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taken place , but can scarcely conceive of His unlimited prescience . Our childish obedience is then yielded as to our parents , —partly through fear , partly through a desire of approbation , and partly with the hope of giving pleasure . All the qualities or attributes which we ascribe to God have their origin and counterparts in our parents , or those who supply their place to us ; and in no other way can the conception of Deity be originated . No man can arrive at the recognition
of a general principle , but through an observation of its particular applications ; nor can a conception be formed , otherwise than by the gradual reception of its elements , or enlarged , but by adding to their number . From the watchfulness of its parent in satisfying its wants and defending it from injury , the child forms its first notion of Providence ; and , from the visitings of parental approbation and displeasure , of a moral governor . When the presence of Deity is thus recognized ,
some more abstract qualities are by degrees attributed to him . Instances of the strength , foresight , and knowledge of the parent are daily witnessed ; and these , somewhat magnified , are transferred to Deity;—and the moral attributes have the same origin . Steadiness in awarding recompense , tenderness in inflicting punishment , or readiness in remitting it on repentance , gradually communicate the abstract ideas of justice , compassion , and mercy . Our first low notions
of holiness are formed by putting together all the best qualities we have observed in the persons around us , and supposing them to be unimpaired by the faults we are conscious of in ourselves . All these attributes are ascribed to one Being ; and the conception , already more exalted than any we have formed of any other individual being , is further improved by the richer elements of a more extended experience . The imagination becoming stronger as the materials supplied
to its activity become more abundant , the conception of Deity perpetually grows in grandeur and beauty , till it absorbs the intellect of a Newton and engrosses the affections of a Fenelon . Still , this notion of a Being , whom we know and feel to be infinite , is formed from the results of our finite experience ; and the conception , however improved in degree , is unchanged in kind . Let it be magnified to the utmost extent , it is still only magnified , not metamorphosed . As there is a strict analogy between the moral attributes of God and of men , there is also a strict analogy between their natural modes of being . Justice in God is the same quality as justice in men , however perfected and enlarged ; and Unity in God is the same as individuality in men , though ascribed to an almighty and omnipresent Being . '—pp . 9 , 10 .
There is much lucid and discriminative thought in the remarks ( which we extract from the third Essay ) on the relative effects of prophecy and miracles .
"^ 'The faith which it was the object of miracles and prophecy to generate being now established , the exhibition of both became less and less frequent , till at length they were heard of no more . The object of miracles was to establish a belief in Him who wrought them by the hands of his servants ; that particular direction of miraculous power which takes place in prophecy , has the further object of carrying- forward the views of those to whom the prophecy is delivered . The effect
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Miss Marlineau ' s Prize Essays . # 81
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1832, page 481, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1816/page/49/
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