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A Series of Letters, in Defence of Divine Revelation: In Reply to Rev. Abner Kneeland's Serious Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Same. To Which is Added, a Religious Correspondence, Between the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Buckminster and Rev. Joseph Walton, Pastors of Congregational Churches in Portsmouth, N. H.Ballou, Hosea

Religion

A Series of Letters, in Defence of Divine Revelation: In Reply to Rev. Abner Kneeland's Serious Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Same. To Which is Added, a Religious Correspondence, Between the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Buckminster and Rev. Joseph Walton, Pastors of Congregational Churches in Portsmouth, N. H.

Name: A Series of Letters, in Defence of Divine Revelation: In Reply to Rev. Abner Kneeland's Serious Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Same. To Which is Added, a Religious Correspondence, Between the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Buckminster and Rev. Joseph Walton, Pastors of Congregational Churches in Portsmouth, N. H.
Author: Ballou, Hosea

Ballou, Hosea

Revelation; Universalism -- Doctrines

"Only let the blood once begin to flow, no matter how, and then only
attach eternal consequences to it, and hold out inducements of an
eternal nature, and persuade men to believe them (which is not so
difficult a thing as some may imagine) and you will never want for
victims, so long as you can find a zeal sufficiently blind and _mad_;
as to continue the slaughter. In this way, I conceive martyrdom, of
every species and kind, may be rationally accounted for.

"But it may be said all this does not disprove the miracles and
revelation on which the christian religion is founded.

"I acknowledge it does not; neither do I expect to disprove them. I
admit that revelation, and of course the christian religion may
possibly be founded in truth, notwithstanding the truth of all that I
have as yet urged, or shall urge against it. But I call on you, sir,
to disprove the miracles and revelation which I have mentioned, of a
more modern date, or else acknowledge their truth. If you acknowledge
the truth of those miracles, I shall expect you will conform to the
religion predicated upon them; and of course forsake your bosom
companion (which I presume would be a much greater cross than ever you
have yet taken up,) and also your darling offspring (or else take them
with you) and go and live with the _Shakers_!!! But if you prove them
false, it will only be that people may become so infatuated as to
believe in miracles which are spurious.

"For notwithstanding the smallness of the numbers of this people,
which by the way, are considerable; and notwithstanding the
contemptible view in which they have been, and still are held by the
world; yet, you may find it more difficult to prove the falsity of
their pretended miracles than at present you are aware; for they are
very well attested; and some of the witnesses are still living, or
were so when their testimony was first published; as also, if I
recollect right, some of the persons on whom the miracles were said to
have been wrought; who, no doubt, would still testify to the same
things. If they testify falsely, who can help it?--Although thousands
may _believe_ to the contrary; many of whom being too in situations,
probably to have known these things, if true; yet I believe it would
be difficult, and very difficult indeed, to find any who could
absolutely say that those things did not take place.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.