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[From the Eclectic Review.] "From such Apostles, ye Mitred heads Preserve the Church." Cowper. WILLIAM BUELL, PRINTER BROCKVILLE, U.C. 1840. rilEF ACE. In these Provinces we are proml of our connexion with the Mottirr Countrj'', we try to copy her example ai)d imittite her liberal and enliglit- cned Institutions. But at the same lime there aie those who would also engraft and keep up in this country what ivS by a majority of professing Christians in E igland considered and felt as an intolei able grievance, namely, an Established Dominant Church. Kone can be ignorant of the cflbrts made by those who consider themselves as bcionginj* (o the Church of England, to have that Churcl) established licrc, with an cxclu- sive right to all the legal provisions made for a "Protestant Clerjry." Hitherto the chief" strife and debate" has been for the "loaves and fish- es" under the assumed sanction of the Provincial Constitutional Act ; but of late this party has come out much more boldly, and are now urginj^ their clairas to " uninterrupted Apostolic succession," exclusive church- ship and legitimate Priesthood, who are the Divnicly authorised and only expositors of the word of God ■ with a conlldciice, boldness and arrogance, that is truly astounding. A concise refutation of such pre- sumptuous and unscriptural claims is peculiarly necessary : and as theso claims have been frequently urged and as often ably refuted on the other side of the Atlantic, ithasbeen thought advisable to re-publish in pamph- let form the following able exposure, which appeared oiigiualiy in thsi "Eclectic Review," for Nov. 1815, a work of long standing and great celebrity, and which still continues to be published in Lonaon. It was considered best to re-print the whole entire as it stands in the "Review." The reader wiil keep in mind that it was published nearly 25 years ago: some allusion is made to the " Test and Corp jration Act," which thin existed but has since been repeaJed. A careful examination of the argu- ments is recommended to all ; and those who differ in opinion may refute them by more cogent reasoning if they can. Brockville, April 27th, 1840. This isag H pn Is it alont Jndiv to th( persf T/i Chur ty-foi and p sand of (le( and u 90 arr agine these ways tJons. hi Chur< in tho able ti which dange of pra Churc There pamp] Pro kind t the CO dy foi IEli*\}-^lIiiW3 <^^o IJ^ernpc Uc assidue.'-'Tho Church is in danger !'~ Thi« hideous outcry, which has so often stunned our ears, 18 again a.saihn? the m. From what class of persons does )t proceed ; and to what Church in jeopardy do they belono? Is It raised by a few obecure Dissenters, who cannot pass alontrtothe plnce of worship in which they choose to as- i^emblp, but amid the hissings and hootinga of a mob everv Jndmdiial of which boasts alond that he was » brought rp to the Church V No, truly, it is the cry of no such humbie persons. r/^^l ^r^n''''; '"Z'^^'! '' '" ^^"S*""' '^ ^^« Established «>hurch of Rogland, whose supreme head is the King's Ma- .Ifisty, and whose guardians are, two Archbishops and twen- ty-four bishops who ' raise their mitred fronts in courts and parliament^.,' with annual incomes of from one thou- sand to twenty-five thousand pounds; a goodly multitude ofceans, and canons, and prebendaries, and archdeacons ; and upwards often thousand regular cleruy. This Church eo amply provided with protectors, cannot, we should im- agine, be in danger through any inattention or neglect of these Its ministers and guardians, who, douhilesH, are al- ways to be found, like watchmen, at their appointed sia^ tsons. *^* It is not, we say, to be supposed, that the dangc rs of ihc Church are occasioned by any want of vigilence and cur*, in those who are its ministers. Nor, so far as we hare been able to make out the meaning of the clerical manifestoe. Which have come into our hands, can we learn, that the dangers of the Church are at all owing to the inefficiency ot prayers an. sermons, to the rarity of conversion in tho ^hurch, or the prevalence of formalilv in its members. i "11^ T.^ ""^'^ ^'^'""P^^"'^ «f^'''8 ^in^in this whole pamphlet before ua. .if!^^^^'^'^^'^^'^^^^f'(>mv:Utcfiuscfi, or be they of what kind they may, the aangers of the Church have awakened uie concern of the present Author, who prescribes a remf- oy Jor them, which he is confident posftesspfl ihg r*.(.„;-^tp u2 ' '" ^fli^acy. Bui whether, \\kc a skilful physiciBn, ho has (uni t-ndeavoLred to ascertain the nature of the disease before lie attempts its cure, or, hke some practitioners ol another eort, who think it a matter of no moment to discover tho nberraiions of the corporeal system in a patient, he givea prescriptions wliich tend to strengthen trie dint-ase he enga- Jrns to remove, will be manifest to our readers in the course of this article. But to quit this stvle.— The pamphlet whidj ;v8 are now reviewing, is a wre'tched attempt to ajtert the pretended claims of°an establislied priesthood to sj.itilual power—to fetter and enslave the conscic^ncts of mankind, and to re- dnce them to a stale of mental imbecility and degradation. Men of the same spirit with the Author of this clerical man- ifesto, in the ardour of their zeal for the support of an ex- ternal polity, seem to have lost every good feeling; the dif- fusion of Christian knowledge affords tht m no graiiiication; their hearts' desire, and the objecla of tntir labours, are, the subversion of every religious community but their own— to eeal the fountains of spiritual instructions -to bring under iheir ghostly control the entire populatiou of the country, and to shut men up in the dungeons oCignorance and super- stition. If thev could reduce the people to the ranks of ec- clesiastical subjection in which they think they should be (placed, and secure their implicit defeience to the hierarchy of the Church, thev would rejoice as those who find great epoil. The perils' of the Church would then cease; we ehouid hear no more of her dangers; and the pens and tongues of her partisans would be at rest. It is noi that the minds of the ignorant may be enlightened, that they may obtain the true knowledge of themselves, and may be acquainted with the rights, the expectations, and the duties of rational and immortal mnn, that these 'claims of th«.». Churcl ' are urged ; but merelv to procure their attendance within episcopal walls. This'is the aim of ihe present Au- ihor. Has he the weakness to imagine that the lessons written in characters of blood, which we are daily reading m the faithful page of history, on the evils produced by clerical dominion, leave no impressions on our minds ?^ Can he imag?n« that we are so insensible of the value of Chris- tian freedom, as to feel the least inclination to put on the yoke of ecclesiastical slavery, or be at all disposed to sufter anv attempt, on the part of others, to bring us under ita bondage ? The scriptures, in all their length and bieadlh, are the hind of our inheritance, which we mean not iither mm I before another )ver tho le, gives e ungtt- J course iTC, now elende)! WCT — to id to re- adation. ;al man- f an ex- Ihe dif- ticalion; are, the )wn — to g under country, d super- ks ofec- lould be ierarchy nd great asc ; ire )en8 and no: that hat thfiy may be le duties IS of the. endance sent Au« ; lessons reading I need by ds ? Can jf Chri8' It on the to suft'or under ita biHhdth, ot iiUier to ailenate or to exchange for the formularies of a popish, or an established Church. The inhfibitants of this country have received the Bible ; and ihoy know loo well the obli- gaiionsi resting upon them, to divest themselves of the right to examine it without external control, and to follow fully ihe convictions which iheir minds receive from its «eriou^ and diligent p(;rusal. The circulation of scripture opposes a force against supersiilion, which the latter cannot over- rume; and by which it must be finally destroyed. Tiieir line will 1,^0 through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. By a strange destiny, the cler^ry bplongin«T to pstablisht J Churches, uniformly promote the cause towiirds which they discover so hostile a spirit. They possess above most men the art of rountf^raclinj^ their own aims and t'llortu ; instead of enlarL'inf^, thev diminish the number of adherents to their own Church, anil give birth and sf^bilily to other congre- gations. The high and utterly unfounded pretensions of this Author, can have no other efl'eci on minds not totally destitute of knowledge and reflection, than to fill them with inexpreseible aversion to the system which he labours to viphold. His work bears the image and aupe rscriplion of pooery; and if it? Author be true to the principles which it developes, if he would maintain consistency, nothirig re- mains for him but to make his peace with the • Holy [Ro- man] Catholic Church,' by n confession of hia schism, and ji dutiful return to its communion. The burden of this pamphlet is, that the Established Church of Enj/land possesses, by delegation from Christ Rind the Apostles, the sole and exclusive right of adminis- tering the ordinances of the Gospel— of giving validity and efficacy to its institutions— ami of interpreting the Scrip- tures. Its ministers alone ' are duly authorized to offer terms of pardon and reconciliation to rebellious man, and to bring him into a covenant of grace and favour with hit* offended Maker.' -They only are fully empowered to make the sacramental elements valid pleges for the benefits they are intended to convey !— And the Established church it- pelf, whjse constitution is truly primitive and Apostolical, is the authorised Interpreter of the Holy Scripture.* A scheme of this kind is attempted to be put upon us by the most arrogant assumptions, the most cv&sive reasoning, the grossest sophistry, and the most palpable omission of im- portant evidence. These clouds, and this thick darkness, do not anake as tear and tremble ; they certainly are not of Ihal kind which indir.aics a proK -nt Drily. The groond ii not holy ; we iherrfore apprna.-h it wii'hout awe, and find it quite iinnecP8sary to put olF onr sh.)i',» from our feet nu the present occasion. We challenge the Author to prove his claims ;--wechallpngethft whole e»ii!)!i.s|,ed nicnirchv to shew us in the New Ttsiainent, the only »tanilurd of au- thority to which we bow, the model of ....v such church aa theirs. Let them shew us the chartrr bv vy'lMch ir« diocfsan bishops are incorporated, and its p(dity i. pr»>rribcd And we fee) compelled to hold forth for the vunk.M reprobation of our readers, that exclusive restriolioti ..[ Divinn ,rrace to the offices and forms of the I^slablished 'Jluirch, wujrh U here claimed on her behalf, as a aentiment comi.lrtelv popish, and an offence of the oiosiscand d.M,s nature a^ainfii the Author of the Gospel. Holder th:m Hubam, the aba- tors of such a tenet - curse whom (iod l,.th not curbed, and defy whom the Lord has not defied."— . Zrl""'^ \T '^ ?T^ '^'"' ''^ ""'"l^Hiii^bl^ »3senion about ur "'^V ^".^ ^^'^ ' ''''^'^ Church.' We should rnallv be obliged if such writers as the present Author, woold em'. ploy language less vague and indetermiuutr, and disiinctlv inform us what they mean by the tern;^ ihey n^e. 'VhJ when this pamphleteer asserts that the ' Church is the uu. thorized interpreter of Scripture,' we .hould have br.n glad had he explained what he mean., by the MJhurch ' 1 he eighteenth Article defines the Church to be 'A eonsrr>. gation of faithful men, in the which the pure word of tcJ. Arul |»robution R i{ lonuf Dii^. onercfra* If :his be Lithorized Ration of terpreter k'hcn the ve cap»- ve to iin- he estab- i Church? or voice Church? te a sin- and clergy hare not ihe smallfRt degree of power to ordain a single article, or to make the least alteration in ercleHins tical ordinanccB ; thcii- wliolij combinnl energies are impo- tent. A royal mandate, or an ael of l*arliiiment, is omnip- otent over all the ccrlesiaslics, high and low, of the eslah- lished hierarchy. Where, then, is this (>hurch ? h it real- ly idenlilit'd with the king and parliament, of this realm ? So it would seem, (>t all that is done in ihc Church, is by their authority. ' Tliese only have power to make or to un- make forms and riles of worwhip, and to authorilHtivt ly in- trust and prescribe to the clergy wlial they are to believe, — in what manner and to whom the sacraments arc to be giv- en,- vvhdt prayers they are to oHVr up, — what doctrines to preach, — who are lo be admitted to the episcopate, or priesthood, and who lo be refused ; by wl at ceremonies and prayers they are to bfi set ajiarl and consecrated to their ofTice.'* The (Common l*rayer Hook itself was established by this authority, in irpposilion to the Bishops and the Cler* gy, in the lir.-^t year ol Queen Elizabeth's reign. Have wo at last found our Author's '(yhurch,' which authoritatively interprets the Scripture ?- Or, were the few persons who prepared the Liturgy in I'M ward the Sixth's time, or the few who revised it in J'^lixabeth's reign, ' the Church.' Or. by * the Church' are we to undi^rsiand notliin^ more than the paper and [>rint which make up the ('ooimon Prayer Book ? Where, or what, is this 'Cliurch' which is authori- zed to interpret Holy Scripture? We have not yet, how- ever, finished our inquiries on this subject. The Church of England had no existence before the early part of the six- teenth century. Previously to that period, the religious edifices of tfiis country, and the elerjjy attached to them, were identified with tlie Cluirch of Rome. Where then we should be glad to learn, was ' the Cliurch' ? Where, and what, was ' the Church' for many centuries bilore the Church of England was known ? Must we look to Rome ? Yes. There was 'the Chuich;' the members of tho Romish hierarchy were the Church, and they claimed to be * Towgood's " Dissent from the Church of England, fully justifi«d." p. 9. Ed. 1804. Tliis work we recommend lo tiie strious perusal of Churchmen. If its statements be false, or its arguments powerless, ihey will be nble to disprove lliem, and may then l;\u;ih at or pity tho ■weakness of Dissenters. Let ihem read Towgood fairly, and follow out fully their convictions. We love Iruih and justice, and lliereforesiicng- ly recommend the reading of " Hookers Eccesiasiical Polity" at the same time. Will Churchmen, and especially the clergy, recommend Towgood to their reader*? 10 the authorised interpreters of Holy Scripture. To whose authority then are we to submit? We shall return to this part of the si^bject, to whit!) we are incidentally conducted in the course of our inquiry after * the Church' of which the Author speaks, and for which he sets up so high a claim. This inquiry is the more nccef^sa- ry, since he asserts that * the Church' is essentially a spirit- ual society, and that her alliance with the Slate is purely incidental. Incidental ! Has the Church of England any independent subsistence ? She derived her existence from the State, and is entirely supported by it. If at the period of the reformation in Henry tlie Eighth's reign, and in all subsequent periods, the State had never interfered with Re- ligion, had never established nor endowed any particulur creed, -where would have been the Church of England ? Were the state now to discard her, and to endow and estab- lish another sect, what would become of the pretensions of this Church ? How many of her present members would, in such case, chaunt her euloffy 1 What would they them- selves be ? Would Dr. Kipling, Professor Marsh, 'and the British Critics, then be of the same Church with Mr. Simeon with :he Author of the Velvet Cushion, and the Christian Observers ? If the connexion of the Establishrd Church with the State were dissolved, would these respc ctive par- ties be found maintaining the same faith, and worship, and ordinances, and discipline? When the Author s[)eaks of the Established Church in * her spiritual, appropriate, and p^rm.^r.ent character,' we ask — Where is she to be found, and of what materials is she composed ? This simple ques- tion fixes him, like Prometheus, to the rock, —and where is the Hercules that shall deliver him ? Such a Church as this writer refers to, when he speaks of the whole Christian world being incorporated into one general society, and when he talks of the visible Church, is a phantom of the imagination, a chimera — a nothing. The New Testament never describes a Church after this man- ner. It may be a service to some of our readers \i we place before them the scriptural meaning of the term Church ; to the greater part of them it is indeed unnecessary; but they, we are persuaded, v/ill permit us to furnish others with the meansof distinguishing sound from sense. The term ekklesia^ it is well known, is derived from ek- kalein—^vocare, convocare, to call out, to call together. It denotes primarily an assembly of ar^y kind, as a meeting of the Athenian citizens for business, katastases dc ekkksias, 11 To whose I whit!) we quiry alter r which he re nccessa- ly a spirit- e is purely ipland any tence from the period and in all d with Re- particular Er^gland ? and cstab- ensicns of ers would, hey them- h, and the r. Simeon Christian d Church ctive par- rship, and speaks of riate, and be found, iple ques- J where is he speaks I into one ])hurch, is inff. The this man- we place Church ; sarv; but sh others J9 I from cU- jther. It leeiing of elcklcsiast ' a meeting being convened.' Thucid. Lib. I sec. ^\. In this aenso it occurs in the New Test. Acts xix. 38. en tc cnnorno ekklesia, " in a lawful assembly." In its sacrcci use, it denotes either the whole number of Christ's disciples considered as a body, of which he is the Head; or a parti- cular siociety of p«?rson3 assembled for Christian instruction worship, and discij>]ine, without any consideration of the place ill wfjich they meet, which is a matter of complete in- dillerr nee, The members of ihe Church, in the tirst of its sacred sooses, are all who, in different ages, and in all coun- tries, have been pirtakers of salvation, " a multitude which no man can number," and which cannot be the object of liurnan cojrnizancf. In its second and current acceptation, cA-/t7>.s:Vi, church, means an assembly of Christians. Thus we have he ekkhsia tou theuu e.v Korintho, "th'S Church of God at Corinth." 1 Cor. i. 2. 2 Cor. i. 1. he ekklesia he en hierosolvmois ~^' ih& Church at Jerusalem." Actsviu^l. xi. 22. he ekklesia Thessalonikcon,—'* the Church of the Thessalonian^." 1 Thess. i. 1. 2. Thess. ii. 1. When more congregations than one are spoken of, we find the plural ckklesiai invariably used. The phrase employed in that case, is "noverthe Church," but the Churches. Thus we have the Churches of Galatia— Aa? ekklesiai tes Galatias. Gal. i. 2. The churches of Macedonia, — hai ekklesiai tes Makcdonias. 2 Cor. viii. 1. Never the Church ofGalatia — the Cliurch of Macedonia. 'The Church of England' haa no prototype in the New Testament, to the writers of which national churches were unknown. We challenge the Au- thor of this pamphlet to produce a single instance in the whole New Tfstamfnt of the use of the ieim ekklesia^ ox church, corresponding to the phrase * the Church of Eng- land.' The term cpiskovos, (overseer) or bishop, is the talisman which performs marvellous things in the eyes of our Au- thor. But does he imagine that we are so blind as not io perceive the essential difference between the bishops of the Church of Eni^land and the primitive episkopoi, or bishops, if tluit term ha used, for we mean not to contend about words ? — The bishop of primitive times was nothing more than ihe presidi7i.^ minister oi one congregation. Such a stats of things es is presented by the ecclesiastical polity of the Established Church of England, in which a bishop has his diocese, and presides over mflrji/ congregations, was al- together unknown to the Apostles, and to the Christians of thtir limes, and equally unknown to the Christians of the n finl two centuries. Such a phrase as the ' bishops of the Uimch of hn^hmW in whicfi the authoriiy of a plurality of supreme otTict-rs h.u-ion power over the presbyters of many conjrrei^^aiions, is asserted, was never heard of by the prim- Hive Cnnsti.n.. There was but (me bishop to one church or con.resjation. This is clear to d.^monsiralion. The epistles of Ignatius, so precious in the vye^ of an episcopa- Jian, prove the point beyond contr(»versy. ' Your bishop ' IS the uniform ianauaf/e of Ignatius in his epistles to the respective churches which he addresses. Never does he exhort them to obey ' the bishops.' ' If,' savs he. • the prayerof one or two be of jrreat etBcacy, much more . ffica- cious must be the prayer of the bishop and the whole church. lie tbererore w]u) dots not come to the samevlace is proud.'* A^ain: '.Vheresoever the bishop appears, there let the people be. f A bishop haviofx authority over the ministers of many congregations, or presiding; over more congregations than one, is a species of church otrieer of whom Ignatius, and a! precedin.^ writers, were com(delely i^rnorant! What then does all the parade of this pamphleteer in his third, aitd his fourth chapters mean? He could onlv assimilato his own church to the model of the primitive church, as it regards its external form, by proving to us, from tho New lestatTient, that such bishops as rule in the Established thnrch, presided in the Apostolical churches. Let him and his coadjutors clear theii sight and trim their lamps, and sit down to an investigation of every passage fn that volume that they may, if possible, f.nd there such a Church and such bisnops as they would intrude upon us. Then as to the other o/licers of the Established Church, which we are to be , eve is 'truly and purely apostolical,' where are we to hnd archbishop and dean,-an<] canon, and prebenda^ 7-2/,-~and viear and stipendiary curate ? Were these known to the Apostles? If the Ephesian demon still range the earth, and be at any time called to order by the bearers of these titles, he might again say, we mean in relation to the se various appellations and offices, " Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye ? + » ■ mm t '^WM C''''' '^- ^■- . . t Ad. Smyr. ch. vi. from them^tho'p'",?'''''^^'l'T;'V"""' """'"'''• ^^"'^^*' ^""^ <^eremonieg, Es' Tnons n^n;-^''''^'' "'"'^^'^^^ ''^"^ ^'^*^^P^' deans, preben. dra s and comml T' f '^"'V'' ' /'"^'"'^^s* dioceses, parishes T cathc a^d free wTnTnV -"'''ri^'"*;^'''' ^^^hes, perquisiles, Easter-duw, «ussS i^Sf-W SP'^f ^;>f !'is Royal Highness the Duke of N^assex, lu the House ol Peers, Aprd 31, 1812. His Roval Hi^hnP.ss i» I 1 1 shops of the I pliirality of lers of many by the prim- ' one church aiion. The fin episcopa- inir bishop/ visiles to the ver (Joes he ys he, ' the more rffica- ^hole church, ■e is proud.'* »ere let the ministers of tngregations 3m Ignatius, )rant. What in his third, y assimilato 3hurch, as it )m thu New Established 9. Let him their lamps, lage in that ch a Church s. Then as , which we ,' where are d prebenda- hese known 1 range the (i bearers of ion to the se /, and Paul id ceremonies, liui'cii-govern- leans, preben- rishcs; cathc- !, Easter-dues, s the Duke of I Hjffhnp.ss ia T!k^ priioe i^ntiment of tliis* work, Is, that Christ dtposi- led Ills hut'i.osiiy excli-ijivt-Jy with the Apoalles, and thnt thei.- (•{vnimirts'ion invuhed a power of d< legation. Such i jjentimrni it is endeavoured to iruike out frurn the words of our Lord—" As niv Fiiihcr s^^nt me, even so send I you." Thos, by forct-d aiiJ miserable coiislruclioiis of the «erip- mres- fiv*^ the hi^jh preloiisions of arrogant ecclesiastics obtruded on the ignorant and su[)erstitious. Christ wdA sent iMlo the world to work miracles ; so were the AposUeK let these their pretended followers give si^jht to the blind, and s[u-f;ch to t!ie dumb, and then thty may, with some propriety, announce their cbimw. We shall quote the pas- sfi'^!, a id then l-?ave every person who can distingviish A from' B, to determine whether the words ' evidently denott* the same \)QWtv ia the Apostles to transl'er their authority to others.' " Then said J* sus to them a^;ir;n, Pei ce be unto you : as my Fiither hath sent me, even so s< nd I you.— And when he h;ul said this, he breathed on tlum, and saith unto ihem, Receive ve the Holy Spirit. Whosesoever sina ye remit, they are remitted uni;» them ; and whose^soever sins ve retain, they are retained." Jokn xx. 21 — 2o. Is'therc a single word, or the remotest intimation, in this passacre, of a j^ower of delegation in the Apostles? Are not tire whole scone and circumstances spcciaP. Have they an aspect towdrds anv person or persons except the Apos- tles? Could it be believed, if the fact were not on record, that any man would be so presumptuous as to refer to such a passage as the above, in support of the transmission of spiritual authority by delegation from the Apostles? Such writers could not more o\itrage the Scriptures and the sen^je of mankind, were they to affirm that the title of Lord given to the bishops of the Established Church, and the thousands per annum which form their revenues, had descended to them as Apostolic legacies. The power of delegation vested in the Apostles, accord- ing to this Author, was two-lold. 'tis iirst and rnost obvi- ous exercise consisted in the appointment and or-Unation of persons to perform the funciions of the Christian ministry.' p. 16. And we are referred to the appointment and ordi- nation of deacons, and to the case of Paul and Barnabas or- daining ciders in every city. Acts vi. 1—7. xiv. 23.--- Most unfortunate references for this high churchman. In quite correct in stating that these various articles are derived from tbe * Church "*■ Ron"* ' The s^ord nf God no where acknowledges them. B 14 "«:abio.i 10 ordai,, .luinms », ™,""" ""I'-'^'ored on this "■• '"at the de«.„. of h Fs,^ -A ■';' 7-^i'' 'f'" church, Ks(abiish«,i Churrh ' J- ihl ,1^ , ^"' •"''■"'i«'l in the '.''i^ imrl. office ? Or , "l, A n J. p "V"" "PP"i""»-"t to "P? These .>v., „„ „ r,;''l'r ^""' ?■"•""-■'' a bish- church at Antiooh. wh"„™; ,he'v J^ * ""'' '""='"■" '" ""e »/.«m the/ oni;;:;;';, ,:■--;" .l;;;;.%;n.i;e., a^„;^ never informed that hex ^.l TiV ^''"^^'f': f>«'t we ar^ Ordination ;_„„. » s^.l^bit 'fuT'e: ^d'^nT •" f r'-^"'"' uny power whaiev. W,. marl^r,!!,""' ''*''''«'"'"*• gts should be allp„ed ,, ihl'. ™ ""'' """ ^■"'■'' Passx" "ointerrupte.l s, m ,ioVnf „1 ""** "" "'""'' '« ''■^'^'l ' an «i'0 power' of orlar,,: vhTeMrrr;'"'-","-^'-' -'"' l.olds the church together ,n^ I "'" """ '" »" aues "^ yes ! "oiir sits .rchbi,h«; of cw' ,7 «''"«f'';^."'. ' if he that , secession from 8t A, ,th, S a ^'Z?''' ""' "-i'^-e his ' «..d St. Gregory f«,n, S 'R,! -/'l!!'" '■°'" ^t. Gregory ; lerkury that now is • savs \Z\t T.'".'.'"y ^"'•^ "f t-'a"- Oom St. Peter in a mos Uair 1" ?' ,'' ''"'^""^ '^^''^^'"'^'1 < 'io'., you shall easily fir J. We "T"' •'""" "' '"''''- 1 ^hat co„seq„en.,;s^.Ms noiion 'r '•" '" "'^ ^''l"^' "" ' sioa' leads, i, whsta ^im! n '^ ' "'""lerrupted succes- Places hitnklf and his Ch ,rc|1 """' ""^ ^'""''' Author bytwograiKl fundampntJ r, • .^f "s^^^s, ,s characterized t'^rsoftLu^lH. chS^^ .1- That the minis.- presbyters or ckler7 I'lf. ^^ ^''*"'"* ""''^'"'^ ^ishups J^'g^ priest, pri..;7;;j^t^;?^ »" »^'- ^ ' ^'^^ ^^'^''^•^ '0 tile Jewish Church.— 15 inallon of dea- vere eallcd t%^ '^ «»>t among il of the Holy It to the man- «>'J>l-''y of the our penetra- ^vertjij ofi this " the church, bear any re- ihe passage, ';»nied in the iii^d together '»ointrmMit to f»H^fi a bish- :ber8 in the • insii/ration liies, amon^' but we ar'e f Episcopjl f lielt^gatin^- 3Mch passa- i !•{ sted ♦ an vested with t in all aj/es nistry with ' O yes ! ' if he that derive his Grpfrory ; »rd of Can- descended of succes- 5 sequal t(» ed succee- nt Author re further racterized he minis- 5, bishops ni? to the 'hurch. — 2. That the first order— that of bishopa— is dislinguishrd from the other two orders, by the powers of ordination ai d supreme church governmfnl. p. 19. That the Church was originally formed upon this model, is, this Author say-;, 'clearly deducible from Scripture.* DeduciUe ! So then, this Church authority by which heaven and earth are to be bound, is something deducible!— Soch a power is to f>o founded on inference ! What ! eliall logic be called in to the aid of persons who assert that they l)ear the exclusiie commission of Jesus Christ? ' Reasonable to presume' — ' clearly deducible' — are not modes of speech fitting the Hpecial successors of Apostles, and the sole depositaries u( saving grace. Where do we learn that the officers of tho Christian church correspond to the high f riesi, priests, and Levites ? According to this noti6n there should be only one bishop in tlie Church Established. Two archbishops, and twenty-four bishops are, to be sure, adruirably represented by one high priest! Would it not he more appropriate to consider his holiness the pope, who is but one, as corres- ponding to the high priest ? But, in true soberness of mind, is this imbecility of reasoning to lead our judgments captive? He asserts that the appointment of bishops, pres-byters. and deacons, by the Apostles, is to be foond in the New Testament. Let us hear what he says. Fir-t, tl en, ' Th« episcopal order resided in the Apo-^tles, whose offiee, evey^ before their entrance upon it, was denominated h bishoprie. -Acis 1. 20.' p. 20. The words refer to Judas. Was he a Bishop ? Di(l he ever ordain i Did he deiei:ate his power \ We are curious to know to whom he conveyed it. — We give him this bishop Judas. Episkope, Acts I. 20. clearly ought to be rendered 'office" or "chari'e," as il is in t'l margin of our bibles. We wonder that Num. iv. 16 wheit; C/O? 5^0/3 occurs in the Septuagint, has never been rendered "the bishoprick of the whole congregation." The Apos- tles, it is further remarked ' possessed not only authority over the whole church, but also individually governed Xh'^ churches respectively planted by them, and ordained dea- cons and elders, over whom they exercised jurisdiction.' p. 21. * John over the seven churches of Asia ; Paul over the gentile churches of Rome, Corinth, 6ic.; Peter over tho churches of the circumcision, or Jewish converts at Anti- och, Bilhynia, &C. of the dispersion; Matthew over the churches in Parthia ; Andrew in Scythia ; Bartholomew in India, &c.' But where, we inquire, is the evidence of the above assumptions to be found ? There is bo proof in the The Api, lolic oflr w»?l '"'"" '".".','>• P""''"^" <*"rch. 'ion «,«., assigned loanvnf; '""7 "'r'"' *• -'<" «'"• Their office wa/.o .o no .,, .l" "" m"''''' «"V"nor.._ .-..nfined .„ o n"!;,. .hJ^ "'roughage and infirmilios .^'e i.n,nedia:r fc.f' ^^ 7"";^:;^'"^/"" -»"" "luoh as Ihis, is all il.n. h.. • • ""^' '^ "'"n 6'> «")' of them wer b sh^;"";;\"'t"r '"•"'f '"'^^•) "'" N.v, in some insianrn" i. ; "^ > °f f"'""'"•■*"'r<^'«'S• >•tiKi„ated fron lid "si, :il . '''"'"•""" ">« 'r»^«ce, that .he firs, paa- Hence i I asar , „ .ha.T; ^,f';""'"''.''y.^"ch a„ Apo'.ie. haveclaimed7a,d ' 'm ^"^-T "' '''""'''"■ churches -uccessors oi .'h etrt,;^;;."'' ^1"°' '"'"') '^ ^-^ ">« '■av/'b^c'n bthJn'C" ""^"P' '" ''™" 'f-" ^POsHcs .o "f.he whol T.™en, ,''1':',"''"^'' i"'''^ grand climax r.aders who sindv the Nrr'r ?' "'''";■"">"• I'- 21- Our 'l'eirhear.s, a d wi.l, humbl/r "' 'i' ""' ''""''I'^^Y "f 'han a clea pecen Lnrof i,' ^■"'''' ^"''''i"Kno.hing more .ha. the co„sec,aii.n, of a bi< ,o„ i 1 ' %,"■'"■"! '^ '" "'»' in it. Yes-two insi»ncl ^f' '• *"''«>*■ '" be found 'he Apos,l,.s themsHl , " ='P''°''«'"'"'t of bishops by 'oent. The ApoX !Nn, r; "'^'"'''•^ ^'' "'« New Tes.a- Author, ,vas tSn of F his '" " TT' ="^^»"""S "> "'i» .''': "1 '^' *"• -an be directed. " P-'Her to which ihe studeru were bisopj ular church, n epis(M»j)«I 's. No sttt- livernors. — preacli the ^art of the I infirmitips y fall under if even so dillon, (for case,) ihat r churches, adition has e first pas- n Apoptle. churches to be the postles to nd climax ated liieir 21. Our iplicity of linj^ more 3 have no ied to find be found shops by w Testa- ig to this IS to the ;y at the indTitU3 Ppointed lopric o( n to the \ to ♦ 're- al was a .116. A r readers, pertoriji- the clear, e studeru heretic «fier the first and second admonition ;" and he wai expressly told ihiu he had bten li ft in Crete *' to set in or- der the things tlui were wantinjr, and to ordain eiders iii every ciiy.' These are proofs of Tili.s' furmnl installa- tion as bishop of Crete ! Admirable proofs! who can resist them ? Tim<»thy was most certninlv an E 'anaelist, and su also was TUus; ^.n office altogether extraordinary, and which was hmaed to the persons wId first possessed it.-^ Itiey Wfreassistanis to the Apostles, in bearintj messa.^es and in settling churches, and a fixed station was as inco^'m. paiible with iMeirdolies as it tva^ with the Apostolic offiou lts(dl. I liH last quoted sentence clearly mftnifests that Ti- tus was at Crete, not as fixed in any olTicial capacity, but as intrusted with a pariicuhr business, the execution ot' whtch left him to return to the Apostle according to the -exorution, ch. iii. 12. " Oi; diligent to come unto me at Olicopohs." Titus was ai'terwaids sent to Dalmaiii, most probably for the same purposes wliic'i occ ision his visit to Crete :— Was he aiso bishop ofDalm^ua ? Tne Apostle ex- horts Timothy to do the work oj mx Evai}geHsU not to dk- Charge the office of a biskup. Tl»e case of both Timolhv and 'i'itns is |H'culiar, and has no reference to any person's in followiotf pf rio' '''^'^''^^^ f^*' •"•='"« presbyters, then t , equally surpnsmo; that he shoubl have completely ommed al referent, to the bishop's qualifications. The Epistle to the Pl.illippians is .dd.Jsedl^^ To all the safnt wit. the bishops and d a.ons." Hy h.s^op^ the A oonle evidently means the sUted pastors of the Church at Phillip- pi. 1. .here had been a superior with ihr title of bisf.op.it is passi.ff strauire that the Apostle should neglect hirr so completely. If there had be.n any such person'as a bishop! With supreme powers of church jjovernment, ills utterly in- credible that in the various Epistles addressed by Paul to different Christian Societies, not the least notice should be linn i \ ' '''""^;'^ P'^rsona.e. The nibterfuges and laboured sophisms which have been devised to elude the above arguments, can have no force against statemrntg 30 hiu*\V . '"'''^"'7 ^'' P'«'n- We maintain with Camp- ha not ve^l' ''"" ' r'T ^''"^ '^' Apostolical writings has no yet been produced, in which it appears from the eontext that the two terms prcshuleros avyepMopo.^lZ andbishop— mean different offires. of '!hlf P "^f .'^" ''"' P''^^'-^''^« ^^^ me^itioned in the book of me Kevelation, and very .alislactory re.sons, we are as- snrtd, aave been a.sijxncd :ln proof of the term Anoels nieaning b..hop.. *Tlie err.blem by whi.h they LS * Etcica.Hist.Vol.l.p. J28, jcnislipc ler of I f'S over rable s| this pai the II. &nd it f\ who ai (he chii factory We can gels* ir wall w; which ! twelve Apostle- thorisec NewTe not be I gine mil is rrqui foundati « Wea ry prooi and dea( the Chri authorit ed to su| is the or er what have fou as we h that the futile as I In CW the pries said, dej Church i ofthefo Levites ( satisfrtcti The IN Jy silent to the J iiiid in tl I 19 'plsJcopovn^ ')><»hiii()u of N(i bi.>h(»p u liu are in )l(i not ex- re prfsby- p? KhippH f'pLskopoi) ikumy of « irulii of olhy, rrs- R of only "0/'— bish- ne as ihis fie .should lie stuted ihe most ;• rior or- esbyleis, mplf t« ly 18. The bf saints Ai)o«ile Phillip, lisfiop, it t ftinrt so I bishop, lerly in- Pai)l to KuiliJ be ges and ude the icnts so Camp- iriiinjis om the V, elder e book are as* Angels diiitin- 1 jcnislied, that of 'stars' bears a cIobg analogy to the charac- ter of bishops, wfiose office it is to give lijihl to the church- es over which th«'y pr» side.' p. 31. This is another admi- rable sppci'in'O of the very satisfactory reasons assigned in this pamphlet ! 'The term "Anffel" moreover is applied in the RevelaiioM (ch. xxi. 5. 12, 14 ) to the twelve Apostles; and it may ilier^ fore be consiiiered as applicable to bishops who are the siuTessors of the Aposiles, as governors of the church.' p. 31, 3'Z. The force and beauty of this 'satis- factory reason' we leave for the appreciation of our readers. We cannor, howevtr, find, that tlie Apostles are called 'An- gels' in xxi. 12, 14. The writer describes a ciiy whose wull was great and high, with twelve gates, at each of which an aniJ^el was stationed. The wall of the citv had jlwelvo foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles. lo asserting the claims of the Church, as an au- thorised interpreter of Scripture, he assures us that the New Testaojent conlfiins many obscure passages which can- not be understood without the Church's aid. This we ima- gine must be one of t'lem. An unknown measure of light is required to make out the difference between Angels and foundations ! ! ^ We are next referred to the early Fathers for satisfacto- ry proof' that the three distinct orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, were of the very essence of the Constitution of the Christian Church.' p. 39. The early Fathers are no authority to us. They were neither inspired nor appoint- ed to supply any deficiencies in the New Testament, which is the only authority we acknowledge. Let us see, howev- er what tise he makes of them. The character which we have found belonging lo his ' satisfactory evidence,' so far as we have accompanied liim, induces strong suspicion, that the pr»»ofs yet to be produced, may be as weak and futile as those which have already occurred. In Clement of Rome, allusion is made lo the chief priest, the priests, and Leviies , and the force of this allusion, it is said, depends on a presumed analogy between the Christian Church and the Jewish —the bishops, priests, and deacons of the former, corresponding to the high priest, priests, and Levites of t'le latter. Allusion and analogy are not t/ery satisfactory vvhere demonsiration is promised and requiredl The NewTesta.m»3k»i, we h'»ve already remarked, i:; entire- ly silent respecting any confoirnity of the Christian church to the Jewish. Is this anal'V'V all that our Auihor could find in the epistle of CIjme'.iL. relating tu the subject of his 20 .ligh.lv n„.i„.,.! We s.,..ll e,!;C„r.„ '»'„?' .r",^ per...,. i„ .„e eb..r(.; Ju 1;::^ " ';;;:,;;rr'v;'/''■ «py 6uppos,.,l allusio,, ,,. ,hehi„l, nr ,,;'.:, *'• I •^' v..e3 ca„ otlVr in ,l„.ir favour. ^I» . e «'^ " C' ' f r " Ohureh, »„,, he men oTs X w Tl, "'''''','''1''' '" ""■' mean,, .I.e.ame k„„l . f peZilas are o 'l *' '""''^ "J' prrsbjiers nr el.lers in I he A,. I whet ,? PI /;'"*"'"'"- ordained in every rhnrrh ,:■'•,"""» / "' ■""' Uariiaha, as .bo head 0, eJ^r^^r^h t; ■; :;V;:t!'v:' r?,':r ' ernmen,, separate fr,„n b„th deacl.ns and prXiV „ ',T .' above them, Clemen, would cerlainlr have .,.,,] h'. * nereis no sanity m his writinors f three clistiiwi «. i lial 10 .he consiiiuiior, of the Church. ...in^inV.^:; ;;::haVi';hrirtL • r; r :i;!;::rir.i^ ted an,l for iho ^^^"^P '^^ ^"^ 's, however, actually omit- »«au eadea, or ,o B„pp,y th^ Jefec. Pul,cJrp; .hir^o.icea nnly tM he says ( Mirist theo ka Wouhi had bc( In cxh( God, d( be the epistle, in thes not a V episcop superio earJy Fi Ignat orders d of Ignat the vvor in impo: main, in us they writers internal opinion tion, to what pai Be they few exit dictated resembh Epistles The I bishop : even rig «?carcely bishop. God. I] ters to tl op, that I theirs wl May my more silt ence him 3 ppistif is 80 coiiiii for ihH J'siiniony in >HJH(;i (if c\(.. liale them l(» t sfiarneCul to I'l. by fimans • rfsl)yt<-r»' — ras'uderous,* ) V iiCV Willi wim 711011 tint lite ran. 'v. 54, liun of any '9' Iflhero iili auihori- ^'(M-inth, hi) t'dcfi an i)c- n (fflice or (!, Jtfr^rdiiig ts, an'I Lf;- pJ<^r rrigst you, ut willing- hilt beii\g ■ Apostles, iscrihed to IS f'pitheis le epistlpg )n. Wfiile f the New ("hrisiian 11 not fail u'nt siatp. )gh every ne. It h presiding ifTicer go- ' different lalina e.v- me place on stated 5 being in requesia :)n whom ria, to be m present -.vith ihrm in their public assembly. The cliurche* were, even in the days (d I^natiuH, in a Hiatc very different /•om \}iv r..n«'lili!t! -n of Jht- Church o( Kngland. The Au- thor el' litis pamnliict ha. 001 yet found a Church resem- bliiig his own. His eureka would be quite preniHture till, in his pioures^ through ecclesiastical records and agen, ho come to ihe nioriourt (hiys of Consianline, Mhen the pomp and circumstance of bishops displayed the glory of thi» Wf.rid, at.d ihe rorruptions of the church kept pace with the elevation of iis ministers in wealth and splendour, and ttuthorily ; when pure Christianity was already overspread with those clouds of nupersiiiion, behind which, in the cour«e of no very protracted period, as they became thicker and darker, it u s «o set. The Church of England may hndits protoiype in Mie Church to whieii Conslantine waa a nurf-inorfi! .r; but let not our understandings be insulted and histor; se.. iit defi .nee, by attributing to it an Apostol- ical orirjin. huch partisans as this writer, should adopt the qualified lanuMMjze of the " Velvet Cushion," when speak- ing of t!ie MstabJi^hed Chnrcii : ' Many of its prayers have descended to us from a/wov/ the first Christians.' An inter- val of two or three hundred years, may very decently be covered by ti;is ' >l)nost;'—a most unfortunate 'almost !' Thou-'i vr !ia 8 followed the Author into the early Fa- thers, we have no such opinion of them as to value their works above the writings of common men. Our object ha.U)een to expose his appeal to these authors as partial, hwl fo demnn^tr.'iie its total failure in the support of his pre- tensions. We di:;cjrd .•)ll Fathers, Greek and Latin, earlier and later, from the seat of authority ; simply on this ground, that they are not the standard of either our faith or our practice. In respect to these we admit only the Sa- ered Scriptures. To them we pay profound homage- reach what they may, we receive their testimony with all readiness. They supply evidence, not to be evaded nor overcome, that no authority over men's consciencej was delegated by tho Apo.stlfs. They contain no record of any controlling power over the institutions of the Gospel, com- mitted into the hands of any class of men. The design of Christianity is to convert and save men from sin, and to hjrnish them with holy principles of conduct. The means of accomplishing ihcsu great purposesj are not rpstricted to any particular ecclesiastical polisy : indebted for their'effi- cacy only to the blessing of God, they can derive no valid- »ty from any peculiar modification of church order. Not a 24 rr.eru cun.ain, by Md, ihe'lT *^'" ^^'"'« ^^^^ Testa- ^nd the ed,.^cution of the fXuT'''^''' "^ "^'^""^ '^"^^'• orders of bishop.*, pnests an -'.i ^'^^ ^^^^^''^'a'ed with th« f^n .aeet together i. hi^n /^hlnr:' ^^^ ''^ ^^^^ "'' -h" be u, nu.i^ber. Lova to Christ'. /""^ '''*''"'' '^^^^ "^av «'onJ of union amon/r b, Jiever. ' . ' ''"' another/is tf,; t^ociation constitutes a rhurrh U"' '^"^'"^ voluntary as- "ii external r.gulauon n ce^ " " ?" , ^^!-^ ^-^l>^'ter^t to and fully authorised by the oti . i 'T" ""'^^'^ ^'^^^^^ Gospel, to promote it^ in^^'^f '''''■ f^^''"^'^^^« «^ th ^':ciety it is requisite, thai LI." ^''^ "'^f'^'-'- In ever' .f"'"*'^^ ,vcn? inspired and rJ/.ft,^ i • . * *'>oujrn t appear uniformly tobJe"T.'"TT"' <"" ^'Hst/ihey .m.ive Christians, as is mSt" , ''''^ "«'" '" "'" P^^ ■led in tlie first and li.e silTl ^ ""■' r'""-«<'inffs recor- find .he selection of p^e,": f ^ rd'-ff"" '''■''' '''"" «- "fan associate to tl.e Apo ies and t: """ ""''^'^^' "'"«'-■ .leacons, made by the wl,„l'. boTv f ri"'" "^'"''"y ^'5'io'i on the respective occasion/ tLV!"''''"' ''=«•''"'''<'"' was unquestionably appronriate , , ,? '''"''' '■/"'«^"?"4-. Chrislian fongregation ,',7'^;': es L r T','' '"'""^ <"' 'ng to their office; thel .^../T''-^ "^ '''<■ dulhsbelon.. principal care of the Chiisiian rt„ 7"^"''"-^" on whom life niodern times may be gover'n" d b^.'': T''' "" "''""h « Benttally diflereni from the Dri!,i, "''7''' '"'' >"" ^e cs- Paltans lay m„ch stress on the ar ' '"" T'""' Epi.co- ■•■ve pastors are called ZlVT"\T ""/.'' '''« ?"■"- therefore Apostolical. It w^,i',i • *"'""''^'' "f Kngland is vmcinfftc, maintain, that beca L ,,^"'"'",'''"''""''»"d ««"- andofEnfflamL ..I .' .:__''?"'"^^"'« "vil rulers of Spai, •"•""B '" "lainiain, that hr^-,,,^^ .i ■.."'""•""' cou- and of England, are denon ,n a 'l i '"" '"''*" of Sp.in vernmen.ofSpainexactly esel hi f' f^""'' 'hego- tion. ""'y 'esembles the British Constiii,. lole New Testa- f^f divine truth, >ciate(J with thj tsi:s Christ, the be with ail who Oiiver they may ' another,'is tJie '«' volnniary asi- y competent to r liniied order, promises of the 'fJd. In every )ers he appnin- •'« nubt of ap- Thoujjh the raordinary au- J' Christ, "they ff't in the pri- ^eding^s recor- ^'•s» where we - i'ffices, those usually styled r ns assembled P, c'piskopos, d pastors of uties belong. >n whom the A church ia 'tJ yet be es- 3S' Episco- as the prim- England is iialand Con- ors of Spain ^re, the go- 1 Constitu- te Romish h have the ^»e reason- qually sat- 'i that the sorsof the [ation, au- 3s. « Fur S5 such a power (being of so great importance) it was needful that a commis?ion from God, its Founder, should be gr«in- ted in downriiiht and perspicuous tt. ms ; that no man con. cernedinduty grounded thereon might have any doubt of It, or excuse for boggling m it-it is made the sole founda- tion of a duty incumbent on us; which we cannot heartilv discharge without being assured of our obligation thereto, by clear revelation, or promulgation of God's will in the Holy fecripiure ; but apparently no such commission is ex- tani in Scripture ; the allegations for it being no wise clear nor probably expressive of any such authority granted by Ixod; but, on the contrary, divers clearer testimonies are producible der^ogating from it.' Barroio's Works, vol 1. ^'I'ui ^^'p'^^' A. judge produces the commission bv which he holds his oilice; a peace-officer can shew you his warrant :--but who can produce credentials to prove an Apostolical commission ; Inquire for the commission which constitutes bishops successors to the Apostles, and invests them with delegated authority in that capacity, and you are sent in quest of it into some Dccdalean maze, in which you may wander till the day of doom without findina it. You might as well go ia search of an antediluvian cathedral. Could we be allowed to indulge a hope, that this asserter of ecclesiastical claims, which we had hoped were well nigh obsolete, was an unaccredited expounder of the sentiments of the Church of England ;~had we any reason to believe that even a majority of the clergy would agree in disown- ing the principles which this writer advocates; we should not deem it necessary to pursue any farther the mazes of controversy. Nothing would give us greater pleasure, than to receive from the hands of a dignitary of that Church, if such notice might be accorded to an anonymous author, a ful exposure of the ignorance and bigotry on which these Claims are founded. Had a publication equally oflen- sive originated with a Dissenting minister, there would not have elapsed many weeks, before the publication would have drawn forth some general expression of deprecation. JVo consideration of expediency would have induced the ministers of any Dissenting sect, to pass over, in a member the g'* °T '' * ^^™^'^'" °"^*"^fi® "P°" *^® principles of We know that among some good men, there exists a strong prejudice against every thing that assumes the shape - — ^ ,^^j, ,^^ uo iiui&ijesiv 01 mose who, resting in cold and unaffecting generalities, resent every thing that 26 »7d"'force?hi"" """'''^.'»''«.«' ''?<"« of their «r.ri«tion,. n„n., Z .. "^1" "".'"l^'^y into (he truth of the eentil ZT.^tj Y- ""^P"!- ^'•"^ "" »''""' pi""' person. shfZ^slZ :! ^"'^' 'IP"''- Truth no longer requires, it their principles with a laxer grasp, or in which thev were the subordinate, but not unessential parts of Christian tv for genmne candour and an enlarged cbari y A love ,1 ontroversy may frequently originate in a secular ,plri aSftofoteMnTh^"''''""'''''" «"'•'' """ '""^bee^too unth nf f C "'f,"',.«''g"n<'s3 for the truth, the spirit of truth. But the agnation of controverted poinis can never be unfavourab e to the interests of genuine piety. Trmh 1 .hl7r ',■ "'r.''^ u""? •=°'"»'°»- Tl'e times^of revival ot^fltcf o ',! h,". '-■•'""'••hove always been marked by the ihp ,^»»^1 (iebate, -ind it has not been found in the cases of wasf varl.'. >'.""' ."•«"' '!'»'» ^Pi"' of controversy was at var ance with a spirit of elevated devotion, or with unfeigned benevolence. Christian eharUy is not an amal, garnatior. principle: it requires neither a^arrende of o„ most sacred rights, nor even a tacit compliance with unjust claims. It may be , veil for those who have no ground fo complaint, to urge the oselessness of remonstr" „?e o„ oth crs. as a reason for their silence. Surely, when the dun'e. involved n the discussion, it does not become us to keeo P^eZ'Zj/rv '"-'Of «-i"g offence, from '.heap"! spell 0^ whi/h ir •'"^' ^^ ''"''•'y """"'i"S "OfJ^. <'^ ZnU f '^ "naginary conciliation of parlies de- [abo„;s!""" ""^ apprehension of the fruitlessnes, of our New^ri!?,^. "" }"' ""T "''^""'"^ "> "'e whole tenor of the of irsIulhoT? • ".h"""« """' "■""""'y «' "'« character coial wr t.r ' ■" ^ P'e'V'^P""'"' assertions of this epls- copal writer. Ids decUralions as contained in these pages. fTora ever v'r'r "' V"'^- ""'^ "' *'«"'"«'' exoludes'^S mr.- If?- ' »f "["■"ons.-di'ectly contradict the state- ments o( Divine trulli, and limit the inercv of God and all i" al"; nUlf '^-r' "".•"" '""«'""•' wWch arnotl' wha,?v.° S: d I~'^'°'^'""- 1- ^"^ »"• '" "0 '"''»"«« -.-., i| .niii.^a Dj, a„_v uescriptiou of place orofcxter. 27 rbI circumeUnccs. The disposition of the persons towards whom ihey look, the stale of the heart in man, are all thai is matter of consideration. " Whoso confesseth and forsa- keih his sins, shall have mfrcy." " He that believes shall be saved." Name?, and ofiices, and every thing which it is possible to include in the term church gcvernment, are uniformly excluded from the exhibition of salvation in the Gospel. Nothing more is necessary to constitute any man a disciple of Christ and to afford him the hope of heaven, ihan penitent reliance on his mediation, for acceptance with God, and obedience to the precepts of the Divine word : — nothing more is required to form an acceptable worshipper than to worship 'God, who is a spirit, in spirit and in truth.' We find so proper a rebuke for such perverters of the right ways of the Lord, as the writer of this pamphlet, pro- vided by the judicious and candid author of the " Lectures on Ecclesiastical History," that we cannot do better than •rail ourselves of his remarks on this subject. "To me," says the excellent man, *' to me nothing is more evident, than that the essence of Christianity, ab- stractedly considered, consists in the system of doctrines and duties by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the essence o( the Christian character consists in the belief of the one, and the obedience of the other. ♦ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' says the Apostle, 'and thou shall be saved.' Again speaking of Christ, he says, 'Being made perfect, he be- came the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him.' The terms rendered sometimes believing and some- times obeying, are commonly of so extensive signification, as to include both senses, and are therefore used inter- changeably. Now nothing can be conceived more absurd in itself, oi more contradictory to the declarations of Scrip- ture, than to say that a man's belief, and obedience of the Gospel, however genuine the one, and however sincere the other, are of no signiiicancy, unless he has received his in- formation of the Gospel, or been initiated into the Church, by a proper minister. This is placing the essence of reli- gion, not in any thing internal and spiritual, not in what Christ and his Apostles placed it, something personal in re- gard to the disciple, and what is emphatically styled in the Scripture the hidden man of the heart ; but in an exterior circumstance, a circumstance which in regard to him is merely accidental, a circumstance of which it may be im- possible for him to be apprized. Yet into this absurdity Ihoie manifestly run, who make the truth of God's promises flepend on circumstantials, in point of order no where re- ierred to, or mentioned in these promises ; nay, 1 may say vnlh justice, no where either explicitly declared, or impii. eitly suggested, in all the book of God—F am no antinwa- ry, and may not have either the knowledge or the capacity necessary for tracing the faint outlines of ancient establish- ments, and forms of government, for entering into dark and critical questions about the import of names and titles, or lor eiaminmg the authenticity of endless genealogies, but I may have all the evidence that consciousness can give, that 1 iliankfully receive the testimony of Christ, whom I be- leve, and love, and serve. If I cannot know this, the dec- larations of the Gospel are given me to no purpose: its promises are no better than riddles, and a rule of life is a ilream. But if I may be conscious of this, and if the Chris- tian religion be a revelation from heaven, I may have all the security which the veracity of God can give me, that I shall obtain eternal life— He who believeth and is bapti- sed, saiih our Lord, shall be saved. You qualify his prom- i:^e with the additional clause, Mf he be baptized by a minis- ter who has himself received baptism and ordr-iaEion in such a particular manner." But where do you find this qualification specified ? Scripture is silent. The spirit of l-TOd hath not given us the remotest hint of it ; would it not then be wiser in you to follow the advice which Solomon liath given by the same spirit? » Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.' Ar- rogant and vam man ! what arc you, who so boldly and avowedly presume to foist into God's covenant articles of yo^jr own devKsing, neither expressed nor implied in his words? DoYOUventure, a worm oftheearth? Can YOU think yourself waDrented to stint what God hath not stinted and following the dictates of your contracted spirit, envious- iy to Jin^it the bounty of the Universal Parent, that you may confine to a party what Christ hath freely published for he benefit of all ? Is your eye evil, because he is good ? Shall I then bulieve, that God, like deceitful man, speaketh equivocally, and with mental reservations? Shall I take ills declaration in the extent wherein he hath expressly giv- en It, or, as you, for your own malignant purpose, have new vamped and corrected it ? "Let God be true, and every man a liar. But &s for you, who would thus pervert the plainest declarations of the oracles of truth, and instead of renrA>ioniin>v r^k«:„* ^„ ^u- -._.i /. ». . . . , __,„„g ,.^, aa liiu Humor 01 a aivme and spiritual reJigion, as the great benefactor of human kind, exhibit him» »l^ 29 *if *^* t®*^ *^^* faction, your party forsootb. I must tay ihat I have stronger evidence that you have no mission, than all your traditions, and antiquities, and catalogue?, will ever be able to surmount. For if * he whom God sen- deth, speaketh the words of God.' (and this is a test which tvhrist himself hath given us,) he that contradicteth God's words 13 not sent by him. This is alike the language of Scripture, and the language of common sense. Yours is "ei«ner. —CamphelVs Lectv.res, vol I. pp. 86-91. All persons without the walls of an Episcopal church, be they the wisest, the holiest, and the most useful of men, are, by the writer of these • Claims,' left to the uncovenan- led mercies of God, if, indeed, so much can fairly be impu- ted to him. The excluding principle of his book, and the following passage, make it doubtful whether, in his appre- tension, any persons in a country where episcopal ordina- tion is attainable, can go to heaven from 'Conventicles.' "Un the interesting question— how far the ministerial labours are acceptable to God, and efficacious to those on whom they are bestowed, in situations where episcopal or- dmation cannot be had,-no opinion is meant to be here given, either expressly or by implication. This is a case >n which It may be most appropriately said, ' Charity ho- pelh all things." Clear, however, it is, that such ministe- rial labours have not the sanction of Apostolicalauthority. And no inference can be deduced from an allusion to a case which stands on the ground of necessity,-and which there- fore may be safely left in the hands of that gracious beiuir y^hoacceptcti a man ' according to that he hath, and not J. cording to that he hath not'-in favour of an unauthorized ministry, where episcopal ordination is attainable T p. 50. J his paragraph we really think does look very much like a sentence of reprobation upon all regular dissentients from the Estaohshed Church. Baxter and Henry-Doddridge ? .u^uv'T^^rl^''"""' ^"^ Fuller-were all blind leaders of the bhnd. Their preaching had no tendency to save ""^u V .'f'TP'^^'^""^'*^ no efficacy; their communion with their flocks in the ordinances of religion, had no spir- itual unction ; their ministry was as the sin of witchcraft, and the scenes of their labours were a vineyard on which «:»od had commanded Mhe clouds that they should rain no rain upon it :'— all for want of episcopal ordination ! Were the principles and spirit of this writer likflv to ob- tain general currency in the National Church, we should not hesitate one moment in raising a more righteous alarm c5J than that which the 'dangers of the Church' have excited in f?ome of its partisans. We should address to all that tear God within her limits, the words once spoken by "a voice from heaven"—" Corr.e out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins." As it is, w<3 address our appeal to every pious Churchman, whether that spirit which, tor any reasons short of sin and impenitence, shuts men out from heaven, and excludes from the covenant of mercy those whose repentance is unfeigned, whose faith is sincere and whose obedience to Christ is unreserved and constant, —can be of God. What would episcopal ordination have imparted to such a minister as Doddridge? The sanctity of his principles, the validity of his ministrations, the use- fulness of his labours, and the glory which awaited his re- tirement from the world in which he had lived only for its amendment, could have received no accession from the hands of bishops. ' Intaminatis, fulget honoribus !' Can anv statement be more gross than that which is so prominent in this pamphlet, that all persons ordained by a bishop, in the Established Church are, ipso facto, made true ministers of Christ? Can any thing make f/jem ministers of Christ, who are utter strangers to his grace, void of Christian knowledge, " lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God," profane, caring for no man's sou?, and the com- panions of the unholy? who make a gain of godliness, and enter the Church from the most degradinjr motives, that they may be supported by its revenues, while there exists within them a radical aversion to the function which they sFsume? On what numbers of this description have epis- copal hands been laid ! How many may f ven now be found within the ' purely spiritual and Apostolical Church ?' Are these, we ask, the true ministers of Christ! these the per- sons 'duly authorized to bring man into a covenant of grace with his offended maker,' who are lhem.ielves enemies to God by wicked works ? Can the mere repeating of a form of a prayer, and the heartless reading of a hurried sermon, manifest the presenct^ and ensure the grace ot God to the attendants in a parish Church, because these rnen have been episcopally ordained? No inconsiderable number of such persons remain, after the hands of a bishop have been laid upon them, ' in the gall of bitternesf, and in the bond of iniquity,' and go fcrih into the- stntirns v:\nch money, or political influence, or family connexions, havt- 31 r.ocurcd for them in the Church, only to counteract the FJmkncies of the Oospel, with the principles of which their vE!lel.es are at variance, and to aid the triumphs otmfi- eU and w eked „en : as Judas, after he had rece.vcd the on went out to finish his sin. in the betraying o Christ. Whardoes episcopal ordination convey ? Does . convey genius, or tafen.s.'or piety, or ^''/l?"- "VP'r^^'e^advan Lv description, or aptness to leach ? What are the aavan uJesof episcopal ordination t Is it not passing strange, ,rwe should be bidden to look at men, as the successors ihrAposlles, who adirit into the ministry persons desti- u.e of Christian knowledge, uninfluenced by Christian m incrnles, profane in ther conversation, and notorious for The world in'^ss of their spirit and the levity of their man- ners' Andisitless amazing that these persons should Tome asau.horized ministers '« -".«'XT These Uue sent for them, who do not even desire them. 1 bese true ministers of Christ !-and Doddridge and Watts imposlers The for" e approved by Apostles, and the latter frowned "Vln^r^ctedbv them '.-Could we have the decision of Aiostles between these parties-but a higher determin- a ion than even theirs will shortly decide this question The following passage is exactly in the manner of the popish w itrrs,^nd presents the very same arguments whTch they urgli on behalf of their church, as the authorized '"'XeligSriSrof Scripture is. attended with .o much d tnculty, hat the attentive reader is often ready To cTv out. w U the Ethiopian treasurer, 'how can 1 under- a"/unle-ss some man guide me- I-^eed we are express- Iv told, by inspiration itself, that in the Holy ^•'"P'""'^ a're CO. taiLd ' some things hard to be "ndersood, which thev that are unlearned and unstable, ;"«^ ■ ««,."'1V -l^^^" thE other scriptures, to their own destruction. ihe tiara I he oilier «''"V^" ' , ujefly ,„ mailers of doctrine, things here alluded to, reiaie cuieuy lu " . „„„„„, ,t,., Mbich it has pleased God to reveal in ^"?h a manner tha .!,« iniprnrpiaiion of the passages in which they are Con- ine s oft t a very difficult task. These passages, more- Iver ndependenlly of the dilficully attending their inter- ; e"; iorare so iiiLspersed throughout 'he -cred volume ihat ills bevond the reach of ordmary capacities to trace er re aii/e bearings .nd connexion, by comparing '-spir- tu thing with spiritual ;" an operation, however which m,,.l h. pT.rfnrmed in order to deduce from them a systenj Tf Do'clrine; in harmony with Scripture : some oi those v^octnnes are necessarily involved in mystery, and, ihere- fore reading the parts of Scripture in which ihey are con- fined, the assistance of an interpreter is necessary to auar.l against the danger of erroneous interpretatiou. Happily, m a matter of such hi^h importance, we are not left to de- pend upon our own efforts. An interpreter is at hand to assist us in understanding the difficult purls of Scripture. WritT ^^l^^^^'""'^'^^'^^^^ ^^ bean expositor of Holy Again, W Jl;® ^"J"^^ ' wJ'^^'P"^^^^^' *^« ^^^J of God himself; but it hds pleased God so to give his word, that to preserve t from erroneous inteTpretaiion, the aid of un interprelrr sufficient for Its comprehension, so great an advantage bt- ;^ifu:rprid^.''^ V. 70.""' ^^ ''-'' ^"'^' ^'^^'^ ^— Who would imagine that this language proceeds from a ofZT^ '"^- '^l' ^l' ^'^"^'^^^ institifted'to'be an exposUor of Holy Writ, is the Established Church of En.lan.l ' Who ZJpiTr"PP°.'' that these complaints of the%limcultv of sTon to tbp ."A '\^"'P'"^^^' ^"^^'^^^ demand of submis- X nriiltV Wh ' .''7' ''''•"' '^^ P^" of a Roman Caih- tlZT T^^'^'V^'"' 'interpreter at hand' to whom we may apply for sadsfacjion in such case. ? AH the Author's pompous parade about an interpreter of uJS'rl conducts us to the circumstance, that the E-ub- lished Church adopts, 'Three Creeds' and 'Thirty-Nine Articles, 'to guard the pure faith from adulterationf n. i?Pt'pr n?'^. • "; ''"' '""'^r^'y "^ '^^ ^^''^^'^ ^^^ ^^ ^"^^^r. pretero f&cripture, resolves itself at last into the 'Apt.stJe's ihV^XLTm'ThTJ^ of God is to save, and. thorcfore, we term it m ZTr^ r^' ^^^■•■^""^°' ^' so'likewise.' i^VVl'c.e ore tic wo^d of i^n a^to iind ;::r ' '''"'"•^' ^^°"Sh procious, yet ea^ L wcH to at the Doctors of the £tab.i,hed O^'J^ttLf iSircSHc'Sj^^ ZlTuVr^ort n ' P"^'^^;'«' ?^.h^ maintained that frequent preachin-^ :i^i:^^:^j:^^:;^'^'^'^"' ^-^- --^-^^f tie lesions ibn^. Creed,' (a composition of uncertain origin,) ' the Nicenc Creed, and the Athanasian Creed ;' together with the Thir- ty-nine Articles inserted in the Book of Comraon Prayer by authority of Queen Elizabeth. But whence did Queen Elizabeth derive her authority to institute articles of reli- gion, and to interpret the Bible ? Were not these "three creeds" previously the property of the Holy Catholic Church of Rome, making a part of her formularies long be- fore the Established Church of England was in being ; and have they less authority or virtue in the former Chiirch than in the latter? We are earnest for direct answers to these questions ; let us be inforoped distinctly where-— and what —is the Church which is authorized to interpret Scripture. 'The Church,' says this author, ' by its articles, explains its doctrines on fundamental points in terms so clear and explicit, as to be susceptible of no latitude of construction — as to leave no room for difference of opinion—to bar the door against controversy,' and that 'no controversy upon fundamental points can possibl> arise between those who conscientiously subscribe the articles of our Church.* p. 10.5. . _ A most manifestly faV n! a statement as wide of truth as the east is distu.. *he west, and made m direct opposition to the strongi idence ! I^ it fact that these articles leave no roorri for difference of opinion ?— Is it fact, that no controverr^y can possibly arise upon funda- mental points, among those who conscientiously subscribe the Articles? Every honest mind must directly answer in the negative. To pass by other articles of faith, the doctrine of justifi- cation is a fundamental point in all Protestant formularies, and it is so represented by writers of the Church of England. Are the national clergy agreed on this point? Is there no difierence of opinion on this 'fundamental' subject, between Professor Marsh, Dr. Kipling, and their party, on the one hand, and Mr. Overton, Mr. Simeon, and their adherents on the other ? Are not these respective persons and par- ties in direct opposition, and are they not denouncing each other as enemies of the Church? the sentiments of Dr. Kipling, the Dean of Peterborough, are the sentiments of a large proportion of the national clergy. What do the Christian observers say of them ? * Dr. Kipling would pro- 1)3^1" maintain, that his own works exhibit the sentiments of tlie Church of England. If so,— if the doctrines of the Church of England are to be identified with those of the 34 learned Dean, then Mr. Lingard will have no dllTicuUy in proving them to be innovations on the views not only of the Apostles, but of the Reformers.'* Again : 'Is the pnl- pable and pernicious heresy of many of the sons of the e»- tablishmentto be overlooked ? Does the writer know no thing of Dr. Paley, Mr. Fellowes, or, among the iheologi ■minorum geiitim^ of Drs. Kipling and Croft, the Anli-Jaco- bin Reviewers, British Critics, dtc. &lcA\ On the oihf r side thus speak the British Critics,:}: of the party who?e cause and sentiments are advocated by the Christian Obser- vers. * We think that we shall have no great difficulty in ■hewing that these opinions are in direct hostility to thft clear and explicit language of the Church of England'— *The language of our Church, and that of Mr. Simeon, are plainly opposed to each other.' The Bishop of Lincoln maintains, that 'baptism duly administered confers justifi- cation \) in which doctrine Professor Marsh, Dr. Kipling, and the British Critics, agree with the Bishop. This tenet Mr. Simeon describes as follows: — • This doctrine may, f think, be fitly called the doctrine of extreme sprinkling, as being the counterpart of the popish doctrine of extreme unction, and like it the fruitful source of sin, of impenitence and Ok" everlasting misery to the souls of men.'H Professor Marsh thus takes Mr. Simeon and his party to task. 'Here Sir, I beg leave to ask you by what authority modern di- vines of the Church of England apyly the term " Regenera- tion" in a different sense from that in which it is applied in our Liturgy and Articles V% »It remains,' says the British Critics,** * for Mr. Simeon to explain how, as a minister of our Church, he acts consistently with his engagements to her, when he declares that regeneration neither is, nor can be the same with baptism.' And they remark in the conclusion of the same critique, — *For the able exposure of those errors, of which Mr. Simeon is the champion, Dr. Marsh has our best thanks ; they are dangeous errors; and if they prevail to the extent which Mr. Simeon represents, it is high time to resist their progress.'ft—What admirabla * Christian Observer, June, 1815. p. 407. t Christian Observer, July, 1806. p. 433. t British Critic for March, 1814. p. 270. § Refut.ofCalv. p. 147. |! Simeon's Address, p. 26, If Marsh's Second Letter, p. 14. ** British Critic for March, 1814. It These interrogations addressed to the evangelical clergy by their •pponents in the Church, demand, w« think, their solemn attentioa.— 35 Rcuhy in t only of the pill* if the e«- now no- thfivlogi nti-Ja<;o' he olhf r ;y whose n Obser- iculty in ty to th« rland.'— leon, are 'Lincoln 9 justifi- Kipling, his tenet e may, I kling, as extreme >enitence 'rofessor . 'Here 3dcrn (li- egenera- pplied ill J British nninister igements 3r is, nor k in the exposure pion, Dr. ors; and presents, dmirabla ^ by their kttentioA. — liurmcn) I What an exemplification of the simplicity that is in Christ ! What an excellent illustration of the A.uthor'» assertion, (p. 71.) that 'attached to the Church by the most imperious of all wants, that of rightly understanding the Scriptur^^s, its members become attached to one another.'? " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren tu dwell together in unity."! * As an interpreter of the Bible, as an authorized teacher and instrncter, the Church becomes the genuine source of Christian love and charity -thus keeping the unity of the upirit in the bond of peace.' p. 72. * Beyond the pale of Episcopacy all is uncertainty and confusion.' — * The Episcopal Church continues to shine forth with clear and steady light.' p. 49. These sentences are specimens of the manner which pervades this work, and demonstrates the matchless efl'ron- tery of its Author. He who can send forth such legends oi the Church, is totally disqualified for all sober writing,. nud his testimony carries in its front its own condemnation. We have here a large proportion of the clerical member* of the Church, including bishops and other dignitarieS; branded as the abettors of pernicious doctrine, and charged with supporting sentiments which are *the fruitful source of sin, of impenitence, and of everlasting misery to the souls of men.' And we have only to look on the other side to find the accusing party stigmatizeil in the same way. Another authority is still wanted — another interpreter is still necessary, to settle the meaning of the Liturgy and Ar- ticles, and to awe the contentions of the Established clergy into silence ! The bishops of the Established Church coa afford no assistance in this matter, for their testimony also They have given their 'unfeigned assent and consent to all and every t.hinj-;' in the formularies of the Church. Do not these formularies identi- fy regeneration with baptism, and make baptism necessary to salvation? By what self-delusion are they led to maintain in their publications, that ' regeneration neither is, nor can be, baptism,' directly in the face of their fiwn liturgy. What the Scriptures teach, is one thing, and what the formularies of the Church of England teach, is another. The latter is the fiiandLud b^ which all clergymen must examine themselves and their doctrine, f hey solemnly subscribe, without reserve or explanation, to 1 he whole of tlitm. If the Evangelical Clergy in their hearts believe ac- cording to their teaching, that ' regeneration neither is, nor can be ban- lism.' Liicy can have no business at the fonts and altars of the Establish- iiient. On this noint Dn Marsh is the true Churchman • he is consistent witii the doctrine of iiis Church in asserting — 'regeneration and bsmtism to be the same thing.' Whether he be consistent with the New Teitsi- meat, i.s another, and a very different question. innot agreed. The Apostles were all of one mind on fun- damental points, and it must appear perfectly amazing, that they who were so carnful to delegate tlie * due administra- tion of the sacramentti,' should not have provided for the t^upport of the true failh, bv transmitiinij to their successors the bidhopsi, the faculty of agreeing lo speak the same thing. How tins happened we cannot pretend to say, but to us it •seems (|uiie as important, that ihe Successors of the Apos- iles should convey the very same religious principles that their predecessors received from Jesus Christ, as it is that they should be invested wiljj the power of ordaining, and confirming, and consecrating church-yards. Who shall be the umpire between Mr. Simpson and Professor Marsh, — the Bishop of Lincoln, or tlie Bisho[> of Gloucester? Who shall decide between the Christian Observers and the Brit- ish Critics? Will they siibmit themselves to the same ar- bitrators ? And who shall pronounce judgment between Mr. Fellowes and Or. Hawker, — the Bishop of St. David's or the Bishop of Landalf? From this jariing and confusion whither must we look for composing and over-ruling agents in the Church ? Are we, for the true import of the unsettled standards, to turn from these combatants, from the Marga- ret Professor with his auxiliaries, and the opposite cham- pions with their supporters, to the King and Parliament of this united realm, who established the Church and prescri- bed the formularies ? This, we fear, would be a hopeless application : — the Church, therefore, must continue to ex- hibit the spectacle of a house divided against itself. And how can such a Church be proposed as an authorized guide?"^ * Nor is there any more unanimity of sentiment now, (in 1840,) than there was at the time this work was first published. For, in addition to the division of the Church into "evangelicaV and ^Utnevungelicaly" whirii distinction has continued to the present time, there has recently arisen n controversy in the Church between the adherents of the Reformers and a party, now very formidable, whoare striving to overthrow the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation, and to introduce Popery, or something equivalent in their stead. This party commenced its efforts in 1833, and is headed by the Rev. J. H.Newman, B. D. Fellow of Oriel College, and Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin, the University Church; Dr. Pusey, regius professor of Hebrew, and canon of Christ's Church, from whom their adherents are sometimes called Puseyites , and the Rev. Dr. Keble, also Fellow of Oriel, professor of Poetry, and Vicar of Hursley, Hants. They and their coadjutors are generallv known by the name- of the "Ox- ford Tract Divines," which they have acquired from the circumstance of their disseminating their doctrmes principally through the medium of Tracts, and other printed publications. So much for the unity of the Church of England. Pub, Pamph, 37 The Scriptures are able to make men wise unto salva- tion, and as they are intended far all men without redtric- tion, every person is fully authorized to examine them for himself. It is at his own peril if he submit his conscience to the (lictaiion of popes or councils, of bishops or Church- es. The sense of the Scriptures is to be ascertained only by dilif^ent study accompanied with devout prayer; but to "search" for this is equally the duty and the unalienable right of all. The New Testament contains not the remo- test intimation of an authority delegated to any Church, or to any persons to interpret the Scriptures for other?. It is as silent on such a poir.t, as it is on the Act of settlement, or any other act of the British Parliament. It is with con- summate audacity that any men arrogate to themselves, or claim on the belialf of others, such authority. We know it to be an inseparable adjunct of popery, to demand the sub- mission of the understanding and of conscience to the au- thority of the Church ; bui such a part in the avowed mem- ber of a Protestant community, excites peculiar indignation. The following sentence would have received from us its merited portion of reprobation, did we not feel convinced that its simple insertion in our pages, would sufBce for its exposure, and excite the just indignation of our readers. 'Though by thus confiding in such a Church, he shouM in some respects be led into error, he would be free from responsibility for that error.' p. 126. Can Popery itself go beyond this?— In the sixth chapter, the anonymous author of this pam- phlet considers the question of Separation. On this topic he maintains principles completely subversive of his own Church. He is forced into a situation of such extreme peril that no assistance can avail for his deliverance. Popery is the only element in which such a spirit can live. The Church from which separation is unlawful, must, he maintains, be an Apostolic Church, the distinguishing fea- ture of which is apostolical succession. ' An uninterrupted succession of persons regularly inves- ted with the power of ordination, is the chain which, in alH ages, holds the Church together.' p. 17. * The point of discipline involves the very being and ex- istence of a Church, considered as an Apostolical institu- tion.*' p. 76. * The constitution of the Christian Church is characteri- zed by two grand fundamental principles — " three orders of D 38 clertrv, and the superiority of bi«Iio|)3 as ihe Successors oi the Xposllf's.'" 0. 19. * Thoae idws artt therefjre ihe essentials of ecclpsiaslic- al (liscipliiie. Where tfi^y prevail, there, aad lliere alone, 13 Apostolical ttulliorily; ihero, and then* aioiie, may the functions of the Chri-Jtinri priesthood be ex<^rcised. From a church so consiimtpd separation canoot be jiistilieil on the ground of (li-. of the anecdote, p. 100? Dr. Johnson's remark, ihat- II any one attempts to teach them (the vulgar) doclrinci^ contrary to what the state approves, the magistrate mav, and ought to restrain him.'-is represented as a warnintr voice remarkably applicable to the case under considera- tion ; namely, the education of the poor in the principle- of the National Church. Is not this directly to approve of persecution, an.l lo suggest its adoption ? Would the ru- thor strongly object to the employing of persecution for ih-v service of the Church ? In a note (p. 85) we have another of this author's palpa- Dle misrepresentations. 'The Established Church, it ought to be rememberec', has been deprived of nearly one third, of its legiiimite pro- perty, now in the hands of lay impropriators.' Ifhe had said the * Popish Church,' he wouM have been correct in the tenor of his statement, though not as it re- gards the extent of the deprivations. For, instead of lo- sing a third she has lost all. The Established church ban lost nothing, but has obtained much through the munifi- tciice of the lung and parliament. But for their ilonations, d2 ^ she would have been as poor as any Church. This rhurch- man manifests his ^rratiiiule to the slate, lor the eniolum^nss which it has bestoweil upon his Church, in a very adcnira- ble manner — by charyin^ it with fiaud and spoliation. — The complaints of tlie Catholics are much bptttr founded, when they eay — The money and lauds which out ances- tors bequeathed to the Holy Cnlitohc Cliurcli, for the sup- port of masses for the repose of llu ir souls, have been un- justly appropriated towards the support of an Eiitablish- ment unknown in their day. * It is often necessary,' our author tells us, * to allot thn service of several churches to the same minister, ia order to ensure him the necessaries of life.' p. 8i. He does not, we suppose, nliude to such a case as A. B. being Rector of C. with £1000 per annum; Vicru of D. with £000 per annum ; and Canon of E. with £500. Nor to F. G.'s being Bishop of L and Dean of S. V. with a uni- ted income of £18,000 or £20,000 per annum, lie should have told in what circumstances the necessity ori^'inates. That the fact is as he states it, we by no means dispute 5 but are not the possessions o( the Church an ample provis- ion for all Its ministers? It is, verily, a complete specimen of an Apostolical Church, that the Establic^hment presents, — bishops, clothed in purple and fine linen, living in palaces and at their ease, on ten, or twenty, or five and twenty thousand pounds a year, and constant preachers supplying two or three parishes for the means of subsistence equal to that of a day labourer ! The writer has some reason, we must acknowledge, founded on these facts, for saying — These are evils of the greatest magnitude, and fraught whh the most direful consequences.' We do not perceive how- ever, the propriety of his application to the Legislature for an increase of wealth to the Church. The Church is rich enough already. It would be a better method of correct- ing the evil than that which he proposes, if the Legislature would effect a less glaring disproportion in the in:;omes of the clergy, and if the rule— *No paternoster no p«nce,' — were rigidly observed ; or, in the words of the Author, — » that they should be allowed the lull benefit of the sacred yule— "The labourer is worthy of his hire." ' Let this rule be put in practice and what a proportion of the clergy must be dismissed ! For our part, we belong to a different school, in which no lessons were ever given for the endowment oi Christian Churches by civil legislatures. The primitive U 7 XT .1 *3 art ! fhurch- adcnira- iation. — founded, IT ancess- the siip- Ixen iin- latablish- allot the in order as A. B. ru of D. )(). Nor ill) a unt- ie should iirinates. dispute 5 e provis- jpecimen presents, n palacee d twenty applying ; equal to laon, we sayintj — light wiih live hovv- lalure for ch is rich f correct- ^{lislaturs i2omes of f)«nce,' — Luthor, — le sacred t this rule irgy must nt school, wment of primitive 43 tary donations of Christians. The art of forcing men io provide the means,* as our quondam acquaintance '• the Velvet Cushion" expresses it, was not then found out, nor ill contemplation. A vast deal of importance is attached, in this pamphlet, (p. 88) to the reading of the Liturgy, as the means of sal- vaiion. Nor is this a notion peculiar to the present author. Through the influence of the formularies of the Church, Mr. Cunningham informs n^ the dead may be said to walk. It is certainly possible for ^enllemen of this order, to know the state of more churches than we do. We are, hovvever, acquainted with not a few, in which the Liturgy is very punctually read, little more, we believe, being done in them for the saving of men ; but no symptoms of life disco- ver thenriselves in the dead which they receive: in some esses, they are like the bones in the valley of vision, very many, and very dr)-. To all such idle declamation on the reading of the I iturgy, it will be sufficient to oppose the testimony of, we have reason to believe one of the most pious, most venerable, and on this subject, best informed ministers in the Church of England. 'During my whole life I have heard of only three instances of persons conver- ted to God by attending to the Church of England, in pla- ces xvhere the Gospel has not been preached, and I trust I should not exaggerate, were I to say that I have known three thousand instances where it has.'* » The allegation, that the Gospel is not preached in the Churches of the Establishment, involves at once,' savs the Author of •• the Claims" a mischievous fallacy and a'gross mis-statement, p. 87. These, however, his sophistry cannot substantiate. If Mr.Simeon preaches the Gospel, Dr. Marsh does not preach the Gospel. If Dr. Marsh preaches the Gospel, the Vicar of Harrow does not peach the Gospel. If the evangelical clergy preach the Gospel, their opponents do not preach the Gospel. If the latter preach the Gospel, the former do not preach the Gospel. The sentiments which are conveyed in the discourses of the Established clergy, are so various and so completely opposite, that no proposition in Euclid adnriits of clearer demonstration, than the allegation against which the present Author shoots his pointless arrows. •If,' he remarks, 'the system of preaching in the Church- C8 of the Establishment, accord with the visitatorial exhor* * Christian Observer, 1805, p. 593. 44 talions given to the clergy in the form of episcopal charged then, it is apprehende^lj it may truly be said that the Gos- pel is preached in the Esiabligli'ed Church.' p. 90. But if, in many instances, it does not so accord, will it not follow ihat tlie Gospel is not preached in many church- es of the Eslablishrneni ? That this is ihe fact, the hostility manifested in more ttian one episcopal charge, against a certain class of preachers in the Church of England^ affords conclnjive evidence. The concluding part of the pamphlet relates to the general education of the poor, and is devotf^d to a recommendation of Dr. Bell's system, and the sni disa/it 'nn\\onn] sorhiy,^ It would seem, that with all the weaiil), and patronage, and influence of this nation at command, for upwards of two hundred years, the clergy of the Establishment saw the generations of men succted one enolher, without giv- ing themselves any concern abort the tjeneral education of the poor. When Dr. BpII first publislied his book, in 1797 describingr and recommending the adopti(m of the Madras system, the clergy suflVred him to retire into obscurity, and for several years treated his book and his system with neg. lect. It was not till the Lancasterinn schools were propa- gating themselves in ail dirt^ciions, that the clergy, as u body, took any thought uld set ch" (in. sengers lions,-— 45 (Acts XV. 22.) That the digciplineof the Church was exer- cised by us members, clearly appears from the Epistles and the most unimpeachable docum'ents of ecclesLrticIl an-' ihV 11^* r V" *^u ^^^"^^'^^ °f ministers, and in all »ne ^ edmgs of churches, the people were direct nartiea of England, the people have absolutely no power. They receive fn'T!'"^ '' '^"''' '^'''' o^" "ministers, but mus^ r„n?l!'i 'uP'^'^r P^^^'^"^ «<" ^^hom they have no knowledge and whom they not unfrequently discover to be possessbn "; il^^^ TV ^J^^""^ P^"°" '^''''^' »« »h« Canthr^n^ T'^ church, as its appropriate minister? Can the mode of supplying the Established Church with w th th«7' 7^:T'T^y ^^^"'•"^^' ^PP«" in accordance Hu^^h ^'^^T^r'^"'^"'- C«niteven berecond IpDo U PhT. '" '^' ^^Z'^ of England, infidels may appoint Christian pastors. Many livings are malter-of^ 11 s^L'dTrs^rf'" V^«.y«-^-^>"ncL of'g^at famt Jies .and it is far from being a rare thing to find advowsons pers"'";n""''/.''"' ''r''''' ''' -'« i" '^^ P^blTcpa! fnstUutiun? '"'"'"^'^ the evident tokens of an Vsto^ic of ! nurdv'ri^'^';" ^""•'^^^ ^"PP" ^« «"^«»y '^n ordinance Of a purely spiritual nature. Appointed by our Lord as I solemn memorial of his death, nothing se^cular can possi bly belong to it. In this light, in the Apostolical Church tl^ Communion of the Lord's Table waf always sacredt' con^st • Th"::: \'^^^^"-\«^ England, hT^a^fuT^ lo infiH / ^y^^hojs of our Lord's sufferings, are given id ic 1 t'est"' iTf'r^ \r' ^'^ ^"^^''^"^'^ - -"^e" poiiiical test,— a mode of qualifying for civil office'— How would the Pastors of the Primitive Church have^evo ted s^ u'teV'^Rafhfr'lr '^?"-^' ^ P^.^^^"^^>- '' Christ's ill siaute! Kaher than administer it to the denier of their Saviour's mission, or to men notorious ^or imnieiv thev would have borne the loss of all things, or offer 5'them^ selves as martyrs, to the flames ! Canl Church,7n whi^h L n r'^'' r '^^"' ' profanation of religious ordinance. IS practiced, be a true Church ? "*uindnce» from*'L^Chn'r!;h''/f r?^!'"!''. ««^^"^'^"y distinguishable IrT Fv.n '^ ^'•"'*' ^y '*' '""^^ «^ treating ofTend- «f ; rh^r^'T""*'^"' '" '^' Chtirch of Christ, is an art Jf.j; ?^;.^!:t^ ®«^'^^>'' «-««"ding an unworthy' member Sr.^ ai, lur.u.r participation in its privileges, and from ail 46 •further communion with its members. It is a purely ppir- iilual instrument, aflecting the spiritual interests only of the offender, and leaving her secular condition unclianijed; his property, his civil capacities, and relationf!, remniri in t'ue f.ame state. The Church follows him only with her pray- ers and her tears. But in the church of England, rxcoin- munication is a dreadful instrument of temporal vengeanrp ,• it affects the unhappy object of it« severity in all his civil relations. He cannot serve upon juries, cannot be a wit- ness in any court, cannot recover by process of law either •lands or money,' and, to complete the terror, if at the end of forty days he does not make satisfaction, a writ issues out against him : the sheriff is empowered to take the un- happy person, and to imprison him in the county paol, where he may continne till death come to his relief. This is the excommunication of the Church of England! To identify such a Church with the primitive and Apostolical Church, would be most palpable injusticPo But further : In the church of England, ecclesiastical censures may be remitted for money. Was it so at Corinth in the Apostles' time ? Would the Apostles have received money as the price of release from the censures of the Church ? Once more: As to the Popish form of absolution, adop* ted by the church of England in her 'Order for the Visita- tion of the Sick :'— in this form the priest is directed to pro- nounce, '"By His (our Lord Jesus Chri8t'f«) authority com- mitted to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins." That this is not a mere form, or a simple conditional dec- laration, in the estimation of a; least a large proportion of the clergy, may be gathered from Bishop Horsely'^s language in his Sermon on Matthew, xvi. 18. 19. Speaking of ' the power of the remission and retention of sins, conferred by our Lord, after his resurrection, upon the Apostles in gen- eral, and transmitted through them to tlie perpetual suc- cession of the priesthood,' the Bishop adds : * This is the discretionary power lodged in the Priesthood, of dispensing the sacraments, and of granting to the penitent, and refu* sing to the obdurate, the benefit and comfort of absolution. It was exercised by the Apostles in many striking instan- res : it is exercised now by every priest, when he adminis- ters or withholds the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's •Supper, or, upon just grounds, pronounces, or refuses to pronounce, upon an individual, the sentence of absolution.' \HQrsehys Sermons^ vol. i. p. 236) Th Kenn the m died ii life, V ant.* awful you, a fc-olvin lime, I how 11 on wh your o ^ Fin a («0{J, fi fur all with Ih I of r( \\g j or to ol i judgme , \ *^e'"g, i ' tionof j civil go I to pres( man mii It is a upon an the Cre which < men, as addressc ofprivat agents. Cut th patible m way the tion of 01 rule of h emonies, Church usurps tl * Wu vei fiam ; it wi and his chaj y oflho I) in t'oe tr pray- f'xcom- geanrf : his civil )e a wil- w either ihe enfJ it issues ; the un- ity pao), f. This 1(1! To ostolical 'sias(ica) , Corinth received 18 of the n, adop* e Visila- (1 to pro- ity com- )nal dec- nrlion o( language ; of ♦ the ■rred by s in gen- nial suc- liis is the spensing nd refu* solution. g instan- adminis- le Lord's ifuses to solution.' \ life, waiu ol I ," L^f hiV'"''; "f "."'•'•"»' I"' hi. pa,s >"'t.* 'Wlien ,Ll " f'"' ''y *"" spiriiual attend- vou apiihp.r, ■'" ""'y "re sure God has never oiven LTv'in ; , t ,,,„ " " ''"■'■•'" f '"""i'y a"'l,„rit»uvely ab <:.''i:":!!'<> e'a.7r Lr jur;7„raM i,i'""^' '"-"■'^''"<' •« lor .ill his nc'ions Tl.i, £n -u V P'""""'^, as ivell as wi.l, the n.rf c ri.'ht of i, r"'"'*;'''-': '•'""""j' '•"■'^" '"«> "••r,li..ion nor is in fl.' ^'"^ '^°'; ''""*•"• "n ali point, JU'^gmeni, inseparable from man as a ri'll "f /'"»'« being, is t|,„ same i„ every co^mrv 1^ ^ ' ""'' ""'"'' 'ion of political circutnlt^n^r i'^' ," ""^ modinca- civil governmen? It ^".'.r'' ,""''" ^'"y «P*<=i" of .0 preset- h to another in m;..'^"/'-,'''''""^ '"''"y """» man must jud.e for him„"lf "5 ■•*'""•'» ! for if every It is aduiits wel a T^ '>,?" "'.''"u'r "''k« for Mm. upon another 'n,l"ir,Lf,'' '^'"'^ he cannot devolve the Great ha/ I'ed all h- "' "^P<"'^»'ility in which which compot; ,v rr h. '"t"«^"'«8. the only state ".IJresses its te ,n ; V '^^1"":'^'^''^; "■"' Kevela.ion ofprivate j"dg»r." isV. et^t?' he"''.? fC of'??- "«'" agents. ' "^^si Jaw of religious paUblVjwtruIifr';!;; "'The n''"'l'"'F"r.^'"''- " --™ ":x::i.i^t^!i5i^-:^-rs::? Church ofKngian I a llol, 1 " ™'*"';' "^ ''"'"'•' The :^ the an^ho";i\;''^f- ,-:/-^;^^-»j^^i-.^^^^^^^^^ ham : i, win t,rm M' c»v ricTm-f »,T' '° ""."«''« of Mr. Cunning. k 48 a different Church from the Church of Jesus Christ. This is a far more important question than whether bishops are the Successors of the Apostles. It is a question which we earnestly recommend to the attention of all the conscien- lions members of the Established Church, whom it deeply concerns to examine the points in diiTerence between these "Claims" and the principles of reli^nous liberty advocated by Dissenters. Onlv let it be allowed, that the Bible is suf- ficient as the rule of faith and practicis that it was intended by its Divine Author as the sole £?uide to salvation, and was imparted in this character to all m» n— and the question is settled. The claims of all Established Churches, Popish and Protestant, Greek, and Latin, and English, are utterly invalidated ; they are shewn to be usurpations of the most eacred rights of munkind~a part of that -mystery ofini- quity" which the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. It becomes a momentous consideration, whether the re- fluirementi of God, and the duties which are owing to con- science, can best be displayed by continuing withm their pale, ov by coming out from them and being separate. C 'I FINIS. 8t. This shops are which we conscien- I it deeply reen these advocated ible is suf- 3 intended ation, and e question 33, Popish ire utterly f the most lery of ini- jiritof his is coming, ler the re- ng to con- Ithin their arate. f '