The cover has been created by the transcriberand placed in the public domain.
Would to Heaven that Christians had their own ‘vail’ of orthodox words taken awayfrom their minds; that, limiting Orthodoxy to the acceptance of the Christ as theSpirit (‘the Lord is that Spirit,’ says St. Paul), i.e., the meaning, the end of allrevelation, they would not allow a new letter, consisting of abstract doctrines, toinvolve their minds in a ‘vail’ which obstructs the view of the Gospel, even morethan the old letter, which kept the Jews in “bondage.”—Heresy and Orthodoxy by Rev.J. Blanco White, p. 53, 2nd edition.
In this Preface, and in all the other contents of thisvolume, we have occupied the position of an assailedparty, lending our best consideration to whatever aleagued body of resolute and unsparing adversariescould say against us. We have stood upon the defensive,not lamenting that such an occasion had occurredof exposing our views of Christianity to so severe ascrutiny, and of displaying to the world whether ourposition was tenable. We did not provoke this Controversy.It was of our opponents’ choosing. Theyentered into combination, and arranged their methodof attack, and invited the public attentively to lookon while they performed upon us the work of destruction.With respectful attention, as men whose systemof Christianity was about to be subjected to a powerfulanalysis by those who believed the main ingredientsto be poisonous,—but with quiet hearts, as menwho had no interest in this world but to discoverTruth,—we have interfered no further than was necessaryto make this examination, by carefulness, impartiality,and accuracy, productive of a true result. Wehave struck out whatever was untrue, and we havesupplied whatever was wanting, to exhibit a full statementof the respective Evidences of Unitarianism andof Trinitarianism. Lecture qualifies lecture; and Prefacecorrects Preface. We are satisfied to have thusplaced, side by side, the contrasted views of Man andGod, and to await the issues.
To return upon the “thirteen Clergymen of theChurch of England” the words of their General Preface,(p. x