Church Reform: The Only Means to That End, Stated in a Letter to Sir Robert Peel, Bart., First Lord of the TreasuryCarlile, Richard
Religion
Church Reform: The Only Means to That End, Stated in a Letter to Sir Robert Peel, Bart., First Lord of the Treasury
Carlile, Richard
Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Church and state -- Church of England; Rationalism
Let us suppose you about to attempt a reconciliation with the present
Dissenters, as to the doctrines and ceremonies of the Church. To please
the advocates of adult baptism, you must exchange the infant for adult
baptism, and then you will displease those who are not pleased with
adult baptism. To please the Unitarians, you must give up the doctrine
of the Trinity; and then you will displease all the Trinitarians. What
is to be done to satisfy the Wesleyans or Methodists? They will have
irregular prayers and preachings, which are contrary to the discipline
of the Church. What is to be done with the Swedenborgians, the
Muggletonians, and Southcotians? How can you furnish spirit and noise
enough for the Unknown Tongues of the Irvingites? And what but the
spirit of silence will conciliate the Quakers? All of them will require
the abolition of your bishopricks and other offices, while none of them
will object, and all will claim if a chance offer, to divide the Church
Property among them. The spirit of dissent, in matters of religion,
prevailing in this country, is nothing more than an infectious mental
disease: with it, there is no reason mixed. The moment it becomes a
profit to lead such a congregation, men of comparative talent as to
capability will take it up and lead; and thus the thing has gone on
to confusion and mental distraction, because the Church was not in a
condition to defend itself and set a better example. You cannot please
one sect of the Dissenters, without increasing the displeasure of the
other: and thus your task is hopeless, on any other ground than
that which I propose, to beat them in the superior communication of
knowledge.
On the other hand, let us suppose the Church of England to begin to
reveal the mystery of Jesus Christ, which I define, and maintain, to
consist of a cultivation of the human mind, with all possible knowledge
and reason; all other Churches must instantly bow to its superiority.
The effect among men throughout the earth would be wonderful and
intellectually electric. It is the only system that can be imagined to
be a Catholic Christianity, and the very thing that is meant by the word
Catholic, something alike suited to the welfare of every man, and which
presents the principle of a moral equality, which is the only foundation
for true liberty, and the only guarantee for an improvement of public
morals; one that would make the Church an attraction to the wisest
as well as to the most ignorant of men; those as teachers, these as
learners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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