The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-11-25

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moulhs pas' permitted eur paper TO be the
tnrdidm d a religious controversy. We
beg Leave e. repeat. that. after the meeting
nj the State and Natiensi Legislature,
tue discussa"n mast cease in this rapcr.-
We again say, whas we have intellectually
SAID dazea dags, THAI newspapers are
npt dcsignce Tor poirneses- W, hope rha,
- word ls the sisc vii. be sufficient"
FoR rue vtnoINlAs.
TO MR.. H. q. LiNBERG.
Sia-Yoar remarks On an ANONYMOUS
communication which spI@ared 10 ,hc
Nirg,nian af the 4lh inst. have resolved
my ci,ndid s,tcnt'uo and sm happy To
find N yua person well read, and pos-
sessinS more christian urbsuity than Is
com,non 10 controversial wtirers, especial
ty Of your persuasion. Your cou,snunich-
tioo is ant, however, IN this respect, fault
less. Are you CERTAIN, SIR, that all who
canuaf sc- ~ you d.. are sciifaiiv k.,sod ?
that they are fItag their minds sith pre-
judice, and that they iufsrnl themselves for
no Other purpose than 10 tura the sen,i-
fnents vi their opponents into ridicaie ? II
should never be fargott~n that rcpreof /,
severe a0ly when II - Iu.t. You ultimate,
in your communicative, that "au anony-
rspus writer" labors under erroneous i'm
prcssions with regard to the senti,n.nt. IL
the Swrdeahorgians If that is the case.
he has only TO say that lie has obtained
some Of these impressions, a. il regards
himself, very innoceatiy. THE account
e - AZ. II
the Dictionary OF Correspondence, !" wsc,e
both found 10 The Hoicyon L.uaaiaary and
Theological Repository, a work highly eu
ioglzed in the Ist No. OF The Afw Jerusa-
dem Missionary. You, however, s.em to
invalldaie the authority of these articles.
Whoever, therefore, is 10 blame, the render
ought surely TO be clear vi. ceasure. I
have generally considered tht,sc engaged
In fiai:less pursuit whu argue with the
advocates of the New Jerusalem doctrines.
as they consist much, apparently, in as
snmptloas unsuscepfiiie of proof If these
views have been the offspring of prejudice,
II has been the prejudice of Ignorance
You had forgotten that the Arcana Ceicstis
- inaccessible To poor mechanics, for they
have neither means To purchase nor time
To read il. am one Of this descrption of
people, and as you have been good enough
expfessyour Willingness To te the means
OF removing prejudice aud ignorance. |
have 10 doubt you Will excuse me if | tiou-
BILE you with few questnns and do this
the mare readily as y1ui communication
proyas you 10 be a man of reading and
science aud may not hope that shall
find YOU gentleman of candor? re.
eriyed from you the q ST intimation that
the faith of The members Oft New Church
does MT primarily rest on tive belief Of the
divine mission OF Baron Swedenhure. Ey
cry denomination is presumed To under
stand their own sentiments best. | shall
not, therefore, contest this point. The
following declaration in your communica-
ton Is so perspicnons, that il is not, | think.
liable 10 mscoOstruciion. You say, 1.-THE
converse OF tins proposition is true. They
believe that the doctrines taught by the
Es on Swt dCnhnrg are true, because II ~
are convinced that his interpretations of
scripture arc.tounded upon and formed by
an analysis ofdh, sacred text, so accurnt.
and complete, us To give them a cerfainfv
not inferior 10 MATHEMATICS pENoS
sTRATIoN." The inference from hence
follows, VIZ. that he was divin.ly inspired,
and had Intercourse with the slartusl
world" suppose, sir, yru will aflhw that
proposition that is not capable Of being
proved, is not fit subject of intellectual
investigation. You will therefore very rca
dIly, prove the statement you have so CEN
Rdealy made. Knowledge may BE- divided
IN four ways, viz: by soasatien, by intui-
lion, by reasoning and by revelation.
candidly confess | de not know whether
the Baron professed to have derived an
IF his religious knowledge by sensation.
| would thank you to inform me. How.
eTerdhat may he, presume that his fol-
lowers make no such prctenaions. All
mathematical knowledge primarily 10 moth
Inc more than intuition, or, AS DIR. Beattie
calls ii, commoa sense. The math~msfi-
cal problems, with all their endless ramif.
cations, are redncibie, in their principles.
IT. a few self evident axioms, such as that
two and two are equal TO four, that the
lines OF triangle are not parallel, and the
like propositions 50 evident 10 our senses
that revelation from heaven could neither
deny them nor make them palmer. Now.
sir, II the knowledge ef your system is
hNiohailcal and ntniive, why has not all
Tile world, long ago, become convert TO il
And yet TO talk of becoming convert TO
an axiom, seems to border on nonsense.
So much for mathematical demonstration.
The next means Of obtaining knowledge is
Reasoning, but reasoning pre-supposes
proof and II subject to be proved. In this
case the subject 10 he proved il the trans
cebdant excellence af the science of cor
respondcnee, but what is the proof? You
say that it proves itself. Had you not as
We'll put MS in search of the end Of cirele5
All moral reasoning, where God has not
interpased- is cloggcd with AL the imbecil.
ify of human opinions. 1t is true one thing
may be compared with an0ther-this NAV