Account of the Free -thinking Christians. 



134. 



fully exlracted from the New Testa- 

 ment: printed for the Cliurc'i M<'cting 

 at 38, Old Change, London. 1800." 



Public attention to any extent was 

 first directed to this then ohscnrc body, 

 by their advcrlisiug- in the nexvspapers, 

 in the year 18(t8, ;i discussion as to the 

 existence of the 'ievil; and in the fol- 

 lowing year the then Bishop of London 

 (Porteous), by the intervention of the ' 

 Lord Mayor (Ainslcy), made eiforts to 

 prevent the meetings of tliis body. 

 An account of the proceedings arisirig 

 from these efforts, was laid liel'ore the 

 public, enlitlcd " A brief Statement of 

 certain Public Transactions, that have 

 taken place relative to the Cliurcli of 

 God, denominated Free thinkingChris- 

 tians, to distinguish tiiem from tl*e 

 WMthinking Christians of the present 

 day-" From tliis statement it appears, 

 that (whatever may have been the 

 motives of their opposcrs,) the deter- 

 jnined stand publicly made by this 

 body, in the courts of justice and else- 

 where, in favour of tlie rights of con- 

 scienoc and the liberties of Protestant 

 dissenters, caused them eventually to 

 triumph over botli th-cir civil and eccle- 

 siastical enemies. 



From this time the number of mem- 

 bers in communion with them has 

 increased, and their public attendants 

 or auditors yet more so. They appear 

 als4) to have added to their body 

 various branches in didVrent parts of 

 the country, and formed chiefly of 

 individuals who had previously been in 

 the Unitarian connexion. By the 

 emigration of some of their members, 

 a branch of the body has been esta- 

 blished in the United States; and it is 

 generally imagined, that the unfavour- 

 able rejjorts of one of the members of 

 this body (as published in " Sketches 

 of America," by H. B. Fearon,) chiefly 

 prevented the expatriation of the chief 

 part, if not the whole, of tijis religious 

 community. Their publications, con- 

 sidering the limited extent of this 

 body, have been somewhat numerous. 

 During the fourycars 1811, 12, 13, and 

 14, they published monthly, " the 

 Free-thinking Christians' Magazine, 

 intended lor the promotion of rational 

 religion aiids.frce enquiry." And in 

 the year 1823 they re-commenced, and 

 are now w>ntinuing, a periodical pub- 

 lication, luidcr the title of " the Free- 

 thinking Christians' Quarterly Regis- 

 ter," which they describe as being 

 " dcaigned to maintaiu the pure prin- 



[March 1, 



ciples of Christianity against priest- 

 craft, orthodoxy, and infidelity." — 

 Amongst tlieir works we notice a 

 revisal of their laws, under the title 

 of "the Church of God, its Constitu- 

 tion, Government, and Laws, selected 

 from the New Testament, London, 

 1814;" also, "Evidences of Revealed 

 Religion on a new and original plan, 

 being an Appeal to Deists on their 

 own principles.of argument, by Samuel 

 Thompson," a work which has been 

 several times reprinted, and which has 

 been pronounced, even by those who 

 were adverse to their body, as one of 

 the nblcst defences of Christianity 

 which has issued from the press. 



Not professing to enter into minutla 

 witli regard to a comparatively limited 

 sect like the present, I would only 

 observe, that their course has been 

 chielly marked by an unmixed and 

 undeviating opposition to the existence 

 of a priesthood, or the employment of 

 exclusive teachers, whether paid or 

 otherwise. They profess in all reli- 

 gious matters to be guided by reason 

 and the Scripture only, to acknow- 

 ledge no head of the Church but Jesus, 

 and to resist every kind of spiritual 

 usurpation and tyranny. From this 

 sjiirit has arisen their opposition to the 

 religious part of the marriage cere- 

 mony, as by law'established. The mem- 

 bers of this body have, when married, 

 been in the habit of presenting pro- 

 tests |iersonaily to the minister at the 

 altar, against the intorferejice of the 

 priest and certain parts of the cere- 

 mony; and accounts of many extraor- 

 dinary scenes, Avhich ha'Ve in conse- 

 quence taken place, are before the 

 public* The only place in the metro- 

 polis in which this body publicly 

 deliver their sentiments, is at theif 

 Mceting-hoiise in the Crescent, Jewin- 

 street, Aldersgate-street. 



A belief in the divine mission of 

 Jesus, in his resurrection from the 

 dead in confirmation of that mission, 

 and a willingness to submit to his laws, 

 are t!ie only absolute and essential 

 conditions of membership with this 

 bodj% On all points of doctrine, the 

 mind of the members is left free, and 

 no creed or confession of faith is main- 

 tained among them. Convictiori, 

 however, 



* See particularly on tliis subject, " llift 

 Frec-tiiiiiking Clnislian's' Quarterly lla.- 

 gistcr," vol. i. p. 292. 



