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The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared
The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared Author:Andrew Fuller Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: - LETTER III, The Jyftems compared as to their tendency to convert profe/fed unbelievers. Christian Brethren, iSOCINIAN writers are very fanguine on ... more »the tendency of their views of things to convert Infidels, namely Jews, Heathens, and Mahometans, They reckon that our notions of the Trinity form the grand obftaclelto their converfion. Dr. Prieftley often fuggefts, that fo long as we maintain the Deity of Jefus Chrift, there is no hope of converting the Jews, becaufe this will always be a ftum- bling block in their way, as clafhing with the firft principle of their religion, the unity of God. Things not altogether but nearly fimilar are faid concerning the converfion of the Heathens and Mahometans, efpecially the latter. On this fub- jedt the following obfcrvations are fubmitted to your confideration. With refpect to the Jews, they know very well that thbfe who believe in the deity of Chrift, profefs to believe in the unity of God ; and if they will not admit this to be confiftent, they muft depart from what is plainly implied in the language of their an- ceftors. If the Jews in the time of Chrift had thought it impoffible, or, which is fame thing, in- confiftentconfiftent with the unity of God, that God the Father fhould have a Son equal to himfelf, how came they to attach the idea of equality to that of Sonfhip ? Jefus afferted that God was his own Father, and they underftood him as making himfelf equal with God, and therefore fought to kill him as a blafphemer. John v. la. Had the Jews affixed thofe ideas to fonfhip, which are entertained by our opponents ; namely, as implying nothing more than fimple humanity, why did they accufe Jefus of blafpherriy for affuming it ? They did not deny that to be God's own Son was to be equal with the Father, nor did they alled...« less