PREFACE.

THE Volume, here offered to the public, is designed to give a comprehensive reply to the question,- What is Unitarianism? No book, within the Author's knowledge, answers the purpose of a general summary of the views entertained by Unitarians, and of the arguments which may be adduced in their defence. Many persons, it is believed, have felt the want of something of this nature,— something beyond the brief compass of a Tract, and within the limits of a Volume,-which they could give or point out, to those who are asking, — "What are your general views of religion? What are your views of the Scriptures,-of faith in them,—and of the doctrines and principles which they teach?" Such inquirers are often not sufficiently interested, to gather the information they seek from scattered tracts, or to hunt for it through twenty volumes; nor, if they were, is it likely that the tracts or volumes would be within their reach. The present volume will, perhaps, satisfy the questions that are already in their minds; and if it raises questions which it does not settle, they must be referred to other sources. In particular, reference may be made,-on the Trinity, to Norton's Statement of Reasons; on the Offices of Christ, to Ware's Discourses; on the general subject, to Sparks' Inquiry, Yates' Vindication, and the Works of Channing; and for our practical views of religion, to the Discourses of Freeman, Buckminster, Thatcher, Abbot, Parker, and Cappe, besides those of many living writers.

One word further the Author may be permitted to say of the manner in which this volume is made up. It consists partly of discourses not before published, and partly of reprints of former publications. Of the latter kind are chiefly two series of papers, entitled "Cursory Observations on the Questions at issue between Orthodox and Liberal Christians;" and "The Analogy of Religion with other Subjects." The last has been entirely re-written, and the first altered and revised.

In short, the Author's purpose, in this volume, has been, in the first place, to offer a very brief summary of the Unitarian Belief; in the next place, to lay down the essential principles of all religious faith; thirdly, to state and defend our construction, as it is generally held among us, of the Christian doctrines; fourthly, to illustrate, by analogy, our views of practical religion; and finally, in two closing sermons, to discuss the true proportion and harmony of the Christian character. With this brief statement, the work is submitted to the reader.

New York, December 2, 1839,