Mr. Wm. Parsons Lunt was ordained as Pastor of the Second Congregational Unitarian Church in New-York, on Thursday, the 19th June. The service commenced at 4 o'clock, p.m. Introductory prayer and reading the Scriptures, by Mr. Pierpont of Boston. Sermon, by Mr. Greenwood of Boston. Ordaining prayer, by Dr. Kendall of Plymouth. Charge, by Mr. Forthingham of Boston. Right hand of fellowship, and address to the Society, by Mr. Ware of New-York. Concluding prayer, by Mr. Parkman of Boston. Benediction, by Mr. Lunt.

The sermon by Mr. Greenwood, was an able production, clearly exhibiting the power and influence of Christianity in reforming the world, and its happy effects upon private and domestic life. The other performances were appropriate and interesting. Great harmony and unanimity attended all the proceedings of the day.

To Correspondents.

A Correspondent considers the account of the rise and progress of the Unitarian Society in Glasgow, "so far as regards the origin of the Society, as very incorrect." He states, that though "great praise is due both to the late Dr. Spencer and his coadjutors, for their zealous exertions in the promotion of Unitarianism, it ought not to be forgotten, that, for many years prior to the appearance of the Rev. James Lyons, as a Missionary from the London Unitarian Fund, there was no Unitarian Society, properly so called, existing in Glasgow. The present Unitarian Society, which was then Universalist, is the only Society in the city which was aided by the exertions of the London Unitarian Fund Missionaries; and this Society was founded by individuals, none of whom knew any thing of the late Dr. Spencer, but by report." "This Society, which has undergone several changes, since its commencement in the year 1807, was carried on for about four years, chiefly by the labours of those who first formed it, during which period it gradually increased. After this, an invitation was given, and accepted by Mr. Yates, to become their Pastor."

G. C. S.-Homo-F. K.-W. J." The Unitarian, No. 2."—have been received, and will be inserted. We are obliged to friends at Bristol and New-York, for Newspapers. We shall be glad to have the articles on the Co-operative System. Communications sent direct, are respectfully solicited to be forwarded to the Editor, or Messrs. Hedderwick & Son, Printers, Glasgow, by the 16th of the month. Publications to be reviewed, and other articles for the Pioneer, may be given to the care of

MR. R. HUNTER, St. Paul's Church-Yard, London.
REV. RUSSELL SCOTT, Portsmouth.

MR. WILLIAM BROWNE, BOOKSELLER, Bristol.
REV. J. R. BEARD, Salford, Manchester.

Volumes I. and II. of the Christian Pioneer, may be had of the. Booksellers.

CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

No. 27.

NOVEMBER, 1828. Vol. III.

Reflections on the Principles and Evidences of Christianity.

LETTER I.

On Christianity as contrasted with the Religion of the Gentiles.

THE difference between the religion and morality inculcated in the collection of books called the New Testament, and the opinions and practices which generally prevailed at the period of the introduction of Christianity, is a subject of the greatest importance; showing its necessity and fitness as a system of reformation, under circumstances in which such a reformation had become indispensably requisite, and also that it imparted knowledge, of which the world must otherwise have been in a great degree destitute, if, indeed, it would not have been totally unattainable. To me, it moreover appears, that one of the strongest standing evidences of the truth of Christianity, arises from comparing it with the state of religion and morals which then prevailed among both the Jews and Gentiles, the two grand divisions of mankind, as it respects the avowed principles of theology.

The ideas and practices of the Gentiles, as it respected the objects of their worship, and the manner in which they endeavoured to propitiate their favour, differed most essentially from those which were inculcated by Christ and his Apostles. They acknowledged a countless multiplicity of deities of different powers and characters, to none of whom did they distinctly ascribe the great work of creation, nor had they any temple or altar dedicated to such a Being. On the contrary, it was the leading object of Christianity, as of all the preceding dispensations recorded in the Jewish Scriptures, to inculcate the doctrine of One all-powerful, all-comprehensive Being, the sole Creator and absolute Disposer of the whole system of ́nature, and of all derivative existences, to whom alone all religious worship is due; and, consequently, that all the objects of worship among the Gentiles, were, in reality, no gods, but mere inanimate matter, or figments of the

imagination. This is the doctrine which every where pervades, and forms the leading idea through the whole of that numerous and various collection of books called the Bible; and which, though written at periods remote, and under circumstances extremely differing from each other, may yet be said to form one connected view of the proceedings of that great Being, from the beginning to the termination of this habitable world. Gentilism, on the other hand, presents us with no connected system of facts or principles whatever upon this momentous subject; its mythology is traditional, involved in mystic obscurity, and replete with the most grotesque, absurd, and incredible representations.

Although the Gentiles seem to have admitted the existence of invisible powers, yet their worship was uniformly directed toward sensible objects, as the heavenly bodies, animals, and especially the inanimate images of human beings, graven and devised by the art of man, and which they imagined to be inhabited by the spirits of the dead persons whom they represented. The twelve "great gods," which were the supreme objects of worship at Rome, in the time of Christ, were of the last description. The Jewish and Christian Scriptures are every where opposed to this species of worship. They constantly maintain that the universal Creator cannot be represented by any of the objects which he has made; and that the images of heathen worship were nothing more than they appeared to be, mere senseless masses of matter; and, consequently, that all such visible objects of worship are to be discarded, and all adoration uniformly directed to that invisible Being who created and sustains the universe.

The attributes and moral characters which the Gentiles assigned to the objects of their worship, were various; but the former were supposed to be limited, and it would be difficult to select any among their numerous deities, whose characters would endure a rigid examination. Those who were the most distinguished for their power or their antiquity, were stained with the most flagrant vices. "The most ancient of the gods" was represented by a decrepit old man, whose famishing appetite was incessantly craving the blood of his own children, and, ac cordingly, his worship was celebrated by human sacrifices, or by gladiatorial games, in which the victims of this em blem of cruelty were made to sport away their lives, for

the amusement of the populace of ancient Rome. He to whom the most power was ascribed, who was represented as wielding the thunderbolts of heaven, and as being the "father of gods and men," and even the arbiter of their destinies, was the votary of concupiscence. The worship of one of "the great celestial gods," consisted of unbridled intemperance; that of another, of the most shameless debauchery; one was remarkable for his dexterity in thieving; others were inflamed with the destructive rage, and wild distraction of warfare. In general, their characters and history are so made up of fable and fiction; and the most absurd and criminal actions and propensities ascribed to them, so influenced those of their worshippers, that they sanctioned the practice of the most gross, pernicious, and degrading vices; and ideas of religion and of duty, in the mind of a Gentile, must have been subjected to the most shocking and debasing corrup tions-his most solemn religious services, in many instances, consisting of the most extravagant, obscene, and inhuman practices.

When such representations of the powers which sway the destinies, and command the worship and services of mankind, are fairly compared with the One Jehovah of the Scriptures, and especially with the heavenly Father of Christianity, as he is represented in the New Testament, it must be seen that they stand strongly contrasted with each other. As in those writings he is uniformly represented as the sole Creator and absolute Disposer of the universe, so the representations which are given of his attributes, are in accordance with this sublimely rational account of his operations. His power is everywhere represented to be absolute and uncontrolable; his wisdom and knowledge, perfect and all-comprehensive; and though in the execution of his judgments he appears clothed in the matchless terrors of infinite majesty, yet they may be seen to have objects in view, and to lead to results, altogether becoming a God of equity, of mercy, and of beneficence. Being the first and proper cause of all derivative existence, he is properly characterized in the Jewish Scriptures as Jehovah, the essentially existent; and his attributes are described as strictly invariable, even though all the "works of his hands"-all the effects of his power should be wholly changed, or totally disappear. Under the Christian dispensation, his great leading moral

attribute of benignity shines forth with distinguished glory. It being peculiarly suited to the more matured powers and enlarged capacities of the human mind, he, in a great degree, withdraws the terrors of his power, and in the works and words of his chosen Messenger, manifests the most ineffable good-will and kindness toward a world grossly ignorant of his nature and character, and living in the flagrant violation of his laws.

It cannot, indeed, be denied, that, notwithstanding the general agreement of professing Christians in maintaining the infinite perfections of the object of their worship, the interpretations which have been put upon certain parabolical representations, or other figurative and proverbial expressions, commonly dissevered from their connections, have been by no means compatible with the character of a God of universal and pure benevolence. But to those, who, making due allowances for the bold and glowing imagery of the east, can distinguish between parabolical and figurative expressions and literal truths, and, especially, plain matters of fact, there must appear in the great outline of Christianity-in the circumstances in which it was introduced-in its commands and injunctions, in which the most elevated yet humble devotion is inseparably interwoven and even identified with the most perfect benevolence-in the highly instructive and engaging manner in which all these virtues are realized and exemplified in the life of Christ-in the suitability of the many beneficial miracles ascribed to him, to his character and pretensions-and above all, in the glorious subject of his revelation, as instanced and illustrated by his own resurrection from the insensibility of the grave to a hea venly immortality;-in all this combination of facts, drawn out and portrayed by the artless pens of the Evangelists and Apostles, there must appear the strong characteristics of a benevolence truly divine.

(To be Continued.)

HOMO.

Unitarian Worthies.-No. 4, Theophilus Lindsey.

(Concluded from page 61.)

BUT the scene began to brighten. Assistance was afforded; and a room was taken in Essex House, Essex-Street, which was fitted up as a temporary chapel. Dr. Priestley and Dr. Price were indefatigable in their endeavours to