“Our principal reliance for the proof of this doctrine for which we contend, is founded on principles which are generally admitted, tho the reasoning employed with reference to those principles, and the legitimate inferences deduced from them, are as frequently denied. We depend on the acknowledged character of God as a Being of infinite benevolence, wisdom, and power, as the foundation of our faith in the ultimate happiness of the human race. We depend on the moral attributes of Deity; we found our reasoning on those moral principles which render the Supreme Being what he is, and agreeably to which all his dispensations, with all his communications must be interpreted; we rely on the infinite goodness, the everlasting mercy, the unerring rectitude, and the perfect justice of the Almighty; we are unwilling to believe, we cannot believe, that the attributes of God are marked by opposing exercises; on the contrary, we view them in complete harmony, having one and the same object, and gloriously to effect one and the same end. The language of divine revelation illustrates the principles of our faith; and while it exhibits the moral character of God, and points us to the happy destiny of our race, its terms very strikingly correspond to the obvious design of the spirit which indited the scriptures; and unless we ‘wrest those scriptures,’ we cannot prove they can be made to convey sentiments other than those which they seem naturally designed to express. Persons of different habits of thinking may differ in their interpretations of the scriptures; but we may be certain, that every interpretation that opposes the moral character of Deity, must be wrong.”
–Edward Turner, “Sermon No. XXXVI,” The Christian Repository, No. 2, Vol. VIII, August 1827: 56-57.
