Nor will it either endanger our
faith, or diminish or alter our motives for obedience, if we should
discover that these conclusions are formed with very different degrees
of probability, and possess very different degrees of importance.
This conduct of the understanding, dictated by every rule of right
reasoning, will uphold personal Christianity, even in those countries in
which it is established under forms the most liable to difficulty and
objection. It will also have the further effect of guarding us against
the prejudices which are wont to arise in our minds to the disadvantage
of religion, from observing the numerous controversies which are carried
on amongst its professors; and likewise of inducing a spirit of lenity
and moderation in our judgment, as well as in our treatment of those who
stand, in such controversies, upon sides opposite to ours. What is clear
in Christianity we shall find to be sufficient, and to be infinitely
valuable; what is dubious, unnecessary to be decided, or of very
subordinate importance, and what is most obscure, will teach us to bear
with the opinions which others may have formed upon the same subject.
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