The Works of John Witherspoon; Containing Essays, Sermons, &. ... and Many Other Valuable Pieces Volume 6

by John Witherspoon

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1805 edition. ...offend their modesty, not only to 'praise them in print, but even to publish their highest virtues. But now, upon the whole, as a great critic observes, that there is sometimes more beauty fliewn in a compofition, by receding from the rules of art, when an important point is to be gained, than by strictly adhering to so, all these rules notwithstanding, it shall be allowable for any moderate man, upon an extraordinary emergency, to break them for a good as for instance, he may speak even in Whitesield's style, when his "settlement has the misfortune to depend upon the people; which I have known done with good success. "We are also well satissied, that Mr. T r of Norwich, and such like sirst-rate writers, should make pompous collections of Scripture-texts, as their truly laudable intention is, by altering Christianity, to reconcile it to moderation and common sense; and to sind out a meaning to words which the writers of them, as living in the insancy of the church, had not discernment enough to intend. To conclude this maxim, it would be too formal for me, and too tedious to the reader to enumerate' ail the objections that are, by some, raised against our way of I shall therefore mention but one, and shew it is salse; hoping that the Tender will suppofe there is no more foundation for any of the rest. It is alledged, there is no method in our discourses, but that they consist in random flights, and general declamations. Nothing more untrue. The polite reader, or hearer, knows that there may be an excellent and regular method, where there are no formal distinctions of sirstly, secondly, and thirdly; but, to cut osf all occasion of cavil, let the world hereby know, that one of our most samed preachers chose...

90 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2012

About the author

John Knox Witherspoon was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense realism, and while president of the College of New Jersey (1768 – 1794; now Princeton University), became an influential figure in the development of the United States' national character. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution. In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.