trained first by his father and Benjamin Davies (1739 – 1817), and was later sent to Homerton Academy near London. After studying Christian doctrine, Jardine became a Socinian around 1786/1787. Consequently he left Homerton and went to Daventry Academy in Northamptonshire, where he studied under Thomas Belsham. In 1789, Jardine was invited to minister at Warwick, but he declined this post for the Trim Street Unitarian Chapel in Bath. Jardine declined the invitation to co-pastor with Priestley at Birmingham in December 1790. On March 10, 1797, while walking in the fields, he was seized with a stroke and died that evening. In addition to the pamphlet Fuller mentioned, Jardine also published Seasonable Reflexions on Religious Fasts, in a Discourse Delivered April 13th, 1794, in the Chapel, Frog-Lane, Bath (Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1794). A year after his death, John Prior Estlin (1747– 1817) of Bristol collected Jardine’s sermons and published them as Sermons, By the Late Rev. David Jardine, of Bath. Published from the Original Manuscripts (Bristol: N. Biggs, 1798). On Jardine, see Estlin’s brief biographical sketch in his edition,

Letter VII

129

implacability to the Divine Being, it is common for them either to describe our sentiments in their own language, or if they deign to quote authorities, it is not from the sober discussions of prosaic writers, but from the figurative language of poetry. Mr. Belsham describes “the formidable chimera of our imagination, to which,” he says, “we have annexed the name of God the Father, as a merciless tyrant.”⁴⁷¹ They conceive of “God the Father,” says Mr. Lindsey, “always with dread, as a Being of severe, unrelenting justice, revengeful, and inexorable, without full satisfaction made to him for the breach of his laws. God the Son, on the other hand, is looked upon as made up of all compassion and goodness, interposing to save men from the Father’s wrath, and subjecting himself to the extremest sufferings on that account.”⁴⁷² For proof of this we are referred to the poetry of Dr. Watts, in which he speaks of the “rich drops of Jesus’ blood, that calmed his frowning face; that sprinkled o’er the burning throne, and turned the wrath to grace; of the infant Deity, the bleeding God, and of heaven appeased with flowing blood.”⁴⁷³ On this subject, a Calvinist might, without presumption, adopt the language of our Lord to the Jews: “I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.”⁴⁷⁴ Nothing can well be a greater misrepresentation of our sentiments than this, which is constantly given. These writers cannot be ignorant that Calvinists disavow considering the death of Christ as a cause of divine love or goodness.⁴⁷⁵ On the contrary, they always maintain⁴⁷⁶ that divine love is the cause, the first cause of our salvation and of the death of Christ to that end. They would not scruple to allow that God had love enough in his heart to save sinners without the death of his Son, had it been consistent with righteousness; but that, as receiving them to favour without some public⁴⁷⁷

Sermons, 2:vii–xiv; Jerom Murch, A History of the Presbyterian and General Baptist Churches in the West of England; With Memoirs of Some of Their Pastors (London: R. Hunter, 1835), 153 – 154.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 34.  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 97– 98. [AF]  Theophilus Lindsey, A Discourse Addressed to the Congregation at the Chapel in Essex Street, Strand, on Resigning the Pastoral Office among Them (London: J. Johnson, 1793), 52. [AF] Lindsey quoted one of Isaac Watts’s (1674– 1748) poems, which was written “on Mr. Locke’s Annotations upon several Parts of the New Testament, left behind him at his Death.” Watts wrote this poem after reading John Locke’s (1632– 1704) annotations on Romans 3:25 and his paraphrase of Romans 9:5. The poem contains five stanzas, and Lindsey quoted the second stanza: “Reason could scare sustain to see/Th’ Almighty One, th’ Eternal Three,/Or bear the Infant Deity;/Scare could he Pride descend to own/Her Maker stooping from his Throne,/And drest in Glories so unknown./A ransom’d World, a bleeding God,/And Heav’n appeas’d with flowing Blood,/Were Themes too painful to be understood” (Horæ Lyricæ. Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric kind. In Two Books. I. Songs, Etc. Sacred to Devotion. II. Odes, Elegys, Etc. to Vertue Loyalty and Friendship, 9th ed. [Boston: Rogers and Fowle; J. Blanchard, 1748], 147– 148).  John 8:49.  Dr. Priestley cannot be ignorant 1793, 1794] These writers cannot be ignorant 1796, 1802, 1810.  they ever admit 1793] they always maintain 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

130

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

expression of displeasure against their sin would have been a dishonour to his government, and have afforded an encouragement for others to follow their example, “the love of God wrought in a way of righteousness”;⁴⁷⁸ first giving his only begotten Son to become a sacrifice, and then pouring forth all the fulness of his heart through that appointed medium. The incapacity of God to show mercy without an atonement is no other than that of a righteous governor, who, whatever goodwill he may bear to an offender, cannot admit the thought of passing by the offence without some public⁴⁷⁹ expression of his displeasure against it; that, while mercy triumphs, it may not be at the expense⁴⁸⁰ of law and equity, and of the general good. So far as I understand it, this is the light in which Calvinists consider the subject. Now judge, brethren,⁴⁸¹ whether this view of things represent⁴⁸² the Divine Being as naturally implacable, whether the gift of Christ to die for us be not the strongest expression of the contrary, and whether this, or the system which it opposes, “give wrong impressions concerning the character and moral government of God.”⁴⁸³ Nay,⁴⁸⁴ I appeal to your own hearts, whether that way of saving sinners through an atonement, in which mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other,⁴⁸⁵ in which God is “just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus,”⁴⁸⁶ do not endear⁴⁸⁷ his name to you more than any other representation of him that was ever presented to your minds. Were it possible for your souls to be saved in any other way—for the divine law to be relaxed, or its penalty remitted, without respect to an atonement—would there not be a virtual reflection cast upon the divine character? Would it not appear as if God had enacted a law that was so rigorous⁴⁸⁸ as to require a repeal and issued threatenings which he was obliged to retract? Or at least that he had formed a system of government without considering the circumstances in which his subjects would be involved—a system “the strict execution of which would do more harm than good”;⁴⁸⁹ nay, as if the Almighty,⁴⁹⁰ on this account, were ashamed to maintain it and yet had not virtue enough to acknowledge the remission to be an act of justice, but must all along call it by the name of

 See Titus 3:5.  publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  expence 1793, 1794, 1796] expense 1802, 1810.  Judge, then, christian brethren, 1793] Now judge, brethren, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  represents 1793] represent 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 35.  Yea, brethren, 1793] Nay, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Psalm 85:10.  Romans 3:26.  does not endear 1793] do not endear 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  if he had enacted a law that was so rigourous 1793] as if God had enacted a law that was so rigorous 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 101.  yea, and as if the Almighty 1793] nay, as if the Almighty 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VII

131

grace? Would not⁴⁹¹ the thought of such a reflection destroy the bliss of heaven, and stamp such an impression of meanness upon that character whom you are taught to adore, as would almost incapacitate you for revering or loving him? It is further objected that,⁴⁹² according to the Calvinistic system, God is a vindictive Being and that, as such, we cannot love him. It is said that we “represent God in such a light that no earthly parent could imitate him, without sustaining a character shocking to mankind.”⁴⁹³ That there is a mixture of the vindictive in the Calvinistic system is allowed; but let it be closely considered whether this be any disparagement to it. Nay, rather, whether it be not necessary to its perfection. The issue, in this case, entirely depends upon the question whether vindictive justice be in itself amiable. If it be, it cannot render any system unamiable. “We are neither amused nor edified,” says a writer in the Monthly Review, “by the coruscations of damnation. Nor can we by any means bring ourselves to think, with the late Mr. Edwards, that the vindictive justice of God is a glorious attribute.”⁴⁹⁴ This, however, may be very true, and vindictive justice be a glorious attribute notwithstanding. I believe it is very common for people, when they speak of vindictive punishment, to mean that kind of punishment which is inflicted from a wrathful disposition, or a disposition to punish for the pleasure of punishing. Now⁴⁹⁵ if this be the meaning of our opponents, we have no dispute with them. We do not suppose the Almighty to punish sinners for the sake of putting them to pain. Neither Scripture nor Calvinism conveys any such idea.⁴⁹⁶ Vindictive punishment, as it is here defended, stands opposed to that punishment which is merely corrective: the one is exercised for the good of the party; the other not so, but for the good of the community. Those who deny this last to be amiable in God, must found their denial either on Scripture testimony or on the nature and fitness of things. As to the former, the Scriptures will hardly be supposed to represent God as an unamiable being; if, therefore, they teach that vindictive justice is an unamiable attribute, it must be maintained that they never ascribe that attribute to God. But with what colour of evidence can this be alleged? Surely not from such language as the following: “The Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”⁴⁹⁷ “Our God is a consuming fire.”⁴⁹⁸ “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the

 And would 1793] Would not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  But Secondly, It is farther objected that 1793] It is farther objected, That 1794, 1796] It is farther objected, that, 1802, 1810.  The essence of this quotation can be seen in Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 18 – 19, though the exact words are Fuller’s, not Priestley’s.  “Art. VIII. Practical Sermons, never before published. By the late Rev. Mr. Jonathan Edwards, …,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal 4 (January–April 1791): 300. [AF]  And 1793] Now 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Neither the language of scripture, nor the system of Calvinists, conveys any such idea. 1793, 1794, 1796] Neither scripture, nor Calvinism, conveys any such idea. 1802, 1810.  Deuteronomy 4:24. [AF]  Hebrews 12:29. [AF]

132

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries; and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.”⁴⁹⁹ “Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire.”⁵⁰⁰ “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth: O God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself!”⁵⁰¹ “He that showeth no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.”⁵⁰² “He that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.”⁵⁰³ “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.”⁵⁰⁴ “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”⁵⁰⁵ “I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.”⁵⁰⁶ “The angels which kept not their first estate—he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.”⁵⁰⁷ “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”⁵⁰⁸ “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”⁵⁰⁹ As to the nature and fitness of things, we cannot draw any conclusion from thence against⁵¹⁰ the loveliness of vindictive justice as a divine attribute, unless the thing itself can be proved to be unlovely. But this is contrary to the common sense and practice of mankind.⁵¹¹ There is no nation or people under heaven but what consider it, in various cases, as both necessary and lovely. It is true they would despise and abhor a magistrate who should punish beyond desert, or who should avail himself of the laws of his country to gratify his own caprice, or his private revenge.⁵¹² This, however, is not vindictive justice, but manifest injustice. No considerate citizen, who values the public weal, could blame a magistrate for putting the penal laws of his country so far in execution as should be necessary for the true honour of good government, the support of good order, and the terror of wicked

 Nahum 1:2. [AF]  Nahum 1:6. [AF]  Psalm 94:1. [AF]  James 13:2. [AF]  Isaiah 27:11. [AF]  Hebrews 10:30. [AF]  Hebrews 10:31. [AF]  Deuteronomy 32:40 – 41. [AF]  Jude 6. [AF]  Jude 7. [AF]  2 Thessalonians 1:8. [AF]  conclusion against 1793] conclusion from thence against 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  all mankind 1793] mankind 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  his own private caprice or revenge. 1793] his own caprice, or his private revenge. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VII

133

men.⁵¹³ When the inhabitants of Gibeah requested that the Levite might be brought out to them, that they might know him, and, on their request not being granted, abused and murdered his companion, all Israel, as one man, not only condemned the action, but called upon the Benjamites to deliver up the criminals to justice.⁵¹⁴ Had the Benjamites complied with their request, and had those sons of Belial been put to death, not for their own good, but for the good of the community,⁵¹⁵ where had been the unloveliness of the procedure? On the contrary, such a conduct must have recommended itself to the heart of every friend of righteousness in the universe, as well as have prevented the shocking effusion of blood which followed their refusal. Now if vindictive justice may be glorious in a⁵¹⁶ human government, there is no reason to be drawn from the nature and fitness of things why it would not be the same in the divine administration.⁵¹⁷ But the idea on which our opponents love principally to dwell⁵¹⁸ is that of a father. Hence the charge that we “represent God in such a light that no earthly parent could imitate him, without sustaining a character shocking to mankind.”⁵¹⁹ This objection comes⁵²⁰ with an ill grace from Dr. Priestley, who teaches that “God is the author of sin, and may do evil, provided it be with a view that good may come.”⁵²¹ Is not this representing God in such a light that no one could imitate him, without sustaining a character shocking to mankind? Whether Dr. Priestley’s notions on this subject be true or not, it is true that God’s ways are so much above ours, that it is unjust, in many cases, to measure his conduct to a rebellious world by that of a father to his children. In this matter, however, God is imitable. We have seen already that a good magistrate, who may justly be called the father of his people, ought not to be under⁵²² the influence of blind affection, so as,⁵²³ in any case, to shew mercy at the expense of the public good.⁵²⁴ Nor is this all. There are cases in which a parent has been obliged in benevolence to his family and from a concern for the general good to give up a stub-

 determent of wicked men. 1793] terror of wicked men. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See Judges 19 – 21.  community at large, 1793, 1794, 1796] community, 1802, 1810.  an 1793] a 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  should not be the same in the divine. 1793] should not be the same in the divine administration. 1794, 1796] would not be the same in the divine administration. 1802, 1810.  the idea that our opponents love principally to dwell upon, 1793] the idea on which our opponents love principally to dwell, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See above, n. 33.  objection, I may observe in the first place, comes 1793] objection comes 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 117– 121. [AF]  be so much under 1793] be under 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as 1793] so as 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  to shew mercy at the expence of the publick good. 1793, 1794] to shew mercy at the expence of the public good. 1796] to shew mercy at the expense of the public good. 1802, 1810.

134

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

born and rebellious son, to bring him forth with his own hands to the elders of his city, and there with his own lips bear witness against him; such witness, too, as would subject him not to a mere salutary correction, but to be stoned to death by the men of his city. We know such a law was made in Israel,⁵²⁵ and, as a late writer observed upon it, such a law “was wise and good.”⁵²⁶ It was calculated to enforce in parents an early and careful education of their children; and if, in any instance, it was executed, it was that “all Israel might hear and fear”!⁵²⁷ And how do we know but that it may be consistent with the good of the whole system, yea, necessary to it, that some of the rebellious sons of men should, in company with apostate angels, be made examples of divine vengeance; that they should stand, like Lot’s wife, as pillars of salt, or as everlasting monuments of God’s displeasure against sin; and that, while their smoke riseth⁵²⁸ up for ever and ever, all the intelligent universe should hear, and fear, and do no more so wickedly? Indeed, we must not only know that this may be the case, but if we pay any regard to the authority of Scripture, that it is so. If words have any meaning, this is the idea given us of the “angels which kept not their first estate,” and of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah; who are said to be “set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”⁵²⁹ It belongs to the character of an all-perfect Being, who is the moral Governor of the universe, to promote the good of the whole; but there may be cases, as in human governments, wherein the general good may be inconsistent with the happiness of particular parts.⁵³⁰ The case of robbers, of murderers, or of traitors, whose lives are sacrificed for the good of society, that the example of terror afforded by their death may counteract the example of immorality exhibited by their life, is no detraction from the benevolence of a government, but rather essential to it. But how, after all, can we love such a tremendous Being? I answer: a capacity to resent an injury is not always considered as a blemish,⁵³¹ even in a private character; if it be governed by justice, and aimed at the correction of evil, it is generally allowed to be commendable.⁵³² We do not esteem the favour of a man, if we consider him as incapable, on any occasion, of resentment. We should call him an easy soul, who is kind merely because he has not sense enough to feel an insult. But shall we allow it right and fit for a puny mortal thus far to know his own worth and assert it, and, at

 Deuteronomy 21:18 – 21. [AF]  Robert Robinson, The Nature and Necessity of early Piety. A Sermon Preached to a Society of Young People, at Willingham, Cambridgeshire (Cambridge: Fletcher and Hodson, 1792). [AF]  Deuteronomy 13:11.  rise 1793] riseth 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Jude 6, 7. [AF]  some particular parts. 1793, 1794, 1796] particular parts. 1802, 1810.  a capacity and inclination to resent an injury is never considered as a blemish, 1793, 1794, 1796] a capacity to resent an injury is not always considered as a blemish, 1802, 1810.  but rather, if regulated by equity, as a beauty. 1793, 1794, 1796] if it be governed by justice, and aimed at the correction of evil, it is generally allowed to be commendable. 1802, 1810.

Letter VII

135

the same time, deny it to the great Supreme and plead for his being insulted with impunity? God, however,⁵³³ in the punishment of sin is not to be considered as acting in a merely private capacity, but as the universal moral Governor; not as separate from the great system of being, but as connected with it, or as the head and guardian of it. Now, in this relation, vindictive justice is not only consistent with the loveliness of his character, but essential to it. Capacity and inclination to punish a disorder in a state are never thought to render an earthly prince less lovely in the eyes of his loyal and faithful subjects, but more so. That temper of mind, on the contrary, which should induce him to connive at rebellion, however it might go by the name of benevolence and mercy, would be accounted, by all the friends of good government, injustice to the public;⁵³⁴ and those who, in such cases, side with the disaffected, and plead their cause, are generally supposed to be tainted with disaffection themselves. A third objection is taken from the consideration of the glory of God, rather than the happiness of creatures, being his last end in creation. “Those who assume to themselves the distinguishing title of orthodox,” says Dr. Priestley, “consider the Supreme Being as having created all things for his glory, and by no means for the general happiness of all his creatures.”⁵³⁵ If, by the general happiness of all his creatures, Dr. Priestley means⁵³⁶ the general good of the universe, nothing can be more unfair than this representation. Those who are called orthodox never consider the glory of God as being at variance with the happiness of creation in general, nor with that of any part of it, except those who have revolted from the divine government; nor, if we regard the intervention of a Mediator, with theirs, unless they prove finally impenitent, or, as Dr. Priestley calls them, “wilful and obstinate transgressors.”⁵³⁷ The glory of God consists, with reference to the present case, in doing that which is best upon the whole. But if, by the general happiness of all his creatures, he means⁵³⁸ to include the happiness of those angels who kept not their first estate, and of those men who die impenitent, it is acknowledged that what is called the orthodox system does by no means consider this as an end in creation, either supreme or subordinate. To suppose that the happiness of all creatures,⁵³⁹ whatever might be their future conduct, was God’s ultimate end in creation (unless we could imagine him to be disappointed with respect to the grand end he had in view), is to suppose what is contrary to fact. All creatures, we are certain, are not

      

But, farther: God, 1793] God, however, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. publick; 1793] public; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 18. [AF] mean, 1793, 1794] means 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 17. mean 1793, 1794] means 1796, 1802, 1810. all the creatures 1793, 1794] all creatures 1796, 1802, 1810.

136

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

happy in this world; and if any regard is to be paid to revelation, all will not be happy in the next. If it be alleged that a portion of misery is necessary in order to relish happiness; that, therefore, the miseries of the present life, upon the whole, are blessings; and that the miseries threatened in the life to come may be of the same nature, designed as a purgation, by means of which sinners will at length escape the second death; it is replied, all the miseries of this world are not represented as blessings to the parties, nor even all the good things of it. The drowning of Pharaoh, for instance, is never described⁵⁴⁰ as a blessing to him; and God declared that he had “cursed the blessings” of the wicked priests in the days of the prophet Malachi.⁵⁴¹ “All things,” we are assured, “work together for good”;⁵⁴² but this is confined “to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.”⁵⁴³ As to the life to come, if the miseries belonging to that state be merely temporary and purgative, there must be all along a mixture of love and mercy in them; whereas the language of Scripture is, “He that hath showed no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.”⁵⁴⁴ “The wine of the wrath of God will be poured out without mixture.”⁵⁴⁵ Nay, such miseries must not only contain a mixture of love and mercy, but they themselves must be the effects and expressions of love; and then it will follow that the foregoing language of limitation and distinction (which is found indeed throughout the Bible) is of no account, and that blessings and cursings are the same things.⁵⁴⁶ Dr. Priestley himself speaks of “the laws of God as being guarded with awful sanctions,” and says “that God will inflexibly punish all wilful and obstinate transgressors.”⁵⁴⁷ But how can that be called an awful sanction which only subjects a man to such misery as is necessary for his good? How, at least, can that be accounted inflexible punishment in which the Divine Being all along aims at the sinner’s happiness? We might as well call the operation of a surgeon in amputating a mortified limb in order to save the patient’s life by the name of inflexible punishment, as those miseries which are intended for the good of the sinner. If that be their end, they are, strictly speaking, blessings, though blessings in disguise; and, in that case, as Dr. Edwards in his answer to Dr. Chauncy has fully proved, blessings and curses are in effect the same things.⁵⁴⁸

 spoken of 1793, 1794] described 1796, 1802, 1810.  See Malachi 2:2.  shall work together for good 1793] work together for good 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Romans 8:28.  James 2:13.  Revelation 14:10.  follow, that blessings and curses 1793] follow that the foregoing language of limitation and distinction (which is found indeed throughout the Bible) is of no account, and that blessings and curses 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 17.  Here Fuller is probably referring to the controversies between Charles Chauncy (1705 – 1787), the Congregationalist minister of First Church, Boston, and Jonathan Edwards. Chauncy was the chief op-

Letter VII

137

As to our considering the Supreme Being as having created all things for his own glory, I hope it will be allowed that the Scriptures seem, at least, to countenance such an idea. They teach us that “the Lord made all things for himself,”⁵⁴⁹ that “all things are created by him, and for him.”⁵⁵⁰ He is expressly said to have created Israel (and if Israel, why not others?) for his glory. Not only “of him, and through him,” but “to him are all things.”⁵⁵¹ Glory, and honour, and power are ascribed to him by the elders and the living creatures; for, say they, “Thou hast created all things; and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”⁵⁵² But further, and what is more immediately to the point, I hope this sentiment will not be alleged as a proof of our want of love to God, for it is only assigning him the supreme place in the system of being; and Dr. Priestley himself elsewhere speaks of “the love of God, and a regard to his glory” as the same thing.⁵⁵³ One should think those, on the other hand, who assign the happiness of creatures as God’s ultimate end, thereby giving him only a subordinate place in the system, could not allege this as an evidence of their love to him. That place which God holds in the great system of being he ought to hold in our affections; for we are not required to love him in a greater proportion than the place which he occupies requires. If it were otherwise, our affections must move in a preposterous direction. We ought, therefore, on this supposition, to love ourselves, our own happiness, and the happiness of our fellow creatures, more than God; for God himself is supposed to do the same. But if so, the great rule of human actions should have been different. Instead of requiring love to God in the first place, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then love to ourselves and our neighbours, it should have been reversed. The song of the angels, too, instead of beginning with “Glory to God in the

ponent of the evangelical revivals that Edwards promoted. Soon after Edwards published The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741) and Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England (1742), Chauncy responded with Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England (1743). Though Edwards never intended to respond directly Chauncy and the Old Light in his A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746), it is a systematic treatment that goes to the root of Chauncy’s criticism, as it connects the affections with the presence of the Spirit. See Nathan Parker, “Chauncy, Charles (1705 – 1787),” in The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia, ed. Harry S. Stout, Kenneth P. Minkema, and Adriaan C. Neele (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017), 86; James Jones, The Shattered Synthesis: New England Puritanism before the Great Awakening (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1973); Charles Lippy, Seasonable Revolutionary: The Mind of Charles Chauncy (Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall, 1981); Ryan J. Martin, Understanding Affections in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards: “The High Exercises of Divine Love” (London/New York: Bloomsbury, 2019), 197– 232; John E. Smith, “Editor’s Introduction,” in Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, The Works of Jonathan Edwards 2, ed. John E. Smith, rev. ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 1– 83.  Proverbs 16:4. [AF]  Colossians 1:16; Isaiah 43:7. [AF]  Hebrews 2:10; Romans 11:36. [AF]  Revelation 4:11. [AF]  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 7. [AF]

138

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

highest,” and ending with “peace on earth, and goodwill to men,”⁵⁵⁴ should have placed the last first, and the first last. How such a view of things can tend to promote the love of God, unless a subordinate place in our affections be higher than the supreme,⁵⁵⁵ it is difficult to conceive. The great God, who fills heaven and earth, must be allowed to form the far greatest proportion,⁵⁵⁶ if I may so speak, of the whole system of being; for, compared with him, “all nations,” yea, all worlds, “are but as a drop of a bucket, or as the small dust of the balance.”⁵⁵⁷ He is the source and continual support of existence, in all its varied forms. As the great Guardian of being in general, therefore, it is fit and right that he should, in the first place, guard the glory of his own character and government. Nor can this be to the disadvantage of the universe, but the contrary; as will appear, if it be considered that it is the glory of God to do that which shall be best upon the whole. The glory of God, therefore, connects with it the general good of the created system, and of all its parts, except those whose welfare clashes with the welfare of the whole. If it were otherwise, if the happiness of all creatures were the great end that God from the beginning had in view, then doubtless, in order that this end might be accomplished, everything else must, as occasion required, give way to it. The glory of his own character, occupying only a subordinate place in the system, if ever it should stand in the way of that which is supreme, must give place, among⁵⁵⁸ other things. And if God have consented to all this, it must be because the happiness, not only of creation in general, but of every individual, is an object of the greatest magnitude,⁵⁵⁹ and most fit to be chosen; that is, it is better, and more worthy of God, as the Governor of the universe, to give up his character for purity, equity, wisdom, and veracity, and to become vile⁵⁶⁰ and contemptible in the eyes of his creatures— it is better that the bands which bind all holy intelligences to him should be broken, and the cords which hold together the whole moral system be cast away than that the happiness of a creature should, in any instance, be given up! Judge, ye friends of God, does this consist with “the most perfect veneration for the divine character”?⁵⁶¹ Once more, it seems to be generally supposed by our opponents that the worship we pay to Christ tends to divide our hearts; and that, in proportion as we adore him, we detract from the essential glory of the Father. In this view, therefore, they reckon

 Luke 2:14.  unless his having the subordinate place in our affections be greater than if he had the supreme, 1793] unless a subordinate place in our affections be higher than the supreme, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  must needs be allowed 1793] must be allowed 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Isaiah 40:15.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  happiness of creatures is an object of the greatest magnitude 1793, 1794] happiness, not only of creation in general, but of every individual, is an object of the greatest magnitude, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and become vile 1793] and to become vile 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, 7.

Letter VII

139

themselves to exercise a greater veneration for God than we. But it is worthy of notice, and particularly the serious notice of our opponents, that it is no new thing for an opposition to Christ to be carried on under the plea of love to God. This was the very plea of the Jews, when they took up stones to stone him. “For a good work,” said they, “we stone thee not, but for that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”⁵⁶² They very much prided themselves in their God; and, under the influence of that spirit, constantly rejected the Lord Jesus. “Thou art called a Jew, and makest thy boast of God.”⁵⁶³ “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.”⁵⁶⁴ “Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.”⁵⁶⁵ It was under the pretext of zeal and friendship for God that they at last put him to death as a blasphemer. But what kind of zeal was this, and in what manner did Jesus treat it? “If God were your Father,” said he, “ye would love me.”⁵⁶⁶ “He that is of God heareth God’s words.”⁵⁶⁷ “It is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say that he is your God; yet ye have not known him.”⁵⁶⁸ “I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.”⁵⁶⁹ Again, the primitive Christians will be allowed to have loved God aright;⁵⁷⁰ yet they worshipped Jesus Christ. Not only did the martyr Stephen close his life by committing his departing spirit into the hands of Jesus,⁵⁷¹ but it was the common practice, in primitive times, to invoke his name. “He hath authority,” said Ananias concerning Saul, to bind “all that call on thy name.”⁵⁷² One part of the Christian mission was to declare that “whosoever should call on the name of the Lord should be saved,”⁵⁷³ even of that Lord of whom the Gentiles had not heard. Paul addressed himself “to all that in every place called upon the name of Jesus Christ.”⁵⁷⁴ These modes of expression (which, if I be not greatly mistaken,⁵⁷⁵ always signify divine worship) plainly inform us that it was not merely the practice of a few individuals, but of the great body of the primitive Christians, to invoke the name of Christ; nay, and that this was a mark by which they were distinguished as Christians. Further, it ought to be considered that, in worshipping the Son of God, we worship him not on account of that wherein he differs from the Father, but on account of

             

John 10:33. [AF] Romans 2:17. [AF] John 8:41. [AF] John 9:24. [AF] John 8:42. [AF] John 8:47. [AF] John 8:54. [AF] John 5:42. [AF] in a proper manner 1793, 1794, 1796] aright 1802, 1810. Acts 7:59. Acts 9:14, compared with v. 17. [AF] Romans 10:11– 14. [AF] 1 Corinthians 1:2. [AF] if I am not greatly mistaken, 1793, 1794, 1796] if I be not greatly mistaken, 1802, 1810.

140

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

those perfections which we believe him to possess in common with him. This, with the consideration that we worship him not to the exclusion of the Father, any more than the Father to the exclusion of him, but as one with him,⁵⁷⁶ removes all apprehensions from our minds that, in ascribing glory to the one, we detract from that of the other. Nor can we think but that these ideas are confirmed, and the weight of the objection removed, by those declarations of Scripture where the Father and the Son are represented as being in such union that “he who hath seen the one hath seen the other,” and “he who honoureth the one honoureth the other,” yea, that “he who honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father who sent him.”⁵⁷⁷ It might fairly be argued, in favour of the tendency of Calvinistic doctrines to promote the love of God,⁵⁷⁸ that, upon those principles, we have more to love him for than upon the other. On this system, we have much to be forgiven, and therefore love much. The expense at which our salvation has been obtained, as we believe, furnishes⁵⁷⁹ us with a motive of love to which nothing can be compared. But this I shall refer to another place;⁵⁸⁰ and conclude with reminding⁵⁸¹ you that, notwithstanding Dr. Priestley loads Calvinistic principles with such heavy charges as those mentioned at the beginning of this Letter, yet he elsewhere acknowledges them to be “generally favourable to that leading virtue, devotion,”⁵⁸² which in effect is acknowledging them to be favourable to the love of God.⁵⁸³ I am, etc.

 but rather as one with him, 1793] but as one with him, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 14:7– 9, 23. [AF] In 1794, Fuller extended this note as follows: “The reader may see this subject ably urged by Mr. Scott, in his Essays on the most Important Subjects of Religion, First edition, No. vii. pp. 96, 97. These Essays are of a piece with the other productions of that judicious writer; and though small, and, for the convenience of the poor, sold for one penny each, contain a fund of solid, rational, and scriptural divinity.” [AF] Here Fuller refers to Thomas Scott’s (1747– 1821) Essays on the Most Important Subjects in Religion (London: D. Jaques, 1794), 96 – 97.  favour of Calvinistic doctrines, tending to promote the love of God, 1793] favour of the tendency of Calvinistic doctrines to promote the love of God, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The expence at which we believe our salvation to have been obtained, furnishes 1793, 1794, 1796] The expense at which our salvation has been obtained, as we believe, furnishes 1802, 1810.  Letter XIV. [AF] See below, p. 235 – 245.  with only reminding 1793] with reminding 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 163.  devotion. 1793] devotion,” which in effect is acknowledging them to be favourable to the love of God. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VIII

141

Letter VIII: On candour and benevolence to men⁵⁸⁴ Christian brethren, You recollect that the Calvinistic system stands charged by Dr. Priestley, not only with being inconsistent with a perfect veneration of the divine character, but with “perfect candour⁵⁸⁵ and benevolence to man.”⁵⁸⁶ This, it must be owned, has often been objected to the Calvinists. Their views of things have been supposed to render them sour and ill-natured towards those who differ from them. Charity, candour, benevolence, liberality, and the like, are virtues to which the Socinians, on the other hand, lay almost an exclusive claim. And such a weight do they give these virtues⁵⁸⁷ in the scale of morality, that they conceive themselves, “upon the whole, even allowing that they have more of an apparent conformity to the world than the Trinitarians, to approach nearer to the proper temper of Christianity than they.”⁵⁸⁸ I shall not go about to vindicate Calvinists, any further than I conceive their spirit and conduct to admit of a fair vindication; but I am satisfied that,⁵⁸⁹ if things be closely examined, it will be found that a great deal of what our opponents attribute to themselves is not benevolence or candour, and that a great deal of what they attribute to us is not owing to the want of either. Respecting benevolence, or goodwill to men, in order to be genuine, they must consist with love to God.⁵⁹⁰ There is such a thing as partiality to men, with respect to the points in which they and their Maker are at variance; but this is not benevolence. Partiality to a criminal at the bar might induce us to pity him so far as to plead in extenuation of his guilt and to endeavour to bring him off from the just punishment

 On Candor and Benevolence to men 1793] On Candour and Benevolence to Men 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Throughout this chapter the word “candour” appeared as “candor” in the 1793 edition, and thereafter in the following editions as “candour.” This spelling difference will not be further noted in this chapter.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 32.  ascribe to these virtues 1793, 1794, 1796] give these virtues 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley’s original statement is: “Upon the whole, considering the great mixture of spiritual pride and bigotry in some of the most zealous trinitarians, I think the moral character of the Unitarians in general, allowing that there is in them a greater apparent conformity to the world than is observable in the others, approaches more nearly to the proper temper of christianity [sic].” See Joseph Priestley, “The proper Constitution of a Christian Church, considered in a Sermon, Preached at the New Meeting, in Birmingham, November 3, 1782,” in Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 100. [AF]  very well satisfied that 1793] satisfied that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  With respect to benevolence, or goodwill to men, the reality of this virtue depends upon it’s [sic] being connected with love to God. 1793, 1794, 1796] Respecting benevolence, or goodwill to men, in order to be genuine, they must consist with love to God. 1802, 1810.

142

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

of the laws; but this would not be benevolence. There must be a rectitude in our actions and affections to render them truly virtuous. Regard to the public⁵⁹¹ good must keep pace with compassion to the miserable, else the latter will degenerate into vice, and lead us to be “partakers of other men’s sins.”⁵⁹² Whatever pretence be made to devotion or love to God,⁵⁹³ we never admit them to be real unless accompanied with love to men;⁵⁹⁴ neither ought any pretence⁵⁹⁵ of love to men to be admitted as genuine, unless it be⁵⁹⁶ accompanied with love to God. Each of these virtues is considered in the Scriptures as an evidence of the other. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth⁵⁹⁷ his brother, he is a liar.”⁵⁹⁸ “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”⁵⁹⁹ There is such a thing as partiality to men, as observed before, with respect to the points in which they and their Maker are at variance: leaning⁶⁰⁰ to those notions that represent their sin as comparatively little and their repentance and obedience as a balance against it; speaking smooth things and affording flattering intimations that, without an atonement,⁶⁰¹ nay, even without repentance in this life, all will be well at last. But if it should prove that God is wholly in the right and man wholly in the wrong,⁶⁰² that sin is exceedingly sinful, that we all deserve to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and that if we be not interested in the atonement of Christ, this punishment must actually take place; if these things, I say, should at last prove true, then all such notions as have flattered the pride of men, and cherished their presumption, instead of being honoured with the epithets of liberal and benevolent, will be called by very different names. The princes and people of Judah would, doubtless, be apt to think the sentiments taught by Hananiah, who prophesied smooth things concerning them, much more benevolent and liberal than those of Jeremiah, who generally came with heavy tidings; yet true benevolence existed only⁶⁰³ in the latter.⁶⁰⁴ Whether the complexion of the  publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Timothy 5:22.  Whatever pretences are made to devotion or love to God, 1793, 1794, 1796] Whatever pretence be made to devotion or love to God 1802, 1810.  we never admit it to be real unless it be accompanied with love to men 1793, 1794, 1796] we never admit them to be real unless accompanied with love to men 1802, 1810.  pretences 1793, 1794] pretence 1796, 1802, 1810.  unless they are 1793, 1794, 1796] unless it be 1802, 1810.  hate 1793, 1794, 1796] hateth 1802, 1810.  1 John 4:20. [AF]  1 John 5:2. [AF]  a leaning 1793] leaning 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that speaks smooth things, and gives hope that without an atonement 1793] speaking smooth things and affording flattering intimations that, without an atonement 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. After 1810, editors omitted “flattering” as an adjectival modifier for “intimations.”  if it should prove, not only that God is wholly in the right, but man wholly in the wrong 1793, 1794, 1796] if it should prove, that God is wholly in the right, and man wholly in the wrong, 1802, 1810.  benevolence existed not in the former, but 1793] benevolence existed only 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VIII

143

whole system of our opponents do not resemble that of the false prophets,⁶⁰⁵ who “prophesied smooth things”⁶⁰⁶ and “healed the hurt of the daughter of Israel slightly, crying, peace, peace, when there was no peace,”⁶⁰⁷ and whether their objections to our views of things be not the same for substance as might have been made to the true prophets,⁶⁰⁸ let all who wish to know the truth, however ungrateful it may be to flesh and blood, decide.⁶⁰⁹ A great deal of what is called candour and benevolence among Socinians is nothing else but indifference to all religious principle.⁶¹⁰ “If we could be so happy,” says Dr. Priestley, “as to believe that there are no errors but what men maybe so circumstanced as to be innocently betrayed into, that any mistake of the head is very consistent with rectitude of heart, and that all differences in modes of worship may be only the different methods by which different men (who are equally the offspring of God) are endeavouring to honour and obey their common Parent, our differences of opinion would have no tendency to lessen our mutual love and esteem.”⁶¹¹ This is⁶¹² manifestly no other than indifference to all religious principle. Such an indifference,⁶¹³ it is allowed, would produce a temper of mind which Dr. Priestley calls candour and benevolence; but which, in fact, is neither the one nor the other.⁶¹⁴ Benevolence is goodwill to men; but goodwill to men is very distinct from a good opinion of their principles or their practices—so distinct that the former may exist in all its force, without the least degree of the latter. Our Lord thought very ill of the principles and practices of the people of Jerusalem, yet he “beheld the city and wept over it.”⁶¹⁵ This was genuine benevolence.

 Jeremiah 28. [AF]  Indeed, there is in the complexion of the whole system of our opponents such a resemblance to that of the false prophets, 1793, 1794, 1796] Whether the complexion of the whole system of our opponents do not resemble that of the false prophets, 1802, 1810.  Isaiah 30:10.  Jeremiah 6:14.  and the general cast of their objections to our views of things are so near akin to what might have been objected to the true prophets, 1793, 1794, 1796] and whether their objections to our views of things be not the same for substance as might have been made to the true prophets, 1802, 1810.  that, in the esteem of all who wish to know the truth, how ungrateful so ever it may be to flesh and blood, it must needs afford a strong presumption against them. 1793, 1794, 1796] let all who wish to know the truth, however ungrateful it may be to flesh and blood, decide. 1802, 1810.  candor and benevolence amongst Socinians 1793] candour and benevolence among Socinians 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 31. [AF]  But this is 1793] This is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  This, 1793] Such an indifference, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  neither one 1793] neither the one 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Luke 19:41.

144

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Benevolence is a very distinct thing from complacency or esteem. These are founded on an approbation of character; the other is not.⁶¹⁶ I am bound by the law of love to bear goodwill to men, as creatures of God and as fellow creatures, so as, by every mean in my power, to promote their welfare, both as to this life and that which is to come; and all this, let their character be what it may. I am also bound to esteem every person for that in him which is truly amiable, be he a friend or an enemy,⁶¹⁷ and to put the best construction upon his actions that truth will admit; but no law obliges me to esteem a person respecting those things which I have reason to consider as erroneous or vicious. I may pity him, and ought to do so; but to esteem him, in those respects, would be contrary to the love of both God and man. Indifference to religious principle, it is acknowledged, will promote such esteem. Under the influence of that indifference, we may form a good opinion of various characters,⁶¹⁸ which, otherwise, we should not do; but the question is,⁶¹⁹ Would that esteem be right, or amiable? On the contrary, if religious principle of any kind should be found necessary to salvation, and if benevolence consist in that goodwill to men which leads us to promote their real welfare, it must contradict it; for the welfare of men is promoted by thinking and speaking the truth concerning them. I might say, If we could be so happy as to think virtue and vice indifferent things, we should then possess a far greater degree of esteem for some men than we now do;⁶²⁰ but would such a kind of esteem be right, or of any use either to ourselves or them?⁶²¹ Candour, as it relates to the treatment of an adversary, is that temper of mind which will induce us to treat him openly, fairly, and ingenuously; granting him everything that can be granted consistently with truth, and entertaining the most favourable opinion of his character and conduct that justice will admit. But what has all this to do with indifference to religious principle, as to matters of salvation? Is there no such thing as treating a person with fairness, openness, and generosity, while we entertain a very ill opinion of his principles, and have the most painful apprehensions as to the danger of his state? Let our opponents name a more candid writer of controversy than President Edwards; yet he⁶²² considered many of the sentiments against which he wrote as destructive to the souls of men, and those who held them as being in a dangerous situation.  but the other 1793] the other 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  be it in a friend 1793] be he a friend 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  We shall form a good opinion of various characters 1793] Under the influence of that indifference, we may form a good opinion of various characters 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but then the question is 1793] but the question is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  we do now 1793] we now do 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  to either ourselves 1793, 1794, 1796] either to ourselves 1802, 1810.  Where was there ever a more candid writer of controversy than the late President Edwards? yet President Edwards 1793, 1794, 1796] Let our opponents name a more candid writer of controversy than President Edwards; yet he 1802, 1810. Here Fuller makes reference to his main theological mentor after the Scriptures, namely Jonathan Edwards.

Letter VIII

145

As a great deal of what is called candour and benevolence among Socinians is merely the effect of indifference to religious principle,⁶²³ so a great deal of that in Calvinists, for which they are accused of the want of these virtues, is no other than a serious attachment to what they account divine truth, and a serious disapprobation of sentiments which they deem subversive of it. Now, surely,⁶²⁴ neither of these things is inconsistent with either candour or benevolence; if they be, however, Jesus Christ and his apostles are involved in the guilt, equally with the Calvinists. They cultivated such an attachment to religious principle as to be in real earnest in the promotion of it, and constantly represented the knowledge and belief of it as necessary to eternal life. “Ye shall know the truth,” said Christ, “and the truth shall make you free.”⁶²⁵ “This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”⁶²⁶ “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”⁶²⁷ They also constantly discovered a marked disapprobation of those sentiments which tended to introduce “another gospel,”⁶²⁸ so far as to declare that man accursed who should propagate them. They considered false principles as pernicious and destructive to the souls of men. “If ye believe not that I am he,” said Christ to the Jews, “ye shall die in your sins,”⁶²⁹ “and whither I go ye cannot come.”⁶³⁰ To the Galatians, who did not fully reject Christianity, but in the matter of justification were for uniting the works of the law with the grace of the gospel, Paul testified, saying, “If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”⁶³¹ Had the apostle Paul considered “all the different modes of worship as what might be only the different methods of different men, endeavouring to honour and obey their common Parent,”⁶³² he would not have felt “his spirit stirred in him” when he saw the city of Athens wholly given to idolatry;⁶³³ at least he would not have addressed idolaters in such strong language as he did, “preaching to them that they should turn from these vanities unto the living God.”⁶³⁴ Paul considered them as having been all their life employed, not in worshipping the living God,

 candor and benevolence among Socinians is merely the effect of indifference to religious principle, as to matters of salvation 1793] candour and benevolence among Socinians is merely the effect of indifference to religious principle 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  And surely 1793] Now, surely, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 8:32. [AF]  John 17:3. [AF]  John 3:36. [AF]  Galatians 1:6.  John 8:24. [AF]  John 8:21. [AF]  Galatians 5:2– 4. [AF]  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 31.  Acts 17:16.  Acts 14:15.

146

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

only in a mode different from others,⁶³⁵ but mere vanities. Nor did he consider it as a “mere mistake of the head, into which they might have been innocently betrayed”;⁶³⁶ but as a sin, for which they were without excuse,⁶³⁷ a sin for which he called upon them, in the name of the living God, to repent.⁶³⁸ Now if candour and benevolence be Christian virtues, which they doubtless are, one should think they must consist with the practice of Christ and his apostles. But if this be allowed, the main ground on which Calvinists are censured will be removed; and the candour for which their opponents plead must appear to be spurious, and foreign to the genuine spirit of Christianity. Candour and benevolence, as Christian virtues, must also consist with each other; but the candour of Socinians is destructive of benevolence, as⁶³⁹ exemplified in the Scriptures. Benevolence in Christ and his apostles extended not merely, nor mainly, to the bodies of men, but to their souls; nor did they think so favourably of mankind as to desist from warning and alarming them,⁶⁴⁰ but the reverse. They viewed the whole world as “lying in wickedness,”⁶⁴¹ in a perishing condition; and hazarded the loss of every earthly enjoyment⁶⁴² to rescue them from it, as from the jaws of destruction. But it is easy to perceive that, in proportion to the influence⁶⁴³ of Socinian candour upon us, we shall consider mankind,⁶⁴⁴ even the heathens, as a race of virtuous beings, all worshipping the great Father of creation, only in different modes. Our concern for their salvation will consequently abate,⁶⁴⁵ and we shall become so indifferent respecting it as⁶⁴⁶ never to take any considerable pains for their conversion. This, indeed,⁶⁴⁷ is the very truth with regard⁶⁴⁸ to Socinians. They discover, in general, no manner of concern for the salvation of either heathens abroad, or profligates at home. Their candour supplies the place of this species⁶⁴⁹ of benevolence, and not unfrequently excites a scornful smile at the conduct of those who exercise it.

 in a different mode 1793] in a mode different from others 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 31.  Romans 1:20. [AF]  Acts 17:30. [AF]  as it is 1793] as 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  alarming and warning them 1793] warning and alarming them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 John 5:19.  hazarded their earthly all to 1793] hazarded the loss of every earthly enjoyment to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  prevalence 1793] influence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  we are taught to consider mankind 1793] we shall consider mankind 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  hence our concern for their salvation will abate 1793] Our concern for their salvation will abate 1794] Our concern for their salvation will consequently abate 1796, 1802, 1810.  indifferent as 1793] indifferent respecting it as 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Indeed this 1793] This, indeed, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  respect 1793] regard 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  kind 1793, 1794, 1796] species 1802, 1810.

Letter VIII

147

The difference between our circumstances and those of Christ and his apostles, who were divinely inspired, however much it ought⁶⁵⁰ to deter us from passing judgment upon the hearts of individuals, ought not to make us think that every mode of worship is equally safe,⁶⁵¹ or that religious principle is indifferent as to the affairs of salvation; for this would be to consider as false what by divine inspiration they taught as true. Let us come to matters of fact. Mr. Belsham does not deny that Calvinists may be “pious, candid, and benevolent”;⁶⁵² but he thinks they would have been more so if they had been Socinians. “They, and there are many such,” says he, “who are sincerely pious, and diffusively benevolent with these principles, could not have failed to have been much better, and much happier, had they adopted a milder, a more rational, a more truly evangelical creed.”⁶⁵³ Now if this be indeed the case, one might expect that the most perfect examples of these virtues are not to be looked for among us, but among our opponents:⁶⁵⁴ and yet it may be questioned whether they will pretend to more perfect examples of piety, candour, or benevolence, than are to be found in the characters of a Hale,⁶⁵⁵ a Franck,⁶⁵⁶ a Brainerd,⁶⁵⁷ an Edwards,⁶⁵⁸ a Whitefield,⁶⁵⁹ a Thornton,⁶⁶⁰ and a Howard⁶⁶¹ (to say nothing of the living), whose

 however it ought 1793] however much it ought 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  individuals, as they sometimes did, ought not to make us think that any mode of worship may be equally safe 1793] individuals, ought not to make us think that every mode of worship is equally safe 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 29.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 30. [AF]  amongst us, but amongst our opponents 1793] among us, but among our opponents 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Sir Matthew Hale (1609 – 1676) served in a variety of legal capacities under the Commonwealth and Protectorate as well as after the Restoration (1660). Though he himself was in the established church, he had great sympathy for Dissenters and wrote deeply on subjects of doctrinal and devotional importance. See Gilbert Burnet, The Life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale (London: William Taylor, 1682).  August Hermann Francke. See above, p. 67 n. 97.  David Brainerd (1718 – 1747) was born in Haddam, Connecticut, and experienced conversion in July 1739. Two years after beginning his studies at Yale College, Brainerd was expelled in November 1741. Brainerd then became a missionary to aboriginal people in various locations under the auspices of the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. Due to ill health, Brainerd lodged with Jonathan Edwards’s family beginning in November 1746, and he died on October 9, 1747. Two years after Brainerd’s death, Edwards edited and published his journal, An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend David Brainerd (1749), which served as a biographical counterpart to Edwards’s Religious Affections. Since its publication, the Life of David Brainerd has been passionately welcomed by evangelicals across the Atlantic, and its influence among missionaries was enormous, even up to the nineteenth century. See John A. Grigg, The Lives of David Brainerd: The Making of an American Evangelical Icon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).  Jonathan Edwards.  George Whitefield.

148

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

lives were spent in doing good to the souls and bodies of men, and who lived and died depending on the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The last of these great men, in whom his country glories, and who is justly considered as the “martyr of humanity,”⁶⁶² is said thus to have expressed himself, at the close of his last will and testament: “My immortal spirit I cast on the sovereign mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of my strength, and, I trust, is become my salvation.”⁶⁶³ He is said also to have given orders for a plain, neat stone to be placed upon his grave, with this inscription: Spes mea Christus, Christ is my hope!⁶⁶⁴ We are often reminded of the persecuting spirit of Trinitarians, and particularly of Calvin towards Servetus.⁶⁶⁵ This example has been long held up by our opponents,

 John Thornton (1720 – 1790) was born into a wealthy and powerful family in Clapham on April 1, 1720. The Thornton family had made their fortune in trade with Russia and established themselves in Hull. John Thornton’s father, Robert, inherited the business and also became a director of the Bank of England. Later John’s half-sister, Hannah (d. 1788), married William Wilberforce (1721– 1777), uncle of the famous William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833). Though John was not interested in Russian trade, he inherited partnerships in factories in Hull. He also held shares in the Bank of England, the East India Company, and the South Sea Company. Growing up as an Anglican, Thornton did not show an interest in religion until the age of thirty, when he met his future wife, Lucy Watson, the daughter of the alderman Samuel Watson, a Dissenter and a sugar-refiner. With the teachings of evangelical preachers like Martin Madan (1726 – 1790) and Henry Venn (1725 – 1797), as well as the example of Lucy Thornton, John experienced conversion in the first year of their marriage. After his conversion, Thornton became a supporter of the Evangelical Revival, as he sponsored numerous Christian societies promoting the gospel and distributing the Bible. Thornton also financially supported a number of evangelical clergymen, including the famous John Newton (1725 – 1807). His son Henry Thornton (1760 – 1815) also became a leader of the Clapham Sect. See Milton M. Klein, An Amazing Grace: John Thornton and the Clapham Sect (New Orleans, LA: University Press of the South, 2004); Stephen Tomkins, The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce’s Circle Transformed Britain (Oxford: Lion Books, 2010), 16 – 27.  John Howard (1726 – 1790) used much of his inherited wealth in unrelenting efforts to investigate the conditions of prisons in England and on the Continent. Several reforms of prison conditions and prisoner treatment developed from his studies and recommendations. He died in Russia while studying Russian military hospitals.  A reference to John Howard.  Fuller probably found this quote in “Particulars of the last Will of John Howard, late of Cardington, in the County of Bedford, Esquire, deceased,” The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle 60, part 2 (August 1790): 714. If so, Howard’s actual statement ran as follows: “My immortal spirit I cast on the sovereign mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord my strength, and my song, and, I trust, is become my salvation.”  “Particulars of the last Will of John Howard,” 714.  On John Calvin (1509 – 1564) and Michael Servetus (1511– 1553), see Bruce Gordon, Calvin (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 217– 232; Gary W. Jenkins, Calvin’s Tormentors: Understanding the Conflicts that Shaped the Reformer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2018), 47– 62; Juan Naya and Marian Hillar, eds., Michael Servetus, Heartfelt: Proceedings of the International Servetus Congress, Barcelona, 20 – 21 October 2006 (Lanham, MD/Plymouth, Devon: University Press of America, 2011); Roland H. Bainton, Hunted Heretic: The Life and Death of Michael Servetus (1511 – 1553) (Boston: Beacon, 1953);

Letter VIII

149

not only as a proof of his cruel disposition and odious character, but as if it were sufficient to determine what must be the turn and spirit of Calvinists in general. But supposing the case to which they appeal were allowed to prove the cruelty of Calvin’s disposition⁶⁶⁶—nay, that he was, on the whole,⁶⁶⁷ a wicked man, destitute both of religion and humanity⁶⁶⁸—what would all this prove as to the tendency of the system that happened to be called after his name, but which is allowed to have existed long before he was born? We regard what no man did or taught as oracular, unless he could prove himself divinely inspired, to which Calvin never pretended. Far be it from us to vindicate him,⁶⁶⁹ or any other man, in the business of persecution. We abhor everything of the kind as much as our opponents. Though the principles for which he contended appear to us, in the main, to be just; yet the weapons of his warfare, in this instance, were carnal. It ought, however, to be acknowledged, on the other side (and if our opponents possessed all the candour to which they pretend, they would in this, as well as in other cases, acknowledge), that persecution for religious principles was not at that time peculiar to any party of Christians; but common to all, whenever they were invested with civil power. It was an error, and a detestable one;⁶⁷⁰ but it was the error of the age. They looked upon heresy in the same light as we look upon⁶⁷¹ those crimes which are inimical to the peace of civil society; and, accordingly, proceeded to punish heretics by the sword of the civil magistrate.⁶⁷² If Socinians did not persecute their adversaries so much as Trinitarians, it was because they were not equally invested with the power of doing so. Mr. Lindsey acknowledges that Faustus Socinus himself was not free from persecution, in the case of Francis Davides, superintendent of the Unitarian churches in Transylvania.⁶⁷³ Davides had disputed with Socinus on

Marian Hillar, The Case of Michael Servetus (1511 – 1553): The Turning Point in the Struggle for Freedom of Conscience (Lewisburg, PA: Edwin Mellen, 1997).  alluded to 1793] to which they appeal 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  upon the whole 1793] on the whole 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and as destitute of religion as of humanity; 1793] destitute both of religion and humanity; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Calvin 1793, 1794, 1796] him 1802, 1810.  error; 1793] detestable error; 1794] error, and a detestable one; 1796, 1802, 1810.  we now look upon 1793] we look upon 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  punish them with 1793] punish heretics by 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Fausto Paolo Sozzini, or Faustus Socinus (1539 – 1604), was born in Siena and became the leader of an anti-Trinitarian movement in Florence, Basel, Transylvania, and Poland. Ferenc Dávid, or Franciscus Davidis (ca.1520 – 1579), was the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania. At the Diet of Torda (January 6 – 13, 1568), the Edict of Torda regarded Unitarianism as a tolerable religion, but Stephen Báthory (1533 – 1586), the ruler of Transylvania, prohibited religious conversion, and Dávid was sentenced to life imprisonment in Déva. See Mario Biagioni, The Radical Reformation and the Making of Modern Europe: A Lasting Heritage (Leiden/Boston, MA: Brill, 2017); Martin Mulsow, and Jan Rohls, eds., Socinianism and Arminianism: Antitrinitarians, Calvinists and Cultural Exchange in SeventeenthCentury Europe (Leiden/Boston, MA: 2005); Balázs Mihály, Early Transylvanian Antitrinitarianism

150

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

the invocation of Christ, and “died in prison in consequence of his opinion, and some offence taken at his supposed indiscreet propagation of it from the pulpit. I wish I could say,” adds Mr. Lindsey, “that Socinus, or his friend Blandrata, had done all in their power to prevent his commitment, or procure his release afterwards.”⁶⁷⁴ The difference between Socinus and Davides was very slight. They both held Christ to be a mere man. The former, however, was for praying to him;⁶⁷⁵ which the latter, with much greater consistency, disapproved. Considering this, the persecution to which Socinus was accessory was as great as that of Calvin; and there is no reason to think but that if ⁶⁷⁶ Davides had differed as much from Socinus as Servetus did from Calvin, and if the civil magistrates had been for burning him, Socinus would have concurred with them.⁶⁷⁷ To this might be added, that the conduct of Socinus was marked with disingenuity, in that he considered the opinion of Davides in no very heinous point of light, but was afraid⁶⁷⁸ of increasing the odium under which he and his party already lay among⁶⁷⁹ other Christian churches.⁶⁸⁰ Mr. Robinson, in his Ecclesiastical Researches, has given an account of both these persecutions; but it is easy to perceive the prejudice under which he wrote.⁶⁸¹ He evidently inclines to extenuate the conduct of Socinus,⁶⁸² while he includes⁶⁸³ every possible circumstance that can in any manner blacken the memory of Calvin.⁶⁸⁴ Whatever regard we may bear to the latter, I am persuaded we should not wish to extenuate his conduct in the persecution of Servetus, or to represent⁶⁸⁵ it in softer terms, nor yet so soft, as Mr. Robinson has represented that of the former in the persecution of Davides. We do not accuse Socinianism of being a persecuting system, on account of this instance of misconduct in Socinus; nor is it any proof of the superior candour of our opponents that they are continually acting the very reverse towards us.⁶⁸⁶ As a Bap-

(1566 – 1571): From Servet to Palaeologus, trans. György Novák (Baden-Baden: Editions Valentin Koerner, 1996).  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 138. George Biandrata (1515 – 1588) was an Italian Unitarian.  only the former was for praying to him notwithstanding, 1793] The former, however, was for praying to him; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but if 1793, 1794, 1796] but that if 1802, 1810.  it. 1793] them. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  only he was afraid 1793] but was afraid 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Lindsey, Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, 153 – 156. [AF]  Robert Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches (Cambridge: Francis Hodson, 1792), 636 – 641.  His heart evidently leans to an extenuation on behalf of Socinus, 1793] He evidently inclines to extenuate the conduct of Socinus, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  draws in 1793] includes 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, 331– 348.  or represent 1793] or to represent 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and it is no proof 1739] nor is it any proof 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VIII

151

tist, I might indulge resentment against Cranmer,⁶⁸⁷ who caused some of that denomination to be burned alive; yet I am inclined to think, from all that I have read of Cranmer, that, notwithstanding his conduct in those instances, he was, upon the whole, of an amiable disposition. Though he held with Paedobaptism,⁶⁸⁸ and in this manner defended it, yet I should never think of imputing a spirit of persecution to Paedobaptists in general, or of charging their sentiment,⁶⁸⁹ in that particular, with being of a persecuting tendency. It was the opinion that erroneous religious principles are punishable by the civil magistrate that did the mischief, whether at Geneva, in Transylvania, or in Britain; and to this, rather than to Trinitarianism, or to Unitarianism, it ought to be imputed. We need not hold, with Mr. Lindsey, “the innocence of error” in order to shun a spirit of persecution.⁶⁹⁰ Though we conceive of error, in many cases, as criminal in the sight of God, and as requiring admonition, yea, exclusion from a religions society; yet while we reject all ideas of its exposing a person to civil punishment or inconvenience, we ought to be acquitted of the charge of persecution. Where the majority of a religious society consider the avowed principles of an individual of that society as being fundamentally erroneous, and inconsistent with the united worship and well-being of the whole, it cannot be persecution to endeavour, by scriptural arguments, to convince him; and if that cannot be accomplished, to exclude him from their communion.⁶⁹¹ It has been suggested, that to think the worse of a person on account of his sentiments is a species of persecution, and indicates a spirit of bitterness at the bottom, which is inconsistent with that benevolence which is due to all mankind. But if it be persecution to think the worse of a person on account of his sentiments (unless no man be better or worse, whatever sentiments he imbibes, which very few will care to assert), then it must be persecution for us to think of one another according to truth. It is also a species of persecution of which our opponents are guilty, as well as we,

 Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1553 to 1555. As the architect of the English Reformation, Cranmer shaped the theology and spirituality of Anglicanism, as he was responsible for the composition of the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer. When Mary (1516 – 1558) became queen, Cranmer was put on trial for heresy and later burned in Oxford on March 21, 1556. On Cranmer, see Diarmaid MacCulloch, Thomas Cranmer: A Life (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996); Peter Marshall, Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017); Ashley Null, Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power to Love (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).  And though 1793] Though 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or charging 1793] or of charging 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Lindsey, Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, 44.  The editions of 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1810 omitted the final two sentences of this paragraph in the 1793 edition: “Such a practice agrees, not only with that of the primitive churches, but with that of society in general. No society ever yet existed, or can exist, without the right of excluding those members, whose notions run counter to the grand principles formed.” The following paragraph in the text is not found in the 1793 edition and was added in the 1794 edition.

152

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

whenever they maintain the superior moral tendency of their own system. That which is adapted and intended to do good to the party cannot be persecution, but general benevolence. Let us suppose a number of travellers, all proposing to journey to one place. A number of different ways present themselves to view, and each appears to be the right way. Some are inclined to one; some to another; and some contend that, whatever smaller difference there may be between them, they all lead to the same end. Others, however, are persuaded that they all do not terminate in the same end, and appeal to a correct map of the country, which points out a number of by-paths, resembling those in question, each leading to a fatal issue. Query, Would it be the part of benevolence, in this case, for the latter to keep silence, and hope the best; or to state the evidence on which their apprehensions were founded, and to warn their fellow travellers of their danger? There are, it is acknowledged, many instances of a want of candour and benevolence among us,⁶⁹² over which it becomes us to lament. This is the case especially with those whom Dr. Priestley is pleased to call “the only consistent absolute predestinarians.”⁶⁹³ I may add, there has been, in my opinion, a great deal too much haughtiness and uncandidness discovered by some of the Trinitarians of the Established Church in their controversies with Socinian Dissenters. These dispositions, however, do not belong to them as Trinitarians, but as Churchmen. A slight observation of human nature will convince us that the adherents to a religion established by law, let their sentiments be what they may, will always be under a powerful temptation to take it for granted that they are right, and that all who dissent from them are contemptible sectaries, unworthy of a candid and respectful treatment.⁶⁹⁴ This temptation, it is true, will not have equal effect upon all in the same community. Serious and humble characters will watch against it; and being wise enough to know that real worth is not derived from anything merely external, they may be superior to it. But those of another description will be very differently affected. There is, indeed,⁶⁹⁵ a mixture of evil passions in all our religious affections, against which it becomes us to watch and pray. I see many things,⁶⁹⁶ in those of

 amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  This is the case especially amongst those who have imbibed a set of principles without examination, and seem determined to abide by them, right or wrong. The zeal of such people in support of a system, (which is generally proportioned to their ignorance of it, and of the true grounds on which it rests) will carry them into almost any measures to gain a point. 1793] This is the case especially among those who have adopted a set of principles without examination, and seem determined to abide by them, right or wrong. The zeal of such people in support of a system, (which is generally proportioned to their ignorance of it, and of the true ground on which it rests) will carry them into almost any measures to gain a point. 1794, 1796] This is the case especially with those whom Dr. Priestley is pleased to call “the only consistent absolute predestinarians.” 1802, 1810. The quotation is from Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 22.  The following three sentences in this paragraph were added in the 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1810 editions.  Indeed there is 1793] There is, indeed, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter VIII

153

my own sentiments, which I cannot approve; and, possibly, others may see the same in me. And should the Socinians pretend to the contrary, with respect to themselves, or aspire at a superiority to their neighbours, it may be more than they are able to maintain. It cannot escape the observation of thinking and impartial men, that the candour of which they so frequently boast is pretty much confined to their own party, or those that are near akin to them. Socinians can be candid to Arians, and Arians to Socinians, and each of them to Deists; but if Calvinists expect a share of their tenderness,⁶⁹⁷ let them not greatly wonder if they be disappointed. There need not be a greater, or a more standing proof of this, than the manner in which the writings of the latter are treated in the Monthly Review. It has been frequently observed, that though Socinian writers plead so much for candour and esteem among⁶⁹⁸ professing Christians, yet, generally speaking, there is such a mixture of scornful contempt discovered towards their opponents, as renders their professions far from consistent. Mr. Lindsey very charitably accounts for our errors, by asserting that⁶⁹⁹ “the doctrine of Christ being possessed of two natures is the fiction of ingenious men, determined, at all events, to believe Christ to be a different being from what he really was, and uniformly declared himself to be; by which fiction of theirs they elude the plainest declarations of Scripture concerning him, and will prove him to be the most high God, in spite of his own most express and constant language to the contrary. And as there is no reasoning with such persons, they are to be pitied, and considered as being under a debility of mind in this respect, however sensible and rational in others.”⁷⁰⁰ Would Mr. Lindsey wish to have this considered as a specimen of Socinian candour? If Mrs. Barbauld had been possessed of candour equal to her ingenuity, instead of supposing that Calvinists derive their ideas of election, the atonement, future punishment, etc. from the tyranny and caprice of an Eastern despot, she might have admitted, whether they were right or not, that those principles appeared to them to be taught in the Bible.⁷⁰¹  I can see 1793] I see 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  expect to come in for a share, 1793, 1794, 1796] expect a share of their tenderness, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  for the mistakes of those who embrace the doctrine of our Saviour’s Divinity, by supposing that 1793] for our errors, by asserting that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  In the 1793 edition, Fuller’s quotation of Lindsey reads simply: “They are to be considered and pitied, as being under a debility of mind in this respect, however sensible and rational in others.” In the editions of 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1810, Fuller extended the quotation. Fuller’s original note reads: The quotation is from Theophilus Lindsey, The Catechist: Or, An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Scriptures, Concerning the Only True God and Object of Religious Worship. In Two Parts (London: J. Johnson, 1781), 28. [AF]  A friend of mine, on looking over Mrs. Barbauld’s Pamphlet, in answer to Mr. Wakefield, remarks as follows: “Mrs. B. used to call Socinianism, The frigid zone of Christianity; but she is now got far north herself. She is amazingly clever; her language enchanting; but her caricature of Calvinism is abominable.” [AF] The pamphlet in question was Anna Letitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency and Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London: J. Johnson, 1792).

154

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

If we may estimate⁷⁰² the candour of Socinians from the spirit discovered by Mr. Robinson, in the latter part of his life, the conclusion will not be very favourable to their system. At the time when this writer professed himself a Calvinist, he could acknowledge those who differed from him, with respect to the divinity of Christ, as “mistaken brethren”; at which time his opponents could not well complain of his being uncandid. But when he comes⁷⁰³ to change his sentiments on that article, he treats those from whom he differs in a very different manner, loading them with every species of abuse. Witness his treatment of Augustine,⁷⁰⁴ whose conduct, previously to his conversion to Christianity, though lamented with all the tokens of penitential sorrow and entirely forsaken in the remaining period of his life, he industriously represents to his disadvantage; calling him “a pretended saint, but an illiterate hypocrite, of wicked dispositions”; loading his memory, and even the very country where he lived, with every opprobrious epithet that could be devised.⁷⁰⁵ Similar instances might be added from his Ecclesiastical Researches, in which the characters of Calvin and Beza are treated in an equally uncandid manner.⁷⁰⁶ Dr. Priestley himself, who is said to be the most candid man of his party, is seldom overloaded with this virtue when he is dealing with Calvinists. It does not discover a very great degree of perfection in this, or even in common civility, to call those who consider his principles as pernicious by the name of “bigots, the bigots,” etc., which he very frequently does. Nor is it to the credit of his impartiality, any more than of his candour, when weighing the moral excellence of Trinitarians and Unitar-

 judge of 1793] estimate 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  brethren”; but when he comes 1793] brethren”; at which time his opponents could not well complain of his being uncandid. But when he comes 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Augustine of Hippo Regius (354– 430).  Robert Robinson, The History of Baptism (London, 1790), 652. [AF]  Mr. Robinson, in his notes on Claude [Jean Claude, An Essay on the Composition of a Sermon, 3rd ed. (London: T. Scollick; York: T. Wilson and R. Spence, 1788), 2:147– 148], observes from Mr. [William] Burgh [or William de Burgh, 1741– 1801], that “whatever occurs in modern writers of history, of a narrative nature, we find to be an inference from a system previously assumed, without any view to the seeming truth of the facts recorded; but to the establishment of which the historian appears, through every species of misrepresentation, to have zealously directed his force. The subversion of freedom was the evident purpose of Mr. [David] Hume [1711– 1776], in writing the History of England. I fear we may, with too much justice, affirm the subversion of Christianity to be the object of Mr. [Edward] Gibbon [1737– 1794], in writing his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” [William Burgh, An Inquiry into the Belief of the Christians of the First Three Centuries, Respecting the One Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Being a Sequel to a Scriptural Confutation of the Rev. Mr. Lindsey’s late Apology (York: A. Ward, 1778), 69 – 70, note]. Perhaps it might, with equal propriety, be added, that the subversion of what is commonly called orthodoxy, and the vindication, or palliation, of everything which, in every age, has been called by the name of heresy, were the objects of Mr. Robinson in writing his History of Baptism, and what has since been published under the title of Ecclesiastical Researches. [AF] The first sentence of the above quotation from Burgh actually comes a few lines after the second sentence of the quotation. Theodore Beza (1519 – 1605) was a French reformer, and a disciple and successor of John Calvin in Geneva.

Letter VIII

155

ians against each other, as in a balance, to suppose “the former to have less, and the latter something more, of a real principle of religion, than they seem to have.”⁷⁰⁷ This looks like taking a portion out of one scale and casting it into the other, for the purpose of making weight where it was wanting. Dr. Priestley, in answer to Mr. Burn, On the Person of Christ,⁷⁰⁸ acquits him of “anything base, disingenuous, immoral, or wicked”;⁷⁰⁹ and seeing Mr. Burn had not acquitted him of all such things in return, the Doctor takes occasion to boast that his “principles, whatever they are, are more candid than those of Mr. Burn.”⁷¹⁰ But if this acknowledgment, candid as it may seem, be compared with another passage in the same performance, it will appear to less advantage. In Letter the fifth,⁷¹¹ the Doctor goes about to account for the motives of his opponents; and if the following language do not⁷¹² insinuate anything “base, immoral, or wicked” to have influenced Mr. Burn, it may be difficult to decide what baseness, immorality, or wickedness is. “As to Mr. Burn’s being willing to have a gird at me, as Falstaff says,⁷¹³ it may easily be accounted for. He has a view to rise in his profession; and being a man of good natural understanding and good elocution, but having had no advantage of education, or family connexions, he may think it necessary to do something, in order to make himself conspicuous; and he might suppose he could not do better than follow the sure steps of those who had succeeded in the same chase before him.”⁷¹⁴ What can any person make of these two passages put together? It must appear, either that Dr. Priestley accused Mr. Burn of motives of which in his conscience he did not believe him to be guilty, or that he acquitted him of everything base and wicked, not because he thought him so, but merely with a view to glory over him by affecting to be under the influence of superior candour and generosity. The manner in which Dr. Priestley treated Mr. Badcock,⁷¹⁵ in his Familiar Letters to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, holding him up as an immoral character at a time  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 100.  Fuller refers to Edward Burn, Letters to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, in Vindication of Those Already Addressed to Him, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: E. Piercey, 1790).  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 271. [AF]  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 144. [AF]  Letter V. 1793] Letter the fifth 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  does not 1793] do not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  A reference to Falstaff’s remark in William Shakespeare’s (1564– 1616), Henry IV, Part II, Act 1, Scene 2, line 281, where Falstaff says, “Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me.” The meaning of the verb “to gird” in this context is “to sneer” or “to scoff at,” a meaning which is now obsolete.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 41.  Samuel Badcock (1747– 1788) was born in South Moulton, Devonshire, to Dissenting parents. Badcock attended Western Academy at Ottery St. Mary, near Exeter, Devonshire. From about 1762 to 1764, Badcock’s studies were funded by the Congregational Fund Board, and he studied under John Lavington, Jr. (1715 – 1764). In 1766, Badcock accepted a call from a congregation at Wimborne

156

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

when, unless some valuable end could have been answered by it, his memory should have been at rest, is thought to be very far from either candour or benevolence. The Doctor and Mr. Badcock seem to have been, heretofore, upon friendly terms and not very widely asunder⁷¹⁶ as to sentiment. Private letters pass between them, and Mr. Badcock always acknowledges Dr. Priestley his superior. But about 1783 Mr. Badcock opposes his friend⁷¹⁷ in the Monthly Review and is thought by many to have the advantage of him. After this, he is said to act scandalously and dishonestly. He dies; and soon after his death, Dr. Priestley avails himself of his former correspondence to expose his dishonesty; and, as if this were not enough, supplies from his own conjectures what was wanting of fact to render him completely odious to mankind. Dr. Priestley may plead that he has held up “the example of this unhappy man as a warning to others.”⁷¹⁸ So, indeed, he speaks; but thinking people will suppose that if this Zimri had not “slain his master, his bones might have rested in peace.”⁷¹⁹ Dr. Priestley had just cause for exposing the author of a piece signed Theodosius, in the manner he has done⁷²⁰ in those Letters. ⁷²¹ Justice to himself required this; but what necessity was there for exposing Mr. Badcock? Allowing that there was sufficient evidence to support the heavy charge, wherein does this affect the merits of the cause? Does proving a man a villain answer his arguments? Is it worthy of a generous antagonist to avail himself of such methods to prejudice the public mind? Does it belong to a controvertist to write his opponent’s history after he is dead, and to hold up his character in a disadvantageous light, so as to depreciate his writing? Whatever good opinion Socinian writers may entertain of the ability and integrity of some few individuals who differ from them, it is pretty evident that they have the candour to consider the body of their opponents as either ignorant or insincere. By

in Dorset and served as their minister until 1769. Badcock then moved and served at Barnstaple in Devon, where he ministered until 1778. Initially an admirer of Priestley, Badcock became his friend, though he later became his critic. Due to his adoption of Socinianism, Badcock resigned his pastorate at Barnstaple and moved back to South Moulton. Unsatisfied with being a Dissenter, Badcock joined the Church of England and was ordained a deacon and then a priest within one week in June 1787. Shortly thereafter, Badcock died in London on May 19, 1788. For Priestley’s critique of Badcock, see his Familiar Letters, 190 – 198.  not very wide asunder 1793] not very widely asunder 1794, 1796] and not very widely asunder 1802, 1810.  Dr. Priestley 1793, 1794, 1796] his friend 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 196.  See 1 Kings 16:8 – 20; 2 Kings 9:30 – 37.  has 1793] has done 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Theodosius: Or, A Solemn Admonition to Protestant Dissenters, on the Proposed Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts (London, 1790) entailed in part a critique of Priestley. As the anonymous author stated (p. 3): “I am disposed to credit Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, in preference to Joseph Priestley, the Apostle of scepticism and infidelity.” Priestley suspected that the author was a certain Rev. Dr. Philip Withers, who died in Newgate Prison in 1790, but this was never proven. See Priestley, Familiar Letters, ix–xiii.

Letter VIII

157

the poem which Mr. Badcock wrote in praise of Dr. Priestley, when he was,⁷²² as the Doctor informs us, his “humble admirer,” we may see in what light we⁷²³ are considered by our adversaries. Trinitarians, among the clergy,⁷²⁴ are there represented as “sticking fast to the Church for the sake of a living”; and those whom the writer calls “orthodox, popular preachers” (which I suppose may principally refer to Dissenters and Methodists) are described as fools and enthusiasts; as either “staring, stamping, and damning in nonsense,” or else “whining out the tidings of salvation, telling their auditors that grace is cheap, and works are all an empty bubble.”⁷²⁵ All this is published by Dr. Priestley in his twenty-second Letter to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, and that without any marks of disapprobation. Dr. Priestley himself, though he does not descend to so low and scurrilous a manner of writing as the above, yet suggests the same thing in the dedication of his Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity. ⁷²⁶ He there praises Dr. Jebb for his “attachment to the unadulterated principles of Christianity, how unpopular soever they may have become, through the prejudices of the weak or the interested part of mankind.”⁷²⁷ After all, it is allowed that Dr. Priestley is in general, and especially when he is not dealing with a Calvinist,⁷²⁸ a fair and candid opponent; much more so than the Monthly Reviewers, who, with the late Mr. Badcock, seem to rank among⁷²⁹ his “humble admirers.”⁷³⁰ Candid and open, however, as Dr. Priestley in general is, the above are certainly no very trifling exceptions; and considering him as excelling most of his

 at such time as he was 1793] when he was 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Trinitarians 1793] we 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Those of the Clergy 1793] Trinitarians, among the Clergy 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 194.  Illustrations of Philosophical Necessity 1793] Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), v. John Jebb (1736 – 1786) was the son of John Jebb (d. 1787), the dean of Cashel (1769 – 1787), and studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He became a fellow of Peterhouse in 1761 and subsequently embraced Socinianism. From 1775 to 1777, Jebb studied medicine at St. Andrews, and later became a physician in London. Priestley knew both Jebb and his father, and became close friends with the younger. See Anthony Page, John Jebb and the Enlightenment Origins of British Radicalism (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003).  when he has not a Calvinist to deal with, 1793] when he is not dealing with a Calvinist, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  About eight or nine years ago, the Monthly Review was at open war with Dr. Priestley; and the Doctor, like an incensed Monarch, summoned all his mighty resources to expose its weakness, and to degrade it in the eye of the public. The conductors of the Review, at length, finding, it seems, that their country was nourished by the king’s country, desired peace. They have ever since very punctually paid him tribute; and the conqueror seems very well contented, on this condition, to grant them his favour, and protection. [AF] In the 1793 edition, this note spelled “public” as “publick” and concluded with the following phrase: “favour, patronage, and protection.”

158

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

party in this virtue,⁷³¹ they are sufficient to prove the point for which they are alleged; namely, that when Socinians profess to be more candid than their opponents, their profession includes more than their conduct will justify. I am, etc.

 as one of the most candid writers of the whole party, 1793] as one of the most candid writers of the party, 1794, 1796] as excelling most of his party in this virtue, 1802, 1810.

Letter IX

159

Letter IX: The systems compared as to their tendency to promote humility Christian brethren, You recollect the prophecy of Isaiah, in which, speaking of gospel times, he predicts “that the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day”;⁷³² as if it were one peculiar characteristic of the true gospel to lay low the pride of man. The whole tenour of the New Testament enforces the same idea.⁷³³ “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.”⁷³⁴ “Jesus said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”⁷³⁵ “Where is boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.”⁷³⁶ It may be concluded with certainty, from these passages and various others of the same import,⁷³⁷ that the system which has the greatest tendency to promote this virtue approaches nearest to the true gospel of Christ. Pride, the opposite of humility, may be distinguished by its objects into natural and spiritual. Both consist in a too-high esteem of ourselves: the one on account of those accomplishments which are merely natural, or which pertain to us as men; the other on account of those which are spiritual, or which pertain to us as good men. With respect to the first, it is not very difficult to know who they are that ascribe most to their own understanding;⁷³⁸ that⁷³⁹ profess to believe in nothing but what they can comprehend; that⁷⁴⁰ arrogate to themselves the name of rational Christians; that affect⁷⁴¹ to “pity all those who maintain the doctrine of two natures in Christ, as being under a debility of mind in this respect, however sensible and rational in oth-

 Isaiah 2:17.  tenor 1793] tenour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 1:26 – 29. [AF]  Matthew 11:25. [AF]  Romans 3:27. [AF]  It may safely be concluded from these passages, and various others of the same meaning, 1793] It may safely be concluded from these passages, and various others of the same import, 1794, 1796] It may be concluded with certainty from these passages, and various others of the same import, 1802, 1810.  understandings 1793, 1794] understanding 1796, 1802, 1810.  who 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  who 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and affect 1793, 1794, 1796] that affect 1802, 1810.

160

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ers”;⁷⁴² that pour⁷⁴³ compliments extravagantly upon one another;⁷⁴⁴ that⁷⁴⁵ speak of their own party as the wise and learned, and of their opponents as the ignorant and illiterate, who are carried away by vulgar prejudices;⁷⁴⁶ that⁷⁴⁷ tax the sacred writers with “reasoning inconclusively”⁷⁴⁸ and writing “lame accounts”;⁷⁴⁹ and that⁷⁵⁰ represent themselves as men of far greater compass of mind than they, or than even Jesus Christ himself! The last of these particulars may excite surprise.⁷⁵¹ Charity, that hopeth all things,⁷⁵² will be ready to suggest, surely no man that calls himself a Christian will dare to speak so arrogantly. I acknowledge, I should have thought so, if I had not read in Dr. Priestley’s Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity ⁷⁵³ as follows: “Not that I think that the sacred writers were Necessarians, for they were not philosophers; not even our Saviour himself, as far as appears: But their habitual devotion naturally led them to refer all things to God, without reflecting on the rigorous meaning of their language; and very probably, had they been interrogated on the subject, they would have appeared not to be apprized of the Necessarian scheme, and would have answered in a manner unfavourable to it.”⁷⁵⁴ The sacred writers, it seems, were well-

 Theophilus Lindsey, The Catechist: Or, An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Scriptures, Concerning the Only True God and Object of Religious Worship. In Two Parts (London: J. Johnson, 1781), 28. [AF] This note is not found in the 1793 edition.  who spout 1793] that pour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joshua Toulmin, Christian Vigilance. Considered in a Sermon, Preached at the Baptist Chapel, in Taunton, on the Lord’s Day, after the Sudden Removal of the Learned and Reverend Robert Robinson (London: J. Johnson and Thomas Knott, 1790), 47, 56. [AF]  who 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 4, 32. [AF]  who 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  In “Observations on Romans v. 12– 14,” in his “On the Reasoning of the Apostle Paul,” which was first published in the Theological Repository, Priestley stated: “If the reasoning of the authors appear to be, in any case, hasty and inconclusive, we shall discharge Christianity of a real incumbrance” (J. T. Rutt, ed., The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley [New York, NY: 1822; Kraus Reprint, 1972], 7:386).  In “Observations relating to the Inspiration of Moses,” in his “On the Reasoning of the Apostle Paul,” Priestley stated: “Lame as I think I have shewn the cosmogony of Moses to be, and contradicted by facts recorded by himself, especially the original distinction of sexes in the human race, as well as in brute animals, and by continual supplies of food being necessary to the continuance of their lives, it is much superior to that of Hesiod, or that of any other heathen writer, and its object is infinitely greater” (Rutt, ed., Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley, 7:312).  who 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  surprize 1793] surprise 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 13:7.  Illustrations of Philosophical Necessity 1793] Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 133 – 134. [AF] Fuller has slightly edited the text he quoted, as Priestley wrote: “Not that I think the

Letter IX

161

meaning persons;⁷⁵⁵ but, at the same time, so ignorant as not to know the meaning of their own language; nay,⁷⁵⁶ so ignorant that, had it been explained to them, they would have been incapable of taking it in! Nor is this suggested of the sacred writers only; but, as it should seem, of ⁷⁵⁷ Jesus Christ himself. A very fit person Jesus Christ must be, indeed, to be addressed as “knowing all things”;⁷⁵⁸ as a “revealer” of the mind of God to men; as “the wisdom of God”;⁷⁵⁹ as he in whom “it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell”;⁷⁶⁰ by whom the judges of the earth are exhorted to be “instructed”;⁷⁶¹ and who shall “judge the world” at the last day;⁷⁶² when, in fact, he was so ignorant as not to consider the meaning of his own language; or if he had been interrogated upon it, would not have been apprized of the extent of the scheme which his words naturally led to, but would probably have answered in a manner unfavourable to it! Is this the language of one that is little in his own eyes?⁷⁶³ But there is such a thing as spiritual pride, or a too-high esteem of ourselves on account of spiritual accomplishments; and this, together with a spirit of bigotry, Dr. Priestley imputes to Trinitarians. “Upon the whole,” says he, “considering the great mixture of spiritual pride and bigotry in some of the most zealous Trinitarians, I think the moral character of Unitarians in general, allowing that there is in them a greater apparent conformity to the world than is observable in others, approaches more nearly to the proper temper of Christianity. It is more cheerful, more benevolent, and more candid. The former have probably less, and the latter, I hope, somewhat more, of a real principle of religion than they seem to have.”⁷⁶⁴ To this it is replied, First, if Trinitarians be proud at all, it seems it must be of their spirituality; for as to rationality, they have none, their opponents having, by a kind of exclusive charter, monopolized that article. It is their misfortune, it seems, when investigating the doctrine of the person of Christ,⁷⁶⁵ to be under a “debility of mind”⁷⁶⁶ or a kind of periodical insanity. sacred writers were, strictly speaking, Necessarians, for they were not philosophers; but their habitual devotion naturally led them to refer all things to God, without reflecting on the rigorous meaning of their language; and very probably, had they been interrogated on the subject, they would have appeared not to be apprized of the proper extent of the Necessarian scheme, and would have answered in a manner unfavourable to it.”  people 1793] persons 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  yea, 1793] nay, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but of 1793, 1794] but, as it should seem of 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 18:4.  1 Corinthians 1:24.  Colossians 1:19.  Psalm 2:10.  John 12:48.  1 Samuel 15:17.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 100 – 101. [AF]  divinity of Christ 1793] doctrine of the person of Christ 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

162

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Secondly, admitting that a greater degree of spiritual pride exists among Trinitarians than among their opponents,⁷⁶⁷ if we were for once to follow⁷⁶⁸ Dr. Priestley’s example, it might be accounted for without any reflection upon their principles. Pride is a sin that easily besets human nature, though nothing is more opposite to the spirit that becomes us; and whatever it is in which a body of men excel,⁷⁶⁹ they are under a peculiar temptation to be proud of that, rather than of other things. The English people have been often charged, by their neighbours, with pride on account of their civil constitution; and I suppose it has not been without reason. They have conceived themselves to excel other nations in that particular; have⁷⁷⁰ been apt to value themselves upon it, and to undervalue their neighbours more than they ought. This has been their fault; but it does not prove that their civil constitution has not, after all,⁷⁷¹ its excellences. Nay, perhaps⁷⁷² the reason why some of their neighbours have not been so proud in this particular as they is that they have not had that to be proud of. Christians, in general, are more likely to be the subjects of pride than avowed infidels; for the⁷⁷³ pride of the latter, though it may rise to the highest pitch imaginable, will not be in their spirituality. The same may be said of Socinians. For while⁷⁷⁴ “a great number of them are only men of good sense, and without much practical religion,”⁷⁷⁵ as Dr. Priestley acknowledges they are, their pride will not be in their spirituality, but in their supposed rationality. Thirdly, let it be considered whether our doctrinal sentiments⁷⁷⁶ do not bear a nearer affinity to those principles which in Scripture are constantly urged as motives to humility than those of our opponents. The doctrines inculcated by Christ and his apostles, in order to lay men low in the dust before God, were those of human depravity, and salvation by free and sovereign grace through Jesus Christ. The language held out by our Lord was, that he “came to seek and to save that which was lost.”⁷⁷⁷ The general strain of his preaching tended⁷⁷⁸ to inform mankind, not only that he  Lindsey, Catechist, 28.  Suppose it were admitted that a greater degree of spiritual pride obtains amongst Trinitarians than amongst their opponents 1793] Suppose it were admitted that a greater degree of spiritual pride exists among Trinitarians, than among their opponents 1794, 1796] Admitting that a greater degree of spiritual pride exists among Trinitarians, than among their opponents 1802, 1810.  we might for once follow 1793] we were, for once, to follow 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  in whatever it is that a body of men excel, 1793] in whatever it be that a body of men excel, 1794] whatever it is in which a body of men excel, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and have 1793] have 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  prove but that their civil constitution after all has 1793] prove that their civil constitution has not, after all, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and perhaps 1793] Nay, perhaps, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the 1793] for, the 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  while 1793] For, while 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100.  principles 1793] sentiments 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Luke 19:10.  went 1793] tended 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter IX

163

came to save lost sinners, but that no man, under any other character, could partake of the blessings of salvation. “I came,” saith he, “not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”⁷⁷⁹ “The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”⁷⁸⁰ To the same purpose, the apostle of the Gentiles declared to the Ephesians, “You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein, in time past, ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”⁷⁸¹ Nor did he speak this of Gentiles or of profligates only; but, though himself a Jew, and educated a Pharisee, he added, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”⁷⁸² To the doctrine of the universal depravity of human nature he very properly and joyfully proceeds to oppose that of God’s rich mercy: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.”⁷⁸³ The humbling doctrine of salvation by undeserved favour was so natural an inference, from these premises, that the apostle could not forbear throwing in such a reflection, though it were in a parenthesis: “By grace ye are saved.”⁷⁸⁴ Nor did he leave it there, but presently after drew the same conclusion more fully: “For by grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”⁷⁸⁵ To the same purport he taught in his other epistles: “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”⁷⁸⁶ “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.”⁷⁸⁷ “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”⁷⁸⁸ These, we see, were the sentiments by which Christ and his apostles taught men humility, and cut off boasting. But, as though it were designed in perfect opposition to the apostolic doctrine, Socinian writers are constantly exclaiming against the Calvinistic system, because it maintains the insufficiency of a good moral life to recommend us to the favour of God. “Repentance, and a good life,” says Dr. Priestley, “are

         

Luke 5:32; Matthew 9:13. Luke 5:31; Matthew 9:12. Ephesians 2:1– 2. [AF] Ephesians 2:3. [AF] Ephesians 2:4– 5. [AF] Ephesians 2:5. [AF] Ephesians 2:8 – 9. [AF] 2 Timothy 1:9. [AF] Titus 3:5. [AF] 1 Corinthians 1:30 – 31. [AF]

164

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

of themselves sufficient to recommend us to the Divine favour.”⁷⁸⁹ “When,” says Mrs. Barbauld, “will Christians permit themselves to believe that the same conduct which gains them the approbation of good men here will secure the favour of heaven hereafter?”⁷⁹⁰ “When a man like Dr. Price is about to resign his soul into the hands of his Maker,⁷⁹¹ he ought to do it⁷⁹² not only with a reliance on his mercy but his justice. It does not become him to pay the blasphemous homage of deprecating the wrath of God, when he ought to throw himself into the arms of his love.”⁷⁹³ “Other foundation than this can no man lay,” says Dr. Harwood:⁷⁹⁴ “All hopes founded upon anything else than a good moral life are merely imaginary.”⁷⁹⁵ So they wrap it up.⁷⁹⁶ If a set of writers united⁷⁹⁷ together, and studied to form an hypothesis in perfect contradiction to the Holy Scriptures, and the declared humbling tendency of the gospel, they could

 Joseph Priestley, An History of the Corruptions of Christianity, in Two Volumes (Birmingham: Piercey and Jones for J. Johnson, 1782), 1:155. [AF]  Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency and Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London: J. Johnson, 1792), 71. [AF]  Richard Price was an influential Welsh economist and theologian as well as a moral philosopher and a champion of the American and French Revolutions. His father, Rice Price (1673 – 1739), was a Presbyterian minister and tutor at Brynllywarch. Richard studied at Vavasor Griffiths’s (d. 1741) Academy in Llwynllwyd, Breconshire, from 1738 to 1740, when he transferred to Moorfields Academy near London. In 1744, Price became chaplain to George Streatfield at Stoke Newington, while tutoring at Old Jewry. In 1758, Price was called to be the minister of Newington Green meeting house and ministered there until his death. It was during his pastorate at Newington Green that he became acquainted with people such as Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), Thomas Paine (1737– 1809), William Pitt (1759 – 1806), John Howard, and John Jebb. One of Price’s most influential congregants was Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797). Theologically, Price rejected the doctrines of original sin and moral punishment, and he taught Arianism and Socinianism. Particularly in his Review of Questions and Difficulties in Morals (1757), Price criticized empiricism and emphasized the role of reason in moral decisions. By removing emotions and feelings from the central position, Price argued for rational intuition in moral judgments. In 1765, Price was admitted to the Royal Society for his work on probability, which laid the foundation for a scientific system of life insurance and pensions. See Paul Frame, Liberty’s Apostle: Richard Price, His Life and Times (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2015); Roland Thomas, Richard Price, Philosopher and Apostle of Liberty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1924); Henri Laboucheix, Richard Price, théoricien de la révolution américaine (Montreal: Didier, 1970).  it, she adds, 1793] it, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry, 72 [AF]  Edward Harwood (1729 – 1794) was a Dissenting minister at the Tucker Street Presbyterian congregation in Bristol and a biblical scholar. Before he was called to Bristol in 1765, Harwood taught at a grammar school in Congleton, Cheshire, where he met Priestley and also became acquainted with John Taylor (1694– 1761). Under Taylor’s influence, Harwood adopted a semi-Arian theology, and later in his life inclined towards Socinianism. In 1765, Harwood expressed his opposition to predestination and proposed to issue a new translation of the New Testament. He left Bristol in 1772 and settled in London, where he published works on the Greek and Roman classics.  Edward Harwood, Discourses on St. Paul’s Description of Death, and Its Consequences (London: J. Johnson, 1790), 193. [AF]  Micah 7:3.  had united 1793, 1794, 1796] united 1802, 1810.

Letter IX

165

not have hit upon a point more directly to their purpose. The whole tenor⁷⁹⁸ of the gospel says, “It is not of works, lest any man should boast.”⁷⁹⁹ But Socinian writers maintain that it is of works, and of them only; that in this, and in no other way, is the Divine favour to be obtained. We might ask, Where is boasting then? Is it excluded?⁸⁰⁰ Nay; is it not admitted and cherished?⁸⁰¹ Christ and his apostles inculcated humility, by teaching the primitive Christians that virtue itself was not of themselves, but the gift of God. They not only expressly declared this with respect to faith, but the same, in effect, of every particular included in the general notion of true godliness.⁸⁰² “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,” said Christ, “except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me:”⁸⁰³ for “without me ye can do nothing.”⁸⁰⁴ “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”⁸⁰⁵ “He worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.”⁸⁰⁶ The manifest design of these important sayings⁸⁰⁷ was to humble the primitive Christians, and to make them feel their entire dependence upon God for virtue, even for every good thought. “Who maketh thee to differ?” said the apostle, “and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?”⁸⁰⁸ The Calvinistic system, it is well known, includes the same things; but where is the place for them, or where do they appear, in the system of our opponents? Dr. Priestley, in professed opposition to Calvinism, maintains “that it depends entirely upon a man’s self whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable”;⁸⁰⁹ that is to say, it is a man’s self that maketh him to differ from another; and he has that (namely, virtue) which he did not receive, and in which, therefore, he may glory.⁸¹⁰

 tenor 1793, 1802, 1810] tenour 1794, 1796.  Ephesians 2:9.  Romans 3:27.  it is admitted and cherished. 1793, 1794, 1796] is it not admitted and cherished? 1802, 1810.  of every species of Godliness. 1793] of every particular included in the general notion of true godliness. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 15:4. [AF]  John 15:5. [AF]  Ephesians 2:10. [AF]  Philippians 2:13. [AF]  these sentiments 1793] these important sayings 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 4:7. [AF]  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 153. [AF]  It is true, Dr. Priestley himself sometimes allows that virtue is not our own, and does not arise from within ourselves, and calls that mere heathen Stoicism that maintains the contrary, and tells us that “those persons who from a principle of religion ascribe more to God, and less to man are persons of the greatest elevation in piety” (Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 107, 108). Yet in the same performance he represents it as a part of the Necessarian scheme by which it is opposed to Calvinism, that “it depends entirely upon a man’s self whether he be virtuous or vicious” (Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 153). If Dr. Priestley mean no more by these expressions than that our

166

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Dr. Priestley replies to this kind of reasoning, “When we consider ourselves as the workmanship of God, that all our powers of body and of mind are derived from him, that he is the giver of every good and of every perfect gift,⁸¹¹ and that without him we can do and enjoy nothing, how can we conceive ourselves to be in a state of greater dependence or obligation? that is, what greater reason or foundation can there possibly be for the exercise of humility? If I believe that I have a power to do the duty that God requires of me; yet, as I also believe that that power is his gift, I must still say, ‘What have I that I have not received? and how then can I glory as if I had not received it?’”⁸¹² It is true Dr. Priestley, and, for aught I know, all other writers, except atheists, acknowledge themselves indebted to God for the powers by which virtue is attained, and perhaps, for the means of attaining it; but this is not acknowledging that we are indebted to him for virtue itself. Powers and opportunities are mere natural blessings; they have no virtue in them,⁸¹³ but are a kind of talent, capable of being improved or not improved. Virtue consists not in the possession of natural powers,⁸¹⁴ any more than in health, or learning, or riches; but in the use that is made of them. God does not, therefore, upon this principle,⁸¹⁵ give us virtue.⁸¹⁶ Dr. Priestley contends, that as we are “God’s workmanship, and derive all our powers of body and mind from him, we cannot conceive of ourselves as being in a state of greater dependence upon him.”⁸¹⁷ The apostle Paul, however, teaches the necessity of being “created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”⁸¹⁸ According to Paul, we must beconduct in life whether virtuous or vicious depends upon our choice, the Calvinistic scheme, as well as his own, allows of this. But if he mean that a virtuous choice originates in ourselves, and that we are the proper cause of it, this can agree to nothing but the Arminian notion of a self-determining power in the will, and that in fact, as he himself elsewhere observes, is “mere heathen Stoicism, which allows men to pray for external things, but admonishes them that, as for virtue, it is our own, and must arise from within ourselves if we have it at all” (Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 69). [AF]  James 1:17.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 19 – 20. [AF] The text at the end of this quotation is 1 Corinthians 4:7.  but then these powers and opportunities are considered merely as natural, as having no virtue in them 1793] but this is not acknowledging that we are indebted to him for virtue itself. Powers and opportunities are mere natural blessings; they have no virtue in them, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  not in the powers themselves 1793] not in the possession of natural powers 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  according to this system 1793] upon this principle 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  virtue. According to Paul 1793] virtue. Dr. Priestley contends, that as we are “God’s workmanship, and derive all our powers of body and mind from him, we cannot conceive of ourselves as being in a state of greater dependence upon him.” The apostle Paul, however, teaches the necessity of being “created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” According to Paul 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. These two sentences are not found in the 1793 edition.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 19.  Ephesians 2:10.

Letter IX

167

come his workmanship by a new creation, in order to the performance of good works;⁸¹⁹ but according to Dr. Priestley, the first creation is sufficient.⁸²⁰ Now,⁸²¹ if so, the difference between one man and another is not to be ascribed to God; for it is supposed that God has given all men the powers of attaining virtue, and that the difference between the virtuous man and his neighbour is to be ascribed to himself, in making a good use of the powers and opportunities with which he was invested. Upon this system, therefore, we may justly answer the question, “What hast thou which thou hast not received?” I have virtue, and the promise of eternal life as its reward; and, consequently, have “whereof to glory.”⁸²² In short,⁸²³ the whole of Dr. Priestley’s concessions amount to nothing more⁸²⁴ than the heathen Stoicism which he elsewhere condemns. Those ancient philosophers⁸²⁵ could not deny that all their powers were originally derived from above; yet they maintained “that, as for virtue, it is our own, and must arise from within ourselves, if we have it at all.”⁸²⁶ I do not deny that⁸²⁷ all men have natural powers, together with means and opportunities of doing good; which, if they were but completely well-disposed,⁸²⁸ are equal to the performance of their whole duty. God requires no more of us than⁸²⁹ to love and serve him with all our strength.⁸³⁰ These powers and opportunities render them accountable beings,⁸³¹ and will leave them without excuse at the last day. But if they are not rightly disposed, all their natural powers will be abused; and the question is, to whom are we indebted for a change of disposition? If to God, we have reason to lie in the dust, and acknowledge it was he that “quickened us, when we were dead in sins”;⁸³² if to ourselves, the doctrine of the Stoics will be established, and we shall have “whereof to glory.”⁸³³ I am, etc.

 are created in Christ Jesus unto good works 1793] must become his workmanship by a new creation, in order to the performance of good works 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley we need be only created, or endued with natural powers, as we all are by our common Creator 1793] Priestley, the first creation is sufficient. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  And 1793] Now 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Romans 4:2.  Dr. Priestley asks, While they allow themselves to derive all their powers from God, “how can they conceive themselves to be in a state of greater dependence, or obligation?” I answer by allowing that we are indebted to the grace of God for virtue itself. 1793] In short, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  All that he has granted amounts to no 1793] the whole of Dr. Priestley’s concessions amount to nothing 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  ; these heathens 1793] Those ancient philosophers 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 69.  but that 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but rightly disposed 1793] but completely well-disposed 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  requires us 1793] requires no more of us than 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See Deuteronomy 6:5, 30:6; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27.  opportunities are what render 1793] opportunities render 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ephesians 2:5.  Romans 4:2.

168

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter X: On charity, in which is considered the charge of bigotry Christian brethren, The main reason why we are accused of spiritual pride, bigotry, uncharitableness, and the like, is the importance which we ascribe to some of our sentiments. Viewing them as essential to Christianity, we cannot, properly speaking, acknowledge⁸³⁴ those who reject them as Christians.⁸³⁵ It is this which⁸³⁶ provokes the resentment of our opponents, and induces them to load us with opprobrious epithets. We have already touched upon this topic, in the Letter on Candour,⁸³⁷ but will now consider it more particularly. It is allowed that we ought not to judge of whole bodies of men by the denomination under which they pass, because names do not always describe the real principles they embrace. It is possible that a person who attends upon a very unsound ministry may not understand or adopt⁸³⁸ so much of the system which he hears inculcated, as that his disposition⁸³⁹ shall be formed or his conduct regulated by it. I have heard, from persons who have been much conversant with Socinians, that though in general they are of a loose, dissipated turn of mind, assembling in the gay circles of pleasure, and following the customs and manners of the world; yet that there are some among⁸⁴⁰ them who are more serious; and that these, if not in their conversation, yet in their solemn addresses to the Almighty, incline to the doctrines of Calvinism. This perfectly accords with Mrs. Barbauld’s representation of the matter, as noticed towards the close of the sixth Letter.⁸⁴¹ These people are not, properly speaking, Socinians; and therefore ought to be left quite out of the question. For the question is, whether as believing in the deity and atonement of Christ, with other correspondent doctrines, we be required, by the charity inculcated in the gospel, to acknowledge, as fellow Christians, those who thoroughly and avowedly reject them.⁸⁴² It is no part of the business of this Letter to prove that these doctrines are true; this at present I have a right to take for granted. The fair state of the objection, if delivered by a Socinian, would be to this effect: “Though your sentiments should be right, yet by refusing to acknowledge, as fellow Christians, others who differ from  cannot acknowledge 1793, 1794, 1796] cannot, properly speaking, acknowledge 1802, 1810.  them, properly speaking, as Christians 1793, 1796] them as Christians 1794, 1802, 1810.  that 1793, 1794, 1796] which 1802, 1810.  Candor 1793] Candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  imbibe 1793] adopt 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  temper 1793, 1794, 1796] disposition 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See above, p. 125 – 126.  acknowledge those who thoroughly and avowedly reject them, as fellow Christians 1793] acknowledge, as fellow Christians, those who thoroughly and avowedly reject them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter X

169

you,⁸⁴³ you overrate their importance, and so violate the charity recommended by the gospel.” To the objection, as thus stated, I shall endeavour to reply. Charity, it is allowed, will induce us to put the most favourable construction upon things, and to entertain⁸⁴⁴ the most favourable opinion of persons, that truth will admit. It is far from the spirit of Christianity to indulge a censorious temper, or to take pleasure in drawing unfavourable conclusions against any person whatever;⁸⁴⁵ but the tenderest disposition towards mankind cannot convert truth into falsehood, or falsehood into truth. Unless, therefore, we reject the Bible, and the belief of anything as necessary to salvation, though we should stretch our good opinion of men to the greatest lengths, yet we must stop somewhere. Charity itself does not so “believe all things” as to disregard truth and evidence.⁸⁴⁶ We are sometimes reminded of our Lord’s command, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”⁸⁴⁷ This language is, doubtless, designed to reprove a censorious disposition, which leads people to pass unjust judgment, or to discern a mote in a brother’s eye, while they are blind to a beam in their own:⁸⁴⁸ but it cannot be intended to forbid all judgment whatever, even upon characters; for this would be contrary to what our Lord teaches in the same discourse, warning his disciples to beware of false prophets, who would come to them in sheep’s clothing;⁸⁴⁹ adding, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”⁸⁵⁰ Few⁸⁵¹ pretend that we ought to think favourably of profligate characters, or that it is any breach of charity to think unfavourably concerning them. But if the words of our Lord be understood as forbidding all judgment whatever upon characters, it must be⁸⁵² wrong to pass any judgment upon them.⁸⁵³ Nay,⁸⁵⁴ it must be wrong for a minister to declare to a drunkard, a thief, or an adulterer that, if he die in his present condition, he must perish,⁸⁵⁵ because this is judging the party not to be in a state of salvation. All the use that is commonly made of our Lord’s words is in favour of sentiments, not of actions; but the Scriptures make no such distinction. Men are there represented⁸⁵⁶ as being under the wrath of God who have not believed on the name of the

 acknowledge others who differ from you as fellow Christians, 1793, 1794, 1796] acknowledge, as fellow Christians, others who differ from you, 1802, 1810.  entertain 1793] to entertain 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  person, or persons whatever 1793] person whatever 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 13:7.  Matthew 7:1. [AF]  Matthew 7:3. [AF]  Matthew 7:15. [AF]  Matthew 7:16. [AF]  Few men would 1793] Few 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  then it is 1793, 1794, 1796] it must be 1802, 1810.  them 1793] these 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  yea 1793] Nay 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  must expect to 1793] must 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  treated 1793] represented 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

170

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

only-begotten Son of God; nor is there anything intimated in our Lord’s expressions, as if the judgment which he forbade⁸⁵⁷ his disciples to pass were to be confined to matters of sentiment. The judgment which is there reproved is partial or wrong judgment, whether it be on account of sentiment or of practice.⁸⁵⁸ Even those who plead against judging persons on account of sentiment (many of them at least) allow themselves to think unfavourably of avowed infidels, who have heard the gospel, but continue to reject it. They themselves, therefore, do judge unfavourably of men on account of their sentiments; and must do so, unless they will reject the Bible, which declares unbelievers to be under condemnation. Dr. Priestley, however, seems to extend his favourable opinion to idolaters and infidels, without distinction. “All differences in modes of worship,” he says, “may be only the different methods by which different men (who are equally the offspring of God) are endeavouring to honour and obey their common Parent.”⁸⁵⁹ He also inveighs against a supposition that the mere holding of any opinions (so it seems the great articles of our faith must be called) should exclude men from the favour of God. It is true what he says is guarded so much as to give the argument he engages to support a very plausible appearance; but withal so ill directed as not in the least to affect that of his opponents. His words are these: “Let those who maintain that the mere holding of any opinions (without regard to the motives and state of mind through which men may have been led to form them) will necessarily exclude them from the favour of God, be particularly careful with respect to the premises from which they draw so alarming a conclusion.”⁸⁶⁰ The counsel contained in these words is undoubtedly very good. Those premises ought to be well-founded from which⁸⁶¹ such a conclusion is drawn. I do not indeed suppose⁸⁶² that any ground for such a conclusion exists, and who they are that draw it I cannot tell. The mere holding of an opinion, considered abstractedly from the motive or state of mind of him that holds it, must be simply an exercise of intellect; and, I am inclined to think, has in it neither good nor evil. But the question is, whether there be not truths which⁸⁶³ from the nature of them cannot be rejected without an evil bias of heart; and, therefore, where⁸⁶⁴ we see those truths rejected, whether we have not authority to conclude that such rejection must have arisen from an evil bias.

 forbad 1793] forbade 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or practice 1793] or of practice 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 13. [AF]  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 11– 12.  whence 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802] which 1810.  Indeed, I do not suppose1793] I do not indeed suppose 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that 1793] which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  when 1793] where 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter X

171

If a man say, “There is no God,”⁸⁶⁵ the Scripture teaches us to consider it rather as the language of his heart than simply of his judgment, and makes no scruple of calling him a fool; which, according to the scriptural idea of the term, is equal to calling him a wicked man.⁸⁶⁶ And let it be seriously considered, upon what other principle our Lord could⁸⁶⁷ send forth his disciples to “preach the gospel to every creature,” and add, as he did, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned.”⁸⁶⁸ Is it not here plainly supposed that the gospel was accompanied with such evidence, that no intelligent creature could reject it but from an evil bias of heart, such as would justly expose him to damnation? If it had been possible for an intelligent creature, after hearing the gospel, to think Jesus an impostor, and his doctrine a lie, without any evil motive, or corrupt state of mind, I desire to know how the Lord of glory is to be acquitted of something worse than bigotry in making such a declaration. Because⁸⁶⁹ the mere holding of an opinion, irrespective of the motive or state of mind in him that holds it, is⁸⁷⁰ neither good nor evil, it does not follow that⁸⁷¹ “all differences in modes of worship may be only the different methods by⁸⁷² which different men are endeavouring to honour and obey their common Parent.” The latter includes more than the former. The performance of worship contains more than the mere holding of an opinion; for it includes an exercise of the heart. Our Lord and his apostles did not proceed on any such principle⁸⁷³ when they went forth preaching the gospel, as I hope has been sufficiently proved in the Letter on Candour. ⁸⁷⁴ The principles on which they proceeded were, “An assurance that they were of God, and that the whole world were lying in wickedness—That he who was of God would hear their words; and he that was not of God would not hear them—That he who believed their testimony set to his seal that God was true; and he that believed it not, made God a liar.”⁸⁷⁵ If we consider a belief of the gospel, in those who hear it, as essential to salvation, we shall be called bigots; but if this be bigotry, Jesus Christ and his apostles were bigots; and the same outcry might have been raised against them, by both

 Psalm 10:5, 14:1, 53:1.  Psalm 10:4.  could our Lord 1793] our Lord could 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Mark 16:15 – 16.  It does not follow from 1793] Because 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  being 1793] is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that 1793] it does not follow that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 13.  parent.” Neither did Christ or his apostles, when they went forth preaching the gospel, proceed upon any such principle 1793] parent.” The latter includes more than the former. The performance of worship contains more than the mere holding of an opinion; for it includes an exercise of the heart. Our Lord and his apostles did not proceed on any such principle 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Candor 1793] Candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Here Fuller has conflated and paraphrased 1 John 4:6; 5:10, 19; 1:10; John 3:33.

172

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Jews and Greeks, as is now raised against us. Jesus Christ himself said to⁸⁷⁶ the Jews, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins”;⁸⁷⁷ and his apostles went forth with the same language. They wrote and preached that men “might believe that Jesus was the Christ; and that, believing, they might have life through his name.”⁸⁷⁸ Those who embraced their testimony they treated as in a state of salvation, and those who rejected it were told that⁸⁷⁹ they had “judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life.”⁸⁸⁰ In short, they acted as men fully convinced of the truth of what their Lord had declared in their commission; “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”⁸⁸¹ To all this an unbelieving Jew might have objected in that day, with quite as good a grace as Socinians object in this, “These men think that our salvation depends upon receiving their opinions! Have we not been the people of God, and in a state of salvation, time out of mind, without believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God? Our fathers believed only⁸⁸² in general that there was a messiah to come; and were, no doubt, saved in that faith. We also believe⁸⁸³ the same, and worship the same God; and yet, according to these bigots, if we reject their opinion concerning Jesus being the Messiah, we must be judged unworthy of everlasting life.” A heathen also, suppose one of Paul’s hearers at Athens, who had just heard him deliver the discourse at Mars-hill (recorded in Acts 17:22, 31), might have addressed his countrymen in some such language as the following: “This Jewish stranger, Athenians, pretends to make known to us ‘the unknown God.’ Had he been able to make good his pretensions, and had this been all, we might have been obliged to him. But this unknown God, it seems, is to take place of all others that are known, and be set up at their expense.⁸⁸⁴ You have hitherto, Athenians,⁸⁸⁵ acted worthy of yourselves; you have liberally admitted all the gods to a participation of your worship; but now, it seems, the whole of your sacred services is⁸⁸⁶ to be engrossed by one. You have never been used to put any restraint⁸⁸⁷ upon thought or opinion; but, with the utmost freedom, have ever been in search of new things. But this man tells us, we ‘ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto silver or gold’;⁸⁸⁸ as though we were bound to adopt his manner of thinking, and no other. You have been

            

told 1793] said to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 8:24. John 20:31. were given to understand that 1793] were told that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Acts 13:46. Mark 16:16. only believed 1793] believed only 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. And we believe 1793] We also believe 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. expence 1793, 1794, 1796] expense 1802, 1810. Athenians, you have hitherto 1793] You have hitherto, Athenians, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. whole is 1793] whole of your sacred services is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. constraint 1793, 1794, 1796] restraint 1802, 1810. Acts 17:29.

Letter X

173

famed for your adoration of the gods; and to this even your accuser himself has borne witness;⁸⁸⁹ yet he has the temerity to call us to repentance for it.⁸⁹⁰ It seems, then, we are considered in the light of criminals, criminals on account of our devotions, criminals for being too religious, and for adhering to the religion of our ancestors! Will Athenians endure this? Had he possessed the liberality becoming one who should address an Athenian audience, he would have supposed that, however we might have been hitherto mistaken in our devotions, yet our intentions were⁸⁹¹ good; and that ‘all the differences in modes of worship, as practised by Jews and Athenians (who are equally, by his own confession, the offspring of God), may have been only different methods by which we have been endeavouring to honour and obey our common Parent.’⁸⁹² Nor is⁸⁹³ this all; for we⁸⁹⁴ are called to repentance, because this unknown God⁸⁹⁵ hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world, etc.⁸⁹⁶ So, then, we are to renounce our principles and worship, and embrace his, on pain of being called to give an account of it before a divine tribunal. Future happiness is to be confined to his sect; and our eternal welfare depends upon our embracing his opinions! Could your ears have been insulted, Athenians, with an harangue more replete with pride, arrogance, and bigotry?” “But, to say no more of this⁸⁹⁷ insulting language, the importance he⁸⁹⁸ gives to his opinions, if there were no other objection, must ever be a bar to their being received at Athens. You, Athenians, are friends to free enquiry. But should our philosophers turn Christians, instead of being famous, as heretofore, for the search of new truth, they must sink into a state of mental stagnation. ‘Those persons who think that their salvation depends upon holding their present opinions must necessarily entertain the greatest dread of free enquiry. They must think it to be hazarding of their eternal welfare to listen to any arguments, or to read⁸⁹⁹ any books, that savour⁹⁰⁰ of idolatry.’⁹⁰¹ It must appear to them in the same light as listening to any other temptation, whereby they would be in danger of being seduced to their everlasting de-

 this even your accuser himself has borne witness to 1793] to this even your accuser himself has borne witness 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but yet he has the temerity to call it superstition, and what is more, to 1793, 1794, 1796] yet he had the temerity to 1802, 1810.  might be 1793] were 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 13.  But neither is 1793] Nor is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  we 1793] for we 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  God 1793, 1794, 1796] this unknown God 1802, 1810.  Acts 17:31.  his 1793, 1794, 1796] this 1802, 1810.  that he 1793, 1794, 1796] he 1802, 1810.  read 1793, 1794, 1796] to read 1802, 1810.  savor 1793] savour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 14.

174

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

struction. This temper of mind cannot but be a foundation for the most deplorable bigotry, obstinacy, and ignorance.” “The Athenians, I doubt not, will generally abide by the religion of their forefathers; but should any individuals think of turning Christians, I trust they will never adopt⁹⁰² that illiberal principle of making their opinion necessary to future happiness. While this man and his followers hold such a notion ‘of the importance of their present sentiments, they must needs live in the dread of all free enquiry; whereas we, who have not that idea of the importance of our present sentiments, preserve a state of mind proper for the discussion of them. If we be wrong, as our minds are under no strong bias, we are within the reach of conviction; and thus are in the way to grow wiser and better as long as we live.’”⁹⁰³ By the above it will appear that the apostle Paul was just as liable as we are to the charge of bigotry. Those parts which are marked with single reversed commas⁹⁰⁴ are, with only an alteration of the word heresy to that of idolatry, the words of Dr. Priestley in the second section of his Considerations on Differences of Opinions. Judge, brethren, whether these words best fit the lips of a Christian minister or of a heathen caviller. The consequences alleged by the supposed Athenian, against Paul, are far from just, and might be easily refuted; but they are the same, for substance, as those alleged by Dr. Priestley against us; and the premises from which they are drawn are exactly the same. From the whole, I think, it may safely be⁹⁰⁵ concluded, if there be any sentiments taught us in the New Testament in a clear and decided manner, this is one: that the apostles and primitive preachers considered the belief of the gospel which they preached as necessary to the salvation of those who heard it. But though it should be allowed that a belief of the gospel is necessary to salvation, it will still be objected that Socinians believe the gospel as well as others; their Christianity, therefore, ought not to be called in question on this account. To this it is replied, If what Socinians believe be indeed⁹⁰⁶ the gospel, in other words,⁹⁰⁷ if it be not deficient⁹⁰⁸ in what is essential to the gospel, they undoubtedly⁹⁰⁹ ought to be acknowledged as Christians; but if otherwise, they ought not. It has been pleaded, by some who are not Socinians, that we ought to think favourably of all who profess to embrace Christianity, in general, unless their conduct be manifestly immoral. But we have no such criterion afforded us in the New Testament; nor does it accord with

   ble”     

imbibe 1793] adopt 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 14. double reversed comma’s 1793] double reversed commas 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The word “douhas been changed to “single” to accommodate modern punctuation conventions. may be safely 1793, 1794] may safely be 1796, 1802, 1810. be 1793, 1794, 1796] be indeed 1802, 1810. or, in other words, 1793, 1794, 1796] in other words, 1802, 1810. wanting 1793] deficient 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. doubtless 1793] undoubtedly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter X

175

what is there revealed. The New Testament informs us of various “wolves in sheep’s clothing,”⁹¹⁰ who appeared among the primitive Christians; men who professed the Christian name, but yet were, in reality, enemies to Christianity; who “perverted the gospel of Christ,”⁹¹¹ and introduced “another gospel” in its place.⁹¹² But these men, it is said, not only taught false doctrine, but led immoral lives. If by immoral be meant grossly wicked, they certainly did not all of them answer to that⁹¹³ character. The contrary is plainly supposed in the account of the false apostles among⁹¹⁴ the Corinthians; who are called “deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.”⁹¹⁵ I would not here be⁹¹⁶ understood as drawing a comparison between the false apostles and the Socinians. My design, in this place, is not to insinuate any specific charge against them,⁹¹⁷ but merely to prove that, if we judge favourably of the state of every person who bears the Christian name, and whose exterior⁹¹⁸ moral character is fair, we must judge contrary to the Scriptures. To talk of forming a favourable judgment from a profession of Christianity in general, is as contrary to reason and common sense as it is to the New Testament. Suppose a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons, on being asked his political principles, should profess himself a friend to liberty in general. A freeholder enquires, “Do you disapprove, sir, of taxation without representation?” “No.” “Would you vote for a reform in parliament?” “No.” “Do you approve of the liberty of the press?” “No.” Would this afford satisfaction? Is it not common for men to admit that in the gross which they deny in detail? The only question that can fairly be urged is, Are the doctrines which Socinians disown, supposing them to be true, of such importance that a rejection of them would⁹¹⁹ endanger their salvation? It must be allowed that these doctrines may be what we consider them, not only true, but essential to Christianity. Christianity, like every other system of truth, must have some principles which are essential to it; and if those in question be such, it cannot justly be imputed to pride or bigotry, it cannot be uncharitable, or uncandid, or indicate any want of benevolence to think so. Neither can it be wrong to draw a natural and necessary conclusion, that those persons who reject these principles are

         

Matthew 7:15. Galatians 1:7. Galatians 1:8. this 1793] that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. 2 Corinthians 11:13 – 15. [AF] be 1793] be here 1794, 1796] here be 1802, 1810. anything concerning them 1793] any specific charge against them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. outward 1793] exterior 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. as that a rejection of them should 1793] that a rejection of them would 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

176

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

not Christians.⁹²⁰ To think justly of persons is, in no respect, inconsistent with a⁹²¹ universal goodwill towards them. It is not, in the least, contrary to charity to consider unbelievers in the light in which the Scriptures represent them, nor those who reject what is essential to the gospel as rejecting the gospel itself. Dr. Priestley will not deny that Christianity has its great truths, though⁹²² he will not allow the doctrines in question to make any part of them. “The being of a God— his constant overruling providence, and righteous moral government—the divine origin of the Jewish and Christian revelations—that Christ was a teacher sent from God —that he is our master, lawgiver, and judge—that God raised him from the dead—that he is now exalted at the right hand of God—that he will come again, to raise all the dead, and sit in judgment upon them—and that he will then give to every one of us according to our works”; “these,” he says, “are, properly speaking, the only great truths of religion; and to these not only the Church of England, and the Church of Scotland, but even the Church of Rome, gives its assent.”⁹²³ We see here that Dr. Priestley not only allows that there are certain great truths of religion, but determines what, and what “only,” they are. I do not recollect, however, that the false teachers in the churches of Galatia denied any one of these articles; and yet, without rejecting some of the great and essential truths of Christianity, they could not have perverted the gospel of Christ, or have introduced another gospel.⁹²⁴ But Dr. Priestley, it seems, though he allows the above to be great truths, yet considers nothing as essential to Christianity but a belief of the divine mission of Christ. “While a man believes,” he says, “in the divine mission of Christ, he might with as much propriety be called a Mahometan as be denied to be a Christian.”⁹²⁵ To call Socinians Mahometans might, in most cases, be improper; they would still, however, according to this criterion of Christianity, be within the pale of the church; for Mahomet himself, I suppose, never denied the divine mission of Christ, and very few⁹²⁶ of those doctrines which Dr. Priestley calls “the only great truths of religion.”⁹²⁷ The  so. To 1793] so. Neither can it be wrong to draw a natural and necessary conclusion, that those persons who reject these principles are not Christians. To 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  an 1793, 1794, 1796] a 1802, 1810.  only 1793] but 1794] though 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 188 – 189. [AF]  introduced another gospel, and have perverted the gospel of Christ. 1793] perverted the gospel of Christ, or have introduced another gospel. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 30 [AF]. Priestley’s original words are: “Now had men kept to the distinction of opinions only, I cannot conceive how any man could ever have been called a deist, or an infidel, who professed to believe the divine mission of Christ, But the terms Arians, Socinians, etc. easily pass into that of no Christians. This, however, is a most base, and disingenuous proceeding; and those persons might, with the same propriety, call their adversaries Mahometans.”  nor very few, if 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802] and very few 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 188.

Letter X

177

Doctor informs us that “some people consider him, already, as half a Mahometan.”⁹²⁸ Whether this be just or unjust, according to his notions of Christianity a Mahometan is to be considered as more than half a Christian. He ought, if the above criterion be just, to be acknowledged as a fellow Christian; and the whole party, instead of being ranked⁹²⁹ with heathenish and Jewish unbelievers, as they are by this same writer,⁹³⁰ ought to be considered as a sect or denomination of Christians. The Doctor, therefore, need not have⁹³¹ stopped at the Church of Rome, but might have added the church of Constantinople, as agreeing in his “only great truths of religion.”⁹³² I scarcely need to draw the conclusion which follows from what has been observed: if not only those who perverted the gospel among⁹³³ the Galatians did, but even the Mahometans may, acknowledge those truths which Dr. Priestley mentions, they cannot be the only great, much less the distinguishing, truths of the Christian religion. The difference between Socinians and Calvinists is not about the mere circumstantials of religion. It respects nothing less than the rule of faith, the ground of hope, and the object of worship. If the Socinians⁹³⁴ be right, we are not only superstitious devotees, and deluded dependents upon an arm of flesh,⁹³⁵ but habitual idolaters.⁹³⁶ On the other hand,⁹³⁷ if we be right, they are guilty of refusing to subject their faith to the decisions of heaven, of rejecting the only way of salvation, and of sacrilegiously depriving the Son of God of his essential glory.⁹³⁸ It is true they do not deny our Christianity on account of our supposed idolatry; but no reason can be assigned for it, except their indifference to religious truth, and the deistical turn of their sentiments. If the proper deity⁹³⁹ of Christ be a divine truth, it is a great and a fundamental truth in Christianity. Socinians, who reject it, very consistently reject the worship of Christ with it. But worship enters into the essence of religion; and the worship of  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), v. [AF]  ranked along 1793] ranked 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 137– 138. [AF]  Neither need the Doctor to have 1793] The Doctor need not have 1794, 1796] the Doctor, therefore, need not have 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 188.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  they 1793] Socinians 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Jeremiah 17:5. [AF 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810]  we must be habitual idolaters1793] we are not only superstitious devotees, and deluded dependents upon an arm of flesh, but habitual idolaters 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  if 1793] On the other hand, if 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  of the highest sacrilege. 1793] of refusing to subject their faith to the decisions of heaven, of rejecting the only way of salvation, and of sacrilegiously depriving the Son of God of his essential glory. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the deity 1796] the proper deity 1793, 1794, 1802, 1810.

178

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Christ, according to the New Testament, into the essence of the Christian religion. The primitive Christians are characterized by their “calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus.”⁹⁴⁰ The apostle, when writing to the Corinthians,⁹⁴¹ addressed himself “to the Church of God at Corinth, to them that were sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place called upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”⁹⁴² That this is designed as a description of true Christians will not be denied; but this description does not include Socinians, seeing they call not upon the name of Christ. The conclusion is, Socinians would not have been acknowledged, by the apostle Paul, as true Christians.⁹⁴³ If the deity of Christ be a divine truth, it must be the Father’s will that all men should honour the Son in the same sense,⁹⁴⁴ and to the same degree, as they honour the Father; and those who honour him not as God will not only be found opposing the divine will, but are included in the number of those who, by refusing to honour the Son, honour not the Father who hath sent him;⁹⁴⁵ which amounts to nothing less than that the worship which they pay to the Father is unacceptable in his sight.⁹⁴⁶ If the deity of Christ be a divine truth, he is the object of trust; and that not merely in the character of a witness, but as Jehovah, in whom is everlasting strength.⁹⁴⁷ This appears to be another characteristic of true Christians in the New Testament. “In his name shall the Gentiles trust.”⁹⁴⁸ “I know whom I have trusted; and that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him.”⁹⁴⁹ “In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”⁹⁵⁰ But, if it be a characteristic of true Christianity so to trust in Christ as to commit the salvation of our souls into his hands, how can we conceive of those as true Christians who consider him only as a fellow creature, and consequently, place no such confidence in him?⁹⁵¹

 Romans 10:13.  in writing 1793] when writing 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Mr. Lindsey’s observation, that “called upon the name of Christ,” should be rendered, called by the name of Christ, if applied to Romans 10:13, would make the Scriptures promise salvation to everyone that is called a Christian. Salvation is promised to all who believe, love, fear, and call upon the name of the Lord; but never are the possessors of it described by a mere accidental circumstance, in which they are not voluntary, and in which, if they were, there is no virtue. [AF] The reference is to 1 Corinthians 1:2. In the 1793 edition, instead of “believe, love, fear, and call upon the name of the Lord,” Fuller wrote “believe, love, fear, and obey.”  Christians. Again, 1793] Christians. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  must needs be 1793] must be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 5:23.  sight. Again, 1793] sight. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Isaiah 26:4.  Matthew 12:21. [AF]  2 Timothy 1:12. [AF]  Ephesians 1:12, 13. [AF]  him. Again, 1793] him? 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter X

179

If men by nature be in a lost and perishing condition, and if Christ came to seek and save them under those characters, as he himself constantly testified, then all those that were whole in their own eyes, and seemed to need no physician, as the scribes and Pharisees of old, must necessarily be excluded from an interest in his salvation. And in what other light can those persons be considered who deny the depravity of their nature, and approach the Deity without respect to an atoning Saviour? Further, If the death of Christ, as an atoning sacrifice, be the only way of a sinner’s salvation; if there be “no other name given under heaven, or among men, by which we must be saved”;⁹⁵² if this be the “foundation which God hath laid in Zion,”⁹⁵³ and if no other will stand in the day of trial; how can we conceive that those who deliberately disown it, and renounce⁹⁵⁴ all dependence upon it for acceptance with God, should yet be interested in it? Is it supposable that they will partake of that forgiveness of sins which believers are said to receive for his sake, and through his name, who refuse to make use of that name in any of their petitions? If the doctrine of atonement by the cross of Christ be a divine truth, it constitutes the very substance of the gospel; and, consequently, is essential to it. The doctrine of the cross is represented in the New Testament as the grand peculiarity and the principal glory of Christianity. It occupies a large proportion among⁹⁵⁵ the doctrines of Scripture, and is expressed in a vast variety of language. Christ “was delivered for our offences, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.”⁹⁵⁶ “He died for our sins.”⁹⁵⁷ “By his death purged our sins,” is said to “take (or bear) away the sins of the world,”⁹⁵⁸ to have “made peace through the blood of his cross,”⁹⁵⁹ “reconciled us to God by his death,”⁹⁶⁰ “redeemed us by his blood,”⁹⁶¹ “washed us from our sins in his own blood,”⁹⁶² “by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for us,”⁹⁶³ “purchased his church by his own blood,”⁹⁶⁴ etc. etc. This kind of language is so interwoven with the doctrine of the New Testament, that to explain away the one is to subvert the other. The doctrine of the cross is described as being, not merely an important branch of the gospel, but the gospel itself. “We preach Christ crucified; to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but

            

Acts 4:12. Isaiah 28:16. reject 1793] renounce 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Isaiah 53:5. 1 Corinthians 15:3. Hebrews 1:3; John 1:29. Colossians 1:20. Romans 5:10. Ephesians 1:7. Revelation 1:5. Hebrews 9:12. Acts 20:28.

180

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

to them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”⁹⁶⁵ “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.”⁹⁶⁶ “An enemy to the cross of Christ” is only another mode of describing⁹⁶⁷ an enemy to the gospel.⁹⁶⁸ It was reckoned a sufficient refutation of any principle, if it could be proved to involve in it the consequence of Christ’s having “died in vain.”⁹⁶⁹ Christ’s dying for our sins is not only declared to be a divine truth, “according to the Scriptures,” but a truth of such importance that the then-present standing and the final salvation of the Corinthians were suspended⁹⁷⁰ upon their adherence to it. In fine, the doctrine of the cross is the central point in which all the lines of evangelical truth meet and are united. What the sun is to the system of nature, that the doctrine of the cross is to the system of the gospel; it is the life of it. The revolving planets might as well exist and keep their course, without the attracting influence of the one, as⁹⁷¹ a gospel be exhibited worthy of the name that should leave out the other. I am aware that Socinian writers do not allow the doctrine of the atonement to be signified by that of the cross. They would tell you that they⁹⁷² believe in the doctrine of the cross; and allow it to have a relative or subordinate importance, rendering the truth of Christ’s resurrection more evident, by cutting off all pretence that he was not really dead.⁹⁷³ Whether this meagre sense of the phrase will agree with the design of the apostle, in this and various other passages in the New Testament—whether it contain a sufficient ground for that singular glorying of which he speaks, or any principle by which the world was crucified to him, and he unto the world—let the impartial judge. But,⁹⁷⁴ be this as it may,⁹⁷⁵ the question here is not whether the doctrine of atonement be signified by that of the cross; but, supposing it to be so, whether it be

 1 Corinthians 1:23. [AF]  1 Corinthians 2:2. [AF]  speaking for 1793, 1794, 1796] describing 1802, 1810.  Philippians 3:18.  Galatians 2:21. [AF]  1 Corinthians 15:1– 3. [AF] the present standing, and final salvation of the Corinthians are suspended 1793] the then present standing and the final salvation of the Corinthians were suspended 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  as for 1793] as 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  they 1793] that they 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, “Glorying in the Cross of Christ,” in Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 402– 420. [AF]  dead. But 1793] dead. Whether this meagre sense of the phrase will agree with the design of the apostle, in this and various other passages in the New Testament—whether it contain a sufficient ground for that singular glorying of which he speaks, or any principle by which the world was crucified to him, and he unto the world—let the impartial judge. But, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  But the 1793, 1794, 1796] But, be this as it may, the 1802, 1810.

Letter X

181

of such importance as to render a denial of it a virtual denial of Christianity.⁹⁷⁶ Once more:⁹⁷⁷ If we believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration, or that a sinner must be renewed in the spirit of his mind, or never enter the kingdom of God, in what light must we consider those who plead for a reformation only,⁹⁷⁸ and deny the doctrine of a supernatural divine influence, by which a new heart is given us, and a new spirit is put within us?⁹⁷⁹ Ought we, or can we, consider them as the subject⁹⁸⁰ of a divine change who are continually ridiculing the very idea of it? It is common for our opponents to stigmatize us with the name of bigots. Bigotry, if I understand it, is a blind and inordinate attachment to one’s opinions.⁹⁸¹ If we be attached to principles on account of their being ours, or because we have adopted⁹⁸² them, rather than because they appear to us to be taught in the Holy Scriptures; if we be attached to some peculiar principles to the neglect of others, or so as to give them a greater proportion in the system than they require; if we consider things as being of greater importance than the Scriptures represent them; if we obstinately adhere to⁹⁸³ our opinions, so as⁹⁸⁴ to be averse to free enquiry, and not open to conviction; if we make so much of principles as to be inattentive to holy practice; or if a difference in religious sentiment destroy or damp our benevolence to the persons of those from whom we differ; in any of these cases we are subject to the charge of bigotry. But we may consider a belief of certain doctrines as necessary to salvation, without coming under any part of the above description. We may be attached to these doctrines

 not what they allow. It is sufficient in this case that we believe otherwise. Our calling in question the truth of their Christianity on account of their rejection of what we believe to be the only way of salvation, is no more than their considering us as idolaters on account of our worshipping one whom they believe to be a mere creature. 1793, 1794, 1796] not whether the doctrine of atonement be signified by that of the cross; but, supposing it to be so, whether it be of such importance as to render a denial of it a virtual denial of Christianity. 1802, 1810.  “Once more” came at the beginning of the next paragraph in the 1793 edition.  reformation, 1793] reformation only, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ezekiel 36:26.  subjects 1793, 1794] subject 1796, 1802, 1810.  The word is said to “Come from the German bey and Gott, or the English by-God. Camden relates that the Normans were called bigots on occasion of their Duke Rollo; who receiving Giffa, daughter of King Charles in marriage, and with her the investiture of the dukedom, refused to kiss the king’s foot, unless he would hold it out for that purpose: and being urged to it by those present, answered hastily, No, by-God, whereupon the king turning about, called him Bigot, which name passed from him to his people.” It is from hence that Mr. Chambers very properly defines a bigot, “A person foolishly obstinate, or perversely wedded to an opinion” (Ephraim Chambers, “Bigot,” Cyclopædia: Or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 2nd ed. [London, 1738], 1:204). [AF, 1793]. This note is omitted in the 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1810 editions.  imbibed 1793] adopted 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  adhere so obstinately to 1793, 1794] obstinately adhere to 1796, 1802, 1810.  as 1793, 1794] so as 1796, 1802 1810.

182

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

not because we have already embraced⁹⁸⁵ them, but on account of their appearing to us to be revealed in the Scriptures; we may give them only that degree⁹⁸⁶ of importance in our views of things which they occupy there; we may be so far friends to free enquiry as impartially to search the Scriptures, to see whether these things be true,⁹⁸⁷ and so open to conviction as to relinquish our sentiments when they are proved to be unscriptural; we may be equally attached to practical godliness, as to the principles on which it is founded; and notwithstanding our ill opinion of the⁹⁸⁸ religious sentiments of men, and our apprehensions of the danger of their condition, we may yet bear goodwill to their persons, and wish for nothing more than an opportunity of promoting their welfare, both for this life and that which is to come. I do not pretend that Calvinists are free from bigotry; neither are their opponents. What I here contend for is that their considering a belief of certain doctrines as necessary to salvation, unless it can be proved that they make more of these doctrines than the Scriptures make of them, ought not to subject them to such a charge. What is there of bigotry in our not reckoning the Socinians to be Christians, more than in their reckoning us idolaters?⁹⁸⁹ Mr. Madan complained of the Socinians “insulting those of his principles with the charge of idolatry.”⁹⁹⁰ Dr. Priestley justified them by observing, “All who believe Christ to be a man, and not God, must necessarily think it idolatrous to pay him divine honours; and to call it so is no other than the necessary consequence of avowing our belief.”⁹⁹¹ Nay, he represents it as ridiculous that they should “be allowed to think the Trinitarians idolaters without being permitted to call them so.”⁹⁹² If Socinians have a right to think Trinitarians idolaters, they have doubtless a right to call them so; and, if they be able, to make it appear so: nor ought we to consider ourselves as insulted by it. I have no idea⁹⁹³ of being offended with any man, in affairs of this kind, for speaking what

 imbibed 1793] embraced 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  proportion and degree 1793] degree 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  are so 1793] be true 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  on the 1793] of the 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  What is there of bigotry in our not reckoning the Socinians Christians, more than in their reckoning us idolaters? 1793, 1794, 1796] What is there of bigotry in our not reckoning the Socinians to be Christians, more than in their reckoning us idolaters? 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 46. [AF] Spencer Madan (1758 – 1836) was the eldest son of Spencer Madan (1729 – 1813), bishop of Bristol (1792– 1794) and of Peterborough (1794– 1813). After studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, Madan became the curate of Wrotham, Kent (1782– 1783). In 1787, Madan became the curate of St. Philip’s, Birmingham, where he ministered until 1790, when he became the canon residentiary of Lichfield Cathedral. Four years later, Madan became the chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough, and in 1800, he became the prebendary of Peterborough Cathedral. While in Birmingham, Madan publicly criticized Priestley and Socinianism, and published A Letter to Doctor Priestley, in Consequence of his “Familiar Letters Addressed to the Inhabitants of the Town of Birmingham, Etc.” (Birmingham: E. Piercey, 1790).  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 46. [AF]  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 46. [AF]  notion 1793] idea 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter X

183

he believes to be the truth. Instead of courting compliments from each other⁹⁹⁴ in matters of such moment, we ought to encourage⁹⁹⁵ an unreservedness of expression, provided it be accompanied with sobriety and benevolence.⁹⁹⁶ But neither ought Socinians to complain of our refusing to acknowledge them as Christians, or to impute it to a spirit of bigotry; for it amounts to nothing more than avowing a necessary consequence of our belief. If we believe the deity and atonement of Christ to be essential to Christianity, we must necessarily think those who reject these doctrines to be no Christians; nor is it inconsistent with charity to speak accordingly.⁹⁹⁷ Again: What is there of bigotry in our not allowing the Socinians to be Christians, more than in their not allowing us to be Unitarians? We profess to believe in the divine unity as much as they do in Christianity. But they consider a oneness of person, as well as of essence, to be essential to the unity of God, and therefore cannot acknowledge us as Unitarians; and we consider the deity and atonement of Christ as essential to Christianity, and therefore cannot acknowledge them as Christians. We do not choose⁹⁹⁸ to call Socinians Unitarians, because that would be a virtual acknowledgment that we ourselves do not believe in the divine unity; but we are not offended at⁹⁹⁹ what they think of us; nor do we impute it to bigotry, or to¹⁰⁰⁰ anything of the kind. We know that while¹⁰⁰¹ they think as they do on the doctrine of the Trinity, our sentiments must appear to them as tritheism. We comfort ourselves in these matters with this, that the thoughts of creatures uninspired of God are liable to mistake. Such are theirs concerning us, and such are ours concerning them; and if Socinians do indeed love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,¹⁰⁰² it is happy for them. The judgment of their fellow creatures cannot affect their state; and thousands who have scrupled to admit them among¹⁰⁰³ the true followers of Christ in this world would rejoice to find themselves mistaken in that matter at the last day. It has been pleaded, by some who are not Socinians, that a belief in the doctrine of the atonement is not necessary to salvation: they observe that the disciples of our Lord, previous to his death, do not appear to have embraced the idea of a vicarious sacrifice; and, therefore, conclude that a belief in a vicarious sacrifice is not of the essence of faith. They add, it was owing to prejudice, and consequently wrong, for the disciples to disbelieve this doctrine; and admit the same thing with respect to Socinians; yet as the error in the one case did not endanger their salvation, they sup We ought not to court compliments of each other, 1793] Instead of courting compliments from each other 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but rather encourage 1793] we ought to encourage 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  it is but accompanied 1793] it be accompanied 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  say so 1793] speak accordingly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  chuse 1793] choose 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  we are not offended however at 1793] but we are not offended at 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or 1793] or to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  while 1793, 1794] that while 1796, 1802 1810.  Ephesians 6:24.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

184

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

pose it may not do so in the other. To this objection the following observations are offered in reply. First, those who object in this manner do not suppose the disciples of Christ to have agreed with Socinians in any of their peculiar sentiments, except the rejection of ¹⁰⁰⁴ a vicarious sacrifice. They allow them to have believed in the doctrines of human depravity, divine influence, the miraculous conception, the pre-existence and proper deity of Christ, the inspiration of the Scriptures, etc. The case of the disciples, therefore, is far from being parallel with¹⁰⁰⁵ that of the Socinians. Secondly,¹⁰⁰⁶ whatever were the ignorance and error which occupied the minds of the disciples, relative to the death of their Lord, their case will not apply to that of Socinians, on account of the difference in the state of revelation, as it stood before and after that event. Were it even allowed that the disciples did reject the doctrine of Christ’s being a vicarious sacrifice, yet the circumstances which they were under render their case very different from ours. We can perceive a considerable difference between rejecting a principle before and after a full discussion of it. It would be a far greater evil, in the present day, to persecute men for adhering to the dictates of their consciences, than it was before the rights of conscience were so fully understood. It may include a thousand degrees more guilt for this country, at the present time, to persist in the slave trade, than to have done the same thing previous to the late enquiry on that business.¹⁰⁰⁷ But the disparity between periods, with regard to the light thrown upon¹⁰⁰⁸ these subjects, is much less than between the periods before and after the death of Christ, with regard to the light thrown upon that subject. The difference between the periods before and after the death of Christ was as great as between a period in which a prophecy is unaccomplished, and that in which it is accomplished. There are many things that seem plain in prophecy, when the event is past, which cannot then be honestly denied; and it¹⁰⁰⁹ may seem wonderful that they should ever have been overlooked or mistaken;¹⁰¹⁰ yet overlooked or mistaken they have been, and that by men of solid understanding and real piety.¹⁰¹¹ It was after the death of Christ, when the means of knowledge began to diffuse light around them, that the disciples were, for the first time, reproved for their slowness of heart to believe,¹⁰¹² in reference to this subject. It was after the death and res-

 belief of 1793] rejection of 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  to 1793, 1794, 1796] with 1802, 1810.  The second and third points in the editions of 1793, 1794, and 1796 became the third and second points, respectively, in the editions of 1802 and 1810.  that subject 1793] that business 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  on 1793] upon 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  which it 1793, 1794] it 1796, 1802, 1810.  overlooked 1793, 1794] overlooked or mistaken 1796, 1802, 1810.  which nevertheless till then were either overlooked, or misunderstood. 1793, 1794] yet overlooked or mistaken they have been, and that by men of solid understanding and real piety. 1796, 1802, 1810.  Luke 24:25

Letter X

185

urrection of Christ, when the way of salvation was fully and clearly pointed out, that those who stumbled at the doctrine of the cross were reckoned disobedient in such a degree as to denominate them unbelievers, and that the most awful warnings and threatenings¹⁰¹³ were pointed against them, as treading underfoot the blood of the Son of God.¹⁰¹⁴ It is true our Lord had repeatedly predicted his death, and it was faulty in the disciples not to understand and believe it; yet what he taught on that subject was but¹⁰¹⁵ little, when compared with what followed. The “great salvation,” as the apostle to the Hebrews expresses it, “first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed” to¹⁰¹⁶ the primitive Christians “by those who heard him”; but then it is added, “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.”¹⁰¹⁷ Now it¹⁰¹⁸ is upon this accumulation of evidence that he asks, “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”¹⁰¹⁹ A belief in the resurrection of Christ is allowed,¹⁰²⁰ on all hands, to be essential to salvation, as it is an event upon which the truth of Christianity rests.¹⁰²¹ But the disciples of Christ, previous to the event, were as much in the dark on this article as on that of the atonement. Even to the last, when he was actually risen from the dead, they visited his tomb, in hope of finding him, and could scarcely believe their senses, with respect to his having left it; “for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.”¹⁰²² Now if the resurrection of Christ, though but little understood before the event, may, after it, be considered as essential to Christianity, there is no reason to conclude but that the same may be said of his atonement. Thirdly: it is not clear that the disciples did reject the doctrine of a vicarious sacrifice. They had all their lives been accustomed to¹⁰²³ vicarious sacrifices: it is therefore very improbable that they should be prejudiced against the idea itself. Their objection to Christ’s laying down his life seems to have been directed simply against his dying, rather than against his dying as a vicarious sacrifice. Could they have been reconciled to the former, for anything that appears, they would have readily acquiesced in the latter. Their objection to the death of Christ seems¹⁰²⁴ to have been

           

threatnings 1793] threatenings 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 10:29. but yet 1793] yet 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. confirmed unto 1793] confirmed to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 2:4. [AF] and it 1793] Now it 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 2:3. [AF] Lastly, A 1796] A 1802, 1810. This paragraph was added in the 1796 edition. 1 Corinthians 15:14– 15; Romans 10:9. [AF] John 20:9. their life been engaged in 1794] their lives been accustomed to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. appears 1793, 1794, 1796] seems 1802, 1810.

186

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

more the effect of ignorance and misguided affection¹⁰²⁵ than of a rooted opposition of principle; and therefore, when they came to see clearly into the design of his death,¹⁰²⁶ it is expressed not as if they had essentially altered their sentiments, but remembered the words which he had spoken to them; of which, while their minds were beclouded with the notions of a temporal kingdom, they could form no clear or consistent ideas, and therefore had forgotten them.¹⁰²⁷ And notwithstanding the ignorance and error which attended the disciples, there are things said of them which apply much more than the objection would seem to allow:¹⁰²⁸ “Whither I go,” said Christ, “ye know; and the way ye know.”¹⁰²⁹ As if he should say, I am not going to a strange place, but to the house of my Father and of your¹⁰³⁰ Father; with the way to which you are acquainted, and therefore will soon be with me. “Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”¹⁰³¹ From this passage it appears that the disciples had a general idea of salvation through Christ, though they did not understand particularly how it was to be accomplished. Further,¹⁰³² Christ taught his hearers, saying, “Except ye eat my flesh, and drink my blood, ye have no life in you”;¹⁰³³ “and the bread that I will give is my flesh, that I will give for the life of the world.”¹⁰³⁴ On this occasion, many of his nominal disciples¹⁰³⁵ were offended, and “walked no more with him”;¹⁰³⁶ but the true disciples were not offended. On the contrary, being asked, “Will ye also go away? Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”¹⁰³⁷ From this passage it plainly appears¹⁰³⁸ that the true disciples of Christ were, even at that time, considered as believing so much on the subject of Christ’s giving himself for the life of the world, as to “eat his flesh, and drink his blood”;¹⁰³⁹ for our Lord certainly did not mean to condemn them, as having “no life in them.” So far were they from rejecting this doctrine, that the same words at which

              

misguided natural affection 1793] misguided affection 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. of it 1793] of his death 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Luke 24:1– 8. [AF] This first sentence was added in the 1802 and 1810 editions. John 14:4. [AF] and your 1793] and of your 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 14:5 – 7. [AF] Moreover 1793] Further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 6:53. [AF] John 6:51. [AF] his disciples 1793] his nominal disciples 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 6:66. [AF] John 6:67– 68. [AF] appears plain 1793] plainly appears 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 6:56.

Letter X

187

the false disciples were offended were to them “the words of eternal life.”¹⁰⁴⁰ Probably, this great truth was sometimes more and sometimes less apparent to their view. At those periods in which their minds were occupied with the notion of a temporal kingdom, or in which events turned up contrary to their expectations, they would be all in darkness concerning it; yet, with all their darkness, and with all¹⁰⁴¹ their doubts, it does not appear to be a doctrine which they can be said to have rejected. No person, I think, who is open to conviction can be a bigot, whatever be his religious sentiments. Our opponents, it is true, are very ready to suppose that this is our general character, and that we are averse to free inquiry; but this may be more than they are able to prove. We acknowledge that we do not choose to circulate books indiscriminately among our friends which are considered by us as containing false and pernicious doctrines;¹⁰⁴² neither do other people. I never knew a zealous Dissenter eager to circulate a book containing High Church principles among his children and connections, nor a Churchman those which contain the true principles of dissent. In like manner, an Antitrinitarian will not propagate the best productions of Trinitarians.¹⁰⁴³ If they happen to meet with a weak performance, in which the subject is treated to disadvantage, they may feel no great objection to make it public;¹⁰⁴⁴ but it is otherwise with respect to those in which it is treated to advantage. I have known some gentlemen affecting to possess what has been called a liberal mind,¹⁰⁴⁵ who have discovered no kind of concern at the indiscriminate circulation of Socinian productions; but I have also perceived that those gentlemen have not been far from their kingdom of heaven. If any person choose to read the writings of a Socinian, or of an atheist, he is at liberty to do so; but, as the Monthly Reviewers themselves observe,¹⁰⁴⁶ “Though we are always ready to engage in inquiries after truth, and wish to see them at all times promoted; yet we choose to avoid disseminating notions which we cannot approve.”¹⁰⁴⁷  John 6:68.  and all 1793] and with all 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  books, which we consider as containing 1793] books, which are considered by us as containing 1794, 1796] books indiscriminately among our friends which are considered by us as containing 1802, 1810.  Nor will an Anti-trinitarian propagate the best productions of Trinitarians 1793] In like manner, an Anti-trinitarian will not propagate the best productions of trinitarians 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  I have known some gentleman, who have affected to possess what has been called a liberality of mind 1793] I have known some gentlemen affecting to possess what has been called a liberal mind 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  observed 1793] somewhere observed 1794] observe 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. XIII. Les Ruines, Etc. i. e. The Ruins; or Reflections on the Revolutions of Empires. By M. Volney … Paris. 1791,” in “Appendix to the Sixth Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal 6 (September–December 1791): 555. Fuller changed how he quoted this statement between the 1794 and 1796 editions. In the first two editions, he paraphrased it as follows: “We are not obliged to aid and assist in the propagation of sentiments which we do not approve.” In the next three editions, he quoted the exact text, which is what appears in the text above.

188

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

As to being open to conviction ourselves, it has been frequently observed that Socinians discover as great an aversion to the reading of our writings as we can discover to the reading of theirs. Some will read them, but not many. Out of a hundred persons, whose minds lean towards the Socinian system, should you put into their hands a well-written Calvinistic performance, and desire them carefully and seriously to read it over, I question whether¹⁰⁴⁸ five would comply with your request. So far, however, as any observation extends,¹⁰⁴⁹ I can perceive in such persons an eagerness for reading those writings which suit their taste, and a contempt of others, equal, if not superior, to what is perceivable in people of other denominations. Dr. Priestley suggests that the importance which we give to our sentiments tends to prevent an earnest and impartial search after truth. “While they imbibe such a notion of their present sentiments they must needs,” he says, “live in the dread of all free inquiry; whereas we, who have not that idea of the importance of our present sentiments, preserve a state of mind proper for the discussion of them. If we be wrong, as our minds are under no strong bias, we are within the reach of conviction; and thus are in the way to grow wiser and better as long as we live.”¹⁰⁵⁰ Mr. Belsham, however, appears to think the very reverse. He pleads, and I think very justly, that an idea of the non-importance of sentiment tends to destroy a spirit of enquiry, by becalming the mind into a state of indifference and carelessness. He complains of those of his own party (the Socinians) who maintain that “sincerity is everything, that nothing is of much value but an honest heart, and that speculative opinions,” the cant name for those interesting doctrines which the wise and good in every age have thought worthy of the most serious discussion, that these speculative opinions, as they are opprobriously called, are of little use. “What is this,” adds he, “but to pass a severe censure upon those illustrious names whose acute and learned labours have been successfully employed in clearing up the difficulties in which these important subjects were involved; to condemn their own conduct, in wasting so much of their time and pains upon such useless speculations; and to check the progress of religious inquiry and Christian knowledge? Were I a friend to the popular maxim, that speculative opinions are of no importance, I would endeavour¹⁰⁵¹ to act consistently with my principles: I would content myself with believing as my fathers believed; I would take no pains to acquire or diffuse knowledge; I would laugh at every attempt to instruct and to ameliorate the world; I would treat as a visionary and a fool everyone who should aim to extend the limits of science; I would recommend to my fellow creatures that they should neither lie nor defraud, that they should neither swear falsely nor steal, should say their prayers as they have been taught: but as to anything else, that they need not give themselves any concern; for that honesty was everything, and that every expectation of improving their cir   

if 1793, 1794, 1796] whether 1802, 1810. goes 1793, 1794, 1796] extends 1802, 1810. Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 14. at least endeavour 1793, 1794, 1796] endeavour 1802, 1810.

Letter X

189

cumstances, by cultivating their understandings and extending their views, would prove delusive and chimerical.”¹⁰⁵² None will imagine that I have quoted Mr. Belsham on account of my agreement with him in the great principles of the gospel. What he would reckon important truth I should consider as pernicious error; and, probably, his views of the importance of what he accounts truth are not equal to what I have attempted to maintain. But in this general principle we are agreed,¹⁰⁵³ that our conceiving of truth as being of but little importance has a tendency to check free enquiry rather than to promote it; which is the reverse of what we are taught by Dr. Priestley. To illustrate the subject more fully, suppose the possession of a precious stone, of a certain description, to entitle to us the possession of some very desirable object; and suppose that none of any other description would answer the same end; would that consideration tend to prejudice our minds in favour of any stone we might happen to possess, or prevent an impartial and strict enquiry into its properties? Would it not rather induce us to be more inquisitive and careful, lest we should be mistaken, and so lose the prize? If, on the other hand, we could imagine that any stone would answer the same end, or that an error in that matter were of trifling importance as to the issue, would it not have a tendency to promote a spirit of carelessness in our examinations; and as all men are apt, in such cases, to be prejudiced in favour of what they already have, to make us rest contented with what we had in possession, be it what it might? It is allowed, however, that as every good has its counterfeit, and as there is a mixture¹⁰⁵⁴ of human prejudices and passions in all we think or do, there is danger of this principle degenerating into an unchristian severity; and of its being exercised at the expense of that benevolence which is due to all men.¹⁰⁵⁵ There is nothing, however, in this view¹⁰⁵⁶ of things, which, in its own nature, tends to promote these evils; for the most unfavourable opinion of a man’s principles and state may consist with the most perfect benevolence and compassion towards his person. Jesus Christ thought as ill of the principles and state of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the generality of the Jewish nation, as any of us think of one another; yet he wept over Jerusalem, and to his last hour sought her welfare. The apostle Paul had the same conception¹⁰⁵⁷ of the principles and state of the generality of his countrymen as Christ himself had, and much the same as we have of the Socinians. He consid-

 Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 5 – 6. [AF]  agreed, namely, 1793] agreed, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  a great mixture 1793] a mixture 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  expence of that benevolence, or good will, which 1793] expence of that benevolence which 1794, 1796] expense of that benevolence which 1802, 1810.  those views 1793] this view 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  opinion 1793, 1794] conception 1796, 1802, 1810.

190

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ered them, though they “followed after the law of righteousness,”¹⁰⁵⁸ or were very devout in their way, yet as “not having attained to the law of righteousness”;¹⁰⁵⁹ in other words, as not being¹⁰⁶⁰ righteous persons; which the Gentiles, who submitted to the gospel, were. And “wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone.”¹⁰⁶¹ Yet Paul, in the same chapter, and in the most solemn manner, declared that¹⁰⁶² he had “great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart”;¹⁰⁶³ nay, that he “could wish himself accursed from Christ, for his brethren’s sake, his kinsmen according to the flesh!”¹⁰⁶⁴ But why need I say any more? Dr. Priestley himself allows all I plead for: “The man,” says he,¹⁰⁶⁵ “whose sole spring of action is a concern for lost souls, and a care to preserve the purity of that gospel which alone teaches the most effectual method of their recovery from the power of sin and Satan unto God, will feel an ardour of mind that will prompt him strenuously to oppose all those whom he considers as obstructing his benevolent designs.”¹⁰⁶⁶ He adds, “I could overlook everything in a man who I thought meant nothing but my everlasting welfare.”¹⁰⁶⁷ This, and nothing else, is the temper of mind which I have been endeavouring to defend; and as Dr. Priestley has here generously acknowledged its propriety,¹⁰⁶⁸ it becomes us to acknowledge, on the other hand, that every species of zeal for sentiments in which a concern for the everlasting welfare of men is wanting is an unhallowed kind of fire; for which whoever indulges it will receive no thanks¹⁰⁶⁹ from him whose cause he may imagine himself to have espoused. I am, etc.

     Paul,       

Romans 9:31. [AF] Romans 9:30. [AF] that they were not 1793] as not being 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Romans 9:32. [AF] And yet Paul could declare, in the same chapter, in the most solemn manner, that 1793] Yet in the same chapter, and in the most solemn manner, declared that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Romans 9:2. Romans 9:3. he says 1793] says he 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 4. [AF] Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 8 – 9. [AF] the propriety of it 1793] its propriety 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. little thanks 1793, 1794, 1796] no thanks 1802, 1810.

Letter XI

191

Letter XI: The systems compared as to their influence in promoting the love of Christ Christian brethren, If the Holy Scriptures be a proper medium by which to judge of the nature of virtue, it must be allowed to include the love of Christ; nay,¹⁰⁷⁰ that love to Christ is one of the cardinal virtues of the Christian scheme, seeing it occupies a most important place in the doctrines and precepts of inspiration. “He that loveth me,” said Christ, “shall be loved of my Father.”¹⁰⁷¹ “If God were your Father, ye would love me.”¹⁰⁷² “Whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet, believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”¹⁰⁷³ “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.”¹⁰⁷⁴ “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha.”¹⁰⁷⁵ From these passages, with many others that might be produced,¹⁰⁷⁶ we may conclude that love to Christ¹⁰⁷⁷ is not only a Christian virtue, but essential to the very existence of Christianity; nay,¹⁰⁷⁸ to morality itself, if by that term be meant a conformity to the moral law. The following lines, though expressed by a poet, contain more than a poetic flight, even the words of truth and soberness: Talk they of morals? O thou bleeding Love, […] The grand morality is love of Thee!¹⁰⁷⁹

 nay more 1793] nay 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 14:23. [AF]  John 8:42. [AF]  1 Peter 1:8. [AF]  Ephesians 6:24. [AF]  1 Corinthians 16:22. [AF]  collected 1793] produced 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  love of Christ 1793, 1794, 1796] love to Christ 1802, 1810.  yea 1793] nay 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Talk they of Morals? O thou bleeding Love!/Thou Maker of new Morals to Mankind!/The grand Morality is Love of Thee” (Edward Young, The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. Night the Fourth [London: R. Dodsley, 1744], 44). Edward Young (ca. 1683 – 1765) was the son of Edward Young, dean of Salisbury (1662– 1663), and studied at New College, Oxford in 1702. He later became a law fellow of All Souls College in 1708. After his studies, Young became a royal chaplain in 1728. In 1742, he published the first part of his poetry, The Complaint, or Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, and subsequently published eight more parts (or “Nights”) in the following three years. This long poem gained Young a certain degree of fame. Commenting on Young’s life, Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) stated: “Dr. Young had much of a sublime genius, though without common sense; so that his genius, having no guide, was perpetually liable to degenerate into bombast. This made him pass a foolish youth, the sport of peers and poets. But his having a very good heart, enabled him to support the clerical character when he assumed it, first with decency, and afterward with honour” (Owen Ruffhead, The Life of Alexander Pope, Esq. Compiled from Original Manuscripts; with a Critical Essay on His Writings and Genius [London, 1769], 291). Fuller used this poem as an example of the exalted affections kindled by serious contemplation of the cross.

192

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

In judging which of the systems in question is most adapted to promote love to Christ,¹⁰⁸⁰ it should seem sufficient to determine which of them tends most to exalt his character, which places his mediation in the most important light, and which represents us as most indebted to his undertaking. With respect to the first: every being commands our affection in proportion to the degree of intellect which he possesses, provided that his goodness be equal to his intelligence.¹⁰⁸¹ We feel a respect towards an animal, and a concern at its death, which we do not feel towards a vegetable; towards those animals which are very sagacious, more than those which are otherwise; towards man, more than to mere animals; and towards men of enlarged powers, if they be¹⁰⁸² but good as well as great, more than to men in common. According to the degree of intellect which they possess, so much they have of being, and of estimation¹⁰⁸³ in the scale of being. A man is of “more value than many sparrows”;¹⁰⁸⁴ and the life of David was reckoned to be worth ten thousand of those of the common people. It has been thought to be on¹⁰⁸⁵ this principle that God, possessing infinitely more existence than all the creatures taken together, and being as good as he is great, is to be loved and revered without bounds, except those which¹⁰⁸⁶ arise from the limitation of our powers; that is, “with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.”¹⁰⁸⁷ Now if these observations be just, it cannot be doubted which of the systems in question tends most to promote the love of Christ; that which supposes him to be equal or one with God, or that which reduces him to the rank¹⁰⁸⁸ of a mere fellow creature. In the same proportion as¹⁰⁸⁹ God himself is to be loved above man, so is¹⁰⁹⁰ Christ to be loved, supposing him to be truly God, above what he is, or ought to be, supposing him to be merely a fellow man. The prophets, apostles, and primitive Christians seem to have felt this motive in all its force. Hence, in their various expressions of love to Christ, they frequently mingle acknowledgments of his divine dignity and excellence.¹⁰⁹¹ They, indeed, never seem afraid of going too far, or of honouring him too much; but dwell upon the dig-

 tends most 1793] is most adapted 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Every being, provided his goodness be equal to his greatness, commands our affection in proportion to the degree of intellect which he possesses. 1793] Every being commands our affection in proportion to the degree of intellect which he possesses, provided that his goodness be equal to his intelligence. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  are 1793, 1794, 1796] be 1802, 1810.  estimation or value 1793] estimation 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Matthew 10:31.  is on 1793, 1794] has been thought to be on 1796, 1802, 1810.  except what 1793] except those which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30 – 33; Luke 10:27.  scale 1793] rank 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that 1793, 1794, 1796] as 1802, 1810.  is 1793, 1794, 1796] so is 1802, 1810.  dignity and divine excellency 1793] divine dignity and excellency 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XI

193

nity and glory of his person as their darling theme. When David meditated¹⁰⁹² upon this subject, he was raised above himself. “My heart,” saith he, “is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is as the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men.”¹⁰⁹³ “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.”¹⁰⁹⁴ “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.”¹⁰⁹⁵ The expected Messiah was frequently the subject of Isaiah’s prophecies. He loved him; and his love appears to have been founded on his dignity and divine excellency. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”¹⁰⁹⁶ He thus describes the preaching of John the Baptist: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”¹⁰⁹⁷ “Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”¹⁰⁹⁸ Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, so loved the Messiah as to rejoice in his own child chiefly because¹⁰⁹⁹ he was appointed to be his prophet and forerunner. “And thou, child,” said the enraptured parent, “shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways,”¹¹⁰⁰ John the Baptist himself, when the Jews artfully endeavoured to excite his jealousy on account of the superior ministerial success of Christ, replied, “Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.”¹¹⁰¹

 was 1793] meditated 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Psalm 45:1– 2. [AF]  Psalm 45:6. [AF]  Psalm 45:3. [AF]  Isaiah 4:6. [AF]  Isaiah 40:3. [AF]  Isaiah 40:10 – 11. [AF]  for that 1793] because 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Luke 1:76. [AF] The remainder of this paragraph is absent from the 1793 edition. It was added in 1794.  John 3:28 – 31. Query, In what sense could Christ be said to come from above, even from heaven, if he was merely a man, and came into the world like other men? It could not be on account of his office, or of his receiving his mission from God; for, in that sense, John was from heaven as well as he. Was it not for the same reason which John elsewhere gives for his being “preferred before him,” viz. that “He was before him!” John 1:15, 30. [AF] This note is not found in the 1793 edition.

194

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

The apostles, who saw the Lord, and who saw the accomplishment of what the prophets foretold, were not disappointed in him. Their love to him was great, and their representations of his person and character ran in the same exalted strain. “In the beginning was the Word,” said the beloved disciple, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.”¹¹⁰² Thomas insisted upon an unreasonable kind¹¹⁰³ of evidence of the resurrection of his Lord from the dead; saying, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”¹¹⁰⁴ When reproved by our Lord’s offering to gratify him in his incredulous proposal, he confessed, with a mixture of shame, grief, and affection, that, however unbelieving he had been, he was now satisfied that it was indeed his Lord, and no other; saying, “My Lord and my God!”¹¹⁰⁵ The whole Epistle to the Hebrews breathes an ardent love to Christ, and is intermingled with the same kind of language. Jesus is there represented as “upholding all things by the word of his power”;¹¹⁰⁶ as the object of angelic adoration; as he to whom it was said, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever”;¹¹⁰⁷ as he who “laid the foundation of the earth”;¹¹⁰⁸ and concerning whom it is added,¹¹⁰⁹ “the heavens are the work of thine hands”;¹¹¹⁰ as superior to Moses, the one being the builder and owner of the house,¹¹¹¹ even God that built all things,¹¹¹² and the other only a servant in it; as superior to Aaron and to all¹¹¹³ those of his order, “a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God”;¹¹¹⁴ and, finally, as infinitely superior to angels; for “to which of the angels said he, at any time, Thou art my Son; or, Sit on my right hand?”¹¹¹⁵ Hence the gospel is

             1794. 

John 1:1– 3, 14. [AF] unreasonable, and apparently cruel kind 1793] unreasonable kind 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 20:24– 28. [AF] John 20:28. Hebrews 1:3. [AF] Hebrews 1:8. [AF] Hebrews 1:10. [AF] adding, that 1793] and concerning whom it is added, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 1:10. [AF] his house 1793] the house 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 3:4 [AF] all 1793] to all 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Hebrews 4:14. [AF] The rest of this sentence is not found in the 1793 edition, but was added in Hebrews 1:5, 13. [AF]

Letter XI

195

considered as exhibiting “a great salvation!”¹¹¹⁶ and those who neglect it are exposed¹¹¹⁷ to a recompence of wrath which they shall not escape.¹¹¹⁸ Paul could scarcely mention the name of Christ without adding some strong encomium in¹¹¹⁹ his praise. When he was enumerating those things, which rendered his countrymen dear to him, he mentions their being Israelites, to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose were the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. Here, it seems, he might have stopped;¹¹²⁰ but having mentioned the name of Christ, he could not content himself without adding, “Who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”¹¹²¹ Having occasion also to speak of him in his Epistle to the Colossians as “God’s dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins,”¹¹²² he could not forbear adding, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”¹¹²³ And now, brethren,¹¹²⁴ I might appeal to you on the justness of Dr. Priestley’s assertion, that “in no sense whatever, not even in the lowest of all, is Christ so much as called God in all the New Testament.”¹¹²⁵ I might appeal to you whether such language as the above would ever have proceeded from the sacred writers, had they embraced the scheme of our opponents. But, waving [sic] these particulars as irrelative to the immediate point in hand, I appeal to you whether such love as the prophets and apostles expressed towards Christ could consist with his being merely a fellow creature, and their considering him as such;¹¹²⁶ whether the manner in which they expressed that love,¹¹²⁷ upon the principles of our opponents, instead of being acceptable to God, could have been any other than the height of extravagance, and the essence of idolatry. Judge also for yourselves, brethren, which of the systems in question has the greatest tendency to promote such a spirit of love to Christ as is here exemplified: that which leads us to admire these representations, and, on var-

 Hebrews 2:3. [AF]  as exposed 1793] are exposed 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Hebrews 2:3. [AF]  or other in 1793, 1794, 1796] in 1802, 1810.  ended 1793] stopped 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Romans 10:5. [AF]  Colossians 1:14. [AF]  Colossians 1:15 – 17. [AF]  Christian brethren, 1793] brethren, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 7. [AF]  creature; 1793] creature, and their considering him as such; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  it 1793] that love 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

196

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ious occasions, to adopt the same expressions; or that which employs us in coldly criticising away their meaning: that which leads us, without fear, to give them their full scope; or that which, while we are honouring the Son, would excite apprehensions, lest we should, in so doing, dishonour¹¹²⁸ the Father. The next question to be discussed is, “Which of the two systems places the mediation of Christ in the most important point of light?” That system, doubtless, which finds the greatest use for Christ, or in which he occupies the most important place, must have the greatest tendency to promote love to him. Suppose a system of politics were drawn up, in which civil liberty occupied but a very small portion,¹¹²⁹ and was¹¹³⁰ generally kept out of view; or if, when brought forward, it was either for the purpose of abating the high notions which some people entertain of it, or, at least, of treating it as a matter not absolutely necessary to good civil government; who would venture to assert that such a system was friendly, or its abettors friends to civil liberty? This is manifestly a case in point. The Socinian system has but little use for Christ, and none at all as an atoning sacrifice. It scarcely ever mentions him, unless it be to depreciate those views of his dignity which others entertain, or in such a way as to set aside the absolute necessity of his mediation. It is not so in our view of things. We find so much use for Christ, if I may so speak, that he appears as the soul which animates the whole body of our divinity; as the centre of the system, diffusing light and life to every part of it. Take away Christ; nay,¹¹³¹ take away the deity and atonement of Christ; and the whole ceremonial of the Old Testament appears to us little more than a dead mass of uninteresting matter: prophecy loses all¹¹³² that is interesting and endearing; the gospel is annihilated, or ceases to be that good news to lost sinners which it professes to be; practical religion is divested of its most powerful motives, the evangelical dispensation of its peculiar glory, and heaven itself of its most transporting joys. The sacred penmen appear to have written all along upon the same principles. They considered Christ as the all in all of their religion;¹¹³³ and, as such, they loved him with their whole hearts. Do they speak of the “first tabernacle”? They call it a “figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience.”¹¹³⁴ “But Christ being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once

 would affright us lest we should in so doing dishonour 1793] would excite apprehensions, lest we should, in so doing, dishonour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  proportion 1793] portion 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  was 1793, 1794, 1796] and was 1802, 1810.  yea 1793] nay 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  almost all 1793, 1794, 1796] all 1802, 1810.  Colossians 3:11.  Hebrews 9:8 – 9. [AF]

Letter XI

197

into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”¹¹³⁵ Do they speak of prophecy? They call the testimony of Jesus the “spirit” of it.¹¹³⁶ Of the gospel? It is the doctrine of “Christ crucified.”¹¹³⁷ Of the medium by which the world was crucified to them, and they to the world? It is the same.¹¹³⁸ The very “reproach of Christ” had a value stamped upon it,¹¹³⁹ so as, in their esteem, to surpass all the treasures of the present world. One of the most affecting ideas which they afford us of heaven consists in ascribing everlasting glory and dominion “to him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, were heard with a loud voice, saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”¹¹⁴⁰ Let us select a particular instance in the character of Paul. This apostle seemed to be swallowed up in love to Christ. His mercy to him, as one of the “chief of sinners,”¹¹⁴¹ had bound his heart to him with bonds¹¹⁴² of everlasting gratitude. Nor was this all;¹¹⁴³ he saw that glory in his person, office, and work which eclipsed the excellence of all created objects,¹¹⁴⁴ which crucified the world to him, and him unto the world. “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.”¹¹⁴⁵ Nor did he now repent; for he immediately adds,¹¹⁴⁶ “And do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him; not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”¹¹⁴⁷ “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”¹¹⁴⁸ When his friends wept because he would not be dissuaded from going to Jerusalem, he answered, “What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? For I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the

 Hebrews 9:10 – 11. [AF]  Revelation 19:10. [AF]  1 Corinthians 1:23. [AF]  Galatians 6:14. [AF]  Hebrews 11:26. [AF]  Revelation 5:11– 12.  1 Timothy 1:15.  bands 1793] bonds 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  all; as he knew him, 1793] all; 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  he saw that glory in his person, office, and character which eclipsed all created objects 1793] he saw that glory in his person, office, and work which eclipsed the excellence of all created objects 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Philippians 3:7– 8. [AF]  adds 1793] immediately adds 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Philippians 3:8 – 9. [AF]  Philippians 3:10. [AF]

198

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Lord Jesus.”¹¹⁴⁹ Feeling in himself an ardent love to Christ,¹¹⁵⁰ he vehemently desired that others might love him too. For this cause he bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in behalf of the Ephesians;¹¹⁵¹ praying that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith.¹¹⁵² He represented him to them as the medium of all spiritual blessings; of election, adoption, acceptance with God, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins; of a future inheritance, and of a present earnest of it; as head¹¹⁵³ over all things to the church, and as him that filleth all in all.¹¹⁵⁴ He described him as the only way of access to God,¹¹⁵⁵ and as the sole foundation of a sinner’s hope;¹¹⁵⁶ whose riches were unsearchable,¹¹⁵⁷ and the dimensions of his love passing knowledge.¹¹⁵⁸ If any drew back, or deviated from the simplicity of the gospel, he felt a most ardent thirst for their recovery; witness his Epistle to the Corinthians, the Galatians, and (if, as is generally supposed, he was the writer of it) to the Hebrews. If anyone¹¹⁵⁹ drew back, and were not to be reclaimed, he denounced against him the divine declaration,¹¹⁶⁰ “My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”¹¹⁶¹ And whatever might be the mind of others,¹¹⁶² like Joshua, he was at a point himself: “Henceforth,” he exclaims, “let no man trouble me; for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”¹¹⁶³ If he wished to “live,” it was for Christ; or if to “die,” it was to be with him.¹¹⁶⁴ He invoked the best of blessings on those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and denounced an “anathema maranatha” on those who loved him not.¹¹⁶⁵ The reason why I have quoted all these passages is to show¹¹⁶⁶ that the primitive gospel was full of Christ; or that Christ was, as it were, the centre and the life¹¹⁶⁷ of the evangelical system; and that this, its leading and principal characteristic, tended

 Acts 21:13. [AF]  Feeling an ardent love to Christ himself, 1793] Feeling in himself an ardent love to Christ, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ephesians 3:14. [AF]  Ephesians 3:17. [AF]  the head 1793, 1794, 1796] head 1802, 1810.  Ephesians 1:22– 23. [AF]  Ephesians 2:18. [AF]  Ephesians 2:20. [AF]  Ephesians 3:8. [AF]  Ephesians 3:19. [AF]  any 1793, 1794] anyone 1796, 1802, 1810.  he declared he had no pleasure in them 1793] he denounced against him the divine declaration, “My soul shall have no pleasure in him.” 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Hebrews 10:38. [AF]  their minds 1793, 1794] the mind of others 1796, 1802, 1810.  Galatians 6:17. [AF]  Philippians 1:20, 21. [AF]  Ephesians 6:24; 1 Corinthians 16:22. [AF]  shew 1793] show 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  life 1793] the life 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XI

199

wonderfully to promote the love of Christ. Now, brethren, let me appeal to you again which of the systems in question is it which resembles that of the apostles in this particular, and consequently has the greatest tendency to promote love to Christ? That of which Christ is the all in all;¹¹⁶⁸ or that in which he is scarcely ever introduced, except for the purpose of representing him as a “mere fellow creature, a fallible and peccable man?”¹¹⁶⁹ The third and last question to be discussed (if indeed it need any discussion) is, which of the two systems represents us as most indebted to Christ’s undertaking? Our Lord himself has laid it down as an incontrovertible¹¹⁷⁰ rule, that those who have much forgiven will love him much, and that those who have little forgiven will¹¹⁷¹ love him but little. That system, therefore, which supposes us the greatest debtors to forgiving love, must needs have the greatest tendency to promote a return of love. Our views¹¹⁷² with respect to the depravity of human nature are such that, upon our system, we have much more to be forgiven than our opponents have upon theirs. We suppose ourselves to have been utterly depraved, our very nature totally corrupted; and, consequently, that all our supposed virtues, while our hearts were at enmity with God, were not virtue in reality, but destitute of its very essence.¹¹⁷³ We do not, therefore, conceive of ourselves, during our unregeneracy, as having been merely stained by a few imperfections; but as altogether polluted, by a course of apostacy from God, and black rebellion against him. That which is called sin by our opponents must consist chiefly, if not entirely, in the irregularity of a man’s outward conduct; else they could not suppose, as Dr. Priestley does, that “virtue bears the same proportion to vice that happiness does to misery, or health to sickness, in the world”;¹¹⁷⁴ that is, that there is much more of the former than of the latter. But the merely outward irregularities of men bear no more proportion to the whole of their depravity, according to our views of it, than the particles of water which are occasionally emitted from the surface of the ocean to the tide that rolls beneath. The religion of those who make sin to consist in little besides exterior¹¹⁷⁵ irregularities,

 Colossians 3:11.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; To the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; To Dr. Price; and to Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 171.  uncontrovertable 1793] incontrovertible 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  those who had much forgiven would love him much; but that those who had little forgiven would 1793] those who have much forgiven will love him much, and that those who have little forgiven, will 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  In the first place, Our 1793] Our 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  wanting in the very essence of it 1793] destitute of its very essence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I. Containing an Examination of the principal Objections to the Doctrines of Natural Religion, and especially those contained in the Writings of Mr. Hume, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason for J. Johnson, 1787), 80. [AF]  outward 1793] exterior 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

200

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

or who conceive of the virtues of men as greatly exceeding their vices, appears to us to resemble the religion of Paul, previously to his conversion to Christianity. While he thought of nothing but the irregularities of his exterior conduct, his virtues doubtless appeared to him to outweigh his vices, and therefore he concluded all was well; that he was in a fair way to everlasting happiness; or, as he himself expresses it, “alive without the law.”¹¹⁷⁶ But when, through the glass of that divine “commandment” which prohibits the very inclination to evil, he saw the corruption that reigned within, transgression assumed a very different appearance; it was then a mighty ocean, that swelled and swept off all his legal hopes. “Sin revived,” and he died.¹¹⁷⁷ In short, our views of human depravity induce us to consider ourselves, by nature, as unworthy, as lost, and ready to perish; so that if we are saved at all, it must be by rich grace, and by a great Saviour. I scarcely need to draw the conclusion that, having according to our system most to be forgiven, we shall, if we truly enter into it, love most. Further,¹¹⁷⁸ our system supposes a much greater malignity in sin¹¹⁷⁹ than that of our opponents. When we speak of sin, we do not love to deal as Mr. Belsham does in extenuating names. We find no authority for calling it “human frailty,”¹¹⁸⁰ or for affixing any idea to it that shall represent us rather as objects worthy of the compassion of God than as subjects of that which his soul abhorreth. We do not see how Mr. Belsham, or those of his sentiments, while they speak of moral evil in so diminutive a style, can possibly conceive of it, after the manner of the inspired writers, as an “evil and bitter thing”;¹¹⁸¹ or, as it is expressed in that remarkable phrase of the apostle Paul, “exceeding sinful.”¹¹⁸² Our opponents deny sin to be, in any sense, an infinite evil; or, which is the same thing, deserving of endless punishment, or that such punishment will follow upon it. Nobody, indeed, supposes that sin is, in all respects, infinite. As committed by a finite creature, and admitting of different degrees, it must be finite,¹¹⁸³ and will doubt Romans 7:9.  Romans 7:9.  But farther 1793] Further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  malignity, or evil in sin, 1793] malignity in sin 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 34.  Jeremiah 2:19.  The expression, “exceeding sinful,” is very forcible. It resembles the phrase “far more exceeding,” or rather, excessively exceeding, in 2 Corinthians 4:7. It seems that the Holy Spirit himself could not find a worse name for sin than its own. If we speak of a treacherous person, we call him a “Judas”; if of Judas, we call him a “devil”; but if of Satan, we want a comparison, because we can find none that is worse than himself: we must therefore say, as Christ did, “When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.” It was thus with the apostle, when speaking of the evil of his own heart, “That sin by the commandment might become”—what? He wanted a name worse than its own—he could not find one—he therefore unites a strong epithet to the thing itself, calling it “exceeding sinful.” [AF]  must in those respects be finite 1793] must be finite 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XI

201

less be punished hereafter with different degrees of punishment; but as committed against a God of infinite excellence, and as tending to infinite anarchy and mischief, it must be infinite. All that is meant, I suppose, by calling sin an infinite evil, is that it is deserving of endless punishment; and this can never be fairly objected to as an absurdity. If there be no absurdity in the immortality of a sinner’s existence, there is none in supposing him to deserve a punishment, be it in what degree it may, that shall run commensurate with it. There is no absurdity in supposing a sinner to have been guilty of such crimes as to deserve misery for as long a duration as he is capable of sustaining it. But whatever may be said as to the truth or falsehood¹¹⁸⁴ of this sentiment, thus much is clear, that, in proportion as our opponents conceive diminutively of the evil of sin, they diminish the grace of forgiveness; and if that forgiveness come to us through Christ, as is plainly implied in their loving him most who have most forgiven, it must needs follow that, in the same proportion, the love of Christ is sapped at the foundation. Once more: the expense¹¹⁸⁵ at which we suppose our forgiveness to have been obtained is a consideration which endears to us both the gift and the giver. We do not conceive of Christ, in his bestowment of this blessing upon us, as presenting us with that which cost him nothing. If the portion given by Jacob to his son Joseph was heightened and endeared by its being obtained “by the sword and the bow,”¹¹⁸⁶ much more is a title to eternal life, by its being obtained through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is this that attracts the hearts of those who are described as singing a new song to their Redeemer, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”¹¹⁸⁷ It does not appear, from anything I have seen, that the system of our opponents can, with any plausibility, be pretended to equal ours, respecting love¹¹⁸⁸ to Christ. All that can be alleged, with any colour of reason; all, however, that I have noticed, is this; that, in proportion as we, in this way, furnish motives of love to Christ, we detract from those of love to the Father, by diminishing the freeness of his grace, and exhibiting him as one that was incapable of bestowing forgiveness, unless a price was paid for it. To this it is replied, if the incapacity of the Father to shew mercy without an atonement consisted in a want of love, or anything of natural implacability, or even a reluctance to¹¹⁸⁹ the bestowment of mercy, there would be force in the objection; but if it be no other than the incapacity of a righteous governor, who, whatever good will he may have to an offender, cannot bear the thought of passing by the offence without some public¹¹⁹⁰ expression of displeasure against

      

untruth 1793] falsehood 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. expence 1793, 1794, 1796] expense 1802, 1810. Genesis 48:22. Revelation 5:9. with respect to the love 1793] respecting love 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. as to 1793] to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. publick 1793] public 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

202

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

it, that, while mercy triumphs, it may not be at the expense¹¹⁹¹ of law, of equity, and of the general good; such an incapacity rather infers a perfection than an imperfection in his nature; and instead of diminishing our regard for his character, must have a powerful tendency to increase it. I am, etc.

 expence 1793, 1794, 1796] expense 1802, 1810.

Letter XII

203

Letter XII: On veneration for the scriptures Christian brethren, If we may judge of the nature of true piety by the examples of the prophets and holy men of old, we may conclude with certainty that an affectionate attachment to the Holy Scriptures, as the rule of faith and practice, enters deeply into the spirit of it. The Holy Scriptures were described by David under the names of the word, statutes, laws, precepts, judgments, and testimonies of God; and to these, all through the psalms, especially in the 119th, he professes a most ardent attachment. Such language as the following was very common with him, as well as others of the Old Testament writers: “O how I love thy law!”¹¹⁹² “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”¹¹⁹³ “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”¹¹⁹⁴ “My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.”¹¹⁹⁵ “Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”¹¹⁹⁶ “Thy statutes have been my song in the house of my pilgrimage.”¹¹⁹⁷ “The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver.”¹¹⁹⁸ Dr. Priestley often professes great regard for the sacred writings, and is very severe on Mr. Burn, for suggesting that he denied “the infallibility of the apostolic testimony concerning the person of Christ.”¹¹⁹⁹ He also tells Dr. Price, “No man can pay a higher regard to proper Scripture authority than I do.”¹²⁰⁰ We may therefore take it for granted that a regard for the authority of Scripture is a virtue; a virtue that our opponents, as well as we, would be thought to possess. I wish in this Letter to enquire, supposing the sacred writers to have been¹²⁰¹ honest and good men, what a regard to the proper¹²⁰² authority of their writings in-

 Psalm 119:97.  Psalm 119:105.  Psalm 119:18.  Psalm 119:20.  Jeremiah 15:16.  Psalm 119:54.  Psalm 119:72.  Edward Burn, Letters to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, in Vindication of Those Already Addressed to Him, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: E. Piercy, 1790), 53. For Priestley’s reply, see Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 215 – 227.  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, Containing Letters to the Rev. Dr. Geddes, to the Rev. Dr. Price, Part II. And to the Candidates for Orders in the Two Universities. Part II. Relating to Mr. Howes’s Appendix to his fourth Volume of Observation on Books, a Letter by an Under-Graduate of Oxford, Dr. Croft’s Bampton Lectures, and several other Publications (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 66.  be 1793] have been 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “proper” regard to 1793] regard to the proper 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

204

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

cludes, and to compare it with the avowed sentiments of our adversaries. By these means, brethren, you may be the better able to judge for yourselves whether the spirit which animates the whole body of the Socinian divinity does not breathe a language unfriendly to the sacred writings, and carry in it something hostile to every thought being subdued to the obedience of Christ.¹²⁰³ In order to judge of a regard for proper¹²⁰⁴ scriptural authority, it is necessary, in the first place, to have recourse to the professions of the sacred writers concerning what they wrote. If any man venerate the authority of Scripture, he must receive it as being what it professes to be, and for all the purposes for which it professes to be written. If the Scriptures profess to be divinely inspired, and assume to be the infallible standard of faith and practice, we must either receive them as such, or, if we would be consistent, disown the writers as impostors. The professions of the sacred writers are as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue: the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me.”¹²⁰⁵ “Thus saith the Lord.”¹²⁰⁶ “And Jehoshaphat stood, and said, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”¹²⁰⁷ New Testament writers bear ample testimony to the inspiration of those under the Old Testament. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God; and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”¹²⁰⁸ “No prophecy of the Scripture is of private interpretation”¹²⁰⁹—it is not to be considered as the private opinion of a fallible man, as is the case with other productions— “for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”¹²¹⁰ Nor did the New Testament writers bear testimony to the inspiration of the prophets only; but considered their own writings as equally inspired: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”¹²¹¹ Peter ranks the epistles of Paul with “other Scriptures.”¹²¹² There seems to have been one instance in which Paul disowned his having received any “commandment from the Lord,” and in which he proceeded to give his own private judgment:¹²¹³ but this appears to have           

2 Corinthians 10:5. what is a proper regard for 1793] of a regard for proper 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. 2 Samuel 23:2– 3. [AF] Isaiah 43:1. [AF] 2 Chronicles 20:20. [AF] 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17. [AF] 2 Peter 1:20. [AF] 2 Peter 1:21. [AF] 1 Corinthians 14:37. [AF] 2 Peter 3:16. [AF] 1 Corinthians 7:25. [AF]

Letter XII

205

been a particular exception from a general rule, of which notice was expressly given; an exception, therefore, which tends to strengthen, rather than weaken, the argument for apostolic inspiration. As the sacred writers considered themselves as divinely inspired, so they represented their writings as the infallible test of divine truth, to which all appeals were to be made, and by which every controversy in religious matters was to be decided. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”¹²¹⁴ “These are the true sayings of God.”¹²¹⁵ “That which is noted in the Scriptures of truth.”¹²¹⁶ “What saith the Scripture?”¹²¹⁷ “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.”¹²¹⁸ The Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”¹²¹⁹ The sacred writers did not spare to denounce the most awful judgments against those who should either pervert their writings, add to them, or detract from them. Those who wrested the apostolic epistles are said to have “wrested them, as they did the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”¹²²⁰ “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”¹²²¹ “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”¹²²² “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life.”¹²²³ Nothing short of the most perfect divine inspiration could justify such language as this, or secure those who used it from the charge of bold presumption and base imposition.¹²²⁴ Dr. Priestley often professes great regard for the Scriptures and, as has¹²²⁵ been observed before, is very severe on Mr. Burn for representing him as denying “the infallibility of the apostolic testimony concerning the person of Christ.”¹²²⁶ Far be it from me to wish to represent the sentiments of Dr. Priestley in an unfair manner, or in such a light as he himself could justly disavow. All I mean to do is to quote a passage or two from his own writings, and add a few remarks upon them.

            

Isaiah 8:20. [AF] Revelation 19:9. [AF] Daniel 10:21. [AF] Romans 4:3. [AF] John 5:39. [AF] Acts 17:11. [AF] 2 Peter 3:16. [AF] Galatians 1:8. [AF] Deuteronomy 12:32. [AF] Revelation 22:18 – 19. [AF] In the 1793 edition, this sentence is a paragraph by itself. hath 1793, 1794, 1796] has 1802, 1810. Priestley, Familiar Letters, 215 – 227.

206

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Speaking in favour of reverence for the sacred writings, he says, “Not that I consider the books of Scripture as inspired, and, on that account, entitled to this high degree of respect, but as authentic records of the dispensations of God to mankind, with every particular of which we cannot be too well acquainted.”¹²²⁷ Again, “If you wish to know what, in my opinion, a Christian is bound to believe with respect to the Scriptures, I answer, that the books which are universally received as authentic are to be considered as faithful records of past transactions, and, especially, the account of the intercourse which the Divine Being has kept up with mankind from the beginning of the world to the time of our Saviour and his apostles. No Christian is answerable for more than this. The writers of the books of Scripture were men, and therefore fallible; but all that we have to do with them is in the character of historians and witnesses of what they heard and saw. Of course, their credibility is to be estimated, like that of other historians, viz. from the circumstances in which they wrote, as with respect to their opportunities of knowing the truth of what they relate, and the biases to which they might be subject. Like all other historians, they were liable to mistakes with respect to things of small moment, because they might not give sufficient attention to them; and, with respect to their reasoning, we are fully at liberty to judge of it, as well as that of any other man, by a due consideration of the propositions they advance, and the arguments they allege. For it by no means follows, because a man has had communications with the Deity for certain purposes, and he may be depended upon with respect to his account of those communications, that he is in other respects more wise and knowing than other men.”¹²²⁸ “You say,” says he, in his Letters to Dr. Price, “that I do not allow of scriptural authority; but indeed, my friend, you should have expressed yourself with more caution. No man can pay a higher regard to proper scriptural authority than I do; but neither I, nor I presume yourself, believe implicitly everything that is advanced by any writer in the Old or New Testament. I believe all the writers, without exception, to have been men of the greatest probity, and to have been well informed of everything of consequence of which they treat; but, at the same time, I believe them to have been men, and consequently fallible, and liable to mistake with respect to things to which they had not given much attention, or concerning which they had not the means of exact information; which I take to be the case with respect to the account that Moses has given of the creation and fall of man.”¹²²⁹ In a late performance, entitled Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, Dr. Priestley speaks much in the same strain. “That the books of Scripture,” he says, “were written

 Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), xiii. [AF]  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 35 – 37. [AF]  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, 66 – 67. For Price’s remark about Priestley, see Richard Price, Sermons on the Christian Doctrine as Received by the Different Denominations of Christians. To Which are Added, Sermons on the Virtuous Course, on the Goodness of God, and the Resurrection of Lazarus, 2nd ed. (London: T. Cadell, 1787), 141– 143, n. i.

Letter XII

207

by particular divine inspiration is a thing to which the writers themselves make no pretensions. It is a notion destitute of all proof, and that has done great injury to the evidence of Christianity.”¹²³⁰ From this account, taken altogether, you will observe, brethren,¹²³¹ that Dr. Priestley does not believe either the Old or the New Testament to be divinely inspired; to be so inspired as that he is “bound implicitly to believe everything” (and might he not have added anything?) “which the writers of those books advance.”¹²³² He believes that the Scriptures, instead of being the rule of faith and practice, are only¹²³³ “faithful records of past transactions”; and that no authority attends them,¹²³⁴ except what attends the writings of any¹²³⁵ other honest and well-informed historian; nor even that in many cases: for he maintains that “no Christian is bound to consider any of the books of Scripture as faithful records of past transactions, unless they have been universally received as authentic”;¹²³⁶ that is, if any person, at least any considerable number of persons, at any period,¹²³⁷ have thought proper to dispute the authenticity of any of these writings, that part immediately ceases to have any claim upon posterity, and may be rejected with impunity. And even those writers whose works, upon the whole, are allowed as authentic, are supposed to have written upon subjects “to which they had not given much attention, and concerning which they were not possessed of sufficient means of information”;¹²³⁸ and, consequently, in those cases are not to be regarded. This is the whole of what he means by “proper scriptural authority.”¹²³⁹ This is the ground on which, while he speaks of the sacred writers as fallible, he nevertheless maintains the infallibility of their testimony concerning the person of Christ. He does not pretend to say the apostles were inspired in that article, though not in others; but merely that this was a case in which, by the mere exercise of their senses, they were competent to decide, and even certain of deciding right. Whether these notions of proper scriptural authority will accord with the foregoing professions, I leave you to judge; also,¹²⁴⁰ if Dr. Priest-

 Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion (London: J. Johnson, 1793), 38. [AF]  Christian brethren 1793] brethren 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, 66.  He does not believe that the Scriptures are a rule of faith and practice, but mere 1793] He believes, that the Scriptures, instead of being the rule of faith and practice, are only 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or that there is any authority attending them 1793] and that no authority attends them 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  excepting what attends any 1793] except what attends the writings of 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 35.  at any period 1793] at least any considerable number of persons, at any period 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, 67.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, 66.  as also 1793, 1794, 1796] also 1802, 1810.

208

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ley’s views be right, whether the sacred writers, professing what they did, could be men of the “greatest probity.”¹²⁴¹ You will observe, further, that the fallibility which Dr. Priestley imputes to the sacred writers, as being men, must rest upon this principle; that it is impossible for God himself so to inspire a man as to preserve him from error without destroying his nature; and as he considers Christ as a mere man, perhaps it is on this principle that he maintains him to be “fallible and peccable.”¹²⁴² Yet he has never been able to produce one example in which he has actually failed. But it should seem very extraordinary for a fallible and peccable man to go through the world in such a manner that his worst enemies could not convict him of a single failure, nor¹²⁴³ accuse him of any sin. If this matter be capable of proof, let Dr. Priestley prove it. Though the Jews declined the challenge, yet it is possible that he may possess sufficient “magnanimity” to accept it.¹²⁴⁴ Further:¹²⁴⁵ You will observe that the infallibility which Dr. Priestley ascribes to the apostolic testimony, concerning the person of Christ, implies that every historian is infallible in similar circumstances. His reasoning supposes that if a sensible and upright historian have the proper means of information, and pay attention to his subject, he is infallible: But is this a fact? It certainly has not been usual for us to consider historians in this light. We commonly suppose that, amidst the most ample means of information and the greatest attention that uninspired men (who all have their prejudices and imperfections)¹²⁴⁶ are ever known to pay to a subject, they are liable to mistakes. Dr. Priestley has written a treatise in which he has declared for the doctrine of materialism;¹²⁴⁷ and, I suppose, he would be thought to have paid attention to it, and to have possessed the means of information as far as the nature of the subject will admit; yet, I imagine, he does not pretend, in that article, to infallibility. If it be objected that the nature of the subjects is different, and that the apostles were capable of arriving to a greater degree of certainty concerning the person of

 Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, 66 – 67.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; To the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; To Dr. Price; and to Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 171.  or 1793, 1794, 1796] nor 1802, 1810.  When Dr. Priestley charged the Mosaic history of the creation and fall of man with being a lame account, it was imputed to his magnanimity. [AF]  Farther 1793] Further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  their imperfections 1793, 1794, 1796] imperfections 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, A Free Discussion of the Doctrines of Materialism, and Philosophical Necessity, in a Correspondence Between Dr. Price, and Dr. Priestley. To Which are Added, By Dr. Priestley, An Introduction, Explaining the Nature of the Controversy, and Letters to Several Writers who have animadverted on his Disquisitions Relating to Master and Spirit, or his Treatise on Necessity (London: J. Johnson and T. Cadell, 1778).

Letter XII

209

Christ than Dr. Priestley could obtain on the subject of materialism: I answer, this appears to me to be¹²⁴⁸ more easily asserted than proved. Dr. Priestley, indeed, tells us, “They were as capable of judging whether he was a man as whether John the Baptist was one.”¹²⁴⁹ This is very true; and if the question were whether he was a man, it might be to the purpose. But at this time of day, however some of the humble followers of Dr. Priestley may amuse themselves in circulating pamphlets proving that Jesus Christ was a man, and that with a view to convert the Trinitarians; yet he himself cannot be insensible that a materialist might with just as much propriety gravely go about to prove that men have material bodies.¹²⁵⁰ Supposing Christ to have been merely a man, this was a matter that could not be visible to the eyes of the apostles. How could they judge by his exterior appearance whether he was merely a man, or both God and man? The august personages¹²⁵¹ that appeared to Abraham, to Lot, and to Jacob are called men; nor was there anything that we know of in their exterior appearance different from other men: yet it does not follow from hence¹²⁵² that they were merely human. God, in the above instances, assumed the appearance of a man; and how could the disciples be certain that all this might not be preparatory to his becoming really incarnate? It is true our Lord might have told them that he was merely a man; and, in that case, they might have been said to be certain of it: but if so, it was either in some private instructions, or else in the words which they have recorded in their writings. We cannot say it was impossible for the apostles to mistake respecting the person of Christ owing to their private instructions, because that would be building upon a foundation of which we are confessedly ignorant; neither can we affirm it on account of any of those words of Christ to his disciples which are recorded, for we have those words as well as they; and it might as well be said of us as of them, that it is impossible for us to be under any mistake upon the subject. We might as well, therefore, allow what Dr. Priestley says to be infallible, on the question whether men have souls or not, as what the apostles say (if we give up their inspiration) on the question whether Christ was divine or not; for the one is as much an object of the senses as the other.

 to be 1793, 1794] to me to be 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 140.  When Socinian writers have produced a list of texts which prove the proper humanity of Christ, they seem to think their work is done. Our writers reply, we never questioned his humanity. If you attempt to prove anything, prove to us that he was merely human. Here our opponents, feeling themselves pinched, it should seem, for want of evidence, have been known to lose their temper. It is on this occasion that Mr. Lindsey is reduced to the necessity of abusing and insulting his opponents, instead of answering their arguments. Lindsey, “Enquiry VI. Whether what Christ thus taught concerning himself, is only true of him in one sense, that is, according to his human nature, as it is called,” Catechist, 26 – 28, quoted towards the latter end of Letter VIII. [AF] This note was added in the 1794 edition. For the quotation to which Fuller refers, see above, p. 153.  personages 1793] august personages 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  thence 1793, 1794] hence 1796, 1802, 1810.

210

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

I cannot conceive of any foundation for the above assertion, unless it be upon the supposition of a union¹²⁵³ of the divine and human natures being in itself impossible. Then, indeed, if we suppose the apostles knew it to be so, by knowing him to be a man, they must have known him to be a mere man. But if a union¹²⁵⁴ of the divine and human natures be in itself impossible, that impossibility might as well appear to Dr. Priestley as to the apostles, if they were uninspired; and he might as well maintain the infallibility of his own notions relative to¹²⁵⁵ the person of Christ as of theirs. In fine, Let Dr. Priestley view the subject in what light he may,¹²⁵⁶ if he deny the divine inspiration of the apostles, he will never be able to maintain their infallibility on any ground but what would equally infer his own. When Mr. Burn charged Dr. Priestley with denying the infallibility of the apostolic testimony,¹²⁵⁷ he principally founds his charge on what the Doctor had written in a miscellaneous work, called The Theological Repository;¹²⁵⁸ in which he maintained that “some texts of the Old Testament had been improperly quoted by writers in the New”;¹²⁵⁹ who, it seems, were sometimes “misled by Jewish prejudices.”¹²⁶⁰ Mr. Burn inferred that, if they were misled in their application of one text, they were liable to the same thing in others; and that, if so, we could have no security whatever for their proper application of any passage, or of anything like infallibility attending their testimony. One would think this is not the most inconclusive mode of reasoning that ever was adopted; and how does Dr. Priestley refute it? He replies, “It does not follow, because I suppose the apostles to have been fallible in some things, that they were therefore fallible in all.”¹²⁶¹ He contends that he always considered them as infallible in what respects the person of Christ; as a proof of which he alleges his always having¹²⁶² “appealed to their testimony, as being willing to be decided by it.”¹²⁶³ And yet we generally suppose a single failure proves a writer fallible as really as a thousand; and as to his appealing to their testimony, and being willing to be

 an union 1793] a union 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  an union 1793] a union 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  on 1793] relative to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  will 1793] may 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  charges 1793, 1794] charged 1796, 1802, 1810.  The Theological Repository; Consisting of Original Essays, Hints, Queries, Etc. Calculated to Promote Religious Knowledge was a periodical edited by Joseph Priestley from 1769 to 1771, when it ceased to be published due to a lack of funds. Priestley revived the journal in 1784, but once again it soon ceased publication due to lack of funding.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 2. [AF]  Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, 15. [AF]  Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, 2.  having always 1793, 1794] always having 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 139.

Letter XII

211

decided by it, we generally appeal to the best evidence we can obtain, and must be decided by it. But this does not prove that we consider that evidence as infallible. Dr. Priestley has appealed to the Fathers; yet he will hardly pretend that their testimony is infallible, or that they were incapable of contradicting either themselves¹²⁶⁴ or one another, even in those matters concerning which the appeal is made. If he will, however, he must suppose them to have differed very widely from writers of a later date. Where is the historian who has written upon the opinions or characters of a body of men, even of those of his own times, but who is liable, and likely, in some particulars, to be contradicted by other historians of the same period,¹²⁶⁵ and equally respectable?¹²⁶⁶ To be sure, if Dr. Priestley thinks proper to declare that he believes the apostles, uninspired as they were, to have been infallible when they applied passages of the Old Testament¹²⁶⁷ to the person of Christ, and that notwithstanding their being fallible, and misled by Jewish prejudices in their application of passages on other subjects, nobody has a right to say he does not. Thus much may be said, however, that he will find it no very easy task to prove himself, in this matter, a rational Christian. If the apostles are to be considered as uninspired, and were actually misled by Jewish prejudices in their application of some Old Testament passages, it will require no small degree of labour to convince people in general that¹²⁶⁸ we can have any security for their not being so in others. Mr. Burn, with a view to illustrate his argument, supposed an example; viz. the application of Psalm 45:6 to Christ, in Hebrews 1:8. He observes that, according to the foregoing hypothesis, “there is no dependence to be placed upon the argument, because the apostle, in his application of this scripture to the Messiah, was misled by a prejudice common among the Jews, respecting this and other passages in the Old Testament.”¹²⁶⁹ Mr. Burn does not mean to say that Dr. Priestley had, in this manner, actually rejected the argument from Hebrews 1:8; but barely that, according to this  themselves 1793] either themselves 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  historians, and that of the same period 1793] historians of the same period 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See this truth more fully illustrated in a Letter of Dr. Edward Williams to Dr. Priestley, prefixed to his Abridgement of Dr. Owen on the Hebrews. [AF] In the 1794 edition “at the end of” was replaced with “prefixed.” For the text to which Fuller refers, see Edward Williams, “Appendix; containing Two Letters, the one to Dr. Priestley, and the other to Mr. David Levi, respecting this work,” in John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; With the Preliminary Exercitations, ed. Edward Williams (London: T. Pitcher, 1790), 1:333 – 352.  Old Testament passages 1793] passages of the Old Testament 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  It will require no small degree of labour to convince people in general, if the apostles are to be considered as uninspired, and were actually misled by Jewish prejudices in their application of some Old Testament passage that 1793] If the apostles are to be considered as uninspired, and were actually misled by Jewish prejudices in their application of some Old Testament passages, it will require no small degree of labour to convince people in general that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Edward Burn, Letters to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1790), 11.

212

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

hypothesis, he might do so. He preserves the principle of his opponent’s objection, as he himself expresses it; but does not mean to assert that he had applied that principle to this particular passage. And how does Dr. Priestley reply to this? Why, by alleging that he had not applied the above principle to the passage in question, but had given it a sense which allowed the propriety of its being applied to Christ; that is, he had not made that use of a principle which might be made of it, and which no one asserted he had made of it. Dr. Priestley is, doubtless, possessed of great abilities, and has had large experience in controversial writing; to what a situation, then, must he have been reduced, to have recourse to such an answer as the above! The question between Mr. Burn and Dr. Priestley, if I understand it, is not whether the latter appealed to the Scriptures for the truth of his opinions; but whether his supposing the sacred writers, in some cases, to apply Scripture improperly, does not render that appeal inconsistent; not whether he had allowed the propriety of the apostle’s quoting the sixth verse of the forty-fifth Psalm, and applying it, in the first chapter of the Hebrews, to Christ; but whether, upon the principle of the sacred writers being liable to make, and having actually made, some improper quotations, he might not have disallowed it; not whether the apostles did actually fail in this or that particular subject; but whether, if they failed in some instances, they were not liable to fail in others, and whether any dependence could be placed on their decisions; not whether the apostles testified things which they had seen and heard from the beginning;¹²⁷⁰ but whether their infallibility can be supported merely upon that ground, without supposing that the Holy Spirit assisted their memories, guided their judgments, and superintended their productions. If the reader of that controversy keep the above points in view, he will easily perceive the futility of a great many of Dr. Priestley’s answers, notwithstanding all his positivity and triumph, and his proceeding to admonish Mr. Burn to repentance. Dr. Priestley, in his sixth Letter to Mr. Burn, denies that he makes the reason of the individual the sole umpire in matters of faith.¹²⁷¹ But if the sacred writers, “in some things which they advanced, were fallible, and misled by prejudice,”¹²⁷² what dependence can be placed on them? Whether the reason of the individual be a proper umpire in matters of faith, or not, the writings of the apostles, on the foregoing hypothesis, can make no such pretence. Dr. Priestley may allege that we must distinguish between those things to which the apostles had not given much attention, and other things to which they had; those in which they were prejudiced, and others in which they were unprejudiced; those concerning which they had not the means of exact information, and others of a different description; but can he himself, at this distance of time, or even if he had been contemporary with them, al-

 1 John 1:1.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 239 – 240.  Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, 15.

Letter XII

213

ways tell what those cases are? How, in many instances at least, can he judge, with any certainty, of the degree of attention which they gave to things, of the prejudiced or unprejudiced state of their minds, or of the means of information which they possessed? Or if he could decide with satisfaction to himself on these matters, how are the bulk of mankind to judge, who are not possessed of his powers and opportunities, but who are equally interested in the affair with himself? Are they implicitly to rely on his opinion; or to supplicate heaven for a new revelation, to point out the defects and errors of the old one? In short, let Dr. Priestley profess what regard he may for the Scriptures, if what he advances be true, they can be no proper test of truth; and if the reason of the individual be not the sole umpire in these matters,¹²⁷³ there can be no umpire at all; but all must be left in gloomy doubt, and dreadful uncertainty.¹²⁷⁴ The generality of Socinian writers, as well as Dr. Priestley, write degradingly of our only rule of faith. The Scriptures profess to be “profitable for doctrine,”¹²⁷⁵ and to be “able to make men wise unto salvation.”¹²⁷⁶ “The testimony of the Lord is” said to be “sure, making wise the simple”;¹²⁷⁷ and those who made it their study professed to have obtained “more understanding than all their teachers.”¹²⁷⁸ But Mr. Lindsey considers the Scriptures as unadapted to promote any high perfection in knowledge; and supposes that¹²⁷⁹ they are left in obscurity, with design to promote¹²⁸⁰ an occasion of charity, candour,¹²⁸¹ and forbearance. Speaking of the doctrine of the person of Christ, “Surely it must be owned,” he says, “to have been left in some obscurity in the Scriptures themselves, which might mislead readers full of heathen prejudices (otherwise so many men, wise and good, would not have differed, and still continue to differ, concerning it); and so left, it should seem, on purpose to whet human industry, and the spirit of inquiry into the things of God, to give scope for the exercise of men’s charity and mutual forbearance of one another, and to be one great means of cultivating the moral dispositions, which is

 be not the umpire, and the sole umpire of these matters 1793] be not the sole umpire in these matters 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The reader will observe that the foregoing remarks on the controversy between Mr. Burn and Dr. Priestley have nothing to do with that part of it which relates to the riots at Birmingham, but merely with that on the person of Christ. [AF] On the Priestley Riots, see R. B. Rose, “The Priestley Riots of 1791,” Past and Present 18 (1960): 68 – 88; Arthur Sheps, “Public Reception of Joseph Priestley, the Birmingham Dissenters, and the Church-and-King Riots of 1791,” Eighteenth-Century Life 13 (1989): 46 – 64; John Howard Hinton, A Biographical Portraiture of the late Rev. James Hinton, M.A. (Oxford: Bartlett and Hinton; London: B.J. Holdsworth, 1824), 362– 363.  2 Timothy 3:16.  2 Timothy 3:15.  Psalm 19:7.  Psalm 119:99.  and that 1793] and supposes that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  afford 1793] promote 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

214

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

plainly the design of the Holy Spirit of God in the Christian revelation, and not any high perfection in knowledge, which so few can attain.”¹²⁸² On this extraordinary passage one might enquire, first, if the Scriptures have left the subject in obscurity, why might not the mistake of those who hold the divinity of Christ (supposing them to be mistaken) have been accounted for, without alleging, as Mr. Lindsey elsewhere does, that “they are determined, at all events, to believe Christ to be a different being from what he really was; that there is no reasoning with them”;¹²⁸³ and that “they are to be pitied, and considered as being under a debility of mind, in this respect, however sensible and rational in others?”¹²⁸⁴ If wise and good men have differed upon the subject in all ages, and that owing to the obscurity with which it is enveloped¹²⁸⁵ in the Scriptures themselves, why this abusive and insulting¹²⁸⁶ language? Is it any disgrace to a person not to see that clearly in the Scriptures which is not clearly there to be seen? Secondly, if the Scriptures have indeed left the subject in obscurity, how came Mr. Lindsey to be so decided¹²⁸⁷ upon it? The “high perfection of knowledge” which he possesses must, undoubtedly,¹²⁸⁸ have been acquired from some other quarter, seeing it made no part of the design of the Holy Spirit¹²⁸⁹ in the Christian revelation. But¹²⁹⁰ if so, we have no further¹²⁹¹ dispute with him; as, in what respects religion, we do not aspire to be wise above what is written. Thirdly, let it be considered whether the principle on which Mr. Lindsey encourages¹²⁹² the exercise of charity, and mutual forbearance, do not cast a heavy reflection upon the character of God. The Scriptures, in what relates to the person of Christ (a subject on which Dr. Priestley allows the writers to have been infallible), are left obscure, so obscure as to mislead readers full of heathen prejudices; nay,¹²⁹³ and with the very design of misleading them! God himself, it seems, designed that they should stumble on in ignorance, error, and disagreement, till, at last, wearied  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 45. [AF]  Theophilus Lindsey, The Catechist: Or, An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Scriptures, Concerning the Only True God and Object of Religious Worship. In Two Parts (London: J. Johnson, 1781), 28. [AF]  “They are to be considered and pitied as being under a debility of mind in this respect however sensible and rational in other?” 1793] “they are determined, at all events, to believe Christ to be a different being from what he really was; that there is no reasoning with them”; and that “they are to be pitied, and considered as being under a debility of mind, in this respect, however sensible and rational in others?” 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Fuller’s original note reads: Lindsey, Catechist, 28. [AF]  inveloped 1793] enveloped 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  insulting 1793] abusive and insulting 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  clear and decided 1793] decided 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  doubtless 1793] undoubtedly 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the Holy Spirit of God 1793] the Holy Spirit 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and 1793] But 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  farther 1793] further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  proposes 1793] encourages 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  yea 1793] nay 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XII

215

with their fate, and finding themselves united in one common calamity, they might become friends! But what is this friendship? Is it not at the expense¹²⁹⁴ of him who is supposed to have spread their way with snares, or (which is the same thing) with misleading obscurity? Is it any other than the “friendship of the world,” which “is enmity with God?”¹²⁹⁵ In perfect harmony with Mr. Lindsey is the language of a writer in the Monthly Review. ¹²⁹⁶ “The nature and design of the Scripture,” he says, “is not to settle disputed theories, nor to decide upon speculative controverted questions, even in religion and morality. The Scriptures, if we understand anything of them, are intended not so much to make us wiser as to make us better; not to solve the doubts, but, rather, to make us obey the dictates of our consciences.”¹²⁹⁷ The Holy Scriptures were never designed, then, to be a rule of faith or practice; but merely a stimulative! In matters of speculation (as all disputed subjects will be termed, whether doctrinal or practical) they have no authority, it seems, to decide any question. What saith the Scripture, therefore, would now be an impertinent question. You are to find out what is truth, and what is righteousness, by your reason and your conscience; and when you have obtained a system of religion and morality to your mind, Scripture is to furnish you with motives to reduce it to practice. If this be true, to what purpose are all appeals to the Scriptures on controverted subjects, and why do Socinians pretend to appeal to them? Why do they not honestly acknowledge that they did not learn their religion thence, and therefore refuse to have it tried at that bar? This would save much labour. To what purpose do they object to particular passages as interpolations, or mistranslations, or the like, when the whole, be it ever so pure, has nothing at all to do in the decision of our controversies? We have been used¹²⁹⁸ to speak of conscience having but one master, even Christ; but now, it seems, conscience is its own master, and Jesus Christ does not pretend to dictate to it, but merely to assist in the execution of its decisions! Mr. Belsham carries the matter still further.¹²⁹⁹ This gentleman, not satisfied, it seems, with disclaiming an implicit confidence in Holy Scripture, pretends to find authority, in the Scriptures themselves, for so doing. “The Bereans,” he says, “are commended for not taking the word even of an apostle, but examining the Scriptures for themselves, whether the doctrines which they heard were true, and whether St.

 expence 1793, 1794, 1796] expense 1802, 1810.  James 4:4.  what is advanced by a Monthly Reviewer 1793] the language of a writer in the Monthly Review 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. 51. Preached before the lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, January 30th, 1793: Being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of K. Charles the First. With an Appendix, Concerning the Political Principles of Calvin. by Samuel Lord Bishop of St. David’s. …,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal 10 (March 1793): 357. [AF]  used 1793] have been used 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  farther 1793] further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

216

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Paul’s reasoning was just.”¹³⁰⁰ I do not recollect that the Bereans were commended for not taking the word of an apostle; but for not rejecting it without examination, as the Jews did at Thessalonica. But granting it were otherwise, their situation was different from ours. They had not then had an opportunity¹³⁰¹ of obtaining evidence that the apostles were divinely inspired, or that the gospel which they preached was a message from God. This, surely, is a circumstance of importance. There is a great difference between their entertaining some doubt of the truth of the gospel, till they had fully examined its evidences, and our still continuing to doubt of its particular doctrines and reasonings, even though we allow it to be a message from God. To this may be added, that, in order to obtain evidence, the Bereans searched the Scriptures.¹³⁰² By comparing the facts which Paul testified with the prophecies which went before, and the doctrines which he preached with those of the Old Testament, they would judge whether his message was from God or not. There is a great difference between the criterion of the Bereans and that of the Socinians. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were the allowed standard of the former, and they employed their reason to find out their meaning, and their¹³⁰³ agreement with New Testament facts; but the authority and agreement of the Old and New Testaments will not satisfy the latter, unless what they contain agree also with their preconceived notions of what is fit and reasonable. The one tried what, for aught they at that time knew, were mere private reasonings by the Scriptures; but the other try the Scriptures by their own private reasonings. Finally, if proposing a doctrine for examination prove the proposer liable to false or unjust reasoning, it will follow that the reasoning of Christ might be false or unjust, seeing he appealed to the Scriptures, as well as his apostles, and commanded¹³⁰⁴ his hearers to search them. It will also follow that all the great facts of Christianity, as well as the reasonings of Christ and his apostles, were liable to be detected of falsehood; for these were as constantly submitted to examination as the other. “These things,” said they, “were not done in a corner.”¹³⁰⁵ Nay, it must follow that God himself is liable to be in a wrong cause, seeing he frequently appeals to men’s judgments and consciences. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.”¹³⁰⁶ The inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah were exhorted, and even entreated, it may be said, not to take matters upon trust; but to examine¹³⁰⁷ for themselves whether the conduct of

 Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 38 – 39.  had opportunity 1793] then had an opportunity 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Acts 17:11.  and 1793] and their 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  desired 1793] commanded 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Acts 26:26.  Isaiah 5:3.  examine 1793] to examine 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XII

217

Jehovah was just, or whether anything ought to have been done for his vineyard that was not done!¹³⁰⁸ But, far as our English Socinians have gone in these things, they do not seem to have exceeded, nor hardly to have equalled, those of the same denomination in other countries. These appear to have made great advances indeed towards infidelity. Mr. Blackwall makes mention of two,¹³⁰⁹ whose language conveys an idea of uncommon disrespect to the sacred writings. George Engedin,¹³¹⁰ speaking of the writings of John, says, “if a concise, abrupt obscurity, inconsistent with itself, and made up of allegories, is to be called sublimity of speech, I own John to be sublime; for there is scarcely one discourse of Christ which is not altogether allegorical and very hard to be understood.”¹³¹¹ Gagneius,¹³¹² another writer of the same spirit, says, “I shall not a little glory, if I shall be found to give some light to Paul’s darkness, a darkness, as some think, industriously affected.”¹³¹³ “Let any of the followers of these worthy interpreters of the gospel, and champions of Christianity,” adds Mr. Blackwall, by way of reflection, “speak worse, if they can, of the ambiguous oracles of the father of lies. These fair-dealing gentlemen first disguise the sacred writings, and turn them into a harsh allegory; and then charge them with that obscurity and inconsistency which is plainly consequent upon that sense which their interpretations force upon them. They outrage the divine writers in a double capacity; first they debase their sense as theologues and commentators, and then carp at and vilify their language as grammarians and critics.”¹³¹⁴  and whether any more 1793] or whether anything 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Anthony Blackwall (1672– 1730) was born in Derbyshire and was admitted to Cambridge University in the autumn of 1690. After graduation, Blackwall became the headmaster of the Free School in Derby, and then in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. Blackwall was accorded respect as a classicist after the publication of his An Introduction to the Classics (1718) and The Sacred Classics Defended and Illustrated (1725).  Fuller anglicized György Enyedi’s (1555 – 1597) Latin name Georgius Eniedinus to George Engedin (Anthony Blackwell spelled Enyedi’s last name as “Enjedon”). Enyedi was the superintendent of the Unitarian churches in Transylvania. He corresponded with Faustus Socinus on the question of the invocation of Christ. He wrote a work entitled Explicationes Locorum Veteris et Novi Testamenti, ex quibus Trinitatis Dogma stabiliri solet published after his death with no date. Engedin sought to explain John’s “In the beginning” (John 1:1) as “at the commencement of John’s office.” See Robert Wallace, Antitrinitarian Biography (London: E.T. Whitfield, 1850), 2:415 – 418.  Anthony Blackwall, The Sacred Classics Defended and Illustrated (London: C. Rivington; Derby: W. Cantrell, 1725), 255. [AF]  Jean de Gagny (d. 1549; also spelled Jean Gagneius or Joannes Gagneius) was a French Roman Catholic theologian and educator who wrote commentaries on the Pauline epistles, the Gospels, and Acts. Trained at the Collège de Navarre, de Gagny became the rector of the University of Paris in 1531, and the chancellor in 1546. See André Jammes, “Un bibliophile à découvrir, Jean de Gagney,” Bulletin du bibliophile (1996): 35 – 81; Irena Backus, Reformation Readings of the Apocalypse: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg, Oxford Studies in Historical Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 83 – 85.  Blackwell, Sacred Classics Defended and Illustrated, 255 – 256. [AF]  Blackwell, Sacred Classics Defended and Illustrated, 256. [AF]

218

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Steinbart,¹³¹⁵ Semler,¹³¹⁶ and other foreign Socinians, of later times,¹³¹⁷ write in a similar strain. The former, speaking of the narrations of facts contained in the New Testament, says, “These narrations, true or false, are only suited for ignorant, uncultivated minds, who cannot enter into the evidence of natural religion.”¹³¹⁸ The same writer adds, “Moses, according to the childish conceptions of the Jews in his days, paints God as agitated by violent affections, partial to one people, and hating all other nations.”¹³¹⁹ The latter in a Note on 2 Peter 1:21—“The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”¹³²⁰—says, “Peter speaks there according to the conception of the Jews”;¹³²¹ and, “the prophets may have delivered the offspring of their own brains as divine revelations.”¹³²² Socinian writers sometimes profess great respect to the Holy Scriptures; and most, if not all of them, would have it thought that they consider their testimony as being in their favour. But if so, why all these pains to depreciate them? We know who they are that not¹³²³ only undermine their general credit, but are obliged, on almost every occasion, to have recourse to interpolation, or mistranslation; who are driven to disown the apostolic reasonings as a proper test of religious sentiment, and to hold them as the mere private opinions of men, no way decisive as to what is truth. But is it usual, in any cause, for persons to endeavour to set aside those witnesses, and to invalidate that testimony, which they consider, at the same time, as being in their favour? This is a question which it does not require much critical skill to decide. When Socinian writers have mangled and altered the translation to their own minds,¹³²⁴ informing us that such a term may be rendered so, and such a passage should be pointed so, and so on, they seem to expect that their opponents should quote the Scriptures accordingly; and if they do not, are very liberal in insinuating that their design is to impose upon the vulgar. But though it be admitted that  Gotthelf Samuel Steinbart (1738 – 1809) criticized the historical development of Christian and Protestant orthodoxy as grossly misrepresenting the simple ethical system Christ taught. In his opinion, orthodox views of biblical inspiration perverted the simple historical narrative implicit in the New Testament text.  Johann Salomo Semler (1725 – 1791) was born into a pietistic Lutheran home but spent his life seeking to correct towards the Pietist principles of interpretation and view of biblical inspiration. He contributed greatly to the rise of the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation and the consequent division between Scripture and the Word of God.  dates 1793] times 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, and Theological Controversy (Edinburgh: M. Gray, 1790), 1:66. [AF]  Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, 1:71. [AF]  2 Peter 1:2.  Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, 1:71. [AF]  Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, 1:71. [AF]  who not 1793] that not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  mind 1793] own minds 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XII

219

every translation must needs have its imperfections, and that those imperfections ought to be corrected by fair and impartial criticism, yet, where alterations are made by those who have an end to answer by them, they ought always to be suspected, and will be so by thinking and impartial people. If we must quote particular passages of Scripture after the manner in which our adversaries translate them, we must also avoid quoting all those which they object to as interpolations. Nor shall we stop here: we must, on certain occasions, leave out whole chapters, if not whole books.¹³²⁵ We must never refer to the reasonings of the apostles,¹³²⁶ but consider that they were subject to be misled by Jewish prejudices; nor even to historical facts, unless we can satisfy ourselves that the historians, independent of their being divinely inspired, were possessed of sufficient means of information. In short, if we must never quote Scripture except according to the rules imposed upon us by Socinian writers, we must not quote it at all; not, at least, till they shall have indulged us with a Bible of their own, that shall leave out everything on which we are to place no dependence. A publication of this sort would, doubtless, be an acceptable present to the Christian world, would be comprised in a very small compass, and be of infinite service in cutting short a great deal of unnecessary controversy, into which, for want of such a criterion, we shall always be in danger of wandering. Dr. Priestley, in his Animadversions on Mr. Gibbon’s History,¹³²⁷ takes notice of what is implied in that gentleman’s endeavouring to lessen the number and validity of the early martyrdoms; namely, a consciousness that they afforded an argument against him. “Mr. Gibbon,” says the Doctor, “appears to have been sufficiently sensible of the value of such a testimony to the truth of the gospel history as is furnished by the early martyrdoms, and therefore he takes great pains to diminish their number; and when the facts cannot be denied, he endeavours to exhibit them in the most unfavourable light.”¹³²⁸ Judge, brethren,¹³²⁹ whether this picture does not bear too near a resemblance to the conduct of Dr. Priestley, and other Socinian writers, respecting the Holy Scriptures.

 we must leave out whole chapters, if not whole books, on certain occasions. 1793] we must, on certain occasions, leave out whole chapters, if not whole books. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  apostolic reasonings 1793] reasonings of the apostles 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, A Reply to the Animadversions on the History of the Corruptions of Christianity, in the Monthly Review for June, 1783; with Additional Observations Relating to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Piercey and Jones for J. Johnson, 1783). This work was later included in Priestley’s Defences of the History of the Corruptions of Christianity. Containing I. A Reply to the Animadversions in the Monthly Review for June, 1783. II. Letters to Dr. Horsley, Part I. III. Remarks on the Monthly Review of the Letters to Dr. Horsley, Part I. IV. Letters to Dr. Horsley, Part II. III. (London: J. Johnson, 1783 – 1786). Priestley was writing in response to Edward Gibbon (1737– 1794) and his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776 – 1789).  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 217. [AF]  Christian brethren 1793] brethren 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

220

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

I have heard of persons who, when engaging in a lawsuit, and fearing lest certain individuals should appear in evidence against them, have so contrived matters as to sue the witnesses; and so, by making them parties in the contest, have disqualified them for bearing testimony. And what else is the conduct of Dr. Priestley, with respect to those passages in the New Testament which speak of Christ as God?¹³³⁰ We read there that “the Word who was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” was God.¹³³¹ Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”¹³³² “Of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.”¹³³³ “Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”¹³³⁴ “Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”¹³³⁵ “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.”¹³³⁶ But Dr. Priestley asserts that “in no sense whatever, not even in the lowest of all, is Christ so much as called God in all the New Testament.”¹³³⁷ The method taken by this writer to enable him to hazard such an assertion, without being subject to the charge of downright falsehood, could be no other than that of laying a kind of arrest upon the foregoing passages, with others, as being either interpolations or mistranslations, or something that shall answer the same end, and by these means imposing silence upon them as to the subject in dispute. To be sure we may go on, killing one Scripture testimony, and stoning another, till, at length, it would become an easy thing to assert that there is not an instance, in all the New Testament, in which our opinions are confronted. But to what does it all amount? When we are told that “Christ is never so much as called God in all the New Testament,”¹³³⁸ the question is whether we are to understand it of the New Testament as it was left by the sacred writers, or as corrected, amended, curtailed, and interpreted by a set of controvertists,¹³³⁹ with a view to make it accord with a favourite system. I am, etc.

 those scripture passages which speak of Christ as God in the new testament [sic] 1793] those passages in the New Testament which speak of Christ as God 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 1:1, 14. [AF]  John 20:28. [AF]  Romans 9:5. [AF]  Hebrews 1:8. [AF]  Acts 20:28. [AF]  1 John 3:16. [AF]  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 221. [AF]  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 131, 221.  controversists 1793] controvertists 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIII

221

Letter XIII: On the tendency of the different systems to promote happiness or cheerfulness of mind¹³⁴⁰ Christian brethren, Nothing is more common with our opponents than to represent the Calvinistic system as gloomy, as leading to melancholy and misery. Our ideas of God, of sin, and of future punishment, they say, must necessarily depress our minds. Dr. Priestley, as we have seen already, reckons Unitarians “more cheerful” than Trinitarians. Nor is this all. It has even been asserted that the tendency of our principles is to promote “moral turpitude, melancholy, and despair; and that the suicide practised among the middling and lower ranks is frequently to be traced to this doctrine.”¹³⁴¹ This is certainly carrying matters to a great height. It might be worthwhile, however, for those who advance such things as these to make good what they affirm, if they be able. Till that be done, candour¹³⁴² itself must consider these¹³⁴³ bold assertions as the mere effusions of malignity and slander. It is some consolation, however, that¹³⁴⁴ what is objected to us by Socinians, is objected to religion itself by unbelievers. Lord Shaftesbury observes, “There is a melancholy which accompanies all enthusiasm,”¹³⁴⁵ which, from his pen,¹³⁴⁶ is only another name for Christianity. To the same purpose, Mr. Hume asserts, “There is a gloom and melancholy remarkable in all devout people.”¹³⁴⁷ If these writers had

 Happiness. 1793] happiness, or cheerfulness of mind. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See “Review of Memoirs of the late pious and Rev. Gabriel D’Anville, V.D.M. 2 Vols. …,” Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature 64 (September 1787): 231– 232. [AF]  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  their 1793] these 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that 1793] however, that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm (London: J. Morphew, 1708), 21. Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1671– 1713), third Earl of Shaftesbury, was a Whig politician and moral philosopher. During his youth, Shaftesbury was privately educated by John Locke (1632– 1704), who was the medical attendant to the family. Under Locke’s influence, Shaftesbury became a follower of the Cambridge Platonists and rejected Thomas Hobbes’s (1588 – 1679) moral philosophy. Shaftesbury is known as a representative of early Enlightenment thought, and his aesthetic views influenced theologians such as Jonathan Edwards. Shaftesbury published A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm in 1708, two years after the French Prophets appeared in London. He used the occasion to shift the term “enthusiasm” to cover virtually all concepts of revealed religion. Shaftesbury went on to say, “Be it love or religion (for there are enthusiasms in both), nothing can put a stop to the growing mischief of either, till the melancholy be removed and the mind at liberty to hear what can be said against the ridiculousness of an extreme in either way” (Shaftesbury, Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, 21). The term “enthusiasm” still had negative connotations well into the nineteenth century. For instance, in an issue of The Calcutta Review, it was stated as fact that “faith not grounded on reason is enthusiasm” (“Miscellaneous Notices,” The Calcutta Review 5 [January–June, 1846]: xlii).  in his lips 1793] from his pen 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 2nd ed. (London, 1779), 259. David Hume (1711– 1776) was a Scottish empiricist and one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers. His A Treatise of Human Nature (1739 – 1740) and Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding (1748) es-

222

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

formed a comparison between Deists and atheists on the one side, and devout Christians on the other, they would have said of the former, as Dr. Priestley says of Unitarians, “they are more cheerful, and more happy.”¹³⁴⁸ It is granted that the system we adopt¹³⁴⁹ has nothing in it adapted to promote the happiness of those who persist in enmity against God, and in a rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. While men are at war with God, we do not know of any evangelical promise that is calculated to make them happy.¹³⁵⁰ This, perhaps, with some, may be a considerable ground of objection to our views of things; but then such objection must stand equally against the Scriptures themselves, since their language to ungodly men is, “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep.”¹³⁵¹ All the prophets and ministers of the word were, in effect, commanded¹³⁵² to “say to the wicked, It shall be ill with him.”¹³⁵³ This, with us, is one considerable objection against the doctrine of the final salvation of all men, a doctrine much circulated of late, and generally embraced by Socinian writers. Supposing it were a truth, it must be of such a kind as is adapted to comfort mankind in sin. It is good news; but it is to the impenitent and unbelieving, even to those who

tablished naturalism as a philosophical position. Opposing rationalism, Hume argued that the passions govern human behaviour: “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them” (A Treatise of Human Nature [London: John Noon, 1739], 2:248). In Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Hume opined, “As terror is the primary principle of religion, it is the passion which always predominates in it, and admits but of short intervals of pleasure.” Again he asserted, “Fits of excessive, enthusiastic joy, by exhausting the spirits, always prepare the way for equal fits of superstitious terror and dejection; nor is there any state of mind so happy as the calm and equable.” Equability, however, so Hume continued, “is impossible to support, where a man thinks that he lies in such profound darkness and uncertainty, between an eternity of happiness and an eternity of misery” (Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 258 – 259).  Joseph Priestley, The Duty of not living to Ourselves, in Two Discourses; I. On Habitual Devotion, II. On the Duty of not living to Ourselves (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1782), 58. Priestley also treats this general theme in his “Prefatory Discourse, Relating to the present State of those who are called Rational Dissenters,” in The proper Constitution of a Christian Church (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1782). Fuller has referred to this basic context on a few occasions. Priestley, seeking to explain why many Unitarians did not seem to have as much zeal and practical religion as orthodox Dissenters, noted, “Upon the whole, considering the great mixture of spiritual pride and bigotry in some of the most zealous Trinitarians, I think the moral character of the Unitarians, in general, allowing that there is in them a greater apparent conformity to the world than is observable in the others, approaches more nearly to the proper temper of Christianity. It is more cheerful, more benevolent, and more candid. The former have probably less, and the latter, I hope, something more, of a real principle of religion than they seem to have” (Priestley, Proper Constitution, xii).  imbibe 1793] adopt 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  we know of no one promise of the gospel that is adapted 1793] we do not know of any evangelical promise that is calculated 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  James 4:9.  had it in commission 1793] were, in effect, commanded 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Isaiah 3:11.

Letter XIII

223

live and die such; which is a characteristic¹³⁵⁴ so singular, that I question whether¹³⁵⁵ anything can be found in the Bible to resemble it. If our views of things be but adapted to encourage sinners to return to God by Jesus Christ, if they afford strong consolation to those who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them, and if sobriety, righteousness, and godliness here meet with the most powerful motives, this is all that the Scriptures themselves propose.¹³⁵⁶ Our system, it is granted,¹³⁵⁷ is not adapted to promote that kind of cheerfulness and happiness to which men in general are greatly addicted; namely, that which consists in self-deceit and levity of spirit. There is a kind of cheerfulness like that of a tradesman who avoids looking into his accounts, lest they should disturb his peace and render him unhappy. This, indeed, is the cheerfulness of a great part of mankind, who¹³⁵⁸ shun the light, lest it should disturb their repose, and interrupt their present pursuits. They try to persuade themselves that they shall have peace, though they add drunkenness to thirst; and there are not wanting preachers who afford them assistance in the dangerous delusion. The doctrines¹³⁵⁹ of human depravity, of sinners being under the curse of the law, and of their exposedness to everlasting punishment, are those which are supposed to lead us to melancholy; and we may fairly conclude that the opposites to these doctrines are at the bottom of the cheerfulness of which our opponents boast. Instead of considering mankind as lost sinners, exposed to everlasting destruction, they love to represent them simply as creatures, as the children of God, and to suppose that, having, in general, more virtue than vice, they have nothing to fear; or if, in a few instances, it be otherwise, still they have no reason to be afraid of endless punishment. These things, to be sure, make people cheerful; but¹³⁶⁰ it is with the cheerfulness of a wicked man. It is just as wicked men would have it. It is no wonder that persons of “no religion,” and who “lean to a life of dissipation,” should be “the first to embrace these principles.”¹³⁶¹ They are such as must needs suit them; especially if we add what Dr. Priestley inculcates in his sermon on the death of Mr. Robinson,¹³⁶² that “it is not necessary to dwell in our thoughts upon death and futurity, lest it should interrupt the business of life, and cause us to live in perpetual bondage.”¹³⁶³ We hope it is no disparagement

 circumstance 1793] characteristic 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  if 1793, 1794, 1796] whether 1802, 1810.  propose. Further, 1793] propose. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  It is granted that our system 1793] Our system, it is granted, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  they 1793] who 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the doctrines 1793, 1794, 1796] those 1802, 1810.  but then 1793] but 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 98 – 99. Fuller is summarizing Priestley’s words here.  On Robert Robinson, see above, p. 68 n. 107.  Joseph Priestley, Reflections on Death. A Sermon, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge (Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1790), 10. Fuller’s original note reads: This is the substance of what he advances, p. 7 to 12. [AF 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810]

224

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

of the Calvinistic doctrine that it disclaims the promoting of all such cheerfulness as this. That cheerfulness which is damped by thoughts of death and futurity is, at best, mere natural joy. It has no virtue in it; nay,¹³⁶⁴ in many cases, it is positively vicious, and founded in self-deception. It is nothing better than “the laughter of a fool.”¹³⁶⁵ It may blaze awhile in the bosoms of the dissipated and the secure; but if the sinner be once awakened to just reflection, it will expire like “the crackling of thorns under a pot.”¹³⁶⁶ There is, also, a kind of happiness, which some persons enjoy, in treating the most serious and important subjects with levity, making them the subjects of jests, and trying their skill in disputing upon them, which is frequently called pleasantry, good nature, and the like. A cheerfulness of this kind, in Oliver Cromwell,¹³⁶⁷ is praised by Mr. Lindsey, and represented as an excellency “of which the gloomy bigot is utterly incapable.”¹³⁶⁸ Pleasantry, on some occasions, and to a certain degree, is natural and allowable; but if sporting with sacred things must go by that name, let me be called “a gloomy bigot” rather than indulge it. Once more: it is allowed that the system we embrace has a tendency, on various occasions, to promote sorrow of heart. Our notions of the evil of sin exceed those of our opponents. While they reject the doctrine of atonement by the cross of Christ, they have not that glass in which¹³⁶⁹ to discern its malignity which others have. There are times in which we remember Calvary, and weep on account of that for which our Redeemer died. But so far are we from considering this as our infelicity, that, for weeping in this manner once, we could wish to do so a thousand times. There is a pleasure in the very pains of godly sorrow, of which the light-minded speculatist is utterly incapable. The tears of her that wept, and washed her Saviour’s feet, afforded abundantly greater satisfaction than the unfeeling calm of the Pharisee, who stood by, making his ill-natured reflections upon her conduct. If our views of things have no tendency to promote solid, holy, heavenly joy; joy that fits true Christians for the proper business of this world, and the blessedness of that which is¹³⁷⁰ to come, we will acknowledge it a strong presumption against them. If,¹³⁷¹ on the other hand, they can be proved to possess such a tendency, and that in a

 and 1793] nay, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ecclesiastes 7:6.  Ecclesiastes 7:6.  Theophilus Lindsey’s knowledge of Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) mainly came from William Harris’s (1720 – 1770) biography, An Historical and Critical Account of the Life of Oliver Cromwell (London: A. Millar, 1762), and An Historical and Critical Account of the Life of Charles the Second (London: A. Millar, 1766), 2 vols.  Theophilus Lindsey, The Apology of Theophilus Lindsey, M.A. on Resigning the Vicarage of Catterick, Yorkshire, 4th ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1782), 60. [AF]  glass 1793] glass in which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  that 1793] that which is 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and if 1793] If 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIII

225

much greater degree than the opposite scheme, it will be a considerable argument in their favour. Let us examine this matter a little closer. The utmost happiness which the peculiar principles of Socinians are adapted to promote consists in calmness of mind,¹³⁷² like that of a philosopher contemplating the works of creation. The friends of that scheme conceive of man as a good kind of being, and suppose there is a greater proportion of virtue in the world than vice, and that things, upon the whole, are getting better still, and so tending to happiness. They suppose there is little or no breach between God and men, nothing but what may be made up by repentance, a repentance without much pain of mind, and without any atoning Saviour; that God, being the benevolent Father of his rational offspring, will not be strict to mark iniquity;¹³⁷³ and that, as his benevolence is infinite, all will be well at last, “as with the good, so with the sinner; with him that sweareth, as with him that feareth an oath.”¹³⁷⁴ This makes them serene,¹³⁷⁵ and enables them to pursue the studies of philosophy, or the avocations of life, with composure. This appears to be the summit of their happiness, and must be so¹³⁷⁶ of all others if they wish to escape their censure. For if anyone pretends¹³⁷⁷ to happiness of a superior kind, they will instantly reproach him as an enthusiast. A writer in the Monthly Review observes, concerning the late President Edwards,¹³⁷⁸ “From the account given of him,¹³⁷⁹ he appears to have been a very reputable, good, and pious man, according to his views and feelings in religious matters, which those of different sentiments and cooler sensations will not fail to consider as all wild ecstasy, rapture, and enthusiasm.”¹³⁸⁰ The tendency of any system to promote calmness is nothing at all in its favour, any further than such calmness can be proved to be virtuous. But this must be determined by the situation in which we stand. We ought to be affected according to

 Happiness to which the Socinian scheme pretends, consists 1793, 1794, 1796] happiness which the peculiar principles of Socinians are adapted to promote consists 1802, 1810.  very strict 1793] strict 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ecclesiastes 9:2.  calm and serene 1793] serene 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  happiness; yea, and must be the summit of the happiness 1793] happiness, and must be so 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  pretend 1793, 1794] pretends 1796, 1802, 1810.  Jonathan Edwards.  that “From 1793] “From 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. 68. History of Redemption; … By the late Reverend Jonathan Edwards, … 1788,” The Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal 80 (January–June 1789): 370 – 371. [AF] This edition also contained a small memoir by Edwards, which reproduced sections of his Personal Narrative (1739). Commenting on that section of this text, in which Edwards spoke of the impact of the Song of Songs on his soul—“the whole book of Canticles used to be pleasant to me, and I used to be much in reading it […] and found, from time to time, an inward sweetness”—the Reviewer declared: “if this pious detail had been suppressed, religion would have suffered no great loss.” On the term “enthusiasm,” see above, p. 221 n. 1345.

226

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

our situation. If, indeed,¹³⁸¹ there be no breach between God and men, if all be right on our part as well as his, and just as it should be, then it becomes us to be calm and thankful; but if it be otherwise, it becomes us to feel accordingly. If we have offended God, we ought to bewail our transgressions, and be sorry for our sin; and if the offence be great, we ought to be deeply affected with it. It would be thought very improper for a convict, a little before the time appointed for his execution, instead of cherishing proper reflections on the magnitude of his offence, and suing¹³⁸² for the mercy of his offended sovereign, to be employed in speculating upon his benevolence, till he has really worked himself into a persuasion that no serious apprehensions were to be entertained, either concerning himself or any of his fellow convicts. Such a person might enjoy a much greater degree of calmness than his companions; but considerate people would neither admire¹³⁸³ his mode of thinking, nor¹³⁸⁴ envy his imaginary felicity. Calmness and serenity of mind may arise from ignorance of ourselves, and from the want of a principle of true religion. While Paul was ignorant of his true character, he was calm and easy, or, as he expresses it, “alive without the law”;¹³⁸⁵ “but when the commandment came,” in its spirituality and authority, “sin revived, and he died.”¹³⁸⁶ The Pharisee, who was whole in his own esteem, and needed no physician, was abundantly more calm than the publican, who smote upon his breast, and cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”¹³⁸⁷ While any man is destitute of a principle of true religion, the strong man armed keepeth the house, and the goods are in peace;¹³⁸⁸ and while things are thus, he will be a stranger to all those holy mournings which abound in the Psalms of David, and to those inward conflicts between flesh and spirit described in the writings of Paul. And knowing nothing of such things himself, he will be apt to think meanly of those who do; to deride them as enthusiasts, to reproach them with gloominess, and to boast of his own insensibility, under the names of calmness and cheerfulness.¹³⁸⁹ Supposing the calmness and cheerfulness of mind of which our opponents boast to be on the side of virtue, still it is a cold and insipid kind of happiness, compared with that which is produced by the doctrine of salvation through the atoning blood of Christ. One great source of happiness is contrast. Dr. Priestley has proved, what indeed is evident from universal experience, “that the recollection of past troubles, after a certain interval, becomes highly pleasurable, and is a pleasure of a very du-

        

If 1793] If, indeed, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. sueing 1793, 1794] suing 1796, 1802, 1810. not admire 1793] neither admire 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. or 1793] nor 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Romans 7:9. Romans 7:9. Luke 18:13. Luke 11:21. cheerfulness. But further, 1793] cheerfulness. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIII

227

rable kind.”¹³⁹⁰ On this principle he undertakes to prove the infinite benevolence of the Deity, even in his so ordering things that a mixture of pain and sorrow shall fall to the lot of man. On the same principle may be proved, if I mistake not, the superiority of the Calvinistic system to that of the Socinians, in point of promoting happiness. The doctrines of the former, supposing them to be true, are affecting. It is affecting to think that man, originally pure, should have fallen from the height of righteousness and honour to the depth of apostacy and infamy; that he is now an enemy to God, and actually lies under his awful and just displeasure, exposed to everlasting misery; that, notwithstanding all this, a ransom is found to deliver him from going down to the pit;¹³⁹¹ that God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son to become a sacrifice for sin, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life;¹³⁹² that the issue of Christ’s death is not left at an uncertainty,¹³⁹³ nor the invitations of his gospel subject to universal rejection, but an effectual provision is made,¹³⁹⁴ in the great plan of redemption, that he shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied; that the Holy Spirit is given to renew and sanctify a people for himself;¹³⁹⁵ that they who were under condemnation and wrath, being justified by faith in the righteousness of Jesus, have peace with God;¹³⁹⁶ that aliens and outcasts are become the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty;¹³⁹⁷ that everlasting arms¹³⁹⁸ are now beneath them,¹³⁹⁹ and everlasting glory is before them. These sentiments, I say, supposing them to be true, are undoubtedly affecting. The Socinian system, supposing it were true, compared with this, is cold, uninteresting, and insipid. We read of “joy and peace in believing,” of “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”¹⁴⁰⁰ Those who adopt the Calvinistic doctrine of the exceeding sinfulness of sin,¹⁴⁰¹ and of their own lost¹⁴⁰² condition as sinners, are prepared to imbibe the joy of the gospel, supposing it to exhibit a great salvation, through the atonement of a great Saviour, to which others of opposite sentiments¹⁴⁰³ must of necessity be  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part I. Containing an Examination of the principal Objections to the Doctrines of Natural Religion, and especially those contained in the Writings of Mr. Hume, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason for J. Johnson, 1787), 91.  2 Timothy 2:6; Job 33:24.  John 3:16.  uncertainty 1793] an uncertainty 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  made 1793] is made 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Peter 1:2, 2:10.  Romans 3:22, 5:1.  Ephesians 2:12, 19.  everlasting 1793] that everlasting 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Deuteronomy 33:27.  Romans 15:13; 1 Peter 1:8  who imbibe the Calvinistic doctrines 1793] who adopt the Calvinistic doctrine 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  lost and undone 1793] lost 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  others 1793] others of opposite sentiments 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

228

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

strangers. The Pharisees who thought well of their character and condition, like the elder son in the parable, instead of rejoicing at the good news of salvation to the chief of sinners, were disgusted at it;¹⁴⁰⁴ and this will ever be the case with all who, like the Pharisees, are whole in their own eyes, so whole as to think they need no physician.¹⁴⁰⁵ The votaries of the Socinian scheme do not, in general, appear to feel their hearts much interested by it. Voltaire could say in his time, “At least, hitherto, only a very small number of those called Unitarians have held any religious meetings.”¹⁴⁰⁶ And though Dr. Priestley, by his great zeal, has endeavoured¹⁴⁰⁷ to invigorate and reform the party; yet he admits the justice of a common complaint among¹⁴⁰⁸ them, that “their societies do not flourish, their members have but a slight attachment to them, and easily desert them; though it is never imagined,” he adds, “that they desert their principles.”¹⁴⁰⁹ All this the Doctor accounts for by allowing that their principles are not of that importance which we suppose ours to be, and that “many of those who judge so truly concerning the particular tenets of religion have attained to that cool, unbiassed temper of mind, in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it.”¹⁴¹⁰ Through indifference, it seems, they come in; through indifference they go out; and they are¹⁴¹¹ very indifferent while there. Yet, it is said,¹⁴¹² they still retain their principles; and, I suppose, are very cheerful, and very happy. Happiness, theirs, consequently, which does not interest the heart, any more than reform the life. Although the aforementioned writer in the Monthly Review insinuates that President Edwards’s religious feelings were “all wild ecstasy, rapture, and enthusiasm,”¹⁴¹³ yet he adds, “We cannot question the sincerity of Mr. Edwards, who, however he may possibly have imposed on himself by the warmth of his imagination, was, perhaps, rather to be envied than derided for his ardours and ecstasies, which, in themselves, were at least innocent; in which he, no doubt, found much delight, and from which no creature could receive the least hurt.”¹⁴¹⁴ I thank you, sir, for this concession. It will, at least, serve to shew that the sentiments and feelings which you deem wild and enthusiastical may, by your own acknowledgment, be

 Luke 15:26 – 30.  Luke 5:31.  Voltaire, “Of England, under Charles II,” in The Works of M. de Voltaire, trans. T. Smollett, T. Francklin, et al. (London: J. Newberry et al., 1764), 23:76. [AF] Voltaire (1694– 1778) was the nom de plume of François-Marie Arouet, a French Enlightenment philosopher.  endeavored 1793] endeavoured 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 94.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95.  are 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802] they are 1810.  ’tis said 1793] it is said 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. 68. History of Redemption,” 370.  “Art. 68. History of Redemption,” 371.

Letter XIII

229

the most adapted to promote human happiness; and that is all for which I at present contend. President Edwards, however, was¹⁴¹⁵ far from being a person of that warm imagination which this writer would insinuate. No man could be a greater enemy to real enthusiasm. Under the most virulent oppositions, and the heaviest trials, he possessed a great share¹⁴¹⁶ of coolness of judgment as well as of calmness and serenity of mind, as great, and perhaps greater, than anyone whom this gentleman can refer us to among those whom he calls men of cool sensations.¹⁴¹⁷ But he felt deeply in religion;¹⁴¹⁸ and in such feelings, our adversaries themselves being judges, he was to be “envied, and not derided.”¹⁴¹⁹ Why should religion be the only subject in which we must not be allowed to feel? Men are praised for the exercise of ardour, and even of ecstasy,¹⁴²⁰ in poetry, in politics, and in the endearing connexions of social life; but, in religion, we must either go on with cool indifference, or be branded as enthusiasts. Is it because religion is of less importance than other things? Is eternal salvation of less consequence than the political or domestic accommodations of time? It is treated by multitudes as if it were; and the spirit of Socinianism, so far as it operates, tends to keep them in countenance. Is it not a pity but those who call themselves rational Christians would act more rationally? Nothing can be more irrational, as well as injurious, than to encourage an ardour¹⁴²¹ of mind after the trifles of a moment, and to discourage it when pursuing objects of infinite magnitude.¹⁴²² “Passion is reason, transport temper here!”¹⁴²³ The Socinian system proposes to exclude mystery from religion, or “things in their own nature incomprehensible.”¹⁴²⁴ But such a scheme not only renders religion

 was 1793] however, was 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  He had a great share 1793] Under the most virulent oppositions, and the heaviest trials, he possessed a great share 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  than any one this gentleman can produce from amongst those whom he calls men of cool sensations 1793] than any one this Gentleman can refer us to among those whom he calls men of cool sensations 1794, 1796] than any one whom this gentleman can refer us to among those whom he calls men of cool sensations 1802, 1810.  sensibly and deeply 1793] deeply 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  “Art. 68. History of Redemption,” 371.  extasy 1793] ecstasy 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  ardor 1793] ardour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  infinitely greater magnitude 1793] infinite magnitude 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Edward Young, The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. Night the Fourth (London: R. Dodsley, 1744), 36. The text has been rendered as Fuller has it, and not as in the original. The same is true for the other quotations from this poem by Young below.  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, containing Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; to the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; to the Rev. Dr. Price; and to the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 67. [AF] This statement

230

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

the only thing in nature void of mystery, but divests it of a property essential to the continued communication of happiness to an immortal creature. Our passions are more affected by objects which surpass our comprehension than by those which we fully know. It is thus with respect to unhappiness. An unknown misery is much more dreadful than one that is fully known. Suspense¹⁴²⁵ adds to distress. If, with regard to transient sufferings,¹⁴²⁶ we know the worst, the worst is commonly over; and hence our troubles are frequently greater when feared than when actually felt. It is the same with respect to happiness. That happiness which is felt in the pursuit of science abates in the full possession of the object. When once a matter is fully known, we cease to take that pleasure in it as at first, and long for something new. It is the same in all other kinds of happiness. The mind loves to swim in deep waters; if it touch the bottom it feels disgust. If the best were once fully known, the best would thence¹⁴²⁷ be over. Some of the noblest passions in Paul were excited by objects incomprehensible: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”¹⁴²⁸ “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, believed on in the world, received up into glory!”¹⁴²⁹ Now, if things be so, it is easy to see that to divest religion of everything incomprehensible is to divest it of what is essential to human happiness. And no wonder; for it is nothing less than to divest it of God! The Socinian scheme, by rejecting the deity and atonement of Christ, rejects the very essence of that which both supports¹⁴³⁰ and transports a Christian’s heart. It was acknowledged by Mr. Hume, that “the good, the great, the sublime, and the ravishing, were to be found evidently in the principles of theism.”¹⁴³¹ To this Dr. Priestley very justly replies, “If so, I need not say that there must be something mean, abject, and debasing in the principles of atheism.”¹⁴³² But let it be considered whether this observation be not equally applicable to the subject in hand. Our opponents, it is true, may hold¹⁴³³ sentiments which are great and transporting. Such are their views of the works of God in creation; but so are those of Deists. Neither are these

was actually a quotation of Priestley taken from William Purkis, The Influence of the Present Pursuits in Learning as They Affect Religion (Cambridge: J. & J. Merrill et al., 1786), 10.  Suspence 1793] Suspense 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  If we 1793] If, with regard to transient sufferings, we 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Fuller appears to have added the phrase, “with regard to transient sufferings” so as to avoid the implication that we can mentally comprehend, in this life, the worst of eternal sufferings prior to their occurrence.  from thence 1793] thence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Romans 11:33.  1 Timothy 3:16.  supports 1793] both supports 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  David Hume, Dissertation I. Natural History of Religion in Four Dissertations (London: A. Millar, 1757), 114.  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, I, x.  imbibe 1793] hold 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIII

231

the sentiments in which¹⁴³⁴ they differ from us. Is the Socinian system, as distinguished from ours, adapted to raise and transport the heart? This is the question. Let us select only one topic for an example: Has anything, or can anything, be written, on the scheme of our adversaries, upon the death of Christ, equal to the following lines? Religion! thou the soul of happiness; And groaning Calvary of thee! there shine The noblest truths; there strongest motives sting! There sacred violence assaults the soul. My theme! my inspiration! and my crown! My strength in age! my rise in low estate! My soul’s ambition, pleasure, wealth!—my world! My light in darkness! and my life in death! My boast through time! bliss through eternity! Eternity too short to speak thy praise, Or fathom thy profound of love to man! To man of men the meanest, ev’n to me; My sacrifice! my God! what things are these!¹⁴³⁵ Again, Pardon for infinite offence! and pardon Through means that speak its value infinite! A pardon bought with blood! with blood Divine! With blood Divine of him I made my foe! Persisted to provoke, though woo’d, and aw’d, Bless’d, and chastis’d, a flagrant rebel still! A rebel ’midst the thunders of his throne! Nor I alone, a rebel universe! My species up in arms! not one exempt! Yet for the foulest of the foul he dies! Bound, every heart! and every bosom, burn! Oh what a scale of miracles is here! Praise! flow for ever (if astonishment Will give thee leave); my praise! for ever flow; Praise ardent, cordial, constant, to high heaven More fragrant than Arabia sacrific’d; And all her spicy mountains in a flame!”¹⁴³⁶ Night Thoughts, No IV.¹⁴³⁷

 wherein 1793] in which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Young, The Complaint, 33 and 34. [AF]  Young, The Complaint, 20 and 21. [AF]

232

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

There is a rich, great, and ravishing quality in the foregoing¹⁴³⁸ sentiments, which no other theme can inspire. Had the writer been a Socinian, and attempted to write upon the death of Christ, he might, by the strength¹⁴³⁹ of his mind and the fire of his genius, have contributed a little to raise his subject; but here his subject raises him above himself.¹⁴⁴⁰ The dignity of Christ, together with his glorious undertaking, was, as we have seen in Letter XI, a source of joy and love to the primitive Christians. It was their darling theme, and that which raised them above themselves. Now, according to¹⁴⁴¹ our system, Christians may still rejoice in the same manner, and give vent to their souls, and to all¹⁴⁴² that is within them; and that without fear of going beyond the words of truth and soberness, or of bordering,¹⁴⁴³ or seeming to border, upon idolatry. But, upon the principles of our opponents, the sacred writers must have dealt largely in hyperbole; and it must be our business, instead of entering into their spirit, to sit down with “cool sensations,” criticise their words, and explain away their apparent meaning. Brethren! I appeal to your own hearts, as men who have been brought to consider yourselves as the Scriptures represent you, Is there anything in that preaching which leaves out the doctrine of salvation by an atoning sacrifice that can afford you any relief? Is it not like the priest and Levite, who passed by on the other side?¹⁴⁴⁴ Is not the doctrine of atonement by the blood of Christ like the oil and wine of the good Samaritan?¹⁴⁴⁵ Under all the pressures of life, whether from inward conflicts or outward troubles, is not this your grand support? What but “an Advocate with the Father,” one who “is the propitiation for our sins,”¹⁴⁴⁶ could prevent you, when you have sinned against God, from sinking into despondency, and encourage you to sue afresh for mercy? What else could so divest affliction of its bitterness, death of its sting, or the grave of its gloomy aspect? In fine, what else could enable you to contemplate a future judgment with composure? What hope could you entertain of being justified, at that day, upon any other footing than this, “It is Christ that died?”¹⁴⁴⁷

 Nt. 4 1793] No. IV 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  above 1793] foregoing 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  power 1793] strength 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  but here his subject raises him, raises him above and beyond himself 1793] but here his subject raises him—raises him above himself 1794, 1796] but here his subject raises him above himself 1802, 1810.  upon 1793] according to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  all 1793] to all 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  bordering 1793] of bordering 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Luke 10:31– 32.  Luke 10:34.  1 John 2:1, 2.  Romans 8:34.

Letter XIII

233

I am aware I shall be told that this is appealing to the passions, and to the passions of enthusiasts. To which it may be replied, in a question¹⁴⁴⁸ which relates to happiness, the heart is the best criterion; and if it be enthusiasm to think and feel concerning ourselves as the Scriptures represent us, and concerning Christ as he is there exhibited, let me live and die an enthusiast. So far from being ashamed to appeal to such characters, in my opinion they are the only competent judges. Men of mere speculation play with doctrines; it is the plain and serious Christian that knows most of their real tendency. In a question, therefore, which concerns their happy or unhappy influence, his¹⁴⁴⁹ judgment is of the greatest importance. Dr. Priestley allows that “the doctrine of a general and a most particular providence is so leading a feature in every scheme of predestination, it brings God so much into everything, that an habitual and animated devotion is the result.”¹⁴⁵⁰ This witness is true; nor is this all. The same principle, taken in its connection with various others, equally provides for a serene and joyful satisfaction in all the events of time. All the vicissitudes¹⁴⁵¹ of nations, all the furious oppositions to the church of Christ, all the efforts to overturn the doctrine of the cross, or blot out the spirit of Christianity from the earth, we consider as permitted for wise and holy ends; and being satisfied that they make a part of God’s eternal plan, we are not inordinately anxious about them. We can assure our opponents that, when we hear them boast of their increasing numbers, as also professed unbelievers of theirs, it gives us no other pain than that which arises from good will to men. We have no doubt that these things are wisely permitted; that they are a fan in the hand of Christ,¹⁴⁵² by which he will thoroughly purge his floor; and that¹⁴⁵³ the true gospel of Christ, like the sun in the heavens, will finally disperse¹⁴⁵⁴ all these interposing clouds. We are persuaded, as well as they, that things, upon the whole, whether we, in our contracted spheres of observation, perceive it or not, are tending to the general good; that the empire of truth and righteousness, notwithstanding all the infidelity and iniquity that are in the world, is upon the increase; that it must increase more and more; that glorious things are yet to be accomplished in the church of God: and that all which we have hitherto seen, or heard,¹⁴⁵⁵ of the gospel dispensation, is but as the first fruits of an abundant harvest.¹⁴⁵⁶

 enthusiasts; but in a question 1793] enthusiasts. To which it may be replied, in a question 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  their 1793] his 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 162. [AF]  changes and vicissitudes 1793] vicissitudes 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  being wisely permitted, and designed as a fan 1793] are wisely permitted; that they are a fan 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or of 1793] and that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  finally dispersing 1793] will finally disperse 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  heard or seen 1793] seen, or heard, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The following paragraph is added in the editions of 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1810.

234

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

The tendency of a system to promote present happiness may be estimated by the degree of security which accompanies it. The obedience and sufferings of Christ, according to the Calvinistic system, constitute the ground of our acceptance with God. A good moral life, on the other hand, is the only foundation on which our opponents profess to build their hopes.¹⁴⁵⁷ Now, supposing our principles should prove erroneous, while they do not lead us to neglect good works, but to abound in them, from love to God, and with a regard to his glory, it may be presumed that the Divine Being will not cast us off to eternity for having ascribed too much to him, and too little to ourselves. But if the principles of our opponents should be found erroneous, and the foundation on which they build their hopes should, at last, give way, the issue must be fatal. I never knew a person, in his dying moments, alarmed for the consequences of having assumed too little to himself, or for having ascribed too much to Christ; but many, at that hour of serious reflection, have been more than a little apprehensive of danger from the contrary. After all, it is allowed that there is a considerable number of persons amongst us who are under too great a degree of mental dejection;¹⁴⁵⁸ but though the number of such persons, taken in the aggregate, be¹⁴⁵⁹ considerable, yet there are not enow of them to render it anything like a general case. And as to those who are so, they are, almost all of them, such, either from constitution, from¹⁴⁶⁰ the want of a mature judgment to distinguish just causes of sorrow,¹⁴⁶¹ or from a sinful neglect of their duties and their advantages. Those who enter most deeply into our views of things,¹⁴⁶² provided their conduct be consistent, and there be no particular propensity to gloominess in their constitution, are among¹⁴⁶³ the happiest people in the world. I am, etc.

 See the quotations from Dr. Priestley, Dr. Harwood, and Mrs. Barbauld, Letter IX. [AF]  who are subject to a too great degree of dejection of mind 1793] who are under too great a degree of mental dejection 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  may be 1793] be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  or 1793] from 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  sorrow from others 1793] sorrow 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  It is a sufficient proof that our system is not of a melancholy tendency, that those who enter most deeply into it 1793] Those who enter most deeply into our views of things 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIV

235

Letter XIV: A comparison of motives, exhibited by the two systems, to gratitude, obedience, and heavenly-mindedness Christian brethren, The subject of this Letter has been occasionally noticed already; but there are a few things in reserve that require your attention.¹⁴⁶⁴ As men are allowed on both sides to be influenced by motives, whichever of the systems it is that excels in this particular, that of course must be the system which has the greatest tendency to promote a holy life. One very important motive, with which the Scriptures acquaint us, is the love of God manifested in the gift of his Son. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”¹⁴⁶⁵ “Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”¹⁴⁶⁶ “God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”¹⁴⁶⁷ “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”¹⁴⁶⁸ “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”¹⁴⁶⁹ The benevolence of God to men is represented in the New Testament as consisting not in his overlooking their frailties, not so much even in his forgiving their sins, as in giving his only begotten Son to die for them. Herein was love; and herein was found the grand motive to grateful obedience. There is no necessity indeed for establishing this point, since Dr. Priestley has fully acknowledged it.¹⁴⁷⁰ He allows “that the love of God in giving his Son to die for us is the consideration on which the Scriptures always lay the greatest stress, as a motive to gratitude and obedience.”¹⁴⁷¹ As this is a matter of fact, then, allowed on both sides, it may be worthwhile to make some enquiry into the reason of it; or why it is that so great a stress should be laid, in the Scriptures, upon this motive. To say nothing of the strong presumption which this acknowledgment affords in favour of the doctrine

 there are a few things however 1793] but there are a few things 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 3:16. [AF]  1 John 4:10. [AF]  Romans 5:8. [AF]  Romans 8:32. [AF]  1 John 4:11. [AF]  another.” Dr. Priestley allows, 1793] another.” The benevolence of God to men is represented in the New Testament as consisting not in his overlooking their frailties, not so much even in his forgiving their sins, as in giving his only begotten Son to die for them. Herein was love; and herein was found the grand motive to grateful obedience. There is no necessity indeed for establishing this point, since Dr. Priestley has fully acknowledged it. He allows 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, containing Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; to the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; to the Rev. Dr. Price; and to the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 102. [AF]

236

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

of atonement, suffice it at present to observe, that, in all other cases,¹⁴⁷² an obligation to gratitude is supposed to bear some proportion to the magnitude¹⁴⁷³ or value of the gift. But if it be allowed in this instance, it will follow that the system which gives us the most exalted views of the dignity of Christ must include the strongest motives to obedience¹⁴⁷⁴ and gratitude. If there be any meaning in the words, the phraseology of John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,”¹⁴⁷⁵ conveys an idea of the highest worth¹⁴⁷⁶ in the object bestowed. So great was this gift, that the love of God in the bestowment of it is considered as inexpressible and inestimable.¹⁴⁷⁷ We are not told how much he loved the world, but that he so loved it that he gave his only begotten Son. If Jesus Christ be of more worth than the world for which he was given, then was the language of the sacred writer fit and proper; and then was the gift of him truly great, and worthy of being made “the consideration upon which the Scriptures should lay the greatest stress, as a motive to gratitude and obedience.”¹⁴⁷⁸ But if he be merely a man like ourselves, and was given only to instruct us by his doctrine and example, there is nothing so great in the gift of him, nothing that will justify the language of the sacred writers from the appearance of bombast, nothing that should render it a motive to gratitude and obedience, upon which the greatest stress should be laid. Dr. Priestley, in his Letters to Dr. Price, observes that, “In passing from Trinitarianism to High Arianism, from this to your Low Arianism, and from this to Socinianism, even of the lowest kind, in which Christ is considered as a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary, and naturally as fallible and peccable as Moses or any other prophet, there are sufficient sources of gratitude and devotion. I myself,” continues Dr. Priestley, “have gone through all those changes; and I think I may assure you that you have nothing to apprehend from any part of the progress. In every stage of it, you have that consideration on which the Scriptures always lay the greatest stress, as a motive to gratitude and obedience; namely, the love of God, the Almighty Parent, in giving his Son to die for us. And whether this Son be man, angel, or of a super-angelic nature, everything that he has done is to be referred to the love of

 motive. In all other cases 1793] motive. To say nothing of the strong presumption which this acknowledgment affords in favour of the doctrine of atonement, suffice it at present to observe, that, in all other cases, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  greatness 1793] magnitude 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  of obedience 1793] to obedience 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  John 3:16.  idea of the valuableness, or rather of invaluableness, 1793] idea of the highest worth 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  was supposed to be inexpressible 1793] is considered as inexpressible and inestimable 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 102.

Letter XIV

237

God, the original Author of all, and to him all our gratitude and obedience is ultimately due.”¹⁴⁷⁹ Dr. Priestley, it seems, wishes to have it thought that, seeing Trinitarians, Arians, and Socinians agree in considering the gift of Christ as¹⁴⁸⁰ an expression of the love of God, therefore their different systems are upon a level, as to the grand motive to gratitude and obedience: as if it made no difference at all whether that gift was small or great; whether it was a man or an angel, or one whom men and angels are bound to adore; whether it was to die,¹⁴⁸¹ as other martyrs did, to set us an example of perseverance, or, by laying down his life as an atoning sacrifice, to deliver us from the wrath to come. He might as well suppose the gift of one talent to be equal to that of ten thousand, and that it would induce an equal return of gratitude; or that the gift of Moses, or any other prophet, afforded an equal motive to love and obedience as the gift of Christ. If, in every stage of religious principle, whether Trinitarian, Arian, or Socinian, by admitting that one general principle, the love of God in giving his Son to die for us,¹⁴⁸² we have the same motive to gratitude and obedience, and that in the same degree, it must be because the greatness or smallness of the gift is a matter of no consideration, and has no tendency to render a motive stronger or weaker. But this¹⁴⁸³ is not only repugnant to the plainest dictates of reason, as hath been already observed, but also to the doctrine of Christ.¹⁴⁸⁴ According to this, he that hath much forgiven loveth much, and he that hath little forgiven loveth little.¹⁴⁸⁵ From hence it appears that the system which affords the most extensive views of the evil of sin, the depth of human apostacy, and the magnitude of redemption, will induce us to love the most, or produce in us the greatest degree of gratitude and obedience. It is to no purpose to say, as Dr. Priestley does, “Everything that Christ hath done is to be referred to the love of God.”¹⁴⁸⁶ For, be it so, the question is, if his system be true, what hath he done; and what is there to be referred to the love of God? To say the most, it can be but little. If Dr. Priestley be right, the breach between God and man is not so great but that our repentance and obedience are of themselves, without any atonement whatever, sufficient to heal it. Christ, therefore, could have but little to do. But the less he had to do,¹⁴⁸⁷ the less we are¹⁴⁸⁸ indebted to him, and to God for   1810.        

Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 101, 102. [AF] agree that the gift of Christ is 1793] agree in considering the gift of Christ as 1794, 1796, 1802, die for us 1793] die 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. John 3:16; 1 John 4:9. This however 1793] But this 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. but to 1793] but also to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Luke 7:47. Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 102. and 1793] But 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. are we 1793] we are 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

238

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

the gift of him; and, in proportion as this is believed, we must of course feel less gratitude and devotedness of soul to God. Another important motive with which the Scriptures acquaint us is the love of Christ in coming into the world, and laying down his life for us. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”¹⁴⁸⁹ “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich.”¹⁴⁹⁰ “Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”¹⁴⁹¹ “Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.”¹⁴⁹² “The love of Christ constraineth us: because we thus judge, that, if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again.”¹⁴⁹³ “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.”¹⁴⁹⁴ “To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”¹⁴⁹⁵ Such is the uniform language of the New Testament, concerning the love of Christ; and such are the moral purposes to which it is applied. It is a presumption in favour of our system, that here the above motives have all their force; whereas, in the system of our opponents, they have scarcely any force at all. The following observations may render this sufficiently evident. We consider the coming of Christ into the world as a voluntary undertaking. His taking upon him, or taking hold, not of the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham; his taking upon him the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, and that from a state of mind which is held up for our example; and his becoming poor, though previously rich, for our sakes, and that as an act of grace; all concur to establish this idea. For this we feel our hearts bound, by every consideration that love unparalleled can inspire, to gratitude and obedience. But our opponents, by supposing Christ to have been a mere man, and to have had no existence till he was born of Mary, are necessarily driven to deny that his coming into the world was a voluntary act of his own; and, consequently, that there was any love or grace in it. Dr. Priestley,¹⁴⁹⁶ in answer to Dr. Price, contends only¹⁴⁹⁷ that he “came into the

       

Philippians 2:5 – 7. [AF] 2 Corinthians 8:9. [AF] Hebrews 2:14. [AF] Hebrews 2:16. [AF] 2 Corinthians 5:14– 15. [AF] Ephesians 5:2. [AF] Revelation 1:5 – 6. [AF] It is true Dr. Priestley 1793] Dr. Priestley 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIV

239

world in obedience to the command of the Father, and not in consequence of his own proposal.”¹⁴⁹⁸ But the idea of his¹⁴⁹⁹ coming in obedience to the command of the Father is as inconsistent with the Socinian scheme¹⁵⁰⁰ as his coming in consequence of his own proposal. For if ¹⁵⁰¹ he had no existence previous to his being born of Mary, he could do neither the one nor the other. It would be perfect absurdity to speak of our coming into the world as an act of obedience; and, on the hypothesis of Dr. Priestley, to speak of the coming of Christ under such an idea must be equally absurd.¹⁵⁰² We consider Christ’s coming into the world as an act of condescending love; such, indeed, as admits of no parallel. The riches of deity, and the poverty of humanity, the form of God, and the form of a servant, afford a contrast that fills our souls with grateful astonishment. Dr. Priestley, in the last mentioned performance,¹⁵⁰³ acknowledges that “the Trinitarian doctrine of the incarnation is calculated forcibly to impress the mind with divine condescension.”¹⁵⁰⁴ He allows the doctrine of the incarnation as held by the Arians to have such a tendency in a degree; but he tells Dr. Price, who pleaded this argument against Socinianism, that “the Trinitarian hypothesis of the Supreme God becoming man, and then suffering and dying for us, would, no doubt, impress the mind more forcibly still.”¹⁵⁰⁵ This is one allowed source of gratitude and obedience, then, to which the scheme of our adversaries makes no pretence, and for which it can supply nothing adequate.¹⁵⁰⁶ But Dr. Priestley thinks to cut up at one stroke, it seems,¹⁵⁰⁷ all the advantages which his opponents might hope to gain from these concessions, by adding, “With what unspeakable reverence and devotion do the Catholics eat their Maker!”¹⁵⁰⁸ That a kind of superstitious devotion may be promoted by falsehood is admitted; such was the “voluntary humility” of those who worshipped angels. But as those characters, with all their pretended humility, were “vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind”;¹⁵⁰⁹ so all that appearance of reverence and devotion which is the offspring of superstition will be found to be something at a great remove from piety or devotedness to God. The superstitions

 only contends 1793] contends only 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 102.  but his 1793] But the idea of his 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  his scheme 1793] the Socinian scheme 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  If 1793] For if 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 103. [AF] absurd. Further, 1793] absurd. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 103. [AF]  This is a summary of Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 101– 104.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 100 – 101. [AF]  no adequate substitute 1793, 1794, 1796] nothing adequate 1802, 1810.  Thinks, it seems to cut up, at one stroke 1793, 1794, 1796] thinks to cut up at one stroke, it seems 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 101.  Colossians 2:18.

240

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

of popery, instead of promoting reverence and devotion, have been thought, by blinding the mind, and encumbering it with other things, to destroy them.¹⁵¹⁰ There are times in which Dr. Priestley himself “cannot conceive of any practical use being made of transubstantiation”;¹⁵¹¹ but now it is put on¹⁵¹² a level with a doctrine which, it is allowed, “tends forcibly to impress the mind with divine condescension.”¹⁵¹³ Once more:¹⁵¹⁴ we believe that Christ, in laying down his life for us, actually died as our substitute; endured the curse of the divine law, that we might escape it; was delivered for our offences, that we might be delivered from the wrath to come; and all this while we were yet enemies. This is a consideration of the greatest weight; and if we have any justice or ingenuousness about us, love like this must constrain us to live, not to ourselves, but to him that died for us, and rose again. But according to our adversaries, Christ died for us in no higher sense than a common martyr, who might have sacrificed his life to maintain his doctrine; and, by so doing, have set an example for the good of others. If this be all, why should not we be as much indebted, in point of gratitude, to Stephen, or Paul, or Peter, who also in that manner died for us, as to Jesus Christ? And why is there not the same reason for their death being proposed as a motive for us to live to them, as for his, that we might live to him? But there is another motive, which Dr. Priestley represents as being “that in Christianity which is most favourable to virtue; namely, a future state of retribution, grounded on the firm belief of the historical facts recorded in the Scriptures; especially in the miracles, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. The man,” he adds, “who believes these things only, and who, together with this, acknowledges a universal providence, ordering all events; who is persuaded that our very hearts are constantly open to the Divine inspection, so that no iniquity, or purpose of it, can escape his observation; will not be a bad man, or a dangerous member of society.”¹⁵¹⁵ Dr. Priestley, elsewhere, as we have seen, acknowledges that “the love of God, in giving his Son to die for us, is the consideration on which the Scriptures always lay the greatest stress, as a motive to gratitude and obedience”;¹⁵¹⁶ and yet he speaks here of “a future state of retribution, as being that in Christianity which is

 See Mr. Robinson’s sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:4, entitled, The Christian Doctrine of Ceremonies (London: C. Etherington, 1781). [AF]  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 33. [AF]  upon 1793] on 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  condescension.” Once more; 1793] condescension.” 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The quotation is from Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 101.  We believe 1793] Once more: We believe 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 245. [AF]  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 102.

Letter XIV

241

most favourable to virtue.”¹⁵¹⁷ One should think that what¹⁵¹⁸ the Scriptures always lay the greatest stress upon should be that in Christianity which is most favourable to virtue, be it what it may. But, waving [sic] this, let it be considered whether the Calvinistic system has not the advantage, even upon this ground. The doctrine of a future state of retribution is a ground possessed by Calvinists as well as by Socinians; and, perhaps, it may be found that their views of that subject and others connected with it, are more favourable to virtue and a holy life than those of their adversaries. A motive of no small importance by which we profess to be influenced is the thought¹⁵¹⁹ of our own approaching dissolution. Brethren, if you embrace what is called the Calvinistic view of things, you consider it as your¹⁵²⁰ duty and interest to be frequently conversing with mortality. You find such thoughts have a tendency to moderate your attachments to the present world; to preserve you from being inordinately elated by its smiles, or dejected by its frowns. The consideration of the time being short teaches you to hold all things with a loose hand; to weep as though you wept not, and to rejoice as though you rejoiced not.¹⁵²¹ You reckon it a mark of true wisdom, to keep the end of your lives habitually in view; and to follow the advice of the Holy Scriptures,¹⁵²² where you are directed¹⁵²³ to “go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,”¹⁵²⁴ where the godly are described as praying, “So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,”¹⁵²⁵ and God himself as saying, “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!”¹⁵²⁶ But these things, instead of being recommended and urged as motives of piety, are discouraged by Dr. Priestley, who teaches that it is not necessary to dwell in our thoughts upon death and futurity, lest it should interrupt the business of life, and cause us to live in perpetual bondage.¹⁵²⁷ The¹⁵²⁸ Scriptures greatly recommend the virtue of heavenly-mindedness. They teach Christians to consider themselves as strangers and pilgrims on the earth; to be dead¹⁵²⁹ to the world, and to consider their life, or portion, as hid with Christ  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 245.  that on which the scriptures always lay the greatest stress should be 1793] that what the Scriptures always lay the greatest stress upon should be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  thoughts 1793, 1794] thought 1796, 1802, 1810.  it your 1793] it as your 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 7:30.  and that you are taught these things in the holy scriptures 1793] and to follow the advice of the Holy Scriptures 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  recommended 1793] directed to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Ecclesiastes 7:2. [AF]  Psalm 90:12. [AF]  Deuteronomy 32:29. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Reflections on Death. A Sermon, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge (Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1790), 7– 12. [AF]  Further, The 1793] The 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  earth; to set their affections on things above, and not on things upon the earth; to be dead 1793] earth; to be dead 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

242

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

in God. The spiritual, holy, and happy state which, according to the Calvinistic system, commences at death, and is augmented at the resurrection, tends more than a little to promote this virtue. If, brethren, you adopt these views of things, you consider the body as a tabernacle, a temporary habitation; and when this tabernacle is dissolved by death, you expect a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Hence¹⁵³⁰ it is that you desire to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord. There are seasons in which¹⁵³¹ your views are expanded, and your hearts enlarged. At those seasons, especially, the world loses its charms, and you see nothing worth living for, except to serve and glorify God. You have, in a degree, the same feelings which the apostle Paul appears to have possessed when he said, “I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.”¹⁵³² “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”¹⁵³³ But Dr. Priestley teaches that the heavenly state shall not commence till the resurrection. He does not suppose that there is any state of existence, strictly speaking, wherein we shall be absent from the body, and present with the Lord; for he considers the soul as having no existence at all separate from the body. He must, therefore, of necessity be a stranger to any such “strait” as that mentioned by the apostle. If the question were put to him, or to any of his sentiments, whether they would choose¹⁵³⁴ to abide longer in the flesh (which might be profitable to their connexions), or immediately depart this life, they would be at no loss what to answer. They could not, in any rational sense, consider death as “gain.” It would be impossible for them upon their principles¹⁵³⁵ to desire to depart. Conceiving that they come¹⁵³⁶ to the possession of heavenly felicity as soon¹⁵³⁷ if they die fifty years hence as if they were to die¹⁵³⁸ at the present time, they must rather desire to live as long as the course of nature will admit; so long, however, as life can be considered preferable to nonexistence. It would indicate even a mean and unworthy temper of mind, upon their principles, to be in such a strait as Paul describes. It would imply that they were weary of their work, and at¹⁵³⁹ a loss whether they should choose¹⁵⁴⁰ a cessation of being, or to be employed in serving God, and in doing good to their fellow creatures.¹⁵⁴¹

       come     

; therefore 1793] Hence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. seasons in your life in which 1793] seasons in which 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Philippians 1:23. Philippians 1:21. chuse 1793] choose 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. principle 1793] principles 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Supposing that they will come 1793] Supposing they come 1794, 1796] Conceiving that they 1802, 1810. as early 1793] as soon 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. they should die 1793] they were to die 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. and were at 1793] and at 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. chuse 1793] choose 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. creatures. Once more, 1793] creatures. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIV

243

The nature and employments of the heavenly state deserve also to¹⁵⁴² be considered. If you adopt the Calvinistic view of things, you consider the enjoyments and employments of that state in a very different light from that in which Socinian writers represent them. You read in your Bibles that “the Lord will be our everlasting light, and our God our glory”;¹⁵⁴³ that “our life is hid with Christ in God”;¹⁵⁴⁴ that “when he shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory”;¹⁵⁴⁵ and that we shall then “be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”¹⁵⁴⁶ Hence¹⁵⁴⁷ you conclude that a full enjoyment of God, and conformity to him, are the sum of heaven. You read, further, that the bliss in reserve for Christians is “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”;¹⁵⁴⁸ that “now we are the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be”;¹⁵⁴⁹ and hence you naturally conclude that the heavenly state will abundantly surpass all our present conceptions of it. Again, you read that those who shall be found worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, “neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God.”¹⁵⁵⁰ Hence¹⁵⁵¹ you conclude that the employments and enjoyments of that state are altogether spiritual and holy. You read of our knowledge here being “in part,”¹⁵⁵² but that there we shall “know even as we are known”;¹⁵⁵³ and that the Lamb, “which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed us, and lead us to living fountains of water.”¹⁵⁵⁴ Hence¹⁵⁵⁵ you conclude that we shall not only enjoy greater means of knowledge, which, like a fountain, will flow for ever, and assuage our thirsty souls, but that our minds will be abundantly irradiated, and our hearts enlarged, by the presence of Christ; whose delightful work it will be to open the book, and¹⁵⁵⁶ to loose the seals; to unfold the mysteries of God; and to conduct our minds amidst their boundless researches. Once more, you read concerning those who shall obtain that world, and the resurrection, that they shall experience “no more death”;¹⁵⁵⁷ that they shall “go no more out”;¹⁵⁵⁸ that the “inheritance” to which they are reserved is “incorruptible, and fadeth not  deserve to 1793] deserve also to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Isaiah 60:19.  Colossians 3:3.  Colossians 3:4.  1 John 3:2.  From hence 1793] Hence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  2 Corinthians 4:17.  1 John 3:2.  Mark 12:25.  From hence 1793] Hence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Again, you 1793] You 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 13:12.  Revelation 7:17.  From hence 1793] Hence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  book, as it were, and 1793] book, and 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  resurrection, Neither can they die any more 1793] resurrection, that they cannot die any more 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The quotation is from Revelation 21:4.  Revelation 3:12.

244

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

away”;¹⁵⁵⁹ and that the weight of glory which we look for is “eternal.”¹⁵⁶⁰ Hence¹⁵⁶¹ you conclude that the immortality promised to Christians is certain and absolute. These are very important matters, and must have a great influence in attracting your hearts towards heaven. These were the things which caused the patriarchs to live like strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They looked for a habitation,¹⁵⁶² a better country, even a heavenly one.¹⁵⁶³ These were the things that made the apostles and primitive Christians consider their afflictions as light and momentary. “For this cause,” say they, “we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”¹⁵⁶⁴ But if you adopt the Socinian view of things, your ideas of the heavenly state, compared with the above, will be miserably flat and cold; and consequently your affections will be more set on things below, and less on things above. Dr. Priestley, in his Sermon on the death of Mr. Robinson,¹⁵⁶⁵ is not only employed in dissuading people from too much thought and fear about death, but from too much hope respecting¹⁵⁶⁶ the state beyond it. He seems to fear lest we should form too-high expectations of heavenly felicity, and so meet with a disappointment. The heaven which he there describes does not necessarily include any one of the foregoing ideas, but might exist if they were all excluded! Take his own words: “The change of our condition by death may not be so great as we are apt to imagine. As our natures will not be changed, but only improved, we have no reason to think that the future world (which will be adapted to our merely improved nature) will be materially different from this. And, indeed, why should we ask or expect anything more? If we should still be obliged to provide for our subsistence by exercise or labour, is that a thing to be complained of by those who are supposed to have acquired fixed habits of industry, becoming rational beings, and who

 1 Peter 1:4.  2 Corinthians 4:17.  and From hence 1793] Hence 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  because they 1793] They 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Hebrews 11:16.  2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18.  In his Reflections on Death, Priestley refers to Robinson as “a very worthy extraordinary man, though one with whom I had no previous acquaintance” (Priestley, Reflections on Death, iii). In a letter written to Priestley by a member of Robinson’s family, in which Priestley was asked to preach at Robinson’s funeral, it was stated, “For many years, but especially for the last two or three of his life, he taught the doctrine of the unity of the great Cause of all things, expressly and effectually. I have often wished that a more intimate connection had subsisted between you and him. I am sure it would have been attended with much mutual pleasure, and, humanly speaking, with great benefit to mankind at large” (Priestley, Reflections on Death, vii, viii).  from 1793] respecting 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XIV

245

have never been able to bear the languor of absolute rest or indolence? Our future happiness has with much reason been supposed to arise from an increase of knowledge. But if we should have nothing more than the means of knowledge furnished us, as we have here, but be left to our own labour to find it out, is that to be complained of by those who will have acquired a love of truth, and a habit of inquiring after it? To make discoveries ourselves, though the search may require time and labour, is unspeakably more pleasing than to learn everything by the information of others.¹⁵⁶⁷ If the immortality that is promised to us in the gospel should not be necessary and absolute, and we should only have the certain means of making ourselves immortal, we should have much to be thankful for. What the Scriptures inform us concerning a future life is expressed in general terms, and often in figurative language. A more particular knowledge of it is wisely concealed from us.”¹⁵⁶⁸ You see, brethren, here is not one word of God, or of Christ, as being the sum and substance of our bliss;¹⁵⁶⁹ and, except that mention is made¹⁵⁷⁰ of our being freed from “imperfections bodily and mental,” the whole consists of mere natural enjoyments; differing from the paradise of Mahometans chiefly in this, that their enjoyments are principally¹⁵⁷¹ sensual, whereas these are mostly intellectual; those¹⁵⁷² are adapted to gratify the voluptuary,¹⁵⁷³ and these the philosopher. Whether such a heaven will suit a holy mind, or be adapted to draw forth our best affections, judge ye. I am, etc.

 Is not this the rock on which Dr. Priestley and his brethren split? Have they not, on this very principle, coined a gospel of their own, instead of receiving the instructions of the sacred writers? [AF]  Priestley, Reflections on Death, 17– 18. [AF]  Though it certainly does not meet the standard Fuller set forth, the next sentence in Priestley’s sermon states, “In whatever it be that the happiness of heaven consists, as it is the free gift of God by Jesus Christ, it will exceed everything to which we could, by any virtue of ours, lay a proper claim” (Priestley, Reflections on Death, 18).  is once made 1793] is made 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  mostly 1793] principally 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  they 1793] those 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  voluptuous 1793] voluptuary 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

246

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Letter XV: On the resemblance between Socinianism and infidelity,¹⁵⁷⁴ and the tendency of the one to the other Christian brethren, I suppose we may take it for granted, at present, that Christianity is favourable to true virtue, and that infidelity is the reverse. If it can be proved, therefore, that Socinianism resembles infidelity in several of its leading features, and has a direct tendency¹⁵⁷⁵ towards it, that will be the same as proving it unfavourable to true virtue.¹⁵⁷⁶ It has been observed, and I think justly, that “there is no consistent medium between genuine Christianity and infidelity.”¹⁵⁷⁷ The smallest departure from the one is a step towards the other. There are different degrees of approach, but all move on in the same direction. Socinians, however, are not willing to own that their scheme has any such tendency. Dr. Priestley appears to be more than a little hurt at being represented by the bigots (as he politely calls those who think ill of his principles) as undermining Christianity; and intimates that, by their rigid attachment to certain doctrines, some are forced into infidelity, while others are saved from it by his conciliating principles.¹⁵⁷⁸ Many things to the same purpose are advanced by Mr. Lindsey, in his Discourse addressed to the Congregation at the Chapel in Essex Street, Strand, on resigning the Pastoral Office among them. We are to accommodate our religion, it seems, to the notions and inclinations of infidels; and then they would con-

 of Socinianism to Deism, 1793] between Socinianism and infidelity, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and consequently tends 1793] and has a direct tendency 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Much in this letter focuses on “true virtue,” providing further clear evidence that Fuller had interacted seriously with the thought of Jonathan Edwards, this time as set forth in Edwards’s A Dissertation Concerning the Nature of True Virtue (1765). That work gives a tightly reasoned, rational defence of the command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” He also teases out an abundance of scriptural evidence that the entire Bible supports the fulfilment of that command as constituting true virtue.  Joseph Bellamy, An Essay on the Nature and Glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Boston: S. Kneeland, 1762), vi.  Here the late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, is brought in as an example; who, as some think in an excess of complaisance, told the Doctor, in a private letter, that, “but for his friendly aid, he feared he should have gone from enthusiasm to Deism” (Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, of St. Mary’s Chapel, Birmingham, in Answer to His, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ [Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790], ix). To say nothing, whether the use Dr. Priestley made of this private letter was warrantable, and whether it would not have been full as modest to have forborne to publish to the world so high a compliment on himself; supposing not only the thing itself to have been strictly true, but that the conduct of Dr. Priestley was as strictly proper, what does it prove? Nothing, except that the region of Socinianism is so near to that of Deism, that, now and then, an individual, who was on the high road to the one, has stopped short, and taken up with the other. [AF] Priestley also referred to this letter from Robinson in his Reflections on Death. A Sermon, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge (Birmingham: J. Belcher, 1790), 21. The next two sentences are absent from the 1793 edition and first appear in the 1794 edition.

Letter XV

247

descend to receive it. This principle¹⁵⁷⁹ of accommodation has been already noticed in Letter III. And it has been shown,¹⁵⁸⁰ from the example of the popish missionaries in China, to have no good tendency. To remove every stumbling block out of the way of infidels would be to annihilate the gospel. Such attempts, also, suppose what is not true, that their not believing in Christianity is owing to some fault in the system, as generally received, and not to the temper of their own minds. Faults there are, no doubt; but if their hearts were right, they would search the Scriptures for themselves, and form their own sentiments according to the best of their capacity. The near relation of the system of Socinians to that of infidels¹⁵⁸¹ may be proved from the agreement of their principles, their prejudices, their spirit, and their success. First, there is an agreement in their leading principles. One¹⁵⁸² of the most important principles in the scheme of infidelity, it is well known, is the sufficiency of human reason. This is the great bulwark of the cause, and the main ground on which its advocates proceed in rejecting revelation. If the one, say they, be sufficient, the other is unnecessary. Whether the Socinians do not adopt¹⁵⁸³ the same principle, and follow hard after the Deists in its application too, we will now enquire. When Mr. Burn charged Dr. Priestley with “making the reason of the individual the sole umpire in matters of faith,”¹⁵⁸⁴ the Doctor denied the charge,¹⁵⁸⁵ and supposed that Mr. Burn must have been “reading the writings of Bolingbroke,¹⁵⁸⁶ Hume, or Voltaire, and have imagined them to be his”;¹⁵⁸⁷ as if none but professed infidels maintained that principle. This, however, is allowing it to be a principle pertaining to infidelity; and of

 The principle 1793] This principle 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and shown 1793] And it has been shown 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  of Socinianism to Deism 1793] of the system of Socinians to that of infidels 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  principles. In almost all those points wherein Socinians differ from Calvinists, they agree with Deists. One 1793] principles. One 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  imbibe 1793] adopt 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Edward Burn, Letters to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony, Concerning the Person of Christ (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1790), 26.  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 239 – 240.  Henry St. John, (1678 – 1751), first Viscount Bolingbroke, was a leader of the Tories and a supporter of the exiled James Stuart (1688 – 1766), also known as the “Old Pretender.” During the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, Bolingbroke escaped to France and served as the Pretender’s foreign minister. In 1723, Bolingbroke received a royal pardon and returned to England. Though Bolingbroke strongly opposed religion, he stood with other Tories and advocated for the political rights of the Church of England. He influenced numerous Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, John Adams (1735 – 1826), Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), and Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797).  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 240. Bolingbroke, Hume, and Voltaire all were noted as Enlightenment philosophers who gave no credit to the need for revealed truth or its demonstrable occurrence, but looked upon any such claims or dependence as evidence of superstition, fraud, and intellectual oppression.

248

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

such importance, it should seem, as to distinguish it from Christianity. If it should prove, therefore, that the same principle occupies a place, yea, and an equally important place, in the Socinian scheme, it will follow that Socinianism and Deism must be nearly allied. But Dr. Priestley, as was said, denies the charge; and tells us that he “has written a great deal to prove the insufficiency of human reason”;¹⁵⁸⁸ he also accuses¹⁵⁸⁹ Mr. Burn of the “grossest and most unfounded calumny,” in charging such a principle upon him.¹⁵⁹⁰ If what Mr. Burn alleges be “a gross and unfounded calumny,”¹⁵⁹¹ it is rather extraordinary that such a number of respectable writers should have suggested the same thing. I suppose there has been scarcely a writer of any note among¹⁵⁹² us, but who, if this be calumny, has calumniated the Socinians. If there be any credit due to Trinitarian authors, they certainly have hitherto understood matters in a different light from that in which they are here represented. They have supposed, whether rightly or not, that their opponents, in general, do hold¹⁵⁹³ the very principle which Dr. Priestley so strongly disavows. But this is not all. If what Mr. Burn alleges be a gross and unfounded calumny, it is still more extraordinary that Socinian writers should calumniate themselves. Mr. Robinson, whom Dr. Priestley glories in as his convert, affirms much the same thing; and that in his History of Baptism,¹⁵⁹⁴ a work published after he had adopted the Socinian system. In answering an objection brought against the Baptists as being enthusiasts, he asks, “Were Castelio,¹⁵⁹⁵ and Servetus,¹⁵⁹⁶ Socinus, and Crellius en Priestley, Familiar Letters, 240. [AF]  and accuses 1793, 1794, 1796] he also accuses 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 216. [AF]  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 216.  amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  imbibe 1793] hold 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Robert Robinson, The History of Baptism (London, 1790).  Castellio 1793] Castelio 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Sebastian Castellio (1515 – 1563), or Sébastien Châteillon, was born in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne. Trained as a humanist, Castellio decided to become a Protestant at the age of twenty-four. He met Calvin at Strasbourg and became friends with the Reformer and his wife. In 1542, Calvin asked Castellio to become the rector of the Collège de Genève. Yet their relationship began to sour, as Castellio became a vocal opponent of Calvin, particularly with regard to the translation of the Bible, the execution of heretics, and Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. As a result, Castellio left Geneva and lived in poverty for a period of time. In August 1553, Castellio was appointed a master at the University of Basel. In 1554, Castellio penned De haereticis, an sint persequendi to criticize Calvin’s involvement in the execution of Michael Servetus (1509 – 1553). Castellio’s advocacy of religious toleration was based on his anti-predestination beliefs. He did not deny the doctrine of Trinity, although he believed that the Bible has little to say on the topic, and therefore Christians should not make such a doctrine an object of fruitless speculation. See Hans R. Guggisberg, Sebastian Castellio, 1515 – 1563: Humanist and Defender of Religious Toleration in a Confessional Age, trans. Bruce Gordon (Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2017); Barbare MahlmannBauer, ed., Sebastian Castellio (1515 – 1563)—Dissidenz und Toleranz: Beiträge zu einer internationalen Tagung auf dem Monte Verità in Ascona 2015 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018); Edwin Curley, “Sebastian Castellio’s Erasmian Liberalism,” Modern Philosophy 31, no. 1/2 (2003): 47– 73.

Letter XV

249

thusiasts?¹⁵⁹⁷ On the contrary, they are taxed with attributing too much to reason, and the sufficiency of reason is the soul of their system.”¹⁵⁹⁸ If the last member of this sentence be true, and if Dr. Priestley have maintained the same principle as much as any of his predecessors, then is what Mr. Burn alleges true also, and no calumny. Further,¹⁵⁹⁹ if Mr. Robinson’s words be true, the system¹⁶⁰⁰ of a Socinus, and of a¹⁶⁰¹ Bolingbroke, however they may differ in some particulars, cannot be very wide asunder. They may be two bodies; but the difference cannot¹⁶⁰² be very material, so long as those bodies are inhabited by one soul. But was not Mr. Robinson mistaken? Has he not inadvertently granted that which ought not in justice to have been granted? Suppose this to be a fact,¹⁶⁰³ why might not the same construction have been put upon what is alleged by Mr. Burn and other Trinitarian writers, instead of calling it by the hard name of “gross and unfounded calumny”?¹⁶⁰⁴ If we say no worse of our opponents than they say of themselves, they can have no just grounds of complaint; at least they should complain with less severity.¹⁶⁰⁵

 Michael Servetus (1511– 1553) was a Spanish theologian and humanist who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. Although Calvin warned Servetus to not visit Geneva, Servetus came nonetheless after being condemned as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. In Geneva, he was caught and put on trial for teaching Modalistic Monarchianism, or Sabellianism, and anti-paedobaptism. Though Calvin pleaded for Servetus to be beheaded, the Genevan authority sentenced him to be burned alive on October 27, 1553. Servetus’s execution also resulted in Castellio’s publication of his work on toleration.  Johannn Crell (1590 – 1631), or Johannes Crellius in Latin, was born in Hellmitzheim to a Lutheran minister. Crell attended the Academy of Altdorf, near Nuremberg, until 1613. After embracing Socinianism, Crell fled to Raków in Poland. His religious changes have been interpreted as a result of switching from Lutheran solafideism to the Socinian pursuit of virtue and good works. Thus his rejection of the Trinity is part of his rejection of Lutheranism. While in Poland, Crell became the rector of the Racovian Academy. He worked with colleagues and produced commentaries on Galatians and Hebrews, which were later translated into English. His Ethices elementa Racoviae (1635) was welcomed by professors at Oxford in the seventeenth century. Crell’s major works on Socinianism are Catecheses Ecclesiarum quae in Regno Poloniae (1614) and De Uno Deo Patre libri duo (1631), in which he provided frameworks to argue against Trinitarianism by using text-critical and logical arguments. See Sarah Mortimer, Reason and Religion in the English Revolution: The Challenge of Socinianism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010); Paul C. H. Lim, Mystery Unveiled: The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 229 – 305.  Robinson, History of Baptism, 474. [AF] In Fuller’s original note, the page was incorrectly identified as 47 in all five editions.  Farther 1793] Further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  systems 1793] system 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  and a 1793] and of a 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  can never 1793] cannot 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  he has 1793] this to be a fact 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 216.  This sentence begins the next paragraph in the 1793 edition. It became the final sentence of this paragraph in the 1794 edition.

250

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Further, if Mr. Robinson was mistaken, and if Dr. Priestley do really maintain the insufficiency of human reason in matters of religion, it will follow, after¹⁶⁰⁶ all that he has pleaded in behalf of reason, that he¹⁶⁰⁷ is no better friend to it than other people. The Doctor often reminds his Calvinistic opponents of an old saying, that “No man is against reason, till reason is against him.”¹⁶⁰⁸ Old sayings, to be sure, prove much in argument. This old saying, however, is very just, provided the term reason be understood of the real fitness of things. Dr. Priestley’s¹⁶⁰⁹ opponents are not against reason in this sense of the word; but against setting up the reason of the individual as umpire in matters of faith; and this we see is no more than the Doctor himself disavows, in that he supposes a principle of this kind¹⁶¹⁰ is nowhere to be found, except in such writings as those of Bolingbroke, of Hume, or of Voltaire. He tells us that he¹⁶¹¹ has “written much to prove the insufficiency of human reason, and the necessity of divine revelation.”¹⁶¹² He is then professedly against reason in the same sense as his opponents are, and the Deists might remind him of his “old saying” with as much propriety as he reminds other people of it.¹⁶¹³ Once more:¹⁶¹⁴ if Mr. Robinson was mistaken, and if his concession be beyond the bounds¹⁶¹⁵ of justice and propriety, it will follow that, notwithstanding what Dr. Priestley has said of saving him from infidelity, he was not saved from it¹⁶¹⁶ after all. Whether Mr. Robinson’s words convey a just idea of Socinianism or not, they must be allowed to express what were his own ideas of it. Whatever, therefore, Dr. Priestley believes, he appears to¹⁶¹⁷ have believed in the sufficiency of reason. But if none besides¹⁶¹⁸ infidels maintain that principle, it must follow that Dr. Priestley’s glorying in Mr. Robinson is vain; and that, so far from saving him from infidelity, as he boasts, he was not saved from it,¹⁶¹⁹ but was the disciple of a Bolingbroke, of a Hume, or of a Voltaire,¹⁶²⁰ rather than of a Priestley. But, after all, was Mr. Robinson indeed mistaken?¹⁶²¹ Is not “the sufficiency of reason the soul of the Socinian system”?¹⁶²² It is true, Socinians do not openly      1810.           

follow that after 1793] follow, after 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. he 1793] that he 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Familiar Letters, 242. But Dr. Priestley’s 1793] Dr. Priestley’s 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. supposing such a principle 1793] in that he supposes a principle of this kind 1794, 1796, 1802, he 1793, 1794, 1796] that he 1802, 1810. Priestley, Familiar Letters, 55. it. Once more; 1793] it. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. If 1793] Once more: If 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. boundaries 1793] bounds 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. saved 1793] saved from it 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. must 1793] appears to 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. But if none but 1793] But if none besides 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. he was not saved from it at all 1793] was not saved from it 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. a Hume or a Voltaire 1793] of a Hume, or of a Voltaire 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. mistaken 1793] indeed mistaken 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

251

plead, as do the Deists, that reason is so sufficient as that revelation is unnecessary; nor is it supposed that Mr. Robinson meant to acknowledge that they did. But do they not constantly advance what amounts to the same thing? I do not know what publications Dr. Priestley refers to when he speaks of having written¹⁶²³ a great deal to prove the “insufficiency of human reason, and the necessity of divine revelation”;¹⁶²⁴ but if it be upon the same principles as those which he avows in his other productions, I do not see how he can have proved his point.¹⁶²⁵ According to these principles, the sacred writers were as liable to err as other men, and in some instances actually did err,¹⁶²⁶ producing “lame accounts, improper quotations, and inconclusive reasonings”;¹⁶²⁷ and that it is the province of reason not only to judge of their credentials, but of the particular doctrines which they advance.¹⁶²⁸ Now this¹⁶²⁹ is not only “making the reason of the individual the sole umpire in matters of faith,”¹⁶³⁰ but virtually rendering revelation unnecessary. If the reason of the individual is to sit supreme judge,¹⁶³¹ and insist that every doctrine which revelation proposes shall ap-

 Robinson, History of Baptism, 474.  says, “he has written 1793, 1794, 1796] speaks of having written 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 55.  After moving to America, Priestley wrote a work entitled, Discourses Relating to the Evidences of Revealed Religion (Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1796), and the second volume, Discourses Relating to the Evidences of Revealed Religion, Delivered in Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1797). Chronologically more to the point of Fuller’s remark, Priestley says, “I was brought acquainted with them, I may say, from a child, and read the Old Testament in Hebrew earlier than any person I have yet met with. To say nothing of what I have written in support of the evidence of revelation (which supposes the authority of the Scriptures) in my Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, Letters to the Jews, my Church History, and several other works; as a minister, besides preaching, in which the doctrines and maxims of the Scriptures are illustrated and enforced, I always largely expound a considerable portion of them” (Priestley, Familiar Letters, 205 – 206).  did 1793] actually did 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  This exact phrase cannot be found in any of Priestley’s writings, although he did make these charges separately in various places. See, for example, Joseph Priestley, “Observations Relating to the Inspiration of Moses,” in J. T. Rutt, ed., The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley (New York, NY: 1822; Kraus Reprint, 1972), 7:312; idem, Familiar Letters, 103. This quotation became a standard way of attacking Socinianism. See, for instance, Fielding Ould, “Lecture I. Introductory. The Practical Importance of the Controversy with Unitarians,” in his et al., Unitarianism Confuted (Liverpool: Henry Perris, 1839), 38; and the response by James Martineau, “The Scheme of Vicarious Redemption Inconsistent with Itself, and with the Christian Idea of Salvation,” in his et al., Unitarianism Defended (Liverpool: Willmer and Smith; London: John Green, 1839), 93, where Martineau rightly pointed out that this exact phrase cannot be found in Priestley’s writings.  reason to sit in judgment upon what they advance, and decide what particular parts of it shall be received, and what rejected 1793] reason not only to judge of their credentials, but of the particular doctrines which they advance 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Fuller’s original note reads: See Letter XII. [AF]  But this 1793] Now this 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Familiar Letters, 239 – 240.  judge upon the throne, 1793] judge, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

252

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

prove itself to its dictates or be rejected, the necessity of the latter might as well be totally denied. If it be necessary, however, it is no otherwise than as a French parliament used to be necessary to a French king; not in order to dictate to his Majesty, but to afford a sanction to his resolutions; or, at most,¹⁶³² to tender him a little advice, in order to assist him in forming his judgment; which advice, notwithstanding,¹⁶³³ he might receive or reject, as best suited his inclination. Dr. Priestley often suggests that he makes no other use of human reason than all Protestants make against the papists, when pleading against the doctrine of transubstantiation; that is, where the literal sense of a text involves an absurdity, he so far follows the dictates of reason as to understand it figuratively. But this is not the case; for the question here does not at all respect the meaning of Scripture, whether it should be understood literally or figuratively; but whether its allowed meaning ought to be accepted as truth, any further¹⁶³⁴ than it corresponds with our preconceived notions of what is reason. According to the principles and charges before cited, it ought not; and this is not only summoning revelation to the bar of our own understandings, but actually passing sentence against it. The near affinity of Socinianism to Deism is so manifest, that it is in vain to disown it. Nobody supposes them to be entirely¹⁶³⁵ the same. One acknowledges Christ to be a true prophet, the other considers him as an impostor; but the denial of the proper inspiration of the Scriptures, with the receiving of some part of them as true, and the rejecting of other parts, even of the same books, “as lame accounts, improper quotations, and inconclusive reasonings,”¹⁶³⁶ naturally lead to Deism. Deists themselves do not so reject the Bible as to disbelieve every historical event which is there recorded. They would not deny, I suppose, that there were such characters in the world as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus; and that some things which are written concerning each are true.¹⁶³⁷ In short, they take what they like best, as they would from any other ancient history, and reject the rest: And what does Dr. Priestley even pretend to more? He does not reject so much as a Deist; he admits various articles which the other denies: but the difference is only in degree. The relation between the first and leading principles of their respective systems is so near, that one spirit may be said to pervade them both; or, to use the imagery of Mr. Robinson, one soul inhabits¹⁶³⁸ these different bodies. The opposition between faith and unbelief is so great, in the Scriptures, that no less than salvation is promised to the one, and damnation threatened to

      

at least 1793] at most 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. but which advice 1793] which advice, notwithstanding, 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. farther 1793] further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. throughout 1793] to be entirely 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. See above, p. 251 n. 1627. were true 1793] are true 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. to inhabit 1793, 1794, 1796] inhabits 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

253

the other; but if they were no further¹⁶³⁹ asunder than Socinianism and Deism, it is passing strange¹⁶⁴⁰ that their consequences should be so widely different. Another leading principle, common to Socinians and Deists, is the non-importance of principle itself in order to the enjoyment of the divine favour. Nothing is more common than for professed infidels to exclaim against Christianity, on account of its rendering the belief of the gospel necessary to salvation. Lord Shaftesbury insinuates that the heathen magistrates, in the first ages of Christianity, might have been justly offended “with a notion which treated them, and all men, as profane, impious, and damned, who entered not into particular modes of worship, of which there had been formerly so many thousand kinds instituted, all of them compatible and sociable till that time.”¹⁶⁴¹ To the same purpose is what Mr. Paine advances, who, I imagine, would make no pretence of friendship towards Christianity. “If we suppose a large family of children,” says he, “who on any particular day, or particular circumstance, made it a custom to present to their parents some token of their affection and gratitude, each of them would make a different offering, and, most probably, in a different manner. Some would pay their congratulations in themes, of verse or prose, by some little devices as their genius dictated, or according to what they thought would please; and perhaps the least of all, not able to do any of those things, would ramble into the garden or the field, and gather what it thought the prettiest flower it could find, though, perhaps, it might be but a simple weed. The parent would be more gratified by such a variety than if the whole of them had acted on a concerted plan, and each had made exactly the same offering.”¹⁶⁴² And this he applies, not merely to the diversified modes of worshipping God which come within the limits of the divine command, but to the various ways in which mankind have in all ages and nations worshipped, or pretended to worship, a Deity. The sentiment which this writer, and all others of his stamp, wish to propagate is that, in all modes of religion, men may be very sincere; and that, in being so, all are alike acceptable to God. This is infidelity undisguised. Yet this is no more than Dr. Priestley has advanced in his Differences in Religious Opinions. “If we can be so happy,” he says, “as to be-

 farther 1793] further 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  wonderful 1793] unaccountably wonderful 1794, 1796] passing strange 1802, 1810.  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Characteristicks of Men, Manner, Opinions, Times (London; [John Darby], 1711), 1:25. [AF] Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1671– 1713) was the third Earl of Shaftesbury. His three-volume Characteristicks contained a series of essays. Fuller references the first essay in the first volume, “A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm,” which was written in 1707. It was occasioned by the appearance of the French Prophets in England, and whereas this group had been subject to intense persecution by the French state, Lord Shaftesbury suggested ridicule as the best way of dealing with them. In his words: “Good humour is not only the best security against enthusiasm, but the best foundation of piety and true religion” (Characteristicks, 1:22). Fuller fundamentally disagreed and believed that Shaftesbury’s popular work undermined Christianity’s truth claims in general, and Calvinism’s explication of Christianity in particular.  Thomas Paine, Rights of Man. Part the Second. Combing Principle and Practice (London, 1792), 171– 172. [AF] Fuller responded to Paine in his The Gospel Its Own Witness (1799).

254

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

lieve that all differences in modes of worship may be only the different methods by which different men (who are equally the offspring of God) are endeavouring to honour and obey their common Parent, our differences of opinion would have no tendency to lessen our mutual love and esteem.”¹⁶⁴³ Nor is Dr. Priestley the only writer of the party who unites with the author of The Age of Reason,¹⁶⁴⁴ in maintaining that it matters not what religion we are of, if we be but sincere in it. Dr. Toulmin has laboured to defend this notion, and to prove from Acts 10:34, 35, and Romans 2:6, 10, 12, that it was maintained by Peter and Paul.¹⁶⁴⁵ But before he had pretended to palm it upon them, he should have made it evident that Cornelius, when he “feared God and worked righteousness,”¹⁶⁴⁶ and those Gentiles, when they are supposed to have “worked good,” and to be heirs of “glory, honour, and peace,”¹⁶⁴⁷ were each of them actually living in idolatry; and being sincere, that God was well pleased with it. It is no part of the question whether heathens may be saved; but whether they may be saved in their heathenism; and whether heathenism and Christianity be only different modes of worshipping our common Father, and alike acceptable to him? Several other principles might be mentioned, in which Socinians and Deists are agreed, and in which the same objections that are made by the one against Calvinism are made by the other against the Holy Scriptures. Do Socinians reject the Calvinistic system because it represents God as a vindictive being? For the same reason, the Scriptures themselves are rejected by the Deists. Are the former offended with Calvinism on account of the doctrines of atonement, and of divine sovereignty?¹⁶⁴⁸ The latter are equally offended with the Bible for the same reasons.¹⁶⁴⁹ They know very well

 Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 13. [AF] The next paragraph was added in its entirety in the editions of 1802 and 1810.  A reference to Thomas Paine and his Age of Reason.  Joshua Toulmin, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, in a Series of Letters to the Rev. Andrew Fuller: Occasioned by His Publication Entitled “The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency.” To Which is Added the Third Edition of An Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ, 2nd ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1801), 164– 165. [AF]  Acts 10:35.  Romans 2:10  doctrine of divine sovereignty 1793] doctrines of atonement, and of divine sovereignty 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  the same thing, “The God of the Old Testament, they say, is a partial Being, selecting one nation to himself, and hating all the rest.” It is a consolation 1793] the same reasons. They know very well that these doctrines are contained in the Scriptures; but they dislike them, and reject the Scriptures partly on account of them. The sufficiency of repentance to secure the divine favour, the evil of sin consisting merely in its tendency to injure the creature, all punishment being for the good of the offender as well as for the public good, with various other principles which are opposed in these Letters in defence of Calvinism, are the same things for substance which those who have written against the Deists have had to encounter, when defending revelation. It is a consolation 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

255

that these doctrines are contained in the Scriptures; but they dislike them, and reject the Scriptures partly on account of them. The sufficiency of repentance to secure the divine favour, the evil of sin consisting merely in its tendency to injure the creature, all punishment being for the good of the offender as well as for the public good, with various other principles which are opposed in these Letters in defence of Calvinism, are the same things for substance which those who have written against the Deists have had to encounter, when defending revelation.¹⁶⁵⁰ It is a consolation to us to trace these likenesses; as it affords a presumption that our sentiments accord with the Scriptures, being liable to the same objections.¹⁶⁵¹ Socinian writers not only make the same objections to Calvinism which Deists make to revelation, but, in some instances, have so far forgotten themselves, as to unite with the latter in pointing their objections against revelation itself. Steinbart and Semler (as quoted in Letter XII) have fallen foul upon the writers of the Old and New Testaments. “Moses,” says the former, “according to the childish conceptions of the Jews in his days, paints God as agitated by violent affections; partial to one people, and hating all other nations.”¹⁶⁵² “Peter,” says the latter, 2 Peter 1:21, “speaks according to the conception of the Jews; and the prophets may have delivered the offspring of their own brains as divine revelations.”¹⁶⁵³ The infidelity of Socinians is frequently covered with a very thin disguise; but here the veil is entirely thrown off. One thing, however, is sufficiently evident; while they vent their antipathy against the Holy Scriptures,¹⁶⁵⁴ in such indecent language, they betray a consciousness that the contents of that sacred volume are against them. The likeness of Socinianism to Deism will further appear, if we consider, second¹⁶⁵⁵ ly, the similarity of their prejudices.¹⁶⁵⁶ The peculiar prejudices of Deists are

 See John Leland, A Defence of Christianity, 2nd ed. (London: John Ward, 1753), 1:41– 74, 133 – 163, 208 – 238. [AF] John Leland (1691– 1766) was born in Wigan, Lancashire, and studied in Dublin, Ireland, where he was ordained as a minister at New Row Presbyterian Church. As a polemical writer, Leland wrote against Deism. However, he may have adopted Arianism before his death, and his church had become a Unitarian congregation by the end of the eighteenth century. Leland wrote A Defence of Christianity in 1740. His book was a response to Christianity as old as the Creation: Or, the Gospel, a Republication of the Religion of Nature (London, 1730), which was written by the well-known Deist Matthew Tindal (1657– 1733). See Stephen Lalor, Matthew Tindal, Freethinker: An Eighteenth-Century Assault on Religion (London/New York: Continuum, 2006).  The next paragraph was added in the 1794 edition.  John Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, and Theological Controversy (Edinburgh: M. Gray, 1790), 1:71. [AF]  Erskine, Sketches and Hints of Church History, 1:65 – 71. [AF]  to 1794, 1796] against 1802, 1810.  But passing the likeness between Socinianism and Deism in matters of principle, let us next consider the similarity 1793] The likeness of Socinianism to Deism will further appear, if we consider, Secondly, The similarity 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  prejudices. All men without exception have their prejudices; they are not, indeed, of the same kind, but very different in different persons; education, circumstances, connexions, opinions, with

256

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

drawn, I think, with great justness, by Dr. Priestley himself. “There is no class or description of men,” he observes, “but what are subject to peculiar prejudices; and every prejudice must operate as an obstacle to the reception of some truth. It is in vain for unbelievers to pretend to be free from prejudices. They may, indeed, be free from those of the vulgar; but they have others, peculiar to themselves: and the very affectation of being free from vulgar prejudices, and of being wiser than the rest of mankind, must indispose them to the admission even of truth, if it should happen to be with the common people. The suspicion that the faith of the vulgar is superstitious and false is, no doubt, often well-founded; because they, of course, maintain the oldest opinions, while the speculative part of mankind are making new discoveries in science. Yet we often find that they who pride themselves on their being the furthest removed from superstition in some things are the greatest dupes to it in others; and it is not universally true that all old opinions are false, and all new ones well-founded. An aversion to the creed of the vulgar may, therefore, mislead a man; and, from a fondness for singularity, he may be singularly in the wrong.”¹⁶⁵⁷ Let those who are best acquainted with Socinians judge whether this address, with a very few alterations, be not equally adapted to them and to professed unbelievers. We know who they are, besides avowed infidels, who affect to be “emancipated from vulgar prejudices and popular superstitions, and to embrace a rational system of faith.”¹⁶⁵⁸ It is very common with Socinian writers, as much as it is with Deists, to value themselves on being wiser than the rest of mankind, and to despise the judgment of plain Christians, as being the judgment of the vulgar and the populace. It is true Dr. Priestley has addressed letters to the common people at Birmingham, and has complimented them with being “capable of judging in matters of religion and government.”¹⁶⁵⁹ However, it is no great compliment to¹⁶⁶⁰ Christians in general, of that description, to suppose, as he frequently does, not only that the Trinitarian system, but every other, was the invention of learned men in different ages, and that the vulgar have always been led by their influence. “The creed of the vulgar of the present day,” he observes, “is to be considered not so much as their creed, for they were not the inventors of it, as that of the thinking and inquisitive in some former period. For those whom we distinguish by the appellation of the vulgar are not those who

various other things serve to determine the particular kind of prejudices to which we are most exposed. The peculiar prejudices 1793] prejudices. The peculiar prejudices 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever. Part II (Birmingham: J. Johnson, 1787), 29 – 30. [AF]  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 4, 32. [AF]  In his Familiar Letters, Priestley did not state this exact phrase, but he made similar statements. See, for example, Familiar Letters, 103, 172.  It is no great compliment however, to 1793, 1794, 1796] However, it is no great compliment to 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

257

introduce any new opinions, but those who receive them from others, of whose judgment they have been led to think highly.”¹⁶⁶¹ On this principle, Dr. Priestley somewhere expresses his persuasion of the future prevalence of Unitarianism. He grants that, at present, the body of common Christians are against it; but as the learned and the speculative are verging towards it, he supposes the other will, in time, follow them. What is this but supposing them incapable of forming religious sentiments for themselves; as if the Bible were to them a sealed book, and they had only to believe the system that happened to be in fashion, or rather, to have been in fashion some years before they were born, and to dance after the pipe of learned men? It is acknowledged that, in matters of human science, common people, having no standard to judge by, are generally led by the learned; but surely it is somewhat different in religion, where we have a standard; and one, too, that is adapted to the understanding of the simple. However many people may be led implicitly by others, yet there will always be a number of plain, intelligent, serious Christians who will read the Bible, and judge for themselves; and Christians of this description will always have a much greater influence, even upon those who do not judge for themselves, than mere speculative men, whom the most ignorant cannot but perceive to be wanting in serious religion and respect to mankind; and while this is the case, there is no great danger of the body of common Christians becoming Socinians. Thirdly: there is a bold, profane, and daring¹⁶⁶² spirit discovered in the writings of infidels; a spirit that fears not to speak of sacred things with the most indecent freedom. They love to speak of Christ with a sneer, calling him the carpenter’s son, the Galilean, or some such name, which, in their manner of expressing it, conveys an idea of contempt. Though Socinians do not go such lengths as these, yet they follow hard after them in their profane and daring manner of speaking.¹⁶⁶³ Were it proper to refer to the speeches of private individuals, language might be produced very little inferior in contempt to any of the foregoing modes of expression; and even some of those who have appeared as authors have discovered a similar temper. Besides the examples of Engedin, Gagneius, Steinbart, and Semler (as quoted in Letter XII),¹⁶⁶⁴ the magnanimity which has been ascribed to Dr. Priestley, for censuring the Mosaic narrative of ¹⁶⁶⁵ the fall of man, calling it “a lame account,”¹⁶⁶⁶ is an instance of the same irreverent spirit.¹⁶⁶⁷  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 30 – 31. [AF]  There is a bold and daring 1793] Thirdly: There is a bold, profane, and daring 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  bold and daring manner of speaking. The magnanimity 1793] profane and daring manner of speaking. Were it proper to refer to the speeches of private individuals, language might be produced very little inferior in contempt to any of the foregoing modes of expression; and even some of those who have appeared as authors have discovered a similar temper. Besides the examples of Engedin, Gagneius, Steinbart, and Semler, (as quoted in Letter XII,) the magnanimity 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  See above, p. 217– 218.  for his censure of the narrative given by Moses of 1793] for censuring the Mosaic narrative of 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

258

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Fourthly: the alliance¹⁶⁶⁸ of Socinianism to Deism may be inferred from this,¹⁶⁶⁹ that the success of the one bears a proportion to that of the other, and resembles it in the most essential points. Socinians are continually boasting of their success, and of the great increase of their numbers; so also are the Deists, and I suppose with equal reason. The number of the latter has certainly increased in the present century, in as great, if not a greater proportion than the former. The truth is, a spirit of infidelity is the main temptation of the present age, as a persecuting superstition was of ages past.¹⁶⁷⁰ This spirit has long gone forth into the world. In different denominations of men it exists in different degrees, and appears to be permitted to try them that dwell upon the earth. Great multitudes are carried away with it; and no wonder, for it disguises itself under a variety of specious names; such as liberality, candour,¹⁶⁷¹ and charity; by which it imposes upon the unwary. It flatters human pride, calls evil propensity nature, and gives loose to its dictates; and, in proportion as it prevails in the judgments as well as in the hearts of men, it serves to abate the fear of death and judgment, and so makes them more cheerful than they otherwise would be. It is also worthy of notice, that the success of Socinianism and Deism has been amongst the same sort of people; namely, men of a speculative turn of mind. Dr. Priestley somewhere observes, that “learned men begin more and more to suspect the doctrine of the Trinity”;¹⁶⁷² and possibly it may be so. But then it might, with equal truth, be affirmed that learned men begin more and more to suspect Christianity. Dr. Priestley himself acknowledges that “among those who are called philosophers, the unbelievers are the crowd.”¹⁶⁷³ It is true he flatters himself that their numbers will diminish, and that “the evidences of Christianity will meet with a more

 Priestley, “Observations Relating to the Inspiration of Moses,” in Rutt, ed., Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley, 7:312.  is of this kind. 1793] is an instance of the same irreverent spirit. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Another ground from which the alliance 1793] Fourthly: The alliance 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  is 1793] from this 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Fuller resisted the rationalists’ method of uniting the persecuting spirit of superstition with all belief in revealed religion. He believed the union of persecution with belief in absolute truth received by revelation to be the sinister implication of much that was written by the self-professed cultured, enlightened proponents of Socinianism and other sorts of infidelity.  candor 1793] candour 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  It is difficult to locate these exact words as a quotation in Priestley’s works. Fuller may possibly have meant it as a summation of inferences to be drawn from any number of passages in Priestley’s writings. For example, having called the doctrine of the Trinity an “impious doctrine,” a “shocking corruption of genuine Christianity,” a “great error,” and presented it as a patent contradiction to the apostolic witness concerning Jesus, Priestley asserted the vanity of preaching such a doctrine to “people who retain the use of the reason and understanding that God has given them […] Things above our reason may, for anything we know to the contrary, be true; but things expressly contrary to our reason, as that three should be one, and one three, can never appear to us to be so” (Joseph Priestley, An Appeal to the serious and candid Professors of Christianity, [London, 1771], 15 – 17).  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 32. [AF]

Letter XV

259

impartial examination in the present day than they have done in the last fifty years.”¹⁶⁷⁴ But this is mere conjecture, such as hath no foundation in fact. We may as well flatter ourselves that Socinians will diminish: there is equal reason for the one as for the other. It is not impossible that the number of both may be diminished in some future time, but when that time shall come is not for us to say.¹⁶⁷⁵ It may be suggested, that it is a circumstance not much in favour, either of the doctrine of the Trinity, or of Christianity, that such a number of philosophers and learned men suspect them. But, unfavourable as this circumstance may appear to some, there are others who view it in a very different light. The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, always contended that common Christians were in a more favourable state for the discovery of religious truth than either the rich or the learned. And Dr. Priestley not only admits, but accounts for it. “Learned men,” he says, “have prejudices peculiar to themselves; and the very affectation of being free from vulgar prejudices, and of being wiser than the rest of mankind, must indispose them to the admission even of truth, if it should happen to be with the common people.”¹⁶⁷⁶ If “not many wise men after the flesh”¹⁶⁷⁷ are found among¹⁶⁷⁸ the friends of Christianity, or of what we account its peculiar doctrines, is it any other than what might have been alleged against the primitive church? The things of God, in their times, were¹⁶⁷⁹ “hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes,”¹⁶⁸⁰ and that “because it seemed good in his sight.”¹⁶⁸¹ It is further worthy of notice, that the same disregard of religion in general, which is allowed by our opponents to be favourable to Socinianism, is equally favourable to Deism. Dr. Priestley describes unbelievers of a certain age amongst us, as “having heard Christianity from their infancy, as having, in general, believed it for some time, and as not coming to disbelieve it till they had long disregarded it.”¹⁶⁸² A disregard of Christianity, then, preceded their openly rejecting it, and embracing the scheme of infidelity. Now this is the very process of a great number of Socinian converts, as both the Doctor and Mr. Belsham elsewhere acknowledge. It is by a disregard of all religion that men become infidels; and it is by the same means that others become Socinians.¹⁶⁸³ The foregoing observations may suffice to shew the resemblance of Socinianism to Deism. It remains for me to consider the tendency of the one to the other.

         

Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 32. will come 1793] shall come 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 29. 1 Corinthians 1:26. amongst 1793] among 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. God were then 1793] God, in their times, were 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21. Matthew 11:25. Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, ix. [AF] The following brief paragraph was added in the 1794 edition.

260

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Dr. Priestley seems to admit that his scheme approaches nearer to that of unbelievers than ours; but then he disowns its having any tendency, on that account, to lead men to infidelity. On the contrary, he retorts the charge upon his opponents, and asserts his own scheme to have an opposite effect. “An enemy as I am considered to Christianity, by some,” says he, “I have saved many from that infidelity into which the bigots are forcing them.”¹⁶⁸⁴ The case of the late Mr. Robinson is here introduced as an example to confirm this assertion. The reasoning of Dr. Priestley, on this subject, resembles that of Archbishop Laud on another.¹⁶⁸⁵ When accused of leaning to popery, he denied the charge, and gave in a list of twenty-one persons, whom he had not merely saved from going over to that religion, but actually converted from it to the Protestant faith.¹⁶⁸⁶ Yet few thinking people imagine the principles of Laud to have been very unfriendly to popery, much less that they were adapted to save men from it.¹⁶⁸⁷ That Socinianism has a direct tendency to Deism will appear from the following considerations. First, by giving up the plenary inspiration¹⁶⁸⁸ of the Scriptures, and allowing them to be the production of fallible men (of men who, though too honest knowingly to impose upon others, were, notwithstanding, so far under the influence of inattention, of prejudice, and of misinformation, as to be capable of being imposed upon themselves), Socinians furnish infidels with a handle for rejecting them. To give up the plenary inspiration¹⁶⁸⁹ of the Scriptures is to give them up as the word of God, and as binding upon the consciences of men; to which our opponents apparently have no objection. They are seldom, if ever, known to warn mankind that the rejection of the Holy Scriptures will endanger their eternal welfare.¹⁶⁹⁰ Nor can they do so consistently with what they elsewhere plead for, that “all differences in modes of worship may be only different modes of endeavouring to honour and obey our common Parent.”¹⁶⁹¹ Under the pretence of appealing to the reason of unbelievers, they neglect to address themselves to their hearts and consciences. If the cause of infidelity lie in the want of evidence, or if those who leaned towards

 Priestley, Familiar Letters, 206.  William Laud.  See the references to Laud in the Index of Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans or Protestant Non-Conformists (London: Richard Hett, 1732), 3:617– 618. [AF]  The following three paragraphs, as well as the sentence: “Secondly: If the sacred writings be not received for the purposes for which they were professedly given, and for which they were actually appealed to by Christ and his apostles, they are in effect rejected; and those who pretend to embrace them for other purposes will themselves be found to have passed the boundaries of Christianity, and to be walking in the paths of infidelity,” were added in the 1794 edition.  inspiration 1794, 1796] plenary inspiration 1802, 1810.  inspiration 1794, 1796] plenary inspiration 1802, 1810.  welfare. Under 1794, 1796] welfare. Nor can they do so consistently with what they elsewhere plead for, that “all differences in modes of worship may be only different modes of endeavouring to honour and obey our common Parent.” Under 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion, 13.

Letter XV

261

it were ingenuous and disinterested enquirers after truth, solemn warnings might be less necessary. But if it lie in the temper of their hearts, which blinds their minds to the most convincing proofs, their hearts and consciences must be addressed as well as their understandings. The sacred writers and preachers always proceeded upon this principle. This only will account for such language as the following: “The blindness of their heart.”¹⁶⁹² “Lest they should understand with their heart, and be converted.”¹⁶⁹³ “Repent, and believe the gospel.”¹⁶⁹⁴ “If God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.”¹⁶⁹⁵ This was the method of John the Baptist, of Christ and his apostles,¹⁶⁹⁶ in their addresses to unbelievers; and whatever addresses are made to infidels, whether Jews or Deists, in which the sin of unbelief, and the danger of persisting in it, are not insisted on, they will tend to harden them in infidelity rather than to recover them out of it. Dr. Priestley, in effect, acknowledges that the cause of infidelity lies in the temper of the heart; and yet, when he addresses himself to infidels, he seems to consider them as merely in want of evidence, and fosters in them an idea of their security, notwithstanding their rejection of the gospel. This is manifestly the tendency of his Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France. ¹⁶⁹⁷ Dr. Priestley acknowledges that men seldom reject Christianity in theory till they have long disregarded it in practice;¹⁶⁹⁸ that is, they seldom believe it to be false without their hearts being fully inclined to have it so. Let us then consider a character of this description, in his examination of Christianity. He has long disregarded the practice of it, and begins now to hesitate about its truth. If he read a defence of it upon our principles, he will find the authority of heaven vindicated, his own sceptical spirit condemned, and is warned that he fall not upon a rock that will prove his eternal ruin. He throws it aside in resentment, calls the writer a bigot, and considers the warning given him as an insult to his dignity. Still, however, there is a sting left behind, which he knows not how to extract; a something which says within him, How, if it should be true? He takes up a defence of Christianity upon Socinian principles; suppose Dr. Priestley’s Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France. He is now brought to a better humour. Here is no threatening, no imminent danger. The sting is extracted. The reasoning in many parts is plausible; but having long wished to disbelieve Christianity, it makes little or no impression upon him, especially as it seems to be of no great consequence if he do so. It is only rejecting that entirely which pro-

 Ephesians 4:18.  Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27.  Mark 1:15.  2 Timothy 2:25.  of his apostles 1794, 1796] his apostles 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion (London: J. Johnson, 1793).  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, ix. [AF]

262

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

fessed Christians reject in part. It is only throwing off the testimony and opinions of fallible men. What will be his next step is not very difficult to conjecture. By allowing part of the Gospels to be spurious, Socinian writers enable the Jews to ask, with an air of triumph, “How are we sure that the remainder is authentic?”¹⁶⁹⁹ We are often told that the Jews can never embrace what is called orthodox Christianity, because of its inconsistency with one of the first principles of their religion, the unity of God. We do not ask them, however, to give up the unity of God. On the contrary, we are fully persuaded that our principles are entirely consistent with it. But this is more than our opponents can say with regard to the inspiration of the Scriptures; a principle as sacred and as important with the Jews as the unity of God itself. Were they to embrace Dr. Priestley’s notions of Christianity, they must give up this principle, and consider their own sacred writings in a much meaner light than they at present do. They have no conception of the Old Testament being a mere “authentic history of past transactions”;¹⁷⁰⁰ but profess to receive it as the very word of God, the infallible rule of faith and practice. Whenever they shall receive the New Testament, there is reason to conclude it will be under the same character, and for the same purposes. While they consider their own Scriptures as divinely inspired, and hear professed Christians acknowledge that “part of their Gospels is spurious,”¹⁷⁰¹ they will be tempted to look down upon Christianity with scorn, and so be hardened in their infidelity. Secondly, if the sacred writings be not received for the purposes for which they were professedly given, and for which they were actually appealed to by Christ and his apostles, they are in effect rejected; and those who pretend to embrace them for other purposes will themselves be found to have passed the boundaries of Christianity, and to be walking in the paths of infidelity. We have seen in Letter XII that the Scriptures profess to be the word of God, and the rule of faith and practice. Now if any man believe in revelation, he must receive it as being what it professes to be, and for all the purposes for which it professes to have been written. The Monthly Review suggests that “the Scriptures were never designed to settle disputed theories, and to decide speculative, controverted questions, even in religion and morality.”¹⁷⁰² But if so, what must we think of their assuming to be the rule of faith and practice? What must we think of Christ and his apostles,¹⁷⁰³ who appealed to them for the truth  David Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, in Answer to Those He Addressed to the Jews; Inviting Them to an Amicable Discussion of the Evidences of Christianity (London: D. Levi, 1787), 82. [AF] On David Levi, see above, p. 77 n. 172.  Fuller is probably referring to Joseph Priestley, Letters to the Jews; Inviting Them to an Amicable Discussion of the Evidences of Christianity, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 31.  Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, 82.  “Art. 51. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, January 30th, 1793: Being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of K. Charles the First. With an Appendix, Concerning the Political Principles of Calvin. By Samuel Lord Bishop of St. David’s. …,” The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal 10 (January–April 1793): 357. [AF]  of his apostles 1793, 1794, 1796] his apostles 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

263

of their doctrines, and the goodness of their precepts? On the principles of our opponents, they must have been either weak or wicked.¹⁷⁰⁴ If they considered them as the standard of faith and practice, they must have been weak; if they did not, and yet appealed to them as a decisive test, they were certainly wicked.¹⁷⁰⁵ In either case their testimony is unworthy of regard,¹⁷⁰⁶ to suppose which¹⁷⁰⁷ is downright infidelity. Thirdly:¹⁷⁰⁸ by the degrading notions which Socinians entertain of the person of Christ, they do what in them lies to lessen the sin of rejecting him, and afford the adversaries of the gospel a ground for accusing him of presumption, which must necessarily harden them in unbelief. The Jews consider their nation, according to the sentiments of orthodox Christians, as lying under the charge “of crucifying the Lord and Saviour of the world”;¹⁷⁰⁹ but, according to those of Dr. Priestley, as “only having crucified a prophet, that was sent to them in the first instance.”¹⁷¹⁰ Such a consideration diminishes the degree of their guilt, tends to render them more indifferent, and consequently must harden them in infidelity. By considering our Lord as merely a prophet, Socinians also furnish the Jews with the charge of presumption; a weighty objection indeed against his Messiahship! “He preached himself,” says Mr. Levi, “as the light of the world, which is an instance not to be paralleled in Scripture; for the duty of a prophet consisted in his delivery of God’s word or message to the people, not in presumptuously preaching himself. Again, we meet with the same example in John 14:6, where Jesus preaches himself, as the way, the

 in Letter XII. that Socinian writers degrade our only rule of faith, and reduced it to no rule at all, but a mere stimulative to comply with the dictates of conscience. But if the scriptures “Were never designed to settle disputed Theories, nor to decide speculative controverted questions, even in religion and morality,” as is advanced in the Monthly Review; the writers professing what they did must have been either weak or wicked. 1793] in Letter XII. that the Scriptures profess to be the word of God, and the rule of faith and practice. Now if any man believe in revelation, he must receive it as being what it professes to be, and for all the purposes for which it professes to have been written. The Monthly Review suggests that “the Scriptures were never designed to settle disputed theories, or to decide speculative controverted questions, even in religion and morality.” But if so, what must we think of their assuming to be the rule of faith and practice? What must we think of Christ and his apostles, who appealed to them for the truth of their doctrines, and the goodness of their precepts? On the principles of our opponents, they must have been either weak or wicked. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Both Christ and his apostles, as we have seen already, appealed to the scriptures for the truth of their doctrine and the goodness of their precepts. In these appeals they either considered them as the standard of faith and practice, or they did not. If they did, upon the principle above mentioned, they must have been weak; if they did not, they must have been wicked: 1793] If they considered them as the standard of faith and practice, they must have been weak; if they did not, and yet appealed to them as a decisive test, they were certainly wicked. 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  worthy of no regard 1793] unworthy of regard 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  which 1793, 1794, 1796, 1802] to suppose which 1810.  The following two paragraphs were added in the 1794 edition.  Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, 14. [AF]  Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestley, 14. [AF]

264

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

truth, and the life.”¹⁷¹¹ From all which he concludes, “it is manifest that he was not sent by God to us as a prophet, seeing he was so deficient in the essential character of a prophet.”¹⁷¹² How Dr. Priestley, upon his principles, will be able to answer this reasoning, I cannot tell. Though he has written a reply to Mr. Levi, I observe he has passed over this part of the subject very lightly, offering nothing that sufficiently accounts for our Lord’s preaching himself as “the light of the world,”¹⁷¹³ “the way, the truth, and the life,”¹⁷¹⁴ upon the supposition of his being merely a prophet. Fourthly: the progress which Socinianism has made has generally been towards infidelity. The ancient Socinians, though they went great lengths, are, nevertheless, far outdone by the moderns. If we look over the Racovian Catechism, printed at Amsterdam in 1652, we shall find such sentiments as the following: “No suspicion can possibly creep into the mind concerning those authors (the sacred writers), as if they had not had exact cognizance of the things which they described, in that some of them were eye and ear witnesses of the things which they set down, and the others were fully and accurately informed by them concerning the same. It is altogether incredible that God, whose goodness and providence are immense, hath suffered those writings wherein he hath proposed his will, and the way to eternal life, and which, through the succession of so many ages, have, by all the godly, been received and approved as such, to be any ways corrupted.”¹⁷¹⁵ I need not go about to prove that these sentiments are betrayed into the hands of infidels by modern Socinians. Dr. Priestley (as we have seen in Letter XII) supposes the sacred writers to have written upon subjects “to which they had not given much attention, and concerning which they had not the means of exact information,”¹⁷¹⁶ and in such cases considers himself at liberty to disregard their productions. Instead of maintaining that the sacred writings cannot have been corrupted, modern Socinians are continually labouring to prove that they are so. Some, who are better acquainted with Socinians and Deists than I profess to be, have observed that¹⁷¹⁷ it is very common for those who go over to infidelity to pass through Socinianism in their way. If this be the case, it is no more than may be ex-

 Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestly, 23 – 24. [AF]  Levi, Letters to Dr. Priestly, 24. [AF]  John 8:12.  John 14:6.  The Racovian Catechisme (Amsterdam, 1652), 3, 4. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, Containing Letters to the Rev. Dr. Geddes, to the Rev. Dr. Price, Part II. And to the Candidates for Orders in the Two Universities. Part II. Relating to Mr. Howes’s Appendix to his fourth Volume of Observation on Books, a Letter by an Under-Graduate of Oxford, Dr. Croft’s Bampton Lectures, and several other Publications (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 67.  I am not sufficiently acquainted, either with Socinians or Deists, to be able to form a judgment on this subject from matter of fact; but I have been told by those who are, that 1793] Some, who are better acquainted with Socinians and Deists than I profess to be, have observed that 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

265

pected, according to the natural course of things. It is not common, I believe, for persons who go over to Socinianism to go directly from Calvinism, but through one or other of the different stages of Arminianism, or Arianism, or both. Dr. Priestley was¹⁷¹⁸ once, as he himself informs us, “a Calvinist, and that of the straitest sect. Afterwards,” he adds, “he became a High Arian, next a Low Arian, and then a Socinian, and then, in a little time, a Socinian of the lowest kind, in which Christ is considered as a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary, and naturally as fallible and peccable as Moses, or any other prophet”;¹⁷¹⁹ to which he might have added, and in which the plenary inspiration¹⁷²⁰ of the Scriptures is given up.¹⁷²¹ The Doctor also informs us that he “does not know when his creed will be fixed.”¹⁷²² And yet he tells us, in his volume of Sermons, that “Unitarians are not apt to entertain any doubt of the truth of their principles.”¹⁷²³ But this, I suppose, is to be understood of their principles only in one point of view; namely, as they are opposed to what is commonly called orthodoxy; for as they are opposed to infidelity, they are apt to entertain doubts concerning them, as much and perhaps more than any other¹⁷²⁴ men; and, in that line of improvement, to hold themselves open to the reception of greater and greater illuminations.¹⁷²⁵ It is in this direction that Dr. Priestley¹⁷²⁶ has generally moved hitherto; and should he, before he fixes his creed, go one degree further, is there any doubt where that degree will land him? Should it be upon the shores of downright infidelity, it can afford no greater matter of surprise to the Christian world than that of an Arian becoming a Socinian, or a Deist an Atheist.¹⁷²⁷

 Priestley himself was 1793] Priestley was 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, containing Letters to Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury; to the Young Men, Who are in a Course of Education for the Christian Ministry, at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; to the Rev. Dr. Price; and to the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst; On the Subject of the Person of Christ (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 101.  the inspiration 1793] the plenary inspiration 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  Priestley, Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, II, 33 – 35. [AF]  Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1786, 111. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 95. [AF]  other 1793] any other 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  illuminations. That I do not misrepresent our opponents in this matter, is evident from the words of Dr. Priestley, where he tells us that “Materialism is that fundamental principle in true philosophy which is alone perfectly consonant to the doctrine of the scriptures, and must in the progress of enquiry soon appear to be so: and then should it be found that an unquestionably true philosophy teaches one thing, and revelation another, the latter could not stand it’s [sic] ground, but must inevitably be exploded as contrary to truth and fact.” We may sufficiently discern from this passage on which side the doubts of Dr. Priestley lie, and in what direction he expects his course of free-enquiry to conduct him. It 1793] illuminations. It 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. The quotation in this passage in the 1793 edition, which was omitted in later editions, was taken from Joseph Priestley, Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 4, 10, 11.  he 1793] Dr. Priestley 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  The following paragraph was added in the 1796 edition.

266

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

By the following extract from a letter which I received from a gentleman of candour and veracity, and extensive acquaintance in the literary world, it appears that several of the most eminent characters amongst professed unbelievers in the present age were but a few years ago in the scheme of Socinus: “I think I may say, without exaggeration, that, of my acquaintance, the greater part of literary men who have become Unitarians are either sceptics, or strongly tending that way. I could instance in —, and many others. About four months ago I had a pretty long conversation with one of the above gentlemen (as intelligent a man as any I know) on this subject. He reminded me of a conversation that had passed betwixt us about a year and a half before, in which I had observed there was a near affinity between Unitarianism and Deism, and told me he was then rather surprised I should suppose so, but that now he was completely of that opinion; and that, from very extensive observations, there was nothing he was more certain of than that the one led to the other. He remarked how much Dr. Priestley was mistaken in supposing he could, by cashiering orthodoxy, form what he called rational Christians; for that, after following him thus far, they would be almost sure to carry their speculations to a still greater extent. All the professed unbelievers I have met with rejoice in the spread of Unitarianism as favourable to their views.”¹⁷²⁸ Christian brethren, permit me to request that the subject may be seriously considered. Whether the foregoing positions be sufficiently proved, it becomes not me to decide. A reflection or two, however, may be offered, upon supposition that they are so; and with these I shall conclude. First, if that system which embraces the deity and atonement of Christ, with other correspondent doctrines, be friendly to a life of sobriety, righteousness, and godliness, it must be¹⁷²⁹ of God, and it becomes us to abide by it, not because it is the doctrine of Calvin or of any other man that was¹⁷³⁰ uninspired, but as being “the gospel which we have received” from Christ and his apostles, “wherein we stand, and by which we are saved.”¹⁷³¹ Secondly, if that system of religion which rejects the deity and atonement of Christ, with other correspondent doctrines, be unfriendly to the conversion of sinners to a life of holiness, and of professed unbelievers to faith in Christ; if it be a system which irreligious men are the first and serious Christians the last to embrace; if it be found to relax the obligations to virtuous affection and behaviour, by relaxing the great standard of virtue itself; if it promote neither love to God under¹⁷³² his true character, nor benevolence to men as it is exemplified in the spirit of Christ and of

 In the 1794 edition, this letter comprised the “Postscript,” with the following sentence preceding it: “Since the preceding sheets were printed off, I received a letter from a Gentleman of candour and veracity, and extensive acquaintance in the literary world; of which the following is an extract:”.  then it is 1793] it must be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  who is 1793] that was 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.  1 Corinthians 15:1, 2.  in 1793] under 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

Letter XV

267

his apostles; if it lead those who embrace it to be wise in their own eyes, and instead of humbly deprecating God’s righteous displeasure, even in their dying moments, arrogantly to challenge his justice; if the charity which it inculcates be founded in an indifference to divine truth; if it be inconsistent with ardent love to Christ, and¹⁷³³ veneration for the Holy Scriptures; if the happiness which it promotes be at variance with the joys¹⁷³⁴ of the gospel; and, finally,¹⁷³⁵ if it diminish the motives to gratitude, obedience, and heavenly-mindedness, and have a natural tendency to infidelity; it must be¹⁷³⁶ an immoral system, and consequently not¹⁷³⁷ of God. It is not the gospel of Christ, but “another gospel.” Those who preach it preach another Jesus, whom the apostles did not preach; and those who receive it receive another spirit, which they never imbibed. It is not the light which cometh from above, but a cloud of darkness that hath¹⁷³⁸ arisen from beneath, tending to eclipse it. It is not the highway of truth, which is a way of holiness; but a by-path of error, which misleads the unwary traveller, and of which, as we value our immortal interests, it becomes us to beware. We need not be afraid of evidence, or of free¹⁷³⁹ enquiry; for if irreligious men be the first, and serious Christians be the last, who embrace the Socinian system, it is easy to perceive that the avenues which lead to it are not, as its abettors would persuade you to think, an openness to conviction, or a free and impartial enquiry after truth,¹⁷⁴⁰ but a heart secretly disaffected to the true character and government of God, and dissatisfied with the gospel way of salvation. I am, Christian brethren, Respectfully and affectionately yours, Andrew Fuller.

       

or 1793] and 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. joy 1793, 1794] joys 1796, 1802, 1810. finally 1793] and, finally 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. then it is 1793] it must be 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. consequently is not 1793] consequently not 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. has 1793, 1794] hath 1796, 1802, 1810. or free 1793] or of free 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810. enquiry 1793] enquiry after truth 1794, 1796, 1802, 1810.

268

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

Postscript¹⁷⁴¹ On the first appearance of the foregoing Letters in 1793, some of the most respectable characters amongst the Socinians, and who have since affected to treat them with contempt, acknowledged that they were “well worthy of their attention.” No answer, however, appeared to them till 1796, when Dr. Toulmin published his Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine,¹⁷⁴² and Mr. Kentish his sermon, on The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. ¹⁷⁴³ To these publications a reply was written in 1797, entitled Socinianism Indefensible on the Ground of its Moral Tendency. ¹⁷⁴⁴ Mr. Kentish wrote again,¹⁷⁴⁵ and Dr. Toulmin has lately published a second edition of his piece, with large additions.¹⁷⁴⁶ I had no inclination to add anything in reply to Mr. Kentish, being well satisfied that the public should judge from the evidence that was before them. And as to Dr. Toulmin, his second edition is, like his first, full of irrelative matter. Having been charged with shifting the ground of the argument, and begging the question, this writer labours to persuade his readers that he has done neither. “He did not intend,” he says, “nor profess, to give a full and minute answer to Mr. Fuller’s tract. He meant not much more than to take an occasion from that publication to

 In the 1793 edition, there was no postscript, only a list of “Errata” and advertisements for two other publications by Fuller (The Nature and Importance of Walking by Faith and The Blessedness of the Dead who die in the Lord, Fuller’s funeral sermon for his friend and deacon, Beeby Wallis), and one by William Carey (An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen), which had the following note underneath it: “The profits of this piece are appropriated to a mission in which Mr. Carey is since embarked.” In the 1794 edition, the “Postscript” consisted simply of the letter noted above (see p. 266 n. 1728). There were no advertisements. The 1796 edition lacked a postscript completely and had in its stead advertisements for two books “by a Lady,” who was the Baptist author Hannah Neale (1758?–1798)—Sacred History and Amusement Hall—the first of which had a recommendatory preface by Fuller’s friend, John Ryland. Fuller was listed as one of the subscribers for “3 sets” of Neale’s Sacred History when it appeared (Sacred History [London: T. Gardiner, 1796], 1:vi). The “Postscript,” therefore, only appeared in the 1802 and 1810 editions. Except for minor changes to the punctuation, these two editions are identical.  In 1796, Joshua Toulmin published The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796). This edition was 74 pages long. In 1801, Toulmin enlarged it and published a second edition. See above, p. 35 – 39.  John Kentish, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. A Discourse, Written with Reference to Mr. A. Fuller’s Examination of the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems (London: J. Johnson, 1796).  Andrew Fuller, Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency: Containing a Reply to Two Late Publications: The One by Dr. Toulmin, entitled The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; the Other by Mr. Kentish, entitled The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine (London, 1797). See below, p. 281 ff.  John Kentish, Strictures Upon the Reply of Mr. A. Fuller, to Mr. Kentish’s Discourse, entitled, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine (London: J. Johnson, 1798).  Joshua Toulmin, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, in a Series of Letters to the Rev. Andrew Fuller, 2nd ed. (London: J. Johnson, 1801).

Postscript

269

bring the general question, namely, the practical efficacy of the Unitarian doctrine, to the test of scriptural facts.”¹⁷⁴⁷ This is acknowledging, that if he had professed to give a proper answer to the work, he would have been obliged by the laws of just reasoning to keep to the ground of his opponent. But intending only to write a piece that should bear some allusion to it, he considered himself at liberty to choose his own ground. But if this were his intention, why did he profess, at his outset, to “enter the lists” with me, and to comprehend in his performance “the main point to which a reply to my Letters need be directed?”¹⁷⁴⁸ If this be not professing to answer a work, nothing is. The design of Dr. Toulmin seems to have been very complex, and his account of it has much the appearance of evasion. He did not intend to give a full and minute answer: Did he mean to give any answer; or only to write a piece which might pass for an answer? He meant not much more than thus and thus: Did he mean any more? If he did, he ought to have kept to the proper ground of reasoning; or, if he thought it unfair, to have proved it so. But he had a right, he says, to choose the ground of his argument, as well as I. Doubtless, if he had chosen to write upon any subject without professing to answer another, or wishing his performance to pass for an answer, he had; but if at the outset he propose to “enter the lists” with an opponent, and to comprehend “all that to which a reply to his performance need be directed,” it is otherwise.¹⁷⁴⁹ If a Christian divine wish to write in favour of Christianity, he is at liberty to choose his ground. He may fix, as Bishop Newton has, on the argument from prophecy.¹⁷⁵⁰ But if a Deist come after him, professing to “enter the lists” with him, and to comprehend in his performance “all that to which a reply to the work of his opponent need be directed,” he is obliged by the rules of just reasoning, either to examine the arguments of his adversary, or attempt to overturn the principle on which they rest. If, instead of trying the truth of the Christian religion by the fulfilment of prophecy, he were to fill up his pages by arguing on the improbability of miracles, or the sufficiency of the light of nature, what would Dr. Toulmin say to him? And if, in order to excuse himself, he should allege that he did not intend, nor profess to give a full and minute answer to his antagonist; that he meant not much more than to take an occasion from his publication to bring forward the general question between Christians and Deists, on the necessity of a divine revelation, might he not better have held his peace? Must not judicious persons, even amongst his friends, clearly perceive that he has betrayed the cause; and, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, be fully convinced that if he did not wish to answer the work, he should have let it alone; or if the

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 133. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., iii.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., iii.  Thomas Newton (1704– 1782) served as the bishop of Bristol from December 1761 until his death in February 1782. See his Dissertations on the Prophecies, 3 vols. (London: J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1754– 1758).

270

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

ground of argument were unfair, he should have proved it so, and not have set up another which had no relation to it? Thus it is, that Dr. Toulmin has shifted the ground of the argument: And what is that ground to which he gives the preference? He wished, it seems, to try “the practical efficacy of the Unitarian doctrine by the test of scriptural facts.”¹⁷⁵¹ Are those facts then a proper medium for such a trial? I have been used to think that every tree was to be tried by its own fruits, and not by those of another. Scriptural facts, such as those which Dr. Toulmin alleges, afford a proper test of the practical efficacy of Scripture doctrines; and if brought against the cause of infidelity, would be in point. But there is no question in this case, whether Scripture truth be of a practical nature, but wherein it consists? The facts to which Dr. Toulmin wishes to draw the reader’s attention prove nothing in favour of Unitarianism or Trinitarianism; for before they can be brought to bear, the work of proof must be accomplished by other means. An attempt to establish the practical efficacy of modern Unitarianism by scriptural facts, is like producing the fruits of Palestine in order to ascertain the soil of Taunton. Dr. Toulmin complained of my animadverting on particular passages in the writings of Unitarians, and suggested that I ought rather to have applied my arguments to the general, the fundamental principles of their system: “That there is one God, the Father, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”¹⁷⁵² To this it was answered, “The unity of God, and the humanity of Christ, then, it seems, are the principles which I ought to have attacked; that is, I ought to have attacked principles which I profess to believe, and not those which I profess to disbelieve.”¹⁷⁵³ “But,” says Dr. T. in reply, “does he receive these principles in the pure and simple form in which Unitarians embrace them?”¹⁷⁵⁴ The Doctor ought to have expressed his fundamental principles in his own words, and not in those of Scripture. Every controversial writer, who does not wish to beg the question, will do so. He ought to have said Mr. Fuller, instead of animadverting on particular passages in the writings of Unitarians, should have attacked their first principles; that God is one person, and that Christ is merely a man. This had been fair and open: and had the objection been made in this form, I might have replied to this effect. My object was not to attack particular principles, so much as the general tendency of their religion, taken in the gross; and the passages on which I animadverted, chiefly related to this view of the subject. Yet, in the course of the work, I have certainly attempted to prove the divinity of Christ; and whatever goes to establish this doctrine goes to demolish those leading principles which, it is said, I ought to have attacked; for if Christ be God, he cannot be merely a man, and there must be more than one person in the Godhead. But, not contented with ex   

Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin,

Practical Practical Practical Practical

Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy

of of of of

the the the the

Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian

Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine

Considered, Considered, Considered, Considered,

2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd

ed., 133. ed., 6. ed., 80. ed., 81. [AF]

Postscript

271

pressing his leading principles in his own words, Dr. Toulmin chooses Scripture language for the purpose. This, I contended, was begging the question; or taking it for granted that the terms one God, in Scripture, mean one person, and that Christ’s being called a man denotes that he was merely a man. To shew the impropriety of this proceeding, I alleged that I believed both the unity of God, and the humanity of Christ; and therefore ought not to be expected to oppose either of them. “But does he receive these principles,” says Dr. T., “in the pure and simple form in which Unitarians embrace them?”¹⁷⁵⁵ What is this but saying, that I do not admit the Socinian gloss upon the apostle’s words? Dr. Toulmin may contend that the Scriptures express his sentiments so plainly as to need no gloss; but a gloss it manifestly is. He may call it a pure and simple form, or what he pleases; but nothing is meant by it beyond a gloss, nor proved, except the prevalence of his easy-besetting sin, that of begging the question. To shew in a still stronger light the unfairness of a controversial writer’s attempting to shroud his opinions under the phraseology of Scripture, I supposed it to be done by a Calvinist, and asked what Dr. Toulmin would say to it in that case? I could say, for example, there is a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, in whose name we are baptised;¹⁷⁵⁶ “the Word was God”;¹⁷⁵⁷ “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures”;¹⁷⁵⁸ and could require Socinians not to animadvert on particular passages in Calvinistic writers, but on these our leading principles. Would they admit, or ought they to be expected to admit, of these as our leading principles? No. Dr. Toulmin has given proof that he does not, and has thereby justified me in refusing to admit the same thing on his side of the question. He will not allow that our leading principles are expressed by these passages of Scripture, because they say nothing of the Father, Son, and Spirit being one God, nor of a sameness of essence, etc. etc.¹⁷⁵⁹ Very well. Neither do I allow that his leading principles are expressed by the passages he has produced; for they say nothing of God’s being one person, or of Christ’s being merely a man. If the Scriptures which I alleged express my sentiments as fully as the passages he has produced express his, that is sufficient. My object was not to join issue in endeavouring to prove that my sentiments were expressly and fully contained in Scripture language; but to shew the futility of such pretences on either side. So far from “affecting to shew that the first principles of the Calvinists are to be expressed in the words of Scripture,”¹⁷⁶⁰ it was manifestly my design to shew that the practice of so expressing them, in controversy, was objectionable, in that it takes for granted that which requires to be proved.

     

Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 81. Matthew 28:19. John 1:1. 1 Corinthians 15:3. Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 5, 6. [AF] Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 5.

272

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

It is true, as Dr. Toulmin says, that if he, or any other person, were to offer to subscribe the passages which I have produced, as exhibiting a creed tantamount to ours, we should demur to admit it in this view. But this, instead of overturning my reasoning, confirms it, and cuts the throat of his own argument; for it is no less true, that if I, or any other person, were to offer to subscribe the passages produced by him, as exhibiting a creed tantamount to his, he would demur to admit it in this view. Nay, more: in his case, it is beyond supposition. I have actually offered to subscribe the apostle’s words, and he has actually refused to admit my subscription, alleging, that I do not receive them in that pure and simple form in which Unitarians embrace them. According to his own reasoning, therefore, the words of the apostle, by which he would express his leading principles, do not contain the whole of them, and he must have failed in his attempt to express them in Scripture language; and consequently, the “boasted superiority” of his scheme, even in this respect, is without foundations. If we can believe Dr. Toulmin, however, the Scriptures not only expressly declare God to be one, but one person. “This simple idea of God, that he is one single person,” says he, from Mr. Lindsey, “literally pervades every passage of the sacred volumes.”¹⁷⁶¹ To this I have answered, among other things, “It might have served a better purpose, if, instead of this general assertion, these gentlemen had pointed us to a single instance in which the unity of God is literally declared to be personal.”¹⁷⁶² And what has Dr. Toulmin said in reply? “The appeal, one would think, might be made to Mr. Fuller’s own good sense. What can be more decisive instances of this than the many passages in which the singular personal pronouns, and their correlates, are used concerning the Supreme Being; as, I, me, my, mine, etc.”¹⁷⁶³ Whatever may be thought of my good sense, or of that of my opponent, I appeal to good sense itself, whether he has made good his assertion. To say nothing of his reducing it from every passage to many passages, which probably strikes out ninety-nine passages out of a hundred in the sacred volumes; if the singular personal pronouns be a literal declaration that God is one person, the plural personal pronouns, Let us make man in our image,¹⁷⁶⁴ etc., must equally be a literal declaration that he is more than one. The singular personal pronouns also which are frequently applied to the Holy Spirit,¹⁷⁶⁵ contain a decisive proof, yea, a literal declaration, of his personality; and which inevitably draws after it the doctrine of the Trinity.

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 85. Here Toulmin quoted Theophilus Lindsey, An Examination of Mr. Robinson of Cambridge’s Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ (London: J. Johnson, 1785), 174.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 85. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 85. [AF]  Genesis 1:26.  John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7– 15; 1 Corinthians 12:11. [AF]

Postscript

273

Dr. Toulmin has said much about judging the heart,¹⁷⁶⁶ but his objection does not seem to lie against judging, so much as judging Unitarians. If I affirm, what the Scriptures uniformly teach,¹⁷⁶⁷ that a false and immoral system has its origin not in simple mistake, but in disaffection to God,¹⁷⁶⁸ this is highly presumptuous, this is judging the heart; but if Dr. Toulmin pronounce my mode of arguing to be “savouring of spleen and ill-nature, and evidently designed to fix an opprobrium and disgrace,”¹⁷⁶⁹ the case is altered. It is right to judge of the disposition of the heart by “overt acts”; that is, by words and deeds: but where this judgment is directed against Unitarians, it is not right, after all; for it is possible we may judge uncandidly and unjustly! It is right for Dr. T. to disregard the professions of his opponent, when he declares his belief in the unity of God and the humanity of Christ, and expresses that belief in the words of Scripture, because he does not “receive these principles in the pure and simple form in which Unitarians embrace them.”¹⁷⁷⁰ But if we disregard their professions, and require anything more than a declaration of their faith in the words of Scripture, we set up “our gospel, or the gospel according to our views of it,”¹⁷⁷¹ and act contrary to our professed principles as Protestants, as Dissenters, and as Baptists. When our creed and worship are such that they cannot conscientiously join them, they have a right to separate from us; otherwise they could not “keep the commandments of Jesus pure and undefiled.”¹⁷⁷² But whatever be their creed, or the tenor of their conversation or prayers, we have no right to refuse communion with them. If we do not model our professions, preaching, and worship, so as to give no offence to an individual of their principles, we “assume a power which no Christian, or body of Christians, possesses.”¹⁷⁷³ Yet they do not model their professions, preaching, or worship, so as to give no offence to us; nor do we desire they should. They do not confine themselves to the words of Scripture; nor is it necessary they should. They inquire whether our professions accord with the meaning of Scripture, and we claim to do the same. The reason why Dr. T. will not allow of this and other claims must, I should think, be this: their views of the gospel are “pure and simple,”¹⁷⁷⁴ and ours are corrupt. Thus it is, reader, that he goes about to prove that he does

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 95 – 101. [AF]  2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:6; Jude 4. [AF]  The reader will recollect that what is affirmed in the concluding sentence of the Letters is merely hypothetical and rests upon the supposition of Socinianism being what I had attempted to prove it, a false and immoral system. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 134. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 81.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 98.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 98.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 98.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 81.

274

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

not “take for granted the principles on which he argues,”¹⁷⁷⁵ and that “he assumes nothing”!¹⁷⁷⁶ If Dr. T. can persuade himself and his friends that he has not shifted the ground of the argument, has not assumed what he should have proved, and, in short, has not tacitly acknowledged Socinianism to be indefensible on the ground of its moral tendency, they are welcome to all the consolation such a persuasion will afford them. All I shall add will be a brief defence of the principle on which the foregoing Letters are written. To undermine this is a point at which all my opponents have aimed. The practical efficacy of a doctrine, in the present age, is a subject, it seems, which ought not to be discussed as the test of its being true. They are to a man, however, against it: a pretty clear evidence this that it does not speak good concerning them. Mr. Belsham, in his Review of Mr. Wilberforce,¹⁷⁷⁷ glancing at The Systems Compared, says, “The amount of it is, we Calvinists being much better Christians than you Socinians, our doctrines must, of course, be true.”¹⁷⁷⁸ “The Unitarians,” he adds, “will not trespass upon the holy ground. We have learned that ‘not he who commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.’ And be it known to Mr. Wilberforce, and to all who, like him, are disposed to condemn their brethren unheard, that if the Unitarians were inclined to boast, they have whereof to glory. And if they took pleasure in exposing the faults of their orthodox brethren, they likewise have tales to unfold which would reflect little credit on the parties, or on their principles. But of such mutual reproaches there would be no end.”¹⁷⁷⁹ Dr. Toulmin alleges that “it is a mode of arguing very unfavourable to candour and fair discussion, savouring of spleen and ill-nature, principally calculated to misrepresent and irritate, and evidently designed to fix an opprobrium and disgrace”;¹⁷⁸⁰ that when our Saviour cautioned his followers to “beware of false prophets,”¹⁷⁸¹ who should be “known by their fruits,”¹⁷⁸² he meant not persons who would teach false doctrine, and whose lives would accord with it, but persons of insincere character, whose doctrine might, nevertheless, be true; and that his brethren have not reasoned against Calvinism from the immoral lives of Calvinists, but merely from the immoral tendency of their principles.¹⁷⁸³ If the mode of arguing pursued in the foregoing Letters be liable to all these objections, it is rather singular that it should not have been objected to till it was point-

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 137.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 137.  Thomas Belsham, A Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, entitled A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, Etc. in Letters to a Lady (London: J. Johnson, 1798).  Belsham, A Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274. [AF]  Belsham, A Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274, 267– 268. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 134. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 148. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 148. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 154. [AF]

Postscript

275

ed against Socinianism. If it can be shewn to be a mode of arguing consonant to the directions given by our Saviour, and actually used by the apostles, the fathers, the reformers, the puritans, and even by our opponents themselves, their objecting to it in this instance will prove nothing, except it be the weakness of their cause. Our Saviour warned his followers to “beware of false prophets,”¹⁷⁸⁴ and gave this direction concerning them, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”¹⁷⁸⁵ This direction, founded in self-evident truth, and enforced by the head of the Christian church, appeared to me to furnish a proper criterion by which to judge of the claims, if not of every particular opinion, yet of every system of opinions, pretending to divine authority. Mr. Kentish admitted that “the effects produced by a doctrine were a proper criterion of its value, but not of its truth.”¹⁷⁸⁶ But the value of a doctrine implies its truth. Falsehood is of no value: whatever proves a doctrine valuable, therefore, must prove it to be true. Mr. Kentish further objects, “This celebrated saying of our Saviour is proposed as a test of character, and not as a criterion of opinion.”¹⁷⁸⁷ To the same purpose Dr. Toulmin alleges that “this is a rule given to judge, not concerning principles, but men; not concerning the sentiments promulgated by them, but concerning their own characters and pretensions. The persons here pointed at are hypocrites and false prophets; such as would falsely pretend a commission from God. Their pretensions might be blended with a true doctrine, but their claims were founded in dissimulation. They would be discovered by their covetousness, love of gain, and lasciviousness.”¹⁷⁸⁸ These writers are in general exceedingly averse from judging men, considering it as uncandid and presumptuous, and plead for confining all judgment to things: but, in this case, things themselves seem to be in danger; and therefore men are left to shift for themselves. According to this exposition, it is the duty of Christians, when ministers discover an avaricious and ambitious disposition, though sound in doctrine, and in time past apparently humble and pious, to set them down as hypocrites. And this is more candid, it seems, and savours less of spleen and ill-nature, than drawing an unfavourable conclusion of their doctrinal principles. But, waving [sic] this: the saying of our Saviour is given as a test of false prophets, or teachers; an epithet never bestowed, I believe, on men whose doctrine was true. That false prophets and teachers were men of bad character, I admit, though that character was not always apparent;¹⁷⁸⁹ but that they are ever so denominated

     

Matthew 7:15. [AF] Matthew 7:15 – 20. [AF] Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 144. Kentish, Strictures upon the Reply of Mr. A. Fuller, 8. Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 148. [AF] 2 Corinthians 11:14; Matthew 7:15. [AF]

276

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

on account of their character, as distinct from their doctrine, does not appear. When anything is said of their doctrine, it is invariably described as false. “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or lo there, believe him not; for false Christs, and false prophets” bearing witness in their favour, “shall arise.”¹⁷⁹⁰ “There were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”¹⁷⁹¹ “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”¹⁷⁹² “Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.”¹⁷⁹³ “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.”¹⁷⁹⁴ “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed; for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”¹⁷⁹⁵ If the “false prophets” described by our Saviour were such as might teach “a true doctrine,” the descriptions given by the New Testament writers, uniformly representing them as teaching falsehood, are at variance with those of their master. That there were hypocrites who taught a true doctrine may be allowed; but they are never denominated false prophets, or false teachers. Balaam was a wicked character, and is called a prophet; but as the subject matter of his prophecies was true, he is not called a false prophet.¹⁷⁹⁶ Judas, also, was a hypocrite and a thief, at the same time that he was a preacher and an apostle; but as what he taught was true, he is not described as a false teacher or a false apostle. These things considered, let the impartial reader determine, whether our Saviour did not mean to direct his followers to judge by their fruits, who were the patrons of false doctrine? With respect to the use which has been made of this direction, I appeal in the first place, to the apostles, and New Testament writers. I presume they will not be accused of self-commendation, nor of spleen and ill-nature; yet they scrupled not to represent those who believed their doctrine as “washed” and “sanctified” from their former immoralities, and those who believed it not as “having pleasure in unrighteousness.”¹⁷⁹⁷ All those facts which Dr. Toulmin has endeavoured to press into the service of modern Unitarianism are evidences of the truth of the primitive doctrine, and were considered as such by the New Testament writers. They appealed to the effects produced in the lives of believers, as “living epistles, known and

       

Mark 13:21– 22. [AF] 2 Peter 2:1. [AF] 1 John 4:1. [AF] 1 John 4:3. [AF] 2 John 9. [AF] 2 John 10 – 11. [AF] Numbers 22. 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:12. [AF]

Postscript

277

read of all men,” in proof that they “had not corrupted the word of God,” but were the true ministers of Christ.¹⁷⁹⁸ With the fullest confidence they asked, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”¹⁷⁹⁹ Plainly intimating that truth was well known by its effects. Nor was error less so: those who introduced false doctrines are invariably described as unholy characters.¹⁸⁰⁰ To quote the reasonings of the Fathers on this principle were to copy a large proportion of their apologies. I question whether there be one of them which does not contain arguments for the truth of Christianity on the ground of the holy lives of Christians; and which does not infer, or in some form intimate, the falsehood of heathenism from the known immorality of heathens. Their opponents, having no better answer at hand, might possibly charge this reasoning with vain boasting, spleen, and ill-nature; but I do not recollect that it was ever imputed to these causes by Christians. As to the Reformers, the most successful attacks which they made upon the Church of Rome were founded on the dissolute lives of her clergy, and the holiness and constancy of those whom she persecuted unto death. The general strain of their writings may be seen in Fox’s Martyrology,¹⁸⁰¹ which is, in effect, an exhibition of the moral character of the persecutors and the persecuted, from which the world is left to judge which was the true religion; and, I may add, a considerable part of the world did judge, and acted accordingly. Dr. Toulmin suggests, from Mosheim,¹⁸⁰² that the Reformers, and particularly Calvin and his associates, neglected the science of morals.¹⁸⁰³ But Mosheim’s prejudices against Calvin and his associates renders his testimony of but little weight, especially as the reader may satisfy himself of the contrary by the writings of the parties which are yet extant. The eighth chapter of the second book of Calvin’s Institutes is sufficient to wipe away this slander. The morality there inculcated is such as neither Antinomians, nor “great numbers” amongst modern Unitarians, can endure. That there were some among the gospellers, as they were called, who were loose characters, is admitted: such there are in every age: but take the Reformed as a body, and they were not only better Christians than their persecutors, but than those their successors, who, while pretending to teach the “science” of morality, have deserted the  2 Corinthians 2:17, 3:1– 3. [AF]  1 John 5:5. [AF]  2 Peter 2:13; Jude; 1 Corinthians 15:33, 34. [AF]  John Foxe (1516/1517– 1587) first published his Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church in 1563. The book was later reprinted several times, and became known as The Actes and Monuments, or Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.  On Mosheim, see above, p. 119 n. 422.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 153. [AF] Toulmin took this quotation from Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, An Ecclesiastical History, Antient and Modern, from the Birth of Christ, to the Beginning of the Present Century, trans. Archibald Maclaine, 2nd ed. (London: A. Millar, 1768), 4:120 – 121.

278

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

great principles by which it requires to be animated, and debased it, by allowing the amusements of the theatre, and other species of dissipation, to be consistent with it. The historian of the Puritans has recorded of that persecuted people, that “while others were at plays and interludes, at revels, or walking in the fields, or at the diversions of bowling, fencing, etc., on the evening of the sabbath, they, with their families, were employed in reading the Scriptures, singing psalms, catechising their children, repeating sermons and prayer; that neither was this confined to the Lord’s day, but they had their hours of family devotion on the week days, esteeming it their duty to take care of the souls as well as of the bodies of their servants; and that they were circumspect as to all the excesses of eating and drinking, apparel, and lawful diversions; being frugal in house-keeping, industrious in their particular callings, honest and exact in their dealings, and solicitous to give everyone his own.”¹⁸⁰⁴ These things might not be alleged in proof of the truth of every particular opinion which they held; neither have I inferred from such premises the truth of every opinion maintained by Calvinists: but they were alleged in proof that their religion, in the main, was that of Jesus Christ, and the religion of their adversaries a very near approach to that of antichrist. Nor do I recollect that the writer has been charged, unless it be by those who felt the condemnation which his story implied, with vain-boasting, spleen, or ill-nature. Finally: Will our opponents accuse themselves of these evils, for having reasoned upon this principle as far as they are able? That they have done this is manifest, though Dr. Toulmin affects to disown it, alleging that they have not reasoned on the lives of men, but merely on the tendency of principles.¹⁸⁰⁵ That they have reasoned on the tendency of principles is true; and so have I: such is the reasoning of the far greater part of the foregoing Letters. But that they avoided all reference to the lives of Calvinists, is not true. Was it on the tendency of principles, or on the lives of men, that Dr. Priestley reasoned, when he compared the virtue of Trinitarians with that of Unitarians, allowing that though the latter had more of an apparent conformity to the world than the former, yet, upon the whole, they approached nearer to the proper temper of Christianity than they?¹⁸⁰⁶ Did he confine himself to the tendency of principles in what he has related of Mr. Badcock?¹⁸⁰⁷ Does he not refer to the practices of Antinomians, in proof of the immoral tendency of Calvinism, representing them as the legitimate offspring of our principles?¹⁸⁰⁸

 Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans or Protestant Non-Conformists (London: Richard Hett, 1732), 1:596 – 597. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 154. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 100. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 185 – 200. [AF]  See the quotations in Letter VI. [AF]

Postscript

279

And though Mr. Belsham now affects to be disgusted with this mode of reasoning, yet there was a time when he seemed to think it would be of service to him, and when he figured away in the use of it. Did he not affirm that “they who are sincerely pious, and diffusively benevolent, with our principles, could not have failed to have been much better, and much happier, had they adopted a milder, a more rational, a more truly evangelical creed?”¹⁸⁰⁹ And what is this but affirming that those of his sentiments are better and happier in general than others? Yet this gentleman affects to despise the foregoing Letters; for that the sum of them is, “We Calvinists being much better Christians than you Socinians, our doctrines must of course be true.”¹⁸¹⁰ Strange, that a writer should so far forget himself as to reproach the performance of another for that which is the characteristic of his own! Nor is this all. In the small compass of the same discourse, he expresses a hope that Socinian converts would “at length feel the benign influence of their principles, and demonstrate the excellence of their faith by the superior dignity and worth of their character.”¹⁸¹¹ If the excellence of principles (and of course their truth, for nothing can be excellent which is not true) be not demonstrable by the character of those who embrace them, how is the superior dignity and worth of character to demonstrate it? Such was once the “self-commending” language of Mr. Belsham; but whether his converts have disappointed his hope, or whether the ground be too “holy” for him, so it is, that he is now entirely of a different mind; and what is worse, would fain persuade his readers that it is ground on which he and his brethren have never “trespassed.” This is the man who, after throwing down the gauntlet, declines the contest; and after his partisans have laboured to the utmost to maintain their cause, talks of what they could say and do, were they not withheld by motives of generosity! One would imagine, from Mr. Belsham’s manner of writing, that I had dealt largely in tales of private characters. The truth is, what tales have been told are of their own telling. I freely acknowledged that “I was not sufficiently acquainted with the bulk of Socinians to judge of their moral character.”¹⁸¹² Everything was rested on their own concessions; and this it is which is the galling circumstance to Mr. Belsham and his party. They may now insinuate what great things they could bring forward to our disadvantage, were they not restrained by motives of modesty and generosity; but they can do nothing. They might, indeed, collect tales of individuals, and point out many faults which attach to the general body; but they cannot prove it to be equally immoral with the general body of Socinians. Before this can be consis Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 30.  Belsham, A Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 2nd ed., 171.  See Letter VI of these Letters. [AF]

280

The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared

tently attempted, they must retract their concessions; and this will not avail them; for it must be manifest to all men that it was only to answer an end. The reader is now left to judge for himself, whether the principle of reasoning adopted in the foregoing Letters be justly liable to the objections which have been raised against it, whether our opponents did not first apply it against us, and whether any other reason can be given for their present aversion to it than that they feel it to be unfavourable to their cause. A. F.

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency: Containing A Reply to Two Late Publications; The One by Dr. Toulmin, Entitled The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; The Other by Mr. Kentish, Entitled The Moral Tendency of The Genuine Christian Doctrine (1797) Introduction It is now more than three years since the first publication of The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency. Dr. Toulmin expresses some regret that, at the time he wrote, nothing had appeared in answer to it; and seems disposed to account for this circumstance in a way that may acquit his cause of seeming to be indefensible. Addressing himself to me, he says, “No one can doubt that the gentlemen, on passages in whose writings many of your reflections are grounded, are every way equal to the contest, if they saw fit to enter the lists with you. As they have not done it, I presume they think it sufficient to leave the candid reader to judge between you and them.”¹ That these gentlemen, so far as abilities are concerned, are equal to this contest, there can, indeed, be no doubt; but whether they be every way equal to it, is another question. It is beyond the power of any man to convert truth into falsehood, or falsehood into truth; and their silence may, for anything Dr. Toulmin can prove, be owing to the difficulty of the undertaking. One thing is rather remarkable: though Dr. Toulmin has undertaken a defence of Socinianism, yet he has cautiously avoided a vindication of the writings of those gentlemen on which I had animadverted. Such a conduct could not have been pursued by them: if they had written, they must have entered on a defence of their writings, or have given them up as indefensible. Dr. Toulmin informs us that, for his own part, “it was but lately that the piece fell in his way, so as to find him at leisure to read it.”² This, undoubtedly, is a sufficient apology, so far as it respects himself; and if he or his colleague, Mr. Kentish, have but overturned the substance of the piece against which they have written, time and other circumstances are of small account. If the opinion of Reviewers, on these performances, be of any weight, it must be concluded that they have done this, at least.

 Joshua Toulmin, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796), 2. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 1. [AF] https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-003

282

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

The Analytical and Monthly Reviews,³ with The Protestant Dissenters’ Magazine,⁴ have each bestowed, on one or other of them, their strong and unqualified approbation. Whether their critiques have been of any advantage to the cause, I may hereafter enquire: at present, I shall proceed to examine what is advanced by each of my opponents in their order.

 “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency; in a Series of Letters addressed to the Friends of vital and practical Religion, especially those amongst Protestant Dissenters. By Andrew Fuller. … 1793,” The Analytical Review 17 (October 1793): 182– 184. “Art. XIX. The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller: Occasioned by His Publication entitled The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency. To which is added the Second Edition of an Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. By Joshua Toulmin,” The Analytical Review 24 (October 1796): 394– 396.  “2. The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Rev. Andrew Fuller: Occasioned by His Publication entitled, ‘The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency.’ To which is added, the Second Edition of an Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. By Joshua Toulmin, D.D.,” The Protestant Dissenter’s Magazine 3 (October 1796): 394– 395; “8. The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. A Discourse, written with Reference to Mr. A. Fuller’s Examination of the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems, and delivered at the Bow Meeting-House in Exeter, July6, 1796, before the Society of Unitarian Christians, established in the West OF England, Etc. Etc. By John Kentish. Johnson,” The Protestant Dissenter’s Magazine 3 (October 1796): 397.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

283

Reply to Dr. Toulmin Section I: On the ground of argument used in this controversy, and the attempts of our opponents to shift it When I first formed a design of writing against Socinianism, I perceived that although the Holy Scriptures were treated by Socinian writers with great disrespect in various instances, yet they were generally the ultimate tribunal to which the appeal was made. The object of the controversy, on both sides, seemed to be to ascertain their true meaning. For this purpose, two general methods had been adopted. First, arranging the various passages of Scripture which relate to the subject, and reasoning upon them. Secondly, examining in what sense Christians in the early ages of Christianity understood them. The first is the common way of deciding controversies in divinity; and a very good way it is, if fairly conducted. I had several objections, however, against pursuing it in this instance. First, it was ground which was already fully occupied. Able writers, on both sides, had gone over all the passages of Scripture relating to the subject; and many of them had nearly exhausted their genius, in reasoning upon the scope of the sacred writers, and in criticising upon the original language. Secondly, I perceived that Socinian writers had got into such an unwarrantable habit of criticising upon the sacred writings, that the plainest passages could not stand before them; whole chapters and whole books were cashiered as spurious; and even the whole Bible was declared to be “obscure,” and “never designed to decide upon controverted questions in religion and morality.”⁵ It appeared to me of but little account to reason upon texts of Scripture, when the Scripture itself, whatever might be its meaning, was virtually disallowed. As to the last of these methods, it was not within my province. Besides, it appeared to me that whatever pleasure we may feel in tracing the history of early opinions, and whatever good purposes may be answered by a work of this nature if impartially conducted, yet it can afford no proper criterion of what is the apostolic doctrine. Christians in early ages were as liable to err as we are, and in many instances they did err, so as to contradict the Scriptures and one another. Thinking on these things, it occurred to me that there was another method of reasoning distinct from those which have been already mentioned; viz. by enquiring: What is that doctrine in the present day which is productive of the best moral effects? Several considerations induced me to prefer this ground of reasoning, in the present case, to either of the other two. First, it would serve to ascertain what was the apostolic doctrine as well as the former of them, and much better than the latter. If, for  “Art. 51. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, January 30th, 1793: Being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of K. Charles the First. With an Appendix, Concerning the Political Principles of Calvin. By Samuel Lord Bishop of St. David’s,” The Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 10 (March 1793): 357. [AF]

284

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

example, in discoursing on the vines and fig trees which formerly grew in the land of Canaan, a dispute should arise whether they resembled this or that species now growing in other countries, one way of deciding it would be to compare the fruits. If the fruit of one species could be proved to possess a much nearer likeness than the fruit of another, that would tend to decide the controversy in its favour. Secondly, an enquiry into the moral tendency of the different doctrines would not only serve as a medium of ascertaining which of them was the apostolic doctrine, but would also prove the truth of that doctrine, and its divine original; for it is a principle so deeply engraven on the human mind, that whatever doctrine is productive of good fruits must in itself be good, and have its origin in God, that very few writers, if any, would dare to maintain the contrary. I perceived, therefore, if I could not only prove that what is commonly called Calvinism is most productive of effects similar to those which sprang from the doctrine of the apostles, but also exhibit them in such a light, as I went along, as that they should approve themselves to every man’s conscience, I should thereby cut off the retreat of those Socinian writers who, when their doctrine is proved to be anti-scriptural, forsake Christian ground, and take shelter upon the territories of Deism; degrading the Bible as an “obscure book,”⁶ taxing its writers with “reasoning inconclusively,”⁷ and declaring that its “nature and design was not to settle disputed theories, or decide upon controverted questions, in religion and morality.”⁸ I knew well that though they dared to write degradingly of the Scriptures, and of the sacred writers, yet they dare not professedly set themselves against morality. Thirdly, the judging of doctrines by their effects is a practice warranted by Scripture: “By their fruits ye shall know them.”⁹ A very able writer, in a discourse on this passage, has shown that “the rule here given by our Saviour is the best that could have been given; that it is sufficient to distinguish truth from error; and that it is in fact the rule by which all good men, and indeed mankind in general, do judge of religious principles and pretensions.”¹⁰ Fourthly, I supposed that such a method of reasoning would be more interesting to the public mind, having never before, to my recollection, been adopted as the ground of any particular treatise on the subject. Fifthly, it was ground upon which there was room for common Christians to stand and be witnesses of the issue of the contest, which, while the controversy turned upon the opinion of the Fathers, or the construction of a text of Scripture, was not the case. Sixthly, it was a ground of reasoning to which our opponents could not fairly object, seeing they had commenced an attack upon it, charging the Calvinistic system with “gloominess,” “bigotry,” and “licen-

 “Art. 51. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,” 357.  J. T. Rutt, ed., The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley (New York, 1822; Kraus Reprint, 1972), 7:386.  “Art. 51. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,” 357.  Matthew 7:16.  John Witherspoon, The Trial of Religious Truth By its Moral Influence (Glasgow: James Wilken, 1759), 5. [AF]

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

285

tiousness”; with being “averse to the love of both God and man,”¹¹ and “an axe at the root of all virtue.”¹² These were the principal reasons which induced me to prefer the ground of argument on which I have proceeded. I would not be understood, however, as expressing the least disrespect towards the works of those who have proceeded on other grounds. Let the subject be examined in every point of view. Every author has a right to choose his ground of reasoning, provided it be a fair one; and that which may be unsuitable to the turn and talents of one person may be suitable to those of another. If the reader wish to see the present controversy pursued on the ground of Scripture testimony and the opinions of early ages, he may consult to great advantage a late, very valuable and elaborate work of Dr. Jamieson, entitled, A Vindication of the Doctrine of Scripture, and of the Primitive Faith, Concerning the Deity of Christ, in Reply to Dr. Priestley’s History of Early Opinions, 2 vols. octavo.¹³ Knowing somewhat of the abilities of the writers on the other side, and their readiness on all occasions to defend their cause, I did not expect to escape their censure. I laid my accounts that what I advanced would either be treated as unworthy of notice, or if any answer was written, that the strength of the arguments would be tried to the uttermost. In both these particulars, however, I have been mistaken.

 See Letter VII above, p. 127– 140.  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 154‒155.  John Jamieson, A Vindication of the Doctrine of Scripture, and of the Primitive Faith; Concerning the Deity of Christ: In Reply to Dr. Priestley’s History of Early Opinion, Etc. In Two Volumes (Edinburgh: Neill and Co., for C. Dilly, 1794). [AF] John Jamieson (1759 – 1838) was an Anti-Burgher minister, first in Forfar, Angus (1781– 1797), then in Edinburgh (1797– 1830). Jamieson’s early works were both theological and moral, among which he wrote against Socinianism; later he also edited the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808). After stating that the controversy over the Trinity had declined in interest and profit, the Monthly Review described the content of the two volumes and commended them as not only a “full and well-arranged collection of the authorities and reasonings which have, of late years, been offered in refutation of the Unitarian doctrine,” but also containing “many new and pertinent citations from the fathers, accompanied with learned and ingenious remarks.” On the whole, the reviewer, agreeing with Fuller’s estimation, considered Jamieson’s work to be “the most complete body of testimony and argument in vindication of the doctrine of the deity of Christ which has appeared,” and thought it “worthy of being recommended as such to the attention of theological students.” The reviewer expressed regret at the tone that often permeated these engagements. “We shall only add that we should have been better satisfied with Dr. Jamieson’s work, if we had found nothing in it besides testimony and argument: but sometimes we perceive a pretty strong tincture of that gall of bitterness, which seems, from the practice of polemics, to be an essential ingredient in theological controversy. It was not necessary, in endeavouring to prove the deity of Christ, to hold Socinian intellect cheap; to charge Dr. Priestley with blasphemous boldness; nor to intimate that his morality has no better foundation than his religious system. When will theological disputants learn to dismiss that useless and mischievous figure of rhetoric, called Crimination?” (“Art. VII. A Vindication of the Doctrine of Scripture, and of the Primitive Faith Concerning the Deity of Christ: In Reply to Dr. Priestley’s History of Early Opinions, Etc. By John Jamieson,” The Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 20 [May 1796]: 147– 151).

286

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

They have not treated it as unworthy of notice. They have acknowledged the contrary. And as to trying the strength of the arguments, I must say that Dr. Toulmin has not so much as looked them in the face. On the contrary, though the Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine is the title of his performance, yet he acknowledges his design is to “supersede the examination of that comparison into which I had fully entered”;¹⁴ that is, to relinquish the defence of the practical efficacy of his principles, and to reason entirely upon other ground! Mr. Kentish is the only writer who has pretended to encounter the argument. Whether he has succeeded will be hereafter examined. At present I shall attend to Dr. Toulmin. This writer observes, at the outset, that “the Title prefixed to his Letters will lead the reader to expect from them, chiefly, the discussion of one point; but that a point of great importance in itself, and the main one to which a reply to Mr. Fuller’s work need to be directed.”¹⁵ Now, reader, what would you have expected that one point to be. The title prefixed to his Letters, recollect, is this: The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered. Would you not have supposed that the Doctor was going to offer evidence in favour of the practical efficacy of modern Unitarianism? From the title of his book, could you have expected any other than an exhibition of the most forcible arguments in favour of the holy tendency of his principles, together with a number of undoubted facts, in which their efficacy has appeared sufficient, at least, to confront the evidence alleged on the other side? How great then must be your disappointment, to find him employed in “producing evidence in support of his opinion from passages of Scripture,”¹⁶ and in proving, what nobody calls in question, that the preaching of the apostles was productive of great moral effects! Dr. Toulmin, it should seem, can find no such fruits of Socinian doctrines as will support an appeal, and, therefore, is under the necessity of going seventeen hundred years back, in search of examples. But are those examples in point? Were the principles of Christians, in the apostolic age, the same as those of Socinians? With what face can Dr. Toulmin take it for granted that they were, or even go about to prove it, as a medium of establishing the practical efficacy of modern Unitarianism? When the grand end of a controversy is to determine a principle, a writer who assumes that principle as a medium of proof is guilty of begging the question; and if, in order to escape the public censure, he endeavour to give evidence of this principle from some other source of argument than that which he professes to answer, he is guilty of shifting the ground of the controversy; and, by so doing, virtually gives up his cause as indefensible. This is exactly the case with Dr. Toulmin. The doctrine of the apostles is allowed, on both sides, to have produced great moral effects. The object of the controversy was to ascertain what that doctrine was. The medium of proof which I had adopted, and  Joshua Toulmin, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796), 5. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, iii.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, iii.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

287

to which Dr. Toulmin, if he pretended to write an answer to me, ought to have confined himself, was the effects which it produced. I attempted to prove that the apostolic and Calvinistic doctrines are nearly similar, from the similarity of their effects; and that the apostolic and Socinian doctrines are dissimilar, from the dissimilarity of their effects. To have answered this reasoning, Dr. Toulmin should have proved, either that the effects of the Calvinistic doctrine are not similar to those which attended the doctrine of the apostles, and that the effects of the Socinian doctrine are so; or else that a similarity of effects is not a proper ground from which to infer a similarity in the nature of the doctrines. His attempting to prove the practical efficacy of the Unitarian doctrine by assuming that the apostles were Unitarians, in his sense of the term, is nothing better than begging the question; and his endeavouring to screen himself from this reproach, by labouring to prove the point in dispute from a review of the Acts of the Apostles, let his reasonings be ever so just, is foreign from the purpose: it is shifting the ground of the argument; it is declining to meet the inquiry on the ground of moral tendency, and substituting, in its place, observations on the meaning of Scripture testimony, which, to all intents and purposes, is relinquishing the practical efficacy of modern Unitarianism as indefensible. The plain language of his performance is this: there are no examples to be found of any considerable moral influence which the Unitarian doctrine has had upon the hearts and lives of men of late ages; and therefore I have had recourse to the preaching of the apostles, and have endeavoured to prove that they were Unitarians. If Dr. Toulmin thought the moral tendency of a doctrine an improper medium of proof, why did he not professedly decline it? Why did he not acknowledge that Dr. Priestley was wrong in challenging an inquiry on such a ground? And why did he entitle his performance, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine? This piece does not answer to its title: it ought, rather, to have been called, An Inquiry into the Doctrines which the Primitive Preachers delivered, by a Review of the Acts of the Apostles. The practical efficacy of either doctrine makes no part of his argument, and occupies scarcely any place in his performance, except the title-page; and there is reason to think it would not have been there, but for the sake of its wearing the appearance of an answer to the piece against which it is written. I am not obliged, by the laws of controversy, to follow Dr. Toulmin in his review of the history of the Acts of the Apostles; nor is it my intention to be diverted from the subject by the manœuvres of any opponent. The only notice I shall take of this part of his performance will be in a few pages in the form of an appendix, as being a subject beside the question;¹⁷ and that, merely to show, as a thing by the bye, that, even upon his own ground, his cause is indefensible.

 Fuller refers to Toulmin’s “An Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. To the Directors of the Theological repository,” in Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 55 – 74. In the second edition (1801), Toulmin included two appendixes: “An Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. To the Directors of the Theological repository,” 103 – 127; and “In Letters to a Friend,” 129 – 177.

288

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

An anonymous writer, in the Analytical Review,¹⁸ discovers a similar inclination with that of Dr. Toulmin, to shift the ground of the controversy; but with this difference: the Reviewer openly avows his dislike of the medium of proof which I have adopted, calling it “a fallacious test,”¹⁹ and recommending to all parties, “instead of asking by whom any system is professed,”²⁰ to confine themselves to the single inquiry, by what evidence it is supported; whereas Dr. Toulmin, though he discovers the same dislike to the ground of argument on which I have proceeded, yet has not the ingenuousness to acknowledge it, but pretends to reason upon the practical efficacy of his principles, while, in fact, he has utterly relinquished it, and endeavoured to establish his system upon another ground. The writer above mentioned, having quoted the concluding paragraph of my Letters,²¹ calls it “an unfounded and presumptuous sentence, pronounced upon the hearts of those who adopt Socinian principles,”²² and insinuates that I must have written in a bad spirit. Before I have finished these pages, I shall have occasion to defend the passage referred to more particularly. At present, I only observe that, taken in its connection, it amounts to no more than this, that if Socinianism be an immoral system, immoral dispositions are the avenues which lead to it: and it is possible that this writer, notwithstanding what he has said under cover, might be ashamed to come forward, and in a publication to which he should prefix his name, avow his denial of this proposition. This Reviewer wishes to have it thought that the moral effects produced by a doctrine form no part of the evidence by which it is supported: that is to say, he wishes to shift this ground of argument, as unsuitable to his purpose. If the effects of a doctrine upon the hearts and lives of men be no proper ground of argument, why are we directed by our Lord to judge of false teachers by their fruits? and why were not the same observations made while Socinians were throwing out their accusations of immorality against the Calvinists? Writers may rave like furies against them, and be applauded by Socinian Reviewers.²³ But a single attempt to repel these shafts of calumny, and to prove, from facts which no one has yet undertaken to dispute, that immorality attaches to the other side, quite alters the nature of things: lo, then, the ground of argument is unfair, and the writer must be a man of a bad spirit!

 “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency; in a Series of Letters addressed to the Friends of vital and practical Religion, especially those amongst Protestant Dissenters. By Andrew Fuller. … 1793,” The Analytical Review 17 (October, 1793): 183 – 184. [AF]  “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared,” 183.  “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared,” 184.  The last paragraph of Letter XV; see above, p. 266 – 267.  “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared,” 183.  See “Art. VII. Tracts on different Subjects, in Four Volume. By William Lewelyn, … 1791,” The Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 8 (July 1792): 265 – 268. [AF] William Lewelyn (1735 – 1803) was an Independent minister at Leominster. Fuller spelled his name “Llewellyn,” and the page number Fuller provided was incorrect.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

289

About forty years ago the Socinians, and those who veered towards their sentiments in the Church of Scotland, are said to have attacked the Calvinistic system with various kinds of weapons. Amongst others, they abounded in the use of ridicule; so much, indeed, that they seemed disposed to adopt Lord Shaftesbury’s maxim, that “Ridicule is the test of truth.”²⁴ At this juncture, Dr. Witherspoon, as it is supposed, published his Ecclesiastical Characteristics,²⁵ in which he successfully turned their weapon upon themselves. The effect of that performance was very considerable: a dead silence succeeded its publication; none moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped; but they comforted one another, by suggesting that the author of the Characteristics must be a man of a bad heart!

Section II: Containing further remarks on Dr. Toulmin, with replies to various of his animadversions Dr. Toulmin gives us, at the outset of his performance, a short account of the “fundamental principles” of his scheme.²⁶ These, he tells us, are, “that there is but one God, the sole former, supporter, and governor of the universe, the only proper object of religious worship; and that there is but one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who was commissioned by God to instruct men in their duty, and to

 Shaftesbury never used the saying “Ridicule is the test of truth,” though several phrases in his works closely resemble this—see for example, Laugh Upon Laugh, or Laughter Ridiculed (London: Lawton Gilliver, 1740), 2:556 – 567. For Shaftesbury, “ridicule is not a means to discovering new truth, nor is it a logical proof of the truth or falsity of a proposition. It is doubtful that Shaftesbury ever thinks of ridicule as a mode of cognition” (Lydia B. Amir, Humor and the Good life in Modern Philosophy: Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard [Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2014], 41). See also Amir, Humor and the Good life in Modern Philosophy, 40 – 49; Roger D. Lund, Ridicule, Religion and the Politics of Wit in Augustan England (Farnham, Surrey/Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012), 129 – 154.  John Witherspoon, Ecclesiastical Characteristics: Or, the Arcana of Church Policy. Being an Humble Attempt to open up the Mystery of Moderation, 5th ed. (Edinburgh, 1763). Fuller stated, “it is supposed,” since no author was listed on the title page. The book gave twelve “Maxims” for moderate men, but the author warned the reader that he would “make but very little use of scripture, because that is contrary to some of the maxims themselves.” The following maxim would have been particularly agreeable to Fuller: “All moderate men have a kind of fellow-feeling with heresy; and as soon as they hear of anyone suspected, or in danger of being prosecuted for it, zealously and unanimously rise up in his defence. This fact is unquestionable. I never knew a moderate man in my life, that did not love and honour a heretic, or that had not an implacable hatred at the person and characters of heresy-hunters; a name with which we have thought proper to stigmatize these sons of Belial, who begin and carry on prosecution against men for heresy, in church-courts” (Ecclesiastical Characteristics, 19). On the work’s authorship, see Thomas P. Miller, ed., The Selected Writings of John Witherspoon (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University, 1990), 1– 56.  Joshua Toulmin, The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796), 4.

290

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

reveal the doctrine of a future life.”²⁷ He afterwards complains that, “instead of applying my arguments against these principles, I have brought forward particular positions, scattered through the works or discourses of several eminent persons, known and able advocates of the Unitarian faith, which have no immediate and direct connection with the first principles of it.”²⁸ These positions, he observes, “might or might not be true; and the truth of the great doctrines of the unity of God and the humanity of Christ remain, in either case, unaffected by it.”²⁹ The unity of God, and the humanity of Christ, then, it seems, are the principles which I ought to have attacked; that is to say, I ought to have attacked principles which I profess to believe, and not those which I profess to disbelieve! Dr. Toulmin seems disposed to be on the safe side. By avoiding a defence of those positions which are quoted from the principal writers of the party, and adopting the words of Scripture as the medium by which to express his sentiments, taking it for granted as he goes along, that these Scripture expressions are to be understood in his sense of them; his work becomes very easy, and very pleasant. But thinking people will remark that, by so doing, he has retired from the field of controversy, and taken refuge upon neutral ground. Dr. Toulmin knows that I shall not dispute with him the apostolic position, that there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;³⁰ and his taking it for granted that these and other scriptures convey his peculiar sentiments, namely, that the unity of God is personal, and that Christ is merely a man, is begging the question; a practice to which he is more than a little addicted. What would Dr. Toulmin have said, if I had alleged that Socinians, instead of attacking the positions of the leading writers amongst the Calvinists, ought to have attacked our first principles, such as the following: there is a Father, a Son, and a Holy Ghost, in whose name we are baptized,³¹ “the Word was God,”³² “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures”?³³ And if to this I had added, “We think it a just ground of boast that we can express our fundamental opinions in the words of Scripture,”³⁴ would he not have replied to this effect: “We do not deny any one of your positions. These are not your distinguishing principles, but are such as are allowed on both sides. It is the sense which you put upon these passages of Scripture which constitutes your first principles, and the points of difference between us. You ought not to expect that we should attack the words of Scripture; for it is not Scripture, but your glosses upon it, that we oppose; and it is mean in you to beg the question, by

       

Toulmin, Practical Toulmin, Practical Toulmin, Practical 1 Timothy 2:5. Matthew 28:19. John 1:1. 1 Corinthians 15:3. Toulmin, Practical

Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 4. [AF] Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 41. Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 41. [AF]

Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 5. [AF]

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

291

taking it for granted that your sense of these passages is the true one: it is no other than shrouding your obnoxious glosses under the sacred phraseology of Scripture; and it betrays an inclination in you to impose upon us the one under the form of the other.” “No man who striveth for the mastery is crowned, except he strive lawfully.”³⁵ If a Grecian combatant had quitted the ground marked out for the contest, like Dr. Toulmin, he would not only have lost the prize, but would have been struck out of the list of honourable competitors. Dr. Toulmin labours to prove that there are certain principles that are productive of piety, which are not peculiar to Calvinists or Socinians, but are common to both, and mentions several devotional treatises of Calvinistic writers in which these are the only principles insisted on.³⁶ And what if this be granted? I never said that the distinguishing principles of Calvinism were the only sources of holy practice. On the contrary, the being of a God, which we hold in common with the Deists, is the foundation-stone to the great fabric of piety and virtue. This, however, I must observe, that the most important truths, when accompanied with great errors, are retained to but very little purpose, in comparison of what they are when accompanied with other truths. Divine truths, in this respect, resemble divine precepts; they are so connected together, that he who offends in one point is, as it were, guilty of all. It is thus that one great truth, the being of a God, is of but very little use to Deists who reject his word; and, I may add, it is thus that the doctrine of a future life loses almost all its effect in the hands of both Deists and Socinians. Dr. Toulmin will admit the propriety of this remark, as it respects the former,³⁷ and if Dr. Priestley’s Sermon on the Death of Mr. Robinson may be considered as a specimen of the Socinian doctrine of a future life, there can be but little doubt of the latter.³⁸ In introducing the above remarks, Dr. Toulmin tells us his design is to prove “that the Calvinistic system is not essential to devotion.”³⁹ Truly, our opponents are of late become moderate in their demands. Heretofore, Calvinism was “unfriendly to the love both of God and man, and an axe at the root of all virtue”;⁴⁰ but now, it seems, it is allowed to have a tendency in favour of devotion, and all that is argued for is that it is “not essential” to it.

 2 Timothy 2:5.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 34, 35. [AF]  See Joshua Toulmin, Dissertations on the Internal Evidences and Excellence of Christianity: And on the Character of Christ, Compared with that of Some Other Celebrated Founders of Religion or Philosophy (London: J. Johnson, 1785), 246, note. [AF]  See reflections upon it, near the end of my XIVth Letter on Socinianism. [AF] See above, p. 244– 245.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 35. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 154‒155.

292

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

After holding up the character of several Socinians, as eminent for piety and virtue, Dr. Toulmin observes, that “if the number of excellent characters should not be so great as amongst other denominations—a cause of this is easily to be assigned: the number of Socinians hath always, in the latter ages of the church, borne a small proportion to the number of Trinitarians and Calvinists; and the number of sincere, conscientious persons, attentive to the cultivation of pious affections, hath borne a small proportion to those who have been nominal Socinians or Calvinists.”⁴¹ It was no part of my plan to examine the good or bad conduct of individuals, whether they were Socinians or Calvinists; it was the general body from which I proposed to form an estimate. As to Dr. Toulmin’s attempt to reduce the state of Socinians and Calvinists to a level, it comes too late. His brethren have acknowledged that “rational Christians are often represented as indifferent to practical religion”:⁴² nor have they denied the charge; or alleged that they are no more so than is common with other denominations of Christians; but on the contrary, have tacitly admitted it, by endeavouring to account for it. Nay, why need I go back to the acknowledgments of Mr. Belsham or Dr. Priestley? Dr. Toulmin himself has in effect acknowledged the same thing: he also goes about to account for the defect in devotion among Socinians compared with Calvinists in such a way as shall not be disparaging to the principles of the former, with respect to their influence on the piety of their feelings. “They,” he says, “deeply engaged in the investigation of truth, absorbed in gaining just ideas, may have been necessarily betrayed into a neglect of the culture of the heart and affections,”⁴³ These methods of accounting for things, whether just or not, are plain indications of the existence of the fact accounted for: all attempts therefore to disown or palliate it are nugatory and vain. But let us examine Dr. Toulmin’s method of accounting for the defect of devotion amongst Socinians. They are so absorbed in the acquisition of truth, it seems, as to neglect the culture of the heart; yea, necessarily to neglect it. This is somewhat strange. Truth and righteousness used to be reckoned friendly to each other; but of late, it seems, the case is altered. Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham have taught us that indifference to religion is friendly to the acquisition of truth; and Dr. Toulmin completes the scheme, by teaching us that the acquisition of truth is friendly to indifference to religion; or, which is the same thing, that it leads to the neglect of cultivating holy affections. Say, reader, can that be truth, evangelical truth, which is thus acquired, and which thus operates? The knowledge of Christ’s doctrine was formerly promoted by doing his will; and being known, it invariably wrought in a way of righteousness.

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 36. [AF]  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 32.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 36.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

293

I know, indeed, that persons deeply engaged in polemics, whatever cause they espouse, are in danger of neglecting the culture of the heart; but whatever allowances require to be made on one side of the controversy ought equally to be made on the other. Unless Dr. Toulmin means to acknowledge that, on account of the peculiar difficulty of defending their cause, they have had greater labour and more “absorbing” application than their opponents, he cannot, therefore, account for their defects from their polemical engagements. The “investigation” to which he refers must be private, like that of the noble Bereans; but serious investigation of divine truth has not been used to produce the effect which Dr. Toulmin ascribes to it, but the reverse. The deeper the primitive Christians drank into it, the more powerfully it operated, “changing them into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of God.”⁴⁴ “Grace and peace were multiplied in them by the knowledge of God, and of Jesus their Lord.”⁴⁵ What strange fatality is it that hangs about Socinianism? It seems doomed to die by its own hands! That Dr. Toulmin’s sentiments have produced glorious effects in turning sinners to righteousness is manifest, if he may but take for granted, or be allowed to have proved, that these were the sentiments of the apostles; but if this be not allowed him, and he be asked for proof of any such effects arising from Socinianism, or, as he would call it, modern Unitarianism, here he scarcely pretends to anything of the kind. He endeavours, however, to account for the contrary, from “circumstances not included in the nature of the doctrine, or its inefficiency.”⁴⁶ “There are times,” he observes, “in which men hear not Moses and the prophets. The flock of Christ, while he was upon earth, was a little flock. He lamented the unsuccessfulness of his own preaching; and the preaching of the apostles was not always successful.”⁴⁷ All this is true, and proves that the success of any doctrine depends upon something else than merely its being adapted to the end. But can it be said of the apostles’ doctrine, that there never was a time in which it was remarkably blessed to the conversion of sinners? Dr. Toulmin admits the contrary: But to what period will he refer us when Socinianism was productive of such effects? If the doctrine of our opponents be the same for substance as that of the Scriptures, is it not surprising that, ever since the times of the apostles, “circumstances” should have existed to counteract its efficacy; or if this were admissible, is it not still more surprising that those very effects should since that time have been transferred to a false doctrine, a mere corruption of Christianity? But “the unsuccessfulness,” it is pleaded, “may in some degree be imputed to the conduct of those who, instead of refuting their doctrine by plain, scriptural, and sound argument, give representations of it that are invidious, raise prejudices

   

2 Corinthians 3:18. 2 Peter 1:2. Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 8. [AF] Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 8, 9, 39. [AF]

294

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

against it, and prevent its having a fair hearing.”⁴⁸ A part of this charge is exhibited against me for representing their “congregations as gradually dwindling away; their principles as having nothing in them, comparatively speaking, to alarm the conscience, or interest the heart; and their sincerity, zeal, and devotion as on a footing with those of Saul the persecutor.”⁴⁹ As to the last of these representations, the whole of what I have suggested goes to prove that a species of devotion may exist which is anti-evangelical; and, therefore, that the mere existence of devotion, irrespective of its nature and effects, is no evidence in favour of the principles from which it arises. And as to the whole of them, the only question is whether they be true? If I have given false and invidious representations, they are capable of being proved such; and if the arguments which I have used be not plain, sound, and scriptural, they are the more easily overturned. It is rather singular, however, that those facts which I alleged to have existed at the time I wrote should be attributed in any degree to me. And why have not the same effects been produced upon Calvinistic congregations? Dr. Toulmin well knows it has not been for want of the strongest representations, both from the pulpit and the press, of the immoral tendency of their principles. There is no system of religion that has suffered a larger portion of obloquy in the present century. Preachers, writers, and reviewers, of almost every description, have thought themselves at liberty to inveigh against the gloomy, licentious, and blasphemous doctrines of Calvin. And yet we have experienced very little, if any, injury from these representations. Common people do not pay much regard to what is alleged by writers; they judge of the tree by its fruits. It is thus, as we reckon, that the accusations of our opponents have had but very little effect upon us: and if ours against them were not founded in truth, they would in like manner fall to the ground. Dr. Toulmin complains of my using the term Socinians, as being a term of reproach.⁵⁰ For my own part I would much rather call them by another name, if they would but adopt a fair one. Let them take a name that does not assume the question in dispute, and I would no longer use the term Socinians. But Dr. Toulmin seems to think that there is no necessity for this: “The name,” he says, “by which we choose to be called is, you are sensible, that of Unitarians.”⁵¹ True, I am sensible that this is the name by which they choose to be called; but it is rather surprising to me that Dr. Toulmin should be insensible that, in so doing, they choose also to beg the question in dispute. It seems, according to him, that we ought at the very outset of our controversies to acknowledge that we worship a plurality of gods; that is, that our conduct is irrational and unscriptural! He thinks that for Trinitarians to profess also to be Unitarians, or to worship but one God, “is strange and contradictory”; that “it is saying that they who admit a threefold division, or distinction, in the divine nature,

   

Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin,

Practical Practical Practical Practical

Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy

of of of of

the the the the

Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian

Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine

Considered, 40. [AF] Considered, 40. [AF] Considered, 41. [AF] Considered, 42. [AF]

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

295

hold the same tenet with those who contend for its simple unity.”⁵² I know not who they are that admit of a division in the divine nature; and those who plead for a personal distinction in it, nevertheless maintain its simple unity; though they do not consider that unity as personal; and consequently do not hold the same tenet with their opponents. What is it that Dr. Toulmin desires, unless it be that we should grant him the question in dispute? Where a gentleman can be so very condescending as in this manner to solicit for a name, it grates with my feelings to give him a denial. He must be reminded, however, that he has no right to expect it at our hands, much less to charge us with strange and contradictory assertions in case of our refusal. The tone of positivity which our opponents assume when defending their notion of the divine unity, is rather extraordinary; and if we could but be persuaded to admit of confidence, in the place of evidence, their exclusive right to the name of Unitarians would be fully established. “This simple idea of God,” says Dr. Toulmin, from Mr. Lindsey, “that he is one single person, literally pervades every passage of the sacred volumes.”⁵³ A common reader of the Bible would not have thought of finding anything relating to this subject in every passage; and in those passages where the subject is introduced, who, except Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Toulmin, would have asserted that the personal unity of the deity literally pervaded them all? It might have answered a better purpose, if, instead of this general assertion, either of these gentlemen would have pointed us to one single instance in which the unity of God is literally declared to be personal. Instead of this we are asked, in the words of Mr. Lindsey, “How we can form any notion of the unity of the Supreme Being, but from that unity of which we ourselves are conscious?”⁵⁴ It is not impossible, or uncommon, for us to form ideas of three being one, and one three, in different respects: But what if, in this instance, we have no distinct idea? We do not profess to understand the mode of the divine subsistence. What notion can either we or our opponents form of the spirituality of the Supreme Being, or of any being who is purely spiritual? I can form no idea of any being who is not, like myself, corporeal; but it does not follow, from thence, either that God must needs be a material being, or that there are no immaterial beings in the universe. Dr. Toulmin at length comes to the title of my last Letter—“The resemblance of Socinianism to Deism, and the tendency of the one to the other.” He calls this “a solecism,”⁵⁵ and charges it with “inconsistency and absurdity.”⁵⁶ “It implies,” he says, “that to receive the divine mission of Jesus has a resemblance to considering him as a deceiver; that to take him as my master, the resurrection and the life, has a tendency to the rejection of him; that to learn of him is to deny him; that to profess to obey him     

Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin, Toulmin,

Practical Practical Practical Practical Practical

Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy Efficacy

of of of of of

the the the the the

Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian Unitarian

Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine Doctrine

Considered, 43. [AF] Considered, 45. [AF] Considered, 45, note. [AF] Considered, 45. Considered, 45.

296

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

resembles disobedience; and that to hope for the mercy of God in him will lead me to cast off this hope.”⁵⁷ Surely Dr. Toulmin must feel himself touched on a tender point, or he would not have so far lost the possession of himself as to have suffered this paragraph to escape his pen. Can he seriously think that it is on account of their receiving the divine mission of Jesus, their acknowledging him as their master, the resurrection and the life, their learning of him, professing to obey him, or hoping for the mercy of God in him, that we reckon their system to resemble Deism, or to have a tendency towards it? No; he knows the contrary. But “it is a singular circumstance,” he adds, “that a resemblance and affinity to Deism should be ascribed to the creed of those amongst whom have arisen the most able critics on the Scriptures, and the most eminent advocates for divine revelation.”⁵⁸ Most eminent, no doubt, they are, in the opinion of Dr. Toulmin; but let the eminency of their opinions be what it may, if in criticising and defending the sacred oracles, they give up their inspiration; plead that they are interpolated; cashier whole chapters, where they are found to clash with a favourite hypothesis; tax the writers with reasoning inconclusively; declare the whole an obscure book, not adapted to settle disputed theories, or to decide upon speculative, controverted questions, even in religion and morality; those sacred oracles will not admit them to be friends, but consider them as adversaries in disguise. I have not attempted, as Dr. Toulmin suggests, to prove the relation of Socinianism to Deism barely from an agreement in some instances; but from instances in which Socinians, by uniting with the Deists, have given up some of the fundamental principles by which Christians have been used to maintain their ground against them. Neither is the success of our opponents in gaining numbers to their party, and its resemblance in this respect to infidelity, in itself considered, alleged as an argument against them; but rather its being amongst the same description of people, mere speculatists in religion, and its being allowed to arise from a similar cause, namely, a disregard to religion in general. I have also attempted to prove, by several arguments, the direct tendency of Socinianism to Deism; but of these Dr. Toulmin has taken no notice. I have appealed to facts; but neither is any notice taken of them. If further proof were needed, I might now appeal to more recent facts. The new German Reformers, if I am rightly informed, are making swift progress in this direction. Bahrdt,⁵⁹ a little before his death, is said to have published a pro-

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 45. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 45 – 46. [AF]  Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (1741– 1792) moved from ostensible orthodoxy very early in his life to a fierce naturalism, which he pursued in justification of an aggressively immoral lifestyle. With regard to the value of his literary work, Paul Tschackert noted: “the flood of writings which he sent out into the world is altogether worthless; he is in every respect merely a representative of a wholly demoralized rationalism” (Paul Tschackert, “Bahrdt, Karl Friedrich,” in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, ed. Samuel Macauley

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

297

posal that the worship and instruction in churches should be confined to natural religion, in which all agree. Last year, my informant adds, an anonymous writer carried the idea further; he is for banishing from churches all the theory of natural religion, as there are disputes about a future state, and the providence, perfections, and even existence of God; and that only the duties of self-government, justice, and beneficence should be taught. Of those who have lately joined the standard of infidelity, in our own country, is there not a large proportion of Socinians? Have not several of them who were candidates for the ministry, and even ministers themselves, given up their work, and avowed their rejection of Christianity? It is not in the power of the leading characters amongst them to prevent these things. Socinianism is slippery ground: few will be able to stand upon it. Some few may, and doubtless will; but the greater part, I am persuaded, will either return to the principles which they have discarded, or go further. Mrs. Barbauld might well represent their situation by that of people “walking over a precipice”; and describe “that class called serious Christians,” amongst them, as “leaning to the safest side.”⁶⁰ A precipice indeed it is; or rather the declivity of a rock, bulging into the sea, and covered with ice; a few wary individuals may frame to themselves a kind of artificial footing, and so retain their situation; but the greater part must either climb the summit, or fall into the deep. “The general tenor of your book,” says Dr. Toulmin, “and your mode of arguing, remind me, sir, of a piece published in the last century, entitled, ‘Puritanisme the Mother, and Sinne the Daughter; or a Treatise wherein is demonstrated, from twenty several Doctrines and Positions of Puritanisme, that the Faith and Religion of the Puritans doth forcibly induce its Professors to the perpetrating of Sinne, and doth warrant the committing of the same.’⁶¹ I could wish the piece in your hands, and to see what remarks you would offer on the candour of the imputation, or the conclusiveness of the argument. The same remarks, I am inclined to think, would supply an answer to the general tenor of your own treatise.”⁶² I have not seen the piece to which Dr. Toulmin refers; but I am inclined to think I should not be greatly at a loss to vindicate the Puritans from the charge, and that without being necessitated to travel back seventeen hundred years for examples, and to beg the question in dispute by taking it for granted, or even undertaking to

Jackson, Charles Colebrook Sherman, and George William Gilmore [New York, NY/London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1908], 1:420). See also Gunnar Flygt. The Notorious Dr. Bahrdt (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt, 1963).  Anna Letitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency of Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London, 1792), 69 – 70.  B. C. [a Catholic priest], Puritanisme the Mother, Sinne the Daughter. Or A Treatise, wherein is demonstrated from Twenty feunerall Doctrines, and Positions of Puritanisme; That the Fayth and Religion of the Puritans, doth forcibly induce its Professours to the perpetrating of Sinne, and doth warrant the committing of the same (Saint-Omer, France, 1633).  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 48. [AF]

298

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

prove, that the apostles and primitive Christians were Puritans. I have no doubt but the conduct of the accused would bear a comparison with that of their accusers. I could allege from Mr. Neale’s History of that persecuted people,⁶³ (a work which Dr. Toulmin is now publishing) that, “while others were at plays and interludes, at revels, or walking in the fields, or at the diversions of bowling, fencing, etc., on the evening of the sabbath, the puritans, with their families, were employed in reading the Scriptures, singing psalms, catechising their children, repeating sermons, and prayer; nor was this only the work of the Lord’s day; but they had their hours of family devotion on the week days, esteeming it their duty to take care of the souls as well as the bodies of their servants. They were circumspect as to all the excesses of eating and drinking, apparel, and lawful diversions; being frugal in housekeeping, industrious in their particular callings, honest and exact in their dealings, and solicitous to give to everyone his own.”⁶⁴ If Dr. Toulmin could fairly allege the same things in behalf of the body of modern Unitarians, he need not “call upon the churches of Christ in Judea and Samaria”⁶⁵ to bear witness to the holy efficacy of his doctrine. And why does Dr. Toulmin complain of “my mode of arguing”?⁶⁶ He might have found examples of it without going back to the days of puritanism. It is the same mode which has been adopted by his brethren against the Calvinists. They commenced the attack. I have only met them upon their own ground. A large proportion of my Letters, it is well known, are written on the defensive; and if, in the course of the controversy, I have occasionally acted on the offensive, I had a right to do so. Dr. Toulmin’s complaining of my “mode of arguing” is as if the Philistines had complained of the unfairness of the weapon by which Goliath lost his head. I had observed that “it was very common for those who go over to infidelity to pass through Socinianism in their way.”⁶⁷ To this Dr. Toulmin answers, “A similar remark, if I mistake not, I have seen made on the side of popery against the Reformation, that Protestantism was the pass to infidelity.”⁶⁸ But what does this prove? The question is, Is such a charge capable of being supported? A few solitary individuals might, doubtless, be produced; but, in return, I could prove that a great nation has been led into infidelity by popery, and that the former is the natural offspring of the latter. If Dr. Toulmin could retort the charge against Socinianism with equal success, what he writes might with propriety be called an answer. But his reasoning amounts to no more than that of a person, who, being charged with a crime at the bar of his

 Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans, ed. Joshua Toulmin, rev. ed. (Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1793 – 1797), 5 vols.  Neal, History of the Puritans, 1:596 – 597. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 39. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 48.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 48.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 48. [AF]

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

299

country, should argue that a similar charge had been brought against other people, and that innocent characters had in some instances been wrongfully accused. As a kind of answer to my XIth Letter, Dr. Toulmin has reprinted in the form of an appendix, a piece which he had published some years ago in the Theological Repository, on The Nature and Grounds of Love to Christ. ⁶⁹ But I conceive I might as well reprint my XIth Letter in reply to this, as he this in answer to mine. His piece is not written against the Trinitarian, but the Arian hypothesis; and is pointed chiefly against the pre-existent glory of Christ being represented in Scripture as the ground of love to him. But this position has little if any connexion with our ideas of the subject; for though we contend that Christ did exist prior to his coming into the world, yet we have no idea of making his bare existence, but his glorious character and conduct a ground of love. It is not how long Christ has existed, but what he is, and what he has done, that endears him to us. If he be a mere creature, it is of very little account with us whether he be seventeen hundred or seventeen thousand years old.⁷⁰ It is true, the pre-existence of Christ was necessary in order that his coming into the world should be a voluntary act, as I have attempted to prove in my XIVth Letter; and his being possessed of a pre-existent glory was necessary that his coming into the world might be an act of humiliation and condescension, as I have also in the same place attempted to prove it was; and this his voluntary humiliation, notwithstanding what Dr. Toulmin has written, affords a ground of love to him. No Christian, whose mind is not warped by system, can read such passages as the following without feeling a glow of sacred gratitude. “Verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.”⁷¹ “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”⁷² “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”⁷³ How foreign is this from Dr. Toulmin’s assertion, “that the circumstance of Christ’s degradation from a glorious pre-existent state is never hinted at when his death is spoken of, though so proper to cast a glory around it, as illustrating his grace and philanthropy.”⁷⁴ If Dr. Toulmin wished to answer my XIth Letter, why did he not prove, that the original dignity of Christ’s character is never represented in Scripture as the ground

 Philosoter [Joshua Toulmin], “An Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. To the Directors of the Theological Repository,” The Theological Repository 6 (1788): 284– 302.  See Joseph Pyke, An Impartial View of the Principal Difficulties that Affect the Trinitarian, or Clog the Arian, Scheme (London: Aaron Ward, 1721), 33 – 52. [AF]  Hebrews 2:16. [AF]  2 Corinthians 8:9. [AF]  Philippians 2:6, 7. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 61. [AF]

300

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

of love to him; that his mediation is exhibited in an equally important point of light by the Socinian, as by the Calvinistic scheme; and that the former represents us as equally indebted to his undertaking with the latter? The “extravagant compliment” to which I referred, and concerning which Dr. Toulmin complains of my not having done him justice,⁷⁵ respected not Mr. Robinson, but his biographer,⁷⁶ whom Dr. Toulmin characterized as “a learned and sensible writer”;⁷⁷ and his performance on the nature of subscription as a work “full of learning, of all judicious remarks, and liberal sentiment.”⁷⁸ I may remark, however, from Dr. Toulmin’s account of his regard for Mr. Robinson, that he pays but little respect to the apostolic manner of regarding persons, viz. for the truth’s sake, that dwelleth in them. Truth had no share in Dr. Toulmin’s regard; but the love of liberty was substituted in its place, as a companion for piety. “My regard for Mr. Robinson,” he says, “did not ebb and flow with his opinions” (a name by which our opponents choose to call religious principles), “but was governed by the permanent qualities of the man, the friend of liberty and piety, and who had sacrificed much for conscience.”⁷⁹ Dr. Toulmin’s performance concludes with a quotation from Dr. Lardner.⁸⁰ There are several sentiments in it which I cordially approve. I cannot, however, acquiesce in the whole. “We should be cautious,” he says, “of judging others … God alone

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 50, 51. [AF]  George Dyer, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Robert Robinson, Late Minister of the Dissenting Congregation, in Saint Andrew’s Parish, Cambridge (London: G.G. and J. Robinson, 1796).  Joshua Toulmin, Christian Vigilance. Considered in a Sermon, Preached at the Baptist Chapel, in Taunton, on the Lord’s Day, after the Sudden Removal of the Learned and Reverend Robert Robinson (London: J. Johnson, 1790), 56.  Toulmin, Christian Vigilance, 47.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 51. [AF]  Nathaniel Lardner (1684– 1768) was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, to an Independent minister. Lardner was sent to study under Joshua Oldfield (1656 – 1729) at Southwark and Hoxton. Afterwards, he went to study at Utrecht and Leiden, and became a Presbyterian in 1709. In his works, Lardner argued against Christ’s pre-existence prior to the incarnation, and believed that the Logos described in John 1 constituted God’s attributes. In other words, Lardner advocated the essential teachings of Socinianism. In 1743, Lardner received a D.D. from Marischal College, Aberdeen. Toulmin’s work quoted the following words from Lardner: “Truth in things of religion is not a matter of indifference. Every virtuous mind must be desirous to know it. But no speculative belief, without practice, is saving, or will give a man real worth and excellence. The knowledge that puffeth up is vain and insignificant. To knowledge there should be added humility, gratitude to God who has afforded us means and opportunities of knowledge; a modest sense of our remaining ignorance and imperfection; a diffidence and apprehensiveness, that though we see some things with great evidence, and are firmly persuaded of their truth, nevertheless many of our judgments of things may be false and erroneous. We should likewise be cautious of judging others. Some who have less knowledge, may have more virtue. God alone knows the hearts of men, and all their circumstances; and is therefore the only judge what errors are criminal, and how far men fall short of improving the advantages afforded them, or act up to the light that has been given them” (Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 52– 53). The original quotation is from Nathaniel Lardner, Two Schemes of a Trinity Considered, and the Divine Unity Asserted (London: J. Rivington, 1784), 71– 72.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

301

knows the hearts of men, and all their circumstances, and is, therefore, the only judge what errors are criminal, and how far men fall short of improving the advantages afforded them, or act up to the light that has been given them.”⁸¹ We should, I grant, “be cautious of judging others”;⁸² and I may add, should never attempt it, but from their words or actions. But if it be presumptuous in this way to judge others, then is the tree not to be known by its fruits. In this case, though it might be lawful for Peter to declare to Simon that by his thinking that the gift of God might be purchased with money, he perceived that his heart was not right in the sight of God;⁸³ and for Paul to address Elymas on account of his opposition to the gospel as a child of the devil, an enemy of all righteousness,⁸⁴ seeing they were inspired of God: yet it was utterly wrong for the bishop of Llandaff to apply this language to Mr. Paine,⁸⁵ and his Apology for the Bible,⁸⁶ which is generally allowed to be written in a very gentle style, must nevertheless be censured as presumptuous. Upon this supposition, Dr. Toulmin has written presumptuously, in affirming that “the number of sincere, conscientious persons, attentive to the cultivation of pious affections, hath borne a small proportion to those who have been nominal Socinians and Calvinists.”⁸⁷ It is presumptuous also in him to complain of the want of candour and justice in his opponent.⁸⁸ Yea, upon this supposition, it was presumption in the Analytical Reviewer to call what I had written “a presumptuous sentence, pronounced upon the hearts of those who adopt Socinian principles.”⁸⁹ If it be presumption to judge the hearts of men by their words and actions, what right had he to judge of mine? A presumptuous sentence is a sentence which proceeds from a presumptuous spirit. His censure, therefore, includes the very fault, if it be a fault, against which it is pointed. It resembles the conduct of a man who should swear that he disapproves of oaths, or who should falsely accuse his neighbour of being a liar.

 Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 52– 53. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 52.  Acts 8:20 – 21.  Acts 13:10.  Richard Watson (1737– 1816) was the bishop of Llandaff from 1782 until his death. Prior to his bishopric, he became professor of chemistry at Cambridge in 1764, and then the Regius Professor of Divinity in 1771. Intellectually, Watson was influenced by John Locke and Edmund Law (1703 – 1787), the bishop of Carlisle. In 1796, Watson wrote a response to Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason.  Richard Watson, An Apology for the Bible, in a Series of Letters, Addressed to Thomas Paine, Author of a Book entitled, The Age of Reason, Part the Second, being an Investigation of True and of Fabulous Theology, 6th ed. (London: T. Evans, 1796). This work went through eight editions in England, and it was also printed in Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, and in a variety of editions in America.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 36. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 39. [AF]  “Art. XXIII. The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency; in a Series of Letters addressed to the Friends of vital and practical Religion, especially those amongst Protestant Dissenters. By Andrew Fuller. … 1793,” The Analytical Review 17 (October, 1793): 183.

302

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

If it be presumptuous to judge of the hearts of men by their words and actions, it must be presumptuous to judge of the good or evil of any action. For no action, considered separately from its motive, is either good or evil. It is no otherwise good or evil than as it is the expression of the heart. To judge an action, therefore, to be either this or that, is to judge the heart to be so. I may be told that Dr. Lardner is not speaking of immorality, but of errors in judgment. True; but his reasoning would apply to actions as well as errors. The former may be as innocent as the latter. The killing of a man, for instance, may have arisen from mere accident. It is the motive which governed the action that determines its guilt or innocence; “but God alone knows the hearts of men, and all their circumstances, and is therefore the only judge what actions are criminal.”⁹⁰ In this manner we might censure the proceedings of a jury which should sit in judgment upon a person to determine whether the act by which he has taken away the life of a fellow creature arose from accident or design. Who can say, with infallible precision, concerning any action, how far the author of it “has fallen short of improving the advantages afforded him, or how far he has failed of acting up to the light that has been given him”?⁹¹ If this reasoning, therefore, prove anything, it will prove that men are utterly incompetent for any kind of judgment in things which relate to good and evil. A man may err in his notions of morality as well as concerning evangelical truth: he may think, with some modern unbelievers, that the confining of a man to one woman is unnatural; that fornication is allowable; and that even adultery is but a small crime, and, where it is undetected, no crime at all. Now, if God alone is to judge of these errors, God alone must also judge of the actions resulting from them; for there can be no more of moral evil in the one than in the other. If the former may be innocent, so may the latter; and all being to us uncertainty, owing to our ignorance of the motive, or state of mind, from which such notions were formed, together with the advantages which the party may have possessed, we must, in all such cases, entirely cease from passing censure. If it be alleged that there are such light and evidence in favour of chastity that no man can err on that subject, unless his error arise from some evil bias; I answer, this is what, in other cases, is called judging men’s hearts; and why may I not as well say there are such light and evidence in favour of the gospel, that no man can reject it but from an evil bias! This appears to me to be the truth; and the ground on which unbelief is threatened with damnation, and a denial of the Lord who bought us, followed with swift destruction.⁹² Far be it from me to indulge a censorious spirit, or to take pleasure in thinking ill of any man. Nay, far be it from me to pass any kind of judgment on any man, further  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 52; Lardner, Two Schemes of a Trinity Considered, 72.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 52– 53.  2 Peter 2:1.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

303

than I am called to do so; and when this is the case, I desire it may always be in meekness and fear; knowing, not only that I also am judged of others, but that all of us, and all our decisions, must be tried another day at a higher tribunal. It may be asked, What call have we to pass any kind of judgment upon those who disown the deity and atonement of Christ? I answer, we are called either to admit them as fellow Christians into communion with us, or to refuse to do so. We are necessitated, therefore, to pass some judgment, and this is all that we do pass. We do not pretend to say, concerning any individual, that we are certain he is not in a state of salvation; but we say we cannot perceive sufficient ground to warrant our acknowledging him as a fellow Christian. We must either admit every pretender to Christianity into communion with us, and so acknowledge him as a fellow Christian; or we shall be accused of judging the hearts of men. The rule by which we admit to fellowship is a credible profession of Christianity. There are two things which render a profession credible. First, that the thing professed be Christianity. Secondly, that the profession be accompanied with a practice correspondent with it. If a man say he loves God, and lives in malevolence against his brother, all will admit that he ought to be rejected; and though such rejection may include a kind of judgment upon his heart, none will object to our proceedings on this account. But if this be judging the heart, we suppose we have a right and are obliged to judge it from words as well as from actions. If the profession which a person makes of Christianity do not include what, in our judgment, is essential to it, we cannot consistently admit him to communion with us, nor acknowledge him as a fellow Christian. Our judgment must be the rule of our conduct. If we err, so it is; but we ought not to act in opposition to our convictions. To acknowledge a person as a fellow Christian, while we consider him defective in the essentials of Christianity, would be to act hypocritically, and tend to deceive the souls of men. Some persons have spoken and written as though we invaded the right of private judgment by refusing to commune with those who avow Socinian principles. But if a community have not a right to refuse, and even to exclude, an individual whose sentiments they consider as subversive of the gospel, neither has an individual any right to separate himself from a community whose sentiments he considers in a similar light. Provided they would forbear with him, he ought to do the same with them. This principle condemns not only the Reformation from popery, but all other reformations in which individuals have withdrawn from a corrupt community, and formed one of a purer nature. Under a plea for liberty, it would chain down the whole Christian world in slavery; obliging every community to hold fellowship with persons between whom and them there is an entire want of Christian concord. It aims to establish the liberty of the individual at the expense of that of society. Our opponents, however, will be silent in this case. They, with proper consistency, persuade their people to come out from Trinitarian communities.⁹³ Were I to imbibe their sentiments, I

 See John Kentish, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine: A Discourse written with

304

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

should follow their counsel, and separate myself from those whom I accounted idolaters; or if the community should be beforehand with me, and separate me from them, as one whom they accounted a subverter of the gospel, however painful such a separation might prove to my feelings, I should have no just reason to complain. In our view, our opponents have renounced the principal ideas included in those primitive forms of confession, Jesus is the Christ—Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and as charity itself does not require us to acknowledge and treat that as Christianity which, in our judgment, is not so, we think it our duty, in love, and with a view to their conviction, both by our words and actions, to declare our decided disapprobation of their principles. We lay no claim to infallibility any more than our opponents. We act according to our judgment, and leave them to act according to theirs; looking forward to that period when we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Appendix: Containing a few remarks on Dr. Toulmin’s review of the Acts of the Apostles First: let it be observed that Dr. Toulmin, by appealing to the history of the Acts of the Apostles, would seem to be an adherent to Scripture, and to disregard everything else in comparison with it. But if the system which he espouses be so friendly to the Scriptures, how is it that they are treated with so little respect by almost all the writers who embrace it? And why did not Dr. Toulmin answer my Letter on “Veneration for the Scriptures,” No. XII, in which this charge is substantiated? Secondly: Dr. Toulmin proceeds on the supposition that the history of the Acts of the Apostles is in itself, independent of the other parts of the sacred writings, a complete account of the substance, at least, of what the apostles preached, and that it ascertains those principles the publication of which preceded the conversions in the primitive age. But why should he suppose this? The book professes to be a history of the Acts of the Apostles. As to the principles which operated in producing the great effects of those times, they are occasionally touched; but that not being the professed object of the sacred writer, it is but occasionally. He does not always relate even the substance of what the apostles preached. For instance, he tells us that

reference to Mr. A. Fuller’s Examination of the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems (London: J. Johnson, 1796), 44, note. [AF] Kentish wrote: “A late writer has pleaded, with much zeal, for the union of all Christians in public worship, however opposite be their religious sentiment. To many of his observations I readily subscribe; and most chearfully will I give to every man that owns Jesus to be the Christ, the right hand of Christian fellowship. But can a serious believer in the Trinity, and a consistent Unitarian Christian, be rationally expected to join in the same prayers? The former addresses his devotions to three […] distinct beings, the latter to ‘one God even the Father’” (Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 44).

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

305

Paul preached at Troas until midnight,⁹⁴ but makes no mention of anything that he taught. He informs us of that apostle’s conversion to Christianity, and makes no mention, it is true, of those principles which I have supposed necessary to repentance and faith, as having had any influence in producing that effect; such as a conviction of the evil nature of sin, our own depravity, etc., and this silence of the sacred writer Dr. Toulmin improves into an argument against me.⁹⁵ But if we hence infer that these principles had no influence in conversion, in that of Saul, for example, we must contradict the apostle’s own particular account of this matter, which he has stated in the seventh chapter to the Romans; where he intimates that, by a view of the spirituality of the Divine law, he was convinced of his own depravity, and of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and died as to all hopes of acceptance with God by the deeds of the law.⁹⁶ When anything is said in the Acts of the Apostles concerning principles, the account is very general. “They ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”⁹⁷ In Samaria, Philip “preached Christ.”⁹⁸ Unto the eunuch “he preached Jesus,”⁹⁹ and declared that “Christ was the Son of God.”¹⁰⁰ The discourses of the apostles are frequently called “the word of the Lord,” and “the word of God.”¹⁰¹ To suppose that the principles which are particularly specified in the history of the Acts were the only ones which were influential, in the conversions of those times, would be to exclude, not only those doctrines which are commonly called Calvinistic, but various others, which are allowed, on all hands, to be the first principles of religion; such as the being of a God, the excellency and purity of his moral government, the divine origin of the Old Testament, etc. The apostles, in preaching to the Jews, did not assert these principles, but they supposed them. It were unreasonable to expect they should have done otherwise, seeing these were principles which their hearers professedly admitted; yet it does not follow that they had no influence in their conversion. On the contrary, we are assured that “he that cometh to God must believe that he is,”¹⁰² and that “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”¹⁰³ Nor is it less evident that to embrace the Messiah includes an approbation of those scriptures which foretold his character and coming. Thirdly: though the writer of the Acts of the Apostles does not profess to give us even the substance of the ministry of the apostles, yet he says sufficient to convince  Acts 20:8 – 12. [AF]  Joshua Toulmin, “Letter III,” in his The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: J. Johnson, 1796), 20 – 28. [AF]  Romans 7:7– 13.  Acts 5:42. [AF]  Acts 8:5. [AF]  Acts 8:35. [AF]  Acts 8:37. [AF]  Acts 9:20; 13:5; 14:25; 17:3. [AF]  Hebrews 11:6.  Romans 3:20.

306

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

an unprejudiced reader that their doctrine was very different from that of Socinus or of modern Unitarians. It is true they spoke of Christ as “a man,”¹⁰⁴ “a man approved of God by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him”;¹⁰⁵ and taught that “God raised him, from the dead”;¹⁰⁶ and if we had denied either of these truths, it would have been in point for Dr. Toulmin to have laboured all through his second and third letters to establish them. But they taught the proper deity as well as the humanity of Christ, and atonement by his death as well as the fact of his resurrection. They exhibited him as the Lord, on whose name sinners were to call for salvation;¹⁰⁷ and declared that by the shedding of his blood his church was purchased, and believing sinners “justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses.”¹⁰⁸ Peter in his first sermon addressed the Jews upon principles of the truth of which they in their consciences were convinced: “Ye men of Israel,” said he, “hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by miracles, signs, and wonders which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, ye—by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”¹⁰⁹ Upon these principles he grounded others, of which they were not convinced; namely, his resurrection from the dead,¹¹⁰ his exaltation at the right hand of God,¹¹¹ his being made both Lord and Christ,¹¹² and of remission of sins through his name.¹¹³ In his next sermon, he asserted him to be the Son of God,¹¹⁴ the Holy One, and the Just, the Prince, or author of life, whom they had killed, preferring a murderer before him.¹¹⁵ If Jesus was the author of life in the same sense in which Barabbas was the destroyer of it,¹¹⁶ then was the antithesis proper, and the charge adapted to excite the greatest alarm. It was nothing less than declaring to them that, in crucifying Jesus of Nazareth, they had crucified the Lord of glory;¹¹⁷ or that the person whom they had slain was no other than the Creator of the world, in human nature! In the first instance the apostle appealed to what the Jews themselves knew of Christ; in the last, to what he knew concerning him, who, with

             

Acts 2:22. Acts 2:22. Acts 3:15. Acts 2:21. Compare Acts 9:14, 22:16; Romans 10:12; and 1 Corinthians 1:22. [AF] Acts 2:28, 13:39. [AF] Acts 2:22. [AF] Acts 2:24– 32. [AF] Acts 2:33. [AF] Acts 2:36. [AF] Acts 2:38. [AF] Acts 3:13. [AF] Acts 3:14, 15. [AF] Matthew 27:16 – 26; Mark 15:7– 15; Luke 23:18; John 18:40. 1 Corinthians 2:8.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

307

his fellow apostles, had beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.¹¹⁸ Did Peter speak as would a “modern Unitarian,”¹¹⁹ when he said to his countrymen, “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved?”¹²⁰ Such language, I fear, is seldom, if ever, used in their pulpits. It is such, however, as I have never met with in their writings. On the contrary, one of their principal writers endeavours to explain it away, or to prove that it is not meant of “salvation to eternal life, but of deliverance from bodily diseases.”¹²¹ Dr. Toulmin finds Stephen before the council, but makes no mention of his death, in which he is described as praying to Christ, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”—“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”¹²² Having made a few remarks upon the eighth chapter, he observes, “I next meet with this apostle (Peter) receiving an extraordinary commission to preach unto Cornelius and his house.”¹²³ But why does he skip over the ninth chapter, which gives an account of the conversion of Saul? Was it because we there find the primitive Christians described as “calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus?”¹²⁴ And why does he make mention of “the fine speech of the apostle Paul to the elders of the church at Ephesus,”¹²⁵ and yet overlook that solemn charge, “Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood”?¹²⁶ Is it because he thinks, with Dr. Priestley, that “we ought to be exceedingly cautious how we admit such an expression”?¹²⁷ That seems to be the reason. But then we ought to be as cautious how we admit the book which contains it. In preaching to the Jews, the apostles insisted that Jesus was the Christ,¹²⁸ the promised Messiah, the Son of God,¹²⁹ resting the proof of these assertions upon the fact that God had raised him from the dead,¹³⁰ and Dr. Toulmin reckons this to be “what in modern style is called Unitarianism.”¹³¹ But this is proceeding too  John 1:14.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 14. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 13.  Joseph Priestley, Familiar Letters, Addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, in Refutation of Several Charges, Advanced Against the Dissenters and Unitarians (Birmingham: J. Thompson, 1790), 114. [AF]  Acts 7:59, 60.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 17. [AF]  Acts 8:14, 21. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 25.  Acts 20:28. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, A Familiar Illustration of Certain Passages of Scripture Relating to The Power of Man to do the Will of God, Original Sin, Election and Reprobation, The Divinity of Christ, and Atonement for Sin by the Death of Christ (London: J. Johnson, 1772), 36. [AF]  Acts 18:5, 28.  Acts 9:20.  Acts 2:24; 13:30.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 28. [AF]

308

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

fast. Before such a conclusion can be fairly drawn, it must be proved that these propositions have the same meaning in the Socinian creed as in that of the apostles. Let us examine whether that be the case. When they asserted that Jesus was the Christ, the meaning of the terms must be supposed to have been sufficiently understood. When Paul preached at Athens, though he ultimately brought Christ into his discourse, yet he did not use this kind of language. It would have been improper to have done so. The Athenians would not have understood what he meant by Jesus being the Christ; but the Jews did; and the ideas which they would attach to this name must be collected from the means of information which they possessed. If, as Socinians affirm, the Christ preached by the apostle was only an instructor of mankind; if he suffered martyrdom only in confirmation of his doctrine; and if his being called the Son of God denoted him to be nothing more than human; it must be supposed that these were the ideas which the prophets had given of the Messiah, which our Lord himself had professed, and which the Jews had understood him to profess. And if all this be true, it must be granted that the apostles used these terms in the sense of our opponents, and Dr. Toulmin’s conclusion, that “their preaching was the same, for substance, as that of modern Unitarians,”¹³² is just. But if the Messiah prefigured by Jewish sacrifices, and predicted by the prophets, was to take away the sins of the world, by being made an atoning sacrifice; if Christ, in professing to be the Son of God, professed to be equal with God; and if his countrymen generally so understood him, and therefore accused him of blasphemy, and put him to death; then it is not true that the apostles could use these terms in the sense of our opponents, and Dr. Toulmin’s conclusion is totally unfounded. The reader may now judge of the propriety of the following language used by Dr. Toulmin. “If you suppose, sir, that these sentiments were inculcated and blended with the great truth, the Messiahship of Jesus, it is supposition only, which is not supported by the testimony of the historian, nor by the practice of the apostolic preachers on any other occasion. You may build on suppositions; but I must be allowed to adhere to what is written.”¹³³ Now I appeal to the intelligent reader whether Dr. Toulmin has anything more than supposition as the ground of his conclusion, that the apostles, in teaching that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, “taught nothing more than what, in modern style, is called the Unitarian doctrine.”¹³⁴ The only ground for such a conclusion is the supposition that the Messiah predicted by the Jewish prophets was not to become an atoning sacrifice, but a mere instructor of mankind; that he was to be merely a man; that his being called the Son of God denoted him to be nothing more than human; that this was the substance of what he himself professed, and of what the Jews understood him to profess. All this is mere supposition, for which not the shad Here Fuller is summarizing the import of Toulmin’s argument in Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 38 – 39.  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 24. [AF]  Toulmin, Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered, 28.

Reply to Dr. Toulmin

309

ow of a proof is offered; and yet, without it, Dr. Toulmin’s conclusion must fall to the ground. Contrary to all this supposition, I take leave to observe, 1. That the Messiah prefigured by the Jewish sacrifices, and predicted by the prophets, was to become a sacrifice of atonement or propitiation for the sins of the world. His soul was to be “made an offering for sin.”¹³⁵ The Lord was to “lay on him the iniquity of us all.”¹³⁶ He was the “Lamb of God,” who was to “take away the sin of the world.”¹³⁷ But if the Old Testament representations were in favour of the Messiah’s being an atoning sacrifice, the apostles, in declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, virtually declared him to be an atoning sacrifice. 2. That the Messiah predicted by the prophets was to be God manifest in the flesh, or God in our nature. Unto the Son it was said, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”¹³⁸ The child born was to be called the mighty God.¹³⁹ He who was to “feed his flock like a shepherd, to gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom,”¹⁴⁰ was no other than “the Lord God, who would come with strong hand, and whose arm should rule for him.”¹⁴¹ “The goings forth” of him who was to be born in Bethlehem “were of old,” from everlasting.¹⁴² But if the prophetic representations of the Messiah were in favour of his being God in our nature, the apostles, in declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, virtually declared him to be God in our nature. 3. That our Lord, in saying, I am the Son of God, was understood by the Jews as claiming an equality with God; that he was, on this account accused of blasphemy, and finally put to death; and all this without having said anything that should contradict the idea which they entertained. Jesus said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said, also, that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”¹⁴³ “The Jews said, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”¹⁴⁴ But for the apostles under these circumstances, and without explaining away the supposed blasphemy, to assert that Jesus was the Son of God, was the same thing as asserting him to be equal with God; and their calling on his murderers to “repent and be baptized in his name, for the remission of sins,”¹⁴⁵ was calling them to retract their charge of blasphemy, to embrace him in that very character for claiming which they had put

          

Isaiah 53:10. [AF] Isaiah 53:6. [AF] John 1:29. [AF] Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:8. [AF] Isaiah 9:6. [AF] Isaiah 40:11. [AF] Isaiah 40:10. [AF] Micah 5:2. [AF] John 5:17– 18. [AF] John 19:7. [AF] Acts 2:38. [AF]

310

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

him to death, and to place all their “hopes of forgiveness in his name, by which alone they could be saved.”¹⁴⁶ From these premises, and not from mere supposition, I conclude that the deity and atonement of Christ were comprehended in the great doctrines of his sonship and messiahship. If Dr. Toulmin’s remarks on the Acts of the Apostles are foreign to the argument, much more so are those which respect the concessions of ancient Fathers, and modern churches and churchmen. To these I shall make no reply. And though I have so far followed him, as, in these few pages, to reply to some of his observations; yet I desire it may be noticed that I shall not hold myself obliged to pursue this subject any further. If Dr. Toulmin chooses to resume the controversy, let him keep to the subject, viz. The moral tendency of our respective systems. Anything beside this will be entitled to no reply.

 Acts 4:12. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

311

A reply to Mr. Kentish’s sermon, on the moral tendency of the genuine christian doctrine, Etc. Mr. Kentish entitles his discourse, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine. This title is either irrelative to the professed object of his undertaking, or it is a begging the question. If he only mean to affirm that the genuine Christian doctrine, be it what it may, is productive of moral effects in those who embrace it, this is what none but a professed infidel would deny. It is a principle which every denomination of Christians admits. It is the datum on which I have proceeded in endeavouring to ascertain what the genuine Christian doctrine is. If, therefore, Mr. Kentish intends only to prove what his title announces, his performance must be totally irrelative to its professed object, and contains no answer to the piece against which it is written. But it is possible, that, by the genuine Christian doctrine, Mr. Kentish means what “he sincerely believes to be such,”¹⁴⁷ or what he calls the Unitarian doctrine. But this is begging the question at the outset. Our opponents must surely be reduced to very necessitous circumstances, or they would not condescend to such humble methods of establishing their principles. Mr. Kentish, speaking of my Letters on Socinianism, observes, that “it was by no means his intention, or his wish, to canvas every observation which is there advanced.”¹⁴⁸ To canvas every observation might be unnecessary; but an answer to any work ought to enter upon a full and thorough discussion of the principal subjects included in it. A performance that does not require this, requires no answer at all. I cannot think, therefore, that either Dr. Toulmin or Mr. Kentish are justifiable in evading the body of the arguments contained in the publication which they attempt to answer. The number of veterans in literary war which are to be found on the side of our opponents, renders it difficult to account for their refusing to hazard a decisive engagement, without imputing it to a conviction that they stand upon disadvantageous ground. Dr. Toulmin has proved his dislike to it by a barefaced attempt to shift it. Mr. Kentish has not done so; his performance has less evasion, and less assuming of the question in debate, and, consequently is more respectable than that of his colleague. He keeps upon the proper ground; but, as though he thought it enchanted, he hurries over it, touching upon only a few of the topics of discussion, and taking but very little notice of the arguments of his opponent as be passes along. It is a retreat instead of a regular engagement; a running fight, rather than a pitched battle. In favour of such a mode of conducting the controversy, it is possible he might choose to print in the form of a sermon. But Mr. Kentish has reasons for not being more particular in his answer: “Of Mr. Fuller’s remarks, many,” says he, “are personal, and many refer solely to a vindica John Kentish, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine: A Discourse written with reference to Mr. A. Fuller’s Examination of the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems (London: J. Johnson, 1796), iii.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, iii.

312

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

tion of the religious principles that he has seen proper to embrace.”¹⁴⁹ If many of my remarks be personal, Mr. Kentish had a right to point them out; and ought to have done so, rather than content himself with a general accusation unsubstantiated by a single proof. That I have vindicated those religious principles which I have thought proper to embrace is true: the misrepresentation and contempt with which they have been treated by the Reviewers, and other Socinian writers, rendered a vindication of them necessary; and if our opponents have now retreated within the limits of their own territory, and are contented to act in future merely on the defensive, it may be presumed without arrogance, that it has not been altogether without effect. Mr. Kentish seems not only contented to act on the defensive, with respect to the moral tendency of his principles, but also with respect to the actual moral effects produced by them. He thinks, “in point of fact, it can scarcely be proved, that in love to God, they are surpassed by their fellow Christians; though God forbid,” he adds, “that we should rashly arrogate to ourselves superiority of virtue!”¹⁵⁰ Rash, arrogant, and shocking however as this pretence appears to Mr. Kentish, it is no more than has been made by his brethren. All that Dr. Priestley has written upon the gloomy and immoral tendency of Calvinism implies a pretence to a superiority of virtue. What else is meant by his charging our views with being “unfavourable to the love of both God and man, and an axe at the root of all virtue?”¹⁵¹ He accuses us of “living in the dread of all free enquiry”; whereas they “are in the way of growing wiser and better as long as they live.”¹⁵² He also goes about to weigh the virtue of Unitarians and Trinitarians; and though he allows the former to have most of an apparent conformity to the world, yet, “upon the whole,” he supposes them to “approach nearest to the proper temper of Christianity.”¹⁵³ Mr. Belsham also does not scruple to assert, that “they—who are sincerely pious and diffusively benevolent with these principles–could not have failed to have been much better, and much happier, had they adopted a milder, a more rational, a more truly evangelical creed.”¹⁵⁴ These are passages which I have quoted, and answered in my Letters on Socinianism; and what else can be made of them but a pretence to superiority of virtue?¹⁵⁵ I do not accuse these writers of rashness or arrogance in making such pretences, unless it be on account of their asserting what they are unable to maintain. It

 Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, iii. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 13. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (London: J. Johnson, 1777), 154‒155.  Joseph Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians; with a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Venn, in Answer to the Free and Full Examination of the Address to Protestant Dissenters, on the Subject of the Lord’s Supper (London: J. Johnson and J. Payne, 1769), 14.  Joseph Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, Including Several on Particular Occasions (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1787), 100.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 30.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 13.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

313

would be consistent with Christian humility to prove that true believers are men of superior virtue to unbelievers; and if any denomination of professing Christians have an advantage over others, in this respect, they have a right, especially when accused by them of immorality, fairly and modestly to state it. But who can forbear to pity the situation of men, who, after all these challenges, on the first close inquiry that is made into the justice of their claims, are reduced to the dire necessity of giving them up, of standing merely upon the defensive, and of exclaiming against the rashness of arrogating to themselves a superiority of virtue! It will be time enough for Mr. Kentish to “admit a claim to infallibility” when such a claim is made,¹⁵⁶ or to a “knowledge of the motives or designs of men,”¹⁵⁷ any further than as they are made manifest by their words and actions, when his opponent makes any pretence to it. In this way, I suppose, he himself will not scruple to judge the heart, since he proposes, in the same page, to “illustrate the spirit in which my examination is written.”¹⁵⁸ I assure Mr. Kentish, it was neither in an “unguarded” nor a “guarded” moment, that I presumed to charge Unitarians with having a heart secretly disaffected to the true character and government of God, and dissatisfied with the gospel way of salvation. Rather, was it not in an unguarded moment that he, as well as several of his brethren in the reviewing department, accused me of so doing? If any of these writers thought proper to quote my words, why did they not quote the whole sentence as it stands? By their method of quotation one might prove from the Scriptures that there is no God. The proposition as it stands in my Letters is conditional. It is true, the thing affirmed is, that “the avenues which lead to Socinianism are not an openness to conviction, or a free and impartial inquiry after truth, but a heart secretly disaffected to the true character and government of God, and dissatisfied with the gospel way of salvation”;¹⁵⁹ but the condition on which the truth of this proposition is suspended, is, that Socinianism is a system the character of which is, that “irreligious men are the first, and serious Christians the last, to embrace it.”¹⁶⁰ Now do our opponents mean to admit without hesitation or explanation that this is the character of Socinianism? I know indeed they have conceded thus much; but I was ready to suppose that upon its being represented to them in its own colours, they would have recalled, or at least have endeavoured to put a more favourable construction upon their concessions. But it should seem by their applying the latter branch of the proposition to themselves, they admit the former, as properly characteristic of their system; and if they admit the one, I see no cause to recede from the other. I have contended that it is not presumption to judge of men’s motives by their words and actions; and that it is what our opponents, as well as all other men, do     

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Last paragraph of Letter XV, see above, Last paragraph of Letter XV, see above,

Christian Doctrine, iv. Christian Doctrine, iv. Christian Doctrine, iv. [AF] p. 266 – 267. p. 266 – 267.

314

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

in innumerable instances. In this instance, however, I have not judged the motives of any individual. The thing affirmed barely respects the general course of things. The avenues which lead to any place are the ordinary passages through which persons enter, but it does not follow that they are the only ones. Were I to assert that the avenues which lead to offensive war are not, as its abettors would persuade us to think, a desire to maintain the honour of their country, but a heart secretly disaffected to the true interests of mankind, and dissatisfied with the morality of the gospel; such an assertion, I fear, would contain too much truth: it would not denote, however, that there never was an individual who engaged in such wars but from such motives. Persons may be drawn into them unawares, and contrary to their inclinations; and being once engaged, may find it difficult to recede. Thus, with respect to our religious sentiments, education, connexions, and various other things, may have great influence in determining them. How far such things may consist with sincere love to Christ I have not undertaken to decide. But as in the one case a person would generally find his heart averse from actual engagements, and leaning towards a peace; so, I apprehend, it will be in the other: like the serious Christians mentioned by Mrs. Barbauld,¹⁶¹ though they may rank with Socinians, yet their hearts will lean towards the doctrine that exalts the Saviour, and exhibits him as the atoning sacrifice. Before Mr. Kentish enters on the defence of his principles on the ground of their moral tendency, he offers six previous remarks. These are as follows: 1. “An obvious effect of the impressions to which mankind are exposed, from surrounding objects, is that no principles can so fully influence the conduct as might be expected in theory.”¹⁶² True; but the same remark equally requires to be made in favour of Calvinism, as of Socinianism. There is nothing in it therefore appropriate, or which goes to account for that want of practical religion which is acknowledged peculiarly to attend the professors of the latter. 2. “While some men are, confessedly, much better than their principles, it will not, it cannot, be disputed that to the most valuable principles others fail of doing justice.”¹⁶³ That some men’s hearts are better than their systems is true; and for this reason, notwithstanding all that is said by my opponents to the contrary, I have not presumed to decide upon the state of individuals. It is also allowed that “to the most valuable principles others fail of doing justice.”¹⁶⁴ This is the same thing for substance as that which I have acknowledged in my introductory observations; and I have therefore never reasoned either from the bad or good conduct of individuals, but from that of the general body. It is true I have mentioned the names of some eminent persons amongst the Calvinists;  Anna Letitia Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry into the Expediency of Propriety of Public or Social Worship (London: J. Johnson, 1792), 69 – 70.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 6. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 6. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 7.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

315

but it was merely to confront an assertion of Mr. Belsham, that “those who were singularly pious and diffusively benevolent, with Calvinistic principles, could not have failed to have been much better, and much happier, if they had imbibed a different creed.”¹⁶⁵ The piety and benevolence of Hale,¹⁶⁶ Franck,¹⁶⁷ Brainerd,¹⁶⁸ Edwards,¹⁶⁹ Whitefield,¹⁷⁰ Thornton,¹⁷¹ and Howard¹⁷² were introduced as a proof that such degrees of virtue have been found amongst Calvinists as have never been exceeded by men of what are called rational principles, or indeed of any principles whatever. 3. “It deserves to be considered, further, whether doctrines which have most efficacy upon the dispositions, the conduct, and the feelings of Christians, be not such as they profess in common.”¹⁷³ I have no objection to this or any other subject being considered, though I am persuaded the result of an impartial consideration, in this case, would be different from that which is suggested by Mr. Kentish; but granting his supposition to be true, the difficulty on his side is just where it was. If the principles which Calvinists and Socinians hold in common be the grand sources of virtue, why do they not influence both alike? Why is it that “rational Christians are spoken of as indifferent to practical religion”;¹⁷⁴ and that those who acknowledge this charge, as Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham have done, are not able to vindicate them from it? If Calvinists and Socinians hold principles in common which are of a holy tendency, and yet the latter are the most indifferent to practical religion, there must be something unfavourable to virtue, one should think, in their peculiar sentiments. 4. “From a natural partiality moreover to opinions which themselves embrace, men will suppose those opinions to have a tendency peculiarly favourable to virtue and happiness. There is danger, therefore, lest the conclusion to which I have adverted be drawn rather by the feelings than by the understanding, rather by prejudice than by calm and unbiassed reason.”¹⁷⁵ To this I answer, if the conclusions which I have drawn be unreasonable, they are capable of being proved so. 5. “In their ideas too of moral excellence different sects of Christians may not exactly agree. Many of them severely censure certain instances of conformity to the world, which others of them may think not merely lawful, but deserving of praise.”¹⁷⁶ True. Some for example may live in the disuse of prayer and may plead in excuse that this practice does not accord with their ideas of devotion. They may also frequent the

           

Belsham, Importance of Truth, 30. Matthew Hale. See above, p. 147, n. 655. August Hermann Francke. See above, p. 67, n. 97. David Brainerd. See above, p. 147, n. 657. Jonathan Edwards. George Whitefield. John Thornton. See above, p. 148, n. 660. John Howard. See above, p. 148, n. 661. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 7. [AF] Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 8. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 8. [AF]

316

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

gaming table, and the assembly room, and occasionally, if not constantly, resort to the theatre; and may contend that each is an innocent if not a praiseworthy amusement. But if people are not to be criminated beyond the line marked out by their own opinions of morality, our “moderation” must extend further than Mr. Kentish himself might be willing to allow. There are people in the world who think favourably of polygamy, and others who would plead for fornication, yea, for adultery itself, provided it were kept a secret; yet, it is to be hoped, he would not think the better of such practices on this account. On the contrary, he must think himself warranted to conclude, in ordinary cases at least, that the opinions of such persons were formed under the influence of an immoral bias, and, therefore, that they themselves partake of the nature of immorality. 6. “The very nature of the argument proposed renders it extremely difficult to deduce from it a satisfactory inference. If to judge respecting the conduct of men, even in single cases, demand much care and knowledge, far more requisite are these qualifications when sentence is to be passed upon their general character. Who indeed is so intimately acquainted with the various denominations of Christians as to form a decision, upon this point, that shall not be liable to the imputation of partiality or rashness?”¹⁷⁷ That care and knowledge are necessary in such a comparison I shall not dispute; and if I have betrayed my want of either, I presume it is capable of being exposed; but that the thing itself is impracticable I cannot admit. It is not impossible to discover who in general are serious, conscientious, and pious men, and who they are that indulge in dissipation and folly. The observation of Mr. Kentish, if it prove anything, proves that the moral tendency of a doctrine is no proper criterion of its truth. Yet he acknowledges that “in religion the maxim, ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits,’ is a maxim unquestionably of high authority, evident reason, and familiar application.”¹⁷⁸ How can these things consist together? If it be of “familiar application,” it cannot be “extremely difficult,” nor require any extraordinary degree of understanding to apply it. Let there be what difficulty there may however in this case, my work, so far as related to facts, was done ready to my hand. Dr. Priestley, Mr. Belsham, and Mrs. Barbauld were my authorities for the want of regard to practical religion amongst rational Christians; writers whom Mr. Kentish will not accuse of the want of either “care or knowledge,” and to whom he will not in this cause impute either “partiality or rashness.” It has been suggested by some who are friendly to the cause of Socinianism, though not professed Socinians, that I have made an unfair use of a few concessions; and that a similar use might be made of the concessions of many of the Puritans, who in their day lamented the imperfections and degeneracy of their own people. If Dr. Priestley and his brethren had barely acknowledged that there were great defects amongst their people when compared with the primitive Christians, or with what

 Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 8 – 9. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 5. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

317

they ought to be, this I confess had been no more than what Puritan writers have done, and the writers of every other denomination of Christians might have done; and such acknowledgments ought not to have been improved against them. But who beside themselves have ever professed to hold a set of principles, to the discernment of which an indifference to religion in general was favourable; a system which those who were most indifferent to the practice of religion were the first, and serious Christians the last, to embrace? Who beside themselves have been reduced by facts which they could not deny, to such dire necessity? From the foregoing introductory observations, Mr. Kentish proceeds to the body of his discourse, which he divides into four heads of enquiry. “I. What is the tendency of the Unitarian doctrine with respect to the cultivation and exercise of the divine, the social, and the personal virtues? II. What assistance, support, and consolation does it afford, in the season of temptation, affliction, and death? III. What is its efficacy in the conversion of profligates and unbelievers? And, IV. Finally, how far is it adapted to promote a veneration for the Scriptures, and to fortify our faith in Christianity?”¹⁷⁹ I. On the divine, the social, and the personal virtues. Under the first of these particulars Mr. Kentish very properly considers “love to God”; and so far as he attempts an answer to what I have written, I suppose this is to be considered as an answer to my VIIth Letter.¹⁸⁰ The substance of what he advances upon this subject is as follows. “We believe according to the sublime language of the favourite apostle, that ‘God is love’;¹⁸¹ we consider all his moral excellences, as justice, truth, and holiness, as modifications of this principle. Happiness we regard as the grand object of his works and dispensations and conceive of his glory as resulting from the diffusion of this happiness.”¹⁸² “These being our ideas of the Deity, love to him cannot fail to be shed abroad in our hearts. Did we think of him indeed as one altogether like unto ourselves, did we imagine that he is vindictive, inexorable, arbitrary, and partial; and did we suppose his glory to be something distinct from the exercise of his goodness, we might experience difficulty in obedience to this first and greatest of the commandments. But in the contemplation of infinite power, employed to execute designs which proceed from infinite benevolence, and are planned by consummate wisdom, filial affection towards God is naturally enkindled and preserved in our breasts.”¹⁸³ On this statement, I would observe, in the first place, that it passes over one very important topic of discussion between us, namely, the doctrine of the atonement.     

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 9. See above, p. 127– 140. 1 John 4:8. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11– 12. [AF]

318

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

Why is it that Mr. Kentish has passed over this doctrine? He knows that Socinian writers have charged it with implying the natural implacability of God, a charge against which I have attempted to defend it. Have I not a right to conclude from Mr. Kentish’s silence on this head, that he feels the ground to be untenable? Mr. Kentish has not only declined the discussion of one of the most important subjects, but those topics which have fallen under his notice are stated with great unfairness. His account of my sentiments respecting the vindictive character of God is marked by the grossest misrepresentation. I had carefully explained the term vindictive when applied to the Divine conduct in the punishment of sin, by observing, that “it is very common for people when they speak of vindictive punishment, to mean that kind of punishment which is inflicted from a wrathful disposition, or a disposition to punish for the pleasure of punishing. Now if this be the meaning of our opponents, we have no dispute with them. We do not suppose the Almighty to punish sinners for the sake of putting them to pain. Vindictive punishment, as it is here defended, stands opposed to that punishment which is merely corrective. The one is exercised for the good of the party; the other not so, but for the good of the community.”¹⁸⁴ Now though Mr. Kentish must have observed this statement, yet he has suffered himself to write as follows: “Did we imagine that God is vindictive, inexorable, arbitrary, and partial; or did we suppose his glory to be something distinct from the exercise of his goodness, we might experience difficulty in obedience to this first and greatest of the commandments.”¹⁸⁵ As a proof, it should seem, that these were my sentiments, Mr. Kentish refers to page 119, of the second edition of my Letters, where I have acknowledged that there is a mixture of the vindictive in the Calvinistic system.¹⁸⁶ But have I not also in the same page so explained my meaning as to reject those offensive ideas which Mr. Kentish has introduced in connexion with it? Why did he hold up my acknowledgment concerning the vindictive character of God, without at the same time holding up that sense of it in which I professed to defend it? Or if he might think himself excused from this, why did he connect such terms with it as must exhibit it in a different and contrary sense, even in that very sense in which I had opposed it? I cannot but consider this as disingenuous; and as greatly resembling the conduct of certain Deists, who in their attacks upon Christianity, choose first to dress it up in the habits of popery. As to the glory of God consisting in the exercise of his goodness, if it be meant of the manifestation of the divine glory, and goodness be put for moral excellence, it is the same thing as that which I have acknowledged, viz. that “the glory of God consists in doing that which shall be best upon the whole”:¹⁸⁷ but, by goodness Mr. Kentish means merely beneficence, undistinguishing beneficence, or the pursuit of ultimate happiness in behalf of every intelligent being in the creation, obedient or    

Letter VII. [AF] See above, p. 131. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11– 12. [AF] Letter VII. See above, p. 131. Letter VII. See above, p. 138.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

319

rebellious, penitent or impenitent, men or devils. In this sense I allow that the glory of God may be at variance with the happiness of creatures, and I contend that, where it is so, the latter and not the former ought to be given up. Mr. Kentish pleads from “the declaration of the favourite apostle, God is love,” and supposes that “all his moral excellences, as justice, truth, and holiness, are but modifications of this principle.”¹⁸⁸ To all this I have no objection, provided the object aimed at be the general good of the moral system. But Mr. Kentish supposes if God be love, that in all he does he must have the good of every individual in his dominions in view. On this principle he must have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain and Balaam, and Saul, and Judas, and all those who, in every age, have lived “foaming out their own shame,”¹⁸⁹ and to whom, according to the Scriptures, “is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever,”¹⁹⁰ together with Satan and all his rebellious legions, not only as examples to the intelligent creation, but for their own good! Surely this is not a necessary inference from the apostolic declaration. There are other cases as well as this in which justice may be a modification of love; but in no case does it require that an incorrigible offender should not be punished but for his own advantage. The execution of a murderer may be an exercise of pure benevolence to the community, though of just displeasure to the criminal. The removal of a restless, ambitious, intriguing, and bloody-minded prince or princess from the earth may be a mercy to mankind, and, as such, may be considered as an act worthy of the God of love; but it may not follow that this is accomplished in love to the systematic murderer of the human race. If all the West India Islands were to be overwhelmed in some dire destruction, I am not sure that it would not be a mercy to the human species; it would terminate the miseries of thousands, and prevent the annual sacrifice of thousands more; and yet such an event might proceed, not from love, but from just displeasure to guilty individuals. It does not follow, therefore, from any principles with which we are acquainted, that because God is love, he must have the happiness of his incorrigible enemies in view, in all the displeasure which he pours upon them. In order, it should seem, to obviate this reasoning, Mr. Kentish objects to our “thinking and speaking respecting the measures of the divine administration, as though they were precisely similar to the measures which are pursued by earthly rulers.”¹⁹¹ It is curious to observe in what manner our opponents shift their positions, and veer about as occasion requires. Dr. Priestley accused the Calvinistic system of representing God in such a light, “that no earthly parent could imitate him without sustaining a character shocking to mankind.”¹⁹² To this I answered, by proving, that

 Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11.  Jude 13.  Jude 13.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 20. [AF]  As noted above, the essence of this quotation can be found in Priestley, Considerations on Differences of Opinion Among Christians, 18 – 19, though the exact words are Fuller’s, not Priestley’s.

320

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

it is the practice of every good government to make examples of incorrigible offenders; and that benevolence itself requires it; yea, that there have been cases in which even a parent has been obliged, in benevolence to his family, and from a concern for the general good, to give up a stubborn and rebellious son to be stoned to death by the elders of his city, and that, not for his own good, but that all Israel might hear and fear.¹⁹³ To this Mr. Kentish replies that God’s government is not to be measured by human governments. First, then we are accused of exhibiting the divine character in such a light, that it cannot be imitated; and when we prove that it can and ought, in those respects, to be imitated, then we are charged with thinking and speaking of God “as one altogether like ourselves.”¹⁹⁴ But passing this, the point at issue is, which of the above representations of the divine character tends most to excite our love to him. Mr. Kentish conceives, that as love to God arises from a contemplation of his goodness, his scheme must, in this instance, have the advantage. That depraved creatures, who care not for the honour of the Divine government, but whose supreme regard is directed towards themselves, should love that being best, who, whatever be their character and conduct, is most devoted to their happiness, is readily admitted. But this is not the love of God. That goodness is the immediate object of love, I also admit; but goodness in the Divine Being is the same thing as moral excellence, and this renders him an object of love only to such created beings as in some degree bear his image. The goodness for which Mr. Kentish pleads, is mere undistinguishing beneficence, of which we can form no idea without feeling at the same time a diminution of respect. If a supreme magistrate should possess such an attachment to his subjects as that, whatever were their crimes, he could in no case be induced to give any one of them up to condign punishment, or to any other punishment than what should be adapted to promote his good, he would presently become an object of general contempt. Or if a father should possess such a fondness for his children, that, let any one of them be guilty of what he might, suppose it were a murder, a hundred times repeated, yet he could never consent that any punishment should be inflicted upon him, excepting such as might be productive of his good, such a father would be detested by the community, and despised by his own family. But, perhaps, I may be told that the divine government is not to be measured by human governments; no, not by those which are parental. Be it so; indeed I am willing to grant Mr. Kentish that it is not. If he can prove from Scripture that the Divine government is possessed of this peculiarity, that in every instance of justice, the good of the party, as well as the good of the community, is the object pursued, I will readily admit it, and will never mention its inconsistency with our ideas of government anymore. But while no manner of appeal is made to the Scriptures; while the numerous passages which I have alleged in favour of the doctrine of vindictive punishment

 Deuteronomy 13:11.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

321

remain unnoticed; while nothing of any account, except the nature and fitness of things, is alleged; I have a right to show that, from the nature and fitness of things, no conclusion like that of Mr. Kentish can be drawn, but the very reverse. Love to a government, even a parental one, must be accompanied with respect. A being whose kindness degenerates into fondness, however his conduct may please our selfish humours, can never be the object of our esteem. On this principle, when Jehovah proclaimed his name or character to Moses, he not only declared himself to be “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and in truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin”; but added, “and that will by no means clear the guilty.”¹⁹⁵ “Love to God,” Mr. Kentish observes, “is no enthusiastic rapture, no offspring of a licentious imagination. It consists in the highest esteem for the divine character, and the liveliest gratitude for the divine mercies.”¹⁹⁶ Very true; it is the character of God that is the prime object of genuine love; and I may add, what I have observed before, that “the true character of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, must be taken into the account, in determining whether our love to God be genuine or not. We may clothe the Divine Being with such attributes, and such only, as will suit our depraved taste; and then it will be no difficult thing to fall down and worship him: but this is not the love of God, but of an idol of our own creating.” It appears to me that the God in whom Mr. Kentish professes to believe is not the true God, or the God revealed in the Bible; and that the love he pleads for is no other than self-love, or an attachment to a being whose glory consists in his being invariably attached to us. The character of God is principally manifested to us through those two grand mediums, the law and the gospel; but neither of them conveys any such idea of him as that which Mr. Kentish endeavours to exhibit. By the precepts and penalties of the former, Jehovah declared his love to men as creatures, by guarding them against every approach to evil; but he also by the same means solemnly declared his love of righteousness, and his determination to maintain a righteous government in the universe. By the propitiation exhibited in the latter, the same important ideas are repeated, and others of still greater importance to us revealed. Here Jehovah declares his compassion to men, as guilty and miserable; but it is without any relaxation of the rigid uprightness of his moral government, or the least implication that his rebellious creatures had been hardly dealt with, that he pours forth a rich exuberance of mercy upon the unworthy. He is still the “just God, and the Saviour; just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.”¹⁹⁷ While salvation is promised to every believing sinner, damnation is threatened to everyone that believeth not. There is a rectitude that runs through all the dispensations of God, which determines his true character, and by consequence, the nature of genuine love to him, see-

 Exodus 34:6, 7.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 10. [AF]  Romans 3:26.

322

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

ing the one must necessarily correspond with the other. The Scripture character of God is such that wicked men are naturally averse from it. “The carnal mind is enmity against God.”¹⁹⁸ Our Lord told the Jews, notwithstanding all their boasted attachment to God, that they “had not the love of God in them.”¹⁹⁹ Hence we are taught the necessity of the “heart being circumcised to love the Lord our God.”²⁰⁰ But the character of God as drawn by Mr. Kentish is such that the most depraved being must approve it, and that without any change in the unholy bias of his heart. Sinners can love those that love them.²⁰¹ A being, the perfections of whose nature require him to promote the good of creation in general, will be loved by those, and those only, who value the general good, and who no otherwise desire the happiness of any creature, not even their own, than as it is included in the wellbeing of his moral empire. But a being, the properties of whose nature prevent him in any instance from making a final example of any of his rebellious creatures, or punishing them in any way except that in which their good shall be his ultimate end, may be beloved by those who have no regard for the general good, nor for any part of intelligent existence but themselves, or such as become subservient to themselves. And what other than this is Mr. Kentish’s representation of love to God? Considering God as all goodness, and goodness as consisting in a determination to do good ultimately to every creature, let his character and conduct be what it may, he supposes it to be natural to men to love him. “The love of God,” he says, “cannot fail to be shed abroad in our hearts”;²⁰² it is “naturally enkindled and kept alive in our breasts.”²⁰³ Genuine love to God requires to be “shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit,”²⁰⁴ but there needs no Holy Spirit in this case; it is altogether natural to man; Mr. Kentish therefore acted very properly in leaving that part of the passage out of his quotation. The scheme of our opponents not only misrepresents the nature of love to God, but it is miserably deficient with respect to motives whereby it may be excited. “God so loved the world, that be gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”²⁰⁵ “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”²⁰⁶ “God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”²⁰⁷ “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”²⁰⁸ “Thanks

          

Romans 8:7. [AF] John 5:42. [AF] Deuteronomy 30:6. [AF] Matthew 5:46. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 11. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 12. [AF] Romans 5:5. John 3:16. [AF] 1 John 4:10. [AF] Romans 5:8. [AF] Romans 8:32. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

323

be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”²⁰⁹ Such is the language of inspiration; but this affecting epitome of gospel truth is despoiled of all its glory by the expositions of our opponents. Everything rich, interesting, and endearing, which it contains, evaporates in their hands, as by a kind of chemical process, and nothing is left behind that can acquit the sacred writers of dealing in great swelling words of vanity. Mr. Kentish’s remarks upon this subject, together with a quotation from Dr. Kippis in support of it,²¹⁰ are feeble and nugatory; they prove nothing but the poverty of the cause. “By the goodness of the Almighty, exhibited in the works of nature, in the dispensations of providence, and in our temporal comfort, we are as much impressed, I presume,” says Mr. Kentish, “as any class of Christians. And if we neither think nor speak like some of them concerning the Divine love manifested in the gift of Jesus Christ, it must not hence be inferred that we are less attentive to its magnitude and extent. It is our persuasion, on the contrary, that, from the views we cherish of this important subject, we can say with peculiar justice, ‘We love him, because he first loved us.’”²¹¹ To the “persuasion” of Mr. Kentish is added the opinion of Dr. Kippis, that when “writers express themselves as if the Christian revelation would be of little value, unless their particular systems are adopted, it is a kind of language which is extremely injudicious, and which ought to be avoided and discouraged; and that no man can think meanly of the evangelical dispensation, or detract from its excellence and dignity, who believes that God is the author of it, that it was communicated by Jesus Christ, and that he conveys to us knowledge, pardon, holiness, and eternal life.”²¹² Our opponents, then, in all their numerous charges of idolatry, corrupting Christianity, etc. exhibited against us, wish to be understood, it seems, after all, as including nothing under these offensive terms which implies “a mean opinion of the evangelical dispensation, or which detracts from its excellence and dignity”! I wish it were in my power honestly to return the compliment. In this case, however, I should think consistency would require me to retract my former charges. But were Calvinists and Socinians to coalesce upon Dr. Kippis’s principles, I should fear it would deserve the name of a confederacy against the Holy Scriptures. The apostle Paul must necessarily fall under their united censure; for if it be “extremely injudicious to represent the Christian revelation as of little value, unless a particular system be adopted,”²¹³ he must have been verily guilty in suggesting  2 Corinthians 9:15. [AF]  Andrew Kippis (1725 – 1795) was born in Nottingham and trained under Philip Doddridge (1702– 1751) at Northampton. After pastoring in Boston, Lincolnshire and Dorking, Surrey, Kippis became the minister of Prince’s Street Presbyterian chapel in Westminster. A prolific writer, Kippis wrote biographies of many Dissenters. He was also actively involved in the editorship of The New Annual Register and the second edition of Biographia Britannica.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 12– 13. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 12– 13, note. [AF] The original quotation was taken from Andrew Kippis, The Life of Nathaniel Lardner, D.D. (London: J. Johnson, 1788), lxvii–lxviii.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 12.

324

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

that the Galatian teachers, who only erred on the doctrine of justification, had introduced “another gospel,” and aimed at “perverting the gospel of Christ.”²¹⁴ But if the scheme of Mr. Kentish be defective in one point of view, he seems to think it has the advantage in another. The unity of God, he observes, stands connected with the command to love him; and he hence labours to prove the superior efficacy of his sentiments in promoting this temper of mind, inasmuch as they who imbibe them are not subject to be distracted and bewildered in their worship, as those are who worship a plurality of deities.²¹⁵ But with this reasoning I, who do not worship a plurality of deities, have no concern. Under the article of Love to God, Mr. Kentish proceeds to discourse on love to Christ.²¹⁶ With what “propriety” this is done, unless he be possessed of deity, I shall not inquire. It is in this place, I suppose, that we are to consider him as answering my eleventh Letter, which was written on this subject. The questions discussed in that Letter were, “Which of the two systems tends most to exalt the character of Christ? Which places his mediation in the most important view? and, Which represents us as most indebted to his undertaking?” The substance of Mr. Kentish’s remarks, on the first of these questions, consists in this: that it is not greatness, but goodness, that is the object of love; that “love to Christ has its just foundation, not in a persuasion of his superior dignity, but in a conviction that his character was distinguished by the ‘beauty of holiness,’ or the charms of virtue.”²¹⁷ I allow that goodness, and not greatness, is the immediate object of love; but Mr. Kentish will also allow that the latter renders a being capable of the former. The more enlargedness of mind any person possesses, the more capable he is of goodness; and if his moral qualities keep pace with his natural accomplishments, he is a more estimable character than if his mind were not enlarged. The greater any character is, therefore, if his goodness be but equal to his greatness, the more he becomes the proper object of love. Will Mr. Kentish pretend that the “charms of virtue” in a good man,²¹⁸ in Jesus Christ for example, supposing him to be only a good man, ought to render him as much the object of our affection as the infinitely glorious moral excellence of the Divine Being ought to render him? But by how much the character of the Divine Being is more estimable than that of the best of men, by so much is the character of Christ more estimable upon the supposition of his proper deity than upon that of his being merely human. Mr. Kentish, as though he felt this difficulty and wished to remove it, suggests that it is upon the principle of gratitude that we “give to God, the supreme author

    

Galatians 1:6, 7. Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency

of of of of

the the the the

Genuine Genuine Genuine Genuine

Christian Christian Christian Christian

Doctrine, 14– 15. [AF] Doctrine, 15 – 19. [AF] Doctrine, 16. [AF] Doctrine, 16.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

325

of our enjoyments, our highest, purest love.”²¹⁹ But is it gratitude only that binds us to love God better than a creature? Is it merely because we receive more from him? Is it not also on account of the infinite amiableness of his moral character, as displayed particularly in the gospel; or, as the Scriptures express it, of “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?”²²⁰ Yea, is it not primarily on this account that God is entitled to our “highest and purest love?”²²¹ Mr. Kentish has not thought it proper to enter on the inquiries, “Which of the two systems places the mediation of Christ in the most important light? and which represents us as most indebted to his undertaking?” He has made some observations, however, upon gratitude. Having stated that God is to be loved, on this principle, with our highest, purest love, he adds, “Hence, too, we cannot avoid indulging and showing affection for those of our fellow creatures whom he disposes and enables to do us good; and who, in truth, are but the instruments of his bounty. It is upon the same principle that we perceive the justice of manifesting no common love to Christ, the author, under God, of our most valuable privileges and our richest blessings.”²²² Whether the love of our opponents towards Christ in a way of gratitude be common or uncommon, while they maintain that he existed not till he was born of Mary, they cannot consider themselves as under any obligation to him for coming into the world to save them,²²³ seeing that was a matter in which he must have been totally involuntary; and while they reject the doctrine of the atonement, I do not see how they can feel obliged to him for the forgiveness of their sins, or to anything which he has done, or suffered, for their hopes of eternal life. They may feel indebted to him for having published these doctrines; but if this be all, it is a

 Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 17. [AF]  2 Corinthians 4:6.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 17. Throughout this section, Fuller has been basing his argument on ontological principles employed by Jonathan Edwards in The Nature of True Virtue (1765). As true virtue is “benevolence towards being in general,” and God is the only being who has true being—that is, intrinsic self-existence—and is the one who has made all other beings and sustains their very existence, then benevolence must be directed primarily towards him, and towards all other beings for his sake. God also has the truest, infinite benevolence in that he loves his enemies and redeems them through the sacrifice of the being who is most profoundly the recipient of his love, his own beloved Son, and so we find him to be not only the most fitting object of our benevolence, but also the one infinitely worthy of our unadulterated love. Upon the publication of Robert Hall’s sermon Modern Infidelity Considered in 1799, Fuller wrote a piece seeking to correct Hall’s assertion concerning Edwards’s treatise, that “virtue, on these principles, is an utter impossibility” (Robert Hall, Jr., The Works of Robert Hall, A.M., ed. Olinthus Gregory, 3rd ed. [London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1833], 1:58). Fuller responded, “But it is not necessary to true virtue that it should comprehend all being, or ‘distinctly embrace the welfare of the whole system.’ It is sufficient that it be of an expansive tendency; and this appears to be Edwards’s view of the subject […] Such a disposition will come into actual exercise, ‘from particulars to general,’ as fast as knowledge extends” (“Nature of True Virtue,” WAF, 3:817).  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 17. [AF]  1 Timothy 1:15.

326

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

small affair for so much to be made of it. Many a prophet who was a bearer of heavy tidings, would have been glad in this respect to exchange messages with him. Dr. Toulmin, in a former publication, has tried to magnify this subject a little, by alleging that “Christ came not only to preach the doctrine of a future state, but to prove it, and to furnish a pledge of the resurrection to eternal life by his own resurrection.”²²⁴ Dr. Toulmin has not informed us in what manner the mission of Christ proved the doctrine of a future state, any otherwise than as his resurrection afforded a pledge of it; and this can add nothing as a foundation of gratitude to him, inasmuch as, upon his principles, it was a matter in which he had no voluntary concern. For our parts, we consider ourselves as deeply indebted to Christ for his voluntary assumption of our nature; for the preference given to us before the fallen angels; for his condescending to become subject to temptations and afflictions for our sake, “that in all things he might be made like unto his brethren”;²²⁵ and for his offering himself without spot to God as our atoning sacrifice, thereby obtaining the remission of our sins, and becoming the foundation of our hopes of eternal life; but none of these things have any place in the system of our opponents. And though they would persuade us that they hold the sentiments embraced by primitive Christians, yet they cannot follow them in these important particulars. Their views of things will not suffer them to speak of his “taking upon him flesh and blood,”²²⁶ of his “taking upon him not the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham,”²²⁷ of his “being in the form of God, and yet taking upon him the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men,”²²⁸ of our being forgiven for his sake; or of “the promise of an eternal inheritance”²²⁹ being received “by means of his death.”²³⁰ According to their principles, his coming into the world was no act of his own; he had no existence prior to his existing in flesh and blood; it was not a matter of choice with him whether he would be made an angel or a man; he never existed in any other form, nor sustained any other character, than that of a servant; his death had no influence on the forgiveness of our sins, or in procuring eternal life: none of these things, therefore, afford to them any foundation for gratitude. The substance of this argument was stated in my fourteenth Letter; but neither of my opponents has thought proper to take any notice of it. It might be their wisdom to

 Joshua Toulmin, Dissertations on the Internal Evidences and Excellence of Christianity: And on the Character of Christ, Compared with that of Some Other Celebrated Founders of Religion or Philosophy (London: J. Johnson, 1785), 248. [AF] The page number Fuller originally provided was incorrect. It has been corrected here.  Hebrews 2:17.  Hebrews 2:16. [AF]  Hebrews 2:16. [AF]  Philippians 2:6 – 7. [AF]  Ephesians 4:32. [AF]  Hebrews 9:15. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

327

decline this part of the subject, which is so strongly supported by the express declarations of Scripture. Mr. Kentish seems to feel that love to Christ makes but a diminutive figure in the Socinian scheme and therefore apologizes for it. To suppose Christ to have been possessed of “a super-human nature, and so to regard him,” he says, “would be infringing upon our pious gratitude to the adorable Being whom we are commanded to love with an entire affection.”²³¹ To this I reply, our belief of a doctrine which our opponents will not allow us to believe, namely, the divine unity, enables us to repel this objection. We believe, and that on the first of all authority, that Christ and the Father are so one,²³² that “he who hath seen him hath seen the Father,”²³³ and that “he who honoureth him,”²³⁴ in so doing, “honoureth the Father.”²³⁵ The idea thrown out by Mr. Kentish, and which enters into the essence of his system, is what the Scriptures are utterly unacquainted with. They require us to love creatures in different degrees. But inasmuch as this love, if carried to excess, would dishonour the Divine Being, these requirements are accompanied and limited by various cautions. Thus we are required to love all mankind as our fellow creatures, but we must take heed of improper attachment, lest we “worship the creature more than the Creator.”²³⁶ We are commanded to love and honour our parents;²³⁷ but if they stand in competition with Christ, we are required comparatively to hate them. Christians are enjoined to love their ministers who are over them in the Lord; but, if even the servants of Christ be idolized, it shall be demanded on their behalf, “Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed? Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”²³⁸ We are, doubtless, obliged to love angels, because they are our “brethren,” and are employed as “ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation”;²³⁹ but if any attempt to worship them, they will profess themselves to be what they are, and direct to the worshipping of God.²⁴⁰ Now, if Christ be only a creature, it might have been expected that the numerous commands to love and honour him, should also have been accompanied with some such cautions, lest in complying with them, we should “infringe” upon the honour due to the Father. The great honour to which Christ was exalted above all other creatures, rendered such cautions peculiarly necessary, since love to him would be in the greatest danger of being carried to excess; and it is a fact, that the great body of those whom our opponents will allow to

         

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 17. John 10:30. [AF] John 14:9. [AF] John 14:11. [AF] John 14:23. [AF] Romans 1:25. Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:2. 1 Corinthians 3:5. Hebrews 1:14. Revelation 22:9. [AF]

328

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

have been serious Christians, in almost all ages, have actually worshiped him as God. Yet there is not a single caution against this sort of excess in all the New Testament; nor the least intimation that, in giving glory to the Son, we may possibly “infringe” upon the glory of the Father. On the contrary, when the topic of love to Christ occurs, everything is said to inflame it, and nothing to damp it. There is a becoming jealousy in the Divine Being expressed in other cases, but never in this: if anything of this kind be expressed, it is on the other side. “If a man love me, my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”²⁴¹ “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”²⁴² “The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.”²⁴³ Mr. Kentish, as if he felt no pleasure in discoursing upon the character and work of Christ, as the grounds of love to him, proceeds to remark, with some apparent satisfaction upon certain expressions of it. “From the lips of our divine instructor himself,” he says, “let us learn the lesson of love to him; let us hence be informed in what this principle consists. ‘If a man love me,’ says Jesus, ‘he will keep my words.’²⁴⁴ ‘He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings.’²⁴⁵ ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’²⁴⁶ ‘These things I command you, that ye love one another.’²⁴⁷ Who can here refrain from observing how truly rational is this language, how remote from mystery and enthusiasm? But whilst Christ declares that such as obey his laws, as imbibe his spirit, manifest love to him, let none of his followers be so ignorant and presumptuous as to insist upon other testimonies of affection to their Master. Of better they cannot possibly conceive; upon stronger they cannot possibly rely.”²⁴⁸ I have no dispute with Mr. Kentish concerning what are the proper expressions of love to Christ; but his insinuating that to plead for his deity and atonement as grounds of love to him, is to “insist upon other testimonies of affection towards him,”²⁴⁹ testimonies which are “mysterious and enthusiastic,” is calculated to perplex the subject. To say nothing of the “decency” of his pronouncing upon our conduct, in this instance, as “ignorant and presumptuous,” it is but too manifest that he wishes to confound the reasons of love with the expressions of it, and, under a show of regard for the one, to draw off the reader’s attention from the other. Mr. Kentish

        

John 14:23. [AF] John 12:26. [AF] John 5:22– 23. [AF] John 14:23. John 14:24. John 15:14. John 15:17. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 18 – 19. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 19.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

329

may recollect that the same language is used of love to God as of love to Christ: “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”²⁵⁰ Now an enemy to the infinitely amiable moral character of the Deity, as the primary ground of love to him, might here exclaim with Mr. Kentish, “Let us hence be informed in what the principle of love to God consists; it is to ‘keep his commandments.’ Who can here refrain from observing how truly rational is this language, how remote from mystery and enthusiasm! But while God declares that such as keep his commandments manifest love to him, let none be so ignorant and presumptuous as to insist on other testimonies of affection to him. Let them not talk of contemplating infinite power employed to execute designs which proceed from infinite benevolence, and of filial affection towards God as enkindled by such contemplations.”²⁵¹ Mr. Kentish would probably reply to this effect, the grounds or reasons of love to God are one thing, and the appointed expressions of it another; and your depreciating the former under a pretence of exalting the latter, is as if you were to kill the root in order to preserve the fruit. Such is my reply to Mr. Kentish. From the love of God and Christ, Mr. Kentish proceeds to discourse on the fear of God.²⁵² I do not recollect having advanced anything in my Letters on this subject. I may observe, however, that the definition given of this virtue does not appear to me to answer to the scriptural account of it. It is said to be “the veneration of infinite grandeur.”²⁵³ But this approaches nearer to a definition of admiration than of fear. The moral excellence of the deity, as the object of fear, enters not into it; neither is there anything of a moral nature included in it. Without taking upon me to define this heavenly virtue, I may observe, that a holy dread of offending God, or of incurring his displeasure, enters into its essence. The main objection that I feel to the scheme of my opponent on this head is, that the divine goodness, according to his notion of it, necessarily pursues the ultimate happiness of all creatures, pure or impure, penitent or impenitent, men or devils. This, as I have already stated, undermines that respect to the divine character which is the foundation of both love and fear. That God is the Father of all his creatures is true,²⁵⁴ but it is also true that he is a Father to those that believe in his Son, in such a sense as he is not to the rest of the world. The Jews boasted that God was their Father: but Jesus answered, “If God were your Father, ye would love me.”²⁵⁵ “To as many as received Christ,” and no more, was power given “to become the sons of God, even to them who believed on his name.”²⁵⁶ This adoption by Jesus Christ is not the common heritage of men: it is a subject of

      

1 John 5:3. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency John 8:24. [AF] John 1:12. [AF]

of of of of

the the the the

Genuine Genuine Genuine Genuine

Christian Christian Christian Christian

Doctrine, 12. [AF] Doctrine, 19. [AF] Doctrine, 19. Doctrine, 20. [AF]

330

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

special promise. “Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”²⁵⁷ And it ought to be observed, that it is this evangelical relation and not that of creatures to their Creator that converts our “afflictions into fatherly corrections.” There have been characters in the world, of whom it has been said, “He that made them will not have mercy on them: and he that formed them will show them no favour.”²⁵⁸ These things ought not to be confounded. After considering the fear of God, our author proceeds to discourse on confidence in him.²⁵⁹ In this, as in most other of his discussions, Mr. Kentish appears to me to forget that he is a sinner; representing the Divine Being, and his creature man, as upon terms of the most perfect amity. His persuasion of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Deity begets confidence. But nothing is said of his going to God, under a sense of his helpless and perishing condition as a sinner, and under the warrant of the gospel invitations; or of his confiding in him for eternal salvation. The confidence which Mr. Kentish describes is more suitable to the condition of holy angels, than of guilty creatures, who have incurred the just displeasure of their Maker. There is one subject included in the Scripture exercises of devotion, which Mr. Kentish has passed over, namely, trusting in Christ. Under the article of love to God he considered love to Christ; and trusting in Christ is no less an exercise of Christian devotion than love to him; an exercise too with which our eternal salvation stands connected. “In his name shall the Gentiles trust.”²⁶⁰ “That ye should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”²⁶¹ “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”²⁶² “I know whom I have trusted, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.”²⁶³ In my second Letter I observed, that upon the principles of our opponents, “all trust, or confidence, in Christ for salvation is utterly excluded.”²⁶⁴ And how has Mr. Kentish answered to this charge? By passing it over in silence. This is a serious matter. Oh that, for their own sakes, they could be convinced of the insufficiency of the ground on which they rest their hopes and build upon the foundation that God hath laid in Zion! Uncharitable and uncandid as they consider me, I could water these pages with tears for them. My heart’s desire and

       

2 Corinthians 6:17– 18. [AF] Isaiah 27:11. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 21. [AF] Romans 15:12. [AF] Ephesians 1:12. [AF] Ephesians 1:13. [AF] 2 Timothy 1:12. [AF] See above, p. 62.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

331

prayer to God is that they may be saved. But “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”²⁶⁵ From reasoning, Mr. Kentish proceeds to facts. He calls upon us “to show that, as a body, they are less actuated than others by the spirit of genuine devotion.”²⁶⁶ Mr. Kentish must be sensible that private devotion is a matter that cannot come under public cognizance. In my VIIth Letter, therefore, which was written upon this part of the subject, I did not refer to facts, but contented myself with reasoning on the tendency of principles. It is a circumstance not the most favourable, however, to the devotion of Socinians, that persons, when they embrace their system, though they have previously been in the habit of praying to God, yet are frequently known, at that time, entirely to give it up; or if they practise it, it is by drawing up a written composition, and reading it to the Almighty. Such, I suppose, was Mrs. Barbauld’s Address to the Deity,²⁶⁷ to which Mr. Kentish referred.²⁶⁸ Though I have not seen it, I doubt not that it was an elegant composition; but whether there was any devotion in it is another question. Sure I am, that such things are at a great remove from those prayers and supplications which abounded amongst the primitive Christians, and which have abounded amongst serious Christians of every age. Mr. Kentish should consider too, that the principal part of what I have alleged to the disadvantage of Socinian piety, is taken from the acknowledgments of their own writers. He calls upon his “fellow Christians to show, that as a body, they are less actuated than others by the spirit of genuine devotion,”²⁶⁹ and from his fellow Christians, even in the strictest sense of the term, let him receive an answer. Dr. Priestley confesses that so it seems to be, and Mrs. Barbauld, by manifest consequence, informs us that so it is. “Calvinists,” says the former, “seem to have more of a real principle of religion than Unitarians.”²⁷⁰ “There is still apparent, in that class called serious Christians,” says the latter, “a tenderness in exposing these doctrines, a sort of leaning towards them, as in walking over a precipice one would lean to the safest side.”²⁷¹ What is this but acknowledging that complete Socinians are not distinguished by their seriousness? Mr. Kentish next refers to a number of characters of his own denomination who have been eminent for their piety.²⁷² Whether this account be liable to animadversion, I have no inclination to inquire. To animadvert on the characters of individuals,  1 Corinthians 3:11.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 22. [AF]  Anna Letitia Barbauld, “An Address to the Deity,” in her Poems 3rd ed. (London: Joseph Johnson, 1773), 125 – 130. This poem says nothing about redemption or Christ, but seeks to inculcate a natural piety upon consideration of God as the infinitely glorious creator who, in consideration of our weakness as creatures, condescends to bring us into his presence upon our death.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 25, note. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 22.  Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 101.  Barbauld, Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield’s Enquiry, 169 – 170.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 23, 25. [AF]

332

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

especially on those of the dead, is invidious; and it forms no part of my plan: on the contrary, as I have said before, I have professedly declined it. Let our opponents make the most of their piety; let them muster up all their force; let them claim those as Unitarians when dead whom they refused to acknowledge as such while they were living;²⁷³ I have no apprehensions as to the issue of the contest. Our opponents, however, must not always be indulged in their pretensions. We cannot allow them, for example, to substitute words in the place of actions. If one on their side the question make a speech, or print a sermon, or a set of sermons, in favour of morality, they seem to wish to consider it amongst the evidences of the moral tendency of their principles. It is not Dr. Priestley’s writing on the duty of not living to ourselves, nor Mr. Turner’s publishing a volume of sermons on moral subjects, though applauded by Reviewers, principally, if not entirely, of his own persuasion, that will afford a “practical answer to my Letters on Socinianism.”²⁷⁴ From the divine, Mr. Kentish proceeds to discourse on the social and personal virtues.²⁷⁵ I perceive many things in this part of his performance which would admit of a reply; but nothing that requires any, except what he alleges on the innocence of error. “Liberality,” Mr. Kentish observes, “inclines us to believe that involuntary religious error exposes not men to the displeasure of their Maker.”²⁷⁶ And again, “We assert the innocence of involuntary error. It is the unhappiness of many professors of our religion to consider it as partaking of the nature of sin. Such is the language they use in their writings.”²⁷⁷ Surely Mr. Kentish has not read what he has written against, or he must have noticed that I also have acknowledged

 Dr. Priestley refused to acknowledge Dr. Price as a Unitarian when they were engaged in controversy, though both my opponents now place him in their list. [AF]  See William Wood, A Sermon: Preached, Sept. 7, 1794, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. William Turner (Newcastle, 1794), 50 – 51, note. [AF] William Turner (1714– 1794) was the vicar of Wakefield from 1761 to 1792 and was led to adopt Socinian views by Joseph Priestley. The Monthly Review stated, “The subject of this funeral eulogy appears to have supported, through a long life, a character of high respectability, and to have well deserved the public attestation here given to his merit. The sermon is very happily adapted to the occasion, and is written with great correctness and elegance. It exhibits, in a striking point of light, Mr. Turner’s peculiar merit as a Christian minister” (“Art. 74. A Sermon preached Sept. 7, 1794, on Occasion of the Death of the Rev. William Turner,” Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 17 [June 1795]: 237). Fuller’s statement “of his own persuasion” referred to the consistent apologetic of Socinian writers, who insisted that their views were more truly and properly Christian than those of the orthodox. Writing in 1813, a Unitarian minister (a certain J. H.) defended the evangelical nature of sermons on moral duties enforced with “Christian motives” and references to “the instructions, character, and example of Jesus Christ,” and gave as a prime example Turner’s book of sermons: “No one, however, who has perused the sermons published by Mr. Turner, of Wakefield, will hesitate to allow, that they are in every just sense as truly and strictly evangelical in style, manner and sentiment, as the posthumous discourses of his friend Mr. Lindsey” (J. H., “On a Passage in Mr. Wright’s Journal,” The Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature 8 [April 1813]: 251).  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 25. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 29. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 30. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

333

the innocence of involuntary error. Have I not said, “The mere holding of an opinion, considered abstractedly from the motive, or state of mind, of him that holds it, must be simply an exercise of intellect; and, I am inclined to think, has in it neither good nor evil”?²⁷⁸ Does not Mr. Kentish know that the ground on which I have supposed error relating to the gospel to be sinful is that it is not involuntary? Not that I accuse those who err of knowing that they do so, or of avowing principles which in their conscience they do not believe; this would not be error, but gross dishonesty. Voluntary error is that which arises from an evil bias of heart or a dislike to the truth. Such is the account given of certain characters by a sacred writer: “Because they received not the love of the truth—God sent them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie.”²⁷⁹ These men were not apprized of their being in an error; they believed their lie: but this belief arose from a dislike of truth; and it was this that denominated it voluntary and sinful. What is it that Mr. Kentish would persuade his readers that I believe? “The mere conclusions of the understanding,” he says, “where the will is unconcerned, cannot surely participate of guilt”; and who thinks they can? “Guilt,” he adds, “then only attaches itself to error when men wilfully and indolently refuse to employ the means of better information which are put into their hands.”²⁸⁰ Very well; and who imagines the contrary? From these principles, which Mr. Kentish seems willing to have considered as the exclusive property of himself and his brethren, he proceeds to draw certain useful improvements: “By these considerations, my fellow Christians,” he says, “we are restrained from placing ourselves in the chair of infallibility, from rashly judging upon the present state, and the future doom, of our virtuous, though, it may be, mistaken brethren.”²⁸¹ Part of this is, no doubt, very good; it is highly proper that fallible creatures should make no pretence to infallibility: But how can Mr. Kentish say that they do not judge upon the present state of others, when, in the same sentence, he pronounces some men “virtuous,” and calls them “brethren”? Will he give the name of “virtuous” to every man in the world? If not, he occupies the seat of judgment as really as I do: his censure, therefore, does not affect my judging upon “the present state of men,” for he does the same, and that in the same breath; but my not acknowledging those as “virtuous Christian brethren,” whom he accounts so. But, say our opponents, it is illiberal and presumptuous in you to attribute men’s errors on divine subjects to an evil bias of heart. If they were not attributed to this cause in the Scriptures, I grant it would be so; but it is neither illiberal nor presumptuous to view things as they are there represented. I have no more inclination than Mr. Kentish to occupy the “chair of infallibility,”²⁸² but I consider it is a part of my     

Letter X. [AF] See above, p. 170. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 – 11. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 31. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 31. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 31.

334

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

proper work, and that of every other Christian, to judge of the meaning of his decisions who does occupy it. Produce me an example from the New Testament of a single character who imbibed and taught false doctrine, and who was treated by the apostles as innocent. How different from this is the conduct of Paul, and Peter, and John, and Jude.²⁸³ Nay, produce me a single example of error in matters of religion amongst good men that is treated as innocent in the Holy Scriptures. Are not the tenets of some amongst the Corinthians, who denied the resurrection, called “evil communications,” which would “corrupt good manners”? Were not the errors of the Galatians called “disobedience” to the truth; and were they not reproached on this account as “foolish,” and in a sort “bewitched,” and as needing to have Christ “again formed in them”? Did not our Lord accuse his own disciples, whose minds were blinded by their notions of an earthly kingdom, with folly and slowness of heart?²⁸⁴ In things purely natural, men may think justly, or make mistakes, without any degree of goodness on the one side, or evil on the other; and even in things of a moral nature, if our errors arose either from natural incapacity, or the want of sufficient means of information, they would be excusable; but never, that I recollect, do the Scriptures represent errors of the latter description, especially those which relate to the gospel way of salvation, as arising from these causes. They teach us that “wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein”;²⁸⁵ intimating that the errors which men make concerning the way of salvation do not arise from the want of natural capacity, but of a way-faring spirit, or a true desire to walk in it. I am not conscious of retaining any error, yet there is little doubt but that I do; from having discovered many in my past life, I have reason to suspect that there are many more about me undiscovered. But whatever they be, I suppose they are owing to some sinful prejudice of which I am not aware; and I know not that I am obliged to think differently of the errors of other people. I perceive Mr. Kentish himself can admit the morality of opinion where himself or a fellow creature is the object of it. He pleads for liberality of sentiment (by which he seems to intend an equally good opinion of men, notwithstanding their errors) as a virtue, a virtue in which he thinks his brethren to excel. He must therefore consider its opposite as a vice, a vice which operates to our disadvantage. Now, I would ask Mr. Kentish, as before I asked Mr. Lindsey, “supposing that I am in an error, in thinking amiss of my fellow creatures, why should it not be as innocent as thinking amiss of Christ? Why ought I to be reproached as an illiberal, uncharitable bigot, for the one, while no one ought to think the worse of me for the other?” I wish someone of our opponents would answer this question.

 Galatians 1:7, 8; 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:6; Jude 4. [AF]  1 Corinthians 15:33, 34; Galatians 3:1; 4:19; Luke 24:25. [AF]  Isaiah 35:8.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

335

If “the language of liberality is,” what Mr. Kentish says it is, “that, in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted,”²⁸⁶ we can assure him that we are not such strangers to it as he may be apt to imagine. Such language not only approves itself to our judgments, but rejoices our hearts. And if bigotry be, as he defines it, “such an inordinate attachment to our own modes of faith and worship as prompts us to have no dealings with those who prefer others, to think of them with unkindness, and to act towards them with violence,”²⁸⁷ provided he do not extend his dealings to Christian fellowship, which, according to his note in page 44,²⁸⁸ he does not, we can cordially unite with him in reprobating it. Liberality and candour of this description may exist, as Mr. Kentish observes, in harmony with zeal for religious principle. But if liberality must incline us to treat errors of a moral and religious nature, especially those which relate to the gospel way of salvation, as mere mistakes of the understanding, “in which the will is unconcerned,”²⁸⁹ it is a kind of virtue to which we make no pretence; and if bigotry consists in the reverse of this, we have no objection to be thought bigots, believing as we do, that such bigotry is abundantly recommended in the Holy Scriptures. But “it is impossible, surely,” says my opponent, “that, maintaining this opinion, they should regard the man whose religious sentiments differ from theirs with perfect complacency, satisfaction, and benevolence.”²⁹⁰ Where then did Mr. Kentish learn to confound “perfect complacency and satisfaction” with “benevolence?”²⁹¹ To exercise the former towards characters who renounce what we consider as the fundamental principles of the gospel, or even towards any man but “for the truth’s sake that dwelleth in him,”²⁹² is in our esteem sinful; but the latter ought to be exercised towards all mankind, whatever be their principles or characters. I cannot be conscious of another’s feelings; but, for my own part, I find no difficulty in this matter arising from my religious principles; and it is a satisfaction to my mind to see not only the apostle of the Gentiles ardently desiring the salvation of his countrymen the Jews, but my Lord and Saviour himself weeping over them, while each abhorred both their principles

 Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 29. The biblical reference is to Acts 10:35.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 29.  Kentish wrote in his note: “A late writer has pleaded, with much zeal, for the union of all Christians in public worship, however opposite be their religious sentiments. To many of his observations I readily subscribe; and most chearfully will I give to every man that owns Jesus to be the Christ, the right hand of Christian fellowship. But can a serious believer in the Trinity, and a consistent Unitarian Christian, be rationally expected to join in the same prayers? The former addresses his devotions to three […] distinct beings, the latter to ‘one God even the Father’” (Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 44).  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 31.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 30. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 30.  2 John 2.

336

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

and their practice. If this be a “persecuting” principle, Paul, and even our Saviour, must both have been persecutors. Mr. Kentish, having thus reviewed the social and personal virtues, calls upon “fair and unbiassed observation to determine what is the character which they bear in their commerce with mankind.”²⁹³ “If,” says he, “it be not more exemplary than that of other Christians, it is not, perhaps, in any degree, inferior.”²⁹⁴ Mr. Kentish knows very well that the authorities from which I drew a contrary conclusion were no other than those of Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham. “It cannot be denied,” says the former, “that many of those who judge so truly concerning particular tenets in religion have attained to that cool, unbiassed temper of mind, in consequence of becoming more indifferent to religion in general, and to all the modes and doctrines of it.”²⁹⁵ “Men who are the most indifferent to the practice of religion,” says the latter, “and whose minds, therefore, are least attached to any set of principles, will ever be the first to see the absurdities of a popular superstition, and to embrace a rational system of faith.”²⁹⁶ Such was the method in which these writers attempted to account for the alleged fact, “that rational Christians were indifferent to practical religion”;²⁹⁷ this fact they could not deny; and by attempting to account for it, they tacitly admitted it; yea, Mr. Belsham expressly grants that “there has been some plausible ground for the accusation.”²⁹⁸ To the authority of Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham I may now add that of Dr. Toulmin and Mr. Kentish. The former, after the example of his predecessors, endeavours to account for their “neglecting the culture of the heart and affections,”²⁹⁹ and the latter acknowledges, without scruple, that, “with less restraint than is practised by some of their brethren, they enter into the world, and indulge in its amusements.”³⁰⁰ But Mr. Kentish, though he grants the above, denies that there is anything in it that can be fairly improved to their disadvantage. “Unless it can be shown,” he says, “that we so use the world as to use it to excess (referring to 1 Corinthians 7:31), we shall take no shame to ourselves on this account.”³⁰¹ It is worthwhile to remark the progress which our opponents make in matters of morality. Dr. Priestley acknowledged much the same as Mr. Kentish, that “there is a greater apparent conformity to the world in Unitarians than is observable in others”;³⁰² but he does not undertake to justify it: all he attempts is to account for it in a way that might reflect no dishonour

         

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 95. Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100.

Doctrine, 31. [AF] Doctrine, 31. [AF]

Doctrine, 36. [AF] Doctrine, 32. [AF] Doctrine, 32.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

337

upon Unitarianism. He represents those amongst them who thus “lean to a life of dissipation” as being only “speculative Unitarians,” “men of the world,” and distinguishes them from “serious Christians.”³⁰³ And when he comes to weigh the virtue of Trinitarians and Unitarians in a balance, he allows that conformity to the world, which is to be found in the latter, to be a detraction from their excellence; and only pleads that they have other virtues which counterbalance it, or which, “upon the whole,” cause their character to “approach nearer to the proper temper of Christianity than the other.”³⁰⁴ Mr. Belsham also, though he speaks of rational Christians as having “often been represented as indifferent to practical religion,”³⁰⁵ and admits that “there has been some plausible ground for the accusation”;³⁰⁶ yet does not justify it, but expresses a hope that it will be “only for a time”; and that, at length, those who give occasion for such accusations will “have their eyes opened, and feel the benign influence of their principles, and demonstrate the excellency of their faith by the superior dignity and worth of their character.”³⁰⁷ But how different from all this is the conduct of Mr. Kentish. Dr. Priestley apologises; Mr. Belsham hopes; but Mr. Kentish, despairing, it should seem, of things growing better, and refusing to “take shame on the account,” boldly justifies it; yea, more, suggests that such conformity to the world is “not only lawful, but deserving of praise.”³⁰⁸ This is carrying matters with a high hand. From Dr. Priestley’s account of things, one might have supposed that though there were “great numbers” of these conformists to the world amongst the Unitarians, yet they were a kind of excrescences of the body, and distinguishable from it, as “men of the world” are distinguishable from “serious Christians”; but according to Mr. Kentish, it is their general character, and they are not ashamed of it; nay, they consider it as “not only lawful, but deserving of praise”!³⁰⁹ That we are allowed, in the passage to which Mr. Kentish refers, to use this world, is true: men are allowed to form conjugal connexions, to buy and sell, and to rejoice in all their labour. It is necessary, however, that even these enjoyments should be chastised by an habitual sense of their brevity and uncertainty. That this, or any other passage of Scripture, should be pleaded in favour of an indulgence in the amusements of the world is beyond anything that I have lately witnessed from the pen of a Christian minister. My opponent proceeds to his head of enquiry, viz. “What assistance, support, and consolation does the Unitarian doctrine afford in the season of temptation, affliction, and death?”

      

Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 98 – 100. Priestley, Discourses on Various Subjects, 100. [AF] Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32. Belsham, Importance of Truth, 33. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 32, 38. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 38.

338

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

Mr. Kentish here quotes a number of scriptures, which, allowing him his own exposition of them, can scarcely be said to express a single sentiment peculiar to what he calls Unitarianism. His whole aim in this part of his subject seems to be to prove that Unitarians may, by the principles which they hold in common with others, be possessed of something superior to “calmness of mind.”³¹⁰ I must say, I never saw anything in any of their writings that appeared to me to bear any tolerable resemblance to the joys of the gospel. I admit, however, that what I have advanced on this subject might have been better expressed. If, instead of affirming that “the utmost happiness to which the Socinian scheme pretends is calmness of mind,”³¹¹ I had said, the utmost happiness which the peculiar principles of Socinians are adapted to promote is calmness of mind, it would have been more accurate. My opponent’s being obliged to have recourse to common principles as the springs of joy and consolation, is a sufficient proof that those which are peculiar to his scheme, as a Socinian, were altogether unadapted to his purpose. He may wish to have it thought, indeed, that Christ’s being “in all things made like unto his brethren,”³¹² and his resurrection being that of a man, are terms expressive of his peculiar sentiments. So he insinuates.³¹³ But let any person consult the first of these passages,³¹⁴ and he will find, that he who was in all things made like unto his brethren “took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham”;³¹⁵ that is to say, he existed prior to his being a man, and was voluntary in choosing to assume the human rather than the angelic nature. By culling single sentences, without taking their connexion, we may prove anything we please; but in so doing we abuse the Scriptures rather than interpret them. That the resurrection of Christ was the resurrection of a man no one questions; but to infer hence that he was a mere man is drawing conclusions which are not contained in the premises. The scheme of our opponents is so far from being adapted to promote evangelical joy, that it leads them, in general, to despise it as enthusiastic. As an example of this, I cited the critique of the Monthly Reviewers upon President Edwards’s History of Redemption;³¹⁶ and such examples might be multiplied almost without end. But if men were not strangers to the sacred joys of religion themselves, how is it possible to conceive that they could despise them in others? The third head of inquiry is next introduced, viz. “What is the degree of efficacy which the Unitarian doctrine possesses, in respect to the conversion of profligates and unbelievers?”³¹⁷ On another occasion, Mr. Kentish tells his auditors, that “con-

       

Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Hebrews 2:17. Kentish, Moral Tendency Hebrews 2:16 – 17. [AF] Hebrews 2:16. See above, p. 225. Kentish, Moral Tendency

of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 34. of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 34. of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 34– 35. [AF]

of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 35. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

339

cerning the natural influence of religious opinions, the world will judge, not from abstract reasoning and fancied tendencies, but from our dispositions and our lives,”³¹⁸ that is to say, from facts. But on this subject he has produced neither the one nor the other. “We claim to embrace,” he says, “and allow no other doctrine than what Jesus and his apostles taught.”³¹⁹ True; but the question is, if their claim be admissible, how comes it to pass that their doctrine has no better effect? Mr. Kentish answers, “The fact is to be explained by the prevalence of human corruptions.”³²⁰ Is it a fact, then, that men are more corrupt amongst Socinians than in those congregations where the doctrine of atonement through the blood of Christ is taught and believed? But, perhaps, what we call conversion will not be admitted by our opponents as genuine. “We reject,” says Mr. Kentish, “and reason and the Scriptures, we think, authorize us to reject, every pretence to sudden conversion. True conversion from sin to holiness we regard as the work of time and labour.”³²¹ If it were necessary to examine this subject, the conversion pleaded for by Mr. Kentish might appear as mean in our esteem as ours does in his. But I desire no other criterion of true conversion in this case than that by which the end is accomplished. Where I see a man turned from sin to holiness, I call him a converted man. That such a change is sometimes gradual is admitted; but this is not always the case; neither was it in the primitive ages. I know very well that Dr. Priestley, as well as Mr. Kentish, considers all sudden changes as nugatory, and supposes that conversion is a work of time and labour. Upon this principle he affirms that “all late repentance, especially after long and confirmed habits of vice, is absolutely and necessarily ineffectual.”³²² That our opponents should imbibe such an opinion has nothing surprising in it; but that they should pretend that the “Scriptures authorize it,”³²³ is somewhat extraordinary. Was not the repentance of Zaccheus, and that of the thief upon the cross, a late repentance, and yet effectual?³²⁴ Was the repentance of either of them the effect of long time and labour? Were the Jews under Peter’s sermon, the jailer and his household,³²⁵ or any others of whom there is an account in the Acts of the Apostles, converted in the manner Mr. Kentish describes? If, however, the whole that was to be attributed to God, in this change, were no more than Mr. Kentish supposes; if it consisted merely in his furnishing us with “the powers of willing and acting,”³²⁶ it might well be considered as a work of time and labour; or rather, as a work that time, in its utmost extent, would never be able to accomplish.

        

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Priestley, Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity, 156. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Luke 19:8, 23:42. Acts 2:37, 16:31. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian

Doctrine, 45. [AF] Doctrine, 36. [AF] Doctrine, 36. Doctrine, 36. Doctrine, 36.

Doctrine, 36.

340

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

But what end has Mr. Kentish to answer by his objecting to sudden conversion, and representing it as a work of time and labour? Does he mean to suggest that their doctrine has not yet had time to operate? If not, what difference does it make to the argument? We call nothing conversion, amongst us, but that in which a change of disposition and life appears; and if this end were accomplished amongst them in any considerable degree, whether it were suddenly or gradually, he need not be at a loss for facts to support the efficacy of his doctrine. Instead of these, Mr. Kentish is obliged to content himself with asserting that “repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, rightly understood, have as intimate a connexion with their views of the Christian dispensation as with those of their brethren.”³²⁷ And with hoping that “there are those in their number who have found the plain, the simple, yet the despised gospel of Christ, the power of God unto salvation.”³²⁸ I shall not controvert the remarks of my opponent respecting the Jews and respecting unbelievers who reside in a Christian country. It is true, as he observes, “little can be said on either side, inasmuch as the experiment has never, perhaps, been fairly and entirely made by both the parties.”³²⁹ Meanwhile, I perfectly acquiesce in the observation that “Eventually, without doubt, that representation of Christianity which has Scripture and,”³³⁰ it may be, “antiquity for its basis, which is simple in its nature, and conformable to our best ideas of the Divine character and government, will everywhere prevail.”³³¹ On the subject of missions to the heathen, I have only to observe that if other Socinian writers had said nothing worse than Mr. Kentish, my remarks on that subject would not have appeared. And lastly, Mr. Kentish proceeds to consider, “How far the admission of Unitarian doctrine is adapted to promote a veneration for the Scriptures, and to fortify our faith in Christianity.”³³² The principle which I assumed, at the outset of my enquiry on this subject, was this, “If any man venerate the authority of Scripture, he must receive it as being what it professes to be, and for all the purposes for which it professes to be written. If the Scriptures profess to be divinely inspired, and assume to be the infallible standard of faith and practice, we must either receive them as such, or, if we would be consistent, disown the writers as impostors.”³³³ After stating this principle as the ground or datum of the argument, I proceeded to examine into the professions of the sacred writers. Now I would ask Mr. Kentish whether the above position be not unobjectionable as a ground of argument? Has it not the property which every ground of argument ought to possess, that of being admitted or admissible by

      

Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency Kentish, Moral Tendency See above, p. 204.

of of of of of of

the the the the the the

Genuine Genuine Genuine Genuine Genuine Genuine

Christian Christian Christian Christian Christian Christian

Doctrine, Doctrine, Doctrine, Doctrine, Doctrine, Doctrine,

36. 36. 36 – 37. 37. 37. 38. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

341

both parties? And if so, why has he not joined issue upon it? I have no inclination to “view my opponent with the eye of jealousy and suspicion”;³³⁴ but what motive can be assigned for his passing over this ground, and substituting in the place of it such a definition of veneration for the Scriptures as leaves out the ideas of inspiration and infallibility? It is true he has used the former of these terms, but it is manifest that he considers the apostles in no other light than honest, well-informed historians. “To venerate the Scriptures,” says he, “is to receive and value them as containing a revelation of the will of God to man; it is to investigate them with diligence and impartiality; to interpret them fairly and consistently; to be guided by the natural, plain, and uniform sense of them, in articles of faith and on points of conduct. Then, it should seem, do we entertain a just and correct view of their inspiration, when we regard them as the writings of men who derived from the very best sources of information their acquaintance with the history and doctrine of Christ; of men whose integrity is beyond all question; of men who credibly relate facts and discourses which either themselves witnessed, or which they deliver on the authority of the spectators and the hearers; and who faithfully teach that word of God with a knowledge of which they were furnished by their master, and by miraculous communications subsequent to his ascension.”³³⁵ Whether this representation sufficiently expresses a proper veneration for the Scriptures is itself a matter of dispute. It is therefore very improper for a ground of argument, and especially for being substituted in the place of a position that was liable to no objection from any quarter. Why did not Mr. Kentish admit my general position, that “If any man venerate the authority of Scripture, he must receive it as being what it professes to be, and for all the purposes for which it professes to be written,”³³⁶ and why did he not on this ground join issue in an examination of the professions of the sacred writers? Such a conduct would have been fair and manly; but that which Mr. Kentish has substituted in the place of it, is evasive, and unworthy of a candid reasoner. Mr. Kentish having given us his opinion of the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the veneration that is due to them, thus concludes, “If this be to venerate the Scriptures, our principles, I must be allowed to think, are far indeed from being unfriendly to such veneration.”³³⁷ What does this conclusion amount to more than this, that if his notions of divine inspiration may be admitted as a standard; why, then their veneration for the Scriptures will be found, at least in his opinion, to come up to it! Assuredly the question was not, whether the veneration which our opponents exercise towards the Scriptures be such as corresponds with their own notions of their inspiration; but whether it agrees with the veneration which the Scriptures themselves require. Mr. Kentish must excuse me, if I remind him of the resemblance of his conduct    

Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 45. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 38 – 39. [AF] See above, p. 204. Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 39. [AF]

342

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

to that of persons who “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves amongst themselves, are not wise.”³³⁸ But further, I am not sure that Mr. Kentish’s conclusion will follow even from his own premises. There is so much disrespect discovered in the writings of our opponents towards the Holy Scriptures, of which I have attempted to give evidence in my XIIth Letter that, even upon Mr. Kentish’s own professed views, they come miserably short of veneration. Mr. Kentish acknowledges that veneration “consists in being guided by the natural, plain, and uniform sense of them, in articles of faith, and on points of conduct.”³³⁹ But the Monthly Reviewers assert that “the nature and design of the Scriptures is not to settle disputed theories, nor to decide on controverted questions, even in religion and morality—that they are intended, not so much to make us wiser, as to make us better; not to solve the doubts, but rather to make us obey the dictates of our consciences.”³⁴⁰ And how are all the subtractions of Dr. Priestley to be reconciled with Mr. Kentish’s criterion of veneration? He supposes the sacred penmen to have written upon subjects “to which they had not given much attention, and concerning which they were not possessed of sufficient means of information.”³⁴¹ Mr. Kentish, it is true, may not be accountable for the assertions of the Monthly Reviewers, or of Dr. Priestley; but then his conclusions should have been more confined; instead of affirming, that “if this be to venerate the Scriptures, their principles are far from being unfriendly to such veneration,”³⁴² he should only have asserted it with respect to his own. My opponent proceeds, “But if reverence of these sacred records of our faith is to be manifested by a dread of examining them, lest their doctrines be found in contradiction to our present opinions, or by a blind acquiescence in the unavoidable inaccuracies of transcribers, and in the no less unavoidable, but more injurious, errors of translators; or by a bigoted opposition to every attempt towards an improved knowledge and version of them; or by judging of the truths which they teach rather from the sound of detached passages, than from the signification and tenor of the context; such reverence we disclaim. Sincerely attached to the sacred volume, against such reverence we steadfastly protest.”³⁴³

 2 Corinthians 10:12.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 38.  “Art. 51. Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, January 30th, 1793: Being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of K. Charles the First. With an Appendix, Concerning the Political Principles of Calvin. By Samuel Lord Bishop of St. David’s,” Monthly Review; Or, Literary Journal, Enlarged 10 (March 1793): 357. [AF]  Joseph Priestley, Defences of Unitarianism for the Year 1787, Containing Letters to the Rev. Dr. Geddes, to the Rev. Dr. Price, Part II. And to the Candidates for Orders in the Two Universities. Part II. Relating to Mr. Howes’s Appendix to his fourth Volume of Observation on Books, a Letter by an Under-Graduate of Oxford, Dr. Croft’s Bampton Lectures, and several other Publications (Birmingham: Pearson and Rollason, 1788), 67.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 39.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 39 – 40. [AF]

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

343

But how if reverence to these sacred records should not consist in a dread of examining them, or in a blind acquiescence in the inaccuracies of transcribers, and the errors of translators; or in a bigoted opposition to any attempt towards an improved knowledge or version of them; or in judging of the truths which they teach rather from the sound of detached passages, than from the signification and tenor of the context; how if this should prove to be a kind of reverence for which Mr. Kentish’s opponent does not plead any more than himself; and how if our objections should not be against examination, but against the conclusions which some persons draw; not against correcting, but corrupting the translation; not against attending to the scope of the writers, but against torturing them to speak contrary to their real intentions; will it not follow, in this case, that this “steadfast protest” is against a nonentity, and that this mighty triumph is over a man of straw? It is a usual way of writing, first to lay down a proposition, and then to establish it by evidence. In this manner I have generally proceeded. Mr. Kentish, in quoting my language, has more than once taken simply the proposition, taking no notice of the evidence by which it was supported, and then accused me of dealing in peremptory assertions.³⁴⁴ Such is his conduct in reference to what I have written on the tendency of Socinianism to infidelity.³⁴⁵ Mr. Kentish is welcome to call the positions which I have advanced “calumny,” or by what other name he pleases; let but the evidence with which they are supported be considered in connexion with them, and if they will not stand the test of examination, let them share the fate they deserve. As to what my opponent alleges concerning what it is that denominates anyone a professing Christian, and his appeal to the Acts of the Apostles,³⁴⁶ I have already said what I judge necessary on that subject in my reply to Dr. Toulmin, where also I have adduced some additional evidence of the tendency of Socinianism to Deism. I have only one more remark to make on Mr. Kentish; it respects the meaning of our Lord’s words in John 14:28, “My Father is greater than I.” The sense which has commonly been put upon this passage, both by Trinitarians and Anti-trinitarians, appears to me to be beside the scope of the writer; nor is that of Mr. Kentish in my judgment more plausible. I agree with him, “that it is not the mere abstract doctrine of his Father’s superiority which he designed to assert”;³⁴⁷ or rather I think, that it expresses no comparison whatever between the person of the Father and that of the Son. The comparison appears evidently, to me, to respect the state of exaltation with the Father and the state of humiliation which he then sustained. “If ye loved me,” saith he, “ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for my Father is greater than I.”³⁴⁸ The glory and happiness which my Father possesses, and which I go to possess with him, is greater than anything I can here enjoy: your love to me, there    

See Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 29, 35. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 40, note. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 41. [AF] Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 49. John 14:28.

344

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

fore, if it were properly regulated, instead of prompting you to wish to detain me here, would rather incline you to rejoice in my departure.³⁴⁹ But though I disagree with Mr. Kentish in his sense of this passage of Scripture, I perfectly agree with him in the general sentiment with which he concludes his performance, that “the season may not be far distant when systems which assume the Christian name shall, like fabrics erected upon the sand, be overthrown by a mighty fall,” but “that real Christianity has nothing to fear.”³⁵⁰ And I may add, that it is with sacred satisfaction I anticipate the time when all that exalteth itself against Christ, let it affect whose systems it may, shall utterly fall, and nothing shall be left standing but the simple, unadulterated doctrine of the cross. I shall conclude my reply to both Dr. Toulmin and Mr. Kentish, with a brief Review of the Reviewers. What has fallen under my observation is contained in the Monthly and Analytical Reviews, and the Protestant Dissenters’ Magazine. In the Monthly Review Enlarged, my opponents had reason to expect, not merely a friend and patron, but a respectable and powerful ally. The managers of that work were parties in the controversy; as much so as Dr. Priestley, or Mr. Belsham, or Mr. Lindsey, or Mrs. Barbauld. They were called upon, either to defend their allegations, or to relinquish them. But, like the late Empress of the North by the allies,³⁵¹ they have been a long time in raising their quota, and at last have mustered up about half a dozen lines! In these lines, which are given in a review of Mr. Kentish’s sermon, they have, with a design sufficiently apparent, preserved a sullen silence respecting the piece which gave occasion for it. “From an impartial perusal of this sensible and well-written discourse,” they tell us, “the candid reader may perhaps apprehend that

 See Calvin and Henry upon the place. [AF] Fuller’s library contained a 1610 printing of John Calvin’s commentary upon the Gospel of John in A Harmonie upon the three Euangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, with the Commentarie of M. Iohn Caluine … Whereunto is also added a Commentarie vpon the Euangelist S. Iohn, by the same authour (London: Thomas Adams, 1610). Christopher Fetherstone had translated Calvin’s commentary on the Gospel of John, including the sentence to which Fuller alluded: “Christ doth not compare his fathers diuinitie with his owne in this place: neither doth he compare his human nature with the diuine essence of the father: but he rather compareth his present estate with the heauenly glory, whereunto he should be receiued immediately” (The Holy Gospel of Iesus Christ, according to Iohn, with the Commentary of M. Iohn Caluine, 341). Fuller owned the third edition of the Puritan commentator Matthew Henry’s (1662– 1714) six-volume An Exposition of All the Books of the Old and New Testament. Henry’s relevant observations are as follows: “His state with his Father would be much more excellent and glorious than his present state; […] His going to the Father himself, and bringing all his followers to him there, was the ultimate end of his undertaking, and therefore greater than the means. […] The disciples of Christ should show that they love him by their rejoicing in the glories of his exaltation, rather than by lamenting the sorrows of his humiliation, and rejoicing that he is gone to his Father, where he would be, and where we shall be shortly with him” (Matthew Henry, An Exposition of All the Books of the Old and New Testament, 3rd ed. [London, 1725], 5:570).  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 48.  A reference to Catherine II (1729 – 1796) of Russia, more commonly known as Catherine the Great.

A Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon

345

the important objects of piety and virtue may be advanced on the Unitarian plan, although he should not himself embrace it.”³⁵² Brief, cautious, and sullen as this review may appear, it is the best that my opponents can either of them boast. It is true, it contains merely opinion, and that is expressed in very general terms; but herein, for ought I know, may consist its excellency. The other Reviewers, as the reader will presently perceive, by descending to particulars, and attempting to back their opinion with reasoning, have ruined the cause, and injured those whom it was their intention to serve. The Analytical Review of Dr. Toulmin’s performance is too long for insertion here.³⁵³ The substance of it amounts to no more than this, that the ground on which I have conducted the controversy is not a fair one. But this implies a reflection on the wisdom of Dr. Toulmin, for pretending to meet me upon this ground; and a still greater reflection upon Mr. Kentish, for engaging upon it, and acknowledging that, “in religion the maxim, ye shall know them by their fruits, is a maxim unquestionably of high authority, evident reason, and familiar application”;³⁵⁴ yea, more, that it is a criterion “by which the world will judge concerning the natural influence of our religious opinions.”³⁵⁵ It also implies a conviction on the part of the Reviewer, that his cause is lost. Like a second in a duel, he informs the world that it is no wonder his friend has fallen, for he fought upon unfair ground! If this review has been of any use to Dr. Toulmin, it is by an attempt to cover his retreat. By raising an outcry against the professed ground of the controversy, a kind of apology is formed for its being shifted, and the reader’s attention is insensibly turned off from the Doctor’s false reasoning, and reconciled to what he has advanced foreign to the subject from the Acts of the Apostles. But whatever service might be afforded by this, it is all undone by what follows; for after having raised an outcry against reasoning on the ground of moral tendency, he discovers an inclination to make the utmost use of it that he is able. As Dr. Toulmin, notwithstanding his shifting the ground of the argument, has no objection to exhibit all the morality on his side, that he can muster up; so neither has the Analytical Reviewer any objection to repeat it after him. The one can tell of their virtuous individuals, and the other can echo the account, though both ought to have known that it is not from the character of individuals, but of the general body, that I proposed to reason.

 “Art. 74. The Moral Tendency of the genuine Christian Doctrine … By John Kentish,” Monthly Review; Or Literary Journal, Enlarged 22 (January 1797): 118. [AF]  “Art. XIX. The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine Considered; in a Series of Letters to the Reverend Andrew Fuller: Occasioned by His Publication entitled The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency. To which is added the Second Edition of an Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. By Joshua Toulmin,” Analytical Review 24 (October 1796): 394– 396. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 5.  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 46.

346

Socinianism Indefensible, on the Ground of Its Moral Tendency

If the critique of the Analytical Review be weak, that in the Protestant Dissenters’ Magazine is still weaker. This Reviewer observes that “the method Dr. Toulmin has taken to show the modern tendency of Unitarian principles is plain and solid; it is one recommended by his antagonist, an appeal to facts. He examines every specimen of apostolical preaching recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; each of which, he endeavours to show, is in unison with Unitarian sentiments. From this the inference is very clear, that the world was converted, and the sinners of mankind were brought to faith and repentance, by the preaching of the simple Unitarian doctrine, directly contrary to what Mr. Fuller has advanced, that ‘Socinian writers cannot pretend that their doctrine has been used to convert profligate sinners to the love of God and holiness.’”³⁵⁶ Dr. Toulmin has appealed to facts, and it seems the writer of this article does not know but that they were facts in point. That they are not so, must be evident on the slightest reflection; for they can be of no use to Dr. Toulmin, unless he first prove that the apostles were of his sentiments; and if this be proved, they can be of no use afterwards, because the point in question is supposed to be decided without them. Whether Dr. Toulmin was aware of this, I shall not pretend to determine; it is evident, however, that his affecting to join issue in an appeal to facts,³⁵⁷ has every property of a feint, or of an attempt to keep up the appearance of a regular pitched battle, while in reality he was effecting a retreat. But whatever may be thought of Dr. Toulinin’s acquaintedness or unacquaintedness with what he was doing, this writer appears to know nothing of the matter. He does not know that the Doctor’s repairing to the primitive Christians for examples of the conversion of profligates to the love of God and holiness, instead of proving “the direct contrary” to what I had affirmed, affords the strongest confirmation of it. It did not occur to him, it seems, that if Dr. Toulmin could have found, or pretended to find, examples near home, he would not have gone to so great a distance in search of then.

 “2. The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine considered; in a Series of Letters to the Rev. Andrew Fuller: Occasioned by His Publication entitled, ‘The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, as to Their Moral Tendency.’ To which is added, the Second Edition of an Essay on the Grounds of Love to Christ. By Joshua Toulmin,” Protestant Dissenter’s Magazine 3 (1796): 394. [AF]  Kentish, Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine, 6. [AF]

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise on Christianity (Written in 1798) Mr. Editor, Soon after Mr. B[elsham] had removed to Hackney, he printed his sermon on the importance of truth, in which he strongly maintained the superior moral efficacy of his principles. Amongst other things he affirmed, that “those who were singularly pious with [Calvinistic] principles, could not have failed to have been much better, if they had imbibed a different creed.”¹ Several things of the same kind were thrown out by other writers of the party. These pretensions were soon after examined by the author of The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems compared, etc. On the appearance of that publication, though Dr. Priestley could not be persuaded to read it, yet as Mr. Belsham, it is said, assured him, “it was well worthy of his perusal,”² it may be presumed that he himself has perused it. And as he is equally concerned to defend his assertion, and has been called upon to do so, it might have been expected that he would have come forward and answered that publication: but whatever be the reason, he has always shown himself averse to such an undertaking. Two of his brethren, however, have stood forward, namely, Dr. Toulmin and Mr. Kentish, but neither of them has ventured to vindicate him, or Dr. Priestley. A reply also to these publications has appeared by the author of The Systems compared, and lately Mr. Kentish has published Strictures upon that reply.³ There is a certain point in controversy at which it is proper to discontinue it. “When,” as Dr. Watts observes, “little words and occasional expressions are dwelt upon, which have no necessary

This piece was originally published as a review essay under the title, “Reflections on certain Passages in Mr. Belsham’s Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise,” Protestant Dissenter’s Magazine 5 (1798): 226 – 231. When it was published, Fuller chose “Gaius” as his nom de plume. Fuller’s “Reflections” did not appear in the 1802 printing of his responses to the Socinians, but was included in Joseph Belcher’s edition of The Complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, 2:288 – 291. In this edition, the work follows immediately upon Fuller’s Reply to Mr. Kentish’s Sermon. The work also appeared in J. W. Morris, ed., Miscellaneous Pieces on Various Subjects, being the Last Remains of the Rev. Andrew Fuller (London: Wightman and Cramp, 1826), 29 – 35. The following text adheres to the original version published in the Protestant Dissenter’s Magazine.  Thomas Belsham, The Importance of Truth, and the Duty of Making an Open Profession of It (London: H. Goldney, 1790), 30.  The source of this quote is unknown. It may have been a conversational remark that had been reported to Fuller.  John Kentish, Strictures upon the Reply of Mr. A. Fuller, to Mr. Kentish’s Discourse, Entitled, The Moral Tendency of the Genuine Christian Doctrine (London: J. Johnson, 1798). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-004

348

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review

connexion with the grand point in view,”⁴ and a serious investigation becomes likely to degenerate into vain wrangling, it is best to cease. When it comes to this, the public mind says Desist; and with this decision it becomes a writer, instead of tenaciously contending for the last word, respectfully to acquiesce. To this may be added, when the misstatements of an opponent are numerous, his sentiments sufficiently explicit, and his expositions of Scripture, with all his critical accoutrements, too absurd to be regarded by serious and thinking minds, the continuation of a controversy is not more tedious to a reader than it must be irksome to a writer. The subject is before the public: let them decide. A few remarks, however, may be offered on a passage or two in Mr. Belsham’s Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise. ⁵ Having given a brief account of his own opinions, he adds, “This short abstract of Unitarian principles will enable us to judge of the value of an argument proposed in a work entitled, Calvinism and Socinianism compared, upon which Mr. Wilberforce passes a very high encomium,⁶ and the amount of which is, ‘We Calvinists being much better Christians than you Socinians, our doctrines must of course be true.’ To this masterly defence of the doctrines of Christianity, and acute refutation of the opposite errors, Mr. Wilberforce and his friends are welcome. The Unitarians will not trespass upon the holy ground. We have learned that ‘not he who commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.’ And satisfied with this,

 Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind. The Second Part. Containing Various Remarks and Rules about the Communication of Useful Knowledge (London, 1795), 2:85. [AF] This is in chapter VII, in the section subtitled “of writing controversies.” Watts begins this section: “When a person of good sense writes on any controverted subject, he will generally bring the strongest arguments that are usually to be found for the support of his opinion, and when that is done he will represent the most powerful objections against it in a fair and candid manner, giving them their full force; and at last will put in such an answer to those objections as he thinks will dissipate and dissolve the force of them.” Watts argued that after objections to the first writer’s opinions had been clearly expressed, the first writer’s answer to these objections should endeavour to ensure that the details of the entire controversy remained lucid. Further discussion, however, often moved away from the original points in question and only confused matters. As Watts noted (and this is the sentence Fuller quotes): “Sometimes, in these latter volumes, the writers on both sides will hang upon little words and occasional expressions of their opponents in order to expose them, which have no necessary connexion with the grand point in view, and which have nothing to do with the debated truth” (Improvement of the Mind, 2:85).  Thomas Belsham, A Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, Entitled A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, Etc. In Letters to a Lady (London: J. Johnson, 1798).  William Wilberforce, A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country, contrasted with Real Christianity, 2nd ed. (London: T. Cadell, Jr. and W. Davies, 1797), 476 – 477, note a. In this note, Wilberforce commented: “The author of this treatise has, since its completion, perused a work entitled Calvinism and Socinianism compared, by A. Fuller, etc. and, without reference to the peculiarities of Calvinism, he is happy to embrace this opportunity of confessing the high obligation which, in common with all the friends of true religion, he owes to the author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of the doctrine of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite errors.” Fuller employed some of this material in his “Postscript.”

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review

349

we wait with cheerful confidence the decision of that day which shall try every man’s work. In the meantime, we rest our cause upon the Scriptures critically examined and judiciously explained. This way of reasoning is branded in the same masterly performance as ‘mangling and altering the translation to our own minds,’ which brings to my recollection the Quaker’s exclamation, O argument! O argument! the Lord rebuke thee!”⁷ Mr. Wilberforce having observed it “as an unquestionable fact, a fact which Unitarians almost admit, that they are not distinguished by a superior purity of life, and still less by that frame of mind which, by the injunction to be spiritually, not carnally minded, the word of God prescribes to us as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the vital power of Christianity.”⁸ “Such,” Mr. Belsham replies, “is the candid judgment which Mr. Wilberforce forms of the moral and religious character of the Unitarians. How nearly resembling the character of the Pharisee in the parable, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, nor even as this publican.’ How closely bordering upon that supercilious spirit which our Lord reproves in the Jews, who concluded, because the Son of man came eating and drinking, and affecting no habits of austerity, or unnecessary singularity, that he must therefore be the friend and associate of publicans and sinners. But be it known to Mr. Wilberforce, and to all who like him are disposed to condemn their brethren unheard, that if the Unitarians were inclined to boast in the characters of those who have professed their principles, they have whereof to glory; and if they took pleasure in exposing the faults of their more orthodox brethren, they likewise have tales to unfold which would reflect little credit, either on the parties or on their principles. But of such reproaches there would be no end.”⁹ On these passages I take the liberty of offering a few remarks: 1. The “amount” of the work to which Mr. Belsham alludes is not what he makes it to be, that “we Calvinists being much better Christians than you Socinians, our doctrines must of course be true.”¹⁰ A large proportion of that work is designed to point out the native tendency of principles, or what, other things being equal, they may be expected to produce in those who imbibe them. 2. If that part of the work which relates to facts fall under a censure of self-commendation, the same may be said of the writings of some of the best of men who have ever written. Mr. Neale, in his History of the Puritans, thought it no breach of modesty to prove that they were far better men than their persecutors.¹¹ The Reformers, in establishing their cause, availed themselves of the immoralities of the papists, and the superior moral efficacy of the doctrine of the Reformed churches upon the

 Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274. [AF]  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 267. [AF]  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 267– 268. [AF]  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans, ed. Joshua Toulmin, rev. ed. (Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1793), 1:439 – 524. [AF]

350

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review

hearts and lives of men. The ancient Fathers, in their apologies for Christianity, constantly appealed to the holy lives of Christians as a proof of the purity of their doctrine. And the apostles, though they praised not themselves, yet made no scruple of affirming that those who believed their doctrines were “purified in obeying them,”¹² that they “were of God,”¹³ and that “the whole world was then lying in wickedness.”¹⁴ These things were truths, and they had a right to insist upon them; not for the purpose of commending themselves, but for the sake of doing justice to the gospel. 3. In reflecting upon the ground of argument used by the author of The Systems compared, contemptuously calling it “holy ground,”¹⁵ does not Mr. Belsham cast a reflection upon the great Founder of the Christian religion, who taught his disciples to judge of the tree by its fruits?¹⁶ 4. By rejecting this ground of argument, and professing to rest his cause upon another, Mr. Belsham, after the example of Dr. Toulmin, has given up the controversy as it respects the moral efficacy of principles. 5. If reasoning from the moral efficacy of doctrines be improper, and imply the pharisaical spirit of self-commendation, Mr. Belsham must have acted improperly and pharisaically in commencing an attack on the Calvinists upon this principle. Did the author of The Systems compared begin this war? No; it was Mr. Belsham himself that began it. This “holy ground,”¹⁷ from which he now pretends to retire in disgust, was of his own marking out. It was Mr. Belsham who, in the plenitude of his confidence that his cause was the cause of truth, first pleaded for its comparative importance, by affirming, that those who were pious and benevolent characters with our principles, would have been much more so with his. And yet this same Mr. Belsham, after thus throwing down the gauntlet, can decline the contest; after two of his brethren have tried all their strength, and summoned all their resources in defence of Socinian piety, can talk of Unitarians “not trespassing upon this holy ground,”¹⁸ and of the characters which they could produce, were they inclined to boast. Yes, this is

 1 Peter 1:22.  1 John 4:4.  1 John 5:19.  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  If Mr. Belsham should distinguish, as Mr. Kentish does, between the truth of doctrines and their value, and maintain that the effects which they produce are a proper criterion of the latter, but not of the former; it might be asked, if the value of a doctrine does not imply its truth? Surely falsehood will not be reckoned valuable; and if so, whatever proves the value of a doctrine, proves it at the same time to be true. Should he further allege with the above writer, that “this celebrated saying is proposed as a test of character, and not as a criterion of opinion,” it might be answered, it is proposed as a test of false prophets or teachers (see Matthew 7:15), a character never ascribed to those whose doctrines accord with truth. [AF]  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review

351

the writer who, after acknowledging that “Unitarians had often been represented as indifferent to practical religion,”¹⁹ allowing, too, that “there had been some plausible ground for the accusation,”²⁰ and not justifying such things, but merely expressing a hope that they would continue “but for a time,” this, I say, is the writer who can now accuse Mr. Wilberforce of Pharisaism for repeating his own concessions; and, what is worse, can justify that life of dissipation which he had before condemned, by comparing it with the conduct of him who “came eating and drinking, and affecting no habits of austerity or unnecessary singularity.”²¹ 6. It is not true that the author of The Systems compared has objected either to the “critical examination or judicious explanation of the Scriptures.”²² It is true he has not adopted this as his ground of argument; yet, instead of denying it in others, as Mr. Belsham would have it thought, he has expressed his approbation of it. It is not of criticising, and much less of judiciously explaining the Scriptures, that he complains, but of perverting them. In the same page in which he complained of the Socinians “mangling and altering the translation to their own minds,”²³ he also said, “Though it be admitted that every translation must needs have its imperfections, and that those imperfections ought to be corrected by fair and impartial criticism; yet where alterations are made by those who have an end to answer by them, they ought always to be suspected, and will be so by thinking and impartial people.”²⁴ If Mr. Belsham had quoted this part of the passage, as well as the other, it might have prevented the pleasure which doubtless he felt, in repeating the Quaker’s exclamation. To say nothing of his pedantic supposition, that all argument is confined to criticising texts of Scripture, let others judge who it is that is under the necessity of exclaiming, “O argument! O argument! the Lord rebuke thee!”²⁵ After all, the stress which our opponents lay upon criticism affords a strong presumption against them. It was a shrewd saying of Robinson, “Sober criticism is a good thing; but woe be to the system that hangs upon it!”²⁶ 7. Lastly, the threat which Mr. Belsham holds up of the tales which they could tell of their orthodox brethren, contains an unfounded implication.²⁷ Any reader would

 Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32.  Belsham, Importance of Truth, 32.  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 267.  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  See above, p. 349. See also Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  See above, p. 218 – 219.  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 274.  Fuller is probably referring to Robert Robinson’s A Plea for the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in a Pastoral Letter Addressed to a Congregation of Protestant Dissenters, at Cambridge (Cambridge: Fletcher and Hodson, 1776). In it, Robinson commented, “Criticism is a most valuable branch of literature; but, like everything else, it is liable to abuse […] Mathematics and criticisms may confirm a wise man in religion; but woe be to the religion, that hangs upon them!” (Robinson, A Plea for the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 75, 86).  Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 268.

352

Reflections on Mr. Belsham’s Review

suppose from this passage, that Mr. Belsham’s opponents had dealt largely in such tales; but this is not true. If the author on whom he reflects had been disposed to deal in articles of this kind, he might possibly have swelled his publication beyond its present size. But, contrary to this, he professedly disclaimed introducing individual characters, or private tales, on either side, as being equally invidious and unnecessary to the argument. The truth is, he rested his cause upon the concessions of his adversaries; and this is the galling circumstance to Mr. Belsham and his party. What tales have been told are of their telling. They may now insinuate what great things they could bring forward in their own favour, and to our disadvantage, were they not restrained by considerations of modesty and generosity; but they can do nothing, and this they well know, without first retracting what they have conceded; nor even then, forasmuch as all such retractions would manifestly appear to the world to be only to answer an end. In fine, I appeal not merely to Mr. Belsham’s special jury, of “men of enlightened minds and sound learning,”²⁸ but to every man of common understanding, whether his apology for declining a defence of his own assertion be either ingenuous or just; whether a larger portion of misrepresentation and self-contradiction could well have been crowded into so small a compass; and whether what he has advanced can be considered in any other light than as the miserable groan of a dying cause. Gaius.²⁹

 Belsham, Review of Mr. Wilberforce’s Treatise, 275.  Fuller regularly used the pen-name of “Gaius.”

Index of Persons Abelard, Peter 121 Adams, John 247n1586 Aikin, John 77n171, 125n455 Aikin, John Jr. 125n455 Ashley-Cooper, Anthony (Lord Shaftsbury) 221, 253, 289 Augustine 3n4, 154 Badcock, Samuel 66, 155 – 7, 278 Bahrdt, Karl Friedrich 296 Balfour, John 67n96 Barbauld, Anna Letitia 77, 93n276, 94, 125, 153, 164, 168, 297, 314, 316, 331, 344 Barbauld, Rochemont 125n455 Báthory, Stephen 149n673 Belsham, Thomas 3n4, 10n31, 22, 25, 28, 31 – 2, 37, 39, 52, 60 – 61, 72, 87 – 8, 91, 93n276, 101, 118, 123, 125, 128n470, 129, 147, 188 – 9, 200, 215, 259, 274, 279, 292, 315 – 6, 336 – 7, 344, 347 – 52 Bennett, James 1n1, 2n3 Bernard of Clairvaux 121n430 Beza, Theodore 154n706 Blackerby, Richard 66 Blackwall, Anthony 217 Blair, Samuel 68 Bogue, David 1n1, 2n3 Bolton, Samuel 66 Bourn, Richard 79 Brainerd, David 80, 147, 315 Bruce, Robert 67n96 Buell, Samuel 67n98 Bunyan, John 66, 68 Burke, Edmund 247n1586 Burn, Edward 1n1, 50, 123n443, 127, 155, 203 – 4, 210 – 12, 247 – 9 Burnet, Gilbert 123 Burnet, Robert 123n441 Calvin, John 3n4, 46, 51, 106, 148 – 50, 154, 248, 248n1595, 249n1596, 266, 277, 294, 344n349 Carey, William 83 – 5, 268n1741 Castellio, Sebastian 248 Catherine the Great 344 Chauncy, Charles 136 Clayton, John 6n15 https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-005

Cotton, John 79 Cranmer, Thomas 151 Cranz (also Crantz), David 81n198 Crell, Johann 248, 249n1597 Cromwell, Oliver 224 Davenport, James 79 Davides, Francis 149 – 50, 149n673 Davies, Benjamin 128n470 Doddridge, Philip 323n210 Edwards, Jonathan 24 – 6, 34, 67, 67n98, 68 – 9, 71 – 2, 80, 131, 136, 144, 147, 221n1345, 225, 225n1380, 228 – 9, 246n1576, 315, 325n221, 338 Eliot, John 68, 79 Enyedi, György 32, 217, 257 Erasmus, Desiderius 3n4 Evans, Caleb 63n70 Fitch, Mr. 79 Foxe, John 277 Francke, August Hermann 67n97, 68, 147, 315 Franklin, Benjamin 1n1 , 164n791 Gagny, John de 217, 257 Gibbon, Edward 219 Gilpin, Bernard 68 Gookin, Daniel 79 Gouge, William 66 Gregory XI, Pope 120n428 Guyse, John 67 – 8 Hale, Matthew 147, 315 Hall, Robert Jr. 6n5, 40, 45n140, 46, 325n221 Hamilton, Thomas 45n140 Harrod, William 44n134 Harwood, Edward 62, 164 Herbert, George 66 Hildersham, Arthur 66 Horsley, Samuel 48 – 9 Horton, Azariah 80 Howard, John 147 – 8, 164n791, 315 Hume, David 24n68, 221, 230, 247, 250 Hus, John 120n428 Hutchinson, Abigail 71n126

354

Index of Persons

Innocent II, Pope

121n430

James II 123n441 James Stuart 247n1586 James, John Angell 45n140 Jamieson, John 285 Jardine, David 128n470 Jardine, David B. 128n470 Jay, William 45n140 Jebb, John 157, 164n791 Jefferson, Thomas 247n1586 Jones, Lewis 128n470 Kenningham, John 120n428 Kentish, John 35 – 7, 40 – 41, 268, 275, 281, 286, 311 – 25, 327 – 31, 333 – 45, 347 Kippis, Andrew 323 Knox, John 68 Lardner, Nathaniel 300, 302 Latimer, Hugh 68 Laud, William 49, 122n437, 260 Law, Edmund 300n85 Law, William 99n311 Leland, John 255n1650 Levi, David 77n172, 82 – 3, 262 – 4 Lewelyn, William 106n339, 107n340, 288n23 Lindsey, Theophilus 4n8, 31 – 2, 99, 120 – 21, 149 – 51, 153, 178n942, 209n1250, 213 – 5, 224, 246, 272, 295, 332n2741, 334, 344 Livingstone, John 67n96, 68 Locke, John 129n473, 300n85 Luther, Martin 3n4, 68 Lyons, James 10n31 Madan, Martin 148n660 Madan, Spencer 182 Mary I 151n687 Mayhew, Mr. 79 McCulloch, William 67n96 McGill, William 102 McLaurin, John 67n96 Morris, John Webster 44n139, 45n140 Mosheim, Lorenz von 119n422, 277 Neal, Daniel 298, 349 Neale, Hannah 268n1741 Newton, John 148n660 Ogle, John

45n140

Ogle, Robert 45n140 Oldfield, Joshua 300n80 Paine, Thomas 24n68, 164n791, 253, 254n1644, 301 Park, Joseph 80 Parsons, Jonathan 80n191 Pearce, Samuel 10n31 Pelagius 3n4 Perkins, William 66 Philanthropos (see Daniel Taylor) Pierson, Mr. 79 Pighius, Albert 3n4 Pitt, William 164n791 Price, Rice 164n791 Price, Richard 62n68, 164, 203, 206, 236, 238 – 9, 332 Priestley, Joseph (see Subject Index) Prince, Thomas 71 Rawson, Grindel 79 Ricci, Matteo 76n168 Robe, James 67n96 Robinson, Robert 8, 10 – 11, 68 – 9, 95, 121n431, 150, 154, 223, 244n1565, 246n1578, 248 – 52, 259 – 60, 291, 300, 351 Romaine, William 6n15 Rutherford, Samuel 67n96 Ryland, John Jr. 42, 268n1741 Scott, Thomas 140n577 Semler, Johann Salomo 218, 255, 257 Sergeant, John 79 Servetus, Michael 121, 148, 150, 248, 248n1595, 249n1596 Simon, Charles 99n311 Smith, John Pye 39 Socinus (Fausto Sozzini) 1n1, 83n210, 117, 149 – 50, 149n673, 248 – 9, 266, 306 St. John, Henry (Viscount Bolingbroke) 247, 249 – 50 Steinbart, Gotthelf Samuel 218, 255, 257 Stoddard, Solomon 67n98 Sutherland, John 67n96 Taylor, Daniel (Philanthropos) Taylor, John 164n794 Taylor, William 66 Tennent, Gilbert 67n98

9 – 10, 103n333

Index of Persons

Tennent, William 67n98, 69 Thatcher, Peter 79 Thornton, Henry 148n660 Thornton, John 147, 315 Tindal, Matthew 255n1650 Toulmin, Joshua 35 – 7, 39 – 40, 44, 254, 268 – 78, 281, 283, 286 – 99, 300 – 01, 304 – 11, 326, 336, 344 – 7, 350 Treat, Samuel 79 Tupper, Mr. 79 Turner, William 332 Vaudès, Pierre 119n422 Venn, Henry 99, 148n660 Voltaire 228, 247, 247n1586, 250 Wallis, Beeby 268n1741 Walter, Nehemiah 79

355

Watson, Richard 301n85 Watts, Isaac 67 – 8, 124n446, 129, 347 Wedgwood, Josiah 125n455 Wesley, John 71n126 Whitaker, William 66 Whitefield, George 69, 71, 147, 315 Wilberforce, William 148n660, 274, 347 – 9, 351 William III 123n441 Williams, Edward 88n243 Withers, Philip (Theodosius) 156n721 Witherspoon, John 289 Wollstonecraft, Mary 164n791 Woodford, William 120n428 Wycliffe, John 68, 120 Young, Edward

191n1079

Subject Index Aaron, biblical figure 194 Abraham, biblical figure 70, 209, 238, 252, 299, 326, 338 affections 26n76, 35, 41, 71, 137 – 8, 142, 186, 192, 218, 244 – 5, 255, 266, 324 – 5, 327 – 9, 336 – pious 292, 301 – spiritual 7 Agrippa 70 “Albigenses” (= Albigensians) 119 Anabaptists 7 Analytical Review (see also Reviewers) 288, 344 – 6 Ananias, biblical figure 139 angel 56, 106, 132, 134 – 5, 137, 175, 194 – 5, 205, 209, 230, 236 – 8, 243, 299, 326 – 7, 330, 338 Anti-Trinitarians (see also non-Trinitarians) 17n47, 187, 343 Antinomianism 4, 33, 61, 102, 116 – 17 Antinomians 277 – 8 apostasy (= apostacy; see also infidelity, to Christianity) 10, 22, 89, 199, 227, 237 apostles, the (= disciples) 9, 22 – 3, 25 – 6, 28, 30, 58, 62, 70, 108, 145 – 7, 162 – 3, 165, 171 – 2, 175, 183 – 7, 193 – 5, 199, 207 – 12, 216, 219, 244, 261 – 2, 266 – 7, 275 – 6, 287, 293, 298, 305, 307 – 10, 334, 339, 346, 350 – false 56, 175, 187 Arianism 10, 29, 86, 236, 265, 299 Arians 48 153, 237, 239 Arminianism 4, 7 – 10, 49, 67, 103n333 Arminians 16 Athanasian Creed 6, 49 atheism 13, 171, 230 – moral tendency of 56, 95 atheists 56, 95, 99, 166, 187, 222, 265 Athens 25, 70, 145, 172 – 4, 308 atonement, doctrine of 2, 7, 9 – 12, 17, 24, 27, 34, 36, 43, 54, 64, 66, 81, 118, 128, 130, 142, 153, 168, 179, 180, 183, 185 – 6, 224, 230, 235 – 7, 254, 266, 303, 306, 317 – 8, 325, 328, 339 Balaam, biblical figure

276, 319

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-006

baptism (see also Paedobaptism) 6 – 7, 171 – 2, 271, 290, 309 Baptists 7, 39, 40, 150 – 1, 248, 273 – (New Connection of) General 9, 86, 103n333 – Particular 5 – 7, 10 Barabbas, biblical figure 306 Bathsheba, biblical figure 59 belief Christian 40 – 1, 98n307 cognitive 41, 43, 61 – 2, 171 benevolence, of God (see God, benevolence of) benevolence, to fellow human beings 14, 19, 26n76, 82, 124, 127, 141 – 7, 151 – 2, 156, 175, 181, 183, 189 – 90, 266, 279, 297, 315, 320, 335 Benjamites 133 Bereans, the 205, 215 – 6, 293 Bible, the (= Scripture; see also Word of God) 18 – 20, 27, 33 – 5, 37 – 8, 53, 58, 65, 89 – 90, 101, 104, 109, 127, 131, 146, 153, 162, 164, 169, 175 – 6, 181, 191, 218 – 9, 222 – 3, 232 – 3, 235, 238, 241, 247, 254 – 5, 257, 270, 278, 284, 286, 290, 295, 298 – 9, 304, 313, 319, 321 – 3, 330, 333, 335, 337 – 9, 344, 348 – 9 – as divinely inspired 12, 17, 17n47, 30 – 32, 39 – 40, 53, 184, 191, 204 – 7, 210, 216, 252, 260, 262, 265, 296, 305, 320, 325, 327, 334, 340 – 41 – as infallible 17, 30 – 2, 203 – 5, 207 – 8, 210 – 11, 214, 262, 340 – 41 – as standard of faith and practice 30, 204, 263, 340 – authority of 11 – 12, 17, 30 – 2, 134, 203 – 4, 207, 215, 252, 262 – 3, 283, 340 – 41 – critical study of 39, 42, 296 – interpretation of 11 – 12, 32, 42, 217 – 20, 273, 283, 341, 343, 351 – language of 36 – 7, 42, 136, 271 – 2, 283, 291 – teachings of 9, 15, 30 – 31, 39, 41, 53, 60, 62, 98, 102, 113 – 4, 137, 140, 142, 171, 180, 182, 205, 214 – 5, 245, 273, 327 – translation of 218 – 9, 342 – 3, 349, 351 – veneration of 14, 30 – 2, 42, 203, 267, 304, 317, 340 – 43

Subject Index

– writers of (= sacred writers) 11, 26, 30 – 31, 62 – 3, 160 – 61, 195 – 6, 200, 203 – 8, 210 – 12, 214, 217, 220, 232, 236, 251, 255, 261, 264, 276, 283 – 4, 296, 304 – 5, 323, 333, 340 – 41, 343 bigotry (see also bigots; Calvinists, bigotry of) 161, 171, 173 – 5, 181, 183, 335 bigots, religious (see also bigotry; Calvinists, bigotry of) 172, 181, 187, 224, 246, 260 – 61, 334 Birmingham, riots (see Priestly Riots, Birmingham) blasphemy 74 – 5, 100, 106, 308, 309 Britain 151 Cain, biblical figure 319 Calvary 224, 231 Calvinism 7 – 10, 12 – 3, 24, 28, 49, 67, 88, 90, 102, 103n333, 106 – 8, 110, 118, 121 – 2, 127 – 8, 131, 254 – 5, 265, 274, 314 – false 16n44, 39 – moral tendency of 12, 15, 34, 38, 97, 107, 109 – 10, 117, 199, 234, 274, 278, 284 – 5, 287, 294, 312 – principles of (see also Calvinism, system of; doctrine, Calvinist) 12, 16, 20, 21, 33, 46, 107 – 8, 113, 115 – 17, 125, 127, 140, 181, 243, 262, 271, 278, 290 – 1, 315, 347 – system of (see also Calvinism, principles of; doctrine, Calvinist) 8 – 9, 20 – 21, 28, 33, 46, 59, 97, 102, 106, 108 – 10, 117, 127 – 8, 131, 141, 149, 163, 165, 196, 221 – 4, 227, 232, 234, 238, 241 – 2, 284, 289, 291, 300, 318 – 9 – writers 109 – 10, 271, 283, 290 – 1 Calvinists 6, 14, 16, 26, 28, 32, 36 – 7, 39, 40, 48, 50, 64, 90, 96, 107 – 8, 110, 113, 115 – 8, 123 – 5, 128 – 30, 141, 145 – 7, 149, 153 – 4, 177, 182, 241, 249, 271, 274, 278, 288, 292, 298, 301, 314, 331, 348 – 50 – bigotry of 12, 14, 19, 154 – 5, 168, 181 – 2, 284 candour 14, 83n210, 98, 124, 127, 141, 143 – 7, 149 – 50, 152 – 6, 158, 175, 213, 221, 258, 266, 274, 297, 301, 330, 335, 341 cause and effect 15, 25 character – change of (= disposition, change of) 65, 72 – 3, 111, 115, 125, 167, 340

357

– human 13, 24, 47, 55, 58, 65, 69, 72 – 3, 88, 90 – 1, 110 – 11, 123, 125, 144, 149, 155 – 6, 161, 175, 187, 206, 226, 228, 262, 274 – 7, 279, 292, 316, 320, 324, 336 – 7, 345, 349 – national 121 – 2 charity 14, 17, 20, 88, 98, 141, 168 – 9, 176, 183, 213 – 4, 258, 267, 304, 330 chastity 302, 316 China 76, 247 Christ (see also Jesus) 7, 9, 25, 28, 40, 42 – 3, 70, 99, 100, 102, 113 – 14, 146 – 7, 160 – 3, 165 – 6, 189, 193, 223, 233 – 4, 236, 257, 261 – 2, 276, 293, 331, 350 – as atoning sacrifice (see also atonement, doctrine of) 1 – 2, 10, 22 – 3, 27, 29, 34, 37, 41 – 3, 54, 62 – 4, 68, 72, 76, 81, 99, 130, 142, 168, 179, 183 – 5, 196, 226 – 7, 232, 237 – 8, 240, 248, 271, 308 – 9, 314, 322 – 3, 326 – as fallible 31, 199, 208, 236, 265 – as Saviour 4 – 5, 28 – 9, 113, 139, 160, 172, 179, 200, 214, 222, 224 – 5, 227, 263, 274 – 6, 284, 321, 335 – 6 – as Son of God 2 – 3, 5, 27, 29, 34 – 5, 38, 41, 74 – 5, 97, 129, 139 – 40, 145, 170, 172, 177 – 8, 185, 194 – 6, 220, 227, 235 – 6, 240, 271, 277, 290, 304 – 10, 322, 328 – 9, 343, 349 – as Word of God 194, 200, 220, 271, 290 – birth of 184, 309, 325 – blood of 23, 62, 68, 76, 129, 148, 179, 185 – 6, 196, 201, 220, 226, 231 – 2, 238, 306 – 7, 339 – character of 26, 163, 178, 192, 194, 264, 299, 305, 309, 324, 326, 328 – command(ment)s of 43, 51, 100, 273, 327 – 8 – crucifixion of 27 – 8, 75, 82, 180, 197, 263, 299, 306 – death of 9 – 12, 21 – 2, 27, 34, 41, 43, 54, 59, 63, 75, 81, 95, 129 – 30, 179 – 80, 183 – 6, 197, 201, 227, 231 – 2, 235, 237 – 8, 240, 271, 290, 299, 306, 309 – 10, 322, 326 – deity/divinity of 3, 3n4, 17 – 9, 24, 26, 28 – 9, 31, 33, 35, 37, 41 – 3, 54, 66, 74 – 6, 99, 118, 121, 139, 153 – 4, 159, 168, 177 – 8, 182 – 4, 192, 196, 209, 214, 220,

358

Subject Index

230, 239, 266, 270, 285n13, 299, 303, 306, 309 – 10, 324, 327 – 8 – devotion to 27, 36 – dignity of 55, 192 – 3, 196, 232, 236, 299, 324 – doctrine of 153, 161, 213, 237, 276, 341 – dual nature of 153, 159, 161, 210 – faith in 23, 28, 43, 58, 61 – 3, 130, 197 – 8, 266, 321 – 2, 329, 340, 342 – glory of 43, 140, 177, 193, 197, 299, 307, 325, 328 – honour of 75, 99, 140, 178, 192, 196 – 7, 327 – 8 – humanity of (see also incarnation, doctrine of) 3, 5, 26, 28 – 9, 31, 37, 64, 74, 94, 100, 150, 153, 159, 182, 192, 208 – 9, 236 – 9, 265, 270 – 71, 273, 289 – 90, 299, 306, 308, 324, 326, 338 – knowledge of 28, 43, 86, 197, 292 – love for humanity 238 – 9 – mediation of 27, 97, 102, 135, 196, 198, 270, 289 – 90, 300, 324 – 5 – mission of 176, 326 – name of 24, 26, 68, 139, 169 – 70, 178, 195, 197 – 8, 307 – obedience to 30, 98, 100, 132, 204, 234, 295 – 6 – person of 7, 50, 99, 155, 161, 203, 205, 207 – 11, 213 – 4, 263 – prayer to 29, 150, 307 – pre-existence of 184, 299, 300n80, 326 – resurrection of 5, 43, 95, 98n307, 176, 180, 185 – 6, 197, 238, 240, 295 – 6, 306, 326, 334, 338 – righteousness of 22, 148, 227 – suffering of 129, 197, 234, 239, 325 – 6 – trust in 61 – 2, 178, 307, 330 – work of 9, 29, 41 – worship of 19, 27, 29, 34 – 5, 37 – 8, 41, 100, 128, 138 – 40, 177, 182, 327 – 8 Christianity – corruption of 3, 12, 24, 27, 66, 72, 127n464, 293, 323 – evangelical 11, 42, 147, 196, 279, 323 – orthodox (see also Christians, orthodox) 6 – 7, 10, 18 – 9, 27, 35 – 6, 38, 42, 48 – 50, 135, 262, 265 – 6, 274, 349, 351 – principles of 65, 82, 122, 175, 179, 183, 298, 305 – rational (see also Christians, rational) 7, 31

– spirit of 146, 169, 233 – true (see also Christians, true; truth, Christian) 3, 8, 12 – 4, 17, 27, 41, 83, 124, 141, 146, 168, 175 – 8, 180 – 81, 183, 191, 224, 246 – virtues of (see also virtue, Christian) 127, 191, 200 Christians 55, 177, 311, 317, 323, 344, 350 – common 12, 257, 259, 284, 294 – devout 221 – 2 – early 6, 55, 108, 118, 283, 286 – fellow 100, 168 – 9, 174 – 5, 177, 182 – 3, 273, 303 – 4, 312, 331, 333, 335 – orthodox (see also Christianity, orthodox) 5 – 6, 18 – 9, 35 – 6, 38, 48 – 9, 135, 157, 263, 274, 349, 351 – primitive 28, 65, 91, 139, 165, 175, 178, 185, 192, 198, 232, 244, 293, 298, 307, 316, 326, 331, 346 – rational (see also Christianity, rational) 25, 72, 118, 153, 159, 211 229, 266, 292, 315, 316, 336 – 7 – serious 89, 94, 125 – 6, 233, 257, 266 – 7, 297, 313, 316 – 7, 328, 331, 337 – true (see also Christianity, true; truth, Christian) 178, 224 Christology 39 Church Fathers 211, 275, 277, 284, 310, 350 Church of England 49, 122 – 3, 176, 247n1586 Church of Scotland 176, 289 church, the 10, 40, 53, 63, 89, 157, 233, 275, 293, 298, 306 – 7, 310 – early 12 – Established 48 – 9, 66n95, 67, 86, 152 – High 51, 187 – primitive 151n691, 259 – Reformed 120, 277, 349 – Roman Catholic 176 – 7, 249n1596, 277 civil rights 5, 39 – 40, 48, 50, 55, 84, 196 civil society 149 – 50 common sense 90, 132, 175 conduct – change of 65, 72, 95, 111, 115 – human (see also habit; manners) 2, 7, 9, 13 – 4, 16, 24, 29, 41, 51, 55 – 7, 65, 69, 72, 75, 102, 104, 107 – 8, 110 – 11, 115 – 7, 124, 133, 135, 141, 144, 146, 150 – 1, 154, 158, 164, 168, 174, 188, 199 – 200, 234, 292 – 4, 298, 301, 303, 314 – 6, 318, 320, 328, 334, 341 – 2, 351

Subject Index

confession – of faith 3 – 4, 7, 38, 43, 120, 304 – of sins 40 conflict, theological (see controversy, theological) congregations – Calvinist 24, 95, 294 – Socinian 63 – 4, 72, 86, 95, 294 conscience 12, 21, 31, 64, 86, 111, 120, 125, 155, 184, 196, 215 – 6, 260 – 61, 284, 294, 300, 306, 333, 342 Constantinople 177 controversy, theological 5, 7, 11 – 2, 15 – 6, 18 – 9, 32, 37, 39, 42, 47, 50, 53 – 4, 69, 109, 144, 205, 212, 219, 268 – 76, 278 – 80, 283 – 8, 290, 293 – 5, 298, 310 – 11, 344 – 5, 347 – 8, 348n4, 350 conversion – of heathens 74, 76, 78, 80 – 2, 84, 86 – of infidels 74 – of Jews 33, 74 – 5, 83, 86, 91 – of “Mahometans” 33, 74, 76, 78, 96, 91 – of sinners 95, 266, 293 – of unbelievers/profligates 14, 20 – 5, 33, 58, 63, 65 – 6, 74, 76, 78 – 9, 82 – 3, 85 – 6, 95, 317, 338 – 9, 346 – to Christianity 65, 98n207, 99, 154, 173 – 4, 200, 305, 307 – to Socinianism 14, 33, 38, 38n119, 57, 86 – 7, 90 – 1, 93 – 6, 125, 248, 250, 259, 279 – true 61 – 2, 90 – 91, 339 – 40 converts 76, 79, 86, 89 – 91, 94 – 6, 124 Corinthians, the 175, 178, 180, 198, 334 Cornelius, biblical figure 89, 254, 307 Corporation Act (see also Test Act, Schism Bill) 5, 5n12, 40, 48, 50 corruption – moral 8, 84, 200 – of Christianity 3, 12, 24, 27, 66, 72, 84, 293, 339 – of nature 81 creed, Christian (see also Athanasian Creed, Nicene Creed) 18, 56, 89 – 90, 120, 272 – 3, 279, 312 cross, doctrine of 81, 179 – 80, 185, 224, 233, 344 David, biblical figure

59, 192 – 3, 203, 226

359

death, human 54, 73, 91, 99, 104, 109, 116, 123, 136, 223 – 4, 232, 238, 241 – 4, 258, 317, 337 Deism 8, 36, 39, 246n1578, 248, 250, 252 – 3, 255, 258 – 60, 264, 266, 284, 295 – 6 Deists 16, 39, 153, 222, 230, 247, 251 – 6, 258, 261, 265, 269, 291, 318, 348 depravity, human 4, 7, 9, 21, 24, 28, 66, 97, 110 – 11, 116, 128, 162 – 3, 179, 184, 199 – 200, 223, 305, 320 – 22 devil, the (see also Satan) 5, 106, 238, 301, 319, 329 disease, bodily 62, 307 Dissenters (see also English Dissent) 5 – 7, 86, 123 – 4, 157, 187, 273 Dissenters – Calvinist 6, 50, 109 – Protestant 48 – 50 – Socinian 48 – 50, 152 Dives, biblical figure 70 doctrine – apostolic 9, 12, 31 – 2, 37 – 8, 70 – 1, 163, 283 – 4, 286 – 7, 293, 306, 308, 339 – biblical 20, 39, 41, 43, 251, 255, 262 – 3, 270, 276, 292 – 3, 342 Calvinist (see also Calvinism, principles of; Calvinism, system of) 9, 23, 33 – 8, 41, 46, 54, 59, 94, 106 – 7, 109, 113, 117, 125, 140, 162, 168, 177, 181 – 2, 221, 224, 227, 266, 274, 279, 287, 294, 305, 348 – 9 Christian 16 – 7, 19, 33, 40, 47, 53 – 4, 61, 274 – 6, 305, 310 – 11, 315, 325 – 6, 348, 350 – Evangelical Christian 81, 180 – 1 – false 72, 175, 274, 276 – 7, 293, 334 – Methodist 72 – 3 – of necessity (see Necessarianism) – Protestant 67 – 8 Socinian (see also Socinianism, principles of; Socinianism, system of) 16 – 8, 36 – 42, 51, 64, 73, 76 – 8, 80, 82 – 3, 163 – 5, 168, 172, 174 – 5, 177, 204, 241, 274, 284, 286 – 7, 291, 293, 298, 308, 311, 317, 337 – 40, 346 East, the 78 – 9 effects, moral (see also moral life; morality; principles, moral tendency of) 12, 25, 37, 69, 122, 283, 286, 288, 311 – 2, 349

360

Subject Index

election, doctrine of 5, 21, 107, 109, 113 – 14, 128, 153, 198 Elijah, biblical figure 53 Elymas, biblical figure 301 England 66 – 7, 162 English Dissent (see also Dissenters) 4, 86 Enlightenment, the 221n1345, 221n1347, 247n1586, 247n1587 enthusiasm 21, 25, 69, 121, 123, 221, 221n1345, 225, 228 – 9, 233, 246n1579, 321, 328 – 9, 338 enthusiasts 64, 157, 225 – 6, 229, 233, 248 – 9 Ephesians, the 28, 163, 198 Ephesus 307 error – doctrinal 9, 19, 94, 99, 101, 125, 183, 189, 267, 277, 284, 332, 334 – human 31, 33, 46, 73, 75, 88, 102 – 3, 149, 151, 184, 186, 208, 214, 302, 304, 332 – 5 “Eskimeaux” (= Inuit) 81 eternal life 17, 22, 40, 43, 58, 62, 81, 94, 113 – 4, 116, 145, 167, 172 – 3, 187, 227, 235, 264, 290, 291, 307, 322 – 3, 325 – 6, 330 eternity 13, 60, 117, 136, 201, 224, 233 – 4, 242 – 5, 260 – 1 Europe 66, 119 Europe, government (see government, European) Europeans 84 Evangelical Awakening (see also Great Awakening) 24 Evangelicalism (see Christianity, evangelical) evil (see also sin, evil of) 9, 20, 47, 58 – 9, 62, 66, 97, 101, 103, 106, 109 – 11, 133 – 4, 152, 170 – 1, 184, 189, 200 – 1, 258, 276, 278, 302, 321, 333 – 4 experience, Christian 7, 41, 65, 86 faith, Christian (see also God, faith in; Christ, faith in) 17, 18, 23, 30, 41 – 2, 117, 165, 170, 183, 190, 203, 212, 250 – 51, 305, 317, 337, 340 fall, of humanity 4, 59, 81, 206, 257 forgiveness, of sin 2, 17, 20, 23, 28, 33 – 5, 41, 59, 62, 103, 140, 179, 195, 198 – 201, 235, 237, 310, 321, 325 – 6 free will 7

“fruits,” as metaphor for evidence of morality 12, 41, 169, 233, 270, 274 – 6, 284, 286, 288, 294, 301, 345, 350 Fuller, Andrew – and church membership 43 – as Gaius 347n, 352 – confession of faith 3 – 4, 43 – hermeneutics of 42n129 – ministry of 3, 7, 16 – polemical method of 11, 14 – 16, 18 – 19, 38, 40 – systematic theology/divinity of 42 – 3 Galatians, the 145, 176 – 7, 198, 324, 334 Geneva 151, 249n1596 Gentiles 13, 139, 163, 178, 190, 254, 330, 335 Germany 67 Gideon, biblical figure 78 God – agency of (= divine agency) 112 – 3 – as Creator 112 – 13, 135, 137 – 8, 194, 230, 306, 327, 330 – as Father 25, 27, 29 – 30, 34 – 5, 37, 41, 74 – 5, 113, 129, 133, 138 – 40, 146, 159, 178, 186, 191, 196, 198, 201, 225, 232, 271, 290, 309, 327 – 30, 343 – as implacable 34, 129 – 30, 201, 318 – as lawgiver 102, 104 – as merciless tyrant 22, 36, 61, 101 – 3, 129 – benevolence of 26n76, 27, 29, 98n307, 190, 225, 227, 235, 317 – 18, 320, 329 – character of 5, 22, 29, 43, 54, 61, 97, 104, 127 – 8, 130 – 1, 133 – 4, 138, 141, 202, 214, 266 – 7, 313, 319 – 22, 324 – 5, 328 – 9, 340 – command(ment)s of 19, 22, 142, 169, 200, 204 – 5, 226, 239, 253, 317 – 8, 324, 329 – devotion to 26, 57, 107 – 8, 123, 127 – 8, 138 – 42, 160, 233, 236, 238 – 40, 291 – 2, 294, 315, 330 – 1 – favour of 9, 163 – 4, 170, 253, 255 – fear of 329 – 30, 335 – glory of 5, 21, 29, 34 – 5, 40, 113, 128, 135, 137 – 8, 140, 234, 317 – 19, 321, 325, 328, 343 – goodness of 26, 24, 104, 128 – 9, 264, 317 – 8, 320 – 2, 329 – 30 – governance (of the universe) 2, 22, 27, 29, 33 – 4, 54, 56, 61, 97, 101, 104, 130,

Subject Index

133 – 5, 138, 176, 201 – 2, 267, 289, 305, 313, 319 – 21, 340 – grace of 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 43, 97, 103, 108 – 10, 114, 116, 163, 200 – 1, 321 – holiness of 34, 317, 319 – honour of 75, 140, 143, 170, 327 – 8 – judgment of 40, 54, 60, 100, 102, 136, 169, 203, 230, 232, 258, 302, 328 – justice of 4, 8, 17, 22, 29, 34, 104, 129 – 32, 135, 164, 217, 267, 317, 319, 321 – kingdom of 21, 181, 186 – 7, 193 – knowledge of 41, 113, 230, 293 – law of (see law, of God) – love for humanity 2, 4, 36, 106, 129, 164, 220, 227, 231, 235 – 7, 319, 321 – 3 – mercy of 2, 4, 29, 34, 43, 61, 64, 128, 130, 132, 135 – 6, 148, 164, 201 – 2, 226, 232, 296, 321, 330 – moral character of 22, 53, 61, 317 – 21, 324 – 5, 329 – moral government of 22, 54, 61, 97, 130, – moral law of (see also law, of God) 25, 54, 97, 104, 191 – nature of 4, 7, 59, 202, 294 – 5, 322 – power of 30, 180, 112, 317, 329, 330, 340 – providence of 95, 176, 233, 240, 264, 297, 323 – purpose of 41, 114 – rebellion against 20, 59, 63, 319, 322 – righteousness of 18, 20, 34, 54, 129 – 30, 267, 321 – sovereignty of 7, 54, 148, 254 – Spirit of (see Holy Spirit) – unity of 36 – 7, 42, 50, 74, 183, 262, 270 – 3, 289 – 90, 294 – 5, 324, 327 – vengeance of 131 – 2, 134 – vindictive character of 128, 131 – 2, 135, 254, 317 – 8 – wisdom of 4, 104, 138, 161, 180, 230, 317, 330 – Word of (see Word of God) – worship of 34, 37, 50, 118, 128, 139 – 40, 143, 145, 170 – 2, 177 – 8, 253, 289, 321, 324, 327 Godhead, the 12, 54, 172, 270 godliness 2, 12, 41, 53, 66, 69, 165, 182, 223, 230, 266 good, universal 20, 29, 34, 59, 104 – 5, 134 – 7, 202, 318 – 20, 322

361

goodness, human 1, 9, 13, 30, 33, 105, 108, 111, 192, 263, 324, 334 gospel, the (see also Word of God) 16 – 7, 20, 25, 28, 33 – 4, 38, 42, 55, 63, 65, 76, 81, 90, 109, 159, 164 – 5, 170 – 1, 174 – 80, 196 – 8, 205, 233, 247, 266 – 7, 273, 302, 321, 325, 333, 340, 350 – adversaries/enemies of 53, 57, 180, 263, 301 – and charity 168 – 9 – and immortality 245 – belief in/of 61, 171, 174, 253, 261, – doctrine of 43, 125, – essence of 50 – glory of 54, 77 – grace of 8, 145 – interpreters of 217 – joys of 227, 338 – ministers of 84 – morality of 314 – novelty of (see also preaching, novelty in) 64, 70 – of Christ 22, 78, 132, 176, 267, 324, – perversion of 175, 177 – power of 40, – preaching of 5, 64, 171, 216 – principles of 189, 335 – reception of 89 – rejection of 20, 113, 176, 261 – submission to 190 – subversion of 303 – 4 – success of 69 – 70 – truth of 216, 219 – way of salvation 178, 194 – 5, 227, 267, 313, 330, 334 – 5 government – divine (see God, governance) – European 84 – human 48, 104, 132 – 5, 150 – 1, 175, 196, 252, 297, 302, 319 – 20 gratitude 5, 15, 41, 80, 197, 235 – 40, 253, 267, 299, 321, 324 – 7 Great Awakening, First 67n98, 80n191 Great Awakening, in Scotland 67n96 Great Awakening, Second Greeks, the 172, 179 – 80 Greenland 80 – 1 guilt, human 141, 145, 184, 263, 302, 333

362

Subject Index

habit (see also conduct, human; manners) 24 – 5, 64 – 5, 69, 73, 110 – 11, 244 – 5, 283, 318, 331, 339, 349, 351 Hananiah, biblical figure 142 happiness, human 15 – 6, 21, 27, 34, 59 – 60, 99, 113, 115, 117, 128, 135 – 8, 147, 173 – 4, 200, 222 – 31, 233 – 4, 267, 279, 312, 315, 317 – 20, 322, 338 heart – change of 58, 64 – 5, 82 – human 2, 21, 28, 101 – 2, 104, 113, 130, 133, 137, 147, 171, 184, 188, 192 – 3, 203, 228, 230 – 33, 241 – 2, 244, 247, 258, 260 – 1, 273, 287 – 8, 292 – 4, 301 – 3, 313 – 14, 317, 329, 333, 335 – 6, 350 heathens 76, 80, 82, 84 – 5, 116, 146, 167, 172, 213 – 4, 253 – 4, 277, 340 – Chinese 76 – conversion of (see conversion, of heathens) heaven 42, 60, 32, 113, 129, 131 – 2, 138, 159, 164, 177, 179, 187, 193, 195 – 7, 205, 213, 243 – 5, 261, 307 heavenly-mindedness 15, 241, 267 Hebrews, the 185, 198 hell 60, 106 – 7 “Hindoos” (= Hindus) 78 holiness (see also God, holiness of) 25, 33, 64, 73, 105, 117, 267, 277, 317, 319, 323, 339, 346 – life of 33, 58, 63, 95, 117, 234, 241, 266, 279, 350 – system of 90 – true 15, 41, 55, 58 Holy Spirit (= Spirit of God) 22, 24 – 5, 30, 37 – 8, 41, 66 – 7, 78, 113, 185, 200n1182, 204, 212, 214, 218, 227, 230, 271 – 2, 290, 293, 322 human nature 2, 13, 28, 31, 41, 55, 59, 64, 68, 72, 81, 152, 162, 166 – 7, 179, 199, 200, 208, 258, 309 humility 9, 14, 34, 110, 115, 159, 162 – 3, 165 – 6, 239, 313 Hyper-Calvinists 16 hypocrisy 14, 55, 154, 275 – 6, 303 idolators 19, 145, 170, 177, 182, 304 idolatry 19, 26, 29, 36, 38, 76, 100, 121, 128, 145, 173 – 4, 182, 195, 232, 254, 321, 323 immorality 106, 121, 134, 155, 276 – 7, 288, 302, 313, 316, 349

incarnation, doctrine of (see also Christ, humanity of) 38, 238 – 9 infidelity, to Christianity (see also apostasy) 8, 10, 15, 20, 32, 38 – 9, 90, 99, 233, 246 – 8, 250, 253, 258 – 65, 267, 270, 296 – 8, 343 infidels 16, 56, 65n84, 74, 76 – 7, 98 – 9, 162, 170, 246 – 7, 250, 253, 257, 259 – 61, 264, 311 infidels, conversion of (see conversion, of infidels) injustice 8, 103, 132, 135 insult, in theological controversy 18 – 20, 107, 173, 182, 214, 261 Isaiah, biblical figure 89, 159, 193 Israel, ancient 133 – 4, 137, 143, 195, 204, 306, 320 Jacob, biblical figure 201, 209 Jehoshaphat, biblical figure 204 Jehovah 178, 193, 217, 321 Jeremiah, biblical figure 142 Jerusalem 70, 143, 189, 197, 204 Jesus (see also Christ) 12, 22, 25, 28n85, 30 – 1, 42, 74 – 5, 82, 139, 159, 171 – 2, 194, 197, 252, 263, 273, 277, 304, 306 – 9, 324, 329, 339 – as son of Joseph 3, 82 – mission of 295 – 6 – moral vision of 3 – teachings of 41 Jews 3, 13, 57, 74 – 7, 82, 129, 139, 145, 172 – 3, 179 – 80, 193, 208, 211, 216, 218, 255, 261 – 3, 305 – 9, 322, 329, 335, 339 – 40, 349 – conversion of (see conversion, of Jews) Job, biblical figure 58 John the Baptist 193, 208, 261 John, the apostle 61, 334 Joseph, biblical figure (father of Jesus) 236, 265 Joseph, biblical figure (Old Testament) 201 Joshua, biblical figure 198 Judah, people of 142, 204, 216, Judas, biblical figure 200n1182, 276 Jude, the apostle 334 judgment day (= day of judgment, last day) 100, 173, 176, 183

Subject Index

judgment, human 169 – 71, 176, 183, 213, 216, 233 – 4, 252, 256 – 8, 273, 275 – 7, 279, 288, 294, 300 – 4, 313 – 4, 316, 333 justice (see also God, justice of) 33, 54, 61, 97, 103, 105, 130 – 31, 133 – 4, 144, 240, 250, 292, 297, 301, 313 – 4, 320, 323, 334, 350, 352 justification by faith 22, 24, 66, 68, 148, 227, 306 justification, doctrine of 7, 145, 324 knowledge (see also Christ, knowledge of; God, knowledge of) 3, 17, 43, 70, 73, 86, 89, 188, 198, 213 – 4, 243, 303, 315, 341 – 3 – of eternal life 245 – of human motives 313 – of salvation 109 – of sin 305 law – book of 61, 101 – human/civil 104, 132, 141 – 2 – moral (see also God, moral law of) 25, 97, 102 – 3, 106, 127, 138, 190 – 1 – of God (= divine law; see also God, moral law of) 3 – 5, 7 – 8, 22, 29, 33, 40, 61, 97, 129 – 30, 136, 195, 200, 202 – 3, 205, 223, 228, 240, 305 – 6, 309, 321 – of nature (= natural law) 112 – 3 Levite, biblical figure 73, 133, 232 liberality 98, 141, 173, 258, 332, 334 – 5 Lot, biblical figure 209 love – of fellow human beings 142, 144, 285, 291, 304, 312, 327 – 8 – of neighbor 61, 97 – 8, 101 – 2, 104, 127, 137 – of/to Christ 14, 21, 25 – 30, 35, 43, 183, 191 – 9, 201, 267, 299 – 300, 314, 324 – 5, 327 – 30, 343 – of/to God 14, 25 – 6, 34 – 6, 61, 64, 73, 97 – 8, 101 – 2, 104, 127 – 8, 131, 136 – 42, 144, 167, 192, 201, 234 – 5, 237, 266, 288, 291, 312, 317, 320 – 25, 329 – 30, 346 “Mahometans” (= Muslims) 76, 78, 82, 176 – 7, 245 – conversion of (see conversion, of “Mahometans” Malachi, biblical figure 136

363

manners (see also conduct, human; habit) 17, 56, 63 – 5, 123, 168, 334 martyrdom 62, 118, 148, 219, 237, 240, 277, 308 Mary, biblical figure 236, 238 – 9, 265, 325 materialism, doctrine of 208 – 9, 265n1725 melancholy 88, 221, 223 – 4, 234 Messiah 172, 193, 211, 263, 305, 307 – 10 Methodists 23, 25, 69, 157 mind – calmness of 225 – 6, 229, 338 – change of 58, 111 – cheerfulness of 15, 221, 226 ministry – apostolic 58, 70, 277, 305 – Christian 71, 81, 275, 277 – of the Reformers 66 – Socinian 65, 124, 168, 297 miracles 95, 185, 240, 269, 306, 341 missionaries 76, 81, 247 missionary work (= missions) 33, 76, 78 – 9, 85, 340 Monthly Review (see also Reviewers) 49, 52, 87n242, 92n276, 106, 131, 153, 156, 157n730, 215, 225, 228, 262, 282, 344 moral life (see also morality; principles, moral tendency of) 9, 23, 63, 163 – 4, 234 morality (see also effects, moral; moral life; principles, moral tendency of) 1 – 2, 9, 11, 14, 17, 23, 25, 33, 53 – 5, 65, 106, 122, 141, 191, 213, 215, 241, 262, 277, 283 – 4, 296, 302, 304, 314, 316, 332, 334, 342 Moravians 80 – 1 Moses, biblical figure 41, 70, 194, 206, 218, 236 – 7, 252, 255, 265, 293, 306, 321 Mount Sinai 102 natives (= Native Americans, “Indians”) 79, 80n193 Necessarianism (= philosophy, necessarian; necessity, doctrine of) 13n38, 65, 107, 109 – 10, 112n373, 113 – 5, 160, 165n810 “Negroes” 81 New England New Testament 23 – 7, 30 – 31, 37, 58, 159, 174 – 5, 178 – 80, 195, 204, 206 – 7, 210, 216, 218, 220, 235, 238, 255, 262, 276, 328, 334 Nicene Creed 6, 49 Nicodemus, biblical figure 58

364

Subject Index

non-Trinitarians (see also Anti-Trinitarians) 7 Nonconformists 123 North America 24, 35, 67, 71, 79, 81, 121 – 2 novelty, in preaching (see preaching, novelty in) obedience 15, 33, 61, 64, 97, 102, 142, 267 – to Christ 30, 98, 100, 204 – to God 8, 22, 33 – 4, 61, 64, 97, 102, 142 – 3, 170, 234 – 40, 317 – 8 Old Testament 2, 30, 42, 196, 203 – 4, 206 – 7, 210 – 11, 216, 255, 262, 305, 309 Paedobaptism (see also baptism) 151 Parliament, British 48, 111, 175 passion, human 152, 189, 229 – 33 Paul, the apostle 25, 28, 28n86, 29, 41, 61 – 3, 67 – 8, 70, 82, 139, 145, 163, 166, 172, 174, 178, 180, 185, 189 – 90, 195, 197 – 8, 200, 204, 215 – 7, 226, 230, 240, 242, 254, 271 – 2, 301, 305, 307 – 8, 323, 327, 334 – 6 peace 16, 21 – 2, 43, 59, 121, 130, 138, 143, 156, 179, 193, 223, 226 – 7, 254, 293, 314 – civil 55, 149 persecution, religious 41, 51, 148 – 52, 184, 258, 277 – 8, 294, 298, 336, 349 perseverance, doctrine of 2, 21, 41, 79, 237 Peter, the apostle 25, 61 – 2, 70 – 1, 186, 204, 218, 240, 254 – 5, 301, 306 – 7, 334, 339 Pharaoh, biblical figure 136 Pharisees 56, 102, 163, 179, 189, 224, 226, 228, 349, 351 Philip, biblical figure 305 philosophers 98, 160, 167, 173, 206, 225, 245, 247n1587, 258 – 9 philosophy 49, 82, 167, 225 philosophy, necessarian (see Necessarianism) Pietism, German 67n97, 218n1316 piety 12, 13n38, 30, 32 – 3, 40 – 41, 47, 93 – 4, 110, 115 – 6, 122 – 4, 127, 147, 184, 203, 225, 239, 241, 291 – 2, 300 – 1, 315 – 6, 331 – 2, 345 practice, Christian 15, 30, 40, 122, 181, 203, 261, 291, 336 prayer (see also Christ, prayer to) 3, 56, 86, 117, 124, 188, 273, 278, 298, 315, 331

preaching 5, 66, 68, 71, 267, 273 – apostolic 23, 36, 37, 63 – 4, 66, 70, 171, 276, 286 – 7, 293, 304 – 5, 307 – 8, 346 – Calvinist 24, 106 – 7 – Methodist 23, 69, 72 – novelty in 64, 66, 69 – 71, 73 – primitive 69, 70, 174 – Socinian 23, 25, 29, 36, 64, 69, 72 – 3, 80, 124, 232, 307, 332 predestination, doctrine of 4, 12, 21, 54, 109, 116 – 7, 233, 248n1595 prejudice 50, 69, 156 – 7, 160, 183, 189, 208, 211 – 2, 247, 255 – 6, 259 – 60, 277, 293, 315, 334 – Deist 255 – heathen 213 – 4 – Jewish 32, 210 – 11, 219 – vulgar 160, 256, 259 Presbyterians 67n96, 86 pride – human 19, 34, 49, 56, 142, 159, 162, 173, 175, 256, 258 – spiritual 161 – 2, 168 Priestley, Joseph 1, 1n1, 4, 28, 31, 37, 85, 246, 266, 278, 287, 291 – 2, 315 – 6, 319, 331 – 2, 337, 344, 347 – Arianism 29 – atheism 56, 230 – atheists 13, 95 – atonement, doctrine of 2, 11, 27, 34, 54 – benevolence 124, 141, 161 – Bible 11, 203, 205 – 6, 208, 210, 212, 219, 240, 251 – 2, 262, 342 – as divinely inspired 31, 54, 206 – 7, 210 – authority of 30 – 31, 203, 206 – 8 – bigotry 161, 174, 260 – Calvinism 13, 15, 97, 107 – 10, 140 – 41, 312 – Calvinists 124 – 5 – candour 124, 141, 154 – 7, 161 – character, human 13, 111 – Christ – as fallible 31 – as Son of God 240 – death of 95, 235, 239, 240 – deity/divinity of 26, 33, 74, 195, 208, 220 – humanity of 29, 31, 94, 236, 265 – incarnation of 238 – 9 – person of 203, 205, 207 – 8, 210 – 12, 263 – 4, 307

Subject Index

– resurrection of 95, 240 – worship of 41, 100, 182 – Christianity – corruptions of 2, 12, 24, 27, 66, 72 – principles of 51, 157 – true 13 – Christians, serious 89, 94 – church, primitive 259 – civil rights 5 – 7, 50, 102 – conduct, human 9, 111 – controversy, theological 5 – conversion – of Jews 74, 82, 83n210 – of Mahometans 78 – of unbelievers/profligates 24 – 5 – to Socinianism 8, 48 – 9, 86, 122, 125 – death, human 242, 244 – devotion, to God 108, 140, 127 – Dissent 48 – duty, Christian 166 – election, doctrine of 113, 128 – error, human 99 – eternity 223, 241 – 2, 244 – fall, the 257 – forgiveness of sin 2 – God – agency of 112 – as implacable 34 – favour of 170 – glory of 137 – love for humanity 237, 240 – mercy of 128 – moral government of 29 – goodness, human 13 – gospel, the 190 – preaching of 63 – gratitude 235, 240 – happiness, human 21, 115, 135, 165, 199, 221 – 2, 226 – 7 – heaven 244 – humility 166 – idolatry 182 – infidelity 98 – 99, 261 – Jesus, moral vision of 3 – justice 103 – law, of God 136 – love of/to God 137 – materialism, philosophy of 31 – Methodists 69 – ministry 24 – 5, 65, 73

365

– miracles 240 – moral life 163 – 4 – Necessarianism 60, 109, 113 – 5, 160, 165n810 – obedience, to God 235, 240 – philosophers 82, 258 – piety 115 – 6, 127 – prayer 117, 124 – preaching 23, 25 – novelty in 64, 69 – 70 – predestination, doctrine of 54, 116 – 7, 152, 233 – prejudice 256, 259 – pride 161 – 2 – principles – religious 155, 161, 249, 252, 265 – moral tendency of 13, 15, 55 – 6, 69, 97, 107 – 8, 117 – punishment, of sin 110, 136 – reason (= rationality) 18, 72, 162, 188, 211, 212, 228, 247, 250 – 2 – reasoning, a priori 13 – religion – indifference to 38, 47, 72, 87, 90, 118, 336 – practical 118, 127, 162 – repentance, of sin 163 – 4, 339 – response to Fuller 35, 52 – resurrection, of human beings/of the dead 242 – retribution, doctrine of 95 – revelation, divine 250 – 1 – Roman Catholicism 239 – 40 – salvation 62, 157 – sin 2, 98 – 99, 133, 190 – original 54 – sinners 65 – Stoicism 167 – Trinitarians 78, 157, 161, 182, 221 – Trinity, the 54 – doctrine of 41, 258 – truth, Christian 176 – 7, 189, 256, 259 – unbelievers 256, 258, 259 – Unitarians 89 – vice, human 9, 111, 199, 339 – virtue, human 9, 13, 24, 69, 101, 109, 111, 123, 140, 165 – 6, 199, 240 – worship, modes of 170 – 1, 253 – 4 – zeal, for religion 124, 222n1348

366

Subject Index

Priestley Riots, Birmingham 1n1, 6n15, 35, 51 – 2, 213n1274, 213n1274 principles – moral tendency of (see also effects, moral; moral life; morality) 14 – 5, 25, 41, 43, 55 – 8, 60, 69, 72, 91, 97, 126, 154, 168, 175, 195, 274 – 8, 283 – 4, 286 – 8, 301, 310 – 12, 314, 316, 331, 345, 350 – religious/theological 15 – 6, 18 – 9, 47 – 51, 55, 57, 65, 86, 143, 149, 155, 157, 161, 188 – 9, 237, 284, 305, 312, 331, 335 – 7 prophecy 42, 159, 184, 196 – 7, 204 – 5, 218, 269 prophets – biblical 26, 30, 42, 76, 143, 192 – 3, 195, 203 – 4, 218, 222, 255, 263 – 5, 276, 293, 308 – 9, 326 – false 143, 169, 274 – 6, 350n16 Protestant Dissenters’ Magazine (see also Reviewers) 282, 344 – 6, 347n Protestantism 67 – 8, 250, 260, 295, 298 Protestants 252, 273 providence, universal 95, 176, 233, 240, 264, 297, 323 punishment – civil 103, 110, 133 – 4, 141 – 2, 151, 319 – 20 – divine 4, 8, 20, 39, 60, 102 – 4, 135 – 6, 142, 320, 322 – for sin 4, 8, 20, 22 – 3, 29, 59, 60 – 1, 102, 104, 110, 131, 135 – 6, 141 – 2, 153, 200 – 1, 221, 223, 255, 318 – 9 – vindictive 131, 318, 320 Puritans 123, 275, 278, 297 – 8, 316 – 7, 349 purity, human 2, 13 – 4, 27, 40, 65, 138, 349 reason – human (= rationality) 1, 2, 11, 17, 19, 31 – 2, 39, 71, 113, 161, 212, 229, 247, 249 – 51, 260 – 1, 269, 272, 315 – scriptural 11 – 12 reasoning – a posteriori 15, 23, 29, 58 – a priori 15, 21, 23, 26, 38, 48 – method/mode of 14 – 15, 38, 40, 210, 273 – 5, 278 – 80, 283 – 8, 291 – 2, 294, 297 – 8, 302, 311, 313 – 4, 341, 343, 345 – 6 redemption, of humanity (see also salvation, of sinners) 22, 43, 68, 81, 163, 181, 197 – 8, 227, 237

Reformation, the 24, 66 – 7, 120, 122 – 3, 298, 303 Reformers, the 66, 88, 275, 277, 296, 349 religion – indifference to 38, 87 – 91, 91n276, 94, 118, 124, 143 – 7, 162, 188, 228 – 9, 267, 292, 296, 314 – 5, 317, 337, 351 – natural 218, 297 – personal 116 – practical 25, 42, 47, 72, 86, 90, 118, 126 – 7, 162, 196, 314 – 7, 336, 351 – revealed 112, 221n1345, 258n1670 – serious 87, 257 – true 85, 119, 127, 226, 277, 348n6 repentance, of sin (see also sinners, reformation of) 1, 20 – 22, 33 – 4, 40, 43, 58 – 61, 64 – 5, 72, 102 – 3, 142, 146, 163, 173, 225 – 6, 237, 255, 305, 330, 339 – 40 Restoration, the (English) 78n177, 147n655 resurrection, of human beings/of the dead (see also Christ, resurrection of) 43, 54 – 5, 70, 81, 94, 98n307, 242 – 3, 306 retribution, doctrine of 54 – 5, 95, 240 – 1 revelation, divine 2, 18, 39, 41, 176, 213 – 4, 218, 247, 250 – 1, 255, 262, 269, 296, 321, 323, 341 Reviewers (see also Monthly Review; Analytical Review, Protestant Dissenters’ Magazine) 49, 83 – 5, 97, 88n242, 107, 122, 157, 187, 281, 288, 294, 301, 312, 332, 348, 342, 344 – 6 righteousness, human 25, 41, 66, 72, 292 Roman Catholicism (= “popery”) 76, 118 – 9, 239 – 40, 247, 252, 260, 298, 303, 318, 349 sabbath (= Lord’s day) 71, 278, 298, 309 sacrifice (see also Christ, as atoning sacrifice) 11, 27, 65, 118, 120, 134, 185, 196, 300, 308 – 9, 319, Sadducees 189 salvation (see also gospel, way of salvation) 5, 10, 17 – 9, 35, 37, 61 – 2, 98, 113, 117, 129 – 30, 139 – 40, 144, 146 – 8, 157, 171 – 5, 177 – 84, 195, 200, 227 – 9, 252 – 3, 266 – 7, 306 – 7, 321, 325, 327, 330, 335, 340 – by Christ’s atonement 62, 72, 183, 186, 330

Subject Index

– by grace 9 – 10, 18, 28, 64, 68, 108 – 10, 162 – 3 – doctrine of 163, 222, 226, 232 – of sinners (see also redemption, of humanity) 9, 62, 114, 179, – of souls 61 – 2, 178, – state of 169, 172, 303 sanctification, of humanity 22, 24, 66, 68, 108 – 10, 113, 163, 178, 227, 276 Satan (see also the devil) 56, 175, 190, 200n1182, 319 Saul, biblical figure 57, 139, 294, 305, 307, 319 Schism Bill (see also Corporation Act, Test Act) 5n12 science 18, 188, 256 – 7, 277 Scotland 67, 71, 121 – 2 Scribes 102, 179 Scripture (see Bible) Simon, biblical figure 301 sin (see also transgression, against God) 1 – 2, 4 – 5, 7 – 9, 18, 20 – 3, 27 – 9, 34 – 5, 41, 43, 55, 58 – 60, 68, 76, 100, 106 – 7, 114, 130, 133, 142, 145 – 6, 167, 172, 179, 190, 199 – 201, 208, 221 – 2, 224, 226 – 7, 232, 234 – 5, 237 – 8, 263, 271, 305, 307 – 9, 321 – 22, 333, 339 sin – as human frailty 21, 60, 101, 200 – evil of 20 – 1, 29, 43, 55, 58 – 60, 200 – 1, 224, 237, 255, 305 – forgiveness of (see forgiveness, of sin) – original 7, 12, 54, 64, 68, 72, 81 – punishment of (see punishment, for sin) – sinners 5, 22 – 3, 25, 27, 40 – 43, 60 – 61, 63, 65, 102, 104, 106 – 7, 109 – 10, 114, 129 – 30, 136, 139, 163, 179, 197 – 8, 201, 223, 225, 227 – 8, 266, 306, 321 – 2, 330 – reformation of (see also repentance, of sin) 21, 25, 43, 58 – 60, 62, 72 – 3, 110 – 13, 136, 181, 223, 293, 306, 309 skeptics 33, 266 Socinianism – and rationality 5, 11, 17 – 9, 21, 31 – 2, 39, 42, 47, 72, 87, 94, 118, 125 – 6, 159 – 60, 162, 214, 216, 256, 292, 312, 336, 351 – doctrine of (see doctrine, Socinian) – ministry of (see ministry, Socinian) – moral tendency of 4 – 5, 12 – 3, 15, 22 – 4, 26, 33 – 6, 38, 40, 76, 82, 94, 115 – 8, 152,

367

199, 234, 247, 266 – 7, 269 – 70, 274, 279, 284, 286 – 8, 292, 296, 298, 314, 332 – preaching of (see preaching, Socinian) – principles of (see also doctrine, Socinian; Socinianism, system of) 5, 6n15, 21 – 2, 26, 29, 36, 40, 47, 49, 53, 63, 69, 82 – 3, 87, 95 – 6, 116, 170, 225, 228, 234, 244, 247, 251 – 2, 254, 261, 264 – 5, 270 – 2, 279, 288 – 92, 294, 301, 303 – 4, 308, 311, 317, 330, 338, 346, 348 – 9 – system of (see also doctrine, Socinian; Socinianism, principles of) 7, 9, 20, 27 – 8, 33 – 5, 48, 57, 59, 188, 196, 227 – 31, 238, 247 – 8, 250, 267, 300, 313, 326 – 7, 331, 338, 345 – writers 4, 23, 31 – 2, 34, 51, 60, 62 – 4, 74, 94, 98, 118, 125, 129, 153, 156, 163 – 6, 180, 187, 213, 218 – 9, 222, 243, 248, 255 – 6, 262, 275, 283 – 5, 288 – 90, 304, 307, 312 – 3, 316, 318, 331, 336, 340, 346 – 7 Sodom and Gomorrah 132, 134, 319 Solomon, biblical figure 89 soteriology 39 soul 2, 10 – 11, 18, 22, 26, 31, 42 – 3, 51, 61 – 2, 70, 73, 77, 97, 101 – 2, 104, 112, 134, 137, 144 – 7, 164, 178, 190, 192, 196, 198, 203, 209, 227, 231 – 2, 238 – 9, 242, 303, 309 Spirit of God (see Holy Spirit) Stephen, biblical figure 75, 139, 240, 307 Stoicism 116, 167 stumbling block (= stumbling-stone) 63, 74 – 5, 98, 179, 190, 247 suffering, human (see also Christ, suffering of) 41, 103, 123, 128, 132, 134, 200, 230 superstition 76, 87 – 8, 239, 256, 258, 336 tabernacle 196, 242 Test Act (see also Corporation Act, Schism Bill) 5, 5n12, 40, 48, 49, 50, 78, 102 testimony 3, 40, 43, 49, 61 – 2, 119 – 20, 213, 219 – 20, 262, 277 – apostolic 25, 58, 171 – 2, 197, 203, 205, 208, 210 – 11, 308 – of Scripture 30 – 1, 61 – 2, 131, 204, 207, 218, 220, 263, 285, 287 theism 13, 38, 183, 230 theology – Calvinist 20

368

Subject Index

– Christian 7, 38, 41 – comparative 40 – Socinian 6, 20, 38 Thessalonica 216 thief on the cross, biblical figure 25, 73, 339 Thirty-Nine Articles 122 Thomas, biblical figure 186, 194, 220 Timothy, biblical figure 41 transgression, against God (see also sin) 22, 61, 101, 179, 200, 226, 321 transubstantiation, doctrine of 27, 240, 252 Transylvania 149, 151, 217n1310, 337 – 8 Trinitarianism 18, 41, 48, 151, 236, 256, 270, 299 – writers 248 – 9 Trinitarians 6, 19, 33, 37, 50 – 51, 78, 100, 141, 148 – 9, 152, 154, 157, 161 – 2, 182, 187, 209, 237, 278, 292, 294, 303, 312, 337, 343 Trinity, the 12, 27, 33, 36, 41, 54, 74, 120, 121 – doctrine of 4n8, 120 – 1, 183, 248n1595, 249n1596, 249n1597, 258 – 9, 272, 294 – 5 truth – Christian (see also Christianity, true; Christians, true) 7 – 8, 15, 18, 34, 40 – 43, 47, 53, 65, 72, 89, 94, 109 – 10, 113, 145, 170, 176 – 80, 185, 205, 256, 259, 261, 269, 275, 277, 281, 284, 291 – 2, 300, 302, 304, 306, 316, 333 – 5, 350 – divine 43, 47, 53, 145, 177 – 80, 205, 267, 291, 293 unbelievers 20, 82, 86, 176 – 7, 185, 221, 233, 256, 258 – 60, 265 – 6, 302, 313, 340 Unitarianism 10n31, 48, 149, 151, 257, 266, 269 – 70, 276, 278, 286, 290, 293, 307 Unitarians 6n15, 36, 48, 50 – 51, 55, 78, 87, 89, 101, 118, 122, 124, 154, 161, 183, 222, 228, 265 – 6, 270 – 74, 277 – 8, 287,

294 – 5, 306 – 8, 312 – 3, 331 – 2, 336 – 8, 348 – 9, 351 Uriah, biblical figure 59 vice, human 14, 25, 65, 73, 101, 108 – 11, 118, 142, 144, 167, 200, 224 – 5, 334 – 6 virtue – Christian (see also Christianity, virtues of) 15, 95, 107 – 9, 114 – 5, 117, 120, 122, 140, 146, 165 – 7, 191, 203, 240 – 42, 246, 266, 278, 291, 312 – 3, 315, 317, 325n221, 329, 333, 337, 345 – human 5, 13, 14, 22, 24, 26n76, 27 – 8, 40, 56, 65, 69, 93 – 4, 97, 101, 111 – 12, 116, 141 – 2, 145, 147, 199 – 200, 224 – 6, 285, 317, 324 – obligation of/to 12 – 13, 33, 54, 72, 97, 236, 266 – principles of 25, 117 – social 98 “Waldenses” (= Waldensians) 119 – 20 Wales 48 West India islands (= Caribbean islands) 81, 319 wisdom, human 54, 95, 104, 108 – 9, 113, 152, 159 – 60, 188, 206, 213 – 4, 241, 259, 267, 326, 342 Word of God (see also gospel) 8, 95, 112, 203, 245, 260, 262 – 3, 271, 277, 291, 305, 341 worship – Christian (see also God, worship of; Christ, worship of) 6, 38, 41, 50, 86, 151, 177 – 8, 273, 297, 335 – modes of 143, 145, 147, 170 – 1, 173, 177 – 8, 253 – 4, 260, 298, 335 Zaccheus, biblical figure 58, 339 Zacharias, biblical figure 193 zeal, for religion 14, 50, 57, 79, 89, 91n276, 94, 124, 139, 152n693, 190, 294, 335

Scripture Index Genesis – 1:26 – 1:3 – 6:5 – 48:22 – 49:5 – 7

272 112 101 201 51

Exodus – 34:6 – 34:7

321 321

Numbers – 22

276

Deuteronomy – 4:24 – 5:16 – 6:5 – 12:32 – 13:11 – 21:18 – 21 – 30:6 – 32:29 – 32:40 – 41 – 33:27

131 327 167, 192 205 320 134 167, 322 241 132 227

Judges – 7:6‒8 – 19 – 21

78 133

1 Samuel – 15:17

161

2 Samuel – 23:2 – 3

Job – 33:24 – 40:4 – 5 – 42:6 Psalms – 2:10 – 10:4 – 10:5 – 14:1 – 19:7 – 45:1 – 2 – 45:3 – 45:6 – 51:4 – 53:1 – 53:3 – 85:10 – 90:12 – 94:1 – 119 – 119:18 – 119:20 – 119:54 – 119:72 – 119:97 – 119:99 – 119:105 – 125:4 – 130:3‒6

227 58 58 226 161 171 171 171 213 193 193 193, 211, 309 59 171 101 130 241 132 203 203 203 203 203 203 213 203 108

Proverbs – 2:1‒9 – 16:4

89 137

Ecclesiastes – 7:2 – 7:6 – 9:2

241 224 225

Isaiah – 2:17 – 3:11 – 4:6 – 5:3 – 6:10 – 8:20

159 222 193 216 261 205

204

1 Kings – 16:8 – 20 – 18:20 – 40

156 53

2 Kings – 9:30 – 37

156

2 Chronicles – 20:20

204

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420500-007

370

Scripture Index

– 9:6 – 26:4 – 27:11 – 28:7 – 28:8 – 28:9 – 28:16 – 35:8 – 40:3 – 40:10 – 40:10 – 11 – 40:11 – 40:15 – 43:1 – 43:7 – 53:5 – 53:6 – 53:10 – 60:19

309 178 132, 330 89 89 89 179 334 193 309 193 309 138 204 137 179 309 309 243

Jeremiah – 2:19 – 6:14 – 15:16 – 17:5 – 28

200 143 203 177 143

Ezekiel – 36:26

181

Daniel – 10:21

205

Micah – 5:2 – 7:3

309 164

Nahum – 1:2 – 1:6

132 132

Zechariah – 12:10‒14 – 13:1

76 76

Malachi – 2:2

136

Matthew, Gospel of 65, 82, 262 – 3:7

– 5:18 – 5:46 – 7:1 – 7:3 – 7:5 – 7:15 – 7:15 – 20 – 7:16 – 7:20 – 9:12 – 9:13 – 10:31 – 11:9 – 11:25 – 12:21 – 13:5 – 13:15 – 23:10 – 23:63 – 23:66 – 27:16 – 26 – 28:19

322 169 169 275 169, 175, 350n16 275 169, 284 12, 41 163 163 192 109 159, 259 178 109 261 51 75 75 306 271, 290

Mark, Gospel of – 1:15 – 4:5 – 4:16 – 12:25 – 12:30 – 12:30 – 33 – 13:21 – 22 – 15:7 – 15 – 16:15 – 16 – 16:16

65, 262 261 109 109 243 167 192 276 306 171 172

Luke, Gospel of – 1:76 – 2:14 – 5:31 – 5:32 – 7:47 – 10:21 – 10:27 – 10:31 – 32 – 10:34 – 11:21 – 15:26 – 30 – 16:31 – 18:13 – 19:8

65, 262 193 138 163, 228 73, 163 237 259 97n297, 167, 192 232 232 226 228 70 226 339

Scripture Index

– 19:10 – 19:41 – 23:18 – 23:39 – 43 – 23:42 – 24:1 – 8 – 24:25

162 143 306 73 339 186 184, 334

John, Gospel of – 1:1 – 1:1 – 3 – 1:10 – 1:12 – 1:14 – 1:15 – 1:29 – 1:30 – 3:16 – 3:20 – 3:28 – 31 – 3:33 – 3:36 – 5:17‒18 – 5:18 – 5:22 – 23 – 5:23 – 5:39 – 5:42 – 6:37 – 6:51 – 6:53 – 6:56 – 6:66 – 6:67 – 68 – 6:68 – 7:17 – 8:12 – 8:21 – 8:24 – 8:32 – 8:41 – 8:42 – 8:47 – 8:49 – 8:54 – 9:24 – 10:30 – 10:30‒33 – 10:33 – 10:34‒36

65, 217, 262 217n1310, 220, 290 27n80, 194 27n80 329 27n80, 194, 220, 307 193 179, 309 193 227, 235, 236, 237, 322 47 193 171n875 145 74, 309 3 328 75, 178 225 139, 322 114n387 186 186 186 186 186 187 47, 89 264 145 145, 172, 329 145 139 139, 191 139 129n474 139 139 327 75 139 75

– 12:26 – 12:48 – 14:4 – 14:5 – 7 – 14:6 – 14:7 – 9 – 14:9 – 14:11 – 14:15 – 14:21 – 14:23 – 14:24 – 14:26 – 15:4 – 15:5 – 15:14 – 15:17 – 15:26 – 16:7 – 15 – 17:3 – 18:4 – 18:40 – 19:7 – 20:9 – 20:24 – 28 – 20:28 – 20:31

328 161 186 186 263, 264 140 327 327 43 25 140, 191, 327, 328 328 343, 272n1765 165 165 328 328 272n1765 272n1765 145 161 306 309 185 27n80, 194 194, 220 172

Acts

287, 304 – 5, 310, 339, 343, 345 – 6 70 306 306 306, 307 306 306 306 64, 339 306, 309 306 306 306 62, 179, 310 305 64 139, 307 307 305 301 305

–2 – 2:21 – 2:22 – 2:24 – 2:28 – 2:33 – 2:36 – 2:37 – 2:38 – 3:13 – 3:14 – 3:15 – 4:12 – 5:42 – 7:54 – 7:59 – 7:60 – 8:5 – 8:20 – 21 – 8:35

371

372

– 8:37 – 9:14 – 9:17 – 9:20 – 10 – 10:34 – 10:35 – 11:21 – 13:5 – 13:10 – 13:30 – 13:39 – 13:46 – 13:48 – 13:50 – 14:15 – 14:25 – 16:31 – 17:3 – 17:11 – 17:16 – 17:22 – 17:29 – 17:30 – 17:31 – 18:5 – 18:28 – 20:8 – 12 – 20:21 – 20:28 – 21:13 – 26:22 – 26:26 – 28:27 Romans – 1:25 – 2:2 – 2:6 – 2:10 – 2:12 – 2:17 – 3:12 – 3:20 – 3:22 – 3:25 – 3:26 – 3:27 – 4:2 – 4:3

Scripture Index

74, 305 139, 306n107 139 305, 307 89 254 254 70 305 301 307 306 172 114n387 57 145 305 339 305 205, 216 145 172 172 146 172, 173 307 307 305 58 179, 220, 307 198 70 216 261

327 54 254 254 254 139 101 305 227 129n473 130, 321 159, 165 167 205

– 5:1 – 5:3 – 4 – 5:8 – 5:10 – 5:15 –7 – 7:7 – 13 – 7:9 – 8:7 – 8:22 – 8:28 – 8:30 – 8:32 – 8:34 – 9:2 – 9:3 – 9:4 – 5 – 9:5 – 9:15 – 16 – 9:30 – 9:31 – 9:32 – 10:5 – 10:9 – 10:11 – 14 – 10:12 – 10:13 – 11:5 – 6 – 11:33 – 11:36 – 15:12 – 15:13

227 86 235 179 322 305 305 200, 226 322 114n387 136 114n387 235, 322 232 190 190 27n80 129n473, 220 114n387 190 190 190 195 185 139 306n107 178 114 230 137 330 227

1 Corinthians – 1:2 – 1:22 – 1:23 – 1:24 – 1:26 – 1:26 – 29 – 1:30 – 31 – 2:2 – 2:8 – 3:5 – 3:11 – 4:7 – 4:19 – 6:9‒10 – 6:11 – 7:25

139 306n107 180, 197 161 259 159 163 180 306 327 62, 63, 331 165 73 24, 100n315 276 204

Scripture Index

– 7:30 – 7:31 – 12:11 – 13:7 – 13:12 – 14:37 – 15:1 – 15:1 – 3 – 15:2 – 15:3 – 15:14 – 15 – 15:33 – 15:34 – 16:22 2 Corinthians – 2:14 – 2:17 – 3:1 – 3 – 3:2‒3 – 3:18 – 4:2 – 4:6 – 4:7 – 4:16 – 18 – 4:17 – 6:17 – 18 – 8:9 – 9:15 – 10:5 – 10:12 – 11:13 – 15 – 11:14

241 336 272n1765 169 243 204 266 180 266 179, 271, 290 185 276, 334 276, 334 25, 29, 191, 198

70 277 277 293 64 113, 325 200 244 243, 244 330 299 323 204 342 56, 175 275

Galatians – 1:6 – 1:7 – 1:8 – 2:21 – 3:1 – 4:4 – 4:19 – 5:2 – 4 – 5:9 – 6:7 – 6:14

145, 324 175, 324, 334n283 175, 205, 334n283 180 334 3 334 145 122 198 197

Ephesians – 1:3 – 4 – 1:7

28 114n387 62, 179

– 1:12 – 1:13 – 1:19 – 1:22 – 23 – 2:1 – 2 – 2:3 – 2:4 – 5 – 2:5 – 2:8 – 9 – 2:9 – 2:10 – 2:12 – 2:18 – 2:19 – 2:20 – 3:8 – 3:14 – 3:17 – 3:19 – 4:18 – 4:32 – 6:2 – 6:24

178, 330 178, 330 70 198 163 163 163 163, 167 163 114, 165 165, 166 227 198 227 198 198 198 198 198 261 326 327 47, 183, 191, 198

Philippians – 1:20 – 1:21 – 1:23 – 2:6 – 2:6 – 7 – 2:7 – 2:13 – 3:7 – 8 – 3:8 – 3:8 – 9 – 3:10 – 3:18

198 29, 198, 242 242 299 326 299 165 197 86 197 197 90, 180

Colossians – 1:6 – 1:13 – 17 – 1:14 – 1:15 – 17 – 1:19 – 1:20 – 2:18 – 3:3 – 3:4 – 3:11

195 137 27n80 195 195 161 179 239 243 243 196, 199

373

374

Scripture Index

2 Thessalonians – 1:8 – 2:10 – 2:10 – 11 – 2:11 – 2:12 – 2:13

132 89, 273n1767, 334n283 333 273n1767, 334n283 53, 276 113

1 Timothy – 1:5 – 1:15 – 2:5 – 3:16 – 5:22 – 6:3

197 325 290 230 142 41, 53

2 Timothy – 1:2 – 1:9 – 1:12 – 2:6 – 2:16 – 2:17 – 2:25 – 3:8 – 11 – 3:15 – 3:16 – 3:16 – 17

178 114, 163 61, 330 227 53 53 261 41 213 213 204

Titus – 2:12 – 3:5

53 130, 163

Hebrews –1 – 1:3 – 1:5 – 1:8 – 1:10 – 1:13 – 1:14 – 2:3 – 2:4 – 2:10 – 2:16 – 2:17 – 3:4 – 4:14 – 5:8 – 9 – 9:8 – 9

194 27n80 62, 179, 194 194 3, 194, 211, 220, 309 194 194 327 185, 195 185 137 299, 326, 338 326, 338 194 194 3 196

– 9:10 – 11 – 9:12 – 9:15 – 10:29 – 10:30 – 10:31 – 10:38 – 11:6 – 11:26 – 12:29

197 179 326 184, 185 132 132 198 244, 305 197 131

James – 1:17 – 2:13 – 4:4 – 4:9 – 13:2

166 136 215 222 132

1 Peter – 1:1 – 1:2 – 1:4 – 1:8 – 1:22 – 2:8 – 2:10

114n387 227 244 25, 191, 227 350 63 227

2 Peter – 1:2 – 1:20 – 1:21 – 2:1 – 2:13 – 3:16 1 John – 1:1 – 1:10 – 2:1 – 2:2 – 2:19 – 3:2 – 3:8 – 3:16 – 4:1 – 4:3 – 4:4 – 4:6

218, 293 204 204, 218, 255 273n1767, 276, 302, 334n283 277 204, 205

211 171n875 232 232 87 243 3 220 276 276 350 171n875, 273n1767, 334n283

Scripture Index

– 4:8 – 4:9 – 4:10 – 4:11 – 4:20 – 5:2 – 5:3 – 5:5 – 5:10 – 5:19

317 237 62, 235, 322 235 142 142 329 277 171n875 101, 146, 171n875, 350

2 John –2 –9 – 10 – 11

335 276 276

Jude –4 –6 –7

277 108, 273n1767, 334n283 132, 134 132, 134

– 13

319

Revelation – 1:5 – 3:12 – 4:11 – 5:9 – 5:11 – 12 – 5:12 – 7:17 – 12 – 12:14 – 13:3 – 14:10 – 19:9 – 19:10 – 21:4 – 22:9 – 22:18 – 19

179 243 137 201 197 28 243 119 119 119 136 205 197 243 327 205

375