The Old and the New; Or, Discourses and Proceedings at the Dedication of the Re-Modelled Unitarian Church in Charleston, S.C., on Sunday, April 2, ... on Sunday, April 4, 1852. with Engravi - Softcover

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Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1854. Excerpt: ... of a former restricted age should have at length expanded into what we regard as the genial system of Unitarian Christianity. Dr. Ramsay observes, that after the secession in 1734, of the Presbyterian portion of the then composite church, the Congregationalists who remained continued to call their pastors from both denominations indiscriminately, leaving them to associate with their brethren of either form of church government, or with neither, as they chose; but, as a matter of peace, prohibited them, in every case, from introducing their peculiar opinions, respecting ecclesiastical polity, into the church over which they were called to preside. Again, in 1750, we find a rule adopted, allowing assistant-ministers to be balloted for by all the supporters of the church, as well as the communing members, which was a large advance towards liberality for those times, for the communing members have almost universally claimed and exercised the exclusive right of appointing to the sacred office. Again, in 1775, when some difficulties arose as to the plan of uniting the two churches together, we find the following resolutions unanimously passed at a meeting of the members and supporters: "That this church has never adopted any one distinguishing name, platform or constitution, in a formal manner, nor declared of what denomination of dissenters it is, but suffered itself to be called Presbyterian, or Congregationalism or Independent, sometimes by one of the names, sometimes by two of them, and at other times by all the three." "We do not find," they continue, "that this church is either Presbyterian, Congregationalist, or Independent, but somewhat distinct and singular from them all." Again--" That the main thing this church has had in view since the year 1732, was not so much to define exac...

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