I am not
engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is
not usage, it is not what I do not understand, that binds me to it --
let these be the sandy foundations of falsehoods. What I revere and
obey in it is its reality, its boundless charity, its deep interior
life, the rest it gives to my mind, the echo it returns to my
thoughts, the perfect accord it makes with my reason through all its
representation of God and His Providence; and the persuasion and
courage that come out thence to lead me upward and onward. Freedom
is the essence of this faith. It has for its object simply to make
men good and wise. Its institutions, then, should be as flexible as
the wants of men. That form out of which the life and suitableness
have departed, should be as worthless in its eyes as the dead leaves
that are falling around us.
And therefore, although for the satisfaction of others, I have
labored to show by the history that this rite was not intended to be
perpetual; although I have gone back to weigh the expressions of
Paul, I feel that here is the true point of view.
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