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there em * Mg ^ ; ^ IKMtpqcg a # ei ! > tlje awards of £ future judgment ; o ? , % \ & , t % \ m > w ® mm $ &m > e £ < 4 k& , JPeity will ni > t perinitbimi to accept of such repentance ^ « jf ? ^ tfcat ^ tljp , | £ oja ^ , of JDivine aager will , contiuue to fS ^ as well as to sufi ^ i $ is £¥$ ri ami « o the one # * ijl
prove a natural consequence of the other . > . ' ....--. ' . The ? fii ? sfc of these positions , as already observed , may b e ^ f lted & simple truism , as to which there is no dispute ; and therefore a rational being , actually existing and sinning to all eternity ,
must needs be miserable to &J 1 eternity ; sin and suffering , in some way ox other , being inseparable in their very nature . This , Djtj ? Hartley calls , by a peculiar felicity of phrase , "the practical infinity of the evil of sin . " Etaft then there is a clear and manifest distinction
between this important and incontrovertible truth , and the conclusion , that thus it will + certainly be ; a conclusion which we shall be forced tp adopt ; if we espouse , the notion of a strictly eternal duration .
The second position is , that there can be no repentance after the awards of . a future judgment ; or that this life is the only state of trial for eternity . Eternity has been considered in tu ? p views—the eternity past , and the eternity that , is to come ; and . though this Js not the strict philosophical way of
representing it , it ia the most suitable to our apprehensions . , Absolute eterr nity belongs only ; do tfee Deity y in this sense , " He only hath immortality /' But an - intellectual being , though put of yesterday , may become immortal by gracey \ since it ian plain ,, * tfeiat itfee same power which at first created him , to
may continuei his exjstenc ^ apy as signable < period , or . even without md ; and thus constitute him , mtto sublime language of the ^ son o £ SijcaQh > ' * Am image of . his crvvmimmortftlity / ' For this state man Was originally iledg ^ ed and " the just made perfect" shall
shall experience it , in « i ^ au » Qr of which * m ^ b ^ sre uo donceptipji ; £ 0 % ^ heaveia ; ^ fiimml shall te& noi mmfo < tep $ x . His servants shall ^ erve him , , m& m $ f shall ; seej hia fece , and bis name ahajl be in their foreheaLds . ' ' ^ . » ¦ > r \^ a 11 , :-o * j .. ^ - ¦
Now if we * reflect a little on tMg eternit y io c 0 $% it is p&R'tiffl y have no language sufficient j ^ , # | embe the mfinite l < te ^ : an 4 ithat ; imMteation
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melf gtQm weary ia tjie pursuit ! | f me mult %% ev ^ atom iwf matter in tm -nmv ^ m ^ : 0 m ^ t ^^ m ^ 4 ^ " time from the first davvfl of creati «| , by millions of ages ^ if ^ e s 0 jfr ? 4 fatof £ > add wo ^ ld tQ WWpL * , systemrto sy&te « j , and ages to age ^ , in the same mMe of computation ^ if we call in the aid of superior beings , of cherubim and
seiaphim , to assist us in the mighty task ; what shall we hsfre done ?^^ $ hy— , we shall have done nothing— -our labour is not yet begun ; we are not even arrived at the confines of tihe invisible and eternal world !
To suppose , ; therefore , : that ; asm . - demned transgressors sh ^ U renaiainia a state of pumstuaaent taiuifinite = aged > and yet manifest no symptoms of repentance , in the religious sense pf the word , is to suppose that the effects of future suffering , mpi prove essentially different from their general effects -at present , and sinners be the less abte
or less willing to repent , in proportion as they must be more and more convinced of the folly , ingratitude and madness of their past conduct , m a state where there shall be no room for &cepticfom ~ yYh&t& their mental
facilities shall be abundantly enlarged , and consequently the motives to a chance of mind shall have become infinitely more urgent . .. . \ v
The natural tendency . of present sxd ferings , is to reformation . They doubtless produce this effect in a variety of instances , and however they may foil in particular cases , few go out of life
without some degree of contrition . The Jewish writers say , that ^ ^ jlfttient and , submissive death , is sorae atonement for the sina of life ; " and
wxough we may have blo reason to subscribe to tiiis opinion ,, yet ^ , to behave thus in auch dr ^ um ^ tancee is jsuriely -best , w& \^ here j& , coatrajy beiiayio ^ r takes plaqe , > W ) e « haji probably be led to impute it r ^ thejrto ^ exceaske pain of ( body or weakness , of intellect , than to 4 * dafeig profanai ^ ess : and . if qi * b ^ impse r ofi the t tielestS&l glory wotiid ^ us ; we may Just Jy [ exclude , aoniWl ^ tfc ^ t rjpjacQjrfl iliie fojbce of ; t ^ jq ^| TO ||^ and dissolve all the visionary s <* e # es around n ^ : and at the 8 miaB miS MwW ^ witibneld ) render us u ^ ej |^| U umi ^ fi ^ g duties ; nnd avocations otufe * it i § at
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Modemi ** \ Q ? $ fr $ dqaP Notion of Future Punishment . 405
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VOL . XV . 3 G
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1820, page 405, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2490/page/25/
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