Unitarian Christianity
5/5
()
About this ebook
Read more from William Ellery Channing
Slavery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Unitarian Christianity
Related ebooks
A Treatise on Atonement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTalking Politics with Jesus: A Process Perspective on the Sermon on the Mount Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Big Jesus: A Pastor’s Struggle with Christology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTransforming Liberalism: The Theology of James Luther Adams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWrestling With God: The Story of My Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Message of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan and Ben Witherington III in Dialogue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterrupting Silence: God's Command to Speak Out Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of Miguel A. De La Torre's Reading the Bible from the Margins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiberating the Holy Name: A Free-Thinker Grapples with the Meaning of Divinity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory and Program (Revised) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMyth, History, and the Resurrection in German Protestant Theology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Love the Church, I Hate the Church: Paradox or Contradiction? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProcess Theology and the Revival We Need Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMigrants and Citizens: Justice and Responsibility in the Ethics of Immigration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApproaching the World’s Religions, Volume 2: An Evangelical Theology of Religions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Conflict Between Religion and Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaving God: Religion after Idolatry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5On the Origins of Jewish Self-Hatred Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open for Liberation: An Activist Reads the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalt Whitman: A Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Paul, But Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus and Identity: Reconstructing Judean Ethnicity in Q Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Religion & Spirituality For You
Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Course In Miracles: (Original Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Love Dare Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospel of Mary Magdalene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE EMERALD TABLETS OF THOTH THE ATLANTEAN Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Abolition of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Imitation of Christ: Selections Annotated & Explained Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weight of Glory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wisdom of Your Body: Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection through Embodied Living Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Unitarian Christianity
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Unitarian Christianity - William Ellery Channing
Unitarian Christianity
1 Thes. v. 21: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
The peculiar circumstances of this occasion not only justify,
but seem to demand a departure from the course generally followed
by preachers at the introduction of a brother into the sacred
office. It is usual to speak of the nature, design, duties, and
advantages of the Christian ministry; and on these topics I should
now be happy to insist, did I not remember that a minister is to be
given this day to a religious society, whose peculiarities of
opinion have drawn upon them much remark, and may I not add, much
reproach. Many good minds, many sincere Christians, I am aware, are
apprehensive that the solemnities of this day are to give a degree
of influence to principles which they deem false and injurious. The
fears and anxieties of such men I respect; and, believing that they
are grounded in part on mistake, I have thought it my duty to lay
before you, as clearly as I can, some of the distinguishing
opinions of that class of Christians in our country, who are known
to sympathize with this religious society. I must ask your
patience, for such a subject is not to be despatched in a narrow
compass. I must also ask you to remember, that it is impossible to
exhibit, in a single discourse, our views of every doctrine of
Revelation, much less the differences of opinion which are known to
subsist among ourselves. I shall confine myself to topics, on which
our sentiments have been misrepresented, or which distinguish us
most widely from others. May I not hope to be heard with candor?
God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and fill us with
the love of truth and virtue.
There are two natural divisions under which my thoughts will
be arranged. I shall endeavour to unfold, 1st, The principles which
we adopt in interpreting the Scriptures. And 2dly, Some of the
doctrines, which the Scriptures, so interpreted, seem to us clearly
to express.
I. We regard the Scriptures as the records of God’s successive
revelations to mankind, and particularly of the last and most
perfect revelation of his will by Jesus Christ. Whatever doctrines
seem to us to be clearly taught in the Scriptures; we receive
without reserve or exception. We do not, however, attach equal
importance to all the books in this collection. Our religion, we
believe, lies chiefly in the New Testament. The dispensation of
Moses, compared with that of Jesus, we consider as adapted to the
childhood of the human race, a preparation for a nobler system, and
chiefly useful now as serving to confirm and illustrate the
Christian Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the only master of
Christians, and whatever he taught, either during his personal
ministry, or by his inspired Apostles, we regard as of divine
authority, and profess to make the rule of our lives.
This authority, which we give to the Scriptures, is a reason,
we conceive, for studying them with peculiar care, and for
inquiring anxiously into the principles of interpretation, by which
their true meaning may be ascertained. The principles adopted by
the class of Christians in whose name I speak, need to be
explained, because they are often misunderstood. We are
particularly accused of making an unwarrantable use of reason in
the interpretation of Scripture. We are said to exalt reason above
revelation, to prefer our own wisdom to God’s. Loose and undefined
charges of this kind are circulated so freely, that we think it due
to ourselves, and to the cause of truth, to express our views with
some particularity.
Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is this, that
the Bible is a book written for men, in the language of men, and
that its meaning is to be sought