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Excerpt from The Works of the Rev. John Newton, Late Pastor of the United Parishes of St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Mary Woolchurch-Haw, Lombard Street, London, Vol. 2 of 2: Containing, an Authentic Narrative, Etc. Letters on Religious Subjects, Cardiphonia, Discourses Intended for the Pulpit, Sermons Preached in the Parish Church of Olney, a Review of Ecclesiastical History, Olney Hymns, Poems, Messiah, Occasional Sermons Such was eminently the character of the Scribes and Pharisees, who, with nu wearied malice, persecuted our Lord to the death of the cross; and he forewarned his disciples to expect the like treatment; he sent them forth as lambs in the midst of wolves, and assured them that their attachment to him would draw on them the hatred of mankind, So far as even to deprive them of the rights of civil society, and the pleasures of relative life. A man's foes shall be those of his own household: his parents shall forget their afl'ection, his children their duty, his ser vants their reverence, and even the wife of his bosom shall despise him, when he boldly professes the gospel; nay, the most amiable qualities, joined to the most endearing connections, are not sufficient wholly to suppress the enmity which fills the hearts of the unregenerate, against those in whom they discern the image of Christ; and that this enmity would sometimes assume a religious form, and under that appearance, proceed to the greatest extremities, he informed them, in another place: The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God service. If a faith and practice, agreeable to the New Testament, were not always at tended with a measure of this opposition, we should want one considerable evidence that the gospel is true; and infidels would be possessed of one solid objection against it, namely, That our Lord was mistaken when he predicted the reception his doctrine would meet with. But the scriptures cannot be broken: the word of Christ is fulfilling every day, and especially in this particular. Many, perhaps, will be ready to object here, and to maintain, that, in our nation, and at this present time, the charge is invidious and false. It will be pleaded, that when Christianity had to struggle with Jews and Pagans, it could not but be opposed; but that with us, under the guard of a national establishment, an opposition to Christianity (unless by the feebleo efforts of Deists and Libertines) is impracticable and inconsistent by the very terms; and that if the delusions of a few visionary enthusiasts are treated with that contempt and indignation which they justly deserve. This should not be styled an Opposition to Christianity, but rather a warrantable concern for its vindication, especially as no coercive methods are used; for though some attempts have been made to restrain the leaders from poisoning the minds of the people, yet no person is injured, either in life or property, on account of his opinions, how extravagant soever they may be. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
