Equally is
it distant from the conduct of one who indignantly casting off all
regard for authority, and all deference to the opinions of others,
boldly and proudly sets up his own will and pleasure as the only
standard to which he will submit. For the model which we would adopt, as
members of the Church, in our pursuit of Christian truth, we find a
parallel and analogous case in a well-principled and well-disciplined
son, with his way of life before him, exercising a large and liberal
discretion in the choice of his pursuits; not fettered by peremptory
paternal mandates, but ever voluntarily referring to those principles of
moral obligation and of practical wisdom with which his mind has been
imbued; shaping his course with modest diffidence in himself, and
habitual deference to others older and wiser than himself, yet acting
with the firmness and intrepidity of conscious rectitude of principle,
and integrity of purpose; and under a constant sense of his
responsibility, as well for his principles as for his conduct.
Against the cogency of these maxims various objections have been urged
from time to time. We have been told, that the exercise of private
judgment in matters of religion, tends to foster errors of every
diversity of character, and leads to heresy, scepticism, and infidelity:
it is represented as rending the Church of Christ, and totally {6}
subverting Christian unity, and snapping asunder at once the bond of
peace.
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