Three letters to the bishop of Bangor

sincerely persecute this Name Refers to the name of Jesus Christ, are in as good a way as those who sincerely worship it. Has God declared this to be the only way to salvation? How can your Lordship tell the world that sincerity will save them, regardless of what path they follow? Is this the only necessity of Christ’s satisfaction Satisfaction: A theological term referring to Christ's death as the payment or "satisfaction" for human sin? Is this the only advantage of the Gospel Covenant, that those who sincerely condemn original: "contemn"; meaning to treat with contempt or despise it are in as good a state without it as those who embrace it?

My Lord, I am not exaggerating your meaning. If sincerity, as such, is the only thing that recommends us to God, and every equal degree of it earns an equal degree of favor, then it is a demonstration that sincerity against Christ is as pleasing to God as sincerity for him. My Lord, this is a doctrine that no words can condemn enough. So I shall leave it to consider what opinion St. Paul had of this kind of sincerity. He did not think, when he persecuted the Church—though he did it ignorantly, in unbelief, and out of zeal toward God—that he was as much in the favor of God as when he suffered for Christ.

"I am the least," he says, "of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of Christ." original: "I am the least, saith he, of the Apostles, not fit to be called an Apostle; because I persecuted the Church of Christ"; referencing 1 Corinthians 15:9
The apostle does not hesitate to charge himself with guilt, despite his sincerity.

A little knowledge of human nature will teach us that our sincerity may often be charged with guilt—not as if we were guilty because we are sincere, but because it may be our fault that we are hearty and sincere in such ill-grounded opinions. It may have been from some ill...