O PRINCETON, N. J. 33*
Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa.
BX 5137 .B862
Britton, Thomas Hopkins.
Horae sacramentales
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HORiE SACRAMEN TALES.
^orae ^acramentales.
THE SACRAMENTAL ARTICLES
OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
VINDICATED FROM RECENT MISREPRESENTATIONS,
AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE
ffiHritings of ttyiv ffiomprterss anti last ISIittor,
AND BY
OTHER DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE CHURCH BETWEEN THE YEARS 1536 AND 1571.
BY
THOMAS HOPKINS BRITTON, M.A.,
CURATE OF HOCK WORTHY, DEVON; AND LATE PUSEY AND ELLERTON HEBREW SCHOLAR, OXFORD.
"VlNCANT SEMPER VERITAS, GLORIA DEI, ET SALUS ECCLESI.B, NON PRIVATI AFFECTUS ULLI." — MELANCTHON.
LONDON :
JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET.
MDCCCLI.
LONDON : PRINTED BY JOSEPH MASTERS, AT.DERSGATE STREET.
PREFACE.
The object of the present volume is to correct some of the erroneous statements which have been put forth relative to the compilation and design of the Thirty-nine Articles, and to ascertain the doc- trine which the Church of England has enunciated in them respecting the nature of the Sacraments of the Gospel, espe- cially Baptism. It seems particularly desirable, at the present moment, to make the forms of expression, carefully selected by the Church, easy and familiar to the understanding of a nu- merous class of Churchmen, who have neither leisure nor oppor- tunity for searching after the truth on this important subject, nor of procuring sufficient authentic information to enable them satisfactorily to explain the obscurities and disentangle the com- plicated webs of error, in which these mysteries have been industriously veiled. It has been thought necessary to correct the errors alluded to, first, because their natural tendency is to frustrate the very purpose for which the Articles were drawn up, which was professedly to " contain the principal grounds of Christian Religion, in which also is to be determined the truth of those things which in that age were called into controversy ;" 1 secondly, because subscription to them as a test of religious
1 From a notable paper in the Petyt Collection, Cardwell's Synodalia, vol. ii. p. 496.
VI
PREFACE.
opinion and security for orthodoxy would be useless ; and thirdly, because the Church is now suffering severely from the encouragement given to them. The Romanizing and Puritanical parties each congratulate themselves on the admission that the Articles are designedly ambiguous, and the Prayer Book teaches no doctrine, and consider themselves respectively justified in re- sorting to the non-natural (now miscalled charitable) construction, which is so far from being agreeable to the old established rules of construction and those principles of interpretation which are applied to laws, covenants, and oaths, that it is a direct violation of them, and a specious guise for substituting a something in the place of the Church's words, not equivalent in meaning, but which will make them capable of a sense consistent with the private views of the interpreter.
Considerable pains have been taken to ascertain what the Church has pronounced essential to the nature of a true and proper Sacrament of the Gospel. And upon examination it ap- pears that the following particulars must meet together to con- stitute such a sacrament as Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
First. There must be a visible sign or ceremony ordained by God the Son.
Secondly. There must be a promise of grace annexed to the sign by Christ, and that not of spiritual grace generally, but a promise of remission of sins.
Thirdly. There must be a form of words appointed by Christ to apply the promised grace to the duly qualified receiver.
Fourthly. There must be a Divine command to use it.
If then the Church had held that Baptism had not the pro- mise of remission of sins, she must have excluded it from the category of Sacraments of the Gospel, as well as Orders, Confir- mation, Matrimony, and Extreme unction.
I must here take the opportunity of introducing an important chapter from the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, which should have appeared in the table of the definitions of the
PREFACE.
vii
Sacraments. It is entitled " Quid in Sacramento quserendum sit."
Cap. II.
Ad sacramenti perfcctionem tria concurrere debent. Primum evidens est et illustris nota, quss manifeste decerni possit. Secun- dum est Dei promissum, quod externo signo nobis reprsesentatur, et plane confirmatur. Tertium est Dei prseceptum, quo neces- sitas nobis imponitur ista partim faciendi, partim commemo- randi : quse tria cum autboritate Scripturarum in Baptismo solum occurrant, et Eucharistia, nos hsec duo sola pro veris et propriis Novi Testamenti Sacramentis ponimus.1
It is hoped the present undertaking will prove acceptable to Churchmen generally, but especially to the Clergy and candi- dates for Holy Orders. It lays before them in a few pages, not the opinions of some private individuals, but tbe accredited doc- trine of the Church herself, collected together with much pains, and no inconsiderable expense, from records which have been unexamined, or at least unused, by all previous expositors. To those persons who are called upon to subscribe their names to the Articles in evidence of their approbation of them, and in acknowledgment of their truth and agreement with the word of God, it must be satisfactory to know what is the judgment of the Church on any matter of dispute. For their own credifs sake also they would avail themselves of all means within their reach of acquiring accurate information. For " a clearer and fuller comprehension of the several truths of the Gospel may be expected from the clergy than from mere laymen. And when it is considered, that the clergy are intrusted with explaining, and instructing men, in the truths of Christianity, too much care cannot be taken to prevent the ill effects either of their ignorance or error. For, however these may be pardonable in common
1 Pp. 28, 29, edition 1540.
Vlll
PREFACE.
Christians, whose business it is to learn ; they can admit much less, excuse in clergymen, whose employment it is to teach." 1 Neither do I doubt but that every man of an ingenuous dispo- sition will feel it his conscientious duty to receive the Articles, not in any sense of which the words are capable, but in that pre- cise and determinate sense alone in which the Church of England wills and expects them to be understood.
1 Bishop Conybeare, on subscription ; Enchiridion Theologicum, vol. iii. p. 238.
ERRATA.
Page 7, note 3 and elsewhere, for Lawrence read Laureuce. ,, 11, line '21, for Article read Articles. „ 12, note, line 3, for wantonly read not only. ,, 1", line 1", for adapted read adopted. ,, 29, ,, 12, expunge so. „ 30, „ 23, for fears read fences. ,, 31, ,, 33, for customs and read custom is. ,, 37, ,, 13, for our read one.
,, 42, ,, 14, for or debarred read and is increased or diminished by. „ 43, ,, 23, for 1536 read 1538.
,, 46, „ 27, enclose the words from "a remark" to "disciples" in brackets. „ 59, ,, 3, for Goode read Goode's letter. >• 68, ,, 7, for there read then. ,, 90, ,, 1 8, for and read as.
,, 91, expunge marginal note, Extreme unction, &c.
,, 164, ,, 26, for and read as.
,, 193, ,, 2, for pertaining read pertains.
„ 195, „ 21, for them read then.
A
^mtitratum of t&e Sacramental article*, &<v*^«.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
Dangerous tendency of the New Principles op Inter- pretation. Cranmer, the Compiler of the Articles of 1552. They were not prepared by, or discussed in Convocation.
The conflicting opinions which are now published both by the Laity and Clergy respecting the design and true interpretation of the Liturgy and Articles of the Church of England, are a source of deep regret to every one of her faithful sons. The J udicial Com- mittee, in their recent judgment, instead of deciding the question at issue have left it in a more unsatisfactory and confused state than they found it. They have reversed the sentence of the Eccle- siastical Court without deigning to consider the principles upon which that judgment was founded or attempting to satisfy Churchmen that the Judge of the Court of Arches was in error. They have assumed that the Church of England has no plain per- The Arian spicuous and unambiguous confession of the true faith of a Chris- mischievous tian, and have given their sanction to such a licence of interpre- thTnenwyin- tation as, if applied to the laws of the land, would speedily tion. endanger all the temporal rights of Englishmen. They have adopted the reasoning of the Arians Dr. Samuel Clarke and Dr. Sykes, and laid it down as a sound rule that " the sense in which any human forms appear to a man's self to be consistent with Scripture,1 (i.e. with his view of Scripture) and not the presumed meaning of the compilers, is to be the rule and measure of his
1 Waterland, ii. 295.
2
understanding them." The natural force of the words of the formularies and articles and the known views and designs of their compilers, may, it seems be wholly disregarded by those who sub- scribe them, and instead of the Clergy being required to conform their teaching to the obvious doctrine of the Church, it is con- sidered allowable to bend the latter into conformity with the private judgment of pious and conscientious persons. If the principles of interpretation adopted by Mr. Gorham be justifia- ble,1 the Clergy are licensed under cover of " a just and favour- able construction," here to add a word or there explain it away ; here to alter a mood and there a tense, here to deny a relative is absolutely connected with its antecedent, and there to treat a conjunction as a disjunctive particle; in short, it is allowable " intentionally [to] swerve from the old-established rules of con- struction [and to] depart from the principles which have received the sanction and approbation of the most learned persons in times past, as being on the whole the best calculated to deter- mine the true meaning of the documents to be examined."
That the indulgence of such a licence is fraught with incalcu- lable mischief1 to the Church and State of England is felt by every sober-minded man. As regards religion, the Churchman
1 Waterland in his " Case of Arian Subscription considered," vol. ii. p. 284, makes some, remarks to which I wish to call the reader's serious attention. " My business is to show that, as the Church requires subscription to her own interpretation of Scripture, so the subscriber is bound, in virtue of his subscription, to that and that only ; and if he knowingly subscribes in any sense, contrary to or different from, the sense of the imposers, he prevaricates and com- mits a fraud in so doing. This is a cause of some moment : it is the cause of plainness and sincerity, in opposition to wiles and subtleties. It is in defence, not so much of revealed as of natural religion ; not of the fundamentals of faith, but of the principles of moral honesty, and every heresy in morality is of more pernicious consequence than heresies in point of positive religion. The security and honour of our Church are deeply concerned in this question. As to its security, everybody sees what I mean ; and as to the honour or reputation of our Church abroad, whenever we have been charged with Socinianism or Popery, or any other monstrous doctrines, we had no defence so ready at hand, or so just and satisfactory as this ; that our subscriptions were sufficient to wipe off all slander and calumny. The good of the Slate as well as the Church, is likewise concerned in this question, because there can be no security against men's put- ting their own private senses upon the public lairs, oat/is, injunctions, &c, in contradiction to the sense of the imposers, //"these principles about Church Sub- scription should ever prevail amongst us."
3
is now left without any standard of doctrine. Heretofore in it robs the cases of uncertainty or difficulty he used to betake himself with of his Rale confidence to the Book of Common Prayer or the Thirty-nine Doctrine, Articles for information and a resolution of his doubts, believing the Church to have recorded her doctrine in unequivocal lan- guage. But now that the new system of charitable and hypo- thetical construction is introduced with all its subtleties, re- finements, and nice distinctions, he finds the most absolute expressions rendered uncertain and doubtful, and a sense forced upon the Liturgy and Articles the very reverse of that which the language would convey to a simple-minded and guileless person. Now it certainly does seem most unaccountable that the Church of England should have expressed herself in such an unguarded manner, in terms which have deceived not merely the unlearned but some of the brightest ornaments of her communion, as well Was un. as some hundreds of learned, pious, and conscientious Puritans thePuritans, who, perceiving tbe doctrine of the spiritual regeneration of every the Articles Infant, in and by the sacrament of Baptism, to be distinctly taught Boo/unl" in the Liturgy, and being unable to reconcile it with their fond telllglble- theory of special individual election and the indefectibility of grace, separated from the communion of the Church of England. To what purpose did Cranmer earnestly contend for the admin- istration of the Sacraments in our native tongue1 if he expressed himself so incautiously as to be misunderstood by a large ma- jority of thoughtful persons ? Is it not as plainly repugnant to the Word of God to minister the Sacraments in the English tongue if that be not understood by the people, as in the Latin or Greek languages ? So far as the instruction of those who are not favoured with the key to this mystic language is con- cerned, the case is all one, they cannot profit by what is repeated in their hearing.
1 In his preface to the Common Prayer Archbishop Cranmer says, " Whereas S. Paul would have such language spoken to the people in the Church as they might understand and have profit by hearing the same ; the service in the Church of England, these many years, hath been read in Latin to the people, which they understand not, so that they have heard with their ears only, and their hearts, spirits, and minds have not been edified thereby." ]t certainly does not appear very consistent to reject the Latin Service Book because it did not edify the hearts and spirits and minds of the people, and then to supply its place by an English Prayer Book which was equally unintelligible.
B 2
4
Tiiepieathat An attempt is now made to justify this modern system of in- Bookteyiess terpretatioii upon the plea that the Articles, which are said to be ( .uiy exact the sole and severely accurate standard of the doctrine of the tides is 1 Church of England, take lower views of the doctrine of the Sacra-
i i 1 1 I 1 ' ill 1 6SS . ■
ments than the Liturgy, which latter is asserted to be " less theo- logically exact," because we presume it is supposed to be more obviously contradictory to the tenets of the new school. Ac- cordingly it is maintained " that the Formularies are not to govern the construction of the Articles, but that the Articles must decide the construction of the Formularies."1 We cannot agree in opinion with Mr. Gorham, and extol the Articles to the dispar- agement of the Prayer Book. We believe the theology of the Prayer Book to be as exact and as strictly agreeable with the Holy Scriptures and the doctrine of the old learned fathers, (from which two sources it was avowedly derived) as is that of the Thirty-nine Articles.2 All historical facts connected with the
1 Gorham's ans. 127.
s Archbishop Cranmer gives (he Papists this challenge : — " If the Queen's Majesty will grant hereunto, I, with the said Peter Martyr, and four or five which 1 shall choose, by Gon's grace will take upon us to defend, that not only the Common Prayers of the Church, the ministration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies, but also that all the doctrine and religion set out by our late Sovereign Lord King Edward VI., is more pure and according to God's Word, than any other doctrine that hath been used in England these thousand years, so that God's Word may be the Judge, and that the reasons and proofs on both parties may be set out in writing ; to the intent, as well that all the world may examine and judge therein, as also that no man shall start back from bis writings. And when they boast of the faith which hath been in the Church these thousand years, we will join with them in this point : for that doctrine and usage is to be followed, which was in the Church fifteen hundred years past. And we shall prove that the order of the Church set out at this present time in this realm by Act of Parliament, is the same that was used in the Church fifteen hundred years past. And so shall they never be able to prove theirs.'' Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 164. Strype, too, in the preface to his life of Archbishop Parker, p. 6, folio edition, says, " And all these spiritual advantages are conferred upon us in the Communion of the Church of England. The blessings of which Church I choose to express in the words of one of the most eminent and learned Bishops of those times in a sermon preached at the Queen's Chapel. ' For the truth of doctrine according to the Word of God, for the right administration of the Sacra- ments, for the true worship of God in our prayers, laid down in the Book of Service (since the Apostles' age unto this present age of restoring the Gospel), there was never Church upon the face of the earth so nigh the sincerity of God's Truth as the Church of England is at this day.' " — See Jewel, i. 335 — 336.
Archdeacon Philpot, the Martyr (p. 302, Parker Society's Edition), also warns his friends against those Antichrists who go about to teach any other
5
compilation and revision of the Liturgy go to prove thus much, both that the Book of Common Prayer was designed to teach doctrine, and that pure and agreeable to God's word, and that the Papists and Puritans have all along understood it to do so. And indeed, when we consider that both these books were drawn up by the same persons, we should reasonably expect that the same views of doctrine would appear in both, and we feel confident that when they are fairly interpreted according to the true intent and meaning of their composers, they will be found to form one harmonious and consistent whole, and teach such a body of sound Divinity as (to use the words of Cranmer, whose pride and glory they were) " without boast or dispraise of other be it spoken, was never a better set forth since the Apostles' time."
But however confident Mr. Gorham is that the Articles are Mr. Gorham
and the Ju-
the sole and severely accurate standard of the doctrine of the diciai com-
J J " mittee take
Church of England, the Judicial Committee have thought proper g°t^Jfe^p°" to take the very opposite view of them, and to represent them the ArUcios. as compiled in very general and ambiguous language, with the design of admitting of some difference or latitude of interpreta- tion. We are at a loss to discover the external historical facts which they called in to their assistance and from which they have derived this conclusion. The most approved Church historians express no such opinion, and we shall presently prove that it has no foundation in fact. Before entering on the interpretation of the Articles, it is thought advisable to put the reader in posses- sion of correct information as to their compilation, and the prin- ciples which governed those who formed them.
It is the unanimous opinion of our historians1 that Archbishop Cranmer the Cranmer was, if not the sole, yet certainly the principal compiler the sole of our Articles. In 1551 he received an order,2 probably at his theArtieies
of 1552.
doctrine than they have received in King Edward's days, in the which (praised be God !) all the sincerity of the Gospel teas revealed, according to the pure use of the primitive Churches, and as it is at this present time of the true Catholic Church allowed through the worll. Where, pray, was this sincere doctrine of the Gospel then revealed but in the Prayer Book and Articles ?
1 Burnet's History, part ii., B. 1 , p. 166, folio, 1681. Collier, ii. p. 310 (0) folio, 1714. Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i., pp. 49,50. Lamb's His- torical Account, p. 2. Cardwell's Synodalia, p. 2, note.
2 Strype's Cranmer, p. 272. Jenkyn's Preface to Cramnei's works, pp. ovi, cvii.
6
own request, to frame a Book of Articles of Religion for preserv- ing and maintaining peace and unity of doctrine in the Church. And " in ohedience hereunto/' says Strype, " he drew up a set which were delivered to certain other Bishops to be inspected and subscribed he supposes by them." In framing this book Their origin the Archbishop took the course which would naturally have been story' expected by such persons as are acquainted with his anxious wish for a General Confession of Faith for all the Reformed Churches, and with the suggestion made to him by his singular friend Melancthon. Some Articles had been compiled by him- self and some other English and German Divines in a Synod held at London, in 1538, upon the basis of the much admired confession of Augsburg of 1530. These he made the ground- work of the Articles of 1552, and thus whilst he spared himself much labour and responsibility, he complied with the suggestion of his singular friend Melancthon, and drew up a form of sound doctrine approved by the most eminent Lutheran Divines, and agreeable to the sentiments of the most learned Bishops and Clergy of the English Church. tSobthe privy In May l553> tlie Privy Council1 sent for these Articles, in- agaYrfre and qu^'ing at the same time whether they were " set forth by any cranraeyr public authority." On the 19th2 of September, the Archbishop forwarded them to Sir John Cheke after he had revised them, arranged them in a different order and prefixed titles to them. They were then communicated to some other Divines by the King's order about the beginning of October, and on the 23rd of November the Council again forwarded them to him with orders to examine them further and give them the last improve- ment of his judgment and pen. With this command the Arch- bishop immediately complied, and returned them on the following day,3 " beseeching their Lordships to be the means unto the
1 Strype's Cranmer, p. 272. Cranmer's Works, i. pref. p. cvii. Archbishop Lawrence's Bampton Lectures, p. 29.
2 Archbishop Cranmer in a letter to Cecil, dated from Croydon, the 19th of September, 1552, writes, " I have sent the Book of Articles for Religion unto Mr. Cheke, set in a better order than it was, and the titles upon every matter, add- ing thereto that which lacked. I pray you consider well the Articles with Mr. Cheke, and whether you think best to move the King's Majesty therein before my coming. I refer that unto your two wisdoms." Cranmer, i. p. 355.
3 Cranmer in his letter to the very good Lords of the King's Majesty his most honourable council, dated from his house at Forde, the 24th of November, [ 1 552] ,
7
King's Majesty, that all the Bishops may have authority from him to cause all their Preachers, Archdeacons, Deans, Prebendaries, Parsons, Vicars, Curates, with all their Clergy to subscribe the said Articles ; and then he trusted that such a concord and quiet- ness in religion would shortly follow thereof as else is not to be looked for many years ; God shall thereby be glorified, His truth shall be advanced, and your Lordships shall be rewarded of Him as the setters forth of His true Word and Gospel."
The Royal authority, though tardily given, was granted on published by the 19th day of the following June,1 but before the publication datefand"
i ■ ii o l , -11 l subscription
of this mandate letters from the King were issued to the several required. Prelates,2 informing them that " certain Articles were sent de- vised and gathered with great study and by counsel and good advice of the greatest learned part of the Bishops and sundry others of the Clergy," and exhorting them both to subscribe themselves and also to cause them to be subscribed by all others who do or hereafter shall preach or read within their Dioceses.
The Articles were printed in Latin and English, and prefixed jjisnop to them was " A short catechisme3 or playne instruction con- catechism
1 * prefixed.
says, " after my very humble recommendations unto your good Lordships; I have sent unto the same, the book of Articles which yesterday I received from your Lordships. I have sent also a cedule enclosed, declaring briefly my mind upon the said book, beseeching your Lordships to be the means unto the King's Majesty, &c.'' Cranmer, i. p. 257. Collier, ii. p. 41 1. Wake, in Cardwell's Synodalia, p. 2, note.
1 Cranmer's works, ii. 357, note.
2 The King's mandate to the Bishop of Norwich sent with the Articles, bears date June 9th, 1552. Cranmer, iv. 389. On the 19th of June a mandate was also issued to the Dean of Arches, commanding him to publish some Ar- ticles concerning true Religion, and other things " rectam Christi fidem spi- rantia," and to require subscription on the 23rd of June. Cranmer's works, iv. p. 392.
s The composition of this Catechism has been ascribed to Cranmer, Ridley, and Dean Nowel. It is now however certainly known that Bishop Poinet was the author. In a letter which Sir John Cheke wrote to Bullinger, on June 7, 1553, published by the Parker Society, he says, "that Edward VI. has lately recommended to the Schools by his authority the Catechism of John, Bishop of Winchester, and has published the Articles of the Synod in London, which, if you will compare with those of Trent, you will understand how the spirit of the one exceeds that of the other." Original Letters, portion i. p. 142. Two Litur- gies of Edward VI. Parker Society, pref. p. xii. Cranmer's Works, i. pref. cviii. note. Lawrence's Bampton Lectures, p. 219. It may be as well to remark, the Catechism being prefixed to the Articles gave its name to the whole Book, and consequently the Articles themselves are frequently spoken of under the title of
taynynge the sumrae of Christian learning, set fourth by the King's Majestie's authorities, for all Schoolmaisters to teache." This Catechism was also printed in Latin in 1552, and English in 1553, and was composed by Poinet, Bishop of Winchester.
cranmer From the above account of what passed between the Privy
supposed to 1 *
be the au- Council and the Archbishop, it is evident that he had the chief
thor of the . '
Articles by hand in the compilation of the Articles, and that nothing was
his contem- . . . . °
poraries. inserted into tbem without his approbation. And a question put to Cranmer in his examination before Brokes, Bishop of Glou- cester, proves that the Papists attributed the authorship of them to him, and held him responsible for their contents. He was charged with having "compiled and caused to be set abroad divers books/' and in the catalogue we find the " Catechismus Brevis Christianas Discipline, etc." and the " Articuli de quibus in Sinodo Londonien. a.d. 1552," specially named. And we are told that in reply " he denied not such books which he was author of. As for the Catechism, the book of Articles, with the other book against Winchester, he granted the same to be his doings."1 This acknowledgment of Archbishop Cranmer's satisfactorily establishes the fact of his having had so large a share in the compilation of the Articles as to justify him in call- ing them his own. It has however been supposed that Bishops
He probably Ridley and Latimer were consulted by Cranmer, and contributed
consulted p • p t • •
Bishops their valuable aid towards the framing of this important confes- Latimer. sion. It is very probable that such was the fact, for these two Divines were greatly beloved by the Archbishop, who admired the powerful and highly cultivated mind of the one, and the good sense and manly honesty of the other.2
the Catechism or the Articles of the Catechism. Ridley is accused of compelling the Papists to subscribe to the Catechism. This Catechism must also be distin- guished from that of Justus Jonas, translated by Cranmer, or at his command, in 1548, and from tbe Catechism prefixed to the Order of Confirmation in Edward VI. 's first Book of Common Prayer, and which (the questions and answers on the Sacraments being added after the Hampton Court Conference in 1604) now passes under the name of the Church Catechism.
1 Cranmer, iv. 102. Cranmer's answer is reported in Latin in the following terms : " Et quoad Catechismum et Articulos in eodem ; fatetur se adhibuisse ejus consilium circa ediiionem ejusdem." — lb. p. 106, art. 7.
2 The following exlract from Strype shows what deference was paid to Cran- mer's judgment. The Archbishop's " authority was now very great, so that there was undoubtedly great deference paid to it, as also to bis wisdom and learn-
9
These are the circumstances under which historians represent p/gj^red'nor the Articles to have been compiled, and the reader will notice that jjy^o^sub- they were not the result of any public discussion in Convocation. £0"^° They were prepared by Archbishop Crannier at his leisure, and tlou' probably in his own study, then submitted by him to the King, to the Privy Council and to such Divines whose judgments they prized, and after receiving the Archbishop's last corrections were made public by Royal Authority. Their title, says Dr. Lamb, is indeed " so ambiguously worded as to lead to the notion that the Articles had been prepared, or at least sanctioned by the Convocation of 1552, but this was not the case they were neither submitted to Convocation nor confirmed by Act of Par- liament." This statement is coiToborated by the objection which Dr. Weston took to the title of the Catechism on the first day of Convocation, being October 16, 1553. He then stated that " there is a book2 of late set forth called the Catechism, which he showed forth, bearing the name of this honourable Synod, and yet put forth without their consent as he had learned ; being a book very pestiferous and full of heresies," and then proposed beginning the disputation with the Articles of the Catechism con- cerning the Sacrament of the Altar. To this charge Archdeacon Philpot made the following reply : — " Concerning the Articles of the Catechism, he thought they were deceived in the Title of the Catechism, in that it beareth the title of the Synod of London last before this, although many of them which then were present were never made privy thereof in setting it forth, for that this house had granted the authority to make Ecclesiastical laws unto certain persons to be appointed by the King's Majesty ; and whatsoever Ecclesiastical laws they, or the most part of them did set forth according to the statute3 in that behalf provided, it might
ing, by the rest of the Divines appointed to that work ; so that as nothing was by them inserted in the Liturgy, but by his good allowance and approbation, so neither would they reject or oppose what he thought fit should be put in or altered.'' — Strype's Cranmer, p. 266.
1 Dr. Lamb's Hist. Acct. p. 4.
2 Philpot, pp. 179 — 181. Neal, in his history of the Puritans, observes, " This was another high act of the Supremacy ; the Articles not being brought into Parliament , or agreed upon in Convocation, as they ought to have been, and as the title seems to express," &c. Vol. i. p. 50.
3 The statute to which Philpot alluded is the last passed in 1549, and entitled, " An Act that the King's Majesty may nominate and appoint two-and-thirty per- sons to peruse and make Ecclesiastical Laws."
10
be well said to be done in the Synod of London, although such as be of this house have had no notice thereof before the promul- gation ; and in this point he thought the setting forth thereof nothing to have slandered the house, as they, by their subscription1 went about to persuade the world, since they had our Synodal authority unto them committed, to make such spiritual laws as they thought convenient and necessary.2
I have thought it proper to call attention to this fact because the Judicial Committee appear to be of opinion that the subject matter of the Articles was warmly debated at the time of their being framed ; that there was great difficulty in arriving at any conclusion, and that that conclusion, in order to meet the views of the contending parties, was drawn up in general and am- biguous language capable of a variety of interpretations.
1 The subscription here alluded to was that given by the Convocation then chiefly composed of Papists, to certain propositions condemnatory of the whole code of doctrine published in King Edward VI. 's reign.
2 This account differs from that given by Cranmer in reply to Weston's ques- tions on the same subject. " I was ignorant of the setting to of that title ; and as soon as I had knowledge thereof, I did not like it, therefore, when I com- plained thereof to the Council, it was answered thus by them, that the book was so entitled, because it was set forth in the time of Convocation." Cranmer's Works, vol. iv. pp. 64, 65. Fox, vol. iii. p. 50, edit. 1684. It seems, the title was prefixed by the Council, and most likely upon the grounds mentioned by Phil- pot. For further information the reader is referred to Cardwell's Synodalia, vol. i. pp. 4 and 5, note.
CHAPTER II.
Did the Framers of the Thirty-nine Articles design them to be ambiguous ?
The next point to which I shall invite attention is the principles upon which the Thirty-nine Articles were compiled. Are we to look upon them as an accurate, explicit, and unequivocal declara- tion of the chief heads of Christian Doctrine, and to accept them as a precise rule of faith and the matured judgment of the Church of England on points then disputed, as drawn up with great prudence and caution, and in which the very forms of ex- pression were well weighed in order that no future misconception or difference of opinion might arise respecting the subjects treated of in them among those who subscribed to the truth of them ? Or, are we to consider them to exhibit no one clear and determinate view of any doctrine, as drawn up in vague, gene- ral, and ambiguous language — to which, of course, no fixed meaning is known to have been attached by their compilers, and which therefore may be interpreted in as many different ways as the wit and ingenuity of different expositors may invent mean- ings, with a view rather of reconciling contending parties than of setting forth the true doctrine of the Church of England on the subjects handled in them?
This latter theory we believe to be at variance with the avowed object of framing the Article ; to derive no support from the Articles themselves, and to be capable of being disproved by evi- dence which yet exists relative to their compilation.
Let us only refer to the Titles of the several editions of the The Articles Articles, and we shall there find that the Articles were originally to be anibi- composed and at last agreed upon by the Archbishops and not iiave°ul< Bishops of both provinces, and the whole Clergy in Convocation diversities of
12
port.
opinions or for the express purpose of " avoiding of the diversities of opi- consbelMthed nions, and of the establishing of consent touching true religion." true religion The titles of the Articles then establish thus much ; that in the trties^m- reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the Clergy of the Church of England took different views of some important doctrines which brought reproach and dishonour on the Church, and that under these circumstances it appeared expedient to the chief authorities in Church and State to compose and publish an authoritative exposition of the Orthodox Faith, to the truth of which all the Clergy should be required to express their assent by subscription. They were also bound to understand them in the sense intended by the compilers and imposers under a penalty of forfeiting any pre- ferments they then held, or of refusal of institution to any bene- fice.1 Nothing can be more certain than that the establishment of an universal consent touching true religion (i.e. the religion of
1 King Edward VI. 's mandate to the Bishop of Norwich. — Cranmer, iv. p. 390. " And if any person or persons having benefice within your diocese shall from henceforth wantonly refuse wilfully to set their hands to these Articles, but also obstinately exhort their parochians to withstand the same, and teach the people in a contrary way ; our pleasure is, that being duly proved, ye shall advertise us, or our Councils, of the whole matter fully, to the intent such further order may by direction from us, or our said Council, be taken, as the case shall require, and shall stand with justice and the order of our laws. And further, that wheu as often as ye shall have any manner of person presented unto you to be admitted by you as the ordinary to any ecclesiastical order, ministry, office, or cure, within your diocese, that ye shall, before you admit him, confer with him in every these Articles. And finding him thereto consenting, to cause him to subscribe the same in one ledger book to be formed for that purpose, which may remain as a register for a concord, and to let him have a copy of the same Articles. And if any man in that case shall refuse to consent to any of the said Articles, and to subscribe the same, then we will and command you, that neither ye, nor any for you, or by your procurement in any wise shall admit him, or allow him as suffi- cient and meet to take any order, ministry, or ecclesiastical cure. For which your so doing, we shall discharge you from all manner of penalties, or dangers of actions, suits, or jileas of praemunire, quare impedit, or, such like. And yet our meaning is, that if any party refuse to subscribe any of these Articles for lack of learning and knowledge of the truth, ye shall in that case by teaching, conference, and proof of the same by Scriptures reasonably and discreetly move and persuade him thereto, before you shall peremptorily judge him as unable and a recusant. And for the trial of his conformity, ye shall, according to your discretion, pre- fix a time and space convenient to deliberate and give his consent, so that be betwixt three weeks and six weeks from the time of the first access unto you. And if after six weeks he will not consent and agree willingly to subscribe, then ye may lawfully, and shall in any wise refuse to admit or enable him."
L3
the Articles), and unity of doctrine amongst the Clergy was the end which Edward VI. and Elizabeth, Archbishops Cranmcr and Parker proposed and hoped to effect by the Book of Articles. Even the Judicial Committee acknowledge that this was the object of the Church in framing Articles of Faith, and presume her to have desired to accomplish that object as far as she could, and to have decided the questions then under discussion, as it was thought proper, prudent, and practicable to decide." But the method by which they suppose it was attempted to be effected is most novel and singular. The case stands thus : — Doubts The snppo..
. i • i /-i ■ sition highly
arise respecting some doctrines ; Archbishop Cranmer is com- improbable, manded to resolve those doubts and deliver his judgment in writing. He complies with the Royal mandate, but instead of recording his judgment in plain, perspicuous, and determinate language, so as to mark distinctly the one sense which he decided to be agreeable with the word of truth, and which being accepted by the Clergy, would certainly establish consent and unity of doc- trine, he is represented as having framed his decision in terms which he designed to admit of a latitude of interpretation and consequently of a diversity of opinion. He is said to have dealt only in generalities, to have considered expediency more than truth, and to have been the author of a system of Divinity which by its indefiniteness might be subscribed in different senses and by persons of opposite opinions. Now, is such a theory agreeable with common sense, and with the strict regard for truth which adorns the character of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley ? Is it possible to believe that honest men, gifted with great abilities, well versed in theological controversies, sincerely lamenting the evils arising to the Church from discord, and who must be pre- sumed to have desired to put a stop to diversities of opinions, and to establish consent touching true religion, would have delibe- rately so framed the Articles they were commissioned to compile, as to countenance, nay give encouragement to the very evils which this new confession of Faith was professedly intended to remedy and extinguish ? It is surely paying no compliment to the common sense of those great men to exhibit them as avow- edly devising Articles to " root out diversities of opinion," and at the same time designedly wording them so as to leave every man as much at liberty to exercise his private judgment, as if
there were no Articles as tests of theological opinion, and no subscription as security for the Clergyman's consent to the truth of their doctrine. Can we conceive the possibility of diversities of opinion being extinguished by a code which admits of a lati- tude and differences of interpretation ? Can there be a concord established touching true Religion by a confession intended to be understood in a variety of senses ? Ambiguous expressions admit not only of two meanings, but of an indeterminate latitude of interpretation. If then Cranmer foresaw this obvious result, could he have possibly felt sanguine and confident that " such a concord and quietness would shortly follow" subscription to such Articles, "as else is not to be looked for many years?"1 Would any of those learned Lords if called upon to decide the meaning of a disputed section of an Act of Parliament, proceed upon the principles which they attribute to Cranmer? Would their de- cision be so worded that one Lawyer might construe in one way and another in another ? And would they flatter themselves that they had done their duty to their country and established consent touching the true interpretation of the section by de- signedly framing their judgment so as to encourage a possible or probable difference of interpretation ? Should they so act, — which is not probable, — few persons would put much value upon a decision which left the true sense of the disputed section as un- certain and doubtful as it found it.
It must however be owned that the Judicial Committee have set some bounds to the latitude of interpretation. They say, "it must be confined within such limits as might be allowed without injury to any doctrine necessary to salvation," i.e. no Article of the Creeds must be denied. But surely this could not be the whole object contemplated by the compilers of the Articles. Had
1 Bishop Hooper too expected the same peaceable results from the Subscription of the Clergy to the Articles. In a letter to Cecil, dated July 6, 1552, be writes in this earnest manner : — " For the love of God cause the Articles that the King's Majesty spoke of, when we took our oaths, to be set forth by his authority." — Strype's Cranmer, Appendix, p. 135. It is not easy to see how Articles drawn up in vague and ambiguous language would settle any differences of opinion in the Diocese of Worcester. Surely Bishop Hooper must have formed a different opinion of the Articles from the learned Judicial Committee, and have thought that if he was authorized to require subscription on pain of deprivation he would have been able to quiet his refractory Clergy.
15
it been so, it would have been sufficient to have required sub- scription to the Eighth Article, which contains the three Creeds, number
I ~ ' 'of Articles
and declares they ought to be thoroughly received and believed, p™™^' The addition therefore of Thirty-eight Articles to this one, argues ^i*^*0 that their compilers designed something more than requiring the aIIdJtoUstate acceptation of the letter of these Creeds. It proves that the SS^?urch'8 Church in carrying out her design of establishing consent touch- ™°drpreuly ing true religion, thought it necessary to publish a more full, clear, Screeds and particular declaration of her doctrine than previously existed. had done" She found what she considered the true sense of some Articles of those Creeds misconceived, perverted, and evaded ; she therefore gave her own interpretation of such portions of them ; she also felt herself called upon to declare her judgment on other chief sub- jects of Church Doctrine not embraced in the Creeds ; this too, she pronounced, and requires every subscriber to acknowledge to be agreeable to the Word of God, as interpreted by herself.1 We are surely then no more at liberty to explain away or deviate from the sense of the compilers in Thirty-eight of the Articles than we are by our latitude of interpretation, to endanger the doctrine contained in the Eighth alone. And we must also observe, that this authoritative exposition of the Articles of Faith contained in the Creeds, and these additional Articles of Doctrine are a sufficient evidence that the Church designed her Book of Articles to be a more exact and precise yet comprehensive enun- ciation of true Christian Doctrine than the Creeds themselves contain.
The foregoing considerations have, we hope, shown the great
1 Dr. Waterland's case of Arian Subscription, vol. ii. p. 292. "The Church requires men to comply with her forms, merely on account of their being agree able to Scripture : and for that very reason, must require subscription in her own sense, because, that only sense is (according to her) agreeable to Scripture. It is a contradiction to suppose that any Church requiring subscription to her own explanations (as every Church does) should at the same time permit the sub- scriber to run counter to those explanations. For since she looks upon her own explanations as the only true sense of Scripture, and requires subscription to the true sense of Scripture, she can never be presumed to allow other explanations which are (in her judgment) not agreeable to Scripture : it being her principle to admit nothing but what is agreeable to Scripture. Whoever therefore does violence to the public forms must be supposed (by that Church whose forms they are) to do as much violence to Scripture itself, and consequently such a Church cannot admit of it."
16
improbability of the Articles being designedly ambiguous; we will now therefore advance a step further and endeavour to prove History dig- from documentary evidence that Cranmer repudiated such a dan- charge of gerous and unprincipled scheme, and that in compiling the Articles it was his avowed wish to lay aside all carnal and pru- dential motives, and to set forth in the Church of England a true and explicit form of Doctrine agreeable to the rule of the Sacred Scriptures, after carefully weighing not only the subject matter itself, but also the forms of expression that all ambiguities and variety of interpretations might in future be effectually avoided.
It must be borne in mind, that in 1548, Charles the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany, not being able to prevail upon Pope Paul the Third to reassemble the Council of Popish Bishops at Trent without delay, authorized three persons, Julius Pflugius, (Bishop of Naumburg), Michael Sidonius, and John Agricola Isleburg, to draw up a rule of Faith and Discipline for the joint use of the Papists and Lutherans until the Council should be summoned and finally determine the several questions at issue. The interim, These Divines produced a Formulary called the Interim, which
a system of . . , .
compreiien- was composed not with a view to settle the Faith and Discipline
sion, sifr-
na'iy failed, of the Churches agreeably to the Word of God, but upon a prin- ciple of reconciliation and expediency, similar to that upon which the Judicial Committee have assumed our Articles to have been compiled. But having no regard for God's honour nor for the word of His Truth " it came to nought," or I should rather say it aggravated all the evils which short-sighted expediency hoped to cure. " This temporary rule of Faith and Discipline/' says Mosheim, " though it was extremely favourable to the interests and pretensions of the court of Rome, had yet the fate to which schemes of reconciliation are often exposed ; it pleased .neither of the contending parties, but was equally offensive to the followers of Luther and to the Roman Pontiff." It was imposed " by the force of arms, and hence arose deplorable scenes of violence and bloodshed, which involved the Empire in the greatest calamities." Maurice Elector of Saxony, allowed the Clergy to deliberate to- gether at this fearful crisis, and Melancthon " pronounced a sort of reconciling sentence which he hoped would be offensive to no party." But "its decision instead of pacifying matters produced on the contrary new divisions, and formed a schism among the
17
followers of Luther which placed the cause of the Reformation in the most perilous and critical circumstances."1
Such were the evils, found by experience to result from a sys- tem which aims at no higher object than reconciling religious disputants by mutual concessions and abandonment of truth, and which, in consequence of its ambiguity admits of a latitude of interpretation, sanctions diversities of opinion within the pale of the Church, and allows private judgment and expo- sitions to have equal authority with the public decisions of the Church. The miserable plight of the German Churches soon convinced Melancthon that the course which his love of peace Mki.anc- prompted him to take, was fatal to their best interests. He ediy averse complained that the golden age which Islebius promised had not ambiguous yet arrived, and in the following letter written to Archbishop confessions Cranmer, on May 1, 1548, he expressed his strong disapprobation of ambiguities in Confessions of Faith, and his dissatisfaction with the schemes of comprehension adapted by Charles V.
" Reverend Sir, — The letter which Jonas's son wrote to me at your dictation, I answered a month ago. But the longer I reflect on your design, than which none can be devised of greater importance and more necessary for mankind, the more I both wish and think you ought to be advised to publish a true and ex- plicit Confession of the whole body of Doctrine, after the judgments of learned men have been compared together, whose names also should be subscribed so that there may be set forth among all nations an illustrious testimony respecting your doctrine, and posterity also may have a rule of faith to follow. Nor indeed will that confession be much unlike my own (the Augsburgh), but I wish some few Articles to be set forth to posterity with a little further explanation, — that am- biguities may not hereafter give occasion to new differences of opinion. Now too, the Emperor Charles has proposed a scheme for moderating controversies, which perhaps he will publish, but because he attempts to unite dissenting par- ties, and thinks he can effect his purpose by laying down some general opinion which no man can reject by reason of its vagueness ; he makes Articles which each party may interpret according to their own tenets? which will stir up new strife
1 Mosheim, by Maclaine, vol. iv. pp. 115, 116.
Edward VI. 's aversion to ambiguity in Confessions of Faith is evidenced by the following extract from his Journal, which relates to the war produced by the Interim :—" Nov. 14, [1550] answer was given to the Germans which did re- quire 400,000 dollars, if need so required, for maintenance of religion." " Thirdly, I would have the matter of religion made more plain, lest when war should be made for other quarrels, they should say it were religion." Burnet's Records, part ii. book ii. p. 40.
2 The original is " cothumos facit,'' an expression afterwards adopted by Cran- mer in his letters to John a Lasco and llardenberg, and by Dr. Robinson trans-
C
18
and conceal some things that trill confirm abuses. In the Church it is more pro- per^ to speak distinctly and not to offer to posterity ambiguous expressions, as the fable tells us the apple of discord vas offered to the goddesses at their feasts. If in Germany the agreement of our Churches had been entire and honest, we should not have fallen into these present misgivings. I therefore earnestly exhort you to turn your chief care and thoughts towards consulting the true interest of the Churches. If you shall also require my judgment and vote, I will willingly listen to other learned men, and I will deliver my own opinion in my place, and assign my reasons, sometimes persuading others and at others being persuaded by them, as befits the pure in speech. But let truth, let the glory of God and the welfare of the Church always be victorious and not any private affection and partiality.1
The excellent advice contained in this letter was most closely craxmkr followed by Cranjier. He adopted, as we shall presently prove, face against the Augsbnrg confession, as modestly recommended by Melanc-
trifling with . _r i «» i • ii • i
ambiguities thon. He made our Articles more precise and determinate than their original ; he spared no pains to render them a true and per- spicuous confession of the chief heads of doctrine ; and he re- quired the names of the Clergy to be subscribed. But in order to manifest the deep impression which this communication made upon Cranmer's mind, I shall cite portions of two letters written by him in the following month of July, wherein he adopts not only the ideas but the very phraseology of his highly esteemed and singular friend.
The following extract is made from his letter to John a law. Lasco, of July 4, 1548 : " AYe are desirous of setting forth in
lated, " adapt it to all tastes." The literal translation is, " he makes buskins," which might be worn on either foot. Hence 6 noBopvos was a nickname for Thera- menes, because of his changeable time-serving politics — Passow's Lexicon. The application of the proverb to such Articles of Faith as each party might interpret according to his own tenets will be understood from the following explanation of Erasmus: — " Versatilior cothurno dictum est in hominem parum constantem lubricaque fide, quive incertae et ancipitis esset factionis, similitudine ducla acal- raento, quod Graeci, niOopvav, Latini mutata literula, cothurnum vocant. Erat autem quadrangulum et utrique conveniens pedi quodque vel dextro vel sinistro potuit accommodari." Erasmus, Adag. cent. i. 94. Cranmer's Works, i. p. 332, note.
1 To speak distinctly, " Scapham scapham dicere." Schleusner in his Lexicon on the Greek Testament has this note under OKatyn. " Grascis, inquit Erasmus, aK&ip tj ddo significat ligonem et navigii levioris genus, a verbo aKaitroi, fodio : nam ligo fossorium est instrumentum et scaphae fiunt e trunco excavato."
2 Melancthon's Epistles, book i. ep. 66. Archbishop Lawrence's Bampton Lectures, third edition, pp. 224, 225.
19
our Churches/' he says, "the true doctrine of God, and have
NO WISH TO ADAPT IT TO ALL TASTES, AND TO TRIFLE WITH
ambiguities, but laying aside all carnal and prudential motives, to transmit to posterity a true and explicit form of doctrine agree- able to the rule of the sacred writings ; so that there may not only be set forth among all nations an illustrious testimony re- specting our doctrine delivered by the grave authority of learned and godly men, but that all posterity may have a1 rule [of faith] to follow. For the purpose of carrying this important design into execution, we have thought it necessary to have the assist- ance of learned men, who, having compared their opinions to- gether with us, may do away with all doctrinal controversies and build up an entire system of true doctrine."2 The other letter to which I allude, was addressed to Albert Hardenberg, from Cambridge, on July 28th, 1548, the language of which is pre- cisely the same with the foregoing extract. We will therefore pass on to a letter which the Archbishop wrote to Melanctiion from London, on February 10th, 1549. After urging him to ,549. come to England, he added, " I am aware that you have often desired that wise and godly men should take counsel together, and having compared their opinions, compose under the sanction of their authority some work that should embrace the chief sub- jects of ecclesiastical doctrine, and transmit the truth uncorrupted to posterity. This object we are anxiously endeavouring to ac- complish to the utmost of our power."3
In a letter to Calvin, dated March 20, 1552, the Archbishop 1552, the wrote in the following terms :4 — "As nothing tends more injuri- which the oushi to the separation of the Churches than heresies and disnutes were com-
. Piled.
respecting the doctrines of religion,%o nothing tends more effectually to unite the Churches of God and more powerfully to defend the fold of Christ than the pure teaching of the Gospel and harmony
1 I have ventured to deviate from the translation given by Dr. Robinson in the first portion of Original Letters, published by the Parker Society. Above, he rendered " norma," " rule," but here he translates " Nurmam se/jui," " a pat- tern to imitate," which 1 think does not so well express the intention of the author. Original Letters, published by the Parker Society, portion i. p. 17. Cranmer, vol. i. pp. 329, 330.
2 Original Letters, portion i. p. 18, note 2. Cranmer's Works, vol. i. p. 331.
3 Cranmer, vol. i. pp. 337, 338. Original Letters, portion, i. p. 1!).
4 Original Letters, portion i. pp. 24, 25. Cranmer, vol. i. p. 346.
c 2
20
of doctrine. Wherefore I have often wished and still continue to do so, that learned and godly men who are eminent for erudition and judgment might meet together in some place of safety, where by taking counsel together, and comparing their respective opinions, they might handle all the heads of Ecclesiastical doc- trine, and hand down to postei'ity under the weight of their autho- rity, some work not only upon the subjects themselves but upon the
FORMS OF EXPRESSING THEM."'
Calvin Calvin in his reply highly approved of Craumer's endeavours
also disap. , , . .
proves of to purify the sound doctrine in the Church from all false tcachinq,
ambiguous ■ TI ,
language, and transmit it whole and entire to posterity. He then expresses his best wishes for the Archbishop's success in convening a Synod for discussing each head of the Faith with all diligence, and then handing down to posterity the sure doctrine on which they had unanimously decided. He appears to have received soon afterwards an announcement from Cranmer that the scheme was relinquished, and that it was now resolved to draw up a separate Confession of Faith for the Church of England ; for he com- mences another letter thus : — " Since at present there is very little hope of effecting what was so ardently desired, viz., that the principal doctors of the different Churches, which have em- braced the pure doctrine of the Gospel, should meet together, and publish out of the pure word of God a certain and clear Confession, for the use of posterity, of each head of doctrine at this day con- troverted. I highly praise the counsel you have taken, Reverend sir, that the English may perfectly establish religion amongst themselves ; that the public mind may no longer be in suspense on matters hitherto doubtful, and arranged with less order than was fitting."2
Once more I will quote a passage from a letter written by
1 Original Letters, portion i. p. 24. Cranmer, vol. i. 346. Cranmer, a little below, speaking of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, says, that though the dissension and variety of opinions respecting it be somewhat removed, yet he " could wish for an agreement in this doctrine, not only as regards the subject itself, but also with respect to the words and the forms of expression."
2 Cranmer, i. p. 347. Archbishop Lawrence's Bampton Lectures, 226 — 9. On the 29th of October, 1548, Calvin wrote to the Protector Somerset to this effect : " He had heard that the reason they went no further was, because the times could not bear it ; but this was to do the work of God by political maxims ; which though they ought to take place iu other things, yet should not be fol- lowed hi matters in which the salralion of souls was concerned." Burnet, part ii.
21
Cranmer to Philip Melanctiion, dated Lambeth, March 27, cranmbr
' desires to
1552, "We read in the Acts of the Apostles, that when a dis- follow the
' ' ' example of
pute had arisen as to whether those who from among the Gen- [hf. ap°s- tiles had beeu turned to God, should be compelled to be circum- cation- cised and keep the law of Moses, the Apostles and Elders came together to consider of this matter; and having compared their opinions, delivered the judgment of their council in a written epistle. This example I wish we ourselves could imitate, in whose Churches the doctrine of the Gospel has been restored and purified. But although all controversies cannot be removed in this world (because the party which is hostile to the truth, will not assent to the judgment of the Church) it is nevertheless to be desired that the members of the true Church should agree among themselves upon the chief heads of Ecclesiastical doctrine. But it cannot escape your notice how greatly religious dissensions, especially in the matter of the Lord's Supper, have rent the Churches asunder ; had they been settled before, the Emperor, I think, would never have made war against you. And it is truly grievous that the sacrament of unity is made by the malice of the devil food for disagreement, and as it were, the apple of contention. I could wish therefore, that those who excel others in erudition and judgment should be assembled together after the example of the Apostles, and declare their judgment as well respecting other subjects of dispute as likewise especially re- specting this controversy, and attest their agreement by some pub- lished document."
With this quotation I shall close the evidence which I wish Brief state- to offer in proof of Melancthon's and Cranmer's strong and, objects decided disapprobation of the use of general and ambiguous lan- lancthon guage in Confessions oj raith. Let me briefly recapitulate the mer had in
i _ 1 1 . viewincom-
substance ot what is scattered over their correspondence. Tliey piling these
■l • i /» -l -I'll Articles, and
had experienced the signal failure and miserable results of the how they
r • n • proposed to
Interim, a scheme professedly vague and ambiguous and designed a«ain them- to admit of a latitude of interpretation. They therefore took warning from this experiment and determined to lay aside all carnal prudence and worldly policy, all private affection and par- book i. p. 88. It is much to be regretted that the distinction here drawn between the principles that should influence us in dealing with worldly and spiritual mat- ters, was not known to, or at least acted upon by the Judicial Committee.
22
tiality and to set forth the uncorrupted truth of the Gospel in still more certain and perspicuous language than had hitherto been used, and in such form of expression as had been agreed upon. Their avowed object was to decide, and put an end to all doctrinal controversies, and to establish, not a nominal and tem- porary, but a real and lasting unity of sentiment and harmony of doctrine, and they hoped to effect this desirable end not by adapt- ing their confession to all tastes, but by teaching the truth, not by trifling with ambiguities, but by using precise and definite terms jealously guarded against all misconception and perver- it was not sion. It is also material to notice that in their plan they did
their inteu- . - - ,
tion to give not purpose to treat 01 every doctrine of the liible, but only to sition of handle, and record their matured judgment, on the chief heads of
every doc-
trine. Ecclesiastical doctrine. On these principal points of our Chris- tian religion they laboured ; and we think it will by-and-by appear very successfully, to leave no doubt as to the sense in which they (the compilers) understood these Articles, and in this sense they required the Clergy to subscribe them in a book, as a register of concord. Thus the Articles would serve as a test of the faith and opinions of the Clergy, and as a security for their teaching none otherwise than the Church herself declared to be agreeable with the Word of God. Of such articles of religion as these Cranmer entertained very high expectations. He hoped they would not only promote the present interest of the Church and bring about " such a concord and quietness in religion as else was not to be looked for many years/' but also be "an illus- trious testimony of the doctrine" of the Church of England "among all nations," and "a rule of Faith for posterity to follow." It has pleased God to realize this good man's expec- tations in a remarkable manner. On the revival of the Refor- mation in Elizabeth's reign, Archbishop Parker, instead of bring- Cranmer's ing forward a new Confession of Faith, revised Cranmer's Articles basis of of 1552, making such omissions and additions as in his judg- teTb/co!)- ment the altered circumstances of the Church required, but 1S62. leaving the doctrine untouched and unchanged. This copy he submitted to Convocation, by whom it was very favourably received,1 and after some slight corrections they unanimously
1 Archbishop Parker presented the copy he had prepared to the Upper House of Convocation, on January 20th, 1562, and on the 29th they agreed to them and
23
subscribed it. Archbishop Lawrence speaks of the good sense, moderation, and prudence which the Convocation discovered in revising the Articles in the following terms. " Instead of increas- ing the number of the Articles they diminished them, instead of extending their sense so as to make them embrace a greater proportion of speculative tenets, they contracted them and ap- peared in every case more disposed to extinguish difference of opinion than to augment it by adding fuel to a flame already ris- ing above control. In one or two instances indeed additions or rather additional elucidations were admitted. Of the tendency however of these we cannot doubt, when we learn that with the exception of one obvious topic alone,1 they were not original, that they were neither the productions of Parker nor the Con- vocation, and that they were not borrowed from any Calvinistical or Zuinglian, but from a Lutheran Creed. The Creed to which I allude is the Confession of Wirtemberg, which was ex- hibited in the Council of Trent the very year when our Articles were completely arranged by Cranmer."2 Thus revised, they have been an illustrious testimony of our doctrine, and of the wisdom of our Clergy among all nations. For wherever the altar of the Church of England has been raised, there have her Articles been hitherto received as a plain, accurate, and scriptural Rule of Faith.
subscribed them as Articles of the true and orthodox Faith. And between the 5th and 10th day of February, certain others of the Lower House had sub- scribed their names ; and an order was made that all whose names were not sub- scribed should be presented at the next session. This took place on the 12th ; and as no report was then made of any who had not signed, it may fairly be con- cluded that by this day all had signed, either " propriis manibus," or " per pro- curators.'' — Lamb' s Historical Account , pp. 19, 20. In this work an exact copy is printed of the Latin manuscript which Archbishop Parker presented to Convocation.
1 The Doctrine of the Eucharist.
2 Archbishop Lawrence, Bampton Lectures, pp. 41, 233 — 236.
CHAPTER III.
The Articles not designed to be the sole Standard of the Church's Faith, nor like a system or Body of Divinity to treat of all Christian Doctrine, but to guard the principal points of our holy religion from misconception and perversion. cranmer care- fully guarded the sacraments against the heresy of the Anabaptists, etc. The sources from which ma- terials WILL BE DERIVED FOR ILLUSTRATING THE ARTI- CLES.
But whilst I am thus contending against the unfounded and The Articles injurious assumption that our Articles are designedly ambiguous,
are free from „ . . -„ . „
anydesigned and consequently worthless, as a test of opinion or a Rule of
ambiguity, , i
yet they Faith, let me not be supposed to countenance another error on
were never
intended to the opposite side, that they are the sole as well as an accurate
be accepted 11 .
as the we Standard of the Doctrines of our Church. Cranmer designed
rule of the _ _ "
Anglican them to embrace the chief heads of Christian Doctrine, and he
Faith. ....
has laid down the truth on these subjects with brevity indeed, but yet with such precision that I believe it impossible to reconcile any heresy or any serious heterodoxy with their language, if understood in the sense in which their compilers imposed them. I am however ready to concede that there are many particulars connected with the doctrines handled in the Articles, which the Church never designed to settle there. And this she did, not because she considered them of such trifling importance that it was immaterial whether they were determined at all or not, but because she had already disposed of these questions elsewhere, in another part of her code of doctrine, previously put forth by the same men who compiled the Articles, framed with equal care
25
and the most scrupulous regard for truth, and " commended to the people of God" by the same grave authority. The reader must be reminded that the Forty-two Articles formed but a small, though a very important part of what Archbishop Cran- mer purposed to be the whole Rule of Faith and Discipline of the Church of England. There was the Book of Common Prayer, likewise also the Book of Ordering Ministers of the Church, set forth by the King's authority and the Parliament, both declared to be " godly and in no point repugnant to the wholesome doctrine of the Gospel, but agreeable thereunto, furthering and beautifying the same not a little."1 And there was the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, drawn up by a commission of thirty-two indi- viduals, 8 Bishops, 8 Divines, 8 Civilians, and 8 Lawyers ; and last of all there were the Articles respecting "uniformity inRites."2 All these were compiled at the command of a monarch who was anxious beyond all things to establish true Religion, and was decidedly averse to ambiguities and generalities, and under the immediate superintendence and chiefly by the hand of an Arch- bishop, who having " come to the last end of his life whereupon hung all his life past and all his life to come, either to live with his Master, Christ, for ever in joy, or else to be in pain for ever with wicked devils in hell," and when it was " no time to dissem- ble," declared in the presence of his murderers, " always since I
1 See Article XXXV. of 1552.
As a new and most unjust charge of ambiguity and comparative inaccuracy in doctrine, unfitting it to be a Rule of Faith, is now brought against the Prayer Book, and sanctioned by the Judicial Committee, all good Churchmen will, I am sure, excuse me for calling their attention to the following passage which appeared in the preface of the two Books of Edward VI. and the Prayer Book of Elizabeth, written and published by the very person who composed and revised our Articles : " Here you have an order of prayer (as touching the reading of holy Scripture) much agreeable to the mind and purpose of the old fathers, and a great deal more profitable and commodious than that which of late was used. It is more profit- able because here are left out many things whereof some be untrue, some uncer- tain, some vain and superstitious, and is ordained nothing to be read but the very pure Word of God and the Holy Scriptures, or that which is evidently grounded upon the same, and that in such a language or order, as is most easy and plain for the understanding both of the readers and hearers." And after- wards, they speak of the profit and knowledge which persons shall obtain by daily reading upon the book. Cardwell's Two Liturgies, p. 2. Liturgy of Elizabeth, p. 34.
2 Lamb's Historical Account, p. 8, note.
26
Distinction between Ar ticles of Re- ligion and a Body of Divinity.
If the Arti- cles do not decide all questions, they surely determine
lived hitherto, I have been a hater of falsehood and a lover of sim- plicity."1
As however the Judicial Committee lay great stress on the cir- cumstance of the Church not having- " intended to attempt the determination of all the questions which had arisen or might arise, or to include in the Articles an authoritative statement of all Christian Doctrine," and esteem it a serious defect; it is worth while to consider the importance and consequences of this ad- mission. In the first place they have forgotten the design of the Articles, and have overlooked the distinction between Articles of Religion, such as our own, and a system or body of divinity, and hence they have entertained and published opinions calcu- lated to lessen the value of the Articles. The following observa- tions by Dr. Hey will, it is hoped, set this matter in its true light : — " The end or design of a body of doctrine is to maintain unity of doctrine ; the intention of each particular Article is to find a remedy for some actual error, which occasions some dis- turbance, so as to frustrate some end of social religion or which seems very likely to do so. This it is which distinguishes a set of Articles from a system of theology or a sermon, and a very im- portant distinction I take it to be. The design of a system and a sermon is to explain and enforce all doctrines, whereas Articles only those by which one society is kept separate from another. A set of Articles is, as it were, a partition wall ; not intended for war, so much as to keep all things quiet ; like the walls of one's house, to let the domestic society within pursue its proper busi- ness in security."2 But upon other grounds we humbly think that it has no important bearing on the case which they were called upon to decide. Of what moment could it be whether the Church treated of all Christian doctrine or not in the Articles, so long as she treated fully and distinctly, and expressed herself with unexampled caution on the doctrine of the Sacraments, which doctrine Mr. Gorham was charged with perverting, explaining away, and contradicting ? We willingly grant that the Church did not intend to include in the Articles an authoritative state- ment of all Christian doctrine.3 But what then ? Does it fol-
1 Cranmer's declaration before his death. Works, vol. iv. pp. 139, 140. Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. iii. pp. 561, 2.
2 Hey's Lectures, vol. ii. , p. 83.
3 We have above observed that there is a remarkable resemblance between the
27
low that she teaches none authoritatively ? or that she has not determined the true doctrine of the Sacraments and guarded them against the designs of those un-catholic persons who would rob them of the promise of grace annexed to them by the Word of Christ, and reduce them to a level with a mere ceremony ordained by man for admitting members into any merely human society or brotherhood ? And with respect to the nature and number of questions which she intended to determine, we pre- sume that may best be learnt from the writings and correspond- ence of their principal compiler, and from the Articles themselves. If Cranmer's letters, written to men with whom he was taking- counsel respecting the compilation of the Articles, may be re- ceived as evidence of his real desire and intentions ; there can be
view taken of our Articles by the Judicial Committee and that put forth and de- fended by Mr. Sykes in his Defence of Arian Subscription. His object was to prove that the Articles were general, comprehensive, and indefinite — just such as they are now described. But Dr. Waterland disproved this statement and made it clear and manifest " that the expressions of our public forms (so far as concerns the points in dispute) are fixed, special, and determinate as possible, nor could the wit of man invent any more particular or stronger expressions against the new scheme, than are already in our Creeds, Liturgy, and Articles.''1 Another objection which Mr. Sykes urged is precisely the same with the doctrine of the Judgment. " The Articles are so composed that some of them are on all hands allowed to be left at large; the composers intending a latitude," &c. p. 8. To this Dr. Waterland replied, " I admitted this in my papers before and sufficiently showed how impertinent the plea is to the point in hand. Undoubtedly it never was the intent of our Church to determine all questions relating to every subject whereof it treats. Yet she intended to determine and has determined many ques- tions ; particularly the main questions between Protestants and Papists, between Catholics and Arians, (and we may add, between Catholics and Anabaptists, Zuinglians, and Socinians.) When Franciscus a Sancta Clara took upon him to reconcile our Articles to Popery, what did he else but play the Jesuit and render himself ridiculous ? The like has been since done by our Arian reconcilers, with as much wresting and straining and with as little success. It might be diverting enough (were not the thing too serious and full of sad reflections), to compare the Papist and the Arian together, and to observe which of them has been the greater master in this exercise, and has found out the most ingenious and svy- prising comment upon an Article. Our Articles however will stand in their own native light, in defiance to both, so long as gravity, sobriety, and manly thought shall be esteemed and valued above the little arts of equivocating and playing upon words. The Articles are not general, so far as concerns our present debate, and we need not inquire further. There is a medium I suppose between deter- mining all questions and determining none; one might justly wonder how this writer could be insensible of it and fall into so unaccountable way of reasoning." Waterland's Works, ii., pp. 361 — 3.
28
cranmcr no doubt that Cranmcr did intend to embrace in the Articles all
proposed
handling the t]ie chief heads of Ecclesiastical doctrine, and to attempt the deter-
cliiel heads . .
of Ecciusias- ruination of all questions and controversies relatinq to them ; and
tical Doc- j 1
trine. [n compiling his Rule of Faith he had an eye not only to heresies then taught in England, but to very many of those which had disturbed the peace of the Church Catholic in former days, and were at that time working grievous injury to the Continental Such were Churches. Among these heads Cranmer would certainly class nients of the the Sacraments of the Gospel. For, however lightly the new school, who affect to tread with severe exactness in the steps of the faith of this ever-to-be-revered Father of the English Church, — may speak of the Holy Sacraments, this great man always as- serted his high esteem and reverence for them, and, in his speech, delivered in Convocation in 1536, he called attention first to them declaring them to be "no light matters, but even the principal points of our Christian Religion/'1 Indeed, if there was one point which more than any other Cranmer laboured to clear from all the superstitious additions of Popery on the one hand and to protect from the irreverence and unholy detraction of the Soci- nians, Zuinglians, and Anabaptists on the other, it is the doc- trine of the Sacraments.2 In 1540 he sent nine questions on the Sacraments to the Archbishop of York, and six Bishops, one Bishop elect, and thirteen Divines, that each might record his opinion in writing, and that by comparing them, he might him- self be assisted in arriving at the truth. " By these," says Bishop Burnet, " it will appear with what maturity and care they pro- ceeded in the Reformation," and he considers it as " perhaps as
1 Fox's Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, vol. ii. p. 424 £. edit. 1684. Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 16, 17.
2 The Archbishop thus commences : " The First Book of the True and Catholic Doctrine and Use of theSacrament of theBody and Blood of ourSaviourCHRiST." " The Supper of the Lord, otherwise called the Holy Communion or Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, hath been of many men and by sundry ways very much abused, but specially within these four or five hundred years. Of some it hath been used as a sacrifice propitiatory for sin, and others superstitiously, far from the intent that Christ did first ordain the same at the beginning ; doing therein great wrong to His death and passion. And of other some it hath been very lightly esteemed, or rather contemned and despised as a thing of small or of none effect. And thus between both the parties hath been much variance and contention in divers places of Christendom." Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 292. See also Jewel, portion ii., p. 1 117.
29
great an evidence of the ripeness of their proceedings, as can be showed in any Church or in any age of it." And if we turn to the Articles themselves we discover ample evidence of Cranmer's anxiety and care not only to deliver the true doctrine of the which were
. guarded
Sacraments of the Gospel, but to guard the forms of expression against the
against all perversion by the llomanists or Latitudinarians.1 It Komauists . . . . . a'"1 Latitu-
is however clearly the opinion of the Judicial Committee that diuarians,
Mr. Gorham's doctrine of the grant of remission of sins, regene- ration, and adoption by a prevenient act of grace instead of by the Sacrament of Baptism, was not contemplated by the com- pilers of our Articles, and that therefore they did not so fence the true doctrine of Baptism, so as to render such teaching con- trary to that of the Articles. But they labour under a misap- prehension—doctrine very similar if not quite identical with that, which is now put forth with a new name and in a new dress, and adorned and beautified at the expense of Holy Baptism, was held by the Socinians, Zuinglians, and Anabaptists, and their disciples, at the time our Articles were drawn up. These low heretical views were known to and rejected by Cranmer, and as win he we find words designedly added to the Augsburg Confessions by uu<m com- the Archbishop to shut out any such heresy from the English definition of
, ■ the l'kvuiity*
Church. A comparison of the Thirteenth Article of the Augsburg fittii Article Confession with the corresponding portion of the Twenty-fifth original in Article will make this particular sufficiently apparent to any i>urg con- disinterested and candid person.
Augsburg Confession. Articles of 1552.
De usu sacramentorum do- Sacramenta per verbum Dei
cent, quod sacramenta insti- instituta non tantum not?e pro-
tuta sint, non modo ut sint fessionis Christianorum scd
notaj professionis inter homines, certa qucedam potius testimo-
sed magis ut sint signa ct tes- niaet efficacia signa gratis
timonia voluntatis Dei crga atque bonce in nos voluntatis
nos, ad excitandam et confir- Dei, per qu/e invisibiliter ipse
mandam fidem in his qui utun- in nobis operatur nostramque
tur proposita. fidem in se non solum excitat
verum etiam confirmat.
1 Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. pp. 98, 99. Burnet's History, vol. i. p. 289. Records, Book iii. No. xxi. p. 201. Collier's Eccles. Hist, part ii. Book iii. p. 188. Records, No. 49.
30
Now I would ask why the words I have marked were added to the Augsburg Confession, if it was not to guard against the very- heresy which is now vexing the English Church ? Do these addi- tions countenance the theory that the Articles were drawn up with designed ambiguity and with an intention of sanctioning a latitude of interpretation ? Or do they not rather supply incontrovertible evidence that this Article at the least, was designed to be a more precise and definite llule of Faith than its original ? Is it not obvious and undeniable that here as elsewhere the excellent Cranmer laboured to express himself " so sincerely and plainly, ivitliout doubts, ambiguities or vain questions, that the very simple and unlearned people may easily understand the same and be edified thereby."1 Let me recall to the reader's recollection the good advice which Melancthon gave Cranmer when recommending the
Crsn trior
made the Augsburg Confession as the groundwork of the English Articles,
Article more ° ° 11,-111,. •
preche in and I feel sure there will be no doubt left upon his mind as to
compliance
Jancth4"' Archbishop's intentions in making these important additions,
request. Melancthon, it will be remembered, wished some few of the Articles to be set out to posterity more fully explained, that am- biguities might not afterwards give occasion to new disagreements. We here perceive this request to have been most scrupulously regarded and carried into effect. And if again we inquire against whom these additional fears were raised, the answer must be, certainly not against the Romanists who attributed too much to the Sacraments. They never doubted of the efficacy of either of the Sacraments, nor that they were true and certain witnesses and effectual signs of grace conveyed by them to all infants and properly qualified adults. The words " certa," " efficacia," "gratia," " per qua' (signa) ipse (Deus) "in nobis operatur" must have been inserted therefore to exclude from the pale of the Church of England the heresies of that other party who con- temned or lightly esteemed the Sacraments and denied their virtue and efficacy.
I have endeavoured with as much brevity as possible to prove by facts that the view which the Judicial Committee have taken for luustrat- °f the Articles is not supported either by external or internal cramentai evidence, and it only now remains for me to explain in few words history^ the method by which I propose to arrive at the true sense of the terms and subject matter of the Sacramental Articles.
1 Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 297. Defence of the Lord's Supper.
The sources whence ma- terials will
31
One source of information is undoubtedly History. This will generally give us an insight into the times in which the Articles were compiled ; it will acquaint us with the causes which led to these compositions — with the state of religious opinion — with the view of their compilers and composers — with the heresies and false doctrine which they were designed " to root out/' with the interpretation put upon them as soon as they were made and whilst they were most clearly understood, and with a variety of other circumstances which will assist us in ascertaining the original and true sense of the Articles, and in illustrating any portion which may seem to need explanation. As regards the interpretation of the forms of expression, History must be of great use in giving us the primitive sense and a right idea of the new and acquired meaning of words, when any change has taken place ; it must be History which must show us the nature of each tacit reformation its causes and effects ; and on these must the new and acquired sense of words always depend.1 "There is one way by which words acquire, or more strictly seem to acquire new senses, by readers attending to gram- mar and etymology and (modern) custom while they neglect history. Etymology may make a sense seem to be a right one which really was not the sense of the writer, and modern customs may make us affix modern meanings to old words, when those mean- ings were not really in the minds of the persons who used those words." " All expressions contain references to circumstances which History only can point out. Indeed History can only point them out imperfectly, but it can approximate nearer to a right conception of them than any thing else. The word " ac- cursed" (for instance) occurs in one of our Articles ; if we de- pend upon etymology to teach us its meaning we shall be misled, but if we apply to History, we may get a competent notion of it. This will teach us the customary manner of condemning errors and customs and the "jus et norma loquendi.'" Of the value of History in interpreting the Articles it is impossible to form too high an opinion. "I would engage,"2 says Dr. Hey, " if I was possessed of a perfect historical knowledge, to make every thing in our Articles clear, intelligible, and familiar ; not to make every duel / ine so, but every manner of stating a doctrine. But then, 1 Dr. Hey's Lectures, vol. ii., pp. 78, 7'J. - lb. p. 82.
32
by historical knowledge I must be understood to mean not only a knowledge of facts, but of opinions and feelings. Indeed it may be deemed a knowledge of facts, if we know that sucb an opinion had in fact or reality many favourers at such a time ; that such an affection or sentiment, as zeal, disgust, &c, was actually prevalent in such a set or party of men. If any one finds any expression obscure or uncouth in our Articles he may ven- ture to ascribe the obscurity to the imperfection of his historical knowledge.
The writings Another source, whence we shall derive materials for the illus- anthors, tration of the Articles, will be the writings of their authors, and last ' Luther and Melancthon, and of their English compilers, Cran- mer, Ridley, and Latimer. To these we shall add the testimony of one of the greatest Divines, which the Reformation, which boasted of giants, produced, — I mean that of Bishop Jewel, their last editor. For next to the persons who actually compiled our Articles there is no man whose opinions are deserving of so much weight and reverence as his. He must have been well ac- quainted with the theological opinions of Cranmer and Ridley, and his attachment to them was so deep and sincere, that de- spite the personal risk he incurred, he acted as notary to them both in their several disputations at Oxford. In consequence of his eminent talents, profound learning, and well-known vene- ration for the Church, he was selected before any other Bishop for the important task of editing the Articles at the last revision. With the advantages which he possessed he could not have failed of knowing the meaning of every word in the Articles and the sense in which they were understood by their compilers as well as by the Convocation, who last revised them. We know also, that in discharging the duty assigned to him, he bestowed great care upon the Articles, he corrected the translation, he endea- voured to remove every semblance of ambiguity from the Sacra- mental Articles by adding in the translation a word more familiar than the one previously used, and he altered the titles to render them a more sure index to the subject matter of the Articles. Indeed Bishop Burnet says, "he had so great share in all that was done then that he had reason to look on his works as a very sure commentary on our Articles."
We shall also call into our aid such works, injunctions, and
33
other documents as were published by the authority of the And such Church of England, between the years 1536 and 1571. By mentsas
• i-i -T1 1 /-i » 1 1 • were pub •
carrying this plan into execution, 1 hope, by God s blessing, lisiicd by to do some service to the Church of England, and to allay the between fears and remove the doubts of many a faithful son. By making 1571. the framers of the Articles the commentators upon them we shall have the surest guide to the truth in any case of doubt or diffi- culty. Churchmen will then also be able to judge for themselves of the opinions of our revered Reformers. They will then see how much truth there is in this proud boast that "for a long period after the Reformation" the Bishop of Exeter " has not a single witness that he can lean upon in our Church." I believe a great deal of misconception exists as to the views of the com- pilers of our Articles respecting the nature and efficacy of the Sacraments. Indeed it can hardly be otherwise — for the new school have sadly misrepresented their meaning. Whilst these erroneous impressions remain on people's minds, the memory of our Reformers and the cause of truth must suffer. It is due therefore to both, that those misapprehensions should be re- moved, and that what they have really written and taught on the important doctrines now unhappily called in question should be generally known. It will then appear, that " the persons who The com-h compiled our Articles were men of the first ability — as scholars Articles pos-
« . . . . sessed such
(if we except a few, though mere linguists ought not to be reck- quaiifica- v r -1 ii- tiODS as ren~
oned) we are mere children to them : the Scriptures they were dered them
' . . most fit per-
conversant in to a degree, of which few have now any conception, sons for exe-
. . . . cutinp; so
(so at least I believe :) Ecclesiastical History of facts and opinions important
* ' • 1 an under-
lay open before them ; yet, they were not mere scholars, nor taking.
monks, nor monkish men, but skilled in government, knowing men and manners, liberal in behaviour, free from all fanaticism ; full of probity yet guided in their measures by prudence. Con- ceive all these roused, animated, by the grandeur and impor- tance of the occasion ; all their powers exerted to the utmost, with diligence and ardour ; and you will agree, well might Dr. Balguy say, " the age of Ridley, Jewel, and Hooker, will be re- verenced by the latest posterity." " No set of men could be chosen more likely to form a good set of Articles. They would fall short of nothing attainable, through indolence or cowardice they would set down nothing carelessly, on the presumption of
D
34
its passing unexamined — they would overshoot nothing, in hopes of catching a few. They had nothing for it but to fix on that, which right reason and good feelings would embrace."1 If there- fore we entertain mean and unworthy sentiments of them, or find their language occasionally obscure, the fault is not in them but in ourselves ; — it arises from our own ignorance.
1 Dr. Hey's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 204.
CHAPTER IV.
Division I.
On the Twenty-fifth Article of 1562: "Of the Sa- craments."
Having now disposed of several questions relating to the Arti- cles in general, we will enter upon the consideration of the Twenty-fifth Article in particular. And first, we will endeavour History of
tt- <• i t\ i • p i ci i> i the Church's
to trace the History ot the Doctrine ot the bacraments trom the doctrine of earliest Reformation of the Church's doctrine in 1536 to its final ments. settlement in 1571. In the former year Henry VIII. devoted much attention to the state of Religion. With the Reformation there sprang up a great variety of wild and heretical opinions, and the peace of the Church was disturbed by religious contro- versies whereby the consciences of the unlearned were in doubt what they might believe. On the 23rd of June, 1536, the proceedings Lower House of Convocation sent a Catalogue of Sixty-seven he- vocation of terodoxies (being the tenets of the Old Lollards or New Reform- ers, together with the Anabaptists' opinions1) to the UpperHouse, with a protest, requesting that some active steps might be im- mediately taken to check the progress of these opinions ; and among the last Articles are found some severe animadversions on certain Bishops (viz., Archbishop Cranmer, and Bishops Latimer and Shaxton, as is conjectured) for conniving at the circulation of some books which the Convocation had declared heretical and heterodox. His Majesty therefore appointed "an assembly of learned men and Bishops which should soberly and modestly entreat and determine those things which pertained to
1 Burnet, vol. i. pp. 213, 214. D 2
36
" Stokesly defendeth the seven Sacra- ments."
" All be not Snrrnmejits of the New Testament which have the name of Sacra- ments "
lleligion." Cromwell also thought proper to be present himself with the Bishops, and by chance meeting with Alexander Alesius by the way, a Scotchman, and Cranmer's guest, he brought him with him to the Convocation House. The Vicar General,in the name of the King, delivered an address to the Bishops, declaring that his Majesty " studied day and night to set a quietness in the Church, and he could not rest until all such controversies were fully de- bated and ended, and exhorted them to set and conclude a godly and perfect unity by determining all things by the Scripture." Stokesly, Bishop of London, defended " the unwritten verities," and endeavoured out of the old school glosses to maintain the seven Sacraments of the Church, and was supported by Lee, Archbishop of York ; Longland, Bishop of Lincoln ; Tonstal, of Durham ; Sherburn of Chichester ; Nix, of Norwich ; and seve- ral others. On the contrary part was the Archbishop of Can- terbury ; Shaxton, Bishop of Salisbury ; Goodrich, Bishop of Ely ; Fox, Bishop of Hereford ; Latimer, Bishop of Worcester : with many others. After much debating, Archbishop Cranmer addressed the Bishops, exhorting them not to brawl about words but to study for the unity and quietness of the Church. He also reminded them that the controversies they were called upon to decide were not of ceremonies and light things; but, among other weighty matters, of the manner and way how sins be forgiven, of the true use of the Sacraments ; whether the outward work of them doth justify man, or whether we receive our justification by faith ; and whether the ceremony of confirmation, of orders, and of anointing, and such other [which cannot be proved to be institute of Christ, nor have any word in them to certify us of remission of sins) ought to be called Sacraments and to be compared with Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, or no ? And he concluded with these words : " In this disputation we must first agree of the number of the Sacraments, and what a Sacrament doth signify in the Holy Scripture, and when we call Baptism and the Supper of Z/ieLoRD, Sacraments of the Gospel — what we mean thereby. I know right well that S. Ambrose and other authors call the washing of the Disciples' feet and other things, Sacraments, which I am sure you yourselves would not suffer to be numbered among the other Sacraments."
Alesius was then commanded by Cromwell to speak, and ad-
37
dressing himself to the Bishops, said, " I think that my Lord Archbishop hath given you a profitable exhortation, that ye should first agree of the signification of a Sacrament, whether ye will call a Sacrament a ceremony institute of Christ in the Gospel, to sig- "The name nify a special or a singular virtue of the Gospel and of Godliness meat, how (as S. Paul nameth remission of sins to be), or whether ye mean tendetn. every ceremony generally, which may be a token or signification of an holy thing to be a Sacrament ? For after this latter signifi- cation I will not stick to grant you that there be seven Sacra- ments, or more too if ye will. But yet S. Paul seemeth to describe a Sacrament after the just signification; whereas he saith, ' That Circumcision is a token and seal of the righteousness of Faith.' This definition of our particular Sacrament must " what is a
11 n 11 i Sacrament
be understood to appertain to all Sacraments generally, for the properly? Jews had but one Sacrament only, as all the sophistical writers v." do grant. And he describeth Baptism after the same manner in the Fifth to the Ephesians, whereas he saith, ' that Christ doth sanctify the Church/ that is to say, all that be baptized through the bath of water in the Word of Life. For here also he addeth the Word and promise of God unto the ceremony ; and Christ also requireth Faith where He saith, 'whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved.'
" And S. Augustine describeth a Sacrament thus : ' The Word Gon.s Word of God coming unto the element maketh the Sacrament.' And in gofngwith e another place he saith, ' A Sacrament is a thing wherein the reremony power of God, under the form of visible things, doth work secretly Sacrament. salvation.' And the Master of the sentences doth describe a a definition Sacrament no otherwise : 'A Sacrament' (saith he) 'is an invi- ment.acra sible grace, and hath a visible form ; and by this invisible grace I mean' (saith he) ' remission of sins.' Finally S. Thomas tie- no man
• i i ii l . . . _ hath power
nieth that any man hath authority to institute a Sacrament, to make any
~, Sacrament.
Now if you agree unto this definition of a Sacrament, it is an easy thing to judge of the number of those Sacraments which have the manifest Word of Gon, and be institute of Christ, to signify unto us the remission of our sins.
" S. Augustine saith that there be but two such Sacraments, in Aug. a<i the 118th epistle to Januarius. His words be these : 1 First /ep. i is. would have thee to understand the sum and effect of this disputa- tion, which is this: That our Lobd Jesus Christ (as He Him-
38
Christ's self saith in the Gospel) hath laden us but with a light and east/ charged i/oke or burden. Wherefore He hath knit toqether the fellow-
with but few ' * 9
and easy SHIP QF HlS NEW PEOPLE WITH SACRAMENTS, VERY FEW IN
Sacraments.
NUMBER, VERY EASY TO BE KEPT, AND VERY EXCELLENT IN SIGNIFICATION — WHICH BE BAPTISM AND THE SuFPER OF
the Lord, and such other, if there be any more commanded in the Holy Scripture, those except which were burdens for the ser- vitude of the people in the old law, for the hardness of their hearts, Aug. de fyc.' And again, in the third book of the Learning of the Christian Christ. iit>.3. Man, he saith : ' The Scripture hath taught us but few signs, as be the Sacrament of Baptism and the solemn celebration and re- membrance of the Body and Blood of the Lord, he.' "
Stokesly replied against Alesius, and said : " where you allege that all the Sacraments which are in the Church instituted by Christ Himself, have either some manifest ground in the Scrip- tures, or ought to show forth some signification of remission of sins, it is false and not to be allowed."
Fox, Bishop of Hereford, then arose and spoke in favour of an appeal to God's Word rather than to the schoolmen : — " Through whose oration Alesius being encouraged, proceeded further, to urge the Bishop [of London] with this argument.
" The Argument in Form.
sacraments "Ba. Sacraments be seals ascertaining us of God's good Will. ti^taeaTaf ro. Without the Word there is no certainty of God's cood
Gon'sgood wm
co. Ergo. Without the Word there be no Sacraments. " The first part of this reason is S. Paul's own saying, the fourth to the Romans, where he saith : 1 that circumcision is a token and a seal of the righteousness of Faith.' Ergo : it requireth Faith to certify man's heart of the Will of God. But the Word of God is the foundation of Faith, as S. Paul witnessetb. 1 Faith The word is come^ hearing, and hearing comet h by the Word of God/ the ground por the mind must be taueht and instructed to the Will of God
of faith. c
Rom. x. by Word, like as the eye is taught and instructed by the outward ceremony. And so S. Paul by that saying confuteth this opinion, that the Sacraments should make men righteous
operito e aD-d just Def°re God, for the very outward work without faith of them that receive them.
39
" And after this manner doth S. Paul speak unto the Ephe- Ephes. v. sians, that Christ doth sanctify His Church through the bath of Water in the Word of Life. And forasmuch as he joineth the word unto the ceremony, and declareth the virtue and power of the Word of God, that it bringeth with itself he doth manifestly teach that Word of God is a principal thing and even Sacraments
AS IT WERE THE VERY SUBSTANCE AND BODY OF THE Sa- g^he^dout
crament, and the outward ceremony to be in very deed nothing Goj^°rd else but a token of that lively inflammation which we receive through Faith in the Word and Promise. S. Paul also in ministering the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper doth mani- festly add the Words of Christ. He took bread, saith he, and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take ye this and eat ye this, for it is My Body. Item. ' Do ye this in My remem- brance.' Besides this he teacheth evidently that only Christ, and none but He had power to institute a Sacrament ; and that The institu- neither the Apostles nor the Church hath any authority to alter Christ
•7- _ ' ought not to
or to add any thing unto His ordinance, whereas he saith, ' For t>e altered. / have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you, fyc' To what purpose should he go about to move the people to be- lieve him, and to win their hearts with this protestation, if it had been lawful for him to have made any Sacraments, or to have altered the form and manner of ministering the Sacrament, as some men both wickedly and shamefully do affirm, that the Apostles did alter the form of Baptism Vn
Such were the proceedings of the Upper House of Convoca- tion in 1536, as recorded by Fox, himself a Puritan.2 The whole dispute between the Bishops arose from Cranmer and those Prelates who were favourable to the Reformation contending for such a definition of a Sacrament as would exclude all signs of holy things from the dignity of " Sacraments of the Gospel," except Baptism and the Lord's Supper. They defined a Sacra- The i;jer. ment to be a ceremony, instituted of Christ in the Gospel, to sacrament signify a special or a singular virtue of the Gospel and of Godli- gospel, ness, as S. Paul nameth remission of sins to be. They also main- tained that this virtue and power was derived from the Word and Promise of God being added to the ceremony, and was brought
1 Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. pp. 421 — 42G. Burnet gives an abridged account, vol. i. pp. 214, 215.
2 Neal's Puritans, vol. i. p. 124.
40
with it aud made certain by it ; and that it is conferred by God at the time of the administration of the Sacrament and by means of it. This they proved by a quotation from St, Augustin : " A Sacrament is a thing wherein the power of God doth1 work secretly Salvation." And as the Sacraments are the means by which God works invisibly in us, so faith in the Word and Pro- mise joined to the ceremony and certifying a man's heart of God's good will towards him individually, is the means whereby adults receive the invisible grace — remission of sins. The debates of this Convocation resulted in the compilation of the Articles of 1536, in which the points above insisted on against the Papists2 are most clearly and distinctly laid down under the Articles of " the Sacrament of Baptism," and " the Sacrament of the Altar." I am not however aware that our Reformers compiled any dis- tinct Article on the Sacraments generally until the year 1 538, when the English and German Divines drew up Thirteen Arti- cles on the basis of the Augsburg Confession. This Article with its original, and those published by the authority of the Church until 1571, I shall place before the reader in parallel columns that he may satisfy himself what the teaching of the Church has really been at the different periods of her History, and whether she has expressed herself in more general and ambiguous or in more precise and particular terms than had previously been done.
1 It is now contended that the Sacrament of Baptism, ordained of Christ, does not convey grace, instrumentally, to every Infant ; but is a sign of grace already bestowed upon only a part of those babes who conceive it. It is there- fore worth noticing that the ancient learned fathers, and after them our own Church, speak of the Sacraments as signs, seals, and pledges, of the grace which God doth work by them, as His instruments, at the time of their being received. The verb " operatur'' is in the present tense, and cannot, without a violation of the rules of grammar, be rendered " hath wrought.'' Again, if the Sacraments be signs of grace bestowed before their reception, and this grace is not bestowed on all persons, it is clear that they cannot be effectual signs, for what they signify has been effected before they are used, and so it cannot be effected by them ; neither are they sure witnesses of grace received ; for it is contended that some persons have not had this grace given to them. According to the new theory, therefore, they are occasionally false witnesses and always ineffectual signs, for they never can effect what they are said to signify.
2 Either from ignorance or malicious wickedness our present neologians are constantly »«/*representing the doctrine of one Baptism for conveying remission of sins as a Popish error; whereas Fox declares that Stokesly, the leader of the Papists, pronounced it false that Sacraments ought to show forth some significa- tion of remission of sins.
The Com hmhos or Acgsmtio, 1530.
Irfi ill > XIII. Ut Urn Sarramrntorum De utu sacramcntorum doccnt, qu<-M tainiuienla nitiituta tint, non modo ul suit nolic profcationis inter hominot, scd magU ut lint tigna ol lo«timonia voluntatis Dei crga not ad oicilandaiu at con firm an dam fidem in hit qui uluntur propatita. Itaquc utendum C«t lacnUDcntU, it* Ut fida accodat, quit rreduf promiinonibua, quir per mcramrnta eihibcntui et otlen- duntur.
Dsmnuut igitur illot qui docent, quod tncramenla ct nporc uperjin juttificcnt, n. t dm cut lideui rcquiri in uiu Mcramen- torum. quu- ere Jot rcmitli peccatn.
N.B. — The reader will ""t forget Aletiut' Definition given in ibe Convocation of 1630.
Art. it, De Sacramentoiium Use, 1838.
jan-nmrrKo ostenduntur cihibentur ct prawtaulur. Nequc cnira in illit vcrum eft, quod quidnm dicunt, tacramcnt*. eonferre grntiam « o/xre operalo sine bono niolu mentis, imni in raliont ulrnlibui uecc&sum eat, utjfdri cliam utentis accednt, per quam eredat i/lu promutiumbm, tt acci/ii'Jf rti iirvmitiat quir rfcll xciumima CfPi/rrurif ur. De I M ami Dug voro CUD tomcmrium tit cot a misericordia Dei CMluderc, pitrscrtim cum Christut in Evangclio dical, " Smite pnrvulot nd me venire, tedium est cnim regoum crclorum ;" ft alibi " Nini quit remit u* fucrit ci uqui'i et Bpiritu Suneto BOB potctt inlrarc in regnunj cmlnrum ;" cumque perpituo ectlesue ("ullinliue outnui tudiric, juni inde ah ipiis Apmlolorum lemporibui, rrceptum sit in- fantes dehorn JepliMri in ™mi»Mra peeratonm el iitfiifrm, dicimut quad Spiritui Saneliu efiicax nt in Mil tl eui in Bap- litmo mundet, qucmndmodum supra in ArUculo de Hiiplismo dictum ctt.
non modo ut iml notir prnfcuionii niter honiine), led tnullo maeis, ut tint signa et Utlimonia voluntatis Dei ergo not, proposita ad cieitandarn ct confirmandani fidem in his qui uttintur tit. I to que utendum est lacramenlis ila ut acccdat fillet piomitsionibui, quir per lacmmtnla cihibcntur ct ottenduntur. Hoc fidt uccipimut p romuiam r/rnhntn, quam lacrnmenta wjnificant rl Spintum Sanctum.
Damnant iyitur Ph;iri*uic;iiu ujiinioiu-m quir .'bruit d>>c(rinaiD de fide, occ doccl fidem in utu tacramcntorum requiri, qua; credat projiiit t'lifi^iuin imlu, ^Tiitiniiwlfiri. Sdlin^'it bonjinci juitos cttc propter mum tncramciiiorum ex opere operalo et quidem lino bono motu utcntium.
Catechism or 1563,
Written by Bitbop Poinet for all tchool mailer* to leneli the unskilful and children, set forth by tho King's Majesty's authorily, and ]>rrli\i<iJ lo the Articles of the mniy year.
Matter. Tell me vihat thou callvsl SacratnenU t> Die mibi quid tu vocnt tacramcnta ?
They are CERTAIN* cuitomablt rtvtmi doiiigt and ceremo- Sunt «r(* solemnes actioncs et ccremonin- a Christo biili- nict1 ordained by CrJRlSr ; tbll DT IBXU He might pat us in tula?, ut I'KR EAS btntfinaram norm erga not admonertt
fcasion that we be of the number of them vktek km, partaken timut numcro, qui talium benefiriorum st'M participti, et qui of the same bene fiU and which fatten oil their olfianrc in in illi fiduciom cmiiem c>1l.u;int. qmnlque not non pudet Himj that we are not athamed of the name of CllUttl or lo nominis Cbriitiani out ippeuttl ) Dtidpulorutn Ciirisii.
f. K i v .'- Mui -iv,
knit top-tin r ri cnrnpniiy ioiI few in number, must ii^nihtali'in, ii s it itnptiim
26. H Of the Our Lord Jesus Christ ha
euty to be kept, moil excellent and tbe Lord's Supper.1
The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ lo be gazed upon or to be carried about, but Ibut we iliculd rightly me them. And in such only a* hiphIiiI) nuivt the tame they bate a wholesome effect and operation, and yet not that of the work wrought, as some man tpeakt. Which word n* it it ttrvngc and unknow n lo Holy Scripture ; to it cngcndcrctb no Godly, but u very superstitious irnse. But tliey ihnt re- ceire the SncramcntA unworthily, [luichnse lo themselves damnation, as S. Paul Mitb,
Sacraments ordained by the Word of Oou be nol only budget and tokens of Chrittian men'* prof Ml! OH ; but rather they be certain sure wilnum-t ami ttfi itunl >i«ns of grace
»nd (i.ili'- i: I mil Lownnli ut, tin "Im li ll>- ilulli m.rk
invisibly in ut and doth not only quicken but iltO strengthen and confirm our fail I, in Him.
Houily oe Common Praycr and Sacraments, whitii:n a ,m nrioat 1362. " lu ihe due use of the Sacrament*"—" He {Gun] ctnbreceth ut and offeicUi Ilimielf to be embraced of ut." p 321.
"And as for the
namely, for Ihr riril Ttrtnmnt, if Wen
" In ihe tecond bnuk m;iiiiiit tin adversary of the Lav the Prophets, he (S. Augmtiu) callcth Sacraments signs. And writing to Hi>iiiLi<.iut of the Uaplitui of In he taith, ' If Sacramcnu bad nol b certain umililude of 1 tilings whereof they hi Snrnuiiviitt, lin y should be no S
Sacramenla aCbristo imtituta. noli tnntum Sunt noln faswlonis Christianorum, ted certa qua-dam poliui letliti •t cfKcacia tigna gratiir. alquo bona- in not voluntatn per qua; invitibiliicr ipse in not opcrelur, notiraniquo
' 1SC2— 1371.
Of the Saer Sacramrnts ordained of Clin tokens of Chriilian men's profession ; but rather they be et lain sure witnesses and sfcctU*] ngfit of grace and God's good will towards us, by the whieh He doth work invisibly in il only quicken but also iticoglheD and con-
o*1; t
Inn, ■
nHin
ImU r..l,i ii
i sunt, ul quir, ptftiin i
pturit quidem probali candem cum haptitmo el cctiui Domini raliniiem non habeii- tcs,1 ut quo? lignum aliqumt tiiib.le, ieu uer, ni.iuiam a Di u inttitulum.1 non hsbeanL
Stcnmeiita non in hoe bulimia aunl a Christo ut tpMla- rentur, tut circumfcrrenlur, ted ul rite ilht utfirmur,' tt in hi* duntuat qui digne pcrcipiuul uluUtvln babent offec- tum : qui vero EBtUgH pi iripiunt, danuiaUoncm (ut tnquil Paulus) tibi ipal* aoqiiinint.1 H,<m> Aod
' ■- Qnomwli} ocv I' i iu btri iuertnl la ' l,J "'■ ' "hotesome effect
There arc two Sornimetiit oidoined of Christ our Loud in the Gospel, thai is In say, Daptisnt and tho Supper of the
Those five, t.-uitiiniilj o:,H, ,1 Siicrnnicnls, tliat it lo tay,
lion, are not to be counted for Sacniioenl* of the Gospel, being tueh as hate grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apotllrt. partly an- ttal, t of lift allow.d in the Scrip- tures ; but yet hair not like nature of baenmenu willi ltap- Uirn and the Lord's Supper,' for that thry have not any visible ngn or ceremony ordained of God.
The Sacraments were noi ordained of I'll BUT to he gasrd upon, or to be earned about : but that we should duly ut*
' lot
,. lM-'i.
■1" r,
1 L irrcotur, Arrabuhop Ptrke In 136?.
' Hiibop Jewel's tut tad i>eac
• Cop j. ufaed tit Con toe 4U0D tits bten adopted.
41
The foregoing are the principal definitions of the Sacraments Remarks on
° . 1 1 . the several
of the Gospel which have been published by the authority of the editions of
1 1 * ... the Article
Church of England before the year 1571. Upon instituting a *xv. comparison between the several editions of the present Twenty- fifth Article, the reader will not fail to observe the remarkable similarity which exists between the definition of the Sacraments in the Augsburg Confession and in the English Articles of 1538, JJ}?,''^ the 1552, and 1562. He will notice that our present Twenty-fifth „7e°tss^ra- Article is derived, through the Ninth Article of 1538, from the gEf*5? Augsburg Confession, and that in compliance with the advice of fe^fon°bnt Melancthon some important words were added to it to prevent muchmore any doubts as to the efficacy of the Sacraments, and to guard precise- against the Anabaptistical and Socinian heresy, which reduced the Sacraments to mere cold ceremonies and fruitless signs. The addition of the words "sure," "effectual" and "of grace" is of great importance, and at once refutes the charge which has been brought against the Church of designed ambiguity respecting the doctrine of the Sacraments, and shows how jealous she has been of the honour and dignity of Baptism and the LoitD'sSupper.
2ndly. Be it observed, that in the Articles of 1538, that which whythedis-
» * ' tinction
Mr. Gorham takes upon himself to say "we are not at liberty madein 1538
1 J between the
to sever," the Church, having authority in controversies of Faith, ^ftof d has taken the liberty to distinguish, viz., the cases of Adult and J?*"* 1!aP-
* ° ' ' tism was
Infant Baptism. And if it be asked, why this distinction was notT"nti"
1 ' J nuedinl55>.
not retained in the Articles of 1552 and 1562 ? I answer, be- cause before their publication, every thing relating to the right administration of Infant Baptism was, in these years respectively, definitively laid down in the office for the public administra- tion of Infant Baptism in the Book of Common Prayer ; and as regards Adult Baptism, it was not practised in the English Church. But of this, more hereafter.
3rdly. The order of the paragraphs in 1552 and 1562 is va- whyti.r
* . . order of the
ried. In 1552 the Article commenced with a quotation from paragraphs
1 was altered
S. Augustine (which it is worthy of observation, was made use of by Alesius in the Convocation of 1536) and first settled the number of the Sacraments. Then followed the condemnation of sonic evil and superstitious practices of the Popish Church which are at variance witli Christ's institution, and a declara- tion of the effect and operation of the Sacraments both in the
42
case of those who receive them worthily and of those who receive them unworthily, accompanied with a caution against adopting the views of the Church of Rome as to the mode of the operation of the Sacrament. The Article then concluded with the defi- nition of the Sacraments with which the Twenty-fifth now com- mences. From the circumstance of the worthy reception being named in 1552, before the definition, in which the Sacraments are called " effectual signs," Mr. Gorham fancies he derives some support for his miserable doctrine that the Sacraments have no invisible grace invariably annexed to them. We grant that their effect and operation is mentioned in the same sentence and in immediate connection with the word " worthily ;" but we deny we are taught that their virtue, power, and effect is derived from, or debarred by the worthiness or unworthiness of man. No ; the Sacraments are expressly asserted in the Twenty-sixth Article, to be "effectual because of Christ's institution and "pro- mise" although they be ministered by or to evil men."1 On the worthy recipient they have a wholesome effect and operation ; on the unworthy they bring the displeasure and judgments of God, so that in all cases the Sacraments operate and take some effect. Without having recourse to any of Mr. Gorham's fan- ciful solutions, we can discover the reasons of Cranmer's adopt- ing the arrangements he did in 1552, and of its alteration in 1562. Having declared what the Sacraments are not, and the method by which the spiritual grace annexed to them is not conveyed, Cranmer found himself prepared to state positively and distinctly what they are, and to describe the method by which the grace annexed to them actually is conveyed by Gon and received by man. But in 1562 Archbishop Parker and the Convocation placed the definition at the head of the Articles ; thus following the order observed in the Augsburg Confession and in the Articles of 1538, and beginning, as was most natural, with a general description of the two Sacraments.
1 " True it is that the Sacrament dependeth not neither of the minister nor of the receiver nor of any other ; for though they be all the children of sin, yet is Baptism the Sacrament of Remission of Sins.'' S. Augustine saith : " Securum me fecit Magister metis, de quo Spiritus ejus dicit, Hie est qui lap. tizat.'" " Christ my Master hath assured me, of Whom His own Spirit saith, ' This is He that baptizeth.' " Jewel, portion iii. p. 461. Defence of the Apo- logy, chap. xi. division 3.
43
In 1562 we observe a paragraph is inserted between Reasons as-
* sitrnert for
the first and second paragraphs of the Twenty-sixth Article of withholding
r o r J the title of
1552, treating of the five Ordinances of Confirmation, Penance, true sacra-
7 o merits from
Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, and declaring that ||ve
the Lord's Supper." " In which sort neither is penance, for that it hath not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God." The words, " in which sort neither is penance," were struck out in the Articles of 1571, and possibly by Archbishop Parker him- self; for the words in his copy of 1562, are underlined with his red lead pencil, as if for erasure. Some persons may be curious to know why they were inserted at all. I submit the following as the reason: — In the Articles of 1536 the four Romish Sacra- ments of matrimony, confirmation, orders, and extreme unction were omitted,1 being considered of inferior dignity and necessity to Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar, but the Sacrament of Penance2 was retained and placed between these two. In 1562 however our Church entertained different sentiments re- specting penance, and named the particular grounds of its rejec- tion from a place among " the Sacraments of the Gospel."
Lastly. We may notice that the doctrine of the " Opus ope- why the
. . . Opus opera-
ratum ," which was treated of in the Articles of 1536 and 1552, tum was not
is not mentioned in the Article of 1562. If any weight is to be "5a6™edin
given to Mr. Turner s argument3, against the Book of Common
1 For the reasons, see Cranmer's works, vol. i. Jenkyn's pref. p. xv.
2 The Sacrament of Penance is called the Sacrament of absolution or the autho- rity of the keys, wherehy we be absolved from such sins as we befallen into after our baptism, and is numbered with Baptism and the Lord's Supper as a Sacra- ment in Justus Jonas, or what is commonly known by the name of Archbishop Cranmer's Catechism, p. 283. It is called absolution in the Homily of Common Prayer and Sacraments, p. 324.
3 In the second edition of " the Gorham Case," published by Painter, at p. 30, Mr. Turner is reported to have said : "In the Forty-two Articles which existed in 1552, the Book of Common Prayer was designated as in no wise repugnant to wholesome doctrine ; while it is remarkable that in the Articles of 1562, all reference to it was omitted, and only the Book of Ordination alluded to. These Articles however were made part of the law of the land," (and so are the Book of Common Prayer and Rubric). " Did not that amount to a declaration on the part of the Legislature, that the Book of Common Prayer was not a book of doctrine, but of devotion, ordination, and administration ?" When and where has the Legis- lature so declared its judgment ? The conclusion from Mr. Turner's premises is
specially
44
Prayer, containing a code of doctrine in consequence of no refer- ence being made to it in the Articles of 1562, the omission in our present Articles of the clause contained in the Articles of 1552 against the opus operatum must also prove that the Church in 1562 withdrew her objections to the opus operatum, and adopted the Romish views of the method by which God con- veyed the grace of the Sacraments to all who received them rightly. It will hardly be pretended that, in the latter case, this is a necessary or the only consequence, and we must be excused for rejecting Mr. Turner's conclusion in the former case. At this time it is hardly possible to assign reasons for the omission of all the whole Articles and paragraphs and words contained in the Articles of 1552, on their revision in 1562 ; but, as regards the opus operatum, we can account for the condemnatory para- graph being withdrawn. The doctrine, which was somewhat better understood then than now-a-days, was virtually rejected in the definition of the Sacraments, placed in 1 562 at the head of the Articles, and it was therefore considered unnecessary to add a distinct denial of it. For says Bishop Burnet, " In all the diversity there is no real difference, for the virtue of the Sacra- ments being put in the worthy receiving excludes the doctrine of the opus operatum as formally as if it had expressly been con- demned; and the naming of the two Sacraments instituted by Christ is upon the matter the rejecting of all the rest/'1
rather this, that the opposition to the Prayer Book which proceeded from the Clergy in Edward VI. 's reign had so far ceased, and the diversity of opinion had so far died away as to render it unnecessary to repeat in the Articles and require the Clergy to subscribe, what had been already said in the preface to the Prayer Book and the Acts of Parliament. But as regards the ordinal, we know it was considered by the Papists inefficient and schismatical, and by the ultra-Reformers superstitious, and it was therefore most important, to require from the Clergy an acknowledgment that the orders given by it were right, orderly, lawful, and valid. See' the Thirty sixth Article itself, and Burnet's Record, part ii. book ii. p. 255, item 15. Ibid, p. 264, article 29, and Hooper's Works, by Parker Society, p. 479. Even so lately as 1604, it was thought necessary to make a Canon against the impugners of the ordinal. The unlearned reader should be informed that seven whole Articles contained in the Book of 1552 were omitted in 1562, not because they were untrue, but because it was considered unnecessary then to retain them. A paragraph against the bodily presence in the Lord's Supper is also omitted, but surely this does not prove that the Church in 1562 acknow- ledged this doctrine to be true.
1 Burnet's Exposition of the Twenty-fifth Article, p. 314.
45
Division II.
Having collected together and commented upon the principal definitions of the Sacraments which have been published by authority, we will now endeavour to ascertain what are the essen- tials of a Sacrament in the judgment of the English Church.
It appears then, that in the first place, there must be a visible what are sign or element ; secondly, this sign must be ordained of God, ^eese™hicth or expresslv commanded in the New Testament ; and thirdly, gether in
r ' . . J ' the twoSa-
the express words of Christ must be joined to it, which words cramentsof
* J „ . the gospel
annex to it a promise of grace. This third essential we gather {^jj'f™^1 from these words of the Homily : " Whereunto (i.e. unto which auotherem-
■' x bleraatical
signs) is annexed the promise of free forgiveness of our sin and actions- of our holiness and joining in Christ." And from the following extract from the Twenty-fifth Article : " Sacraments Ordained of Christ — rather be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace and God's good-will towards us, by which (signs) He doth work (not hath worked by prevenient grace) invisibly in us." And if we are in any doubt whence the Sacraments derive their power, efficacy, and virtue, we find it resolved in the Twenty-sixth Article, which declares the Sacraments to be "effec- tual, because of Christ's institution and promise," — " propter institutionem Christi et promissionem efficacia sunt."
By all these marks Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which, by way of eminence, are called " Sacraments of the Gospel," are distinguished from all other emblematical ceremonies to which the name of Sacraments, in its general acceptation, is given in the writings of the Fathers. If we could take away cither one of these marks, Baptism and the Lord's Supper would be no Sacraments. They would be degraded to a level with the five Ordinances to which our Church refuses the name and honour of Sacraments in the proper and exact signification of the words. These marks are, in short, the differentia of the Sacraments of the Gospel, and they are all insisted on by Bishop Ridley in his disputation at Oxford, in April, 1555.
Watson. I ask then whether the Eucharist be a Sacrament ?
Ridley. The Eucharist, taken for a sign or symbol [of and not for Christ's natural body and blood] is a Sacrament.
46
Watson. Is it instituted of God ? Ridley. It is instituted of God. Watson. Where ? Ridley. In the Supper.
Watson. With what words is it made a Sacrament ?
Ridley. By the words and deeds which Christ said and did and commanded us to say and do the same.
Watson. It is a thing commonly received of all that the Sacraments of the new law give grace to them that worthily receive.
Ridley. True it is, that grace is given by the Sacrament, but as by an instrument. The inward virtue and Christ give the grace through the Sacraments.1
A little below, Ridley again affirms Watson's proposition to be true, that every Sacrament hath a promise of grace annexed unto it instrument ally.
Archbishop Cranmer also writes as follows : " These elements of water, bread and wine, joined to God's Word, do after a Sa- cramental manner put Christ into our eyes, mouths, hands, and all our senses."2
Bishop Jewel too in his controversy with Dr. Harding, a Papist, brings forward the same three marks to vindicate his rejection of a pretended Sacrament. " The objection," says he, " of washing of feet is common, and hath been often answered. S. Bernard calleth it fa Sacrament,' I grant. But S. Bernard is a doctor but of late years ; and therefore his authority herein must weigh the lighter, a remark worthy the consideration of our new masters and their disciples. Neither doth he so call it according to the nature and common definition of a Sacra- ment. For neither was there any certain element, namely, (i.e. what is a by name) chosen, nor any special words appointed to make it a propedy so Sacrament, nor any promise of grace thereto annexed — only he calleth it a Sacrament by a general kind of taking ; and in that meaning S. Hilary saith ' the Sacrament of Prayer,' 1 the Sacrament of Fasting/ ! the Sacrament of Fulness,' ' the Sa- crament of Thirst,' ' the Sacrament of Weeping/ And S. Bernard in another place in like sort saith, ' the Sacrament of a Painted Cross / and in this place he saith that the washing of
1 Ridley, p. 239. * Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 302.
47
feet betokeneth the washing and purging of venial sins, which signification he calleth a Sacrament."1
It is clear, then, that the word Sacrament is used in more than one sense, and so much depends upon a right understanding of the exact sense in which it is received by the Church of England, that I shall be excused for giving another extract from the writ- ings of Bishop Jewel, especially as he there delivers the judgment of the Church. " A Sacrament, in the manner of speaking which the Church useth, and in the writings of the Holy Scripture and of ancient fathers, sometimes signifieth properly even such Sacrament which Christ hath ordained in the New Testament, A sacra-
' ment in tin
for which He hath chosen some certain element and spoken special prop" ste-
■* J nification of
words to make it (the element) a Sacrament, and hath annexed the word. thereto (to the element) the promise of grace; sometimes it is used in a general kind of taking, and so every mystery set down to teach the people, and many things that indeed and by special property be no Sacraments, may nevertheless pass under the general name of a sacrament."2 Now it must be apparent to any person who is acquainted with the writings of Messrs. Gorham and Goode, that they use the word sacrament in the " general kind of taking" not " in the manner of speaking which the Church useth" for they deny a part of the differentia of the true sacraments, and stigmatize the annexation of the promise of grace to the elements as a Popish figment ; thus overthrow- ing the nature of a " Sacrament of the Gospel," as it is uni- formly defined by the Church. Amidst this turmoil of opinion it will be no little satisfaction to the faithful Churchman to know that his Spiritual Mother is not singular in her doctrine on the Sacraments, but is supported by the principal foreign Reformed Churches. Let me invite the reader's attention to the descrip- tion of the sacraments given in the Helvetic Confession.
Sunt autem sacramenta, symbola mystica, vel ritus sancti, aut a.d. 1536. sacrse actiones a Deo ipso institute, constantes verbo suo conpbs-
. . . SION.
signis et rebus significatis, quibus in Ecclesia summa sua beneficia homini exhibita, retinet in memoria, et subinde renovat, quibus item promissiones suas obsignat, et qua ipse nobis interius prastat, exterius reprasentat veluti ac oculis contemplanda sub- jicit, adeoque fidem nostram, Spiritu Dei in cordibus nostris ope- 1 Jewel, portion i. p. 225. Ibid. ii. 1 102.
48
A.U. 1551. S AXON CONFES- SION.
A.l). 1561.
Bei gic Confes- sion.
Luther's Definition in C'aptiv. Babylon.
rante, roborat et auget ; quibus denique nos ab omnibus aliis populis ct rcligionibus scparat, sibique soli consccrat et obligat, et quid a nobis requirat, significat." " Prattcrea habent symbola promissiones adjunctas, qua requirunt fidem.'' 11
The description given in the Saxon Confession is as follows : Discernunt ecclesiam a ceteris gentibus et ritus quidam divinitus instituti qui nominantur usitate sacramenta; ut Baptismus et ccena Domini : quse tamen non sunt tantum signa professionis sed multo magis (ut vetustas dixit) signa gratia, id est, sunt CEREMO- NY ADDIT^l PROMISSIONI EvANGELU DE GRATIA id est de
gratuita remissione peccatorum, et de reconciliatione, et de toto beneficio redemptionis, quse ita instituta, ut singuli eis utantur, quia sunt pignora et testimonia qua? ostendunt ad singulos per- tinere beneficia in Evangelio promissa. Nam vox evangelii gene- ralis est. Hanc testatur hie usus pertinere ad singulos qui sacramentis utuntur."2
Lastly, the Belgic Confession describes the sacraments in few words thus : " Sunt enim sacramenta signa, ac symbola visibilia rerum internarum et invisibilium, per quae ceu per media Deus ipse virtute Spiritus Sancti in nobis agit. Itaque signa ilia mi- nime vana sunt aut vacua : nec ad nos decipiendos aut frustrandos instituta. Ipsorum enim Veritas est ipse Jesus Christus, sine quo nullius essent prorsus momenti."3
To the above I will only add the description of sacraments, precisely and strictly so called, and owned to be truly such by the Church, which was given by Luther and quoted with approbation by Bishop Jewel : " But ye say (i.e. Harding the Papist) Luther and the Germans admit three sacraments ; Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Penance ; and Philip Melancthon after wai'ds found out the fourth. Oh, M. Harding, what is it that thus inflameth your tongue to speak untruth ? If it had pleased you to have seen it, Luther and Melancthon plainly expressed their own meaning, and utterly removed all manner of occasion of such cavils. Luther writeth thus ; Proprie ea visum est vocare sacra- menta, qua; annexis signis promissa sunt ; cetera, quia signis alli- gata non sunt, nuda promissa sunt. Quo fit ut, si rigide loqui velimus, tantum duo sint in ecclesia Dei sacramenta, baptismus et panis; cum in his solis et institutum divinitus signum
1 Sylloge Confessionum, p. 75. 2 Ibid. p. 277. 3 Ibid. p. 348.
49
ET PROMISSIONEM REMISSIONIS PECCATORUM VIDEAMUS. In
proper speech, those we call sacraments which are promised with signs annexed. The rest, that have no signs, are bare promises. Wherefore speaking hereof precisely and strictly, there are only two Sacraments in the Church of God, baptism and the bread ; forasmuch as in these only we find both the sign ordained by God, and also the promise of remission of sins."1
Thus much, then, respecting the distinguishing qualities of a Sacrament of the Gospel. The Church of England, from 1536 to the present hour, has uniformly maintained the three marks above named to be indispensably necessary to the making of a Sacrament properly so called — such as Baptism and the Lord's Supper. An attempt has, however, been made, and received countenance in quarters whence it might least have been ex- pected, to induce the unlearned in ecclesiastical language to be- lieve that the Church by sacraments means no more than the Neither the
,. . , . . . Church of
outward forms or siqns distinct from the hidden and Divine thinq England nor
... any old
of the Sacrament. Happily we have Bishop Jewel's oft repeated learned Fa- ~ . . rr j t i ther eaU the
denial of this heresy. The Papist Hardin";, to serve his own outward
• * . sign alone
purpose, broached this erroneous and then novel distinction, and (winch is but
1 1 ' a part) the
as oft as he produced it he was met by the Bishop with a charge sacrament, of falsehood. Harding's words are these : " The word ' sacra- ment' is taken so as it is distinct from that hidden and Divine thing of the Sacrament ; 2 that is to say, for the outward forms only, which are the holy signs of Christ's very Body present under them contained. Whereof we must gather that whenso- ever the fathers do call this most excellent Sacrament a figure or a sign (187), they would be understanded to mean none otherwise than of those outward forms and not of Christ's Body itself, which is there present, not typically or figuratively, but really and substantially." Upon these words, Bishop Jewel
1 The translation is Bishop Jewel's. — Portion iii. p. 460.
2 Mr. Gorham has said, that Bishop Jewel and others " have marked the dis- tinction and the separability of the sacraments or signs," [making the Sacrament of the Gospel no more than a bare sign] " from the grace or the thing signified, in precise and unmistakable language." After such an assertion from a man who by profession has derived his knowledge from, and pre-eminently conforms to, the teaching of our greatest Reformers, and would dictate the doctrine of the Church of England to his Bishop and the Church at large, the reader will be somewhat surprised on reading the extracts I have made from Bishop Jewel's writings.
E
50
made the following note : " The hundred and eighty-seventh untruth. For none of the learned fathers ever called the outward form a sacrament. Christ's Body itself is a figure."1 Again, under the Article of calling the Sacrament " Lord and God," Harding wrote " This word ' sacrament ' (as is declared before) is of the fathers taken two ways (239), either for the only outward forms of bread and wine, &c. ;" and Bishop Jewel's note is " The two hundred and thirty-ninth untruth. For the only outward forms were never called the Sacrament or Christ's Body by any of all the ancient fathers."2 Once more, Harding at the commencement of the Twenty-sixth Article had said, " That the outward form of bread is properly the Sacra- ment." Whereupon Bishop Jewel puts the following note in the margin : " The two hundred and fifty-fifth untruth. For the outward form was never by any old father called the Sacrament." And in the text he makes these additional observations : " ' The outward form of bread,' saith he, fis the Sacrament.' But withal, he should have added, that this form and manner of speech is only his own, peculiar only to himself and certain his fellows of that side ; never used by any of the old doctors and fathers of the Church, either Greek or Latin, or learned or unlearned, or Catholic or heretic, or one or other."3 So then, Messrs. Gorham and Goode have not the merit even of origina- lity, but these good Protestants have, unconsciously perhaps, revived the untruths of Dr. Harding the Papist. The reader will now be able to get a little insight into the measure of the support which Messrs. Gorham and Goode derive for this heresy from the writings of Bishop Jewel.
The next point we shall do well to investigate is, how the ele- ments of water, bread, and wine be made Sacraments ? and whence they derive their power and efficacy ? or in the words of How is a Jewel, " How is the sacrament formed ? Of what parts is it
Sacrament ' . J i t,
formed? made? Augustine saith; ' Accedat verbum ad elementum, et fit sacramentum.' ' Join the word of Christ's institution ivith the sensible creature and thereof is made a sacrament,' ' that is to say, another thing.' " 4 " Join the word to the creature of water, and thereof is made the sacrament of baptism : take away the word,
1 Jewel, Portion ii. p. 592. 2 Ibid. ii. p. 758.
3 Ibid. ii. p. 796. 4 Ibid. iii. p. 500.
5)
then what is water other than water? The Word of God and the Creature make a Sacrament."1
If it is asked when this union of the element with the word when docs
the union of
takes place, I answer, at Consecration ; when the elements the word cease to be common and become sanctified, spiritual, ana hea- take place? venly, and ordained by God to regenerate the soul and to feed, refresh, and nourish it. Cranmer in his "Defence/' &c. gives - the following account of Consecration and its effects : " Conse- conskcra-
° tion de-
oration is the separation of any thing from a profane and worldly scribed. use unto a spiritual and godly use."
And therefore, when usual and common water is taken from other uses and^w^ to the use of Baptism, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, then it may rightly be called consecrated water, that is to say, water put to a holy use. Even so when common bread and wine be taken and severed from other bread and wine, to the use of the Holy Com- munion, that portion of bread and wine, although it be of the same substance that the other is from the which it is severed, yet it is now called consecrated or holy bread and holy wine.
Not that the bread and wine have or can have any holiness in Elements them, but that they be used to a holy work and represent holy tion, and godly things. And therefore S. Dionyse calleth the bread holy bread and the cup a holy cup, as soon as they be set upon the altar to the use of the Holy Communion.
But specially they (the bread and wine) may be called hohi specially so
■* *^ ' * ' ' J J by consecra-
and consecrated, when they be separated to that holy tion- use by Christ's own words, which He spake for that purpose, saying of the bread, This is My body ; and of the wine, This is My blood.
So that commonly the authors, before those words be spoken, do take the bread and wine, but as other common bread and wine ; but after those words be pronounced over them, then they take them for consecrated and holy bread and wine;2 but no cor- poral presence is required.
Such is Cranmer's account of the signification of Consecra- tion, which he said he would prove to be "according to the mind of the old authors it bears a remarkable resemblance to
1 Jewel, Portion ii. p. 1100 ; also iii. p, 458. - Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 413.
52
the description given of the same reverend ceremony in the
Helvetic Confession. Consecra- " Sicut autcin quondam sacramenta constahant verbo siqno et
Hon des- . . , ,, , .
cribed by re siqnificata, ita nunc quoque eisdem veluti partibus absolvuntur.
the Helvetic 11 r
Confession. Nam VERBO DeI FIUNT, QUOD ANTEA NON FUERUNT, SACRA- MENTA. Consecrantur enim verbo, et sanctificata esse ostenduntur ab eo, qui instituit. Et sanctificare vel consccrare, est rem aliquam Deo sacrisque usibus dedicare, hoc est, a communi vel prophano usu segregare, et sacro usui destinare. Sunt enim in sacrainentis signa petita ex usu vulgaris res externse et visibiles. In baptismo enim signum est elementum aqua?, ablutioque ilia visibilis, quae fit per ministrum. Res autem significata est regeneratio vel ablutio a peccatis. In Ccena vero Domini, signum est panis et vinum, sumptus ex communi usu cibi et potus. Res autem significata, est ipsum traditum Domini corpus, et sanguis ejus effusus pro nobis, vel communio corporis et sanguinis Domini. Proinde, aqua, panis et vinum sua natura, et extra instituiionem Divinum ac usum sanctum, duntaxat id sunt, quod esse dicuntur et experimur. Cceterum, si accedat Domini verbum, cum invo- cation Divini nominis, et renovatione prima; institutions et sanc- tificationis, signa ista consecrantur, et sanctificata a Christo esse ostenduntur. Manet enim semper efficax in ecclesia Dei prima Christi institutio, et consecratio sacramentorum, adeo ut qui non aliter celebrent sacramenta, quam ipse Dominus ab initio instituit, fruantur etiam nunc prima ilia consecratione omnium prcestantissima. Et ideo recitantur in celebratione sacramen- torum ipsa verba Christi. Et quoiiiam verbo Dei discimus, quod signa hsec in alium finem sint instituta a Domino, quam usurpentur vulgo, ideo docemus signa nunc in usu sacro, usur- pare rerum signatarum vocabula, nec appellari amplius aquam tantum, panem et vinum, sed etiam regenerationem vel lavacrum renovationis, item corpus et sanguineus Domini vel symbola aut sacramenta corporis et sanguinis Domini. Non quod symbola mutentur in res significatas, et desinant esse id quod sunt sua natura ; alioqui enim sacramenta non essent, quae re significata duntaxat constarent, signa non essent ; sed ideo usurpant signa rerum nomina, quod rerum sacrarum sunt symbola mystica, et signa et res significata inter se sacramentaliter conjungantur, conjungantur inquam, vel uniantur per significationem myslicam
53
ET VOLUNTATEM VEL CONSILIUM EJUS, QUI SACRAMENTA in- stituit. Non enim aqua, panis et vinum, signa vulgaria sed sacra. Et qui instituit aquam Baptismi, non ea voluntate con- silioque instituit, ut fideles aqua duntaxat Baptismi perfun- dantur ; et qui jussit in Coena panem edere, et vinum bibere non hoc voluit, ut fideles panem et vinum tautum percipiant, sine mysterio, sicut, domi suae panem manducant, sed ut rebus quoque significatis spiritualiter communicent, et vere per fidem abluantur a peccatis, et Christo participent ." 1
The importance and amount of sound Catholic doctrine con- tained in the foregoing extracts will be a sufficient apology for their length. The establishment, however, of the truth enun- ciated in them is of so much consequence, that I am induced to make a few brief extracts from the writings of Ridley, Latimer, and Jewel.
We have already seen that Ridley held that a sacrament is Ridley on
^ Consecra-
made by the word and deed, which Christ said and did, and com- tion- manded us to do. He also says, " these words, ' This is My body/ are the words of consecration of the sacrament of the body/' and " that Christ's words spoken upon the cup were as mighty in work, and as effectual in signification, to all intents, constructions, and purposes (as our parliament men do speak), as they were, spoken upon the bread." And elsewhere he writes, " although for the change of the use, office, and dig- nity of the bread, the bread indeed sacrameutally is changed into the body of Christ, as the water in baptism is sacrameutally changed into the fountain of regeneration, and yet the material substance remaineth all one, as was before."2 In his disputa- tion he says, " I grant also there is no promise made to bread and wine (i.e. common and unconsecrated). But inasmuch as they are sanctified and made the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord, they have a promise of grace annexed unto them, namely, of spiritual partaking of the body of Christ to be communicated and given, not to the bread and wine, but to them which worthily do receive the sacrament."3 Bishop Latimer also says, " We must find Him (Christ) by Baptism. There we begin (not by a prevenient act of grace) ; we are washed with water, and then the words are added ; for we are baptized in the 1 Sylloge Confessionum, pp. 77, 78. 2 Ridley, pp. 18, 19, 12. 3 Page 240.
54
Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whereby the baptism receiveth His strength."1 I will only add to the above authorities one passage from the works of Bishop Jewel. Writing against Harding, he says, " First you say, ' The sacra- ment, by the judgment of Damascene, is called a figure before the consecration :' that is to say, before the sacrament be a sacra- ment ; for before consecration it is no sacrament."'1
We have now seen how a sacrament is formed in the judg- ment of those learned divines by whom our articles were com- piled and edited ; and that their judgment is confirmed by the testimony of some foreign Churches. The word of Christ, which Himself declared to be " Spirit and Life," is no sooner united, according to our Lord's own institution, to the divinely appointed elements by the agency of His lawful priest than that which before was common, and bare no grace to the soul of man, is changed in use, office, dignity, and quality, but not in substance, and becomes a holy thing, sanctified by the Holy Ghost and the instrumental cause of spiritual life, refreshment, nourish- ment, and strength. " The omnipotent power of the word, wherewith God made heaven and earth, the same omnipotent power of the same word He useth now in the consecration of the sacrament."3 It is His promised blessing, His setting them apart for that merciful purpose, that makes His creatures avail- able for the support of either soul or body. The soul of the faithful Churchman is stayed on this belief. She looks upon the consecrated elements as signs truly, but as signs which by God's appointment effect what they signify, as the sign of the Lord her God, " the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations."4 She regards them as pledges of God's love to her individually, and as an earnest and security for the fulfilment of His promises, and she becomes joyful in the Lord, ay, she rejoices in His salvation. Then lifting up her eyes from the sanctified creatures to Him out of whose fulness all their efficacy is derived, she sees her Saviour at the right hand of God, offering to her by His sacraments as by His holy hands the blessings He has promised but she is unworthy to ask, the
1 Latimer, vol. ii. 127.
3 Jewel, portion iii. p. 498.
2 Jewel, portion iii. 527. 4 Deut. vii. 9.
55
graces she needs, the Divine life she ardently craves and expects to receive by the extended hand of a lively unquestioning faith.
I feel a right understanding of this point, how, and when, and itisimpor.
i 7 ■ /» 1 * /> 1 1 i* tant to as-
by whom a sacrament is formed, is or the last consequence, for certain who
i 11 iii ii" ill i unites the
the new school would have us believe that the elements were made sign ami the
7 7" "i f i grace.
sacraments, i. e,, holy signs, with a promise or grace annexed to them instrumentally by the worthy recipient, and not by Christ, through the agency of His priest in and by the act of consecra- tion. Mr. Gorharn says, " the sign and the grace are happily united by the worthy receiver." In plain terms, each worthy re- ceiver, at the moment of partaking, consecrates the elements for himself; for consecration, as we have seen, is the uniting the signs and the grace, which is the thing signified sacramentally or mystically, according to the will and counsel of Him who or- dained the Sacraments. According to this new doctrine, the consecration of the priest is accounted nothing, or there is re- consecration, and we can only know when or by whom the ele- ments are consecrated, when we can discriminate between the worthy and unworthy receivers of the sacraments. Let us turn it is not the from this wretched and heretofore unheard-of doctrine to the ceiverfbut pages of Ridley and Jewel, where we shall find a sufficient whoP™nse- answer to it. The former divine, in the genuine spirit of Catho- obedience to licity, writes, " In the sacrament is a certain change, in that that commands, bread which was before common bread is now made a lively presentation of Christ's body, and not only a figure, but effec- tuously representeth His body; that even as the mortal body was nourished by that visible bread, so is the internal soul with the heavenly food of Christ's body, which the eyes of faith see, as the bodily eyes see only bread. Such a sacramental mutation I grant to be in the bread and wine, which truly is no small change, but such a change as no mortal man can make, but only that omnipotency of Christ's word."1 Likewise Bishop Jewel writes, " To appoint a corruptible creature to this use (a sacramental use), and make it an effectual instrument of such high and hidden mysteries ; it is not the work of any mortal man, but only the power and working of the Holy Ghost." Beda saith this, " The creature of bread and wine by the un- speakable sanctification of the Holy Ghost (not by the worthi- 1 Ridley, pp. 274—5. Jewel, Portion iii. p. 497.
56
ness of the receiver) is changed (not into the very real body and blood, but) into the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ." The worthi- Once more ; be admits, " True it is that the sacrament de- receiver pendeth not neither of (the worthiness of) the minister nor of
does not ?i»77
give effect (the worthiness of) the receiver, nor of any other, tor, though we
to the Sa- » e •
craments. be all children of sin, yet is Baptism the sacrament of remission of sin." S. Augustine saith, Securum me fecit Magister meus, de quo Spiritus ejus dicit, Hie est qui baptizat ; " Christ my Master, hath assured me, of whom His own Spirit saith, ' This is He that baptizeth.' "l Neitherdoes And as the worthy receiver does not consecrate or unite the thiness of element and the Word, the sign and the grace, so neither does
the receiver . ° , ,
deprive the the umvorthy receiver unconsecrate or alter the quality ot the
Sacraments . , - .
of their vir- elements or deprive the Sacraments of their power and virtue.
trie and t
effect. This will be allowed by every one who acknowledges the Catho- lic doctrine of Consecration. What God hath joined together no man can put asunder. What God hath cleansed and sanctified no pious Christian will presume to call common. Nevertheless as this impiety seems to lurk in the new divinity, it may be satisfactory to know the opinion of learned and orthodox Divines on this subject. Let us then begin with Cranmer. — In his answer to Gardiner, he says : " S. Augustine saith, not, as you feign him, that the substance of this Sacrament is the body and blood of Christ ; but the substance of this Sacrament is bread and wine, as water is in the Sacrament of Baptism, and the same be all one, not altered by the unworthiness of the receivers."2 The Helvetic Confession is also express upon this point. " Interim sicut a dignitate vel indignitate ministrorum, non cestimamus integritatem Sacramentorum, itaque neque a conditions Stj- mentium. Agnoscimus enim Sacramentorum integritatem, ex fide vel veritate meraque bonitate Dei dependere. Sicut enim Ver- bum Dei manet verum verbum Dei, quo non tantum verba nuda
God
ALWAYS
offers the recitantur, dum prpedicatur, sed simul a Deo offeruntur res
things pro- 71 3
stenmedV verDis significata?, vel annunciata?, tamctsi impii vel increduli verba
His Word and Sacra-
audiant et intellig ant, rebus tamen significatis non peifruantur ; 3" mat'dot eo (lu°d vera fide non re.cipiant : Ita Sacr amenta verbo, signis, et the'bume6' rebus significatis constantia, manent vera et Integra Sacramento, totGohDSfonr°t non tantum significantia res sacras, sed Deo offerente
1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 401. 3 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 339.
57
etiam res significatas, tametsi increduli res oblatas non per- failing to
, , . ™ .-r-... i i • offer, but to
cipant. bit hoc non dantis aut ojjerenhs Dei vitio, sed hominum manforrc-
n, .„ ... . . cciving the
sine tide uleintimcque accipientiurn culpa : quorum increduhtas signs with-
jy n ■ ■ ■ e • m -ft ... out faith in
jidem Dei irritam non facit. Rom. in.1 the pro-
mises.
To my own mind the reasoning oi' the Helvetic Confession is The sacra- sound and satisfactory, and if so, we may safely conclude that ^"affected the Sacraments neither derive virtue and efficacy from the wor- nesTor'u'n-
i • P . ™ . - / ■ i * worthiness
ttnuess ot receivers, nor suiter any diminution or the loss ot their of the red-
p tents.
power and perfectness by their un worthiness. The truth appears to be, that like the Word of God (which itself forms a principal part, nay, makes the Sacrament) the Sacraments always take effect ; to some they are the savour of life unto life, and to others of death unto death. How comes it then to pass that the ad- dition of an element, by Christ's express command, to His om- nipotent word, should make that same word less effectual than when it is preached alone? Sacraments are justly said to be "visible words ;" and in the language of the Homily, " to administer a Sacrament is by the outward word and element to preach to the receiver the inward and invisible grace of God." They exhibit to the eyes what the Word itself alone otherwise conveys to the ears, and it has ever been believed by the orthodox that they preach it more effectually to the soul of man while clothed with its earthly tabernacle. Christ is generally supposed to have ordained the Sacraments "to move, instruct, and teach our dull and heavy hearts by sensible creatures." "If we were no- thing else but soul, He would give us His grace barely and alone, without joining it to any creature, as He doth to His Angels ; but seeing our spirit is drowned in our body, and our flesh doth make our understanding dull, therefore we receive His grace by sensible signs."2
I said above, the Sacraments in all cases retain their power and virtue because Christ their author is ever present with them. It would be easy to adduce much additional evidence in support Christ of this assertion, but I shall content myself with citing Bishop sistantto" Ridley's opinion as declared in his Disputation against the Pa- teries.5* pists. " We behold with the eyes of Faith Him (the true Lord and Saviour of the world) present after grace and spiritually set upon the table, and we worship Him which sitteth above and is worshipped of the Angels. For Christ is always assistant 1 Sylloge Coufessionum, p. 79. 2 Jewel, portion ii. 1101.
58
Their effect however is
to His mysteries, as the said Augustine saith. And the Divine Majesty, as saith Cyprian, doth never absent itself from the Divine mysteries ; but this assistance and presence of Christ as in Baptism it is wholly spiritual and by grace, not by any cor- poral substance of the flesh, even so it is here in the Lord's Supper, being rightly and according to the Word of God duly ministered."1
But notwithstanding Christ is always present and assistant Theybring a*; tne administration of His Holy Sacraments, and consequently either hfeor tnev always take some effect upon the recipients, I would by deatl1' no means be supposed to hold or teach that they always have the same effect. Some ancient, heretics maintained that the Sacraments do neither harm nor good, and if the doctrines which have lately been published should be generally embraced, it is very probable that the heresy will be revived. It appears to me an inevitable consequence of holding the new views. The abettors of them appear to teach at any rate that the Sacraments take either a wholesome effect or none at all — it is certain that they carefully avoid expressing any opinion or leading Churchmen to reflect on the consequence of receiving either Baptism or the Lord's Supper unworthily. But the Scriptures, the old Fathers, our orthodox Reformers, our Prayer Book, and our Articles, are not silent on this solemn matter. They teach us that in such only as worthily receive the Sacraments they have a wholesome effect or operation. But their instruction ends not here : they do not leave us to indulge the fatal opinion that receiving un- worthily entails only the privation of a benefit we might other- wise have received and enjoyed. This awful sentence follows, " but they that receive them unworthily purchase to themselves damnation, as S. Paul saith." I could produce several passages from the writings of Cranmer, Ridley, Jewel, &c. insisting upon this solemn truth that the Sacraments convey either life or death, but at present I shall content myself with instancing the doc- trine of the Archbishop. "As of some the Scriptures saith, that their riches is their redemption, and to some it is their damnation ; and as God's Word to some is life, to some it is death and a snare, as the prophet saith ; and Christ Himself to some is a stone to stumble at, to some is a raising from death ; not by conversion of substances (i.e. it is one and the same word
1 Ridley, 251.
59
and one and the same Christ whatever the effect may be) but by good or evil use, that thing which to the Godly is salvation, to the ungodly is damnation ; so is the water in Baptism and the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Sapper, to the worthy receivers Christ Himself and eternal life, and to the unworthy receivers everlasting death and damnation ; not by conversion of one sub- stance into another (the Sacraments are the same in both cases), but by godly or ungodly use thereof. And therefore, in the Book of the Holy Communion we do not pray absolutely that the Bread and Wine may be made the Body and Blood of Christ, but that unto us1 in that holy mystery they may be so : that is to say, that we may so worthily receive the same, that we may be partakers of Christ's Body and Blood, and that therewith in spirit and in truth, we may be spiritually nourished."2
This being then the doctrine of the Scriptures and the com- Application pilers of the Articles, let us see how it .bears upon the case of gmng <toc-" such Infants as are said to receive Baptism unworthily. The supposed
. . n . . case of some
argument is briefly this : — infants re-
All unworthy receivers of Baptism are punished with eternal tfemuL ap
, , , , . worthily.
death and damnation.
Some Infants are unworthy receivers of Baptism.
Therefore some Infants are punished with eternal death and damnation.
This legitimate consequence of their false doctrine is most studiously kept out of sight by Messrs. Gorham and Goode. But this circumstance will surprise but few persons if they con- sider that this awful fact, when perceived, is calculated to open the eyes of very many to the sad errors which are being dissemi- nated. It is however difficult to understand how these gentle- men, as ministers of the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, professedly believing many Infants in as sinful a state as impenitent adults,3 and solemnly acknowledging that by receiving Baptism in this condition they unconsciously purchase to themselves damnation.
1 The reader will observe with what caution Cranmer composed the office of the Holy Communion, and how carefully he stated the doctrine. Will he be satisfied that no doctrine is stated in the Office for public Baptism of Infants, or that it is expressed with less exactness and anxious desire to prevent error and mis- conception, without having something more satisfactory than mere conjectures ?
2 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 146. 3 Mr. Goode, p. 53.
GO
The case of a clergyman exhorting a congrega- tion to " earnestly believe" what he himself disbelieves.
I say it is difficult to understand how these gentlemen reconcile it to their conscience to exhort the sponsors and the faithful generally, upon the authority of Scripture, not to doubt, but earnestly believe, that God favourably receiveth this present In- fant, that He will embrace him with the arms of His mercy, that He will give unto him the blessing of eternal life, and make Mm partaker of His everlasting kingdom ! Is there no sin in this pro- fane trifling ? For such it is, if the words are not to be taken in their usual literal and obvious sense. No unjustifiable deceit in using an exhortation which must lull the congregation into a false security in every case where Infants unworthily receive Baptism ? However the Church may have privately interpreted her words (and according to the Gorham theory there must be no small quantum of mental reservation and non-natural inter- pretation) she has used as strong language as she could select to attest her undoubting belief of the fitness of every Infant for receiving the graces of Baptism. If then she had untold doubts on this head, how can she escape the imputation of put- ting lying words in the mouths of all her prophets, and of lead- ing all her unlearned members, who collect her real doctrine from her actual expressions, into woeful and soul-destroying errors ? What guileless person for instance, when hearing from the lips of God's minister these encouraging and comfortable words : " Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the good will of our Heavenly Father towards this Infant, and nothing doubting but that He favourably alloweth this charitable work of ours in bring- ing this Infant to His Holy Baptism, let us faithfully and de- voutly give thanks unto Him," &c. would ever suppose that the Church and minister who used them had secret doubts whether the Infant to whom they were applied was in truth an object of God's good will? Could he imagine that the bringing an un- worthy recipient to His Holy Baptism would be pronounced by the Church a "charitable work," and such as Christ "favoura- bly alloweth ?" And would he not shrink with horror from giving thanks for the damnation of an Infant ? Still he is really called upon to do this if the language of the office for the ministration of public Baptism to Infants is to be forced from its self-evident and only legitimate meaning.
If the Church had entertained a belief of any Infant coming
CI
to Baptism in the like sinful condition with an impenitent adult, if the and if she had also believed in the necessity of the Infant's re- believed any
. • . n iiii Infants
ceiving a prevenient act of grace, we may be sure sbe could not could be un-
11 !•/. i • i i ii-i worthy, she
have used such unqualified expressions, but have delivered an would have
. , . , . . , warned their
exhortation to this effect: Baptism "being so divine and com- sponsors not
... to hring
fortable a thing to them that receive it worthily, and so dan- them to
n ... Baptism.
gerous to them that will presume to receive it unworthily ; my duty is to exhort you to consider the dignity of that holy mys- tery and the great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof, and so to search and examine" the spiritual state of the Infant that ye may be assured it is one of the elect and has received a pre- venient act of grace which has implanted in it a new nature : effected its regeneration, bestowed on it the filial condition and secured its being " received as a worthy partaker of this Holy Sacrament." It may be a compliance with these requirements is possibly out of the power of the elect themselves, however great their privileges and experience — as the Infants have borne no fruits by which they may be known. What then is the con- consequen-
' . ' J ces of the
sequence? Is it not that the Infant should not be baptized at new doc-
. . trine being
all without this assurance : for the formal and ostentatious as- sincerely
" . embraced.
surance of blessings already possessed by some will hardly be considered a warrant for " increasing the damnation" of others. What then will be the effect of this new doctrine where it is believed and acted upon ? Surely this ; those persons who believe that the Sacraments have either a wholesome or a damning effect, and are uncertain (as they needs must be) whether their Infants have received a prevenient act of grace to make them worthy recipients of Baptism, will, out of love to their souls, defer the Baptism of their children until they think they can determine whether they are the elect or not. And in this case the errors of the anti-psedo-baptists will increase, and Infant Baptism will in proportion grow into disuse.
Division III.
I shall now proceed to illustrate the description of the two Sa- craments of the Gospel which is given in the Twenty-fifth Arti- The cle. The Church begins with a negative definition and denies ^u
62
that "Sacraments ordained of Christ" are "only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession." The heresy which the Church rejects was at the time of the compilation of the Article held and taught by the Socinians, Anabaptists, and I believe I may add, the Zuinglians, besides several other minor sects. All these maintained the Sacraments to be no more than mere signs of men's profession, and denied that the promise of forgiveness of sins was annexed to the worthy reception of them, and con- ferred through them instrument ally by the Holy Ghost in virtue of the merits of Christ's atoning blood. We have to lament that the Church's denial of this meagre heretical teaching has been disregarded both by those persons who profess " ex aniino" to subscribe to the true doctrine delivered in the Article, and by Romish writers, who have sadly misrepresented the scriptural and Catholic Doctrine of our Holy Instructress on the Sacra- ments. Next comes the positive definition affirming " the Sa- craments ordained of Christ" to be rather " certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace, and God's good will to- wards us, &c."
It will now be my endeavour to prove from the writings of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and Jewel, that the two Sacraments are not, in their judgment, only badges distinguishing the pro- fessors of Christianity from heathens, &c. but effectual signs of God's grace, which grace is bestowed by them (the consecrated elements) as by His instruments.
Bishop Gardiner, a papist, in his answer to Archbishop Cran- mer's defence of the true and Catholic doctrine of the Sacraments of the body and blood, writes thus : " This author (Archbishop Cranmer) upon occasion of this epistle (Clement's) which he calleth feigned, speaketh more reverently of the Sacrament than he doth in other places, which we think worthy to be noted. Here he saith, that very Christ Himself is not only represented but also spiritually given unto us in this table, for so I understand the word ' wherein.'
" For if the words of the institution be but in figure man can- not add of his device any other substance or effect than the words of Christ purport; and so this supper, after this author's teaching in other places of his book where he would have it but a signification, shall be a bare memory of Christ's death and sig-
63
nify only such communication of Christ as ive have otherwise by faith in that benefit of His passion without any special com- munication of the substance of His flesh in this Sacrament, &c."
These assertions of Cranmer's supposed Socinian views drew crammer
. _ ' , ...... , never
forth a reply which gives a clear insight into what ivere and thought that
1 J ° i • the Sacra-
what were not the Archbishop's real sentiments. mentsof
1 bread and
" And where you say that upon occasion of this epistle I speak ^■"(?tdtnenot more reverently of the Sacraments than I do in other places ; if grace they
» r ' signify.
you were not altogether given to calumniate and deprave my tvords, you should perceive in all my book through, even from the beginning to the end thereof a constant and perpetual reverence given unto the Sacraments of Christ, such as of duty all Christian men ought to give. And although the Sacramental tokens be only significations and figures (in distinction to the Popish doctrine of the change of the substance into the corporal sensible body and blood crucified and shed upon the Cross) yet doth Almighty God effectually work in them that duly receive His Sacraments those divine and celestial operations which He hath promised, and by the Sacraments be signified. For else they
WERE VAIN AND UNFRUITFUL SACRAMENTS AS WELL TO THE
Godly as to the ungodly.1 And therefore, 7" never said of the whole Supper that it is but a signification or a bare memory of Christ's death, but I teach that it is a spiritual refreshing, wherein our souls be fed and nourished with Christ's very flesh and blood to eternal life. And therefore bring you forth some place in my book, where I say that the Lord's Supper is but a bare signification without any effect or operation of God in the same, or else eat your words again and knowledge that you un- truly report me."2
Such is Cranmer's indignant denial of the calumny that he
1 Gardiner arrives at precisely the same conclusion, Cran. iii. p. 312. "For if," says he, " the Sacrament be only a figure, and the body and blood of Christ be there only figuratively, whereto should this author dispute of evil men's eating, where good men cannot eat Christ in the Sacrament, because He is not there.,, And such appears to be a common sense view of the case, for if Sacra- ments be only what God's Word makes them, and that Word does not make them effectual instruments of working that Divine grace which they signify, the Godly can derive no spiritual benefit from them. The reader will observe, that Archbishop Cranmer knew nothing about the worthy receiver uniting the sign and the grace.
2 Cranmer's answer to Gardiner, vol. iii. p. 219, and p. 229.
64
held and taught the Lord's Supper to be but a bare signification without any effect or operation of God in the same. I will now show he equally disavowed such heresy with respect to Baptism.
Gardiner said, " But then this author (Cranmer) addeth, ' to be taken as holy meats and drinks/ wherein if he mean to be taken so, but not to be so, as his teaching in other places of this book is, the bread to be never the holier but to signify a holy thing ; then is the change nothing indeed touching the nature, but only as a coward may be changed in apparel to play Hercules' or Sampson's part in a play ; himself thereby made never the hardier man at all, but only appointed to signify a hardy man, of which man's change, although his estate and condition might in speech be called changed for the time of the play, yet no man would term it thus to say his nature ivere changed, whether he meant by the word nature, the substance of the man's nature or property, for in these two points he were still the same in Her- cules' coat that he was before the play in his own." cranmer The following is Cranmer's reply i1 " In your handling here that in tiie of S. Ambrose you seem to be utterly ignorant and not to know tism°Ai?ap the difference between the Sacramental signs (in the use whereof works au Almighty God inwardly worketh, and other vain signs which are change in nothing else but outicard shows to the eye. For if you under- stood the matter, would you resemble a knave playing in a prince's coat (in which nothing is inwardly wrought or altered) unto a man being baptized in water, ivho hath put upon him outwtardly water but inwardly is apparelled with Christ, and is, by the omnipotent working of God, spiritually regenerate
1 Craumer's "Answer to Gardiner," vol. Hi. pp.487 — 490. Having per- ceived that an attempt is made to evade the force of Archbishop Cranmer's tes- timony by pretending that he changed his opinions on Baptism, I think it right to inform the reader that such is not the fact, and that the work from which these quotations are made was published by the Archbishop on or about Septem- ber, 1551, just twelve months before he gave the Articles on the Sacraments the finishing stroke of his pen. It is true that, in the earlier part of his life, he changed his opinions respecting the mode by which the inward and spiritual grace of the Lord's Supper was conveyed to the receivers, but the doctrine con- tained in his "defence" and " answer to Gardiner," he maintained in his last moments to be true. " And as for the Sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against the Bishop of Winchester ; the which my book teacheth so true a doctrine of the Sacrament that it shall stand at the last day before the judg- ment of God, &c." Cran. vol. iv. p. 140.
05
and changed into a new man ?l or would you compare him that banquetcth at a feast to represent an anniversary or triumph, unto that man that in remembrance of Christ's death eateth and drinketh at His holy Supper, giving thanks for his redemp- tion and comforting himself with the benefit thereof? If you have this opinion and veneration of the Sacraments it is well known what spirit you have, how ignorant you be, and what is to be judged of you. And if you have no such opinion, becom- eth it you then to dally with such profane examples tending to the profanation of the Sacraments and the deceiving of the readers ?"
Quotations to the same effect might be multiplied from Cran- mer's writings, but I must content myself with the above. They contain a plain, honest, and unequivocal repudiation of the heresy with which he was falsely charged. He held, without mental reservation or equivocation, " one Baptism ordained by Christ for conveying the remission of sins."
I shall now pass on to the writings of Bishop Ridley, and the Bishop Rm- first passage which I shall quote will be from his brief declara- that the sa- tion of the Lord's Supper. " This notable Godly piece of are not bare learned work" was written whilst he was a prisoner in Oxford, which be- a little before he suffered death for the true testimony of Christ, ami give
nothing.
and which he sealed up with his blood. " Forasmuch then as he hath approved himself," says the preface to the reader, " no vain disputer, no weathercock, no hypocrite; seeing he hath willingly given his life for the truth, gentle reader, I beseech thee for Christ's sake, and thine own, lend him thine indifferent heart and patient hearing."2
"As all do agree hitherto in the aforesaid doctrine, so all do
1 The reader will not fail to notice the " precise and unmistakeable language" in which Archbishop Cranmer describes the effects of Holy Baptism ; it is stronger than any expressions in the Baptismal offices, and yet it will defy the wit of our new men to fasten a hypothetical construction upon it without doing most unwarrantable violence to the language, and destroying the writer's argu- ment. In Baptism, he asserts something is inwardly wrought and altered. At the moment the Sacramental water is put upon the baptized outwardly, he is in- wardly apparelled with Christ, and is by the omnipotent working of Gon spiritually regenerated and changed into a new man. But Messrs. Gorliam and Goode say this is effected before Baptism in all who receive the Sacrament wor- thily, and is never done by virtue of Baptism.
2 Ridley, p. 3, see also p. 14.
F
66
detest, abhor, and condemn the wicked heresy of the Messalians, which otherwise be called Euchites, who said that the Holy Sa- craments can neither do good nor harm ; and do also condemn those wicked Anabaptists which put no difference between the Lord's table and the Lord's meat and their own.1 " The Pa- " Now, whether then do they Godly and charitably which either the preach-6 by their pen in writing or by their works in preaching, do bear the gospel." simple people in hand, that those (the Reformed Divines) which thus do teach (to speak and think charitably) and believe, do go about to make the Holy Sacrament ordained by Christ Him- self, a thing no better than a piece of common baken bread ? or to say that such do make the Holy Sacrament of the blessed body and blood of Christ nothing else but a bare sign or a figure to represent Christ, none otherwise than the ivy-bush doth repre- sent the wine in the tavern, or as2 a vile person gorgeously ap- parelled may represent a king or a prince in a play; alas ! let men leave lying and speak the truth every one, not only to his neighbour but also of his neighbour, for we are members one of another, saith S. Paul." Every sa- Once more Ridley says,3 " True it is every Sacrament hath therefore"1 grace annexed unto it instrument ally. But there is divers under- ha'ha'pro- standing of this word, ' habet' ' hath,' for the Sacrament hath not annexed™06 grace included in it (which the Romanists maintained as a con- strmnen-" sequence of transubstantiation) but to those who receive it well it is turned to grace. After that manner the water in Baptism hath grace promised, and by that grace the Holy Ghost is given, not that grace is included in the water, but that grace cometh by water," (i.e. as by an instrument). It is somewhat re- markable that Mr. Gorham has cited this very passage to prove that, in Ridley's judgment the Sacrament hath not grace annexed to it instrumentally, and that this grace does not come by water. He also seems to think that by the aid of his printer he can make the reader believe that Ridley here refutes " the supposed inva- riable efficacy of Infant Baptism. But the Bishop most clearly establishes this doctrine; for his argument may be thus stated : —
1 Ridley, pp. 9 and 10.
2 The reader will perceive that Bishop Ridley alludes to the " profane exam- ple" which Cranmer so severely censured.
3 Ridley, p. 240.
67
All who receive Baptism well are persons to whom grace is promised and cometh by water.
All baptized Infants receive the water in Baptism well (because their Baptism is most agreeable with the institution of Christ. Article XXVII.)
Therefore all baptized Infants are persons to whom grace is promised and cometh by water.
Mr. Gorham also declares his opinion that the principles in- volved in the doctrine of the invariable efficacy of Infant Bap- tism and transubstantiation are the same, but he has not pointed out their sameness. He however appears to labour under the same mistake with the Papists, and to suppose that unless the material substance (the elements) of the Sacraments is changed by consecration and so the thing signified, the inward and spiritual grace, is contained invisibly in the elements and in- cluded in them, the Sacraments cannot invariably take effect. He also seems to think that the Sacraments containing grace and having a promise of grace annexed to them and given by them instrumentalbj is the same thing, but the compilers of our Arti- cles and the Papists themselves did not so think.1
Latimer bears his testimony also against this heresy : Bishop i.a.
In his answer to the first conclusion submitted to him by the thaWhehsa-S papists, for disputation at Oxford, he wrote, "and the same ™re™w" bare (the spiritual) presence may be called the real presence2 [because signs'.dkul to the faithful believer there is the real or spiritual body of Christ] which thing I here rehearse, lest some sycophant or scorner should suppose me with the Anabaptist to make nothing else of the Sacrament but a bare and naked sign."3 Thus we see how careful the aged Apostle of England was to prevent the imputation of such a heresy.
Let us next hear the testimony of Bishop Jewel on this head Bishop of our Article. In his treatise on the Sacraments,4 wherein he twc'- says, he " so framed his speech that the meanest and simplest may reap profit thereby he assigns three reasons why the Sacraments were ordained.
1 Ridley, pp. 10, 11, 44.
2 Real presence ; that is a presence not feigned, but a true and faithful pre- sence, [1684.]
3 Latimer, vol. ii. p. 252.
4 Jewel, portion ii, p. 1100— 1102.
F 2
68
1st. That thereby one should acknowledge another as fellows of one household and members of one body.
2nd. To move, instruct, and teach our dull and heavy hearts by sensible creatures, that so our negligence in not heeding or marking the word of God spoken unto us might be amended.
3rd. They are seals and confirmations of God's promise. There follows an eloquent, an impassioned, and an indignant denial on the part of the Church of any leaning towards or par- ticipation in the heresy repudiated in the negative definition of our present Article.
" What ? (he asks,) Are they nothing else but bare and naked signs ? God forbid. They are the seals of God, heavenly tokens and signs of the grace and righteousness and mercy given and imputed to us. Circumcision was not a bare sign. Even so is not baptism any bare sign. Baptisma ejus, saith Chrysos- tom, etiam passio ejus est. 'Christ's baptism is Christ's nmnounccs passion.' They are not bare signs : it were blasphemy so to say. to Myaie"' The grace of God doth always work with His Sacraments ; but are A ire we are taught1 not to seek that grace in the sign, but to assure ourselves, by receiving the sign, that it is given by the thing sig- nified. We were not washed from our sins by the water, we are not fed to eternal life by the bread and wine,2 but by the precious blood of our Saviour Christ, that lieth hid in these Sacraments. as seisin or^ " Bernard saith, ' Datur annulus ad investiendum, &c.' The inheritance fashion is to deliver a ring when seisin and possession of inheri-
is given when .. ...... -nil
the ring is tance is given : the ring is a sign ot the possession :3 so that he
delivered; , ? . . , . T
so Christ which hath taken it may say, the ring is nothing ; 1 care not
gives seisin M >s m . .. . x ti
and posses, for it ; it is the inheritance which I sought for. In like manner
siim of His ' ...
grace by the when Christ our Lord drew nigh to His passion, He thouqht
visible sign _ ° r ...
of His si- nood to qive seisin and possession of His grace to His disciples ;
craments. * * .... ...
so that they might receive His invisible grace by some visible sign.
" Chrysostom saith, ' In nobis non simplex aqua operatur ; sed cum accepit gratiam Spiritus abluit omnia peccata.'' Plain or bare water worketh not in us, but when it hath received the grace of the Holy Ghost it washeth away all our sins.
1 This is the Romish error, which was above reproved by Bishop Ridley.
1 I.e. not by any natural virtue or charm contained in the elements. Bishop Jewel assigns to each part of the Sacraments its proper office, but he does not dismember them.
3 Not before enjoyed, but received with it.
G9
"So saith Ambrose also, ' Spiritus sanctus descendit et consecrat aquam.' * The Holy Ghost cometh down and halloweth the water.'' And again, ' Prasentia Trinitatis adest.' ' There is the presence of the Trinity.' So saith Cyril, ' Quemadmo- dum viribus ignis aqua, &c.' ' As water thoroughly heated with fire burneth as well as the fire, so the waters which wash the body of him that is baptized are changed into divine power by the working of the Holy Ghost.' So said Leo, sometime a Bishop of Rome. ' Dedit aquae quod dedit matri. Virtus enim Altissimi, et obumbratio Spiritus Sancti, quae fecit ut Maria pareret Salvatorem, eadem fecit ut regeneret unda creden- tem., 'Christ hath given like pre-eminence to the water of Baptism as He gave to His Mother. For that Power of the High- est and that overshadowing of the Holy Ghost which brought to pass that Mary should bring forth the Saviour of the world, hath also brought to pass that the water should bear anew and regenerate him that believeth.'1
" Such opinion had the ancient learned fathers, and such reve- rend words they used when they entreated of the Sacraments. For it is not man but God that worketh by them; yet is it not god work, the creature of bread and water, but the soul of man that re- sacranicnts ceiveth the grace of God. These corruptible creatures need it not, ^m^V""1 but we have need of God's grace. But this is a phrase of speak- grace"1 w ing. For the power of God, the grace of God, the presence of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, the gift of God, are not in the water, but in us. And we were not made because of the Sacra- ments ; but the Sacraments were ordained for our sake."
Such is the "precise and unmistakable language''' of Bishop Jewel, whose "writings Mr. Gorham asserts, abound with pas- sages which confirm the view he has taken of the Sacraments."
Mr. Gorham either has not an intimate acquaintance with the Bishop's works, or he thinks him very inconsistent with himself. For in the quotation which I have made at some length, Bishop Jewel declares it blasphemy to maintain that the Sacraments are bare, signs, conveying no grace instrumcntally to the soul of the recipient. He asserts that " the grace of God doth always work with His Sacraments," and that by these visible
1 This proves that neither the ancient Church nor Bishop Jewel held that a believer is ordinarily regenerated without Baptism. Faith is not the instrument of Regeneration, hut Baptism,
70
signs we receive His invisible grace. He says the Holy Ghost comcth down and halloiveth the water of Baptism, and changes it into Divine Power, so that it (" the water) should bear anew and regenerate him that bclieveth." So it appears in the opinion of Bishop Jewel, a man may be a true believer and yet not regenerate. Let Mr. Gorham produce a passage equally strong in favour of prevenient grace and its holy concomitants, but till then we fear- lessly assert that Bishop Jewel gives none, not even the slightest, countenance to his views, but pronounces them blasphemy. Is it not somewhat extraordinary that as prevenient grace is of so much higher importance than Baptism, that doctrine is not handled or mentioned by one of our great and orthodox Reformers ?
We will now consider the meaning of the several parts of the positive definition, and endeavour to illustrate the most impor- tant words in it.
ist. sacra- 1st. The Sacraments are declared to be "certain sure
ments be . .
certain .sure witnesses," that is to say, such witnesses of God's grace and
witnesses. , .
good will towards us, as we may feel confident will never deceive us. The word " certa" "sure" is peculiar to the English Arti- cles. But the ancient fathers applied the word " testimonium" " witness" to the Sacraments. " S. Ambrose speaketh thus of Baptism, ' Sacri fontis unda nos abluit ; sanguis Domini nos redemit. Alterum igitur invisibile, alterum visibile testimo- nium Sacramento consequimur spirituali.' The water of the holy font hath washed us; Christ's blood hath redeemed us. Therefore by a spiritual Sacrament we obtain two testimonies, the one invisible, the other visible."1 What then do these sure witnesses teach us ? The Saxon Confession, as the reader will remember, declares them to show that the blessings promised in the gospel belong and are offered to each one of us.2
Dr. Becon, Archbishop Cranmer's chaplain, says, Sacraments were ordained " that they should be testimonials unto us to tes- tify and witness how nigh Christ joins Himself unto us, that He gives Himself whole unto us, and that He will dwell in us and endow us with all His benefits and riches, so that whatsoever is Christ's the same is ours. For in taking upon us baptism, we take Christ upon us with all His holiness and righteousness, as S. Paul saith ; ' All ye that are baptized have put on Christ.' Likewise in receiving the Sacrament of the body and blood of 1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 595. ■ Sylloge Confessiouum, p. 277.
71
Christ we receive not only the Sacrament, but Christ Himself, with all the fruits, benefits, and merits of His glorious passion, and healthful death, as Christ Himself saith, 'This is My body which is betrayed or broken for you ' This is My blood which is shed for you unto the remission of your sins.' >n Elsewhere he speaks of Baptism being unto the conscience a " sure testimony and witness of God's favour towards the baptized through His Son Christ."2
2nd. They are "effectual siffns." The word "effectual" here 2nd. "Effec imports that the signs effect what they signify. Now they signify "a Slsns' the virtue of the body and blood of Christ which was broken and shed for the remission of our sins, and that as the outward and visible signs touch the body, so surely does the inward and spiritual grace regenerate, cleanse, and nourish the soul of every duly qualified recipient. This word "effectual''' is not found in the Augsburg Confession. It was added to repudiate the heresy of the Anabaptists, &c. and to vindicate the Church of England from the charge so frequently brought against Craumer and his associates by the Papists, of making the Sacraments only signs and figures. The following passage from Cranmer's answer to Gardiner will illustrate the meaning of this part of the Article : " Although they (the consecrated elements) have no holiness in them,3 yet be they signs and tokens of the marvellous works and holy effects which God worketh in us by His omnipotent power; and they be no vain nor bare tokens, as you would per- a a*™ token suade (for a bare token is that which betokeneth only and giveth de "e nothing, as a painted fire which giveth neither light nor heat) but in the due ministration of the Sacraments, God is present, working with His word and Sacraments."* Effectual signs then give some grace. God is present in their ministration and works loith them.
Having observed that the word " sign" is much abused by An inquiry Mr. Gorham, and brought forward to countenance his false doc- meaning of trine, that the Sacrament ot .Baptism is only what Cranmer has sign. defined a bare token to be, I will lay before the reader some passages which will acquaint him with the sense in which it is employed by our Churchmen. I have already shown that in
1 Becon's Catechism, p. 201. - Ibid. p. 203.
3 See above, p. 51, under " Consecration." 4 Cranmer, vol. iii. p. 38.
72
using the word the compilers of the Articles never intended to cast a doubt on the universal presence of Christ in the due ministration of the Sacraments working life in those who receive them worthily, and death in those who presume to receive them unworthily. The word was applied by all the old learned Fathers to the Sacraments, and its primitive use and sense was revived by our Reformers to disprove the monstrous doctrine of it is used in the Church of Rome, transubstantiation. The Papists held and
distinction r
to the Popish tausht not only that the elements were changed in qualitu bv
doctrine of D J . ..
the sacra- consecration, but in substance also. Thev stoutly maintained
racnts in- J *
eluding or that the substance of the bread, for instance, is "one after con-
coiitaimng " » o
grace- secration, and its place supplied by the real sensible body of Christ which is covered by and contained or included in the form or appearance of the bread which they sometimes term the accidents. To use the words of Ridley, "the Papists believed that the Sacrament was not the Sacrament, but the thing itself whereof it is a Sacrament ; that the creature was the Creator, and that the thing which hath neither life nor sense (alas! such was the horrible blindness) was the Lord Himself, which made the eye to see, and hath given all senses and understanding unto man."1 It is requisite the reader should know what object the compilers of the Articles had in view when using this word, or he may fall into sad mistakes and be greatly deceived by a few garbled extracts from their writings. Siffn is rqui- Iu ecclesiastical usage the word " sign" is equivalent to " Sa- crament in crament" in its generic and extensive signification. Thus S. sense ol that Augustine saith, " Signs when applied unto Divine things are called Sacraments."2 Agreeably to this use of the term we find "Sacrament" in the Twenty-eighth Article corresponding to the word "sign" in the Twenty-seventh.
" Baptism is not only . . but is also a sign of regeneration, &c. " The Supper of the Lord is not only . . but is rather a Sa- crament of our redemption, &c."
It is worth observing that Bishop Jewel calls Baptism " the Sacrament of our Regeneration,"
1 Ridley, p. 51.
2 Jewel, portion ii. p. 591. " Sacramentum — est sacrum signum.'' A Sacra- ment is a holy token ; " which definition is common and agreeth indifferently to alt Sacraments."
73
Moreover, the elements arc not signs until after consecration. Elements not
I'll ■ P T>- 1 Tl siSns an(l
Let me support this remark with the testimony ol Bishop Jewel, figures
l>cforc con-
" Sooner than they (the Papists) will confess, as the ancient Ca- secration. tholic Fathers do, that the Sacrament is a figure of Christ's body, they are content to say, it is a Sacrament before it is a Sacrament, and so a figure before it be a figure. For how can the Sacrament be a Sacrament, or what can the bare bread signify before consecration ? or who commanded it or appointed it so to signify ? S. Ambrose in his time thought it no heresy to write thus : ' Before consecration it is called another kind; after consecration the body of Christ is signified.' ' Thus the old Fathers called the Sacrament a sign or a figure of Christ's body after it was consecrate. But before consecration neither did they ever call it so, fyc."1 Thus we see in the judgment of Catholic men the elements must be consecrate before they become signs of inward and invisible grace, and we perceive that signs are not such graceless and unprofitable things as they are sometimes mis- represented. A figure must be a material and visible substance2 what is a
. . . . figure 1
and presupposeth the verity of a thing whereof it is a figure, for of a show or fantasy there can be no figure.3 It must also be like the thing itself of which it is a figure, just as an image must be made after a true pattern, and so resemble its pattern that one can immediately discover the likeness,4 and recal the original to our recollection, for if we take a sign in the sense of the old Fathers, to be " a thing that, besides the sight it offer- eth unto the eyes, causeth another thing to come into our mind/'5 we shall find our hearts very much moved and affected by the use of it, especially if the person whom it recals to our remem- brance is beloved by us. Christ certainly left unto us His Sacraments as signs and remembrances of Himself, " as if a man going a far journey, leave a token with his friend, to the end that he, seeing the same may remember his benefits and his friendship ; which token that friend if he love unfeignedly, can-
1 Jewel, portion ii. pp. 596, 7 ; also Cranmer, ii. 383, 394.
2 Jewel, portion i. p. 449.
3 Jewel, portion ii. pp. GO I — 609.
4 Cramner, vol. ii. pp. 391, 2.
5 Jewel, portion i. p. 458. Signum est res prseter speciem quam ingerit sen- sibus, aliud quoddam faciens in cogitationem venire." Aug. De Doctr. Christ. Lib. ii. cap. i.
74
not see without great motion of his mind or without tears."1 In consideration of these natural effects of signs, rightly under- stood and valued, and by reason of this strong resemblance, the signs take the names of the things signified. And we find Theophylact calling " the bread not only a figure but also the tokensbthat body of Christ, giving us by those words to understand that in we receive the Sacrament we do not only eat corporally the bread, which
not only the J 1 »
mcilts but *s a Sacrament and figure of Christ's body, but spiritually we visible grace ea^ a^so ^s veriJ body and drink His very blood. ' And this doc- themXedt° trine of Theophylact/ says Cranmer, 'is both true, Godly, and comfortable.' "2 Since then, signs in ecclesiastical language are sanctified, and consecrated by, and mystically united to the all-powerful Word of God ; it is no matter of wonder that our Orthodox Reformers on all occasions contend earnestly for their efficacy. " The Sacraments of Christ," says Bishop Jewel, " notwithstanding they be signs and figures, as they be com- monly called of the old Fathers, yet are they not therefore bare For by these and naked. For God, by them, like as also by His holy word,
consccrstcii
signs Gon worket/i miqhtilii and effectualhi in the hearts of the faithful."3
works effec- i • i i
tuaiiyinthe The word signum also means " seal," but of that we will speak
hearts of the D . ' r
faithful. under the Twenty-seventh Article.
It is curious to observe how closely the Papists and our would-be new masters resemble each other in their reasoning on the Sacraments. They both conclude that if the Sacraments are "signs" of a Holy Thing, even of the body and blood of Christ, and not actually changed in substance into the real fleshly body and blood of Christ, they can convey no spiritual grace to the soul of man. Mr. Gorham, like the Papists, ac- counts every Sacrament bare, if Christ's body is not realty, i.e. substantially present. Bishop Jewel often complains of the untrue and unjust defamation of the Papists, and says the Church of England does not make " the Sacraments of Christ nothing else but bare tokens," but " thinks and speaks soberly and reverently of them as knowing them to be testimonies of
The fact of . J . J
the inward God's promises, and the instruments of the Holy Ghost."4 He
and spiritual 1
grace of the also says "the absence of the bodily and fleshly presence does not
1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 591 ; also portion i. p. 467.
2 Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 419. 3 Jewel, portion ii. p. 570. 4 Jewel, portion i. p. 515.
75
in any wise hinder either the substance of the holy mystery or Sacrament the truth of our receiving1 the inward grace, but Ciiiust is pre- contained in sent among us, verily, effectually, and substantially, and for ever, no wisehin- even unto the consummation of the world."2 In the following truth of our
receiving the
passage he strikes at the root of those errors, which is infidelity, inward that refuses to believe more than it sees and looks only on the surface and not on the hidden meaning of God's ordinances. " If," says he, " we conceive none otherwise of the Sacraments than they be of themselves (by which he means in their matter bread, wine, and water) then all our Sacraments be in vain." Therefore the Godly Fathers labour evermore to draw us from the outward visible creatures to the meaning and substance of the Sacraments. And to that end S.Augustine saith, ' In Sacra- In Sacra-
11. merits we
rnents we must consider not what they be indeed, but what then must beIed
» / •'by the visible
siqnifii.'' So it is written in the council of Nice, ' Seest thou things to the
» considera- ble water of Baptism fit is not what it was before) ? Consider £on of *he
r ' heavenly
thou that heavenly power that lieth hidden in the water.' SoJJ}^8*^- Chrysostom saith, ' The bread before it is sanctified is called bread, but being sanctified by the heavenly grace, by means of the Priest, it is delivered from the name of bread, and thought worthy of the name of the Lord's body notwithstanding the nature of bread remain in it still.' " Then after quoting S. Au- gustine and Bertram he continues, " Thus are the elements of manna, of the bread, of the wine, and of the water, changed, and are not as they were before and therefore in every of the same we honour the body of Christ invisible, not as really and fleshly present, but as being in heaven. This whole matter and the causes thereof S. Augustine seemeth to open in this wise, 'Let the new-christened man be taught that Sacraments be visible signs of heavenly things, and that the things themselves that he seeth not must be honoured in them, and that the same kind and elements (bread, wine, or water) is not so to be taken as it is in daily use. Let him also be taught, what the words mean that and be he hath heard, and what is hidden (and to be believed) in whose image Christ, whose image or likeness that thing (that is that Sacra- ment bear, ment) beareth.' "3 This is very unlike the language either of Mr. Gorham or Mr. Goode, the latter of whom speaks of the ministration of Baptism in a most unbecoming and irreverent 1 Jewel, portion i. p. 476. - Ibid. p. 500. 3 Ibid. pp. 545, 6.
76
manner, and seems either ignorant or forgetful of the holiness of the water after consecration, of Christ's spiritual presence in His own Divine mysteries, and of the grace of God alway work- ing with His Sacraments. " You have only to sprinkle the child with water and utter a few words and the thing is done.5'1 This is the light manner in which he mentions the sacramental water, the solemn words of Christ's institution invoking the Holy Trinity, and the investing a child with all the graces and privi- leges of a Christian ; one would think he were speaking of some feat of a juggler instead of the ministration of Baptism by a Christian Bishop.
3rd. -of 3rd. " Of grace." What is this grace? And when is it
grace." , " . .
given ? The Saxon Confession declares it to be " the gratuitous remission of sins, reconciliation with God, and the whole benefit of redemption."2 Bishop Ridley tells us what it is and when it is given. " The society or conjunction with Christ through the Holy Ghost is grace ; and by the Sacrament (not by a preve- nient act of grace) we are made the members of the mystical body of Christ, for that by the Sacrament the part of the body is grafted in the Head/'3 It is here too evident for denial or evasion that Bishop Ridley maintained we are not made members of Christ before we receive the Sacrament (can we then be said to be regenerated and to be Christians ?) and that by the Sacra- ment we are grafted into His head and made part of His body. This doctrine, when maintained by the Bishop of Exeter, Mr. Goode is pleased falsely to call the " opus operatum" virtue of Baptism, hoping to induce the unlearned to turn away their eyes from the truth by creating a suspicion of latent Popery. As this part of the Article will be fully illustrated when we treat of the Twenty-seventh Article, I shall only add one passage from Bishop Jewel's apology. It is this, "We affirm that Christ doth truly and presently (sese prsesentem) give Himself wholly in (not before) His Sacraments ; in Baptism, that we may put Him on, and in His Supper that we may eat Him by faith and spirit, and may have everlasting life by His cross and blood. Not given And we say not this is done slightly or coldly but effectually and cokiiy or/or- truly.,>i But Messrs. Gorham and Goode declare that the bless-
1 Mr. Goode's Letter, p. 36. 2 Sylloge Confessionum, p. 277.
3 Ridley, p. 239. 4 Jewel, portion iii. p. 13, 523.
77
fogs of regeneration and adoption {supposed by them, but by no mallj/, b"t ancient Divine, to be bestowed by a prevenient act of grace) " are, udtraiy' in suitable cases, formally made over, and in that sense ' (after being long ago, it may be, given, bestowed, and possessed, are again)' given in and by Baptism."1 This formal giving means, I presume, a fantasy of giving in outward appearance, and by ostentatious ceremony, and is in fact no giving at all, but pub- licly reminding the " suitable cases" of favours already received. If it be a giving it is certainly not an effectual and true giving (such as all ancient Divines and our own Church mean) ; it is not a real giving of blessings which were not before enjoyed, but conveyed by the instrumentality of the Sacraments.
4th. "By which He doth work invisibly in us.5' In these 4th- " »y
J . J which He
words the Church teaches us three important truths: 1st, that doHl work
1 _ _ invisibly in
God is the efficient cause of all the benefits which mankind re- us-" ceive in the use of the Sacraments. 2nd. That the Sacraments are God's instruments by which in His wisdom He sees fit to work, and to convey His grace. And 3rd, that by these instru- ments He works invisibly in us.
1st. God is the efficient cause, &c. This truth is opposed Gon is the to the erroneous teaching of the Church of Rome, that Sacra- cause"4 ments contain and confer2 grace by their own natural or super- natural virtue " after such manner of speaking as we say potions and drinks contain health." But as Bishop Jewel remarks, this illustration disproves the doctrine the Papists wish to establish — for drinks and potions verily and indeed contain not the health of the patient, therefore Sacraments verily and indeed contain not the grace of God. In a certain sense however we may use the expression, for "the special grace of the passion of Christ is contained in the Sacraments of the Church, as the power of the worker is contained in the instrument wherewith he viorketh."3 The Sacraments then though not efficient are yet The sacra- instrumental causes of graces, &c. which is the second truth as- £|trumenta serted and to be established. The antecedent to " by which" causes" or "per quse" is "signs" or "signa;" and as the agreement be- tween this relative and its antecedent is in gender, number, and
' Mr. Goode's Letter, pp. 25, 26.
s See Canon vi. of the seventh session of Council of Trent, held March 3, 1547. 1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 445.
78
person according to the strict rules of grammar, we conclude this relative is absolutely connected with its antecedent. The Belgic Confession is a little more explicit than our own Article, and asserts that " Sacraments are signs," &c. " by which, as by a medium, God Himself, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, works in us." I shall now therefore bring forward proof that the doctrine of the Articles, that God works by means of His Sacraments, is the uniform doctrine of the compilers of the Articles. Cran- crammer mer says in his answer to Gardiner, " You gather of my say- Gon uscthat ings unjustly, that Christ is indeed absent, for I say according mentsa^His to God's Word and the doctrine of the old writers, that Christ t'oSworkby! is present in His Sacraments, as they teach also that He is pre- sent in His Word, when He worketh mightily by the same in the hearts of the hearers. By which manner of speech it is not meant that Christ is corporally present in the voice or sound of the speaker, which sound pcrisheth as soon as the words be spoken, but this speech meaneth, that He worketh with His Word, using the voice of the speaker as His instrument to work by, as He useth also His Sacraments, whereby (i.e. by which Sacraments) He worketh and therefore is said to be present in them."1
ridlkt af- Ridley, as we have seen, expressly declares it to be true that GoDSgives grace is given by the Sacraments but as by an instrument. The the Tacrthy inward virtue and Christ give the grace through the Sacrament. HiT^nstru/ Again he says, " by the Sacrament we are made the members of the mystical body of Christ, for that by the Sacrament the part of the body is grafted in the head." Once more, "This Sa- crament hath a promise of grace, made to those who receive it worthily, because grace is given by it as by an instrument ; not that Christ hath transfused grace into the bread and wine."2 Is this giving & formal or an actual giving? The new school also assert that the grace of spiritual regeneration "is never given by virtue of Baptism."3 Ridley asserts that " grace is given by the Sacraments, and that the inward virtue and Christ give the grace through the Sacraments,1" and this he main- tains when stoutly arguing for the truth against Papists, and at the peril of his life. If to teach that grace is given by virtue of the
1 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 38. 2 Ridley, pp. 239, 241.
3 Mr. (-node's Letter, p. 43.
7!)
Sacraments is teaching the opus operatum virtue of the Sacra- ments, Ridley must have so taught. We will next adduce the evidence of Bishop Jewel, first advertising the reader that the Bishop Papists taught that the presence in Baptism was different from <iicatcs Bap-
1 ° 1 1 tism from
the presence in the Lord's Supper. " M. Harding knoweth the <ietrac-
1 rl ° tionoftlie
that Chrysostom speaketh not these words only of the Sacrament Papists: of Christ's body, but also generally of all other mysteries. For he addeth immediately, 'even so in Baptism the gift is granted by water '(per aquam)' which is a thing sensible.' But the regeneration and renovation that therein (in baptism) is wrought is a thing spiritual. ' And forasmuch as these two Sacraments being both of force (i.e. virtue, power, efficacy, the ' vis ' of the Twenty-sixth Article) like, these men to advance their fantasies in the one, by comparison so much abase the other ; and specially for the better opening of Chrysostom's mind, I think it good briefly and by the way somewhat to touch what the old Catholic Fathers have written of God's in- visible working in the sacrament of Baptism. Dionysius gene- rally of all mysteries writeth thus, 'the angels, being creatures spiritual, so far forth as it is lawful for them, behold God and His Godly power. But we are led as we may, by sensible out- ward tokens (which he calleth images) unto the contemplation of heavenly things.' The fathers, in the council of Nice, say thus, ' Baptism must be considered not with our bodily eyes but with the eyes of our mind. Thou seest the water : think thou of the power of God that in the water is hidden — think thou that the water is full of heavenly fire and of the sanctification of the Holy Ghost.' Chrysostom speaking likewise of Baptism saith thus, ' the things that I see I judge not by sight but by the eyes of my mind. The heathen when he heareth the water of Baptism, taketh it only for plain water, but I see not simply or barely that I see. I see the cleansing of the soul by the Spirit of God.'1 So likewise saith Nazianzenus, ' the mystery of Bap- tism is greater than it appeareth to the eye.' So S. Ambrose saith, ' in Baptism there is one thing done visibly to the eye,
1 On these words Bishop Jewel elsewhere makes the following remark : " How will M. Harding say that Chrysostom only for a countenance speaketh thus honourably of the Sacrament of Baptism, meaning notwithstanding it is nothing else but bare water?" Jewel, portion i. p. 515.
80
another thing is wrought invisibly to the mind/ Again he saith, 'believe not only the bodily eyes (in this sacrament of Baptism) the thing that is not seen is better seen ; the thing that thou seest is corruptible; the thing that thou seest not is for ever.' To be short, in consideration of these invisible effects Tertullian saith, ' the Holy Ghost cometh down and halloweth the water.' S. Basil saith, ' the kingdom of heaven is there set open.' Chrysostom saith, 'God Himself in Baptism by His invisible power holdeth the head/ S. Ambrose saith, ' the water hath the grace of Christ; in it is the presence of the Trinity.' S. Bernard saith, 'let us be washed in His blood.' " Now mark well Bishop Jewel's own deduction and see if his doctrine is not the very reverse of Messrs. Gorham and Goode's. and con- " By the authorities of thus many ancient Fathers, it is plain, that,
eludes that 9 ■ _ _ _ _ _ .J7. -
i» the sacra- in the Sacrament oj Baptism, by the sensible sign oj water the Ham, by the invisible grace of God is given unto us."1 In anotber passage sign- of wa- already cited, the Bishop says the Sacraments of Christ are
TER THE
Holy ghost ^ the instruments of the Holy Ghost."2 Shall we then be
IS GIVEN
unto us. scared away by the opus operatum cry of a few designing men from the true doctrine of the Sacraments, grounded upon the Holy Scriptures, and supported by the authority of so many learned ancient Divines, by the compilers and editor of our Arti- cles, and by the orthodox Reformed Churches abroad ? By these The third fact is, that " by these instruments God works in- Go^works5 invisibly in us." The words " in us," are important. They 1,j1jyislbly m exclude a great error of the Romanists, who suppose that in one Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, God at consecration works invi- sibly in the substance of the elements, and changes the bread and wine into the true fleshly body and blood of Christ. By rea- son of this supposed change of substance, " the Papists," as Bishop Ridley says, " believed that the Sacrament was not the Sacrament, but the thing itself whereof it is a Sacrament, and that the creature was the Creator ;" hence followed the doctrine that the Sacraments (or as they more accurately express their meaning, the forms or appearances or accidents of bread and wine) contain and confer grace, (for they covertly contain the Lord God) and hence followed the doctrine of the " opus opera- tum," which is now so much talked of and so little understood.
1 Jewel, portion i. pp. 465, 6. 2 Ibid. p. 515.
81
Let us quote a passage from Bishop Gardiner confirmatory of Cuanmkr
i ■ *r» • niri i p i ay held that in
this statement. " Baptism is marvelled at for the wonderful eiieet the minis.
... 7-7 • ii tration of
that is in man by it ; how man is regenerate, not how the water or the sacra-
. ments God
the Holy Ghost is there ; but the wonder in this Sacrament worketn
• ii t i i . wonderfully
(the Lord's Supper) is specially directed to the work of God in in the true i ii i i- ill i r«ce'"«'*»
the. visible creatures, how they be so changed into the body and not in
• • i_ o r\ t p the visible
blood of Christ, which is a work wrought of God before we signs.
receive the Sacrament." Now hear Cranmer' s reply, " as touch- ing this your second mark in the ministration of the Sacraments as well of the Lord's Holy Supper as of Baptism, God worketh wonderfully by His omnipotent power in the true receivers, not in the outward visible signs. For it is the person baptized that is so regenerate that he is made a new creature without any real alte- ration of the water. And none otherwise is it in the Lord's Supper, for the bread and wine remain in their former substance and neither be fed nor nourished, and yet in the man that worthily receiveth them, is such a wonderful nourishment wrought by the mighty power of God, that he hath thereby everlasting life. And this is the ineffable Work of God whereof Cyprian speak- eth." " Considering deeply this matter, Cyprian wondereth as much at God's work in Baptism as in the Lord's Supper; Chrysostom wondereth as much ; Emissene wondereth as much ; Cyril wondereth as much ; all Catholic writers wonder as much as well how God doth spiritually regenerate us to a new life, as how He doth spiritually feed and nourish us to everlasting life. And although these things be outwardly signified unto us by the Sacramental bread, wine, and water, yet they be effectually wrought in us by the omnipotent power o/God."1 The first sen- tence from the words " in the ministration" to " outward visible signs," is cited by Mr. Gorham in proof of his assertion that Cranmer, among others, separated the Sacrament or sign from the grace or thing signified in precise and unmistakeable lan- guage. The words however, which he has thought proper to quote, certainly do not prove this at all in precise and unmis- takeable language, but as they are likely to mislead a reader who does not know what Cranmer was contending for and against, it may be as well to direct attention to his object. He is con- tending then against the transubstantiation of the elements in 1 Cranmer, vol. iii. p. 523 — 525.
82
the Lord's Supper, and he proves it is no necessary consequence of the wonderful working of God through the Sacrament by showing against the Papists that the Catholic Church ever held that God's work in Baptism is as wonderful as His work in the Lord's Supper. And he is contending/or the honour and dig- nity of Baptism against the Papists, who depreciated that Holy Sacrament to adorn the fond doctrine of transubstantiation, just as our new men are doing to dignify their prevenient grace. It is remarkable however that Mr. Gorham should have so mis- taken Cranmer's design in the citation he made, since in the very next sentence, the Archbishop, " in precise and unmistakeable language," asserts that " the person Baptized is so regenerate that he is made a new creature, without any alteration of the water."
so also do So savs Bishop Ridley, "in Baptism the bodv is washed
RlDLET ... .
with the visible water, and the soul is cleansed from all filth by the invisible Holt Ghost, and yet the water ceaseth not to be water, but keepeth the nature of water still ; in like sort in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the bread ceaseth not to be bread." 1
andJuwBi.. With reference to the same subject Bishop Jewel says, "it is the soul of man (in the use of the Sacraments) and not the creature of bread or water that receiveth the grace of God. We have need of God's grace, these corruptible elements need it not. Without faith of our part, Sacraments be not only unprofitable to us, but hurtful."'2 Here Bishop Jewel distinguishes between God offering His grace, on His part, in and by the Sacraments, and man, on his part, receiving or rejecting it according as he has or has not a lively faith in the promises of God made to him in the Sacraments. He who believes the Word of the Lord, will, at the reception of His Holy Sacraments, stretch out the hand of faith to receive and take hold of the proffered mercies : but he, who possesses no such faith, expects nothing, asks for nothing, and will receive nothing but God's displeasure ; for without faith it is impossible to please God. Let me illustrate my argu- ment by an extract from Cranmer's defence, kc. "The priest mav well minister Christ's Words and Sacraments to all men, both good and bad, but he can apply the benefit of Christ's 1 Ridley, p. 275. s Jewel, portion iii. p. 445.
83
passion to no man being of age and discretion (mark these faith is re- words, good reader) but only to such as by their own faith do ofthosewho apply the same to themselves. So, that every man of age and anVdiscre- discretion taketh to himself the benefits of Christ's passion (offered of course in the Sacraments) or refuseth them himself (if not offered they could not be refused) by his own faith, quick or dead — that is to say, by his true and lively faith, that worketh hy charity, he receiveth them or else by his ungodliness or feigned faith rejecteth them/'1 It appears then that Cranmer did not believe the virtue and efficacy of the Sacraments to be de- rived from the presence nor to be decreased by the absence of faith in the receiver. He held that the Sacraments are entire and effectual because of Christ's institution and promise, and that in all cases God offers His grace to man, which, if he is of age and discretion, is received or rejected according as the adult recipient has or has not faith in that promise. These observa- tions lead me to the consideration of the next sentence in the Articles, which affirms that by the Sacramental signs, God " doth not only quicken but strengthen and confirm our faith in Him."
This is certainly one purpose for which God instituted His By Faith
_ . . . . 1*1 . man receives
Sacraments, raith is an instrument by which man receives, not the grace
? !•••£■• /•/-! » i i which God
merits or deserves, his justification jor Christ s sake and merit ; offer*- and that we may obtain a lively faith of our own selves being received into the Divine favour, and of the remission of our own sins by Christ's sacrifice, God instituted the ministry of His Word and Sacraments. For by the Word and Sacraments, as by His instruments, the Holy Spirit is given, who creates faith2 in those who welcome the good tidings that God for Christ's sake, and not for their own merits, receives them into His favour. " Excitat" " quickens" refers perhaps more particularly to the gift and quickening of this faith in Baptism — whilst " confirmat" "strengthens and confirms" alludes to the grace of the Lord's Supper.
As»the nature of the faith here meant is disputed, it is of con- sequence to determine this question. Upon referring to Article XIII. of the Augsburg Confession of 1530, the reader will
1 Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 461.
2 Sylloge Confessionum. Conf. Augustana, Arts. iv. & v. pp. 124, 5. Art. iv. of 1538. Cranmer, vol. iv. p. 277.
G 2
84
Ariuitsare perceive that the faith required of adults for ^beneficial reception
required to /. 1 01 • . ,. _ , it-
behevesome ot the Sacraments is a belief of some special truth m addition to
special . .
truths, the Articles of Faith contained in the Apostles' Creed. " Itaque utendum est Sacramentis, ita ut fides accedat, qua credat pro- missionibus, (id est ' remitti peccata'j qua per Sacramento ex- hibentur et osfenduntur." To which the following clause is added in the Confession of 1540; " Hac fide accipimus pro- viissam gratiam, quam Sacramenta significant, et Spirituni Sanc- tum."1 Again, the Articles of 1536, (w herein, says Neal, in his History of the Puritans, " the Scriptures and the ancient Creeds are made the standard of faith without the tradition of the Church or decrees of the Pope,"2) require of adults and children having the use of reason, not only true repentance and a belief of all the
viz. that the Articles of our Faith, but also a "firm credence and trust in the
promises of . » rt t ■ i -in 1 •
god ad- promises of God adjoined to the said Sacrament, that is to say,
joined to . . .
the sacra, that in and by this said Sacrament which thev shall receive,
meats, .
God the Father giveth unto them for His Sox Jesus Christ's sake remission of all their sins, and the grace of the Holy Ghost, whereby they be newly regenerated and made the very children of God."3 This same special faith is also required in the institution of a Christian Man published in 1537.
Again, if the reader will refer to the Article IX. of 1538, he will find that in the use of the Sacraments the adult is re- quired of necessity to have a special faith, believing those pro- mises, which, by means of the Sacraments, are shown, figured, and offered, to be made good and performed by the Sacraments. And in the Article VI. on Baptism, adults, who desire Baptism, are required to bring true repentance, a confession of the Arti- are given to cles of the Faith, and a true belief that remission of sins and jus- mfn7stra-he'r tification is there (in Baptism) given to them for Christ's sake, as S. Peter says in the Acts, "repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."4 It is too precisely stated to admit of dispute, that the faith required of adults when coming to baptism is not a general belief of the Articles, but a belief of a special truth, viz. of their obtaining
1 Sylloge Confession". m, pp. 127, 174. s Neal, vol. i. p. 17.
3 Formularies of Faith, p. xs. pp. 7 & 8.
4 Crannier's works, vol. iv. pp. 285, 280.
85
remission of their sins there (in Baptism). It is not a belief of a remission of their sins by a prevenient act of grace before coming to the Font.
In 1543, the Necessary Doctrine was published, and it requires all who have the use of reason to come to Bap- tism, " truly contrite and penitent of all their sins done before, believing and confessing all the Articles of the Creed, and having a sure faith and trust in the "promises of God (made and fulfilled in and by the Sacraments, as is evident from the preceding words, ' to all those that worthily receive the same') of remission of their sins, and purposing ever after to lead a Christian life."1 That this is the special faith required is put out of doubt by a passage contained in the next Article on the Sacrament of Pen- ance. " Every man before he entereth into the ways of fruitful penance must have for a ground and foundation such a belief as whereby he hopeth and looketh by the Sacrament of Penance, to attain remission of all his sins."2 And indeed it is distinctly laid down in the Article of Faith, which, after declaring that no such faith is taught in Scripture as certifies a man " that he is of the predestinates, which shall to the end persevere in their calling," affirms that, " truth it is, that in the Sacraments instituted by Christ we may constantly believe the works of God in them to our present comfort and application of His grace and favour, with assurance also that He will not fail us, if we fall not from Him ; wherefore so continuing in the state of grace with Him, we may believe undoubtedly to be saved."3
In 1548, what is commonly called " Cranmer's Catechism" was published. And here again the same special faith is spoken of. By the Sacraments or holy seals " God's ministers do work with us in the name and place of God (yea, God Himself work- eth with us) to confirm us in our faith, and to asserten us, that we are the lively members of God's true Church, and the chosen people of God, to whom the gospel is sent, and that all those things belong to us, whereof the promises of the gospel make mention. The first of these Sacraments is baptism, by the which we be born again to a new and heavenly life, and be received into God's Church and congregation, which is the foundation
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 256. - Ibid. p. 258. 3 Ibid. p. 224.
86
and pillar of the truth."1 " Wherefore, good children, when a man is baptized, it is as much to say, as he doth there confess, that he is a sinner, and that he is under the rule and govern- ance of sin, so that of himself he cannot be good or righteous. And therefore he cometh to baptism and there seeketh for help and remedy and desireth God, first to forgive him his sins, &c."2 "Before we were baptized, it is evident that we were sinners, &c. But after that our sins in baptism be forgiven us, and we believe the promise of God, and so by our faith be justified, (i.e. we accept and receive the justification offered us in Baptism) then our consciences be quieted and we be glad and merry, trusting assuredly that God is no more angry with us for our foitner offences, and that we shall not be damned for the same."3
We will next invite attention to a passage in Cranmer's Defence, &c. which appeared in the year 1550. "Fourthly, it is to be noted that the true knowledge of these things (that The sacra- « Christ is such a spiritual and perfect good that He preserveth
merits were ,
ordained to both body and soul for ever') is the true knowledge of Christ :
coDfirm our J °
faith, and to teach these things is to teach Christ; and the believing and feeling these things is the believing and feeling of Christ in our hearts. And the more clearly we see and understand and believe these things, the more clearly we see and understand Christ and have more fully our faith and comfort in Him.
" And although our carnal generation and our carnal nourish- ment be hnoivn to all men by daily experience and by our common senses ; yet this our spiritual generation and our spiritual nutrition be so obscure and hid unto us, that we cannot attain to the true and perfect knowledge and feeling of them, but only by faith, which must be grounded upon God's most holy Word and Sacraments.
"And for this consideration our Saviour Christ hath not only set forth these things most plainly in His holy word that we may hear them with our ears, but He hath also ordained one visible Sacrament of spiritual regeneration in water, [not a prevenient act of grace of which we have no better assurance than Messrs. Gorham and Goode's word] and another visible Sacrament of spiritual nourishment in bread and wine, to the intent that as 1 Cranmer's Catechism, p. 183. 2 Ibid. p. 185. 3 Ibid. p. 187.
87
much as possible for man,1 wc may see Christ with our eyes, smell Him at our nose, taste Him with our mouths, grope Him with our hands, and perceive Him with all our senses. For as the word of God preached putteth Christ into our ears ; so likewise these elements of water, bread and wine, joined to God's word, do, after a Sacramental manner, put Christ into our eyes, mouth, hands, and all our senses.
" And for this cause Christ ordained Baptism in water that as that when surely as we see, feel, and touch water with our bodies and be baptized
7 7-7 t Christ is
washed with water, so assuredly ought we to believe, when we be veruy Pre-
7-7 /-< '1 • 777 TT Se,lt W'tn US
baptized, that Christ is verily present with us, and that by Him anciregene- ive be newly born again spiritually, and washed from our sins and grafted in the stock of Christ's own body, and be apparelled, clothed, and harnessed with Him in such wise, that as the devil hath no power against Christ, so hath be none against us, so long as we remain grafted in that stock, and be clothed with that apparel and harnessed with that armour. So that the washing in water of Baptism is, as it were, a showing of Christ before our eyes and a sensible touching, feeling, and groping of Him, to the confirmation of the inward faith we have in Him. And in like manner Christ ordained the Sacrament of His body and blood in bread and wine, &c."2 Again, if we turn to the second book of Homilies which was set forth in 1562, we shall find that, in the first part of the sermon concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we have a plain description of the nature of that faith which is required of adults who desire the Sacra- ments. " Now it followeth to have with this knowledge a sure and constant faith, not only that the death of Christ is available for the redemption of all the world, for the remission of sins and reconciliation with God the Father ; but also that He hath made upon His Cross a full and sufficient sacrifice for thee, a perfect cleansing of thy sins, so that thou acknowledge no other Saviour, Redeemer, Mediator, Advocate, Intercessor, but Christ only, and that thou mayest say with the Apostle, that 'He loved thee and gave Himself for thee.' For this is to stick fast to
1 So if a prevenient act of grace exceeds the virtue and benefits of Baptism, it would in Cranmer's judgment be beyond the power of man's faculties to profit by it.
2 Cranmer, vol. ii. pp. 302, 3.
88
Dean Novn taught that the infidelity of the reci- pient does not cause the Sacra- ments to lose their power and nature.
Th ree rea- sons as- signed for refusing all rites hut BaptUm and the Lord's Supper, the dignity of Sacraments of the Gos- pel.
Christ's promise made in His institution, and to make Christ thine onn, and to apply His merits unto thyself."1
Dean Xowel too, in his catechism, which appeared in 1570, and was enjoined by tbe Canons of 1571, to be exclusively used,2 considers the faith which is required for a beneficial reception of the Sacraments, to be a belief of certain special truths. The faithful alone, he says, receive this fruit (the grace of remission and regeneration in Baptism) but the faithless by rejecting the promises there (in Baptism) offered to them by God, stop the approach of this grace to themselves and go away empty, yet they do not therefore cause the Sacraments to lose their own power and nature.3 Here two things are worthy of being remarked ; 1st, that the faith required at the reception of the Sacraments is such as receives the promises there offered to them by God ; and 2ndly, that the infidelity of the recipient does not alter the nature nor diminish the efficacy of the Sacraments. It were easy to add to the quotations above cited, but it is thought they are sufficient to prove that the faith which is required of worthy recipients of the Sacraments is not a belief in the Articles of the Christian faith alone, as they are embodied in the Creed, nor a belief in a previous remission of sins, as the Calvinists and Mr. Gorham maintain, but a firm credence and trust in the promises of God adjoined to the Sacraments, that is to say, that in and by the Sacraments, as divinely appointed instruments, God gives unto them for His Sox's merits remission of all their sins and the grace of the Holy Ghost.
The next paragraph deserves our attention. It pronounces those five rites, commonly4 called Sacraments at the time of the compilation of the Article, not to be Sacraments of the gospel, nor to have like nature of Sacraments with Baptism or the Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony or- dained of God. Mr. Gorham appears to attach little or no importance to the fact of the visible sign or ceremony of the Sacraments being ordained of God ; but the compilers of our
1 Homilies, p. 407.
2 Cardwell's Documentary Annals, vol. i. p. 266.
3 Noelli Catechismus, published in the Enchiridion Theologicum, at Oxford, 1792, vol. ii. p. 215.
4 " Commonly," is equivalent to this expression of Bishop Jewel's, "which
some of late vears have called Sacraments."
89
Articles lay very great stress upon this circumstance, for in the following Article they ascribe the whole efficacy of the Sacra- ments to Christ's institution and promise. In the speech which Cranmer delivered in Convocation in 1536, he said, "these be weighty controversies now moved and put forth, (similar ques- tions to those with which Mr. Gorham is now vexing the Church) not of ceremonies and light things, but — 'of the manner and way how sins be forgiven' — ' of the true use of the Sacraments,' whether the outward work doth justify man, or whether we re- ceive our justification by faith (in the promises of God made to us in the Sacraments.) Finally, whether the ceremony of con- firmation, of orders and of annealing (i.e. extreme unction), and such other (which cannot be proved to be institute of Christ, nor have any word in them to certify us of remission of sins) ought to be called Sacraments, and to be compared with Baptism and the Supper of the Lord or no?"1
These debates in Convocation resulted in the compilation and adoption of the " Articles about Religion," in which all mention of four out of the seven Sacraments is omitted. In the following year, however, The Institution of a Christian Man was published. This book allowed these four ceremonies the name of Sacraments, but declared they were not such Sacra- ments as Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Let us see then what the distinguishing qualities are. "Although the Sacra- ments of Matrimony, of Confirmation, of Holy Orders, and of Extreme Unction have been of long time past received2 and approved by the common consent of the Catholic Church, to have the name and dignity of Sacraments, as indeed they may be well worthy to have' — ' yet there is a difference in dignity and necessity between them and the other three Sacraments of Baptism, of Penance, and of the Altar, and that for divers causes. First, because these three Sacraments be instituted of Christ, mey want to be as certain instruments or remedies necessary for salvation, institution,0 and the attaining of everlasting life. Secondly, because they be l\gns, or 'tile also commanded by Christ to be ministered and received in their j^ace'an-'' outward visible signs. Thirdly, because they have annexed and sign? tothe
1 Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 17.
2 Peter Lombard, the Master of the Sentences, first declared the number of the Sacraments to be precisely seven. He died in a.d. 1 164.
90
conjoined unto their said visible signs such spiritual graces, as whereby ' (by which signs)' our sins be remitted and forgiven, and we be perfectly renewed, regenerated, purified, justified, and made the very members of Christ's mystical body, so oft as we worthily and duly receive the same.,>l
Let us now turn to the Homily of Common Prayer and Sacraments, and observe the reasons there assigned for refusing Absolution (i.e. penance), and Orders the title of a Sacrament in absolu- the exact signification of the term. "Although Absolution
tion has no.. .... „.
sign to hath the promise or forgiveness 01 sin, yet by the express word promise is of the New Testament it hath not this promise annexed and tied to the visible sign, which is imposition of hands. For this visible sign (I mean laying on of hands) is not expressly commanded in the New Testament to be used in Absolution, as the visible signs in Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ; and therefore Absolution is no such Sacrament as Baptism and the Communion are. And orders has though the Ordering of Ministers hath his visible sign and no'pro'mise promise, yet it lacks the promise of remission of sin, and all other of sins is an- Sacraments besides the two above named do. Therefore, neither it, nor any other Sacrament else be such Sacraments as Baptism, and the Communion are. But, in a general acceptation the name of Sacrament may be attributed to any thing whereby an holy thing is signified."2 Bishop We will next have recourse to the pages of Bishop Jewel.
thefivewJn* " W7w hath ordained the Sacraments?" he asks. "Not any
either the
wordoreie- prelate, not any prince, not any angel or archangel, but only both.' God Himself, for He only hath authority to seal the charter, in whose authority only it is to grant it ; and only He giveth the pledge and confirmeth His grace to us, which giveth His grace into our hearts.'"1 Chrysostom saith, " Divinum et integrum non esset mysterium si quicquam ex te adderes." " The mystery were not of God, nor perfect, if thou couldst put anything to it."3 " These five want either the word, or the element, or both, and therefore may not be taken for true Sacraments." "When I say a Sacrament, I mean a ceremony commanded by God in express words." For God only hath the authority to institute a Sacrament. Sacraments are confirmations and seals of the pro-
1 Formularies of Faith, pp. 128—9. 2 Homilies, p. 324.
3 Jewel, portion ii, p. 1100.
91
raises of God, and are not of the earth, but from heaven. As Christ saith, "the Baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men ?" " I protest that the use and order of Con- confirma-
j? • • i i i • f ii 3 i tion is not
formation rightly used is profitable and necessary m the Church instituted by
i iii t> ii i i i i Christ nor
and no way to be broken. Hut all that is profitable and neces- isany«pe-
. cial promise
sary is not a Sacrament. Christ did not command it: He made to it,
J . • i i • am* is t'iere-
spake no word of it. Look and read, if you doubt it. Christ's fore «°sa-
" crament.
Words are written and may be seen. You shall never find that He commanded 'Confirmation/ or that He made any special pro- mise to it. Therefore may you conclude that it is no Sacrament — otherwise, being rightly used, it is a good ceremony and well ordained of our ancient fathers."1 Again, speaking of the oil of EXTRliMK
V KTC T E O N
the Chrism used by the Church of Rome as the outward visible has no ' sign of Confirmation, the Bishop says, " It is no ft instrument, t>y the word
• 7 7 - 7 7 7 7 7 -,, WOrk S3l-
without commandment or promise by the word, to work salvation, vation. In his Defence of the Apology, he writes in similar terms. " The other five Sacraments want either the word or the element or both together. As for example, matrimony, order, and penance, have the Word of God, but they have no outward creature or element. Extreme unction and Confirmation have neither word nor element. Therefore, these five latter, in proper use of speech, are not taken for necessary Sacraments of the Church/'2 Once more, Bishop matrimony
t 1 has no ele-
Jewel speaking of matrimony, asks, " how can matrimony sane-
tify a man or make him holy ? or by what institution of Christ sanctify.
containeth it grace in itself and power to sanctify ? or if it
CANNOT SANCTIFY, NOR HAVE SUCH GRACE, HOW THEN CAN IT BE CALLED A SACRAMENT ?"3
We are now perhaps in a position to explain the difference which exists between Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which our Church styles by way of eminence, " Sacraments of the Gospel," and those five ceremonies, which "in proper use of speech," do not deserve that appellation. The latter have no visible sign or ceremony ordained of God. Man has appointed an outward sign in some instances, but alas ! as he could not give grace into our hearts, he had no authority to appoint a pledge to confirm to us the reception of that grace. In the use therefore of such a sign, we can have no certainty of receiving any invisible
1 Jewel, portion ii. pp. 1125, 6. 2 Ibid. iii. pp. 458, 9.
3 Ibid. iii. p. 445.
grace. Christ did not institute it to be an instrument by which He might work, as He spake no word to it, nor made anv special promise of remission of sins to it. It cannot sanctify us, it has no sucb grace; "how then/'' asks Bishop Jewel, "can it be called a Sacrament ?" It is almost needless to direct the The sacra- reader's attention to the fact that the possession of those qualities,
ments of the _ 1 1
gospel must which the five rejected Sacraments lack, is the differentia of a
passers those • '
qualities Sacrament of the sospel, and if all or anv of those distincuishins:
which the D r > . CO
^rites properties can be actually separated by man from the Sacrament,
it would be degraded to the rank of a ceremony and cease to be a
Sacrament of the gospel.
Theia-t \Te will now pass on to the consideration of the last para- paragraph 1 r
to'the5 un,9 graph containing the word " worthily," which Mr. Gorham lord's and his friends consider themselves authorized to transfer to the
Supper.
Twenty-seventh Article on Baptism, and by the dexterous em- ployment of which they think they can make it satisfactorily appear that the Church of England ascribes the efficacy of the Sacraments to the internal excellence of the receiver, instead of to Christ's institution and promise. But what if we can show that this paragraph relates solely to the Lord's Supper, and that the word " worthily," is not employed by Mr. Gorham in the strict and peculiar sense in which it was used by the compil- ers of the Article ?
I contend that this paragraph relates to the Lord's Supper First, be- alone. First, because the Church no where teaches it to be a sin
cause it was _ _ „_
nor account- to gaze on the Sacrament of Baptism. On the contrarv, her will
ed an abuse .
to gaze on is that " the people are to be admonished, that it is most con- Baptism. * r r
venient, that Baptism should not be administered but upon Sun- days and other holy days, when the most number of people come together/'1 But on the other hand, I find the act of gazing at the celebration of the Lord's Supper gravely reprehended in the Common Prayer Book of Elizabeth, published in 1559, only three years before the Articles were last revised. The exhorta- tion, which the priest is commanded to address to the people whom he saw negligent to come to the Holy Communion, runs in these terms, " and whereas you offend God so sore in refusing this holy banquet, I admonish, exhort, and beseech you, that unto this unkitidness ye will not add any more, which thing ye
1 First Rubric, before The Ministration of Public Baptism of Infants.
(J3
shall do, if ye stand by as gazers and lookers on them that do communicate, and be no partakers of the same your- selves. For what thing can this be accounted else, than a fur- ther contempt and unkindness unto God ? Truly, it is a great unthankfulness to say nay when ye be called; but the fault is much greater when men stand by, and yet will neitlier eat nor drink this Holy Communion with others."1 This exhortation first appeared in the second Liturgy of Edward VI.,2 which was sanctioned by the House of Commons in April, 1552, and was used throughout the kingdom on the feast of All Saints fol- lowing (November 1, 1552), at the time Cranmer was actively engaged about his own Articles of Religion. It was added at the special instance of Bucer.3 Again, if we turn to the Homily of the worthy receiving and reverent esteeming of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, we read as follows : — " So our loving Saviour hath ordained and established the remembrance of His great mercy expressed in His passion, in the institution of His heavenly Supper, where every one of us must be guests and not gazers, eaters and not lookers."
2ndly. Because the only Sacrament which was carried about 2n<iiy. Be-
i t 3 ci rni ■ • ■ cause the
was the Lord s Supper, lhis superstition, we are told in the Sacramental
. , . . , 1 _ . water was
Twenty-eighth Article, was no part of Christ s Ordinance, out earned " The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's Ordinance (ex institutione Christi, which same words were used in the Latin version of Elizabeth's Prayer Book to repre- sent the words, ' rightly and duly,' in the English version of the Prayer for the Church Militant) reserved, carried about, lifted up, and worshipped."
3rdly. The passage of Scripture quoted, 1 Cor. xi. 29, has re- 3rdiy. Be. ference only to the Lord's Supper. " For he that eateth and Scripture drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, lates solely not discerning the Lord's Body." lord's
These three reasons will perhaps convince many persons that there is strong internal evidence in support of my views; but then it may be said, this appears to be weakened by the fact of the compilers of the Articles having used the plural form Sacra-
1 Liturgy of Queen Elizabeth, pp. 187, 8 (Parker Society).
2 Two Liturgies of Edward VI. by Dr. Cardwell, p. 285.
3 Dr. Nicholl's additioual Notes to the Couimou Prayer, p. 43, &c.
94
merits " Sacraruenta." Does not this prove that they intended the doctrine of this paragraph to apply to Baptism as well as the Lord's Supper ? Mr. Gorham's advocate, Mr. Turner, was very positive on this point, and is reported to have said that " it could not be denied that this (part of the Twenty-fifth) Article applied to Baptism, for it referred to the two Sacraments re- tained by the Church of England."1 In the face of so grave an The piurai authority, I take the liberty to make a public denial of its appli-
fcirm Sacra- . . rr
ments de- cation to Baptism, and assert that the word Sacraments relates to
notes the
two outward the TWO OUTWARD PARTS AND VISIBLE SIGNS OF ONE SACRA-
parts of one
sacrament, me nt, the Lord's Supper, and not to the two Sacraments of
and not * 11
Baptism and Baptism and the Lord's Supper, retained in the Church of
the Lord's
supper. England.
I am however ready to acknowledge that the word Sacraments being in the plural number has caused no slight difficulty to such Divines as have hitherto commented on this part of the Article, but it must be attributed to an imperfect acquaintance with history and with the ancient meaning of the words of the its meaning Article. Bishop Tomline says, " though the remaining part of raiiyMinder- ^is Article speaks of ' Sacraments' in the plural number, yet it stood. more particularly relates to the Lord's Supper only."
Dr. Hey says, " Sacraments'' are not " to be gazed upon," is applicable to the Lord's Supper only; "duly use theni" may indeed include Baptism, because consecrated water used to be carried home and given to the diseased.2 But S. Paul's
1 The Gorham Case, p. 33, 2nd edition.
2 Dr. Hey here labours under an erroneous impression.
It will be presently seen that Dr. Bennet knew of no such practice as carrying about and elevating the Sacramental element of Baptism ; and I think if such a practice had existed it would have been reprehended in the Twenty-seventh Article as is done in the case of the Lord's Supper in the Twenty-eighth. It is also very singular that Jewel, when speaking of the bread being carried about and gazed upon (the two superstitions here condemned) says nothing of the water of Baptism. Apol. part ii. c. xv. div. i.
The sprinkling of Holy water was designed to put us in mind of our Baptism and of the blood of Christ sprinkled for our redemption upon the Cross, (Articles about Religion of 1536, p. xxx.) and is distinct from the water of Holy Baptism.
Durandus, Rat. Off. Div. Lib. iv. cap. iv. s. 4, says, Aqua igitur in memoriam baptismi omni dominica benedicitur. It is distinguished by him from the water of Baptism. " Et nota quatuor esse genera aquce benedictce. Prima, in qua fit judicium purgationis quae in usu non est ; secunda aqua, quae sanctificat in dedicatione Ecclesise et altaris." For the blessing of this, see lib. i.
95
passage about unworthy receiving relates to no Sacrament but the Lord's Supper.
" In excuse for this using plural where only one thing is meant, we may say, let any one try to use the singular number, and yet keep to the subject of Sacraments in general. Several other little things may be said. ' Theif is sometimes used when the meaning only is to keep the expression general, and not deter- mine whether he or she or several be meant. { They whom I shall employ in this business will do it well, you may depend upon it f a person who said this might employ one man, or one woman, as well as several. We affirm concerning any thing in the plural when we are speakiug of it as being some species or class. ' Your Voltaires are dangerous people.' Forbes says, ' patres aliquando de uno Sacramento loquentes, utuntur voca- bulo numeri pluralis.' And in the epistle to the Hebrews we find something which seems to be of the same nature, ' subdued kingdoms/ &c. &c. predicated of a few particular men ; Gideon, Barak, and every one of whom did not perform all the exploits there mentioned, though they were performed by the persons named.
" We cannot well say more in the way of explanation without encroaching on some of the subsequent Articles."1
Dr. Bennet has the following observations : — " By the word
c. vii. num. 7, 12. Tertia est, quia in ecclesid aspergirnur de qua hie agitur. Quarta, aqua baptismi. The ceremony of blessing the water of sprinkling is thus described. Lib. i. c. vi. 9. Salt is mixed with the water, and a cross is three times made over the water to remind the people of the benefits they have received from the Holy Trinity. Ib. Lib. iv. cap. iv. num. 10 & 8. But the water of baptism is consecrated with these six ceremonies. — 1st. The priest prays ; 2nd. He touches the water three times with his hand, dividing it in the form of a cross ; 3rd. He changes his voice according to the nature of the different parts of ser- vice ; 4th. A taper is dipped in the water ; 5th. When the catechumens have been baptized other tapers are lit to signify that, after the Holy Ghost has cleansed their hearts and introduced them into the society and unity of the Church, then He will illuminate their hearts, and the priest also breathes upon the water ; 6th. He mixes the chrism in the water. Dur. lib. vi. cap. lxxxii. In lib. i. c. vi. 10, he says, no one is baptized before he hath tasted salt, and in order that even Infants may have, by symbolical meaning of the Sacraments, that which they cannot have in fact, the water is not blessed without a mixture of salt. This water was consecrated at Easter. SeeNicholl's note under the words, " Sanctify this water." Durantus says, aquam benedictam non esse Sacramen- tum, p. 71, (5), De Ritibus Ecclesim Catholicce. 1 Hey's Lectures, vol. iv. pp. 238, 9.
96
" Sacraments" in this clause, the Church means the Sacramental elements, and she manifestly strikes at that known practice of the Papists, who elevate the Host, and carry it about to be seen, and adored by the people. But the Papists themselves never used to carry about or elevate the element of Baptism, that I know of, and J cannot tell how our Church happened to express herself in the plural number.
Here then we find the Doctors somewhat perplexed, and Dr. Bennet finally acknowledges his inability to assign the true reason.
It will then be my humble endeavour to supply the reader with the information which is so desirable, otherwise the com- pilers of the Articles may seem to be liable to the charge of em- ploying ambiguous language or of expressing themselves with less care and accuracy than might be expected in " the severely accurate standard" of the doctrine of the Church, in explain- J would however first premise, that the Article under consi-
ing the _ 1
words of the deration was compiled nearly three hundred years ago, and that
Articles we 1 J * ° ■
must have jts doctrine is expressed in the terms and phrases usual and well
regard to r r
tl'ejur u.sage understood in those days. It will be remembered that the
at the time J
the Articles prayer Book was revised in 1662, and some alterations were made
were com- J
piled. ft £or the more expressing of some words and phrases of ancient usage in terms more suitable to the language of the present time (1662), and the clearer explanation of some other words and phrases, that were either of doubtful signification or otherwise liable to misconstruction."1 But no change has taken place in the language of the Articles since 1571. The phrases of the old doctors therefore remain unaltered, and consequently we must have recourse to their writings and to history, if we desire to ascertain the primitive sense of any expressions, which are ren- dered unintelligible by our ignorance of the meaning then affixed to them. Take for instance the phrase " those five commonly called Sacraments," which occurs in this very Article. We should not express ourselves so now, but the five were commonly2 called
1 Preface to the Book of Common Prayer.
2 The Bishop of London in his answer to Cranmer's fifth question on the Sa- craments says, " this word Sacrament in our language commonly hath been attributed to the seven customably called Sacraments." Burnet, vol. i. Records, Book iii. p. 210.
97
Sacraments, when the Articles were made. Again, we should not now translate " prava imitationc," " corrupt following," but corrupt imitation (see also Article IX. " in imitatione" " in the following.") These examples show that our mode of expression has now changed from the ancient usage.
Again, the word "damnation" bears a different meaning now- a-days from that it was supposed then to do, and therefore Bishop Tondin " recommends it to all clergymen occasionally to explain to their congregations the meaning of the original pas- sage from which it is taken, as well as the sense of the word ' damnation' when our Bibles were translated." Similar obser- vations might be made on the word " purchase," and many other expressions. See Hey, ii. 205, p. 11, also the word "coward" above, p. 64.
The word " Sacraments," is an instance of this sort, and ap- plies solely to the two outward signs of the Lord's Supper, as I shall presently prove by incontestable evidence.
My first witness will be the Book of Common Prayer which was in use when our Articles were last revised, — Queen Elizabeth's book of 1559, to which I anticipate no reasonable objection.
The second1 exhortation to the Holy Communion commences The word
J Sacraments
with these words : " Dearly beloved, forasmuch as our duty is j^e LPlRid's° to render to Almighty God our Heavenly Father, most hearty fnuQpuege°nly thanks, for that He hath driven His Son our Saviour Jesus Elizabeth's
' O Prayer
Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food Book> and sustenance, as it is declared unto us, as well by God's word, as by the holy Sacraments of His blessed body and blood ;"2 which is rendered in the Latin version, published by authority in 1560, "turn sacramentis corporis et sanguinis sui,"
In Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions of 1559, (the same year with and in her the Prayer Book) we find the same manner of speech. " Item, njunct ons' where also it was in the time of Edward the Sixth, used to have the common sacramental bread of common fine bread; it is ordered for the more reverence to be given to those holy myste- ries, bcinff the Sacraments of the body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ."3
1 It is the first in our present Prayer Book.
2 Liturgy of Queen Elizabeth, p. 188.
3 Cardwell's Documentary Annals, vol. i. p. 202.
II
98
Bishop Jewel, the editor of the Articles at the last review, also applies the plural number " Sacraments" to the Lord's Supper alone. Thus in his Apologia Ecclesise Anglicanae, pars ii. cap. xii. div. 3. " Populo vero ad sacrarn communionem accedenti utramque partem eucharistise tradendam esse . . . . et adver- saries hodie nostros, qui, explosa atque abdicata communione sine verbo Dei .... privatas missas et mutilationem sacra- mentorum defendant .... improbe facere et esse sacrilegos." " ]\loreover, when the people cometh to the Holy Communion, the Sacrament ought to be given them in both kinds ; and there- fore we say that our adversaries at this day, who, having vio- lently thrust out and quite forbidden the Holy Communion, do without the word of God, defend and maintain their private masses and the mangling of the Sacraments, do wickedly therein and are very Church robbers."1 Again, speaking of the buying and selling of masses and the worshipping of the bread and the carrying it about on an ambling horse, whithersoever themselves journey ; he says they have brought the Sacraments of Christ to be used as a stage play.2 Again he writes, " We say that the Sacraments without faith do not once profit those that be alive, a great deal less do they profit those that be dead alluding to the masses for the dead.
Having now shown it was the " usus loquendi," when the Ar- ticles were last revised, I proceed to the writings of those who are on all sides acknowledged to have had the chief hand in their compilation. I will begin with Archbishop Cranmer. " This is My body, This is My blood. I said that Christ in these words made demonstration of the bread and wine and spoke figuratively, calliug bread His body and wine His blood, because He ordained them to be Sacraments of His body and blood."3
Again, " and yet as with our corporal eyes, corporal hands, and mouths, we do corporally see, feel, taste, and eat the bread and drink the wine, being the signs and Sacraments of Christ's body, even so with our spiritual eyes, hands, and mouths, we do spiritually see, feel, taste, and eat His very flesh and drink His very blood."4
1 Jewel, portion iii. (Parker Society) pp. 13, 63.
2 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 14, 64.
3 Cranmer, i. p. 380. * Cranmer, ii. p. 441.
99
Once more. " The sacrament and mystical bread being broken and distributed after the institution of Christ, and the mystical wine being likewise taken and received, be not only Sacraments of the flesh of Christ wounded for us and of His blood shedding, but also be most certain Sacraments to us, and, as a man would say, seals of God's promises and gifts and also of that holy fellowship which we have with Christ and all His members."1
We will next cite Bishop Ridley.
" Gelasius in an epistle of the two natures of Christ {contra R">ley. Eutychen) writeth thus: 'The Sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, which we receive, are Godly things whereby, and by the same, we are made -partakers of the Divine Nature.' "2
Watson (the Papist concluded), " Ergo. The bread and wine are not Sacraments."3
Coverdale also uses the same phrase. " The most sacred Sa- craments* also of the body and blood of Christ are called His body and blood because they declare unto us what the body and blood of Christ be unto us." " Here mayest thou plainly see by what means our ghostly enemy hath spoiled us of the use of these most precious jewels the Sacraments of Christ's body and blood."5
It is now needless, we suppose, to quote any further autho- rities in proof of a fact so well attested.
It may however be asked why the plural number is so used. JolIIwhy" Three reasons may be assigned: 1st, because the matter in the ^f^"™1 Lord's Supper is two-fold ; 2ndly, because the bread was con- ments,"wa secrated separately from the wine ;6 and 3rdly, because the ^lord's Romish Church having sacrilegiously divided the Sacrament of SuPPer- the Lord's Supper by withholding the cup from the Laity, it had become customary to speak of the two visible symbols sepa- rately, as the Sacrament of the body and the Sacrament of the blood.
To clear up all doubts on this head, I will quote a passage from Archbishop Cranmer's preface to his answer to Bishop Gardiner's crafty and sophistical cavillation devised against the
1 Cranmer, iv. 15. 2 Ridley, p. 44.
3 Ridley, 24. 4 Coverdale, p. 533.
6 Coverdale, 535. 6 Nicholl's Additional Notes, p. 48, c. f-
H 2
100
true and Godly doctrine of the most Holy Sacrament of the body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Ciirist. He says, he thought it good to admonish the reader of certain words and kinds of speeches, which he uses to prevent mistakes, and amongst other things, the following expressions occur : " Al- though the truth be, that in the Sacrament of Christ's body there is corporally but the substance of bread only, and in the Sacrament of the blood the substance of wine only."1
llidley also very frequently uses the same expression. " There is but one material substance in the Sacrament of the body, and only one likewise in the Sacrament of the blood.'"2
Should any person compare the passage I cited from Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book with our present Book, he will find the ^number, Pmial number has been changed into the singular. The altera- empioyed1' ^on was not made till after 16.29, and perhaps the word was about 1629. t]jen altered, for the same reason which Bishop Cosin assigns for altering a rubric at the end of the Communion Service. It is to be found among the uotes he made of " Particulars to be con- sidered, explained, and corrected in the Book of Common Prayer."3 " Lxvi. In the last rubric there it is ordered and said, ' That evert/ parishioner shall communicate at the least three
The words ' J 1
"ihaii aim times in the year, and shall also receive the Sacraments, ac-
receice the * '
Sacra- cordinq to the order in this book appointed.' Where the word mewt, now J 11
expunged. Sacrament in the plural number being annexed to their commu- nicating of the Lord's Supper, (which is one Sacrament already past and supposed to have been taken by the people, who are likewise already baptized in another), occasion is hereby given to think, that the Church of England alloweth of more Sacraments than two. But this being contrary both to Articles of Religion and the Catechism here following, it is requisite that in this place some explanation be made of the word Sacraments that there may be no difference between one place and another in our book."
As will be seen by the note, the words " shall receive the Sa- craments," were expunged, but they are still retained in the Scotch Liturgy.
It is however worth noticing that the Greek word, mysteries, which corresponds to the Latin Sacraments, is still retained in
1 Cranmer, vol. iii. p. 31. ': Ridley, p. 12.
3 Nicholl's Additional Notes, p. 70.
101
our order for the administration of Holy Communion1 in the plural number, and applied to the Lord's Supper only. Cran- mer himself says these two words have the same import ; " where in the Latin text we have sacramentum, there in the Greek we have mysterium, and so by the Scripture, sacramentum may be called mysterium, id est, res occulta sive arcana.
The following passage from S. Augustine illustrates both uses of the word " Sacraments." " Orthodox : When He gave the mysteries or sacraments, He called bread His body; and that which was mixed in the cup, He called blood."2 Jewel also explains the words "in a mystery" by these "in a Sacrament."3
I will only add, that the Article speaks of two different effects resulting from the use of the Sacraments ; the one wholesome, the other damning ; but of this we have spoken above, at page 58. We shall point out the true meaning of the word " wor- thily" under Article XXVII.
1 " Instituted and ordained holy mysteries," " who have duly received these holy mysteries."
Nicholl's Additional Notes, p. 43, c, f. The Holy Sacrament — the holy mystery.] " Sacramentum et mysterium idem sunt. Sacramentum tamen pro- prie dicitur illud quod videtur. Mysterium vero quod per id signifieatur." Jewel also in his Apology, part ii. c. xv. div. I , applies Christi sacramenta, and " mysteria redemptions nostra" equally to the Lord's Supper. First exhorta- tion to the Communion in Edward VI. 's Prayer Book, 1549, " but also doth vouchsafe in a sacrament and mystery, to give us His said body and blood to feed upon spiritually." Chrysostom saith, " it is called a mystery because we see one thing and believe another."
2 Cranmer, vol. ii. "289. 3 Jewel, portion i. p. 476.
CHAPTER V.
Division I.
The Twenty-seventh Article.
Rules to be observed in the interpretation of this Article. An inquiry whether the Church was harassed with a great variety of opinions respect- ing Baptism and its efficacy, at the time of the compilation and last revision of our Articles. Reasons for believing that the case of Infant Baptism alone was dealt with in this Article.
Before entering into an examination of the subject matter of this Article, it is thought advisable to lay down certain rules for our guidance in interpreting it, and also to direct attention to some particulars which recent events have made it necessary to investigate.
The primary object of the Article XXV. which we have en- deavoured to illustrate, is, as its title imports, to give a general definition of the Sacraments, and to distinguish those two, which are properly so called, from others which according to the exact signification of a Sacrament are not entitled to that name. In carrying out this purpose, the Church of England only speaks of those holy ordinances, in so far forth as they possess certain common properties and points of agreement. " When the word Sacrament," says the learned Br. Waterland, " is applied to Bap- tism and the Eucharist, it must be explained by their common nature, being a general name for such a certain number of ideas as go to make up their general nature or notion. A collection of these several ideas is put together in the definition given in our
103
Church Catechism. The like had been endeavoured before in our Twenty-fifth Article/'1 This being the case it will be ad- mitted that the two following rules must be observed if we would two rules to acquire tbat full and exact knowledge of the nature and efficacy ininterpret- of the Sacraments, which our Church earnestly endeavoured to xxvn.lce transmit to her sons.
First, whatever is stated in the general definition2 of the Sa- craments, given in Article XXV. applies with equal truth to both and cither of the Sacraments, &c.
For instance, in the present Article, Baptism is simply de- clared to be "a sign of Regeneration." If, then, any doubt arises as to whether it is a bare or an effectual sign, we are autho- rized upon the principles of fair interpretation to prefix the words "sure witness and effectual" to sign, because, in the gene- ral definition of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, these words are expressly predicated of each of them.
The second rule is this : The Church having seen fit to treat of the two Sacraments not only together but in distinct Articles ; we are assured that, in her judgment, certain points of difference, certain peculiarities exist between Baptism and the Lord's Sup- per, which made it necessary for her to speak of them separately, when imparting that accurate knowledge of them, which was indispensable for rooting out diversities of opinion on either or both of them.
What therefore the Church has, in her wisdom, put asunder, we are certainly not permitted to confound. It is not for us to overlook or confuse, to explain away or add to, distinctions, The distinc. which have been designedly made between the nature and ad- ti.e church
• • • n n it i" • /* | has made
ministration of the two Sacraments, and the conditions or a bene- are not to be
7./y. . . T/1 overlooked
ficial reception by persons of very different capacities. If we or con-
• t 3 ci fused.
desire any information on the Lord s Supper we are not to seek for it in the Article on Baptism, but in the definition of the Twenty-fifth, which describes the two Sacraments in so far forth
1 Waterland, vol. vii. p. 33.
2 It must be borne in mind that the Article XXV. is not devoted solely to the definition of the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The first two paragraphs relate to these two Sacraments in common ; the third, treats of the five, then commonly called Sacraments ; and the fourth relates solely to the abuses of the Lord's Supper.
104
as they agree together, and in such others also as professedly relate to that Sacrament. And so, on the other hand, if we wish to discover the mind of the Church on any point connected with Baptism, we must not betake ourselves to the Article XXVIII. which enumerates those properties of the Lord's Supper which are not common to it and Baptism, but to the general definition in the Article XXV. and to any others which undoubtedly have an eye to the Sacrament of Regene- ration. We find Mr. Gorham on one occasion sensitively alive to the propriety of every one but himself observing this rule, which forbids our importing into the Twenty-seventh Article, words, sentences, and doctrines, which its compilers, when laying down the doctriue of Baptism with severe precision, did not think it advisable to insert. In the twenty-eighth question his Bishop had asked him "Who is it who is here (in the Article XXVII.) said by this sign as by an instrument to graft into the Church those who receive Baptism rightly, and to seal the pro- mises respecting remission of sins, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Spirit ? Whose instrument, in other words, is this sign V The reply returned to this simple question is : " The Article appears to me to be wholly silent on the matter of this question." To a more careful student of the Article it would however appear that silence is not preserved on the matter of this question. The Article declares plainly enough that the Holy Ghost is the Person who grafts, seals, &c. and that Bap- tism is His instrument by which He works. The Convocation of 1571 put this matter out of doubt. They place a comma after "Sonnes of God," and unite "by the Holy Ghoste" with the words " are visibly signed and sealed." The passage is punctuated as follows : " The promises of the forgiveness of sinne, and of oure adoption to be the Sonnes of God, by the Holy Ghoste are visiblie signed and sealed." But were it otherwise, the answer is found in the definition of the Twenty- fifth Article, which affirms Baptism to be one of two sacramental instruments " by which He (God) doth work invisibly in us." Having read Mr. Gorham's reply, the Bishop proposed bis ques- tion in these terms: "Though it (the Article XXVII.) does not express ; does it imply, who is the efficient cause of grafting into the Church, of which Baptism is stated to be the instru-
105
mental cause?" This drew forth the following reply: "The Article states nothing about causation. If it had intended to direct those who subscribe it to that subject, it would, doubtless, not have left it to be gathered from implication, but would, by direct assertion have propounded the doctrine of the Church with regard to it. The question appears to me to involve a de- parture from the principle of subscription to this Article in its 'literal and grammatical sense/ and to be virtually (however undesignedly) introductive of a private sense or comment."1 Notwithstanding the offensive remark in the latter part of his reply, Mr. Gorham in the next answer grants " that the Sacra- ments are instruments of God, by which He works in us." Now let us apply the rule which Mr. Gorham prescribed to his Bishop to his own answers. Does the Twenty-seventh Article by direct assertion propound, that " as Infants are by nature unworthy recipients, being born in sin and the children of wrath," they cannot receive any benefit from Baptism, except there shall have been a prevenient act of grace to make them worthy?2 or, that Baptism is a sign or seal, either of the grace already given or of the repentance and faith which are stipulated and must be here- after exercised ?3 i.e. a mere sign of adult profession ; or, that if it be received " rightly, worthily, and by faith," it is an " effectual sign" of God's " grace" bestowed (before4 Baptism) which (grace,5 without the use of the instrumental sign) im- planted6 a new nature and produced the faith both professed and possessed ? A negative answer must be returned to these questions; for the Twenty-seventh Article, by direct assertion propounds no such doctrine regarding Baptism. What then is the consequence ? Why ! such teaching is virtually and design- edly introductive of a private sense and comment, and of such doctrine as Bishop Jewel would not hesitate to characterize as " blasphemy."7
II. The next question deserving of investigation is this, whe-
1 See Mr. Gorham's Examination, pp. 88, 89. The italics are his own.
2 Ibid. An?-wer 15, p. 83.
3 Ibid. Answer 15.
4 Answer 19, p. 85. Answer 27, p. 88. Answer 60, p. 113.
5 Answer 24, p. 87.
6 The past tense is used, implying that the grace was bestowed before Baptism. ' See above, p. 68.
106
Was the ther " the Church [of England] was harassed by a great variety England of opinions respecting Baptism and its efficacy" before and at with a great the first compilation, and until the last revision of our Articles, opinions The Judicial Committee assert it was, and hence assume the
respecting
Baptism and Church has qualified the doctrine she held previously to 1552,
its efficacy,
between and expressed herself with vagueness and uncertainty on this 1571 ? important matter. They have not, unhappily, favoured us with their authorities. We have however carefully examined History for ourselves, and have been unable to find any grounds for such an opinion. No traces of such a controversy are to be met with in the writings of Cranmer, Ridley, or Jewel. If, however, such a serious controversy had harassed the Church, it is some- what remarkable that we find no allusion to it in Bishop Jewel's Apology for the Church of England, or in his Defence of that Apology, or in his Treatise on the Sacraments, or in the list of abuses of Baptism recounted in his sermon at Paul's Cross.1 Indeed, the compilers of our Articles are so far from noticing any harassing controversy on Baptism and its efficacy, that in their writings against the Papists, they are continually referring to the orthodox and universally acknowledged doctrine of Bap- tism in support of the Church's doctrine on the Lord's Supper. It is true, that what was called " the sacramentarian contro- versy"2 harassed the English and Foreign Churches at the period above named ; but then it related solely to the " dissensions and varieties of opinion respecting the Lord's Supper."3 It is how- ever, possible that the word " sacramentarian'" may have misled the learned Judicial Committee into the erroneous opinion that this controversy related to both the Sacraments. It is also pos- sible that they may have imagined the opinions of the Anabap- tists, which were complained of by the Lower House of Convo- cation in 1536, and condemned in the Articles4 of that year, as " detestable heresies," to have been held by Englishmen. And if so, they laboured under a serious mistake. For Fuller,5
1 Jewel, portion i. pp. 5 and 6.
2 " This dispute commenced on the Continent in 1524, and was carried on there with much warmth ; but it does not seem to have attracted much attention in England before 1533." Cranmer, vol. i. Jenkyn's Preface, p. lxix.
3 Original Letters, portion i. p. 25. Cranmer, vol. i. p. 346.
4 Formularies of Faith, p. xix.
s Fuller's Church History, book v. sect. 4, p. 229.
107
Collier,1 Bishop Jewel,2 and Dr. Wall,3 with one voice assert that they were all Dutchmen ; and Fox,4 the Martyrologist, writing to Queen Elizabeth, in 1575, says, " There is great rea- son to give God thanks on this account, that i" hear not of any Englishman that is inclined to that madness."
With such evidence before us we take the liberty of question- There is no
. evidence of
ing the accuracy of the statement made by the Judicial Com- any Baptis-
. "J . . . mal contro-
mittee, that the Church was harassed by a great variety of opinions versy at that
respecting Baptism and its efficacy, at the time of the compilation
of our Articles. But supposing it had been so, does it follow
that the Church would shrink from vindicating the truth and
have recourse to ambiguities ? Her conduct with respect to the
other Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, will enable us to judge
how she would have acted with regard to Baptism, had her peace
been violently disturbed by controversies relative to its efficacy.
We all know that many particulars relating to that Sacrament £"fl
• 1 ° Church has
were warmly debated at the time the Articles were compiled. P/?™d: tliat
» r if it ha'i ex-
And how did the Church act ? Why ; she applied herself dili- kted, she
J ri would not
gently to resolve all doubts, and not only aimed at recording the p^sed the truth, but endeavoured to use such forms of expression as would ha'a^course render her meaning unambiguous and intelligible to all under- "fanf"" standings, and so cut off occasion for future differences of opinion. guage- She entered largely into the nature and true use of this Sacra- ment, she reproved all abuses, she exercised her authority in controversies of faith, and settled the points in dispute, and transmitted her well-matured judgment in six Articles. This surely gives no countenance to the insinuation that if she was harassed with controversies, she would conclude the truth could not be known and would surrender her faith and doctrine.
But whilst I maintain that the Church of England was not herself harassed by any disputes respecting Baptism and its efficacy, nor induced by intimidation, or expediency, or indiffer- ence to abandon any portion of the Catholic Faith respecting this Holy Sacrament, or to transmit her doctrine with vagueness and ambiguity, I would not be understood to imply that no here-
1 Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. pp. 99, 100, 549.
2 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 16, 67, 68, 189.
3 Wall, vol. ii. pp. 309, 310.
4 Ibid. pp. 315, 316.
108
sies did then exist, at home or abroad, respecting Baptism, against which the Church desired to secure her Clergy. I have said that the design of each Article is to supply a remedy for some existing error, and to set up a fence against heresy, and to protect the household of faith against its assaults and seductions. If this be true, the present Article must have been directed against some errors. What then were they ? Their names and nature are fortunately transmitted to us by the pens of the very persons who compiled the Articles. The Reformatio Legtjm Ecclesiasticarum, (composed under the immediate eye of Cranmer, and corrected by him in 1552, and published in 1571, by Archbishop Parker, who gave us our present Articles) enu- has heise? merates the heresies on Baptism, which the Church of England heresies'16 condemned. And as the knowledge of their nature will materially whk'hshe assist us in ascertaining the design of this Article, we will lay the
directed this i . ■< r , 1 i
Article. chapter before the reader.
^[ De Baptismo. Cap. 18. First Deinde crudelis illorum impietas in Baptismum irruit, quem
heresy. , , , . « , .
infantibus impartiri nolunt, sed omnino nulla ratione : nec enim minus ad Deum et Ecclesiam pertinent Christianorum infantes, quam liberi quondam Hebrseorum pertinebaut, quibus in infantia cum circumcisio adhiberetur, nostns etiam infantibus debet bap- tismus admoveri, quoniam ejusdem promissionis et foederis divini participes sunt, et a Christo sunt etiam summa cum humanitate second suscepti. Plures item aliis cumulantur errores in Baptismo, quem aliqui sic attoniti spectant ut ab ipso illo externo credant elemento Spiritum Sanctum emergere, vimque ejus nomen et virtutem ex qua recreamur, et gratiam et reliqua ex eo proficis- centia dona in ipsis baptismi fonticulis iunatare. In summa, totam regenerationem nostram illi sacro puteo deberi volunt, qui in sensus nostros incurrit. Verum salus animarum, instauratio Spiritus et beneficium adoptionis, quo Deus pro filiis agnoscit, a misericordia divina per Christum, ad nos dimanante turn etiam ex promissione sacris in Scripturis apparentc proveniunt. Illo- rum etiam impia videri debet scrupulosa superstitio qui Dei gra- tiam et Spiritum Sanctum tantopere cum sacramentorum de- mentis colligant, ut plane affirment nullum Christianorum infantem aeternam salutem esse consequuturum, qui prius a
heresy.
Third heresy
109
morte fuerit occupatus quam ad baptismum adduci potuerit : quod longe secus habere judicamus. Salus eniin illis solum adimitur, qui sacrum hunc baptismi fontem contemnunt, aut superbia quadam ab eo vel contumacia, resdiunt : quae importu- nitas cum iu puerorum setatem non cadat, nihU contra salutcm illorum authoritate Scripturarum decerni potest; immo contra, cum dlos communis promissio pueros in se comprehendat, optima nobis spes de illorum salute concipienda est.1
Such then were the heresies against which the Article XXVII. is directed. The first is the heresy of the Anabaptists who impiously pronounced the Infants of Baptized parents dis- qualified for Baptism. The distinction between their heresy and the present is this ; that they pronounce all such Infants dis- qualified, and our new men some. It is clear then that the same arguments, which the Church used to refute the former heresy, and prove all Infants qualified to receive this Sacrament, must refute the latter also. And they are these, that the children of persons christened belong to God and the Church equally with the children of Jewish parents ; that our Infants are partakers of the same promise and Divine covenant with the Jewish, and that they are also received by Christ with the greatest humanity.
The Article accordingly pronounces their Baptism "most agreeable with the institution of Christ."
The second heresy named relates to the efficient cause of our regeneration and adoption in Baptism. Some persons believed the Holy Ghost united Himself to the water and became " in- aquate," as Cranmer expresses it,2 and so they taught that the virtue of regeneration was included in the water, and not with the Church of England that it cometh by ivater.3 The Article guards against this heresy by stating that the Holy Ghost is the effi- cient cause of our regeneration, and that Baptism is His instru- ment to which He sets His seal in assurance that the promise of forgiveness of sins, which is annexed to the external element, is
1 Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum. De Hseresibus, pp. 16, 17.
2 " But forasmuch as Christ is joined to the bread but sacramentally, there followeth no impanation thereof, no more than the Holy Ghost is ina.qua.te, that is to say, made water, being sacramentally joined to the water in Baptism." Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 338 ; iii. 473.
3 See above, p. 66.
110
true and actually conveyed and made good to all properly qua- lined recipients.
The third heresy condemned is that of those who maintain that all Infants of persons christened, who die unbaptized, are deprived of eternal salvation. As we shall hereafter have occa- sion to enter fully into an examination of this part of the chapter we shall abstain from any observations upon it at present.
Thus, then we see from the testimony of the Church herself, that with the exception of the heresy of the Anabaptists which was maintained by no Englishman ; there was no heresy which the Church deemed worthy of notice which derogated from the efficacy of Baptism at the time the Articles were compiled. The other two heresies arose from ascribing too much to the Sacra- mental sign of Baptism. We therefore think it satisfactorily established by the evidence of the persons who compiled the Articles, that the Church was not at all harassed by disputes respecting Baptism and its efficacy ; and that she was not com- pelled to abandon, to qualify, or timidly to teach through am- biguous expressions, the Scriptural and Catholic doctrine of Baptism which she had taught with all possible distinctness in the Articles of 1536, the Institution of a Christian man, the Necessary Doctrine, and the two Prayer Books of Edward VI. Reasons for jjj We will next offer a few reasons for believing that In-
believing O
that infant fant Baptism was alone dealt with in this Article.
Baptism 1
handled in 1st- ^ tne this Article was compiled and revised, few, if tins Article. any} adults were baptized, and consequently the Church of butMants England had provided no office for the ministration of Baptism tTzed by the to them. The general and almost universal practice of Infant England j Baptism is admitted by our adversaries. Dr. Bayford is reported
she vindi- , . • , , . . . ...
catesner to have said, that it was a material circumstance in this con- doctrine and . .
practice troversy, that at the jramtng or the Articles, adult Baptism
against the „ . . ,
heresy of was scarcely known, tor then all were baptized in their
the Anabap- . . r
tistswhode- infancy ; and in fact it was not till long after the Reformation1
nied the / 9 -pi • -
Baptism of that the service for the administration of Adult Baptism had
Infants to be rm p
agreeable been drawn up. Therefore, to say that there was to be no
with the in- 1 *
stitution of Infant Baptism would be to have excluded all England from
Christ, and 1 °
to be accom- that Sacred Rite. It was then as now, the doctrine of the Church
panied with
any spiritual 0f England, that all Infants, innocents, and children, should
benefits. ° ' ' ' »
i 1661.
Ill
be Baptized."1 But surely such would not have been, nor be, the doctrine of the Church, if she believed any Infants receive Baptism unworthily and so increase their damnation. Mr. Goode also bears his testimony to this fact in the following elegant criticism upon the Bishop of Exeter's most true"2 observation, that certain words of Bishop Pearson related only to the case of Adult Baptism. " I beg to ask where your Lordship picked up this piece of information. Are we to receive it upon your ipse dixi ? Mark the position in which you leave Bishop Pearson ; that in a Church where all, with scarcely the exception of one in five thousand, receive Baptism in their infancy, he meant to limit what he said generally about baptized persons to those cases which hardly ever occur /3 Truly, a very reasonable hy- pothesis."4 In these passages it is contended, both by Dr. Bayford and Mr. Goode, that Adult Baptism was scarcely known at and from the time the Articles were framed to the days of Bishop Pearson, a.d. 1686. The former says, that to say there was no Infant Baptism would be to have excluded all England from that Sacred Ilite; the latter writer, in his "calm review," discovers his usual accuracy and asserts, that 4999 Infants were Baptized to one Adult person. We may then reasonably inquire what grounds there are for believing, that, as the Church did not provide an office for the ministration of Adult Baptism, she should frame an Article with relation to it ? It is " truly a very reasonable hypothesis" that the Church of England should de- liberately compile an Article with relation " to those cases which
1 Gorham Case, p. 58.
2 That Bishop Pearson spoke of adults alone in the passage cited by the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, is self-evident to any person who will read what follows immediately after the words with which Mr. Goode thought it most convenient to end his quotation. " Secondly, In respect of their conversation — such persons then as are called by a holy calling and not disobedient unto it, such as are en- dued with a holy faith and purified thereby, such as are sanctified by the Holy Spirit of Gon, and by virtue thereof do lead a holy life, ' perfecting holiness, in the fear of God,' (2 Cor. vii. 1 ) ; such persons, I say, are really and truly saints," &c. This language is wholly inapplicable to Infants. Bishop Pearson was in fact speaking of those adults who were converted and baptized by the Apostles, and to whom the Epistles were addressed, and not of those subjects who were generally Baptized by the Church in Ma oivn day. Pearson on the Creed, Art. ix. p. 512.
3 These are Mr. Goode's italics.
4 Mr. Goode's Letter, pp. 51, 52.
112
hardly ever occurred !" Mr. Gorhain, too, admits, that " the case of Infants was expressly in the minds of its framers, as appears by the charitable declaration at its close."1 ^charitable declaration truly, if, as he and Mr. Goode assert, some Infants come to Baptism just as " impenitent adults" and " purchase to themselves damnation, as S. Paul saith."
We will confirm these admissions by some additional testi- mony. The Reformatio Legem Ecclesjasticarum savs, "Episcopis nostris damus jus illos confirmandi, qui Cate- chismum didicerint, quod in his temporibus nostris pracipue fieri debet in quibus infantes baptizati suam ipsi fidem ac volun- tatem adhuc profiteri non possunt. Itaque confirmationis eorum tempus banc ad rem aptissimum erit."a Bishop Burnet, when speaking of the arguments used against the Anabaptists, savs, "one thing was observed, that the vhole ivorld in that age (1549) having been Baptized in their infancy, if that Baptism was no- thing, &c."3 Again, speaking of Confirmation, he says, " the now universal practice of Infant Baptism makes this more neces- sary than it was in the first times, when chiefly the adults were Baptized."4 Durantus, also, who wrote in the year 1581, says, "cessavit adultorum baptismus."5 What imaginable reason then could there be for the Church of England compiling an Article in relation to such a Baptism as she scarcely ever per- formed ? Surely, none. But sufficient reasons can be assigned for her framing one with relation to Infant Baptism which she did practice ; for the Anabaptists, whose heresy we know she had in view, denied that Infants w ere proper subjects to be Baptized, and that their Baptism conveyed to them any spiritual benefits. 2ndiy. in- 2ndlv. Infants alone are named in the Article, and, therefore,
fauts alone .
are named accordme to Mr. Gorham s canon, their case alone was considered,
in the Arti- 0 .
cie. and those conditions alone are named, w hich must necessarily be
complied with in order to their receiving Baptism, " most agree- ably with the institution of Christ." If the Article had in- tended to direct those who subscribe it to the subject of Adult
1 Mr. Gorham's Examination, p. 69.
- Reformatio Leg. Eccles. De Sacramentis, cap. 8, p. 31. 3 Bishop Burnet. History of Reformation, vol. ii. p. 113. i Bishop Burnet, Article XXV. p. 320.
5 Durantus, De Ritibus Ecclesise Cathol. Lib. i. cap. xix. num. 44, p. 58.
113
Baptism, it would doubtless not have left it to be gathered from implication, but would by direct assertion have propounded the doctrine of the Church with regard to it.
3rdly. If Adult Baptism had been in the minds of the com- 3rdiy. The pilers of the Article, they would not have failed to state the qua- ti™condu lifications necessary for a beneficial reception of the Sacrament sary for a by those who are of riper years ; they would not have incau- reception of tiously omitted them in their " explicit declaration of the doc- adults is an
evidence
trine of the Church." In all the documents which she had that their
711TC 111 • °aSe WaS
Feviously published, she named both Infant and Adult Baptism, not con- J r ' 1 ' templatedby
and carefully distinguished between the two cases, and stated the the comPu-
. . . ... ers of the
prerequisites for Baptism in each case. It is impossible there- Article, fore to attribute her total silence with respect to Adults in our Article XXVII. and her omission of the qualifications which she required of them to inadvertence or to any thing short of design. If we turn to the Catechism prefixed to the Articles, and published with them, we shall find this question, "tell me, (my son) how these Sacraments be ministered, Baptism, and that which Paul calleth the Supper of the Lord j" to which the following answer is returned by the scholar : " Him that be- lieveth in Christ, professeth the Articles of the Christian religion, and mindeth to be Baptized, (I speak now of them
THAT BE GROWN TO RIPER YEARS OF DISCRETION; sith for
the young babes, their parents' or the Church's profession svfficeth) &c." We here observe the requisites for Adult and Infant Baptism to be as carefully distinguished in the very book which was published with the Articles, and may be fairly under- stood to represent the sense of the Church of England, as they are now studiously confounded. Cranmer and Bidley both noted many things for Bishop Poinet's Catechism, and the former took upon himself the whole responsibility of publishing it, it is therefore evi- dent that the omission of all mention of Adults and their quali- fications did not arise from any oversight, and we feel satisfied that they would have worded the Article in adifferent way had they not designedly excluded the doctrine of Adult Baptism from it. tm The 4thly. The mention of no other condition than rightly, recte, ^"drsUSrc-cte and the use of the participle " suscipientes" instead of " percipien- J.a^ftenVtnthe tes," are also evidences that the Article relates solely to Infant ^^leiy Baptism. ****
Division II.
Commentary ox the Article XXVII. The meaning of
THE TERMS SEAL, REGENERATION', &C.
The four divisioos of
The Twenty-seventh Article naturally divides itself into four
theArticle. ^he jjrs( g[ves a NEGATIVE DEFINITION, wherein it
denies that Baptism is only a sign of profession or mark of dif- ference whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened.
The second part contains the positive definition, and affirms, that " it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church ; the promises of the forgiveness of sin and of our adoption to be the sons of God, by the Holy Ghost are visibly signed and sealed.
The third declares the wholesome effect of the ritual, the " local and personal solemnities," as Hooker styles it, — on the sponsors and congregation who are present at the administration. " Faith is confirmed and grace increased by virtue of prayer to God."
The fourth names the subjects of Baptism ; whose capacity the compilers of the Article carefully bore in mind when declaring the condition on which they would receive the benefits of Holy Baptism.
" The Baptism of young children is in any wise to be re- tained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ."
The ne»a- I. "\Ve need make but few observations upon the neqative
tive defini- r J
tion- definition. Upon comparing the English translation with the Latin original, the reader will however notice that the word "meii" has nothing corresponding with it in the Latin. It may there- fore be as well to notice that it does not necessarily imply that the persons alluded to are of adult age, but means human beings in general of whatever age they may chance to be. The fol- lowing passage from the Articles of 1536 will convince the student that the word " men," as used by the compilers of our
115
Articles, was not restricted to males of full age, but included infants of both sexes. "It is offered unto all men, as well in- fants as such as have the use of reason, that by Baptism they shall have remission of all their sins, &C."1 "Christian men" then means persons of any age and sex who have been chris- tened, i.e. made Christians by Baptism. Notwithstanding this part of the Article most unequivocally denies that Baptism is only a sign of profession ; our new teachers maintain that it is but little, if any thing, more than a sign of the profession of faith made either by the candidate for Baptism (if an adult) in person, or by the sponsors in the case of Infants, and that to say any spiritual grace is given by virtue of Baptism is to teach popish doctrine.
II. Under these circumstances the Positive Definition demands Thepositive our closest attention ; we shall therefore enter into a minute ex- defimtIOD- animation of its language, and endeavour to illustrate the mean- ing of each word and sentence from the writings of its compilers and last editor.
Baptism is then said to be a " sign''' of Regeneration. In the Articles of 1552 and 1562, the Latin word signum was rendered " sign and seal," but in the Convocation holdcu in London in 1571, the explanatory words " and seal" were struck out. The word " obsignantur" was however, and is still, rendered " signed and sealed." We have before observed,2 that the word " sign," "Sign" is
. equivalent
in ecclesiastical language, is equivalent to Sacrament in its generic J?st^cerword sense as " a sign of a Holy Thing."3 Accordingly we find ™e"et)"cin its Archbishop Cranmer styling Baptism "the visible Sacrament seuse- of spiritual regeneration in water ;"4 and Bishop Jewel speaks of this Holy mystery in the following high and reverend terms : " In Baptism" (after consecration) " the nature and substance of the water doth remain still ; and yet is not it bare water. It is changed [in quality] and made the Sacrament of our regeneration. It is water consecrated and made holy by the blood of Christ. They which are washed therein are not washed with water, but in the blood of the unspotted Lamb ; one thing is seen and another understood. We see the water but we understand the blood of
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 93. 2 See above, p. 71.
3 Jewel, portion ii. p. 591. 4 Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 302.
i 2
116
Christ. Even so we see the bread and wine, but with the eyes of our understanding we look beyond these creatures ; we reach our spiritual senses into heaven, and behold the ransom and price of our salvation. We do behold in the Sacrament, not what it is, but what it doth signify. When we receive it with due reverence1 and faith, it goeth not into the mouth or belly, but only into the soul, and it feedeth the mind inwardly, as the other outwardly feedeth the body; we know that Christ hath left His Sacraments to His Church, that they might be helps to lift us up into heaven. By them we are joined with Christ, and made partakers of His passion."2 Thus wrote Bishop Jewel in his Treatise of the Sacraments ; wherein he " so framed his speech that the meanest and simplest may reap profit thereby."3 Here then all tropes and figures of speech are excluded, no " hy- pothetical/'' " charitable," and " non-natural" construction is to be imposed, but the words are to be received according to the writer's intention, in their plain and obvious meaning. In the Twenty-fifth Article I took occasion to speak of the word " sign," as it is used for the generic term " Sacraments." A few quota- tions shall now be adduced to illustrate its meaning when used Th^e mean- m the signification of a " seal." This expression is adopted by word "seal" Archbishop Cranmer to convey to the mind of his reader a iust
as laid down r « J
meb'ran- idea of the most certain efficacy of the Lord's Supper. <c The Sacrament and mystical bread being broken and distributed after the institution of Christ, and the mystical wine being likewise taken and received, be not only Sacraments4 of the flesh of Christ wounded for us and of His blood-shedding, but also be most certain sacraments to us, and as a man would say, seals of God's promises and gifts, and also of that holy fellowship which we have with Christ and all His members. Thus the true bread and true wine remain still in the Eucharist (after consecration), until they be consumed of the faithful, to be signs and as seals unto us, annexed unto God's promises, making us certain of God's gifts towards us."5 Thus
1 That is to say " worthily," here applied to the Lord's Supper.
2 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1117. 3 Ibid. p. 1099.
4 Here the word Sacraments applies to the two visible signs in the one Sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper.
5 Cranmer, vol. iv. pp. 15, 16.
117
wrote Cranmer in April, 1554, two years after compiling the Articles, and revising and republishing the Prayer Book. Seals, then, render us most certain of receiving God's gifts by means of those instruments to which He has been mercifully pleased to set them. Bishop Jewel also speaks in like terms: "We say, as and by S. Paul saith, a Sacrament is a perfect seal and a sufficient war- " E rant of God's promises, whereby (i.e. by which seal) God bind- eth (not attests He hath bound) Himself unto us, and we likewise stand bounden unto God, so as God is our God, and we are His people. This I reckon is no bare or naked token."1 Again, "Christ hath ordained" the Sacraments that "He might seal His grace in our hearts, as princes' seals confirm and tvarrant their deeds and charters, so do the Sacraments witness unto our conscience that God's promises are true and shall continue for ever. Thus doth God make known His secret purpose to His Church ; first, He declareth His mercy by His word ; then He sealeth it and assureth it by His Sacraments. In the word we have His promises ; in the Sacraments we see them."2 Else- where the Bishop says, " His word declareth His love towards us; and that word is sealed and made good by Baptism."3 Again, " if any take not the seal of Regeneration, we can- not SAY HE IS BORN THE CHILD OF GoD."4
With these passages before him, it is hoped the reader will form a just conception of the sense in which the word signum " sign and seal" was used by the compiler and editor of our Ar- ticles, and will be satisfied that when these holy and learned men "expounded the Sacraments by signs and figures they did not, as they were falsely accused, take away the force of the holy mysteries and make nothing of them."5
But of what is Baptism declared to be " a sign and seal," or a Baptism is a "most certain Sacrament to us ?" Why, " of Regeneration." oiPregkne- This word is a great stumbling-block to our late commentators, RATION- and in order to evade its force, it is now pretended that its meaning is unknown, and that it is too late in the day to ascer- tain in what sense it was used by the compilers of the Articles. In fact, its meaning is judicially pronounced to be one, among
1 Jewel, portion i. p. 515. 3 Ibid. p. 1105. s Ibid. p. 1109.
2 Ibid. ii. p. 1099. 4 Ibid. p. 1108.
118
the many things, " left undecided." The Judicial Committee assure us that " it is not particularly declared what is the dis- tinct meaning and effect of the grace of Regeneration, whether it is a change of nature, a change of condition, or a change of rela- tion, subsisting between sinful man and his Creator."1 This plaintive assertion, which seems to be made with a view of giving an additional colour to the charge of ambiguity and designed indecision which is brought against the Sacramental Articles, will appear perfectly groundless and unjust when we are ac- quainted with the following undeniable facts : An inquiry Firstly, That the word regeneration was used anion"; the Jews
into the use « t • i 1
and mean- before our Saviour s Incarnation, and not only so, but that
ingofthe , , '
word ■ Re- their most eminent writers call the Baptism or a proselyte,
generation.'
It is applied HIS REGENERATION OR NEW BIRTH. "They told the prOSe-
bythePjEws, tytes, that how unclean, sinful, or accursed soever her or his children were before, they were now by this Baptism dedicated to the true God, entered into a covenant with Him, put into a new state, and were in all respects as if they had been new-born/' by the Hea- Also, Secondly, That the Heathens, before Christ's time, had a custom of Baptizing, and that they also called it (baptism) Regeneration. This gives light to our Saviour's expression, where He, after the Christian Baptism, now brought into use by John Baptist and Himself, tells Nicodemus, that to be regene- rated or born again of water and the Spirit, was absolutely neces- sary for any one's coming to the kingdom of God ; and to S. Paul's styling Baptism the washing of regeneration. by all Thirdly, That accordingly all ancient Christians, not
chr'is?t one man excepted, do take the word regeneration or new birth, to signify baptism, and regenerate, baptized,2 and so the word continued to be used for One Thousand Four Hundred Years.3 and by the Fourthly, That the doctrine of the Church of England was England, professedly derived from the Scriptures, and from the universal
who builds <> 1 . j » n '■ « Trr
her doctrine consent and agreement ot the ancient learned Fathers. " We, the Apos- for our parts," says Bishop Jewel in his celebrated Apology for the devout the Church of England, "have learned these things of Christ, of the Apostles, of the devout Fathers ; and do sincerely
1 Gorham Case, p. 52.
- Dr. Wall's History of Infant Baptism, vol. ii. p. 495. 3 Ibid. p. 522.
119
and with good faith teach the people of God the same ; which thing is the only cause why we at this day are called heretics of the chief prelates (no doubt) of religion. O immortal God ! Bishop hath Christ Himself, then the Apostles, and so many Fathers, high esteem
TI. i i~» • • | .for that doc-
all at once none astray! Were then Origen, Ambrose, Au- trine which
W3.S ii ii i v tf I*—
gustine, Chrysostom, Gelasius, Theodoret, forsakers of the saiiy held by
i i- • i o tt- 7 r • the ancient
Catholic faith ? Was so notable a consent of so many ancient Bishops. Bishops and learned men nothing else but a conspiracy of heretics ?
Or, IS THAT NOW CONDEMNED IN US WHICH WAS THEN COM- MENDED in them ? or, is the thing now, by alteration only of men's affection, suddenly become schismatic (or Popish) which in them was counted Catholic ? or, shall that which in times past was true, now by and by, because it liketh not these men, be judged false ? Let them then bring forth another gospel, and let them show the causes why these things, which so long have openly been observed and well allowed in the Church of God, ought now in the end to be called in again.,n Such is the neiwous language, and such the homely questions of Bishop Jewel, which 1 leave the impugners of Bap- tismal Regeneration to answer as best they may. At the era of There was the Reformation the doctrine which the ancient Church main- for the^om5^
., ._. I?/- r i • i P>'ers of the
tamed respecting Baptism, and the jorm oj expression in which Article de- it was transmitted to posterity were well known to, and adopted wordgRe|e.
it* • -ii neration.
by, the compilers and editor of our Articles, and universally received among all orthodox Churches. It is therefore unjust to accuse them of being designedly ambiguous, because they did not define terms which in their own day were well and generally understood. To certain persons who are unacquainted with the writings of that period, its import may be unknown, but it surely does not follow, that because the meaning of any word of ancient usage is obscure to men of this age, it must have there- fore been of doubtful import some three centuries ago ? In this instance too the charge is groundless ; for the meaning of the word regeneration is defined in this very Article. " The par- The c°mp°-
" t » r nent parts of
ticulars which follow," says Dr. Hey, " seem to be component ^e^.gra" parts of Regeneration ; if so, we have, in this Article, the notion in the of the Church of England of regeneration given by itself ; which, to the members of our Church, is an authentic definition."'2 1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 67. 2 Hey's Lectures, vol. iv. p. 293.
120
May we not, then, apply to the new college of Theological doc- tors the words which Christ addressed to Nicodemus, who unreasonably stumbled at the same term; "Are ye masters in Israel, and know not these things ?" We know full well that of late years a certain party have endeavoured to alter the true and primitive notion of the word Regeneration, and to fasten upon it a new sense which they consider consistent with their unscrip- tural views of partial redemption and sanctification, and the indefectibility of grace. It will be my business, therefore, to adduce such evidence, as is sufficient to satisfy every person, whose prejudices have not closed his mind against a conviction of the truth, that the words baptized and regenerated are equiva- lent in the formularies and Articles of the Church of England, she having " held fast the form of sound words," and applied them, as she " had been taught by God's holy gospel, the ancient Apostolic Bishops and the primitive Church/'1 The figure " We must consider/' says Bishop Jewel, " that the learned
metont/mia _ 1 . . j_* p i ci ■ 7
used by the lathers, in their treatises or the bacraments, sometimes use the cients when outward sign instead of the thing itself that is signified ; some- time sacra- times they use the thing signified instead of the sign. As for example, sometimes they name Christ's blood instead of the water : sometimes they name the water instead of Christ's blood. This figure is called metonymia, that is to say, ' an ex- change of names,' and is much used among the learned, spe- cially speaking of the Sacraments. S. Augustine using the water in place of the blood of Christ, that is signified by the water, saith thus : Solvit vinculum culpa? ; reconciliat bonum naturse ; regenerat hominem in uno Christo ; ' It breaketh the bond of sin ; it reconcileth the goodness of nature : it doth renew a man in one Christ.' Notwithstanding indeed and in precise man- ner of speech, salvation must be sought in Christ alone, and not in any outward signs."2 The last words of this quotation may seem to militate against the certain efficacy of Baptism. I wish, therefore, to put the reader on his guard against being misled by this, and similar expressions, which occur in those treatises of our old churchmen which are directed against the errors of the Roman Church.
1 Jewel's Apology, portion iii. p. 56.
2 Jewel's Defence, portion iii. p. 463.
7
121
Beit remembered, then, that the Church of Rome main- The church tained, that by virtue of consecration, the elements receive grace tributes the and become changed in substance ; that, in consequence of this theCsacra-
i 1 i tt l ii n ments trie
supposed change, the Holy Ghost is united to the element of mere recep-
•n • i • • iiii iiii „ ticn, if the
water in Baptism, and is inaquate, and the body and blood of recipient,
77 i i cii though lie
Christ are corporally present under the appearances of bread be not de-
. in l • • vo,lt and
and wine, and hence the Sacramental signs contain^ grace, as faithfui.does
' . . ° not exclude
a vessel contains water, or a box medicine, and of course convey the £race by
* mortal sin.
this grace, and confer it on all who partake of them whether they be good or bad, " Sine bono motu utentis." Indeed, she seems to teach that man merits the grace by obediently receiving the sign. When entertaining these views of the Sacraments, it is easy to see how she glided away into another error, and repre- sented the Sacraments as the causes of our salvation.
But the Church of England on the contrary holds that But the
J Church of
by virtue of consecration, the quality, but not the substance England as-
J . crlbes it to
of the elements, is altered, and that the soul of man, and not Christ's
' ' institution
the Sacramental elements, receives the grace of God. She arid His Pro-
° miseof grace
attributes the efficacy of the Sacraments to Christ's insti- annexed to
J the signs
tution, and the promise of grace to all duly qualified recipients b^dfi^heived which is annexed to the signs. She teaches that God fulfils His promise and always offers the inward and spiritual grace with the sign, and is willing to give it, but not that He confers it, whether the person using the sign, and being of years of discre- tion, has complied with the conditions, upon which the promise of grace was made to him, or not.
Our Church therefore ascribes their efficacy to a different cause from the Church of Rome, and believes that the inward and spiritual grace of the Sacraments is given as certainly through them as God's instruments by virtue of Christ's promise, as if it was contained in the signs. It is clear, then, that when the Church asserts the invariable efficacy of Infant Baptism, she does not attribute it to the opus operatum, to any virtue contained in the sign, or to any merit in man for receiving it, but simply
1 Canones Concilii Tridentini. De Sacramentis ; Sessio vii. celebrata die iii. Mensis Martii, mdxlvii. p. 44.
Canon viii. Siquis dixerit, per ipsa novae legis sacramenta ex opere operato non conferri gratiam, sed solam fidem diuinm promissionis ad gratiatn conse- quendam sufficere ; anathema sit.
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to the promise of grace and eternal life, which she undoubtedly believes God has made to all Infants of christened parents, and which, as she holds them incapable of putting any bar in the way, she is assured, is offered, and given, and absolutely fulfilled to them all, when they are Baptized.1 It is also evident that she does not consider the Sacraments inefficient and bare signs, because they do not contain grace and confer it upon all adults loithout reference to their complying with those conditions, upon which the promises of the gospel are made to mankind.2
The doctrine of the Church of England is well stated in a quotation from S. Cyprian, which immediately follows the last mentioned words of Bishop Jewel. "The remission of sin, whether it be given by Baptism, (here he means the two parts of the Sacrament, the whole Sacrament, and not the outward sign alone) or by any other Sacrament, is indeed of the Holy Ghost ; and to the same Holy Ghost only the privilege of this work doth appertain. The solemnity of the words and the invo- cation of God's holy name, and the outward signs appointed to the ministry of the Priests by the institution of the Apostles, work the visible outward Sacrament ; but touching the sub- stance thereof, (which is the remission or sins) it is the Holy Ghost that worketh it." Here then we are taught that the substance of Baptism is the remission of sins, that the Holy Ghost is the efficient cause and works it ; and that Baptism is the instrumental cause by which remission of sin is conveyed and given. When therefore Bishop Jewel says salvation is not given in the signs, it is evidently his meaning that the Sacra-
1 Article IX. 1538, — Neque enim in illis verum est, quod quidam dicunt, Sa- cramento conferre gratiam ex opere operato sine bono motu tjtentis, nam in ratione utentibus necessum est, ut fides etiam utentis accedat, per quam credat illis promissionibus, et accipiai res promissas, quse per sacramenta con- ferantur.
Article VI. — Promissio gratia* et vita mterna pertinet non solum ad adultos sed etiam ad infantes. Et hcec promissio per ministerium in Ecclesia infantibus et adultis administrari debet. Cranmer's Works, vol. iv. pp. 286, 280.
2 Article on Private Mass drawn up in 1538, and preserved in the State Paper Office. " Talis quippeest sacramentorum ratio et natura, ut signa sint visibilia, certa, et efftcacia, per qua? Deus invisihiliter in recte utentibus operatur, &c." To assert, therefore, that Sacraments are uncertain and ineffectual signs, and not the instruments by which God works in those who rightly use them is to overthrow their nature and destroy them.
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mental signs do not contain and confer grace ; but lie never teaches that the Sacraments are uncertain and ineffectual signs and instruments by which God indicates the occasional and pre- vious grant of grace and salvation.
Let us now return to the word Regeneration. I will first Regencra- prove that it is used as a synonym for Baptism at the time of the nonymous
-i • 11 ■ • » * - i i , • • with Bap-
compilation and last revision ol our Articles, and that it imports tism and is
1 • 1 1 ■ • 1 • 1 1 TT i-1 'tS "1WarU
the inward and spiritual grace given to us by the Holy Ghost grace, through that Sacrament.
In the calendar to A Prymer in Englyshe, published in 1534, we find, under the month of May, these words : " Where- fore to do off this sinful similitude of our father Adam and to do upon us God's likeness again, we must be regenerated and born anew, (that is to say) baptized, the which Sacrament cir- cumcision figured ; here now are we born of God, — here do we put upon us Christ, &c/n The Institution of a Christian man of 1537, says, under the Sacrament of Confirmation, " The Apostles, although they did certainly know and believe that all such as had duly received the Sacrament of Baptism were, by virtue and efficacy thereof, perfectly regenerated in Christ, perfectly incorporated and made the very members of His body, and had received full remission of their sins, and were replenished with abundance and plentifulness of the graces and gifts of the Holy Ghost, &c."2 This passage also appears in The Neces- sary Doctrine of 1543.3 In 1540, Cranmer drew up seven- teen questions on the Sacraments, and in his answer to the seventh, he says, " I find not in the Scripture, the matter, nature, and effect of all those which we call the seven Sacraments, but only of certain of them ; as of Baptism, in which we be regene- rated and pardoned of our sin by the blood of Christ, &c."4 In 1548, Cranmer set forth his translation of Justus Jonas' Cate- chism. This contains " A Sermon of Baptism," from which we shall select a few passages. It commences by citing S. John iii. 5, and then observes, that " it is very necessary for us, to know, how we must be born again, and what this second birth is, with-
1 Three Primers of Henry VIII. preface, p. xxii.
2 Formularies of Faith, pp. 94, 95.
3 Ibid. p. 289.
4 Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 100.
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out the which we cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It then declares this second birth to be not natural, but " spiritual, whereby our inward man and mind is renewed by the Holy Ghost, so that our hearts and minds receive new desires, which they had not of their first birth or nativity.
And the second Birth is by the water of Baptism, which S. Paul calleth the Bath of Regeneration, because our sins be forgiven us in Baptism and the Holy Ghost is poured into us as God's beloved children, so that by the power and working of the Holy Ghost, we be born again spiritually and made new creatures. And so by Baptism we enter into the kingdom of God and shall be saved for ever if we continue to our lives' end in the faith of Christ." Again, " by these words (S. Matt, xxviii. 19, S. Mark xvi. 16), our Lord Jesus Christ did institute Baptism, whereby ive be born again to the kingdom of God."1 " I trust you under- stand, good children, wherefore Baptism is called the bath of regeneration, and how in Baptism we be born again and be made new creatures in Christ."2 "But peradventui'e some will say : How can water work so great things ? To whom I answer, that it is not the water that doth these things, but the Almighty word of God {which is knit and joined to the water) and faith, which receiveth God's word and promise.3 For with- out the word of God water is water, and not Baptism. But when the word of the living God is added and joined to the water, then it is the bath of regeneration and baptism water, and the living spring of eternal salvation, and a bath that washeth our souls by the Holy Ghost, as S. Paul calleth it, saying, God hath saved us through His mercy, by the bath of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, whom He hath poured upon us plenteously, by Jesus Christ, our Saviour, that we beiiig made righteous by His grace, may be heirs of everlasting life. This is a sure and true word. Ye shall also diligently labour, good children, to keep and perform those promises, which you made to God in your Baptism and which Baptism doth betoken. When you be demanded, what is Baptism ? then shall you answer : Baptism is not water alone, but it is water inclosed and
1 Cranmer's Catechism, p. 182. 2 Ibid. p. 187.
3 For the effects of consecration, see above, p. 51.
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joined to the word of God, and to the covenant of God's promise. And when you shall be asked what availeth Baptism ? you shall answer : Baptism worketh forgiveness of sin, it delivcreth from the kingdom of the Devil and from death, and giveth life and everlasting salvation to all them that believe these words of Christ and promise of God, which are written in the last chapter of S. Mark's gospel. He that will believe and be baptized, shall be saved. But he that will not believe shall be damned. Thirdly : If a man asks you, how can water bring to pass so great things ? (see above.) Fourthly : If a man asks you, what doth the Baptizing in the water betoken ? answer ye : It be- tokeneth, that the old Adam, with all sins and evil desires, ought daily to be killed in us, by true contrition and repentance ; that he may rise again from death, and after he is risen with Christ, may be a new man and a new creature, and may live everlast- ingly in God, and before God, in righteousness and holiness. As S. Paul writeth, saying, " all we that are Baptized, are buried with Christ into death, that as Christ rose again, by the glory of His Father, so we also should walk in newness of life. Thus have ye heard, good children, what is meant by the words of Baptism, by the which we are born again, and made new to everlasting life.'"1 Many other passages might be extracted from this Catechism in support of the orthodox doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. I shall not, however, quote them here, as they will serve to illustrate other heads of this Article. I must, however, observe in passing, that it is of great importance to mark and fully understand the doctrine here delivered on Baptism ; for this Catechism was published only one year pre- vious to the office for the administration of Public Baptism to Infants, and contains a full exposition of Archbishop Cranmer's views of that Holy Sacrament at the lime he compiled the Bap- tismal Offices. The reader will then bear in mind that the Tlic doctrinc whole efficacy of Baptism is most unequivocally attributed to ^"cate- Christ's institution and promise, that before the consecration medupUm the element is mere water and the instrument of no spiritual good ; but after the Almighty word of God is knit and joined to the water it is the laver of regeneration, and by its instrumentality our sins are forgiven, the Holy Ghost is poured into us all, as 1 Cranmer's Catechism, pp. 190, 192.
126
many as are Baptized, as God's beloved children, we are delivered from the kingdom of the Devil and from death, and we shall finally come to Christ's everlasting kingdom, if we continue to our lives' end in the faith of Christ. I will only further remark, that the faith required of adults is not a belief in prevenient grace, in a prior regeneration, adoption, and remission of sins, but an undoubting faith in the words of Christ and the promises of God annexed to the outward element, and made to properly qualified recipients of the Sacrament.
It will hardly be denied that this exactly agrees with the doc- trine which is plainly and distinctly laid down in the Baptismal Offices, and against which all the artifices of the "hypothetical," " charitable," and " non-natural" construction are directed. To obviate the force of this evidence, however, it is asserted, that the poor Archbishop meant very well, but was groping about in a very dim twilight, and that, as he approacbed the unclouded light of the gospel day, he perceived he had hitherto only seen "through a glass darkly," and changed his opinions. The reader shall now, then, be conducted to the later writings of Cranmer, and thence judge what foundation there is for this assertion. We will begin with his " Defence," which was pub- lished in 1550, one year after the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. " We being as it were double men, or having every one of us two men in us, the new man and the old man, the spiritual man and the carnal man, have a double nativity ; one of our first carnal father Adam, by whom, as by ancient inheritance, cometh unto us malediction and everlasting damnation ; and the other of our heavenly Adam, that is to say, of Christ, by whom we be made heirs of celestial benediction and everlasting glory and immortality. And because this Adam is spiritual, therefore our generation by Him must be spiritual, and our feeding must be likewise spiritual. And our spiritual generation by Him is plainly set forth in Baptism, and our spiritual meat and food is set forth in the holy Communion and Supper of the Lord. And because our sight be so feeble that we cannot see the spiritual water wherewith we be washed in Baptism, nor the spiritual meat wherewith we be fed at the Lord's table, therefore, to help our infirmities and to make us the better to see the same with a pure faith, our Saviour Christ hath set forth the same,
127
as it were before our eyes, by sensible signs and tokens, which we be daily used and accustomed unto. And because the common custom of men is to wash in water, therefore our spiritual regene- ration in Christ, or spiritual ivasliing in His blood, is declared unto us in Baptism by water."1 Again He affirms, " Whoso- ever WILL BE SPIRITUALLY REGENERATED IN CHRIST, HE
must be Baptized himself/'2 We are now, however, told there is no such necessity, for " prevenient grace" will accom- plish this wonderful work totally independent of Baptism. Could the compiler of our Baptismal offices and Articles have held such opinions and so write ?3 It were an easy matter to multiply passages to the same effect, but my limits will not permit me to do so. We will therefore pass on to his " Answer to Gardiner," written in 1551. He there charges the Popish Bishop with doing " injury to both Sacraments." " You con- •< injury to elude your [first] book with Blasphemous words against both ments."Cra' the Sacrament of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper, niggardly pinching God's gifts, and diminishing His liberal pro- mises made unto us in them" (the Sacraments.) Here we have the very words adopted in our Church Catechism, where the faith required of adult candidates for Baptism is plainly stated to be a belief of special truths, viz. of " the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament" " For where Christ
HATH PROMISED IN BOTH THE SACRAMENTS TO BE ASSISTANT
WITH us whole both in body and in spirit, (in the
ONE TO BE OUR SPIRITUAL REGENERATION AND APPAREL,
and in the other to be our spiritual meat and drink). You clip His liberal benefits in such sort, that in the one you make Him to give but only His Spirit, and in the other, but only His body. And yet you call your book An Explication and Assertion of the True Catholic Faith."4 If it be blasphemy to say Christ's Spirit only and not His body also is given iu Baptism, how would Archbishop Cranmer designate that wretched doctrine which asserts that no spiritual grace is ever given by virtue of the
1 Cranmer works, vol. ii. p. 421. 2 Ibid. p. 455.
3 I must refer the reader to another passage from " the Defence," quoted above, where Archbishop Cranmer says, " when we be Baptized, we be newly born ayain spiritually by Christ and be washed from our sins, &c."
4 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 86.
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Sacrament of Holy Baptism ? If Bishop Gardiner's teaching was false, and a " niggardly pinching of God's gifts/' and " diminishing of His liberal promises made unto us in His Sacra- ments," what is to be said of a system which disbelieves and denies any such promises ? Will persons who hold such opinions presume to claim for them the countenance and support of tbe immortal Cranmer ? Again, " God worketh wonderfully by His omnipotent power in the true receivers, not in the outward visible signs. For it is the person Baptized that is so regene- rate, that he is made a new creature, icithout any alte- ration of the water."1 In his Disputation, at Oxford, with Chedsey, and others, on April 14, 1554, he contended against the Papists for our perfect union with Christ by Baptism, affirming, that in Baptism we are made flesh of His flesh and bones of His bones. In reply, Tresham argued, that " we are made one with Christ by the communion with a perfect unity." " We are made so, I grant, says Cranmer ; but we are made so also by Baptism ; and the unity in Baptism is perfect?' Tresham replied : " We are not one by Baptism in a perfect unity, but by the com- munion," and then quotes S. Hilary. To which Cranmer replied : " Nay, Hilary in that same place doth teach, that it is done by Baptism, and that doctrine is not to be suffered in the Church, which teacheth, that we are not joined to Christ by Baptism."2 Again, the Archbishop says; " This is my faith, and it agreeth with the Scripture. Christ liveth by His Father naturally, and maketh us to live by Himself in deed naturally, and that not only in the Sacrament of the Eucha- rist, but also in Baptism. For Infants, when they are Baptized, do eat the flesh of Christ."3 Lastly, he asks, " In them that are Baptized is there not a great change when the child, of the bondslave of the Devil is made the son of God ?"4 This is, I believe, the latest record we possess of Archbishop Cranmer's doctrine on Holy Baptism. This dis- putation ended in his condemnation for heresy and imprisonment. Will any one then, who values his reputation, venture to assert that Cranmer thought less highly of the Sacrament of Baptism in his later years than in 1549, when he first published the Baptismal
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 524. : Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 41, 42.
3 Ibid. p. 44. * Ibid. p. 55.
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offices, and in 1552, when be reviewed and republished those offices and compiled the Articles on the Sacraments ? Such a change in his doctrine never took place ; and we are anxious the English Churchman should be satisfied of this, that he may be proof against the wiles and artifices of those who lie in wait to deceive him. We have not the slightest evidence for doubting, that Cranmer maintained to his last hour, that all infants are by Baptism spiritually regenerated ; that a great change in body and soul passes upon them, that of the bondslaves of the devil they are made the sons of God, that they are perfectly united with Christ by Baptism, and made bones of His bones and flesh of His flesh, yea, that in Baptism their souls are nourished by Him and they do eat the flesh of Christ. Again, after hear- ing Cranmer charge Gardiner, the papist, with using blasphemous words against Baptism, when he diminished God's promises made to us in it, and after reading his defence of Baptism against the papists, the reader will be able to judge how far those persons are justly chargeable with Popery, who maintain with Cranmer the marvellous efficacy and the spiritual graces of Baptism, and contend that " that doctrine is not to be suffered in the Church, which teacheth, that we are not joined to Christ by Baptism."
Bishop Ridley also uses the word regeneration as equivalent Bish°pR">-
r o l ley says,
to Baptism, and denotes by it the inward and spiritual grace oXhied'L which the Holy Ghost bestows in that Sacrament. His words wate,rtl?our
spiritual
are, " the water in Baptism is sacramentally changed into the tjo^enera" fountain of Regeneration."1 Again, " when I consider that all that man doth possess in his regeneration, when he is received into the holy Catholic Church of Christ, and is now to be accounted for one of the lively members of Christ's own body."2 Again, " Baptism is ordained in rvater to our spiritual regeneration."3
We will now approach the writings of Bishop Jewel, " the brightest gem of the Church," " who polished the stones which teaches that
° ° ' r Baptism is
the Fathers of the Reformation hewed rough from the quarry," oui: reeene-
o ^ J > ration, &c.
and is allowed to have stated the doctrine of the Sacraments, Sacrament " with beautiful accuracy." Let us see whether he teaches that oftheremis-
* S10I1 01 - III- .
no spiritual grace is given by virtue of the Sacrament of Baptism. In his treatise of the Sacraments he says, "I will now 1 Ridley, p. 12. 2 Ibid. p. 57. 3 ibid. p. 238.
K
130
speak briefly of the Sacraments in several, and leave all idle and vain questions, and only lay open so much as is needful and pro- fitable for you to know. Baptism, therefore, is our regene- ration or new birth, whereby (i.e. by which Baptism) we are (not have been) born anew in Christ, and are made
THE SONS OF GoD AND HEIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN J
it is the Sacrament of the remission of sins, and of that washing which we have in the blood of Christ. We are all born the children of wrath and have our part in the offence of Adam. Hereof speaketh our Saviour : ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' And for this cause saith He, ' Except a man be born of the water and so that u-iM- the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God/ For this
out this new - „ . _ , . ,
birth of cause are lnjants Baptized, because they are born in sin,
water and
the Spirit, AND CANNOT BECOME SPIRITUAL, BUT BY THIS NEW BIRTH
I X FA VTS
c'axnot of the water and the Spirit."1 Now let the reader bear spiritual, in mind that Bishop Jewel says himself, that he had "regard to this place, and so framed his speech that the meanest and sim- plest may reap profit thereby," and then let him review what the Bishop has here most plainly declared concerning Baptism.
It is observable that his language at the beginning of the quotation is almost precisely the same with that of the second answer in our Church Catechism. The words I allude to are these : " My Baptism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven/' He also states distinctly, that " it is the Sacrament of the remis- sion of sins," conveyed by it as God's ordained instrument, and "of the washing we have" (not have had before Baptism) "in the blood of Christ." Thirdly, he declares that it "is needful and profitable for us to know," that because Infants are born in sin, and are the children of wrath, and have their part in the offence of Adam, they are therefore Baptized. And why ? but to obtain forgiveness of that original sin, which was perfectly redeemed2 by their Saviour Christ upon the Cross, by "the Sacrament of remission of sins." But Mr. Gorham persists in maintaining the contrary of this, and asserts, that this original sin, if not remitted before Baptism, disqualifies the infant for the worthy reception of that Sacrament. Lastly, Bishop Jewel dis- 1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1 104. 2 Article XXXI.
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tinctly affirms that Infants " cannot become spiritual, but by
THIS NEW BIRTH OF THE WATER AND THE SPIRIT"1 ill Bap- tism. Mr. Gorham denies this, and affirms that they never become spiritual by Baptism, but that they have been made spiri- tual by a prevenient act of grace (a fond thing, vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, and certainly, therefore, unknown to Cranmer and Jewel), that " they must have been regenerated by an act of grace prevenient to their Bap- tism, in order to make them worthy recipients of that Sacrament" and that " the filial condition was given before Baptism.5'2 How this doctrine is to be reconciled with Bishop Jewel's I cannot understand, so long as words have any fixed meaning. If it is identical in meaning, we prefer the ancient and orthodox ex- pressions of Bishop Jewel to the unintelligible jargon of the new school. Again, speaking of adults, who may chance to be adults converted from heathenism, he writes: <(such as were born of heathenism unbelieving parents, and were aliens from the commonwealth of the forgive- Israel, and were strangers from the covenant of promise, and. sins, may had no hope, if they acknowledge the error in which they lived the sacra^6 and seek the forgiveness of their former sins, may well receive their rege-
i • n r •) -rt i neration, by
this sacrament oj their regeneration. But where, we may which they
receive re-
ask, are they to seek the forgiveness of their former sins, but in mission of
-i . . sins.
the Sacrament of their regeneration and of the remission of sins ? Is it not plain that Bishop Jewel did not consider such penitent and faithful adults regenerate before coming to the Sacrament of their Regeneration ? Does not the Bishop also distinctly teach that such adults receive Baptism well, who seek, and therefore do not actually enjoy by prevenient grace, forgiveness of their sins ? If there be any doubt about Jewel's meaning, the following quo- tation will remove it : " They that be washed in it (the Sacra- ment of Baptism) receive the remission of sins." Bishop Jewel proceeds, " Christ, saith the Apostle, loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify it and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word" (of institution). "Again, ' according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.' For this cause is Baptism called salvation, life, regeneration, the for-
1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1104.
2 Mr. Gorham's Examination. Answers 19, 40.
K 2
132
giveness of sins, the poiver of God to resurrection, the image and pledge of resurrection, and the word of immortality. And yet are not these wrought by the water;1 for then, what need had we of Christ ? what good did His passion ? what doth the Holy Ghost work in our hearts ? what power or force is left to the word of God ?" (i.e. the word of institution). " It is the covenant and promise and mercy of God which clotheth us with immortality, assureth our resurrection, by which we receive re- generation, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. His word declareth His love towards us ; and that word is sealed and made good by Baptism. Our faith, which are baptized, and our continuance in the profession we have made, establisheth in us this grace which we receive"2 by Baptism. The new school teach not that faith establisheth, but that it conferreth grace. Once more, quoting Dionysius, he saith, " our regeneration which we have in Baptism, by that natural purgation that is wrought by water in a certain bodily sort teacheth us the pur- gation of the mind." Thus, observes Bishop Jewel, "are we truly washed with Christ's blood in the holy mys- tery of Baptism ; thus are we truly and indeed fed with Christ's body in the holy mystery of His Supper, and albeit Christ be in neither of these mysteries in bodily and fleshly presence, yet doth not that thing in any ivise hinder either the substance3 of the holy mystery, or the truth of our receiving." With such decisive evidence as this before him, surely no one will attempt to deny that it was the doctrine of Bishop Jewel, that by Baptism God offers and actually and in truth (not for- mally merely) confers regeneration, remission of sins, life, and salvation, on all such as receive it most agreeably with the insti- tution of Christ, i.e. upon all Infants ; and that those bene-
1 Bishop Jewel here has in view the second heresy mentioned in the Ref. Legum Eccles. quoted at p. 108, and denies, that the Sacramental water is the efficient cause in consequence of the Holy Ghost being inaquate, that is, so united to the water that the element receives and contains the grace of God and confers it by some natural or supernatural virtue. He constantly teaches with the Church, that the Sacraments are " effectual because of Christ's insti- tution and promise" of grace annexed to the sign, and not by reason of any change in the substance of the Sacramental signs.
2 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1 105.
3 Bishop Jewel asserts the remission of sins to be the substance of Baptism, see above, p. 122, portion iii. p. 463.
133
fits are not bestowed before Baptism, but at or during the ministra- tion of the holy mystery. I cannot, however, leave this head of the Article without bringing forward some further evidence, which proves most conclusively that Bishop Jewel used the English Bishop words regenerate and baptized as absolutely equivalent to the the worfis Latin words renati or regenerati. In his Controversy with "regene- Harding, Art. 2, Div. 21, he quotes these words of S. Augustine, "baptized,"
. , , , te j . _ ._1 . . as equiva-
" Non regenerati, and renders them unbaptized. 1 Again, lent terms, in his Defence of Apology, chap. xi. Div. 3, he translates, " in nondum renatis," " in them that be not regenerate by Bap- tism," and so removes all possible doubt as to the means by which he considered regeneration to be granted to man. Once more, " in renatis, in them that be Baptized.,>2 I call particular attention to these instances because an attempt has lately been made to escape from the inference which is obvious and most fairly drawn from his translating "renatis" in the Ninth Article, at one time "regenerated" and at another "baptized." But strong as this evidence is, it is not the whole that can be offered. Let us examine the language of the original of our Article IX., and I think we shall there find such proof as few will reject or be able to gainsay. The Second Article of the Augsburg Con- fession, " De peccato originis," says, that all men naturally engendered after the fall of Adam are born with sin and with concupiscence, " quodque hie morbus seu vitium originis vere sit peccatum, damnans et offerens nunc quoque seternam mor- tem his qui non renascuntur per Baptismum et Spiri- tum Sanctum." These words are also embodied in the Second Article, " De peccato originali," of 1538. Is it possible a doubt can remain ? In these two Articles regeneration is most dis- tinctly declared to be effected by Baptism, as the instrumental cause and by the Holy Ghost as the efficient cause ; and these two causes are mentioned in the same order as in the Article XXVII. If, in addition to this, we bear in mind that for four- teen hundred years the words regeneration and baptism were used as absolutely equivalent, and that Bishop Jewel professedly derived his theological knowledge from the Scriptures and the ancient learned fathers, and would not " by the alteration of men's affections" cast off either doctrines or forms of expression
1 Jewel, portion i. p. 244. 2 Jewel, portion iii. p. 464.
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" which so long have openly been observed and well allowed in the Church of God," we shall not be surprised at his so ren- dering this word "renatis," in the Article IX. as to exhibit the Sacrament of Holy Baptism enriched with exceeding great and precious promises and pregnant with grace and truth. nowkl's If we turn to Nowel's Catechism, of which the use was
catechism. ,
enjoined by the Convocation of 1571, we shall find that regeneration is expressly ascribed to the Sacrament of Baptism.
M. Quot in ecclesia sua sacramenta instituit Doininus ? A. Duo.
M. Quae ? A. Baptismum et Sacram Cosnam ; quorum communis est inter omnes Fideles usus. Altero enim renas- cimur, altero sustentamur ad vitam seternam.
M. Quae est arcana et spiritualis gratia (in Baptismo) ? A. Ea duplex est; remissio videlicet peccatorum et regeneratio, qua? utraque in externo illo signo, solidam et expressam effigicm suam tenent.
The compo- We will now consider the component parts of Regenera- of Regene- tion in the order they are stated in this Article. Our being ist our en. grafted into the Church of Christ is the first particular men- uie church'0 tioned. This is effected by the instrumentality of the sign, of Christ. gea]^ Qr sacrament 0f our regeneration. Before this grafting, we were in the wild olive tree, clothed with the old man, and in a state of nature and sin ; but by the act of grafting into Christ a great change passed upon us ; the insertion was " contrary to nature,"1 it united us to the good olive tree, and made us actual members of it, and partakers of its "root and fatness." This is a marvellous change and it is beyond the power of man's mind fully to comprehend or explain it. It is a change of nature, of condition, and of relation. Let us see how it is described by Archbishop Archbishop Cranmer. In the following passage he distinctly says, a attributes this grafting to the agency of regeneration. " After
miracle is ° ° 0 J °
wrought by consecration, the body and blood of Christ be in them (the
our being * » v
grafted into Dread and wine) but as in figures, although in the godly receivers
Christ by ' P . ' °. " y
Regenera- jje Is rea\ly (in distinction to 'in figures' or 'formally') pre- sent by His omnipotent power, which is as great a miracle in our daily nourishing, as is wrought before in our Regeneration. And therefore is Christ no less to be honoured of them that 1 Romans si. 24.
135
feed of Him in His holy Supper, than of them that be grafted in Him by Regeneration.1 I say that Christ was com- municated unto us, not only by faith, but in very deed also, when He was born of the Virgin.2 We have fellowship with Christ, when we are united in the unity of the Church, when we are made flesh of His flesh and bones of His bones ; and so we are united in the Communion, in baptism and in faith.3 And when you say that in Baptism we receive the Spirit of Christ, and in the Sacrament of His body and blood we receive His very flesh
and blood; THIS YOUR SAYING IS NO SMALL DEROGATION TO"Iniuryto
Baptism."
Baptism, — wherein we receive not only the Spirit of Christ, but also Christ Himself, whole body and soul, manhood and godhead, unto everlasting life, as well as in the holy Communion. For S. Paul saith, 'As many as be Baptized in Christ put Christ upon them.' Neverthe- less, this is done in divers respects, for in Baptism it is done in respect of regeneration, and in the holy Communion, in respect of nourishment and augmentation."4 Such is the language of a writer who is falsely reported to teach that in Baptism we receive no spiritual grace. Is it possible that our new men can really possess any acquaintance with Archbishop Cranmer's writings and opinions ? or, are they lost to all shame and regard for truth ? Can any doubt be entertained by a per- son of sound mind, that Cranmer teaches in unmistakeable language that we really receive in Baptism not only Christ's Spirit, but Christ Himself, whole body and soul, manhood and Godhead unto everlasting life ? Can he then, with truth, be said to hold that nothing spiritual is actually and absolutely given in Baptism ? And let me ask, if it " is no small derogation to Baptism" to say that in it we receive only the Spirit of Christ; can it be less than blasphemy and heresy to assert that even His Spirit is not in truth given ? Happily we are not left in doubt of what Cranmer's judgment would be; he has pronounced it blasphemy.5 The Archbishop frequently insists on this acknow- ledged doctrine of the Catholic Church, that not Christ's Spirit only, but His Holy Spirit and flesh jointly together be
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 433. 2 Jewel, portion i. p. 472.
3 Cranmer's works, vol. vi. p. 41. 4 Ibid. iii. p. 65.
6 See above, p. 127. Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 86.
136
given us, in deed and in truth, in our regeneration as " the effect of Baptism."1 What shall we say then to that cold, meagre, and uncatholic school which affirm that this high and solemn mystery of being grafted in the body of Christ — being spiritually re- generated by Him, and so being throughly " bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh,'"2 is merely equivalent to " the required form of admission into any society or brotherhood, to which the right of nomination lies with the Sovereign, and for which cer- tain qualifications are necessary 1" Such doctrine, as makes Bap- tism only a Sacrament of our union and good fellowship with each other and not of our perfect union with the Godhead and manhood of Christ, must be abhorrent to the feelings of every man, whose views of Baptism are derived from the Scriptures and Catholic antiquity and the writings of Cranmer. Bishop Rid- Bishop Ridley, in 1554, delivers the same doctrine, " the thatby3ap- society or conjunction with Christ through the Holy Ghost grafiedeinto is grace" (" given to the receivers of the Sacrament''), " and by
Head of the THE SACRAMENT WE ARE MADE THE MEMBERS OF THE MYS- TICAL Body of Christ; for that by the Sacrament the part of the body is grafted in the Head/'3 Bishop Let us now betake ourselves to the writings of Bishop Jewel.
affirms that In hisReply toHarding,he writes under the head of Communion: iotnsuT to'st " It is granted of all, without contradiction, that one end of all Sacraments is to join us unto God ; as Dionysius saith here of the holy Communion, and S. Paul likewise of the Sacra- ment of Baptism. ' Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus ; for as many of you as are Baptized in Christ have put on Christ.' And Chrysostom saith, ' by Baptism we are made bone of Christ's bones and flesh of Christ's flesh,' " which is surely something more holy, spiritual, and marvellous than the admission to any human society to which Her Majesty nominates. " Another end is to join us all together." The only one, alas ! known to our new school. Then speaking of the holy Communion, the Bishop says, " Howbeit, in plain speech, and not the it is not the receiving of the Sacrament (of the holy Communion) munion. that worketh our joining with God" (for that, as the Bishop had above shown on the testimony of S. Paul and Chrysostom, was
1 Cranmer, Works, vol. iii. p. 77. 2 Ibid. p. 525.
3 Ridley, p. 239. Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. iii. p. 62.
137
first by Baptism). " For whosoever is not joined to God before he receive the Sacraments (of bread and wine) he eateth and drinketh his own judgment. The Sacraments (of bread and wine) be seals and witnesses and not properly the causes of this conjunction (which was effected by Baptism). Otherwise our children that depart this life before they receive the Communion, and all the godly fathers of the Old Testament should have no conjunction. Wherefore S. Augustine saith, ' No man may
ANYWISE DOUBT BUT EVERY FAITHFUL CREATURE IS THEN MADE PARTAKER OF CHRIST'S BODY AND BLOOD, WHEN IN
Baptism he is made the member of Christ ; and that he is not put off from the fellowship of that bread and cup, although before either he eat that bread or drink of that cup, he depart this world, being in the unity of Christ's body,' (that is Bap- tized.) For he is not deprived from the partaking and benefit of the Sacrament, so long as he findeth in himself that thing that the Sacrament signifieth."1 We can now perceive Bishop
1 Jewel, portion i. pp. 131, 2. Of Private Mass, Art. 1.
A part of this quotation, from the words " in plain speech" down to "con- junction," is cited by Mr. Gorham in support of his erroneous assertion, that Bishop Jewel's " writings abound with passages which confirm the view he has taken of the Sacraments." ^Gorham's Examination, p. 78, note.) It is true he has cited Bishop Jewel's words, (with the exception that he has written sacra- ments for sacrament at the commencement of his quotation) and these, to a per- son unacquainted with the forms of expression used in those days, may seem to favour Mr. Gorham's heretical views that by Baptism we are not joined to Christ ivith a perfect unity. But if Mr. Gorham had laid before the reader the whole passage, as in fairness and candour he was bound to do, and brought the reader acquainted with the meaning of Bishop Jewel's words and the drift of his argument, the delusion would have passed away. Mr. Gorham being professedly well acquainted with the works of our Reformers ought to have known that the plural form Sacraments (see above, p. 94) is applied by Bishop Jewel and others to the holy Communion alone ; and he ought to have informed his reader, that Bishop Jewel had above declared upon the testimony of S. Paul and Clirysostom, that by Baptism we are joined unto God, and that persons unbaptized were not admitted to the holy Communion, and consequently that all who were so admitted were baptized and joined to God before they were permitted to receive the holy Communion. We can then understand what Bishop Jewel means when he says that the Sacraments of bread and wine are not properly causes of this conjunc- tion (for this was effected by Baptism, and the Lord's Supper is properly the means of renewing and cementing this union), and that whosoever is not joined to God by Baptism before he receives the Sacraments of bread and wine, he, by his presumption and irreverence eateth and drinketh his own judgment. (This quotation from S. Paul also shows to what Sacrament he alluded.) The truth is,
138
Jewel's meaning when he said " the Sacraments" (of bread and
Bishop Jewel was not speaking of Baptism at all in the words quoted by Mr. Gorham, but of the Lord's Supper alone. In the Division at large, he was combating against, the same Popish error and injurious view of Baptism, which we have seen Archbishop Cranmer protest against, viz. that " we are made one with Christ by the Communion in a perfect unity," and not by Baptism. In which case, argues Jewel, our children that depart this life before they re- ceive the Communion (being falsely supposed to have no union with Christ by Baptism), should have no conjunclion with Christ. To disprove this blasphemy, he adduces the doctrine of S. Augustine, that "no man may anywise doubt that every faithful creature is then made partaker of Christ's body and blood, when in Baptism he is made the member of Christ," which the reader will per- ceive is equivalent to the doctrine of Archbishop Cranmer : " Infants, when
THEY ARE BAFTIZED, DO EAT THE FLESH OF CHRIST." May We not ask
why Mr. Gorham ended his quotation at the word " conjunction ?" Was it not because the following words would have opened the eyes of the reader to the truth, that Mr. Gorham received no countenance from Bishop Jewel, but sadly mis- represented him ? Jewel never held or taught that ice must be joined unto God before we receive Baptism; or, that Baptism is not the instrumental cause of this conjunction. His doctrine is this, that "it is granted of all without contradiction, that one end of all Sacraments is to join us unto God," and that Baptism therefore, perfectly joins us to God, and not prevenient grace, of which he knew and wrote nothing. He truly says, also, that the Holy Com- munion is not properly the cause of this conjunction, it is rather the instrument of renewing, strengthening , and confirming it. The following passage which applies to the cases of adults, and occurs a little further forward in the same Article of Private Mass will prove the correctness of my comment on the former words. "We confess that Christ by the Sacrament of regeneration, as Chrysostom saith, hath made us flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones ; that we are the members and He is the Head. We confess also, that all the faithful (i.e. baptized) are one body, all endued with one spirit. And be that distance never so great, yet are we one another's members." (Here we have stated the two ends of the Sacraments, which were above named.)
" This marvellous conjunction or incorporation is first begun and wrought (in adults) by faith ; as saith Paulinus unto S. Augustine. Perfidem nostram in- corporamur in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, ' By our faith' (as an instrumental not efficient cause) ' we are incorporate or made one body with Jesus Christ our Lord.' Afterward the same incorporation is assured unto us and in- creased in our Baptism. So saith S. Augustine, ' to this availeth Baptism, that men, being Baptized, may be incorporate into Christ and made His mem- bers.'' And for that we are very imperfect of ourselves, and therefore must daily proceed forward, that we may grow into a perfect man in Christ, there- fore hath God appointed that the same incorporation should be often renewed and confirmed in us by the use of the holy Mysteries (i.e. the Lord's Supper.) Wherein must be considered that the said holy Mysteries (the Lord's Supper) do not begin, but rather continue, and confirm, this incorporation. First of all, we ourselves must be of the body of Christ (by Baptism), and afterwards we must receive the Sacrament of Christ's body."
139
wine) " are not properly the causes of this conjunction ;" for he here says, "they do not begin, but rather continue, and confirm, this incorporation/' Further on he says, "many infants (not all, but as many as are Baptized) and others faithful and godly, be very members of that body ; and yet by occasion of death, or otherwise, never receive the Sacrament of Christ's body."1
Seeing then we are declared by Archbishop Cranmer and "Bishop Jewel not merely and formally to be made members of a mere human society ; but to be incorporated into Christ Himself by Baptism ; and that by its means " Christ's body dwelleth in our bodies; and that not by ivay of imagination, or by figure or fantasy ; but really, naturally, substantially, fleshly, or in deed ;"2 let us next learn what consequences result to us from this spiri- tual and Divine union and incorporation.
I. This grafting into Christ implies a real change wrought TiusgraftinR-
i • t» • 17 -7 7 imPlies. t»at
in every person, who receives Baptism most agreeably with the a wonder- Institution of Christ." Archbishop Cranmer affirms thisisreaiiy
wrought by
most distinctly. " As water in the font or vessel hath not the Almighty reason and nature of a Sacrament, but when it is put to the persons duly
1 qualified for
use of Christianity, and then it is changed into the proper Baptism, nature and kind of a Sacrament, to signify the wonderful change which Almighty God by His omnipotency worketh really in
THEM THAT BE BAPTIZED THEREWITH ; Such is the change of
the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper."3 "Emissene's mind is this, that although our Saviour Christ hath taken His body hence from our bodily sight, yet we see Him by faith, and by grace He is here present with us, so that by Him we be made new creatures, regenerated by Him and fed and nourished by Him ; which generation and nutrition in us be spiritual, without any mutation appearing outwardly, but (the mutation is) wrought within us invisibly by the omnipotent power of God. And this alteration in us is so wonderful, that we be made new creatures in Christ, grafted into His body, and of the same receive our nourishment and increasing — and yet visibly with our bodily eyes we see not these things, but they be manifest unto our faith by God's word and Sacraments. And Emissene declarcth none other real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of His body and
1 Jewel, portion i. p. 142. 2 Ibid. p. 472.
3 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 281.
140
blood than in the Sacrament of Baptism, but spiritually by faith to be present in both." " The sacramental conversion is in the Sacraments, and the real conversion is in him that receiveth the Sacraments, which real conversion is inward, invisible, and spirt* tual. For the outward corporal substances, as ivell of the man as of the water, remain the same as they were before."1 Once more he thus rebukes Bishop Gardiner : " If you understood the matter would you resemble a knave playing in a prince's coat (in
Whom NOTHING is INWARDLY WROUGHT OV ALTERED) Unto a
man being Baptized in water, who hath put upon him outwardly water, but inwardly is apparelled with Christ, and is, by the omnipotent working of Gon, spiritually regenerated and changed into a new man V If any man be, with the Judicial Committee, at a loss to know what this great change is, — the Archbishop shall instruct him. " The marvellous alteration (he says) to a higher estate, nature and condition, is chiefly and prin- cipally in the persons, and in the Sacramental signs it is none otherwise but sacramentally and in signification."2 Regeneration then is a change of the entire man, body and soul, to higher estate, nature and condition.
Let us now turn to Bishop Jewel. He observes that Diony- sius saith, " that being Baptized, we are turned unto God." And Pachymeres saith, " We are graft into Christ and made one nature with Him by Holy Baptism." " Chrysostom's purpose was, by this word massa, which in this place signifieth a lump of dough, to make resemblance unto these words of S. Paul, " we are one loaf and one body ■" and by such majesty of speech the more to quicken and lift up our spirits and to cause us thereby the better to consider that wonderful conjunction and knitting that is between Christ and us, whereby either is in the other. He in us, and ice in Him ; and that even in our own per- son ; in such sort as He is neither in the Angels or Archangels, nor in any other power in heaven. And therefore S. Paul saith, The Angels He took not, but He took the seed of Abraham." But this wonderful conjunction, and (as Chrysostom calleth it) this " mixture," is wrought, not only in the holy mysteries, but also in the Sacrament of Baptism. And in that sense Leo saith, " a man received of Christ, and receiving Christ (in Baptism)
1 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. pp. 415, 416. 3 Ibid. p. 490.
141
IS NOT THE SAME AFTER BAPTISM THAT HE WAS BEFORE J
but the body of him that is regenerate is made the flesh of Him that was crucified." Likewise, S. Augustine saith, "let us rejoice and give thanks that we are not only made Christian men, but also made Christ. Brethren, ye understand the grace of God that is upon us j ye understand it ; ye wonder at it ; re- joice ye, we are made Christ. For if He be the Head, and ■ we be the members, both He and we are one whole man."1
II. By this holy grafting, therefore, we are so truly By this
grafting wc
united to the Godhead and manhood of Christ that we be- are p*rtak-
crs of the
COME PARTAKERS OF THE DlVINE NATURE. Archbishop Divine sub-
stance,
Cranmer thus writes, "although he, S. Hilary, saith Christ is naturally in us, yet he saith also, we be naturally in Him. And nevertheless in so saying, he meant not of the natural and corporal presence of the substance of Christ's body and of ours ; for as our bodies be not after that sort within His body, so is not His body after that sort within our bodies; but he meant that Christ by His Incarnation received of us a mortal nature, and united the same unto His Divinity, and so we be naturally in Him."
" And the Sacraments of Baptism and His holy Supper, if we rightly use the same, do most assuredly certify us, that we be partakers (not have been before Baptism) of His Godly nature, having given unto us by Him immortality and life everlasting, and so is Christ naturally in us. And so we be one with Christ and Christ with us, not only in will and mind, but also in very natural properties."2 To the same purpose writes Bishop Jewel : "S. Ambrose saith, 'in receiving the Sacrament we are made partakers of the Divine substance.' ' This,' say you (Harding), ' could not be, if there remained bread in the Sacrament.' And why so, M. Harding ? Are not we partakers of the same Divine substance in the Sacrament of Baptism?" And after citing S. Augustine and S. Leo in evidence that we are incorporated into Christ and made flesh of His crucified flesh and bone of His bone, he asks : "And what greater participation of the Divine substance can you desire ?"3
III. By it we are endued and clothed with Christ.
1 Jewel, portion i. pp. 473, 474. 2 Cranmer's Works, vol. ii. p. 407.
' Jewel, portion iii. pp. 467, 468.
142
nnd are en- So says Archbishop Cranmer, " whosoever is endued and cint'hed'with clothed with Christ hath Christ present with him after a spiri- receive Htm tual manner, and hath received Christ whole, both Gon and man, g<>') ami or else he would not have everlasting life. And therefore is
man. else . . T _
we should Christ present as well in Baptism as in the Lord s bupper.
not have n-n- / •"■ 7 1 1 \ 7 7
everlasting lor in Baptism we be (not it is attested we have been) endued with Christ and seemly clothed with Him, as well as in His Holy Supper we eat and drink Him."1 Again, he most plainly describes the faith we ought to entertain of Holy Baptism, and which he affirms is " the very true doctrine of Christ and His pure Church from the beginning." "The minister of the Church," says the Archbishop, " speaketh unto us God's own words, which we must take as spoken from God's own mouth, because that from His mouth it came, and His word it is, and not the minister's. Likewise, when He ministereth to our sights Christ's holy Sacraments, we must think Christ crucified and presented before our eyes, because the Sacraments so represent Him and be His Sacraments, and not the priest's. As in Baptism we must think, that as the priest putteth his hand to the child outwardly and washeth him with water, so must we think that God putteth to His hand inwardly, and washeth the Infant with His Holy Spirit, and moreover, that Christ Himself cometh down upon the child, and ap- parelleth him with His own self."2 These are the high and holy words in which the learned compiler of our Arti- cles describes the effects of Infant Baptism, when contrasting the true and pure doctrine of the Church of England with the ambiguities, perplexities, absurdities, impieties, uncertainty, and discomfort of the teaching of the Church of Rome. God grant we may ever hold fast this scriptural and sound form of words which the Archbishop has transmitted to us, his posterity, as the rule of our faith, and manfully defend our Divine Master's Holy Baptism from all derogation and injury that is done to it either by the Romanist or Protestant Latitudinarian. Bishop Jewel asserts the same truths to be held by the Church of England. In his Apology he says, " We affirm that Christ doth truly and presently give His own self in His Sacraments, in Bap- tism, that we may put Him on ; and His Supper that we may 1 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 171. 2 Ibid. p. 553.
143
eat by faith and spirit, and may have everlasting life by His cross and blood. And we say not, this is done slightingly and coldly, but effectually and truly."1 The maintenance of a true and real and effectual gift of Christ's own self in Baptism is now denied, and represented by ignorant or designing men, as no doctrine of our Church and as equivalent to teaching the opus operation virtue of Baptism. Jewel here, however, posi- . tivcly affirms that Baptism is not an attestation of Christ being already given, and therefore a memorial of spiritual benefits previously conferred, (which is now styled, by way of deception, a formal, i.e. an unreal and specious giving, which, in point of fact, is no giving at all) but it is a true and effectual giving of Christ Himself at the present time, viz. at the administration of the Sacrament.
IV. If such be the case Christ Himself must be present in In Baptism
Chuist
all who receive Baptism most agreeably with His institution, viz. Himself is
1 0 » ' present, and
in all Infants, at the ministration of the Sacrament. Let us in- are p/r"
J ' takers of
quire if this doctrine was inculcated and insisted upon by Arch- byis^s<hh„ad bishop Cranmer. Hear the rebuke he administered to Bishop aaDd Gardiner, who robbed Holy Baptism to magnify the mass, just as tne'regene- do the new school to adorn and give dignity to their new inven- ofour tion of a " prevenient act of grace." His words are : " It seem- eth you mean, that in the Lord's Supper we be not made by Christ's Spirit participant of the benefit of His passion ; nor by Baptism or God's Word, we be not made participant of His Godhead by His humanity. And furthermore, by this dis- tinction (which you feign without any ground of origin) we receive not man and God in Baptism ; nor in the Lord's Supper, we be not by means of His Godhead made participant of the effect of His passion. In baptism also by your distinction we receive not a pledge of the regeneration of our flesh,'1 but in the Lord's Supper; nor Christ is not truly present in Bap- tism. Which your said differences, do not only derogate and diminish the effect and dignity of Christ's Sacraments, but be also blasphemous against the ineffable union of Christ's person,
1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 64.
2 Bishop Gardiner maintained, that " in the general resurrection our bodies and souls shall be all spiritual," i.e. without substantial parts and members. Cranmer, iii. p. 277.
Ill
separating His Divinity from His humanity. Now, may all men of judgment see by experience how divinity is handled, when it cometh to the discussion of ignorant lawyers. And when you make this difference between Baptism and this Sacrament, that in Baptism Christ is not really present, expounding 1 really present' to signify no more but to be indeed present, yet after a. spiritual manner; if you deny that presence to be in Baptism, yet the third fagot I will adventure with you, for your strange and ungodly doctrine within twenty lines together, who may, in equality of error, contend icith the Valentines, Arrians, or Anabaptists.''1 Here the Arch- bishop affirms in the most positive terms that the denial of Christ's real presence, after a spiritual manner, in the Sacrament of Baptism, is strange and ungodly doctrine and equal to the errors of the Valentines, Arrians, or Anabaptists, i.e. it is a " detestable heresy." Accordingly, he elsewhere in- quires : " What Christian man would say, as you do, that Christ The especial is not indeed (which you call really) in Baptism ? or, that
jjrace of
Baptism. we be not regenerated both body and soul, as well in Baptism, as in the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ ? or, that in Baptism we be not united to Christ's Divinity by His manhood ? or, that Baptism representeth not to us the high state of our glorification and the perfect redemption of our bodies in the general resurrection ?"2 This language is too plain and unmistakeable to require elucidation. We will therefore proceed to Bishop Jewel's Works. Harding had charged the Bishop with a gross error in "making the presence of Christ in Bap- tism like to His presence in the Supper." To this he replied : "Here is one error more than any of the learned Catholic Fathers ever noted. S. Chrysostom saith, 'In the Sacrament of Baptism we are made flesh of Christ's flesh and bone of His bones.' S. Bernard saith, ' Let us be washed in His blood.' Leo saith, ' Thou art washed in the blood of Christ when thou art Baptized in His death.' By these few it may appear that Christ is present at the Sacrament of Baptism, even as He is present at the Holy Supper — unless ye will say, we may be made flesh of Christ's flesh, and be washed in His blood, and be partakers of Him, and have Him present 1 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 240. 3 Jbid. pp. 276, 277.
145
without His presence."' Again, in his Defence of the Apology, he cites the following passage from S. Ambrose to prove against the Papists, that Christ is "present in the water of Baptism." "'Believe thou, that there (in the Sacrament of Baptism) is the presence of the Godhead. Believest thou the working? believest thou not the presence? How would the working follow, unless the presence went before ?' 'Believe thou that our Lord Jesus is present (at the Baptism) being called upon by the prayers of the Priest. Christ saitb, Where as be two or three, there am I. How much more will He vouch- safe to offer His presence where as His Church is and where
AS ARE THE MYSTERIES (OF HlS BAPTISM.)' Now, M.
Harding, as Christ is present in the one Sacrament, even so and none otherwise, is He present in the other."2 This is the doc- trine which one of the best learned and most zealous champions of the English Church maintained against the Papists, and which is now denied to be her teaching, and is either, from ignorance or malice, declared to be Popery, to which every attentive reader will perceive it is decidedly opposed.
It has been our endeavour to give a correct idea of what was meant by the compiler and last editor of the Articles, when they used the expression "grafted into the Church.'" They did not w^cshe"he intend us to understand by it, as is now erroneously represented, ^A^ucies^ that we are merehi initiated into a human society or brotherhood, <iiKlei'st°od
J J ' the words
and made formally partakers of external priv ileges, the substance I'f™^ of which we really enjoyed before this admission. No. Such Church " poor meagre uncatholic teaching as this never proceeded from their pens. They believed and taught that by this grafting we are inserted into a stock to which we were not previously joined — that we are in deed and not in fantasy grafted into Christ Himself and united by His manhood to His divinity, and that consecpiently a wonderful change is wrought within us by God, who is indeed and certainly and always present at the minis- tration of Baptism ; we are then and there made partakers of the divine nature, we are clothed and apparelled with Christ's own self, and there is actually given unto us, by Him, immortality
1 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 529, 530.
2 Jewel, portion iii. p. 463. N.B. The words in brackets are Bishop Jewel's.
L
146
and life everlasting, for in Baptism we receive the pledge of the regeneration of our flesh at the last day. 2ncii>-. An- The next part of regeneration is, that " the promises of forgive-
othn com- . ...... -i-iiijji- 1
poncntpart ness oj sin are visibly signed and sealed, that is to say, are truly
of Regene- „ . . . . . .
ration is the offered to us, become most certainly ours and are made good to premises of us. This too is denied by Mr. Gorham and his abettors. They
forgiveness
of sins. assert that Baptism is not a Sacrament ordained by Christ for conveying His merciful pardon and the remission of sins — and that sins, whether original or actual, must be bona fide for- given by the newly discovered act of prevenient grace ; other- wise the recipient of Baptism is unworthy, which means that he is not qualified to receive a sign which (they say, but can never prove from Scripture, Catholic antiquity, or from the writings of the compiler of our Articles and Formularies) was designed to attest a previous remission. Here the heresy stands out in full relief, for there is an undoubted contradiction of the Article of the Nicene Creed which requires the acknowledgment of " one Baptism for the remission of sins." What are the views of the Church of England upon this head of the Article shall now be fully shown. And we trust we shall be able to prove, that she has all along, without any deviation, held and taught that remission of all sins is truly given to all Infants, and to all Adults who are duly qualified to receive Holy Baptism.
We have already seen,1 that the fact of Baptism and the Lord's Supper having the promise of the remission of sins was brought forward by Aless; and finally allowed by Convocation, to distinguish these two Sacraments of the gospel from those five commonly so called by the Komanists. The Articles about Religion of 1536 affirm: "That it is offered unto all mis is men, as well infants as such as have the use of reason, that bg theformu- Baptism they shall have remission of sins." Again : " Not only such as have the use of reason, but also infants, innocents, and children, by the Sacrament of Baptism do obtain remission of their sins."2 The same doctrine is repeated in the same words in the Institution of a Christian man in 1537.
The Articles of 1538 assert, "quod per Baptismum of- fcratur remissio peccatorum et gratia Christi, infautibus et
1 See above, p. 37. - Formularies of Faith, pp. xviii. six.
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adultis."1 "Et quod infantes per BAFTISMUM consequantur rcmissioncm peccatorum et gratiam, et sint filii Dei, quin pro- missio gratia: et vita aternee pertinet nan solum ad adultos, sed etiam ad INFANTES." Adults are also required to believe " vere ipsis 1 15 1 donari remissionem peccatorum et justificationem propter Christum."2 The Necessary Doctrine of 1543 asserts : " that the effect and virtue of this Sacrament (of Baptism) is forgive- ness of sin." " Although the parents be never so clean purged, and pardoned of their original sin by Baptism, and grace given in the same, yet nevertheless the children of them begotten, &c."3 I have already shown that in Cranmer's Catechism4 of the year 1548, the water of Baptism is called the bath of Regeneration because our sins be forgiven in Baptism, &c. I will, however, adduce a few more passages which assert this most scriptural and comfortable doctrine. "Baptism is not water alone, and nothing else besides, but it is the water of God, and hath His strength by the word of God, and is a seal of God's promise. Wherefore it doth work in us, all these things, whereunto God hath ordained it" " When we be Baptized in the name of God, that is as much as to say, as God Himself should Baptize us. Wherefore we ought not to have an eye only to the water, but to God rather, which did ordain the Baptism of water, and commanded it to be done in His Name. For He is Almighty, and able to work in us by Baptism, forgiveness of our sins, and all those wonderful effects and operations, for the which He hath ordained the same, although mans reason is not able to conceive the same. Therefore consider, good children, the great treasure and benefits, whereof God maketh us partakers, when we are Baptized, which be these : — The first is, that in Baptism our sins be forgiven us, as S. Peter witnesseth, saying, Let every one of you be Baptized for the forgiveness of his sins/'5 By this it is plain that Cranmer did not understand Baptism to have been ordained to attest past remission of sins, but to be a means by which God worketh in us present forgive- ness of all past sins, "in Baptism our sins be forgiven." Once more : " Wherefore, good children, learn diligently, I pray you,
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 93. 2 Cranmer's Works, vol. iv. p. 280.
3 Formularies of Faith, pp. 253, 2") I. 4 See ahove, p. 124. 5 Cranmer's Catechism, p. 186.
L 2
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the fruit and operation of Baptism. For it worketh forgive- ness of sin, it delivereth from death and the power of the Devil, it giveth salvation and everlasting life to all them that believe" " these words of Christ and promise of God, which are written in the last chapter of S. Mark's gospel : He that will believe and be Baptized shall be saved. But he that will not believe shall be damned."1 Such was the doctrine which the Arch- bishop taught before and at the time of his compiling the office of the Ministration of Public Baptism to Infants, but we are now told he never meant to teach what his language most clearly im- ports.2 To give a show of truth to this "privy divination/' it is said the Archbishop changed his opinions ; but it is not said when. If he did do so, after compiling the first Prayer Book, how are we to account for his not altering the doctrine of Bap- tism on the revision of the Prayer Book, and telling us plainly and honestly that he had lately discovered that prevenient grace gave remission of sins to all those on whom God is pleased to bestow forgiveness of sins, and that Baptism is only designed to attest and be & memorial of this benefit in some happy cases. This the Archbishop, as a lover of truth, would have done, supposing his mind had been imbued with our present novelties. That it was not so and that he never questioned the full remission of original sin and of all actual sins of which an adult repented, shall be satisfactorily proved. In June, 1549, six months after the Prayer Book was ratified by Act of Parliament, and imme-
1 Cranmer's Catechism, pp. 189, 191.
2 Let me call attention to some remarks of Bishop Jewel, which may be applied most appropriately to those interpreters, who say the compilers of the Offices of Infant Baptism meant their absolute expressions to be conditional, without pro- ducing a tittle of evidence to justify the assertion. " Here M. Harding once again, as before, will teach us what the old fathers meant by those words they never uttered. I trow, he hath some privy divination that there taketh upon him to know what men mean before they speak. Cicero saith : ' Peritum esse necesse est eum, qui, silent him, quid sit, intelligat.' ' It must needs be some cunning fellow thai understandeth what silence meaneth, and knoweth what they speak that speak nothing.' Verily, this is a marvellous boldness, so often and with such confidence and countenance to say the old fathers used these terms, and yet, not once to show any one of them all that ever used them. It may be thought that he hath either too great afiianee in himself, or too little regard unto his reader." These observations are peculiarly applicable to those diviners, who say, that by the words, " This child is regenerate," Cranmer meant, " this child may not be regenerate."
149
diatcly after it was first used, Archbishop Craumer thus wrote in by Arch.
■ tv t> r\ ci bishop
his Answer to the Devonshire Rebels. "Our Saviour ckanmer, Christ ordained that water of Baptism to signify unto us, that as that water washeth our bodies, so be we spiritually washed by Christ from all our sins." Again, in the same answer he declared : " Likewise it is of original sin, after Baptism, which although it be pardoned, yet certain pains thereof continue so long as we live. But this punishment in our life-time is not to revenge our original sin which is pardoned in Baptism, but to make us humble, &C."1 Is it possible that any person, with these words before him, can conscientiously say, that Cranmer did not absolutely teach the remission of all original sin in the Baptismal office ? No man, unless under a strong delusion, that he should believe a lie, can give credit to the assertion that Cranmer, in 1549, did not hold original sin to be pardoned in Baptism. Again, in his Answer to Gardiner, in 1551, he writes : " The offering on the Cross, say you, was and is pro- pitiatory and satisfactory for our redemption and remission of
SIN, THE EFFECT WHEREOF IS GIVEN AND DISPENSED IN THE
Sacrament of Baptism, once likewise ministered and never to be iterate, &c."2 And in his disputation with Chedsey, in 1554, he also says, " When He (i.e. Christ) giveth Baptism we con- sider not the water, but the Holy Ghost, and remission of sins."3 Lastly, we have seen that in the same disputation Cran- mer maintained that " Infants, when they are Baptized, do eat the flesh of Christ." Surely then, the guilt of original sin must be remitted to them ; and if the Archbishop considered baptized Infants to be capable of this, the highest, act of the most mature Christian ; is it credible that he would have us construe his abso- lute expressions in the Baptismal Offices " hypothetically," and so bring into doubt what he affirmed to be a Scriptural truth ? I again repeat my former assertion, that Cranmer has left no evidence behind him, which can lead us to believe that he ever doubted or denied that every Infant is spiritually regenerated and receives remission of its sins in Baptism ; but on the contrary, he has transmitted to us the strongest proofs of his firmly be- lieving this Article of the Faith and of his teaching it in the most
1 Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 235. : Ibid. vol. iii. p. 541.
3 Ibid. vol. iv. p. 29.
150
La ti.mkk,
Jl.WEL.
unequivocal and positive language. What evidence have we that Archbishop Cranmer spoke or wrote otherwise than he meant ? b> Bishop Bishop Ridley held the same doctrine ; "In Baptism, the body is washed with the visible water; and the soul is cleansed
FROM ALL FILTH BY THE INVISIBLE HoLY GHOST."1
byBMiop Bishop Latimer says, "We wash our remission of our sins by Baptism, for like as He (Christ) was found in rags, so we must find Him by Baptism. Now this Sacrament of Baptism is a thing of great weight; for it ascertaincth and assureth us, that like as the water washeth the body and eleanseth it, so the blood of Christ our Saviour cleanseth and ivasheth it from all filth and uncleanness of sins."2
In our quotations from Bishop Jewel we have already alluded to this subject, and seen that the Bishop declares " the remission of sins to be the substance of Baptism." We will however again have recourse to his writings for additional proof of his holding this doctrine.
by Bishop In his Treatise of the Sacraments Bishop Jewel says, " Through the power of God's working the water is turned into blood. They that be washed in it receive the remis- sion of sins; their robes are made clean in the blood of the Lamb. The water itself is nothing, but by the working of God's Holy Spirit, the death and merits of our Lord and Saviour Christ are thereby (by the water) assured unto us. A figure hereof was given at the Red Sea : the children of Israel passed through in safety ; but Pharaoh and his whole army were drowned. Another figure hereof was given in the ark ; the whole world was drowned, but Noah and his family were saved alive. Even so in the fountain of Bap- tism our Spiritual Pharaoh, the Devil, is choked : his army, that is, our sins, are drowned and we saved. The wicked of the world are swallowed in concupiscence and vanities, and we abide safe in the ark."3 The reader will, I have little doubt, anticipate me in remarking the allusion to the figures named in the first prayer in the ministration of public Baptism to Infants, and will get an additional insight into the intention of the Church iu referring to them. We will now
1 Ridley, p. 275. 2 Latimer's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 127.
3 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1 106.
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pass on to his ArouoGY op the Church of England, a work sanctioned by her authority "as containing true doctrine." Jewel there says, "We say that Baptism is a Sacrament of the remission of sins, and of that washing, which we have in the blood of Christ; and that no person, which will profess Christ's name, ought to be restrained therefrom ; no not the very babes of Christians ; forasmuch as they be born
IN SIN AND DO PERTAIN TO THE PEOPLE OF GoD."1 Here
we see that the fact of Infants being born in sin, which Mr. Gorham asserts is a bar to their worthy receptiou, is brought forward by Bishop Jewel as a reason why they should be Bap- tized ; for he held that Baptism was ordained for the remission of sius. Because Infants are born in sin, and they cannot be made spiritual, and receive remission of it, but by Baptism, there- fore, concludes the Bishop with the whole Catholic Church of Christ, Infants ought to be Baptized to obtain this remission of original sin. In his Defence of the Apology he says, M. Hard- ing "is contented to allow us the very sacrament and true use The conse-
T-i i quence
Of Baptism, and THAT AVAILABLE AND OF FORCE FOR THE drawn by
Bishop
remission of sins. Wherebu advisedly and unawares he con- Jewel from
, ,. „ the Papists'
fesscth that we have the very true Catholic Church of God." For admission
J . that the
S. Augustine saith trulu : " The Baptism of the Church may be church of
° J 1 J England Iia9
without the Church, but the gift of blessed life is not a R*pt;sm
' available
found, but within the Church."2 The true doctrine here ?ntl ?f force
» for the re-
advanced by Bishop Jewel is well worthy of the consideration of "^sssion of
such persons as set their faces against, and condemn the English Churchman's contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints, and which our adversaries are now endeavouring to expunge from the Prayer Book, Articles, and other authorized Formularies. But have they considered the vital importance of this Article of the Christian Faith being kept whole and unde- nted ? If the Church of England by possessing a true Baptism vailable and of force for the remission of sins is the very true Catholic Church of God, what must she be when she has slighted, cast off, and repudiated " this gift of blessed fife," but an untrue, uncatholic, and heretical Church, in fact, no Church of God ?
It is a sense of this awful fact which makes every thoughtful 1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 62. '2 Ibid, portion iii. p. 444.
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Churchman " tremble for the Ark of his God," when he reflects on the fatal consequences of denying one Baptism in our Church vailable and of force for the remission of sins. The necessity and usefulness of maintaining the Catholic doctrine of the Sa- craments entire is evinced from the fact, that heretics have, at various times, been silenced by an appeal to it. Thus the Pela- gians were defeated by S. Augcstine's urging against them the practice of the whole Church of administering Baptism to Infants to convey and assure to them remission of sins. They falsely asserted with our assailants, that the Church did not hold that Baptism truly makes new men, to which S. Augustine replied, " they lie, they study to deceive, we say not so. Bap- tism WASHETH AWAY ALL SINS, UTTERLY ALL, (prorSUS
omnia) of deeds, words, thoughts, be they original or actual, be they done ignorantly or wittingly. But it taketh not away the infirmity,1 which the regenerate resisteth." In the days of Jewel, the Church had not betrayed her trust, nor thrown away the sacred deposit committed to her keeping, nor lost her Catholi- city. Harding accused her of having done so ; and what said Bishop Jewel in reply to his calumny. " As for that, M. Hard- ing here toucheth, as an error defended by certain, I know not by whom, that 'Baptism giyeth not full remission of bins/ he may command it home again to Louvain amongst his fellows, and join it with other of his and their vanities; for it is
NO PART NOR PORTION OF OUR DOCTRINE. TTe CONFESS, AND HAVE EVERMORE TAUGHT, THAT IN THE SaCRAMENT OF BAP- TISM BT THE DEATH AND BLOOD OF CHRIST IS GIVEN RE- MISSION OF ALL MANNER OF SINS ; AND THAT NOT IN HALF, OR IN PART, OR BY WAY OF IMAGINATION OR BY FANCY J BUT FULL, WHOLE, AND PERFECT OF ALL TOGETHER ; SO that
now as S. Paul saith, there is no condemnation to them which be in Christ Jesus."2 Such is the plain, strong, explicit, and un- ambiguous language in which Bishop Jewel sets forth " with beautiful accuracy," the doctrine of the Church of England on this vital point ; and yet the authority of this eminent Prelate is unblushiugly pleaded by those who deny that remission of sins is given in Baptism. It is only necessary to read the Bishop's words to discover this shameless imposture. A glance will con- 1 That is, concupiscence. 5 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 464. 5.
153
vince any man of common sense, that it is impossible to find language more precise or forcible to express the entireness of the remission which the Church of England believes, and has evermore taught to be given in the Sacrament of Bap- tism— or to disavow the imputed heresy that " Baptism giveth not full remission of sins." His words in the last case are few, but decisive and incapable of misapprehension or perversion. " It is no part nor portion of our doctrine." Is it then, under these circumstances, any matter of astonishment that the faithful Churchman stands aghast at a decision which pronounces such doctrine not contrary to the doctrine of the Church, and that he is indignant at a measure which forces into the Diocese of a faithful Bishop and upon a Church, protesting against the in- justice and the sin, a teacher who openly avows his opinion that "Baptism giveth not full remission of sins ?" Is it to be expected that the Church of England should silently and without remon- strance submit to be robbed of her most valuable spiritual birth- right, "the gift of blessed life," and of her high dignity and privilege of being "the very true Catholic Church of God V'1
The next particular connected with our Spiritual Regeneration The third
is " OUR ADOPTION TO BE THE SONS OF GOD." This is a generation
necessary consequence of our being grafted into the body of doptfon to Christ, and being truly united by His manhood to His Divinity. ofGo"™' Proofs of our Church teaching that this blessing is offered and conveyed by God, through Baptism, as His instrument, to all who receive that Sacrament most agreeably with Christ's Insti-
1 Let me here give the important evidence of S. Augustiue. In a letter written to Fidus, in a.d. 410, ;' he declares he never met with any Christian, either Churchman, or heretic, or sectary, nor with any writer that owned the Scripture, who taught any other doctrine but that Infants are Baptized for the pardon of sin." And they had then but three hundred years to look back to the times of the Apostles. And S. Austin, though he speak modestly of himself as to learning, had studied the Church history so well, that in a few years after this, he published that his History of all the Sects and Opinions that were, or had been in Christendom." Wall's History of Infant Baptism, vol. i. p. 383. Yet we are called upon to assent to a judgment which, in the face of the most absolute and unequivocal declarations of the Church of England, affirms that a priest, who holds such doctrine as no heretic in the three first centuries ever broached maintains nothing contrary or repugnant to the declared doctrine of the Church of England as by law established.
154
tution, have already been produced. To these, however, we will This is add a few more. Archbishop Craxmer in his Defence quotes Archbishop the following passage from " Eusebius EmissenlLS,', a man of CRAMihR, sjngUjar fame m learning, about three hundred years after Christ's Ascension. "If thou wilt know/' saith he, "how it ought not to seem to thee a new thing and impossible, that earthly and corruptible things be turned into the substance of Christ, look upon thyself, which art made new in Baptism, when thou wast far from life, and banished as a stranger from mercy and from the way of salvation, and inwardly wast dead, yet suddenly thou beganst another life in Christ, and wast made new by wholesome mysteries, and wast turned into the body of the Church, not by seeing but by believ- ing; and of the child of damnatiox, by a secret pureness, thou wast made the chosen son of God, — outwardly nothing was added, but all the change was inwardly. And so teas man made the son of Christ, and Christ formed in the mind of man. Therefore as thou, putting away thy former vileness, didst receive a neiv dignity, not feeling any change in the body ; and as the curing of thy disease, the putting cicay of thine infection, the wiping away of thy flthiness be not seen with thine eyes, but are believed i?i thy mind, — so likewise when thou dost go up to the reverend altar, &c." Upon " these sayings of Eusebius," Cranmer remarks that they " be so plain, that no man can wish [them] more plainly to be declared." \^ hat then is their doctrine ? Is it that regeneration, remission of sins, and adoption, are given by prevenient grace before Bap- tism to all worthy recipients ? No ; it is the reverse. Before Baptism the worthy candidate is declared to be "far from life, and banished as a stranger from mercy, from the way of salva- tion, and inwardly dead; but suddenly in Baptism he was made new, suddenly he began another life in Christ by whole- some mysteries, and of the child of damnation, by a secret pureness, was made the chosen son of God."1 Thus we see, that it is not a state of innocence, or of the enjoyment of the actual remission of sins, which constitutes the worthiness required of adult candidates for Baptism, but of sorrow for past sin, of faith in God's mercy through Christ, and a hearty belief in the pro-
1 Cranmer's works, vol. ii. pp. 323, 324.
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niiscs of forgiveness made to us by God in the Sacrament. We are not expected to come to our Spiritual Physician whole and sound, for then we have no need of Him, but we are invited to come when sick, and, with a perfect faith, to seek the cure of our disease through that instrument, by which He has promised to work health. We are not bidden to come clean, but to wash and be clean. Again, in his answer to Gardiner, the Archbishop writes : " This is a wonderful saying of you, as of one that under- stood nothing utterly, what a Sacrament meaneth, and w'hat is to be wondered at in the Sacrament. For the wonder is not, how God worketh in the outward visible Sacrament, but His mar- vellous work is in the worthy receivers of the Sacraments. The wonderful work of God is not in the water, which only washeth the body, but God by His omnipotent power worketh wonderfully in the receivers thereof, (i.e. of the Baptismal water) scouring, washing, and making them clean inwardly, and as it were new men, and celestial creatures. This have all old authors won- dered at, this wonder passeth the capacity of man's wit, how damnation is turned into salvation, and of the son of the Devil condemned into hell, is made the son of God and inheritor of heaven.1 This wonderful work of God all men may marvel and wonder at ; but no creature is able sufficiently to comprehend it. And as this is wondered at in the Sacrament of Baptism, how that he that was subject unto death, receiveth life by Christ and His Holy Spirit, so," &c.2 In this passage we are again fully instructed by Cranmer as to the state and condition of the worthy receiver of holy Bap- tism. Instead of being pictured to us as adorned with all the imaginary excellencies of prevenientgrace,he stands before us in all the weakness, deformity and wretchedness of the child of the first Adam. Is he regenerate, pardoned of his sins, and the adopted son of God before Baptism, and is he represented as seeking of the Church in that Sacrament only a formal recognition of this blessing already enjoyed by him ? No such thing. Before his Baptism the " worthy receiver" is looked upon by our Church as full of all uncleanness, as the son of the Devil and condemned to hell, though he is truly penitent and comes to Christ with
1 Compare tbe second answer in the Church Catechism.
2 Cranmer, Works, vol. iii. pp. 121, 122.
15G
faith. But in his Baptism Christ works wonderfully in him, so much so that no creature is able sufficiently to comprehend it. God, then and there, scours him, washes him, and makes him clean inwardly, (which He would not do, if he were cleansed from sin and its impurities before Baptism) makes him as it were, a new man and a celestial creature, yea, he " is made the son or God and an inheritor of heaven."
This is the marvellous work of God in the worthy receiver by His ordained instrument, Baptism ; and not by Mr. Gorham's by the Bel- prevenient act of grace. And such is also the doctrine of the Bel- FES3ION, gic Confession, " nos filios ir.e in filios Dei regenerat."1 The blood of Christ applied in Baptism " regenerates us the sons of wrath into the sons of God." We have also seen that Bishop Jewel taught not that remission of his sins must be en- joyed by the worthy recipient of Baptism before coming to the Sacrament, but that he must be sensible of his then sinfulness; he must acknowledge and bewail the error in which he lived; he must feel the burden of the sins then lying on his soul to be intolerable ; he must have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, and seek the forgiveness of his former sins in the Sacra- ment of his regeneration. And in this state, coming to Christ in Baptism, Bishop Jewel pronounces he may well receive it.2 I shall not multiply quotations to establish the doctrine taught under this head, but will conclude with a passage from Bishop and by Jewel's Treatise on the Sacraments, which, coming from a person jewel. on all hands allowed to be a true exponent of the doctrine of the Church of England, will of itself prove that Mr. Gorham's doc- trine is contrary to that of our Church. " Baptism is the badge and cognizance of every Christian. If any be not Baptized, but lacketh the mark of God's fold, we cannot discern him to be one of the flock. If any take not the seal of regeneration, we cannot say he is born the child of God. This is the ordinary way ; let us use it ; let us not despise, nor foreslow to receiv e the Sacraments, they are the means by which God maketh sure His good-will towards us."3 Is it possible to read the fore- going passage and then maintain that Mr. Gorham's doctriue is
1 Sylloge Confessionum, p. 349.
2 See Jewel, portion ii. p. 1105, quoted above, at p. 131.
3 Ibid. ii. p. 1108.
157
not contrary to the doctrine of our Church ? He asserts that the filial condition was given us by the qualification of faith, and therefore was given before Baptism, if we were worthy recipients of that Sacrament.1 Bishop Jewtel as distinctly asserts it to be the doctrine of the Church of England, that " we cannot say am/ one is born the child of God, before he has taken the seal of regeneration.'''' The seal or regeneration, according to him, conveys and gives the filial condition, and not faith. For how can a qualification, required on man's part, give the filial con- dition, which none but God can bestow ? Faith has no virtue in itself to give or confer any spiritual gift, but is the means by luhich man accepts and receives what is offered him by God through His Sacraments, which derive all their efficacy, not from man's faith, but from Christ's institution and promise, and are " the means by which God maketh sure His good-will towards us." This Article expressly teaches us that the sign or seal of regeneration is the means by which God grafts us in His Son's holy body, remits our sins and assures our adoption. "Baptismus — est signum regenerationis, per quod, tanquam per instrumentum, recte baptismum suscipientes, ecclesise inseruntur, &c." From these important words which represent Baptism as God's instrument, Mr. Gorham endeavours to escape in this way : " By or through the sign," he says, " they, who receive Baptism rightly, are grafted into the Church, as by an instrument, and have the promises of God sealed by it, the sign. It is not said that a new nature is implanted in such by this sign," which benefit he affirms of the grace of God.2 Now, it certainly is not said in so many words that by this sign God implants a new nature (i.e. regeneration,) but, taking the words " grafted into the Church" in the sense they were understood by the compilers and editor of the Articles, it is indeed and in truth declared to be so. For as we have clearly proved, our Churchmen understood "grafting in the Church," which is Christ's body, to be a com- ponent part of spiritual regeneration. They did not mean by it a merely formal admission to the membership and privileges of a human society or brotherhood, or an attestation that the wild olive, before it was grafted in, partook of the root and fatness of the good olive tree, but a perfect union with Christ Himself,
1 Mr. Gorham's Examination. Answer 4'), p. 94. 2 Ibid. Ans. 27, p. 88.
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whole body aud soul, manhood and Godhead, unto everlasting life."1 The grace of God undoubtedly, is the efficient cause of our being united to Christ's body ; but of that there was no question raised between the Bishop of Exeter and Mr. Gorham. The point in dispute was, and is, what is the instrument by which God works this wonderful change in man ? The Church most positively affirms this instrument to be Baptism ; Mr. Gorham claims the honour of this ministration for his new in- vention of " a prevenient act of grace." He also asserts, Bap- tism to be the seal of God's promises being previously fulfilled, which it cannot be in many cases. For it is declared, that pre- venient grace is not granted to all who are Baptized ; in these instances, then, Baptism cannot be a sure witness and effectual sign or seal of promises fulfilled — but on the contrary, ofttimes a false witness and always an ineffectual sign. To such teaching as this one may well apply the description which Archbishop Cranmer gives of Gardiner's doctrine, which, in relation to Bap- tism, bears some likeness to Mr. Gorham's. "Your doctrine hath such ambiguities, such perplexities, such absurdities, and such impieties in it, and is so uncertain,2 so uncomfortable, so contrary to God's word and the old Catholic Church, so contrary to itself, that it declareth from whose spirit it cometh, which can be none other but Antichrist himself."3 Baptism is At nas already been proved, in the comment on the Article ftrumeDt by XXV., that Baptism is God's instrument by which He doth do'tuwork work invisibly in us. I shall therefore here adduce but a few invisibly m passages which bear immediately on this point. The Article IV.
of 1538 declares this doctrine : " Per verbum et sacramenta tanquam per instrumenta donatur Spiritus Sanctus, qui fidem efficit, &c." Cranmer's Catechism teaches us that " Christ Himself (although you see Him not with your bodily eyes) is present with His ministers, and worketh by the Holy Ghost in the administration of His Sacraments.''''4 Again, in his Dispu- tation with Chedsey, he says, "Through Baptism in this world the body is washed, and the soul is washed, the body out-
1 See above, p. 80.
: For who can tell whether his infant has received an act of prevenient giac; or not?
3 Cranmer's Works, vol. iii. p. 552. 4 Cranmer's Catechism, p. 197.
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wardly, the soul inwardly ; the work is ours. In this work they are joined." 1 Ridley most distinctly affirms it to be " true that
GRACE IS GIVEN BY THE SACRAMENT, but AS BY AN INSTRU- MENT. The inward virtue and Christ give the grace through the Sacrament." lie here distinguishes between the efficient cause and the instrumental cause, but he does not oppose the one to the other as our new men do. They artfully confound the effi- cient and instrumental cause, and having asserted that Christ, ' or " the grace of God," gives the grace, (which nobody ques- tions) they assume that Baptism is not God's instrument, and that their idol " an act of prevenient grace" is. An amiable writer has also lately asserted that regeneration is never given by virtue of Baptism. The reader is therefore requested to observe that Bishop Ridley asserts the inward virtue of the Sacrament, and Christ give the grace through the Sacrament. We have already examined the pages of Bishop Jewel and found him bearing most decisive testimony to the Sacrament of Baptism being God's instrument.2
The word recte, " rightly," now demands some explanation. An inquiry
' c J . r . into the
Mr. Gorham boldly asserts that it means " worthily and with sense >»
" . » which the
faith," and, for proof, brings forward, amongst others, a passage ^J*™0",, from the Article XXVIII. , where the Church has most clearly the wonl
* recte,
distinguished between it and the other conditions of Adult recep- "rightly." tion of the Lord's Supper. The Judicial Committee perceived that Mr. Gorham's evidence was inconclusive, but because any other interpretation would be adverse to their common theory, that the Church requires the same qualification for Infant Bap- tism as for Adult Baptism and reception of the Lord's Supper, and because " what is signified by right reception is not deter- mined by the Articles,"3 " they accept as the true interpretation
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 39. 2 See above, p. 185.
3 I have before remarked upon the unreasonableness of the complaint, that the Church has not defined, in her Articles, words which, at the time they were formed, were perfectly well understood both by Romanists and Churchmen, Englishmen and foreigners. This term " rightly " is of frequent occurrence in the writings of the Reformers, and no doubt of its meaning could exist in the minds of that class of men for whose use the Articles were designed. For this reason the Church has not denned it ; but where the meaning of a word was likely to be misunderstood or misrepresented, there she has explained its meaning.
160
what Mr. Gorham says," which is " that the expression always means or implies a tit state to receive, viz. in the case of adults with faith and repentance/' and in the case of infants, " with God's grace and favour." Now this is exactly what " rightly " does not mean or imply. If the Church herself may be alloiced to declare her meaning apart from the Article, I doubt not, but that I shall be able to satisfy the reader, that by " rightly" she expressed a condition external to the recipients of the Sacraments, and by the words "worthily and with faith" she denoted requi- sites in those persons, who, being of the age of discretion and having the use of reason, desire a beneficial re- ception. In justification of these views I will now show the distinct meaning in which the Church of England employed these words rightly, worthily, and with faith, by an extract from " An Homily of the worthy receiving and reverent esteeming of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ." But before doing so, I must remind the reader that this Homily was given to the Church in 1562, by the same Convocation that transmitted to us our present Articles, and that it may, therefore, be properly considered as the Church's own comment on these words of her Article XXVIII.
Tins Homily first reproves the practice of gazing upon this Sacrament and of celebrating the same by others (the Priests in the Private Mass) and not in our own persons. " Our loving Saviour," says the Homily, " hath ordained and established the remembrance of His great mercy expressed in His passion, in the institution of His heavenly supper, ivhere every one of us must be guests and not gazers, eaters and not lookers, feeding our- selves and not hiring others to feed for us, that we may live by Three things our own meat, and not perish for hunger whiles others devour fettered- all."1 " We uiust certainly know, that three things be requi- i!ord°s 16 site in him which would seemly, as becometh such high mys- supper. Series, resort to the Lord's Table. That is, first, a right and worthy estimation and understanding of this mystery. Secondly, to come ivith a sure faith ; and thirdly, to have newness or pureness of life to succeed the receiving of the same. But, before all other things,2 this we must be sure of especially, that this
1 Homily on the Sacrament, pp. 403, 4.
: The word rightly is not one of the three requisites above named.
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Supper be in such wise done and ministered as our Lord riohtlt. and Saviour did, and commanded to be done, as His Holy Apostles Msec? it, and the good fathers in the primitive Church frequented it. For (as that worthy mar) S. Ambrose saith) he is unworthy of the Lord, that otherwise doth celebrate that mys- tery, than it was delivered by Him. Neither can he be devout, that otherwise doth presume (i.e. take it) than it was given by the Author. We must then take heed, lest, of the memory, it be made a sacrifice ; lest of a communion, it be made a private eating [by the Priest] ; lest of two parts we have but one; lest applying it for the dead, we lose the fruit that be alive. Let us rather in these matters follow the advice of Cyprian in the like cases; that is, cleave fast to the first beginning, hold fast the Lord's tradition, do that in the Lord's commemoration which He Himself did, He Himself commanded, and His Apostles confirmed." It is very evident that " rightly," then, as employed by the Church of England in relation to the Sacra- ments, is confined to their administration according to the insti- tution of Christ, explained by His practice, enforced by His command, and confirmed by His Apostles and the good Fathers in the primitive Church.
If we turn to the Article XIX. « Of the Church," we shall find the word recte used in the sense here stated.
Ecclesia Christi visibilisest Thevisible Church of Christ
ccetus fidelium,1 in quo verbum is a congregation of faithful
Dei purum prsedicatum et sa men, in which the pure word of
cramenta, quoad ea quae neces- God is preached, and the Sacra-
sario exigantur, juxta Christi ments be duly ministered, ac-
institutum recte administran- cording to Christ's ordinance
tur. in all those things that of ne-
cessityare requisite to the same.
Let us now refer to the original of this Article in the Augs- In the Augs. burg confession, and the meaning of the word recte will be still fessfon°Q" more clearly indicated. " Est autem Ecclesia congregatio sane- relates to"a torum, in qua Evangelium recte docefur, et recte administrantur
1 Fidelium, that is to say, " omnium hominnm qui baptizati sunt in Christo, et non palam abnegarunt Christum, nec juste et per ejus verbum sunt excom- municati." Art. V. 1538. Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 278.
M
162
condition sacramenta. Et ad vcram unitatem Ecclesise, satis est consen- the hearers tire de doctrina Evaugelii et administratione sacrarnentorum."1
of the Gospel IT • ■ • i e i" • i v
andrecipi- Here it is too evident tor contradiction, unit rede, respects only
en ts of the . . . - _ . % '
sacraments, administration ; and that a true Church must specify the kind of administration "juxta Christi institutum," according to Christ's institution, so as to remove all ambiguity. It is also undeniable that " rightly " relates solely to the Preacher of the Gospel and Minister of the Sacraments, and not to any requi- sites in the hearers or receivers. In a declaration of certain Articles of Religion set forth by the Archbishops and Bishops in 1559, and required to be made by every Clergyman, it is said, " I do acknowledge also that Church to be the Spouse of Christ, wherein the Word of God is truly taught, and the Sacraments be orderly administered according to Christ's in- stitution."2 Here " orderly " is equivalent to " rightly," and unquestionably relates to the "due order," prescribed by Christ and the Church in her offices, to be observed by the minister.
But, asks the learned Mr.Turner,after assuming that "rightly," means " worthily," and "by faith," "were they to conclude that Baptism would not be administered rightly in the Church?" Implying by his question that Baptism at the time the Articles The church were framed was undoubtedly at all times ministered in such veredher manner as the Church allowed to be agreeable to Christ's insti-
fCRT^ til lit
the cicrgy tution, and therefore it were needless for the Church to insist
would not ....... T11 ln
administer upon the right administration. 1 reply that we must so conclude, "rishtiy" and that upon evidence existing in ouv present Prayer Book. If cimrch mm. we examine the prayer for the Church Militant in Queen Eliza- beth's English and Latin Liturgies we shall find the following petition :
Give grace (0 heavenly Ea- Da gratiam, coelestis Pater, ther) to all Bishops, Pastors, omnibus Episcopis pastoribus and Curates, that they may et his qui curam gerunt ani- both by their life and doctrine marum, ut tam vita qukm doc- set forth Thy true and lively trina ornent ministerium Evan- word, and rightly and duly ad- gelii et administrent sacramenta minister Thy holy Sacraments. juxta institutionem Filii tui.
1 Sylloge Confessionum.
3 Cardwell's Documentary Annals, vol. i. p. 232. Art. III. Burnet's Re- cords, Part II. b. iii. p. 370. Neal's Hist, of Puritans, vol. i. p. 105.
103
Here we are distinctly taught that " rightly and duly " are equivalent to the expression "according to Christ's institution." And may we not ask why the Church prays God to give His grace to the Clergy that they may rightly and duly administer His Sacraments ; if she has no fear that the Clergy might be guilty of a maladministration ? But the Church has herself put this matter at rest in the office for the ministration of private ami in the
*n , • . , , i . , ■ c ministration
baptism to children, and borne unmistakcablc testimony or of private
. . t 1n i t, t Baptism to
her anxiety to assrire nerseli that baptism in such cases was children. rightly administered. In her second Rubric, prefixed to this office, she requires her Pastors to warn the people " that without great cause and necessity, they baptize not children at home in their houses. And when great need shall compel them so to do, that then they minister it on this fashion. First, let them that be present call upon God for His grace and say the Lord's Prayer, if the time will suffer. And then one of them shall name the child, and dip him in the water, or pour water upon him, saying these words ; N. I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Then she adds, " And let them not doubt, but that the child so baptized, is law- fully1 and sufficiently baptized, and ought not to he baptized again in the Church. But yet nevertheless, if the child do live, it is expedient that he be brought into the Church, to the intent the Priest may examine and try whether the child be lawfully baptized or no. And if those that do briug any child to the Church do answer that he is already baptized, then shall the Priest examine them further,
" By whom was this child baptized ?
" Who was present when the child was baptized ?
" Whether they called upon God for grace and succour in that necessity ?
"With what thing or with what matter they did baptize thechild? " With what words the child was baptized ? " Whether they think the child to be lawfully and perfectly baptized ? "
1 Lawfully, this word is equivalent to " rightly." " His igitur notis vera Ecclesia a falsa discernitur. Si in ilia pura Evangelii prsedicatio, leyitimaque sacramcn/ururn ex Christi prcescripto administratio vigeat, 8(e." Belgic Conf. Art. XXIX.
M 2
164
Now all these questions evidently relate to the manner or form, which the Church had prescribed to be observed. Not a question is asked about the piety of the parents or the stipula- tions of the sponsors or any other ceremony of man's appoint- ment. The Church esteems nothing essential to the efficacy of a Sacrament but what Christ positively ordained. If this be observed she is content. Accordingly the Rubric con- tinues, " And if the minister shall prove by the answers of such as brought the child that all thinys were done as they ought to be ; Then shall not he christen the child again, but shall receive him as one of the flock o/true Christian people, saying thus:
"I certify you, that in this Latin version of 1560.
case ye have done well, and Certo recte prasstitistis of- accordinb unto due order ficium vestrum hac in re, jus-
TUMQUE ORDINEM RETIN'UIS-
tis in baptismo hujus infantis, qui natus in originali peccato, et sub ira divina, nunc est per
LaYACRUM REGENERATIONS
in Baptismo in censum libe- rorum Dei relatus, et hseres fact us peternse vita?, &c.
The essen- tial parts of Baptism.
concerning the baptizing of this child, ivhich being born in original sin and in the urath of God, is now, by the layer of Regeneration in Bap- tism, received into the number of the children of God, and heirs of everlasting life ; for our Lord Jesus Christ doth not deny His grace and mercy unto such infants, but most lovingly doth call them unto Him, and the holy gospel doth witness to our comfort on this wise."
Here the word recte is again employed to express the minis- tration of Baptism according to the due order instituted by Christ and enforced by the Church. In the solemn inquiry which was made by the Church, in order to remove her doubts respecting the lawful, sufficient, and perfect baptism of an infant, we can- not suppose that she has omitted any particular which she deemed essential to the perfection of that baptism. Indeed we know she has not, for in the Rubric at the end of our present office of pri- vate Baptism she expressly declares that the "essential parts of Baptism " are the child's being baptized with water, in the
165
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The word rightly then, in this Article, relates solely to a condition external to the person baptized, viz. to Hie ministra- tion of Baptism by the Clergy and not to any qualifications re- quisite in the recipient, and implies the necessity of the Sacrament being given to infants with the matter, and with the form of words, ordained by Christ, and enjoined by the Church. This being so distinctly laid down, in the order for the Ministration of Private Baptism to Infants, before the Articles were compiled and last revised, in the Catechism prefixed to the Articles, waft, in the Homily, which teas published by the same Convocation who revised the Articles in 1562, it seems most unreasonable to expect, with the Judicial Committee, that the word should be again defined in the Articles which were framed for the special use of the Clergy who were supposed to be familiar with these documents.
It appears then from the Prayer Book that the Church had and has doubts respecting the right ministration of Baptism. But then it may be said that these fears are entertained with respect only to Baptism in private houses. No doubt it was more likely to occur in such cases, but it is certain it was not confined to them. The Advertisements of Queen Elizabeth, published in 1564, prove that the right ministration of Baptism The church
• i i i i • _ ,,. , „ , _. . . had doubts
was violated also when it was Publicly performed, ror it is whether ordered, "that the Font be not removed, nor that the Curate do would be ad-
. . ministered
baptize in Parish Churches in any basons, nor in any "rightly"
r •' in Palish
OTHER FORM THAN IS ALREADY PRESCRIBED."1 Much more Churches.
evidence might be produced, if required, in support of my posi- tion that the Church could not assure herself that the Clergy would rightly and duly minister Baptism either publicly or pri- vately at the time of the compilation and revision of the Articles, and that she anxiously inquired after any violation of the due form. And as a too general ignorance prevails of the gross 0ffences offences against the order and form of Baptism ordained by JS^SfSm. Christ, and set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, I will ^"^07 briefly notice some unwarrantable liberties which were and are prescribed"1 taken with the two essential parts of this Sacrament, the water church, and the word.
1 Cardwell's Doc. Annals, vol. i. p. 292.
1GG
1st. Romish 1. With respect to the water. The Romanists added to the
additions to - j • a i n i 1 7 • •
the outward pwe element ordaiued by Christ and made their mixtures essen-
and visible . , _ . _ _
sign tial to true liaptism. Durandus says,1 " with respect to we blessing of ivater, it is to be noted that this kind of exorcising water is performed in order to expel the enemy from it. In wrhich blessing four things be necessary ; viz. water, wine, salt, and ashes." " Although the Spirit and water icould suffice for the perfect operation of Baptism and the consecration of a Church, yet the Holy Fathers who made this constitution, wished to satisfy us not only in those particulars which pertain to the effi- cacy of the Sacraments, but in those which relate to its greater2 sanctification, and on this account they have added salt, wine, oil, ashes, and chrism. (For Philip, when he baptized the Eunuch had neither oil nor chrism.) Therefore, not one of these ingre- dients ought to be wanting; and they ought all to be mixed together, because the people of God, which is the Church, is neither sanctified nor x-eleased from sins without the union of these qualities." Again he says, " in blessing the ivater of Baptism there are six ceremouies ; for the Priest prays, touches the water with his hand, changes his voice, the taper is dipped in the water and other tapers are lighted, he breathes upon the water, and mixes the chrism."3 These additions to Christ's institution were disapproved of by the Church, and therefore, in Bishop Poinet's Catechism, prefixed to the Articles in 1552, the child is taught that in ministering Baptism, " the minister slfreVby the dippeth the person to be Baptized in, or washeth him with, pure EngianrTL and clean water only, in the name of the Father, and of the cH^of' Sox, and of the Holy Ghost."4 In 1559, Archbishop Parker, with the concurrence of the other Bishops, put forth a declara-
1 Durandus' Rationale Div. Officiorum, Book I. chap, vii sees. 7 & 12, trans- lated by Neale and Webb.
; " Greater" is not in the original.
3 Durandus, Book vi. chap, lxxxii. numb. 3. The Chrism here mentioned is compounded of baUam and oil (Ibid. chap, lxxiii. numb. 10) and is applied to the breast and shoulders before Baptism, and to the crown of the head after Baptism. Durandus says, "We believe that a man may be saved by Baptism alone even without the unction. The white vesture which the ministers put upon the person immediately after Baptism was also called the Chrism."
* Edward VI. 's two Liturgies by the 1'arker Society, p. 516. Randolph's En- chiridion Theologicum, vol. i. p. 51.
167
tion of certain principal Articles of religion, for the uniformity in Arch- of doctrine among the Clergy, and for the instruction of the parser's people, and intended to be used until the Articles of religion 1559; could be drawn up and enjoined by Convocation. The Article VIII. runs thus : "And although in the administration of Bap- tism there is neither exorcism, oil, salt, spittle, or hallowing of the water now used ; and for that they were of late years abused, and esteemed necessary, where they pertain not to the substance and necessity of the Sacrament, (I do grant and confess) that they be reasonably abolished and yet the Sacrament full and per- fectly ministered to all intents and purposes, agreeable to the institution of our Saviour Christ."1 This is clearly a statement of an offence against the recte of this Article. It is also ex- pressly condemned in the Homily for Whitsunday, pub- in the ho- lished in 1562 : " Neither yet do they (the Papists) order the mlT Sacraments in such sort as Christ did first institute and ordain them. Christ ordained no other element to be used in Bap- tism, but only water, ivhereunto, when the word is joined, it is made," as S. Augustine saith, "a full and perfect Sacra- ment." " They being wiser in their own conceit than Christ, think it not well nor orderly2 unless they use conjuration, unless they hallow the water, unless there be oil, salt, spittle, tapers, and such other dumb ceremonies, &c."3 Bishop Jewel, in hisbyBishnP
J EWE L ,
Defence of the Apology, also censures these additions by name, and says, " we minister the Sacrament plainly and simply, as Christ commanded" that is, rightly The Irish Church also, i>y the in her Articles of 1615, omits the word " rightly" and substitutes Ireland. for it a clause evidently borrowed from Archbishop Parker's declaration.
Another m«/-practice relating to the matter of this Sacra- 2ndiy. The
. . nil substitution
ment is the substitution of some other liquid for the element ofotljefr ordained by Christ. Durandus alludes to this presumptuous tlie clcinent
_ , . , ordained by
and heretical usage and condemns it.5 This heresy existed before Christ.
1 Cardwell's Doc. Annuls, vol. i. p. 233. Burnet's Records, part ii. book iii. p. 371, and Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 106.
2 The very words by which the recte is described in the Certifies te in Private Baptism.
3 Homilies, pp. 421, 422. 4 Jewel, portion iii. p. 415. 5 Durandus' Rit. Off. Div. lib. vi. cap. lxxxiii. num. 2.
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S. Augustine's time, and was supported by the celebrated Theodore Beza, about the time the Articles were drawn up. He says ; " Desit aqua ; Ego certe quovis alio li- quore non minus recte quam aqua Baptizarim."1 Here it is evident enough that recte relates to the element of water in Baptism.
ii. offences II. We will now notice some of the offences against the other
against the e -n ■ • .... A1
form of essential part ot Baptism, viz. the words of institution. Al-
words sane- ._ 1 %■ 1
tionect by though auy mutilation or addition to these words, which are
the Church i
of Rome the very substance and bodii of the Sacrament, must destroy
andheretics. ...... . , , . . .. , , ,
the right administration and render it invalid ; we know the Church of Rome attempted to justify her mutilation of the Lord's Supper, by asserting that " the Apostles slicked not for a time to altei' and change the very essential form of words with which Christ would this Sacrament to be administered." For whereas He commanded them to Baptize in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, they Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ only, intending thereby to make that of more fame and celebrity.2 Nor did the Church of Rome alone countenance this unwarrantable mutilation of the words of Christ's institution : the Anti-paedobaptists3 indulged the same licence, and the various sects of heretics who corrupted or denied the true faith in the Blessed Trinity. And, besides this mutilation, the Church of Rome held that the blasphemous ad- dition of the name of the Devil, to that of the Holy Trinity, did not vitiate the Baptism. Bishop Jewel takes notice of it in the following passage : " Perhaps he (M. Harding) will say, Baptism is but a light Sacrament, and may be ministered by any lay person, even by an old woman, or a girl, so that she speak Latin and understand not what she say, for otherwise, I trow, her doing may not stand for good. Certainly, whereas M. Harding speaketh of the due form of words, according to Christ's insti- tution, his own doctors tell us and avouch it for a great truth, that if the Priest say thus : [Ego] te baptizo in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, et diaboli ; that is, I baptize thee in the
1 Dr. Nicholl's Additional Notes on the Office of Baptism, p. 55.
2 Jewel, portion i. pp. 224, 225. Where the bishop answers this foul charge : see also above, p. 39, where Aless notices it.
3 Wall's History of Infant Baptism, vol. ii. p. 333.
1G9
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of the Devil ; or if he say thus, as one ignorant Priest some time said, Ego te baptizo in nomine Patria, et Filia, et Spirita Sancta, yet the form of Baptism is very good."1
With this array of historical facts before him, the reader will perceive that the Church of England had too good grounds for suspecting that the Sacrament of Baptism might not be rightly ministered, in public or private, according to Christ's Institu- tion and the order prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, for there were Romanist and Protestant Dissenters, who pre- sumed to make and justify the most shocking alterations in the two essential parts of this Sacrament. He will also observe, that Mr. Turner's argument against the word recte signifying right ministration is based upon a false assumption, that no such heretical practices as we have described existed in the Church at the era of the Reformation. They did exist, and the Church has exercised the utmost vigilance to check and to detect them. Under these circumstances, it is no matter of surprise that she should insist in her Article on Infant Baptism on that right ad- ministration which she had before so distinctly laid down in her Offices for Public and Private Baptism, and upon which alone she has over and over again declared that the full, lawful, and perfect Baptism of Infants depends.
We will now proceed to give the meaning of the term " wor- ™„rch,s thily," in the words of the Homily. "This caution or fore- t^won" °f sight if we use {relative to the right administration) then2 we xhirishaly'" may see to those things which be requisite in the worthy ttelSeiver receiver, whereof this is the first,3 that we have a right under- ™£&tun- standing of the thing itself. As concerning which thing, this we of the*™"8 may assuredly persuade ourselves, that the ignorant man can sacraments, neither worthily esteem nor effectually use those marvellous graces ent esteem' and benefits offered4 and exhibited in that Supper, but either of them-
1 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 444, 445.
2 Here the Church clearly informs us that, in her judgment, the right minis- tration is of primary consideration.
3 Alluding to the first of the threp requisites above named.
* Hence it appears that in the judgment of the Church the marvellous graces and benefits of the Lord's Supper are offered and exhibited to the unworthy partaker, and, if he does not receive these graces, it is not on account of God's failing to offer, but of man not having qualified himself to receive.
170
will lightly regard them, to no small offence, or utterly condemn them, to his utter destruction.1 So that by his negligence he deserveth the plagues of God to fall upon him, and by contempt he deserveth everlasting perdition. To avoid then these harms, use the advice of the wise man, who willeth thee, when thou sittest at an earthly king's table, to take diligent heed what things are set before thee. So how much more at the Kino; of kings' table, thou must carefully search and know what dainties are provided for tjiy soul, whither thou art come, — not to feed thy senses and belly to corruption, but thy inward man to the mor- tality and life, not to consider the earthly creatures which thou seest, but the heavenly graces which thy faith beholdeth. For this table is not, saith Chrysostom, for chattering jays, but for eagles, who flee thither where the dead body licth.2 And if this advertisement of man cannot persuade us to resort to the Lord's table with understanding, see the counsel of God in the like matter, who charged His people to teach their posterity, not only the rites and ceremonies of the passover, but the cause and
1 Here the dangerous effects of Mr. Gorham's doctrine are described. Those persons, who believe with him that no grace is offered by God and actually given to all duly qualified recipients of Baptism, will either lightly regard that Sacra- ment, to the no small offence of the true Churchman, or utterly condemn it, to their utter destruction. Of what infinite moment then is it to have a right under- standing of Baptism, lest having no faith in the promises of God made to us and our children in that Sacrament, we, because of unbelief, fail there to seek the fulfilment of them and so incur the plagues of God and deserve everlasting per- dition.
: There can be little doubt that this Homily was composed by Bishop Jewel. The internal evidence is very strong in favour of this opinion. The passage of Chrysostom here produced is frequently quoted by him. In his sermon at S. Paul's Cross, in 15G0, he cites this same passage more at large, and observes : Christ's body is in heaven (not contained in the Sacramental element of bread, as the Papists assert) thither therefore must we direct our hearts, there must we feed, there must we refresh ourselves, and there must we worship it. (Jewel, portion i. p. 12.) In his Apology he also quotes it and observes : " Chrysostom very aptly writeth, that 'the body of Christ is the dead carcase and we our- selves must be the eagles,' meaning thereby, that we must fly high if we will come unto the body of Christ." Jewel, portion iii. p. 64. Therefore, in the order of the holy Communion, the faithful, before receiving the Sacrament, are exhorted " to lift up their hearts" from the earthly elements placed on the holy table and dedicated to God's service, and to direct their souls to the Lord in heaven, because He is there by whom they are nourished and fed to everlasting life.
171
end thereof — whence we may learn, that hoth more perfect know- ledge is required at this time at our hands, and that the ignorant cannot with fruit and profit exercise himself in the Lord's Sa- craments.
" But to come nigher to the matter : S. Paul blaming the Corinthians for the profaning of the Lord's Supper, conclud- eth that ignorance, both of the thing itself and the signification thereof was the cause of their abuse; for they came thither un reverently,^ not discerning the Lord's body. Ought not we then by the monition of the wise man, by the wisdom of God, by the fearful example of the Corinthians, to take advised heed that we thrust not ourselves to this table with rude and irreverent ignorance, the smart whereof Christ's Church hath rued and lamented these many clays and years ? Neither need we think such exact knowledge is required of every man, that he be able to discuss all high points in the doctrine thereof ; but thus much we must be sure to hold, that in the Supper of the Lord there is no vain ceremony, no bare sign, no un- true figure of a thing absent ; but, as the scripture saith, the table of the Lord, the bread and nip of the Lord, the memory of Christ, the annunciation of His death, yea, the communion of the body and blood in a marvellous incorporation, which by the opera- tion of the Holy Ghost (the very bond of our conjunction with Christ) is the faith wrought in the souls of the faithful, whereby not only their souls live to eternal life, but they surely trust to win their bodies a resurrection to immortality. The true understanding of this fruition and union which is betwixt the body and the head, betwixt the true believers and Christ, the ancient Catholic Fathers both perceiving themselves, and commend- ing to their people, wrere not afraid to call this Supper, some of them the salve of immortality and sovereign preservative against death ; other, a deifical communion ; other, the sweet dainties of our Saviour, the pledge of eternal health, the defence of faith, the hope of the resurrection ; other, the food of immortality, the healthful grace, and the conservatory to everlasting life. All which sayings both of the holy Scriptures and godly men truly attributed to this celestial banquet and feast, if we would often
1 " Ullreverently,' is here used as equivalent to unworthily. Worthily there- fore means reverently.
172
call to mind, 0 how they would inflame our hearts to desire the participation of these mysteries, and oftentimes to covet after this bread, continually to thirst for this food ! Not as spe- cially regarding the terrene and earthly creatures which remain ; but always holding fast and cleaving by faith to the rock, ivhence we may suck the sweetness of everlasting salvation. And to be brief, thus much more the faithful see, hear, and know the favourable mercies of God sealed (i.e. made good), the satisfaction of Christ towards us confirmed, and the remission of sin esta- blished. Here they may feel wrought the tranquillity of con- science, the increase of faith, the strengthening of hope, the large spreading abroad of brotherly kindness, with many other sundry graces of God. The taste whereof they cannot attain unto, who be drowned in the deep dirty lake of blindness and ignorance. For the which, O beloved, wash yourselves with the living waters of God's Word, whence you may perceive and know, both the spiritual food of this costly Supper and the happy trustings and effects that the same doth bring with it."
From this description of the word "worthily," it is abun- dantly evident that the Church expresses by it a right under- standing and reverent esteem of the Lord's Supper. It is a qualification which can only be possessed by adults, and Adults alone therefore, as the Church deems it a necessary condition, for a
can possess ,
thequaiin- beneficial reception of the Lord's Supper, she has excluded
cation 1 ii'
"worthily," Infants from the holy Communion. Let me produce the
and there- 1
fore in/ants testimony of Bishop Jewel, who was the author of this Homily.
are excluded . , J
hoi™ com Speaking of the abuses of the Lord's Supper he says : " In S.
munion. Cyprian and S. Augustine's time, young babes, as soon as they were Baptized, received the Communion ; but that was a great abuse ; for by the doctrine of S. Paul, the holy mysteries ought to be given unto none, but only unto such as be able to
UNDERSTAND THE MEANING THEREOF, TO JUDGE1 THE Lord's
body, and to declare His death. And therefore, now In- fants when they be Baptized receive not the Communion."2 infants in- Another thing requisite for the beneficial reception of the self-exami- Lord's Supper is self-examination. With this condition also
nation.
1 That is to say, discern or distinguish between the Lord's body and uncon- secrated bread, and to have a due reverence for the consecrated elements. 5 Jewel, portion i. p. 6. Ibid. p. 230.
173
Infants cannot comply and therefore they are excluded from the holy Communion. " Infants upon good advice, (says Bishop Jewel,) were justly removed from the holy Communion, because that, being in that age, they were not thought able to examine and prove themselves according to the doctrine of S. Paul, and so to eat of that bread and drink of that cup. In like sort in the law of Moses, notwithstanding all mere children were commanded to be circumcised, yet none were admitted to eat the passover, but only such as could demand what it meant."
Now if it be true that the same condition, "worthily," is if the required by the Church alike from Infants who are brought to inserted Baptism, and from adults who are admitted to the Lord's Sup- in Article
T -r, „ XXVIi. she
per; Infants must be excluded from Baptism as well #s would have
excluded
from the Lord's Supper, but Infants are not excluded from infants
J _ J from Bap-
BaptlSm, THEREFORE IT IS NOT TRUE THAT INFANTS are re- tism.
quired to come worthily to Baptism.
The words, " worthily" and " unworthily" are used precisely in the same sense by Archbishop Cranmer. In his Defence, use of the &c. he says: "And here it is to be diligently noted, that we thiiy" by°r ought not unreverently and unadvisedly to approach unto the Cranmer> meat of the Lord's table, as we do to other common meats and drinks, but with great fear and dread, lest we should come to that holy table unworthily, wherein is not only represented, but also spiritually given unto us, very Christ Himself."1 Here unreverently and unadvisedly are synonymous with unworthily. Nor was this sense of the word peculiar to the English Church. The Saxon Confession attaches a like meaning to it. Speak- and the ing of the Lord's Supper it says : " Ut igitur reverentia major kks°ion°n" sit in hujus sacramenti usu, verse causa? institutionis cogitentur, quae ad publicam congregationem, et ad singulorum consolatio- nem pertinent. Prima causa est : Filius Dei vult in publica et honesta congregatione sonare vocem Evangelii. Hujus congre- gationis vinculum vult esse hanc sumptionem, quse summa reve- rentia facienda est, cum ibi testimonium exhibeatur mirandse societatis Domini et sumentium : de qua reverentia Paulus loqui- tur, inquiens : Qui sumit indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini." Quotations to the same effect might be multiplied, but these are deemed sufficient to establish the fact, that the word
1 Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 402.
174
worthily is not equivalent to rightly, as is now falsely asserted ; but that it imports a competent knowledge aud reverent esteem of the Sacraments, and that it is & condition with which adults can com- ply, but of which Infants are deemed incapable. If therefore the "Worthily" Church of England had inserted this condition m her Article omiftecn'u XXVII. and made it essential to the beneficial reception of Bap-
the Article . • t o
XXVII., tism, SHE WOULD HAVE EXCLUDED INFANTS FROM THAT SACRA- MENT as truly and effectually as she has debarred them from the holy Eucharist by introducing this word in Article XXVIII. When, therefore, Archbishop Cranmer used the word worthily with respect to Baptism, he takes care to mention the age of the recipient. " As in Baptism we come not to the water as we come to other common waters, when we wash our hands or bathe our bodies, but we know that it is a mystical water, admonishing us of the great and manifold mercies of God towards us, of the league and promise made between Him and us, and of His won- derful working and operation in us : wherefore we come to that water with such fear, reverence, and humility, as we would come to the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and of Jesus Christ Himself, both God and Man ; although He be not corporally in the water, but in heaven above ; and who- soever cometh to that water, being of the age of discretion, must examine himself duly, lest if he come unworthily {none otherwise than he would come to other common waters) he be not renewed in Christ, but in the stead of salvation receive his dam- nation.'''1
Here we have another evidence that the compiler of our Arti- cles required the condition " worthily" to be observed only by persons, being of the age of discretion, that he means by it a knowledge of the mystical nature of the water, a reverent esteem of it and self-examination. And further he declares that, if the which is an adult recipient of Baptism neglects to comply with this condition that it does he will receive damnation instead of salvation. Is it possible then the Baptism to believe that if Cranmer had drawn up this Article with refer- are of the ence to the case of adults he would have omitted all mention of cretion. so essential a qualification ? He assuredly would not. Neither if he had held that a single Infant could come to Baptism unworthily would he have pronounced the Baptism of young children most
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. pp. 11, 12.
175
agreeable with the institution of that merciful Saviour who wilteth not the death of a sinner, but having redeemed each one with His precious blood delights to embrace him with the arms of His mercy.
We will now pass on to the consideration of the next condi- The f,0"!1'-
i tion " with
tion, "with faith." " Now it followeth," continues the Homily, *fith"
' J ' J ■' fics a belief
" to have with this knowledge a sure and constant faith, not only that the death of Christ is available for the redemption of^l^^t all the world, for the remission of sins and reconciliation with Sentrfthe" God the Father; but also that He hath made upon His cross a townom"13' full and sufficient sacrifice for thee, a perfect cleansing of thy p"^^eis sins, so that thou ackuowledgest no other saviour, redeemer, £8titutionS mediator, advocate, intercessor, but Christ only ; and that thou of them' mayest say with the Apostle, that He loved thee, and gave Him- self for thee. For this is to stick fast to Christ's promise made in His institution, to make Christ thine owrN, and to apply His merits unto thyself. Herein thou necdest no other man's help, no other sacrifice or oblation, no sacrificing priest, no mass, no means established by man's invention. That faith is a necessary instrument in all these holy ceremonies we may thus assure ourselves, for that, as S. Paul saith, without faith it is impossible to please God. When a great number of the Israel- ites were overthrown in the wilderness, Moses, Aaron, and Phineas did eat manna, and pleased God, for that they under- stood, saith S. Augustine, the visible meat spiritually. Spiritu- ally they hungered it, spiritually they tasted it, that they might be spiritually satisfied. And truly as the bodily meat cannot feed the outward man, unless it be let into the stomach to be digested, which is healthsome and sound ; no more can the in- ward man be fed except his meat be received into his soul and heart, sound and whole in faith.1 Therefore, saith Cyprian, when we do these things we need not to whet our teeth ; but with sincere faith we break and divide that whole bread." It is needless to
1 Here again we are taught that God offers the inward and spiritual grace to all receivers, and that the effect which this spiritual meat may take depends upon the soundness of each man's spiritual stomach. He who has no faith in Christ's promise made to him in His institution, and does not apply Christ's merits to himself, receives a curse for his presumption and infidelity, whilst his faithful neighbour enjoys a blessing.
176
lengthen this quotation, sufficient has been adduced to show that the words " with faith" are employed by the Church in a dif- ferent sense from rightly and worthily. This condition also can Adults only only be complied with by adults, and therefore we find that it is
are capable • t • /> 1 • <• t» ■ • -l
of this con- not named as a condition tor the reception ot -Baptism in the insertion Article XXVII., and that infants, being incapable of it, are not
therefore . . ■
in Article admitted to the Holy Communion. The Church, in the Refor- wouidde- matio Legum Ecclesiasticarum says, "We will that no person be
prive infants *
of their right admitted to the Lord's Table until he has professed his faith in
to Baptism. m .
the Church.5'1 And in the same book she requires those who intend to partake of the Holy Communion to wait on the minis- ter the day before that he may arouse their consciences to repentance and satisfy himself of their unquestioning faith. " Deinde fidem etiam illorum exploret, ut vel inscitiam illorum corrigat, vel contumaciam terreat, vel dubitationem confirmet. Nam ad sacrosanctam Domini mensam nemo debet assumi, cujcs
FIDES OMNIBUS PARTIBCS PERFECTA \ONT SIT." 2 The Homily
says that a true faith in the virtue of this Sacrament follows upon each man's knowledge of the dainties there provided for his soul. The conditions " digue et cum fide " are inseparable, the one implies the presence of the other. For whilst knowledge acquaints a man with Christ's promise made to him in His institution, faith lays hold upon it and enables him to stick fast to it. How truly Bishop Jewel has here represented the doc- trine of the Church of England will be perceived upon comparing the Exhortation to the Holy Communion in Elizabeth's English Prayer Book with the Latin version.
English, 1559. Latin version, 15G0.
As the benefit is great, if Nam sicut magnum benefi-
with a truly penitent heart and cium est spiritualiter mandu-
lively faith we receive that holy care corpus, et bibere san-
Sacrament (for then we spiri- guinem Christi, manere in
tually eat the flesh of Christ Christo, et habere Christum
1 Page 50. Qui sunt adinittendi ad mensam Domini. Cap. 5. Neminem ad mensam Domini volumus admitti, donee fidem in Ecclesia professus fuerit. ■Which took place at confirmation, which is treated of in the nest chapter. Compare the Rubric at the end of the order of Confirmation, with the Preface.
- Page 87. De coena Domini sumenda. Cap. 7.
177
and drink His blood, then we dwell in Christ and Christ in us, we be one with Christ, and Christ with us;) so is the danger great if we receive the same unworthily. For then we be guilty of the body and blood of Christ our Saviour. We eat aud drink our own damnation, not considering the Lord's body.
in se habitantem, ac unum effici cum ipso ; quod contigit illis qui digne accedunt, id est corde contrito et hiuniliato, cum vera fide ac fiducia ccrta misericordice promissa per Chris- tum ; ita prsesens periculum est, si indigne accedamus, quia efficimur rei corporis et sanguinis Domini, et ad judi- cium et condemnationem man- ducamus propterea quod non discernimus corpus Domini, wee ei debitum habemus honorem.
The words in' italics do not appear in the English version "mwor- but are explanatory. There being no antithesis in the English vai'entto
irreverently
books to the words "receive unworthily," "qui clique accedunt" in the order
i- i • i x i , t • i • i • for the Ad-
are supplied in the Latin, and the conditions which are mime- ministration diately named are said to be parts of it. We are here taught that lord's sup- by " unworthily " is meant irreverently, and a withholding the honour due to Christ's body sacramentally present, and that faith implies an undoubting reliance on the mercy promised to the duly qualified Communicant by Christ. We have before1 treated of the nature of this faith and proved that one part of it is a steadfast belief that the promises of God were made to each man in the Sacrament, and are certainly fulfilled to him if he is qualified to receive them. The Homily is very explicit on this point. It is not satisfied with each candidate's expressing a ge- neral belief that the death of Christ is available for the redemp- tion of all the world, but it requires a special belief that Christ made upon the cross a full and sufficient sacrifice for him, and a perfect cleansing of his sins. The Church, therefore, in her catechism teaches each child to believe that God the Son redeemed him and all mankind, and that God the Holy Ghost sanctifieth him and all the elect people of God,2 i.e. all infants who have
1 Pages 83 to 88.
2 The Judicial Committee say this expression " God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me aud all the elect people," " recpaires a charitable construction,"
N
178
been rightly baptized, and all adults who have received that Sacrament rightly, worthily, and with faith. And in the minis- tration of the Holy Communion the Priest is required to deliver the sacramental elements into each communicant's hand sepa- rately, and to repeat the words to each in the singular number. Against this the Puritans excepted, and the Bishops answered their exception in the following terms : " It is most requisite that the minister deliver the bread and wine into every particular communicant's hand, and repeat the whole in the singular number; for so much as it is the propriety of Sacraments to make parti- cular obsignation to each believer, and it is our visible profession that, by the grace of Gon, Christ tasted death for every man." Here they let the Puritans perceive that they were not blind to the real cause of their taking this exception ; which was a disbelief of Christ, by His sufferings on the cross, having perfectly redeemed the original and actual sins of the whole world.
Sufficient has now been offered to convince every candid in- quirer after truth that the Church of England uses the several words rightly, worthily, and with faith, in distinct senses, in her severely accurate standard of doctrine. It has also been proved that she does not require the same qualifications of infants who are brought to Baptism, as of adults who come to receive the
which would make the child doubt what the Church teaches him to believe. For after this non-natural interpretation is applied the passage will read thus : " God the Holy Ghost who, I hope, sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God." But if this answer " requires a charitable construction," so must also the one which immediately precedes it, wherein the child says " I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me and all mankind." Let us then apply it, and the child will then say, " I learn to believe in God the Father who, / hope, made me and all mankind." By the use of this charitable construction the child is made to express himself with uncertainty and doubt whether God created him or not. And whilst the Church is represented as teaching him this impiety, she is made to unite with it an absurdity ,- for in the same pa-sage in which the child declares his doubts whether God made him, he also expresses his belief that God made all mankind. The Judicial Committee were rather un- happy in selecting this expression as an example of the propriety and necessity of adopting their charitable construction, for it affords a ready means of proving that such an interpretation is not only contrary to the obvious, but to the neces- sary meaning of the expression, on which they recommend their dangerous and unnatural experiment to be tried. The reader will also observe that the child is taught to speak of his creation and redemption in the past tense, he mentions his sanctification in the present tense, as then existing and going on.
179
Lord's Supper. For whilst she considers all infants capable subjects of Baptism, and desires the Sacrament should be admi- nistered to them on the first or second Sunday after their birth, or other holy day falling between, she admits none to the other Sacrament, because they are incapable of receiving it "worthily and with faith." We also discover from the Homily and the authorities which have been used in illustration of it, and from the practice of the Church, how entirely Mr. Gorham misrepre- sents and perverts her doctrine when he transfers the qualifica- tions named in the Article XXVIII. for a beneficial participation of the Lord's Supper by adults to the Article XXVII., where they were designedly omitted, because the Church there speaks only of the case of infants, who are incapable of any qualifi- cations which require the exercise of the mental faculties. We must not, however, erroneously conclude that, because they are judged incapable of receiving the sacramental bread and wine, they are therefore incapable of benefiting by the spiritual graces purchased for them by Christ's death and passion ; for Cran- mer and Jewel distinctly teach with the primitive Church that, "Infants, when they are baptized do eat the flesh of Christ."
The word " suscipientes," which is translated, "they that The word
. . . "suscipiei
received next calls for some notice. This word in the strict sense tes" ex-
plained;
in which it is used in the present Article, is an additional evi- dence that it relates only to Infant Baptism. It indicates that the person brought to be baptized is not of an age to understand the nature of Baptism, nor to undertake for himself, but requires sponsors to bring him to the font and to undertake for him. These persons are styled in Elizabeth's Latin Prayer Book susceptores ct susceptrices.1 But when the child has arrived at years of discretion and has learned what his godfathers and godmothers promised for him in Baptism, and is prepared with his own mouth and consent, openly before the Church, to ratify and confirm the same, and to promise that, by the grace of God, „. he will evermore endeavour himself to observe and keep such things as he has assented unto, the godfather or godmother is called Tatrinus2 and a witness of his confirmation. The sponsor
1 See Liturgical Services of Queen Elizabeth, pp. 408, 410, 11, 13, 15.
2 Ibid. p. 418. Rubric between the Catechism and Confirmation) " Quutn
N 2
180
is no longer a svsceptor (in the strict sense in which the Church uses the word) an undertaker for an unconscious babe and a security for his Christian education ; but he is styled a witness of the child's fulfilling those engagements, which in his nonage he entered into on his behalf and in his name, distin- Jf the Article had respect to the Baptism of adults, the word
guished 11
from "per. " percipientes" would have been employed, which applies to
cipieutes." * 11
persons of mature years, who are capable of instruction and of knoiving the dignity of the Sacrament and perceiving or under- standing the fruit they have by a reverent and faithful use of it. Accordingly we find that where the Church requires a party to receive a Sacrament not only rightly but with faith, she employs the word " percipio." Thus, in the former Article, the XXVIth, the Church, when declaring that "the effect of God's ordinance is not taken away by the wickedness of the minister, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such, as by faith and rightly receive the Sacraments ministered unto them," uses in her Latin Article these words : " quoad eos qui fide et rite sibi oblata per- cipiunt." Hence we conclude that percipio is properly used to denote a reception by persons who have the use of their intellec- tual faculties and are capable of coming worthily and with faith, and suscipio is employed in the cases of infants, children, and innocents (i.e. idiots), who are incapable, from their tender age or mental imbecility, of understanding the mystery of Baptism and exercising a lively faith.
Many passages might be brought forward in illustration of this usage of these words, but I shall confine myself to the writ- ings of Bishop Jewel. Speaking in his Apology of the faith required of persons who receive the Lord's Supper, he says : " Neque vero vana ea fides est quse Christum complectitur, nec frigide percipitur, quod mente, fide, et spiritu percipitur" " This is no vain faith which doth comprehend Christ, and that is not received with cold devotion, which is received with understanding, with faith, and with spirit." A little below he says : " Et
pneri possint vulgari et materna lingua recitare Arlicidos fidei, &c. tunc addu- centur ad Episcopum per aliquem qui futurus sit ejus patrinus ; quod fieri debet, ut unusquisque pueroruni possit habere testem suae confirmationis." The Patrinus is said adducere puerum, the susceptores " afferre infantes ad templum."
181
Cyrillus in percipiendis mysteriis/' &c. "And Cyril saith, when we come to receive these mysteries, &C."1 To this we will add one passage from his Sermon preached at Paul's Cross, which affirms that Infants are not endued with the capacity of receiving with perception. "Christ appointed not the Sacrament of His last Supper, that it should he ministered to babes and infants that knew not what it meant."'2 This knowledge, as we have already proved, constitutes a part of the qualification which the Church denoted by the word " worthily" which relates especially to the " mens/' (the understanding) and therefore, as infants arc incapable of it, she did not name the qualification in her Arti- cle XXVII.
These passages, it is presumed, will be allowed to be a suffi- cient warrant for the interpretation which is offered of the words suscipio and percipio, and will satisfy the reader that, if the com- pilers of this Article had contemplated the Baptism of such adults, as are capable of understanding the meaning of the Sacrament of Baptism, of discerning the benefits of which they are thereby partakers, and also of exercising a steadfast faith in the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament, they would have used the word percipio (as in the Article XXVI. where faith is mentioned) and not suscipio which marks the incapacity for this knowledge and faith.
The next passage to be explained describes the effect of the The effect ritual or solemn office, which the Church has prescribed to be ?*ich the
' r Church
observed when the health of the Infant will admit of its use. a°tendu°on
-n • i . 1 n the use of
Faith is confirmed, and grace Fides confirmatur, et vi di- ^T^apUs-
increased by virtue of prayer vinse invocationis gratia auge-
unto God. tur.
In the Imprinted Book, In Archbishop Parker's
referred to by the Act of the copy, signed by the Convoca-
thirteenth of Elizabeth, the tion in 1562, the passage is
passage is punctuated as fol- punctuated thus :
1 Jewel, portion iii. pp. 14 & 64. Apology, part ii. chap. xiv. div. 1 & 2.
2 Ibid. i. p. 7. In his Sermon on Psalm lxvii. 3, 4, he says : " The Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ we had (in the Popish times) but we understood not why Christ left us this Sacrament; we knew not why We said: 'Take, eat : this is My body, &c.' It is the greatest Sacrament, and yet we perceived not what it meant." Ibid, portion ii. 1058. This the Church designates un- worthy receiving.
mul Office.
182
lows : Faith is confirmed, and Fides confirmatur, et vi di- grace increased, by virtue of vinfe invocations, gratia auge- prayer unto God. tur.
This sentence is also separated from the preceding one by a colon in Bishop Jewel's edition of the Articles in 1571.
It is now pretended that the Church here teaches that " Goo does all that is named in the former part of this Article by virtue of prayer," for which He has bestowed the disposition, and that " this closing sentence of the Article beautifully suggests that Themisin- without maver no blessing can be expected." We beg to remark
terpretation , • pit- <• i m
of this that this is a false representation of the design of the Church m
clause cor- 7 ,.
rected. these words, and that it is directly contradictory to her teaching.
For she invariably asserts in the Rubrics in the office of Private Baptism and in her Catechism of 1552,1 in her Homily of 1562,2 and in her Canon XXX. of 1603, that the water and the word are the only essential parts of Baptism, and that when the word is annexed to the water by the minister, the Sacrament of Baptism is full and perfect. Besides, this Article states, as distinctly as possible, that our being grafted into Christ's Church, and the sealing of the remission of our sins and of our adoption to be the sons of God is wrought by the Holy Ghost {per Spi- ritum Sanctum) as the efficient cause, and by the sign of Regeneration as the instrumental cause (signum regenerationis, per quod, tanquam per instrumentum) . This statement is too plain, one would think, to admit of doubt or misconception. However, it seems, that in his impatience to degrade baptism from its divinely conferred dignity of being God's instrument, by which He works invisibly in us, Mr. Gorham overlooks, or disregards, this unambiguous declaration of the views of the Church, and ascribes to the virtue of prayer, what the Article expressly assigns to the Holy Ghost working by Baptism. V/ e are far from wishing to say one word to the disparagement of prayer. It is one means, among many, by which the soul prepares herself to receive God's grace, and devoutly to implore it upon others, but it is not the cause of grace, nor does its absence rob the Sacraments of their power and efficacy. Dr.
1 Edward VI. 's Liturgies, by Parker Society.
2 Homilies, p. 422.
183
Waterland truly observes, that '-"When we speak of human bene- dictions and their efficacy, we mean not that they have any real virtue in themselves, or under ami consideration but as founded in The efficacy
_ , . ~ of God's
Divine promise or contract, and as cominn from God by man. sacraments
* not depend -
If the prayer of faith saved the sick, it was not properly the ent apc-n^ human prayer that did it, but God did by or upon prayer tur- of mortal suant to His promise."1 Now in the ministration of the Sacraments God's promise is not annexed to the prayers of man, but to the signs, which His beloved Son, whom He requires us to hear and obey, appointed to be used as His instruments of grace. If it be true, that " without prayer no blessing can be expected," then it follows that man's prayer must be of the essence of the Sacrament, that its efficacy or inefficacy must de- pend upon man and not upon Christ's institution and promise, and a Baptism administered, simply according to Christ's insti- tution, (for He ordained no ritual or prayer as far as we know) without any ritual or solemnities added by man for the sake of decency and Godliness, conveys no blessing. Such teaching is not only heterodox but impious. Man can neither by his virtue, nor holiness, nor prayers, add one tittle to the efficacy of the Sacraments, nor by his irreverence or infidelity diminish it, although he may deprive himself of and refuse the benefits which God always offers. Archbishop Cranmer is express upon this point. S. Augustine declareth that it is all one water, whether Simon Peter or Simon Magus be christened in it ; all one table of the Lord, and one cup, whether Peter sup thereat or Judas ; all one oil, whether David or Saul were anointed therewith. Wherefore he concludeth thus: "Memento ergo Sacrameutis Dei nihil obesse mores malorum hominum, quo ilia vel omnino non sint, vel minus sancta sint, sed ipsis malis hominibus, ut hcec habeant ad testimonium damnationis, non ad adjutorium sanitatis."2 " Remember, therefore, saith S. Augustine, that the mannas of evil men hinder not the Sacraments of God, that either they utterly be not, or be less holy, but they hinder the evil men themselves, so that they have the Sacraments to witness of their damnation, not to help of their salvation.'" And all the process spoken there by S. Augustine is spoken chiefly of Bap-
1 Waterland's Works, vol. vii. p. 90.
1 Augustinus contra Literas PetiL lib. ii. cap. 47.
184
tism against the Donatists, which said that the Baptism was naught, if either the minister or receiver ivere naught. Against whom S. Augustine concludeth, that the Sacraments of them- selves be holy, and be all one, whether the minister or receiver be good or bad."1 To the same purpose teaches Dean jS'owell in the Catechism which he compiled at the request of Convocation, and which, heing revised by it, was published by its authority. In reply to this question : " M. An gratiam banc (id est Regenerationem) omnes communiter et promiscue consequuntur V he says : " A. Soli fideles hunc fructum perci- piunt :2 increduli vero oblatas illic (id est in Baptismo) a Deo promissiones respuendo, aditum sibi prsecludentes, inanes abeunt, non tamen ideo efficiunt, ut suam sacramenta vim, et naturam amittunt."3 Such is the doctrine, which the same Convocation who gave us our Articles, maintained in 1571. It teaches us : 1st, that to all persons both good and bad the grace of the Sacraments is offered, equally with the gospel itself ; 2ndly, that the jaithless by rejecting the promises of God made to them in Baptism and offered to them there, de- part empty; and 3rdly, that these infidels do not by their un- belief and demerits, cause the Sacraments to lose their power and nature. Now, unless it can be shown, that the Church of England holds and teaches that some Infants by their infidelity reject the promises of God offered to them in Baptism, it can never be proved that she teaches that some Infants do not receive the inward and spiritual grace of the Sacrament. I have already shown that Bishop Jewel taught that the Sacrament of Baptism dependeth not, neither of the minister nor of the receiver nor of any other man.4 For the value or worthiness of the Sa- crament dependeth not of man but of God. Again, whether the Infant be signed with the sign of the cross, or be put into the water once or thrice, whether one, or two, or three, or more be godfathers or witnesses of the Baptism, it maketh nothing
TO THE VIRTUE OF THE SACRAMENT : THEY ARE NO PART
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iii. p. 105.
2 Here pereipiuai is used with fideles, implying that persons who are capable of faith, understand also the nature of the Sacrament.
3 Randolph's Enchiridion Theologicum, vol. ii. p. 215.
4 See above, p. 42 note, p. 56.
185
thereof; without those Baptism is whole and perfect. Hereof Gregory saith : In una fide nihil officit consuetudo ccclesies diversa : The faith being one, the diversity of customs hurteth not, Christ left no order for the use of these things, neither did by His word or example require them. The Church of God hath liberty to dispose herein as may he most fitting for decency and order.1 These extracts sufficiently discover how entirely contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England is the teaching of Mr. Gorham and the Judicial Committee, who ascribe the efficacy of the Sacrament of Baptism to the prayers of men, and to the stipulations of sponsors, which are no part of the Sacrament, and make nothing to its virtue, and were neither required by Christ's word nor example, but are purely ordi- nances of the Church.
Let us lay aside all prejudices and glosses, and look at the words of the Article, and we shall immediately perceive that they do not import what they are represented. It is not said that " by virtue of prayer " faith and grace are given, much less rege- neration. No, what the Article teaches is this, that " faith is confirmed and grace increased by virtue of prayer to God." The faith and the grace, then, are supposed to exist before the prayer was offered, and indeed were causes of the persons using prayer. Who then are the parties offering this prayer ? The Church, be it observed, ends her description of the graces conferred by the ^ ^y^ Sacrament of Baptism with the word " sealed '': and here speaks offered by
r ' r the minister
of the wholesome effect of her Ritual upon the persons present gauon"^6" at its ministration ; and we must remember that until 1661 she compiled no office for Adult Baptism, and that infants alone were baptized. This being the case, it is plain that the compilers of this Article could not have expected this prayer to be offered to God by the recipients of Baptism. It must, therefore, be made by the minister and congregation, and, if we turn to the office for the ministration of public Baptism of infants, we shall be- come acquainted with its subject-matter.
The next question is, In whom is this faith confirmed? On ex- amining the office no prayer is found for the Confirmation of the infant 's faith (for the Church declares him incapable of exercising this Christian virtue) but there is one for the confirmation of the firmed in the 1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1106.
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parties wit- faith of the parties witnessing the Baptism, and to this petition, Baptism, which was introduced by Cranmer from the Cologne office, the Archbishop appears to have had an eve, when penning this clause in the Article. The prayer, to which I allude, is that immedi- ately following the " brief exhortation upon the words of the Gospel." Therein the minister animates the faith of the people, but specially the sponsors, by reminding them of the outward gesture and deed, by which Christ declared His good will to those infants, and such as they,1 who were piously brought to Him to receive His blessing. He then exhorts the congregation not to doubt, but earnestly believe that He will likewise favourably receive this present infant, that He will embrace him with the arms of His mercy, that He will give unto him the blessing of eternal life, and make km partaker of His everlasting kingdom. Then assuming these truths, these promises of God made to each infant in his holy Baptism, to be heartily believed, and that the thoughts of the faithful revert to their own Bap- tism, he calls upon them faithfully and devoutly to give thanks unto God for the benefits they have themselves received in Bap- tism, and the instruction and comfort they have now derived from the assurances of His favour towards themselves and the infant to be baptized.
"Almighty and Everlasting God, Heavenly Father, we give Thee humble thanks that Thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of Thy grace and faith in Thee. Increase this know- ledge, and confirm this faith en us evermore. Give Thy Holy Spirit to this infant that he may be born again and be made an heir of everlasting salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, kc." This thanksgiving divides itself into two parts. The first expresses the thanks of the faithful to their Heavenly Father for their knowledge of His grace towards the infant they have brought to Baptism, and of the true Catholic Faith in Him and His Sacraments, united with a devout prayer that God would enable them to know Him more fully, and be- lieve more firmly His merciful purpose towards this present child. And in the second part their prayers relate to the infant,
1 " Such." "The kingdom of heaven is of such, saith Christ; not only then of those, but of others like infants, which shall be in all times." — Jewel, Portion ii. p. 1104.
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to whom they pray God to fulfil His gracious promises. It seems impossible, now it is pointed out, not to perceive the rela- tion which exists between the words of this Eucharistic prayer and those of the Article now under consideration. In the office of Baptism the Priest is commissioned to assure the sponsors that Christ hath promised in His Gospel to grant all those tilings that they had prayed for, and that He would surely keep and per- form His promise. In the Article, therefore, which was subse- quently published, the Church asserts as a fact that " Faith is confirmed and grace is increased by virtue of prayer to God j" i.e. because this prayer supplicates favours, which God had pro- mised and contracted to grant.
With respect to the parties in whom this " grace is increased," « Grace they are the sponsors and recipients, for of this infants are as JnThe
increased" spon-
capable as adults, and on them both is it invoked. Before the recfpienisof child's baptism the Church earnestly prays God to " regard the mint of* supplications of His congregation, to sanctify the water in the Baptism' Font to the mystical washing away of sins,1 and to grant that
1 Jewel is constantly insisting on the effects of consecration on the water of Baptism, and quotes the sayings of the old Catholic Fathers to illustrate his views. Chrysostom saith of the water of Baptism, "When this creature of water hath received the Holy Ghost, it is made a Sacrament ; and now is not water to drink, but water to sanctify, not common water, bvt water to refresh.''' Thus the element or outward creature both ' remaineth ' and is ' changed.' It remaineth in proper and plain kind of speech ; it is changed improperly, that is to say, by the way of a sacrament or mystery. The like form of words S. Ambrose useth of the Sacrament of Baptism. ' Hast thou seen the water ? But all water healeth not. But that water healeth that hath the grace of Gon. The element (or creature of water) is one thing, and the consecration is another thing.' " Jewel, Portion iii. p. 500. Tertullian saith, "The Holy Ghost cometh down from heaven and resteth upon the water of Baptism and sanctifieth it of Himself." Even thus S. Cyprian saith : " The divine substance infuseth itself unspeakably into the visible sacrament;" "None otherwise," adds Bishop
Jewel, " THAN AS THE HOLY GHOST, OR THE WHOLE BLESSED TRINITY, INFUSETH ITSELF INTO THE WATER OF BAPTISM. PaulinUS seemetll to
write much agreeably to those words of S. Cyprian :
" Sanctus in hunc ccelo descendit Spiritus amnem ; Coelestique sacras fonte maritat aquas ; Concipit unda Deum.
The Holy Ghost into this water cometh down from heaven, and joineth the heavenly waters and those waters both in one, the Font receiveth God." " What," asks Jewel, " can be spoken with greater majesty ' Then, saith he,
188
this child now to be baptized therein may receive the fulness of His grace and ever remain in the number of His faith ful and elect children." Here we first pray God to annex to tbe pure water, which is placed in the Font and separated to a holy use, in obedience to His command, all the grace which He has ordained it to signify, and promised that it as His instrument, shall work and effect in the soul, and to convey it by the water to the child about to be baptized. We do not expect that the sub- stance of the element should be changed, but only that its quality should be altered, and that that creature which before consecra- tion bare no grace to the soul, may be sanctified to the mystical washing away of sins. Secondly, we beseech God to grant to the infant the grace of perseverance, that he may " not receive the grace of God in vain," but, if he arrives at man's estate, may adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour in all things, and remain faithful unto death. And, after the child's sins have been mys- tically washed away, and he is made regenerate by Baptism, we give thanks to Almighty God for regenerating the infant with His Holy Spirit, but again offer our prayers unto Him for the grace of perseverance, " that this child may have grace to perform his profession,"1 and " lead the hzst of his life according to this beginning."
The foregoing observations will, it is hoped, prove satisfactory and establish the view which has been taken of the intention of the Church of England in this clause, which is, that the prayer spoken of is offered by the congregation, and specially by the sponsors, for the confirmation of their own faith and for the infant's enjoying the full measure of the graces of regeneration and perseverance.
the water or the Font receiveth God. But these and other like phrases be usual and ordinary among the ancient learned Fathers. S. Augustine writeth thus: 'The holiness of Baptism cannot be denied. The heavenly power is assistant unto the sacraments.' And again, ' God is present with His words and sacraments.' Likewise S. Cyprian, touching the hallowing of the oil, writeth thus : ' In the sacraments the heavenly power worketh mightily. The truth ig present with the sign, and the Holt Ghost if present irith the sacra- ment.' " — Jewel. Portion ii. p. 763. These are a few out of the many quo- tations from the old Fathers, which Bishop Jewel adduced to vindicate the dignity and efficacy of the Sacrament of Baptism against the Papists. Few persons will be of opinion that they support the neology of Mr. Gorham. 1 Cranmer's works, vol. ii. 223.
189
It now only remains for me to examine the last clause of this Article, which acquaints us with the age of the subjects, in relation to whom the Church compiled it, and whose capacity was carefully borne in mind, when declaring the condition on which they would receive all the benefits of Holy Baptism.
The Baptism of young Baptismus parvulorum om- who are the
-r-, i . . , most fiitinir
children, is in any wise to nino in Lcclesia retinendus est, subjects of
„ „ Baptism.
BE RETAINED IN THE CHURCH, Ut qui CUM CHRISTI tnstllu-
as most agreeable with the tione optimh congruat.
INSTITUTION OF CHRIST.
It will not be questioned that this clause was inserted as a testimony against the heresy of the Anabaptists. The Baptism of all young children must, therefore, be understood to be asserted ; otherwise, in some cases, the heresy of the Anabaptists would be admitted to be sound doctrine, and only the partial Baptism of young children would be enjoined, which we know is contrary to the teaching of the Church.
The present clause varies materially from its original form. In the Articles of 1552 it ran thus :
The custom of the Church Mos Ecclesice baptizandi to christen young children is parvulos est laudandus et om- to be commended, and in any nino in Ecclesia retinendus. wise to be retained in the Church.
Archbishop Parker altered this into its present form, and it received the sanction of Convocation in 1562. It will be ob- served that the Church now claims a higher authority for the baptism of infants than in 1552. Then it was commended and retained, because the Church sanctioned the custom. It is now retained in the Church, because it is " most agreeable with the institution of Christ."
It is no part of our design to enter into a lengthened vindica- tion of this doctrine and practice of the Church of England. We will, however, bring forward some of the arguments which she advanced in defence of its agreement ivith Christ's institution, of its necessity and benefits, in the hope of removing some of the misconceptions and misrepresentations and perplexities, which
190
prevail either through ignorance, or the cunning craftiness of
those who lie in wait to deceive.
First, then, we will endeavour to ascertain the grounds upon
which the Church of England judged Infants capable subjects Archdeacon OF Baptism. These are fully set forth in Archdeacon Phil- vindication pot's reply to a dear brother and fellow-prisoner, who gently re-
of Infant . . . . - . .
Baptism. quired his judgment concerning the Baptism or infants, and what is the effect thereof. " The Baptism of infants," he says, "hath its beginning from God's word, and from the use of the primitive Church. The Catholic truth delivered unto us by the Scriptures plainly determineth, that all such are to be baptized, as whom God acknowledgeth for His people and voucheth them worthy of sanctification or remission of their sins. Therefore, since that infants be in the number or scroll of God's people, and le partakers of the promise by their purification in Christ, it must needs follow thereby, that they ought to be baptized as well as those that can profess their faith ; for we judge the people of God as well by the free and liberal promise of God as by the confession of faith. For to whomsoever God promiseth Himself to be their God and whom He acknowledgeth for His, those no man without great impiety may exclude from the number of the faithful. but god promiseth that He will not only be the God of such as do profess Him, but
also of INFANTS, PROMISING THEM HlS FAVOUR AND REMISSION
of sins, as it appeareth by the words of the covenant made unto Abraham, &c. Therefore, in the Gospel Christ saith of infants (that is of such as yet believed not,) ' Let thy little ones come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' Again, ' It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that any of these little ones do perish.5 Also, ' He that receiveth one such little child in My name, receiveth Me/ ' Take heed therefore that ye despise not one of these babes ; for I tell you, their angels do see in heaven My Father's face.' And what may be said more plain than this ? It is not the will of the heavenly Father that the infants should perish ; whereby we may gather that He receiveth them freely unto His grace, although as yet they confess not their faith. Since then that the word of the promise, which is contained in Baptism, pertaineth as well to children
101
as to men, why should the sign of the promise, which is baptism in water, be withdrawn from children, when Christ Himself com- manded them to be received of us, and promiseth the reward of a prophet to those that receive such a little infant, as lie for an example did put before His disciples ?
"Now I will prove with manifest arguments that children ouqht
1 0 < "Arguments
to be baptized, and that the Apostles of Christ did baptize chil- g™^™*^6 dren. The Lord commanded His Apostles to baptize all nations, 5^'^",'° therefore also children ought to be baptized, for they are com- JJ^^J the prehended under this word ( all nations.' Further, whom God Jjhfidren » doth account among the faithful they are faithful ; for it was said to Peter, ' That thing which God hath purified, thou shalt not say to be common or unclean.' But God doth repute children among the faithful ; ergo, they be faithful, except we had rather to resist God and seem stronger and wiser than He. And without all doubt the Apostles baptized those which Christ commanded, but He commanded the faithful to be baptized, among the which infants be reckoned ; the Apostles, then, baptized infants." This holy martyr then adduces many other reasons for the baptism of infants, and, after declaring " out of ancient writers, that the baptism of infants hath continued from the Apostles' time unto ours ; neither that it was instituted by any councils, neither of the Pope, nor of other men, but commanded from the Scripture by the Apostles themselves," he answers his friend's arguments to the contrary, founded upon S.Mark xvi. 16. I will lay his reasons before the reader, because Mr. Gorham has rejected the interpretation put upon it by the Church, and en- deavoured to prove from it that all infants are incapable subjects of Baptism, unless they have his prevcuicnt act of grace. Phil- pot answers, " that nothing is added to God's word by the baptism of children, as was pretended, but that is done which the same word doth require, for that children are accounted of Christ in the Gospel among the number of such as believe, as appeareth by those words, ' He that offendcth one of these little babes which believe in Me, &c.' where plainly Christ calleth such as be not able to confess their faith, believers, because of His mere grace He reputeth them for believers. And this is no wonder so to be taken, since God imputeth faith for righteousness unto men that be of riper age, for
192
" Right. both in men and children, righteousness, acceptation, sanc-
eousnessand .« i j - • 1 i i /»
acceptation tincation, is oj mere grace, and by imputation, that the glory of imputation God's grace may be praised. And that the children of faithful
mere ° ■ ry i i i i , , i
srace," parents are sanctified, and among such as do believe, is apparent in and child- 1 Cor. vii. 14'." He then shows that no conclusion can be
ren.
drawn of the necessity of active faith and repentance before Bap- tism from the order of the words ; for " if the order of the words might weigh anything in this cause, we have the Scripture that maketh as well for us, for in S. Mark we read that John did bap- tize in the desert, preaching the baptism of repentance. In which place we see baptizing go before and preaching to follow." He also proves that S. Matt, xxviii. " maketh for the use of bap- tism in children," and that " baptism goeth before doctrine." Then returning to S. Mark xvi. 16, he says : " It is not true, that the Lord did only command such to be baptized whom the Apostles had first of all taught, neither here verily is signified who only be to be baptized ; but He speaketh of such as be at per- fect age, and of the first foundations of the faith, and of the Church to be planted among the Gentiles, which were as yet rude and ignorant of religion. Such as be of age may hear, believe, and confess, that is preached and taught, but so cannot infants ; therefore we may justly collect that He speaketh here nothing of infants or children. But for all this they be not to be ex- cluded from Baptism. It is a general rule ' He that doth not labour must not eat ;' but who is so barbarous, that might think hereby that children should be famished.'" 1
Such is the reasoning of Archdeacon Philpot. The former part of it is precisely that of the office for Public Baptism of Infants ; if therefore the hypothetical construction may lawfully be applied to the office, it may also be applied to his words ; but if it were so applied it would destroy the whole of his argument against the Anabaptists as it does the Church's argu- ment for the necessity and benefits of Infant Baptism in the office : it is evident, therefore, that it cannot be applied in either case.
Two Rea. There are two reasons which he urges for Infant Baptism,
sons for In- u 1
fantBai.. which it will be my endeavour to show were made use of by the
tism. J *
Church of England. The first is, that the word of God's pro- 1 Philpot's works, pp. 274—282. Fox, vol. iii. p. 509.
193
mise of (/race and remission of sins, contained in Baptism, pertaining as well to children as to men.
The Articles of 153G and the Institution of a Chris- Itistheim. tian man affirm, " That the promise of (/race and everlasting trial "of the life {which promise is adjoined unto this Sacrament of Baptism) thepromUe pcrtuineth not only unto such as have the use of reason, but also everiasang'1 to infants, innocents, and children, and that they ought therefore, tolnfimts?8 and must needs be Baptized."1 So also the Articles of 1538:
1 Formularies of Faith, pp. xix. 93. I cannot refrain from calling attention
to a most extraordinary omission on the part of the Judicial Committee of all
mention of (he words of the gospels of S. John and S. Mark in their summary of
the Baptismal Office. This is the more remarkable as they notice the rubric at Committee
the end of this office, where the Church expressly declares that she maintains the tlleir
, summary of
undoubted salvation of every infant dying baptized, because " it is certain the Baptis-
from God's Word.'' After the second prayer, they say there is an exhortation "mlt^U06 to the congregation or those present, not to doubt but earnestly believe that God notice of the y ii ■ i • ■ r . n i i ■ . - ~ Words of the
will favourably receive this present infant, &c. but they keep the word of God Gospel upon
on which that earnest belie/ and that exhortation is grounded enlirelg out of Xc^'L'e'of sight. If they had stated the fact that after the second prayer the congregation the Office is are invited to " hear the words of the gospel written by S. Mark in ch. x. v. 13," uUt' those, who read their judgment would perceive that the exhortation which follows is an application of the doctrine clearly taught in this gospel. The Church observing that Christ rebuked the Apostles who murmured against those who brought their children to Him for His blessing — that He commanded the children to be brought unto Him, that He received them, and, putting His hands upon them, blessed them, and both by His words, and gentle behaviour declared manifestly that they be the children of God and entirely beloved of God,* and that, the kingdom of heaven is not of those only who were then brought unto Him, but of such as they at all times — (thus requiring all men who would enjoy everlasting life to follow their innocency) ■ — I say the Church upon the autho- rity of this Scripture, and not of her own mere motion, calls upon the con- gregation not to doubt but earnestly believe that Christ will likewise favourably receive each present infant, etc. ; she is persuaded of the good-will of our heavenly Father towards each infant, (because it is declared in this gospel by His Son Jesus Christ), and nothing doubting but that He favourably alloweth this charitable work of ours (the Church) in bringing each infant to His Holy Bap- tism, she invites the congregation faithfully and devoutly to give thanks unto Him. And, again, in the Exhortation immediately following this Eucharistic prayer, she also claims for her authority what the congregation had heard our Lord Jesus Christ promise in His gospel, S. Markx. 13. All her doctrine and exhortation is grounded upon, and may be proved by, most certain warrants of
* Archdeacon Philpot quotes this passage to prove that all children ought to be Baptized, p. 277. " What do they now-a-days else, (he asks) that bring their children to Baptism, than they did in times past, which brought their children to the Lord." See also Dean Comber's works, vol. iii. pp. 381, 384.
O
194
" Infantes per baptismum conscquantur remissionem peccatorum ct gratiam, ct sint tilii Dei, quia promissio gratia; et vita (sterna pertinet non solum ad adultos, sed etiam ad infantes. Et hsec promissio per ministerium in Ecelesia infantibus et adultis ad- ministrari debet "l In the Office of Public Baptism or In- fants the Church says, that "our Lord Jesus Christ hath promised in His Gospel (S. Mark x. 13) to receive each child who is brought to Baptism, to lay His hands upon him, to bless him, to release him of his sins, to give him the kingdom of heaven and everlasting life, which promise, He, for His part, will most surely keep and perform.'"2 Dean Nowel says : " Ut Fides et Pceni- tentia baptismo pracedant, tantum in adultis, qui per retatein sunt utriusque capaces, exigitur ; infantibus vero promissio Ecclesi^e facta per Christum, in cujus Fide baptizuntur, in prasens satis erit. iEquissimum est, ut parvulis nostris Divince gratia; atquc salutis fidelium semini promissce haredes se esse, Baptismo, impresso quasi sigillo testatum fiat." "Quum Christus Dominus infantes ad se vocet, edicat etiam ne quis eos accesserc prohibeat, ad se venientcs amplectatur, ad eos regnum cceleste pertinere testatur."3 If we turn to the pages of Bishop Jewel we shall find him equally explicit. " Touching Baptism,
Holy Scripture, interpreted according to the universal consent of antiquity. The last rubric in this office states this truth in terras too plain to be mistaken or evaded. And it is declared most distinctly by King Edward VI. in his Message to the Devonshire Rebels. " Whatsoever is contained in our book either for Baptism, Sacrament Mass (i.e. Lord's Supper), Confirmation, and service in the Church, is by our Parliament established, by the whole Clergy agreed, yea, by the Bishops of the realm devised, and further, by God's Word confirmed. And how dare ye trust, yea, how dare ye give ear, without trem- bling, to any singular person, to disallow a Parliament , a subject to persuade against our Majesty, a man of his singular arroyancy against the determinations of the Bishops and all the Clergy, any invented arguments against the Word of God ?" Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. book ix. p. 15.
By the omission of this all-important fact a great injury and wrong has been done to the Church of England ; her exhortations are denuded of the divine authority with which she most religiously invested them, and those who do not examine the service for themselves are led to suppose that the Church has been carried away by her sanguine hopes to predicate undoubted salvation of every infant dying baptized unsupported by the warrant o/God's Word.
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 280.
2 Two Liturgies of Edward VI. Parker Society, pp. 110, 287.
3 Enchiridion Theologicum, vol. ii. pp. 216 — 8.
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first we teach the fathers, and afterwards we baptize them and their children ; and this is no breach of Christ's commandment. For after we be once become God's people (by baptism unques- tionably) God hath promised, that He will be our God and the God of our children. And by the prophet Ezekiel He saith : Your children are My children.'''1 In his Treatise on the Sa- craments he proves this at large. " Infants are the heirs of the promise, the covenant of God's favour is made unto them. God said to Abraham : ' I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.' Therefore saith the Apostle : ' If the root be holy, so are the branches.' And again : ' The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the hus- band ; else where your children unclean, but now are they holy.'' When the disciples rebuked those that brought little children to Christ that He might touch them, He said : ' Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.' And again : ' Their Angels always be- hold the face of My Father, which is in heaven.' The king- dom of heaven is of such, saith Christ, not only them of those, but of other like Infants, which shall be in all times. May we think the promise of God hath an end so that it reacheth not to our children ?" " Whatsoever was promised to Abraham, the same is also promised unto us."2
The second reason by which Infants are proved capable sub-
0 T» * ■ 1 r /-\ ^'ie secont
ects ot Baptism is, that theu are accounted of Christ in the reason is,
, i t that infant
OOSpel AMONG SUCH AS BELIEVE, and they are WORTHY o/are"fide- •v» • r ■ les," and
sanctification and remission of sins. ' part of the
• e r. Church of
Bishop Jewel says : " Infants are part of the Church of God ; they are the sheep of Christ and belong to His flock : why should they not bear the mark of Christ ? They have the pro- mise of salvation, why should they not receive the seal, whereby it is confirmed unto them ? They are of the fellowship of the faith- ful. Augustine saith : Ubi ponis purvulos non baptizatos ? pro- fecto in numero credentium ; Where place your young children, which are not yet Baptized? Verily in the number of them that believe. Why then should not they be par-
1 Jewel, portion i. p. 224. - Ibid. p. 1 104.
o 2
196
and arc therefore entitled to Baptism in the;r own right.
The Confes- sions of Foreign Churches assert the same truths
takers of the Sacrament together with the faithful ? And as the children of the faithful by right ought to be Bap- tized/' &C.1
Again, " no person, who will profess Christ's name, ought to be restrained or kept back from Baptism, no, not the very bares of Christians; forsomuch as they be born in sin and do pertain vnto the people of God."2 " Cardinal Cajetan is worthily blamed by Catharinus, in that he saith : An Infant, for that he wanteth instruction in faith, therefore hath not perfect Baptism/'3
It thus appears, then, from the testimony of the Church her- self aud of the accredited exponent of her doctrine, that Infants are considered by the Church capable subjects of Baptism, be- cause the promise of grace aud remission of sins, contained in Baptism, is declared by the icord of God to pertain to them, and because Christ has placed them in the number of those that believe. They receive Baptism, therefore, in their own right, and not in virtue of the newly discovered " act of prevenient grace," nor of their parents' sincere piety, nor of their sponsors' stipulations.
If we examine the Confessions of Foreign Churches we shall find the same truth distinctly asserted. The Helvetic Con- fession declares : " Damnamus Anabaptistas, qui negant bap- tizandos esse iufantulos recens natos a tidelibus — nam juxta doctrinam Evangelicam, horum est regnum Dei et stmt m feeder e Dei, cur itaque non daretur eis signum foederis Dei? Cur non per sanctum baptisma initiarentur, qui sunt pcculium et in ecc/e- sia Dei?"* The Saxon Confession teaches thus: " Reti- nemus et iufantium baptismum ; quia certissimum est, pro- missionem gratia etiam ad infantes pertinere, et ad eos tantuin qui Ecclesine inseruntur, quia de his dictum est: sinite parvulos ad Me venire, quia talium est regnum ca>lorum. Et Origenes scribit hi 6 cap. ad Rom. Ecclesiam ab Apostolis accepisse morem baptizandi infantes. Nec judicamus hunc moreru tantum otiosam cteremoniam esse, sed vere tunc a Deo recipi et sanctifcari infantes : quia tunc inseruntur Ecclesiae, et ad tales promissio pertinet." 5 Can any one fail to perceive that the doctrine here
1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1 105. 2 Ibid. iii. pp. 62 & 461.
3 Ibid. iii. p. 462. 4 Sylloge Confessionum, p. 81. ^ Ibid. 279.
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dogmatically taught is precisely that of our Office of Puhlic Baptism of Infants ? But will the Judicial Committee assert that a hypothetical construction is admissible here ? The Belgic Confession thus expresses itself: " Nos vero eos (i.e. infantes a fldelibus natos) eadem ratione baptizandos, et signo foederis obsignandos esse credimus, qua olim in Israele parvuli circumcidebantur, nimirum propter easdem promissiones infantibus nostris factas. Et rev era Christus non minus sanguinem suum effudit lit fidelium infantes, quam ut adultos abluei'et."1
Thus it appears not only that our own Church, but the Re- formed Churches in general, believed that the guilt of original sin (which alone attaches to Infants) was perfectly redeemed and atoned for, in all cases, by their common Saviour, that the pro- mise of grace and remission of sins pertains to all of them, that they all belong to Christ's Church, and that He commands them all to be brought to Him by Baptism to have the blessing of redemption and sanctification sealed and conveyed to them. The Church is assured from Christ's own words in the Gospel, that their innocencij2 (by which is meant, their freedom from The word actual sin, their having the remission of original sin promised to defined. them in Baptism, and their non-exclusion from grace on account of their sinfulness) renders them especial objects of their Sa- viour's love and mercy. She expresses this conviction clearly and fully in her Baptismal offices, and no less distinctly, though more concisely, in her Article. For she is not content with saying their Baptism is agreeable with the institution of Christ, «sm ofPin- but declares it to be most agreeable, more pleasing and accepta- "mova- ble to Him than the Baptism of those, who seek at the Holy with the
_ .. i /> • • i ■ i /> , institution
font remission not only or original sin, but ot many and °f Christ." great sins committed, some by the intirmity of nature, and others presumptuously. The Church reasons in this way ; if the Baptism of an adult, heavy laden and groaning under the weight of his sins, purposing to forsake them and lead a new life, having a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, and
1 Sylloge Confessionum, p. 350.
2 " Innocentes, hoc est, qui habent remissionem peccalorum in baptismo pio- missam, nec dum a gratia exciderunt per pecca/a." Luther in Hoseain ix. 13, quoted by Archbishop Lawrence, Doctrine of the Church of England on Effi- cacy of Baptism, purt i. pp. 83, 89.
198
in the promises of God made to him in this Sacrament, be agreeable to Christ's Institution and conveys to him by virtue of that all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, remission of those heinous transgressions, how much more agreeable must be the Baptism of that being, who has never abused his Saviour's love, never done despite to the Spirit of grace ? Who dare say that he, whose sins are perfectJy redeemed by the blood of Christ, is disqualified to be a recipient of holy Baptism ? Who shall separate such an one from the love of Chrtst? Who shall forbid him water that he should be Baptized, and have the whole benefits of this redemption secured by God's own seal to him ? Who shall deny him the graces of that Holy Spirit which He who redeemed him, has bought with His precious blood and promised to send for his sanctification ? Hear the judgment of S. Cyprian and sixty-six Bishops on this matter : " all men are alike and equal, in that they have been once made by God j1 and our age, in the growth of our bodies, may differ according to the world, but not according to God ; unless indeed the very grace also, which is given to the Baptized, is granted more or less, according to the age of the recipients ; whereas the Holy Ghost is not given by measure, but through the clemency and mercy of the Father, equally to all. For as God accepteth no man's person ; so neither with well weighed equality, any age ; but giveth Himself as a Father to all, for the attainment of heavenly grace." " If anything could hinder men from obtaining grace, much more might the more grievous sins hinder the adult, and grown, and elder men. If then, even to the most grievous offenders, and who had before sinned much against God, when they afterwards believe, remission of sins is granted and no one is debarred from Baptism and grace, how much more ought not an Infant to be debarred, who being newly born has in no way sinned, except that being born after Adam in the flesh, he has by his first birth contracted the contagion of the old death ; who is on this account more easily admitted to receive remission of sins, in that not his own but another's sins are remitted to him. And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council, that no one should by us be debarred from Baptism and the grace of
1 Hence it is we address God as our heavenly and most merciful Father in both Eucharistic prayers in the office of Puhlic Baptism of Infants.
199
God Who is merciful and gracious and loving to all. Which as it is to be observed and maintained towards all, much more do we think it to be observed towards infants and the newly born, wlio on this very account the more deserve our aid and the Divine mercy, that immediately on the very dawn of their birth, lamenting and weeping they do nothing else but entreat for pardon.1 This quotation from S. Cyprian sufficiently illustrates the mean- ing of the words " most agreeable."
II. Let us next inquire after the reasons which the Church has from time to time assigned for maintaining the general neraihneces- necessity of Infant Baptism. We will begin with the Ar- Baptismof tides of 1536, whose doctrine is as follows : " We will that all I^feTout of Bishops and Preachers shall instruct and teach our people com- born^'orf. mitted by us unto their spiritual charge; that infants must gmalsin- needs be christened because they be born in original sin, which sin must needs be remitted ; which cannot be done but by the Sacrament of Baptism, whereby they receive the Holy Ghost which exerciseth His grace and efficacy in them and cleanseth and purifieth them (not attests their previous cleans- ing and purification) from sin by His most secret virtue and operation."2 The Institution of a Christian man, pub- lished in the following year delivers the same doctrine in the same words.3 The Articles of 1538 teach, " Quod infantes debeant baptizari. Quia vero infantes nascuntur cum peccato ori- ginis4 habent opus remissione illius peccati, et illud ita remit- titur per Baptismum ut reatus tollatur, licet corruptio natures, seu concupiscentia, manet in hac vita, etsi incipit vanari, quia Spiritus Sanctus in ipsis etiam infantibus est efficax, et eos mundat."5 In 1543 the Necessary Doctrine declared that " Baptism appertaineth and is offered unto Tnfants, which, because they be born in original sin, have need and ought to be christened. The children of Christian men be full of the chaff and corruption of original sin, until that by Baptism they be washed, cleansed, and purged from
1 S. Cyprian's Fpistles, lxiv. pp. 196 — 8. Library of the Fathers.
2 Formularies of Faith, p. xix. 3 Ibid., p. 93.
4 Immediately before these words it is said " Quod infantes per Baptismum fonsequantur remissionem peccatoium." s Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 280.
200
the same, as their parents were."1 Let us now betake our- selves to Cranmer's Catechism of 1548. It is there said, " In fants are baptized for this purpose ; that they may by the same (by Baptism) envoy remission of their sins. And in case they needed not forgiveness of their sins, then they had no need to be christened."2 This seems, as we have before observed, the inevitable consequence of embra- cing the new Doctrine of Prevenieut grace.
If the sins of infants, where they are remitted at all, are re- mitted by an act of preveuient grace before Baptism, this Sacra- ment can no longer be generally necessary to salvation, but becomes a mere rite and unprofitable ceremony, only attesting the individual's profession of faith, either in his own person, or by his sponsors. In this very year, 1548, Archbishop Craumer3 was engaged in the compilation of the first book of Common Prayer, wherein the same doctrine appears with equal distinct- ness. " All men be conceived and born in sin, and no man born in sin can enter into the kingdom of God except he be regenerate and born anew of water and the Holy Ghost." In the year 1552 the Book of Common Prayer was revised and re-published and the same reason assigned for bringing all infants to baptism with this confirmation of the doctrine, that it was so said by our Saviour Christ. I have already adduced the evidence of Archbishop Cranmer4 and therefore need not re-produce it here. The last testimony, which has been transmitted to us, of his doctrine, proves that infants needed and obtained the remission of their sins in Baptism. In 1559 Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book was published, handing down the same doctrine. In 1562 and 1567 appeared Bishop Jewel's Apology and its Defence, which laid down the doctrine of the Church of Eng- land to this effect; '*■ The children of the faithful, for that they be born in sin, and pertain to the people of God,
OUGHT THEREFORE TO BE BAPTIZED ; FOR BAPTISM IS A Sa-
crament of the remission of sins."5 Again in his Trea-
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 254. s Cranmer's Catechism, p. 88.
3 Cardwell's Two Liturgies of Edward VI. compared, pp. 326, 334. Pp. 107, 1 12, of Parker Society edition.
4 See above, pp. 123—129.
5 Jewel, portion iii. p. 461, see above, pp. 146 — 152.
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tise on the Sacraments he writes, " For this cause are Infants baptized, because they are born in sin and cannot become spiritual, but by this new birth of water and the Spirit." 1 Our next witness is Dean Nowel, who in his catechism of 1571, which was used by the command of the Church, says : " Quum naturd jilii tree, id est, alieni ab ecclesia, qua; Dei familia est, simus, baptismus veluti aditus qui- dam nobis est per quem in earn admittimur ; unde et testimonium etiam amplissimum accipimus, in numero domesticorum, adeoque Filiorum Dei nos jam esse ; imo in Christi corpus quasi cooptari atque inseri, ejusque membra fieri, et sic unum cum ipso corpus coalescere."2 We have already shown that Dr. Nowel held the secret and spiritual grace of Baptism to be remission of sins and regeneration.
From these extracts it is abundantly evident that not only at the dawn of the Reformation but also at its noon-day brightness, the Church of England held and authoritatively taught that, because infants are born in sin, are aliens to the Church, and remain in that state, and cannot, ordinarily, become spi- ritual, BUT BY BAPTISM, WHICH IS THEIR NEW BIRTH OF Unremitted WATER AND THE SPIRIT, THEREFORE THEY NEED AND OUGHT °n far from'
to be baptized. This is now denied, and it is perversely to the bap- maintained that unremitted original sin is an insvperable bar to fants, is the
. p -n • 1 i- ■• cause of its
beneficial reception of .Baptism ; that regeneration, remission, necessity. and adoption must be actually enjoyed before Baptism, otherwise the infant is to be accounted an unworthy recipient of that Holy Sacrament. To this sad heresy the argument of S. Augustine against the Pelagians is perfectly applicable. " If they (infants) are not diseased with any sickness of original sin (but have it remitted by a prcvenient act of grace) why are they carried to Christ the Physician, to receive the sacrament of their eternal salvation (viz. Baptism), by the godly fear of their friends that run with them to it ? Why is it not said to them in the Church,
1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1 10. If the reader will compare this passage from Bishop Jewel with the extract from the Articles of 1536, he will perceive that the doc- trine of the Church with respect to infants was precisely the same in 1562 as in 1536, and that the reasoning of the Judicial Committee is altogether fallacious. Jewel had no revelation of an act of prevenient grace usurping the office and dignity of Christ's Holy Baptism.
2 Enchiridion Theologicum, vol. ii. p. 212.
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Carry back from hence these innocent creatures ; the whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners V " So odd a thing never was said, never is said, nor ever will be said in the Church op Christ."1 That Church, then, which deliberately maintains that infants must have their sins remitted before Baptism, if they be capable recipients of the Holy Sa- crament, cannot be in the judgment of S. Augustine the Church of Christ. Let us then beware, lest for countenancing this heresy the kingdom of God be taken from us and given to a nation who will hold fast Christ's name and will not deny His faith. " He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember, therefore,
HOW THOU HAST RECEIVED, AND HEARD, AND HOLD FAST
and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know the hour I will come upon thee."2
We have now seen that the Church declares all children to be in a state of nature and sin, and amenable to God's wrath when brought to Baptism, and that this their condition is no bar to, but the avowed cause of their being baptized. Let us now try to discover whether she considers this sacrament to convey to them a full remission of sin, and to translate them into a new state. We will again begin with the
Articles of 1536, and trace down her teaching to 1571.
III. These Articles and the Institution of a Christian
III. It is the MAN declare, THAT BY THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM INFANTS
uniform doc- '
church the DO OBTAIN Remission of their sins, the grace and favour of sacrament God, and be made thereby the VERY sons and children of iriilntsob! God. Insomuch as infants and children dying in their infancy sfon ofTheir snaU undoubtedly be saved thereby and else not.3 The Articles sms, &c, Qf 1533 dec]are) "Quod infantes per Baptismum conse- quantur remissionem peccatorum et gratiam, et sint FILII Dei, quia promissio gratije et vit^e ^etern/E pertinet uon solum ad adultos, sed etiam ad infantes."4 So says the
1 Wall's History, vol. i. pp. 360, 1. 2 Revelation iii. 2, 3.
3 Formularies of Faith, pp. xix. 93. 4 Cranuier's works, vol. iv. p. 280.
203
Necessary Doctrine of 1543 : " Baptism appertaineth to infants, ana arc whereby they being offered in the faith of the Church, receive Baptism forgiveness of their sin and such grace of the Holy Ghost, that if tliey die in the state of their infancy, they shall thereby be undoubtedly saved."1 Let us next turn to the Homily of Salvation, written by Cranmer and published in 154<7 ; " In- fants, being baptized, and dying in their infancy, are by this sacrifice, washed from their sins, brought to God's favour, and made His children and inheritors of His kingdom of heaven."2 Here is clearly stated the procuring or meritorious cause, and the instrumental cause of the remission of sins to infants. The words " dying in infancy" are not to be considered as a condition of their obtaining remission of sins, but are to be contrasted with the following words ; " they which, in act or deed, do sin after Baptism." They mark the period during which original sin alone attaches to children. Again, " we must trust only to God's mercy (and not to the merit of all our said virtues, of faith, hope, charity, which be too insufficient to deserve remission of our sins and our justification) and that sacrifice which our High Priest and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God, once offered for us upon the Cross to obtain thereby God's grace and re- mission, AS WELL OF OUR ORIGINAL SIN IN BAPTISM, as of
all actual sin committed by us after Baptism, if we truly repent and turn unfeignedly to Him again."3 Cranmer's Catechism teaches children, that, "when we be born again by Baptism, then our sins be forgiven us and the Holy Ghost is given us, which doth make us all so holy, and doth move us to all goodness."4 In 1549 King Edward VI., in his reply to certain censures of the Cornish rebels on the Prayer Book, says : " And so likewise judge you of confirmation of children, and let them answer you this one question. Think they that a child christened is damned, because it dieth before Bishoping. They be confirmed at the time of discretion, to learn that which they professed, in the lack thereof, by Baptism, taught in age that which they received in infancy, and yet no doubt but they be saved by Bap- tism, not by Confirmation; and made Christ's by christen-
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 254. The Catechism of 1552 also declares that for the Baptism of infants their parents' or the Church's profession svfficeth,
2 Homilies, p. 25. 3 Ibid. p. 31. 4 Cranmer's Catechism, p. 185.
204
ing, and taught how to continue hy Confirmation. Wherefore, mark, good subjects, how our doctrine is founded upon true learning and theirs upon shameless errors."1 In the same year Bishop Ridley, in a disputation in Cambridge about the Sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper, said, " Christ is present after another sort in Baptism than in this Sacrament ; for in that He purgeth and washeth the infant from all kind of sin ; but here He doth feed spiritually the receiver in faith, with all the merits of His blessed death and passion."2 In the same year Archbishop Cranmer taught, in his answer to the Devonshire rebels, that in Baptism our original sin is pardoned, and that we begin a new life towards God.3 Bishop Jewel too says, that " A father must put his child in mind of his baptism (when preparing him for confirmation) and teach him that it is a covenant of God's mercy to us, and of our duty to God ; that it is a mystery of our salvation, that our soul is so washed with the blood of Christ, as the water of Baptism washeth our body."4 Again, " Let us look upon our children as upon the great blessings of God. They are the Lord's vessels ordained to honour, /rf m« keep them clean ; they are Christ's lambs and sheep of His flock ; let us lead them forth into wholesome pasture. They are the seed-plot of heaven, let us water them, that God may give the increase; their angels behold the face of God; let us not offend them; they are the temples and tabernacles of the Holy Ghost ; let us not suffer the foul spirit to possess them and dwell within them.
" God saith, Your children are My children. They are the sons of God. They are born anew, and are well shapen in beautiful proportion ; make them not mon-
1 Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. Book IX. p. 15 y3. "If children then are made Christ's and saved by Baptism previously to a personal assumption of the promise and vow entered into in their name by their sponsors, which per- sonal assumption does not take place till Confirmation, it is plain, that their primary acceptance into Divine favour cannot depend upon the event of then- subsequent continuance in it. And it is likewise plain, that the benefits, which they are here stated to receive by Baptism are to be as universal as the admi- nistration of the Sacrament itself." — Archbishop Laurence. Efficacy of Baptism, Part I. p. 95.
2 Ibid. p. 107. 3 Cranmer 's works, vol. ii. p. 225, 235. 4 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1127.
205
STEKS. He is a monster whosoever knoweth not God. By you tlicy are born into the world, be careful also that by your means they may be begotten unto God (in baptism) ; you are careful to train them in nurture and comely behaviour of the body; seek also to fashion their minds unto godliness. You have
BROUGHT THEM TO THE FOUNTAIN TO RECEIVE THE MARK
of Christ; bring them up in knowledge and watch over them that they be not lost. So shall they be confirmed, and will keep the promise they have made and will grow unto perfect age in Christ." 1 Thus wrote Bishop Jewel respecting the state of baptized infants. He represents them all, without any impious exception, as the Lord's vessels ordained to honour, as the seed-plot of heaven ; as the Temples of the Holy Ghost ; as receiving the mark of Christ in the fountain of Baptism, as born anew and shapen in beautiful proportion, in short as the sons of God. But he by no means leads us to believe that they are certain of retaining these graces and privileges, unless man works together with God and seeks to fashion their minds unto godliness. No ; the indefectibility of grace and final per- severance, and the presumption of calling upon man to do his part in procuring and securing God's grace to infants was un- known to this great light of the Reformation. He calls upon all parents not to suffer the foul spirit to possess their children after that by Baptism they are made the tabernacles of the Holy Ghost ; he warns them not to make these regenerate beings monsters by neglecting to bring them up in the knowledge of Christ; he entreats them to watch over them that they be not lost. Parents are bidden by this eminent bishop to be as careful and diligent as if their children's salvation depended entirely upon themselves, and after patient continuance in well doing to look to God for the increase. And they are encouraged in the Christian task by the assurance that their children are the ob- jects of angels' solicitude and protection, who always behold the face of God acquainting Him with every offence thrown by the malice of the devil or the negligence of man across their heavenward path, and imploring Him to guard these lambs, who are sealed in their foreheads with the mark of Christ, from all dangers ghostly and bodily.
1 Jewel, portion ii. p. 1128.
206
I will only add the remark that the doctrine laid down by the Church in Nowel's Catechism is entirely in accordance with the above. Infants are there declared to be made by Baptism the sous of God, and to be united to the same body with Christ Himself. From this accumulation of evidence we perceive that from the dawn of the Reformation to its meridian splendour, the Church of England has held but one and the same doctrine re- specting the benefits of which infants become partakers by Baptism. She has invariably and most distinctly taught, that before Baptism their original sin is unremitted (yet redeemed), but that when the sacramental water of the Holy Ghost touched their foreheads and the presence of the Holy Trinity was solemnly invoked by God's Minister in the words of Christ's institution, the child becomes spiritually regenerated by the Holy Ghost, his sin is remitted, he is made God's child by adoption, and an heir of everlasting life.
Before concluding we will notice some criticisms which the Judicial Committee have made, upon instituting a comparison between the Articles of 1536 and our XXVth and XXVIIth Articles.
Theerrone- They observe that "The Articles of 1552 and 1562 adopt Sonsofthe very different language from the Articles of 1536, and have spe- committee cial regard to the qualification of worthy and right reception. ingttwAr- The twenty-fifth Article of 1562 distinctly states that in such with those only as worthily receive the same, sacraments have a wholesome effect or operation." In reply to this I beg to remark that the word "sacraments" in the clause alluded to in the Article XXV. does not relate to the two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but, as I have sufficiently proved, to the two outward parts or signs of one sacrament, the Lord's Supper, to which sacrament infants are not admitted because they cannot receive it in the Church's sense of the word "worthily."
If the Judicial Committee had accurately examined the Articles of 1536 they would have found, that they have as "special re- gard to the qualifications of worthy and right and faithful ist. The reception," in the case of adults, as our present Articles, nay that 1536 was no thev are more explicit. The Article on "the Sacrament of
less careful J '
in insisting Baptism " declares that " Men or children having the use
upon Adult r m t
candidates OF reason, and willing and desiring to be baptized (are pro-
207
mised) by the virtue of that holy Sacrament, [to] obtain the grace and remission of all their sins, if they shall come thereunto coming perfectly and truly repentant and contrite of all their sins before totbesacra- committed, arid also perfectly confessing and believing all the arti- Baptism ami cles of our faith." Can they produce anything equally particular supper than with this in our present Articles ? and if they cannot, how are they to account for it, except upon the fact that the Article XXVII. relates solely to the Baptism of infants, who cannot per- form repentance and faith ? Let us next turn to " The Sacra- ment of the Altar" which was and is administered to adults alone. It is there said, " We will that all bishops so shall teach our people, that they ought and must constantly believe, that the said Sacrament is to be used with all due reverence and honour, and that every man ought first to prove and examine him- self, and religiously to try and search his own conscience before he shall receive the same," that is to say, every man must come " worthily," for I have already shown that these particulars make up the definition of that word. What grounds then have the Judicial Committee for asserting that the Articles of 1536 have a less special regard to the conditions of worthy and right (which words they erroneously consider synonymous) reception, than the Articles of 1562? There is clearly none. It is, how- ever, necessary to point out this mistake, lest the reader should fall into the error of supposing that the grace of the Sacrament of Baptism is exaggerated and the qualifications of the adult recipient disregarded.
The Judicial Committee proceed : " The Article on Baptism speaks only of those who receive it rightly, and does not dis- cburahhas tinguish the case of infants from that of adults." By the fact Miydutin. of naming onhi the condition " rightly," the Church has distin- cases of
1 » ■ /> pit i ix t Adult and
quished the case of infants from that of adults, unless the Judi- inf"»t Bap-
. . . tism.
cial Committee will change their mind and say that the Articles of 1562 have a less special regard to the qualif cations of the reci- pients than the Articles of 1536. I have already shown that " rightly " alone was used, because it was the only condition necessary to be observed in infant Baptism, to the consideration of which the Article is confined. We must, however, guard the reader against the false conclusion, that the Church has con- founded the cases of adult and infant Baptism, because she has
208
not distinguished them in Vie Articles in distinct terms. The Church did not treat of adults in the Article XXVII. She limited herself to infant Baptism, which alone teas practised, and with regard to which she desired to settle some diversities of opinion. But as if she had anticipated that her silence respecting the pecu- liar qualifications for adult baptism might be misconceived, she, in the Catechism prefixed to the Articles in 1552, expressly de- clares, that, whilst those, who are grown to ripe years of discre- tion and desire baptism, must believe in Christ and profess the Articles of the Christian religion, their parents' or the Church's profession sufficeth for the young babes, the minister of course baptizing them with pure water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. I will only further observe, that in the "Institution," "the Articles of 1538," " theNecessary Doctrine," in " Cranmer's Catechism," "Nowel's Catechism," and the works of Cranmer and Jewel, the cases of adult and infant Baptism are studiously distinguished by the Church, and that whilst she requires adults, who would receive the Sacraments to their benefit, to come rightly, worthily, and with faith, she never has required, nor does require, more for the perfect baptism of an infant, than his receiving "rightly" i.e. that the two essentials should be religiously observed, in the ministration, according to Christ's institution. It is observable also that in the offices for the ministration of Baptism to infants the Church makes no mention of "worthily" or "with faith," but in the order for the ministration of the Lord's Supper, which is given to adults alone, these qualifications are strongly insisted upon.
The next difference, which the Judicial Committee notice erroneous between the Articles of 1536 and 1562, is this, that our Article XXVII. " instead of saying in the language of the Articles of 1536, that infants obtain remission of their sins and the grace and favour of God by Baptism, and that dying in their infancy they shall be undoubtedly saved thereby and else not," declares only " that the baptism of young children is in any wise to be re- tained in the Church as most agreeable with the institution of Christ," stating nothing distinctly as to the state of such infants whether baptized or not. The Articles of 1536 had expressly determined two points: 1. That baptized infants dying before
209
the commission of actual sin were undoubtedly saved thereby.
2. That unbaptized infants were not saved.
" The Articles of 1562 say nothing expressly upon either point,
but, not distinguishing the case of infants from that of adults,
state in general terms that those who receive baptism rightly have
the benefits there mentioned conferred."
We will first notice what appears to be something like a con- The first
• i point con-
tradiction in these strictures. The Judicial Committee say that sidered.
the Article XXVII.—
states nothing distinctly as to and again " states in general the state of such infants, whe- terms that those who receive ther baptized or not. baptism rightly have the benefits |irnt;(?1ehe
there mentioned conferred." x*Vil-^
J affirms that
infants re-
Now if the Article states that all those who receive baptism feiviDgbap-
' tism rightly,
ri<?htlv have the benefits there mentioned conferred: and that ha^f ^ be-
O J ' nefits there
infants receive baptism rightly, it follows that infants must have ™*|£r°edd the benefits there mentioned conferred upon them. What then "^""suiy1' are those benefits? Why , regeneration, which consists of being ^tesome" grafted into Christ's Church, and being mystically united to HVictiy as t-> His Body, and of having the promises of forgiveness of sins, and Scmwheii of our adoption to be the sons of God, visibly signed and sealed vfrtuaiiyde- (i.e. made good) by the Holy Ghost. Can a doubt then exist aii tobe IT- respecting such persons being at the time present saved ? Are generate- we now to question whether the sons of God are in a state of salvation ? and that, if they died before committing actual sin, and losing the grace of Baptism by impenitence and infidelity, they would be partakers of Christ's resurrection and inheritors of His everlasting kingdom ? We assuredly cannot do so. In this case then what is the difference between the doctrine of the Articles of 1562 and those of 1536 respecting baptized infants ? There is clearly none whatever, in point of fact, beyond this, that in the latter articles the Church drew the conclusion from the premises she had laid down ; but in the former, whilst retaining the same premises she did not draw the conclusion. But that conclusion, though not distinctly expressed, necessarily follows from the premises. How then can the Judicial Committee say that the Article XXVII. states nothing distinctly as to the state of baptized infants ? It is extraordinary that they failed to per-
p
210
ceive the inseparable connection of the latter clause of the Article with the former. In the one the Church declares dis- tinctly what the benefits of Baptism are ; in the other she names, with equal distinctness, those persons, who in her judgment are the most proper recipients of them.
Thus we see that the Article XXVII. does declare what the state of Baptized infants is, and that it is in reality as decided as to their salvation as the Articles of 1536. A sufficient reason can also be assigned for the Church not embodying those words of the Articles of 1536 (on which the Judicial Committee lay so The clause much stress) in the Article XXVII. It is this, that those ciesonsse words, without any material alteration, were removed into a moved into rubric before the Office of Confirmation in the year 1548, coufirma- and it hence became unnecessary to repeat them in the Arti- a°d there- ' cles of 1552. They were in 1661 again removed from the tained in the office of Confirmation and placed where they are now to be
Articles of
1562. found, at the end of the office of Public Baptism of infants. In this place they are again noticed by the Judicial Committee, " one of the points left open by the Articles is determined by the Rubric: It is certain by God's word that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubt- edly saved." The one point alluded to is this, the spiritual state of infants, after receiving the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. This point, then, which they say is left undetermined by the Article XXVII. is acknowledged to be determined by the Articles of 1536 and the Rubric. But now mark what follows : " But this rubric does not, like the Articles of 1536, say that such children are saved by Baptism." If so, what more is determined by the rubric than they suppose to be determined by the Article ? They before said that the Articles of 1536 differed from the Article XXVII. of 1562 in this respect, that the former expressly deter- mined that baptized infants dying before the commission of actual sin were undoubtedly saved thereby (by Baptism) whilst the Arti- cles of 1562 say nothing expressly upon this point, viz. that bap- tized infants are undoubtedly saved by Baptism, and if this point then be not determined by the rubric, we know not what is. It certainly cannot be the second point which is determined by the Articles of 1536, but not by those of 1562, viz. " That unbaptized infants were not saved/' for they themselves here
211
remark that " nothing is declared as to the case of infants dying without having been baptized." The learned judges seem a little confused here and to contradict themselves. They felt that this rubric, if interpreted as it has invariably been interpreted by the Church herself, and every respectable commentator upon the baptismal office, would be fatal to the unnatural and hypotheti- cal construction by which they have vainly attempted to reduce to nothing all the scriptural and Catholic truths contained in the previous office. They proceed therefore to suggest doubts as to the meaning of the rubric, but refrain from favouring us with what they consider its rightful sense. But so long as the old established rules of construction and interpretation, which have received the sanction and approbation of the most learned men in times past, as being on the whole the best calculated to de- termine the true meaning of the documents to be examined, shall be observed and respected, their attempt to nullify this rubric will be abortive.
I will now trace the history of this rubric down from the The history
i/> i i i Tr«. n of the rubric
year 1536 to 16G1, and lay before the reader the different forms at the end of
the roiuis- tration of Public Bap- tism of In- fants.
in which it has at various times appeared.
Articles of 1536 and The Insti- tution of 1557, under Baptism.
" Insomuch as in- fants and children dying in their infan- cy shall be undoubt- edly saved thereby and else not."
Institution of a Chris- tian Man of 1537, un- der Confirmation. For- mularies of Faith, p. 96.
"Although it be well done that men do present their children unto the Bishop, to receive at his hands the Sacrament of Confirmation, when they be of so tender
The fourth rubric in the Order of Confirmation 1 in two Prayer Books of Edward VI. is as follows :
"And that no man shall think that any detriment shall come to children by defer-
1 The extracts from the Institution and Necessary Doctrine, will account for this rubric being found iu the Confirmation Service. They prove that Cranmer had these works before him and transferred from them the doctrine of Baptism into the Prayer Book. It will therefore be satisfactory to know how it is brought about that the same expressions which teach doctrine in these Treatises cease to do so and have no meaning at all, when they appear in the Prayer Book. Until the secret is communicated, we shall hold fast to the sound doctrine of Hooker. "There is nothing more dangerous than this licentious and deluding art, which ehangeth the meaning of words, as Alchymy doth, or would do, the substance of metals, maketlt anything of what it lisleth, and biunuei h in THE end all TRUTH to nothing." Hooker, b. v. ch. lxix. § 2.
p 2
212
Proposed rubric of 1661.
" Children being baptized, have all things necessary for their salvation, and dying before they commit any actual sins, be undoubtedly saved, though they be not confirmed."
age, as commonly they be wont to do ; yet it is not to be thought that there is any such necessity of Confir- mation of Infants, but that they being baptized, and dying innocent before they be confirmed, shall be as- sured to attain everlasting life and salvation by the effect of the Sacrament of Baptism before received."
The words in italics down- wards appear in the Neces- sary Doctrine of 1543, unaltered, except that " in- nocents," is used for " in- nocent," and "before" is omitted between " bap- tism" and "received." Form eventually adopted
and placed at the end of
the Baptismal Office in
1661.
"It is certain by God's word that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved."
ring of their Con- firmation, he shall know for a truth that it is certain by God's word that children being bap- tized—
[1549] (if they depart out of this life in their infancy) are un- doubtedly saved.
[1552] have all things ne- cessary to their sal- vation, and be un- doubtedly saved."
The design Before commenting on the language of this rubric it is as church in well to acquaint the reader with the design of the Church in in- ttJ™nhri£e troducins it alike into the Articles of 1536 and the rubric. I
have already had occasion to observe that the Papists, to the great injury of Baptism, maintained that Christ's Spirit only is communicated in Baptism, that infants are not perfectly united to Christ by this Sacrament, and that Christ's body and blood are given solely in the holy Communion, in which alone they maintained a perfect union with Christ is effected. Acting on this belief they yave confirmation and the Eucharist presently after Baptism even to children.1 They taught the people to 1 Nicholls' Additional Notes.
213
believe that Baptism without confirmation was not sufficient to the child's salvation. The Church of England condemned these opinions, and censured these practices as great abuses. She taught "that all the spiritual graces of the Eucharist were conveyed [to infants] in Baptism as well as [to adults] in the Eucharist ; and that as many as were duly baptized were in effect thereby made partakers of the body and blood of Christ."1 She therefore refused to administer Confirmation or the Lord's Supper to any, " except such as were of perfect age, that they being instructed in Christ's religion should openly profess their own faith and promise to be obedient to the will of God, that is, to those only who could receive them ' worthily and with faith.' " And then to quiet the fears and scruples of those, who were alarmed at the postponement of Confirmation, they added the fourth rubric in 1548. This gave great offence to the Papists ; and we accordingly find the Cornish Rebels demanding of Edward VI. in 1549. "We will have our children confirmed of the Bishop, whensoever we shall within the diocese resort unto him." To which the following answer was returned: — "Think
" Confirma-
they that a child christened is damned, because it dieth before t'on- Bap.
" •> tism saveth
Bishoping ? No doubt but they be saved by Baptism, not by J^J°U' an,? Confirmation." Surely, if the Judicial Committee had been aware of the design of the Church in this rubric, they would not have raised doubts respecting the infants named therein being declared by the Church to be saved by Baptism. The reasons above assigned are stated in four of the forms above given, and were acknowledged both by the Church and the Puritans in 1661.
Let us now compare the words of the rubric with those of the Article of 1536. The Judicial Committee in making this com- parison lay the whole stress on the word " thereby," (which when the means " by Baptism") not appearing in the rubric. Its absence "thereby," is easily accounted for. In 1536 the words under consideration to*ss£the were placed in the Article on Baptism. The word " thereby" " i>eing- bap. then sufficiently indicated that Baptism was the condition on inserted"6"3 which this undoubted salvation depended and the instrument by uren- which it is effected. But when the clause was severed from its context and transferred in 1537 and 1543 into the Article on Confirmation, and in 1548 into the Order of Confirmation in 1 Dr. Waterland's works, vol. ix. p. 479.
214
the Prayer "Book, then it became necessary to name that whereby infants are undoubtedly saved. Accordingly the words " being baptized" are inserted after " children/' and the word " there- by," which separated from its context would be unmeaning, is omitted.
It seems impossible for any man in his senses to doubt that as the word " children" is used in distinction to " men of ripe years," and " dying before they commit actual sin," to " living to an age when they do commit actual sin;" so the words "which are baptized" are employed in distinction to "unbap- tized." The Church then distinctly intimates that upon the Baptism of the child his undoubted salvation depends.
But there is yet one remarkable difference between the lan- guage of the Articles of 1536 and that of the different editions of the rubric, and which yet is entirely unnoticed by the Judicial critics. I allude to the words, " It is certain by God's word." The words, These words w ere first added, when the Church most properly tain from maintained silence respecting the future state of unbaptized in- wo"v' were fants. She produces scripture in her Office of Public Baptism whence of Infants to prove their sinful state before Baptism — that they maintained are capable subjects of that Sacrament and of Christ's blessing, spectins and that His grace is promised and surely given to them when Tn'fants'.~e baptized. And it is, because "it is certain from God1 's word" that infants, being baptized, and dying before the commission of actual sin, are undoubtedly saved, that she uses the language of earnest belief and assurance in her office. But upon examining into scripture she found no warrant for pronouncing undoubted salvation or damnation with respect to unbaptized infants, but because scripture pronounces no sentence against them, and because the promise of salvation is common to them, she concludes we may hope for the best.
Again, the Articles of 1536 predicate undoubted salvation of baptized infants only of the period of infancy. But the rubric of 1661 extends the period, or at any rate makes its duration more definite, for it declares this undoubted salvation continues until they commit actual sin.
It appears then that upon a careful comparison of the clause in the Articles of 1536 with the rubric of 1661, that the latter is much stronger in its expressions than the former. For,
215
1st. The rubric says, "It is certain from God's word" that its doctrine is true, which the Articles of 1536 do not.
2ndly. It extends or more accurately defines the period during which this uudoubted salvation lasts.
We will now lay before the reader some discussions, which The sense in
. •/•iii- which the
have taken place relative to the meaning of the old rubric of rubric of
1 ... 1552 was
155.2 and the present one of 1661. Those will acquaint us with understood the interpretation which has invariably been put upon this rubric by the Church herself.
At the Hampton Court Conference, held on January 13, 1603, at the King James I. required of the Bishops satisfaction " about Con- court con- firm ati on, first for the name, if arguing a confirming of Bap- eience' tism as if this Sacrament without it were of no validity, then were it blasphemous ; secondly for the use, first brought upon this occasion ; infants being baptized and answering by their patrini, it was necessary they should be examined, when they came to years of discretion, and after their profession made by themselves, to be confirmed with a blessing, or prayer of the Bishop, laying his hands upon their heads, abhorring the use in Popery where it was made a Sacrament and corroboration to Bap- tism.''' The Archbishop of Canterbury replied, " affirming it to be a mere calumniation and a very untrue suggestion, if any had informed his highness, that the Church of England did hold or teach, that without Confirmation Baptism was unperfect, or that it did add any thing to the virtue or strength thereof. And this he made manifest by the ?-ubrics in the Communion book set before Confirmation, which were there read." Another extract from the speech of the Bishop of London will also throw light on the meaning of the words of this rubric. He "opened the absurdities and impieties of their opinion who think there is no necessity of Baptism, which word necessity he so pressed not, as if God without Baptism could not save the child ; but the case put, that the state of the infant, dying unbaptized, being uncertain, and to God only known; but if it die Bap- tized, THERE IS AN EVIDENT ASSURANCE THAT IT IS SAVED J who is he that having any religion in him, would not speedily, by any means, procure his child to be Baptized, and rather ground his action upon Christ's promise, than his omission thereof upon God's secret judgment V'1 These passages 1 Cardwell'8 Conferences, pp. 172, 3, 5.
216
throw a considerable light on the rubric under consideration, and make it quite certain that the Church of Euglaud had not in 1603 embraced the doctrine that regeneration, remission of sins, and adoption were in the ordinary course of God's dealings with the Christian Church of necessity conferred, before and irre- spectively of Baptism ; that if a child dies baptized there is an evident assurance, viz. Christ's promise, that it is saved ; but that though the Church most properly declined to pronounce damnation on unbaptized infants, she yet felt that their fate u as by no means certain, but uas to God only known.
In 1641, the House of Lords appointed a Committee to con- sider the Prayer Book, who, truckling to expediency, proposed amongst other alterations that the word?, "and be undoubtedly saved," should be left out in the last rubric of Confirmation.1 It seems then that these words have been a stumbling-block to the puritanical faction before our own day, and that then it was their design and demand to expunge them, but now- their desire is to explain them aicay. But supposing these words had been erased the sense of the rubric would have remained unaltered. For it will hardly be questioned that those infants, who are baptized
AND HAVE ALL THINGS NECESSARY TO THEIR SALVATION, shall,
if they die in that state, be undoubtedly saved.
In 1661, the ministers excepted against this rubric at the Savoy Conference. The following are their remarks : " Although we charitably suppose the meaning of these words was only to
EXCLUDE THE NECESSITY OF ANY OTHER SACRAMENTS to bap- tized infants ; yet these words are dangerous as to the misleading of the vulgar, and therefore we desire they may be expunged."2 To this the Bishops replied : " It is evident that the meaning of these words is, that children baptized and dying before they commit actual sin are undoubtedly saved though they be not confirmed ; wherein we see not what danger there can be of mis- leading the vulgar by teaching them truth. But there may be danger in this desire of having these ivords expunged as if they were false, for S. Austin says, he is an infidel that denies them to be true. Ep. 23 ad Bonifac."3
The following is Dr. Wall's translation of the whole passage of S. Augustine, to which allusion is made; and as our new teachers are constantly citing a part (the description which the 1 Cardwell's Conferences, pp. 241 , 276. 1 Ibid. 327. * Ibid. p. 358.
217
Bishop gives of a Sacrament in this same letter) it is presumed
they will not gainsay his doctrine respecting its effects. " Sacra- sacraments
11 in •/> 1 1 l ii described.
ments would not be Sacraments, it they had not a resemblance of those things whereof they are Sacraments ; and from this resemblance they commonly have the names of the things them- selves. As therefore the Sacrament of Christ's body is after a certain fashion Christ's body : — and the Sacrament of Christ's blood is Christ's blood : so the Sacrament of faith (i.e. Baptism) is faith, and to believe is nothing else but to have faith. And so when an infant that has not yet the faculty of faith is said to believe ; he is said to have faith because of the Sacra- ment of faith, and to turn to God, because of the Sacra- ment of conversion ; because that answer belongs to the celebration (i.e. the ritual prescribed by the Church ; he does not say to the institution) of the Sacrament. So the Apostle on this same subject of Baptism says : ' We are buried together with Christ by baptism unto death.'' He does not say we signify a burial ; but he uses the word itself : ' We are buried.' So that he calls the Sacrament of so great a thing by the name of the thing itself.
" And so an infant, though he be not yet constituted a fidel (a Infants faithful Christian) by that faith which consists in the will of Ba^tum', believers ; yet he is by the sacrament of that faith ; for as he is said to believe, so he is called a fidel, not from his having the thing itself in his mind, but from his receiving the sacrament of it. And when a person begins to have a sense of things, lie does not repeat that sacrament, but understands t lie force of it, and by consent of will squares himself to the true meaning of it. And till he can do this, the sacrament will avail to his preservation against all contrary powers; and so far it wrill avail, that if he departeth this life before the use of reason, he will by this chris- TIAN REMEDY OF THE SACRAMENT ITSELF (the charity of THE
Church (not of the parents or sponsors) recommending him) be
MADE FREE FROM THAT CONDEMNATION, WHICH BY ONE MAN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD.
"He THAT DOES NOT BELIEVE THIS AND THINKS IT CANNOT
be done, is indeed an infidel, though he have the sacra- ment of faith. And that infant is much better, who, though he have not faith in his mind, yet puts no bar of a contrary to it" graces.
218
KIND AGAINST IT, AND SO RECEIVES THE SACRAMENT TO HIS SOUL'S HEALTH."1
Here the reader will immediately recognize the origin of our rubric.
Among the concessions of the Bishops we find the following : " § 13. That the words of the last rubric before the Catechism2 may be thus altered : ' that children being baptized have all things necessary for their salvation and dying before they commit any actual sins, be undoubtedly saved, though they be not confirmed.' "3 The words in italics are additions to the old rubric. Hence it appears that the Bishops were fully alive to the subtlety of the ministers, and took them in their own craftiness. Their feigned object in the exception was to make it more plain, that the rubric "excluded the necessity of any other Sacrament to baptized infants ;" but their real design was to erase from the Prayer Book this positive declaration of the undoubted salvation of every baptized infant, " by the effect of the Sacrament of Baptism before received." The Bishops were ready to make abundantly plain what they pleaded to be indistinct, and at the end of the rubric proposed adding the words, " though they be not confirmed;" but they altogether refused to expunge the clause declarative of the salvation of Baptized Infants dying before they commit actual sin; observing that, "he is an infidel who denies them to be true."
"When however the Prayer Book was revised, the form of the rubric named in " the concessions'" was not adopted. It was eventually decided that the Catechism should be separated from the Order of Confirmation. The preface to it and the fourth rubric " was curtailed, and the clause respecting the undoubted salvation of baptized infants dying before the commission of actual sin, was placed after the Office for Infant Baptism,"4 thus connecting it immediately with the ministration of that Sacra- ment. To the above evidence I will only subjoin an extract from a comment upon this rubric before it was altered into its present form, which is given by Dr. Nicholls in his Addi- tional Notes — the Office of Confirmation. "They who die
1 Dr. Wall's History, vol. i. p. 271—2.
2 The Catechism, until 1661, formed a part of the Order of Confirmation.
3 Cardwell's Conferences, p. 363. * Ibid. p. 383.
219
presently after Baptism, have all things needful to salvation, they now un.
, * • i ■ %. i i" i • derstooil
need not fear it ; but thev that are to live and to maintain a by the a»-
••i i • ci in it. i p r\ i thor of the
spiritual combat ajrainst bin and Satan, they have need of boo s mss. notes
. , . i - , . . LotheBishop
further graces, which are communicated to them by Imposition of Durham's
of Hands: So Baptism saves a man that lives not long printed in
1619.
after; but Confirmation must help them that are to go on in the hard and strait ways of Christianity, or else they may be apt to perish as they go. Therefore it is not here said, that they of ripe years, but that children being baptized, and so dying white they are children, have all things necessary to their salvation, for afterwards there are many things needful, &C."1 I have now traced down this rubric, not merely from the Articles of 1536, but from its original in a.d. 388 to the year 1661, and have, it is presumed, most clearly established this fact that the Church designed by it to declare, in the most distinct and abso- lute manner, the salvation of every infant, who is bap- tized, and dies in infancy, and that his undoubted salvation is effected by the instrumentality of the Sacrament of Baptism, wherein are given him all things necessary to his salvation, so that he needs the addition neither of Confirmation nor of the Lord's Supper to assure or perfect his salvation.
We have seen that the " Archbishop, Bishops, Doctors, and persons authorized and appointed by the King's letters patent to meet, advise, and consult upon" any alterations which might be proposed, peremptorily refused to expunge the words " un- doubtedly saved," and referred the Puritans to the original of the rubric in S. Austin's letter to Boniface. And they sup- ported their refusal with these memorable words of S. Austin. He is an infidel who denies them to be true. Is it possible then to believe (except upon the most unquestionable evidence) that these same Divines, after contending so earnestly for the faith, would deliberately render this doctrine doubtful in their new rubric ?
But conclusive as the above evidence is it is by no means all that we have to offer. We have the testimony of our adver- Thetesti-
1 , 1 . , , mony of the
saries that the present rubric was designed to teach, and does Puritansto
ii • i*i "i iti/» *ne meanin!
teach that every infant who is baptized and dies before he com- of them.
. . . brie
nuts actual sin is undoubtedly saved by Baptism. "Calamy 1 Nicholls' Additional Notes, p. 58, /3.
220
thus details the grounds of dissent against these parts of the Liturgy [the Catechism and Baptismal Offices] after its revision, which were assigned by the ejected ministers. The subscription and declaration required (that is by the act of uniformity) they found would take in the doctrine1 of real baptismal re- generation AND CERTAIN SALVATION CONSEQUENT THERE- FROM. And that whether the persons baptized were qualified subjects2 of baptism, yea or not. It would be an approba- tion OF THE RUBRIC AT THE END OF THE PUBLIC OFFICE
for Baptism, where 'tis said, it is certain by God's word, that children, which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved It would also be an agree- ment to use constantly after baptism that thanksgiving; We yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this Infant with Thy Holy Spirit. Now when they should be obliged to baptize all comers, without a liberty of refusing the children of infidels or the most scanda- lous sinners (provided they had but sponsors) to bless God pre- sently as soon as the office was over for regenerating them by His Holy Spirit, and lay it down as undoubtedly certain that they were saved, if they died ; this was what their light would not suffice for ; and therefore till then it was their undoubted duty to avoid concurrence. It hath been pleaded by some in this case to mollify the objection, that the asserting of a baptismal regenera- tion was what was mainly intended, and that herein they had the concurrence of many of the most celebrated reformed Divines, and of many even of our own most admired writers ; to which they made this obvious reply : that the thanksgiving after Baptism mentions regenerating with the Holy Spirit, which carries the matter further than the sign , and seems to denote the thing signified, as actually given to each baptized person. Besides the sense of the Church in this point was sufficiently cleared by the office for Confirmation, in which the Bishop who officiates, in his first address to God, expresses himself thus : Almighty and everlasting God, who hast
1 It is observable that the Puritans of 1661 had not made the discovery that the Church of England taught no doctrine in her Catechism and Baptismal Offices.
2 That is, infants born of, what they deemed, elect and believing parents, and themselves predestined to be saved.
221
VOUCHSAFED TO REGENERATE THESE THY SERVANTS BY WATER
and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgive- ness of all their sins, &c. This said with reference to all comers (as to which 'tis well known there is very little care) gives ground to all concerned to think themselves sufficiently re- generated already, and to apprehend that the Church doth not think their aiming at any further regeneration needful, when once they are baptized and confirmed."1
Again, Baxter states : " I have spoken with the Bishops that brought in and promoted this Article (viz. the clause in ques- tion) and they own the universal sense, supposing the true form of Baptism2 (the recte), and say that as any man hath right to take up an exposed infant in the streets and take it in, so hath any one to bring the child of a heathen, infidel, atheist, or Sad- ducee, to Baptism.
" If they had meant it only of some baptized infants [the seed of believers] and not all, they knew the non-conformists were of the same mind, and then they would have told us what sort they meant."3
Again, " I that knew why the old words were changed into these and by whom it was brought in, urged, and procured, am fully satisfied of the sense of them that did it by experience."4
The other point which is expressly determined by the Articles The second of 1536, but not decided by the Articles of 1562, nor the specting the Rubric of 1661, is this : " That unbaptized infants were not baptized"1" saved." It is difficult to see how the Church's withholding her "'fants' judgment on this speculative question, can upon any sound prin- ciples of reasoning render doubtful the positive doctrine which she has delivered respecting the truth and certainty of the salva- tion of baptized infants, dying before the commission of actual sin. As however the Judicial Committee attach great import- ance to this silence, we will briefly point out when she adopted it and her reasons for so doing.
1 Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's Life, quoted by Archbishop Laurence in his Doctrine of the Church of England on the Efficacy of Baptism, part ii. pp. 112—14.
2 Here we have the evidence of Baxter, that the Church of England esteems the true form of Baptism the only requisite for perfect Infant Baptism.
3 Baxter's Nonconformity stated, p. 50, quoted by Archbishop Laurence, Doctrine of the Church, &c. p. 135.
4 Defence of the Plea for Peace, p. 19. Ibid. p. 135.
222
The words, Upon examination, it appears tLat the words, " and else not/' not!" exist in the Article on Baptism, in 1536 and 1537, but not in omitted m ^ Article on Confirmation in the Institution. Neither do they appear " totidem verbis" in the Articles on Baptism or Confirmation in the Necessary Doctrine, but their substance does under the former Article. It is there stated : " Wherefore seeing that out of the Church neither infants nor no man else can be saved, they must be christened and cleansed by Baptism, and so incorporated into the Church."1 In 1549, neither the words, " else not," nor their equivalent appear in the fourth Rubric before the order of Confirmation, but then the important words, " he shall know for a truth, that it is certain by God's word" wevef rst introduced. The addition of these words and the omis- sion of the damnatory clause are a sufficiently plain indication that it is not certain from God's word what will be the condition in a future state of infants dying unbaptized. "We must next bespeak attention to an important alteration in the language of Article IX. in 1552. The corresponding Article2 in the Augsburgh Confession declares that this corruption of our nature ordinarily produces eternal death in those who are not Alteration in baptized. " Hie morbus, seu vitium originis, vere sit peccatum,
Article IX. 1 , . .
damnans et ajferens nunc quoque ^eternam mortem his, qui non renascuntur per Baptismum et Spiritum Sanctum." These ex- pressions were retained by our Churchmen in the Articles of 1538, but in 1552, although they maintained against the Romanists3 that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin, even in those who are regenerated by Baptism and the Holy Ghost, they did not attach to it that extreme malignity
1 Formularies of Faith, p. 255.
s It is the second Article, Sylloge Confessionuin, p. 166".
3 The Churches of England and Rome both agree that original sin is remitted in and by Baptism. But the latter Church* holds that not only the guilt of original sin is pardoned, but original sin, or the corruption of man's nature, is altogether taken away or plucked up by the roots, and that the baptized recover the original righteousness of Adam, and are made innocent, immaculate, pure, and harmless. The Church of England on the contrary maintains that the guilt only of original sin is remitted in and by Baptism, and that " certain pains thereof continue as long as tee live." But this punishment is not to revenge original sin, which is pardoned in Baptism, but to make us humble, penitent, obedient to God, fearful to offend, and ever to stand in fear and awe.f
* Canones Cone. Tridentin. pp. 23, 24. Catechismus, Cone. Trid. p. 146. f Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 235.
223
which the Lutherans and themselves had previously done; but bearing in mind that " the offering of Christ once made upon the Cross is the perfect redemption, propitiation and sanctification for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual ;" they pronounced it only " deserving of God's wrath and dam- nation," in the unbaptized, and that it entailed no condemnation on those who are regenerated, or baptized, and live as becomes the faithful. This marked alteration in the language formerly used proves the Church did not, as formerly, believe that original sin entailed eternal death on those who are unbaptized.
We will next lay before the reader the reasons which the jj,e Church has assigned for maintaining silence regarding the res^onsfor future state of infants dying unbaptized. They are recorded respecting"* in the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, which was compiled ulfbaplized* under the immediate eye of Archbishop Cranmer at the timemants' the Prayer Book was revised and the Articles first framed, and published by Archbishop Parker, (who contributed his assistance to the work) in 1571. This work then comes to us with the authority and approbation of both these great men, and must be regarded as the voice of the Church. Under the Article of Baptism it is said : " Uloruni impia videri debet strapulosa super- stitio, qui Dei gratiam et Spiritum Sanctum tantopere cum Sa- cramentorum elementis colligant, ut plane affirment nullum Christianorum infantem aternam salutem esse consequuiurum, qui prius a morte fuerit occupatus quum ad Baptismurn adduci potuerit, quod longe secus habere judicamus. Salus enim illis solum adi- mitur, qui sacrum huuc baptismi fontem contemnunt, aut superbiii quadam ab eo, vcl contumaeia resiliunt ; qua? impor- tunitas, cum in puerorum a;tatem non cadat, nihil contra salutem illorum authoritate Scripturarum decerui potest; iunno contra, cum illos communis promissio pueros in se comprehendat, optima nobis spes de illorum salute coucipieuda est."
Hence we learn, that the Church, upon revising her doctrine and bringing it to the test of Scripture and primitive antiquity, determined the scrupulous superstition of those persons to be impious who so entirely tie down the grace of God and the Holy Spirit to the elements of the Sacraments as distinctly to affirm that no infant of Christians shall obtain eternal salvation who is carried off by death before it could be brought to Baptism —
224
of this she judged far otherwise. She then gives her reasons for arriving at this conclusion ; all of which deserve our particular attention.
andfor 1st. Salvation is only taken away from those who proudly
hoping for J 9 1 J
their saiva- despise the baptismal iont.
tioii. .
2ndly. Children, by reason of their tender age, cannot be guilty of this wilful disobedience.
3rdly. Nothing can be determined by the authority of Scripture against their salvation.
4thly. But on the contrary, since the promise of grace and sal- vation, which is common to the children of christened parents, includes them, a very good hope is to be conceived of their sal- vation.
"VVe have here the judgment of the Church of England, drawn up by thirty-two of her most learned Divines and Lawyers, that all infants, born of christened parents, are looked upon by God with equal favour, and have the same promise of grace and sal- vation made to them, and that all therefore are equally qualified to receive Baptism beneficially . That none are capable of any act or volition, which will induce God to take away the promise of salvation ; that therefore such as, from circumstances over which they have no control, miss of baptism, are, it is hoped, not excluded from salvation. This hope is strengthened by the fact, that Scripture decrees nothing against them. Now let any man of common candour and common sense compare the language of the Church in her fourth rubric, at the commencement of the Confirmation Service in 1552, respecting the fate of infants dying baptized, with the language of the same Church, in the same year, respecting the fate of those who die unbaptized ; and then let him say whether the Judicial Committee have not en- tirely misrepresented the teaching of the Church of England in her Baptismal Office by the application of their non-natural and miscalled charitable construction, maintains* ^n *ne ^uor^c an(i in the Baptismal Office the Church, being doubted sai CERTAIN from God's word, that Christ has promised to give Iveiybap- ^° everiJ baptized infant remission of his sins by spiritual regene- on'theau''1 ration> an(l not daring to doubt that He does most surely keep GoD's'word aQd perform this promise, and gives them all things necessary to misc1.'"' their salvation, she neither expresses nor implies a hope or a
225
misgiving, but asserts in language as plain and as absolute as the wit of man can devise, that the salvation of such infants by Bap- tism is undoubted, until they commit actual sin and fall away from the grace then and there given. But in the case of infants dying unbaptized, she has no word of God express and decided in favour of their salvation, their future state is uncertain, and known only to God, but believing the promise of grace and sal- vatiou to pertain to them equally with those who are baptized, and that they have themselves done nothing to provoke God to take away this promise, and Scripture also having decreed nothing against their salvation, she entertains a very good hope, but presumes not to speak with certainty regarding their condition in the other world. We see, then, that the Church knows when to use the language of positive certainty, and when that of hope, expresses0'' When she has the most certain warrants of Holy Scripture she efthercer- expresses her earnest belief, she declares herself undoubtedly cer- fui^occa- tain. But in the absence of this scriptural warrant, however quires6 favourable the opinion she may form of a case, she cannot go beyond the word of the Lord of her own mind. She ventures no stronger expression than a hope.1 What then do the Ju- dicial Committee, when in violation of all the approved rules of interpretation, and in defiance of the express declaration of a Canon of the Church, they force upon the Baptismal Office the language of hope, but put the case of baptized infants, whose sal- vation the Church says is certain from God's word, upon the same footing with that of unbaptized infants, whose salvation is not certain from God's word, but only to be charitably hoped for. This is not the kind of dealing which one might expect the evidence of the Church as to the reasons and sense of her expres- sions of her doctrine, to receive at the hands of parties who came to the investigation of "the true meaning and effect of the Articles, Formularies, and Rubrics," with this fair promise : " by no means intentionally [to] swerve from the old established rules of construction, or depart from the principles, which have received
1 It was the rule of the compilers of our Prayer Book and Articles " that no man ought to be so arrogant and presumptuous to affirm for a certain truth in religion, anything which is not spoken of in Huly Scripture." Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 395. Would lie then affirm a child to be regenerate without this evidence of Holy Scripture ?
Q
226
the sanction and approbation of the most learned persons, as being on the whole the best calculated to determine the true meaning of the documents to be examined.''
If this promise had been borne in mind, would it have been decided that the Church meant to express a hope when she does express no hope, but assigns her reasons for not expressing a hope but an undoubted certainty ? Is it agreeable with the old established rules of interpretation to declare an author does not teach that which he himself asserts he does teach? For instance; the Canon LVIL of 1603 declares that the doctrine both of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper is sufficiently set down in the Book of Common Prayer to be used at the ministra- tion of the said Sacraments, as nothing can be added unto it material or necessary; yet in direct contradiction of this judgment of the whole convocation of the Church of England, the Judicial Committee rule that the service for the ministration of Baptism " cannot with any appearance of reason be taken as proofs of doctrine." We may well apply to such interpre- ters the language of Archbishop Cranmer, mutatis mutandis, (which satisfactorily shows that he would not express himself in the Prayer Book otherwise than he meant to be understood). " What manner of teacher make they of the Church that sag, she meant one thing when her words be clean contrary ? What Christian heart can patiently suffer this contumely of the Church 2 But what crafty teachers be those non-natural inter- preters, who devise phantasies of their own heads directly con- trary to the Church's teaching, and then set the same abroad to Christian people to be most assuredly believed as the Church's own word? " 1
Again, the Judicial Committee say that in this Rubric " No- thing is declared as to the case of infants dying unbaptized." Most truly nothing is directly expressed here. What then ? Is Though the there no other Rubric which does throw lifiht upon the case of
Church is .
silent re- unbaptized infants ? Did it escape the notice of the Judicial
spectiDg the * r i
future con- Committee, in their search after such historical facts as were
dition of un- »
Sate™* in' necessary to then- right understanding of the rubric at the end of the baptismal office, that in the year 1661, when the rubric assumed its present shape, and first occupied its present place, 1 Cranmer's works, vol. ii. p. 316.
227
another Rubric was for the first time prefixed to the order of the Burial of the Dead, containing this important direction : " Here not silent a it is to be noted, that the office ensuing is Not to he used for any state? that die unbaptized or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves." Is not this sound authority for main- taining that something is declared by the Church respecting in- fants that die unbaptized. Does it not prove that she considers them out of the pale of her Communion, and that she cannot look upon them as Christians, as regenerate, as pardoned of their original sin, and made God's sons by adoption, — no, not by an act of prevenient grace. If she did, would she venture to ex- clude the sons of God from Christian burial ? Assuredly not. It appears clear, then, that although she observes silence as to their condition in a future world, she is not silent as to their state in the present. This rubric shows she is uncertain re- specting their safety, as does also the Rubric which requires " the curates of every parish often to admonish the people, that they defer not the baptism of their children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other holyday falling between, unless upon a great and reasonable cause, to be approved of by the curate." So too does her strict examination into the form and matter of Baptism, nay the office of Private Baptism itself. And lastly, so do the LXVIIIth and LXIXth Canons, which inflict a penalty of thi'ee months' sus- pension on any minister who shall unlawfully refuse or delay to christen. Why should this be if the Church dreamed the ministry of God's Priest of no value, and if she thought the child suffered no damage by such refusal ? It is not surely agreeable with justice or equity to inflict such punishment upon a man who had done no wrong.
Bishop Jewel also throws considerable light upon the views Bishop of the Church respecting infants dying unbaptized. In his the state of Treatise of Baptism he says : " Some make doubt of those in- dying un- fants, the children of the faithful, which depart before Baptism, ptlzed" whether they be saved or not. What, shall we say that they are damned ? It is a hard matter, and too curious for man to enter into the judgments of God ; His mercy is infinite and His purpose secret. He shovveth mercy unto those upon whom He will have mercy. Who can appoint Him or set Him an order
228
what He shall do ? It is not good, nor standeth with Christian reverence, to be contentious and busy in searching out or reasoning of matters which the wisdom of God hath hid from our knowledge.
"Yet if any would fain be resolved, he may thus safely reason. It is true that children are born in sin, and that by the sin of one man death hath entered into the world, and that the reward of sin is death, but who knoweth if God hath forgiven them their sin ? Who is His counsellor, who knoweth His meaning ? Our children are the children of God. He is our God and the God of our seed. They he under covenant with us. The soberest way is to speak least, and to leave them to the judgment and mercy of God.
"Howbeit if any should despise and of wilfulness refuse this holy ordinance, so that they ivould in no case he baptized, or suffer their children to be baptized, that were damnable. Otherwise the grace of God is not tied so to the ministration of the Sacrament, that if any be prevented by death, so that he cannot be received to the fellowship thereof, he should therefore be thought to be damned. The Church hath always received three sorts of baptism ; the baptism of the Spirit, or of blood, or of water : if any were prevented by death, or hindered by cruelty or perse- cution, so that they could not receive the Sacrament of Baptism at the hands of the minister, yet, having the sanctification of the Holy Ghost, or making their faith known by their suffering, they were born anew and baptized. And thus much of the Sacrament of Baptism which is the badge and cognizance of every Christian. If any be not baptized, but lacketh the mark of God's fold, we cannot discern him to be one of the flock. If any take not the seal of regeneration, we cannot say he is born the child of God. This is the ordinary way ; let us use it, let us not despise, not foreslow to receive the Sacraments ; they are the means by which God maketh sure His good will towards us." 1
Here then is the judgment of Bishop Jewel, who, " instar omnium" was acquainted with the word of God and the princi- ples and doctrines of the English Church. His doctrine per- fectly coincides with that of the Church herself in the Refor- matio Legum, and in the Rubrics.
1 Jewel, portion ii. pp. 1107, 8.
229
He limits his observations to the children of the faithful, i.e. compared of persons who are baptized, as does the Reformatio Legum. Reform.
. Leg*. Eccles
He considers the question of the condition of such infants, who depart before baptism, too curious for man's investigation, and " not to stand with Christian reverence," and the Ref. Leg. Eccles. calls it " scrupulosa superstitio."
He says their future fate is not revealed and that " the wisdom of God hath hid it from our knowledge so too says the Ref. Leg. Eccles., and that under these circumstances, " the soberest way is to speak least." Accordingly we find the Church of Eng- land silent as to their f uture condition.
But although their condition is uncertain (Scripture being silent on the point) yet as it pronounces no judgment against them he thinks there is ground for a good hope, because " the children of persons who are christened are the children of God. He is our God, and the God of our seed. They be under cove- nant with us." This is the right and title of all the children of the faithful to Baptism, (as we before observed) and not the accidental excellence of their parents or sponsors. " Infants are a part of the Church of God ; they have the promise of salvation." And so says the Reformatio Legum : " illos communis promissio pueros in se comprehendat," and therefore all alike having the qualifications for a beneficial reception of baptism, it is hoped their failing to receive it through no fault of their own, will not prejudice their eternal interests. He then says that the grace of God is not so tied to the ministration of Sacraments as that those who unavoidably fail of receiving them should be thought to be damned: and so says the Reformatio Legum. But here _
J _ D The grace ot
the reader must be guarded against a false inference which is GoD is not
. ,. . so tied to
frequently drawn from this and like expressions. Bishop Jewel ^ems «fat does not say, nor imply, that the grace of God is not so tied to the H.e cannot
J i j ' <_> plve ,t with-
ministration of the Sacraments that the duly qualified recipients outthem. may not assure themselves of always having that grace offered by God, and conferred upon them by their means, no, on the contrary, he says, " the Sacraments are the means by which God maketh sure His good will towards us." And that Baptism {not an act of prcvenient grace) "is the ordinary way, by which we are regenerate and born the children of God." What he does teach is this, that " God is able to work salvation both
230
with them and without them,"1 i.e. that He has not so tied His grace to the ministration of the Sacraments that He cannot in extraordinary cases convey His grace to those who are un- avoidably deprived of the use of them. This is sound Catholic doctrine, but we must be on our guard against the false conclu- sion which such as lie in wait to deceive draw from this admis- sion. For it is by no means a legitimate consequence from
God's working without them in extraordinary cases, that there- yet we must ° .
not con- fore jje (joes not alwaiiS work with them in ordinary cases. It
elude He •> J
does not is no legitimate consequence that the promise of God's grace
always work o T. r o
with them. js not alwayS annexed to the sacramental signs, and actually conferred, in the ordinary course of His Providence towards His Church, upon all duly qualified recipients of them, because God under extraordinary circumstances is pleased to communicate His grace at other times than at the ministration of the sacraments, and by other means than by their instrumentality. Neither does it follow, that, because God, in His mercy, is believed not to bind man to things impossible, but is presumed to accept the will of adults for their deed, and the desire of Christian pa- rents, and the well known longing and purpose of the Church for the baptism of all infants, instead of the actual reception [where, by the interposition of His Providence, death or any other unavoidable necessity prevents a compliance with His command ;) therefore there is no great and general necessity for Baptism where it may be had. Bishop Jewel therefore guards his doctrine, that the grace of God is not absolutely tied to the Sacraments, by adding that if any should despise and of wilful- ness refuse this holy ordinance, so that they would in no case be baptized, or suffer their children to be baptized, that were dam- nable; i.e. "a man in so doing procureth his own damnation." And again, " If any be not baptized, but lacketh the mark of God's fold, we cannot discern him to be one of the flock. If any take not the seal of regeneration, we cannot say he is born the child of God. This is the ordinary way, let us use it." Bishop Jewel's authority is, however, now alleged in support of a doctrine as opposite to this as light is to darkness. Be it carefully remembered, then, that Bishop Jewel states, no one is
1 Jewel, portion iii. p. 463. He here says ''this is the meaning'1'1 of the ex- pression " The grace of God is not tied to any Sacraments."
231
okdinarily regenerated but by baptism, and that the Church of England also most distinctly teaches this hoth in the case of infants and of adults (of whose faith and repentance and due preparation the Church has by examination, for a loeek at least, satisfied herself). For in both cases, before the reception of the Sacrament, she prays God to regenerate them by Baptism, and if they chance to die before they are baptized, however faithful or repentant she believes them to be, she cannot, whilst lacking the mark of Christ's fold, receive them for one of the flock ; she has no warrant from God's word that without the seal of regeneration, they are sure of salvation, she cannot say they are bom the children of God, and therefore she refuses them Christian burial.
This in perfect accordance with the Article V. of 1536. "Al- tera acceptio est qua ecclesia accipitur pro congregatione omnium hominum qui baptizati sunt in Christo, et non palam abnegarunt Christum, nee juste et per ejus verbum sunt excommunicati." This i3 the visible Catholic Church ; it is clear then that, accord- ing to this definition, persons unbaptized are not considered within the pale of the Church, and are therefore not entitled to the privileges of its members.1
1 Cranmer's works, vol. iv. p. 278.
INDEX.
Absolution, p. 43, note. See Penance.
Adult and Infant Baptism carefully distinguished by the Church, pp. 41, 113, 192, 194, 207.
Adults, who seek forgiveness of sins, are duly qualified for baptism, p. 131; are required to believe that remission of sins is given to them in Baptism, p. 147 ; their state before Baptism, p. 154.
Articles of 1536 are said by Neal to be founded on the Scriptures and the ancient Creeds, p. 84 ; specify the requisites for adult reception of the two Sacra- ments, pp. 206, 7.
Articles of 1552 compiled by Cranmer, p. 5 ; and never discussed in Convoca- tion, p. 9 ; not designed to be ambiguous but to transmit a true and explicit form of doctrine agreeable to the Scriptures, pp. 11, 23 ; do not profess to treat of all doctrine, p. 24.
Article IX., alteration in, p. 222.
Article XXV. derived from the Augsburg Confession, pp. 29, 41 ; directed against Zuinglians, &c, pp. 29, 62.
Article XXVII., rules for interpreting, p. 103 ; against what heresies directed, p. 108 ; relates only to Infant Baptism, pp. 110, 113 ; declares what is the state of baptized infants, p. 209.
Baptism is not water only, but is water united to God's word and promise ac- cording to Christ's institution, pp. 124, 147 ; its form falsely said to have been altered by the Apostles, p. 39 ; was really mutilated by the Papists, &c, p. 168 ; its matter added to and changed, pp. 166, 7 ; God by it works an inward change in man, p. 64 ; by it we are born again to a new and heavenly life, pp. 85, 123 — 134; by it we are made the sons of God by adoption, pp. 153 — 8, 202 — 8. Sacrament of spiritual regeneration in wa- ter, pp. 86, 123, 6, 181 ; is our entrance into the kingdom of God, has the promise of forgiveness of sins, p. 37 ; is the sacrament of forgiveness of sins, pp. 42, 56, 130, 151 ; works it, p. 125; in it our sins be forgiven, pp. 146 — 153 ; washeth away all sins not in part or in fancy but entirely, p. 152 ; in it Christ gives Himself whole body and spirit, pp. 127, 135 ; by it we are perfectly joined to Christ, p. 128 ; changes the entire man to a higher state, nature, and condition, p. 140 ; makes us partakers of the Divine substance, pp. 141, 4 ; clothes us with Christ, p. 142 ; who is truly and effectually given in it, ibid. ; a pledge of the regeneration of our flesh after death, pp. 143, 4; is perfect without Confirmation, p. 212. The Church not harassed with a controversy about its efficacy in 1552 and 1562, p. 106.
Baptismal ritual, its intended effects, p. 181.
Baptism according to the new school cannot answer to the definition of a Sacra- ment of the Gospel, p. 40, note, 158.
B
234
INDEX.
Bare signs defined, p. 71.
Belgic Confession quoted, pp. 48, 197.
Catechism, Bishop Poinet's, revised by Cranmer and Ridley, pp. 7, 113. Children of wrath, its meaning, p. 201.
Christ always assistant at His mysteries, and gives His grace by visible signs, pp. 57, 68 ; is present in Baptism and truly gives Himself, pp. 142, 4.
Church of England having a baptism available for the remission of sins is the very true Catholic Church of God, p. 151.
Concupiscence not eradicated by Baptism, pp. 152, 199, 222.
Consecration of the elements, pp. 51 — 54 ; its effects on the waters of Baptism, p. 187 note.
Cranmer compiled the Articles of 1552, p. 5 ; averse to ambiguities, pp. 19 — 22 ;
never altered his doctrine on Baptism, p. C4 note, 128, 148. Effectual, its meaning given, p. 71.
Extreme Unction has no element ordained of God, and no promise of forgive- ness of sins, and therefore is no true sacrament, pp. 36, 91.
Faith certifies man's heart of the goodwill which God declares towards him by the Sacraments, pp. 38, 40 ; in adults urged against the opus operatum, p. 38 ; is required only of those who are of the age of discretion, pp. 83, 176 ; is the instrument by which man receives the blessings which God offers, pp. 83, 175 ; implies a special belief in the promises of God made in the Sacraments to each person receiving them, pp. 39, 84 — 88, 125, 175, 7 ; inability to profess their faith does not exclude infants from baptism, pp. 190, 196.
Faithful, children reputed in the number of, 191, 195 — 7. Figure explained, p. 73.
Form of Baptism mutilated and added to, p. 168; said to have been altered by the Apostles, p. 39.
Goodwill, Sacraments the means by which God makes it sure to us, pp. 38, 156.
Grace, the invisible, of the Sacraments, means the gratuitous remission of sins, pp. 37, 48, 76 ; and conjunction with Christ, pp. 76, 128, 136 ; always offered by God in the ministration of the Sacraments, pp. 56, 83, 169 note ; is wrought in the soul of man and not in the elements, pp. 81, 82.
Grafted by Baptism, part of the body is grafted into the Head, Christ, p. 76 ; grafted into the Church explained, pp. 134 — 146.
Helvetic Confession, its definition of proper Sacraments, p. 47 ; on infants' title to Baptism, p. 196.
Infants are baptized because they cannot ordinarily become spiritual without Baptism, pp. 130, 201 ; they are born in sin and pertain to the people of God, pp. 151, 199, 202; the benefits they receive by Baptism, pp. 130, 142, 9, 204 ; faith not required of them, pp. 113, 203 note ; being born of Christian parents they belong to the Church of God and are worthy of sanc- tification, Sec, pp. 190, 1, 195. They are excluded from the Lord's Sup- per because they cannot come worthily, pp. 172, 181 ; and with faith, p. 176. God has promised them His favour and remission of sins, pp, 190, 193 — 7 ; which is actually given them, pp. 202 — 6 ; are undoubtedly saved by Baptism, 209 — 221 ; their baptism most agreeable with the institution of Christ, p. 197; if they needed not forgiveness they need not be chris- tened, pp. 200, 1.
INDEX.
235
Innocency explained, p. 197.
Institution of Christ ought not to be altered, p. 39.
Jewel, Bishop, edited the Articles in 1571, p. 32 ; his works considered a very sure commentary on the Articles, ibid. ; his definition of a sacrament ac- cording to the use of the Church of England, pp. 46, 47.
Latimer probably assisted Craniner in compiling the Articles, p. 8 ; his doctrine on baptism, p. 150.
Lord's Supper is not a bare signification without any operation of God, p. 63 ;
by it we are made partakers of the Divine nature, p. 99. Luther asserts the promise of remission of sins to be an essential part of the
Sacraments, p. 49.
Matter or element of Baptism added to by the Papists, p. 166; changed by heretics, p. 167.
Matrimony having no promise of sanctifying grace is no true Sacrament, p. 91. Opus Operatum explained, p. 121.
Orders has a promise of grace, but not having a promise of remission of sins is no true sacrament, pp. 36, 90.
Original sin does not disqualify infants for baptism, but makes it necessary, pp. 130, 151, 199; is pardoned by baptism, pp. 147, 149, 199, 204; but not eradicated, p. 222, note.
Papists denied the promise of remission of sins to be essential to a true sacra- ment, p. 38 ; injured baptism by diminishing God's liberal promises made to us in it, pp. 79, 127 ; by denying Christ's presence in baptism to equal His presence in the Lord's Supper, p. 144 ; admit that the Church of Eng- land has a baptism available and of force for the remission of sins, p. 151.
Penance has the promise of remission of sins, but this promise not being annexed to the sign, it is not a true sacrament, p. 90.
Presence of Christ in baptism equals His presence in the Lord's Supper, pp. 142 — 4 ; Christ's being present is equivalent to His working by them, p. 78.
Prayer not essential to an infant's receiving the grace of baptism, p. 182 ; effi- cacy of the sacraments depends not upon it, p. 183.
Promise of grace and remission of sins annexed to the sign is an essential part of a true sacrament, pp. 46 — 48, 53, 116, 127 ; belongs to each person who uses the sacraments, p. 48; pertains to alt infants, pp. 147, 190, 193 — 7,224.
Regeneration signified baptism among the Jews, Heathens, and all ancient Chris- tians, p. 118; used in its ancient and Catholic sense, as a synonym for baptism, by the Church of England, pp. 1 18, 123 — 134 ; we are regenerated body and soul in baptism, p. 144 ; without the seal of regeneration a person cannot ordinarily be said to be the child of God, p. 156.
Regenerate, none so before baptism in the eye of the Church, pp. 131, 155, 231.
Remission of sins the substance of baptism, pp. 36, 89, 122 ; baptism the sacra- ment of it, p. 130; received by baptism, pp. 131, 146; not ordinarily given but by it, p. 199 ; essential to a sacrament of the Gospel, pp. 36, 37, 45, 90, 91.
" Rightly" distinguished by the Church from the conditions "worthily" and " with faith," pp. 159, 160 ; is a condition external to the receiver of the sacraments, pp. 161, 165, 220; right administration jealously enforced by the Church, 163 — 7.
23G
IXDEX.
Rubric at the end of the office of Public Baptism of Infants defended, its history given, p. 211 ; its design, p. 212; how understood at the Hampton Court Conference, p. 215 ; and by Baxter and the ejected ministers, pp. 220, 1.
Sacrament ; the word is used in a general and in a particular sense, pp. 46, 47, 72, 90. In the former" sense there are very many sacraments, pp. 37 — 46. In the strict sense it is applied by the Church to Baptism and the Lord's Supper, p. 37 ; cannot be ordained by man, pp. 37, 39, 90 ; nor its form or matter altered, p. 39 : its virtue depends not on man's worthiness or un- worthiness, pp. 42, 56 ; every sacrament hath grace annexed to it instru- mentally, p. 6G. How sacraments are formed, pp. 50 — 54 ; their effect is diverse, p. 58 ; not signs of grace already in some cases received, p. 40, note ; being signs, they are not therefore bare and naked, pp. 63 — 69, 71, 74 ; they are God's instruments by which He works in us, pp. 69, 74, 77 — 80, 158 ; by them we are joined with Christ, pp. 116, 136 ; how they are said to contain grace, p. 77 ; sacraments in the last clause of Article XXV. ex- plained, p. 94—101.
Sacramentarian controversy related solely to the Lord's Supper, p. 106.
Saxon Confession, its definition of a sacrament, p. 48 ; on infant baptism, p. 196.
Seal explained, p. 116 ; is no bare or naked token, p. 117.
Signs, sacramental ; God works inwardly in their use, p. 64 ; the work is not in them but in the worthy receivers, pp. 81, 82, 155. Sign is equivalent to sacrament in its generic sense, pp. 72, 115, 155. Elements are not signs until they are consecrated, p. 73. Sign and the grace united by the Priest at consecration, p. 55.
Suscipientes explained, p. 179.
UnbaptLzed infants, their future state considered by the Church since 1548, tc be uncertain, p. 215 ; reasons for her silence respecting it, p. 223—6. The Church's view of their present state, p. 227.
Unremitted original sin no bar to the baptism of infants but the cause of its necessity, pp. 151, 201.
" Unworthily " means irreverently and the want of a right understanding of the nature of a sacrament, pp. 171 — 7.
Unworthiness of the receiver does not deprive the sacraments of their virtue, pp. 56, 88, 183, 184.
Word of God the substance of the sacraments, pp. 39, 45 — 54.
Working by the sacraments equivalent to beiny present in their ministration, p. 78.
Worthily, this term imports a requisite in the adult recipient of the sacraments, p. 169; viz a right understanding of the nature and a reverent esteem of them, pp. 169 — 172 ; adults alone can possess this qualification, pp. 172 — 4.
Worthiness of the receiver does not give effect to the sacraments, p. 56 ; does not consist in the remission of sins before baptism, pp. 130, 131, 154, 155.
Worthy receiver of baptism described by Bishop Jewel, p. 131 ; by Arch- bishop Cranmer, p. 155.
LI1XKOX : J. MASTERS. IKINTER, A Lb K.I SG.lTfc 3TKKKT.
October, 1850.
NEW WORKS
PUBLISHED BY
JOSEPH MASTERS,
33, ALDERSGATE STREET,
AND
78, NEW BOND STREET,
LONDON.
J. MASTERS respectfully calls attention to his New List of Theological and other Publications, which, being written according to the Teaching of the Church of England, will, he trusts, help those who wish for information upon the most im- portant of all subjects. In this List may be found works by the following Authors : —
Rev. W. Adams Rev. W. H. Anderdon Bishop of Brechin Rev. W. J. Butler Rev. John Mill Chanter Rev. R. Cresswell Rev. W. Dodsworth Rev. W. B. Flower Rev. Samuel Fox Rev. W. Gresley
Rev. W. Heygate Rev. Henry Hopwood Rev. W. J. Irons Rev. W. H. Mill, D.D. Rev. E. Monro Rev. J. M. Neale Rev. F. E. Paget Rev. G. A. Poole Rev. J. F. Russell
Rev. W. E. Scudamore Rev. H. S. Slight Rev. C. F. Smith Rev. H. Stretton Rev. W. H. Teale Rev. R. Tomlins Rev. A. Watson Rev. I. Williams Rev. C. Wray.
NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH MASTERS.
Adams. — The Fall of Croesus.
A Story from Herodotus. With Conversations designed to connect the Study of History with a belief in a superintending Providence. By Rev. W. Adams, M.A., Author of " The Shadow of the Cross." Foolscap 3vo., cloth, with Map, 3s. 6d. "We venture to say that the attention of no intelligent child will be found to flag in reading
this little volume— and those who read cannot fail to be benefited by the simple, earnest tone of
the writer." — Ecclesiastic, February, 1846.
Adams. — Cressingham ; or, the Missionary.
By Charlotte Priscii.la Adams. In foolscap 8vo , cloth, 2s. " It is a very delightful sketch of a very interesting character." — Bnglinh Churchmnn. " Those who have read the twenty-eighth chapter of George Herbert's Country Pakson, will feel interested in CRESSINGHAM." — Gentleman's Magazine.
Address to the Members of the Episcopal Church
in Scotland. Being a Defence of the Purity and Primitiveness of the Scottish Communion Office. By a Layman. A new Edition, revised. l"2mo., cloth, Is.
Aitchison. — Strictures on the Duke of Argyll's
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Drop in the Ocean; or, the Little Wreath of Fancy.
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12 "WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
Fouque. — Aslauga and her Knight.
An Allegory. From the German of the Baron de la Motte Fouque. A new Translation. In 18mo., cloth, price Is. 6d.
Four Talcs of Old Time. Price 4s.
Shepherd of the Giant Mountains. (Fouque.) Is. — The Knight and the En- chanters. (Fouque.) Is. — The Stream. (Author of " Ivo and Verena.") Is. — The Castle on the Rock. (By the same.) Is.
Fox. — The Church in the Cloisters ; or, Monks
and Monasteries. Being an Account of English Monachism. By the Rev. Samuel Fox, M.A., F.S.A. Royal 18mo. cloth. Price 5s.
Fox. — The Xoble Army of Martyrs. Containing
a short Life of S. Stephen, S. James, S. Barnabas, S. Timothy, S. Polycarp, S. Ignatius, S. Clement, S. Irenaeus, S. Dionysius the Areopagite, S. Justin the Martyr ; in plain and easy language for young persons. Price 2s. cloth.
Freeman. — Proportion in Gothic Architecture.
By the Rev. P. Freeman, Principal of the Diocesan School, Chichester. 8vt>., with plates, 2s. 6d.
Freeman. — Principles of Church Restoration.
By Edward A. Freeman, B.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. 8vo., Is.
Freeman. — A History of Architecture. 8to. 14s.
"No one can open his pages without deriving the greatest benefit and instruction, hoth from the largeness of his views, and the ability with which he supports them." — Christian Remem- brancer.
" We have no hesitation in recommending Mr. Freeman's book as worthy to take its place on the same shelf with the few that can be looked upon as standard works on Architecture." — Horning Post.
" We may certainly call it the most important work in Architectural Literature which has yet appeared." — Ecclesiastic.
" The examination into the artistic history of Gothic Architecture is acute and philosophical." —
Builder.
" Evidently the result of much and original thinking." — Athentrum.
French. — Practical Remarks on some of the Minor
Accessories to the Services of the Church, with Hints on the Preparation of Altar Cloths, Pede Cloths, and other Ecclesiastical Furniture. Addressed to Ladies and Churchwardens. By Gilbert J. French. Fcp. 8vo., with Engravings, 4s. boards.
BY THE REV. W. GRESLEY, M.A.
Parochial Sermons. i2mo. cioth, 7s. 6d.
Practical Sermons. i2mo. cioth. 7=. 6i
These Sermons are intended to provide for the continual modification taking place in habits of thought and feeling, and are suited to the particular times in which we live.
The Real Danger of the Church of England.
Sixth edition. 8vo., 9d.
A Second Statement of the Real Danger of the
Church. Third edition. 8vo., Is.
A Third Statement of the Real Danger of the
Church. New edition. 8vo., Is. The above three pamphlets are now sold in one vol. Price 2s. 6d. in a stiff wrapper.
ALDERSGATK STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET.
L3
BY THE REV. W. GRESLEY, M.A. CONTINUED.
Treatise on the English Church, Containing Re- marks on its History, Theory, Peculiarities; the Objections of Romanists and Dissenters ; its Practical Defects ; its Present Position ; its Future Prospects ; and the Duties of its Members. 12mo., price Is.
A suitable book for lending to the middle classes.
Stand Fast and Hope. A Letter on the Present
Crisis. Price Is.
Clement Walton ; or, the English Citizen.
12mo. cloth, 3s. 6d. Cheap edition, Is. 8d. The object of this Tale is to draw a picture of one, who in all the social relations of life acts on Christian principles.
The Siege of Lichfield.
12mo. cloth, 4s. Cheap edition Is. 8d. The narrative commences early in the year 16)2, and carries us through the Great Rebellion, when England was convulsed with faction, showing the sufferings and miseries that attended it.
Charles Lever ; the Man of the Nineteenth Cen- tury. 12mo. cloth, 3s. 6d. Cheap edition, Is. 8d. With a view to show the mutual bearing of different classes on each other ; how ambition and lax principles in the rich, lead to the demoralization of the poor ; how the demoralization of the poor reacts on those above them.
The Forest of Arden.
A Tale illustrative of the English Reformation. 12mo. cloth, 4s. Cheap edition 2s. The author has here diligently endeavoured to write on the Reformation without the spirit of par- tizanship, to describe things as they were.
Church Clavering; or, the Schoolmaster.
12mo. cloth, 4s. Cheap edition 2s. It consists of a series of lessons, given partly in narrative, partly in conversations, bearing in mind the one essential feature of education, viz., the training of youth to live to the glory of Goi>.
Coniston Hall ; or the J acobites.
An Historical Tale. 12rao. cloth, 4s. 6d. It shows that, though comparatively unstained by blood, the moral effects of the Revolution of 1688 on men's minds, as to the principles of social order ODly, have been most prejudicial.
Frank's First Trip to the Continent.
12mo. cloth, 4s. 6d. Cheap edition 3s. Is a most interesting account of a family visit to France, with much historical information. It contains a practical view of Education in France— the Schools of the Christian Brothers, and their founder, Pere de la Salle— Sisters of Charity, aud other Institutions abroad.
Bernard Leslie.
A Tale of the Last Ten Years. 1 2mo. cl., 4s. 6d. Sets forth In its progress an account of the great change or modification of opinion which has taken place within the last fifteen years.
Holiday Tales.
Containing, The Magical Watch — Mr. Bull and the Giant Atmodes — Old Pedro, and Adventures of a Bee. Cloth, 2s. Wrapper, Is. 6d.
Grueber. — Holy Baptism : A Complete Statement
of the Church's Doctrine, with an Explanatory Comment upon Fifty Passages of Holy Scripture. By C. E. Grueber, B.A., Incumbent of S. James, Hambridge, Diocese of Bath and Wells. Price Is. 6d.
"A most useful Tract for the times, we strongly recommend it."— Ecclesiastic.
14
WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
Grucber. — A Plain Discourse on the One Faith ;
showing the Way to Keep it — the Way to Lose it — the AVay to Find it. Price Is.
"An admirable Sermon — plain and convincing.*' — English Churchman.
A Hand- Book of English Ecclesiology.
By the Ecclesiological late Cambridge Camden Society. Intended as a Companion for Church Tourists, with an Appendix containing the names and features of the churches in each county. Demy l8mo., cloth, price 7s., or strongly bound in limp Calf and interleaved, 10s. 6d. With an Index of Subjects.
Harper. — Active Zeal. A Sermon preached on
S Peter's Day. 1830. in S. Peter's Chapel, Pimlico. By the Rev. S. B. Harper, B.A., Curate of Oalton. 18 mo. 2d.
Hawker. — Echoes from Old Cornwall.
By the Rev. R. S. Hawker, M A., Vicar of Monvenstow. Handsomely printed iu Post 8vo., price 4s., cloth. *' These verses bear token of not having been written to order, but for the solace of the author's own feelings ; and the reader who takes up the ' Echoes' in search of the same calm temper of mind will, we think, not be disappointed." — Ecclesiastic.
Henrietta's Wish. — A Tale by the author of
" Scenes and Characters." In the press.
Hewett. — A Brief History and Description of the
Cathedral Church of S. Peter, Exeter. By J. W. Hewett, of Trinity College, Cambridge. 8vo., sewed Is. Ditto with Illustrations and Appendix. 8vo., sewed, 3s. 6d.
Hewett. — The Arrangement of Parish Churches
Considered, in a Paper read before the Cambridge Architectural Society, on February 18, 1848. 8vo., 6d.
Heygate. — William Blake ; or, the English Farmer.
By the Rev. W. E. Heygate, Author of " Probatio Clerica" and "Godfrey Davenant." Fcap. 8vo., cloth, price 3s. 6d. " May it help to make the English Farmer that blessing to himself and to those under and around him which he may and ought to be." — Preface.
Heygate. — Godfrey Davenant at College. A Tale
for Undergraduates. Demy 18mo. , price 2s. 6d.
Hicks. — Catechetical Lectures on the Incarnation
and Childhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. By the Rev. James Hicks, Vicar of Piddle Trenthide. and Chaplain of the Cerne Union House, in the Diocese of Salisbury. Foolscap 8vo. 4s. 6d. The object of these Lectures is to furnish those who instruct tne young with a con- nected account of our Lord's Incarnation and Childhood, for School Reading and Examination, especially adapted to the Season of Epiphany.
Hierurgia Anglicana ; or, Documents and Extracts
Illustrative of the Ritual of the Church of England after the Reformation. 8vo., cloth, price 13s.
"Those who are unacquainted with the ornaments used in the Church of England by Authority of Parliament in the Second year of the Reign of King Edward VI. will find in the Hieruraia copious information derived from authentic sources respecting them, and authorities lor their use." — Ecclesiohgist.
Hints on Ornamental NeedlewTork, as applied to
Ecclesiastical Purposes. Containing directions for those ladies who can give their time to the Service of the Church. 16mo. boards, with numerous engravings. Price 3s.
Holiness in the Priest's Household Essential to the
Holiness of the Parish. A Plain Address to my Household. By a Clergyman. 13mo. Price 6d. or 8d. by post.
ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET.
I 5
Holy Baptism. The Offices of Baptism, according
to the Use of the English Church ; with Select Passages, Meditations and Prayers, from the Fathers and Old Divines. Suited as a present to baptized children, catechumens, and parents and sponsors, with Preface by Archdeacon Manning. Royal 32mo., with border ornaments, &c. Price 3s. cloth ; 5s. 6d. morocco.
Hopwood. — Christ in His Church.
Practical Sermons preached at Worthing. By the Rev. Henry Hopwood, M.A., Rector of Bothal, Diocese of Durham. Demy 8vo., price 5s. 6d.
HojDwood. — Elisha's Staff in the Hand of Gehazi,
and other Sermons. 12mo., cloth, price 2s. 6d.
Hopwood. — An Introduction to the Study of
Modern Geography. Carefully compiled ; including the Latest Discoveries, and a Chapter on Ecclesiastical Geography. With a Map coloured to show the Christian, Heathen, and Mahometan Countries, English Possessions, &c, price 2s. 6d.
Hopwood. — The Child's Geography.
This work will be found to contain in a small compass, all the more interesting and important facts of Geography, in connection with sound religious principles. Price Is. stiff cloth cover.
Horn Book (The). Lessons for Little Children.
On Cards, in a case. Prepared by a mother for her children. First Series, 1 s. 6d. Second Series, Is. 6d.
An Horology; or, Dial of Prayer. Royal 32mo.,
Rubricated, price Is. New edition. Being Short Prayers by way of Aspiration for every hour. Intended to aid the feeble endeavours of those who desire to show all faithful obedience to their Blessed Mother's words, " Men ought always to pray.''
Howe. — Lessons on the Globes,
On a Plan entirely new, in which, instead of being separately studied, they are taken together in Illustration of Terrestrial and Celestial Phasnomena : with Original Familiar Explanations of the ever-varying circumstances of our Planet, and the Solar System generally. Illustrated by Fifty-eight Engravings on Wood. By T. H. Howe. Demy 12mo., price 5s. 6d. " In regard to the correctness and profundity of its views, the book is vastly superior to the works, upon the same subject, which I have known." * * * "I have no doubt that it is really a very much more correct and learned book than books with the same object usually are." — G. B. Airy, Esq., Astronomer Royal.
A KEY TO THE LESSONS ON THE GLOBES. Bound in Leather, price 3s. 6d.
Hughes. — Plain Sermon on the Holy Communion.
Fcap. 8vo. Price 2d.
Hughes. — Plain Sermon on Baptismal Regenera- tion. Price 2d.
Hughes. — Plain Sermon on Duty of Acting upon
what we hear. Fcap. 8vo. Price 2d.
Hughes. — Plain Sermon on Reverence and Atten- tion in Public Worship. Price 2d.
Hymns for Little Children.
By the Author of " The Lord of the Forest," " Verses for Holy Seasons," &c. Price Is. Cloth. Paper Cover, 6d. Fourth Edition. This little volume has the clerical imprimatur of the Rev. John Keble, M.A., author of "The Christian Year.''
The MORNING and EVENING HYMNS are set to Music for Schools, &c. by Dr. Gauntlett. Price 6d. each.
16
WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
Hymns and Scenes of Childhood ; or, a Sponsor's
" Gift. Third Edition. Price 2s. 6d.
Hymns on Scripture Characters for the Use of the
Young. 18mo. cloth, price Is.
Inheritance of Evil. A Tale illustrative of the
consequences of Marrying with a Wife's Sister By the Author of " Wayfaring Sketches," and " Use and Abuse." Price 3s. 6d.
Instructions, Prayers, and Holy Aspirations for
Afflicted Christians. By the Author of "The Doctrine of the Cross," and
" Devotions for the Sick Room." Cloth, 8d. Advertisement. — The great comfort afforded to many sorrowing hearts bv the " Devotions for the Sick Room," has induced me to put forth these highest aspirations of the Saints of God. May He so bless these fervent prayers of His servants, that many hearts may be thereby quickened to more ardent desires after Him, and be brought to know the full blessedness of a deep and living Communion with Jescs, the ineffable Source of life and bliss.
BY THE REV. W. J. IRONS, B.D.,
VICAR OF BROMPTON.
The Judgments on Baptismal Regeneration ; with
Appendices containing a Reply to the Rev. W. Goode's Letter; to which is pre- fixed a Discourse on Heresy and Open Questions. Demy 8vo., price 5s. "Indispensable to all who desire to have even the most moderate collection of authentic docu- ments connected with his memorable controversy." — English Churchman.
" Readers are here, in one small volume, presented with the means of making themselves ac- quainted, in all its great developments, with the incidents of a question which becomes hourly of more ominous importance." — Morning Post.
On the Whole Doctrine of Final Causes.
A Dissertation in Three Parts, with an Introductory Chapter on the Character of Modern Deism. Demy 8vo., price 7s. 6d.
On the Holy Catholic Church.
Parochial Lectures. In Demy 8vo., price 4s. 6d.
On the Apostolical Succession.
Parochial Lectures. Second Series. Price 4s. 6d.
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction,
being Four Lectures on the Synod — The Diocese — The Parish — The Priest. With a Preliminary Essay on the Teaching and Priestly Offices, and Appendices on the Doctrine of Unity and the Royal Supremacy. By the Rev. W. J. Iro.vs. In Demy 8ve., 7s. 6d.
*#* The above Three Series may be had in one volume, price 12s.
Sequel to a Pamphlet on the Royal Supremacy,
entitled the " Present Crisis in the Church of England, " in Reply to the Rev. W. Maskell and the Rev. T. W. Allies. Demy 8vo., price Is. 6d.
Should the State oblige us to Educate ?
A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord John Russell. Demy 8vo., price 6d.
Island Choir (The) ; or, the Children of the Child
Jksus. With an Engraving of the Infant Jesus. 18mo., price 6d. Notick. — 'This tale has been written without any direct moral, but still with the hope of exhi- biting a faint image of some features worth cultivating in the character of boys. If its publication confers the smallest advantage on any of the young, the Author has so far been fulfilling his peculiar calling; but other circumstances of his life lead him to dedicate it specially to Choristers, with the prayer that as it is the Priest's vocation to set forth in his own life the example of Goo in the form of man, so these younger Ministers of the Church may shine like lights among their equals, by conforming themselves to the pattern of the Child Jescs."
ALDERSG ATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET.
17
Island of Liberty (The). By the Author of " Theo-
dore." The design of this work is to expose the fallacy of " Equality" and " Community,'' without Religious and Political Government. Price 2s. 6d.
Ivo and Verena ; or, the Snowdrop, A Tale. 2s. Jenkins. — Synchronistical or Cotemporary Annals
of the Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah, and of the Kings of Syria, Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, mentioned in the Scriptures. By W. J. Jenkins, M.A., Fellow of Baliol College, Oxford, Assistant Curate of S. George's, Ramsgate. Demy 4to., price 5s.
" A Tabular View of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the neighbouring Sovereigns, according as they were contemporary with each other. The Prophets are also included in the Plan. The book seems to have been got up with care, and will, we doubt not, be found very useful in Schools." — Christian Remembrancer.
Johns, C. A. — Examination Questions on the His- torical Parts of the Pentateuch. For the Use of Families, National Schools, and the Lower Forms in Grammar Schools. By the Rev. C. A. Johns, B.A., F.L.S., Head Master of the Grammar School, Helston, Cornwall. Demy 18mo., price Is., strongly bound in cloth.
Johns, B. G. — Easy Dictation Lessons,
In Prose and Verse, Original and Selected. By the Rev. B. G. Johns, Head Master of Dulwich Grammar School. Price Is. cloth, or Is. 6d. by post.
Johns, B. G. — The Collects and Catechising for
every Sunday and Festival throughout the Year. 18moM price 3s. " It is drawn up, chiefly for the guidance of beginners in the art of Teaching, and is published with the hope that it may become useful to the Clergy, and all those engaged in the religious education of the people.'' — Preface.
Jolly, Bp. — Observations upon the Several Sunday
Services and Principal Holy Days prescribed by the Liturgy throughout the Year ; with a few general remarks upon the design of the Inferior Holy Days. Being an humble attempt to illustrate the doctrinal as well as devotional tendency of each ; furnishing matter of devout reflection to the sincere Christian By the Right Rev. Alexander Jolly, D D., late Bishop of Moray. To which is prefixed a brief Memoir by the Right Rev. James Walker, D.D., Bishop and Primus. Fcp. 8vo. cloth, 6s. ; Calf, 8s. 6d.
J oily, Bp. — The Christian Sacrifice in the Eucha- rist ; considered as it is the doctrine of Holy Scripture, embraced by the Universal Church of the first and purest times, by the Church of England, and by the Episcopal Church in Scotland. By the Right Reverend Alexander Jolly, D.D. late Bishop of Moray. 12mo., cloth, Second Edition, price 2s. 6d.
Joule. — A Guide to the Celebration of Matins and
Even-Song, according to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, containing The Order of Daily Service, The Litany, and the Order for the Administration of the Holy Communion, with Plain Tune. By Benjamin Joule, Jun., Honorary Secretary of the Manchester Church Society, Honorary Chapel-Master of Holy Trinity Church, &c. Royal 8vo., price 2s. stiff cover.
Keble. — -The Strength of Christ's Little Ones.
A Sermon. By the Rev. J. Keble, M.A., Vicar of Hursley. Price 6d.
Kilvert. — Home Discipline ; or, Thoughts on the
Origin and Exercise of Domestic Authority. With an Appendix. By Adelaide S. Kilvert. New Edition. 12mo. cloth. 3s. 6d.
The King's Daughter. A Tale. Second Edition.
Price Is. in enamelled Paper Boards, 6d. in Paper Wrapper. The profits of this little work will be devoted to the Orphau's Home, Devonport. This beautiful book is admirably adapted for a present to a young girl,
B
IS
■WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
Ken, Bishop. — The Practice of Divine Love. To
which are added Directions for Prayer. A new edition, with some account of the Author, with Portrait, &c. Royal 18mo., price 2s. Englishman's Library Edition.
Ken's (Bishop) Prayers for the Use of all Persons
who come to the Baths of Bath for Cure. With a Life of the Author. By J. H. Markland, Esq., F.R.S., S.A. New Edition, revised and much enlarged. With an Engraving of Bishop Ken's Tomb in Frome Churchyard. Fcap. 8vo. cloth, price 2s. 6d.
This beautiful little volume contains — The Bishop's Address to the Sick Person, with Prayers, — Exhortation to the Rich, with Prayers, — Exhortation to the Poor, with Prayers for themselves and those that relieve them, — Short Prayers for the Weak, and Thanksgivings for those Relieved by the Waters, — and a Genealogical Table.
Ken, Bishop. — Prayers for Morning and Evening.
Adapted for general use. Price 3s. 6d per 100.
Ken, Bishop. — Preparatives for Death. 2s. Lady Ella ; or, the Story of Cinderella in Terse.
By the Author of " Hymns and Scenes of Childhood." 16mo., cloth, 3s. 6d. " It may be, a Wisdom beyond their own Provided our nursery lore, And that fiction's veil was gracefully thrown Round truth in the days of yore."
Lessons for Every Day in the Week, with
Hymns. 3d., or 21s. per 100.
Companion to the Lessons, containing the sub- jects expanded, for the use of the Teacher. 18mo., Is. 3d.
Lessons in Grammar for a Child. Printed on one
side for pasting on cards, for National and Infant Schools. Prepared by a Father for his Children in the first instance. Second Edition, large type, price 4d.
Lester. — Guardian Angels. A Sacred Allegory.
By Mary F. Lester. Price 2s. 6d.
List of Service Books according to the Uses of the
Anglican Church, with the Date, Size, Place, and to whom they belong. Con- taining Breviaries, Diurnale, Expositio Hynanorum et Sequentiarum, Gradual, Hor«, Hymni, Legendas, Manuals, Missals, and Psalters, &c. 8vo. cloth, price 3s. 6d.
Little Annie and her Sisters.
By E. W. H. Printed on Tinted Paper, with a beautiful Frontispiece, embossed cloth, gilt edges. Price Is. 6d. — Watered Coral Paper, Is.
The incidents of this little work are Facts. "The production of apure-minded and accomplished woman, this sweet little tome is a fit offering for the young." — Literary Gazette.
Little Alice and her Sister. Square 16mo.,
with border ornaments. Price 2s. 6d.
Lives of King Alfred, Sir Thomas More, John
Evelyn. Price Is.
Lives of Englishmen in Past Days.
First Series, containing Herbert, Donne, Ken, Sanderson. Price 6d. Second Series, Kettlewell, Hammond, Wilson, Mompesson, Bold, Jolly. 6d. Third Series, Walton, Wotton, Fanshawe, Earl of Derby, Collingwood, Raffles, Exmouth. Price lOd.
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19
Loraine. — Lays of Israel ; or, Tales of the Temple
and the Cross. By Amelia M. Loraine. In fcap. 8vo., neatly bound in cloth, price 3s. 6d. ; morocco, 5s.
Lord of the Forest and his Vassals.
By the author of " Hymns for Little Children,'' &c. With an ornamental border round each page, and beautiful frontispiece. Small 4to., cloth, elegantly bound, 3s. 6d. Enamelled paper binding, 2s. 6d.
Lyra Sanctorum : Lays for the Minor Festivals of
the English Church. Edited by the Rev. W. J. Deane, Rector of Wick-Rissing- ton. Fcap. 8vo., cloth. " It is hoped that it may prove, under God's blessing, useful in inspiring regard for the Calendar still left to us, and reverence for the righteous men and women it celebrates." — Advertisement.
" The whole tone of the volume, and style of the poetry, with but few exceptions, is such as we can cordially approve. Although the poems in the Christian Year and Lyra Apostolica seem generally to have been the model set before the writers, we find some among them which approach more nearly to the ballad." — Guardian.
The Maiden Aunt's Tales. A handsome Present,
for Young Ladies between 14 and 20. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, with an Engraving, price 4s. 6d.
" The moral of the whole is the happy influence of a mind sanctified by religion, on the less perfect characters with which it is brought into contact." — John Bull.
Malet. — The Funds of the Church ; their Appro- priation and Alienation the cause of Ignorance, Heresy, and Schism : and Church Government the only Remedy for these Evils. A Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, from William Wyndham Malet, Vicar of Ardeley, Herts; and Honorary Secretary to the Tithe Redemption Trust. 8vo., price 6d.
Manoin. — An Outline of the Constitution and
o
History of the Church. In Question and Answer, adapted for Schools. By the Rev. S. W. Mangin, B.A., Curate of Bathwick. Price 4d. " The clearness of a Manual without the commonplace of a compilation." — Britannia.
Manual for Communicants.
Being an Assistant to a Devout and Worthy Reception of THE LORD'S SUPPER. Compiled from Catholic Sources. By a Parish Priest. Beautifully Rubricated, and bound in morocco, Is. 6d. ; roan, Is.; paper 6d. An edition for aged persons in large type, 6d. bound in cloth. Also a small edition for placing in Prayer Books, 2d., or 14s. per hundred. " Of this Manual it is high praise to say, that it will stand well with the best which we have." — Cliristiun Remembrancer.
Manual for the Sick, containing the Offices for
the Visitation and Communion of the Sick, with Notes from Bishop Sparrow ; Prayers from Bishop Cosin and others ; and Select Psalms and Hymns. Edited by the Rev. J. Keble. Price Is. 6d.
Manual of Devotion and Christian Instruction for
School Boys. Compiled from various sources. Price Is. Cloth.
Margaret. An Olden Tale, in Verse. By the
Author of " Hymns and Scenes of Childhood." Fcap. 8vo., with Illustrations and Ornamental Borders, elegantly bound, price 2s. 6d. " For combined beauty of composition, typography, and illustration, we will venture to pronounce ' Margaret,' even in this day of handsome books, unrivalled." — Ecclesiastic.
Mason. — Canon Chant Manual. Being the So- lemn, Staid, and Euphonious Mode of Chanting the Psalms and Canticles, as done in Olden Times. By William Mason, Churchwarden of All Saints Church, Necton. Price 6d.
B 2
20
WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS
New Edition, price 6d.
Masters's List of Churches in which the Daily
Prayers are said, also the hours, with those of the Litany and Holy Days ; and, as far as could be ascertained, where the Holy Communion is celebrated weekly.
Mill. — Sermons on the Nature of Christianity.
Preached in Advent and Christmas Tide, 1846, before the University of Cam- bridge. By W. H. Mill, D. D., Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge, Canon of Ely. 8vo., cloth, price 7s.
Mill. — Sermons Preached before the University
of Cambridge, on the Fifth of November, 1848, and three Sundays following, on the Relation of Church and State, on Ecclesiastical Independence, on Education, and the Invariableness of Right Doctrine. Price 5s. 6d.
Mill. — Human Policy and Divine Truth. A Sermon
preached on Passion Sunday, March 17, 1850, at Great S. Mary's Church, before the University of Cambridge. Price Is. 6d.
Millard. — Historical Notices of the Office of Cho- risters. By the Rev. James Elwin Millard, M.A., Head Master of Magdalene College School, Oxford. Price 2s. 6d.
Miller. — Tithes or Heathenism. Reasons for not
Accepting the Tithe Commissioners' Award ; most dutifully and respectfully sub- mitted to the Queen of England, the Parliament, and the People. In a Second Letter to the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, M.P., Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Department. By Charles Miller, M.A., Vicar of Harlow. 6d.
Milman. — The Voices of Harvest. By the Rev.
R. Milman, M.A., Vicar of Chaddleworth, Berkshire. Fcap. 8vo. cloth, Is. 6d.
"This is an eloquent and religion-breathing little book, in which the marvellous operations of the Harvest are pointed out in beautiful language, and occasion thence taken to remind the reader of the necessity of cultivating the soul and heart, of sowing therein the seeds of piety and vene- ration for the Giver of all good, in order that we may reap the bountiful harvest of eternal happiness."— Morning Post.
Milman. — The Way through the Desert ; or, the
Caravan. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, Is. 6d., Paper Wrapper Is.
Milman. — The Mystery of Marking. A Parable,
more especially adapted for School Girls. Price 6d.
"In completeness of conception and delicacy of expression it seems to surpass all competitors." — Ecclesiastic.
Milman. — Meditations on Confirmation. 2nd. edit.
Price 4d.
BY THE REV. EDWARD MONRO,
perpetual curate of harrow weald.
Harry and Archie ; or, First and Last Com- munion. Part L, price 6d. Part II., price 6d. ; or stitched together in a neat wrapper, price Is.
ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET. 21
StOlieS Of Cottagers. Cloth, 2s. 6d.; in separate packets, 2s.
Contents :— The Railroad Boy— The Drunkard's Boy— The Cottage in the Lane- Robert Lee— Annie's Grave — Mary Cooper.
The Dark River. An Allegory. New Edition.
12mo. cloth, 2s. 6d. ; Cheap Edition, Is. The Yast Army. An Allegory. 12mo. cloth, 2s. 6d. ; Cheap Edition, Is.
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22 WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
BY THE REV. J. M. NEALE, M.A.,
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BY THE REV. J. M. NE ALE, M.A., CONTINUED.
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24
"WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
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Sursum Corda : Aids to Private Devotion. Being
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The Idolatry of Covetousness. A Sermon. Is.
26 WORKS PUBLISHED DY J. MASTERS,
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Mow to Spend Sunday Well and Happily.
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Pearsall. — Hymns of the Church,
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Penitent's Path ; showing the Steps by which he
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Pereira. — Tentativa Theologica.
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27
factual Christian's Htbrarp.
THE PRACTICE OF DIVINE LOVE ; an Exposition upon the Church Catechism.
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*£* The above may be had in Cloth, gilt edges, at 6d. per volume additional. The following form part of the series :
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28
WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
Poland. — Pearls Strung. Adapted for Short
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BY THE REV. G. A. POOLE, M.A.,
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Twelve Practical Sermons on the Holy Commu- nion. 12mo., 4s. 6d.
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Rawlins. — The Famine in Ireland.
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30
WORKS TUBLISHED BY J. MASTERS,
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BY THE REV. J. F. RUSSELL, B.C.L.
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Selection from the Old and New Versions of the
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The Wreath of Lilies. A Gift for the Young.
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Dies Irae.
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Hand-Book for Visitors to the Kensal Green
Cemetery. Price Is.
INTELLECTUAL AMUSEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS.
Price. — The Muses' Response.
A Conversational Game. "A set of Orient Pearls at random strung." Selected by the Misses Price. Price 2s. 6d. The object of these Cards is to lead to rational amusement and intellectual conversa- tion.
Eobson.— The Old Play-Goer.
By William Robson. Post 8vo., price 7s. 6d. cloth. " Mr. Robsox's admiration of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons is an echo of our own. In fact, in reading his work, we have lived over again our own play-going days. Interspersed with his reminiscences are many excellent and judicious reflections upon the drama, the stage, and thea- trical matters generally. The volume, which is dedicated to Charles Kemble, is written in a spirited and vigorous style." — Juhn Bull.
STRANGER'S CUIDE TO PARIS.
Sinnett. — Picture of Paris and its Environs :
Comprising a Description of the Public Buildings, Parks, Churches, &c. ; neces- sary information on starting ; and Notices of the various Routes from the Coast. With a New Map, containing bird's-eye Views of Public Buildings, and references to the principal Streets, Railway Stations, &c. Price 5s. strongly bound.
A NEW PLAN OF PARIS, with References to all the Streets, Squares, &c. and Engravings of the Public Buildings in their respective situations, by which the Stranger is greatly assisted in travelling through the Suburbs. Price 2s.
Tinmouth. — An Inquiry relative to various Impor- tant Points of Seamanship, considered as a Branch of Practical Science. By Nicholas Tinmouth, .Master Attendant of Her Majesty's Dock-yard at Woolwich. 8vo., cloth, with Engravings, 5s. 6d.
Wakefield. — Five Hundred Charades from History,
Geography, and Biography. Second Series. Demy 18mo., bound in cloth. By Eliza Wakefield. Price Is. 6d.
Electro-Chemical Copying Book.
Extra size large post 4to., containing 240 leaves. Price, complete, with Ink,
Sponge Box, &c, 10s. 6d. The attention of the Clergy, Merchants, Bankers, Professors, Authors, and every class of Tradesmen, is called to this unique Article ; the simple construction of which enables any person to take a Copy of his Letters or other Memoranda instantly without the trouble attending the Copying Press. It will be of peculiar advantage to Principals by enabling them to take their own copies of all private Letters and Papers.
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
Ccrlest'olo steal late Cambridge Camtmt £>oriet|n
A Few Words to Churchwardens
On Churches and Church Ornaments. No. I. Suited to Country Parishes. The Fourteenth Edition, revised. Price 3d., or 21s. per hundred.
A Few Words to Churchwardens
On Churches and Church Ornaments. No. II. Suited to Town or Manu- facturing Parishes. Sixth Edition. Price 3d.
A Few Words to Church-Builders.
Third Edition, entirely rewritten. Price Is.
Appendix to the former Editions of a " Few
Words to Church-Builders" ; containing Lists of Models for Windows, Fonts, and Rood-screens. Price 6d.
A Few Words to Parish Clerks and Sextons.
Designed for Country Parishes. A Companion to the "Few Words to Church- wardens." Second Edition. Price 2d.
A Few Words to Churchwardens ;
Abridged from the Two Tracts so named. Third Edition. On a sheet, for distribution, or suspension in Vestry-Rooms.
Advice to Workmen employed in Restoring a
Church. New Edit. On a sheet, for distribution, or suspension in Vestry-Rooms.
Advice to Workmen employed in Building a
Church. New Edit. On a sheet, for distribution, or suspension in Vestry-Rooms.
Church Enlargement and Church Arrangement.
Price 6d.
The History and Statistics of Pues.
Fourth Edition, corrected, with very many additions. 2s. 6d.
A Supplement to the First and Second Editions
of " The History of Pues," containing the additional matter inserted in the Third Edition. Price Is.
Twenty-four Reasons for getting rid of Church
Pues. Ninth Edition. Price Id. each, or 5s. per 100.
An Argument for the Greek Origin and Meaning
of the Monogram | H S. Price Is. 6d.
On the History of Christian Altars.
A Paper read before the Cambridge Camden Society, Nov. 28, 1844. Price 6d. Second Edition.
48
ECCLESIOLOGICAL LATE CAMBRIDGE CAMDEN SOCIETY.
Church Schemes ;
Or Forms for the classified description of a Church. Sixteenth Edition, in Folio and Quarto, price Is. per dozen.
The Orient ator.
A Simple Contrivance for ascertaining the Orientation of Churches. In a case, with Directions for use and Catalogue of Saints' Days. Price 2s.
The Report of the Society for 1847-8-9 ;
Together with a List of the Members, Laws, &c, of the Society. Price Is. [Copies of the Reports for 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844, may still be had.]
The Transactions of the Cambridge Camden Society.
Part I., 5s. 6d. Part II., 6s. Part III., 7s. 6d. In one vol. cloth, price 10s.
Working Drawings of the Middle-Pointed Chancel
of All Saints, Hawton, Nottinghamshire. Engraved in Outline by Mr. J. Le Keux, Sen. Atlas folio, £l. 5s. (To Members, £l. Is.) This work contains Plans, Sections, and Elevations of one of the finest specimens of Parochial Pointed Architecture in the kingdom.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Some Account of the Church and its Restoration, with an audited Statement of the Treasurer's Account. Price 6d.
An Exterior Yiew of the same (as restored by the
Cambridge Camden Society.) A Tinted Lithograph, 2s. 6d.
The Interior of S. Sepulchre's, Cambridge :
Taken immediately after its Restoration. A Tinted Lithograph. Price Is.
Stalls and Screenwork in S. Mary's, Lancaster.
A Tinted Lithograph. Price Is.
A Lithograph of the Font and Cover in the Church
of S. Edward the Confessor, Cambridge, (as restored by the Cambridge Camden Society.) Is. 6d. plain; India paper, 2s.
Funerals and Funeral Arrangements.
In the press.
Jllusftrattonfif nf itftmumental $rasBe&
With accompanying historical descriptions, and many Architectural Lithographs. Complete in 6 parts. No. II., 5s. plain ; India-paper Proofs, 7s. 6d. Nos. I., III., IV., V., and VI., 8s. plain ; India-paper Proofs, 10s. 6d.
instrumental ©rrlesrtagtfau
Vol. I., £\. lis. 6d.
Second Series, published on alternate months, price 2s. Cd. each. Parts I and II. now ready, containing Plan for Cemetery Chapel, Lich House, Desks, Gables, &c.
LONDON : JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET,
AND 78, NEW BOND STREET.
DATE DUE