Banbury; February 1st, 1808.

Sir,

As you have solicited me to vindicate myself from the things laid to my charge, I take this opportunity of making public the sentiments I hold; and I will answer the rest of the charges at the close of my confession of faith. The charges brought against me, are these four; First, That I hold and propogate Antinomian sentiments. Secondly, That I create divisions wherever I preach. Thirdly, That after People come to hear me preach, they cannot with pleasure hear their own Ministers again. And, Fourthly, That I do not preach to Sinners. These are heavy charges indeed! With respect to the first, as my sentiments are deemed Antinomian, I think it my duty to make them public: the rest of the charges are not worth an answer. But, I can assure you, Sir, that the leading doctrines I preach, are in harmony with the Word of God, which is the only rule of faith and practice: I embrace and propogate no other doctrines than these, set forth in the doctrinal Articles of the Church of England; the Westminster Confession of Faith; and what your own Ministers, who belong to the Associations, generally hold, as appears upon their circular letters; namely, receiving the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as their only guide in faith and practice; and thence deriving their belief, in the important doctrines of three equal Persons, in one divine essence; Eternal and personal Election; Original Sin; Justification, by the imputed righteousness of Christ; Efficacious Grace in Regeneration; the final perseverance of Believers to eternal Glory; the resurrection of the Dead; the last Judgment; the everlasting happiness of the Righteous; and the punishment of the Impenitent. These, Sir, are the leading doctrines I preach, and they stand in no need of an apology: but, as I am set for the defence of that gospel I have felt and enjoyed, I am not ashamed of one of its glorious doctrines; nor did I ever intentionally deviate from them in one sentence I ever pronounced, since I have felt their power, seen their beauty, and have been enabled to declare them; and that good hand that instructed me in them, and has owned and blest them, by me, as an instrument, I trust, will enable me to maintain them to the close of life; then, I hope to feel them supporting my soul, comforting my heart, and giving me a sweet assurance of an entrance into that kingdom, that cannot be moved.

The following doctrines I have been enabled to declare amidst great opposition, and, as they are a part of the revealed will of God, those who oppose them, are fighting against God himself. As to the loss of the favor and friendship of those Ministers who are strangers to the power of Godliness, and averse to the humiliating doctrines of the Cross of Christ, this, I hope, will not break my heart; and while they are loading me with reproach, I shall not render railing for railing; for while they curse, I will bless; while they condemn, I hope God will justify; while they oppose, I know he will lead on; and, I hope, I shall be enabled to put up that charitable prayer for my enemies, which the Redeemer did for his; “Father, forgive them:” in the language of dying Stephen, “Lord, lay not this to their charge:” and in the pious breathings of the Church of England Litany, I would pray, “That it may please thee, to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts.” And while many in our day are shy of the doctrines of the gospel, (which is an awful proof they never felt their power, and never tasted their sweetness, so that they are but little consequence to them;) I hope, I shall be enabled to stand fast in the faith, and hold the beginning of my confidence firm, unto the end; not at all terrified by any of my adversaries, however popular they may be. If I could palliate and comply with their dead barren dry system of legality, I believe that they would cease to reproach me. But, because I maintain and declare the whole counsel of God, I am deemed an Antinomian; a Troubler of Churches; a Sower of Dissentions; a Creator of Divisions; One that Disaffects Hearers with their own Ministers; One that does not preach to Sinners; and, in fact, every thing that is disrespectful in the estimation of proud Legalists, and self-righteous Pharisees.

The following Confession, I read at my Ordination, with a few additions; and as many of my friends have so repeatedly intreated me to make it public, I take this opportunity of doing it, praying that the best of blessings may accompany the same, as they are sentiments calculated to display the glory of God, and bring joy and peace to that Sinner who is made sensible of his lost condition.