LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ^^GvG^^S ^9 1SITY OF CALIFORNIA 1SITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIF LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIF i pm^^ y ^^ vio SCHISM. SCHISM, AS OPPOSED TO THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH: ^JtESENT TIMES. - 0? THE fgHIVBRSIT' 1 THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE.' 4 fa — ; j— sbecottt* Ctrttton. LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW. 1839. ^/j-&3 $- LONDON : PRINTED BY IBOTSON AND PALMER, SAVOY STREET. TO SIR CULLING EARDLEY SMITH, BART. ETC. THE FOLLOWING ESSAY ; OCCASIONED BY HIS CATHOLIC SOLICITUDE TO PROMOTE THAT UNITY, WHICH MUST, ONE DAY, PREVAIL AMONG ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS, OF EVERY NAME, SECT, AND PARTY; IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, WITH EARNEST CORRESPONDING DESIRES, BY HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. ADVERTISEMENT. SCHISM. The Scriptures having much insisted on the Unity of the Church of Christ, and as strongly condemned the sin of Schism, Sir Culling Eardley Smith wishes to offer a Prize of £100, for the best Essay on this subject. The Essayist should write in a christian spirit. He should derive his views of the nature of the Sin ex- clusively from the Scriptures. He should be eminently candid and impartial, in specifying the instances in which either churches or individuals are guilty of it. While leading his readers to perceive a schismatical spirit, where it exists, in Creeds, Formularies, or Laws, he should also compel them to detect and to con- demn it in themselves. He should expose the various disguises which it as- sumes. He should exhibit its exceeding sinfulness. He should develop the mischievous consequences to which it leads. Vlll A D VERTISEMENT . And, lastly, he should suggest the means by which we may endeavour to expel it from our own hearts, from our societies, and from the whole Church of Christ. The arbitrators are the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, and the Rev. James Sherman. Each Essay should be sent to Captain Peevor, Church Street, Chelsea, on or before the 1st day of October, 1837, with a sealed letter, containing the address of the writer. The manu- scripts will then be sent to the arbitrators, without the letters, and they hope to make their decision, on the 1st day of February, 1838. April, 1837. PREFACE OF THE ADJUDICATORS. It cannot be supposed that in adjudging to the follow- ing work the Prize offered by Sir Culling Eardley Smith, for the best Essay upon Schism, we agreed in every particular opinion with the author, or with each other. To expect this from any three persons of or- dinary intelligence, and of different denominations, on a subject still so much controverted, would be unrea- sonable. Our sole duty was, to adjudge the Prize to that Essay, which, of the number sent to us, amount- ing to fifty-one, appeared to us the best : and this we have conscientiously done. Well-informed, candid, and practical, the following work is calculated to draw the attention of many to the subject ; and by enabling those who come to the investigation with a devout and dispassionate mind to perceive what is, in the main, the scriptural view of Schism, its mischievous effects, and its criminality before God, it will tend, as we trust, to unite the disci- X PREFACE. pies of Christ, not on the ground of ecclesiastical uniformity, but on the more scriptural ground of their having, notwithstanding various discrepancies in the externals of religion, one Spirit, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, and one God. By this enlightened and spiritual union, also, as we believe, the present divi- sions in the Church of Christ, which have led to such lamentable estrangement of real Christians from each other, can be moderated, and eventually extinguished. Baptist W. Noel. James Sherman. PREFACE. It is probable there may be some, who would be disposed to regard the very title of a book on 1 Schism' as a sufficient caveat against its peru- sal. Festus viewed the controversy between Paul, the preacher of Christianity, and the Jews, as con- sisting in * certain questions of their own super- stition :' yet the chief among those questions was that which related to ' one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.' The author of the ' Analogy of Religion to the Constitution and Course of Nature,' complained that, in his day, it was taken for granted by many, that Christianity was not so much as a subject of inquiry, having at length been discovered to be a fiction : so that it was treated as if this were an agreed point among all people of discernment, and nothing remained but to hold it up to ridi- cule, 6 by way of taking reprisals for its having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world.' Since that period, Christianity has been almost Xll PREFACE. continually assailed by direct attack ; as well as exposed to all the contingencies arising from the progress of changes in the condition of society, perhaps of unexampled magnitude and extent. Yet the additional storms of a hundred years, and the incessant wear of the flux and reflux of the tide, have only proved more signally than ever, that Christianity is not a work framed by the art of man, and based on the alluvial soil of human tra- dition — but is the lighthouse which a divine hand has fixed as on a rock, and identified, in regard to its duration, with the primitive granite which constitutes the framework of the earth itself. Christianity has now so far triumphed over mere intellectual opposition, that it is no longer the fashion to be a freethinker. A philosophy falsely so called, has been compelled to retire abashed from the attempt to give law to men's opinions on the subject of morals. Such writers as Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, and Hume, are no longer currently quoted as the sages of modern times. Infidelity in its open form, has met with a reverse of fortune. It has so far descended in the scale of society, as to stoop to vulgar orgies ; and to court applause from those who, unhappily, have been left too much without any other instructor. The empire of the philosophers and encyclopae- dists on the Continent, also, has been shaken; and, it may be hoped, will never more regain its ascendency. PREFACE. Xlll Yet, it is evident that Christianity has great triumphs still to achieve over literature and science. Once in avowed affinity with unbelief, their transi- tion-state is only, as yet, in its commencement. It is with knowledge, as it is with freedom. We see them both rising from the sepulchre of the middle ages along with pure Christianity, and running parallel with her career ; though freedom has been longer in putting off the grave-clothes than learning. But the union of these three, has been slow to form : it is still but partial ; and they are not yet one. Freedom, is some- times found deviating into excess, and attaining to no solid and useful objects, for want of the steady and consistent aim which religious principle would tend to produce. Science, still hesitates to enter into a spontaneous, and unbought, and cordial alliance with the ' wisdom which is not of this world.' It is the union of Religion, Knowledge, and Free- dom, that is wanting, to give moral power to the church of Christ. What a lever would then be in her hand to move the world ! — to raise it from the dark gulf of sin and misery, from which it has, as yet, but so partially emerged ! It is a painful reflection, that, by means of her Schisms, the christian church has forged the keenest weapon with which the unbeliever can arm himself against her — a weapon which has a double edge — which both slays the convictions of XIV PREFACE. his own conscience, and inflicts on the church herself, wounds, to which she has rendered herself more liable, because, by losing her native charity and unity, she has been deprived of her power to disarm her foes. If no small leaven of sceptical indifference to all that is peculiar in Christianity, is still found silently working in the minds of many men of science — if some are still disposed to iden- tify earnest religion with bigotry, narrow-minded- ness, party feeling, or self-interest, are there none to share with them in the blame ? It is true, indeed, that the principles in which they glory, as forming the basis of our modern advances in the knowledge of nature, might well lead them to search for truth, independently, with- out allowing their inquiries to be arrested by the inconsistencies of its professed friends. And can any man of disciplined understanding read Bishop Butler's immortal contribution to Chris- tianity, and say that he is certain that the dis- tinguishing doctrines of the Gospel are not true ? Can he rise from the pages of Lardner, or Paley, and not be convinced that Christianity is an his- torical fact, ancient as the era which bears its name ? Can he diligently peruse the New Testa- ment itself, with devout prayer to the Creator for < guidance into truth, if it be there ' — and not hear a voice speaking to his conscience ? Yet how greatly have the unhappy dissensions of Chris- PREFACE. XV tians tended to impress him with the false idea, that, of all things, religion, as distinguished from mere morality, is the most uncertain! — But it would be an endless task to attempt to trace the deplorable effects, which have been connected with the odium that has been cast on Christianity, by the inveterate Schisms of the church ! On the other hand, there may be many, who, though they would not, perhaps, regard an argument on c Schism ' as, necessarily, a mere quibble in metaphysical theology, or a useless contest about words — may, nevertheless, deem it quite superfluous. The nature and the bearings of this offence (for all Christians allow it to be such) may seem already to have been so com- pletely settled, that our conclusions on the sub- ject, so far from requiring any further examina- tion, may rather be viewed as meriting a place among the fundamental axioms of faith. So has always thought the Romish church. So thought the Presbyterians of the Commonwealth — the Episcopalians of the Restoration — the Congrega- tional settlers of New England. So have thought other 'christian denominations. Now since each of these parties differed in their practical estimate of Schism, in such a way as that all could not have been in the right, the question is — who were in the wrong ? — or were all in the wrong ? It has been the author's aim, in the following chapters, XVI PREFACE. to inquire into this subject ; and he thinks that the general view which has been taken, if impar- tially examined in the light of Holy Scripture > will be found to have some truth in it. Whatever judgment may be formed respect- ing the nature of Schism, and the parties who may be regarded as most guilty of it ; no one who keeps a watchful eye on the movements of society, will for a moment doubt that the subject is such, as to have acquired a growing importance with the advance of our own times : being con- nected with a conflict of opinions— sometimes oc- casional and desultory, sometimes thickening and becoming more general — which seems des- tined to be somewhat more than a passing occurrence in the history of religion ; and to have a momentous bearing on the relations which reli- gion is to sustain to the social compact, in future ages. The close of the last century, and the early part of the present, were marked by the pouring out of awful c vials ' of slaughter and desolation on the Roman earth. Events, such as had pre- viously been wont to occur, singly, at the inter- val of ages, became only so many scenes, rapidly succeeding each other, in one stupendous poli- tical drama, of a quarter of a century — till a great part of Europe was bestrewed with the wrecks of the ancient thrones, and those which PREFACE. XV11 were not overthrown were made to vibrate to their foundations ; so that the hearts of all men ' failed them for fear.' Those days are, happily, past ; and no general European war has, since, stood in the way of social improvements. Our own be- loved country, among other nations, soon began to benefit by the merciful cessation of that ap- palling storm. It cannot be doubted that much pro- gress has been made, during the last twenty years, in respect to all the great elements on which human happiness permanently depends. Reli- gion, especially, has been a gainer; and, at this moment, unprecedented efforts are made to cause it to penetrate into all the recesses of society. But it is deeply to be regretted that the visible unity of Christians, as such, independently of their distinguishing peculiarities, is far from having made satisfactory progress. Of late years, espe- cially, the breach between members of the Esta- blished Church and Dissenters, has evidently widened. The clashing claims made by these parties, have been brought more into actual collision than heretofore. The revival, too, of the doctrine of c Apostolical Descent' in the Church of England, has tended to give to the mutually alienated feelings, on both sides, the stability of principle. The same cause has also produced a new Schism within the Establishment itself. It is evident that the lamentable w T ounds XV111 PREFACE. under which Christianity is suffering from the dis- cord and the dissensions of its professors, cannot be effectually healed but by a devout recurrence to first principles. Ecclesiastical history, properly estimated, no doubt has its use ; but the final and only authoritative appeal, must be ' to the law and to the testimony' of Scripture. This the author has sought to consult, not in the spirit of a partisan, but as an inquirer after truth. How far he may have succeeded, must be left with others to determine. It appeared to him, that some examination of the doctrine of a ' divine right ' for the form of church-government, as it has been held by the ad- vocates of different systems, but especially of Episcopacy, was essential to a just conception of the nature of Schism. If the details of any one form be exclusively appointed by divine injunc- tion, all departure from these details must be a re- jection of revealed truth; and ought to be re- garded as on a level with the denial of those grand fundamental points, in which the churches of the / Reformation are agreed. But in the author's hum- l ble judgment, no precise and unalterable model / of the church is laid down in the New Testament. Principles, and general outlines, are unquestion- ably given ; and these he has endeavoured, in the course of the inquiry, as will be seen, to point out and illustrate. PREFACE. XIX The churches of the apostolic age appear to have been a kind of spiritual republics — each being a part of that universal confederation, which was united in the common bond of faith and charity. A minister or a member of one church, was fully i recognised, as occasion offered, by all the rest. No modern denomination can flatter itself that ) its use of the term ' church', adequately repre- \ sents the usage of the apostolic times. It is evi- J dent that many of the epistles were addressed to churches as consisting of the whole body of be- lievers, whether large or small, residing in one place. We see no trace, here, of the isolation of our present church-systems. Not only do these systems present the spectacle of several denomi- nations in one town of a few thousand inhabitants, often holding but little connexion with each other — sometimes, alas ! openly at variance : — but even each denomination is formed into divisions which have no necessary mutual relations, and may be as separate from each other, as are the different denominations themselves. That it was not so, in the apostolic age, is clear from a perusal of eight of the epistles — not to mention other evidence from the New Testament. It is probable that all our church-systems will have to undergo changes, before Christianity shall have returned to the fraternal, unworldly union, which subsisted among all the Christians of a lo- XX PREFACE. cality, while the church of Christ was yet one. But — this union inviolate — it would seem that some latitude was left for a plastic accommodation to circumstances. It is likely that the church at Philippi, for example, or the church at Corinth, may have differed as to its internal constitution from that of some of the Seven Churches in Asia — as the free and independent states of Greece were various in the form of the republic, while the whole Hellenic race was one, in the common tie of unity in religion. This tie, indeed, as it was made of no firmer material than a poetical mytho- logy, which appealed to feeling — not to faith, could not restrain freedom from turbulence, or save its in- stitutions from speedy dissolution : but the unity of the christian church, is drawn from nobler and more influential sources ; and when we reflect, on what principles, and hopes, and aims, this unity depends — it appears surprising that it should not have made greater progress. The writer has to apologize for some delay in the publication of the following work, arising from causes, some of them unforeseen, which have pre- vented him from earlier giving it that revision for the press which he has been anxious to do, in order to render it less unworthy of the subject; which, unhappily for religion, seems to abate nothing of its painful interest. If these pages should be rendered the means of leading any to PREFACE. XXI take a view of Schism less exclusive, and more catholic and scriptural, than they may have done before, the author's labour will not have been in vain. For any faults with which he may be chargeable, he alone must be blamed. In approv- ing of the main argument of an Essay, in any such case as the present, it is not to be supposed that the Adjudicators can make themselves responsible for everything which it contains. It should be stated, that the name of Arch- bishop Bancroft occurs by mistake, in the ninety- fifth page. He was one of the first who intro- duced into the Protestant Church, the doctrine of the superiority of bishops to presbyters, by divine right. Stillingfleet speaks of him, as among those who did not regard Episcopacy as essential : but the tone of Bancroft's remarks on this subject is such, as clearly amounts to the * apostolical ' claim ; though he attempts to rest this claim on the authority of the Fathers, not on that of Scripture. 1 Laud, in the next age, followed strenuously in the same course ; and it is worthy of notice, that this prelate distinctly admitted what some have endeavoured to avoid, the ne- cessity of tracing all such claims through the channel of the Romish Church. 2 On the errors of 1 Vid. Bancroft's Sermon at Paule's Crosse, 9 Feb. 1588. 2 Neal's History. 1733, vol. ii. p. 271. XX 11 PREFACE. that Church, the author has freely expressed him- self. Romanism, and Rationalism, are, in his judgment, not more at variance with the Confes- sions of the Protestant Churches, than with the Christianity of the New Testament. He has had occasion, however, to find that some who profess to guide the public mind as to its estimate of books, appear to have little sympathy with any religious opinions that are clearly defined. He has learned, he hopes, to distinguish between attachment to universal and unrestricted civil and religious liber- ty, and a sceptical indifference to truth. It may be added that the note at page 549 re- lates to church-government only, having no fur- ther reference. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. It is due to one of the Adjudicators to state that in reply to some remarks which have ap- peared in one of the Periodicals, he has expressed his regret that the author, in revising the Essay for the press, " has added many sentences" to which he could not have consented ; and has used, " in some instances, severer expressions to- wards the Establishment than were in the origi- nal manuscript :" for which Mr. Noel cannot be responsible. The author signified, in his own "Preface,' his willingness to bear the blame of any faults with which the work might be chargeable ; and he would add that he desires to be held responsi- ble for any sentiments or expressions which may seem too strong on the Ecclesiastical Controversy of the age : more especially such as may occur in the latter half of the last chapter. It is due to himself that the author should state that he has been, at the same time, kindly ex- onerated by Mr. Noel from " the least unfairness" towards himself; and he has added that the author " repeatedly offered to submit the proof-sheets" to his inspection. 11 PREFACE. So far, indeed, are the comments and animad- versions which have been made by some Periodi- cals from being just towards the author, that he scarcely knows what he could have done more than he did, in endeavouring to bring the proofs under the notice of Mr. Noel. They were, as has been stated, " repeatedly offered": some of the first having been forwarded to him, witfi the intention of sending them all as they came out; and when, at Mr. Noel's sugges- tion, they were discontinued, the author thought it right more than once, subsequently, to offer to forward them as before. He considered it his duty, also, when the sheets were printed off, to furnish a final oppor- tunity for any statement to be made in the Preface of the Adjudicators which might be deemed desi- rable, after inspection of the work ; and the proof-sheets were enclosed to Mr. Noel, whose attention was particularly directed to such revi- sions and emendations as had occurred in the preparation for the press. The author offered at the same time, to notice these, if necessary, in his own " Preface" : but on the return of the proof- sheets, he learned that the Adjudicators did not consider this important. Mr. Noel states to the author that the reason why he did not peruse the proof-sheets that were sent to him, as the author supposed he had done, was, that pressing engagements at the time pre- vented him from devoting more attention to a subject to which he had already given so much TO THE SECOND EDITION. Ill labour as an Adjudicator : and he did not an- ticipate that any expressions or sentiments would occur in the revised work such as those above alluded to, and to which he does not agree. Every impartial person must indeed see that, under these circumstances, Mr. Noel is no party to any alleged faults in the volume, against which he has excepted. The author was not laid under any restric- tions as to revision. He may state that un- avoidable circumstances delayed the publi- cation of the work. In the mean time, it hap- pened that there was a remarkable, and almost daily thickening of the Ecclesiastical Controversy, both in relation to the temporal and spiritual claims of the contending parties. It was not likely that the author's mind would be wholly unimpressed by this state of things occurring in the interval : nor did he conceal from Mr. Noel the fact, that, under this influence, he was revis- ing for the press the latter part of the last chap- ter in particular. He did not indeed expect that Mr. Noel could concur in all his expressions* respecting the exclusive claims of the Church of England, or of any of its members : but honestly thinking, as the author does, that these claims are the main cause of our principal schisms, and having expressed similar sentiments in the origi- nal manuscript, though in terms less strong, he submitted the proof-sheets to be excepted against * See the first paragraph of the Adjudicators' Preface, p. xi. IV PREFACE. if anything were disapproved. The author ought also to state that all the proofs were regularly sent, as they came from the press, to Sir Culling Eardley Smith, according to a request in a letter from Mr. Noel. The author has forwarded the above statement, for the inspection of the Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel; who, with that candour and truly Christian spirit which distinguish him, kindly agrees in the correctness of the facts ; and states that he has no objection to its insertion. The author has adopted the present mode of noticing the animadversions of the Periodicals above alluded to, in preference to replying to them formally ; because he is aware how utterly useless it is even to hope for impartiality and fairness in some quarters. He has only to add that he has not allowed the Publishers to continue the names of the respected Adjudicators, in the advertisements of the work, without previously consulting them. Page xxvi. in the Table of Contents, read Chapter III. Disguises of Schism. Page 111, note, for D^)?.]. read D^j5] CONTENTS. PART I. UNITY. CHAPTER I. Page Unity op the Unfallen Creation . . . . .3 CHAPTER II. The Apostasy from Universal Love .... 6 CHAPTER III. The Re-uniting Tendency of the Dispensation of Mercy 10 CHAPTER IV. The Founding of Christianity as a System of Benevo- lence . 15 CHAPTER V. Christianity in the Apostolic Age ... 23 CHAPTER VI. Who is a Christian ? . . . . . . .29 XXIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. What is the Church ? New Testament Usage — Different Views of Government — The church a Spiritual Institution— The Apostolic Church did not directly interfere with civil arrangements . 36 CHAPTER VIII. Unity of the Church 53 Sect. I. — General Remarks ... . ... 53 Sect. II. — Genius of Christianity in respect to externals, as compared with Judaism 60 Unity not dependant on uniformity — Jewish diversities — Proselytes of the gate — Gentile converts — Hebrew Converts — Controversies at Rome, and at Corinth, respecting meats, and other observances. Sect. III. — Relation of the Form and Order of the Church of Christ, to its essential unity, and manifested Union 74 Uniformity of church- order, oecumenical or national, not essential to Unity — Nor uniformity in forms, rites, and ceremonies — Liturgies, vestments, postures, creeds, confessions-— errors on this subject — Diversities in the primitive churches — Victor of Rome — Anicetus and Polycarp — Unity not in uniformity of church-government, which ought not to be made essential — Modern opinions and practices, including the Church of England — Occasion of want of unity — Parties among whom considerable union subsists — No exclusive claim due to Episcopacy — Scripture testi- monies — Timothy — Titus — James. Sect. IV. — The Testimony of Ecclesiastical history on church-government 120 Estimate of the Fathers — Early corruptions — Clement of Rome — Ignatius, and the Episcopacy described by him — Polycarp — Tertullian — Cyprian — Apostolical Succession — Claims of diocesan Episcopacy — The primitive churches and bishops. Sect. V.— Views of several modern writers on the constitution of the early church 154 Lord King — Barrow — Mosheim — Milner — Gieseler — Neander — Wadding- ton — Inference from their testimony. CONTENTS. XXV Sect. VI.— The visible unity of the church of Christ, not dependent on hu- man authority i? 1 Views of Cranmer — Stillingfieet —Warburton— Toleration— Ecclesiastical laws. Sect. VII.— Wherein the true unity of the church consists . .184 Testimony of Scripture— Corruptions fatal to unity— Testimony of Irenseus —Unity, of the heart ; and promoted by the early persecutions. PART II. SCHISM. CHAPTER I. Nature of Schism 199 Sect. I.— Preliminary remarks. Baconian principles— Schism too often a party- charge — Sceptical indif- ference to the evils of Schism. Sect. II. — Scripture use of the term Schism . . . 206 Schisms among the Jews respecting Christ — The schisms at Corinth. Sect. III. — Use of the term Schism in ecclesiastical history . . 228 Clement — Basil — Faustus— Heresy — Zonarius — Ecclesiastical idea of Schism — The ecclesiastical spirit — Schism as an ecclesiastical sin— Views of Cyprian, Irenaeus, the African Synod, Origen — Levitical notions — Tertul- lian — Cyprian— Use of the term Schism in modern times ; and according to recent statements — Oxford Tracts—' Treatise on the Church of Christ.' Sect. IV.— Inferences from the Scripture doctrine of schism . . 255 An evil existing among professed Christians— Strictly between members of the same church — May exist between persons of different congregations, or denominations — A disruption of the bond of love — May exist where there XXVI CONTENTS. is no separation — The spirit of Schism may be found where there is no external disorder— When separation becomes Schism ? must be determined by circumstances — Uncharitable separation — External necessity — Excom- munication — Voluntary separation — Chillingworth — Baxter — Inference that diversity of practice among Christian churches, with regard to modes of government and worship, is not necessarily connected with Schism — Denominational Christianity — Early separations — Gnostics — Ebio- nites — Novatians — Donatists — Estimate of uniformity. CHAPTER II. Causes and Illustrations of Schism . . . .311 General Causes. Sect. I. — Occasions and Illustrations of more Private Schism . . 314 A levelling, democratical spirit — Opposition to church discipline— Want of charity between different classes of society, in a christian church — Love of domination — Personal and family quarrels — A litigious spirit — Back- biting and scandal — False doctrine — Want of mutual concession in refe- rence to the appointment of ministers— Ministerial faults and delinquen- cies — A dissatisfied temper — A restless unsettled spirit — A meddlesome disposition — Unwillingness to listen to faithful preaching. Sect. II. — Occasions and Illustrations of more Public Schism] . . 326 When Christians of different denominations regard each other in the spirit of open hostility — Jealousies and unholy rivalries between christian socie- ties — A narrow, bigoted, sectarian spirit — Spirit of party proselytism — Angry public controversy — Treating denominational peculiarities with marked contempt — Censoriousness — A condemnatory, presumptuous, ana- thematizing spirit — The attempt to lower the tone of the doctrine of Christ — The imposition of terms of communion, which are not prescribed in the New Testament, as conditions of salvation — The attempt to tyrannize over conscience, by penally enforcing creeds, formularies, and various eccle- siastical laws — Unnecessary distance and separation between Christians of different denominations, who agree on the main doctrines of the gospel. CHAPTER III. Zeal for the truth — Promoting unity— Concern for the purity of the church — Bearing a faithful testimony against evil — Plea that by keeping exclu- sively to our own church, we best promote edification and charity— Law and Order— Prudence — Consistency — Philanthropy — Christian liberty — As- sertion of rights — Political necessity. CONTENTS. XXV11 CHAPTER IV. The evil consequences of Schism . . . .423 Injurious to personal religion — Fatal to the prosperity of particular churches — The grand source of mischief in the church universal — A noto- rious dishonor to religion — Tends to encourage infidelity — Prevents the conversion of the world— May lead to political convulsions — Accessary to the perdition of souls. CHAPTER V. The Sinfulness of Schism 437 Condemned in the Scriptures — Rebellion against Christ — Grieves the Holy Spirit — Associated with the prevalence of sin — Pride — A presumptuous sin — Hypocrisy — Gross injustice towards good men — A sin seldom repented of — An accumulation of sinful dispositions. CHAPTER VI. The Cure of Schism 453 Sect. I. — The Cure more immediately in connexion with personal consi- derations 455 Personal religion— Prayer — Study of the Scriptures — Example of eminent men— Cultivation of brotherly love. Sect. II. — Cure of Schism as relates to the existing position of different denominations 466 Contemplation of the existing divisions of the church — Promoting bro- therly union between Christians of different denominations, as far as the existing constitutions of churches will allow — (Testimonies from the Re- formed Churches) — All theoretical objections to such union as is practicable under the present regulations of churches, should be brought to the test of scripture— (The Established Church — Apostolical Succession.) Sect. III. — Cure of Schism as 'related to changes in the economy of chris- tian churches 537 Strict communion— The Church of England— Conclusion. PART I. UNITY. ?• ftrNIVBESITTl UNITY. CHAPTER I. UNITY OF THE UNFALLEN CREATION. Time was — when the intelligent creation formed one sacred brotherhood. This fact is plainly involved in the scripture doctrine respecting angels. A perfect moral union reigned among those sinless spirits ; and all bore the image of the Universal Father. They were, each in his own order, so many depositaries of Divine love, to the whole extent and limit of their being. Thus the date of Time, marked by the existence of these first-born sons of God, was the epoch which had been destined for the formation of objects whom His love might render blessed. The unfallen creation was a universe of benevo- * lence. This was the principle which bound the b2 4 UNITY OF THE UNFALLEN CREATION. whole together; and God himself was the mighty source of light and life and love. As the planetary bodies obey the sun, and revolve in the flood of glory which he pours forth ; — so, all the myriads of happy beings acknowledged the Creator as the author and centre of their blessedness, and each one reflected a portion of his moral beauty. v^ There were, doubtless, among them, diversities of rank and station. Where all were mighty, some were the mightiest; and, in these heavenly hosts, one star differed from another star in glory. Some were as suns amidst inferior orbs. There were those who approached nearer than others to the Creator, in the amount and grandeur of their being — say rather, were more remote from nothingness. One beatified spirit might take a view immeasurably more comprehensive than another, of the perfections of the Incomprehensi- ble; and penetrate to a vaster depth, into the wis- dom of the Unfathomable. All, it may be, were perpetually advancing in capacity, — in glory,— in bliss. But amidst all varieties of dignity and intellect and power, there was no difference of aim and purpose— nothing which could produce a jar in sentiment, or a discord in the anthem of praise. Pride, envy, jealousy, suspicion, (too often the bane of intercourse on earth,) had no place in that world; and whatever diversities might exist, all were one in sacred love. UNITY OF THE UNFALLEN CREATION. 5 Happy universe ! where the beatific vision of the Eternal, beheld by the myriads of the un- fallen, awakened in them a love like his own : where the hallelujahs of adoring seraphim, and the chorus of all heaven, were but the ebb of one mighty tide — the many waters of divine love, rushing back from unnumbered streams to the fathomless ocean from which all had been de- rived : — where the Spirit of God filled every breast ; and every created spirit was deeply conscious of being held in a sacred and mysterious tie to every other — a tie which seemed part of the tenure of existence, coeval with spiritual being, and inse- parable from all thought and intelligence : — where pure and perfect love united angel to angel, and all to God ! While this union was entire, there was no place for sin : heaven was the uni- verse, and the universe was heaven ; and, in the exercise of unmingled benevolence, all were per- fect in holiness and bliss.* * For proofs that the doctrine of angels, as usually re- ceived, is that of scripture, see Doddridge's Lectures, <>- CHAPTER II. THE APOSTASY FKOM UNIVERSAL LOVE. As far as human experience testifies, it is not a poetic fiction, but a solemn verity — that ' mind is its own place ; can make a ' heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.' We learn from revelation the awful fact, that the celestial world was the original scene of moral evil. Angels ' sinned/ and l kept not their first estate, but left their own habita- tion.'* Now, the law of universal love w r as bro- ken ; and selfishness^ before unknown, took pos- session of intelligent minds, and produced a fatal alienation of heart from the blessed God, and from all who held fast their allegiance to Him. The grand principle which, since time began, had kept all heaven in high and holy fellowship with the glorious Source of being, was violated ; and every apostate spirit became, henceforth, his own centre, and his own god. * 2 Vet. ii. 4. Jude 6. THE APOSTASY FROM UNIVERSAL LOVE. 7 The result was a catastrophe, as awful to con- template, as it is overwhelming to imagine — the wreck of principalities and powers — a moral chaos, analogous to what would be produced in the natural world, if a portion of the planetary system were to break loose from the centre, and to rush into confusion and darkness. Then, hosts of beings previously radiant in glory, and glowing with sacred ardour towards the great Source of love, and towards all his intelligent creatures, were hurried away by the enormity of their guilt into ruin and despair, and became * wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of dark- ness for ever.' Henceforward, there were two worlds ; — the #^~ world where the ancient principle of love yet reigned, and the world which evil, the new and monstrous prodigy in the creation, claimed as its own ; — the world of blessedness, where God was still all in all, and the world of apostasy and rebellion, where dwelt the wretched spirits who would, if possible, have dethroned Him. There were now two interests in the universe, irrecon- cilably at variance with each other — the interests of good and evil. It was impossible that the darkness of malevolence could blend with the light of love; and there was now a region of infernal beings — fiends, — a Hell ! Thus was the celestial world unpeopled of a 8 THE APOSTASY FROM UNIVERSAL LOVE. part of its inhabitants ; and if there be aught that is material in that world, corresponding with the imagery of the Apocalypse, may not the vacant thrones of apostate 6 principalities and powers' remain — a silent and everlasting memorial, by which the blessed of all ranks may be admo- nished that, here, once sat glorious seraphim — but they fell by departing from the universal law of love ! Earth too was once, for a short time, (alas, how short !) a scene of unmingled felicity ; for it was the dwelling-place of two beings who were un- fallen, and who were one in mutual affection, and in holy love to their Maker. But the malig- nant spirit who was foremost in causing the breach of unity which had already been made in the high places of the universe, attempted also to sow the seeds of rebellion in this lower world. The machination was but too successful, and the happiness of Paradise was blighted. Then be- gan on earth mutual recrimination ; and slavish dread of the Divine Parent usurped the place of filial reverence. The dissolution of the bond of per- fect love opened the floodgates of sin and misery to man. The grand law of the moral universe once broken — so precipitate was man's downward career, so awfully rapid his assimilation to his demon-tempter, that in one generation, he be- came little less than an incarnation of evil. THE APOSTASY FROM UNIVERSAL LOVE. 9 The first-born of the first human pair, was a mur- derer ; and the first human death was inflicted through envy, by the hand of man, upon his only brother ! And whence, from that time, have come ' wars and fightings,' either in the church or in the world, but from men's selfish passions ? From an Eden, the earth has been changed into an Aceldama ; and from being the abode of every hallowed emotion, it has become the scene of suspicion, jealousy, envy, and uncharitableness, even among those who ought to be one in the most sacred union. b o 10 CHAPTER III. THE RE-UNITING TENDENCY OF THE DISPENSATION OF MERCY. X Such, it is evident, is the economy of man's nature, that there can be no social happiness but in proportion to the prevalence of benevolent affections. We also know, both from scripture and enlightened reason, that in whatever world man is placed, the very thought of true individual felicity, without supreme love to his Maker, is a chimera. The grand object, therefore, of the revelation of mercy, is to restore man to the image and favour of God. The earth, in its apostasy, has never been entirely forsaken of its Creator; nor permitted to be absolutely devoid of the element of moral good. A conflict has always been going on between sin and holiness : and the means have ever been more or less in operation, for reviving in the human breast the original principle of love to God and man. This TENDENCY OF THE DISPENSATION OF MERCY. 11 is the true vestal fire, which, amidst all adverse influences, has at no time been wholly extinct in our world. Early after the fall, earth began to be the scene of a restorative dispensation. Even when ' all Jteslt* had ' corrupted his way' — when the prin- ciple of benevolence was so far lost, and evil had become so rampant, that the earth was 'filled with violence] the Spirit of God was al- ready educing the elements of a new moral creation from the fragments of the old. Amidst the almost universal degeneracy, c Noah walked with God.' In his person and family, the deluge bore upon its waters all that remained of the ancient reign of divine love ; which thus emerged from the ruin of the ungodly world. At length, in Abraham and his seed, the church commenced a formal existence ; and, from this period, there have never ceased to be exhibited on earth, examples of the communion of souls, kindred in supreme love to God, and in mutual love to each other — a faint image of heaven. Blended with all that was awful, and all that was exclusive, in the dispensation which had its birth amidst the thunders of Sinai, there was a spirit of benevolence pervading the code of Moses, which distinctly bespoke its divine source, and the purpose of Jehovah to make the chosen people the conservators of a genuine philanthropy to the 1*2 THE RE-UNITING TENDENCY world. The peculiar circumstances of the Jews as a nation, — the fixed and divine character ot their ethics, as compared with the unauthoritative and conventional morality of heathenism, secured among them all that was found on earth of a well- principled mutual benevolence, — the shadow of what once was, and the emblem of what should hereafter be. Notwithstanding all the preju- dices, all the idolatries, all the wickedness of the nation, there was an element in the Jewish church, of which the Gentile world knew not the existence, — the lingering spark of divine love — love to God, and to those who bore his image on earth. But it is in Christianity that we see the grand machinery complete, which is to restore man to God ; and which, when all its powers shall be in full operation, will rapidly hasten on the reign of love, and ultimately bring mankind into a spiritual brotherhood. As clothed with the power of the Spirit of God, the Christian religion has a direct tendency, so far as it reaches, to re-establish the ancient moral order of the uni- verse, to re-unite intelligent creatures among themselves, and to heal the great schism of sin. We may be the only beings, (fallen angels excepted,) who are at variance among themselves, and with God. Our planet may be the only one which, as it rolls beneath his throne, looks dark OF THE DISPENSATION OF MERCY. 13 with the shadows of guilt ; though it has been the theme of gratitude and wonder to holy intelli- gences, because in its troubled atmosphere was once seen the mystic star of Bethlehem. This may be the only world where a contest is going on between good and evil ; where light and dark- ness, love and hate, are blended ; — the only scene of a mediatorial economy. And this may be the reason of the apparent specialty of those passages of scripture which state that God sent his Son • in the likeness of sinful Jlesh ;' and that Jesus 6 took part oijiesh and blood] and ' was made like unto his brethren.'^ Or, should these and similar texts be capable JL^ of a meaning compatible with the idea of other fallen worlds ;— should the pestilence of moral evil, unhappily, be more widely spread in the universe, — should other races be estranged from God, and among themselves ; — then may the atonement of the cross have extended also to these ; and when the King of glory ascended to his Father's right hand, he may have ' received gifts,' not only for us men who dwell on the earth, but also for f the rebellious' of other planets. The cross may be the instrument of peace to many worlds; the proclamation of mercy through the blood of the ' Lamb that was slain,' may have echoed beneath other skies ; and the same prin- ciple of union and brotherhood which cha- 14 TENDENCY OF THE DISPENSATION OF MERCY. racterizes the gospel, here, may at this moment be the cement of a spiritual relationship among societies of redeemed creatures, in distant parts of the universe. — But of this we know nothing, for nothing is revealed. At all events, in the Mediator, the whole church militant and tri- umphant is one. In Him, saints and angels make but one communion. Through Him, an- gels are ' ministering spirits to the heirs of sal- vation ;' and while these holy beings i desire to look into' this new and surpassing manifes- tation of the divine benevolence, it enhances the ecstasy of their joy, 1 if it does not exert an influence in securing the perpetuity of their bliss. On earth, the cross of Christ is the instru- ment which is to heal all divisions, — to har- monize all diversities, — to blend all distinctions, — to unite into one whole the most discordant materials. In Christ, there is ' neither Jew nor Greek — Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free.' He has made the Jew and the Gentile ' one in him,' ' having abolished the enmity ; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace : that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.' 2 1 Luke xv, 10. 2 Col. iii. 11. Eph. ii. 14, 15, 1G. 15 CHAPTER IV. THE FOUNDING OF CHRISTIANITY AS A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. Christ's first disciples were Jews, and had been under the teaching of John the Baptist, his fore- runner. Thus the church of God was preserved unbroken ; and there was a graceful transition from the Jewish to the Christian school, — John himself, Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Natha- nael, forming the earliest germ of the new divine society. The creed of the first disciples at the out- set of their profession, was, t We have found the Messiah V A conviction of this truth, mingled, no doubt, with an ineffable attraction of soul to- wards the person of their heavenly Teacher, was the basis of their discipleship ; and was all, per- haps, of which they were, at the time, conscious ; for their knowledge was as yet but in its infancy, and they had the deeper mysteries of the kingdom 16 CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. still to learn. ' Lovest thou me V was the only test presented to the candidate for admission into the new fraternity ; and the pledge given in re- turn, ' Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,' in- cluded every other obligation. Their love to Christ was not a calculation, or an inference, — it was a spontaneous impulse — a sentiment which absorbed every other, and it could best be de- scribed by saying, * Did not our hearts burn within us?' As love to the great Master Himself was the source of their profession, — so it was the perennial fountain of a mutual affection. They loved each other in a manner to which there was no parallel among worldly men, and, which to them must have appeared inexplicable. They felt that they were all of one family ; and with this new and holy relation, they allowed no ties of earthly kin- dred to interfere. They were also inspired with a zeal and a philanthropy before unknown in the world. They quitted the circle of domestic en- dearment, and the arts of gain, in order to pro- mote the highest welfare of their fellow-men ; and they were prepared to be martyrs to truth, and to benevolence. The teaching of the Divine Founder of Christi- anity, was the announcement of a new era — a coming reign of divine love on earth. The moral system, which He inculcated, was not dependent CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. 17 on punctilious distinctions of ceremony, like that of the Pharisees ; or on the esoteric pride of hu- man wisdom, like the ethics of the Greeks. It was based on a principle of holy benevolence, which was designed to communicate warmth and life to the world. One of the first acts of Jesus, after he had com- menced his public ministry, was to announce to the woman of Samaria the breaking down of the distinction between her nation and that of the Jews, and between both and the Gentiles. On a subsequent occasion, he taught the doctrine of universal benevolence, as opposed to all geogra- phical and exclusive predilections, in the beautiful parable of the good Samaritan. He was thus pre- paring the way for a religion whose main principle was to be charity; and he fortified his doc- trine by his own perfect example. He taught, that by the remarkable spectacle of zeal and love which his disciples should exhibit before men, and for their good, they were to be the benefactors of the world, when He himself should have quitted it. ' Ye are the salt of the earth.' ' Ye are the light of the world.'* The life, and the discourses of Jesus, were one great lesson of charity. He declared that all gifts and sacrifices presented to God, are vain, unless he who offers them be ' first reconciled to his * Matt. v. ]3, 14. 18 CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. brother ;' but that a ? cup of cold water ' given to one of his disciples, as such, shall not pass un- rewarded. He pronounced the most humble and childlike to be the ' greatest in the kingdom of heaven ;' adding, that whoever received such, re- ceived Himself. And in order that the Gospel might be universally known as a system of bene- volence, he commanded that the threshold of every house which was entered by its first mes- sengers, should bear witness to the announcement, ' Peace be to this house.' But it was when the closing scenes of his life drew nigh, and there were none but friends to hear, that the Saviour more fully revealed the mystery of his love ; and seemed to draw down to earth a portion of that heaven to which he was so soon to ascend. Retired from the gaze of the world, Jesus developed, in full, his sublime design of establishing an empire of benevolence, in a world which had already been divided and dis- tracted for four thousand years. How mighty the force of selfishness, when, under its influence, the disciples, even in the presence of their meek and lowly Master, began to strive for precedency ! And from that day to this hour, what mischiefs have arisen to the church from the unholy debate, now of eighteen hundred years' continuance — ' which should be accounted the greatest P where ? all are brethren ! ' CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. 19 As an antidote to this antichristian ambition, Jesus not only inculcated a spirit of humility and fraternal love, but illustrated it in a most affecting manner by his own example ; and not before he had stooped down to wash his disciples' feet, did he say to them, c A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.' # Such a command enjoined what was little practised by mankind ; for at the advent of Christ, the world had reached its climax of self- ishness and sin. Men were ' without natural affec- tion ; hateful and hating one another.' The true religion was represented by the Pharisees ; but they substituted forms and rites and ceremonies for purity and benevolence of heart, and, in their practice, dispensed equally with love to God and man. But the commandment itself, was less novel than the motive by which it was enforced. This love was not to be a common benevolence, dictated by nature, — a mere neighbourly feeling, or the tie of family or party. It was not simply another name for the reciprocation of benefits ; nor was it the mere attraction of generous spirits, feeling com- placency in each other, on account of similarity of mental temperament, education, or taste. Much less was it the offspring of sentimentalism or ro- mance. It was distinguished from all natural affec- * John xiii. 34. 20 CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. tions, both by its source and by its end. It was not an earthly friendship, derived from earth, and ter- minating on earth ; its principle was divine, and divinely implanted in every heart that felt it : and as it came from heaven, it tended thither, and anticipated its perfection there. This love was not a casual ornament of charac- ter, but an indestructible element in the new creation, inseparable from the relations which will subsist between all holy beings for ever. It was to be the sign of a divine nature — the very breath of new-born souls. It was a love for Christ's sake?" This was a designation of it which spoke volumes to him who had known it; and to him in whose breast it had never dwelt, no de- scription could render it intelligible. It was the free-masonry, so to speak, of the true religion ; by which its genuine adherents might know each other. This mutual and singular affection — this congeniality of spiritual perceptions and interests, made visible to all men by outward manifesta- tions, was also destined to be the image of heaven on earth — the peculiar mark of the followers of Christ, at once distinguishing them from the world. The circumstances under which the * new com- mandment ' was enforced, were such as to render it not less impressive to the disciples, than the giving of the moral law was to Israel. It was not CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. 21 indeed, proclaimed in thunders, but it was the dying injunction of their Lord. The hour was near when Jesus was to bear the burden of human guilt. Gethsemane was before Him, with its deathly sorrow, and sore amazement — its agony and sweat of blood. The cup of wrath which could not 'pass away,' was in prospect, and Judas was at hand to betray Him. He was about to endure indignities and insults, the still more cruel denial of Peter, and the desertion of the rest of his disciples. All this was the | prelude to the cross, with its corporal tortures, and the more intolerable sense of being i forsaken' of God. But these awful anticipations, instead of causing him to think less of ' his own ' whom he had i loved,' did but seem the occasion of his manifesting towards them a more intense soli- citude. In a discourse which breathed inimitable tenderness, he urged them to cultivate unanimity as their strength and welfare ; introduced every topic which might console them when he was gone ; and summed up the design of the whole, by declaring that he had spoken i these things,' that in Him they 6 might have peace.' In this exquisite fragment,* a oneness of affec- tion and of interest between Christ and his dis- ciples, is supposed throughout. They are his ' friends,' his ' brethren,' his J children ;' and * John xiv. xv. xvi. 22 CHRISTIANITY A SYSTEM OF BENEVOLENCE. the whole family is united in God, and in love. 'If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him; and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.' The • Holy Ghost ' is also promised, to ' dwell ' in this hallowed society. And the visible proof of participation in this divine fellowship, is fidelity to the great commandment c that ye love one another.' 23 CHAPTER V. CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. Jesus had now ascended to the Father; and the echo of his last words, ' Lo, I am with you alway,' had scarcely died away from the ear of his disciples, when those of them who had wit- nessed his miraculous departure from the world, entered on a new career of holy confidence and demotion. Though he was now an absent friend, and an unseen Saviour, the heart-cheering pro- mise had deprived the parting pang of its edge ; and the disciples i returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God ; and they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.' Thus the apostolic church began with entire unity of heart, in joy, praise, and prayer. Such was the preparation for that mighty energy of the Spirit, which was so shortly to descend from 24 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. heaven. The Pentecostal morning found the dis- ciples again 'with one accord in one place;' and the splendid miracles of that memorable day were scarcely more wonderful than the moral spectacle presented by the rising church — the burning zeal of the apostles — their fidelity to their beloved Master's commission — their perseverance in de- votion — the rapid increase of the Christian band — the sudden and extraordinary moral change exhibited in the conversion of the first three thou- sand — their stedfastness in the truth — their joy — their simplicity of heart — the charity, the self- denial, and deadness to the world, manifested by all — their frequent commemoration of the Sa- viour's death — their perfect consolidation into one body and one interest. 'They continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in rjrayers. And all that believed were together, and had all things common ; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one ac- cord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people.' ' And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul.'* Acts ii. 42—4-7 ; iv. 32. CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 25 Such is the beauteous picture of the church in its pristine state. Such were the effects of Chris- tianity when it began its public career, untainted with the elements of the world. As yet, there were no divisions, no party broils, no strivings for ascendency, no heart-burnings of jealousy and envy, no worldly ends, nor private interests, ren- dering the gospel the scoff of the profane. Love to the ascended Saviour was the predominating principle in every breast, and this love extended to his image multiplied on all sides ; while com- passion for a lost world added human tenderness to the ardent zeal that was displayed in promoting the reign of heaven on earth. The blessing of God on this unity and self- devotion was signal : for, notwithstanding the opposition of priests and Sadducees, the church continued to increase, and the moral energy of the thousands whom it numbered within a few months of the Saviour's ascension, was not repressed by the fear of suffering, or of death. When the mul- titudes were scattered, not by inward dissension, but by the less fatal storm of persecution, churches were planted over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria. And when this persecution ended, the hallowed spectacle was still more widely presented, of bre- thren, who, ' walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.'* * Acts ix. 31. 26 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. v The apostles soon ceased to preach the word ** to Jews only. The ancient animosity towards the Samaritans had already yielded to the generous spirit of the gospel ; and Philip had laboured among them with great success. And now the last prejudice of Judaism in the minds of the converted gave way, when, at length, the re- peated intimations of Jesus respecting the catholic nature of his kingdom were illustrated by the vision of Peter at Joppa. Henceforth the apostle no longer confined his labours to his own countrymen, but addressed the message of sal- vation to men of other nations. With him, too, the Hebrew Christians held out the right hand of fellowship to the ' uncircumcision ;' — the middle wall of partition was broken down, and they glorified God, saying, 'Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' # y Under the secret conduct of the Spirit of God, ^and through the visible zeal and charity of its human leaders, the apostolic mission extended its sphere beyond the Mmits of Palestine ; and sur- prising was its success. Men previously un- known to fame — men who had neither worldly wisdom, nor power, nor influence, — established a moral dominion which spread from east to west, and from north to south. The Roman world saw with astonishment the new prodigy, — * Acts xi. 18. CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 27 the revelation of all-conquering charity. Chris- tianity triumphed over heathen superstition, Jewish prejudice, Grecian learning, and persecution armed with power. Never had such events been wit- nessed in our world. Never before did the ' foolish confound the wise ;' c the weak, the mighty ;' and what was so ' base and despised' in man's estimation, ' bring to nought' things which appeared to have so firm an existence. But God had ordained e that no flesh should glory in his presence.' * The love and humility and meekness of Christ's disciples, might be scorned by the pharisee, or the philosopher ; but they were the ' unresistible might of weakness] with which God had determined to do his work. There was an element abroad in the earth, which K no power could bind or arrest. The kingdom of/ God was come among men, revealing itself chiefly as a new and lofty principle of benevolence, and / by this, its subjects went forth conquering and to conquer. That this principle was the grand practical characteristic of the apostolic church, is witnessed in every page of its history. 'It is so well / known,' says Paley, ' as to require no citations to verify it, that this loye^ or charity, or in other \ words, regard to the welfare of others, runs, in various forms, through all the preceptive parts of * 1 Cor. i. 27—29. c2 28 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. the apostolic writings. It is the theme of all their exhortations ; that with which their morality begins and ends ; from which all their details and enumerations set out, and into which they re- turn.' # Paley's Evidences, part ii. ch. 2. s-fyuu.d Sept.irpoT«x*ff/*a>7repn"«x0*' Vulg. antemurale,) was the interspace between the two principal parts of the temple, and consisted of a terrace of ten cubits wide, which ran round the outside of the inner wall, thus completely separating it from the court of the Gentiles.— Vid. Maimon. de aedificio Templi. * Gal. vi. 15 ; v. 6. Heb. ix. 10, 13. IN RESPECT TO EXTERNALS. 65 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH DOES NOT DEPEND ON uniformity in outward observances. The Mo- saic spirit of uniformity was evidently not regard- ed as essential to the new religion ; and Chris- tianity, though emerging, as it were, from the very heart of Judaism, revealed itself as another ele- ment. A certain latitude in things external, marked the first rise of Christianity ; and an attempt to secure uniformity, would often have produced a most serious sacrifice of genuine unity. Diversity was allowed, that edification, and charity, and unity, might be preserved. In sanctioning this diversity, it was not likely that the apostles would be left without divine guidance ; for the whole question was at issue — what is the spirit of Christianity with respect to forms ? Was it to take the rigid, unbending type of Judaism, which prescribed every ceremo- nial to the letter ? Or, was its genius more free — less resting on the letter than on the spirit— less national — more adapted to a world? Was the unity of the new church to make its appeal to the eye or to the heart ? To this inquiry, the Saviour himself may be said to have furnished the virtual reply, in his own discourses ; in which the paramount supe- riority of what is moral, to all that is ceremonial, is so repeatedly insisted on. # But during the mi- * John iv. 21—23. Matt. xv. 20 ; xxiii. 23. Luke xi. 38—41. 66 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY nistiy of the apostles, occasions arose for the prac- tical application of this principle to the existing circumstances of the rising church ; and from the line of conduct which these inspired men pursued in legislating on the subject of forms, we may learn what is the true genius of Christianity in regard to them. In all the mere externals, respect- ing which there was any question, we see not the shadow of a design to require uniformity. Jews were not to impose their rites on Gentiles, nor were Gentiles to prohibit Jews from following their own. In these matters, practice was to depend on circumstances ; charity being always maintain- ed inviolate. In no case was compulsion allowed, or strife, or alienation of heart. Compliances must be optional ; and if not yielded, the non- compliance was to be no bar to love, or to any christian privilege. There was to be a forbear- ing mutual indulgence, up to the last limit of truth. Had Christians, in their controversies respecting forms, always taken a lesson from the apostles, how different an aspect might the church of Christ have presented, from that which it at this moment, unhappily, wears ! There was a diversity of practice among the various classes of primitive Christians, in regard to which no man was to 'judge'' another; as 'in meat or drink,' or in respect of ' a feast, or of the new moon, or of sabbaths.' # Some observed cer- * 1 Col. ii. 16. IN RESPECT TO EXTERNALS. 67 tain precepts of the ceremonial law, others re- ceived none ; others obeyed alL The proselytes of the gate* were Gentiles born ; but had forsaken idolatry, and adopted in part the Mosaic religion. They were permitted to live * The distinction, already alluded to, (p. 63, note,) be- tween proselytes of the gate, or persons who worshipped the true God, and followed the seven precepts of the sons of Noah, without professing entire Judaism ; and proselytes of righteousness, who were naturalized as Jews, having submitted to the rite of circumcision, and to the whole law of Moses, — explains passages in the Old Testament, which would otherwise appear inexplicable, and even contradictory : see Exodus xii. 49 ; Levit. xxv. 47 ; Deut. xiv. 21. The terms, indeed, pjfltf Tg\ proselyte or stranger of the gate, and (pl^ llf) proselyte or stranger of righteousness are not found in scripture, (though the former seems described as ^TH}ft£fcl *W1k *1i!> the stranger within thy gates;) but the two sorts of proselytes are recognised by Jewish writers, including Maimonides, the best of the Rabbinical authors ; c the first who ceased to be a trifler/ says Casaubon, as Pliny said of Diodorus. The distinction is also supported by Selden, Witsius, Spencer, Vitringa, Drusius, Calmet, Lightfoot, Danzius, and the learned Talmudist Schoet- gen, (Horae Hebraic®, vol. i. p. 154.) See also Critici Sacri, vol. x. section 14. To these authorities may be added Prideaux, Lord Barrington, and Townsend. The opinion that there was but one kind of proselytes, those of righteousness, or who had become entire Jews, is maintained by Lardner, Doddridge, and Hales. 68 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY. among the Jews, and to worship in the outer court of the Temple ; though not allowed to eat the passover, as being still of ' the uncircumci- sion.' It was incumbent on them, by the Leviti- cal law, to avoid partaking in heathen festivals, to abstain from eating blood, and from eating ani- mals not killed by pouring out their blood ; and to abstain also from the unlawful lusts practised by the Gentiles. Now, at Antioch, some of these ' sojourning strangers' had become converts to Christianity ; on whom some professing Hebrew Christians from Judea attempted to impose the seal of Judaism, and the whole law of Moses, as necessary to salvation. But the decree of the church at Jerusalem, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, exempted these semi- Jewish Christians from the proposed new yoke ; and only retained them under their usual and voluntary ceremonial observances. Thus these proselytes would stand in nearly the same relation as before, to the preju- dices both of the Jews and of the heathen. The converts to the gospel, immediately from the Gentiles, whom the Judaizing teachers also attempted to bring under the same bondage, were treated by St. Paul, in his epistle to the Gala- tians, 2 as wholly free from the claims of the ceremonial law, having never previously been subjected to any part of it. Especially would 1 Lev. xvii. xviii. ; comp. Acts xv. 23. 2 Gal. v. 1. IN RESPECT TO EXTERNALS. 69 yielding to those who sought to c glory in their flesh' have been a sinful compliance, as it would have been acknowledging what the zealots con- tended for — the necessity of the Jewish rite to salvation ; and to those who submitted to it w T ith this view, the apostle declared, ' Christ shall pro- fit you nothing.' 1 Of the christian converts who were genuine Hebrews, the apostle, on one of his visits to Jeru- salem, found many thousands, all very zealous for the law ' of Moses.' 2 The light of the gospel un- veiled of materialism, was too bright and unearth- ly for the vision of those who had so long been used to a dispensation of shadows, which still lingered in the Temple — not as yet destroyed. St. Paul, therefore, in the case of the Jews, 3 treated the Mosaic rites as things indifferent, declaring that ? circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing ; but the keeping of the command- ments of God.' 4 Sensitively jealous as the apostle was of every- thing that might cast a shade on the gospel itself, no one was more ready, on all lawful occasions, to conciliate by complying with prejudice. He i Gal. v. 2. 2 Acts xxi. 20. 3 Among these would also he included foreigners who had become naturalised, as proselytes of righteousness \ — See p. 67, note. 4 1 Cor. vii. 19- 70 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY sacrificed everything to charity, but truth. He became i all things to all men ;' that he c might by all means save some.'* To the Jews he i became as a Jew ;' that he ' might gain the Jews ;' ' to them that are without law, as without law ;' that he ' might gain them that are without law.' l Yielding to the suggestions of the other apostles, he once assisted four men in the Temple, in the ceremony of discharging their vow. 2 On the same visit to Jerusalem, he celebrated the feast of Pen- tecost ; 3 and it is probable that on a former occa- sion he had kept the Passover. 4 At Cenchrea, we find him under a vow, which involved certain sub- sequent Jewish sacrifices and purifications. 4 He persuaded Timothy to submit to the initiatory rite of Judaism, i because of the Jews? 5 the mother of Timothy being of that nation. Titus, however, as he was of Gentile parentage, was exempted ; 6 for his initiation into Judaism, would both have strengthened Jewish prejudice, and have offended the converted Gentiles. Some of the Hebrew Christians at Rome sup- posed the meats prohibited in the Mosaic law to be unclean in themselves ; and therefore not to be eaten. They also believed that the Jewish festi- i 1 Cor. ix.20— 22. 2 Acts xxi,23. 3 xx. 16. 4 xviii. 21. See Macknight's Tr. of the Epistles, 1816 ; iv. 499. s Acts xviii. 18. 6 xvi. 3. 7 Gal. ii.3. IN RESPECT TO EXTERNALS. 71 vols ought still to be observed. l The Gentile be- lievers, on the other hand, regarded these obser- vances as part of an economy that had passed away. Hence, harsh judgments arose on both sides. But St. Paul exhorted all to mutual for- bearance and charity ; 2 every one being at liberty, in such points, to follow his own convictions of what was right, and bound to leave his brother to do the same ; since any other course would lead to sin and strife. i To his own master,' said St. Paul, 6 every one standeth or falleth.' 3 Christ is the only Lord of conscience ; and the usurpation of his throne in the church, by an authoritative decision in things which he has left indifferent, is one cha- racteristic of the grand apostasy, personified as i the man of sin,' 4 who ' commanded to abstain from meats.' 5 A question arose at Corinth, with regard to meats that had been offered to idols ; and it was solved on the same principle of doing all things with devotion and charity, and for edification. 6 It was not proper for Christians to partake of these meats in an idol's temple, as this would have appeared to be a sanction of idolatry ; but in other cases, they were to be guided by circum- stances: nor did the unity of the church, here again, require uniformity of practice. In buying 1 Rom.xiv. 2 xv. 1,2, 3. 3 xiv. 4. 4 2Thess.ii. 3. 5 1 Tim. iv. 3. 6 1 Cor. x. 31, 32, 33. 72 GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY meat in the market, they were not bound to in- quire whether it had been offered to an idol, or not ; and on visiting a heathen family, they were at liberty to eat what was set before them, ' ask- ing no questions for conscience' sake.' Yet if any person should say, ? This has been offered to idols,' they were to receive the remark as implying that their partaking of the meat was liable to be con- strued into some encouragement of idol-worship. A heathen might now suppose that a compliment was paid to his god. A Jew, or a weak Christian, erroneously attaching a certain idea of reality and power to the idol, might be offended ; or be led, perhaps, in some cases, to partake, without the full consent of conscience. c Eat not, therefore, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience' sake — conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other.' Still, meats are, in themselves, indif- ferent. ' Meat commendeth us not to God: nei- ther if we eat are we the better, nor if we eat not are we the worse :' ' wherefore,' adds the gene- rous apostle, € if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.' # Such was the charity inculcated by the inspired messengers of Christ. Such is the genius and spirit of the Gospel, in relation to practices which may vary, while its doctrines and its morality re- 1 lCor.viii; x. 25—29. IN RESPECT TO EXTERNALS. 73 main unchanged. That one individual was of the Jewish, another of the Proselyte, or a third of the Gentile denomination of Christians, was no lawful obstacle to entire unity of heart. The kingdom of God was c not in meat and in drink ; but in right- eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' 1 It did not consist in things external, but in things spiritual. Its genuine subjects were to be known by their cherishing a certain delicacy of feeling respecting each others conscientious scru- ples, on points not affecting the essence of Chris- tianity; and they were to reverence each others liberty, as a trust belonging to those who must, each, 6 give an account of himself 'to God.' i No man' was i to put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fail, in his brother's way.' ' Every man ' was to be i fully persuaded in his own mind,' that his pe- culiar observances were his duties in the sight of God; and all were to ' follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.' 2 Now, do not these apostolic facts and testi- monies furnish, in themselves, a strong presump- tion that the essential unity of the christian church is independent of uniformity in things ex- ternal ? Where is the evidence to the contrary ? Is there any scriptural reason why the manner in which the apostles dealt with the different convic- 1 Rom. xiv. 17. 2 Rom. xiv. 12,] 3, 5,19,20,21. E 74 UNITY OF THE CHURCH tions of various classes of Christians, should not be regarded as illustrating a principle which is capable of being applied, extensively, and in all ages, to everything in Christianity which relates merely to outward form ? Surely the above exam- ples were not mere accidental and passing aspects of the new religion: they mark its permanent character and spirit. The tone and temper of the christian precepts and precedents which arose out of these cases of conscience in the apostolic age, may be viewed as furnishing an analogy by which Christians, in general, may be guided respecting the manner in which they ought to regard the differences which subsist among them, on the circumstantial points connected with church-go- vernment, rites, and ceremonies. SECTION III. THE RELATION OF THE FORM AND ORDER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, TO ITS ESSENTIAL UNITY, AND MANIFESTED UNION. There has been no greater barrier to the visible demonstration of the unity of Christians before the world, than the tendency which has so much pre- vailed among them, to attach undue importance to NOT IN RITES AND CEREMONIES. 75 precise agreement in outward discipline. Yet it may safely be affirmed that trie whole genius of Christianity, and the manner in w T hich all that is external is treated of in the New Testament, war- rant the conclusion that uniformity of church- order, EITHER (ECUMENICAL OR NATIONAL, IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. I. This is true of particular forms, rites, and ceremonies of worship. None will contend, for example, that any precept can be found in the New Testament, rendering imperative the use of liturgical forms of prayer. Prayer is of the heart. It consists not essentially in words, but in faith and devotion ; compared with which, the mode of utterance is of little moment. ' Liturgies not being enjoined or forbidden in scripture,' says Paley,* f must be judged by their expediency;' — a senti- ment wdiich, understood as it ought to be, leaves their use or non-use, as in the case of the Mosaic meats and days, to the conscientious option of Christians, according to their convictions of what is most consonant with the scriptural view of prayer, and with edification. Into the abstract question of the comparative merit of liturgies and free prayer, or whether a judicious combination of the two might not be attended with advantage, we do * Moral Philosophy, book v. dh. 5. E 2 76 UNITY OF THE CHURCH not enter. But can it be doubted for a moment that there are thousands who follow each practice, and equally draw nigh to God ? with the heart V Liturgies, it is true, have been ascribed to St. Peter, St. Mark, and St. James; and some have supposed that a liturgy may have been alluded to by our Saviour, when he made the promise that if ' any two should agree ' on earth' in prayer, they should be heard. Few, however, it is presumed, would place any dependence, and still fewer lay a basis for necessity, on arguments so apocryphal, or on a criticism so obscure. Nor does the Jewish synagogue furnish a more valid ground for insist- ing on a liturgy ; for though we should grant that human forms of prayer were there read in the time of Christ, by what analogy is such a prac- tice binding on Christians ? 2 Besides, the Jewish 1 eviA.ipcov'fiffuau', Matt, xviii. 19. 2 The Rev. G. Townsend, in his elaborate and excellent . work on the New Testament, (chap. iii. sect. 4,) says that the example of Christ, at Nazareth, (Lukeiv.) ' sanctions to us the use of liturgies, vestments, etc., in all churches/ Could this be clearly proved, it would be difficult to perceive how any christian church were justified in not adopting these observances. But if the presence of Christ in the synagogue, and his express testimony to the in- spired prophecy of Isaiah, be interpreted as giving a divine right or sanction to any human forms which might be in use, where can we draw the line ? Did our Saviour, then, by his attendance, sanction everything in the Jewish NOT IN RITES AND CEREMONIES. 77 church had, at this period, become notoriously corrupt ; ! and while the Levitical code had been continually enlarged by tradition, many things were taught as ' doctrines' which were but c the commandments of men? 2 Happy had it been for the cause of religion, if Christians had never imi- tated the conduct of the Pharisees, by claiming authority either to prescribe or to forbid the use of forms ! What is, in itself, lawful, may become unlawful, when thus enforced : for compliance is then the dictate, not of conviction, but of necessity, or of self-interest. Besides, does the unity of the body of Christ depend either on the use, or the absence, of a liturgy in worship ? May we not, here, apply, in its spirit, the apostolic exhortation ? ' Let not him that eateth despise worship, which, as the above valuable writer intimates, was, at the time, corrupt, and had ' much to be con- demned in it }' Surely He did not. — Indeed the principle of this argument (from what Christ did as a Jew, and as the Messiah, and therefore Lord of the synagogue, and of the whole Jewish economy) would equally tend, if tho- roughly carried out, to establish a divine precedent for retaining, in perpetuity, all the rites and ceremonies of Judaism. If any body of Christians prefer a liturgy, vest- ments, etc., let them use them ; but let not the sacred- ness of divine sanction be brought forward, on uncertain ground, to uphold what is merely human. 1 Home's Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, 1822, vol.ii. p. 386. — GieselersKirchengeschichte, Bd.i.Abth.15. 2 Matt. xv. 9. 78 UNITY OF THE CHURCH him that eateth not ; and let not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth, for God hath re- ceived him.' ! Similar remarks are extensively applicable, also, to vestments, postures, and all ritual and ceremo- nial observances, not specified in the New Tes- tament, and not absolutely required by common decency. But is there one precept of Christ, or his apostles, by which any particular/arms of this kind are enjoined ? Yet how often have they been made essential to the unity of the church J What have not the most conscientious and upright men, men whom all parties are now glad to claim, endured, in consequence of these outward forms being im- posed ! How justly did the Puritans reply to the plea of those who imposed them as c things indif- ferent,' and, ' therefore, to be submitted to ; — c then let them be indifferent ; do not enforce them.' You c impose them, and that makes them essentials ;' 2 — an argument in the true spirit of the apostolic doctrine respecting the Mosaic practices. For, apart from the important consideration, (which we now omit,) how far any of the rites or cere- monies, enforced, might, in themselves, be con- sistent with the letter, or with the spirit of Chris- tianity, — compliance would have been sinful, unless free and conscientious. c He that doubteth 1 Rom. xiv. 3. 2 Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 132—227. NOT IN HUMAN FORMS OF FAITH. 79 is condemned if he eat ; because he eateth not of faith : for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.' 1 Are even creeds and confessions, as couched in human terms, essential to the unity of the church ? How far, historically, they have conduced to real unity, — or have shielded the church from the irruptions of error, — or, if desirable, under what precise circumstances, and in what manner, they may be employed, is not now our question;— but can they be scrip turally enforced ? i The first Christians used no written creed. The earliest pas- tors of the church drew their belief from scripture itself; and they were contented to express that belief in the language of scripture.' 2 Have w r e any- thing approaching to fair historical evidence for attributing even the most venerable of our creeds to the apostles ? and ought the general principle of imposing as doctrine, any merely human or doubtful forms, to be admitted in the church of Christ ? All parties have erred, more or less, in thus ren- dering imperative the ' commandments of men.' Even granting that the traditionary evidence for any supposed apostolic usage may be so over- powering to me, that, although I am obliged to admit that it is not actually found in the scrip- tures, I can still conscientiously adopt it for my- 1 Rom. xiv. 23. 2 Waddington's Church History, p. 26, Ibid. p. 27. Maclaine's Mosheim, 1806. vol. i. p. 116, 80 RITES AND CUSTOMS VARIOUS self, as virtually of divine authority ; — granting that I cannot sympathize with my brother Chris- tian in his scruples, — that they seem to me to arise from prejudice, or possibly from some obtuseness of intellect which renders him less alive to the force of evidence; — shall I, even then, build compulsory uniformity on this ground, —the ground of my own private conviction ? Shall I make his yielding his opinion to me an essential to my visible oneness with him in Christ ? Is he then a c weak bro- ther ?' Of the propriety of so terming him, we will not stay to inquire. But be it so — that he is a c weak brother.' Is it not still a question, like those of ' meats,' and ' days' — a question which does not affect the system of Christianity ? 'Him that is weak in the faith receive ye.' — 'But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.' * It is the unanimous testimony of Ecclesiastical History, that the second century was fertile in those germs of corruption which, in the third, assumed a decided form. Mistaken visions of out- ward unity mingled largely in the process of dege- neracy. Piety became confounded with its forms, till the diseased eye of superstition or ambition, saw- little beauty but in visible uniformity; and on this, greater and greater stress was laid, in proportion as faith and charity, the vital elements of real unity, * Rom. xiv. 1 ; 1 Cor. viii. 12. IN THE EARLY CHURCH. 81 died away. Still it was long before the church, in general, had so far lost the ancient apostolic spirit, as to hold uniformity indispensable to unity, and to enact laws for its enforcement. c The unity of the church,' says Lord King, 6 consisted not in a uniformity of rites and customs, for every particular church (company or congre- gation of Christians) was at liberty to follow its own proper usages : one church was not obliged to observe the rites of another ; but every one fol- lowed its own peculiar customs.' ' From several of the early christian writers, we may learn that customs and observances which, in later ages, were made essential, — such as given forms of devotion, certain ecclesiastical vestments, or kneeling at the Supper, were not in the primi- tive times imposed. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Cyprian, testify that the mode of celebrating the eucharist varied with time and place ; 2 and Firmilian of Caesarea says that, amidst such diversity, ? according to the dif- ference of names and places, there has not, on this account, been a departure from the peace and unity of the church.' 3 1 Enquiry into the Primitive Church. By an Impartial Hand. Lond. 1691. Part I. chap. ix. § 2; comp. Part I. chap. i. § 1, 2. 2 King's Enquiry, part ii. chap. 6. 3 Multa pro locorum et nominum diversitate variantur, E 5 82 RITES AND CUSTOMS VARIOUS We hear of no public claim to the power of en- forcing uniformity, till near the end of the second century, when the name of the Church of Rome first became a term of ill omen, in consequence of the dictatorial conduct of Victor, 1 its bishop, in respect to the time of observing the Paschal feast. This appears to have been the first example on record, of that assumption of ecclesiastical domi- nation, which was destined, in subsequent times, to prove no other than the pest of the church, and the curse of the world ! 2 The attempt to as- similate the custom of the Asian churches to that which prevailed in the West, was successfully re- sisted, and these churches were not overawed by nee tamen propter hoc ab ecclesiae catholicae pace atque unitate aliquando discessum est. — Apud Cyprian. Epist. 75. § 5. 1 He demanded from the Asiatic churches exact compli- ance in this matter with the practice of Rome, and on their refusal he fulminated against them an edict of ex- communication, as it were the first thunder of the Vati- can. This memorable event is supposed to have taken place about A. D. 196. See Waddington's History, p. 14. Also, Gieselers Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte. JBd. i. Abschn. iii. § 57. 2 It is true a controversy had already occurred at Lao- dicea on the same subject, about A.D. 170 ; but it did not produce any breach of charity between churches. Fragm. in Chron. Pasch. Prsef. p. 6, 7. Euseb. iv. 26. Epist. Polycratis apud eund. v. 24. IN THE EARLY CHURCH. ^^^ $% the dictate of Rome. The period was not aiTivect**' for the church to become the slave of human power, and to be content to embrace the chain which ambition was afterwards to rivet on her for nearly a thousand years. The glory of the apostolic age still lingered over the christian tabernacle ; and the church, in general, had not lost the spirit and the freshness of her first love. Unity was still of the heart. Its empty shadow and substitute were not yet seen in the centralisation of ecclesiastical power, and the sameness of modes and forms. A ceremonial uniformity was not as yet mistaken for the ' one soul,' and the * one heart ' of the infant church. This crisis was reserved for manifesta- tion to a further stage of degeneracy. Rome and the world had not yet succeeded in gaining the ascendant. Eusebius has preserved fragments of a letter from Irenaeus, and others of Gaul, remonstrating against the intolerance and presumption of Victor, and reminding him that the diversity which had long existed as to the precise time of celebrating the Paschal feast, and the fast preceding it, had never, before, produced any breach of charity in the universal church. ' Those who preceded us,* say these men of peace, c were not less in har- mony among themselves, than we are now ; for the diversity of opinion respecting the fasts, does but 84 UNITY OF THE CHURCH establish the unity of faith.' 2 We further learn that the former c presbyters who presided over the church' of Rome, though they themselves ob- served the solemnity differently from the Eastern mode, were in charity with all Christians who came from places 2 where that mode prevailed; and such individuals were at liberty to celebrate the feast according to their own judgment, and were admitted to participation in the eucharist. In the same letter we are informed that, on a visit 3 w T hich * the blessed Poly carp' made to Rome, many ' little discussions' arose between him and Anicetus, one of Victor's predecessors, 4 and especially the question respecting the different modes of observing the above festival. Polycarp appealed to the practice of St. John ; and Anice- tus to the example of those whom he had suc- ceeded in the church of Rome, and who professed to follow St. Paul. The conclusion was, that as the apostles had not been anxious for uniformity in these outward observances, a diversity of cus- tom ought not to interfere with unity. ' They did 1 Irenseus, (A. D. 184,) apud. Euseb. Hist. lib. v. cap. 24. 2 irupoLKw ; hence parochia, parcecia, paroisse, parish. This word is continually used by Eusebius, (about 270 — 339,) as synonymous with 'eKKXrjaia, a church or congrega- tion. — Euseb. Hist. Eccl. passim. 3 About A. D. 160. 4 di irph so long as their religious practices do not interfere with social order and morals ? Unspeakable as is the blessing of religious liberty, which has grown out of the Reformation, human authority is still enthroned in the sanctuary ; and will, probably long continue to check the full and proper mani- festation of the unity of the church on earth. It is true this authority has altered its character, since the once gigantic throne of the great apostasy has ceased to cast its shadow over all the realms of Christendom ; but the principle still remains, and is consolidated with the laws of nations. The theory once was, that ' the church' was master of the world : the theory now appears to be, that the world is master of ' the church.' Hence the christian religion has been placed in such a position, as to be easily made subservient to politics, court-influence, and ambition ; human forms, ceremonies, and ecclesiastical canons, have too often been substituted for the genuine influence of the truth ; and the semblance of unity has proved a delusive shadow of the real union of Christians, in the faith and charity of the Gospel. Instead of Christianity being left to display its IN REFERENCE TO UNITY. 183 own true genius, nobly negligent of mere exter- nals, and ever aiming at the inner man ; it has been compelled to fulfil its design, as it could, in the trammels of some one given form and cere- monial ; from which it has been reluctantly, if at all, allowed to deviate. Instead of as little of mere human regulation as possible in the church, human authority has obtruded itself throughout; till religion has sometimes appeared rather as a law of man than of God : while the spiritual and un- changing principles, on which the new creation of souls is destined to emerge from the moral ruins of the fall, have been contravened, and the church has been almost confounded with the world. As ecclesiastical laws have no power to sway the secret convictions and dispositions of men, outward uniformity is the utmost which they can effect ; and this may consequently exist, in the ab- sence of those elements of character which are indispensable to Christian unity. This unity, on the other hand, is independent of uniformity in outward observances which Christianity has not made binding ; as clearly appears from the facts already adduced, relating to the diversities of practice which existed in the apostolic age, in re- gard to the Mosaic ritual. The attempt, therefore, to render outward observances essential to visi- ble unity, is an innovation on the laws of Christ. In proportion as human institutions are identified 184 HUMAN AUTHORITY. with Christianity, human authority is put on a level with the commands of God; the unity of Christians is treated as dependent on the will of man ; the professed church spurns from her society some of the most conscientious servants of Christ; the immortal axiom that * the bible, and the bible alone, is the Religion of Protestants,' l is infringed ; the right of private judgment, the fun- damental principle of the Reformation, is relin- quished ; and the main pillar of Romanism, man's dominion over conscience, is retained, as a prop to the Protestant church. — But we will not, here, dwell longer on the monstrous figment, that the visible unity of the church of Jesus Christ, may be made to depend on the policy or caprice of man, and his assumed right ' To force our consciences, that Christ set free/ 2 SECTION VII. wherein the true unity of the church consists. The key to real unity, must be sought in the reply which the New Testament gives to the questions i Chillingworth's Works, 1727. p. 271. Milton's Poem s On the New Forcers of Conscience, under the Long Parliament.' WHEREIN UNITY CONSISTS. 185 already proposed : c Who is a Christian ?' and c What is the Church ?' ' From this source, we learn that a Christian is a spiritual man ; and that the church of Christ is a spiritual institution. Hence the unity of the church is a spiritual unity. A Christian is such, from the state of his mind and heart. A Christian church is a society com- posed of persons whose minds and hearts are spi- ritual. The true unity of the church, therefore, is not formal, geographical, political, or dependent on any human laws : it is a unity which has its seat in the minds and hearts of men. Its centre is Christ, the head of the church. Its producing agent is the spirit of God. It reigns through the medium of the truth, received by faith. Its 1 Chap. vi. p. 29. 2 The author of a recent work, which has already been referred to, quotes the following statements ; which will apply to the practice of a vast number of Christian churches, of various denominations : ' They are congre- gations of persons professing to be of a peculiar, that is, of a religious character/ e They aim at comprehending none but persons of real piety/ These ideas of a church are strongly condemned by the author, as c a new method of admission into the church, different from what Jesus Christ appointed/ His argument is founded on the supposed sacramental efficacy of the { divine and holy mystery of baptism/ — See Palmer's Treatise on the Church of Christ. Part i. ch. xiii. sect. 3. When will the Protestants be emancipated from the lingering Spirit of Romanism ? 186 WHEREIN THE UNITY conservative principle is devotion. Its bond is the common sympathy of regenerate natures — the attraction of minds, kindred in moral tastes, pur- poses, and interests. Its spontaneous and proper manifestation, is love. In the Christian record, the unity of the church is a frequent theme. ' There shall be one fold, and one shepherd.' In Christ, the Jew and the Gentile are united : c For he is our peace, who hath made both one.' c Both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one.' c There is one body, and one Spirit ; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling : one Lord ; one faith ; one baptism ; one God and Father of all ; who is above all, and through all, and in you all.' ' Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.' The object which God is declared to have * purposed in himself by the gospel, is : 6 That he might gather together all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth ; even in him.'* Nothing can exceed the force of the terms, in which the New Testament portrays the intimacy of this relation which subsists between Christ and his church, and mutually between all the mem- bers. The church is 'the bride, the Lamb's wife.' He is ' the vine ;' his disciples are * John x. 16. Eph. ii. 14. Heb. ii. 11. Eph. iv. 4. 5. 6 ; iii. 15; i. 10. OF THE CHURCH CONSISTS. 187 ' the branches ;' and they must i abide 1 in him, in order to ' bring forth fruit.' The church is the c body of Christ.' He is the ' head over all things to the church.' c From whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.' c For as the body is one, and hath many members ; and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body ; whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.' c For we are members of his BODY, OF HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES. ' # This spiritual unity, is the basis of numerous other scripture-statements, and of many practical exhortations. Among these, are the following : ' One is your Master, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren.' c Put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body.' * Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace.' c Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of * Rev. xxi. 9. John. xv. Eph. iv. 12; i. 22; iv. 16. 1 Cor. xii. 12. 13. 14. Eph. v. 30. 188 WHEREIN THE UNITY the Son of God, unto a perfect man : That, speak- ing the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.' c Be like-minded, having the same love ; being of one accord, of one mind,' l He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.' ' The world knoweth us not because it knew him not.' ' If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' ' Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth.' ' The truth dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.' 1 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' ' Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth.'* That, in the first churches, the truth was one and the same to all believers, we learn from the harmony of doctrine which subsists throughout the various books of the New Testament, and the identity of the Christian character which they de- lineate. Everywhere, in the whole empire of Christianity, the same objects, like the great lights in the firmament, commanded the attention of mankind. Those stupendous events which had moved all heaven with awe and admiration, and had filled the minds of its inhabitants with a 6 de- * Col. iii. 14. 15. Eph. iv. 3. 13. 15. Philip ii. 2. 1 Cor. vi. 17. 1 John. iii. 1. I John. i. 7. Jam. i. 18. 2 John 2. John xvii. 16. 17. Of THE CHURCH CONSISTS. 189 sire to look into' i them, were the theme of devout wonder, and earnest conversation, among all who had escaped the thraldom of Jewish blindness, and Gentile idolatry ; and had become members of the new creation. The apostles directed the minds of all, to the sublime fact of the coming of the Son of God in the flesh — the perfection of his human character — his sufferings and death — the reconciliation which he had effected between God and the apostate world — his resurrection and as- cension — his session in glory, at the Father's right hand — the gift of the Holy Ghost, bestowed through his intercession — his universal and ever- lasting dominion — his second advent to judge the world. In the practical reception of these great truths, the churches were one. The belief of these doc- trines identified itself, as St. Paul describes, with obedience to c that form of doctrine' into which be- lievers ' were delivered' as into a mould, 2 to be cast and formed. The baptism of the Spirit anti- cipated the slow, and often inoperative deductions of reason, and gave to babes in worldly wisdom, an insight into the ■ mysteries of the kingdom,' which no human learning could bestow. Both love and holiness flowed from 'obeying the truth.' 3 1 1 Pet. i. 12. 2 iis %v irap€d667}T€ tvttov ditiaxns. Rom. vi. 17. See Dod- dridge and Macknight in loc. 3 1 Pet. i. 22. 190 WHEREIN THE UNITY The genius of Christianity forbade that diversi- ties of rite and custom should interrupt the course of charity, of which the Truth proved a perpetual source. But apart from the c doctrine of Christ,' love lost its vital warmth, and the sacred stream was frozen at its rise. Truth and love were inse- parable. Truth was the animating principle of love ; but error proved to love as the touch of a torpedo. On external points, there might be va- riety : — but if an ' angel from heaven' had preach- ed 6 any other gospel,' he would have been ' ac- cursed? l It is true that the first century had not passed away, before the Judaizing spirit, and the rising germs of Gnosticism, began to appear. Thus some pronounced the observance of the whole law of Moses necessary to salvation ; while others fatally corrupted the truth, by blending the dog- mas of the Oriental philosophy and Platonism, with Judaism and Christianity ; maintaining opi- nions utterly subversive of the scripture-doctrine of the person of Christ, and his incarnation and atonement ; or destructive of the morality of the gospel. 2 These rising heresies, it is generally 1 Gal. i. 8. 9. 2 The Gnostics were so termed, (from yj/Sxris, know- ledge,) as laying claim to superior views of truth. They appear early to have held that Christ was one of the later Mons } or emanations of the Deity ; and thus that he had a beginning. He was sent, they affirmed, to reveal the OF THE CHURCH CONSISTS. 191 agreed, are frequently alluded to in the apostolical epistles/ and especially in the writings of St. John ; who, in the beginning of his gospel, expressly de- clares ' the logos was god.' In his epistles, also, he lays great stress on confessing that c Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ;' that i Jesus is the christ,' and € the son of god.' He who rejects these truths, is said to be ' antichrist,' and a i liar.' ' Who- soever abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not god.' ' If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house ; neither bid him *God speed : For he that biddeth him God speed, is partaker of his evil deeds.' In the Apocalypse, the ' deeds' and ' doctrines' of the Nicolaitanes are awfully con- demned. 2 The above corruptions of the gospel were ut- terly fatal to Christian unity and love : and so knowledge of the true God ; and to repair the evil which had been caused by the Demiurgus, or creating iEon. Some denied that Jesus had a real existence, and said that he was a mere phantom. Others maintained that he had a body, but asserted that he was born of human parents; that Christ and Jesus were distinct beings; and that Christ was the Spirit which descended on Jesus at his baptism. The origin of the name Nicolaitanes is obscure ; but they are supposed to have been licentious Gnostics. 1 E. g. 2 Cor. x. 5. 2 Thess. ii. 3—13. 1 Tim. i. 3. 4 5 vi. 20. Tit. iii. 9. 2 Pet. ii. iii. 16. 17. 2 John i. 1. 1 John iv. 3 ; ii. 22; iv. 15 ; ii. 22. 2 John 9. 10. 11. Rev. ii. 6.15. 19*2 WHEREIN THE UNITY must errors of the like portentous magnitude, ever be. In some of them, we see the earliest syste- matic Antinomianism. In others, it is easy to trace the first form of a class of opinions which, to this day, unfairly claim the name of Chris- tianity ; and of w r hich a prominent feature is the doctrine, that Christ was merely a human per- son ; that his mission was limited to the design of instructing mankind ; and consequently that his death was not an expiatory sacrifice, i It is ob- vious that these opinions, accompanied as they are with others equally at variance with the New Testament, amount to a nullification of the scheme of Christianity. They constitute another religion, which produces a totally different state of mind. On this system, the religion of the mass of pro- fessing Christians, is deeply corrupted with idola- try ; — on theirs, the religion alluded to, is little else than deism, borrowing from the moral pre- cepts of Christianity. The adherents of two systems so utterly at variance with each other, can have no true sympathy of religious feeling. Be- tween the ' faith once delivered to the saints,' and opinions which exclude almost every thing which is peculiar to Christianity, there is an impassable gulf. Here, unity ceases ; and union is no longer a duty. The common intercourse of mankind may still subsist: of neighbourly kindness, there should continue to be a reciprocation ; and there ought to be no denial of all the rights due to peaceable citi- OF THE CHURCH CONSISTS, 193 zens : — but religious separation is to be hailed, as due to honesty ; for how, in such a case, can there be the communion of ' brethren,' who 'love one another' 'in the truth J and ' for the truth" s sake?" 1 St. John says of the existing anti-christian pro- fessors : t They went out from us ; but they were not of us? 2 Hence, in the primitive ages, the unity of the faith remained, for the most part, en- tire. Irenaeus, who flourished towards the close of the second century, speaking of fundamental truths, remarks : c The church having received this testimony and faith, diligently preserves it, as though she inhabited one and the same house, though actually dispersed over the whole world ; and she believes these things exactly as though she had but one soul, and one and the same heart; and she preaches, teaches, and delivers these things, with one consent, as though she had but one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are different, still the signification of the testimony is one and the same : so that the churches that have been founded in Germany, Spain, Gaul, the East, Egypt, and Libya, or in the central parts of the world, do not differ in faith and doctrine.' 3 That such a unity as is here described, cannot 1 2 John 1.2. 2 1 John ii. 19. 3 Irenaeus contra Haeres. Lib. i# cap. 3. K 194 WHEREIN THE UNITY be effected by mere outward uniformity, is amply illustrated by the ecclesiastical history of Protestant Europe. Many who have been com- mitted to orthodox creeds and confessions, and have thus been associated together in nominal union, have been found holding and preaching doctrines the most opposed to each other, and to those of the bulk of the Reformed churches : and the highest Supra-lapsarianism ; Semi-pelagian- ism ; Rationalism in all its shades, from its more sober, to its wilder forms ; a Romanizing Protestantism; 1 and other incongruous elements; have existed, in various connexion, with the ' evangelical ? faith, under the name of 6 the church.' On the contrary, it is evident from well- known facts, that vast bodies of Christians may exhibit a remarkable coincidence of sentiment within themselves, on all the points of faith and practice which are mutually held to be essential; though this unity be not provided for by any laws of uniformity. Moreover, Christians of different denominations, often manifest more real visible unity and union with each other, than is found pre- vailing in churches constituted by the civil ma- gistrate. 2 ! Such is the difference between the 1 See a passage headed f Evils of omitting the rite of Exorcism/ in the ' Tracts for the Times/ for 1834—5. Notes on Tracts 67. 68. 2 See page 100, above. OF THE CHURCH CONSISTS. 195 unity of uniformity, and the unity of the heart. The latter was the unity of the primitive church, before superstition and ambition had changed its character. Hence a strong reciprocal affection* ^— an identity of feeling, of interest, and of aim — common joys, sorrows, dangers, hopes, and fears — and, amidst all diversities of natural disposition, or acquired habit, a likeness in the elements of character, such as no mere human agency could effect. It was not necessary to know each other personally; — to know of each others existence was enough. Christian love could waft its benevolent desires, from the churches of Asia to the church of Corinth ; and could transmit its sympathies from Macedonia to Judea. Those who had never seen each others faces, all met in spirit at the throne of that grace which had made them one ; and mutual intercessions ascended to heaven, from those who would never know one another on earth. They who loved an unseen Saviour, not only loved his image when it stood before their eyes ; but even when it was ideal : and the prayer that reached heaven, rose from hearts large enough to embrace the whole brotherhood of Christ, from Mount * Tertullian speaks of Christians as ' ready to die for each other/ Pro alterutro mori sunt parati. Apolog. cap. 39. K 2 196 UNITY OF THE CHURCH. Imaus to the Atlantic, and from the Rhine to the Nile. Unjust and cruel as were the persecutions en- dured by the primitive Christians, they tended, no doubt, to preserve the simplicity of the gospel, and the purity of the church. Those who felt that their property, liberties, and lives, were insecure, because they were Christians, would be less tempted to make their own external peculiarities a condition of unity. The furnace of persecution, as often as it was kindled, would not only separate, in every church, the dross of mere profession from the pure gold of faith ; but would, at the same time, tend greatly to reveal the sameness of all that was ge- nuine, and to cause it to run, as it were, into one mass. Particular forms, modes, and customs, which might vary with time and place, would be likely to be little thought of, in comparison with the unchanging truths on which the unity of the whole church is built : what was merely of hu- man origin, would be lost in the overwhelming magnitude and importance of what was divine; and, in the hour of impending trial, the spirits of the faithful would cleave, tenaciously, to what was essential in Christianity ; and would find their sympathies for each other all centring there. PART II. SCHISM. SCHISM. CHAPTER I. NATURE OF SCHISM. SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. The Father of modern Science has remarked, that the human mind is apt to propose to itself theories of nature, involving a uniformity which does not exist; and to imagine parallels, correspondencies, and relations, which are not actually to be found. This tendency to substitute the creations of fancy for painful and honest inquiry, Bacon regards as one of those cherished c idols'' of the mind, which have kept men from arriving at truth. * Whatever be the analysis of this intellectual propensity, illustrations of it abound in the history of human * Novum Organon. 200 SCHISM. knowledge, both in ancient and modern times. Hence the notion, among the earliest philosophers, that fire must be added to air, earth, and water, to make up the even number of the four elements, or first principles of all things : — also, the theory which prevailed till the time of Kepler, that the planets must of necessity all move in perfect cir- cles. Even Kepler himself imagined that these bodies were six in number, from a mystical relation between the intervals of their spheres, and the dimensions of the five regular geometric solids ; and he declared he would not part with this dis- covery, for the ' electorate of Saxony.' * He was ingenuous enough to acknowledge, that when Ga- lileo's telescope brought to view the satellites of Jupiter, his first feeling was — concern for his favourite theory; which, with all its harmonies, now vanished before his own eyes. This concern was not unnatural : nor was it inconsistent with a predominant love of truth; though it proved that genius could not compensate for the want of that unpretending and practical philosophy, the laws of which, Bacon was the first to digest into a system, so as to render them triumphant in all future time. It were well, had philosophers, alone, been * Kepleri Prodromus Dissertationum Cosmographica- rum. Tubingen, 1596. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 201 misled by dreams of the exclusive perfection of some favourite idea, while all beside was felt to clash with the proper order of the universe. It were happy, had some whose theme is greater than philosophy, been always ready to yield to the force of evidence. But a tenacious and incurable impression of the supposed necessity of a unifor- mity, which, fact and experience teach us, the All- Wise has not judged essential to his plans, — has often marred the unity of the church, obstructed the progress of religion, and disturbed the peace of the world. Bacon further notices how much men are wont to be misled by mere words. When we w r ould define things, not by vulgar notions, but by accurate dis- crimination, l words? says this acute observer, * cry out and forbid? The truth of this remark, all must admit. There is apt to be found in words, what Plato, somewhere, complains of in matter, c a something stubborn and refractory,' * which tends to resist our apprehending them in their true meaning. They are, often, the almost insepa- rable signs of erroneous associations, which have grown with our growth, and strengthened with our strength. Illustrations might be drawn from many of the terms peculiar to theology ; and from none more appropriately than from the term Schism. * txratcTov ri kcu a.vQi, — , — r vae 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. c * 19l an'60WW k ~D •Jan d Wb'Q g*W fi#$&