votion of Christ, our Lord, himself. Such was the devotion which he recommended and taught; and such, I proceed to show, is in a peculiar degree the devotion which Christian Unitarianism inspires and prompts. My object is to prove, that of all the known forms in which the Christian doctrine has been preached, there is none which is so well fitted to produce this most beneficial moral effect. There is, indeed, no view of Christianity in which there is not much good, and much that is calculated to foster the spirit of piety; but, in most of them, other principles are mixed up which impair their practical efficacy, and produce more or less of danger to the character of its professors. In Unitarianism, alone do I find a system of truths which appears to me calcu lated to inspire a pure, a steadfast, and an enlightened devotion. In this discourse, I shall use the term Unitarianism to designate not a doctrine, but a system; as including not merely the fundamental truth that God is One, but likewise those other important truths which are usually, I might say universally, associated with this great principle. By Unitarianism, I mean the view of the Christian religion which teaches us, that there is One God, the Father; who alone is God: and One Lord Jesus Christ, his Son, Prophet, and Messenger;-that we and our brethren of mankind are placed in this world in a state of trial and discipline, to prepare for a better; that we are furnished by our merciful Creator with full powers and motives to enable us to fulfil all the duties which are required for our future acceptance; that the sincere penitent will receive pardon; and that no one will be excluded from mercy in consequence of any other -- thing but his own actual guilt and misconduct. In short, that men will be judged hereafter in justice and mercy, but strictly according to their deeds; that every one shall give account of himself, and only of himself. These are distinctive features of that faith which I have in view when speaking of the influences of Unitarianism. I proceed, therefore, to illustrate the natural and necessary effect of this form of faith on those who sincerely and consistently profess it, with reference to their religious feelings and conduct. Unitarianism is eminently calculated to produce and sustain the spirit of devotion; because it presents to the mind one distinct and intelligible Being, as the object of devotion. Piety requires a definite and well understood object. We cannot exert our devotional feelings with their due and full fervor, if we consider them as referring to a multitude of Beings at once. In this case our pious sentiments are lost in the crowd. Neither can we be devout, or at least as devout as we ought to be, and are capable of being, if we bow down before a Being, of whom we have formed to ourselves a representation which perplexes, confuses, and bewilders our understandings, so that we can neither tell our souls of what kind he is, nor form of him any conception whatsoever. The worship which is presented to an unknown and incomprehensible God, can never rise to the energy and sublimity of a hearty homage. Now Unitarianism exactly meets this want of the human mind for a distinct and intelligible object of devotion. It presents to us One God, the Father - the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ- the Father of all as the only living and true God. It teaches, that he alone is the Being who is to be worship ped and adored; that no other person, no other being, no other subsistence, is to share with him in the affections of our hearts. The views which our system exhibits of his nature are calculated, by their admirable simplicity, to fix the wandering thoughts, and give our souls a resting place. For it teaches us to approach him as truly and strictly One; one in every sense; one person, one being, one substance only; as strictly and properly one as each of ourselves is. It does not require us to attempt to form to ourselves conceptions which involve either mysteries unfathomable, or contradictions irreconcilable. Here, then, we have a Being whom our minds can grasp; whom our thoughts can conceive; on whom our hearts can fix their warmest and most intense affections; to whom our souls can aspire in the fervor and ardor of devotion; - and on whom they can rest in the full power of the spirit of prayer. If, therefore, the Unitarian be not devout, he belies his own principles; he is untrue to himself; for never was there a religion better fitted to form and strengthen the devotional habit than that which he professes. It can hardly be necessary to point out the pre-eminent advantage which the Unitarian system possesses in this respect over the more common, but infinitely less intelligible doctrine, professed by our Fellow-Christians of other creeds. They have for their object of worship, not one, but three divine persons, who sustain all personal relations towards one another, and towards mankind. One begets another; but is not himself begotten: - one sends the other two; but is not himself sent by them; proceeds from the other two; but does not himself give origin to any one else. They love each other; they one they make covenants or agreements with each other; receive gifts from each other ; — they intercede with each other; they satisfy each other's justice, and comply with each other's will. Now I ask, in the name of all that is consistent and intelligible, are not these three persons so related, and so acting, distinctly and separately - are they not, to all intents and purposes, Three Gods? And if the acute minds of metaphysicians, in their abstract studies, can find a means of reconciling all this with the One-ness of God at least to their own satisfaction can such considerations influence the mind of the penitent in the hour of prayer? Can they come home to the spirit of the child, which prays according to its catechism or creed? Nor is the case improved by those subtleties and distinctions to which some theologians have recourse, for giving to the mind one object of devotion instead of the three which their creed would appear to countenance. They tell us, as we have already seen, that in their formulas they speak, it is true, of three persons, each of whom is God; but then, they add, they do not use the word person in its common signification, nor is it exactly fitted to express the relation which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bear to each other. They use it, therefore, only for want of a better term; and they profess themselves unable to give any definition whatsoever of the meaning of the word in this application. Thus it appears that the Three Persons are not Three Persons. Some have proposed to call them three Subsistences; three Subsistences in One God: some would have us say, three Distinctions in the One God; some call them three Somewhats. Now what can be the influence and power of the devotional feelings in the soul of man, when he bows down in adoration before three Distinctions? One can hardly frame a prayer in which the epithet of Somewhat should be introduced, without appearing to cast ridicule on the whole subject; but if any one will substitute the phrase Three Somewhats for that of Three Persons, in that formula, "O Holy, Blessed, and Glorious Trinity, Three Persons and One God," he will speedily perceive that the words are calculated to give rise to any feelings except those of devotion. Now all such notions, however expressed, however explained, are calculated to perplex, confuse, and mystify. They darken counsel by words without knowledge. They leave the mind without any precise or definite idea on which it can fix; and to them the bewildered worshipper might apply the language of Mary Magdalene in the garden,-"They have taken away our Lord, and we know not where they have laid him." Most certainly the Unitarian is justified in addressing to those who entertain these perplexed and mysterious notions of the Godhead, "Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship." It surely can require no argument to show which of these two systems is better calculated to inspire a deep-seated, rational, and serious piety. There is another point of view in which this influence of Unitarianism, in favor of devotion, is not less conspicuous. We know that the purity and elevation of the devotional feeling must greatly depend on the views which are taken of the spirituality of the Being who is addressed in prayer. "God is a spirit ;" and it is only by those who so regard him that he can be worshipped "in spirit and in truth." Now Unitarianism holds fast by this sim |